Hello all,

Since we're already in mid-November I felt I couldn't in all conscience call this the October Newsletter. Wouldn't seem fair. Besides which, if I call it the October-November edition, that means I don't have to do another till December. Now please don't take that to mean I don't delight in writing the newsletter every month, heaven forfend! But I am actually very busy now with some freelance work, both web design and proofreading/editing for a publishing house, so it's all go in my household. EAnyway, enough of my prevarications, and on to the real matter at hand...

GGK News
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> The Dark House Progresses

I feel like I'm doing that bit in Locus 'Books Delivered' - GGK has completed Beyond this Dark House and handed it in to Penguin Canada. Yay!

> French Bestsellers

The French language Alire edition of Sarantium is at number eight on the bestseller list in Quebec.

> GGK goes to Montreal

Any Montrealers out there pay attention. GGK is going to be in Montreal this weekend for the Salon du Livre. GGK will be at the Alire booth (#328-330) on Friday night (the 15th) from 6-8 pm, with further signings Saturday 10:30-12, 1:30-3 and 4:30-6, and Sunday from 12 - 1:30, and 3 to 4. Readers who arrive with flasks of single malt scotch, given that schedule, will be especially welcome! The Salon is open to the public (with an admission fee) and takes place at the Bonaventure Hilton.

What's New on Bright Weavings
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> Cover Art

Some new covers for the site - the French Canadian editions of Sailing to Sarantium and Lord of Emperors, published by Alire. Artwork by Jacques Lamontagne. We have both covers, and a full painting that the covers are taken from. See them here:

http://www.brightweavings.com/artgallery/covsarantium#alire

> Free Will and Sacrifice in Middle-Earth and Fionavar

A new and fascinating paper for the professional scholarship section of the site - 'From Middle Earth to Fionavar: Free Will and Sacrifice in High Fantasy by J.R.R.Tolkien and Guy Gavriel Kay', by Susannah Clements, presented at the Conference on Christianity and Literature this year. The theme of the conference was whether there is such a thing as a 'distinctly Christian literature' or not. A really interesting read:

http://www.brightweavings.com/scholarship/clementsfionavarlotr.htm

In the Forums
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Some lively discussion in the forums, much of it amusing, revolving around the identity of a mystery poster called 'Ser No Prizes.' Our intrepid detective Thunderchild is so eager to solve the mystery he's travelling the world in search of answers. On a more serious note, Brandin and his revenge is a recent topic of conversation, as is the myth of King Arthur's return. Discussion has continued on which actors people would cast to play characters from the books, and GGK has yet again answered some of the questions people have left for him. To make sure I get this out to all of you today I'm not going to give you all the specific links, but if you just click through to the forums (http://www.brightweavings.com/forums/home.htm) and click on 'last week' at the bottom of the page, you'll be given a wide choice of options to browse.

I'm also pleased to announce that we're going to be starting a group read of The Lions of Al-Rassan in a couple of weeks on the forums. A group read is generally for people who have read the book before, and want to read it again looking at particular themes and ideas and discuss them on the forums with people following the same schedule and themes. The group read is scheduled to begin on December 2nd, and I'm going to have the thread up a few days before so that people can see the schedule and themes for themselves ahead of time. Areas to focus on are likely to include Alvar and the way he develops through the book, the portrayal of religious fundamentalism, the importance of poetry to Ammar and to the book, and how much the hardening of ideologies reduces or eliminates the capacity for people to function as individuals. There will be more details on the site in a week or so!

And that's all from me for now,

Till next time,

Deborah