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Some people hate to wait.

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And I don’t blame them. People have been bugging me about the release of Circle of Enemies for nearly a year now. Should they have to wait another month for it? Longer?

Possibly not!

Here’s the deal: I have an Advanced Readers Copy of Circle of Enemies sitting on my shelf, and I’m going to auction it off on eBay to benefit a local charity. Here’s the link. Go! Bid! Spread the word!

Truthfully, I wish I could have found my charity listed in the eBay system but they’re not there. Instead I’ll have to cut a check after the money clears–which is fine, but creates a “Sounds like a scam!” response in some people. Maybe I’ll provide pictorial evidence.

Anyway, the proceeds will go to The Ballard Food Bank, which really helped my family when things were difficult a few years back. Since then, the recession has hit and food banks everywhere are straining to help those who need it. We don’t need them anymore, but now that I have an opportunity to pay them back a little, I’m doing it. (When I told my wife about my plans she said: “Yes. Oh yes absolutely, thank you.”) I’ll be paying for shipping and I’ll be donating 100% of what I get after PayPal/eBay takes their cut.

Again, I’d be grateful if everyone could help spread the word a bit. The food bank folks are good people and deserve whatever help they can get.

Didn’t I promise a teaser trailer today?

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Well, I have it right here and ready for you. What’s more, I promised that there would be a cool announcement to go with it, didn’t I?

First, here’s the teaser trailer:

Twenty Palaces Teaser Trailer (not HD) from Harry Connolly on Vimeo.

That one isn’t HD, but if your connection can handle it and you want to go full screen, there’s a High Def version as well.

Honest to Pikachu, I love this teaser trailer. It’s gorgeous and gory, just as my editor said. What’s more, from what I’ve seen of the full trailer, it’s going to be even more incredible. The guys at Wyrd are doing a fantastic job. (The sound effects make my hair stand on end!)

What about that announcement? Well, now that my editor has dropped the announcement over at Suvudu, I feel fine posting it here: As a short-term promotion for my upcoming Circle of Enemies, Del Rey has dropped the price for the Kindle edition of Child of Fire to only 99 cents!

That’s right. For a limited time (don’t ask me how limited because I’m not at all certain) Child of Fire will be available for just one dollar. What’s more, Game of Cages has had two dollars knocked off the ebook price.

As I write this, prices in Apple’s iBookstore and Sony eReader have been changed, but I can’t link to them. Google Bookstore is more accomodating. Child of Fire | Game of Cages. Unfortunately, as I write this, Barnes & Noble hadn’t implemented the price change yet. B&N, why do you have to be so hard on me?

Two more things to say: First of all, this isn’t the last cool thing happening today. See next rock.

Second of all, I’m tremendously happy that Del Rey (and everyone at Random House, too) chose my books for this promotion. Really, they could have given this push to any number of authors, and it shows their confidence in the Twenty Palaces books that it’s happening to me.

So, if you wouldn’t mind maybe spreading the word a little bit? It’s only a short time offer, but poor Ray Lilly could use a couple extra readers before book three comes out.

Added later: It seems that only the U.S. version of Amazon.com that have lowered the prices. Readers outside the U.S. should check that Google link, though. It might be what you’re looking for.

Randomness for 7/18

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1) Just in case you’re incapable of expressing emotion on your own…

2) A nice Dresden Files animation. Video. (link updated)

3) Voldemort didn’t go to a better place.

4) The ten worst lines in sf films.

5) Edible Hogwarts.

6) I can’t believe I didn’t think of this. PostSecrets from fictional characters (and pets) Brilliant!

7) “Damn it feels good to be a Lannister.” Video.

Did I mention? (advice needed)

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Hey, did I mention that Circle of Enemies earned me another starred review from Publishers Weekly? I did? In my birthday gift report post? Oops. Sorry.

Well how about this, then? The Science Fiction Book Club’s omnibus edition of all three books has a page on line, and I think the cover is pretty cool. I look forward to receiving my copy, so I can see it a little bigger.

In other news, I have some pretty cool things coming up in two weeks or so, including an auction of an ARC of Circle of Enemies. The auction will benefit charity, of course, and I’m wondering what’s the best way to do this: Should I put it on ebay (do people still use ebay?) and turn over the money after I collect it? Should I have people donate, like, ten bucks and forward the receipts to me so they’re entered into a raffle?

I’ve never done this before, so I’m grateful for any advice you can offer.

Will the Twitter link auto-post?

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I hope so!

Added later: It doesn’t seem to be working. I added a WordPress plugin called “WordTwit” to automatically post a notification of a new blog entry on Twitter. Unfortunately, it’s been market “Pending” for the entire 20 minutes since I posted. Fail.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a Twitter-posting WordPress plugin that works?

Randomness for 6/30

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1) Weird things customers say in bookshops.

2) “Well, at least it’s not towels!“

3) A Game of Thrones of Muppets

4) Han Solo and Greedo bookends.

5) How to have a well-behaved child.

6) His Girl Friday… with all that wonderful dialog edited out! A feature length movie gets trimmed down to under eight and a half minutes. Video.

7) Dear Photograph

(Re yesterday’s post: You guys know I generally don’t reply to hypothetical comments, yes? I don’t want to control or direct those conversations.)

No real post today

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I’ve been more scarce that usual lately, I know. I spending that time writing, so hopefully people are okay with it.

The post I would have written here is actually up on the Suvudu.com site. It’s about the Harry Potter movies, and it’s very very serious. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be showing up on the main Suvudu site, and I’m not going to sit here trying to figure out how it works when I could be working.

As for me, post-vacation leg pain has dropped to the usual levels and I’m planning a couple of nice long walks today. Unfortunately, it’s cloudy and 54 degrees outside. Fucking Seattle.

Five things make a Sunday post

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1) Curious about the plot of Twenty Palaces, the prequel to Child of Fire? Well, some years ago I ran the query past Evil Editor for their advice way back in 2006. Over the weekend, EE brought it back as an Evil Editor Classic. (Here’s the original, with amused commenters.)

It’s interesting to note that I’ve cut 9K words since then, but that query most definitely sums up the plot of book zero.

2) So! Authors have a lot of outlets to obsess over their sales, but one of the ones I like is the Random House website. See, I can go there, click on “Science fiction/fantasy” on the left sidebar, and it will show you a list of their available books, sorted by how well they sell.

I know, right?

Well, today, for the first time ever (not that I check often, but still) Circle of Enemies was the first book listed. The ebook, actually. Can I say “Yay!” For the series to continue, CoE is going to have to do quite well, and I’m tentatively taking this as a hopeful sign.

3) How is THE DARK KNIGHT rated PG-13? Jesus, but it was dismal, disturbing, and intensely violent–all things I like, mind you, but I’ve taken my son to a couple of PG-13 movies, and I think this one would have been a bit much.

4) However, as this is the summer of my son’s ninth year, I’m back to seeing films in the theater again. We saw KUNG FU PANDA 2, and yeah, it was just as great as you’ve heard. PIRATES 4 was a complete mess, though. When the main villain, Blackbeard, is introduced, he magically ties up a big crowd of mutineers, then stops himself from punishing them because his daughter asks him to. Nothing like a villain not acting villainous to win the audience over.

Then there was the “SHE HAS A NAME!” thing, which confused me at first because I thought the mermaid really did have a name. Turns out it didn’t matter if she did or not, or what it might have been, because the supposed good guy hangs one on her himself without caring one whit how she felt about it.

Finally, it turns out that Barbossa got a peg leg because he’s too much like the KGBeast. You know, the next time I get some tape stuck on my finger, I’m just going to cut off that finger.

5) I still have a lot to do to prep for my trip to NY, so off I go.

Moby Awards!

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I’m way behind on this, but the Moby Awards were just given out a short while ago. What are Moby Awards? They’re given to book trailers, of course.

This may seem a little silly (and it is) but the award givers seem to understand this: Here’s a list of the winners over on the Galleycat site. They’re fun to watch, especially the bad ones. The winner of the “Worst Small/No House” is particularly special, what with the delightful animation, the empty corner of an attic repurposed as a secret waterfront back room, the pirate costumes made from what appears to be shower curtains, and of course “Dubloooooooons!”

And when they give an award called “Most Monkey Sex” they aren’t kidding. Jeebus.

I don’t really understand the “Worse Music” selection. The song isn’t to my taste, but it seems to be a mediocre version of that sort of song.

Anyway, you may have heard that I’ve hired some friends to make a trailer for the Twenty Palaces books (since I’ve only mentioned it about a billion times, but I enjoyed watching these. They’re basically commercials, I know, but some are clever.

It’s the funny ones that work best, don’t you think?

Randomness for 6/10

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1) Artist buys cheap landscapes at yard sales, then paints monsters into them.

2) Eel Noir, a webcomic by filmmaker Jonathon King.

3) Does anyone else think it’s really odd that people tape themselves watching TV? How is this even a thing? Anyway, the new BREAKING DAWN trailer came out, and this dude edited together a whole bunch of ecstatic reaction videos. Video.

4) Woman gets a tattoo of 152 profile pics of her Facebook friends. Quick note to everyone reading this on Facebook: I don’t care about you enough to get a tattoo of your face.

5) “It’s not a weasel, it’s a marten!”

6) The best of Anti-Joke Chicken. This made me laugh.

7) For Dr. Who fans.