The test of good writing…

It was the tradition with A Place With Dragons that I read aloud each chapter to my family as each chapter was finished. I think the greatest test of good writing is the writing’s ability to be read aloud and understood and truly enjoyed by the audience…

This evening I read the first two chapters of A Murder of Crows to my wife and daughter. The chapters passed muster…

Ranulf, Son of Renfry…

Been thinking a lot about Nicolas’ friend, Ranulf, Son of Renfry… Much of the second book, A Murder of Crows, will center around him and how his past has now crafted his present; to once again cross paths with War Crows from the east…

It’s peculiar to have to write about things you don’t care for in order to write about those things you do. I really like Ranulf. I think he has a deep sense of kindness and strength in him even though his life has been unkind and broken. He’s quiet about these things for the most part and about how deeply they’ve effected him; how they’ve ripped apart something inside of him, torn something that will now lead him to do things and say things he hates. … I’ve been thinking a lot about that, and I hope I understand it well enough to write this book with the kind of audacity Ranulf needs to come through it. To heal. To be who he has always wanted to be.