Archive for the ‘walker papers’ Category

The Five Year Shelf

On June 1, 2005, my first novel, URBAN SHAMAN, hit the shelves.

On June 1, 2010, my 13th novel and 19th published work, DEMON HUNTS, hit the shelves.

If anybody asks what I was doing during the Oughts, this is mostly the answer:

Go me. :)

DEMON HUNTS teaser!

First, I’d like to thank all of you who bought copies of “Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight”. The novella is now unavailable until I sell it to a traditional publisher, so I hope you’ve enjoyed it!

Second, I was asked recently to put up a page for my works in progress and my upcoming publications, so I’ve done that: 2010 Publication Schedule. It’s linked at the top of the page and in the inner sidebar, so hopefully people will be able to find it when they go looking, in the future.

Third–and I know this is what you’re all really here for–I’ve posted a teaser chapter for DEMON HUNTS, book five of the Walker Papers, due out in June 2010! Enjoy! :)

Donate to DWB, win a copy of DEMON HUNTS

Drive Thru RPG has gotten together with approximately one zillion game designers and they’re offering an unbeatable package: Donate $20 to Doctors Without Borders through them, and get $1400 worth of RPG downloads in exchange.

Furthermore, DTRPG are matching $5 and $10 donations, if you can’t afford the $20 download donation. The fundraising drive has brought in a mind-boggling $93,500 so far (I don’t know if that includes the matching funds or not, but I’m not sure it matters: it’s a hell of a lot of money), and I’m sort of expecting it’ll break $100K before morning.

If you’re at all inclined to donate through them, let me sweeten the pot just a little: I will send advanced copies of DEMON HUNTS, book 5 of the Walker Papers, to the first dozen people who donate and email me their receipt (to cemurphyauthor@gmail.com).

For a time frame, I expect to get copies of DEMON HUNTS around mid-April, so if that’s correct you’d be getting the book about a month, perhaps slightly more, before it comes out in the bookstores.

Edited to add: A dozen people have now emailed me their receipts for their donations to Doctors Without Borders via Drive Thru RPG. In fact, a few more than a dozen have emailed me, so I will throw in a baker’s dozenth book.

The 13th book will be a name drawn from a hat after DTRPG shut down their fundraising efforts, so if you decide to donate through them, go ahead and email me the receipt and I’ll put your name into the hat.

You guys are all extremely, extremely cool. Thank you for participating in this. *beams*

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)

Jane Yellowrock-Joanne Walker Crossover Fanfic

Faith Hunter has given me permission to go ahead and post the story snippet I wrote up a couple days ago. She and I are now discussing the possibility of sometime in 2010 actually collaborating on a novella which would be set outside both characters’ timelines/real worlds–in other words, pure fanfic, except written by the authors themselves–to put up either as a commission like I did with “Hot Time”, or simply sell as a direct market piece. People should respond to this post and let us know if you’d be interested in buying a crossover story.

In the meantime, a teaser:

There was something weird about crossing the city lines into New Orleans. Not just that the Big Easy was by anybody’s standards–in fiction, anyway–the center of all things supernatural in the States. It was bigger than that, a nasty jolt that wrenched everything a couple steps to the left. Even the city’s aura looked different from inside than it had from a few miles out, and I had absolutely no clue why.

The exciting thing about my life was that I’d probably find out.

For all my traveling around as a kid, I’d never gone through New Orleans. N’awlins, the way the natives said it. I loved that sound, like it was a word to be rolled around in and licked off the skin. So I did what any tourist would do upon arriving in the heartland of American Weird.

I hit the French Quarter.

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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. :)

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Seattle book signing!

There will be a book signing event in Seattle!

Where: The University Book Store on University Way in Seattle, Washington

Where, in greater detail: This will be a Fireside Event, taking place downstairs on the far side of the cafe, rather than in the usual event area.

When: 7-8pm on Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009

What: I will definitely be signing, and my books will be for sale (cash registers close at 8, we may be permitted to hang out a bit longer afterward to finish signings & things).

I may do a reading. I may do a reading of the first chapter of DEMON HUNTS, book five of the Walker Papers, due out in June 2010. Let me suggest you turn up on time if you want to hear that. :)

Further details: Me doing a signing in Seattle means there will be, at least for a time, signed books available for ordering within the continental US. If you can’t make it to Seattle but would like me to sign books and have them sent to you, order the books through the University Book Store website, and make certain to put in the Comment Box that you would like signed books, and exactly how you want them signed.

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…

Today is the official release day for WALKING DEAD, book four of the Walker Papers! As far as I can tell, everybody I know bought it two weeks ago, but still, today is the official release day!

Seattle’s a great place to live…if it weren’t for the undead.

No one’s getting out of there alive.

To go along with WALKING DEAD’s release, my web guru, Laura Denson, recently did a recording of “Rabbit Tricks”, the Walker Papers short story that fits chronologically between COYOTE DREAMS and WALKING DEAD.

My longtime friend and writing partner Sarah Palmero did a two-minute voice recording from THE QUEEN’S BASTARD. I think both of these are pretty damned cool (if utterly bizarre, because wow, really weird to hear someone else reading my words!), and would like to thank them both profusely for doing these and letting me post them publicly!

Fifth, I’m terribly smug to show off the (tiny–if you want to see it full sized you’ll have to buy the story) cover for “Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight”, which was painted by manga artist Lanny Liu.

Along those same lines, “Hot Time” has debuted amongst its patrons today. (I wasn’t thinking, when I changed its due date to September 1st, that that was also the release date for WALKING DEAD. Oh well, everybody got WD early anyway, so “Hot Time” still gets to be a little bit special.) For those who didn’t join the fundable commission the first time through, the novella will be available to purchase in February 2010, after which it’ll go off the market permanently until it finds a traditional publisher.

And I just noticed several of my books have been nominated as contenders for 101 Best Fantasy novels. I have to admit that given some of the company (which ranges from Lloyd Alexander to Diana Wynne Jones with all points between), I feel my presence there is a bit ludicrous, but also quite wonderful and I wouldn’t mind making it onto somebody’s top 100 list, so if you wanted, you could go vote. :) And my thanks to whomever nominated me, how cool of you. :)

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. :)

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