Writer's Grove

I’ve been informed that one is not allowed to run contests on Facebook to give away things like signed author copies. It is, apparently, Against The Rules. I haven’t read said rules, nor do I intend to, because every time I read a rule a little piece of my soul flies away. I do think someone’s wit is diseased, however. You make a social thingamabob like Facebook and then tell people they can’t have contests on it? That’s like giving a child a toy and then telling them they can’t play with it. Super mean poopy heads!

It’s the sort of thing the Man would do, that’s what it is. So we are going to stick it to the Man. We are going to be ninjas and have a contest without Facebook ever knowing we had one. It will be a Shadow Contest. It’s easy. On Wednesday, May 25, I’m gonna randomly select three (3) NEATO PEOPLE WHO READ BOOKS from the giant list of folks that Facebook calls fans or friends or WHATEVER it says in their rules I never read. I will attempt to contact those people and ask them to send me their addresses. And then I’m going to mail them each a signed copy of HEXED, the second book in The Iron Druid Chronicles. They’ll win it before they can buy it (as long as they’re in the US or Canada)! And the Man will cry.

If you already have gotten all clicky on the button that says “like” on Facebook and you are therefore a NEATO PERSON WHO READS BOOKS, you are already entered. If you are not already a NEATO PERSON WHO READS BOOKS, allow me to give you some reasons why you should join the illustrious ranks:
1) You will stick it to the Man.
2) I put some content on my Facebook author page that I don’t share on my blog. The Iron Druid Wallpapers, a bunch of photos from my upcoming tour of Colorado, and the priceless picture of my editors in a Luchador mask are just a few of the goodies you’ll find there.
3) It’s kinda easy to talk to me there, since I actually check it. My blog is spiffy and I love it, but since the comments can become riddled with spam I have a security question thingie that involves math and I think that discourages people from commenting. (Reason #637 why spammers should be sterilized.) I’ve talked to more folks on Facebook in the past couple of days than I have in the past month on my blog.
4) You can win a signed copy of HEXED!
5) You have always wanted to be a part of something with “Shadow” in the name of it. Shadow Council, Shadow Contest, Shadow Fish Fry—they are all cool because of the Shadow. It’s axiomatic. And now’s your chance to be shadowy!

Seriously, thank you to all the people who are already following me on Facebook—I appreciate your support and the chance to connect with you. :) I wish you the best o’ luck in the Shadow Contest! Cheers!

Since Atticus O’Sullivan is about 2,100 years old, he has one hell of a backstory. (That’s most of our recorded history, right? At least the parts that were recorded without hieroglyphs?) Though his adventures are firmly rooted in the modern day, occasionally his past has to come up, and when it does, I have to make sure it’s at least somewhat plausible.

Without giving anything away, I had to do quite a bit of research on the World Wars for HEXED. I was trying to confine it to WWII, but then found out that certain details required going back to their roots in WWI. Most of that research didn’t make it into the book, but I enjoyed educating myself nevertheless.

One of the things I learned in the course of doing research is never to tell people it’s for a novel. They never react like you hope they will.

If you’re a nerd who’s into fantasy, you hope they’ll find you vastly interesting and want to buy you a beer in exchange for a story. And I mean a good beer, too, not “the Banquet Beer”—I’m talking something with a craft name like Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti from the Great Divide Brewing Company in a flagon.

Sadly, no one ever does that. I will cling to the fantasy that it could happen, but experience has shown me that the odds against it are pretty high. You will never get a free beer for telling someone you’re doing research for a novel. You will get polite indifference, outright disbelief, or glazed eyes. On the upside, you do get all of those for free. Free is good!

I think I was talking about backstory.

Researching a huge backstory like Atticus’s can take an inordinately long time. It’s so easy to get distracted. Did you know that the ancient Celts used to charge into battle naked? The idea was that they’d terrify their opponents because they weren’t afraid to let their naughty bits go flappity-flap. It’s not a bad idea, honestly. If I saw a few hundred naked men charging me, I would RUN. But then the Celts ruined the effect by wearing golden torcs around their necks; it was concentrated wealth and it tended to focus one’s gaze. Dudes would squash their terror of floppity man meat long enough to get a shot at scoring the gold.

Wait. Was I talking about backstory or distraction?

Once you realize that you’re sinking time into research you should be using to write, you might think it would help to ration your research or schedule it. You can do that, sure, but you might wind up missing something that way. Free association can lead one to spiffy discoveries. I recently discovered this band called Dark Moor on Pandora, by the way. They do this rocking version of Vivaldi’s Winter and their album cover has a bitchin’ squid dude sitting on a throne with a Corinthian helmet. I’m going to put a link to the video on YouTube below. Only about the first 3:36 or so is the real song…bunch of bonus track nonsense after that, but it’s brilliant up to there.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txwlKqt01TQ[/youtube]

Anyway. Backstory. It’s tough stuff. Rewarding, though, if you don’t let the research consume you. :)

How cool is this! The incredibly spiffy Rane Aria sent me some fan art of Atticus O’Sullivan! She’s kindly given me permission to post it here, so of course I’m going to do it! Behold:

I want to thank Rane for taking the time to do this—I love it! I’m also going to post this into an album on my author Facebook page called Fan Art. If you ever feel inspired to send me some (use kevin (at) kevinhearne.com), please make sure you give me permission to post it and I’ll add it to the gallery on my Facebook page!

And while I’m at it, I suppose it would be a good time to re-mention that I have a gallery of Iron Druid wallpapers on my Facebook page that you’re free to download and use if you feel like it!

ALSO while I’m at it, thank you very much to all the folks who have contacted me to say they’re enjoying HOUNDED! It makes me smile. :)

TWENTY THOUSAND NERDS IN ONE PLACE! That’s going to be Phoenix Comicon, and I can’t wait! It will be a good warmup for San Diego, where I hear it’s supposed to be just like Phoenix except with a HUNDRED THOUSAND BONUS NERDS and some extra famous people.

Here’s my schedule for Phoenix—hope to see you there!

Friday, 3-4 pm, Room 124A: Being a Newbie Writer
Definitely my panel. Think I’ll be the newest of the newbies. Gini Koch, Jordan Summers, Marcy Rockwell, and yours truly.

Saturday, 10:30-11:30, Room 122: The Big Idea
John Scalzi, Cherie Priest, James Owen, Jordan Summers, Sam Sykes, and moi

Saturday, 1:30-2:30, Room 124A: Urban Fantasy Authors Go to Town
Allyson James, Cherie Priest, Jordan Summers, Yvonne Navarro, and me

Saturday, 4:30-5:30, Room 124A: Using the Southwest as a Setting for Stories
Allyson James, Gini Koch, Janni Lee Simner, Weston Ochse, y yo

I’m also going to have a table thingie in the exhibit hall that I’m sharing with Sam Sykes. Table 632. Sometimes I’ll be there! Sometimes I won’t! Sometimes Sam will be there and you might be confused, so just remember that he is very tall. Actually, I can be quite specific on when I’ll be there. I’ll be there for a little while on Friday about four-ish to see if anyone wants to chat. Then on Saturday afternoon I’ll be hanging out there between my afternoon panels from 2:30-4:30. Mysterious Galaxy will be sellin’ my book nearby, I’d be happy to sign one, five, or ten copies that you’d like to give as gifts… :) Seriously, come on by and say hello. I’ll probably be staring at my laptop otherwise. :)

“Aftermath” is a very strange word. It has vaguely negative connotations, doesn’t it? I find that odd, because to me it should be a word of unbridled joy. Any time aftermath is a good time. I often experience dread beforemath and existential horror duringmath, but aftermath is a time for frolicking with hummingbirds and singing show tunes with denizens of the forest.

Well. Here I am in the aftermath of my first week of bein’ published, my first book signing thingie, and I haven’t posted any pictures yet. I feel badly about this, but I haven’t had the time. The Day Job has been swamping me since it’s getting darn close to finals. I’ll do my best to squeeze in some time somewhere…

In the meantime let me say how grateful I am to everyone who came to Changing Hands to see me. It was a lovely night and it seemed that everyone was entertained. I’d also like to thank the spiffy people who have contacted me either on Facebook, Twitter, or the blog here to say how much they’re enjoying HOUNDED. It gives me warm fuzzies!

I will be at the East West Exchange in Payson this Sunday at 12:30. It’s a neato little bookshop with free wifi and what I believe to be the best darn fancy-schmancy coffee drinks in town. I’d love to meet you there if you’re in northern AZ or wouldn’t mind a nice drive up to visit a place with trees.

May your aftermath be serene and full of joy. :)

Whew! Release day was fun! I visited eight bookstores and two Irish pubs! Met many cool booksellers and raised a flagon to Atticus n’ Oberon, my editors and my agent, and my readers. Thanks very much to those of you who have been sayin’ howdy on Twitter, Facebook, and here on the blog; I appreciate it sincerely and am glad you’re enjoying Atticus n’ the gang.

Thought I’d share with you a couple o’ new Nerdscapes with the NERDS INCLUDED! First one requires a wee bit o’ setup.

Last weekend I went up to a secluded cabin in Pine, Arizona, the kind of place where Kathy Bates can tie you up in a bed and knock off your feet with a hammer and no one will EVER KNOW. I was there with The Confederacy of Nerds, comprised of the following: two IT guys who routinely say things like “I don’t want to migrate that to my cluster” and “Fu** Microsoft”; one guy who started out in the A/V Club in high school and somehow translated that into a career where he makes videos and double entendres like “I know how to coil my cable”; and one guy who speaks two languages other than English—Calculus and Klingon. We were there to play games and conduct gastrointestinal experiments.

We played this game called Zombies. It’s simple: You have to make it from the town square to the helipad. The problem is that all the other players are trying to stop you and of course the zombies want to snack on your braaaaaains. So here’s a Nerdscape with zombie action figures from the game, Goldfish and a random pineapple for the food, an ARC of Ari Marmell’s forthcoming release, The Goblin Corps, Longboard Lager and 90 Shilling Ale, and a genuinely excited nerd named Andrew:

Next Nerdscape features an author who walked into Changing Hands bookstore and discovered a little display thingie they’d created for him in advance of his signing party on May 9:

Heh! I am amused. But now that I’ve introduced the subject, I hope I can meet some of you if you’re in town. I’ll be at the LepreCon at the Tempe Mission Palms on Saturday, May 7, sittin’ on a UF panel with Seanan McGuire and Gini Koch at 2 pm, followed by an autograph session afterward. I also have a reading at 11 am that day. Then, as the picture says above, I’ll be having my own little event at Changing Hands on Monday, May 9, at 7 pm. Hope to see you there!

If you’re in northern AZ, I’ll be at the East-West Book Exchange in Payson on Sunday, May 15, at 12:30. Then during Memorial Day weekend, I’ll be at the Phoenix Comicon. See their website for details on my appearances.

Thanks again for all the support n’ well wishes! :)

Well, I’ve only waited twenty years for this day. What shall I do first?

Coffee! Ahhhh.

Right. Next, how about a handy-dandy list of all the places I’ll be on the Internet(s)?

1. John Scalzi’s Whatever blog, where I’ll be featured on The Big Idea sometime today.
2. Many o’ my friends in The League of Reluctant Adults graciously let me guest blog in their spaces about various doodads, and the next six are they: first, I’m at  The Biting Edge talkin’ about the query letter that got me my spiffy agent. That’s the blog of Mario Acevedo and Jeanne Stein, both of whom write excellent vampire series.
3. Over at the blog of urban fantasy author J.F. Lewis, I share my looong path to publication to give toiling writers hope. If a day like this can happen for me, it can happen for you.
4. Some time ago, author Kelly Meding challenged me to insert something into a book of mine and I manfully made it happen. I return the challenge on her blog and she has NO HOPE of meeting it. Mwah-ha-ha-haaa!
5. I discuss my back-to-back-to-back release schedule at Stacia Kane’s blog because she went through a very similar schedule last year with her Downside Ghosts series.
6. I want to start a flagon revolution. Jaye Wells, author of the Sabina Kane novels, shares this passion, so I’m talking about it over at her blog.
7. Because I’m a nerd, I’ve been working on a card game based on the events of my books. It’s the kind of thing that makes nerds happy. I spill the beans and give a sneak peek at the game over at the website of Dr. Nicole Peeler. She’s also doing a giveaway for me, so check that out!
8. I think I’m supposed to be on the blog of The Guide to Literary Agents today. If not, oh well, it’s a cool blog anyway!
9. I have an interview up today at the spiffy book blog called The Qwillery. There’s a giveaway going on there too! I think. I’m having trouble keeping track of this stuff.
10. My run at Babel Clash continues with Chris Wooding. Have you seen this yet? We started on April 26.

In all likelihood I’ll be elsewhere as well. I think I’m supposed to have something on the RTBookReview blog, but, um…not sure. Some reviews might pop up too, and I’ll do a roundup of those in a couple o’ days. Aside from the web, I’ll be tweeting more than usual today. Part of what I’ll be tweeting is my manic drive around the valley going into bookstores and signing whatever they have in stock.

Something else I will most likely tweet is a 140-character SQUEE! HOUNDED is finally published! To my editors, Tricia and Mike, I give you an uncomfortably long virtual hug! Thank you so much for your expertise and your enthusiasm for the Iron Druid! And to my agent, Magic E, you are the disco to my fries.

To the book bloggers and reviewers who have been so kind to me with your reviews n’ interviews—Jessica, Kristin, Mihir, David, Gail, Sally, Kat, Joanne, and more—can I just say how grateful I am that you take the time to promote genre fiction? I didn’t realize how many bloggers were out there or how awesome they were until I kind of got into this gig. I hope I get to meet you someday. Literate people rock.

For the celebratory dinner, I’m headin’ to Rúla Búla, the best darn Irish pub an Irish lad could wish for, either real or fictional. I go there in real life, and Atticus goes there in fiction—often. You should too, if you can! Cheers, my dears; my flagon runneth over. I hope you enjoy the adventures of Atticus n’ Oberon. :)

As I suspected, this was a ridiculously fun contest. I had a blast laughing over these and I can’t resist posting up a few o’ my favorites in case you missed them in the comments. I applaud your creativity and envy your action figure collection! And I am very glad you’re not too old enough to play with them! Thank you all so much for entering!

Check out this one from Hillary: I love the Mystery Science Theater stand-ins watching Terminator. “Have You Seen This Boy?”

Kristin over at My Bookish Ways, who is Three Kinds of Spiffy and has a Ninja Bird, sent in this Amphibious Nerd Assault:

Evie sent in two really beautiful photos and I suspect she Knows What She’s Doing with a camera. Here is her Nerdscape, and you have to check out the reflection in the sunglasses!

Synde sent over this beautifully dark photo with primo vodka, skull action, and a weeping angel (don’t blink!):

Random Winners Chosen Randomly from Randomizer Thingie

VVB for Zombies n’ Nutella on a copy of FEED

Candice J. for “Dwight’s Hike to Mt. Doom”

Winner of the Kevin Thinks That is Balls Rad Award:

Teri C’s Dinosaurs and Disney. I don’t know why, but this just cracks me up every time I look at it. There are so many Disney characters I would love to feed to velociraptors. I admire the depth of field here. There’s bonus beer in the background, too!

So! Teri C, Candice J, and VVB, please contact me using kevin at kevinhearne dot com with your snail mail address and tell me how you’d like to have your books personalized! Congratulations, and thank you for entering!

Please come on back on Tuesday, my release day (SQUEE!), for a rundown of all the shenanigans I’ll be up to—I’ll have, um, six or seven posts up? I think? And by the way, if you weren’t aware, I’m doing a Babel Clash thingie with Chris Wooding until May 9, and we’ve been talking about filling in the space between sci-fi and fantasy, Insanity Points, and so on. It’s a good time.

Thank you all again for your awesome nerdiness!

I suppose I should be getting used to this by now: if I announce a date for something, it will change a few days later.

My first convention won’t be Phoenix Comicon anymore; it will be my second. I’m still going and I’ll be on the Urban Fantasy panel with Cherie Priest, and you can imagine the geekout I’m having about that since I love her work. But now there’s another convention I’ll be attending, and it’s just a sort of mind-blowing coincidence.

It’s called the LepreCon, and it’s being held from May 6-8 at the Tempe Mission Palms, right next to Rúla Búla. So let’s get this straight: there’s an Irish-themed fantasy convention being held the week I release a novel about an Irish Druid who likes to hang out at Rúla Búla, the best Irish pub ever? I can’t NOT go to that! There’s actually a scene in HAMMERED (book 3) that is set in the Tempe Mission Palms, so I’m kind of flabbergasted at the confluence of time and place for this convention.

I’ll be there on Saturday, May 7, participating in just one panel, and I’m seeing about setting up a reading too. If you can make it out, I’d love to see you there! But I’d really, really love to see you at the signing/reading I have set up at Changing Hands bookstore on May 9! Please see my Events & Appearances page for all the goodies.

Meanwhile, have you made a nerdscape yet? No? They’re EASY! You take one book (comic or otherwise), one action figure, and one item o’ junk food and arrange in a composition. If you wish to use more than one of any element, go right ahead! Take a picture. Mess with it in Photoshop or some other kind o’ software, then post with an epic title! Here’s one of mine:

One does not simply walk into Mordor and fight the Kindly Ones. Eomer sees Death coming for Dream and he tries to stave off the inevitable because that’s the kind of manly man o’ Rohan he is. Dream has that stubborn twinkle in his eye, though, that lets you know he’s going to keep on doing his thing and the series will eventually end. See? Nerdscapes are easy AND full of pathos. You should make one today and post it on your Facebook or something. If you haven’t “liked” me on Facebook yet, I do tend to post a bunch of wallpapers and stuff in there for people to have fun with. I’ve just started a Nerdscape album and will periodically add more as I make ’em. :) Cheers!

I thought my first convention ever would be San Diego Comic Con, but it turns out now that I’ll be at Phoenix Comicon first over Memorial Day weekend!

Details still being worked out, but I should be on a few panels and manage a signing or two. There will be quite a few spiffy people there, but I’m geeking out over seeing author Cherie Priest, because I love her books. Leonard Nimoy is going to show up. Stan Lee, for crying out loud! Actors from Battlestar Galactica and True Blood!

Anyway, memberships are cheap and they got a huge new space this year, so it won’t be terribly crammed! Please go if you can, I’d love to see you there!

In other news—sometime today over at The Spinecracker they will post an interview and give away five copies of HOUNDED. Right now there’s a very kind review of HOUNDED up there, and I’m flattered because she doesn’t give five stars very often. Cool way to win a copy of the book if you’re so inclined! Peace~