Told you there was more!
So the Swordspoint crazyweek continues: On Monday,
Fantasy Magazine online reprinted my story
"The Swordsman Whose Name was not Death." This is the first Riverside/Richard & Alec story I wrote after writing Swordspoint (and swearing I would never, no never, write anything more about them!). It contains the seeds of The Privilege of the Sword - and, well, lots more. Which I explain at great length in:
It's paired with an interview (
Author Spotlight: Ellen Kushner -- aaaghh! I'll talk! I'll talk!) in which the delicious Wendy Wagner asked me all sorts of impertinent questions about the characters and the world, which I did my best to answer fully and truthfully. It was really all a setup for the divine (and erudite) Kat Howard's lovely piece on fencing & swashbuckling,
The Pen and the Sword - I was so glad to be asked to be part of this issue!
And now: THANK YOU SO MUCH for your warm, enthusiastic reception of the new
Swordspoint audiobook (read by me, with a full supporting cast, and some serious SFX, for Audible.com's new ACX/Neil Gaiman Presents). Seriously - some of you actually had downloaded it before I even knew it was up yesterday! That's love. And special thanks to those who've already posted comments and ratings on the book's
Audible page. Apparently the number of LIKEs, sales and positive ratings in the first 48 hours have really impressed the Powers That Be over there - and we want that. Feel free to, um,
continue at full force. And know that my gratitude is at gale strength already.
Finally: As some of you know, I've spent the last few weeks working with the amazing
copperwise,
orizarising,
copperwisetalkstowolves and their team at HQ, pulling together
magick4terri, the auction to benefit our beloved Terri Windling. It just launched 2 days ago, and already it has become one of the most amazing things I've ever seen or hope to see. Authors & artists we only dream of have leaped forward to offer rare, personal, one-of-a-kind donations to benefit Terri . . . and amazingly gifted fans and colleagues are joining in every day. It's like stepping into Goblin Market, a fantasia of dream-desires that one can bid on . . . and every penny goes to benefit one of the dearest, kindest, most loving and creative people on the planet. Terri felt quite sheepish about letting us do it, but I told her to consider it Back Taxes. But even I am astonished at just how much love and goodwill she has built up at the cosmic bank over the years -- or, no! I'm not astonished that it's there; I'm simply gobsmacked at its very, very concrete expression. I have a couple things up already, and lots more crazygood stuff to come - I'll be writing more about it all next week. But do stop by for now - you don't want to miss things like a hand-drafted Patricia McKillip Bordertown poem. . . or Steve Brust dedicating his next book to your mom!