D.B. Jackson's Blog, page 65
June 18, 2012
The Blog Tour Begins Today!
My THIEFTAKER Summer 2012 Blog Tour begins today with a post I have written for Aidan Moher’s terrific blog “A Dribble of Ink.” The post is called “What do Authors of Historical Fiction Owe to History?” and it can be found here. Come on over to Aidan’s site and join the conversation. I’ll be checking in throughout the day, responding to comments and questions.
And if that only whets your appetite for D.B. Jackson posts, please also stop by Magical Words, for my post on the publishing market and crossover books. I’ll be responding to comments there, too.
June 15, 2012
THIEFTAKER Gets 5 Gravestones from Bitten By Books!!
Calling Thieftaker “fabulous” and “a rousing mix of fantasy and history,” Bitten By Books has given the book 5 Gravestones (out of 5), which, for those who are unfamiliar with the site, is the same as a 5 star review. The full review can be found here. And for those who would like to see what others have said about Thieftaker, I have gathered reviews and quotes here for your convenience.
I am walking on air. Have a good weekend.
June 13, 2012
New THIEFTAKER Short Story Out!!
[image error]“A Spell of Vengeance,” the newest Thieftaker short story is now out and available at Tor. com. Just click here. There is no charge to read the story. That’s right: It’s free!
Here is the introduction to the story that appears at the Tor website:
Ethan Kaille is a thieftaker in Colonial Boston, scratching out a living by restoring stolen property to its rightful owners. But unlike others in his profession, Ethan relies on magical spells as well as his wits to track down thieves. Being a conjurer doesn’t make him popular with the law in Boston, so Ethan is taken aback when the sheriff seeks his help in settling a dispute between a pair of wealthy merchants and a ship’s captain who has threatened their lives. Ethan knows the captain can back up his threats with magic of his own. But there is more to this matter than the merchants have let on, and Ethan soon discovers that what he doesn’t know might actually kill him.
The illustration from the story was done by the wonderful Chris McGrath, the same artist who did the jacket art for Thieftaker.
I hope you will check out the story, and, of course, I hope you enjoy it!
June 11, 2012
Announcing the Summer 2012 THIEFTAKER Blog Tour!!
In addition to my signing tour, a schedule of which can be found here, I am also planning a fairly extensive blog tour that will begin later this month. I will be posting guest essays, interviews, and book excerpts at several sites, and I hope that you will take a moment to visit as I do. You can find the blog tour schedule at this page of the D.B. Jackson website.
So roll up for the Virtual Thieftaker Tour! Step right this way….
June 8, 2012
Another Signing Added to the Summer Tour!
Well, that didn’t take long. I added my THIEFTAKER Summer 2012 Signing Tour to the D.B. Jackson website on Tuesday, and it took exactly three days for me to have to amend it. Faith Hunter, Kalayna Price, and I have added another signing, this one on Wednesday July 18 at the Books-A-Million in Cotswold Mall, Charlotte, NC. I would tell you that this is the last signing I’m going to add, but I actually think that’s highly unlikely, so keep on checking the site and this blog for updates.
And also keep an eye out for the schedule of my virtual tour (as it currently stands) which I hope to have up on Monday, June 11. Or thereabouts.
Have a great weekend!
June 5, 2012
THIEFTAKER Signing Tour Announced!
I have just put the current schedule for the THIEFTAKER Summer 2012 Signing Tour up on the D.B. Jackson website! The tour, which includes appearances in Tennessee, upstate New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Delaware, and South Carolina, has most of its dates in early and mid-July, just after the July 3 release date of Thieftaker. There is currently one signing date in August.
In addition to the signings, of course, I will also be appearing at Dragon*Con in Atlanta, and as a Special Literary Guest at ConStellation in Huntsville, Alabama.
I hope to see many of you during the course of the summer and fall!
May 31, 2012
A Free Thieftaker Story Now Available in Two Formats!!
I have just posted a new Thieftaker story to the D.B. Jackson website. This is an original, never-before-published short story. It’s called “The Witch of Dedham,” and it is available from this web page in two ways. You can download it in .pdf format and read it the old fashioned way. I’d recommend that for those of you with slow internet connections. Or you can also download an MP3 file of me doing a reading of the story! The MP3 file is about 15 megabytes, so you’ll want to have a fast connection, but if you enjoy audio books and author readings, this is kind of a brief combination of the two. In either case I hope you enjoy the story. And please spread the word. After all: it’s free!
May 30, 2012
Ethan Kaille’s Diary: 30 May 1765
Late in the spring of 1765, word of Parliament’s passage of the Stamp Act, one of the so-called Grenville Acts (named for George Grenville, Prime Minister of Great Britain and King George III’s Chancellor of the Exchequer) reached the New World. Parliament had passed the law in March, but of course trans-Atlantic communication at the time was slow and uncertain. Once news of the Act reached the shores of North America, however, it spread quickly through the colonies, prompting protests up and down the Atlantic coast. Patrick Henry addressed Virginia’s House of Burgesses, introducing the Virginia Resolutions challenging the legality of the new tax, and stating “If this be treason, make the most of it!”
Boston’s more radical citizens, including Samuel Adams and James Otis, responded with similar rhetoric, and before long Parliament’s latest outrage was dominating conversations in every tavern in the city.
Ethan Kaille, thieftaker and conjurer, whose life and work in Colonial Boston are the subject of the Thieftaker books and stories, mentions the Stamp Act several times in his day journal during the spring and summer of 1765. The following entry, dated May 30, exactly 247 years ago today, marks his first mention of the law and of the unrest it would provoke in Boston — unrest that culminated in the riots of 26 August, which serve as the backdrop to Thieftaker (to be released July 3).
30 May 1765 — In the past day or two, the entire city, it seems, has been taken with a sort of fever. Everywhere one goes, conversations turn on a single subject, the so-called Stamp Tax passed earlier this year by Parliament. To hear some speak of the law, one might believe that Mister Grenville and His Majesty the King had themselves sailed across the Atlantic and plucked every last pound, shilling, and pence from the pockets of all Boston’s denizens.
Such outrage! Such rhetoric! The King, it is said, is a despot! Grenville is a puppet of the devil himself. The law is an abomination! I’ve heard all of this and worse just here in the Dowsing Rod, spoken with great passion over ales and flips and drams of whiskey.
When I attempt to point out — politely, calmly, in an even voice and with a friendly smile — that surely as subjects of the British Empire we all ought to be willing to pay our share of taxes to the land we all love and honor, I am shouted down, called a traitor and worse!
A traitor! For supporting my king!
Even Kannice, who dotes on me far more than I deserve, treated me quite coolly after I spoke thus of the new law. Somehow this Stamp Tax is perceived differently from other taxes that have come before. Perhaps I lack the subtlety to grasp the difference. Perhaps I am not of the proper disposition to see the law for the affront it clearly is to so many. Whatever the reason, I find myself in the minority, and not merely in Kannice’s tavern.
The passions aroused by the Act, while seeming to me to be all out of proportion with the substance of the law itself, already run deep in this city, and I am afraid that the matter will not simply pass in a few days. It seems that those few who railed against the previous Grenville Acts have managed to sow seeds of discontent. Now the Stamp Tax — like spring rain on fertile ground — has allowed those seeds to sprout and take root. Those who consider the law an outrage see it not as an isolated affair, but rather as the continuation of a pattern of abuse.
Something is happening in this city that I had not considered possible. People here are starting to think of themselves not just as British subjects living remotely from the seat of the Empire, but rather as something else, something different, something unique. This is the only way to explain their refusal to acknowledge Parliament’s authority in this matter.
To my mind, either we who live in Boston are subjects of the king, or we are not. It seems rather simple. But in this, too, I am in the minority, or so it sometimes seems. To many others, we are Americans as well as Britons. An odd phenomenon to be sure — like a bird that tries also to be a fish — and one whose meaning may not be made clear for some time to come.
I fear that the months ahead could prove painful and disruptive; perhaps even dangerous. I see great tumult in Boston’s future, and I believe that none of us can know where it might lead.
May 25, 2012
THIEFTAKER Reviewed by Booklist!
Thieftaker has garnered another fine advanced review, this one from Booklist: “This diverting, fast-paced “what-if” debut novel set in colonial America will appeal to fans of genre-benders.” I’m excited and deeply gratified to see the book getting some positive critical attention. Here’s hoping the good reviews keep coming.
May 22, 2012
THIEFTAKER reviewed by Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly has reviewed Thieftaker. The magazine calls it “a noteworthy series opener.” To see what others have said about the book, check out this page on the D.B. Jackson website.
