Geek Out

Went to the New York Comic Con this weekend. Ostensibly, it was to network and meet people to help my career, and in that regard it was very helpful.

But I won’t lie. I was going to Comic Con, both in it’s New York and San Diego incarnations, long before I got a book deal and if my dream career as a fantasy writer somehow fizzles out, I will keep on going. Why? Because I am a goddamn nerd, and proud of it!

For instance, my publisher, Del Rey Books, also publishes books by two of my favorite authors, Naomi Novik and Terry Brooks. I’ve been reading Brooks since I was a pre-teen, and Novik since she blazed onto the scene a few years ago. Both are NYTimes bestsellers with major motion pictures of their work being developed. Peter Jackson is doing Novik’s Temeraire films, and that is a recipe for awesome. They are also working on Brook’s Elfstones of Shannara, which is his best work in my opinion, and a book that changed my life when I read it as a child.

Since we share a publisher, both of these authors are prime candidates to solicit for quotes. My editors have sent them copies of my manuscript, and asked them to read them. If they agree, they can then offer up a blurb for the book jacket if they so desire. Of course, authors, especially big ones like these, are very busy, have little free time, and get solicited for this kind of thing all the time. As a result, they can refuse without dishonor, and frequently do.

I didn’t realize that Naomi Novik was heading up the panel discussion on Women Authors in Fantasy when I attended it, but I was excited to see it was so, and went gushing over to her after it was over, telling her (honestly) how much my wife and I love her work. While I was at it, I gave her my card and mentioned that a manuscript might be coming her way. She was amazingly nice and friendly, and we had a very pleasant chat. I don’t know if it will make any difference in her reading my book or not, but at least I put a face to the name when she gets the advance read copy in the mail.

I’ve written before about how much I love Terry Brooks, so I won’t get into it again. Suffice it to say that if not for him, it is very likely that I would not be writing fantasy today (or maybe writing at all), and I CERTAINLY wouldn’t be writing a fantasy series about demons. The Elfstones of Shannara is a story about demons coming back to ravage the land after millennia of banishment, and that image stuck with me for over twenty years before I tried my own hand a a demon story. As you can tell, it’s done fairly well so far.

So I was kind of star struck when I was introduced to Terry, even though he was super-nice. He was the first author ever published by Del Rey Books (and the one of the main reasons I chose Del Rey as my own publisher when there were other publishers offering similar money for my work), and that book, the Sword of Shannara, was also the first work of fantasy ever to make the NYTimes Bestseller list, paving the way for many authors to follow. For me, it was like meeting the Pope.

After I was introduced and gushed a while, I told him that we were sending him a manuscript, and hoped he would give a quote for the book jacket. He said, “Oh, right! My editor gave me that today! I know I’d better read it right away, or she will hound me incessantly until I do!”

Awesome.

So while I can technically claim that I met with him to help my career, it wasn’t all business by any stretch. Especially since I brought my (first edition) copy of Elfstones to the con with me for him to sign. I was geeking the Hell out when I read what he wrote:

Posted on April 20, 2008 at 8:12 pm by PeatB
Filed under Events, Life, World Traveler, Writing
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