My author copies of Sherlock Holmes and the Christmas Demon have arrived and are looking beautiful. From the dustjacket to the endpapers to the flyleaf, every element of the design — courtesy of Julia Lloyd — is a marvel. It’s out at the end of October, and I insist wholeheartedly that you rush out and buy a copy.

 

 

Pleased to announce that Firefly: Big Damn Hero has been nominated for a Dragon Award in the Best Media Tie-in category.

Now, I’m not saying you SHOULD register and cast a vote for it in the Best Media Tie-in Novel category. I’m not saying anyone is OBLIGED to. All I’m saying is: ask yourself, what would Mal Reynolds do?

 

 

 

 

 

Truly exceptional work here by designer Julia Lloyd. I can’t wait for finished copies to arrive. This book is going to look gorgeous inside and out.

And it’s a pretty damn good read, too, if I say so myself.

Here’s me, talking to Jamie Davis at Fantasy Focus about, well, pretty much everything I’ve done career-wise. Or at least as much of it as could be fitted into 31 minutes’ conversation. Some great questions were asked, and some more or less coherent answers given. It’s a sign of incipient old age, surely, that I failed to remember properly the order in which the Pantheon novels were published. Anyway, listen at your leisure, if you wish.

 

Reviews are coming in for Firefly: The Magnificent Nine, and everyone seems happy.

Here’s one at The Dream Cage, here’s another at Set the Tape, and yet another at Starburst.

There’s also this interview at Fantastic Books and Where to Find Them with me about the book.

Here it is, the wonderful cover design for Sherlock Holmes and the Christmas Demon, courtesy of the equally wonderful Julia Lloyd at Titan Books. Festive and sinister all at once. There’s even a creepy face staring out at you, if you can spot it.

The novel is due to be published in October. And if you’re wondering why there’s a bundle of twigs tied up with string just below the title… Well, you’re going to have to read the book to find out what it signifies.

The third and final volume in the Cthulhu Casebooks trilogy is out today in a handsome hardback to match its two forerunners. Sherlock Holmes and loyal Dr Watson valiantly confront the force of eldritch evil one last time.

 

If you can’t wait to read my first Firefly tie-in novel Big Damn Hero (out November 20th) here’s an excerpt to whet your appetite.

As some of you may know, I was asked by Titan Books if I would be willing to write a Firefly tie-in novel. You know, Firefly. The Joss Whedon show (and movie). The one with the space cowboys and the deliriously delicious dialogue and superbly-drawn characters.

It so happens that I mentioned to my editor Miranda Jewess a couple of years ago that the only licensed property I would be interested in writing for was Firefly. She remembered this, and when Titan got the licence to produce Firefly tie-in fiction, she very kindly (and wisely) called me.

The result is that I now have not one but two Firefly novels ready to go.

The first is Big Damn Hero, and it’s based on a story by the esteemed Nancy Holder, who was herself unable to complete the book for various reasons. It’s a rollicking tale of kidnap and revenge as the sins of Mal Reynolds’s youth catch up with him. It’s out in November.

 

 

The second is The Magnificent Nine, in which Jayne Cobb is contacted by an old flame, Temperance McCloud, asking for his assistance against bandits who are attacking her hometown. In it, I indulge in just about every Western-movie trope imaginable. You may be able to gather as much from the title alone. It’s out in March.

 

 

I had a blast working on these books. It was so much fun, in fact, it was hardly work at all.

Both are available where all shiny books are sold. And there may be more to come…