David Drake

NEWSLETTER 64: September 7, 2011

Dear People,

INTO THE HINTERLANDS, the space opera which John Lambshead wrote from my outline, should be out by the time you read this. I’m ridiculously pleased with the book. John’s style is nothing like mine, but the style of Hinterlands is quite different from the style of Lucy’s Blade (for example), also. I think the combination–this book really was a collaboration, though it’s taken me a while to see that–fits very well into John’s and my mutual view of our model. continue reading…

Dear People,

Quite a lot has been happening. First and foremost in my mind, I turned in WHAT DISTANT DEEPS, the latest RCN (Leary/Mundy) space opera, to Baen Books the day after I got back from World Fantasy Con. I’d carried hardcopy of my second draft with me and edited it while sitting on planes and in parks in San Jose. My first priority on getting home was to key in the final changes and ship the book off.  continue reading…

Dear People,

Well, I haven’t completed the rough draft of THE LEGIONS OF FIRE, the start of my new fantasy series for Tor, but I’m close. And I’m darned consistent: two months ago I had about 60K; now I’ve got a bit over 125K, so I’m averaging a hair over a thousand words a day regardless of holidays, crises (the water line froze; on the other hand, about this time last year a drunk in a pickup crossed the road and hit us, so I’m not complaining), birthdays, colds and flu.  continue reading…

On April 17, 2007 Toni Weisskopf hosted a Baenish dinner at the chef’s table (which turned out to be a work table in the prep room; we were sitting on bar stools) of the Angus Barn in Raleigh. From left are Mark L Van Name (Baen consultant and author), Jo Drake, Dave, Jennie Faries (Baen graphic designer), Hank Reinhardt (Mr Toni Weisskopf) and Toni. It was both fun and delicious. Most of us are teetotal so we didn’t do justice to the wines, but the wine steward’s descriptions of the choices for each course were neat anyway.

The menu included: Lump crab on cucumber rounds, Coconut shrimp on a bed of jalapeno cheese grits with a Thai pepper sauce, Duck confit and goat cheese raviolis in a roasted tomato sauce, Field greens with marinated mozzarella in a balsamic vinegarette, Mango sorbet palette cleanser, Six week aged beef tenderloin over saffron risotto and grilled asparagus, Pears poached in red wine and cinnamon with chocolate mousse and berries

At Trinoc-con on Sunday, October 6, 2002, my friend Mark Van Name presided over what was billed as a David Drake Roast but was really a tribute. I was very embarrassed at the idea beforehand, but it turned out to be one of the funniest hours of my existence. Besides the usual sorts of comments from Mark, Jim Baen, and Dan Breen on the panel (and offerings from more distant friends), Mark and our friend Jennie Faries (who does real cover design for Baen Books) mocked up the covers for David Drake volumes kicking off new lines for Baen Books. I don’t think I’ve laughed so hard since the first time I watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail.  continue reading…

Cover art: Donato

QUEEN OF DEMONS, my second Isles fantasy, uses the structure of Lord of the Isles, so it was simpler to write than if I’d had to construct an entire world. Nonetheless there was the challenge of how much of the first book to recapitulate in the new one. In the event I repeated very little.

With the exception of Standing Down (written to close the first Hammer collection) every one of my novels and stories has a beginning, a middle, and an end. That means basically that I have to reintroduce continuing characters at the opening of each book, but I don’t give any more of their backgrounds than readers need to know to understand the current plot. continue reading…