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Last night marked the end of the audio contest; I was really happy with the entries that we received. We have scary ones, calming ones, and readings in three different languages. You guys just like making the decision difficult, don’t you?
I can think of worse problems though. So, seriously, thank you all for entering. Keep an eye out on the blog for the winners announcement, which we will have up next week.

You can listen to the entries below and in the previous recap post, and in the original post. After that, vote for your favorites here.

Jessica read from the last chapter of The Desert Spear. You can really hear the tension in the scene:

Apromisekept by Jesilynn

Becca read from Das Lied der Dunkelheit. She has a wonderfully smooth voice:

Das Lied der Dunkelheit Seite 32 bis 35 by Beccs

I was very excited to see that Kissifrott was reading from The Desert Spear (chapter 33) in French! I love comparing how the books sound in the different languages:

Audio Recording on Tuesday night – La Lance du Désert by Kissifrott

Dave Brendon reading from The Desert Spear prologue. I love his deep voice. It’s very calming:

The Desert Spear Prologue by DaveBrendon

Eve did a version in English which you can see in the previous post. She managed to do it in German as well. I’m not sure yet which I like better, yet:

The painted Man by Eve_

And while this entry was a little bit late, we decided to include it since she’s such a big fan. Thanks Cassie!

Posted on March 11, 2011 at 1:38 pm by Hannah
Filed under Brayan's Gold, Cassie, Contests, Desert Spear, Fans, France, Germany, Great Bazaar, Reading, Rebecca, Warded Man
3 Comments »

Fan art is wonderful; people can bond over their shared loves while showcasing their own talent. Or, like in my case, sighing and wishing that they had half as much talent. This is the case with these pieces of awesome fan art.

First off, here is a fantastic air demon by LadyMonte. You can find the rest of her awesome work at http://ladymonte.deviantart.com/gallery/. She has a lot of great photos.

Ruthlogic did a great sketch of Jardir. You can find some of her other work here.  It looks to me like she knows her way around a charcoal sketch.

Margherita, who was a winner in the Homemade Heroes Contest, did this very interesting picture of Renna. Peat says it looks like the old rotoscope movies by Ralph Bakshi, like LOTR, Fire & Ice, and Cool Word. She has some more Demon Cycle art and some art from Tangled at http://margherita13.deviantart.com/gallery/ .

Daimida’s stone demon looks fantastically terrifying. She does a lot of great comic and manga art, which can be found here.

Paraphaex did an amazing piece from the battle of Cutter’s Hollow. Some of his other art is at http://paraphaex.deviantart.com/gallery/.

Last but certainly not least is Nicadom, whose art has been showcased on the Peephole before. His latest work is an unfinished rendition of 11 year old Arlen’s first confrontation with One Arm (who had two arms at the time). Even though it’s barely a sketch, already it is totally badass. Do Peat a favor and go over to Nicadom’s DeviantArt page for this image and encourage him to finish it!

If anybody else has warded fanart, let us know! Peat loves looking at it, and you might even end up in a post.

Disclaimer: Team Brett does not own any of these pieces. If you are the artist and do not wish for your art to be included in this post, let me know at PA@www.petervbrett.com

Posted on March 10, 2011 at 5:51 pm by Hannah
Filed under Craft, Desert Spear, Fan Art, Fans, Rebecca, Warded Art, Warded Man
3 Comments »

So as I mentioned last week, Arlen is in a Suvudu Cage Match right now against the hero of old, Beowulf, and frankly, he could be doing better. With 247 votes so far, he is pulling 44% to Beowulf’s 56%.

That is crap. Arlen would kick Beowulf’s ass.

Not to put down Beowulf. He is one of the OFH (original fantasy heroes), and always good for… ahem, an epic lay. But come on.

Part of the poor showing, I think, is due to the fact that whoever wrote the stats for the fight obviously hasn’t read my books, and seems to be working from the misconception that the Warded Man only has power when he’s fighting demons. They also think he has the Spear of Kaji, when we all know Jardir has it.

So let’s clarify a bit. Beowulf, for all his greatness, is only a mortal man. The greatest of men, perhaps, but still limited by flesh and bone. He’s fine if you need someone to beat up the local bully’s mom, but is he the Deliverer? I think not.

The Warded Man, on the other hand, is a living battery for magic. Even during the day he is super strong. Like Spider-man strong. He has superhuman speed, endurance, senses, and healing. He can outrun a horse and cold-cock an elephant.

And at night, the gloves come off. He is essentially immune to physical weapons, able to dematerialize at will and heal almost any injury. He can draw wards in the air to cause various effects, and use his own internal magic to power the impact wards on his limbs.

Just sayin’. He would bust that Geat up.

Click here to vote and right this terrible wrong done to our hero. VOTING ENDS AT 5PM ON THURSDAY MARCH 10!

Posted on March 8, 2011 at 5:49 pm by PeatB
Filed under Desert Spear, Events, Fans, Musings, Pimpage, Warded Man
13 Comments »

The audio contest, where you can win a deluxe signed edition of Brayan’s Gold, is still going strong. We have a few great entries already, but there is still time for others to enter. The contest ends in 36 hours at 11:59 pm Eastern US time. You can enter by going to the audio contest blog post. All of the instructions and helpful tips are there.

Here is Jessica Strider’s entry, which is frankly adorable. She’s reading from The Warded Man:

Sam Reading the Warded Man from Jessica Strider on Vimeo.

Here is Elicius’s entry, whose dire reading perfectly fits the terrifying scene from chapter 14 of The Desert Spear :

Night in the Outhouse by Elicius

Here is Eve’s clip. She’s a native German speaker, but did a fantastic reading in English (it makes me rather envious). She’s reading from The Desert Spear as well.

DTS by Eve_

I present to you Snellopy’s submission. He has a nice calming voice…until the demon’s arrive. I admit I jumped a bit. He’s reading from The Painted Man’s twenty-first chapter.

Arlen V’s the Sand Demon by Snellopy

Here is Iris’s audio clip in German. It was fun to listen to; since I don’t speak German, the reading and emotion in it is so much more important. She’s reading from Der große Basar, the German version of Brayan’s Gold.

Brayans Gold by Kumkwat

And last but not least is Kaz Augustin’s audio clip, where she reads from the very beginning of The Warded Man. I think Kaz should consider a new career in reading audiobooks. It sounds so professional. Don’t you think?

Brett-sample by Kaz Augustin

Posted on March 8, 2011 at 12:12 pm by Hannah
Filed under Brayan's Gold, Contests, Desert Spear, Events, Fan Art, Fans, Germany, Rebecca, Warded Art, Warded Man
7 Comments »

Space Dog Podcast just released a recording of a panel I moderated at the ConFusion Convention in Detroit, Michigan in January 2011. The panel was called The Art of Novel Creation, and stars my fellow JABberwocky author Jim Hines, venerable Tor editor Jim Frenkel, and author Suzanne Church.

We were all a little punch drunk after a long con day, but I remember this being a pretty good panel that was a lot of fun.

You can stream the audio here, or right click to download the MP3.

Posted on March 5, 2011 at 3:18 pm by PeatB
Filed under Appearances, Craft, Events, Interviews, Writing
Comments Off on The Art of Novel Creation