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?

2010 was a lot of things for me, on a personal level. Many of them difficult, many of them bad. But 2010 was also the year I published my first wholly original (by which I mean, non-tie-in) novel. It’s a goal that I’ve had for well over a decade, a goal that a fraction of the people who attempt actually manage to accomplish. Whatever else does or does not happen with my career, I did it.

Sometimes, I think, it’s important to take a moment to remember that.

ETA: Lest I be misunderstood, I want to clarify that the above should in no way be taken as a slam against tie-in novels. I appreciate every tie-in opportunity I’ve had so far, and I look forward to doing more of them. I just want to do them alongside my own stuff.

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.

My newest Suvudu column is up, in which I ruminate on the advice I always give people on writing–and why most books and other sources on “how to write” are often wrong.

Barring any last-minute surprises, tomorrow should mark the completion of the latest round of edits on Household Gods. After that–unless the editor has a problem with said edits–there’s nothing left but to wait for the final copy-editing pass down the road.

It’ll be interesting to see people’s reactions to this one.