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Holy crap, is there a lot going on these days! It’s been pretty overwhelming.

For starters, I had not anticipated just how high the demand would be for bookplates. There’s still plenty left, but I expect they’ll all be gone by the time The Desert Spear launches on April 13, so if you want one, now’s the time to put in an order.

I figured 500 plates would last me months, but there were over 100 orders the first day, and the pace has slowed little since then, due in part to the power of the retweet, and partly from bumps by bloggers like Simcha at SFF chat. You may recall that Simcha was one of the winners of the Desert Spear Arc Contest, and posted a recent review on her blog. In addition to all this, Simcha sent me one of the best interviews I’ve ever been given, full of intelligent and insightful questions about The Desert Spear and my writing process, all the while managing to avoid spoilers. I had a great time answering them. Look for that interview soon, if you’re interested in that sort of thing.

Speaking of interviews, last year at the World Fantasy Convention, late on Saturday night when I’d had way too much to drink, I was waylaid by Jonathan Scheifer into sitting down for a podcast with Adventures in SciFi Publishing.  Like Simcha, Jonathan was a really nice guy with an easy manner, and he’d read and enjoyed The Warded Man. He asked really thoughtful questions that were a pleasure to answer. As a result, I think I come off pretty cogently despite the circumstances, even though I say “Uh…” after every 5th word.

Apparently, Jonathan nabbed my agent, Joshua Bilmes, and Jon Sprunk, one of his newer clients, as well. You can stream the podcast online or download the MP3 here.

In other news, I’ve kept visiting stores to sign the new US paperbacks of The Warded Man. On the way to my sister-in-law’s house last night, I visited the Borders and Barnes & Noble in Freehold, NJ. The two stores are right across the street from one another, practically in a staring contest. Signed 11 books, and inserted bookplates in each, so that should one go on to buy the next book, they can make it a signed copy, too.

Speaking of The Warded Man, Agnies in Poland liked it so much she composed this melody, inspired by the tone of the book.

If you live in the UK, you may have noticed that the mavericks at Amazon.co.uk jumped the gun a bit, shipping out Desert Spear orders a few days before the pub date. Amazon has already sold out as a result, and has had to order more copies from the publisher. People began receiving their books over the weekend, and by Monday, Chris, the fastest reader in the bunch, sent me this e-mail, my first reader-reaction letter. It came through on my phone while I was signing books in Freehold, and my hand shook as I opened it:

From: chris
Sent: Monday, March 29, 2010 4:13 PM
To: peat@www.petervbrett.com
Subject: Just finished the desert spear

Dear Mr Brett,

I just wanted to write an email to thank you for The Desert Spear. I must admit i was filled with both excitement and fear going into the book as The Painted Man had become my all time favourite book and when i first opened the book to find jadir the focus i was a tad disappointed, eager as i was to find out how arlen, leesha and rojer got on. However by the second chapter youd done it again trapping me in your story only allowing me to escape today when i finished it. So i want to thank you again for such a great(if a little anti social) weekend i experienced with The Great Bazaar as a taster on friday and then the main course of The Desert Spear. With that ending however, with arlen looking like he might step up to the plate, you have bound me to a long miserable wait for the 3rd book.

Again Thank You
Chris

And with that one letter, all the thousands of hours of hard work were totally worth it. I could not ask for a better review than that.

Oh, by the by, a side-effect of the early Amazon release, which you may have noticed me mention on the twitterface, is that apparently based on Amazon pre-orders alone, I MADE #9 ON THE FRIGGIN’ LONDON TIMES HARDCOVER BESTSELLER LIST! My name will be in the London Times this coming Sunday, amongst such august company as Dan Brown, Stieg Larsson, and Danielle Steele.

On Monday, it will be used to wrap fish & chips.

Glory is fleeting thing.

Posted on March 30, 2010 at 11:46 pm by PeatB
Filed under Appearances, Bookplate, Craft, Desert Spear, Events, Fans, Interviews, Life, Musings, Reviews, Sales, World Traveler, Writing
13 Comments »

I love getting e-mail from my readers, and am always happy to answer their questions when time permits, but sometimes I get a lot of e-mails asking the same question, and when that happens, it’s probably best to do a quick post to clarify.

Case in point, the e-mail I received today from Jamie, who just finished reading The Great Bazaar:

From: Jamie
Sent: Sunday, March 28, 2010 3:08 PM
To: peat@www.petervbrett.com
Subject: The Duke’s Mines

Hi Mr Brett,

I recently got a copy of your book The Great Bazaar and noticed something I didn’t recognise. In the grimoire section you mention a ward against snow demons and the first mention for them states The Duke’s Mines (tk). I also noticed the reference to snow demons and the Duke’s Mines in the main story. I was curious as to what this is? Is it a book I have missed? Or one for me to look out for in the future? I searched your website for a clue but just saw a brief reference in one post about it being an Arlen short like The Great Bazaar. Thanks in advance.

Kind regards, Jamie

At the time The Great Bazaar was being finalized, The Dukes Mines was the working title for another Arlen Messenger novelette I was in the process of writing. The title has since been changed to Brayan’s Gold, and the story will be included in another limited edition book from Subterranean Press later this year titled Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy 2. I don’t have a pub date, but it likely won’t be available until Thanksgiving or so, because other authors are still submitting. I got mine in early.

Brayan’s Gold will tell the story of Arlen’s first Messenger run, while he is still living in Miln and working for Cob. He is asked to carry a dangerous cargo to an isolated mine deep into the frozen mountains of Miln… where snow demons are said to make their home. The story will be a little longer than The Great Bazaar – maybe 75 pages. A nice appetizer to tide readers over until The Daylight War is finished.

If you’re interested in the book, keep an eye on the Peephole. I will pimp the hell out of it when the time comes.

Posted on March 28, 2010 at 11:07 pm by PeatB
Filed under Brayan's Gold, Fans, Great Bazaar, Writing
7 Comments »

Like a Cadbury Creme Egg, The Great Bazaar is small, mouth-wateringly delicious, and leaves you wanting more. It turns out, however, that The Great Bazaar has a much shorter shelf life. Creme Eggs go on sale around New Year’s, and are gone by Easter. TGB went on sale in March, and will be gone by Easter as well.

That’s right, I just heard from Subterranean Press that based on orders, TGB will list as SOLD OUT: ALL EDITIONS early next week. The leatherbound, signed & numbered version was sold out before the book even published, and the trade edition is down to the last couple of copies. Because the business model of Subterranean is one of limited edition collector’s item books, THERE WILL NOT BE ANOTHER PRINTING.

When Easter’s gone, they’re gone.

Seriously. If you still want one, try Subterranean Press or go to Amazon.com right the hell now, because odds are no one will have it by this time next week, unless you want to pay way more than cover price on eBay, if you can find it there at all. The material might be published in some other format in the future, but it also might not.

The books were always expected to sell out, but I must confess I’m pretty shocked at how fast they went. Thanks to everyone who bought one. The Great Bazaar is a very special book to me for a number of reasons:

1) I think the title novelette is awesome. I worked really hard on it, and am very proud of the result if I do say so myself.  I think it really adds depth and perspective to both Arlen and Abban that adds weight to both The Warded Man and The Desert Spear, and perhaps puts Arlen’s conflict with Jardir in a different light. After the UK deluxe edition of The Painted Man (which the story was originally meant for) fell through, I was really worried no one would ever get to read it, especially when some of the short fantasy fiction magazines passed on it. Their loss. I’m much more pleased with how things turned out in the end.

2) The cover painting by Lauren Cannon (and the wards around it) were the first pieces of art I commissioned for my website when I first sold the book, and to this day I think that it is the best painting of The Warded Man out there. If ever a painting deserves to be on a cover, it’s this one. I tried REALLY hard to get it on the original Warded Man hardcover, but it was a no-go. I think they would have sold like hotcakes with that cover.

3) One of the least promoted aspects of the book, but one that I really love, is my notes on the writing/editing process, and insight into how a book is edited and why sometimes really great stuff is cut out for one reason or another.

4) The Krasian dictionary and ward grimoire. Not everyone likes to have appendix materials like this in their books, but I know I do. Especially when reading GRRM or Robert Jordan, those glossaries are a must for me. I really wanted to include them in The Desert Spear, but the book was already huge, and my publishers weren’t as into the idea as I was. I’m glad I got them out there in some fashion.

I am so incredibly thankful to Subterranean Press for swooping in to save the day. They were amazingly easy to work with and really turned the project around very fast. I am looking forward to doing more work with them in the future.

I will probably give some copies of The Great Bazaar away as prizes in future contests, but I only have a handful of them myself, so don’t bet the house on the odds of getting one that way.

Posted on March 27, 2010 at 6:54 pm by PeatB
Filed under Great Bazaar, Sales, Writing
9 Comments »

Apologies for the delay on this post, I know I’ve been promising it for a while. As I’ve noted in some recent posts, things have been pretty busy lately with both The Great Bazaar and The Warded Man MMPB publishing this month, and The Desert Spear only a week away in the UK, and two weeks away here in the states.

Busy Bee.

But to be honest, there was another reason, as well. I wanted to experiment with postage costs and delivery times a bit before promising anything. A handful of readers, people from all over the world, requested plates after my original post. It was a really good sampling, and I decided to use them as a test group. I am now pretty confident that I have a good system in place to fulfill requests.

So.

I have 500 signed bookplates to give away. You can read all about the plates in my original post about them a few weeks back.

As I keep reminding everyone, The Desert Spear is going on sale next month, and I want you (yes, you) to have a signed copy, even if you won’t be able to make it to any of my upcoming signings. Here’s how we can make that happen:

Step 1: Send an e-mail to bookplates@www.petervbrett.com with “Bookplate Request” as the subject line. In the body of the e-mail, please include your name and mailing address so we know where to send it. If you want me to personalize the plate, please let me know who to make it out to. The bookplates come at no charge, including postage. My gift to you.

EDIT: Please also include a personal note so we know you are a true fan. Something as simple as: Arlen is my favorite character or I love the books and just bought The Warded Man for my brother. For more information check out the most recent post about bookplates.

Step 2: Wait a couple of weeks. Possibly more if you live in Fiji or something. Receive your bookplate in the mail.

Step 3: Take your copy of The Desert Spear (which by then you will know is the best book ever).

Step 4: Open the book and fold back the jacket on the inside front (or back, your preference) cover.

Step 5: Crack and peel the sticker back of the bookplate.

Step 6: Carefully adhere to the inside cover of the book.

Step 7: Admire your handiwork. Fret over whether you centered it just right.

Step 8: Enjoy your autographed copy!

Posted on March 26, 2010 at 1:03 pm by PeatB
Filed under Bookplate, Desert Spear, Fans
74 Comments »

While my buddy Myke Cole, winner of the 2003 Writers of the Future award for his story Blood and Horses is busy putting the finishing touches on a novel sure to knock people’s socks off, he’s asked me in the meantime to mention that the recent Best of All Flesh zombie anthology includes his short story, Shouting Down the Moon, which I did beta-reads and edits on, way back when. In his words:

Shouting Down the Moon is a twist on paranormal romance – the Zombie love story, set on the African Savannah. A grieving lover joins her tribe mining for the gold they desperately need to finance their defenses. All depends on silence, as the mines are overrun by ravenous monsters drawn by the slightest sound. A sudden noise would mean the end of them, but a love that reaches beyond the grave may prove their salvation.

The anthology, edited by James Lowder (whose Forgotten Realms novels I used to read as a kid) also includes some other notable authors such as Tobias Buckell, Scott Edelman, Ed Greenwood, and Jim C. Hines. More about it on Suvudu.

Posted on March 25, 2010 at 5:42 pm by PeatB
Filed under My Reviews, Pimpage
2 Comments »