Berand Fool

Well, the book is out there, going through processing and soon will be available on all publishing platforms.

I have to say that I am feeling very emotional right now. I had no idea how deeply attached to this book I was.

I feel like I'm sending out my baby for you to take into your home.

I am very proud of this novel. It was an immense joy to write. It really meant quite a lot to me.

My wife had said that she thinks that I have written myself into the character of Berand. I don't disagree. A little of me is in every character I create. How could it be otherwise? But, maybe a little more of me is in Berand than any other character.

This book started off as a question I asked myself. Why did Berand Torler create the Sun and Moon swords? Combined with the Lhalíi and the Ar, the four objects create the Heaven's Key, a machine of almost limitless power. Why did he do it? 

The story began to form in my mind and I took a little notebook with me wherever I went. You can ask Annette, I would stop in the middle of the grocery aisle, whip out my pocket sized notebook and start scribbling notes.

Organizing the outline was simple. The story, by the time I had jotted down all my notes, was obvious.

The thing that surprised me was the writing. Characters leapt off the page, and did things that surprised even me! Every day I was filled with an eagerness to get to work and write what I began to suspect was quite a special novel.  

Close to five hundred pages of the first draft were completed in only three months! This novel burst out of me. And the time spent writing it was like a limbo. I would sit down in the morning, look up after what seemed like only five minutes, to find it was nearly time for dinner!

The story of a character who finds courage and direction is timeless. This is my contribution.

Please go and enjoy.

cheers,

Kurt

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How it happened

   When I wrote the first novel, The Last Elf of Lanis, it was purely for me.
   I wrote for my own pleasure and distraction. I wrote to satisfy a burning need to express myself both artistically and emotionally.
   The book has some flaws, and the structure may be a little more complex than it needs to be. But, I wrote what I like. This is what I enjoy when I am reading: stories with characters that are emotionally invested; story lines that unfold and fold back on themselves; and fantastical, fully realized realms.


    The Archer From Kipleth was for you. I was so surprised by the overwhelming acceptance of the The Last Elf that I knew I had to complete the series. So the Archer was written wholly with the reader in mind.
    That is probably why it is my favorite book. Everything about it is selfless. From page one to the last page, every word was written with a conscious consideration of the reader.


    I wrote the third book, The Lord of Lightning, to compete the task. I knew how the very last scene of the battle would unfold and I knew I had to get it out there. Actual thousands of readers had uploaded the first and second book, and I wrote with an awareness of my responsibility to complete the story for them.


    The fourth book, Legends of Haergill and Conniker's Tale, I wrote for my sanity. As I was completing the first three books, many other stories, related to the principle narrative, came into my mind and needed to be written. Then, the whole began to take shape as a novel of interlocking stories. 
     The ideas were like a haunting. I knew I wouldn't sleep at night unless I exorcised these stories from my mind. Then, when it made up a good novel, I was happily surprised. So in one sense, the fourth novel was similar to the first in that I wrote primarily for myself, but not for pleasure.


    The fifth and soon to be released novel, Berand Fool, is more like the first in every sense. I wrote purely for my own pleasure. But, now I had the framework of a complex world all ready for me. I wrote the rather lengthy novel in just four months because it was such a joy to write. 
    I would get ready at my office at 9am, and then when I looked up, it would be 4pm. I had written thirty pages and it seemed to me that no time at all had elapsed. It was total immersion.
   The difference with Berand Fool from the first four novels is the narrative structure. The plot primarily follows Berand Wendralorn. I wanted to do something different from the other books which split off many character lines. There are one or two chapters that follow other characters in Berand Fool, but the preponderance of the narrative is Berand's.
   It was not a chore to follow this character. I have to tell you, I love Berand. I love everything about him, the way he sees the world, how he reacts, what he does. I truly wish I could hang out with him every day. And, he changes, he grows, he resolves conflicts in his mind and soul. So many characters in books, film and TV are one note, played over and over. Not this guy. I am very excited for you to meet him.

cheers

Kurt

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