You know, what with knee surgery, new stories, travel, new website developments, etc., etc., etc.—I really hadn’t paid all that much attention to the new Green Slime edition of AN ECHO IN THE BONE, other than to briefly admire the cover. [g]
I find that y’all have been busy, though! I opened my email this morning to hear that the new Green Slime edition has hit the New York Times list—I _think_ that’s the first time one of my trade paperback editions has done that! It’s also #4 on BookScan’s bestseller list, mentioned in USAToday (today), and has stunned the publisher (in a happy way [g]) by selling lots more copies in its first week than the trade paper edition of A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES did—and they thought _that_ was good!
So anyway—MANY thanks to all of you who’ve been buying and (I hope) enjoying the Green Slime version of ECHO. And the publisher bids me tell you that in response to all this great news, they’ve done a deal with Borders and Walden’s bookstores, whereby if you buy one of the Green ECHO’s, you can get another for half off. In case any of you belong to book clubs. [g]
Oh—and do remember that the Green Slime edition has the eight-page excerpt from THE EXILE (the new graphic novel telling Jamie’s side of the story) in the back! Have any of you read that excerpt yet? I’d be Most Interested to hear what you think of it.
Dear Marcela–
Oh, no! You're not annoying at all. And _everybody_ asks that. [g]
But I mean, really–if I _had_ news, why would I not share it?
The excerpt in the back is cool, however, I am waiting for the pocketbook version. I like it smaller than this because it is easier to carry around. This paperback is just the paperback version of the hardcover with the extra.
I apologize for my gratuitous comment re: "grasping for . . ." Unfair of me. Perhaps I should have said that there might be limits on where things should be taken – something like the Peter principle. I still read the daily comics – not just Doonesbury but Judge Parker (gave up on Mary Worth though) and still love Prince Valiant but. My impression is that your graphics version reduces your great work to the level of the soap opera comics strips. The art may be terrific (as with both of the above strips until recent stylistic changes) but the complexity of your story lines and the underlying prose of your novels seems lost. I posit that you will not be pleased with the results after the initial flurry of attention.
Dear Anonymous–
Well, no, I kind of think I (and most readers) will be very pleased. After all, I have _seen_ the book. [g] And I did write it, too.
I regard the graphic novel in the same light as the audiobooks; it's something that doesn't detract from the original, but provides an extra dimension to it. (I know a number of people initially think they won't like the audiobooks, but then try one and DO. Very, very few people try them and decide they _don't_ like them.)
Now, granted, NO book is going to appeal to all people universally. Mine certainly don't. [g] Ergo, there will surely be folk who don't like the graphic novel, either, for whatever reason. But I'm pretty sure it isn't going to ruin either my reputation or the enjoyment people get from the books.
On a layover in Chicago I was surprised to see your book at one of the sundry shops at the airport. I figured it must be selling well since it was included in a small grouping of hardbacks. I was not a fan of the GN concept for your books, but after seeing the exerpt I will be buying it in Sept.
I am such a fan of your work, can't wait for GN I have started 4 of my co-workers on the series and I go over each book with them so that we gush over adventures of Jaime and Claire. we are all listening to audiobook Davina Poter does an awesome job on the series, love,love, love it.