Writer's Grove

The novella is ready!

Say hello to book 4.5 in the Iron Druid Chronicles, TWO RAVENS AND ONE CROW:

Two-thousand-year-old Atticus may have outwitted and outfought everyone from Odin to Bacchus, but in this eBook original, he’s about to discover what comes around when you go around messing with gods.

Six years into the training of his apprentice, Granuaile, the Morrigan pays Atticus an unexpected visit and insists that he come with her at once. He must leave his apprentice behind, along with his Irish wolfhound, Oberon—and he must also leave his sword. The Morrigan has always taken extreme pleasure in pronouncing the Druid’s mortal danger and imminent doom, so the fact that she won’t reveal the purpose of their journey makes him very nervous. Of course, any time the Celtic Chooser of the Slain drops in unannounced, it’s never good. When she does let slip that she’ll be saving his life in the near future, Atticus is left to wonder . . . will he soon be giving his legions of enemies something to crow about?

Heh! The above text is the “back cover copy,” which I think is kind of funny since there is no back cover for this. But I’ll tell you a bit more: This novella is important to the series. In fact, it is part of the series. It wraps up loose ends from both HAMMERED and TRICKED, tells the story of how Atticus got the recipe for Immortali-Tea, and sets the stage for events that happen in books five and six (TRAPPED and HUNTED, respectively). Both of those books allude to events that happen in this novella. TWO RAVENS AND ONE CROW will also include the first chapter of TRAPPED, which has been revised slightly from the version printed at the end of TRICKED.

As of today, now-ish in fact, it should be available for pre-order on your favorite eBook platform for $2.99. It’ll download to your device on the release date, September 4. This will be available in the US and Canada and also in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK’s affiliated territories. Very sorry—that’s all the countries that have bought rights so far. (If the UK/ANZ e-retailers don’t have it up today, please be a tiny bit patient, they’ll get it done.)

Though this is a digital-only release, you don’t have to have an e-reader to read this! You can read it on your computer. You can get free apps from Nook, Kindle, the iBook store, or whatever platform you dig that will allow you to purchase and read the novella on your computer screen, and I hear quite a few people read books on their smartphones these days, because you can get free apps for that functionality too.

TWO RAVENS AND ONE CROW will also be available on audio in the United States and Canada only. It’s read by Luke Daniels and I believe the price is $10. I, for one, can’t wait to hear Luke’s voice for Odin. :)

I’m kind of excited about the possibilities for shorter fiction in the digital realm. The market for short fiction in printed form was shrinking even before the digital revolution, but now e-readers are making short fiction a viable market for authors again, and as a storyteller I think that’s awesome. Some stories don’t want to be full-length novels, but without a method to sell a few copies, many authors would never take the trouble to tell those stories.

I took the trouble a few times and just gave them away for free. If you haven’t read them already, there are three Iron Druid short stories out there. One of them, “Kaibab Unbound” is a bonus short story bundled exclusively with the e-book version of HOUNDED. (I will get around to printing it in a collection someday, but for now that’s the only place to find it.) However, you can get the other two stories free on my Short Stories page: “Clan Rathskeller” is set about ten months before the events of HOUNDED, and “A Test of Mettle” is from Granuaile’s POV, set during the events of HAMMERED while Atticus is off in Asgard.

Many thanks in advance for checking out TWO RAVENS AND ONE CROW and spreading the word to all your friends who have enjoyed IDC—since it’s not a full-length book I think many people are unaware it’s coming out. Let ’em know, will ya?

Happy Doggies & Beer,
Kevin