Acacia tome 2 : terres étrangères, numéro d’équilibriste littéraire

Always nice when older books get new reviews! 

As with this one for the French version of The Other Lands...

Acacia, Tome 3 : L'alliance sacrée - Pocket Version

I just noticed got my first glimpse of the cover for the French Pocket edition of The Sacred Band.

It's not super jpeg, but it'll do for the moment. Take a look:

I'm assuming this is Didier Graffet continuing the fine work he's done for the entire series.

Imaginales 2012... complete

I'm back from France! I had a terrific time, as ever. Imaginales was just as good as last time, better in some ways.

I did quite a few interviews, some audio, some video, some for print. I guess they'll make their way out into the world over the next few weeks. Was on a selection of panels. All went well, I think. I met a terrific group of writers. The international guests included Mercedes Lackey (great fun), Jaye Wells (one of the gang each evening, drinking and smoking like a local), Mary-Janice Davidson (a complete riot - unfiltered), and Naomi Novik (the only one of us that actually spoke decent French). I was also particularly happy to spend time with Kai Meyer, the bestselling German writer. I've been a fan of his middle grade novels for a long time, and we've corresponded in the past. (By the way, he's got a new YA series debuting in the US - Arcadia Awakens.)

Of course, there were plenty of French writers too! Between the panels and signing sessions and dinner and bar time I hung out with them. Just to name a few: Sire Cédric, Laurent Whale, Carina Rozenfeld, Marie Caillet, Nicolas Cluzeau, Marika Gallman, Lionel Davoust, Cassandra O'Donnell, Christophe Vacher, Sylvie Miller, Adrien Tomas, Anne Fakhouri, Pierre Bordage, Ayerdhal, Samantha Bailly... And there were many more! Good people all of them.

Oh, and I'm pleased to say I even had some fans! Lovely fans. I signed plenty of books, took a few pictures, kissed some cheeks. It was France, after all.

If you want to see how I roll in France, you could take a look at the series of videos from my extended interview section. It's an interesting process considering that the interview is conducted in French. And... ah... I don't speak French. (Not yet, at least. If they keep inviting me back I'm definitely going to learn.)

To get you started, the first part is here:




Anyway, I'm very pleased to have attended for a second time. Much thanks to the town of Epinal, the Imaginales coordinators and to my wonderful, dedicated, tireless publishing team at Le Pré aux clercs. Thank you.

Imaginales 2012

Bienvenue aux Imaginales, avec l'affiche de Christophe Vacher!

I've known this for a few months now, but I can finally say it publicly: I'm going to France again for the Imaginales fantasy conference! This is major awesomeness. It's a great event that takes place in the lovely city of Epinal in northeastern France. In a way, the conference takes over the town, with attendees walking out along the lovely lanes, going to great restaurants, just generally enjoying things French. And books! And writers! And readers!

And lovely people wearing full body paint... It is France, after all.

HERE's a list of this year's invitees.

Other than my humble self, the US will represented by Mercedes Lackey, Naomi Novik, Brent Weeks, Jaye Wells and MaryJanice Davidson.

I know a lot of French writers from my last trip there, and I very much look forward to reconnecting with them. And I'm thrilled to finally get to me the German writer Kai Meyer. My whole family are fans of his. We read his Wave Walkers and Dark Reflections books for younger readers, but Kai has written many books for adults too. He's sold like a million and a half copies just in Germany, with lots more in translation all over the world. The best part about all this is that we've been internet friends for some time now! It'll be great to finally meet him in person.

Considering that - and that I'll be hanging out with Naomi Novik - my kids are seriously jealous!

I'm so grateful to my publisher, Le Pre aux Clercs, and the festival and the town of Epinal for bringing me back. It will be fabulous. I've no doubt about that whatsoever.

Elbakin.net on L' Alliance sacrée

The terrific French Fantasy website, Elbakin.net, has just posted it's review of L' Alliance sacrée (The Sacred Band). They were very generous, giving it a rating of 8 out of 10, and suggesting (I think) that it may be the best book of the series!

They gave the same ranking to La Guerre du Mein (The War With the Mein), and that one ended up becoming a finalist for Le Prix Imaginales. It got me a trip to France! I'm already very pleased, but if that could happen again I'd be thrilled...

Here's the review.

Carola Strang at ActuSF

As a follow up to my earlier post showing the lively cover for the French version of The Sacred Band (Acacia L'alliance sacrée), here's a link to an interview with my French editor, Carola Strang.

She's terrific. In a business that doesn't always promote bravery in editorial decisions, she's also quite courageous. As she describes in the interview, she wants to publish titles that aren't interchangeable with lots of other titles. She looks for things she finds more unique, more substantial. And then she sticks by them, even though that's a lot harder than following the popular flow instead...

Risky way to do business, but I love her for it.

HERE's the interview.

What Do You Think Of This?

It's Le Pre aux Clercs cover for the French edition of The Sacred Band. I don't mind admitting, I'm loving the full-on aerial dragon battle feel of it.

Ah, Mena, my princess...

The artwork is by Didier Graffet, who also did the art for the first two books.

Le Blog-Notes

I came across a lovely review of Terres étrangères (The Other Lands in French) at Le-blog notes. I particularly liked the last line:

"An exotic epic very well constructed that lacks only one thing: the final volume!"

Not for long, though. Not for long! The Sacred Band comes out in late October! Looks like the title translates to L'alliance sacrée.

The full review is HERE.

Curtis Brown and Le Pré aux Clercs

I'm pleased to mention that I've just made an appearance on the website of the Curtis Brown Literary Agency in the UK. As of The Sacred Band they'll be handling my foreign rights instead of Random House. I'm quite pleased about this.

HERE's the page they have for me. Want to publish me in some wonderful country I've not yet appeared in yet? If so, talk to these folks!

And speaking of handling foreign rights, I might as well mention that we've got our first deal for The Sacred Band! Le Pré aux Clercs is sticking with me. There's the whole translation to do, but I think they're going to try and get it done for a fall publication. They're terrific and I'm very pleased.

Maybe I'll even get over there again to celebrate...

Maya Brushes Up On Her French

Just arrived, and Maya's already well into it...

French Website

My French publisher has updated their website for the new book, Terres etrangeres, which is out in France in a couple of weeks.

Take a look HERE.