Wow, that was fun! I got to sit down with three excellent authors and talk about writing and marketing Fantasy books. We covered my philosophy on marketing (i.e. keep it comfy and save the challenge for the writing!), how artwork can help a project come to life and how authors need to go local to sell books.
I’ve enjoyed Lindsay Buroker‘s work for a couple of years now, so it was a real honor to be speaking with her. I’m also finding the work of Jeffrey Poole and Joseph Lallo to be a blast, too!
If you write Fantasy or Science Fiction books then this podcast is a must. Tell ’em Ben sent you!
Watch the interview now. Notice how I’m doing a hand puppet show? It went really well! Okay, I’m kidding (maybe…)
I’m working with a small team of talented actors and filmmakers to craft a fantastic book trailer that meets the strict standards that The Camelot Kids has stuck to so well.
Here’s an audio clip of the official tagline for The Camelot Kids series. The voice is Michael Belfiore’s, a writer, actor and friend of mine for over 20 years!
WARNING: It’s an energetic reading, so adjust your volume downwards — just in case.
Meetings at work were doodles — what did the characters look like? What made Excalibur special?
Plot twists popped out of a martini. Oh yeah, one crucial theme sparked from a spicy chicken wing during Date Night in SoHo.
About 1000 pages were written right after Jack was born. I read the first draft in the middle of a forest and decided it was inspiring and horrible. Robin talked me off that cliff.
I hope you enjoy Simon’s butting heads with Merlin. I hope Maille Rose (pronounced Molly Rose) becomes a favorite of yours too. Oh, and I hope the ending leaves you wanting more. Because I want to write much more.
The Camelot Kids has been a part of my life for almost nine years. It was mine. Now it’s yours.
We’re going to do something different here. I’d like to show off Ian Greenlee’s art in a unique way.
Piece by piece.
Ian’s work is spectacularly detailed. He works on a canvas the size of a house and loves to dive into minutia like no one else I know. To show this talent off I’m going to reveal his latest piece. It captures the moment that Simon Sharp walks into the fantastic town for the first time. I think Ian does a brilliant job of making us feel the awe that Simon felt. When you see the full piece all together, you’ll see what I mean.
I’ll update this post once per day until the softcover launch on December 12th, so bookmark it and come back to see the full illustration slowly come to life!
Enough talking! Take a look at this first tiny slice of a masterpiece!
Slice #1: Girls in the Market
Slice #2: Getting Ready for the Fair
Slice #3: Watch Your Head!
Slice #4: Girl, Meet Monkey
Slice #5: Young Lovers in New Camelot
Slice #6: Shopping for an Elbow
Any of these illustrations have enough detail to satisfy most artists. Not Ian.
THIS is how big the above images are in comparison to the full piece!
Poor Simon. He’s had a horrid run of luck recently. A couple of bad decisions became one HUGE problem for New Camelot — a problem that looks a lot like a dragon. But he’s determined to find a way to make things right. And the only way he can do that is to go back to his Uncle Victor’s castle.
Let’s just say Simon isn’t welcome there anymore.
Snag a copy of The Camelot Kids: Part Four and see how the first part of Simon’s story comes to an end. There’s adventure, battles and betrayal the likes of which you’ve never seen before.
Really.
And THANK YOU. This run of The Camelot Kids has been the time of my life! I can’t wait to release the softcover book on December 10th, with art by Ian Greenlee, Nathan Fox and Matt Bailey.
Disclosure: Some of the links on this site are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.