A year of "library fiction"

I commented recently that 2012 appears to be turning into a year of "library fiction" for me. Which immediately led to someone asking "Huh?"

To elaborate, a short story written several years ago about the meltdown of a post-apocalyptic library appears in the anthology Foreshadows. Interestingly, just as this came out, I was finishing up a manuscript where much of the action takes place in the Cobalt City Library.

Both stories probably sprang out of my longtime obsession with Carnegie Libraries, that grand building experiment by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie to provide free libraries across the United States and British Empire in the early 20th century. The majority of public libraries in my hometown, Seattle, were built with Carnegie's grants and still are wonderful warm places to discover new books.

Both also reflect my current frustration with government cutbacks across the board for one of the great institutions of democracy that provides free access to knowledge. Loss of libraries cannot be taken lightly. Like Carnegie, I believe that our next generation of thinkers -- be they writers, engineers, artists, industrialists, or politicians -- should encounter a broad range of ideas through the serendipity of discovering the classic or the newest of the new upon the shelves (or in the digital collection) of a public library.

If you have a favorite Carnegie Library to visit, send me a picture. I'd love to share it with other Carnegie Library fans.

Come and join the book club

People often ask me how I happened to end up writing various adventures set in the Forgotten Realms. Lost a contest, met some neat friends, and received Ed Greenwood's blessing to mess up his graveyard is the long story cut short.

For more on the process, drop into the Wizards of the Coast book club this month as they discuss City of the Dead. I'll be there, playing virtual hostess and answering as many questions as I can about the creation of that particular story.

See you there. Watch out for the shrubbery and keep a sharp eye on those tombstones....

And now an end, sweet spy

Bid farewell to Rucas Sarfael and the nefarious plots of Neverwinter ... at least for now. Part IV of Cold Steel and Secrets is out. A crown is found....and lost. And perhaps found again. Secrets revealed, villains unmasked, and one last swordfight before the sun sets.

YES! We have the technology to sign your e-book

As folks who follow this blog know, I love to make bookplates for my novels and have been cheerfully mailing them around the world for a few years.

But my latest adventure in the Forgotten Realms is all digital -- Cold Steel And Secrets -- and it seems odd to send out something to paste on the cover of an e-reader. A bit like sending out a sticker for the bookcase rather than the book.

Well, technology to the rescue. Or at least a nifty little website called Kindlegraph. You can click here and request a digital inscription for Cold Steel And Secrets, City of the Dead, or Cobalt City Timeslip.*

Enjoy.

*You do need a Twitter account apparently to make this happen.

Foreshadows in 2012

Foreshadows ships with stories, pictures, and music: a fascinating collaborative project that I'm very glad the rest of the world can finally see!