Tales of Damasco, Update the First

There's just no point dividing these occasional novel updates into Giant Thief and Crown Thief any more, is there?  Giant Thief's out in less than a month, Crown Thief's not two months off its delivery date, and for that matter, the start of Prince Thief is right around the corner.  It's a whole big thing is what it is, and for this post anyway, I'm going to treat it as such.

First up, then.  The promotion for Giant Thief is gearing up fast, with lots of nice people asking me for interviews and guest blogs and such, and me blithely agreeing, while wondering just how quickly I can make my fingers work before the skin starts to combust.

But if I had any doubts about all that effort being worthwhile ... and I don't, obviously ... but if I did, a couple of recent developments would have smashed them into a squishy mush.  First came a few more glowing reviews.  J. S. Watts, writing for the Morpheus Tales review supplement, describes Giant Thief as "a fast paced, dryly humorous fantasy" and "a wryly amusing and entertaining read that also proves to be more thought provoking than might originally seem to be the case."  Over at Starburst, meanwhile, Alister Davison says, "I’m finding it hard to dislike anything about this book. It’s a fun, entertaining read, everything a good story should be", adding, "If you’re tired of huge volumes filled deep with sub-plots and webs of intrigue, then Giant Thief is a worthy alternative. David Tallerman’s first novel is a gripping yarn..."  Lastly, blogger Mieneke van der Salm, who also happens to be A Fantastical Librarian, calls Giant Thief "...a rollicking tale of being chased and getting away and maybe along the way finding a conscience" (surely she's not talking about Damasco?) and concludes that "...if you're up for a fun, fast-paced adventure featuring rogues, giants and lots of fighting, you won't want to miss it!"

And then there's that on the left.  It's real.  It's shiny.  It's shinily real.  It is in the fact the first-off-the-presses copy of Giant Thief.  See how Damasco looks like he's leaping from the cover, as though he really wants to steal your wallet?  That's because he does.


In the meantime, in the realm of Crown Thief... tonight's the start of the second of two weeks off, which feels like the first break I've had in a year, though I'm fairly sure it can't be.

Of course "time off" in this context means time off from the day job only, since a break from novel-finishing at this point would be madness of the highest order.  In fact, time off actually means hammering unrelentingly into the third and, (for the moment), final draft of Crown Thief.

(Actually, I exaggerate slightly.  I did take a break for the New Year's weekend ... and, er, ended up demolishing my friend Loz's shed.  Then burning it.  Hey, he asked me to!  Really.  I'm not such a terrible friend that I go round to people's houses on New Year's eve to demolish and incinerate their sheds.)

Wait, there was a point there.  Oh, right ... busy!  Yup, busy third-redrafting Crown Thief for the third time, and up to the start of chapter six already, which I don't think is bad for a first week.  It seems to be going well, all told.  For whatever my opinion counts, I don't think I've written a horrible sequel - and for whatever their opinion counts, my draft readers seem to be more or less in agreement.

That said, Crown Thief does have a subplot or two, and at least one web that might considered to be made of intrigue.  Have I misjudged?  Am I risking losing my audience here?