153 Comments on “Whatever Holiday Shopping Guide 2013, Day One: Traditionally Published Books”

1. Again: This thread is for authors/editors of traditionally published books only. Any other comments, including questions or comments about the books in the thread, will be deleted (and unlike I usually do, there will be no trace it ever existed). This is to keep the thread clear for its sole purpose: Giving readers here a list of cool, traditionally-published books to consider for gifts this holiday season.

   Reminder also that there will also be threads for other works and recommendations:

   Tomorrow: Non-traditionally published books
   Wednesday: Other creative works (music, crafts, art, etc)
   Thursday: Fan recommendations
   Friday: Charities

   So there will almost certainly be a chance for you to promote yourself and/or the work of someone who makes cool gifts.

   Finally, a self-plug: Hey, my book The Human Division is out in hardcover. Just putting that out there.

2. SKULLKICKERS is basically like The Hobbit meets The Hangover.

   It’s a low-brow high-fantasy action-comedy comic series about two monster-hunting mercenaries who get in deep trouble and have to fight their way out.

   If you’re a fan of movies like Army of Darkness and Big Trouble in Little China or enjoy playing games like Dungeons & Dragons and Munchkin, then you’ll thoroughly enjoy reading Skullkickers.

   http://www.skullkickers.com/buy/

   To see other comics I’m working on (including the official return of Samurai Jack and a bunch of comic writing tutorials) feel free to check out my blog:

   http://www.jimzub.com/

3. [Deleted because it’s suited for tomorrow’s list, not today’s. Folks, please read the requirements for today’s list before posting — if your book is not available on a returnable basis in book stores, it’s not something that should be up today (if you don’t know whether your book is available on a returnable basis, wait until tomorrow).

   As a hint, if your publisher or is distributed by Amazon Digital Services, it’s probably not available on a returnable basis, and you should wait until tomorrow. But don’t worry — tomorrow will be here soon and it will be all about you. Sandra, please repost then! — JS]

4. I’ll give a shout out to VODNIK, an award-winning multicultural contemporary YA fantasy. A boy moves to Slovakia and discovers he can see and interact with creatures from Slovak folklore. Oh yeah–and some of them want to kill him. Action and adventure ensue. Check it out.

5. My alternate history Elizabethan fantasy spy thriller trilogy “Night’s Masque” is now complete, with all three volumes available in paperback, ebook and audiobook. As my pal Mazarkis Williams put it: ““Whether you like action, magic, romance or mystery there is something for you here.”

   Book 1: The Alchemist of Souls
   Book 2: The Merchant of Dreams
   Book 3: The Prince of Lies

   Warning: may offend readers who have a thing against LGBTQ main characters. Like I care…

   Learn more about the alternate history behind the series in my post in The Big Idea: http://whatever.scalzi.com/2012/03/27/the-big-idea-anne-lyle/

6. Hi all! And thanks for this opportunity, John. I have two books to tell you about, both sf anthologies that I have novellas in (that both came out after last year’s Scalzi Shopping Guide).

   The first is Substitution Cipher, published by Candlemark & Gleam. Alt-history spy stories! The paperback is on sale at Amazon right now.

   The second is Winter Well: Speculative Novellas About Older Women, published by Crossed Genres. A fun mix of sff tales, all with an older woman as the main character. To quote from the book’s blurb on Amazon, “Their motivations are their own, and they’re not interested in living in the background of someone else’s epic yarn.”

7. Hey, y’all. I write comics. If you’re looking for comics as stand-alone gifts, here are a few of my books that might fit the bill:

   PLANET HULK (14 issue epic in which the Hulk is exiled to alien planet where he goes from slave to gladiator to rebel to emperor)

   DOCTOR STRANGE SEASON ONE (retelling of Strange’s origin story, featuring drive-each-other-crazy hijinks with the Doctor, his hothead fellow sorceror-in-training Wong, and Italian cryptomythologist Sofia di Cosimo)

   RED SKULL INCARNATE (historically accurate fictional story of an orphan becoming a Nazi during the collapse of the Weimar Republic)

   X-TREME X-MEN, Volumes 1 and 2 (Dazzler leads a team of alternate reality X-Men on a cross-world mission to kill ten evil Xaviers)

   PLANET HULK is an oldie but a goodie; the others are my most recent Marvel books. I’m also writing ACTION and BATMAN/SUPERMAN for DC and finishing up the CODE MONKEY SAVE WORLD graphic novel right now, but those aren’t available yet in trade. Next year! ;-)

   Thanks for your consideration — and thanks for the space to plug, John!

8. As always, a huge thanks to John for giving his fellow authors some of his digital real estate!

   THE DAEDALUS INCIDENT brings together historical fantasy, space opera and hard science-fiction in a dimension-bending adventure, complete with alchemists, particle accelerators and sailing ships in space. It was named one of Library Journal‘s best of 2013 in SF/Fantasy, which made me giddy for an entire week.

   Available on Amazon, through your indie bookstore and wherever fine books, ebooks and audiobooks are sold.

   Happy holidays to all!

9. DRIVING WITH CATS: OURS FOR A SHORT TIME, by Catherine Holm, is a cat-themed memoir about life, love, and the human/animal-companion bond. Framed by the story of 21-year-old cat Jamie’s transformational last months of life, the book includes the stories of the author’s other cats, and the lessons and wisdom they brought to her household. Short essays throughout cover humorous, thoughtful, and informational topics about life with cats.

   A great gift for the cat lover in your life or for anyone who is moved and fascinated by the human/animal bond. Read the reviews and an excerpt HERE.

10. Ouroboros is my current novel. It’s a fantasy about a human assassin in a nation of longer lived beings. It has assassinations, puzzles, betrayal and undead (and who doesn’t love undead?). It’s a short novel and I think you will enjoy it.

    There is a sequel to Ouroboros comming out next year so now is your chance to get in the ground floor. Buy one, buy twenty!

    Thank you for considering my novel for your holiday purchination.

    It’s available in various online stores and formats and some big brick and mortar stores carry it (like in NYC).

    http://booktrope.com/book/ouroboros/

11. Thanks, John!

    I’ll plug Libriomancer, which is about a magic-wielding librarian from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula who pulls lightsabers and other toys out of books, kills sparkling vampires, and has a pet spider who sets things on fire. And also a magic convertible. Plus there’s a dryad who can kill you with a toothpick.

    http://www.jimchines.com/bookstore/ has links to my stuff in paperback, hardcover (where available), e-book, and audio book editions.

12. BEREFT is a YA novel about bullying, homophobia and racism

    It’s about a 14-year African American fantasy geek who gets a scholarship to a Catholic school. Thought is it a realistic and topical novel, the main character, Rafe, filters everything through his love of fantasy, and there are many references to genre fiction.

    It’s available at the usual suspects, including some bricks and mortar stores.

    More info about the book is here:

13. First, thanks to our gracious host for the linkage. Second, my traditionally-published novel Pirates of Mars is not only wonderful to read but, for a limited time, the ebook edition is on sale for 99 cents!

    To buy the book at your choice of booksellers in your choice of formats, visit my site (links to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Powells and Indiebound).

    From the marketing blurb: What could possibly go wrong with pirates on Mars? Well, quite a bit, actually. The pirates holding the containership Charles S. Price have a problem – with the ship’s engines dead, they’ll soon be just another crater on the Martian surface. Their solution? Call the Volunteer Space Rescue Service for help and steal Space Rescue’s ship! But this fight is over more than just a ship and her crew – a secret cargo may hold the keys to the fate of Mars!

14. Thanks, Scalzi!

    WICKED AS SHE WANTS is steampunk paranormal romance that turns Princess Anastasia into a vampire virago forced to undergo an airship journey with a debauched musician with a taste for Walt Whitman. Although it’s a steamy romance, there’s a real story with fantasy adventure, deep world building, and actual character arcs. It’s the second in my BLUD series for Pocket and was featured here on The Big Idea.

    Find the entire Blud series including three books and three e-novellas on my Amazon page: http://www.amazon.com/Delilah-S.-Dawson/e/B008MLEMCQ The series begins with a vampire carnival ringmaster in WICKED AS THEY COME.

15. The Thirty-ninth Man is an historic novel culminating with the U.S.- Dakota War of 1862 and the mass execution of thirty-eight men. History tells us little of the thirty-ninth man sentenced to die with the others, and he is largely ignored in all accounts of the executions.

    This novel by D. A. Swanson weaves fictional events around historical facts creating a tapestry filled with accurate depictions of people from Minnesota’s past. Men like Lawrence Taliaferro, Josiah Snelling, John Jacob Astor, and a host of others share the stage with protagonist, Anton McAllister, and the thirty-ninth man, Tatemina—Round Wind. The story begins in 1804 and concludes on December 26, 1862.

    The novel’s flap copy hints at the books content:

    “Article I: There shall be a firm and perpetual peace between the Sioux and Chippewas; between the Sioux and the confederated tribes of Sacs and Foxes; and between the Ioways and the Sioux.”

    On August 19, 1825, in a place called Prairie du Chien, Michigan Territory, under the guise of concern but wrapped in a cloak of deceit, the federal government began a series of treaties with the Sioux Nation that would lead to the outbreak of the Sioux Wars, and the end of a way of life.

    In 1862 with the beginnings of the Sioux Wars in the Minnesota River Valley, a mixed blood named Anton McAllister balances on the razor thin line separating corrupt Indian agents, unscrupulous fur traders, the U.S. Army, and powerful chiefs from the Chippewa and Dakota nations. When his best friend is falsely accused of war crimes and sentenced to die, Anton finds himself in a race to save his friend from the gallows.

    Years of research and scrutiny of historic records make possible the blending of fact and fiction in a manner designed to enlighten and encourage readers to delve into the cause of the war and the destruction of a way of life.

16. The Bob White Birder Murders are laugh-out-loud mysteries about a really nice guy who finds bodies while he’s birding! Hailed as “EVERYTHING A COZY MYSTERY SHOULD BE. A wonderful new series here!” by an Amazon Top 50 reviewer, the five books in the series (with 7 more to come!) follow the birding and amateur sleuthing adventures of nice guy Bob White as he adds birds to his life list. Combining birds, humor, conservation issues and a zany cast of characters, the Birder Murders by Jan Dunlap will have you looking at birds – and the people who love them! – in a whole new light!

    Pick up one or the whole set at your favorite online retailer, or ask for them at your local bookstore or birding supply store. You can also order direct from the publisher at http://www.northstarpress.com/. And please visit me at jandunlap.com for laughs and the latest on new books in the Birder Murder series.

17. Thanks John. I’d like to tout my nonfiction pop-science book ‘The Accidental Species: Misunderstandings of Human Evolution’, which is just out from the University of Chicago Press. You can see reviews – and of course find links to buy the book – from the publisher’s website http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/A/bo12789718.html
    and of course the proverbial All Good Bookstores.

18. Thanks, John!

    TARNISHED is the latest book in my urban fantasy series. In my day job, I’m a professional archaeologist, and I applied that to my worldbuilding. The werewolves in my series have a separate culture, religion, and rich oral history that inform their struggles with each other and with living in the human world undetected.

    In TARNISHED, Andrew Dare has found his mate in Silver, but they haven’t found the pack they can call home. Some of his old friends think he should return and challenge Roanoke for leadership of all the werewolf packs on the East Coast. But Andrew has baggage—his violent history with the packs of Spain and the rumors of his lack of control. And then there’s Silver—the werewolf who has lost her wild self to a monster’s assault, and who can no longer shift forms.

    Find more info about that and the first book in the series, SILVER, here.

19. I’ve already found some things I want to read. Thanks for the opportunity!

    And now for something else entirely. . . .

    I write books on fiber for handcrafters, especially knitters (crocheters, weavers, other yarn-users) and spinners (who start with the fiber). The latest is The Field Guide to Fleece (2013), which is a backpack- or stocking-stuffer-sized guide to the variety of wools and how to use them. It’s a corollary work to the four-pound (needs wheels, or a strong back, to transport) The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook: More than 200 Fibers from Animal to Spun Yarn (2011), both from Storey Publishing.

    Livestock expert Carol Ekarius and I collaborated with Storey to produce some books we’re all proud of. My fields are the practical fiber use and the history, including genetics. We talk about rare breeds and landscape use and . . . more, all centered on domesticated fiber animals, especially sheep.

    Who’d’a thunk it.

    Field Guide to Fleece: http://bit.ly/1chhs9v
    Fleece and Fiber: http://bit.ly/xJzlja

20. I was recently told I’m like the Alanis Morissette of fantasy, so, that’s the coolest thing that’s ever happened. Thanks for the opportunity, John!

    THE HIDDEN ICON follows Eiren, a gentle storyteller who has always been able to sense the thoughts and feelings of others, as she discovers that the source of her power stems from an incredible darkness. To save her family and her land from further strife, she surrenders to her kingdom’s mortal enemy – unwittingly embracing that darkness and her own surprising capacity for fury and vengeance.

    But the war’s end is only the beginning of Eiren’s troubles. Compelled to return with her captors to their lands in the north, she faces foes both mortal and immortal on the road and explores the depths of her powers at the risk of losing herself in them, or in the masked and enigmatic man whose secrets elude even Eiren’s talents.

    To know the truth of why she was taken from her home, Eiren realizes she must become one of the monsters from her stories, whether she wants to or not.

21. “Across a Corn-Swept Land: An epic beer run through the Upper Midwest” is my journey to find a great Canadian beer and bring it back home to the States. Along the way I explore some amazing parts of America that are tucked away between Missouri and International Falls, Minnesota. This humorous non-fiction travel book can be found through the publisher’s website: http://www.northstarpress.com/products/across-a-corn-swept-land

22. Shadows of Tomorrow is my latest novel, published on 21st November 2013. It’s a science fiction adventure featuring parallel universes, martial arts, treason, love and a man who can remember his future. Gareth Walker leads a team of Defenders who protect their world from creatures from another universe. An accident left Gareth with the ability to remember future events but when an attack comes that Gareth didn’t see coming, everything he knows about the portals is thrown into doubt.

    UK Amazon purchase link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1843867699/ref=as_li_ss_til?tag=chiofthehiv-21&camp=2902&creative=19466&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=1843867699&adid=0GB1E870ANWH4FFYYQNM&

    US Amazon purchase link: http://www.amazon.com/Shadows-Tomorrow-Jessica-Meats-ebook/dp/B00GSXSGLS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385998081&sr=8-1&keywords=shadows+of+tomorrow

23. Looking for fun, fast-paced romantic fantasy? My debut novel ASSASSIN’S GAMBIT came out this past April (from Signet/Penguin). It’s about a magically-gifted assassin who falls for her target, the emperor of Kjall. All my books feature strong heroines, and this one is set in a world loosely based on the idea of “what if the Roman empire had survived into the Renaissance?”

24. Hi everybody, and super double thanks to John for providing this space!

    Three by me Jay Posey is a post-apocalyptic western with cyberpunky elements, wherein a lone gunslinger reluctantly agrees to escort a dying woman and her son across a vast urban wasteland in a quest to find the boy’s father.

    It’s got ACTION and EXCITEMENT and WORDS!

    In addition to read-with-your-own-eyes forms, it’s also available as an audiobook (narrated by the very excellent Luke Daniels).

    More information and such at:
    http://jayposey.com/books/three/

    Yay books!

    Thanks again John!

25. John – we appreciate all that you do for fellow authors!!

    LOVE CAN BE MURDER picks up right where we left off with our first murder mystery novel, HEADACHES CAN BE MURDER. In this sequel, author Chip Collingsworth is embroiled in a local investigation, while simultaneously plugging away at his next novel, “Mind Games”. His budding relationship with the town veterinarian has hit some bumps in the road and likewise, the relationship between his fictional characters has been complicated by gruesome murders in the Twin Cities. Full of confusing identities and twist and turns in the plot, this novel-within-a-novel is another thrilling romp in which real life imitates fiction.

    Both books are available at local indie bookstores, B&N and of course, online. E-books are also available. For more information, please visit our website at http://rauschanddonlonauthors.com/

    Happy Shopping and Happy Holidays!!

26. CHASING THE MOON is my debut novel, published this summer. When her family is captured by the Border Patrol as they enter illegally into the country, Nadia Alvarez, a fifteen-year-old immigrant from Mexico, is suddenly alone. She faces the reality of allowing herself to be captured as well and be reunited with her family, or carrying out her parents’ dream of a better life in America. Living on the heavily patrolled border of Arizona and Mexico, Nadia lives the life of an anonymous migrant, scrambling to make money for a family she has lost. When her living and job conditions take a dark and twisted turn, Nadia flees Arizona for the promise of something better in the heart of the Midwest: Minneapolis. There, she struggles to find the American life her family wanted, an idea that comes to take on new meaning as she faces the reality of living illegally, constantly torn between new opportunities and a fierce loyalty to her homeland.

    For more information, you can visit my website here: http://www.carolynkboehlke.weebly.com

27. I’m the author of eight science fiction novels for Tor in the UK, the latest being Marauder. My first five books were republished earlier this year, and are now all available in their physical editions in the US from Barnes & Noble and Amazon. They’re also available in the States in Kindle format. All my books, of course, are available in multiple formats in the UK, including Audible.

    If you want to start anywhere with my books, start with Stealing Light, which is the first in a space opera series called the Shoal Sequence. A human expedition trips discovers a derelict faster-than-light starship, in a far future where FTL technology is the closely-guarded monopoly of a powerful alien species. Dakota Merrick, the protagonist, is the survivor of a war in which she committed atrocities. On the run from dangerous men, the discovery of the derelict craft gives her a chance to redeem herself; but it also means working closely with the very people against whom the atrocities were committed…
    .
    Stealing Light is followed by Nova War, Empire of Light, and most recently Marauder. If you want to find out more about them and my other books, go to http://www.garygibson.net.

28. Thanks John. My newly released book, Related by Chance, Family by Choice is a guide to one of the most challenging relationships of all time: the mother-in-law / daughter-in-law debate. It’s a great gift for any mother-in-law, MIL to be, daughter-in-law or engaged woman.

    Here’s the description by the publisher:

    Deb brings to this book more than thirty years working with adults to improve communications and deal constructively with conflict. Aside from her research and her professional expertise, perhaps the most important asset Deb brings to this work is her own relationship with her three daughters-in-law that is so obviously and unusually positive that she—and they—are often asked to explain the secret of the relationships they share.

    This practical and unapologetically scriptural book covers issues of personal perceptions, strained communication, the roles of sons and fathers in the relationship’s success, how to begin these relationships on the right foot, and the necessity of trust and love. Deb’s one motivating objective is to help womenin- law move from women who are simply related to strong and confident members of a truly spiritual family.

    You can find it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and http://www.christianbook.com. For excerpts and more information about the book, connect to my website: http://www.debdearmond.com

29. My two most recent novels are THE MIRAGE and BAD MONKEYS.

    THE MIRAGE is a post-9/11 thriller set in an alternate reality where the U.S. and the Middle East have traded places. Check out the Big Idea essay I wrote for it here.

    BAD MONKEYS is my Philip K. Dick novel. Arrested for murder, Jane Charlotte tells the police that she’s a member of a secret organization that fights evil. Her division, the Department for the Final Disposition of Irredeemable Persons – “Bad Monkeys” for short – is charged with killing especially evil men. Now a jail psychiatrist has to figure out whether Jane is lying, crazy, or playing a different game altogether.

    You can read more about these and my other novels on my website.

30. My book called Four Letters is actually The Notebook meets In Her Shoes. The main character Janis has a difficult relationship with her younger sister and could just kill her most of the time. As the story opens the 2 sisters are not speaking again. However Janis happens to meet Ella, a first older lady who is no stranger to family drama. She has been estranged from 2 of her 4 children for 20 years. As Janis comes to learn of Ella’s story she finds herself coming closer to understanding her sister, because when you come right down to it, sometimes family is all you really have.

    Four Letters is available through Barmes & Noble (ISBN# 978-0-87839-679-5) and through Amazon. To Find it there search by my name. (You may also get it through my publisher North Star Press .com or they could point you to other bookstores that can order it etc.) Please see my website http://www.authordianek.com for more information.

31. Big Egos
    Gallery Books (2013)

    Does your lifestyle not fit the person inside of you? Then try someone else on for size!

    Big Egos is the ultimate role-playing game that allows you to become a fictional character, historical figure, or dead celebrity for 6-8 hours. The problem is, our hero has started to lose the ability to separate fact from fiction. His every fantasy is the new reality. And the more roles he plays, the less of him remains.

    Big Egos a dark comedy and social satire about what happens when you’re constantly pretending to be someone you’re not.

    You can learn more about Big Egos at http://sgrowne.com.

    (Thanks for the opportunity, John!)

32. Thanks, John for this novel idea ;)

    In my debut mystery novel, Shadow Play, Psychiatrist Grace Rendeau struggles to make sense of her husbands untimely death. Left a widow with two children, Grace forges a new life for her family, abandoning her private practice and moving to Minnesota to take on a prestigious position at the Rochester Forensic Center for the Criminally Insane. In striving to heal her patients, she finds healing, a new strength, and a sense of possibilities. Among the possibilities is a budding romance with Alex Sawyer, a divorced doctor engaged in humanitarian work. Grace accompanies Alex on a medical mission to Indonesia and they return committed to a new life together. But their joy is short lived. Grace returns home not to her children, but to an empty house and a chilling kidnappers note. Enemies known and unknown haunt Grace’s every waking hour. Grace’s story illuminates the hopes and fears of every wife or husband, mother or father, woman or man, caught in life’s turmoil and striving to overcome it.

    Review: I have been very lucky to receive some fantastic debut novels to review and I was not let down by Debbie Lampi’s ‘Shadow Play’. This beautifully written novel deserves a lot of praise. Fast paced and not lacking in suspense, I would recommend this novel to any adult who likes quality time with a good mystery.

    The characters are strong and well written with air of secrecy about all of them. They each have a past that laces them together even during conflict. Bud appears rough and malicious but is he really? Josie always has an excuse. What is her purpose? Is Alex really who he says he is?

    Grace is a psychiatrist healing from the death of her beloved husband 2 years prior and raising her children, Dane the innocent 5 year old boy who loves dinosaurs and Caleigh, the typical moody teenager… or is she? Beginning a new job in a new town, Grace hopes this will be healing for them all as she is finding her place in the world as a widow, trying to put one foot in front in of the other and get to Dane’s ball games on time. Earth shattering events take place that both fill her with love and emptiness at the same time. Grace must overcome her fears and doubts if she is to have any future. From Minnesota to Indonesia and Puerto Rico, Debbie Lampi takes us on a journey of self-discovery entwined with the all-enduring mothers love. Can it conquer all?

    Shadow Play is availble (signed) through my FB page – send a message!
    https://www.facebook.com/pages/DA-Lampi/315395781917036

    http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Play-Debbie-Lampi/dp/0878396896
    http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Shadow-Play-by-D-A–Lampi?keyword=Shadow+Play+by+D.A.+Lampi&store=book

33. Thanks John!

    I’d like to point people to Trade Secret, the book we’ve been celebrating as part of the Liaden Universe® 25th Anniversary Tour (which included a reception at BEA and an East Coast bookstore and convention extravaganza). Trade Secret is the direct follow-up to our 2005 Hal Clement Award-winning Balance of Trade and features the further adventures of Jethri Gobelyn, the young Terran trader flung into the midst of multiple interstellar intrigues.

    As the adopted son and trading heir apparent of one of Liad’s foremost Master Traders, Jethri has a lot to prove to himself as well as to the galaxy as a whole. While he needs to be brought up to speed on the intricacies of Liaden social customs ranging from the proper teas and wines for an afternoon trade meeting to the proper way to invite a lover to bed, he also needs to face the direct wrath of a scion of a major Liaden Clan offended by him and his family. When the growing-up Jethri must reclaim his own birthright to meet both Terran honor and Liaden “necessity,” his family — including his not quite expectable Uncle –suddenly face major challenges as the collision of cultures accelerates.

    Trade Secret is available in major bookstores and outlets nationwide — get it in signed hardback from Uncle Hugo’s SF Shop (a full alphabetically generated Lee & Miller page is featured here) or in Kindle, hardback, and Audible editions here.

    Thanks again to John for giving us this opportunity — and to readers for following up and taking a look!

34. Miriam Black is back. And she knows how you’re going to die.

    Book Three, THE CORMORANT, sees our favorite cantankerous psychic head down to the Florida Keys to meet with a man who offers to pay her a great deal to learn the truth of his death. But what she finds there is a trap set for her by a mysterious foe who sends a warning through time, painted in blood. “Hello, Miriam…”

    The book comes out this month and can be pre-ordered — *checks watch* — oh, hey, now.

    And right now, it’s five bucks to pre-order the paperback.

    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0857663380/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0Q9VAE6EG7QFX12XHKXA&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1630083462&pf_rd_i=507846
    Please to enjoy!

    Chuck

35. I’ve got a couple of things to plug. I’m the author of the urban fantasy series about a werewolf named Kitty who hosts a talk radio advice show for the supernaturally disadvantaged. The most recent is KITTY IN THE UNDERWORLD, and you can check out the whole series at my website: carrievaughn.com

    Pretty much all my novels are contemporary fantasy good for them what like fantasy, and appropriate for teen readers as well!

    The other thing I’m going to plug is a brand spanking new anthology edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois, due out *tomorrow*! DANGEROUS WOMEN would make a great gift for the reader who has everything. Chock full of lots of good stuff, including my story about Soviet women fighter pilots in World War II. Here’s the amazon page.

    Thank you!

36. My new novel, INVASIVE SPECIES (coming out tomorrow, 12/3!) is an end-of-the-world thriller with a creepy, yet scientifically plausible, monster. I had a blast creating an unstoppable force out of nature…and then seeing what my brave, intrepid, but way outnumbered characters could do about it. As David Brin says, the novel is “just a few mutations away from coming true.” Now, that’s entertainment!

    You can find out more, including where to buy it (all the usual places) at http://www.josephwallace.com/.

    Thanks for reading this, and please let me know if you read the book!

37. Tending the Garden, my collection of poems, has grown from my years of gardening and reading. Behind all gardens is Eden, and that mythical paradise figures into the poems, but so does my backyard garden and the larger “garden” of the earth. The collection divides into four sections: The Way Back, Garden Creatures, Garden Work, and Letting Go. The “way back” to paradise is a search for a way into our real, post-paradise world of earthly beauty, creatures and activity and for a final acceptance of the fleeting nature of this “home.”

    http://www.northstarpress.com/collections/poetry?page=4

    http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/tending-the-garden?keyword=tending+the+garden&store=book

    http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=tending+the+garden+poetry

38. John, thanks for your support for writers, year after year!

    My book is “Oddly Normal,” a memoir about raising a gay child in times that are better than ever to grow up gay – look at those characters on Community and Glee! – but not as good as you might think. (Think of Tyler Clementi.) At 13, our son Joseph came out, and tried to commit suicide. The book is about our efforts to get him to a happier state of mind, a process that involved theater camp, Saturday’s at the Gay Center youth program in New York City, and a fair amount of hair dye. Joseph, who gave me permission to write Oddly Normal and helped to write it, turns 18 next month – and that’s the best gift I know. Oddly Normal was listed as one of the 100 Notable Books of 2012 by the New York Times, and it appears on the 2013 BoingBoing Gift Guide. The paperback edition came out recently, and has a new afterword and a great essay by Joe, or you can get the audio version, which Joseph and I read. Find it at:

    my local bookstore: http://store.wordsbookstore.com/book/9781592408405

    Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Oddly-Normal-Familys-Struggle-Sexuality/dp/1592407285/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340142789&sr=8-1&keywords=john+schwartz+oddly+normal

    B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/oddly-normal-john-schwartz/1111013790?ean=9781592407286%E2%80%9D target=

    Indiebound: http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781592407286

    iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/oddly-normal/id518215485?mt=11

39. Sciath

    Deep below Big Ben’s impressive visage a secret waits.

    Welcome to Scíath, a bustling supernatural world hidden far below the London streets. It’s a society divided into departments filled to the brim with supernatural creatures. As his tenure comes to a close, the possibility of power brings out some people’s darker intentions. Leaving the Architect unsure of his own safety within the haven he built.

    Kyra, the Architect’s adopted daughter, finds her way from a lone security agent to a team leader through a secret mission. A mysterious abandoned house once held by the Imps during the great war awaits her varied team which includes her childhood star-crossed love, Nyles. Secrets are revealed that could throw their entire world into chaos, challenging history to reveal a new and current enemy. A catastrophic accident leaves Kyra to puzzle out the answers to a swirling vortex of questions before the power is passed into the wrong hands.

    e-book:
    http://www.amazon.com/Sciath-J-A-Castelli-ebook/dp/B00GKROBNY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1386000113&sr=8-1&keywords=sciath

    Paperback Pre Order ( as the hard copies are still waiting to be added to the catalogue on B&N.. etc)
    http://www.jacastelli.com

40. THE BATTLE OF BLOOD & INK, a steampunk graphic novel about a young woman’s search for the truth on the flying city of Amperstam, and the trouble she gets into once she finds it. Rayguns, airships, printing presses, mid-air explosions, and the importance of a free press all wrapped up in one fantastic package, written by me, Jared Axelrod, and drawn by Steve Walker. This rip-roaring adventure is available in both hardcover and paperback!

    Go to http://www.fablesoftheflyingcity.com/ for more info, including purchasing links, preview pages, free mini-comics and 2 podcast prequel novellas.

41. Thank you, John!

    I have three books available for younger readers in the magical realism genre–set in a realistic world where magic may exist, but on a day-to-day level is mostly found in fairy tales. GIL MARSH is a short, young YA novel (for the 11 to 15 crowd) inspired by the Epic of Gilgamesh. It tells the story of a boy who, after his best friend dies, goes on a quest to find an immortal man in Quebec.

    COME FALL is a middle grade novel (for the 9 to 14 crowd) loosely based on the changeling tale from A Midsummer’s Night Dream. The newly formed friendship between a teenage foster boy, a girl from a large family, and a boy with Asperger’s suffers the fall-out from a fight between the king and queen of Faery, in the most unmagical of settings—middle school. (Received a Publisher’s Weekly starred review.)

    NO CASTLES here is a middle grade novel (for the 8 to 13 crowd) about an 11-year-old, badly bullied boy who finds respect with the help of the meanest teacher in 6th grade, a big brother from the Big Brothers’ program, and the last of the fairy godmothers. (Received a Kirkus Reviews starred review).

    Links to all three books can be found at my website: http://acebauer.com/books.

42. Thanks, John!

    Heart Scars: A Memoir of Parenting a Teen Runaway, shares the realities of parenting a child in the era of the Internet.

    In April 2009, my then 15 year old daughter ran away to meet a man she met online. Thankfully, she was intercepted two states away; he was caught the day after. This online predator was actually 26 years old; I honestly don’t know what his real intention was, had my daughter completed the 2-1/2 day bus trip to meet him.

    The memoir chronicles my journey from discovering my daughter didn’t get off the school bus like she did every other day, through the year of “healing” following the event, interwoven with reflections on events from my own youth that created the kind of parent I was with my daughter. (All names but mine have been changed to protect the privacy of everyone else involved.)

43. Do you like the rebooted Star Trek? Hate it? What about the Battlestar Galactica reboot? In The Science Fiction Reboot: Canon, Innovation and Fandom in Refashioned Franchises, I capture and then analyze the fan experience when our beloved franchises get the “re-imagining” treatment. What do we notice and why? How is the fan experience with these reboots different from the non-fan viewer? Read The Science Fiction Reboot to find out.

    Available from McFarland Publications at http://www.mcfarlandbooks.com/book-2.php?id=978-0-7864-6509-5

    Also available from Amazon and other online book retailers.

44. My young adult thriller, SECOND VERSE is about a group of kids who hear a disembodied voice in a haunted barn, which leads teens Lange and Vaughn to investigate an unsolved murder and perhaps stop another. Unless the killer finds them first.

    Murder Now
    Lange Crawford’s move to Shady Springs, Pennsylvania, lands her a group of awesome friends, a major crush on songwriter Vaughn, and life in a haunted, 200-year-old farmhouse. It also brings The Hunt: an infamous murder mystery festival where students solve a fake, gruesome murder scheme during the week of Halloween. Well, supposedly fake.

    Murder Then
    Weeks before The Hunt, Lange and her friends hold a séance in the farmhouse’s eerie barn. When a voice rushes through, whispering haunting words that only she and Vaughn can hear, Lange realizes it’s begging for help. The mysterious voice leads Lange and Vaughn to uncover letters and photos left behind by a murdered girl, Ginny, and they become obsessed with her story and the horrifying threats that led to her murder.

    Murder Yet to Come
    But someone doesn’t like their snooping, and Lange and Vaughn begin receiving the same threats that Ginny once did. The mysterious words from the barn become crucial to figuring out Ginny’s past and their own, and how closely the two are connected. They must work fast to uncover the truth or risk finding out if history really does repeat itself.

    Available in hardcover, paperback and ebook.

    If buying as a gift, let me know. I’ll send a personalized, signed bookplate to put in the book for the gift recipient.

    http://www.amazon.com/Second-Verse-Jennifer-Walkup/dp/1935462865/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-1&qid=1385739470

45. My book, Ordinary People, Extraordinary Journeys: How The St. Paul Companies Leadership Initiatives in Neighborhoods Program Changed Lives and Communities, profiles twenty people who founded nonprofits in the Twin Cities and were recipients of the Leadership Initiatives in Neighborhoods (LIN) grants, which The St. Paul Companies sponsored from 1986 til 2002.

    Co-published by North Star Press of St. Cloud and the MN Council of Nonprofits, this table top book with photos by acclaimed local photographer, Wing Young Huie, will be a great holiday gift for people interested in a little piece of Minnesota history.

    You can find it at Magers & Quinn in Mpls, Subtext in St., Paul, or you can order it from our website http://www.ordinarypeoplejourneys.org

    Carolyn Holbrook

46. Most current traditionally published book is DOT TO DOT, a middle grade and up novel about a 12 year old girl who plans never to get up from her bedroom Tinkerbell rug after witnessing her mother’s accidental death. Plans change, though, as her eccentric aunt flies her to England to figure things out. Help of sorts comes in the form of historical ladies, walks in the rain, talks with an unpleasant, poetry-reading boy, Tarot cards, ashes and more.

    See the usual booksellers for reviews and more. Also my website http://kitbakke.com.

47. My nonfiction heathen book Asatru For Beginners is a great guide for your friends and family who are wondering just what the heck it is you’re getting into. http://www.amazon.com/Asatru-Beginners-Erin-Lale-ebook/dp/B002S0NJEE/ref=la_B004GLACQQ_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1386001134&sr=1-1

    You all know me as a science fiction writer and editor, and I’ll be promoting my sf books tomorrow, but as they aren’t available as returnables they don’t fall under the definition of traditionally published books here, so be sure to check back tomorrow on Non Traditionally Published Day to find out about my sf books!

48. The latest book from Mark Berriman will make a great unique stocking stuffer. Thoughtful, funny, inspirational. Charles Bukowski meets Chuck Pahlaniuk.
    http://www.northstarpress.com/products/kink-in-the-chain

49. Hi everybody and thanks John for the opportunity! I have a couple of books out you might be interested in.

    First up is THE MAD SCIENTIST’S DAUGHTER, a science fiction fairy tale set in a collapsing future America. When Cat Novak is a young girl, her father brings an experimental android to their isolated home to serve as her tutor. Finn stays with her, becoming her constant companion and friend as she grows to adulthood. But then they take the relationship much further than anyone intended – which ultimately threatens to force them apart forever. io9 called it one of the most realistic science fiction stories ever told. Click here for more information, including purchasing links.

    I also have a YA adventure fantasy duology out, and the second book, THE PIRATE’S WISH, was released this year. The duology focuses on the adventures of a pirate girl named Ananna of the Tanarau, and her attempts to help cure a cursed assassin. There are also a pair of related novellas available. Again, click here for more information and purchasing links.

50. Boy meets girl. Boy loses girl. Boy steals a time machine that’s low on batteries and attempts to save girl from impending annihilation. …You know how this goes.

    My first novel, THE BEAUTIFUL LAND, is a love story with time machines. Oh, and monsters. It features two non-traditional protagonists (a Japanese-American survival expert and an Iranian-American military translator) as well as dark humor, zippy dialogue, and the occasional bit that might cause you to get some dust in your eye. It was also the winner of the 2012 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, which is how I ended up getting published in the first place.

    You can find it at all major places, as well as smaller local bookstores like Powell’s and Third Place Books. Hey, here’s a link!

    http://www.amazon.com/THE-BEAUTIFUL-LAND-ebook/dp/B008BK3JB8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1340041159&sr=8-2&keywords=alan+averill+the+beautiful+land

    Thanks to John for this awesome opportunity and for generally having a great blog. If you’re interested in me, you can go to my occasionally-updated website at http://www.alanaverill.com, or follow me on Twitter at @frodomojo. Thanks!

51. There’s nothing better for those difficult-to-buy for people than mind-bending popular science. From 14 to 114, Brian Clegg’s The Universe Inside You (Icon Books) will fascinate the reader as it uses your body as way to explore the scientific wonders of the universe from a single cell to the Big Bang. For 16 plus readers who like to get their teeth into science, take a look at How to Build a Time Machine (St Martin’s Press), exploring the remarkable science of real time travel – see http://www.brianclegg.net for more details or to buy.

52. Wilder’s Edge is a gold hunting adventure for kids ages 8+. A relaxing summer of fishing on the lake at the family cabin, Wilder’s Edge, sounds perfect to Henry, until his cousin, Dylan, schemes to explore an old mine. Looking for gold, sounds harmless, but then goes really wrong. A mystery from the past lures Henry, Dylan, and their friend Arla, into a hunt that pulls murder into the present.

    Found at North Star Press, http://www.northstarpress.com, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Powell’s. Visit dianebradleywriter.com

    Thanks John, and holiday cheers.

53. Much obliged, M’sieu Scalzi.

    Holiday gift-givers are encouraged to purchase THE VERB ‘TO BIRD’, an irreverent nonfiction book that’s part memoir, part natural history, and part rant. Centered on the topic of birds and why people spend so much time, money, and effort to see them, this book will not only help explain this fascination to people who don’t share it, but will also provide unexpected insights into phenomena such as venomous insects, non-lending libraries, and animated Christmas specials. A Barnes & Noble Discover! selection, a BookSense 76 pick, and one of Martha’s Favorite Books on “Martha Stewart Living Television” (I know–I was as surprised as you), THE VERB ‘TO BIRD’ makes a great gift for anyone who loves birds. Or verbs. Or receiving gifts.

    http://www.amazon.com/The-Verb-Bird-Peter-Cashwell/dp/1589880013

    (Note: alas, my second book won’t be available until February. Amazon, B&N, and Powell’s will let you pre-order it, but it won’t help you shop for the holidays unless you plan to give promissory notes to people.)

54. Thank you, John!

    SAXON’S BANE is a thriller with a supernatural twist; past and present collide during the excavation of a Saxon warrior’s grave.

    It has been (professionally) reviewed as ‘A supremely well-written novel… Saxon’s Bane is the book to thrust into the hands of any know-it-all who claims that genre fiction cannot be literary,’ and a ‘sure-footed debut… a terrific thriller made singular by its interaction with the past.’ One reviewer summed it up succinctly as ‘Wicker Man by way of John Fowles’.

    See the Amazon UK reviews (22, av 4.5) at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Saxons-Bane-Geoffrey-Gudgion/dp/1781081360/ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_t_3_KZAJ

    and Amazon.com reviews (6, av 4.3) at http://www.amazon.com/Saxons-Bane-Geoffrey-Gudgion/dp/1781081379/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1386002569&sr=8-1&keywords=Saxon%27s+Bane

55. “Armageddon is over. The demons won.” Dark premise? Yes, but there’s also romance, mystery, adventure and some humor in FIERY EDGE OF STEEL, the 2nd book in my Noon Onyx series. Noon is a reluctant 21 year old waning magic user tasked with investigating several unusual disappearances in a far off outpost called the Shallows. Part river adventure, part coming of age story, with deep world building told in a youthful first person point of view, this is genre-bending fantasy at its best! (Reading DARK LIGHT OF DAY, the 1st book, is encouraged but not required. Great for urban fantasy fans looking for something different and unique.)

    http://www.amazon.com/Fiery-Edge-Steel-Noon-Novel/dp/0425257169

    Thanks, John, for hosting your 2013 holiday shopping guide!

56. Much obliged for the opportunity Senor Scalzi.

    Let’s see, my book has been described as a little bit Dresden Files, a little bit Supernatural, and a little bit Punk Rock. Demon Jack is the first novel in a series planned to run somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 to 7 books.

    Simple choice:

    Stay dead and go to Hell,
    Or sell your soul to a demon and keep breathing.

    Fifteen years ago, Jack died and chose the latter. Now, a few years out of prison and living on the streets of Boston, Jack is perfectly content to keep a low profile and avoid his turbulent past.

    Being a faceless “nobody” suits Jack just fine.

    It’s working out until the only person he considers a friend turns on him, possessed by something far worse than the demon holding the contract to Jack’s soul. Now, he’s been recruited (some might say blackmailed) by an ancient order with roots in the Inquisition to hunt down whatever malevolent force is responsible for turning Boston’s homeless into ravenous killers. At the same time, someone from his past with a massive vendetta and nothing in the way of conscience, is looking for Jack, hoping to issue a little payback of his own.

    Paired with a centuries old witch and the only person to survive the rampage thus far, Jack is in a race to track down whatever’s responsible for killing his people, all while staying one step ahead of the skeletons in his closet.

    http://www.amazon.com/Demon-Jack-Patrick-Donovan-ebook/dp/B00EYG2YIM/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-1&qid=1386004015

57. Like military history? Have a friend/parent/spouse/someone you met on the street who likes military history? I offer my last two books for your consideration:

    The first is on a little known guerrilla war in the Philippines that the United States surprised itself by winning. It has action, thrills, mud, Douglas MacArthur’s father, Teddy Roosevelt, and William Howard Taft and his traveling bath. Starred review on Kirkus .

    http://www.amazon.com/War-Frontier-Empire-Philippine-American-1899-1902/dp/product-description/0809096617/ref=dp_proddesc_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books

    The second is on a simultaneous conflict in China, the Boxer Rebellion. This one has a mysterious Dowager Empress, a mystical and violent peasant movement, Medals of Honor, wall scaling, and a British lieutenant going for an afternoon walk that ends with an exploding fort. It’s so big that it got a Big Idea piece here on Chez Scalzi.

    http://www.amazon.com/Boxer-Rebellion-Great-Game-China/dp/0809094770/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

58. I have a comic book series out at Dark Horse right now, EMILY & THE STRANGERS. It’s a great series with wonderful art for kids of all ages and interests. Also: cats! And a haunted cephalopodic guitar!

    About the book: With the help of her trio of troublemaking cats, Emily is determined to make the most rockin’ song the world has ever known and win a legendary haunted guitar . . . but can she do it solo? Only one thing is for sure—what Emily wants, Emily gets . . . sometimes.

    You can get the first 3 issues from Dark Horse directly or your local comics shop. http://www.darkhorse.com/Comics/22-738/Emily-and-the-Strangers-R-Black-variant-cover-1

59. Thanks for this opportunity, John!

    SUMMER MELODY is a women’s fiction novel encompassing three generations of women over the course of a summer in the 90s, before the invasion of iGadgets. This family drama follows 14 year old Jane, her mother Bonnie, and Jane’s cousin Meg as each of their lives is affected by someone who can’t or won’t communicate with them. Jane is caring for a boy with autism; Bonnie is dealing with her own mother’s dementia, and Meg’s new fiance is suffering from PTSD. How they deal with these challenges with love and humor makes for a read that many readers will identify with.

    Find more about SUMMER MELODY here: http://www.amazon.com/Summer-Melody-Toddie-Downs/dp/1935961446/

60. Thank you, John, for giving a space to editors as well as authors! I’d like to mention one of our titles, “Virtually True,” by journalism professor and Pando Daily editor Adam Penenberg. This was his first novel, although he’s widely published in non-fiction. You know, when I read the first few chapters for the first time, I wasn’t too sure … it’s compelling, but it’s not an “easy read.” It’s a near-future dystopian technothriller, so there are big ideas to deal with. There’s new vocabulary (for invented concepts). But he’s also got a sophisticated and unique writing style. It’s in present tense, which isn’t always a popular choice. In fact, I asked him initially if he’d be willing to change that, and I am so glad he said no! It lends an immediacy and a breathlessness to the pace which fits the content.

    When you edit a book, you read it a lot. A few times for content, several times line by line for word choice and flow. Some passages you go over multiple times with the author, trying to get it just right. So I’ve read this book a LOT. And I never get tired of it. I keep finding new layers, in fact, which is just delightful.

    So I’d recommend this book to readers who want to think and explore. People who don’t get tired of discussing “The Matrix” or “Inception” with their friends. Was that a plot hole? No? Why not? People who want a book they can really sink their mind’s teeth into. To mix a metaphor. ;) I’m not going to say it’s a book “for everybody.” It’s a great read, but it’s not a simple one. As with any book, I recommend checking the preview pages before you buy.

    “Virtually True” is widely available in print, and of course could be ordered by any store, but I’ll give the Amazon link because through December 31, if you order the paperback (perhaps as a gift), you can also get the ebook free. And then Book Depository because, hey, free shipping.

    Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Virtually-True-Adam-L-Penenberg/dp/1938757009

    Book Depository: http://www.bookdepository.com/Virtually-True-Adam-L-Penenberg/9781938757006

61. Hi and Happy Holidays!

    I write creepy books about things that aren’t so alive anymore….

    POSSESSION is the latest book in my Greywalker paranormal detective series. When a patient in a vegetative state suddenly sits up and starts painting pictures of places that haven’t existed in a century, even her doctors start to think she might be possessed. When PI Harper Blaine discovers other patients exhibiting similar phenomena, and a link to the murders of Seattle’s forgotten serial killer, the case goes from odd to terrifying. For more information about the book, read the Big Idea post from earlier this year: http://whatever.scalzi.com/2013/08/08/the-big-idea-kat-richardson-2/

    In addition I have a short story (“The Hollow Hounds”) in the steampunk anthology CLOCKWORK FAIRY TALES, which is a collection of alternate Science Fiction versions of famous fairytales spun by some wonderful writers, including Jay Lake, KW Jeter and Pip Ballantine. More information and a complete list of authors here: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/clockwork-fairy-tales-stephen-l-antczak/1115406365.

62. Thanks, John!
    As editor, I would like to recommend TJ O’Hare’s “Amnesiak: Blood Divinity.” This is a straight up fantasy novel – the Mongol like Shengri are in the early stages of a conquest by the covetous Tiger Empire…and their God/Folk Hero Lord Sheng returns from a 3000 year absence to aid them. The book is original and inspired. http://www.amazon.com/AmnesiaK-T-J-Ohare/dp/1300548649
    I’d also like to recommend “Under for a Spell” by David Yuro. This is a story of how a vengeful act of black magic has intertwined the destinies of two families for decades, and how the scions of those families work to uncover the truth. This mystery is original and very innovative. http://www.amazon.com/Under-For-Spell-David-Yuro/dp/1300548738

63. Appreciate the opportunity, John.

    My novel is HAND OF CHAOS, a novel that blends urban fantasy, occult horror, and national security thriller. It’s about a young woman named Anna Wei and her co-workers, who all happen to be clandestine government agents with occult powers. Toss in a fear of intimacy with a desire to have friends and lovers like a normal person and, well, Anna is a bit of a walking contradiction. When she wakes up at five-thirty in the morning with an undead-infested apartment building in the heart of Washington, DC to fight off, she knows she’s in for a rough day. Her team is its own challenge. A battle-scarred Nigerian shaman, a bookish shape-shifter, an inept summoner, and a brilliant but cantankerous wizard round it all out. Her partner, an immortal and cursed Paladin, is the only person she knows more jaded than herself. Getting them all to work together is never easy, with Anna often caught in the cross fire.

    Their target, Ethan Morgan, is one pissed off necromancer. It seems his brother was KIA by his own government, the victim of an experimental magical weapon they decided to test on the battlefield. Bent on revenge and sponsored by one of hell’s most powerful demons, Ethan has a plan of his own to make us all pay. Anna and her team are left to fight against the wake of destruction he leaves behind, wondering if they’ll ever figure out his endgame. Ethan always seems one step ahead, and the number of bodies he leaves and reanimates are growing exponentially.

    The Amazon link for the paperback edition is here: http://www.amazon.com/Hand-Chaos-Theology-J-Hamlet/dp/1484862694/

64. There’s something that happens when brokenness stains our spirits. Secret, unresolved, or lingering hurts leak into our everyday lives, filtering into everything we think we know about who we are.

    I blame Disney.

    Those storybook tales we held to as we grew up–the wonder and magic of happy endings–oh how those dreams and expectations can set a girl up for disappointment when life gets hard. And at some point, life always gets hard.

    When A Woman Finds Her Voice: Overcoming Life’s Hurts & Using Your Story to Make a Difference helps you move beyond these lingering hurts and reclaim your stalled dreams.

    Learn how to share that story you’ve been hesitant to share.

    Amazon link for U.S. : http://www.amazon.com/When-Woman-Finds-Her-Voice/dp/0891123873/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_pap?ie=UTF8&qid=1386007103&sr=8-1&keywords=when+a+woman+finds+her+voice

    Amazon link for Canada: http://www.amazon.ca/When-Woman-Finds-Her-Voice/dp/0891123873/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1386007143&sr=8-1&keywords=when+a+woman+finds+her+voice

    Thanks, John!

65. Hi John, thanks for this:)

    ‘Echoes from the lost Ones’, is the first book in the series, ‘The Song of Forgetfulness.’ It is a YA sci-fi, dsytopian action adventure.

    What people are saying about this book:

    ‘The Wizard of Oz meets Mad Max’

    ‘Addictive and engrossing-. It creates its own unique world where there’s danger, and fear, and regret, but where there is a barrel load of humour, too…’

    ‘A story of trust and faith “Echoes from the Lost Ones” is an adventure that takes you to a time and place like no other.’

    Echoes from the Lost Ones:

    In NotSoGreatBritAlbion there is hunger. Agros have cut supplies and children are going missing. Only one girl with a unique power can save them – Adara, Catcher of Birds.

    When her brother, Deogol is snatched, 17-year-old Citydweller, Adara, embarks on a dangerous quest to find him. During her journey, Adara is kidnapped by lustful Woodsmales, befriends a Nearlyman, is attacked by ravenous wolfies, falls for a Clonie, and is helped by a S.A.N.T. He takes her to the Monastery in the Clouds where she discovers her true potential as a Bringer and powerful weapon.

    Available: http://www.amazon.com/Echoes-Lost-Ones-Forgetfulness-Volume/dp/1939897041/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

66. Thank you, Mr. Scalzi.

    I am recommending Magic Mirrors by John Bellairs, since my husband and I were its editors at NESFA Press. This volume contains the beloved fantasy novel The Face in the Frost and its half-finished sequel, The Dolphin Cross, plus the impossible-to-find-for-many-years The Pedant and the Shuffly with the original illustrations.

    We also edited His Share of Glory by Cyril Kornbluth, a collection that contains all the short fiction that he wrote without Fred Pohl, et al. This was, in fact, the first book we edited for NESFA Press.

    As John Scalzi himself has pointed out, he has a book available from NESFA Press. So why not just go to the NESFA Press website and browse among our offerings of classic science fiction?

    http://www.nesfapress.org

67. Ryan North’s To Be or Not To Be is a choose your own adventure story of Hamlet. It is funny, it has pirates and you can challenge yourself to read a version where you manage to kill off all of the Characters of of Hamlet in one go. Ryan North is also the creator of Dinosaur Comics.

68. The Thousand Names is my military fantasy, available in e-book, dead-tree, or audio form! I’ve been describing it as “George Martin with guns” or “Bernard Cornwell with magic” depending on which direction you’re coming from. If you like muskets, magic, cannons, and cavalry charges, take a look!

69. Hi everyone and thank you John for hosting all of us!

    My debut Young Adult book named Spirit Warriors:The Concealing takes you to the beauty and vastness of present day Montana where five childhood friends are discovering their secret abiliies to change into animals.

    One of my reviewer’s wrote the rest of this on Goodreads and it is a much better summary than I could do. I would give you a 20 page narrative! lol

    “They know it’s their job, as animals, to fight some unidentified supernatural evils. It’s also the story of these kids’ relationships. And through the books the relationships do grow, conflict, and resolve.
    This book falls squarely in the reading-level gap for girls ages 12-14 who are too old for the “Warrior” series (the one about the cats who live in the wild) and those who are a little too young for the romance intensity of the “Twilight” series.
    Here are the elements of the story (in bullet form for brevity):
    • Kids fighting an unknown, powerful supernatural enemy
    • Budding romance between Emme and Charlie
    • Supportive, yet dynamic friendship between six teens
    • Shape shifting, teens turn into animals
    • Native American themes (takes place in Montana near the site of Custer’s Last Stand)
    • One of the kids is a native American “seer” who knows the future
    • The kids all hang out in a super cool clearing in the woods with teepees, horses, etc.
    In addition there are lots of other interesting, quirky characters such as the main character’s brother and a whole cast of interesting grown ups.”

    The book is availble in print and ebook format:

    http://www.amazon.com/Spirit-Warriors-Concealing-D-E-L-Connor/dp/1620151804/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1386008487&sr=1-1&keywords=spirit+warriors+the+concealing

    http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/spirit-warriors-del-connor/1117502216?ean=2940149088355

    You can follow me at:
    http://dellaconnor.com/
    Twitter: @del_connor

    Happy Holidays everyone!

70. Surely there is someone on your list who deserves a Big Lump of Coal. What better gift then than a Physics Book?

    But in the spirit of the holiday, why not add a little superhero sugar?

    THE PHYSICS OF SUPERHEROES covers everything from Isaac Newton to the transistor, but there’s not an inclined plane or pulley in sight. Rather, ALL the examples come from superhero comic books, and as much as possible, discuss those cases where the superheroes get their physics Right!

    And is you wondered why, here in the 21st century, we are still waiting for jet packs and flying cars, but have cell phones and laptop computers instead, then check out THE AMAZING STORY OF QUANTUM MECHANICS.

    Info about both can be found at:

    http://www.physicsofsuperheroes.com

    Courtesy of Your Friendly Neighborhood Physics Professor!

    (Thanks, John!)

71. A big thank you to our host, Senor Scalzi. :)

    The MINDSPACE INVESTIGATIONS series is about a telepath who is also a recovering addict helping the police in future Atlanta solve a series of crimes. In the first one, CLEAN, he fights a serial killer who kills with the mind. James Knapp calls the series “a fun blend of Chinatown and Blade Runner.”

    You can get the first book on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0451464753/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0451464753&linkCode=as2&tag=alehugautofcl-20
    On Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/clean-alex-hughes/1110914256?ean=9780451464750
    At the Book Depository: http://www.bookdepository.com/Clean-Alex-Hughes/9780451464750/?a_aid=alehugautofcl-20
    Or your local bookstore.

72. EXCAVATION The narrative thread that weaves throughout the poems in Excavation slowly reveals deeply buried memories of childhood sexual abuse. Breaking down after her father’s death, the poet unexpectedly finds herself in a hospital psych ward. Confused and afraid, she begins a journey of unraveling secrets about her father that were once too painful for her to remember but became too burdensome to ever forget. These poems uncover the pain of the human condition but also reveal healing and hope that comes from giving and accepting love and the strength that is found in forgiveness.

73. Make cool things (water rockets, boomerangs, a $10 electric guitar, a sock squid, a sock Cthulhu, etc.) while learning cool skills (basic soldering, sewing, carpentry, woodburning, etc.), and do it all on the cheap (most projects are under $10, many supplies are *FREE*):

    SNIP, BURN, SOLDER, SHRED: SERIOUSLY GEEKY STUFF TO MAKE WITH YOUR KIDS

    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1593272596/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=daverinel-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1593272596

    Download free sample projects: http://www.davideriknelson.com/sbsb/free_samples/

    Thx for the boost, Cpt. Scalzi!

74. My novel The ‘Geisters is a story of poltergeists, and the men whose fascination with the phenomena borders on dangerous obsession. From the back cover:

    “When Ann LeSage was a little girl, she had an invisible friend—a poltergeist, that spoke to her with flying knives and howling winds. She called it the Insect. And with a little professional help, she contained it. And the nightmare was over, at least for a time. But the nightmare never truly ended. As Ann grew from girl into young woman, the Insect grew with her. It became more than terrifying. It became a thing of murder. Now, as she embarks on a new life married to successful young lawyer, Michael Voors, Ann believes that she finally has the Insect under control. But there are others vying to take that control away from her. They may not know exactly what they’re dealing with, but they know they want it. They are the ’Geisters. And in pursuing their own perverse dream, they risk spawning the most terrible nightmare of all.”

    Here are what some reviewers thought:

    “Anyone who enjoys ghostly yarns or supernatural dark fiction should add this perverse, spine-tingling tome to their collection—stat!”
    —Rue Morgue

    “Few writers do psychosexual horror as well as Toronto’s David Nickle, and with The ’Geisters he’s back with another tale of voluptuous terror and the supernatural.”
    —Toronto Star

    “From the first page, The ‘Geisters exudes a hindbrain-teasing sense of lurking menace, the haunted-house creak of an impending apparition. It’s a spectacular feeling, and Nickle tightrope-walks it for 300 too-short pages, building to a climax that’s spooky, creepy and scary besides—and all the more so because of that long journey on the verge of fear.”
    –Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing

    You can order The ‘Geisters through this link:

    http://chizinepub.com/books/geisters.php

75. A NATURAL HISTORY OF DRAGONS — available in dead tree, pixel, and sound wave formats (which is to say print, ebook, and audio; links for all of the above at the link above).

    What is it? I’m glad you asked!

    All the world, from Scirland to the farthest reaches of Eriga, know Isabella, Lady Trent, to be the world’s preeminent dragon naturalist. She is the remarkable woman who brought the study of dragons out of the misty shadows of myth and misunderstanding into the clear light of modern science. But before she became the illustrious figure we know today, there was a bookish young woman whose passion for learning, natural history, and, yes, dragons defied the stifling conventions of her day.

    Here at last, in her own words, is the true story of a pioneering spirit who risked her reputation, her prospects, and her fragile flesh and bone to satisfy her scientific curiosity; of how she sought true love and happiness despite her lamentable eccentricities; and of her thrilling expedition to the perilous mountains of Vystrana, where she made the first of many historic discoveries that would change the world forever.

    Also, if you’re in the UK, you may be glad to know that your very own dead tree edition will be out there early next year. I think it’s scheduled for right around the time that the sequel, The Tropic of Serpents, comes out in the US, but Titan Books (my UK publisher) will I think be trying to catch up so that you’ll get the later parts of the series concurrently with the US, or just slightly after.

76. If you like your Space Opera with added paranoia, hacking, conspiracies, angst and a side order of flying assassins, Queen of Nowhere is for you. It’s the fifth book in my Hidden Empire series, however each book is a stand-alone story so There Will Not Be a Test.

    Queen of Nowhere is available worldwide, specifically in the US from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Powells.

    (John was kind enough to allocate me a Big Idea slot for this book earlier in the year, but owing to circumstances beyond my control, I missed the slot, so an extra big festive thanks to him for this chance to promote my work.)

77. Thanks, John!

    If you’re shopping for someone with awesomely strange taste and a dark sense of humor, please check out my novel NINJA VERSUS PIRATE FEATURING ZOMBIES, which was just shortlisted for the ReLit Award! It was published by ChiZine Publications.

    To learn more, please visit http://www.howtoendhumansuffering.com

78. Comics about scientists? You’ve wisely chosen to live in the 21st century, so yes, they exist.

    I’ve written a bunch, including books about Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas (PRIMATES), Richard Feynman (FEYNMAN), the scientists and engineers of the space race (T-MINUS), battling paleontologists (BONE SHARPS, COWBOYS, AND THUNDER LIZARDS) and many others. You can find out more about them at http://www.gt-labs.com.

    And…thanks John!

79. My latest novel, TRUE NATURE, is a paranormal romance with a fast-paced plot and two likable lesbian characters.

    While in most paranormal romance novels, the main character is a dominant alpha type, someone used to taking charge and making decisions. True Nature’s main character, Kelsey, is exactly the opposite. She’s a submissive wolf-shifter, yet she’s forced to take charge and guide Rue, the novel’s human alpha character, in order to save Rue’s deaf adoptive son.

    Here’s a link to where you can find the book:
    http://www.ylva-publishing.com/ylva-verlag-e.kfr.–true-nature.html

    I also have another book taking place in my shape-shifter universe.

    SECOND NATURE’s main character is a liger shifter, who is sent to investigate a human writer when she comes a little too close to the truth in her latest paranormal romance and the shape-shifters are afraid she will reveal their secret existence.

    You can find the book here:
    http://www.ylva-publishing.com/ylva-verlag-e.kfr.–second-nature.html

    All of my books are available as a paperback and as e-books.

80. Thanks for doing this, John!

    STOLEN MAGIC is the third book in my Regency fantasy trilogy for 10- to 14-year-olds, which began with KAT, INCORRIGIBLE. The tagline for the whole trilogy is:

    In Kat Stephenson’s Regency England, magic is the greatest scandal of all…but 12-year-old Kat will do whatever it takes to find her older siblings their true loves, even if she has to turn highwayman, battle wild magic, and confront ghosts along the way!

    The Goodreads link for the series is: https://www.goodreads.com/series/55805-kat-incorrigible

81. Seeking a gift for a Star Trek-loving reader? Try these two titles:

    STAR TREK: THE FALL
    Book III: A Ceremony of Losses
    http://www.davidmack.pro/book_ceremony.html

    This New York Times bestselling, fast-paced medical/political thriller chronicles Doctor Julian Bashir’s mission to save the Andorian people from extinction by curing their longstanding fertility crisis, which has finally reached a tipping point.

    Unfortunately for Bashir, every major power between him and Andor is hell-bent on stopping him from delivering the cure — including the governments of the Federation and Andor, as well as Starfleet.

    Bashir risks everything to bring his cure to the Andorians. But his courage will come at a terrible cost: his career, his freedom … and maybe his life.

    * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
    You’d prefer a tale of the Next Generation crew? Then I’ve got just the book for you!

    STAR TREK: COLD EQUATIONS
    Book I: The Persistence of Memory
    http://www.davidmack.pro/book_cold1.html

    This award-nominated New York Times bestseller chronicles a hidden chapter in the life of celebrated cyberneticist Doctor Noonien Soong — and his desperate bid to resurrect his last android son, Data.

    Thanks for giving us the opportunity to promote our books here, John!

82. ANGEL FALLS is all about your ol’ pal Satan and how he saved the universe. If you liked Good Omens, you’ll love this.

    It’s been rough lately for the Lord of Darkness, with ex-girlfriend drama rearing its head at inconvenient moments, ancient gods returning to take over the universe, and Satan’s own unstoppable laziness. But whatever.

    Satan is okay, and he thinks you’re okay, too. This whole eternal damnation thing is all a bit of a misunderstanding.

    He runs Hell as a resort, kind of. A vacation spot. The point is, he’s not a bad guy. He’s trying to save Heaven and all of creation, and he only has a dimwitted giant, a surly waitress, and a monkey to help him. So, a thank you might be nice. Maybe buy him a cup of coffee next time you see him. And you will see him.

    It’s the Apocalypse, and all that.

    Available in print, Nook, Kindle, and personal reading from me in the setting of your choice (if the price is right).

    Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Angel-Falls-Michael-Paul-Gonzalez/dp/1846946786/
    B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/angel-falls-michael-paul-gonzalez/1019487841?ean=9781846946783

83. Hello, all! I write comics and graphic novels. A month ago, SMOKE/ASHES, my huge sci-fi thriller (all 424 pages) was released by Dark Horse Comics. You can get it for a mere $22 of your earth dollars at Amazon. Will you like it? Do you like tense, neo-noir sci fi like Blade Runner? Transmetropolitan? Would the idea of the internet becoming sentient, and having the personality of a 15 year old troll and a specific grudge against you, leave you terrified? Where do you run, when everything is connected and everyone is observed? Art is by comics legends such as Bill Sienkiewicz, Colleen Doran, and Igor Korey so not only is it thrilling, it’s *very* pretty. Read more about Smoke/Ashes here.

    I also am currently writing Grindhouse, a monthly exploitation series from Dark Horse, available at all finer comics shops… we just wrapped up the first story (“Bee Vixens from Mars”) and on Wednesday, Grindhouse #3 starts our “Prison Ship Antares” storyline. That’s right — women, in prison, in space. (What are the best things in life, Conan?)

    And for the very young reader, Carla Speed McNeil and I collaborated on My Little Pony: Friends Forever #1 (from IDW Comics), available in shops in January. If you’re interested in learning more about my work, please follow me on twitter: @alexdecampi

84. Doesn’t appear that anyone has recommended this one, so:

    I am one of the authors in an anthology of stories about low-powered superheroes called “Oomph: A Little Super Goes a Long Way,” published by Crossed Genres. My story is called “Fortissimo Possibile,” about a heroine with volume control powers.

    You can find it on their website or here: http://www.amazon.com/Oomph-Little-Super-Goes-Long/dp/0615901190/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1386015492&sr=8-11

85. Two works from Apex Publications out this year, both fiction anthologies:

    1. The Book of Apex, Volume 4, which collects all of the new fiction from my first 16 issues as the Editor-in-Chief of Apex Magazine http://www.apexbookcompany.com/collections/all-books/products/the-book-of-apex-vol-4/

    2. Glitter & Mayhem (co-edited with Michael Damian Thomas and John Klima), a collection of all-original SFF stories that connect with nightlife, parties, and roller derby. http://www.apexbookcompany.com/collections/all-books/products/glitter-mayhem/

    I should note that Apex Publications is doing a Cyber-Monday promotion where all books are 40% off. :-)

86. I wrote a nerdy knitting book. It can be found at B&N, Amazon, etc. http://www.amazon.com/Knits-Nerds-Projects-Science-Fiction/dp/1449407919
    It’s available both in paperback and e-book format.
    There is a reason I write knitting patterns and not blurbs about myself.

87. I wrote My First Kafka. It’s a picture book that adapts some of Franz Kafka’s stories for kids. Wired did a really nice writeup, with a gallery:
    http://www.wired.com/design/2013/08/my-first-kafka/

88. Thank you very much for this opportunity, John!

    “Something More Than Night” is published by Tor, officially tomorrow (12/3) though it’s been shipping since last week. It’s a noir-inspired murder mystery set in heaven — sort of like central casting for The Maltese Falcon crossed with many of the strange and terrifying angel concepts from medieval Christian theology. It’s a standalone novel, and was easily the most fun of anything I’ve yet written.

    (The audiobook version is by Audible, featuring a fantastic performance by Scott Brick.)

89. I seem to be the only one here who has written a book on Alaska aviation – big surprise! “The Map of My Dead Pilots” is based on the 4 years I was dispatcher for a Fairbanks-based commuter. We had the Interior Dead Body Contract, we flew prisoners, sled dogs, school kids and wedding cakes. It was nothing like that AK reality tv show and everything like you would expect. Starred review from Booklist, NPR Summer pick in 2012, Air & Space magazine liked it a lot. More here: http://chasingray.com/map/

    And if that isn’t enough AK flying for you, check out the reissue of THE FLYING NORTH – originally published in 1945, now back in print with a great cover by AK artist Courtenay Birdsall Clifford. It’s the story of the original bush pilots – the guys who made AK the flying environment it still is today. Just out last month from a small AK press – more here: http://www.shorefasteditions.com/the-flying-north.html

90. Thanks for the opportunity, John.

    I’m the writer of the Nathaniel Cade series, about a vampire who works for the President of the United States. Over 145 years ago, Cade was bound by a blood oath to serve the nation. Now, with his latest human handler, Zach Barrows, Cade fights all the things in the dark that threaten the American dream.

    I explained the genesis of the series in The Big Idea, again thanks to the graciousness of Scalzi: http://whatever.scalzi.com/2011/05/05/the-big-idea-christopher-farnsworth/

    You can buy the books on Amazon — http://www.amazon.com/Christopher-Farnsworth/e/B0038NXC2O/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1386016801&sr=1-2-ent — or through Indiebound — http://www.indiebound.org/hybrid?filter0=christopher+farnsworth&x=-963&y=-92

    Hope you enjoy them.

91. Hello! Thanks for giving us the space to do this. So, here goes :

    I’m the Author of “The Art of Forgetting : Rider”, an heroic fantasy published by Kristell Ink – : Rhodri, a foundling boy blessed and cursed with perfect memory, joins an elite cavalry unit and rides with them to the troubled city of Northpoint. He’s looking for his missing father, but he finds out his father is a very different man from the one he remembers…

    If that catches your fancy, you can buy it on Amazon.com here :
    http://www.amazon.com/Art-Forgetting-Rider-Joanne-Hall-ebook/dp/B00DQALB36/ref=sr_1_6_bnp_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1386016892&sr=8-6&keywords=the+art+of+forgetting

92. I do actually fit into this category, as well as the untraditional. So, if you’re interested in reading and/or buying a Dr. Derek Stillwater thriller, may I humbly suggest THE FALLEN and THE VALLEY OF SHADOWS. THE FALLEN was the winner of The National Best Books 2010 Awards for Thriller/Adventure and THE VALLEY OF SHADOWS was a finalist for the same award in 2011. Furthermore, a script for THE FALLEN was commissioned and is being shopped around Hollyweird, so y’never know what might happen on that front.

93. If anyone needs to learn to build WordPress sites, I have a book for you! And it is conveniently on sale today (12/2).

94. WITHOUT A SUMMER — The magical book that might result if Jane Austen’s Emma were set against the Luddite uprising in the Year Without a Summer

    Basically, it’s a political thriller masquerading as a Regency romance. With magic.

95. Nothing makes a better stocking stuffer than a good ghost story! The Ghosted Bridge is one such novel, set against the backdrop of mystical Sedona, Arizona and Minnesota’s real-life disaster of the I35W bridge collapse on August 1, 2007.

    When Katherine Simon, a woman from Minnesota gets a reading from Sedona psychic Madison Morgan one cold December day neither can predict what will happen when a mysterious ghost tries to use Madison as a channel to stop Katherine from driving over the bridge on a fated summer evening.

    The Ghosted Bridge is available from North Star Press through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and your favorite independent bookseller.

    For more information, visit Kristyabbott.com

96. Wow, thanks so much!

    My latest novel is called TMI, which means ‘too much information’ and is a young adult contemporary story about two best friends and their online battle over a boy.

    SEND is a young adult contemporary novel about a former bully named Dan whose careless click of the send key leads to a classmate’s suicide. He serves times in juvie, changes his name, even moves to a new town to start over, but can’t escape what he did.

    Hope you’ll check them out. You can get more details and read excerpts at my website, http://www.pattyblount.com/category/books/

97. INFINITY KEY is the second book in my Senyaza series, published by Candlemark & Gleam (http://www.candlemarkandgleam.com/shop/infinity-key/) just last month. It’s an urban fantasy about a mortal in a world of supernatural powers (like faeries and fallen angels) who isn’t content to sit on the sidelines as a protected civilian. Branwyn was a supporting character in the first book, but this is her story and it mostly stands alone. Publishers Weekly even praised it, saying its “focus on female friendship and solidarity is deeply refreshing.”

98. My first book, a lesbian sci-fi romance adventure, was released this October.
    “Saving Morgan” is available on Amazon.com or at BellaBooks.com. The sequel, “Running Toward Home,” will be released by Bella Books in May 2014.

    http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=a9_sc_1?rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Amb+panichi&keywords=mb+panichi&ie=UTF8&qid=1386017968

99. Do you like Roger Zelazny? Yeah? All that awesome mythological science-fantasy crap?

    Well, I’m not as good as Zelazny, but I try to be. I also write a lot more about sex than he ever did. And violence. Gotta have violence. Oh, and people in weird superhero costumes on other planets.

    Read NO RETURN! YAY! http://zacharyjernigan.com/no-return

    Thanks for doing this, John!

100. An 800 year old ceremony, two knives, one blunt, one sharp, tested before the Queen’s Remembrancer, a senior judge in the Royal Courts of Justice, against a hazel rod of one year’s new growth. Then six medieval horse shoes, sized for a Flemmish war horse – a beast we no longer have, counted out, with sixty-one iron nails. All this is true and has happened since the year 1211.

     The real question is why?

     Book 1: Sixty-One Nails
     Book 2: The Road to Bedlam
     Book 3: Strangeness and Charm
     Book 4: The Eighth Court

     Sometimes the magic is right there in front of you.

101. I’m longtime Ain’t it Cool News film critic turned screenwriter of SINISTER (as well as the upcoming DEUS EX and SINISTER 2). My first novel DREAMS AND SHADOWS debuted earlier this year from Harper Voyager (in the US) and Gollancz (in the UK). It’s the story of two boys brought together by supernatural means – one abducted as an infant by malicious fairies and the other granted a wish by a genie with his own selfish agenda. Their friendship and the choices they make to protect it will haunt them long after most around them are dead. Dark modern fantasy with flourishes of both horror and humor.

102. The Wasteland Saga
     A suspenseful odyssey into the dark heart of post-apocalyptic America in this three-part adventure
     Forty years after a devastating thermonuclear Armageddon, mankind has been reduced to sal-vaging the ruins of a broken world. In a style that’s part Hemingway and part Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, The Wasteland Saga chronicles the struggle of the Old Man, his granddaughter, and a mysterious boy as they try to survive the savage lands of this new American Dark Age.
     With the words of the Old Man’s most prized possession—a copy of Hemingway’s classic The Old Man and the Sea—echoing across the wasteland, they journey into the unknown through three incredible tales of endurance and adventure in a land ravaged by destruction.
     Compiled for the first time in print, The Wasteland Saga comprises Nick Cole’s novels The Old Man and the Wasteland, The Savage Boy, and The Road is a River.
     http://www.harpercollins.com/books/Wasteland-Saga-Nick-Cole/?isbn=9780062210197
     Thank you for letting me share,
     Mr. Scalzi. :)

103. Thanks, John, for this opportunity. You can purchase my new book of poems, Growing Big, for anyone who:

     has a family;
     has a faith that is sometimes a struggle to maintain;
     is divorced;
     thinks life is a mystery and a joy.

     The title poem begins, “Thumbelina my mother was born small and grew even smaller”–and ends, “I sit in my house, partly my father’s lovely worthlessness, partly my mother’s stubborn refusal to be small.” Intrigued?

     Get the book from Amazon:

     http://www.amazon.com/Growing-Big-Tracy-Youngblum/dp/0878396519/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1386021760&sr=1-1&keywords=Tracy+Growing+Big

     or from my publisher, North Star Press:

     http://www.northstarpress.com/products/growing-big

104. Thanks, John!

     Revontuli is a love story set in the Finnmark in Northern Norway during WWII. Marit, a young Sami girl, falls in love with the German officer billeted in her home. The burning of the Finnmark is one of the last untold stories of WWII. It’s a great read and it’s based on real stories. You can find it here:
     http://www.amazon.com/Revontuli-Andrew-Eddy/dp/1620151898/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1386021953&sr=1-1&keywords=revontuli+andrew+eddy

     Enjoy!

     Andrew
     http://www.andreweddyauthor.com

105. CALEDONIA DREAMIN’: Strange Fiction of Scottish Descent

     Glaikit, mockit, droukit, drouthy, couthy, scunner, thrawn – the Scots language is rich with words too gallus not to glory in, dialect terms that deserve better than to be boxed away as precious oddities. So, myself and co-editor Chris Kelso challenged writers near and far to pick a word they liked and run with it, springboard off it into a story, preferably more experimental and edgy than traditional, and under no circumstances twee. This was about the stories claiming a place for their word in the 21st century, on the international stage.

     I’m well chuffed with the resultant ToC:

     Sweeter Than, Neil Williamson
     Maw, Wendy Muzlanova
     Maukit, Brian Milton
     Fallen through a Giant’s Eyes, T.J. Berg
     Newayr, Douglas Thompson
     The Bouk Puppie Show, Preston Grassman
     The Laird of Nagasaki, Tom Bradley
     Palais 1930, Rob McClure Smith
     The Losers, Angus McAllister
     Drive the Warlike Angles into the Sea!!!, Nick Mamatas
     Widows in the World, Gavin Grant
     I am not (), Phil Raines
     Studying Honeybloods with the Queen of Exotica, Kirsty Logan
     Mary, Thomas and Joe, Stravaigin, David McGroarty
     For Your Guising, Gio Clairval
     Nae Greeance o’ Bane, Tim Jarvis
     Bowfin Island, Anna Tambour

     If you’re a word junky, and you like your fiction a bit on the unconventional side of things, this might well be up your street. Here it is, for USians, on Amazon.com.

     And cheers, John. Yer a gent.

106. Shopocalypse.
     Novik and Josie are on the run in a talking car with a trunk full of hot money.
     The president is mad, the richest man who ever lived can’t save his dying daughter. In a few days there will be global nuclear war.

     The End is so Nigh the aliens have turned up to watch.

     There’s only one way to save the world and Novik and Josie are the only people who can do it. They have to buy everything. Absolutely all of it. Right now. Novik’s girl is right beside him, the car wants to be his friend, everyone else wants him dead.

     Save the world by shopping – the perfect book for Christmas!

     http://www.amazon.com/Shopocalypse-David-Gullen/dp/1909016209/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

     “Dave Gullen’s debut novel is huge, enthralling, packed with bold ideas and genre-shattering extrapolations. And his characters get so deep inside your head you’re still arguing with them days later. Seriously, you need this book.” – Mike Carey (Felix Castor, Hellblazer, Lucifer)
     “Global warming has really begun to bite, but human consumption of resources has become more frantic than ever in this clever, dark and often very funny satire on rapacious capitalism.” – Chris Beckett, 2013 Arthur C Clarke award winner (Dark Eden, Holy Machine, Marcher)
     “A sharp and witty take on the perils of consumerism. To b honest, it was fairly terrifying — very believable.” – Francis Knight (Fade to Black, Before the Fall, Last to Rise)
     “Subversive. Hilarious. Touching. Brilliant.” – Jaine Fenn (Hidden Empire series)

     Thank you, John.

107. When I wasn’t able to bury the memory of my mother’s nursing home experience as easily as her ashes, I wrote. Her eldercare story came to life in the memoir, SINGING SOLO: IN SEARCH OF A VOICE FOR MOM. This book differs from other Alzheimer’s stories, because it shines a glaring spotlight on life in long-term care facilities. Readers laugh, cry, scream, cheer and empathize. And, the question becomes: how can we promote quality-of-life until the very end of life?

     For reviews and a sample from the book visit: http://www.jaclynnherron.com

     Thanks, John.

108. Thank you!
     The Art of Work is a collection of short fiction that chronicles the lives of chronic do-gooders. Charles Johnson wrote that these lyrical and at times darkly funny stories “capture the zeitgeist of this hour in our social history like a spirit in a bottle.”

109. Thanks John!

     I’m Richard Kadrey, author of the Sandman Slim series. I have two books out this year, one of which is my first YA.

     The first book is the newest Sandman Slim novel, KILL CITY BLUES. In this story, I tried to take Stark out of his comfort zone in Hollywood and put him somewhere he’d hate: Santa Monica, with it’s perfect beach bodies and happy tourists. Stark has to track down a magical object in an abandoned shopping mall known to the locals as Kill City. To get to the object Stark and his friends have to make their way through deranged Sub Rosas, mad Lurkers, and the richest man in California.

     My other novel is DEAD SET. It’s about Zoe, a 16 year old girl who finds her dead father’s soul on a strange (possibly alive) disc in the back of a strange record shop. To try and help her father, Zoe has to travel to a city called Iphigene, a dark and broken version of the afterlife ruled by a mad queen. Soon, Zoe realizes that to save her father she’s going to have save herself too. And who’s Valentine, the strange boy she meets in Iphigene, the same boy she’s been seeing in her dreams her whole life?

     You can find the books at your local independent bookstore or online here:

     KILL CITY BLUES
     http://www.amazon.com/Kill-City-Blues-Sandman-Novel/dp/0062094599/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_har?ie=UTF8&qid=1386025824&sr=8-1&keywords=richard+kadrey+kill+city+blues

     http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/kill-city-blues-richard-kadrey/1113797754?ean=9780062094599

     DEAD SET
     http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Set-Novel-Richard-Kadrey/dp/0062283014/ref=pd_sim_b_1

     http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dead-set-richard-kadrey/1114298690?ean=9780062283016

110. Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction is the first full-color, fully illustrated creative writing book ever published–over 300 images–a great holiday gift for writers and other creaties. But it’s also, in part, a beautiful coffee table book on creativity and the imagination in general, with contributions by Neil Gaiman, Lev Grossman, Ursula K. Le Guin, and more. As Locus writes of it in their December issue “the sexiest such handbook ever written…an impressive and visually stunning seminar on the art and craft of writing, like the coolest panel discussion you ever attended, and even for those of us who have no intention of writing fiction…it’s a hell of a wallow.” – Gary K. Wolfe

111. Hi John, and best wishes from Melbourne, Australia, where Christmas is shaping up to be hot and sticky. I plan to spend the whole day in the pool.

     If you’re in the mood for a family saga, my novel is called Nine Days. It’s about nine members of the one family, spread over four generations, as they face the most important day of their lives. Sometimes these are big decisions; for others, it’s the small things that end up making the biggest difference. It’s these nine days that will show them exactly who they are. It’s about dreams and fights and sacrifices. And finally, of course, it’s about love.

     The lovely people at Kirkus gave it a starred review and named it on their best books of 2013 list, which is all my Christmas presents in one.

     It’s available from Amazon here:http://www.amazon.com/Nine-Days-Toni-Jordan/dp/1921922834/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1386027232&sr=8-1&keywords=toni+jordan

     Or your local indie here:http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781921922831

     Thanks again
     Toni Jordan

112. Infected: Prey is my science fiction/fantasy/detective mash up, where there’s a virus that turns the infected into werecats once a month, and it’s horrible. It’s an early death for most, and society doesn’t treat them very well. The main character, Roan, is a “virus child”, born with the virus, and he is different than most in the sense that he’s “normal” (more or less) and survived. He used to be a cop, but quit before he could get fired, and now works as a private detective. He has an odd relationship with the virus, which gets weirder as the series goes on. Not to spoil too much, but this is my odd take on a superhero, and what it costs – physically, emotionally, morally – to be a hero. Especially in a world as crazy as this one. http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=1894

     http://www.amazon.com/Infected-Prey-Andrea-Speed/dp/1615814671/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1386027599&sr=1-7

113. In my “Tales of a Tenacious Housesitter” cozy mystery series, baby-boomer Meggie Moore and best friend Shirley take you along on their adventures into murder. In “Home Sweet Murder” and Home for the Murder” you’ll find this delightful pair in more trouble than they ever bargained for.

114. Dwelling in Possibility: Searching for the Soul of Shelter is the new book by Howard Mansfield.

     Quickly put: Dwelling is an old-fashioned word that we’ve misplaced.

     We know within seconds upon entering a new house if we feel at home. We know when a place makes us feel more alive. This is the mystery that interests Howard Mansfield — some houses have life, are home, are dwellings, and others don’t.

     Dwelling in Possibility is a search for the ordinary qualities that make some houses a home, and some public places welcoming.

     Howard Mansfield looks at things that were once ordinary in the home, like the hearth and rooms without clutter, and he looks at homes swept away by disasters and war. He visits a relief effort in the long aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to get a sharper sense of the fragility of our dwellings and our strong commitment to making a home. He confronts the legacy of the World War II firebombing campaigns that left Europe in ruins and gave rise to three distinctly different writers who sought to restore the sanctity of home. On footpaths and in the hidden lives of many sheds, Mansfield courts the spirit of good places that Christopher Alexander calls “the quality without a name.” We can recognize this elusive quality, and yet we find it very difficult, if not impossible, to create this feeling in our new houses and in our towns and cities.

     In short, Howard Mansfield opens many doors, just as he did when he was a census taker who had his own set of questions: “I could go from house to house clear across the country, knock on doors, and ask, Can I come in? Look around? What’s your favorite room? Your latest house project? I’d like to see them all.”

     Karen Dahood, BookPleasures.com, said: “I was only halfway through this book when I began to quote from it. It is strong stuff and goes deep. It should be on every thoughtful citizen’s “must read” list.”

     More reviews and info at: http://www.HowardMansfield.com

115. Hi John,
     I can vouch for Toni – it is a hot sticky day here at the bottom of the world, but where you are, what better gift for yourself or your friends and family than a book – mine for example?
     By the Book: A Reader’s Guide to Life has just been published in the US and is perfect for people who love reading. It’s about all the books that I still keep around me and why they’ve made it through book culls, divorces and moving house. It’s about the conversation you have with all your important authors – how they tell you about how the world works and about what’s important and if you’re lucky, how you work too. From Colette to Oscar Wilde, from Oliver Sacks to Grace Paley, my book stories share the reading experience of all of us.

     From Amazon:

     http://www.amazon.com/Book-readers-guide-life-ebook/dp/B008PE3WLM/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1386028556&sr=1-1&keywords=ramona+koval+by+the+book

     Or my publisher:
     http://textpublishing.com.au/books-and-authors/book/by-the-book/

116. Thanks, John.

     I find self-promotion awkward, but a fan who knows that already emailed me to tell me to come here and get over it, so that’s what I’m doing. My most recent novel is No Going Back, which you can read as a standalone or as the fifth book in the Jon & Lobo series. Put differently, you don’t need to have read any of my other books to enjoy this one.

     Thanks again.

117. HUSK by Corey Redekop (ECW Press, 2012)

     Editor’s Choice for 2012, Amazon.ca
     Shortlisted, 2013 ReLit Award

     “Camus meets Palahniuk in a darkly comic, but surprisingly light-hearted, mind-meld in Corey Redekop’s Husk. Sure, the protagonist is a zombie, but this is 2012, and as Redekop rightly observes, we’re all zombies now.” — Andrew Pyper, author of The Demonologist

     “An enormously funny book that has real emotional heft underneath all the blood.” — Quill & Quire

     “A comic, picaresque novel that is fresh, original, and engaging.” — The Literary Review of Canada

     It’s one thing to die alone and confused, trapped with your pants down around your ankles in the filthiest bus restroom in history. It’s quite another to wake up during the autopsy, attack the coroner, and flee into the wintry streets of Toronto.

     It’s not like Sheldon Funk didn’t have enough on his plate. His last audition, for the reality series House Bingo, had gone disastrously wrong. His mother was in the late stages of dementia. His savings were depleted, his agent couldn’t care less, and his boyfriend was little more than a nice set of abs.

     Now, Sheldon also has to contend with decomposition, the scent of the open grave, and an unending appetite for human flesh. Plus another audition in the morning.

     For Sheldon to survive his death without falling apart at the seams, he must find a way to balance family, career, and cannibalism.

     If only he can hide his secret.

     If only he can stop killing hoboes.

     If only.

     Husk, the story of the everyzombie.

     http://www.amazon.com/Husk-A-Novel-Corey-Redekop/dp/1770410325
     http://www.coreyredekop.ca/bibliography/husk/

     Trailer at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Aww3ARfyxk

118. DRESSING CONSTITUTIONALLY: Hierarchy, Sexuality, and Democracy From Our Hairstyles to Our Shoes (Cambridge University Press 2013). Interweaving how we dress (or don’t) with the law – – – saggy pants, nudity, slavery, Henry VIII, strip searches, and school dress codes. For intelligent readers who like fashionable legal controversies.

119. My book is BLUE MOON VEGETARIAN: Reflections, Recipes, and Advice for a Plant-Based Diet.

     it is part memoir, part cookbook, and part health-and-nutrition how-to, and chronicles me (a Kentucky-born former nurse as I and my fiancé (a fed) go vegetarian—and ultimately vegan—while also planning a mid-life wedding, adopting a pound hound, and remodeling a two-story Victorian. It includes over fifty original, tried-and-true, plant-based recipes we created as we came to understand that we were very good at cooking together and food became the balm for what amounted to a year of many ills. Because of this, BLUE MOON VEGETARIAN is an antidote for much of what ails all of us, and is perfect for anyone concerned about their own health, the health of their loved ones, and the health of our planet.

     From the back cover:

     “Blue Moon Vegetarian is a book that will feed all the essential parts of you: your body, your
     mind, your soul. It’s a love story, a health journal, a cookbook, a lyrical memoir–the perfect
     recipe for anyone who desires to live a deliciously examined life.”
     —Kim Barnes, Author of the internationally-acclaimed novel In the Kingdom of Men

     You can order BLUE MOON VEGETARIAN through Indiebound or Amazon direct from my website at http://www.paulamariecoomer.com or from our local indie bookstore at http://andbookstooonline.com/contact/

120. I’d love to push two of my 2013 anthologies that would make terrific holiday gifts:
     Queen Victoria’s Book of Spells edited by me and Terri Windling features eighteen stories of “gaslamp fantasy,” that is, historical fantasy set in a magical version of the nineteenth century.

     The stories show the wide variety of ways that modern fantasists are using nineteenth-century settings, characters, and themes from steampunk fiction to the Austen-and-Trollope inspired works that some critics call Fantasy of Manners. All new stories by Delia Sherman, Gregory Maguire, Catherynne M. Valente, Tanith Lee, James Blaylock, Jeffrey Ford, Ellen Kushner, and many others.

     http://www.amazon.com/Queen-Victorias-Book-Spells-Anthology/dp/0765332272

     The other anthology is Telling Tales: The Clarion West 30th Anniversary Anthology edited by me and published by Hydra Books. It collects stories from award-winning and highly acclaimed alumni of the prestigious Clarion West Writers Workshop in Seattle.

     Sixteen stories of sf/f displaying a range of styles exemplifying the talents of writers who have passed through the program over the past 30 years. Each story also has an afterword by one of the writer’s instructors at the workshop.

     Stories by Margo Lanagan, Andy Duncan, Christopher Rowe, Kij Johnson, Susan Palwick and many others with afterwords by Samuel R. Delany, Ursula K. LeGuin, Greg Bear, Pat Cadigan, Connie Willis, Geoff Ryman, Elizabeth Hand, Terry Bisson, et al.

     It’s intended to both celebrate and raise money for the workshop.
     You can buy it on amazon
     http://tinyurl.com/lgxoa85

121. Thanks for this!

     I write under the pseudonym Kara Owl. My latest book, “Fibro for Life,” is about dealing with chronic pain. It includes practical advice on handling doctors, family members, daily chores, and a lot more. Check it out!

     If you’re of a pagan bent, you might be interested in my other work, too.

122. Thank you for this opportunity :)

     The Chosen: Book one of the Portals of Destiny is a blend of scifi and fantasy. It’s available from Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

     “Astra. Kromin. Volgon. Earth. To each of the four planets are sent four Guardians, with one mission: to protect and serve the Chosen, those unwitting champions of prophecy who alone can save the galaxy from the terrifying Mekans. But the signs of prophecy have not yet appeared, and the decision to send the Guardians early could doom all in the galaxy to death.”

     Book two (Shattered Destiny) and a novella (Mad Lord Lucian) are also available from Amazon and Barnes and Noble. The last book of the series, Resigned Fate, is due out sometime in early 2014

123. Thank you, this is great!

     Between Boyfriends is a #3 Humor Bestseller on Amazon. It is available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

     At first glance, twenty-one-year-old Jan Weston has it all: a gorgeous boyfriend, fun friends, and wealthy parents who take care of all those pesky credit card bills.

     Then her boyfriend dumps her, her friendships fall apart, and her parents cut her off. Suddenly without money, without a man, and without a plan, it’s time for Jan to grow up.

     Determined to get her life back on track, Jan decides it’s time to make it on her own. Can she find her way as a single lady in San Diego? Can she fix her friendships, her job prospects, and her hair? And can she keep her vow that she’ll never date again, even after she meets a guy who just might be perfect for her?

     BETWEEN BOYFRIENDS is a sexy, hilarious story of living life, finding love, and growing up… but not necessarily in that order.

     The sequel, Between the Sheets, will be available for pre-order soon.

     http://www.amazon.com/Between-Boyfriends-1/dp/1620151820/ref=sr_1_9?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1384114692&sr=1-9&keywords=between+boyfriends
     http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/between-boyfriends-sarka-jonae-miller/1106966541?ean=2940149010684

124. The Kelpie, by T.J. Wooldridge

     Eleven-year-old Heather MacArthur has enough problems with being picked on in school and dealing with her anything-but-normal family who happens to live in a historic castle in Scotland. She really doesn’t need a kelpie, a child-eating faery horse, hunting her friends or destroying the nearby villages to spoil her summer holiday.

     Unfortunately, the kelpie rather likes living in the loch “next door” to Heather’s family.

     So Heather does what any self-respecting television-watching and comic-book reading girl would do: She calls on her best friend, Prince Joseph, and comes up with a crazy plan to get rid of this monster horse for good.

     If only they can pull it off before another child gets eaten!

     THE KELPIE is a middle-grade contemporary fantasy novel available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or your favorite independent bookstore.

     http://www.amazon.com/The-Kelpie-Trisha-Wooldridge/dp/1937053784/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1386037233&sr=8-1

     http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/The-Kelpie-Wooldridge?store=allproducts&keyword=The+Kelpie+Wooldridge

125. PATH OF NIGHT, by Dirk Flinthart, from Fablecroft Publishing:

     “Michael Devlin is the first of a new breed. The way things are going, he may also be the last.

     Being infected with an unknown disease is bad. Waking up on a slab in a morgue wearing nothing but a toe-tag is worse, even if it comes with a strange array of new abilities.

     Medical student Michael Devlin is in trouble. With his flatmates murdered and an international cabal of legendary man-monsters on his trail, Devlin’s got nowhere to hide. His only allies are a hot-tempered Sydney cop and a mysterious monster-hunter who may be setting Devlin up for the kill. If he’s going to survive, Devlin will have to embrace his new powers and confront his hunters. But can he hold onto his humanity when he walks the Path of Night?”

     It’s a fast-paced supernatural thriller with a distinctly Australian voice and sense of humour. First in an ongoing series, you can check it out direct from the publishers at

     http://fablecroft.com.au/about/publications/path-of-night. or find it on Amazon at

     http://www.amazon.com/Path-Night-Dirk-Flinthart/dp/0980777089/

     Or even from Smashwords, at

     http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/372547

126. Hello every body….
     My name is Conrad Eve, my family and i live together live in USA. It was after seven years i got to discover that my Husband was unfaithful to me. I didn’t know what was going on at first but as he got deep in the affair with his new lover, i felt that our marriage was on the rocks. I notice that he no longer light up when i touch him or kiss him in his neck and his chest cos he really liked it when i did that, he also usually get naked in front of me but when he started seeing that woman he stopped it. I remember asking him if i have done anything that makes him feel irritated when i am around him then he gives silly excuses that he has been feeling stressed up and that he need space for a while. I know when you are been asked for space its usually because there is something fishy going on. I hired a private investigator to help find out what was going on. And in a week time he brought me prove that my Husband that i have lived with for seven straight year is cheating on me with his high school lover. I had picture of him walking out a of a restaurant with her and many other photo of them kissing in public like he will never be caught by someone that knows he is my Husband. I asked myself, even when we had a daughter together he could do this to me. That same night i showed him the pictures that i got from my private investigator. He didn’t look at it before saying, that he is seeing someone and he know that i just found out about it. Then he said that he is in love with her. At that moment, i didn’t know if to kill myself or to kill him but the button line is that if i was going to kill anyone it was going to be me because i was so much in love with him to even think of thinking to hurt him. As time goes on he asked for a divorce and got it and i got custody of our daughter and i weep everyday seeing my daughter with out being around her daddy. I just couldn’t get my mind off my Husband and all i could think about was getting him back and live as every family should. For a year i tried all i could to get him back with the help of my seven year old daughter. Even at that all effect was in vain, i used the help of his friend but turned out all bad. I know most people don’t believe in spell casting but believe me this was my last option and the result i most say was impressive. And i know it difficult to believe but A SPELL CASTER Dr iayaryi really made my life much better because he gave me my family back. He didn’t ask me to pay for what he did for me all i was to do, was to provide the materials for the spell and i should believe that he had the power to help me. Like he said, he was going to do something that will make him reset his love and affection for me just as it has always been. My Husband told me he woke up and realized that he should have never left me that i am all he needs.To make thing clear, his life with his high school lover was great before Dr iayaryi cast the spell, they had no disagreement on anything. My Husband said it himself that why he broke up with her is something he can not explain just that he woke up on the same bed with her after a very romantic night saying he is breaking up with her for no reason at all. Only Dr iayaryi can do such a thing, contact him to solve your problem with his email driayaryi2012@hotmail.com

127. THE 27TH MILE would make a great gift idea for the runners (and the people who love them) on your list.

     The 27th Mile is dedicated to everyone who loves running or runners—first and foremost to those who were killed or injured at the Boston Marathon, but also to the people who, even as they eat dinner with their family, put in another eight hours at work, or sit and read this book, have already planned when they’ll go out for their next run.

     A mix of fiction and nonfiction, it contains stories that extol the spirit that first got us out on the roads to run, that brought us to Boston on a sunny spring day, and that will bring us back to Hopkinton next year and in the years that follow. It’s the spirit we celebrate every time we go for a run, whatever the distance.

     A wide range of talented writers who run contributed to this anthology: marathon champions and weekend warriors, ultramarathon racers and fitness joggers, running magazine pros and bloggers, best-selling novelists and indie publishing standouts, including Amby Burfoot, Jeff Galloway, Kathrine Switzer, Lawrence Block, Ray Charbonneau who also served as the editor, and many others (including me).

     All proceeds from sales of The 27th Mile go to support the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. Available through amazon.com or createspace; visit http://www.the27thmile.com for more info.

128. If you like Harriet the Spy, crime fiction, Trotskyism, Crowley or punk, or have a friend or relation who does, check out my novel LOVE IS THE LAW. Only $7.99, cheap!

     NPR.org gave it a review: http://www.npr.org/2013/10/09/228509103/crowley-meets-crime-novel-in-love-is-the-law

129. Such a nice man that Scalzi is…! :)

     I would like to recommend my novel ICE WILL REVEAL for your reading and/or gift-giving pleasure. It is an adult fantasy adventure novel featuring strong women characters that was reviewed positively by PW. It’s the kind of fantasy novel that I always wanted to read where the women are equal players in the quests and heroics (and even sometimes the villainy).

     Overview:
     Orphaned siblings Jarrod and Whisper Thornn grew up as “mercy kids” at the powerful Holy Temple of the One Goddess. Devout, law-abiding Jarrod became a loyal Temple Guardian, whereas restless, unscrupulous Whisper escaped to an apprenticeship with a rich thief as soon as she came of age. For years, they have barely seen or needed each other. But when circumstance brings them back together, Whisper joins Jarrod and his companions on a harrowing journey to seal a breach in the magical Boundary that has long protected their land from the apocalyptic influence of the Blight. Together, they must battle life-sucking wraiths and face loss and betrayal as they hurtle toward a fateful encounter at the Boundary that will change both their lives forever.

     From an Amazon review:
     As grand fantasies go, this one is full of things I love: smart, often kick-ass women; interesting politics; weird magic; strange folks who are probably bad but not exactly, specifically villainous; and of course, the undead. The writing is excellent, the story is adeptly-told and well-paced.

     Currently on sale in e-book form for the fabulously low price of 99 cents, through the end of the week.

     Find it at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Powell’s.

130. Thanks John!

     I mostly read SF&F, but I mostly write about … dresses. So if you think clothes are important, significant, and semiotic, you might like my novel The Secret Lives of Dresses (to give you an idea, Booklist said “Romance readers and fans of small-town fiction will love this positive and enjoyable book”) and The Hundred Dresses, which is a lighthearted non-fiction illustrated book about dress archetypes, and which includes such sfnal dresses as The Space Empress and The Airship Hostess.

     Find Secret Lives of Dresses and The Hundred Dresses (and some of my other, wordier books) here, from our drone-delivery-dreaming friends in Seattle: http://www.amazon.com/Erin-McKean/e/B001IGOZ2E/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

131. Chimera is my first thriller novel, and a great adventure story. The protagonist is Jim Chapel, a soldier who served in Afghanistan, where he lost an arm. The army gives him a new robotic prosthetic and a desk job, but he feels like his life is over… until one day the Pentagon comes calling. There’s been a breakout from an ultra-high security detention facility (definitely not on the books) in the Catskills. It’s Chapel’s job to track down the escapees, one by one. Apparently he’s the only man fit for the job… and part of the job is to find out why.

     Fans of my horror novels will find plenty to love here, and there’s some science fiction in it as well, but don’t let that stop you from giving it a try: this is a classic thriller, a spy novel, and most of all a great rollicking adventure that any one on your list will enjoy.

     Chimera is available wherever books are sold.

     Thanks for this opportunity, John!

132. Thanks for providing a space for authors to give each other a hand up!

     If you like strong fantasy heroines like Katniss Everdeen and Clary Fray then you’ll love Lrill in CHANGELING EYES!

     Five common Elements bind all of creation together; Fire, Earth, Water, Air and Life. But the Aesir Element, wielded by the Creator’s messengers, is the most beautiful and by far the deadliest.

     When human princess, Lrill Kettenring, suddenly manifests the Aesir Element it slowly corrupts her. Her eyes change color, limbs elongate, ears grow pointed and the power arcs out in crushing waves of blue flame to demolish everything around her.

     Feared, resented and mistaken for a hated Changeling, she flees to the Mage’s Keep. There, with the help of a Telchine Scholar Mage, reluctant Changeling prince, kind-hearted Gnome, and a seductive Water Elf, she works to control her powers and find a way to reclaim her throne… but the very nature of her power makes her a ticking time bomb and the only one who could cure her has been ordained her enemy by an ancient foe Lrill doesn’t even know she has.

     Available in Kindle, Nook and Paperback! See http://www.lacatron.com for more details!

133. Thanks John,

     “Raven’s Shadow Book One: Blood Song” by Anthony Ryan

     From “a new master storyteller” comes the beginning of an epic fantasy saga of blood, honor, and destiny…

     “The Sixth Order wields the sword of justice and smites the enemies of the Faith and the Realm.”

     Vaelin Al Sorna was only a child of ten when his father left him at the iron gate of the Sixth Order. The Brothers of the Sixth Order are devoted to battle, and Vaelin will be trained and hardened to the austere, celibate, and dangerous life of a Warrior of the Faith. He has no family now save the Order.

     Vaelin’s father was Battle Lord to King Janus, ruler of the unified realm. Vaelin’s rage at being deprived of his birthright and dropped at the doorstep of the Sixth Order like a foundling knows no bounds. He cherishes the memory of his mother, and what he will come to learn of her at the Order will confound him. His father, too, has motives that Vaelin will come to understand. But one truth overpowers all the rest: Vaelin Al Sorna is destined for a future he has yet to comprehend. A future that will alter not only the realm, but the world.”

     “Ryan hits all the high notes of epic fantasy–a gritty setting, ancient magics, ruthless intrigue, divided loyalties and bloody action.”—Publishers Weekly

     Details of where to buy on my blog bookpage: http://anthonystuff.wordpress.com/books/

134. Thanks, John.

     I’ll plug my (one and only) book, Computing for Ordinary Mortals [Amazon link].

     Basically I thought, “If I had a couple of hours to explain to someone the big ideas behind computers—not just the tech, and not just programming, but the lasting ideas—what would I say?” So I wrote a book.

135. If you were at all curious about what Christmas is like for self-replicating humanoid robots who occasionally indulge in cannibalism, you could read iD: The Second Machine Dynasty, sequel to my debut novel, vN: The First Machine Dynasty, both available from Angry Robot Books.

136. Out this year: HERO: the companion to Enchanted, second in the Woodcutter Sisters Series of fairy tale novels. Hero chronicles the adventures of Saturday Woodcutter, the giant tomboy with a magic sword who is destined to cause trouble wherever she goes.
     http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hero-Alethea-Kontis/dp/0544056779/ref=wwwaletheakon-20

     IF YOU WOULD LIKE A SIGNED, PERSONALIZED COPY OF HERO (OR ANY OF MY OTHER BOOKS): Contact my local indy bookstore, One More Page Books and More, at 703-300-9746 or via email (info at onemorepagebooks.com). I will happily stop by the store to sign your books, and they will happily ship them to you!

137. Buy the novel CHICKSDIGBOOKS Calls “Stunning … intelligent, challenging, yet simple and beautiful.”

     Publishers Weekly starred review: “Thrilling… Viseral… Unsparing…”

     COLD QUIET COUNTRY:

     Gale G’Wain is in trouble. Nineteen, half-frozen, wounded, and fleeing the blizzard scene where murder victim Burt Haudesert lay with a pitch fork run through his neck, Gale holes up in a house left empty.

     Sheriff Bittersmith stalks after two sets of footprints in the snow with deputies, hounds, and the fury of a forty-year sheriff who has one day to bring a murderer to justice, before his job is taken by an upstart with political connections.

     Gwen, the victim’s seventeen year old daughter, is somewhere in the blizzard.

     And nothing is as it seems. Gale fights the impossible good fight. Sheriff Bittersmith is the locus of evil that’s kept a sleepy town under spell for half a century, and Gwen knows when people are going to die because she hears what she calls “the bullfrog song.”

     When she hears it for Gale, will she save him,,,

     Or herself?

     http://www.claytonlindemuth.com
     http://www.amazon.com/Cold-Quiet-Country-Clayton-Lindemuth/dp/1849821666/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1386085599&sr=8-1&keywords=cold+quiet+country

138. Thanks so much for doing this, John!

     I’m the co-author, with artist Josh Eckert, of the GEEK ZODIAC COMPENDIUM, a hardcover book collecting everything we’ve done for our Geek Zodiac project over the past two years and change. The Geek Zodiac is a fun way to look at astrology, where we conceived and developed 12 new zodiac signs with a geek theme (Robot, Wizard, Superhero, Alien, etc.) all based on things we were into growing up, and created a chart depicting same. The book contains this chart, detailed info about these new signs, the 15 characters we created based on these signs for a series of comics, as well as behind-the-scenes concept art and plenty of background info.

     The book is available for order both at the Amazon and Barnes & Noble websites.

139. John, thanks for your support of writers always.

     USES FOR BOYS is a contemporary young adult novel about loneliness. Its a book for those girls who loved Francesca Lia Block and Go Ask Alice. It’s for adults who wish they had a book like this when they were a teenager.

     School Library Journal says, “Scheidt’s haunting yet poignant and poetic story encourages girls to believe in their own importance and realize that their past does not have to dictate their future.”

     It’s a gift for a teenager or the teenager you were.

     Buy it from WORD Bookstore or Books, Inc. or your local favorite.

     http://wordbookstores.tumblr.com/post/55790393786/e-staff-picks-uses-for-boys-by-erica-lorraine

     http://www.booksinc.net/blog/not-your-mothers-book-club/uses-boys-erica-lorraine-scheidt

     http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781250007117

     Thanks, Erica

140. The Prince of Soul and The Lighthouse is a comic sci-fi novel set in New Zealand. It follows the adventures of a high school student who discovers that he may be responsible for the end of the world, and is the only person who can prevent it. More importantly, though – does Kaisa like him, and is there any chance that his grandfather will just accept that he’s dead and let him get a decent night’s sleep?

     Winner of the 2013 Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Youth Novel.

     “Hilarious action and deep philosophical discussion. Reincarnation has never been treated like this before.” – Dominion Post
     “An intriguing blend of sci-fi, humour and adventure… Awesome. High five!” – Herald Weekend
     “…a rollicking adventure – humorous and as exciting as an Indiana Jones escapade.” – Sunday Star-Times

141. The Factory World is a science fiction novel about an old gunslinger and a boy trying to survive and find their way home.

     Waking in a pipe in a silent forest, unable to remember how he got there or where he came from, Simon finds himself walking a rusting railway track with a mysterious stranger who cannot even remember his own name. Abandoned factories and eerie mannequins dot their path, falling stars lighting the night sky and searing holes through the earth to reveal a maze of pipes beneath. A dream, and a thousand miles away is their only way home.

     But they are not alone on this factory world, and soon realise that they are fighting for their lives…

     “Ryan has constructed an intricate puzzle box of a story, with a pair of characters that you will love. You’ll be biting your nails even as you explore their new dangerous and curious world along with them.” – Philippa Ballantine

     “Belts along with tremendous energy… The present is murderous, future uncertain and past evasive… A considerable imaginative accomplishment, and definitely absorbing. Watch this guy’s space.” – Herald on Sunday

     “Simon is a wonderful character – plucky, compassionate and inventive – in a sinister and unsettling world that lived on in my imagination long after I finished the book.” – Mandy Hager

     “Dark and foreboding as any great New Zealand novel but full of original twists, The Factory World is an unsettling, slow-burning road trip through post-apocalyptic chaos.” – Sarah Dunn, Baby Seal Book Club

     Book trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmp_G_GtjrQ

     Buy from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Factory-World-ebook/dp/B00DV88WO4/ref=la_B00APO376A_1_13?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373678772&sr=1-13

     Buy from Steampress: http://www.steampress.co.nz/factory.html

     Thanks!

     Joe

142. Aiden has always done his best to live under the radar. When he rescued a beautiful girl from certain death, he didn’t realize it would be the beginning of an epic quest to rid the continent of evil overlord James Etherinscot and his vile Separator government. Part fantasy, part science fiction, Flames of Rebellion follows Aiden and his newfound friend Flame as they become part of a classic story of adventure, survival, and romance.

     Available now on Amazon Kindle, Flames of Rebellion is a debut publication, a novellette with fast-paced storytelling highly suitable for those who enjoy young adult fiction. Also great for parents and kids to read together!

     List Price $2.99
     http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00FRSWMWY/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1386098985&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70

143. THE SECRETS OF CASANOVA

     Paris of 1755 is bloated with opportunity. That’s the way Jacques Casanova, an unredeemed adventurer with an ever-surging appetite for pleasure, needs it. But times, men, and gods are changing—and Jacques’ luck is fading. When he is thrust to the center of a profound mystery, he doesn’t care if vice or virtue leads him onward. “After all,” he declares, “a man who asks himself too many questions is an unhappy man.” But as Jacques’ challenges mount, what questions will he ask? What price must he pay to uncover a treasure of inestimable value?

     This review is from: The Secrets of Casanova (Kindle Edition):
     Excellent characters, a complex mystery, adventure and history – The Secrets of Casanova is a wonderful, engrossing read! I’ve been a big fan of historical fiction for years, and in my opinion there is one thing that separates the great from the so-so: if you find yourself transported to the novel’s time and place, experiencing the characters’ way of life, and holding your breath even though history has already foretold the outcome, you’ve got yourself a winner. Greg Michaels meets hits the mark again and again.

144. My “Wizard of Oz Catalog” is available from Amazon: a reference guide to books, movies, TV shows, radio shows, stage plays and comic books based on L. Frank Baum. It’s about six or seven years old (so SyFy’s The O.Z. isn’t included, for instance), but for an Oz fan I think it’d make an excellent gift.

145. The Stars Change: On a South Asian-settled university planet, tensions are rising, and as they reach the brink of interstellar war, life (and sex) continues. Humans, aliens, and modified humans gather at the University of All Worlds in search of knowledge… and self-knowledge… but the first bomb has fallen and the fate of this multicultural, multispecies mecca is in question. Some people will seek solace in physical contact, some will look for spiritual answers, while others will find their strength in community, family, and love. Some will rush home to make love to their wife. Or wives. Or husbands. Or indeterminate gender human and/or alien partners. Others will be forced to decide where they stand — what is worth fighting for, or maybe even worth dying for.

     Review at Ideomancer: “These citizens come from different cultures and walks of life, brought together superficially by the university at the city’s heart, and more deeply by their own desires. They’re ordinary people, all the more so for their variety — and on this night, they are called upon to take part in defending their home.

     The Stars Change is billed as a novel made up of interconnected stories, but many of the sections wouldn’t actually stand up on their own; read as a novel, however, the fragmentary and shifting narratives dazzle. There’s some global plot stuff about interstellar war, but it’s mercifully kept in the background — what’s foregrounded is each individual’s experience, giving the kaleidoscopic illusion of many other such souls.” — http://www.ideomancer.com/?p=2687

     Big Idea: http://whatever.scalzi.com/2013/11/21/the-big-idea-mary-anne-mohanraj/

     Buy It (ebook and paperback): http://www.amazon.com/Stars-Change-Mary-Anne-Mohanraj-ebook/dp/B00GMLLDD4

146. Thanks, John!

     My Hereville graphic novel series is about an 11-year-old Orthodox Jewish Girl who wants to fight monsters. The two books so far feature Mirka, a headstrong girl convinced against all evidence that she has a special destiny as a monster-fighter, and also her Orthodox Jewish family and town. Although Mirka herself is dedicated to the idea that a good sword solves all troubles, the stories themselves are resolved in non-violent ways.

     I intend these to be enjoyed by both kids and adults, but they’re typically sold in the middle grade section of bookstores. Depending on reading level, children under 9 years old may need help reading these books.

     You can buy Hereville either through the usual online book merchants, or you can buy a copy directly from me (slower and more expensive, but includes things like my signature and possibly a drawing by me). Mention that you came from “Whatever” and I’ll throw in a free head sketch (which normally costs $8). This page has links for buying Hereville both from stores and from me.

147. Fair warning – I am chiefly known for writing erotica. As in 20-years-before-those-50-Shades-books, I was writing about That Stuff, not that you’d know by the media frenzy when people discovered OMG ladies like the kinky stuff, who knew??

     I’m not bitter.

     However, last year, I released my first ever mystery! OK, so it’s also a kinky comedy, set at a leather contest. (Think SF convention for the publicly perverted.) In fact, REALLY think that, because this is a sort of tribute to Bimbos of the Death Sun, that long ago little book exposing pre-internet SF/fantasy/gaming conventions to the world of cozy mystery readers. I just did that, with…kinky people.

     The Killer Wore Leather is available at all the usual places – Amazon, BN, Powells, indie bookstores. It’s a real, hold-it-in-your-hand book and an e-book and an audio book via Audible. See?

     http://www.amazon.com/The-Killer-Wore-Leather-Mystery/dp/157344930X/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1386168458&sr=8-1

     “Mr. Global Leather has been murdered!

     In the Grand Sterling Hotel of Midtown Manhattan, home of the huge annual leather/BDSM/fetish ball and contest, Mr. & Ms. Global Leather, last year’s male winner lies dead on the floor of his suite, wearing only very frilly, bright yellow panties. Cormac “Mack” Steel made a lot of enemies in his year wearing the studded leather sash, not the least being his co-winner Mistress Ravenfyre. But she is not alone – there are over three thousand attendees at this year’s fetish-festooned event from all over the world, some of whom might have had some very personal issues with the corpse…”

     The Killer Wore Leather is not erotica. It’s a funny mystery. Check out the reviews!

     But by all means, if you *want* erotica, now you know someone else who writes and sells it. Look for the Marketplace series under my name. It’s a rare name, so I’m easy to find. There’s even a website and everything. (lantoniou.com)

148. The only 9500 word story you’ll read this year (or next year, or ever) that has all these elements: Zeppelins! Gorillas! Anthropophagai! AMONG THE ANTHROPOPHAGIA is fast-paced pulp adventure novella (about 9500 words) of exploring an impenetrable forest and the horrors that exist there. Check it out here: http://goo.gl/Qfjdwi I’m the author, and I approve this message.

149. Cool thread. Thanks for the opportunity to post.

     My Elemental Assassin urban fantasy books focus on Gin Blanco, an assassin codenamed the Spider who can control the elements of Ice and Stone. When she’s not busy killing people and righting wrongs, Gin runs a barbecue restaurant called the Pork Pit in the fictional Southern metropolis of Ashland. The city is also home to giants, dwarves, vampires, and elementals – Air, Fire, Ice, and Stone.

     http://www.jenniferestep.com/series/elemental-assassin-series/

     My Mythos Academy young adult urban fantasy series focuses on Gwen Frost, a 17-year-old Gypsy girl who has the gift of psychometry, or the ability to know an object’s history just by touching it. After a serious freak-out with her magic, Gwen is shipped off to Mythos Academy, a school for the descendants of ancient warriors like Spartans, Valkyries, Amazons, and more.

     http://www.jenniferestep.com/series/mythos-academy-series/

     Happy reading, everyone!

150. Thanks John!
     AS YOU WERE:The Tragedy at Valcartier
     Six teenage boys are killed and fifty are seriously injured when a grenade accidentally explodes in a classroom. Then the military tells the survivors to be quiet and sends them home. Thirty five years later, they begin looking for each other again, to put the incident and their lives into perspective. No, this didn’t happen in a third-world country, it happened in Canada in 1974. I know it happened, because I was there. It has been described as “gripping”. Read an excerpt on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/As-You-Were-Tragedy-Valcartier/dp/0864926480/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1386182280&sr=8-1 There are 149 books listed above this post. I want to thank you for making it all the way down to mine.
     Cheers!
     Gerry
     http://www.gerryfostaty.com

151. In a world where death is a thing of the past, how far would you go to solve your own murder? Necropolis is “a noir science fiction gut punch from a strong new voice.” – Richard Kadrey, author of Sandman Slim. “Wildly entertaining: – Tor.com

152. Teens will love this ghost story. Also moms and dads will appreciate the hint of justice I’ve created throughout the story. It involves an entire family caught up in a web of eerie circumstances which could destroy the family if not stopped in time.This ghost story is based on some real life experiences I’ve had, mainly because I believe spirit stay around us as a blessing.
     “THE HOUSE ON LORRI LANE” can be purchased at ‘btrombley@mvdsl.com’ and on Amazon e-books. This is the perfect gift for your boy or girl starting college this year.
     Book sells for $20.00 plus shipping. Merry Christmas everyone.

153. Through the miracle of sleep deprivation, I have two books out this year, available from the usual bookselling suspects.

     VJ: THE UNPLUGGED ADVENTURES OF MTV’S FIRST WAVE was written in collaboration with the original MTV VJs (Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, and Martha Quinn). If you ever stayed up late watching Def Leppard or Duran Duran and wondered about what went on at MTV, this is the book for you. (“Nirvana for pop culture fans,” said the AP, while Rolling Stone called it a “highly entertaining snapshot of a wild-frontier moment in pop culture.”

     LAST NIGHT AT THE VIPER ROOM: RIVER PHOENIX AND THE HOLLYWOOD HE LEFT BEHIND is a biography of the young star of Stand By Me and My Own Private Idaho, who would have been 43 this year had he not died twenty years ago. It’s a biography of his short but intense life, a tribute to his talent, and a cultural history of Hollywood. (“Enormously compelling,” said the LA Weekly; Vulture was of the belief that “it beautifully captures the weird Zeitgeist of the eighties and early nineties in a way that will remind those of us who were growing up at the time of not only River Phoenix, but also of ourselves at a younger age.”)

     Thanks for the real estate, John–I have some books on this thread I want to buy myself!