Shadows of the Apt

I am up to my eyeballs with stuff right at this moment, principally Tiger & Wolf book 3 (tentatively The Hawk and the Hyena? Does that work? I keep thinking "handsaw" Beats "The Owl and the Pussycat" which was the working title for a while) but however I take a break to bring you Tidings of Good Things. Or possibly Elder Things.

The sequel to The Tiger and the Wolf is coming out probably around February 2017, incidentally. This is The Bear and the Serpent (1) and, avoiding spoilers, will take those characters who survived the first book to that other place. Hope I'm not giving too much away there.

In August, my shortish novel Spiderlight will be out in the US and beyond (including UK) from tor.com. Spiderlight is a bit of a deconstructionist fantasy where a recognisably D&D‑ish adventuring party find that, to defeat the Dark Lord under the terms of the Prophecy, they have to take on a Mirkwood-style giant spider. Very much not a case of "You look trustworthy, would you like to join our party…"

In July, however, seeing as apparently I am doing this in any old arse-about-face order, I am very pleased to announce the release of Spoils of War from Newcon Press, the very first collection of Shadows of the Apt stories and not at all just released to keep this site address and my twitter handle relevant. Spoils of War collects some stories previously released here, some released in anthologies elsewhere and some completely new stories. If you've been eyeing the 10-volume madness that is SotA somewhat warily, or know someone who has, this should be a cracking introduction to the world of the kinden. Includes adventures of Tisamon in Helleron, tender moments of sentiment with face-changing mass murderer Scylla and Gaved down and out in the occupied Commonweal, amongst other tales.

Finally, in September (to be launched at Fantasycon-by-the-Sea in fact) I am equally happy to say that I am 1/3 of the contributors to The Private Life of Elder Things, a new collection of Mythos stories from Alchemy Press in which I am joined by horror, fantasy and erotica writer Keris McDonald and Cthulhu RPG writer Adam Gauntlett in bringing you a selection of stories about the Things of the Mythos and the way their existence intersects with we poor mortals. Whilst I am proud of my own offerings here, Adam and Keris have pulled an absolute blinder with their stories. Please do go pick up a copy if Lovecraftia is a thing you're interested in.

Finally, there is one other project in the pipeline — still in negotiations but it looks as though a Shadows of the Apt RPG using the Savage Worlds system may hit Kickstarter towards the end of the year, all being well. Watch this space…

(1) Of course if you google "The Bear and the" to find the cover, it comes up with "Maiden Fair." Damn you, GRRM!