Today’s Fun Historical Fact

These days I’m steeped in research for the new historical fantasy project, so I thought I’d share with you my “Fun Historical Fact of the Day”.  Under the heading of “This Sounds Familiar…”:

In the pre-Revolutionary period, the American colonies were eager to be economically secure in their own right, but most of them, particularly Massachusetts, were still tied closely to Great Britain.  So much so, that during the Stamp Act Crisis of the mid 1760s, when they were truly ticked off at the Brits, and went so far as to drink tea out of teapots that read “No Stamp Act!” they had to import said teapots from — you guessed it — England.  Kind of like today, when we talk about how important it is to Buy American, and then we go to rallies and we wave American flags that are made in China.  The more things change, the more they stay the same….

[This tidbit comes from T.H. Breen's The Marketplace of Revolution (Oxford University Press, 2004)]

A Post About Research and Writing

Today’s post can be found at http://magicalwords.net, the group blog on the business and craft of writing fantasy that I maintain with fellow authors Faith Hunter, Misty Massey, and C. E. Murphy. The post is called “Research and the Writer” and it’s about balancing the need to do research for our books and the need simply to write. I hope you enjoy it.

Oh, and by the way, there’s a new contest up on my website: http://www.DavidBCoe.com. Visit the site and maybe you’ll win a signed book!

Some News

Some of you may have noticed this on the web yesterday.  For those of you who didn’t, I have just sold a new book project to Tor Books.  It’s a two book (for now) series of stand alone mysteries with a strong historical and fantastic element.  The series will be called The Chronicles of the Thief Taker, or something of the sort, and it will be set in pre-Revolutionary Boston, albeit a Boston with magic — hence the “Harry Dresden meets Samuel Adams” pitch.  I’ll be writing the books as D. B. Jackson.

The first book in the series won’t be out until late spring or early summer 2011, and I have a good deal of research and writing to do in the interim, but I’m excited about this project and I hope very much that you’ll enjoy the books when they come out.

In the more immediate time frame, Magical Words, the blog I maintain with fellow fantasy authors Faith Hunter, Misty Massey, and C.E. Murphy, now has a new regular contributor.  Bestselling author A.J. Hartley will be writing for us on the first Friday of each month, and his initial offering is up today and can be found here.  Check it out and enjoy.

A Post About World Fantasy Convention

Today’s Magical Words post is a bit late, but that’s because I’ve just returned from World Fantasy Convention in San Jose, California. My post about the con can be found at http://magicalwords.net, the group blog on the business and craft of writing fantasy that I maintain with fellow authors Faith Hunter, Misty Massey, and C. E. Murphy.

World Fantasy Convention, Here I Come!

Off tomorrow to World Fantasy Convention in San Jose, California.  WFC is, year in and year out, my favorite convention.  It is big but not huge, with a strong emphasis on reading, writing, and publishing.  It’s always attended by lots of writers, editors and agents, making it a great place to meet up with old friends and get some business done.

On Wednesday night, from 6:30-8:00, I’ll be signing books along with a mass of sf/fantasy writers at Borderland Books, in San Francisco.

I’ll be moderating a panel on Friday morning at 10:00.  The panel is called “Writing Human Characters, Whether or not They’re Human,” and the other panelists are Kate Elliott, Kay Kenyon, Laurel Anne Hill, and Shauna Roberts.  Should be a fun discussion.

Other than that, I’ll be going to readings, catching up with old friends, meeting with my agent and editor, and spending a good deal of time at parties and in the bar.  Hope to see some of you there — please, if you see me, come and introduce yourselves.

A Two-Post Monday

I have two posts going up today. The first, my usual Monday Magical Words post, can be found at http://magicalwords.net, the group blog on the business and craft of writing fantasy that I maintain with fellow authors Faith Hunter, Misty Massey, and C. E. Murphy. The post is called “A Luddite Looks at the Future of Books” and it’s about e-books and what they mean for the future of writing and publishing. The second is a special Halloween Week post that I’ve written for the Knight Agency, where I’m represented. This post can be found at http://knightagency.blogspot.com/. I hope you enjoy both posts.

A Post About Our Imperfect Books

Today’s post can be found at http://www.sfnovelists.com, the group blog on speculative fiction that I maintain along with a group of over one hundred published authors of fantasy and science fiction. The post is called “Our Books, Warts and All.” I hope you enjoy it.

A Little Shameless Self-Promotion

Just eleven more days to enter the current contest on my web site.  C’mon!  Don’t you want to win a free copy of The Sorcerers’ Plague (Book I ofBlood of the Southlands)?  Sure ya do!  Follow these links to see jacket art, check out maps of the Southlands, and read sample chapters.  And then give the contest a try.  Or, if you already own the book, but need a gift for a friend or someone in your family, you can try to win one for him or her.

Either way, come visit the web site!

A Post About the Seasons

Today’s post can be found at http://magicalwords.net, the group blog on the business and craft of writing fantasy that I maintain with fellow authors Faith Hunter, Misty Massey, and C. E. Murphy. The post is called “Writing the Seasons” and it’s about using seasonal imagery in our writing. I hope you enjoy it.

Information About My Next Release

Hi, all.  A little publicity work here:  I have just updated my web page with lots of information about my next book release.  The book is called The Dark-Eyes’ War, and it’s the third and final volume of my Blood of the Southlands trilogy.  I’ve uploaded sample chapters, jacket art, and other information about the book and theseries.  I hope you’ll visit the site and check it out.  Thanks!!