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Thanks for coming!

-- Lawrence Watt-Evans

Illustration by Kiri Evans

Monday, March 11, 2013, 1:30:14 AM
Lawrence     IP: 71.114.103.17

Thanks. I've had some inquiries about the movie rights to some of my novels over the years, but not that series, and nothing's come of any of them.

Yet.

The Lords of Dus! best series of all time! I am currently re-reading it again! I really need to get me one of those War Beasts! lol. but seriously would love to see this made into a movie of EPIC proportions! but will never compare to your books, however, I say why not? Any objections? or for that matter, have you or any one else ever wanted to make one of your books into a movie?

I always figured that Fendel was packing up his stuff before disappearing, or maybe unpacking it when he got where he was going, found the ring he'd used, and said, "Damn, that's not gold! If I ever see that soldier again, I'll have to apologize about that."

As for the story potential in junior wizards investigating such things, darn right there's story potential there. I don't have any specific plans to use it, though.

Ok, so I am re-reading The Misenchanted Sword, AGAIN. I do find myself reading it at least once every couple of years or so.

And a thought occurred to me. (Trying to be vague so as to not be too spoilerish) How the heck did Fendel figure out his mistake? Why did he figure out his mistake? Was he just anal-retentive enough that he performed scries to document the experiment? Or, was the appearance of the sword such a big topic of discussion in the Wizard's Guild that he was eventually tracked down to account for it?

If the latter, that seems like a good idea for a story. A Journeyman Wizard taking on the onerous task of investigating reported/detected anomalies for the Guild. Seems like a job that could get annoying, given Wizards' infighting, but could also something that could give a Journeyman Wizard access to some higher level spells in order to protect himself/herself as well as to investigate (which would be the incentive for taking the scut job).

Certainly some wizards would prefer some anomalies to be kept secret, whether out of embarrassment/liability or to protect work product.

What do you think?

The serial is over and done, and all but the first two chapters have been removed.

The serial of The Sorcerer's Widow is now complete -- all fourteen chapters are online, at least for now.

Chapter Twelve of The Sorcerer's Widow has been posted.

Chapter Eleven of The Sorcerer's Widow is now online.

Chapter Ten of The Sorcerer's Widow has been posted early.

It probably isn't, but I hope you'll like it anyway.

Just got done readinng the Obsidian Chronicles for probably the 5th time. I remember when I stumbled upon Dragon Weather at a used book store and after reading it became obsessed with getting myy hands on the next, then the last, books. Thank you Lawrence, I love your books and am about to embark on reading the lure of the basalisk, I can only hope it is as good as the Obsidian Chronicles.

Chapter Nine of The Sorcerer's Widow is now online.

Chapter Eight of The Sorcerer's Widow has been posted.

Chapter Seven of The Sorcerer's Widow is online.

Chapter Six of The Sorcerer's Widow is now online.

The fifth chapter of The Sorcerer's Widow has been posted.

Damn, I just realized I haven't been posting notices here! I'm doing another Ethshar serial, and Chapter Four of The Sorcerer's Widow is now online.

I'm working on getting the rights back so I can do that, but it'll take several more months, at the very least.

Please Dragon Weather in e-book format. Loved the story. Wish to read it again.

Thanks!

I purchased One-Eyed Jack for Kindle and really enjoyed it. I much prefer the Kindle format to any other--I hope your experiment with ePublishing is a success.

Now available from Amazon, B&N, CreateSpace, and Smashwords: ONE-EYED JACK, my new novel, somewhere in the gray area between urban fantasy and horror.

I hadn't thought of those two series as all that similar, actually.

When I started writing the Fall of the Sorcerers (A Young Man Without Magic and Above His Proper Station), I was specifically trying to get back to writing the stuff I liked in the Obsidian Chronicles.

I have read the Obsidian Chronicles and Annals of the Chosen. They are one of my favorite series of books. Was wondering if you had anymore like those or plan on writing another series similar?

Thanks for the response. I still have the actual books to read until you get the electronic rights.

I'm working on getting the electronic rights to Ithanalin's Restoration back, but it'll be quite awhile before I can retrieve Night of Madness because Tor issued a new edition (trade paperback) in September of last year, and it's still in print.

But I'll get it eventually.

I first read The Misenchanted Sword a long time ago and was glad when I could buy it in ebook. I have bought, read and reread all the ones I can get in ebook form. Please try to get Night of Madness and Ithanalin's Restoration in ebook form.
I will try to get them in physical form because I enjoy your books and would also like to buy an ebook version of them.

Now available for Kindle: THE FINAL FOLLY OF CAPTAIN DANCY & Other Pseudo-Historical Fantasies.

Hey, check out HOW TO PROSPER DURING THE COMING ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE on Amazon or Smashwords!

Not soon, no. I'm not giving up on the series, though, because _I_ really like it!

That's a pity; I enjoyed _A Young Man Without Magic_ and _Above his Proper Station_. I guess this means there won't be more to the series anytime soon?

Sorry, I have no idea why they priced it that way.

As for a paperback, there's been no word. I don't think they're planning to publish one.

Any idea why BN.com has the nookBook edition of _A Young Man Without Magic_ for $2 more than the next book in the series? Any idea when/if the paperback edition of the first book is going to become available?

I've just posted a story called "Advance Man" to the Misenchanted Tales.

Check out the Serial Box for the latest news!

I'm afraid Tower of Flame is not very high on my list of priorities right now, but I do hope to get to it eventually.

"The Tower of Flame" has my vote for an Ethshar novel that I would like to read in the future. (Hopefully, not too far in the future!)

From your planned novels:
The Tower of Flame: A simple fire-lighting spell goes wrong, resulting in a permanent magical phenomenon -- and various people look for a way to cash in on it.
-----
This looks very interesting, and the Tower of Flame did appear in The Unwelcome Warlock serial.
Can you say anything more about it?

That's pretty much the case, yeah.

I've just gotten the final contracts for The Unwelcome Warlock from Wildside. It's a go.

I see. It appears that it is best for a person NOT to get the attention of the wizard's guild, as one would not know what sort of decision they would make concerning allowing you to continue to exist or not!

"The Unwelcome Warlock" was a very enjoyable serial to read, I look forward to your next novel when you begin it.

The decision was made above Ithinia's level, and no, she wasn't consulted.

Here is a question.
When certain wizards decided that the world would be better off without any warlocks, did they consult with Ithinia first, or did they just take action on their own? (this assumes that Ithinia was not one of the wizard's who made that decision)

One would hope the they were going to offer Sterran the option of being exiled in Hanner's refuge first, rather than just killing him outright!

Chapter 40 was a nice closing chapter to a very fine Ethshar novel. I hope Sterran and his family will like living in their new location better than they did in Ethshar of the Spices.

When this book comes out as a hardback I will certainly purchase a copy.

Love your style of writing ! ! !

The serial of The Unwelcome Warlock/The Final Calling is complete!

There's enough interest that I haven't given up the idea, but not enough to make it high priority. I hope to get a map poster out some time this summer.

By chance I just found your blog post where you asked if people would be interested in buying a poster map of Ethshar or an atlas.
Put me down for both!
Did you receive enough positive responses to go ahead with the project(s)?

Still needs $175.

Lawrence,
I cannot hold back from asking.
How close is chapter 40 to being posted now?

Well, another $175 and we'll all find out.

The penultimate chapter was great!
I am really looking forward to reading Chapter 40.
I have been wondering what happened to Sterran, he disappeared from the story several chapters ago, so it will be interesting to know what he has been doing, or not doing, as the case may be.

Chapter Thirty-Nine of The Unwelcome Warlock is now online. One more chapter to go!

Yeah, donations have indeed slowed drastically. Still need $112 to get Chapter Thirty-Nine up.

Ten days since the last chapter being posted?!
Donations must have slowed way down!

Chapter Thirty-Eight of The Unwelcome Warlock is online.

Wow! Didn't expect that to happen in Chapter 37.
Can't wait to see what happens in the next!

Chapter Thirty-Seven of The Unwelcome Warlock (formerly The Final Calling) is now online.

It's extremely unlikely. If Realms of Light had been successful as a series, I was planning to try The Exile and the Empire. Realms was not a success as a serial, so Exile is dead.

Lawrence,
What are the chances that the third book of the "War Surplus" series will ever be written?

Almost $200 still. Actually, I added wrong on Saturday night, and posted Chapter Thirty-Six before I should have.

If I might ask, what is required as of now in order for the next chapter to be posted?

It's not a simple conversion, since the economies are so different, but $15 is roughly five copper bits. Maybe six.

And Chapter Thirty-Six of The Unwelcome Warlock (formerly The Final Calling) is now online.

"I need another $15 before I can post Chapter 36 of The Unwelcome Warlock/The Final Calling. Shouldn't take TOO long."

How many rounds of gold or copper would that be? :)

Chapter Thirty-Five of The Unwelcome Warlock/The Final Calling is now online.

Chapter Thirty-Four of The Unwelcome Warlock/The Final Calling is now online.

Thanks for the kind words, and I do hope to get into writing YA stuff.

"It's also possible that the series will return to normal publishing eventually, but as a YA ("young adult") series aimed at teenagers"

That would be nice. I started reading you work decades ago, at 14 (bought everything you had in print, at the time), and have just now passed along my (spare) ratty copy of The Misenchanted Sword to a friend's child, to start the cycle again. (Note: My first choice would have been Single Spell, but someone had stolen my extra copy already) Please keep up the great work.

Chapter Thirty-Three of The Final Calling/The Unwelcome Warlock is now online.

Chapter Thirty-Two of The Final Calling/The Unwelcome Warlock is now online.

Chapter Thirty-One of The Final Calling/The Unwelcome Warlock is now online.

Chapter Thirty of The Final Calling/The Unwelcome Warlock is now online.

Chapter Twenty-Nine of The Final Calling/The Unwelcome Warlock is now online.

Chapter Twenty-Eight of The Final Calling has been posted.

Chapter Twenty-Seven of The Final Calling is now online.

Chapter Twenty-Six of The Final Calling is now online.

Chapter Twenty-Five of The Final Calling is now online.

Chapter Twenty-Four of The Final Calling is online.

Chapter Twenty-Three of The Final Calling is now online.

Oh, that's right -- the twenty-ninth piece isn't a chapter, just a sort of end-note.

My copy of Denner's Wreck is the first Avon Books printing (1988), and there are just 28 chapters.

I feel foolish now that I didn't google the phrase. Oh, well.

1. But there WEREN'T the same number, were there? There were twenty-eight Powers and twenty-nine chapters.

It was a fortunate coincidence that it came out that close, but if I'd had to adjust it I'd have adjusted the number of chapters, not the number of Powers. I knew who the twenty-eight were before I started writing the book.

If it had only run twenty-seven chapters, I'd probably have paired up Aulden and Imp, since they were such a devoted couple.

2. You mean "ka nama kaa lajerama"? That's from Robert E. Howard's King Kull stories -- the serpent men of Valusia can't say that phrase, and can thus be detected even when magically disguised as humans.

(You could have googled on "lajerama" to find out.)

I just finished re-reading _Denner's Wreck_ (again) and had a couple of questions, if you don't mind: (minor spoilers for Denner's Wreck / Among the Powers)

1. I liked the way there were the same number of Powers as chapters. Do you remember if it just worked out that way, or if you had to add (or subtract) a Power to make it even?

2. The universal password - was I supposed to recognize it (like in the stories where we find out that the ruined city Our Heroes are exploring was called Wah-Shin-Tonne), or is it just something you made up?

Thanks!

Ah, yes. I'm afraid lots of stuff on here is out of date. I'll move that one up on the priority list; thanks!

Meandering around the site today. Found that the Intro page has a section which is no longer technically accurate.

"Some stories stand alone better than others. I am forced to admit that The Spell of the Black Dagger is probably not the best place to start, as it includes appearances by several previously-established characters. In particular, it helps to have read With A Single Spell before tackling it.

I think all the others should work fine as starting points. If anyone has evidence to the contrary, please let me know, okay? I don't want to mislead anyone. "

At this point, The Vondish Embassador really need you to have read The Unwilling Warlord to make sense, as does The Final Calling. Vond (the man and the Empire) would be pretty hard to grasp without having read Warlord.

Chapter Twenty-Two of The Final Calling is now online.

Chapter Twenty-One of The Final Calling is now online.

Chapter Twenty of The Final Calling is now online.

Chapter Nineteen of The Final Calling is now online.

Chapter Eighteen of The Final Calling is now online.

Chapter Seventeen of The Final Calling is now online.

Thanks. It's fixed.

(In case it's not obvious, the below is in reference to the main "misenchanted page")

Just noticed -- the link to your LiveJournal on the left works; the one in the body text doesn't. Looks like there's an at sign instead of a dot in the URL.

Glad you found me again!

I have been beating my brain senseless trying to remember your books and your name. I have succeeded. Woop woop. Loved your books as a kid and just resently I started thinking about them. :)

Chapter Sixteen of The Final Calling is now online.

And Chapter Fifteen is online.

Honestly, I'm not sure what's up with e-book versions of the Obsidian Chronicles. Tor controls those rights. Tor doesn't generally put stuff on Fictionwise, but they do produce Kindle editions and the like. I don't know if or when those titles will be included.

What's the current status of the Obsidian Chronicles with respect to e-books? I had thought they were available from Fictionwise, but as of a few minutes ago, they are not on the list. I am reading a lot more on my e-book reader lately than print copies, and I want to revisit the Lands of Man.

Chapter Fourteen of The Final Calling is now online.

I met and spoke with Roger a few times, yes -- starting in 1980, when we were both guests at Rivercon V, in Louisville. (He was guest of honor; I was just a lowly program participant.)

I've read a lot of his work. With the Amber series, though, only the first five; I've been saving the second series.

I also read somewhere on here that you met Roger Zelazny!? That must have been quite the honor. Have you read any of his works? Namely the Amber Chronicles?

Whether I'm happy with a book often has very little to do with how good or how popular it is. It can also change over time; I'm nowhere near as displeased with The Blood of A Dragon as I used to be.

I was just going through your purchase books section trying to pick out a new book and came across your "Why I Wrote It" section on blood of a dragon. You were really that unhappy with it? I have to admit that I was getting a bit concerned when three-quarters of the way through Dumery was still on his way to the Dragon farm. However, I did like the surprise ending with Aldagon. And it made me anxious for The Calling.

Glad you liked it!

I just finished Blood of a Dragon. Great work! I can get enough of Ethshar. Don't ever retire! cheers

Chapter Thirteen of The Final Calling is now online.

Chapter Twelve of The Final Calling is now online.

Chapter Eleven of The Final Calling has been posted.

Chapter Ten of The Final Calling is now online.

Chapter Nine of The Final Calling has been posted.

Chapter Eight of The Final Calling has been posted.

Chapter Fifteen of Realms of Light has been posted.

Chapter Seven of The Final Calling has been posted.

Chapter Six of The Final Calling has been posted.

Chapter Five of The Final Calling has been posted.

Chapter Four of The Final Calling has been posted.

Chapter Three of The Final Calling has been posted.

Chapter Two of The Final Calling is online.

Thanks!

Donation sent.

The serial of THE FINAL CALLING has just launched on Ethshar.com.

Cool. If it ends up as a short story, that's one closer to an Ethshar short story collection :-)

Some do get lost that way -- not very many, though.

Hmm... might be some story potential in that.

I wonder how many apprentices get lost testing transporting tapestries like the one in "The Warlock's Refuge". (Actually, I bet it's a small number, because most people rich enough to buy or skilled enough to create transporting tapestries make ones which just travel between places in the "World").

Glad to have you back!

Catching up with your excellent books after almost 20 years of not a great deal of reading novels and now wondering why I ever stopped. Thanks for a life of creating new worlds.

I'm pretty much in agreement with the usual author position: Amazon screwed the pooch. John Scalzi's blog has a decent summation.

On the other hand, I'm not going to give up my Kindle or remove every Amazon link on my site; it's not worth the hassle. I did switch a couple of links to Barnes & Noble, but it was a purely symbolic gesture.

Do you have any thoughts you'd like to share with us about the Amazon/MacMillan tiff?

I don't have any plans at present for a story about Fendel; he leads a pretty quiet life.

And by Fendel I mean the hermit you led us all to believe was Fendel. I think everyone would like to read about a wizard that can do eigth order spells with no ingredients.

will you ever write a book about fendel the great?

Chapter Thirteen of Realms of Light is now online.

Oh, it's done and in production. I'm not sure why Tor didn't schedule it sooner.

just send me a copy of the final draft when its done , i will proof read it for you free of charge. wont be a problem, heck i will even pay for shipping, thanks in advance .would make a great christmas gift or a birthday gift, dec 28
:)

Sorry, but ABOVE HIS PROPER STATION won't be out for eleven months. You'll just have to hang on.

noooo i can not wait for the 2nd book, just finished the first one yesterday, your books are always a good read Sir.

A YOUNG MAN WITHOUT MAGIC is now available.

Naah. I wore a pirate shirt and my fancy coat with velvet cuffs, but not really a costume.

Did you go out in costume, and if so, what were you?

Hope everyone had a good Hallowe'en.

Finished the first draft of REALMS OF LIGHT. Twenty chapters, 60,300 words.

I have an essay on James Bond on the Smart Pop site.

Posted Chapter Twelve of _Realms of Light_.

Wrote five pages of Realms of Light tonight. I'm over 50,000 words.

Thanks for posting!

I started reading your books in the mid 1980s, alongside Piserchia, Cook, Farmer, and a few others. While you haven't replaced Heinlein as my favorite author - nobody ever will - your books have always been an enjoyment to me. Thank you for your work.

No problem; I deleted the duplicates. Gave me an excuse to do some trimming, as well -- hadn't done it in more than two years.

Oops, didn't mean to comment so many times... sorry.

A new edition after every book? Of course not. A new edition every few years... well, it works for textbooks :-)

I haven't seen it, and probably won't until Christmas, and there aren't going to be any changes to _The Turtle Moves_ -- that's finished.

Were you thinking I'd do a new edition every time a new Discworld book came out?

I just noticed Prachett's new _Discworld_ book. Have you seen it yet? Do you think it will require major changes to _The Turtle Moves_?

Thanks, Chris. Sorry it took me awhile to respond.

I've been reading your work since the early 90s and am a big fan. I'm currently halfway through Dragon Society, after reading Night of Madness last month, Split Heirs a few months ago and Dragon Weather a year or so ago.

I read Out of This World at the Boston Public Library a few months ago, but didn't care for it. I love your other work, though.

Next I'm going to re-read the Lure and see what my Barnes & Noble has in stock.

Keep up the good work!

Young? I'm old enough to be your father. Maybe your grandfather.

How long an excerpt?

And silly young man, you didn't answer my question! :P lol

Hey, PJ! It's been awhile.

I still keep an eye on this place, but it kind of faded away -- traffic moved to the discussion page, or LiveJournal, or Facebook.

And lately I've been very busy with relocating; we moved to Takoma Park.

So LONG time no see, right? lol Hope you remember me, Lawrence! I've just been uber busy lately. Anyway, seems like last post was a few months ago so I hope yous till check here :( Was wondering if you'd mine me using an excerpt from Dragon Weather in my book. I'd cite it, of course, but I wanted to ask you as well.

Gotcha. Oh well, will have to read my physical copies, I suppose.

Because Tor controls the electronic rights, and they haven't licensed them to Fictionwise. Or anywhere else that I know of. Same is true of ITHANALIN'S RESTORATION.

Sorry about that.

I was re-reading all the Ethshar books in order of publication via my cellphone and Fictionwise, and I have hit a snag. Night of Madness does not appear to be available via Fictionwise. Why is that?

You mean dustjackets?

No, there isn't.

Is there a way to buy the book covers for the Hardcover books?

You'd need to talk to my agent about the rights. I don't think they'd be cheap, though.

You dont need to make 1 2 hour movie. Make it a trilogy like LOTR. Im more impressed with the Obsidian Chronicles then that. Whats it cost to get rights to your book? I'll make the movie happen one way or the other, lol.

Sorry to be a bit slow in responding.

It really isn't up to me whether a movie gets made; it's a matter of a producer acquiring the rights and pursuing the project. So far, there's no hint that that will ever happen. I'd love it if it did, but it's not something I have any control over.

Well, I have control in the sense that I could prevent it, but not in the sense that I can make it happen. Rest assured, I wouldn't prevent it if the money was even remotely reasonable.

Could the story be done justice in a two-hour movie? Hard to say; it would need to be streamlined, certainly.

I definitely would like to see The Obsidian Chronicles done up the right way in film. I'm not sure it could be done well given the current moviegoer mindset, however. Watchmen is considered to be a fairly long movie -- about an hour over the typical action movie, and a number of pundits are speculating that may well doom the movie after the initial buzz wears off.

I would be concerned that the story would suffer by being edited down to fit run time. Dragon Weather just has too much going on in it to be told well in under 2 hours. Several minor story plots would need to be trimmed, I would think.

What do you think, Lawrence? Do you think the story could be done justice, given the editing which would be needed?

I read both Annals of the Chosen and The Obsidian Chronicles and would love to see it on Film. Any chance of that ever happening?

Happy New Year 2009 to all

Thanks!

I think _Dragon Weather_ may be the best thing I've ever written, but in general I think I've gotten better with practice.

I ran across some of your books at the college library where I work (Eastern Kentucky University). The Cyborg and the Sorcerers, Lure of the Basilisk, the Seven Altars of Dusarra. Decent stories, a little "old-fashioned," I thought; then I read Dragon Weather. It was so much better than your previous stories--although they were good, Dragon Weather is just on another level entirely. I'm now looking for more of your books!

Lawrence, Merry Christmas to you and to all the readers of the Misenchanted Guestbook!

I don't know where the picture's from; it's something the folks at Wildside came up with. To be honest, I think it's stock art they picked up somewhere. I like it, though.

Last I heard they were planning something entirely different for the Cosmos paperback.

Here is a link to image of the dust jacket at Amazon.
ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51KbdWqEh8L._SS500_.jpg

Lawrence, what is the source of the dust jack picture for the hardcover edition of the "The Vondish Ambassador"?

I like it very much, really adds a sense of mystery as to what the book is about.

I presume that the cover picture is of one of the Twin Towers that are in the book?

Make that "Ethsharic"!
Cannot spell tonight. Good thing I am not a wizard!

It made my day reading it. The story was light and fun to read.
I'm all for Estheric mysteries, either little or big! :)

Just one more little mystery about Ethshar's past, I guess.

Lawrence, thanks for putting up "The God in Red" as a Christmas present for your readers.

Now, how in the world did "How to Win Friends and Influence People" get translated into Estharic?

It's been retitled at the publisher's suggestion because the original title has nothing to do with the story, and is misleading, since neither Captain Denner nor the original wreck play any part in the events therein. It's not obvious that it's just the name of the planet.

And using the name of the planet as the title isn't very evocative, anyway.

I never really intended to call it _Denner's Wreck_; that was the original editor's choice, not mine.

Re: _Denner's Wreck_ -- I'm wondering why it's getting a rename? While I'm thinking of it, this was the first book of yours that I bought, and I didn't even really realize that I was buying it. You see, I was in college, and made the foolish mistake of bidding in a con auction without really paying attention to what was going on. I thought I was bidding on a T-shirt. However, I guess the going was slow, they threw in _Denner's Wreck_, and a book of Zelazny short stories, and some other stuff. Score!

Anywhere would be fine, but if I had to give a preference I'd say to use the Serial Box.

Do you have a preference for Realms of Light comments? Would you prefer them to be attached to the Serial Box blog posts?

Chapter Two of REALMS OF LIGHT has been posted.

I've started my third serial. See the front page for more.

I'm only vaguely aware of what's happening there. I know that Google's recently reached an agreement with the Authors Guild and some publishers, but I haven't gotten around to checking out just what they've agreed to.

I do know that yes, they've agreed to pay royalties on copyrighted works.

Has Google agreed to pay royalties? Maybe I misunderstood. I thought they just planned to offer the titles for free, and nothing on zero profits. And I thought they wanted to offer all books, not just out of print.

I have been known to be wrong.

So, what is your opinion of the whole "Google as Publisher" development? It occurs to me that having Google printing out of print books and paying royalties to publishers/authors kinda violates the original terms under which the book was published, at least potentially, anyways. Have you heard how that is to work?

Hey, thank YOU!

I found With a Single Spell in the bookstore and was intrigued by the premise. I'm glad I picked it up because it is a great story! I've never read a book with a lazy, observant teen hero before. Nicely refreshing. I'll be looking for more of your work now. Many thanks!

Which reissues?

The Wildside editions all match except for _The Spriggan Mirror_, for which they used a different printer. The Misenchanted Press edition of _The Vondish Ambassador_ matches the standard Wildside editions, as well.

The Cosmos paperbacks will all match, however many of them there may eventually be.

I was curious if the reissues of the Esthar novels are being printed in the same dimensions? I have the two novels from the online serials as well as an old trade paper copy I picked up of In The Empire of Shadow and they are all different sizes...I know it's kind of anal but I shelve the authors I read together accordingly and I prefer the sets and series novels to be the same size, like most hardcover editions...

Thanks! I'm glad you liked the series. They were fun to write, and I'm very pleased with how they turned out.

I finally was able to purchase Dragon Venom and thus finish the Obsidian Chronicles and I must say that I was impressed with the whole series. Most books about dragons are often cliche or are too confusing to even understand and end up as paperweights on my desk collecting dust. I was a bit upset to hear there would be no more books in the series but quite thankful that ended on such a high note. You have me intrigued on your other series now and I cant wait to read them, Thanks and good luck on the wring

Thanks. I'm proud of that series.

Death Bredon, huh? A fellow Wimsey fan, then. At one point I was going to name a mystery series character D.B. Kraft, with "D.B." standing for "Death Bredon."

But then I started selling fantasy and not mystery and dropped the idea.

I absolutely loved the Obsidian Chronicles even though you're way over them. I have yet to check out your other books but I expect that I will enjoy them.

Putting it with the Discworld stuff makes sense to me. I'm just glad to know it's out there.

I saw _The Turtle Moves_ in the Border's bookstore near Madison Square Garden in NYC. Interestingly, they had shelved it next to Pratchett's Discworld books. I was tempted to move it to the Ws, next to your other books or to buy it, thus removing it altogether, but did neither. As far as the shelving position, I could see why they put it there -- it's *about* the Discworld, after all. I didn't buy it because I've gone through my book budget for now and the fridge just died. :-(

Thanks; glad you did.

loved dragon weather

Oh, and I have no plans for any more reader votes, but again, plans can change.

I'm not planning to add any more domains to the Misenchanted Page, but plans can change.

Wow. Thanks.

I'm afraid I don't have any further plans for Barokan at present; I've got a two-book deal with Tor for a new, unrelated series.

I hope THIS one will go a long, long time, though -- I have half a dozen volumes outlined.

Why I Love Larry's Sci-Fi Fantasy...gers.
Hey, thanks so much for all of your stories. By far you are my favorite author. I like the way you avoid the fantasy story cliches and bust the seams off of the genre. It is also refreshing to read stories from an author who chooses to write from one character's perspective, instead of trying to follow six or seven character's perspectives.
I have read most of the stories you have written and am glad that you still have more in the works. In particular, I really like this new world you have created with "The Annals of the Chosen". I hope it has as much life as the Ethshar series, but am worried that the recent series seems to be ending at three books. I really like the way you have created a very wild and often dangerous wilderness. If you choose to set aside this world for a while, I hope that you can continue with the general theme of oasis communities in a wild world.
I'm looking forward to the third "Chosen" novel and the third and the tenth Ethshar novels. Again, thanks.
Steve O

Glad you found it!

I picked up a copy of "The Summer Palace" in my local Barnes & Noble's the other day. It was hidden on the very bottom shelf, but it was there. I enjoyed reading it over the weekend.

Who cares what I look like? Besides, there are a couple of photos if you dig deep enough.

Easiest place to find my picture is on the Staff page at Helix.

Why don't you have any photos or kinescopes or tintypes or moom pichurs and even crayola renditions of yourself on your website??? Does your beauty outside the sun (humph) or do you frighten people away?? No middle ground! I am of course cute as can be. :}

Good! Thanks for letting me know.

I saw "The Summer Palace" in a Borders in NYC the other day, btw.

Oh, and that second anthology is not a sequel to the first one; they're two different "best of" series.

And yes, I got paid twice.

Sorry I didn't respond sooner; I was traveling.

There is no such story as "Why I Left Harry's All-Night Diner." It's a mistake, plain and simple.

I was over checking out Audible to see if they had enough stuff I might like to bother, and I saw two entries for Lawrence Watt-Evans. Both were in anthologies, but oddly they seem to be variants of the same story.

"Why I Left Harry's All-Night Diner" and "Why I Left Harry's All-Night Hamburgers." Are those really different stories? I am only familiar with the latter, but it seems very odd that the publisher would choose two editions of the same story for an anthology and the sequel of that same anthology.

I hope you got paid twice.

At this point I'm not thinking much yet about the next serial. There will be one, but not until I've delivered at least one of the two books under contract to Tor.

The next serial may be SF, rather than Ethshar. Haven't decided for sure.

Also, the set-up may change somewhat; I've been talking with some other writers about setting up a joint site for serials. That's not definite, but it's likely to happen eventually.

As for stuff with deadlines, the only thing I have with a deadline right now is the two-book deal with Tor -- well, that, and of course Helix is quarterly, so I need to write an editorial every three months. THE SUMMER PALACE will be out next month, THE TURTLE MOVES! in August, so they're all done.

The Tor deadlines are September 15, 2008 and September 15, 2009, and I expect to meet them both, though the first one may be close. I have 95,000 words of the first book written, and 45,000 words of the second. I'm not doing them one at a time, exactly, which is why it's only the first deadline that may be difficult.

I'm not mentioning titles because they're still subject to change.

I have several other projects in various stages of development, as well.

Yeah, I had noticed it was pretty dead here, too. I had been trying to keep things going for a while there, but I didn't want it to seem like I was posting just to post. Work was busy, then I was on vacation, and now I'm back looking daily again.

So, any news on the next serial? How well are you doing on keeping to schedule on the books with deadlines?

Yes, Cosmos is Wildside's mass-market paperback line. Wildside uses several names, actually.

Oh, wait. Is Cosmos the same as Wildside? Never mind, then.

This probably won't amuse anyone else, but I just had to share: I got a gift card for Amazon the other week, and got 3 Ethshar books. I found it amusing that they were from 3 different publishers (_Ithanalin's Restoration_ from Tor, _The Misenchanted Sword_ from Cosmos, and _The Unwilling Warlord_ from Wildside). All of them were "new", not used.

The real action is over on the newsgroup. I have good memories of the guestbook; I was one of the first to post to here. It was fun while it lasted.

Yeah, it's been pretty dead here for awhile. I'm not sure where everyone's gone.

I guess everyone's over in Discussions and Discursions, marveling over Trash TV and Sorcerer's Doom updates.

Surely everyone isn't still dumbfounded and confused, and still googling Celtic and Gothic, and trying to determine similarities and differences. I mean, I figured that all out by Cinco de Mayo.

I could be wrong

Not Gothic, Celtic.

The new cover designs were not my idea; I was startled to see the proofs. Someone at Wildside/Cosmos came up with the idea.

But yes, they _are_ trying to draw in a different segment of the reading public. Exactly.

We'll see how well it works.

So, what's with the somewhat more (for lack of a better term - not an art major) gothic trend to the latest cover art? The reissue covers for _The Misenchanted Sword_ and _With a Single Spell_ don't seem to fit well with the stories.

Maybe I am biased from having bought the first paperback releases, but the covers don't draw me in like the first ones did. Are you, perhaps trying to draw in a different segment of the reading public?

And they are mass market paperbacks, easy to carry.

The Cosmos books are really easy to find, as well. Wildside does a good job of getting them in bookstores.

The new editions are from Cosmos Books. Cosmos is owned by Wildside Press, and the text in these editions is the same as the trade paperbacks, but without the bonus short stories. It's pretty darn close to the Del Rey editions, but not identical, as these were taken from my manuscripts, not from the published books.

As for how the rights work, when an author signs a book contract with any respectable publisher, it includes a "reversion clause," which explains how and under what circumstances the author can recover the rights to the text. Once the reversion clause is invoked and the rights recovered, the publisher loses all control over the property, though they usually retain the right to sell any copies they have on hand, and continue getting their share of any licensed editions, such as book club editions.

After Del Rey and I came to a parting of the ways in 1995 they took all my titles out of print in fairly short order, and I reverted all of them. They haven't had any say about any of them since, and never will again.

I've reverted my Avon titles as well, and a couple of those will be reprinted in the not-too-distant future by FoxAcre Press -- I don't have a date yet, which is why I didn't announce it anywhere until now.

I reverted THE NIGHTMARE PEOPLE from Penguin/NAL/Onyx ages ago, which is how the Wildside edition could happen.

Mind you, sometimes getting a reversion is difficult or impossible, but this is one of the things a good agent helps with, and I have a very good agent. Generally speaking, if a publisher doesn't keep a book in print, the author ought to revert it as soon as possible -- why let them sit on it?

Some publishers aren't very cooperative about this; Zebra used to be notorious for reversion clauses that couldn't be invoked until seventeen years after publication, for example. Del Rey, Avon, and Penguin/NAL are all much more reasonable.

In the music business reversions are much harder to come by, but they do happen, which is why, say, David Bowie's "The Man Who Sold the World" has been issued by three different labels since it was first recorded.

So, are the new imprints of the original Del Rey Ethshar books substantially different than the Del Rey versions? Are these new editions, or just new printings from a different publisher?

How does that work? Did the old publisher actually care so little about them that they are letting you publish them elsewhere? That seems unlikely, at least given what I know about the music industry.

Guadalcanal Diary was under Sony's label when they originally hit their stride, but all of those albums are out of print, and despite the group's recent having gotten back together, they can't get Sony to let them reprint the old albums. Maybe it's less cutthroat in the book business, but I would find that somewhat hard to believe.

I'm not sure what the next serial will be, or even whether it'll be Ethshar. We'll see.

Of course, if the next serial IS _The Final Calling_, I wouldn't mind that either. :)

I would not mind if the next sequel wasn't _The Final Calling_.

Another serial, I mean.

Not really. I'm waiting to hear from Tor about the "Fall of the Sorcerers" series proposal. I'll have a story in HELIX, probably in the July issue -- not the next one, in April. The "Upcoming Books" page is pretty much up to date.

I'm planning to do another sequel, but not for several months. It may be handled a little differently this time, but that's not definite yet.

Mostly this month I've been catching up on stuff around the house.

Any updates on stuff? New series in the works, new serial details, anything?