The truth is that in recent years the idea of a single launch day has pretty much fallen into disuse, if only because the physical books are on the shelf before the digital books are officially released. But still, it's nice to have a single point in time when you say, "It's here! It's a Real Book You Can Read!"
HEART OF BRIAR is (officially) out in the wild!
“You can always count on (the) gifted Gilman to deliver richly layered fantasy filled with winning characters and well-defined worlds, and she doesn’t disappoint with HEART OF BRIAR. (A) terrific series starter.” ♦♦♦♦ (4 stars) – RT Reviews
"Calling this story a retelling of Tam Lin doesn’t do it justice. Gilman has taken the bones of that fairy tale and reassembled it entirely, restrung with strength and ferocity and drive.... Jan’s journey starts to find Tyler, but ultimately she finds so much more..... I finished this book revved up and ready for more." - All Things Urban Fantasy
but don't take it on faith - Read an excerpt!
Your Local Independent Bookstore
and I will be out and about in the next 4 weeks, doing signings and readings and whatnot...
Powell’s Cedar Hills Crossing (Portland, OR)
Monday August 12th, 7pm
Pacific Northwest Reading Series (Seattle, WA)
Tuesday August 13th, 2013
Pacific Northwest Reading Series (Portland, OR)
Wednesday August 14th, 2013
SF in SF (San Francisco, CA)
Saturday August 17th, 2013
Barnes & Noble (San Jose, CA)
Almaden Plaza, 5353 Almaden Expressway
Sunday August 18th, 2013 4PM
DragonCon (Atlanta, GA)
August 30th-September 2nd, 2013
And I just got the wonderful-and-yet-feared "read it in one sitting!" reaction from a reader.... Feared because oh shit that thing took me nearly a year to write, slow down! but also YAY! because the next book is scheduled for October. Yes, October 2013....
in stores 1 August 2013
Your Local Independent Bookstore
Barnes & Noble
originally published at writer. editor. tired person
It rains. And is chilly. I am not feeling the urge to haul down to the farmer's market this morning. In fact, my only urge is to sit on the sofa, nom toast-and-coffee, and work on the Hard-Deadline Client Project. I suppose that's not a bad goal, actually.
Meanwhile, I have this odd feeling that I'm actually ready for BEA next week. This is, of course, utter self-delusion. And yet... we have the signing schedule worked out. We have the booth coverage schedule worked out (more or less) to avoid the unfortunate Incident last year when two of us basically rode herd on it the entire time, and wasn't THAT fun (no, not really). All of my meetings are set (sort of) and there's a growing pile of Stuff in the BEA-prep area of my apartment. I've even gotten the water and extra power cords wrassled already.
Which means of course that whatever nails us will come out of the blue, and if you can't predict it, why worry about it, right? We Have a Corporate Card, We Can Fix It.
(some of you may remember the Great Load-In Disaster of last year. Throwing money at a problem sometimes really is the only solution, especially when dealing with the electricians' union.)
I am tempted oh so tempted to set up a video camera and record each day at the booth, the good the bad and the ridiculous. If only because by the time BEA winds down, Jaym and I usually can't remember what the fuck just happened, much less what happened three days before....
If you're going to be there, stop by! The SFWA table will have various authors signing books and giving away Stuff! (the actual schedule will go live on the SFWA website on Monday, I'm told). And if you're around Thursday at 4pm, and happen to be wearing a blogger or librarian badge, I might have Stuff especially for you...
When I first started out in this biz, I heard a lot of writers talking about “casting” their books, and researching for visuals (typically actors, but not always) as part of their research prep.
And this struck me as strange (then again, I don’t create playlists for projects, either. So I may be an outlier.)
Y’see, I don’t ‘cast’ my books before/while I’m writing them – or even after, honestly*. It’s not because it wouldn’t be fun, or because I don’t think about what my characters look like… it’s just that I have to wait until they tell me what they look like.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
msdori..... *scribbles notes so I can amuse you later, anyway*
When someone from the local animal shelter approaches her about finding grant funds that have gone missing, Ginny Mallard convinces her bartender friend Teddy Tonica to help her investigate once again.
They soon discover that something is disturbing the animals at the shelter at night...and then a dead body shows up.
With the help of Ginny’s Shar-Pei puppy and Tonica’s tabby cat, this unconventional crime-solving team has to figure out what’s going on before the shelter - and more people - lose everything....
on-sale October 2013.
Available for pre-order NOW
Find FIXED At Your Local Independent BookStore
Some of you may have noticed a change from the first cover:
Basically, editorial and sales listened to the feedback they were getting (yeah, I know, crazy but it DOES happen) and said "yeah, you're right, these books aren't cute, they've got more of an edge, and we're sorry about that Portland/Seattle screw-up in the copy of the first book, so.... we think this fits the series better." And I quite agree. :-)
(I still have my gripes, of course, because we mystery folk are perfectionist on the details. Who can identify what's itching me about this otherwise lovely cover?)
"Titan Books announced today that next spring it will publish Dead Man’s Hand: An Anthology of the Weird West (May 2014, Trade Paperback), an exclusive “weird western” anthology, edited by John Joseph Adams, that will include stories from many of today’s most talented authors, some new to the genre and others well-known to readers."
And me! And my story "The Devil's Jack."
He has been taken. And you are his only chance."
That wasn't something Jan expected to hear-especially from strangers who'd just rescued her from some mysterious and ferocious creatures. And she really hadn't expected her rescuers to be shape-shifters....
Now it turns out her boyfriend, Tyler, hasn't gone missing, he's been stolen-and Jan's the only one who might be able to get him back.
From Elfland.
Yeah, Jan's pretty sure the entire world's gone crazy. Even if the shifters claim that the naturals (like her) and the supernaturals (like them) belong in this world...but the preternaturals, what humans call elves, don't. And the preters have found a portal into our world. A doorway they can use to infiltrate, to take, to conquer.
Jan's not just Ty's only hope - she's got to rescue humanity, as well....
July 30, 2013
$7.99 paper/digital
"Do you believe in magic? You will when Gilman's done with you." -- New York Times bestselling author Dana Stabenow
At Amazon
At Powell's
Via IndieBound
Those of you who are sharp-eyed will have noted the price, and the format. That's right: HEART OF BRIAR is a paperback original.
I know that for a lot of writers, trade or - better yet - hardcover is where it's at. And yeah, the more expensive, more durable format is nice. But I remember being a teenager and going into a bookstore with my allowance -and later, my wee teenaged summer camp counselor paycheck - and trying to buy as many books as I could with the money I had. Paperbacks - the lower price point - allowed me to do that.
As much as I love trade paperbacks and hardcovers, I flinch when I see the prices, and think about the books I wouldn't be able to buy. So yeah, when Harlequin said "we're thinking about publishing this duology in paperback first..." I leapt on it with both hands and some unabashed glee.
I hope y'all feel the same. :-)
This is the first of the Kickstarted novellas, following after DRAGON JUSTICE, spinning off half-faun PI Danny Hendrickson into his own series.
We sent the file off to backers last week, and I've...well, been a little on edge, ever since. I got one "I loved it!" from someone I saw at Lunacon (bless her, I may have made her repeat it *g*), and the rest has been...silence.
Probably, that's because they haven't had a chance to read it yet. Or they're not the sort to gush. Or...they hated it. Ack.
*does NOT hide under the bed, damn it*
EtA: I'm not asking for reassurances. Okay, maybe I am. But it's okay. ;-)
I'm really hoping they like it. I'm really hoping they're looking forward to the next installment (PROMISES TO KEEP, currently in production). I'm really hoping they like them both enough that I get to write the 3rd novella, which in my head is called SOME MISTAKE...
Whatever happens, though, this was - and is - one of the more enjoyable Publishing Aventures I've had, working with my very own publishing team of stalwart freelancers and lunatics. The fact that none of them throttled me may be a small miracle. :-)
(and yes, the novellas will be available to the open market this winter, so if you missed the Kickstarter, you'll get a second chance)
yatidancing_serpent
