Mortal Coils Done
Yesterday I emailed the MORTAL COILS manuscript to my editor. Whew! It’s about 1,000 pages and 200,000 words long (iPod Nano shown in picture for scale). That’s twice the length of my previous novels!*breathes easy*
I feel good about this story--which is saying a lot if you know writers. They’re usually fingernail-biting neurotic (myself included) at this point in the publication process.
It was an intensive push at the end, but I finished two days before my deadline. Now, I can pay attention to my family again, catch up on those other languishing projects, answer email, heck--maybe even read a book or play a game.
It was an intensive push at the end, but I finished two days before my deadline. Now, I can pay attention to my family again, catch up on those other languishing projects, answer email, heck--maybe even read a book or play a game.
posted by Eric Nylund at 6:44 AM
43 Comments:
Awesome, Eric. Congrats to you!
I'll have to pick this up when it hits shelves.
Thanks for remaining such a talented and humble entertainer. You rock!
-EmF
Whoo-hoo! Way to go sweetie!
And as a first reader, I know can tell the rest of ya'll: it's really good, too!
>pay attention to my family again
Gonna hold you to that one! ;>
Syne
That has got to feel great. I can't wait. I wish you much luck and success with it.
Congratulations! I look forward to adding it to my Nylund collection.
Now all we have to do is persuade your publisher to put you on tour...
Outstanding.
That's great, Mr. Nylund!
I am looking forward to reading that.
Wow. It still amazes me to think about the kind of discipline it takes to really sit down and hammer out something like that. Putting aside distractions and laziness and hesitance and just tackling it head-on... it's amazing.
1,000 pages. Jeez.
Congratulations, good sir, and enjoy the spoils of your victory!
You just made my day. thanks Eric.
*Jumping with joy*
Thanks everyone for the kind words!
EMF - humble and talented? hmm. Have to ask Syne about that one ;)
Syne - no worries. I'm taking the weekend off!
Bees - I think it feels like (as close as any male can come to) giving birth.
Jeremy - On Tour? I've done two book signings in the last three years. One for the charity anthology and one at Comic Con. Definitely got to do more.
Angel - It's not hard writing the 600-1,000 words a days to get a 200K novel done in a year. What's really hard is writing that much _every_ day for a whole year!
rd104 - Jumping here too :)
--E
hi mr nylund, writing all the way from Africa. 1000 pages? *gasps*
I'll like to get a load of that.
But as an un-poblished novelist, i just have one question. Writing with MS word how do i know when i've written a standard novel page(back and front included)?
hello mr Nylund, writing all the way from Africa.
1000 pages? *gasps* thats some hard work.
As an unpoblished writer i just wanted to ask one question. Writing with MS word how do I know when i've written a standard novel page (back and front included)?
Ugochukwu
I’m not quite sure what you mean by “front and back.”
Don’t worry about writing your manuscript in the same format as standard novel pages. Editors don’t worry about that; they want pages that are easy to read. For most editors this means double spaced and a font like 12-point Courier.
If you are worried about how long your novel should be, go by word count. (Check the help (PRESS F1) of the version of WORD you are using to see how to display your current word count). Most novels range from 80,000 to 120,000 words. The HALO novels were about 100,000 words each, for example.
Hope that helps.
That's great news! I can't wait for it to hit shelves.
Thank you, Nikoda!
Thanks Mr Nylund it surely helped. While i was writing, all the while i kept wondering just how long my novel is supposed to be.
A lovely stack of papers. Though I dare ask where the rest of it is, as rarely one stack will site so lonesome.
Wow. That's great to hear. I've been waiting for this one for a while now. Just a little more waiting and it's be on the shelves!
Also, thanks for posting those word counts. I've been writing the "official novel" for a friend of mine's game, and I always wondered what a good word count would come to.
--Dan
Sir_B – yes. There are a few more stacks :) Many, many draft’s worth. And final copies sent to editor, agent, and final readers. I went through a case a paper!
Two Thirteen – Thanks! It will be out next year. I’ll post as soon as I have a date.
HALO 3. Who-hooooo!
I know I'm not the only one with this enthusiasm.
Cant wait to read it
by the way is it another halo novel, if not are you gonna be writing another? because ghosts of onyx is truely the best book i have ever read, and im a big reader.
EMF – Indeed! I got my copy last night. :)
Crimson – Thanks for the kind words about GHOSTS. MORTAL COILS, however, in not a HALO novel. I’ll be talking about it soon....
Is Mortal Coils a Extension of the halo series?
Littleasianinvasion, no, it isn't.
What would be a better question is whether or not Eric worked on Halo 3's story at all. Because it's very apparent that they used his novels as the backbone for some information they relay in it.
Sir brilliant that is true please excuse my ignorance.I would also like to know (if possible) how many Halo books in the series.
p.s. Ghost of Onyx was an awssome book and so was the others i give them 10 out of five stars keep up the good work Eric!
Wasn't trying to be judgmental or anything, I was just answering the question. Damned type doesn't show emotion so well...
There are, as of now, 4 books in the Halo lineup. The Fall of Reach, The Flood, The First Strike & Ghosts of Onyx. All of those are authored by Eric save for The Flood, which is done by William Dietz.
The HALO book series (in order of publication is:
The Fall of Reach
The Flood
First Strike
Ghosts of Onyx
Contact Harvest (Oct 30 2007)
(A sixth novel TBD)
Do you ever feel disappointed when people only credit you for your Halo novels? Ive read a few of you others, and theyre great; I certainly would be angry if I was only known for those novels, especially since you didnt make up the whole Halo Universe.
I wrote a book (so to speak. 200 pgs long) based upon the Rise of the Covenant. A Halo Fan fiction of course. I now choose not to write fan fiction, in hopes that i can one day be published like yourself. But now every time i try to share a chapter or two on the forums i am part of, i am known only for "That frickin' amazing Halo book", which i have been told "Is almost as good as the real ones".
Of course, i would never want to compare myself to a published writer like yourself, but i, for one, would not want to be referred to as the writer of the Halo books, as the people above certainly are :P
Now that i think about it, this whole post seems kinda mean; but i took to long writing it to just throw it away now!
Big fan, i just hope Joe Staten can measure up to your standards.
You are one of my writing Role Models, right next to Terry Pratchett.
Avidreader—
Let’s flip your question around and look at it from another angle... : )
Do I feel disappointed that I’ve connected with hundreds of thousands/millions of new readers? Do I feel disappointed that I’ve hit the New York Times Bestseller List? Do I feel disappointed that I’ve contributed to one of the biggest popular culture phenomenon of the generation?
Many people have read my older works *only* because they have read the HALO books first--and I’m pretty sure that many HALO/Nylund fans more will read Mortal Coils when it comes out, too.
I’m actually dammed pleased and proud to have written the HALO books...and I hope I get to write at least one more.
--Eric
Thanks alot for all of your great novels it must be stressfull to complete all of these books.
I'm a 12 year old kid who me and my freinds love halo and also writing books wich was inspired by eric nylund's novels.
Thanks for all your great books.
PS. maybe you can write your own book similer to the world in conflict.
That one green marker stands out among the dozens of yellow post-its...what is it?
:)
halo pwns - thanks!
tj -- the yellow post-its denote the eight different novel sections. The lone green flag is the one edit out of the dozens I found in my last pass that I decided to let stand (unsure which way it read better).
Nice! Heh, I was just about to send an email to you about this. Seems like so long ago you last talked about it (our interview was the last I heard of MC in any detail, other than a shot or two on here). Nice to hear it's finished. Any possible date? Guess?
Good to be back on here, if I might add. It's been too long.
MS -- nice to hear from you. No dates yet. Still waiting to get some feedback from my editor...but I'd suspect Summer or Fall of 2008.
Humm.. I guess I really underestimated the amount of time it takes to actually get a piece out there to the public. Was this talked about before in one of your "Discussions" (as I call them)?
I've been gone for an awful amount of time. No doubt I missed a few things.
Cool, I've been wanted to post for so long. I have all your books, after reading one in a library in french I couldn't find the others and they lost the book --'. Anyways, I found them again 2 years later, bought the lot of course :p. New book on the 30th, are you the author? 1000 pages is pretty scary, I'll give it a look-into aswell. Maybe over the internet or something, bookstores here are so slow. Well, best of wishes, take care and keep pen to paper!
As much as I want to by your books, I'm afraid I can't because I think they don't sell it here in my country. I better check bookstores around town.
This post has been removed by the author.
Congratulations by the way!
How long did it take you to write that including the editing time?
In relation to my inability to buy the books, I just play the games as an alternative.
Good, I came here to see if another book was coming because I was getting sick of waiting ;)
"Many people have read my older works *only* because they have read the HALO books first"
It's true, and I almost didn't even read the halo novels because most things based off games aren't any good (personal bias). I finally read them so I could tell my friend they weren't good science fiction (lucky for me I didn't bet any money).
I had really hoped that you'd tie up the (semi) loose ends from Ghosts of Onyx, but a completely new story has the potential to be even better. (note, I have not played through halo 3 yet)
Hello Again!
I'm just wondering how many books you're planning to write for the halo series.
-----------------------------
Christmas Shopping list:
The Fall of Reach
The Flood
First Strike
Ghosts of Onyx
Contact Harvest (Oct 30 2007)
-----------------------------
Mid-2008 ish? I'm not sure I can wait that long; may have to put myself back into stasis.
Red-team-Spartans – Thanks!
Viperz_d – How many more HALO books am I going to write? Unknown at this point in time even _if_ I will write more. All those decisions are up to Bungie and Microsoft Licensing. We’ll have to wait and see.
Stephen – sorry for the wait. About a year is a typical lag time in publishing.
jeez, is thot how many its gonna b in the book, thatll take a while to finish, good luck with everything else and i cant wait for it to hit the shelves
I must say I am inspired by the fact alone that you can go so long writing and still come up with such great works. Most I can manage is a couple hours a day. Anyway, looking forward to this too. Just like everyone else
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