This is designed to be a quick reference page for those of you who like your information fast. (Note I didn't promise interesting, just fast!). Here you'll find all sorts of odd details about projects I'm currently working on and other things that take my fancy. As this page is new there isn't a lot here yet. But have no fear I'll be filling in the blanks...and if there's no news for a couple of months then I'll do as Grift taught me: make some up!

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• May 1st (well, nearly)

  Me and the Grand Prize Winner of the Epic Fantasy Quiz

  Hi everyone! This month's update is a wee bit early, as I'm off to a booksellers convention in Los Angeles for the next few days. Things were pretty pretty hectic in April, as I was scooting around to bookstores, mailing things, emailing folks and generally attempting to spread the word about Cavern of Black Ice and Barbed Coil. My favorite day last month was spent at Mysterious Galaxy bookstore here in San Diego, where I hosted an Epic Fantasy Quiz. I had a great time, and laughed an awful lot, especially over the expression "Cattle Lifting" (no, it's not an Olympic Sport, it's a crime darnit!). When I return from LA I'll post the quiz online and you can take a shot at it yourself (be warned: there are some pretty tricky questions). In the meantime you can see photos of the prize winners here.

• The winners of the hardback editions of A Cavern of Black Ice are: Ann Bischoff of aol.com and Adrian Matthews of Queens-Belfast.ac.uk. Ann won the UK edition and Adrian won the US one. Sorry if your name wasn't pulled from the hat. )-: Later in the month I'll have five paperbacks of Barbed Coil to give away...so please feel free to try again!
• I'd like to thank everyone who sent me email about Cavern and Barbed Coil last month. I really appreciate hearing from you. As a writer, I work most of the year in isolation, never sure if what I'm working on will be read and enjoyed when it's finished. So it's always a surprise and a delight to me to hear from someone who has enjoyed my work. Thank you.
• Now for the important stuff: Bodger & Grift: the Screensaver! Yes, Paul has sweat-and-coded for forty days and forty nights in order to bring the Drunken Duo and their fifty best pick-up lines to the small screen. According to Paul, this miracle of modern day programming spins, floats, swipes and plays music--and it's free! Stay tuned for it's grand unveiling later in the month. In the meantime, get a sneak preview and all the technical info here.
• Readers from the Netherlands and Germany have brought to my attention the fact that there is no map in some European editions of the Book Of Words, so I've scanned the original map of the Known Lands from the US edition. Hope this helps you get your bearings.
• I think that's all for now. I'll put up the quiz, contest and screensaver later in the month so please check back. Thanks for stopping by, JV.

  April 12th, 1999

• If you have a spare minute online, stop by MP3's music site and listen to my brother Paul's band online. If you have RealAudio you can listen to a track live. The name of the band is Flight and Paul's the lead guitarist. Paul's currently coding and designing the much anticipated (okay, I'm not really sure if it's anticipated at all, but go with me on this one!) Bodger & Grift Screensaver! Yes, soon you'll be able to download the Drunken Duo's fifty best pick-up lines and have them dance across your screen all day! In the meantime, stop by MP3 and help Flight's hit counter go up!
• While we're on the subject of visiting other sites, stop by and check out John Marco's Tyrants and Kings Website. John is a new fantasy writer and his first novel, The Jackal of Nar, has just been published. I was lucky enough to read an advance copy, and it's a great read, very exciting, with lots of political maneuverings!

  April 4th, 1999

• On Thursday 8th at 7pm Eastern Time I'll be participating in an online chat at Talk City. Stop by and chat about The Book Of Words and other books. I hope to see you there!

  April 1st, 1999

• Just in. Exciting news about Cavern of Black Ice: the first book to balloon around the world!
• Cavern of Black Ice has been out for two weeks now, and it seems to be doing pretty well. It's been getting lots of good reviews, which is really nice. I'd like to thank everyone who has taken the trouble to go their local bookstores and seek it out. I'm really grateful your support.
• Thanks also for your messages about Cavern and The Barbed Coil (which is now out in paperback). I appreciate knowing what you think. A gentleman from New York had a good rant about the last word of Cavern; not because of what it says, but rather because he skipped to it whilst only halfway through the story (I must admit I'm guilty of taking a peak at endings myself) and now he says I've spoiled his surprise! So be warned: no skipping to the back until the book's done! (-:

  I have two signed hardbacks of Cavern to give away this month (one US edition, courtesy of Warner Aspect and one UK edition, courtesy of Orbit). All you have to do to get your hands on one of these beauties is to email me saying, "I want that book!" and all entries will be put in the now infamous hat. The winners will drawn on April 30th.

• Alas, I have no more bookmarks to give away. The fifty were snapped up pretty quickly and are on their way to the people who claimed them. Sorry if you missed the chance.
• If you'd like a signed and personalized book, please contact Mysterious Galaxy bookstore here in San Diego (1-800-811-4747). I'll be heading there next week and shall be signing whatever is set before me! Mysterious Galaxy will send books anywhere in the US.
• Speaking of Mysterious Galaxy, I hope to see you there on April 10th between 2-3:30 pm (if you're a local of San Diego, of course!). Instead of doing the usual author reading, I'll be holding an "Epic Fantasy Quiz". There'll be prizes, swordfights (in the event of a tie!) and hopefully lots of interesting talk about writers such as Tolkien, T.H. White, Roger Zelazny, Ursula K. LeGuin and Robert Jordan. So be sure to bring all your brain cells--even the old ones! (-:
• I think that's all for now. My brother Paul is currently concocting Bodger & Grift: the Screensaver! Yes, soon (if all goes to plan) you'll be able to download those two hapless guards and their fifty best pick-up lines and view them day and night! More news on this freebie in the weeks to come. Thanks for stopping by! Cheers, JV.

   

  March 20th, 1999

  Yes, you can have one of these cute Cavern of Black Ice bookmarks. All you have to do is email me with the first word on page 300 of the U.S edition of Cavern, and I'll pop one in the post! The first fifty people to reply correctly will receive a bookmark. Here's a clue: it's something you put liquid in! Good luck!

  March 1st, 1999

   

• A Cavern of Black Ice should be hitting your local bookstore about now! Yeah! You'll easily be able to recognize it, because it's that handsome-looking book, all blue and icy, with snarling wolves of the cover. It's the first in the new Sword of Shadows series, and I hope you enjoy it! Please let me know what you think.
• I'll be signing books next month at Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore in San Diego. If you're in the area come down and say hello! I'll be there on Saturday April 10th between 2-3:30 pm. If you can't make it, but would like a personalized signed book, please give the good folks as Mysterious Galaxy a call, and they'll arrange to have a signed book mailed to you--wherever you might be in the US. For more details please call Mysterious Galaxy at: 1-800-811-4747
• Also, I'll be signings books as this year's BEA (booksellers convention) in Los Angeles on May 1st. If you're a bookseller I hope to see you there!
• Last month's Win My Hat contest was a tough one. I got mail from a great many people who really need that hat! A gentleman in the Australian outback needs it to shade his head from the merciless Southern-hemisphere sun, an English lady fears sunstroke whilst on vacation in Thailand, and a student in Norway informs me that March is the rainy season in the fjords and he needs all the protection he can get. Don't think I wasn't moved by these pleas! (-: Sadly I had to pick the winner blindly, which means scrolling through the Messages Received file and clicking one at random. The winner of the jvj.com baseball hat is: Sue Polin of interport.net. Now I feel bad that I didn't have more to give away...
• Bodger has kindly passed along his Top Ten Things To Do Now That It's Spring List. All that writing and thinking has worn him out, and I don't think we'll hear from him again until the next century!

  I've written an article "How To Create Memorable Fantasy Characters" for March's Writer's Digest. You should be able to pick up the magazine at your local bookstore or news stand. Plus Cavern of Black Ice is featured in this month's B. Dalton's Sense of Wonder, WaldenBooks Report, and Barnes&Noble's Explorations. These three newsletters can be picked up for free at various local bookstores.

  Hot off the press! I've just received two finished copies of The Barbed Coil mass paperback in the post. The cover art is different from the hardback edition, but it still features the two main characters; Ravis and Tessa. At the back of the book you'll find a printed excerpt from Cavern of Black Ice, Chapter 9, The Dhooneseat, which introduces the clan chief known as the Dog Lord. The Barbed Coil paperback will be published next month. Reviews of the book can be read here.

• Sadly, Iris Murdoch died last month. She was great writer, one of my favorites. If you're unfamiliar with her work The Black Prince is a good place to start; it's one of her best...a marvelously wicked read. She died peacefully, with her husband of 43 years at her side.
• I think that's all for now. Cavern's been getting some good reviews, which is really nice. Kirkus called it, "Imaginative and vivid" and Locus says, "A Cavern of Black Ice offers tough, incisive, character-driven fantasy." Next month I'll be giving away two signed hardbacks of Cavern and a few other things. Thanks for stopping by! Cheers, JV.

Archived Newsheets

January-February 99 Newsheet

November-December 98 Newsheet

August-October 98 Newsheet

May-July 98 Newsheet