Okay, lots of fun stuff going on currently.
Book Stuff
The eARC for House of Assassins is available now (see the last blog post for details) and the regular release (hard cover, eBook, and audio) will be in February. So maybe now people will quit giving Book 1 one star reviews on Amazon because “I’d abandoned the series” (ironically said review was posted while Book 2 was already available for preorder on that very website).
The anthology of sci-fi and fantasy themed noir stories Noir Fatale edited by me and Kacey Ezell was turned in last month, and will be coming out in 2019 also. I believe in August.
Monster Hunter Guardian, with Sarah Hoyt, is pretty much wrapped up and has been sent off to the Alpha Readers. It is awesome. It also has a 2019 release date. I think in October. Unless I flipped it and Noir Fatale. But it’s one of those.
I just finished a short story called Proxy War for Michael Z. Williamson’s next Freehold anthology. The anthology is about the occupation and resistance against the UN. In the original book, there’s one little part about how Freehold has dueling, and even proxy duelists who can stand in. So my story is about the professional duelist’s association, and what they end up doing to the people who came along and messed with their livelihood.
John D. Brown just sent me the first section (45,000 words) of the rough draft of our Not Yet Officially Named Sci-Fi Collaboration. It’s about a gang of space pirates who make a living by stealing combat mechs. I’m really excited for this one.
Once that goes back to John, then I’ll be switching gears and going back to the Saga of the Forgotten Warrior, and a short story that will be going on the Baen website to coincide with the release of House of Assassins, and then I’ll be getting back to #3, Destroyer of Worlds. (which, I’m about 35,000 words into, but had to pause to do the final edits on Monster Hunter Guardian).
There is another collaboration in the works with Steve Diamond. Think “trench fantasy”, like a fantasy WW1 Eastern Front in a world with dark fairy tale magic. Steve’s working on the rough now. There’s a story in this setting in Noir Fatale also. Our working title on this series is Grunt’s Eye View.
Target Rich Environment 2 is mostly put together, and if you scroll down a couple posts you can even see the bad ass cover. I’m just waiting to hear back on one particular story to make sure I’m okay to include it. Then I’ll be turning that in.
There is a 2nd Monster Hunter Files but it has been on the back burner, because this time instead of a whole bunch of stories from different authors, Toni wanted me make it five novellas based on stories from the 1st Files, and some of the extremely good authors I’ve got for it are currently backlogged with their own things, so I’m not going to harass them about it until they’re more caught up. (and it isn’t like I don’t have a dozen other projects myself)
That’s what I’m working on currently, and there’s a bunch of other stuff in line behind that, including more Monster Hunter (next book goes back to Owen’s PoV and picks up after Siege and Guardian) , a 2nd Grimnoir trilogy (set in the 1950s, I’ve got another preview story in Noir Fatale for that).
Tie In Stuff
The Savage Worlds Monster Hunter International RPG will be moving forward now that the new edition of Savage World’s Kickstarter is done (and they kicked ass!). We sent out the eARC with the old edition of the rules to the backers, and they gave us a bunch of feedback which we’ve incorporated. So now we’ll switch over to the new rules and move forward.
Once the MHI RPG is entirely fulfilled, I’m going to launch Gritty Cop Show, the Game. This one is just a little side project for fun, because I wanted to try my hand at game design, and this was a game that I’d run at conventions for charity, but it came out awesome, and it is really a lot of fun so I’m going to release it.
There are some other irons in the fire involving some of my IPs, but nothing that I can currently talk about in public.
Yard Moose Mountain Update
Building a house is a giant time suck, but after three years of developing a chunk of mountainside, permit hoop jumping, tax paying, road cutting, well digging, and so forth, we broke ground this year and had a race against the snow.
However, things have come together (seriously, our general contractors are amazing. If you are building a house in northern Utah, talk to Randall Brother’s Construction), and it looks like we are going to be all buttoned up before the snowfall.
Tour and Appearances
I’ll be doing another book tour in February for House of Assassins. I’ll be posting the locations and schedule soon.
I don’t know what cons I’m going to in 2019, though I am trying to drastically cut back. I say that every year, and I keep going to too many. Cons are awesome, and I love meeting my fans, but by the time you factor in travel days each one kills the better part of a weak of productive writing time.
That said, my next one will be LTUE. And I’ll be at SpikeCon, but both of them are in Utah. I haven’t decided on the others yet.
Release dates – 2019, not 2018 – or have I been missing out?
Ooops. Fixed.
Hey, I hang out at Ace of Spades – getting first post and getting to pick out a typo is a big deal for me.
Do you have a barrel?
Ah, another fellow Moron. Well met!
The barrel here is nice. It has a soda bar, and the floor isn’t all sticky.
Awesome that those are coming out in 2018. Really impressive. Better not push them back to August and October 2019 or my kids will be sad……
” It also has a 2018 release date. I think in October.”
You do realise that October 2018 has been and gone? Or has the new place a time machine in the basement?
It was fixed before you even posted. Hit refresh. 🙂
Regarding magical WW1 trench warfare, if you like anime you should check out “Saga of Tanya the Evil”, which is about almost exactly that.
More like magical air combat. Or God screwing with an Atheist.
Just finished HoA – very much enjoyed it! Did you come up with “Hope is not a strategy” or is that a quote from someone? It has an honored place on my whiteboard from now on!
The people I was working for in 2006 (in Houston) used to say “hope is not a strategy” so it’s something people have been saying for a while.
I’ve heard it before. No idea from where though.
Conwise, Origins needs to get their collective heads out of their asses and invite you back. Please try to make a con in Ohio this year. My fiance wants to meet you and time is limited.
Is the next Owen novel going to be MH Omega, or are there more after that?
Love your books, man. Got HofA on preorder.
“2nd Grimnoir trilogy (set in the 1950s, I’ve got another preview story in Noir Fatale for that)”
What is the first preview? I can’t wait for more Grimnoir books.
Point of order: Noir Fatale will be out in May of 2019, unless you know something I don’t. 🙂
Did you ever do a write up of your Gencon rpg game? My buddies were in it and I think they took you for a fun ride. A well prepared orc is anazing to have on your team….
Sadly, I never got the chance. It was a lot of fun.
“Randall Brother’s Construction”…
So, it isn’t all the Randall brothers–that would be “Randall Brothers Construction”–but just one. Which Randall brother’s company is it?
Ah, but what if the business is owned by a man named Randall Brother?
Finished the eARC, damn good! 🙂
Thank you Larry!
As for the John D. Brown collaboration, I envision a cover showing fighting mechs and the caption: “Space pirates stealing combat mechs: do we really need a title?”
If you don’t have the sense to chain up your mecha…
Still waiting on that ‘Monster Hunter International: Tactical Skirmish Miniatures Game’ that I’ve been begging you to license to somebody for years.
Great news about House of Assassins. (And phooey to anyone leaving you a one-star review for anything!) Will you be signing any copies for sale? Also, very excited about more Grim Noir Chronicles. I love that world and have been waiting patiently for more. Although, how you are going to top the final fight scene is beyond me. I live in hope!
“So maybe now people will quit giving Book 1 one star reviews on Amazon because ‘I’d abandoned the series”‘
Seriously? Unless my memory is seriously wrong, you’ve been saying late-2018 to early 2019 since the first book was released, maybe even before. Personally I would have liked a smaller gap between books; but nobody can legitimately claim that you haven’t been open about how long it would take, or that the book has been significantly delayed.
Josh, he said, eyeing the ceiling innocently, I wonder if there’d be a great novel in Jake Sullivan’s War…
I hope you’ll be able to come to Uncle Hugo’s again on a book tour. If you do, have you ever eaten at Mayslack’s? Founded in the 1950s by retired professional wrestler Stan Mayslack. It is the pace Aksel Kerkonen or Earl Harbinger would have eaten if they ever came to Minneapolis. Big messy garlic roast beef sandwiches with banana peppers “Nobody Beats Mayslack’s Meat”.
It would be a fun place to have a small gathering of fans if that could be worked out.
Still holding out hope to one day see the story you teased several years ago about a reality game show where the contestants compete to overthrow the government of a third world nation in Africa.
You are one of the busiest people. I don’t know how you find time for mini painting.