A number of weeks ago life happened at my day job. I had just started a rewrite of the final battle of CURSE, but life put that on hold. Life got back to normal a few days ago. And a few days ago I began to work on that final battle sequence again. So you’ll notice that delivery targets have changed on the books page. I’m moving under a good head of steam now, and unless life happens again, we should meet those dates 🙂 More than anyone else, I want to get this book into your hands.
On Friday night I’m going to be part of a panel on RULES FOR WRITING MAGIC, and then I’ll be presenting VIVID & CLEAR to a bunch of SFF romancers. On Saturday I’ll be following that up with a presentation on STORY TURNS. Every time I present folks ask for the presentations. So instead of making them wait until I get home, I’ll just post them now.
Enjoy!
Some thoughts on inventing magic to go along with Friday’s panel.
Presentation slides: Vivid and Clear v2
Presentation slides: Story Turns v2
And here is the fine car chase clip from the Story Turns presentation.
I’ll make this short. I have a deadline for my next revision of CURSE OF A DARK GOD. It’s November 20th. But the book is kicking me around like a tin can. I sat down Saturday to work on my current revisions and as I unpicked the chapter I was working on the whole story unraveled in my hands. I worked for 8 hours trying to put it back together, but it resisted all efforts.
I’m not one to take this lying down. I’m going to San Diego this week, but will fly back early to work on the book, which means I will not be visiting Los Angeles. Alas. This wild beast will come under control. And that should please all those who have read SERVANT and are waiting for the next installment.
You may nominate works for the 2009 Hugo award if you either:
If you liked “From the Clay of His Heart” and want to nominate it in the novelette category, all you need to do is go here and fill out this form before Saturday, February 28, 2009. You can nominate up to 5 stories in each category.
If you want to read it, you can do so online if you have an IGMS vol 8 subscription ($2.50). If you don’t plan on subscribing to that issue, post a comment, and I’ll make sure you get a copy.
Here are nomination numbers for last year’s awards. What this shows is that 40 nominations puts a novel on the final ballot. 17 nominations put a short story there.
Best Novel (382 nominating ballots cast):
65 – Brasyl by Ian McDonald
58 – The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon
58 – Rollback by Robert J. Sawyer
41 – The Last Colony by John Scalzi
40 – Halting State by Charles Stross
Best Novella (220 nominating ballots cast):
52 – “Memorare” by Gene Wolfe
50 – “Recovering Apollo 8” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
49 – “All Seated on the Ground” by Connie Willis
39 – “The Fountain of Age” by Nancy Kress
34 – “Stars Seen Through Stone” by Lucius Shepard
Best Novelette (243 nominating ballots cast):
69 – “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate” by Ted Chiang
45 – “Dark Integers” by Greg Egan
24 – “Finisterra” by David Moles
22 – “The Cambist and Lord Iron” Daniel Abraham
Best Short Story (270 nominating ballots cast):
46 – “Tideline” by Elizabeth Bear
29 – “Last Contact” by Stephen Baster
28 – “Distant Replay” by Mike Resnick
25 – “A Small Room in Koboldtown” by Michael Swanwick
17 – “Who’s Afraid of Wolf 359?” by Ken MacLeod
Okay, so SERVANT is still in Smith’s. Get them before they’re gone. If you were thinking of purchasing, now’s the time (and let’s hope the trial run is a success and they take it national in their stores). They have it cheaper than anywhere else in the Utah area. I think it’s $17 or $19. That’s a great price for a new hardback. I know it’s in these stores.
Fat head alert.
Not to be missed – the most useful speech on writing you will ever hear! Keynote speaker John D. Brown will present ‘Three things you MUST know to write killer stories.’ John Brown is a prize-winning short story writer and novelist. His epic fantasy novel, “Servant of a Dark God” will be released in North America in September 2009.
“Most useful” is nice. Let’s hope I can live up to that one. 🙂 I’m looking forward to this event. A lot of other great authors will be there as well as editors from Deseret Book, Covenant, and Cedar Fort. If you’re a regional writer, you won’t want to miss this. Full information here on the American Fork Arts Council council for writers.
Curse’s long and crooked path to publication is now over!And there was much rejoicing. To celebrate, we’re putting the book on a huge discount today and Saturday.
Big trade paperback, plus free ebook: $9.99!
(normally $18.98 if purchased separately)
Amazon
Ebook: $.99 cents!
(normally $3.99)
Amazon
Nook
iTunes
Kobo
Smashwords
I want to thank all of you who emailed and posted comments on the website expressing your anticipation for this book. I really hope you enjoy the story as much as I have.
Happy reading!
John
PS To get the free ebook with your purchase of the big paperback, purchase the paperback, then go to the Kindle store and click on “Kindle MatchBook” in the left sidebar. That will take you to your personal list of books you can get with the MatchBook program. Curse will appear there AFTER you make the purchase.
PPS Look for a similar sale for Raveler soon!
