I’ve got lots to look forward to in 2013: the publication of my second novel, the release of one and possibly two audiobook versions of my novels, and the hope of another book deal for work after Celebromancy.

But there’s also really exciting work coming from friends and colleagues, much of it right away this month.

Here’s what I’m looking forward to in January:

Between by Kerry Schafer (1-29-13 Ace Books) Kerry is the other Book Country All-Star, meaning that she got a traditional book deal from the Book Country community, a few months before I got mine. Since hers was a paperback and ebook simultaneous print deal, the schedule was set a bit farther out. Between is an urban fantasy focused on dreams and a Dreamworld, which considering she has a Psych background and is a mental health professional, shows a lot of promise.

Prodigy by Marie Lu (1-29-13 Penguin Putnam). I read Legend early last year, and loved it. It felt, to me, more directly in the tradition of the formative dystopian novels like 1984, Brave New World, and We than most of the books coming out of the YA Dystopian wave started by The Hunger Games. I had the chance to digitally meet Marie last year, since we are both represented by the Nelson Literary Agency. She was also kind enough to give me a blurb on Geekomancy. I’ve been chomping at the bit to read on in this series, and I definitely recommend Legend to any Dystopian YA fans.

Shadow Ops: Fortress Frontier by Myke Cole – (1/29/13 Ace Books). This is the second book in Myke’s Shadow Ops series of military fantasies. I read the first book, Shadow Ops: Control Point, and was blown away by the marvelously-realized world that is very effectively described by the blurb from Peter Brett of “Black Hawk Down meets the X-Men.” Magic returns to earth, and the US government rapidly cracks down on the magic and presses the gifted into national service…except for the prohibited schools. Anyone who develops those powers is Kill On Sight. Myke has experience in the military world, and the whole book drips with authenticity. The second book follows a different lead from the first, so it seems like a reader could jump on with either.

And in my day-job world, we’ve got awesome stuff as well:

Broken by A.E. Rought (1-8-13 Strange Chemistry). This is our January book from Strange Chemistry, the YA imprint I work for (through Angry Robot Books). Broken is a Paranormal Romance with strong shades of a literary classic. I was particularly struck by how the novel conveys the intensity of teenage emotion and omnipresence of school gossip.

She Returns From War by Lee Collins (1-29-13 Angry Robot Books). This is the follow-up to Weird Western The Dead of Winter. I have a special place in my heart for Weird Westerns ever since I played Doomtown and the Deadlands RPG. Definitely read The Dead of Winter first, because there’s great play with established horror tropes and western genre conventions.

The Mad Scientist’s Daughter, by Cassandra Rose Clarke (1-29-13 Angry Robot Books) For fans of the ‘Data is a person, dammit!’ storylines on ST: TNG and of literary SF like The Time Traveler’s Wife. This is a true romance, with some truly beautiful writing and a literary, character-driven approach as opposed to a Lots of Rising Action Plot-Focused one. Meditative, challenging, and packing several emotional gut-punches.

EDIT: I originally listed the author of She Returns From War as the author for The Mad Scientist’s Daughter. That’s what I get for blogging at 1:00 while waiting for the laundry machines in my building to work on the second try at drying. Mea culpa.

Wow. What a year. It’s best to just start out with that. This has been a watershed year in quite a number of ways, and will definitely stand out in my memory as I look back on my life in the future.

So, the big list:

Signed with a Literary Agent (Sara Megibow, Nelson Literary Agency).
Sold my first and second novels (Geekomancy and Celebromancy).
Signed with a media agent for Geekomancy (Jon Cassir of CAA).
Sold audio rights to Audible for both novels (courtesy of above agent of awesomeness).
First novel published (Geekomancy).
Wrote Celebromancy (my first time writing a sequel)
Got a new job (North American Sales & Marketing Manager for Angry Robot Books).
Moved from Indiana to NYC for the new job.
First trip to the United Kingdom (again, for the new job).

That’s a lot. Major milestones for my career in publishing and as an author.

On December 30th of 2011, I had recently finished the first draft of Geekomancy, and was hoping that with six months or so of revisions and edits, it might be ready for the market, and that if it sold, I might be able to expect the novel to come out in late 2013.

Things went much faster than that. Much faster. And as a result, all of the ‘you’ve sold a novel, now it’s time to become a Professional’ learning was compressed from the average 12-18 months into less than 6 months. I had a leg up already, having a number of published author friends and being a SF/F publishing professional, but wow was that a quick learning curve. I’m still learning, of course, and looking back over the year there are a number of things I’d do better if I could go back and give myself advice, but such is the way of things.

Awesome Things Read in 2012

I read a lot in 2012, especially the back half of the year, when I started working for Angry Robot. I’ve separated my list into AR books and non-AR books for clarity’s sake. The following is a representative, but not complete, un-ordered list of awesome books read this year.

Non-AR

Throne of the Crescent Moon
Shadow Ops: Control Point
Feed
Carrie
Nightshifted
Libriomancer
Fair Coin
Divergent
Bitter Seeds
Morning Glories Vol. 1 & 2
Saga Vol. 1
Very Near Mint Vol. 1 & 2

Angry Robot

Blackbirds
Nexus
vN
Between Two Thorns (2013)
The Lives of Tao (2013)
The Hammer & The Blade
Dead Harvest

Strange Chemistry
Blackwood
The Assassin’s Curse
Pantomime (2013)

I attended WisCon, GenCon, WorldCon, and NYCC, and got to meet more awesome people than I can count.

I count myself tremendously blessed, and the awesome has helped take the sting out of the less-than-awesome things (all non-writer/professional).

2013 has a high bar to live up to in terms of literary awesome, but I’m going to do my damnest to make this new year even better than 2012. I’ve got tons of notes and a more thorough plot outline than I’ve ever had for a novel, just waiting for me to dive in on Sekrit Project #5, which I will do tomorrow.

Happy New Year!

“The Next Big Thing” has been going around for a while, and I did a version for one project on my LiveJournal, but more people have come along and asked if I was going to do a post on my blog, so I’m giving it another go with Celebromancy.

Since I don’t like the endless obligation idea facet of chain letters, I’m just going to link to some awesome people at the end, who are in no way obligated to do anything with regards to The Next Big Thing.

1. What is the title of the work-in-progress that you’re hoping will get you Rowling/Meyer/King money?

Celebromancy

2. Where did you steal this idea?

When my editor (Adam Wilson) asked to schedule a phone call about Geekomancy, I had a pretty good feeling that he might be offering to buy the novel, and that if he wanted to buy one novel, he might want to buy more than one novel in the series. So I jotted down four possible sequel ideas, a couple of which I may yet use.

The one that ended up being the most viable was Celebromancy – where Ree manages to sell a script to a production company (Yay!) but then it turns out that the star is under a nasty curse that backlashes every time she uses her Celebromancy (the magic of fame/celebrity).

For Celebromancy, I wanted to expand the magical world I’d set up in Geekomancy, as well as developing Ree as an aspiring screenwriter. Mainly to put that dream up against the new life she’s gotten herself into as a Geekomancer and general do-gooder. I’ve also taken some ideas from the Unknown Armies RPG, and more than a little inspiration from a particularly famous film from 1950 (telling you which one is a bit of a spoiler).

3. What genre does your manuscript wear like a coat, and what’s the shockingly skimpy & alluring genre that shows up once you open the book?

It’s Urban Fantasy on the surface, and a Hollywood-themed comedy underneath.

4. Which actors would you kidnap and force to play your characters in a movie rendition?

If Natalie Morales wanted to play Ree Reyes, she’d have the role in an instant. But since Wendy Watson is Ree’s spiritual god-sister/god-mother, it might be too similar a character.

Barring that, I’d probably be casting Aubrey Plaza in the lead as Ree Reyes.

My internal conception of Jane Konrad, the cursed star, is based on Drew Barrymore (in her more recent work, ala Going The Distance).

The other major hero is Drake Winters (DRAKE WINTERS!), who in my head should be played by Benedict Cumberbatch.

5. When someone demands to know about this brilliant project, what’s the one sentence you give them?

Snarky screenwriter Ree Reyes gets her big break, but the production is doomed unless she can figure out how to unravel the curse which has turned the leading lady’s fame magic against herself.

6. If it doesn’t get repped/bought by an agent/editor, are you going to trunk it or self-publish?

Celebromancy will be released 7/15/2013 by Pocket Star.

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

Just over six months, which is the fastest I’ve written a novel while also working full-time. It really really helps that it was a sequel.

8. What other books in the same genre do you hope people will compare your story to?

Geekomancy, since that’s the first book in the series (natch), but also The Dresden Files series and Seanan McGuire’s Discount Armageddon.

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?

A fascination with the social formulation of fame, the way that celebrities lives are rendered public topic of discussion, as well as a frustration with the way that female stars are held up to mutually contradictory and impossible physical and behavioral standards. Also, the fact that I’ve enjoyed films all my life and this was a chance to put my Geekomancy-brain spotlight on them more directly.

10. What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

Because I am a masochist, instead of featuring a love triangle, I wrote a love quadrangle. Or a love rhombus, if you will.

Other cool things the book features:

Ree vs. a dragon
Our heroine breaking into the penthouse of a hotel using three outfits and one episode of Leverage.
More Ree and Drake buddy adventures
Smokey the terminator (not the lower-case T. No copyright violation!)

Awesome people to check out/stalk/read material by (a sampling):

• Matt Adams – Author of the superhero novel I, Crimsonstreak.
• John Anealio – Musician of Geek-themed songs, co-host of the Functional Nerds Podcast.
• Bradley P. Beaulieu – Author of the Lays of Anuskaya series, co-host of the Speculate! podcast– he’s also running a Kickstarter right now for a short story collection. Check it out!
• Marie Brennan – Author of many things, including the recent Lies & Prophecy and the forthcoming A Natural History of Dragons.
• Kerry Schafer – Author of Between [1/29/13], and fellow Book Country All-Star.
• Anton Strout – Author of the Simon Canderous and the Spellmason Chronicles series, host of The Once and Future Podcast.

So, this happened:

“Geekomancy is a glorious blender of genres, like a sweet candy shell filled with pop culture and high heroism. Absolutely stellar.” – Seanan McGuire, NYT-bestselling author of the October Daye and InCryptid series.

How did this happen, you ask? The story, like the blurb, is awesome.

A while back, I got to chat with Seanan McGuire at Worldcon. I was working the Angry Robot Booth, and she was looking to snag a copy of Chuck Wendig’s Mockingbird. I bought Seanan’s friend Amy McNally’s awesome album Hazardous Fiddle based on her recommendation (you should buy it, too!), and when I mentioned my book, she said “You’re the Geekomancy guy?”

If nothing else, that would have made my day and left me happier. But in addition, Seanan asked for a paper copy of Geekomancy, since she prefers dead tree edition reading (I do too, but work necessitates lots of ereading).

Lo and behold, after a bit of a delay mostly resulting from Authorial Neuroses (mine), we were able to send off a tape-bound reader copy (from a very limited supply created for just this kind of situation), and Seanan very generously responded with the lovely blurb above, along with these two others:

“Fun, fast, and surprisingly deep, Geekomancy is self-aware urban fantasy of the highest order.”

“I can’t wait for the sequel.”

That sound you hear? That’s not the totally over-hyped not-ever-actually-predicted-by-any-Mayans-ever-apocalypse. That’s my happy author squee. Seanan is one of my favorite authors working in Urban Fantasy right now, and on top of running two strong UF series, she’s also writing smart, intense Sci-Fi as Mira Grant. So I take these blurbs as high praise.

Now, back to writing.

I picked up a serious podcast habit while I was a traveling book rep, and have kept up with most of them even in my more localized gig at Angry Robot. These days, I do most of my listening while at the gym and during my commute.

People sometimes ask me about podcasts, and I thought it’d be cool to list my regular listens and talk a bit about each.

Most of this list is SF/F writing oriented, since that the world I live, eat, breathe, and work in for both my day and whenever-I-can jobs.

Adventures in Sci-Fi Publishing – Hosted by Shaun Farrell, Moses Siregar III, and Brent Bowen, Adventures in Sci-Fi Publishing takes the temperature of the SF Publishing world on a regular basis with news and topical discussion, as well as frequent interview segments with SF/F writers/editors, and professionals.

Functional Nerds — Hosted by John Anealio and Patrick Hester, this is the sister show to the SF Signal Podcast. The Functional Nerds podcast is balanced between the hosts discussing recent events in SF/F, Music, and Cool Stuff, as well as interviews, all from a perspective informed by the title — being geeky without being disconnected with or nonfunctional in the real world. Functional Nerds is going through a format change soon, so I’m interested to see what they’ll do next.

Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy – Hosted by acclaimed editor J.J. Adams and noted writer David Barr Kirtley, The Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy gets some incredibly prominent authors and creatives on the show. I’m also a fan of their guest geek segments, where they have discussions after the interview with the assistance of guest geeks, talking about a subject (usually) related to the work of the main guest.

Once and Future Podcast – Hosted by Urban Fantasy author Anton Strout, The Once and Future Podcast was launched by Strout to give him a chance to share the awesome kinds of conversations from conventions, where writers would talk about their paths to publication, trade tricks, and wander off into awesome digressions about various bits of geekdom. Strout is a fun and probing interviewer, and I was honored to be a guest on the show last summer.

Roundtable Podcast — This show is one of my favorites for listening during workouts, as it helps really get my brain going in the morning. Hosted by Dave Robison and David Humphrey, each week delivers two episodes: an author interview and then a workshop episode, where the hosts and guest host help a courageous author to workshop their story idea into something truly awesome, in their eternal search for what they call…literary gold. I’m slotted to be a guest host in the new year, and I’m really excited for it.

SF Signal Podcast – Hosted by Patrick Hester, this is the Podcast for the Hugo-winning fanzine SF Signal, which features both individual interviews and panel-style discussions on a variety of topics. I find the panel discussions particularly awesome, but like all things, it depends on the mix of panelists and how well they mingle.

SF Squeecast – The Hugo-Award-Winning Podcast (!) comprised of a selection of participants including Paul Cornell, Lynne M. Thomas (moderator), Elizabeth Bear, Seanan McGuire and Catherynne M. Valente, as well as occasional guest stars. This show is imagined as a “never-ending panel discussion of vague positivity.” Participants bring shows, books, etc. to Squee about, giving vaguely-positive-to-total-squee level reviews and commentary. It’s also worth noting that this podcast is a Hugo Award Winner for Best Fancast.

Speculate! The Speculative Fiction Podcast for Writers, Readers, and Fans — Hosted by Brad Beaulieu and Gregory A. Wilson (both of whom I’ve had the fortune to meet in person outside of the podcast work). Speculate’s normal format is a bit different than most of the other podcasts I follow, in that they (mostly) use a triptych model. They do three episodes on one text, collection, or issue of a SF/F magazine. The first episode is Greg and Brad’s review of the text, where they’ll give a usually-low-spoiler evaluation, and raise thoughts and questions that they’ll bring up in the second and third episodes of the triptych. The second episode is an interview with a professional directly involved with the text, usually the author but sometimes the editor or the artist. The third episode is more free-form, with discussion of the text, the interview, and re-visitation of ideas raised earlier in the triptych  They also have occasional State of the Field podcasts taking a broader look at SF/F publishing. I had a great time as a guest on their second State of the Field podcast, along with the fabulous Mary Robinette Kowal.

Sword & Laser – Hosted by Tom Merritt and Veronica Belmont, this is the long-running podcast connected to the Goodreads group and Geek & Sundry YouTube show. The podcast is the backbone of the Sword & Laser world, with news, interviews, and book group discussion.

Writing Excuses – Hosted by Mary Robinette Kowal, Brandon Sanderson, Howard Tayler, and Dan Wells, Writing Excuses is a short-format show where the hosts discuss aspects of writing, panel-style, including features of audiobooks and writing prompts.

Brilliant and acerbic freelance penmonkey Chuck Wendig has interviewed me for his blog, Terribleminds. You should be reading his blog anyway, even without me in it. He gives tough-love writing advice, and is one of the most inventive swear-word-smiths I know.

http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2012/12/13/michael-r-underwood-the-terribleminds-interview/

I’ve been sitting on this for a few weeks, but the deal is up, so now I can shout to the four corners:

Michael Underwood’s GEEKOMANCY and CELEBROMANCY, in which a heroine who works at a comic book shop uses magic drawn from the love of pop culture to defeat evil, to Steve Feldberg at Audible, in a nice deal, by Sara Megibow at Nelson Literary Agency.

That’s right, GEEKOMANCY and CELEBROMANCY will soon be transmissible directly to your ears thanks to the folks at Audible!

This deal is extra special for me since in my last job as a field sales rep, I spent so much time on the road that reading in paper or electronic form was hard. Instead, I consumed 1-3 books a month in audiobook, thanks to an Audible membership.

This means that if you have a commute, like to read books during your workout, or are planning a road trip, my novels will soon become even more accessible. Given that the books have been ebook only so far, this is a great chance for greater exposure.

*Happy author dance*

Last night, I finished up initial revisions and submitted Celebromancy (aka Geekomacy 2: Nerd Boogaloo) to my editor at Pocket Star. I’m excited to get his feedback and to make the book even more awesome so that you all can enjoy it this summer (7/15/2013!).

And for more awesomeness, noted SF/F reviewer Paul Weimer has reviewed Geekomancy for The Functional Nerds, a subsidiary/partner site to the Hugo-award-winning SF Signal. Hurray for review exposure!

http://functionalnerds.com/2012/12/book-review-geekomancy-by-michael-r-underwood/

Mark Lawrence (of Prince of Thorns fame) has started a campaign to support children’s charities, while offering a promotional opportunity to recognize donors.

He’s created a cover board (with the hope to eventually expand it to a huge mosaic) with each image linking to a retailer/author/publisher page. I’ve taken the plunge myself, and am very happy to support these charities and get some attention for Geekomancy as a side benefit.

You can see the page here to learn more (and see Geekomancy‘s cover off to the right of the amazing cover for Peter V. Brett’s The Daylight War:

http://www.themilliondollarbookshop.com/

While you’re at it, check out the other titles listed by great and generous authors. This board will hopefully grow and evolve, so keep an eye on the experiment as it grows!

After chatting with my editor, I got the clearance to announce the publication date for CELEBROMANCY, the sequel to GEEKOMANCY:

Set your calendars for 7/15/2013! That’s right, CELEBROMANCY will be out in time for SDCC 2013.

It may take some heroic efforts to get me to the con, though, since normal passes sold out before I even had a chance to have a chance to buy a pass. Such is the marvel and allure of SDCC.

I’m doing my first round of revisions right now, and I’m very excited to get this novel out into the world. Every time someone asked about a sequel, it was another log on the fire for me to writer better, write faster, and aim higher with the second novel.

And now back to work!