Author Catch-Up

Del Rey asked me to mention something on my blog, so I thought it would be a good time for an Author Catch-Up post, because some exciting things have been going on.

Peter Brett (The Warded Man) and Robert Redick (Red Wolf Conspiracy) will both be participating in an author chat on Suvudu, starting at 2:00 PM EST. Plus, they're running a contest. Click through for details.

(Del Rey also agreed to sponsor a giveaway of truly generous proportions in celebration of my upcoming blog birthday. More on that later!)

Speaking of Peter Brett, his novel was recently optioned for film!

Plus, he's having a haiku contest! And you get to try to beat my entry!

Just saw an exciting announcement on Publishers Lunch:

Sarah Prineas'sTHE CROW KING'S DAUGHTER, featuring faerie lore without the urban setting and without drugs, sex, and angst, to Toni Markiet at Harper Children's, in a three-book deal, by Caitlin Blasdell at Liza Dawson Associates (NA)

All the "withouts" make this one a true hook for me. Sarah's debut, The Magic Thief, came out last year. This book is more geared toward YA, so I may jump all over this one.

And David Anthony Durham quit his day job! He's living the dream now. I am officially jealous.

Cool Author News, Plus a Contest

A couple of authors have had some cool news, which I thought I'd share.

David Anthony Durham has received a certain very exciting item in the mail. Suffice it to say, such an item is probably big on the list of the dreams of novelists everywhere, both published and not. What on earth is it? Read on and find out!

Lisa Shearin has gotten an offer--but it's not for a book. But it's still a cool writing gig. Read about it here.

Patrick Rothfuss has met a rather unusual requirement for manhood. By his definition, most of the grown up males of our species are not, in fact, men. Here's his rather strict criteria.

Name That Droid!

Want to name a robot? Angry Robot has a mascot that looks . . . well, like a robot. When you look at this robot, does a name just jump right out at you?

If it does, you can win us both some free stuff. The namer of the robot--personally, I think it looks like a possessed helm--gets the first seven (7) books put out by Angry Robot. And I will get . . . well, I don't know. But it's supposed to be cool.

Here is the contest form with all the details. Don't forget to put this site (http://fantasydebut.blogspot.com) in the appropriate spot on the form! You wouldn't want me to miss out on a prize, would you?

Tidbits, and an Author Catch-Up

This week, I have a One Year Later post for you--Adrian Phoenix! Plus, Adrian is going to run a contest, so be sure to check back on Thursday for that.

Thanks to everyone who entered my Discovery Showcase. I have written to the editor of The Self Publishing Review, and I will be doing an occasional column there, starting sometime this week. I'll link to it when the editor posts it.

Nathalie Mallet just announced on her blog that her next novel, The King's Daughters, finally has a release date! Since it was supposed to come out in December, some of us have been waiting around a while for it! Her first novel, The Princes of the Golden Cage, was a very quick and fun read, that took place in a truly original setting.

Jo Graham, author of Black Ships, recently got a starred review from Publishers Weekly for her next novel, The Hand of Isis. Congratulations, Jo!

Alex Bledsoe is another one of those awesome authors who blog about mixed reviews. He did find one gem in it, but otherwise, this review of his next novel, Blood Groove, really is a wincer. It appears to have hit the reviewer's hot buttons. His previous novel, The Sword-Edged Blonde, got a starred review from PW, so he now has gotten both ends of the spectrum. I, for one, cannot wait for the sequel, Burn Me Deadly.

Laura Benedict's novels are part of Target's Bookmarked promotion! She is having a mysterious photo contest, and everyone who enters wins a small but cool prize. But you'd better watch out for the camera police! Actually, you don't have to take a picture. Pop on over to this post for the details.

David J. Williams would like to remind you that his novel, Mirrored Heavens, is eligible for both the Hugo and Campbell Awards. He also graciously throws in his recommendations of novels besides his.

~*~

I thought of another post to expand on my Blogging Advice for New Authors. That post explained how to attract readers. This next post will be how to keep readers. In it, I'll discuss--without naming names--what has driven me away from following certain blogs. I'll try to get that up on Wednesday. I will also incorporate some of the suggestions from the comments of the original post.

Author Catch-Up

Traci L. Slatton has had an exciting development. She has sold the film rights to her novel, Immortal, to TwinStar Entertainment. Here's an amusing quote from her blog:

"It's also scary. They can do anything they want to the story, for film purposes. ANYTHING. Oh, yeah, turn my main character Luca Bastardo into a transvestite lounge singer, or an airline pilot, or a crack addict. I guess those things aren't as bad as what he actually is: a thief, a killer, a prostitute. But still, in MY novel, he's the thief, killer, and prostitute I delineated. "

* * *

I've been meaning to post this update from Leslie Ann Moore, author of Griffin's Daughter:

"Griffin's Daughter has just been named as a finalist for the Benjamin Franklin Award for Best Fiction by a New Publisher for 2008, given out by the Independent Book Publisher's Association. The public annoucement of all the finalists will be made next week and the awards will be handed out 5/29. Needless to say, I really want to win, but just to get into the top three is an honor. I hope you'll share my good news with your readers."

The official word is here, and you can visit Leslie's website here.

* * *

I started following Jo Graham's blog (author of Black Ships) this past week, and I like the way she puts up reader questions on her blog. She keeps then anonymous. Someone started a new fan community around her novel, but sadly it appears to have been short-lived. Maybe it needs some fresh blood.

* * *

Matthew Jarpe has an interesting contest going on. If you film a video clip about his novel (he has some possible suggestions), Radio Freefall, you could win an audiobook from Audible.com. Here are some details:

"I'll keep the contest open for a month, and give away two audio books to the makers of the two clips I like the best. When you send me the clip you will be giving me permission to edit it and plaster it all over the internet. In turn I promise never to make any of you look foolish. I do reserve the right to leave you looking foolish if that's the way you want to come across."

Read the rest of the specifics here.

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Laura Benedict, author of Isabella Moon, shared some exciting news three days ago:

"I've been invited to the 29th annual Kentucky Women's Writers Conference in Lexington. It happens in September and I'll be teaching a workshop, which I always enjoy. But the really exciting news is that I'll be doing a reading with Joyce Carol Oates!"

Wow. I knew of Joyce Carol Oates in high school. I went to her website and counted--54 novels and novellas! This must be a huge thrill for Laura.

* * *

And that's all for this week! Tips are always welcome at tia dot nevitt at gmail dot com.

Debut Author Catch-Up

I haven't done an Author Catch-Up in ages, so let's see what some of those debut authors are up to.

Awards

Here are the nominees for the John W. Campbell Award:

Joe Abercrombie (2nd year of eligibility)
Jon Armstrong (1st year of eligibility)
David Anthony Durham (1st year of eligibility)
David Louis Edelman (2nd year of eligibility)
Mary Robinette Kowal (2nd year of eligibility)
Scott Lynch (2nd year of eligibility)

(Thanks to David Anthony Durham, whose blog I gratuitously lifted this from.)

Of all of the above, I've only covered David, which is the only of the above novels that came out since I started Fantasy Debut. (By the way, Acacia is now out in Germany; that's the cover to the right. I just love it!) As I poked around on Jon Armstrong's site, I discovered that his novel, Grey, is also nominated for the Philip K. Dick award.

Emily Gee's Thief with No Shadow is a finalist for the RITA Best First Book award, which is the award of the Romance Writers of America. (Hat tip: Amanda Ashby, who keeps me up-to-date on all things Emily.)

Spaceman Blues, A Love Song by Brian Francis Slattery has been nominated for the Lambda Literary Award.

Sandra McDonald has announced on her blog that her novel, The Outback Stars, has been nominated for the Compton Crook/Stephen Tall Award for Best New Novel. I hinted at this award a few weeks ago. Another novelist told me that her novel was nominated; let me check her blog to see if she's made it public . . . nope! I'd better keep her secret a while longer.

Thanks to Science Fiction Awards Watch for most of the above info. I found this site while browsing today and I'm adding it to my Google Reader right . . . now.

Release News

Lisa Shearin has lots of stuff going on. Check it out. Her second novel, Armed and Magical, comes out on the 29th of this month. Read the synopsis. Read the first three chapters. Buy it. She's also doing a contest every weekend for the rest of the month where she's giving away signed copies of Magic Lost, Trouble Found. You can read the details here, but what the heck; here they are:

Since some of you have read your copies of Magic Lost, Trouble Found multiple times, I thought I'd give you all a chance to replace it with a brand new, signed and personalized copy. It's only another four weeks until Armed & Magical hits bookstore shelves, so each of those weeks I'll be giving away a copy of MLTF and other book goodies. Just send me an email at lisa@lisashearin.com with "MLTF contest" in the subject line and you'll be entered to win. The winning names will be drawn on the next four Saturdays. You only have to enter once to be eligible for each week's drawing.

I plan on posting my review of Armed and Magical shortly before it comes out.

Sandra McDonald's second novel, The Stars Down Under, is now out in hardcover. I have a copy, so I'll post my thoughts on it as soon as I have read it.

Nathalie Mallet's follow up to The Princes of the Golden Cage is also due out soon; the title of that one is The King's Daughters and it comes out on July 1.

That's all the juicy news I know about for now. Unfortunately (or fortunately) so many new authors came out in February that their names and novels haven't settled into the cracks of my brain yet. However, since they are so new, I assume they're still basking in their novel publications to be up to anything else quite as exciting.

* * *

Raven and I have worked out our review schedules. She is going to cover Truancy this week, and I'll cover Mad Kestrel as soon as she's done. In fact, I already have Raven's first installment, and I'll post it tomorrow evening.

Author Catch-Up

Here are some author activities that I have taken note of recently.

Melissa Marr reports that Wicked, Lovely is in it's ninth printing!

Nathalie Mallet reports that the sequel to The Princes of the Golden Cage, The King's Daughters, is now available for pre-order.

According to Locus, Christopher Barzak's One For Sorrow has won the Crawford Fantasy Award. This award is for "the best first book by a new fantasy author."

Laura Benedict announces that Isabella Moon's cover is a finalist for the Left Coast Crime's ARTY Award. Also, a hardcover version of her novel comes out on February 7th to numerous countries overseas.

Several authors who I have announced (Lisa Shearin, Jennifer Estep, Janet Lorimer and Lisa Nevin) have given away premiums, such as bookmarks or postcards. I recently placed all of mine on my bulletin board. Now I can add Rosemary Jones to my collection. She is giving away signed bookplates. Here's the scoop straight from her:

Tia and other readers: if you are worried about the little white dog in the Crypt of the Moaning Diamond, I now have a specially designed bookplate for this novel. Just e-mail me at rosemarynovels@aol.com and I'll send it out. This sticker fastens nicely to inside front cover and has an original illustration done by an artist friend that is very appropriate to the book. Each bookplate is signed.

I decided on a bookplate, rather than a postcard or bookmark, because my favorite author collectible is my Dinotopia bookplate. Designed and signed by James Gurney, this bookplate announces to the world that I have a "visitor permit" to roam Dinotopia, although return passage is not guaranteed. It always makes me smile when I open this book. Although my bookplate is not quite as fancy, I hope it gives my readers the same type of smile.

I know I have some other author stuff to catch up on, but I thought I'd go ahead and put up this post, and catch up with the rest in another post this weekend.

Sunday Evening Ramble

I thought I'd have a debut to announce, but it didn't turn out to be a debut at all, so I guess I get the night off! Not really . . .

Got some new gizmos up on the sidebar. I added the "Other Debut Coverage" a few weeks ago and I've sent a steady stream of Google Reader links to it ever since. I love it. It is very cool. I suppose I should make it look more like the rest of the blog, but I kind of like the way it stands out as it is. I'll try to leave a comment on your blog when I add one of your posts, but I won't promise anything. It's so easy! I just click the mouse and bam! It's on my sidebar!

At the urging of Carole, I added a link to my profile, which points to my other blogs, which in turn includes (gasp!) a writing blog. I also blog on technology under my alter-ego "Technigirl" and to my knowledge, my only reader is my husband, who nags me whenever I neglect to put up a post.

And most exciting, I now have a form that you can use to notify me of a debut! (Yes I know, I need to get a life if I consider that exciting.) But really, this will help with my announcement research. I've actually had authors send me emails asking me "Will you review my book?" and neglect to give me the title, publisher, release date -- anything!

I am also going to work on a list of all debuts that I've announced so far, and I'll update it as I go along. It will be cool to see the list at the end of the year.

I suppose, while I'm here, I may as well catch up on some author goings-on. This time, I'm going to go way back in time . . .

Yay! Phaedra Weldon has a website! Back when I first blogged on her debut, Wraith, she had no web presence that I could find. Now she has a website (including an excerpt), a LiveJournal and a MySpace. Apparently, her next novel is called Spectre, and she's expecting the copy-edited manuscript in the mail any day now.

David Bilsborough (The Wanderer's Tale) still does not appear to have a web presence, so I guess we'll skip him. Maybe someone "in the know" can let me know what's going on with him.

Alexis Glynn Latner has a blog that I never noticed before. It is entirely possible that it was there all along. Another one for my feed reader . . .

That's it for today. I'll try to check up on some more of my early debut authors over the next few weeks. But for now, I just have one more about a more recent author . . .

Carole McDonnell had her very first book signing, and has posted a review. It appears to have been some sort of joint book signing and it sounds like it was a lot of fun.

Long Overdue Author Catch-Up

Over the past month, several 2007 debut authors have made some additional sales via their agents. Courtesy of the Swivet, here they are:

Jennifer Lee Carrell's follow-up to INTERRED WITH THEIR BONES has been sold to Dutton. Also, Amazon.com has declared her debut to be a top book of 2007. Her book has sold to 25 countries.

Christopher Barzak, the author of ONE FOR SORROW, has sold THE LOVE WE SHARE WITHOUT KNOWING to Bantam Dell.

Patrick Rothfuss, whose THE NAME OF THE WIND came out before this blog started, has made six-figure foreign rights sales to publishers in Spain and and Japan. That's two separate six-figure deals, and his novel has already sold in thirteen other territories!

Sarah Rees Brennan, whose novel, DEMON'S LEXICON has not even been published yet, is making foreign rights sales as well. So far her foreign rights have been sold to publishers in China, Germany, France, Russia, and Japan. Never mind that her original sale was a "major deal". This young lady is one to watch.

In other news on author's blogs, David Anthony Durham's ACACIA was selected by Publishers Weekly as one of the best books of the year in the speculative fiction category.

Similarly, Melissa Marr's WICKED, LOVELY is the number 2 choice of Amazon's Best Books of the Year in the Teen category. She also has her new cover on her blog. I'm no fan of tatoos, but I have to admit that the cover is, well, wicked. I am going to have to pick up WICKED, LOVELY soon, but I've been saying that for months!

Speaking of Amazon's lists, in the Science Fiction and Fantasy category, we have Brian Francis Slattery's SPACEMAN BLUES: A LOVE SONG coming in at number 5 and Patrick Rothfuss's THE NAME OF THE WIND at number 7. In the Debut Fiction list, Austin Grossman's SOON I WILL BE INVINCIBLE came in at number 9.

Back to the blogs. Jim Melvin's second book in THE DEATH WIZARD CHRONICLES came out on October 1 and is titled MOON GODDESS. Unless I'm mistaken, I believe his third book is out soon, since his books were being released every month. He also has done a radio interview, which is now online.

A whole squad of Juno authors have started a shared blog called, Fiction Beyond the Ordinary. Lisa Shearin has been blogging on her fourth Raine Beneres novel, THE TROUBLE WITH DEMONS, and it is fascinating to watch. She's up against a deadline and you can read day by day as she struggles with plot threads, writer's block and characters doing unexpected things.

I've received a spurt of review copies in the last week, some of them as "surprises". (Honestly, I wonder what my mail carrier must think, since I suddenly now receive all this media mail.) One of them was for the sequel to REIFFEN'S CHOICE by S. C. Butler, which just came out in paperback last month, but released as a hardcover in September of 2006. The second book is called QUEEN FERRIS, and it came out in hardcover on October 30.

La Gringa of The Swivet also had Tor send me David Keck's two books, one another debut from last year called IN THE EYE OF HEAVEN. The second book is an advanced uncorrected proof, due out in Febuary and is called IN A TIME OF TREASON.

Finally, La Gringa (I know her secret identity!) also had Random House (WaterBook Press) send me AURALIA'S COLORS by Jeff Overstreet, which I am reading now.

Along with all these are review copies that I expected, which includes Lisa Nevin's INTO THIS MIND and Suzanne Selfor's TO CATCH A MERMAID. Plus, I'm expecting a friend's manuscript in the mail. And I'll have time to do my Christmas shopping . . . when?

But I've got to admit . . . I'm loving this. And this sort of post is my favorite to write. It took an hour and a half to research and write, but who's keeping track?

Author Catch-Up with some Personal Notes

I was going to do a debut announcement for Grimpow: The Invisible Road by Rafael Ábalos, but there is not quite enough linkage up there to make it worthwhile. Maybe in a few days.

Up in a day or so: my first ever blog giveaway! No wait! Make that two!

Jennifer Estep had lots of exciting news on her blog this week. She's going to be featured in both Southern Living and Cosmo, plus her first two books are being re-released in mass-market paperback during two consecutive months next year, followed by her third, also in mass-market paperback, the next month. All I've got to say is Wow.

Lisa Shearin has let the recipients of her newsletter know the name of her fourth novel, and I love this title best of all. However, it has not yet appeared on her blog -- just in her email signature -- so I'm not sure if I can tell yet. What I can tell you is that her sample chapters for Armed and Magical are now up on her website. Here is Chapter One, and here is Chapter Two.

Amanda Ashby is one of the nicest authors I know (and so many of them are really nice). She sent me some tidbits concerning the elusive Emily Gee (Thief With No Shadow) for me a few weeks ago, and graciously agreed to get me some more information. Now, it's official. Emily Gee has another book coming out. Her next novel is called Witch Eye and it appears to be a romantic espionage fantasy about "a prim courtier and her wastrel lover meet and plot as spies in the catacombs of Corhona Castle." Thanks Amanda!

Speaking of Amanda Ashby, she has agreed to do my first-ever guest blog post! She has also offered a special treat -- more on that to come.

Melissa Marr, author of Wicked Lovely, is going on Book Tour 2.0. Among her stops is the Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe Az, and I used to shop there! It is a very cool bookstore, occupying three levels and selling both new and used books. The closest that she is coming to my hometown is St. Petersburg.

Out of curiosity, I did a search on the number of book titles that include the word "wicked" and I came up with the following:

• Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
• Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
• Just Wicked Enough by Lorraine Heath
• Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night by Kresley Cole
• Wicked Magic by Cheyenne McCray
• No Rest for the Wicked by Kresley Cole
• The Wicked Big Toddlah by Kevin Hawkes
• If His Kiss Is Wicked by Jo Goodman
• Wicked Ties by Shayla Black
• Slightly Wicked by Mary Balogh
• Wicked Nights by Nina Bangs

And I got tired of listing them. I wonder how long the "Wicked" trend will continue? I wonder if literary agents and editors have gotten tired of titles with the word "wicked" in them?

Some Personal Notes

In an effort to achieve a bit of blog-life balance, you may have noticed some slight changes. One is that I now do debut announcements on the weekend, when I have the most time. This was a good change anyway, since books usually release on Tuesday, giving four days for some good linkage to appear.

Secondly, I've decided to neither accept nor solicit review copies, and I will be updating the "What I do Here" post to reflect this policy. I still have a few review copies to catch up on and I will cover them, but after that I'll simply purchase the books that I want to cover. I think my book budget can handle the 2 or 3 books per month that I read.

Why refuse review copies? My reasons are complex will probably make sense to no one but me. The short answer is that it is stressful to be expected to read something; I'd much rather read something that I simply want to read. You Had Me at Halo was the most enjoyable review I've done in a while. Part of the reason? I purchased it. I'm sure my review came as a complete surprise to Amanda Ashby.

Another reason is that I simply do not have enough time to act like a semi-professional reviewer. I look at SQT's reading pile and I have no idea how she does it. I could not. I have challenges in my personal life that gives me about an hour and a half of personal time each night. This is why I started doing Spotlight Reviews. I may not have time to review every debut, but if I find my blogging buddies reviewing a debut, you can expect me to spotlight it here.

My only exception will be reviews of what I call Debut Graduates -- the second books by debut authors. In those cases, I will attempt to do advance reviews along with some special coverage. You will see an example of this in the next week or so when I put up my advance review of Hot Mama.

And that's all for now!

Author Catch-Up, With Other Stuff

I've started reading The Book of Joby, but I'm not going to put it up as a featured debut right away. It's thick enough that it will take me weeks to read, and I'd hate to bore everyone with the same book week after week after week. In the meantime, I'm going to do some first chapters, which I have not done since August, I think, and I'm reading a galley copy of Jennifer Estep's Hot Mama.

Having a galley copy is something of a novelty -- it's my first ever -- but I much prefer the finished book and I'll probably go ahead and buy a copy when it comes out. The cover feels like cardboard (probably because it is) and the pages have dried glue that oozed between them during the binding process. Plus the margins are huge and the text is rather tiny. I understand this is to allow room for proofreading markup. It's kind of fun, but it also gets ratty rather easily.

I don't follow the blogs of every author that I announce, but I follow some, and here's some tidbits that I've picked up there and elsewhere. Yet another advantage for blogging authors!

David Anthony Durham is hard at work on the second book in the Acacia series, which he's calling Acacia 2 for now, and he gives us a little slice-of-writer-life.

Lisa Shearin has plunged into a rather aggressive deadline for her third Raine Benares book, The Trouble With Demons. She's blogging on her writing as she goes.

Austin Grossman's novel, Soon I Will Be Invincible, has been shortlisted for the John Sargent Sr. First Novel Prize.

Mark J. Ferrari has somewhat tentatively started a blog . I have promptly added it to my Google Reader.

Jim Melvin's Death Wizard Chronicles came out with one of the smaller of the small presses, therefore books like his does not get a lot of review attention. However, recently the Virtual Wordsmith put up a very positive review. I peeked at the author's blog as well, and book 2, Moon Goddess, is now available.

That's all for now!

Lisa Shearin News

Lisa Shearin (Magic Lost, Trouble Found) has announced on her blog that she has sold two additional Rain Benares books to Ace Books! Her next novel, Armed and Magical (love that title!) is out in May.

Read her announcement here.