I feel like I haven’t been updating the old Peephole as much as I’d like these days, but it’s been hard of late. I feel like Rojer trying to juggle with his crippled hand sometimes, moving wildly to try not to drop any of the balls.

2010 has been very busy, and it’s just starting up. In addition to playing with the most adorable baby girl in the world and kvelling over my new nephew Pearse, I am working late every night on The Daylight War, book 3 in the Demon Cycle. I am still in the stepsheet phase, but that file is already over 135 pages long and I add a few pages to it every day. I’m really pleased with how the story is developing, and I think it is going to kick some serious ass.

It’s ironic that all my work on The Daylight War is happening at night, but my days are spent working with my publishers on the books I’ve already written. I essentially have 3 books coming out in the next 10 weeks:

1) The Great Bazaar and other Stories: This small hardcover book is coming out from Subterranean Press on January 31. It is a limited edition run; I think they are only printing like 2,000 copies total.

If you enjoyed The Warded/Painted Man and are planning to read The Desert Spear when it comes out, I really recommend The Great Bazaar. The title story is a 60-page novelette about Arlen during his Messenger days. It takes place in Fort Krasia, the setting for much of The Desert Spear, and was specifically designed to bridge the two books.

In addition to the title story are some wonderful scenes from the first book that were cut for space before the final draft, a Krasian dictionary/glossary, and a ward grimoire which shows which symbols protect against which demons, and giving detailed descriptions of the demons themselves. It also has an incredible cover by Lauren K Cannon:

2) The Warded Man MMPB: On March 23, The Warded Man comes out in paperback with a familiar new cover! If you haven’t picked up the hardback because of the price, or if you weren’t drawn to the somewhat plain cover, you are in luck. Del Rey has licensed the awesome UK cover for the paperback, painted by the fantastic Larry Rostant:

3) The Desert Spear: April 13 in the US. Mark your calendars. I cannot tell you how excited I am for TDS to finally come out! I honestly believe that this is the best thing I’ve ever written, and I am so eager to be able to finally hear what people think. Plus, Larry Rostant has given it the Best. Cover. EVER!

I have a couple of updates to the website planned as well, and two secret art projects I am working on with Lauren K. Cannon that I am dying to show off once they are ready. I’m also planning my convention schedule for the year. I am looking at Lunacon in NY in a couple of months, and perhaps I-Con as well. I plan to head to Australia for Worldcon in September, and Ohio for World Fantasy in October. I’m considering a few others, like Balticon, and a couple in California. If anyone has suggestions, let me know!

If anyone is interested, remember to tune into my live-chat RPG on Tuesday!

Posted on January 23, 2010 at 4:45 pm by PeatB
Filed under Desert Spear, Life, Musings, Sales, The Daylight War, Writing
16 Comments »

Kaitlin Heller, one of the editors at Del Rey books, is a nerd.

I know, I know.  That’s hardly a surprise, and Creator knows I live in a glass house in that regard. I’m just saying.

Kaitlin has been trying to get a Del Rey D&D game between authors and editorial going for quite some time, but due to mass scheduling conflicts, her efforts have always come to naught. I gave up D&D several years ago, more out of necessity than choice.  I only had limited free time/creative energy, and needed to make a choice between gaming and writing.

I am at peace with my choice.

Still, I miss ropleplaying games, and last year at my Warded Man launch party, I drunkenly promised Kaitlin that if she ever got that Del Rey game going, to count me in. I meant it, even after I sobered up. Even though I have even less free time now, than I did a few years ago, there still a part of me that wants to put on some Led Zeppelin, get out my graph paper, and roll some dice.

So when Kaitlin invited me to join in a Live Chat RPG on Suvudu to help promote the new Del Rey book King of RPGs, I was intrigued.

Normally I am a D&D purist, and don’t tend to play other gaming systems. Nothing against other games, but I didn’t memorize the Dungeon Master’s Guide, Player’s Handbook, and Monster Manual for nothing. Still, the chat seemed like a nice way to get a quick gaming fix without commitment, and thankfully, Kaitlin never spoke to my old gaming buddies and learned their most cardinal rule:

Never let Peat play a thief.

So… we’ll see how that works out.

Also playing are:

* Ari Marmell, author of The Conqueror’s Shadow, Agents of Artifice, The Tomb of Horrors 4th edition and numerous other fantasy novels and D&D/RPG books!
* Diana Rowland, author of the urban fantasy police procedurals Mark of the Demon and Blood of the Demon!

* A few lucky fans.

You can watch the live chat on Tuesday, January 26, from 2-4pm EST by clicking here.

Posted on January 21, 2010 at 7:19 pm by PeatB
Filed under Appearances, Events, Fans
6 Comments »

My nephew, Pearse Brett Foley, was born today at 2:22 pm, 19 inches long and weighing in at a hefty 8 pounds, further securing my genetic legacy to future generations, and giving me another excuse to go to the toy store all the time.

Congratulations to my sister Kelly and her husband Darragh, and welcome to the world, Pearse!

Posted on January 19, 2010 at 5:33 pm by PeatB
Filed under Life
4 Comments »

Okay, enough dithering. It’s time to pick some winners.

I’ve kind of been dragging my feet with this contest on purpose, hoping that my UK ARCs of The Desert Spear would arrive early in the month and I could add those to the pot, but I don’t know exactly when they are going on press, so I’m going to stop stalling, pick winners for the last two US ARCs now, as well as a couple of runners up, and then decide what to do with the UK ARCs when I get them.

Runners up:

First off, a signed copy of Das Lied der Dunkelheit to Elisa from Austria, who got the Austrian Tolkien society to pimp my book in a huge collage. That was a great entry:

Next, a signed copy of The Warded Man to “Joe” who risked life, limb, and campus police to get crazy pictures like these:

The two ARC winners:

One Advance Read Copy of The Desert Spear to AJ from Florida. AJ knows what it’s like to be in the desert in wartime, as I first got to know him as a pen pal during his tour of duty in Iraq. AJ also made some hysterical entries:

One Advance Read Copy of The Desert Spear to Kim Kincaid, who made two extremely strong entries, both of which continue to give me great joy:

Honorable Mention:

Finally, I would like call out Emily, who has entered the contest over and over in different ways, from photoshop heavy images to location shots. This is my favorite:

No one has worked harder than Emily to win, so I wanted to give her something special. Last year, my friends threw me a launch party for the US release of The Warded Man. My friend Fotini make beautiful bronze bookmarks, stamped with warding circles as a special gift to all attendants:

I still have a couple of these bookmarks saved, so I am going to send one to Emily, along with a promise. I have just decided that I will definitely be going to this year’s Worldcon in Melbourne Australia in September. While down under, I will probably do several signings. Emily, if you show up to any signing while I’m there, I will give you a free signed copy of The Desert Spear right there. Just flash the bookmark to prove you’re not your (evil?) twin sister.

Thanks so much to everyone else who entered! You are all still in the running when/if I get more advance copies to send out!

P.S.

This late entry came in from French Jess as I was finishing up this entry. She has made herself into the She-Hulk from Marvel comics, which I am totally geeking out about. Shulkie is a favorite of mine, ever since her seven foot green legs first walked into the Fantastic Four comic following the Secret Wars. What was that, 1984?

I am old.

Anyway, awesome!

Posted on January 15, 2010 at 5:34 pm by PeatB
Filed under Appearances, Australia, Contests, Desert Spear, Fan Art, Fans, World Traveler
6 Comments »

A few months ago, Patrick Rothfuss, author of the internationally bestselling epic fantasy novel The Name of the Wind and all-around nice guy, asked me if I would be interested in doing an interview on his blog.

Of course I said yes. To date, I have never turned down an interview request, but this one was particularly exciting because I read Pat’s blog all the time. It’s thoughtful and true and often laugh-out-loud funny.

Pat and I have a lot in common. We both took seven years to write our first book, and then struggled with a sudden transition from hobbyist to professional writer and all the changes it brought to our lives. We’re both also new dads, which is a bigger transition by far. I read The Name of the Wind last year in between baby feedings and changings, often late at night, and he did the same a couple of months ago with The Warded Man. Any book that holds the attention of someone that sleep-deprived is rare and wonderful.

The interview was different than any other I have done, and we passed it back and forth for months to give it a nice, conversational feel. It’s a fun read.

You can find the full interview here.

Pat is also in the final stages of his 2nd annual Worldbuilders fundraiser for Heifer International, so in addition to some signed copies of The Warded Man, I have added an ARC of The Desert Spear to the incredible list of signed books and other prizes that donors will be entered into a lottery to win.  I would like to point out that one of the many places Heifer is working to make a difference is Haiti, which, as you may know, suffered a horrendous earthquake earlier this week.

Disclaimer: Pat has NOT promised that he won’t read the Desert Spear ARC I sent before adding it to the pot, but he will include a signed written apology on the title page for any crumbs, bends, or fingerprints.

For every $10 donation at Pat’s Team Heifer page, you have another chance to win a prize, even as you help people in need and make the world a better place to live in. Pat has promised to personally match 50% of all donations, and some other donors, such as Subterranean Press and yours truly, are helping him out. The fundraiser ends TOMORROW, January 15, so get the hence if you in on it.

I haven’t forgotten that I will be choosing another DSAC winner tomorrow, along with two runners up who will get signed copies of The Warded Man in one of its various incarnations. If you have an entry you’ve been saving, now’s the time to send it!

Posted on January 14, 2010 at 1:07 pm by PeatB
Filed under Contests, Craft, Desert Spear, Fans, Interviews, Reviews, Writing
Comments Off on Patrick Rothfuss Interview (and another way to win a Desert Spear ARC)