Some Personal Notes

Yes, sometimes a blog is used for some personal news. Well, writing news and personal news. I haven’t often used mine that way. But, I just recently posted “Opportunity in Adversity: A Personal Note,” and let’s face it, the Magic the Cat posts, and the late Marie post, are a personal indulgence. So, here’s a little Richard Warren Field news:

• The The Swords of Faith has been chosen as a finalist by the USA Book News for Best Books of 2010 in the Historical Fiction Category. Thanks, folks over at USA Book News!
• This week marks the completion of the first draft of The Sultan and the Khan, another epic-scope novel, the follow-up to The Swords of Faith. I have a lot of work to do on the revision, but the basic book is in place. Dawud, that little guy born to Pierre and Atiya in The Swords of Faith, is a seventy year old man in The Sultan and the Khan, and is a character link between the two books. He goes through a lot between the end of The Swords of Faith and the beginning of The Sultan and the Khan, trying to navigate the conflicts raging in the Eastern Mediterranean/Middle East. But this is nothing compared to what he will experience between early 1258 and late 1260. This time it’s not just Christian “crusaders” against Muslims. Mongols, Muslims and Christians mix in bizarre ways, leading to the historically crucial Battle of Ayn Jalut in September of 1260.
• My laryngitis condition is much improved. I have gone from having no function of the left side of my voicebox to a “bowing” of the left vocal cords, meaning I have some function. I can carry a tune again—raspy, unlistenable in public—but I can get musical notes to sound from my vocal cords. I hope to have a full recovery by the end of the year at the latest.

Coming soon? Some book commentaries, and other surprises. In the meantime, feel free to visit my Books-Into-Movies Blog.