tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8787228084997691372011-10-06T23:01:40.564-04:00Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? - Proverbs 6:27James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.comBlogger551100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-45264530794487915222008-05-26T21:02:00.002-04:002008-05-26T21:06:14.817-04:00

In retrospect, it was a bit short sighted of me last year when I launched this blog dedicated to only one book. So, rolling forward, I'll be posting all Bitterwood, Dragonforge, and other book news at a new website called The Prophet and the Dragon. I'm kicking things off with a contest to give away free copies of Dragonforge every week in June. Check out the new site for details!

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-42278107566506502432008-04-20T19:18:00.002-04:002008-04-20T19:22:21.155-04:00

I just cruised over to the Solaris website and discovered they finally have a sample chapter up for Dragonforge! Read it here. This isn't the first chapter of the book, but it is a moment in the book when the major players in the human rebellion meet for the first time. I've been talking about Burke the Machinist here for almost 9 months now. I'm excited that the rest of the world can finally

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-64899666078678534352008-04-20T18:28:00.002-04:002008-04-20T18:45:41.345-04:00

Hooyaw! I wrote over 10k words this week. I feel really good about the way book three is coming together. I wrote over on the Codex forum that writing is a little bit like working a Rubik's cube. I know what the final configuration is supposed to look like, but currently the cube is all twisted up. I have characters in the town of Dragon Forge that I have to get to the Free City. I have

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-37245499510090689442008-04-13T17:13:00.002-04:002008-04-13T17:30:33.040-04:00

Woohoo! I'm past the half-way mark. Not quite 8k words this week; a bit low, but the fight scene I was working on had a tougher choreography than I'd anticipated. Also, fight scenes can really strain the old vocabulary, especially in the third book of a fantasy novel. I've already used up all the obvious fantasy weapon verbs: slicing, hacking, slashing, piercing, gouging, crushing, biting,

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-20213196822841186192008-04-06T21:57:00.005-04:002008-04-07T00:06:33.432-04:00

I'm a little embarrassed. I finished two chapters this week and felt pretty done around 7 this evening, when I settled down for a couple of hours of King of the Hill and Simpsons to unwind. Then, when I just now set down to update the blog, I realized I was only 40 words short from having written 10k words this week. If I'd been more aware, I suspect I would have pushed to get out those last 40

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-75228406697551717242008-03-30T17:45:00.002-04:002008-03-30T17:54:38.229-04:00

Ten chapters finished! I just wrote a full chapter from the POV of my secondary antagonist for the third book, Vulpine, a sky-dragon with the profession of slavecatcher, a job that is pretty easy to figure out from the job-title. Vulpine had appeared a few times in earlier chapters, but most of those scenes were just him talking. In chapter ten, he really gets to show off why everyone has

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-3555363196480941532008-03-23T22:35:00.002-04:002008-03-23T23:28:36.647-04:00

I made it over the 35k word mark today. I've written seven and a half chapters. I'm definitely past the 1/4 mark of the book, and still on target to get 1/3 done before March runs out. My ambition was to write 10k words a week, though, and so far I'm falling short of that. I'm closer to 7,500 words a week. Still, I'm averaging over 1000 words a day, which isn't bad. If I can continue this

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-48597906314317112422008-03-09T23:49:00.002-04:002008-03-09T23:56:43.006-04:00

I made it safely past the 20k mark, my goal for the week. For the next month or so, I'll assume I'm shooting for 120k words, so I'm now 1/6th done! Woohoo! I'm hoping to reach 30k by the close of next Sunday, but this will be complicated by Stellarcon this weekend in High Point, where I'll be a guest. I'm on a couple of panels and have a signing lined up for Saturday at 11. Stellarcon is a

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-59638523241173111562008-03-02T23:02:00.002-05:002008-03-02T23:36:48.032-05:00

The brief break I took from writing about dragons since finishing work on Dragonforge is over. I had intended to start writing the third Dragonage book (code named B3, short for Bitterwood 3, since I haven't settled on a title) in mid-February. Instead, I wrote a short story the first two weeks of February, then proceeded to contract the flu. So, instead of writing the last two weekends, I've

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-62027802734729999722008-01-19T15:24:00.000-05:002008-01-19T22:49:41.766-05:00

Behold, I have created the blacksmithwho fans the coals into flameand forges the weapons of destruction.I have created the waster to destroy.Isaiah 54:16

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-35185019749076897692008-01-13T23:25:00.001-05:002008-01-13T23:49:00.014-05:00

So, I turned in Dragonforge on Wednesday night/Thursday morning. Friday afternoon I get a call from my editor at Solaris--he's already read the entire manuscript. So, I asked him if he gave it a thumbs up or a thumbs down. There was a long moment of silence. Then I realized my cell phone battery had died. I felt like I was trapped in a TV commercial....Anyway, we finally managed to talk once

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-84697972234162072942008-01-10T22:19:00.000-05:002008-01-10T23:07:29.260-05:00

This morning, around 3am, I emailed the finished manuscript of Dragonforge in to Solaris. I'm going to be spending a good deal of the next three days before I go back to work reading. I've barely read any novels for the last six months as I've stared down my first real novel deadline. Basically, any time I would sit down to read a novel, I could never tune out the mantra "I should be writing,

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-88261552782993140952008-01-03T06:57:00.000-05:002008-01-03T08:06:25.215-05:00

The deadline to turn Dragonforge over to Solaris is coming up on January 11th, which explains why I've been largely absent from blogging lately. I did some rough calculations recently and think it's taken me roughly 500 hours to produce a reasonably polished manuscript. This includes time I'll be working on it through the 11th, but not time I'll be spending after this point, since I'll still be

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-25426967693419852022007-11-26T09:26:00.000-05:002007-11-26T09:49:32.176-05:00

For those of you who can't wait until July 2008 for your next glimpse of the world of Bitterwood, I'm pleased to announce the release of the Solaris Book of New Fantasy. It's chock full of top notch authors and has been getting excellent reviews, including this detailed, story by story review from Fantasy Book Critic.My story in the anthology is "Tornado of Sparks." It's set 15 years before the

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-6482800180792140972007-10-31T16:09:00.001-04:002007-10-31T16:09:20.826-04:00

The contest is over at Sci-Fi Chick, and I'm heading out right now to send a signed copy to a winner named Asara. See other winners at Sci-Fi Chick. And, of course, you should check out her blog on a daily basis for other interviews and giveaways. Her site rocks!Asara is also a blogger. Check out her musings over at Asara's Mental Meanderings.I'm off to World Fantasy after I stop at the post

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-26849982156142041292007-10-28T17:51:00.000-04:002007-10-28T18:57:32.977-04:00

No more word count updates for a while. I finished my first draft, at least to the point where I'm able to start the second draft. I didn't write the last two scenes of the book. I know broadly what happens in each of them, but decided to let them simmer a while longer before I commit to certain events. The ending(s) I've outlined make sense and are satisfying conclusions to the storylines,

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-26568039076821369522007-10-14T22:42:00.000-04:002007-10-14T22:54:33.890-04:00

So darn close to being done, yet, I'm not. At least two more chapters in the book, though I'm only going to write one more before I start on the rewrites.Brain is fried. 14k words in one week. Next weekend, I'm sleeping around the clock.Tomorrow, book signing at the Barnes and Noble in Burlington, NC, 7pm, with Lisa Shearin, author of "Magic Lost, Trouble Found." Ongoing: Don't forget about the

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-64243549679174374742007-10-11T22:07:00.000-04:002007-10-11T22:13:59.629-04:00

An interview of yours truly went live today over at the Sci Fi Chick. Tomorrow, she's announcing a drawing for a free autographed copy of Bitterwood. In the interview, I give the most details I've given to date about the plot line of Dragon Forge. I'm planning to lock myself in the house all weekend to get as close to the end of the book as humanly possible. I'm not even planning to sleep. I

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-71623251152389912092007-10-07T21:19:00.000-04:002007-10-07T21:33:38.623-04:00

Just over 9k words this week. I continue to get the feeling that the more I write, the more I have left to write. I'm only contracted to turn in 120k words. I honestly don't know if I'll finish the first draft in the next 15k words. I suppose I should contact Solaris at some point and tell them to order more paper....I have a book signing on October 15 at the Barnes and Noble in Burlington,

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-70337861834273327422007-09-30T19:41:00.000-04:002007-09-30T19:46:12.280-04:00

The final scenes edge ever closer. Looking forward to rolling over the 100k milestone this week. I could have probably written a bit further this evening. But, I made the strategic decision to stop with details of a scene still in my head to get me writing quickly the next time I sit down. I'd really like to get out at least 10k words this upcoming week. We'll see.

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-78567364637834706762007-09-23T21:22:00.000-04:002007-09-23T21:37:09.878-04:00

About 9k words this week. Lots of fight scenes. I suspect in the rewrites I'll be looking to cut the use of the word "blood" by about half.... A few weeks ago I wrote up a list of scenes I still needed to write. I'm down to ten, although the list may grow. Still, the end is in sight.

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-55631324977299086502007-09-16T16:24:00.000-04:002007-09-16T16:37:03.486-04:00

I end the week with 80183 words. I got off to a slow start, but had a productive Saturday and Sunday. Of course, the trade off has been that I haven't left the house on what is probably the nicest weekend we've had in three months. August and the first half of September were just brutal here in NC. No rain, and day after day of heat topping out around 100 degrees. So, even though it's early

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-17288165474190269322007-09-16T10:21:00.000-04:002007-09-16T10:58:59.532-04:00

I had another signing this week, at the Cary Barnes and Noble, this time a joint event with Lisa Shearin, author of Magic Lost, Trouble Found. I started reading her novel this weekend--it's got a very different tone from most fantasy novels. It's not an outright comedy like a Terry Pratchett novel, but it is a remarkably light and playful voice. Some fantasy chokes beneath the weight of its own

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-71143921206757208232007-09-09T22:13:00.000-04:002007-09-09T22:38:00.679-04:00

Made it to 72015. Didn't get as much done this week as I would have liked because of the two book signings. The booksignings were important, though, and I'm told that a significant chunk of stock was sold from both stores, and I have a report from the Cary Barnes and Noble that sales of my book have been strong leading up to this Tuesday's signing.I feel caught in a Catch-22. The time frame

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-72287679972768100572007-09-03T19:34:00.000-04:002007-09-03T19:45:32.950-04:00

A review of Bitterwood has just appeared on a blog called "Thistles for Breakfast." It's a pretty well thought-out review. I'm particularly intrigued by his thoughts on the human traits displayed by my dragons. I confess, my dragons can come across, at times, pretty much as just big, scaley, winged people. In Dragon Forge, now that I have more room to explore and expand upon dragon cultures, I

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-26439586932010666872007-09-03T14:47:00.000-04:002007-09-03T15:26:48.253-04:00

I've been publishing my Dragon Forge word counts every Sunday, but yesterday I was driving back from Dragon Con so I was too wiped out by the time I got home to update. Anyway, I've arrived at 66357. The con ate into my writing time, I'm afraid. This week, I've got two reading/signings lined up, which will also take a chunk of writing time away from me. Still, next weekend is relatively open,

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-66268054511106950212007-08-26T22:46:00.000-04:002007-08-26T23:02:14.367-04:00

I end the week just shy of 63k words. Wrote some good Jandra scenes this week--I like the way she's shaping up in the second book. In the first book, she was the one human character with classic "good" goals. She wants to fight for the survival of humanity and is willing to put her life at risk to do so, but she didn't have a very good tool kit to turn her desire into reality. Her "magic" was

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-23136046288115426572007-08-24T05:27:00.000-04:002007-08-24T05:53:01.080-04:00

Sci-Fi Wire's John Joseph Adams has just posted the interview we did back in July. Click here to read it. An article at such a prominent venue is going to take a chunk out of my productivity at work, I fear. Now that the book has been out for almost two months, I actually have some days where I'm able to go ten or twelve hours without checking my Amazon rankings. The first weeks the book was

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-57160413211856840772007-08-19T21:05:00.000-04:002007-08-19T21:23:30.897-04:00

I end the week with the halfway mark just outside my grasp, at 56636 words. The writing is slowing in part due to a fairly complicated timeline in the middle of the book. My three main plot lines will collide soon, and getting all the characters to the right place at the right time is proving tricky. I'm also discovering, as always, that some characters have minds of their own and aren't

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-21704290656197998502007-08-16T13:15:00.000-04:002007-08-16T13:21:36.410-04:00

A whole slew of events in SeptemberSeptember 1-3Dragon*ConAtlanta, GaMysteriously, I was never given guest status this year, despite being a guest in 3 out of the last 4 years when I had much weaker publishing credits. I was never denied guest status either, mind you. I submitted my application, have made all the requisit follow up emails... nothing. At this point, I'm assuming that the

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-35002593669374601622007-08-12T13:15:00.000-04:002007-08-12T13:22:47.051-04:00

I conclude my fiction writing week at 50925 words for Dragon Forge. Writing from an outline is proving useful in keeping the words flowing. That, and ignoring the rest of my life. My plants are wilting, my laundry is piling in great heaps, and my refrigerator's been empty for about five days now. So, despite the fact I still have several hours of day ahead of me, it's time to leave behind the

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-6632644538212346272007-08-12T09:45:00.000-04:002007-08-12T09:52:00.794-04:00

Solaris books has a forum for people to write in with comments on their publications. There's a forum here for Bitterwood, and recently someone started a forum just for the discussion of the character of Blasphet, the Murder God. In recent weeks I've been writing about Blasphet's further adventures and decided I'd give the Blasphet devotees out there a bit of a sneak peak. Of course, I posted

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-47212811471894289552007-08-07T05:49:00.000-04:002007-08-07T06:06:51.029-04:00

E.E. Knight has a few thoughts on Bitterwood at his blog. He writes the popular Vampire Earth series and a series with dragons as protagonists called "The Age of Fire." I'd been told about these books before but haven't picked up a copy, although I'll definitely be checking it out now. Another novel I've been told about with dragon protagonists is Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton, which also goes on

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-21191040659181477242007-08-04T07:28:00.001-04:002007-08-04T07:41:12.392-04:00

First, a correction: It turns out my reading isn't conflicting with George R.R. Martin's. They moved his to a later time in the day (2pm, I think) but hadn't updated it on the main page of the website at the time I wrote my post. Yesterday, Suanne Warr wrote a review of Bitterwood on her blog. It was overall positive, but she mentioned being annoyed by the frequent POV switches. It's a fair

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-47763201988976724272007-08-01T17:29:00.000-04:002007-08-01T17:40:51.821-04:00

This weekend I'll be a guest at Trinoccon in Raleigh. Here's my schedule:Fri. 6 PM, Ballroom I: MOD Age & Longevity in SFFri. 8 PM, Ballroom I: Meet the GuestsSat. 11 AM, Oakwood: Reading (w/ Kessel)Sat. noon, Ballroom I: MOD Politics in SFSat. 1 PM, Ballroom I: Religion/Spirituality in SFSat. 5 PM, Dealers: Signing (w/ Wold)Sun. noon,Ballroom I: Building BridgesI'm reading at the same time as

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-60066198616752398192007-07-29T21:43:00.000-04:002007-07-29T22:02:35.793-04:00

I finish the night with a wonderfully symetrical word count for the new novel of 36863. That's a bit over 8k words for the week. This coming week will be a bit more challenging, since I have Trinoccon coming up next weekend, so I essentially lose a weekend of writing. Fortunately, I'm taking the Monday following the con off. This is perhaps news more appropriate for my Whateverville blog, but

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-38726589181985840572007-07-22T17:06:00.000-04:002007-07-22T17:11:09.666-04:00

A reader named ASL sent me an email letting me know he loved Bitterwood, but his cat, Isaac, just wasn't as interested. Maybe he was put off when he learned that the dragon queen Tanthia likes to snack on baskets of white kittens?

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-63697874339610595692007-07-22T14:59:00.000-04:002007-07-22T15:03:23.389-04:00

I'm back from the beach. I've had very little access to the internet, so I plan on getting quite a few updates posted here and at whateverville this weel. I've come back from the beach with about 12,000 words written on my new novel, bringing the total to over 28,000. Only 97,000 to go!

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-46617423637500314442007-07-14T09:14:00.000-04:002007-07-14T09:16:11.748-04:00

Pat Esden on her live journal has provided one of my favorite quotes about Bitterwood yet, and she hasn't even read the book! She attended my reading at Readercon and writes on her blog: James Maxey read the beginning of his novel “Bitterwood”. It was great and convinced me to move the novel higher up in my stack of summer reading—and gave me a craving for barbequed dragon tongue.Really, that's

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-32651634286256347312007-07-12T13:43:00.000-04:002007-07-12T14:21:06.489-04:00

While at Readercon last week, I got to do my first live reading from Bitterwood. Click here for the MP3. Also live as of this week is the "Talk about it here: Bitterwood" thread at the Solaris Books forum. Anyone interested in carrying on an online conversation with me about Bitterwood and what comes next can post their questions and comments there. I'll check that thread often and respond as

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-39563079682714880932007-07-04T17:51:00.000-04:002007-07-04T18:02:27.739-04:00

Paul Haggerty has published a review of Bitterwood at SFRevu.A brief taste: "There are clues scattered throughout the beginning of the book, and practically handed to the reader later on, that the world is not what it appears to be. But the secret isn't really important over all, it just adds to the richness of the setting. While the setting and plot entertain, it's ultimately the characters and

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-50276767380036706792007-07-01T18:55:00.000-04:002007-07-01T19:03:15.909-04:00

SciFiChick.com revewed Bitterwood a week or so ago, and now Bitterwood has claimed the number 2 position on her list of Best Books of the First Half of 2007. Hopefully my next book can make it to number one on her list. "Next book?" you may ask. Yep. Two books, in fact. However, details are still being worked out. Hopefully I'll have an anouncement by the end of the week.

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-19618050739707863482007-06-27T20:03:00.000-04:002007-06-27T20:41:47.939-04:00

I was in high school when Dungeons and Dragons was first breaking into popular culture. I bought the boxed set with the red dragon on the cover and was hooked. When I went to college, I devoted roughly 20% of my intellectual energy to classes, 30% to playing spades, and the remaining 50% to running D&D games. I was never the sort of dungeon master who invested any money in pre-made modules. For

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-61768060724785382452007-06-24T20:36:00.000-04:002007-06-24T21:23:33.081-04:00

So, I mentioned in an earlier post last week over at whateverville that I had gotten 4 copies of Bitterwood. On Friday, I got an additonal 40. They now stand in my living room, an impressive little wall of books that leaves me feeling a little numb, to be honest. I only got a handful of contributors copies of Nobody Gets the Girl. I've never been in the presence of 40 copies of anything with my

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-13490870299907851062007-06-15T20:36:00.000-04:002007-06-15T20:57:40.374-04:00

A detailed review of Bitterwood popped up today at the Fantasy Book Critic site. There is a potential spoiler about the setting of the book in the review, but it's the sort of thing I've been wondering whether I should be coy about or not. The Solaris site has also posted an excerpt from what must be a print review on their blog, under an edited version of the Fantasy Book Critic review. You

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-41048589631503871682007-06-10T16:40:00.000-04:002007-06-10T16:45:30.318-04:00

A nice review of Prime Codex, the latest anthology I have a story in, may be found here. It says some very nice things about my story "To the East, a Bright Star." I'm still waiting to get my hands on a copy of the anthology myself, since it just launched about ten days ago, but I've read several of these stories by fellow codexians and can vouch that this anthology is going to be a good

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-77313633790139304992007-06-04T21:00:00.000-04:002007-06-04T21:06:17.164-04:00

Rick Novy has just reviewed an advance reading copy of Bitterwood at his blog "Frothing at the Mouth," which is, I must note, a blog name I wish I'd thought of. Check it out.

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-48541659783240481422007-06-03T14:46:00.000-04:002007-06-03T15:31:35.978-04:00

I spent Friday and Saturday at ConCarolinas in Charlotte. This was the most panel intensive con I've ever attented. I was on 4 back to back panels Friday night, then wound up moderating 4 panels on Saturday (I was scheduled to do 3 of them, and wound up getting drafted for the last when the moderator was unable to attend the con). Among the highlights of the con were seeing my fellow Codexians

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-72678599294115401702007-05-21T17:54:00.000-04:002007-05-21T18:02:19.183-04:00

The latest blog review of Bitterwood may be found at Nancy Fulda's Live Journal.

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-46028601122933586502007-05-10T21:13:00.000-04:002007-05-10T21:25:11.551-04:00

I just discovered two ARC's of Bitterwood for sale on E-Bay. These are the uncorrected review copies the publisher sends out, so they still have all the typos and the paragraph where I slip up and call my protagonist "Sparky" for a whole page instead of "Bitterwood." I don't frequently troll around on E-Bay, but I feel like finding my words available there is another small milestone in my writing

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-5595116486234616212007-05-10T20:49:00.000-04:002007-05-10T21:06:05.710-04:00

I'm going to be a guest at ConCarolinas in a few weeks, June 1-3. This is in Charlotte, NC and if you're in the area the "Geek Comedy Tour" is going to be performing and is well worth the price of admission. I saw them at Ravencon and they were great. Fellow Codexian's Alethea Kontis and Ed Schubert will be there, as well, at least on Saturday. Hope I see you there!

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-3487772427889176432007-05-09T07:49:00.000-04:002007-05-09T07:49:47.187-04:00

When Gravity Fails: Bitterwood Gets Publishers Weekly Starred ReviewA very nice review indeed, even if they did get the name of one my characters wrong. For the record, the king's brother is named Blasphet, not Blasphiel.

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-23751162937010319322007-04-26T20:49:00.000-04:002007-04-26T21:12:21.323-04:00

On a writers forum I recently put out offer to send advance review copies of Bitterwood to anyone with a blog who would agree to read the book and talk about it. I told them up front I wasn't soliciting glowing reviews in exchange for a free book, just honest opinions. If they don't like the book, I still intend to link to them. The book is possibly going to be a bit controversial with die hard

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-29623670605865423472007-04-22T18:28:00.000-04:002007-04-22T19:18:16.153-04:00

I just got in from Ravencon and WOW, it was a terrific con. Mike Pederson, the con chair, and Tony Ruggiero the Programming Director must have put in a lot of sleepless nights to pull this off so smoothly. (I don't mean to exclude any of the dozens of other volunteers by singling out these two... check out ravencon.org for a complete list of volunteers.) I got a bit of a pleasant shock right

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878722808499769137.post-62224573242093618732007-04-14T09:10:00.000-04:002007-04-14T09:22:45.568-04:00

I'll be a guest at RavenCon in Richmond, Va, from April 20-22. I have panels scheduled every day, so I'll be easy to track down. This is my first visit to RavenCon, but I'm already impressed with the work and planning that's gone into it. Check it out more about the con at their website.

James Maxeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16927848864775293278noreply@blogger.com0