New Interview

 

My, who's that charming rogue?

 

If you’re not a Twitterian (and I don’t blame you if you’re not! Don’t go there, it’s like crack! It was on twitter that I found the sketch of me above by CSpainey!) you probably missed my on-Twitter interview with Bryan Thomas Schmidt. If you are on Twitter, you probably couldn’t  miss it because I clogged up your stream for an hour and half (*cough* sorry about that)! Now, Bryan and Grasping for the Wind have been kind enough to scrub out the hashtags and make it generally legible and have posted the full interview online over here. Due to the nature of twitter, you’ll notice that some of the answers are fairly truncated, but I did my best. And a big thank you to Bryan and to Grasping for the Wind.

Goodreads Winners and Photobomb Winner!

First, congratulations to the winners of the Goodreads Contest: to both Theresa and Irwin in California, Carola in the Netherlands, Tyler in Ontario, and Maria in South Australia  — congratulations! Your signed copies of The Black Prism are on their way.

Now about the photobomb contest: we had some spectacular entries. Here are some of the best:

Fans of the infamous “chicken nuggets” scene.*

from Isabelle D.

Abe? I’m one of your favorites?! No way. You’re one of mine, too!

from Kathlyn H.

 

This is totally how the boxed set should have come:

from Sasuke U.

Assassins-in-training also use my books as training manuals!

from Alexia A.


Want texts that will engage college freshmen? μολὼν λαβέ!

 

from Dr. J. Klein

Assassins particularly like working (and reading) at twilight:

from Libbie & Addi L.

 

Not so easily killed:

 

from Katie H.

It was a hard decision. But since I gave my “muhaha, there can only be one!” Highlander vow, there could only be one:

from Gloria N.

 

Congratulations to Gloria N.! We’ll do our best to get you your copy of the sold-out, limited edition Perfect Shadow from Subterranean Press in time for Christmas.

*No, there’s not really a chicken nuggets scene. But now that you mention it, maybe in the 10th anniversary edition…

TWO Contests for the Price of One!

It’s not even Thanksgiving, and Brent’s already breaking out a Christmas tree?

I recently passed the 1,000 fans mark on Goodreads, and I thought I should do something cool to celebrate that.

First, a contest just for those of you who are following me on the book sharing/reviewing site Goodreads. So if you’re a member of Goodreads, simply go to this page on Goodreads, and put in your info, and you will be entered into a drawing to win one of five signed, lined, and personalized paperback copies of The Black Prism. This contest will be open to readers worldwide.

We’re hoping that we’re doing this early enough so that you could give these books as a Christmas present if you so chose, and have them even arrive on time. (No promises, but we will push them out the door as soon as we can.)

That contest got me so excited for Christmas that I didn’t want to leave anyone out! Although, I suppose it is the nature of contests to leave someone out. Therefore, perhaps, I’m not being nice. I’m just hoping to expand the pool of losers! Muhahaha!

So, a second contest: the Brent’s Funtastic Photobomb Contest.  Take a picture of any one of my books (must be identifiable) in any exciting, interesting, exotic, or funny locale. Sadly, I’m going to have to ask you to keep it appropriate. I will post the very best photos on my website, but winners? There can only be one.

Yay, more losers! Why can there be only one winner? Because the prize is so stinking cool. (To clarify: the picture does not have to be an actual photobomb. And, although I appreciate a good photoshop job as well as anyone, photoshopped pictures will not be eligible for The Grand Prize. Obviously, touching up a real photo is fine. You know what I mean.)

The Grand Prize winner will receive a signed, numbered copy of the sweet, sold-out, limited edition of Perfect Shadow. (I’m at the mercy of when I get my own copies of this, but if you win, I will ship it immediately, so you might be able to get it in time for Christmas.)

To enter, submit your photo to funtastic@brentweeks.com by December 5 at 5PM Pacific Standard Time.

Imaginary Friends, Real Friends, and Friendlier Web Pages

 

Why, you might ask, is Brent featuring the cover of another author’s book on his webpage? Good question.

If you’ve read  The Night Angel Trilogy, you’ve seen the amazing blurb that Terry Brooks gave me, which was a great push right out of the gate for a new guy just scrapping to make it. Terry has been tremendously gracious to me, personally as well as professionally. It was Terry who introduced me to Shawn Speakman, his long-time “web druid”, who in addition to being a writer himself, runs Suvudu and the Signed Page. Shawn has also become a friend of mine, and he was recently diagnosed with cancer.

It looks like Shawn’s going to be fine once he finishes his treatment, but, hey… cancer. Expensive. The writing life is great–but the benefits stink! So Terry Brooks is listing his short story, Imaginary Friends, for 90 days at $2.99 as an e-book download, with all of the proceeds going toward Shawn’s medical bills.

Imaginary Friends is a short story that has been out of print, so you’re not only doing something nice and getting a steal, you’re reading something people haven’t had access to in years.

You can check out more details at Terry’s webpage, including how to download a Kindle app for your computer if you don’t have one. I hope you’ll all consider buying a copy of the story — I know I will! Imaginary Friends is available on Kindle, Nook.

And as a side note, I wanted to let you all know that we’ve updated the Writing Advice page to make it friendlier for all you aspiring writers out there. We hope that we’ve made navigation a little simpler (one extra click, but much less scrolling!). There’s also a special link at the top of the page to direct you to the newest content quickly.

It’s that time of year again….

Yes, that’s right. It’s time to strap on your blaster and your Wookie suit. Or curl your hair into  that wicked hot bun! And goose-step or shamble your way down to the 5th SF Authorfest. As before, the fantastic Beaverton branch of Powell’s books will be hosting as many SFF (Science Fiction and Fantasy) writers as you can shake a lightsaber at on this Sunday, November 13th.

Scheduled to appear this year are Camille Alexa, Yours Truly, David Levine, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Dean Wesley Smith, Peter Orullian, Mark Ferrari, Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, Kevin James Breaux, Meljean Brooks, Devon Monk, Lilith Saintcrow, J. A. Pitts, Timothy Zahn, Irene Radford, Ru Emerson, Adrian Phoenix, Andrew Mayer, Mary Robinette Kowal, Shannon Page, Claude Lalumiere, M. K. Hobson, Brenda Cooper, Vonda McIntyre, Louise Marley, and Ursula K. Le Guin.

Also in attendance will be the Cloud City Garrison of the 501st Imperial Legion with the Kashyyk Base of the Rebel Legion:

Directions to the event are available at the Powell’s website.The event starts at 4:30 pm and generally runs about 2 hours. So bring your love for all things SFF, and a wallet ready to disgorge itself.

Ew, that kind of grossed me out. Anyway, no fear, there is no need to dress up in any way, shape or form.

I look forward to seeing you!

Writing Advice Update: Editing

Happy November 1st! It’s known by a variety of names (All Saint’s Day, Day of the Dead) and is the anniversary of numerous important events: the day Honda opened their first factory in the US, the day Napoleon invaded Austria, and the day Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel was finally displayed to the public! (Thank you, Wikipedia).

And speaking of Michelangelo, it’s also the day I’ve posted new writing advice about Editing — because if you want to free David from your lump of marble, you’re going to have to use a chisel.

 

 

Good luck!

World Fantasy & Halloween Contest 2012

For those of you who are in San Diego and/or attending the World FantasyConvention this week, please come say hi! First, I’ll be at the Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore in San Diego for an informal gathering of fantasy authors tonight at 6:00 pm. Some restrictions do apply due to the nature of the event, so please contact the staff. More details here.

I’ll also be on a panel on Thursday at World Fantasy Convention (details below), and I hope to see you there. If you want more info on other panels and authors at World Fantasy 2011, check the schedule out here.

Last but not least, though we’re not hosting a Halloween costume contest this year, we are planning one for next year. That way we’ll be able to celebrate the launch of The Blinding Knife, and give you all lots of time to come up with awesome costumes from the worlds of the The Lightbringer Trilogy  or The Night Angel Trilogy — and of course we’ll have some fun prizes for the best designs! More details will be posted as we get closer to the date.

World Fantasy Convention Panel

October 27, 4:00 PM

Pacific 2/3: You’ve Got Science in My Fantasy!

In Operation Chaos, Poul Anderson’s shapeshifters’ abilities were limited by the law of conservation of mass. Do such considerations enhance the narrative?

Gregory Benford, Yves Meynard, Brent Weeks,L. E. Modesitt, Edward Willett (M)