happy bookday Archives

Posts Tagged ‘happy bookday’

New collection: A Songbooks of Sparks!

Years ago, I formed the idea of making novella-sized short story collections organized around particular subgenres. Sorting through the stories I had at that point, I determined that there should be six of these (or, well, seven, but one of those I set aside for a slightly different plan; it turned into Driftwood).

Today, the last of those six is finally published at Book View Cafe!

I was able to publish Maps to Nowhere and Ars Historica almost immediately; it took a little longer to do Down a Street That Wasn’t There and to decide that, really, I wasn’t going to write any more short stories set in The Nine Lands, so I could go ahead and publish that one. Because I became determined to balance out the regions featured in A Breviary of Fire, the fifth of the set came out only last year. And then secondary world fantasy lapped the pack with The Atlas of Anywhere a few months ago.

But it took a while to complete the sixth of the original set, A Songbook of Sparks, because its requirements were very particular. As the cover and title suggest, this is a follow-up of sorts to A Breviary of Fire (as Atlas is to Maps), likewise consisting of stories drawn from traditional folklore — but in this case, it’s specifically folksongs. Ballads and the like. And after a spate of writing those while I was in graduate school, I just kinda . . . stopped. Without having quite enough material to cross my minimum threshold for making one of these books. So it’s only quite recently that I wrote and published the last story needed to complete this set!

But now it is done, and out in the world: you may buy it in ebook or print, as you prefer. Within you’ll find nine stories, one unpublished poem that mashes up sources half a world apart, and — a bonus specific to this collection — the lyrics of the traditional songs that inspired the stories. Enjoy!

New collection: The Atlas of Anywhere!

Well over a decade ago, I first had the idea of reprinting my short fiction in little collections themed around subgenres. When I sat down to sort through my existing stories, I found they fell fairly neatly into six buckets, each at or approaching roughly the cumulative size of a novella: secondary-world fantasy, historical fantasy, contemporary fantasy, stories based on folktales and myths, stories based on folksongs, and stories set in the Nine Lands.

Five of those six collections have been published so far: Maps to Nowhere, Ars Historica, Down a Street That Wasn’t There, A Breviary of Fire, and The Nine Lands. The sixth is coming out in September, but it’s not surprising, given the balance of what I write, that secondary-world fantasy has lapped the rest of the pack — more than once, actually, since The Nine Lands is also of that type (just all in a single world), and also my Driftwood stories hived off to become their own book.

So yes: as the title and the cover design suggest, The Atlas of Anywhere is a follow-on to Maps to Nowhere! Being short fiction collections, they need not be read in publication order; although a few settings repeat (both of them have a Lady Trent story inside, for example), none of the stories are direct sequels that require you to have read what came before. At the moment it’s only out in ebook; that is for the completely shameless reason that replacing the cover for the print edition later on would cost me money, and I have my fingers crossed that in about two months it will say “Hugo Award-winning poem” rather than just “Hugo Award-nominated.” (“A War of Words” is reprinted in here: my first instance of putting poetry into one of these collections!) But you can get it from the publisher, Book View Cafe; from Apple Books; from Barnes & Noble; from Google Play; from Kobo; from Indigo; or, if you must, from Amazon in the UK or in the US (that last is an affiliate link, but I value sending readers to other retailers more than I do the tiny commission I get).

Now, to write more stories, so I can put out another collection later!

New Worlds, Year Eight!

It’s that time of year again, when my annual Patreon collection goes on sale!

cover art for NEW WORLDS, YEAR EIGHT, showing a red-and-blue spiral on a black background

If you’re accustomed to picking these up in hard copy, I promise, the paperback is on its way. It’s just a little delayed this year because I ran into a snag right when I was eyeball-deep in revising the first book of The Sea Beyond to send to our editor, and when I had to choose between my sanity and getting the print edition ready by today, I chose the former. I’ll post here when that’s available, which hopefully won’t be too long from now.

Meanwhile, the Patreon marches on into Year Nine — join the ranks of my patrons here!

In which I take on the old saws of writing advice

Two things make a series, right?

Continuing what I began with The Writer’s Little Book of Naming — in other words, mini ebooks on writing-related topics that I don’t feel are big enough to support a full-size book — today marks the publication of The Writer’s Little Book of Platitudes! This one was sparked by the rants that periodically circulate among writers about how thus-and-such piece of advice is stupid and wrong. Which is true . . . sometimes. This book is me taking on some of the most common soundbites of advice — not the detailed principles, but the short, pithy stuff like “murder your darlings” or “write every day” — to see where it came from, how it can go horribly wrong, what problem it sets out to address, and how to decide whether it’s good advice for you or not.

And, for bonus points, the end of the book has the One True Universal Writing Rule! Guaranteed good for all writers in all situations!

So check it out, and stay tuned for more Writer’s Little Books in the future!

THE MARKET OF 100 FORTUNES is out!

cover art for THE MARKET OF 100 FORTUNES by Marie Brennan, showing two samurai walking down a busy nighttime street, with the silhouette of an armored head above

Today I conclude my absolutely absurd run of four novels out in twelve months, with the release of The Market of 100 Fortunes! Well, at least if you’re going for the ebook, the audiobook, or the U.S. print edition. For some reason the U.K. print edition won’t be out until April 25th — I have no clue why, nor (alas) any control over it.

This also concludes that trilogy. There comes a time in every author’s life when she has to decide she’s put her characters through enough; they have earned a nice, quiet HEA. So if you have not yet picked up the adventures of Sekken and Ryōtora, but you think supernatural enigmas in a Japanese-inspired setting with a side of queer romance sounds like your cup of sencha, you can now pick up the whole series. Yes, they’re game tie-ins, but they’re deliberately written to operate independently of any game material and appeal to a wider audience. I have had a blast writing these, working in a world I know so well, and indulging my love of folklore to boot.

Viking revenge, round two!

If the shipping costs from the UK were prohibitive for you (and let’s face it, they’ve gotten absurd), then may I present an edition of The Waking of Angantyr that might be available closer to home?

cover art for THE WAKING OF ANGANTYR by Marie Brennan, showing a white woman with braided blonde hair and wing-like black paint around her eyes, holding a sword and looking to her left

That’s right, it’s U.S. book day for my Viking revenge epic! Ebook and paperback; the audio edition will be out on December 19th. But if you need something to listen to while you read the words on the page or screen, may I offer my soundtrack for the novel, available in its entirety on Spotify? Curl up with a hot drink and journey to a land of ice and blood . . .

Happy (belated) (UK) book day to me!

Vaki þu, Angantýr,       vekr þik Hervör,
eingadóttir       ykkr Sváfu;
selðu ór haugi       hvassan mæki,
þann er Sigrlama       slógu dvergar.

My god, I was so busy yesterday that I didn’t even manage to post here about The Waking of Angantyr coming out in the UK. In my defense, I was not busy by choice; instead I got called in to jury duty for the first time in my adult life — all my previous summons have resulted in the website telling me the day before that I don’t have to report in. Well, I suppose it’s fitting that publication day for my bloody Viking revenge epic began with me waking up early enough to induce homicidal feelings . . .

But even if I’m a day late in posting this, the good news is that book is still out! Yes, in this day and age where we place an unhealthy emphasis on how everything performs in the first twenty-four hours, I think it is just dandy for people to buy a book on day two! Or even day two hundred, for that matter. And Titan Books have given it such a lovely cover, how could you resist:

If the answer to that is “because I want a print copy and dear god international shipping now costs both arms and a leg,” don’t worry, a US edition is in the works. (As is an audio edition, if that’s your preferred narrative delivery method.) But look at that cover! You know you want it, and all the bloody grimdark vengeance within.

(Even if it’s a day late.)

DRIFTWOOD is out!

Happy book day to me! It feels a little strange saying that on a Friday. 🙂

Driftwood goes on sale today. If you’re getting a print book, I heartily encourage you to order it from a local bookstore; they need your support more than ever right now. I also recommend making use of IndieBound or Bookshop.org, both of which can help you support a local business (in the latter case, either directly or through your purchase going to a general pool for participating stores).

I’m . . . frankly astonished at how good the response to this book has been. I could wish it hadn’t hit at the right time for “how do you decide what matters to you and hold into that in the face of destruction?” to be such a resonant question, but here we are, and it’s gotten a trifecta of starred reviews from Publishers’ Weekly, Booklist, and Kirkus, along with positive mentions from a score of other venues so far. The premise may be bleak — worlds crumbling en route to their final destruction — but ultimately this is a book about friendship, community, and not giving up. If that sounds like something you would want to read, maybe not today, but some day, then I heartily encourage you to pick it up.

Oh, and also? I GOT A FRICKIN’ 3D AR COVER HOW COOL IS THAT. 😀 😀 😀

NEVER AFTER is out now!

Get yer pipin’ hot flash-length fairy tales here!

. . . you guys? I have NO IDEA what has happened with this book. For some reason it blew all my previous stats for pre-orders completely out of the water, and it’s continued to do so after release. It has sold more copies in its first day (including pre-orders) than Monstrous Beauty did in its first six months — that being the most comparable title in terms of price ($0.99) and content (very brief fairy tale retellings). I can point to lots of other variables, of course: I published Monstrous Beauty in 2014; my audience has probably grown since then. That one is more directly horror; this one is lighter-hearted with its twists. Maybe this one has a better title. Maybe it has better cover art. Maybe maybe maybe. The truth is, I have no way of knowing. (And this is why the publishing industry has so much trouble predicting what will be a bestseller and what will sink.)

All I know is, this has completely warped the bar graph Amazon uses to show me my sales. There’s now this giant spike, next to which my normal daily sales have been compressed to itty-bitty nubbins. 😛

(I’m not complaining. I’m just astonished. And wishing this had happened on a book that earned me more than thirty-five cents for every copy I sell . . .)

Anyway, Never After: Thirteen Twists on Familiar Tales is out now! And making a far bigger splash than I ever anticipated when I first thought, “hey, I could bundle up my flash retellings and put them out as a silly little side project for National Tell a Fairy Tale Day.”

It’s a twofer day: COLD-FORGED FLAME and A STAR SHALL FALL!

It’s out!

PLEASE NOTE: this is a novella. Which is shorter than a novel. I already anticipate there will be reviews to the effect of “I thought I was getting a whole book but I wasn’t” — novellas are making a comeback, but they’re not yet so widespread that the occasional reader won’t be blindsided by the shorter length.

But if you want a whole novel’s worth of stuff, I got you covered there, too!

That’s right — at long last, A Star Shall Fall is out in the UK! Unlike the previous two Onyx Court books, this one has never been published in that country before. Only one more to go, and you can collect a full matched set . . .

(And if you think this is a big day, wait until April 25th of next year, when you’ll get Within the Sanctuary of Wings [Memoirs of Lady Trent #5] and Lightning in the Blood [Varekai #2] on the same day!)

Let’s get Conspiring!

Thaaaaaaat’s right, folks . . . it’s the street date for With Fate Conspire.

I don’t mind admitting that I’m a little nervous about this one. I have a lot of reasons to be: it’s the end of the series (at least for now), which always raises the questions of “did I stick the landing?” Also, it’s my first hardcover release, which brings extra hopes and expectations. Also also, well, let’s face it: this is a rough time for the publishing industry, what with Borders going belly-up. Nobody really knows what that’s going to do to sales figures, but it’s going to be rocky, that’s for sure.

Which is by way of introducing a small plea: if you intend to buy this book, then sooner is better than later and in a store is better than online (unless you’re buying the ebook, of course). And if you like the series, tell people about it. (Heck, tell people about it even if you don’t like it! My ego will survive.)

Onward to the reviews!

Liz Bourke at Tor.com approves of the working-class and Irish bent of the book.

Cat Barson at Steampunk Chronicle reviews the book for fans of steampunk, and mostly likes it.

Sarah at Bookworm Blues hasn’t read the previous books in the series, and also isn’t a fan of faerie fantasy, but still enjoyed this one.

Also, I have the Big Idea slot today at John Scalzi’s blog Whatever (which previously hosted a Big Idea for Midnight Never Come). And finally, SF Signal has included With Fate Conspire as one of the three contenders in their most recent Book Cover Smackdown.

Now I need to decide whether my professional duty to go see my book in the store is strong enough to overcome the incredible soreness of my quads . . . ah, the downsides of biking for such errands.

happy bookday to Jim Hines!

If I hadn’t been struck down yesterday by the Respiratory Bug of Suck, I would totally have gone to a bookstore today to buy Jim Hines’ new novel The Stepsister Scheme. Curse you, cold!

No, really. I enjoyed Jim’s goblin books, but this time he’s gotten away from those icky little blue guys and gone on to princesses! NINJA PRINCESSES! Which are, as everyone knows, the best kind.

Okay, so, yeah, this time he’s written a book so far up my alley it would be in my house if only I had the energy to go buy it. But if ninja princesses aren’t a big enough selling point on their own (what’s wrong with you people?), then I can also vouch for the author’s sense of humour and ability to play interestingly within the rules of the story-paradigm he’s exploring. Last time that was D&D-style fantasy; this time, it’s fairy tales, with Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella going all Charlie’s Angels on their problems. I do not know yet if there are any villains as awesome as Maleficent, but if not — hey! jimhines! Get on that!

I’m tempted to just let Amazon deliver it to my door, thus saving me a trip to the bookstore, but that would be going against my own advice, so I’ll have to wait a bit longer before I can read this one. But those of you who aren’t ill? You have no excuse.