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What's Dan Writing?
After two years of occasional cryptic comments about writing cool things I couldn't talk about, we revealed at Dragonsteel Nexus last month that one of those secret things was Story Deck! We released three short stories on trading cards at our big convention, and everyone had a blast trading for them and collecting the full set. So what am I writing now? Another secret thing I can't talk about. But I promise it will be awesome. What's Dan Reading? I just picked up Fonda Lee's new book, Breath of the Dragon, co-written with Shannon Lee (no relation; she's the daughter of Bruce Lee). It's a fantasy about a martial artist who lives in a divided kingdom and wants to reunite with his twin brother. It reads quickly, is full of fascinating characters, and knows martial arts deep inside its bones. I'm about a third of the way through it, and I love it immensely. What Does Dan Recommend? One of my Christmas gifts was Charterstone, a worker placement boardgame about managing a village, with a fun twist: it's a legacy game, meaning that every time you play you unlock new things and change the board and components. Over the course of several games it really gives the sense that your village is growing and changing, with new people moving in and new things happening. My boardgame group is loving it.
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What's Dan Writing?
Right now I'm working on a middle grade fantasy, a young adult horror, the ongoing revision of Dark One, and various little projects and short stories. It's a busy time. The middle grade is taking the majority of my focus, but I love how it's coming together. What's Dan Reading? Nothing right now. Sometimes writing is hard and I get stuck on one project far longer than I would like to be, but sometimes it's reading that's hard and I can't get into anything. This is one of those times. I've got a bunch of books I want to read, but I'm steering clear of them for now because I don't want to read them in a mindset that is predisposed to hate everything. What Does Dan Recommend? The final season of Star Trek Lower Decks just started, and I know I've talked about it before but this is the final season of a wonderful show, so consider it my final pitch for everyone to go out and watch what is unfortunately a hidden gem. If you've never watched any of it, start in season 2 when the show has already found its feet and has a clear vision of what it's trying to be; season 1 is awesome but more uneven. It only gets better from there. What's Dan Writing?
Dark One! Still. Here's hoping I can finish it soon. What's Dan Reading? I just finished The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy, and I loved it. It's a highly fictionalized account of the real investigation into the murder of Elizabeth Short in LA in 1947, one of the most famous unsolved murder cases in US history. It was a brutal crime in a corrupt society, so don't read it if you have a low tolerance for gore, sex, or despair, but if that warning piques your interest this might be right up your alley. What Does Dan Recommend? I told you a few months ago about Lynn Buchanan's debut fantasy novel, The Dollmakers, and I'm delighted to report that it comes out TODAY. Go buy it and love it. What Is Dan Writing?
Still plugging away on Dark One, though I've also been doing a lot of worldbuilding for my new Cosmere series. I want to dip into a bit of conlang (constructed language) for it--not at the level of Klingon or Quenya, but something fun and nerdy that we haven't really seen in the Cosmere before. What Is Dan Reading? Right now I'm reading The Art of Prophecy by Wes Chu. It's wuxia chinese fantasy expertly crossed with western epic fantasy, and every word of it is delightful. Wes is mostly known for his science fiction, but his fantasy chops are super strong and his characters are, as always, super fun to spend time with. What Does Dan Recommend? I have become obsessed with the video game Helldivers 2. It takes everything that's great about team shooters and PvE chaos and mixes it together and delivers it flawlessly. It's one of the best designed games I've ever seen--even the difficulty levels are a seamless part of the gameplay, and its unlock system for new weapons and cosmetics is balanced and achievable and decidedly non-predatory. The satire is brutal if you're paying attention but easy to ignore if all you want to do is kill bugs. I can't say enough good about this game. What's Dan Writing?Today I am just finishing the post-formatting revisions for a cool secret project for Dragonsteel Nexus (the new name for the annual Dragonsteel convention). We still have some final proofing to do, but it is mostly out of my hands and with my amazing editor, Kristy Gilbert. Once that's done, I am back to my standard answer of "I'm working on the Dark One novel." That's what I say on every month, I know, but writing novels takes a long time.
What's Dan Reading?Honestly? These days I am mostly reading wargame rules and rpg manuals. Depression has been kicking my butt, and picking up a book to read is a daunting challenge. I worry that anything I read I will hate, so I don't want to read anything I care about until I'm capable of liking things again. That said, since my last newsletter I did read and love an advance copy of The Dollmakers by Lynn Buchanan. I'll be sure to remind you as soon as it's published so you can all read it too. What Does Dan Recommend?It had a famously terrible launch when it came out a few years ago, but Cyberpunk 2077 has been lovingly patched and improved and expanded and today it is arguably the best video game I have every played. The world is unbelievably immersive, the characters are layered and compelling, the story is fascinating and deeply cyberpunk, and the combat is varied and fun and endlessly replayable. I'm on my fifth play-through, all with completely different builds. It takes a pretty hefty computer to run it, but if you have the opportunity I can't recommend this game enough. What's Dan Writing?I have finished the frustratingly secret projects that I rudely refuse to tell you about, and am now working full steam on the Dark One novel. Plus a lot of detours into the worldbuilding of my Cosmere series, which really should wait until I'm done with Dark One but it's too exciting and I can't help myself :)
What's Dan Reading?I just started Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls, a middle grade fantasy by my friend Kaela Rivera. For some reason I thought it was going to be a modern fantasy about our world with some supernatural elements thrown in, but it's actually a full-blown fantasy world inspired by Mexican mythology. I'm absolutely loving it--perfect for kids and adults alike. What Does Dan Recommend?While searching for some good RPG battle maps last month I discovered Loke, a company that publishes full art battle mats, printed on wipe-clean material and collected into spiral bound books. Each two-page spread is a full fantasy map on a one-inch grid, perfect for D&D and other RPGs; they lay flat, you can draw on them with dry-erase markers, and they're incredibly easy to transport and store. I got two of them for Christmas, and loved them so much I immediately bought two more. What Is Dan Writing?
So: we haven't sent out a newsletter in months, and that's because I was diagnosed with a shiny new Depression and Panic Disorder! It's so fun, and I recommend it to everyone. So I haven't really written much at all, but I'm starting to climb back out of the hole, and the last few weeks I've been doing a ton of writing for Super Secret Project X. I can't tell you what this is literally until it is out in the world, but here are some hints: it's three things, and they're in the Cosmere, and you should really come to Dragonsteel '24. What Is Dan Reading? Reading was another thing that took a huge step backward over the summer. Right now I'm finishing Priory of the Orange Tree and starting Yumi and the Nightmare Painter. I recommend them both. What Does Dan Recommend? I've been on an RPG-buying kick lately, and my new obsession is Monster of the Week. It's a "Powered by the Apocalypse" game, which is not a system I love, but this particular implementation of it works really well. It's basically X-Files/Supernatural/Buffy, with all the tools you need to come up with your own premise for a horror or urban fantasy "show" and play through it with your friends. It's fun, it runs smoothly, and you get to investigate monsters. I love it. Dark One: Forgotten--the very first Dan and Brandon collaboration--is out! This is audio only because it is presented as if you are listening to somebody's true crime podcast. It is such a fun listen! Look for it wherever you get your audiobooks.   I was recently on "The Write Approach" where we discussed How Your Worldview Affects Your Writing. You can listen to the episode on their website through this LINK.
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