Yes, the three exclamation points are appropriate or apropos, as the Latinese say. Fall has arrived! The weather is cooling, the breezes are picking up, the sky is turning that wonderfully ominous slate gray, and squirrels are selling hot chocolate in Central Park. Ok, maybe not that last one, but oh wouldn’t it be grand if they did.
In publishing news, I received the countersigned contract and the first part of the advance for Ashes Of A Black Frost today which makes everything extra official and means I can order those tiny little marshmallows for my hot chocolate now (the squirrels will be soooo happy). Thanks especially to Deputy Publisher Anthony Ziccardi, my editor Ed Schlesinger and all the nice folks at Pocket Books, and my agent, Don Maass, and his wonderful staff. Oh, and I would very much like to thank the incredible efforts of Sneak Attack Media and the publicity and marketing folks at Pocket for the exceptional job they did in promoting The Light Of Burning Shadows. Writing might be a solitary endeavor, but it’s about the only part that is in publishing.
To celebrate I was going to offer hot chocolate for everyone, but then you’d all want the little marshmallows, too, and that’s where the squirrels get you when they jack up the price for “extras”.
Hmm, they’d probably sell hazelnut hot cocoa … and I’d want the marshmallows, several cause you can never leave them until they melt and must eat them half melted.
On the publishing note…YAHOO!!!!! 😀
Oh, congratulations! Wonderful news!
Congrats! Though I suppose I’ll have to go make myself a cup of hot cocoa now that you have me craving it, even though I’m in Texas and the only indication that it is fall is that it’s only supposed to be in the mid 80’s today…
I have to admit, your posts never fail to make me crack up. I’m quite excited about rereading book one, and finally having a chance to venture into Book 2, once I’m done with my current read (Had to finish the current Wheel of Time books before the next comes out!).
It might amuse you that my apartment complex has a semi-wild/semi-domesticated live squirrel mascot that waits outside of the complex office for a dog treat every day and can often be seen elsewhere on property. It has followed me around a few times. If any squirrel is on the verge of selling hot cocoa, it’s this one.
I’m convinced squirrels will one day rule the world. At least, that’s what they keep telling me when I see them in the park.
I’m rereading book 1 in preparation for book 2, and noticed some details I’d missed the first time, or had just forgotten (hence the reason for rereading it…) but I had a couple of issues with a few things, and I wanted to give you a chance to explain, if you would?
(I’ve only reread to page 278, so there may be more later?)
Firstly, When the Iron elves come back to save Konowa, and when Meri comes back to save Alwyn, they are always using swords- I understand the need to differentiate between the musket wielding living soldiers so that Konowa knows that what he just saw was something supernatural (because none of the new regiment has swords)- but it still bothers me. Unless the original Iron Elves had sword and musket? It doesn’t seem to fit with how Konowa prefers his musket and how much he dislikes his sword. And Meri? Why would he have a sword? He definitely used a musket in real life, so I would figure he’d use that when he comes back again too.
What bothered me most though was what I feel were contradictory statements about Alwyn’s father. At first, I got the impression that Alwyn’s father was a supportive man, although a bit concerned for his son’s fragile constitution. On page 179, Alwyn is remembering the recruiting sergeant saying that he’d look sharp in a uniform, and it continues on, “Alwyn’s father had agreed, noting the prize every young boy yearns for: ‘It’ll make a man out of you’.”
But on page 256, we’re told that, “Yimt was more father to him than his own, a man who had left him and his mother when Alwyn was only four.”
Um..what? If Alwyn’s father left him when he was 4, when exactly did he tell Alwyn that joining the army would make a man out of him, and how could he have been an influence on Alwyn’s decision to join?
If you would wish to respond via email instead, I would understand your deleting this comment, and would supply you with my email address.
Sorry for not replying sooner! Thanks for the very thoughtful response to the book and for expressing your concerns in a constructive and clear way.
My thought with the sword-wielding shades of the dead is that the Iron Elves regiment has been around a very, very long time, before the introduction of muskets. So there are dead Iron Elves going back hundreds of years. Plus I just didn’t see any feasible way to have ghosts fire and then reload muskets whereas swords seemed far more plausible.
You’re right about the discrepancy with Alwyn’s father. I missed it, my editor missed, and the copy editors missed it. The basic plot line however remains the same that Alwyn grew up without a supporting father figure and now Yimt has taken on that role.
Cheers,
Chris
I just finished reading book 1! Came across the book at Chapters, and it of course intrigued me (obviously, because I then bought it). Anyways, I must say that I am quite excited to pick up book 2. Me being the military and fantasy buff, definitely the perfect mix in these books. Glad I only just started, I read too quickly and would have been stuck waiting for book 2 😛 Anyways, ya quite the interesting posts here!
Ya, you have to watch out for those damn squirrels and their price hiking! Damn squirrels…..blah! Can’t trust them, but you can trust chipmunks….which is why I would like to be re-incarnated as one. Nobody ever suspects the chipmunk (they wouldn’t hike up the price, but would sneak into your pocket to get the rest of your money without you knowing). 🙂
I’m curious, was it the cover that intrigued you or the description or some combination? Whatever the case, glad you found it and hope you enjoy it.
Ah yes, the wily chipmunk. My aunt in Unionville (just outside of Toronto) has a few around her house and one in particular shows up regularly at the back door looking for peanuts and will not budge until he’s received three, one for each cheek and the third on his tongue. He’s even started scurrying inside when my aunt isn’t quick enough. Cheeky little bugger.