Labyrinth of Flame's Illustrations

Sigh, I heard from the printing company that there's been a delay and it'll be a few more days before I get my hardcopy proof of The Labyrinth of Flame. It's so hard to wait! I'm really eager to get the books printed, but I've got to check that proof first to make sure the cover and illustrations and everything look just right.

In the meantime, some folks have asked if I could put up the images of the illustrations so they can look at them properly instead of on a tiny e-reader screen. I am happy to oblige! So here are the five illustrations that the talented Kristina Carroll did for the book, complete with a few words from me about each one. (Kristina was wonderful to work with, by the way. Organized, responsive, and patient when I dithered over which of her concept sketches to choose for an illustration!)

If you haven't read the book yet, beware spoilers... 

MileHiCon schedule

So, the life craziness continues...but one thing that has done wonders for my stress is getting emails from various readers telling me how much they're enjoying The Labyrinth of Flame. (Thank you thank you thank you!!! There is no better way to cheer up an author.)  Plus soon I'll have the joy of holding the book in my hands - the files are at the printing company, and they tell me a hardcopy proof should arrive mid next week. YAY.

But I've been so busy with day job and everything that I only today realized that MileHiCon is THIS WEEKEND, holy hell, where did this month go? So now I'm scrambling to prepare for panels - I've got three this year, and they all sound fun:

Friday Oct 23, 2pm: Ten Mistakes Writers Make

A look at some common mistakes writers make, and perhaps some ways to prevent them… or at least stop making them more quickly!

(My take: I'm not sure if this panel is supposed to be about craft mistakes or business mistakes or both, but I've certainly made enough mistakes to have plenty of advice to share.)

Friday Oct 23, 4pm: Five Fantasy Worlds You Wouldn't Want to Visit

The Shire might be nice (but does Bag End have flush toilets?), but lots of fantasy worlds would be no fun to be in. Our panelists count down the five fantasy worlds they’d least like to visit … let alone set up house in.

(My take: Oh yeah, I can think of plenty of awful worlds, especially among the modern grimdark novels. I'll try and go some fun/unusual ones.)

Saturday Oct 24, 10am: SF Primer: From Isaac Asimov to Timothy Zahn

If someone is just getting into reading science fiction, what books do you recommend and why?

(My take: I LOVE recommending books! And you can bet I'll be including plenty of the awesome female authors I loved growing up - ladies who cemented my love for SF, who nobody seems to talk about anymore. The trouble will be in limiting myself so I don't try to mention 300 names at once!)

I'm only at the con on Friday and Saturday, since I promised my husband I wouldn't stick him with solo parent duty for yet another entire weekend. For anyone else attending, I hope you'll say hello! Panels are fun, but talking to fellow readers and fans is even more so.

The Labyrinth of Flame is out in the world!

The Labyrinth of Flame is really, finally, completely, utterly done - and in readers' hands! I sent out ebooks and maps to Kickstarter backers on Sunday night. (This after a week that involved my son getting sick, me getting sick, and then a tree falling on our neighborhood power lines right when I was trying to do final ebook conversions - gaaaah!)

Honestly I still can't quite believe the book is done. I don't think it'll sink in until the physical copies arrive and I hold one in my hands (which should be in another 2 weeks or so). I've been working on the story for so long that my brain hasn't quite adjusted to the idea that not only is The Labyrinth of Flame done, but other people can now READ IT. (Oh gosh. That's somewhat terrifying, but mostly I can't wait to see what people think of the book.)

Of course, I'm not yet done with the Shattered Sigil world and characters. I still have four short stories to write for Kickstarter backers. I'm looking forward to working on those! And I still have plenty of production and Kickstarter-related tasks to handle. But the biggest part of the mountain has been climbed, and once I come out of my hypoxic daze, I'll be jumping about with joy.

For anyone who missed the Kickstarter, fear not! I'll be doing a general release of the book through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc in both ebook and print on Dec 1. (I just today set up the Amazon preorder page. I think as a self-pub person, Amazon only allows me to set up a pre-order for ebooks, not print, but rest assured the book will be available in both when the time comes.)

Oh yes, and while I was in my final push to the finish, Grimdark Magazine reviewed The Whitefire Crossing and The Tainted City, and posted an interview with me (in which I share my favorite grimdark author, among other things.)

And now, it is a beautiful day, and I am going to the mountains!