Brandon Sanderson and I Are Collaborating on a New Series
Big announcement today, folks! Brandon Sanderson, one of the preeminent names in speculative fiction, and I are collaborating on a new urban fantasy series. It's a Dresden Files-esque urban fantasy series set in London, starring a necromancer. The kicker is that the main character is an American heavy metal singer whose day goes from bad to worse as he gets kicked out of his band, then makes his way to his favorite pub to lick his wounds—only to end up getting shot in the head during an apparent robbery. And after that, things start to go really badly for him.
Brandon put together a world guide. I made some suggestions here and there. Then he sent along high-level outline. I went to work, expanding, shaping, etc., as I went, to finish the first draft in November. Brandon is doing a pass now. Then it'll come back to me for a third draft.
His fans know the project by an old title: Death by Pizza. But the original idea of a pizza guy turned necromancer didn't really hold with how big the idea was and how robust a series this is going to be. So, we're working on an alternate title.
It's been more fun than you will ever know. Weekly calls with Brandon to talk through story ideas, working through places, getting jazzed about so much as our mutual excitement over cool little bits gets us geeking out!
And of course, I'm weaving in music stuff. Plenty of heavy metal, but with context so everyone gets the reasons for the references. Metal fans will likely resonate with some of it on a deeper level, too, if they know the music.
Once we're all happy with it, we'll shop it to a publisher. I have a feeling someone is going to want this series!
Oh, and the picture above is a few years old. Brandon now has no facial hair, and I do. No idea what that means.
Anyway, to hear it in Brandon's own words, head over here. It's part of his monster post about everything he's done this year, and the projects he'll be working on in the near future.
And so you know, the reason I'm posting here is largely because my own site is under complete revision. Should be done in a day or two. But I wanted to share this news, since I've been eager to share once we broke the news.
Have a good one!
Peter
