Signing in San Francisco, plus a new review of Enceladus

I’ve re-emerged from the wilds of Idaho mostly intact, though rather exhausted after a long work retreat. I had a flight cancelled out from under me, requiring a five-hour drive to get to my final destination. That was followed by three short, somewhat uncomfortable nights, then a red-eye. Yet I did have a lot of fun, mixing both hard work and hard play. And Idaho is really a pretty piece of country. I’m a lucky guy when it comes to day jobs.

I have a few notable items to throw out here. On Saturday, July 26, I’ll be at Borderlands Books in beautiful San Francisco starting at 3 p.m. to do a reading, Q&A, signing, whatever. I know there’s some Night Shade Books fans in San Francisco, so I hope to see you there. It’ll be a lot of fun. (And then I’m going to Mission Chinese Food, because it’s nearby and I hear it’s the best, but I digress.)

Secondly, while I was off in Idaho and well out of cell phone range, the Qwillery offered up reviews of both The Enceladus Crisis and The Gravity of the Affair by TrinityTwo. On Enceladus, she writes:

The Enceladus Crisis … packs an astounding wallop of adrenaline. This is a smart, well-written and outstanding series; no sophomore slump here, Book Two is even more exciting than the first one.

And on Gravity, she says:

I must admit, I didn’t care for Horatio Nelson overmuch; he’s too pompous. But the author’s depiction of this historical figure rings true … It’s an excellent companion to Martinez’s series and gives readers a glimpse into events that shaped Nelson’s destiny before he became renowned as Britain’s most heroic sailor.

She pretty much nailed Nelson — he was brilliant and a true English patriot and hero, but he was most definitely pompous and not an easy guy for modern readers to like. Many thanks to TrinityTwo for her kind words, and to Sally at the Qwillery for her most excellent blog and the hard work all involved put into it.

Now that I’m back, I’ll be putting the finishing touches on The Venusian Gambit over the next three to four weeks or so, and perhaps blogging a little more regularly. The finale of the Daedalus series is coming along quite nicely, and the ending is deeply satisfying to me in terms of where the characters end up and how the worlds have changed. It’s also one heck of a ride. I was writing a particularly fun scene a few weeks ago on a plane, when my wife Kate looked over and saw me grinning as I wrote.

I consider this a very good sign.

It looks like Gambit will launch next May. The reception to these books has definitely exceeded any reasonable expectation, and for that I’m grateful to all the folks who’ve read it. I hope you enjoy the conclusion as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it!

#SFWApro