Cheap at half the price. Yes, I've been a bit slow on the ol' blogging, from a certain point of view (1). From another point of view, I've been blogging like crazy, just in a Lovecraftian way that's been going on superimposed over the reality you know, and yet entirely invisible to feeble mortal eyes.

Specifically, guest posts (2), which are more and more a part of the author's prelaunch routine. There are, after all, only so many ways of saying "buy my book" before you actually have to get some content out there (3).

Allow me to take you by the hand and lead you in a whirlwind tour of some of the stuff I've been inflicting on poor innocent websites.

The Art of Gunsmithing (Civilian Reader)

Some notes on the rather tangled history of Guns of the Dawn, how it came about and the various versions it went through. They have an excerpt up on the site as well.

Mantids and Musketry (Upcoming4me)

The difficulties of transitioning from an established series to a new world and new characters.

Attack of the Polly Olivers (sfbook)

A very brief whirl through the female military protagonist in fantasy, with reference to some really good books, and, you know, history and stuff.

The Art of Epic War (Tor UK) (4)

Playing for the home team, a little piece on how war is presented in fantasy, which goes rather unexpectedly dark right off the bat.

Austentation (A Dribble of Ink)

Some thoughts on the Regency period and its use in fiction, with especial reference to Clarke and Novik (and, you know, Austen) — presented with Aidan Mohar's usual elegance and panache. Thanks to Regency scholar Natasha Madgwick Connell for checking my sums here.

Finally Five Fantasy Armies You Don't Want to Sign Up For (Tor.com)

Because we all know the first rule of fantasy combat is never, ever join the Night's Watch. It comes even before not talking about Fight Club.

If that hasn't glutted you, there are a couple of interviews out, in which I try to field a variety of Guns-related questions, one at Fantastical Librarian and one at Bristol Book Blog.

That's enough about me, frankly. I will be back with the other half of the Cook Report shortly, I promise. However, before you go, there are some books just out that are worth noting. Jen Williams' Iron Ghosts, sequel to Copper Promise, is hot off the presses, and Paul Cornell's Severed Streets has just had its paperback release. Also, Adam Christopher has added an Elementary novel to his wide-ranging canon, The Ghost Line. The Cornell I've read already, and it's superb. The other two are definitely on my list to get.

(1) cue humdrum Jedi mendacity.

(2) and now I'm going to have to write a story about an Elder Horror from Beyond Space that manifests mostly as horrible blog comments. Or maybe that's already a thing. It would explain a lot of the GG/MRA/doxxing sort of crap that turns up these days. Sadly, human nature already provides us with a perfectly adequate explanation.

(3) Oh, and buy my book!

(4) It brings me great joy to see the hyperlink abbreviated to "Epic wa". "Wa" (as in "Wa wa wa") was the LARP abbreviation for the sort of beard-strokey plot-waffling where players would talk in circles for hours and hours without ever reaching a useful conclusion.