“It Was a Dark and Stormy Night”

Posted on 09. Mar, 2010 by Frank Fiore in Frank Fiore, Front Page Posts

OK. How about a little humor. Just finished a set of difficult chapters on one of my next books and in need of some light entertainment.

Maybe you do too.

In the Peanuts comic strip by Charles M. Schulz, the character Snoopy was often shown to be starting yet another of many novels with the canonical phrase, or variations of “It was a dark and stormy night.”

Snoopy

“It was a dark and stormy night” is a phrase penned by Victorian novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton at the beginning of his 1830 novel Paul Clifford.

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Changes to the Publishing Industry = Disruptive and Non-Negotiable

Posted on 09. Mar, 2010 by Chris Matney in Book Publishing, Front Page Posts

Espresso Book MachineA reader turned me on to Jason Epstein’s wonderful projection in The New York Review of Books describing the publishing industry of the future entitled, Publishing: The Revolutionary Future.

Part of what I like about the article is that Mr. Epstein talks about the elimination of the redundant traditional publisher infrastructure and non-essential services. The next generation publishing houses will be less about warehousing and distributing returnable physical books and more about good editors providing solid content. This has long been my position on the basics of the upcoming revolution.

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“The Nine Pillars” Explained

Posted on 08. Mar, 2010 by Todd Newton in Book Publishing, Front Page Posts, Todd Newton

Today, I’d like to pull back the curtain for you on an important part of The Ninth Avatar’s world.

“Fantasy” as a genre grew out of traditions of mythology and, as such, each world comes with its own gods, goddesses, and cultural roles borne from those concepts. I agree with John Marco’s recent post that “a fantasy story needs to have some element of magic” and “the magical element (or elements) need to be organically threaded into the world.” In The Ninth Avatar, those elements stem from The Nine Pillars of Magic.

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Puzzle Contest #7 – Twing’s Homework

Posted on 07. Mar, 2010 by Chris Matney in Front Page Posts, Puzzle

MarblesMatt Twing sent in a classic riddle which I thought I would share with you. I suspect it might be a homework problem for his logic class, as Matt is a high school senior and sneaky smart.

You have 12 marbles, one of them is either heavier or lighter than the rest. In three weighs on a balance scale, you must determine which is the odd marble. How do you do this?

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The Ninth Avatar Cover Unveiled!

Posted on 05. Mar, 2010 by Chris Matney in Book Publishing, Front Page Posts, Todd Newton

The Ninth Avatar CoverThe cover for The Ninth Avatar has arrived! After many, many revisions twists and turns, everybody has finally agreed on the cover for Todd Newton’s new epic fantasy story. The book is already out for review to a number of critics and celebrities, so it won’t be long before you, too, can buy a copy of this wonderful story.  Click here to get a free sample!

Click on the cover to enlarge the picture. Any feedback is welcome on the cover design. Sue Campbell has done her usual bang-up job, and all the credit goes to her.

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