I think Taylor's The Secular Age is amazing.  I can't say I've read the whole thing (it's a door-stopper), nor am I inclined toward Taylor's *conclusions*.  But I love how he sets up *problems*, the sorts of questions he asks.  It's worth reading -- the beginning and end, anyway.

Hey everyone!

I don't know if this is the right place to post this, but I decided it's better than starting a new thread somewhere else...

I have a question/proposal to put to all you Second Apocalypsers:  Is anyone interested in collaborating with me on some world-building stuff?  I have in mind, in particular, map-making -- not only large-scale, but also (perhaps especially) small-scale stuff, like cities and particular areas in which certain events might take place (e.g., battles).  I'd really appreciate help with this sort of thing.

( My 'inner lawyer' insists that I mention right off the bat that what I have in mind would entail that I, Roger Eichorn, retain ownership of the intellectual property rights to anything that we come up with.  Basically, I'm asking if you want to work for me for free... )

Here's the background, vis-a-vis me and my project:  I'm making a fresh start on Three Roses, and writing in general.  My decade-long 'Going To School' project has finally landed me in a place where I have room to reincorporate fiction-writing into my life in a major way.  I've decided that all the work I've done on TR since starting graduate school (i.e., everything I've done on the "new" draft... -- never mind, there's a long, boring compositional history behind TR, I won't get into it) -- anyway, I've decided it's all sub-par material.  I can do better.  The problem has been that graduate school has, until now, taken up too much of my mental, emotional, and creative energies.  With some of that burden now lifted, I feel like a 'new man' working on TR.

I'm ready to kick ass.

So do you want to help me?  I mentioned map-making.  The sorry fact of the matter is that (a) I have a very 'visual' writing imagination, not in the sense that I'm easily able to visualize what I'm writing about, but in the sense that I'm very inspired and driven by visual materials, such as maps; and (b) I have neither the affinity nor the interest in actually creating such visual materials myself.  I want to find them already-made for me.  As long as what's done is consonant with certain specific facts I've already laid out, then I'm open to pretty much whatever when it comes to this sort of thing.

An example might help.  As part of an attempt to 'go back to my roots' as a fantasy writer, I've begun listening to the audiobooks of Jordan's Wheel of Time series.  Since I'm not re-reading the books themselves, I don't have any of Jordan's maps handy.  I went looking online, and found a whole bunch, many of which are fan-made.  Immediately, I thought, "Wow, I'd love to have something like this for my world!"  Hence this post.

Here's a link to a photo:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zF5vHyezU8k/UDCwfRbnR3I/AAAAAAAAF2I/glNLlVxFEgo/s1600/Tear.jpg

(I hope it works.  I got the link of Google Images.)  The photo looks really good, I think.  I don't know if this one in particular is fan-made or if someone scanned it from somewhere.  I think it's fan-made.  I don't know.  Anyway, stuff like this would be amazing to have for TR -- obviously.

Also, if anyone else has any ideas of what they might like to work with me on (besides map-making), I'd love to hear them.  In this day and age, I don't see why world-building can't benefit from some sort of 'crowd-sourcing.'  Right?

On the other hand, if this whole request is ludicrously presumptuous, I apologize.  Just ignore it, then!

- Rog

Thanks again for the link, Madness!  I hope some folks will check out Chapter 14, which I also posted.  I'm quite fond of it, and nobody's read it before... so I have no idea if it's actually any good!

I've not read any of the FanFic, but I'll try to read this at some point soon and send you some feedback.  What kind of feedback would you like?  Are you an aspiring author?  Or just having some fun?

Eowyn?  Return of the King?  Anyone?

I casually dropped in here yesterday and noticed this thread.  I thought I'd mention that your comment got me excited about the book, and so I've put aside a bunch of other stuff and am getting back to the book starting right now (or rather, starting in approximately one minute).  My first plan of action is to make some changes to Part 1, starting with Chapter 1.  Once I get something I like, I'll post the new version up on TPB.

Well, unfortunately, he's not done. But yeah, I've read all that you can read. It's going to be wicked.

... understanding that these begin Part 2 of Bk. 1, I would seriously wonder at Jerome's tact and anxiety concerning the Dragons, if he, therefore the reader, knows nothing about them - not to ruin surprises but I find it hard to believe that that is literally the first time someone describes the Order of Zachariel (who are I believe are mentioned by name in the early chapter excerpts) as the Dragons.

Again I've misled you twice over!  Not that it matters.  But, first, these chapters aren't the beginning of Part 2; they're from a little ways in.  Again, not that that matters.  Also, I didn't mean to suggest in my earlier comments that *Jerome* doesn't know about the Order of Zachariel, just that the *reader* has never encountered them before, except for a couple quick allusions in an earlier chapter in Part 2 (which are there to set up their introduction in Chs. 10 and 11).