Twilightwatch by Sergei Lukyaneko
7 & 7 by Greg Stolze
11/22/63 by Stephen King

Short Stories:

Hearts of Ice by Patrick O’Duffy
Shrimp by Greg Stolze
Watching the Fireworks by Patrick O’Duffy
The Recent 86 Tram Disaster as Outlined in a Series of Ten Character Studies by Patrick O’Duffy
The Comfort Shack by Mark Souza
Neath Lily Pond by Mark Souza
The Diary of Horatio White by Mark Souza

It’s drawn by ninjav, and I think he did a great job.

Of course, people who pledge get to see the final cover (both front and back), so if you want to pledge, you only have five days left!

Here’s a handy link for those who might want to pledge:

http://kck.st/H7TewB

People who pledge will get to see the finished art, so why not pledge today?

Slumdog Millionaire by Vikas Swarup

Shotgun Gravy by Chuck Wendig

Somebody Comes to Town, Somebody Leaves Town by Cory Doctorow

Timeless by Gail Carriger

Short Stories:

Skylands: Large Living by Sylvan Scott

Christmas in NeverEarth by Sylvan Scott

The Rose Petal Thief by Sylvan Scott

One-Click Banishment by Jeremiah Tolbert

Goblintown Justice by Matt Forbeck

The Ereshkigal Working by Jonathan L Howard

Wizard’s Apprentice by Delia Sherman

The Sorcerer Minus by Jefferey Ford

Home Again, Home Again by Cory Doctorow

Nimbly and the Dimension Hoppers by Cory Doctorow

Life So Dear or Peace So Sweet by C.C. Finlay

Beasts of Burden by Sylvan Scott

Skylands: Storm Warning by Sylvan Scott

The Descent by Patrick O’Duffy

The Clockwork Changeling by Sylvan Scott

“How you met Aaron”

Aaron is my boyfriend, for those of you who don’t know.

It all started with an email. A fan email. He wanted to let me know how much he loved my writings and fell in love with one character in particular. So I responded, and he responded to that…

…and I didn’t reply. I forgot to, and when he sent another email two weeks later, I thought it was brand new.

Of course, I realized my error, and one thing led to another. We started emailing each other. We started talking on the phone. He came to visit for a week, and then we were hooked.

“Killing characters”

Yeah, somehow I’m known for killing off my characters even though I don’t really kill off that many. It’s not done on a whim–if it serves the story, then I’ll do it, but only after thinking of it for a long time. One of the prime examples is the death of Soulfighter, a character I loved to write about in Gaming Guardians and Powergamers. Her death was a natural flow of events, and she died a heroine’s death. Her death meant something.

Of course, that doesn’t mean every death means something, but it should serve to further the story. That said, I hate killing off characters.

“Baristas”

I was a barista for a while. Unfortunately it was for a Starbucks, which has no clue as to what a barista is. It soured me on ever wanting to work for a coffee shop again, but at least I got a novel out of it. (also, see jackals)

“Jackals”

I’ve always loved Anubis, who is a jackal headed god. That said, I love the mythological black jackals. I created one for Second Life and after working at Starbucks I named him Venti. I even wrote a novel about his misadventures, and people seem to like the character.

Now, my question for Vince is will he ever read that book?

“Leather pants”

Unfortunately I’ve never worn leather pants, but I have worn vinyl pants. Stuff was skintight, lemme tell you.

“The gym”

At the tail end of January 2011 I finally started lifting weights. I’d always wanted to exercise, but I could come up with any excuse not to. One day, I decided to make myself a promise: If I could work out for four weeks, I’d try the dieting, the supplements, the works. I succeed! And ever since then I’ve been hitting the gym like clockwork. Vince hates me for my white genes, since I have supposedly gotten bigger than him in a year’s time.

I think he secretly like it, though. I know I don’t mind him checking me out.

“Best reaction you’ve gotten from fans over something you did in your comics”

I would say that one guy’s irrational hatred of Carpe Diem would be the best reaction. But I’ll say my boyfriend’s fan mail over Brahma in Gaming Guardians. The Alex story. You know the one, GG fans. Yeah, that one.

“Ex-adventurer Max Gibson knows he’s found trouble when he stumbles out of his favorite tavern and into a murder scene, but when he realizes that both the victim and the blood-spattered orc kneeling over her are old friends of his, it gets far worse. Arrested as an accomplice to the crime, Gibson must work fast to find out what really happened and clear his name before his still-living friend pays the ultimate price.”

That’s the premise for the story. By reading the story you learn a lot about the setting, and it left me hungry for more. The mystery of who killed the victim is resolved fairly quickly, and logically at that. Matt Forbeck is an excellent storyteller, but I knew that going into the story.

If you’re a fan of fantasy settings that have a twist to it, Goblintown Justice is the story for you.

Amortals by Matt Forbeck

Sharper Than a Serpent’s Tooth by Simon R Green

Short stories:

If You Go Into the Woods by David Gaughran

Mommy Issues of the Dead by TA Pratt

What the Night Knows by Dean Koontz

Something from the Nightside by Simon R. Green

Agents of Light and Darkness by Simon R. Green

Sourcery by Terry Prachett

Nightingale’s Lament by Simon R. Green

Red Sails in the Fallout: A Gamma World Novel by Paul Kidd

Hex in the City by Simon R. Green

Paths Not Taken by Simon R. Green

Wild Cards by George R.R. Martin and others

Deadlands: Perdition’s Daughter by Shane Hensley

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

Deadlands: Independence Day

The Man Who Was Thursday by G. K. Chesterton

Let’s not forget the short stories I have read in January!

I Cthulhu by Neil Gaiman

Naked Angel by Joe R. Lansdale (from L.A. Noire: The Collected Stories)

Street Wizard by Simon R. Green (from Way of the Wizard)

The Old Gray Dragon by Ben Goodridge

2) Keep on exercising. BONUS: Try bringing up a bench press to a reasonable weight that you couldn’t do last year.

3) Keep track of the books you’re going to read and finish. BONUS: Read at least one book a month, maybe more!