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Friday, March 9, 2007

Getting up to Speed

Since it's been half a year since regular "Dune" blog entries, let me provide a brief summary of where things stand and what we've been doing.

In January, Brian and I received the copy-edited manuscript for SANDWORMS, and we decided to read and polish the novel one final time (altogether, the 13th draft...if I've counted correctly). This was our last chance to make any changes.

At the beginning of March, we received the typeset pages for the book. Right now, I am nearly finished proofreading it. (In addition to myself, three other people are proofing the book.) For the detail-oriented among you, SANDWORMS is 494 pages long, very close to the 520 pages of HUNTERS.

For his own part, Brian is completing the manuscript for TIMEWEB #3, and I am finishing the last edit on my novel THE LAST DAYS OF KRYPTON for HarperCollins and DC Comics.

(For those who haven't seen the announcement, this is the press release posted on the www.wordfire.com web page: " For DC Comics and HarperCollins Books, Kevin will be writing a big, epic science fiction novel, THE LAST DAYS OF KRYPTON.

Everyone knows that Superman, the last son of Krypton, was launched as a baby just before his home planet exploded, but only very small parts of the actual last days of Krypton have ever been told. This novel, reminiscent of The Last Days of Pompeii, will tell that tale in an epic form, with many interconnecting storylines, the pomp and grandeur of a doomed world, the politics and struggles, brave heroes and traitors, and finally the escape of one baby.

THE LAST DAYS OF KRYPTON is a substantial novel -- not a comic -- telling the spectacular story of Jor-El and Lara (Superman's parents), General Zod and his uprising, Braniac and his miniaturized Krypton city, and two desperate parents faced with the end of the world. The novel paints the picture of a society that has never been fully explored, and the origin of a hero we all know. Key elements of the main story will be based on the background details established by DC Comics, but this will be a serious and complex book written for a wide audience, not just comic book afficionados. (The novel is scheduled for publication in October.")

I am also writing the first draft of the final novel in "The Saga of Seven Suns," THE ASHES OF WORLDS.

For the past couple of months, Brian and I have been rereading HOUSE ATREIDES, HOUSE HARKONNEN, HOUSE CORRINO, DUNE, and DUNE MESSIAH, all in preparation for PAUL OF DUNE, JESSICA OF DUNE, and IRULAN OF DUNE. At the end of this month, I will spend several days with Brian to brainstorm that trilogy and complete the detailed outline for PAUL OF DUNE, so we can get started writing.

-- KJA