So What’s Next?

This weekend I finished the Dreamblood books. Yes, both of them at once. Yes, it was hard as all get out and this is why I’ve been relatively quiet for the last few months. It’s been worse for my friends and family, if you’re wondering — I’ve been shutting off my phone on the weekends, skipping out on celebratory dinners and other events, and just generally being a hermit. But I got them done. So aside from resuming 8 hours of sleep, a social life, and regular exercise, what else am I doing to celebrate?

Why, I’m starting my next book, of course!

It’s an idea that’s been in my head for the last few months — fragile, but growing stronger. Persisting, in the way that my ideas tend to do when they really want to be written down. I’m not quite ready to talk about it in detail yet, but suffice it to say that this will be another fantasy (don’t want to call it epic since I don’t feel like defending that definition today) but slightly SF-flavored, insofar as it’ll be postapocalyptic and dystopian. The story will start with the end of the world; the world will not be “fixed” at the end because I’m generally annoyed by “reset button” fantasy. The magic system will be seismology-based — and no, this has nothing to do with recent history, but more a longtime fascination I’ve had with plate tectonics. That’s really all I can say until I’ve finished the research-and-development phase, which I’m beginning now.

Will also be working on short stories for a little while, since I’ve found that these make nice “palate-cleansers” in between novels. Just finished my first YA short story! More on that later.

But in the more immediate future, I’m also gearing up for the countdown to The Kingdom of Gods. Starting to line up readings and such for October, and nailing down my convention schedule for this year, which will be lighter than usual because I have a full-time dayjob now. Shall post a list of cons shortly. We have a release date: October 27, 2011! Which means I’ll be having a launch party at World Fantasy this year (just got a membership, thanks to a friend). And — you guys. YOU GUYS. I have seen the next-to-final cover of The Kingdom of Gods. And it is effing gorgeous. ::loving sigh:: I can’t show it to you yet, but I can say the art will be by Cliff Nielsen again, with Lauren Panepinto doing cover design as before, and will be similar in motif to the first two books — a palace (not Sky!) at the center, a godly character’s face in the background. I’m not gonna tell you what palace, or whose face, because I am a sadist. AAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA. But relax, you’ll see it soon.

In the meantime, I’m in a bit of a holding pattern re awards. Hugo voting just ended this weekend past, and while I’m not getting my hopes up — the Hugos seem only marginally fantasy-friendly to me, but that’s just my surface impression — who knows? If you’re a Locus subscriber, don’t forget that voting for the Locus Awards ends April 15 (an inauspicious date, for those of us in the US who pay taxes, but oh well). As You Know, Readers, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms has been nominated for a Nebula, so I’ll find out in May whether it won. Some things are definite, ‘tho: I didn’t mention here due to Double Deadline Hell brainfartry, but 100K was shortlisted for the Crawford Award and the Tiptree, the latter of which was announced last week. W00t! And meanwhile, 100K’s baby sister The Broken Kingdoms has won for Best Fantasy Novel in the Romantic Times Book Reviews annual awards! (That’s not up on their website, note — it’s going to be in the latest issue of Romantic Times.) Not bad, little bookies, not bad.

So that’s what’s up for me. What about you, this bright, chilly (in NYC) Monday?