Thanks, Pepper. Did they get my cover in time? It was very late.

It is Warwick Castle in England. Was there a few years ago and it is the only castle I have pictures of so that has to be the one I used here (or it could be a scene around Oxford but it looks like Warwick to me)

We are looking forward to the movie. I don't like the Ori and will be glad to see that story line settled. Sounds like they are doing a few movies - that will be good.

Now just tell me you like Buffy and Highlander and we are in business.

Thanks for accepting it!

Thanks, Pepper, for the congrats. I'm really pumped about being an Eppie finalist. Now all I need to do is sell about 200 more books to afford to go to the Epicon. Have a merry Christmas and a multi-published year.

Hi Pepper, thanks for getting back to me. You're right about the self-pub way being a hard buck (I co-published with Hag's Head, but it's more or less the same thing) but to be honest, the bucks aren't really where it's at for me ... I have a decent job I like, and I write for pure enjoyment (and occasional exorcism) ... The Big O did the rounds of most of the big UK publishers, and the rejection letters more or less said 'not commercial enough' ... but I didn't need it to be hugely commercial, hence the co-pub route. It's been a fun journey so far, and we've already broken even, so now I'm wondering if I'll do it that way again ... you really get your hands dirty this way, it's a whole different experience to my first book. Anyway, glad to hear from you, and chat soon ... Dec

Hi Pepper, thanks for the invite, I'm much obliged. Just wondering, after checking out your profile, what you define an 'indie' writer as ... is it like someone who isn't published by one of the big companies, or someone who self-publishes? Just curious ... Cheers, Dec

Found it. Thanks! I appreciate it.

Hey, Pepper. I couldn't fix the blog, but I have the Crais piece in a response to your comment. I think you can read it.

That's cool, Jude. Never know who you're going to run into hanging out near the professor's office, eh?

Hi, Pepper. I noticed you're a Sue Grafton fan. When I was an undergraduate at the University of Louisville (late 70s, early 80s), you could often find me and some other young writers hanging out near the office of an English professor named Leon Driskell. One day, Sue walked up to say something to Leon, and he introduced her to the group. This was probably about the time she was working on A is for Alibi. Leon told the group, "Expect to hear a lot of good things about Sue Grafton in the future." Boy, did we.

Glad you enjoyed the link to Tess. I thought the whole thing was pretty funny, too.

My son's a budding rock guitarist. He's got stacks of books of popular classic rock songs, and puts on the disks to play along with them. Fortunately he doesn't turn up the amp very loud unless we're out of the house, but I pity the neighbors while we're gone, lol!

Thanks!