I hope to see some of my Melbourne readers there. Please RSVP by ringing 9645 2085 or emailing lj@threefour.com.au It’s a free event.

Don’t believe me? Here it is on the shelf at Readings, Carlton.

It is in hardback and the recommended retail price is $24.95.

Having a W name, it usually means my books are on the bottom shelf which isn’t good. (Some authors choose a name that will be at eye level.)

However, there is one compensation. I am shelved alongside some great authors, including Scott Westerfeld and Tim Winton, and of course Lili Wilkinson!

Seal ink is nothing like ink for fountain pens or fine liners. It is a thick paste made up of cinnabar (or mercuric sulphide), castor oil and aged mugwort all pulverised and mixed together. Mugwort is a plant.

Another type of seal ink has shreds of silk instead of the mugwort. I don’t know how they came up with these combinations! My ink is the mugwort version, I think. 

You dip the seal into the ink and then press it on the page.  

And you leave a lovely red imprint. When I sign books and use the seal, I always end up with the red ink all over my hands and often on the table cloth, if who ever is hosting me has been kind enough to provide one.

When the original cover for Dragonkeeper was being designed, I suggested that an impression of Ping’s imperial dragonkeeper seal be part of the design. Black dog books liked the idea and had a seal carved. The red dragon image is the impression of that seal.

I wanted it to say ‘dragonkeeper’, but the man who carved it couldn’t fit both unsimplified characters for ‘dragon’ and ‘protector’ on, so instead he carved a dragon around the edge and put the ‘protector’ character in the middle. It’s beautifully carved.

In Chinese a seal is called yìnzhāng or 印 章. A seal is sometimes called a ‘chop’. This comes from a Malay word.

A seal is used to make a stamp or impression. In Chinese, Japanese and other Asian cultures they were used like signatures to verify the writer of a document or the painter of a painting. Seals have been in use since at least 500 BCE and people continue to use them today.

They are usually made out of stone and can be rectangular or cylindrical. Sometimes they have a decorative carving on one end. Mine, of course, has a dragon carved on it.

I got to keep the seal, and I use it when I sign the Dragonkeeper books. Tomorrow I’ll blog about the red seal ink.

ADVANCE COPIES AVAILABLE AT SUPANOVA

These new editions won’t be in the shops until May, but this weekend I will be signing at the Dymocks stand at the Supanova Convention and there will be advance copies for sale there.

Supanova should be fun. It is a pop culture convention celebrating scifi, comics, games etc etc. Guests include stars and creators of movies, TV shows and comics (eg Captain Adama from Battlestar Gallactica!).

Representing scifi and fantasy authors/illustrators will be Michael Pryor, Alison Croggon and Marc McBride.

Supanova is at the Melbourne Showgrounds this weekend. I will be on the Dymocks stand on Saturday and Sunday between 11am-3pm. Hope to see you there.

You can see the shortlisted titles in all categories here.

Congratulations also to Lili whose book Pocketful of Eyes is a Notable Book. And  to fellow blackdoggers Sue Lawson and Ananda Braxton-Smith whose books Pan’s Whisper and Tantony are also Notable Books.

I love the cover. I think it is just gorgeous. Sonya Kretschmar has done a fabulous job. She has also done new covers for the earlier books so that they all match. They are also lovely. I will post them a bit closer to publication date (which is sometime in May).

For those who may not have read my earlier posts, Blood Brothers is set 400 years after Dragon Moon. Kai is grown up (sort of) and he is looking for a new dragonkeeper. He has his eye on Tao, but Tao is concentrating on becoming a Buddhist monk and doesn’t want to be distracted.

Time: 2.30

Date: Sunday 26 Feb

Place: Juliet Tent, University of  Western Australia

Hope to see some of you there.