I’ve been crazy busy this month with writing, and forgot to announce stuff I wrote a while ago!

My first pro sale to the anthology Cabinet of Curiosities came out this week!

After the death of Dr. Thackery T. Lambshead at his house in Wimpering-on-the-Brook, England, a remarkable discovery was unearthed: the remains of an astonishing cabinet of curiosities. Many of these artifacts, curios, and wonders related to anecdotes and stories in the doctor’s personal journals. Others, when shown to the doctor’s friends, elicited further tales from a life like no other. Thus, in keeping with the bold spirit exemplified by Dr. Lambs­head and his exploits, we now proudly present highlights from the doctor’s cabinet, reconstructed not only through visual representations but also through exciting stories of intrigue and adventure. A carefully selected group of popular artists and acclaimed, bestselling authors has been assembled to bring this cabinet of curiosities to life.

An independent follow-up to the cult classic The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric & Discredited Diseases, a Hugo Award and World Fantasy Award finalist…

Check your friendly local book store, or Amazon, Indiebound, or B&N.

Don’t forget, we’re also having a launch party on July 30 at Fullsteam Brewery in Durham, NC for this book! Anne and Jeff VanderMeer, Ekaterina Sedia, and more will be there! See more info on the Facebook event.

I’d been announcing with the latest Afterlife ebook went live, and failed to do it for July! July is Earth month. I’m also letting you download Earth for FREE in July, just check the store, purchase the book, and you will get a full refund after checkout. (Frankly, I’m afraid of lowering the price – I hear a certain Goliath online seller freaks if you sell lower than they do…. so I’ll just give you your money back!)

Recently deceased friends Kate and Daniel have been promoted, and are now in charge of renewing the Earth for a New Age. However they haven’t had a lot of training in their new jobs, they have several forces against them, and their own friendship is on the rocks as their attempts to work together makes things even worse.

FREE from the Murverse Store, or you could buy for $2.99 from online retailers such as Amazon, B&N, or Smashwords.

(Coming in August: Wasteland!)

Lastly, if you missed Marco and the Red Granny when it was podcast, you can read it over at Suicide Girls! They’ve been serializing it over there, and they’re almost at the end! (For the record, SG is a pinup site. My fiction pages are just fine, but it may be blocked to you, and you don’t want to go farther than my stuff if you’re not in a location for comfortable viewing of teh nekkid.)

Whew! I think that’s it. Check out the books!

Marco gets intimate knowledge of The Most Dangerous Game.

Remember you can purchase the ebook at Amazon or Smashwords.

Narrated by Devo Spice. Theme song by Beatnik Turtle.

Creative Commons Licensed BY-NC-SA

Marco is kidnapped. Twice. We learn more about the Alcoholic’s Guild.

Remember you can purchase the ebook at Amazon or Smashwords.

Narrated by Devo Spice. Theme song by Beatnik Turtle.

Creative Commons Licensed BY-NC-SA

Marco meets with his agent and learns about artist mapping.

Remember you can purchase the ebook at Amazon or Smashwords.

Narrated by Devo Spice. Theme song by Beatnik Turtle.

Creative Commons Licensed BY-NC-SA

We discover how the Li-Jun feel about alcohol, and learn what happened to the Red Granny. Then Marco has an alien experience.

Remember you can purchase the ebook at Amazon or Smashwords.

Narrated by Devo Spice. Theme song by Beatnik Turtle.

Creative Commons Licensed BY-NC-SA

It’s time for The Most Dangerous Game! Remember you can purchase the ebook at Amazon or Smashwords.

Narrated by Devo Spice. Theme song by Beatnik Turtle.

Creative Commons Licensed BY-NC-SA

Marco continues to learn about Mollywood, and the Red Granny. Remember you can purchase the ebook at Amazon or Smashwords.

Narrated by Devo Spice. Theme song by Beatnik Turtle.

Creative Commons Licensed BY-NC-SA

Have you been waiting for the podcast of my serial Marco and the Red Granny? Well. Here it is! Thanks to Hub for hosting it first, and now I put it in my feeds!

If you like it, you can buy the ebook at Amazon or Smashwords. Or if you want to support free fiction, just donate at the site.

Episode 1, where we meet Marco, and learn about his sad, depressed, nobody loves me existence. And then the phone rings.

Narrated by Devo Spice

Creative Commons Licensed BY-NC-SA

The final audio installments of Marco and the Red Granny are complete, and you can read or listen at the Marco site. I’ll be publishing the audio (with my own comments) here and at Podiobooks.com in the new year, so stay tuned!

Now you can get Marco and the Red Granny on your Kindle and in other, friendly, ebook ways. All DRM free! Check out Smashwords for more info!

It even has an ISBN, which makes me feel all grown up. ISBN: 978-1-4524-5610-2

The podcast and the text of part five is live! There will be seven parts in all. Learn more here. Don’t forget you can now purchase the Kindle version!

He found it odd that everything that had happened to him that day had happened before ten o’clock. After his phone chimed with a text saying his agent wanted to see him, Heather left his room and he dressed and went to meet Kathryn for brunch.

Despite the dark circles under his eyes, Marco felt calmer and grounded, ready to discuss with his agent the terms of his patronage. He was still unsure, but felt better after the shower and the quiet encouragement from Heather.

Kathryn entered the restaurant like the force of nature she was. “Marco! There you are!” she called in her raspy voice, causing many patrons to stare first at her, and then at him. He gave a little wave and fought the desire to hide.

Read more…
Listen to the podcast…

The podcast and the text of part four is live! There will be seven parts in all. Learn more here. Don’t forget you can now purchase the Kindle version!

“I think that went better than expected,” Seven said, but looked to Thirteen for confirmation.

She nodded slowly.

Marco’s mouth hung open. “What are you talking about? What about Heather? Is no one going to get her? Hell, I’ll get her! Where’s the door?”

Seven glanced at him. “You’d die before you’d reach her. Paramedics always go get the winner and administer to her. It’s their job.” As he spoke, Marco caught the odor of a large holiday meal, comforting in its ham and sheer predictability.

Even as Seven said this, two willowy, suited Li-Jun drove a small rover toward Heather, loaded her on the back, and then headed toward an airlock. Other rovers came out of doors to clean up the bodies on the field, and the audience began filing out of the stands.

Marco had changed his mind about drinking. “Where can a human go for a drink around here?” he asked the Li-Jun as they rose to their tentacles.

“We recommend our artists do not drink during their patronage,” Seven said, and Marco got the distinct feeling that the “recommendation” was really a hard and fast rule. An image of a tall, unmovable statue flashed in his mind.

Read more…
Listen to the podcast…

Now you can get Marco and the Red Granny – the whole story – for the Amazon Kindle! (and yes, I’m working on other platforms too, be patient. :) )

get Marco and the Red Granny on the Kindle

W00t! Marco and the Red Granny got covered by BoingBoing last week!

Cory Doctorow writes: Podcast sf doyenne Mur Lafferty has recently launched her latest novel/podcast serial: “Marco and the Red Granny.” It’s part of a larger cycle of stories about Mollywood that I had the real pleasure of workshopping with Mur at the Viable Paradise workshop some years ago.

Incidentally, Cory helped me out with one little detail of the world, a detail that will be revealed in episode 3, coming up this weekend. I thanked him by naming a clothing line after him in episode 1.

Enjoying the story? Consider supporting via donation (info on the sidebar)!

The podcast is a bit delayed, but you can read it on the website, and donate to support free fiction, if you can. Missed episode one? Check out Episode One in text and in audio, free!

“So if I can ask,” Marco said as the monorail dipped into a tunnel, “I was under the impression that Li-Jun hired artists, not, well…” He was suddenly in an uncomfortable place to describe Heather. “Cold blooded killer” didn’t seem to fit her, but he didn’t know what else to call her.

Even though the monorail had interior lights, the mood in their car seemed much darker without the light of the dome. Heather stared into the darkness with a small smile on her face. “Marco, you’re asking the wrong question. I would be wondering what a House like Blue wants to do being a patron to a writer and illustrator.”

My novella, Marco and the Red Granny, is live at Hub Magazine! You can subscribe to the podcast for free, or read it here on my own blog (I’m setting up a new donation system, with neato giveaways. Check it out!)

From the official Marco site:

By bringing back the patronage system, a new alien species has transformed the moon into the new artistic center of the universe, and Sally Ride Lunar Base soon gains the nickname “Mollywood.” These aliens can do amazing things with art and the senses, allowing a painting, for example, to stimulate other senses than simply sight. When someone asks a starlet, “Who are you wearing?” she could as easily say “J.K. Rowling” as she could “Gucci.”

Every creative person in the world wishes for a patronage. It’s quite competitive.

Marco wanted one, once. But then his girlfriend got one and shuttled off to Mollywood for fame and fortune, and Marco stayed home, waiting for his own patron. After several years, he gave up entirely. His career faltered. His agent dumped him. And then, one morning, he gets a call. At last he has a patron, at last the aliens want him. But he’s about to find out that an artistic patronage isn’t what it was in the good old days, and that the only friend he’s made, a tiny old woman who’s the star of a blood sports reality series called The Most Dangerous Game, has secrets of her own.

Art by Cheyenne Wright, narrated by Tom Rockwell. Here is a peek of the first chapter:

“Who are you wearing?”

The scream to the posing starlet draped in deep red silk, even on the tinny cellvid, cut through Marco’s hangover like an angry rhino slipping on oil. “Sycophantic specks,” he muttered, fumbling for the mute button on the phone. He rubbed his forehead with his palm, trying to will away the clumsy, dull pain.

“Goodness gracious, is that Janet Omaha? Who’s she wearing?” the old woman next to him on the shuttle leaned over, breaking all sorts of personal space rules by putting her hand on his shoulder and breathing Juicy Froot Loops gum in his face. He winced.

“No idea,” he said.

“I’d heard they were coming out with a Ernest Hemingway/Gertrude Stein line of clothing, two contrasting lines, but I think those in House Magenta will be wearing Cory Doctorow now. They’re getting into the early 2000s authors,” she said. “Will you turn it up?”

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