I’m going to be part of two stops on Scholastic’s Find Your Story Tour this October, along with Scott Westerfeld, Ally Carter, Elliot Schrefer, Kody Keplinger, Justina Chen, and Sarah Darer Littman. You can find me in San Francisco at Towne Center Books on Oct 22, or in San Diego at Mysterious Galaxy on Oct 23.
Exo has been named an Honor Book in the Young Adult category of the Oregon Spirit Book Award for 2017 by the Oregon Council of Teachers of English. Congratulations to winner Emily Suvada (This Mortal Coil) and fellow honoree Laini Taylor (Strange the Dreamer). This is the second time the OCTE has recognized my work (Zeroboxer won in 2015), and I’m extremely thankful to have the valuable support of state English teachers.
The finalists for the 2018 World Fantasy Awards have been announced and I’m on the ballot twice! Jade City is nominated for Best Novel, and “Old Souls” for Best Short Fiction. Check out all the deserving nominees and their works here. This year’s World Fantasy Convention will take place November 1-4 in Baltimore.
The Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association has announced the 2018 ballot for the Aurora Awards and my work is thrice nominated. Jade City is a finalist for Best Novel, Exo is a finalist for Best YA Novel, and “Old Souls” is up for Best Short Fiction. The Aurora Awards will be voted on by members of the CSFFA and will be presented at VCON 42 in Richmond, BC, Oct 5-7, 2018.
The longlist for the Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic was also announced, and Jade City and Exo are both finalists in their respective categories.
I’m thrilled and honored to have my work recognized in Canada.
Cross Fire is out in the world! I’m extremely proud of how the sequel to Exo turned out, and hope that readers enjoy following Donovan’s story. Here’s a roundup of some recent interviews and posts related to the launch.
Jade City is a finalist for the 2018 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel. I’m honored to be recognized alongside so many talented writers and excellent works; check out the entire ballot here. The Locus Awards weekend will take place in Seattle, WA, June 22-24, 2018.
Jade City is a finalist for the 2017 Nebula Award for Best Novel and Exo is a finalist for the Andre Norton Award. I’m honored to be on the ballot with such outstanding authors and works.
The full list of nominees can be found here on the SFWA website. Awards will be presented in May at the Nebula Conference in Pittsburgh.
I’m honored to once again be in the running for the Oregon Book Awards. Exo has been named a finalist the Leslie Bradshaw Award for Young Adult Literature, alongside books by Laini Taylor, Paula Stokes, Kelly Garrett, and Kenn Amdahl. The full list of finalists can be found here. The awards ceremony takes place on April 30th.
2017 turned out to be a bumper crop year for me with three works published.
Novel (young adult, science fiction): Exo (Scholastic, Jan 2017). Aptly described by VOYA as, “not the usual aliens-conquering-Earth plotline,” Exo is the story of Donovan Reyes, a human enhanced with alien biotechnology who is also the son of a collaborationist political leader on Earth a hundred years after alien conquest. School Library Journal says, “This action-packed novel asks readers to consider alien technology, what it means to be human or nonhuman, and the gray areas in war, where neither side is completely good or evil.”
Novel (adult, fantasy): Jade City (Orbit, Nov 2017). Gangster family saga that Liz Bourke at Tor.com described as “The Legend of Korra with Gangs of New York and a generous helping of Hong Kong action cinema” and NPR recommended as one the Best Books of 2017 calling it, “an instantly absorbing tale of blood, honor, family and magic, spiced with unexpectedly tender character beats.”
Novelette: “Old Souls” in Where the Stars Rise Anthology (Laksa Media, Oct 2017). Booklist calls this collection, “essential for anyone interested in the diverse and engaging possibilities of fantasy and science fiction.” My story was summed up well on SFBluestocking as, “an acerbically intelligent story involving reincarnation and an ancient grudge.” I’m making this work available on my website at this link for a short time.
(For those readers who are considering works for awards: I’m a dual Canadian-American citizen, so am eligible for the Aurora in addition to the Nebula, Hugo, Norton, etc.)
So many compelling works of science fiction and fantasy came out this year that it would take you until 2025 to read them all. A good starting point is the Nebula Suggested Reading List. Here’s a round-up of 2017 award eligibility posts by SFWA president Cat Rambo.
Looking forward, I’m expecting 2018 to be a little quieter on the publication front but wildly busy in terms of writing and events. I have one book scheduled for publication: Cross Fire, the sequel to Exo, which comes out at the end of May (and which you can already pre-order!). I assure you that as pear-shaped as things were for Donovan Reyes and the human race in general when Exo closed…they get worse in Cross Fire.
The trade paperback edition of Jade City will hit the shelves in June and it will contain bonus material including an author interview and an excerpt from Jade War, the second book in the Green Bone Saga. I’ll be at a number of events including Emerald City Comic Con, the Tucson Festival of Books, and WorldCon 76 in San Jose. Most importantly, I’ll be putting my head down and working on setting down the next part of the Kaul family’s story.
Jade City is officially out in the world and I couldn’t be happier to share this book with readers. Here’s a roundup of recent online coverage and guest posts related to the launch: