Thankful
I am very much aware of how incredibly fortunate I am, having my work published all over the world in many languages. This is an opportunity that was unheard of for all but the most blockbusting genre authors just a few short years ago, but the internet has made the world smaller. Thanks to advanced communications technology (and a very good agent), markets are available to me that were closed to far better authors than I less than a decade ago.
But even more than this, this internet has given me the ability to get to know a sampling of the amazing people from every continent on Earth who are sharing in my work. Through this blog, facebook, e-mail, twitter, Myspace, and various internet forums, and with the aid of google translate, I have a level of reader interaction undreamt of just a few years ago.
I always kind of expected my readers to be people like me. Slightly introverted male nerds. I didn’t expect to hear from men and women, grandparents and gradeschoolers, liberals and conservatives, religious and atheists, artists, musicians, writers, jewelers, doctors, models, lawyers, teachers, company presidents, movie producers, game designers, , computer technicians, soldiers, police, and folk from countless other walks of life.
At no time was this more apparent to me than the Desert Spear ARC Contest (DSAC). For those of you who are new to the blog, this was a contest I ran over the holidays (and into the New Year) where I invited readers to submit digital photos of themselves holding one of my books, and my favorites would win signed advance copies of The Desert Spear. The response was amazing, and really overwhelmed me with joy.
I am happy to say that Voyager has promised to send me more advance copies in a few weeks, so the DSAC contest will be resurrected when they arrive. Everyone is still in the running, but I will start accepting new entries as well. Keep that in mind if you’re going to be traveling anyplace special in the coming months. 🙂
One of those new ARCs is already won, though, as French Jess, believing the contest was over, just sent in a few more pictures for fun. Of course, they turned out to be some of the best entries to date. Check these out:
As promised, here are some pictures I took while visiting a medieval city at Les Baux de Provence (yes, Provence like the restaurant where you eat so good!).
And as I wanted to prove you that no one deserve more an ARC than me…
I faced the catapult ordeal
And the pillory!
But it’s always bereable with a good read in hands!
That’s it! Even if the contest is finished, I took a lot of fun doing this pictures, and I hope you enjoyed them 🙂
Congrats to my buddie!!! ^^
These new pics are AWESOME, the landscapre is amasing!
Peat, it’s so cool that a bunch of people from everywhere loves your work (just like for Tolkien!) I think we are, readers a little bit like you, in some ways (yes, I recognize me in your books, in your writing, and I’m no male, no nerd, albeit I’m introverted but it’s not lot a resemblance… it’s what’s in the heart that counts)
Good luck for the rest, for 2010 and after
WIN!!!!!
the catapult picture is hilarious! great entry 😀
think of it as evolution in action — read book, get guillotined. Kind of makes it hard for drum up repeat business.
LOVE the pictures! 🙂
Peat- We’re thankful you share a ‘peephole into your skull’ with US! I always tell Khaled I wish I could just dive into an author’s brain and see how they think because it just amazes me at how beautifully thought out everything turns out (if it’s a good book, mind you!) While we don’t see you working, we get to know *you* to some extent. For that, I thank you. 🙂
Lizette