The Quest begins...

With atmospheric cover art by Antonio Caparo

Today’s the release day for my new book, THE FARWALKER’S QUEST— yay! To celebrate its first official day in the world, here are a few other firsts that go with it:

First line: Zeke’s tree wouldn’t speak to him.

First inspiration: In 2004, while training for a marathon, I was thinking how much I had loved LeGuin’s Earthsea books and wanted to work on a project in a world that I’d enjoy being in as much as I’d enjoyed Earthsea, because I needed somewhere else to send my thoughts during the crappy weather and hard miles. (I don’t think there are any Earthsea parallels in the story, but that longing got me started.)

First teen reader: Matt, the son of a friend. He was 13 at the time and thought the MC, Ariel, “should have more weapons.” (Sorry, Matt. IMO, it didn’t fit her character.)

First review: From Kirkus, which called the book an “absorbing fantasy” with “crisp dialogue, and exciting plot, and strong secondary characters.” No mention of weapons either way.

It’s also my first publication with Bloomsbury, my first book sold through an agent, and my first opportunity to do a sequel (which I just sold to Bloomsbury for 2010). I hope it won’t be the last!

We haven’t had a thread on quest stories, but I’ll start one in a few days, because before my original title, Farwalker, was modified for publication, it never occurred to me that this was a quest story. Hmm…

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