Thoughts After a Con, Particularly about Dune

I was at Capclave earlier this Month…

Living in the D.C. metropolitan area, Capclave is my local sci-fi/fantasy con. I first attended this con over 15 years ago. It’s a great place for me to network and talk to my author and editor friends about recommendations for illustrators and cover artists. (Always, a good thing.) Oh, and to meet new readers and new friends.

This year I participated in author signings and panels. I attended a couple of book launches and author readings. I particularly enjoyed readings from Alan Smale and Melissa Scott. I was also part of a discussion on Westeros, particularly great was talking about A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. I also served on a panel about whether there are essential sci-fi books, and moderated a panel about Dune.

Now Dune is a favorite book of mine and also made my list of essential sci fi books. On the panel we talked about the various movies, the original trilogy (Dune, Dune Messiah, and Children of Dune) and Frank Herbert’s next three Dune novels in the series: God Emperor, Heretics of Dune, and Chapter House: Dune. (Spoilers: I love the original trilogy best.)

I also shared that Dune was rejected 26 times before being published in hardcover. Oh, and that publisher was only known for automotive manuals, but the editor loved it. That publisher sold the paperback rights as quickly as possible, the story goes—as I heard did the editor. So are bestsellers sometimes born. Which always gives me hope for new authors finding “sudden” success.

You also may not know that after Frank Herbert passed away his extensive notebooks about all things Dune were nowhere to be found… Until one day the family received a renewal notice for a safety deposit box at a bank the family didn’t do business with. Those notes became all the prequels and sequals written by Frank’s son, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.

I can’t tell you how happy I am they not only found those notebooks filled with the galaxy of all things Dune and the future of human, but brought them to us all. (Or we would have Dune Prophecy on HBO.)

Now, for my free story this month for you to discover… my free novella, Of Steeds and Deeds, a story set my Highmage’s Plight epic fantasy series. Of Steeds and Deeds is featured this month in the promo, Free Epic Sci-Fi & Fantasy with a lot more free stories!

Dare 2 Believe,

D.H.

P.S. The Pre-order is up for Echoes of the Hour, an anthology from Wordfire Press, featuring one of my short stories. If you are a Jonathan Maberry fan, he’s written the opening story of this wonderful anthology. Check it out!

Novella prequel to my Highmage’s Plight and Hands of the Highmage series.