Hexomancy returns!

Posted on September 20, 2022 by Michael R. Underwood

Hexomancy, the third and final book in the series, is back out today in a new edition (lightly revised) with a new cover.

Cover for Hexomancy by Michael R. Underwood.
Text reads "Hugo Award Finalist Michael R. Underwood - Hexomancy - Ree Reyes Book Three" A slim Latina holding magic-powered dice and a sword stands in front of a middle-aged white man with a salt-and-pepper beard wearing a brown trench coat and holding a science fiction-looking ray gun — Cover for Hexomancy by Michael R. Underwood.
Text reads “Hugo Award Finalist Michael R. Underwood – Hexomancy – Ree Reyes Book Three” A slim Latina holding magic-powered dice and a sword stands in front of a middle-aged white man with a salt-and-pepper beard wearing a brown trench coat and holding a science fiction-looking ray gun.

Ree Reyes has been fighting to protect her town for a couple years now, using her Geekomancy to draw on her love of superheroes, movies, comics, and more.

When Ree’s long-time nemesis Lucretia is finally brought to trial and found guilty for the deadly attack on Grognard’s, the Geekomancer community breathes a collective sigh of relief. But Ree and her crew soon discover that Lucretia has three very angry, very dangerous sisters who won’t rest until Eastwood—a fellow Geekomancer—is killed.

Ree agrees to serve as Eastwood’s bodyguard, despite their rocky relationship. Along the way, she’ll have to face a gauntlet of foes, hexes, curses. Plus the growing ache in her heart for a certain dimensionally-displaced gadgeteer.

You can get Hexomancy at – Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes | Kobo
Paperback editions will follow soon!

This means that the entire Ree Reyes series (Geekomancy, Celebromancy, Attack the Geek, and Hexomancy) are all now available again. These books launched my career and they’ll always have a special place in my heart. It’s been great to give them a fresh coat of paint and send them back into the world, and I hope you’ll enjoy them – either for the first time, revisit them some years later, maybe in a new format. I’m excited to return to conventions when it’s safe and see people with paperback copies walking around. I’m especially excited to sign your copies and hear about your own geeky stories.

ALSO

Valloward, the Court of Blades series I’m GMing for Speculate, kicks off this Friday with our first actual play session in Court of Blades proper. This is a great time to jump in with the series if you’re interested to see how I GM or watch a group of professional fantasy authors create a setting together through play in this game of power politics, gunpowder diplomacy, and romantic skullduggery.

Friday Sep 23rd at 8pm ET / 5pm PT at twitch.tv/arvaneleron – if you can’t watch live, the video will archive at youtube.com/arvaneleron.

I’m A Game Designer Now

Posted on July 29, 2022 by Michael R. Underwood

My first ttrpg design, The Only Logical Solution Is Hijinx, is now available on Itch.io!

Here’s the description:

You are Tolvan, members of a people committed to logic above all else in order to constrain and channel your deep passions towards unity and innovation.
You are visiting or serve aboard the IGS Adventure! – a galaxy-traveling ship with an expert crew, dedicated to the missions of exploration and diplomacy.
Unfortunately, something deeply silly has happened and logic dictates that the best way forward is the embrace hijinx until you are able to resolve the predicament.
A game for 2-6 players inspired by the deeply silly science fiction adventures of deeply serious people.

I’ve been playing TTRPGs for about 30 years now, but only in the last couple of years have I gotten genuinely involved in game design with the Genrenauts TTRPG. But since that has become a large project, it’s not surprising that this game, created in one go over a weekend, would hit the finish line first. I’m still actively working on the Genrenauts game and playtesting more this weekend.

Today is also an Itch.io creator day, where Itch waives their fees. So it’s a great day to pick up this game (which is PWYW) and/or any of my other self-published books available on Itch (Genrenauts Season One, Genrenauts: The Wasteland War, Geekomancy, or Celebromancy).

Geekomancy is Back!

Posted on June 7, 2022 by Michael R. Underwood

Today marks the return of my debut novel Geekomancy to the bookstore shelves in a new edition, with gorgeous new art.

The new edition is available in ebook and paperback forms from major booksellers.
You can also request it from your local library or special order from a friendly local
bookstore! The completed Ree Reyes series will be returning this summer/fall.
Celebromancy returns in July, Attack the Geek in August, and then Hexomancy in
September!

Handy bookstore links:

Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/books/geekomancy/9780998060637
Amazon: https://t.co/VqAjXPhXEa
Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1620987421
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/geekomancy-michael-r-underwood/1110049211?st=AFF&SID
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/geekomancy-1

Ree Reyes’s life was easier when all she had to worry about was scraping together tips from her gig as a barista and comicshop minion to pursue her ambitions as a screenwriter.

When a scruffy-looking guy storms into the shop looking for a comic like his life depends on it, Ree writes it off as just another day in the land of the geeks. Until a gigantic “BOOM!” echoes from the alley a minute later, and Ree follows the rabbit hole down into her town’s magical flip-side. Here, astral cowboy hackers fight trolls, rubber-suited werewolves, and elegant Gothic Lolita witches while wielding nostalgia-powered props.

Ree joins Eastwood (aka Scruffy Guy), investigating a mysterious string of teen suicides as she tries to recover from her own drag-your-heart-through-jagged-glass breakup. But as she digs deeper, Ree discovers Eastwood may not be the knight-in-cardboard armor she thought. Will Ree be able to stop the suicides, save Eastwood from himself, and somehow keep her job?

If you’re not already familiar with Geekomancy, here’s what people have said about it over the years:

“Geekomancy is a glorious blender of genres, like a sweet candy shell filled with pop culture and high heroism. Absolutely stellar.”

Seanan McGuire, New York Times bestselling author of the October Daye and Wayward Children series

“Magic in geekery, mysticism in celebrities, the Ree Reyes series by Mike Underwood is a celebration of everything that makes being a geek cool. Can’t wait to read what he has in store next.”

Stephen Blackmoore, author of Dead Things

“If Buffy hooked up with Doctor Who while on board the Serenity, this book would be their lovechild. In other words, Geekomancy is full of epic win.”

Marie Lu, author of the Legend trilogy

“If you took wish-fulfillment, ground it into a powder, and shot twice the recommended dosage into your eye socket, the result would look a lot like Geekomancy. I want to live in this world, where all the books and shows and movies and games I love are a source of power, not only in psychological terms, — which they already are — but practical, villain-pounding ones.”

Marie Brennan, award winning author of A Natural History of Dragons

“Modern, sleek, and whip-smart, Geekomancy is a wonderful blend of geek and pop culture — you’ll find yourself grinning knowingly at least every other page. And Ree is the perfect protagonist to navigate Geekomancy’s world — geek enough to hold her own, yet human enough for me to be deeply invested in her struggles. I can’t wait to read the next one!”

Cassie Alexander, author of Nightshifted

“Underwood’s Geek Fu is strong-and he’s not afraid to use it. Geekomancy is fun, fresh and full of geek culture references that will have you LOLing to the very last page. This book is one hundred percent pure awesomesauce and totally FTW.”

Mari Mancusi, award winning author of The Blood Coven Vampire series

ARIA audiobook pub day!

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Michael R. Underwood

The audiobook for Annihilation Aria, published by Dreamscape Media and performed by Chris Andrew Ciulla and Caitlin Kelly, is now available!

You can get the audiobook as a digital download, mp3 CD, and as a traditional audio CD.

It’s available on:

Audible
Bookshop.org
Barnes & Noble
Apple

and more!

Here’s the first chapter as an excerpt to whet your appetite!

And if you’ve already read Annihilation Aria, please consider writing a short, honest review at your retailer of choice and/or Goodreads! Reviews help readers decide which books are and aren’t for them and makes it more likely that Aria will find readers that will enjoy it. 🙂

Cover of Annihilation Aria by Michael R. Underwood. A spherical spaceship flies through the rubble of a ruined planet and toward a golden temple.

Annihilation Aria is here!

Posted on July 21, 2020 by Michael R. Underwood

The day long-awaited has finally come! Annihilation Aria aka [REDACTED NOVEL] is live and ready to purchase in ebook and paperback formats. The audiobook from Dreamscape Media will follow soon on July 31st.

Annihilation Aria is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop, Kobo, Apple, Indiebound, and more!

Here’s what people have said about Annihilation Aria so far!

“[A] bright and exciting space opera […] Underwood’s prose is brisk and funny without ever sacrificing his skilled sf world building. Highly recommended for fans of action-packed space opera and anyone else looking for a fun and fast-paced read.”

—Booklist, Starred Review

“This fantastically fun series launch harkens back to Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy[…] The interpersonal dynamics are delightful, however familiar they may be, and the tightly constructed world, cinematic fight scenes, and ambitious scope combine to evoke a sense of wonder. This is a rollicking good time.”

—Publishers Weekly

“This is pure space opera, wild and wacky and silly and strange, high-stakes and deeply personal all at once. I could not be happier to have read this book. Recommended for fans of AXIOM by Tim Pratt, TEENAGERS FROM OUTER SPACE (the RPG) published by R. Talsorian Games, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (Marvel Studios), and KILLJOYS (SYFY Channel).”

—Seanan McGuire, author of the
October Daye and InCryptid series

“Underwood takes us for an intense ride through a cacophony of alien civilizations in conflict. This is an exuberant space opera that dares us to lose ourselves in battle songs and nonstop action. I can’t sing its praises enough!”

—TJ Berry, author of SPACE UNICORN BLUES
and FIVE UNICORN FLUSH

“Fast, fun, inventive! ANNIHILATION ARIA is a wild, delightful ride for fans of explosive space fantasy like Thor: Ragnarok.”

—Valerie Valdes, author of CHILLING EFFECT

“If the characters of The Mummy had been transported onto the Millennium Falcon, ARIA would be the result—a rollicking space opera, both literary and musical, with a diverse cast and strong relationships.”

—Gregory A. Wilson, author of GRAYSHADE

“Annihilation Aria is a classic 80s science-fiction novel with all those troublesome sexist bits stripped off. It’s got that simplified, pulp, curl-under-the-covers reading that reminds me of being a kid, wolfing down exciting adventures.”

— Ferrett Steinmetz, Nebula Award nominee and author of AUTOMATIC RELOAD and THE SOL MAJESTIC

Here’s a quick overview of some events/activities I’m doing to promote the book over the next few weeks!

July 21st (today!)
GMing a Star Wars actual play session at Twitch.tv/ArvanEleron at 10am EDT (postponed)
My Favorite Bit essay at Mary Robinette Kowal’s blog
The Big Idea essay at John Scalzi’s blog (whatever.scalzi.com)
Guest Post at Cat Rambo’s blog.

July 22nd
Ask Me Anything at r/Fantasy on Reddit (all day)

July 24th
Live reading from Annihilation Aria at 9pm EDT (details forthcoming)

July 29th
Online event with Valerie Valdes, hosted by The Ivy Bookshop (6:30pm EDT)

August 5th
Ask Me Anything at r/Books on Reddit (all day)

A note about the future of this setting: Annihilation Aria is listed as Book One of a series, but it will be a stand-alone unless there are enough sales to justify a sequel.

If you want more books in the series, please tell your friends and fellow readers that might enjoy it!

I’m very proud of it and can’t wait to see it find a readership and bring some respite to people during this uncannily trying year.

The Substitute Sleuth launch!

Posted on July 26, 2016 by Michael R. Underwood

She’s a Wacky Comedian. He’s a Gruff Detective. They Fight Crime!

The Substitute Sleuth - Genrenauts Episode 4 cover

Today, Genrenauts continues with Episode 4 – The Substitute Sleuth.

This episode draws on contemporary police procedurals like Castle, Psych, Lie to Me, White Collar, and others. It puts Leah Tang on the spot in a big way, and dives into Angstrom King’s backstory. It also kicks the season into high gear as we barrel forward into the season finale.

You can buy your copy direct via Gumroad.

Or on: Kindle Nook Kobo iTunes

The first season of Genrenauts will conclude with The Failed Fellowship, the two-part finale, coming in October!

To whet your appetite, here’s the first chapter of The Substitute Sleuth:

Continue reading →

The Cupid Reconciliation launch!

Posted on May 31, 2016 by Michael R. Underwood

Genrenauts 3 - The Cupid Reconciliation - small for KS

Today is the day! Genrenauts continues with the third episode:

Wounded Genrenaut Mallery York returns to active duty just in time for the team to deploy to the Romantic Comedy story region. But before they can fix the broken story, they have to find it. The team scours dating sites, cocktail bars, and jogging paths looking for the right pair of lovers to re-unite.

Mallery takes the lead, bringing her expertise to bear as the team plots a grand reunion between two estranged lovers, hacking social networks, running confidence games, and doing whatever it takes to make sure the story ends in Happily Ever After.

I think it’s the best Genrenauts story yet, and I’m very excited to share it with the world. You can buy the ebook at:

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
iTunes

…and you can buy direct from me via Gumroad.

That’s right – direct. With the release of The Cupid Reconciliation, I have joined the proud ranks of hybrid authors, those publishing both with traditional houses and through self-publishing. Getting into self-publishing has been a long process of study and research, as well as consulting with friends and colleagues that have been blazing the hybrid paths for several years.

The next Genrenauts story, The Substitute Sleuth, is scheduled to publish on July 26th, 2016. Pre-order links are available here.

Here are some reviews of Episode 3:

“With the Genrenauts series, Underwood has crafted a wonderfully delightful series of novellas using the episodic structure of a TV show to tell his tale. This makes for a perfect bit of binge-reading, one that reminds of me shows I loved as a kid like Quantum Leap and the early seasons of Sliders. Think of it as Netflix for the mind.”
–Michael Patrick Hicks

“Underwood has a good thing going here, and it’s just getting better. Fun, yet thoughtful; action-packed, but pretty restrained in use of force. A great balancing act that should inspire more to do this.”
–Irresponsible Reader

“Mike has a breezy conversational way of writing that lends itself well to quips, wordgames, and great characterization. He’s able to pack in a lot of quirks and personalities into each of his characters, to really make them separate entities.”
–Blackfish Reviews

A reminder – the Genrenauts Kickstarter has a week left, plenty of time to push for the audiobook stretch goals and to hit the whimsy goals, which will force me to to do marvelous and ridiculous feats for your entertainment!

Geekomancy is here!

Posted on July 10, 2012 by Michael R. Underwood

The day has finally come! The Pre-orders have delivered, digital Ninja Santa eBook Couriers depositing the novel in people’s eReaders overnight.

Pocket Star has also created a very sharp-looking page featuring Geekomancy and the limited-time price of $1.99: http://pages.simonandschuster.com/pocketstar/featured

In other news: I have a guest post up at All Things Urban Fantasy, along with a giveaway of the eBook (I will also sign a picture of the cover — the closest thing to a ‘signed eBook’ that seems to be available right now):
http://allthingsuf.com/2012/07/mike-underwood-on-the-genre-heritage-of-geekomacy.html

My friend and marvelous Historical YA Paranormal Romance author Leanna Hieber has given me a lovely blurb on Goodreads:

Geeks rejoice! This is your new favorite book. A frakking clever, funny, engaging novel that toes a surprisingly perfect line between meta and unabashedly delightful storytelling. There is a reference for everyone and even the unwashed masses of non-geeks can enjoy it and hopefully learn a thing or two about being awesome.” – Leanna Renee Hieber, award winning, nationally bestselling author

I am also interviewed on WFIU for the show Artworks, in an episode on comics and comic culture here — but a recording will be available if you can’t listen at 7pm on the 10th (just 10 minutes from this post!).

http://indianapublicmedia.org/artworks/12-26/

And as of this post, GEEKOMANCY is #2,137 in the Paid Kindle store, and #44 in both of these categories: