People have been asking me when the  sequel to Jack of Hearts is due out. The answer is very soon! The good news is that my editor (Pat Van Wie) sent me the final page proofs just the other day. Last chance for me to see it before it’s officially published.

I also got a glimpse of the cover and title, which I’ll be happy to show off in a few days.

And just for fun here is the music I listened to while writing Jack of Hearts 2. Like I mentioned in a previous post, I like to build playlists for writing projects. Sort of inspirational themes. It’s a fun mini-project for me. Eventually it’s just white noise so I can disappear into the world of the book.

Last time I had a lot of Smashing Pumpkins going on. This time it’s a little more all over the place. I’ve got some Battlestar Galactica, Lost, and the amazing sound track to the Fountain, by Clint Mansell. And yes, that’s a Modanna song. Not sure how that happened, but there it is.

Bell Bridge Books is doing a special promotion with all of their fantasy books over at Amazon. You can grab Jack of Hearts for 1.99 today only, Kindle version.

Here: http://www.amazon.com/Jack-Of-Hearts-ebook/dp/B00BWTUF1W

I will be at DragonCon for both Dishonored and Jack of Hearts!

“Dragon*Con is the largest multimedia, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction and fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film in the universe!  Held every Labor Day weekend in Atlanta, GA, Dragon*Con boasts close to 40 fan-based tracks, a film festival, Atlanta’s largest parade throughout downtown, an art show, comics and pop art exhibits and displays, nightly concerts and parties, bands and DJs, tons of costume contests, over a hundred dealers and exhibitors, and almost 4000 hours of panels, workshops, and gaming.” -www.DragonCon.com

If you are planning on being there, stop by and say “hi”.

I will be at the following:

Designing Awesome Videogames (panel) Time: Fri, 8/30/13 @ 02:30 pm Location: Grand Salon D – Hilton Description: An all-star lineup of videogame designers, behind Dishonored, Unreal, Saint’s Row, Wasteland, and more! Dishonored: Behind the Scenes (panel) Time: Sat, 8/31/13 @ 07:00 pm Location: Grand Salon D – Hilton Description: Learn the secrets of the dark city of Dunwall from the talented design team at Arkane Studios. Ricardo Bare – JACK OF HEARTS (book reading) Time: Sun, 9/01/13 @ 11:30 am Location: Roswell – Hyatt Writing for Videogames (panel) Time: Mon, 9/02/13 @ 01:00 pm Location: Grand Salon D – Hilton Description: A discussion of the dozens of endings and weeks of branching dialogue needed for this type of writing.

DOWN WITH NARNIA. UP WITH GLOME.

By Ricardo Bare

“Holy wisdom is not clear and thin like water, but thick and dark like blood.”

Every writer can probably point to a short list of authors or books that are their favorite influences… (read more)

“I’m going to make a bold, maybe snobbish, statement. If you’re a fan of Aslan, brace yourself. Narnia is a weak and thin broth compared to the nourishment you will find in Till We Have Faces. The Chronicles of Narnia is Turkish Delight, Till We Have Faces is meat, red and juicy on the bone.” – Ricardo Bare

[guest blog post for Bell Bridge Books - the publisher of Jack of Hearts]