The Lost Prince Brings Home The Dessert

 “This blend of urban and cross-world fantasy combines the excitement of the Harry Potter series with the dark grittiness of the Dresden Files books and should appeal to mature young adults as well as to adult lovers of the genre.”--Library Journal (The Lost Prince)

  

The Lost Prince (book 2 of the Guardians of Aandor series) made its debut on August 20th, and the reviews so far have been overwhelmingly positive. I want to point out one important change I've made regarding the ending of this book compared with its predecessor; although Awakenings also received much praise, many reviewers (and readers) were put out by the cliffhanger ending, and didn't realize they were starting a series. I'd actually read reviews where readers admitted I'd lost a star on their rating for this very reason. With book 2, I decided to go with a more definitive ending. What does this mean exactly? It's the difference between the ending of a Harry Potter book, where that book's story is relatively wrapped up, and that in A Game of Thrones book, when the story stops just as a protagonist dies, his family is scattered to the winds, and the bad guys are victorious. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

In truth, the ending I had always envisioned for The Lost Prince already lent itself to this more definitive conclusion. (Unlike the writers of the TV show, Lost, I actually do have an idea of where my story is going.) And boy, what an ending it is! The fact is, books one and two roll together like an epic self-contained 900-page story. If you didn't want to continue reading this universe, you could stop at the end of The Lost Prince, completely satisfied. If I had to create a metaphor for comparison I'd go with this: Awakenings was a delicious home-cooked three-course meal with a modest, though tasty dessert. (Think a scoop of gelato.) The Lost Prince is a scrumptious, seven-course gourmet dinner with a three-tiered dessert tray bearing tiramisu, Black Forest chocolate cake, flan, crème brûlée, pie, and of course, gelato. (For my non-culinary readers--think deep-fried Oreos, deep-fried Snickers, and deep-fried Twinkies.) Yes, folks, it's that good!

 

I'm really proud of this second novel. Some will live, some will die, and Daniel... (heh, heh).  The Lost Prince Hardcover from Tor Books is out in stores now. 

The Lost Prince (Amazon)

The Lost Prince (B&N)

The Lost Prince (Walmart) 

The Lost Prince (ebooks.com) 

The Lost Prince (Kobo books)

Awakenings (Amazon)

Awakenings (B&N)

Awakenings (Walmart)

Awakenings (ebooks.com)

Awakenings (Kobo books)

How Harry Dresden Saved Me $45

Harry Dresden saved me $45 today. I was reading White Night and was toward the end of the story (around 95% on my Kindle) when I needed to mail some things at the post office. Thing is, here in Jersey City, we have copious amounts of street cleaning (i.e. nuisance and added tax on the citizenry), and just when a street seems safe, bang, they come out of the wood works to ticket you.   

I found a parking spot near the post office at 2:00 p.m. that appeared to have already been cleaned; cleaning was from 1:00 to 3:00 according to the sign. I parked, but being so close to the end of a really great Jim Butcher story, I couldn't wait to finish reading the big battle scene, so I turned off the engine and just read in my car. Ten minutes later, I hear the honking of the ticket car letting people know the sweeper is coming. Had I been in the post office, I would have gotten a $45 ticket. But I was reading White Night that day. That one decision paid for five Harry Dresden novels. I love Jim Butcher's writing. It's smooth, effortless and a joy to come back to between chapters. I hope I am also writing stuff that people just can't can't put down and will one day save them money.

White Night by Jim Butcher

Awakenings and The Lost Prince by Edward Lazellari are available in stores and online now.  

Edward Lazellari is the author of the Guardians of Aandor Series from Tor Books and various short stories and plays. He resides in New Jersey.

The Lost Prince Has Coolest Fantasy Cover Of 2013

Quite literally, The Lost Prince cover by Chris McGrath is very cool; Mostly blue palette with hints of violet and other hues limited to the cool spectrum with a heavy blocking of cool blacks and just a smattering of warm colors in the explosion on the far right. Even Lelani Stormbringer's hair, a fiery blend of reds streaked with blonde, is subdued by the azure haze of Manhattan. The palette denotes a realistic eeriness to this world akin to the X-Files (which used glowing green to great effect).

I love this cover.  

Thanks to the team that brought it to light-- Irene Gallo, Paul Stevens, and Chris McGrath.

The Lost Prince hits stores (both brick and virtual) on August 20th. The last 250 pages will have your heart pounding like a giant steel roller coaster with five loops.

Cheers,
 Ed

Why It Takes So F#%&!^g Long To Write a Novel

A fan at my BEA book signing said she had been waiting a long while to get The Lost Prince, the sequel to Awakenings. She's right. And though I've written about the real-life challenges of trying to write novels while holding a day job and promoting one's book, the other part of that delay is the work (i.e. minutia) involved with writing a coherent, well-thought out story. Many literary writers (my favorite being Jonathan Franzen) go years between books, but we seem to expect a faster turnaround from genre writers. The delays go beyond plot, narrative, character arcs, and story development, although those too are time consuming. What I'm trying to bring to light are small moments that pull a writer aside from the bigger picture. A lot of you can read a paragraph in less than 30 seconds, but are not aware of how many hours it took the writer to make those four or five sentences ring as true as can be.

Two New Interviews

I've recently had the pleasure of being interviewed by two very smart ladies dabbling in the worlds of fantasy, paranormal, and horror fiction. The first is "Ten Questions For Awakenings Author Edward Lazellari," by Lauren Zurchin at Lytherus.com. 




The second is the "All Kinds Of Writing" interview by Lorna Suzuki at Imago Books Fantasy Realm.


These are intelligent conversations about writing process, the business, and my book AWAKENINGS.

ENJOY.

Booksdevoured.com Says Awakenings Is Meaty, Delicious, And Wonderful

 "Interesting start to a new series, I can’t wait to read more!" --Shannon

Awakenings has received a "4-Steak and Potatoes" rating from Books Devoured; This is one of my favorite reviews because of the following observation:

"It has been a while since I have read a fantasy book and it may be the first time I have read one that is set up in the way this one is. We learn about the fantasy elements but we are not really taken there.  Everything we learn is told in memories and stories.  The action of the book takes place on Earth in the current time.  I actually liked this because it kept so many elements relatable.  At the same time, I feel like I understand enough about the other world to be able to follow the story."

Yes! (Huzzah!)

Every author hopes readers will "get" the nuances of his or her story. With Awakenings, I purposely set out to write a fantasy novel that would also appeal to popular fiction readers while staying true enough to the tenants of fantasy for long-time sci-fi/fantasy fans to enjoy. My choice of words in this story was very exact -- I was aiming for almost neutral description of fantastic ideas.  I also wanted readers of mystery, adventure, young adult, and romance to feel that they had some skin in this game.

When I was in art school, one of my favorite teachers, Ben, would discuss art, politics, business, and everything else under the sun while we took life drawing. One day, he brought up the classic movie "The Fly" because there had been a recent remake, and the consensus was that it was not as good as the original. The question of the day was "why?" Using classic Socratic method, Ben would press us for our opinion about why the classic was the superior movie, and of course, a bunch of 20-something know-it-all art students were getting it all wrong. The answer, according to Ben, was that the original movie was not about the scientist who had turned into the Fly. It was about a wife dealing with a misfortune that had befallen her husband, and her efforts to save the man she loved. Though this was marketed as a horror movie, and had wonderful elements of horror in it, it was the romantic connection in the movie that gave it its humanity. Yes, the special effect in David Cronenberg's remake was better, but the story lacked that human elements that amplified the horror. Ultimately, the classic was a story of the wife's and best friend's loss, even as Vincent Price smashes a rock on the last vestiges of his mutilated friend's head in the last scene. This was one of the most important lessons I'd ever learned about story telling-- that any story in any genre needs to pull elements from other genres to give it dimension. 

Every once in a while, a reviewer will pick up on the things I like about my own story. And that puts a smile on my face. And this review from Books Devoured gave me a very pleasant start to my Monday.

DEMONIC HOTSPOTS, INFERNAL PIT STOPS AND THE BADLANDS: THE GREAT AMERICAN ROAD TRIP TO HELL

New York Comic Con panel "DEMONIC HOTSPOTS, INFERNAL PIT STOPS AND THE BADLANDS: THE GREAT AMERICAN ROAD TRIP TO HELL"
Friday October 14, 2011, 8:45-9:45 p.m., Room #1A15

I'm sharing a panel with best selling authors Patricia Briggs, Kim Harrison, Anton Strout, Rachel Caine, Christina Henry, Duane Swierczynski, and Richard Kadrey. 

In this, the tenth anniversary year of Neil Gaiman’s AMERICAN GODS, the ultimate urban fantasy road trip, we’ve seen a rash of infernal plagues infect some of America’s greatest cities. Witchcraft and demonic activity infect Kim Harrison’s Cincinnati, while Patricia Briggs’ novels wreak havoc on the shapeshifter, vampire and demonic tribes of the Tri Cities region of Washington State.  Anton Strout and Edward Lazellari see New York as the ultimate urban fantasy battleground. Rachel Caine has created an apocalyptic outpost in the Lone Star State vampire-controlled city of Morganville, terror has taken a bite out of Christina Henry’s Chicagoland, and Duane Swierczynski’s newest novels take us straight to Hell. These authors will argue that there truly is a continental divide between the forces of East and West; North and South; Good and Evil.  Grab a bag of Cheetos, a six pack of Red Bull, and some holy water and join us as we explore the road to perdition….

Moderator: Diana Gill, Harper Voyager

SUVUDU Guest Blog Is Up

My guest blog, titled, Why Being The Anti-Harry Potter Is a Good Thing In Adult Fiction is live on the SUVUDU website as of Oct. 2.

Marriage Of Urban With Quest-Driven Epic Fantasy Comes Off Beautifully In Awakenings--Preternatura

"I love a good mishmash of genres, and this one was such an unexpected delight (not to mention a can’t-put-it-down read)" -- Suzanne Johnson,

read more at: Preternatura

Examiner.com Says "Awakenings" Is Worth Your Attention

"There's a lot of good things going for Awakenings. Cool cover art. Fun magic (and by fun, I mean the sort that involves supernatural violence, majorly destructive energies being flung about, and lots of people running for their lives). It's also got intriguing characterization, both of the major and minor players" -- Josh Vogt, examiner.com

Read more at examiner.com.

"Fantasy Lovers And Mystery Lovers Both Will Enjoy Awakenings" -- Blogcritcs.org

"Fantasy lovers and mystery lovers both will enjoy Awakenings. It is a great first novel and I will be looking for the other books to come out so I can see what these guys are up to!" -- Blogcritics.org

Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/blogcritics/article/Book-Review-Awakenings-by-Edward-Lazellari-2154948.php#ixzz1XODH4qJc

The Qwillery Gives Awakenings 4.5 Out Of 5 Qwills

"Awakenings is a thrilling debut with great pacing, characters you care about, and a riveting story. I found it hard to put down. I've become a fan of this series and can't wait to read the next book."                                                                         -- The Qwillery                 Also The Qwillery interviews Edward Lazellari.

Publishers Weekly Gives "Awakenings" A Good Review

"This solid debut will appeal to fantasy fans looking for familiar bones under a modern skin." --