First, an excerpt from the “Acknowledgements” essay I wrote for the new edition of my novel The Black Fire Concerto.

The Black Fire Concerto began its life as a novelette called “The Reed Player.” This story combined two elements that did not obviously belong together: a desire on my part to conjure a band of wandering heroes a la Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser or Stephen King’s Roland and companions; and a nightmare shared with me by Roanoke Valley librarian Jonathan Overturf, about a restaurant that would turn unsuspecting tourists into zombies, then serve up the zombie meat to its patrons.

Fun as it was to write, “The Reed Player” remained unpublished until the first of several wild twists. Claire Cooney, better known by her nom de plume, C. S. E. Cooney, approached myself and several other writers, seeking novels for an e-book publishing project called Haunted Stars, masterminded by Black Gate founder and publisher John O’Neill. I had no completed novel to offer, but I showed Claire “The Reed Player” and asked her if she would be interested in an expanded version. Her response was to phone me and say, “Please, please, please, make this a novel for me, please!”

And that is why it’s so especially fitting that C. S. E. Cooney has narrated the brand-new audiobook edition of The Black Fire Concerto. It has the air of a creative endeavor coming full circle.

Claire let me hear the voices she bestowed upon my characters before she recorded. Thanks to her talent, this version of my story is an absolute blast.

Speaking of absolute blasts, Claire and I will be appearing together at 8 p.m. on Friday, May 30 on her Twitch channel, twitch.tv/csecooney Claire will read from her new novel, Saint Death’s Herald, the sequel to her World Fantasy Award-winning monster of a major label debut, Saint Death’s Daughter; and I will read from The Black Fire Concerto. (I note, Claire also recorded the audiobook edition of Saint Death’s Herald) Afterward, we’ll ask each other questions about our books, which, though vastly different in tone, share a lot of common elements.

We look forward to seeing you at our chat. Register here and let us know that you’ll be there!

Posted in Appearances, Audio, Interviews, Novels, The Black Fire Concerto