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Lee Sanders: Blood of the Realm

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Lee Sanders:
Funny you should mention languages (re: the Blood of the Realm trailers). We actually did create two—so far—for the book. You can see hints of them in various places on the website, and in the book itself.

And yeah… people in our book are generally Not Messing Around. One of the things that we love most about George R. R. Martin's Game of Thrones series is that the naive, the idealistic and the obviously white-hat or black-hat characters tend to get swept off the board with a vengeance. The crafty prosper, at least for a while. And time and chance sometimes upend even the best-laid plains. (sort of like The Amazing Race, come to think of it—!)

I wouldn't describe Blood of the Realm as full-on grimdark, but it's in that vein. So to speak.  :)

georgiapeach:

--- Quote from: Lee Sanders on April 27, 2014, 11:13:45 AM ---One of the things that we love most about George R. R. Martin's Game of Thrones series is that the naive, the idealistic and the obviously white-hat ... tend to get swept off the board with a vengeance.

--- End quote ---


I am in trouble here. :funny:

But I do love the sweeping scope of a whole world series. This reminds me of the worlds of Tolkien, JK Rowling, Suzanne Collins, and Diana Gabaldon so hope yours has their success.

What was the biggest challenge in this? Where did the concept come from? Is writing with someone else harder than alone or do you inspire each other?

Lee Sanders:
My writing partner (Michael McNelly) is a friend since high school, so we've built up enough respect and trust to be able to criticize each other's stuff directly. Mike tends to do more plotting and I tend to do more prose-polishing, but we both work on both aspects.

The toughest part, I think, has been getting the pacing right… making sure the various twists and turns of the story balance between "character-driven verisimilitude" (which, let's face it, can get deadly dull if it's too "real") and "rock-'em sock-'em roller coaster" (which can feel contrived and cheesy).

It's fun to collaborate; my composing job has been good training in that way. Telling cool stories with friends, and getting paid to do it. Dream gig.

Here's how the book started: Mike and I were sitting around over beers one evening, lamenting some of the Bad Fantasy Fiction we'd recently read… and decided, why not step up to the plate instead of criticizing from the dugout? (…ouch. That's a terrible metaphor. Good thing I'm not a writer or anything.)

That conversation took place in 1997 (!). Turns out it's a tough thing to do, writing a big ol' fantasy saga. But I'm proud of what we've come up with. And the laughs along the way have been worth it on their own.

In terms of the iconic authors you mentioned… I will second what you said! I'd love to split my time between writing music and writing words. Leaves me just enough time for sleep and cooking dinners with my wife.

Lee Sanders:
Blood of the Realm is now available—you can buy directly from the website, or search the title with my name directly on Amazon or iBooks. I'm scoring the second teaser trailer today… it's keeping me in shape for the upcoming season of The Amazing Race. :-)

georgiapeach:
Congrats Lee!! Must feel like having a baby! :hearts:

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