Busy week, so I’ll keep this one brief.

I’m still playing catch up. This is what happens when I take a vacation. 🙂

In not writing, but related news, scroll down to the last couple blog posts if you missed them. We have a Book Bomb this week. Also you can vote for Son of the Black Sword as one of the best fantasy novels of the year.

Last week I was doing continuity edits for other author’s stories in the MHI anthology that is coming out next year. Now they go on to Bryan Thomas Schmidt for the final edits. There are so many talented authors in this, and the stories are all over the board in terms of topic and characters. It is really cool.

Before that I wrote a Bubba Shackleford MHI in 1897 story, but that is for a different Baen anthology that I can’t talk about yet I don’t think. I did post up this little teaser on the MHI fan page on Facebook.

“I’ve done men’s work before. I used to work for Buffalo Bill Cody. Mr. Cody said if a woman could do the same work as a man, no reason she couldn’t, and get paid for it too.”
“Buffalo Bill? Wait…Hannah Stone. I’ve heard of you!” Abrams clapped his hands with glee. “We’re in the presence of a celebrity, boss. Annie Oakley taught her to shoot.”
“Mr. Cody made that up for the show. I already knew how to shoot when I got there and I was a much better shot than her.” It was obvious Hannah was not fond of her supposed mentor. “But she was more famous and popular because she was better at the talking part… and show business… And generally liking people.”
Well, she certainly wasn’t a cup of sunshine. Bubba remembered her story now. It had been in the papers all over the place.
“Way I heard it told is you got fired from Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show because there was an accident and your partner got hurt.”
Hannah thought about how to phrase her response for a long moment. “The events which occurred could be described in such a manner.”
“You were supposed to quick draw, shoot from the hip, and knock a cigarette from out of this fella’s mouth at ten paces.”
“Twenty. The crowd always loved that trick. We did it plenty of times. Last show there was some… extenuating complications.”
“That’s some mighty big words to say you blew his lips off.”
“Well, in my defense, Mr. Shackleford, Bob was being awful shaky that day. I’d warned him not to skip breakfast.”

Starting today I’m doing the final edits of Alliance of Shadows. Mike is done with his half, and now I get to do one last clean up pass. (and write my last chapter!) This book is awesome, and I think it is a fitting end to the Valentine and Lorenzo story.

The Tom Stranger audio book comes out next week. And remember, if you order it now, it is FREE. Now if you are like me and you think the only thing better than free is something featuring a time travelling space manatee, then you are in luck. Oh, and it stars this actor guy who was in Firefly, Chuck, and the Last Ship, if you are into that sort of thing. (okay, seriously, Adam kills it)

In personal news, my oldest has just got her learner’s permit, so I’ve been a driver’s ed instructor every night. (a glimpse into my driving instruction, actual quote from me: “Oh, hey, look at that adorable fluffy puppy on the cornerDON’T LOOK AT THE FLUFFY PUPPY EYES ON THE ROAD!) On the bright side, she’s learning quickly, and we’re still alive. On the downside, having a kid turn 16 makes you feel super old.

Son of the Black Sword is on the long list for the Gemmell Award.

Anybody can vote, just go here.

http://www.gemmellawards.com/award-voting-2016/

There is a lot of talent on that list.

From the page:

 The Legend Award, named after David Gemmell’s first and most popular novel, is presented to the fantasy title judged the year’s best by open vote.

and

You can now vote for one nominee on each of the three lists of nominations for the Legend Award (best novel), the Morningstar Award (best debut) and the Ravenheart Award (best cover art).

Voting on the longlists closes at midnight (GMT) on Friday, 24th June.

The shortlists will be opened for voting on Friday 8th July.

The David Gemmell Awards For Fantasy enter their eighth year in 2016, once again recognising and rewarding the very best in fantasy fiction and artwork. 2016 also marks the tenth anniversary of the untimely death of bestselling author David Gemmell, in whose memory the awards were created.

Mark your calendars and please tell your friends, the next Monster Hunter Nation Book Bomb is next Wednesday, May 18th.

For those of you unfamiliar with Book Bombs, what we do is pick a good book and a deserving author that could use a publicity boost, and then all purchase their novel on the same day on Amazon. Since Amazon updates its sales rankings with this rolling average algorithm, the more books bought on the same day, the higher it gets in the rankings. The higher it gets, the more new eyes see it, and the more new readers the author is exposed to. Success breeds success, and most importantly the author GETS PAID.

I’ll actually be posting the Book Bomb post the night of the 17th, because it appears that Amazon now has about a ten hour delay before the sales register. Gone are the wild west days where a book would begin climbing an hour after the Book Bomb started, and it isn’t nearly as awesome to hit the peak at 2 AM when most people are asleep and won’t see it.

Why did I pick Brian for this month’s Book Bomb? First, I really liked the book. Second, he’s just starting out, and he’s a super nice guy. Here is what Brian has to say:

Mission: VALOR is dedicated to combating veteran unemployment and providing successful careers via practicums, internships, and mentors.

I’m happy to announce that I’ve joined the National Advisory Board of Mission: VALOR. They are a charity dedicated to helping with veteran’s employment. I’ve known too many good people who struggle finding decent jobs when they get out, and I’ve seen it wreck lives.

The last company I worked at before I retired to be a full time writer loved hiring prior service. In fact, we got awards from the government for how many disabled veterans we employed. Which was funny, since we didn’t care about that. We just liked hiring vets because we knew they knew how to get things done. However many companies don’t get that, so they miss out.

I was approached by Mike Lermon about Misson: VALOR when I was in Atlanta. They’re still a small, relatively new outfit, but they’re dedicated to helping bridge the gap, and more importantly they’re in it for the vets and not for themselves. They’ve got some good projects in the works. So I volunteered to help.

You’ll be seeing some signal boosting from me here and elsewhere. If you want to check them out there is a link at the bottom. Give their FB page a like or something. If you have any questions use the email at the bottom of the press release.

Here is the official press release:

Best-Selling Author Larry Correia Joins
Mission: VALOR National Advisory Board

New York Times best-selling American fantasy novelist Larry Correia has joined the Mission: VALOR National Advisory Board to help promote the charity and to support Operation Audie, its film and television focus area.  Known for his popular “Monster Hunter International” series, Larry has recently launched his new “Son of the Black Sword” series.

“I’m looking forward to helping out as I can,” states Larry.  “America owes everything to its veterans. I wanted to do something to show my appreciation for their sacrifices. If in some small way I can help one of our vets in his civilian career, I’m glad to do it.”

Before becoming a major author, Larry worked as an accountant, a CCW instructor, a gun-store owner, and as a military contractor focusing on financial management.  In addition to the series noted above, he also has written the “Hard Magic” series of books.  He has published ten novels, and is currently under contract for 16 more.

“Larry brings not only a strong financial background to share with Mission: VALOR,” notes CEO C. Blake Powers, “but also a strong commitment to and understanding of our troops and veterans.  We look forward to his sharing his knowledge with us, and promise his many readers – many of us here among them – that his efforts on our behalf will not delay or interfere with his work as an author.”

“I had the pleasure of meeting Larry in Atlanta this past fall, and I couldn’t be more thrilled that he’s joining our cause,” says Mike Lermon, lead for Operation Audie.  “He’s someone who cares deeply about our veterans, and particularly about creating the kinds of opportunities that we’re seeking in Operation Audie.  He’s someone who has worked alongside many veterans before achieving literary stardom, and he understands exactly what they bring to the table in Film & TV or any other industry that sees the wisdom in bringing them on board.”

Operation Audie, named in honor of veteran and film star Audie Murphy, is Mission: VALOR’s film & television focus area.  It is dedicated to helping troops and veterans find move into jobs in film & television production, direction, and acting.  Initial operations and development have begun in Georgia as Task Force DeForrest, named for veteran and actor DeForrest Kelly – a Georgia native.

Mission: VALOR is a 501(c)(3) charity focused on practical solutions to the crisis in veteran employment. The goal is to bridge the gaps in the system, and to assist veterans entering the civilian job market through internships, practicums, and mentors.  In the process, we also hope to provide them, their families, and our wounded veterans with whole life wellness education and opportunities.  Through this, the goal is to help them get not just jobs, but successful and rewarding careers.
http://missionvalor.org
https://www.facebook.com/missionvalor

For More Information, Contact:
Mike Lermon
mike.lermon@missionvalor.org

This was found by a fan and posted to the Monster Hunter International, Hunters Unite fan page on Facebook on Mother’s Day.

A few observations.
1. Heteromediocrity is the best thing I’ve been called since that time years ago I was called a Cismale Gendernormative Fascist and had to look up 2/3 of the words. Sadly, even Google doesn’t know what this one is.

2. Does that mean that I’m mediocre in my heterosexuality? Because I don’t know how to take that. Uh… Thanks?

3. The literal meaning is that I’m different in my commonality, because I think that’s a compliment (and also the lyrics to a Rush song on the album Counterpoints)

4. If I have too much Heteromediocrity does that mean I should add some Homodynamism?

5. If you find yourself randomly falling asleep in bookstores and crashing into shelves you really should have yourself checked out for narcolepsy.

6. If she fell asleep due to the aura of heteromediocrity in my books,there must not have been a copy of Dead Six there, because there isn’t much hetero or mediocre about Big Eddie.

7. The really important part of all this is that there was a shelf FULL of Larry Correia books. Shelf space equals GETTING PAID!