This may come as a shock to some of you, but I hope no one will freak out with this news.

You will no longer be able to buy a print edition of Chasing the Bard or Digital Magic from DragonMoon Press.

OK… wow that was like ripping off a band-aid. Hopefully you are all still with me.

So let me explain. I signed with DMP back in 2003, and I still recall the excitement when I got my offer from Gwen. It was my first print deal, and a validation for me as a writer. They picked up Digital Magic and through them I got to know and work with Tee Morris. They also let me podcast my novels in their entirety- something unusual in the publishing world.

They gave me me a lot, but things do change. Writing for a living is hard, and unfortunately it has been my experience that being with an indie press does not bring in enough dollars to keep body and soul together.

That may sound harsh, but this year has meant making some hard choices. That’s the difference between having writing as a hobby and having it be your business.

I wish Gwen and Grabrielle at DragonMoon all the best, and thank them for the time and effort they put into teaching me about writing and the industry.

If you want to snag a papercopy of either of these books then I suggest getting in now… they could become collector’s editions.

So it isn’t all dark clouds and grim news. Times they are a changing, but there will not be a shortage of paper books from me. In the next year I will have three books coming out with both Ace and Eos. So I hope you hang in there with me, and together we’ll see how the ride pans out.

Coming Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Three Podcast Authors, Three Podcast Novels, Three Contests!

What to look for: Blog posts containing printable PDF bookmarks at Digital Magic, Metamor City, and Literary Abominations.

What you can win: A free book, maybe two or three! (Prize details for each contest will be available at each author’s website).

Your Mission:

• Download and print the bookmarks
• Cut along the dotted lines
• Take to your local libraries and bookstores
• Leave a set near the checkout (1 pt for a stack) or put a stack inside of similar books (2 pts ea – Philippa, Chris, and Dan will each provide a list of authors to target)
• Take photos of each instance of bookmark distribution
• Send photo(s) to the author
• Each point will count as one entry of your name in the hat – so repeat as often as you wish to enter before December 20th.

Winners will be drawn December 21st.

Anyone who enters all three contests will have their names automatically entered into a second drawing – this time for a basket of tasty treats from San Francisco and New Zealand!

After the whirlwind of Double Trouble in 2008, I decided to get together with fellow podcasters Dan Sawyer and Chris Lester and launch our follow up podcast novel on the world- but taking it one bigger. So was born the Triple Threat.

Check out Chris Lester’s Metamor City and Dan Sawyer’s Free Will.

So we’ve been hitting the podosphere.

Check out some of the recent interviews I’ve been on.

Touching the Monolith

The Creative Penn

Well if I thought it was all just a mad dream, here is evidence that I am not. From May 2009 edition of Locus confirmation that the Ace deal is a go.

So I sent the contract by fast plane to New York, and now I have a date of publication. Geist will be out November 2010 and its sequel the following year.

I can’t wait to get start on final edits. Geist 2 (still have to come up with a satisfactory name) is about 15,000 words done and it is a lot of fun to get back to this world.

So apart from that writing here’s my calendar of things to get done

• Finish podcasting Weather Child.
• Begin planning and then podcast Digital Magic
• Write, edit, produce and podcast Books and Braun
• Write and podcast a series of perhaps 10 episodes of short stories in the Geist universe.

It’s been one of those months- everything seems to be hanging on a knife edge, and it is not my preferred method of living I can tell you.

• Digital Magic (best novel- adult) and the podcast version of Chasing the Bard (best fan production) are up for Sir Julius Vogel Awards this year. This NZ version of the Hugos, just keeps getting bigger and better, so it really is an honour to be nominated.
• My wonderful agent Laurie is pitching Geist. This is the novel I am most proud of, with a main character I love and very much want to continue writing. It’s wide open to being a fun, exciting series. It’s on the desks of people I only ever dreamed of getting my stuff in front of. I am trying not to think about it or I might just chew my own fingernails off.
• The first of my guest chefs at Erotica a la Carte has landed. Susan Z’s A Heart of Hammered Brass is just wonderful. But the only problem is, listening to it *I* want to get back to writing for this series. I am thinking about pulling the whole thing together into a collection for podiobooks. I may also put my stories (or with permission the other chef’s stories) into some sort of e or print versions. For a project that I started just as a bit of fun, something to get me over my inability to write ‘saucy’ scenes, EalC has really developed a life of its own. The numbers are starting to match Chasing the Bard!
• Books and Braun is coming on a pace. It should be done by the end of April. I am very much enjoying writing Eliza D Braun, secret agent from the Colonies (Yes, New Zealand)
• I am in the tentative acceptance stage of getting an technical editing job. This would mean I can make up some of the money I sacrificed by doing one day a week less at my corporate librarian job, but will make use of the skills I developed there.

Someone who knows about living on the edge is friend and fellow podcaster JC Hutchins. He has two books coming out this year and the first one Personal Effect: Dark Art is an combination of novel and ARG. Looks spooky and well worth checking out. The video is pretty kick-ass too.

Thank you all! I have been informed and accepted nominations for Chasing the Bard (in Fan Production) and Digital Magic (for Best Novel) for the Sir Julius Vogel Awards. This is New Zealand’s version of the Hugo’s and I am so pleased to be nominated. In fact twice is even better! The awards are designed by Weta Workshop and are presented at the  Annual Science Fiction Convention, to be held in June in Auckland. (Conscription).

Now it is up to the judges, but you all responded wonderfully. So fingers crossed the 2009 is the year I get some awards on that mantle.

Now…. about those Parsec Awards…

Nominations open 1st December for the 2009 Sir Julius Vogel Awards. They are New Zealand’s Hugo Awards- but prettier. And yes, I would love to have one on my shelf. So here’s the deal. Email after 1st December sjv_awards@sffanz.sf.org.nz to let the committee know that you think Chasing the Bard is worthy of a shot at Best Fan Production and/or Digital Magic is worthy of a nod for Best Novel. They need my contact details which of course are pip@pjballantine.net

Thanks

Christmas is approaching, and I have a new box of books. So if you want to give some Fey magic to your loved ones (or yourself) then have I got a deal for you….

Well actually I have some books. For the princely sum of $US24.95 each (inc postage anywhere on our fair globe) each, you can have your own copy of Chasing the Bard or Digital Magic (or both)- signed by me! Yes… one day these may be worth selling for a princely sum on ebay.

Just email me at pip at pjballantine dot com with the details of how many, how you wanted it signed (personalised or just vanilla signature) and where to mail it. I’ll send you my PayPal details and Fey goodness will be on its way.

I only have limited copies and they do make very pretty gifts all the way from New Zealand.