Category: books.

books. wild cards. writing.

wild cards world.

Speaking of WILD CARDS–if you’re at all interested in this shared-universe series, you should check out the new Wild Cards World, which has information on all the characters, writers, and books of the Wild Cards universe.

I feel incredibly privileged to be a part of this project. There are a lot of awesome writers in the Wild Cards consortium, and the combined creative output over the last 29 years has been staggering in scope, quantity, and quality. If you’re into superheroes, but you like your world and storylines with some grit in it, check out the Wild Cards universe.

books. wild cards. writing.

low chicago.

George R.R.Martin announced on his Not A Blog that LOW CHICAGO, the 25th Wild Cards volume, has been sent off to the publisher, Tor. As I may have mentioned, oh, a hundred times or so, I have a novella in that volume. It’s called “Stripes”, and it features my character Khan, who is a very bad dude doing Very Bad Dude things.

I had a lot of fun writing Khan. He’s a great POV character, and his story is told in third person past tense, which is a nice change from the Frontlines narrative, which is told in first person present tense from behind young master Andrew Grayson’s eyes. It was a good change of pace, and I think the story is pretty good, but you’ll have to judge that for yourselves when LOW CHICAGO comes out. I’ll share the publication date in this spot as soon as we get word back from Tor.

art. books. writing.

what I done wrote in 2016.

Since all the Kool Kidz(tm) are doing it, I guess I will have to list my finished projects for 2016 as well. It’s a short list, so don’t get up and make tea.

I wrote FIELDS OF FIRE, the fifth novel in the Frontlines series, and a novella for a future book in the Wild Cards universe, due to be out in the next year or two (I hope). The novella is called STRIPES, and it will be part of the Wild Cards book called LOW CHICAGO.

I didn’t write any short fiction in 2016, although I’d like to go back to that particular format in 2017, and it looks like I may have a good excuse to do so. I’m also trying to increase my production schedule–there’s no reason why I shouldn’t be able to finish at least two full novels a year from here on out, and Frontlines #6 (POINTS OF IMPACT) is well on the way to completion. If I don’t blow my deadline, you may get your hands on that novel in 2017 as well. There are also other things in the works for next year I can’t yet talk about, but you’ll be SUITABLY AWED when I announce them.

So there–that’s how I justified my existence in 2016. Wasn’t super-prolific, but wasn’t bad either. There’s a lot of middle ground between Harper Lee and James Patterson when it comes to writing pace.

books. NACDC. writing.

NACDC flags, now in real life.

Here’s the first batch of flag patches made up by the NAC Defense Corps fan group for cosplay. The designer, Marc Gerst, came up with a super-clean flag design: two colors, and appropriate simple heraldry for the national NAC flag and the different branches of the NACDC.  Clockwise from top left, they are: NAC national flag, the Homeworld Defense flag, the Spaceborne Infantry flag, and the Fleet flag.

It’s pretty cool to see what the fan group has already cooked up, and how excited people are about the Frontlines world and the possibilities for cosplay.

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books. conventions. travel.

back from honorcon, and some award braggery.

I just got back from Honorcon yesterday, where a lovely surprise was waiting for me during the awards ceremony for the inaugural Rampant Manticore awards.

Not only did I get the Best Military SF Novel award (for ANGLES OF ATTACK), but I also managed to win the H. Beam Piper Memorial Award. These are doubly meaningful and special because they are fan-voted awards (the membership of Honorcon and Manticon voted on the Rampant Manticore), and the awards themselves are just plain cool-looking. They are little engraved glass books, and they are quite heavy for their size. Luckily, TSA didn’t have an issue with them in my carry-on, so they made it home safe and sound in my hand luggage.

Thank you again for your hospitality and your votes, Manticon and Honorcon attendees, and thank you to TRMN (the Royal Manticoran Navy, the official Honorverse fan group) for having me as a guest at both cons.

Also: congratulations to Larry Correia (who won Best Fantasy Novel for “Son of the Black Sword”), Linda Nagata (who won Best Fantasy Short Story for “The Way Home”), and all the other winners.

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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.

awards. books. conventions. friends. writing.

the dragon awards have been dragon-awarded.

NEWSFLASH: I did not win the Dragon Award for Best Military SF Novel. David Weber did, and congratulations to him. Congratulations also to Larry Correia, whose SON OF THE BLACK SWORD won the award for Best Fantasy Novel.

(I didn’t expect to beat David on votes because he has a lot more fans and a lot more books out than I do, and I am but an egg in the genre.)

But it was fun and an honor just to be nominated, and I want to thank everyone who voted for CHAINS OF COMMAND and got it onto the shortlist. I wasn’t at DragonCon because I promised the wife I’d take September off from traveling, but my friend Melissa F. Olson graciously agreed to accept for me in the unlikely event of my win. I don’t know who’s more relieved now—Melissa because she didn’t have to walk up to the podium and make an acceptance speech…or me because Melissa didn’t have a chance to get creative with that acceptance speech.

 

books. writing.

terms in polish.

I don’t know if they used stock art or commissioned this for the book, but the cover art for the Polish edition of TERMS OF ENLISTMENT is something else. It’s probably my favorite piece of cover art of all the versions of the book so far.

Here it is without the cover text:

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And here’s the cover with the text:

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Not bad, Polish publisher. Not bad at all.

(The Polish edition will be out this week, by the way.)

books. family. friends. travel. writing.

WorldCon recap.

I’m on the plane back from MidAmericon II, the 74th Worldcon, in Kansas City. Some cons are great, some are so-so, some are…not that good. But Worldcon is the main event of our genre, the big Annual Nerd Prom, where most everyone gathers regardless of what other regional cons they attend.

I went with a fairly light schedule. Being a new member of GRRM’s Wild Cards consortium, I got to attend a gathering thrown for the Wild Cards writers by Tor Publishing. (And let me tell you–when you’re a junior woodchuck novelist with a little more than three years of pro experience under his belt, having GRRM introduce you to Tom Doherty can be a slightly tongue-tying experience.) I love the Wild Cards gang–they are all amazingly accomplished and talented writers, most with decades in the business, and they all make me feel welcome and appreciated.

On Friday evening, we had the big Wild Cards mass signing for the new book, called HIGH STAKES. I figured I’d be sitting and watching GRRM’s signing line for three hours, but most people wanted signatures from all the rest of us in their books as well. (The event only allowed Wild Cards books to be purchased and/or brought into the ballroom, but one of my fans smuggled in a copy of LINES OF DEPARTURE for me to sign, which I happily did.)

There was also a Wild Cards panel that was an almost Pokemon-like death match between characters. GRRM put all our names into a bucket and pulled out two names at random to fictionally fight each other, and the audience got to decide the winner. My character Khan, a 300-pound underworld bodyguard whose left body half is that of an anthropomorphised Bengal tiger, is a straight-up bruiser suited for heavyweight physical fights, but he had to go up against the Amazing Bubbles, who was quite possibly the worst possible opponent for him in the entire lineup because his strength and reflexes were of very limited utility against someone who can ensconce him in a near-breakable bubble that limits his air supply. So I got eliminated in the first round and got to watch the rest of the fights from the bench. But it was all good fun, and the auditorium was filled with people who seemed to enjoy the format.

(I also had several people waiting for me after the event to get FRONTLINES books and posters signed, which was super weird and awesome at the same time.)

Other than the panels, I met up with friends both old and new. My long-time Internet pal and new IRL friend Ellie took me to the best barbecue joint I had ever been to, and there were a number of parties and the usual bar meet-ups and long nights chatting with friends. Whenever you go to a con like this one, it’s like a big family reunion, only you don’t have to put up with your weird uncle who thinks that the stickers on the back of traffic signs are secret markers for invading UN forces. You see people you haven’t seen in a year or more, but the conversations flow as naturally again as if you had seen each other last only a few days ago.

The crowning highlight of the weekend was GRRM’s Hugo Losers Party, which was held in a spectacular Gilded Age theater just two blocks from the hotels and the convention center. The party in Spokane last year was awesome, but this one easily topped it for setting and glitz, and I have no idea how he’s going to top that next year in Helsinki. Maybe there are castles for rent, or he can get the Queen Mary for the night.

I now have so many lovely, smart, generous, and funny friends in the business that I can’t go to a con without running into dozens of people I would gladly spend a whole weekend just drinking and chatting with. Our not-so-little SF and Fantasy tribe of writers and readers is for the most part a stellar group of folks that are welcoming to newcomers and just fun to hang out with, and I greatly value the friendships I’ve made in the genre since I started out at VP and then at my first official convention (which was Boskone in early 2009.) I can’t wait for Worldcon 75 in Helsinki.

In closing, here are a few shots from the trip I’d like to share:

That’s me chatting with Jo Walton. If I have a smug look on my face, it’s because she just told me that she read all the FRONTLINES books and really liked them.


My friend and fellow 47North author Melissa Olson, who was my tag-along for the Hugo Losers party. I roped her in by mentioning the free booze.


The venue for the party. Now that’s how you throw a shindig.


The convention plaza in KC.  Infinitely superior to the one in Spokane last year.


The Wild Cards cage match panel, moderated by George R.R. Martin.


That was breakfast on Saturday.


The Midland Theatre.


The other side of the convention plaza. 

art. books. bullets & links. NACDC. writing.

on the NACDC, a frontlines fan group.

The official fan group of the Frontlines series, the North American Commonwealth Defense Corps, was founded at Manticon this year. There’ll be a fan group meeting at this year’s Honorcon, and a member who’s a very talented graphic designer made up a recruitment poster style ad for the convention program. It’s so well done that I wanted to share it with you.

(And if you’re in Raleigh and/or at Honorcon in October, swing by and check it out! There’s also a Facebook page for the fan group and an official web page.)

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