I am back in the Land of Enchantment, as of the day before yesterday.   I’ve been away for three weeks or thereabouts, in New York City, New Jersey, and finally Chicago.   I don’t lug a laptop around with me when I travel; on the road, I am only reachable by phone or text.   Which helps keep me sane, but it did mean that I had 2,000 emails waiting for me when I got home.   I am still digging out.

The trip… three weeks, I said, but at times it felt more like three months.   My latest book, the illustrated Targaryen history RISE OF THE DRAGON, was released on October 25, so I had a lot of promotion to do.   My sisters and their children and grandchildren and spouses still live in New Jersey, so I needed to see them too.   The last time I got back east was in 2019, before the pandemic started.   I had meetings with my publishers and agents and editors, and some meals with old friends.

I am not one for writing long trip reports… and this one would need to be VERY long.   It was that kind of trip.  Joy and sadness, tragedy, love, a lot of work.   Highs and lows, and so much to do, it really took it out of me.   I will tell you about much of that, but not right now, and not all at once.   I think I will make a series of small blog posts, rather than doing one enormous one.   The things that happened… well, it would not feel right to mush them all together.

Let me start with the original reason for the trip: the release of RISE OF THE DRAGON.

Rather than a traditional book tour, which could have taken months I did not have, we launched RISE with a virtual event at the Random House offices in New York City.    I was thrilled to have David Anthony Durham interviewing me.   David is one of my Wild Cards writers, and much much more.   He’s written epic fantasy, historical fiction, westerns, YA books, and he has beenpart of the  team on every one of prequels we have been developing for HBO for the last year and a half.    Good guy, terrific writer.

If you missed our talk, no problem — it is online now.

I am pleased to report that RISE OF THE DRAGON is doing very very well, hitting numerous bestseller lists here and abroad.

(I will post more about my events in New York and New Jersey and Chicago in the days to come, once I’ve caught up on some of those damned emails).

Current Mood: tired