February Update

Had a chance to sit down with Lee and talk about what's been going on in his life.

What are you up to?
Lindsey and I are in the midst of a bathroom renovation right now, and I think that might be the tone-setter of 2010 for us. We bought our first house last year and are excited about making some improvements this year. Life is in full swing!
I've also been doing a lot of amateur astronomy lately, as one of my Christmas gifts from Lindsey was a Celestron Omni XLT 120mm Refractor. It could be the best present I have ever received, as I've wanted a telescope my whole life! So far I've gotten great looks at Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, and the Moon. As the seasons change, I should get better opportunities to see the other planets, though Mercury, Uranus, and Neptune will be challenges. Venus will be really viewable in June, and I'm looking forward to that, too. Of course there are other things I'm aiming to get up-close-and-personal with, including galaxies and nebulae. I do hope to get into astrophotography at some point, so if that happens, I'll definitely post pictures!


How is The Glorious Becoming coming along?
TGB has been a very frustrating process for me, and I think there's still a little bit of that hangover from Hero lingering. As it stands at the time I'm writing this, I'm just under 40,000 words into the story, which is about 25%. A full year after Hero, can you can see how slow a process this has been.
Does that mean I haven't been working? Not at all. In fact, a good deal of that 25% has been written twice. An unexpected new character entered the story, forcing me to go back and adjust the story to include him. Obviously I won't get into that now, but once TGB is out I'm sure I'll touch on the new character's impact (and it's a considerable one) at some point or another. I can summarize it by saying that TGB will be better with him in it.
No one should worry over the slow pace of TGB so far. My rough target is still 2011, which is very doable. In fact, I'm hitting a stride right now with the story, so there's an excellent chance that it'll hit its major turning point very soon, at which point I'll get a solid second wind of energy. The arc and story of TGB will be amazing, but it's a very, very draining story to write. It's very intense and very different from what fans have experienced so far. I can tease it best by saying that no one will see TGB coming. It's going to be great!


What are you reading at the moment?
Prior to our engagement, Lindsey and I went through 101 Questions to Ask Before you get Engaged. It was a great experience, and we've both found ourselves missing a book to read together. This Valentine's Day, she bought The Love Dare for us to start going through together again. I'm really looking forward to it. I think a lot of people look at relationship books such as those as reserved for troubled relationships only, but it's really not the case at all. There doesn't have to be anything wrong in a relationship or marriage for it to be strengthened. Heck, I hope my Saints get stronger in 2010, and they just won the Super Bowl!


What are you listening to?
E.S. Posthumus' third album, Makara, is amazing! This has definitely given me some recent energy for scenes in TGB. It's just an awesome, action-packed listen from start to finish.


What are you watching?
Right now, the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. I'm just as excited for Canada as I am for the USA! There are so many Canadians I work with for Epic, and it's great to see them winning gold medals for their home country.
Looking forward to curling and women's and couples' figure skating - those are always my favorites.
Prior to the Olympics, I was all Saints, all the time. You can't imagine the euphoria that the black and gold winning the Super Bowl caused here. I'm not sure that anyone outside of the New Orleans area can fully appreciate it.
Here's another fun fact for you...the Saints won the Super Bowl on February 7th. Scott Remington's birthday. :) How's that for Epic?