Hi, All! Welcome Night Shade class of 2012! I’m Nathan Long, and this is where I’m supposed to introduce myself and my new book to the Night Shade audience, and also talk about my favorite novel of the year. Fair enough. Sounds like Marketing 101 to me, so let’s get started…
Introductions
First, the back flap copy, just to get it out of the way:
Nathan Long is a twenty year veteran of Hollywood, with many produced films and TV shows to his credit, including the cult hit Guyver II – Dark Hero, and the kid’s adventure show Kamen Rider Dragon Knight. In the last six years he has become a novelist as well, writing ten tie-in novels set in the Warhammer universe, and just this year sold his first original novel, Jane Carver of Waar, to Night Shade Books.
Okay, so none of that is an actual lie, but it’s a bit glib and glossy, and makes it seem like I skipped from success to success for twenty years – which of course it’s meant to. I mean, you don’t want the guy who flips to the back of the book to think you’re a loser. But the gloss hides the fact that, for most of that time, writing has been more of an addiction than a profession for me, an expensive habit that I have fed by taking a series of disposable day jobs – taxi driver, messenger, video store clerk – to make ends meet while waiting to hear back from yet another publisher or producer. (more…)
Read More...
Howdy.
Sometimes I’m at an orientation or first class of a workshop and I hear the facilitator or teacher say, “Now, let’s all introduce ourselves to the group. Tell us your name, where you’re from, and something interesting about yourself.” I get very nervous and fidgety, searching my brain for that original thing I can say that will make everyone think I am witty, entertaining, or at the very least, the most interesting person they have ever met. As it gets nearer and nearer to my turn, I break out in a cold sweat, nodding and smiling but not actually listening to anyone else’s introductions because I’m rehearsing mine over and over in my head. It’s like I’m on “Whose Line is it, Anyway?” and it’s almost my turn in the singalong and I’m supposed to sing in the style of bluegrass about waitressing.
Happy New Year to everyone at Night Shade and Night Bazaar. Please forgive the title, but I wanted to get some attention. Also, it does have an element of truth.
I’m Mazarkis Williams, one of Night Shade’s new voices and author of The Emperor’s Knife, a tale of courtly intrigue and insidious magic. While writing it, I hoped to end with the kind of book I like to read—one with decent prose, interesting characters, a solid world, and meaningful themes. It is up to my readers to decide whether I succeeded in those goals, but late one September night, after typing in my final sentence and feeling a rush of euphoria, I felt that I had.