Writer's Grove

SuperBigMegaFunHappy Deal

Haven’t written an update in a while…suppose I should do that. I’ve been putting it off because some things are on the distant horizon, but I suppose some are close enough that I can mention now.

The first bit of news is that Del Rey has put together a pretty spiffy package to lure new readers: all three Iron Druid books, plus the bonus short stories and a preview of TRICKED, together for $19.99! So yeah. $4 off the regular price plus extra goodies! You could buy like a half a Starbucks with the savings! This is coming out March 5, but you could pre-order now or begin your long campaign to convince your friends to buy it. If you’re bold, maybe even a bit saucy, you can simply confiscate their e-reader and purchase it for them when they’re not looking. Heh!

Here’s the link for Nook and here’s the link for Kindle. The descriptive sales copy amuses me to no end. I swear I didn’t write it, but I do confess to approving it. A corollary to “If someone asks you if you’re a god, you say YES!” would be “If someone describes you as a god, you go ahead and LET THEM!” Also, I learned from the copy that my imagination smashes things. My imagination is the Incredible Hulk. Or the honey badger. It just doesn’t care. I need to buy a beer for whoever wrote that.

Other stuff: I finished an Iron Druid novella called THE GRIMOIRE OF THE LAMB and my editors have it. Set four years before the events of HOUNDED, Atticus and Oberon have a harrowing adventure in Egypt, running into Bast and a priest of Sobek with OCD. I still don’t have a release date for it yet, but I’ll share as soon as I know. What I do know at this point is that it will be digital only, not print. Why? Because it’s easy and there’s very little risk to the publisher. As soon as you talk print, you’re not only talking about paper and ink, you’re talking warehousing and distribution and returns and so on. And the market for printed short fiction outside of anthologies is pretty wee. One thing that e-readers have done is make short fiction viable again, and I, for one, am glad. I have three other Iron Druid stories in various stages of completion, and if it weren’t for the digital platform, I wouldn’t even be thinking about them.

At the end of this month—not so far away—I’ll be having a contest thingie. It’s an international one, which I don’t often do, and it’s also in conjunction with, um…twelve other authors? Thirteen? More than I can count, clearly. The idea is that you’ll get introduced to a bunch of authors you may not have heard of, and the fans of those authors will get introduced to me. It’ll be on throughout the month o’ February, so check back soonish.

Hope you’re well and warm and fuzzy.
—Kevin