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I was asked to speak at a local event, here in the northern Virginia area, and was so caught up in other things I forgot to mention it earlier. I rarely make public appearances anymore having discontinued bookstore signings, so this is one of the few opportunities you’ll likely have to see me. I will be signing books, so if you have any, bring them.

Here’s the info to any of you who might be interested:

Michael Sullivan and Tom Henning will be hosting a speaking and discussion engagement at 1PM on November 7th at Evergreen Country Club (15900 Berkeley Drive, Haymarket, VA. Reservations – 703-754-4125 Ext 221).

Michael Sullivan’s Riyria Revelations have been released to wide acclaim, winning the BSC Book Tournament as well as being the ForeWard Magazine 2009 Book of the Year finalist.

Tom Henning’s fiction novel, “Legends of the Chinese Spy” was released in March, 2010.

The blogging community has been very good to me over the last two years. With the release of Wintertide, I was disappointed to see some of my favorite reviewers no longer active. On the positive side, new ones have appeared. In my previous post I mentioned Ruled By Books, where Jamie Chambers did a review of Wintertide. This week Mr. Chambers posted an interview he did with me, where he asked questions about my writing technique, my fans, and the use of the Internet to market the books. He even tried to pry information out of me concerning Percepliquis.

At the same time this week, Scott over at Iceberg Ink has been busy. He just discovered The Crown Conspiracy. After devouring it, he read Avempartha and wrote reviews on both. His review on Crown was particularly well done. I say this not only based on how much he praised it, which was flattering to say the least, but more importantly because—he gets it.

Over the last two years, some people have commented as to why they disliked my books, or why they disliked certain aspects of them. And while a few have very legitimate complaints, I feel the majority are often missing the point, or making inaccurate assumptions. Oddly enough, the same is frequently true for those who love the books, as they too assume the wrong idea—they just don’t have a problem with it.

I have often wondered why non-fantasy readers appear to more readily appreciate my books, while veteran fantasy lovers are much harder to win over. Many are hesitant or skeptical when reading Crown, and they usually soften a bit as they finish Avempartha. I have to wonder if avid fantasy readers are to some degree conditioned to expect certain things in a fantasy story: length, detail, world-building, grittiness, archaic language, etc. When those items are missing, they scoff. Readers new to the genre, don’t have to fight with these preconceived notions about what a fantasy book should be.

Extensive reading in the genre also makes some fantasy fans too quick to jump to the conclusion that: they have seen this before. Granted they have good reason to be jaded. Fantasy books all too often reuse the same characters to tell the same stories in the same manner. Those who are well-read are quick to judge and categorize any story within the first few pages, or even by the back cover blurb. Given that my stories unabashedly use many of the most traditional elements and archetypes, it is understandable that they may jump to the conclusion that this is the same old thing.

I purposefully write my books to be fast-paced, develop characters slowly over several volumes, and refuse to allow world-building to interfere with the story. I think, to some genre-hardened fantasy fanatics, I am easily dismissed as they think the missing length and detail wasn’t a matter of choice, but rather a lack of skill.

As I’ve mentioned, even some who immediately like the books either don’t know exactly why, or like them initially merely because they are different and they make for a nice break from their more serious reading. For this reason it is always nice to see a review like Scott’s at Iceberg Ink, who as I said—gets it, or at least as much as he can having only read the first book. He appears to understand and appreciate the intentional decisions about style that I made when writing the books, which is often a sticking point for many, (why is the dialog so contemporary sounding? Why are the characters so shallow? Why isn’t there more description?) What is more fascinating is that he grasps these ideas after only reading Crown. Usually readers require at least Avempartha to begin understanding what I am really doing—and for those true hardcore fantasy fans, it can often take to Emerald Storm to quell their ingrained paranoia that insist the rug will be pulled out from under them the moment they dare to believe.

So if you are interested you might take a click over to Jamie’s and Scott’s sites…and no, I have never met, nor am I paying, either of them. Although given their comments, perhaps I should.

Three weeks since the release of Wintertide and reviews are starting to trickle in.

Looking good so far—actually, looking better than I ever expected.

Everyone’s opinions are different. This is abundantly clear when you publish a book. One person likes it, another doesn’t. One person loves a character, another hates them—often for the very reason that the other loves them. What draws this person, repels another. One reader understands what you are doing, another doesn’t have a clue.

A number of people have declared their dislike for Crown Conspiracy because the writing style is too simplistic and lacks character depth. Others loved it because of the wonderful depth of the characters and the beautiful writing. Some felt it was too rushed, others love the fast pace.

Avempartha pleased many of those who felt Crown was lacking in world building, those who liked Crown felt Avempartha was too dull—too much politics and world building.

Most of my readers appeared to not care as much for Nyphron Rising, citing that it was too slow, sort of depressing, and the new thread concerning Modina and Amilia, was not as interesting. They wanted Royce and Hadrian. Others, mostly those prone to reading literary fiction, (who did not care so much for Avempartha) loved it. They enjoyed the increased character depth.

Emerald Storm appeared to please most of my readers who felt it was a return to The Crown Conspiracy tone of action and adventure. Still there were some who hated the ship setting and were disappointed that the series plot did not advance much.

In working on Wintertide, I felt that it might not be well received as it was not as action oriented as some of the others. The scenery doesn’t change much, and Royce and Hadrian spend a lot of time separated. Not the best formula for pleasing my readers, who universally enjoy their banter. Also Wintertide has to stand up to expectations. Each book has to be better than the one before it, just to avoid being a letdown. I don’t know who invented that little law, but it’s true. And being the 5th book in a series, the bar is getting a bit high to jump cleanly. Fans are starting to guess at my tricks. Emerald Storm took a number of you for a ride in more ways than one, and now you are wary. You don’t want the same story retold, you want something new, something unexpected, something different.

The good news is that the playing field is friendlier. Those who didn’t understand, or didn’t appreciate Crown, aren’t likely to keep reading the series, (although oddly a few do) and certainly aren’t going to get all the way to book 5. The readers of Wintertide are nicely vetted, if not so easy to trick anymore.

So it was with no small surprise that I began learning of the public’s reaction to the this latest installment. The first comments came from the editors and proof readers, who loved it. Friends I discovered had similar opinions. While this was great, I knew these groups were tainted. What the real world thought in the quiet sanctity of their homes could be very different.

The earliest reviews always come from the bloggers. Some are just folks who tend to read a lot and post their impressions online, seemingly to entertain their family and friends. These people rarely expect that the author of the books they published opinions on will find them. Others take a more professional attitude, and while I doubt they are paid, they act like it, and take great care to safeguard their reputations.

Fantasy Book Critic is one of the more respected review sites and one who has followed my series since it started. Liviu Suciu and Cindy Hannikman recently posted their joint review of Wintertide.

Jamie over at Ruled By Books, also posted his review.

The response to the fifth book is not exactly what I expected. As you can see from these two early posts, Wintertide has thus far been well received. Moreover, sales have continued to be stunning. Wintertide sold twice as many copies in its first three weeks than any single one of my previous books has in a full month. This has been followed by a sudden upsurge in Crown sales, which suggests that newbies to the series are reading Wintertide first and going back to start at the beginning.

If this keeps up, I might actually consider working on Percepliquis.

The world’s largest book fair is in Frankfurt, Germany. Why Frankfurt? It is just down the road from where, in the 15th century, Johannes Gutenberg once played with the idea of movable type. It should not come as any surprise then to learn that the local booksellers started holding the first annual book fairs nearby—in Frankfurt.

Nowadays it is the world’s largest based on the number of publishing companies represented, with more than 7,300 exhibitors from 100 countries, 299,000 visitors and over 10,000 journalists. The Frankfurt Book Fair is a meeting place for the industry’s experts. Be they publishers, booksellers, agents, film producers or authors. It is held every October and during the week, the Frankfurt Book Fair is only open to accredited trade-visitors; the general public is welcome only on the last weekend of the book fair.

And for the first time ever, Riyria is going to attend.

This last Spring, when three separate Czech Republic publishers asked for the rights to publish the Riyria Revelations, I thought it was time to get an agent. Contrary to popular belief, an agent’s primary function is not to sell an author’s book to a publisher, but rather to negotiate the deal for you. They are sort of like the lawyers who handle a merger. You don’t need them to make the deal, but they can help to make the deal better.

Realizing that I know nothing about foreign trade agreements, international tax codes, banking systems or currency exchange, I knew it was time to find a hired gun. Through some friendly contacts I found Teri Tobias a wonderful, and experienced, New York-based foreign rights agent who not only handled the Czech deal, much to my satisfaction, she also requested the opportunity to continue to sell the books abroad.

Phase one of that strategy is the Frankfurt Book Fair. She set off for Germany with several copies of my books and some glossy sheets of slick, series marketing material. The Fair ends today and whether Royce and Hadrian have what it takes to impress the Frankfurt elite is yet to be seen, but at least they are in the game.

I wonder if Teri would mind if I started calling her Viscount Winslow.

Wintertide has been out for three days, and the early reports are good. That is to say, early reviews have so far been positive, but also sales are doing remarkably well. I reached a personal best when Wintertide hit number one on the Hot New Releases for Kindle Fantasy Historical.

It’s not as nice as hitting number one for fiction in general or even fantasy in general, but I never expected that. I never expected this. Given my lack of marketing power, and distribution ability, my books should go unnoticed and fade quickly to obscurity. I know several other authors in similar situations and this is generally the case. Getting published is hard, getting the general reading public to buy you, is harder.

The interesting thing is that I don’t always know how well I’m doing. I usually don’t. The process feels very blind. Echoes sometimes bounce back, but usually there is only silence. Particularly after a book release. The quiet feels very loud.

Yet every once in a while something unexpected happens.

My wife, Robin, spends far more time looking at the “business side” of my writing, and came across something not long ago. Amazon started a new feature where they look at cross-sales between various books/authors. This is kind of an expanded “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought” feature whereas the first one looks at individual books the second looks at all books by an author. Looking at these cross-sales links you see some things that are not overly surprising. There are a lot of cross-sales between people like Brent Weeks, Peter V. Brent, and Robert V.S. Redick. Flipping between authors you see lots of pretty well known names all from large presses and most with multiple books.

To my surprise my name was listed among them. And not just a few…Robin found me listed on dozens of pages such as: Brent Weeks, Patrick Rothfuss, Joe Abercrombie, Guy Gavriel Kay and on some of them I was one in the #1 spot or #2 spot, which means I’m cross-outselling more on some of these lists than the big names.

The feature no longer shows up on the book page and has now moved to the author page but here is an example of what it looks like (taken from Patrick Rothfuss’s Page):

As I mentioned I know and keep track of a number of other small press, newly published authors, but none of their names came up on such pages – they just are not selling enough. So how the heck did I get in with all these established names? When did that happen? And what does that mean?

I haven’t a clue.

In the movie Coal Miner’s Daughter, Tommy Lee Jones, who plays Doo, Loretta Lynn’s husband, is trying to get people to listen to his wife’s (played by Sissy Spacek) first record. They drive around the country together traveling to radio stations dropping off copies and then one day they hear that her song is on the top ten Country Western chart. Being busy driving every day, they had no idea until one of the deejays mention it. Up until that point they figured they were failures.

Often times it feels just like that. We keep sending notes in bottles, wondering if anyone out there is finding them. So for now Robin and I are sitting on the beach watching our latest bottle drifting off, but by the looks of things, it’s caught a good current.

The Kindle and Print versions of Wintertide went live early this morning. Once more due to a minor glitch, the Kindle accidently went live a tad early. I discovered this when a fan wrote me an email late last night to say he thought Wintertide was “outstanding.” While I was very pleased to hear he liked the book, I was a bit surprised since the book wasn’t yet released. A quick look revealed the Kindle version was indeed available for purchase.

Discovering this I gave the greenlight to push the print version live as well. I had been holding off until I received the first shipment, but since it was already out on Kindle, it wasn’t fair to leave the print readers waiting. So as of about midnight Sunday the 3rd, Wintertide went live on all platforms. And at that time, with no announcement or even knowledge on my part, over fifty Kindle copies had already been sold.

So those of you who preordered from Amazon, your orders should be shipping now. For those of you who want to order directly from me. You can do so now and receive the books at a special discount by going to this link.

I will also sign and dedicate the books if you like. All you need do is choose from the dropdown list: Sign & Dedication, Sign Only, or Unsigned. If you wanted it dedicated, please type in a name to the Dedication field. Keep in mind that those ordering from me will have their orders slightly delayed as I am waiting for my shipment of books which will not be in until next week. Once I receive them I will sign and then ship them back out to you. As a result you can expect over a week delay in getting your hands on the book. You can also order ebooks from the same link. I can’t sign those, but you can buy them at a discount. These include Kindle and Sony Reader.

Over all I am pleased with how the book came out. I just finished reading through the second printer’s proof last night, and felt the book was in very good shape. It even looked nice sitting on my nightstand. I actually thought that the other day, with this detached sort of observation, as if for that brief moment it wasn’t my book at all. I glanced at it and mused, “That looks interesting. I wonder if it’s any good.”

You will have to let me know.

Looking at the countdown timer on my blog site, you will see that you still have around nine days left to wait. But if you’ve been listening to me I’ve been saying the release date would be October 1. I padded in some extra days just in case anything went awry. It did. Deadlines were not met, the release date slipped, but still it looked like we would meet the October 1 deadline. Unfortunately the printer’s proof was not perfect. Adjustments were made and a new one ordered, so there will be a minor delay. I can’t say exactly when the book will be released, but I expect it will be in the next few days.

Unlike previous years, when those with Kindles got their eyes on the books first, we will attempt to release all forms of the book at the same time. That is to say, you will be able to order the books from Amazon, in Kindle or print format, and if you preordered they will start shipping then. You will also be able to begin ordering Wintertide direct from my site at the same time. Electronic versions will be the last to go live, but don’t worry, due to the instant download; you will still be the first to see the new book. Those of you insisting on purchasing the books from a brick and mortar store will, as usual, need to wait as the distribution process for that venue is slow and could take up to a month to complete.

So what is Wintertide about? What should you expect?

When last we left off our intrepid duo were miserable, but happy to be alive as they headed north from Delgos on a pair of borrowed horses provided to them by the southern branch of the Black Diamond. The weather had turned decidedly cold and the war between the Nationalists and the Empire was over leaving Melengar alone in its struggle. The criminal mastermind, Merrick Marius, was settling into his spoils where the likes of Arista Essendon, and Modina were not so happy.

As you might expect, this being the 5th book, there isn’t much that I can really say without giving out spoilers. Melissa, at “My World In Words And Pages” has managed to put out one of the very first reviews of Wintertide, without giving anything away. A bit less satisfying than a full-scale review, but a lot safer for those following the saga.

I can tell you a few things. For those reading the series, you may already know how each book is different from the others. The same is true of Wintertide. There will be far less action and adventure than seen in the Emerald Storm. This isn’t that kind of book. I suppose it might be seen as more like Nyphron Rising, but with about the same amount of scenery changes as Avempartha. There are some “dark” moments in this book, perhaps the darkest of the series, and I hope a fair share of moments that will cause my readers to forget themselves and shout out, “YES!”

Most of your friends and enemies will return in this episode, as well as an old favorite who has too long been left out of the series. And there will be deaths. Quite a few. At least six major characters will not survive to see the final book.

If you’ve been paying attention you will realize that a great number of portents and signs have pointed to the significance of the date of the Wintertide solstice. It is a day so significant that it, or the subsequent fallout, will affect everyone living in Elan. After Wintertide, nothing will ever be the same again.

How do writers write? The question usually evokes ideas of style, attitude, or voice. Sometimes, the concept of when and where the writing is performed comes up, but far less often do people inquire about exactly how the writing is done. Pen and paper, typewriter, computer, what?

I know several writers who insist on writing long hand. Some believe that it slows them down and forces them to think harder. They transfer what they wrote to computer and this transference process works as a second drafting, allowing them to clean their prose. I only wrote one book in longhand, well it was actually a novelette, and technically I only wrote half in longhand. I simply think too fast and write too slow. I end up losing too much in the process.

I’m old enough to remember typewriters. The first eight novels I wrote were on typewriters. I preferred electric. At the end I had a real nice Olivetti Praxis, one of the first typewriters to offer the ability to make corrections without using the little strip of Wite-Out chalk paper. (The idea was to backspace over the unwanted character, slide the correction paper under the carriage—chalk side down—then hit the same character to imprint the chalk over the offending text.)

The Olivetti had the correction built right into the ink ribbon. We’re talking state-of-the-art back in the early eighties. As you can see, the sleek, black space age design was the envy of all my friends…then the personal computer arrived. To this day I still don’t know what happened to that Olivetti.

I’ve always worked on a PC (except for the year I worked as a graphic designer, when I had a nice desktop Mac.) My first computer I got back in the spring of 1984 and was a Compaq Desktop Pro with an 8086 processor and a whopping 20 MB of HD space.

In the early days all PCs had were WordPerfect and Word for DOS, both of which were a nightmare because computers didn’t have mice. (well the Xerox did, but it wasn’t until the Apple Macintosh, which came out that same spring, that the first commercially successful computer mouse appeared.) Without a mouse, just navigating the screen of a word processor was an act in frustration. I had to check the manual just to determine how to move my cursor to the correct position to insert a word. I actually rejected both programs in favor of an obscure word processor called SAMNA that acted much more like a typewriter. Despite all the hassles, and the awful quality of the dot-matrix printer, it was still light-years better than the Olivetti. Being able to backspace was wonderful.

Back then there was a huge controversy about writing a novel on a computer due to the fear of losing it in an electronic second. The controversy continues, but I no longer know anyone who still uses a typewriter. The lack of a solid stack of pages that couldn’t just vanish if you pressed the wrong button, scared many. While I rarely ever lost anything due to accidental deletion, as I kept back-ups and regularly sent copies to others, I did lose a few novels to technology. My old Compac took the huge, literally floppy, 5.25” disks. These were soon replaced by the smaller hard plastic disks, then the double-sided, double-density disks and now CD and DVD drives.

The result is that several of my early books are locked on old technology I no longer have the key to open. Of course, my very first works, those on paper, were lost as well, the victims of moves and dusty attics. So who’s to say which is better.

These days I use MS Word. Nothing fancy, just the basic program, although I do also use WordWeb that functions with all programs as a dictionary and thesaurus. And while I keep my books up to date now on the current media, I still have problems.

Just recently I had finished the final review/edits for Wintertide. The book was ready to trot off to the printer for the first proofs. Being a little paranoid—even to this day—I sent a copy to my wife Robin, just in case.

The next morning I noticed my machine was making a rattling sound. It’s an old IBM ThinkPad that I inherited during a time I could not afford to buy a new computer. I had been thinking about getting a new machine, but hoped the old black box would survive to see the release of Wintertide. I rebooted only the machine refused, instead displaying an error declaring my fan was being lazy and not reporting to work. I was so thankful that I had taken the precaution of sending the file to Robin, only when I asked she said…”What file?” She never got it, and now the book was done, but trapped on my dead little corpse of a computer, which looked so sad with all its LED lights, dark.

The machine did not warrant a repair bill, but I was faced with taking the computer to a repair shop and letting it—and my book—sit for days, perhaps weeks until it could be fixed. My release deadline was barreling at me like a train and I was tied to the tracks. I was not in a good mood.

Now if it had been a typewriter, I could just pull the last page out of the carriage and ship the book off. Of course I would still be editing the thing, too. The book has been such an ordeal to get out, I just wanted it to be done, to be finished and out the door.

Robin suggested I try fixing it myself. Being the computer geek that I’m not, I tried anyway. Replacing the fan looked beyond my talents, but pulling the hard drive and slipping it into my son’s machine looked a whole lot easier. One screw later I was done. I could access my files, I got the book—it was still there safe and sound—the end of the world, averted. At long last the book was done…

…then Robin found a few more errors…

The struggle goes on.

I have no idea how other writers handle the process of final editing. Perhaps with a big publisher it is a very sterile, very formal enterprise. With my first publisher I received infrequent mark-ups in a Word file that I accepted or rejected then emailed back—all very civilized, but not very effective.

In order to improve the finished product, I have enlisted various beta readers, editors, and proof readers (many are fans who have graciously volunteered.) Beta readers are charged with finding problems with the story. Was I too subtle with that hint? Was that part interesting or just boring? Were the actions of that character believable? You can never use just one Beta Reader. Three or more are required, for as with all things, what is wonderful to one is awful to another. The input of one then can easily be misleading. Three or more can break ties and reveal trends. If three people all hate something you love, you might want to reevaluate.

Beta readers are employed early on in the final editing process. That is to say, long after, I as the author, have finished the final draft and gone through my own series of pathetic editing passes, but before the heavy sanding and polishing starts. This early beta reading/editing period I refer to as the Structural Phase when the system is tested to see if it can handle the weight of a cold, highly critical, reader. I tend to interrogate my beta readers with a list of prepared questions. Then ask for general feedback. Based off of this I find weak areas, logic holes, and places where my intent failed to register.

This results in Structural Reworking, in the form of moving paragraphs, cutting whole sections and rewriting. As with most jobs requiring massive reconstruction, it’s a very dangerous work environment—characters have been known to die. Others are sometimes miraculously saved, shoved out of the way of a swinging plot point at the last second.

A few of my beta readers are also my gross editors, which can be a problem as they become attached to their own involvement, adopting those characters or lines that they save. It then becomes hard to give them up. A veteran of watching my hard-won words gutted, I’ve become like one of those platoon members who refuses to make friends with new recruits because he doesn’t want to go through the pain when the newbie gets killed. I have discovered that a useful skill as a writer is learning to see my writing as someone with nothing invested sees it. This allows me to cut previously beloved lines when they just don’t fit anymore.

Another pitfall is familiarity. When a paragraph or sentence was written eons ago, you get used to it being that way. When it is changed, or removed, it is unsettling. I recognized this preference for “tradition” in my own decisions. A new line has to be great to replace a crappy line that’s been there since the first draft. Only recently have I spotted this behavior in my editors. Watching them freak when a first generation phrase or paragraph is cut or re-worded.

Speaking of cutting. After the structural phase ends the Editing starts and I am convinced now that “editing” is Latin for “cutting every other word.” Wintertide has gone from about 120,000 words to 92,000 words and still cutting. Aside from removing longwinded tangents and run-on sentences, there is the art of jettisoning excess words from each sentence. If someone “sat” you don’t need to remind the reader he “sat down.”

Aside from cutting there is also the rearranging. Moving sentences into more logical orders and moving the phrases in sentences into more intelligible language. And then of course there is grammar. I suppose there are writers who love grammar, and those who feel restricted by it. Actually I suspect a great number of creative writers are annoyed by the rules of English, just as any creative type tends to resent controls on their expression. There have been times I have insisted on breaking the rules for effect. There have also been times—far too many—that I’ve done this out of ignorance. I still growl when I write something and an editor tells me I can’t do that, because it isn’t grammatical correct despite being abundantly clear in its meaning. I can’t begrudge them too much as no one holds it against the author when they find grammar mistakes in a book. They always blame the editor.

The Coarse Editing is grueling as it requires the study and breakdown of every sentence in the book, often with an accompanying twenty minute debate as to whether or not it is better to remove an “and” and replace it with a comma. Also should a girl “say sweetly,” or “sweetly say?” “For this reason Amilia avoided eating?” or “Amilia avoided eating for this reason?” Discussions and arguments rage over the number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin. It might sound awful, but as the author, the majority of the time, I don’t care. Unless the rewording affects the meaning or the cadence of a phrase, it doesn’t matter to me which way it goes. Editors however will draw swords and do battle, searching for authoritative reference to support them. These can often be hard to find when dealing with the truly finer points of grammar. Most websites and grammar books make the usually correct assumption that the average user is only vaguely familiar with the difference between a noun and a verb and so don’t get into the theoretical string theory physics of coordinating conjunction verses subordinate conjunctions.

Once this coarse editing is finished, the book undergoes a Polishing. This is where the professional or at least the more experienced language engineer makes a pass looking for mistakes in punctuation, word usage and such. Then the book is dropped into layout/galley form and the Proofing stage begins. Everyone reads it in final form to look for missing words, dropped periods, quotes pushed to the next line, duplicated sentences that failed to get trimmed out or passages that were supposed to have been cut weeks ago, but are still there because of a file glitch.

After this, the book goes to the printer for a handful of proofs and once more everyone reads the book. This time looking for any errors the printing process might have introduced. One time during the release of Nyphron Rising, the printer inexplicably shuffled eight pages in the middle of the novel. When Avempartha was printed the last ten pages were in Spanish! The result is that, with Wintertide set to be released in October, I will be reading the book enough times in short succession that I will hate it by the time the rest of the world gets to see it.

For those of you wondering where we are, Wintertide is in the final stage of Coarse Editing. Debates still rage, swords still ring and I’m thinking it might be a good time to take up smoking, or at least get one of those little red stress balls.

As I continue to slog through the snows of Wintertide, the world moves on. Sales have slipped recently, but that might be due to the time of year. People appear to buy books starting in November, most likely for gifts, then in winter for something to read in the long, dark months and then again in spring and early summer for taking to the beach. But as late summer/early fall comes around, I suppose people are focused on getting back to school and work. No more time for fantasy adventures until the snow flies.

It might also be that, caught up in pushing book five out, Robin and I have not had time to promote the series. Luckily, others have taken up the slack. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you’ll remember the reference to the Big Wheel of Momentum. Moses Siregar III is the most recent example that the wheel is moving under its own power.

I was contacted several weeks back by Mr. Siregar who confessed to me that after seeing the (then) six negative reviews for The Crown Conspiracy on Amazon (among the seventy-eight total,) he decided not to read it. He came back to the book later and realized he could read a sample and decide for himself, which he did. He then wrote to say he loved the book and asked if I would be willing to do an interview with him.

The interview was posted a few days ago.

Once upon a time, Robin and I had to beg for bloggers to do a review of my books, or interviews. It’s a whole lot nicer to have them approach me. Mr. Siregar isn’t the first, but his posting comes at a much needed time. With book five on the way, Robin and I should be getting the word out, but are too busy getting the book out.

It disturbs me that a handful of negative comments would so taint a sea of positive reviews. Is it too much to hope for that everyone one given pause by the few dissatisfied customers will eventually come to the same conclusion and each write their own reviews or interviews?

I’m a fantasy author, what do you expect?

For those of you interested in seeing the whole picture. Below is the art.

And here is the final cover design.

So I suppose I can reveal the spoiler that the fifth book takes place in…winter.

Since my first book signing people have asked for an audio version of my books. Yesterday the final episode of the audio version of The Crown Conspiracy went up on Podiobooks.com and iTunes and the best news…it is free.

The term podiobook was coined by Evo Terra to describe serialized audiobooks which are distributed via RSS, much like a podcast. Listeners to Podiobooks.com can choose to receive the episodes of their books via an RSS feed or by listening to episodes by directly downloading episodes from this site. Some listeners keep the audio files on their computers, some transfer the book to CD, but most transfer the file on to their MP3 player so they can listen no matter where they are.

Why are authors making these versions available for free? Many authors do this to get exposure for their work, others do it in the hopes you’ll buy a physical copy of their current or perhaps next work in development. Still others simply do it for the sheer joy of writing. And while it’s not required, you have the option to donate money to the author of your choice. When you consider that audio books run usually twice as much as their hardcover counterparts… we hope you’ll be generous. Authors receive 75% of all the proceeds from the donations from listeners. The smaller portion goes to the maintenance and upkeep of Podiobooks.com.

Nathan Lowell, the author and reader of some of the most popular books on Podiobooks.com volunteered to produce the audio versions of the Riyria series. He has an amazing reading voice and has done just an excellent job putting this together. In listening to his rendition, I found myself sitting back captivated wondering what would happen next. Hearing him voice characters and interpret lines, made me think this is what it must be like, at least to some degree, to see a movie version of one’s book. It comes alive in a way I never expected to experience. It also called into question the exact pronunciation of every word and the sound of accents. With this experience, I can only imagine the insanity of trying to make a film and all the questions that would come up. As it is Mr. Lowell made the process extremely easy. His professionalism, talent, and experience really blew Robin and I away. He managed to get nearly all the words right from the start, and his handling of the work was truly marvelous.

I found myself lost in Nathan’s dramatization and laughing at jokes, more for his presentation than how I wrote them. I also found myself fascinated at some of the writing, wondering if I wrote that. I guess it just sounded better when spoken aloud by a talented reader.

This release is the first venture for Royce and Hadrian outside of the world of print and it is quite exciting. So drop by either iTunes or Podiobooks.com, download the episodes and experience the adventure all over again.

You can expect to hear Avempartha sometime this winter.