November Winner
Swishhhh-Swushhhhh-Swooooooo! That’s my impression of the windy end of autumn. Brilliant, isn’t it?
Ah, the year grows late, dusk draws in early, fallen leaves flail upon the chilly norwesterly, and ’tis time to toast one’s toes before the open fire, perhaps while enjoying a cup of mulled wine from the soft hand of a serving wench. What’s more, ’tis the final day of November, and therefore by the ancient laws made up on the spot by me seven weeks ago, the dice shall choose the second (extremely) lucky winner of a Signed, Lined, Dated proof of Last Argument of Kings.
Pray to whatever dark gods you worship that the dice favour you.
And the winner is:
Wait for it.
Wait for it.
The dice are rolling.
Wait for it.
The 112th entry to the competition, which was from …
Drum roll please …
PEDRO MARROQUIN!!!!
Who, apparently, deserves a proof of Last Argument of Kings because …
“…I’m in the middle of “Before they are Hanged”, and I don’t want to wait 5 months for the end of the story. You get so close to the characters such a long absence would be like being separated from your girlfriend for those 5 months.”
Ah, Pedro, far be it from me to stand between you and your lady love. A round of applause, Ladies and Gentlemen, for PEDRO MARROQUIN. Don’t hate him, hate the dice.
(Pedro, you should be in receipt of an e-mail from me requesting your postal address, and your choice of personalised inscription.)
I should point out that the proofs are now printed, and some of them already posted and in the sweaty hands of reviewers. So the winner should receive their proof within the next couple of weeks, just as soon as I get a response from Pedro, and can get to the publisher and sign the thing.
The dice have chosen the victor, but the unfortunate many should not despair as, on New Year’s Eve, I shall pick the entry that tickles my funny bone/plays upon my heart-strings/flatters my bloated ego the most to win the final proof. The competition remains open, and anyone who wishes to enter should follow the instructions HERE.
Once again, I am FAR TOO GOOD TO YOU.
ARCs
Ahhhhhh, look what’s arrived: Uncorrected Manuscript Proofs, Advance Reader Copies, Galleys, all used pretty interchangably to describe things like these, nearly finished but still slightly unfinished books sent out to reviewers, booksellers, other writers (and a few lucky competition winners) to promote a title. It’s a book. It’s an un-proofread book, which means it has […]
Respec'
Ah, lookee here. Jeff VanderMeer, proper world fantasy award-winning respected author and critic, has posted a list of books that weren’t quite in his ten best books of the year for amazon.com. Guess what, no doubt by some freak accident, got stuck to the bottom? “The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie – A rough-and-tumble, bold […]
Proof-Reading
Not so long ago I launched a scathing attack on reviewers who blame editors for bad books. Alright, not an attack, I just said I thought it was a bit weird, when you’ve no idea what the editor did or didn’t do. I made the point that, ultimately, an author has the right of refusal […]
Going Dutch
So a Dutch deal for The Blade Itself came through last week, which is nice, and made me think that a quick statement of the status of The First Law around the world might be worthwhile… UKThe Blade Itself and Before They are Hanged are out, Last Argument of Kings will be out in March […]
