2008 NEWS ARCHIVE
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| December
Never
say never!
That's the one phrase I uttered most often on last month's book tour. It's the answer to an endless number of questions beginning with "Will you ever...?" Will I ever write a Kushiel prequel? Will I ever write another book in The Sundering? Will I ever tell Melisande's story from her perspective?
So far, the short answer is "No." As I've written here before, I'm currently working on the first book of a new trilogy set in the Terre d'Ange milieu. It takes place several generations after the end of Kushiel's Mercy and features a whole new cast of characters, including a half-D'Angeline heroine who's actually born to the Maghuin Dhonn. At this point, I'm completely occupied with this project and not working on any other plans. But there's no telling what future inspiration may hold, hence... never say never.
Apropos
of which, I'm happy to report that something I thought was unlikely to
transpire, just did! There's been an offer for audio rights to the Kushiel
series, with plans to get all six books in production by March 2009. (I
don't have any more specific details, so don't deluge me with inquiries.)
Very cool, and I'm happy that they'll be available at last in audio book
format.
At any rate, many thanks to all the fans who turned out for booksignings and made for another successful tour! Mercy's getting a great response, and I'm very glad. It was a LOT of fun to write. Thanks, too, to Shawn at The Signed Page for his hard work in making signed copies available to readers. It's truly a labor of love on his part.
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I'll be going into deep writing mode over the months to come, but I do have one more public appearance scheduled. Weather deities permitting, I'll be attending Comic-Con in San Diego later this month. I'm taking part in a panel titled "Looking at our World: Eye on the Past" on Thursday, July 24th at 5:00 pm, followed by a signing session in the Autograph Area at 6:00 pm. I'm also scheduled to do signings in the Hachette Book Group booth on Thursday, July 24th from 3:00-4:00 pm and Friday, July 25th from 11:00 am - 12:00 pm. And that's all I know about that! In the usual roundup, you can check out a spate of new interviews with All Things Girl, Fantasy Book Critic, and Pop Culture Zoo. There's a new fan group listing at Kushiel's Legacy Yahoo Group. And as (almost) always, visit the Tattoo and Fan Art galleries for cool new tats and art! Since I never get tired of looking at them, I've posted a couple more China pics on the Homepage this month. But hey, who doesn't like a yak?
Good news for impatient fans! It looks like Kushiel's Mercy is shipping early, at least from the online stores. The official release date is June 12th, but it may be showing up in your mailbox or local bookstore early. I've posted tour dates in the Events column to the left, and that's it for this one! As I've said before, tours are arranged and sponsored by the publisher. They send me to stores that request me, which is often stores where I have a track record of good events. So please, no begging and wheedling! There's nothing I can do about it at this point.
To round up a few miscellaneous items, there's another giveaway contest for a complete set of the Imriel trilogy at the Fantasy Book Critic. Readers in Australia having a hard time finding copies of my latest can check out Rendezvous the Romance Books, who promise to keep them all in stock. Anyone who's ever wondered what a Kushiel movie score might sound like should visit The Eglantine Adept for some lovely samples, and there's a new Kushiel's MySpace group, too. After a drought during my absence, there are a bunch of cool new additions to the Tattoo Gallery, and a couple new pieces in the Fan Art Gallery. And on a somber note, I've posted two more photos from my trip to China here on the Homepage. These were taken at Dujiangyan, where a Taoist temple sits above a 2,000 year old irrigation project. I almost skipped that site, and it turned out to be one of my favorite places. On the day we visited, it was a holiday. Hundreds and hundreds of Chinese tourists and a handful of westerners had come to marvel at the view, at the enduring legacy of the ancient engineering, at the beauty of the temple. We held our breath crossing the swaying suspension bridge over the river. On the way back to the bus, I bought a trinket from a vendor in the parking lot. Nothing significant, just a little charm to remind me of that day and place. A month later, the earthquake struck. Dujiangyan was at the epicenter. Amid the sorrow at the destruction and terrible loss of life, I am grateful for my memories.
CONTEST: Kushiel's Mercy giveaway I'm back from an amazing trip to China! It was truly awesome, and a fascinating time to visit. Despite the political situation, we didn't encounter any difficulties. The landscape was even more varied and spectacular than I'd imagined, and I found the people to be warm, friendly and outgoing. It's such a vast and ancient country, I feel as though I barely scratched the surface of all it has to offer in three weeks... but it's still a lot to process. And it's definitely great, great research material! So, books. Kushiel's Justice is out in paperback this month and Kushiel's Mercy comes out in hardcover in June. Yay! I'll be posting tour dates soon. It looks like I'll have a couple of events in the Midwest (Chicago, I got you added to the schedule this year; don't let me down), then back to the West Coast to hit the usual suspects: San Francisco, Seattle, Portland. Appearances will be listed in the Events column on my homepage as soon as they're confirmed.
In other news, I've finally succumbed to urging and have fledgling pages up at MySpace and Facebook. Feel free to Friend me! I'll try to keep up with both sites, though no guarantees. Not many additions to the galleries this month; I took my email contact down while I was traveling. But check out the Fan Art gallery for a couple of pieces generated in Second Life by a reader who hopes more Kushiel fans will come play. In other community news, you can visit Terre d'Ange, a new fansite. And because I couldn't resist, I've posted a couple of iconic China photos on the homepage. The Great Wall! Pandas! Yeah, they really are that cute.
Lots of interesting responses to last month's meandering posting! Thanks to all the readers who wrote to let me know that one of my books was their That Book. And thanks, too, to the surprising number who were concerned by the pancake batter lacuna in my culinary skills and offered to send fool-proof recipes. You may note that this update spans two months. Due to travel plans, I'll be away for a good chunk of March and April. First up is LunaCon in New York, where I'll be the writer Guest of Honor. I hope to see some East Coast fans there! After that, I'm off on a long trip to China. Research, you wonder? Definitely! For the record, I haven't been to all of the places I've written about. Given the amount of territory my books span, it's just not feasible within the constraints of my publishing schedule (not to mention my budget), and sometimes I'm forced to rely on plain old academic research. I'm fortunate to have traveled enough in my lifetime that I have a lot of vivid memories to feed my imagination. But it's been too long since I undertook a major trip and it's time to replenish the well. To avoid being overwhelmed upon my return, I'm temporarily removing my email contact and the Bookplate Offer. As it happens, I'm just about out of the original Kushiel's Legacy bookplates that Tor had printed back in 2001. When they gave me 5,000 extras, I never thought I'd go through them all... but I have! As far as the burning questions that plague you, please check the FAQ, because I may have already answered them. I've even added a couple of new ones. And here's one I didn't add: A lot of readers have asked if I'll be offering signed copies of Kushiel's Mercy through The Signed Page again this year. At this point, I don't know. It depends on whether or not they're up for another round and it fits into my tour schedule. I promise, if we're doing it again, it will be posted atop the site by May. Speaking of promises, as promised, there's a link to the first chapter of Kushiel's Mercy under Extras over to the left. Enjoy! And I've got a real treat in terms fan art for you this month. There may never be a Kushiel movie in my lifetime... but reader Alex has given us a glimpse of what film posters for the original trilogy might look like. The first one is featured on the homepage. Check out the Fan Art gallery for the other two, plus more new offerings. Hope that's enough to hold you. I'll be back in May!
So I was thinking today that it's good to be a grown-up. Yesterday, I splurged on something silly at the grocery store - Batter Blaster. It's organic, pressurized pancake batter. This is just the sort of thing I would have thought was awesomely cool as a kid and begged my mother to buy. Being a sensible woman, she would have looked at the price tag and refused. I looked at it and thought, what the heck. What's the point of being a grown-up if you can't indulge the kid inside you every now and then? Also, although I'm a fairly good cook, for some reason I have a mysterious inability to make decent pancake batter. After this morning's breakfast, I'm sorry to say that I won't be signing on as a Batter Blaster spokesperson any time soon. But the kid inside me was tickled to pieces nonetheless. And thinking about how there are parts of us that never age got me to thinking about a book that was That Book for me as an adolescent girl. I may have written about this before, but That Book is the first book you read with explicit sex scenes that makes an indelible impression on you. The one you discuss with your friends in whispers and giggles (at least if you're a girl). For me, The Thorn Birds was That Book. And then, years later, it was made into a miniseries. By this time, I was mature enough to enjoy discussing its guilty pleasures with my mother. One of the best things about that miniseries wasn't the racy bits at all - it was Barbara Stanwyck's fabulous performance as the dowager Mary Carson. As we watched her confront Richard Chamberlain's Father Ralph de Bricassart and declare with an old school Hollywood star's venomous passion that she had always loved him and that inside this stupid body she was young, my mother leaned over and said, "It's true. That's exactly how you feel." Things to think about on a dreary winter day! All the glorious snow in the photo on the homepage is gone, but for a bit of February cheer, check out the Tattoo and Fan Art galleries for more new offerings, including a couple of charming Phèdre and Melisande toons. Next month, a sample chapter!
Apologies to anyone who may have emailed me and received no reply in the past six weeks or so. Due to a technological glitch, there was a period of time where none of the mail I sent to various address, especially AOL, was being delivered. I think the problem is resolved, so feel free to try again. In the spirit of the holidays, I do have one special request. I received an email from a soldier stationed in Iraq wondering if I knew of anyone willing to part with a copy of Earth Begotten, the limited edition letter-press booklet, as a special gift for his wife who will be spending this past Christmas and next without him. Maybe you're a collector with a soft heart? If you have a copy you'd be willing to sell, drop me a line. Once again, check out the Tattoo and Fan Art galleries for some lovely and creative new additions. And on the homepage, a little taste of winter in Michigan! Freezing rain is nasty stuff when you have to be out and about in it, but it does leave the world sparkling and magical. Here's wishing all my readers a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!
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Order
signed copies of Kushiel's Mercy at The Signed Page
One
thing I can do is accept invitations to regional conventions, and
I usually do at least one or two a year, especially if they're sponsoring
me as a Guest of Honor. Over the years, I've attended conventions
in Atlanta, Texas, Winnipeg, Baltimore, New York, Massachusetts
- and others I'm forgetting. Those are always posted in the Events
column and sent to my mailing list when confirmed, and you can also
keep up with me on 
Once
again, if I'm not coming to a town near you, you can order a signed
copy from 
UPDATE:
Writing,
writing, writing. Once more, little to report! New York area fans
take note, I'll be the writer Guest of Honor at 
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