Blogging the Fading Lands

Well, everyone, the new year is here, and with it some exciting news, and great New Year's Resolutions.

King Goes to Germany

As I mentioned before, my publisher sold the German rights to KING OF SWORD AND SKY, and the translation is well under way. The book is currently available for preorder from Amazon.de, the german amazon.com... and just look at the absolutely gorgeous cover they put together.

Tairen Soul Update

I'm finishing up the TAIREN SOUL manuscript, the fifth and final book in Rain & Ellsyetta's story. My goal is to be done and have the MS turned in first of Feb to my new editor, the lovely and talented Leah Hultenschmidt. My first (and much beloved) editor, Alicia Condon, (to whom I dedicated QUEEN) has gone to Kensington to take over as Editorial Director of the Brava line. (Some of you may know the previous Brava Ed Dir, Kate Duffy, passed away last year.) I will miss Alicia. She was a lifesaver on QUEEN. But I'm looking forward to working with Leah.

In any event, as soon as I turn TS in, I'll announce the confirmed release date to members of my Announcement List and post it on my blog, twitter, etc.. (If you haven't already joined the announcement list, you can do that on my website, www.clwilson.com on the "Contact C.L. Wilson" page under "Friends of the Fey")

New Year's Resolutions

On a personal front, this year is my year for getting control back in basically all aspects of my life. One key place I've decided to start is losing weight and getting in shape.

As an author, especially an slow writing author, much of my day consists of sitting at my computer, typing on my keyboard. I haven't gotten my Dragon Naturally Speaking software to work halfway well enough to dictate a book while walking on a treadmill (and the process of "speaking" a book is sooooooo different than letting the words flow from my fingertips, that I don't know I could successfully do it even if I could get DNS humming), so BICHOK (butt in chair, hands on keyboard) is it for me. Though a required part of my job, the sedentary nature of BICHOK results in a number of not-so-great side effects - like the appearance of increasingly high numbers when I step on my bathroom scale, increasingly wide waistbands in my clothes, bad posture, back pain, and carpal tunnel.

Last Nov, I decided enough was enough. Its time to lose weight and get in shape. Now, I've done all sorts of diets, and lost weight on them too. But I've always gained the weight back--and more. (This is why I hate the term "losing weight". It's never really lost. It always knows exactly where to find me again! And it usually brings friends!!! )

So, as part of my New Year's Resolution to lose weight, get fit, and regain my youthful girlish figure (or at least a not-so-bad-40-something figure), I've joined Weight Watchers online, and asked my DH and kids for a Wii fit for Christmas.

Now, I hate exercise. I hate to sweat and get all icky, sticky, & stinky. Worse, I hate to be bored, and there's nothing more boring to me than running on a treadmill or lifting weights . But I luuuuuurve video games :) Wii Fit is absolutely the perfect melding of exercise and video games. So my sister and I are doing WW online together and playing the Wii version of The Biggest Loser plus Wii Fit (Yoga, etc) and Leslie Sansone's fabulous Walk Away the Pounds.

Let me tell you, Biggest Loser, even on "powder puff" level, kicks my tookis! Sweat? Uh, yeah. I do. But in just 3 days, I'm already 3+ lbs down. Water weight? Some of it. But some is ugly fat. YAY me!

As an Aside

As you can see, I've also discovered smileys for blogs. I'll try not to get too obnoxious with them in future posts. I don't know how to activate smileys for comments - at least not on blogger. If anyone knows how, let me know. I'm trying to figure out how to create a tag cloud as well. I use a custom template for blooger, hosted on my own website, so the "gadgets" available to most blogger-hosted blogs aren't available to me, and I've wasted days trying to track down a solution.

Question of the Day

For those of you who have fought the weight loss battle (and it is a battle), what are your tips and tricks for losing weight and keeping it off? Also, have you made any New Year's resolutions you'd be willing to share?

Holiday shopping is at full swing, though thankfully here at the Wilson house, most of the shopping is already done. (Just have to buy the "big gift" for my son and presents for my cousins' children and I'm done! YAY!)

If you're still looking for great buys, Dorchester Publishing has a fabulous romance stocking stuffer sale going on. For just $2.99 a book, you can get some terrific reads...including (among others) funny greats from Emily Bryan, Christie Craig, and Angie Fox, and magical paranormals from American Title winner, Helen Scott Taylor, and my good friend, Elissa Wilds.

Audio Book Update

LORD OF THE FADING LANDS is now available in audio book (on CD or MP3 download - which is way cheaper than CD, BTW). I've been in contact with the audio company and hope to have a recording snip to play on the website soon, so you can hear what it sounds like.

LADY OF LIGHT AND SHADOWS will also be out in audio this month.

QUEEN Release Prize Update

And for those of you who've been waiting for your QUEEN Countdown and Release Celebration prizes, all but two final prizes went into the post yesterday. (They know me by name at the post office now.) I'll get the last two prizes out next week.

TAIREN SOUL Update

I'm still busily writing away on TAIREN SOUL. Currently having a lot of fun with the Feraz. Gotta love those witches! *gg*

Blogging Next Week

I'll be blogging a couple of places next week. On Thursday, December 17, I'll be blogging with Ninc (Novelists, Inc.) and on Friday, Dec 18th, I'll be blogging with Night Owl Romance. If there's any particular subject you'd like to hear about, let me know.

Labels: CL Wilson Happenings, Holiday shopping

New Dorchester Reader/Author Forums

My publisher, Dorchester Publishing, has revamped their online forums. It's a thread-based communication forums where readers and Dorchester authors can get together online to talk about books.

You can access the forums from the Dorchester Home Page through the "online forums" link at the bottom of the page or directly via http://forums.dorchesterpub.com/. Simply register and click the link in the registration confirmation email to begin posting. And spread the word - the more people who interact on the forums, the more fun and informative the forums can be.

Lord of the Fading Lands Available in Audio Book

The long-awaited release of the audio-recording of LORD OF THE FADING LANDS is finally here. "Now available" updates to Amazon.com, Borders and B&N are in progress, but the book is currently available in CD format from the Dorchester website and in downloadable MP3 format from AudioBookShop.com.

Labels: CL Wilson Happenings

To all my American readers, I hope you have a very happy Thanksgiving. May your day be filled with family and friends and all the food be delicious!

Anyone who would care to share their special Thanksgiving Day recipes, I'd love to hear them.

QUEEN Countdown and Release Week Celebration Update

Prizes for the QUEEN OF SONG AND SOULS countdown and celebration are starting to go into the mail. The first batch went out last week. The next batch went out Monday. I'm still waiting on a few things--and replenishment for some books I ran out of, some posters, and a few wall plaques. All books sent to US locations went via Media Mail, so it may take a few days to reach you. I will post a notification when all items have been mailed.

Daily Winners

And the winners of yesterday's daily prizes are....

(1) Original Tairen Wall Art Plaque, "Tairen's Play" by artist Heather Carr

And THE WINNER is.....Amanda W!

(1) an autographed copy of LORD, LADY or KING.

And THE WINNER is.....Kate!

QUEEN SIGHTINGS

I had pre-ordered the book from Deep discount because my midterms were going on and didnt want to be distracted by it. So it arrived this Monday (I know a little late but I did that on purpose) and I was ecstatic. My midterms are over and now I can truly enjoy it!
~Flushing, NY

QUEEN Sightings Winner

And our final day's winner for the QUEEN Sighting Promotion--who will receive a $10.00 certificate to the bookstore of her choice--is..... Ally M!

Congratulations to ALL our QUEEN Sightings winners - and THANK YOU SO MUCH for participating. I loved each and every picture and story - honestly, I probably got more of a thrill from it than anyone else, so thanks :) You helped make my release week a real joy.

Grand Prize Winner

The SPECIAL GRAND PRIZE , the ultimate prize of our Release Week Celebration, is a Fading Lands gift basket which includes:

• Set of three Tairen wall plaques, including "Arrival at High Reaches", "Tairen's Play", and "Steli Chakai"
• Autographed set of Tairen Soul novels, books 1 through 4
• Autographed set of Tairen Soul collector cards
• Assorted trinkets and goodies

Thank you for your patience!!! The lucky winner of our fabulous Release Week Celebration's Grand Prize is.....Old Bull

Congratulations to all our winners!!!

A very heartfelt thanks from me for everyone who came out to share in the QUEEN Countdown and Release Week Celebration fun. This book was a long time coming for me, and a long, hard writing road. I truly hope you all will enjoy the book as much as I have enjoyed sharing the last five weeks with you. You've helped make this release as wonderful as I could ever have hoped for.

Beylah vo, kem'mareskia, te Miora felah. Thank you, my friends, and joyful life. May Light always shine upon your Path and your life be showered with blessings.

Join me for a Duck Chat

I'll be visiting the lovely ladies of The Good, The Bad, and The Unread today for a "Duck Chat." Their interview was one of the best I've done in a while, so come check it out. :) They've asked me things no one ever has before, and I just had a blast. Hope you'll enjoy it too. :)

It's Day 7, the final day in our week of fun and games to celebrate QUEEN's release. Join the fun for today for your last chance to win daily prizes as well as the "Fey Gift Basket" Grand Prize I'll be awarding tomorrow.

Today's prizes:

(1) Original Tairen Wall Art Plaque, "Tairen's Play" by artist Heather Carr

(1) an autographed copy of LORD, LADY or KING.

How to Enter!

It's easy! First, email feyreisa@live.com with your (1) Name, (2)Address, and (3) the name you will be posting under throughout the week.(NOTE: CONTACT INFORMATION WILL REMAIN PRIVATE AND WILL BE DISCARDED TOMORROW, AFTER WINNERS ARE SELECTED AND PRIZES MAILED.)

Once I have your contact information, you earn tickets in the daily and Grand Prize drawings in any of the following ways:

1. Post on the daily blog! Each comment you post earns a new daily prize ticket. Each day you post earns a new Grand Prize ticket.


2. Play the Fey Games! Each Fey game you play earns one new daily and Grand Prize ticket .

Join the C.L. Wilson Announcement List to Win

You can also join the CL Wilson Announcement List for a chance to win an autographed copy of QUEEN OF SONG AND SOULS. One winner will be drawn from the announcement list each Tuesday from now until December 1st.

Queen Sightings

Though terribly ill, I went out on Release Day to get the book. I went to to the nearest city with a bookstore, Chico, CA. First I went to Walmart and had no luck, so I went to Barnes and Noble. I was shocked to find out they didn't have a single copy. They had 16 on order, but had no idea when they'd show up. Still determined to get the book that day, I called every bookstore in a 60 mile radius, only to have all of them tell me the same thing: it was on order, but none were in stock. Greatly saddened, I went back to Barnes and Noble and had them order me a copy. It would arrive Thursday.

~ Orland, CA

Last Chance to Send in Your QUEEN Sighting for a Chance to Win $$

Do you have QUEEN? Have you seen it in stores? Let us know for a chance to win a $10.00 to the bookstore of your choice! To be eligible send the following:

1. A picture of you with QUEEN in hand or standing beside a retail QUEEN display to feyreisa@live.com to share on the blog during Release Celebration week


2. A brief blurb about where you found/purchased QUEEN (if a retail outlet picture, please list the city and state) THIS BLURB will be posted along with your picture on the next day's blog.


3. Your name and address (THIS INFORMATION WILL REMAIN PRIVATE. If you wish to share your name on the blog, please include it in the brief blurb describing your QUEEN sighting/purchase.)

Winners (chosen daily) will receive a $10.00 gift certificate to the bookstore of their choice.

Today's Winner of the QUEEN Sighting Promo is ~ Marissa C!!

Fey Games ~ Name that Fey!

Imprisoned for one thousand years
My shei'tan's pain spawned many tears
For my lost child, I'll always yearn
Which Fey am I, can you discern?

Email your answer to today's Name That Fey riddle to feygames@live.com.

Fey Games ~ Name that Quote!

We had great fun with "Name that Quote" on my discussion group (clwilson@yahoogroups.com) while counting down the days until QUEEN. Identify the following quote for another chance to win a daily prize and another ticket in the Grand Prize drawing:

"Whatever task the gods have set before Ellysetta Baristani, it is fearfully dangerous. Else she'd not need a tairen to protect her soul."

(a) What book is the quote from?

(b) Who said it to whom?

Email your answer to today's Name That Quote riddle to feygames@live.com.

Blog Fun!

Thank you all so much for coming out and joining the QUEEN countdown and celebration with me. I don't know about you, but I've had a blast!

And the final question of the QUEEN Countdown and Release Week Celebration is.... What was your favorite part of the Queen Countdown and Release Week Celebration? What can I improve? What should I do differently next year?

It's Day 6 in our week of fun and games to celebrate QUEEN's release. Join the fun for a chance to win daily prizes as well as the "Fey Gift Basket" Grand Prize I'll be awarded to one lucky participant at the end of the week.

Today's prizes:

(1) Original Tairen Wall Art Plaque, "Arrival at High Reaches" by artist Heather Carr

WINNER: Bethany S

(1) an autographed copy of LORD, LADY or KING.

WINNER: April C

How to Enter!

It's easy! First, email feyreisa@live.com with your (1) Name, (2)Address, and (3) the name you will be posting under throughout the week.(NOTE: CONTACT INFORMATION WILL REMAIN PRIVATE AND WILL BE DISCARDED AT THE END OF THE WEEK.)

Once I have your contact information, you earn tickets in the daily and Grand Prize drawings in any of the following ways:

1. Post on the daily blog! Each comment you post earns a new daily prize ticket. Each day you post earns a new Grand Prize ticket.


2. Play the Fey Games! Each Fey game you play earns one new daily and Grand Prize ticket .


3. Bring a friend. Each new friend you bring to join the blogfest fun earns YOU a new ticket in the Grand Prize pot. Just be sure your friend mentions your name when s/he emails the participant contact information to feyreisa@live.com.

There is no need to resend your contact information each day.

Join the C.L. Wilson Announcement List to Win

You can also join the CL Wilson Announcement List for a chance to win an autographed copy of QUEEN OF SONG AND SOULS. One winner will be drawn from the announcement list each Tuesday from now until December 1st.

Send in Your QUEEN Sighting for a Chance to Win $$

Do you have QUEEN? Have you seen it in stores? Let us know for a chance to win a $10.00 to the bookstore of your choice! To be eligible send the following:

1. A picture of you with QUEEN in hand or standing beside a retail QUEEN display to feyreisa@live.com to share on the blog during Release Celebration week


2. A brief blurb about where you found/purchased QUEEN (if a retail outlet picture, please list the city and state) THIS BLURB will be posted along with your picture on the next day's blog.


3. Your name and address (THIS INFORMATION WILL REMAIN PRIVATE. If you wish to share your name on the blog, please include it in the brief blurb describing your QUEEN sighting/purchase.)

Winners (chosen daily) will receive a $10.00 gift certificate to the bookstore of their choice.

Today's Queen Sighting Winner is: Katherine L!

Fey Games ~ Name that Fey!

Once I ruled the Hall of Scrolls
Cool reserve my outer cloak
My loving heart controlled by fear
Which Fey am I, can you see clear?

And the answer is...Venarra v'En Eilan

Highlight the white text after the ellipsis above to see the answer.

Fey Games ~ Name that Quote!

We had great fun with "Name that Quote" on my announcement list (clwilson@yahoogroups.com) while counting down the days until QUEEN. Identify the following quote for another chance to win a daily prize and another ticket in the Grand Prize drawing:

"I waited for you, but you never came."

(a) What book is the quote from? LADY OF LIGHT AND SHADOWS
(b) Who said it to whom? Talisa Barrial diSebourne to Adrial vel Arquinas

Highlight the white space after each question above to read the answer!

Blog Fun!

I hope you had fun with the brain teasers yesterday - you guys are the greatest! So many right answers. For those of you too brain-tired to play - I'm glad you came and posted anyways :)

Today, I'll ratchet down the difficulty level just for you. I've always loved rainy days and reading alcoves. So for me, the perfect reading experience would be to be curled up in a cushioned reading alcove on a rainy fall day--with bright autumn foliage on the trees and a steaming cup of something fragrant and yummy sitting on a table beside me.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Describe your perfect reading experience. (can be real, or can be your dream of the perfect reading moment)