Happy news today: the first draft of Book Three is complete! We finished the initial composition a few weeks ago, and have been attending to an initial round of revisions. Most of these were small things that changed along the way, so we had to go back and make the beginning of the book consistent with the changes. With these revisions, and a few more additions, we are ready to call it a complete draft. For perspective: books 1 and 2 were each around 165,000 words in length.

The Scourge of Narak is now available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble! Currently, only paperback copies are available. Ebook versions will follow in the coming months. We will have a limited number of signed hardcover editions available soon; if you are interested in purchasing one of these hardcover copies when they become available, please contact us directly via email: mechlingstubbs{at}gmail.com We will be having a local book signing on Wednesday, December 4th from 7:30-8:30

I have discussed in the past how much I enjoy looking at proofs of our book(s). It’s almost as exciting as holding the finished copy in my hands. Seeing the polished front and end matter, looking at the beautiful cover…it’s immensely satisfying. So…today is a happy day. 🙂 We are ramping up toward the November release of The Scourge of Narak! Check back for more updates, as well as some fun giveaways! #Update #Publishing #Events #proofcopy #ReleaseDate #BookRelease #GettingPu

The Scourge of Narak: Book Two of the Tales of the Seventh Empire is scheduled to be released this fall. We are very excited to share the news! The next few months will be busy for us, preparing for the release. Right now we’re waiting with baited breath to see drafts of the artwork (cover art and interior maps), which we should see in the next couple of weeks. We are looking forward to watching the artwork progress over the summer. After that will come proof copies for final

Buk Tu edits have been going well, though slowed by Labor Day weekend. We’ve been getting a lot of positive feedback from our editor, along with his usual copious edits. Hopefully the pace will pick up, now that we’re past the holiday, and we’ll be able to crank out the final draft in a timely fashion. I’ll be honest with you, dear reader, that I’ve been taking a bit of a writing break. I never do that on purpose, because I know from past experience how very difficult it is f

A couple of cool moments from this weekend— First, while signing books at the mall yesterday, I had the chance to talk with a family who all read fantasy together. Dad reads the books out loud to all the kids, Mom has to stop herself from reading ahead in secret, and the kids all have a certain degree of enthusiasm for the practice. First of all, it made me decide on the spot that I’m going to read fantasy novels aloud to my children. But the really cool thing was when the fa

A few minutes ago, I completed the final draft of Buk Tu (ie “Book Two” or the sequel to The Tale of Telsharu). Sam and I will submit the manuscript to our publisher tomorrow. After this, we move into final revisions, editing, and…publication! This draft has taken a surprising and incredible amount of work. Last night I tried to describe to a friend what it’s been like, and had difficulty explaining. First of all, no chapter of the book was untouched in this revision. In ever

My roommate came in the other day and looked around. Currently I have a craft table set up. My laptop sits in the middle, surrounded by manuscript pages that have been marked up by beta readers. I was sitting, working on revisions of Buk Tu. She looked at me and said, “That looks hard.” Revisions can be incredibly challenging. It’s a lot different than composition. To revise, you have to carefully trim out the pieces that didn’t work, replace them with new material, while sti

There are a number of stages that we go through as writers to prepare a manuscript for publication. This differs slightly from writer to writer, though I imagine many of the pieces are similar. The process that Sam and I go through is as follows. Step 1: Brainstorming Step 2: Composition Step 3: Self Revision Step 4: Editor read-thru Step 5: Revision Step 6: Beta readers Step 7: Revision Step 8: Editing Step 9: Revision Step 10: Copy editing & Proof reading For those of you w

I went to the midnight showing of The Avengers. I will admit to you, dear reader, that I am a total nerd for superhero movies. I love them. I devour them. Of course, I oftentimes scorn them (and all too many of them deserve their share of scorn) but deep down I am still fascinated by them. Naturally, I had high hopes for The Avengers. I was enthralled by both Iron Man and Captain America, though less thrilled with Iron Man 2, Thor, and either incarnation of The Hulk in recent

“I do not like to write – I like to have written.” ― Gloria Steinem I saw this quote earlier today. Reading it, I laughed, and almost agreed. But then I stopped, thought about it for a moment longer, and suddenly objected: But I DO like writing! I get a thrill out of writing. I love to feel the flow of words swirling around in my brain and out my fingertips. I love it when they come out exactly right, but I also enjoy playing with them, tugging them to and fro until perfectl

Today is the day. We are presenting the manuscript of Buk Tu to our editor for his first review. This is both a major event, and a minor event. It’s major, because it means the book is in a complete form, worthy of being read by someone besides ourselves. This is a major step in the life of a book. However, it’s also minor, because this is only our editor’s first look, and there will be many revisions to come–from our editor’s suggestions, and then through beta readers, and o

It has been a crazy couple of months! June marked the release of The Tale of Telsharu, which has been garnering positive reviews from readers. In July, Valerie was busy fighting at the USA Taekwondo National Championships. August saw the birth of Sam’s beautiful daughter, the Stubbs’ third child. September was full of many small adventures (and sometimes mishaps), as well as the anniversary of Valerie’s birth. We have also seen the completion of the first draft of “Buk Tu” (B

If you look down and to your right, you will see a section labeled “Current Projects” and contained therein, a progress bar. This would tell you that, as of today, we are more than a third of the way through the first draft of Book 2 in The Tales of the Seventh Empire, or as we have nicknamed it, “Buk Tu.” We have committed to our editor to have the draft to him by the end of summer, so you will be able to watch that progress bar climb over the next several weeks. We are maki

The hard cover edition of TELSHARU is now available! It will be listed at Amazon and Barnes and Noble within the next day or so. However, in the meantime, we have the special signed edition available directly from our publisher. To order a signed copy, visit www.telsharu.com and purchase via PayPal. This edition is offered at 25% off the retail price of the hard cover, and includes both of our signatures. We hope that you enjoy TELSHARU! #Update #Publishing #Fantasy #ReleaseD

TELSHARU is now available! You have a couple of options to purchase the books, as follows: The Tale of Telsharu The paperback is available right now on Barnes & Noble and Amazon. If you cannot wait another day to read TELSHARU, this is your best option. These sites are listing the book at retail, plus shipping. The paperback will also be available at our promotional website in a few days. We will be offering a discount off the cover price. We will make the link available as s

We have an official release date! Traitor’s Gate will be released in hardcover on February 15, 2011. Preorders will be available sometime in the next few weeks. We are very excited! Edits have been very time-consuming over the past few weeks, as we were trying (and succeeded!) to meet a hard deadline for completion. Our editor has been great to work with, and we feel like the book has really been strengthened by the last few rounds. And now it’s off for Christmas break, where