My Precious
So a couple of weeks ago, I was pulling all-nighters every day while working on the second draft of The Desert Spear. I was essentially working till 4am every night, sleeping until the baby woke me up between 6-7, and then going back to sleep until about 10. One morning I hauled myself out of bed, feeling like utter shit. Sleeping 5.5 hours a night for months on end will do that to a person. I was tired, achy, and grumpy. I have chronic nerve pain that worsens when I am sedentary, so I decided to take a walk to get some exercise, take my mind off the book, and maybe get a bit of Vitamin D from the day star.
I was in pretty foul spirits as I put on my sneakers and went downstairs. I walked by the mail boxes, and decided to check the mail before leaving. I don’t know why. I always check the mail when leaving, even though it’s much more logical to check it on the way back.
So I get out my keys, open the door, and see a box sitting there. The kind of box you see when someone is mailing a videotape (if you’re old enough to remember what those are), or a small book.
I think to myself, “Hey, neat! I like videotapes and books.” So I open it.
But there was no tape or book. Just a bunch of stuffing, and a tiny black box. A ring box.
“Huh,” I said to myself, and opened it:
I literally gasped out loud.
Let me back up. Back in April, I received this e-mail:
To: peat@www.petervbrett.com
Subject: Drawing inspiration from the Warded Man
Dear Mr. Brett,
I also spent the better part of my adolescence playing Dungeons and Dragons, and inhaling every fantasy novel I could find, instead of doing something useful with my time. One upside being that I could use “Prestidigitation” in a sentence when I was twelve. Another has been a fascination with glyphs, wards, runes, etc, which has never left me.
I enjoyed your novel very much. I found the characters and the story refreshing and engaging, and I appreciate that it did not take you 1500 pages to tell the tale. The story, and the wards in particular, inspired me to make a little something I would like to send to you. To be clear, I am not interested in licensing or selling anything, nor do I wish to enter any type of business relationship. This is just a token of my esteem, and a gift. Do with it as you will. So I was wondering if you could give me a PO box number or somewhere I could send this?
Again, thank you for writing a great book.
Kindest Regards,
-Gregory Falkner, GG
It was an intriguing letter, but of course it was very vague. He gave no real hint of what this gift was. Dani didn’t want me giving out our home address, so I gave him my Literary Agency’s PO Box. I was psyched to see what it was , but days went by. And weeks. And months. And I forgot all about it.
But then, on a day when I was feeling low, this ring arrived as if by magic. I just stood there in my building lobby, stunned for several moments as I stared at it in wonder. Instantly, it had become too precious for me to ever part with. It was My Precious.
My hand shook when I tried it on, but like it was the One Ring of Sauron itself, it shrank to fit my finger.
Seriously. How the fuck did this guy know my ring size? It was creepy.
Greg’s explanation: “Sadly, I have been in the jewelry business so long I can now tell a persons ring size just from a photo.”
Depletion gilded sterling silver with Australian enameling. Ye, gods. Except for the Spear, it’s the nicest thing anyone has ever given me. (Sorry, other people who have given me stuff, but come on, you know this is awesome. Legendary, even.)
I will put these pics up permanently in the Fan Art section soon!
It is truly a beautiful piece of work. I kind of drool a little every time I look at the pictures of it to be quite honest.
You are one damn lucky man.
My God, it’s beautiful!
He should have made it a size or two bigger so I could’ve taken my 15%
That is beautiful.
Great work Gregory.
That Ring is amazing you are a lucky man
I must have missed this post.
Glad you liked it!
Ok, heres the secret with the ring size: I guessed.
About 80% of adult males have a ring size of 10, give or take. By the same token, adult females (American, anyway) usually have somewhere around a 7. So, if you go with a 10 or a 7 on any ring, youll be right 8 times out of 10.
Then you have outliers like my wife. Her ring size is less than a 3. No shit.
When I decided to propose, I stole one of her rings to get it sized, and then secretly had a ring made. When I told the jeweler she was a size three, they didn’t believe me. “You must be mistaken,” the woman told me. “That’s a child size. No adult has hands that small.”
“My wife does,” I said.
They still doubted, and made the ring a size 4. For Dani, this was practically a bracelet. She went in to prove her size to them, and they ended up shrinking it to 2.5 before it fit properly.
Damn. I usually hate men wearing rings, unless they’re married. What I mean is, I don’t like those “fancy” rings men wear for decoration. I’ll gladly make an exception for this. This ring is so awesome, I’d pay almost any price to get one.
Gregory, I know you did this out of love for the book and it’s meant to be special and one-of-a-kind, but I bet you could make a fortune if you sold these on the internet (hint hint :P).
[…] is not the first time I have received a wonderful, thoughtful, and unsolicited gift from a reader, but it never ceases to […]
Really amazing!
When will it be available to the public??? 🙂