The Illuminators in conjunction with the Scribe's Chapter House are proud to present an interactive Q&A with up and coming author David B. Coe published by Tor Publishing. You will have the opportunity to pick his brain and ask about his books, about the writing process, the publishing world, or whatever else may come to your minds.

Questions may begin to be submitted on Friday January 18, 2008 on the Illuminator's Organization main board.

I have some background on him below but you can also learn more from his website: http://www.sff.net/people/DavidBCoe/ . On his site, he has free sample chapters from each of his books as well as the one just published.

He first saga, The Lon Tobyn Chronicles, earned the prestigous William L. Crawford Memorial Fantasy Award by the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts (IAFA). The Crawford award is given annually to the best book or series by a new fantasy author. He is also author of the highly acclaimed five volume series, The Winds of the Forelands.

Sara Douglass, author of The Wayfarer Redemption saga has this to say about David...

"Coe writes a wonderfully complex and engrossing tale, but what truly made this book for me was the richness and depth of the beautifully crafted characters. A good plot makes for a great read, but interweave that plot with rich, complex characters and you have a splendid book - and this is a splendid book. There is absolutely nothing superficial about Coe's writing - it is strong, complex, and emotionally very, very powerful."

He is currently working on a new series that builds upon his Winds of the Forelands universe. It has just come out in December 2007 and is titled The Blood of the Southlands which takes the story from the Forelands into a whole new direction. Sherwood Smith had this to say about Mr. Coe's new book...

"Coe's new series is his best yet: appealing characters, twisty plot, and absorbing world....The thing that struck me while reading this book was that Coe does not settle for the comfortable fantasy archetypes that have really become stereotypes. His main character, Besh, is not young or handsome, he's old and ordinary, but he's smart, subtle, he's wise because he's experienced at life. The antagonist in this story is no Dark Lord, but someone with good reason to be twisted, who is the hero of her own story. This juxtaposition makes for the best kind of intrigue and twistiness. Add in magic, interesting cultures, and you've got a promising series. Coe just keeps getting better. "