I really love some of the summer TV shows. Haven, Leverage, and Eureka are some of my favorites. In fact, I dare say the programming is better in the summer than in the rest of the year for the most part. More creative, more adventurous, more character driven. I wonder why that is.

The copyedits for Shadow City have arrived and I’m diligently working on them. So all is on track for the December release. I’m also working on the fourth Horngate book, though it has no name yet.

Is summer racing as fast for everyone else as it is for me? It’s flying past. Make it go slower!

The third Horngate book is available for preorder. It’s called Shadow City and of course takes off right after Crimson Wind. Here’s a description:

From the moment she was bound by magic and transformed into a deadly warrior, Max dreamed of escape. Instead she went to war. She saved the coven she was enslaved to defend from unearthly destruction, but only at the cost of her own freedom.

But Horngate’s own future is far from certain. The covenstead is threatened by a Fury—a creature that, once it escapes its fragile bonds, will wreak untold destruction. Will Alexander and the other Shadowblades be able to protect Horngate without Max? Or will Max discover that she doesn’t have a home to return to?

This is an awesome book and I think you’re going to love how it plays out. Here’s the shadow city Amazon link, but go ask your bookstore or order from anywhere you like. Spread the word!

I’ve been thinking about short stories. And maybe not stories . . . Maybe just scenes or vignettes. I kind of want to write some things for fun here and there. So. Here’s your chance to tell me what you’d like to read.

Stuff set in the Path universe? Who do you want to hear about? What story do you still want to hear?

Stuff set in Crosspointe? When? With whom? What do you want to know?

And Horngate? What do you want to know there?

Or something else entirely? Maybe an offshoot of the short stories on my site? Anything else?

Crimson Wind, the second in the Horngate Witches series, will be released on December 28th. Have you preordered yours? Here’s a snippet to whet your appetite and I will have a chapter up very soon. I’ve been horribly swamped trying to meet a deadline for my YA project, and for Shadow City, the third in the Horngate Witches series. Yes, there will be a third and a fourth! So without further ado, a snippet:

“What was that?” she demanded.

“It is what is.”

“It’s happening now?” Max wanted to throw up. She scraped her fingers through her hair, pulling sharply. What was happening there? “What will the smoke and those creatures do to them?”

He shrugged. “I do not have the gift of foreseeing.”

“Then show me. Show me what’s happening to them.”

His brows rose and his eyes gleamed. “What will you pay?” he asked softly. “Will you come with me now if I show you?”

“You motherfucker,” Max spat, crossing her arms tight across her stomach to keep from stabbing him through the eye. “You know I can’t. I have to help them.”

“Will they be alive when you get there?”

Are you a fan of Bitter Night? Looking forward to Crimson Wind? Good news. Now I can announce that there will be two more in the series. Details here. Hurray!

Here’s from Crimson Wind:

The man was shaking as he stabbed the air in front of her face with his finger. He might need it broken to teach him a lesson in manners. Course she was in the middle of stealing his car. He might deserve some leeway for that.

“You bitch! I am going to teach you a lesson.”

He flicked his cigarette butt at her. Max batted it aside.

“You know,” she said, “the pointing was rude, but I let that pass because I can see how you’d be upset. I mean, sure, the world is going to hell in a handbasket and you’re probably going to die screaming any day now, but I get that seeing someone steal your car would make you mad enough to lose your manners. But the cigarette? That’s just uncalled for.”

For those of you wondering just what Crimson Wind will be about, here’s a little blurb:

Max is a Shadowblade—a supernatural warrior created to serve and protect her witch, Giselle. She was made to kill and she’s very good at it. But there are some troubles you can’t solve with a gun and Max has run smack into one. Since the devastation of her covenstead four weeks ago and the revelation of the coming apocalypse, Max has been itching to bring her family back to the safety of Horngate. The only trouble is they think she was murdered thirty years ago, a belief Max has done everything in her power to cultivate. So she’s naturally a little worried about how they’ll feel when she tells them she’s alive and never bothered to get in touch. And oh by the way, mom and dad, she isn’t human anymore. As if that wasn’t enough to worry about, the Guardians have made a major move in their war against humanity and now it’s a race to save her family before they are swallowed by a a blood storm of wild magic. That is, if Max can even get off the starting block. First she has to deal with an enraged wannabe lover who can destroy worlds, a pissed off mage, and a pig-headed witch.

ETA: I originally said this would be out in October 2011, but I was mistaken. I’m fairly certain it will be out in March of 2011. Sorry for the mixup! If that changes, I’ll let you know.

So today I got back into the groove of Crimson Wind, following the holidays and cold. I ended up writing 3200 words today, which makes me very happy. It means I may have found my way back into the groove. I think I even like a lot of it. Which is more than I can say about what came before, but I’m not sure if I can trust my own opinion on those other chapters since I had such a hard time with them having to draft them four different times. But I’m on track again and very pleased.

One of the things that’s been difficult is getting back into the heads of the characters. Max is easier than Alexander, especially since he’s more transitional. What I mean is that he’s undergone more changes and has to find his footing and identity again. That means he’s changing and developing, which means he’s in flux for me. But he’s about to go bad ass. More bad ass than before. It should be fun.

And now, a snippet from Crimson Wind.

She was watching him with cold implacability. Magic curled in her eyes like ribbons of smoke. Even this depeleted, she still had deep reserves of power.

“Never forget what I can do to you,” she said. “That was just a tiny tast of what will happen to you if you let anything happen to her.”

“She runs after trouble like starving sharks after blood,” he rasped.

“Yes. No doubt that will make the trip more interesting for you. Now go. It’s nearly dark.”

He hesitated then nodded respectfully and left. Outside, he found Niko at his side.

“Damn. That looked like it hurt,” the other man said with an unsympathetic grin. “Glad it wasn’t me.”

Alexander tossed him a baleful look but did not rise to the bait. “So where is Max? I do not want her to leave without me.”

Niko’s expression turned grim and a chill spidered down Alexander’s spine.

“Where is she?” he demanded.

If you want to know more about how I came to the ideas for Bitter Night, I’m talking about just that on John Scalzi’s Whatever. So come read!

Bitter Night will be out in one week. I’m dreadfully nervous. Herds of wilderbeasts are stampeding through my innards. Have you ordered your copy yet? So SciFiGuy has a great review up of Bitter Night today if you need more encouragement, and tomorrow he’ll have an interview with me.

Chapter 1 is up on my website, and here, just for you, is chapter 2:
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