Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Brain Empty

So, I'm done with the first book in the Chronicles of Aral Kingslayer and it's left me completely wrung and kind of empty feeling. Not my normal pattern with a book. My head feels like there's been a fire inside that just burned the whole thing hollow.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear that, Kelly. I'll get review stuff back to you shortly, but I think maybe I'll wait a few extra days. Free brain time might be good for your head.

Kelly Swails said...

Interesting. Maybe it's because you switched styles. Or was it the subject matter?

Kelly McCullough said...

Sean, it's not really an unpleasant feeling, just kind of weird. Should be much better by Monday.

X, not sure. I think some of it is simply that high fantasy is a hell of a lot harder on some levels than contemporary, at least if you're going to do it right. Not sure about the rest, though I suspect that some of it is just that with every book I expect more of myself and try to push myself a little further beyond what I've accomplished to date.

Douglas Hulick said...

It's the rarefied atmosphere at that altitude. That's why I'm sticking to "low" fantasy (to borrow Naomi's term for it) as opposed to doing the "high" stuff. :p

lydamorehouse said...

Congrats on the doneness, at least!

Kelly McCullough said...

Doug, well, yes, it's not really high fantasy if you're speaking to someone with all the analytical tools of a f&sf pro or serious fan. But I find that a general audience gets the term high fantasy much better than they do trad fantasy or secondary world fantasy, so that's mostly what I use on the web where the audience is hopefully a broad one.

Kelly McCullough said...

Thanks Lyda!

Eleanor said...

Done is good. Enjoy the empty brain. Think of it as Zen.