Web Log
Spellbound Book Tour
Dearly Beloved You Guys: So, I’m nearly halfway through my pediatrics rotation and loving it. The kids are, as to be expected, unbelievably cute. More on that later. Possibly much later. Now I’ve very excited to announce Spellbound’s book tour. This year it’s looking like I’ll be running up and down the left side of [...]
Read MoreNew Foreign Cover Art
Dearly Beloved You Guys: By the time you read this, my week on the well-baby nursery will be afoot. Let’s hold the phone for a moment to think about well-babies. They’re cute. They pee and poop with abandon, and their physical findings are strange. Consider heart sounds. In the adult, the healthy human heart produces [...]
Read MoreSpellbound’s Beautiful City Map
Last year I was lucky enough to show of the world map for the Spellwright Trilogy. It was drawn by the brilliant Rhys Davies; if you’re into imaginary maps, you really should click through. Today, I’m very proud to show off a second Davies map. This one will run in Spellbound and provides detailed cartography [...]
Read MoreHair-Raising Medical Bureaucracy
As with all other posts about medicine, the following has been altered to remove any identifying information. **RING RING** Blake: Hello. Unnamed and Really Very Nice Hospital Administrator: Hello, is this Medical Student Blake Charlton? Blake: Yes. Admin: This is the hospital security department. We can’t process your photo ID request because you left “hair [...]
Read MoreVote on the Gemmell Awards!
Dearly Beloved You People, Polls have opened for the David Gemmell awards in fantasy literature. If you’ve got two second to make two clicks, please hope over to the Morningstar Award for best debut fantasy and pick your favorite. I’m hoping you’ll vote for Spellwright but there are some amazing books on that list so [...]
Read MoreSpellbound’s UK Cover
Gentle (or Otherwise) Readers, This week I was very proud to see the cover for the UK edition of Spellbound debut over at The Speculative Scotsman. It’s a wonderful blog for SFF reviews and witty commentary on matters literary and cultural. In fact, given that I’m still working away in the hospital this month, why [...]
Read MoreGone Head Shrinking (Diversion Post)
Dearly Beloved You Guys: Today starts my rotation in psychiatry. As the son of two shrinks, this day has long been anticipated by clan Charlton. A strong desire to uphold the family honor and to “not suck” (that’s a biomedical technical term) will likely keep me from much internet activity until April when I’m back [...]
Read MoreWriting Strong Women
The following is a crosspost of my contribution to Mary Victoria’s “Writing Strong Women” series. Let me tell you the stories of three women. Or, to be more precise, the stories of a dead woman, a living girl, an imaginary girl. The dead woman’s story—as I witnessed it—starts when she was alive. It’s my first [...]
Read MoreWriter on the Verge: Howard A. Jones
The Writers on the Verge series interviews the new faces in the fields of SFF. This one is a crosspost at Tor.com; click through to join the discussion there. Also check out past WotV interviews of Peter Orullian, Sam Sykes, Mary Victoria, and Saladin Ahmed. * * * As I’ve noted in past interviews, 2011 [...]
Read MoreEndosymbiont on the Air
Dearly Beloved You All: As you might recall from this post, I’m very passionate about read-aloud fiction. For that reason, I’m especially proud to announce that the distinguished Escape Pod podcast has produced a performance of my novella, Endosymbiont. (If you’re a reader more than a listener you can read an online copy of the [...]
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