 Kvetha Fricaya! Greetings Friends. It‘s been a year since my last newsletter, and you may be wondering what I‘ve been up to. Well, after spending over a decade working on the Inheritance Cycle, I needed a break! And I wanted to explore different writing styles, which I hadn‘t had the opportunity to do for a long, long time. So I decided to write several short stories and to try my hand at a screenplay. Although I won‘t be making them public anytime soon, working on them was good practice using new story structures and contemporary dialogue. Then I spent months researching my next book, a science fiction novel. Just as I put a lot of thought into creating the magic system for the Inheritance Cycle, I discovered that I needed to put just as much thought into creating the future technology for this story. Especially the technology that allows for faster-than-light travel. (That one gave me real headaches.) My questions led me to contact several physicists and, yes, even some rocket scientists. After a great deal of gnashing of teeth and mental effort, I managed to figure out an FTL system that didn‘t contradict the known physics while allowing me to tell my story. Whew! All that said, I‘m now deep into the middle third of the novel, and so far, it‘s going well. Wish me luck! Also, exciting news! I have a new website, paolini.net, where you‘ll find a huge amount of information about my books and characters, as well as numerous writing tips. My staff and I put months of work into building the site, and we‘re very proud of it. Here are some of the things you will find therein: - Fun behind-the-scenes articles, photos, and videos: paolini.net/stuff/
- FAQs for students and fans: paolini.net/faq/
- Tips for writers: paolini.net/writers-corner/
- A collection of craft and party ideas based on the elves, humans, dwarves, Urgals, werecats, and dragons from the Inheritance Cycle: paolini.net/six-races-alagaesia-craft-party-ideas/
- A section for educators, written by my mom, Talita, who taught my sister and me. There you‘ll find activities to help you teach children the basics of language, math, science, and other topics, using common household items: paolini.net/educators/
So please, come visit us! In conjunction with my website, the biggest Inheritance fan site, Shurtugal.com, is posting fanart, in-depth discussions, and activities-such as how to make dragon eggs. This month, Shurtugal‘s awesome webmaster, Mike Macauley, is enlisting fans to create a harvest festival for Alagaësia. Stop by and join the fun! As you can see, although I don‘t have a new book for you yet, lots of things are brewing. Thank you for your ongoing interest and support. May your swords stay sharp! Christopher Paolini  |
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