jimhines

Lots of friends with new books out this week. Because apparently I don’t have enough to read already? At this rate, I’m never going to reach the summit of Mount To Be Read!

Morgan Keyes’ Darkbeast Rebellion [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy] is a middle-grade fantasy, the follow-up to Darkbeast, which I enjoyed and reviewed here.

Martha Wells has a Star Wars book out about Princess Leia, called Razor’s Edge [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy], set between the events of Star Wars and Empire.

Anton Strout’s Stonecast [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy] is the second book in his Stonemason Chronicles. There may or may not be were-jaguars.

Laura Anne Gilman’s Soul of Fire [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy] is the second part of the Portals Duology, following Heart of Briar.

Marie Brennan has put together a collection of essays on writing fight scenes, called (appropriately enough) Writing Fight Scenes [Amazon | B&N].

Elizabeth Bear’s novella Book of Iron [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy] is a standalone prequel to Bone and Jewel Creatures.

Finally, the tenth issue of Seanan McGuire’s serial Indexing [Amazon] has just been released.

As always, please feel free to suggest other new books I’m forgetting, or just share what you’re reading and enjoying right now.

Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.

Our internet is fixed! Just in time for me to leave the state tomorrow morning for Worldcon. I’m reposting my schedule here, mostly so I can find it this weekend when I manage to confuse myself.

• 8/30, 5:30 p.m., Dusable - Reading (Any requests? I’ll probably do something from Libriomancer, but I’m willing to reconsider. I read the Muppet Werewolf story at WFC a few years back, otherwise I’d do that one.)
• 8/31, 10 a.m. - Noon - Writers Workshop (Preregistered attendees only)
• 9/1, 9:00 a.m., Comiskey - SFWA Business Meeting
• 9/1, 10:30 a.m. - Noon, Columbus IJ - The Art of the Cover Pose (Jim C. Hines, Karen Haber, Steven Vincent Johnson, Teresa Nielsen Hayden, Yanni Kuznia)
• 9/1, Noon - 1:30 p.m., Autograph Tables - Autographing (Charles Justiz, James Kahn, Jim C. Hines, Joan Slonczewski, Lee Martindale, Mary Robinette Kowal, Nancy Fulda, Robert Reed, Tony Pi)
• 9/2, 6:00 p.m. - ??? - Hugo Reception/Ceremony/Loser’s Party - In which Jim will wear … a suit! Just like a real grown-up! The ceremony begins at 8:00 p.m. Central Time. There should be live video here.

I’m looking forward to seeing everyone! If you’re a regular reader/commenter, please say hi if you have a moment! (And if your real name doesn’t match your online handle, please throw me a bone and tell me who you are. I can barely remember my own name at these things.)

I’ll probably be posting random Worldcon-related miscellany on Twitter, and maybe Facebook.

Other things while I’m thinking about it…

Anton Strout’s book Alchemystic [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy] comes out September 25. He and Penguin are donating $2 per preorder, up to $3000, to Worldbuilders. Details are on Pat Rothfuss’ blog.

Morgan Keyes has a new book out called Darkbeast [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy], which sounds like a lot of fun. I’m hoping to have a guest blog post from her soon.

Finally, LEGO: The Piece of Resistance is a live-action and CGI LEGO movie, currently in development. It’s just been announced that they’ll be turning Morgan Freeman and Elizabeth Banks into minifigs for the film. The movie will also have Superman and Batman sharing the screen. (In minifig form, naturally.) I believe this is the point where I say SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!!!

Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.

Despite multiple Internet-related SNAFUs, the Rape Crisis Center Fundraiser has raised $430 in the first 24 hours. Thank you all for the donations and the links. Another $70 and we’ll reach the first bonus prize!

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When I was at ConFusion this year, I received a copy of The Executioness [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy] by Tobias Buckell. This is a novella-length work, and shares a world with another novella by Paolo Bacigalupi, a world in which magic is outlawed, as its use leads to the spread of deadly bramble. It’s a great setup, as is the premise of the story: Tana’s home is attacked by a neighboring power. Her husband and her father (an executioner) are killed, and her children taken. So she takes up her father’s axe and hood and sets out to save them, beginning a quest “that will change lives, cities, and even an entire land, forever. A quest that will create the legend of The Executioness.”

There were a few times the story felt a bit rushed, and I could easily see this being a novel-length work. But I liked it a lot (though the cover art, while beautifully done, is a bit eye-rolling with the exposed midriff and leg). I like the way Tana’s legend spreads, the way she uses that and learns to take advantage of the fact that women are so often ignored in these conflicts. And without spoiling things, I felt that the ending worked well.

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I’ve never read Frazz, but I met Jef Mallett at A Rally of Writers over the weekend, and picked up a copy of Frazz 3.1416 [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy].

Talking to Mallett, he came across as the kind of writer I want to be: he genuinely listened to everyone who came up to talk to him, was generous with his time and advice, and just came across as a really nice, down-to-earth guy. I’m happy to say his comics are much the same: smart and funny, and reading his book just made me feel good. I’ll definitely be picking up more.

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I’ve been wanting to read Lisa Mantchev’s YA fantasy Eyes Like Stars [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy] ever since it came out. This is another book with a great premise, taking place within the Theatre Illuminata, a magical theatre where “the characters of every play ever written” live and perform. Beatrice Shakespeare Smith (Bertie) was born in the outside world, but was raised in the Theatre. Throughout the course of the book, she must prove her worth to the Theatre, uncover the mystery of her past, and choose between the pirate Nate and the seductive but dangerous sprite Ariel.

The characters are great. Bertie’s fairy sidekicks are highly amusing. Ophelia was another favorite, complex and tragic (per her script, she’s constantly running off to drown herself).

My only complaint is that the Theatre, which is supposed to include all plays ever written, seems limited to European and American works, and is heavily weighted toward Shakespeare. But overall, Mantchev takes a great idea and turns it into a very satisfying story.

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Finally, there’s Anton Strout’s fourth book, Dead Waters [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy]. This time, Simon Canderous is investigating the death of a university professor and former FOG (Fraternal Order of Goodness) agent, while dealing with budget cuts and relationship troubles.

I really liked seeing more of the Inspectre’s character in this one, and learning about his past. The central mystery was fun, and similar in tone and action to what you’d expect from Strout’s previous book. I wasn’t as happy with Simon’s relationship tension with Jane, which felt a little forced. But the ending … I don’t want to spoil it, but I’m very interested to see how Simon adjusts in the next book. Like previous books, it’s a fun, light read.

Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.

Welcome to First Book Friday.

For several days now, I’ve been trying to figure out how to introduce Anton Strout (antonstrout on LJ).  I keep coming back to, “He’s just Anton.”  He signs goofy bookplates.  He cofounded werejaguarpunk with me.  He does booksignings with Amber Benson.  He usually wears pants.

He also writes fun urban fantasies, the fourth of which (Dead Waters [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy]) is starting to show up in bookstores.  I posted a review of his first book here, but before you read that, check out Anton’s tale of how he wrote that first book.  And then give him a hard time in the comments.  He deserves it.  Because, you know, he’s just Anton.

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I’m four books into the Simon Canderous series now, but writing the first, Dead To Me  [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy], was a far different experience that writing the later ones, because at that time I was untested as a writer.  Writing the first of anything is a scary, pants-wetting time.  I didn’t have contractual deadlines to make, never knew if the book would find a home, and my only motivations to write were simply proving to myself that my love of Ghostbusters, Hellboy, and Buffy counted for something.

I had written one previous unpublished book with The Dorks of the Round Table, my writing group that consisted of now-published authors Jeanine Cummins and Carolyn Turgeon.  That book was a serial killer techno-thriller, and once I was done it went into a drawer, and should never again see the light of day.  Next, I started on an idea about a guy with magic hands that kept him removed from others, ruining all his relationships.  Thus began the adventures of Simon Canderous.

One by one the Dorks of the Round Table joined a workshop run by contemporary fiction author Jennifer Belle. It wasn’t a genre specific one, but I joined because I wanted to be around others working on good writing.  I was glad to be in such a non-genre group, even if I got strange looks from time to time when I would bring in something like a combat scene between Simon and an enchanted, homicidal bookcase.

I was about a hundred pages into the first draft of Dead To Me, and the first thing they pointed out was that it would work much better in first person.  Converting it was a far more annoying task that it sounds, but well worth the effort as I think it strengthened the emotional connection to Simon for readers.

As to how I sold the book, well … my day job happened to be in Sales for Penguin Group, so I also knew a lot of editors.  I asked a friend from Ace/Roc to take a no-strings-attached look at my manuscript, just to tell me if I was going in the right direction.  I gave her every opportunity to say no, but she said she’d be happy to.

Then nine months passed.  In author time, that’s 72.9 years. I used that time to work on new ideas.  It was that, or go mad … well, madder, anyway. 

So cut to a day job meeting then with another fantasy imprint.  They started talking about how they really want to find a new urban fantasy talent to grow, and I had to bite my lip to keep from calling out “Me, me, me!”  I then asked my friend at Ace if they minded if I send my manuscript to this other imprint.  She told me to give her the weekend to finish looking over my work.  That Monday she came back to me, wanting the first two books in the series! Woot!

The strange thing I sometimes hear people say is, “Oh, he had an in … that’s why he’s published.” I’ve always found that strange.  I mean, the people at Ace have to work with me every day in a regular job capacity, so they better be twice as in love with my work if they buy a book from me, right? 

I think the important things I did was what anyone else submitting a manuscript should do — be professional in my querying, put my best work forward, and learn how to write while you wait. Tom Petty was right … the waiting is the hardest part.

Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.