Book Giveaway – The Warlock’s Shadow (01/05/2013)

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Yay! May! It’s been an interesting couple of weeks again. The Splintered Gods (the sequel to Dragon Queen) has gone in to be edited even though there’s quite a bit wrong with it. I don’t know if that’s the right thing to do but I pretty sure the plotting is solid and the characters are sound and the world is consistent and yet it’s missing something. Except for the bits with Zafir in and the bits with the Adamantine Man Tuuran. Zafir just kicks arse and steals every scene I write for her (possibly because she has a sodding great big dragon) and Tuuran, well, he’s just fun and straightforward. But it’s still missing something. Too much talking in some sections and not enough . . . something else. And it’s not action. Agency, possibly. And two more itty bitty contracts in the works (more when they’re signed).

The Splintered God isn’t the first book to go to edit with a palpable sense of missing something. This week I’m giving away a copy of the last one to do this to me. In the case of the Warlock’s Shadow the third quarter, at the time, lacked any sense of purpose. My editor at the time half-spotted the source of the problem, enough for me to see it to and so I think it’s fixed. In part it’s fixed by the presence of Tasahre, the most significant female character in the series (sorry about that ladies but the series was conceived as YA for boys. I’ll tried to compensate with Dragon Queen and its sequels…). I had fanmail today citing Tasahre as the “the favourite character of all the books I’ve ever read” and that’s pretty much what put it in mind to give a copy away.

warlocks shadow cover - shrunk

It doesn’t have any dragons in it but it does mention something about that that might just come back again in Dragon Queen. Usual deal – comment on this post before May 4th  and I’ll randomly select a lucky victim for a free copy of the book. Since it’s one of mine, I’ll sign and line it of you like. If you want a challenge for the comments, name your favourite female fantasy character. Personally I’m temped to go for Paksenarrion (if I’ve spelled her name correctly…)

Although, though no one has yet complained about how long it takes me to get to the post office and post things, it can take a while and if you live abroad then it can take even longer. Sorry about that, but they do get there eventually. Well, so far.

Book Giveaway – Age of Scorpio (22/4/2013)

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I have a couple of collaborations in the pipeline with SF author Gavin Smith coming up, one of which I can’t talk about yet and the other one of which I can but have been systematically too lazy/busy to actually get on and do anything about. Anyway, since he’s a great guy and hugely fun and also my writing partner, here’s a book wot he wrote going begging. I haven’t read this one (too new ) but if the rest of what I’ve seen is anything to go by then it’s an adrenaline-fueled action-fest.

So to enter this time you have to help me resolve an argument – what’s the best SF spaceship ever. Is it really the Millennium Falcon? I’m looking for more than the coolest design – I’ll looking for spaceships with personality. So yes, the Falcon counts as it does have a prone-to-break-down-at-inconvenient-moment personality, just about. To enter the competition you have to comment on this post with a suggested spaceship before the end of Friday 26th. Please be prepared to be patient with the delivery and if it’s to an address to outside the UK then I’ll have to ask for a phone number as well as an address. But they do all get there eventually (I think).

Book Giveaway – Crysis: Escalation (19/2/2013)

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About three weeks ago I mentioned that I’d signed a contract to write some SF with Gollancz. What makes this a little different is that it’s a co-operative project with two books by two authors telling one inter-twined story. It’s a bit of an experiment but so far rather fun. This week’s giveaway is for the latest release by my co-author (or collaborating author or whatever the right term is): Gavin Smith’s set of short stories to tie in with Crysis 3, a game which I’m rather drooling to play.

Yes, it’s Psycho with an assault weapon and a weird bow. Never mind. It’ll be great. Usual deal – comment on this post before February 23rd and I’ll randomly select a lucky victim for a free copy of the book. There’s no challenge this week, but I do recommend a quick visit to Gavin’s site.

If you come up with something good, I’ll send an exciting bonus goody your way[1]. Although, though no one has yet complained about how long it takes me to get to the post office and post things, it can take a while and if you live abroad then it can take even longer. Sorry about that, but they do get there eventually

[1] Exciting bonus goody not guaranteed to be exciting, but I do have an Angry Dragons mug to give away.

Giveaway – I Am Legend (12/2/2013)

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I Am Legend. Not the book of the movie which happened to share the same title but the original, which my former editor will be happy to tell you is TOTALLY DIFFERENT (at least in the way it ends). Usual deal – comment on this post before February 16th and I’ll randomly select a lucky victim for a free copy of the book.If you really make me laugh I’ll send an exciting bonus goody your way[1]. Although, though no one has yet complained about how long it takes me to get to the post office and post things, it can take a while and if you live abroad then it can take even longer. Sorry about that, but they do get there eventually. Well, so far.
News… I could ramble at length about rewrites but maybe I’ll save that for later. In next year’s dragon book, I can’t help noticing, the three most significant protagonists are all women, two are black and the third is, arguably, an abuse victim. It wasn’t really planned that way but hey, look, accidental political correctness. Yay.

[1] Exciting bonus goody not guaranteed to be exciting, but I do have an Angry Dragons mug to give away. Mostly it’s postcards.

Giveaway – The Lies of Locke Lamora (again) (28/1/2013)

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Yesterday I signed a contract to write some SF with Gollancz. With spaceship and everything. More shortly…

Anyhow, this week I’m going to mention the old news of the freebie novella up on the Gollancz blog – a prelude to The Thief-Taker’s Apprentice. PDF here later this week. Or maybe next. But the reason for going a bit retro is that I’m giving away a book I’ve already given – away once before – a copy of The Lies of Locke Lamora, the first volume in the Gentlemen Bastard septet, the second of which is also out, the third of which still  appears to have vanished into a time loop. It remains, however, a damn fine read. Several attempts to contact the previous winner have failed and so it’s back. If you are the previous winner, and you’re just wondering why all those replies to all those mails I sent to that never got picked up, er… that’s a mystery to me too. But comment here and I’ll see if I can get a second copy and have two winners.

Usual deal – comment on this post before November 17th and I’ll randomly select a lucky victim for a free copy of the book. There’s no challenge again this week, although I’m quite curious to know what sort of things people would actually pay extra money (in a Kickster-esque tiered rewards sort of structure) for in a book – named characters, obviously, but what else…?

If you come up with something good, I’ll send an exciting bonus goody your way[1]. Although, though no one has yet complained about how long it takes me to get to the post office and post things, it can take a while and if you live abroad then it can take even longer. Sorry about that, but they do get there eventually. Well, so far.

[1] Exciting bonus goody not guaranteed to be exciting, but I do have an Angry Dragons mug to give away.

Giveaway – Inside Game of Thrones (31/12/2012)

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Yay! New Year! And I have to choose between Ezio and jumping out of haystacks to murder people now and then or else Dishonoured and murdering people in other ways. Last week I polished off a handful of short stories that I can’t talk about yet and started the opening chapters of an SF project that I’ll explain once there’s a signed contract. Right now I’m in the middle of an SAS-supported drug bust going down in a skating rink. Bit different to writing dragons.

This week I’m offering the Gollancz hardback Inside the HBO Game of Thrones. Usual deal – comment on this post before January 5th and I’ll randomly select a lucky victim for a free copy of the book. Valid entries must contain a vaguely preposterous proposed New Year’s Resolution for either a well-known fantasy author or character (like for me to deliver a manuscript in which no major characters die and everyone lives happily ever after or for Cersei Lannister to retire to a nunnery and take up knitting) .

Although, though no one has yet complained about how long it takes me to get to the post office and post things, it can take a while and if you live abroad then it can take even longer. Sorry about that, but they do get there eventually. Well, so far. Previous winners – I’m afraid I’m a bit behind with the posting, but they’ll go out some time this week.

Giveaway – Elves: Rise of the TaiGethen (17/12/2012)

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Well I’ve finished The Witcher II and I’ve delivered my ghostwriting project and now the world seems empty and lonely as I come to the crushing realisation that I haven’t got any un-played games on my shelf. Fortunately it’s coming up to Christmas, so anyone who wants to send a copy of Assassin’s Creed III wandering by, you could make an author very happy…

Something a bit different this week. Inspired by the general sentiments derived from going out and doing any sort of Christmas Shopping, I was going to give away a copy of The Killer, but recent news has persuaded me otherwise. So instead I have a nice first edition hardcover of Elves: Rise of the TaiGethen by the extremely talented James Barclay.

Usual deal – comment on this post before December 22th and I’ll randomly select a lucky victim for a free copy of the book. However, it occurs to me, looking at the cover, that I’ve seen this pose before…

Pretty similar, right? Now, for your own amusement (or more mine, vicariously), try and emulate one of these poses and see what happens. At least the elf has (I think) his sword the right way round. Anyway, it’s clear that fantasy swordsmen are extremely limber and well-balanced folk, and your challenge, if you choose to accept it and for an exciting bonus goody[1], is to point out any other fantasy covers in which swordsmen adopt somewhat unlikely postures. Or swordswomen, for that matter, but let’s not get into the whole  inappropriate-clothes-for-fighting otherwise we’ll be here all day.

Or alternatively wave and say hi.

Although, though no one has yet complained about how long it takes me to get to the post office and post things, it can take a while and if you live abroad then it can take even longer. Sorry about that, but they do get there eventually. Well, so far.

Other news is taking a long time to be releasable. These week I shall be working on some freebie short stories for something about which I cannot speak and a proposal for something else about which I cannot speak. There might be some news about some SciFi soon though.

[1] Exciting bonus goody not guaranteed to be exciting.

Giveaway – I Am Scrooge

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*Still* playing The Witcher II, so I *still* might see if I can’t get another copy of the game to give away, and I have my eye on another rather nice goody too, but more on that if I manage to get hold of it. In the meantime, an acknowledgement that there are only something like 27346724 shopping days left until Christmas 2156, here’s a bit of Christmas silliness from the ridiculously talented Adam Roberts.

Usual deal – comment on this post before December 15th and I’ll randomly select a lucky victim for a free copy of the book. The right bard name was Dandelion and that would have earned you an Angry Dragons mug, that would [1]. Yeah, but you’re all crying now… Anyway, no challenge this week, just wave and say hi.

Although, though no one has yet complained about how long it takes me to get to the post office and post things, it can take a while and if you live abroad then it can take even longer. Sorry about that, but they do get there eventually. Well, so far.

Other news is taking a long time to be releasable. Grrr.

[1] Exciting bonus goody not guaranteed to be exciting.

Giveaway – The Name of the Wind (3/12/2012)

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Still playing The Witcher II, so I might see if I can’t get another copy of the game to give away. However, this week’s offer is the Name of the Wind by New York Times Bestseller Pat Rothfuss. This is the Gollancz-50 yellow hardback edition with an introduction by yours truly. If you haven’t read it, you should know that the writing is simply gorgeous.

Usual deal – comment on this post before December 8th and I’ll randomly select a lucky victim for a free copy of the book.Now I always figured that The Name of the Wind (and probably the rest of the series) was secretly the back-story for a high-level AD&D bard character that Pat has stashed away somewhere, so the challenge this week (as I am a fan of the Bard class) is to present the character name for an AD&D Bard. You can either tell me the name of a character you’ve actually played, or just make one up. First person clever enough to link this with the previous giveaway will definitely get a bonus goody (if they win)[1].

Although, though no one has yet complained about how long it takes me to get to the post office and post things, it can take a while and if you live abroad then it can take even longer. Sorry about that, but they do get there eventually. Well, so far.

News~ No. I have lazed about playing The Witcher for the last few days. There is vaguely significant news for US Thief-Taker fans, but I’ll give that a post of its own once I’m entirely sure of what’s available and what’s not.

[1] Exciting bonus goody not guaranteed to be exciting. Actually it’s often a postcard. Which is pretty lame, but I’ll make it a pen this time.

Giveaway – The Alloy of Law (20/11/2012)

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This week I’m giving away a copy of The Alloy of Law

Usual deal – comment on this post before November 17th and I’ll randomly select a lucky victim for a free copy of the book. No challenge this week. Although, though no one has yet complained about how long it takes me to get to the post office and post things, it can take a while and if you live abroad then it can take even longer. Sorry about that, but they do get there eventually. Well, so far.

Dragon Queen editing this week. Should be done by the time the next post goes up. There’s a cover published somewhere on the internet, but it’s not the one that book will have when it comes out, so best ignore it.

[1] Exciting bonus goody not guaranteed to be exciting. Actually it’s often a postcard. Which is pretty lame.

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