I’m in Pennsylvania at the moment visiting the Stackpole Books home office. While here I’ll also be doing my first signing and talk at the Camp Hill B&N tomorrow night, Wednesday, at 7pm. I’ve been told that if I’m nervous I should just imagine everyone naked, but that kind of thinking just gets you into all sorts of trouble…or so I’ve heard.

I also heard some wicked cool news about A Darkness Forged in Fire in Australia that I’m almost certain I can’t divulge, but my desire to go Down Under just went Way Up!

I can divulge that I just received my first ever starred review from the very nice folks (well, after giving me a star how can they not be?) at the Library Journal.

…is a bustling restaurant in Chinatown here in New York City. I met friends there for lunch this afternoon. The specialty is dim sum, and the dishes are wheeled around on carts by waitresses. You simply hail one over to your table, point to the dishes or corresponding photos helpfully pasted on the front of the cart and your order is served. The great fun was in trying to get something off of every cart. I counted at least seven and each one specialized in different areas. I know we had shrimp dumpling, bean curd, some kind of steamed, leafy vegetable, some kind of pork…something, and other items I have no idea at all, but everything tasted wonderful. I went chopsticks all the way and got at least 87% of my food to my mouth, a new record. If you haven’t tried dim sum it’s a lot of fun. And the Golden Unicorn is well worth the wait to get in should you ever find yourself in New York and hungry.

I’ve popped into two B&Ns here on the UES side and the Borders in the Time Warner Building at Columbus Circle to sign copies of my book and each time I was greeted with smiles and very helpful staff. At no time was I asked to provide proof of authorship. I imagined something like this:

Staff: “How much dragon on knight sex is in this book?”
Me: “What? None! Wait, is there? No, I’m pretty sure there isn’t.”
Staff: “Security!”

Well, something like that. Anyway, the book’s been on sale since Tuesday and the first serious numbers will be available this Monday. Naturally, I’m a wee bit curious, but as I tell all my authors, the best thing you can do is always be writing the next book. I am and enjoying it immensely. I think we’ve also nailed down the title.

Today felt like jumping out of a perfectly good airplane (career as editor) to trust my fate to an unknown parachute (career as author). Of course in my case I continue to be a full time editor so I’ve managed to stay in the plane while simultaneously deploying the parachute. Needless to say, mental chaos reigns. Having other books to work on has helped keep me sane while I assiduously avoid looking at my ranking on Amazon…yeah, even I didn’t believe that when I wrote it. You know how they hook up heart rate monitors to astronauts when they go into space, well, they should do that to authors when they check Amazon. “Judging by your EKG, your heart could power a Formula One car, a 747 and one of those hissing espresso machines.”

I’ll be at the Camp Hill, PA B&N this coming Wednesday at 7pm for a signing and talk. Jeff Young, the assistant manager, friend and fellow writer, has most graciously set up the event. If you’re in the neighborhood drop by and say hello. I’ll be the guy acting like he knows what he’s talking about.

The following week Pocket Books are flying me out to San Diego for Comic Con where I’ll be signing and then on my first panel as an author. It’s something about god………….just pausing for the lightning bolt. If you’re at the Con and need a good laugh, or want to hear from authors like Jim Butcher, Lynn Flewelling, David Keck, Jenna Rhodes and Eldon Thompson, then swing by room 5AB on Saturday, July 26 at 6pm.

Having never climbed an actual mountain I nonetheless think I feel something of what climbers must experience when they finally summit – minus the frostbite and delirium caused by lack of oxygen – yup, I’m talking about ‘ok, now what’? Oh, I’m thrilled to pieces to have my novel published and looking forward to many more, but this has been a dream that I’ve had for a very long time and now that I’ve achieved it, there’s a little sadness too. All those years of striving for this moment and having that dream to hold onto pulled me through some rough moments. Now, I can let that dream go and start chasing the next one. Jeez, I’m probably making this sound a lot more melancholic than it is. I really am happy, and I know I now have a better understanding of the highs and lows my authors experience, too. And I still have bookstores to stalk so that I can see who wanders by and picks up my book…wait, did I just say that out loud?

Oh, and a special shout out to my editor, Ed Schlesinger. You’re in my thoughts.