Halo: New Blood Audiobook Coming Too

halo-new-blood-9781442389434_hrNext Monday’s going to be wild. I have two books coming out, each related to massively popular universes: Avengers: The Battle Against Ultron and Halo: New Blood. Oddly, the formats for these run the gamut.

Battle for Ultron – which is based on the Avengers comics and meant for young readers, five and up – will be available only in print, but in both hardcover and softcover editions. New Blood, on the other hand, will only be available in electronic format. Simon & Schuster announced the ebook a while back, but they quietly slipped in an audiobook version too while no one was looking.

The audiobook is narrated by Scott Brick, who’s a legend in the voiceover business. He’s provided the narration for dozens of fantastic novels, including Dune, The Bourne Identity, Patriot Games, Mystic River, The Martian Chronicles, Moneyball, The Firm, How to Survive a Sharknado, Metatropolis, The Heist, A Princess of Mars, and even Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. In short, the man reads great books well.

The audiobook will be available through iTunes, Audible/Amazon, and all the rest of the usual suspects.

So this Monday, get ready to listen up, tap your screen, or flip through actual pages and join me for a couple of very different books, each fun in their own wonderful ways.

The Avengers: Battle Against Ultron Debuts Monday

Avengers Battle Against UltronAs it turns out, I have not one book coming out on Monday, but two. The first, of course, is my Halo novel, New Blood. The second is Marvel: The Avengers: Battle Against Ultron, which features this snazzy cover here.

Battle Against Ultron is part of the DK Reads series of books, meant for young readers just getting started on their own. It’s designed for kids ages five and up, and it features entries about each of the main Avengers, their headquarters, their gear and powers, and one of their greatest foes, the murderous robot Ultron.

It’s 128 pages, and you can find it both in an inexpensive softcover or a much more durable hardcover.

I had a great time working with Sadie Smith and the rest of the team at DK on this one, and I can’t wait to give a copy to my youngest nephews, Luke and Matteo. If you have any kids around who are intrigued by the upcoming Avengers: Age of Ultron film, this book would be perfect for them too–whether they’re old enough to see the movie or not.

I Wrote a Halo Novel

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Today, 343 Industries finally announced that I wrote a novel for Halo, the bestselling series of science-fiction video games they develop for the company’s owner, Microsoft. Over at Halo Waypoint, Jeff Easterling (a.k.a. GrimBrother One) interviewed me about the book for their Canon Fodder blog. Go check that out, and then come back so I can add a little bit to it.

I first ran into Halo back in the year 2000, before the game had even been announced. I was down in Chicago, interviewing at Bungie (the game’s original developer) for a writing gig on a different game, and Bob Settles there showed me the demo for this new project they had in the works and watched my jaw drop. I didn’t get the gig (it went to my pal John Scott Tynes instead), but I’ve been keeping up with Halo ever since. I’ve bought every generation of Xbox and played every one of the Halo games, and I’ve had the pleasure of replaying them with my kids too.

The first thing I did when I discovered that Simon & Schuster had gotten the rights for new Halo novels, I contacted Ed Schlesinger there right away. Ed had been my editor for the Guild Wars novel I cowrote with Jeff Grubb (Ghosts of Ascalon), and he told me he was writing me a note about the Halo books at the same moment my email arrived in his inbox. He put me on the shortlist of authors he assembled for 343, and soon after I had an interview with some of the people at 343 to see if I was the right person for the job.

After crossing my fingers hard enough to put dents in them for a week or two, I got an offer to write a brand-new novel set in the Halo universe. I pitched a number of different ideas, and we quickly focused on a new story starring the heroes from Halo 3: ODST: Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck and his team of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers.

ODST sticks out a bit from most of the Halo games in that it’s spun out in a nonlinear format (lots of flashbacks), has a noirish feel to it, and centers around a number of mysteries that unfold as you play. It also features the voices of a number of well-known actors, including Nathan Fillion and Tricia Helfer. (Nathan voices Buck, and I had his voice running around in my head for months!) It’s one of my favorites in the entire series.

Halo: New Blood is a digital-first short novel, which means:

  • It’s ebook only to start.
  • It clocks in somewhere around 60,000 words.
  • It can get to you fast.

The book is slated for release on March 2, 2015, not even six weeks from now. This is a clip from the cover art by Isaac Hannaford, who worked on Halo 3: ODST, as well as Halo: Reach and Halo 3, and led the concept team for Bungie’s follow-up universe, Destiny.

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I’ve been sitting on my hands and biting my tongue about this news since last spring, and it feels fantastic to finally have it out there so I can finally talk a bit about it.

I want to offer huge thanks to Ed Schlesinger at Simon & Schuster and to the entire team at 343 Industries, especially Jeremy Patenaude and Tiffany O’Brien, who helped me out every step of the way. I could not have asked for a better, more enthusiastic, or more passionate group of people to work with.

For me, this is a dream job. I had a fantastic time writing this book, and I cannot wait for you all to read it.

Join Me at Capricon!

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I’m going to be the Author Guest of Honor at Capricon 35, in Wheeling, Illinois, over Valentine’s Day weekend, February 12—15, just about a month from now. I had a great time at the show when I went a couple years ago, and I expect it to be even better this time around.

Steve Jackson had been scheduled to be the Gaming Guest of Honor, but he’s had to cancel. Fortunately, bestselling author Margaret Weis is stepping in to take his place.

The irony here is that I’m better known for my games than Margaret is, and vice versa when it comes to novels. You might not know that Margaret has also published all sorts of roleplaying games, including the newest Firefly game, and the Leverage and Marvel Heroic Roleplaying games, both of which I chipped in on. So she certainly has plenty of cred on both side of that divide.

My friends John Anealio and Patrick Hester of the Functional Nerds podcast and also often the Hugo-winning SFSignal will also be Guests of Honor. (I actually wrote the lyrics to John’s song “Angry Robot,” which he created for my pals at Angry Robot Books.) By no coincidence, they just interviewed Margaret, and they should have an episode with me up soon as well.

Artist John Bivens, musician Alexander James Adams, and fan Elizabeth “Dr. Evil” Huffman round out the Guest of Honor list. (I don’t know any of them yet, but I’m sure I will by the end of the show.) In addition, I’m looking forward to seeing fellow writers like Lester Smith, Mary Robinette Kowal, Mary Anne Mohanraj, Jody Lynn Nye, Eric Flint, and Gene Wolfe.

The latest draft of the full schedule has been posted. My schedule currently looks like this:

Thursday, 2/12

5:00—6:30 pm: Training the Game Master: Tips and Tricks For Running a Great Game
While Capricon is not a gaming-specific convention, gaming is a big part of the convention, and many of our members enjoy gaming outside the con. Tabletop role playing games in particular are tricky. Depending on the game master, they can be remarkable or repugnant. Our experts share their techniques on how to run a good tabletop RPG. Neal Litherland, Dr. Michael Unger, Margaret Weis, and me. 

6:30—8:00 pm: Fandom in Popular Culture
From books such as Bimbos of the Death Star, Cat at a Kiwi Con, and Matt Forbeck’s trilogy of Dangerous Games novels to television shows such as Big Bang Theory and Community, fandom has been shown in many lights in popular culture. Where is it wrong and where is it painfully right? Andrea Hawkins-Kamper, Valli Hoski, Toni Lichtenstein Bogolub, Mary Anne Mohanraj, Greg Press, and me. 

8:00—9:30 pm: Opening Ceremonies
Welcome to Capricon 35: What Does R & R Mean to You? Join us as we kick off this year’s event and get some idea of what to expect and to meet our Guests of Honor (GoHs) and the people who make it all possible. Alexander James Adams, John Anealio, John Bivens, Patrick Hester, Elizabeth Huffman, John “Shadowcat” Ickes, Terrence Miltner, Margaret Weis, and me. 

Friday, 2/13

2:30—4 pm: Bringing a Game to Life
From the drawing board to the playing board, how does game design work? What are the differences when designing different types of games, such as board games or video games? Our game design experts share their experiences and answer your questions. Brian Babendererde, Marinda Darnell, Margaret Weis, and me. 

5:30—7 pm: Crafting a Story
How does one take an idea and turn it into a story? How do authors create these convoluted worlds with lots of characters and multiple story arcs, and more importantly, keep track of it all and make it a coherent whole? Richard Chwedyk, Rebecca L. Ciardullo, Phyllis Eisenstein, Mary Robinette Kowal, Gene Wolfe, and me. 

Saturday, 2/14

10:30—11 am: Reading

11:30 am—3:00 pm: D6xD6 RPG: Shotguns & Sorcery with GoH Matt Forbeck
Join our Guest of Honor, Matt Forbeck, in the Gaming Room for a round of D6xD6 RPG: Shotguns & Sorcery, run by the game’s creator, Lester Smith. Deathwind: A cyclonic storm is raging the city, laying waste especially to the ramshackle buildings of Goblintown. While the city’s upper reaches protect their businesses and estates, our heroes must venture into the lower circles, to investigate reports of undead loose in the streets. (Players get a special d6xd6.com promo die!) 2—6 players.

3:45—4:30 pm: Autographing: Matt Forbeck & Jody Lynn Nye

So we should have a rollicking good time. Join us if you can!

 

 

 

The Shotguns & Sorcery RPG Kickstarter Is Over!

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The Kickstarter drive that Outland Entertainment has been running to fund a tabletop roleplaying game based on my Shotguns & Sorcery stories ended tonight, and what a finish! In the end, it wound up raising $64,545 from 1,211 backers. Thanks to each and every one of you who helped out with it, whether through backing or spreading the word or both! This wouldn’t have happened without you.

The team at Outland did a fantastic job with the drive. Jeremy Mohler (whose art graces the cover above) led the way, and Susana Grilo was tireless with her marketing support. Ed Lavallee created an amazing cover, and William Ward pitched in with priceless advice about the entire project.

Big thanks also go out to the entire team at Monte Cook Games: Shanna Germain, Bruce Cordell, Charles Ryan, Tammie Ryan, and of course Monte himself. They did far more than just license their Cypher System to Outland. They plugged the project hard every step of the way.

Thanks also to Rob Schwalb, who I’m finally going to be creating a game with. I can’t wait to make this happen, and I’m grateful to everyone involved for all the support.

Now, it’s time to go make the greatest game we can!

 

 

The S&S Kickstarter Ends Tomorrow

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As you may know, I licensed my Shotguns & Sorcery setting to the fine folks at Outland Entertainment earlier in the year so they could make a tabletop roleplaying game out of it. That’s a mockup of the cover up there, and it’s damn snazzy. The artwork is by Outland’s CEO Jeremy Mohler, and graphic designer Ed Lavallee dressed it all up to look fantastic.

Outland got to work quick and licensed the Cypher Games system from Monte Cook Games, which appeared in the bestselling games Numenera and The Strange. They also lined up my pal Rob Schwalb to handle the game design duties, leaving me to concentrate on writing the background material instead. It’s a dream team.

Outland launched a Kickstarter to help produce the game back in November, and it comes to an end at 9 PM CST tomorrow, January 1, 2015. The Kickstarter reached its initial funding goal in under a week, and since then the backers have unlocked eight stretch goals. So far, that brings us to 40 pages of full-color art, a rules conversion for Pathfinder, a Players Guide, a Monster Folio, a stack of printable character cards, an introductory adventure, and a short comic included in the rulebook.

As I write this, the Kickstarter has lined up almost 900 backers and over $47,000 to help make the game a reality. If you backed it already, you have my thanks. I’m going to do the best I can to help Outland produce a fantastic game for you, and I hope you love every bit of it.

If you’ve put off backing the drive until now, well, time’s running short. Don’t miss out.

Either way, though, thanks to you for whatever support you’re been able to lend. You’ve helped make a challenging year end on a fantastic note. Here’s to an even better 2015!

The Marvel Encyclopedia Cracks the NYT Best Seller List!

Marvel 2014 CoverBelieve it or not, The Marvel Encyclopedia hit the New York Times Best Sellers list this week! It squeaked in at the absolute bottom of the Games and Activities list, right there at #20.

Not bad for a book that came out in March. This is my first ever time on the list with any of my books, though, and I’ll take it! Thanks again to all my collaborators and editors, as well as to the entire team at Marvel for making stories that are such fun to write about.

As I wrote a couple weeks back, the book made a fantastic run up the charts at Amazon.com, peaking at #5 in all books–before it sold out. That was two weeks ago, and Amazon still hasn’t been able to restock. It’s also showing shipping delays at Barnes & Noble, where it went as high as #14. (It may have gone higher, but BN.com doesn’t have the same kind of tracking tools as Amazon.)

During that time, my Author Rank at Amazon rocketed up to #32 at one point, which is all sorts of insane. It’s lowered down to far more reasonable levels now, and I suspect once the Christmas sales window is over, the glow will fade along with it.

Right now, though, I’m still kind of stunned, not only from the New York Times listing but also by the fact so many people are going to get to open this book up on Christmas morning. I hope they (and you!) all enjoy every bit of it.

At this point, the book seems to have sold out in many places (Books-A-Million claims to have them though!), but be sure to check with your local bookseller. That’s probably your best chance to find a copy to put under a tree or have for your own–at least until the restocks come charging in.

Thanks to you all for your support!

The Shotguns & Sorcery RPG Breaking Goals

SNSMockupOver at Kickstarter, the Shotguns & Sorcery roleplaying game drive has been kicking all kinds of starts. It hit its main goal in under a week, and it’s been rolling right past the stretch goals Outland Entertainment set up, one by one.

So far, the backers have unlocked three stretch goals, which adds another twenty pages of full-color art to the main book, plus a rules conversion for the bestselling Pathfinder RPG as well. In another $150 or so, they’ll unlock a Players Guide for the game as well. After that, we’re looking at printable player cards and even a 64-page monster folio.

The drive it wraps up late on January 1, 2015. While that might seem like a whole year away, it’s actually only 16 days. So stop on by the Kickstarter drive and check it out, before the year passes you by!

The Marvel Encyclopedia Is a Bestseller!

Marvel 2014 CoverI’ve been stunned watching the sales rank for The Marvel Encyclopedia climbing on Amazon for the past month. The book came out in the spring, of course, but it’s the kind of thing that makes the perfect holiday gift.

At first I was thrilled when it cracked the top 500 back on November 17. I don’t think any book I’ve written had managed that before. But then it kept going. Lifehacker recommended it on Black Friday in combination with an Amazon coupon that knocked 30% off all printed books, and the sales went nuts.

On the 28th, it slipped into the top 200, and it was one of the top selling books in both the Reference and Graphic Novels categories. Yesterday, it smashed its way into the Top 100 Books on Amazon, and you could have knocked me over with a sharp, “Ho, ho, ho!”

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This morning, it skyrocketed even farther up the charts. As I write this, it stands as the #1 book in Comics & Graphic Novels, #1 in Reference, and #5 in Books.

All. Books.

That’s just insane!

Thanks to every one of you who bought the book. Thanks also to Alastair Dougall (my editor) and Rob Perry (the layout artist), who worked closely with me on the book and fashioned it into the fantastic and beautiful treasure it is. Thanks as well to Mike Deodato, Jr., whose incredible artwork graces the cover. I should also thank the folks who wrote the original edition back in 2006. I updated the book heavily for both the 2009 and 2014 editions, but it stands on the shoulders of their work. They include Tom DeFalco, Peter Sanderson, Tom Brevoort, Michael Teitelbaum, Daniel Wallace, and Andrew Darling. Thanks also to Ralph Macchio for his fantastic foreword and, of course, especially to Stan Lee for his introduction–as well as for creating much of what we know as the Marvel universe.

To be clear, I’m not bragging (well, not much) about the book’s success. It’s clearly riding the cape of Marvel’s incredible triumphs, both in comic shops and in movie theaters, and the amazing stories the writers and artists there have told over the past 75 years. My job here was to not screw it all up, and I’m happy to see it so entirely unscrewed.

Also, the runaway success of the book won’t make me rich. While I’m thrilled about it, I wrote the book as work-for-hire without a royalty, as often happens with such volumes. I was paid well and have no complaints about the deal. I’d get a little bit if you purchase it through this affiliate link, but no pressure at all. I’m just tickled to see the book getting into so many readers’ hands.

Of course, it doesn’t end here. If you think it might look good under your tree, or in the hands of someone else who might love it, please go check out The Marvel Encyclopedia. You’ll put a smile on their face–and mine too.

 

Come See Me at the Beloit Public Library

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This Saturday, December 6, I’ll be part of the lineup of local authors gathered at the Beloit Public Library from 11 AM to 3 PM. All sorts of other writers will be there as well, including the illustrious Jerry Peterson. If we’re lucky, local creatives like Aaron Wilson, Jessica Fox-Wilson, Tom Warren, and Kimberly Vogel will join us, along with a few other surprises.

I don’t normally haul stock of books with me to things like this, but if you have something in particular you want from me, let me know and I’ll see if I can dig up a spare copy to bring along. Either way, I’ll be there for a good chunk of the day, so come on down and keep me company and bask in the bounty of books.