Conundrums, Kickstarter, Bundles and an Anniversary

Here’s something fun. Deliberately fun. I wrote a novel in the deepest darkest time of 2020, the horrid winter where everything seemed bleak. I wanted to escape, so I wrote about old friends and good times at a 1990s-style sf convention…with some crime on the side.

You see, my characters Spade and Paladin solve crimes at sf conventions. Until now, Spade and Paladin only appeared in short stories. But during that awful winter, I wrote the first full novel about them. I explain all about it in the video below.

The video is part of a very short Kickstarter campaign. You can get the novel early, as well a collection of the short stories, and many other things. But the Kickstarter is only running for two weeks. And I must say, it is running. We started it at noon today, and we’ve already hit the first stretch goal! (Thank you all!) Click here and get some fun reading.

Since I have your attention, I need to let you know about two different Storybundles. The first, Cosmic Visionaries, ends tomorrow. It’s full of wonderful space opera-y science fiction—you know, the kind we would talk about at (you guessed it!) science fiction conventions. Lots of fun material here, including one of my Diving novellas and a book of Dean’s that I just love. Get yours tonight, so that you don’t forget.

There’s another reason I’m telling you to head over there tonight. At 9 or so Pacific Time, the second bundle will go live. It’s a Justice Bundle, which has one of my Smokey Dalton novels in it. If you want some noir to go with your soft-boiled Spade/Paladin stories, or you want to mix some crime stories with your sf, then this is the other way to do so. (The first way, of course, is to go to the Kickstarter.) I don’t have the exact link yet, but if you go to Storybundle.com at 9 pm tonight, you can get both.

And finally, I’m honored to announce that I have a story in the 80th Anniversary Issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. I’m stunned and pleased to be in the company I’m in here, and happy to be part of this magazine’s long traditions. So even more mystery for you. Here’s the link so that you can get your copy.

Enjoy!!!