WonderCon Notes and Dreamwielder News

It's almost been a month now since Dreamwielder came out, and as you might expect, I've been a busy bee. I capped the month off yesterday w/ a quick visit to WonderCon, which is essentially ComicCon Lite. I did a quick run through of the main exhibit hall where I witnessed everything you might expect—crazy costumes, a boatload of comic books, and these cool R2 droids—and then it was off to the panel discussion I really wanted to see, "A Story is a Story." Patrick Rothfuss was one of the panelists and he was hilarious and insightful. All in all, it was a good time.

I came home to find that Dreamwielder has moved up into the top 300 bestselling ranks for Barnes & Noble Nook books. This is in large part due to the book's selection as a Nook First Look book, which I'm very proud to be included in. The boost in sales rankings means Dreamwielder is now on page 2 of the best sci-fi and fantasy novels under $4. It's pretty amazing to see my book right alongside major hits from John Scalzi, Robert Jordan, George Orwell, and Edgar Rice Burroughs.

In addition to the Nook First Look selection, Dreamwielder has been getting some nice coverage from bloggers, and I've been hard at work hustling up reviews and guest blog posts. Here's a recap and links to everything Dreamwielder related.

SF Signal Mind Meld

• I had the great honor of participating in this week's Mind Meld over at SF Signal. This week's topic was "Books You Eat Like Candy & Books You Savor." There's a lot of great book recommendations if you're looking for something new to read.

Reviews

• Book Broads was the first site to post a review, and it was a helluva great way to ring in the release of Dreamwielder. It doesn't get much better than having your first reviewer say, "I was swept away from the moment I began reading Dreamwielder to the turning of the last page."
• I also got a positive review from author Mary C. Moore. 
• The Goodreads reviews are also starting to come in. If you've read the book, please, please do go leave a review at Goodreads or wherever you purchased the book, even if you hated the book. Customer reviews make it much easier to reach out to new readers.

Interviews

• Over at Dab of Darkness I chat with Nyrlymrtl about Dreamwielder, beer, dogs, and my band Wheel House (which incidentally just released its first album, People That We Used to Be).
• The wonderful ladies over at Defective Geeks had me as a guest on their weekly podcast. We talk Dreamwielder, Star Wars, Game of Thrones, and The Walking Dead.
• Over at the acclaimed Bookfox, John Fox and I talk e-book publishing and what it's like being an author in the 21st Century.
• Author Ahimsa Kerp also interviewed me a couple months back. We chatted about steampunk and becoming a legit author.

Guest Blog Posts on the Craft of Writing

• Over at the very awesome Inkpunks, I wrote an article on writing epic stories with multiple viewpoint characters.
• At the artist community Waistcoat & Watch I discuss 10 Strategies for making a living in the arts.
• And lastly, for my alma mater, Pacific University, I wrote a piece on how it takes persistence and practice to make it as a writer.

-Garrett Calcaterra