November 22

Next update Postponed to December 12

Happy Thanksgiving! In keeping with the theme of the day, I’m thankful that Star Wars: Annihilation is on sale now! 

You can buy it by clicking on the links from my NOVELS page, or by clicking the links here for KindleAudio, or apple ibook formats and through Barnes and Noble in hardcover and Nook formats.

Actually, I have to be honest – Thanksgiving is not my favorite holiday. I’m not a big fan of turkey or the other traditional Turkey-day foods, despite appearances to the contrary. (If you see me in person it’s clear I shop at the hefty gentleman aisle in the clothing store.) For me, the carnivore ladder has three basic rungs: beef/pork > turkey/chicken > fish. So my stomach isn’t really thankful today.

I’m also not a big bargain shopper, so the Black Friday deals don’t fire me up. When I want something, I tend to buy it right away – I don’t like to wait. And I hate lines and crowds, so the appeal of bludgeoning my fellow consumers to save a few dollars on a TV just doesn’t cut it. So I guess I can’t be thankful for super shopping deals (though I hope lots of you decide today is a good day to buy my books).

I was hoping to have some news on how Annihilation was doing on the best-seller charts; maybe I could be thankful for that. But that information won’t be coming out until next week. It’s funny, because back when the first Darth Bane novel came out (2006) the best seller lists would show books within days of their release; much of the data was based on pre-orders and the number of units stores shipped into their inventory, rather than actual sales. But now, with so many sales being through on-line retailers and so many copies being sold digitally, the industry has shifted to reporting actual results instead of extrapolated assumptions. It’s a much better system, but it takes a little longer to get results. So I’ll be posting that info in my next update… though if you follow me on Twitter I will be posting best seller results as soon as I find out.

I do, however, have some reviews for Annihilation to be thankful for, along with some new interviews. Seems that people who like the book want to know more about me, and “me” is one of my favorite subjects. Knight’s Archive (interview) seemed to like the book, as did EU Cantina (interview), Fangirl Blog (interview) and Roqoo Depot (interview).  (In case you couldn’t figure it out, click on the name of the site to see the review, and “interview” in brackets after each site to see the respective interviews.)

As you’ll see from these reviews, a lot of people really enjoy Annihilation. Of coruse, like all my novels, there are critics and fans who don’t like the book for one reason or another. I’ve learned to accept that, though I wouldn’t say I’m thankful for it. Some people don’t like my writing style, some people don’t like my interpretation of pre-existing characters, and some people are just assholes who want to bitch and complain, and the internet gives them an audience.

Sometimes folks who don’t like my novels contact me through Twitter or e-mail to ask me questions or comment on my work. I don’t have a problem with that, and if they’re reasonable and respectful then I’ll try to respond. But here’s a tip – if you send me a Tweet or an e-mail and you’re just being a dick, I’m not going to bother responding. If your communication starts with “why did you ruin…” then I’m probably just going to delete it.

It’s amazing how people can be so rude on the internet, yet get offended when you don’t want to engage with them. Fortunately, this doesn’t seem to apply to the real world, as every fan I’ve ever met has been polite and reasonable, even if we disagree about things. So there’s another thing to be thankful for. (Maybe it’s because in real life people are worried about getting punched in the face. It’s almost like potential consequences make people think about their actions – what a concept!)

Okay, enough of my old-man rant about how shocked I am at the death of manners on the internet. Here’s an example of the internet actually doing some good. The folks over at g33kwatch are running another Mass Effect Marathon to raise money for charity, starting tonight and going through the Thanksgiving weekend. They’ve already got over $10,000, but they’re shooting for $30,000 – help them out if you can.

And that seems like a nice, positive thing I can truly be thankful for, so I’m going to sign off now. 

Drew