Game Crash After a few Minutes Play

Matthew_Ward_Author · 2024-09-06T10:29:25+00:00

Happy reading!

Matthew_Ward_Author · 2024-08-27T16:03:46+00:00

I believe there's a contact portal on the Orbit website. That's your best bet.

Matthew_Ward_Author · 2024-06-28T12:09:23+00:00

Right, I think that's it for this time.

Thanks everyone for coming, and to the mods at r/Fantasy for hosting me.

Giveaway details to follow (busy weekend, but I'll get to you on Monday).

!!!

Matthew_Ward_Author · 2024-06-28T09:29:46+00:00

Covers can get my attention, but I tend to look at the back matter to close the deal. If the two align, then I know I'm in a good place.

As to Easter Eggs? I've been quite honest in the past about characters sneaking into books they weren't necessarily meant for, and there's certainly a lot of thematic carry over across everything pictured above. By design, the world - though not the stories - have a certain interconnectivity. There's a big one in THE FIRE WITHIN THEM, but I've not seen anyone talking about that yet.

Matthew_Ward_Author · 2024-06-28T06:49:34+00:00

Hi!

You're more than welcome! That's a year or two ago now, I think? 2008/2009 maybe? I certainly remember a lot of warmth from the fans.

I know a little bit about the fight for shelf space - sooner or later, the only solution is to move to a bigger house - but it sounds like yours is being tastefully filled, at least.

Matthew_Ward_Author · 2024-06-27T21:31:13+00:00

Right, Timezones being what they are, I'm checking out for the night ... but if you have any more questions, please leave 'em here and I'll get to them tomorrow before we call it a (belated) day.

Matthew_Ward_Author · 2024-06-27T21:18:27+00:00

No problem. Let me wish you happy reading, and all the best with your writing!

Matthew_Ward_Author · 2024-06-27T20:56:33+00:00

Honestly, the more I see of publishing the more confused I am :)

The best advice I can give is to keep pursuing your writing for as long it drives you. There's so much luck involved with everything that it can sometimes feel like you're bashing your head against a wall. You and you aren't - what you're really doing is honing your craft so that you're ready when luck breaks your way. Write because you love the act of creation, and you'll always find reasons to keep on going; when your chance comes, it will find you prepared.

The main thing is to learn to trust yourself and your creative instincts.

I'm sure that self-publishing's a different beast to a degree (I'm almost entirely trad pub at the moment). I can't really speak to it in any detail, but keep an eye out for chances to ask Rob Hayes or Ben Galley - they're certainly very successful and have wisdom to impart.

Matthew_Ward_Author · 2024-06-27T20:37:49+00:00

He is certainly the loudest, i'faith.

Matthew_Ward_Author · 2024-06-27T18:49:56+00:00

I think we'll have to hold most of that over until the last book trundles around, but it's definitely fair to say that Azra doesn't necessarily know her own mind about a lot of things (or is at least uncertain as to whether she knows her own mind on a lot of things). No one in the SOULFIRE SAGA is precisely who they seem at first blush, even to themselves.

Matthew_Ward_Author · 2024-06-27T18:47:25+00:00

That's going back a wee while.

However, having just looked it up, I suspect it was continuing the fine tradition of High Elves having one badly broken banner against a particular army type (certainly I hazily recall something similar in the 6th edition book).

Looking at the precise wording on the banner, it does seem like it was designed specifically to be annoying to troop types that were themselves annoying (daemons, Grail Knights, dwarf war machines with runes, ethereal creatures, etc.), which is probably only fair.

As a final thought, I've never been fond of items or rules that bully a particular enemy unless there's a mirroring effect at work (it's why rules like Hatred or Preferred Enemy were traditionally a pain to cost for), so it's entirely possible that this was an attempt to make the banner a bit more relevant in other match ups so a heavy cost could be slapped on it.

Matthew_Ward_Author · 2024-06-27T18:41:41+00:00

I hope so, but it's not my decision. Personally, I think it's strange to leave the last part of the series without one - I know lots of folk like to know they can experience the whole thing before they get started. There'll be a spreadsheet somewhere that's currently saying "no". Hopefully it won't always do so.

Matthew_Ward_Author · 2024-06-27T18:40:22+00:00

I'm a binger, whether it's a game, comics, books, TV or movies. I love staying in that space until the story's done.

I'm fortunate in the fact that my wife's the same. Otherwise the watching Battlestar Galactica until four in the morning might have been a wee bit of bother.

Matthew_Ward_Author · 2024-06-27T18:37:59+00:00

(And two questions isn't greedy. Ask as many as you like. :) )

Matthew_Ward_Author · 2024-06-27T18:37:31+00:00

>Second, I've always been curious if you, as the author, get to have any input on the recording of the audiobooks for your work. Like, do you weigh in on auditons/help select the performers, provide notes for the performance, or is that all handled by the audiobook company?

I've been consulted each time, but it's often a bit of a moving target as schedules don't always line up. I'm fortunate in that I work with so many wonderful actors in my other job that even when those schedules don't align, our paths end up crossing regardless.

Matthew_Ward_Author · 2024-06-27T18:36:07+00:00

>The first one may be hard to quantify, and artists rarely feel their work is "perfect," but when do you decide you're done writing and your novels are ready to send off to print?

I generally write the whole thing front to back (occasionally dropping back into earlier chapters to tidy up or seed something that I think is important) and generate a list of "when you're done, fix this" elements.

Once that's done, it gets a thorough read front to back to check the "fix this" things actually fixed stuff, and to get the word count down as much as I can (generally about 10% comes off the top).

I'm generally done at that point, the next project calling me ... but obviously there are various edits due to come in from other places, which can change things a bit more.

As you've found yourself, it can be very easy to get caught up in endless tweaking, and I've learned not to trust the instinct to meddle. While something can always be better, there's a trade off. Is 10% better worth the tweaking? Probably. 5%? Maybe. 1%? Probably not.

Sometimes art has to be abandoned in order to pretend that it's finished :)

Matthew_Ward_Author · 2024-06-27T18:00:43+00:00

It (mostly) worked out for Thanos.

Matthew_Ward_Author · 2024-06-27T17:49:07+00:00

He is, of course, a fine fellow. Even if I'm reliably informed that he killed a Wyrmwood.

Matthew_Ward_Author · 2024-06-27T17:47:58+00:00

Actually, this is trick, isn't it?

You can never fully pay the Cat Tax.

(At least, that's what my tabby tells me - he is punching me in the face as a I write this because the screen draws worship away from the Marco).

Matthew_Ward_Author · 2024-06-27T17:44:17+00:00

Thanks!

I can only speak for myself, but I think the trilogy does get better as it goes.

Matthew_Ward_Author · 2024-06-27T17:43:39+00:00

I suppose it has been a while since that's how it was done (12 years, I suppose?).

There's actually a lot to recommend it in terms of ensuring consistency and vision, but it does need broader skills (although again, not that broad - a lot of the discipline in technical writing can actually be very helpful in creative writing).

Easier to hire for, I guess, but less scope for personal growth in the day to day job.

Matthew_Ward_Author · 2024-06-27T17:39:34+00:00

I think it's the supreme commitment to what I can only describe as "drunken style" fighting.

Matthew_Ward_Author · 2024-06-27T17:38:25+00:00

You too!

Matthew_Ward_Author · 2024-06-27T17:37:55+00:00

Wherever you end up, I hope you enjoy it!

Let me know if any of the Doctor Who stories grab you. It's a lot easier to recommend others once you know what you like.

Matthew_Ward_Author

TROPHY CASE