Fan Art Friday Returns!

The Goliath tour is finally over, and that means the return of Fan Art Friday. Because I've missed so many in a row, I decided to do it a day early!

Of course, for me tour's end means many other reasons to celebrate, like eating much less cheese. (Vegetarian + room service = cheese. It's a fact.) I realize, of course, that complaining about touring is churlish. Traveling across this continent and seeing so many of you was both a pleasure and a privilege (a highly cheese-filled privilege). So my thanks go out to everyone who came out, dressed up, and otherwise made my tour a great experience. (And special thanks to the Moonlight Hotel in St. Louis, who had non-cheesy vegetarian food on their menu even late at night when authors return exhausted to their rooms.)

But enough about cheese. Let's get onto the fan art. Lots of you sent me art while I was on the road, and I will eventually get to all of it. But for the next few editions of FAF, I'm going to stick to art, signs, and costumes I encountered on the road. Hope you enjoy them!

Let's start with a beautiful piece by skeithe at DeviantArt. She handed a printed out version of this to me, which I'm going to get framed!

Everyone loves holding hands, right?

Here's an incredible piece of not just fan art and cosplay, but fan engineering by the amazing steampunk crew at Austin Teen Book Festival in Texas. Check out their life-size Huxley!

Um, all I have to say about this is pretty much . . . whoa. I can't imagine how much effort and planning goes into something like this, because I am a mere typer of words, not a builder of things. Luckily there were about 2,400 people at ATBF to see this magnificent fabrication, so the effort was mightily rewarded with many ooohs and ahhhs.

One of the cool things about writing books is how readers glom onto certain lines in a novel. Out of thousands of sentences, one will somehow resonate with lots of people. (I'm looking at you, "The things you do, the way you think, makes you beautiful.")

Here's a lovely example of that, an illustrated quote from page 13 of Behemoth. This one simile stuck in someone's mind until it they were forced to make it an image in the real world.

And now for some cosplay. Three girls came to the Wild Rumpus Bookstore in Minneapolis dressed in Edwardian finery, and proved their mettle. They stayed in their velvet smoking jackets (and one cold-weather aviator cap) even though it was barking hot in the store! Plus, they looked awesome.

Speaking of cosplay, don't forget the Show Us Your Steampunk contest over on FaceBook. Enter to win the goggles and aviator cap from the Leviathan photo shoot, and signed books too!

I've noticed that on all my tour appearances since writing Leviathan, there are a few people in the audience who sketch while I talk. You know, artists making art as a way to concentrate. And at the end they hand me the finished works. Here's a lovely example from Joliad/Jurodo:

And, hey look! I just found a finished version of this pose over at Jurodo's DeviantArt page!

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Wow, I always love the transition from sketch to full-blown artwork.

Here's another cool bit of fan engineering: Ben in Austin created this wonderful remote control Leviathan model. It's flying out over the audience assembling for my Austin Teen Book Festival keynote. Sorry about the darkness.

Watch it bigger over at YouTube.

Okay, that's it for this FAF. But don't forget: my final US event will be at Books of Wonder in NYC this Saturday. And even if you don't live in NYC or even in the US, you can get a book signed and personalized by me through the store. Just order before Saturday, and I'll make sure to sign it for you while I'm there. If you want a personal message (like, "To Airship Ninja!") just say so in the comments field when you order. Books of Wonder will ship anywhere in the world.

Just click here to order one. You can also search my last name on that page for ANY of my books, signed and personalized.

Event details:

Saturday, October 22

Noon-2PM

BOOKS OF WONDER

18 West 18th Street.

New York, NY 10011

Also appearing: Maryrose Wood, Jeff Hirsch, Sarah Beth Durst, Jon Skovron, Elizabeth Levy, and Mordicai Gerstein.