Your Holiday Book Suggestion List (From Authors)
Posted on December 3, 2010 Posted by John Scalzi 218 Comments
Hey, folks! Looking for the perfect book for people you like/love or in some way obligated to? This will be the place to get suggestions. I’m inviting book authors to post in the comment thread here to tell you about their works, which you can then go and purchase at your favorite bookstore. It’s just that easy! Now, hold on a second while I talk to the authors, okay? Thanks.
Authors: I have up to 45,000 readers here on a daily basis! Some of them will be shopping for books this holiday season! Tell them about yours in the comment thread!
Here are the rules to post:
1. Authors only, books only. There will be another pimp thread for other things, early next week. Any type of book is fine: Fiction, non-fiction, etc. If you are not the author of the book you’re posting about, don’t post. This is for authors only (edited to add: Anthology editors may promote their anthologies).
2. Your book(s) must be in print and available on a returnable basis at bookstores and at the following three online bookstores: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Powell’s. This is so people can find your book when they go looking for it. If your book isn’t available as described, wait for the other pimp thread next week.
3. One post per author. In that post, you can list whatever books of yours you like (as long as it meets the criteria in point 2), but allow me to suggest you focus on your most recent book. Note also that the majority of Whatever’s readership is in the US/Canada, so I suggest focusing on books available in North America.
4. Keep your description of your book brief (there will be a lot of posts, I’m guessing) and entertaining. Imagine the person is in front of you as you tell them about your book and is interested but easily distracted.
5. You may include a link to a bookseller if you like by using standard HTML link scripting. Be warned that if you include too many links (typically three or more) your post may get sent to the moderating queue. If this happens, don’t panic: I’ll be going in through the day to release moderated posts. Note that posts will occasionally go into the moderation queue semi-randomly; Don’t panic about that either.
6. Comment posts that are not from authors promoting their books as specified above will be deleted, in order to keep the comment thread useful for people looking to find interesting books.
Got it? Excellent. Then tell the folks about your book! And tell your author friends about this thread so they can come around as well. Now, I’m going to talk to the other folks again.
Other folks: Hey, it’s me again. Enjoy the book suggestions and hope you find something you like. The authors, I’m sure, thank you for your consideration. And so do I.
Reminder: This comment thread is for authors only, promoting books only, as specified in the entry. Any other sorts of comments will be deleted, not because I don’t like you, but so that people looking for books can find them. Thanks.
Edited to add: Whoops, sent the Twitter link to go directly to this comment. If you’re an author going “what directions?” please scroll up to the actual article. Sorry, I’m an idjit.
George R. R. Martin’s Wild Cards I, a new release of the 1987 classic with three brand-new stories by me, Carrie Vaughn, and Michael Cassutt, is now available! Buy it here:
http://www.powells.com/biblio/62-9780765326157-0
If you want a whole book just by me, you can get my Endeavour-Award-winning short story collection Space Magic: http://www.powells.com/biblio/2-9780979405433-0
Also, I have put my story “Teaching the Pig to Sing” from the May 2010 Analog up for everyone to read for free: http://www.bentopress.com/sf/pig.html
Enjoy!
Big fan of your blog, John! In DIAMONDS FOR THE DEAD, Josh Handleman returns to his boyhood home to bury his estranged father and finds an old Russian Jew living in the basement. Things go downhill from there.
(My upcoming book, KILLER ROUTINE, is available for pre-order, too!)
Alan Orloff
Bride of Tranquility is a murder mystery set in a haunted hotel during a Renaissance Wedding. You can find it fastest through Amazon, and the Publisher’s website.
Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Bride-Tranquility-Tracy-S-Morris/dp/1893687996/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1291389249&sr=1-1
Publisher’s Link: http://www.yarddogpress.com/Bride%20of%20Tranquility.htm
Corruptor By Jason Cordova
The Warp was the single greatest advance in computer technology since the in-vention of the microchip. A virtual reality gaming system so advanced that the person inside wasn’t just in the game, but was the game. Within The Warp lay the most cunning of all games, the de facto king of online gaming, the one game which was reputedly unbeatable: Crisis. The Warp was flawless.
The game was perfect.
Until something went terribly wrong.
a href=”http://www.amazon.com/Corruptor-Jason-Cordova/dp/1606192337/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1290987740&sr=8-1″
Hi John–thanks for the opportunity!
My book,
Time Machines Repaired While-U-Wait,
is a sf/crime novel set here in Perth, Western Australia, in the near future, 20 years from now. Time machines are insanely popular, and everybody has one, though nobody does anything cool with them. One man, Spider Webb, former cop, is the only person who truly hates time travel and time machines because these days he works as a service technician at Time Machines Repaired While-U-Wait. His boss is an insane arsehole named Dickhead McMahon. You’ll like him.
One day, while Spider is looking over a time machine whose owner tells him is “acting funny”, Spider discovers, hidden inside the time machine, the body of a murdered woman from the future. The part of him that’s always been a cop, and hated the way he was forced out of the Police Service, *desperately* wants to find out what happened to this woman–but all kinds of problems turn up, not least is various versions of himself turning up with all kinds of bad news about the future, and one version in particular, who has come from the actual, for-real End of Time, where a huge war is underway–and they need Spider’s help. Of course.
This book won Best Australian SF Novel at the 2008 Aurealis Awards, and was shortlisted for that year’s Philip K. Dick Awards.
It’s a bloody good read, and of course an ideal gift for all occasions, and Christmas in particular.
Thank you for your time.
Best,
K. A. (Adrian) Bedford
Dark Shines My Love by Alexis Hart (aka Karen L, Syed)
Contemporary Romance
Print $10.99 eBook $.99 (December Only)
Buy Now: http://tinyurl.com/ah-dsml
Patric LeClerc is surrounded by darkness. Blinded in a tragic accident years before, he does nothing but drive everyone away with his anger and resentment over the life he’s been cursed with. Everyone, that is, except Callie Carpenter. Desperate for a home and a job after the break-up of her dreadful marriage to a wealthy but abusive man, she tries to restore Dark Gardens Plantation to its former glory.
Patric lets his guard down and shows her that deep within, a spark of warmth and humanity still glows. Soon she finds herself more interested in him as a man than a patient. When her ex threatens to take away her son, Callie and Patric join forces to try to save the boy.
But can Patric’s dark past ever allow him to see Callie’s love for him, or will he drive her away as well, for having come too close to the true, if vulnerable, Patric LeClerc?
Reviews:
“A beautiful, moving story. Alexis Hart has the amazing ability to generate characters that literally step off the pages.” — Leslie Burbank, author of To Tame A Viking
“A moving novel…the love scenes are marvelous…will make you laugh, cry, and be glad you read it.” — Romantic Times
“Move over Jane Eyre. ‘Cause Dark Shines My Love is one contemporary Gothic that is sure to capture your heart.” — Lori Pepio, award winning author of Highland Honor
“Sensuous and heartwarming with memorable characters, DARK SHINES MY LOVE will blind you with it’s brilliance.” — Pamela Johnson, author of WHITE EAGLE’S LADY
My latest book is sort of a Sri Lankan version of The Joy Luck Club, but with more sex and food. Which is not surprising, since I wrote erotica for a decade before moving to mainstream lit. And I really love food.
Bodies in Motion is a novel-in-stories, which starts in Sri Lanka in the 1940s, and comes to the present day down two family lines. Sort of a long family epic, but since it’s told in short stories, it highlights the most interesting parts. Lots of family tension, lots of culture clash, lots of love and romance and marriage and fighting. Also some war and death.
Finalist for the Asian American Book Awards, translated into six languages, published by HarperCollins in 2005. “Mohanraj evokes a moving portrait of families searching for love and a place to call home.” (Publisher’s Weekly). “Bodies in Motion is a graceful, nimble book. With great care and affection, Mohanraj finds both beauty and lamentations in the disquieting, but revelatory, clash between custom and assimilation, between everything that came before and all that lies ahead.” (The Boston Globe)
Buy it at Amazon!
I’m also the author of several other books, including a Sri Lankan-American cookbook, A Taste of Serendib. That one’s small press, though, so it may be tricky to find in bookstores. (John, if you need to cut this paragraph, feel free. I wasn’t sure if it was okay. But it was relevant, ’cause, y’know, food.)
For your holiday list consideration, I present my fourth novel, released in 2010, Destiny’s Blood. It’s a fast-paced space fantasy adventure with world-eating purple nebulas, exiled ships and a flower shop owner (aawwww). Oooh, and incompetent smugglers.
“Marie Bilodeau knocks my socks off. She’s got an amazing eye for detail and a sumptuous narrative voice. Destiny’s Blood is a winner — another home run from one of Canada’s best new authors.” — Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of HOMINIDS
Amazon.com link.
Thanks for doing this, John. You rock!
It’s always a good season for silly erotica — yes, there is silly erotica — so consider picking up my book “Giggling Into the Pillow,” a collection of funny stories and articles about the whole sticky business. It’s available at the major online stores include the Kindle store. Here’s the Amazon link.
About a year ago, my debut MR. SHIVERS came out from Orbit. It’s a dark, grim little book that’s a bit like THE SEVENTH SEAL meets THE GRAPES OF WRATH. It probably wouldn’t make much of an orthodox Christmas present, but maybe you know someone very morbid or nasty who like their presents on the savage side.
The story takes place in the Great Depression, as Marcus Connelly abandons his home and takes to the rails to track the vagrant who killed his daughter. Yet as he scours the Hoovervilles and hobo camps, he finds he’s not alone: dozens of others have also lost loved ones to this strange drifter, and as they band together and follow him across the Dustbowl they begin to wonder if their quarry might be more than human.
It’s a bit of fantasy, thriller, horror, and Western, all told. It’s sort of a grim little myth of Americana, about hard men trying to understand right and wrong in a world that doesn’t seem to care much about them, or even know that they’re there. It’s available on Amazon, or anywhere, really. If you should try it out, I hope you enjoy it.
Thanks, John, for this opportunity!
Want a sampling of 16 great authors? Try “2020 Visions.”
Some storytellers use the distant future as the setting to make fantastic extrapolations and to explore compelling ideas. In this volume, however, the writers look forward a mere decade and present stunning scenarios, reveal exciting possibilities and warn against the harrowing pitfalls that may lie just a few steps ahead of us. What will life be like ten years from now? Sixteen extraordinary writers offer their own mind-bending answers to that question, their spectacular 2020 Visions…
It’s a great table of contents:
* Mary Robinette Kowal “Birthright”
* Sheila Finch “The Persistence of Butterflies”
* Randy Henderson “A Shelter for Living Things”
* Jason S. Ridler “Showing Light”
* Ernest Hogan “Radiation is Groovy, Kill the Pigs”
* David Lee Summers “The Revelation of Thought”
* Jeff Spock “Teh Afterl1fe”
* Emily Devenport “If the Sun’s at Five O’Clock, It Must be Yellow Daisies”
* Cat Rambo “Therapy Buddha”
* Jack Mangan “Dead Rookies”
* David Boop “Organ Cloning While You Wait”
* Spencer Ellsworth “The Black Plague of Our Generation”
* Gareth L. Powell “The Bigger The Star, The Faster It Burns”
* Alethea Kontis “Pocket Full of Posey”
* Alex Wilson “Nervewrecking”
* David Gerrold “Time Capsule 2120: Actual Comments from Lunar Tourists”
Available now from Amazon in paper form. Electronic versions forthcoming.
http://www.amazon.com/2020-Visions-Rick-Novy/dp/0983170908/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291262153&sr=8-1
A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend is a mainstream YA novel (14 and up). It’s the story of Cass’s cross-country bike journey as she tries to bring her best friend Julia’s ashes to the Pacific ocean, and of a musical called “Totally Sweet Ninja Death Squad” (written by Julia). Working on sets for the musical, Cass finds herself forced to deal with Heather, her mortal enemy from middle school and the lead in the play — and finds herself falling in love.
Starred reviews from Kirkus and School Library Journal.
Buy it from Powells here
My November release, LATE HARVEST, is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Turquoise Morning Press and other bookstores. A California wine country story set in Mendocino.
Amazon review snippet:
“I’m only three chapters into Late Harvest by Suzanne Barrett and I absolutely love it! Really fine writing…great sexual tension and, sigh, a setting (Cresthaven winery) to die for and fantasize about. And, well, um, there’s the hero, too.”
4 days later: “I am even more impressed not only by the deliciously romantic love story (just the way I enjoy them – full of melting emotional scenes that tied my heart in knots)… but by the wine-making expertise shown in this novel. Much, much solid knowledge is presented very subtly, but the expertise here will appeal to those interested in fine wine, wine-making and the vintners’ world.”
“I love coming away from a book with a genuine soft spot for the hero and heroine AND a lot of fascinating new information.”
“This one’s a real keeper!”
Getting Right with Tao is a print edition of my “translation” of the Tao Te Ching, which is just the thing for you if you want spiritual wisdom with a hint of Mamet. The Boston Globe called it “the ultimate guide to modern living” earlier this year; I don’t know if I’d go that far, but it’s pretty sensible stuff. I can say that, because all the good ideas in it are Lao Tzu’s.
Harlan County Horrors edited by Mari Adkins. In the black heart of coal country, malevolent spirits and unearthly creatures slip from the shadows into the minds and hearts of men. Young women, twisted by pain, call for love and revenge by the light of the moon. A dead dog by the side of the road is more than it seems. In Harlan County, Kentucky, the supernatural and the mundane mingle in the depths of the earth, filling the mines with powerful forces that draw people down and corrupt from within.
Harlan County Horrors is a regional based horror anthology by Apex Magazine submissions editor Mari Adkins. It will feature stories by Alethea Kontis, Debbie Kuhn, Earl Dean, Geoffrey Girard, Jason Sizemore, Jeremy Shipp, Maurice Broaddus, Robby Sparks, Ronald Kelly, Stephanie Lenz, Steven Shrewsbury, and TL Trevaskis.
In many formats. Available here: http://www.apexbookcompany.com/harlan-county-horrors/
Read one of the shorts for free here: http://www.apexbookcompany.com/2009/10/short-fiction-yellow-warblers-by-jason-sizemore/
Thanks for doing this Mr Scalzi.
Urban fantasy romance with a twist–The alchemical children of Sir Isaac Newton live among us in Lower Manhattan. It’s no coincidence that the reincarnated spirit of Isaac falls in love with one of his immortal creations.
Love’s Alchemy by Ciar Cullen available at Amazon
“Ciar Cullen expertly layers paranormal intrigue, mysticism, and romance into Love’s Alchemy, and you believe every word. It’s sheer talent to possess the ability to seduce an audience into ignoring the fact they’re reading fiction.”
A non-fiction book that may appeal to fans:
May I present Chicks Dig Time Lords, in which a group of well-known SF pros (Elizabeth Bear, Catherynne M. Valente, Jody Lynn Nye, Seanan McGuire, and K. Tempest Bradford), along with a group of fans with interesting experiences of fandom, write about their love of Doctor Who and its fandom?
http://www.amazon.com/Chicks-Dig-Time-Lords-Celebration/dp/1935234048/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1291299685&sr=8-1
There are also interviews and essays by folks involved with the series and its spinoffs.
I’m proud to have co-edited this love letter to Doctor Who and its fandom. Which is bigger on the inside, of course.
All righty then – I write historical fiction; my books are set on the 19th century American frontier and could (I suppose) pass for westerns if you look at them sideways and squint slightly. “To Truckee’s Trail” is about the first wagon-train party to make it over the Sierra Nevada with their wagons. They got caught by snow, had to split the party up, came close to starving – but didn’t. This was two years before the Donner Party – but hardly anyone has ever heard of the Stephens-Townsend Party.
The “Adelsverein Trilogy” is set in mid-19th century Texas, where 7,000 German immigrants were basically dumped onto the Texas frontier by an entrepreneur land-grant scheme gone horribly wrong. The Trilogy follows the fortunes of two interlinked families over 25 years and has everything you would expect of a book about the Texas frontier: adventure, true love, danger, Indian raids, sudden death, cattle drives,Texas Rangers, three wars… and lots and lots of cows. A fan suggested calling the whole cycle “Barsetshire with cypress trees – and lots of sidearms.”
My books are available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble – and are also available as Kindle and Nook downloads.My next book – “Daughter of Texas” is a kind of prelude to the Trilogy,(deals with a woman’s life during the early days of American settlement, and the War for Independence) will be officially released until April 21, 2011 … but I am taking advance orders through my website http://www.celiahayes.com.
Enjoy – I have a lot of local fans in Texas who love the books madly … mostly because I didn’t really have to make up all that much. The real and true history was dramatic enough!
Can’t pass up an opportunity like the generosity of the Scalzi!
If you’re looking to read/give some urban fantasy blended with a spot of humor (think Diet Dresden!), then by all means check out my Simon Canderous series. Things you may find between the pages: ghosts, vampires, homicidal enchanted bookcases, zombies, hidden castles in New York City and a hero who learned most of his survival techniques for Manhattan’s Department of Extraordinary Affairs from watching Angel and Buffy.
In order, the books (available at all the requisite sellers) are: Dead To Me, Deader Still, and the newest Dead Matter. Book four, Dead Waters, isn’t out until 2/22 but it is available for pre-order. And heck, if you would like signed bookplates for them them, e-mail me on the side. Thanks, John!
John, thanks for this opportunity — and readers, thanks for your attention and consideration!
7th Son: Descent
As America reels from the bizarre presidential assassination committed by a child, seven men are abducted from their normal lives and delivered to a secret government facility. Each man has his own career, his own specialty. All are identical in appearance. The seven strangers were not born, but grown — unwitting human clones — as part of a project called 7th Son.
The government now wants something from these “John Michael Smiths.” They share the flesh as well as the implanted memories of the psychopath responsible for the president’s murder. The killer has bigger plans, and only these seven have the unique qualifications to track and stop him. But when their progenitor makes the battle personal, it becomes clear John Alpha may know the seven better than they know themselves…
7th Son: Descent has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Time.com and Wired.com UK.
Personal Effects: Dark Art
Personal Effects: Dark Art follows the extensive notes of art therapist Zach Taylor’s investigation into the life and madness of Martin Grace, an accused serial killer who claims to have foreseen, but not caused, his victims’ deaths.
Zach’s investigations start with interviews and art sessions, but then take him far from the hospital grounds — and often very far from the reality that we know. The items among Grace’s personal effects are the keys to understanding his haunted past, and finding the terrifying truth Grace hoped to keep buried.
Personal Effects: Dark Art combines the experience of a traditional thriller novel with a multimedia-fueled “out of book” narrative. Clues in the novel — and items that come with the novel, such as ID cards and photos — propel readers into an online experience where they become protagonists themselves.
Both novels are available from St. Martin’s Griffin.
My book- Werewolves! A Journal of Transformation. It’s heavily illustrated with amazing art. The perfect coffee table books for your favorite Urban Fantasy fan, just in time for X-Mass. Usually found in either:
The Young Adult Section or Graphic Novel section (Borders)
New Urban Fantasy/New Fantasy (Barnes and Noble)
Comics/Graphic Novels (Borders, also some indie bookstores…since it’s heavily illustrated, but not a comic. Think Lady Cottington’s Pressed Fairy book)
Here are some links for the impulse buyers among us-
http://www.amazon.com/Werewolves-Illustrated-Transformation-Paul-Jessup/dp/0811877078/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1291390218&sr=8-1
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Werewolves/Alice-Carr/e/9780811877077/?itm=1&USRI=werewolves+jessup
Looking for smut this holiday season? Smut that is FUN and subtly critiques its own genre?
The Duke & The Pirate Queen. Bald tattooed heroine. Hero with a sense of humor about his…endowments. Pirates! Storms! Intrigue! Desert islands! Sharks!
And for something completely different – smut set in the early days of World War One. A grand pulpish adventure story with werewolves, an evil scientist, and a Zouave on a motorbike: The Moonlight Mistress.
If you enjoy inspirational romance/suspense, let me introduce you to Little Flowers.
A doctor known for performing abortions – murdered.
A teenage honor student from a good Catholic family – pregnant.
A barren young woman soured on relationships – unwilling to love.
One bullet, one week changes the lives of so many people. Discover which of life’s “little flowers” bloom in the face of adversity and strengthen through hope and forgiveness.
http://www.amazon.com/Little-Flowers-Kathryn-Lively/dp/1449538495/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1291390363&sr=8-5
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Little-Flowers/Kathryn-Lively/e/9781449538491/?itm=2&USRI=kathryn+lively+little+flowers
Greetings and solicitations! I’m Keith R.A. DeCandido. I am sometimes referred to as “KRAD” by people too lazy to type “DeCandido,” once called “like the second coming of Peter David” by a reviewer who gave me and Peter both fodder for jokes since, and once even called a “pop culture demigod” by an Albany newspaper, which has led to knock-down-drag-out arguments between my parents over which one of them is the deity.
Throughout the bulk of my writing career, I have been an author of what’s called “media tie-in fiction,” which is stuff that’s based on other stuff. Star Trek novels, StarCraft manga, Farscape comics, Doctor Who short stories — that’s what I do.
I’m selling autographed copies of some of my books and comics on my blog, but that doesn’t meet John’s criteria, and I don’t want to make him angry, lest he sic Wil Wheaton on me, so forget I said that (but read my blog! it’s cool, honest! okay, not as cool as this one, but cut me some slack! please?), but here’s some of my more recent fiction for your reading pleasure:
Star Trek
I’ve written more than a dozen Trek novels since 2001, as well as a mess of eBooks, short stories, and comics in that universe. My two most recent books include:
The Next Generation: Q & A — The ultimate Q story, published in 2007 for TNG‘s 20th anniversary, this ties together every single appearance Q ever made on TNG (and Voyager and DS9, for that matter), and we find out exactly why Q took such an interest in Jean-Luc Picard. Takes place after Nemesis, so there are some new faces on the Enterprise, and there are some nifty cameos, too. It also has one of the single funniest lines I’ve ever written in a novel — even people who didn’t like the novel liked this line. So check it out.
A Singular Destiny — This is a followup to David Mack’s killer Destiny trilogy of 2008, which completely upended the status quo of the 24th-century Star Trek universe in a truly impressive manner. My job with ASD was to start cleaning up Dave’s mess (it’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it). This novel deals with the larger Trek universe beyond the characters we’ve seen on TV, so don’t expect too many familiar faces, but it looks at the galactic aftermath of the invasion of the Alpha Quadrant by 7000 Borg cubes (I told you we upended the status quo!).
One more for good luck: Seven Deadly Sins — This is an anthology of seven novellas that each use a Star Trek species (or location) to represent one of the deadly sins. (Pride=Romulans, Envy=Cardassians, Greed=Ferengi, Gluttony=Borg, Lust=the Mirror Universe, Sloth=Pakleds, in a hilarious Greg Cox story called “Work is Hard.”) I get wrath, which is, of course, the Klingons, and it’s a story that features the Big Three TOS Klingons — Kor, Kang, and Koloth — working together in a 23rd-century tale. It’s a story that deals with the differences between the smooth-headed and ridge-headed Klingons based on the revelations regarding how that came about on Enterprise. Klingon fans won’t want to miss this one (and the other six stories are tonsa fun, too….).
Supernatural
But hey, maybe you don’t like space stuff. Maybe you prefer pretty men driving cool cars across the country and shooting demons in the head. I’ve written three novels based on the CW TV series Supernatural. Nevermore (2007) has the boys in the Bronx, New York, dealing with a series of Edgar Allan Poe-related murders (Poe lived in the Bronx for several years, and his wife died here — yes, I live in the Bronx, they say “write what you know” for a reason, dadgummit….) and a haunting. Bone Key (2008) sends Sam & Dean Winchester to Key West, Florida, where the local spirits are supercharged — imagine Ernest Hemingway scaring tourists away from the Hemingway House, or Harry S Truman inviting tour groups to play poker at the Little White House — and some of them are deadly.
Finally we have Heart of the Dragon , which came out earlier this year, and is a three-part story that goes back three generations. First the Campbell family — Samuel and Deana and their daughter Mary (who would grow up to be Sam & Dean’s mother) — go to San Francisco to stop the spirit of a Japanese ronin who is wreaking havoc in Chinatown in 1969. Twenty years later, John Winchester leaves young Dean and Sam behind with Bobby Singer to once again face the Heart of the Dragon in the City by the Bay. Finally in 2009, the ancient spirit is revived as part of the war between heaven and hell, and the Winchesters are joined by Castiel in trying to stop it.
The Executioner
If you’re a fan of gunplay and suspense-filled adventure and beating up the bad guys, you might be a fan of the Don Pendleton’s The Executioner novels featuring Mack Bolan. Pendleton has long since passed away, but there are new Executioner adventures every month, and I’ve written two of them, which were released in the last year: Code of Honor — in which several retired spooks are being knocked off one by one, and Bolan must infiltrate an elite squadron of assassins to avenge their deaths — and Deep Recon — when an undercover ATF agent’s cover is blown in the Florida Keys, Bolan must find out how it happened and stop the gun-runner the agent was after.
Farscape
I’m cheating a bit, as these are comics (looks nervously around for Wheaton), but the trade paperbacks are on sale in bookstores (I’ve seen them!). If you want to know what happened after The Peacekeeper Wars and learn how Crichton and Aeryn are dealing with parenthood, you need to pick up The Beginning of the End of the Beginning and Strange Detractors, which are available in hardcover or trade paperback. These stories are cowritten by me and Rockne S. O’Bannon, the creator of Farscape, and are considered the official continuation of Farscape by Rockne and the Jim Henson Company. Plus, they’re comics so we can do stuff that even the show couldn’t do, like finally go back to Rygel’s home planet so he can try to get his throne back.
If you want to know more about me, check out my incredibly brilliant (but not as brilliant as this one) blog, or follow me on Facebook or Twitter at the username of KRADeC.
Thank you, and Happy Holidays!
Reminder to authors: Try to keep things informative yet compact.
My debut novel came out last year. It’s called Child of Fire and was named to Publishers Weekly’s Best 100 Books of 2009 list. Jim Butcher said it’s excellent reading and has a lot of things I love in a book: a truly dark and sinister world, delicious tension and suspense, violence so gritty you’ll get something in your eye just reading it, and a gorgeously flawed protagonist. Take this one to the checkout counter. Seriously.
Book two came out a couple months ago. It’s called Game of Cages. In its review, Locus Magazine said This has become one of my must read series.
Interested readers can find out more about the books (along with a few sample chapters) at my website.
EXTRAORDINARY by Nancy Werlin (YA fantasy)
Looking for a Hanukkah gift for the teenage girl reader in your life? May I recommend my latest?? It features that rare thing in fantasy YA fiction: a Jewish heroine. Read about it here on Whatever’s Big Idea: http://whatever.scalzi.com/2010/09/23/the-big-idea-nancy-werlin/ or at the website link above.
If you’ve read any of William Tenn’s fiction, you know his writing was witty and often wise. His non-fiction was also terrific. Most of his non-fiction was compiled in the Hugo-nominated collection Dancing Naked: The Unexpurgated William Tenn. This includes his award-winning work “The Bugmaster” (an essay on a somewhat reclusive man who recorded the conversations of others – written in the late ’60s). “Constantinople” (a lovely tribute to his parents), and some very lengthy interviews. It’s a wonderful gift for anyone who enjoys first-hand accounts of the development of a science fiction writer in the ’50s and ’60s, and a college professor in the ’70s and ’80s. There are also some surprising stories of the social habits of writers in the ’50s and ’60s.
This book is available from NESFA Press (http://www.nesfa.org/press/Books/Tenn-3.html) and Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Dancing-Naked-Unexpugated-William-Tenn/dp/1886778469), and was published by NESFA Press in honor of Tenn’s guest of honor appearance at Noreascon IV in 2004. I’m not the writer here (obviously), but I did edit the work and I hope more people have the chance to read it.
My YA fantasy novel, Mistwood, is about an ancient shapeshifter bound by a spell to protect the kings of a certain dynasty. And of a confused girl found in a forest who is told she is that ancient shapeshifter. Possibly they’re the same story… possibly not. She’ll have to figure it out while protecting the current prince, navigating his intrigue-filled court, and trying to keep her enemies from finding out that she has lost both her memory and her powers.
It’s still around in many indies and chain stores. For online shopping/review-reading: http://www.amazon.com/Mistwood-Leah-Cypess/dp/0061956996/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291390636&sr=8-1
Or, if you want an autographed copy (great for gifts!): http://www.booksofwonder.com/prodinfo.asp?number=104059
And if you vaguely remember that there was a Big Idea essay about Mistwood: http://whatever.scalzi.com/2010/04/23/the-big-idea-leah-cypess/
Thank you, Scalzi (and anyone who, you know, buys one)
My editor told me of your blog, and PR hound that I am, I had to post.
Kim Harrison, writer of urban fantasy even before we had a proper genre title, author of the Hollows.
Short blurb: Buffy meets Columbo.
Long blurb: A pixy, a vampire, and a witch walk into a bar . . . set up a PI firm in Cincinnati . . . cross the US in a Buick . . . Destroy the balance and set off a war spanning two realities. Wait, I’ve not written that one yet.
Target audience: I’ve readers from 15 to 75 but most are 20-40, ~80% women, but I hear from firemen, police guys, and military guys and gals who like fast-paced plots with substance. If your reader likes Dresden or Sookie, chances are good they will eat up Rachel with a spoon. Start with DEAD WITCH WALKING.
http://www.powells.com/s?kw=Kim+Harrison&class=
Watch out for those burning bunnies! They’re tricky beasties.
Well, I wasn’t going to ask for a Big Idea for my second book because I already got to talk about it during my time as a guest blogger here awhile back… didn’t want to wear out my welcome. But given this invitation, I suspect that my agent, editor, and publicist will all hunt me down and shoot me if I don’t take it up. So I’m posting this in self defense! ;)
My second epic fantasy novel, The Broken Kingdoms, is now available. I fretted about it here — and thus far, my Secondbookophobia seems to have been unfounded! ::whew::
It’s the followup to my first novel, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. The books are part of a trilogy, but each is also written as a standalone; it helps to read the first book, but you don’t have to.
Since this is a promotional post, I tried to think of catchy slogans to go with this: “Give someone the gift of angry destructive gods for the holidays!” “Eggnog goes down better with a little SMITE.” …And then I quit, because this is why I don’t work in marketing.
David beat me to mentioning Wild Cards I, which I’m in…
But I’m also in brand-new anthology Songs of Love and Death, edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois. Romance, SF, fantasy, and a tiny bit of horror all in the same anthology. My story, “Rooftops,” is about superheroes in love…
My next solo book isn’t out until March, but I’ll mention it while I’m here: Young adult novel Steel is about a champion junior fencer who is considering giving up fencing — then she falls back in time to an 18th century pirate ship and has to learn to fight for real…
Leave No Trace by Lynn Romaine, romantic environmental suspense, is available now at Amazon, B&N and Powells.
Leave No Trace by Lynn Romaine
ISBN-10: 1601548311
ISBN13: 9781601548313
Blurb:
For undercover DNR agent Nik Seek, what begins as an investigation into ecoterrorism in the Ozarks turns deadly when she becomes a suspect and a target for murder. Her uncle dead, her aunt missing, a regrettable night of passion, and Nikki flees from the law and a murderer.
Excerpt
She came to lying in the dirt, face down, her whole body throbbing with pain. Then the rope pulled taut and she began moving, dragged through the dirt. She leaned back, digging in her it bound feet, but the two of them were too much for her on the other end of the rope. The tug of war continued, pierced with grunts and curses as they pulled her slowly away from the trees, towards the edge of the cliff.
“No!” But screams were useless. Her body skidded closer to the edge. Her hands still bound, she clawed with her fingernails, fighting blindly.
They moved behind her now, shoving at her body.
Only darkness lay beyond the edge of the cliff, inches away from her.
With one final shove, she felt her body falling. Then nothing.
This is Rob Callahan and I’d like to tell you all about my most recent book. It’s a novel called HELLBOUND SNOWBALLS. I’ve heard it described as Warren Ellis writing for A Prairie Home Companion while the ghost of Steinbeck floats nearby, taunting him in a sort of supernatural literary merit pissing match. I think that’s a fair assessment.
Here’s the book. Oh, and here’s my website. Thanks, and have a memorable day.
Steamy steampunk! Romance and alternate history! It’s everything Charlie Stross warned us would happen!
And THE IRON DUKE was named one of Publishers Weekly’s best romances of 2010. If you have someone who regularly reads romance (especially paranormal or historical) but is looking for something new in the genre, THE IRON DUKE would make a great gift.
My website is here, and buy-links run across the top of the page. If you click on the chiseled man-chest (hey, it’s a romance!) it will take you to the book’s description and an excerpt.
For teen readers & the young at heart (you know who you are) – a funny, snarky vampire series that has been called the anti-Twilight (in a good way). SUCKS TO BE ME was an ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers and STILL SUCKS TO BE ME just came out earlier this year, continuing the intrepid adventures of Mina.
Margot Adler of NPR fame called SUCKS TO BE ME her favorite vampire novel. :)
And, if you buy one or both of the books to give this holiday season, e-mail me for a free signed bookplate! Details on my website: signed bookplates for the holidays. You’ll also find excerpts there, plus complete randomness on the blog.
There’s something about being British that makes me curiously disinclined to shout out my wares, but what the hell. I’ve got five books out so far from Tor UK, of which the most well-known is my third, Stealing Light, the first of a space opera trilogy. First, the blurb:
“In the 25th century, only the Shoal possess the secret of faster-than-light travel, giving them absolute control over all trade and exploration throughout the galaxy. Mankind has operated within their influence for two centuries, establishing a dozen human colony worlds scattered along Shoal trade routes. Dakota Merrick, while serving as a military pilot, has witnessed atrocities for which this alien race is responsible. Now piloting a civilian cargo ship, she is currently ferrying an exploration team to a star system containing a derelict starship. From its wreckage, her passengers hope to salvage a functioning FTL drive of mysteriously non-Shoal origin. But the Shoal are not yet ready to relinquish their monopoly over a technology they acquired through ancient genocide.”
SFX magazine called it ‘a gripping interplanetary saga close in tone to both Alistair Reynolds and Peter F Hamilton’. The Times called it a ‘violent, inventive, relentlessly gripping adventure … intelligently written and thought-provoking.’
Stealing Light was followed by Nova War and finally by Empire of Light a few months back. Coming up next year is Final Days, about wormholes, time travel, ancient artifacts and the end of the world. Thanks, John!
Thanks for this opportunity, John.
SHADOW’S SON (Pyr Books) is the first in my new fantasy series about a freelance assassin, Caim, who is pited against crooked lawmen, rival killers, and dark sorcery as he seeks to unmask a conspiracy at the heart of the empire.
http://www.jonsprunk.com
Bad Monkeys tells the story of Jane Charlotte, who claims to belong to a secret organization that fights evil. Neal Stephenson called it “scarily clever” and Christopher Moore said “read it.”
Also available: my Tiptree award-winning novel Set This House in Order, my Ayn Rand satire Sewer, Gas & Electric, and longtime fan favorite Fool on the Hill.
More details about all of these titles, as well as info about my upcoming novel The Mirage, are available at my website.
My YA fantasy novel, Talking to Trees, includes talking horses, talking trees and gryphons. And a girl who’d rather be shopping at the mall.
Short blurb: Jody Burns borrows her brother’s silvery bracelet because it looks good with her outfits. But when a green-haired girl appears in search of a hero, she discovers the bracelet is the key to another world.
http://www.amazon.com/Talking-Trees-Kathryn-Sullivan/dp/1592797601/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291393309&sr=8-1
Thanks, John.
The Cigar Maker
Based on true events, it is the story of a Cuban cigar maker who battles labor strife and vigilante violence in 1900’s Tampa Florida (Ybor City). The Sopranos meets The Buena Vista Social Club. Check it out here….http://www.thecigarmaker.net
I’m Larry Correia, New York Times Bestselling author of MONSTER HUNTER INTERNATIONAL and MONSTER HUNTER VENDETTA. Both available from bookstores everywhere from Baen Books.
Five days after Owen Zastava Pitt pushed his insufferable boss out of a fourteenth story window, he woke up in the hospital with a scarred face, an unbelievable memory, and a job offer.
It turns out that monsters are real. All the things from myth, legend, and B-movies are out there, waiting in the shadows. Officially secret, some of them are evil, and some are just hungry. On the other side are the people who kill monsters for a living. Monster Hunter International is the premier eradication company in the business. And now Owen is their newest recruit.
It’s actually a pretty sweet gig, except for one little problem. An ancient entity known as the Cursed One has returned to settle a centuries old vendetta. Should the Cursed One succeed, it means the end of the world, and MHI is the only thing standing in his way. With the clock ticking towards Armageddon, Owen finds himself trapped between legions of undead minions, belligerent federal agents, a cryptic ghost who has taken up residence inside his head, and the cursed family of the woman he loves.
Business is good . . .
Welcome to Monster Hunter International.
If you would like to give someone the gift of monster killing goodness this Christmas, here is the Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Hunter-International-Larry-Correia/dp/1439132852/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291393592&sr=8-1
Or there are sample chapters of all my books on my blog at http://www.larrycorreia.wordpress.com under the sample chapters tab.
Crime novel.
Inspired by the 1964 murder of Kitty Genovese.
Won the Crime Writers’ Association’s John Creasey Dagger this year.
Called ACTS OF VIOLENCE in U.K. GOOD NEIGHBORS in U.S.
More at http://www.ryandavidjahn.com, where I use complete sentences.
Well, since all the cool kids are doing it . . .
In addition to epic fantasy (written as Daniel Abraham) and space opera (written with a partner as James S. A. Corey), turns out I also commit urban fantasy as MLN Hanover. And the new book in the Black Sun’s Daughter series — Vicious Grace — just came out, and biased though I am, I think it’s pretty good. It turns out I can’t write urban fantasy without edging toward its roots in horror and mystery.
If that’s not your cup of tea, there’s a full bibliography at the website.
My backlist (most of which is available in print as well) is also available in DRM-free ebook from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and the Apple bookstore. You can gift eBooks at Amazon using the Give as Gift button.
Books available are
Jumper (Better than the movie they made of it!)
Reflex (Jumper‘s sequel)
Wildside
Helm
and
Blind Waves
I’m pushing my eBooks since I receive roughly 70% of the cover price directly, but the print books make excellent gifts as well.
A list with links
AdvancED DOM Scripting: Dynamic Web Design Techniques
For the techy working crowd, brush up on your JavaScript with AdvancED Dom Scripting:
Amazon: AdvancED DOM Scripting: Dynamic Web Design Techniques
I’m Kevin Coolidge, co-author of “Hobo Finds A Home”, a children’s book about Hobo the cat. Hobo started as a brn cat, but wanted something more. It’s a great book for the cat lover, and a portion of the proceeds goes to an animal sanctuary in Hobo’s home town. Signed copies available at From My Shelf Books in Wellsboro, and at http://www.wellsborobookstore.com
Well, it was featured as a Big idea back in September (Thanks John!), but might as well remind folks about my book, “The Calculus Diaries: How Math Can Help You Lose Weight, Win in Vegas, and Survive a Zombie Apocalypse.” I know, I know, you’ve always hated math. Me too. That was kind of the point. This is a math book written by a former English major who never liked the subject — it’s from OUR perspective. :) I’ve done my best to make it lively, engaging, with lots of stories (playing craps in Vegas, surfing in Hawaii, sweating in a green microgym in Portland), and hey, zombies!), and the only equations are in the Appendices. Won’t teach you calculus, but you’ll finally understand what calculus is actually about… the parts your high school textbook omitted.
A Short History of Fantasy by Farah Mendlesohn and Edward James.
Does what it says on the tin. Shortlisted for the BSFA award. Friendly, genial, and thoroughly enthusiastic about the fantasy. Covers all kinds of fantasy and aims to leave you with a lengthy “further reading list”.
Howdy all! I’m Phaedra Weldon, responsible for the Zoë Martinique Investigation Series. Zoë is just your average female, past twenty-five, looking for love and/or an exciting job opportunities. Then life handed her the dubious ability to travel outside of her body at will—which she turned into a career, hiring herself out as a literal spook.
“Part Paranormal whodunit, part urban fantasy…brisk pacing and brain wrenching plot twists,” ~ Publisher’s Weekly
“Should appeal to fans of Tanya Huff’s Vicki Nelson series and Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series,” ~ Library Journal
“Highly original…fun and intense,” Patricia Briggs
The books are available through Amazon, B&N and Powell’s. They are WRAITH, SPECTRE, PHANTASM, and the most recent, REVENANT (Abysmal Vampires!). And all are available in ebook format. Book Five will be released in 2011.
For more information, please visit my website at http://www.phaedraweldon.com
Here’s what Publisher’s Weekly said about my second book, The Office of Shadow, which is better than my description of it, which is “John Le Carre with elves”:
It’s the sequel to last year’s Midwinter, but it’s a standalone story and doesn’t require you to have read the first book.
You can buy it here, and at your local bookstore.
Thanks, John!
Thanks for the opportunity, John! Lots of great-sounding books here already.
My latest YA fantasy novel, TOADS AND DIAMONDS, is available from Amazon, BN.com & Powells. In this fairy tale retelling, two girls go to a well, and come back with very different gifts. Which is the curse, and which is the blessing?
More info about the inspiration for the book in a Big Idea post, http://whatever.scalzi.com/2010/04/08/the-big-idea-heather-tomlinson/.
Also available in paperback are two other teen novels: THE SWAN MAIDEN and AURELIE, A FAERIE TALE.
What a great idea. My humble thanks for allowing us the opportunity.
I’m Greg Campbell, a nonfiction author and freelance journalist with two books that would make great holiday gifts — one for fans of true crime and another for those who enjoy stories of international intrigue.
Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History (co-written by Scott Selby) tells the true story of how a gang of sophisticated Italian thieves known as The School of Turin, robbed a supposedly impenetrable vault in the heart of the Antwerp Diamond District. The thieves bypassed a web of electronic security — including motion detectors, infrared sensors, heat detectors, light alarms and closed-circuit television cameras — to loot an underground vault protected by a foot-thick bombproof door and make off with up to a half-billion dollars worth of diamonds and jewelry. The book follows the thieves step by step as they meticulously plot and pull off the biggest heist in history … and it also follows in the footsteps of the detectives who capitalized on their one mistake to pursue them throughout Europe. Flawless has gotten rave reviews, which can be read (along with more information) at our website.
Blood Diamonds: Tracing the Deadly Path of the World’s Most Precious Stones was the nonfiction basis for the 2006 Leonardo DiCaprio film, “Blood Diamond.” It was the first book published about the international trade in conflict diamonds, told from what the New York Times described as “a personal, feet-on-the-ground perspective.” It traces the path of diamonds mined by the ruthless forces of the Revolutionary United Front from the battlefields of Sierra Leone through the international pipeline developed and maintained by De Beers to the display cases of your corner jewelry store.
For more about me, see http://www.bygregcampbell.com and follow me on twitter @greg_campbell.
Thank you, and Happy Holidays!
Soldiers, sacrifice, and the supernatural. For Eastern European magical realism set during WWII and modern-day Chicago, check out my novel, THE SILENCE OF TREES.
“Lupescu weaves a magical tale in two senses: first, from the perspective of the craft of writing and, second, from that of sheer entertaining storytelling…This is a story that may make one laugh and cry, but, in the end, inspires readers to remember there are many ways of “knowing” and many perspectives on the notion of truth.”
–MONICA M. EMERICH, PhD, University of Colorado, Boulder
Available at amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Silence-Trees-Valya-Dudycz-Lupescu/dp/0982126131/
Signed copies available through Wolfsword Press: http://www.wolfswordpress.com/purchase/purchase.html
And through your local bookstore: http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780982126127
Thank you.
Valya Dudycz Lupescu
I figure I’ll get lost way down here in the comments, but what the hey, I’ll give it a shot. My mystery novel Murder in the Air is available everywhere, as are lots of other things by me. Try something. Maybe you’ll like it, tell others, and make me rich and famous. Thanks!
Looking for vampires with some serious bite? Check out the Dark Days series by Jocelynn Drake. The books follow a vampire named Mira, who has the ability to manipulate fire, and a vampire hunter named Danaus that she is forced to work with in order to stop a dark race of creatures from destroying mankind. Now don’t think Danaus is some push over- at more than 2,000 years old, he’s got a few tricks up his sleeve if he’s going to keep up with Mira. The duo globe-trot through Egypt, England, Italy, Crete, Peru, and Hungary as they fight their mututal enemy while trying not to kill each other in the process.
The series starts with Nightwalker and follows with Dayhunter, Dawnbreaker, Pray for Dawn, and Wait for Dusk. Book 6- BURN THE NIGHT –is due out next summer.
What a cool thing to do–thank you!
I’m Yasmine Galenorn, author of numerous books including two bestselling urban fantasy series from Berkley (not YA). Latest books:
Harvest Hunting: Book 8 of the Otherworld Series. Urban fantasy: We’re the D’Artigo sisters: sexy, savvy operatives for the Otherworld Intelligence Agency. But being half-human, half-Fae means our supernatural talents can go haywire at any time. My sister Camille is a wicked good witch whose life recently took a drastic turn. Menolly’s a vampire who’s still getting the hang of being undead. And me? I’m Delilah, a werecat with a very interesting love life. But life isn’t all fun and games. We’re on the trail of the demon general who has decided that we’ve become quite a nuisance…
It’s Samhain, and the Autumn Lord, has called for my training to begin with the Death Maidens…and I find that I like it. But we’ve got problems: werewolves are going missing and a new magical drug, “Wolf Briar,” is being used as a weapon. My dear Chase and I have come to a delicate crossroads and there’s no turning back from our decision. And most dangerous of all: Stacia Bonecrusher has put a bounty on our heads. Now it’s a race to take out the demon general before she realizes the sixth Spirit Seal is within her reach…
Night Myst: Book 1 of the Indigo Court Series. Urban fantasy: Eons ago, vampires tried to turn the Dark Fae in order to harness their power. Instead, they created a demonic enemy more powerful than they dared to dream. Bent on enslaving the world, the Vampiric Fae have been quietly massing their strength for centuries. Now, Myst, queen of the Indigo Court, is rising again…and a long-prophesied war is brewing…
Born a witch, Cicely Waters can control the wind. When her Elemental warns her that her aunt and cousin are in danger, she packs her Pontiac GTO and returns home for the first time in twenty years. But the magical town of New Forest, Washington has changed. The Indigo Court holds the city in fear; people are vanishing, and strange deaths plague the town. Swept into an unexpected and passionate reunion with her trusted childhood friend Grieve, the Fae prince who taught her how to harness the wind, Cicely finds herself with a fierce and territorial lover. But Grieve has become enslaved by Myst’s court, and now both lovers must walk a fine line to survive the machinations of the Vampiric Fae Queen. Caught between two evils, both vying for supremacy, Cicely must fight for her family and her future. As she discovers the hidden secrets to her own heritage, will she lose her soul in the process?
You can find out more about these and all my other books on my website: http://www.galenorn.com (and I’m also on Twitter): twitter.com/yasminegalenorn
SHAKING THE FAMILY TREE: Blue Bloods, Black Sheep, and Other Obsessions of an Accidental Genealogist (Simon & Schuster: 2010) by Buzzy Jackson
My book is about genealogy – how to do it, why people do it, what you can learn by doing it, and why the he** people go on Caribbean cruises to do it. If you’ve ever wondered where your family comes from or whether you’re descended from Charlemagne, this is the book for you. Or for your kooky Aunt Phyllis who keeps sending you the family tree info. You can watch a 2-min book trailer video that explains everything at http://www.buzzyjackson.com.
Hope you enjoy it and happy holidays!
Buy the book/ebook at all the usual outlets including Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/2e9ru3u
My short story collection, I Remember the Future, published by Apex Publications, is still in print. The book includes all ten of my Hugo nominees and all four of my Nebula nominees. You can find a list of places where the book can be bought at http://bursteinbooks.com/order.shtml.
Lesbian vampires!
There. Did that catch your attention? I have a story in the anthology Women of the Bite:Lesbian Vampire Erotica edited by Cecilia Tan.
http://www.amazon.com/Women-Bite-Lesbian-Vampire-Erotica/dp/1593501587
And for the zombie lovers on your holiday lists I have three poems in Vicious Verses and Reanimated Rhymes edited by A.P. Fuchs. It’s a collection of zombie poetry, the only of its kind as far as I know.
http://www.amazon.com/Vicious-Verses-Reanimated-Rhymes-Zombie/dp/1897217951
Nothing says Happy Holidays like the undead!
Thanks for the pimp thread John.
My friends: Nothing says holiday spirit like stories about Satan! My anthology Sympathy for the Devil collects over 30 stories about the Great Tempter, written by authors far more talented than myself: the likes of Kelly Link, Jonathan Carroll, China Mieville, Stephen King, Holly Black, Charles Stross, Neil Gaiman, Elizabeth Bear, Jay Lake, and many others, along with some classic tales. Give the gift of evil this year.
http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9781597801898-1
THE FALLEN by Mark Terry
Third in the Derek Stillwater series and winner of the Thriller/Adventure category in the USA Book News’ Best Books 2010 Award. Stillwater is a troubleshooter for Homeland Security. In THE FALLEN he is undercover at the G8 Summit in Colorado Springs when a group of terrorists takes over the resort, puts all the world leaders on stage in suicide vests, and threatens to kill one world leader every hour until their demands are met. Think: “‘Die Hard’ at the G8 Summit.”
http://www.amazon.com/Fallen-Mark-Terry/dp/1933515759/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256848443&sr=1-1
“Terry writes like Lee Child on steroids.”–Ray Walsh for the Lansing State Journal
“Blisterlingly paced and unrelenting, Mark Terry’s THE FALLEN reminded me of ‘Day of the Jackal,’ but with a modern polish.”–James Rollins, author THE DOOMSDAY KEY
The newest and final book in my WebMage series is SpellCrash. Cyberpunk meets contemporary fantasy with a liberal sprinkling of humor over the top all in a big bowl of Greek mythology salad. Or, start with book one, WebMage. Good, in-depth reviews: WebMage and SpellCrash.
Jane Wheel, the PPI (picker/private investigator) who is the heroine of the Jane Wheel mysteries (St. Martins/Minotaur) is addicted to stuff–bakelite, old autograph books, found objects from garage sales, rummage sales, estate sales and flea markets–and it is her keen eye for detail that makes her an effective picker and crime solve She travels anywhere for a good sale–but usually ends up near Kankakee, Illinois where she grew up–mostly in her parent’s bar, Don and Nellie’s EZ Way Inn. No vampires, no werewolves, no time travel–but the characters at the EZ Way Inn could kick any paranormal’s ass in a bowling tournament. All books are available–Killer Stuff, Dead Guy’s Stuff, The Wrong Stuff, Buried Stuff, Hollywood Stuff, (trade paper)and Scary Stuff, (hardcover). Latest, Backstage Stuff, will be out on January 4th but can be preordered on Amazon and B & N websites. Great gift for mystery readers–soft-boiled and cozy and for junk-lovers, thrifters and scavengers everywhere. Visit my website http://www.sharonfiffer.com or find Jane Wheel on facebook! Thanks for the opportunity to find readers — Happy reading holidays to all!
My holiday recommendation of my many published books is THE TALL TALE OF PAUL BUNYAN, published by Stone Arch Books. This is a humorously whimsical adaptation of the great American Myth, and it recently won the Moonbeam Children’s Book Gold Award for graphic novels. The book comes in economic paperback and and also in a beautiful library binding hardcover. One of my very favorite books I’ve ever written. Thank you!
ISBN-10: 1434222683
ISBN-13: 978-1434222688
http://www.amazon.com/Tall-Tales-Paul-Bunyan-Graphic/dp/1434222683
Thank you, John.
My newest book is Carousel Tides, a contemporary fantasy set in Maine (“contemporary” rather than “urban” because even the Federal Government says there is no urban in Maine, once you leave Portland behind). It’s a book written because I wanted to write a story about one of my favorite places in Maine — Old Orchard Beach — only with selkies, and legendary Abenaki warriors, and Black Dogs. Oh — and a haunted carousel.
Carousel Tides was just published by Baen at the beginning of November. It’s available in All The Usual Places, and there are still a few signed copies left at Beggar’s Ride Studio (http://www.beggarsrideart.com/) and Gallery in Old Orchard Beach, which hosted the book’s come-out party, and they will ship to folks from Away (if you don’t live in Maine, that’s where you live — Away).
“Sharon Lee weaves fantasy into reality so deftly that you scarcely notice when you slip across the edge. And once you’re there, the story’s own magic won’t let you turn back from the strong characters, deep mysteries, and even deeper danger.”
—James A. Hetley, author of Dragon’s Eye, Dragon’s Teeth, and Dragon’s Bones.
“Lee brings these disparate subplots together in a pyrotechnic finale that plays out magically behind the ordinary facade of smalltown Maine life, evoking much of the romance and magic of her popular Liaden series.” (Nov.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Thank you for listening.
Victorian London! Secret societies! A hidden war fought for for hundreds of years in the back alleys of London! Nasty Faeries! (Really, nasty Faeries.) Merlin the Enchanter! More exclamation marks! Exciting chases!
“Some things, once glimpsed, can never be unseen…
It was a morning like any other, frigid and gray, when Emily Snow took to the streets of Victorian London to earn the pennies that would keep her and her little brother alive for another day. But a chance turning took her through a dark alley, and there she witnessed an extraordinary battle between fierce, tiny creatures no taller than Emily’s knee.
Now Emily’s life will never be the same, for she can see the world of Faerie. And once seen, she can not turn away; once engaged, she must join in the latest battle in a war that has been waged for centuries. Doing nothing is not an option, for the Invisible Order-a secret army dedicated to preserving our world against the Faerie-knows about Emily, and its members will do anything to control her. For Emily, her brother William, and their friend, the street-thief Spring-Heeled Jack, this winter morning is a turning point, and hereafter their lives will be entwined with the Invisible Order, and with Faerie…”
Buy Invisible Order at Amazon.com
Thanks for the opportunity, John!
My husband, author Ari Berk, and I have a new illustrated book about William Shakespeare for middle-grade readers and up. William Shakespeare: His Life and Times invites you to wander the streets of Elizabethan London with the Bard as your guide. Through letters, pamphlets, facsimile scripts, play excerpts and more, you can learn about Shakespeare the man and the inspiration behind his work as you visit the Globe theatre, explore Queen Elizabeth’s court, and see the city of London through the Bard’s eyes. Shakespeare himself offers personal stories and comments on his family, friends and rivals. Interactive, playful, and beautifully illustrated, this book is an ideal gift for young readers and adult lovers of Shakespeare and English history. For a video “sneak peek” produced by Templar/Candlewick Press, go to .
30 chimpanzee zombies!
5 Jodie Foster zombies!
Fiery shrimp sambal!
Sex, drugs, and a modicum of violence!
All this and more can be found in my horror-thriller novella Hiram Grange and the Digital Eucharist. It is available at Amazon and other fine book emporia.
Also features a reprint of my story “Bruise for Bruise” (which originally appeared in Weird Tales)
Thanks for the pimp space, John.
My apologies for sucking at html: William Shakespeare: His Life and Times can be purchased on Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/William-Shakespeare-His-Life-Times/dp/0763647942/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1291399371&sr=1-1
And a video sneak peek is available on YouTube at:
The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart is a satirical dark fantasy that follows twin brother graverobbers Hegel and Manfried as they travel across medieval Europe in search of the fabled tomb-cities of Egypt. Combining adventure, fantasy, horror, humor (and humours), and folklore with meticulously researched history, the book seems to be a love-it-or-hate it kind of text: a couple of one-star reviews on Amazon and Amazon UK have described it as the worst book they’ve ever encountered and have called for it to be burned, whereas the Guardian described it as “Tarantino crossed with Rabelais,” Library Journal said it was “like the unexpurgated versions of Grimm’s fairy tales, as imagined by Chuck Palahniuk on some seriously bad drugs,” Kirkus described it as “a perverse Dark Ages anti-Candide,” and Splice Today said it “smacks of Blood Meridian, Army of Darkness, various westerns, maybe Umberto Eco, but despite its multiple influences it belongs wholly to its author.”
More reviews, both good and bad, , and in a number of formats (including both e and audio versions), as well as at your local bookseller of choice.
Thanks for the opportunity!
Thanks so much, John!
AFTERLIFE: THE RESURRECTION CHRONICLES by Merrie Destefano
Chaz Domingue works as a professional Babysitter in New Orleans. His job is to integrate and protect the recently deceased into their new and improved lives—a position he reluctantly accepted after his father was murdered. Though Fresh Start has always been the only game in town, resurrection isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. Nine lives are all a person can get—and a powerful group of desperate, high-level Nine-Timers will stop at nothing to possess the keys to true immortality. Unfortunately, this places Chaz at the lethal center of a maelstrom.
Now the only hope for Chaz and his family—and the ultimate fate of the human race—is secretly locked away in the mind of Angelique, the beautiful, mysterious Newbie who’s been entrusted to Chaz’s care…
Available from Amazon here:
http://www.amazon.com/Afterlife-Resurrection-Chronicles-Merrie-Destefano/dp/0061990817/ref=tmm_mmp_title_0
My debut collection of short stories, “The Girl with Two Left Breasts” was published in July, 2010 by Red Hen Press. The product description is good as any:
The fictions in the collection The Girl with Two Left Breasts are not “been there, done that” stories written in a staid journalistic style where language functions as narrative workhorse, plodding inconspicuously forward, familiar and somewhat grey. Readers will encounter stories shaped and styled for the new millennium as image and metaphor are taffy-stretched and virtually collapsed in order to depict how, at this unique juncture barely beyond our century’s turn, cultures, genders, and points of view collide as characters struggle with issues of race, identity, sex and addiction in an unforgiving urban milieu. D. V. Glenn has been called by FC2 judges an “important new voice speaking to us throughout the stories in an array of vivid, unusual tongues, all of them full of intellect, passion and poetry. Moreover, the collection strikes one as having been written by someone whose literary sensibility is already fully formed.”
Amazon would be the fastest way to check it out:
http://www.amazon.com/Girl-Two-Left-Breasts/dp/1597091391/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1
I will definitely take this opportunity up although I have also recently had a “Big Idea” feature with you: thank you for both opportunities, John.
The direct link to The Big Idea feature is here and would repay a read for what the series is “really all about”: http://whatever.scalzi.com/2010/10/21/the-big-idea-helen-lowe/
But in brief: “The Heir of Night” is classic–but not, I believe, formulaic–epic Fantasy: “Heir” is the first of a quartet set in an alternate world that a recent reviewer has described as “brutal, harsh, and deadly” (FantasyBookReview, UK), where the alien Derai are locked in conflict with an aeons-old enemy (the classic part)—but have been divided by civil war with its legacy of prejudice, suspicion and fear. The first book centers on Malian, the Heir to the warrior House of Night, who must discover both the full bitterness of the Derai legacy and begin to resolve it, and Kalan, a young man thrust into a hateful life who is striving to break free. Yet “The Heir of Night” is as much a story about love and friendship as what Robin Hobb, in her cover quote, describes as “strange magic, dark treachery, and conflicting loyalties.”
Follow the link to read the first 70 pages: http://www.harpercollins.com/browseinside/index.aspx?isbn13=9780062013927
3 review quotes:
Library Journal: “Lowe’s first novel, a series opener … reinvigorates the epic fantasy with appealing characters and a richly detailed world.”
Specusphere: There is a Nordic doom pervading the tale strongly reminsicent of Tolkien; an unrelentingly dark haunting atmosphere … The Heir of Night managed to keep me completely hooked from beginning to end.
FantasyLit.com: ” … several aspects … turn The Heir of Night into something special. First is the host of intriguing characters that weave in and out of the story … There is the sense of a grand scale at work here; not of one family, one race, or one country at risk, but of immeasurable worlds that hang in the balance.”
My novels thus far, one for kids and one ostensibly for grownups:
Kid vs. Squid is about a kid forced to spend summer vacation helping his uncle run a weird seaside museum full of shrunken heads and FeeJee mermaids and the like. Together with his friends — a girl training herself to be a superhero-detective, and a fierce Atlantean princess — they must battle the severed head of an ancient witch to prevent the destruction of California. And, yes, there’s a squid, but not until the end. It’s a really, really big squid, though.
“Van Eekhout carefully balances his tongue in his cheek with some really creepy situations, and the result is a humorous fantasy that will rush over young readers like a tidal wave.” — School Library Journal
Summer 2010 Kids’ Indie Next List Pick
Purchase at Mysterious Galaxy or wherever books are sold
Norse Code is a contemporary fantasy about a conspiracy of Norse gods accelerate the end of the world. Pitted against the conspirators is Hermod, a wayward god of little account, and Mist, a renegade valkyrie. The climactic battle scene takes place in a CostCo parking lot.
The compelling prose and epic blend of mythological and modern elements make it clear that van Eekhout is an author to watch. — Publishers Weekly
2010 Locus Award finalist
Purchase at Mysterious Galaxy or wherever books are sold
Slavery, Warfare, Skateboards ….Time Travel!
FACING FIRE marks the return of Darby Christopher, still boarding, still exploring, still…falling through windows? The exciting sequel to A WALK THROUGH A WINDOW. Published by Doubleday Canada. A great series for teens and up.You can read more about it on my website at http://www.kcdyer.com [My blog’s there, too]. Twitter is @kcdyer And you can find it here on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Facing-Fire-KC-Dyer/dp/0385666381/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291401204&sr=8-1
Hey Jon — thanks for this. Great fun to see everything that’s out there!
~kc
The Dragon War Relic is a fantasy/sci-fi/action/comedy about a 16 year old boy who is given a mysterious ring. When he puts it on, he summons an Ogre from outer space. He learns that the creatures from mythology are actually beings from other planets, and they’ve been watching Earth for centuries. Join Jared, his off-beat friend Doug, an Ogre, an Angel, and three short Trekkie Elves as they try to solve a murder and figure out why the Dragons are returning to Earth. It’s a fun romp that pokes fun at Star Trek, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter.
The Dragon War Relic (ISBN-13: 9781599552811) is available from Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Dragon-War-Relic-Berin-Stephens/dp/1599552817/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_1), Barnes and Noble (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Dragon-War-Relic/Berin-Stephens/e/9781599552811/?itm=1&USRI=dragon+war+relic) and Borders. It’s also available on the Amazon Kindle. You can visit http://www.DragonWarRelic.com for more information.
Okay, I’ll play!
Ladies and gentlemen, please allow me to pimp the Onyx Court series of London-based historical fantasy novels. Each book is set in a different century, and concerns the interactions between mortal London and the faerie court hidden beneath their feet. Because of the time gap, each book stands more or less on its own, though there are minor spoilers for previous books, and certain effects that might be lost by reading them out of order.
Midnight Never Come late sixteenth century: two courtiers find themselves caught up in the mysterious connection between Queen Elizabeth and the faerie Queen Invidiana, her dark shadow.
In Ashes Lie, mid-seventeenth century: the fae of the Onyx Court find themselves up to their eyeballs in the English Civil War, and then London gets burned down real good.
A Star Shall Fall, mid-eighteenth century: faeries, Enlightenment science, and the first predicted return of Halley’s Comet, which might just destroy the city. (Again.) This is the most recent.
Publishers Weekly on Midnight Never Come: “Stunningly conceived and exquisitely achieved […] Brennan’s myriad fantastical creations ring as true as her ear for Elizabethan and faerie dialogue.”
There are a variety of ordering links on each of those pages, so you may select whatever store you like best (including Book Depository, which has free shipping worldwide). And if this is your kind of thing, next year will see the publication of With Fate Conspire, set in the late Victorian period, with all kinds of industrial-technological hijinks.
Thanks, John!
My latest novel is <a href="Guild Wars: Ghosts of Ascalon, which I co-wrote with Jeff Grubb. It’s a fantasy adventure novel set in the world of the best-selling Guild Wars MMO, and it bridges the 250-year gap between that game and its upcoming sequel Guild Wars 2.
The fifth book in my series, The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica, was just released in October. THE DRAGON’S APPRENTICE, while telling a complete story, continues the tale begun and expanded in the first four. And the best way to summarize the concept of the series is this: what if there was a great, secret book of maps to every imaginary, legendary, and mythological land that ever existed? And what if those places were REAL? And what if the Caretakers of this book – up to the present day – were some of the most-loved authors, and artists, and scientists, and scholars from history, who used their adventures in the lands depicted in the Geographica for stories here in OUR world?
These books are nerd pastiche of the highest order – because I don’t leave ANYTHING or ANYONE out. I mean, just for an example, the one I’m finishing now (Book Six) has Mark Twain and Nathaniel Hawthorne fighting Daniel Defoe with Samurai swords, and the ghost of Ben Franklin working side by side with Lewis Carroll and Frank Baum as the Mystorians – Jules Verne’s black ops Caretakers group. Cool, right? And I haven’t even discussed the 4,000 year old zen detective purple unicorn named Steve. AND the books are fully illustrated.
More info is at the website in the link on my name above; and the books are available from all major brick and mortar AND online booksellers. But by arrangement with my family-owned local bookseller Crossroads Books, I sign and sketch a dragon in every copy of all five books sold at Crossroads, and they can also be purchased (and shipped in time for Christmas) here:
http://coppervaleinternational.com/?page_id=30&wpshop_category=8
Thanks, John – I hope I can make some of your readers really happy!
For kids ages 9 and up:
A.C.E. Bauer’s Come Fall, tells the story of the growing friendship of three kids on the fringe of the middle school social order. Through no fault of their own, they become pawns in a game of jealous one-upmanship between Oberon and Titania, the King and Queen of Faery. The mischievous Puck with the help of a magical crow tries to keep the peace, but at what cost to the kids? Loosely based on the changeling’s tale in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, this is a story of magical intervention in the least magical of settings: a public middle school. (Publisher’s Weekly gave it a starred review.)
Also by A.C.E. Bauer, No Castles Here tells the story of Augie Boretski who used to be pretty good at staying invisible in Camden, NJ. But suddenly his life is changing. He steals a magical book of fairy tales. For sixth grade, he is assigned the meanest, toughest teacher in school. His mom signs him up with a Big Brother who is gay that he doesn’t want. And he discovers that even in his world, there might be such a thing as a fairy godmother. Augie is eleven-and-a-half. This is his time for adventure. He hadn’t figured it would begin in a bookstore. (Placed on the American Library Association 2009 Rainbow List; Kirkus Reviews gave it a starred review.)
The third in my Evie Scelan series, Soul Hunt, goes on sale at the end of this month!
The first novel follows Evie, a woman who can track anything by scent, who tries to help out an old lover and, in the course of it, runs up against a very nasty Irish mob. Spiral Hunttakes her deep into the magical undercurrent of Boston, through curses and imprisonments and betrayals and, of course, the Red Sox.
Wild Hunt begins with the fallout of Evie’s actions — specifically, what happens when there’s suddenly a power vacuum in the undercurrent. To make matters worse, there’s a misplaced inheritance, the ghosts of an entire cemetery rising up, and suddenly Evie’s not the only Hound running through Boston.
And Soul Hunt — which, again, goes on sale at the end of the month! — takes Evie into even more harrowing territory, through the consequences of some very bad bargains. Nothing in the undercurrent comes without a price, and now it’s Evie’s turn to pay her debts, even if that means giving up everything that makes her who she is.
All are quick, engaging reads, full of what Strange Horizons calls “the author’s talent for combining drama, chills, and hilarity into a compulsively readable caper,” layered with innovative uses of mythology and some serious ass-kicking. You can get a quick look at all three (and an inside peek at the first two) here.
The Circus Wagon is a horror e-book short (available in many formats)
Christopher Epstein’s childhood memories of the old wagon have always been clouded and uneasy. Lurking in his grandmother’s backyard, buried in lore and surrounded by tragedy, the abandoned carnival antiquity seemed to wait for him every haunted summer. Lately, he finds those nightmares returning, along with the helpless certainty that something more terrible has followed him out of the past.
Excerpt:
“Later, over the sides of bunk beds, we relayed rumors to each other in the humid dark. Had Grandpa worked in the circus? No, the wagon was older than that, someone said. What was inside—rats? Bats? A lion’s skeleton? A blind old witch? No, tons of mosquitoes swarmed you at once if you got too close, and lightning bugs avoided that part of the yard.”
http://www.damnationbooks.com/book.php?isbn=9781615721740
Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/The-Circus-Wagon-ebook/dp/B0041D8BTO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1283359227&sr=1-2
multiple formats: http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/b114247/?si=0
—–
Three-lobed Burning Eye – Annual vol. V
is now taking orders for our limited edition single printing
The print anthology of the online speculative fiction magazine collects issues #16-20, and features stories of horror and wonder by: Vera Searles, Graeme Penman, Edward Morris, Dirk van Nouhuys, Neil Ayres, Jason Hauser, Bret Tallman, Lida Broadhurst, Miranda Ciccone, Isaac Fellows, Nadia Bulkin, Matthew Chrulew, Kelly Barnhill, John Medaille, D. E. Wasden, Mari Ness, Chuck Von Nordheim, Ward Crockett, Georgina Bruce, Jessica Reisman, Adam Browne, J M McDermott, Cheryl W. Ruggiero, Ferrett Steinmetz, Jennifer Stakes, Shweta Narayan, DeAnna Knippling, Justin Lee, Seth Cadin, and Jennifer Hollie Bowles.
Available from:
http://www.legionpress.com/3lbe5.html
http://www.3lobedmag.com/store.html
Thanks for the opportunity, John!!
1. The fourth book in my Blood Lines series, BLOOD HEAT, is just out from Pocket books. Blood Lines is an urban fantasy series set in the Texas Hill Country–a great place for things that go bump in the night…and day.
2. FILLED WITH GLEE, the perfect companion for the fan who can’t get enough Glee. A great anthology from SmartPop Books in which I have an essay.
More about my work at my website.
(BTW, LOVING the suggestions….::adds to own wish list::
Cheers!
Thanks John!
Dear readers, I offer you Redemption in Indigo, fantasy-folklore with an Afro-Caribbean flair. A woman gets rid of a bad husband and leads an interesting life thereafter including an Object of Power, a sorta-quest, a supernatural adversary, romance, adventure, tragedy and humour.
Booklist and Publishers Weekly both gave it a star, and you can check out links to various reviews, posts, a trailer, an excerpt AND the Big Idea feature all collected and available at http://merumsal.wordpress.com/redemption-in-indigo
People who like speculative fiction like it and (a pleasant surprise) people who don’t like speculative fiction also like it. Accessible to all ages (Booklist approved it for YA readers), because it’s written to be read out loud. Try the excerpt via Amazon or Google Books. Look it up on Goodreads for more reader-reviews. Available at all online bookstores and direct from the publishers Small Beer Press.
Hi, Bob Crelin here. Available at most online sellers/stores, etc., my two books for children of ALL ages were crafted for those who wonder about the starry night sky. Unique and unlike the textbook-y and ‘factoid’ fare, Faces of the Moon (Charlesbridge) and There Once Was a Sky Full of Stars (Sky) are just as much lyrical odes to the Moon and stars as they are accurate educational guides. My most recent of the two, Faces of the Moon, actually animates the changing Moon phases as the reader turns the book’s die cut pages, while Leslie Evans’ rich illustrations and the rhyming verse bring our sister world’s transformation to life. For the budding sky watcher, you won’t find any other books like these. Take a peek inside these books at my website Thanks for the opportunity, John!
ALEX VAN HELSING: VAMPIRE RISING (HarperTeen) by Jason Henderson
Looking for a book for a middle or high schooler who likes action?
Alex Van Helsing: Vampire Rising (HarperTeen), a 2011 Texas Library Association “Lone Star” Selection (top 20 books of the year for middle grade readers) is the first in a series about a 14-year-old superspy who hunts vampires. Heavy on motorcycles and death-defying escapes, light on romance, and sprinkled with literary mystery to lead readers to classic works.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMxLdIaQZeE&fs=1&hl=en_US]
Check it out at http://www.amazon.com/dp/0061950998?tag=swordofdracul-20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=0061950998&adid=0KYZM2XCVX8RPZ3P58DD&
Gay angel horror novel.
Yeah, I went there. I’m not the first one. And I’m intimidated by the company I’m in on this page (points up), so be nice to me. Crafty of Scalzi to make us do this all by ourselves! :)
Angels of the Deep won the 2010 Epic Award in the adult horror category, and has been described in reviews as “a roller coaster with the safety switches off”. It’s published by MLR Press and is available in print through Amazon, Borders, and Barnes & Noble websites. Any online bookstore should have it. Not for the faint of heart (read the reviews on Amazon before you gift it to someone), but if you have a friend who might like a gory, frightening, homoerotic thriller, give them this one.
Review from Clayton Bye:
Amazon linky.
Many thanks to John Scalzi!
Thank you, Mr. Scalzi. For your holiday gift consideration: The End of Baseball, by yours truly, Peter Schilling Jr. Check out my website for availability at online retailers: http://endofbaseball.com/
Described as “the best baseball novel of the century” (Allan Barra, Baltimore Sun), The End of Baseball is the story of Bill Veeck, the maverick promoter, returned from Guadalcanal with a leg missing and $500 to his name, has hustled his way into buying the Philadelphia Athletics. Hungry for a pennant, young Veeck jettisons the team’s white players and secretly recruits the legendary stars of the Negro Leagues, fielding a club that will go down in baseball annals as one of the greatest to play the game.Bill Veeck, the maverick promoter, returned from Guadalcanal with a leg missing and $500 to his name, has hustled his way into buying the Philadelphia Athletics. Hungry for a pennant, young Veeck jettisons the team’s white players and secretly recruits the legendary stars of the Negro Leagues, fielding a club that will go down in baseball annals as one of the greatest to play the game.
The End of Baseball is the most rollicking, free-spirited baseball story in years, the unvarnished truth of that incredible season and the men who lived it. Thank you!
THE CALLING by David Mack
• ISBN-10: 1416579923
• ISBN-13: 978-1416579922
A blue-collar guy who can hear other people’s prayers for help receives a summons to aid a kidnapped girl—and becomes embroiled in an ancient war between Good and Evil.
MEET THE ANSWER TO YOUR PRAYERS.
HEAR THE CALLING.
No one would guess by looking at Tom Nash that he’s extraordinary, and that’s just fine with him. A tall, broad-shouldered jack-of-all-trades from Sawyer, Pennsylvania, Tom has a knack for fixing things. He also hides a secret talent: he hears people’s prayers. Stranger still, he answers them. Maybe it’s because he’s a handyman, but Tom feels compelled to fix people’s problems. Which is all well and good—until the soul-shattering plea of a terrified girl sends him on the darkest journey of his life…
SEEK THE TRUTH.
Heeding the call and leaving his home for New York City, Tom discovers a secret world beyond the range of mortal perception—a world of angels and demons and those who serve them. With the guidance of a knowing stranger named Erin, Tom learns that he himself is one of The Called, born with a divine purpose and a daunting task: to help the powers of Heaven in the war against the agents of Hell, an army of fallen angels known as the Scorned. Thrust into an epic battle of the sacred and the profane, Tom Nash must find the girl who prayed for his help—because her fate will determine whether humanity deserves to be saved, or damned for all eternity…
REVIEWS
“Mack’s world and characters are real. A reader will care about them in an edge-of-their-seat way. I couldn’t put it down and read it in one sitting.”
“Readers should keep an eye on David Mack — here is a new voice in Urban Fantasy with new characters and a fresh new twist on the genre.”
—Phaedra Weldon, author of the Zoë Martinique Investigation series
“The Calling is an exciting, dark and suspenseful urban fantasy tale. Fast-paced and thrilling, this is definitely one of my favorite original novels of the year. This is a must-read for urban fantasy fans.”
—SciFiChick.com
Read the first two chapters for free on my website. Purchase links available there to Amazon, B&N, Borders, and BAM.
Thanks to John Scalzi for this use of his electrons!
Thank you for this opportunity.
“Tumbler” by Brand Gamblin: ( http://tinyurl.com/2e7mz3h ).
Available through Amazon in print and Kindle e-book, as well as some bookstores.
Libby Carter wanted to get away from it all, so she took a job mining asteroids as far out into the inky blackness as possible. However, her escape turned into a trap, leaving her stuck in indentured servitude, living on a tiny rock in space. As she tries to dig herself out, she gains friends and finds adventure. Cave-in rescues, planetary collisions, and other mishaps keep her new family fighting to stay alive.
“A spellbinding tale of adventure and wonder.”
-Rebecca Shelley (R.D. Henram), author of Red Dragon Codex.
My new YA/childrens fantasy novel, Jane and the Raven King, was just published on December 1, 2010 by Sourcebooks. It’s been described as “The Spiderwick Chronicles meets Alice in Wonderland”:
Chapter 1
Packing for a Trip
I don’t believe it,” Jane murmured.
Outside, a squirrel was wedged into a hole in the tree. It’s stuck, Jane thought, but then the squirrel popped out with a little black box. Jane stopped copying her spelling words, checked to be sure Mrs. Alterman wasn’t watching, and leaned on her desk for a better look. No, it wasn’t a box; it was a suitcase. At first, Jane was sure she must be mistaken, but as she watched, the squirrel opened the tiny suitcase and began arranging nuts and acorns inside.
“Impossible.”
Mrs. Alterman lowered her red pen and frowned. “Hm?”
“Implacable,” Jane said. “I-M-P…”
(Thank you, John Scalzi!)
http://www.sff.net/people/schambers
Ah, crud, I munged my code. If there is any way for that to be edited, please do; I clearly forgot to close my link tag. (This is what I get for posting right after waking.)
Thanks for the lovely PR op, John — and I do so covet that new office of yours. If anyone wants to spend a few hours in the ancient Near East, please consider considering my novels DELILAH, QUEENMAKER, and WISDOM’S DAUGHTER. The first 50 pages of each are posted at my website: http://www.indiaedghill.com — because if you don’t like the first 50 pages, you won’t like the next 350 pages any better. If you do like them, the books are available from the usual suspects, including Amazon.com.
If you have a kid between the ages of 8-12 on your list, and they really need a book that combines Greek mythology, wrestling, and elementary school investigative reporting, may I recommend
Hulk Hercules: Professional Wrestler
available at
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Hulk-Hercules/Catherine-Schaff-Stump/e/9780979088971/?itm=1&USRI=hulk+hercules
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Hulk+Hercules+Professional+Wrestler&x=7&y=18
http://www.powells.com/s?kw=Hulk+Hercules%3A+Professional+Wrestler&class=
Of course, kids of all ages are welcome to buy the book as well!
Happy holidays, and thanks, John.
Catherine
Being British, I wasn’t sure whether I should take advantage of Mr Scalzi’s generous offer of shameless self-promotion space. But then I saw Gary Gibson had, and I thought, ‘What the Hell!’ (or rather, as I think you say over there, ‘What the heck’)
I have three novels available in the US. They have been spotted in bookshops (fans sent me pictures!), though as my publisher, Gollancz, is UK-based, your best bet might be Amazon. My books are far future soft SF, heavy on the intrigue but with a fair bit of action when the plot threads converge. And I do like a good convergence of plot-threads. Each story is intended to stand alone though they also form the start of the ‘Hidden Empire’ sequence of linked novels.
Principles of Angels is available here: http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Angels-Jaine-Fenn/dp/0575083298/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1291407539&sr=8-2
Consorts of Heaven (which smells like fantasy … but isn’t) here: http://www.amazon.com/Consorts-Heaven-Jaine-Fenn/dp/0575083247/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1291407539&sr=8-1
and Guardians of Paradise (only available as hard-back at the moment I’m afraid) here: http://www.amazon.com/Guardians-Paradise-Jaine-Fenn/dp/0575083255/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1291407539&sr=8-4
SFX magazine were kind enough to describe me as ‘a major new talent’, and I’ve had good reviews in The Times (of London, not New York).
Thank you for listening…
John, you rock. But we knew that already.
———————-
now available in paperback!
FLESH AND FIRE: Book 1 of The Vineart War.
ISBN-10: 1439191549
ISBN-13: 978-1439191545
Fourteen centuries ago, all power was held by the prince-mages, who alone could craft spell-wines. Then a demigod called Sin-Washer broke the First Vine, shattering the magic.
In 1378 ASW, princes still rule, but Vinearts now make spellwines, less powerful than in days of old. Jerzy’s master has just uncovered the first stirrings of a plot to finish the work Sin-Washer began, and shatter the remains of the Vine forever. Only his master believes the magnitude of the danger. And only Jerzy can gather the information needed to stop it…before there are no more Vinearts left at all.
Magic. Wine. Sea-serpents. Betrayal, long-simmering hatreds, and the meaning of friendship. Not a single vampire, sparkly or otherwise – and a Nebula nomination for best novel!
[what? if you’re going to sell yourself, sell it. Shyness is nobody’s friend]
“[FLESH AND FIRE] achieves an extraordinary power from its elegant storytelling and unique magical philosophy. Offering one of the most original approaches to fantasy adventure; highly recommended for all fantasy fans.” [starred review] – Library Journal
“[Gilman] turns a standard coming-of-age tale into something wholly new. The tale is dominated by vivid, absorbing characters, and Jerzy’s powerful narrative voice makes his joys and sorrows dramatic, authentic and potent. This intoxicating high fantasy will satisfy oenophiles and bibliophiles alike.” [starred review]
– Publishers Weekly
[bonus: book 2 is already out and book 3 was just handed in, so no worries that you’ll be stuck with an unfinished trilogy!]
How could you possibly go wrong with zombie erotica?
Rigor Amortis (Absolute XPress, October 2010) is an anthology of very short zombie erotica stories ranging from sweet to raunchy to gruesome. How can you have a sweet zombie story? You’ll need to read it to find out.
And there’s artwork… perfect for getting your annoying airline seatmate to ask to be seated somewhere else.
Song of Scarabaeus is my debut novel from Eos (soon to be Harper Voyager). I like to describe it as “kidnapped by space pirates!” It’s primarily an adventure story with a touch of romance and a lot of made-up words.
The book is available at online, major and independent bookstrores across the land. My fellow Aussies can visit my blog today where I’ve posted a list of Aussie online stores that are selling the book.
It was released earlier this year and has a starred review from Publishers Weekly. Linnea Sinclair blurbed the book, as did Vonda N McIntyre: “A writer to watch. … The biological speculation rings with truth and possibility, the terraforming-gone-wrong creates an environment of delicious creepiness, and Creasy’s imaginatively constructed universe draws the reader in.”
Thanks for this opportunity, John.
My name is Rachel Aaron and I’m the author of a funny adventure fantasy series you just might like if you enjoy witty, charming thieves, sword fights, and a fast paced break from dark fantasy. Here’s the blurb for book 1, The Spirit Thief.
“Eli Monpress is talented. He’s charming. And he’s a thief.
But not just any thief. He’s the greatest thief of the age – and he’s also a wizard. And with the help of his partners – a swordsman with the most powerful magic sword in the world but no magical ability of his own, and a demonseed who can step through shadows and punch through walls – he’s going to put his plan into effect.
The first step is to increase the size of the bounty on his head, so he’ll need to steal some big things. But he’ll start small for now. He’ll just steal something that no one will miss – at least for a while.
Like a king.”
Interested? You can read the first two chapters free here!
The first three books of the series are available now with the final two due out next year, so if you want a series that won’t keep you waiting for years, please give The Legend of Eli Monpress a try!
(And thank you John for giving us a chance to post about our books without being pushy, insane promote-o-bots!)
Why, thank you, John. Don’t mind if I do:
THE VERB ‘TO BIRD’ by Peter Cashwell (Paul Dry Books)
(available direct from the publisher at the link above, as well as at Amazon, B&N, and Powells)
THE VERB ‘TO BIRD” is an irreverent work of nonfiction for you or anyone in your family who spends time staring up into trees looking for birds. Part memoir, part natural history, part apology, and part rant, this book will enlighten and entertain anyone who’s ever wondered about the practice of birding, from choosing a field guide to luring vultures out of shrubbery, and includes an eclectic travelogue of some of the nation’s finest bird habitats, from the halls of North Carolina’s high schools to the shores of Delaware. Birders may find many of their questions answered–Where did the cardinal get its name? How can I tell one heron from another? How the heck did all those starlings get here, anyway?– but you don’t have to know the field marks of an indigo bunting to appreciate THE VERB ‘TO BIRD‘s examination of issues such as non-lending libraries, venomous insects, sports marketing, and animated Christmas specials.
“[A] delightfully literary and eclectic memoir about the manifold joys of birding . . . Cashwell is a storyteller. A very literate, observant, insightful storyteller.” —The Bloomsbury Review
“Reading this book was the next best thing to wandering in the woods with Peter Cashwell hoping to add a rufous-capped warbler to my life list. No, it was better—I could laugh out loud in delight as I turned the pages without fear of scaring the birds.” —Katharine Weber, author of The Music Lesson, The Little Women, and Triangle.
“Peter Cashwell possesses one of the rarest of all qualities in a nature writer: an intelligent wit.” —Robert Finch, co-editor of The Norton Book of Nature Writing
“Birders as well as all others interested in birds will enjoy this witty and informative meditation. Declaring himself a victim of birding compulsive disorder, Cashwell, an English teacher in Virginia, does an excellent job of describing his fascination with observing and listening to birds.” —Publishers Weekly
“Writing with humor and gentle environmental rants, Cashwell does for his beloved birds what Bill Bryson did for the Appalachian Trail in his best-selling A Walk in the Woods.” —Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star
“Cashwell plays with the language as joyfully and skillfully as a musician coaxes melodies from his instrument. Not much that is even vaguely related to the avian world escapes his pen. As he travels along woods and marshes, college campuses, seashores and library shelves, he shares adventures and observations (some few acerbic, some funny, some irreverent, all entertaining).” —Rocky Mount Telegram
*A Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers Selection
*A Summer Paperback BookSense76 Pick
*A Martha’s Favorite Books selection for Martha Stewart Living Television (Yes, really. –PC)
Wow, thanks for the opportunity, John!
Anyone on your Christmas/Hanukkah/Yule/Solstice/Flying Spaghetti Dinner list who enjoys edgy, character-driven thrillers will dig my book AMITY.
AMITY follows the life of a reclusive, apathetic-yet-likable anti-hero as he works to become a member of a group of online troublemakers, then, realizing how horribly cocked they have made his life, tries to detach himself from them before he ends up in a shallow grave in the Las Vegas foothills.
It’s available in paperback or Kindle on Amazon or Amazon UK, Nook, iPad, or Sony Reader.
Thanks!
Someone’s tweet brought me here. Should have guess Scalzi was doing it, because it’s a great idea.
If you’re looking for a collection of dirty stories about famous authors, try “Writers Gone Wild: The Feuds, Frolics, and Follies of Literature’s Great Adventurers, Drunkards, Lovers, Iconoclasts, and Misanthropes” from Penguin’s Perigee Books (trade paperback, $14.95)
There’s 200 short tales and anecdotes about writers, their works that caused trouble (Alfred Jarry’s “Ubu Roi”, Allen Ginsburg’s “Howl”), their fights, drunks, disastrous affairs, good and bad business decisions, unusual jobs and memorable deaths.
* The night Dashiell Hammett hired a Chinese prostitute to break up S.J. Perelman’s marriage (and run off with his wife).
* Why Sylvia Plath bit Ted Hughes on the cheek so hard that she drew blood.
* Why Ernest Hemingway fought a book critic, a modernist poet, and his war correspondent/wife Martha Gellhorn (but not at the same time).
* The near-fatal trip Katherine Anne Porter took while high on Mexican marijuana.
* Why a woman’s breasts sent Percy Bysshe Shelley screaming from the room.
* The day Virginia Woolf snuck onto a Royal Navy ship disguised as an Abyssinian prince.
At the book page on my web site, there’s excerpts to read, wallpaper of famous writers, reviews and interviews and other goodies. It’s even on Google Books.
Share and enjoy, and happy holidays!
One part Night at the Improv, two parts Junkyard Wars, Team Challenges: Group Activities to Build Cooperation, Communication and Creativity is a virtual springboard for creativity.
Not just for kids, I’m told the challenges are great fun when accompanied by a bottle of wine or two. Minus the wine? The book makes a great teacher gift for the holiday.
Thanks so much for the opportunity! Here’s my latest book info and a link to the book over on Amazon:
WALT DISNEY WORLD EXTREME VACATION GUIDE FOR KIDS
Look inside the book at http://www.polkadotsuitcase.com!
When kids find out they’re going to Walt Disney World, they’re psyched. Then they find out they have to wait weeks (or even months!) and they start getting…well, a little Goofy.
This book will give kids something to do with all that wiggly extra energy. Making their own Epcot hideaway? Discovering edible “fiber optics”? Creating a working “genie lamp” for a bank? Oh, yeah.
Packed with more than 30 projects, this book lets kids:
LEARN how to make their own spending money for the trip (saving you cash and teaching them responsibility at the same time!)
MAKE practical projects like matching T-shirts, autograph books, and a towel that transforms into a tote for the water parks
CREATE a magical, interactive genie bottle bank to stash all the money they earn
BUILD a fun Mickey pinata with pre-trip movie night ideas
EXPLORE science-behind-the-magic projects like a wave tank to explore the science of Typhoon Lagoon and an incredible magnetic desk toy that reveals the secrets of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster
And when kids come home and are struggling with “re-entry” into everyday life, there are 10 projects to help them enjoy and share their memories.
It’s perfect for kids 6-14, but there are also over a dozen “Minnie Projects” for quick activities or for kids under 6.
And of course, this is a TOUR GUIDE. There are chapters devoted to each of the four parks and one that covers the other fun stuff at WDW–the water parks, parades, campground–you name it! They’ll even get simple photography tips to help snap the best shots.
There’s also a chapter on DISNEY-THEMED TRAVEL ACTIVITIES to keep them busy during the trip from home to their vacation destination.
It’s not just a picture book for kids with Mickey and Donald. This is an EXTREME VACATION PLANNER…just for them!
Thanks, John! This is very cool and very much appreciated!
Hi, I’m Suzanne McLeod, a Brit author who lives on the other side of the pond, and I write urban fantasy. In particular I write Spellcracking books, set in London, filled with magic, mayhem and murder – and liberally spiced with hot guys, kick-ass chicks and super-cool supes! Now, wouldn’t you like to find that combination in your Christmas stocking! *g*
The Sweet Scent of Blood # 1 – is out now US.
The Cold Kiss of Death # 2 is out now UK /April 2011 US
Now for The Blurb! *g*
“My name is Genny Taylor. I work for Spellcrackers.com ~ Making Magic Safe ~ Guaranteed. It’s a great job, pays the rent, lets me do the thing I’m good at – finding magic and cracking it – and the bonus is it’s run by witches, which stops the vamps from taking a bite out of me.
Not that vampires are the big bad any more, not since they launched a slick PR campaign – oh, and they brought the goblins on board. Now the vamps are sought-after celebrities, and Getting Fanged and taking the Gift are the new height of all things cool.
But only if you’re human.
And I’m not.
I’m Sidhe fae.
And I know firsthand just how deadly a vampire can be.”
‘The fast pace of the plot and the fascinating cast of characters will give you a happy little vacation between two covers.’
CHARLAINE HARRIS, author of the Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire novels.
Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Healthy, Happy New Year!
Project: Happily Ever After tells the story of how I went from wishing my husband dead to falling back in love (with the same person). It’s a falling in love story, a falling out of love story, and a falling back in love story. It’s about 12 martial improvements, a toddler, a start up business, a bikini wax, and more. You can order it from amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Project-Happily-Marriage-Fairytale-Falters/dp/0762439017/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1291410674&sr=8-1 Or you can find it at a bookseller near you.
Here are two of my books, perfect for gifts:
How to Parent with Your Ex is exactly what your friend who is divorcing needs to get her through the rough patches. Written by an attorney, and filled with practical, hands on info. http://www.amazon.com/dp/1572484799/ref=nosim/?tag=mooseinthebirdba
The Essential Supervisor’s Handbook is a perfect gift for someone who’s just been promoted or hired in a supervisor position. http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Supervisors-Handbook-Brette-McWhorter/dp/1564148939/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1291410826&sr=1-1
Thanks for the promo opportunity, President Scalzi!
My two novels are BLACK HOLE SUN and SOUL ENCHILADA, both from HarperCollins.
*Black Hole Sun, a grunge dystopian space opera, is set on a terraformed Mars, where teen soldier Durango and his crew of mercenaries are hired by the settlers of a mining community to them from a band of feral marauders.
Suzanne Collins blurbed the book by saying, “David Macinnis Gill rockets readers to new frontiers in this imaginative, action-packed tale.” BHS is a SLJ Best Book of 2010 and received starred reviews from Booklist and School Library Journal.
*Soul Enchilada: It’s ‘Faust Meets Men in Black’ in this YA paranormal about a teen girl who must risk her soul to keep Lucifer from repossessing her most treasured possession, the 1958 Cadillac Biarritz she inherited from her dearly departed grandfather.
Soul was an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, Kirkus Best Book 2009, Bank Street Best Books of the Year 2010, and NYPL Stuff for the Teen Age 2010.
Both books are available from Amazon, BN, and Borders, but please consider ordering from your local indie. My adopted indies are BookPeople [http://www.bookpeople.com/book/9780061673047] and WORD [http://wordbrooklyn.com], which has signed copies of Black Hole Sun.
I’ll pimp my most recent novel, Children No More, which you can still get on Amazon and in some bookstores. As I explained in my Big Idea piece here (http://whatever.scalzi.com/2010/08/30/the-big-idea-mark-van-name/), I’m donating everything I make from the sale of the hardback to Falling Whistles (www.fallingwhistles.com) to help rehabilitate and reintegrate child soldiers and other children affected by war. So, when you buy the book, you’re also doing a good deed! You can learn more about the program at http://www.childrennomore.com.
I suggest my own relatively new science fiction trilogy. The titles are Ghulf Genes, In Search of Anna Magna, and Anna’s Song. Of these the first two have been published and the last will be available soon. This is a futuristic history of a clan, the Ghulfs, set in the 23rd and 24th centuries—a realistic space saga that tells the story of the discovery of the Eight Worlds, gamma space, and the acceleration effect. But these are adventures and dramas in which character, rather than science, is the dominant feature. Another take is this is a grand Goddess tale. For more on this series, completed just before 9/11 confused the world, you might check the site of Dwarf Planet Press here: http://dwarfplanetpress.wordpress.com/
Some of you may still remember my earlier novels, not least Karma Affair, A Hostage for the Hinterland,The Purgatory Zone, my novella collection A Splendid Freedom, and my short stories and novellas published in Galaxy, If, Analog and elsewhere.
On a winter night outside a small town in northern Michigan, a woman is found hanging in a tree filled with shoes. That’s the start of my second novel, THE HANGING TREE. It’s obviously a suicide–or is it? The woman in the tree, Gracie McBride, has lived a mysterious and troubled life since leaving the town of Starvation Lake eighteen years before. Finding out what happened to her falls to her estranged cousin, Gus Carpenter, the editor of the town’s small newspaper and a man with a past of his own.
Kirkus Reviews says THE HANGING TREE “has it all—suspense, mystery, romance, detection, clear-eyed hometown nostalgia, professional dangers along with other kind.” Associated Press called it “ an exceptionally well-written novel by an author who has mastered the conventions of his genre.”
THE HANGING TREE is a stand-alone sequel to 2009’s STARVATION LAKE, now in its 10th printing. STARVATION LAKE was nominated for an Edgar Award for Best Debut Novel, and has won Anthony, Barry, and Strand awards. Feel the chill in Michigan winter and in the rich complex characters that populate the little town of Starvation Lake.
Hi, I’m Danielle Ackley-McPhail and I’d like to introduce you to my award-winning speculative fiction works (Sorry, don’t know how to add the links):
For Those Partial to Novels
The Eternal Cycle Series, Explore the concept of Irish Elves in New York City the ongoing tale of Kara O’Keefe, a first-generation Irish-American with Sidhe blood in her veins and magic in her music.
Yesterday’s Dreams, by Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Mundania Press, 2006
Tomorrow’s Memories, by Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Mundania Press, 2008
And for the faerie Fan
The Halfling’s Court: A Bad-Ass Faerie Tale, by Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Dark Quest Books, 2009
Lance Cosain and the Wild Hunt MC battle the road and the darker side of Faerie.
For the Hardcore Faerie Fans
Get Your Bad-Ass On! Think faeries are all goodness and light? Think again. The Bad-Ass Faeries Anthology Series takes you back to the day of malevolent, mischievous, and warlike faeries…transported into the modern day.
Bad-Ass Faeries, edited by Danielle Ackley-McPhail, et al., Mundania Press 2009 (Includes my story, At the Crossroads)
Just Plain Bad, edited by Danielle Ackley-McPhail, et al., Mundania Press 2009 (Includes my story, Within the Guardian Bell)
In All Their Glory, by Danielle Ackley-McPhail, et al., Mundania Press 2010 (Includes my story, Seeing Red)
For the Military Science Fiction Fans
Hardcore Negotiations Have Begun! Whether it is dirtside or up among the stars, the battle lines are drawn, which side are you on? Find out in the Defending the Future Anthology Series
Breach the Hull, edited by Mike McPhail, Dark Quest Books 2009 (Includes my story, In The Dying Light)
So It Begins, edited by Mike McPhail, Dark Quest Books 2009 (Includes my story, First Line)
Four anthologies with my short stories out this year and all are fine, fun reading of many new voices in the field of horror, superheroes, science fiction, and shared world fiction. Go to http://www.rosemaryjones.com and look in the right column for the full list.
For the novels, if you roll many-sided dice, you probably already know the Forgotten Realms, setting for many D&D adventures. For swashbuckling thrills, try my CRYPT OF THE MOANING DIAMOND (once reviewed as “it’s nice to see a hero in shiny armor stripped down to his underwear”). For girls who game, or guys who aren’t afraid of a little romantic adventure alongside topiary dragons and haunted graveyards, try CITY OF THE DEAD, a fan favorite that one reader called “a spookhouse fun ride” and I describe as Jane Eyre meets Tolkien. Both are from Wizards of the Coast and available in bookstores or online. City can even be loaded onto that fancy new e-book reader that your favorite geek is getting for Christmas.
Now I need to write a letter to Santa about the other books that I see on the comments above me (I already own probably half these authors and can only say “yes, indeed, these are good!”
The final book of my Blood of the Southlands Trilogy came out earlier this year. The book is called THE DARK-EYES’ WAR, and it is the sequel to THE SORCERERS’ PLAGUE and THE HORSEMEN’S GAMBIT. All three books are published by Tor, and sample chapters for all three can be found at my website: http://www.DavidBCoe.com.
Also, for those of you looking for a writing How-To book, I am the co-author of HOW TO WRITE MAGICAL WORDS: A WRITER’S COMPANION. This book grew out of the http://magicalwords.net blogsite, which is devoted to the craft and business of writing. The How-To will be released by Bellarosa press later this month. Here is the url for the site: http://bellarosabooks.com/Magical_Words-xv.htm
John, thanks very much for doing this.
SONGBIRD by Colleen Helme
A romantic fantasy about a young woman with magical singing abilities that will grab you from the first page and won’t let go until the end. Teya is a captive of a king, until an ambassador from another country decides to rescue her. All she must do is take him to her homeland. It sounds too good to be true, and she realizes she might only be exchanging one prison for another. If you like magic, love and an enthralling adventure SONGBIRD is the book for you. Available at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Songbird-Colleen-Helme/dp/1606592416/ and Barnes & Noble http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Songbird/Colleen-Helme/e/9781606592410/
I am also hosting a book give-a-way on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9722241-songbird
It goes until Dec. 14th so enter to win a free book!
Thanks!
Colleen Helme
http://www.colleenhelme.com
Sunset Tuttle, in ECHO, was armed with a starship and a loyal pilot, He spent his life trying to find a civilization out there somewhere. Naturally everybody laughed at him. Eventually he gave up, retired, and ultimately died in a boating accident. Thirty years later, evidence surfaces that Tuttle may have found something. But if so, why did he keep it quiet? Antiquities dealer Alex Benedict starts asking questions, and finds he has started down a strange and dangerous road.
Happy Holidays from Charmaine Gordon. I write what is called “Survive and Thrive” romance/suspense and paranormal fiction about women who must battle their way through loss, divorce, or abandonment to recreate a new life. One reviewer said: “Written with humor and understanding, each book is an inspiration.”
“To Be Continued”-Beth Malone finds a note from her husband, “It’s not you, it’s me.” When he returns, he’s in for a big surprise.
“STARTING OVER”- Unaware of a stalker perched high on the widow’s walk of his mansion, Emily runs to heal her mind and heart on the hard packed sand in St.Augustine, FL.
“NOW WHAT?”-Holding her husband’s cooling hand, Carly Evans cries, “Come back to me.” She knows from past experience, loved ones always return.
Signed copies available through http://www.Amazon.com
Thank you, John, for this generous opportunity.
Thanks for such a great opportunity, John. I’d love to offer my books for consideration:
RealmShift – A race against time and the Devil
Isiah is having a tough time. The Devil is making his job very difficult.
Samuel Harrigan is a murdering lowlife. He used ancient blood magic to escape a deal with the Devil and now he’s on the trail of a crystal skull that he believes will complete his efforts to evade Lucifer. But Lucifer wants Samuel’s soul for eternity and refuses to wait a second longer for it. Isiah needs Samuel to keep looking for the crystal skull, so he has to protect Sam and keep the Devil at bay. Not for Samuel’s sake, but for all of humanity.
Available at Amazon and all the other places John mentioned above!
And the sequel:
MageSign – Believe in the blood
Three years have passed since Isiah’s run in with Samuel Harrigan and the Devil. He has some time on his hands – a perfect opportunity to track down the evil Sorcerer, Harrigan’s mentor. It should have been a simple enough task, but the Sorcerer has more followers than Isiah ever imagined, and a plan bigger than anyone could have dreamed.
With the help of some powerful new friends Isiah desperately tries to track down the Sorcerer and his cult of blood before they manage to change the world forever.
Also available at Amazon and everywhere else.
Thanks again, John!
Both of these books are available through the usual online merchants, but I’ve included links directly to the publisher’s online store because the publisher makes more money if you buy the books through them.
The Dark Faith anthology, edited by Maurice Broaddus and Jerry Gordon, is an exploration of various flavors of faith (including faithlessness) through the lens of horror. It includes stories by Tom Piccirilli, Nick Mamatas, Jay Lake, Catherynne M. Valente, Ekaterina Sedia, Wrath James White, as well as my story “Ghosts of New York.”
http://www.apexbookcompany.com/dark-faith/
Unwelcome Bodies is my short story collection, which includes the Nebula-nominated story “Captive Girl.” The stories tend to skate the line between dark science fiction and horror. I can’t think of a better way to tell a loved one that you think they’re a sick puppy than to give them this book for your Solstice holiday of choice. Feel free to also give a copy to your local junior high school library, because it would really help my sales if it got banned.
http://www.apexbookcompany.com/unwelcome-bodies-book/
My latest book is only available in Spanish for now: VAMOS A VER A PAPÁ is a picture book that tells the other side of the immigration story, not going to a new country but the people left behind, in this case a girl whose father is working in another country and sending money home to his family. An English-language translation (my first time being translated INTO English) will be published in November 2011 by Groundwood Books, but the Spanish original is currently widely available in the US. Here’s the link at Powell’s: http://www.powells.com/biblio/61-9788493721275-0
Also of interest might be my English-language poetry collection, FAIRY TALES FOR WRITERS. The Big Idea interview Scalzi did with me about the book (back in the ficlet days) seems to no longer be online, so basically it offers thirteen fairy tales retold with writers as protagonists and recounting the joys and struggles of the writing life. Available from the usual online sources, plus free shipping on orders from the A Midsummer Night’s Press website:
http://amidsummernightspress.typepad.com/amsnp/2007/03/fairy_tales_for.html
Thanks, for the opportunity for shameless promotion, John!
For those who like to plan ahead, my paranormal YA novel, LUMINOUS, is due out by Dutton Books June 30, 2011 and available for pre-order on a bookseller site nearest you! There have been vampire books, werewolf books, mermaid books, dark faery books, steampunk books, and dystopian books, but latina paranormal pearlescent skeleton superheroines ala Dia de los Muertos? That one’s mine.
Consuela is a typical suburban Latina teen until she unwittingly slips into the world of the Flow. She can remove her skin and create new ones out of anything—air, water, feathers, and fire—and a mission to save ordinary people from dying before their time, Consuela joins other teens with extraordinary abilities, bound together to safeguard a world they can affect, but where they no longer belong. Yet when murder threatens to undo the Flow, the Watcher charges Consuela and the elusive, attractive V to find and stop the mysterious killer when all Consuela really wants is to get back home alive.
ISBN#: 0525422471
ISBN-13#: 9780525422471
Your favorite urban fantasy reader can be the first to own a copy of LUMINOUS! Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Borders.
Happy Holidays & Great Reading!
I’ve got three series out and I’m here to pimp all three!
The first is the Path series: Path of Fate, Path of Honor, and Path of Blood. This is traditional fantasy that follows a healer as she first seeks to rescue a kidnapped friend, and later discovers that a magical nuclear bomb dropped in the recent war isn’t done destroying the world, though the war is over.
The second is The Crosspointe Chronicles, which includes The Cipher, The Black Ship, The Turning Tide and The Hollow Crown. Each book is complete in itself and follows different characters as they each must join in the battle to save Crosspointe from invasion and destruction. These books have a slightly Dickensian, darkly urban feel. They can be read in any order.
The last series is The Horngate Witches series. It’s contemporary fantasy. The first is Bitter Night and is available now, and the second, Crimson Wind, comes out in a few weeks. These books are set in the modern world. A war has begun to prune back humanity’s magic-killing influence and restore magic to the land. Max, my main character, is stuck in the middle as she seeks to free herself from enslavement to a witch, while at the same time protecting the people she loves. This series is very apocalyptic.
For chapter samples and more info, come to my website and prowl around! http://www.dianapfrancis.com
My book is called Stage Combat–Fisticuffs, Stunts, and Swordplay for Theatre and Film .
It’s a non-fiction how-to guide for looking like a total bad-ass onstage in action scenes, but still keeping your beauty intact. I describe unarmed, rapier, katana, and staff techniques that look great but don’t hurt, and the warmups to make them smooth.
Here ’tis on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Stage-Combat-Fisticuffs-Swordplay-Theater/dp/1581154615
And Barnes & Noble: http://productsearch.barnesandnoble.com/search/results.aspx?store=BOOK&WRD=stage+combat+boughn&box=stage%20combat%20boughn&pos=-1
And here’s my silly little book-trailer/commercial, with help from my students: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyVrPl41rvM
Thanks for doing this, John!
The Vamped series by Lucienne Diver:
In Vamped (http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780738721293) Teen fashionista Gina Covello has a problem. Waking up undead is just the beginning. There’s very little she can’t put up with for the sake of eternal youth and beauty. Blood-sucking and pointy stick phobias seem a small price to pay. But she draws the line when local vampire vixen Mellisande gets designs on her hot new boyfriend with his prophecied powers and hatches a plot to turn all of Gina’s fellow students into an undead army to be used to overthrow the vampire council.
Hey, if anyone’s going to create an undead entourage, it should be Gina! Now she must unselfishly save her classmates from fashion disasters and other fates worst than death.
In ReVamped (http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780738714745) Gina and her boyfriend Bobby are sent undercover to infiltrate a New York high school where some seriously weird stuff is going down. Worse than that, Gina’s new super-secret identity is as goth-girl Geneva Belfry. No color palette to speak of. More chains than a bike rack. And don’t even get her started on the shoes. At least she won’t be too worried about blood spatter when kicking the butt of her newest nemesis, who’s decided that the high school makes a perfect playground.
More info at http://www.luciennediver.com
Hi John
Compliments of the season and how generous of you, thank you!
Hello to all your visitors and regular readers. This comes to you from a sizzling Adelaide in South Australia where the temperature today will likely hit 36 degrees Celsius, or roaring toward the happy hundred in Farenheit. I’m a fantasy writer and my latest series is Valisar, which follows the brutal path of a royal dynasty of Penraven that holds the balance of power in the Denova Set, a group of five realms. The Valisars are vested with a unique magic that has remained dormant for scores of decades but is re-awakened when barbarians from the Steppes, led by the warlord Loethar, begin their invasion to dismantle all the royal families of the Set to forge an empire out of blood. Loethar’s glittering prize is the Valisar crown and he sets the tone for his new rule when he finds a cruel and immoral way to humiliate its king. But a courageous few set in motion the battle to return the Penraven throne to a Valisar.
This is a complex trilogy of shifting alliances, terrible sacrifice, and I promise some surprises for readers with a tale that twists and turns to the last page. The volumes are: Royal Exile, Tyrant’s Blood and King’s Wrath. The whole trilogy is now published and available worldwide.
Happy reading, happy holidays and I hope everyone who is on the move travels safely.
Fiona McIntosh
I have my pen and paper out jotting notes over theses great recomendations. Okay now for a little pimping of my own. Ahead of my February release of the second Dark Brethren book DEATH’S SWEET EMBRACE (which is also available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble for pre order) is my debut novel NIGHT’S COLD KISS:
The tension between the Aeternus, an ancient vampiric people, and humanity has been mounting for over a century. But when rogue vampires begin to drain humans in order to achieve an illegal blood-high, all bets are off.
After the death of her parents, Antoinette Petrescu devoted her life to becoming one of the top Venators, the elite hunters who destroy the rogue Necrodreniacs. Her kill count is legendary and her skills superb.
But now the serial killer who killed her parents has returned. And to stop him Antoinette must join forces not only with the Aeternus, but also their most legendary killer. One that is both dangerously attractive, and involved in buried secrets of her past. More dangerous still, a dark attraction grows between them–one that could doom both races.
Here is the trailer for the book.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-VlSdqfc2c&fs=1&hl=en_GB]
Where you can get it:
Amazon link http://www.amazon.com/Nights-Cold-Kiss-Brethren-Novel
Barnes & Noble http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Nights-Cold-Kiss/Tracey-OHara
Also available in Kindle, Nook and ebook versions.
The Music of Razors
“The Music of Razors is a nightmarishly imaginative debut from a writer of real assurance and vision. Watch him: he’s going to go places.” – Neil Gaiman “Dark, disturbing, and filled with moments of real charm and magic, The Music of Razors is the best first novel I’ve seen this year.” – Locus In nineteenth-century Boston, a young doctor falls in with an British confidence artist. Together – and with dire consequences – they bring back to the light something meant to be forgotten. A world away in London, an absent father, haunted by the voice of a banished angel, presents his daughter with an impossible friend – a clockwork ballerina. For two centuries a bullet-removal specialist has wielded instruments of angel bone in service to a forgotten power… and now he vows to find someone else to shoulder the burden, someone with a conscience of their own, a strong mind and a broken will. For a hundred years he has searched for the perfect contender, and now he has found two: a brother and a sister, Walter and Hope. Either will do. Last night something stepped from little Walter’s closet and he never woke up. Now he travels the dark road between worlds, no longer entirely boy nor wholly beast, but with one goal in mind: to prevent his sister from suffering the same fate as he. Only the creature he has become can save Hope. But is it too late to save himself?
You can purchase it via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, or pretty much anywhere else on- or offline.
ISBN-10: 0345493192 ISBN-13: 978-0345493194
Thanks John!
Threesomes An Anthology
http://www.amazon.com/Threesomes-Anthology-Lori-Perkins/dp/160777867X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1291428882&sr=8-1
Synopsis
A sizzling collection of short stories about creative ways three people can enjoy erotic adventures together. Whether it’s two men and a woman, two women and a man, or same-sex threesomes, these triads find interesting and inspiring ways to get it on.
Review: Bitten By Books:
Searching for the Perfect Mate by Trinity Blacio
Kellie wanted both werewolves to be with her tonight, but when one man declares her as his mate, will the planned ménage become only a pair of lovers or will the desires of his new mate be given into for one night of passion?
I enjoyed this collection of ménage fantasy. I laughed with “Later, Day Saints”, was shocked by “Vince and Vi’s Adventure”, was entranced by the thoughtfulness in “Just Friends” and was captured by the story in “Searching for the Perfect Mate” and “And Damian Makes Four”. I wish there were more. The entire selection was sexy and intriguing, and I truly was entertained by them all.
Running In Fear: Escaped
http://www.amazon.com/Running-Fear-Escaped-Trinity-Blacio/dp/1607776561/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291428654&sr=8-1-fkmr0
Synopsis
“Running in Fear: Escaped is a powerful and intense story that has thrills and some very hot, steamy scenes.” –RomFan Reviews (4 stars)
Jaycee Manz has been on the run since her sixteenth birthday. After growing up fast and depending on no one, how is she supposed to handle three male werewolves who claim to be her mates? Can she learn to trust them or will she continue to run?
Dane Glassgo, alpha of his clan and a special ops commander, specializes in tracking. He’s waited for the past two years to claim his mate. Nothing or no one will stop him from claiming Jaycee, not even her fear…
Pierre LeBlathe, brother to Remi and bonded mate to Dane Glassgo, knows his time is limited with Jaycee. But he is bound and determined to stop anyone from hurting her…
Mark Glassgo shares alpha duties with his elder brother, but when Dane finds his mate, Jaycee, he is shocked to learn she is also his mate. What he didn’t count on was that he was also mate to Remi LeBlathe…
Alpha Remi LeBlathe, one of the most powerful weres in the country, has always protected what is his. When Jaycee comes into his life, mayhem erupts around them, but Remi is used to mayhem and uses it to his benefit. In seeking those who would harm his mate, Remi must learn how to listen to Jaycee’s needs and desires…
Together, all four try to find peace, and the most powerful alphas in the U.S., Remi, Dane and Mark , declare war on anyone who stands in their way of claiming their runaway mate. But can the independent Jaycee be claimed?
In this sizzling werewolf menage story, love, lust and power take center stage in the struggle for ultimate survival.
Reminder once again to keep the descriptions compact. The longer the comment, the more likely it is to get skipped. Trust me on this.
CIRCLES IN THE WATER–Are the destinies of Jimmie and Colletta tied to mistakes of their youth?
THE LIFE AND DEATH OF LIZZIE MORRIS–Can a lifetime of true devotion carry Bradley through the loss of his soul-mate?
THE BABY RIVER ANGEL–The whole town pitches in to save this abandoned child from the impersonal welfare system, but where did she come from?
Please go to my Amazon author’s page:
http://tinyurl.com/27apc5p
The Burning Maiden is a horror/suspense anthology that features many of today’s premier storytellers spinning dark tales of dread and wonder. The anthology features ALL-NEW stories from Joe R. Lansdale, Louis Bayard, Matthew Pearl, Christopher Golden, Tim Lebbon, Lyndsay Faye, Bruce Boston and a host of other prominent talents, as well as a classic tale from the legendary T.C. Boyle.
To pre-order the special hardback edition visit: http://evileyebooks.blogspot.com/2010/11/burn-baby-burn.html.
Thanks!
As Imaginary Jesus opens, our hero, Matt Mikalatos, is sitting in a coffee shop. At his table is Jesus, listening to an iPod, his sandal-clad foot bouncing in rhythm with the music. It’s a nice comfortable afternoon together.
That all ends when a fishy stranger walks in and PUNCHES JESUS IN THE FACE!
Jesus gets himself out of there as fast as he can (which, being Jesus, is really fast). And thus a most bizarre chase begins….
Imaginary Jesus follows Matt on a wild ride through time, space, and Portland, Oregon, in a quest to find the real Jesus, destroy all imposters who stand in his way… and finally get an answer to the question that has haunted him for years.
You can download the first chapter for free here.
And of course it would make an excellent holiday gift as well. You can buy it at Amazon, Powell’s and most major bookstores.
Political corruption, murder, and traffic engineering — all the things that make the world go round are in my book “The Last Three Miles: Politics, Murder, and the Construction of America’s First Superhighway” (The New Press). The superhighway in question was the Route One Extension and the Pulaski Skyway, built in connection with the Holland Tunnel out of NYC. The politics involved Frank Hague, the greatest political boss in U.S. history (and cartoonish cameo character in a recent episode of “Boardwalk Empire”). The murder grew from a bloody labor war that erupted during construction of the Skyway. My book has been praised by everyone from Henry Petroski (“Engineers of Dreams”) to Christian Bauman (“The Ice Beneath You”), and has even been used as a textbook in political science and engineering courses.
FAITH & FAIRIES, a family fantasy: http://www.faithandfairies.com
“…As one can truly say–a good read!” —grandmaster author Andre Norton
“…reminiscent of such young adult classics as THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA…full of wonder and imagination, yet feels familiar and real…” —author Eldon Thompson
“…a finely crafted, haunting tale of adventure, sacrifice and love that fondly recalls the young adult fantasy novels of C.S. Lewis, Andre Norton and Madeleine L’Engle.” —The St. Augustine Record, St. Augustine, Florida
“…compare the story to C.S. Lewis’ THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE.” —The Ames Tribune, Ames, Iowa
“…Haviland is in the class of L. Frank Baum, Terry Brooks, or Stephen Donaldson…” —MidWest Book Review
“…a sweet fantasy story filled with wonder, magic, and fairies…” —TCM Reviews
“…All I can say is, when is the next one coming out?” —author Danielle Ackley-McPhail
[AUTHOR’S DISCLAIMER: Please be advised that I cannot tell you which part of this novel is based on family legend. I am a Haviland, I am therefore not allowed. There are consequences, you see…]
Thanks so much for doing this!
My novel, Friends and Lovers, takes place in Savannah, GA.
Tom Hansom had always been gay. Oh, he liked women well enough. As the saying went, they were some of his best friends. But guys? Oh yeah, they really rang his chimes. Jack Sweet, on the other hand, had never doubted he was straight. He loved women in all their many varieties, even going so far as to marry, not once but twice.
In spite of their diverse sexual orientations, in spite of time and distance, the two men were best friends. Now, that friendship will be tested, as Tom makes a request, and Jack seriously considers it.
Friends and Lovers can be found on Amazon.com : http://www.amazon.com/Friends-Lovers-Tinnean/dp/1935509071/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1291434564&sr=1-1
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Friends-and-Lovers/Tinnean/e/9781935509073/?itm=1&USRI=tinnean
and Powell’s Books: http://www.powells.com/biblio/61-9781935509073-0
I hope your readers will try it and enjoy it. And thanks again.
Thank you, John!
HUNGER is a magical realism novel about an anorexic teenage girl who becomes Famine, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. A portion of proceeds is being donated to the National Eating Disorders Association.
“The storytelling is both realistic and compassionate….the writing is never preachy, and it allows an interesting exploration of both intensely personal food issues and global ones.”—School Library Journal, starred review
“[The author’s] ear for dialogue, fluid prose and dark humor elevate this brief novel above other ‘issue books.'”—Kirkus Reviews
“Kessler offers a refreshingly new approach to the YA eating-disorder genre that reinforces the difficulty of conquering these diseases.”—Booklist
“Fast-paced, witty, and heart-breaking! Jackie Morse Kessler is one of the most talented authors I know.”—Richelle Mead, author of Vampire Academy
“Hunger is not just a good book. It is a great book. It is funny and sad, brilliant and tragic, and most of all, it speaks truth. I’ve always admired Jackie Kessler’s writing. Now I adore it.”—Rachel Caine, author of The Morganville Vampires
Happy holidays, John! And everyone else, of course!
I had the great privilege of doing a Big Idea post here this summer for my novel UNHOLY GHOSTS, first in my Downside series; it’s kind of Escape From New York meets Ghostbusters, with witches, junkies, black magic, prostitutes, thieves, human sacrifice, punk rock, and a black ’69 Chevelle. (And an all-human cast.)
FantasyLiterature.com called it “Gripping and brilliant.”
The Barnes & Noble Explorations blog says the series “shuns the formulaic pitfalls and conventionality of other bestselling paranormal fantasy sagas” and is “taking paranormal fantasy to a new level right before our eyes.”
And the Fiction Vixen said “I think most people will say they like it when an author takes risks, goes for something different and writes outside the box. After reading UNHOLY GHOSTS, I have to wonder if Stacia Kane is aware there is a box. Really, UNHOLY GHOSTS pushes the limits in what we’re seeing in Urban Fantasy today…[takes] some risks with smashing results.”
My Big Idea post is here: http://whatever.scalzi.com/2010/06/09/the-big-idea-stacia-kane/
You can download a PDF of the first five chapters of UNHOLY GHOSTS on the book’s page on my website here (below all the reviews, around the middle of the page) to see if you’re interested in reading more: http://www.staciakane.net/books/unholy-ghosts/
The series (all three books were released back-to-back this summer, UNHOLY GHOSTS in May, UNHOLY MAGIC in June, and CITY OF GHOSTS in July) was published by Del Rey here in the US and HarperVoyager in the UK/Ire/Aus, so is available pretty much anywhere books are sold. You can get it in audiobook as well.
My book, Why Babies Do That: Baffling Baby Behavior Explained, makes a wonderful holiday gift for any new mom or dad.
http://www.amazon.com/Why-Babies-Do-That-Explained/dp/1595432434/ref=pd_rhf_p_3/105-9128239-6172436
Another of my books, The Baby Bonding Book For Dads (co-written with my husband) is a perfect book for moms (or grandparents) to buy for the new dad in their life.
http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Bonding-Book-Dads-Connection/dp/1595435891/ref=pd_sim_b_2
My book, Point, Click, and Save: Mashup Mom’s Guide to Saving and Making Money Online, is both a great gift for anyone trying to save in this crazy economy and a great resource for anyone already worried about their impending holiday bills. I used to be a librarian — now I’m sharing info with people in a slightly different way.
On Amazon
and more about both the book and the ongoing deals at at Mashup Mom.
Common Bond, Tangled Hearts Layne Gillette’s world is turned upside down when a man she has never met shows up to lay claim as the father of her 6-year old son. When Layne’s abusive “ex-husband” shows up, they are torn apart by danger, kidnapping and lies.
Visit my Smashwords page for info and buy links for all of my books including my latest Writing instruction guide.
Happy Holidays!
Oo, what fun!
The fourth Greywalker novel, VANISHED, came out in paperback this year: PI Harper Blaine gets tangled up in vampire politics as she tries to discover why she sees ghosts and monsters when other people who’ve had near-death experiences don’t. The answers lie closer to home than she’d like…
And the fifth one, LABYRINTH, came out in hardcover in August: Having discovered why she’s a Greywalker, Harper now has to decide what she’s going to do about it and, incidentally, to put a stop to the plans of an ancient evil to use her for his own twisted ends. Wraps up all the questions the series has been building for the past four books (OK, most or ’em, ’cause I’m cruel that way.)
I’m really excited about an anthology I’m in, but I’m not the editor, so… I’ll hope he shows up to mention it…. And of course you can get all my books in all the usual
suspectsplaces:Barnes and Noble, Powell’s, and Amazon.
Happy Holidays, all!
God, I’m horrible at this. Let me give this a shot …
Roan McKichan is just your standard sarcastic, hard boiled detective. Except he exists in a world where a werecat virus has altered society in key ways, making the afflicted pariahs, or objects of worship amongst the members of an extremely delusional cult. He was born with the virus, one of the few to survive such a thing, and he finds himself between worlds, solving crimes against the infecteds as well as crimes against the normals, and never quite having the quiet life he wanted. Also, he may not be completely human, which for some reason he finds a complete pain.
Infected: Prey is out now: http://www.amazon.com/Infected-Prey-Andrea-Speed/dp/1615814671/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1291449238&sr=8-1
Infected: Bloodlines will be out December 17th. http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=infected:+bloodlines&osCsid=j65ardri9o2hcnocsmvlcmgn75&x=10&y=7
Thank you.
okay, allow me to pimp myself then. :P
the only book currently I have that fits the above criteria is “beyond the glass mountain: a collection of stories an poetry”, which is on Barnes and amazon, like, right now. it is what it is, is a collection of short stories and poetry I’ve written over the last decade or so. do you like Zombies? fantasy? poetry? then this would would make a great day-time distraction/read. :P
Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Glass-Mountain-Collection-Stories/dp/0615166792/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291450255&sr=8-1
Barnes:
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Beyond-the-Glass-Mountain/Tony-Chavez/e/9780615166797/?itm=1&USRI=beyond+the+glass+mountain
In my previous pimpage comment, I forgot (shame, shame!) to mention Damn Near Dead 2, which I edited. This is the second “geezer noir” anthology, with some great stories by some fine writers writers, some of whom would be familiar to SF fans. Kat Richardson, Neal Barrett, Jr., Joe R. Lansdale, and many more. Give it a look!
Sick of books that glamourize wimpy, weak women who let their men do all the thinking for them? Then THIEF, my debut novel and first in a new fantasy series, is for you!
“An amazing adventure through the world of Eloria and through Sevy’s eyes. I can’t wait for the sequel to come out and read about lies ahead for Sevy!” ~ Book Junkie
“Ms. Lehoux is an imaginative storyteller. She manages to combine so many elements and characters into a fast paced, intense, sad, and hard story. There is so much depth in the book.” ~ You Gotta Read Reviews
“Ms. Lehoux delivers punches that you won’t see coming…A great new talent in the industry and an amazing story.” ~ author J.A. Saare
THIEF is available at a variety of online retailers. http://sarah-janelehoux.com/thiefpurchase.htm
SHADES OF WAR, the sequel to THIEF, has also just been released. It’s only available from the publisher right now, but will become available at other retailers within the next couple of weeks.
Oh, how excellent!
Guardian of the Dead is a contemporary YA urban fantasy set in New Zealand.
Mythlogical Maori creatures, not so mythological, and about to give newly-awakened magician Ellie Spencer a very bad week.
Can she ally herself with mysterious hot guy Mark and save the day, not to mention three million lives?
Maaaaaybe.
Two great read-alongs for children ages 4-8: ALPHAOOPS: THE DAY Z WENT FIRST and ALPHAOOPS: H IS FOR HALLOWEEN. These are not your ordinary alphabet books, because alphabet books are dumb (see Scalzi’s Big Idea 7/13/10). These are books about the Alphabet Players, who are selfish and egocentric and fight like children…and then they do it all again for Halloween. (Halloween books are ALWAYS appropriate for Christmas, as you well know.) The illustrations are so fabulous you’ll see something new every time. Which is good, because you’ll be asked to read them over at least 100. Promise me you’ll do it with feeling.
For those on a budget, free fiction is listed on my website here: http://aletheakontis.com/bibliography/free-fiction/
Happy Holidays!
A holiday book suggestion.
The Path to Forever, published by Dreamspinner Press in early November, is my first novel. It is the story of two men who love each other and who, after ten years together, still find life to be an adventure.
Marco, at age 30, is finishing his residency in a hospital in Boston and is about to become a Doctor. His partner of ten years, Danilo, age 28, is just finishing his second doctorate in scientific fields, this one in the area of DNA.
They plan to spend a month in Italy, to which country both men have family ties, and the rest of the summer in the Duchy of Aragoni, a tiny independent country in the Alps, as the guests of Marco’s father, il Duca d’Aragoni, the ruler of that country. Along the way, they meet Marco’s maternal grandmother, la Contessa di Conti, and are ordered out of town by his unpleasant uncle, the current Conte di Conti.
They also learn that Marco’s father was born in the early years of the Roman Republic, and is approximately 2,400 years old, which trait of longevity is shared by all of his direct male descendants. The Duke makes it clear that Marco will one day have to deal with the fact that everyone he knows and loves, including Danilo, will grow old and die while he, Marco, lives on.
Marco accepts a job working as a Doctor in the hospital in Aragoni, and Danilo is hired to identify the DNA which gives the Duke and his male descendants their longevity. For which task he has a powerful incentive—figure it out and find a way to apply it to himself and others.
When Marco’s uncle and his two children die in an automobile accident, Marco inherits the title of Conte di Conti, which both complicates his life and adds an element of danger when he uncovers corruption in one of the businesses owned by the Conti.
The book is the first of a trilogy, book two of which “Prognosis: Forever” will be published in March. Book three “Children of Forever” is still being written, and hopefully will appear later in 2011.
While the book is classed as a M/M romance, and very much deals with two men who love each other, there are no explicit sex scenes.
Submitted by Etienne
The book may be purchased in paperback format and eBook format from Amazon.Com, BarnesandNoble.Com, Powells.Com, and others.
The publisher, Dreamspinner Press, is currently offering a holiday discount of 20% on all orders.
Simply enter the code HolidayDreams at checkout to receive the discount. It is good through December 31st, and may be used twice by any customer. The coupon code is not case sensitive.
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=2033
When Emma Brodie, local prophet and mother of three, steals a boat and exiles herself to the middle of the bay for seven days and seven nights, she sets about a chain of strange and wonderful events in the sleepy village of Garfax—a village no longer listed on any official government document. Radios begin to speak secrets and unintended confessions, a rainstorm occurs that lasts for months, a young boy dies mysteriously in the surrounding woods after following the dictates of his heart, and Caleb Anson, the village’s prodigal son, returns after a long absence with a grand design to bring Garfax into “the future.”
This magic realist tale, where dead relatives play dominoes in the houses of their loved ones, is told by Emma’s youngest son, Oswald, a shy, observant boy living in the shadow of his charismatic family. Wonderfull tells the stories of Garfax—which has become the stuff of legends to outsiders— and reveals how this village’s unlikely past catches up to its inevitable future.
Inspired by Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, Wonderfull is a story about how we can be trapped by our family fictions as well as what is necessary to cut ourselves free. It’s my first book, and I hope you like it.
Tempest’s Legacy is coming out January first, just in time for all those gift certificates burning a hole in your pocket.
It’s Urban Fantasy, and the third in the series. Feel free to buy the first two, to catch up, and all. ;-)
It’ll be available at all your usual retailers, and you can find out more about me and my books at my website: http://nicolepeeler.com
The latest book in my Deputy Tempe Crabtree is INVISIBLE PATH, set in the Southern Sierra during the Christmas season.
Blurb: The murder of a popular Indian on the reservation, a suspect with the unlikely name of Jesus Running Bear, four friends of the victim who are out to avenge the death, a militia group with a secret agenda, lead Deputy Tempe Crabtree in a race to find the true killer before someone else dies.
Review Snippet:
Author Marilyn Meredith’s infusion of Native American legends and traditions into the story elevates Invisible Path to something more than just a police procedural. The reader truly gets a feel for the balancing act Tempe engages in every day between her job as a law enforcement officer and her Native American heritage. If you like murder mysteries / police procedurals but are looking for a change of pace from yet another one set in a big city, Invisible Path is a nice alternative with believable, well developed, sympathetic characters and a fascinating setting.–Elizabeth White, Musings of an All Purpose Monkey
Available in all the usual places and also as an e-book.
Thanks, John.
Marilyn
Hi, John! Thanks for the spotlight effort. We appreciate it.
MOZART’S BLOOD is a historical fantasy with a slightly literary bent. Based on the real life opera singer of the 18th century, Teresa Saporiti, MOZART’S BLOOD is the tale of a reluctant vampire and passionate singer whose encounter with Mozart changes her life forever. Available in trade paper or as an e-book.
Forest Song: Letting Go
In this third book of the Forest Song series Judy Baumann and her friends survive death-defying exploits along the Polish-German Corridor during World War II, overcoming betrayal and loss with courage, cleverness and humor—all the way to the block-busting ending!
“In Forest Song: Letting Go, her most recent book, I was drawn into Vila SpiderHawk’s web and held utterly spellbound from start to finish. A MUST READ!”~ Jo Hayward Gray, author of Cat Tails & Catastrophes
See and hear Vila reading from Forest Song: Letting Go!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpalTFpXDWg
A Devil in the Details, 1st book of the Jesse James Dawson series
Jesse James Dawson was an ordinary guy (well, an ordinary guy with a black belt in karate), until the day he learned his brother had made a bargain with a demon. Jesse discovered there was only one way to save his brother: put up his own soul as collateral, and fight the demon to the death.
Jesse lived to free his brother—and became part of a loose organization of Champions who put their own souls on the line to help those who get in over their heads with demons. But now experienced Champions are losing battles at a much higher rate than usual. Someone has changed the game. And if Jesse can’t figure out the new rules, his next battle may be his last…
PELZMANTEL: A MEDIEVAL TALEfrom Immanion-Press.com
A woman who’s a fox—a kitchen maid who’s a princess—and a walnut with a wardrobe!
“Laity is a very remarkable sorceress indeed.” — Elizabeth Hand
Watch the trailer or read an excerpt.
Hey, thanks, John! You’re too cool for school. :-)
I happen to have a book that meets this criteria. It’s urban fantasy, and it’s about an unlucky thief and an angry genie who hate each other, but have to work together to save the world.
MASTER OF NONE. Sorry there arent’ any vampires or werewolves – but if it helps, the genies are shapeshifters.
My website has links. I can’t code them in comments (yep, I totally suck), but my name above should link to it.
Just in case: http://sonyabateman.wordpress.com/
Thanks for reading this far down! :-)
John, thanks for the pimpage!
WEREWOLF SMACKDOWN, my detective-vampire, Iraq War veteran Felix Gomez, goes fang-to-fang with the werewolves of Charleston, SC. http://tinyurl.com/3ywotyp
Felix continues the mayhem when he takes on the Han Cobra heroin smugglers in the graphic novel, KILLING THE COBRA: CHINATOWN TROLLOP. http://tinyurl.com/3294tlf
Thanks for this opportunity, John. You are a mensch.
The second book in my Edge series, THE EDGE OF RUIN is out from Tor. It’s a story about the war between science and rationality and religion and superstition, and since I’m a skeptic I come down on the side of reason and science. If you like occult horrors masquerading as the gods of the world’s great religions being battled by a young, insecure policeman from New Mexico, this is the series for you. Think Harry Dresden with more angst. :) The first book THE EDGE OF REASON is also available in paperback.
Space Opera – Science Fiction Adventure for anyone (12+) who likes a fast read and lots of action
Nexus Point, by Jaleta Clegg (http://www.amazon.com/Nexus-Point-Jaleta-Clegg/dp/193602103X/ref=cm_cmu_up_thanks_hdr)
Dace just wants to live her life in peace, but her crew betrays her, blowing up her ship and stranding her on a primitive world where the natives want to burn her as a demon, the drug smugglers think she’s competition, and the Patrol think she’s one of the bad guys. Can she survive long enough to get free? And will the world ever be the same again?
Thanks for the promo opportunity, John! It is much appreciated.
OK why not.
My book “The Half-Made World” is out now. io9 described it as a “a great Western, with the dark core of a classic like Shane or The Searchers.” Ursula K LeGuin (!) described it as “gripping and imaginative . . . we haven’t had a science fiction novel like this for some time.” It’s also sort of steampunkish if you like that sort of thing, but if you don’t, it’s not, I promise.
Thanks for the opportunity, John, very cool.
Thanks, John!
How can any writer resist this?
If you are looking for older YA fantasy adventure, may I suggest my Seabird (Narenta #1) at Amazon ( http://tinyurl.com/y7coyvj ) and Earthbow Volumes 1 & 2, also at Amazon ( http://tinyurl.com/y49h82m for volume 1) ( http://amzn.to/8XXrVo for volume 2).
These will be particularly attractive to those older YA and adult readers who like the scenario of a typical Earth teen being swept away into a fantasy world. Seabird focuses on the adventures of Cara Marshall, a high school senior of summer vacation at the beach, when this happens. Everyone thinks she’s some kind of champion for their cause. She’s sure they’re wrong, and is convinced she’ll be mostly dead if she cooperates with the Narentans.
In Earthbow, the sequel, her brother Xander is similarly brought to Narenta at a time of crisis. His story is interlinked with the adventures of two Narentan young people–the initiate enchanter, Harone up against more than he believes he can handle, and the young fighter, Coris, who has just been knighted a few weeks before his personal world starts falling apart.
All, also available at Smashwords for e-books, and for Kindle.
I hope you’ll try these out. I think you or your friends will enjoy them!
Thanks!
Sherry Thompson
My book Snip, Burn, Solder, Shred: Seriously Geeky Stuff to Make with Your Kids is pretty much what it sounds like: 24 projects where you (and your kids, if you’re into that) make something cool for under $10, and get your feet wet in a new skill (soldering, screenprinting, sewing, carpentry, etc). Projects include cardboard boomerangs, a $10 electric guitar with true wound pickup, old-school strategy games, and the Sock Squid/Cthulhu that was making the rounds a few weeks back: http://www.boingboing.net/2010/10/12/howto-make-a-sock-ct.html You can buy it at Amazon or Borders, or direct from the publisher, No Starch Press (where you can also download a free PDF of the Sock Squid/Sock Cthulhu project): http://nostarch.com/snipburn.htm Use the coupon code MAKEMORE when buying from the publisher and get 35% off.
Here’s a demo vid of the Quick-n-Easy Water Rocket:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzq9kqJ3sj4&fs=1&hl=en_US]
P.S.: If you’re into steampunk, I have a post-Civil War robots/drunks/squid story in Jeff and Ann VanderMeer’s beautiful antho Steampunk II: Steampunk Reloaded
(John: Thanks so much for giving us all a leg!)
Thanks, John. Happy Holiday reading all!
SILVER ZOMBIE, the fourth Delilah Street, Paranormal Investigator urban fantasy, is just out this week!
Its knock-out cover represents weather witches, the Wendigo, an iconic silent film image and an immortal film setting in Wichita, Kansas . . . to say nothing of zombies on speed, a demon drug lord, and the cigar-smoking chupacabra. (I don’t do genre business as usual.)
For excerpt, etc., see: http://www.juno-books.com/silver-zombie.html
Delilah Street prowls a glamorous, slightly futuristic Vegas run by paranormal moguls, “with a filthy underbelly where zombie traffickers exploit the dead and humanity hides the horrors it inflicts upon the innocent.”—Scooper Speaks on Silver Zombie
“Douglas handles the premise with such spectacular style it feels fresh [and] spices the action with fabulous characters.”—(starred review) Publishers Weekly on Dancing with Werewolves
“Douglas’ writing and flavor is far more sophisticated than the average author who writes for this genre . . . It’s a futuristic, urban fantasy setting unlike any the fictional world has seen before.–Curled Up with a Good Book on Vampire Sunrise
“Every character, every situation has a mystery shrouding it. As some are solved even more are uncovered. Each progresses logically from the last, dishing out surprise after surprise.—SciFiGuy on Brimstone Kiss
Oh, and every Delilah Street book has a signature cocktail recipe, the Albino Vampire, Brimstone Kiss, Vampire Sunrise and Silver Zombie. This is Vegas, baby . . . unlike you’ve ever imagined it.
Cheers! And Happy New Year too!
Reposting without all italics:
Thanks, John. Happy Holiday reading all!
SILVER ZOMBIE, the fourth Delilah Street, Paranormal Investigator urban fantasy, is just out this week!
Its knock-out cover represents weather witches, the Wendigo, an iconic silent film image and an immortal film setting in Wichita, Kansas . . . to say nothing of zombies on speed, a demon drug lord, and the cigar-smoking chupacabra. (I don’t do genre business as usual.)
For excerpt, etc., see: http://www.juno-books.com/silver-zombie.html
Delilah Street prowls a glamorous, slightly futuristic Vegas run by paranormal moguls, “with a filthy underbelly where zombie traffickers exploit the dead and humanity hides the horrors it inflicts upon the innocent.”—Scooper Speaks on SILVER ZOMBIE
“Douglas handles the premise with such spectacular style it feels fresh [and] spices the action with fabulous characters.”—(starred review) Publishers Weekly on DANCING WITH WEREWOLVES
“Douglas’ writing and flavor is far more sophisticated than the average author who writes for this genre . . . It’s a futuristic, urban fantasy setting unlike any the fictional world has seen before.–Curled Up with a Good Book on VAMPIRE SUNRISE
“Every character, every situation has a mystery shrouding it. As some are solved even more are uncovered. Each progresses logically from the last, dishing out surprise after surprise.—SciFiGuy on BRIMSTONE KISS
Oh, and every Delilah Street book has a signature cocktail recipe, the Albino Vampire, Brimstone Kiss, Vampire Sunrise and Silver Zombie. This is Vegas, baby . . . unlike you’ve ever imagined it.
Cheers! And Happy New Year too!
New this Holday Season!
Henry Potty and the Pet Rock: An Unauthorized Harry Potter Parody
The Special Edition
For Ages 2 to 222
Catastrophe strikes Chickenfeet Academy, and it’s not just the cafeteria food. Lord Revolting, murderous goldfish-flusher, needs Really Wimpy’s pet rock to conquer the world! While battling him with squirt guns and cheesy how-to guides, Henry Potty aces Hobology, preps for America’s Funniest Fairygodchildren, and tries to avoid laundering Professor Snort’s dreaded hankies, or worse, watching A History of Cabbages in Polish. All the while, the least likely character watches, coveting the pet rock for her own sneaky agenda. What part does Socks the parrot, wisecracking pet of Headmaster Bumbling Bore, play in all this? Will Revolting dare the ultimate villainy and spoil the book? Will this novel waste your entire morning? There’s only one way to know…
Unapproved, unendorsed, unofficial, and unstoppable
Now with over 100 pages of new hilarity! Watch Henry Potty take on sparkly vampires in the Try Wizarding Tournament & unite all the hottest franchises into the powerful Order of the Takeout.
• National Indie Excellence Award
• Books & Authors Book of the Year
• USA Book News National Best Book
And Announcing Henry Potty and the Deathly Paper Shortage, book seven in the Henry Potty series. Get the entire 2 book series today!
My Mother’s Tattoo and Other Stories for Kids are three of my most popular stories for twenty-first century readers. This Teachers’ Select Book is a collection to be read aloud or to captivate the silent reader. The characters in each story have personalities that will entertain both the younger listener and older readers. It is a ‘must have’ kind of book for a new generation of parents and kids.
***
Warning…well-loved stories are habit forming!
Check it out on Amazon! http://www.amazon.com/My-Mothers-Tattoo-Other-Stories/dp/1439261083
Shorn: Book One of The Sky Seekers
Larissa N. Niec
Fantasy Series
Mercury Retrograde Press
ISBN-13: 978-0981665405
http://www.LarissaNiec.com
Buy SHORN at Amazon!
Buy SHORN from an independent book seller!
“I will make reparation for the crimes of my ancestors.” So the young soldier, Jhared Denaban, swore on the night of his Becoming. But the memory of betrayal hasn’t faded. His countrymen despise him and his own kind distrust him. Caught up in the plots of the powerful, Jhared must confront what it truly means to be Shorn, if he and his beloved country are to survive.
“SHORN is a striking debut, filled with skilled world-building, complex psychological tension and a fine sense of nuance too seldom seen in fantasy. I was engrossed in the unfolding tale, and I look forward to the continuing journey!”
—Jacqueline Carey, author of _Naamah’s Blessing_
“Larissa N. Niec has created a fascinating world, peopled it with vivid characters, and woven an epic tale of adventure and political intrigue with thoughtful themes of duty versus desire, bigotry versus acceptance, and the truth of history that hides behind the self-serving accounts written by the victors. An intelligent and captivating novel by a new writer of promise.”
—Victoria Strauss, author of _The Burning Land_
Many thanks for the opportunity…
Nothing says “holiday gift giving” like a ghost story about the North Carolina summer, like my novel Firefly Rain. To quote PW:
Starred Review. Videogame creator Dansky displays some remarkable writing talent in his debut, a supernatural thriller that effectively breathes life into one of the genre’s staples-the haunted house. Jacob Logan returns to the small North Carolina town of Maryfield five years after his mother’s death. Logan, whose business venture in Boston has just failed, is looking for a change of pace, and hopes to find some meaning by taking up temporary residence in the house he grew up in. A series of bizarre occurrences soon threaten that hope: his furniture and most of his possessions are incinerated in a highway explosion; his car is stolen, only to reappear and almost run him down; and he gets creepy vibes from the house’s caretaker, who had carried a torch for Logan’s mother. The most disturbing manifestation of a supernatural presence comes from the fireflies, who refuse to cross into Logan’s property and who die when he brings them over the invisible boundary. Dansky convincingly portrays Logan’s isolation and terror, and subtly gives glimpses of the forces arrayed against him. The author’s insights into human nature and ease with expressive language bode well for future fiction from his pen.
1381: The Peel Affinity. A living history group recreates the life of a knight and his household in 1381 in text and photos. We had some fun composing some of the photos to mirror specific medieval manuscript illuminations. Reviews and more information here:
http://willscommonplacebook.blogspot.com/2008/03/1381-peel-affinity.html
Daily Life in Chaucer’s England. (Second edition, 2008) This also started out from a living history perspective, so there’s a lot of practical detail on what things cost, how to put on armor, the rules of games, and so on. If you are writing about the period or a related medieval fantasy setting, this will help a lot. Crichton cites the first edition in the bibliography of Timeline. I would feel better about that if I thought he was actually paying attention when he read it.
http://willscommonplacebook.blogspot.com/2008/10/daily-life-in-chaucers-england-whats.html
Thank you, John. You rock!
My novel is “Heroes Arise,” an adventure story and parable suitable for adults and young adults. In a world where justice is achieved through careful customs of vengeance, Gundack, the main character, pursues love and the preservation of his honor. Yet vengeance threatens all Gundack holds dear. Can he break the cycle of vengeance? Can he and others reach into their personal darkness and find the light of reason?
“Heroes Arise” (KOMENAR Publishing) has received cover endorsements from Jean M. Auel, Robert J. Sawyer and Kim Stanley Robinson. The book is available (hard cover, trade paper and ebook) through Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Powell’s, and also can be ordered through local bookstores.
ForeWord Magazine gave “Heroes Arise” a 2007 Book of the Year Award (bronze, science fiction category). “Heroes Arise” also was a young adult finalist (ForeWord Magazine and Next Generation Indie Book Awards).
The Barnes and Noble link is as follows: http://productsearch.barnesandnoble.com/search/results.aspx?WRD=heroes+arise%2c+laurel+anne+hill&page=index&prod=univ&choice=allproducts&query=heroes+arise%2c+laurel+anne+hill&flag=False&ugrp=1
Happy holidays to all,
Laurel Anne Hill
(http://www.laurelannehill.com)
I’m bringing back my SF novels as e-books. One of them, FIRES OF NUALA, is available as a Kindle e-book. My understanding is that Kindle books are returnable, although not often returned — since there’s a clause about that possibility in my Kindle contract.
http://www.amazon.com/Fires-Nuala-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B004A8ZSTG/ref=sr_1_cc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291521180&sr=1-1-catcorr
A friend describes it as “1/4 SF, 1/2 political intrigue, 1/4 romance” which is not a bad Twitter line. Here’s the equivalent of the back cover/book flap. Would you like to read a sample first? You can go to http://www.bookviewcafe.com/index.php/Katharine-Eliska-Kimbriel/Novels/Fires-of-Nuala-1 and read what has been serialized to date. (There are other formats of this book available at BVC, but they are not returnable, just DRM-free.)
Thank you, John!
For more than 150 years, she has traveled the Seven Systems, slipping in and out of Cold Sleep. She is a free-trader, the aristocracy of con artists, able to fleece the dishonest with their own greed.
The woman is known as Silver, when she is named at all –- and she may be the finest free-trader living. But even she is not prepared for the reality of Nuala, planet of deadly radiation levels, humans who heal by touch, and the rarest platinum group metal in the known galaxy. Eighty percent of the citizens are sterile, and the wealthy send their children out to seek mates and find others willing to expand the planetary gene pool. A Nualan can smell a lie at fifty paces. Truth, honor – and their children – are everything to the people of Nuala.
On Nuala, for the first time, Silver will be forced to use her real name –- Darame Daviddottir – and she will walk the thinnest line between truth and lie of her long and varied career.
The scam she’s come to join has just been blown to the skies, along with the throne lines of three separate sovereign nations. Now Darame has just one decision -– which group of Nualans will she support in the days to come? Mere chance threw her into the camp of the Atares, leaders of the largest clan on Nuala. Will she help them? Thwart them? Wait for the dust to settle?
The tipping point may have already occurred. Turns out she’s mentioned in Nualan religious prophecy, and has caught the eye of the last adult male of a throne line. Sheel Atare is a “hot” healer, able to close ripped flesh and draw fever with a touch. A reclusive professor and medical doctor, unprepared to rule, Sheel Atare needs all the allies he can get.
Even allies who may be connected to those who brought down his house.
Tainted Blood is a mixture between gay romance and murder mystery, peppered up with fantasy elements. I’m currently working on the sequel. .
Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Tainted-Blood-Sam-C-Leonhard/dp/1615814108/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1291537677&sr=8-4
Publisher’s Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=1817
Have a wonderful festive season!
sam
I’m glad I came across this. My novel is a mix of political thriller, historical fiction, and alternate history, called The Usurper. It’s available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Powell’s. The Kindle version has been selling very well, and has 4 star reviews so far. Click on my name and it’ll take you to my blog where you can find all the links to the paperback and e-book version, plus my two other novels that are in the science fiction category.
Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Usurper-Cliff-Ball/dp/1453702725
B & N: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/books/product.aspx?r=1&ISBN=1453702725&r=1
Ever wonder what would happen if our worst fears were realized and we elected someone who was willing to destroy the USA, even if he was destroyed himself? The Usurper is that novel. It is a fictional account of what would happen if the Soviet Union and KGB were given the chance to take down the United States from within. They use the American political system, education system, terrorism, and commit environmental disasters to achieve these goals.
The Soviet Union and the KGB refuse to let the purging of communists in the United States as a whole by Senator Joe McCarthy, and the House Un-American Activities Committee, deter them. Soviet Premier Khrushchev authorizes the KGB to embark on an ambitious, decades long plan to destroy the United States from within through the corruption of American politicians, the American education system, terrorism, and environmental disasters. Gary Jackson, the main character, is the fulfillment of the KGB plan to destroy the United States from within. They raise him from birth to hate everything about the United States, indoctrinate him, and introduce him to terrorists across the world, where the KGB dictates all terrorist attacks. When Gary is a teenager, he is sent to the United States to assimilate and begin his mission. Nothing will deter his goals of completely and utterly destroying the United States.
When the Soviet Union dissolves, he is given a choice, and he decides to continue with the mission. A terrorist organization ends up filling in the gap left by the absent KGB, and they, together with Gary, conspire to destroy everyone in the United States who doesn’t agree with them.
Thanks and have a Merry Christmas,
Cliff Ball
Do you know someone who likes YA paranormal romantic thrillers?
MINDER
Sixteen-year-old Maddie Dunn is special, but she needs to figure out how to use her new abilities before somebody else gets hurt. Ganzfield is a secret training facility full of people like her, but it’s not exactly a nurturing place. Every social interaction carries the threat of mind-control. A stray thought can burn a building to the ground. And people’s nightmares don’t always stay in their own heads. But it’s still better than New Jersey, especially once she meets the man of her dreams…
ADVERSARY: The Second Ganzfield Book
Things are more dangerous than they seem at Ganzfield, and not everyone will survive. Does Maddie have what it takes?
LEGACY: The Third Ganzfield Book
Maddie has more problems than the average seventeen-year-old:
A psychotic killer with superpowers wants her dead.
A serious medical issue makes a “normal life” impossible.
And she’s about to be introduced to Trevor’s family.
Guess which one freaks her out the most?
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Kate-Kaynak/e/B003HTTW1E/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1291566374&sr=1-2-ent
Barnes & Noble: http://productsearch.barnesandnoble.com/search/results.aspx?ATH=Kate+Kaynak
Powell’s: http://www.powells.com/s?author=Kate%20Kaynak
Come find out more about the Ganzfield books at Ganzfield.com: http://www.ganzfield.com/
Happy Holidays!
– Kate
My book is a divorce memoir: How to Sleep Alone is a King-Size Bed: A Memoir of Starting Over.
http://www.amazon.com/How-Sleep-Alone-King-Size-Bed/dp/0307346773
Readers can get a taste of my writing by reading my pieces on Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/theo-pauline-nestor/fighting-for-custody-of-m_b_788599.html
Thanks,
Theo
The Chocolatier’s Wife is a fable-esq murder mystery set during a time of that world’a holidays. It feels a bit like a regency holiday, is romantic and fairly sweet without making your teeth hurt, and very well received by readers and reviewers.
William and Tasmin have never met, but, thanks to a spell, are engaged to marry. When William is accused of murder, Tasmin, who has gotten to know him over the years through his letters, decides to travel to the other side of the kingdom and find out the truth.
Amazon buy link:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Chocolatiers-Wife-ebook/dp/B001BXNQNI
Reviews, link to an excerpt: http://apenandfire.com/?page_id=507
If you would like it signed, contact me at clspeer@gmail,com and we’ll see what we can do. I want to make sure that you have a great present to give to your loved ones. : – )
Most of my readers find the Deveran Conflict Series an intelligent exploration of issues related to relationships and morality. My stories overflow with action, adventure, and smoldering romance. If you enjoy well-written science fiction and fantasy, the Deveran Conflict Series will bring many hours of reading enjoyment in paperback form, or as e-books, available in several formats that you can download for free. Autographed copies can be ordered from the Newadventure web site:
http://www.newadventure.ca
Alternatively, my books are currently on sale at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=robert+luis+rabello&x=0&y=0
(Note: the First Edition of “The Edge of Justice” is no longer available.)
Free e-books can be found here:
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/anupaum
Enjoy!
Hi Everyone,
You might be familiar with my award winning short stories which have appeared over the years at places like Fantasy, Strange Horizons, LCRW, Tesseracts and also swanky literary venues like Quarry, The Fiddlehead and Now Magazine. Harvesting the Moon, a new story I particularly love is in the current Postscripts Anthology, The Company He Keeps. They will be doing a new anthology of selected stories to follow 2008’s Tightrope Books collection, After the Fires, shortlisted for Canada’s Aurora Aaward. What many people don’t know is that I’m also author of a critically acclaimed 2002 novel, Green Music. I’m still getting mail about it so clearly it’s garnering new readers who seem impressed. Like the rest of my work it’s a totally slipstream/literary/magic realist thing so if that’s your style take a look.
Struggling artists; talking, drinking, shape-shifting turtles; Toronto’s Queen West in the old days; a portal to another world created by art and dreaming. Really, what’s not to love? If you email me via my website I’ll send you a signed copy at below list price plus S and H!
Hi, everybody. Thank you very much for this opportunity, John!
My first novel, Bitter Seeds, debuted in April. [Amazon link: Bitter Seeds ].
Nazi superheroes vs. British warlocks. With explosions. (Our magnificent host let me write a Big Idea piece about it, here.)
John, this opportunity is much appreciated.
Genre: Science Fantasy/Paranormal/Romantic elements
Jewels: Aliens, psionics, and love…who said the universe wasn’t messy?
Blurb: Special Lieutenant Jewels Enbran, a human telepath unable to shield her mind from thoughts, uses telepathic anchors who protect her vulnerable mind. Her current anchor, Colonel Jeremy Lingley, is nearing burnout. An alien race is seeking an alliance with Earth and the pair are assigned the mission of discovering the aliens’ secrets. Crown Prince Dex LoudRoar is a Gatoan warrior and a royal with a terrible secret. His people wage a constant war against their enemy, the Lupinious empire. But the tide of battle is turning and his people seek help from a new source: the humans of Earth. With an interstellar war looming, Jewels and Dex seek salvation for their planets and find their destinies changed forever.
Genre: Young Adult/Paranormal Romance/Sci-fi Elements
Werelove Dusk Conspiracy A lonely and neglected teen makes a choice that plunges her into the heart of a deadly conspiracy.
Blurb: Seventeen-year-old Laylah Le Croix has a rich father, mansion, and servants. Yet she is lonely and neglected. Her father would rather work than speak to her. At the academy she is bullied and mistreated. When Weres attempt to kidnap Laylah, she is saved by the mysterious Donil Silentshadow. Donil rouses feelings in Laylah that make her question her life and her father’s animosity toward her handsome rescuer. Confused by these emotions, she seeks answers from those closest to her and is rebuffed. She must make a choice. Obey her father’s edicts or follow her heart to learn the truth about her past.
Available in print and as ebooks. All ebooks only $0.99: Kindle || Smashwords
Awards: Night Owl Review Top Pick in YA Books
A revisionist look at the world’s first great hero, Gilgamesh, set in the world’s first city, Uruk.
In Like Mayflies in a Stream, a daring priestess in ancient Mesopotamia must risk her life and reputation to save her family—and society itself—from destruction at the hands of the tyrant Gilgamesh. Like Mayflies in a Stream draws from the ancient “Epic of Gilgamesh” as well as from historical records and archaeological evidence.
More than just an exciting adventure, the novel explores questions that still trouble the modern world, such as which takes precedence, loyalty to country or to kin? Kim Stanley Robinson called it, “An exciting and very human story, set in a fascinating time and place—the dawn of civilization—all brought expertly to life.”
The novel is available in hardcover and trade paperback and as a Kindle download. You can buy it from the publisher, Hadley Rille Books (and it’s on sale during December with free shipping!); from Amazon.com (softcover here); and from Barnes and Noble online (softcover here).
If you are looking for a gift for a manager, star employee, or family member you spend alot of time in the business world, consider The 100 Best Business Books of All Time: What They Say, Why They Matter, and How They Can Help You. I co-wrote the book with Jack Covert in 2009 and in the book we selected and review the best business books of the last 40 years.
If you want to see the books we included, you can visit http://100bestbiz.com/more-on-the-100-best/
Amazon has been selling The 100 Best for an almost stocking stuffer price of $10.11 for the past few months 0 http://www.amazon.com/100-Best-Business-Books-Time/dp/B002BWQ56I/
Drop me a note if you need a more specific suggestion for a businessperson.
And thanks John for putting up this post!
Thank you so much for this opportunity!
Love without boundaries…
Imperfect is the story of Carol Mathers. Carol was born a sickly child, and received a blood transfusion in the early 1980’s. Now in her mid-thirties, she’s a highly sought IT guru in St. Louis. She has built a great life for herself with her partner of twelve years, Alexandria.
Carol and Alexandria face prejudice as a lesbians, and as an interracial couple. Fighting tragedy and sometimes finding triumph, both of the women live day to day.
During her tumultuous life, Carol discovers that she has acquired AIDS as a result of her childhood transfusion. Now, they face even more obstacles, prejudice, and a new life as AIDS patients. Carol learns just how much her chaotic past has affected her, and how she can never really escape it, even as she tries to move on with her life.
An unexpected hostage event creates even more pain and tragedy in Carol’s life, and causes her to wonder about the meaning of and purpose of her own life.
To find out more about Imperfect and my other books, and to purchase your copies, please feel free to visit my website at http://www.leharvey.com
Thank you & happy reading!
Oop — late to the party here! Elegy Beach is the sequel (after, ahem, 26 years) to my novel Ariel. It came out in paperback in November. More info at http://www.elegybeach.com and at http://www.arielbook.com.
Thanks so much for the billboard, John!
LOTS of shopping days before Festivus to pick up a copy of The Guide to Writing Fantasy & Science Fiction by me, Philip Athans, for all your aspiring author friends. It’s chock full o’ helpful advice on the subject, with two cents each thrown in by the likes of Terry Brooks, R.A. Salvatore, Kevin J. Anderson, Mike Resnick, and many more.
http://www.amazon.com/Guide-Writing-Fantasy-Science-Fiction/dp/1440501459/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1291656584&sr=1-2
You know you want them. You know you need them. BRAAAAIIINS. A Zombie Memoir by Robin Becker. Scream for it by name.
“Shades of Milk and Honey” is basically like Jane Austen, with magic. It’s quiet fantasy and you can get a signed copy from Powell’s.
(Thanks for doing this, John!)
Thief Eyes is a contemporary YA fantasy based on the Icelandic sagas and set, in part, in the same valley where Eyjafjallajökull has been erupting this past year. There are shapeshifting polar bears, mythic arctic foxes, fire giants, and a girl who needs to stop the spell cast by her ancestor Hallgerd–the saga woman best known for refusing her husband two locks of her hair when his bowstring was severed in battle–before that spell tears apart the volcanic landscape beneath her feet, and perhaps the larger world as well.
And hey–if anyone wants to gift a copy, and drops me an email (janni@simner.com) I’m happy to send along a personalized bookplate to go with it. :-)
Thanks for doing this post, John.
My new book isn’t out yet, but my previous three fantasies are still available in paperback: The Wizard Hunters, The Ships of Air, and The Gate of Gods, set in Ile-Rien, the same world as my book The Death of the Necromancer. I also have a couple of Stargate: Atlantis novels out, plus some of my backlist is available as ebooks.
Lucifer is in LA as an advisor on his bio-pic and hires/coerces Sandman Slim (aka James Stark) into working as his bodyguard. Is it any surprise that someone is out to kill them both? And that other Sub Rosas, the powerful magic society in California, are also being killed? And then there’s the Czech porn star who’s just arrived in town. Yes, there’s a Czech porn star. In her spare time she hints and kills zombies. Did I mention the zombies? There are zombies. And they might be connected to LA’s biggest secret: What happens to the bodies and souls of anyone unlucky enough to die in the city?
That basically describes my new novel KILL THE DEAD, the sequel to last year’s SANDMAN SLIM. It’s a funny book, funny in a “I hate compound fractures because they ruin my shirts” kind of way. A lot of people seem to like the book. Maybe you will to. You can always hollow it out to keep that pint of Jack Daniels you never know where to hide. I also hear it tastes like chicken if you grill it over mesquite barbecue chips.
KILL THE DEAD. Buy it. Love it. Throw it at strangers from a moving car. It’s your choice as an American. Happy holidays from Hell.
Taro Hibiki is ready to take on the galaxy, but his over-protective sister is another matter. For Rafe Ballard, though, Taro will risk singing psychos, venomous fluffies, and even his sister’s wrath.
Knight Errant on turtleduckpress.com, where the first three chapters are free to read, and all the buy-links are gathered.
If you are a web designer and you’d like to learn to build WordPress sites (or you know someone who fits that description), try my Beginning WordPress 3. It assumes that you already pretty much know what you’re doing with HTML and CSS, so if you are not a web designer and you need to learn to use WordPress, allow me to recommend one of the many other fine books on the subject, like the Visual Quickstart Guide or WordPress for Dummies.
Thanks for the thread, John. I’ve found some great stuff here.
Thanks for the opportunity!
Lucifera’s Pet is my horror urban fantasy novel for those looking for something a little different.
Villains always have more fun. Lucifera Romana can attest to that fact. The action is fast and brutal as a rival master vampire attempts to usurp Lucifera’s power by first targeting her werewolf companion.
Nazi vampires, Irish werewolves, and the occasional human all find themselves in harm’s way. Only the greatest evil can prevail in this dark fantasy.
Lucifera’s Pet is a novel of approximately 97,000 words. It contains dark themes, violence, murder, mayhem, sex, biting sarcasm, and even a little romance if you can get past all the blood. It is not for the faint of heart or anyone under the age of eighteen.
Barnes & Noble:
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Luciferas-Pet/M-T-Murphy/e/9781449573539/?itm=2&USRI=lucifera%27s+pet
Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Luciferas-Pet-M-T-Murphy/dp/1449573533/ref=tmm_pap_title_0
Hi, my latest novel is ‘Second Chances’. Here’s the blurb:
“Set in London, in the noughties, sometime after the smoking ban, and before the great 21st century recession… James has always believed in happy ever after, and he plans to get there one day. He is doing okay. At the age of thirty-three, he has a top job, dream house, two healthy children, and a wife who always stands by him. These things, James can rely on, until one day, when everything changes, and he realises that he has spent so long looking towards the future, that he has neglected the present. Feeling unloved, his wife, Pamela, has left him, leaving nothing but a brief note. She has taken their two children. How far will James go to save his marriage? What can Pamela do to stop the past haunting her life? Will it be enough?”
The amazon link for the print copy: http://www.amazon.com/Second-Chances-Maria-Savva/dp/095641012X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1291757684&sr=1-1
It’s also available as a kindle book, at the special promotion price of $0.99 for December 2010. Enjoy!
My horror/black humor/supernatural thriller e-novella “Ghostwriter” is for sale via delicious DIY publishing community Smashwords for $2.99 norteamericano. It concerns an imaginative young slacker who moves into a supposedly haunted apartment, and the close friends whose lives he screws up as he (maybe?) goes crazy. Enjoy.
Thanks, O Mighty Scalzi! I have 2 YA books by me to recommend:
SHUTOUT is about Amanda and her best friend Lena, best friends and soccer teammates. When one makes the varsity and the other doesn’t, things change. It’s kind of about soccer, and it’s kind of about how friendships change when friends grow apart. Something I’m really proud of in this book is that Amanda lives in blended family, and that’s just the facts of her life–it’s not the problem of the book.
THE HALF LIFE OF PLANETS, which I co-wrote with Emily Franklin, is a love story about a music-obsessed boy with Aspergers’ syndrome and a girl with a reputation. It’s a really fun book, and without giving too much away, let’s just say there are guitars, platform boots, and face paint involved in the ending. Oh, I’ve said too much!
John, thank you for the timely opportunity!
My new book, Dragons Deal, was published today by Ace Books. It is the third in the series begun by Robert Asprin with Dragons Wild and Dragons Luck. Griffen McCandles and his sister Valerie, who have learned they are hereditary dragons, have made themselves at home in New Orleans. Griffen has been invited by the Krewe of Fafnir to be the king in their Mardi Gras parade, adding responsibilities on top of his busy gambling operation, but other dragons (they look human unless they want to manifest dragon form) are out to put Griffen out of business and cause mayhem that will put all of New Orleans in danger.
Here is the link to Dragons Deal on Amazon: http://ow.ly/3lx3z
Excellent Christmas shopping list!
My novel ‘Slights’, from Angry Robot Books, was called “The Best Horror of 2009” by Genreville and has just been released in the US. It received a starred review and book of the week at Publisher’s Weekly and has won three Australian fiction awards.
Stevie accidentally kills her mother in a car accident and almost dies herself. She doesn’t see a golden light or hear the voices of departed loved ones welcoming her. Instead, she sees all the people she’s ever slighted, waiting to take a piece of her.
She becomes obsessed with death, and with what lies buried in her own backyard.
You can get the ebook at the Angry Robot Store or go to Barnes and Noble for a paper copy.
My book TENDER IS THE KNIGHT is a contemporary romance novel set in the Society for Creative Anachronism. Its available in ebook format only at http://www.decadentpublishing.com and Amazon Kindle at http://www.amazon.com/Tender-is-the-Knight-ebook/dp/B004AHKC3Y%3FSubscriptionId%3DAKIAJBDF5XQBATGDX4VQ%26tag%3Dspea06-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB004AHKC3Y)
A trade paperback edition is forthcoming in 2011.
Jamaica Layne
http://www.jamaicalayne.com
Thank you for the opportunity. My book Twenty-Five Years Ago Today is a mystery/romantic suspense novel. For twenty-five years, Diana Ferguson’s killer has gotten away with murder. When rookie obit writer and newsroom editorial assistant Kris Langley investigates the cold case of the artistic young cocktail waitress who was obsessed with Greek and Roman mythology, she must fight to stay off the obituary page herself.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0615290116?ie=UTF8&tag=wwwstacyjubac-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0615290116
My patriotic children’s picture book The Flag Keeper teaches children ages 4-8 about U.S. flag etiquette through a fiction story, flag facts and discussion questions.Elizabeth may be a little bear, but she treats the American flag with big respect. After Dad leaves for a trip, Elizabeth pledges to raise the flag all by herself and create her own Independence Day.
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Flag-Keeper/Stacy-Juba/e/9781453753057/?itm=1&USRI=the+flag+keeper
Exciting! Thrilling! Page-turning! book about… home management. Actually, it’s more than just management — it’s about how to simplify all the parts in your life so that they line up holistically, making the stuff in your home work for you, not against you. The first part is about why things are the way they are now (meaning, we have too much stuff). The second part is a 10-step process on how to handle it all with meaning.
Here’s more info about it: Organized Simplicity.
Or if you want to cut to the chase, here it is on Amazon.
Readers seem to like it.
And thanks.
Hmm. Good on you, John Scalzi
Dragon’s Ring – set on a plane where Dragons can be Dragons and humans can be dinner, this is tale of the black dragon Fionn, the trickster, who tells everyone he’s here to destroy the world. And they all think he’s joking.
The Hardcover is out, and available from a Amazon and other purveyors of fine books (ie. if they haven’t got it, really they’re not up to scratch and you shouldn’t favor them with your custom. Really. Trust me.) The paperback comes out on December 28, if you’re as broke as I am.
I’m more of a non-fiction guy myself, even though I love your work John, I guess I’ll probably be the first to recommend some non-fiction.
Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War Karl Marlantes
Just picked this one up a week or so ago, it focuses on a grunts perspective of Vietnam War. I dives into the relationship between replacements and veterans, conscripts and careerists, officers and enlisted, blacks and whites, infantry and aviation. Whether you agree or not with source material or care for ending(bit weak IMO), the body of the book is pretty rich in my opinion and worth it.
http://www.amazon.com/Matterhorn-Novel-Vietnam-Karl-Marlantes/dp/080211928X/ref=amb_link_354383502_10?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_r=1M6ES4JKE2EG8XP9MG5Z&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1279103962&pf_rd_i=2486012011
The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America Douglas Brinkley
TR. Roosevelt being America’s first true “Green” president, he had many writings about conservation, naturalism and civic duty. Being the great generalist that Roosevelt was always constantly writing, and nature was top on list of his writings. He once compared the extinction of the Carolina parakeet to the loss of the works of Livy. Here’s a quote from Roosevelt in the book, “Thank Heaven I sat at the feet of Darwin and Huxley.” Made me proud to be an American, but at the same time miss leaders like Roosevelt.
http://www.amazon.com/Wilderness-Warrior-Theodore-Roosevelt-Crusade/dp/0060565314/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
There are my two, good luck and Happy Holidays.
Go on, admit it. You loved them. Yes you did. One of the most popular searches on YouTube is TV Westerns. Now, if you want to read western ebooks on your Kindle, iPad or even as an iPhone app, you can visit my website which will tell you all you need to know about how to get them. There are many links on the home page for my newest book Double Mountain Crossing, then on the Westerns page there are links to my publisher Boson Books where you can read sample chapters free. You can even leave me a message to say you dropped by!
http://chrisscottwilson.co.uk
Jack Mackenzie, et al:
A reminder that this thread is for the authors of the books in question only. If you didn’t write the book, don’t write about it here. Thank you.
From Publisher’s Weekly a Starred Review:
“Armstrong’s stand-alone prequel to his 2007 debut, Grey, is set in the same superficial, dystopic near-future ruled by fashion and consumerism. Cities like Seattlehama are towering bastions of “sex and shopping” where “saleswarriors” and “salessoldiers” battle for customers. Most people live in the sprawling agricultural areas called slubs. Tane Cedar, one of the world’s top fashion designers, is confounded when his former lover Vada, a fugitive revolutionary, inexplicably appears near death in his showroom and asks him to complete the impossible task of finding illegal yarn and making a coat of it in just one day. Tane’s quest confronts him with the tyranny and hopelessness of the world outside of the cities while answering his questions about his nightmarish childhood and enigmatic father. Armstrong’s stylized tale is a profoundly moving fusion of visionary images and compelling social commentary.”
“Yarn is tragic and funny in the best kinds of ways. It’s a hypnotic, exhilirating SF epic, reminiscent of Brave New World, A Scanner Darkly, and Gibson’s Neuromancer—with eyeball kicks galore. The prose is a blast, jammed with the kicky jabbering of futuristic fashionista jive. And in some deep sense, Yarn is about the world we live in right now. Jon Armstrong is one of the best new SF writers to emerge in years.”
—Rudy Rucker, author of THE WARE TETRALOGY
Visit
Jon Armstrong.com for:
All the “DVD Extras” like:
Read Chapter 1 of YARN
Meet Sugimoto-san, the Real-Life Inspiration for My Novel, YARN (Video)
Fashion Sketches from the World of YARN (Video)
Behind-the-scenes Making of the Cover (Video)
The Water-Shears Model from the Cover Illustration
Jon Armstrong reads from YARN (Podcast)
YARN Editor Juliet Ulman Talks Writing, Red Ink, Her Moods, and YARN (Podcast)
Hey, nothing says Xmas like a big, gay humor book. So, here’s mine!
Boy Does World: 15 Years of Bad Behaviors, Bad Attitudes and Happy Endings
It’s a big world. Somebody’s gotta do it.
As a kid in rural Kentucky, Sean Bugg dreamed of the day he’d make it to the big city. When he got there, the small-town boy found himself in a big-town world of sex, love, parties, fashion disasters, some more sex, boyfriends, ex-boyfriends and – finally – true love. Boy Does World is a collection of his columns and essays from 15 years of Metro Weekly, D.C.’s award-winning gay newsmagazine.
“Sean was fearlessly funny in a fearful era clouded by AIDS, and Boy Does World is a wonderful chance to enjoy a retro romp into that past. It’s also an affirming look at some happy endings – the hard-won, worth-fighting-for future of gay equality and domestic bliss.” — Hank Stuever, author of Tinsel and Off Ramp
Available online at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Powell’s, as well as D.C.-area Barnes & Noble stores. Ask your local independent bookstore as well! Visit me at Boy Does World!
Thanks for the thread, John.
SIXTY-ONE NAILS is about Niall, who has a heart attack while commuting to work on the London Underground. He is revived by an old lady who tells him that the reason he’s still alive is because he’s not entirely human. Somewhere in his family tree is something else, one of a race of creatures of dark faerie tales that live in the cracks of society, unseen, unknown.
By reviving him the lady has prevented one of these creature from using his newly dead corpse to cross into our world, but now it knows him. It has some of his knowledge, some of his memories and it will find both him and his teenage daughter, and kill them both. This is the tale of Niall’s fight to find a way to survive and his quest to save both himself and his daughter.
THE ROAD TO BEDLAM – “There’s been an accident. It’s your daughter.” These are the words no parent ever wants to hear and for Niall, still coming to terms with his newly inherited talents, it couldn’t come at a worse time. But not all is as it seems, and in order to discover the truth, Niall must follow a strange and convoluted path, leading to secrets at the very heart of the realm. THE ROAD TO BEDLAM is the sequel to SIXTY-ONE NAILS and follows Niall deeper into the hidden world beneath our own.
Happy holidays.
Where The Rain Is Made, a best-selling paranormal shifter romance.
Authors After Dark has nominated Where The Rain Is Made for a “BOOKIE AWARD” in the Best E-Novel Of The Year Category. Vote here in POLL #2::
http://www.authorsafterdark.net/bookieawards.html
Dog Soldier SHAPESHIFTER Best-Seller List at Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Where-Rain-Made-ebook/dp/B0041847FG/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_2
About Where The Rain Is Made:
After a decadent-looking savage captures Francesca DuVall and her brother Marsh, she spends every waking moment planning an escape. She didn’t count on the powerful draw of desire interfering with her scheme while in the clutches of the brutal Cheyenne Dog Soldiers.
Ethan Gray is a curator at a national museum . . . most of the time. When he travels through time to help his beloved People he’s Meko, leader of the most revered and feared tribe of the plains. Their worlds are decades apart and yet Meko can’t resist the dark beauty he kidnapped during a raid. Violent battles loom, but there’s only one he must win – the capture of Cesca’s heart forever.
From the windswept plains of Colorado and the harsh life of a Dog Soldier to the placid life of a curator, their love was fueled by passion and kindled by destiny.
* * *
FIFTEEN – 5-Star Reviews at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Where-Rain-Made-ebook/dp/B0041847FG/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_2
My heartfelt thanks, Keta
http://ketaskeep.blogspot.com
Theta Head is a neuroscience thriller which asks the question: Can technology bring people closer to themselves? Think William Gibson re-writes Alex Garland’s The Beach.
Back Cover …
Stark naked consciousness is exposed like a raw nerve as Georgia’s search for her missing boyfriend, Ben, takes her from London through Asia.
On route she discovers that Ben has been using a neuroscience technology – one that offers the potential of complete liberation to anyone who uses it. It is a technology Georgia must embrace if she is to find Ben, but one that is such an intimate catalyst for change Georgia isn’t sure she can handle the side of herself it uncovers.
It is only her desire to find Ben which drives her on; a force which leads her to the Theta Heads and a choice: continue using the technology to hack away at her layers of mental static and find the real reason he disappeared, or let go and face a future without him.
Theta Head – technology doesn’t need a mind of its own, it can have ours.
Author site: http://gregdawe.com/
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Theta-Head-ebook/dp/B003ZYEUXQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=A1EYFN0I6QSCA8&s=digital-text&qid=1285590734&sr=1-1
The Project U.L.F. series
The Project U.L.F. series of books revolves around a futuristic zoo and the teams of alien trappers that work there.
Project U.L.F
Wyatt Dorren finds himself and a rag-tag team of trappers sent on a one-way mission to a hostile world. Abandoned with a stricken ship he and his crew must come together to find a way home, only now they are not the hunters but the hunted.
Project U.L.F.- Reacquisition
When the Alien Liberation League break into the Interplanetary zoo and set the exhibits free, all hell breaks loose on Chicago. Now it is up to the trappers to recapture the alien life forms running rampant over the city and a new set of challenges faces them – because this isn’t jungle, it’s suburban jungle.
Intrigued by events surrounding the break-in at the IZP, Detective Superintendent Ed Lieberwits joins forces with the first police officer on the scene, Ed Wood. Together the cop and the detective will uncover a trail of evidence that leads them to a shocking conclusion.
Both books currently on huge discount at my publisher’s site and a third book has recently been completed.:
Project U.L.F. – http://www.silverleafbooks.com/Books_ProjectULF.htm
Project U.L.F Reacquisition – http://www.silverleafbooks.com/Books_Reacquisition.htm
More details and samples at my site http://www.stuartclark.net
Happy Holidays Everyone!
John, thanks for this opportunity!
DAYLING by Gabriel Madison: YA Urban Fantasy
(Whimsical Publications, December 1, 2010)
Turning eighteen is an exciting time for most girls. It means finally being considered an adult, having more freedom to live your life and preparing for college. For Haven Vigano, it means no longer being able to move around in the daytime, immortality and an insatiable thirst for human blood. Haven is a Dayling, but in less than three weeks she will `Cross Over’ into a world of danger and everlasting darkness.
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Dayling-Gabriel-Madison/dp/1936167158/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1293003828&sr=1-1
Books-a-Million: http://www.booksamillion.com/product/9781936167159?id=4930039127316
Three Days of Darkness and the Coming Flood by Jesus Villalobos
This book reveals that Jesus left us not only a sign to look for just before His return, but the actual date of His return. Don’t be fooled by so-called scholars. Jesus told us to wait for the sign of the Son of Man. This MUST occur before the rapture can take place.
Jesus Villalobos
Book available at:
http://www.borders.com
http://www.barnesandnoble
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A NOTE OF THANKS AND PRAISE
INTRODUCTION
OPENING
END TIME PROPHECIES CLARIFIED THROUGH QUESTION AND ANSWERS
ISAIAH 13 HOLDS KEY TO UNDERSTANDING JESUS’ DISCOURSE ON END
TIMES
A COMING WORLWIDE FLOOD PROPHESIED BY ISAIAH IGNORED BY
TODAY’S CHURCH
UFO’S AND SATAN EXPLAINED IN DETAIL
MISQUOTED SCRIPTURES CONCERNING JESUS’ RETURN
EPHRAIM AND MANASSEH- A PICTURE OF JESUS’ TWO-FOLD MINISTRY
THE DATE OF JESUS’ RETURN IS REVEALED IN THE SCRIPTURES
THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS…
ADAM CREATED FEMALE FIRST (Documented in Scripture)
TWO GENESIS’
THE TEMPLE TAX
THE UNRIGHTEOUS STEWARD
MAN IN GOD’S IMAGE: CHRIST & THE CHURCH
THE SEVENFORLD HOLY SPIRIT AND CHURCH
SIX THOUSAND YEARS
A WHEEL IN A WHEEL
TITHING THE FORGOTTEN FEAST
WAS EVE BLACK?
MATTHEW 24 THE KEY TO REVELATION
My fantasy short story collection, Eyes Like Sky and Coal and Moonlight, is now available for the Kindle (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004FN2AYC?ie=UTF8&tag=carawr-20) and other e-readers (https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/32548), for a mere $2.99 in both places.
DOROTHY PARKER…
Writer. Thinker. Drinker… Detective?
A dead body is found under the Algonquin Round Table. Now Dorothy Parker and Robert Benchley–with cocktails in hand and quips on their lips–must solve the murder before the murderer turns the tables on them.
“Sparkles with a wit to match the original Algonquin Round Table. I devoured it, chuckling all the way.” — Rhys Bowen, award-winning author of the Royal Spyness mysteries
Available in bookstores and online. Find seller links at: RoundTableMysteries.com
[Deleted because a) it doesn’t meet the critera set out for inclusion in the original entry, b) posting in February on a thread meant for December is missing the point. I’m doing to go ahead and close the thread to avoid this going further — JS]