Thanks to Tempest and all of the Guest Bloggers

I just wanted to give a heart-felt thank you to Tempest and all of the other guest bloggers. It was really quite energizing and humbling to have them agree to guest blog, and also to learn so much from what they posted. Sometime in the next week, I will do a post linking back to highlights from each week of guest blogging. I hope you had as much fun as I did in reading all of this interesting material.I was gone much longer than I expected to be, because as it turns out I am not someone who is meant to write original novels to a deadline. And I've also learned I'm someone who cannot be fragmented while working on an original novel. Thus, thanks also to Underland and Victoria Blake for patience while I finished off Finch and made it what I wanted it to be, even though that took three months and 9 days more than I had originally estimated. This wasn't from being blocked. It was from following all of the characters and plot threads through to their natural conclusions.I turned the novel in on Tuesday, and it was one of those experiences where you're totally drained afterwards. You've given everything you can give, and there's nothing left on the table. You've not left the house in weeks. You've been thinking only about the novel to the point that when you look in the mirror and see the long beard, the uncut hair, the kind of distant look you realize that you've got to be a little insane to write a novel. And I'm at that point now where I both love and hate Finch. Love it because it's mine and it's what I want it to be. Hate it because I've lived with it in close quarters for a long, long time.Anyway, I'll be back blogging Sunday night or Monday morning. In the meantime, I did want to let you know that the limited edition Shriek with the very cool original music by The Church (this is not the music to the online movie, but something much more complex), is now shipping. Shriek is another novel I put everything I had into. A novel that recently was lauded by a history site for its keen insight into historical perspectives and by an environmental site for its insight into that topic. Well, for me it's just a novel about a messed up family that gets caught up in war and the mysteries of the underground gray caps. The cover on this limited numbered signed edition is by Ben Templesmith who did 30 Days of Night. The design is by John Coulthart who did the fake disease guide (Coulthart is my favorite designer in the world, bar none), and there's additional unpublished material from Samuel Tonsure's journal (those of you familiar with the Early History of Ambergris will know what I'm talking about.) More on that Monday, but just so you know, if you email Clarkesworld, they've got a special offer where you can get Secret Lives with Shriek for just ten extra dollars.Special thanks to my wife Ann during the past few months. She has done more for me than she will ever know, and I will always love her with all my heart.Okay, back to blogging soon. Hope you're all still out there. I kinda think you are, given the number of comments on guest blogger posts.Much love,Jeff