Quickie
Cob, by French Jess:
I think she did a fantastic job of capturing Arlen’s weathered and gruff mentor.
Blog
Awesome Fan Art
A lot’s been going on lately and I have a great many things to report, including adventures at the World Fantasy Convention in San Jose and some news about my upcoming work, but all that will have to wait a bit, as I am barely keeping my head above water. In the meantime, there have been some VERY strong entries in the Fan Art Contest this past week:
Elena is from Russia, where the book has yet to be translated and released by my Russian publisher AST, but she came across an English version in a Finnish bookstore in Helsinki and fell in love. She has entered four drawings of her favorite characters, starting with Arlen in transition:
Leesha:
Ragen:
Elissa (as played by Rachel Weiz):
Mark, who I believe is from right here in the good ol’ US of A, came in with a stunning entry the other day– his arms! Yes, Mark is a true Warded Man, and let no one deny it. Some months ago he got in touch with the artist for permission, and then went anf got himself warded up for good. I don’t think I need to tell any of you how unstoppably awesome this is:
Iris from Germany, who has entered a few times already, felt the contest needed more color, and so submitted this picture of young Arlen, back in the Tibbet’s Brook days before his life got so complicated:
Eve, also from Germany, apparently agrees with Iris, in this stylized interpretation of the birth of power in a ward:
Remember, all entries are due no later than November 15, and the art can be in any medium you prefer. Enter as often as you like. Grand prize is a personalized advance read copy of my upcoming book, The Great Bazaar. I was going to have that be the only prize, but with so many great entries, I will scrounge some more goodies to give away.
Thanks!
Merci Beaucoup
Probably one of the most gratifying things about being a writer is seeing how one’s work inspires other people, either creatively or in their daily lives. There is no author I know that doesn’t love reading their fan mail, and who doesn’t have some prized letter or gift displayed in their office that came in the mail from a reader. Back in the day, this correspondence was usually done by way of the author’s publisher, and was often delayed and sometimes never reached the author at all.
I am incredibly fortunate to live in a time when technology has allowed me to easily interact with readers all over the world. Between the Peephole, Facebook, Myspace, and plain old email , Painted Man readers from all over the world have a way to interact with me and with each other. Still, I am continually amazed when people who speak a different language than I do, or who live across the ocean, or on the other side (or underside ^^) of the friggin’ planet take the time to write to me, or to blog about my book, or make their own warded items, or to create art or poetry based on the Painted Man’s world.
Writing is a lonely and often frustrating business, and these rays of sunshine are my personal wards. As someone who was always the wallflower at the party, words fail when I try to describe how much they mean to me.
Take Jessica and Marilia from France, for instance. Both bilingual (and then some), they read The Painted Man in English months ago, and are totally excited about the recent French release, l’Homme Rune, because now their friends who don’t read English can finally enjoy the book. They wrote and asked permission to create a French Fan Forum for my work. Of course I said I would love it, and you’ll have to agree it is awesome. They have included TONS of stuff, including discussions of the book, talk of the upcoming movie, translations of my old blog entries, and even Leesha’s Recipe Book.
Literally something for everyone.
To celebrate the new forum, they threw a party, and warded their faces. No, seriously. This actually happened:
Cat demon. Vicious little beasts.
These next two are my favorites!
And of course the Forum Plug:
Jess, the warded woman in gray, also just sent me two more entries in the Painted Man Fan Art Contest (submit entries to peat@www.petervbrett.com by Nov. 15!). Check them out:
Young Rojer with his talisman:
And beautiful Leesha:
In other French news, there have been a few early reviews of the book on le Blog de Stupidboy as well as the Milady Blog review, the Bragelonne Forum, and the Library Critic. The blog If is Dead claims the book is this year’s Bragelonne Coup de Coeur, which I’m not sure how to translate exactly. Maybe Punch the heart? Heartstopper? BMFG?
Anyway, I assume that’s good.
I have more blogs updates planned to mention some of the exciting things going on in Germany, Poland, Portugal, Spain and more, but for now I’m off tomorrow to the World Fantasy Convention in San Jose.
Merci beaucoup.
More Fan Art
Two more fantastic entries in the Fan Art Contest to win an advance read copy of The Great Bazaar, these from Jess in France:
The first pic of Elona:
And of course, The Painted Man himself:
Keep the great entries coming everyone!
Contest Updates/Reminders
What?! Peat is doing not one, not two, but THREE blog updates in one night?
It’s true.
I just wanted to post a reminder that I am accepting submissions for the Fan Art Contest up until November 15, with the winner getting my one spare advance copy of The Great Bazaar, my limited edition collection of Arlen and Leesha short stories coming out in January from Subterranean Press. Contest details here.
Below are some of the initial entries:
“Rojer” and “Leesha and Arlen” entered by Iris, AKA Rainbow Sword.
“Jardir” and “Arlen timeline” (click to enlarge the latter) entered by Dwayne, who some may remember as one of the winners of the Casting Call contest.
Step on up, people! Don’t be shy to enter. To make you feel more comfortable if you don’t think your art is very good, here are my initial avatar designs for the Painted Man, both of which I later discarded because they sucked so hard:
Also, if art isn’t your thing, there is an informal contest to name my new office. The winner gets… like, a prize or something. Or maybe at the end of my final video diary will say your name and tell the world you are awesome. I dunno yet. Like I said, it’s informal. There have been lots of great ideas so far, though!