Tag Archives: writing life

D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, Writing

David B. Coe-D.B. Jackson Newsletter Sign-up!!

Yes, that’s right: I’m starting a newsletter. Why? “Well, why not?” comes to mind as an excellent answer. But the truth is, I’m always looking for ways to reach my readers. I often hear from fans of my work who enjoy my books and stories, and want to keep up-to-date on my releases, or are interested to know where I’ll be signing or appearing next, or are just curious about what I’m working on now. If you would like to know these things, or anything else about my work, as either David B. Coe or D.B. Jackson, please sign up for the newsletter. It’s easy to do — just go to this site and fill in your name and email address. Done!

Thank you!

Baen Books, Blogging, Case Files of Justis Fearsson, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, Thieftaker Chronicles, Tor Books, Writing

The Blog Tour Ends With a Post on Ideas and Creativity

Over the years I’ve come to the conclusion that the act of creation is, among other things, an act of faith. We start our projects believing that when our work is done, the finished product will be complete and coherent, a reasonable representation of the vision that drove us to begin in the first place. But of course, we have no guarantee of this. We have only our confidence in our own creative process.

With today’s post at Magical Words, I wind up the Summer-of-Two-Releases Virtual Tour. The post is called “Ideas and the Creative Act of Faith,” and it is about my struggles with my next new project. You can read the post here. I hope you find it interesting, and instructive.

Baen Books, Blogging, Case Files of Justis Fearsson, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, Thieftaker Chronicles, Tor Books, Writing

POV and Q&A, Today on the Blog Tour!

As writers we should be deliberate in choosing the proper voice for each story. We shouldn’t choose third person simply because the market might prefer it, as once it did, nor should we automatically gravitate toward first person just because that voice is in vogue right now. Rather, we need to consider several factors in choosing the right POV voice and, for that matter, the correct point of view character.

Today’s installments of the 2015 Summer-of-Two-Releases Virtual Tour take me to the blogs of two dear friends.

Lucienne Diver is not only a wonderful writer, she is also a fantastic agent, and I should know, because she has represented me for about fifteen years now. I am at her blog today with a post about point of view, and its uses as a narrative tool. Using the examples of Dead Man’s Reach, the fourth Thieftaker novel, which came out a couple of weeks ago, and His Father’s Eyes, the second volume in the Case Files of Justis Fearsson, I discuss how I choose the correct voice for a novel. You can read the post here; I hope you find it helpful.

Brandy Schillace, author, academic, blogger, reviewer, friend extraordinaire, has been kind enough to host me again on her Fiction Reboot. Today, I answer questions about the Thieftaker books, writing, history, and magic. You can find the interview here.

Enjoy!

Baen Books, Blogging, Case Files of Justis Fearsson, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, Thieftaker Chronicles, Tor Books, Writing

Community and Genre, part 2, and Another Giveaway!

Surely there is room in this genre for quiet stories and loud ones, for the old-fashioned and the new-and-weird, for space opera and epic fantasy, for military SF and urban fantasy, for writers of all races, religions, sexual orientations, and gender identities. If you don’t want to read all of these stories, if you don’t want to follow all of these writers, you don’t have to. No one is forcing anyone to do anything.

But it is one thing to choose. It is something else entirely to dismiss. It is time that we as a community recognize the difference.

The day after the release of His Father’s Eyes, book II in the Case Files of Justis Fearsson, I continue the 2015 Summer-of-Two-Releases Virtual Tour  with a couple of online appearances. The first, excerpted above, resumes the conversation on genre and community that I began two weeks ago at SFSignal. This new installment can be found here.

And later this afternoon, I will be back at Bitten By Books for a launch party celebrating yesterday’s release. We are giving away a $40.00 gift card to some lucky reader, and right now you can increase your chances of winning by RSVPing for the event here.

Baen Books, Blogging, Case Files of Justis Fearsson, David B. Coe, Writing

Release Day For HIS FATHER’S EYES!!

His Father's Eyes, by David B. Coe (Jacket art by Alan Pollock)Today is release day for His Father’s Eyes, second book in The Case Files of Justis Fearsson, the contemporary urban fantasy that I write under my own name for Baen Books. To mark the occasion, the 2015 Summer-of-Two-Releases Virtual Tour makes several stops.

First, I am back visiting again with Faith Hunter, and this time Jay Fearsson, the hero of my series is interviewed by Jane Yellowrock, the kickass heroine of Faith’s New York Times bestselling series. Not only that, but fans of her books should know that Beast makes an appearance as interviewer as well. You can find the interview here. I guarantee you’ll enjoy it.

I am also back at the Magical Words blog site, with a post about the new book and all that it means to me. This was a difficult and cathartic book for me to write, and the post touches on why. You can find it here.

And finally, Joelle Reizes has been kind enough to host me for her Five Questions in Five Minutes feature. You can find our Q&A here.

So help me celebrate release day. And if you’re interesting in finding a copy of the novel, you can use the links on this page. Thank you!

Baen Books, Blogging, Case Files of Justis Fearsson, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, Thieftaker Chronicles, Tor Books, Writing

Plea For Calm Revisited, and an Interview with Justis Fearsson

“In the end, I return again to the point I made in my previous post. We are writers, blessed with the ability and opportunity to craft stories for a living. We should not be fighting over award ballots. I consider many of the people on both sides of this fight friends and respected colleagues. I like them. I like their work. I know from talking to them that they have a lot more in common with one another than this brouhaha would suggest. It is time for all of us to put away our knives, and take up our pens once more.”

I have two new posts up today on the 2015 Summer-of-Two-Releases Virtual Tour. The first, excerpted above, is at Black Gate. It is called “Enough, part II,” and it is a continuation of the call for cooler heads to prevail in the Hugos nomination kerfuffle that I began at Black Gate two weeks ago. You can find the new post here.

The second, which appears at Fantasy Book Critic, is a lighter post, a character interview I “conducted” with Justis Fearsson, the lead character in the Case Files of Justis Fearsson, which I write for Baen. The second book in that series, His Father’s Eyes, comes out tomorrow. You can find this post here.

Baen Books, Blogging, Case Files of Justis Fearsson, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, Thieftaker Chronicles, Tor Books, Writing

Today I Talk Books With Mermaids

Choosing three books that changed my life, even if it’s just for the purposes of a blog tour, is a little like choosing “Three Meals That Helped me Grow Big and Strong.” Sort of. Actually, no one would ever accuse of me of being either big or strong. But you get the idea.

To be clear, I’m not so much talking about books-with-mermaids, but rather I am talking with mermaids about books. In a manner of speaking. Today, on the 2015 Summer-of-Two-Releases Virtual Tour, I visit the Mermaids and Friends site, hosted by, among others,  my dear friend Alethea Kontis. As you might gather from the excerpt above, my post is about three books that changed my life, and the choices might surprise you. You can find the post here.

Baen Books, Blogging, Case Files of Justis Fearsson, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, Thieftaker Chronicles, Tor Books, Writing

The Crazed Life of a Writer, Today on the Virtual Tour

“We are, in many respects, the most egotistical people in the world. I mean it; it takes some serious sense of self to be able to say, “I just made up a story, and it’s so fucking good that you should pony up some money to read it. Not only that, but it’s around 500 pages long, but that’s okay, because reading it is the best use of your time I can think of.” Wow. That takes serious nerve. And I should know, because I’ve done it, like, eighteen times.

And yet for all that ego demanded by our profession, we writers are remarkably fragile creatures, subject to the dreaded “impostor syndrome,” and other maladies of mind and spirit.”

That’s an excerpt from today’s post on the 2015 Summer-of-Two-Releases Virtual Tour. I’m back at Magical Words today, talking about the vicissitudes of the writing life. Sure, I’m still promoting Dead Man’s Reach and His Father’s Eyes. But also looking beyond these releases to the next project, whatever that may be.  Check out the post here. And enjoy!

Baen Books, Blogging, Case Files of Justis Fearsson, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, Thieftaker Chronicles, Tor Books, Writing

The Blog Tour Today

Interested in seeing how characters might wreak their revenge on the writer who creates them? Then have I got a post for you! The 2015 Summer-of-Two-Releases Virtual Tour makes several stops today, including one at the SciFiChick.com, where I interview Ethan Kaille and Justis Fearsson, the lead characters from the Thieftaker Chronicles and The Case Files of Justis Fearsson. The two of them make it clear to me that they’re not entirely satisfied with how I’ve been running their lives. You can find the post here.

The second post, which was originally supposed to go up yesterday (things don’t always go as they’re supposed to on these virtual tours) can be found at All Things Urban Fantasy. It describes the political transformation of Ethan Kaille through the books of the Thieftaker Chronicles. Ethan started as a Loyalist, an opponent of Samuel Adams and the  Sons of Liberty, something that bothered some of my readers. But his political evolution is a central theme in the series. You can read more about it here.

I am also at the blog of my friend and fellow writer, Bradley Beaulieu. Brad, the author of Twelves Kings in Sharakhai and The Winds of Khalokovo, is a terrific writer in his own right, and has been kind enough to interview for the blog tour. You can find the interview here.

Finally, my friend Karen Miller, a wonderful writer and former bookstore owner, who I first met when I lived in Australia, hosts me for an interview on her blog. You can find the Q&A here.

Baen Books, Blogging, Case Files of Justis Fearsson, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, Thieftaker Chronicles, Tor Books, Writing

Today on the Blog Tour: A Post and an Interview

The 2015 Summer-of-Two-Releases Virtual Tour winds up a busy week with appearances at the blogs of two of my writing friends. A.M. Dellamonica, author of Blue Magic, Indigo Springs, and Child of a  Hidden Sea, interviews me about Dead Man’s Reach, His Father’s Eyes, and the challenges of writing under two names in two series for two publishers. You can find the interview here.

And Harry Connolly, author of Child of Fire and The Way Into Chaos, is hosting me for a post about the ways in which we writers define success. That’s a more complicated issue than some might imagine, in an industry that imposes its own definitions of what it means to succeed or fail. You can read the post here.

I hope you enjoy both the interview and the post, and I wish you all a wonderful weekend.