Joshua Palmatier's Blog, page 27
March 26, 2014
Signal Boost: "Stolen Magic" by Stephanie Burgis
Hey, all! Thought some of you might be interested in a new book out now called Stolen Magic, the third book in Stephanie Burgis' Kat, Incorrigible series. It's just hit the shelves in paperback. Check it out! This is a Regency fantasy novel for young readers.
In this conclusion to the Regency-era fantasy trilogy Kirkus Reviews calls “enjoyable mayhem,” Kat is tasked with saving her family, the Order of the Guardians, and England itself.
There is nothing in nineteenth-century England quite so improper as magic.
With just days to go before her sister Angeline’s long-delayed wedding to Frederick Carlyle, the impetuous Kat Stephenson has resigned herself to good behavior. But Kat’s initiation into the magical Order of the Guardians is fast approaching, and trouble seems to follow her everywhere.
First, Kat must contend with the wretched Mrs. Carlyle’s attempts to humiliate her sister; the arrival of the mysterious Marquise de Valmont, who bears suspicious resemblance to Kat’s late mother; and Frederick’s bewitching cousin Jane, who has Charles Stephenson tripping over his feet. But when a menacing boy with powerful magic starts hunting Kat, a dastardly villain tries to kill Angeline, and the Guardians face a magical robbery that could spell the end of their Order, propriety becomes the least of Kat’s concerns.
Can Kat save her sister’s life, the Order of the Guardians, and England itself before it’s too late?
In this conclusion to the Regency-era fantasy trilogy Kirkus Reviews calls “enjoyable mayhem,” Kat is tasked with saving her family, the Order of the Guardians, and England itself.
There is nothing in nineteenth-century England quite so improper as magic.
With just days to go before her sister Angeline’s long-delayed wedding to Frederick Carlyle, the impetuous Kat Stephenson has resigned herself to good behavior. But Kat’s initiation into the magical Order of the Guardians is fast approaching, and trouble seems to follow her everywhere.
First, Kat must contend with the wretched Mrs. Carlyle’s attempts to humiliate her sister; the arrival of the mysterious Marquise de Valmont, who bears suspicious resemblance to Kat’s late mother; and Frederick’s bewitching cousin Jane, who has Charles Stephenson tripping over his feet. But when a menacing boy with powerful magic starts hunting Kat, a dastardly villain tries to kill Angeline, and the Guardians face a magical robbery that could spell the end of their Order, propriety becomes the least of Kat’s concerns.
Can Kat save her sister’s life, the Order of the Guardians, and England itself before it’s too late?
Zombies Need Brains Online Store!
So, I've been busy lately setting up an online store for my new small press called Zombies Need Brains. This is a site that will allow everyone to buy ZNB merchandise such as t-shirts with the press' logo, baseball caps, totes, art prints, and eventually the anthologies that the press will produce. We're hard at work getting the first anthology, CLOCKWORK UNIVERSE: STEAMPUNK vs ALIENS, into production and hope to have that available in the next few months. In the meantime, swing on by the shop and see what we have to offer.
You can also order some of my own books (both the Joshua Palmatier books and the now out-of-print Benjamin Tate books), anthologies that I have short stories in, and a "flea market" with odds and ends that I've picked up that might interest the SF&F crowd.
You can also order some of my own books (both the Joshua Palmatier books and the now out-of-print Benjamin Tate books), anthologies that I have short stories in, and a "flea market" with odds and ends that I've picked up that might interest the SF&F crowd.
The Latest Book Discussion!
I've just posted the latest book discussion of the DAW Books' ([Bad username: dawbooks) February releases! I know, I know, I'm behind. Just been horribly busy lately. This time we're discussing Jennifer Roberson's <b>Sword-Bound</b>, the seventh book in her <I>Tiger and Del</I> series. <a href=]Swing on by and check it out!</a> And if you need to catch up on this series, check out DAW's omnibus editions of the first six books.
March 14, 2014
"Steampunk Octopus" Art Print Framed!
I’ve recently gotten the “Steampunk Octopus” prints, signed and numbered, back from the artist Alex Broeckel. These are the prints of the art that I'll be using for the cover of the new small press ZOMBIES NEED BRAINS' first SF&F anthology Clockwork Universe: Steampunk vs Aliens. I took one of the prints down and had it framed. I figured I’d share it with everyone, so here’s a pic of what it looks like with the frame I chose. I think it’s awesome. Those who pledged at the "Artistic Zombie" level for the kickstarter for the anthology have already received their reward prints and I hope they enjoy them. I do have additional prints available for sale at $250. These are unframed, signed, numbered prints. If you are interested, please message me here on LiveJournal about how to get one of the prints for YOUR wall.
March 12, 2014
Signal Boost: "Blood and Iron" by Jon Sprunk!
Hey, all! I'd like to introduce you to my "shadow twin," Jon Sprunk. I met him at Balticon because we share the same agent (Joshua Bilmes), and during our drinks and chat we discovered that WE ARE TWINS! He wrote a book about an assassin; I wrote a book about an assassin! And . . . well, it got scarier from there.
Jon's latest book has hit the shelves now. It's called Blood and Iron and is the first book in an epic fantasy series from Pyr. It's action-packed and according to some, "a sword-and-sorcery Spartacus set in a richly imagined world." Here's the cover art and cover copy. You can find out more details at the Pyr website, and find out more about Jon Sprunk at his own website (including the assassin books).
Cover Copy: It starts with a shipwreck following a magical storm at sea. Horace, a soldier from the west, had joined the Great Crusade against the heathens of Akeshia after the deaths of his wife and son from plague. When he washes ashore, he finds himself at the mercy of the very people he was sent to kill, who speak a language and have a culture and customs he doesn’t even begin to understand. Not long after, Horace is pressed into service as a house slave. But this doesn’t last. The Akeshians discover that Horace was a latent sorcerer, and he is catapulted from the chains of a slave to the halls of power in the queen’s court. Together with Jirom, an ex-mercenary and gladiator, and Alyra, a spy in the court, he will seek a path to free himself and the empire’s caste of slaves from a system where every man and woman must pay the price of blood or iron. Before the end, Horace will have paid dearly in both.
Jon's latest book has hit the shelves now. It's called Blood and Iron and is the first book in an epic fantasy series from Pyr. It's action-packed and according to some, "a sword-and-sorcery Spartacus set in a richly imagined world." Here's the cover art and cover copy. You can find out more details at the Pyr website, and find out more about Jon Sprunk at his own website (including the assassin books).
Cover Copy: It starts with a shipwreck following a magical storm at sea. Horace, a soldier from the west, had joined the Great Crusade against the heathens of Akeshia after the deaths of his wife and son from plague. When he washes ashore, he finds himself at the mercy of the very people he was sent to kill, who speak a language and have a culture and customs he doesn’t even begin to understand. Not long after, Horace is pressed into service as a house slave. But this doesn’t last. The Akeshians discover that Horace was a latent sorcerer, and he is catapulted from the chains of a slave to the halls of power in the queen’s court. Together with Jirom, an ex-mercenary and gladiator, and Alyra, a spy in the court, he will seek a path to free himself and the empire’s caste of slaves from a system where every man and woman must pay the price of blood or iron. Before the end, Horace will have paid dearly in both.
March 8, 2014
Latest Book Discussion!
I've just posted the latest book discussion at the DAW Books unofficial blog (
dawbooks
)! We're looking at Nnedi Okorafor's Who Fears Death, a post-apocalyptic novel set in Africa. Swing on by and check it out! And if you've read the book already, tell us all what you thought about it.
dawbooks
)! We're looking at Nnedi Okorafor's Who Fears Death, a post-apocalyptic novel set in Africa. Swing on by and check it out! And if you've read the book already, tell us all what you thought about it.March 4, 2014
New Releases from DAW Books!
I've just posted the new releases for March 2014 from DAW Books, Inc. (
dawbooks
), hitting bookshelves today! Swing on by and check out new titles from Seanan McGuire and Stephen Leigh, plus the paperback releases of Julie E. Czerneda's and Marion Zimmer Bradley & Deborah J. Ross' latest books.
dawbooks
), hitting bookshelves today! Swing on by and check out new titles from Seanan McGuire and Stephen Leigh, plus the paperback releases of Julie E. Czerneda's and Marion Zimmer Bradley & Deborah J. Ross' latest books.February 27, 2014
Cover Reveal for SHATTERING THE LEY! Plus an Excerpt!
I'm happy to announce that the cover for my next novel Shattering the Ley, the first book in a new blended genre fantasy novel has been revealed on Pat's Fantasy Hotlist! They've also included an excerpt from the book. The first chapter, actually. So swing on by the blog and check out the spectacular cover, read the excerpt, and then swing on by your favorite online bookstore and preorder the book. It comes out July 1st in hardcover at all of your favorite bookstores!
February 26, 2014
Author Interview: Stephen Leigh for "Immortal Muse"
Today, we have an author interview with Stephen Leigh, author of the upcoming novel Immortal Muse from DAW Books Inc! I asked him to introduce himself and the book, and here's what he had to say. Welcome him to the bog! And leave any questions you have in the comments section.
1. Introduce yourself.
Okay . . . Hi there, I’m Stephen Leigh (my friends call me Steve). I’ve had more than twenty novels published, and somewhere around fifty short stories -- most of those were under my own name, though a few books and short stories were under the pseudonym S.L. Farrell. This does not make me prolific; it makes me, well, older than many other writers. I’ve been writing for a long time. For instance, I’ve done several stories over the decades for George RR Martin’s long-running WILD CARDS series, which started way back in 1984, and that’s not the beginning of my career.
I’ve also been a full-time musician, and I have a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Art that I really haven’t used as much as I’d like, and a Masters degree which I do use: I currently teach Creative Writing at Northern Kentucky University, which despite its name, is actually a few miles across the river from Cincinnati, Ohio. I’m married, and we have two kids who are now too old for me to have possibly been responsible for their existence -- at least I like to think so.
And, oh yeah, one reason why I’m here is because I’ll have a new book out next week, of which I’m a particularly proud parent.
2. Give us the "Hollywood Pitch" of your new book, two sentences max. (Such as: "This book is Harry Potter crossed with Silence of the Lambs, with a touch of Dumbo thrown in!")
Two sentences max?!: you are a cruel taskmaster, Joshua! I’m a novelist, not a poet. Okay, here goes . . .
"Imagine an immortal muse whose survival depends on the creativity she nurtures within her lovers, and another immortal who feed not on artistry but on pain and torment. Imagine them chasing each other through time, giving the reader glimpses of the famous and infamous, all caught up in this ages-long battle which will end in current day New York City."
3. Now give us a more in depth description of the book. What makes this book cool? What will make it stand out on the shelves?
The cover will help it stand out on the shelves, and the fact it’s a hardcover will ensure that it can stand upright on its own. (Unless, of course, you buy the e-book version, in which case it’s made of digital bits and will reside in your e-reader, which is probably not on a shelf . . .)
What I think makes the book cool is the structure: we start in current day NYC, then shift back to the mid-1300s to glimpse some of the beginning of the tale. The book continues to alternate between events in NYC and historical segments, where the reader glimpses Bernini’s Rome, Vivaldi’s Venice, Lavoisier and Robespierre in the French Revolution, William Blake and John Polidori in 19th century London; Gustav Klimt in turn of the century Vienna, and Charlotte Salomon in WWII France.
And it all ties together . . . You have a blend of history and fantasy, romance and enmity.
Finally, here’s the Publishers Weekly starred review version: “In this centuries-spanning historical fantasy, Leigh spins an epic tale of love and hate. It starts with French alchemist Nicolas Flamel, and his wife, Perenelle, in 1352. When Perenelle develops an elixir that bestows immortality, they find themselves unable to die. Her eternal existence is fueled by the symbiotic relationships she forms with creative types as their muse; Nicolas is driven by the need to inflict suffering and death. She wants to survive. He wants to torment her. As their paths cross time and again across numerous lifetimes, Perenelle is forced to constantly reinvent herself and take on new friends and lovers. When they meet again in modern New York City, it seems as though their war may finally be over. Leigh seamlessly inserts his two immortals into history, playing with actual people and events to deliver beautifully-rendered glimpses of different eras. Leigh strikes the perfect balance between past and present, real and imagined.”
4. What was the hardest part of writing the book, the part you struggled with most (without spoilers)? What part of the writing was the most fun (without spoilers)?
For me, the hardest part was also the part that was the most fun, as contradictory as that sounds.
As you know from the above, the book has sequences taking place from the 1300s through to current time, and so I had to do a plentitude of research in order to get the “look-and-feel” of the various periods. I ended up reading about dozen or more non-fiction books and innumerable articles on the internet to gather the necessary information to pull out the necessary details that would make the settings (and the historical characters) come to life. My Scrivener file is stuffed with references that I needed in the writing. That was where I struggled the most -- trying to avoid horrible infodumps and attempting to weave the details of the time into the story without stopping the narrative dead in its tracks. One of the dangers of doing a lot of research is that you uncover all sorts of wonderful little things and you want to put every last one of them in the book . . . and you can’t.
And on the other side, the research was also the fun part. I’ve always loved reading non-fiction material, especially of an historical nature, but the real beauty of research, to me, is that it always, always sparks a few dozen new ideas for the story and the worldbuilding of the novel. I love that part. I love how research can send my mind flying off in an entirely new, unexpected, and better direction; how suddenly a character or a place or a time in the novel awakens and becomes solid. I love the “aha!” moment when I’ve been wrestling with some issue in the novel and the subconscious plucks something from the reading I’m doing, holds it up in front of me, and declares “Here’s the answer!”
Those are wonderful moments that spring from the hardest part of writing.
5. Explain your writing ritual: Must have you have coffee or tea or something else? Music or silence? Any special desktop items or totems helping you write?
Tea, thank you. I’ve given up coffee, but I generally have a cuppa on my desk all day. Lapsang Souchong is my favorite: it’s a black tea where the leaves have been dried over a pine fire, and it results in a very smoky smelling and tasting tea that reminds me of an Islay Scotch without the alcohol. Too strong a tea for a lot of people, though. I was walking down the hall at school with a mug of Lapsang, and my colleague walking alongside me stopped, sniffed, and said “Is something burning around here?”
And I generally have music playing: usually iTunes on random play -- and my library has everything from rock to celtic to jazz to classical, so the music can be really random.
But beyond the tea and music . . . I try to make writing a habit and write every day, no matter what, even if it’s just a page or two. When I sit down to write, I’ll generally go over what I wrote the day before, proofing and revising the scene, with the hope that when I hit the blank part of the file I have some momentum built up and am moving downhill well enough that I don’t slam to a screeching halt when I actually have to put new words on the screen.
I’ve found over the years that I tend to write lean in the initial drafts; when I revise, even though I’m deleting words and sentences and sometimes even paragraphs or scenes, I generally find that the net result will be that I’ve added to the word count.
For instance, with IMMORTAL MUSE, the very first draft (which no one but me and my spouse Denise ever see) was less than 120, 000 words. Draft B, a terrifically heavy revision, came in around 167,000 words. Draft C was 172,000. The finished book is roughly 178,000 words. Bear in mind, too, that between Draft C and the final draft, I deleted two entire sections, one of almost 10,000 words, the other about 12,000, because they didn’t seem to me to work well enough. I replaced them with two new sections. That took a long time…
My computer’s a 13” Macbook Pro (currently one with Retina Display and solid state drive), which when on my desk is hooked up to a large monitor and a separate keyboard and trackpad. With the last half-dozen novels or so, I no longer write in a word processor. I abandoned MS Word ages ago, as it began to feel like the world’s worst and most-cluttered writing interface. I then switched to Nisus Writer Pro, a word processor I still like quite a lot, and which I still use for short fiction and correspondence. Several years back, though, I came across Scrivener, a program designed specifically for the task of writing novels, tried it, and realized that the program thought the way I did. I’ve written every novel since (and several novelettes and novellas as well) in Scrivener. When the work’s finished, I have Scrivener compile it into an RTF file, and I take that into Nisus and do a quick clean-up -- and that’s what I send to my editors.
A long, long time ago I realized that if I was ever going to be a writer, I needed to train myself to write in whatever scraps of time I could find -- which is still what I do. The laptop’s generally with me, and if I get a free half-hour or so, I open it up and start banging away on the current work-in-progress. I don’t wait for the Muse (immortal or not); I just start working and trust that the Muse will hear me laboring away, realize it’s work time, and come sit with me for a bit . . . and if she doesn’t, well, that’s what revision is for.
So there you have it: my work habits.
**********
I want to thank you for the opportunity to talk a bit with your readers, Joshua. IMMORTAL MUSE was a four year journey from the time I set down the first sentence to its appearance in the bookstores, and I’m glad to see it finally out there quivering on the shelves waiting for a reader to open it. I hope it’s a book that readers will enjoy quite a bit.
Let’s hope so, anyway!
LINKS:
Stephen Leigh’s website
IMMORTAL MUSE page on website (with links to amazon, B&N, Powell’s, and iBooks)
1. Introduce yourself.
Okay . . . Hi there, I’m Stephen Leigh (my friends call me Steve). I’ve had more than twenty novels published, and somewhere around fifty short stories -- most of those were under my own name, though a few books and short stories were under the pseudonym S.L. Farrell. This does not make me prolific; it makes me, well, older than many other writers. I’ve been writing for a long time. For instance, I’ve done several stories over the decades for George RR Martin’s long-running WILD CARDS series, which started way back in 1984, and that’s not the beginning of my career.
I’ve also been a full-time musician, and I have a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Art that I really haven’t used as much as I’d like, and a Masters degree which I do use: I currently teach Creative Writing at Northern Kentucky University, which despite its name, is actually a few miles across the river from Cincinnati, Ohio. I’m married, and we have two kids who are now too old for me to have possibly been responsible for their existence -- at least I like to think so.
And, oh yeah, one reason why I’m here is because I’ll have a new book out next week, of which I’m a particularly proud parent.
2. Give us the "Hollywood Pitch" of your new book, two sentences max. (Such as: "This book is Harry Potter crossed with Silence of the Lambs, with a touch of Dumbo thrown in!")
Two sentences max?!: you are a cruel taskmaster, Joshua! I’m a novelist, not a poet. Okay, here goes . . .
"Imagine an immortal muse whose survival depends on the creativity she nurtures within her lovers, and another immortal who feed not on artistry but on pain and torment. Imagine them chasing each other through time, giving the reader glimpses of the famous and infamous, all caught up in this ages-long battle which will end in current day New York City."
3. Now give us a more in depth description of the book. What makes this book cool? What will make it stand out on the shelves?
The cover will help it stand out on the shelves, and the fact it’s a hardcover will ensure that it can stand upright on its own. (Unless, of course, you buy the e-book version, in which case it’s made of digital bits and will reside in your e-reader, which is probably not on a shelf . . .)
What I think makes the book cool is the structure: we start in current day NYC, then shift back to the mid-1300s to glimpse some of the beginning of the tale. The book continues to alternate between events in NYC and historical segments, where the reader glimpses Bernini’s Rome, Vivaldi’s Venice, Lavoisier and Robespierre in the French Revolution, William Blake and John Polidori in 19th century London; Gustav Klimt in turn of the century Vienna, and Charlotte Salomon in WWII France.
And it all ties together . . . You have a blend of history and fantasy, romance and enmity.
Finally, here’s the Publishers Weekly starred review version: “In this centuries-spanning historical fantasy, Leigh spins an epic tale of love and hate. It starts with French alchemist Nicolas Flamel, and his wife, Perenelle, in 1352. When Perenelle develops an elixir that bestows immortality, they find themselves unable to die. Her eternal existence is fueled by the symbiotic relationships she forms with creative types as their muse; Nicolas is driven by the need to inflict suffering and death. She wants to survive. He wants to torment her. As their paths cross time and again across numerous lifetimes, Perenelle is forced to constantly reinvent herself and take on new friends and lovers. When they meet again in modern New York City, it seems as though their war may finally be over. Leigh seamlessly inserts his two immortals into history, playing with actual people and events to deliver beautifully-rendered glimpses of different eras. Leigh strikes the perfect balance between past and present, real and imagined.”
4. What was the hardest part of writing the book, the part you struggled with most (without spoilers)? What part of the writing was the most fun (without spoilers)?
For me, the hardest part was also the part that was the most fun, as contradictory as that sounds.
As you know from the above, the book has sequences taking place from the 1300s through to current time, and so I had to do a plentitude of research in order to get the “look-and-feel” of the various periods. I ended up reading about dozen or more non-fiction books and innumerable articles on the internet to gather the necessary information to pull out the necessary details that would make the settings (and the historical characters) come to life. My Scrivener file is stuffed with references that I needed in the writing. That was where I struggled the most -- trying to avoid horrible infodumps and attempting to weave the details of the time into the story without stopping the narrative dead in its tracks. One of the dangers of doing a lot of research is that you uncover all sorts of wonderful little things and you want to put every last one of them in the book . . . and you can’t.
And on the other side, the research was also the fun part. I’ve always loved reading non-fiction material, especially of an historical nature, but the real beauty of research, to me, is that it always, always sparks a few dozen new ideas for the story and the worldbuilding of the novel. I love that part. I love how research can send my mind flying off in an entirely new, unexpected, and better direction; how suddenly a character or a place or a time in the novel awakens and becomes solid. I love the “aha!” moment when I’ve been wrestling with some issue in the novel and the subconscious plucks something from the reading I’m doing, holds it up in front of me, and declares “Here’s the answer!”
Those are wonderful moments that spring from the hardest part of writing.
5. Explain your writing ritual: Must have you have coffee or tea or something else? Music or silence? Any special desktop items or totems helping you write?
Tea, thank you. I’ve given up coffee, but I generally have a cuppa on my desk all day. Lapsang Souchong is my favorite: it’s a black tea where the leaves have been dried over a pine fire, and it results in a very smoky smelling and tasting tea that reminds me of an Islay Scotch without the alcohol. Too strong a tea for a lot of people, though. I was walking down the hall at school with a mug of Lapsang, and my colleague walking alongside me stopped, sniffed, and said “Is something burning around here?”
And I generally have music playing: usually iTunes on random play -- and my library has everything from rock to celtic to jazz to classical, so the music can be really random.
But beyond the tea and music . . . I try to make writing a habit and write every day, no matter what, even if it’s just a page or two. When I sit down to write, I’ll generally go over what I wrote the day before, proofing and revising the scene, with the hope that when I hit the blank part of the file I have some momentum built up and am moving downhill well enough that I don’t slam to a screeching halt when I actually have to put new words on the screen.
I’ve found over the years that I tend to write lean in the initial drafts; when I revise, even though I’m deleting words and sentences and sometimes even paragraphs or scenes, I generally find that the net result will be that I’ve added to the word count.
For instance, with IMMORTAL MUSE, the very first draft (which no one but me and my spouse Denise ever see) was less than 120, 000 words. Draft B, a terrifically heavy revision, came in around 167,000 words. Draft C was 172,000. The finished book is roughly 178,000 words. Bear in mind, too, that between Draft C and the final draft, I deleted two entire sections, one of almost 10,000 words, the other about 12,000, because they didn’t seem to me to work well enough. I replaced them with two new sections. That took a long time…
My computer’s a 13” Macbook Pro (currently one with Retina Display and solid state drive), which when on my desk is hooked up to a large monitor and a separate keyboard and trackpad. With the last half-dozen novels or so, I no longer write in a word processor. I abandoned MS Word ages ago, as it began to feel like the world’s worst and most-cluttered writing interface. I then switched to Nisus Writer Pro, a word processor I still like quite a lot, and which I still use for short fiction and correspondence. Several years back, though, I came across Scrivener, a program designed specifically for the task of writing novels, tried it, and realized that the program thought the way I did. I’ve written every novel since (and several novelettes and novellas as well) in Scrivener. When the work’s finished, I have Scrivener compile it into an RTF file, and I take that into Nisus and do a quick clean-up -- and that’s what I send to my editors.
A long, long time ago I realized that if I was ever going to be a writer, I needed to train myself to write in whatever scraps of time I could find -- which is still what I do. The laptop’s generally with me, and if I get a free half-hour or so, I open it up and start banging away on the current work-in-progress. I don’t wait for the Muse (immortal or not); I just start working and trust that the Muse will hear me laboring away, realize it’s work time, and come sit with me for a bit . . . and if she doesn’t, well, that’s what revision is for.
So there you have it: my work habits.
**********
I want to thank you for the opportunity to talk a bit with your readers, Joshua. IMMORTAL MUSE was a four year journey from the time I set down the first sentence to its appearance in the bookstores, and I’m glad to see it finally out there quivering on the shelves waiting for a reader to open it. I hope it’s a book that readers will enjoy quite a bit.
Let’s hope so, anyway!
LINKS:
Stephen Leigh’s website
IMMORTAL MUSE page on website (with links to amazon, B&N, Powell’s, and iBooks)
February 25, 2014
CROSSING THE STREAMS Multi-Author Contest!
Welcome to “Crossing the Streams 2014,” a multi-author book giveaway! Some of you are familiar with this concept, as we’ve run this once before; for others, this’ll be the first time. Either way, here’s what’s what:
I, and nearly two dozen other speculative fiction writers--mostly novelists, but some short story and comic writers as well--have thrown in together to create something huge for you guys.
Here’s how it works:
Each individual author involved is running a contest on his/her own site. The specific details vary from author to author; the contest I run on my site might be very different than the one on James’s site, or Marcy’s site.
However, each contest has a few details in common. Specifically, each of us will select two winners from the contest on our own site. Each of those winners will receive one signed book, free, from the author whose contest they won. So, for instance, if you win here, you’ll win one of my books. If you win on Paul’s site, you’ll win one of his, etc.
But . . . that’s not the big prize. Once the contests have ended, all the authors involved will get together and choose one single “super-winner” from all the entries on all our sites combined. This one lucky individual will receive a signed book, free, from each and every one of the authors involved.
So, somebody out there is going to win around twenty free books.
You can only enter each author’s contest once, but you may enter multiple contests. So you could enter here, on Matt’s site, on Jason’s site, etc. Heck, you can enter on everyone’s site, if you want. (And even if you aren’t selected as the “super winner,” you might win more than one of the individual contests. You never know.)
You can find a complete list of the authors involved, as well as links to their sites, below. But first . . .
How to Enter my Contest
Again, these are just the rules for my contest. The rules for entry on other authors’ sites might be very different.
For me, it’s simple. All you have to do is take note of my next book, SHATTERING THE LEY, the first book in a new series, hitting bookshelves everywhere in July 2014. Here’s the cover copy, to get you interested in the book:
SHATTERING THE LEY:
Erenthrall—sprawling city of light and magic, whose streets are packed with traders from a dozen lands and whose buildings and towers are grown and shaped in the space of a day. At the heart of the city is the Nexus, the hub of the ley line system that powers Erenthrall and links the city and the Baronial plains to the rest of the continent and the world beyond. The Prime Wielders control the Nexus with secrecy and lies, but it is the Baron who controls the Wielders and the rest of the Baronies through a web of brutal intimidation enforced by his bloodthirsty guardsmen and unnatural assassins.
When the rebel Kormanley seek to destroy the ley system and the Baron’s chokehold on the continent, two people find themselves caught in the chaos that sweeps through Erenthrall and threatens the entire world. Kara Tremain, a young Wielder coming into her power, who discovers the forbidden truth behind the magic that powers the ley lines, and Alan Garrett, a recruit in the Baron’s guard, who learns that the city holds more mysteries and more danger than he could possibly have imagined . . . and who holds a secret within himself that could mean Erenthrall’s destruction . . . or its salvation.
SHATTERING THE LEY is available for preorder at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. The cover—by artist Stephen Martiniere—will be revealed at a future date, otherwise I’d let you see how cool it looks now.
So, to enter the contest, send me an email at jpalmatier@sff.net with “Crossing the Streams” in the subject area. In the email, give me the title of the book currently available that I’ve written (either under my real name, Joshua Palmatier, or my pseudonym, Benjamin Tate) that you’d like as your prize if you win my portion of the contest. Here are the options:
The Skewed Throne Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble
The Cracked Throne Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble
The Vacant Throne Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble
Well of Sorrows Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble
Leaves of Flame Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble
After Hours: Tales from the Ur-Bar Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble
The Modern Fae's Guide to Surviving Humanity Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble
Your entry must come to the email jpalmatier@sff.net, not by any other method or e-mail. I will select two winners chosen at random.
And of course, everyone who enters is also in the running for the random “super-winner” selection.
Entries must be received between February 19 and March 19, 2014.
And that’s it!
Prizes: Again, my two winners, and the super-winner, may choose any one of my books currently in print. If you’ve got any questions, please feel free to ask via jpalmatier@sff.net.
The Rest of the Gang
There are over a dozen of us involved in this contest. You can find names, and links, here. But if you click on over to one or more of these sites, don’t just look at the contest page, okay? Everyone involved in this contest is a great author or artist. So take a few minutes. Poke around. See if any of their work intrigues you. Maybe even buy a couple of books. I know they’d all appreciate it.
Thanks, and good luck.
* Ari Marmell
* Betsy Dornbusch
* Darrin Drader
* Dave Gross
* Erik Scott de Bie
* Erin M. Evans
* Erin N. Hoffman
* Gabrielle Faust
* Howard Andrew Jones
* James Sutter
* Jeff Salyards
* Marsheila (Marcy) Rockwell and Jeffrey J. Mariotte
* Matt Forbeck
* Paul S. Kemp
* Richard Lee Byers
* Saranna DeWylde
* Wendy Wagner
I, and nearly two dozen other speculative fiction writers--mostly novelists, but some short story and comic writers as well--have thrown in together to create something huge for you guys.
Here’s how it works:
Each individual author involved is running a contest on his/her own site. The specific details vary from author to author; the contest I run on my site might be very different than the one on James’s site, or Marcy’s site.
However, each contest has a few details in common. Specifically, each of us will select two winners from the contest on our own site. Each of those winners will receive one signed book, free, from the author whose contest they won. So, for instance, if you win here, you’ll win one of my books. If you win on Paul’s site, you’ll win one of his, etc.
But . . . that’s not the big prize. Once the contests have ended, all the authors involved will get together and choose one single “super-winner” from all the entries on all our sites combined. This one lucky individual will receive a signed book, free, from each and every one of the authors involved.
So, somebody out there is going to win around twenty free books.
You can only enter each author’s contest once, but you may enter multiple contests. So you could enter here, on Matt’s site, on Jason’s site, etc. Heck, you can enter on everyone’s site, if you want. (And even if you aren’t selected as the “super winner,” you might win more than one of the individual contests. You never know.)
You can find a complete list of the authors involved, as well as links to their sites, below. But first . . .
How to Enter my Contest
Again, these are just the rules for my contest. The rules for entry on other authors’ sites might be very different.
For me, it’s simple. All you have to do is take note of my next book, SHATTERING THE LEY, the first book in a new series, hitting bookshelves everywhere in July 2014. Here’s the cover copy, to get you interested in the book:
SHATTERING THE LEY:
Erenthrall—sprawling city of light and magic, whose streets are packed with traders from a dozen lands and whose buildings and towers are grown and shaped in the space of a day. At the heart of the city is the Nexus, the hub of the ley line system that powers Erenthrall and links the city and the Baronial plains to the rest of the continent and the world beyond. The Prime Wielders control the Nexus with secrecy and lies, but it is the Baron who controls the Wielders and the rest of the Baronies through a web of brutal intimidation enforced by his bloodthirsty guardsmen and unnatural assassins.
When the rebel Kormanley seek to destroy the ley system and the Baron’s chokehold on the continent, two people find themselves caught in the chaos that sweeps through Erenthrall and threatens the entire world. Kara Tremain, a young Wielder coming into her power, who discovers the forbidden truth behind the magic that powers the ley lines, and Alan Garrett, a recruit in the Baron’s guard, who learns that the city holds more mysteries and more danger than he could possibly have imagined . . . and who holds a secret within himself that could mean Erenthrall’s destruction . . . or its salvation.
SHATTERING THE LEY is available for preorder at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. The cover—by artist Stephen Martiniere—will be revealed at a future date, otherwise I’d let you see how cool it looks now.
So, to enter the contest, send me an email at jpalmatier@sff.net with “Crossing the Streams” in the subject area. In the email, give me the title of the book currently available that I’ve written (either under my real name, Joshua Palmatier, or my pseudonym, Benjamin Tate) that you’d like as your prize if you win my portion of the contest. Here are the options:
The Skewed Throne Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble
The Cracked Throne Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble
The Vacant Throne Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble
Well of Sorrows Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble
Leaves of Flame Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble
After Hours: Tales from the Ur-Bar Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble
The Modern Fae's Guide to Surviving Humanity Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble
Your entry must come to the email jpalmatier@sff.net, not by any other method or e-mail. I will select two winners chosen at random.
And of course, everyone who enters is also in the running for the random “super-winner” selection.
Entries must be received between February 19 and March 19, 2014.
And that’s it!
Prizes: Again, my two winners, and the super-winner, may choose any one of my books currently in print. If you’ve got any questions, please feel free to ask via jpalmatier@sff.net.
The Rest of the Gang
There are over a dozen of us involved in this contest. You can find names, and links, here. But if you click on over to one or more of these sites, don’t just look at the contest page, okay? Everyone involved in this contest is a great author or artist. So take a few minutes. Poke around. See if any of their work intrigues you. Maybe even buy a couple of books. I know they’d all appreciate it.
Thanks, and good luck.
* Ari Marmell
* Betsy Dornbusch
* Darrin Drader
* Dave Gross
* Erik Scott de Bie
* Erin M. Evans
* Erin N. Hoffman
* Gabrielle Faust
* Howard Andrew Jones
* James Sutter
* Jeff Salyards
* Marsheila (Marcy) Rockwell and Jeffrey J. Mariotte
* Matt Forbeck
* Paul S. Kemp
* Richard Lee Byers
* Saranna DeWylde
* Wendy Wagner
