Night Shade Books is at it again, offering up the chance to win one of three copies of The Daedalus Incident over at Goodreads between now and April 24. If you’ve not yet explored the Daedalus trilogy, this is a great (read: no cost) opportunity to dive in ahead of the release of The Venusian Gambiton May 5.
Click here to enter; you have to be a Goodreads member, of course. If you’re not, it’s quick and easy to sign up. And yes, if you’re curious, there will be other giveaways and opportunities to get your hands on my books before Gambit hits shelves. Keep a weather eye out!
When Shaun Duke over at Skiffy & Fanty asked me to do an April Fool’s Day guest blog, I admit I had a hard time coming up with something that would be both funny and (remotely) plausible, with the former taking precedence over the latter.
Then I watched The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Narratives…er Armies…and the pieces fell into place. All I had to do is get my former AP newsman groove back on, and off I went. The results are here; I hope you find them amusing.
I wrote detailed reviews of both An Unexpected Journeyand The Desolation of Smaughere on the blog, but I haven’t the heart to do the same with Five Armies. I absolutely loved the original Lord of the Rings trilogy, and I think it holds up exceptionally well a decade later. I cannot say the same for the Hobbit films. The first wasn’t that great, the second was pretty good…
…and the most recent was a mess, I’m sorry to say. And there’s little more, I think, that I could add to the conversation beyond that. Others have already done a much better job of it.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the S&F tom-foolery today. I’m going to go re-watch Fellowship of the Ring now.
The stars are slowly drifting into alignment, and the eldritch forces behind Word Horde are emitting nigh-incomprehensible gibberings of darkness and madness, waiting for the time, this August, when the Old Ones return.
In other words: Ross Lockhart over at Word Horde has released the table of conents for the upcoming Cthulhu Fhtagn! anthology! And, of course, it’s awesome.
Here’s the list:
Introduction: In His House at R’lyeh… – Ross E. Lockhart
The Lightning Splitter – Walter Greatshell
Dead Canyons – Ann K. Schwader
Delirium Sings at the Maelstrom Window – Michael Griffin
Into Ye Smoke-Wreath’d World of Dream – W. H. Pugmire
The Lurker In the Shadows – Nathan Carson
The Insectivore – Orrin Grey
The Body Shop – Richard Lee Byers
On a Kansas Plain – Michael J. Martinez
The Prince of Lyghes – Anya Martin
The Curious Death of Sir Arthur Turnbridge – G. D. Falksen
Aerkheim’s Horror – Christine Morgan
Return of the Prodigy – T.E. Grau
The Curse of the Old Ones – Molly Tanzer and Jesse Bullington
Love Will Save You – Cameron Pierce
Assemblage Point – Scott R. Jones
The Return of Sarnath – Gord Sellar
The Long Dark – Wendy N. Wagner
Green Revolution – Cody Goodfellow
Don’t Make Me Assume My Ultimate Form – Laird Barron
I’m excited to be in an anthology with so many talented folks, some of whom I’ve met before and some of whom I’m simply a fan. The titles themselves are pretty cool, and I’m particularly looking forward to reading Laird Barron’s piece, as it sounds like something I’d say to my kid after she’s had too much sugar.
We don’t have a cover or release date yet (beyond the fact that it’s in August), but this one looks to be something special regardless. Head on over to Word Horde for more, and do check out the other books on offer while you’re there.
I’ve known about this one for a little over a week now, but it’s still just absolutely amazing and leaves me dazed every time I read it. Publishers Weekly saw fit to give The Venusian Gambita starred review! And they said such incredibly nice things, such as:
Overflowing with complexity and eloquence, the conclusion to Martinez’s Daedalus Trilogy (following The Enceladus Crisis) seamlessly blends popular elements from science fiction and fantasy, producing a work that raises the bar for both.
It then goes on to give a summary of Gambit, which proves to me that, yes, they are indeed talking about my book. I mean, it’s always good to check, right? And they sum it up by saying:
[Martinez] skillfully handles the intricacies of characterization and the many moving parts, building to the trilogy’s utterly satisfying and quite epic finale.
There’s more at the link, of course, including that very shiny star next to the title. I know we’re supposed to act like we’ve been there, done that — and indeed, The Daedalus Incidentreceived a starred review and year-end honors from Library Journal when it came out, which was amazing — but this was exceedingly special and I am mighty grateful for it.
My thanks to the folks at Publishers Weekly for giving The Venusian Gambit a shot — they get a LOT of books to review and can’t always get to all of them. And FYI, I’ll be returning to the PW Radio podcast in May to talk about the Daedalus trilogy and whatever else I got going on, so stay tuned for that.
The Venusian Gambit comes out May 5. Click here for pre-order info and more. Can’t wait to see this one out there!
Don’t worry…the final cover will be slightly more scary.
I am exceptionally pleased and outright stoked to make my first short-story sale announcement, and doubly so because of the topic.
My story, “On a Kansas Plain,” will be included in Cthulhu Fhtagn! from Word Horde, due out in August. The anthology is edited by none other than Ross Lockhart, who did a fantastic job editing The Daedalus Incidentfor Night Shade Books. So make that triply pleased, because I get to work with Ross again.
This is a bit of a departure for me, as the Daedalus trilogy is very much four-color adventure, but I’ve been a Cthulhu fan ever since I first read Lovecraft’s works in college (and played some pretty intense Call of Cthulhu sessions). Having a go at Lovecraft story was very much on my authorial wish list, so naturally I’m thrilled to put a check mark next to it. I get to do a little homage, I get to stretch my skills a bit…it’s just a win all around.
As Ross put it, “the stars will be right this August” — i.e., that’s when the book comes out, but I don’t have a firm date yet. I’ve seen the list of authors, and while that hasn’t been released publicly, suffice it to say I’m honored to be among them. And the cover art is still preliminary, but I promise it’s suitably dark and foreboding and tentacle-y and has nothing to do with the image above.
I’ll be posting more about the anthology as the stars align and the time draws near….! Fhtagn!
I’ve been fortunate enough to receive some really gracious emails from fans of my work, and I’ve even received art from a fan of the series. But this is a very pleasant first indeed.
It isn’t inspired by any single event in the book, but more about the world(s) depicted in the book. I really loved the old-world ships juxtaposed with the futuristic ships, and found it to be actually really in-line with the music I was writing: Modern electronic music with strings and orchestra instruments mixed in. It seemed really fitting.
It’s quite amazing and humbling knowing that my writing has inspired other art. I’m mighty grateful J. took the time to tell me about it. And we’re all fortunate in that the video to “Spacelanes” is out and ready for your viewing and listening pleasure. I loved it, and can’t wait to check out the rest of the album.
J.’s music is available on Spotify and iTunes, though if you’re interested in checking it out, I would ask that you visit J.’s Bandcamp page, as it’s a better deal for him.
I have two extra advance-reader-copies (ARCs) of The Venusian Gambit and, frankly, I want to give them to people. So let’s do the very first Gambit giveaway right here!
You have two ways to win:
Follow me on Twitter (if you aren’t already) and use the hashtag #VenusianGambit in a tweet. It’d be nice if you said something cool about the book with the hashtag or let folks know about the giveaway, but that’s not required. Yes, a retweet with the tag will suffice. OR:
Subscribe to this very blog via WordPress or e-mail — there’s a widget on the lower right hand side of this page. That’s it. Just subscribe. If you opt for e-mail, I promise not to spam you.
You have until Monday, March 23 at 11:59 p.m. EDT to do either of these things. Or both. Yes, if you follow and hashtag on Twitter and subscribe to the blog — which, admittedly, is a whole lot of me in your online life — you’re entered twice, and you’ve doubled your chances of getting a free book.
Now, to be clear, the ARCs haven’t benefited from the loving ministrations of a copyeditor, which means there’s misspellings and a few grammatical snafus, plus my French leaves much to be desired. (Yes, the final version has been thoroughly scrubbed.) That said, Gambit doesn’t hit shelves until May 5, so you’ll be getting a first look early on. And you know what? If you win, I’ll sign and personalize it for you. Or someone else, if you’re so inclined. Even your cat.
On Tuesday, I’ll choose the two winners using a random number generator for each giveaway and reach out to the winners via Twitter, e-mail or WordPress.
Notes on eligibility:
It’s one entry per Twitter follower, no matter how many times you use the #VenusianGambit tag after the first time, though I appreciate your fervor.
Twitter followers or blog subscribers with whom I already have a professional relationship aren’t eligible. If you work for my publisher or literary agency, or if you’re a reviewer or podcaster…you’re out of luck. (But seriously, if you’re the latter, you should have already gotten the book, and ping me if you haven’t.)
If you win but don’t reply to my outreach within a week, I’ll pick an alternate winner. I need to know where to send the book, after all.
Yes, I will ship internationally if the winner lives outside the U.S. — I have followers in Iceland and England and a lot of cool places. That said, it’ll ship cheap and will probably take a while to get there.
There you have it. You have until Monday night. Get Tweeting and/or subscribing!
You’ve already seen the great cover art by Lauren Saint Onge for The Venusian Gambit(out May 5!), but there was just one thing missing…and now it’s there.
That awesome blurb is from the super-talented writer Beth Cato, author of The Clockwork Daggerand, coming June 9, The Clockwork Crown, both from Harper Voyager. Here’s the non-squinting version:
“Everything the finale of a trilogy should be — constant suspense, genuine characters…. If you start this at bedtime, don’t plan on getting any sleep until you hit The End.”
Beth has been a fan of the Daedalus series since The Daedalus Incidentcame out, and readily agreed to give Gambit an early read. She’s been extraordinarily generous with her time and her recommendation here, and I’m very, very grateful. You should definitely check out her books and her blog, which not only features a lot of magical steampunk goodness, but also some of the best baking recipes on the Internet.
I’ve been meaning to write about this for a while, and I believe the opportunity is nigh. Should authors use their platforms — blogs, social media, panels and signings, whatever — to opine regarding the issues of the day? Apparently, the Romance Writers of America, in a recent magazine piece for members, advises against taking “extreme viewpoints.” Exhibit A:
I firmly believe that anyone and everyone should feel free to speak out on the topics that are important to them. I live in the U.S., and freedom of speech is enshrined in the Constitution. Hell, I made my living via the First Amendment as a journalist with The Associated Press. I’m rather fond of freedom of speech. Advising people to bury their consciences and keep their mouths shut is just bad advice — period, full stop.
As is their wont, both John Scalzi and Chuck Wendig wrote about this quite eloquently, so I would direct you to their posts. To summarize both: Speak out if you’re so inclined. Your conscience isn’t worth keeping a book sale.
Here’s where I tend to trip up: I’m rarely so inclined. And I’m gonna tell you why.
Just a quick and friendly reminder that you have two days left to register to win one of ten signed copies of The Daedalus Incident over at Goodreads. Even if you have the book, signed copies are cool, right? And if you don’t, now’s the perfect chance to get a copy ahead of the release of The Venusian Gambit on May 5.
Night Shade Books is at it again, offering up the chance to win one of three copies of The Daedalus Incident over at Goodreads between now and April 24. If you’ve not yet explored the Daedalus trilogy, this is a great (read: no cost) opportunity to dive in ahead of the release of The Venusian Gambit on May 5.
When Shaun Duke over at 
