The email this morning brought me a lovely surprise -- the first blurb for my upcoming novel, A Gathering of Doorways. It's from an award-winning writer, someone whose work I've admired for a long time now. He's a writer who, every time I read something by him, I find myself writing longer and more complex sentences, longer paragraphs, grittier characters, and harsher settings. And of course I usually crash and burn, trying to emulate him.

The author is Lucius Shepard, and here's what he had to say about my novel:

A strong and compulsively readable first novel about family and friends and the horrors, ordinary and not so ordinary, that beset them. From first page to last, Mike Jasper's A GATHERING OF DOORWAYS is a cut above.

(Okay, so it's not technically my "first" published novel, but I ain't gonna complain about it).

Sweet. I like that "compulsively readable" and "a cut above." I'm walking on air today. Or at least, I would be, if I wasn't swamped with work and craziness at the day job... Later!

Update: Oh, and this would be a good time to note that if you're interested in reading this book BEFORE it comes out in September, shoot me an email and I'll send you a PDF of it. All I ask is that you mention it in your blog/FaceBook/Twitter/etc. on or close to the release date in September. Whenever that day is -- I'll let ya know. More details here.