Wow - I can't believe it's been over a month since my last blog. But, in my defense, I've been hella-busy. (As always, that's "South Park" hella, not Gwen Stefani "hella".)

As you know from my last blog (if you can remember that far back), Rule of Two, the Darth Bane sequel coming out on December 26, is signed, sealed and delivered. That left me free to finish up work in my day job as the lead writer on Mass Effect, the new sci-fi computer RPG from BioWare (makers of Knights of the Old Republic).

Between the push to finish the book and the game, I was pretty burnt out... luckily I took some time off and went to Vegas with my wife and some friends. Had a great time; lost all my money.

But things took a turn for the better when I got back home. Mass Effect was released to critical and fan acclaim, it has already sold over 1 million copies, and we were nominated in five categories at the Spike TV Video Game awards, including Game of the Year! (Sadly, we didn't win - though we did take RPG of the Year.) That meant another trip back to Vegas for the awards show, this time with a bunch of us who worked on the game.

The show was hosted by Samuel L. Jackson - that's right, Mace Windu himself. And Hayden Christensen was there to present the Game of the Year award. And I got to meet... well, neither of them. In fact, I met nobody famous enough to name drop. I'm not important enough to rub elbows with the A list folks. But I was close enough to huck ice cubes at them (not that I *did*... but I could have!)

Plus, I got to see the Foo Fighters perform live. That's always worth it in my books. All in all it was another fun trip; yet again I lost all my money. Gotta love Vegas, Baby!

And now I'm back at home eagerly anticipating the release of my first true sequel novel. (I did work on the third novel in the Baldur's Gate series, but I didn't write the first two so that doesn't really count.)

I have to be honest, I'm a bit nervous. Path of Destruction sold pretty well in hard cover, and it sold a bunch more in paperback. Based on everything I've seen the fan reaction was overwhelmingly positive, so I'm hoping that means all those people who took a chance on Bane the first time around will come back for a second helping. (I'm also hoping a lot of people who waited for the paperback will have enjoyed it enough to shell out the extra $$ for the hard cover this time around.) The first novel was my chance to prove myself as a Star Wars author, but it's the second novel's sales that will tell me if I succeeded.

So... what can you expect in Rule of Two? Well, more Bane. And you'll see plenty of his new apprentice, Zannah. Plus, I've got a few other (hopefully) interesting characters to throw into the mix. Without giving away too much I'll throw out some names hardcore fans might recognize from various sources: Johun Othone, Darovit, Farfalla, Belia Darzu... okay, I better stop before I get in trouble for revealing all my secrets.

But let me leave you with one last tidbit - the body count on this novel is high, and not everyone you think should surivive to the end actually does. Not a surprise to anyone who's familiar with my work. However, I can honestly say this novel gets pretty dark - I was actually amazed at some of the things my editors at Lucas let me get away with. I went in determined to explore the depths of the dark side, and they didn't make me pull back one bit. That's not to say the novel is an unrelentingly grim experience, though - it's deliciously sinister and Sith-y, if I do say so myself.

So, remember the date - DECEMBER 26, 2007. Here in Canada we call it Boxing Day, but I think in the US you call it, well... the day after Christmas. So if you get some bookstore gift cards, now you have something to spend them on.

[FORCE PERSUADE] Rule of Two *is* the novel you're looking for.

Embrace the dark side.

Drew