“I’m willing to tell you. I’m wanting to tell you. I’m waiting to tell you.”
Often, that’s how I feel about book 2. And the setting in which that line was spoken has a lot to do with where this post is going.
Over the past three years, most of the environments I’ve had to work in have been challenging, each in its own way. At the previous rental, there were children that would play most of the day directly beneath my window. Slightly intrusive, but not unpleasant. Then the kids finally went to school and the builders started work – about ten feet from the same window. Every day for months. Earplugs were no match. At times it was so bad I drove to parks and coffee shops to try and work, but without much success.
It was becoming obvious that I needed a more suitable work environment. None of the affordable rentals I looked were much better, but the option of buying looked like it would cost more time than I wanted to take from the writing of book 2. So I chose to muscle through it. And then it got worse.
While endeavouring to get this book finished, I’ve had to move 4 times, mostly due to the rentals being sold beneath me. Currently, the space I’m working in is so small, most of my things, book collection included, are in storage. I don’t do well when I can almost touch opposing walls in the room where I sleep and work, and I’ve struggling here. As much as I wanted to avoid another disruption, I realised it was time to set things up properly, find a space where long hours would not be stressful, a space where I could read broadly, think deeply, and write with full immersion.
During all this, I spent a week house sitting. Writing in a medium-sized dining room with a garden view was an eye-opener. (That was the photo in a post at the beginning of the year.) I worked long hours, yet the hours never felt heavy. Environment, I concluded, has a bigger influence on productivity than I’d allowed for.
I decided the ideal space would be a biggish room full of natural light, capable of holding lots and lots and lots of books, a room that would feel less like an office and more like a small library. That struck a chord. The idea of a writer working in a miniature library has a kind of logic in the same way that mechanics are usually found in garages or farmers in fields, but there’s more to it for me. It isn’t only the ready access to resources that appeals, though it is a big appeal; I just find libraries conducive to thought.
One of the libraries I never grew tired of working in was the Ussher at Dublin Trinity College. I snapped this pic a few years ago while doing research as a visiting postgrad for an earlier degree. (The half year I spent in Dublin was largely the inspiration behind A Cloud in her Eye).
I used to hang over this banister and drink in the view. It’s not quite the same thing as a spine of mist-wreathed mountains, but it’s still impressive.
The Ussher library, however, wasn’t the first to completely grip my fascination. That prize goes to this one, which I saw as a wee tyke.
Remember it? If you’ve seen the movie adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, it should look familiar. It’s the lair of Professor Higgins in My Fair Lady, where Alfred Doolittle spoke the opening lines of this post. This place has always seemed to me the most ideal environment for writing. There probably aren’t many who could afford a room like this – I certainly can’t – but a scaled down version without all the costly trimmings …
Over the past few years, this idea has been growing from an impractical fancy to more of a plan, and a few months ago, I decided to make it happen. So if you’re wondering why the progress bars haven’t shifted much recently, that’s the reason. In reality, work hasn’t altogether stopped on the book, but I don’t really log progress when I’m gathering ideas or making notes for new sections, which is what’s happening. More on that later.
Part of me wants to apologise for the delay, but then I realise that the things that have taken the most time – studying writing and making a suitable workspace – are for the reader no less than for me. This is about playing the long game, taking the time now to set things up for the rest of the series, so that the coming books will be the absolute best I’m able to produce.
Perhaps I could have delayed building until the release of book 2, but it would have simply meant a longer wait for book 3, and book 2 would have suffered. The debut, if you’re wondering, wasn’t written in a stressful setting. I was in an area that had views of fields and horses and so on. (The Torval’s bow video was filmed there).
There are readers who insist that I hurry up and release, some with ultimatums and hostile language. I get the frustration, but I’m doing all I can to hit the balance between quality and speed. I suppose being urged to hurry is normal in today’s world, but something that has surprised me is the number of emails and comments from readers pleading with me not to launch the second book until it’s all it can be, to take the time to get it right. I really am grateful for that understanding. It’s pretty stressful when you turn off the machines in order to upgrade the factory instead of rushing ahead with the job, so those words of support help more than you know.
While we’re on the topic of correspondence, I need to mention email. Generally, I like mountains, but this is one I’m struggling to climb. If you are one of those who is waiting for a reply to an amazing heart-felt letter, please try to understand. Even if I worked on email full time, it would take a few months for me to get through everything.
Book 2
I’m really happy with where the manuscript is at, but stepping away for a while has allowed me to see how some things could be improved. I’ve been gathering ideas like someone netting butterflies. Or bats – which are more interesting. Using my bat collection, I plan to work more depth into the story and characters. No, there will be no vampires. Once I’ve incorporated the new content, it will be back to the revision process.
A Cloud in Her Eye
Several people have asked about A Cloud in Her Eye – when it will be available etc. It’s definitely going to be released, but only after a bit of adapting.
By design, Cloud is about as far from the Wakening as I could stretch. Here’s why. When you write a fantasy adventure, there is much to compel the reader. It’s like using coloured pencils instead of just charcoal. The colours – danger, mystery, suspense, characters that are larger than life, and of course the fantastical aspects – all help to make things interesting. But if you take those out, you get to see how good the basic shapes of the story are.
I wanted to get better at making a narrative hold together with normal people and their interactions. I think the temptation is to use coloured pencils to rescue shapes that aren’t quite right. If you can rather get those charcoal lines right, the coloured-pencil elements actually become more compelling, seeing as they attach to more believable forms.
It might sound as if Cloud is something baked with sawdust and water, but it’s not really like that. I’ve found that the best ingredients for a good story are the people and their interactions. Simplifying can actually make for a more interesting read. (Fear not – I won’t be distilling The Wakening to minimal elements. The fantasy aspects will actually grow as the story progresses.)
Cloud is a special book to me. I’ve grown really fond of the characters; and the setting, Ireland, is still firmly lodged in my heart. Even if real-life stories aren’t your thing, Cloud should give a glimpse of a truly beautiful country that – and now I’m going to partly contradict myself – is almost like a real-world fantasy island.
Book 4
It’s starting to appear more likely that there will be a book 4. Either that or a really long book 3. The ideas for a fourth volume have begun to flow and I’m starting to see a natural arc it would allow the story to take. Sometimes a series can be a collection of related tales, sometimes one continuous tale. I’m writing The Wakening to be more or less continuous, so I won’t add a book 4 unless the story calls for it. I’ll keep you in the loop as we progress with the tale.
Looking ahead
House renovations have taken much longer than they were meant to. What started out as a ten-week commitment has grown to several months. I’ve wanted to quietly explode numerous times a day. Once you embark on big renovations, you have no choice but to finish. There’s no pulling out and selling after you start knocking down walls. I’ve been thinking of it like whitewater rafting. After entering that first rapid at the top of the canyon, you’re in it until the end. Your options are finishing the rapid, or death.
This is mostly an owner build, so I have to work site during the day and sort through the vast details of building admin at night. When I can, I put in a few hours of writing before 6am, but it’s heavy going. The hours are crazy. Hundred-hour weeks are fairly common. The experience has, however, given me the inspiration for a profound new work of non-fiction. It’s going to be titled Advice on Building or Remodelling your House. I’m still putting the final touches to the manuscript, but at this point it reads as follows: Don’t. Please feel free to comment on the text or even offer contributions for inclusion. I’d particularly appreciate hearing from anyone who has gone through the process.
I estimate that I’m into the final six weeks of the building ordeal. I’m looking forward to the end like Christmas – I’m sure anyone who has ever built can relate. With writing tools honed and a mini-library ready to be put to work, I suspect I’ll be clocking some lengthy hours without noticing their passing. After all, I have a story to tell – a story I’m willing, wanting, waiting to tell you.
We just finished building a custom house on a vacant lot that we purchased three years ago. I’m happy with the final product but it was the worst experience of my life. The first architect designed a house that was twice our budget when it was sent out to bid. The whole way I kept telling him, “I think this is too expensive” but he didn’t listen. I had even paid for all the engineering too. It was so far over budget and our architect refused to do a redesign for free (insisting that it wasn’t his fault) that we had to cut and run and hire someone else. That was after a year of work!
So that was about $20k down the tubes. Then a week and a half before we started building the county passed a $22,000 department of transportation fee for new builds which was a nice surprise. The well cost more Han initially quoted , the grading cost more, driveway, and other surprise permit costs. Probably paid 25% more than we had planned for with the contractor.
But it wasn’t just the costs! Good lord delays. After the initial wasting of the year our new contractor assured us in January that we would start building by may and be in the house by December. But the draftsman kept making errors on the plans and would go six weeks without responding. Finally got a full set of plans ready in August 2019 but then my lender out of nowhere decides they won’t be funding my loans and I have to scramble to find someone else. That takes. Another 2 months. Then the lender says they can’t get final approval for the loan until the well is in but the well guy isn’t ready. Meanwhile we are having issues getting the building permit for who knows why. Then I bust the well guys balls to start and it turns out that the lender could go without him. Even so he takes six weeks instead of the quoted three. Then bad weather. And we don’t even start laying the groundwork until late January. Then Covid hits and we can only do one crew at a time which slows things waaaay down. Finally the damn thing is done in June. But county permitting office says I need one more box checked off in order to get my move in certificate but the guy doesn’t respond to my phone calls or emails for TWO MONTHS.
Finally move in in august. So much is wrong with the house. The dryer vent doesn’t work. Half the electric outlets stop working. They forgot the weather stripping on the front door which we didn’t notice until weather happened. The hot water governors on the faucets and showers hadn’t been removed so cold water only. And on and on and on.
All in all. Worst most costly experience of my life. I would NEVER do it again. About the only thing good that came of it was that it delays things until mortgage interest rates hit all time lows. I’d happily contribute several chapters to your book. One of them would be titled, “if any other business ran themselves like a general contractor they would fail.”
Your book is a huge reason why I got into audiobooks. Now, I own close to 80 audiobooks.
I found myself at your blog upon beginning my nth listening of your debut book. As much as I pine for the next, and seeing where things were at was certainly my motivation for visiting, I feel compelled to tell you how grateful I am to you for your work. I’m 32 and leading my own family. I practice reading stories to my children almost every night, and I do that because I had such wonderful stories shape my own life as a child.
Your work both reminds me of the wonder and magic I experienced as a child and allows me a fresh opportunity to do so again. You’re a masterful writer, capturing that magic and yet offering me such substance as an adult to continuously listen to your work over and over (narrator certainly deserves credit here!). Truth be told, I think my connection to your work is due to the many connections I have with Aeden. I too was abused, had a knack for the military, joined it, had my adventures, and am now trying to contribute to changing education. Oddly, though I have never been, I have a calling for Ireland and may even find myself there for my work.
My children are still very young, but i can hardly wait for the day i can read them your story among the many other greats i look forward to sharing. Please continue working out your God given, and certainly well earned gifts. It’s astonishing to me how such a thing could touch my life, and I hope my sharing encourages you throughout this difficult time of rerooting your life. What you do truly matters, and it’s worth doing that which is necessary and difficult to leave a legacy.
JR. Wow! Am on chapter 34 and already know this is a keeper. To be reread and reread, to become an old friend.
I agree with many others and take your time with all your future books. You are an awesome writer.
I do have one small request. Please make Dawn available as a hardcopy. I love my kindle but for those authors who I want to become family, I want a hardcopy.
Keep your writing clean and I am a fan for life. You are a most excellent writer. No need to throw in a cuss word for emphasis. My daddy used to say, ” If people had to cuss, it just showed their illiteracy. ” You,Sir, are not illiterate!!
I have to tell you your book is one of my favorites. I have read/listened to it time after time, and I love the cadence of it as much as Aedan’s journey, humor, and growth. I think… think, that this is my 9th re-visitation of Dawn of Wonder, and it is far from the last. As eager as I am for the release of the next step in this saga, perfection takes time and both my husband and I are more than eager to wait a bit for another master level story. We … may… have started a betting pool on who completes their next book first, you or Patrick Rothfuss (my money’s on you, no pressure!) How stinking exciting that you’ve the opportunity to create your own space! That’s wonderful – and will be more than worth the stumbling blocks construction of any sort seems contractually obligated to throw at you. Best wishes from ours to yours!
Hi there, I just read your blog post while looking to see when book 2 would be available and want to reiterate as do many have said- take your time and write it the way you want it. Ignore the pushy people. They should feel lucky that you are there and willing to work so hard to share your stories with us
I also wanted to let you know that this story haunted me for months, because I could remember scenes and ideas from it but not the name of the book itself. I was desperate to remember what it was, especially because of the scene where Aedan throws himself off the cliff to try and rescue Kalry.
At some point I figured out how to look at my Kindle unlimited library and there it was. I was so happy to have the opportunity to read it again!
Best of luck with everything and thank you for writing this book (and the rest of the series!l
Johnathan – Oh how I relate to the ‘remodeling woes’. Even when things are going well and chugging happily along there is a small voice in the back of your head that raises the hairs on your neck as it whispers, ‘wait for the other boot to drop!’ As to the continuation of your story – I wait, as patiently as I can for the second book to make it from your mind to the paper. Sure I wish it was already done and in my hands but, don’t rush it, just don’t do it. Your first book was so well written that I could not believe, when I looked for others, that this was your first work! Amazing does not come close to covering it. I am on my fourth reading of the book and still sit and do marathon reading sessions. A great storyteller that, in my estimation, is right there with Tolkien, Sanderson, Kurtz, Eddings, Jordan and more. Keep up the great work and relax and smell the flowers and let nature connect with your soul. All my best
I’ve been there, done that, Jonathan. Picture an “adorable!” brick Cape Cod design built in 1920, subdivided into apartments, “saved” by a thrifty young couple buying their first home who bravely embarked on a quest to renovate it back to its former glory. 9 years, a flood, a tornado and a shift of the foundation that made the bricks fall off the front of the house later, and lots of constant work to keep our “adorable” house with “lots of character” from falling down around our ears, and I was thrilled to pieces to move out and buy a brand new home. All that said, I still miss it. *And*, we found “treasure” in the walls as we were doing a final fix-up before selling it. It was like the house apologized with a fun gift at the very end.
Like many of your other readers, I just listened to your book for the 2nd time, and I’m truly excited about its coming sequel. All in good time is fine, though. Life’s too short to get in a twist over when I get to read something. It’s also too short to ever renovate another home. I hope your home adventure is bringing you some joy as you write!
And now all anyone wants to know is what the treasure was …
I feel both your frustration and your sense of missing the old place. But what a relief it must be to have a house that just houses and doesn’t spend its time falling down around your ears.
Dear JR,
Congratulations on finishing your thesis! I cant imagine how you managed to balance all your writing projects , then your house rebuild as a self-renovator and still manage to have space in your head for such a large epic world and character story.
Hope you have achieved that writing space.
Looking forward to the next installment
Louise
Dear Jonathan,
I just finished listening to your book on audio for the second time. I add my voice to those who desperately desire to read/listen to your book 2 as soon as possible. Mind you, I’m not so hasty as to suggest you speed things up without putting in considerable effort for excellence; however, I hope that after three years this book might be released promptly. If there is a way to ensure the same reader on Audible performs your second book, that would also be most appreciated. Great work and I can’t wait to read your next book.
Lance
MOVEMENT! House Projects/Kick butt library complete!?!?!?! To be followed by endless hours of describing what can only be a land and characters you have been physically next to as you write?? I don’t know how you can possibly paint such a real picture without first witnessing the events firsthand.. But seriously, hope all is going swimmingly and progress will be inexorable (no matter how deliberate) from now until completion of book 4!?!
Sort of complete, yes. At least enough to be functional (mostly) and allow me to shelve the rest until this book is wrapped up.
Glad you found the characters believable. The sense of realness is largely a product of the revisions. It’s slow, tedious work for the most part.
Good morning Jonathan,
Hope all is well and hope you are having a very happy and blessed beginning of 2019. My wife and I and our little one just moved into our house, after staying in the basement of one of our members. And boy does having your own space have a way of de-cluttering the mind. I am thinking that writing my thesis for my second masters may be possible after all. God’s speed and good luck on your work. It is good to see the progress bar moving again.
All the best,
Winston
Release the book when it´s done. No stress.
Have a great 2019!
/peter
Please take your time with this book. Not too much you see. But just enough to get it right. I enjoyed reading Jordan’s work for the first several books. Then his publisher and business people got involved and you could see the next couple of books suffered as a result. Please don’t make that mistake. Thank you for bringing us such wonder. Pun intended 🙂
You still haven’t passed the Rothfuss wait time, so I think your good. Its part of reading well developed fantasy novels… you wait… a lot.
I just finished your book tonight (audio). It’s like a breath of fresh air. Thank you so much for writing it! My cousins and I are very excited to read book 2 when it becomes available.
We’ll be praying for you as you continue the series.
Gracias,
Sarah
P.s. as a language teacher and language lover…I just have to say that I adore it when you describe how strange/weird/head-knocking/Interesting the languages Aedin and his friends.
Ha, ha on the remodeling experience. I have an old house and we have fixed a couple old desert properties with our kids. We have learned to limit ourselves to “repair” not renovate. I am 3 years into another project and just got the building permits!
However you do get through it. Congratulations on your courage (foolishness?) to create what you want.
We need some pictures.
thank you for a wonderful story.
Courage (foolishness) … Haha! Yes, that’s how it feels. Pictures will be arriving shortly.
Just occurred to me it’s been a while since dawn of wonder…. soooo many good books out there. I’m an audible addict. I listen even when i can only get a few minutes. Will be listening to dawn of wonder again since I honestly cant remember enough besides i loved the book. Also remember a pack of wolves, a horse and carriage and a spooky old castle. Hopefully I’m remembering those bits and pieces from dawn of wonder and not another fantasy tail, lol.
I’m responding to your blog mainly because of the personality evident through out your text. Turns out, I am able to relate. Life is too short to realize all our dreams; but, if we stand back and look upon our works? We see a beautiful story unfolding from beginning to middle and eventually the end. We see that our dreams had the power (the magic) to somehow know what was most important and with a little help along the way those dreams just came into being.
Maybe none of us can truly appreciate where we are in life. Always something else to do and often wishing wed done so much more . Or hoping one day to say “look at what I have done!” and marvel at our inhuman trophy display of accomplishment.
You should not be measured by your accomplishments as a writer alone; but, as a person. Your blogs etc hive the impression that you are a genuinely good and talented man. You are human like the rest of us. Enjoy the time and efforts of your life’s architecture and infrastructure. For the work NEVER ends. It only seems like it does when we convince ourselves of it.
I look at old to do lists and feel a sense of accomplishment seeing all that I scratched off; but, there is always a “but”. Take your time, it’s your life. Enjoy it.
Maybe society and expectations have a way of measuring through accomplishments and “what you can give” or what it can “take” from you. Always more, more, more. Never satiated. Like an ADHD demon succubus that has an infinite number of alternate personalities. Lol.
I dont take time to respond or comment on much of anything anymore. I liked your blog and it impressed upon me. I likely will never meet you or may never make another correspondence. Yet, I know, a good friend or fond acquaintance you would make.
Live like your dreams all come true and life will cower at your knees. Live like your dreams are true and even the greatest of pains will be a distant breeze. Live like you are your dreams and truth will no longer be the mysterious compost buried beneath the decaying waist of discarded lies. It will be the revelation that this world we know is one and the same for all of us.
We are all authors of our own story as well as characters in others’. As an author/writer you are putting yours into a book that you and all your readers will be part of. Lol Neverending Story.
Be the truth at the heart of every fantasy!
Thanks for reading my comment if you made it this far “you must be a friend”
PS? It’s been 3 years give or take since dawn of wonder. Patrick Rothfuss may not get book three out till 2021 and GRRM may never release the final GOT book. Sanderson and Sullivan… well they have to have clones or ghost writers.
Hope you had a Merry Christmas. With any luck you got the gift of a finished house. I know what it is like to spend hours apon days apon months apon… well you get the point. Any way, I hope you are sitting comfortably in your new library dreaming up fantastic, wondrous things. The book will get here when it gets here. So if your still working on the house I hope it is at least morphing in the workshop of your dreams.
I just caught this update. One thing I like about Age of Wonder is that it is a story, all 600+ pages of it. Today it is so easy for an author to churn out 250 to 300 page stories and break it into 3 books when it should have been one. Thank you for crafting your story in a more fulfilling way for the reader. I await the next book, but let us know when it is due. So I can go back and enjoy the first one and go right into the second.
Don’t let the negative people get to you.