For those who turned in last week to read the first chapter of my short story “Blood Crimes;” chapter two is out at Paizo’s website now. If you like your fantasy dark and a bit pulpy, be sure to head over and check it out.

Well, it’s already June in this part of the world (3 days in technically) and that’s given us new fun things to talk about. Firstly, I’ve a bit of RPG announcement – Paizo Publishing recently released The Varnhold Vanishing, the third book in their “Kingmaker” adventure path for the Pathfinder RPG. Not only is it a great adventure, but this volume features a short story by yours truly! The series of stories in all six books are intertwined, and it was great fun coordinating with the other authors to set up foreshadowing for their stories.

In other awesome news, the cover has been leaked for “Butcher Knives and Body Counts” an essay collection on slasher films of which I am thrilled to be a part. The cover was done by my esteemed webmistress and all around great artist Deena Warner, and I think it nails the theme perfectly:

That Deena, she’s a genius.

I can also announce (now that I’ve sent in a contract) that I sold my short story “And the Rain, It Hammered Down” to PS Publishing for inclusion in their upcoming anthology Up Jumped the Devil. The entire anthology is stories inspired by the music of Nick Cave – one of my favorite musicians. It’s going to be a great collection, and again, I’m thrilled to be included.

Keeping up with Appearances:
Nothing happening for me in June, but next month I’ll be front and center at RWA down in sunny (oily) Florida. Then I’ll turn right around and head off to GenCon the following week, before coming in for a well earned rest. Later in the fall, I’ll be at World Fantasy in Columbus, OH, one of my favorite towns to visit. Why do I love it, you ask? Easy. They have Tim Horton’s.

I’ve made it through another year, and to celebrate, I’ve posted A New Essay! I know, you’re all probably stunned by the change in content on my essays page. To make it easy on folks, I’ve kept with a theme and stuck in another Rush quote (They’ve quite the body of work. Maybe All my essays should use one).

I’ve finally gotten around to setting myself up as an author on Goodreads. If you’ve read one of my stories, please feel free to head over there and say nice things about it. Dark Faith is out there now so if you were one of the smart, attractive people who pre-ordered a copy now’s your chance to sneak over and review it before the rush.

The tragedy in Nashville has really crushed my spirits – the Opryland Hotel that they keep showing as flooded was to be the site of this year’s RWA conference. The hotel has had to cancel, obviously, but the writing community has pulled together to do something awesome – they are having a charity auction to helps with flood relief. If you have money to spare, or the ability to donate, please visit Do the Write Thing for Nashville.

Keeping up with Appearances:
Sadly, I missed Mo*Con V – I extend my sincere apologies to anyone who showed up hoping to see me. Circumstance conspired against me and kept it from happening at the last minute. RWA has moved to a new location in the wake of Nashville’s tragedy, but I still plan to attend. I’ll be at GenCon this Summer, as well as World Fantasy this Fall.

Working together is unavoidable, falling in love... inevitable

My science-fiction romance has landed, and now is the chance for everyone to buy a digital copy for themselves. Again, I can’t stress how wonderful Samhain has been to work with, or how much I love Kanaxa’s awesome cover. It’s my first romance, and frankly I couldn’t be more proud of it.

Also, if you didn’t see it, you can still catch my blog post, Olympian Effort over on Samhain’s Author Blog, The Samhellion.

Keeping up with Appearances:
The year is starting to take shape, and it looks to be another busy one. Expect to see me at Mo*Con IV, to help celebrate the release of Dark Faith from Apex Publishing. Chances are good that you’ll find me at RWA in Nashville this summer, and I’ll also be at GenCon in August. And since it’s in my favorite town in Ohio, it’s a safe bet you’ll see me at World Fantasy as well.