Please excuse the silence. It has been a pretty busy year; getting married, writing, traveling and working through the immigration process.
So catching up on the news.
Firstly Jason Chan won a Chesley Award at WorldCon for the coverart from Geist. I was there and vaguely coherent enough to accept the award on his behalf. I cannot wait to see what he comes up with for Wrayth and Harbinger.
Speaking of. I now have the publication date for the third Book of the Order. The continuing adventures of the Deacons will arrive September 12th 2012.
I am right now working on the final edits for the story, and I hope you will enjoy the places I take our heroes.
But if you are worried that that is too long..then fear not. I am planning to relaunch the podcast Chronicles of the Order in late July 2012. It was a lot of fun doing the first series…
I’d also like to say thank you for your support. These are fun books for me to write, and I am really loving the chance to keep going with this series.
I’m happy to announce that my winners are Terri and Anita.
They both get an advanced copy of Spectyr and a lovely Catherinette ring. I got some great entries to the competition, and it was great fun to see the people with Geist. I’ve put together a little collection of the entries that were particularly funny. Thanks for entering everyone!
I’ve made no bones about the fact I love Jason Chan’s works. He managed to capture the power and danger of Sorcha and the Rossin on both Geist and Spectyr. I am really also looking forward to seeing what he comes up with for Wrayth and Harbinger.
It is so nice to see him getting recognised for it by his peers.
Jason Chan’s cover for Geist is up for the Chesley Award for best paperback cover.
The Chesley awards are given out by the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists and are the most prestigious in the field of fantastical arts. Jason well deserves this recognition, and I dearly hope he wins.
Only members vote on these awards, but if you want to support him, then consider purchasing one of his prints. I have several in my home.
Spectyr is coming…
Though one of the most powerful Deacons, Sorcha Faris has a tarnished reputation to overcome. She and her partner, Deacon Merrick Chambers, find themselves chasing down rumors of geists, but long for a return to real action. So they jump at the chance to escort a delegation sent to negotiate the terms of the Emperor’s engagement. Their destination: the exotic city of Orinthal.
But a string of murders has Orinthal on edge, and Sorcha and Merrick are asked to investigate. Meanwhile the Emperor’s sister has unwittingly released a cruel and vengeful goddess, one who it bent on destroying her enemies, including the geistlord who resides inside the shapeshifting rival to the throne—Sorcha’s lover….
If you enjoyed Geist the sequel is only a few weeks from hitting the shelves, but you can win a copy right now!
If you’re in the United States this one’s for you…
Yes, I have two advanced copies of Spectyr to give away…and to sweeten the joy of that even more- two Catherinette rings this one and this one
Here’s how you can win.
Each one of these gives you a draw in the competition.
- Send me a picture of you holding Geist (paper, ibook, Kindle etc)
- Direct me to your blogpost/Facebook/tweet about Spectyr coming
- Direct me to your review of Geist on Amazon/Goodreads/Shelfari/your blog
Get your entries into me by sending them to pip AT pjballantine (dot) come by the 17th of June.
A nice piece of news for both the Order and the geists.
Geist, and its sequels have been sold to German company Egmont Verlagsgesellschaften.
I’ve been to Germany once, and have ancestors that came from there, but it feels like with this deal and with the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences novels selling there too, that I might have to go again.
Ich schätze Ihre Unterstützung
Thanks to all those who entered. It was a blast seeing pictures of people holding the book- reminded me this is real and that Geist is very much out there!
Anyway…onto the winners
Winner of the Arch Abbott prize….Dawn (Kylanth) who will get
- A genuine New Zealand pounamu pendant. This is a very spiritual stone which contains mana (status) and is considered tapu (sacred). It is only found in the South Island of New Zealand.
- A signed (by both myself and the artist Jason Chan) copy of the Geist cover. This is an open-edition 13″ x 19″, gallery-quality giclée print on 100% cotton rag archival paper, printed with archival inks. Each print features a minimum 1″ border.
- A signed copy of Geist.
Winner of the Abbott Prize…Erick Ackerman who gets
- A signed (by both myself and the artist Jason Chan) copy of the Geist cover. This is an open-edition 13″ x 19″, gallery-quality giclée print on 100% cotton rag archival paper, printed with archival inks. Each print features a minimum 1″ border.
- A signed copy of Geist.
And the five winners of the Presbyter prizes Laura Frechette, Katie Bryski, Brad Bowyer, Angel Lopez, and Stephanie Charette all get a signed copy of Geist and a sweet treat from New Zealand
