This week’s excerpt comes from the latest installment of the Dreg City series by Kelly Meding. WRONG SIDE OF DEAD has all the fixings of a great paranormal novel: half-blood vampires, shape-shifters, and a kick-ass, monster-hunting heroine who’s trying to do everything she can to save the world. Author Kelly Meding tells us more about Evy Stone and her latest adventure below:

“This is my first time being asked to write something for 50 Page Fridays, so I have a confession to make: I had to search through older postings and see just what kinds of things I was supposed to write about. I usually skip the intro and go straight for the pages, so I suppose this goes to show you that you never really stop doing research for your books.

Wrong Side of Dead is the fourth book in the Dreg City series, which follows paranormal hunter Evangeline Stone from the moment of her mysterious resurrection into a new body (in the very first paragraph of book one), as she learns to adapt to her new life and some nifty new powers. She faces her own prejudices about the vampires, goblins and shifters she was once paid to hunt and kill, as well as some unexpected feelings for her ex-boss Wyatt Truman. There’s action, suspense, humor, a bit of romance, and a healthy heaping of horror.

Writing this particular installment in the series was a fun challenge for me. As the fourth book, I not only had quite a bit of back story to weave into the current story, but I also had three other books worth of loose plot threads to try and tie up. The story structure is also a bit different, because it relies more heavily on the use of flashbacks. Instead of picking up where the third book ends, it begins a month later and everything is different. Evy and Wyatt’s relationship isn’t where you might expect, a supporting character is now an enemy, and former allied species are not to be trusted. As the story advances, flashbacks are used to fill in that missing month of time and catch the reader up on everything that’s happened to the characters and why so many things have changed. The major challenge was deciding which scenes were absolutely necessary to write out as flashbacks–some things can easily be told, but other things must be shown to have maximum impact.

I’m very excited to share this installment of Evy’s journey. Waking up in the morgue, in a stranger’s body with no idea how you died or why you were brought back isn’t an easy thing to deal with–especially when you’re a hot-tempered hunter with trust issues. Evy has come a long way since those first three days, and I think readers will be pleased with where she goes from here. ”

As always, feel free to give us feedback in the comments. Or let us know on Twitter via a direct message to our esteemed Twitter maven, editor David Pomerico: www.twitter.com/delreyspectra. Or write on the wall of our Facebook page: Like us at www.facebook.com/delreyspectra

Please enjoy this excerpt of WRONG SIDE OF DEAD, on sale January 31st!

WRONG SIDE OF DEAD by Kelly Meding, Excerpt

As with all Dark Tower releases, The Wind Through the Keyhole features a new artist. This time it is Jae Lee, who is producing at least a dozen images to be plated into the final Grant Books release. We’ve only seen two or three of his interior plates so far. But a few days ago, I received a flyer from Grant Books, the publisher responsible for producing the gorgeous limited and signed edition of The Wind Through the Keyhole. Here is that flyer featuring some new, unseen art!

As you can see when you embiggen’ the image above, the flyer has some newer pieces by Jae Lee. I especially love the black and white one showcasing young Roland. It appears he is holding a bullet. And if he is, big money on the gunslinger dancing that bullet over his knuckles, back and forth, until someone gets hypnotized! Or maybe he’s just threatening someone with a bullet between the ole’ running lights.

Jae Lee has been one of my favorite comic book artists, especially his work adapting several Dark Tower stories to the medium. It appears he is bringing his same work ethic to this novel project. I’m excited for it. And to place an order for the Artist Edition of The Wind Through the Keyhole signed by Jae Lee, click HERE!

Ka is a Wheel…

In speculative fiction, that can be difficult to do. Do we know Dark Lords or Hobbits? Do we know vampires and werewolves? Do we know demons and angels? Or aliens? Or Mord Wraiths? Or the Others? Speculative fiction writers must use their imaginations to build believable worlds and characters. They have nothing to base their creations on other than themselves. What does that say about our authors, eh? Ha!

That said, what if these creatures truly did exist? And what if our authors did know them?

Widely considered by many to be the first science fiction novel, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is a quintessential read for everyone. I first read it as a college senior in a class titled Feminism in Science Fiction. It was an interesting read for many reasons. The questions it raised. The characters involved. The mystery of the monster.

But what if Mary Shelley had met the monster when she was a child? And that meeting informed her novel? And what would the monster think if, over centuries, he had to watch his story unfold in multiple mediums?

Here is a bit more about A Monster’s Notes by Laurie Sheck:

What if Mary Shelley had not invented Frankenstein’s monster but had met him when she was a girl of eight, sitting by her mother’s grave, and he came to her unbidden? What if their secret bond left her forever changed, obsessed with the strange being whom she had discovered at a time of need? What if he were still alive in the twenty-first century?

This bold, genre-defying book brings us the “monster” in his own words. He recalls how he was “made” and how Victor Frankenstein abandoned him. He ponders the tragic tale of the Shelleys and the intertwining of his life with that of Mary (whose fictionalized letters salt the narrative, along with those of her nineteenth-century intimates) in this riveting mix of fact and poetic license. He takes notes on all aspects of human striving—from the music of John Cage to robotics to the Northern explorers whose lonely quest mirrors his own—as he tries to understand the strange race that made yet shuns him, and to find his own freedom of mind.

In the course of the monster’s musings, we also see Mary Shelley’s life from her childhood through her elopement with Percy Bysshe Shelley, her writing of Frankenstein, the births and deaths of her children, Shelley’s famous drowning, her widowhood, her subsequent travels and life’s work, and finally her death from a brain tumor at age fifty-four. The monster’s fierce bond with Mary and the tale of how he ended up in her fiction is a haunted, intense love story, a story of two beings who can never forget each other.

A Monster’s Notes is Sheck’s most thrilling work to date, a luminous meditation on creativity and technology, on alienation and otherness, on ugliness and beauty, and on our need to be understood.

A Monster’s Notes is an unusually told tale. The poet in Sheck has creatively taken the Frankenstein monster and given him a voice, one the reader gets to know through a series of essays and notes on a variety of different topics. To read an excerpt from the new novel, click HERE!

A Monster’s Notes by Laurie Sheck is in fine bookstores today!

Just ask the ka-tet of Roland Deschain, last gunslinger and knight-errant questing to find the Dark Tower.

The Wind Through the Keyhole is the eighth novel in Stephen King’s Dark Tower saga. It is a series of novels that took King twenty-three years to complete, the doorway to Roland’s world closed to the horror author more often than not. That said, last year, the door opened up despite his opus being complete, leading King to write one more tale that takes place between Wizard & Glass and Wolves of the Calla.

For me, I’m excited for The Wind Through the Keyhole. I always felt there was an overly large gap between Wizard & Glass and Wolves of the Calla, a gap that would serve as a good place for another story. Apparently, King was reading my mind!

Here is a bit more about the new novel, due in stores April 24:

We join Roland and his ka-tet as a ferocious storm halts their progress along the Path of the Beam. As they shelter from the screaming wind and snapping trees, Roland tells them not just one strange tale, but two – and in doing so sheds fascinating light on his own troubled past.

In his early days as a gunslinger, in the guilt ridden year following his mother’s death, Roland is sent by his father to a ranch to investigate a recent slaughter. Here Roland discovers a bloody churn of bootprints, clawed animal tracks and terrible carnage – evidence that the ’skin-man’, a shape shifter, is at work. There is only one surviving witness: a brave but terrified boy called Bill Streeter.

Roland, himself only a teenager, calms the boy by reciting a story from the Book of Eld that his mother used to read to him at bedtime, ‘The Wind Through The Keyhole.’ ‘A person’s never too old for stories,’ he says to Bill. ‘Man and boy, girl and woman, we live for them.’

Grant Books recently released a new illustration—featured above—from their edition of The Wind Through the Keyhole. What is this an illustration of? We don’t know yet. It can’t be one of the ka-tet; I doubt Jake would survive losing his head! Therefore it must either be a character from Roland’s past when he is young and investigating the ranch massacre, or a character from the story that Roland is telling to the terrified survivor of the massacre, Bill Streeter.

Either way, I love the illustration. It looks like it has been colored by Richard Isanove, the same person who worked on the Marvel Comics Dark Tower adaptation. Jae Lee’s artwork always has a sense of movement and this piece is no different; what appears to be a mutant creature of Mid-World is killing some unsuspecting soul in one horrendous bite. I can’t wait to see the other full-color inserts that will appear in the novel and what King and Jae come up with.

To order an Artist Edition of The Wind Through the Keyhole signed by Jae Lee, visit the Grant Books website at www.grantbooks.com! And if you can’t wait for the book to be released but need a taste of it, click HERE to read an excerpt, the forward by Stephen King and the opening chapter!

Ka is a Wheel…

Dean R. Koontz’ new novel 77 Shadow Street is a haunted house story on a grand scale, as only he could do it. Enjoy this excerpt, and look for the book from your favorite retailer.

77 SHADOW STREET by Dean Koontz, Excerpt

Check out the hot titles premiering this month from Del Rey, Spectra, and Lucas Books!

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Star Wars: Darth Plagueis by James Luceno
978-0-345-51128-7
LucasBooks Hardcover – 1/10/12

He was the most powerful Sith lord who ever lived.
But could he be the only one who never died?

“Did you ever hear the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise? It’s a Sith legend. Darth Plagueis was a Dark Lord of the Sith, so powerful and so wise that he could use the Force to influence the midi-chlorians to create life. He had such a knowledge of the dark side that he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying.”
—Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith

Darth Plagueis: one of the most brilliant Sith Lords who ever lived. Possessing power is all he desires. Losing it is the only thing he fears. As an apprentice, he embraces the ruthless ways of the Sith. And when the time is right, he destroys his Master—but vows never to suffer the same fate. For like no other disciple of the dark side, Darth Plagueis learns to command the ultimate power . . . over life and death.

Darth Sidious: Plagueis’s chosen apprentice. Under the guidance of his Master, he secretly studies the ways of the Sith, while publicly rising to power in the galactic government, first as Senator, then as Chancellor, and eventually as Emperor.

Darth Plagueis and Darth Sidious, Master and acolyte, target the galaxy for domination—and the Jedi Order for annihilation. But can they defy the merciless Sith tradition? Or will the desire of one to rule supreme, and the dream of the other to live forever, sow the seeds of their destruction?
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Switchblade Goddess by Lucy A. Snyder
978-0-345-51211-6
Del Rey Paperback – 12/27/11

Hell hath no fury like a goddess scorned.

When Jessie Shimmer traveled to a nightmare underworld to save her lover, Cooper Marron, she gained magical powers . . . which soon seemed more like curses. Her beloved familiar, the ferret Pal, became a monster. Her enemies multiplied like demons. Worst of all, she hasn’t found a moment of peace to be with the man she adores.

Now a switchblade-wielding demigoddess commanding a private hell stocked with suffering innocents is after her. The blademistress’ vengeance sends Jessie and Pal on a dark journey through strange, perilous realms. Their quest for salvation will push her newfound abilities—and her relationship with Cooper—to the breaking point . . . and beyond.
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The Warlord’s Legacy by Ari Marmell
978-0-553-59316-7
Spectra Paperback – 12/27/11

In his trademark suit of black armor and skull-like helm, armed with a demon-forged axe, Corvis Rebaine twice brought death and destruction to Imphallion—willingly slaughtering countless innocents in pursuit of a more just society. But that was the old Rebaine. Before he killed the mad warlord Audriss and banished the demon Khanda. Before he lost his wife and children, who could not forgive or forget his violent crimes.

Now, in a distant city, under a false name, Rebaine is loathe to resurrect his bloody ways, even when the neighboring nation of Cephira invades his beloved Imphallion. But when an imposter takes up the legendary armor and axe, and sets about killing more ruthlessly than Rebaine ever did, the old warrior may have no choice. Pursued by an old nemesis, a mysterious sorcerer, and his own vengeful daughter, Rebaine moves to clear his name, save his country, and reclaim his family. To accomplish these tasks, will he once again have to become the “Terror of the East”?
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Catacombs by Anne McCaffrey Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
978-0-345-51379-3
Del Rey Trade Paperback – 1/10/12

The spacefaring Barque Cats are valued members of every vessel’s crew, thanks to their special bond with humans. Then Pshaw-Ra, a mysterious cat with highly advanced knowledge, gives the felines the power of telepathy. When panic over a virulent plague drives the government to exterminate animals, Pshaw-Ra guides the cats and humans of the starship Ranzo to safety on his home planet, Mau. But Pshaw-Ra has a hidden agenda. His ultimate goal? Mate the Barque Cats with their godlike counterparts who rule on Mau and create a superior race to conquer the universe. His plans, however, may be doomed by his daughters’ battle royal to become queen, by a suspicious Barque Cat with an equally curious human friend—and by something stirring deep beneath the city with a hunger to devour all life . . . and an undying hatred for cats.
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The following backlist ebook title also goes on sale this month:

Exile’s Children by Angus Wells
978-0-307-57464-0
Spectra – 1/11/12

After highlighting the Best of 2011, we at Suvudu decided to look at what is coming in 2012—and post those titles we think will be the best bets of the year!

Today’s 2012 Best Bet is The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King

The Dark Tower saga by Stephen King is one of the triumphs of modern literature. The seven-book story of last gunslinger Roland Deschain and his unwavering drive to reach the Dark Tower is a cult favorite, King weaving together horror, science fiction, and fantasy. I am firmly convinced the Dark Tower—and not his horror—will be what King is remembered for long after he shuffles off his mortal coil.

Many fans of the Dark Tower saga thought Roland’s story over. But as a long time Dark Tower fan, I knew the door to Roland’s world opens quite on its own to Stephen King. There was a chance he would return to his opus. That door opened last year. The Wind Through the Keyhole is a novel that fits into the middle of Roland’s story, filling in the narrative that takes place between Wizard & Glass and Wolves of the Calla.

Here is a bit more about The Wind Through the Keyhole:

We join Roland and his ka-tet as a ferocious storm halts their progress along the Path of the Beam. As they shelter from the screaming wind and snapping trees, Roland tells them not just one strange tale, but two – and in doing so sheds fascinating light on his own troubled past.

In his early days as a gunslinger, in the guilt ridden year following his mother’s death, Roland is sent by his father to a ranch to investigate a recent slaughter. Here Roland discovers a bloody churn of bootprints, clawed animal tracks and terrible carnage – evidence that the ’skin-man’, a shape shifter, is at work. There is only one surviving witness: a brave but terrified boy called Bill Streeter.

Roland, himself only a teenager, calms the boy by reciting a story from the Book of Eld that his mother used to read to him at bedtime, The Wind Through The Keyhole. ‘A person’s never too old for stories,’ he says to Bill. ‘Man and boy, girl and woman, we live for them.’

The Wind Through the Keyhole is a book Stephen King fans never thought would exist, an addition to a series that is beloved by millions of readers. It also has a Patrick Rothfuss-like story within a story within a story, a structure that I love. I have no doubt it will hit #1 on the New York Times list and early readers have loved the book.

It will be one of the best books in 2012. Of that I have no doubt.

Ka is a Wheel…

Today, the cover, King’s forward, and the first five pages of the novel have been posted for The Wind Through the Keyhole. Information follows:

We join Roland and his ka-tet as a ferocious storm halts their progress along the Path of the Beam. As they shelter from the screaming wind and snapping trees, Roland tells them not just one strange tale, but two – and in doing so sheds fascinating light on his own troubled past.

In his early days as a gunslinger, in the guilt ridden year following his mother’s death, Roland is sent by his father to a ranch to investigate a recent slaughter. Here Roland discovers a bloody churn of bootprints, clawed animal tracks and terrible carnage – evidence that the ’skin-man’, a shape shifter, is at work. There is only one surviving witness: a brave but terrified boy called Bill Streeter.

Roland, himself only a teenager, calms the boy by reciting a story from the Book of Eld that his mother used to read to him at bedtime, ‘The Wind Through The Keyhole.’ ‘A person’s never too old for stories,’ he says to Bill. ‘Man and boy, girl and woman, we live for them.’

The cover art is supplied by Jae Lee, who carried a great deal of the pencil work in the Dark Tower adaptation comic books. I love the cover here and the questions it raises—a tiger with a key around its neck… intriguing—but I do not like the fonts chosen for the titles or the background color scheme used. I see others online echoing my same thoughts, so hopefully Grant Books will make some slight adjustments.

Showcasing the cover is not the only bit of news today though. Stephen King has released his Forward for The Wind Through the Keyhole as well as the first five pages of the novel! Click HERE to read both. I haven’t read them yet—I wanted to post this information for you all immediately—but I’ll read them directly after!

To place an order for the Grant Books edition of The Wind Through the Keyhole, click HERE!

Ka is a Wheel…

And The Wind Through the Keyhole can’t come around soon enough!

2012 should be a great year for Del Rey and Spectra!

JANUARY

Hardcover

• STAR WARS: DARTH PLAGUEIS, by James Luceno (Del Rey) – 1/10/12

Trade paperback

• CATACOMBS, by Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough (Del Rey) –1/10/12

Mass market

• THE WARLORD’S LEGACY, by Ari Marmell (Spectra) – 12/27/11
• SWITCHBLADE GODDESS, by Lucy A. Snyder (Del Rey) – 12/27/11
• STAR WARS: DARTH MAUL: SHADOW HUNTER (re-released with all new short story), by Michael Reaves (Del Rey) – 12/27/11

In 2009, Harry Connolly introduced us to one of the great urban fantasy “heroes”, Ray Lilly, in the novel CHILD OF FIRE (the scare quotes around “heroes” is because Ray is in that ambiguous position of being a good guy with an interesting past). Over the past three years, Harry has continued Ray’s adventures in the Twenty Palaces series with GAME OF CAGES and the 2011 novel CIRCLE OF ENEMIES. In these novels, Harry has drawn us into a dark, gritty world where magic and monsters collide with what we consider “real.” And through it all, ex-con Ray Lilly has been in the thick of things, wielding a paper knife that is way more effective than you might think.

Check out this awesome trailer for the Twenty Palaces series to get an idea of what I mean:

Well, now Harry has written a prequel novel that gives us Ray’s backstory, including his first dangerous encounter with the mysterious Annalise Powliss. It’s aptly titled TWENTY PALACES, and it’s available as an eBook in whichever format you prefer.

This is a great series and an excellent character, and I think this new novel is something you’re not going to want to miss! You can check out more details about TWENTY PALACES and the rest of Harry’s novels at his site, here.