Jennifer Fallon's Blog

The Rhythms of Ireland - My treat for finishing the rewrite

Sun, 18 Jul 2010 20:15:00 --0800

In case you're wondering why I've been quiet of late, I have been hammering through the inevitable rewrite of The Undivided. Anybody who thinks they can write one draft and the book is done, is nuts. This rewrite was extensive, thanks to some aweome feedback from my beta readers, and the book is much better for it.

I was on a deadline to finish it (about 2 weeks ago actually). But I was detemined to finish it in time for the Rythms of Ireland show last night. I had the tickets and nothing was going to get in the way. Turned out to be a great motiviator!

For the record, if you get a chance to see this troupe on tour, take it. They are awesome. The show was amazing. It wasn't full of flashy special effects, just a group of awesomely talented people who I suspect are fitter than marathon runners. I've seen the Lord of the Dance DVD heaps of times, but it is nothing compared to seeing these dancers live.

They were really nice people too, and I promised them I would give them a great rap on my blog, so here it is. And a big shout out to the dancers, too. You rock!

This should make all you Star Wars geeks smile...

Sun, 11 Jul 2010 14:16:00 --0800

Me and Terry Brooks - One of these things is... kinda like the other....

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 13:00:00 --0800

It could just be me, but there seems to be an awful lot of similarities between The Chaos Crystal cover and Terry Brook's new Shannara novel due out later this year.

Should be interesting when the hardcover US edition of The Chaos Crystal comes out next year sans border.

Will people buy his book thinking it's mine or better yet (for me, anyway...teehee) pick up my book thinking it's his?

I know you're going to say it's just a case of reading the name on the cover, but I know of at least 3 people who saw Kim Falconer's book and thought it was one of mine because it had a similar border.

Thoughts?

Fantasy Book Critic review of The Palace of Impossible Dreams

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 13:40:00 --0800

The Fantasy Book Critic site have posted the review of the US edition of The Palace of Impossible Dreams.

Among the nice things they say about the book...

...The pace of the book is unrelenting and you *have* to turn the pages to see what happens, while the continual switching of pov's is superbly handled, so you never feel a lack of balance. The twists and turns keep coming, alliances are formed and broken, power jostling is ongoing and the Tide is still going higher since as the uber-immortal Lukys notes, after such a long low tide, there usually comes the ultimate one in a million years "king-tide". As with the previous novels, some of the most poignant moments are given by the past stories of the immortals.

The series proceeds seemingly naturally from one scene to another, however looking back from the beginning of the first volume, the change in focus and the expansion of the storyline is quite visible and on every reread of the books I am still amazed how well the author pulls it off so looked from a distance "The Palace of Impossible Dreams" could be said to belong to a different series - though again it just flows from the previous volumes.

The only niggle about the novel is that it truly begs the next volume since the tension is raised so much and the plot-lines are ready to "explode" that not having "The Chaos Crystal" to read asap can lead to frustration. "The Palace of Impossible Dreams" is epic fantasy of the highest level.

Aren't they nice? The full review is here

Check out the German Book Trailer for The Immortal Prince

Mon, 05 Jul 2010 06:54:00 --0800

This is awesome...

Not as cool as the English language trailer but the sexy male voice over sounds cool. Just gotta wait until my German friend Matty pops over some time this week so I can find out what he's saying:)

You Tube Trailer here

THe SFX Top 100 Fantasy/Sci-Fi writers of 2010

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 13:31:00 --0800

Ah... yet another list that proves... well, I'm not sure. Kinda like this one though because I didn't know they were voting on it and I have been known to encourage people to vote for their favourite author (ahem... me) when I hear about a vote in the wind. I've even been known to go so far as to provide a link to the voting site:)

Despite that, I wound up at Number 58. Pretty cool, really. Bit disappointed to see only 3 Aussies on the list though (I've bolded them - feel free to correct me if I've missed someone). Given how well some Aussie writers have done of late (Fiona McIntosh, Karen Miller, Sean Williams, Cecilia Dart Thornton, Juliet Marillier, etc) I thought the list would be fairly oozing Aussies.

Odd, I thought. But like most polls, to be taken with a grain of salt, after enjoying the momentary ego trip:)

1. Terry Pratchett
2. JRR Tolkien
3. Neil Gaiman
4. Douglas Adams
5. George RR Martin
6. Isaac Asimov
7. Iain M. Banks
8. Philip K. Dick
9. HG Wells
10. Robert Rankin
11. Ursula K. LeGuin
12. David Gemmell
13. Peter F. Hamilton
14. Frank Herbert
15. Robert Heinlein
16. JK Rowling
17. Robert Jordan
18. Arthur C. Clarke
19. Ray Bradbury
20. Stephen King
21. Robin Hobb
22. Philip Pullman
23. John Wyndham
24. Diana Wynne Jones
25. CS Lewis
26. Guy Gavriel Kay
27. William Gibson
28. Steven Erikson
29. Anne McCaffrey
30. Roger Zelazny
31. Lois McMaster Bujold
32. Raymond E. Feist
33. China Mieville
34. Gene Wolfe
35. Stephen Donaldson
36. Orson Scott Card
37. Alan Moore
38. David Eddings
39. Michael Moorcock
40. Trudi Canavan
41. Kurt Vonnegut
42. Tad Williams
43. Jim Butcher
44. Clive Barker
45. Neal Stephenson
46. Alastair Reynolds
47. Jules Verne
48. Mervyn Peake
49. H.P. Lovecraft
50. Sherri S. Tepper
51. Robert E. Howard
52. J.G. Ballard
53. Octavia Butler
54. Jasper Fforde
55. Harlan Ellison
56. CJ Cherryh
57. Mercedes Lackey
58. Jennifer Fallon
59. Stephen Baxter
60. Richard Morgan
61. Terry Brooks
62. Elizabeth Haydon
63. Dan Simmons
64. Richard Matheson
65. Marion Zimmer Bradley
66. Harry Harrison
67. Jack Vance
68. Katharine Kerr
69. Alfred Bester
70. Larry Niven
71. Stanislaw Lem
72. Susanna Clarke
73. Robert Silverberg
74. Edgar Rice Burroughs
75. Julian May
76. Charles de Lint
77. Samuel R. Delany
78. George Orwell
79. Simon Clark
80. Joe Haldeman
81. Joe Abercrombie
82. J.V. Jones
83. Theodore Sturgeon
84. Kim Stanley Robinson
85. Jacqueline Carey
86. M. John Harrison
87. David Weber
88. Scott Lynch
89. Jonathan Carroll
90. Christopher Priest
91. Jon Courtney Grimwood
92. Michael Marshall Smith
93. Olaf Stapledon
94. Ken MacLeod
95. Brian W. Aldiss
96. Terry Goodkind
97. Charles Stross
98. Sara Douglass
99. Gwyneth Jones
100. James Herbert

A thought occurs to me as I read through the list. I am more popular according to this list, than Terry Goodkind. Does this mean I'm going to get my own TV series now? hehehe

Killing time in airports...

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 05:35:00 --0800

I'm sitting in the international terminal at Tullamarine waiting to check into my flight. I have not yet slept and because of a stuff up I won't get a chance until to sleep until I get home tonight at nearly midnight. Good thing I have my iPad to play with. Did I mention I bought an iPad?

Killing time in airports...

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 05:35:00 --0800

On the plane again....

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 18:10:00 --0800

I head back to NZ tonight from Perth. I am going to spend the next 16 hours either in the air or in airport lounges. Oh Goody. Had the best time in Perth at Supanova. Sold squllions of books, thanks to the awesome Anita, Amy and Mary at the Borders stand, got up close and personal with some really cool people (Charisma Carpenter's awesome mother, Christine, for one) and had a great master class thanks to the discovery of a throat spray that meant I still had a voice at the end of the con. Now it's back home to have another check-up to ensure I'm still cancer free, and then final rewrite of the Undivided. Then it's a month of getting my accounts sorted and planning for the first of the Reynox Writers' Retreats next year. I wonder if there will ever come a time when I'm not insanely busy?

Supanova Perth

Sat, 26 Jun 2010 22:49:00 --0800

I love Perth. The people here are awesome.

Supanova Day 1 was brilliant, with lots of great fans coming by to say hi. Did a panel with Christian Tamblyn, signed many books and just got home from the cocktail party where I bonded with Charisma Carpenter's mother, who is the most fabulous 70-year-old I've met since Nichelle Nichols.

Now I have to go to bed and rest so I can do it all again tomorrow.

I love my life:)

The Palace of Impossible Dreams is out in the US!!!

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 18:30:00 --0800

Yay! The wait for book 3 of the Tide Lords series is finally over for my many loyal US readers who've had to wait a year for the next installment!

Of course, you'll get to the end of this one and then realise it's a four book series, and then get to the end of the fourth book and email me saying "What??? Is that it???", but... well, I love messing with people's heads. LOL

You can buy it from Amazon here.

Supanova + Laryngitis = Oops

Sun, 20 Jun 2010 06:04:00 --0800

The head cold I've had for the last 2 weeks has morphed into laryngitis. I feel fine but I can't speak more than two words in a row without my voice vanishing completely.

I had an awesome day at Supanova yesterday, and today I'm signing autographs all day and later I have to deliver a 4 hour masterclass in World Building.

Did I mention I have laryngitis?

I'm hoping things will improve by 4pm, otherwise I'll be activiating Plan B.

Have to go now and figure out what Plan B is...:)

Today I'm in Alice...

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 06:34:00 --0800

Yup... I'm supposed to be leaving this morning for Sydney, but the court case with the f-wit gardener continues to drag on. Highlight of yesterday's proceeding was him assuring the judge that it wasn't his policy to care if anything he built was legal or not. I sometimes think he's testifying for me...

Oh well, Supanova tomorrow in Sydney if I don't miss the plane. yay!

BTW, there are still places left in the Worldbuilding Masterclass. If you're still thinking of going but want to pay at the door, the cost is $70 more, so book online while you can!

Chicks in Capes is on its way!

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 05:06:00 --0800

I think I mentioned this anthology before... but now you can pre-order it from Amazon.

The blurb is as follows:

Chicks in Capes is fun and though-provoking collection of all-new prose short stories by a wide range of female authors, including New York Times bestselling authors Nancy Holder, Debbie Viguie, and Jennifer Fallon, along with comic book her-storian Trina Robbins, and a host of other popular fiction and comic book contributors. All of the stories are about super heroines, many characters created exclusively for this collection, and all contributors are female, including the interior illustrator, the cover artist, and the editors. Strong female super-heroine characters from all walks of life are included in this stellar anthology: a parking valet, an archeologist, a bike messenger, a nurse, a holocaust survivor and many more. There is something for everyone is this anthology: action, adventure, drama, romance, science-fiction, and more!

Now, if you read that the wrong way, it makes me look like a NYT bestseller. If only... LOL

Anyway, if you want to read about the Violet Valet and other fab superheroes, order it now from here

Can we arrange for a few extra hours a day please?

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 11:47:00 --0800

Seriously... this is getting ridiculous. I am so busy it's nuts and I have a rotten head cold and don't want to do a thing.

I surely do not want to fly with my sinuses like this, but I'm off to Supanova next Tuesday via an Alice Springs detour to go to court because of the f***wit gardener who is suing me because I won't pay for the wall he built that I have to pay someone else to rebuild legally. Grrrr...

Good change to catch up with a few friends, but I'd rather not be going. Thank God the judge set the court date to coincide with Supanova...

And speaking of Supanova, there are still places in the World Building Masterclass in Sydney and Perth so go here to book now. I promise, I'll be over my cold by then and probably gloating over my court victory...hehehe.

Oh, and I have to rewrite The Undivided by next week and get it to my agent.

No pressure:)

PS: If you're booking a place at the workshop, you have to select the "weekend pass" option beofre the Workshop will come up