It’s the last day of the book giveaway, and that means it’s time for someone to win a copy of —
Speak up if you want it! This contest will close on September 1st at 6pm PST, when my son rolls the die and chooses the winner. Good luck!
Update: This book has been won.
This morning my wonderful wife made a fancy breakfast for me. Soon I’ll be heading out into the rain and bluster to visit local book stores so I can sign copies of my books (and “encourage” the staff to move the books onto the shelves).
But! Things I have written have appeared at various online spaces today. On the very same day my book comes out! What a coincidence! Here’s a quick list of where I am today:
My Big Idea essay on John Scalzi’s “Whatever” blog, in which I talk about the pernicious influence of film/TV media on otherworldly creatures in prose fiction.
My editor at Del Rey talks about the process of telling an author that their work needs major changes. Inexplicably, she uses Game of Cages (and me) as an example, and she titled the post “Mudwrestling with authors.”
At SciFiBookshelf.com, I talk (briefly) about the process of writing this book. In other words, you hear about the mudwrestling from the author’s point of view!
I am interviewed at Fiction Kingdom. Curious about what music I listen to while I write? Want to see me dodge questions (in this case, about series-spoilers) like a politician with a hangover? Check it out.
I’ll be hitting the bus stop soon so I won’t be able to respond to comments for a while. I hope you all have a great day, and more importantly, I hope I have a great day.
Yay! It’s a special Book Day review roundup of my first two books. Whoo-hoo!
1) Starred review from Publishers Weekly! Whoo-hoo! “Connolly fulfills and sustains the promise of his 2009 rural noir debut, Child of Fire, with this thoughtful Lovecraftian sequel.” (no direct link, because it’s behind a pay wall at PW, but you can read the whole thing at Amazon).
2) Game of Cages gets a Harriet Klausner review, and she liked it. “The second Twenty Palace Society rural fantasy (see Child of Fire) is a great thought provoking yet action-packed noir.” The synopsis is a bit wrong, but, you know…
3) Game of Cages got a great review in August Locus (no link because it’s in the paper edition): “This has become one of my must read series.” Oh, yes that makes me very happy.
4) Child of Fire got this fairly positive tweet-review from @johnmbeaulieu: “… almost as good as Dresden Files” Hey, I’ll take it.
5) TJ at Dreams and Speculations gives Game of Cages an 8 out of 10. “Child of Fire was a great debut of a series very much like Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden but with a slightly different flavor. Game of Cages takes that solid beginning and improves on nearly everything–especially the action.”
6) Only 3 stars from RT Reviews this time (after Child of Fire got 4.5): “Connolly handles the noir aspects well, and Ray is an interesting anti-hero, conflicted about his role in society and the choices it forces on him.” What the reviewer didn’t care for was a slow start (!) and a lack of… wait for it!… exposition! Honestly.
7) John Rogers, writer/executive producer of LEVERAGE, gives a reason you might want to buy Game of Cages: “One of the few urban magic books — for lack of a better term — novels I enjoyed last year was Harry Connolly’s Child of Fire. And I loved it.”
Here I am at my computer, and what do I need most? To not be at my computer.
I’m refreshing my email inbox to search for new comments, searching for places to send review copies of Game of Cages, checking Twitter to see if anyone has re-tweeted the announcement that chapter 3 is online, refreshing the book’s Amazon.com page…
And you know what? I’m not going to do that anymore. I’m not going to check the Amazon.com or B&N page again. I’m not going to do an Icerocket search looking for reviews to link to. I’m certainly not going to go back to the Random House page, sort all their sf/f books by “bestsellers” and search through until I find where my book lies. No. It’s a waste of time.
Any marketing I do now, today, will have a tiny effect. The most effective marketing I could do was finished months ago when I turned in the book. The rest is up to readers and fate and dirty stinking luck.
So! I have two more emails to write, then I’m going to step away from the computer. First, I’ll clobber some hapless sword-wielders on Wii Sports Resort. Then shower, vacuum, clean the kitchen, clean the bathroom, make some pizza dough (or pretzel dough–I haven’t decided). But I have to get the hell away from my computer for a few hours. Jesus!
Game of Cages will be coming out on the last day of the month, so I’ve decided to hold a special month of book giveaways. Every day (unless I screw up, which I probably will) I’ll give away a book or themed set of books to someone who asks for it. To enter, you have to comment on this blog or on my LiveJournal–email, Facebook, and Twitter won’t count, and if more than one person speaks up, I’ll roll a die to determine the recipient. U.S. residents only, please.
You get a new book every day, and on the last day of the month I’ll give away my own.
Yeah, that’s right. Tomorrow I’m giving away Game of Cages, but today, the day before it hits the shelves, I’m giving away my first novel. Publishers Weekly put it on their list of 100 Best Books of 2009; maybe you’ll enjoy it, too. You can read a sample chapter here.
First things first: If you win this book, you can’t win Game of Cages, too.
Second things second: If you want a chance to read it, just drop a comment on the blog or LJ.
Update: This book has been won.
If you haven’t read any of Game of Cages yet, Chapter One is here. Chapter Two is here. If you have already read them, read on:
Game of Cages
Chapter Three
I had no idea where Well-Spoken was going, but I knew how to follow voices. I picked up the silver tray and left the kitchen.
The halls had dark paneling and were hung with landscapes of sunny places thousands of miles away. The floor was hardwood with a strip of burgundy carpet down the center. The carpet had been plush once but had been worn thin down the middle and dotted with faint brown stains.
I walked quietly but not sneakily. I still had the too-small servant’s jacket on. It would probably fool anyone who didn’t actually live or work here, and I hoped that was good enough. I held the tray in front of me to hide my shirttails.
Well-Spoken Woman and the Russian had talked about attracting the wrong kind of attention, and I knew they were talking about me. They wanted a predator; the Twenty Palace Society kills people who have predators. Continue reading
I’ve been told that the best home page a writer can show is the one that displays their books (along with synopsis, blurbs, links to sample chapters and buy links); rather than force people to click through a couple of links to buy a book, they can do so right at the front.
So I’ve redesigned my front page and I linked it to the style.css file that governs my blog. Now the front page looks like the rest of my site.
Mostly. I need to set my name so it comes up next to the photo and I want to eliminate the white space beneath the picture. I also want to reduce the size of the picture.
So I’m not done fiddling with it, but I’m kinda married to the plain white page. What do you think? Anything I should change? Anything that doesn’t work for you? All advice welcome.
Game of Cages will be coming out on the last day of the month, so I’ve decided to hold a special month of book giveaways. Every day (unless I screw up, which I probably will) I’ll give away a book or themed set of books to someone who asks for it. To enter, you have to comment on this blog or on my LiveJournal–email, Facebook, and Twitter won’t count, and if more than one person speaks up, I’ll roll a die to determine the recipient. U.S. residents only, please.
You get a new book every day, and on the last day of the month I’ll give away my own.
Books on writing! Anyone want them?
Update: These books have been won.
1) Note to shoplifters: Don’t try to rob a store while they’re in the middle of a police charity event.
2) Deep Fried Beer. Linking is not approval.
3) By the time this post goes online, I expect this policy to be rescinded: School segregates class elections by race.
5) A treehouse for people who love fantasy and need cardio. Lots and lots of cardio.
6) In case you don’t have enough reason to be sick of TWILIGHT, here’s the toilet decal.
7) Alternative Universe movie posters. Brad Pitt as Plastic Man? Tim Curry as the Joker? Love it. via tor.com