David Anthony Durham's Blog, page 38

Choose Your Own Novella

Hi. I've been quiet here for a little while. It's been a very busy period the last week or so. Lots of things in the works! I'm glad to say I have the copy edited manuscript for The Sacred Band in my hands at the moment. I'll have to read and return it promptly, and hopefully we'll keep marching toward publication in October! I'll be mentioning some of the other things very soon...

Today, I have a question for you.

I think often about writing a novella set in the Acacian world. It would be short, contained, probably not about the large scale politics of the world as covered in the trilogy - more of an adventure story, or some side story that could happen before, during or after the events in the trilogy. There are lots of possibilities, but I'm curious about what you folks might be interested in reading about.

Whose story do you want more of? What tangent sounds like fun to go off on? Where haven't I taken you in Acacia that you want to go? Or what story might be a good starting point for people that haven't read the series?

*Insert Your Own Title Here*

Curtis Brown and Le Pré aux Clercs

I'm pleased to mention that I've just made an appearance on the website of the Curtis Brown Literary Agency in the UK. As of The Sacred Band they'll be handling my foreign rights instead of Random House. I'm quite pleased about this.

HERE's the page they have for me. Want to publish me in some wonderful country I've not yet appeared in yet? If so, talk to these folks!

And speaking of handling foreign rights, I might as well mention that we've got our first deal for The Sacred Band! Le Pré aux Clercs is sticking with me. There's the whole translation to do, but I think they're going to try and get it done for a fall publication. They're terrific and I'm very pleased.

Maybe I'll even get over there again to celebrate...

Mind Meld

There's a rather useful Mind Meld over at SF Signal at the moment. The questions they put to their selection of authors and editors was: "What forthcoming sf/f/h books are you most looking forward to? Why are you anticipating each of those selections?"

There are some interesting answers that include a number of titles I'm glad to have been alerted to.

Yes, there's an element of self-interest in this. The Sacred Band, I'm glad to say, made author Daniel Abraham's list. Hurrah! And the new Wild Cards novel, Fort Freak, got mentioned a couple of times. I have my three part snake story in that one.

But, enough about me. Go check out the other recommendations. I bet you'll see something that tickles your fancy! It's HERE.

Sugar

So here's another movie recommendation. Remember, I'm not inclined to recommend movies that everyone has heard of anyway. I see those too, but it's smaller, independent or foreign films that I'm inclined to spotlight. This one is from 2009. It's called, simply, Sugar. Seen it? If not, consider doing so.

You could say it's a baseball movie, but... well, it's not really that. Baseball is the catalyst for the story, but it's about a lot more than that, and it's certainly not about some ninth inning victory. It's about the minor league training camps in the Dominican Republic and elsewhere that farm local talent with an eye toward sending them through to the states, where they then hope to play their way up toward the major leagues. It's about the tension between the dream all these young guys feel and the reality that the vast majority of them aren't going to achieve that dream. It's about the cultural turmoil of feeling out of place in the US, longing for home while also striving to take advantage of the opportunities here. It's a quiet movie in some ways, but it also moves in unexpected directions. It's the type of film that I didn't know how much I like it until it was over, and even at that point I can't quite explain why it worked for me. But it did, and that's why I'm mentioning it.

I got good reviews. Check out The New York Times or The Los Angeles Times, for example.

Oh, it's mostly in Spanish, by the way. You're not afraid of that though...

Dragon Time?

Hey, so have you heard that George RR Martin's A Dance with Dragons finally has a pub date? A real one. One that the man himself stands by? Well, it does. It's July 12, 2011. That's this year, ya know. Just months away.

Admittedly, he's not finished yet, but this time he says it's for real. You can read his Ice and Fire Update post: Here.

This will make 2011 a rather huge year for Westeros. New book and a new HBO series. Am I jealous?

Forget I asked that...

I'm very pleased, really, as a fan and as a friend. I'm a bit bummed that I no longer get a mention on his update page, but I guess the time has finally come for him to promote his own book there instead of other people's.

Do I think this is a real date? Yes. I'm a believer.

On Sale In France

The Pocket Edition of The Other Lands - "Terres étrangères" - is on sale in France now! I'm glad.

Here's how it's described:

"Neufs années ont passé depuis la défaite et la chute brutale des Meins. Corinn Akaran est devenue la reine de l'empire d'Acacia, qu'elle dirige d'une poigne de fer. Quand les envoyés de la ligue des vaisseaux sollicitent l'aide de la souveraine pour négocier avec les mystérieux Auldeks, un peuple
que personne n'a jamais vu et qui vit au-delà du Monde Connu, c'est à son jeune frère Dariel qu'elle confie la difficile mission de découvrir quelles menaces planent sur l'empire, au prix d'un voyage de tous les périls…"

The Editor Speaketh

I told you that I'd finished the manuscript. I showed you the cover. I pointed at the publication date. But I don't think I've yet mentioned a final bit of business about The Sacred Band - namely, what my editor thought of the whole thing.

Well, he got back to me a little while ago, and I'm very pleased to say that we're a go. He liked the book and its conclusion quite a bit. Here, I'll let him speak for himself. He said, in part:

"I finished THE SACRED BAND last night with a great feeling of satisfaction. You really have delivered on that promise you made to us and to yourself years ago to produce an epic, multi-layered, literate, fully imagined alternative historical narrative, and all the plot strands are wrapped up in completely satisfying fashion. It was a long journey, certainly, but your strong writing kept my full attention throughout and I was never bored for a minute."

So, that's one guy's take on it. I hope that, come October, lots more readers will find the book to their liking as well!

Some Kind Words For Akacja

Looks like Acacia is getting some love in Poland. I just came across a very kind review from a blogger at Czytam więc jestem. My Google translator indicates that she really liked the book. Seems like the only thing that put her off were typos and the lack of a map!

That's troubling, but at least I can say with conviction that neither of those are faults of mine...

Sounds like she's got some folks interested in reading the series. Here's hoping my Polish publisher - typos aside - makes that happen.

The original is HERE.

On Managing To Stress Over... Fan Mail

Yes, I do manage to stress over fan mail. What do you expect? I'm a writer!

But it's not all bad, as I explain on a blog post I did for the Clarion blog, which you can read HERE.

Please take a look. And leave a comment! We guest bloggers appreciate comments.

Oh, and one other thing... As you may know, I'll be teaching at Clarion this summer. If you'd been considering applying, you better get on it right quick! The application period closes tomorrow night - and that would be for electronic applications only, I guess.

You can find the information HERE.

Go on. It'll be great fun (and tons of work, too).