THE LOVE OF VERONA. Huh. I suppose that fits. But for a moment I thought they'd gone with THE SOUL OF VERONA, which I liked a lot.
However, I've always admired this statue of Dante, which stands in the Piazza de Signoira, so we're all good. And apparently Spain's loving the novel, which is gratifying.
Now if we can only get the Italians on board...
I wrote a while back that St. Martin's Press was delaying VOICE OF THE FALCONER, the sequel to THE MASTER OF VERONA, until next year. This is reflected in the SMP Fall catalog, which only lists the trade paperback of MV.
It seems, however, that Amazon didn't get the memo.
Yes, they're preselling VOICE OF THE FALCONER on their site this very moment. A reader excitedly e-mailed me the link on Saturday, and I nearly fainted when I saw the release date. I regret to say that, no, the book will not be coming out in November - it lacks the final edits, a cover, a few changes to the internals (maps and whatnot), etc. So really, there's no way.
But it's gratifying to watch it climb as the word spreads. It made it up to 6,000 on Amazon's sales ratings over the weekend - which, out of the millions Amazon sells, is great. Let me thank everyone for their support, and I'll try to figure out some way to fill the gap between November and whenever the book actually comes out.
Cheers,
DB
I'm several months late getting this up, because somehow I missed it in December. Just found it last night, much to my delight (and chagrin).
One of the more significant theatre reviewers in Chicago is Jonathan Abarbanel. He reviews for the local NPR station, WBEZ, and for various publications, including PerformInk. Now, there had already been a story about me in PerformInk, but Mr. Abarbanel put up a second in early December. Here 'tis. I'm very gratified.
As to the issue he raises - Sex seems to be a recurring theme this month for fans of my book. They seem to say,"We like it very much, but could the next one have some sex in it, please?"
Sorry to disappoint, but the heavy sex scenes don't come into the story until the third novel. Then you'll get your full share of bodice-ripping, I promise.
Maybe I'm prudish for this, but I've refrained from putting in a sex scene until it can move the plot along. If it wasn't necessary to the story, it was out, because then I'd just be writing sex for the sake of sex, and the books are long enough already.
Besides, Shakespeare never puts his sex on-stage, and I'm trying as best I can to mimic Shakespearean structure (cop out! I know).
Anyway, thanks to Mr. Abarbanel, and I promise there will be loads of sex as soon as Cesco's old enough.
Cheers,
DB
Happy news. I was just informed of the offical release date for the trade paperback edition of THE MASTER OF VERONA. It will hit the stands on September 16th. You can pre-order it here at Amazon and be sure to get the lowest price.
Personally, I love trade editions of books. Not as bulky or heavy as the hardcover, yet less impermanent than a mass market edition. I can't wait. Hope you feel the same. Remember, books make the best gifts!
Cheers,
DB
If I've been remiss in updating this blog, it's only because I'm deep, deep in research for the new novel. I have, however, hit upon an entertaining diversion for the next week or so, for those who have been missing me. More on that tomorrow.
A quick note - VOICE OF THE FALCONER has been pushed back to Winter, 2009. This sounds dire (at least, those friends I've told are mourning), but really it's a good thing. It was done at the suggestion of Dan Conaway, my new agent, for reasons to do with profitable release times and book-momentum, in connection to THE MASTER OF VERONA coming out in trade paperback in Fall of this year. My only sadness is that I wanted a novel out in 2008. But a delay of three months is apparently a boon, so I will take it as such.
Lastly, I recently opened the mail to discover a marvelous little treasure from my friend Rita Severi. She was the translator for the poetry of Mauello Guidio in MV. She just sent me a copy of her latest work, a side-by-side translation of Maurice Hewlett's MADONNA DEL PESCO, aka MADONNA OF THE PEACH TREE. It's labelled una storia di Verona. Published in Bologna, 2007. Thank you, Rita - I can't wait for a break in the research to crack it.
Okay, back to Romans and Jews.
Amazon has at last published the second of my short stories related to THE MASTER OF VERONA. These are time-killers until VOICE OF THE FALCONER is published at the end of the year.
This one is entitled SAN BONIFACIO'S CURSE, and is an alternate opening to the novel. In fact, it's my original opening, expanded and retooled. It went because I found an opening that was stronger for the overall plot. But I've missed it, so I published it here. At $0.49 it's a steal. Go, enjoy!
DB
Happy Thanksgiving. Clearly, I have a great deal to be thankful for - wonderful wife, devilishly clever yet sweet son, a novel in stores, another coming in a year, some good shows done this year. And there's something I can't talk about yet that makes me doubly happy. Yes, life is treating me well, and I am grateful.
Now, on to the closing post regarding titles to sequels. Since you haven't yet read VOICE OF THE FALCONER (like how I slipped the new title in there?), I can't really speak to the plots of Books 3 & 4. But the titles are, in fact, perfect. These I have no question about, as they are attention-grabbers, quotes from R&J, and also speak to many levels of the story. Perfection on every plane. Here they are:
They have just the right tone. I can hardly wait until they're in the hands of readers. FORTUNE'S FOOL is 3/5 complete, and THE PRINCE'S DOOM is about 1/3 done.
The only thing I can say about the books without giving away plot points is to speak about size. THE MASTER OF VERONA is around 220,000 words, which translated to 569 pages. As things stand, VOICE OF THE FALCONER will be about 165,000 words (around 430 pages). FORTUNE'S FOOL looks to come in at around 200,000 words (520 pages). THE PRINCE'S DOOM will probably drop in at 150,000 words (corrected! - 400 pages). A pattern is beginning to emerge...
The only other thing I can say is that the books follow both Cesco della Scala and Pietro Alaghieri. Slowly we will hand the reins of the narrative over to Cesco. While Pietro will always be a part of the tale, as Cesco grows we will be following his adventures more and more. But certainly in VOICE OF THE FALCONER and FORTUNE'S FOOL, the action is divided rather evenly between them, and they both play vital roles in the climax of each tale.
There. Informative, without being too spoilery. A clever soul might be able to deduce more from the titles than I've revealed here. We'll see.
Cheers, and have a great Thanksgiving. I'm off to watch the Lions and Packers tear it up.
- DB
Next on the list is The Falconer's Lure. Keith, my editor at SMP, really liked this suggestion of mine. So much so that he took it to the Fall meeting where they discussed the book coming out in a year's time. The trouble was this: while it looked great on the page, it was difficult to speak aloud. And you don't want a book that is unpronouncable. If customers can't say it, they can't ask for it. So, just a month ago, that title was dropped.
(Side note - there's a new young adult novel out called THE FALCONER'S KNOT, which sidesteps the speech problem nicely. Wish I'd thought of it, but it's taken. Not that there can't be two books with the same title, but within a year of each other? That's bad)
That brings us to the final two. The Falconer's Voice is based on a line from R&J, where Juliet is basically saying "psst" to Romeo at the end of the balcony scene, trying to get his attention. She says, "O, for a falconer's voice to lure this tassle-gentle back again." Being a quote from the show that inspired the series, and touching on falconry, which is so prevelant in the novel, it seemed perfect.
My agent, Michael Denneny, proposed an alternate phrasing: The Voice of the Falconer. "Sounds grander," he opined.
After a month of letting it stew, Keith came back with the opinion that Voice of the Falconer was better. Which is perfectly fine by me. Still echoes Juliet's line, without slavish devotion. Kinda like the books themselves.
So there you have it - Mercutio, Book 2 - VOICE OF THE FALCONER.
Tomorrow - the titles for books 3 & 4.
