I’ve got a new-and-improved FAQ posted, completed with questions about The Seven Satrapies, Midcyru, and writing. There’s also a new outline with easy jump-down navigation so you don’t have to scroll through the entire post to find the answers you want. (Yay, CAPSLOCK!)
You can take a look HERE.
You’ll also notice there’s a new poll up, so take the chance to vote!
I’ve finally gotten myself an assistant, and she’s going to be helping me out with posting information on the website so that I can spend more time writing, but still let you all know what’s going on from time to time.
Her name is CAPSLOCK.
Well, not really. But she’s afraid of paparazzi so that’s going to be her pseudonym on the website. Actually, she has a habit of capslocking text on accident when she writes up my daily agenda (I have an agenda now?!). As revenge for giving me a daily agenda, I started ruthlessly mocking her every time she makes a typo. Calling her CAPSLOCK seemed to annoy her, so it stuck.
I’ll still be making 95% of the content for my blog here, just sometimes it will be me dictating posts and her typing them up and uploading pictures. Having her services also means that I’ll be able to do MOAR fun stuff, like the poll over there —>
Again, content by me (as if you couldn’t tell), but all the hard work by her. (Hey, you gotta know your weaknesses. Hard work is mine.)
CAPSLOCK will be posting a new poll every Monday. Sometimes they’ll be silly, sometimes they’ll be for me to get a sense of your thoughts on more serious things, but I hope they’ll always be fun.
She’ll also update the website occasionally, help me with business-y things, and try to answer questions in the forum when there’s something she thinks she knows the answer to. She’s already becoming my resident historian, as she’s read the books numerous times. Since she’s started working for me, she’s already made a timeline, family trees, and a rough encyclopedia. So it’s pretty good odds that she’s usually on the right track.
The best news, though, is that every time I make a mistake, I can now blame it on her. (Sometimes, she’ll even deserve it… like that NBA March Madness thing.)
EDIT: I uploaded the most unflattering picture of her I could find, but she took it down. Apparently there are some drawbacks to giving her the website password. 😉
And not just my fans, either! If you love to depict classic and modern fantasy characters in kick-ass ways, the Random House SFF blog, Suvudu, would love to show your work to thousands of people!
Starting two weeks from today, they host a Cage Match, loosely based on the NCAA March madness. They start with 64 fantasy characters (new and old), and at each round an author or fan presents the characters in any way he or she sees fit, either writing up a hypothetical fight or just presenting the strengths and weaknesses of each fighter. Fans vote on who they think wins in the comments, and the winner advances. Pretty simple.
But it would be made far cooler with great art. And that’s where you come in.
If you’re interested, and I know there’s already a lot of great Night Angel fan art out there, please go HERE to find out what they’re looking for, and how to bring your art to their attention. The brackets will be announced February 26th, and you’ll be able to see Kylar Stern in action starting March 5th.
Traditional publishing or self-publishing? What’s a writer to do?
Go HERE to read my thoughts on Michael Sullivan, the Yukon gold rush, and the ebook revolution.
Many thanks to Gail Z. Martin, fellow Orbit author and host of Ghost in the Machine for inviting me on for a brief interview. We talked about editing, turnaround time, and deadlines!
Go HERE to download the 20-minute podcast, or HERE to listen instantly.
I’ve been promising Aidan Moher of A Dribble of Ink that I would do a guest blog for him for about 6 months. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), I try to put my novel writing first. So in the press to get The Blinding Knife in by deadline, I haven’t even had a day to spare. But Epic ConFusion in Michigan, that I just attended courtesy of Subterranean Press, gave me both the time and the topic.
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.
The Geek of Oz has just posted a new interview with yours truly — I let slip a few details about The Blinding Knife, the sources of my snarky humor, and even a few words about the possibility of a Night Angel movie. Check it out HERE.
You read that right. There’s a free autographed copy of The Black Prism available over at ComicsOnline.com. Go HERE for more details.
And thanks to Brenda for making this happen!
One last reminder that I will be in Michigan at Epic ConFusion this coming weekend! Check out this line-up of authors: Peter V. Brett, Pat Rothfuss, Joe Abercrombie, Scott Lynch, Myke Cole, Robin Hobb, Saladin Ahmed, Jim C. Hines, Elizabeth Bear and more who I hope don’t feel slighted that I didn’t mention them. My bad memory, not your lack of cool! There will be pistols. There will be D&D. There will be egos. There will be alcohol. If not all of us come out of it, well… I’m still convinced this is going to be the most fun I’ve had at a convention since I met George R.R. Martin.
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.
I’m delighted to announce the The Night Angel omnibus, coming in trade paperback from Orbit in April.
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.