Paksworld

OrbitUK  has me in their Author Spotlight this month.   I’ve also been told my author copies are shipping this week.  Yay, hurray, and rejoicing by writer (esp. with Book IV about to head for the big city.)

For US readers,  the mass market paperback of Kings of the North is coming out very soon, and the hardcover of Echoes of Betrayal releases February 28.   Even better (for those who still buy hardcover books) I’ve been told it will be on the Random House Triangle displays at Barnes & Noble.

Now I really must get back to work.   It’s kind of like the cross-country of three-day-eventing….you have to ride the whole course, including the last fence.

Your support got me on the New York Times Bestseller List (extended, at #29.)  My agent called just as I was leaving for rehearsal (or I’d have posted a thank you right away.)

First week sales for Kings of the North were slightly ahead of Oath of Fealty, even with so many Borders stores closed that used to be reliable sellers for me.  E-book sales were up 20-25% over last year; hardcover sales were down (expected, with the loss of those Borders sales) but on balance, it’s running a little ahead.

So thank you all, very, very much for your early support.

My agent also told me that Oath was nominated for a Gemmell Award (as were the books of several other writers he represents) for best fantasy novel, and cover art on some of the others for best cover art.  (Best fantasy novel nominees are here.

So all in all an exciting day, and it’s thanks to you people (and readers who haven’t found this place yet.)

This topic is for spoilers.  All spoilers go here. Comments to this topic may contain spoilers.   Comments to other topics may not contain spoilers and will be deleted if they do.  If you do not want any spoilers,  do not look at comments to this topic.  They are likely to be brimful of spoilers.

I opened the SpoilerSpace playroom early because someone erred and I realize it’s really hard for many people to know if what they said was a spoiler.   And what seemed like a spoiler to someone waiting for their copy to arrive or their library to get an acquisition cataloged may not seem like a spoiler at all to the person who’s just finished the book.   When in doubt…put it here.

I have a bunch of writing-business chores to do ASAP,  so I’m trusting you to play nicely in the SpoilerSpace sandbox.   As I have time, I will be by to answer questions–unless the answers would be spoilers for the next books.

After hanging about reading posts and comments and tweets and email about arrivals for longer than I meant to (Daylight Savings Time–for weeks I can’t use light to judge time of day, and my old computer refuses to stay on the right time even when I reset it…it will flip over in April sometime), I didn’t have time to zip in and out of the city.  Instead, I called bookstores and planned a two-day set of shelf-stock signings.    Things did not go as planned right from the get-go, but I did manage to hit bookstores in three towns,  though the one copy of Kings in one store was bought twenty minutes before I got there.

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The first arrivals I heard of were actually last week, in Sweden and then in The Netherlands.   But several more showed up today, including one in my state, Texas (S.Z.  in Houston emailed  that he’d bought one in a bookstore.)   By authorial decree (picture me holding up a fancy scroll and reading from it)  I hereby declare that arrival notices are not spoilers, even though they may add to the frustration of those who haven’t yet received their copy.

That’s selfish, by the way, because I want to hear more about where the books are, and report the distribution stuff to my agent.  So if you don’t want to, don’t, but if you do, you’ll be contributing to the knowledge base.

Actually, depending on where you are in the world, it may already be well into tomorrow.   But though it’s a few minutes to midnight here, I’m opening with the reminder that we don’t want spoilers here for a reasonable time after those waiting impatiently have a chance at the book.    We’ll have better discussions (and fewer chances of some “justifiable homicides” ) if you hold off on spoilerish discussions until everyone’s read it.  (However, it’s not spoilerish to tell me you liked it (or hated it, though of course I’d rather not hear that.)

For a similar reason, I’m not posting the first pictures of Kings out in the world immediately (though I appreciate them) until more people have it, on the grounds that I don’t want impatient and envious fans to take vengeance on those who have it already.  Not that any of you kind, gentle, patient, people would ever do such a thing, but…better safe than sorry. Read the rest of this entry »

Age and inactivity usually bring reflection–and reflection isn’t always pleasant.

The usual spoiler warnings apply:   Aliam Halveric is an important secondary character, and although I chose this snippet to be as little spoilerish as possible…it will seem so to some.

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Shorter, because I’m working very hard to get ready for a big Bach rehearsal tonight.    This snippet shows some of the background stuff that some of you appreciate and some, perhaps, skip over.  That’s fine…but there’s a reason for the background to show now and then.   This is as spoiler-free a snippet as I could find this far into the book (Chapter 20.)   But those who want to know nothing, not even the pattern on the wallpaper, should avoid it anyway.

The book itself is out here and there in Europe, so it’s time for another gentle reminder that everyone’s asked to observe spoiler space for those who haven’t got it yet.

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Since the previous snippet was supposed to be posted Monday (but, fooled by DST, I sent it after midnight) here’s the snippet that *should* come today.

I’ve previously posted a snippet that comes shortly before this one, about Stammel’s first experience in unarmed combat drill after his blinding.    Those who haven’t read the earlier snippet might want to look at it before reading this one.    They’re both in Chapter 9.

And spoiler warnings do apply:  don’t read below the line if you don’t want to know what happens.

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Seven days.   And I’ve been absent (mostly health-related) more than here–apologies for that.   However, here’s a snippet from Chapter 11 of Kings, which begins the unwrapping of a long-held secret: what really happened in Old Aare?

This will be a fairly big chunk, and thus some of you might find it spoilerish.  Hence, spoiler warning–don’t venture beyond the break if you want to know absolutely nothing about what’s coming.   For those who go on, there’s a several-paragraphs gap in the snippet, not to hide anything but to shorten it for blog use.

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