originally posted by Ben
Hmmm. "m" is one key right of "n", and the same can be said for "k" instead of "j". Maybe the hand was slightly off centre? Or by some strange chance thats all a coincidence 
originally posted by Hunter
But if it was a hand snafu, it would be kammu…
call it deadline crosseyed crazies.
originally posted by Auna
The conclusion of the series will now be written by Kammy Wurts from the notes and incomplete writings of Janny, who fled the desperate fans to enjoy some relaxation and sun 
I don't mind (well too much!) waiting for quality as long as I feel the story isn't being stretched just to put out more books. Since I don't feel that's the case here, I'm (somewhat mildly) content. Besides, each rereading lets me discover something I missed the last several times.
I hope we get plenty more books and stories in this world once the main series is done. So much has been detailed, it would be a shame to not flesh out more people in more times.
originally posted by Walt
Hear, hear, Auna! Personnaly, I can't wait for Janny to have the chance to pursue other trains of thought. Of course by that I mean that Arc 4 and 5 were complete and on my shelf, well read, tagged, and marked up with notes as my other volumes are!
Perchance, then, after we leave Paravia, we might venture back to Keithland and the Cycle of Fire.
(intrepid poster now scurries for cover to avoid any stooping gryphons or thrown bottles of complementary Captain Morgan…)
originally posted by R’is’n
I really liked the explanation of the Arcs. I love the the external vs internal power theme in the series, but this summary made Lysaer and Arithon's choices clearer, seen as a whole picture.
Janny, I'm curious: have any of our musings ever changed your perspective on an aspect of your own writing? Shed a light or raised awareness on a bias you didn't know you had?
originally posted by Derek Coventry
Perhaps Kammy is the light to Janny's shadow!
Roisin - this is the nature of the story - and I am not exempt. ; )
Status Report - starting the last subchapter of 11 set today - official page count in manuscript is 740.
Just you wait … !
The spec notes in this chat haven't even come CLOSE!
originally posted by R’is’n
Janny - you know that is interesting in the history of writing - a two-way relationship that is active, between writer and audience. So far this is a nearly decade long negotiation of meaning between the two, in other words, a very long conversation.
This is similar in spirit, to the perception that blogging is considered a viable source of information, apart from 'credible' sources.
It shows that texts and information and the voices they carry are no longer solely the domain of the elite few scholars and latterly, controlled media or institutions. Enough people are now literate to have a democracy in print… I like this age!
Status: chapter 11 set is in complete draft. Whew. A little refinement needed to balance the last scene - but the page count in manuscript is…drumroll…765!
Here we are, staring at three to the finish…and not any time to glance sideways.
originally posted by Blue
This almost sounds like a thoroughbred horse race…
And they're off!
Chapter 11 is in the lead, with Chapters 12, 13, and 14 trailing behind. Wait a minute, someone has linked them together, that Wurts is a clever jockey, riding four horses at once. This is going to be an interesting race, race fans!
originally posted by HJ
Ha ha Blue!
Janny, forgive me if I'm being dense. Now that chapter 11 is finished, am I right in my understanding that you have only 3 chapters left to write?
OOOOONNLYYY THREEEEEEEEE?
What seems so small a number to us must seem so much more monumental to you.
I'm sorry, but I'm still skipping about happily. I can't help it. STORMED FORTRESS IS COMING GUYS!!!
Rejoice!
x x Janny, Much Love and Good Thoughts x x
PS My husband is even asking me "How's Stormed Fortress coming along?"
originally posted by Laneth Shadow-Walker
Q:
"PS My husband is even asking me "How's Stormed Fortress coming along?" /Q
Now that's funny
originally posted by motley
I suppose chewing on my computer mouse cable is just not going to speed anything up…
Har! chewing mouse cables to speed things up…
Progress graph - gonna bust that chart.
Also - gawp - only ONE VOTE for Dakar and Fionn? Quietest clamor for a sneak peek ever - will you let that take it by default?
originally posted by Jo
Janny
Fionn and Dakar sneak peak, any sneak peak please. Whatever you choose I'll be happy.
Question about after the draft is complete. What happens then? Do you take it to the publishers and do they scrutinise it or do they suggest/insist or making a draft smaller or more in depth? Or does it go to publishing as you have written it? I love really long books as I get through short ones far too quickly much to my husband's annoyance. He thinks I should start up my own library. As you can tell I have no idea about writing except that I love and really appreciate a great author like yourself. Can't imagine a world without books to be honest.
originally posted by Hannah
Well, I thought the only two options were Dakar/Fionn Areth or Mearn/Tal, and since we already had the latter, I assumed that was the fulfillment of the promised peek.
I clamor for any and all peeks at any given moment!
originally posted by Nick F. CIANCI
Janny,
I just wanted to say that I love your writing. I've just finished the latest Donaldson book & I'm waiting with "baited" breath (I've always wondered as to the roots of that saying) for the next installment "Stormed Fortress".
Once upon a time I remember you saying that "Stormed Fortress" would be the last book in the series, but this "discussion thread" seems to allude to more books to come. Will there be "closure" in "Stormed Fortress"?
Anyway I just wanted to say thanks for writing some excellent stories; and remember, as I tell the guys at work, to rest & come up for air occasionally.
Cheers,
Nick C.
Canberra in Oz
originally posted by Trys
Welcome to the board Nick C.
FYI, on 'baited breath', it originally was spelled 'bated breath' which was a shortened form of 'abated breath'.
Not to answer for Janny, but Stormed Fortress is the last volume of the Alliance of Light which is the third arc of five in the Wars of Light and Shadow. So after this, two more arcs.
Trys
Hi Nick - welcome.
Jo - You Asked.
What happens? Brain burn, for me! For Traitor's Knot, I sent a chapter to my editor - who marks the cr–p out of three or so pages - this rough shake is the best way to hammer me OUT of draft mode and into final text edit.
Those markups are not used verbatim - they are a template for me to bounce off, to shift gears and phase out of draft mode's tendency to hang up in redundant phrases.
(You could see a bit of what happens - take the "sneak peeks" of TK's draft, and compare them to your final book)
I then take the a rather tall stack of pages, sit down with a pencil, and get brutal with the final language. Then I take those pages, and go through them again, backwards, for more of the aforesaid. Inconsistencies get fixed. Continuity gets final checked. Repetition gets cut. Then a final printout goes for test read, to catch errors I may have missed, as by this time, the text is near memorized and I am blind to it, utterly. Spellcheck, my final read thru - then it goes to the editor, entire.
By then, it's so well ironed out - little if anything is done to it, past teensy grammatical adjustments and the precision pick thru by copy editors.
I get it back twice more - copyedit, and page proof, before it hits press.
The story is in large part my work - I am always open to suggestions and corrections - but editors do so MUCH more than "edit" these days - it requires diligent work if the books are to come out at their finest…so I have test reads, to catch the glitches or the bits that may not engage the way the story requires AHEAD of the production deadline - most bits are well ironed out. I am one of those authors who sends the work in FINISHED as possible.
Assuredly, what you have is my vision. - fine tuned by me, with the help of other sets of eyes, x checking how things play on the page.