Anthologies ho!
Two new anthologies are now available!
DRAGON’S LURE, featuring “Perchance to Dream”, a post-Negotiator Janx story:
The mask was nearly as beautiful as the woman bearing it.
They were both dark: it of ironwood so old its chocolate hues had aged to black; she with lustrous skin that said no white men had bred into her aboriginal stock. She was small but strong; had to be to lift the mask’s weight so gracefully, when it was more than half her size. It was never meant to be worn: its fist-sized opal eyes couldn’t be seen through, nor were its interior struts intended to be placed over shoulders. It was to carried, danced with, thrust forward so its size and exaggerated features could bring watchers into a world beyond their own.
Janx knew a thing or two about worlds that went unseen.
and
RUNNING WITH THE PACK, featuring “Blended”, a Regency-era werewolf romance:
The pack had been born savages and had, almost to a man, died that way.
Almost: almost. She had been a whelp the day the hunters came, dozens of them on their thundering black horses with the pack fleeing before them. Her mother had thrown her beneath a long-dead tree, and she’d watched dark legs flash by, dangerous broad hooves kicking up the snow.
She had seen the blood, from her hiding place. Had seen it when the hunters rode back, triumphant despite their own losses. Stripped skins still steamed in the cold, making their horses toss their heads at the scent of death. She hadn’t known, then, that it was her family, her cousins and her friends, who lay strewn across saddles and stuffed into saddlebags. Not until she was much older did she come to understand what had happened. That her family had run until they could run no more, and then had turned to fight. Beasts, turning tooth and claw against the men who hunted them. Horses died; men died.
But mostly, wolves died.
And just in case you missed it, THE PHANTOM QUEEN AWAKES, featuring “Cairn Dancer”, a story of the Morrigan, has been available since March:
It was not, in the end, the river which waited, not at all. It was instead the cairns, rough tall stone piles which housed the dead, and honored them. It was their song that called her down the length of the river, inviting them to their sacred place.
“I didn’t know,” she said, that first night amongst the tall stone cairns. “I didn’t know they sang to us.”
“Most don’t. It’s easier to let them go if you don’t know,” Aine replied. “Easier to think the spirit goes on, joins the world again, and almost no one hears the song. I don’t,” she added, and Mairaed turned from the cairns in surprise. “My aunt did, and when no one in my generation heard the call, she taught me the dances so they might not be lost. My own daughter knows them for the same reasons, but it’s yourself they’re meant for.”
A fist made itself known around Mairaed’s heart: a squeeze that took her breath and sent an ache through her body. Her palms cramped; the soles of her feet shuddered, and she sipped barely enough air to whisper, “The dances.”
Go forth! Buy! Enjoy! :)
Posted: May 14th, 2010
at 7:31pm by ce_murphy
Categories: anthologies,negotiator trilogy,release day,short stories
Comments: No comments
THE PHANTOM QUEEN AWAKES pre-order
Love, death and war…
The Morrigan goddess represented all three to the ancient Celts. Journey with our authors as they tell stories of love, war, hatred, revenge and mortality – each featuring the Morrigan in her many guises.
Re-visit the world of Deverry, and of Nevyn, with a previously unpublished tale by Katharine Kerr, watch the Norse gods meet their Celtic counterparts with Elaine Cunningham, meet a druid who dances for the dead with C.E. Murphy and follow the path of a Roman centurion with Anya Bast.
These are but a few offerings from the stories collection in The Phantom Queen Awakes. If you are searching for a rich blend of dark fantasy, then this is a collection perfect for you.
The Phantom Queen Awakes stories:
Rising Tide: Ruth Shelton
Kiss of the Morrigan: Anya Bast
I Guard Your Death: Lynne Lumsden Green
Gifts of the Morrigan: Donald Jacob Uitvlugt
Cairn Dancer: C. E. Murphy
Washerwoman: Jennifer Lawrence
The Raven’s Curse: Sharon Kae Reamer
Ravens: Mari Ness
The Lass from Far Away: Katharine Kerr
The Trinket: Peter Bell
The Dying Gaul: Michael Bailey
The Children of Badb Catha: James Lecky
The Plain of Pillars: L. J. Hayward
The Silver Branch: Linda Donahue
The Good and Faithful Servant: Martyn Taylor
The White Heifer of Fearchair: T. A. Moore
She Who is Becoming: Elaine Cunningham
N.B.: The Phantom Queen Awakes will be released 14th February 2010 in the US.
UK, Australian and European release dates to follow.
US: $20 + shipping
Posted: January 14th, 2010
at 11:17am by ce_murphy
Categories: anthologies,books,pre-orders,short stories
Comments: 1 comment
Welcome to 2010!
Happy New Year!
I’m guest blogging over at Temple Library Reviews about some of the differences between writing comics and novels. Thanks very much to Harry for inviting me to come play at his review site!
As reminded by several persons, THE PRETENDER’S CROWN has been nominated for the 2009 David Gemmell LEGEND Award for Fantasy. It’s on the long list, which is incredibly flattering, and it would be even more flattering to make it to the short list. My understanding is that voting between now and March will winnow the list down, so if you’ve any inclination, here’s the voting page.
And here’s this year’s publication schedule:
February: THE PHANTOM QUEEN AWAKES (anthology with a story of the Morrigan)
May: DRAGON LURE (anthology with a post-Negotiator-trilogy Janx story)
May 29: RUNNING WITH THE PACK (anthology with a Regency werewolf story)
June 1: DEMON HUNTS (book 5 of the Walker Papers. Birthday release date!)
August 31: TRUTHSEEKER (book 1 of the Worldwalker Duology)
Posted: January 8th, 2010
at 5:50pm by ce_murphy
Categories: anthologies,books,career,comic books,guest blogging,release day,schedule,short stories,walker papers,worldwalker duology
Comments: 3 comments
DEMON HUNTS cover preview!
My email box this morning contained two things: a notification from Romance Junkies that THE QUEEN’S BASTARD had received their blue ribbon award for one of the best books reviewers had read recently (the review, which is very nice, is here), and a positively glowing fanmail from someone who picked up WINTER MOON and had enjoyed “Banshee Cries” enormously.
That’s certainly a nice way to start the day. :) In celebration, I shall give you a sneak peak at the cover for DEMON HUNTS, book five of the Walker Papers, coming in June 2010, and currently my Favorite Cover EVAR. :)
Posted: December 12th, 2009
at 11:16am by ce_murphy
Categories: anthologies,books,walker papers
Comments: 20 comments
A Closet Full of Books
The closet in my office is full of books I wrote. It’s ridiculous. The new mass market releases are the ones on top, but they got put back in their boxes after the picture was taken, so I could use the closet space a little more efficiently. What you can’t really tell from this photo is that all three shelves are stacked double-deep and the top is triple-deep…
Posted: October 21st, 2009
at 11:57am by ce_murphy
Categories: anthologies,books,inheritors' cycle,negotiator trilogy,photographs,walker papers
Comments: 6 comments
WALKING DEAD rumors!
Rumor has it that Amazon is shipping pre-ordered copies of WALKING DEAD this very week! Let me know if you get your copy!
As WALKING DEAD’s release is imminent, let me once more point toward Rabbit Tricks, a Walker Papers short story that fits between COYOTE DREAMS and WALKING DEAD. Enjoy, if you haven’t read it!
In non-Walker Paper news, there’s notification at Scooper Speaks that RUNNING WITH THE PACK, a werewolf anthology featuring stories by myself and fellow Luna author Laura Anne Gilman, as well as many others, will be out in June 2010. (Coincidentally, that’s the same time DEMON HUNTS, book five of the Walker Papers will be out! You’ll be able to buy them both at once! Oops, that made it Walker Papers news, didn’t it?)
THE PHANTOM QUEEN AWAKES anthology has been delayed two months, and will now be out in December 2009 instead of October.
More details as they develop. :)
Posted: August 17th, 2009
at 4:56pm by ce_murphy
Categories: anthologies,short stories,walker papers
Comments: 38 comments
A FANTASY MEDLEY winner
I have to say this was a great deal of fun for me. Some of the story suggestions were perfectly wonderful, things I wouldn’t have thought of myself but which were terribly obvious as soon as they were suggested. Obviously not everybody can win the anthology, but *many* of these ideas will, I think, end up as the root idea for stories. Thank you all!
The winner is
For some reason this idea really caught me. Possibly because I like the priest in the Negotiator trilogy so much, but somehow there’s just a real romanticism to that idea for me. I actually feel like I could build a book around the idea of a priest dealing with the Old Races, though I’m already terribly torn on *when* I would set that story. Or whether it would have to be a longer story, a series of its own, just trying to deal with the religious and spiritual connotations of the Old Races’ existence, from a Western theology’s point of view. I’m just utterly enamored of this idea!
Other ideas, including exceedingly moderate spoilers, are behind the cut.
Posted: June 9th, 2009
at 9:22am by ce_murphy
Categories: anthologies,contests,negotiator trilogy,old races
Comments: No comments
A FANTASY MEDLEY give-away
The final tally for my two auction items was $375, not enough for me to write a new Walker Papers or Old Races short story, but *more* than enough to prompt a FANTASY MEDLEY give-away. I’ve got one last ARC (advanced reader’s copy, as opposed to the finished version) I can send to someone, so this is your chance.
THE CONTEST: tell me (in no more than 50 words) what Old Races story you would like to see told. It doesn’t have to be something that comes organically from the books; you can just randomly want “a story about the djinn” or something.
THE CAVEAT: I may make off with one or more idea and turn it into a story at some point. :)
THE OTHER CAVEAT: This contest is also running at my main blog at mizkit.com/mizkit.livejournal.com, so it’s possible the winning entry won’t actually show up in *this* comment thread. I will, however, post the winner’s entry at both locations, so everybody’ll know who won and for what story idea.
THE WARNING: I expect there will be spoilers for the Negotiator trilogy in this thread. If you don’t want to be spoiled, stay out of the comments.
THE WINNER: will be the person whose story idea I like best!
THE DEADLINE: the contest will end on June 9th. :)
THE OTHER CONTEST: My agent, the incomparable Jennifer Jackson (who apparently started agenting at the tender age of nine), is celebrating her 16th year of being an agent by running a contest for ARCs and books written by her clients. Go read her instructions carefully and participate! :)
Posted: June 2nd, 2009
at 10:22am by ce_murphy
Categories: anthologies,charity,contests,negotiator trilogy,short stories
Comments: 5 comments
Free Comic Book Day
Tomorrow, the first Saturday of May, is Free Comic Book Day!
The Dabel Brothers bring you three original, never-before-seen tales for FCBD09, including the Dresden Files “Restoration of Faith”; “The Calm Before,” the prelude story to adaptation of the classic film, The Warriors; and “Previously, on Take A Chance,” which steps back in time to the day a gene-altering virus was released into the world. All this, plus a sneak preview of Del Rey’s forthcoming novel, Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi – Outcast by Aaron Allston, a bold new adventure for Luke, Han, and your favorite Star Wars characters!
Posted: May 1st, 2009
at 9:26pm by ce_murphy
Categories: anthologies,comic books,promotional news,release day,take a chance
Comments: 2 comments
A FANTASY MEDLEY winner
You guys came up with some fantastic casting choices for the Negotiator trilogy. I wish I had about fifteen copies of the anthology to send out, because you did *not* make this an easy choice! I’m going to have to do something cool for the people who participated but didn’t win, because you did such a good job. Maybe I’ll write an Old Races short story just for you guys and not try to publish it anywhere for six months or something.
Overall the best cast, I think, came from Liz McClafferty, who suggested the following:
Margrit Knight – Jasika Nicole
Alban Korund – Josh Holloway
Tony Pulcella- Kirk Acevedo
Eliseo Daisani – Robert Downey Jr.
Vanessa Gray – Winona Ryder
Janx – Johnny Depp
Chelsea Huo – Michelle Yeoh
Grace O’Malley – Katie Sackoff
Malik – Skeet Ulrich
Tariq – Gary Dourdan
Kaimana – Pomaika’i Brown
Cara – Dakota Fanning
Biali – Micky Rourke
Hajnal – Faune Chambers
Ausra – Rashida Jones
Russel Lomax – Gary Sinise
Cameron – Jennifer Garner
Cole – Matt Damon
Sarah – Charlize Theron
Ursula – Kristen Stewart
Kate – Emma Watson
Whew. That was *hard*! I gotta make the next contest easier on *me*!
Posted: April 15th, 2009
at 6:55pm by ce_murphy
Categories: anthologies,contests,short stories
Comments: 3 comments
