I Talk...

...with The Original Fantasy blog. Wanna hear me?

No. Well, then. Fine.

You could listen to the interview to hear Emily Craven, though. She's Australian. Very nice. We spoke via Skype. I sat in my car picking up my local library's internet in Massachusetts. She was all the way on the other side of the globe. Weird stuff.

Anyway, this will get you to it:E-Book Revolution Mini-Podcast

The Top Ten Again

A while back I contributed a list of my "Top Ten" favorite books to a collection by J Peder Zane. The book, filled with author recommendations and ruminations, came out a few years ago. It looks like Peder has revamped the material in website form now.

If you're interested in my list - and other authors and/or in submitting your own list, you could start HERE.

Promotional Video For Unfettered

Here's a little video we came up with to help promote Shawn Speakman's Unfettered anthology. It features my kids and our cats! You can't say no to them, I'm sure...

Remember That David Anthony Durham Award?

Well, the finalists have been announced, which means I've got to get my act together and do some judging between now and Thanksgiving!

You can see the finalists and read their stories at Liternational.

Die Fernen Lande - Finally In Hand

You know that I always love receiving foreign copies of my books. This one isn't new. Been out for a little while now in Germany. But I've just received a few copies all my own. It's a pretty book...

I think I'll toss one in the package I'm sending over to Pat Rothfuss for this year's Worldbuilders charity campaign.

The Inside Straight

GRRM wrote recently asking his Wild Card's minions to spread the word about books he's donated for sale to benefit The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. He's given them 100 copies of Inside Straight, a Wild Cards novel that begins one of the newer cycle of stories. It's signed by him and co-authors Melinda Snodgrass, Ian Tregillis, Daniel Abraham, John Jos Miller, and Michael Cassutt.

Here's GRRM's Not a Blog Post about it. 

Here's the Legal Defense site.

This is all about protecting freedom of speech during Banned Books Week. The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of the First Amendment rights of the comics art form and its community of retailers, creators, publishers, librarians, and readers. The CBLDF provides legal referrals, representation, advice, assistance, and education in furtherance of these goals.

That's all. Check it out!

A Step Closer to being Unfettered

Shawn Speakman has released an author and story list for the anthology he's put together to help knock out his mountain of medical bills. The anthology is called Unfettered.

You can get all the info here.

There's a nice write up about it at Grasping for the Wind also.

Yes, I'm in this thing. I was honored to be able to provide a story for Shawn, and chuffed to be in there with such a stellar list of authors. Check em out:

The Shade of Allanon by Terry Brooks (a Shannara tale)

Imaginary Friends by Terry Brooks (a precursor to the Word/Void trilogy)

How Old Holly Came To Be by Patrick Rothfuss

River of Souls by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson (a Wheel of Time tale)

The Old Scale Game by Tad Williams

Martyr of the Roses by Jacqueline Carey (a precursor to the Kushiel series)

Dogs by Daniel Abraham

Mudboy by Peter V. Brett (a Demon Cycle tale)

Nocturne by Robert V. S. Redick

The Sound of Broken Absolutes by Peter Orullian (a Vault of Heaven tale)

Untitled by Geno & R.A. Salvatore

Keeper of Memory by Todd Lockwood (a Summer Dragon tale)

Game of Chance by Carrie Vaughn

The Lasting Doubts of Joaquin Lopez by Blake Charlton

The Chapel Perilous by Kevin Hearne (an Iron Druid tale)

Select Mode by Mark Lawrence (a Broken Empire tale)

Strange Rain by Jennifer Bosworth (a Struck epilogue tale)

Unbowed by Eldon Thompson (a Legend of Asahiel tale)

Untitled by Naomi Novik (a Temeraire tale)

The Jester by Michael J. Sullivan (a Riyria Chronicles tale)

The Duel by Lev Grossman (a Magicians tale)

The Unfettered Knight by Shawn Speakman (an Annwn Cycle tale)

My contribution? That would be a story called All the Girl's Love Michael Stein. I think it's safe to say it's like nothing else I've ever published. It's Young Adult. It's the story of a ghost cat that sets out to find a way to comfort the girl that's mourning his death. In the process, he gives her a gift that changes her life forever.