This is just a quick post to let you know that it looks like the release of Before the Ruins is going to be pushed back to the spring of 2019 as we wrap up some additional editing and design tasks. I want this tale of vampires and cliff dwellers to fly true, so we are taking a little extra time to craft and/or polish a few remaining details.
Having said that, Blueberry Lane Books and I had originally projected that Before the Ruins would be published by Christmas 2018, and I am aware of the potential havoc that this delay might create for your last-minute Christmas shopping. With that in mind, I will humbly offer a few alternative suggestions.
- If you have not actually read the original vampire novel, why not put Dracula by Bram Stoker under the tree? Many people are surprised to learn it is an epistolary novel (written in the form of letters). When I originally read it, I read an annotated version. I would highly recommend that. Being able to pull in some of the historical and geographical context, and to read about the lore that Stoker had access to, definitely added to my reading experience.
- After I finished my first draft of Before the Ruins I was aware that publishers and agents want to know what to compare your book to, so I read multiple books in search of the answer to that question (since I knew they would probably be dubious if I just said The Iliad). Among those that I read, I really liked, and was impressed, with Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith. If you were thinking “Vampires in a historical setting or nothing!” for Christmas this year, Grahame-Smith’s tale of the secret life of our 16th president will fit the bill. As to whether his novel is a good “comparable” to Before the Ruins, I encourage you to read both and decide for yourself.
- When I wrote the very first sentences that would become part of Before the Ruins, I was listening to The Soul Cages by Sting. I listened to this album repeatedly during the writing process in order to help me return to that same mood and room within my imagination. Who knows? Maybe it is an appropriate prelude to reading the novel too.
- If you need to go in a totally different direction, I hear that air fryers are pretty hot this year. I don’t have one (yet) but I saw a whole row of them at Nebraska Furniture Mart last weekend. There was also a toaster-like device specifically marketed for the purpose of making grilled cheese sandwiches; I am more skeptical of that one.
- Looking for some relevant non-fiction instead? How about 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Christopher Columbus by Charles C. Mann? Firmly grounded in multi-disciplinary scholarship but very readable, 1491 paints a vivid picture of the complexity and connectivity of indigenous cultures prior to the arrival of the European explorers. It convincingly blew my mind. And in helping me understand that the Americas (even before Amerigo Vespucci was born) were far busier and far more interesting than what most people have popularly understood, it exerted a broad influence on how I imagined the Morning Crows and the other clans in Before the Ruins.
I will, of course, hope to post another entry soon with a revised publication date. In the meantime, I encourage you to also follow me on Twitter: @hohenbary. And best wishes to all for successful shopping this December.