Dreams of the Eaten ARC Giveaway

All right, y'all. It's three months to the day until Dreams of the Eaten drops - which makes today the perfect day to give away three advanced copies of the book.

And oh, what a book it is.

After trials by fire and thirst, Appaloosa Elim's quest to bring home the body of the crow prince is finally nearing its end. 

But the coffin is missing, the funeral party is hopelessly scattered, and the fishmen are hell-bent on revenge. Worse yet, the pilgrimage has disturbed an ancient power – and the earth is crumbling in its grip.

As the ground shakes and the crows gather, the final reckoning promises to unite the living and the dead in a battle for the land itself. One way or another, blood debts will come due, Elim will face his judgment, and the World That Is will be forever changed.

I know, right? Prepare your face now, lest it be rocked clean off. Then and only then will you know what to do.

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Surviving History

Y'know, I'm one of the older vanguard of millennials. Graduated high school in the year 2000. Got a little less than a year of legal adulthood under my belt before 9/11. I'm only just now realizing what a rare treat it was to grow up in the late 80's and 90's - after the duck-and-cover drills, before the active shooter drills. My cohort is the last one to remember life before the Internet.

It does feel like we're teetering on the brink of something huge right now, and not in a good way. But I've spent so much time worrying about all the grim possibilities that it just now occurred to me to think: what generation ever did get to live out an entire human lifespan without enduring some kind of great global convulsion? Two World Wars - a flu pandemic - Great Depression - Korea, Vietnam, Gulf War - Cold War, arms race - energy crisis - Great Recession - 9/11 - rise of ISIS - and most of that still within living memory.

So maybe the adult thing to do here is not to lie awake worrying about whether or when the Next Dire Thing will happen. Dire things keep rolling off the conveyor belt of history with depressing regularity, and fear leaves us vulnerable to manipulation by the Powers That Be. Maybe the better thing is to plan for the worst, push hard for the best, and start holding on tight to our people - the ones already living at the edge, the ones who can't easily weather a national tempest.

I haven't been an Earth-person for very long, comparatively speaking, but I have studied history. I see that we've endured great trials over and over again, and survived every one. But I also notice that the periods of our greatest shame, the things we don't like to commemorate or discuss - Jim Crow, Japanese internment, McCarthyism, et al - are the times when we turned against our neighbors. I have no doubt that we will survive the Next Dire Thing, whatever it may be. The bigger question is what we'll be able to say for ourselves in its wake.

Directions to the Writers Bloc

The time is nigh. The great convergence comes now upon us. What convergence, you ask?

The great one.

So here you are - on your way at last! Here's how to get to Sesame Street the Writers Bloc. (The images below are thumbnails - click to embiggen.)

1. The thing to know about North Lake College is that it has two entrances - one on MacArthur and one on Walnut Hill. Take whichever one your heart and/or GPS desires. (For the record, that's 5001 N. MacArthur Blvd in Irving, 75038.)

2. Whichever way you get to campus, make sure you park in the north lot. This is the best way to access the A building, where our classroom is. (The map below is helpfully oriented so that north is west. Thanks, Kimye.)

Here's what that actually looks like from ground level. Can you see the F building to the left, and the A building on the right? Then you're good. (Notice the giant white Martian dome on the far left there. That's the pool - and that's how you know you're in the right ballpark.)

3. On your way in, head for that big green A. Remember: A stands for awesome. What are you? Awesome.

 

SO awesome. No stairs, no hills - just the first entrance on your right.

4. Now you're inside. Which way do you go? If you said "left", you're right! Head down the long, apparently endless hallway to your left. No stairs, no elevators.

 

So... endless... (This part is a metaphor for the writers journey: it takes forever, and feels like you're getting nowhere.) When you get to the Blazer store, you're halfway there. Keep going! Don't give up! Do or die - death or glory!

Keep going! Keep going! Keep - oh, did you get to the art gallery? You went too far. Back up about ten feet. We're in A206.

And what does this A206 look like, you ask? Oh, just you wait, Henry Higgins... just you wait!

Remember, y'all: it's about the journey, not the destination. But the destination is pretty freakin' rad. See you there!

-Tex