You know, it’s times like this when I wish I could send all of you copies of the latest book. Oh, I suppose I could try, but there are two big problems with that. 1. I don’t have that many copies to give away. 2. I can’t afford postage to places all over the world. Some day, maybe when I make as much money as say Steven King or J.K. Rowling, I’m going to have a contest where everyone who enters gets a book. Now that would be a great contest.

O.K. speaking of the contest, the winners have been chosen via random number. The winners are… #9, #13, and #75. I know you want names and such, but I forgot to ask what names they comment on the blog with, so you won’t know who they are anyway. I have sent notification emails to the lucky winners, and if I don’t hear back from them in say a few days or a week, I’ll pick alternate winners to take their places. (No, really, they were random numbers, I didn’t fudge them or anything, and I don’t think I know any of the winners.) So, until I get some more info back from the winners… and if you’re a winner and reading this make sure and tell me what name you use on the blog, that’s all any of you get to know.

(Man, I wish I did make as much as those famous authors mentioned above. It would be so cool so ship out a hundred or so free books just because.)

What surprised me about this little contest? Mostly I was surprised by how many of you suggested that our friend, Whalen Vankin, might be the best choice to die. You know of course I am not planning on killing anyone at the moment, but that might change as the stories go on. Killing off characters that I like is at least as hard for me as it is for you, so maybe we’ll let them all live happily ever after, and only kill off new people that we don’t know so well.  (Don’t tell my editor I said that.)

Another surprise is how many of you want Tara from the land of Kess to come back. I think I mentioned this once, maybe a long time ago, but I did write a story that included Tara and the land of Kess. The book was going to be called, “The Madness of Lazbo” and if I remember right it would go somewhere between “Albrek’s Tomb”, and what is now going to be book 5, which I can’t tell you the title of. I don’t remember if it was before or after Sands. Well, that story doesn’t fit into the overall plan any more, but maybe we can sneak some of it in just so you all get to find out what happens to Tara. (It’s nothing bad, honest.)

O.K. so this contest is done, but I think we’ll have another one when I get my free copies of the audio CD’s. Not sure when they will turn up, but I’m guessing in the next week or two so keep your eyes open for the next giveaway.

Now, a few questions:

Adventurer Gal: I’m thinking now more than ever how big a part Alex’s love interest will play in future adventures. She does show up in book five, but I was thinking of keeping her mostly in the background, at least until the end. Your comment about “Bond” girls makes me think that maybe she should have a more active part to play. (This is going to take some serious thought and I’m not sure what will happen yet.) Your second question asks if Salindor has anything to do with the Necromancer ordeal. I ask myself, “Salindor?” Of course I think you mean the dragon, Salinor, but you might be thinking for Sindar the elf. Sindar is part of the order of Malgor, which you learn a lot more about in Sands, and Salinor is a dragon and has nothing at all to do with the order.  As for Bane and the shadow, I’m not sure. I did have a plan for the final confrontation between paladin and shadow, but now I’m not sure if I can fit it into any of the future stories. I’ll try, but no promises. Alex’s dad was just an adventurer, no connection to Mog.

E-Books: Several of you have asked about when they will show up, and the answer is, I don’t know. I would imagine soon but I haven’t heard anything about it. I know it doesn’t take a lot to put out the e-books, but I wonder if Amazon and B&N will release them before the Nov. 5 date??? They should if they are available, but I don’t know what they will do. Sorry, and I’ll try to find out.

Iollenia Galonodel: We’re good and you don’t sound ungrateful, just eager. If I missed one of your questions please post it again and I’ll try to answer it for you.

David: I know that pushing things too fast leads to mistakes. I’m not going to take the blame, as I trust my editor(s) to fix those for me before things go out. Yes, I know there have been some in the other books, and I bet there are some in Sands as well. I know the publisher keeps track of them so they can fix them when they do the paperbacks or reprints. Sorry, not sure who you can send them to at the present time.

Porter Rocks: As I mention above, there was an adventure in Kess but it doesn’t fit in any more. We may still make it to Kess, but I can’t promise anything at this time.

Haley: Glad you enjoyed the book. You have now discovered the problem with getting Sands before anybody else. You can’t ask your questions, and now you have another year to wait before the next book comes out. Sorry about that, but I will try to get it out as soon as I possibly can.

Rebecca: Yes, there are other magical adventurers besides wizards and seers. We might just have a few show up in future adventure, but I’m not ready to tell you what they are yet. Most, I think, will at least look like humans even if they aren’t. No plans for underwater adventures, but I think we will have at least some sea travel in the future. Sea monsters, and other such things are possible as well.

Adventurer Gal: You know, I’ve never really thought about adding someone into the company that Alex just doesn’t like. Interesting idea, and I’ll have to think about it before putting together the next party of adventurers.  Thanks

Taylor:  Alex normally tells people he meets that he is a wizard, unless he has some very good reason not to. Most people both fear and respect wizards, so it’s not a problem, but there are times when telling people he is a wizard could lead to trouble. People who know much about wizards might guess he is one, because he does carry his staff.

And finally-

David: Well, yes. Josephus Sebastian Savage is a reference to my friend, J. Scott Savage. As a matter of fact I was at a writers conference last year and Mr. Savage said to me, “When am I going to get a guest appearance in one of your books?”  Well, he asked for it, now he’s in the middle of it. Yes, he knows that I included him in the book, and he did approve of the name.  (Now that I think about it, he always went by Joe, but I seem to always call him Savage in the book… how odd.)

Well, that’s it for now my friends, so until next time I remain,

Yours in fellowship,

Mark