I’m down tonight, and there’s no really good reason. Perhaps I’m getting the flu. Or maybe it’s the wet, cold weather (which I’d consider wonderfully atmospheric if I were in Bergen or London).

I was delighted and amazed at the number of people who immediately joined my new Facebook group (nearly 30 last time I looked). I honestly expected maybe a dozen, tops. So that felt very good.

It is in my nature, though, to respond to every positive experience in a Newtonian fashion, with an equal and opposite reaction.

I got a look at the map for the new book today, and it’s very handsome indeed. The artist approached the actual locations of places with more of an eye to composition than to strict geographical accuracy, though, and I figured we’d have to fight with him some more. But he seems more amenable to revision in this area, which is a comfort.

Anyway, thanks to all of you who joined the Facebook group, many of whom are readers of this blog. It does mean a lot to me, and I’ll try to make it worth regular visits.

I’ll bet I’m getting the flu. Or maybe Ebola.

Here it is. Release date is set for May 15.

The price for West Oversea will not be $24.95, but $13.95.

The higher price was just a template thing on the image file from the artist.

I think I can say with confidence that this alone should bring us out of the recession.

I intended to write a long book review tonight, but it’s been a crazy evening. I had to spend a considerable amount of time, both on the phone and by e-mail, discussing final tweaks on the book cover. The artist is a little like an author in that he doesn’t much cotton to criticism of his aesthetic vision. But apparently the editor and the publisher are going to lean on him a little tonight.

This is a new experience in publishing for me. Baen Books, which had many virtues, did not bother giving authors much input on covers (I did get some, but nobody ever sent me a .pdf and asked for my input as Nordskog is doing). I think this will turn out to be a pretty effective cover when all’s done, but it’s a sweat.

And I’ve still got to make a phone call and pay my bills tonight. Not to mention watching CSI and checking my Facebook page. I’ll see you tomorrow.

It’s a highlight of the spring every year—my first constitutional walk down by Crystal Lake. It was too warm at the beginning for the sweatshirt and cap I wore, but I was glad I had them when I got down by the water. Spring isn’t actually spronging yet—we haven’t gotten enough rain—but the sun was shining, the air was mild, and it all made even Hugh Hewitt’s relentless optimism on the radio seem not entirely delusional.

What else is going on? We’re near finalizing the cover for the new book. I think. It will not, as I’d been given to understand earlier, resemble the cover of The Year of the Warrior in any way. They fired that artist. The new guy has put together a yellow-dominated cover with a misty Viking ship under sail in the center, and the title done in an Anglo-Saxon/Book of Kells sort of font. My name will be in a runic font, which is just fine.

I’ll keep you posted as the process crawls on.

I copied a map out of a book and made some marks on it last night, then scanned it and sent it to the house artist. From those lowly elements he plans to construct a handsome original chart, for the benefit of those who remain unsure which hemisphere Greenland is located in. So that’s done, from my end.

I also got a chance to look at some prospective covers, a part of the project also still “in process.” I think I’m going to get a picture of a Viking ship on the cover, which is the main thing for me. In my opinion there is nothing on earth cooler than a Viking ship. Ninjas? Ha! We laugh at ninjas.

It looks as if this is going to be the most expensive book I’ve ever written. It appears that it will be what’s called a “trade paperback.” That’s one of those big paperbacks they sell you (the small, old-fashioned kind are called “mass market paperbacks”). The price looks to be about $25.00. I have a hard time imagining anyone paying twenty-five bucks for anything written by me, but Nordskog thinks that’s the way to go, and I assume they know their business. Sometimes people want a thing more when you ask more for it, so I’ll wait and see. Also, I know there are reasons, having to do with the bookselling business, why trade paperbacks are more cost effective for publishers.

Someday, hardcover!