Erik Norlander--one of the key members of "Roswell Six" (music, keyboards, and mixing)--is currently on European tour with another innovative project, Big Noize.  For more information, samples, and tour dates, check out the Big Noize page.

The sample tracks on the Roswell Six profile page passed 40,000 plays today.  The major music distributor Ryko will be carrying the CD, distributing through retail channels.

For those of you who preordered the CD through either AnderZoneShop or ProgRockRecords, copies have already shipped.  

Meanwhile, the booklets for the signed, limited edition are circulating among the performers.  Chris Brown just sent us a photo of his autographing session (in our photos on the MySpace profile); next, the booklets go to Gary Wehrkamp.

The CD and the novel THE EDGE OF THE WORLD will both be released simultaneously on June 2.

Click on My Videos on the profile page.

Also, our copies have arrived in the warehouse.  We are shipping the preorders NOW if you got your copy from either ProgRockRecords.com or Anderzoneshop.com.  The CD will officially be in stores in early June.

We've posted photos in a special album on our photos here on the page.

Our cello player, Mike Alvarez, was the first to arrive, and we chatted about various science fiction topics.  Mike had come nearly three hours just to make the dinner.  Chris Quirarte, our drummer, arrived next, and we all got to know each other.  Shawn and our bassist Kurt Barabas drove together, and made a detour to Burbank to pick up one of our vocalists, John Payne.  Later, our second male vocalist, Michael Sadler, came in, and we all sat around a large table autographing 200 copies of the CD booklet for those who had ordered the limited-edition signed book and CD.  In the middle of the chaos, as the brewery restaurant got louder and louder with dinnertime crowds, Erik Norlander (who wrote the music, played keyboards, and mixed the tracks) called in to attend the dinner virtually from Northern California.  (Only the day before I had met Erik’s wife Lana Lane, our female vocalist, on the phone—Lana was one of our very first choices when brainstorming this CD.)

I’ll post photos as soon as I download them from my camera.

We had not previously met Michael Sadler, John Payne, Chris Quirarte, or Mike Alvarez.  Everyone was very satisfied with what they had done on the project, and several had never heard the whole CD before and were looking forward to listening to the tracks they hadn’t worked on; a couple of them have not had a chance to read the novel Edge of the World yet.  When we finally adjourned, Chris Q gave us a ride back to our hotel.

Those of you who have preordered the CD from either ProgRockRecords.com or AnderZoneshop.com will receive your copies well before they are available in stores.  You still have a chance for a sneak preview if you place your order before the release date.

Our meeting took place exactly two years to the day from when Shawn and I first talked about the idea for this project.  We hope you all will listen to the music and read the novel.

KJA

EDGE OF THE WORLD Chapter 2 and CD news

The second sample chapter from The Edge of the World is now available on the Terra Incognita widget.  For those of you who have the widget on your site, or if you want to look at it on the homepage at www.wordfire.com, click “Chapters” and you can read the first two samples from the novel.

Also, the Terra Incognita: Beyond the Horizon CD has been featured on the main Dream Theater website.  James LaBrie, lead singer for DT, provides the vocals on three tracks on the CD, as the character Omra.

Free Hardcover Contest:  We are continuing the contest for free signed hardcovers.  Anybody who posts the Terra Incognita widget on their pages (Facebook, MySpace, or anywhere else), or includes one of the Roswell Six music tracks as a profile song, please send an e-mail to anderzone@wordfire.com with your name and mailing address.  Everybody will receive a free pad of full-color Edge of the World sticky notes.  At the end of April, we will draw two names to receive an autographed hardcover copy; one winner will receive my novel Enemies & Allies, and the other will receive The Last Days of Krypton.   (If you’ve already done this in the past, your name is still in the hat for next time.)

KJA