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I did my first panel this morning with writers Elizabeth Moon, James Knapp, Stephanie Burke, Gail Z. Martin, and agent Joshua Bilmes on series and how to end a book while setting it up for the next one. Had a lot of fun. Managed to generate a little heat when I expressed my annoyance with all things prequel. Not everyone agrees. I would much rather go forward with a series or a world than go back and delve into why things are they way they are. I haven’t really found that formula compelling in fiction, at least in the material I’ve read and seen. The second batch of Star Wars movies leap to mind. I never, ever wanted or needed to know Darth Vader was a little brat or a whiny teenager. He was the perfect two-dimensional villain the way he was presented. Less is more and all that.

After the panel, I wandered the dealers’ room and took a bunch of photos, but forgot the cord that connects to my laptop so I won’t be able to post until I get home. Some cool stuff though. Lots of steampunk attire here as well as leather works. Fair amount of lace items and pewter figurines as well. There’s a gaming component and even homemade movies. The world premiere of Ninjas versus Vampires debuted last night. Not sure what it was about though

Here at Balticon with Myke Cole chatting with Scott Sigler and Paolo Bacigalupi among others, like the police lieutenant providing security for the Con. Nice guy. Big guy. His stories are by far the best. Checked out the Green Room for authors and the like and it was well-stocked with all kinds of goodies. I think I know where I’ll be hanging out between panels.

I’m on a panel tomorrow about setting up endings of books to lead into the next one. Not quite sure what the thrust of this will be, but I’m game. I remember having several discussions with my editor about the cliff-hanger ending to the last book. We debated the pros and cons of it and ultimately I got to keep my cliff-hanger. As an author I enjoyed leaving it that way. As a reader I usually like them, too. I enjoy the anticipation of finding out what happens next. A tease is good as long as it eventually pays off with a strong reveal. I think a few of the reveals in the upcoming Ashes should fulfill that nicely.

It was a long, but fun and productive week. I meet Eoin Colfer, author of the Artemis Fowl series, which was a real treat, as well as a lot of publishing friends I only get to see about once or twice a year at shows like BEA. The general mood in publishing seems to be one of cloudy with a chance of sun. The whole ebook revolution is changing the landscape fairly dramatically and it’s not yet clear just how things are going to settle out. It used to be you’d come out with a hard cover and follow that up in a year or so in either trade paper or mass market, but now that the ebook is here at that lower price point does that old formula still work?

As the pub date for Ashes of a Black Frost is only a few months away I’m more than a little curious to see how the numbers break down between hard cover and ebook. I was talking with the folks at S&S and they’re intrigued, too, but very excited about the new opportunities ebooks present.

Book Expo America is on again this coming week at the Javits Center in NYC. I’ll be there as an editor for Stackpole, but I always get a chance to wander so I’ll definitely stop by the Simon and Schuster booth to see what’s going on (I’m verrrry curious about when they are going to release the cover for Ashes!) Actually, there are a lot of cool booths to check out. Amazon have one, too. BEA isn’t like a Con, though. I was going to say there are no costumes, but actually, some enterprising folks promoting books do in fact dress up. I think the, ahem, most interesting in recent memory were the massage girls at Heidi Fleiss’ booth. Presumably she had a book, too. It’s long days and sometimes nights, but it’s a great chance to catch up with people I only see once a year.

No sooner does BEA end than I hop a train or bus (haven’t decided yet) and make for Balticon in Baltimore. Never been to this Con, but I already know several people going so it should be a lot of fun. If you’re attending and see me, please say hi. If you’re really nice (and have either beer or chocolate on you – by the way, when will someone invent chocolate beer already?) I’ll probably be easily persuaded into giving you a sneak peek of the cover. The deeper into the evening you find me correlated with my proximity to a bar will no doubt increase those odds.

Some of you may know that I’m a runner, although to be honest I’ve felt like a fraud the last year or so because with my injuries I wasn’t able to do much running at all. Well, I’m back and it feels wonderful. I switched shoes (for what I think is the 15th time) and more importantly, entirely switched up my running style. It’s been like learning to walk again.

I was a big heel striker with a long stride. Now, I’m landing mid-foot with a significantly shorter stride with a greater lean forward. If you’re not a runner this might be about as interesting as listening to paint dry, but for me it’s been nothing short of a life-changing experience. I can run again.

I certainly won’t go as far as to say it’s better than sex (it’s not, and ex-girlfriends are not allowed rebuttals!) but it’s an incredible release. I spend all day as an editor with a lot of the hours before and after taken up with writing novels (the latest tweaks to Ashes of a Black Frost are done and I’ve been seeing/hearing rumors there’s a new cover out there in the ether, but I don’t think it’s official yet so I’ll hold off posting an image) which means most of my time is spent in intellectual and creative pursuits. So it’s an amazing feeling when I can get out there and run and let my mind wander as my body takes over. And for the first time in a very, very long time, my body is cooperating.

Not sure how else to describe it except that it’s simply bliss.