The Shadow Prince

I have something to announce.

I've just finished a new novel.

It's not what you might think, though. It's not the Spartacus novel. That one's going to take awhile yet.

No, what I've completed is a middle grade fantasy set in Ancient Egypt. A kid's book called The Shadow Prince. It grew on my by surprise, took over, beat Spartacus into submission, and then asked for a few dedicated months of my time. I'm so glad it did.

What's it like? Well, if I had to give it a sub-genre it would be "Solar Punk". It's not a very historical novel. Instead, it's one that takes all the funky stuff of Egyptian mythology and spins it playfully into a full-on fantasy. Weird shape-shifting gods with crazy powers? Yep. A demon fighting voyage into the underworld? Of course. A group of kids that have to save the world against impossible odds? Totally.

It's not exactly like any one series in particular, but I think of it as being similar in ways to a number of series. The demon fighting element was influenced by Jonathon Stroud's Bartimaeus novels. I tried for the playful, mild-peril of Angie Sage's Septimus Heap books. I wanted to keep the pacing brisk, like Kai Meyer's Wave Walker's books. And I have to admit to wanting my Egyptian setting to have some of the exotic - and yet contemporary - feel of the anime series Avatar: The Last Airbender. (Not the film based on it, and not, of course, the James Cameron Avatar movie either.) I'm not saying I achieved the quality of any of these artists; I'm just saying I tried.

I'm really excited about it. My wife read the new pages aloud every night to my kids (aged 10 and 12), so I got immediate feedback from the target audience. (I also got to hear it brought to life by a lovely Scottish voice...) I've had several beta readers look it over, with very positive responses (and useful feedback!). It's now in the hands of my agent. Hopefully, we'll soon be talking to publishers.

I really hope this works. I'd love for this to grow into a series. I'll still write historical works and adult fantasy, but writing for kids scratches a different itch. And, for once, it's just plain fun!

Wish me luck!

Above and Below

I'm thrilled to be able to announce a very cool project I'm going to be a part of.

You know Ann and Jeff VanderMeer? Supercool, award-winning editors of many marvelous books (like The New Weird, Steampunk, Fast Ships Black Sails, and The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric & Discredited Diseases)? Well, you should know them!

They're putting together a new anthology of short fiction called Above and Below, and they've asked me to be part of it. Very kind of them. Here's the description:

ABOVE AND BELOW: FLOATING WORLDS & SUNKEN CITIES, edited by Ann & Jeff VanderMeer - Whether it’s myths of kingdoms in the sky or of strange subterranean realms, exotic and fantastical places have captured readers imaginations for centuries. From Jules Verne and Edgar Allen Poe to modern times, that which waits above or below has enticed readers with its promise of mystery, adventure, dark beauty, horror, and fantasy. Join some of today’s top writers as they take you to the heights, and down into the depths.

Love the theme. Have a story that will fit it, I think. It'll be quite a bit different than anything I've published yet. Let's hope it comes together...

Who else is going to be in it? The contributors aren't completely finalized yet, but those on board so far include: Alan Campbell, Jay Lake, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Cherie Priest, N.K. Jemisin, Alastair Reynolds, Joe R. Lansdale, and Steven Erickson.

Hehe.

That's about all I can say about it at this point. I'll let you know more about the publisher and dates etc when I can.

Chat Reminder

In case you're interested but needed a reminder...

I'll be "chatting" online this evening at 7pm est, via Suvudu.com.

Information is HERE.

Please drop in and say hi!

More About This Movie Stuff

I do know that it's very hard to get films made, and that we're still in the very early stages of the process with Acacia, but I am pretty excited about this one. What I find most encouraging is not just that the book has been optioned and announced; it's that the players involved so far are top notch.

My first contact was Zach Schiff-Abrams at Michael De Luca Productions. I remember the first time we talked. I was in Tahoe at a friend's house and he was home with his new baby. He said all the right things about the book, of course, but many of those right things showed that he got it with specificity. He wasn't just interested because the Entertainment Weekly review had been so good and studios were looking for another Lord of the Rings. Zach gave me the time and talked things through thoroughly. He's clearly a good businessman, but I read him as sincere also.

Of course, I knew of his boss, Michael De Luca, who has been involved in tons of movies. You can see his IMDb page: HERE. He's helped bring to the screen movies like...

21, A Man Apart, John Q, Blow, Thirteen Days, Magnolia, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, American History X, Pleasantville, Blade (I & II) and Boogie Nights.

His credits also include The Love Guru and Ghost Rider, but so it goes... None of those sound exactly like Acacia? Well, good, that means it's about time for a bit of epic fantasy on his list!

Zach and Michael took the idea to Relativity Media, though, because - as you may have heard - these film things cost a lot of money to make. Relativity is a financing and production company. I think that means they do a lot of things, and that some of what they do crosses the normal barriers for these things. They produce movies, yes, but they also finance them. They have deep pockets and are willing to take on all or some of the financial risks to make films happen. That's good news, and I think it increases the chances Acacia will move forward. They've certainly made a lot of films in a pretty short few years. You can see a list of all of them on their IMDb page, but they've been involved in some capacity with films like...

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Hancock, Wanted, Baby Mama, The Forbidden Kingdom, Charlie Wilson's War, American Gangster, Atonement, 3:10 to Yuma, The Pursuit of Happyness…

They also had a hand in Evan Almighty and Ghost Rider, but so it goes… Coming up they have Mary Queen of Scots, The Tale of Despereaux, Brothers, and many more. No doubt. These folks make movies! They make some good ones. Some not so good ones. Big ones. Smaller ones. Purely commercial ones and Academy Award contenders. It's all of this together that has me excited.

Here's their IMDb page.

Their deal with Universal Pictures.

Relativity Holdings.

This actually happened a while back, but before announcing it Relativity wanted to have another piece in place: a writer. Enter Andrew Grant. I can't say a lot about Andrew Grant's films because I don't know that a big credit has reached the cinemas yet for him. I do know that he's sold a script to Tom Cruise, and that he's very well regarded in the business. Zach was interested in him early on. I believe they worked together on something else. Anyway, part of what's cool about Andrew signing on is that he also didn't jump at the chance just because it was a epic fantasy project. He read the book when Zach asked him to. He liked it, thought about it, and... then got excited about making it into a screenplay. (That, at least, is the way I understand it. Correct me if I'm mistaken, Andrew.) That sounds like the way it should be, but perhaps isn't always.

So that's the basic info. There might not be much more news on this front for a while. And it is possible that this will be the highpoint of the entire endeavor. I'm hoping, though, that things will go a lot higher yet...

Wanna get involved? How about putting in your two cents re casting the movie? There's been a thread up about it at my Forum for a while. It's been quiet for a while over there, but maybe now is a good time to take up the subject again. Check it out: HERE.

Publishers Weekly's Best Books of 2007!

PW recently announced its picks for the best books of the year. I know, the year's not over yet. But they will have read and considered books right up until the end of the year at this point. (Consider that their reviews run two or three months before a book actually publishes.) Still, a bit early, but maybe they want to set the tone a bit.

If so, no complaints from me - Acacia made the list! They report that they reviewed six thousand books this year and narrowed that done to just 150 for the list. Nice to have made the cut. I'd say that this means something to me, sure. I'm happy. But of course there were plenty of wonderful books that did not make this list. That's just the nature of lists, though. I'm glad to be here this time.

Here's what it looked like in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror category...

Inferno, edited by Ellen Datlow (Tor)
Acacia, by ME!
Ilario: The Lion's Eye, by Mary Gentle
In War Times, by Kathleen Ann Goonan
Bright of the Sky, by Kay Kenyon
The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss
The Winds of Marble Arch, by Connie Willis

You can see the full list here.

Anybody want an audio book of Acacia? Free...

I haven't listened to the entire thing myself - I've got other people's books to read - but I think this a great, unabridged recording, narrated by Dick Hill - he of the "Golden Voice". I got a handful of copies in my possession, and I'm willing to part with one. (That's at least a $59.99 value, although some of them list for $119.99. I don't know what the difference is...)


I'd hope that whomever gets one of these won't just resell it. That would suck. I'd much rather think you'll enjoy listening to it, and then - if you don't need to keep it - pass it on to a friend or donate it to your library. Guess I can't control that, though.

There's a catch, but it's a small one. If you want want one you'll need to visit my Forum. I've opened a thread under the Acacia: The War With The Mein category. Just sign in and leave your name there on the thread. (Joining the Forum does not, by the way, compromise any of your information or make your email public or set you to receive spam or anything like that.) I'll wait a while. When (if) there seem to be enough names to choose from I'll do some sort of random selection and pick a winner. I'll pay postage for domestic (and slow) US shipping. If you're from overseas and win I'd ask that we arrange some way to pay for the postage. Shouldn't be hard to figure out if that happens.

So that's the offer. I've no idea if anybody will be interested in this, but you never know until you try...

Acacia's UK Deal!

I'm back from the beach - where the boogie-boarding was awesome, the raccoons were wee troublesome buggers, the seals barked late into the night and some questionable (but very nice) folks showed up at our campsite in the middle of the night. But that's personal stuff, not of interest to the general public...

I will say that I'm very pleased to announce that we've finally wrapped up a contract for the British publication of Acacia: The War with the Mein. It was a long process this time. I believe things opened up enough that we had discussions with a number of publishers, especially as this fantasy series is a departure from Pride of Carthage, the only novel of mine previously published in the UK.

Funny thing is that at the end of it all my Pride of Carthage publisher is the one we're going with. Transworld has signed on for Acacia 1 and 2! (Um... There's an extra bit of pressure to get that second book done.) Transworld has a diverse list with titles in many different genres. I'm happy to say that they also have quite a strong fantasy/sci-fi list that includes books by Steven Erikson, Christopher Paolini, Mary Doria Russell, David Gemell, Anne McCaffrey, David Eddings, Laura K Hamilton and Terry Prachett. And me!

What will the reaction be over there? What will the cover look like? No idea, but I'm glad to have the opportunity to find out.

The Coast, and Poland

I'm about to head off with the family on another camping trip - to the coast this time. We've got a lovely primitive site booked that overlooks a sweep of coastline and dunes and hiking and biking trails. It'll be awesome.


Small bit of news for today is that Acacia: The War with the Mein has made the grade in Poland. It's going to be published by MAG JACEK RODEK in Polish. I don't know much about this publisher, but I do understand they're strong in fantasy. I'm very happy about it, and it makes my second Polish book, after Duma Kartaginy!

Okay, off to play in the surf!

Heading for the Top...

No, not of the bestseller charts. Not yet, at least. This is just a wee note to say that the Durham family is about to embark on a fabulous weekend. The car is packed and we're heading into Sequoia National Park for a backcountry camping trip! We'll be hiking in to a high lake at around 9000 feet, close to the stars. Yes, this does mean I'll be missing up-to-the-moment Potter updates. I'm okay with that, though. Instead, we'll read aloud from The Hobbit and enjoy alpine silence, play cards and talk and go marmot spotting. Awesome. I'll check back in when I get back.

Pat's Fantasy Hotlist

I had the great pleasure over the last week or so of working on an interview for Pat's Fantasy Hotlist. It would've been cool enough just to do the interview with Pat, but this time he teamed up with three other bloggers: Rob B at sffworld.com, Larry at wotmania.com (his Acacia review) and Ken at Neth Space). Together they bombarded me with a barrage of questions, some that cover the basics, many that range into territory I've not been asked about so far. It was good fun, and I'm very glad they took the time out to work on it with me.

It's looking like it'll be linked and cross-linked in a lot of places, but you can view the original at Pat's Fantasy Hotlist. And, Patrick, I appreciate the kind introduction to the interview as well!

The Interactive Map Needs You!

I mentioned a few posts back that Laethyn was being kind enough to make a version of the Acacia: The War with the Mein map interactive. I've no idea how he's doing it, but he's making it so that you can scroll around a close-up of the map. You can click on areas or cities and get a brief description of them. Recently, he started a thread wherein he's asking people to contribute a couple lines of description about the various places that he'll use. If you've read the book and have any interest in contributing a witty wee description take a look at the MAP POST. You can sample what he's working on there too and get an idea of the tone of the suggestions so far.

Pleasantly Sweltering Father's Day

Well, the forecast in Three Rivers is for a pleasant 96 degrees today. That'll make a nice break from the three digit temperatures of the last few days. I'm being facetious of course. A coping mechanism... 96 degrees and I'm thankful!

I still haven't gotten my hands on a hard copy of that Entertainment Weekly, and they still haven't put the new issue up on their website. A few small things have come through today, though. There's a review in the Fredericksburg Free Lance Star. The reviewer liked the book, but he doesn't spend that much time talking about it. He's more interested in the "litmus test" experiment/risk the book is. Acacia also gets a small mention in The Kansas City Star. It's the second of a few books mentioned, the lead being Harm, by Brian Aldiss.

Also, there are more free books available via The Dragon Page. It's not that I don't want to encourage you to buy the book. I do, of course, but a freebie every now and then is always a treat.

By the way, as I sit here writing I'm also listening to NPR. There is a story on just now about child slavery in China. My wife just looked at me and commented that there are places in the world right now where children are taken from their parents and enslaved - just like in Acacia. Ironic, but that's kinda the point. Acacia may be a fantasy, but I can't help but write about our world in lots of ways. I wonder if NPR choose this story particularly for Father's Day, or if it was just a coincidence of when the news came out?

114' F

I was on the road today, between Visalia and Fresno, on various familial missions. Just so you're inclined to commiserate, our car's thermostat topped out at 114' Fahrenheit... Came home to find the cat doing this crazy, open mouthed, full-bodied panting thing...

I'm sweating as a I write this... Man, the Central Valley of California! The strawberries are great, but...

Anyway, I went on a search for the Entertainment Weekly that I'm in. Couldn't find it. Nobody had it out yet. Bummed. But on the side I signed books at the Fresno B&N and Borders and at the Visalia Borders. So, if you want a signed copy, live in the area and can peel yourself off the couch...

Before Noon...

I'd started this as a post about the good stuff that had happened so far today - before 10 in the morning - but another great thing happpened and I just had to include it.

So before 10am I had this to say...

I woke up to find an email from a Spanish publisher in my inbox, asking for contact info for my foreign rights people. Who knows? The Spanish version of Pride of Carthage had a short stint in bestsellerdom. Maybe it'll happen for Acacia too. Fingers crossed.

An add went up on Locus Online today.

Also noticed that Wotmania is doing a giveaway contest. Free signed copies of Acacia available!

And I got a look at an interactive map that Laethyn, one of the guys that helps out with my Forum, is designing. It's very cool. You can scroll over a close-up of the map and information pops up about the different areas and cities. It might be a little while before it's up and running, but I'm glad it's in the making. The Forum is very new, by the way, and very welcoming to new members. There's a handful of great folks over there at the moment. Please check it out.

Oh, and my verification came through that my posts will feed directly to the Amazon pages of my books. Haven't seen that working as of when I'm writing this, but maybe it'll pop up there soon.

Between 10 and noon, though, I got a glimpse of the review that'll be running in the new Entertainment Weekly...

I'm the lead book review! It's very positive and includes a big old picture of me. It's the EW Pick, actually! I'm thrilled. I'll put in a link when it's available - probably tomorrow. They call it a “thrilling new fantasy”, featuring “a host of deliciously self-interested parties jostling for power and resources”. It says a lot of stuff that’s music to my ears, but I should mention that later in the review there is one spoiler. So if you’re already going to buy the book you might not want to read the whole thing.

It was a very good morning.

Okay, so it's the day after...

Acacia's publication and the world spins on just as it always has. I'm still pleasantly aglow, though. I got quite a few emails yesterday, including one from a bookseller in Houston. He said that they'd put out their six copies of Acacia that morning and that by closing there was only one left. Sweet! I know it's just one store, but if similar things are happening elsewhere this book just might make something of itself.

I mentioned A Dribble of Ink yesterday. Well, today Aidan posted his review of Acacia. He was very kind.

Also, I came across my name on Dave Keck's Journal. The post is about Comic-Con, and apparently he's heard I'm going to be on a panel with him and, hopefully, Jacqueline Carey, Harry Turtledove, Christopher Golden, Peter David, Barbara Hambly, R.A. Salvatore and Mel Odom. Yikes, nobody told me about this! Yeah, I knew I was going, but didn't know I was set to mix with such prominent company. Funny thing is that somebody posted a comment confirming that I was definitely going. Who are these people that know my future in such detail?

The Day...

... has come. Acacia is officially in bookstores as of today. I've been getting asked what sort of special things we have planned to mark the moment. A big party? Triumphant launch of the book tour? Trip to the bookstore at least?...

Well, no. Actually, I'm up this morning like any morning, checking email, letting the cat out, listening to NPR. I'm living up in the hills just now, nowhere near a center of publishing or academia. Not even near very many friends. If the day goes as I see planned I'll spend some time online, write up some evals for students I'm mentoring, answer some estimated tax questions for my accountant, go for a bike ride through the rolling landscape of the foothills, work a little on another interview, and then this evening we're going to have dinner with some of new (and temporary since we'll only be here for few months) neighbors. Chances are they'll have no idea I have a book rolling out onto bookshelves across the country today. (I might tell them, but only if it comes up naturally.)

So, all in all a pretty normal day. At least, normal in terms of my actual surroundings. I did answer an email query from an interested French publisher, and my ear is still sore from several hours on the phone with a movie producer yesterday... So there's a surreal aspect to things as well.

Oh, there's another nice online review just out at SFFWorld. You can get to it here. I realized also that I've been remiss in mentioning the review that went up at Bookie Monster! It's a great one by John Dent of Cardiff, Wales. It's a new sight, but one that I hope gets increasing attention. A Dribble of Ink is another new great new sight, just launched by Aidan Moher. He was kind enough to do an interview with me, which you can read here. Soon they'll be some print media ones coming. I think the first should be out within a week - what could be a very helpful one in Entertainment Weekly!

What's just as exciting for us here in many ways is that my wife just had a good bit of success in her own right. She's been an amateur knitwear designer for some time, making great stuff, mostly for family and friends. She's just made a big leap, though. She's had a design published in Knitty.com, which is the most popular knitwear design site in the country. Literally millions of people will view her design! And that's a guarantee because she got the cover! Her design (and our daughter modeling it) is the very first thing you see when you go to the site. Very cool, and hopefully a start of something for her. She's got a blog up herself. It's called The Shetland Trader and it highlights her Shetland roots and the knitting roots.

Anyway, that's just as much a part of today as any of this book stuff. We're feeling very fortunate, and thankful, just now.

Time.com

So I'm in a house and the internet works! The phone doesn't, but you can't have everything.

Here's news... Acacia: The War with the Mein was featured on Time.com, in their Summer Arts Preview. It's subtitled 50 Things to See, Hear, Read and Do This Summer - From the blockbusters you know about to the art exhibitions you should know about, we preview the pop culture events of the summer. Out of that 50 not that many are books.

The list includes movies, tv, music, etc. Shrek is there. Pirates are too. Harry Potter of course. R. Kelly. Annie Dillard, Ian McEwan, Paul McCartney, Bon Jovi, 50 Cent...

And me? Weird. Does this mean Acacia has "pop culture event" in its future?

That link above takes you to the main page of the article. The Acacia part is HERE.

Still Moving

A wee update... We're in California. We've got a rental. It's a beat up old sixties house, but it looks out onto the river, with hills all around and lots of privacy. I'd like to say we've moved, but it's not as easy as that. Today we're off to get a load of furniture. Tomorrow we'll have to get a fridge and try to get just about everything else. And then we'll arrange things like having our stuff shipped from Massachusetts. Ech, I don't look forward to another day pulling a U-Haul trailer.

Moving!

Okay. That's it. Got the UHaul packed. Got the car food near at hand. It's the open road and pet-friendly motels for us the next few days. If all goes well we'll be basking in California sunshine by Friday afternoon. And maybe by Saturday we'll have a place to live!

Aren't I optimistic?

Nebula Awards Announced!

I'm happy to point out that the Nebula & Norton Awards have just been announced. I'm particularly pleased because James Patrick Kelly won in the Novella category for Burn. As I understand it, Jim had been nominated like ten times before. So I'm very glad to he's finally taken the prize home. Very well deserved.

You can visit the Nebula Website HERE, but the basic line up of winners is as follows. Congrats to them all.

Novel: Seeker, by Jack McDevitt (Ace, Nov05)

Novella: "Burn," by James Patrick Kelly (Tachyon Publications, Dec05)

Novelette: "Two Hearts," by Peter S. Beagle (F&SF, Oct/Nov05)

Short Story: "Echo," by Elizabeth Hand (F&SF, Oct/Nov05)

Script: Howl's Moving Castle, by Hayao Miyazaki, Cindy Davis Hewitt, and Donald H. Hewitt (Studio Ghibli and Walt Disney Pictures - Based on the novel by Diana Wynne Jones.)

Andre Norton Award: Magic or Madness, by Justine Larbalestier (Penguin Razorbill, May05)