Writer's Grove

I’ve had a handful of short stories in mind for quite some while now but never really had the time to get them done—there was always the next book to write and that had to take precedence. Happily, the next book I have to write is Besieged, a collection of almost all-new Iron Druid stories that I’m working on right now, and which should be out in July 2017 from Del Rey (and yes, there will be audio too). You can head over here to Omnivoracious where I did a bit of an interview about that and some other goodies.

Most involve Atticus sharing wee adventures of his very long past, but there will also be a story from Granuaile’s point of view, a story narrated by Perun called “Cuddle Dungeon,” and a couple of stories narrated by Owen Kennedy, the archdruid. One of these, “The Bogeyman of Boora Bog,” I’m especially excited about, since I’m not composing it on the computer. I’m going to write it entirely on a manual typewriter, and then Tricia, the Metal Editor, will bust out her antique red pencil, and we’ll go through the whole process the old-fashioned way. When it’s finished, we’re donating the manuscript complete with editorial notes and all revisions to Worldbuilders, where y’all can bid on it and snag a one-of-a-kind look at the writing process while helping people eat. I’m six pages into it now and it’s been fascinating because I wind up hating some first attempts at figurative language and having to simply start over on the next line. The awful first idea is still there, staring at me, and I can’t get rid of it, but sometimes you can’t see how awful it is until you type it out. With software you can delete and it’s gone forever, and you can pretend you never wrote that terrible thing. But it’s also encouraging since you have proof that you can improve anything.

So it begins: A 1956 Olympia typewriter and a bit of 15-year Redbreast. Writing without wifi, whiskey without ice: This is the old school.

There will be two reprints in Besieged. One of them, “Goddess at the Crossroads,” appeared in print only in a limited press run of A Fantasy Medley 3; appearing in Besieged will make it available in ebook and audio for the first time. (That story’s about Atticus meeting William Shakespeare.) The other reprint, “The Demon Barker of Wheat Street,” is primarily being included because it really needs to be narrated by Luke Daniels in audio. I mean, really.  I may also tinker with the story a wee bit for this edition; we’ll see what the Metal Editor thinks.

After I finish writing Besieged I’ll begin work on Scourged, book 9 of the Iron Druid Chronicles! Peace & tacos, friends~!

Woohoo! Good news! The audio edition of The Purloined Poodle, narrated by Luke Daniels, is now available for pre-order on Audible! (It should also show up on Amazon and iTunes soon.) It will release on the same day as the ebook and hardcover, Sep. 30, and it’s only $6.95 for three hours o’ joy with Oberon (and Atticus).

Ebook pre-orders should be available soon, but you can still pre-order trade hardcover editions directly from Subterranean Press and check out the first chapter for free there!

I haven’t been to San Diego Comic Con for a few years. Heck, feels like I haven’t been to California for, uh, three years? Last time I remember was the HUNTED tour in 2013. I had signings in LA, Menlo Park, Petaluma, and Davis, driving the whole way and heading north to Oregon. I’ll do my best to get a couple stops in on my next IDC tour. But! I’ll be in San Diego for Comic Con in a couple weeks, and you can see me there at the con OR OUTSIDE OF IT!!! <–These are not excessive exclamation points. It really is that exciting and I will fight a copy editor in the Octagon over it.

My con schedule is below. BUT if you are one of the many people who can’t snag a ticket to the convention, there’s an opportunity to see me and some other turbo-spiffy authors offsite! Behold:

SATURDAY, JULY 23, 9 AM at UPSTART CROW in Seaport Village near the convention center, meet me & NYT bestsellers Chuck Wendig, V.E. Schwab, Richard Kadrey, and Chloe Neill! Please do bring whatever you’d like to have signed, but also it would be rad if you’d give Upstart Crow a boost by buying a book there, or at least a coffee? (Their Mexican Mocha is the best I’ve ever had.) They will have new releases there by most o’ those peeps: Chuck has STAR WARS: LIFE DEBT out, Richard has THE PERDITION SCORE, and Victoria just got done touring for THIS SAVAGE SONG. Upstart Crow will have their older releases and mine there as well.

What will I have that’s brand spankin’ new? I don’t have a recent book release, alas, but I will have 50 of these gorgeous posters of THE PURLOINED POODLE cover art by Galen Dara to give away, and I’ll sign ’em for ya. (These are reserved for peeps who have a book for me to sign, and one per person, please.)

If you haven’t preordered a copy of The Purloined Poodle yet, you can order a trade hardcover directly from the publisher here and they’ll ship wherever you are. (That link will also let you read the first chapter!)

My San Diego Comic Con schedule:

Thursday, 3-4 pm: “Fantasy Mixology: The Perfect Cocktail.” Panel with Paul Cornell, Richard Kadrey, Mary Robinette Kowal, Drew Magary, and Paul Krueger. In the Horton Grand Theatre! Moderated by Petra Mayer from NPR.

Thursday, 5-6 pm: Signing at Autograph Area 7 with the authors listed above! You can come by without attending that panel, of course, so please do!

Thursday, 7:30-8:30 pm: “Deleted Scenes.” Moderated by my spiffy editor, Tricia Narwani. Join me, Michael Sullivan, and Harry Turtledove to discuss why some scenes get highlighted in the ol’ word processor and then deleted. I’ll be sharing a bit of a long scene cut from HAMMERED where Atticus & Leif hunt vampires in Phoenix.

Friday, 12-1 pm: Signing at the Del Rey booth #1515. Usually they give away free copies of HOUNDED. You are certainly welcome to bring anything else you want to have signed!

Friday, 4-5 pm: Signing at the Badali Jewelry Booth #532, free ticket required. Just swing by and grab one, and bring whatever you’d like for me to sign! Also check out the official IDC jewelry they have—it’s honestly beautiful stuff!

Saturday, 9 am, sweet gods below that’s early! The Upstart Crow signing, details above!

Saturday, 4-5 pm: Signing at the Del Rey booth, #1515! Usually they give away free copies of HOUNDED. You are certainly welcome to bring anything else you want to have signed!

Hope I’ll get to see you somewhere there, California peeps! Rest of my year’s travel involves three more cons and a signing: Dragon*Con in Atlanta, StoryCon in New Orleans, signing The Purloined Poodle at The Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale Oct. 3, and Hal-Con in Halifax, Nova Scotia!

I have so many new Iron Druid goodies to show y’all from Badali Jewelry. Pics below and everything! But first, if you’re going to Elevengeddon in Phoenix on June 1 at 7pm at the Poisoned Pen (and you totally shoud!), there are some turbo important updates:

1. Long planned but just confirmed: We are going to be joined by Patrick Rothfuss and Brian McClellan! So that’s 20 SF/F authors in one place, where you can get all the books signed for yourself, friends, and family! Here’s the full list of authors in alphabetical order: Pierce Brown, Beth Cato, Adam Christopher, Ryan Dalton, Kevin Hearne, Leanna Renee Hieber, Jason Hough, Mary Robinette Kowal, Tom Leveen, Michael Martinez, Joe Nassise, Sarah Remy, Patrick Rothfuss, Brandon Sanderson, Victoria Schwab, Scott Sigler, Michael J. Sullivan, Sam Sykes, Dan Wells, and Django Wexler!
2. So with a lineup like that, there might be a whole lot of people there, more than the store can actually hold, so they have to take measures for everyone’s sanity and safety. They are limiting the number of books that can be signed by Brandon Sanderson and Patrick Rothfuss to three each per person and they’ll be issuing colored wristbands that will correspond to 45-minute blocks of time. They’ll begin issuing these at 6:00 pm and the first group will run from 7:00-7:45 and so on. They’ll ask people to line up by the front door at the beginning of their group’s time. They might have to line up outside if numbers are big, so be prepared. Wristbands will either be issued by the front counter or, if numbers are big, by staff members in front of the store. Wristbands are free, however the store requests everyone buy  something, though it is not required.

After that is Phoenix Comicon! Here’s my schedule—plenty of chances to say hi!

Thursday, June 2, 3-4 pm: Exhibitor Hall signing with Adam Christopher, Leanna Renee Hieber, and John Peck
Thursday, June 2, 4-5 pm: Signing at the Worldbuilders booth

Friday, June 3, 10:30-11:30 am: Signing at the Del Rey booth
Friday, June 3, 12-1 pm: Paranormal Romances
Friday, June 3, 1:30-2:30 pm: Del Rey Publisher Spotlight—upcoming goodies from me and other Del Rey authors
Friday June 3, 3-4 pm: Spotlight on that Kevin Hearne guy. I’ll get to share a bit of news re: the upcoming epic fantasy, the Iron Druid comic, and Oberon’s Meaty Mysteries—The Purloined Poodle, and more!
Friday, June 3, 4:30-5:30 pm: Del Rey Superfight!
Friday, June 3, 6-7 pm: Signing Lounge with Austin Aslan, Michael J. Sullivan, and Ryan Dalton

Saturday, June 4, 10:30-11:30 am: Exhibitor Hall signing with Alyssa Wong, Django Wexler, and more!
Saturday, June 4, 1:30-2:30 pm: Trope Talks (panel)
Saturday, June 4, 3-4 pm: Signing with Brandon Sanderson, Alan Dean Foster, Dan Wells, Scott Sigler, Django Wexler, and more in North 127AB!
Saturday, June 4, 4-5 pm: Signing at the Del Rey booth

Sunday, June 5, 12-1 pm: Exhibitor Hall signing!
Sunday, June 5, 2:30-3:30 pm: Signing at the Badali Jewelry booth!
Sunday, June 5, 4-5 pm: Embarrassing Author Con Stories

And Phoenix Comicon features the debut of new officially licensed Iron Druid jewelry from Badali Jewelry! So excited! Lookit what they’ll have:

Leif Helgarson’s Hammer o’ Thor! Available in silver or bronze in various finishes!

Owen Kennedy’s Brass Knuckles! Not actual ones for use in beating the living bleep out of someone—a miniature set that can be worn as a pendant. Available in brass or bronze.

Apprentice Elemental Spheres and Lockets! Granuaile had spheres of stone that she used to communicate with elementals during her apprenticeship, and Owen’s new apprentices have the same—except that Owen creates lockets for the kids so they don’t accidentally lose the spheres (uh…that’s in book 9, so yeah, this is A Thing That Happens). Badali has replicas of the Colorado, Sonora, and Olympian spheres, and lockets in a variety of finishes, and you can mix n’ match to please your own bad self.

Hope you can grab some of these at Phoenix Comicon, but if not, you can go to Badali Jewelry’s Iron Druid page to snag them online after the con!

I am so honkin’ in love with this I cannot even tell you. Once again, Galen Dara has stepped up with something brilliant for the cover of THE PURLOINED POODLE, out Sep. 30 from Subterranean Press!

250 signed, numbered leather bound special editions, $45
Clothbound hardcover editions, $20

You can preorder directly from Subterranean Press. Availability on Amazon etc. will happen later, but that will be the clothbound edition only; the best option is to order directly from Subterranean because it’ll get to you faster and they ship very carefully, and if you want the signed & numbered edition, it’s your only option. Amazon won’t have it.

There will be ebook and audio, but again, links for those will happen later. This is your chance to get the sexy print edition. LOOKIT HOW AWESOME Y’ALL!

OMG the doggies! THE DOGGIES! And Atticus sitting in that chair like he’s Morpheus about to ask you about the Matrix cracks me up. And goodies on the walls! Such fun. GALEN DARA IS THE BEST!

You can also buy clothbound copies in person at two places and have me sign it for you, take a selfie, etc. because I will be there:

1. StoryCon in New Orleans, Sep 30-Oct. 2. Houston bookseller Murder By The Book is handling those sales, so if you want to snag one from them, please give them a call and reserve a copy in your name, then find me at StoryCon and I’ll sign! Murder By The Book will also have me sign any copy you want to have shipped to you afterward, so that’s an option too. Their number is 713-524-8597.
2. Signing at The Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale, AZ, Monday, Oct. 3, at 7 pm.  Again, best way to ensure you bag one is to give them a call to reserve a copy.  They ship internationally too, so if you’re anywhere in the world, The Poisoned Pen can ship you a signed copy! Their number is 480-947-2974.

The Purloined Poodle is set in Pacific Northwest after the events of Staked. Oberon convinces Atticus to help him solve a most heinous crime: The abduction of a prizewinning poodle. Full summary at the Subterranean Press site. SQUEE! I can’t wait for y’all to read this. It was such fun to write.  Thank you so much for preordering!

It’s time again for Elevengeddon, a multi-author sf/f extravaganza that bears little relationship to the number eleven!

It did start out with eleven authors, honestly, but the number grew to twenty and that’s simply fabulous. So fabulous I think we need a Pulp-O-Mizer poster for it:

On Wednesday, June 1, at 7 pm, come meet a whole honkin’ bunch of authors and get all your holiday/birthday shopping done by snagging signed books at The Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale! I’ll be there, of course, but here’s the full list of who else will be there, happy to sign and say hi and take a selfie and so on—and yes, they all deserve exclamation points:

Brandon Sanderson!
V.E. Schwab!
Pierce Brown!
Mary Robinette Kowal!
Scott Sigler!
Dan Wells!
Beth Cato!
Jason Hough!
Django Wexler!
Leanna Renee Hieber!
Sam Sykes!
Michael J. Sullivan!
Adam Christopher!
Michael Martinez!
Ryan Dalton!
Tom Leveen!
Myke Cole!
Joe Nassise!
Sarah Remy!

Not in Arizona but want to get signed books from any of these folks? Call The Poisoned Pen ahead of time and place an order and they’ll ship anywhere in the world! Here’s the event on The Poisoned Pen’s site, which may/may not be updated to include all the authors above—my list is accurate, I promise! Hope to see you there if you can make it!

Also: Very excited to announce that I’ll be a guest at Hal-Con in Halifax, Nova Scotia, from Nov. 4-6! This will be my first Canadian con, where I assume there will be poutine and beer! And also lots of spiffy people. My previous visits to Canada (Toronto and Vancouver) have been uniformly delightful and I expect this to be no different. So if you’re available and of a mind, I’d love to see you at Hal-Con!

Haven’t updated the store in a while, but I now have TWO whole new thingies in there!

First new thing is the signed hardcover of Staked. If you couldn’t catch me on tour and would like a signed copy, I’m now able to get one out to you (in the U.S only). You may of course just buy it alone for cover price ($27), but I want to offer you a spiffy package deal in case it appeals:
Buy Staked and the hardcover of Shattered and use the coupon code WOOHOO and that will change the grand total from $53 to $35—an $18 break—PLUS I will throw in a free download code for the audiobook of “Two Tales of the Iron Druid Chronicles,” a $6.95 value! The download code will be emailed to the address you provide in the checkout field.

Already have Shattered and “Two Tales”? Well, they can make great gifts—especially the audiobook download! But if you’d like one of my signed paperbacks instead of the Shattered hardcover we can make that happen. Follow the same procedure because the coupon code is keyed to the Shattered hardcover, but when you get to the Special Instructions field in the checkout process, just ask for a signed copy of Hounded or Trapped or whichever one of my paperbacks you’d like to substitute for Shattered.

Short version: Staked + Shattered + “Two Tales” Audiobook =$35 (plus S&H) with the coupon code WOOHOO.

Second new thing: A wonderful illustration of Oberon that’s perfect for coloring! A watermarked sample can be seen at left. You can download the clean copy, sized 8 1/2 x 11, for 0.99 and print as many copies as you want at home. You and/or your kids can have him say stuff about bacon and poodles. Plaster your fridge with him!

This illustration was drawn by artist MaryElizabeth Mono who is turbo spiffy. All proceeds go to her because artists gotta eat.

And that’s it! Thank you again for reading, y’all. Peace & sausages!

The wait is finally over! STAKED is now available in stores, online, and in spiffy audio format! So excited for you to find out why you never want to be Nigel in Toronto and all the other fun goodies I have in there. I did a bunch of traveling for this book to nail down locations and such and I still miss the cities: Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Rome, and of course, Toronto.

Hope you all enjoy! If you haven’t read A PRELUDE TO WAR yet, that’s a vital novella in between SHATTERED and STAKED. It’s in a mini-anthology with Chuck Wendig and Delilah S. Dawson called THREE SLICES, and it’s the first time we were able to get Oberon on the cover! Inside there’s another illustration featuring Granuaile and Orlaith! Plus, of course, two awesome stories from two of my favorite authors.

I’ll be on tour for this and I hope I can see you at one of the places listed below if you can make it! Sorry if I can’t make it somewhere near you this time—only so many places I can visit. Hopefully next time—I’ll try to make it to California and the east coast for sure! If you have any friends in these cities that you can bribe to show up for you, that would work too, right? BTW: Crestview Hills, KY is right across the river from Cincinnati! Hope to see some Ohio peeps there! Cheers, everyone, and happy reading!

Newsy news you can use in handy numbered lists!

1. I finished/delivered A Plague of Giants, the first book of my epic fantasy trilogy. It has to be edited and all the other myriad steps have to be followed before it gets to you, but yeah: That’s coming. I don’t have a publication date yet but I’ll share it when I do. There will be audio but I don’t know who the narrator(s) will be. And if you’re keeping score, it’s twice as long as any Iron Druid book. The manuscript was 680 pages! Apart from the four and a half months I spent writing Staked, that’s what I was doing in 2015. Workin’ hard!
2. My latest Iron Druid short story, “Goddess at the Crossroads,” where Atticus shares the perilous circumstances of his meeting with William Shakespeare, is now available though Subterranean Press in A Fantasy Medley 3! This is print only, no ebook or audio. Very honored to be featured with stories by Jacqueline Carey, Aliette de Bodard, and Laura Bickle! It got a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly and you can get either a regular hardcover edition or a signed, numbered, super-sexy limited edition here.
3. Staked will be out on Jan. 26! (*high-pitched squee*) If you haven’t heard about the tour already, here’s where I will be and I hope you can make it! Remember that if I’m not coming to your town/region/country, it’s not because I don’t love you, it’s because of math.
4. While on tour I’m giving away these new signed bookmarks that have a Third Eye Books & Herbs receipt on one side and Oberon’s answer to the question “What is best in life?” on the other.  But if you can’t make it to the tour, you can still snag one by pre-ordering Staked from wherever you like to buy books!  Just send me an email with your shipping address. Thanks to everyone who’s already pre-ordered, by the way. YOU DESERVE A SNACK.
5. I have a couple of new ways to connect: I’m starting a newsletter called Oberon’s Shenanigans that will be out monthly, first issue coming out Jan. 14 if all goes well. It will include a “Meat of the Month” column written by Oberon as well as other goodies. You can sign up here! And I’m on Instagram now at @Kevin_Hearne if you like pictures of books and booze and mountains and beardy guys with doggies.

So what’s next?

1. I’m working on a novella right now from Oberon’s point of view called The Purloined Poodle, which will hopefully be out in the fall. Mystery! Allusions to Sherlock Holmes and Edgar Allan Poe! Sausage! Poodles! You know, the good stuff! More details when I have them.
2. I have three IDC short stories in my head that I’ve long wanted to write, so I’m gonna do it. Two are Atticus-in-history tales because I love the research, and one features Flidais and Perun in London with Perun as the narrator.
3. Book 9 of IDC!

Places where I’ll show up this year, besides the Staked tour:

1. Dallas, Texas! Well, Garland, really, at the Barnes and Noble at Firewheel Mall. February 20, 2 pm, with amazing authors Charlaine Harris, Rachel Caine, Jaye Wells, and Delilah S. Dawson! OMG I AM ALREADY GEEKING OUT
2. AnomalyCon in Denver! March 25-27. With so many awesome authors I can hardly stand it. Chuck Wendig! Scott Lynch! Elizabeth Bear! SOOOOO MANY MOARRR
3. Emerald City Comic Con! April 7-10 in Seattle! YAY!
4. Phoenix Comic Con! June 2-5. YAY!
5. San Diego Comic Con! July 21-24. YAY!
6. Dragon*Con in Atlanta, September 2-5! Woohoo!
7. StoryCon in New Orleans, Sep 30-Oct 2! BEIGNETS!

Whew. Well, that’ll keep me busy. Hope your year is fabulous and we’ll get to see each other along the way! And thank you so much for reading!

—K.