The Queen of Wolves, the third novel of The Vampyricon Trilogy is now out and available in bookstores in paperback. I hope you enjoy it, talk it up to friends, and dig back into this epic of vampires, the medieval world, and the subterranean cities.
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I write best when I hide a bit from online stuff, and the new book has been going steadily forward. Basically, to write, I have to immerse myself in the world of the book until it's as if I'm within the book itself, watching what's around me and figuring out how to put that down on paper.
I love this part of writing. The business side of it has its pleasures, too, but I didn't get into writing because of business. In fact, I got into it to keep out of business and just go into these worlds.
However, as everybody knows, writing becomes business at the point contracts and schedules get put into place, so I do as much as I can with the book before that all takes over.
With The Vampyricon behind me -- that was a rough series to live through and it took up years of my life, although four years in total to write the majority of those books -- I look forward to finishing three new books in 2008.
First, the book I'm working on now, which has two or three titles, which means I can't settle on any of them. It is so much about one person that I want to title it by his name, but I'm not sure, so I'll wait until the book is finished and see which of the three titles I currently have will fit. This is a supernatural thriller that spills into horror territory, and I'm keeping somewhat tight-lipped about it for now. It should be out in the fall or winter of 2008.
Then, I have a big dark fantasy novel to finish off in the spring that -- with luck -- will be out in 2009. Although I have no publisher for it yet, I'm hoping also to finish up the second Mordred book before January 2009 and get that back on track. The publisher of the first Mordred book made an offer on the second that I had to turn down for very logical reasons, but I believe in Mordred's tale enough to just push through all this and eventually find the right publisher for these books.
So, one paranormal/supernatural thriller (the one I'm almost finished with now), and two fantasies. There may be the finishing up of one more in there -- I've worked on some of these novels in the past year, so I'm not a fast writer, but I usually don't give up until the books are where I want them to be.
Additionally, in the year ahead, there's a special limited edition hardcover of my Andrew Harper novel, Night Cage, coming out in Cemetery Dance's Book Club during 2008 (Click here to find out more about the Cemetery Dance Book Club). For those who have been waiting lo these years, Cemetery Dance will also get out The Halloween Man to those who pre-ordered it, and again for those patient people, my novelette - Mr. Darkness -- should finally see the light of day in mid-2008. And there's a surprise book coming from Cemetery Dance in 2008, also. I like surprises.
There may be one or two more surprises as well. We'll see.
You know, I've got a cold, I am working on a new book, and I can't believe how quickly summer left. It's actually cold at night here on the coast of Connecticut. Where is my summer? How many days do I have left for canoeing? When do the summer people leave so I can get my quiet beach back? (I love the summer people, so I'm only half-joking here. Half. Joking.)
But that's not why I'm posting. Here's why, and it seems crazy to me at this point to always get this excited, but: as of this week, all three Vampyricon books are in bookstores.
Yes, The Priest of Blood and The Lady of Serpents are in stores in paperback, and...THE QUEEN OF WOLVES, now in hardcover, is hitting bookstores this week! Click the cover to find out more, get the book, and even read the Publisher's Weekly review (hint: they liked it).
Publication day is September 4th, but some bookstores have already put it out, and others will get it out on the shelves tomorrow. Please ask for it when you go to the stores, and don't hesitate to speak in a stern, teacher-like voice to the bookstore manager if it's not in by Wednesday.
I completely get a bit weird when my books come out -- no matter how many novels of mine are released into the wild, it's exciting each time. But with these three books, making up the trilogy The Vampyricon, I feel as if I've created something special within the dark fantasy area that I hope will find a readership for a long time to come.
Thanks to all of you who will be reading these three books, and picking up the paperbacks and hardcover this week, too.
