Two Good Things, One Bad Thing

Three things of note, including a piece of big news I’ve been dying to tell you about for a while, and some bad news:

1. I sold my contemporary fantasy novel Briarpatch to ChiZine Publications. (This is the book I have previously referred to as the Bridge novel and The Light of a Better World. Titles are hard.) It should appear in 2011 — currently scheduled for August. There will be a fancy, pricey, signed limited-edition hardcover (my first hardcover for a novel!) and an affordable trade paperback.
   

   I first published in their online magazine Chiaroscuro years ago, and have been really impressed by the stuff ChiZine has published since they started doing their book line — especially Gemma Files’s debut novel, the Robert J. Wiersema novella they did, and other good stuff. Thanks to publishers Brett and Sandra for taking the novel, and to my agent Ginger for negotiating the deal. I’m so excited. This book is hugely important to me. You’ll all finally get to read about Darrin and Bridget and Ismael and Orville Troll and the Wendigo and the Queen of Bears and and and… It’s a book about secrets, lies, betrayals, hidden worlds, bridges, magical thinking, suicidal ideation, the redemptive power of love, the failure of love to conquer all, the poisonous nature of nostalgia, the quest for purpose, and other things.
   

2. Chapter 5 of The Nex is live — only 13 more to go!
   

   If you just can’t wait to read the book, or prefer reading a whole novel in a gulp: The Nex is available as a Kindle e-book now too. (Here’s the link to the UK Kindle store for all you Brits.)
   

3. My wife Heather had her hours slashed in half at her day job, so our financial stability — never that stable to begin with — is now downright precarious. The timing’s bad, too. I got a chunk of money recently for the Marla Mason movie option and promptly used it to pay some taxes, pay off many outstanding bills, buy some long-delayed household necessities, and to have a lavish anniversary dinner. If I’d known we were going to take such a financial hit, I would have hoarded the money more. If you know of any freelance gigs she might like, let me know. Heather’s a great writer with experience doing general non-fiction, book reviews, catalogue copy… most kinds of commercial writing, really. And in the meantime, if you’ve been thinking of donating for The Nex, now’s a good time. This really sucks. We were feeling somewhat financially stable for the first time since she spent six months unemployed last year, and now the rug’s been jerked out from under us. I’ll just have to hustle harder and write more stories. Nothing motivates like panic.
   

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