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Thursday, February 28, 2019

Guest Blog by J.S. Breukelaar: Writing Speculative Fiction


Please welcome J.S. Breukelaar to The Qwillery as part of the Collision Blog Tour. Collision: Stories was published on February 19, 2019 by Meerkat Press.







Writing Speculative Fiction

I love writing speculative fiction—fairy tales, science fiction, horror—this is my sandbox. Whatever the first fantastic tale I read—Poe maybe, or King or Bradbury—I can still remember how it made me feel like I’d come home to something, and that was where I belonged.

I still feel that way. I’m comfortable creating worlds and beings that make other people feel uncomfortable. I’m at home in homelessness. Scared or uneasy or in the wrong time and the wrong skin. The dark woods, the broken mirror, the sentient city, the haunted road. Welcome. I am the author, your g(host). Hope you enjoy your stay.

These elements of speculative fiction in Collision—from mysterious armless piano players to evil AIs to talking dogs to ghosts in the machine—are my way of weirding a consensual reality, and punking the idea of a universal reader who is whatever a certain set of influential authors want them to be at that time. I don’t belong to that set. I was reading King’s IT when most of the serious readers I knew were reading Zadie Smith or Jonathan Franzen. I was writing stories about weird multiverses and phosphorescent pouched aliens and suburban witches when many writers I know were writing about—not that. And I don’t know if it matters. Being creeped out is my way of getting all my senses to stand at attention—and to get my readers to pay attention too. There is lots of so-called mainstream fiction that creeps me out as much as the creepiest Shirley Jackson. The Virgin Suicides, White Noise, Emily Dickenson, Dashiell Hammett, Henry James, Dickens, Shakespeare, Raymond Carver—stuff as weird as the weirdest speculative fiction. I could not have written Collision without reading outside speculative fiction and my work as much a collision between literary and genre fiction as anything. The way I see it, speculative fiction needs to do what any good fiction does. It needs to make us ask serious questions about how to be human and how not to be, in this world, or any world.





Collision: Stories
Meerkat Press, February 19, 2019
Trade Paperback and eBook 220 pages

A collection of twelve of J.S. Breukelaar's darkest, finest stories with four new works, including the uncanny new novella "Ripples on a Blank Shore." Introduction by award-winning author, Angela Slatter. Relish the gothic strangeness of "Union Falls," the alien horror of "Rogues Bay 3013," the heartbreaking dystopia of "Glow," the weird mythos of "Ava Rune," and others. This collection from the author of American Monster and the internationally acclaimed and Aurealis Award finalist, Aletheia, announces a new and powerful voice in fantastical fiction.





An Excerpt

Collision

The sky bulged above the diner at the edge of town. Cassi let the heavy curtains drop back over the window. She had tried to nap but now sat up with her legs over the edge of the bed. It was the middle of the day, and formless shadows made the walls of the room recede into nothing. She once again peeked through the windows at the ominous sky. The collision was coming sooner than she thought, than any of them thought. Her computer screen pulsed at the desk, encrypted messages waterfalling down the screen. She reached for her phone to check an incoming text message—surely her colleagues in the scientific community were as alarmed by the herniated sky as she was.
     But the message was only from her brother, Issac.
     Everything’s changed.
     That was it. Her phone splished again and she opened a garbled audio message of him crying out, “But why?” Cassi held the phone at arm’s length. The question sounded as loud as if her brother were in the next room. But that was impossible. Issac had left for school hours ago. She checked her watch. The lunchtime bell had just rung. In the background of the message, more faintly, Cassi could hear a jumble of quaint words that she had almost forgotten: “fairy,” “fruit,” and “fag.”
     Cassi stared at the phone as if it were a foreign object, something from the future that was already past. The words were from another time that would, Cassi had once promised Issac, never hurt him again.
     They were their father’s words.
     Even though she could see that he was typing again, she texted back, Where are you? and the answer came before she finished: In the first-floor bathroom.
     He was eight years younger than her, a junior at Fairstate High. Cassi taught physics at the same school, except on Mondays, her day off, when she tried to catch up on her own research. Today though, she had spent most of the time in the dark staring through the curtains at the terrible sky.
     Another audio message came in from her brother, and more garbled yelling. If she didn’t know that he was in the bathroom (he liked to use the unisex facility on the first floor) she would think that he was watching a movie with his arty friends. Mostly pale and fragile creatures, unlike tall, ruddy Issac, they wore Stranger Things T-shirts and huddled in one of the small screening rooms at lunchtime, eating leftovers from home and discussing The Fall of the House of Usher and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. But how could Issac be watching movies in the unisex facility on the first floor? And anyway, these weren’t movie screams.
     They were real.
     She pulled her sneakers on, the tattoo on the back of her ankle faded to a vascular blue. Then she was outside in the high, bright white of noon, pedaling toward the school, desperate to get there before that bubble burst in the sky. Their neighborhood diner, where Issac sometimes hung out, loomed ahead at the junction. But just before she could turn off toward the town, the sidewalk split open, and Cassi went flying into space. Everything went dark and the bike felt pulled out from under her by a hidden hand. Then she was lying on the ground blinking through her tears at the bulging sky.
     “Issac?” she screamed toward wherever her phone had landed.
     “Who?” A waitress from the diner stood over Cassi with hands on her hips, splaying emerald-green fingernails that glittered in the sun.
     Cassi heard the waitress’s words echo off the sidewalk, multiply into a chorus of croaks, and circle back to ask her again: Yes, tell us who.
     The whirr of spinning bicycle wheels broke through the echo, and Cassi side-eyed the huge gash in the asphalt—would she have seen it in time? She felt foolish now. Her knee stung and her shoulder throbbed where it had hit the pavement. The waitress wore a name tag that said Alphonso Jaya, the name of Issac’s friend who worked at the diner.
     “You’re not Alphonso,” Cassi said to cover up her embarrassment. She tried to push herself to a sitting position. The crack in the sidewalk heaved beneath her like she was something indigestible—the pale ground pushing her back to where she came from, to where she should be. “My brother’s in trouble over at the school.”
     “Alphonso?” the waitress said.
     “Issac.”
     Cassi was Issac’s legal guardian, had been for five years, since she turned twenty-one and moved them back to town from their cousins’ farm. Their cousins were significantly removed in geography and blood lines, and much older than the siblings—more like an aging aunt and uncle. They were too old to raise a couple of kids—runaways that family gossip told them they should have seen coming—but as Cousin Emily primly said, you never see the obvious until it’s right in front of you, and sometimes not even then. Anyway, they had done their best. They took Issac and Cassi to church every Sunday, allowed them to bathe on Saturday afternoons once their chores were done, and never laid a hand on them. They never used the names Cassi had run away from (“fairy,” “fruit,” “fag”) and eventually Issac, and the world, moved on.
     But Cassi never forgot. She still heard those names in her dreams, remembered how they scared her, even more than the man—their father—who used them. The names had a life of their own, she knew, and like all evil things, would find what they were looking for.

Used with permission. COLLISION: Stories. Copyright © 2019 by J.S. Breukelaar





About the Author

Photo by Guy Bailey
J.S. Breukelaar is the author of the Aurealis-nominated novel Aletheia, and American Monster, a Wonderland Award finalist. She has published stories, poems and essays in publications such as Gamut, Black Static, Unnerving, Lightspeed, Lamplight and elsewhere. She is a columnist and regular instructor at LitReactor.com. California-born and New York raised, she currently lives in Sydney, Australia with her family. You can find her at www.thelivingsuitcase.com.







Twitter @jsbreukelaar  ~  Facebook







Wednesday, February 27, 2019

Covers Revealed - Upcoming Works by DAC Authors


Here are some of the upcoming works by formerly featured Debut Author Challenge (DAC) Authors. The year in parentheses is the year the author was featured in the DAC.


Clarissa Goenawan (2018)

Rainbirds
Soho Press, March 19, 2019
Trade Paperback, 336 pages
Hardcover and eBook, March 6, 2018

Set in an imagined town outside Tokyo, Clarissa Goenawan’s dark, spellbinding literary debut follows a young man’s path to self-discovery in the wake of his sister’s murder.

Ren Ishida has nearly completed his graduate degree at Keio University when he receives news of his sister’s violent death. Keiko was stabbed one rainy night on her way home, and there are no leads. Ren heads to Akakawa to conclude his sister’s affairs, failing to understand why she chose to turn her back on the family and Tokyo for this desolate place years ago.

But then Ren is offered Keiko’s newly vacant teaching position at a prestigious local cram school and her bizarre former arrangement of free lodging at a wealthy politician’s mansion in exchange for reading to the man’s ailing wife. He accepts both, abandoning Tokyo and his crumbling relationship there in order to better understand his sister’s life and what took place the night of her death.

As Ren comes to know the eccentric local figures, from the enigmatic politician who’s boarding him to his fellow teachers and a rebellious, captivating young female student, he delves into his shared childhood with Keiko and what followed. Haunted in his dreams by a young girl who is desperately trying to tell him something, Ren realizes that Keiko Ishida kept many secrets, even from him.





Sean Grigsby (2018)

Ash Kickers
Smoke Eaters 2
Angry Robot, July 9, 2019
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 336 pages

It’s dragons vs firefighters vs the Phoenix in the scorching fantasy sequel to Smoke Eaters.

With ex-firefighter Cole Brannigan in command of the Smoke Eaters, the dragon menace is under control. Thanks to non-lethal Canadian tech, the beasts are just tranquilized and locked up. But for Tamerica Williams, a job filled with action and danger has become routine. She’s so bored she nearly gets her whole team killed, and Brannigan has to step in. When a new threat emerges, the legendary bird of fire – the Phoenix – spreading fire like a plague and whipping dragons into a frenzy, it’s a perfect task for Williams, but killing the Phoenix just brings it back stronger. Is that too much excitement, even for Williams?

File Under: Fantasy [ Smoke Em | Catch and Release | Fire Bird | Arson About ]


Book 1





Peter McLean (2016)

Priest of Lies
War for the Rose Throne 1
Ace, July 2, 2019
Trade Paperback and eBook, 368 pages

Tomas Piety has been many things: soldier, priest, gangster…and spy. As Tomas’s power grows, the nobility better watch their backs, in this dark and gritty epic fantasy series.

People are weak, and the poorer and more oppressed they are, the weaker they become–until they can’t take it anymore. And when  they rise up…may the gods help their oppressors.

When Tomas Piety returned from the war, he just wanted to rebuild his empire of crime with his gang of Pious Men. But his past as a spy for the Queen’s Men drew him back in and brought him more power than he ever imagined.

Now, with half of his city in ashes and the Queen’s Men at his back, the webs of political intrigue stretch out from the capital to pull Tomas in. Dannsburg is calling.

In Dannsburg the nobility fight with words, not blades, but the results are every bit as bloody. In this pit of beasts, Tomas must decide once and for all whether he is truly the people’s champion…or just a priest of lies.


Book 1

The Andromeda Evolution Coming in November 2019


HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS ANNOUNCES THE PUBLICATION OF
THE ANDROMEDA EVOLUTION, 
THE SEQUEL TO MICHAEL CRICHTON’S
 WORLDWIDE BESTSELLING NOVEL THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN


New York, NY (February 2019) HarperCollins Publishers is thrilled to announce the publication of THE ANDROMEDA EVOLUTION, the sequel to Michael Crichton’s groundbreaking techno-thriller, THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN. The novel, a collaboration between CrichtonSun LLC and bestselling sci-fi author Daniel H. Wilson, will be published on November 12, 2019 by Harper US, UK and Australia simultaneously.

On the 50th Anniversary of THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN, the novel that made Michael Crichton a household name — and spawned a new genre, the technothriller — the threat returns, in a gripping sequel that is terrifyingly realistic and resonant of the original.

“It’s hard to believe that half a century has passed since the publication of THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN, particularly as the fears at the book’s core remain in the forefront of our collective consciousness; the title itself has become part of our culture – a shorthand for any global pandemic. Harper could not be more excited to publish the continuation to the book that launched Michael Crichton’s career,” said Harper President & Publisher Jonathan Burnham.

“Michael’s first benchmark novel, THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN, was ahead of its time in both subject matter and how it was presented to the reader,” said Sherri Crichton, CEO, CrichtonSun LLC. “It's exciting to be shining a spotlight on the world that Michael so brilliantly created and to collaborate with Daniel Wilson. This novel is for Crichton fans; it’s a celebration of Michael’s universe and a way to introduce him to new generations, and to those discovering his worlds for the first time.”

"As a lifelong fan of Michael Crichton, it’s been an unbelievable honor to revisit the iconic world that he created and to continue this adventure,” said Wilson. “It's a testament to Crichton's genius that the originality of The Andromeda Strain is just as exciting and relatable now as it was on the day it was first published."

Michael Crichton (1942-2008) was the author of the best selling novels The Terminal Man, The Great Train Robbery, Jurassic Park, Sphere, Disclosure, Prey, State of Fear, Next and Dragon Teeth among many others. His books have sold more than 200 million copies worldwide, have been translated into thirty-eight languages, and have provided the basis for fifteen feature films. He wrote and directed Westworld, The Great Train Robbery, Runaway, Looker, Coma and created the hit television series ER. Crichton remains the only writer to have a number one book, movie, and TV show in the same year.

Daniel H. Wilson is a Cherokee citizen and author of the New York Times bestselling Robopocalypse and its sequel Robogenesis, as well as ten other books, including How to Survive a Robot Uprising, Guardian Angels & Other Monsters, and The Clockwork Dynasty. He recently wrote the Earth 2: Society comic book series for DC Comics. In 2008, Wilson hosted "The Works," a television series airing on the History Channel that uncovered the science behind everyday stuff. He earned a PhD in Robotics from Carnegie Mellon University, as well as Masters degrees in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. He has published over a dozen scientific papers and holds four patents. Wilson lives in Portland, Oregon.


ABOUT HARPERCOLLINS:
HarperCollins Publishers is the second largest consumer book publisher in the world, with operations in 17 countries. With two hundred years of history and more than 120 branded imprints around the world, HarperCollins publishes approximately 10,000 new books every year in 16 languages, and has a print and digital catalog of more than 200,000 titles. Writing across dozens of genres, HarperCollins authors include winners of the Nobel Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, the Newbery and Caldecott Medals and the Man Booker Prize. HarperCollins, headquartered in New York, is a subsidiary of News Corp (NASDAQ: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV) and can be visited online at corporate.HC.com.

ABOUT CRICHTONSUN:
CrichtonSun LLC is a publishing, motion picture and television production company founded by Sherri Crichton. It is the home of the Michael Crichton Archives, with a legacy of novels, non-fiction work, speeches, film scripts and television series the visionary left behind. Michael re-defined science-fiction into science fact, explored history and things yet to come, transforming the vision of science capabilities, past, present and future. Sherri Crichton and her producing partner Laurent Bouzereau continue Michael’s legacy through a variety of exciting projects, across all platforms, bringing his voice into the 21st Century and beyond.

Tuesday, February 26, 2019

GOGOR by Ken Garing Coming in May from Image Comics


ACCLAIMED PLANETOID CREATOR KEN GARING RETURNS WITH HIGH FANTASY SERIES FOR TEENS IN GOGOR THIS MAY

Early preview pages of the series released

PORTLAND, OR 02/25/2019 — Critically acclaimed creator Ken Garing (Planetoid, Planetoid: Praxis) returns to Image Comics in time to launch an all-new high fantasy series titled Gogor this May.

The debut issues of Gogor will feature 28 pages of a wonderfully weird and fantastical story. Deep underground, among the floating islands of Altara, the mystical Gogor sleeps. But trouble brews aboveground as soldiers of the Domus impose their will across the land. Now, a young student named Armano must awaken Gogor and begin his quest to protect the culture of Altara.

Gogor #1 (Diamond Code MAR190024) will be available on Wednesday, May 1. The final order cutoff deadline for comics retailers is Monday, April 8.

Gogor #1 will also be available for purchase across many digital platforms, including the official Image Comics iOS app, Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, comiXology, and Google Play.

Monday, February 25, 2019

The View From Monday - February 26, 2019


Happy last Monday in February.

There are no debuts this week. From formerly featured DAC Authors:

Death & Honey by Kevin Hearne, Lila Bowen, and Chuck Wendig;

Kill the Farm Boy (The Tales of Pell 1) by Kevin Hearne and Delilah S. Dawson is out in Trade Paperback;

Sedona Sin (Sedona Pack 1) by Lisa Kessler;

Grey Sister (Book of the Ancestor 2) by Mark Lawrence is out in Mass Market Paperback;

The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie;

Lost Souls (Soul Charmer 3) by Chelsea Mueller;

Final Exam (A Witch City Mystery 8) by Carol J. Perry;

and

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon.

Clicking on a novel's cover will take you to its Amazon page.






Debut novels are highlighted in blue. Novels, etc. by formerly featured DAC Authors are highlighted in green.

February 25, 2019
TITLEAUTHORSERIES
Sedona Sin (e) Lisa Kessler PNR - Sedona Pack 1
Lost Souls Chelsea Mueller UF - Soul Charmer 3



February 26, 2019
TITLEAUTHORSERIES
The Beast Arises: Volume 1 Dan Abnett
Rob Sanders
SF - Warhammer 40,000
Phoenix Falling Laura Bickle CF - Wildlands 5
The Skaar Invasion Terry Brooks F - The Fall of Shannara 2
Mike Hammer - The Goliath Bone Max Allan Collins Mickey Spillane PI/H
The Librarians and the Pot of Gold (h2mm) Greg Cox CF/MTI - The Librarians 3
The Dark Powers of Tolkien David Day F/DF
One of Us (h2tp) Craig DiLouie CF/F/LF/MR
The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of The Year's Best Science Fiction Gardner Dozois (Ed) SF - Anthology
The Blackest Heart Brian Lee Durfee F - The Five Warrior Angels 2
1636: The Vatican Sanction Eric Flint
Charles E. Gannon
SF - Ring of Fire 24
Tor.com Publishing Editorial Spotlight #2: A Selection of Novellas (e) Lee Harris (Ed) SF/F - Anthology
Broken Sun, Broken Moon Brent Hayward F/DF/SF - Collection
Kill the Farm Boy (h2tp) Kevin Hearne
Delilah S. Dawson
F/HU/FairyT/FolkT/LM - The Tales of Pell 1
The Darkest Lord (e) Jack Heckel F/HU/FairyT/FolkT/LM - Mysterium 3
Miss Violet and the Great War Leanna Renee Hieber HistF/SP - Strangely Beautiful 3
Skidding Into Oblivion Brian Hodge Occ/Sup/H/SS - Collection
Circle of the Moon Faith Hunter UF/CF/P - Soulwood 4
Mission to Methone (tp2mm) Les Johnson SF/HSF
Hole in the World Brian Keene DF - Lost Level Prequel
In the Land of the Everliving Stephen R. Lawhead F/HistF - Eirlandia 2
Grey Sister (h2mm) Mark Lawrence F - Book of the Ancestor 2
The Folded Land (tp2mm) Tim Lebbon DF/CF/H - Relics 2
The Raven Tower Ann Leckie F/LF
No Way S. J. Morden SF/HSF/SE - One Way 2
Awakened (h2mm) James S. Murray
Darren Wearmouth
H - Awakened 1
Final Exam Carol J. Perry PCM - A Witch City Mystery 8
The Homecoming Andrew Pyper LF/PsyTh
Chaos, A Fable Rodrigo Rey Rosa
Jeffrey Gray (Tr)
LF
Contact (ri) Carl Sagan SF/AC
The Priory of the Orange Tree Samantha Shannon F/CoA/FairyT/FolkT/LM
Captain Marvel: Liberation Run Prose Novel Tess Sharpe SH
You Had Me at Jaguar Terry Spear PNR - Heart of the Shifter 1
The Witchwood Crown (tp2mm) Tad Williams F/DF - Last King of Osten Ard 1
The Praxis (ri) Walter Jon Williams SF - Dread Empire's Fall 1
Thrawn: Alliances (h2mm) Timothy Zahn SF/SO - Star Wars: Thrawn 2
Cobra Traitor (tp2mm) Timothy Zahn SF - Cobra 10



February 28, 2019
TITLEAUTHORSERIES
The American Superhero: Encyclopedia of Caped Crusaders in History Richard A. Hall HC
Death & Honey Kevin Hearne
Lila Bowen
Chuck Wendig
F/Sup/UF
More Walls Broken Tim Powers F/SF



D - Debut
e - eBook
Ed - Editor
h2mm - Hardcover to Mass Market Paperback
h2tp - Hardcover to Trade Paperback
ri - reissue or reprint
tp2mm - Trade Paperback to Mass Market Paperback
Tr - Translator



AC - Alien Contact
AP - Apocalyptic
Bio - Biographical
CF - Contemporary Fantasy
CoA - Coming of Age
Cr - Crime
CW - Contemporary Women
CyP - Cyberpunk
DF - Dark Fantasy
Dys - Dystopian
F - Fantasy
FairyT - Fairy Tales
FolkT - Folk Tales
FR - Fantasy Romance
GH - Ghost(s)
H - Horror
Hist - Historical
HistF - Historical Fantasy
HSF - Hard Science Fiction
Hu - Humor
LF - Literary Fiction
LM - Legend and Mythology
M - Mystery
MR - Magical Realism
MTI - Media Tie-In
NF - Near Future
Occ - Occult
P - Paranormal
PA - Post Apocalyptic
PCM - Parnormal Cozy Mystery
PI - Private Investigators
PNR - Paranormal Romance
Pol - Political
PP - Police Procedural
Psy - Psychological
PsyTh - Psychological Thriller
RF - Romantic Fantasy
SE - Space Exploration
SF - Science Fiction
SFR - Science Fiction Romance
SO - Space Opera
SP - Steampunk
SS - Short Stories
Sup - Supernatural
SupTh - Supernatural Thriller
Sus - Suspense
TechTh - Technological Thriller
Th - Thriller
TT - Time Travel
VisM - Visionary and Metaphysical

Note: Not all genres and formats are found in the books, etc. listed above.

Michel Fiffe's COPRA Trade Paperbacks Coming to Image Comics



COPRA TRADE PAPERBACKS FIND NEW HOME AT IMAGE COMICS THIS MAY



PORTLAND, OR 02/22/2019 — Michel Fiffe’s wildly popular Copra series will find a new home at Image Comics this May. All five volumes of the series will be available at once for fans looking to catch up on the critically acclaimed series and for those readers new to the bestselling superhero revenge story.

"I can't wait for readers to grab these collections and be able to finally read my violent celebration of superhero team comics," said Fiffe. "They'll see the enthusiasm I've charged into 30 plus issues and jump on board just in time to realize that I'm just getting started."

Each trade paperback volume of Copra collects six issues of the series.

About Copra, Vol. 1 (ISBN: 978-1-5343-1391-0, Diamond Code MAR190056):
They’re ugly. They’re mean. But up until today, they’ve always been loyal. So when one of their own betrays them, COPRA has no choice but to turn their nightmarish skills back on everyone who ever even looked at them funny. Collects Copra #1-6.

About Copra, Vol. 2 (ISBN: 978-1-5343-1392-7, Diamond Code MAR190057):
Genocide ain’t a pretty thing to see, but there’s no time to mourn when your face is at the edge of the abyss. Scarred, desperate, and alone, COPRA will clear their name in a brutal reckoning with the forces that screwed them over and sold them out in Michel Fiffe’s unmatched juggernaut of violence. Collects Copra #7-12.

About Copra, Vol. 3 (ISBN: 978-1-5343-1393-4, Diamond Code MAR190058):
Old friends and older habits, cell blocks and beaches. Grandma’s homemade recipes and a cartel slaughterhouse. This is what the men and women of COPRA call downtime. Their habit is vengeance, and they couldn’t stop if they wanted to. It’s the third volume of Michel Fiffe’s overpowering superhero sidewinder. Collects Copra #13-18.

About Copra, Vol. 4 (ISBN: 978-1-5343-1394-1, Diamond Code MAR190059):
The return of the world’s favorite revenge team is marked by back-to-back brutality and psychedelic suspense. Our team gets served the same penalties they’ve dished out in the wake of a prison break, an unstoppable assassin, and a seminal showdown. Keep up as COPRA’s kill list gets checked off at the peak of their mondo bizarro bloodlust. Collects Copra #19-24.

About Copra, Vol. 5 (ISBN: 978-1-5343-1395-8, Diamond Code MAR190060):
How do you measure loyalty in a treacherous world? In the latest collection of Michel Fiffe’s wildly popular superhero action masterpiece, the answer is found at the end of a fist, the blade of a sword, and the mouth of a gun. Crush or be crushed. The place is anywhere. The time is now. Collects Copra #26-31.

Copra, Vol. 1-5 trade paperbacks will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, May 1. The final order cutoff deadline for comic shop retailers is Monday, April 8.

Copra, Vol. 1-5 trade paperbacks will be available at bookstores on Tuesday, May 7. They can be pre-ordered on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, IndieBound, and Indigo.

Copra is also available for purchase across many digital platforms, including the official Image Comics iOS app, Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, comiXology, and Google Play.


ABOUT IMAGE COMICS
Image Comics is a comic book and graphic novel publisher founded in 1992 by a collective of bestselling artists. Image has since gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. Image currently has five partners: Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri, and Jim Valentino. It consists of five major houses: Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline Comics, Skybound Entertainment, and Image Central. Image publishes comics and graphic novels in nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable. It offers science fiction, fantasy, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. For more information, visit
www.imagecomics.com.

Sunday, February 24, 2019

2018 Bram Stoker Awards® Final Ballot


The Horror Writers Association has announced the 2018 Bram Stoker Awards® Final Ballot.

The award will be presented during the StokerCon™ being held at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The gala presentation take place on Saturday night, May 11th. The awards presentation will also be live-streamed online via the Horror Writers Association website.

2018 Bram Stoker Awards® Final Ballot


Superior Achievement in a Novel
  • Alma Katsu – The Hunger (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
  • Jonathan Maberry – Glimpse (St. Martin’s Press)
  • Josh Malerman – Unbury Carol (Del Rey)
  • Dacre Stoker and J.D. Barker – Dracul (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
  • Paul Tremblay – The Cabin at the End of the World (William Morrow)

Superior Achievement in a First Novel
  • Julie Fine – What Should Be Wild (Harper)
  • T.E. Grau – I Am the River (Lethe Press)
  • Gwendolyn Kiste  – The Rust Maidens (Trepidatio Publishing)
  • Zoje Stage – Baby Teeth (St. Martin’s Press)
  • Tony Tremblay – The Moore House (Twisted Publishing)

Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel
  • Justina Ireland – Dread Nation (Balzer + Bray)
  • Claire Legrand – Sawkill Girls (Katherine Tegen Books)
  • Jonathan Maberry – Broken Lands (Simon & Schuster)
  • Monique Snyman  – The Night Weaver (Gigi Publishing)
  • Kiersten White  – The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein (Delacorte Press)

Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel
  • Saladin Ahmed  – Abbott (BOOM! Studios)
  • Brian Azzarello  – Moonshine Vol. 2: Misery Train (Image Comics)
  • Cullen Bunn  – Bone Parish (BOOM! Studios)
  • Victor LaValle  – Victor LaValle’s Destroyer (BOOM! Studios)
  • Marjorie Liu  – Monstress Volume 3: Haven (Image Comics)

Superior Achievement in Long Fiction
  • Michael Bailey – Our Children, Our Teachers (Written Backwards)
  • Joe Hill – You Are Released (Flight or Fright: 17 Turbulent Tales) (Scribner)
  • Usman T. Malik  – Dead Lovers on Each Blade, Hung (Nightmare Magazine Issue #74)
  • Rena Mason – The Devil’s Throat (Hellhole: An Anthology of Subterranean Terror) (Adrenaline Press)
  • Angela Yuriko Smith – Bitter Suites (CreateSpace)

Superior Achievement in Short Fiction
  • Jess Landry – “Mutter” (Fantastic Tales of Terror) (Crystal Lake Publishing)
  • Lee Murray – “Dead End Town”(Cthulhu Deep Down Under Volume 2) (IFWG Publishing International)
  • Annie Neugebauer – “Glove Box” (The Dark City Crime & Mystery Magazine Volume 3, Issue 4-July 2018)
  • John F.D.Taff,  – “A Winter’s Tale” (Little Black Spots) (Grey Matter Press)
  • Kyla LeeWard  – “And in Her Eyes the City Drowned” (Weirdbook #39) (Wildside Press)

Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection
  • Gemma Files – Spectral Evidence (Trepidatio Publishing)
  • Eric J. Guignard – That Which Grows Wild (Cemetery Dance Publications)
  • Gabino Iglesias – Coyote Songs (Broken River Books)
  • Lucy A. Snyder – Garden of Eldritch Delights (Raw Dog Screaming Press)
  • Tim Waggoner – Dark and Distant Voices: A Story Collection (Nightscape Press)

Superior Achievement in a Screenplay
  • Ari Aster – Hereditary (PalmStar Media)
  • Meredith Averill – The Haunting of Hill House: The Bent-Neck Lady, Episode 01:05 (Amblin Television, FlanaganFilm, Paramount Television)
  • Alex Garland – Annihilation (DNA Films, Paramount Pictures, Scott Rudin Productions, Skydance Media)
  • Eric Heisserer – Bird Box (Bluegrass Films, Chris Morgan Productions, Universal Pictures)
  • Bryan Woods, Scott Beck, and John Krasinski – A Quiet Place (Platinum Dunes, Sunday Night)

Superior Achievement in an Anthology
  • James Chambers, April Grey, and Robert Masterson – A New York State of Fright: Horror Stories from the Empire State (Hippocampus Press)
  • Ellen Datlow – The Devil and the Deep: Horror Stories of the Sea (Night Shade Books)
  • Eric J. Guignard – A World of Horror (Dark Moon Books)
  • Lee Murray – Hellhole: An Anthology of Subterranean Terror (Adrenaline Press)
  • D. Alexander Ward – Lost Highways: Dark Fictions from the Road (Crystal Lake Publishing)

Superior Achievement in Non-Fiction
  • John Connolly – Horror Express (PS Publishing)
  • Lee Gambin – The Howling: Studies in the Horror Film (Centipede Press)
  • Howard David Ingham – We Don’t Go Back: A Watcher’s Guide to Folk Horror (Room 207 Press)
  • Joe Mynhardt and Eugene Johnson – It’s Alive: Bringing Your Nightmares to Life (Crystal Lake Publishing)
  • Kevin J. Wetmore Jr. – Uncovering Stranger Things: Essays on Eighties Nostalgia, Cynicism and Innocence in the Series (McFarland)

Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection
  • Bruce Boston – Artifacts (Independent Legions Publishing)
  • David E. Cowen – Bleeding Saffron (Weasel Press)
  • Donna Lynch – Witches (Raw Dog Screaming Press)
  • Marge Simon and Alessandro Manzetti – War (Crystal Lake Publishing)
  • Sara Tantlinger – The Devil’s Dreamland (Strangehouse Books)


HWA is a nonprofit organization of writers and publishing professionals around the world, dedicated to promoting dark literature and the interests of those who write it. The HWA formed in 1985 with the help of many of the field’s greats, including Dean Koontz, Robert McCammon, and Joe Lansdale. Today, with over 1,500 members around the globe, it is the oldest and most respected professional organization for the much-loved writers who have brought you the most enjoyable sleepless nights of your life. The HWA is the home of the prestigious Bram Stoker Award® and the creator of the annual StokerCon™ convention. - from the Press Release

Friday, February 22, 2019

Covers Revealed - Upcoming Works by DAC Authors


Here are some of the upcoming works by formerly featured Debut Author Challenge (DAC) Authors. The year in parentheses is the year the author was featured in the DAC.



Stephen Aryan (2015)

Magebane
The Age of Dread 3
Orbit, June 25, 2019
Trade Paperback and eBook, 512 pages

When magic is feared, the mages must learn to fight for themselves in this powerful sequel to the standout epic fantasy Mageborn by Stephen Aryan.

A plague rages in the streets of Perizzi. City guards rally to deal with riots while the young magicians of the Tower pool their healing powers to find a cure.

Elsewhere, new alliances are formed to stem the rising darkness strengthening a deity who feeds on pestilence and decay. Gods, Sorcerers and Battlemages must set aside the past and their vendettas to work together or risk unleashing greater suffering than they can possibly imagine…


For more from Stephen Aryan, check out:

The Age of Dread
Mageborn
Magefall
Magebane

Age of Darkness
Battlemage
Bloodmage
Chaosmage


Book 1
Book 2





Benedict Jacka (2012)

Fallen
Alex Verus 10
Ace, September 24, 2019
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 336 pages

For Mage Alex Verus, everything is on the line in the tenth urban fantasy novel from the national bestselling author of Marked.

Once Alex Verus was a diviner trying to live quietly under the radar.  Now he’s a member of the Light Council who’s found success, friends…and love. But it’s come with a price—the Council is investigating him, and if they find out the truth, he’ll lose everything.

Meanwhile, Alex’s old master, Richard Drakh, is waging a war against the Council, and he’s preparing a move that will bring Alex and the life mage, Anne, under his control.  Caught between Richard and the Council, Alex’s time is running out.  To protect those he cares for, Alex will have to become something different. Something darker…


Book 1
Book 2
Book 3
Book 4
Book 5
Book 6
Book 7
Book 8
Book 9






Rowenna Miller (2018)

Fray
The Unraveled Kingdom 2
Orbit, June 4, 2019
Trade Paperback and eBook, 496 pages

In this epic sequel to Torn, the magical seamstress Sophie Balstrade navigates a royal court and foreign alliances fraught with danger — and may well have to risk everything for love and for country.

Open revolt has been thwarted — for now — but unrest still simmers in the kingdom of Galitha. Sophie, despite having built a thriving business on her skill at both dressmaking and magic, has not escaped unscathed from her misadventures in the workers’ rebellion. Her dangerous foray into curse casting has rendered her powers unpredictable, and her increasingly visible romantic entanglement with the Crown Prince makes her a convenient target for threatened nobles and malcontented commoners alike.

With domestic political reform and international alliances — and her own life — at stake, Sophie must discern friend from foe… before her magic grows too dark for her to wield.

Rowenna Miller’s enchanting fantasy series, the Unraveled Kingdom, is perfect for fans of The Queen of the Tearling and Red Queen.


The Unraveled Kingdom
Torn
Fray


Book 1

Thursday, February 21, 2019

Nintendo Download, February 21, 2019: Try Pokémon Before You Buy!


This week’s Nintendo Download includes the following featured content:
  • Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch
    • Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! / Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee! – Demo Version – The demo version of the Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee! games is available now in Nintendo eShop. Have you visited the vibrant Kanto region on your Nintendo Switch system yet? Then play the free demo version and come see what the excitement is all about! (Note: The content of the demo version differs from the full versions of these games.)
    • Trials Rising Standard Edition – Explore over-the-top action and physics-bending motorcycle racing in the latest entry in the Trials franchise. With more than 125 new tracks, the Trials Rising Standard Edition game is easy to pick up and play, yet challenging to master. Test your friendships with the new Tandem mode that allows two players to control one bike, or create and share unique levels in Track Central with more than 8,000 items available. Trials Rising Standard Edition is available Feb. 26.
    • The LEGO Movie 2 Videogame – The alien monster invaders have left Bricksburg in ruins and taken Emmet’s friends. It is now up to Emmet and a host of heroic characters to go beyond their world and save their friends from the strange inhabitants of the Systar System. Journey into outer space, discover new worlds and test your Master Building skills. The LEGO Movie 2 Videogame is available Feb. 26.
  • Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS
    • Kirby's Extra Epic Yarn – Demo Version – One ticked-off sorcerer just banished Kirby, warping the poor puffball to a yarn world in need of saving. The twist? Having a yarn body is epic! Kirby can transform into knitted wonders like tanks and flying saucers. Plus, his new ravel abilities mimic his classic copy abilities, adding something new to every stage of this action-adventure game! Full game available March 8.

Reggie Fils-Aime to Retire



Nintendo of America’s Reggie Fils-Aime to Retire: Doug Bowser Named New President

Transition will Occur in April

REDMOND, Wash., Feb. 21, 2019 – After more than 15 notable years at Nintendo of America, and nearly 13 as its President and COO, Reggie Fils-Aime will retire. His last day with Nintendo will be April 15. Doug Bowser, NOA’s current Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, will then succeed Reggie as President of Nintendo of America.

“I really appreciate everything Reggie has done for Nintendo,” said Shuntaro Furukawa, President of Nintendo Co., Ltd. “Inside and outside our company, Reggie is known as an exceptional leader. We are grateful that he is leaving the business in good shape with strong momentum. While we will miss him and we wish him the very best in his retirement, we are also pleased to have such an able successor ready to step into that role. Doug Bowser and the rest of the team will ensure a seamless transition and continued momentum for Nintendo.”

“Nintendo owns a part of my heart forever,” Fils-Aime said. “It’s a part that is filled with gratitude – for the incredibly talented people I’ve worked with, for the opportunity to represent such a wonderful brand, and most of all, to feel like a member of the world’s most positive and enduring gamer community. As I look forward to departing in both good health and good humor, this is not ‘game over’ for me, but instead ‘leveling up’ to more time with my wife, family and friends.”

“It has been my great fortune to work with and be mentored by Reggie for four years at Nintendo of America,” Bowser said. “And rest assured, we will continue to build on his work to evolve and expand our brand, furthering Nintendo’s global mission of creating smiles. There are millions more of those to come.”

Fils-Aime started at Nintendo of America in 2003 as its Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing and became its President and COO in May 2006. His time with Nintendo began during the Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy Advance era. His leadership of Nintendo’s largest territory expanded the audience for Nintendo products as phenomena like Nintendogs, Brain Age, Wii Sports and Wii Fit brought millions of new players to the world of video games. Fils-Aime’s management led to record-breaking sales for products like the Nintendo DS, Wii, Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo Switch systems. At the same time, he communicated innovative new product features to a mass audience via his strong and affable personality, making him a favorite of media, members of the video game industry and Nintendo fans alike.

During his tenure, Nintendo of America has expanded its physical presence in the U.S., having established a key sales and marketing office in Redwood City, California, and built a new NOA headquarters in Redmond, Washington, that has received awards for its environmentally friendly design.


Bowser is an industry veteran who joined NOA in May 2015 as the Vice President of Sales before being promoted to Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing the next year. During his time at NOA, Bowser led the sales and marketing efforts for Nintendo Switch, which became the fastest-selling video game system of this hardware generation through 21 months, according to The NPD Group. Previously, Bowser was an executive with industry powerhouse Electronic Arts, most recently as the company’s Vice President of Global Business Planning. He also worked at Procter & Gamble in various sales leadership roles in Asia, Latin America and the U.S.

About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Nintendo Switch system and the Nintendo 3DS family of portable systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo has sold more than 4.7 billion video games and more than 740 million hardware units globally, including Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo 3DS family of systems, as well as the Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS family of systems, Super NES, Nintendo 64, Nintendo GameCube, Wii and Wii U systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names, such as Mario, Donkey Kong, Metroid, Zelda and Pokémon. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the Americas. For more information about Nintendo, please visit the company’s website at https://www.nintendo.com.