A few quick news items:

• First off, my buddy Francis James Blair just released the second book in his Bulletproof Witch series, Curse of the Daemon Beast. It’s a really fun fantasy Western, and I highly recommend it to fans of both, well, fantasy and Westerns. Fans of the Dark Tower will probably enjoy it, and I suspect many Dresden Files fans will too. (Because, let’s be honest, the Dresden Files draw really heavily on Western tropes, which I love.) Bulletproof Witch books are short and fast paced (though the first is really short- it’s more novella length, but the second is full novel length. Still a fast read, though.) As a nice little bonus, book one is only 0.99! And I believe it will be free next week as well.
  I was one of the beta readers on book 2, and I absolutely loved it. It’s got a tightly constructed, well plotted mystery, great action, and plenty of humor.
• Work’s still going on Book 3 of Mage Errant, but I’m unfortunately going to be missing my hoped for May release, and if it comes out in June, it’ll be in late June. A July release isn’t improbable.
  There are a few things dragging it out- first off, I’ve been getting sick a lot this spring, thanks to my roommate, who has just taken up Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which along with its many good features, is also a great way to pick up all sorts of fun colds and flus and such. And, of course, he apparently has the world’s most powerful immune system, so he just feels kind mediocre for about an hour and a half, then I get knocked out for a week.
  On the writing side of things, well… my last couple of months at my day job were especially draining, and I got very little writing done there following the release of Jewel of the Endless Erg. I’ve been out of there for a month and a half now, but it turns out that it’s pretty easy for me to fall out of good writing habits, so I had to redevelop those. (They’re back now, not to worry!) It also turns out that mole hunt plots are pretty tough to write.
  I’ll do my best to keep you all updated on book 3- if I’m going to be late with a book, I at least want you all to be in the know as to why. And the delay isn’t that long, I suppose, but I definitely feel bad about it.
• Did I tell you guys about the audiobook thing? Wait, yes, I did. Is it alright if I rant again about how crazy excited I am that Podium, my audiobook publisher, snagged Ralph Lister to narrate? Well, if it isn’t alright for me to rant about it, too bad, because I just did.
• I’ve mentioned this on r/Fantasy, but not here- my next novel after Book 3 is going to be a standalone epidemiological fantasy novel following the spread of a plague across a fantasy continent. It’s not going to be grimdark, but it will not by any means be a cheerful book. I’m really excited for this one- plagues bring both the absolute best and the absolute worst out of people, and it’s an ongoing regret of mine that there’s so little epidemiological fantasy out there. Plenty of epidemiological science fiction, but not very much epidemiological fantasy. (Though you should definitely check out Travis Riddle’s Balam, Spring if you haven’t already- it’s an epidemiological fantasy novel set entirely in a single quiet little village. It’s got a fun Final Fantasy-esque magic system, and like all of Travis’ work, it’s got top notch character building.)
  You shouldn’t worry too much about the wait for book 4, however- that’s the single book in Mage Errant I’m probably most excited to write. I’m excited for all of them, of course, but man, book 4 is going to be so much fun to write. It’s going to be another summer vacation book, and Hugh and company are definitely going to be needing a vacation after book 3. Which of course I’ll give them. I wouldn’t be cruel enough to wreck yet another of Hugh’s summer vacations, right? Right?
• *Maniacal Laughter.*

A few years ago, one of my closest friends wrote and released a weird, psychedelic little horror novella about the end of the world. She then let it sit for years without promoting it at all, but recently let herself be convinced otherwise.

Arsen, the sociopathic protagonist, really doesn’t care about the end of the world approaching in a couple weeks, he just wants his next fix. Everyone else, for some reason, has decided that he’s a great choice to be the last therapist on the planet.

He really doesn’t care about any of their problems, but he’s willing to put up with it because they pay him in drugs.

This book reads like the deranged evil lovechild of A Scanner Darkly and A Clockwork Orange.

Fair warning- this book is NOT for kids, and probably needs a list of trigger warnings as long as your arm. Lots of drug use, sex, murder, suicide, and worse. But, if you can handle that stuff, you should check it out!

If you’re into psychedelic apocalyptic stream of consciousness horror starring the most apathetic sociopath ever, you should check out Mira Kent’s Barcode Revolution!

Oh, and it’s free right now, too. (But seriously, don’t say I didn’t warn you about the content. This is not a fairly tame fantasy novel like I write, people.)

Having my own TVtropes page is a little unreal, I love it. Many thanks to whichever one of you did this!

I’ve got exciting news on the audiobook front- I’ve signed a deal with Podium Publishing to produce the audiobooks for Mage Errant! (Among other things, they did the audiobooks for The Martian, Sufficiently Advanced Magic, and Dawn of Wonder.) If that weren’t exciting enough, they have a truly incredible audiobook narrator lined up- Ralph Lister, who narrated Shogun, the first three Malazan audiobooks, and many other projects!

Into the Labyrinth and Jewel of the Endless Erg are going to be bundled together as a single audiobook publisher’s pack- you can expect to see them out together sometime in August. I’ll keep you all updated as we narrow down on the exact date.

This Saturday, I worked my last shift at my day job as a grocery store greeter. I am now officially a full time novelist. It feels wonderful, and I could never have done it without all of you and your support.

In celebration of this, I’m putting Jewel of the Endless Erg on sale for $0.99 on Amazon for the next few days, starting on the 3rd! (I’d put Into the Labyrinth on sale as well, but it’s too soon after my last sale.) (UK readers get a sale too, starting on Friday. Sorry the time frames don’t match, I totally forgot you have to do the sales separately, so I handled it late.)

On the book 3 front, it’s looking like it will be out in late May or early June, fingers crossed.

Jewel of the Endless Erg is now available in paperback! Told you the wait would be quicker this time around.

Oh, and I’m currently auditioning narrators for an Into the Labyrinth audiobook, so that’s a thing!

Jewel of the Endless Erg, Book 2 of Mage Errant, has officially been uploaded to Amazon! It can take up to 72 hours to show up in the store, but it usually takes much less time than that. Edit: It’s apparently available on Amazon now!

Synopsis:

After surviving Skyhold’s deadly labyrinth, Hugh and his friends are looking forwards to an uneventful summer. Their teacher Alustin has chartered a sandship for a training expedition into the vast sea of sand known as the Endless Erg, aiming for the wealthy and powerful desert city of Theras Tel. Hugh’s happier than he’s been in a long, long time, and he’s quite excited for the fresh air, sunshine, and quiet.

Of course, given Hugh’s luck, their summer is going to be anything but quiet. They’re about to be plunged into a morass of pirates, monsters, warring cults, flesh-tearing sandstorms, and a conspiracy against Indris Stormbreaker, the dragon queen of Theras Tel herself.

At least Hugh’s going to get plenty of fresh air and sunshine.

I hope you all enjoy it!

 

P.S. I meant to have it out yesterday (the 7th), but I’m still pretty new to the whole self-publishing game, and haven’t worked out all the kinks in the process yet.

Oh, and Into the Labyrinth is on sale for $0.99 in the Kindle Store right now, and it’ll be on sale on the Kindle UK store starting Saturday, so now’s the time to recommend it to people!