Page Created: 09/16/10. Last Updated: 11/01/10. Last Google Group Page Update: 07/11/09.
JOSHUA PALMATIER
Novels:
The Skewed Throne
The Cracked Throne
The Vacant Throne
Official Site: http://www.sff.net/people/jpalmatier/
MEETING SUMMARY:
Meeting Date: July 11, 2009.
Meeting Site: Barnes & Noble, The Shops at Riverside, Hackensack, New Jersey.
Official Attendance: 19.
Meeting Program: Talk by Fantasy Author.
Notes:
Meeting Memories:
Newsletter Account
The following account is reprinted with permission from THE STARSHIP EXPRESS Copyright 2009 Philip J De Parto:
The General Meeting of the Science Fiction Association of Bergen County was held on Saturday, July 11, 2009 at Barnes & Noble in The Shops at Riverside Mall in Hackensack, New Jersey.
The lively 7:00 PM Ice Nine pre meeting discussion touched on books (THE NEW SPACE OPERA), movies (TERMINATOR 4) and television (TRUE BLOOD).
Fantasy writer Joshua Palmatier was our evening's guest. Mr Palmatier has written an epic fantasy trilogy for DAW Books: THE SKEWED THRONE, THE CRACKED THRONE and THE VACANT THRONE. He is currently at work on THE WELL OF SOULS, book one of a new trilogy set in the same world.
THE SKEWED THRONE was originally intended as a stand alone novel. The kernel of the book came from combining three separate images: a throne in a fantastic museum which rebroadcast voices of people who had once sat in the chair, a sprawling ancient harbor city with ships in the water, and a wall of white fire sweeping in from the west. Two of these images were originally from his three unpublished novels.
The first book is a gritty coming of age story of a woman who rises from a petty slum thief, to licensed assassin to queen of the city of Amenkor. The second and third books deal with an attack upon the city by blue skinned barbarians.
Joshua was originally a fan of mysteries. One day his mother offered to spare him a trip to the library to pick up another book by mystery writer Mary Norton and came home with WITCH WORLD by Andre Norton and he was hooked on fantasy. He did not think about writing until his 8th grade teacher praised a TWILIGHT ZONE type story he had written for a school assignment.
When growing up, Mr Palmatier first wanted to be Terry Brooks, and then Tad Williams. Now he would like to be Guy Gavriel Kay. He greatly admires Stephen King, particularly PET SEMETERY "which is all about grief."
The author has a PhD in Mathematics and teaches Math at SUNY Oneonta. He works without an outline--he doesn't need one. He'll jot down something for his publisher, but he doesn't refer to it while writing. The good thing about extensive math training is that it's all about structure.
Joshua does most of his writing during his summer break. His summer routine is to work from 8:00 - 5:00 PM from Monday to Friday. He is at the computer by eight, answering emails and engaging in other forms of procrastination until 10:00 AM. Then he re reads and edits his previous day's work until lunch time. Anything deleted goes into a "Cut Text" file for possible reuse. After lunch, it's serious writing time. He quits at 5:00 PM to go to the gym.
Joshua Palmatier was a gracious guest and a whole lot of fun.