Category Archives: Books

Daedalus available for Kobo and Nook e-readers! Kindle too!

The rollout of The Daedalus Incident continues! I’m happy to report that the ebook is now available on the Nook and Kobo devices, in addition to being available on the Kindle. And, you know, it makes a fantastic way to spend those Father’s Day gift cards. Just saying.

I still haven’t seen it up in the iBooks store yet, so Apple users, hang tight. It’s coming!

Thank you to everyone who went out and bought Daedalus over the past few days. It’s really gratifying to know that people actually have it in their hands, especially after all we went through to get it out there! And if you’ve read it and liked it, I would certainly be mighty grateful for a review on whatever site you purchased it from, or on Goodreads!
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Buy The Daedalus Incident on Kindle NOW!

Well, that was fast.

I’m really quite pleased to announce that The Daedalus Incident is now available as an ebook for Kindle users! That’s right, it’s up, it’s live, and you can spend your money on it and read it NOW.

So…what about other formats? And print? Audiobook?

The folks at Start Media tell me that Daedalus will be available via Kobo and Apple in a couple of days. The Nook takes longer, apparently, and we’re talking up to four weeks there. I don’t have links yet, because they’re still processing, but I’ll be sure to post here soon as I have something.

The print version is still on Amazon, B&N and elsewhere with a July 9 release date. I’m not sure how solid that is at the moment, so if I get that confirmed, or if it changes, I’ll let you know. I figure mid- to late July is probably more likely. Of course, you can pre-order it in print now, and when it shows up, it’ll be like your little Christmas in July.

Everyone at Start Media worked hard to get the ebook out quickly, and I’m really grateful to them for fast-tracking it. I know Skyhorse is working equally hard to get the print version out to you folks as soon as humanly possible.

As for the audiobook, Audible isn’t tied to the Skyhorse/Start folks for its release, so you can count on July 19 as a solid release for that. And of course, you can pre-order it now!

So if you have a Kindle, have at it! If you don’t, hang in there. It’s coming soon!
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Why I like the “gatekeepers” of book publishing

So while I was going through the Great Uncertainty over the past two months — the will-they-or-won’t-they of the Skyhorse/Night Shade deal — a few folks opined that I should just grab my rights and self-publish The Daedalus Incident on my own. Some were simply being encouraging and wanted to see the book published somehow and anyhow.

But there were a few ready to raise the tricolor over the battlements and sing out in defiance of traditional publishing. Why did I even go down the traditional publishing route, bowing in subservience to the Great Capitalist Machine instead of embracing both Art and Personal Freedom by self-publishing? Surely, the Night Shade near-debacle was a warning sign of the Terror to come.

Obviously, I’m being somewhat snarky here, not to mention a bit too referential of Les Miserables. And in fact, I’m not anti-self-publishing at all. As you may see in the weeks and months ahead, I personally believe a hybrid model of traditional and self-publishing may serve myself and other authors quite well.

But I did go the traditional route for my debut, The Daedalus Incident, and I actually liked working my way through the “gatekeepers” of the publishing business. Here’s why.

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Tor.com’s review of The Daedalus Incident

So it’s been a busy week here, what with the whole Skyhorse/Night Shade thing finally settling down. But there’s a book out there, and people are reading and reviewing it. Lost in the shuffle earlier this week was Stefan Raets’ great review of The Daedalus Incident on Tor.com. In part:

This is a fast-paced and smooth read from the very beginning, and towards the end Martinez builds up the suspense and urgency like a pro…. The Daedalus Incident is a true genre-bender. It mixes alchemy, quantum physics, and historical figures in ways you haven’t seen before. I’m not saying which historical figures, by the way, because discovering that is part of the fun, but let’s just say that some of them open the door for some potentially fascinating sequels. The Daedalus Incident isn’t perfect, but it’s adventurous, original, and a blast to read.

Perfect is a pretty high bar, so I’ll take it.

Stefan’s review is very fair, nuanced and extraordinarily well informed by his knowledge of the genre.  Yes, he liked the book, but even if he didn’t, I’d still have to respect the work he put in. (They don’t do a rating system on Tor, but Stefan gave The Daedalus Incident four out of five stars on Goodreads, for those who prefer their reviews numerically calibrated.)

To say I’ve been pleased with the reviews Daedalus has garnered is an epic understatement; I’m freakin’ thrilled. And now that the dust has settled and Skyhorse is in the driver’s seat, we should have smooth sailing toward a summer launch. I’ll provide more details on an exact date when I get them, but until then, feel free to click on the pre-order links on the right-hand side of this page, or click here and scroll to the bottom for a more exhaustive list of pre-order sites.

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Skyhorse finishes Night Shade deal; Daedalus is go for launch!

Thank God that’s over. Now we can get on with the business of getting The Daedalus Incident properly launched!

Today, Skyhorse Publishing and Start Media LLC announced the completion of its purchase of Night Shade Books’ assets. In English, that means Night Shade has a new owner, and I have a new publisher for Daedalus. 

Furthermore, it’s pretty safe to say that my new publishing overlords are pretty happy with me and my little novel; they invited me last week to offer up comment for their press release announcing the sale. You can read the entire release here on io9.com.  You may also recognize the art used to illustrate the piece. (Big hat-tip to io9 for doing a nice job on the coverage of all this, by the way.)

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Join me at BEA today at 2 p.m.!

The Book Expo America is once again taking over New York, and seeing as I have a book coming out and such, I figured I’d take part. I’ll be helping out at the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America booth today — yes, one day only! — and will be doing a bit of a thing at 2 p.m. The SFWA booth is #2625, which is right near the 3E entrance on the exhibit hall floor. Here’s a handy map.

That thing I’m doing at 2 p.m….well, it was supposed to be a signing, but given the delay of The Daedalus Incident into the summer, I’ll basically be handing out Special Commemorative Flyers (printed front and back) and talking up the book. Yes, I’ll be taking questions. Except regarding that incident in Bolivia which, well, I really can’t talk about. You know how it is with sanctions.

Anyway, if you’re around, stop by the SFWA booth and say hi. I’ll also be roaming about and Tweeting as well, so you can live vicariously through me if you can’t attend and really like books.

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My turn to be interviewed, plus what I’m up to at BEA!

After interviewing Peter V. Brett for a piece this past week, it seems it’s my turn under the interrogators’ lights. Fantasy Faction‘s Dan Hanks, who gave The Daedalus Incident a very nice review, is back to ask me all about how it came to be. Dan asked some great questions; you can check out the entire interview here.

Fantasy Faction is an outstanding fan site, and a popular one, too — so much so that they’ve bulled through their bandwidth allotments for two straight months. They’re asking folks to donate to help them upgrade their servers; here’s the post on why they’re asking, and the Donate button is on the right-hand side of every page. So if you like their content, it’d be good karma to help ’em out.

I’ve also been interviewed by an honest-to-goodness literary magazine, The Rathalla Review, run by the folks at Rosemont College. Grad student Feliza Casano asked me about my writing process and how my background in journalism helped me put together my first novel. Click here to read the whole thing.

Finally…I’m going to be at Book Expo America! So if you’re a bookish sort heading to New York this week, I’ll be doing a thing on Thursday, May 30, at 2 p.m. at the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) booth. That’s booth #2625 near the 3E entrance for those hoping to map things out. I’ll be at the show all day Thursday, so feel free to come say hi. There’s also a great bunch of SFWA authors doing stuff at the booth all weekend, so be sure to check it out if you’re going to the show!

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My interview with Peter V. Brett

It’s been quite a while since I put on my interviewer hat. At the behest of the Irish writing site writing.ie, I recently sat down to interview New York Times bestselling author Peter V. Brett. Peat was very gracious with his time, and very patient with my questions. The drink I bought him may have helped. (Click here for the interview.)

So how did I get this gig? It’s not like Martinez is a particularly Irish surname, after all.

It came about after writing.ie started following me on Twitter back in January. This led to some conversations, and the site’s manager letting me know that they were keen on doing more stuff about speculative fiction. Never one to let an opportunity for blatant self-promotion pass me by, I offer to help. You’ll see a guest post of mine on there later this summer, by the way.

Couple months later, writing.ie had an opportunity to interview Peat, and asked if I wanted to do it. Of course, I said yes. Couple months after that — during which Peat was on his book tour and I was traveling to Japan and such — he and I finally sat down. And it was a great chat.

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A handful of quick news items

Thought I’d give you folks a few updates on various and sundry things surrounding The Daedalus Incident. No, I don’t have an ironclad launch date yet, but things on the Skyhorse/Start deal front look good.  And that’s all I can say on that. So, moving on:

I’m writing over at SFSignal today, participating in a rather epic mind meld on the literary appeal of gods, goddesses and myths. Not only is the subject matter epic to begin with, but I’m sharing the stage with a lot of great folks, including Mike Underwood, Chuck Wendig, Chris Lites and Christopher Garcia. Lots of interesting stuff in there; you should check it out. Big shout out to Paul Weimer for including me in such august company.

While I’m here, I really want to give a hearty thanks to everyone at the Hugo Award-winning SFSignal — Paul, JP Frantz, Patrick Hester, Regan Wolfrom and especially John DeNardo — for all the support and interest. They’ve been awesome. If you’re a SF/F fan and haven’t bookmarked SFSignal…man, I can’t even contemplate that. Just go do it.

Also, I got confirmation from Steve Feldberg over at Audible that the audiobook of The Daedalus Incident is primed to go whenever the ebook hits the market, likely around early July at this point. I’ll post a link as soon as I see one. Also, the audiobook has two narrators, Kristin Kalbli and Bernard Clark, which I find quite cool. In retrospect, given the two different protagonists in two different settings, having dual narrators makes sense. It just never occurred to me that someone would actually want to do that. So, yeah…very excited. Thank you to Steve, Kristin, Bernard and the rest of the Audible crew. Can’t wait to have a listen!

Finally, just today I received my official invitation to be part of the programming at LoneStarCon3, also known as the 71st annual WorldCon. So that means I’m headed to San Antonio, Texas, over Labor Day weekend! If you’re heading to WorldCon, come on out to hear me talk about writing and Daedalus and other assorted topics. No, I don’t know which panels yet, or with whom I might converse, but I’ll be sure to announce it here when I get more details. Plus, word is that some of the Night Shade authors may do a little shindig for folks in attendance, so stay tuned.

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More from the Nebulas, plus the Daedalus audiobook!

It takes a lot for me to feel like the little guy. I’m over six feet tall and not exactly waifish. Professionally, I’ve held my own conducting interviews with politicians and CEOs for many, many years. I’ve had Steve Ballmer yelling at me a bare foot away from my face, and broke down in laughter with Jeff Bezos after a particularly fun grilling.

But here, at the Nebula Awards Weekend, I was most certainly the little guy. And it was pretty cool.

As part of my volunteer duties, I helped babysit the press room. And there was a moment yesterday where I’m sitting there while Sword & Laser interviewed the legendary (and truly wonderful) Gene Wolfe, with Nebula nominee Kim Stanley Robinson listening intently nearby, and John Scalzi and Mary Robinette Kowal hovering by the door, also eavesdropping.

And I’m just this newbie, you know? I don’t fanboy much, but it was a great moment.

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