Monthly Archives: June 2014

I love visiting Colorado. I’m fortunate in that my cousins live there, and seem quite happy to have us crash now and then. (Or, at least, they don’t kick us out when we show up.) I’m looking forward to great beer, lots of nature and, most importantly, seeing my cousin’s new baby.

And I’m doing a reading and discussion with my awesome agent, Sara Megibow, on Wednesday, July 2, at Boulder Book Store. So I got that going for me, too.

It’s going to be a bit different from the events I’ve done in the past in that Sara and I will talk about the behind-the-scenes process of getting a debut novel published. Given last year’s sale of Night Shade Books to Skyhorse Publishing, there are some good stories to tell. I’m also going to read from my latest book, The Enceladus Crisis, and we’ll take questions on just about anything.

And yes, I’ll happily sign your books. That never, ever gets old.

Again, it’s Wednesday, July 2, at 7:30 p.m. MDT at the Boulder Book Store, 1107 Pearl St. in Boulder, Colo. The event page is here. Vouchers to attend are $5, but you can then put that $5 toward a purchase at the store that evening — or a purchase of my books any time you like. Sara and I will do our level best to make sure you get at least $5.01 worth of information and/or entertainment.

In other news bits, I saw a very nice review of The Enceladus Crisis over on book blog 20four12. Caleb Flanagan writes:

The Daedalus Incident was one of the best books I read last year and I waited very anxiously for The Enceladus Crisis to be released. Everything about what Michael J. Martinez is doing with these books delights me, and this second book in the series was no disappointment…. This is a fantastic book and I can’t wait for the next installment.

Of course, I’m working hard on that next installment, The Venusian Gambit, due out next March, which is why I haven’t blogged much of late. That will probably change in the coming weeks as I wrap up Gambit and do a bit of traveling. In addition to Colorado, I’m spending a few days the following week in Idaho, and visiting San Francisco later in July. (There’s a signing at Borderlands Books, too!)

Many thanks to Caleb for the kind words, and to Boulder Book Store for hosting Sara and I.

#SFWApro

It was two years ago today that I got The Call from my agent, telling me that Night Shade Books wanted to publish The Daedalus Incident. I remember not because I’m an inveterate calendar tracker, but because it just so happened to be my 40th birthday. Yes, Sara Megibow got me a book deal for my 40th. (That totally awesome remote-control Jawa sandcrawler I got when I turned eight? A distant second now.)

I mention this because there was a recent op-ed in The New York Times on the propensity of authors — would-be and established — to write about their publishing travails, and how they’ve pledged to keep at it, no matter the disappointment. There may indeed be some benefit to hearing others’ success stories, especially when dogged persistence overcomes strings of rejection and disappointment. So here’s my story; maybe it’ll be helpful, maybe not.

Continue reading →

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming about my books and writing to talk about…someone else’s books and writing.

Today marks the launch of Michael R. Underwood’s Shield and Crocus, a very epic, very awesome urban fantasy from the folks at 47North. Mike asked me to read it months ago, and I was proud to offer this blurb (now featured on the book’s Amazon page):

“Blindingly creative, Shield and Crocus delivers action-packed, four-color fantasy with a lot of heart.” — Michael J. Martinez, author of The Daedalus Incident

And if you need more convincing, even after such a hearty endorsement, here’s the gist of the story:

In a city built among the bones of a fallen giant, a small group of heroes looks to reclaim their home from the five criminal tyrants who control it.

And if that doesn’t convince you, the good people at Tor.com have this excerpt for you. I’m telling you, this book has everything. It’s a total blast to read. So I offer many congratulations to Mike, and exhort you, the reader — yes, you — to get on out there and pick up a copy.

That’s right. I exhorted.

#SFWApro

It’s been nearly a month since the release of The Enceladus Crisis and, as of this writing, both Enceladus and The Daedalus Incident remain in the top 100 on Amazon’s Historical Fantasy Kindle charts. That’s pretty amazing, especially given that both books come from a small (but scrappy!) publisher.

I’ve heard from a lot of fans and readers over the past month, and they’ve welcomed the second installment in the Daedalus series with open arms. That really means a lot, and it’s fueling my writing as I head to the finish line with the third book, The Venusian Gambit. 

In addition, a lot of you good folks have taken the time to write reviews on vendor websites, Goodreads and on your own blogs. There was a new review this week on Infinitefreetime.com, blogging home of writer and teacher Luther M. Siler. He thought The Daedalus Incident was OK, but had this to say about the sequel:

It is awesome.  It is action-packed and exciting and creative and fresh and original (no, seriously, space galleons powered by alchemy) and unlike the first one he’s clearly got a contract for another book now so it ends by nicely setting up the next book without feeling like it was written as the middle book of a trilogy.

That was very cool to see. So thanks, Luther. And thanks to all of you who’ve given my writing a shot. It means a lot!

Now that Enceladus is out in the wild, things are calming down a bit, and I’m back to focusing on Gambit. I’m enjoying how everything is coming together, but it’s a little bittersweet, too. I’m going to miss these characters and this world when I’m done. But for one, there’s one last adventure left to them, and I think it’s going to be a good one.

#SFWApro