VCFA Novel Retreat

Hey. Here's a thing. I'm pleased to announce that next May I'll be one of the faculty members of the Novel Retreat hosted by the Vermont College of Fine Arts.

Here's some of what they say about it:

"In keeping with its nationally recognized commitment to the literary arts, in May 2015, the College will host its second annual VCFA Novel Retreat. Readings, presentations, and faculty mentorships in which full-length manuscript critiques are available, are the centerpieces of this special week devoted solely to full immersion novel writing. It is specifically designed to provide participants with concentrated blocks of writing time in an environment that fosters and sustains emerging novelists."

It's a week-long event, with what looks like a terrific combination of writing and reading and short talks etc. But it's a retreat, so it's not all work! Sounds like great fun. The faculty looks terrific as well (by which I mean the other faculty - I'm just me): Connie May Fowler and Laurie Alberts and Clint McCown. I'm personally pleased to be hanging out with Clint again; we used to teach together at the Stonecoast MFA Program (where I still do teach, of course). Bios of everyone are here.

 Registration starts in September and the retreat dates are: May 19 - 25, 2015.

Interested? How's the novel coming along? What shape will it be in by next spring? Need incentive to get to work? Here it is!

Also, do note that part of the inclusion of me as a faculty member is to mix in a writer familiar with genre writing. Something to consider...

Wonderbook

Oh, I just got something neat in the mail today. It's this:

That being Jeff VanderMeer's supercool, illustrated craft book - all about writing Imaginative Fiction. It's totally beautiful (with artwork by Jeremy Zerfoss) and full of wisdom from Jeff himself, and from a ton of other folks as well. See, Jeff knows people. When he asks for creative consultations and contributions, we come running. That's why it's got articles and such from the likes of Neil Gaiman, Lev Grossman, Lauren Beukes, Charles Yu, Karin Lowachee, Catherynne M. Valente, Michael Moorcock, and many others, as well as a long exclusive discussion about craft with George R.R. Martin.

For some reason it's even got me in it. Yep, my name is right there on the back, wedged in between Kim Stanley Robinson and Joe Abercrombie. I'm just across from Karen Joy Fowler and I could tap Ursula K. Leguin and Catherynne M. Valente on the shoulder. I could tickle Neil Gaiman (not that I'd dare) and step on Lev Grossman's toes (not that I'd want to or anything - just saying).

Anyway, I am pleased to be in it, but mostly I'm happy to have it. It's a lovely resource. Not on sale yet, but soon. It's here on Amazon.com - Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction.

I like it. I really like it. As a matter of fact, I think I'm going to read it...

The Shadow Is In Play!

As of today, my middle grade novel - The Shadow Prince - is seeking a publisher.

Last week I got the last round of editorial suggestions from my agent and a couple of other readers at ICM. I penned responses where appropriate over the weekend, and yesterday I sent back my final manuscript. Sloan approved, and he's going to work with it.

We have a rather specific plan in place. I shouldn't blab too much about it, but certainly if it works out I'll let you know all about it.

Funny thing is that this - my first kid's book - is heading for consideration after more editorial input than any novel I've done so far. My wife and kids read it. Several beta readers (all former MFA students of mine) read it. My agent and at least three over people at ICM read it, and some folks at Curtis Brown (my UK agents) read a portion too. Mary Robinette Kowal read a little bit, as did my neighbor (an Egyptologist). Even my librarian read some! All gave feedback and helped shape the novel. I'm sure it's much stronger for it, and in the process I've learned a great deal about writing for kids.

Among other things, I've learned that I really, really enjoy it!

Will post here when I have good news...

An Autumn Morning

Alone at Upper Park this week. Gudrun and the kids are up in Shetland for the first week of the school holidays. I stayed on the farm to get some work done. I have a little set of stories to write for George RR Martin. The deadline is looming! So it's work for me.

I don't much like being without my family, but this was a lovely morning. It began with a little bit of fun with the dog and cat. When we feed Saba (the dog) we always make him sit on his mat until the food is measured out and ready for him, and then we put it down and release him to Hoover it up.

This morning, I put him in stay and had just about finished preparing his bowl when the phone rang. I set the bowl down on the counter and answered it. As I walked around the house speaking with the lady that lives down the hill about construction that was going to block access to the house that morning, Saba began to whine and jitter and sound terribly distressed. I chalked it up to impatience and finished the phone call in the other room.

When I walked back into the kitchen Saba was on his mat, looking desperately at me. Eighty-five pounds of shivering distress. On the counter... the cat was casually feasting from his massive bowl of food. Oops. My bad. Good dog, though. Good dog.

I made it up to him with a great walk up the hill. It was clear and bright, with a nip of autumn in the air. Beautiful views before my eyes, lots of stories rolling through my head. A good morning.

This photo is my wife's, from a few days ago when one of the hills across from us was snow covered. So, not actually, today, but a similar view to what I had this morning...


Now, to work!

First Book Friday

Another post, another link to Jim C. Hines. This time it's out of self-interest, though.

Jim has posted a short piece I wrote for him for his First Book Friday series, in which authors talk about writing/publishing their first book.

It's over here if you're interested!

Thanks Jim!

Acacia 3 Update

I've been quiet about how the third Acacia book is going only because it's such a long process and most of it, unfortunately, is lonely business. You can be assured that I've had my head down working on it, though. These past few months it's taken over as the fabric of my waking and sleeping hours. Honestly, I'm with it always, and it's with me always.

We've become very intimate.

That doesn't mean I'm done, but this week has seen things step a little closer. I've agreed to float the first 400 pages to my editor as a partial delivery. He's going to start working on it, and kick the pre-publication machine into production. I've agreed to have the rest of the book to him before Christmas. What this means is that I'm still officially on track for a Fall 2011 publication. I know, that's still a year away. Sorry. It's not, however, late. That was always the planned pub-date, and I'm very relieved that we're on track for it.

This doesn't, of course, mean that things couldn't still go wrong. Lots of things could go wrong, starting with my editor thinking the book is a stinker. One never knows. One really never knows...

I take some solace from the fact that my wife has read most of the book and thinks I'm getting the job done. And my kids have heard portions of it and haven't balked yet. So early signs are good.

I may even know the title of it now, but I'm holding off on disclosing it yet. Let's see if it sticks as the editorial process starts.

Wish me luck!

Franzenfreude?

I won't offer my opinion on Mr. Franzen. Who would care anyway? But I do offer this link to a Slate article on the criticism of the NY Times male slant.

Am I surprised? Not in the slightest. One could easily extend the criticism to lots of other categories, though. For example, what do their percentages look like on reviews by authors of color? What about male vs female people of color?

Personally, The Times has actually been quite good to me. When I was a literary historical novelist they gushed. When I became a somewhat more commercial historical novelist they were still pretty good to me. When I became a fantasy novelist...

Okay, well at that point I ceased to exist for them. But three out of five ain't bad. Fortunately, it was offset by all the other readers for whom I sudden popped into existence. Always trade offs...

The Other Lands, Version Wee (Small)

The Other Lands is out in bookstores in the US as of yesterday!

I hope very much that it’s in a store near you. Go check for me. If it’s not, ask somebody in the store what they’re thinking! If it is… well, consider buying one. For a friend if not for yourself. Spread the word? Why not? They’re cheap at $7.99. They won’t exactly fit in a trouser pocket, but you could slip one in a coat pocket. And fall is coming - despite the 90 degree temperatures here in Massachusetts the last week. Anyway…

Oh, and I’m very pleased to remind Kindle readers that the ebook version is now $7.19. Yay! Discounted as it should be for you all. I hope that any folks that put off buying it at the higher price point will give it a shot now.

For my part… well, things are low key. I’m not heading off on book tour or any such thing. I’m up in the woods, walking the puppy, settling my kids into the new school year (we’ve homeschooled for several years, but they’re going to local elementary school this year, very exciting for all involved), and seriously buckling down on Acacia 3. (This is made easier because the kids are in school, actually.) I still have a lot to do, but the end is in sight. I’m going to finish this thing in the next few months, get it to Doubleday, and then hopefully we’ll stay on schedule for a late 2011 publication.

If you’re reading the series thank you for your patience.

If you’re not, we’ll how about starting?

Things To See In Shetland

Remember I mentioned a trip to Scotland? I'm a couple days away from departure. Looking forward to spending quality time with my wife's family, and with lots of Gudrun's knitwear design cadre, who happen to be in country at the same time. (She'll be doing the photography for her upcoming booklet while we're in Shetland.)

Yes, Shetland. That's where we'll be spending most of our time. The island famous for...

and...
and...

and awesome coastlines, like this...

Oh, and also, apparently, for being welcoming to American Authors, as is evidenced in this announcement in The Shetland Times!

Typographical Idiosyncrasies

Geez. Ever suspect that written text rewrites itself while nobody is looking?

I recently had a few queries from Anchor as they prepare for the massmarket release of The Other Lands later this summer. Seems the copy editor found some mistakes and wanted to run them by me.

Mistakes? Now, a year after the book had been put through the editorial mill by Doubleday? Surely not!

Er... or maybe so. They produced several gems that I'll not repeat here. Happily, they won't appear in the paperback. They will live on the hardback, of course, but that's part of what makes hardbacks worth it. Little... um... typographical idiosyncrasies (that's what I call mistakes whenever I can).

I guess I can be thankful that I have a publisher that copy edits a book that's already been copy edited. Nice to have professionals involved...

The Socket’s Got Juice

One time in my eight-grade chemistry class I got bored. Go figure. For some reason, I decided to stick a piece of moistened cardboard (or maybe a paperclip, I'm not sure) into the electrical socket of my table. Ah... I don’t know what drove me to that.

I do know that I got a vibrating, teeth-clenching few seconds of voltage-driven unpleasantness for my efforts. I sat there afterward as my teacher droned on, sitting desperately still, feeling like smoke was puffing out of my ears but unwilling to let anybody know what had just happened. I swallowed down little smoke burps, and promised myself I would never, ever, do that again.

And I haven't. At least, not literally.

That's a rather round about way to introduce a bit of good news. As I've been working on Acacia 3, I've been aware that a couple of the plot threads didn't have juice. The sockets were there, but when I plugged in to them nothing happened. I wasn't sure where that particular aspect of the larger story would go. I just worked on other stuff, hoping that at some point I'd connect the right wires...

Yesterday, I did. One of those sockets sprung to life. I figured out a whole lot of stuff all through one revelation. Weird. I had to take a walk afterward, with my mini-recorder, getting all the little tangential ideas down. Today, I'm at the computer trying to make sense of it. This is a good thing. The socket's got juice, and I'm plugging into it.

Hoping it doesn't blow my head off...

Small Milestone

As part of my publishing schedule for Book 3 of Acacia I'm supposed to turn in different things at different times. (In return for which my publisher writes me little checks.) In April I was supposed to turn in "half" of the book for my editor to peruse. ("Half" is a loose term, not a readily quantifiable unit of measurement.)

Well, on this last day of April, did I do that?

In a word: Yes.

The next thing I have to do is deliver the finished book this fall. Will I do that?

Of course, but only if enough people send me crazy energy and creative positivity. Can you do that?

Breaking Up?

So, aspiring writers are always interested in how to get a publisher. Makes sense, but what about getting rid of a publisher? Changing houses? That can be a big part of a writing life too. Not all author-publisher relationships are good fits, and for a variety of reasons leaving may be the right thing to do. It's never an easy thing to do, though.

Reference this post by Carrie Vaughn, about leaving Grand Central because she wouldn't accept their take it or leave it offer. Folks, you'd be surprised how much of a the writing struggle happens after you've become a published author...

On Saying No

I find it quite hard to.

In particular, I find it a constant struggle to turn down or step away from offers of employment. Seems reasonable, doesn't it? Look at the unemployment situation out there! Why would anyone turn down work, especially when it's teaching work at the college level? At the best of times these jobs are hard to get. And now that's even more so. When I accepted the Associate Professor job at Cal State Fresno a few years back it was in an attempt to take a bite of that security pie.

Problem was, my family wasn't happy in Fresno. They wanted back to our house in the woods in Western Massachusetts. It was hard for me to leave the job for a variety of reasons, but when I did it was with plans to return to a near-fulltime writing life. That's what I headed toward in late June...

But by late July I'd accepted offers that meant I was doing as much teaching work as before. (I was even getting less money for it - though we were back in our chosen home, so that counts for a lot.) Instead of making daily progress on Acacia 3 I was only nibbling at it, and spending the bulk of my work life reading, critiquing, planning lectures, grading, etc. Don't get me wrong. Teaching is very good work. In particular, I enjoy the teaching I do for the Stonecoast MFA Program. That could easily be part of my life for a long time. Problem is that I'd added other stuff to that and allowed it become the center of my work life, instead of a just a component of it. How'd that happen?

Several things. There's the old notion that I still have to build my resume, get more credentials, more respectability. There's the dire economy. There are fears about the future of publishing. There's the understanding that as a writer I have very little control over my publishing prospects. (So, so much of it is out of the writer's hands. This is something I know aspiring writers don't understand.) There's the quantifiable numbers on a contract, compared to the ever changing mystery of royalty statements. There's the lingering desire to do right by my mother. As much as she supported my writing, she herself leaned toward steady, dependable employment. There are a lot reasons. I can see and understand how it happened, and I can recognize the virtues of it.

Thing is, I didn't become a writer to secure a teaching job. I became a writer to write and to be read by an audience of readers. The thing is... the longer one doesn't write, the more doubt creeps in that one ever will write again. That's not acceptable.

So I recently said no to a new offer of employment. No. It means I'm scaling back the teaching a bit, and hopefully pushing forward on the writing throttle. (By the way Stonecoasters, this changes nothing about my relationship with the Stonecoast MFA Program. That I'm quite happy with.)

Do you approve?

A Reader Question

A while back I got an email from a very kind person - one that liked my Acacia books! It began rather interestingly...

Hi David,

Excuse the personal nature of this email, but having finished your second book in the Acacia trilogy, something has awakened inside of me, a realization I've been waiting many years for.

Ah... Interesting beginning, the kind that could actually go anywhere. In this case, though, he went on to describe his college life and education, how he ended up with a very useful degree from a wonderful college, and then felt totally lost on graduation. He's now gainfully employed in a foreign land, but...

I still feel lost, incomplete and totally unsatisfied. Something's been tugging at my core, every day reminding me that I should be doing more, that there's a talent going to waste (like Dariel!)...

And what might that be?

Well, I finished The Other Lands (Acacia, Book 2) last night, and suddenly felt this connection. A spark was ignited and I sat there, trying to understand that feeling (perhaps you'd woven some spell from the Song of Elenet in there somewhere!?). It was more than just the thrill of having read such an amazing book, with characters that were so deep, so interesting, so much like me yet living in a richly fantastic world. It was the realization that I had parallel worlds like that living inside my head, with characters that had stories that needed to be told, that had been there all along, they'd just never met anyone like them before, like Corinne or Mena or Dariel.

Hey, I know the feeling. Actually, that's just why I started writing. I did have stories in my head that would come and go, and at some point it occurred to me that if I wrote them down they might stay and grow into something. They did.

What D is saying, essentially, is that he wants to be a writer.

I hope this is not too much to ask, but I was hoping for some guidance in terms of how to pursue this calling. I would love to pursue an MFA, so what are your thoughts on this. Is it necessary? Where could I go?...

More than anything though, I'd just like to thank you so very much for writing these two amazing novels. They are beautifully human, enticing and wholly absorbing works of literature that have inspired and awakened me to follow a new career path. I have no idea how to follow this path, but I see it now, and that's the most important thing. Thank you!

D.

Wow. That's quite something to hear. I've had the "should I get an MFA" question before, but never framed with such specific mention of my own work. I'm honored. Although, with that, comes a certain sense of responsibility. Like, I don't want to be the cause of D leaving a good job for the perils and poverty of a literary career. Or do I?...

I checked with D that he didn't mind my sharing our interaction, and herewith I include my response.

D,

Wow. Thanks for writing. I'm very pleased to hear how much you got from my books - and how it's prompted you to consider a new path in your own life.

You remind me of a very good writing student I had when I taught at Cal State. He was one of our top candidates, writing great stuff about his experiences in the military. I had no idea he had an interest in fantasy, but we were talking one night and he admitted that it was reading The Lord of the Rings (as an adult) that made him go, "Wow. Hey, this is amazing. This writing thing is what I want to do with my life." And he's doing it. Still in the MFA, but still writing and reading good stuff. (And, yes, he got a full fellowship, so it's his job for about three years.) So, that can happen...

I don't think anyone has to do an MFA to be a writer. The most important things are 1) that you write, 2) that you get feedback on what you write, 3) that you read and read and read, 4) that you persevere with it and stay patient. Getting a writing career going is usually a long endeavor. Even authors that may appear to arrive fully formed have likely been writing for six, eight, twelve years before the manage to break through in print. Patience is a must.

And it's also a must that you be able to live with uncertainty. There is no one best way to go about being a writer. There's no guarantee that it will happen, or that it will happen soon. I do, however, think that anyone that devotes enough time and effort to writing can make a life out of it. That may mean being a bestselling author, but odds are very much against it. It may mean being a modestly read author. It may mean being a teacher and lover of literature. It's impossible to predict ahead of time, but all those paths can lead to a rewarding life.

So what do I suggest? First off, I can't suggest that you quit your job and totally change your life around. That may be a great idea, but I wouldn't want you writing me in five years saying I hadn't warned you that making a life in the arts can be really hard. If you do really need to make a change, though, I mainly suggest that you find a way to make reading and writing nearer to the center of your life. That may mean doing it late at night after a day of work. It may mean joining some sort of writers group to get feedback from others. It may mean getting a different job, one that somehow allows you the free time to write. Or it may mean going for an MFA program.

MFA's offer three things that I think are important. 1) Joining one makes it clear to you and everybody else that you're going to focus on writing for at least a few years of your life. It's proof you're serious. 2) It means you'll get feedback and interaction with other aspiring authors. That's a good thing in lots of ways. 3) It gives you the credential to apply for teaching jobs. That's a path many writers take - teaching while they write.

If you're interested, start looking into programs. They all have websites these days. Look for programs that sound good to you. Apply to a variety, I'd say, in different areas and with different levels of competitiveness. The top programs are great, but you can also get a lot from more modest programs too - including financial aid. I wouldn't want to suggest any one program, because there are so many and they offer so many different things.

Best of luck with it all!

David.

And that's that. What's the latest word on what D's going to do? Well, apparently he's going to get cracking on his writing and wade into the research about MFA programs. All good. I wish him the best.

A Revelation

I had one. I've been writing, folks, working on Book Three. I've a long, long way to go still. I mean a long way to go. But that's not anything I haven't budgeted for. I'm still planning on delivering this one with about the same gap as I had between books 1 and 2. Consistency, that's what I'm going for. But in this case that also means I'm in the fairly early stages of cranking this one out.

Thing is, I've been living with something of a conundrum for about the last nine months. I knew one thing that was meant to be the climatic event of one of the story lines. It's solid. It's there. It's the culmination of three book's worth of character and plot and history work. It's big.

Other thing is... I had this other plot element that in introduced in the first chapter. I wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Had an idea for how it tied in to the very end of the book, but the problem was that tie-in clashed with the previously mentioned conclusion. Seemed like I couldn't have them both. Until last night.

I gave my wife some stuff from the new book to read. She did. We were in the kitchen talking about it, and I got to mentioning this clashing plot idea problem. I opened my mouth and said, "So obviously it's not going to work to have both. I've tried but I ca..."

I literally paused in mid-sentence. Why? Because for no good reason at all I'd just figured out how I could have both things. Between beginning that sentence and getting four words into it the answer jumped out of hiding and starting do a shimmying hula hop victory dance right in front of my face. Just like that.

Weird.

And that, friends, is a bit of my creative process. I kissed the wife and danced around myself, and then stood at the sliding door staring out at the backyard for a while, amazed at how this whole process works.

I got my doubled-barrel ending. I'm very, very pleased about that.

Tidbits

Artist extraordinaire John Picacio has been nice enough to give The Other Lands (Acacia, Book 2) cover treatment a shout out at Missions Unknown! Take a look at the other choices that caught his HERE.

(By the way, the image here in one of John's, the cover of Subterranean's Muse of Fire, by Dan Simmons. Pretty cool, huh?)

Just got word that a new podcast interview I did recently with Jon Armstrong has gone up on his site, If You're Just Joining Us. It was a pleasure talking to him. I'd first done so a little over a year ago also, back when we were both up for the 2008 Campbell Award. (For the record, Jon did get more votes than me that time around. So the eventual win this year was definitely a come from behind deal.)

He's always fun to chat with. Oh, and you can listen and then tell me how I don't sound anything like you'd imagined... It's HERE.

Wow, I've Been Busy... and Torque Control

Yikes. I've gone about a week without posting. I haven't done that in a long time. Strange to think, really, as this blog thing is such a feature of my life these days. But... I got back from Readercon and then went straight into preparing for the Stonecoast MFA residency. That's where I'm writing from now, and I'm still dead tired. So this will be brief. Really, I just wanted to say hello. So...

Hello.

Other than that... an awesome, detailed and insightful review of Acacia: The War with the Mein recently appeared from Torque Control.

If you need convincing that the book is worth a read please take a look. Or do the same if you're gearing up for The Other Lands (Acacia, Book 2) but could use a reminder of what the first volume was all about please check it out.

It's HERE.

Why I Loved My Trip To France So Much - Part Two (The Last)

I got to tell you, I'm still floating around with French music in my head. I think Gudrun's getting tired of hearing me talk about it. I really should move on. And I will. It's just that I had such a good time over there. (Not TOO GOOD a time, if you're worried about it. Just the perfect amount of good.)

Anyway, in an effort to move on, this will have to suffice as my concluding Imaginales/Paris post. (Until next year, hopefully.) I'll just give you a collage of high points, interspersed with photos of some of the people I spent time with. I'm not even going to try to mention everybody, cause I did meet a lot of people. But here's a few of them...

Other authors! Some of the foreign guests included Patricia Briggs (see photo), Bruce Holland Rogers and Hal Duncan. I had great fun meeting all of them. Patricia and her husband, Mike, made for great company. I think Patty is probably the nicest New York Times Bestselling author that I know. (And I do know a few.) Bruce impressed me with his European ways. Dude read a story of his... in French! (He's from Eugene, OR.) Hal is... always great fun. He may be embarrassed by my mentioning that he and I couldn't hang with the French contingent of revelers one evening. We got as far as 2am. Our hosts apparently kept it going until 8am. Slept for an hour, and then all of them were up about for another day by 10am. I was impressed. And if you happened to have read Vellum and were a bit confused, you may be comforted to hear that Hal doesn't have any idea what it's about either. Oh, and I briefly met Roderick Gordon & Brian Williams, the Tunnels authors.

Some of the many French authors I met included Pierre Bordage, Sire Cedric (That's the guy pictured to the right here. He wears only black and lives a life much like David Dochovny in Californication. He's terribly cool, in a band, and darn near perfect, in a goth way. About all I can say against him is that he's from Toulouse and has the region's accent. For some reason the Parisians found this very amusing. Here's a video of him fondling a stuffed sheep.), Johan Heliot, Jean-Philippe Jaworski (His debut novel, Gagner la guerre - To Win the War - sounds incredible. It won the main Prix Imaginales this year. I'd love to read it, but it's not translated into English and it might be awhile before my French is up to the task. Alas, such in the case with most French authors. So few of them get translated, and almost none have been able to move on the English), Carina Rozenfield, Meneas Marphil, Edouard Brasey (Wonderful guy that knows an awful lot about an awful lot), Sophie Audouin-Mamikonian, Bernhard Hennen (Actually a German writer that's sold tons of books about elves), Jean-Louis Trudel, Pierre Bottero, Thomas Day (Whose name is not really Thomas Day. Mysterious.)...

So that's the authors done. They were fun and all, but the trip wouldn't have been the trip without all that spectacular people that made it happen. Surely this starts with everyone at Le Pre aux clercs. My editor, Carola Strang, fed me snails. Aurelie Streiff dragged me around Paris at Jungle Speed, yelling "Bon!" often. Isabelle Lerein got me to rethink a major plot feature of the third book (!). Benedicte Lombardo... well, she's the one that first read Acacia and proposed Le Pre aux clercs publish it. Lots of great people there, and, honestly, it's quite humbling to see the work they do getting my work to readers. Thank you all.

Oh, time for a photo. Here's Aurelie to the left...


...and to the right is Annaig Houesnard. She's also in this image. (Might as well get them from both angles.)

Annaig was one of the translators (along with Sylvie Miller, Lionel Davoust... oh, and Heloise and Katrina... and most everyone else at some point) that allowed me to communicate. Kinda cool. Imagine... I'm in a panel with several distinguished French authors. I get asked a question in French, and one of these lovely people (Lionel included) leans in and whispers the translation in my ear in accented English. I respond, and then they instantly make me sound more sophisticated by transforming my thoughts to French. I could get used to that. For that matter, I should have a translator for speaking in English, somebody that can both make sense of what the moderator asked and then make sense of what I said in answer. I should look into this...

It was also nice meeting Thierry Arson, the book translator who is working on The Other Lands right now. I got to meet Didier Graffet, the artist that did the French Acacia cover, and got an early sketch of the next one. Very nice. Go check his site out. He does good work.

I also did a couple of book store visits and met a couple of Xavier's - Dollo and Vernet. Thanks for having me out. And thanks also to Christine and Damien for being good company in Rennes as we did an interview for Elbakin.net. I'll let you know when that's up.

And, of course, Stephanie Nicot gets a big mention for coordinating so much of the Conference - and for reading and like Acacia so much! Thank you.

Okay, so at this point you may be wondering a couple things. Like what's up with that yellow cat? And, hey, David, did you win that award? These are linked questions. The yellow cat is the award. That's right, no fancy gold plaques or shiny towers for the folks in Epinal. They opted for a colorful collection of plastic cats as the award. Frankly, that's cool by me. I rather wanted one of those cats.

Alas, it was not to be. Ian McDonald won. Congrats to him. He wasn't at the conference, and this lead to considerable temptation as I schemed up ways to make away with the trophy. But I play fair. I'll just have to write more books! Good things come from writing books, as I'm sure is obvious by now. And, yes, this is what it looks like. I've been caught on film publicly caressing the plastic cat. It just felt right at the time...

There were other highlights as well. I had dinner one night in Paris in this private club that you had to whisper the password to get into. Nice. Plush inside. All old books and rich crimson colors. I half-expected to find a coven of vampires ran the place, but nobody bit.

I rode a high speed train.

I drank all sorts of things and ate such good food! I had these mouth watering scallops for lunch one day, and then about an hour later the chef showed up at the convention, sporting his Harley Davidson gear. He actually bought a book for his daughter. She is like eight years old. When I pointed out that it might not be ideal for younger readers, he said she'd grow into it. Which I'm sure she will.

I met up with Pat Rothfuss and Sarah and had a drink at a sidewalk bar. Not the type of thing that happens every day. Pat took a picture. If I can get it from him I'll post it.

I ate sushi in an underground grotto in Paris...

I could go on, but I've been too lengthy already. If you've read this far thank you. I trust you've no doubt that I really did enjoy this trip. I want back. And soon. With the family, too. My kids would look too cool speaking French...

Paris and Jokertown

I'm in Paris. Yep. The miserable flight is over. I'm on the ground. I'm just catching a breather before heading to Epinal by train in about an hour. So, other than a warm welcome here by my editor, Carola Strang, I don't have too much to report. Well... I have already seen the Eiffel Tower, l'Arc de Triomphe, the Seine, the Louvre and a statue of George Washington. I have pictures to prove it, but they may all be blurry, taken as they were from a moving car. I'll take a look at them later.

I did want to mention some Stateside news. I'd just heard confirmation of this from GRRM a couple days ago, but he's gone public with it now on his Not A Blog - Back to Jokertown. He's announced the title and subject of the new Wild Cards book, and announced the main authors writing for it this time. Go take a look. (And, yes, I'm one of them!)

Okay, gotta catch a train...