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The Blinding Knife: Endeavor Award Finalist!

I’m very happy to announce that, once again, one of my books has been nominated for The Endeavor Award.

Behold:

Endeavor Finalist

Four other novels have been nominated, and the winner will be announce on November 8, 2013 at OryCon 35. Each nominated book is by a writer from the Pacific Northwest, and the other finalists include After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall by Nancy Kress,  Amped by Daniel H. WilsonCostume Not Included by Matthew Hughes, and Goodbye for Now by Laurie Frankel.

 

 

March Madness!

bookspotlogo

by CAPSLOCK 

Really love brackets? Want a second chance because you didn’t see that Harvard game coming? The Blinding Knife has been drafted into the March Madness craze by BookSpot Central’s 7th annual book tournament. In Round 1,  The Blinding Knife faces off against The Tainted City by Courtney Schafer.

You can vote:

  1. via a comment on their post listing the book you wish to vote for in each match-up
  2. by clicking the Facebook “like” button under the book cover on the tournament page HERE
  3. with an original tweet (retweets won’t count) that includes a link to the tournament page HERE and uses the hashtag provided below for the book(s) you are voting for”

There’s nothing really at stake here, just bragging rights. However, if you know Brent at all, you know he really likes bragging rights! Go HERE to vote!

Lightbringer #3 Update (Early 2013)

“So when’s the next book out, Weeks?”

When I was on my book tour a few months ago, I expressed my hope that the next book in The Lightbringer Series might, might be out in a year. (I was careful not to promise: I’ve learned from others’ mistakes!) So now, of course, with fans having patiently waited for five whole months (!) I’m getting more emails asking, “Hey, when can I further fund your lavish lavish lifestyle, O Master Weeks?”* (*actual quotes may bear no relation to reality)

Neil Gaiman might tell you that you haven’t any right to ask. I gave you a good story, o book buyer, so shut up.** (**Not an accurate paraphrase) But as I made the mistake of publicly disagreeing with an SFF icon, it seems to me I should put up or shut up. So here’s the word in brief: No New Lightbringer Book from Weeks in 2013.

For those of you who want to know a bit of the why, continue reading.

You epic fantasy fans may be familiar with Tolkien’s quote that “the story grew in the telling.” So it’s been with The Lightbringer Series. I’d planned for book 3 to be a bit shorter. (By which I mean 600+ pages, about the length of The Way of Shadows and Shadow’s Edge–not short books.) I’m a fairly consistent daily producer of pages, and if I’d made this book as long as I’d planned it to be, it would indeed have been published late this year. But… it’s longer. It’s longer than The Way of Shadows. It’s longer than Shadow’s Edge. It’s now longer than Beyond the Shadows. It will likely be longer than The Black Prism.

The work? It’s going well. I’m really pleased with the progress of this one. Where I was proud of The Blinding Knife because the story flew–high tension to high tension to surprise, with the world expanding and characters deepening all over the place–in this next book I’ve chosen to deepen the resonance while keeping a breakneck pace and not adding any fluff. (Title still to be determined. I’ve been calling it The Blood Mirror just to call it something, but that works better as a title for book 4, and my editor hasn’t liked any alternative titles I’ve proposed yet. Nor, to be honest, have I.)

It’s been my philosophy to write the best books I can, as fast as I can. To be honest, where I am in my career, I could make the most money by cranking out books faster.

But I’m making a living writing–that is my wildest dream, and you fans have given that to me. I have no interest in “cranking out books” to put as much of your money in my pocket as possible. I believe I owe my fans and myself the best stories I have it in me to tell. In this case, that means some more waiting for all of us. I’ve had long talks with my agent and editor about this, and they are both successful enough and wise enough that they’ve told me to get it right, to have fun with it, and to make it the best book it can be.

The writing is going brilliantly. I haven’t been stuck once. (Well, not for more than a day or so.) Yesterday, I finished a scene I think will stick with you, maybe forever. There are loose ends to be tied. There are hints to add about the series resolution. There’s a finale to write. I’m productive, having fun, and writing as well or better than I’ve ever written in my life.

I understand if that isn’t happening fast enough for you. I simply hope that when I give you the final product, it will more than make up for the wait.

You can expect another longish update on or before September 2013.

Lightbringer Loot!

by CAPSLOCK

Lightbringer-Saga-t-shirt

If you’re interested in GraphicAudio’s dramatic audio performance of The Black Prism or The Blinding Knife, note that GraphicAudio is giving away some swag! Those who purchase any 3 titles (by which we believe they mean any 3 tracks — we have an email in and will update asap) in the Lightbringer Series will receive a free T-Shirt and cast autographed poster of the GraphicAudio cover illustration of The Black Prism (go HERE to purchase and HERE for more details about the giveaway).

There is a limited quantity of items available for giveaway, so don’t delay!

New York Comic Con

Though I can’t make it out to New York City (or, sadly, New York Comic Con) this book tour, I’ve got the next-best thing: free signed Lightbringer bookmarks!

If you’re going to New York Comic Con (October 11-14), stop by the Hachette table (Table #1027) and find an Orbit team member. Present the code word below to get a a bookmark that features both The Black Prism and The Blinding Knife and my signature.

Orbit will begin handing the bookmarks out on Friday, and though there will be a limited quantity given out each day, you can try again the next day for one. ( They may also have some secret swag available.) I’ve only signed 100 of these for Orbit, so make sure you head over there as soon as you can!

Code word: Shimmercloak