An independent bookshop, Type Books in Toronto, created this, a sneak peek at what books get up to when there’s nobody around. It tickled me no end, so I thought I’d share it here, too. You will never look at your bookshelves in the same light ever again.

Do that with a Kindle, I dare ya!

Or, something gorgeous this way comes, in the shape of my author’s copies of Les Chants de la Terre, from my French publisher Bragelonne.

I don’t know if you can make it out in the picture, but the title is embossed, with a touch of electric-blue foil on the twiddly bits. That electric-blue foil continues inside, onto the binding of the book itself, echoing the eagle motif and the curlicues from the UK trade paperback. It’s one of the loveliest hardbacks I think I’ve ever seen.

Messieurs de Bragelonne, merci beaucoup. Je pense que je pourrais être dans l’amour.

Yesterday, my author’s copies of the Polish edition of Songs of the Earth arrived, courtesy of my publisher over there, Amber.

I am running out of space for all these books – if the Health & Safety Executive saw the size of the pile in my office, I think they’d shut me down.

I apologise for the not-very-good photo – my tame photographer a.k.a my husband Rob was out. At work. I mean, how dare he?

So yes, that is my foot in the bottom right hand corner, and yes, I am wearing stripy socks. I *like* stripy socks.

I don’t think I will ever get over that feeling of utter childlike delight when a parcel arrives from my publisher containing copies of my books. There is jumping up and down like a little girl, and there is grinning, and there is The Squee.

I make no apology for it: the day I become blasé about these things, the day being a writer stops being the most insane amount of fun I can have without the aid of a bucket of chocolate custard, you have my permission to shoot me.

Today’s parcel contained my author’s copies of the Spanish edition of Songs of the Earth: Bajo la Hiedra, or Under the Ivy, as they chose to title it.

Really attractive glossy cover, gold embossed – and it has flaps front and back like a hardback. Never seen that before.

Hats off to Minotauro; they’ve made me fall in love with the book all over again.

It’s been a busy week here at Cooper Towers.

A few days ago, the UPS man brought me a parcel all the way from New York – ARCs of the Tor release of Songs of the Earth, which is due out in February 2012.

If you are desperate to get your hands on a copy (which you are, aren’t you?) you will no doubt be pleased to hear that the hardcover is available to pre-order now on Amazon.com. You lucky, lucky people.

And as if that wasn’t enough awesome . . .

Yesterday, our postie-in-a-van brought me another parcel, this time from la belle France: an ARC of Les Chants de la Terre, Tome 1 de La Chasse Sauvage (bet you can’t work out what that means) which Bragelonne will be releasing into the wild on 18 November 2011.

Look closely, and you can even see what the French cover will look like.

I’m not sure that my schoolgirl French, largely unused these past twenty seven-anna-bit years, is up to the task of translating what the lovely Stéphane Marsan of Bragelonne has written on the back,  but I think I can manage Ce livre est un enchantement.

Cor.

Or maybe that should read: c’est formidable!

I’ve been threatening to do this for a while. Pile up all the unread books I’ve got and take a photograph of them, just for giggles. So I did, and slightly scared myself. Clearly, I get far too much pocket money.

Here is Ellie’s to-be-read pile, in no kind of order, just how they came off the shelves. That’s over six feet four inches of books. Yes, I have just measured it; no, I do not think that is remotely sad.

This mountain of words does include some books I was given as presents Quite Some Time Ago, and a couple of them I’ve started and put down for whatever reason (Tad Williams’ River of Blue Fire, I’m looking at you here – and Trudi Canavan’s Magician’s Guild, don’t think you can hide at the back).

What it does not include is all the books I will have to re-read before I attempt to conclude various series, like the Dresden Files, and The Wheel of Time. What can I say, I have a terrible thing for completeness.

Whimper.

Still, they do say that the first step in overcoming addiction is admitting you have a problem.

Hey, guess what? Songs of the Earth got a mention in the Sunday Times!

Unfortunately, that mention turned out to be little more than a single line of internal dialogue quoted out of context†, with the admonition that lines like that aren’t going to do anything to make fantasy cool.

Um, what? Who says a particular genre of fiction is cool or uncool? Is there a Department of Cool somewhere in the bowels of the Home Office that makes these distinctions? Do I have to apply to them in triplicate for an EC Certificate of Cool Conformity before I’m allowed to write books?

Bollocks to that.

As a reader and writer of the genre, I already believe fantasy is pretty bloody cool, thank you very much. Where else can I get to play with kingdoms all day long, and weird beasts (come on, dragons? Could they be any cooler?), and sharp, pointy weapons. Just because there’s a castle on the horizon, or we’re in some fantastical city run by thieves doesn’t mean the writer can’t examine the human condition just as deeply as anyone else – in fact fantasy writers often get to examine it from new and exciting perspectives, like the inside, amongst the tubes and wobbly bits.

Maybe I’m reading too much into a couple of sentences in a review round-up. Maybe the reviewer was not approaching from a standpoint of “I already think fantasy is deeply uncool and slightly icky, so go on, try to change my mind”. Or maybe I’ve just heard one too many people sneering at fantasy lately, because, you know, it’s all just made up stuff.

Newsflash, people: all fiction is ‘just made up stuff’. Even the kind of fiction that wins the Booker.††

It’s not my job to try to make fantasy cool to people with attitudes like that. Prejudice is their problem, not mine.

It is my job to serve the story, to tell it to the best of my ability, and transport the reader somewhere else for a few hours. My job is to entertain with words. If I happen to also inform, elucidate, illuminate or otherwise make the reader say “Huh, I didn’t know that”, then that’s just gravy.

So here’s my book. Try it, don’t try it, it’s your choice. But why not forget what all the other cool kids are doing, stop trying to be so achingly hip you can barely walk, and make your own mind up for a change. Try some fantasy; it won’t kill you. It’s rousing, riotous, heroic, horrifying, absorbing, philosophical, thrilling, heartbreaking, edge-of-your-seat fun.†††

Hell, you might even get over yourself and enjoy it.

Or is it better to be seen to be cool than be entertained?

***

† I’m not saying it was the best line in the world, but in context it was appropriate, dramatic and effective. Stripped of context, pretty much any ten words (short of Shakespeare) are just words.

†† Keeping it topical. But seriously, is the Man Booker Prize awarded to the best book of the year, or just the best book of a certain type?

††† Not necessarily all at the same time. Obviously. But some books, like Martin and Rothfuss there, will give it a damn good try.

The postie brought me a parcel just now – my author’s copies of the Dutch edition of Songs of the Earth, Het Lied van der Aarde.

Doesn’t it look fantastic? The colours are much more muted and subtle than the early snapshots of the cover art led me to expect – so atmospheric, especially with the brass-bound look around the edges.

Flicking through, I discovered that there’s also a lovely script style drop cap on each chapter, which just makes the page, in my opinion. Mynx have done a super job; I couldn’t be more pleased.

The Spanish edition should be up next – I can’t wait!

With less than two weeks to go to the official publication date for Songs of the Earth, my author’s copies arrived today. Needless to say, that was the end of any meaningful work for the day – I was far too busy admiring them, and if you look down there a bit I’m sure you will understand why.

Feast your eyes, friends. Tuck a napkin into their collar and gorge them on the subtly matte hardback, and the gold-foil-embossed, spot-varnished fabulosity of the trade paperback:

Click on the picture for an even bigger helping – but don’t forget to leave room for the waffair theen meent.

There’s going to be no getting away from me in the next few weeks, I’m afraid. Sorry about that.

Aidan Moher has very kindly invited me to write a guest post for A Dribble of Ink, whilst he has a few days off to go and do something far more interesting than blogging. I’ll do my best not to tread mud into the carpets whilst I’m there. Check it out on Monday 9th May!

I’m also putting in an appearance in the June issue of Words With Jam, rubbing shoulders (figuratively speaking) with none other than J K Rowling.

Speaking of magazines, this time in print, SFX have an interview with yours truly in the current issue, available now.

Busy, busy, busy. It’s a wonder I get any writing done. Enjoy!