Be Ormon

He's on the tv, so you can trust him.

One of our closest and scariest friends, Ormon Grimsby, host of the wildly popular Monster Creature Feature, is having a contest. If you win, you get a book. (It's not The Greyfriar, although we should get a give-away going with Ormon.) It's Bride of the Reaper by Charles Romalotti.

But the best part is, the contest allows (in fact, requires) YOU to be like Ormon. He has a super cool Ormon Grimsby mask online. Download. Print. Wear. Then take a picture of yourself in weird, interesting places wearing your very own Ormon mask.

And if you've never seen Monster Creature Feature on the television or the interwebs, do so.

Comedy is easy, Blogging is hard

We Don't Have That Much to Say!

We've been doing some blogging recently.

Not here though.

At other people's sites. Since the publication of The Greyfriar, we've written a lot of guest blogs at book sites. We've covered subjects such as vampires and steampunk and alternate history and writing as husband and wife. Just this past week, we've been doing a back-and-forth blog with fellow Pyr author Jasper Kent at Babel Clash, sponsored by Borders Books. And we did a "Take 5" article for the really cool sci-fi/pop culture site suvudu.com.

The take home message is -- blogging is hard. At least, saying something interesting in an interesting way is hard. It gives us great admiration for those people who blog frequently in a professional, thoughtful manner. Whew! Who's got time?!

Take Jasper Kent, our blog partner at Babel Clash...the guy shoots out tightly organized and well-reasoned articles about real topics on very short notice. Impressive. While it takes us forever to type up some glib chitchat about choking Peter Cushing. Maybe we just suffer from a bad case of "who in the world wants to hear what we think about anything?" And there is something to be said for that attitude; it keeps us from spouting off about every issue that crosses our minds just because we have access to a keyboard and the internet.

Still, there are so many people out there putting out fantastic blogs with great information and intriguing opinions. They keep up a killer schedule, posting new content with a speed that would by the envy of 24-hour news networks. They must be really fast typists, in addition to being very strong thinkers. We admire people who can wrangle their ideas into a creative presentation...frequently and on short notice.

We can spend an hour arguing about where to go for lunch. And still not come to a conclusion.

Short and Sweet

"The Greyfriar was awesome. I cried. There were cats."

That line is a small part of a very nice review on The Reader Eclectic. But we love that single line.

We are thrilled that our book is having such a strong emotional impact on readers. We've had reviewers talk about crying. They've talked about hugging the book. They've talked about being depressed that the book was over, or that there wasn't a sequel to begin immediately.

We are overwhelmed that Adele and Greyfriar (and the cats, apparently) are touching so many people's hearts.

Thank you to everyone.

Check out the entire review on The Reader Eclectic.

The Greyfriar - Best Vamp Novel 2010

Thanks to the VampChix blog!

Michele Hauf has a terrific blog for all things vampire and paranormal. She was one of the earliest supporters of The Greyfriar, and we are thrilled she picked our book for this honor.

Check out her blog.

Morlock Ambrosius Free for the Taking. If you dare!

For all those folks looking for a great sword and fantasy hero, with as many dark flaws as heroic gusto, this is the man for you: Morlock Ambrosius. To me, he's the Dark Aragorn, a Dúnadan, a wanderer who finds trouble whether he wants it or not.

I was a fan of  the fabulous fantasy author, James Enge, even before I became involved with Pyr. The Blood of Ambrose caught my eye on the table and the series is a must read for me now. It harkens me back to my pulp days when I was reading fantasy novels like Conan. Those stores were all self contained. I could read them in any order and I was guaranteed a fun romp with exhilarating adventures. James Enge has adopted a similar style.

Now Pyr is offering a free eBook in honor of publishing their 100th title and to my delight and yours, it's a short story of Morlock! So please take advantage of this great author and fantastic character.

http://pyrsf.blogspot.com/2010/12/free-epub-novelette-celebrates.html

Susan

First foreign rights sale

South Korea publisher to translate Vampire Empire trilogy.

We are very excited by our first foreign sale. Human & Books of Korea has bought the rights to The Greyfriar, as well as Books 2 & 3 in Vampire Empire. We're looking forward to seeing our books published in other languages in other parts of the world. We're unsure of the publication date yet, but thanks to Human & Books, and we hope the trilogy performs well for you in Korea.

Quatermain delayed

Now set for Spring 2011 Release.

We were disappointed to hear Bluewater Comics had decided to delay the publication of our Quatermain graphic novel, originally scheduled to ship this week, until early/mid 2011. Bluewater hopes to have new graphic novel distribution lines set up by then, which will give the book greater exposure.

We were mainly disappointed that comics fans are going to have to wait to see Patricio Carbajal's fantastic artwork.

But you won't have to wait too long...our issue of Vincent Price Presents will be out in December. More on that later.

Meanwhile, check out Pat's blog.

A Signing at Flyleaf Books

We had a great time at the signing on Friday night! Despite the fact that both Clay and I were recovering from colds and our voices were still not quite up to par, the reading went off without a hitch. Our husky voices probably only contributed to the menace of the villains!

Flyleaf Books made us feel very welcomed, and its venue is so large for an intimate space. The folks who came out to see us enjoyed the event, and there were even some unique questions about the world of Vampire Empire. Luckily we had the answers. Also, there were new faces in the crowd, which heartened us that the book is indeed finding a following out there thanks to the buzz on the Internet. To our delight, even the steampunk community was represented! 

Thanks to everyone who came out to see us!

e-Greyfriar

Vampire Empire delivered mysteriously through the aether

This woman is no doubt enjoying The Greyfriar, which is now available on Kindle. This is our first ebook, and it's pretty cool. Of course, Clay is still a paper book guy. The internet is great for research, but for just flat-out reading, he hasn't made the turn to ebooks yet. Susan has. She owns an ebook reader and is much more forward thinking. It is pretty nice to have your books available on your phone or e-reader or laptop, if you don't happen to have your copy in your bag.
Greyfriar Kindle edition

Steampunk/Vampire Event

Flyleaf Books
752 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
919-942-7373

We will be at Flyleaf Saturday night, Nov. 20, at 7:00 pm talking about steampunk and vampires and The Greyfriar. We encourage attendees to come in costume!

Come Meet Us

Quail Ridge Books and Music
3522 Wade Ave.
Raleigh, NC 27607
800-672-6789

November 12, 7:30 pm

We'll be reading from The Greyfriar, talking about Vampire Empire, and signing books. If you are in the area, please come by and say hello. If you can't make it, call Quail Ridge to reserve an autographed book.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Hollywood Treasures

This is a new show on Syfy. It's about a guy who owns a high-end Hollywood auction company who seeks out rare gizmos, props, and art associated with movies. It's sort of a geek version of Antiques Roadshow,  and it could be better than it is. Unlike Antiques Roadshow, it's more about the host finding good stuff for "his" auction house rather than surprising normal people with the value of their unknown treasures, which is the joy of AR. Most of the people he deals with are professional collectors who already know what they've got and are just hoping to make a killing. Plus, the buyers at the auctions don't generate much sympathy either. There's no tension or real vicarious thrill in watching some guy drop hundreds of thousands of dollars on a Lost In Space prop. Obviously that just means that guy has hundreds of thousands of dollars to waste anyway.

But they did a bit on one show with Stan Lee and original artwork from FF #12. Of course, like all reality tv, it could've been a complete stage job. Still...outside the argument about whether Jack or Stan did most of the work, I want to believe there was a little wistfulness in the aging Stan as he flipped those old pages with original margin notes that he and Kirby did SO many years ago in the Silver Age of Marvel.

Staged or not, for those of us who lived through the great Lee-Kirby years at Marvel, and who have been lucky enough to work in comics, it was a cool moment.

The Greyfriar is on the way!

Shipping from the printers

The Greyfriar: Vampire Empire Book 1 is finally in boxes and moving to bookstores across America! The book shipped on Oct. 28 and we hope will show up on book shelves this week.

We can't tell you how excited we are. We have loved every minute of our relationship with Pyr Books and Lou Anders, editorial director. The publicity people, headed by Jill Maxick, have been great. Our technical crew -- Peggy Deemer and Deanna Hoak -- are pleasant and professional. And, of course, the beautiful cover by artist Chris McGrath and Grace Conti-Zilsberger makes us happy every time we see it. And we thank our agent, Ann Collette, for her confidence.

We've been thrilled with the reviews, which you can find linked on this blog and on our Facebook pages, and on Pyr Books website. It's nice when readers seem to get what you're going for.

So thanks everyone who contributed to this day.

A New Review

Rob Will Review

Here are excerpts from a new review that of the The Greyfriar:

"Let’s face it.  There is a lot of steampunk fiction coming out right now, and of course, a dizzying amount of vampire fiction, and pretty much every new novel in either category claims to reinvent its genre.  Every now and then, however, a book comes along that actually does.  Clay and Susan Griffith’s The Greyfriar, the first installment of their new Vampire Empire series, may not be the first novel to blend steampunk and vampires, and it may be composed of numerous recognizable plots, and yet it manages to recalibrate the old stories and tropes with such genuine ingenuity and seeming effortlessness that it never fails to feel anything less than utterly original and dazzlingly new.  The Griffiths use pre-existing mythology–vampiric and otherwise–playing off our expectations in such a way that the twists and the manner in which seemingly unconnected threads ultimately connect prove to be legitimately surprising.

I decided to read this novel, because I found the synopsis on the back cover intriguing, but it didn’t quite prepare me for how deeply in love with this book I would fall.  It has elements of alternate history, steampunk, war, politics, satire, adventure, action, graphic novel, romance, horror, suspense, and more, and yet all of these well-worn elements join together in a manner that is completely unique.  The pacing is perfect, the character development stunning, and the narrative twists and turns superb.  It also has an appealingly sly sense of humor that manages to infuse even its darkest sections with humanity and warmth.  It succeeds on every level and seems to invent whole new ones.  If you’ve grown tired of vampires and/or steampunk, The Greyfriar is the paradoxical cure for what ails you–a vampire steampunk novel that makes both genres feel shiny and new again."

Radio is Hard...

...but at least we didn't have to wear make-up.

We were on The State of Things (WUNC 91.5FM) today. It was an interesting experience. We've done interviews before, as well as panel appearances at conventions, but when there's a microphone in front of your face and that red light goes on, and an incredibly smooth, professional host starts talking in a well-modulated radio voice, you begin to realize just how unprepared you are for communication media.

Frank Stasio is a gracious host and an excellent interviewer, thanks to his natural curiosity and intellect, as well as a very well prepared staff. We did our best to answer his questions. Even though we were talking about our own book, it can be hard to dig up just the right answer at the right time. Add to that the natural hesitation in the voice, the "ums" and "ahs" and "you knows" that fill everyday conversation (but not professional radio chatter), as well as Susan's tendency to ramble when nervous and Clay's tendency resort to saturation bombing with sarcasm...and you could have a perfect storm of radio disaster.

But disaster was averted. We did fine, as far as we can tell anyway. And it was actually fun once it got started. The host was great and enormously helpful to the nonprofessionals.

Now we can do it again without fewer nerves and less uncertainty.

Listen to Clay and Susan on The State of Things

New Review

Library Journal says:

Griffith, Clay & Susan Griffith. The Greyfriar. Pyr: Prometheus. (Vampire Empire, Bk. 1). Nov. 2010. c.320p. ISBN 9781616142476. pap. $16. FANTASY
A massive attack by vampires in 1870 drives humans lucky enough to survive the invasion to the tropics, where the hot climate proves intolerable for the vampire clans. When Princess Adele, heir to the Equatorian Empire—formerly the British Empire—travels north to meet with her American suitor, Senator Clark, to cement relations between human powers, a vampire ambush results in her capture. The appearance of a mysterious vampire hunter known only as Greyfriar, who assigns himself the task of rescuing the princess, rouses many questions as to the mystery man’s true purpose. Blending vampire fiction with steampunk and romance, this trilogy launch by the married authors possesses a seductive charm and tells a rousing tale of adventure. VERDICT A change of pace from standard vampire fiction, this should find a sizable readership among fans of fantasy romance as well as the vampire and steampunk genres.

Appearances

2 Bookstore Signings Scheduled


Quail Ridge Books & Music
Raleigh, NC
Nov. 12, Friday, 7:30 pm
This is a special place for us because Clay used to work there. One of the finest independent bookstores on the East Coast, with the best events coordinator known to man!

Flyleaf Books
Chapel Hill, NC
Nov. 20, Saturday, 7:00 pm
This is a wonderful independent store in beautiful Chapel Hill. We hope to get a steampunk flavor to this event by calling on the strong steampunk community in the Chapel Hill/Carrboro area.

Please come out and see us at one of these events. We hope to have other bookstore signings scheduled in the region and even beyond. And, of course, in 2011, we'll be hitting the convention circuit too.

Going to the printer!

There will soon be pages between this beautiful cover layout by Grace M. Conti-Zilsberger, who took full advantage of the lovely painting by Chris McGrath.

Pyr's fantastic marketing department, led by the tireless Jill Maxick, added some enthusiastic cover blurbs from Marjorie Liu (NY Times bestseller), Margo Adler (NPR commentator and bestselling author), and R.T. Book Review (one of the top review sources for paranormal, adventure, and romance).

Less than a month and we'll have the book in our hands!

It's Halloween!

We love Halloween, which is probably no surprise to anyone. We have 4 projects being published over the next couple months and they involve vampires, lycanthropes, giant monsters, demons, and ghosts.

So naturally Halloween is our favorite holiday.
But in addition to our own work, we want to mention a couple of friends who do wonderful Halloweeny work!

First, Belle Dee Bilbrey is a fantastic pop artist who specializes in very stylized cartoons, usually with a horror or Halloween theme. Check out her website.
Doo Wacka Doodles

Also, ORMON GRIMSBY, our personal undertaker to the nearly deceased, is planning a Halloween Eve bash in Raleigh, NC. It will be a wild night of music, monsters, and drinks...and it's in 3-D! This Grand Guignol a-go-go will be held at King's in Raleigh, NC on Oct. 30. If you don't believe me, check out the website. Ormon Grimsby's House of Halloween Hullabaloo

This will be the best Halloween ever!

Return with us now...

...to the thrilling days of Radio Drama!

Our new graphic novel -- Allan Quatermain and the Lord of Locusts -- will be published in Nov/Dec by Bluewater Comics.

Then it will be adapted into a radio drama by Colonial Radio Theatre.

Really?

Yes. Our script was always the stuff of old radio drama -- rugged heroes, evil villains, mysterious locales, and slambang action. But we never thought it would become a radio drama. Colonial Radio Theatre has adapted several previous Bluewater Comics into audio dramas, and now they're doing Quatermain. That's a new one for us!

Producer Jerry Robbins says: "I am very excited to get the chance to record this amazing graphic novel as a radio drama. We had a hit with our production of the original KING SOLOMON'S MINES in 2008, and this story is every bit as exciting and adventurous."

Thanks. We can't wait to hear it. (Too bad you can't get Pat Carbajal's beautiful artwork on the radio!)

Check the info at Bluewater's website.
Pre-order Quatermain at Amazon.

Vincent Price coming in December

The House of the Raven


Vincent Price Presents #26
December
Bluewater Comics

We wrote it.
Patricio Carbajal drew it. (He's REAL good!)

Vincent Price as a 1930s gentleman detective/magician.
It's a self-contained 1-shot story.
Magic. Demons. Werewolves. Dinner parties. Lederhosen.

Bluewater Comics

DragonCon 2010

It was a blast!

Here we are signing ARCs of The Greyfriar: Vampire Empire Book 1 at the Pyr Books booth. They were free! And man, they went fast!

The folks from Pyr -- Lou, Jill, and Rene -- were professional and personal. We loved all of them. It was also great to meet our fellow Pyr authors like Sam Sykes, James Enge, Jon Sprunk, Andrew Mayer, Mike Resnick, Erin Hoffman, and Ari Marmell. The Pyr panel was jam packed and a lot of fun. We felt like we were part of the Marvel Bullpen during the high Silver Age!

The buzz on The Greyfriar was fantastic. Everywhere we went, people told us they couldn't wait for the book or had already pre-ordered it. Thanks to everyone out there for supporting the book!

And more, we heard a constant stream of praise for Pyr Books and our editor Lou Anders. Authors who had published multiple books with other houses treated us like gold because we were associated with Pyr and with Lou. It was pretty impressive to witness the respect for Lou and the label he's helped build among everyone in the genre. We felt honored to be a part of Pyr.

Oh, and we met this guy.

Remember What We Said About the Fun Part?

We said that editing a full manuscript was the best part of writing.

Well, forget that.
It's getting done. But we've had more fun than this.

November Gets Graphic

Two...count 'em...TWO graphic novels go on sale in November!

For some reason Bluewater Comics has decided that November is perfect to publish two comics we wrote over the last couple of years. Both of these books were originally intended to be 4-issue mini-series, but for various reasons, they've become stand-alone graphic novels.

Quatermain has art by the wonderful Patricio Carbajal.

It Came From Beneath the Sea...Again has art  by Chris Noeth (first half of the book) and the very original and unusual Todd Tennant (second half of the book).

With The Greyfriar: Vampire Empire Bk 1 and now these two books coming out in November, plus Vincent Price Presents #26 in December, everything we've written in the last 3 years is coming out in one big splash!

Christmas gifts for the WHOLE FAMILY!

DragonCon schedule GROWS

New panels added...more to come?








Friday 11:30 am   New Voices in Steampunk/Alternate History
Friday 1:00 pm     Collaborations
Friday 7:00 pm     Pyr Books Panel
Friday 10 pm       What Makes a Book Sexy?

Saturday 10:30 am  Pyr Books Booth

Saturday 3:30 pm    Pyr Books Booth
There will be a number of Advanced Reader Copies of The Greyfriar: Vampire Empire Bk. 1 available!

Sunday 9 am        Stroll with the Pyr Stars
Sunday 5:30 pm  Out of the Coffin: Open vs. Closed Supernatural Systems

Now Comes the Fun Part

First Draft of Vampire Empire: Book 2


We just printed out the entire first draft manuscript of our second Vampire Empire novel. Now we begin RE-WRITING! There is nothing more fun than editing a manuscript, recognizing problems and fixing them, cutting the fat, sharpening the narrative, tightening the themes. Perhaps after reading 3 or 4 drafts, you might tire of your own words. But the first complete read-through is great fun when you see the spots that work, but not so fun when you see the spots that don't!

And, yes, we edit on paper. We simply have to have the words on a sheet of paper, with pen in hand, to really get a feel for it. The people who make ink for printers make a lot of money off of us.

Triangle Area Freelancers

We had a great time with TAF Wednesday night at Loco Lou's Coffee House. They were very nice and asked a lot of interesting questions about collaborating and writing different genres and media. We hung around for the rest of the meeting and were really impressed with the group as a whole. They were supportive and genuinely interested in the various projects of the members whether it was a published book or article or idea for something down the line. Fiction. Nonfiction. Books. Magazine articles. They covered a lot of territory. We'd recommend anyone in the area who is looking for a writing group that's friendly and effective take a look at TAF.

www.triangleareafreelancers.org

Talking About Writing as a Team.

The Triangle Area Freelancers
Wednesday, July 28, 7:00 pm
Loco Lu's Coffee Shop

We're looking forward to speaking to the Triangle Area Freelancers this week. We're going to give our take on how to collaborate and still satisfy your own personal creativity, while avoiding divorce or severe injury. Writing is generally a solitary pastime so the most common question we get at conventions is "How do you write together?" We've been working together for nearly 15 years and it has worked so well that neither of us would completely trust anything we wrote solo now. The fact is, all writing is collaborative on some level, unless you just write material and stuff it in your desk drawer, never to be seen again. If you can't take constructive input, you won't get far. So we're looking forward to fielding questions about how to write together and stay married, as well as discussing how to split your creativity and time to publish across different media -- books, comics, etc.

Thanks to TAF for inviting us. And for writers in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area, take a look at the Triangle Area Freelancers if you're looking for a writing group.

www.triangleareafreelancers.org

ComicCon 2010 Special Offer

One SDCC freebie you can't miss!

If you're heading out to San Diego for the annual insanity of ComicCon, you can get a piece of The Greyfriar: Vampire Empire Book 1. Forget waiting in long lines for disappointing glimpses of Brangelina or Scott Pilgrim or Tron or Thor or Green Lantern. Head straight to the freebie table and grab your very own Vampire Empire postcard! That's right! FREE postcard! Complete with lovely Chris McGrath cover art.

We're not there, but our postcard is! Now that's a con premium you will tell your friends about.

You're welcome, San Diego.

It Came From Beneath the Sea...Again!

Our newest graphic novel is the official sequel to the classic Ray Harryhausen movie: It Came From Beneath the Sea.

This book has been years in the making (due to unavoidable delays), but it's finally here (almost). This whopping big 90-page comic will be published in November by Bluewater Comics. Chris Noeth pencilled the first half and Todd Tennant the second. They have different art styles, but that makes it a really cool book.

The story takes place in the modern era, but it's deeply rooted in the beloved giant creature fear films of the 1950s. It has equal parts humor and blood-curdling monster action.

It can be pre-ordered at Amazon.
It Came From Beneath the Sea...Again

DragonCon 2010

We'll Be There!





We're going to DragonCon in Atlanta over Labor Day weekend to talk about THE GREYFRIAR: VAMPIRE EMPIRE Book One and all things steampunk, vampire, alternate history, and dark fantasy.

Our schedule will grow, but as it stands now:

Friday, Sept. 3:

9:00 am: Stroll with the Pyr Stars (this MAY be Sunday morning)

11:30 am: New Voices in Steampunk/Alternate History

7:00 pm: Pyr Books Panel

DragonCon is the biggest science fiction/fantasy convention in the USA (if you don't count ComicCon) We're talking 25,000+ crazed fans and the greatest costumes on the convention circuit (and that includes ComicCon). If you've never experienced DragonCon, you won't believe it. If you have experienced it, you know what we're talking about.

ReConstruction 2010

NASFiC: North America Science Fiction Convention in Raleigh, NC
Aug. 5 - 8


We'll be attending ReConstruction at the Raleigh Civic Center from August 5 thru 8.

Whenever WorldCon convenes out of the U.S. (it's in Australia this year) there is an American-based convention for those who can't make it overseas. This year it's in our hometown of Raleigh!


We'll be doing a couple of panels and generally promoting Vampire Empire: The Greyfriar. We also hope to accept the Chesley award for Best Art Director for our editor at Pyr, Lou Anders.

Check it out: www.reconstructionsf.org

Lou Anders garners more nominations!

Chesley nominee for Best Art Director

This nomination is well deserved. Nobody has better covers than Pyr Books (just take a gander at Chris McGrath's beautiful cover for Vampire Empire: The Greyfriar). The Chesley is given by the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists at ReConStruction in Raleigh, NC in August. Unfortunately, Lou cannot attend. Plus, he's up for a Hugo and won't be at that award ceremony either because he'll be at DragonCon (along with us!) during Worldcon. We have various side bets (to be paid in beer) that he will win the Hugo. Now we'll owe even more beer when he wins the Chesley. How much beer could he possibly drink anyway?

While Lou may wish he was at ReConStruction and Worldcon when he wins, it will only add to his fearsome legend that while other editors in the industry are partying at Worldcon, Lou is at DragonCon talking to fans about Pyr's books. That's why he's the hardest working man in science fiction/fantasy.

Congrats, Lou!

Vampire Empire in the Big Apple

We're at Book Expo America...sort of.


Here's a shot of Book Expo booth belonging to Prometheus Books (Pyr Books' parent company). You'll notice among all the wonderful posters the cover for VAMPIRE EMPIRE: THE GREYFRIAR prominently displayed. You may also notice it doesn't look exactly like the version we posted below. They used a poster with an earlier version of the cover; the beautiful finished version by Chris McGrath wasn't quite complete in time for the Fall/Winter catalog promo. Still, that's awfully cool!

We would love to do BEA one year, but alas, our book cover made it before us.

Thanks, Pyr, for the top row!

Vampire Empire: The Greyfriar

We have a cover!

This lovely work of art is by the talented Chris McGrath, best known for his work on Jim Butcher's Dresden Files. The layout is by Grace M. Conti-Zilsberger. And the whole thing was overseen by our editor (Hugo nominee) Lou Anders. We can't wait to see it staring out from bookstore shelves everywhere in November 2010.

Thanks, Chris, Grace, and Lou! Beautiful job.

We are so excited to see our hero and heroine, The Greyfriar and Adele, in the moody kirkyard of Greyfriars in Edinburgh. That's Edinburgh Castle looming in the background.

We were married in that very church and have many wedding photos in the same churchyard...none quite so foreboding as this cover shot though.

You can pre-order from Amazon:

A Cover is Near!

Vampire Empire: The Greyfriar

We should be seeing the cover for our new novel very soon. We're not sure if we can reveal anything about it yet, including the artist, but he's a very high profile cover artist in the fantasy publishing world. We've seen early drafts and we are VERY excited to see the final version!

Lou Anders is the art director for Pyr Books. He has an eye unlike anyone else in the business. Pyr's covers are always stunning. Lou believes that good covers sell books. We like that.

Congratulations Lou Anders

Pyr Books Editorial Director Nominated for Hugo Award


Lou Anders, the Editorial Director at Pyr Books, and our editor for VAMPIRE EMPIRE, has been nominated as Best Editor -- Long Form in this year's Hugo Awards. The Hugo is the top science fiction prize in the industry and winners are named at the World Science Fiction Convention in September (this year in Sydney, Australia). Lou will be at DragonCon in Atlanta this year and we promised to buy him a beer when he wins...or two beers should he lose.

Come on, Lou! WIN!

Comics Signing

Chapel Hill Comics
Saturday, March 27th
1-3 pm

Meet us at Chapel Hill Comics!
We will be signing our new comic Political Power: Nelson Mandela from Bluewater Comics.
If you've never been to Chapel Hill Comics, this is your chance. It's a great independent shop with a terrific selection of indy and mainstream books. The staff there knows comics!

Look forward to seeing you there.

Chapel Hill Comics website

Vincent Price Presents

Patricio Carbajal!

Are you kidding me! How good is this art!?!

This is the splash page from our upcoming issue of Vincent Price Presents from Bluewater Comics. It's not colored, but it's so good we almost wish the book was black and white. The artist is Patricio Carbajal and he is fantastic! Holy Cow! Even we want to read this...and we wrote it!

Sometimes in comics you get to work with artists who thrill you. They make your scripts better than you thought they could be.

So good, Pat!

PYR Opens Its Doors Wider

PYR Books Now Accepts Unagented Manuscripts.

Congratulations to Lou Anders, Executive Editor at PYR, for opening the doors of his prestigious science fiction/fantasy house to writers without agents. Since the beginning of time, one of the highest hurdles for upcoming professional fiction writers is the fact that so many major publishers won't review submissions if they don't come through a literary agent. So PYR's decision means that more writers have a chance to get their manuscripts in front of the eyes of professional editors.

PYR may find some gems among the tons of rock that will pour over the transom. And for some writers, even if their work is rejected, perhaps a nice word from a PRY editor will spur them to keep working or may even help them get the attention of an agent.

And the best part is, as we mentioned to Lou, maybe now we can find a suitable home for our well-thumbed first manuscript, which we kept secret from our agent. It's a 500,000-word epic fantasy that combines Lord of the Rings with Remembrance of Things Past, but with kittens. It's called The Whiskeriad (vol. 1). Oddly enough, it's still unsold! Are you listening, Rene at PYR!

Please consult PYR's Guidelines www.pyrsf.com before submitting your masterpiece (although it can't match The Whiskeriad).

Kolchak: The Night Stalker

Our newest Kolchak story from Moonstone Books


Available February 10.

Our story is paired with a Phantom story that both fit into a big metaplot involving renegade KGB agents. But our Kolchak piece also works as a creepy little stand-alone story.

We're always excited to write the adventures of Carl Kolchak, one of our favorite characters of all time.

www.moonstonebooks.com

Vampire Empire: The Greyfriar

Steampunk World's Fair -- May 14-16, 2010

We'll be attending the Steampunk World's Fair in Piscataway, NJ. We'll be reading from VAMPIRE EMPIRE: THE GREYFRIAR and talking about writing, alternate history, and steampunk. The book won't be out by then, but we'll have the cover at least! We're very excited to see everyone there!

http://steampunkworldsfair.com

PYR Books is SFReview's Publisher of the Decade

And PYR is only 5 years old!

Now that's pretty good.

Another reason we're happy to be with PYR Books and with Lou Anders is the growing awareness that PYR is the home of quality fantasy and science fiction, and that Lou has an eye for good stuff. We hope VAMPIRE EMPIRE adds to that success in 2010 and beyond.

Way to go Lou!

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