Category Archives: Books

June 1, 2016 · 1:30 pm

It’s time for Phoenix Comicon! Here’s where I’ll be!

I had a blast at last year’s Phoenix Comicon, and I’m really looking forward to this year. I’ve got a lot of cool stuff going on, and if you’re going to be there, I hope you’ll get a chance to say hi.

Here’s my schedule of events for this year, which is also on my fancy-pants guest page. Chances are, I’ll have an ARC of MJ-12: Inception on me at any one of these, so keep an eye open for giveaways!

Panel/Event Schedule

Tonight, 7 p.m. — Elevengeddon at the Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale! I’ll be joined by something like 19 other authors for a mega-SF/F signing spectacle at one of the best independent bookstores in the country. Here’s the event listing and address. It’s the ultimate SF/F convergence. BE THERE.

Thursday, 1:30 p.m. — Trope Talks: Comedy Relief, North 128B. This panel will discuss the role of the comedic sidekick in stories, and how they’re more than just the funny guy in the room. With Scott Sigler and Yvonne Navarro.

Friday, 3 p.m —  Building a Believable World: The Deets, North 129A. Let’s drill down into worldbuilding with some pretty awesome authors, including Bradley Beaulieu, Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, Shannon Messenger and Victoria V.E. Schwab.

Friday, 6 p.m. — The Lighter Side of Sci-Fi, North 128A. Why so serious? This panel takes a look at more optimistic views of the genre. With Alexandra Olivia, Greg van Eekhout, Howard Tayler, Jody Lynn Nye and Suzanne Young.

Saturday, 10:30 a.m. — Crossing the Streams: Genre Splicing, North 128A. Obviously, this is kind of my sweet spot. Let’s put genres in a blender and see what happens. With Adam Christopher, Aprilynne Pike, Neo Edmund and Yvonne Navarro.

Saturday, 4 p.m. — Bioskeletons, Neurotransmitters, Synthesia: Medical Science in Sci-Fi, North 127C. Let’s talk about futuristic medicine in a panel organized by the fantastic folks at Geeky Giving!

Saturday, 6 p.m. — Drinks with Authors, North 120. Come see authors in their natural habitat, i.e. near the bar. This informal hangout is one of my favorite things, and there will be raffles to benefit Kids Need to Read. Come say hi, drink drinks and maybe win something — all for a great cause.

Sunday, 1:30 p.m. — World Building: Are We Still Talking About This? An interesting take on world-building with this panel; we’re being asked when it gets to be too much, or when it matters less. With Greg van Eekhout, John Peck/Jack Heckel and Sarah Remy.

Signing Schedule

And in addition to all these fun panels, I’ll be doing signings at the con as well. A bunch in fact. To wit:

Thursday, 3 p.m. — Signing Lounge, North 127AB. There’s a lounge? Are there drinks? I’m hanging out with Becky Chambers, Jamie Wyman, Jason Hough, Michael Kogge, Patrick Hemstreet, Sarah Remy and Yvonne Navarro.

Thursday, 6 p.m. — Exhibitor Hall Signing. There’s also the signings in the big hall, too. With Becky Chambers, Greg van Eekhout, Jason Hough, Michael Kogge, Patrick Hemstreet and Sarah Remy.

Friday, noon — Exhibitor Hall Signing. Once more, with feeling! With Alexandra Olivia, Austin Aslan, Michael Kogge and Shannon Messenger.

Friday, 4:30 p.m. — Signing Lounge, North 127AB. Lounging about, apparently, with Bradley Beaulieu, Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, Holly Jennings, Jason Hough, Michael Kogge, Shannon Messenger and Weston Ochse.

Saturday, noon — Signing Lounge, North 127AB. At this point, we’ll probably be crooning ’70s lounge music. And we’ll be doing it with Aprilynne Pike, Bradley Beaulieu, Christina Henry, Leanna Renee Hieber, Neo Edmund, Patrick Hemstreet, Sam Sykes, Sarah Remy and Victoria V.E. Schwab.

Saturday, 1:30 p.m. — Exhibitor Hall Signing. Really, you will not want for signing opportunities. With Alexandra Olivia, Neo Edmund and Jason Hough (who will likely be quite sick of me by this point).

Sunday, noon — Exhibitor Hall Signing. This will be your last chance to get something signed by me. Not that you haven’t had ample opportunity. With Alexandra Olivia, Alyssa Wong (whose short stories are amazing and wonderful), the incomparable Kevin Hearne and Patrick Hemstreet (who will also be sick of me by this point).

So yeah. Seriously, if you’re having trouble finding me, you’re obviously slacking something fierce.

You can also follow me on Twitter to see what I’m up to and, perchance, have another crack at free books. I’ll have the aforementioned MJ-12: Inception ARCs, but also a couple sets of the Daedalus trilogy to give away, and I’ll have a ton of bookmarkts for you too. Because I’m nice like that.

Hope to see you in Phoenix!

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May 31, 2016 · 10:00 am

Elevengeddon! Tomorrow night at the Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale!

If you like SF/F books and are less than a half-day’s journey from beautiful Scottsdale, Ariz., you are officially out of excuses — Elevengeddon is coming to the Poisoned Pen tomorrow night, and you need to be there.

Why? Because while the -geddon was officially set at Eleven, we now have twenty-one authors descending on this hapless bookstore. The event kicks off on June 1 at 7 p.m. at the Poisoned Pen, 4014 N. Goldwater Blvd, Scottsdale, Ariz. Here’s the calendar listing. And as for that aforementioned twenty-one authors, they are:

That’s s a veritable flock, a slew, a plethora, a bar tab full of authors. A critical mass of science-fictional and fantastical awesomeness crammed into one bookstore. How could you not be there?

It’s gonna be huge — the store is already expecting at least 300 people, if not more. In order to keep things moving, the Poisoned Pen is going to issue wristbands for folks so they can get folks in and out of there. They’ll start handing out wristbands at 6 p.m., and each wristband will get you 45 minutes in the store to have your books signed. (i.e. the first batch of folks go from 7-7:45 p.m., the next batch is 7:45-8:30 p.m., etc.) That way, nobody has to wait around forever in line. Get your wristband, and then go grab a bite to eat or something until it’s your time.

That said, we’re not going to leave anybody hanging. You want books signed? We’ll sign your books, no matter how long it takes. Fans are awesome, and we appreciate you immensely.

Also, it should be noted that Pat and Brandon will only be signing three books per person. Otherwise, their hands will just fall off, and then they couldn’t type any more books for you.

So if you’re in town for Phoenix Comicon, or if you live in the area, or you feel like taking last-minute road-trips, head on over to the Poisoned Pen tomorrow night!

 

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May 25, 2016 · 9:30 am

Con or Bust auctions now open! Bid to win a signed ARC of MJ-12: Inception!

MJ12_FinalWant a super-early copy of MJ-12: Inception, months before it releases? Want to help awesome people attend SF/F conventions when they might not otherwise be able to go? Now’s your chance.

The annual Con or Bust auctions open today, and I have an advance reader copy (ARC) of MJ-12: Inception  up for bid. (Signed, of course!) Bidding starts at $15, and you have until Sunday, June 5 at 4 p.m. EDT to place your bid.

Con or Bust is a wonderful organization that helps people of color attend cons around the globe. If you’ve been to some of the smaller SF/F conventions, you’ve probably noticed that there isn’t a heap of diversity. Charities like this help. SF/F is all about seeing the world through different perspectives, after all, and I firmly believe our cons should have different perspectives and a diversity of backgrounds represented as well.

This is my fourth year offering up my work for auction, and I hope you’ll consider bidding on MJ-12: Inception or any of the other fantastic auction items. Go forth and bid!

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May 13, 2016 · 5:45 pm

Interior book design matters a lot

MJ12_FinalI’ve raved a few times on Twitter about the interior design of MJ-12: Inception, but I think it deserves an entire blog post — if only to highlight the immense amount of work that goes into publishing a book.

I think page design is very underrated. Yes, we all go crazy for covers, because covers are essentially the best advertisement a book can have. But the interior design really can have an impact on the reading experience. Most of the time, that’s subtle — chapter headings, font choices, etc. Occasionally, it can drastically affect how the story is consumed.

MJ-12: Inception boasts a number of “found” documents. These are teletypes, memos, transcripts, etc., that serve to deepen the story and, let’s face it, put a really interesting gloss on what might other be some inefficient or difficult exposition. These aren’t found by the characters in the book — they’re written by those characters, among others. I wanted the reader to feel like they’re in the middle of the espionage game, secret documents included.

This is a document in the book — but Night Shade didn’t create it. It’s the “official” MAJESTIC-12 authorization memo from Harry S. Truman himself. I put “official” in quotes because, despite what certain corners of the Internet believe, the MAJESTIC-12 conspiracy theory remains as fictional as MJ-12: Inception, and this is widely considered to be fake. Anyway, here it is:  Continue reading →

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May 11, 2016 · 5:00 pm

Let’s talk about authors and marketing

I’ve seen it online time and time again — authors who feel conflicted about the promotional aspects of their job as authors.

“But wait!” you say. (Because I know you would.) “Authors write books! Promotional stuff isn’t part of the job!”

Siddown, Skippy. Welcome to 2016. Like it or not, marketing and promotions are absolutely part of the job, whether or not you want to do it or like doing it. Traditional publishers are stretched thin, and publicists are fantastic people who are overworked and underpaid. So you have to shoulder some of that.

I think we all have a natural reticence when it comes to marketing our work. It feels like bragging, and most of us are self-aware enough, most of the time, to recognize that bragging is poor form, Donald Trump notwithstanding. Also, outright bragging about yourself isn’t going to win you support, also Donald Trump notwithstanding. (That man is a dumpster fire in a human suit. And he’s doing well in spite of, not because of, his incessant bragging and frighteningly needy shtick. But I digress.)

Anyway, you know what? You wrote a book. That’s a pretty impressive achievement! Even counting the surge of self-published authors, those who have written and published books still represent far less than 1% of the general population. You did a cool thing there! And you should feel good about it. You beat the odds! It’s on a shelf! Heck, I’m still excited to see my book on a shelf in a store. And because of my name, it’s shelved next to George R.R. Martin’s stuff, which is always a nice plus. Talk about discoverability.

Look, the fact remains that, even if you’re published by a traditional publisher, you still have to do the publicity stuff. That means you’ll write up a heap of blog posts for various sites, answer interview questions via e-mail, do a bunch of podcasts and generally talk a lot about yourself and your book.

So what do you say?  Continue reading →

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May 10, 2016 · 5:30 pm

Sail on! The Enceladus Crisis launches today in paperback!

Very, very excited to see The Enceladus Crisis out there in paperback today. And as is my tradition, I stopped by the local Barnes & Noble in Hackensack, N.J., to sign copies. They now have both The Daedalus Incident and The Enceladus Crisis in stock, and signed!

enceladus-launchday

In addition to detailing the ongoing adventures of now-Captain Thomas Weatherby in 1798, and now-Lt. Cmdr. Shaila Jain in 2134, the paperback edition also has a brand-new, never-before-seen excerpt of MJ-12: Inception in the back. This one followed U.S. Navy Lt. Danny Wallace as he explores the stark, horrible destruction of Hiroshma after World War II. And he finds something utterly surreal there.

Here’s a peek at the first page.

enceladus-excerpt

The third book of the Daedalus trilogy, The Venusian Gambit, is set to go July 5. And yes, you’ll get another excerpt there as well. MJ-12: Inception is due out in hardcover from Night Shade Books on September 6. If you’re attending Phoenix Comicon, I’ll have some advance copies to give away, so come say hi!

My thanks, as always, goes out to the fine folks at Night Shade Books for continuing to support the Daedalus trilogy with these new releases, as well as to super-agent Sara Megibow and all the folks who have read and enjoyed these books. You all rock!

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May 9, 2016 · 10:00 am

A care package from Night Shade Books

The whole notion of having a book come out only really solidifies when I get the first copies. Until then, it’s almost an intellectual exercise, largely conducted via Word files and e-mail. At first, it’s just a story. Then it gets a cover, and interior design, and finally printed copies. A slow evolution from the imagination to reality.

And MJ-12: Inception just got real, y’all.

Two of these are already gone — one to a contest winner, another for the Con or Bust auctions that start later this month. Some will certainly come with me to Phoenix Comicon, which kicks off June 1. I’ll certainly keep one for myself, at least until the final hardcovers arrive some time in August.

There are more of these out there, of course. The folks attending the Nebula Awards in Chicago this coming weekend may find a copy in their swag bags. Some of my fellow authors will be getting them sent directly, either out of general courtesy or specific requests for blurbs. And the major media outlets also get a copy in that never-ending windmill-tilt that is mainstream media outreach.

I have ebook files as well; if you’re a reviewer and you’ve not heard from either myself or Night Shade Books lately, then by all means reach out. It’s also up over at Edelweiss, the book-reviewer storehouse of awesomeness.

Of course, there’ll be a lot more happening as we get closer to the September 6 release date. But now that these have arrived at the homestead, the writing of this book is very much done. Now we’ll be focusing on letting the world know it exists.

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May 4, 2016 · 5:30 pm

Lock and Load: Favorite SF/F weapons on SF Signal

I love SF Signal’s mind melds, and I’m quite excited to be a part of their latest: “Our Favorite Weapons in Science Fiction and Fantasy.” There’s a lot of great authors with a lot of interesting perspectives — worth a read.

As for my bit, I feel like I’ve betrayed the spirit of Star Wars Day (May the Fourth Be With You!) by not going with a lightsaber. To be fair, it was the first thing that came to mind, because lightsabers are intensely awesome, but some reflection brought me to what I think is a far more interesting choice.

And if you know the image I’ve posted here on the blog, you know what I decided on. Check out the mind meld for more!

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April 29, 2016 · 5:45 pm

The Enceladus Crisis comes out in paperback May 10!

TEC-cover-mmpgApril’s been a very busy month, and I haven’t given the blog it’s due. And I’ve been remiss in mentioning that The Enceladus Crisis will be released in mass-market paperback on May 10, which is super exciting for me and, hopefully, a new opportunity for readers to explore the Daedalus trilogy.

The Enceladus Crisis picks up where The Daedalus Incident left off — two years after the strange quakes on Mars that plagued our heroes in the 22nd century, and nearly twenty years after a young Lt. Thomas Weatherby unraveled the mysteries of Cagliostro’s insidious plot. There’s more twists and turns in this one, new and exotic locations, and the peril — oh, the peril! It’s not an easy time for anyone in this book.

The paperback release, in addition to being easier to carry around and cheaper (ebook prices have already started to come down), also includes a new excerpt from MJ-12: Inception, the first book in the MAJESTIC-12 series of paranormal Cold War spy thrillers out in hardcover this September.

The first excerpt, in The Daedalus Incident paperback, introduced readers to a young Army officer named Frank Lodge as he navigated a particularly harrowing situation in Berlin in the aftermath of World War II. The excerpt in Enceladus introduces Danny Wallace, a Navy man investigating something very unusual in Hiroshima three months after the city was leveled by the world’s first atomic weapon.

And yes, there will be a third, all-new excerpt of MJ-12: Inception released with The Venusian Gambit paperback in July.

I’m quite excited and very gratified at how The Daedalus Incident sold in paperback — thank you, readers! And the support the series has been getting on social media has been pretty awesome. I don’t have plans to run a contest for The Enceladus Crisis at the moment — there’s been too much other stuff to do — but any shout-outs on social media, and any reviews you care to place on Amazon, B&N, Goodreads and the like, is greatly appreciated.

MJ12_FinalAs for other things, I’m busy preparing to draft MJ-12: Shadows (working title), the second MAJESTIC-12 novel. It was a tougher nut to crack since the world of the Variants has expanded quite a bit, but I worked through a bunch of stuff this month and have the whole thing mapped out, as is my wont before I start the actual writing. It feels like I’m a bit behind in the process, likely because I’ve been busy with day-job things, but when I look at the calendar, I feel quite good about where I am.

Advance reader copies (ARCs) of MJ-12: Inception have been printed, and I’m eagerly awaiting my stash. The cover is beautiful, and the interior design is absolutely gorgeous. (I may have mentioned that before, but it bears repeating. Gorgeous.) I’ll also be getting digital ARCs soon for reviewers and the like. It’s a real thing that’s happening, and I’m pretty stoked.

I’m also getting excited for Phoenix Comicon during the first weekend of June. Not 100% sure on panels yet, though I know I’m doing something with Geeky Giving as well as a panel on humorous sidekicks, plus there’s the Elevengeddon signing at the Poisoned Pen and the Drinks with Authors charity thing. I’m bringing some MJ-12: Inception ARCs as well — if you’re going, watch my Twitter feed carefully if you want one.

So that’s what I got going on. I promise to be far more entertaining on the blog in May.

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April 27, 2016 · 6:30 pm

Some thoughts on the Hugos

So for the second year running, the Hugo Awards nominations have been dominated by a slate created by a right-wing demagogue. And thus, for the second year running, numerous works across the literary and political spectrum have been ignored in favor of…what, exactly, I’m not sure, but it’s messy and strange.

I generally have no issue with anyone who wants to broaden the reach of the Hugos. Nominations are made by the folks who have purchased WorldCon memberships, and for $50, you can go ahead and nominate without attending (as I did this year). Historically, it’s been a small pool of voters, and a somewhat homogenous pool at that.

Getting more people involved in SF/F’s preeminent award is, generally speaking, a good thing. There’s a lot of great stuff published each year, and most of it doesn’t get the recognition it deserves. And yes, that goes for ray-guns-and-rockets sci-fi as well as more literary endeavors. It should really be about the love of the story, and allowing folks from all walks of life to get involved, no matter their politics or background. It’s one of the reasons I support Con or Bust, for example.

But this particular silliness isn’t about letting newcomers express their love of stories. It’s about getting a bunch of people to lock-step their nominations in order to crowd out others — and then, apparently, laugh and crow about it. In common parlance, it’s a dick move.

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