irons in the fire update

Working on all the things…….

Medical thriller. My second collaboration with Dr. Munish K. Batra is in the midst of revisions requested by our agent. I’m hoping to have those revisions done in the next week or so said agent — who absolutely loves the book, but says it’s too short to be saleable, which has been an issue throughout my career — can start shopping the book around.

Space opera novella series. I’ve completed the first four of these novellas. Not ready to announce what it is yet in any detail. The current plan has Books 5 and 6 done by mid-June.

Precinct series. Phoenix Precinct now has an actual deadline from my publisher: 1 October! So I damn well will write it by then….

Cassie Zukav. I still have to write “Stop Dragon My Heart Around,” which will be the final story to go into Ragnarok and a Hard Place: More Tales of Cassie Zukav, Weirdness Magnet. It’ll be the only wholly original story in the collection, which will otherwise include all the stories that were published in magazines and/or anthologies and/or collections since 2013, as well as all the Cassie vignettes I posted to Patreon.

Bram Gold. I’m still halfway through Feat of Clay. Sigh. Hoping to get this done before summer is over. Blorfle. Meantime, I’m also scheduled to write another Systema Paradoxa novella in this universe.

The Four ???? of the Apocalypse. One of the two stories we were waiting for has been turned in. Hoping to finally make progress on this…..

Various bits of short fiction for anthologies. Waiting for the go-ahead on one tie-in anthology that I’m really looking forward to. The stories for Zorro’s Exploits and Three Time Travelers Walk Into… are done and awaiting, respectively, proofreading and publication. My stories for the upcoming Tales of Grignr and Ludlow Charingtons charity anthologies are both turned in. I have forthcoming stories to write for Phenomenons: Season of Darkness (which is crowdfunding right now!) and Thrilling Adventure Yarns 2022. And finally, I’m co-editing and writing a story for a tie-in anthology that’s going to be incredibly cool. It’s being shopped around to publishers right now.

Nonfiction. I’m still doing the weekly Enterprise Rewatch for Tor.com, as well as reviews of each new episode of Trek (currently Strange New Worlds) as they air also. On top of that, I’ll be reviving “4-Color to 35-Millimeter: The Great Superhero Movie Rewatch” in June and July with eight new movies (well, five new movies and three older ones), and I’ll be reviewing The Umbrella Academy season three when it drops near the end of June. I’ll also be doing a piece for Outside In Regenerates on “The Curse of the Fatal Death.”

Star Trek Adventures. Still waiting for the final approval on Incident at Kraav III. Meantime, I have ten mission briefs to write for this…

Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness–The Beginning. I’ve done all my script work for this, and I think it’s all been approved. At the very least issue #1 is approved. I’ve seen some of the artwork for #1 and it looks fantastic. The series should start being published this summer.

There’s other stuff, too, but it’s all back-burnered while I get the above stuff done. Wheeeee!

happy book birthday to Devilish and Divine!

Today is the official on-sale date for Devilish and Divine. Originally titled Horns and Halos, this anthology, which was successfully Kickstarted last year with several other eSpec Books titles, features stories of angels and demons by a nifty lineup, including:

• Danielle Ackley-McPhail (who co-edited the anthology)
• Michael A. Black
• Christopher J. Burke
• James Chambers
• Russ Colchamiro
• Keith R.A. DeCandido (hey, that’s me!)
• John L. French (who co-edited the anthology)
• John G. Hartness
• Jenifer Purcell Rosenberg
• Hildy Silverman
• Michelle D. Sonnier
• Patrick Thomas
• Robert E. Waters

My story, “Unguarded,” takes place in the same urban fantasy universe as the novels A Furnace Sealed, All-the-Way House, and the forthcoming Feat of Clay and the short stories “Under the King’s Bridge” and “Materfamilias.” Like the latter story, which was in 2020’s Bad Ass Moms, “Unguarded” features Yolanda Rodriguez, a Courser who works in upper Manhattan, aided by her two teenage daughters. In this case, one of her daughter’s classmates is having an epic run of bad luck, and there may be a supernatural component. It’s a story of guardian angels from two different faiths.

The book is on sale from all the usual online book dealers, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble (trade paperback or Nook), Kobo, Indie Bound, and directly from eSpec.

cover & cover copy reveal: Devilish & Divine

Last year, eSpec Books did a big-ass Kickstarter that included three novels and a short-story anthology. The latter was originally called Horns & Halos, and is now called Devilish & Divine, featuring stories about angels and demons. The anthology, which is edited by John L. French & Danielle Ackley-McPhail, now has a cover and back cover copy!

My story is one of the ones featuring angels, specifically Muslim ones, the hafazhah, a Yolanda Rodriguez story called “Unguarded.”

Here’s the back-cover copy:

Hell Bound or Heaven Sent?

Some of us will never know until it’s too late.

From an infernal fiend reduced to baking cookies to comfort a small child, to a pastor’s kid rescued from a fall from grace by an unlikely pair, and every iteration in between, Devilish & Divine explores the spectrum of mankind’s encounters with beings of power beyond our comprehension.

Are you ready to explore otherworldly hosts—both heavenly and otherwise?

With stories by

James Chambers
John L. French
Robert E. Waters
Jenifer Purcell Rosenberg
Christopher J. Burke
Michelle D. Sonnier
Danielle Ackley-McPhail
Keith R.A. DeCandido
Russ Colchamiro
Michael A. Black
Patrick Thomas
Hildy Silverman

and
John G. Hartness

SHE RIDES!

It took a week longer than anticipated, but I have finally finished the first draft of All-the-Way House, the fourth volume in the Systema Paradoxa series of novellas about cryptids that’s being released by the NeoParadoxa imprint of eSpec Books, in association with Cryptid Crate.

I’m gonna let it sit for a day while I write Monday’s Voyager Rewatch and an article on WandaVision, both for Tor.com, and then and then look it over tomorrow before sending it to my editorial goddesses, GraceAnne Andreassi DeCandido (a.k.a. The Mom) and Wrenn Simms (a.k.a. The Wife), both professional editors, and both invaluable helpmeets in my writing.

All-the-Way House is, as you might gather from the cover, about the Jersey Devil, and it was a lot of fun to dig into the various legends about the creature also known as the Leeds Devil in general, and the mass hysteria regarding the Devil during a weird winter week in January 1909. The novella takes place in three different time periods — the origin of the Leeds Devil in 1735, the aforementioned week in 1909, and in the present day. It takes place in central New Jersey (Camden, the Pine Barrens, Atlantic City, etc.) and eastern Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, Chester). It takes place in the same milieu as the Adventures of Bram Gold (A Furnace Sealed, the upcoming Feat of Clay, “Under the King’s Bridge”) and the Yolanda Rodriguez short stories (“Materfamilias” in Bad Ass Moms and “Unguarded” in the upcoming Devilish and Divine).

It’s not up for preorder yet, but hopefully soon…..

Systema Paradoxa cover gallery

The fine folks at eSpec Books, in association with Cryptid Crate, have created the NeoParadoxa imprint, which will be publishing novellas that focus on various cryptids. The first one, When the Moon Shines by John L. French, is on sale now, and there are at least a dozen or so planned, including one by me! I’ll be doing Volume 4, which is entitled All-the-Way House, and which will feature several cryptids, but mainly the Jersey Devil. The novella will take place in the same universe as the Adventures of Bram Gold (the novels A Furnace Sealed and the forthcoming Feat of Clay, as well as the short stories “Under the King’s Bridge” in Liar Liar, “Materfamilias” in Bad Ass Moms, and “Unguarded” in the upcoming Horns and Halos), but feature new characters.

The books can be ordered directly from eSpec, or from your favorite online dealer….

Here are the absolutely stupendous covers that have been released so far:

cover reveal: Systema Paradoxa: All-the-Way House

The folks at NeoParadoxa, in conjunction with eSpec Books, are doing a series of novellas about cryptids called Systema Paradoxa. Four of the novellas are already available for preorder (click on this link), and I can now announce that I’m doing one as well! It’s called All-the-Way House, and while I can’t say what cryptid I’m doing, I can say two things: 1) the cover provides a clue if you recognize it and 2) it will take place in the same universe as the Bram Gold Adventures (A Furnace Sealed and the forthcoming Feat of Clay, not to mention the Yolanda Rodriguez stories in Bad Ass Moms and the forthcoming Horns and Halos).

More on this when it becomes available. We’re looking at a summer release for this one….

KRAD COVID reading #88: “Unguarded”

Coming in 2021 from eSpec Books is the Horns and Halos anthology, edited by Danielle Ackley-McPhail & John L. French, featuring stories about angels and demons. My story, “Unguarded,” is my second featuring supernatural hunter-for-hire Yolanda Rodriguez (who first appeared in Bad Ass Moms), as she must figure out why one of her daughter’s classmates seems to be cursed.

Check it out! And please subscribe to the channel!

autographed books for sale!

I’ve got a whole mess of my books for sale, and I’m more than happy to not only sell and ship them to you, but autograph them as well!

If you want any of the titles below, all you have to do is tally up the cover prices, add $5 for shipping in the U.S. (if you want shipping to a foreign country, just send me the cover prices and I’ll bill you for the postage once I know how much it is), and then send me the money, which you can do any number of ways:

• PayPal to krad@whysper.net
• Venmo to @keith_decandido
• Zelle to krad@whysper.net
• Check or money order mailed to me at PO Box 4976, New York, NY 10185-4976

Let me know your shipping address and to whom you want the book autographed. If you have any questions, comment on this blog post or e-mail me at krad@whysper.net.

Also please bear in mind that I’ve got limited quantities of some of these titles, so don’t wait too long…..

Here’s what I got:

The Precinct books

• Dragon Precinct — $15
• Unicorn Precinct — $15
• Goblin Precinct — $15
• Gryphon Precinct — $15
• Mermaid Precinct — $15
• Tales from Dragon Precinct — $15
• any 3 of the above Precinct books — $40
• any 4 of the above Precinct books — $55
• any 5 of the above Precinct books — $65
• all 6 of the above Precinct books — $80
• Mermaid Precinct signed & numbered hardcover — $75

The Bram Gold Adventures

• A Furnace Sealed — $15

The 18th Race

• To Hell and Regroup — $15

Collections

• Ragnarok and Roll: Tales of Cassie Zukav, Weirdness Magnet — $17
• Without a License: The Fantastic Worlds of Keith R.A. DeCandido — $15

Anthologies

• Bad Ass Moms (with “Materfamilias”) — $16
• Did You Say Chicks!? hardcover (with “A Bone to Pick”) — $20
• Pangaea Book 3: Redemption (with “Journalistic Integrity”) — $16

Alien tie-ins

• Bug Hunt (with “Deep Background”) — $17
• Isolation paperback — $8
• Isolation audio CD — $20

Marvel tie-ins

• Spider-Man: Down These Mean Streets — $10
• Spider-Man: Venom’s Wrath — $10
• Thor: Dueling with Giants — $10
• X-Men Legends (with “Diary of a False Man”) — $20

Star Trek tie-ins

• The Art of the Impossible — $8
• The Klingon Art of War — $25
• Myriad Universes: Echoes and Refractions (with A Gutted World) — $15
• Seven Deadly Sins (with “The Unhappy Ones”) — $15
• A Singular Destiny — $8
• Tales of the Dominion War — $24 SOLD OUT
• A Time for War, a Time for Peace — $8 SOLD OUT

Young Hercules tie-ins

• The Ares Alliance — $3
• Cheiron’s Warriors — $3
• both YH books — $5

Other tie-ins

• Command and Conquer: Tiberium Wars — $5
• Farscape: House of Cards — $10
• Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda: Destruction of Illusions hardcover — $10
• Serenity — $10
• Sleepy Hollow: Children of the Revolution — $8
• Supernatural: Heart of the Dragon — $8

read my stuff while you’re stuck at home, part 6: worlds of my own creation

So many of us are kinda stuck staying home a lot, and that means more reading time! Or, at least, time spent reading so you don’t go batshit because you’re stuck staying at home a lot……

As one possible thing to read, how about my writing? I’ve already posted about my various writings based on TV shows — including my Star Trek work and my work based on other shows — work based on movies, work based on games and gaming, and stuff based on comic books. Now we take a look at worlds of my own creation, including the “Precinct” series; tales of Cassie Zukav, weirdness magnet; “The Adventures of Bram Gold”; “Super City Cops”; Connie de la Vega stories; Shirley Holmes & Jack Watson stories; and assorted other bits and bobs.

The “Precinct” series

Novels

• Dragon Precinct — the members of a heroic quest start dying one by one and Lieutenants Danthres Tresyllione and Torin ban Wyvald of the Cliff’s End Castle Guard must find the killer before more heroes are killed
• Unicorn Precinct — the scion of a wealthy family is killed under mysterious circumstances and Danthres and Torin must navigate the fraught waters of the upper classes to learn the truth
• Goblin Precinct — a new magick-enhanced designer drug is working its way through Cliff’s End, and the Brotherhood of Wizards wants the rogue wizard responsible stopped
• Gryphon Precinct — Lord Albin’s death sends shockwaves through Cliff’s End, as the Castle Guard must find out the truth about his death while dealing with the wholesale changes made by his son
• Mermaid Precinct — the legendary Pirate Queen has died, and Danthres and Torin are tasked with finding the killer, an investigation that will lead all the way to the king and queen of the realm!

Short story collections:

• Tales from Dragon Precinct — collects ten stories of the Cliff’s End Castle Guard as we see Danthres and Torin’s first case together, plus the death of a wizard who animated his furniture, a family seemingly killed by a demon of which there is no actual sign, a vampire hunter gone missing, the dragon that appears every midsummer suddenly going berserk, a closet that spews filth, interrogations of a house fae and the brother of a murder victim, and old cases of Danthres and Iaian both come back to haunt the Castle Guard. Plus a look in at the surviving heroes from Dragon Precinct. (Collects “When the Magick Goes Away,” “Getting the Chair,” “Crime of Passion,” “Blood on the Water,” “Fire in the Hole,” “A Clean Getaway,” “House Arrest,” “Brotherly Love,” “Catch and Release,” and “Heroes Welcome.”)

Short stories

• “Gan Brightblade vs. Mitos the Mighty” in the eSpec Books edition of Dragon Precinct — a bard tries to tell the story of Gan Brightblade and his friends’ final battle against a mighty wizard, but the participants keep correcting him
• “Partners in Crime” in Without a License: The Fantastic Worlds of Keith R.A. DeCandido — Danthres and Aleta lothLathna must put aside their differences to work together to solve the murder of an elf
• “Baker’s Dozen” in the eSpec Books edition of Goblin Precinct — Danthres and Torin’s second case together as they try to determine why several bakeries around Cliff’s End are being vandalized
• “Chaos Theory” in the eSpec Books edition of Gryphon Precinct — several murders are committed by people in Cliff’s End who have no memory of doing so, yet every murder has the exact same MO
• “The Midwinter of Our Discontent” in Release the Virgins! — a locked-room mystery as a priest is found dead when he was in a room with several acolytes and several virgin sacrifices — one of whom is also a murderer
• “Used To Be” in Across the Universe: Tales of Alternative Beatles — the Castle Guard arrests Jahn the Bard, a member of the Fabulous Foursome, great heroes of Flingaria of the past who must reunite now

Tales of Cassie Zukav, weirdness magnet

Short story collection:

• Ragnarok and Roll: Tales of Cassie Zukav, Weirdness Magnet — nine stories involving Cassie, who learns she is a Dís, a Norse fate goddess, and faces off against Loki, a soul-stealing musician, a water fae, a brutal collective spirit, Thor, and plenty more (includes “Ragnarok and Roll,” “I Believe I’m Sinkin’ Down,” “Undine the Boardwalk,” the three-part story “Cayo Hueso,” “Love Over and Over,” “God of Blunder,” and “How You Can Prevent Forest Fires…”)

Short stories:

• “Fish Out of Water” in Out of Tune — a mermaid is trying to get back home, and Loki may hold the key to her salvation
• “Down to the Waterline” in Buzzy Mag — people are turning up dead and naked in bodies of water, and Cassie has to figure out how before the creature responsible claims another victim
• “Seven Mile Race” in Without a License: The Fantastic Worlds of Keith R.A. DeCandido — Tyr and Thor’s sibling rivalry expresses itself in a most peculiar car race
• “William Did It” in A Baker’s Dozen of Magic — after visiting the eerie William the Doll exhibit, one of Cassie’s new friends starts acting very strangely
• “Behind the Wheel” in TV Gods: Summer Programming — a sports-cast is a little too interested in Jamie McIntyre’s life, and Cassie has to stop them from finding out he’s really the Norse god Tyr
• “Rán for Your Life” in Unearthed — a container found in the Gulf of Mexico may hold the key to a missing Norse god

The Adventures of Bram Gold

Novels:

• A Furnace Sealed — first book in the New York City-based urban fantasy series that has Bram Gold, who is a Courser — a supernatural hunter for hire — having to wrangle unicorns, mind werewolves, and figure out why immortals in the Bronx are being murdered

Short stories:

• “Under the King’s Bridge” in Liar Liar — Bram is hired to find out why the people of the Marble Hill neighborhood have all become strangely lethargic, and he uncovers a hundred-year-old mystery…

Super City Cops

Novels:

• The Case of the Claw — a spree killer who appears every few years is back, and Detectives Kristin Milewski and Peter MacAvoy must figure out who he really is before he kills again; plus the Super City Police Department must deal with numerous other issues from domestic situations gone bad thanks to a purloined ray gun to a hole blown in the drunk tank by a super-villain who sobered up to an alien invasion

Novellas:

• Avenging Amethyst — the mysterious Amethyst is found dead on a rooftop, but everything Detective Milewski and her new partner Detective Jorge Alvarado turn up just raises more questions
• Undercover Blues — an undercover operation to capture the mad villain Apollo goes horribly wrong thanks to the Cowboy’s unwitting interference, putting a detective in grave danger
• Secret Identities — Lieutenant Therese Zimmerman is shocked to see Spectacular Man unconscious on her patio, and that’s just the first of many devastating revelations as Milewski and Alvarado try to solve the murder of several homeless people

Short stories:

• “Stone Cold Whodunit” in With Great Power — Milewski and Alvarado have absolutely no clues why a woman died in an alley, nor why her brain is several degrees colder than the rest of her corpse
• “Send in the Clones” in The Side of Good/The Side of Evil — one of the Clone Master’s many clones has gone rogue and actually wishes to confess

Connie de la Vega

Short stories:

• “The Silent Dust” in Brave New Girls: Adventures of Gals and Gizmos — Connie de la Vega — a technician on the moon who’s got the brains to be an engineer, but not the money to afford the qualifying exams — finds herself in a position to save five people stuck in an airlock, assuming anyone actually listens to her
• “The Puzzle” in Footprints in the Stars — while doing maintenance work, Connie makes an amazing discovery that could indicate alien life

Shirley Holmes & Jack Watson

Short stories:

• “Identity” in Baker Street Irregulars — Jack Watson, a medical student, agrees to be the companion for a difficult young woman named Shirley Holmes, and he helps her determine why a friend’s fiancé has gone missing
• “Six Red Dragons” in Baker Street Irregulars: The Game is Afoot — several matching dragon figurines have been stolen and smashed, and Shirley and Jack must figure out why

Miscellaneous other original fiction

Short story collections:

• Without a License: The Fantastic Worlds of Keith R.A. DeCandido — a representative sampling of my original fiction, including a “Precinct” story (“Partners in Crime”), a Cassie Zukav story (“Seven Mile Race”), a Bram Gold story (“Under the King’s Bridge”), a V-Wars story (“The Ballad of Big Charlie”), a thriller (“-30-“), a mystery (“Editorial Interference”), a science fiction story (“The Stone of the First High Pontiff”), a funny animal story (“Sunday in the Park with Spot”), and three very short stories (“A Vampire and a Vampire Hunter Walk Into a Bar,” “Wild Bill Got Shot,” and “Behold a White Tricycle”),

Short stories:

• “Editorial Interference” in Circles in the Hair — Special Agent D.B. Annichiarico must find the connection among a series of murders all across the country where everyone has been strangled by a printer cord
• “Sunday in the Park with Spot” in Furry Fantastic — the great cat Mittens tells a fable about dogs, cats, and squirrels
• “The Stone of the First High Pontiff” in The Best of Defending the Future — the “human finder” Jin is hired to find something that can’t be found — except she does actually find it, much to her client’s chagrin
• “We Seceded Where Others Failed” in Altered States of the Union — the story of the Conch Republic of the Florida Keys, which seceded from the Union in 1925
• “House Hunting” in They Keep Killing Glenn — trying to find a house you like when you’re more than six-and-a-half feet tall and you just want to fit in the place you plan to live in for the rest of your life…
• “Alien Invasion of Earth!” in Thrilling Adventure Yarns — aliens have invaded — can American ingenuity and science save the day???

A Furnace Sealed now available in audio!

In addition to hardcover, trade paperback, and eBook, A Furnace Sealed — Book 1 in my new urban fantasy series “The Adventures of Bram Gold” — is now available as an audio book! Narrated by TJ Clark — who absolutely nailed Bram’s voice — you can get it from the fine folks at Audible!