Eberron, At Last

So I’ve got an announcement to make. If you’d rather skip my self-indulgent, long-winded build-up (it's more for me than you), just scroll down the bottom of the post.

The story goes like this:

- 2002: Wizards of the Coast (WotC) held an open call to create a new campaign setting for them to develop...i.e. a new fantasy world for the D&D game that would lead to new sourcebooks, novels, comics, and even computer games. My brother and I pitched an idea—one of the 11,000, apparently—but nothing came of that. The winner for that contest was Keith Baker, who introduced to the fantasy genre the new setting of Eberron. I was skeptical at first, but I've since joined the fold. It's an excellent world.

- 2003: Wizards of the Coast held an open call to write a Forgotten Realms novel that would be called Maiden of Pain. Even though hundreds were denied, many were kindled to write again, and I was among them. I'd known since I was a kid what I wanted to be when I grew up —even if I couldn’t make a career of it, which very few can—but I only dabbled and procrastinated for so many years. This contest kicked me into motion. Thanks, Wizards!
The message board discussions that resulted from this contest introduced me to some good friends. Ed Gentry I met on the WotC boards due to a Rush lyric in his signature. (How appropriate.) Soon enough—although I probably exchanged posts with him prior to this—Ed introduced me to Harley Stroh. In the wake of the Maiden contest, both Ed and Harley landed short stories in the book Realms of the Dragons II. I didn’t make even the “short list” on that one. Kameron Franklin was the winner of the Maiden of Pain contest. That book has now been out for a while. Through Ed and Harley and their many online acquaintances I have since come to a few other wordwrights, such as Marcy Rockwell. And through these acquaintances a fair amount more.

- 2004: Wizards of the Coast hosted another open call, this time for a novel set within the world of Eberron. I joined in along with approximately 500 others, but this time I did make the “short list.” I pursued that course for more than a year when, and, well, it took me long enough, but I finally succeeded.

The announcement, then:

I have signed a contract for an Eberron novel, what will be book #4 in the upcoming stand-alone series The Inquisitives. The first three will be authored by Ed Bolme, Paul Crilley, and the aforementioned Marcy Rockwell, respectively. I'm truly happy to be given this opportunity—owing many thanks to many people—and honored to be among such company.

Details about the book may trickle down in time, but this is all I can say about it for now.