Thurber House: Day Eighteen (or maybe Twenty-Three)

I'm back!

Back you say? Where did you go?

Well, last Thursday, I flew home to Birmingham for the weekend for a family event, and I returned yesterday to Columbus to complete my last week as the Thurber House Children's Writer-in-Residence. So, if we're counting full days in the house, this is Day Eighteen. Or if we're counting days since I got here, this is Day Twenty-Three!

How to count? What to count?

I'm going to go with Eighteen, just like Steve Moffat says Matt Smith is Doctor Number Eleven, and we can just ignore John Hurt, that Doctor-Donna created from a disembodied hand, and my brief interlude away from Ohio.

But worth noting...while I was home, I got my authors copies of the Nightborn paperback edition! And you can all get yours later this month when it drops July 26th! Yay!

Meanwhile, today, for a complete change of pace, I wrote a short story. It just came to me, and I had to get it out. It's short. Something on the order of "Kori and the Troll," which was my story for Boy's Life. I think there are going to be more of these sort of things, including a follow up to "Kori and the Troll," because the wheels are spinning. They are spinning, yes.

Meanwhile, because I have plans tomorrow for a long lunch, two courses to teach Thursday afternoon, and two signings on Friday (including one at The Book Loft of German Village), today was my Long Walk. I may get another Long Walk in, but I wanted to get at least one more before my time here ends. (((Sob.)))

I did the same walk I'd done before--going downtown then taking the Scioto Mile around the river, then walking back. Only last time it took me two hours, but because I had to teach tonight, I did it in one hour thirty minutes. Which was some power walking!

Then it was back here to teach a workshop at 6:30 P.M. at the Young Writers’ Studio, which is Thurber House's high school writing group that meets every other week at the Thurber Center. The students were really great, and after my presentation, I sat in for the weekly critique of one of their fiction samples (which was quite lush and evocative in its description). Smart students. Great talk.

And now I'm back in my apartments, where I should be writing, but I'm thrilled to see that something I've been working on for a while has just become public, and that is the Young Adventurers programming track at the Alamo City Comic Con (held in San Antonio on October 28th-30th). What is Young Adventurers you say? Well, Friday it's a day long writing workshop featuring instruction from some cat named Lou Anders, along with such luminaries as Holly Black, Matthew Cody, Bruce Coville, Melissa Marr, and Obert Skye! Then Saturday and Sunday are two days of middle reader kid fic focused programing featuring the same stellar lineup! Tickets for the workshop aren't on sale yet, but tickets for ACCC are. This is something you are going to want to check out! And if you are a beginning or wannabe writer, don't miss the workshop! Yay!

Reflections from the Road: My Visit with Boy Scouts of America Troop 86

I've spoken to around forty schools since Frostborn debuted, all across America. You can see the list here if you are curious. I've also spoken at a lot of libraries and at literary festivals in addition to science fiction and fantasy conventions. But recently, a new venue for sharing the world of Thrones & Bones has opened up. You see, I'm very fortunate that this month my short story, "Kori and the Troll," is the featured fiction in the May 2016 issue of Boy's Life, the official magazine of the Boy Scouts of America. And through that connection, I got invited to speak to Troup 86!

Last night, I spoke to a room full of Boy Scouts. The scouts were from several different schools, but in a room of about twenty scouts, only two had me visit their school before. I presented the world of Thrones & Bones, including a ton of amazing imagery created by artists Justin Gerard, Andrew Bosley, and Robert Lazzaretti. I showed pictures of my research trip to Norway. And I talked about the creation of the Thrones & Bones and Charioteers board games (which feature in the books Frostborn and Nightborn respectively, with rules for each included in the back of their books). Afterwards, I got to sign and rune-stamp books for the scouts.

It was a great time, and I hope I get to talk to other Boy Scout troops in future. Meanwhile, thank you Troop 86 for hosting me!

Boy's Life Fiction: "Kori and the Troll"

Huge news!

I have a short story in May 2016 issue of Boys' Life, the official youth publication of the Boy Scouts of America!

"Kori and the Troll" is a story set in the world of my Thrones & Bones novels. In fact, the Kori of the title has a special relationship with one of my two lead characters in Frostborn. I don't write many short stories. I'm very proud of this one, and I'm absolutely thrilled to be in Boy's Life.

Plus, Antonio Javier Caparo provides the art and it's fantastic!

The story is currently behind a subscriber wall, but if you are a scout or have a scout in your life, I hope you'll check it out!