Elmer Fudd And Aide Memoire

No updates for an age. Apologies for that. I spent a week away from the PC in Ireland last week, and apart from a quick visit to an internet "cafe" (really a room stacked with PC's, run by a woman who looked like Elmer Fudd) kept away from checking e-emails too. Which of course meant a mountain of stuff to plough through when I got back. But things do seem to be moving on the book front at an alarming rate. I'm still knee deep wading through all the details, but it looks like a pre-order may be up and running in the next few weeks, with a release in November. So the deal would be you order a few months in advance, book yourself a copy and we send it out once it hits the warehouse. Effectively I am self-publishing which means the pre-order is needed to make sure I can pay for the printing. Otherwise, I'll be auctioning a kidney on eBay to raise the funds. That would not be good.

Of course, I realise that many of you are new to this saga, so I thought I'd give a reminder about the book. Basically, the first release of 'Lifting Shadows - The Authorized Story Of Dream Theater' will be the 'Images And Words Limited Edition'. The comprises of two hardback books that are held together in a slipcase. One of the books contains the words - which runs in at a massive 140,000 - and the other 'Images' contains a host of photos, flyers, unseen/ unused album cover drafts, etc etc dating back twenty years. This runs in at around 200 pages. Plus Mike Portnoy has collated a CD of rare DT tracks, some of which are available on releases, some that are rare, and a few that have never before seen the light of day on CD. So that should keep you quiet! Hugh Syme is creating the cover art as I type. Oh, and the paper used is top-quality.

The retail price has yet to be fixed, but I expect it to be about £39.99 UK, $69.99 US with Euro costs about 59.99 plus P+P. Of course this weighs a tonne - actually it's 2kg - so postage charges are a few more £. I will keep you all updated as and when, but I hope to get things finalized in the next 10 days.

It it highly unlikely that it will be available in the stores in this format, so the only place to get it will be via http://www.dreamtheaterbook.com And if you could all pre-order when we start that, I'd be grateful. I am quite fond of my kidney . . .