Eos Books - The Next Chapter

Kim Harrison and Jocelynn Drake Signings 12/5

Urban fantasy authors Kim Harrison and Jocelynn Drake both have signings this weekend, so if you're in either the Charlotte, NC or West Chester OH areas, stop on by!

KIM HARRISON and FAITH HUNTER sign in Rock Hill, SC. Saturday 12/5 from 12-2pm: http://kimharrison.wordpress.com/2009/12/04/will-you-will-be-near-charlotte-nc-saturday/

Jocelynn Drake and 21 other authors sign in West Chester OH, for the Romancing the Holidays signing, Saturday, 12/5, starting at 1pm:

http://jocelynndrake.blogspot.com/2009/11/romancing-holidays-book-signing.html

Discover the THE BREACH by Patrick Lee

One of the most exciting parts of being an editor is finding an unforgettable story, or a character you can't stop thinking about.  Finding both is even better.

I primarily edit science fiction and fantasy, but I love thrillers on my own time. I can vividly remember first reading Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child's CABINET OF CURIOSITIES--it blew my mind. Present-day thriller, historical mystery, great details, and of course, the inscrutable Pendergast. I was hooked. Similarly, while the story needed work, Stieg Larsson created an amazing character with Lisbeth Salander, and Lee Child's Jack Reacher, F. Paul Wilson's Repairman Jack, and Sara Paretsky's V. I. Warshawski have provided hours of reading pleasure, among others.

Reading THE BREACH gave me that same sensation. This debut thriller by Patrick Lee is outstanding--explosive, taut action scenes, a kickass heroine and a fabulous hero named Travis Chase, some neat sf-nal elements a la the X-Files courtesy of the alien artifacts that arrive through the Breach, and a story you absolutely can't put down.

We are all extremely excited about THE BREACH, and we're far from the only ones.  Lee Child raves that THE BREACH is "audacious and terrifying--and uncannily believable."

Plus it's a January Indie Next Pick, and the Starred Publishers Weekly Pick of the Week, which says: "It's all here: brilliantly devious enemies; nifty, innovative gadgets and weaponry; hang-on-to-your-hat action; and razor-sharp plot twists aplenty."

It's on-sale at the end of December. In the meantime, I dare you to read the first chapter, and not be as hooked as we all are.

--Diana

ARE Giveaway -- Margaret Ronald's WILD HUNT

  

We've got four copies to give away of the ARE for Margaret Ronald's second Evie Sceland adventure!  These Boston-based books have been praised by Charles de Lint and Marjorie M. Liu, and are as action-packed as they are mythologically-thoughtful.  (That might not be a word, technically, but you get our drift.)

As a bonus, we'll throw in a copy of Spiral Hunt, the first Evie Scelan novel, for any winner who hasn't read it. 

E-mail eosbooks@harpercollins.com with your mailing address and whether you'd like a copy of Spiral Hunt along with the Wild Hunt ARE.  (US residents only please; sorry, overseasers, but we don't own foreign rights.)

And for anyone who doesn't win but still wants a taste: you can read the first 50 pages of Spiral Hunt here, using our Browse Inside feature!

WHITE WITCH, BLACK CURSE

Kim Harrison's latest bestselling Hollows adventure, WHITE WITCH, BLACK CURSE, is out today in mass-market!

Finally, witch and bounty hunter Rachel Morgan solves the mystery behind the murder of her beloved Kisten.  But avenging his death isn't her only concern when an apex predator with her own agenda moves into the Hollows and targets human and Inderlander alike.

You can read the first few chapters of WHITE WITCH, BLACK CURSE.

-- Diana

Q & A with Adam-Troy Castro

Don't miss this great Q&A where he answers reader's questions on a number of topics.

Also, check out some excerpts from his books here and here.

My name is Marcus Pelegrimas. I make monsters.

I wanted to write monster stories ever since I was a kid. Right now, I’m picturing the opening scene from Goodfellas where Henry Hill is running toward the camera after setting a car on fire. Well, being a gangster may sound cool to some, but there’s the whole “getting blown up” or “beaten to a pulp and left in a ditch” thing to worry about. Nah, I’ve always wanted to write monster stories. I started off with an epic series of 1-page masterpieces chronicling the rampage of "The Creep" through various cities in the US. I cranked them out using my mom’s typewriter when I was about 9 years old. Still got ‘em too. Now, I write the Skinners series. Don’t worry. No plans for The Creep showing up there.

In writing Skinners, I’ve finally been able to flesh out creatures that I’ve been refining for almost three decades now. Surely a lot of you know where I’m coming from. In school, we were the ones reading Dracula and thinking what a cool, misunderstood guy Renfield truly was. I’ve always wanted to see the monsters really cut loose and show us what they could do. After all, that makes the people who hunt them down that much more impressive, right?

So here I am at Eos, writing Skinners. In the first book (Blood Blade), I got to open up my monster-licious world for business. In Book 2, Howling Legion, my mission was put werewolves at the top of the food chain where they belong. The Full Blood werewolves I created are supposed to be the most powerful creatures on the face of the earth. So why wouldn’t one of them get sick of all the noisy humans and take a run at a city? What’s going to stop it? This is the kind of stuff I’ve been dreaming about and now I get to see those dreams in print. Sure, it gets a little messy sometimes but it’s a lot of fun.

My name is Marcus Pelegrimas. I make monsters. Best gig in the world.

Veterans Day...and Beyond (a call to action!):

 We spent a lot of time yesterday thinking about the brave men and women who have taken their lives into their hands to protect not only Americans, but kindred souls across the globe.  People want to help in little ways - sending letters, beanie babies...even toaster pastries!...to show love and support to the members of our armed forces.  We asked ourselves - well, what can *we* do?  Well, we know that soldiers love books - and paperbacks are great diversion in war zones.  So - please - send us a comment, and tell us about your service man or woman.  We're hoping to pick a bunch to send boxes of books along to (we hear that APO addresses are easiest if we want packages to get through, and we need to send to a specific persion, as opposed to a battalion or unit) .  We're all booklovers--and firmly believe that good books help us see troubled times through.

Also, if you are interested in helping out, here are a few good sites that support veterans and active servicemen and servicewomen: http://paulmalmont.com/warrior-library/
http://www.soldiersangels.org/

(And here are some handy guidelines on how to best go about sending books to soldiers.)

Thanks to our fantastic armed forces for all they do! 

(submitted by psj; eos publicity)

Ode to Dragons (with contest!)

They're scaly, vain, destructive, and fiery of temper.  They hoard, are reputed to make off with young maidens -- and often like to make the odd snack of the unwary human warrior or wayfarer.  They are magical and powerful; gorgeous and glorious. Dragons are absolutely epic in proportion and we can't get enough of them!

This January, Eos will be releasing DRAGON KEEPER by fantasy fiction icon Robin Hobb -- book one of her new Rain Wilds Chronicles.  The opens with a riveting account of a pod of sea serpents migrating up a river toxic with acidity. Their goal: to find a protected riverbank where they can cocoon and transform into full-fledged dragons. Yet, when the few creatures who survive the harrowing journey eventually hatch, all are malformed or stunted in some manner.

You can only imagine what unfolds when these dragons meet their keepers, the outcasts of the Rain Wild community -- and journey northward, towards the fabled city of Kelsingra.

It's a journey epic in proportion...and it's making us want to go back and read all of our favorite dragon lore of all time!

So, in anticipation for the publication of DRAGON KEEPER (to be followed by DRAGON HAVEN in May 2010) ... we just hadto ask fantasy fans which are their favorite dragon tales of all time.  After all, we need to get your internal fires pumping for epic dragon lore in anticipation of Robin Hobb's scaly beasts coming to American shores...

• The Standard-Bearer: Anne McCaffrey's Dragon Riders of Pern (& the canon of related Pern Works): McCaffrey became the first woman to win a Hugo for fiction with these beloved books, which chronicle a far-flung colony of Earth, where technology has been lost and colonists protect themselves from alien menace with the help of genetically engineered dragons.
• Ultimate Napoleonic Complex: Naomi Novik’s Temeraire novels have been hailed as “Enthralling reading… like Jane Austen playing Dungeons & Dragons with Eragon’s Christopher Paolini.” (Time Magazine) – Brilliant alternate history, with a fantastic twist! (And all of Eos loves the wise-cracking, crusading Temeraire!)
• Scaled with Humor: Patricia C. Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles are favorites among fantasy aficionados, young and old, for "laugh out loud reading pleasure" (Booklist) and "excitement...and good humor." (School Library Journal).
• You Little Stinker: We love this quote about Jane Yolen's Pit Dragon Chronicles from The SF Site: "Yolen does a superb job of ...portraying the dragons as natural creatures. You feel the slime that newborn dragons are covered in, the burns caused when dragon's blood touches human flesh... You can even almost smell the dragons -- for once, it is high praise to say that a novel stinks!"
• I'm Blue, Baby: Tintaglia- a dragon who has inspired myriad fantastic artistic imaginings, makes a cameo in Dragon Keeper, first made an appearance in Robin Hobb's Tawny Man and Liveship Traders - and ensures the rebirth of the dragon populace through some of Robin Hobb's most beloved books - and into the Rain Wilds Chronicles!

Dragon got your tongue? Hope not - Tell us all your wyvern favorites for a chance to win an advanced readers edition of DRAGON KEEPER!

Vicki Pettersson In Caricature, and at Vegas Valley Book Festival

You all know Vicki as the bestselling author of the "Signs of the Zodiac" series, but now she's a caricature too. (Though still gorgeous!) She'll be at the Vegas Valley Book Festival, which started yesterday and runs through the weekend.

Along with the drawing, the Las Vegas Sun notes: "Former showgirl Vicki Pettersson turned herself into a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author with her Vegas-based fantasy books."

If you happen to be in Sin City, stop by and say hi!

November Title: NIGHT OF DEMONS, Tony Richards

Tony Richards returns to Raine's Landing with NIGHT OF DEMONS.

Centuries ago, the Salem witches founded the village of Raine's Landing, then cloaked it in magic to hide it from sight. Many of their descendants still practice the supernatural arts—and no one who lives here can ever leave.

Now evil has breached its boundaries once again . . .

Richards can spin a tale you won't soon forget, but don't take my word for it:

“A terrific story-teller.”
   — Graham Joyce

“Man, can this guy write. (He) has the power to introduce you all over again to the pleasures of reading good prose.”
   — Ed Gorman

Also, check out this great interview with the author at Fandomania.