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Audio
A few readers (I suppose listeners would be the more appropriate moniker) have been asking me about the release date of The Light Of Burning Shadows on audio, and after much sleuthing I’ve found out it will be shipping December 21st.

SFWA
The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America held their annual holiday party last night in a little mom and pop place called Planet Hollywood on Times Square. It was a great night to catch up with friends in publishing and make a few new ones. The room was filled with agents, authors, editors, and many “others”, making for a diverse and interesting crowd. I managed not spill my drink on the following folks – Gardiner Dozois, former editor of Asimov’s Science Fiction; Russ Galen, agent for the likes of Diana Gabaldon, Harry Turtledove, and the estate of Phillip K. Dick; Don Maass, agent to such illustrious writers like, um, me; Random House editor Chris Schluep; Del Rey editor-at-larger and Star Wars maven, Shelly Shapiro; former Playboy fiction editor Alice Turner; director of cool stuff including game development at Del Rey, Keith Clayton; former senior editor at Del Rey and current free lance tycoon Steve Saffel; Joshua Bilmes, agent for Charlene Harris (I think she writes about vampires); Del Rey assistant editor and newly acquiring (for all you aspiring authors out there) Mike Braff; and many more that at the moment have fled my brain. Oh, and there was an open bar, at least I hope it was because I don’t recall paying for my drinks!

Bazaar
A very good friend of mine, Deb Christerson, creates nature and fantasy inspired jewelry when she’s not working on her novel and will be at the 1st annual Christmas Towne Bazaar, November 27 and 28, 10am to 4pm, at the Christian Life Center located at 1780 SE Lincoln, Port Orchard, WA Call 360-876-5595 for more information

You can check out some of her pieces in advance on her website http://www.etsy.com/shop/gryphonstreasure

You know how something happens and you realize the past is past and the future stretches out before you? I’m definitely having one of those mornings. So how to deal with it…well, I’m going to the Gracie Mews for breakfast, then get to work, and then meet up with friends for dinner. Oh, speaking of, I had dinner with an old friend (er, old in the sense of we’ve known each other for years) last night. Karen Traviss is over here for a few days on business which gave us a chance to catch up. I’ve probably mentioned this before, but Karen and I attended Clarion East together in the summer of 2000. Karen, in case you don’t know her, wrote the six book Wess’Har series for EOS, a ton of Star Wars novels for Del Rey, and is currently writing all the Gears of War novels, too. She has a thing for lads in armor…with lasers…and chainsaws.

Normally when there’s food and fire, I’ve been cooking. I submit Chris’ exhibit A, formerly known as oven mitts:

So I was surprised when at The Gracie Mews for breakfast on my birthday recently, my eggs and bacon arrived at the table engulfed in flame. Ok, there was a small birthday candle wedged in some potatoes between two slices of bacon. And then the wait staff sang, which was brilliant, although as English wasn’t everyone’s first language it started going free-style about halfway through. Another song was in the offing but bacon contains grease, and cute little birthday candle flames quickly become threatening infernos when said bacon is piled around said flame, so I quickly made a wish (well two, the first being not to become engulfed in flames myself) and had a very cool birthday breakfast.

And before you say it, no, I will not try this at home.

By that I mean thinking about my next novel. I’m currently rereading The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchmann, and it is beyond annoying at the moment. I’m taking notes just about every other sentence. Her writing style is so lucid and filled with sharp, concise details that I’m constantly thinking ‘oh, that’s good, I have to incorporate something like that in my next book’. She did win a Pulitzer for this book so its pedigree is stellar. If you haven’t read it I highly recommend it, even if you’re a fiction reader/writer. In fact, especially if you’re a fantasy reader/writer. Her descriptions of royalty alone make it worth picking up.

I’m fascinated with history. I once took up smoking cigars because I was so taken by the image of some of the great men of history bending over map tables, stogie firmly clamped between their teeth while carving up nation states and changing the very course of human civilization. The power embodied in that captivated me. I got it into my head that I would actually better understand these men and their places in history if I too lit up (and, I thought it might give me a certain roguish appeal with the ladies). As it turns out, there aren’t a whole lot of ladies out there attracted to guys turning green, coughing, then puking, all while trying to discuss the intricacies of the Bismarckian alliance system.

I have, however, found a more useful and rewarding connection with history that holds little likelihood of my regurgitating the contents of my stomach while talking about Sykes-Picot or the Treaty of Versailles. Yes, I’m referring to fountain pens. Every time I pick one up I feel like I have history in my hand. The weight, the deliberateness of the writing, the flow of the ink…it transports me to another time. As useful as my laptop is, give me a stack of thick, woven paper, a bottle of ink, and my fountain pen, and you can keep the cigar.