David Anthony Durham's Blog, page 15

A Bookplate

I received something rather nice the other day. A kind reader sent me several Acacia-inspired bookplates that he'd made himself. He requested that I sign them for him, sort of a way of personalizing a book without having to send the whole book in the mail.

Here's what it looks like, with the requested signature:

Isn't that cool?

Thanks, Roger. It's very gratifying to know my work inspires others to create!

Audible.com Sale!

Audible.com is having a sale this week on selected titles that were produced through their ACX program. That's wherein authors work directly with narrators to produce audiobooks together, and then upload them to Audible.

I did that with the distinguished narrator Dick Hill, and he produced an epic reading of my historical novel Pride of Carthage.

I'm pleased to say that Pride of Carthage will be part of this sale! (Click here to check it out.)

Audible is temporarily reducing the price on these titles to $5.95 for a la carte purchasers at Audible.com. That's a great price, considering how much audiobooks usually cost. Audible Listener members get their usual, additional 30% discount off the a la carte price - so for some it's even lower. This special promotion will begin Saturday, August 25, and run through Sunday, September 2.

But, you may ask, is the book any good?

Yes, of course it is! Don't trust me, though, check out what other folks had to say if you need convincing...


Publishers Weekly (Starred Review): Known for his novels of African-American life in 19th-century America (Gabriel's Story; Walk Through Darkness), Durham leaps continents and centuries to tell the epic story of Hannibal and his march on Rome in this heady, richly textured novel.

Booklist (Starred Review): Durham's epic is truly a big, magnificent, sprawling story complete with a sizable cast of compelling characters, intricately drawn battle scenes, and fluid, graceful prose.

Library Journal (Starred Review): Durham's latest offers a rich, exciting, and panoramic view of the legendary Carthaginian general who almost conquered Rome... An epic tale well told.

The Christian Science Monitor: "Much that was lost is revived here in all its glory and gore, but ultimately what's more stunning is Durham's imagination, his sensitivity to the cost and exhaustion of war. It's a brilliant exploration of the tension between private destiny and historical force, as full of the sweep of geopolitics as the quiet intimacies of a marriage. He so clearly creates the hopes and fears of these people removed from us by time and culture that we can recognize our tragic, common heritage."

If You're One of Those People...

For about a year now I've been able to follow my weekly book sales via Bookscan. Usually, there are lots of ups and downs. Sales go up when a new book comes out. When there are reviews or end of year lists, etc. All the predictable stuff. Normally, I pay only passing attention. Gotta keep my sights set on the new books, right?

My interest has perked up a bit recently, though. For some reason, sales have slowly and steadily increased over the summer. I'm not aware of any particular promotions or ads or anything. No new publications. But week by week for most of the summer the Acacia books have been steadily selling.

It's kinda cool. But I don't know where or why this is happening. My Amazon sales rank is nothing special. So... can it be that people are actually finding the books in bookstores? Is it all because of that GRRM quote? Word of mouth?

Beats me, but I'm pleased. If you're one of the people out that there's come to the series this summer, thank you. I hope you like it!

Iceland, Days Five thru Eight

Gudrun continues her Iceland adventure. Only a few more days, though, and then she'll be home. That'll be nice. For me, at least!

Some photo treats from her blog:
 
Here is DAY SIX, featuring a swim in Artic waters.

Here is DAY SEVEN, featuring Icelandic cowboys.

Here is DAY EIGHT, featuring a happy slug-thing.

And here is an addition to DAY EIGHT, featuring Russell Crowe, Patti Smith and unfortunate timing.

Liternational Volume I, Issue 2

The new issue of Liternational is live!

They were kind enough to feature me as the guest author this time around. There's an excerpt from The Sacred Band. But you've read that, right?

So instead, go check it out for the other fiction and nonfiction. Looks like they've got some good stuff. And if you're an author yourself, I'd say Liternational is a great place to send your material!

More Iceland Photos

My life right now is all about moving back into our house, painting our metal roof, sorting through my many books, taking care of the kids, reading student writing and working on my middle grade fantasy. (The latter I want to have basically done before September, at which time my full energy goes to my Spartacus novel!)

My wife, however, continues to hang out in Iceland. Go figure. Here are two more photo diaries from her:

Day Four is HERE. 

Day Five is HERE.

Beautiful place.

Well, it's back up on to the roof for me. Yes, I'll be careful. Thanks for caring. ;)

The Wife's in Iceland

That's not a metaphor.

Gudrun is off for about two weeks in Iceland. She's teaching at a knitting retreat with Knitting Iceland, and having a grand time. Interested in what the place looks like? She's only a few days in, but she's been putting up daily photo collections on her blog.

Day One is HERE.

Day One continued is HERE - wherein she happens on a gay pride march!

Day Two is HERE.

Day Three is HERE.

I've been to the Reykjavik airport tons of times, but never got out of it. Next time, I think I will...

Wild Cards Rolls On...

Very pleased to have heard good news from George RR Martin recently. The Wild Cards Series continues to make its way in the world - both going forward and going back.

The forward part is that Tor has signed up for the twenty-third volume in the series, High Stakes. It's going to conclude the triad begun with Fort Freak (where I first began writing in the series) and continued with Lowball (which I'm also in). Lowball is in the final stages of editing, so I imagine it'll be out in 2013. And then I'll pitch a storyline for High Stakes!

The going backwards part? Well, that's that Tor has agreed to republish the original volumes four through seven: Aces Abroad, Down & Dirty, Ace in the Hole, and Dead Man's Hand. Very cool. This - added to the coming UK publications and the fact that the series is in active development for film - suggests the series may be gaining traction in a big way.

I'm hoping so.

Reviewed and Covered

I noticed a couple of very nice Acacia mentions today.

One is a review of The War With the Mein over at Only The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy. The reviewer, Bryce, is kind enough to conclude with:

"If you're dying for something to read while we wait for George, Acacia just may be the perfect interlude. I can't believe how close I was to passing on this series, what a huge mistake that would have been. Acacia is exactly the kind of epic fantasy I love."

And that's what I love to hear!

Also, Staffer's Book Review has a little piece of my mainstream publisher, Doubleday, doing genre covers. Fortunately, the Acacia Series works for him. He doesn't have an equally high opinion of some the Dday's other visual offerings.

One interesting thing about the article is that it mentions two sff titles that Doubleday has published recently. Add last year's zombie novel Zone One, by Colson Whitehead, to that and Doubleday is putting out more sff/horror titles than they've done for quite a while.

Hmmm...

Beta Readers

Over at Suvudu a piece recently went up on writers answering questions about using beta readers. I was one of the guys asked, and I revealed all.

If you're interested, take a look Here.

The likes of Terry Brooks, Robert V. S. Redick, Jacqueline Carey, Kevin Hearne, Carrie Vaughn, Lev Grossman, Tad Williams, Patrick Rothfuss, Daniel Abraham, Peter V Brett, Blake Charlton, RA Salvatore, Peter Orullian, Jennifer Bosworth, Mark Lawrence and Todd Lockwood also answered the questions.