Writer's Grove

The Carnival is in town

Just had a completely glorious time at San Diego Comic Con. Met many spiffy readers, including one who looked like Granuaile come to life, and lots of wonderful writers, which makes the fanboy in me go squee.

I met Max Gladstone (Three Parts Dead), Wes Chu (The Lives of Tao), and Liesel Schwarz (Conspiracy of Alchemists) for the first time, and they were all lovely people. Got to spend lots of time with Diana Rowland, whose White Trash Zombie series is one of my favorites, and her friend, Roman White (a director) was highly amusing as well. I met Ty Franck (who loves tequila) and Daniel Abraham (who does not), who together form the super-writing duo known as James S.A. Corey, and let them know that I absolutely dig The Expanse series. Got to spend some time with Jason Hough, on whose debut, The Darwin Elevator, I have had much to say and will say some more soon.

BUT TODAY IS A DIFFERENT THINGIE ALTOGETHER.

See, I have a book coming out tomorrow, the 23rd o’ July. It’s called CARNIEPUNK, an urban fantasy anthology full o’ stories about spooky midways and dangerous doings amongst the carnies. It’s available for pre-order (or outright order, depending on when you read this) wherever you snag your books, and it looks like this:

And heck yes, there’s an audio version!

The lineup of authors is pretty freakin’ awesome. In fact, lookit: Whilst at SDCC I got to sign some advance copies with none other than Rachel Caine, celebrated author and awesome person! My complete shock at being in such august company should be clear from this picture:

My story is an Iron Druid tale called “The Demon Barker of Wheat Street” (Did you see what I did there?) and it’s set two weeks after the events of the novella Two Ravens and One Crow. Atticus, Granuaile, and Oberon visit Granuaile’s hometown in Kansas and run into a rather ghoulish operation amidst Oberon’s dreams of a poodle named Noche, and I hope you find it entertaining.

It’s also my fervent hope that you’ll discover some new writers to enjoy in this anthology. That’s always the attraction of anthologies to me: I know I’m going to love the stuff by authors I already know and I get excited about discovering some new ones. Here’s the full lineup, presented in the order they appear in the book:

Rob Thurman ~ “Painted Love”
Delilah S. Dawson ~ “The Three Lives of Lydia”
Kevin Hearne  ~ “The Demon Barker of Wheat Street”
Mark Henry ~ “The Sweeter the Juice”
Jaye Wells ~ “The Werewife”
Rachel Caine ~ “The Cold Girl”
Allison Pang ~ “A Duet with Darkness”
Hillary Jacques ~ “Recession of the Divine”
Jennifer Estep ~ “Parlor Tricks”
Kelly Meding ~ “Freak House”
Nicole Peeler ~ “The Inside Man”
Jackie Kessler ~ “A Chance in Hell”
Kelly Gay ~ “Hell’s Menagerie”
Seanan McGuire ~ “Daughter of the Midway, the Mermaid, and the Open, Lonely Sea”

As always, thank you so much for reading and for spreading the word to your friends! Happy tales!