I took a little trip recently, and while I was gone, all sorts of things happened. The big thing that happened not to me, but to the amazing Cherie Priest was that her novel has been optioned! I couldn’t be more thrilled for her. Ms. Priest’s novels really revolutionized steampunk and I hope this signifies a surge of new steampunk film. I hope they cast it right, too.
As for what happened to me, we’ll start with this:
That’s the cover to the German translation of the book, coming out in Germany sometime in the spring. I really love this cover. The purple shading and the font are a little more feminine than I’d expect, but I love the border with the pipes, and those gear-flowers are inspired. Plus, they really captured Violet’s spirit. She’s not quite how I’d picture her – I don’t think any drawing ever will be – but she looks fearless and mischievous and ready to smash the patriarchy in her own way, which is exactly what I want to see in Violet. The translation of this title, according to google, is “The Invention of Violet Adams.” I don’t know if invention has quite the same shades of meaning in German, but I really like the title. I think it’s an amazing cover. What do you think?
What else happened while I was away? Well, I wrote a short piece on writing humor for Tor’s newsletter. And I was sent a photo of this amazing display in the World’s Biggest Bookstore, in Toronto.
Gorgeous, no? I love it being shown between the two inspirational works, and those pages on the sides are an interview I did with Jessica, who works at the store. The interview should be up on her blog soon, so you can all read it. UPDATE: It is up now!
Jessica also chose All Men of Genius as one of her favorite pieces of SFF Media of the year on SF Signal which is a pretty big deal. It’s nice to make a ‘best of the year’ list, especially as I was published so close to the end of the year.
And speaking of, it is the beginning of awards season. If you can nominate All Men of Genius for an award, and are inclined to do so, I would be thrilled. While nearly all the buzz around All Men of Genius has been positive, and people seem to be really enjoying the book, the truth is, not many people seem to have heard of it. So, please, think of Violet when you’re making your holidays lists and giving gift recommendations. If you really love the book, tell everyone you know about it. Tweet about it, blog about it, mention it on facebook – that’s how the book is going to get out there. Reviews are great – but sales are better, and sales require people talking about the book and going to their local bookstores and asking for it. So nominate the book, tell everyone you know about, get it out there. That’s what’ll really make All Men of Genius a success, and it’ll make my holiday season very merry indeed.
I’m not an expert on German, but from what I remember in high school and college, ‘erfindung’ has connotations of ‘fabrication’ and ‘contrivance’ as well as ‘invention’, so it’s a nice pun that can refer both to Violet’s inventions and her duplicity.
Excellent! That is what I was hoping. Thanks for letting me know!