Cover to Cover #285A: S. C. Butler

Michael and Michael start off the show responding to questions about cover art and cover blurbs, specifically, why sometimes they don't match the actual story that's in the book. Short answer: sales and marketing rarely combines with truth and accuracy.

Interview: S. C. Butler joins us to talk about his latest novel, Queen Ferris, the second book in the Stoneways Trilogy. Sam talks to us about the magic in the world he's created, how it's different from the usual magic systems you run across in epic fantasy tales, and how the magic is the focus of the story rather than of the adventures of the exiled prince Reiffen, his kidnapping and his rescue.

Read Tim's review of Reiffen's Choice, here at Cover to Cover.

Voicemail: Michael and Michael address a few voicemails, because we have a plethora of them this week. John in Seattle asks how you choose a genre to write a story in; Ziv of Kitaro's Sideshow (feed URL)from Israel asks for some advice for international authors getting their work published in the US; author Melanie Fletcher ("Saber Dance", Yard Dog Press), with a thank-you and a promo; Stu in Seattle on the alternate history novels with Rome having discovered steam power; let's buy as many copies of books as we can; another unknown book is uncovered (C. S. Lewis, no less); Minister Faust wants to come back on the show!

Dragon Page Challenge: We now have a collaborative world-building effort, a web-based writing exercise! Check out The Tick-Tock Hobbit project.

Are you participating in NaNoWriMo this year? Let us know!

Submitting Listener comments: If you have any suggestions or comments, please let us know!

Can you do an audio book review no longer than 3 minutes? Here's what we're looking for:

• Book title, author, publisher, cost
• Must have been published within the past calendar year
• Why did you like the book?
• What about the book will you remember a year from now?
• Why do you want to recommend this book to other potential readers?

Promo: DragonCon TV