OLD News

The contest is now closed. Thanks to everyone who entered; winners will be announced shortly.

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In celebration of the paperback release of The Conqueror’s Shadow, the new year, the upcoming release of The Warlord’s Legacy, and (mostly) the fact that I just feel like it, it’s contest time once again.

How to Enter

Using the e-mail form on the contact page, send me an e-mail. The subject line must say "Say What?" In the body of the e-mail, tell me your favorite line from any one of the following: The Conqueror’s Shadow, Agents of Artifice, or the short story "The Ogre’s Pride."

That’s it. No, really, that’s it. (And remember that "TOP" is a free download, so you don’t even have to have bought a book to enter–though obviously, I hope that you’ll think about doing so. 😉 )

When I say "favorite line," I mean that in the broadest sense. It can be a line of dialogue, a line of description, whatever. And it doesn’t have to be a single sentence, despite the term "line." It can range from a single sentence to a short paragraph. You might think it’s funny, or powerful, or interesting, or touching, or maybe it just appeals to you for no reason you can articulate. Doesn’t matter why it’s your favorite.

You can even enter more than once, if you like, but only once per each allowable book/story. (Thus, you could enter up to three times, total: Once with a line from TCS, once from AoA, and once from "TOP.") Please send a separate e-mail with each entry; do not combine two or three into one e-mail.

What You Can Win

Two winners will be chosen randomly from all entries. Each winner will receive a signed novel of his/her choice, chosen from among the following:

• The Conqueror’s Shadow mass market paperback.
• Agents of Artifice mass market paperback.
• The Warlord’s Legacy hardcover.
• The Goblin Corps trade paperback.

If you choose one of the first three, your prize will be sent as soon as the contest ends. If you choose The Goblin Corps, your prize will be sent as soon as I receive author’s copies of the book, in mid- to late 2011.

Important Notes

You must enter via the contact page, and your entry must have "Say What?" as the subject line. Entries that come to me via any other method, or that have different subject lines, will not be considered for the contest.

Entries must be received by January 31st, 2011.

People that I know offline, people to whom I am related, employees of Random House, Wizards of the Coast, or Pyr Books, and the winners of any previous contests of mine, are not eligible.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to e-mail me through my contact page.

Thanks, and good luck. 🙂

I’m not familiar with the processes and procedures for the David Gemmell Legend Awards. I don’t know how many books make the shortlist, or how hard it is to get on it.

So, uh… Is it a big deal that The Conqueror’s Shadow (UK Gollancz edition) was nominated for the 2011 award? 😯

Like most authors, I fantasize about what it’d be like to see some of my books translated to movies or television. The odds are vastly against this, not only because it doesn’t happen often anyway, but because Hollywood doesn’t seem interested in big budget epic fantasy that doesn’t have huge name recognition behind it.

But it just occurred to me the other day, as I was daydreaming… The Conqueror’s Shadow would make one hell of an anime, wouldn’t it? 😀

(This has been a glimpse into Ari’s wishful thinking. We now return you to your regularly scheduled web-surfing.)

If you have a Twitter account, you might want to go to my Twitter page, at http://twitter.com/mouseferatu. You can win a signed paperback of The Conqueror’s Shadow just my retweeting a specific post, as instructed. I’ll be selecting two winners, and they’ll be able to choose whether they want the American (Random House) or British (Gollancz) edition.

Good luck. 🙂

I’m casually doing some research for a project that might or might materialize many moons from now, and I’m hoping you guys can give me some better places to start than random Google searches.

Specifically, I’m looking for tales from real-world mythology that involve flying ships/vessels. I’m already aware that some such tales exist in Indian and Irish myth; I’m looking for others. Almost any culture is acceptable, with one caveat; it has to come from a religion that’s more or less extinct by the modern world. (I don’t mean forgotten, I just mean no longer actually worshiped/followed by anyone, or at least more than a handful of people. That’s one of the reasons the Indian myths of flying ships aren’t viable for what I’m looking at.)

Vessels that mortals can pilot are preferred, but tales of vessels of the gods are acceptable. Similarly, both magic and old timey "science" are equally viable. And I’m trying to avoid any treatises on "gods as ancient astronauts/aliens," thanks. 😉 (Such sites are why Google is proving less than helpful to me.)

Thanks muchly.

Clarification: I’m looking for actual vessels used as vessels. Things like Apollo’s/Helios’s Chariot of the Sun aren’t really that close a fit, though Ra’s barge–which serves more or less the same purpose–would be. I guess, if you’re not sure if something fits, go ahead and suggest it anyway. It’s easier for me to whittle the options down than to look into something I haven’t thought of. And thanks again. 🙂

Over on Suvudu, the illustrious Matt Staggs has a regular feature called "Take Five," in which authors offer five interesting/amusing/intriguing/otherwise relevant facts about a new or upcoming novel.

Well, a few days ago, he invited me to participate in a Take Five column on The Warlord’s Legacy. And since I’m writing this blog entry, I bet you’ve already figured out that I did. You can read it here, and as always, I’m happy for any questions or feedback you may have.