Book Birthdays! Plus Top Ten Things Never to Say to a Writer

So many exciting book birthdays today!  There’s BLACK ARTS, the new novel in Faith Hunter‘s New York Times bestselling Jane Yellowrock series, HOWLING FOR YOU, an e-novella in Chloe Neill’s NYT bestselling Chicagoland Vampires series, where we finally get things from Jeff Christopher’s perspective, and GRYPHON PRECINCT, the fourth novel in Keith R.A. DeCandido‘s fantasy police procedural series.  So much goodness!

BLACK ARTS by Faith Hunter

When Evan Trueblood blows into town looking for his wife, Molly, he’s convinced that she came to see her best friend, Jane. But it seems like the witch made it to New Orleans and then disappeared without a trace.

Jane is ready to do whatever it takes to find her friend. Her desperate search leads her deep into a web of black magic and betrayal and into the dark history between vampires and witches. But the closer she draws to Molly, the closer she draws to a new enemy—one who is stranger and more powerful than any she has ever faced.

Praise for the Jane Yellowrock Novels

“Jane’s world is a fully realized one, full of shapeshifters, Native American magic and folklore, baddies that will make your hair stand on end, and a heroine, that, despite her considerable skills, harbors plenty of vulnerability and self-doubt. If you love urban fantasy or just plain wonderful writing and world building, this is the series for you.” —My Bookish Ways

“Jane Yellowrock is smart, sexy, and ruthless.”—New York Times Bestselling Author Kim Harrison

“Seriously. Best urban fantasy I’ve read in years, possibly ever.”—C. E. Murphy, author of Truthseeker

“Jane is the best urban fantasy heroine around.”—Night Owl Reviews

HOWLING FOR YOU by Chloe Neill

GRYPHON PRECINCT by Keith R.A. DeCandido

Humans and elves, dwarves and gnomes, wizards and warriors all live and do business in the thriving, overcrowded port city of Cliff’s End, to say nothing of the tourists and travelers who arrive by land and sea, passing through the metropolis on matters of business or pleasure-or on quests. The hard-working, under-appreciated officers of the Cliff’s End Castle Guard work day and night to maintain law and order as best they can.

Cliff’s End is rocked by the death of Lord Albin. As soon as the funeral ends, Albin’s son Blayk takes over and starts instituting wholesale changes in how the Cliff’s End Castle Guard is run: enforced retirements of older guards (including Captain Osric), surprise promotions (including Grovis to replace Osric as Captain of the Guard), sword requalifications for all guards, and much more. Worse, Blayk has split up Lieutenants Torin ban Wyvald and Danthres Tresyllione and given them new partners. Lieutenant Dru, still devastated by the loss of Lieutenant Hawk, also has a new partner.

All three detectives catch separate cases, but the more they investigate, the more they realize that all three are related – and connected to a conspiracy that targets the King and Queen themselves!

Praise for the Precinct novels:

“All in all, this is a fascinating excursion in genre-bending; it’s worth a try even for readers who usually take either their procedurals or their fantasies unadulterated.” -Booklist

“Beneath the swords and sorcery is a well-constructed set of hardboiled mysteries; Dragnet in a Dungeons and Dragons setting. Keith DeCandido’s first original novel (he has written several tie-ins) is a well-paced, entertaining read.” – Reviewing the Evidence

Also, Amy Christine Parker (author of the acclaimed YA thriller GATED) and I got together over the weekend and had some fun with our YA Rebels video on The Top Ten Things Never to Say to a Writer.  We hope you enjoy!