Science, Magic, Medicine Show

The Warded Man himself, Peter V. Brett has posted a bit of video reconnaissance from last year’s World Fantasy Convention. Click here for the full report also featuring NYT best seller Brent Weeks & the infinitely charming Gail Carriger.

See below for an embedded interview in the hotel bar

Just as in this popular humorous post, an infinitely fractional* part of the below actually happened to me.

[Lights up on an atrium after grand rounds--fichus plants, white walls with tasteful hospital art. Upstage stand several folded tables with bagels on them. The CROWD OF DOCTORS, dressed in white coats, is milling about the table, chatting, holding paper plates with one or two bagels on them. Spot lights up on BLAKE, wearing white coat, and a MINOR DEITY OF INTERNAL MEDICINE, wearing glowing white coat and surrounded by a small cloud of butterflies, and a dancing Mongolian shaman.]

BLAKE: …and then the author described quite beautifully how he figured out the patient was surreptitiously taking furosemide.

MINOR DEITY OF INTERNAL MEDICINE: Interesting. Pardon me, but are you that med student who’s about to publish a novel.

BLAKE: Yes, I am. And, you’re a minor deity of internal medicine. You wrote that famous textbook.

MINOR DEITY OF INTERNAL MEDICINE: I am. [He smiles and shrugs. Spotlight intensifies on him. Butterflies flap more vigorously. Mongolian shaman dances tighter circles and holds up a copy of the famous textbook.] So, what kind of novels do you write?

BLAKE: Fantasy.

MINOR DEITY OF INTERNAL MEDICINE: Like Harry Potter?

BLAKE: Oh, I mean adult fantasy.

MINOR DEITY OF INTERNAL MEDICINE: “Adult” fantasy? Like Debbie Does Dallas?

[Suddenly the CROWD OF DOCTORS goes dead silent, and looks at BLAKE.]

BLAKE: [blushing] Oh…no, more like…like…Gandolph Gone Wild.

[Enter stage right BEARDED AND ROBED MEN dressed alternately in grey and white.]

BEARDED AND ROBED MEN: [running wildly across stage] Woooooo! YAYAYAYA! Woooo!

CROWD OF DOCTORS: [forming a huddle behind MINOR DEITY OF INTERNAL MEDICINE] Ahhh, help us! Save our souls. The geriatric ward has gone commando! We’re doomed! Help! Help!

MINOR DEITY OF INTERNAL MEDICINE: [holding up arms and shouting] You shall not pass!

BEARDED AND ROBED MEN: [standing still in stunned silence] What did you say?

MINOR DEITY OF INTERNAL MEDICINE: [holding up arms and shouting] You! Shall! Not! Paaaaaaaasssss!

BEARDED AND ROBED MEN: Fuck that! [continue cheering and running to stage left] Woooo! Show us your staff!!!! Woooo! [exit stage left]

[Silent moment passes before CROWD OF DOCTORS begins to chatter among themselves and eat bagels]

MINOR DEITY OF INTERNAL MEDICINE: [mildly] So, surreptitiously taking furosemide, you say?

[Blackout]

*and legally non-binding.

The holidays and my birthday have passed, and somehow I’m thirty. Not at all sure how this happened. Certainly didn’t plan for it. Thinking back to the chap I was ten years ago—a hyper anxious undergrad who was sure he had been admitted by mistake and _worse_ had only just figured out to shave his head and was considering growing it out again—makes me cringe. Back then I thought that by the time I was thirty, I would have it all figured out: career, money, family. After thirty, there wouldn’t even be a need to think about what would come next because all major life decisions would have been made. It would be time to dig into the true halcyon days of my life.

Those readers who are over thirty are invited to pause so as to better laugh to the point of tears and point and holler in hilarity at twenty year old Blake.

Things turned out differently than expected. Of course, we can all see, they always turn out differently. So the question is then, what now? What exactly does this fourth decade of life mean?

Well, in an attempt to become the hippest med student novelist dyslexic you know, I’m going to offer you two musical perspectives on the big three zero. Both by artists I love.

First up: “Thirty Something” by Jay-Z

Second up: “My Next Thirty Years” by Tim McGraw

Now comes the part of the blog, gentle or not so gentle reader, where you put your $0.02 and tell me…well anything: advice me which route to take (hip hop or country) in to the thirties, tell me what you tried, make snide remarks about your elders, whatever you care to do.

Somehow I never got around to blogging about the last two Pre-pub reviews that came in during 2009. I’ll post them below and then reflect briefly on how this aspect of publishing appears to the eyes of a newbie author.

The first review is from Publishers Weekly. The complete review can be found here. It’s solid that made me smile. The reviewer wanted more world building, which is understandable. I’m not interested or able to write the quarter million word tomes that are masterpieces of secondary creation. I’m interested in and have the time to write more tightly focused fantasy that builds the world just enough for the story to work. So it’s a fair criticism. More pleasing was the praise for my prose!

Charlton’s baroque prose perfectly mirrors the central role of language and the byzantine politics surrounding the Convocation and the potential prophecy, and the innovative spell craft will please fantasy readers weary of more traditional magics.

-Publisher’s Weekly

The second review, this one from Library Journal, was out right blush inducing. Find it’s complete review here. LJ went so far as to “star” the review, indicating that it was one of their favorites reviewed for the month.

[STARRED REVIEW] Charlton’s debut presents a refreshingly new look at magic and the power of words. Nicodemus is a strong protagonist, but the supporting cast is equally as memorable, two qualities that will make this series opener resonate in the reader’s mind. Highly recommended.

-Library Journal

All of this is tremendously gratifying.

Now, on the promised perspective: One of the funny things about publishing is how important some factors are that the average reader never knows or (rightfully) cares about. The traditional pre-publication review publications are an excellent example. These are newsletter-like publications that review a great many books before they come out and then distribute to booksellers and libraries to help them place pre-orders. Historically, there have been four: Publishers Weekly and Kirkus for booksellers, and Library Journal and Booklist for Libraries. Recently Kirkus has thrown in the towel, which has caused a bit of a stir.

It seems to me that—following a general trend in all news media—blogs are waxing as publications wane. Websites like Boing Boing, Bookslut, Salon.com, Scalzi’s The Big Idea are attracting a whole lot of attention and are becoming important factors in the industry. Part of me likes this; it allows the general reader to get involved where before there were only publications that went to libraries and booksellers. However, the rise of the blog creates financial hardship for the publications, and these publications do provide a important service. I’ll end by quoting from Joshua Bilmes’s thoughtful post on the subject:

“But if we are left with [no publications] at all, if all we have are the dozens of internet review sites which are important to very few but without meaning to the world at large, it’s going to become harder and harder to get a book known and heard about, to build buzz and get things to rise above the crowd…[This is] not a path I’m thrilled to be traveling.”

NOTA BENE: THE FOLLOWING POST IS A SHAMELESS PLEA FOR COMMERCIAL GAIN & BIRTHDAY ATTENTION. THOSE WHO ARE NOT A) CLOSE FRIENDS, B) FAMILY MEMBERS, C) PEOPLE WHO OWE ME MONEY OR A FAVOR, OR D) BARFLIES IN THE BAY AREA, MAY NOT WANT TO READ THIS.

Dearly Beloved You People:

It’s hard to get people to notice a late December birthday. When you’re facing off against New Year’s Eve and Jesus’ Birthday, you lose. Rightly so. But for all of us in the end-of-the-year birthday invisibility zone, we have to make at least one try for recognition. This year is the big year for me. I turn 30 on the 30th: Golden Birthday! So I have an ingenious plan: ON MY BIRTHDAY, BUY *YOURSELF* A PRESENT.

You’re of course welcome to buy yourself whatever you like, but might I humbly suggest you pre-order yourself a copy of SPELLWRIGHT by Blake Charlton online.

“But Blake,” you say, “I hate fantasy novels. Harry Potter made me dizzy, that whole Narnia thing gave me a rash, and the one time I watched The Lord of the Rings I had to vomit a little bit into my mouth and swallow it.”

Fair enough. If SPELLWRIGHT doesn’t seem like your cuppa tea (and you’re in the area), feel free to instead join me for a drink at a bar called The Lone Palm in San Francisco, 8PM to Godknowswhen.

But before you choose EtOH over literature (and let me tell you, the two substances readily mix), consider all the book’s rave reviews and consider all your options to buy SPELLWRIGHT.

Grab a Double-Signed (Signed by author & artist) Copy at The Signed Page.

Support a local Independent Bookseller at Indie Bound

Shop with the big boys at Amazon or Barnes and Nobel.

So, why should you order exactly on my birthday? Publishing silliness. Lots of ordering all at once pushes the book higher on bestseller trackers which then cause more people to notice and corporations to further promote the book. To those that have, more shall be given. *Le French Sigh for Commercial Realities*

In any case, should you find yourself out of funds to buy a hardback, and too far away from San Francisco to stop by for a birthday drink, you can always send a brief note of your love and I’ll send it right back!

Last spring, before the grueling process of studying for the first part of the US medical licensing exam, I had the privilege to discuss literature and medicine with Abraham Verghese, one of the physicians and novelists I admire most in this world. Out of that discussion came an article that examined Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilych. It was accepted for publication in the Journal for General Internal Medicine and has recently been published online. As academia is like to do, the article is hidden behind a baffling number of electronic barriers. The only way I have found to reach it is through my university library portal. If I find a public link to the article, I will share it right away.

The inspiration for this post comes from a PubMed search result. PubMed is a search engine that scours several online databases for abstracts, citations, and articles on biomedical topics. When you enter my name into PubMed, it now produces a link to an article. It’s a wonderful feeling, very much like when I entered my name into the Amazon.com search bar and a novel popped up.

Stanford Medical School, as an institution, eats research for breakfast. As a result, I am pleasantly surrounded by classmates who qualify as stem cell ninjas, bioinformatics ninjas, bioengineering ninjas, statistical clinical research ninjas, and most other forms of research ninjutsu imaginable. So, this article is nothing to boast about. Likely most classmates would pat my shinny head with a sincere “that’s nice, dear,” comment. But nonetheless, I’m proud of the piece and hope it’s a sign that the duel career dream is actually coming into existence.

Here’s the article summary:

J Gen Intern Med. 2009 Dec 17. [Epub ahead of print]

Caring for Ivan Ilyich.

Charlton B, Verghese A.

Department of Internal Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, USA.

For over a century, Leo Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilych has been one of the most influential examinations of how we come to terms with our own mortality. Of the many who care for Ivan Ilych, only the uneducated peasant, Gerasim, is able to help him find meaning and resolution before death. An excerpt that describes Gerasim’s key interaction with Ivan Ilych is provided. Analysis of the text reveals how cultural values may hinder a patient’s ability to confront mortality and how unique social barriers inhibit different caretakers’ ability to care for a dying patient.

PMID: 20016955 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Likely any fan of fantasy literature can relate to poring over the maps of foreign worlds, imagination afire with images of what each city or spectacle might look like and what adventures might be had between them. Of particular importance to me were the beautiful illuminated map of Robert Jordan’s world, Robin Hobb’s Six Dutches, Terry Brook’s Four Lands, and Raymond Feist’s Midkemia.  Over at Tor.com, Jason Denzel wrote a wonderful blog post with images of fantasy maps.

SPELLWRIGHT is not a continent-sweeping multi-POV travelogue of a fantasy. I doubt the trilogy will ‘visit’ most of the places on the map. I prefer to explore a world by digging deep into one specific place to reveal how it is connected to other aspects of the world. Perhaps that will change as I evolve as a writer. Who’s to say? But regardless, I do spend a lot of time dreaming up the Six Human Kingdoms in great detail. Though I’ve no skill with a pen (handwriting so bad I should be a doctor *wink wink*), I created a very ugly but detailed map. I’m excited to announce that the art development folks at Tor have done a beautiful job transforming my scrawl into intricate cartography that I hope will be every bit worthy of readerly scrutiny and imagination. Click on the map for high-res image.

One of the most nail-biting times for an author is the period after a manuscript has been finalized (and therefore can no longer be improved) but before reader reactions start to come in. We’re still a ways away from that the deluge, but some early reviews have come in.

The first is from Matt Staggs at the excellent print publication “Realms of Fantasy.” The review will be in the April 2010 issue, hitting newsstands and subscribers in early February. Here’s a quick blurb:

Spellwright is a well-crafted epic fantasy that mines the author’s own experiences living with dyslexia for a new twist on a classic story, and like Weal himself, Charlton has managed to turn what some might consider a curse into a powerful gift.

RoF has also revamped their website. It’s very slick and deserves a visit. They are also offering a free issue for download as a .pdf!

The second review comes from Aidan Moher at his impresario fantasy blog, A Dribble of Ink. Earlier in the year, Aidan and I produced a detailed interview that’s gone over quite well. Now Aidan turns his considerable analytic powers and knowledge of the genre onto SPELLWRIGHT—penetrating but fair, Aidan makes several sharp observations I hadn’t. Two quote Mark Charan Newton, “Aidan’s a tough man to please.” Ergo, I’m pretty pleased. You can find the complete review here and a blurb below:

Charlton’s inventive debut is comfortable in its tropes, but also willing to turn convention on its head and remind us of that sense of wonder than drew us to Fantasy in the first place.

Finally, as a final bit of good news, I’m happy to report that we’ve accepted an offer from AST for SPELLWRIGHT to be translated into Russian. Это замечательно!

Just got word from my UK editor that they have been pondering their cover for SPELLWRIGHT and looking for a way to work the academy of Starhaven (a magical academy based loosely on a university in New Haven) onto the art. I hadn’t been aware that cover art might change, so don’t take this as final, but here’s a peek. What do you think?

Dearly Beloved YOU PEOPLE:

Apologies for the dearth of blog posts. After my publicity blitz for the interview I wrote up for A Dribble of Ink, I was pretty tired of the-business-of-writing and wanted to get back to actual writing. Progress on SPELLBOUND is moving along. I hit the 36,000 word mark last night and feel good about the movement so far. Also, in a three day flash of inspiration, I knocked off a 12,000 words of a Secrete Project that is currently sitting in some alpha readers inboxes. We’ll see if it survives the criticism. Otherwise, December looks like a tough month to write, what with family and medical stuff coming to a head. But, still, I’m hopeful for more progress.

These days, my bloggerly powers seem to be falling out on this hierarchy: twitter > facebook > good reads > blog >> email >>> LJ crosspost (links to all available on the website’s front page) . Lately, I’ve become especially enamored of Good Reads and the community there. There’s a nice application for facebook. If you’re keen to share your thoughts about books, highly recommend checking it out.

That just about does it for general news. Let’s move on to the specifics.

New Publication Dates: Last month Borders called up Tor to say that they loved SPELLWRIGHT and wanted to move it back so as to keep it from competition with another epic fantasy. I don’t know what that other epic fantasy was, or why they didn’t move it back, but it pays to be nice, so I went along. Here are the present publications dates as far as I know

• US & Canada: Tor, March 2^nd, 2010
• Australia & New Zealand: Voyager, March 3rd, 2010
• UK & Remaining Commonwealth: Voyager, August 10^th, 2010
• Germany: Klett-Cotta, Autumn 2010
• Holland: Luitingh-Sijthoff, Autumn 2010

Book Launch Events Changed: I’ve been wooing local indie book stores. They’ve all been very gracious to me. I was sorry to have to go to them hat in hand and ask for dates to be moved. But, booksellers are some of the nicest people around, and we have a few shinny new dates. Here they are.

• 19 March 7PM Kepler’s Books Launch Party, Menlo Park, CA introduction by my mentor Dr. Abraham Verghese!
• 27 March 3PM Borderlands Books Reading and Signing, San Francisco, CA
• Late March,* Book’s Inc Mountain View, Reading and Signing, Mountain View, CA
• Late March,* Clayton Books Reading and Signing, Clayton (East Bay), CA

*We’re going back and forth about the exact date. Will update when it’s set.

ENDOSYMBIONT eligible for a Nebula Award. If you’re a member of SFWA, please feel free to nominate the work. You can read a free copy here and find more Nebula-eligible work edited by JJ Adams here.

Check out my first interview as a debut author!

Aidan Moher and his uber-slick SFF blog, A Dribble of Ink, showed up on my radar last summer and since then ADoI has become one of my favorite blogs. It’s got all the current genre news, great presentation of the latest cover art, thoughtful reviews, and wonderful interviews (a recent one such with Jesse Bullington was laugh-out-loud funny). Aidan’s criticisms are always well-informed and thoughtful (even when they’re directed at, say, one of my covers). If you’re curious about what’s happening in Speculative Fiction, it the place to be on the internet.

That’s why I was thrilled with Aidan asked me to do a interview about SPELLWRIGHT, writing fantasy, and the state of SFF today. We passed the online interview back and forth for about a month. It grew to +6,500 words, and I’m very proud of it. I’ll paste a few of my favorite lines below, but please hop over to the blog for the full interview (and pass the word if you’re keen).

Everyone’s heard the imperative “Write about what you know.” Or sometimes, “Write about what you love.” Personally, I think if you obey only those two commandments, you’ll end up with warm mush. A love-in. I would add the third commandment: “Write about what you fear.”

Fantasy saved me. It gave me back my sense of wonder with the world. It transformed me from an angry disabled kid looking for trouble into a big nerd who loved literature and science.

By itself, no elaborate magic system or speculative technology or intricate plot or any other intellectually derived element can make a story worthy of readerly devotion. A book series does well not because it is unique, but because it has a genuine voice and true emotion.

When I read Margret Atwood’s quotation “Science fiction is rockets, chemicals and talking squids in outer space,” (The Guardian, 28 January 2009) and then again when I read Sven Birkets’ statement that “science fiction will never be Literature with a capital ‘L’” (New York Times, 18 May, 2003) I had to vomit a little in my mouth and then swallow it…If you believe that there’s absolutely no literature in science fiction or fantasy or young adult fiction or chick-lit or another genre, then you are worse than snobbish, you’re slightly bigoted.

[Regarding bald jokes] Mostly, I recommend a doctrine of preemption. If you mock your gloss before they do, you win. Extra points for self-aggrandizement. Along this line: “God made a few perfect heads; on the rest, he put hair.” Or “Grass doesn’t grow on a busy road.” Double extra points for a façade of humility. For example, if someone says you’ve done something less than perfectly, rub the dome and sheepishly say that you’ll practice so that next time you “won’t have a hair out of place.”

(The following dialog is the amalgamation of several patient encounters and represents no actual patient encounter. All identifying information has been removed to avoid an authorial HIPAA violation and a teen OMGWTFHOLLA violation.)

Girl-who-thinks-she-got-a-higher-verbal-SAT-score-than-I-did: Look I just need you to sign my physical form so I can play volleyball. And I’ve been waiting for like…ever.

Blake Charlton: You came to a free clinic for a sports physical?

Girl-who-thinks-she-got-a-higher-verbal-SAT-score-than-I-did: There something wrong with that?

Blake Charlton: Your address puts you in one of the wealthiest zip codes in the nation.

Girl-who-thinks-she-got-a-higher-verbal-SAT-score-than-I-did: Well, I couldn’t get an appointment at a real clinic until next month. And practice starts next week.

Blake Charlton: All right, all right. Let me ask you some questions.

Girl-who-thinks-she-got-a-higher-verbal-SAT-score-than-I-did: Did you know your last name means “fake doctor?”

Blake Charlton: That’s “charlatan.”

Girl-who-thinks-she-got-a-higher-verbal-SAT-score-than-I-did: Ohhh, sucks to be you.

Blake Charlton: Yeah,  sometimes. Anyway, do you go to tanning salons?

Girl-who-thinks-she-got-a-higher-verbal-SAT-score-than-I-did: Yeah. How could you tell?

Blake Charlton: Your name’s three-syllables more Anglo than mine (which ain’t easy), so I’m guessing you should be a shade of pale slightly whiter than papier-mâché.

Girl-who-thinks-she-got-a-higher-verbal-SAT-score-than-I-did: That’s racist.

Blake Charlton: Let’s just pretend you never said that. So, it’s important you know that visiting tanning salons increases your risk of getting deadly skin cancer by 55%.

Girl-who-thinks-she-got-a-higher-verbal-SAT-score-than-I-did: Great, thanks doc. I’ll file that one way.

Blake Charlton: It’s very damaging to your skin. It’ll make you look much older than you actually are.

Girl-who-thinks-she-got-a-higher-verbal-SAT-score-than-I-did: Sure, whatever. What does this have to do with me playing volleyball?

Blake Charlton: Just…just think about it okay?

Girl-who-thinks-she-got-a-higher-verbal-SAT-score-than-I-did: Are you sure you’re a doctor?

Blake Charlton: I’m a medical student.

Girl-who-thinks-she-got-a-higher-verbal-SAT-score-than-I-did: For a medical student, you look way _old_.

Blake Charlton: That’s because I spent so much time in tanning salons.

Girl-who-thinks-she-got-a-higher-verbal-SAT-score-than-I-did: OH MY GOD, SHUT UP, FOR SERIOUS????

Blake Charlton: …

Girl-who-thinks-she-got-a-higher-verbal-SAT-score-than-I-did: Why are you looking up at the ceiling?

Blake Charlton: I’m asking God if it’d be okay to lie to you to keep you out of the tanning salon.

Girl-who-thinks-she-got-a-higher-verbal-SAT-score-than-I-did: You’re a little dramatic, huh?

Blake Charlton: You like giving people are hard time, huh?

Girl-who-thinks-she-got-a-higher-verbal-SAT-score-than-I-did: Kinda. So you gonna do my sports physical or not?

Blake Charlton: Are you going to stay away from tanning salons?

Girl-who-thinks-she-got-a-higher-verbal-SAT-score-than-I-did: No, but now I’ll feel bad when I do. Well…a little bad.

Blake Charlton: Good enough, give me the form.

My second WFC. The first was Austin 2006, right after I signed with Tor. This year WFC felt different–not only in the physical details of city, hotel, programming, but also in the spirit of the convention. I must have had five different conversations about the “present state of publishing and the economy.” Some of this was the familiar game-of-publishing-houses gossip: who’s the authorial darling of what house, which houses are rising, which setting, and so on. But there was a new tone. A sense that the market was contracting, a sense that only the strong would survive. Those coming into the world feared stillbirth; those experienced in it, an early senescence. Part of this must be unique and created by the still unmeasured effects of a flagging economy and new technology (e-books, the kindle, etc). But some other part of the gloom must be old as publishing itself. Other ages have been lean and in those times authors have produced wonder-inducing and successful novels

It’s also possible that this gloomy spirit was present in the WFC 2006 and I, still exhilarated by signing a three book deal, was not yet aware of the professional novelist’s very thin margin of error.

However, though I was aware of this more pessimistic feeling, it was by no means overbearing. The con was, as before, wonderful fun. Because it is such a publishing industry heavy convention, the place is packed with authors, agents, editors, booksellers, etc. There are no readers, which is a shame because the whole game is played for their love. But given that I don’t have readers (yet?), it didn’t dampen my spirits any. In fact, WFC is a bit like Summer Camp for Industry Pros: you get to see a group of close friends that rarely come together, they’ve done a lot in the meantime, sometimes changed a lot in the meantime (though, sadly, back in summer camp we used to grow up, and now the trend is to grow out). None the less, I had a magnificently wonderful time. There were so many highlights, some of them late night in the bar, that I won’t be able to remember them all. So here’s an incomplete list of the trouble I got into:

• Shortly after arriving I read the prolog and first chapter of SPELLWRIGHT. Many friends were in attendance and more than a few folks just curious. Everyone was marvelously enthusiastic.
• The first night there I had a wonderful dinner with fellow Tor fantasists Kate Elliot and David B. Coe. Kate has been a good friend for several years now, and it’s always a pleasure to talk shop with her. David I hadn’t meet before and getting to know him (and trading snide remarks) was one of my con highlights. We were brought together because we have all worked or are working with the same eccentrically brilliant editor. In fact, we were walking out to dinner when said editor noticed us trucking together and asked if he should come along. I had the great pleasure of saying that “Sorry, adults aren’t allowed in the treehouse.” Said editor laughed and took it good naturedly and we got to compare notes about the writing life.
• I had the pleasure of shaking Guy Gavriel Kay’s hand and having him sign my copy of THE LIONS OF AL-RASSAN, which I am currently reading for some world-building in SPELLBOUND.
• In the bar I ran into Peter V. Brett and Brent Weeks, both rising stars in epic fantasy. And both in the forefront of the hooded-man-on-my-epic-fantasy-cover moment. They being more or less directly responsible for my UK cover, we exchanged a few salvos of snide comments. Laughing with and (mostly) at them was some of the most fun I’ve ever had at a con. Sometime on Saturday night, Peter broke out a handheld video camera and began filming episodes of our bar room frivolity. I’m pretty sure he could end any and all of our careers by posting certain sections. I got a hold of the camera and tried to instigate a round of Epic-Fantasy-Smack-Down. Peter’s answer to “Would you rather have sex with a night elf or a cylon?” was classic.
• After a fascinating conversation about the medieval Muslim world with Saladin Ahmed, I checked out his online story “Where Virtue Lives.” It’s a wonderful scimitar-and-sorcery bit. Eager to see more, I’ve got Saladin on top of my new-authors-to-watch list!
• The new princess of steampunk, Gail Carriger threw a late-night high-tea for her breakout first novel SOULESS. Everyone was dressed to their Victorian nines and have a ripping good time. I had the pleasure of meeting Gail’s  nurturing editor Devi Pallai, who’s account of WFC can be found here. At this party I also had the honor of sitting down with Diana Paxson, she of epic fantasy royalty. Diana told me about an idea she’s been cooking up for a new YA series based in the California Gold Rush. Being a native North Californian I’m very excited to see what she produces.
• My sometimes con-roommate, editor, and good friend John Jospeh Adams came down with a nasty head cold and gave all a H1N1 scare. I got to pack my stethoscope and practice the medical voice a few times at the con (does this mean I can write it off as medical education as well?). JJA emerged just fine toward the end of the con and attended the banquet in a glorious zoot-suite to bask in the glory of his World Fantasy nomination for best anthology. Didn’t take home the trophy this year, alas, but I’m guessing it won’t be long until he does.
• On several occasions, I had the pleasure of chatting my dear friend, the lovely Deanna Hoak. She lent me a great deal of assistance when I was reading the copy edited pages for SPELLWRIGHT. I was too late to get her into the acknowledgment section (at least I think), so I was extra glad to get to tell her in person how wonderful she is.
• After reading his hilarious interview on A Dribble of Ink, I was very excited to shake hands with Jesse Bullington. I’m happy to report that he’s a classy gentleman and very funny. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on THE SAD TALE OF THE BROTHERS GOSSBART.
• At my first World Con in 2006, I spilled a beer on Paolo Bacigalupi’s shoes while he was talking to Liza Trombi. After that the three of us have been bosom-buddies, at least at cons. Sadly, as we’ve started to “grow up”—Liza is now captaining Locus and Paolo is busy promoting THE WINDUP GIRL (which Publisher’s Weekly just listed as among the best books of 2009!)—it’s gotten increasingly harder to spend time together at cons. This year we did find a gloriously silly, late-night patch of time after all the parties and after a few beers. An author had printed up a whole lot of drink coasters (those cardboard squares that protect furniture from a wet mug) to promote his book. A massive stack of these lay in the room we sitting around in. Inevitably the evening evolved into a coaster fight, with each party member flinging coasters ninja-throwing-star-style at each other. Liza, she of bartending experience, managed to nail me in the forehead so hard it left an angry read weal that’s still there. This year we were joined by Daryl Gregory (who’s PANDEMONIUM was up for best novel). Last I saw him, Daryl too was wearing the scar of Trombi.
• At the awards banquet, Jay Lake made his opening remarks into a wonderfully inspiring examination of the nature of fantasy. I’ve been looking without luck so far for a transcript of the speech.

• The last night there I had a dinner with my editor and Nalo Hopkinson, who’s work I have no idea how I have not yet discovered. We talked about many things, but among them the difficulties of creating audiobooks. She gave the recording of her THE NEW MOON’S ARMS her seal of approval and I can’t wait for my audible credits to bump up again so I can download it.

There was much much more that happened at the con. If I remember more of it I’ll be sure to post later. Meantime, I’m back home and getting back into Dual Med-Student/Author Mode. WFC was at time exhausting, at times a bit concerning with the bleak spirit, but in the end wonderful fun and truly inspiring.

Back in August, someone in the industry was good enough to talk up SPELLWRIGHT to Pat of his mighty Fantasy Hotlist. Pat remained cautious but reported that his source thought the book would “be in contention for best first fantasy novel ever.” This sparked more than a few understandably skeptical comments. For a few weeks after, some casual internet snooping revealed a spreading sentiment that SPELLWRIGHT is being hyped.

Hype is a frightening four letter word. I don’t think there’s anything more dangerous to a newborn author than hype. To be hyped feels both slightly nauseating and slightly exhilarating—a bit like having three cups of coffee too many. I’m deeply grateful for the wonderful blurbs from other authors; however, I write for readers and their opinion is the definitive metric of success. For that reason, I was (and still am) anxiously awaiting reviews from readers. The first one came back before World Fantasy and I didn’t have time to write about it here.

Robert Thompson gave SPELLWRIGHT a very thoughtful review, sometimes lending great praise sometimes taking it to the cleaners. His overall assessment “one of the most entertaining and satisfying fantasy debuts I have ever read” is deeply gratifying, and I believe that the tough criticism should satisfy those skeptical about the ‘hype.’

As every author must, I’m promoting the book as well worth your cash and time, if not The Best Thing Ever. To that end, I’ll post the most positive excerpts of the review below, but I encourage anyone curious to check out the full review.

The magic system in SPELLWRIGHT is simply brilliant [and] SPELLWRIGHT is incredibly charming. So charming in fact, that it sometimes felt like I was reading a Harry Potter novel, although comparisons can also be drawn to Patrick Rothfuss, Tad Williams, and Raymond E. Feist…SPELLWRIGHT is infused with Blake’s passion for the novel and his enthusiasm for the genre … a passion and enthusiasm that will rub off on the reader…[Blake takes] the book in several unexpected directions, which included some nice surprises and at least one shocking turn of events. [In conclusion SPELLWRIGHT is] one of the most entertaining and satisfying fantasy debuts I have ever read…I enjoyed reading SPELLWRIGHT so much, I worry about the sequel living up to the high standards set by Blake Charlton’s remarkable debut…

-FantasyLiterature.com

I’m happy to report that Voyager has sent me an image of the UK & Commonwealth cover for SPELLWRIGHT. The artist has done a wonderful job capturing the dynamic nature of the magic-system. Because magical runes are formed within muscle I think of spellwrights as athletes as well as authors. This cover does a wonderful job portraying that by showing a spellwright exposing his arms and forming sentences. I’ve sent a query to Voyager to see if I can learn more about the artist’s creative processes. From what I learn, I’ll try to put together a “About the UK cover” page.