Hi folks!
Lots of things happened in the last two weeks. I went to Nashville to meet up with an old college friend. Two highlights were The Time Jumpers at 3rd and Lindsley (great band!) and a bar on the East Side called Dee’s.
Apropos of the era in which we live, there was also a low point– about twenty-five men in face masks dressed as Nazis, holding Nazi flags and shouting, marched right through Nashville’s main Broadway strip. Some people thought it was a joke. Nobody was exactly sure what to do. I was very close, and very aware it wasn’t a joke. These men radiated rage. They were afraid and charged and angry and looking for a fight. There was something very wrong with them.
All I could think, after they passed, was: the world would be terrifying if guys like this were in charge.
So, let’s avoid that.
Book news! Good reviews for A Better World continue. If you’re a reviewer in need of a copy, let me know.
The tour! Please mark your calendars!
I’ll be at Dark Delicacies in Burbank Saturday, April 6 for the launch (the book officially comes out April 9, but it’s so hard to get anywhere in LA on a weeknight!). Even if you won’t be at the launch, you can preorder the book and I’ll sign it there, then they’ll mail it to you.
I’ll be at Vortex Books and Comics on Sunday, April 7. Same deal– pre order it and I’ll sign and they’ll ship.
April 11, 7pm: I’ll be in Culver City at Village Well Books in Culver City. Preorder here.
April 14, I’ll be in conversation with the very generous and generally awesome Hilarie Burton at the Center for Performing Arts in Rhinebeck, via Oblong Books. Get yer ticket here.
April 15 at 7pm I’ll be in conversation with Patrick Radden Keefe (!!!) at The Strand in NYC. Tickets Here.
More tour dates to come.
In other news, my office flooded again! Who knew that after a decade of drought, we’d suddenly have atmospheric rivers? So, all that drywall I installed will have to come out. And then we’ll have to figure out where the leak is coming from. It’s hard to tell, given the house was surrounded by a literal river. Could be anywhere! Ahhh!!!!!
Meantime, I’m back writing in the kitchen again. So many snacks; pants keep getting tighter.
Writing news:
Stories–
“The Upgrade” will be coming out from Lightspeed Magazine sometime this year.
“Squid Teeth” will be coming out in 2025! I can’t announce where, yet, but it’s a sale I’ve been hoping to make for a very long time.
“I Miss you too Much” will appear in an anthology called ELEMENTAL FORCES out of the UK, ed. by Mark Morris.
Brian Keene and Chris Golden are putting together an anthology dedicated to Stephen King’s THE STAND. My story is due at the end of the month, which means I should write this story. Death Valley was a lot of good inspiration. I plan to set it in the desert, after the nuke.
I’m revising my novella “Pam Wolinski is a Monster” this week.
The total word count of all that is about 70k. A Better World swallowed all my attention the last few years. It’s been a relief to work on so many new things.
Goodies! I had stuffies made in the likeness of the caladrius in A Better World. They’re awesome, right? Anybody in this newsletter is entered to win (unless your last name is Langan or Petty. Sorry!). I’ll draw in a few weeks.
Last night, I attended the reading series Noir at the Bar, which was a lot of fun. Duane Swierczynski read from his bestselling CALIFORNIA BEAR. The bar in question, The Mandrake, was recently sold, so the future of Noir at the Bar is uncertain. I hope they keep doing it. In a town were writers are not just disposable, but pitted against one another, this series is food for the soul.
Finally, I recently realized that Brian Keene (co-owner of Vortex Books) has a newsletter called Letters from the Labyrinth. Which is not so different from Into the Labyrinth. You’d think I would have noticed this sooner, as I subscribe to Brian’s newsletter. Oh, boy. Brian!!!! The name search continues.
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