So Many Things!

Things have been happening and I have been slacking on the talking about it. I'm blaming some of this on a trip to Missouri that I had to take for my best friend's wedding reception (holy hell, that place has a LOT of NOTHING... I didn't know there was so much empty space in the whole country...) But some of it is just me getting distracted by a new (old) game...

Can I just say... I freaking love this game. Why did it take me so long to play it? There are things that drive me crazy (do I really need to open the car door every time) but this thing is just... Well, all I can think to say is DAMN. Just when I think I know what is coming, they hit me with something else. I haven't been playing for long. Just long enough to completely shirk off everything else I was supposed to get done. So. Blame this guy:

Anyway! News time!

Biggest thing first! Book 3 of the Blood and Fire Saga is out! Michelle, my coauthor, worked long and hard on this baby with only marginal help from me. You should totally read it. Especially if you're getting tired of Kaie's attitude. Destiny is something entirely different. It's all about the second aspect of the prophesy that is guiding Kaie's life: The Stone. Or, if you want her name, Elora. 

You won't see much of the people you've met before. This is a new cast of characters in new lands. I promise more magic!

Next, Burnt got some work done! 

It's always bothered me, the difference in quality between Burnt and Forgotten. Or, to be more accurate, how poorly I did in getting Burnt properly edited. So. I prevailed upon Bobby to bless my first book with the beauty that adorns Forgotten and Destiny. This is what he came up with:

Pretty damn awesome, huh? And it's not just a facelift. You'll find the inside has been polished up too! I can't even put a number to how many commas I pulled out. I knew I was a comma junkie but that was just absurd. No more! 

It's still the same story. I didn't change anything. I just cleaned up. And I am proud of the results. My baby is pretty now.

More is on the horizon. We've got a collection of shorts, Lost, coming out in July. It'll be a Kindle exclusive for a while. Free too! If there's interest, we'll add other versions later. None of them are essential to the main storyline of the Blood and Fire Saga, but they do offer some insights into elements that are going to become quite pivotal as the series continues. 

And Misery is coming. Book 4 will be out this fall...

MIA

So I've been gone a while. I suppose, for anyone who knows me, this is no great surprise. When I'm really sucked into my writing (or a good video game, but I never told you that) I tend to go missing from the world outside my bedroom. What little time I did convince myself to spend away was selfishly stolen by that horrible torture known as "my job." But! I do have quite a few things to tell people. Some of it I will share today, and some of it will have to wait. Because I get great satisfaction out of tormenting people & nothing in the world torments me as much as someone telling me they have a secret that I have to wait to learn. It's just evil. And I've been good lately, so it's time to start balancing those scales!

Alright. So. First bit of news: the third Blood & Fire book, Destiny, is nearly here! I'll announce an exact date once we're sure of it, but for now Michelle and I are thinking early May. The cover art is in & let me tell you, Bobby really outdid himself this time. It is freaking beautiful!

Secondly, I'll be re-releasing Burnt in June. It will have a new cover & better editing. Neither the content nor the price will be changing, but I hope the result will be a more appealing introduction to the world of Elysium.
With the relaunch I'll also be publishing a collection of four short stories entitled Lost. It won't be essential reading for any of the major storylines - in fact two are about very minor characters & a third one who hasn't been introduced before - but show a bit of the world outside the prophesy. It will only be available for the kindle for the first three months, during which time it will be free. We will provide an option for people without kindles though, so check back for details. Lost is currently on the books for the first week of June. That might change for editing purposes.

The forth book is also coming up. Misery is slated August & that's where I've been spending most of my time (when I wasn't paying Tomb Raider). It's a tough one for me, for a couple of reasons, but I think I've hit my groove now and don't expect any delays.
Which brings me to the last point. I've gotten more than a few people asking me how long the Blood & Fire series is going to be. The honest answer is that we don't know. The plan at this very moment is six novels & two collections of short stories. But this is a big story that Michelle and I have spent more than a decade with. Neither one of us is willing to rush it just to squeeze it into a set number of books. Nor are we willing to drag it out one chapter past where it should end. So, while the plan is six, if we feel like we need more to finish it properly, that's what we'll do.
So. Now I've reaffirmed my continued existence, lifted some of the veil of mystery, and can return to my writing *cough*startplayingUncharted3*cough*

PS. I wrote this whole post on my phone, at work. So I'm going to assume the grammar and possibly the spelling were so bad that all I can do is beg forgiveness and promise never to do it again unless I really want to.

Nah Nah Nah Nah BATMAN!

I don't know if I've made this *quite* abundantly clear yet, but I am a huge Batman fan. I can't claim to be the biggest. I have not, for example, ever worn a Batsuit or gone out to fight crime. Not unless you count riding around with my friend Marty looking for his (ex now) wife's stolen bike (we totally recovered it, because we're awesome like that). I can't claim to be the biggest Batman geek out there but I'll be damned if I let someone try to tell me that Superman would win if they were in a fight.

So people are always surprised to learn that I've never actually finished Arkham City. This isn't because I don't think the game is awesome. It really is. The little bit I've played was amazing. Here's the problem: I made the mistake of playing Arkham Asylum with my brother Aaron. Playing video games as a family is a bit of a tradition with us. When one of us sucks at one part, another takes over. Not to mention, it's always fun to have someone else to laugh at all the stupid stuff you do. You're probably wondering why such a thing would be a mistake. Well, after playing Asylum with Aaron, I discovered that City wasn't nearly as fun without him. And between the two of us moving and moving back and school and work and just everything, the two of us haven't had a minute to sit down to play the game together. And I just couldn't bring myself to take it on until we could do it together.

But! Right now we are in the same place at the same time, so I am at last getting to enjoy some Batmany goodness! It's super exciting. So exciting, in fact, that I spent money I don't really have obtaining all the DLC for it. Which brings me to the actual point of this.

I love Robin.

I realize that makes me worthy of mocking, but I can't help it. You can keep Dick Grayson. He's cool enough as Nightwing, but I never really liked him as Robin. And Jason Todd? Please. Him dying was the best thing that ever happened with Jason Todd. (The second best was him coming back as Red Mask) It's Tim Drake I can't get enough of. (I know he's now Red Robin, but for various reasons I haven't read the comics yet so he's still Robin to me)

Tim is fantastic. He's just the right mix of brilliant and cocky. I freaking love that (Surprise!) He was my (second) favorite even before Bruce acknowledged that Tim's smarter than him. Plus, much respect for a guy who figures out who Batman is without first living with him. And the fact that it's now an option to play him? I am downright giddy! I just wish there were actual game-related missions as him, like with Catwoman.

My only issue is that my brother is currently the one playing. And he's more interested in playing the story than entertaining me as Tim. *Sigh*

PS. Surprised I made it through the holidays? Because I am!