Countdown Complete!

And I managed to squeak in under the deadline, too. Stuff of Legends will be released this Tuesday -- and the revamped website for Stuff of Legends the webcomic is up and running! After all this build up, I wish it was more dramatically different, to be honest, but I'm not much of a web designer. I am pleased with the individual character portraits on the top of each page, though; again, much praise to Brandon Dorman for his cover art on the novel, which inspired Jordan's new look and pose on the front page.

In other news, I now have a facebook page set up for the novel, which I hope you'll Like. Take a peak and tell me what you think of that one, too. I'm hoping someone heard my CFAX interview this afternoon and can tell me how it sounded; I was in a vet's office with an ill cat at the time the interview aired, and didn't think to ask if they had a radio.

Now, back to work on the sequel... or as the current part I'm working on could be called, the Adventures of Giddy and Drippy. Don't ask.

~Ian

Books, Blogs, and Buzz

This box arrived on Friday, meaning that my weekend was, for the most part, one long buzz of excitement as I pressed these copies on friends and family.

The note in the corner says, "Congratulations, Ian, it's a book!"

This Sunday, July 25, I'll be on the radio, talking with Scott Walker about Stuff of Legends on CFAX 1070 in Victoria. If you're in earshot, tune in around noon. I've had several more reviews on Amazon.com and elsewhere, ranging from ones that make me absolutely giddy to a couple that definitely leave me thinking about how some of the characters need to grow and mature in future books.

...to touch on that further, because I can't resist a digression, one of the difficulties I had to work around was how much the main characters annoy each other. I'd chosen early on to use a focused perspective for each section, staying in a single character's head each time. But as I wrote, the more it occurred to me that this would colour how the non-focal characters appeared. Eventually, I decided I'd just go with it: When Jordan was my focus, I'd write Eliott as immature and foolish as Jordan sees him; likewise, when Cyral takes the perspective, Jordan becomes more stubborn and crotchety and unhelpful. Whether this was the right choice or not, I'll leave up to the readers, but I'll continue to analyze the technique and decide how or if I want to use it in sequels.

In other news, I've begun a revamp here on the blog. Take a look around at the new pages, and feel free to drop in suggestions for layout or design. I'm a clunky hobbyist when it comes to this sort of thing, but I'll keep at it until I have something I like.

...hmm, sounds rather similar to my approach to writing.

Less than one week until Stuff of Legends hits the shelves. If you haven't already pre-ordered a copy, check out Buy the Book at the top of the blog. Spread the word!

(Countdown: 1. No, it's not until Stuff of Legends is released. You'll see this weekend!)

Where We Are Now

One month until Stuff of Legends hits the bookstores, and a new player has emerged: Rosanne, the publicist who will be working with me. I say emerged because she's been doing a great deal over the last couple of months that I've been entirely unaware of until now: getting galleys to her contacts, creating a list of reviewers who should see the book before the release, things of that nature. In the first week of July, the finished book and press material will be going out to the media -- I'm adding my local contacts to Rosanne's broader list right now.

(While I'm dropping names, I should mention the ongoing help Danielle, my wonderful editor, is still providing, and point out that the cover art for Stuff of Legends was provided by the very talented Brandon Dorman.)

One new bit of self-promotion, which you might notice here on the sidebar: I'm now on twitter as /IantheAuthor, running a series of Jordan the Red facts from today until release (July 27th, but currently available for pre-order). If the tweets attract an audience, I have some ideas for continuing to use the medium afterward.

I've been making headway with the sequel to Stuff of Legends: a few revisions to the outline, making the climax more dramatic and adding more significance to a couple of elements; put another thousand-word chunk together from somewhere in the middle of the thing, too. This is a fun stage, where sections of the jigsaw puzzle start to make miniature pictures of their own.

Two more early reviews:

"Stuff of Legends is a refreshing amusing fantasy" - Alternative Worlds

"If you enjoy fantasy humor, then you should give it a try" - Amazon Vine Reviewer

And for those of you keeping track, Countdown: 2.