So you know that time I mentioned that thing about how I’ve got a novel coming out July 30th, called Three and I want everyone to go out and buy all the copies?  If not, hey, I’ve got a novel called Three coming out on July 30th.  But that’s not important right now, because right now …

I’m very pleased to announce that I’ll be partnering with the excellent organization Hope For The Warriors®.  

The mission of Hope For The Warriors® is to enhance the quality of life for post-9/11 service members, their families, and families of the fallen who have sustained physical and psychological wounds in the line of duty.  Hope For The Warriors® is dedicated to restoring a sense of self, restoring the family unit, and restoring hope for our service members and our military families.

I was extremely impressed by the incredible and comprehensive range of support that Hope For The Warriors® provides our service members and their families, and by their consistently high ratings for both financial efficiency and transparency.  With over 11 distinct programs, Hope For The Warriors® takes a very well-rounded approach to providing care.

They’re awesome.  But, to quote Levar Burton, you don’t have to take my word for it … you can find out more about Hope For The Warriors® here at their own site.  In fact you should go there right now and give them your money!

I’ve pledged 10% of my royalties from the sales of Three to their organization, so you can either support them directly at the Hope For The Warriors® site or you can support us both by buying a copy of my novel.  But those are your only two options.

 

The fine folks at io9 (you know, the ones from the future), have done me the great honor of posting the cover of my upcoming novel Three AND an excerpt, which is the first chapter.  You can see it here:

http://io9.com/a-new-post-apocalyptic-vision-from-angry-robot-books-471388596

As an added bonus, the internet is now free to make savage comments about my work for everyone to see!

Yay internet!

The thing about pain and suffering is that it always feels especially tailored just for you.  Like no one else in the world could possibly understand what it was like to go through That Thing.  That trauma.  That loss.  That depression.

The truth is, of course, that we’ve all got wounds, scars, and secret shames.  This doesn’t make our pain any less real or significant.  But it’s all too easy to cling defensively to our hurts as if they in some way define us or make us unique. And while I’m sure I’m the ONLY one who had that thing happen in elementary school with the chocolate milk and the underwear, the honest fact is there are a lot of people out there who can relate on some level.

When we use our art to be mad at the world, and use our pain as a crutch or an excuse, or a reason to demand everyone make special accommodations for us, we risk alienating the very people we have the most power to reach.

But when we accept it, overcome it, push through it, and use it as a springboard to bring honesty to our work, something magical happens; the pain we thought was so personal, so specific, unique only to ourselves, suddenly connects to others who recognize something of themselves in what we’ve been through.  In what we’ve survived, and in the best cases, conquered.  Our deepest wound healed can be the greatest hope for one freshly wounded.

All hurts can be redeemed, if we have the courage to believe it.

 

Sand castles can be simple mounds, or amazingly intricate sculptures.  But regardless of their complexity, part of the joy in creating them (and some of their inherent beauty) comes from the fact that someone put time and effort into something so temporary.  They’re an extravagance, created with the knowledge that in a day or two, or even in just a few hours, they will be utterly destroyed.  Not just ruined, mind you.  Erased.  As if they never existed.  For a sand castle’s brief life, their only impact is on the people who built them and who viewed them, and even that impact is temporary.

Cathedrals, on the other hand, are a generational undertaking.  Those who start them will be long gone before they are completed.  And they endure as a monument and a legacy.  They leave a lasting impression on those that encounter them, and most often those that laid the foundations never know how far-reaching their impact was.  Cathedrals too are an extravagance, not because they are temporary, but precisely because they so far outlast those that participated in their construction.

When we’re At Work Doing Our Art, most of our time is spent building sand castles.  They might be incredibly meaningful and well-crafted sand castles, with our hearts and souls poured into every corner, wall, moat, and turret.  And if we enjoy building them, they’re worth doing well.  They’ll bring joy to an audience, and they can teach us important lessons about architecture and aesthetics.  But they are still sand castles, meant to be washed away. To be erased.

As we master our crafts, we might one day create a cathedral.  We might one day finally possess the skill, the maturity, and the courage to construct a life’s work, worth passing on to future generations.  Something that might endure for 500 years.  Something truly worth devoting our whole selves to.

It’s easy to believe our work is a cathedral.  We let others convince us that the thing they’re paying us to do is worth every sacrifice we’ll make to complete it.  Sometimes we’ll even convince ourselves it’s true.  

But treating a sand castle like a cathedral will destroy you.

Never confuse which one you’re building.

 

So I can officially announce that I’ve officially signed a two-book agreement with official Angry Robot, officially-speaking!  There is a press release about it and everything!

You can see it on the interwebs here:

http://angryrobotbooks.com/2012/11/angry-robot-acquires-two-books-in-jay-poseys-duskwalker-cycle-series/

Weeeeeeee!

I will, of course, be updating more about it as things get figured out (like book covers!), but currently the plan is to have the first book available Autumn of 2013.  I am sure that you will ALL BUY ALL THE COPIES.

If you were to get on a motorcycle and drive into the Grand Canyon, no one would be surprised when you plummeted to your death.  And when people read about you in the newspaper, most of them would think “Wow, that guy was an idiot.”

But put on a cape and TELL everyone you’re going to get on a motorcycle and jump OVER the Grand Canyon, people may or may not be surprised when you plummet to your death, but their response is likely to be very different.

That’s why it’s important to learn the “rules” before you break them.

Because when you know the risk you’re taking, and you do something new and dangerous to entertain The People, even if you fail, your fans will probably admire you for your brave attempt.

But if you don’t know the risk you’re taking and you do it out of ignorance, then when you fail, people will probably just shrug and think you should’ve known better.