Want to see something really cool?

It's the "When the Hero Comes Home" book trailer!

And what a damn handsome fellow that is!

You know, this is an excellent time to pick up your own copy!

Here's the paperback.

Here's the Kindle.

Have fun!

Polaris Day 1

Friday night at Polaris and things are off to a great start. Marie Bilodeau and J.M. Frey were both in attendance, as was our lovely and talented assistant, Katrina.

We have a great spot for the table, and we sold a good number of books for a Friday night. And we're starting to get buzz for the launch. All in all, very happy making.

But I need to mention...

KINDLE!!!!

Small Magics is now available on Kindle!

Cold Magics is now Available on Kindle!

Coolness!

If you are a Kindle owner, please buy them and let me know how they look!

Back to Polaris:

I had my first panel tonight, "How to judge a book by it's cover, with the very intelligent and knowledgeable Julie Czerneda moderating and myself, Stephen B. Pearl and Nikki Stafford talking. Good experience, great information and a quite appreciative audience, which is a great thing on a Friday night.

Will be taking some pictures tomorrow and posting them when I can.

Thanks to those who were there for a great evening, and everyone remember the "When the Hero Comes Home" Book Launch and Champagne Brunch on Sunday!

"When the Hero Comes Home" Champagne Brunch and Book Launch!

On Sunday, July 17, 2011, we are launching Dragon Moon Press's new anthology, When the Hero Comes Home with a Champagne brunch at Polaris!

From the DMP website:

When the epic battle, the mission, and the quest are over, can a hero go home again?

When the Hero Comes Home, answers these questions with nineteen powerful stories by some of today's top and up-and-coming fantasy and science fiction writers.

Edited by Ed Greenwood and Gabrielle Harbowy, the anthology features new fiction by Jay Lake, Todd McCaffrey, Julie Kagawa, and an all-new Jig the Goblin story by Jim C. Hines.

The official launch will be at GenCon in Indianapolis but thanks to the generosity and time-shifting of the good folks at Polaris, and that most wonderful of publishers, Dragon Moon Press, we get to have our own Canada/Toronto book launch!

And by "we" I mean, me, J.M. Frey, Marie Bilodeau and any other of the authors that can make it.

We're spreading the word now, and as we get more folks, I'll let you know.

Here's the announcement from the Polaris Program:

When the Hero Comes Home Champagne Brunch and Book Launch

Join Dragon Moon Press at Ten Forward as we celebrate the launch of our new anthology, When the Hero Comes Home. What happens when the epic battle, the mission, and the quest are over? When the Hero Comes Home answers the question with 19 powerful stories by some of today’s top and up-and-coming fantasy and science fiction writers. We’ll have champagne mimosas and a continental brunch, readings by authors, prizes, and of course, chocolate! Copies of When the Hero Comes Home will be available for sale and authors J.M. Frey, Marie Bilodeau and Erik Buchanan will be ready to sign them for you.

Sunday, July 17, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Ten Forward.

So how can you get there?

Well, first, you have to go to Polaris. Here's all the details. Then just come on in. We'll have a mimosa just for you!

And if you just can't wait for the launch party to get your copy of When the Hero Comes Home, not to worry:

You can get the paperback here at Amazon.

And the Kindle version right here.

I hope to see you at the launch. It's going to be a great time.

Happy New Year!!!

It's a brand new year, and a brand new blog post!

I'm excited about this year. I don't have a new book coming out (damn this whole "life" thing with its busy "life-iness") but I've got one I'm working on and two others I want to start on.

I learned a while ago that one book at a time is the best way for me to write, so I have to hold back on the others for a bit. Still, it gives me motivation to hurry up and finish this one.

The day job that keeps me in beer and skittles is going along very nicely and I am enjoying my work. My daily schedule has resolved itself into something that I can live with and still do my writing and get some exercise (the latter of which fell desperately behind last year).

Now, because no post of mine would be complete without a shameless plug for my work, I will mention that the New Year is an excellent time to treat yourself to a new book or two. I recommend:

Small Magics

and

Cold Magics

But, then, I would. That said, check out the reader reviews. They're pretty darn good!

And Look, I got Interviewed!

(I was mighty busy when this came out, first with NaNoWriMo and SF Contario, then with Christmas, so I missed telling everyone about it at the time.)

While I was at Con*Cept in Montreal, I was fortunate enough to be interviewed by Denis Lalumiére of Cinemaniax and Sébastien Mineau of SithClan. This guys did a great interview and asked some really good questions. Thanks to both for an excellent time.

You can listen to the podcast here.

The introduction is in French, but the interview is in English.

And I have to say, the folks in Montreal are wonderful. Had a great time, and they even put up with my lousy (and I mean really, really lousy) French. Must also thank Dragon Moon Press author Marie Bilodeau, who went there with me and did most of the talking. It was a great weekend.

So Happy New Year to all. I look forward to a great year of writing, conventions, and telling everyone all about it.

Sunday Night: the Last Con*cept Blog Post (for now)

Well, that was a pretty good end to a pretty good weekend.

Spent most of the day in the dealer's room, selling books and getting one more chance to talk to people before they headed on their way. Sold a lot of copies of Small Magics and a fair number of Cold Magics. Had several people who'd bought Small Magics on Saturday come back for Cold Magics on Sunday, just based on their reading Saturday night. That was a very nice feeling indeed.

My panel today was "Killing Your Babies," which was all about editing and the joys of realizing that that amazingly cool scene/character/description/idea/philosophy that you just know was the perfect thing when you wrote it is the thing you need to cut from the book. And if ever there was a group of people qualified to talk about it, it was my fellow panelists. From closest to furthest from me (I was sitting on the end of the table and moderating! I was moderating this group! cool!), there was Tad Williams, Marie Bilodeau, Violette Milan, and Deborah Beale!

It was a wide-ranging discussion with lots of great audience participation and lots of great stories from the writers at the table. In the course of talking about editing, we shared some of our favourite/most horrifying story realizations, discussed the "Disneyfication" of popular culture and the many times all of us have either written or read something which we know needed to be cut out.

Great fun, and an excellent panel to end on.

Then, to make things even cooler, I got an interview with Angela Roberts from The Gloaming. She asked some great questions, and I hope I wasn't talking too much in my answers. Thanks, Angela!

And speaking of thank you's, my thanks to everyone at Con*cept for having me as a panelist and treating all of us so well. And my deep, deep thanks to Marie Bilodeau, my partner in crime and at the Dragon Moon Press table for the weekend, who kept us both laughing through the weekend, translated for those whose who spoke mostly French but still wanted to know what my book was about, and for finding us great breakfast spots two days running.

To everyone new I met, and to everyone I got to see once again, merci beaucoup, et au revoir until next time!

Con*cept Friday Night

Late night blogging from a nice little Con in Montreal. Had a good first evening and a nice book launch with lots of folks attending.

Marie Bilodeau and I are partners in crime for our Montreal launch. I'm launching Cold Magics, Marie is launching her new book, Destiny's Blood. Marie is an amazing reader and a great person, and I can't wait to read her book. It sounds really good.

Then a group of us went out for drinks and late night snacks at a nearby restaurant. It was a great way to end the evening.

So that's day 1. Looking forward to a great day tomorrow with 2 panels, a table to sell books at, and time hanging with fans and fellow writers.