Japan

The Return

I have returned! I am nestled back safely on my couch in Australia, with my dog panting on the floor, and the sun setting over the mountains. During my sojourn in Japan, I saw many glorious sights: temples, skyscrapers, centuries-old castles, decades-old recreations of castles, and lots of stone Buddhas wearing little knitted hats and scarves. I strolled through museums, and wandered through pachinko parlours. I have ridden upon the bullet train. I have peed upon the bullet train. Which is to say, I have peed whilst riding upon the bullet train. It was great trip, but it’s good to be home.

And, of course, while I was away, on January 11, 2012 Anno Domini, The Rook was unleashed upon the United States of America.

I think that, when your first novel comes out, it’s probably a good thing to be in a country where the book is not going to be available, and you don’t have a phone that will let you obsessively check your e-mail every five minutes. Why, I would say that whole hours went by when I didn’t try to find some opportunity to check the internet. And, as luck would have it, there are astoundingly few temples and castles which provide you with facilities for checking the internet.

But despite my lack of constant observation, lots of stuff kept happening. In fact, it’s been an extremely busy three weeks.

Firstly, a few items were released upon the world wide web, to accompany the release of The Rook. And I shall provide you with links to see them. Behold:

On John Scalzi’s website, at http://whatever.scalzi.com/2012/01/12/the-big-idea-daniel-omalley/ ,  there’s an interview with me regarding the ‘big idea’ that spawned The Rook.

At the website Largehearted Boy, located on the internet at http://www.largeheartedboy.com/blog/archive/2012/01/book_notes_dani_6.html , you can read my playlist for The Rook, and coming up with that was a unique experience.

And there have been some nice reviews, which is great.

CNN identified The Rook as one of its Hot Reads for Summer, putting it next to two of my absolute heroes, William Gibson and Bernard Cornwell. Upon seeing this (at http://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/13/living/hot-reads-january/index.html ), my brain exploded with a sharp detonation, prompting complaints from the cleaning staff of the hotel.

MTVGeek described the book as ‘Downton Abbey with superpowers’ which is a phrase that I am going to insist be inscribed on my tombstone. (http://geek-news.mtv.com/2012/01/10/the-rook-is-downton-abbey-with-superpowers-book-review/)

Monsters and Critics said some good things at http://www.monstersandcritics.com/books/science_fiction_fantasy/reviews/article_1685891.php/Book-Review-The-Rook

And the IE Mommy at http://www.theiemommy.com/2012/01/08/the-rook-a-novel-by-daniel-omalley/ made me blush with satisfaction.

There have been some other very nice reviews, but I shall have to bring them to the next blog, or this will just be a list of reviews, and I want to tell you about exciting stuff that has been happening in Australia.

To begin with, there were extracts from The Rook published in The Herald-Sun and The Adelaide Advertiser, both prominent newspapers for those of you who don’t live in Australia. And, on iTunes Australia, The Rook was the book of the week!

And stuff keeps happening! Tomorrow, my excellent local bookstore, Dymocks in Civic, is hosting a book-launching event (http://www.dymocks.com.au/LiteraryEvents/Default.aspx?s=2) . This is my very first public appearance as an author! I am only mildly petrified, but it will help me work out all my panic-impulses, which is very good because the day after tomorrow, Impact Comics, the store I have haunted since my childhood, is hosting a signing event (http://impactcomics.com.au/web/ , please RSVP if attending.)

The Return Read More »

2012

Happy New Year! It is 2012, the Year of the Dragon, the year of the Aztec apocalypse, the year of (dare I say it?) The Rook! The book is coming out in about ten days, and I have already received extremely exciting e-mails from various friends, advising that they have received e-mails from various quality-book purveyors, and that their copies are already on the way. So, copies of The Rook are actually in transit at this very moment, gliding their way through the system. They are out in the world. And soon they will be in people’s hands.

I, however, won’t at that point be seeing them in people’s hands, because on the fateful day, I shall be in Japan, attending a friend’s wedding and then touring about the country. And I have to admit, I very nearly wasn’t going to be. Two days ago, one week before I mount the silver bird, I realized that my passport was actually expired.

A few brisk nervous breakdowns ensued.

As one of my friends brightly remarked, “At least there’s no weekends or public holidays between now and th — Oh. Oh dear.” Once I’d been resuscitated, I was on the phone to the Passport Office (twenty minutes before they shut for a long weekend), making some frantic arrangements and apologizing profusely. Tuesday, I go in for my passport interview and pay the (idiot’s) fee for the expedited processing. I will pick up the renewed passport on either Thursday afternoon or Friday morning. Friday evening, provided the gods of travel are looking upon me kindly, I shall be off to Japan.

Now, will I be posting blog entries from Japan? That rather depends on Japan, because I am one of the most computer-incompetent people you will ever encounter, and getting on the internet may prove too much for me. It may be completely simple. It may be impossible. But I shall do my darnedest. And I am leaving behind sufficient tweets to take the @RookFiles twitter feed up to the fateful day of the eleventh, and a trusted representative will be posting them.

2012 Read More »

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