News and Views

Cover for The House on Durrow Street

Sun, 9 May 2010 20:35:31 -0600

I have two items of good news to relate.
The first is that I’ve finished the copyedits for The House on Durrow Street. The (very thick and heavy) manuscript has been shipped back to my publisher, and it is now in the process of being typeset. Which means everything is on track for publication on September 28th of this year. I have just one more task, and that is to proofread the final galleys once they’re ready.
There is one other important bit of business regarding the book, and that’s the cover. I’ve just received the final design for the cover of The House on Durrow Street and thought you might like a sneak peek. Once again, it’s a fantastic cover, and I think you can see at once that Ivy is going to be opening doors to magick and mysteries in this book. I really enjoy the contrast of Ivy’s gown and the ornate woodwork with the eerie landscape beyond—I think it captures the mood of the book perfectly. And hopefully it piques your curiosity! With that in mind, I’ll be posting an excerpt from the book soon. In the meantime, below is a larger image of the cover.

Next “Mrs. Quent” Book Slated for September

Sun, 4 Apr 2010 19:37:53 -0600

I want to thank everyone for their patience as they wait to learn what events will next befall Ivy. It’s my pleasure (and relief!) to let you all know that I have (at last!) completed the revised draft of the manuscript for The House on Durrow Street, and it has been accepted by my editor at Bantam. That means the book is on track for publication this coming September.
I know September might seem like it’s far off, but given what still has to happen between now and then, it will come all too quickly. The copy-edited manuscript will be landing with a thud on my doorstep in the next week or so. I will then be poring over the manuscript again, answering any editorial queries, and making sure everything is as it needs to be.
After that, it’s back to the publisher, where the book will be typeset. Once that happens, I’ll receive another copy, which I get to go through one more time for a final proofreading. (In other words, by the time the book finally lands in stores, I will be dreadfully sick of it!) While all of this is going on, the cover and book design will be finalized, so everything will be ready for printing and publications.
So, while there are a few more steps to go through, The House on Durrow Street is marching steadily towards publication (if houses can indeed march). Between now and September, I will be sure to make a few more posts here to keep everyone informed of how it’s all going, and I’ll also post the cover art as soon as it’s ready.
Until then, happy spring!

The Magicians and Mrs. Quent Now in Paperback

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:26:40 -0700

Good news! The Magicians and Mrs. Quent is now available in a paperback edition. It’s a larger-sized trade paperback, which means it’s easy to read and hold but costs much less than the hardcover version (a thing which would please Ivy’s sense of economy).
So if you need a copy for yourself—or are looking for an affordable gift option for the holidays—now is the perfect time to pick one up. You can find the paperback edition in most bookstores, or it is available from any of the online retailers below:
• Amazon.com
• Barnes & Noble
• Borders
• IndieBound
• Powell’s Books
• RandomHouse.com
• Tattered Cover

That Silence You’ve Been Hearing...

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:40:20 -0700

Hello, everyone! That deafening silence you’ve been hearing for the last year (and a bit) is the sound of an author (that would be yours truly) writing. My apologies for the long delay since this site has been updated. It was my intention to add a post here and there whenever I had some free time.
Well, you can see how that worked out. The good news is that, while I haven’t been writing posts for this site, I have been steadily (if slowly) writing the sequel to The Magicians and Mrs. Quent. I can now happily report that the first draft of the manuscript for The House On Durrow Street is in the hands of my editor at Bantam.
That said, there does remain a great deal of work to do. I tend to do a large amount of revising and adding in my second drafts, and then there are all the normal editorial steps to go through—copy edits, galleys, and the like. The end result is that the book will be published sometime in the fall of 2010.
Yes, I know that’s quite a while yet to wait to learn what befalls Ivy next. My apologies for that. In the meantime, the trade paperback edition of The Magicians and Mrs. Quent will appear in bookstores on November 24th. Your patience is greatly appreciated, as are all of your kind emails. While I don’t always have time to reply, I do read every letter I get, and I enjoy hearing from readers very much.
More news soon—I promise!

Listen to Galen Beckett’s Bantam Dell Podcast

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:20:13 -0600

Need some food for your iPod or other media player? And do you enjoy hearing authors discuss their books and the writing process?
I thought so! Then you should check out Bantam Dell’s author podcast program. They have a huge series of podcasts from many authors, including yours truly. In my podcast, I talk about my inspirations for The Magicians and Mrs. Quent and some of the background of the world I devised for the novel. So if you’d like to learn a bit more about the book as well as the process I went through to write it, give the podcast a click.
Listen to Galen Beckett’s Bantam Dell podcast

TMAMQ at Omnivoracious

Sat, 9 Aug 2008 10:32:52 -0600

Here’s some more Amazon-related news today. The Magicians and Mrs. Quent is currently featured over on Omnivoracious.
Omnivoracious is a blog run by the book editors at Amazon.com. Blogger Jeff VanderMeer posted a very nice entry about the book. He writes, “the enchanting The Magicians and Mrs. Quent evokes memories of other pseudo-Victorian-Edwardian fantasies, but the writing and execution are vastly superior to most of the others I’ve read.” He goes on to say, “Galen Beckett reconfigures what could be stereotypical into an exciting and clever romp.”
In all, it’s a very nice review. A huge number of books flood into Amazon every day, I’m rather amazed mine got picked out of the torrent. But I’m very glad it did!
Read the post at Omnivoracious

Kindle Edition Now Available

Sat, 9 Aug 2008 10:22:22 -0600

For those of you who think paper is so last millennium, you’ll be happy to know that you can now read The Magicians and Mrs. Quent on your shiny new Kindle. You can purchase the book through Amazon.com and download it directly to your Kindle reader.
While Ivy is very partial to the feel and heft of books, she is all for newfangled advancements. So enjoy the soft glow of your Kindle as you read The Magicians and Mrs. Quent!
Buy The Magicians and Mrs. Quent Kindle Edition

The Magicians and Mrs. Quent in the U.K.

Sat, 9 Aug 2008 09:08:57 -0600

Here’s some news for people in the U.K. who have heard about and are interested in The Magicians Mrs. Quent. (And I believe there are at least a few of you.)
At this time, unfortunately, there are no plans for publishing the book in the U.K. However, the good news is that you won’t have to fly over to this side of the ocean to pick up a copy. Instead, Amazon.co.uk has shipped a batch of books over to your side of the pond. So you can now easily order a copy and have it quickly delivered to your door. Now that’s what I call a revolution!
Order The Magicians and Mrs. Quent from Amazon.co.uk