Second chances like this one don’t come around often in the publishing world.

We’re less than three weeks away from the re-release of my first novel, The Black Fire Concerto. Because I’ve not had other novels published in the meantime, it’s still my first novel, although this time, the sequel is queued in the pipeline — The Ghoulmaker’s Aria, which begins mere weeks after Concerto leaves off.
 

Anita and Book No Further owner Doloris Vest posed me in front of the local authors shelf with Concerto in hand and my story collections over my shoulder.

A still from the unboxing video Anita and I shot on the second floor of Book No Further in Roanoke

So far, I’m making two public appearances in support of The Black Fire Concerto.

On the afternoon April 26, I’ll be the featured author at Book No Further in downtown Roanoke as the shop celebrates Independent Bookstore Day!

And on the evening of July 15, I’ll be one of the four featured readers at Brooklyn Books ’n’ Booze in Brooklyn, NY, natch!

With luck, even more events to come…

Where to order

E-book Amazon Barnes & Noble Kobo Bookshop Overdrive

Paperback Ruadán Books Amazon Book No Further Barnes & Noble Powell’s Bookshop

Those who pre-order the paperback through Ruadán Books receive a bonus prequel story, “The Thrill of It All.” They get a 33% discount off the cover price, too!

I remain amazed that Ruadán Books came to me with this opportunity, and I am delighted that my mold-breaking sidearms-and-sorcery duo, Olyssa and Erzelle, have the opportunity to find new readers, and that the undead horrors they face down have a chance to frighten new audiences.
 

C.S.E. Cooney, who has stolen Erzelle’s torch right off the book cover…

I’m thrilled that this audio adaptation is going forward!

Ruadán has taken this mission a jaw-dropping step further, commissioning the production of an audiobook edition narrated by C.S.E. Cooney, who is…

An acclaimed narrator of more than 100 audiobooks

A multiple World Fantasy Award finalist and winner (with a couple of those titles, Bone Swans and Dark Breakers, published by my company, Mythic Delirium Books)

The editor for whom I wrote the original version of The Black Fire Concerto

A dear friend of Anita’s and mine, along with her terrific author hubby Carlos Hernandez

The audiobook is scheduled for release in May.

Those few and proud who already own the original edition of The Black Fire Concerto have asked me how much it changed in revision. I think that’s a fair question, and the frank answer is that the plot, the characters, the settings, are all the same. It’s the telling of the story that changed, and that telling has vastly improved. I strongly suggest that hearing the rejuvenated story in Cooney’s voice will be a transformative experience.
 

Another still from the unboxing video we shot at Book No Further. (I’m reading Tanith Lee’s blurb on the back cover.)

I endorse Book No Further’s message that “Books are portable magic.” Sometimes, like the one in my hands, “some very black magic indeed,” as Tanith put it.

I’m going to slip in a little spoiler here: at previous events, when I’ve been face to face with actual prospective readers, the Number One question they’ve asked me about this book is: Does it have a happy ending? People are looking for that in this day and age, more than ever. The honest answer is: absolutely yes, but my heroines have to go through hell to get there. I can testify truthfully that this answer resonates.

As a side note, I’m obligated to mention that if you see any Amazon listings for Concerto sporting the original edition’s cover art (Lauren K. Cannon’s stunning digital painting “Black Bride”) that listing has nothing to do with myself or with Ruadán.

Posted in Appearances, Audio, Fiction, Novels, The Black Fire Concerto, The Ghoulmaker's Aria, Writing