Number 9… Number 9… Number 9….
Holy crap, is there a lot going on these days! It’s been pretty overwhelming.
For starters, I had not anticipated just how high the demand would be for bookplates. There’s still plenty left, but I expect they’ll all be gone by the time The Desert Spear launches on April 13, so if you want one, now’s the time to put in an order.
I figured 500 plates would last me months, but there were over 100 orders the first day, and the pace has slowed little since then, due in part to the power of the retweet, and partly from bumps by bloggers like Simcha at SFF chat. You may recall that Simcha was one of the winners of the Desert Spear Arc Contest, and posted a recent review on her blog. In addition to all this, Simcha sent me one of the best interviews I’ve ever been given, full of intelligent and insightful questions about The Desert Spear and my writing process, all the while managing to avoid spoilers. I had a great time answering them. Look for that interview soon, if you’re interested in that sort of thing.
Speaking of interviews, last year at the World Fantasy Convention, late on Saturday night when I’d had way too much to drink, I was waylaid by Jonathan Scheifer into sitting down for a podcast with Adventures in SciFi Publishing. Like Simcha, Jonathan was a really nice guy with an easy manner, and he’d read and enjoyed The Warded Man. He asked really thoughtful questions that were a pleasure to answer. As a result, I think I come off pretty cogently despite the circumstances, even though I say “Uh…” after every 5th word.
Apparently, Jonathan nabbed my agent, Joshua Bilmes, and Jon Sprunk, one of his newer clients, as well. You can stream the podcast online or download the MP3 here.
In other news, I’ve kept visiting stores to sign the new US paperbacks of The Warded Man. On the way to my sister-in-law’s house last night, I visited the Borders and Barnes & Noble in Freehold, NJ. The two stores are right across the street from one another, practically in a staring contest. Signed 11 books, and inserted bookplates in each, so that should one go on to buy the next book, they can make it a signed copy, too.
Speaking of The Warded Man, Agnies in Poland liked it so much she composed this melody, inspired by the tone of the book.
If you live in the UK, you may have noticed that the mavericks at Amazon.co.uk jumped the gun a bit, shipping out Desert Spear orders a few days before the pub date. Amazon has already sold out as a result, and has had to order more copies from the publisher. People began receiving their books over the weekend, and by Monday, Chris, the fastest reader in the bunch, sent me this e-mail, my first reader-reaction letter. It came through on my phone while I was signing books in Freehold, and my hand shook as I opened it:
From: chris
Sent: Monday, March 29, 2010 4:13 PM
To: peat@www.petervbrett.com
Subject: Just finished the desert spear
Dear Mr Brett,
I just wanted to write an email to thank you for The Desert Spear. I must admit i was filled with both excitement and fear going into the book as The Painted Man had become my all time favourite book and when i first opened the book to find jadir the focus i was a tad disappointed, eager as i was to find out how arlen, leesha and rojer got on. However by the second chapter youd done it again trapping me in your story only allowing me to escape today when i finished it. So i want to thank you again for such a great(if a little anti social) weekend i experienced with The Great Bazaar as a taster on friday and then the main course of The Desert Spear. With that ending however, with arlen looking like he might step up to the plate, you have bound me to a long miserable wait for the 3rd book.
Again Thank You
Chris
And with that one letter, all the thousands of hours of hard work were totally worth it. I could not ask for a better review than that.
Oh, by the by, a side-effect of the early Amazon release, which you may have noticed me mention on the twitterface, is that apparently based on Amazon pre-orders alone, I MADE #9 ON THE FRIGGIN’ LONDON TIMES HARDCOVER BESTSELLER LIST! My name will be in the London Times this coming Sunday, amongst such august company as Dan Brown, Stieg Larsson, and Danielle Steele.
On Monday, it will be used to wrap fish & chips.
Glory is fleeting thing.
Glory may fade but your written words will not. They’ll last long into the future. And that is a proud achievement my friend. You have seized the day, nice work.
I hope there aren’t too many people with parrots reading this blog post.
You totally deserve it Peat…can’t say I didn’t expect it! You know how much I loved TDS! 🙂
Amazon dispatched my copy last week AND IT STILL HASN’T COME D:
My copy just came in the post today! I’m too anxious to open it and is just staring at it. But the first thing I thought I should do is come on here and tell you, thank you so much Peat, I can already feel the magic radiating out of its pages, I fear it may be too much for me to handle lol.
Congrats Peat! I’m really happy for you! I can’t wait for TDS! I’ll go today to my nearest bookshop (200m away ;)) and ask to order it from the UK. I would order it over amazon, but this would take forever! so i hope i can read it soon 😀
Absolutely adored “The Desert Spear” spent all night reading it, and to me, this is just as brilliant as “The Painted Man”
Peat, you are a master of the craft, i also was entranced throughout the night, and i could literally NOT put it down until i finished it. As i result i am completely dead today, but it was worth every second.
I love how you show Jardir in a different perspective, from his childhood, showing he has completely human feelings and worries, showing he just wants the best for the World and himself, and how he feels guilt about Arlen. Rather than just being the typical “Big, bad guy” that opposes Arlen aswell as the Corelings. Peat. I tip my hat to you once again. Great work, and Good luck on the Daylight War!
Had fun doing the podcast, and to be linked with you and Joshua is an honor.
Gratz on the success, Peat. You deserve it.
Congrats mate, I’m sure everyone was like me and pre-ordered TDS a year ago. Havent had a chance to read it yet cause of a migraine but am very much looking forward to it.
Any idea if/when it’ll be out in ebook in the UK?
Yes, I know I’m a heathen and I should get a beautiful paper version to match the other one. All I can say is, my book collecting is out of hand as it is.
I was out all day yesterday – I gave blood after picking up my copy of TDS so that I had something to read, if only the prologue – so I didn’t get in until 1am this morning. As if I was going to let that stop me. I read until I couldn’t any more at around 7am. This, sir, is a damn fine book!
Thanks so much everyone!
Ros, have no shame. I am a fan of eBooks, too, though I am waiting a bit until I find (or they invent) a reader that’s right for me (one I can use to write as well as read). I’m thinking iPad.
That said, I have no idea when the book will be out electronically in the UK. I’ll try and find out…
Wow!! Totally agog!! love love loved both brilliant books, downloaded them on itunes for my holiday, and must have been real crap company, as I was totally glued to them.
I positively worship at the temple of the author!!
Plase please pease will somebody tell me when the 3rd book of the painted man trilogy is due.