I’d like to know what goes into the planning for the Forgotten Realms timelines for the novels that keep coming out. Seems highly coordinated. Is there a committee? #SciFiChat Well, right now, there's no novel line. There's just Bob Salvatore writing new Drizzt books under a license, so the coordination is a LOT easier than it used to be.
In slightly older days (The Sundering) we had secret summits at Wizards, wherein we planned chronology..#SciFiChat— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 5, 2021
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…and major events, so authors could share supporting NPCs and have characters talk about offstage “news” that had happened in novels penned by others. The Books Department did that, and when it was dissassembled, Chris Perkins as Story Manager backed up by Matt… 3)
…Sernett doing a spreadsheet of "this scene must take place in this month of this year, so…" references and cross-references.
In still earlier days than that, I developed the habit of NOT putting precise dating in my Realms fiction, so as not to add to…#SciFiChat— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 5, 2021
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…continuity problems. However, several tidy-minded editors began to insist on dating, so in early or opening scenes of my later books you'll see lines like "It was an unusually sultry evening in Ches in the Year of the Wobbly Donkey" (I'm inventing this example!).#SciFiChat— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 5, 2021
I like it! Where were you, in the Year of the Wobbly Donkey…#scifiChat "Well, officer, to tell truth, I haven't done that since, oh, must be the Year of the Wobbly Donkey. Matter of fact, that's why the donkey wobbles, nudge nudge, wink, wink…"#SciFicChat
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 5, 2021