A Special Excerpt from AFTERMARKET AFTERLIFE by Seanan McGuire, the 13th book in the NYT-bestselling and Hugo nominated InCryptid urban fantasy series   The cinnamon rolls were done, out of the oven, and had been solidly decimated as member after member of the family came drifting in, lured by the scent of bacon, coffee, and carbs. Even James had eventually woken up and come down from his room, although he had refused my fresh homemade waffles in favor of blueberry Eggos from the freezer. I would have been offended, but given that he was wound so tight with anticipation that I wouldn’t have been surprised if he spontaneously froze himself into a block of ice, I figured he could be allowed a little comfort food. He didn’t bother with the toaster, instead passing them to Annie to heat before he smeared them with a layer of whipped butter and began dipping them in his coffee. No one reacted. Every family has their weird food habits, and ours sometimes seems to have more than most. It’s better not to comment. Kevin glanced at his watch. He still wore an old-fashioned one, gears and glass on a leather strap. It was a…

Your world building and character development are phenomenal! All the various relationships and past histories of Faerie are so complex and yet you spell it out so easily for the reader to follow without us having to draw a family tree or genogram. How do you keep track of your various worlds and the characters while you are writing? I set up private wikis, which I then keep on thumb drives so I can travel with them if I’m going to be away from home while I’m working on one of the larger continuities!   I love the irony of a changeling who was turned into a fish for 14 years later being married to one of the Cait Sidhe. Was this planned from the beginning with a long-term plot or do your characters lead you into sometimes unexpected directions? I honestly believed, in the beginning, that Toby was going to get together with Connor and be happy.  I also started building this world when I was nineteen and had a much simpler view of some of the ways the world worked.  Tybalt was a wonderful surprise for me.   And to go along with the prior question, where did…

I have a confession to make. Not only do I read spoilers for movies, books, and tv shows, I also peek at the end of books. If I don’t like the outcome, I stop reading or watching at the spot that seems “safest.” I’ve always enjoyed spoilers, but it was Stephen King’s novella, “The Mist” that started it all for me. That cliffhanger ending haunted me for years. What happened next? Did the people survive and repopulate the earth? Did the scary mist ever dissipate? I came up with my own stories to answer those questions (which is part of the purpose of open-ended cliffhangers like this novella had) but I wanted a sense of finality… until the movie for THE MIST came out. No spoilers, but that is one movie that I definitely stop watching and leave the cliffhanger ending in place without seeing the new conclusion to the tale–my own imagination has clearly been less horrifying! The final Harry Potter book, HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, is another book that I refused to finish until I knew who would live and who would die. Despite standing in line at midnight and immediately starting the book as soon…

Senior Reviewer Debbie Wiley 2020 has been a difficult year–a global pandemic, economic turmoil, and racial injustice finally being called out. . . Discussions about how to move forward are hard to comprehend, let alone actually have. As a social worker, I am in a position to see and hear about these issues firsthand, and there is much more work to be done. While I find myself scrolling through news posts and continuing to work through the things I want to improve on, I turn to my favorite way to find solace during difficult times–books. Urban fantasy and dark fantasy may not be the genres for everyone during all of this, but for me, escaping to a different world is a welcome distraction for a little while. Thankfully, there are a plethora of phenomenal books out there to keep me entertained! DEVOLUTION by Max Brooks is one heck of a scary thriller, particularly when read during this quarantine, and I can guarantee you’ll think twice about all those modern conveniences we take for granted (looking at you, Amazon one-click shopping, lol). Mt. Rainier has erupted, and the tiny ecological experimental town, Greenloop, is now cut off from the rest of…

October Daye #3 September 2010 On Sale: September 7, 2010 Featuring: Toby Daye; Blind Michael 368 pages ISBN: 0756406269 EAN: 9780756406264 Paperback $7.99 Add to Wish List Fantasy Urban Buy at Amazon.com An Artificial Night by Seanan McGuire Experience the thrill of the hunt in the third October Daye urban fantasy novel. October “Toby” Daye is a changeling-half human and half fae-and the only one who has earned knighthood. Now she must take on a nightmarish new challenge. Someone is stealing the children of the fae as well as mortal children, and all signs point to Blind Michael. Toby has no choice but to track the villain down-even when there are only three magical roads by which to reach Blind Michael’s realm, home of the Wild Hunt-and no road may be taken more than once. If Toby cannot escape with the children, she will fall prey to the Wild Hunt and Blind Michael’s inescapable power. It’s up to a changeling to save fae and human children who have been kidnapped by a monster. Previous Picks