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When the Goddess Wakes Cover Reveal

There’s a lot going on behind the scenes here. The third book of the trilogy is fully drafted and the first act of it (of three total) is just about polished.

And then there’s the cover, another beauty by Lauren Saint-Onge. I’m delighted with it, for obvious reasons.

Any readers of the first two books want to speculate who the three humanoids are? I think one’s pretty obvious, and probably two, but the other… not so much.

I’ve got a new story in an anthology coming out next week, and it’s available for pre-order right now. It stars probably my favorite of all my characters, Hanuvar Cabera, but the anthology is full of other great fiction as well. It’s titled Galactic Stew, and is edited by none other than Joshua Palmetier and David B. Coe. You can find it right here.

Speaking of Hanuvar, I’ve been re-organizing my web site a little and created a dedicated page both for him and for Dabir and Asim. You can check out Hanuvar here, and Dabir and Asim here. My son drew the Hanuvar picture and will soon be finishing one for the Dabir and Asim page.

…and speaking of Dabir and Asim, two new stories featuring them will soon be in print. One’s coming out in Heroic Fiction Quarterly very soon. I’ll post something about it here when it happens.

New Interview! Great Reviews!

I’ve been working on the Kickstarter and reading page proofs of Upon the Flight of the Queen, but I’ve returned to spread all the news about me!

First, here’s a new interview over at NFreads. I thought they asked some pretty good questions. Hopefully I gave some answers even the regulars haven’t read.

A little while ago For the Killing of Kings got a splendid review over at Locus. More recently it made the TOR list of best of 2019 fantasy novels–so far, and some lovely things were said. And, over on a nifty site that was completely new to me I discovered I’d made a list of 12 Action-Packed Fantasy Books.

GenCon is right around the corner, which is hard to believe! I hope I’ll be seeing some of you there!

Checking In

You know, I really love the interface of my new web site. On the outside it must be clear that the LOOK of my web site has changed. Here on the inside let me tell you that this Meanthemes theme is simply a lot easier to work with.

I have a NEW Hanuvar story published over at Heroic Fiction Quarterly! It’s a rework of a very old story with an older character, and I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out. There’s even an audio version read by my friend Karen Bovenmeyer, so you have no reason NOT to check it out.

Victory is Mine!

I don’t know that I’ve ever been so long away from the ‘ol blog. I’ve been away from social media as well. I haven’t even been seeking out the news as much. Usually I like to remain well informed about current events, but I’m honestly a little tired and disheartened by all that and just focusing on the people around me and the places nearest me. Doing the garden, digging the weeds, seeing my son graduate college, watching documentaries in the evening with my wife — and writing, and editing, and more and more of the same. Honestly, it’s only been in the last two weeks that I’ve watched documentaries with my beloved, because I was working nearly every night on revisions.

Mourning a Fallen Scholar

I had the pleasure of meeting Steve Tompkins in person only once, at a World Fantasy Convention, but I had known him for many years prior, and maintained a fairly regular correspondence with him up until the time of his unexpected death.

Steve was bright, and passionate, and gifted. He was enormously well read, and even today, ten years after his death, I sometimes think about him, especially when I myself critically contemplate the work of Robert E. Howard. I am certain he would have continued to contribute to REH scholarly studies, just as I am fairly sure he would have cast his net even more broadly as the years passed. I should love to have read what he might have written about Leigh Brackett, another writer whose work we both adored. I once sent him an essay discussing her, knowing he’d provide helpful and insightful feedback, and he told me that when he got to one line I’d written about the excellence of her prose, he’d stood at work and given a fist pump. That accolade from him was better than a starred review from anywhere else.

I should have liked to have read what else Steve had in him. And I should like to have sat down with him in person again.

I dedicated one of the Harold Lamb volumes I edited to him, in part because I knew Steve would have loved to have held it. But it was in part because I wanted in some small way to preserve his name, so that others would see it, and maybe pull out some of his essays and see again what a fine and brilliant fellow he was.

Update at Work

In the coming days there are apt to be some curious changes underway on the web site. Colors will be changing, as will typeface, organization, and so on — a lot of it’s up for grabs. Hopefully I’ll have it all straightened out in just a few days, so bear with me… The intention is to make the entire web site a lot more user friendly.

Behind-the-Scenes

You wouldn’t know it by looking at the site, but life’s pretty busy here. Nearly every day I’m doing editorial work for Perilous Worlds. Several times a week I’m editing things for Tales From the Magician’s Skull. And every day I’m working on either the promotion of book 1 of the Ring-Sworn trilogy, or working on the first draft of book 3. This morning it’s that draft I’m contemplating. Wrapping all the threads up by the end of the book is proving a little challenging, and so I’m still tinkering with the outline.

I’m also managing some wargaming to relax, courtesy of the dedicated spot in our new remodeled basement. In the last couple of weeks I’ve played four scenarios of one of my favorite games, Ambush!. (While I do enjoy playing, that exclamation point is part of the game’s title.)

I hope to share details about all of the publishing stuff as everything gets closer to release…

In the meantime, here’s a snapshot at the end of a recent Ambush! scenario. And here’s a link back to my thoughts after a first few plays, as well as a description of the game for the curious.

Marvin Albert Westerns

I got a grab bag of duplicate paperbacks from Chris Hocking a few years ago and discovered a lot of gold. One of the standouts was a detective novel from “Nick Quarry,” which turned out to be one of the pseudonyms of Marvin Albert. Albert also wrote under Al Conroy, and Anthony (or Tony) Rome, Ian MacAlister, and J.D. Christilian. Mysteries, westerns, “men’s adventure;” Albert could do it all, and he always delivered. I’ve read over a dozen paperbacks by the man at this point, and I’ve yet to read a bad one. Now maybe I’ve read only one that comes close to being a true classic, but they’re always good books. The plots make sense, the characters are compelling, the action scenes are crisp and clear, and the pace never flags.

Over the last few years I’ve been trying out a number of “new-to-me” authors of old westerns and mystery fiction. A lot of it is uncharted territory for me. So if I’ve tried a few authors who’ve left me cold, I know I can always retreat to another old Albert novel and be entertained. He’s dependably good.

Karate Form

I’ve realized a curious fact about the way I learn katas taught at my karate school.

If you’re not in the know, katas, or forms, are the somewhat dance-like patterns that martial arts students perform to master various techniques. The longer you’ve been practicing, the more katas you learn. Continued rehearsal of the katas improves not just your ability to perform them, but provides physical benefits. Once you stretch every day and run some katas, you’ve definitely performed a workout. But the benefits are greater than this. After a while you notice the stances and practice of balance intercalate themselves into your daily habits. Your reflexes improve profoundly.

For instance if I’m surprised — say a kid’s running past me at a pool — I do a quick sidestep without thinking about it. After learning an upper-level kata with multiple crane stances, which were extremely challenging at first, my own balance improved overall. If I’m bumped, I immediately ground myself into a more sturdy stance. And don’t be the person who grabs me from behind in jest, for you may find me spinning to face you with hands ready to strike. I alarmed a friend (and myself, a little) when she was just giving me a surprise shoulder squeeze.