It is with delight that I announce the sale of two paranormal romance novels, TRUTHSEEKER and its sequel WAYFINDER, to Betsy Mitchell at Del Rey. Both books will be released in mass market paperback in 2010.
I’ll also be joining such illustrious authors as Katharine Kerr in writing a short story for Morrigan Books. The PHANTOM QUEEN AWAKES anthology will be available in October 2009.
TAKE A CHANCE #1: CITY OF HEROES
What makes a hero?
Driven to save lives after her son’s murder, Frankie Kemp has spent years as a non-powered vigilante. But when a virus releases super-powered potential in much of the population, “Chance” is left to face her child’s shadow-sliding killer with nothing more than her wits and experience. Bestselling author C.E. Murphy, author of URBAN SHAMAN and THE QUEEN’S BASTARD, brings an all-new superhero adventure to life in TAKE A CHANCE. An ordinary woman dons a vigilante’s mask–and the world she knows will never be the same!
Dabel Brothers Publishing, in collaboration with artist Ardian Syaf (”The Dresden Files”), colorist Jason Embury (”Hero By Night”, “Shadowhawk”), letterer Melissa S. Kaercher (”Dr. Blink, Superhero Shrink”), cover artist Scott Clark (”X-Men”, “Stormwatch”), and writer C.E. Murphy (”The Walker Papers”, “The Negotiator Trilogy”) bring you “Take A Chance”, a creator-owned series available for pre-order now!
Those of you who’ve been reading for a while know that “Take A Chance” is a pet project that I’ve been working on for over five years. Back when I started down this road, I said that if I ever got Chance published, that I’d turn first issue into a fundraiser for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Now I’m putting my money where my mouth is.
50% of any proceeds I make from the first issue of Chance will go to the CBLDF. The remaining money will be turned back over into producing further issues of the comic book. When the first five are collected into trade format, 10% of my proceeds on that will also go to the CBLDF, so I hope you’ll spread the word. In the event you don’t already have a pull box at your local comic shop, an order form for “Take A Chance” #1 is available here for your convenience, or the Diamond order code is OCT08 4065F
Subterranean Press presents A FANTASY MEDLEY: four short stories by four fantasy authors.
In “Zen and the Art of Vampirism,” Zoe Takano, the only vampire in Toronto, a city filled with supernatural creatures of Kelley Armstrong’s Otherworld, finds her place in the hierarchy threatened by two interlopers.
“Riding the Shore of the River of Death” returns us to the world of Kate Elliott’s Crown of Stars. Kareka, daughter of the begh of the Kirshat, hunts to take a man’s head. It is her last opportunity to prove herself as a man or else she will find herself restricted to the role of woman and wife in the clan forever.
Robin Hobb revisits her Farseer world in “Words Like Coins.” Mirrifen, a failed hedge-witch’s apprentice who has married to find security finds that threatened by a severe drought and the appearance of a pregnant female pecksie.
C.E. Murphy takes us to frozen Moscow in “From Russia, with Love.” Baba Yaga’s daughter is a barmaid at a dive when Janx and Eliseo Daisani walk in. They discover, as they compete for the girl’s affections, that Baba Yaga has plans for Janx and that her beautiful daughter had merely been the bait.
Limited: 200 numbered copies signed by the authors and editor
Trade: 3000 fully clothbound hardcover edition
Supplies are quite literally limited, so pre-order it now!
The following short stories have been added under the Writing page;
A new Tale from Gryphon Beach, my collection of short stories for children
Glasslands, a prequel to an unwritten science fiction saga
A Compendium of Kitlings, a very silly story written for an anthology that never happened, in which, in turn-of-the-century Chicago, Mrs. O’Leary discovered that aliens (the sort from outer space) tended to pay their boarding fees more promptly than human boarders, and also in gold. This, then, is the story of one of her boarders….
Previously, on Take A Chance…, a prequel to my comic book TAKE A CHANCE, and also an audition script for any artist who’d like to try their hand at Chance
New York Hold ‘em, a story of the Old Races, and
Rabbit Tricks, a Walker Papers short story to tide you over until the release of book four, WALKING DEAD in September 2009.
My short story Ill Met by Moonlight–the story of a Hollywood starlet trapped on the wrong side of a mirror–is also once more being featured at eharlequin.com. I don’t know how long this one will be available, so if the URL isn’t working, sorry.
As it is (with apologies to Jane Austen) a truth universally acknowledged that a mid-list author in possession of good reviews must be in want of an income, if you enjoy the stories and have it to spare, I would be delighted if you wanted to send a few quid (as they say here) my way. You can use the button below, or if for some reason it doesn’t work, use the email address open AT mizkit DOT com. Thanks!
I will be in London at the Forbidden Planet on 18 September, 2008, from 6-7pm, to sign copies of HANDS OF FLAME (and any others of my books people would like me to sign!). I’m really looking forward to this signing, and hope a few England-based readers might show up and say hello. :)
A few months ago, The Falcata Times interviewed me, and that interview is now up in the Falcata Times #7. My interview starts on page 34, but there are a *ton* of other cool authors in there as well, so go read and enjoy!
Also, I’ll be writing a short story for a Morrigan Books anthology this fall, for publication sometime (I believe) in 2009. Looking forward to that, too–writing shorts is fun, and I only do it when people ask me to. :)
That’s all for now!
Breaking radio silence to announce I’ll be in San Diego Wednesday July 23-Sunday July 27 for Comic Con! Below are places I’ll be at specific times for certain, so if you’re attending the convention, please drop by and say hello!
THURSDAY, JULY 24:
4:00-5:00
The World of Dabel Brothers Publishing — Find out everything Dabel Brothers Publishing has in store for the rest of 2008 and beyond. From The Dresden Files to The Wheel of Time, to their unannounced licenses and much much more, be there as Dabel Brothers Publishing announces the upcoming creative talent on Wheel of Time and brand new licenses that are sure to make a lot of people shocked and happy, all at the same time. Featuring some of the NY Times bestselling authors working with Dabel Brothers Publishing. Room 7AB
6:00-7:00
Random House Publishing—Staff from the Random House Publishing Group discuss upcoming titles from Del Rey, Del Rey Manga, Ballantine, and Villard Graphic Novels. Room 10
FRIDAY, JULY 25
1:00-2:00
Looking at our World: Eye on the Present–Authors discuss how they use the supernatural in stories of contemporary society: Kelley Armstrong (Women of the Otherworld), LA Banks (The Vampire Huntress Legend Series), Kate Brallier (The Boundless Deep), Marjorie M. Liu (The Iron Hunt), C.E. Murphy (The Negotiator Trilogy), Justine Musk (Lord of Bones), Lilith Saintcrow (The Dante Valentine Series), and moderator Samantha Sommersby (Forbidden: The Revolution).
2:00-3:00
Looking at our World: Eye on the Present panelists autographing in the Comic-Con Autograph Area
SATURDAY, JULY 26:
11:00
Gold Eagle booth #1220 I will be here, signing books! HOUSE OF CARDS will be available. Other books should perhaps be purchased ahead of time and brought for signing. :)
THE QUEEN’S BASTARD is out today. Fine bookstores everywhere should be selling it.
I talk quite a bit about the nerve-wracking aspect of this book over at Magical Words today, and Joshua Palmatier invited me to participate in his author introduction series…where, it turns out, I talked about the nerve-wracking aspects of this book, albeit in a *slightly* different way. :)
I should be less nervous, maybe. It’s my tenth book, which you’d think would settle my nerves some in and of itself. It’s gotten some really nice reviews (money shot from Booklist’s starred review: “…the first of what promises to be an outstanding series featuring a masterfully intricate dance of politics and intrigue in a world with parallels to the Elizabethan era., and Kate Elliott said it was really good, which means more to me personally than Booklist, because ZOMG Kate Elliott! o.o). It has, in fact, already gone back to print, thanks to a big library supplier order, which, y’know, bodes well.
Still. Nervous. Excited. Hopeful. Very hopeful.
I’d love to astound my editor by having the book go back to print again by the end of May. It only (only!) needs to sell about 15,000 copies to do that. So send people to read the excerpt and to drool over the cover and help me make a little noise about this one, please? *looks charming and hopeful* :)
My editor at Del Rey sent a couple copies of THE QUEEN’S BASTARD ahead of the contracted author copies so that I could see them soonest. Oh my god. This is a beautiful, beautiful, *beautiful* book. Ted, in awe, said, “This is *hot*,” and it *is*. I cannot *wait* for this to go on the shelves so people can get it, because oh my GOD it’s gorgeous. I ran around the house shrieking and doing the beauty queen thing and being all tearful. It’s *so* pretty.
And it’s the mark of a couple pretty freaking significant landmark for me. First, it’s my first non-Harlequin book. Second, it’s my TENTH FREAKING NOVEL! ZOH. MY. GOD.
And third, I now have one million words in print.
Not too damned bad for somebody whose first book came out in June 2005, eh?
*beams like a fool*
Email from my editor at Del Rey indicates I ought to be getting copies of THE QUEEN’S BASTARD pretty soon here. TQB is my tenth (including the novella, which I do) published novel. I feel like I should do something celebratory! But I don’t know what. I’d like to run a good contest, and…I donno! Ideas?
