Beneath the Unreal Gardens of the Virtual Villa

 Hey all! My short story "Beneath the Unreal Gardens of the Virtual Villa" is out at Cast of Wonders! It's a YA sci-fi retelling of Bluebeard, one of the fairy tales least likely to ever get a Disney adaptation.

Schedule for LTUE 2024

 

LTUE 2024

I'll be at LTUE again this year! You can find me at the book signing Friday night, generally around, and I'm on a bunch of panels (it looks like those haven't all been officially announced, but I'll update here when they are).

I think I first attended all the way back in 2007, and the amount of writerly information just about melted my brain. It's an amazing conference, and I'm looking forward to learning, talking, and reconnecting.

Book Signing at The Gandy Dancer Mercantile

 

I'd never been to the Gandy Dancer Mercantile before, and had no idea what to expect at my book signing. The snowy weather had me dreading packing up my books. Then I stepped into this cozy shop, full of big, comfy chairs and couches—part used book store, part ice cream shop, part music venue. When I showed up, a big group was jamming up front and when I left, another group was setting up. While I was there, I got to talk with all kinds of creatives: musicians, poets, and painters.

It was the kind of place where people hung out for hours, where people all knew each other. In fiction, this store would either be the setting for a romcom or the place where the detective in a cozy mystery comes to get a pick-me-up right before solving the case. I really wasn't expecting such a warm welcome or to meet so many amazing people.

If you're ever in Ogden, stop in, browse the books, enjoy some icecream, and soak in the ambiance. 

 No idea how long it's going to last, but each e-book in the Kitchens & Kingdoms trilogy is on sale for $0.99 right now! You can grab the whole series for $2.97. Find it here! 

Lost Atlantis Q&A

 There are two blog posts up now talking with the authors in the Lost Atlantis anthology!

Round One is about what inspired the stories: https://blog.flametreepublishing.com/fantasy-gothic/lost-atlantis-author-qa-story-inspirations

And Round Two is a mix of favorite stories and art falling under the umbrella of "lost cities" and writing process: https://blog.flametreepublishing.com/fantasy-gothic/lost-atlantis-author-qa-best-stories-writing-practices

New Anthology: Lost Atlantis

 Hurrah for author copies! My most-reprinted short story, "The Temple's Posthole" is in this one, and wow, is it a gorgeously made book, from the cover embossing to the end pages. Looking forward to reading all the other stories in here.

$0.99 Ebook Sale!

Just what the picture says! The ebooks for both The Redwood Palace and Ana's Asteroid are on sale right now for $0.99.

Agent Announcement!

I'm very excited to announce that I'm now represented by Michelle Hauck at Storm Literary Agency! You can read about the agency and Michelle here. 

Book Cover Updates!

Immortal Works refreshed the first two Kitchens & Kingdoms books. New ones are the top row. I think the new series logo looks great! But I also like that the originals still match (because wow do I have some wildly mismatches series on my shelf).

Making Soft Magic Systems Work

My essay, "Making Soft Magic Systems Work", is live on the SFWA blog! 

LTUE Cards

These little cards were supposed to show up right before LTUE, but here they are, weeks early! I'm very grateful for one less thing to stress about. If you're at the conference, I have cards to give away now! I'll have some with me, and I'll put some on the freebie table.

Release Day for The Obsidian Palace

The third and final book in the Kitchens and Kingdoms trilogy is out today! The Obsidian Palace is live! I have no idea how it got to be January 24th. Find it here!

I've been DMing Pathfinder 2E for a year and a half now, and I'm really pleased to see Paizo navigating the whole OGL thing not only well, but with style. Today seemed like a good day for a pretty picture.

The LEGO minifigs are not my PCs, but some of my favorite NPCs. The lady with the frying pan has been around since the very first level-one adventure. The PCs have since gifted her a mithral waffle iron (which are supposed to make the very best waffles).

LTUE 2023 Schedule: Books + Boardgames

 LTUE 2023 is a month away, and I will actually be there this year! I was surprised and excited that there will be a boardgame + writing crossover panel, and I'm on it. My stories for Keyforge obviously started with a board game, but so did Ana's Asteroid. I began thinking about orbits, space travel, and ways to easily go back and forth from Mars to Earth during long games of Phil Eklund's High Frontier. That all led to the idea of the Platinum Pheonix—a large asteroid nudged into an orbit that would pass near Earth and Mars, allowing it to function as both a shuttle and a mining colony.

Anyway, my LTUE 2023 (Feb 16-18) schedule, in full:

Thursday, 1:00 PM: Using Games in Your Fiction

Friday, 5:00 PM: Historical Sources for Historical Research

Friday, 7:00 PM: Book Signing

Saturday, 1:00 PM: Top 10 Board Games for Writers

Saturday, 4:00 PM: Influential Tomes of Earth's Cultures

The Obsidian Palace Pre-Orders are live!

You can find The Obsidian Palace here!

Writing books is a strange thing. The Obsidian Palace felt half-finished when I got a solid draft down. It felt finished when I turned it in to my publisher. And then again when we finished our rounds of edits and copyedits. There's that sense of finishing once again, as I see the Kitchens and Kingdoms series page on Amazon with all three books. I'm sure I'll have that same feeling on January 24th, when The Obsidian Palace releases.

But, in many ways, this is also the beginning for this book—a launch out into the world of readers. To everyone who's been reading along and leaving reviews for the series, thank you so much. I'm very proud to be sharing this last book with all of you.

World Fantasy 2022

This weekend I will be (virtually) at World Fantasy! They are running a hybrid conference this year, and I'm very excited to get to listen to so many great panels. On Saturday, I'll also be on "Cross-Genre Fantasy: A Critical Look at Mixing Genres."

Ana's Asteroid is live! Find it here!

Surviving in space is never simple.

Thirteen-year-old Ana lives on The Platinum Phoenix, a run-down mining colony carved out of a massive asteroid. When the mining robots break, panic follows. Without them, the colony can't extract the ice they depend on for water. The mine shafts were designed for slender robots—adults can't fit through them to make repairs by hand. But Ana can.

To save her colony and her family, Ana suits up and heads deep into the dangerous vacuum of the mines, hoping to make the repairs that will keep everyone she loves alive.

Ana's Asteroid Preorder Page is Live!

 Just what the title says! Ana's Asteroid has an Amazon page now. Currently, it's only showing the ebook preorder, but the physical copy is coming.

Cover Reveal for Ana's Asteroid!

I finally get to share this beautiful cover by Rebecca Barney! I love how obviously science fiction it is, I love how middle-grade friendly and inviting it is, and I was amazed at how much of the story it managed to capture in this one image. When I saw it, my book felt like a real novel instead of a Google Docs on my computer. 

Surviving in space is never simple.

Thirteen-year-old Ana lives on The Platinum Phoenix, a run-down mining colony carved out of a massive asteroid. When the mining robots break, panic follows. Without them, the colony can't extract the ice they depend on for water. The mine shafts were designed for slender robots—adults can't fit through them to make repairs by hand. But Ana can.

To save her colony and her family, Ana suits up and heads deep into the dangerous vacuum of the mines, hoping to make the repairs that will keep everyone she loves alive.