Archive for the 'Fiction' Category
April 5th, 2013 by jdsawyer
Clarke Lantham, the hero of my detective series, lives and works around the San Francisco Bay. One of the features of the books that draws frequent comment is how much the Bay itself is a character in these stories.
Truth be told, it’s an intentional feature. I’ve been a lot of beautiful places in my life, even lived in a few of them (and some ugly places too), but there is something about the San Francisco Bay that can keep a soul fascinated for eternity.
If you’ve wondered what it is, and you want a taste, check out this video. It may explain a few things. Set aside about five minutes to just watch and enjoy. Moments of great beauty deserve undivided attention.
March 14th, 2013 by jdsawyer
It is with great 
pride that I announce the release of my short novel Ideas, Inc., which Alasdair Stuart of…well, everywhere…called “Effortlessly funny, cheerfully dark, and tremendously strange” before he went on to say a whole lot more in this amazing review in SFX.
Like the shorter Lantham novels, this is a story designed to give you a rip-roaring, white-knuckle adventure with plenty of laughs and scares in a single, breathless evening. Of course, you’re free to take longer reading it, but I warn you: Once you pick it up you won’t want to put it down.
Available now in paperback
And in ebook through Smashwords, Amazon, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, and a few other places as well.
The author of Suave Rob’s Double-X Derring-Do brings you a farce of the tradition of P.G. Wodehouse and Douglas Adams.
Best friends Caleb and Lenny hate each other. Stranded in the middle of upstate New York with two flat tires, one spare, no cell reception, and no idea what to do, they figure they’re pretty much screwed. Fortunately, they broke down right in front of a place that deals in ideas. For the special one-time fire-sale price of seventeen bucks, they can get a pack of seven completely original, brand-new, ultra-premium, never-before-used ideas. But will it get them out of trouble before they’re forced to talk to each other again?
Find out in this hilarious all-night adventure yarn that reveals the terrible truth behind the worldwide pigeon cabal!
Pick your poison, watch your back, and remember: the next bright idea just might get you killed.
Read the first chapter free here as a EPUB or PDF.
July 14th, 2012 by jdsawyer
The South. Home to 
a deep culture steeped in African mythology and religion, Native American spirituality, Catholicism and Charismatic Christianity, the blues, and the deep, pounding heat. It is the source of one of the richest literary traditions in the world: Southern Gothic.
If you’ve seen The Twilight Zone, or read Ray Bradbury and Flannery O’Connor, or heard the Delta Blues, you’ve tasted it–maybe without realizing it. It’s always been one of my favorite genres, but I’ve only dipped into it rarely. If you’ve read Buried Alive in the Blues or some of The Lombard Alchemist Tales you’ve read my take on some of the lighter, more humorous and romantic sides of the Southern Gothic. This time, though, we’re going deep into the darkest heart of the mythic world where the Devil teaches the Blues at the crossroads, where the mystic communes with the spirits of the land, and where the gods and demons roll dice for the souls of the dead.
Turn off the lights and light the candles. Get a good blanket and a comfy chair in a safe corner. Make sure you’re facing the door so you can see if anything comes for you, and step with me into my nightmare as I present you with the twisty tale The Society of Miserable Bastards.
Thee decades ago, ten children were abandoned in a pit of quicksand by mile-marker thirty-five to protect the reputation of the all-powerful Chiswick family. Saved by the local bag lady, they now meet annually as The Society of Miserable Bastards to bestow blessings upon the family that abandoned them, one by one. And tonight, they have a very special guest indeed…
Available now in the Kindle store, the Nook store, and in all formats at Smashwords.
July 9th, 2012 by jdsawyer
I used to own a menagerie
of boids. Burmese or Ball or Reticulated pythons, or Boa Constrictors, they’re not exactly warm and fuzzy, but they are fascinating creatures. In a very real sense, living dinosaurs.
Of course, they’re not exactly cheap, so I had to justify their existence by using them in movies, photo shoots, and other projects. Though the menagerie is now mostly gone, I’m still using them. I used one of the photo shoots featuring Brian the Burmese Python as the basis of my story Lilith. Now, I give you a fun adventure story starring Judith the Burmese and Monty the Ball Python, a summer afternoon, and a great deal of mischief wrought by a certain pawnbroker.
I proudly present to you the latest Lombard Alchemist tale: The Serpent and the Satchel
What’s a little daydream between friends?
A cubicle is no place to waste a golden summer afternoon, which is why Albert escaped early to spend some time at the park. But when his boss piles on extra deadlines, he’s forced to work through his time off–at least, that’s the plan.
But neither Albert nor his boss could have planned planned on a surprise adventure courtesy a broken briefcase, an escaped python, and a mischievous pawnbroker who keeps a creepy little shop out on the edge of nowhere.
Available now on Kindle and at Smashwords. Coming soon to Nook.
June 20th, 2012 by jdsawyer
Sometimes you can’t help
smiling a mile wide just typing an announcement, and this is one of those times (for me–at least I assume I’m the one typing. Yup. Okay, then, on with the show). Today I get to unveil to you my latest literary abomination, one that fulfills a lifelong dream to write a fun pulp sci-fi adventure story. A good short pulp needs a good long title, so here you go:
Suave Rob’s Double-X Derring-Do, a Short Novel of Long Odds.
One Surfboard. Two X-Chromosomes. All Man.
Climbing Olympus Mons put him on the map, winning a gold medal in asteroid jumping got him great press, and children everywhere tune into watch every time he skydives from a space station, but Suave Rob Suarez is just getting started. Together with his childhood hero and his stunt partner, he’s gonna stage the biggest daredevil stunt the universe has ever seen:
Surf a supernova. Or die trying.
Read a sample here, or get it now on your Kindle, Nook, or any other reader.
April 24th, 2012 by jdsawyer
Many of you have been asking how to get autographed paperbacks now that I’m not going to Balticon (or, let’s face it, any cons) this year. Well, I’ve crunched the numbers and discovered that I can get you autographed books for the same price you’d get them on Amazon (with about the same shipping rates, assuming you’re not a Prime subscriber).
So, here they are. Add each to the cart as you need to, then click “continue shopping.” You will also need to add your appropriate shipping option to the cart as well. Once you’ve got everything you need, click “check out” instead of “continue shopping.” The shipping options will cover your order of books. Please do not forget to add your shipping option to your order, or I will not be able to ship the book(s). If you are a dealer or want to order more than 10 units, email me privately for a discount schedule using the contact form.
Note: I CAN deliver to Balticon, as I have someone who has agreed to distribute the books there. I am not sending along general stock, only signed preorders. If you want Balticon delivery, please be sure to select “Balticon Pickup” from the shipping options.
Books
Shipping for Books
(Choose one only)
| Balticon Pickup (must order before May 14) |
$2.99 |
|
| Continental U.S. |
$3.99 |
|
| International shipping (includes insurance) |
$7.99 |
|
Posters
Note: Posters require special packing and thus their shipping is hard-wired into their buy button.
 Predestination Cover Art
Signed and Numbered Collector's Edition Poster
$12.00+shipping |
If you’re going, please do enjoy Balticon and raise a little hell for me. Thank you for your continued support and enthusiasm!
April 3rd, 2012 by jdsawyer
So, as many of you might have noticed, we occasionally produce audiobooks through ArtisticWhispers Productions. Those of you that have may have also noticed that we haven’t put a new one out (or, at least, anything resembling a complete one) in about two years.
The hiatus is over. As of this past weekend, the following books have all moved out of the pre-production stage and into the production stage.
The books currently in production are:
Throwing Lead
And Then She Was Gone
A Ghostly Christmas Present
Smoke Rings
Free Will
Being In Production
Being “In Production” means that the project is currently being recorded. Some bits of pre-production might go on concurrently, for example…
Casting
All of the fiction books will be full-cast productions in the classic AWP style. Here are the numbers on the roles available for each book (bearing in mind that, since this is audio, actors can double, triple, or quintiple up on roles):
And Then She Was Gone needs 27 roles filled. 9 of these have five lines or fewer.
A Ghostly Christmas Present needs 14 roles filled, 4 of these have five lines or fewer
Smoke Rings needs 21 roles filled. About half of these are roles with fewer than five lines.
Free Will needs 118 roles filled. About half of these are roles with fewer than five lines.
What Happens Now
Starting later this week, I will spool out the open casting calls. These books will be available commercially, so if you wish to participate, in addition to having the ability to record clean audio and (for the more involved roles) the willingness to take live-direction, you must be willing to sign a contract detailing the release of your voice for commercial purposes and entitling you to payment.
Payment for these books, because they’re the first commercial round, will be on a deferred fee basis + royalties. Because payment is involved, you will need to include your Tax ID number on the contract and, when payment comes due, fill out the relevant tax forms.
Watch This Space
These are the first five of an anticipated 9 productions this year, and there will be a similar number next year. I’m looking to build a stable of actors I can work with medium-to-long term.
What Does This Mean for the Podcast?
The podcast returns with Free Will (rebooted) in late spring/early summer. I’m aiming for Balticon, but might overshoot or undershoot by as much as three weeks, depending on how briskly casting goes.
Free Will will be approximately 60 episodes long, and will start out as a bi-weekly podcast, ramping to weekly once the entire production is wrapped. As such, it will run for 13-19 months before we reach the end. Since such a long story full of cliffhangers will drive some of you around the bend, the full audiobook will be available for purchase by DragonCon, if not before.
Additionally, the initial chapters of the other books will drop in the feed so that you who subscribe can hear what’s going on in the productions that aren’t delivered to you on the feed.
And, of course, Dealing In will return, as I sense we’ll have quite a lot to talk about as the story unfolds.
Future novels will podcast after Free Will wraps, but there will always be more content available than what’s going through the ‘cast. You all have spoken loudly, and we here around the Bay have heard your cries.
Stay tuned! More in a couple days.
Update: Free Will casting call has posted. Find it here
February 11th, 2012 by jdsawyer
I am proud to announce
my first steampunk story collection Frock Coat Dreams: Romances, Nightmares, and Fancies from the steampunk Fringe, which includes two brand new stories: “A Goblet of Fifty-Three” and “Sleep, Walk.” This will be the first of two or three collections this year of steampunk stories grouped together for easy reading. Unlike the Sculpting God collections, these don’t have special features, but they will be an excellent place to get early releases and load up on short stories for about half of what you would pay to purchase them individually.
Here’s the back-of-book copy:
The author of The Antithesis Progression and The Clarke Lantham Mysteries brings you delicate, humorous, and brutal visions of a future that never was and a past that might have been. Collected her are stories of satire, romance, horror, and promise to delight every sensibility.
Contains:
Train Time
Sleep, Walk
On Matters Most Austere
A Goblet of Fifty-Three
Angels Unawares
and Cold Duty: Selected Readings from the Diary of a Gelusian Repairman, the story that Steampunk Scholar Mike Perschon calls “…probably the single best steampunk short story I’ve read.”
Get it now for all platforms from Smashwords, or grab it for your Kindle direct from Amazon or your Nook direct from B&N.
February 10th, 2012 by jdsawyer
Sometimes, I have 
bouts of madness. In 2010 at OryCon, a particularly whimsical bout of madness struck. I’d just gotten out of a panel on Steampunk and run into someone with a table advocating for public awareness of something-or-other, and it occurred to me that in the world of the Steampunk genre there would be a number of such groups going around trying to cope with large societal changes caused by the sudden disinclination of their fellows to stay dead.
Magazine editors loved it, and sent glowing rejection notes apologizing to me that the premise was simply too weird for their readers. Now, it’s your turn. If you need a draught of the truly daft and funky, check out this Guide for Her Majesty’s Subjects On Matters Most Austere.
From the Greater London chapter of the Committee to Restrict the Accidental Population:
A comprehensive guide for Her Majesty’s subjects on dealing with the social problems and legal issues created by the so-called “accidental population.” If you are finding your world complicated by vampires, resurrectionists, or the undead, this pamphlet will give you the vital information you need to survive awkward situations with your life and social standing intact, and in the process restore the dignity of the Empire.
Read it now on your Kindle or other e-reader.
February 6th, 2012 by jdsawyer
For those of you 
who liked my recent story on Escape Pod (which will hit ebook format this month), I’ve got another tale from the pawnshop for you. Call it a fable about the value of a healthy sense of self. And for me, personally, this is a favourite. So, step into the pawnshop and pay no attention to the cold. The bald cat and his pet man will give you what you need, even if it isn’t what you want.
Sunday Morning Giraffe: A Lombard Alchemist Tale
Aldo is a five-year-old who always gets his way. When he doesn’t, bad things happen. So when he wakes up his father at 3AM on Sunday and demands a giraffe–in spite of the fact that giraffes do not live in the high desert in the middle of winter–his father grudgingly takes him on a giraffe-hunting safari.
Unfortunately, his parents know nothing about the source of Aldo’s will power, and would be shocked to discover that his chief ally is a demon-posessed rat with an agenda of its own involving a toy giraffe from a creepy little pawnshop way out on the edge of nowhere.
Buy it now for the Kindle and for all other readers.
