Aidan Moher and his uber-slick SFF blog, A Dribble of Ink, showed up on my radar last summer and since then ADoI has become one of my favorite blogs. It’s got all the current genre news, great presentation of the latest cover art, thoughtful reviews, and wonderful interviews (a recent one such with Jesse Bullington was laugh-out-loud funny). Aidan’s criticisms are always well-informed and thoughtful (even when they’re directed at, say, one of my covers). If you’re curious about what’s happening in Speculative Fiction, it the place to be on the internet.

That’s why I was thrilled with Aidan asked me to do a interview about SPELLWRIGHT, writing fantasy, and the state of SFF today. We passed the online interview back and forth for about a month. It grew to +6,500 words, and I’m very proud of it. I’ll paste a few of my favorite lines below, but please hop over to the blog for the full interview (and pass the word if you’re keen).

Everyone’s heard the imperative “Write about what you know.” Or sometimes, “Write about what you love.” Personally, I think if you obey only those two commandments, you’ll end up with warm mush. A love-in. I would add the third commandment: “Write about what you fear.”

Fantasy saved me. It gave me back my sense of wonder with the world. It transformed me from an angry disabled kid looking for trouble into a big nerd who loved literature and science.

By itself, no elaborate magic system or speculative technology or intricate plot or any other intellectually derived element can make a story worthy of readerly devotion. A book series does well not because it is unique, but because it has a genuine voice and true emotion.

When I read Margret Atwood’s quotation “Science fiction is rockets, chemicals and talking squids in outer space,” (The Guardian, 28 January 2009) and then again when I read Sven Birkets’ statement that “science fiction will never be Literature with a capital ‘L’” (New York Times, 18 May, 2003) I had to vomit a little in my mouth and then swallow it…If you believe that there’s absolutely no literature in science fiction or fantasy or young adult fiction or chick-lit or another genre, then you are worse than snobbish, you’re slightly bigoted.

[Regarding bald jokes] Mostly, I recommend a doctrine of preemption. If you mock your gloss before they do, you win. Extra points for self-aggrandizement. Along this line: “God made a few perfect heads; on the rest, he put hair.” Or “Grass doesn’t grow on a busy road.” Double extra points for a façade of humility. For example, if someone says you’ve done something less than perfectly, rub the dome and sheepishly say that you’ll practice so that next time you “won’t have a hair out of place.”

Girl-who-thinks-she-got-a-higher-verbal-SAT-score-than-I-did: Look I just need you to sign my physical form so I can play volleyball. And I’ve been waiting for like…ever.

Blake Charlton: You came to a free clinic for a sports physical?

Girl-who-thinks-she-got-a-higher-verbal-SAT-score-than-I-did: There something wrong with that?

Blake Charlton: Your address puts you in one of the wealthiest zip codes in the nation.

Girl-who-thinks-she-got-a-higher-verbal-SAT-score-than-I-did: Well, I couldn’t get an appointment at a real clinic until next month. And practice starts next week.

Blake Charlton: All right, all right. Let me ask you some questions.

Girl-who-thinks-she-got-a-higher-verbal-SAT-score-than-I-did: Did you know your last name means “fake doctor?”

Blake Charlton: That’s “charlatan.”

Girl-who-thinks-she-got-a-higher-verbal-SAT-score-than-I-did: Ohhh, sucks to be you.

Blake Charlton: Yeah,  sometimes. Anyway, do you go to tanning salons?

Girl-who-thinks-she-got-a-higher-verbal-SAT-score-than-I-did: Yeah. How could you tell?

Blake Charlton: Your name’s three-syllables more Anglo than mine (which ain’t easy), so I’m guessing you should be a shade of pale slightly whiter than papier-mâché.

Girl-who-thinks-she-got-a-higher-verbal-SAT-score-than-I-did: That’s racist.

Blake Charlton: Let’s just pretend you never said that. So, it’s important you know that visiting tanning salons increases your risk of getting deadly skin cancer by 55%.

Girl-who-thinks-she-got-a-higher-verbal-SAT-score-than-I-did: Great, thanks doc. I’ll file that one way.

Blake Charlton: It’s very damaging to your skin. It’ll make you look much older than you actually are.

Girl-who-thinks-she-got-a-higher-verbal-SAT-score-than-I-did: Sure, whatever. What does this have to do with me playing volleyball?

Blake Charlton: Just…just think about it okay?

Girl-who-thinks-she-got-a-higher-verbal-SAT-score-than-I-did: Are you sure you’re a doctor?

Blake Charlton: I’m a medical student.

Girl-who-thinks-she-got-a-higher-verbal-SAT-score-than-I-did: For a medical student, you look way _old_.

Blake Charlton: That’s because I spent so much time in tanning salons.

Girl-who-thinks-she-got-a-higher-verbal-SAT-score-than-I-did: OH MY GOD, SHUT UP, FOR SERIOUS????

Blake Charlton: …

Girl-who-thinks-she-got-a-higher-verbal-SAT-score-than-I-did: Why are you looking up at the ceiling?

Blake Charlton: I’m asking God if it’d be okay to lie to you to keep you out of the tanning salon.

Girl-who-thinks-she-got-a-higher-verbal-SAT-score-than-I-did: You’re a little dramatic, huh?

Blake Charlton: You like giving people are hard time, huh?

Girl-who-thinks-she-got-a-higher-verbal-SAT-score-than-I-did: Kinda. So you gonna do my sports physical or not?

Blake Charlton: Are you going to stay away from tanning salons?

Girl-who-thinks-she-got-a-higher-verbal-SAT-score-than-I-did: No, but now I’ll feel bad when I do. Well…a little bad.

Blake Charlton: Good enough, give me the form.

It’s also possible that this gloomy spirit was present in the WFC 2006 and I, still exhilarated by signing a three book deal, was not yet aware of the professional novelist’s very thin margin of error.

However, though I was aware of this more pessimistic feeling, it was by no means overbearing. The con was, as before, wonderful fun. Because it is such a publishing industry heavy convention, the place is packed with authors, agents, editors, booksellers, etc. There are no readers, which is a shame because the whole game is played for their love. But given that I don’t have readers (yet?), it didn’t dampen my spirits any. In fact, WFC is a bit like Summer Camp for Industry Pros: you get to see a group of close friends that rarely come together, they’ve done a lot in the meantime, sometimes changed a lot in the meantime (though, sadly, back in summer camp we used to grow up, and now the trend is to grow out). None the less, I had a magnificently wonderful time. There were so many highlights, some of them late night in the bar, that I won’t be able to remember them all. So here’s an incomplete list of the trouble I got into:

• Shortly after arriving I read the prolog and first chapter of SPELLWRIGHT. Many friends were in attendance and more than a few folks just curious. Everyone was marvelously enthusiastic.
• The first night there I had a wonderful dinner with fellow Tor fantasists Kate Elliot and David B. Coe. Kate has been a good friend for several years now, and it’s always a pleasure to talk shop with her. David I hadn’t meet before and getting to know him (and trading snide remarks) was one of my con highlights. We were brought together because we have all worked or are working with the same eccentrically brilliant editor. In fact, we were walking out to dinner when said editor noticed us trucking together and asked if he should come along. I had the great pleasure of saying that “Sorry, adults aren’t allowed in the treehouse.” Said editor laughed and took it good naturedly and we got to compare notes about the writing life.
• I had the pleasure of shaking Guy Gavriel Kay’s hand and having him sign my copy of THE LIONS OF AL-RASSAN, which I am currently reading for some world-building in SPELLBOUND.
• In the bar I ran into Peter V. Brett and Brent Weeks, both rising stars in epic fantasy. And both in the forefront of the hooded-man-on-my-epic-fantasy-cover moment. They being more or less directly responsible for my UK cover, we exchanged a few salvos of snide comments. Laughing with and (mostly) at them was some of the most fun I’ve ever had at a con. Sometime on Saturday night, Peter broke out a handheld video camera and began filming episodes of our bar room frivolity. I’m pretty sure he could end any and all of our careers by posting certain sections. I got a hold of the camera and tried to instigate a round of Epic-Fantasy-Smack-Down. Peter’s answer to “Would you rather have sex with a night elf or a cylon?” was classic.
• After a fascinating conversation about the medieval Muslim world with Saladin Ahmed, I checked out his online story “Where Virtue Lives.” It’s a wonderful scimitar-and-sorcery bit. Eager to see more, I’ve got Saladin on top of my new-authors-to-watch list!
• The new princess of steampunk, Gail Carriger threw a late-night high-tea for her breakout first novel SOULESS. Everyone was dressed to their Victorian nines and have a ripping good time. I had the pleasure of meeting Gail’s  nurturing editor Devi Pallai, who’s account of WFC can be found here. At this party I also had the honor of sitting down with Diana Paxson, she of epic fantasy royalty. Diana told me about an idea she’s been cooking up for a new YA series based in the California Gold Rush. Being a native North Californian I’m very excited to see what she produces.
• My sometimes con-roommate, editor, and good friend John Jospeh Adams came down with a nasty head cold and gave all a H1N1 scare. I got to pack my stethoscope and practice the medical voice a few times at the con (does this mean I can write it off as medical education as well?). JJA emerged just fine toward the end of the con and attended the banquet in a glorious zoot-suite to bask in the glory of his World Fantasy nomination for best anthology. Didn’t take home the trophy this year, alas, but I’m guessing it won’t be long until he does.
• On several occasions, I had the pleasure of chatting my dear friend, the lovely Deanna Hoak. She lent me a great deal of assistance when I was reading the copy edited pages for SPELLWRIGHT. I was too late to get her into the acknowledgment section (at least I think), so I was extra glad to get to tell her in person how wonderful she is.
• After reading his hilarious interview on A Dribble of Ink, I was very excited to shake hands with Jesse Bullington. I’m happy to report that he’s a classy gentleman and very funny. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on THE SAD TALE OF THE BROTHERS GOSSBART.
• At my first World Con in 2006, I spilled a beer on Paolo Bacigalupi’s shoes while he was talking to Liza Trombi. After that the three of us have been bosom-buddies, at least at cons. Sadly, as we’ve started to “grow up”—Liza is now captaining Locus and Paolo is busy promoting THE WINDUP GIRL (which Publisher’s Weekly just listed as among the best books of 2009!)—it’s gotten increasingly harder to spend time together at cons. This year we did find a gloriously silly, late-night patch of time after all the parties and after a few beers. An author had printed up a whole lot of drink coasters (those cardboard squares that protect furniture from a wet mug) to promote his book. A massive stack of these lay in the room we sitting around in. Inevitably the evening evolved into a coaster fight, with each party member flinging coasters ninja-throwing-star-style at each other. Liza, she of bartending experience, managed to nail me in the forehead so hard it left an angry read weal that’s still there. This year we were joined by Daryl Gregory (who’s PANDEMONIUM was up for best novel). Last I saw him, Daryl too was wearing the scar of Trombi.
• At the awards banquet, Jay Lake made his opening remarks into a wonderfully inspiring examination of the nature of fantasy. I’ve been looking without luck so far for a transcript of the speech.

• The last night there I had a dinner with my editor and Nalo Hopkinson, who’s work I have no idea how I have not yet discovered. We talked about many things, but among them the difficulties of creating audiobooks. She gave the recording of her THE NEW MOON’S ARMS her seal of approval and I can’t wait for my audible credits to bump up again so I can download it.

There was much much more that happened at the con. If I remember more of it I’ll be sure to post later. Meantime, I’m back home and getting back into Dual Med-Student/Author Mode. WFC was at time exhausting, at times a bit concerning with the bleak spirit, but in the end wonderful fun and truly inspiring.

Hype is a frightening four letter word. I don’t think there’s anything more dangerous to a newborn author than hype. To be hyped feels both slightly nauseating and slightly exhilarating—a bit like having three cups of coffee too many. I’m deeply grateful for the wonderful blurbs from other authors; however, I write for readers and their opinion is the definitive metric of success. For that reason, I was (and still am) anxiously awaiting reviews from readers. The first one came back before World Fantasy and I didn’t have time to write about it here.

Robert Thompson gave SPELLWRIGHT a very thoughtful review, sometimes lending great praise sometimes taking it to the cleaners. His overall assessment “one of the most entertaining and satisfying fantasy debuts I have ever read” is deeply gratifying, and I believe that the tough criticism should satisfy those skeptical about the ‘hype.’

As every author must, I’m promoting the book as well worth your cash and time, if not The Best Thing Ever. To that end, I’ll post the most positive excerpts of the review below, but I encourage anyone curious to check out the full review.

The magic system in SPELLWRIGHT is simply brilliant [and] SPELLWRIGHT is incredibly charming. So charming in fact, that it sometimes felt like I was reading a Harry Potter novel, although comparisons can also be drawn to Patrick Rothfuss, Tad Williams, and Raymond E. Feist…SPELLWRIGHT is infused with Blake’s passion for the novel and his enthusiasm for the genre … a passion and enthusiasm that will rub off on the reader…[Blake takes] the book in several unexpected directions, which included some nice surprises and at least one shocking turn of events. [In conclusion SPELLWRIGHT is] one of the most entertaining and satisfying fantasy debuts I have ever read…I enjoyed reading SPELLWRIGHT so much, I worry about the sequel living up to the high standards set by Blake Charlton’s remarkable debut…

-FantasyLiterature.com

• I’m very proud to announce that I’ve accepted an offer from the eminent Mr. Stephan Askani of Klett-Cotta for a German translation of SPELLWRIGHT. They’re taking the issue of translation very seriously for this book, which I’m gratified to see. I can imagine it would be a very difficult text to translate well. There’s talk of getting the same translator who worked on THE NAME OF THE WIND, which just won the German Fantasy Prize! I’m very humbled but all this. Likely the German SPELLWRIGHT will hit the shelves spring 2011.
• Voyager, my UK publishers, report that they are very close to producing a cover for the Commonwealth edition of SPELLWRIGHT. Possibly as soon as next week. I’m curious about what they’ll cook up. I’ve been told that the cover art trend in Britain is leaning more toward a more minimalist, modern look with more photography. I’ll post what I see here and maybe produce an “About the UK cover” page.
• Though the UK release of SPELLWRIGHT won’t be until August, I’ve been told that an Australian release will be in February 2010, very close to the US launch.
• I’m also very proud to announce that my first academic article, “Treating Ivan Ilych” co-authored with my mentor Dr. Abraham Verghese, has been accepted for publication in the Journal of General Internal Medicine! I’ll post more details on the “On Medicine” page when they are available.

Other than that I’ve been driving ARCs up and down the San Francisco Peninsula and trying to make dates (same awkward feeling as trying to make a romantic date) to read or sign at indie bookstores. When those are more firmly established I’ll put up an “Events” page somewhere. Meantime, I have facebook pictures to detag, errands to run, and a word count to nurse!

So long-way-around-the-houses, but this is all by way of saying that a long last blakecharlton.com is now fully operational. To celebrate, I’m publishing my novelette “Endosymbiont” online on the the Free Reads page. The story was originally published in the Seeds of Change anthology, August 2008, edited by John Joseph Adams. Check below for the blurb, some background information, and an excerpt from SF Signal’s review.

• “Endosymbiont” Seeds of Change (anthology) August 2008.

• A science fiction novelette about a young woman struggling with brain cancer and being too clever by half. Her normal hospital routine is interrupted  when she begins to suspect that she’s been put into a hospital for the dead.
• Visit the anthology’s website for bonus material including an interview about Endosymbiont and references to the inspiring scientific research.
• Also available at the website are free stories by Jay Lake, Jeremiah Tolbert, and Tobias Buckell.
• Jump over to YouTube to see the book trailer.

“Blake Charlton’s “Endosymbiont” — to put it simply — blew me away. What starts out as the touching personal story of a young girl on chemotherapy soon makes way to things of larger scope and import. It weaves in interesting applications and extrapolations of technology and shows keen insight into interpersonal relationships. While the plot may echo Vernor Vinge and The Matrix, Charlton’s voice is totally his own, drawing upon his medical background to create a story that has big ideas, interesting twists and is 100% engrossing and abundantly satisfying.”

-John DeNardo, SF Signal

I’m thrilled with how beautifully the website has turned out. For that I’m most especially grateful to the multi-talented Jeremy Tolbert at Clockpunk Studios and to Todd Lockwood for letting us use his stunning cover art for Spellwright.

If you’re reading this anytime close to the posting, it’s likely clear that we’re still very much under construction. For instance, the tabs that will eventually lead to a page concerning things medical currently reads “Doctor.” I fully realize that that word, when applied to me presently, should be prefaced by the phrase “Knows Much Less than a Real” or maybe simply the word “Student.” Anyway, point is, I’m still working with Jeremy to get the tabs and navigation streamlined. Meantime, please feel free to roam around and admire the virtual architecture.

Wonderful good news: I’m proud to announce that recently, I accepted an offer from the esteemed Mr. Jacques Post at Luitingh-Sijthoff for a Dutch Translation of SPELLWRIGHT. Even when I was just getting into writing, I had heard about the venerable Luitingh Fantasy list. It’s an honor to sign with them.

The game is also afoot in Germany with a very difficult decision to make from my end. More later.

Over the summer I worked with my mentor Dr. Abraham Verghese on an article that examines Tolstoy’s THE DEATH OF IVAN ILYICH for use in the instruction of medical students. While I can’t say the exact nature of its publication status, I hope to share good news soon. More recently, Dr. Verghese gave the Jonathan J. King Lectureship at Stanford. His lecture was titled “Fiction is the great lie that tells the truth,” and I blushed bright pink when he quoted a bit of the article I had written. And trust me, when a pale bald guy blushes, there’s a lot of red involved.

Other things that have kept me from the blog: I’ve been working with Renascence Man Jeremy Tolbert to create a professionally designed website. Eventually this blog and www.spellwright.com will be unified and moved to www.blakecharlton.com. I’m pretty sure we’ll be able to set up forwarding links so there won’t be a problem.

Also, I’ve been working on what’s shaping up to be a very interesting (for me at least) authorial interview over at one of my new favorite Fantasy blogs: A Dribble of Ink. I just turned in a round of questions and am interested to see what Aidan sends back. It’s making me define some of my beliefs about fiction and writing I didn’t realize I held.

Also in the endless newbie-author-self-promotion I fiddled with Facebook long enough to make a “fan page.” If you’re keen, you can wander over there. Or click the (very small) link at the bottom of this post.

Finally, I’ve recovered enough from the boards and caught up with enough publishing deadlines that I’ve begun to volunteer at our student-run free clinic. It’s wonderfully invigorating to see patients again and help them to the extent I can. It helps remind me why I’m doing all this running around.

Everything I needed to Know about Submitting a Final Manuscript for Publication I Learned from Moving my (Hypothetical) Kid into a College Dorm.

1) Some part of me is very sad the kid/book is leaving. I love him/her/it.

2) Well, actually, some other part of me is stoked kid/book is leaving. I was getting really sick of dealing with his/her/its mess.

3) I worry no one out there will love kid/book as much as I do, which is surely as much as she/he/it deserves to be loved.

4) I’m 99.99% certain that someone is going to be really horrible to kid/book, and I won’t be there to defend him/her/it.

5) I’m also 99.99% certain that I will only hear from book/kid when I am required to fork over money (promotion for book, spring break for kid).

6) Sometimes I wish I could have done better by book/kid to help him/her/it face the world.

7) Sometimes I’m pretty damn proud of kid/book and am sure she/he/it is going to take over the world.

Well, in any case, I’d better stop fretting about it and get back to work on the other kid / next book.