HUNTERS OF DUNE and SANDWORMS OF DUNE

When I look at our heavy writing and editing schedule for HUNTERS OF DUNE and SANDWORMS OF DUNE (the two-volume chronological grand climax to the Dune Saga, based on Frank Herbert's outline for 'Dune 7'), I wonder why in the world I decided to keep this blog.

Well, mainly because we get a lot of mail and a lot of questions, and this seemed the best way to keep you all in the loop. The fans have kept DUNE alive and popular for forty years now, since the first book publication of Frank Herbert's original novel. And the fans have also welcomed our continuation of the Saga, picking up storylines Frank Herbert never had time to write; our new DUNE prequels have won numerous fan-favorite awards, been selected for prestigious 'best of the year' lists, and at least half of our prequels became the best-selling science fiction novels of the year, respectively.

So, the least I can do is pass along some updates and exclusive background information. I will post here as often as I can -- and as often as I have something to report.

Two years ago, when Brian and I went on an extensive book-signing tour for DUNE: THE MACHINE CRUSADE, we did a daily blog chronicling our travels, appearances, adventures and misadventures. It became wildly popular, generating up to 50,000 hits per day. It was also exhausting, being written on the road, passing a laptop back and forth, struggling with uncertain internet connections. For those who missed it the first time around, you can still check here for the archives.

Many of you know that Brian doesn't have e-mail and isn't connected to the Internet. (Don't ask!) Therefore, I'll be writing most of the entries here, though Brian may send in his own contributions from time to time. (Hey, maybe we can get him to talk about his views on the internet.)

First off, the bare-bones basics of an update. I'll go into more detail in later postings. Because HUNTERS and SANDWORMS are one continuous epic in two volumes, we have decided to write both novels straight through. Rather than writing the first half, taking a year off for editing and revising, then starting on the second half. We outlined HUNTERS and SANDWORMS together and have now done all our chapters. I started the first large-scale edit on HUNTERS while Brian finished his last chapters in SANDWORMS. This weekend I will deliver Brian the disk for the second draft of HUNTERS and start working on the first edit of SANDWORMS, and we'll keep passing the manuscripts back and forth. For the record, the HUNTERS manuscript is currently 606 pages long, but that will change as we tighten and expand various parts.

And finally -- as a special note for those of you who read this right away, Brian and I are both guests of honor at Orycon in Portland, Oregon. Come and say Hi, get your books autographed, listen to us give readings and talks about Dune. For more information, see http://www.orycon.org/orycon27/index.html.

--KJA

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