News from around the office

We’ve got more balls in the air than a juggler on crack right now. Leona Wisoker’s new novel, Guardians of the Desert, is available in independent bookstores everywhere, as well as on Amazon.  B&N seems to have gotten a case of the hiccups while transitioning the book from pre-order to available and the system can’t find the book at all. Fear not; it’ll turn up. Meanwhile, you could take the opportunity to visit your local independent…

In related news, we’re gearing up for the launch party for Guardians of the Desert at CoCo Chocolatier in Williamsburg, Virginia this Saturday afternoon. The party starts at 1; if you’re within range of Williamsburg, please stop by.

Meanwhile, Zachary Steele’s next novel, Flutter: An Epic of Mass Distraction is on its way to the printer–and if you thought his first novel was funny, this one will make you howl. Timothy Webb, aka Timmy Christ, returns as an angel trying to cope with incipient war in Heaven. The primary tool of the warring parties? Flutter, which is essentially Twitter for angels. The social-media interactions of the angelic set are some of the funniest moments in the whole novel.

If you’re within range of NYC, you can catch a sneak peek at Flutter at the Second Birthday Celebration for Just Working on My Novel at WORD in Brooklyn on April 15: Zach will be reading along with Richard Nash and a few other names you might recognize, and pre-release copies of the book will be available for sale at the event. Nowhere else until August, folks…

Danielle Parker just turned in the manuscript for The Nihilistic Mirror, the sequel to her EPPIE-winning The Infinite Instant, which we’ll be re-releasing this fall. What a ride! Minuet James fangirls, prepare to swoon. And those of you who have not yet had the pleasure will want to board the Minuet James fan bus when The Infinite Instant goes back into print in October.

Leona Wisoker just turned in her next manuscript this week, too: for a book tentatively titled Bells of the Kingdom, the third installment of her fabulous Children of the Desert series. Look for that book next spring.

And some good news for fans of Larissa Niec’s Shorn: I’ve been reading the sequel, Cael’s Shadow, which is nearing completion–and if you loved Shorn, this one will blow you away. Larissa works at her own pace, as do all of us at Mercury Retrograde, but I promise you this one will be worth the wait. Present best guess is a release sometime next year.

Mercury has turned retrograde again. Those of you who follow the writerly play-by play know what that means. After I get back from Leona’s launch this weekend, I’m headed into the study for a full week of uninterrupted work on War-Lord of the Gods. Much as I’ve loved all the action in the office lately, I’ve missed my study, and I’m anxious to get back. Catch you week after next!

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Win an autographed copy of Shorn by Larissa N. Niec

Over on the Darkcargo blog, they’re running a fantastic contest called Taking a Risk. The post about the contest discusses the inspiration behind it: the leap of faith readers make when they shell out their hard-earned dollars, yen or kroner for a book by an author they’ve never read before.

The contest works like this:

“Tell me about the first successful experience you’ve had taking a risk on a new author. What author? What book? What prompted you to try? What was the benefit? The book in question must be fiction, but is not limited to any genre. You are convincing me that the book and/or author in question truly expanded your reading horizons.”

And the prize?

“We have several authors who want to give YOU an autographed copy of one of their books, including Linnea Sinclair, Larissa Niec, and Marcella Burnard. (These will be PAPER copies, of course.)”

At Mercury Retrograde, we’re all about taking a risk on something new. It’s why we get out of bed in the morning. This is your chance to experience something wonderfully new, risking only a bit of your time.

Read the full details of the contest here.

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Larissa Niec: Photos from McLean & Eakin

These photos have been a while in coming, but sometimes it takes the photos a while to reach us. That’s ok;  it’s always fun to see what happens at the events we can’t attend in person.

These photos were taken back in June, during Larissa Niec’s appearance at McLean & Eakin in Petoskey, MI. McLean & Eakin are always gracious hosts to authors and do a lovely job of matching authors with their clientele. We truly appreciate their having Larissa in!

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Meet Larissa Niec at Galacticon

Fresh from her Tour of Awesomeness at Wiscon, Larissa is already gearing up for Galacticon, June 26-28 in Chicago. She’ll be doing a reading on Friday night and a panel about the abuse and exploitation of children in SFF on Saturday afternoon. As many of you know, Larissa is a clinical child psychologist specializing in abuse and recovery, and these themes are important parts of her work. If you can make it to Galacticon, her panel should be worth a listen–and she’s always a treat as a reader.

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