Shiny New Blog

I have a new blog! You can find it here: http://www.trudicanavan.com/trudi_canavan/

The Magician's Apprentice Cover

One more step in the process of idea to a real, paper and ink book...

I love it!

(But I detest this blog program! Four attempts before it would show the image. Sigh.)

Website Updated

Apart from a few things, like getting hold of and uploading the cover of The Magicians' Apprentice, I've finished updating the existing pages of this site. So if you find any links not working, or missing images, do let me know. (Please put "website update" in the subject header - it'll make it easier for me to find the email later, if I need to.)

My next task is to create a new, easier to use blog. This will be interesting...

In Case You Find Something Not Working...

Between working on edits of TMA, and having work done on the house that wasn't finished last year, I've started updating and reshaping this website. I'm starting with the task of updating the existing site, then I'll see if I can add some new features.

Updating the site has involved gathering together editions of my books that I've received so the covers can be scanned and put on my site. This is the "Book Tower of Doom" that resulted:

And then I gave them to my dear man to do the scanning, for which he earned much gratitude and cups of coffee. I now have to work out a way to display them all without creating a page that scrolls down for several miles. I have a few ideas...

The updating may result in me breaking parts of the site and it could take some time before I (hopefully) work out how to fix them. So please be patient and resist emailing me to point out errors until I declare the site 'finished'.

Thankyou!

Trudi 

The Magician's Apprentice has been delivered

After months working through weekends, weeks of working evenings as well, the book is finally done and delivered!

Of course, it's not done yet. There's all the editing to be done. I have to draw a map, put together a glossary, write a blurb and have a new author photo taken. Lots of work for me to do, still.

Then there's the design and lay out. The cover. The blurb. The printing. The marketing. And all those magical and mysterious things a publisher has to do to make a story into a physical book, and get it out to the shops. I emailed my editor a few weeks back to check the release date. It will be a worldwide release, in February 09.

In the meantime I have SO much to catch up on. There's this website to update, including a new, more accurate blurb for TMA and a sample chapter or exerpt, updated pub dates and covers, and a new blog program so I can post news without tearing my hair out and provide an RSS feed.

And, of course, I get to start The Ambassador's Mission, book one of the Traitor Spy Trilogy. Writing TMA has given me lots of ideas to incorporate into the sequel. It's going to be fun tying together all the threads of history, magic and characters between the three stories.

The Aurealis Awards

The ceremony to announce the winners of the Aurealis Awards was held over the weekend up in sultry Brisbane. What are the Aurealis Awards? They're peer-judged awards for speculative fiction written by Australians. I didn't attend the Aurealis Awards (still chasing that deadline) but here are the results:

http://www.aurealisawards.com/Winners.htm

Congratulations to all winners, and to all those who were shortlisted, too.

I have a special affection for the AAs, because I was an Aurealis hanger-on (art director) back when the editors of Aurealis magazine first started them. Though my only claim to fame is that I printed out the certificates that were given to the winners for the first year or two, I've watched the awards grow and change, gain importance and a bit of glamour.

The greatest change I've noted is the convenors award, which was eventually named after the late Peter McNamara. It was created in order to cover works not acknowledged in the other categories, such as an illustration piece, anthology, magazine issue, event or editorial excellence. I remember the Aureais editors brainstorming how it would work. As the reins of the award moved from the editors through the equally capable hands of others, this award has evolved into one given to a person rather than a work. Kind of a "Hall of Fame" award, or a "Most Outstanding Contributor" award. I love watching awards evolve to fit a need. But I do think it's a shame that the change means there now isn't an award covering those works like illustrations, anthologies, etc. that fall through the cracks.

We have another award system here in Australia. The Ditmars are our version of the Hugos, with nominations and voting by members of our national convention each year. You don't have to attend to nominate, just buy a supporting membership, but to vote you needed to attend or have attended either this or last years Natcon. For more information go to the Swancon 08 website:

http://www.swancon.com/

I feel free to promote this award this year because I have no works eligable. But there are lots of great Aussie writers, editors, illustrators, etc. who have done great work that is. Nominations close soon.

The Prequel Dilemma

With every book I write I learn something new. When I start a new one I wonder what discoveries I'll make about writing, what new tricks I'll need to come up with, and what mistakes will slap me in the face.

The lessons I've learned while writing The Magician's Apprentice have mostly run along the lines of "when allowing extra time to write a book in anticipation of house extension interruptions, add a few years extra in case you get a builder incapable or unwilling to finish". Now I've finally stumbled upon a challenge actually relating to writing. I'm calling it "The Prequel Dilemma"

The problem came to my attention when a few of my trusted feedback readers sampling the first half of the book said it wasn't clear the story was set six hundred or so years before the events in the Black Magician Trilogy.

So how to make readers note the time difference? Well, I can't have the characters talk about or think about it, because they can't see into the future (it's not that kind of magic). So having them say "you know, six hundred years from now x is going to happen and someone will have discovered y" just doesn't work.

Of course, there are plenty of hints indicating the time difference in the simpler way the society is structured, the less sophisticated technologies, and the laws and customs in regard to magic. Unfortunately this relies on the reader noticing the differences between this book and the Black Magician Trilogy. Worldbuilding details don't tend to stick in people's mind, and if a reader hasn't read the BMT in a while they may not notice many differences at all. In fact, I know that a lot of readers don't notice the details much even as they read a book. Which is why people sometimes incorrectly describe the world as 'medieval'.

So if the worldbuilding details aren't enough, what is? Well, I did consider a fictional preface, written as if someone in the future is looking back on the events in the book. But I disliked the idea instantly, because the book is not written in the tone of a record, or someone telling a story. I also know some people don't read prefaces. Or even prologues. Or epilogues. Heck, I've even encountered readers who don't know what the word 'prequel' means.

Finally I realised there was only one way to get the information across in a direct and clear way. It has to go in the blurb.

And then I realised that, until now, I really didn't place that much importance in a blurb. After all, as a reader I've found that blurbs are often misleading, or give away too much, so I avoid reading them unless I must. I only ever read the blurb of the first book of a series - I'm not going to read the following books based on the blurb, but whether I liked the first book - and then I generally start a series based on recommendations, familiarity with the author's work, or whether a friend wrote it.

Conversely, I love writing blurbs. I know a lot of authors who hate it, along with writing synopsis and bios. Me, I love all of it. Of course, publishers as likely as not to fiddle with my blurbs until they don't bear any resemblance to what I gave them, but that's all part of the fun of publishing. (And why I love Orbit.)

So now that I've found a solution to The Prequel Dilemma, the next challenge is to make sure the info gets into the blurb and stays there. But I won't have to worry about that for a while yet. After all, I've got to finish writing the book first.

Not the Best Year of My Life

I haven’t posted in this blog for some time, and I’d like to explain why. My partner and I have just had a very stressful year. I feel that my author blog should be bright and exciting, and when I got to the point where I just couldn’t be bright and exciting any more I figured it was better not to post at all. I didn’t want to bore my readers with one winge after another. (Friends, on the other hand, have sat through plenty of long winges – but that’s what they’re for, after all.) All the wonderful fanmail I’ve received from readers have kept reassuring me that the fight is worth fighting, and each time I read one I felt angry on their behalf, because the whole debacle we were going through was likely to cause the late release of The Magician’s Apprentice and that just wasn't fair – though I’m hoping that I between us, Orbit and I can perform some miracles and still get it out on time.

A few weeks back I wrote an explanation to post on my blog, but when I sent it out to friends or asked if it was a good idea to ‘go public’ many of them warned me against getting myself into a legal quandary. So there'll be no mentioning of names, of course, and I'm sticking to the parts of the story that relate to writing as much as possible.

To explain why this year has been so sucky I’ll have to give you a bit of back story. (See – I can’t even avoid recap when writing about the real world.) A few years back my partner walked into his garage and found himself in a cloud of swarming insects. They were termites. He had the house treated and we thought that was that. Then a year later the same thing happened, so this time the pest exterminators recommended by the Archicentre (official body of architects in Australia) were called in. The termites had eaten so much that the entire garage and part of the house needed to be rebuilt.

We knew that repairing the house would cost a lot and add no value to the house, but repairing the garage and adding some rooms on top would increase its value – and make it a little less dark and dingy. So we hired an architect, settled on a design and he found us a builder. Because the kitchen and bathroom hark back to the early 70s – and not in a good retro way – and are falling apart we decided to have them renovated as well.

I’d just finished the editing of Voice of the Gods and needed a rest. I figured the last thing I should do was launch into another large book while the house was being worked on. I’ve never been much good at concentrating while there are strangers in the house, especially if it means I’ll be interrupted for consultation and decisions. So when sorting out the details for the Black Magician Trilogy prequel and sequel contract I requested a six month break. My agent, bless her, decided to make it a year just to be sure.

The build start was delayed by six weeks. As the garage was demolished I worked on catching up on fanmail and updating my website. Six months passed and in September my break was over so I tried ‘warming up’ to writing again by working on a novella, but found the constant interruptions and distractions had exactly the effect I knew it would have. They broke my concentration and made the process slow and frustrating. So I put that aside.

By the end of the year the garage had been rebuilt and the new part of the house was structurally finished, but still required fixings like cabinetry and bathroom fittings installed and a balustrade added to the deck. That’s when everything started to go wrong. Without going into details, we wound up paying for work that wasn’t yet complete, on the advise of someone we trusted.

Over the next five months only about two weeks work was done. The decking, which had never been oiled, slowly bleached under our relentless Aussie sun from a beautiful red to a pale cream. The iron roof on the verandah, which had never been finished, had to be tied down with rope so when the northerly winds hit the neighbourhood wouldn’t be kept awake by the sledgehammer-like banging noise it made. The empty near-finished new rooms couldn’t be used while we continued on living with clothes on shelves in the lounge room and our bed in the family room.

I’d started writing The Magicians Apprentice in January but progress was excruciatingly slow. I was in a no-win situation. If tradesmen turned up to work on the house they broke my concentration. If they didn’t I paced the house, frustrated that the work wasn’t being done and knowing that the further into the book I worked, the more concentration it would demand and the worse the effects of interruptions would be. Still, I managed to finish Part One.

In May we started stamping our feet and about two weeks worth of work was done over the month. We got no explanation for the earlier delays. In June I stayed at Varuna Writers Centre for two weeks in the hopes that I’d get a good chunk of work done. The day after I arrived I got the flu and spent half of my stay staring at the ceiling and wishing I was home being looked after by my partner. I did get half of Part Two written, though, so it wasn’t a complete waste of time.

While I was at Varuna, no work happened on the house. Progress had dwindled to a dribble again. My partner met with a solicitor to find out what we could do, and the news wasn’t good.

July I worked on the book as best I could with the flu symptoms lingering on for weeks. The following months were a slog as I tried working on weekends to make up for the days I lost when we did have tradesmen here. Finally, after spending a day staring at the screen, I decided enough was enough.

Free of the contract, we’re now using our new rooms. Unfortunately this isn’t the end of the story. There’s still work that needs to be finished on the house, for a start. But nothing that can’t be done after The Magician’s Apprentice is finished. 

People say building a house or extension rates alongside organising a wedding or having your first child in terms of stress and upheaval. Naturally, it’s worse when you work from home. I knew I would find it difficult to write at my normal speed and concentration while work was being done, so I took time off to allow for it - and then more time. I also tried working at my old house (which we were using to store the contents of the garage) and Varuna Writers Centre. I looked in vain for an local empty office to rent, and tried working on weekends. Some of these ideas worked, some didn’t, but none brought me up to my usual writing speed.

Working within your own strengths and weaknesses is smart. Apparently some writers can churn out 300,000 word books using pen and paper while sitting in a noisy café and smoking a cigar. (Okay, the cigar is just for atmosphere.) I can’t. We all have different ways of doing what we do, at different speeds and with varying ‘ideal’ conditions. I’d never presume to tell another experienced, professional author when and how to write their books, though I’ll always offer suggestions and advice if they seek it.

I’m back at the computer reviewing the first half of The Magician’s Apprentice and taking heart from how good it has turned out so far despite everything. I’ve discovered that when I’m expecting to be interrupted any moment I hurry to get plot down, which leads to some very, very pacy writing. Unfortunately it hasn’t given me much room for world building, which I tend to build up slowly in the back of my mind as I go. I’ve tried writing details down, but found by the time I read through them I’d be interrupted and had to begin again by the time I got back to the computer. For the same reason, I haven’t quite got the interweaving of characters as tightly laced as I like to, either, but I’ve been fixing that as I’ve gone over the text.

If all goes well The Magicians Apprentice will still come out on time, if not it should only be a few months late. To catch up I'll probably have to keep neglecting my website and blog, but now that I can do bright and exciting again maybe I'll slip in a post now and then. I’ll definitely be thinking of all the keen readers of my books, from the new ones just discovering them to those who have supported me from the beginning, as I work at catching up.

Thankyou for your support. It’s kept me going when things were at their most trying. And if you’re contemplating any kind of building work, I hope you have a better experience than we had.

Conflux Here I Come!

This weekend I'll be attending Conflux, a science fiction convention held in Canberra. Now, I'd normally link to the convention website but for some reason it makes my browser crash (so this is the second time I'm constructing this blog entry - sigh). All I can suggest is that you google "conflux 2007" if you want to find it.

The panels I'll be on are: 

Saturday 9am - Prayer and Prophet – making your own religion.
Sunday 4pm - How to hire henchmen – a guide for the overlord. (chairing)
Monday 11am - Arrggghhh! The worst heroes in sci fi and fantasy.
Monday 3pm - It came in a dream – how to generate ideas.

I'm also joining forces with Russell Kirkpatrick on Saturday at 12am to launch In Bad Dreams, a horror anthology. And I'll be gobbling up tasty treats at Sunday night's Recency Gothic Banquet.

This Thursday, before the con begins, I'll be signing books at Dymocks Belconnen. I think at around 4 or 5pm. There'll be a few other authory bods there signing books too. I've gone looking for info on their blogs, but it seems they're being just as slack as I have been about posting about it. Or maybe I got the wrong names. Or maybe they all pulled out and I'm the only one going! (Not likely, these gigs are usually a lot of fun.)

Hmm. Well, I will be there barring illness or death. But if you're keen to come get my unique personal scribble on your books, you'd best ring the shop to confirm times.

Newsletter Is No More

I've removed all links in the menus to the newsletter. Why? Well, it's getting on close to a year since it was first installed and it has never worked properly. Newsletters would get to some subscribers and not others, and when working out what was wrong was going to involve emailing numerous test newsletters to thousands of people I decided I'd rather not drive a lot of people nuts.

Since I've done this myself, I've only had the courage to remove links to the Newsletter page, so it's possible people will still find it via search engines or if they bookmarked it. But since I'm sure if I tried to find the actual page and remove it I'd probably break the whole site, I figure I'd best leave those bits alone.

So, apologies to everyone who subscribed to the newsletter and is disppointed that it will not be delivering news to their inbox. Apologies, too, to anyone who didn't get previous newsletters. (I think I only sent out three.)

For the same news updates, please keep visiting this blog. I do have plans to offer an RSS feed some time in the future. But for now I'll just keep posting news items in this blog.

The Magicians' Guild out in French!

While I was away an email came through to me from my French publisher, Bragelonne, containing a jpeg of the cover of TMG.

And a very nice cover it is!

They also gave me a link to the page on their website for my books, for any french-speaking readers to check out.

The Good News

Voice of the Gods is at #4 on the UK Sunday Times hardback fiction besteller list! Wooohooooooooooo!

And I just checked Amazon.co.uk and it's at #2 on the science fiction and fantasy besteller list, or #27 on the list of all books. Cor!

Thankyou all you lovely UK readers for making my week! 

Phew! What a month!

Well, have I had a challenging month!

First, the signing. Thankyou to everyone who turned up. If I was a bit breathless, it was because the plane that was to take me to Sydney arrived two hours late, due to a wierdly persistent fog that enveloped Melbourne that day. Fortunately I'd allowed two hours to get my luggage to a friend's place once I arrived in Sydney, so by getting a taxi straight to Galaxy books I managed to be only ten minutes late.

Unfortunately this meant I had an enormous suitcase to lug around. Thankyou to Galaxy and Tim of Orbit for minding it for me.

The following Monday I headed up to the Blue Mountains to Varuna. The next day I had a bit of a sore throat. A day later... the flu. So I spent half my two weeks at the retreat so sick I wished I was home in bed with someone to get me pain killers and throat lozengers and the cat curled up beside me. The other half of my time I managed to get 20,000 words written, so I'm now a quarter of the way through writing The Magician's Apprentice.

Of course, a heap of tasks were waiting for me when I got home, including an interview on the new Orbit website. Go check it out.

And now? Well, I'm still recovering from the flu, house extension hitches have left me with a very unreliable internet connection to I can't update my site (and I may even lose this post), my anti-virus program has either gone nuts and is eating fanmail or else I'm suddenly being bombarded with viruses, but I've just received some good news to cheer me up that I'll share just as soon as it's confirmed.

Oh, and a reminder to people using the guestbook: Please. Don't. Post. Spoilers. It always makes me sad when I can't approve messages that say lovely things but include information that will spoil the plot of my stories for new readers. Please be considerate.

Signing Reminder, and Upcoming Guestbook Lag

Just a reminder that the Sydney book signing is on this Friday. In two days! I can't wait!

2-4pm, Friday 15th of June
143 York St, Sydney, NSW, Australia
ph (02) 92677222
fax (02) 92613691
www.galaxybooks.com.au

Also, afterwards I'll be staying at a writers retreat for a fortnight and won't have access to the internet, so I probably won't be able to approve guestbook entries until July.

Ooh, Pretty Pictures!

I've just spent this evening updating a few pages on my website. Firstly I've added some covers to the Black Magician Trilogy page. There's covers for all the abridged audio editions now, a b-format UK edition, more German editions, and Italian, Danish and Serbian editions.

A big thanks goes to Srdjan, the Serbian translator, who was a pleasure to work with and made sure I got a copy of that edition.

I tweaked the Appearances page, adding the signing and took out some cons I wasn't able to get to because of our renovation woes.

And I added a few extra items to the Frequently Asked Questions page.

---------------------

I'd also like to add, for the benefit of a certain Swiss 13 year old, that bombarding me with emails will not get you a reply. Nor will writing them in different languages. Nor will writing them in all caps. Nor will also adding them to the guestbook, riddled with spoilers. In fact, all this is pretty much making it less and less likely you'll ever get any response (well, except this paragraph). Please take the time to read the Fanmail page, the FAQ page and the note at the start of the Guestbook that explains what message content to avoid if you don't want yours deleted.

Signing Hasn't Been Cancelled, Just Rescheduled!

It's been moved to a few hours earlier on the same day.

2-4pm, Friday 15th of June
143 York St, Sydney, NSW, Australia
ph (02) 92677222
fax (02) 92613691
www.galaxybooks.com.au

Again, apologies if this inconveniences anyone.

Signing at Galaxy Books Cancelled

I'm afraid the signing at Galaxy Books in Sydney has been cancelled. I hope nobody has made plans they can't change or cancelled anything else in order to be there. Apologies if you have, or if you are just disappointed.

Since I've already booked the flight, I'll see if I can find another venue. I'll be sure to post the details here if I do. Watch this space (as they say).

January Fanmail

Life’s been so busy here, with the house renovations dragging out more than six months longer than they should have, and needing to spend what time I have writing, that I’ve had to put things like fanmail, newsletter and website updates aside. As a result, it’s been a long time since I’ve managed to get a month of fanmail replies up onto the blog. Here at last are the January ones. They were done in three or four batches, then resorted alphabetically, and I’m hoping that isn’t going to lead to some oddness.

Anja longs for a continuation of the BMT.

Adam from England thanks me for the hard work I put in.

Alexandra from Somerset likes how my books reflect aspects that happen in real life. That’s my aim, Alexandra. Well, except for magic, obviously!

AmyJo from the UK assures me she really did read all the pages (of my website) before emailing, which makes me very happy. She asks about the publication date of Voice of the Gods, so she didn’t read that page! But that’s probably just as well, because when she emailed me Those UK Release Dates were wrong. 

Andrea and Kyra from Germany hope I or my friends didn’t suffer as much at school as Sonea did at the University. No, we didn’t, but I did draw upon several incidents that happened to different people I knew as inspiration.

Anna from Exeter is a very fast reader. She had me laughing at her ‘straining the “homespun” metephor’ because I do a little (very little) handspinning, though I’m not particularly good at it.

Bettina from Germany asks if there will be a fourth BMT book. Go have a look at More Kyralia Books.

Bianca from Germany appreciates that it isn’t easy to write in a way that stirs people emotionally.

Cen from London likes all the things I hoped readers would like about the BMT,  and is pleased to hear about the prequel and sequel, yet hasn’t even finished The Novice yet! Hope you like the rest of the trilogy, Cen.

Chanell from South Africa wrote a lovely email. She asked for advice about writing, so I’ll direct her to the Writing Advice page. Hope you find something of use there!

Chantelle, currently of the UK, has ordered VotG from Australia!

Charlotte from the Isle of Man has read my books 20 times. And she has bought them as Christmas presents for friends. All I can say is wow. And… wow.

Chris from Chatham helped alert me to the UK VotG release date inaccuracy. See my blog entry: Those UK Release Dates.

Chris from Wiltshire dropped me a line.

Chris from Switzerland asks about pronunciation anyway.

Colin from Belfast has a very hungry imagination! He asks for two things: one I cannot do, another which is easy as all it takes is a link to the Writing Advice page.

Courtney from Long Island hopes that one day she can affect someone with her writing the way I’ve affected her. I hope so too. And I hope that she affects many, many someones, and that one of those someones can be me!

Dan from Cambridge gave me a laugh with his formatting. He also makes a very generous offer of free books. Thanksyou Dan. I read very slowly these days, so it would be better if I put those books on my recommended reading list and seek them out when I’m ready, because I have enough Must Read Pile guilt going on already.

Dave from the UK is up to the third read of the BMT and still enjoying it.

Deborah from Jacksonville received TMG for Christmas. Hope you enjoy the rest of the trilogy.

Fenja from Germany wonders why a certain character stopped grieving so early. Hmm. All I can say is the character didn’t stop, and that different people react in different ways to grief. That character is not the type to fall to pieces, but more the sort to ‘soldier on’.

Gabbie and Rebecca from England spend countless hours disscussing lots of conversational topics from the TMG. I’m so disappointed that they were kidding about the altars.

Gary from the UK says my work has ‘just the right amount of stuff in just the right amount of places’. I like that so much, I wish I could use it as a quote on a book cover!

Jo from England asked about the changed publication dates. See my blog entry: Those UK Release Dates.

Jon from the UK says my narrative feels more like history than fantasy. *grin*

Jutta from Germany says there was no better ending for the BMT than the one I wrote. Thankyou, Jutta. 

Kaiken from Hamburg in Germany says my books are authentic. *big grin*  

Katharina from Germany (which is a guess, but a good one because the email is in German) asks why one of the books of the BMT, or the trilogy (it’s not clear) called Gilde of the Black Magier. I’m afraid that’s one for the German translation publisher. It does sound like the translator for the titles wasn’t the same translator who did the text.

Katy from the UK asks about circs and how they are worn. I think the answer may be best given in visual form. Go check out this sketch on the Pinboard for the AotF, Katy.
Larry from Austin, Texas, gaves me a link to an unofficial website for Guy Gavriel Kay. Thankyou, Larry.

Lawrence from Hampshire, England, is raving about my books. Raving is always appreciated. Good luck with your writing, Lawrence!

Lindsay from South Africa says I changed a ‘rather stubborn male’s view of female fantasy authors’. He he! You should give him some Jennifer Fallon books to read next. I’m thinking the Second Sons trilogy. She tells a ripper of a tale.

Lucia in Blackpool, UK, read the BMT after a referral by a bookshop assistant. (Yay bookshop assistants!) She’s hoping for a resurrection spell. He he. Hope you enjoy AofF, Lucia!

Malcolm pointed out the release dates mixup for Voice of the Gods. Thankyou! See my blog entry: Those UK Release Dates.

Malini from Bangalore, India, is pulling at hair in anticipation of reading Voice of the Gods. Thanks for pointing out the typo, Malini.

Mark from Liverpool, England asks two questions:

A) A reason that there is 2 sets of books available in England (paperback and Hardback) and is it true one set is for kids and the others for adults?

and

B) Any difference between the content of these books?

There are two UK editions, and one is for ‘younger readers’. The adult paperback editions were printed first. They sold so well that the publisher, realising they would suit a younger audience as well, rereleased a hardback edition for younger readers. There is no difference in the content of either editions – and price is the same, too.

Mattias from Austria liked the BMT and is going to look at what else I’ve writtern. You’ve probably already found it, but look here for info on the Age of the Five.

Natasha from Aberystwyth in Wales, UK offers up support and thanks. Thankyou!

Paul was looking for a way to order Voice of the Gods from outside the UK. I list a few specialty bookstores in the FAQ page, and there’s always Amazon. Hope you found the book and enjoyed it, Paul.

Philippa from Wearside, UK has set up a fan forum and posted the link in the guestbook. She emailed around the end of January, so if anyone’s interested go check out the entries from around then.

Rika from Finland appreciates the maturity of the characters and plot of PotW and LotW.  Thankyou Rika. A more mature story and audience was what I was aiming for, so it’s good to hear it worked. I hope you enjoy VotG. The BMT wasn’t written specifically for a younger audience, but it is a different kind of story and writing style.

Robyn from Newcastle, England noticed an interesting coincidence in the AotF books.

Rodders from the UK gave some feedback. He asked if I will be producing any more paintings for the BMT. No, but there is a sketch of the Guild grounds on the BMT Pinboard. Who are the magicians on the UK covers? Well, I can’t speak for the illustrator, but my guess is Sonea, on all of them.

Ryan of England would like to know where he could find my short story “Whispers of the Mist Children”. The only suggestion I can make is you order the issue of the Aurealis magazine it was published in.

Sebastian from Berlin, Germany, was Curious to the End. I love that. I hope you enjoy The Magician’s Apprentice when it does finally come out.

Shazia from Birmingham, UK, was halfway through The Novice when she emailed me. I hope you enjoyed the second half of the trilogy as much as the first, Shazia!

Simone from Basel, Switzerland, loves the BMT and my website (*big grin*) and give many wonderful compliments!

Spence from the UK hits the nail on the head when he says ‘It must be very gratifying knowing that you can touch so many people in so many different places with the words that you write.’ It sure is!

Stuart from Glasgow says lots of good and interesting things about the BMT – and amusing things about my friend who wanted to be in the book. I think anyone who wants to be one of my characters is very brave, or very foolish! Hope you enjoy Age of the Five, Stuart.

Susan from Reading, UK, likes to believe the characters of the BMT and AotF exist somewhere and are carrying on with their lives. This is why I like to put a few loose ends in a story. It gives the feeling that life carries on, as it does in real life.

Theresa from Australia enjoyed the BMT and is writing her own books. Good luck and if you’d like some tips head on over to my Writing Advice page.

Toni from England’s family had to hide the books from her so she would revise for exams! I hope the timing of future book releases is a little kinder for you, and that you enjoy them as much.

Tracey and Nicholas from Scotland also encountered the Amazon UK release date mix up. Hopefully they read my blog entry explaining the delay. I’m so with them on preferring series to have a conclusion. I don’t start series now until I know the last book has been published.

Vedrana from Croatia wonders if I am aware of the power books hold. Oh, yes, I sure am!

Victoria of Melbourne sustained minor injuries (crick in the shoulder, sore elbow) while reading the BMT that I hope she successfully recovered from. I love her comment comparing the how much description was given of different moment of, er, ‘affection’. I wasn’t too confident that I could find a balance between cheesy romance and being too explicit while writing the BMT. Be assured, I gained more confidence while writing the AotF.

Vincent… is from germany I think. Thanks, Vincent. Hope the presentation went well.

'How Do I Get Published?'

I suspect that on the path to success in life, it shortens the journey a lot if you learn to ask the right question of the right person. I’ve occasionally been asked the question in this blog entry's title, and I know plenty of other writers also encounter it. Unfortunately it is definitely the wrong question to be asking writers. (Well, most writers, anyway. Writers of “how to get published” books are probably good people to ask, though I’m sure they’d rather you just bought the book.)

Consider, first, what they don’t know:

* All the agents throughout the local or world market

A Question from the Guestbook

A recent guestbook entry got my attention...

Fiona says:

Hi! I'm sixteen years old, British, though living in Germany, and I wrote an email to you some time in January, telling you that I dearly love your books and that they really inspired me while I was writing an own trilogy. Well, now an agent in the USA that sounded proessional so far has offered to represent me and will send me the contract soon, but they do not do the editing themselves and would like me to pay for an editor suggested by them to do the work. I have done my research, but I don't know whether it's a good idea to pay them for that, even if it isn't much they're asking for, and the money goes to the editor and not to them. What do you as an author say? Fiona

I've always been told that an agent shouldn't charge you anything more than the fee (10-15%) they get on your sales. However, I know sometimes they charge you for ordering extra promotional copies from your publisher so they can send them to interested publishers from other markets like, say, foreign language editions.

Obviously, no agent is going to be able to charge you a fee on sales or order extra copies unless they've found you a publisher. So the rule generally is, if they want money before they've done any actual agenting work, be suspicious.

I'm not the best person to ask whether this editing fee is suspicious or not, because I'm no expert on the US market. The people to contact are the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA). I've found their website useful, and I believe they have information on agents there and a list of shonky agents and publishers to avoid.