Web Log
Huzzah! SPELLWRIGHT receives a *Starred* review from Booklist!
I’m excited to announce that SPELLWRIGHT has received a coveted starred review from Booklist, the publication of the American Library Association. I’m especially proud to add this to the starred review from Library Journal! See below for an advance uncorrected version of the review that will appear in the 2010 February 15th issue. Spellwright. Charlton, [...]
Read MoreBook Recommendation: High Yield Embryology
I discovered this novel during my first year of medical school and found it difficult, insightful, but nothing worth comment. Since then I have had two years to write novels, read reviews in the New York Times Review of Books, wear skinny pants, and walk my labradoodle around The Mission in San Francisco. As such, [...]
Read MoreFirst Video Interview (courtesy of Peter V. Brett & EtOH)
The Warded Man himself, Peter V. Brett has posted a bit of video reconnaissance from last year’s World Fantasy Convention. Click here for the full report also featuring NYT best seller Brent Weeks & the infinitely charming Gail Carriger. See below for an embedded interview in the hotel bar
Read More“Adult” Fantasy
Just as in this popular humorous post, an infinitely fractional* part of the below actually happened to me. [Lights up on an atrium after grand rounds--fichus plants, white walls with tasteful hospital art. Upstage stand several folded tables with bagels on them. The CROWD OF DOCTORS, dressed in white coats, is milling about the table, [...]
Read MoreTwo Sides of Thirty Something
The holidays and my birthday have passed, and somehow I’m thirty. Not at all sure how this happened. Certainly didn’t plan for it. Thinking back to the chap I was ten years ago—a hyper anxious undergrad who was sure he had been admitted by mistake and _worse_ had only just figured out to shave his [...]
Read MoreWonderful Reviews from Publisher Weekly & Library Journal & a Brief Perspective
Somehow I never got around to blogging about the last two Pre-pub reviews that came in during 2009. I’ll post them below and then reflect briefly on how this aspect of publishing appears to the eyes of a newbie author. The first review is from Publishers Weekly. The complete review can be found here. It’s [...]
Read MoreTurning 30 on the 30th!
NOTA BENE: THE FOLLOWING POST IS A SHAMELESS PLEA FOR COMMERCIAL GAIN & BIRTHDAY ATTENTION. THOSE WHO ARE NOT A) CLOSE FRIENDS, B) FAMILY MEMBERS, C) PEOPLE WHO OWE ME MONEY OR A FAVOR, OR D) BARFLIES IN THE BAY AREA, MAY NOT WANT TO READ THIS. Dearly Beloved You People: It’s hard to get [...]
Read MoreA First Publication in an Academic Medical Journal
Last spring, before the grueling process of studying for the first part of the US medical licensing exam, I had the privilege to discuss literature and medicine with Abraham Verghese, one of the physicians and novelists I admire most in this world. Out of that discussion came an article that examined Tolstoy’s The Death of [...]
Read MoreSPELLWRIGHT’s Beautiful World Map!
Likely any fan of fantasy literature can relate to poring over the maps of foreign worlds, imagination afire with images of what each city or spectacle might look like and what adventures might be had between them. Of particular importance to me were the beautiful illuminated map of Robert Jordan’s world, Robin Hobb’s Six Dutches, [...]
Read MoreEarly Review Love for Spellwright: Realms of Fantasy & A Dribble of Ink
One of the most nail-biting times for an author is the period after a manuscript has been finalized (and therefore can no longer be improved) but before reader reactions start to come in. We’re still a ways away from that the deluge, but some early reviews have come in. The first is from Matt Staggs [...]
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