Advance Praise for Servant of a Dark God

ByJohn Brown

My editor just emailed me another endorsement from one of the folks we sent the manuscript to. I’m so excited! This one’s from Kage Baker.

I’m a total stranger to three of the four that have responded so far. It continually amazes me how generous the pros in this genre are with both their time and praise.

Here’s the last one.

“A classic heroic saga, dealing with the bedrock issues of good and evil and identity. These are classic themes because they matter; and Brown makes them matter both to his young protagonist and the reader. It promises to continue for quite a distance, and I hope it does.”

—Kage Baker, author of House of the Stag and The Company series.

Here are the previous ones.

“Thoroughly engrossing from the first page to the last! John Brown shows himself to be a writer with remarkable depth and power. I haven’t seen a debut novel this good in years!”

—David Farland, New York Times best-selling author of Runelords and Ravenspell series

“In Servant of a Dark God, John Brown has created a complex and intricate world, filled with all the permutations of human good and evil, as well as evil that goes beyond the human, where neither heroes nor villains are quite what they seem at first, and where the cost of virtue is high indeed, yet where, in the end, the tenacity of such virtue is what is required to triumph.”

—L. E. Modesitt, Jr., award-winning author of the Recluce Saga

“A complex, powerful story of a youth trying to learn who he is and what he is, with no allies he can trust in a world stalked by a monster. A book that copies nothing I have read before and which goes its own way brilliantly.”

—David Drake, author of the popular Hammer’s Slammers and Lord of Isles series

Wow. I think I want to read this book!

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  • Need your Dark God T-shirt input

    ByJohn Brown

    I’ve got a deal to make t-shirts for my book available, and I have to make some decisions. The problem is that I am terrible at making these kinds of decisions. So I’m asking for your help. Any input would be appreciated.

    Mind-boggling question number 1

    So we’ve decided on the design. It will say “Servant of a Dark God” on the font as shown. We might put “Welcome to the Grove” or “Beware, the Mother is Watching” on the back. It will NOT have the Tor logo indicating it’s a book. Who knows what that is anyway? Instead, the question is whether to put my name on the shirt in some fashion.

    Option 1

    Some suggest that it’s better to just have a shirt that has the crazy label, suggesting the wearer is a servant of a dark god. It’s provocative, and if someone asks, the person wearing it can talk about the book. With this option we would NOT put my name on the t-shirt, just a small open book icon under the title. The idea behind this is that those who would buy the shirt would already be fans and the provocative statement will do more to spread the word than my name because going this route will make the shirt more fun to wear.

    Option 2

    Others think that you should have your name on the shirt to advertise. So we’d put “by John Brown” underneath the title. Or we’d put it on the back of the shirt. But some say it would make the shirt less fun.

    What would you prefer and why?

    Mind-boggling question number 2

    Because of the way we’re going about this, the color of the letters must be fixed. So the question is do we simply let people choose their own shirt colors that they thing will work with the color of the lettering or fix both the color of the lettering AND the shirt?

    Option 1

    Fix the shirt colors. Brown for guys and plum for women. Make the lettering a fantasy green or cream.

    Option 2

    Give people as much choice as possible and choose a font color that will work with the bulk of the shirt colors here: http://gildan.com/distributors/colorpalette/.

    But what would color would do that and still say fantasy, or would it matter?

    So which option to you think would work best? If you chose option 1, which colors?

    Mind-boggling question number 3

    Why is John worrying about this? Shouldn’t he be spending his time tracing his ancestry back to old grandpa lemur?

    The answer to that is that John’s mind works in mysterious ways, dear Reader. You must bear with him. And you must now face your greatest fashionista test ever: which colors would say fantasy and still be something people would want to wear? I will be making shirts up for the book store employees to wear before I come to signings.  So I have to decide. Someone suggested plum is all the rage this year for women. Make the letters a nice new willow green. We could have another color for men. Any ideas of what would appeal broadly?

    I await your ideas.

    (Ha, look at this. It appears one of my greats did indeed live his life out in the Prague menagerie. Hum.)

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  • Gollum was in my garden

    ByJohn Brown

    Four days ago I was on my hands and knees in the garden, muttering, “My ring. Where is it? Where is it!” 

    I could have been Bilbo out there among the tomatoes. I could have been Gollum—though I’d have to endure a long, worm-filled diet to play that role convincingly. 

    I’ve been married thirty-six years to a good woman. You’d think a wedding ring is just a ring. 

    But it isn’t. 

    Someone memed me Boromir holding up the ring on a chain and saying, “It is a strange fate that we should suffer so much fear and doubt over so small a thing.” 

    And I thought, how true! It makes me wonder if Tolkien ever lost his wedding ring. 

    For two days I searched the ground where I’d lost it—a long hedge of tomatoes and the sagebrush hill behind where I’d tossed split fruit. For two nights I went to bed feeling the absence on my hand, as if something vital had been taken from me. 

    Then, with the help of a Garrett ACE 250 metal detector I rented from a fine establishment in Logan, Utah, I found it. 

    It was just lying there in the open in a spot I’d checked half a dozen times. The detector beeped. And there it was. 

    My precious. My precious, precious reminder of thirty-six years with my admirable wife and our four wonderful daughters. It feels so good to have it back on my finger. 

    How strange that so many memories are wrapped up in so small a thing. It almost demands a new story about a magic ring. In fact, the experience might just influence the ending of ASSASSIN. That’s how writing works sometimes—life drops the ideas right in your tomato patch. 

    Speaking of ASSASSIN, it is coming along nicely. Ferran and company just turned a major corner with the help of a spunky kid in the city. And there’s an exciting scene coming up where all heck is about to break loose. 

    On another note, many of you have asked about GLORY, the fourth book in the Dark God series. It’s next in the queue. I’ll write that climax as soon as I finish ASSASSIN. I already have an opening, a rough outline, and plenty of notes—dogmen, dreadmen, Glories—the works. It’s coming, and I think the revelation of what’s really happening will surprise you. 

    Finally, I’m not dead yet, nor am I the fount of all wisdom, but I can say this: spend time with those you love, laugh with them, go on adventures. Because one day you’ll lose your ring—or some other small token bound up with all of it—and know exactly how precious those memories are. 

    Peace out, my fellow dreadmen and fell maidens. 

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  • Book Release Schedule

    ByJohn Brown

    The artists were the wild cards with my delivery schedule. Now that I’ve secured the artist for all three books I want to release this fall, I can finally give some target dates. Here’s the schedule:

    1. SERVANT (The Dark God book 1) — last week of September, 2013
    2. BAD PENNY (a Frank Shaw novel) — first week of October, 2013
    3. CURSE (The Dark God book 2) — first week of  November, 2013 (I’d like to make it Halloween for the fun of it, but we’ll see)
    4. AWFUL INTENT (a Frank Shaw novel) — June, 2014
    5. GLORY (The Dark God book 3) — March, 2015

    I want to get GLORY out sooner, but it’s going to be a big book, and I’m not going to rush the editing phase. I don’t want to release shoddy work. Furthermore, it’s almost the size of two normal 100,000k novels. I hope to significantly accelerate the schedules for both AWFUL INTENT and GLORY, but we’ll have to see if I can make the necessary arrangements.

    After GLORY, I will publish another Frank Shaw novel. And then I begin the LORD OF BONES epic fantasy series which is going to be structured differently that much of what’s out there. The concept excites me and allows me to take the story in all sorts of directions. It’s going to be a blast.

    Can’t wait to get these books out there and let them find their audience. Thanks to all of you who have hung with me, sending me emails or posting comments of support. It’s much appreciated!

    EDIT: I keep the release schedule up-to-date on the Calendar page.

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  • NEWS: Book Updates

    ByJohn Brown

    I finished draft three of BAD PENNY last week and have updated the progress bars.

    I’ve given the book to my agent, but because there are some contract terms that I’m unwilling to sign going forward, I need to make sure she’s comfortable representing me on it. I don’t want her doing a lot of work and bringing back what she thinks is a good deal only to have me refuse it. I’d rather discuss these up front and make sure we’re both on the same page. I hope to have her response back this week.

    I am now turning my focus to SERVANT and CURSE. I need to re-read both of them and then write up an outline of what I need to revise. I hope to finish SERVANT in June and CURSE in July. I’ll post my progress on the side bars as I go.

    The cover artist I’d hoped to use for both of these is unavailable at this time, dang it! So I’m currently reviewing candidates. If you know of an up-and-coming artist who you think would be good, click on the Contact Me link under my photo in the sidebar or post it in the comments.

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  • News: LDStorymakers

    ByJohn Brown

    You want to go to a writing conference dedicated to writing commercial (popular) fiction. Stuff people like to read. You want a conference that actually helps you on the business end, not just with craft. You live in Utah, Wyoming, Nevada, Idaho, Colorado, northern Arizona, or maybe a bit farther. What if you could go to one that featured the following:

    1. AUTHOR: Anne Perry. Yes, that Anne Perry, the mega mystery goddess.
    2. LITERARY AGENT: Michael Bourret (Dystel & Goderich Literary Management)
    3. LITERARY AGENT: Hannah Bowman (Liza Dawson Associates)
    4. LITERARY AGENT: Alyssa Henkin (Trident Media)
    5. LITERARY AGENT: Michelle Witte (Mansion Street Literary Management)
    6. EDITOR: Victoria Curan (Harlequin Heartwarming, which is a line that focuses on wholesome contemporary romances that celebrate traditional values, strong communities, family connections and true love)

    Plus lots of other great folks. Including some who are making some nice numbers on Kindle selling independently.

    Geez, John. Sounds fab!

    Yeah. It’s happening May 10-11, 2013 in Provo, UT (a glorious time in Utah). It’s the LDStorymakers conference. There’s not a better conference in the Intermountain area. I presented last year. It was fun and insightful. I’ll be there this year. It’s great for meeting other authors (that includes lots of friendly folks trying to break in). And, obviously, meeting agents and editors.

    The thing is the attendance is capped. Last year they turned folks away.

    If you want in, I suggest you register now.

    See you there! (Really, I hope you come up and say hello.)

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