An Update and a Story

It’s been a busy week here at Worldbuilders central. We got a surprising number of orders for Unfettered in the Tinker’s Packs, along with people taking the chance to buy t-shirts, posters, and other assorted ephemera.

After I mentioned the book on Monday’s blog, we had about 500 orders, which is (if you’ll excuse my language) a shit-ton of orders for us to process in a week. But my team rose to the challenge, stared it grimly in the eye, and destroyed it.

Or, if we didn’t destroy it, we at least gruesomely maimed it.

I think my analogy is falling apart here.

My point is that everyone’s orders are being processed and shipped out with such speed and efficiency that you’d think that we were entirely staffed with some manner of high-tech robot ninjas. We’ve got the first 350 out the door already, and would be even further along if not for the whole federal holiday/post office being closed on the 4th of July thing.

First, I’d like to thank so many of you for supporting both Worldbuilders and Shawn by buying the anthology off the tinker’s packs.

Second, I should mention that if you’re one of those people who feels a burning desire to pick up first edition copies of books, they’re selling *much* faster than I’d anticipated. I asked Shawn, and it turns out that the first printing of this book was only 5000 copies. He’s sold a couple thousand. I’ve sold 500. The rest are going to get snapped up pretty quickly….

Thirdly, if you don’t know what the deal with the anthology is, you can read the introduction I wrote for the book over on Goodreads.

Lastly, a story about Oot….

*     *     *

DSCN1171

The man himself, showing off his new fruit-and-music tattoo.

When he showed it to me, he explained that it was pretty cool and that it made him super tough.

“How tough?” I asked.

Super Tough

Wow. That’s pretty tough.

But that’s not the story. That’s just the prologue.

This is the story….

A couple days ago, the two of us were taking a walk, giving mom some time to herself. We were looking at trees mostly.

On this particular walk, Oot also had brought a sack with him. He told me it was his bird sack. That’s where he’s going to put the birds he catches. Into the sack. He’s obsessed with trying to catch birds right now. Chases them all over.

And Honestly? I wish him the best. Aim high. Dream the dream.

Then out of the blue he says, “Y’know dad, I’d like to see you write your own book.”

“What was that?” I ask. It’s caught me a little off guard. He knows I’m an author, but he’s never asked anything like this before.

Then I realize this is probably because two blocks back, I stopped to chat with some folks out doing yard work. A husband and wife, older than me. What I think of as grandparent age.

Are you that author? they asked.

I am that author, I said.

We can’t can’t wait until the third book, they say.

Side note: If I ever get snippy or terse about people being on my case about book three, it’s because of this sort of thing. It’s not mean spirited. And honestly, taken by itself, it’s fine. Flattering even. And it’s loads better than someone screeling, “Why aren’t you writing the next book right now!!!”

The problem is that it’s incessant. I don’t just get it online. I don’t just get it when I go to conventions. I get it when I go for a walk around the block with my boy. Three years of this sort of thing wear a guy down.

 Anyway, Oot repeats himself, he says, “I’d like to see you write your own book.”

I thought about it a little bit, then asked, “What do you think that would look like?”

“Oh you know,” he said, very matter-of-fact. “You’d pull a feather out of a turkey. Then dip it in some ink and write on some paper.”

I nodded. “That is probably what it would look like.”

Then I asked, “How much time do you think it takes to write a book?”

“Oh you know,” he said. “Not so long….”

I’ll admit my heart fell a little bit when he said that. I found myself thinking, Oh Oot, not you too….

But then he kept going, “…but long.”

And you know what? He’s exactly right. That’s exactly how much time it takes to write a book: Not so long, but long.

Just in case you were wondering….

pat

This entry was posted in Oot, Stories about stories., The Tinker's Packs. By Pat136 Responses

136 Comments

  1. jasoninchina
    Posted July 7, 2013 at 3:45 AM | Permalink

    I live in China. Everyday I walk down the street only to be pointed out as a foreigner by the locals. It’s like a bad joke you’ve heard everyday for three years. But it’s new to them. You try not to let it bother you, but it’s hard not to become bitter. So you just do the best you can.

    We’re of course greatly looking forward to reading the last one. But it’s gotta be on your terms. Don’t worry about us, we’ll live.

  2. Posted July 7, 2013 at 3:54 AM | Permalink

    Have you ever considered having a guy that is always close by but not to close, who is ever ready to verbally pounce on anyone who gives you crap about the next book? Someone adept in pointing out the blunders and folly of others like catching a grenade and throwing it back at the owner?

    I would like to apply for this position. No compensation is required.

    • Posted July 7, 2013 at 12:17 PM | Permalink

      The truth is, these things rarely bother me at all in the moment. They virtually *never* bother me face to face.

      They just slowly build up over time. And when my bloodsugar is low, or I’m having a bad day, then I get tetchy.

      • Kali
        Posted July 7, 2013 at 1:23 PM | Permalink

        I hope the next time it gets you down you can think of this:
        Most of us love you – in an authory way – and want you to be happy about the amazing stuff you produce. You’ve won our hearts (Oot has helped), though some of this is selfish – we get better books and possibly a longer writing career from a happy author.

        So it takes not so long, but long. And you know what? We are pretty grateful for both your level of interaction and the quality of your work, so we will try to reassure you that we are not all grumpy or irritable in our toddlerish-want-the-Thing-now headspace. We wish you the best as you toil at this thing, and we hope that when you read our comments it can be an uplifter rather than a nag!

        • emcmeniman
          Posted July 11, 2013 at 4:03 PM | Permalink

          What Kali said. :-)

      • McBastid
        Posted September 13, 2013 at 5:04 AM | Permalink

        laughing heartily regarding the building irritation and low blood sugar- I have a wonderful irish temper which i generally keep in good order but… well, i can relate to your statement.

        to add to the innumerous, I deeply appreciate your work thus far. furthermore, i give you credit- even good naturedly, if i had people on my case to finish something i think i’d find myself dragging my heels a bit. lol.

        patience is a virtue and i look forward to its fruition.

        top of the morn’,
        an avid reader.

  3. AO_22
    Posted July 7, 2013 at 4:53 AM | Permalink

    I forbid the Unfettered Anthology to sell out, at least until after the 11th. (I do know that I don’t actually have that power, but perhaps the Universe does not and will comply :) ).

    I had painstakingly saved up for the book, but then suddenly some Kickstarter campaign sucked up all that money. Something about playing, I don’t completely remember, but it seemed important at the time.

    In all seriousness, and with great respect, I think that it would be especially swell if there was some way that the Rothfuss-ness awesome-ness requiring money might space itself out over the calendar year for those of us who are budget conscious. There may be no good way to make this happen in future, but I think that it’s a keen notion worthy, I humbly hope, of consideration.

  4. robert byram
    Posted July 7, 2013 at 5:13 AM | Permalink

    Hey there ho there. You just hold onto your horses.
    Don’t you go listening all those impatient folks in here or out there
    In the world of solids. You’d think they were a bunch of teenagers still.
    You just go on at the pace that’s right for you. I for one need some
    time to read this new anthology I just ordered and the first two books
    Again. Thanks for the fun Pat.

  5. Aerron
    Posted July 7, 2013 at 6:25 AM | Permalink

    From the mouths of babes.

    It will be done when it’s done. We will wait until then. There are lots of other books to read in the meantime.

    Enjoy your son, his mom and your life. We’ll be here when the book is ready.

    Carry on, Pat.

  6. Redwulf
    Posted July 7, 2013 at 6:49 AM | Permalink

    ^^^ What Aerron said…

    Personally, I’d rather you enjoy yourself and take it at the pace you need to do it the way it should be done rather than stress at all over fans who want it immediately… that way you’re free to write more stories in the future, and not cooped up in a psych ward post-breakdown… :-)

    If nothing else, give them a variation of the ole “Stanford marshmallow test” …. “Well, either you can wait, and I’ll give you a really (really) good book…. or I can give it to you now, but I’m gonna GRRM everyone right into their graves in the first two chapters and bring in new characters….”

    Fear not, your fans will wait for you.

    • RoyanRannedos
      Posted July 9, 2013 at 3:42 PM | Permalink

      GRRM should be a 1960’s style Batman starburst.

      (Batman punches Joker)

      GRRM!

      (Joker and all of his henchmen fall into their graves)

  7. itsjusthim
    Posted July 7, 2013 at 7:25 AM | Permalink

    Obviously we all want the book to come out tomorrow, but I think Oot has given the right attitude. I think it’s important for people to remember two things: first you have a family and a life and we all know how anyone gets when work- even work we love- completely blocks out other important things. Second We want a third book that we’ll love the way we love the first two. That may seem like added pressure, but I can promise that the care and dedication and TIME that you’re putting into it and yourself, and the side projects that catch your fancy are what it takes to guarantee that we get just that.
    We all saw how long it took between books 1 and 2, and we all read about how long it took you to get book 1 just right, so we should all just relax enjoy the world and be ready for the product that you see fit to release because that’s what we all want anyway.

    • itsjusthim
      Posted July 7, 2013 at 7:26 AM | Permalink

      also why the big rush for the story to end? I’m glad to hold off that end of series sadness

      • TK2187
        Posted July 8, 2013 at 2:23 AM | Permalink

        Yeah, I agree with this sentiment as well. I will be beyond thrilled when the last book comes out, but at the same time, it’ll be sad because there will be no more “waiting for the next one”. But then again, there’s always the re-reading. =)

  8. twas_Brillig
    Posted July 7, 2013 at 8:09 AM | Permalink

    Holy shit, goddamn your kid is cute. What a perfect attitude.

  9. Marco Primavera
    Posted July 7, 2013 at 8:35 AM | Permalink

    If I tell you that I don’t want to read the book right now I would be a liar, a bad liar. But i think that patience is the attitude of a real reader. I am a real reader, I read everything and I read comics too. I remeber when I took the first number of “Berserk” (if you don’t know what i’m talking about go to a comic shop and buy it now). It was August of 1996. It’s thing that it’s been a companion of life, and it’s been a privelege to look to the work and passion and art of another man full of talent. The same for you

  10. Marco Primavera
    Posted July 7, 2013 at 9:03 AM | Permalink

    I forgott to say something: when you will finish the third, there will be the fourth! and so on and don’t think that people will change. To say it whit words better than mine:

    Fiddler Jones

    The earth keeps some vibration going
    There in your heart, and that is you.
    And if the people find you can fiddle,
    Why, fiddle you must, for all your life.
    What do you see, a harvest of clover?
    Or a meadow to walk through to the river?
    The wind’s in the corn; you rub your hands
    For beeves hereafter ready for market;
    Or else you hear the rustle of skirts
    Like the girls when dancing at Little Grove.
    To Cooney Potter a pillar of dust
    Or whirling leaves meant ruinous drouth;
    They looked to me like Red-Head Sammy
    Stepping it off to ‘Toor-a-Loor.’
    How could I till my forty acres
    Not to speak of getting more,
    With a medley of horns, bassoons and piccolos
    Stirred in my brain by crows and robins
    And the creak of a wind-mill–only these?
    And I never started to plow in my life
    That some one did not stop in the road
    And take me away to a dance or picnic.
    I ended up with forty acres;
    I ended up with a broken fiddle–
    And a broken laugh, and a thousand memories,
    And not a single regret.

    Edgar Lee Masters

  11. hobrilyck
    Posted July 7, 2013 at 11:34 AM | Permalink

    If it helps any, here is a plea not to finish the book. Really, I mean it.
    Right now I have read and re-read both a fair few times, and they are amazing. I am not over-supplied with money right now and I am doing a bit of re-reading anyway. But it is not just your stuff, I am on about my third time through all that is Jim Butcher and Brandon Sanderson too.
    That said I look out for new stuff, I trawl Amazon to feed the ever hungry kindle and I will try samples and sometimes even buy new stuff.
    And be disappointed. Over and over again.
    There are enough books in the world to keep me going, wait till yours is right. Please.

  12. jimbo2k13
    Posted July 7, 2013 at 12:20 PM | Permalink

    Hmmmm…contrary to the general sycophantic pandering on here I happen to believe that being a successful authour is a privilige both in the financial and artistic sense of the word. It pays the bills and people like your stuff.

    I’m a great believer in things happening at the right pace though and fully understand that certain other aspects of life, family for instance, are stratospheres ahead of any other thread in life. I hold these same principles dearly.

    I love Pat’s books and like everyone else I eagerly await 3. I can wait though, its not going to change my life if its another 6 months or another 5 years. Pat should equally though recognise and respect that his hard work and brilliance has put him on this pedestal and now he sounds like a spoilt, pampered movie star complaining about the papperazzi. So he should scrap book 3 and move the family to the middle of the Amazonian rainforest and live in a tree house for the rest of his days.

    No? Didn’t think so…

  13. NAMDORG
    Posted July 7, 2013 at 12:22 PM | Permalink

    I can’t wait for the next book, but as a writer who’s taken the past 10 years to get his first one right, I know exactly what it’s like. I’m willing to wait a few more years (5 tops) if it means your book is going to be as high quality as the previous two.

  14. foodgirldc
    Posted July 7, 2013 at 12:23 PM | Permalink

    I am so torn about the third book. I want it NOW but I dread the end.

  15. cogentmutation
    Posted July 7, 2013 at 12:24 PM | Permalink

    Meh. Take your time. It’s not like you’re Jean Auel or anything…right?!

  16. justlikestoread
    Posted July 7, 2013 at 12:24 PM | Permalink

    It is a complement. Take it as such. Let go of your guilt and be happy so many people enjoyed the first two books so much they feel the need to tell you they can’t wait for the next one. Sometimes happiness is a choice.

  17. bookofmudora
    Posted July 7, 2013 at 12:34 PM | Permalink

    It’s official. You birthed the cutest kid in the world.

  18. Knightrous
    Posted July 7, 2013 at 12:37 PM | Permalink

    Pat, I only have one question to ask, when this couple said, “We can’t can’t wait until the third book,” was it said in a demanding or encouraging way?

    Your comment following it suggests the former, although I suspect it’s more the way it impacted you rather than how it was said.

    All I know is, if I did meet you in person, I would almost certainly say at some point, “I can’t wait until the third book comes out!” There would be no implicit demand involved, just a message of encouragement but not one of encouraging you to be faster in completing it. As plenty of us have already said, we want the book to be done when it’s done, that we might be a little impatient at times is not a desire to rush you.

    I can only imagine that hearing it constantly does get a bit much (probably understatement of the year), but take heart that there is almost certainly never ill-will involved. And if there is, well, just tell them that you’ve banned them from reading your books ever again. ;)

    • Posted July 7, 2013 at 2:28 PM | Permalink

      Yeah. I hear you. And as I said above, it’s not mean spirited at all.

      It’s just…. It’s kinda like when you’re a new couple and everyone keeps asking, “So when are you going to get married?”

      Or when you’re newly married, and everyone keeps asking, “So when are you going to have kids?”

      There’s no malice there, but it still ends up being irritating….

      • zusias
        Posted July 9, 2013 at 3:45 PM | Permalink

        Thank you for these explanations. I just passed two years of being married, and that parallel really helped me see how it must feel.

  19. Posted July 7, 2013 at 12:47 PM | Permalink

    As far as I’m concerned, you take as much time with your little boy as you possibly can! Enjoy it while it lasts. I figure, the more of your life you actually get to live, the more you experience, the better the book will be. And the longer we all get to revel in glorious anticipation for its arrival.

  20. Treggar
    Posted July 7, 2013 at 12:49 PM | Permalink

    Ever since you visited Kansas City I’ve wanted to know when we get to see your version of The Silmarillion. Is that even going to happen, because it would be awesome.

  21. BeasMeeply
    Posted July 7, 2013 at 12:54 PM | Permalink

    I know how you feel, Pat.

    I look a lot like Harry Potter. I know that. Much like I’m sure you know you have a beard.

    Anyway, as others have said, the world will go on just fine while you do your thing. The sun had been rising in the east for some four billion years before you first put pen to paper, after all.

  22. Raistlin244
    Posted July 7, 2013 at 1:02 PM | Permalink

    Pat,

    There’s enough for now. You’ve made a delightful world and told a fantastic story within it.

    Would I complain about having more of the world? Not a whit. But there’s plenty to enjoy for now.

    Besides, I bought Unfettered a handful of days ago and still have started neither it nor your story in it.

    I wish you all the best with your pests, and will try not to be one myself.

    (PS: that’s a pretty tough tattoo there)

  23. pixmainly
    Posted July 7, 2013 at 1:16 PM | Permalink

    Pat, I seem to get wrapped up in series. Yours, Jordan’s, GRRM’s among others. Each one came in their own time. Like Christmas, it seems forever away then, BAM! there it is and happiness follows. BTW seriously cute boy…go catch birds with him :) Childhood doesn’t wait.

  24. Posted July 7, 2013 at 1:46 PM | Permalink

    Oot is getting so big! And much as I am looking forward to book 3, I can’t help feeling that sometimes, there is literally *nothing* more important than than taking time to walk and talk with Oot.

  25. mackenziemi
    Posted July 7, 2013 at 2:05 PM | Permalink

    Patrick, I am as excited as any of your fans for books 3 and Planescape. That said please take your time. I hope I speak for others when I say I’d much rather have it right then have it quick. I fully trust you’ll make it awesome.

    P.s. your son is awesome, get that boy a hammer for he is the mighty Thor

  26. JFSOCC
    Posted July 7, 2013 at 2:13 PM | Permalink

    I once wrote an unpopular opinion on a popular site. (reddit)
    The day after my inbox was flooded with negativity.

    Now, each reply in of itself, was not that hostile (I mean, some were, but, nothing special)
    but the sheer amount of it was terrifying.
    So I get you when you say this.

    I don’t think that when someone asks you about your next book they realize that you probably get that constantly, and I think it’s fine to make it clear you don’t like to talk about it.

    However, I think you’d tire yourself out if you either keep letting them get to you, or start responding in an aggravated way. So I’ve got a (weird) suggestion.

    Every time someone asks about the next one, do something funny, like tell a joke, sing a song, even if it’s totally not right for the situation. Even if they’re bad jokes or singing.
    You’ll start to associate the comments with a fun challenge rather than an annoying reminder.
    And remember, these people are your fans, and they do mean well.

  27. getallcorpse
    Posted July 7, 2013 at 2:25 PM | Permalink

    Oot is so beautiful. He is like an impish little fae creature.

  28. Posted July 7, 2013 at 2:29 PM | Permalink

    In a small way, I relate to the incessant queries about finishing your book. Everyone I know knows I have been working on a book series for several years. They constantly ask when am I going to be done. I have only a handful of fans, followers, and well-wishers, but even with that few number, being constantly grilled gets old. I have a prepared response delivered with a smile for whenever anyone challenges me about finishing my work: “Progress is being made.”

    Thanks to Oot and you, I have an answer to the inevitable follow up question about how long it takes to write a book. I will say, “Not so long, but long.”

    Now, I go to the Tinker’s Packs to buy Unfettered.

  29. Carleen
    Posted July 7, 2013 at 2:36 PM | Permalink

    I learned the art of waiting after I read Tad Williams “The Dragon bone Chair”. The way I look at it is that you will get it done when you get it done. I would hate to see you get all flustered and angry because of fan pressure and write something that wasn’t what we all expected. After all…. good things really ARE worth waiting for. When book 3 comes out I will re-read books one and two to refresh my mind and to pick up on the little things that I missed the first time a round . You are a gifted storyteller. :-)

  30. ICANHASBOOKTHREE
    Posted July 7, 2013 at 2:43 PM | Permalink

    I CAN HAS BOOK THREE?!

  31. Bom de plume
    Posted July 7, 2013 at 2:47 PM | Permalink

    I am surprised so many people are asking you to speed up. It’s like saying “I can’t wait for you to be a dad- I hope your baby’s premature!”

    It would be criminal to short change the finale. Please, please don’t let anyone pressure you into rushing a single line. I need Denna and Kote delivered at full term!

  32. Posted July 7, 2013 at 3:02 PM | Permalink

    First of all, I love everything you write and will wait as long as it takes to read what comes next. I’m buying it first day without hesitation.

    That being said, I think writers of “serialized” fiction have to take the good with the bad. Yes, you get to tell lots of stories in just one world, but your story is unfinished and that tends to make people want the next chapter even more.

    As a writer, your ultimate goal is to get people to turn the page and keep reading the next chapter. As a serial writer, you want to create suspense leave your readers panting for the next book.

    But as a writer in the age of the Internet, you had better get used to people asking you to finish it quickly. People don’t like to wait, even less so when in today’s age where they expect every email and comment to produce results.

    The only way to avoid the pressure is to keep your trilogy unpublished until it is completed ;-)

  33. Mism
    Posted July 7, 2013 at 3:15 PM | Permalink

    Hi Pat, I was in two minds about posting this but just a heads up, you might want to check the name of the image file for the second picture of Oot being tough. It’s visible when you “embiggen” the image.

    • ktsmom
      Posted July 7, 2013 at 4:34 PM | Permalink

      Um… YEAH…. privacy and all that for sweet Oot.

    • Oatmeal
      Posted July 8, 2013 at 9:50 AM | Permalink

      You’re awesome, I was going to post the same thing when I saw that you already had.
      Ah, no matter, he’ll always be Oot to me. :o)

  34. ktsmom
    Posted July 7, 2013 at 4:39 PM | Permalink

    Personally, I’m utterly torn between wanting Day 3’s book finished and in my eager little hands, and loving the stories you post about darling Oot! I LOVE knowing that you get to spend time with your Precious Boy while he’s so young, and hope that he’ll be able to remember that his Daddy was there for him all the time when he was little. Lucky Li’l Guy!!!!

    I apologize if any of MY comments urging completion have caused you a moment’s pain (you sort of almost quoted me, I think… wince.) As others have mentioned, it was said with good humor and best of intentions, but yeah, I’m also the type who waits a year then “subtly” asks “roommates” when they think they might marry, or newlyweds when they might be thinking about kids. Sigh.

    We love you Pat, and your amazing little family, and your amazing authorishness, and your amazing world you’ve made us all fall in love with.

    {{{{HUGS!!!!!!!}}}}

    Oh, and {{{HUGS!!!}}} for Oot too.

  35. BigZ7337
    Posted July 7, 2013 at 4:49 PM | Permalink

    Personally, while I would of course like to read a new Kingkiller book tomorrow, I have no problem waiting until it’s ready. If I have a literary Rothfuss itch, I scratch it by reading your first two books again (which I just did recently, and I still absolutely love them). Since I know that I’ll be reading book 3 multiple times, I want to know that it will be perfect, exactly the way that you wanted it to be.

  36. Lord_Andron
    Posted July 7, 2013 at 5:14 PM | Permalink

    While on the topic of Unfettered, I just received my shipment notification. It took me 3x that of earths gravity not to jump in the air while in a bookstore. I was in the process of acquiring Gaiman’s new book during this time and made sure to glance by the Rothfuss section, as per usual. That is all sir.

  37. Posted July 7, 2013 at 5:43 PM | Permalink

    When I meet you I won’t say anything about book three. I will just tell you how cute oot is!

  38. kdculb
    Posted July 7, 2013 at 6:52 PM | Permalink

    Just so you know, I don’t want you to finish book 3 anytime soon. I have way to much shit going on right now and I would not be able to read it. I would constantly be having to tell people to shut the hell up because I haven’t read it yet. So, if at all possible please take a nice long vacation.

    Thanks.

  39. Patrick
    Posted July 7, 2013 at 7:17 PM | Permalink

    Hiyah name-clone!

    First I gotta say, I hope Oot fulfills all the hopes you have for him as a non-conformist, thoughtful person. He seems well on his way. Lovely kid you got there.

    As a devoted reader, I’m pretty familiar with your reticence when it comes to the book-in-progress, enough so that I hope if I ever do have the pleasure of meeting you in person, I’d keep that in prominence before all other involuntary stampeding sqealing reactions.

    And I think we as fans understand to a point that no matter how flattering WE think it sounds, to you there’s this sort of (even if unintentional) tacit reminder/prodding/demand to hurry.

    And we may be thinking that exact thing (okay, definitely thinking it), but it isn’t something we can really control only because we REALLY LOVE YOUR WRITING THAT MUCH.

    Like seriously, believe it. The way you feel about Joss Whedon? That’s how we feel about you. Okay, we feel the same way for Joss, but that’s how we see you, too.

    Someone once said that the biggest compliment you could pay a storyteller is to want more. And I used to think that was total rubbish (money is WAY more complimentary… that and vaguely accurate busts made of Skittles) but now I realize that I only get emotional and frustrated at the end of really good books, because I don’t want them to end, because I want more.

    And it makes me feel somehow bad that you view this kind of thing as sort of a negative. I hope you don’t feel like I’m imposing or pressuring you in a different way, but this is from our side of the glass. It’s different when you have to wait in the dark, with no light to tell you how far away something is. Maybe this is our way of trying to get our bearings? I have noticed that other authors who I like to keep tabs on don’t seem to be pelted with this as much as you, and that they also tend to have some indication of where they are in their process.

    Not a dig!! That wasn’t a dig. Just an observation *ahem* and a tidbit for thought ;)

    There’s no greater compliment now for me to tell someone that I so look forward to their future work. But knowing that hearing this from people is probably your least favorite form of compliment (dreaded even), makes me feel like I should try not to be so excited about your next book? That I shouldn’t think about it all, sometimes I make an effort to try to stay away from your blog (’cause I know you don’t post progress reports or whatever they call’em) except when you post something hilarious and/or awesome (like Oot’s seriously amazing reactions and thoughts on the world). It makes me feel sad in a way. Or … rejected? Hmmm…

    … feelings are a mess. One thing I know is that it’s hard to explain exactly why we feel the way we do, what makes us feel this way, what to do to make it stop or feel another way. Even harder to ask someone else to explain their feelings on the same thing but from the other side. Lots of connotation there, totally on purpose.

    All I can say, really, is that if it really really is something that affects you in a way that is the opposite of shiny, maybe the best you can do is ask us not to ask about it? Maybe we can spread the word when we see people actually say the thing you dislike the most “Why are you posting on [insert social media] instead of working on blah blah blah” because actually, that really is a shitty thing to say. Fucking non-writers.

    But if I ever do have the amazing chance to meet you, and I don’t describe how excited I am for whenever your next book comes out, I hope you know I’m still thinking it. And hoping that you appreciate how hard it is not too, especially since bearded Skittle busts just aren’t appreciated the way they deserve …

    From someone who CAN totally wait for any future stories you’re planning to tell,

    Peace and progress.

    • Oatmeal
      Posted July 8, 2013 at 9:49 AM | Permalink

      As for keeping us updated on the process and all that, he tried that with book 2, and ended up having several delays after putting out “release dates”. The actual publishing date ended up being (I think) more than a year later than the first one he posted. In a case like that it’s better that he just not say anything at all, because then it becomes “Well you SAID!!!!11!!!!”
      It’s kind of like the photo contest, we know it’s there, and we know it’s coming eventually, but he’s got a ton of stuff on his plate. He’ll get it to us as soon as it’s perfect, and not a moment before. All good things come to those who wait and all that.
      I don’t know if you’re on his facebook, but it’s even irritating to ME that every time he takes 30 seconds to post a status, 500 comments are awesome, and the other 1500 comments are whining about book 3. Or worse, “Shut the hell up and finish my book” … And yeah, I’ve seriously seen that exact quote. It’s ridiculous and insane.

    • Kali
      Posted July 8, 2013 at 5:56 PM | Permalink

      Pat’s a reader. He knows what it is to long for a book and is a giant book-groupie himself, so he doesn’t really need to hear our explanations of how we don’t have any malice intended. He groks.

      Unfortunately, it’s like having the incessant questions about “When are you going to have kids?” or “How’s that thesis coming?” (grad students and grad degree holders, you know exactly what I mean), only it happens to come from 90% of the people who know his name.

  40. Tubusy
    Posted July 7, 2013 at 7:29 PM | Permalink

    I signed up here to express a special joy at your blog posts, so splentent in wit and humanity. Loving humanity, as beautifully composed as a sonnet. You and your lad are damn awesome. Though imagining Oot looking up and adding, ‘So when will you finish-‘ is too delicious for words. I’m little bit twisted like that.

  41. wickedstpmom
    Posted July 7, 2013 at 8:57 PM | Permalink

    Did Oot catch anything?

  42. tab195
    Posted July 7, 2013 at 9:22 PM | Permalink

    Just out of curiosity, do you foresee the store selling signed copies of future anthologies you’ll be involved with?

  43. yasuisensei
    Posted July 7, 2013 at 9:28 PM | Permalink

    My wife was just in England and saw a Seagull shot by a cannon in a 21 gun salute… sometimes if you dream big enough they do come true!

  44. harrity
    Posted July 8, 2013 at 12:52 AM | Permalink

    “When you wait a few span or month to hear a finished song, the anticipation adds savor. But after a year excitement begins to sour. By now, a year and a half had passed and folk were almost mad with curiosity. This occasionally led to hard words…..”

  45. Vinny K
    Posted July 8, 2013 at 1:24 AM | Permalink

    Concerning those douchie types that bitch about the wait, just remember that no matter how much they complain and whine, they’re still going to grovel and pant at your coattails the moment it’s released. Moral of the story, you could take ten years to finish the last book, but we’d still bow down to you as a God among authors.

  46. unsleepable
    Posted July 8, 2013 at 1:46 AM | Permalink

    Dear Pat: I am absolutely dreading the third book. I dunno if I want to read it but I know I will be compelled to when I see it on shelves. So, you know, take your time. Meanwhile, I’ll just stay lost in the magic and not have to worry about the ending. Endings are my least favorite, anyway. I’m more a fan of middles.

    Also your kid is pretty wise, and will likely grow up to be a wisecracking wiseass. Which is grade-A awesome in my book. (Disclaimer: I do not actually have a book… yet?)

  47. Posted July 8, 2013 at 4:47 AM | Permalink

    Writing with some turkey feather and ink sounds like a delicious way to proceed. ;-) I would not try because I would not manage to produce something clean, though. ^_^

    In the french edition, Book 2 is separated in 2 parts. I read part 1 last year, and saved part 2 for my incoming vacations. Actually, I like to wait for good books, it’s like meeting an old friend and enjoying special time with him.

    (You know, after 2 children, some people keeps asking when I will have the 3rd one. 0__O) I wish you all the best ;-)

  48. Posted July 8, 2013 at 5:59 AM | Permalink

    Every time, people ask me when something is going to be finished, depending on how they ask, I want to answer
    1. “Now faster, that was comment was motivating”
    or 2 “Now it will take way longer, putting pressure on me is a killer for a creative process.”

    Not knowing what the right words are, I just say I love what you did up to now and I thank you for a new world and some very entertaining riddles.

    And the little guy is damn cute.

  49. Susurran
    Posted July 8, 2013 at 7:44 AM | Permalink

    Pat,

    If we are to meet a second time, please accept my apologies in advance for the almost certain Third Book Blurtery that will escape my mooning, awestruck face the moment I’m given a chance to speak with you, for this is sadly inevitable. While my brain may know that this makes you sadface and embarrasses us both with its banality and poorly-disguised scorn, my idolatrous fanboy heart will be too busy squeeing in Dogs-Only decibels ohemgeethat’spatrightthere! That’spatthat’spat! Don’tsayanythingaboutBookThree, don’tsayanythingaboutBookThree, don’tsayanythingaboutBookThree… for me to do anything but stare somewhere into the center of your magnificent rhododendron of a beard and stammer, Gumplike, “Can’t wait for Book Three!” And then I imagine I’d give you some sort of truly pitiful thumb’s up or maybe a self-deprecating chuckle as I hurl myself away from your stout orbit, like a comet finally freed of its celestial imprisonment and happily launched at a herd of unsuspecting dinosauria, doomed to bathe for eternity in the warm pool of my own shameful tears.

    This, I’m afraid, is how I always behave in front of my favorite authors.

    I once unsettled John Updike so badly they had to have me escorted away from his august person because I chose the moment of our first meeting to ask, with my typical starstruck befuddlement, if he’d read Augustin Burroughs’s short essay about him; the one unhappily titled “John Updike Must Die”. I am the one who drove three and a half hours to stand before Tad Williams at a signing of To Green Angel Tower and could find nothing more erudite to mutter than a milquetoasty “I sure do … miss Simon.” As if I were a three year-old shorn of a favorite teddy bear. Asking Dan Simmons to sign my first-and-limited edition of Carrion Comfort, I literally forgot my own name for a span of deafeningly silent seconds, then ran off at the mouth for the length of a Bible about how much I loved a book he apparently did not write. (This one was a wash, actually; Dan Simmons is, was and will forever be a dick.) When Dan Brown asked me what kind of books I wrote after I stunned myself by not putting all of my foot in my mouth in the first twelve seconds of our conversation, I cheerfully informed him that I wrote “Big, dumb thrillers, like you.” Which, of course, was an accident of too much truthiness. And finding myself sitting next to D.C. crime novelist George Pelacanos at a reading by his friend Dennis Lehane, I inexplicably delighted him with the long list of books I planned on reading before I’d get around to enjoying his latest.

    This is how I know I will become Jo-Jo the Idiot Circus Boy when next in your presence, and ask about Book Three, saddening us both and ruining both our days.

    You were spared this treatment on our first encounter only because I was accompanied, then, by the Love of My Life and the woman I am trying desperately to convince to Give Up Everything for the chance of a life together. Because she is vastly, cosmically more beautiful than you (Great Rhododendron of A Beard notwithstanding), and absolutely everything I have ever wanted or needed in a partner and a best friend, my aforementioned Author Buffoonery was assuaged by a more pressing and desperate desire not to embarrass you, myself, or (most importantly, of course), her with my typical stupidity. And so I will always remember the first time I met you with an overwhelming fondness and love; you were wonderfully gracious and effortlessly hilarious; the crowd was warm and the venue intimate; and when it came time to take your picture with the Love of My Life, you put your dear head on her shoulder and she beamed like a thousand suns and I thought I might die of the deepest Calm and widest Happiness I have ever felt in my life. You and I both dodged an unpleasant Author/Fan Moment that evening, but just barely, and only because of Her.

    Next time, though? Yeah, I’m totally fucking that one up.

    • angledge
      Posted July 8, 2013 at 12:45 PM | Permalink

      Longest comment ever, but totally made me laugh. I, too, fail my keep-it-cool check whenever I meet someone I really admire.

    • Posted July 8, 2013 at 5:06 PM | Permalink

      LOL, We totally need a like button for that.

      That Dan Simmons move…even if it wasnt on purpose. Priceless.

      Sounds like your lady is in for a lifetime of laughter!

      • Susurran
        Posted July 11, 2013 at 12:01 PM | Permalink

        I hope so. That’s The Plan.

    • Anthony Snow
      Posted July 8, 2013 at 9:32 PM | Permalink

      Now I want to read other stuff you write.

      • Posted July 11, 2013 at 2:42 PM | Permalink

        So do I actually!

        Do you have a blog by chance Susurren? If not, you should totally start one, I’ll bet it would be hilarious!

    • chipke
      Posted July 9, 2013 at 11:26 AM | Permalink

      Best. Comment. Ever. (and truest, sadly, for probably wayyyy too many of us, minus the Her)

    • wickedstpmom
      Posted July 12, 2013 at 8:01 PM | Permalink

      Loved this post!

      My sweet, patient husband saved me from being dubbed a creepy author stalker at the last comic con I attended. (Thanks babe!)

  50. Alphonse
    Posted July 8, 2013 at 10:37 AM | Permalink

    I was pleasantly surprised to receive an e-mail from paypal 3 days ago confirming that my order with Worldbuilders had been shipped.
    So thanks a lot for your hard work.

  51. Kristie
    Posted July 8, 2013 at 11:07 AM | Permalink

    You know, if I were in your position, I could see getting annoyed with people constantly wanting the new book. But at the same time, I might consider that people telling me they can’t wait to read it is just another way of saying they really like what you’re doing and they appreciate it and so on and so forth. Just an idea, but it’s hard to tell what people really mean by things.

  52. Nicholas D.
    Posted July 8, 2013 at 11:17 AM | Permalink

    Love. Respectful subordinate patience.

  53. angledge
    Posted July 8, 2013 at 12:42 PM | Permalink

    I just got an email from Paypal saying “Your package from Worldbuilders is on its way.” Thankyouthankyouthankyou for gruesomely maiming the shipping challenge!

  54. sandibd
    Posted July 8, 2013 at 12:43 PM | Permalink

    Dear Pat,

    Please take as much time in the world as you wish to finish book 3. I am a little behind on my campaign to introduce everyone I know, kinda know, might know someday, or don’t really know at all to read your books. I need to catch up. So the longer it takes for book 3 to come out, the more converts I will have herded together. (Add another notch on this one…bought the audiobook for my bestie to listen to while we traveled around the western US last week….she loves it!!)

  55. Posted July 8, 2013 at 12:46 PM | Permalink

    Have you ever asked Oot what exactly he intends to do with the bird once he captures it???

    For some reason I’m horribly curious as to what kind of plan he has formed. LOL.

    And I will agree that it takes, Not so Long, but Long. In the scheme of my life 3 or 4 years feels like a long time, but everytime I think back to what I was doing 3 or 4 years ago, it seems like it just happened…
    Actually yesterday I was talking about something that happened “maybe 5 years ago” when I was informed by my lovely boyfriend that we in fact had done that 9 years ago….*sigh*

    4 years of my life completely lost in one sentence. *SMH*

  56. coachjb2u
    Posted July 8, 2013 at 3:50 PM | Permalink

    I got so inspired by PR’s approach to prioritizing his life, I felt I needed to add my comments here on the BLOG. I’m a 62-year-old video producer for a company providing subscription based online training for a few hundred large retail companies. I devoured the first two books and gave them to my 26-year-old son, who did the same thing. We both had the same question as everyone else, “when do we get book 3?”
    Now, I think I finally understand how Patrick feels. My family is the most important thing to me as well. In fact, I have 3 grandchildren I don’t get to spend enough time with and Patrick has given me the inspiration to make changes in my own life.
    I told my boss I needed to take some time off from producing any more training videos right now. The pressure of trying to be creative every day while maintaining my relationship with my grandchildren was just too much and I wouldn’t be able to produce the quality of videos I had produced in the past. I personally produced all the training videos our customers train with, and almost all of them said my training videos were the best they had ever used. That’s why I was sure my boss and our customers wouldn’t mind if I took an undetermined amount of time off to get my head right.
    My boss was not very happy to hear this news, but what really surprised and angered me was the response from our customers. They kept asking and harassing me to tell them when I would complete the rest of the training video series. I was shocked by their reactions and how insensitive they were to my feelings. I mean, couldn’t they think of something else to ask me except, “When are you going to finish the training series?” Who do they think they are anyway? They just need to ‘get a life’ and let me just do things in my own time frame. Why should I have to be like everyone else in the world and actually go to work to work every day? I have enough money coming in from the subscription fees from my first few videos to live comfortably with my family. I don’t really owe my customers anything since they got what they’ve paid for with the first videos. They don’t really need the final videos in the training series and they can just use the current ones over and over again until I decide to man-up and finish what I started. You know, it’s really too much work and I just don’t have the strength of character and motivation to finish things now and no amount of whining and begging from my customers is going to make me do the right thing. In fact, there are a few other things I would rather do that are much more fun and less stressful. Maybe I will ask my customers if they want to help fund another project or two in the meantime. Some of them might fall for it and still hold me in high regard.

    • Mism
      Posted July 8, 2013 at 6:36 PM | Permalink

      I’m almost not sure if you are being serious or incredibly snide. I’ll take that to mean that this is pretty good satire. However, the difference between your analogy and reality is that Mr. Rothfuss is not a salaried worker with a contract, and that his career is effectively to produce works of art.

      On the first score, unlike someone with a 9-5 job, (if he is like most writers) he does not have employment benefits. Much like Mr. Speakman, who edited the abovementioned Unfettered anthology, if something goes wrong, writers have to foot the bill themselves.

      Secondly, when a writer publishes a book, that is it. It’s gone. It’s out there forever, with the writer’s name right there on the cover. And if it is subpar, it will be a permanent mar one the writer’s record and also mean that all the time spent writing it (usually years) is lost.

      If Mr. Video Maker was a freelancer who staked his career on each video, and each video took hours to make and couldn’t be edited, updated, or replaced after being published, and he poured his heart and soul into each video, making them not only the best that they can be but shining examples of excellence of craft to all of humanity, and he had to invent an entire world and magic system for the videos, and maintain its internal consistency, and worry about ensuring that the video’s conclusion does not disappoint even the pathetic, petulant, thoughtless customers who think that amazing videos like his just fall out of the sky instead of recognizing the incredible, herculean achievement that it is to create them, THEN maybe your analogy would apply.

      And you know what? 1) if you have all the answers, why don’t you write book three? Or a fantasy series an iota as good as the Kingkiller Chronicle? and 2) No-one is forcing you to buy the books. If you don’t want to support someone “lazy” and “weak of character”, it’s quite easy. Don’t. Keep all your money and time, and let Mr. Rothfuss starve and suffer your indignation as you stare down at him from your high horse. Meanwhile the rest of us sheep who are falling for his sham will be here, all alone here in the cold and dark, giving a great, kind hearted man and masterful writer the admiration and encouragement he deserves.

      • Posted July 8, 2013 at 7:01 PM | Permalink

        *applause*

        Three Cheers for Mism.

        Hip, Hip….

      • Kelsey S.
        Posted July 8, 2013 at 7:49 PM | Permalink

        I was going to respond to this, but you did it better, Mism. Let me just add that authors are real people with real feelings. Just because Pat is a public figure doesn’t give anyone the right to abuse him, and just because we buy and enjoy his books doesn’t mean that he’s working for us. The only person he’s answerable to is himself (and I guess maybe his publisher).

      • Oatmeal
        Posted July 8, 2013 at 9:39 PM | Permalink

        This. Times 100.

    • Brady Dill
      Posted July 9, 2013 at 2:54 AM | Permalink

      In the words of the great Neil Gaiman,

      http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/05/entitlement-issues.html

      And as Patrick Rothfuss would think but be too polite to say,

      You, coachjb2u, are the turd in my bowl of cereal.

      Mism, thank you.

      • Silas_Miller
        Posted July 19, 2013 at 2:33 PM | Permalink

        Great link! Thanks for that.

    • NateSMZ
      Posted July 10, 2013 at 11:04 AM | Permalink

      I see an attempt at a comparison, but I don’t see why it’s being made. I don’t think instructional videos are being called art, but it seems as if a claim is being made that art and artists should be treated no differently than anything else. To me, this thinking is flawed. Art is beauty, and beauty is rare and should always be appreciated. No one form of beauty invalidates another. A quickly produced novel isn’t better than one that takes time, anymore than a pencil drawing is superior to an oil painting merely because it’s created faster.

      Cherry trees and oak trees are both beautiful in their own ways. Would you criticize the oak sapling because it takes a couple hundred more years to achieve its glory than the cherry?

  57. GhostWriter
    Posted July 8, 2013 at 5:11 PM | Permalink

    Ah Pat, you’re giving your readers a gift. What fun is life without anticipation and desire? Let them long for it. When at last your book is in their hands, it will be all the sweeter for the wait.

    – GW

  58. Anthony Snow
    Posted July 8, 2013 at 9:26 PM | Permalink

    With all the amazing books you’ve suggested to me that I still haven’t got around to, even if the third book came out tomorrow, I’d probably be dead before I got to read it.

    As far as problems in life go, I’d say that’s a pretty good one.

    You’re an amazing author, and I love reading your blog and stories as I did your books. That said, you are a human being, and have this crazy thing called “a life” to live. Something involving a wife and kid, not to mention a charity.

    I’ve got time to wait…just don’t make Brandon Sanderson have to finish it (Although I do love his writing as well….)

  59. Rob
    Posted July 8, 2013 at 9:33 PM | Permalink

    So, in summary, there are three things every wise man fears . . . being unnecessarily rude to one’s neighbors, having to tell your small boy that he’s not going to catch a bird, and publishing The Doors of Stone before it’s perfect.

  60. Neavish
    Posted July 8, 2013 at 10:35 PM | Permalink

    I guess the Idiom Hunt is over… but I came too late to join that party and this is one for Oot the Bird Hunter…

    In Austria, instead of saying “I have a bone to pick with you” (which is pretty weird anyway) they say “I have a chicken to pluck with you….”

    A chicken is a pretty cheap version of a turkey, but still…. you can team up to pull the feathers out of a bird…. could be fun. In an ickie kind of way.

    You could write a whole lot of books all at once, with that many feathers.

  61. senkura
    Posted July 9, 2013 at 5:10 AM | Permalink

    Dear Pat.

    I CAN wait to read the third book.

    Sincerely,
    A Fan.

    P.S. Your son is obviously following in your philosophical footsteps. You win at parenting.

  62. Macrosthewashedsomanytimeslooksblue
    Posted July 9, 2013 at 7:19 AM | Permalink

    Ah, we live in a “can I get it yesterday” society, I doubt many of the people who cry about the wait are able to write a decent paragraph let alone a thousand plus pages of bliss. It takes as long as it takes, no rush, no short cuts, day 3 is going to be a day to remember.

    P.S. Cute kid Pat.

  63. Jhunter85
    Posted July 9, 2013 at 11:38 AM | Permalink

    I say take as long as you need to write your books. I know you don’t take as long as you do out of being lazy–you do it for very good reasons. It’s how you work. If you rushed your work, it wouldn’t come out the way it does–positively perfect.

    I feel the same about George Martin, people always complain. But I am like, let the man do his thing. It’s how his books come out spectacular.

    So with all that said:

    Does it suck to have to wait years for books? Sure, there’s no getting around that.

    Is it worth it in the end? Fuck yes.

    Will I continue to wait as long as I need to? Fuck yes.

    Will I hold against the author’s? Fuck no.

    Keep up the good work Sir Pat. Don’t let it get you down.

    Besides, I think I am not alone when I say the random Oot stories keep us happy–they are always amazing. And the amount of interaction and transparency you have with your fans is delightful.

    In short: Your blog + Storyboard is the perfect way to spend the time between books.

  64. Laelaps
    Posted July 9, 2013 at 2:27 PM | Permalink

    I just got my book today. I walked out my door to head to work this morning and just saw it sitting there. It made what was going to be a rather miserable day at work a much happier one. Thanks again Pat.

    • Posted July 9, 2013 at 3:50 PM | Permalink

      I got mine today too!!!
      It came on my lunch break and it was earlier than Tracking expected.

      However, I’m pretty sure the mail lady thinks I’m insane now…………probably shouldn’t have added in the little dance while she was handing it to me after I had already screamed/squeed “MY BOOK IS EARLY” so everyone in the neighborhood could hear.

      • Laelaps
        Posted July 10, 2013 at 11:39 AM | Permalink

        Mine was three days early as well. I was so happily surprised.

  65. snoopy369
    Posted July 9, 2013 at 2:30 PM | Permalink

    I’ve always felt that as a reader, it is up to me whether I read a book. I read the first few GRRM Game of Thrones novels, then stopped when it got to be too long between books, because I liked them, but didn’t care to remember from one year to three years later what happened. Same happened for the Wheel of Time – even a year and a half was too long to remember that complicated plot.

    As such, I don’t blame authors for taking their time. I might not buy the next book if it’s so long from now that I don’t remember anything of the series and don’t like it enough to reread it; but that’s my call, and not something to complain about. In this case the story is far simpler to remember than GRRM or RJ’s, so it’s easier for me to wait (and even reread).

  66. bill
    Posted July 9, 2013 at 4:28 PM | Permalink

    I see a lot of comments from people who are rather bossy and pushy about book 3.

    I don’t get it. I mean, it’s your book. We will happily buy it when it’s ready, but that doesn’t give any of us out here in the peanut gallery the right to demand you do anything with it.

    The thing that has continually amazed me about your writing is the prose. The plot is compelling and the characters are full color, but the care in choosing the actual words written makes it seem that you stopped to polish every serif on every letter of text. The words *gleam*. When I realized that large swaths of dialog were written in perfectly metered rhyme, without any warning whatsoever, I was ready to swoon. You didn’t have to do that. But you did!

    Someone in the thread above mentioned Sanderson. Sanderson is good, and I won’t knock him. Sanderson builds Porsches. A Porsche is a fine vehicle. A lot of fine engineering goes into it. I’ll happily read whatever he turns out next.

    You don’t build Porsches. You build one-of-a-kind handmade vehicles. A lot of love and hand-craftsmanship goes into the making of each one. Each fractal detail is carved with care. It is a thing of far greater rarity.

    It’s a beautiful thing. You’ve put years into your work. If you hadn’t, the results wouldn’t be as good, and no one would be clamoring for book 3.

    So, one one hand, take it as a complement. Most “big name” authors with large followings were still virtually unknown after their second book, whereas you became a major player almost immediately after tNoTW. We love the results, and find ways to express it that are rude and bossy.

    And on the other hand? It’s still your book. Take as long as you need. Personally, I’ll want it no matter how long it takes you, because I have learned to trust the results of what you produce. (No pressure.) One of two things will happen: either it will come out and I’ll be happy, or else eventually I’ll drop dead and won’t really need it anymore.

    • Posted July 10, 2013 at 3:21 PM | Permalink

      Okay I could never put it into words until now, but that is EXACTLY how I feel about Sanderson too!

      I kinda wanna hug you now………

  67. NobleJo
    Posted July 9, 2013 at 5:26 PM | Permalink

    I’m 65. I strongly recommeded the books to some friends who happen to be in their 70s. The third book is now on several “bucket lists”. Do we respect your timetable, family, and creative timetable – certainly. Alas, too bad some of us may never find out what happens to Kvothe : )

    • mandabanda
      Posted July 10, 2013 at 1:33 PM | Permalink

      Sheesh, that’s not pressure! :)

      • mandabanda
        Posted July 10, 2013 at 1:33 PM | Permalink

        Then again, I could get hit by a bus tomorrow, and be in the same boat…

    • pacifist
      Posted July 12, 2013 at 8:58 PM | Permalink

      They say all questions are answered when we die (who is/are they then/now, you ask? well.. ya’know, them.)

      if they’re right (they rarely are) we won’t have to fear death before the book’s done, will we? :)

  68. RoyanRannedos
    Posted July 9, 2013 at 5:55 PM | Permalink

    First time posting – highest compliments on your work thus far.

    I read out loud to my wife, who loves fantasy but has to work around a foreground/background dyslexia. We started with half of Eragon (up until the tutorial avatar/mentor dies), and since then I’ve read her the whole Wheel of Time series, the Mistborn trilogy, and several other great books.

    Nothing exposes the flaws in an author’s writing more than reading it aloud. I have to keep myself from adding the Dramatic Look Gopher sound effect when I read…

    One of Brandon Sanderson’s one-sentence paragraphs. DUN!

    And then my wife hits me and tells me to stop. And I do, because I love her.

    With Kvothe, though, there’s very little to critique (I’ll have to time the next aloud re-read, see how it compares with in-story time). And the few flaws are more than compensated by the sheer fun of reading it aloud.

    With so much of modern writing, I think the authors get bored, and want to get to the cinematic or soap operatic moments faster. It takes real craft to make the reading as enjoyable as the plot line, and getting into Kvothe’s head and heart accomplishes that.

    You’ve got something distinctive: a man telling his life story in three days in a mesmerizing tale. It’s long, but not so long.

    • Tait
      Posted July 9, 2013 at 11:11 PM | Permalink

      “… I’ve read her the whole Wheel of Time series, the Mistborn trilogy, and several other great books.”

      That’s love.

  69. wolfs_sagitta88
    Posted July 9, 2013 at 6:08 PM | Permalink

    Pat–I have a story for you…

    I’ll ruin it for you and start at the end, although the ends the best part. It ends in fits of glee, shouting and yelling, finding a package at my door and realizing it’s from world builders.

    You. Rock. Pat. You rock.

    I was one of those 500 orders after your mention on Monday, and I have to say I’m impressed. You guys knocked those out of the water. So basically, what I’m saying here is…

    Don’t stop the awesomeness. You are awesome and amazing. Thank you for sharing your awesomeness.

  70. Posted July 9, 2013 at 7:24 PM | Permalink

    Hi Pat.
    I didn’t have time to read through all the comments, so if I’m restating what many have already said, please forgive the repetition.

    “Hear me three times Pat. We want a good book, not a fast book. We want a story that is a stone in deep water, smooth as polished glass, and as long and true as it needs to be. We do not want a story that is jagged shale in the shallows where only fools walk their feet bloody for the sake of quick convenience. We are willing to wait for you.”

    And anyone who says differently, well they’re a fuckin’ idiot. After all, true beauty is worth the wait.

    • sandibd
      Posted July 10, 2013 at 11:10 AM | Permalink

      Very nicely worded Casey. I think that we all agree on that.

  71. Cody
    Posted July 9, 2013 at 10:57 PM | Permalink

    Hi Pat & friends,

    I am a relatively new fan (picked up the name of the wind a little over a year ago), but I’ve followed the blog and trolled through the dark recesses of the archives closely enough since then to know that what you described above is a recurring problem. It has been mentioned at various points that editing is a long process and that the book will be done when it is done. I couldn’t help but wonder at this point, “what exactly is it that Pat is doing?”. Being a resourceful person, I looked through the older blog posts and found that there was a really cool post on August 16, 2010 which responded to the internet’s overwhelming need for more books by giving us a glimpse of the revision process.

    For what it’s worth, Pat, I think it would be really cool to see this process in action. While the August 2010 post showed us how you might edit a relatively simple fanmail letter, it would be really cool to see how you edited a specific, spoiler-free excerpt from any of your published (or unpublished) fiction. I myself am not a writer, but I would imagine that between worldbuilding, revealing information, characterization, moving the plot forward, and basic sentence structure you have a lot to deal with that could create meaningful changes in the story.

    Of course, this might be a difficult thing to do and I absolutely understand if you feel like you’ve covered this sufficiently through the storyboard videos, but I think it would be really cool to see everything in action. One of my favorite posts from the blog was the one about punctuation, and while that was clearly humorous I felt like there was an interesting point made about how the meaning of text can change dramatically even after relatively small changes. Anyway, suffice it to say I think that this would be really awesome.

    On that note, I apologize if you actually did this somewhere else and I just didn’t find it. I promise I looked, but there’s a lot of hours of storyboard and I am ashamed to say that while I have watched some of it, I have not quite watched all of them yet and thus may have missed it.

    tl;dnr: check out the blog post on revisions from august 2010, it’s pretty cool. I would love to see something similar done with an actual passage from the books, if you can get around to it and feel like it is worthwhile.

    • Oatmeal
      Posted July 10, 2013 at 2:27 PM | Permalink

      There’s another post that’s very “a day in the life of … ” it gets down to the real details of the day. Everything from talking to his translation team to reading through several paragraphs to see if certain words were used too many times, to moving a section of text around to see if it flows better I’m one place than another and them moving it back again. If I weren’t so lazy I would link it for you but I don’t remember when it’s from. All I remember was reading that post taught me to appreciate the work that goes into a lovingly tended story and to never ask “Is it DONE YET! ?!!!!” like a spoiled child ever again.

      • Oatmeal
        Posted July 10, 2013 at 2:47 PM | Permalink

        I am am idiot
        I just spent a bunch of time searching and it’s the same friggen post. Ah well it was a nice troll through the archives anyway.

  72. Channain
    Posted July 10, 2013 at 8:38 AM | Permalink

    For the first month after I moved cube to the one directly above mine – second floor to third – folks who heard about it, stopped by, wondered who I was and found out where I was located would say, “Oh, you’re in Sue’s old cube.”

    “Sue” has been gone since December, and really, it’s not her old cube. Her old cube was dismantled during a reconfiguration of the floor. When plans were hatched to move me upstairs, the guys I’d be working for (The Rich & Doug Show) had a cube put together in the same spot. So it’s not her old cube, but it is her old spot.

    But it’s Nora’s New Cube…

  73. ericturner29
    Posted July 10, 2013 at 10:20 AM | Permalink

    I think it’s awfully hard to express an opinion other than “take all the time you need – you don’t owe anybody anything!!” without coming off spoiled and entitled.

    It’s a shame because I believe that there’s a nuanced conversation to be had about the relationship between famous people and their fans, and what they should reasonably expect from each other.

    I doubt the internet is the place to have that conversation, because people get immediately bucketed into the categories of “drooling sycophant” or “selfish asshole” and things spiral downward from there.

  74. wildnone
    Posted July 10, 2013 at 12:14 PM | Permalink

    hello dear revered Mr. Rothfuss,
    I wrote an email yesterday and revised & sent it to you through this site today and would like to make sure you saw that had happened as you do reply to these posts.
    I want to bring you a gift when I try to get my volumes signed at the University Book Store in Seattle in Aug on the 29th of this year.

    sending this with all the adoring love this fan could have towards someone of your value and worth
    S.M.

  75. todd.allen
    Posted July 10, 2013 at 8:13 PM | Permalink

    I think we can all be in agreement when we say that we would rather wait and have it be perfect then get it early and have it not be complete. Writing takes time, all authors say this. Not every one can kick out books every two weeks like JP (which I tried to read and just could not, had to keep looking at the covers to remember what story I was reading… meaning they are all the same) No one here wants that, especially not me. I will wait with due diligence. It will all be worth it in the end!

  76. TheGamer
    Posted July 11, 2013 at 5:33 AM | Permalink

    In reading and rereading books, I start to think of the characters as old friends of mine. So thinking like that, I’m both looking forward to seeing what they will do next and anxious about saying goodbye. I personally can’t get further than a few chapters into any story I write without scrapping it and starting over xD so I cant really even imagine how much effort it takes to write a full novel. That being said I wish you and yours good luck and good health.

  77. Aaron
    Posted July 11, 2013 at 1:16 PM | Permalink

    i read a lot and follow several authors, (though fewer and fewer as the years pass, need to read more new books instead of rereading oldies)

    but having started my own novel in my last year of college something like 5 years ago now. even once you get done with the outline of a book and you start writing it. it continues to evolve as you discover more and more of the details of the sculpture that you’re writing.

    the level of detail in your books makes me impressed that you can write a book in less than 3 or 5 years at all. especially going from hobby writer to pro.
    there are very few authors, who write with the same level of detail, complexity and with that knack for detail that you’ve got in your books. brandon sanderson writes with a slightly lower level of detail. Robert Jordan wrote and George RR Martin writes, with just about the same level of complexity. The only author i’ve read where i feel there was more detail is Tolkien, and your stuff smokes his in readability.

    personally i think your novels are among the best writing out there and if i have to wait another two years for the same level of detail and dedication and soul that you put into your writing, then that’s fine. i hope that if i become a published author then one day you’ll feel the same way.

  78. M.Fenwick
    Posted July 11, 2013 at 3:32 PM | Permalink

    Pat, I got this:

    Get yourself one of them there fancy Google Glass glasses. Then get yourself one of those laser projecting keyboards. Now just walk around like that, constantly tapping your fingers. Cons, interviews, walking down your street, etc.

    You can now say, “I AM writing. RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE!” and give people the crazy ‘Aren’t you amazed?’ look!

    If you don’t have the money for those, get yourself one of those Geordi-LaForge-style hair clips young teen girls use, and an old Nintendo Power Glove found at any garage sale for 25 cents.

    No no, it’s ok. I don’t require payment for this genius idea.

    ….well maybe you might say “This guy is cool!” when I publish my first novel…jus’ sayin’.

  79. María
    Posted July 13, 2013 at 10:42 AM | Permalink

    I only need an announcement for reread the two another books before, and keep reading the next when the time comes…

    But It’s gonna be amazing and the waitness is gonna be recompense anyway.

    So your fans are with you in all your all person, bad or good moments. I am staying fun with your stories and your beautiful son, it works all together.

  80. Stecross92
    Posted July 13, 2013 at 5:12 PM | Permalink

    Oot must follow the Lethani

  81. Posted July 14, 2013 at 4:33 AM | Permalink

    ffs Pat. You only have one bloody job and thats you enjoying your family.

    I know as well as anyone else on the fine line of working to live, and living to work. Enjoy your family.

  82. Gord
    Posted July 14, 2013 at 6:52 AM | Permalink

    When I saw the list of authors in the previous post about “Unfettered”, I thought, “damn, that’s a hell of a list”. Then I figured I would also be helping out two good causes if I were to buy a copy. So I did.

    The book arrived at the beginning of last week, considerably faster than I thought, and I’m already almost finished it! What a load of fantastic stories! Absolutely multiple-read worthy.

    Very glad to have gotten a copy (for selfish reasons) and happy to have helped out in the process.

    Thanks.

  83. Geekgirl
    Posted July 14, 2013 at 8:09 AM | Permalink

    Writing a book takes as long as it takes. Not so long, but long.

    We understand this. We do. It’s just…

    Remember when you were a kid and you were taking a car trip to, like, the most awesomist place on earth – maybe it was a summer camp, maybe it was grandma’s house, maybe it was the Chinese buffet, who knows – and you’re in the car and you’re bouncing about in your seat because you’re just *that* excited to get there, and ever five minutes you’re asking your parents, “Are we there yet?”

    Clearly you aren’t there because if you were, you’d be pulling in and getting out of the car and while you knew, full well, that you were not, in actuality, at the most awesomist place in the world, you couldn’t stop from asking anyway.

    This is how it is to be your readers. :) We know we’ll get there when we get there. We know the ride will take exactly as long as it needs to take, and we’re sorry for asking “are we there yet?” every five minutes. We’re just excited.

    And just like our parents, it was amusing and maybe even cute the first fifty times we asked, but now it’s getting on your nerves. We get that, and we’re sorry.

    Please don’t turn the car around. We’ll be good, we promise. ;)

  84. Dale Botha
    Posted July 15, 2013 at 5:45 AM | Permalink

    You won’t hear any impatient pleas from me Pat!

    Enjoy it! There is a world of reading out there to satisfy the most prodigious reader! They’ll wait!

  85. Posted July 16, 2013 at 1:00 PM | Permalink

    You probably won’t scroll this far, Pat, and that’s cool. And if you do, I might get the tone all wrong on what I’m trying to say or write too long, but I’ll share this little adage anyway. Because it helped me and keeps helping me. And maybe it might help someone else who reads this. It’s not trite, necessarily, but it was given to me by the third wisest man I’ve ever met — there is one thing the third wise man said, if you will.

    I was freaking out about not meeting any of my goals in a month or two (I make a lot of ridiculous goals) and this wise guy said,

    “We overestimate what we can accomplish in one year, and underestimate what we can do in five.”

    To extend the metaphor a bit, I’ve followed your work for awhile now. In five years (2002 to 2oo7) you went from no-name writer to published novelist. In five more years you went from published author, to two-time NYT Bestselling author.

    You know what you were doing five-ish years ago?

    Opening this.

    I know you know these things, so this isn’t like secret information I’m privy to or whatever — I’m not trying to teach you anything, and even if I was, that piece of wisdom didn’t originate in my mind. Plus, everyone and their draccus can Google your name and find the Wikipedia article about these events.

    But sometimes it’s nice to look back and think “damn, that was only five years ago.” Even George R. R. Martin, the king of long breaks, averages five years between one book and another. And a lot happens in those books. A *lot*

    That said, five years is a relatively short wait in the grand scheme of things.

    After all, there are other books in the world and a good, healthy reader will read broader than one series. Short of comparison, how else will said reader know if the last book of his or her favorite series delivers on the promises made earlier in the series?

    So please take your time. Take your sweet time. And when that time finally comes, we will will see what we will see…

  86. Nthouse
    Posted July 18, 2013 at 7:35 PM | Permalink

    Oot is wise beyond his years. This must be attributed to the tendrils of his long, golden mane absorbing the collective knowledge of the World around him.

  87. fdsaf
    Posted July 19, 2013 at 12:51 PM | Permalink

    Ok, I need to be honest about something. I’m guessing this is going to be interpreted as trolling by fans, but I encourage everyone who reads this to think about what I’m saying before they respond.

    I think Pat needs to stop the shtick of “poor me, my fans, in expressing their love of the book, keep pestering me about when the next one will be done”. The problem, dear Pat, is that you’re not taking into consideration appearances. Perception is reality. Think about how much of your blog time is spent focusing on non-writing activities versus progress updates. That in and of itself should shed some light on why fans sometimes get anxious.

    Yes, you have a charity and a family and all that jazz. I’m impressed. But think about this: your success has put you in a position where you can be involved in Worldbuilders, and that’s awesome. But you’re an author, and authors write. Other authors publish novels with more frequency, and their novels aren’t barebones with crappy setting or characters. At some point, it becomes a fair thing to ask of a creative person when they’re going to stop messing about with their project and finish the damn thing already.

    But surely there’s more to life than frequency of publication, you might be thinking. And I agree: there is. And this gets to my bigger problem with the attitude displayed by Pat in this blog post. It’s this sense of self-entitlement that I perceive just oozing off of him. Now, I’ve never met Pat. Maybe he’s a swell guy in person. I do not know. Going off of what I read in this blog and in interviews, though, he comes off as entitled. There’s a bit of self-righteous indignation thrown in for good measure, as in “how dare these people ask when the next book will be finished”.

    I can’t really support that kind of attitude. Moreover (this is the part where I’m probably really going to get called a troll, if I haven’t been already), people who have that kind of attitude usually have more of a history of success before they display it so openly.

    I’m really not trying to start a fight with anyone. I just think it’s high time someone called him on some of this stuff, and I have no problem doing it. Of course, the chances are slim that he’ll read this comment, but I’m content with making this effort.

    • Soren
      Posted August 22, 2013 at 5:48 AM | Permalink

      Okay, you’ve said EXACTLY what I thought. It hurts a little, because I want to be kind to pat. We ALL love Worldbuilders. I love it. But when youu write a book which is going to be a trilogy, you have a little deal with the reader. A little. You have a life, you aren’t going to write 10 hours per day and that. But the Name of the Wind card deck, for example… I love it, I’ve bought 1 limited and 1 unlimited deck, and every day I get off the bed I think: One day less for the cards. But, as asewome as it is, it takes you time when you could be writing. I’m NOT a troll. I love the books and I think I’m a major fan. You are probably my favourite author. But that’s what I think.
      Sincerely, Soren

  88. Diana
    Posted July 22, 2013 at 5:00 PM | Permalink

    Hi, I’m going to wait as long as it takes for the next book but I have only one request as a beg (sorry for my english I’m from Mérida Yucatán México) I just want a happy ending. No much to ask, Wright? Thank you in advance, Diana

  89. svalic
    Posted August 8, 2013 at 2:47 AM | Permalink

    Pat, just take your time. When it’s out we will all sing your praise because you took the time to write a good book. I’ll never ask, but I will be back often to check on the progress.

  90. raspberryh
    Posted August 14, 2013 at 12:02 PM | Permalink

    I say take as MUCH time as you want, because I know the final product will be AMAZING. And there’s no limit to how long I will wait for something amazing :)

  91. Nevyn
    Posted August 21, 2013 at 1:50 PM | Permalink

    While I can sympathize, and totally see how it would be annoying to be constantly asked about the book, I DO have to say:

    This is what you get for writing a trilogy with a continuing cliffhanger.

    And by that I mean, the structure of the books is build around building anticipation to the rest of the tale. You create a bunch of mysteries, hint at the answers, hint at momentous future events and then … nothing happens for a long time.

    Its like you poisoned a room full of people with a slow acting toxin, and then complained about how they kept nagging you about when you’d make an antidote.

    The books are great. And I appreciate the effort that goes into them. And I don’t expect you to do nothing else until they are done. But in terms of the constant pressure about the new book, you brought it on yourself.

  92. Posted August 27, 2013 at 10:38 PM | Permalink

    Pat,

    I figure being at the bottom you’ll never get to this, and I’m like a month late on the comment. That said, I totally get that this sort of comment tends to get annoying after a while. My wife and I are pregnant so we get a lot of the same questions. And people don’t know it but it adds to the stress. I think what most of the true fans want is to take that stress away, but also validate that you have written one of those stories that is so engrossing that I wish I hadn’t picked up the book until you’d finished them all but at the same time kinda masochistically enjoy the wait. Does that make sense?

    What I’m really trying to say is most people get that what you are doing is art. To a huge degree and on a huge very complex canvas. I don’t envy you, but I do know that your work will be timeless in a lot of sense (at least for me). If I could do anything to remove the pressure that builds up with this sort of thing I would but that may entail some weird shit that previously state baby momma might not like, so instead I’ll just say. Hey man, you remember to write a story that you like, and I’m sure that I’ll like it too.

    Eric

  93. Laura Lilac
    Posted September 5, 2013 at 7:17 PM | Permalink

    Oot is a man of infinite wisdom.

    He even knows that it should be a turkey feather. Brilliant. :)

  94. Thisbe
    Posted September 30, 2013 at 12:43 PM | Permalink

    Something about the story told above reduces to very close to zero the chance that I will buy another Rothfuss book. I’m not that impatient, so I’ll happily borrow it from the library whensoever it comes out.

    You know who writes very long and complicated books and takes a very long time to do it, sometimes does side projects instead of getting on with the next book, has a devoted and impatient fan base, and still seems to be able to have good manners and avoid alienating fans? Diana Gabaldon.

    Popular authors who are prone to get cranky with fans because of the authors’ own slowness at production should consider asking her for lessons. I mean honestly, would these authors prefer fans to be indifferent to the next book? That doesn’t seem like a great way to make a living.

  95. M4tth3w
    Posted November 22, 2013 at 10:25 AM | Permalink

    The quality of your stories speak for themselves. True craftsmanship takes time, as does life (which informs you craft). Enjoy both! Besides, MOST of your fans will be able to read the entire series in one ravenous go (because we will all be dead and our work finished) in the decades and centuries to come.

    Part of the enjoyment of a great pleasure is knowing the lack of it!! The sweet spice of anticipation. Longing! It’s always better than having. In my opinion (which my wife assures me is wrong).

    So try not to be annoyed, oh hirsute and beleaguered bard. Our impatient appetites are a compliment to you, as you we’ll know.

    Now get the hell back to work. :)

  96. Sonant
    Posted January 5, 2014 at 6:22 AM | Permalink

    take your time. I have no clue how you can close out that huge story in only one book. Don’t cut corners And make it something solid that will take longer than a week for me to read. you can always pull a Christopher Paolini and split the last book.

    p.s.
    please don’t

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