Greetings!

Welcome to the inaugural issue of the Literary Abominations Newsletter. You're receiving this email because, over the last couple years, you have written to me Dealing In or commented on my blog on multiple occasions, or you've written me personally to pick nits, ask questions, and discuss geeky things about one or more of my books or podcasts.

I am getting my house in order so that I can more easily keep in touch with folks who want to stay up to date with my various disreputable activities. This newsletter will be coming out quarterly, with occasional more frequent announcements when books are released or other events come up that can't wait for the quarterly newsletter. If you do not wish to be on this list, or wish only to hear news about one of the existing series, please reply to this and let me know.

With that done, let's move on to the newsletter :-)

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It's been a little over a year and a half since I wrapped Down From Ten, and it's been nearly a year since Free Will started, then stopped again. About this time last year I discovered that, if I was going to be able to supply you all with the stories you've grown to enjoy, I needed to make some major changes to the way I was structuring my time and my work.

The last year has been a time of transition--I'm gradually moving out of producing for clients and into writing and producing audiobooks full time. In the last year, I've built a healthy backlog of stories and novels that you'll see cropping up in various places (at Amazon and other ebook markets, at audible, and eventually your local independent bookstore). Now that the backlog is comfortably thick, podcasting is back on the radar.

Since there's a lot going on and even more coming up, these newsletters will keep you posted about the latest developments and releases in your favorite series, let you know about conventions I'll be attending, special discounts on books and swag, and so on.

So, what about the news for this quarter? Here you go:

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The Clarke Lantham Mysteries
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Smoke Rings, the newest installment of The Clarke Lantham Mysteries just hit the market this week. This one's short, punchy, and sets the stage for some big adventures coming in the next few months. Early response says this one's not to be missed. 

Read a sample here.

Buy it now for Kindle, Nook, and all other readers.

See the cover art, read the blurb and sample, and pick it up here. For those of you who haven't been in the loop since the podcasts went on hiatus, I have a new series of hard-boiled, high-suspense, high-humor mysteries available in ebook (all volumes, all formats) and paperback (vol 1 so far, others coming in November). They're called The Clarke Lantham Mysteries, and you can learn more about them here.

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Sculpting God and related
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Sculpting God, my first fiction podcast, is now available in ebook and will be hitting paperback in the next two weeks. It contains all six of the original stories, plus bonus material in the form of poems, an essay, and per-story introductions telling the stories behind the stories. A second volume featuring six new stories will be coming next spring, at which point audio versions of both should be hitting Audible.

In addition to Sculpting God, you'll be pleased to hear that I've sold a story called "Chicken Noodle Gravity" to Escape Pod, though I haven't yet heard when it's scheduled to air. This story is the third in a series called "The Lombard Alchemist Tales," the pilot story of which is available through all fashionable ebook retailers. These are dark, urban gothic SF and Fantasy stories in the vein of The Twilight Zone and Flannery O'Connor. They're the kind of stories you read to your friends across a campfire--some of them spooky, some of them funny, all of them twisted. Other "episodes" in this series are currently circulating in the short story markets, and will be trickling out into the public over the next year.

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Down From Ten
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Down From Ten will also be coming to ebook and paperback in time for the holidays. Put it on your Christmas lists :-)

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Other Books and Projects
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Starting October 31, I'll be teaming up in a kickstarter campaign with New York Times Bestselling Author Gail Carriger (she of The Parasol Protectorate series) to produce the world premier of her YA Science Fiction series Crudrat. This is a series of Science Fiction Adventure books with a kick-ass teenage heroine who...well, we'll get to the details when we release the kickstarter video. We'll be using the kickstarter funds to produce and release full-cast audio of the first two volumes in the series, and to produce the ebooks and paperbacks of the series. These stories are not to be missed, so keep your eyes peeled for the campaign's announcement.

The first book in my series of references for writers will also be out this holiday season. Co-authored with Mary Mason, Throwing Lead: A Writer's Guide to Firearms and the People Who Use Them is an all-purpose, story and pop-culture filled book about the technology of firearms and the psychology of people who use them for a living. Thoroughly researched, including illustrations, stories, personal anecdotes, and an easy-to-navigate index, this book is meant to serve as the definitive reference for writers seeking to bring realism to their fiction and as a solid evening's entertainment for readers who enjoy learning about stupid criminal tricks, movie mistakes, common misconceptions, and some embarrassing biographical details about the authors. It will be available December 1 in ebook and in trade paper.

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The Antithesis Progression
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I've left the best for last. Free Will is finished. It's not just finished, it's currently being laid out. I expect it to be widely available as an ebook by Nov 1, and as a paperback by Thanksgiving. Pair it with Predestination (which will again be available in paperback on November 10) and you have the perfect holiday intrigue package.

This book is *huge.* at 220k words, it's almost twice as long as Predestination. It also moves *fast.* Early word from reviewers (such as View From Valhalla) is that it pays off expectations, and then some.

We're back in production on the audiobook and podcast (same production, two different markets to release to). This time, I'm recording all the narration first. Once it's all in the can, along with the voices, we'll reboot the podcast. By the time episode 10 posts, those of you who can't wait will be able to buy the audiobook through Amazon, Audible, and jdsawyer.net. Those of you who prefer the suspense and the waiting can get the episodes as they drop.

With that in mind, I'm aiming for pre-Christmas reboot of Free Will, from where it will run ~45-50 episodes. I'd like to promise it sooner, but the one thing I'm determined not to do this time is to have the podcast interrupted. Once we get going, it's not going to stop--not even with the end of Free Will. There are more surprises queued up behind it :-)

Also, if you haven't heard, Danny Schade has released his first album, Predestination: The Soundtrack. These are the tunes you heard throughout Predestination, but re-orchestrated and re-mixed to stand on their own as a nearly-hour-long symphony that ranges from rock opera to classical to blues to new age to heavy metal. Excellent car listening, and brings back a host of memories. Available in DRM-free MP3, this is the way Schadey's music is meant to be heard.

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Wrap-up
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Thanks to all of you, I'm stepping off into the grand abyss: writing full time. As before, I'll continue to need your help. Tell your friends, post links, drop reviews on Goodreads and Amazon and B&N, and spread the word wherever you can. I intend to be around and telling subversive, scandalous, and fun stories for decades to come, and I'm looking forward to the continuing conversation with you. Without you, there are no stories, just the babbling of one half-crazed nutter in a dark universe.

What I've talked about here is only the warm-up--there's a lot more coming next year. Thanks for sticking by through my year of relative silence--all this work, in the end, is for all of you. I'm now officially open for business again, taking emails and voice mails for Dealing In episodes--the new, and permanent, number is (612) 567-7595.

New podcast episodes starting December. It's gonna be a great holiday season, and an excellent New Year. You'll all be hearing from me soon. Until then remember...

It isn't whether you win or lose, it's how you rig the game.

-Dan
      http://www.jdsawyer.net