Meet me in Charm City!

You weren't planning anything special this weekend, were you? Certainly nothing as special as seeing me in the great tented outdoors of the Baltimore Book Festival in the Inner Harbor, September 26-28.
There will be wonderful writers. Jeanne Adams! Danielle Ackley-McPhail! Catherine Asaro! Brenda Clough! Ron Garner! L. Jagi Lamplighter! Laura Lippman! Sujata Massey! Marissa Meyer! Diana Peterfreund! Don Sakers! Alex Shvartsman! Bud Sparhawk! And more (like me)! All available for autographs, panels, photographs and conversation.
The weather forecasters have promised a weekend of clear skies and balmy, high-seventies temperatures. For a change, they may be right. Yesterday's rain has dried, and the air is growing warmer.
 There will be exhibitor tents and tables scattered the full length of the Inner Harbor. But most of my activities will be focused on the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) Tent situated along the south arm of the Inner Harbor horseshoe.
So far, my schedule looks like this:

Friday
12-1 PM: Reading (Dark Quest Books)
4-5 PM: Athena's Daughters Autograph Session (Silence in the Library Publishing)

Saturday
4-5 PM: How Can I Get My Writing Noticed--A Must Do Panel for Writers in the Modern Age (with Scott Edelman, Elektra Hammond, Don Sakers, Peggy Rae Sapienza, and Mike Underwood)
5:30-7 PM: Meet-and-Greet Reception with SFWA Authors

But's that just the merest fraction of the bookish pleasures in store for you at the Book Fest. So say nothing of the one-time, one-of-a-kind goodies to be found, such as the special Temporally Out Of Order Kickstarter postcard.
This limited edition postcard (seriously, I only printed 50), seen here with a cat who has elevated the art of feline indifference, to the level of a super power will only be available at the Baltimore Book Festival.
I'll even sign it if you like. If you show proof of funding the Kickstarter, I promise not to sing. Seriously, you wouldn't like me when I sing. ;-)
Can't wait to see you there!
 And if you need to make absolutely, positively sure I don't sing, you can always pledge to support the new Zombies Need Brains Temporally Out Of Order Kickstarter before you go. Just click here, and you're good. Or at least your eardrums are...

Clockwork Universe: Steampunk vs. Aliens is officially ticking!

Just in time for you to see what all the fuss is about before Zombies Need Brains starts up another Kickstarter, ZNB's first anthology, Clockwork Universe: Steampunk vs. Aliens has landed at a retailer near you. It's got Steampunk. It's got little green men, bug-eyed monsters, secret agent chickens and Chihuahuas. What more do you need ?

A table of contents? We can do that:

"The Cavorite Job" by Ian Tregillis
"Gracie's Fire" by Leah Cutter
"Quinta Essentia" by Bradley P. Beaulieu
"When Comrade Ekaterina Died for the Motherland" by J.R. Hargenrader
"A Clockwork Alien" by Gini Koch
"Heart of the Empire" by Jason Palmatier
"The Red Queen and the White" by C.B. Pratt
"The Wizard of Woodrow Park" by Jean Marie Ward (me!)
"Of War and Wings" by Tansy Raynor Roberts
"Airship Down: A Sound and Fury Adventure" by Gail Z. and Larry N. Martin
"Steamsuit" by David J. Fortier
"Fingers of Steam, Veins of Gold" by Brad Hafford
"Heart of Clockwork" by S.C. Butler
"Lady Antheia's Guide to Horticultural Warfare" by Seanan McGuire

All edited by the irrepressible Joshua Palmatier and Patricia Bray, the same folks who brought you The Modern Fae's Guide to Surviving Humanity and After Hours: Tales from the Ur-Bar.
Wanna taste? I've got your excerpt right here. Or you could check out one of the early reviews:

"They take a steampunk nineteenth century…and add aliens. Would Earth even recognize the threat? It’s a nod to industrialism… A high-five to technological advancement… And, above all, kudos to the genius of action-packed prose."

Word of the Nerd 

Not only that, the book comes in all your favorite flavors:

Trade Paperback 

Kindle

Kobo 

Nook

What are you waiting for? Those Chihuahuas can't hold out forever, you know. ;-)