Go HERE to download the 20-minute podcast, or HERE to listen instantly.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the height of nostalgic geekery: my mostly accurate account of a D&D game played with Pat Rothfuss, Peter V. Brett, Joe Abercrombie, Myke Cole, Scott Lynch, Elizabeth Bear, Saladin Ahmed, Jay Lake, and Jim C. Hines over at A Dribble of Ink.

Myke Cole also did a quick roundup of the weekend HERE. Joe Abercrombie’s take is HERE. And an apology to Jim Hines for misspelling Du’ud as D’ude. My orcish is horrible.

And thanks to Brenda for making this happen!

Oh! And speaking of George R.R. Martin (see that nifty segue, folks? That’s how a pro does it! A pro, I tell ya.), io9 just put together a top-10 list: 10 Great Fantasy Series to Read While You’re Waiting for George R.R. Martin’s Next Book.  It’s a humorous list, and there are some great books on there. Definitely worth checking out. (Although a series finale spoiler for my book? Really? Totally necessary? Ah well, I appreciate the exposure, and the surprisingly low level of snark! h/t)

Elsewhere on the interwebs, I did an interview with the print magazine Fantastique Unfettered. (Print, mama, print. That means I’m a real boy!) You can order the magazine HERE or HERE.

Updates: I’ve just handed in the manuscript of The Blinding Knife, which means we are on schedule for an early September publication date in all major English markets. (The exact date will be determined by my publisher, but everything looks good.) And I have started the third (and I’m really hoping final) book of Lightbringer, tentatively titled The Blood Mirror. I’ve been fighting all the way to try to keep this a trilogy, from my very first outline. And I think I have it wrestled down to three books — yet strangely, each of these books is really, really long!

I’m also working on my appearance schedule, both in the US and elsewhere. I can’t announce anything yet, but I think I’m going to be doing a fair amount of travel this year.

Oh! And before I forget again, I also wrote this opinion piece for SciFi Now (also a print magazine!), on fan expectations and author obligations. The internet version of that article is HERE. Watch how deftly I tempt the wrath of the rabid fans, while actually being completely measured and inoffensive. When one walks among giants, such as Neil and George, one should take care that he not get stepped on! See, it all comes back to George.

And that, folks, is how a pro does it.

You can go here for some thoughts from Kirk Benshoff, the cover designer, and here, here, or here to pre-order. The omnibus will also feature a deleted chapter, an extensive glossary and a character list.

(Note: the above video, like a lot of real fighting, contains an obscenity. You can stop it at 00:07 and still get the point.)

Just go here to learn everything you could possibly ever want to know. This post will turn you into the Mike Tyson of fantasy writing scenes! Or not. Either way, watch your ears.

(Click to embiggen)

Nicholas Stohlman has a webpage here, and you can like his Facebook page here. Check it out!

(My previously scheduled monthly Writing Advice post will be up on Thursday.)

Good news! Orbit is offering a New Year’s E-Book Deal on The Black Prism. That’s right, The Black Prism is now available for just $2.99 on e-readers in the U.S. from now until January 31, 2012.

If you’re in the U.K., we haven’t left you out! The Black Prism is available for just £1.99, though that offer is only good until 6 January, so you’ll want to buy your book sooner rather than later.

For U.S. readers, you can download your copy of The Black Prism for the Kindle, the Nook, Kobo, Sony E-Reader and Google Books. Or go here for a complete list of all e-book retailers that are offering the deal. (All these retailers should include the discount now or very soon.)

For U.K. readers, check out Amazon UK; the other retailers should have the same price soon, if they don’t already (Waterstone’s, WH Smith, etc.).

Enjoy!

Visit Michigan? In the dead of winter? Sure!

If you live in Detroit, Kalamazoo, or Grand Rapids — or heck, if you live anywhere near Michigan — come out to see me in January 20-22 at the massive ConFusion 2012! It’s at the Detroit Marriot Troy in Troy, Michigan.

Not only will you have a chance to see me, there will be costumes, there will be panels, there will be Guests of Honor and parties — in short, all things SFF and geeky will be there! Here are more details about Epic Confusion 2012.

Other authors in attendance include: Pat Rothfuss, Joe Abercrombie, Peter V. Brett, Robin Hobb, Saladin Ahmed, Gretchen Ash, Elizabeth Bear, Bradley Beaulieu, Steve Buchheit, Tobias Buckell, Myke Cole, DJ DeSmyter, Anne Harris, Carrie Harris, Merrie Haskell, Kameron Hurley, Howard Andrew Jones, Dr. Phil Kaldon, Christian Klaver, Scott Lynch, Cindy Spencer Pape, Steve Piziks, Christine Purcell, Cat Rambo, Jason Sanford, John Scalzi, Catherine Shaffer, Kristine Smith, Ferret Steinmetz, Michelle Sagara West, Doselle Young, Charles P. Zaglanis, Sarah Zettel.