Category Archives: Books

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.

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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.

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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.

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I had a most excellent conversation with host Timothy C. Ward on the Adventures in Sci-Fi Publishing podcast, which is now live and available for your listening pleasure. We talked about the er…adventurous route the Daedalus series took to publication, along with a goodly amount of stuff about how The Enceladus Crisis was written. Tim is a great, thoughtful host, by the way. You should totally check it out, either by clicking here or downloading it to whatever digital listening device you employ.

But hey, if a high-quality podcast about SF/F and publishing isn’t enough of a draw, there’s a giveaway! Subscribe to the AISFP newsletter by 11:59 p.m. CDT on June 2, and you’ll be entered to win copies of my two books, or a copy of fellow Night Shade author Robin Riopelle‘s Deadroads. Really, you can’t go wrong with either choice. So click here to sign up and enter to win.

In other news, today should be the last day the ebook edition of The Enceladus Crisis is on sale for $1.99 on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Kobo. Of course, I still think it’s a good value at $9.99. But who doesn’t like saving money? So hurry it up if you want to get it cheap, y’all.

Finally, I wanted to point out this bit about book promotion in The New York Times book section today. If you scroll through this blog, you’ll of course quickly see that I very much find book promotion valuable. I know some authors really dislike having to do interviews and guest posts and readings and whatnot. But my feeling is…what’s the point of writing a book if nobody knows it’s out there? So off I go in promoting, and all I can hope for is that you, dear readers, find it entertaining and insightful.

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Last week was pretty busy, both in terms of day-job and book stuff, so I apologize for not writing sooner. Both The Daedalus Incident and The Enceladus Crisis have done very well in the two-plus weeks since the second book launched — better, in fact, than Daedalus did when it launched last August. And the $1.99 ebook deal for The Enceladus Crisis was very cool, launching the book into the top 100 for SF/F on Amazon and elsewhere.

And so for that, thank you! A lot of people picked up both books over the past month or so, and I greatly appreciate it. I hope you’re enjoying them. And thanks, too, to everyone who posted on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, etc. Every bit helps. My daughter’s 529 thanks you, too.

Only one tidbit of book stuff to report, though a very nice one. On the group author blog Novelocity, author Beth Cato said her favorite opening line from a novel was from….The Daedalus Incident: 

“Mars is supposed to be dead, just a big hunk of cold rock hanging in space.”

To be anybody’s favorite opening line is high praise indeed, especially in a blog post with so many other great openers, so thanks, Beth! By the way, Beth’s novel, The Clockwork Dagger, is out in September. Since it’s obvious she has great literary taste, I suggest checking it out.

I’ve spent my long weekend thus far making great strides on The Venusian Gambit, the third and (as far as I know) final book in the Daedalus series. Of course, it is indeed Memorial Day tomorrow, and it’s worth reflecting on the sacrifices others have made to keep us safe. So to those who have served, and to the families of those who were lost…thank you.

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A couple of new items today. The first: I’m interviewed over at the Qwillery, a most excellent book blog, about writing The Enceladus Crisis and what comes next after that. I talk a bit about Napoleon as a character, as well as the research that went into book two of the Daedalus series. Check it out.

Also, there’s a new review of Enceladus up at Joe’s Geek Fest, another most excellent book blog. Joe Frazier, a fellow Firefly fan (which makes him awesome), had this to say about the book:

Mr. Martinez set a high bar for himself in his debut novel; could his sophomore effort live up to the expectations it established? It has and then some. His characters and their relationships are even more fully flushed out, his dialog, description of action (Ilove the first battle scene) and overall handling of the narrative is, if anything, tighter and better…I once again am slightly embarrassed at having waxed rhapsodic over another Michael J. Martinez book, but I cannot help myself. It’s that good. Do yourself a favor and get the book (and audiobook).

I really cannot argue with any of that. Click here for the full review. Thank you, Joe, for the very kind words!

And as a reminder, the ebook edition of The Enceladus Crisis can still be had for $1.99 for a limited time. You can get the sale price at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Kobo Books. Many thanks to everyone who helped spread the word about the sale, and to all the folks who have rated and reviewed The Enceladus Crisis on Amazon, Goodreads and elsewhere.

#SFWApro