Publishing Schedule

The following schedule is liable to change without warning. I am held hostage by the whims of a publisher, and I can't really gauge when or how they'll be striking.

So, assuming everything goes to plan -- and assume it won't -- this is what my publishing schedule will look like this year. I'm going to give you some rational for it as well, so humor me.

Set to Kill -- Yes, this is still happening. I submitted it to Castalia House in May, and since they're now on 3-month turnaround, my rejection should be coming through by any day now. If, of course, they really like the book, this may be shunted to God-knows-when. I am, of course, killing time by having people read the book before the publishing date, getting feedback, prereviews, that sort of thing. Expect this to come out in August, 2016. When in August? No idea. Hopefully by the ides thereof.

Technically, this is a sequel to It Was Only on Stun!, but I wouldn't really say you had to read one to get the other. In fact, this is more of a sequel to The Pius Trilogy than anything else. Why do I say that? Because, well, there's way more blow back from Pius than from Stun!, that's all I'm saying.

For those of you who are wondering about the cover, well, it's brought to you by Dawn Witzke again, and I like it. I think it's charming.

But then, what do I know? I created the It Was Only On Stun! cover, and I thought it was perfectly feasible at the time.

After the events of "A Pius Stand," Sean A.P. Ryan has spent the last year in Italy, keeping his head down and his mouth shut. But now, he has been brought out of his exile for one big job: security at the world's largest science fiction convention, WyvernCon. His mission? To keep the peace between two factions warring over the "coveted" Hubble Awards -- the Tearful Puppies and the Puppy Punters. Even though Sean has a bad feeling about it, he takes the job, expecting a relatively quiet weekend.

Unfortunately, Sean soon learns that he has a bounty on his head. Every bounty hunter and mercenary within shouting distance of the internet is descending on the convention, each of them set on killing him. And his enemies list is long enough to cover half the free world, and most of the world still in chains. 

If that wasn't bad enough, the first casualties of the War of the Puppies happen at the convention. Could it have been one of the Puppies, who are all armed and dangerous? Or could it have been one of the Punters, who claim pacifist tendencies, and fanatical devotion to their cause?

With the bodies piling up, and the attacks becoming more frequent, Sean has to discover who wants him dead, and who the true Puppy killer is, before all of WyvernCon goes down in flames.

Of course, none of the cast members look anything like anyone in real life. Honest. Authors like Johnny Noah Prada, Gary Castelo, Jesse James, or Calvin "Crazy Cal" Y. Jefferson, look nothing like any real life counterpart.

Heh. Heh. Heh.

Murphy's Law of Vampires (Love at First Bite, book 2) -- I submitted all three books to Castalia House in June. This includes Honor at Stake (in case they wanted it), and book two and three of the continuing adventures of Marco Catalano and Amanda Colt. So expect this to be out in September. Again, same disclaimer. If lightning strikes and they want any of these novels, I'm not going to say no. But I'm going to plan as though they're going to say no.

What is this one about? Blowback. Remember how Honor at Stake opened nice, and slow, with an easy, gentle buildup? Yeah. Don't expect that here. By the time we get to the second half of the novel, the crap will hit the fan, and will be in a flat-out run. Romance? There will be some. Not as much as in book 1, but I will tell you that some of the .... issues ... raised in book 1 will be resolved, leading the way to a very intense book 3, in more ways than one.

I'm going to start posting excerpts from Murphy's Law of Vampires next week, and every Monday thereafter.

The flap copy I have is...

After saving Brooklyn from a nest of vampires, Amanda Colt and Marco Catalano are a little banged up. He's been given a job offer to deal with vampires in San Francisco, and it's a tempting offer – it would get him away from Amanda, his feelings for her, and get her away from the darkness inside him. When a death in the family compels Marco  to move to the West Coast, they're both left to fend for themselves.

But when a creature known only as “Mister Day” leaves their world in tatters, they must once more join forces against the darkness. Only "Day" is no vampire, but a creature beyond their experience. It will take the combined might of Marco, Amanda, and all of their allies just to slow it down. They have no weapons that can kill him. They have no ways to imprison him. To even fight him is death.

But they have to try, or face the end of everything they love. 

Live and Let Bite (Love at First Bite, book 3) -- as I said, I've send all of these to Castalia House. So it should be the same rejection period. Which means that this book should be out in November 2016. Why November? Because I want the trilogy to be available for the public for Christmas. Duh. :)

What's the premise of book 3? If you recall, there have been suggestions since Honor at Stake that there was something darker out there. Murphy's will follow up on it, and this will be when the "something darker" will decide that it has had enough of Marco, and is going to just freaking end him. And Amanda. And everyone around him.

No flap copy, because it might spoil books 1 and 2.

If Hell freezes over, and Castalia House likes any of this, the times will be altered. Otherwise, expect this to be the general schedule.