Coming in May 2019, Noir themed sci-fi and fantasy stories, edited by me and Kacey Ezell,
Featuring stories by:
David Weber
Laurell K. Hamilton
Sarah Hoyt
Kacey Ezell
Robert Buettner
Alistar Kimball
Griffin Barber
Michael Massa
Hinkley Correia
Christopher L. Smith
Michael Ferguson
Patrick Tracy
Steve Diamond
Larry Correia
I wrote a new Grimnoir story. David wrote a new Honor Harrington story. Laurell wrote an Anita Blake story. Which checks the boxes for some big universes.
Then there are some awesome new ones. Steve Diamond’s wrote about a secret policeman set in the world we are collaborating on a novel, reminiscent of WW1 eastern front trench fantasy with dark fairy tale magic. Hinkley Correia wrote about a ghost hunting detective in Tokyo. Patrick Tracy’s story feels like a D&D adventure if Raymond Chandler was your GM.
There’s sci-fi, urban fantasy, epic fantasy, and alternative history, all with a hard boiled edge.
Griffin Barber takes a necromancer on a heist. Co-editor Kacey did a sci-fi take on a classic set up. Mike Ferguson and Chris Smith told a really cool detective mystery on an orbital. And Mike Massa did a really unique supernatural WW2 story.
And there’s so much more. I loved being able to be one of the editors on this anthology. It came out fantastic.
This looks awesome! Cannot wait.
I picked up In Plain Sight on the book bomb, and absolutely love it.
I like “In Plain Sight” quite a bit; also you are getting two books in proce of one – there is link to free prequel “Dead Letter” at the end of this book (well, you need to provide an email address).
My money catapult is primed and ready to throw.
And that is a -nice- cover.
(Future to-read pile grows one book taller)
Mine too…! Nice thing is, my son can read them afterward =)
(And if my copies of Grimnoir stay Lost In The Stacks, I will buy new ones. )
Trigger Discipline!
It’s a super-advanced SmartTrigger that can read a shooter’s intent. 😉
On a facebook thread, Kacey Ezell said that it’s actually an area-of-effect device that’s being used to take down the building’s electronic security measures. I thought that was a pretty fun explanation.
I thought that’s what it looked like. Those Mark 3’s are pretty sweet!
You had me at “new Grimnoir…” I don’t care if it’s just a short story.
What’s the new Grimnoir story about?
Which character’s the MC????
Heinrich Pershing Garrett.
An H.P. who gets involved with supernatural creatures and dark magic, while on vacation from his high-tech day job?
Nothing by Ringo, DAMMITT!
That’s not your likeness of on the cover. Is it your co-editor?
And another cover with ridiculous boobs-and-tits pose
http://www.eschergirls.com
Ridiculous boobs and tits poses on book covers sell a metric fuckton of books, and helped pay for my mountain mansion… So let me check… Nope, can’t seem to care that some rando on the internet is offended. Oh well. Maybe next time! 😀
I think that good blurb and (especially in the case of anthologies like this one) good names sells. Do ridiculous boobs-and-tits poses (this one is not that bad, compared to some others) help or hinder?
I’m not against having a sexy heroine on the cover of a book, especially one titled “Noir Fatale”, but not in this stupid “my feet are stuck to the ground, and somebody is behind me” pose.
Your opinion is duly noted, but hot chicks on book covers help sell books, and I learned that from my female publisher. And my female publisher’s most common art direction to some of her male cover artists is “make her boobs bigger”.
It’s become fashionable for certain pasty, weak chinned authors like Jim Hines to contort their pale grub-like bodies into the same poses as the hot chicks on book covers to virtue signal how woke they are… Weird kink, but whatever. Meanwhile, I’m going to keep on cashing the fat royalty checks provided to me by toxic masculinity and the buying habits of the human species. 😀
From yet another female perspective:
To be honest, the pose is not as impossible as the detractors claim, especially with camera angles and the ability of the human body to twist sideways at the hip to a fair extent. Hell, Betty Grable does it, and there are photographs to prove it. The cover is of the realistic version, which is restrained to side-view of the breasts, which frankly, are of realistic proportions and are helped by the camera angle and pose rotation.
I’ve seen a guy version of this, honestly. It’s more side-view, but gives the view of the chest and man’s ass, and depending on the pose of the hips, a bit of crotch bulge too…
Yeah, Drow, but you’re not a male feminist, what would you know about women’s issues? /SARC
I am not offended by T&A (quite the opposite, in fact !), but the woman’s pose on this cover looks unnaturally stiff. It creates a sort of “Uncanny Valley” impression for me. No offence 🙁
I have a model in pretty much that pose from a photo shoot last week. She mentioned zero complaints with this pose compared to any others
Another art-snob says: “Do ridiculous boobs-and-tits poses (this one is not that bad, compared to some others) help or hinder?”
Have you seen any pin-up art? Like, ever? Or bomber nose art from the 1940s? Have some respect for the genre, man. This example is fairly restrained.
I would maim somebody to get a cover this good for my e-book.
“I would maim somebody to get a cover this good for my e-book.”
How do you think this one was made – they went through five models before finding one with a flexible enough spine.
Sorry, I just had to.
Anyway, yeah, if it works, it works. I don’t see anyone complaining about the obligatory barechested beefcake adorning every romance book in existence. And I’m sure there’s plenty of leftover dust covers from unsold copies of “The Handmaid’s Tale” for anyone feeling guilty about reading action-adventure books in public.
(I never did get the concept of a “guilty pleasure”, really – if your friends shame you about your hobbies or preferred forms of entertainment, you more likely need better friends than better hobbies.)
As noted above, there are photographs in existence of women with those pose, and they aren’t the Kardashians, who also do said pose. (as well as any number of women, really, doing this pose…)
This isn’t even a ridiculously contorted pose. Or do you turn your whole body every time you want to look over your shoulder? As for boobs-and-tits, you can barely see any boob at all in this cover. Its more a nice butt picture, and still not contorted.
*grin*
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheVJDayKiss
I apologize in advance for any loss of time due to becoming immersed in that time-sink of ‘click oh hey click…’
Just look up photos of the VJ Day Kiss (the sailor kissing the nurse) – She’s doing a variation of the pose!
Yeah, to be fair, the pose isn’t all that exaggerated. I was really more puzzled about how high and deep the crack rides. It kinda reminded me of how the costume of Seven from Star Trek: Voyager had to have individual breast molds, since fabric by itself didn’t work the way they wanted.
Anyway, content-wise, can we now proudly proclaim this to be a contribution to the social justice movement, with Strong Female Characters™ doing Strong Female Character Stuff? In all seriousness, I’m somewhat irked by how, say, competent leader types like Honor Harrington are rarely if ever mentioned in discussions in that regard. Who knows, maybe they just don’t fit the narrative – Hollywood action movies have taught me that the only strong women allowed are 90-pound models with superpowers or acrobatic kung-fu skills, who show up every guy in their first appearance, and then become all but decorations in the third act. Boobs-and-butt posing optional.
Reminds me of the Bill Murray bit in “Scrooged” when talking to the Network Censor
Stagehand: “You can hardly see them nipples”
Murray: “And he’s really trying . . .”
He actually linked to a blank web page!????
I actually like the middle girl’s pose in this post:
http://eschergirls.tumblr.com/post/178765575169/chilu-submitted-this-is-the-visual-for-the#disqus-thread
The overall poster is way too “busy”, but the middle girl’s pose is very lifelike, and quite attractive. The girl on the left (with the side/underboobs) is not bad, but her pose is less dynamic, and her face is in profile, which makes it kinda boring. The girl on the right might look good, too, but she’s obscured, so it’s hard to tell.
By contrast, the girl’s pose on the Noir Fatale cover looks really stiff and unnatural.
The cover of Noir Fatale is damn near perfect. Good looking, muscular woman in a dark body suit, action pose, big hand weapon, framed by the lights of a dark cityscape at night. Notice how her eyes are focused right at you? Clenched fist and deadpan expression conveying that she’s about to put the hurt on someone? This is not a picture of wanton seduction. Sex to her is an after thought, if it comes up at all. Dark, and deadly; just like the title of the zine.
Well, there’s that trigger discipline… though if it is indeed some anti-electronic thingamajig, and she’s firing it while looking at whatever/whoever she’s about to destroy… yeah, that’s badass.
Then again, if it’s not, and that cannon doesn’t have some futuristic recoil compensator, then she’s likely about to join the broken wrist brigade.
I dig the gun design, though. Everything’s too iPod-y these days, it’s nice to see something classic, in the vein of Judge Dredd or Starship Troopers. As with the Frazetta homage in the anthology cover a few weeks ago, I’m glad someone’s keeping that tradition strong.
Er, dude–this isn’t even close to being one of those.
You can only see one breast, and barely the top quarter of it at that.
Now, said breast might be unnaturally perky, but that’s explainable via the catsuit.
Scarlett Johansson is Bettie Page as The Black Widow.
Great combo.
Gotta admit, if my bodysuit was that tight in the tush, I’d perform at less than optimal due to wedgie factor! Is nice to look at though!
Loved the phrase in House of Assassins “Weapon Reincarnate.” Had to do some translation from Hindu for that. Nice research for storytelling, Larry!
Handgun looks like a Magnum Research Lone Eagle, but with a few extra doo-dads. I had one in 308 Win. Added a muzzle brake because, damn. Nobody wants to be in the next lane when at the range for some reason. Anyway, she needs to keep the bugger hook off the bang switch before something unpleasant happens.
Hey! Where’s all that free content I was promised?
*ducks*
Hope your Christmas was wonderful, and that you have an amazing 2019. I say that purely selfishly, since the better your 2019, the more cool shit I get to read from you. Right? 😉
Not really a fan of the cover art.
Disclaimer: I like art work depicting hot chicks. I once picked up a JD Robb cyberpunk-thriller (which was actually a romance) ‘cos the cover depicted a hot chick in leather and fishnets. And hanging up on the wall is a Luis Royo calendar where this month’s warrior heroine is gazing over a burning city while wearing, what looks like, a thong-back leather leotard. (The calendar was a present form my wife btw.)
Butt (sorry couldn’t resist) the body paint effect on the heroines derriere, I find a little off putting.
Yep, 100% agree that the purpose of the cover is to sell the book, and sell the book to people who will enjoy it. Not to show off how talented the cover artist is, or how PC the publisher is.
Butt (and that’s not getting old anytime soon) might the OTT nature of heroines sit-upon put off some potential buyers? I mean if the cover art isn’t really there to show off how PC the publisher is, it’s also not there to show off how non-PC the publisher is.
I just think the cover art could still have depicted a hot-chick looking like she’s ready to lay down serious pain, without suggesting that she’s in a mean mood ‘cos she’s suffering with the wedgie from heck.
Ah well, the bottom-line (oops) is that I will almost certainly be buying the anthology, butt (& maybe that is getting a little old) the cover won’t be a positive factor in my deciding to buy it.
Please note all above is JIMHO & YMMV, butt (nahh, it’s never getting old) I hope the book sells well.
You know, I was out driving a few nights ago (I drive for Lyft), and I saw a woman walking down the street wearing the tightest pants I think I’ve ever seen. Her wedgie was every bit as … prominent … as the one in the lovely picture above. It was … breath-taking.