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Posted by Meg

A while back, Peat did a realtime Twitter interview with SFFWRTCHT where fans could directly tweet him questions and comments. You can view the original transcript from the evening here, but Grasping for the Wind recently posted a cleaned-up version of the interview that reads easily and gets rid of Twitter names and hashtags. The questions range from writing tips to fan fiction. As an added bonus, Myke Cole chimes about a third of the way through about beta reading Peat’s work and who would win during a fight between Arlen and Oscar (the main character from Myke’s book Control Point).

You can check out the full interview on Grasping for the Wind here.

Don’t forget to chime in with your own opinion! We are giving away 5 rare, promotional booklets of The Great Bazaar, and we need YOUR help to figure out how! Today is your last chance to cast your vote in our contest poll. Can’t wait to see which one you guys pick!

Posted on September 11, 2012 at 8:00 am by megelizabeth
Filed under Appearances, Brayan's Gold, Craft, Daylight War, Desert Spear, Fans, Interviews, Meg, Myke, Warded Man, Writing
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Posted by Meg

Peat and I love this new picture of a fire demon by Mr-Horizontal up on Deviant Art. Check it out!

I love how this fire demon has so many devil attributes: the spikes, horns and tail. Awesome job!

Peat has rare, promotional booklets of The Great Bazaar to giveaway! Help us decide what contest to run by checking out last week’s blog post, Awesome Haul. Poll ends tomorrow, and it will take you about two seconds total!

Posted on September 10, 2012 at 8:00 am by megelizabeth
Filed under Daylight War, Desert Spear, Fan Art, Fans, Meg, Warded Man
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Posted by Meg

Welcome back! The Tweephole is here to keep you up-to-date with the best and brightest of Peat’s tweets. You can always check out what Peat is thinking in realtime on sidebar.

• @PVBrett – At first I was annoyed to see @brentweeks on the bestseller shelf at Empik bookstore in Wroclaw: http://t.co/UBFTe7vx

• @PVBrett – But then I noticed the web. @brentweeks http://t.co/LpKxQ9aS

A spider had set up shop right in front of Brents books in the fantasy section! Sadly, Peat’s iPhone flash was unable to capture the full awesomeness of its web.

• @PVBrett – I had an amazing two weeks in Europe, but it is so nice to finally be home. I think it is 4am Polish time right now.
• @PVBrett – If I could get back every bottle of water I’ve had to throw away at airport security in the last 10 years, I could fill an olympic pool.
• @PVBrett – 186 inserted comments needing attention stand between me and finishing #DaylightWar. 17 days to tend them. Coffee is brewing.
• @PVBrett – Love hearing from readers who enjoy my work and are eager for more, but could do with 30% less playful threats to write faster, “or else”.
• @PVBrett – I get impatience. Gorged on Locke & Key this week. Eager for more, but resisting urge to shake fist @joe_hill to write faster. #worththewait
• @PVBrett – Cassie won the claw game at the pizza place! Didn’t know that was possible: http://t.co/4xeRgS3l

• @PVBrett – Had to skip #WorldCon this year, as I just got back from #PolCon. @MykeCole will have to hold court in my stead.
• @PVBrett – Want: http://t.co/Srgiqaa0

• @PVBrett – Fascination of the abomination: When someone’s facebook posts regularly creep you the hell out, but you can’t bring yourself to cut them out of your newsfeed.
• @PVBrett – Best quote ever: “Cole puts the fun back into fantasy. Not the silly kind of fun, the kind that explodes.” @Mark__Lawrence on Control Point
• @PVBrett – Interesting fact: About 1/3 of the conversations in #DaylightWar are post-coital. #editing
• @PVBrett – ?146 inserted edit comments between me and the end of #DaylightWar. If I keep knocking out ten a day, I will be on time… #editing
• @PVBrett – ?Cassie is mixing Play Doh to make new colors. I think she’s ready for her first Pantone book.

• @PVBrett – Presidential election season: That special time when we are reminded how hopelessly broken our political system and discourse is.
• @PVBrett – Thousands of federal employees are subjected to polygraph questioning & extensive financial background checks. Why not political candidates?
• @PVBrett – Ooooo. I just had a fun idea for a contest.
• ?@PVBrett – 124 inserted comments left to fix in #DaylightWar. Making good progress, but saving the hard ones for last. #editing
• @PVBrett – ?119 edits and falling. Smoothed another burr out of the magic system and cut some needless ceremony. #DaylightWar #editing
• @PVBrett – ?Even the most dried out and crusty Nutella… Is still friggin’ Nutella. #allihavetosayaboutthat

Posted on September 7, 2012 at 8:00 am by megelizabeth
Filed under Appearances, Daylight War, Desert Spear, Events, Fans, Life, Meg, Myke, Poland, Tweephole, Warded Man, World Traveler
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Posted by Meg

So we have been updating the blog with @rachelr1977‘s awesome sneak peeks for her Renna cosplay over the last couple weeks (you can check out the posts here). And now it is finally done! @rachelr1977 debuted her kickass cosplay at Gen Con a couple weeks ago and wrote about the experience on her blog. Wish I had been there to see it in real life, but these pictures give you an idea of how awesome it must have been!

Colorful Embroidered Wards

Eye-Warding

Everything about this cosplay is beautiful! Amazing job!

Posted on September 6, 2012 at 8:00 am by megelizabeth
Filed under Cosplay, Daylight War, Desert Spear, Events, Fan Art, Fans, Meg, Warded Art, Warded Man
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Posted by Meg

Art by adamreese2006

A lot of folks name Arlen as their favorite character in the The Demon Cycle books, whether they are writing a review, email or arguing vehemently on the Forum. Personally, I am a fan of Leesha, but that’s probably because she makes magical cloaks and cool potions.

So what draws us to Arlen? He is the first of the main characters that we meet, and his struggle seems to shape the book and his actions directly impact the future of Thesa. Perhaps it is his fierce determination we admire? Or maybe, we just love the way he obliterates corelings like a ninja.

The blog Never Say Die recently listed The Warded Man as one of the best fantasy reads out there. His sentence long review of the book might have the best summary of The Warded Man (and Arlen) I’ve ever read:

Demons come out of the ground at night to terrorise/kill folks and have to be kept back by wards,  gradual decline of a largely cowed humanity as a result, young chap has enough of hiding and goes Chuck Norris on the bastards, more or less.

Now I am just picturing a warded Chuck Norris punching fire demons in the throat.

Book Banter’s review of The Warded Man does a great job exploring the roles of each of the main characters and how they effect the storyline, but describes in detail Arlen’s devastation at his mother’s death while his father is so unreachable and cowardly. Maybe the reason we like him so much is because he fits the young hero story arc of leaving his home behind and making a life for himself with the help of his talent and fearlessness. But I think the real reason we are so drawn to him is that rejects the role of being hero and fashions himself as a good samaritan, passing on the knowledge of wards and how to fight the corelings. A sort of Robin Hood character you can’t help but love.

Of course, Rojer and Leesha definitely hold their own in The Warded Man. Blogger Eric Christensen described the three main characters in a recent Warded Man review.

Although they learn similar lessons, the three protagonists do so from very different perspectives. Brett has created unique voices for each of them, making them very realistic.

What do you think? Who is your favorite character and why? Write in the comments or discuss further on the character thread on the Forum.

Posted on September 5, 2012 at 8:00 am by megelizabeth
Filed under Appearances, Daylight War, Desert Spear, Events, Fan Art, Fans, Meg, Reviews, Warded Art, Warded Man
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