Tag Archives: Borderlands

December 14, 2016 · 5:00 pm

Fantastic independent bookstores for all your holiday gift-giving needs

Found by a friend at Powell's up in Oregon. One of many reasons indie bookstores rock.

Found by a friend at Powell’s up in Oregon. One of many reasons indie bookstores rock.

Let me start by saying that I realize Amazon and Barnes & Noble are the two big choices for book buying, and honestly, I have a lot of respect for both of them. Both companies have been good to me and my work, and I deeply appreciate that. I’m glad they’re there.

But you know what’s awesome? Independent bookstores. I love indie bookstores, man. They are an absolute labor of love for the people that own and run them, and they are vibrant and, dare I say, critical pieces of community life around the country. So this holiday season, I would encourage you to check out independent bookstores in your area for all your gift-giving needs.

Or maybe check out the ones I have listed here if you don’t have a local indie close to you. These are the independent bookstores that I’ve enjoyed visiting around the country, and if you’re in the market for books this holiday season — whether it’s my books or just any books — I would strongly encourage you to check them out. The vast majority of these offer online sales and shipping, and many offer ebook sales via Kobo, too.

I totally get that indie books are more expensive — they’re generally full list-price, plus shipping. And sure, Kobo is a little more expensive than Kindle or Nook. Given the huge impact a good bookstore has on its community, I would urge you to shop indie anyway, if you’re able to do so. It’s fantastic karma.

Finally, I’m highlighting the stores that are offering the Geeky Giving charity anthology, which I was proud to be a part of this year. There are some great stories in there, and proceeds go to the Barrow Neurological Institute. Buying it is a win all around, y’all.   Continue reading →

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September 8, 2016 · 9:06 pm

A new review of MJ-12: Inception, plus a guest post

img_6681I’m deeply humbled and gratified by the newest review of MJ-12: Inception from Tracey (aka TrinityTwo) over at the Qwillery. Here’s the bit that knocked me over and made me do a bit of a Kermit flail:

Martinez is truly a gifted writer in that MJ-12: Inception has a distinct and utterly different flavor than his previous series. Although I only know about organizations like the CIA from books, movies and literature, his portrayal of the inner workings of government programs seems authentic. I enjoyed reading the confidential reports written from the perspective of top officials in the CIA. Martinez, a master at genre blending, has created an exciting new series by mixing a pinch of James Bond to a dash of the X-Men and then combining that with a dose of politics and old-fashioned cloak and dagger espionage.

Dude. That’s pretty swell, as they might say in 1948. You can read the whole review here, along with a guest post I wrote about my approach to writing a brand-new series.

I’m writing this in the cafe at Borderlands Books in San Francisco, which explains the rather meta image attached to this post. It’s also another lovely excuse to remind you that Borderlands is pretty much the only game online right now to get a signed copy of MJ-12: Inception, and they also have the Daedalus trilogy books in stock with my scrawl on them. Click here to get started!

Here’s something to look forward to: I recorded a Ditch Diggers podcast today, which should land online over the next few days. It was incredibly fun, and hosts Mur Lafferty and Matt Wallace are the absolute best. I’ll ping everyone when it hits, but in the meantime, there are far worse ways to spend your time than checking out past episodes, which include conversations with fantastic humans like Fran Wilde, Kameron Hurley and Chuck Wendig.

I’m heading home Saturday, and really looking forward to that. San Francisco is lovely. Borderlands is amazing. DragonCon was its usual fantastic awesomeness. But you know, I’m good with the travel for a bit. Thank you all yet again for all the love and support you’ve shown MJ-12: Inception. It really matters and you’re all awesome.

*falls asleep in the middle of Borderlands Cafe*

#SFWApro

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September 7, 2016 · 2:00 pm

Assorted launch week news, plus signed copies of MJ-12: Inception now available from Borderlands!

I’m now in San Francisco! And yeah, I’m rather looking forward to getting home and resuming some semblance of normalcy after a busy month-plus of travel. I was in the air for most of MJ-12: Inception‘s launch day yesterday, so there’s a few items here I want to call out.

  • I was a guest on Chuck Wendig’s blog! Chuck is, of course, a fine human and a fantastic author, and I deeply appreciate all the support he’s shown over my short but busy fiction career thus far. In the blog post, which you can find here, I talk about everything I learned from The Magic School Bus. You didn’t read that wrong.
  • I was also a guest on Mary Robinette Kowal’s blog! Another fine writer and amazing person as well! On her series My Favorite Bit, I talked about superpowers and character development.
  • Finally, I was a guest on Janice Hardy’s Fiction University blog! On this one, I got to talk about opening one’s novel and different ways to do that so you can seize the reader’s attention and never let go.

I very much enjoyed visiting Borderlands Books last night here in San Francisco. The whole team there is just amazing and lovely, and we had some great conversations and some fine local beer. Right now, Borderlands is the only place on the Internet where you can order signed copies of MJ-12: Inception, and all you have to do is click here. (Well, you have to pay, of course.)

If you’re in the market for MJ-12: Inception, I strongly encourage you to get a signed copy from Borderlands. It’s a few bucks more than Amazon, but it’s signed and you’re helping to support the best darn genre bookstore around. Do it! I should also note that Borderlands has signed copies of the entire Daedalus trilogy as well!

Finally, thank you all so much for all the support and love you showed this new book yesterday. Your reviews and retweets and Facebookery matter so much when it comes to spreading the word, and I deeply appreciate it.

#SFWApro

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September 6, 2016 · 12:00 pm

MJ-12: Inception is out today!

Today’s the day! MJ-12: Inception, first of the MAJESTIC-12 series of Cold War spy-fi thrillers, is officially released today in hardcover from the lovely folks at Night Shade Books! I posted the acknowledgements yesterday, but I want to thank everyone involved just one more time for making this book a reality.

Hey, let’s take a look at that gorgeous cover one more time, shall we?

MJ-12-newcover

It’s so very, very pretty. And when I finally get to a bookstore this evening, seeing it on a shelf will make it even prettier.

I’ll be staring at it gleefully tonight at Borderlands Books in San Francisco, where I’m doing a reading and signing at 6 p.m. And if you want a signed copy and aren’t in the San Francisco area, let it be known that the good people at Borderlands will be happy to ship one to you. Just give ’em a call.

By the time you read this, I’ll be on a plane heading west, so keep your eyes out for various guest posts and such coming out today. If you’re a fan of my work and want to help out, please share on whatever Facechats or Snaptweetgrams you have at your command. It’s all greatly appreciated.

And of course, you can now order the book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Mysterious Galaxy, Borderlands Books, and/or through your local bookstore via Indie Bound. You can also feed your Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Google Play and Apple iBook devices as well.

Enjoy the book!

#SFWApro

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September 4, 2016 · 1:13 pm

Learn the secrets of my BBQ sauce recipe

Yeah, there’s a headline I’ve never written before! But it’s true.

I’ve been playing with BBQ sauce recipes for years now, starting off with a basic recipe — equal parts ketchup, mustard, molasses and apple cider vinegar —  refining and playing with it ever since. And today on Fran Wilde’s Book Bites, you get to enjoy the results of all that experimentation.

This sauce isn’t as thick as the stuff you buy in the stores, but store-bought uses thickeners and chemicals and corn syrup and all kinds of awful. If you’re a BBQ purist, you can use this sauce as a mop during smoking, then set it on top of the firebox to simmer and thicken throughout the day. (And if the words “mop” and “firebox” aren’t in your BBQ lexicon, well…that’s OK.)

My thanks to the luminous and crazy-talented Fran Wilde for having me on her Book Bites blog. She’s totally aces and you need to be reading her award-winning books, y’all. Plus, she’s a great human to hang out with at a con.

Speaking of cons, this is my last full day at DragonCon, which has been the usual excellent experience. There’s only a handful of copies of MJ-12: Inception left at the booksellers in the vendor hall, so get thee hence or wait until Tuesday when it hits bookstores. Of course, if you wait, those copies won’t be signed. Just saying.

Finally, here’s your regular reminder about Tuesday’s launch-day reading/signing at Borderlands Books in San Francisco at 6 p.m. If you’re in the area, come on by and say hello!

#SFWApro

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August 30, 2016 · 12:15 pm

I’ll be at Borderlands Books in San Francisco one week from today!

MJ-12-newcoverBorderlands Books is awesome. Seriously, it’s one of the very best bookstores I’ve ever visited. Alan and Jude are fantastic people, and the staff is frighteningly knowledgeable and yet completely friendly and accessible. My wife did an article about their sponsorship model last summer, and I’m glad to report they’re still going strong.

So when I say I’m excited to launch MJ-12: Inception with a little reading and signing there, you know I mean it.

MJ-12: Inception launches next Tuesday, Sept. 6, in hardcover, and I’ll be at Borderlands starting at 6 p.m. to do stuff. If there’s a big audience, I’ll do a formal reading and Q&A, and if we’re small but mighty, I’ll do the same…with less formality? Whatever. I’ll bring beer. It’ll be fun. If you’re in the Bay Area, I totally hope to see you there.

And if you can’t make it, well, I’ll be signing whatever they have on hand, and you can give ’em a call and have them ship a signed copy directly to you. They’re awesome like that.

Also, if you’re in the Bay Area, or even if you’re not and just like the idea of helping out fantastic SF/F bookstores, I strongly urge you to consider becoming a Borderlands sponsor. You’ll be supporting a key piece of the SF/F community — not just in San Francisco, but throughout the country.

One more note: the Goodreads giveaway of MJ-12: Inception wraps up tomorrow night at midnight. So if you haven’t signed up yet, do it!

#SFWApro

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August 23, 2016 · 5:30 pm

Goodreads giveaway for MJ-12: Inception, now on io9’s fall must-read list

MJ-12-newcoverI’m back from Los Angeles and (mostly) recovered from jet lag…and I have news!

The official Goodreads giveaway for MJ-12: Inception is now live! Click here to enter! You must be a Goodreads member to enter, but it’s relatively quick and painless, I promise. We’re giving away ten freshly-printed hardcover copies, and you have until August 31 to sign up.

And why should you enter? Well, besides reading this and possibly being predisposed to liking my work, MJ-12: Inception has been listed among of io9’s “All the New Scifi and Fantasy Books You Absolutely Must Read This Fall.” I mean, that’s practically an imperative, right? So excited to be on a list with so many fantastic authors. Check it out.

If you don’t win the Goodreads thing, well, I hope you’re heading to DragonCon in Atlanta over Labor Day weekend, because that’s your next best bet. I’ll be there doing panels and readings and beer pairings (the latter by request only), and I’ll have a few copies to give away. There will also be limited quantities on sale in the vendor room, because we love DragonCon.

There may yet be another giveaway before the book launches Sept. 6, but since it’s not live yet, I can’t announce it. But it’s also cool.

Of course, if you can’t go to Atlanta and don’t want to leave things to chance, you can always pre-order MJ-12: Inception from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Mysterious Galaxy, Borderlands Books, and/or through your local bookstore via Indie Bound. You can also order your Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Google Play and Apple iBook editions, too.

Finally, if you’re in the San Francisco Bay area, I hope you’ll come out and celebrate with me at Borderlands Books on Tuesday, Sept. 6 at 6 p.m. I’ll be doing a reading and a talk and signing and all that good stuff. I may very well bring beer. Plus, you can support one of the best independent bookstores ever. Hope to see you there!

#SFWApro

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