That’s the official verdict of Doug Knipe over at SciFiGuy.ca with regard to the first three episodes of HELLstalkers. Doug interviewed me for a piece on his blog today and we discuss everything from HELLstalkers to my work on the Rogue Angel series to my new urban fantasy trilogy coming next year from Tor.  Doug runs a terrific blog so I invite you all to stop on over and check out what else he has to offer.

PS – Doug is also the first reader to check out Eyes To See in English and here’s what he had to say…”I’ve had a sneak peek at Eyes to See from The Hunt Chronicles and ooh boy , it’s going to be good.”

It’s been a busy week but that’s a good thing, as I’ve got a few updates to share on several different projects.

First, we finally have a launch date for HELLstalkers!  The first episode will be available free of charge for the Kindle, Sony Reader, and other ebook devices by the middle of next week.  Mobile phone versions will follow shortly thereafter, most likely the week of Feb 22nd in both the US and the UK.

The HELLstalkers.com website has been revamped and updated as of this weekend and we’ve added the ability for fans to join the HELLstalkers to help promote the series and win some really cool HELLstalkers swag.  (Baseball caps, T-shirts, the chance to be a character in the books and more!)

Moving on, book two in the Jeremiah Hunt series, HANDS TO HEAL, has been turned in to my German editor.  Once he’s done with it, I’ll make a few changes and shoot it over to my US editor at TOR as well.  Book one, Der Schattenseher, has been receiving great reviews in Germany and I hope book two is received with even more enthusiasm.  (Sorry, US fans, you’ll have to wait until next year for the English language version from Tor Books!)

New projects were a focus this week as well, as I’ve just finished up a new proposal for a zombie steampunk novel set in an alternate World War I.  My agent loves it and we’ve already got an editor in mind.  Zombies, biplanes, and weird science – what could be more fun?

Speaking of new projects, a new update was posted to the Mirror’s Road project this morning, explaining the hook I’m going to center the story around.  The only way this one is going to get off the ground, however, is if I get enough backers before the deadline so drop by the project homepage – The Mirror’s Road – at Kickstarter.com and check it out.

Finally, work on my third Rogue Angel book, The Black Torc, is nearing completion and I hope to have it off to my editor at Gold Eagle fairly soon.

So that’s what’s been happening over the last week.

I’m very sorry to report that Full Moon Press, the publisher that was supposed to bring out limited and lettered editions of the three books in the Templar Chronicles trilogy, has announced it is going out of business immediately.  This, of course, means that the trilogy has been cancelled.

I’m very sorry to see this happen -I know many of you have been waiting a long time to read the second and third volumes in the series and to own a completed set of all three, as have I.  I’ll be looking for a new publisher, but that is always a slow process and even if I found one today it would mean another wait to see the actual books produced.

If you pre-ordered these books (particularly if you put up cash to secure a copy) then I urge you to contact the publisher, Paul Little, as soon as possible to get a refund.  His email address is info@thefullmoonpress.com.

My good friend and writing partner Jon F. Merz launches The Madagascar Matter today, a year long serial adventure that delivers a chapter a week for the rest of 2010 and features Lawson from The Fixer.  Here’s a quick summary:

A nefarious plan for genocide.

An enemy every bit his equal.

An outcome he could never imagine.

In the dense jungles and high savannahs of the island nation of Madagascar, Lawson and his former mentor Zero must track down a rogue Fixer intent on unleashing a plot that will forever upset the Balance itself between humans and vampires. Amid the sweltering heat and humidity, Lawson and Zero must contend with lethal predators, betrayal, and a sinister evil thought dead for over three decades. Journey back to the early 1980s with Lawson, on a mission that helped establish his reputation as the ultimate Fixer operative. The adventure starts in January 2010 – one chapter each week throughout the year – one amazing event. Exclusively from Jon F. Merz, delivered direct to your email, Kindle, or smart phone.

The serial is only available via subscription, so if you want in on the action you have to sign up. You can do so by dropping over to Jon’s site. Here’s Jon himself talking about the project:

For those of you who haven’t met Lawson yet, here’s a short excerpt from The Madagascar Matter itself:

CHAPTER ONE

I flew into Antananarivo at 9pm on Tuesday night after having bounced my way across half the world from where I’d been previously in Edmonton, Alberta.  When I left, the cold weather of the Canadian winter saw me off in temperatures of twenty below.  Landing, the pilot informed us that the current temperature in the capital city of Madagascar was a balmy eighty-five and humid.

I traveled light.  It was a habit drilled into us back in the Academy.  Less baggage means you can move quicker, skirt customs lines, and get out of the airport as fast as possible.  My instructors always harped on the fact that airports were too confining.  If shit went down, the last thing you wanted was a gun battle between you and your target amid a hundred security types all looking for an excuse to finally fire their issue sidearm.

My passport was French and the official who glanced at it and broke into a toothy grin.  “Bon soir, M’sieur.”

I smiled back.  “Bon soir.”

He glanced through the passport, but I didn’t worry.  The Council wouldn’t dream of supplying their active Fixers with anything but a legitimate passport.  Mine came right from the central passport office in Paris, crafted with care by a French vampire who then forwarded it on to the Council, knowing very little of who would be using it and why, only that for all intents and purposes of this assignment, my home residence was in St. Germain-des-Pres, which worked out well since the place was filled with jazz clubs and I was on a major Dexter Gordon kick anyway.

The customs official stamped my passport and handed it back to me.  I smiled.  “Merci.”

“De rien.”

I walked out of the airport and into the thick soup of humid night air.  I took a breath and glanced around.  Zero had mentioned there would be a contact by the taxi stand.  I made my way over and watched a line of beat up Datsuns undulate like an inchworm as each segment scooped up a passenger and then disengaged from the rest of the line.

“You’re late.”

I knew the voice and couldn’t help the smile that broke out over my face.  “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Didn’t I tell you there’d be a contact?”

I nodded.  Zero looked relaxed, his bald head gleamed in the glow of the yellow light bulbs overhead.  “Yeah, but I thought you were in London.”

“I was.  Now I’m here.”  He led me away from the taxi line by my arm and we walked toward the parking lot.  “We’ve got plenty to discuss.”

“Like why there are two of us on this op.”

Zero nodded.  “This one goes back, my friend.  Back a lot longer than anything in recent memory.”

“How far?”

Zero pointed up ahead at a Range Rover.  Whenever you had to drive in a third world country, there was nothing better.  “We can talk inside.  Too many ears in these parts.”

I glanced around but couldn’t make out anything despite my excellent night vision.  But I trusted Zero with my life and if he said there were listeners out there, that meant we stayed mum until it was safe to do otherwise.

Zero approached the Range Rover and reached up into the wheel well.  His hand came out a moment later with the magnetic case.  He took the key out, unlocked the door and slid inside, reaching over to unlock my door.  The interior of the car was humid and hot.  “How’d you wrangle this?”

He shrugged.  “Council set it up.  Had someone swing by earlier and park it here.”

“I’m already impressed with the level of involvement here.  What the hell’s going on?”

Zero started the engine and turned on the radio.  A nightly news program in Malagassy, one of the official languages in Madagascar, poured out of the speakers.  “We ride into town tonight and first thing in the morning, we have our first meeting.”

“With who?”

Zero placed his hands on the steering wheel.  “Guy who knows how to find the man we’re looking for.”

The way Zero’s forehead creased concerned me.  I’d been on my own now for almost ten years.  Zero’s sudden reappearance on a mission had me wondering what was going on.

He glanced over and grinned.  “You haven’t screwed up, if that’s what you’re thinking, Lawson.”

“I’m not sure what to think.”

“Been a while since we last worked together, hasn’t it?”

“I thought I was through with the apprentice thing.”

He nodded.  “You are.  This has nothing to do with your proficiency at completing assignments.  It has everything to do with the rather unorthodox nature of this assignment.”

Yes, you heard that right. Four years after the first book in the Templar Chronicles trilogy hit the bookstore shelves, a deal had been finalized to bring the final two volumes to fans here in the US in the language they were originally written in – English!

Blackbetty Mobilemedia, in conjunction with telecommunications giant Vodafone, will be publishing a small screen edition of all three volumes specifically designed to be read on your mobile phone. Featuring high quality fonts, easy-to-use navigation controls, high resolution graphical cover art, and a host of interactive features, this edition of the Templar Chronicles will be the best yet!

All three volumes – HERETIC, A SCREAM OF ANGELS, and A TEAR IN THE SKY – will be available December 1st in both English and German language editions. Translations for fans in Saudi Arabia, India, Finland, and South Africa will follow shortly thereafter, most likely by the end of the first quarter of 2010. European fans will be able to download them directly from Vodafone’s customer portal, Vodafone 360. US fans will be able to get them in a similar fashion, though I’m not yet at liberty to say who the US distribution partner is, though its a name you’ll all be familiar with when you hear it.

More details will be available soon, including sample downloads and new cover art for all three books in the series!

What do Ramsey Campbell, Christopher Golden, Del Howison, Ellen Datlow, Deborah LeBlanc, Scott Nicholson, David Wellington and I have in common?

We’re all part of a terrific interview author Jonathan Maberry did this month called “Still Scary After All These Years” that went live this morning over at his blog – and just in time for Halloween too!

Jonathan asked the eight of us to examine such questions as “What defines a horror story?”, “What makes readers shy away from modern horror?” and “Who’s writing good horror today?”

If some of the names above aren’t familiar to you, here is a quick sketch of each of the contributors:

DEL HOWISON is a Bram Stoker award winning horror editor, journalist and author. Along with his multiple Bram Stoker Award nominations he has been nominated for the Shirley Jackson Award and the Black Quill. His editing includes the Dark Delicacies anthologies (the third of which comes out sometime in August 2009) and The Book of Lists Horror. His short fiction has appeared in Midnight Premier, Traps, Midnight Walk, The Anthology of the Living Dead (set to come out in August or September), and Hot Blood 12 (for which his story was bought and used as the premiere episode of the NBC series Fear Itself). He has appeared in over a dozen film projects as an actor and owns Dark Delicacies – America’s Horror Book and Gift store in Burbank, Ca. He can be found at www.darkdel.com

JOE LANSDALE: Joe R. Lansdale is the author of thirty novels and numerous short pieces, both non-fiction and fiction. He has won numerous awards, including THE EDGAR, seven BRAM STOKERS, and many others. His novella, Bubba Hotep, was filmed under the same name. His most current novel is VANILLA RIDE, a new Hap and Leonard adventure.

RAMSEY CAMPBELL: The Oxford Companion to English Literature describes Ramsey Campbell as “Britain’s most respected living horror writer”. He has been given more awards than any other writer in the field, including the Grand Master Award of the World Horror Convention, the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Horror Writers Association and the Living Legend Award of the International Horror Guild. Among his novels are The Face That Must Die, Incarnate, Midnight Sun, The Count of Eleven, Silent Children, The Darkest Part of the Woods, The Overnight, Secret Story, The Grin of the Dark and Thieving Fear. Forthcoming are Creatures of the Pool and The Seven Days of Cain. His collections include Waking Nightmares, Alone with the Horrors, Ghosts and Grisly Things, Told by the Dead and Just Behind You, and his non-fiction is collected as Ramsey Campbell, Probably. His novels The Nameless and Pact of the Fathers have been filmed in Spain. His regular columns appear in Prism, All Hallows, Dead Reckonings and Video Watchdog. He is the President of the British Fantasy Society and of the Society of Fantastic Films. Ramsey Campbell lives on Merseyside with his wife Jenny. His pleasures include classical music, good food and wine, and whatever’s in that pipe. His web site is at www.ramseycampbell.com.

DEBORAH LEBLANC is an award-winning, best-selling author from Lafayette, Louisiana. She is also a business owner, a licensed death scene investigator, and an active member of two national paranormal investigation teams.

Deborah is the president of the Horror Writers Association, president of Mystery Writers of America’s Southwest Chapter, and president of the Writers’ Guild of Acadiana. In 2004, she created the LeBlanc Literacy Challenge, an annual, national campaign designed to encourage more people to read. She is also the founder of Literacy Inc, a non-profit organization whose mission is fighting illiteracy in America’s teens. Deborah’s latest release is WATER WITCH.

For more information, visit www.deborahleblanc.com and www.literacyinc.com.

CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN is the award-winning, bestselling author of such novels as The Myth Hunters, Wildwood Road, The Boys Are Back in Town, The Ferryman, Strangewood, and Of Saints and Shadows. He has also written books for teens and young adults, including Poison Ink, Soulless, and the thriller series Body of Evidence. He co-wrote the lavishly illustrated novel Baltimore, or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire with Mike Mignola. As an editor, he has worked on the short story anthologies The New Dead and British Invasion, among others, and has also written and co-written comic books, video games, screenplays, the online animated series Ghosts of Albion (with Amber Benson) and a network television pilot. Golden was born and raised in Massachusetts , where he still lives with his family. His original novels have been published in more than fourteen languages in countries around the world. Please visit him at www.christophergolden.com

SCOTT NICHOLSON is the author of seven novels, six screenplays, five comic book series, four children’s books, three story collections, two epitaphs, and a parched ridge of bad poetry. When not writing, Nicholson is an organic gardener, guitar picker, paranormalist, comic book and sports card dealer, father, and lover, in addition to portraying his cartoon self The Digger. His virtual existence resides at www.hauntedcomputer.com.

ELLEN DATLOW: Ellen Datlow has been editing short science fiction, fantasy, and horror for almost thirty years. She was co-editor of The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror and has edited or co-edited many other anthologies, most recently The Coyote Road and Troll’s Eye View (with Terri Windling), Inferno, The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy, Nebula Award Showcase 2009, and Poe: 19 New Tales Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe. Forthcoming are Lovecraft Unbound, Best Horror of the Year, Volume 1, Tails of Wonder and the Imagination (an all-genre cat story reprint anthology), Digital Domains: A Decade of Science Fiction and Fantasy, Darkness: Two Decades of Modern Horror, Naked City: New Tales of Urban Fantasy, Best Horror of the Year, Volume 2, Haunted Legends (with Nick Mamatas), and The Beastly Bride (with Terri Windling). She has won multiple awards for her editing, including the World Fantasy, Locus, Hugo, International Horror Guild, Shirley Jackson, and Stoker Awards. She was named recipient of the 2007 Karl Edward Wagner Award for “outstanding contribution to the genre.” My blog is at: http://ellen-datlow.livejournal.com/

RAY GARTON has written over fifty books, including the Bram Stoker Award-nominated Live Girls, and more recently, the novels Ravenous and Bestial. Some of his work, including Live Girls, Lot Lizards, and the novella “Graven Image,” are in the works as movies. In 2006, he was made a Grand Master of Horror. In February of 2010, Leisure Books will publish the paperback edition of his novel Scissors. He lives in northern California with his wife Dawn and is currently at work on a number of projects outside the genre, as well as Lorelle’s Place, the sequel to The New Neighbor.

DAVID WELLINGTON: David Wellington is the author of seven novels. His zombie novels “Monster Island”, “Monster Nation” and “Monster Planet”(Thunder’s Mouth Press) form a complete trilogy. He has also written a series of vampire novels including (so far) “Thirteen Bullets”, “Ninety-Nine Coffins”, “Vampire Zero” and “Twenty-Three Hours” (Three Rivers Press). In 2004 he began serializing his horror fiction online, posting short chapters of a novel three times a week on a friend’s blog. Response to the project was so great that in 2004 Thunder’s Mouth Press approached Mr. Wellington about publishing “Monster Island” as a print book. The novel has been featured in Rue Morgue, Fangoria, and the New York Times. David is also doing one issue of Marvel Zombies Returns, this September’s big comic book series, and my first werewolf novel, Frostbite, will be in stores in October. For more information please visit www.davidwellington.net

Here are a couple of shots of my new publisher, Blackbetty Mobilemedia GmbH, and their booth at the Frankfurt Book Fair last week. The white devices that you see in the foreground of the first picture are Blackbetty’s mobile Bluetooth terminals, from which they were offering a variety of their mobilebooks for download onto a mobile phone. I believe the man with the microphone in that first image is CEO Jorge Hotter.

Summer is coming to an end, but you wouldn’t know it from the 110 degree weather we’re still having here in Phoenix.  Winter (and its balmy 80 degree days) can’t get here soon enough!

Several of you have written and asked what I’ve been up to all summer – what have I been working on, what’s coming out next, and the like – so I thought it was high time I gave you all an update.  While you wouldn’t know it from how often I’ve updated this blog (what?  five times all summer?  Geez!) I have actually been working my tail off on several different fronts.  Let’s see, what am I allowed to talk about at this point….

The big news first I guess.  I’ve sold a new trilogy to a US publisher! Which means my work will be available again in English in the not-so-distant future!  (I’ll be giving you more information on that in my next post though, so hang in there a little longer.)

The Spirit Banner

On another note, I have two books being released on the same day in two different countries.  The Spirit Banner will be available from Gold Eagle in the US and Canada on January 10 while Der Schattenseher (Eyes to See) will be out from Pan Books in Germany.

Work on the sequel to Der Schattenseher/Eyes to See is coming along nicely.  The first draft is done and I”ve already started working on revising it.  Another few weeks and I should be ready to turn it in to my editor at Pan (which is good, since it is due before Halloween.)

What else?

Oh, there’s the little matter of the Top Secret Project that has had me scrambling for the last week or two.  This project came together very quickly, but I’m extremely excited about the possibilities and can’t wait to talk about it in more detail.  For now, I can tell you that it involves a medium I’ve never worked with before and that my good friend Jon Merz is involved in the project with me. Contracts are almost finalized, so the press release won’t be too long in coming…

I also took some time this summer and launched a membership site for helping writers make the most of their careers – RockYourWritingCareer.com.  Drop by and check it out – I’d love to hear some feedback and memberships are now available.

Last but not least, I’m in the midst of updating the look and feel of this entire site.  Construction is under way but it should be finished by the middle of next week, if all goes well.

So that’s it.  Stay tuned for more news in the very near future!

My German publisher, Droemer Knaur, has just announced the formation of a new imprint to be known as PAN Books.   My current editor Tim has been promoted to editorial director of the new imprint, something he greatly deserves.  PAN will be focused on urban fantasy and paranormal romance, targeting both young adult and adult readers.

Why do I care so much about a new German imprint, you ask?

Because my latest book, EYES TO SEE – Book One of the Hunt Chronicles, (German title is Der Schattenseher) will be one of the imprint’s launch titles comes December.  That means I’ll benefit from all of the launch promotional efforts and excitement, which bodes very well for the success of the series.  Who knows – maybe I’ll even end up back on the bestseller list again!

EYES TO SEE will be followed by two other books – HANDS TO HEAL and A SOUL TO LOSE – continuing the adventures of Jeremiah Hunt and his companions.

I’m looking forward to telling you all more about EYES and PAN in the weeks ahead.

I’m going to be a part of a really cool event sponsored by Fuller Theological Seminary later this month.  It is open to the public, so I figured I’d give you all the scoop…

Conversations in Writing

The heart of the writer is expressed in many ways. Conversations in Writing features writers who specialize in the areas of theology, literature, fiction and journalism.

Emily Griesinger, PhD, Professor of English in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Azusa Pacific University. She has recently co-edited a collection of essays entitled The Gift of Story: Narrating Hope in a Postmodern World (Baylor University Press, 2006).

Joe Nassise, author of several novels, including the internationally bestselling Templar Chronicles trilogy. Joe is also the former president of the Horror Writers Association and a two time Bram Stoker Award and International Horror Guild Award nominee.

Dennis Okholm, PhD, Professor of Theology at the Haggard School of Theology, Azusa Pacific University; Visiting Professor of Systematic Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary. His most recent book is Monk Habits for Everyday People (Brazos Press, 2007)

Christine Spicer is the editor of The Viewpoint, the Alumni Magazine of Point Loma Nazarene University. She has taught writing at both Point Loma and San Diego State University. Her work at Point Loma has been recognized by two 2007 awards for writing and design. Christine is a UCSD Muir College Outstanding Scholar.

Our authors will share about the love and heartbreak of writing, what motivates them as writers, and how new writers might get started. You will have the opportunity to join them in conversation during lunch.

03/28/2009

9:00 AM – 2:00 PM

2021 Business Center Drive, Suite 115 Irvine, CA 92612

Fuller Seminary California Coast

Contact Person: Mike McNichols

Phone: 949-975-0775

Email: mikemc@fuller.edu

Cost: 25.00 RSVP: Yes

You are going to want to RSVP if at all possible, so they can be assured of having the right number of lunches.  While I don’t know my fellow panelists, I do know our host, Mike McNichols and any event he puts together is bound to be informative and a lot of fun.

If you’re in Southern California, come on out and join us on the 28th!