Category: shameless self-promotion.

books. shameless self-promotion. travel. wild cards. writing.

Novels and conventions and such

I finished Frontlines #6, POINTS OF IMPACT, and sent it to my publisher. Now we do some editorial ping-pong, and then I’ll be able to share the publication date with you so you can preorder the book in VERY LARGE QUANTITIES.

I had to cancel plans for attending ConFusion in Detroit in January because I was still working on POINTS, so I haven’t been to any conventions since late October, but now the con season is starting up again. This weekend, I will be author Guest of Honor at ConStellation in Lincoln, NE. There will be a signing at Francie & Finch bookstore, which is a block or two from the convention hotel. I’ll be there for your amusenings from 1:30-2:30pm this Saturday, April 29th, so stop by to say hi and get a book signed if you’re in the area.

Next up on my List of Things What To Write is some Wild Cards business, and then I’ll spend the rest of the year writing a new military-ish SF novel that’s not related to Frontlines. (That doesn’t mean, however, that Frontlines will come to an end with the release of POINTS OF IMPACT.)

Between the writing projects and the convention travel, it will be a busy rest-of-the-year, but that’s how we roll here at the Castle Frostbite Magic Novel Factory. I am still amazed that I get to do this for a living. It feels like I’m getting away with some sort of high-level scam, but I’ll enjoy it until they find me out.

 

conventions. shameless self-promotion. travel.

My revised public schedule for 2017

After overbooking myself on cons in 2015 and 2016 a little, I decided to lay off the conventions until April this year, mainly because I have a book to finish. But the con year is about to start up again, and I’ve gotten to add a few things to the list. So if you want to meet up in person and say hello*, here are your opportunities for 2017:

April 28-30: ConStellation 8, Lincoln, NE (Author Guest of Honor)

May 26-28: Manticon, Minneapolis/Bloomington, MN (Author Guest)

June 4-10: Launch Pad Astronomy Workshop, Laramie, WY (attendee) (This is not a public event, but if you’re a writer or IRL friend who lives in the area, we may have an opportunity to have dinner and/or drinks.)

July 28: Otherland Books, Berlin, Germany (Reading/Signing) (This is a free event, so stop by if you’re in or around Berlin at that time.)

August 4-6: Nine Worlds, London, UK (attendee)

August 9-13: Worldcon 75, Helsinki, Finland (attendee, although I may be on a few panels related to Wild Cards)

October 27-29: Honorcon, Raleigh, NC (Author Guest)

And that’s it for 2017 unless I get another invite I can’t turn down because I have a really hard time saying “no”.

*And yes, do say hello if you spot me at one of the cons listed and I’m not otherwise engaged. DO NOT meet up in person and say hello by coming up my driveway unannounced. That would be a little, how do you say, weird. And the dachshunds would maim you before I could even unlock the gun rack.

 

books. capitalism. shameless self-promotion.

It’s Fields of Fire release day!

FIELDS OF FIRE, the fifth book in the Frontlines series, is out today on Kindle, in paperback, and as an Audible audiobook (read by the excellent and talented Luke Daniels). You can get it here in all three formats.

Pro tip: All the other Frontlines books are still only $1 each on the Kindle, but that sale ends today, so if you want to stock up (or gift the books to someone else), today is your last day to score four for the price of one.

I like the way Fields of Fire turned out, and my beta readers and editors were very happy with it. In this book, Andrew and his brothers-and-sisters-in-arms finally try to pry Mars away from the Lankies. They have a good plan, some great new hardware, and a bunch of freshly-trained troops to throw into the battle. But everyone who served knows that battle plans never survive first contact with the enemy…and the Lankies may have their own surprises in store for the combined forces of Earth.

Go grab a book in your favorite format if you are so inclined. And if you liked it, consider leaving an Amazon or Audible review. It sells more books and makes my publisher happy, which means I get to write more books.

Anyway, now I have to get back to my traditional pursuits on Book Launch Day: stress-eating and obsessively refreshing the Amazon rankings page…

art. books. shameless self-promotion. writing.

lines of departure, polish edition.

The Polish edition of LINES OF DEPARTURE is out this month from Fabryka Slow, and they continue their excellent cover illustration streak:

For the American covers, I only ever had one specification–no character faces. (That’s because I wanted the readers to picture the characters any way they wanted in their heads. Note that young master Andrew Grayson never has his physical appearance described in the books. He could be white or black or any shade in between–the PRCs are multi-racial shitholes, after all–and his hair and eyes could be any color because I never say what they are.) But if you have to do a cover with a character face, this one is very good indeed. I like how the Polish covers blend the current and the futuristic, and then coat everything with a patina of grunge. And I really dig the little spin counter on the cover that tells you which book in the series you’re looking at.

Looking at the calendar, it’s only two weeks until the release of FIELDS OF FIRE. People who have read the ARCs have said that it’s the best Frontlines book yet, and I hope you’ll buy it and evaluate that claim for yourselves.

Now I need to dive back into POINTS OF IMPACT, Frontlines #6, so you get to maybe buy that one in 2017 as well…

 

books. capitalism. shameless self-promotion.

frontlines kindle sale.

Oh, hey–it’s February. That means the release of FIELDS OF FIRE is just a few weeks away.

Crazy Jeff over at the Electronic Books Emporium has discounted all four books of the Frontlines series so far to a dollar each on the Kindle. If you still need to complete your set, or you want to get a friend hooked on some Space Kablooie, this would be a good time to do so. Because FOUR DOLLARS for the whole series! That’s cheaper than a Happy Meal, with far less sodium and without the crummy toy that usually ends up under the seat in the minivan anyway.

 

art. books. shameless self-promotion.

cover reveal for fields of fire.

Frontlines #5, FIELDS OF FIRE, now has a cover. Want to see? SURE YOU DO.

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Pretty cool, eh? It’s the most explodey cover yet, which is cool because it also has the most explosions of any Frontlines book so far.

FIELDS OF FIRE will be out on February 28, by the way. Tell your friends, and tell them to tell their friends, and so on.

shameless self-promotion. travel. writing.

what i’ll be doing with the rest of 2016.

I just returned from the Viable Paradise writing workshop’s 20-year reunion on Martha’s Vineyard. It was nice to catch up with old friends and meet VPers from other years, and the weather was ideal for some extended sightseeing drives around the Vineyard. Of course, I didn’t get too much writing done between all the socializing and panels, so this week I’m going to have to do word count penance.

There’s only one trip left for 2016, and that’s Honorcon in Raleigh. I’m not on the official program, but I’ll be doing a few panels and gaming sessions. There will also be another meeting of the Frontlines fan club (yes, I have an official fan group now, which is still kind of mind-blowing). I’ve commissioned a tailor to make a prototype NAC Fleet shipboard uniform as seen in the Frontlines: Requiem graphic novel, and that one should be ready in time for me to show it off at Honorcon.

After Honorcon, I’m taking the rest of the year to finish Frontlines #6, which will be called POINTS OF IMPACT. (Frontlines #5, called FIELDS OF FIRE, will be out on February 28th, and can be pre-ordered already in all formats.)

The dance card for 2017 is already getting kind of full. I’ll be Guest of Honor at ConStellation 8 in Lincoln, NE from April 28-30. Then I’m going to Minnesota again as author guest at Manticon 2017 from May 26-28. And I’ve already reserved a hotel room for WorldCon 75, which will be in Helsinki, Finland from August 9-13. After that, I’ll probably throttle back on cons and other engagements for the rest of 2017 a bit, but there’s no telling yet what kind of stuff will hit the inbox between now and mid-2017, so we’ll see what happens.

Traveling and going to cons is a ton of fun, but it really dings my word count because I’m already easily distracted in my natural habitat, never mind a place where there’s stuff to see and people who want to talk to you. I just need to pace myself in a manner that won’t slow the writing output down too much.

And with that, I am back to work on Frontlines #6. It’s the middle of October, which is objectively proven to be the best of all months, and the weather outside is like a parting kiss from summer. I’ll leave you with a few shots from Martha’s Vineyard, which is about twice as pretty as my cell phone photography makes it look.

img_0518 img_0520 img_0521 img_0529 img_0530 img_0533 img_0535 img_0539 img_0546 img_0552 img_0553 img_0555 img_0558 img_0560 img_6959

books. bullets & links. capitalism. shameless self-promotion.

terms of enlistment on storybundle.

TERMS OF ENLISTMENT, the first volume in the Frontlines series, is part of the current StoryBundle (called “Starward Bound”), along with novels by a whole bunch of other excellent writers. The price point to get the bonus novels (of which TERMS is one) is $15, which will get you eight new Skiffy novels on your e-reader.

Note: The copy of TERMS included in the Starward Bound bundle is the only legally available e-book version of this novel without DRM, so if you’ve wanted to load that baby up on a non-Amazon e-reader, this is the one to get. 

The Starward Bound StoryBundle will only be up for the month of August, so you must Act! Now! if you want a DRM-free copy of TERMS.

shameless self-promotion. travel. wild cards. writing.

wild cards in santa fe. 

So there’s this thing at George R.R. Martin’s Cocteau Cinema next Sunday. There will be nineteen Wild Cards authors, old and new, for a fun little event with a signing session afterwards. You can read the details on GRRM’s not-a-blog here. 

I’ll be there as well to represent the Junior Woodchuck contingent of the Wild Cards consortium. Stop by and say hi if you’re in the area!

shameless self-promotion. travel. writing.

worldcon and wild cards.

I’ll be in Kansas City for MidAmericon II, the 2016 Worldcon, in a little over a month. I’m not on any official programming, but there are two events I’ll be joining: the Wild Cards signing on Friday, August 19th from 5-8pm, and a Wild Cards panel on Saturday, August 20, from 3-5. We’ll be doing a Wild Cards death match sort of thing, where the writers will introduce their characters and their abilities, and the audience will vote on who would win a hypothetical fight, elimination-style. Should be a lot of fun. (More details at George R.R. Martin’s Not A Blog.)

If you’re at Worldcon this year, come out and say hi. I’m new to the Wild Cards consortium, so there’s no volume out yet with a story of mine (emphasis on yet), but I’ll gladly sign anything else at the Wild Cards signing: Frontlines books, comics, Kindles, fresh produce, whatever you care to bring.