The good folks at Harper Collins Voyager, my publishers in the United Kingdom and Australia, have informed me that they’ve changed the cover for the forthcoming DANCE WITH DRAGONS hardcover.

They’ve decided to go with the same cover art as on the American edition, though the design and background colors will vary.

Here’s the old UK cover:

And here’s the new one:

I know the long delay with DANCE has frustrated many of you… but hey, it’s certainly provided a lot of gainful employment for book designers and cover artists. I wonder if I deserve a line in the Guinness Book of World Records: the unpublished book with the most covers.

This one should stick, though.

July 12. Coming soon.

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My interview with Joe Abercrombie — filmed in LA when I flew out last month for a screening — has been posted on YouTube, in two parts.

If you’re not able to watch THE BOOK SHOW on your TV, here ’tis:

part one
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part two
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It was great fun talking with Joe. Almost as much fun as reading his books.

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… and maybe some of you in Brazil as well.

There’s a new interview with me that’s just been published, all in Portugese.

You can find it at:

http://www.calameo.com/read/0003519067583d3259125

Enjoy.

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Yes, I will be doing a book tour for A DANCE WITH DRAGONS.

It will, alas, be a shorter tour than the ones I did for A STORM OF SWORDS and A FEAST FOR CROWS. (Although we all expect that the crowds will be bigger). As much as I love meeting my readers and signing their books, I still have a lot on my plate just now, and I can’t afford to take off a month for travel. So we’ll likely be limiting the US book tour to no more than eight to ten cities.

The first three of those have already been set. We’ll be launching the tour in BOSTON, followed by appearances in NEW YORK CITY, and then INDIANAPOLIS.

Herewith the details:

Tuesday, July 12
7:00pm
Barnes & Noble
98 Middlesex Turnpike
Burlington, MA 01803

Thursday, July 14
7:00pm
Barnes & Noble
Union Square
33 East 17th Street
New York, NY 10003

Saturday, July 16
2:00pm
Barnes & Noble
14709 US Hwy 31 North
Carmel, IN 46032

After Indy I will return home for a few days, and then it will be on to…

… yes, the SAN DIEGO COMICON.

I’ll be there for the entire comicon. The 2012 Ice & Fire calendar will be making its debut there, and of course we’ll have DANCE WITH DRAGONS out, and some advance stuff for the comic book adaptation. I will also be appearing on the HBO panel for the TV show, turning up at the Tor booth to promote the new Wild Cards book, FORT FREAK… and likely also appearing for IDW (the DOORWAYS comic) and Avatar (the FEVRE DREAM graphic novel). Work, work, work.

If my hand hasn’t fallen off by the end of comicon, I will be resuming the book tour afterwards with a west coat swing. Details on that when they are nailed down.

But if you’re in Boston, NYC, Indy, or San Diego… hey, be seeing you soon.

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The latest goodie from HBO: a scene from episode four, upcoming this Sunday:

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This week’s episode is called “Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things.” The script is by Bryan Cogman, our fearless story editor.

Be sure to watch. Our ratings went UP last week, and we want that trend to continue! Word of mouth, can’t beat it…

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Back home again.

NYC was great.

Now I’m tired.

More tomorrow.

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This has been an incredible visit. So much cool stuff to report…

Last post I mentioned signing some books at the HBO store. After that went up, the store was overrun. All the signed books sold and people were still coming in. So HBO shipped me another big of books and I signed them too. The HBO shop should have autographed copies again… for a little while, at least…

And if that doesn’t work, well, I also signed all the stock at the Barnes & Noble on 45th Street and 5th Avenue. Went by to pick up my own signed book… by Rex Ryan! Sadly, I did not get to meet the coach, but I did get his autograph on his new book.

Much more when I get home. And yes, that was me at THE BOOK OF MORMON last night. Fabulous show… and it turned out I had fans among the cast who invited me backstage after the performance… that was incredibly cool at well!

The show was a delight from start to finish, which is no more than I expected from the SOUTH PARK guys. Getting to meet some of amazingly talented cast… and learning that they were fans of my books… was surreal and wonderful.

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A busy week. So much to report, so little time.

I am spending a lt of my time over at Bantam, working with my editor Anne Groell on copyediting and proofing A DANCE WITH DRAGONS to get all the ducks in a row for the July 12 pubdate. A lot of work in a short time frame, but it’s going well. Sill have the appendix to nail down, which becomes first priority when I return home May 5.

Watching some of the NFL draft in spare moments, but I’ve been in such a crunch this year I did not do any of my usual prep, so I have no idea who most of these players are. The Jets and Giants have picked some people. Hope they’re good. The Giants got a prince, I see. Not the one who just got married.

Visited the HBO Store yesterday. Incredibly cool, and the people running it were terrific. I signed all the copies of my book on hand, so if there are any New Yorkers reading this who would like an autographed copy, head over to HBO post haste.

All four volumes of the series are now on the NEW YORK TIMES bestseller list. I’ve got a lot to celebrate and I’ve been doing a lot of celebrating.

Oh, and of course, there was the TIME 100 Gala, where Phipps and I dressed up like grown-ups and hung out with some amazing people. More on that when we get home.

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My fans never cease to amaze me. Some of you are crazy. Some of you are wonderful. Most of you are crazily wonderful.

Like the two women in Boston who have started up a food blog they are calling the Inn at the Crossroads. Their mission appears to be to cook up both medieval and modern versions of all the dishes mentioned in A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE.

They’re already off to a great start. You can read about their adventures and get all their recipes at the Inn: http://innatthecrossroads.wordpress.com/

I have cautioned them to skip the seagull when they get to it. The rat-on-a-stick is probably worth a pass as well, and I’d be wary about the bowls o’ brown served in Flea Bottom. You never know what sorts of things go in them.

Anyway, do visit their blog and give them some encouragement. They have a lot of cooking to do. Why, Joffrey’s wedding feast alone featured seventy-seven courses.

Oh, and I love their motto: In the Game of Food, you win, or you wash the dishes…

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