Ironhand

Ironhand is out

Quick post to let you all know that Ironhand is out at the usual places:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Smashwords

As my husband pointed out yesterday, I’ve finally written and published a sequel! It’s a weird quirk for a fantasy writer to have, but barring a few shorts featuring one character, all the rest of my stories have stubbornly stood alone. I had not intended to write a sequel to Mourning Cloak, but Kato and Flutter insisted that their story was not yet done.

If you haven’t read Mourning Cloak yet, and want to, here’s a 50%-off coupon code to use at Smashwords: MM83Z (expires May 13th)

Check out an excerpt from Ironhand below the cut:

[read more] about Ironhand is out

Ironhand: Cover & Blurb

Ironhand is coming soon! (I have the ebook files all ready to upload, something I will do this weekend.) In the meantime, I’m thrilled to share the awesome cover Ravven did (isn’t it gorgeous?):

It’s not over yet.

Kato Vorsok closed the Gates and sealed in the enemies of all mankind. Now he’s stranded in the desert with a ragtag army of supernatural creatures far from home. Keeping order and finding provisions are the extent of his problems.

Or so he thinks.

Because something got out.

Deep in the salt, an ancient demon from a mythic past stirs. Once, angels walked the world and battled such monsters, but they’ve been gone a long time.

Now there’s only Kato, a reluctant hero with no illusions about himself, and Flutter, a woman-turned-demon who’s falling apart.

They won the battle, but will they lose the war—and the whole world with it?

Ironhand is a fantasy novella.

nose to the grindstone

Revisions on Ironhand are currently happening (and about time, too!). I have a deadline (11/26), which helps. I need external motivation!

Snippet from the WIP:

A cloak drifts over to us as we enter through the doors of Kaal Baran. I call her Cloud, as in she has her head in them. She seems to live with only half a foot in this world.

I never considered that cloaks had personalities, but then, most of the time we were too busy trying to kill each other to really get to know one another.

“They’re back,” she says.

“Who’re back?” I ask, but with little hope of a response.

True to form, Cloud’s already passed by and down to wherever she sleeps away the afternoon.

Flutter gets visibly tense, hardening at the edges. “The eerie men.”

“Ah, the band we lost.” I see them now, strutting across the courtyard, looking far too pleased with themselves. Soldiers straggling in after going willful missing.

“Perhaps I should—“ begins Flutter, but I’m already striding ahead of her. She’ll want to talk to them, because that’s what she does. Being a silent cloak must’ve just about killed her, the role is so alien to her personality.

Eilendi like to teach, relate, discuss.

But that’s not how you run an army.

The eerie men halt as they see me come. The minions have the grace to flinch and look ashamed, but the leader—Leap’s his name—gives me a grin full of teeth. They smell like unwashed male and fresh blood. Red stains their claws and teeth.

I catch sight of hair in their nails. Goats.

Of course.

I nudge my spiders down my left arm, asking for a little reinforcement. Leap opens his mouth—to explain, to boast, I don’t know and I don’t care.

He never gets a word in because I punch him right in the face.

He goes down like a sack full of bricks. And stays down.

The other eerie men jump, fumbling for the whips and spikes at their belt. I grab the nearest by the wrist—left hand!—and squeeze. The man gasps, turns a pale bluish color from the pain.

“Don’t—ever—leave—without—permission!”

Yeah, I love Kato.

Current progress: 22/88 pages revised.

proofs! and a release!

My proofs for Rainbird and Mourning Cloak arrived earlier this week.

Aren’t they pretty?

They look EVEN BETTER in real life.

There really is nothing like seeing your name on the cover of a physical book. I had an ear-to-ear grin on my face for about an hour after they came.

Right now, David’s checking them for errors (I know, I know, I’m spoiled). They should be ready to go in a week or so. Keep an eye on this space!

***

One Small Step: an anthology of discoveries launched last weekend at Conflux. Jo Anderton and I have a story in there. “Sand and Seawater” has already gotten some nice shout-outs on Goodreads, and the anthology as a whole has been favorably reviewed in places like Publisher’s Weekly.

Next week, I’ll post about our experience collaborating on this story.

***

I’ve been busily working away on some short stories for the past couple of weeks, including some broken fairy tales for a follow-up to Shattered. I’m hoping to get that out in June and then buckle down to Ironhand and release that a couple months later.

What are your writing plans? Do you have any new or upcoming releases? Let us know in the comments!