I’m back from hiatus and travel! And I decided something at WorldCon this year. Listen to find out what that is…
NOTE TO PATRONS- I lost my phone in Glasgow and had to replace it. The problem is, I am a fan of two factor authentication, which is great until you lose your phone and don’t have the ability to get any of your 2FA notices… so I can’t currently log into Patreon to post early/exclusive content. I have a note with Patreon support, let’s hope they get back to me soon.
I published the ebook myself, because after two years, those rights haven’t sold, and I have SO MANY emails from fans wondering why they can’t get the ebook or the audiobook. (Note- audiobook still unavailable, I don’t have it in me to re-record and produce the audiobook again.)
It’s time to check in with the lady who barely blogs.
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First: Finally I can talk about it! My big project that ate my spring was the novelization of the movie Solo!
I’m writing a Star Wars novel. I’ve been to Lucasfilm. I’ve written canon scenes (pending approval) about my hero, L3 (and some of the other characters too). I turned in the novel. And it’s still unreal to me.
It’ll be out in early September, and you can preorder now!
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I attended the Nebulas! Matt and I will discuss it at length on the next Ditch Diggers, but I had an amazing time, lost a major award, met some phenomenal writers, and signed books. I didn’t even get upset that I lost, because losing to NK Jemisin is like losing a Tony Award to Hamilton or the Belmont Stakes to Secretariat.
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Six Wakes was nominated for the Manly Wade Wellman Award! This award recognizes SFF from North Carolina. The full list of nominees:
Frost & Filigree by Natania Barron (Falstaff Books)
Amazing Grace by John G. Hartness (Falstaff Books)
The Stravinsky Intrigue by Darin Kennedy (Curiosity Quills Press)
Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty (Orbit)
Scourge by Gail Z. Martin (Solaris)
Congrats to the other nominees and good luck to all!
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Six Wakes will be coming out in Germany and Taiwan this summer! Check out these amazing covers!
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New episodes of Ditch Diggers and ISBW coming soon!
Hey friends, I know what you’ve been thinking, that it’s time for you to get a new ebook! But times are tough, we all know it, so management* has told me we can give you such a deal, today only! Six Wakes, for only $2.99!
Now, you won’t find prices like this anywhere else, friends. If you’re looking for a shiny new ebook to drive away today, consider Six Wakes, the Kindle Daily Deal!
It’s Philip K. Dick Award nominated! It’s Nebula Award nominated! And it’s only $2.99. I don’t know what got into us to sell at such a low price, but I would take advantage of it if I were you! Buy today!
The audiobook for Six Wakes has shown up on Audible.com. If you’re a fan of audiobooks (like me) or of my narration (like the Shambling Guides or my podcasts), then I hope you check it out!
And speaking of audio, I was on the Cooking the Books podcast with Fran Wilde and Laura Anne Gilman!
Today is the launch day for The Stars Are Legion by Kameron Hurley and Idle Ingredients by Matt Wallace. You should run and get both now.
I’m not endorsing them because they’re talented, which they are, or because they’re my friends, which they also are. But I’m bringing them up because I thought you might want some books to read after Six Wakes and Bookburners.
Kameron and I both wrote very female-heavy space opera books, and they’re coming out close to each other. So if you like Six Wakes you will probably like The Stars Are Legion.
And Matt’s Sin Du Jour novella series (of which Idle Ingredients is #4) is like The Shambling Guides with catering, so if you like my stuff, you will like Matt’s. Start with Envy of Angels if you’re new to the series.
So really, reader, I’m doing this for you.
You’re welcome!
New press about Six Wakes I just had to share! This is from the Barnes and Noble blog:
Lafferty fearlessly follows the moral, ethical, and practical implications of this questionably idyllic future. How does quasi-immortality change what it means to be human? If our bodies are disposable, are we then our minds? And what if that mind is just a copy? It’s all very much grounded in the juicy mystery elements, but there are larger ideas behind it all.
And a part I particularly appreciate about the character of Dr. Joanna Glass:
[Joanna] raises questions about notions of perfection, and makes a powerfully rare, if understated, anti-ableist statement.
This was important to me, because even though the hacking that would “fix” Joanna’s genetically abnormal legs is illegal, it would be pretty easy for someone with her wealth and privilege to have it done. She chooses not to.
Venom out of costume: actress Teal Sherer
I was inspired, in part, by the character of Venom in Felicia Day’s gaming series “The Guild.” A horrible nihilist in the rival guild, she has a rare moment of frank, non-antagonistic vulnerability when she wonders aloud why she can’t have a wheelchair in the game like she has in real life, because she wants her avatar to fully represent her. (Pedantic Vork tries to explain how the ADA hasn’t really reached dungeons so it would be hard for her to move around, and then her character kills his.)
Also the the main character in John Scalzi’sLock In, Chris, makes the same statement as people take sides in a debate about whether their “locked in” status should be cured. The locked in community has created a unique and rich alternate online lifestyle, and they would have to give that up if they were cured.
Those two stories had me thinking about pop culture’s usual view of disability, especially concerning science fiction and its desire to “fix” everything with futuristic technology. So I tried to address it in this book.
Two days ago saw the launch of Six Wakes and Bookburners, the projects I spent most of last year on. It was weird coincidence that they launched the same day. But the reviews for both are both really good, and I’m thrilled at the response. And thanks to everyone who posted a review online, anywhere! Spreading the word is HUGE help.
I got to do the John Scalzi Big Idea on Tuesday! And here are some quotes from reviews for Six Wakes!
“A taut, nerve-tingling murder mystery with a deeply human heart.”
— NPR Books
“An interstellar page-turner with an innovative twist on cloning tropes.”
— B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog
“A great book with so much going for it: clever structure, wonderful characters,
and a fiendishly clever puzzle that you’ll roll over in your mind
for months after you close the covers.”
— Boing Boing
“[The] coolest murder mystery you’ll read.”
— bestselling author Chuck Wendig
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Unfortunately I won’t be doing my bookstore event in Greenville, SC tonight. We had to reschedule. We’re still hammering out when we will be doing it but it looks tentatively like February 21 will be the new date. And I’m working on a local event in March at Flyleaf books, will post when that gets confirmed.
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I’m completely knackered, as the Brits say, from book launches and turning in the first draft of I Should Be Writing, the book. (Yeah, that was yesterday, whoo hoo book done! Now body must zzzzz…) But now that the books are out and the other book is turned in, I can focus more on my podcasts and my dear Patreon supporters.
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OH, and thanks to everyone who participated in the giveaway! All slots are filled!
TL;DR: Send me receipts in email and get signed books. Details at bottom.
This January 31, I am in the wonderfully strange situation of having TWO books coming out at once.
First, from Orbit books, I have Six Wakes, my clone murder mystery in space, the book that made James Patrick Kelly say, “Lafferty does for clones what Asimov did for robots.”
Six Wakes also got starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Library Journal and has appeared on several “January books to look for” lists.
Then from Saga and Serial Box comes my collaboration (with Max Gladstone, Brian Francis Slattery, and Margaret Dunlap) Bookburners. It’s a horror/urban fantasy story about a Vatican team who chase down magical books and contain them before terrible things happen. (Usually right when terrible things are happening, otherwise the story wouldn’t be interesting.) Naomi Novik says “Bookburners is sheer enormous fun!” It’s also appeared on several “January books to look for” lists!
While this is SUPER exciting, I was wondering how I could promote two books at once. I don’t want my readers/listeners to get Lafferty fatigue at me saying, “Buy my book! Now buy my other book! Did you buy the first one yet? Well, go do that!” And so on.
So I figured out a plan: the first five people to send me their receipts for Six Wakes will receive signed (by me) copies of the Bookburners ARC, and the first five to send me copies of their Bookburners receipts will receive signed copies of Six Wakes.
UPDATE: All books spoken for! Thanks!
Now, my die hard fans who’ve already bought both should get some kind of reward too. If you show such dedication, then I will reward you with a secret letter and a present. (You may want to indicate which of my books you do not own, that will help me decide presents.)
To sum up! Starting today:
Send me your Six Wakes preorder receipt and your address: get a copy of Bookburners (ARC). (Limit 5 people)
Send me your Bookburners preorder receipt and your address: get a copy of Six Wakes. (Limit 5 people)
Send me the receipt for both and your address, and you’ll get a secret letter and a present. (Limit 5 people)
And yes, I will ship worldwide. Gawd help me.
My email address is mightymur at gmail dot com.
PLEASE put “GIVEAWAY” in your subject line so I will spot the entries. I will edit this blog post and mention on twitter when all of the books are spoken for.
The amazing storytelling site I’ve been involved with, Storium, has launched an awesome interactive demo to help new players. It’s free and doesn’t require a signup. You literally have nothing to lose except for 5 minutes of your time. Check it out!
Library Journal just gave Six Wakes and Bookburners some love as well! And Six Wakes got a star! (You DO know that you can really help a book out by pre-ordering, right? Get Bookburners here.Get Six Wakes here.
We’ve gotten the new shiny Skyrim with mod support and better graphics and we’re all playing it with great glee. It helped to kill things during the month when we saw our nation crumble in a dumpster fire.
There are still interesting bugs with a game so intricate. The latest one I encountered had my adopted son begging for a present when I got home. I had a shirt for him, so I gave it to him. He was then immediately naked (with undies, natch) and ran around playing in the rain. Then he went to sit under a tree. In the rain. With no clothes on.
I followed him and tried to talk to him, but “get your damn clothes back on, you fool child” was nowhere in the dialogue tree. So I decided it was my housecarl’s problem and went on adventuring. (I just discovered others have noticed this bug.)
Then there was the time I was being chased by a wolf, ran into a bear, and then a dragon landed on all of us. But that’s another tale.
First the SUPER EXCITING OMG NEWS – ARCs of SIX WAKES have arrived, and they are sooooooooo shiny.
Loooook at it. ———————>>>
Anyway. Other things, I’ve revamped my Patreon tiers to include some fiction, early access to podcasts, and some other treats, including a level where I will send you a drunken annotated copy of my books.
And the last in the marketing scheme, I am building a newsletter, so if you wanna sign up, check it over there in the sidebar. Note that I abhor popup newsletter solicitations, and will never do that to you. That said, I hope you sign up anyway.
What will you get? News. Man, it’s a newsletter, what do you want? Secrets as to what was deleted in a book? Giveaways? GOLD? Well, I can do some of those, actually, but not the gold. Sorry. Maybe if I manage to sell another book soon.
That’s it, really. Check out the Patreon for new tiers. Sign up for the newsletter. LOOKIT THE NEW ARC OF MY BOOK.
Today is the launch day for The Stars Are Legion by 
And Matt’s Sin Du Jour novella series (of which Idle Ingredients is #4) is like The Shambling Guides with catering, so if you like my stuff, you will like Matt’s. Start with Envy of Angels if you’re new to the series.
Also the the main character in 
