book event | Geek Theory

Annihilation Aria has been out in the world for one week now, and it’s been a fabulous whirlwind. I started writing Aria in the spring of 2015, and worked on it on and off for several years before making the final revisions and selling it in 2018.

The book’s road to publication has been longer than most (the longest for me being Shield & Crocus, which started as a short story at Clarion West in 2007 and published as a novel in 2014). I’m so glad to have the book out in the world, and especially to have something fun and diverting and hopeful to offer during this ludicrous hurricane of a year.

Annihilation Aria is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop, Kobo, Apple, Indiebound, and wherever else books are sold. The audiobook edition (digital audio, CD, and mp3 CD) will release this Friday the 31st.

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

Here’s a quick roundup of all of the activity from the last week. There was a lot, and it’s easy to miss things given how hectic life is right now for a lot of people.

My Favorite Bit essay at Mary Robinette Kowal’s blog.
The Big Idea essay at John Scalzi’s blog (whatever.scalzi.com).
Launch day chat with Gregory A. Wilson (from Twitch.tv/ArvanEleron).
Guest Post at Cat Rambo’s blog.
What I Love About Annihilation Aria (by Aria’s editor Kaelyn Considine).
Ask Me Anything at r/Fantasy on Reddit (concluded).
Live Reading & Interview with Parvus Publisher Colin Coyle.

Cover of Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes.

This Wednesday (tomorrow) I have an online reading & discussion with fellow author Valerie Valdes (Chilling Effect, Prime Deceptions), hosted by The Ivy Bookshop. Starts at 6:30pm Eastern Daylight Time. If you haven’t already bought your paperback of Annihilation Aria, please consider getting a copy from The Ivy in appreciation of their support!

And *next* Wednesday, I have an AMA at r/Books on Reddit, kicking off at 1pm EDT.

In the weeks following, we’ll be continuing the Blades in the Dark miniseries “The Case of the Cindered Seal” at Twitch.tv/ArvanEleron as well as (hopefully) some other actual play excitement.

And as a reminder – if you’ve already read the book, please consider writing a short, honest review at your retailer of choice (Barnes & Noble, Amazon, etc.). Reviews help readers decide whether a book is right for them and allow the book to better find its way into the hands of the folx that will most enjoy it!

Thanks to everyone that has bought, read, tweeted about, and/or Annihilation Aria already – you helped make this last week an amazing and exciting time, and I’m very eager to see the book continue to make its way in the world.

I’m very happy to have three bookstore events scheduled so far, where I’ll be doing readings, signings, trivia contests, and more.

“But Mike, this is an eBook? How will you sign copies for people?” you might ask. I know I did. But I think I’ve got a pretty good solution cooked up. My tablet lets me take snapshots of pictures and then draw on them with a stylus, so I can create images of the Geekomancy cover, sign them to readers, and then send them by email. It’s not quite the same as a signed paper book, but I think it’s pretty cool. I have also made up book plates (aka business cards), which I can sign with a sharpie. I will also sign other things, as requested (character sheets, RPG books, T-Shirts, etc.) because hey, why not?

The Official Book Launch Party will be on Saturday July 21st, at my friendly local Barnes & Noble Booksellers in Bloomington, IN. I’m very happy that the Bloomington B&N is hosting the launch party, since I used to work at the store, and my time as a barista and bookseller was the start of my career in publishing. I’ll be doing a reading, signing (see above), and hosting a geek trivia contest and a Geeky T-Shirt contest.

I’m also very honored that a couple of my independent bookstore friends will be hosting me for events during my traveling season for work this summer.

Here’s the current list of events!

~~July 13th, 7:00 PM at CoffeeTree Books in Morehead, KY.~~ Postponed for now. Stay tuned for details.

July 17th, 7:00 PM at McLean and Eakin Booksellers in Petoskey, MI.

July 21st, 6:00 PM at Barnes & Noble Booksellers in Bloomington, IN. Facebook page for the event is here.