Jenile asked question 9, and some follow-ups moving on to music and instruments.
[–]jenile
Hello Mr Matthews! I enjoyed the Stone Road quite a bit. Thank you for a great book.
Without spoiling me too much, as I havent had a chance to read book two yet. Haung and Zhou were in a similiar place from where the other man started by the end of book one.
Will this gain them some understanding of one another? Will we see them eventually working together? When is the Red Plains being released?
Btw I loved the whole rooftop scene with Haung and the spell paper. It was very mystical feeling.
And unrelated- who is your favorite homegrown band?
[–]G_R_Matthews
Hi Jenile,
I'm glad you enjoyed the book - that makes me happier than you can possibly imagine! (typing with a smile on my face).
The Haung/Zhou arc in The Stone Road was a decision early on in the writing. Characters have to change throughout a book and I liked the symmetry of the situation.
In Book 2, you see them working together, but not fully trusting each other - as you'd expect given the situation. I wanted the two PoV characters to reflect / to mirror each other's thoughts, feelings and situations. There are similarities and differences - each has something to fight for, and each has questions they need answers to.
Book 3, The Red Plains, should be out by the end of this year. My editor is primed and ready - and I will have to do my customary 7 re-drafts before it leaves my door (email). I still don't know exactly how it ends and I am struggling with impatience... I know how I want it to end, but sometimes events, characters and setting take over :) In the redrafting I have to make them behave.
The magic system, such as you see it book 1, gets more involved in the story as it progresses. I love words and writing - it is by far the best invention the human race has ever made. I wrote an SF Signal article for Special Needs in Special Worlds all about reading - with the help of some very knowledgeable people. With that in mind, how could I not create a system of magic that relies on the written word ;)
My favourite home-grown band... that changes with the seasons! I play the guitar, twenty years and counting, which kind of influences some of my taste - but in the past I've loved Shed Seven, the Charlatans, Oasis, Stone Roses (you can see the age here), The Who, Mumford and Sons (love the new album, with the change to electrics - lots of open D tuning in their songs which annoys my son because I tuned his guitar to it (leaving my own 3 guitars along). A little further afield you have Kodaline whom I listened to on repeat whilst editing The Stone Road and further still - Counting Crows (I have almost all the albums - incredible voice).
Something quite new is this song - 'Where I wanted to be' - which my brother plays keyboards on (he is the one with the beard). My dear ol' bro is incredibly talented - any instrument, by ear, any time (I'm more a learn as I go, and lots of practice player) - who plays and tours Europe with different bands. Music is as important as words - I couldn't live without either!
Thanks for the question... and for enjoying the book!
[–]jenile
Thank you for your reply! I am excited to read the next book. And to see how they work together and get passed circumstances that happened in book one . That symmetry was something I enjoyed about the first book.
Seriously great song! Thanks for the link. I'll be looking for these guys.
I'm always impressed by people who can play by ear, or by reading. I wish I could play..anything My mom was very musical and passed her love of it to us kids. Just not the ability to play any instruments- to me anyway.
You have some great musical taste, there's a couple I don't know or maybe would if I heard them. I love the indie bands though. Mumford amazes me. Counting crows are so good! I'm a huge Kodaline fan! I wanted to see them last year- they were touring over here but cancelled before they got to our neighborhood. I can see how they could have put you in the mood to write some of those haunting scenes in the first book.