harvest of fire

“Religious symbols don’t give you superpowers.”

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In a weird quirk of fate, two audio interviews I’ve done has gone live on the same day.

One is an interview I did with Author Magazine associate editor Jeff Ayers. It’s the longer of the two interviews, but since I’m the only interviewee, it’s a shorter listen. Hear the advice I give to aspiring professional writers! Long-time readers of the blog will not be surprised to discover that it involves self-recrimination.

The other is the interview I did with Seattle Geekly. I’m the first of four authors interviewed (the others are Ben Thompson, Ken McConnell and Caitlin Kittredge,) and they cover other geeky topics, too, including the Jet City Improv Christmas Show. The world, it is small.

You always wondered what my voice sounds like, yeah? Well, it’s no great shakes, but you can hear it at either place.

Recently purchased books

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As an unrelated question, when is the December issue of Locus supposed to reach bookstores?

Win a copy of CHILD OF FIRE

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Even better, win a copy of many, many, many other books on Pat Rothfuss’s blog. Here’s the blog entry where CoF is mentioned, but don’t start there.

In case you’ve been on a media fast or something, Pat Rothfuss is having a second fundraiser for Heifer’s International, a charity that provides livestock for the world’s poor. Read this FAQ to find out more along with a critique of Batman (heresy!)

Seriously, it’s a great cause, and some of the prizes are big time–signed ARCs, marked up manuscripts, critiques of unpublished novels by industry pros, and lots and lots of books. I only wish I could have sent more than one book–that was literally my last copy. (I’ve ordered more from Random House, but these things take time.)

Check it out. Celebrate the season by helping those who need it. Get book-related swag in return. Seriously, this is what the internet was created for.

Child of Fire reviews, part 7

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I honestly didn’t think it would keep getting reviews for so long.

Behind the cut. Continue reading

Huh.

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Child of Fire is on Google Books

Not the whole thing. Not a long, continuous piece, either. But a lot of it. I’m cool with that, I guess.

Very little is going on, but I’m a bit overwhelmed anyway. More details later.

I’m back in the Starbucks again

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… but I’m about to leave. The section I’m revising is going to come out much shorter now, which is a good thing, since I’m 11K over the word count I promised. It doesn’t matter in a substantial way, but it makes me less anxious.

But I’ll be getting up in about five minutes to head to the library for another interview, and this time it may be on video. Maybe not, but maybe. I shaved, just in case.

Nervous? Me? No!

Update: No video! Phew! It went pretty well, I think. I went fumble mouth once or twice, but it wasn’t too bad.

Interview this morning

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I have an interview with the folks at Seattle Geekly in about an hour. Meanwhile, I’m trying to fix a scene in Man Bites World that makes perfect sense in every way except the emotional. I’m trying to figure out how these two guys feel about each other right now, and their past is so complicated that… Oh! I know!

Update: Interview went well, I think. Nice people.

Reviews of Child of Fire, part six

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Continue reading

Black Friday Non-Shopping and Leftover Contest Winner (Exclamation point!)

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And the winner is…

(drumroll)
Continue reading

Black Friday Non-Shopping and Leftover Contest!

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I’m scheduling this post for early Black Friday morning, when I’m going to be sound asleep. (At least, I hope I will be.) So I’m writing this just after eating a sizable but not gluttonous Thanksgiving dinner.

So! Have a friend who likes urban fantasy? Want to have a gift sent to them at no cost to you? You’re in luck: the prize for this contest is a signed, inscribed, giftwrapped copy of Child of Fire, which I will mail to your friend/family member/loved one/mortal enemy anywhere on the planet Earth.

I’ll inscribe it any way you like (within reason), and the gift wrap will be nice but non-denominational. I’ll also include a nice but non-denominational card, too, with “Do not open before [date you choose]!” written on the envelope. And don’t worry, my wife will do the actual wrapping; that ensures the package will not only look nice, but it won’t be sloppily cocooned in scotch tape.

This lets you cross someone off your gift list without spending a cent! How do you win the prize? Well, we have the remains of a 20 lb. turkey in our fridge, and we’re looking for recipes for the leftovers. Suggest something. You can give the recipe in detail, describe it in a general way, or just drop a link to something you like. On Sunday morning, my wife, son and I will look at all of the suggestions on my main blog, LJ, and Facebook, and together we’ll choose a recipe to try. If we choose yours, you win!

Helpful tips for folks thinking of entering: soups, sandwiches and pot pies will have to be really unique or special, since we make a lot of them already. Cheese will be a tough sell (we’re open-minded, but cheese and turkey?), and any sort of hot sauce or spicy pepper will get an immediate veto by the child. And, if we find two recipes that look great, we may have two winners.

At any rate, we’ll make the winner’s recipe and I’ll blog how it turned out.

You didn’t want to go shopping on Black Friday anyway, did you?