At Long Last...

It's certainly been a minute since I last posted over here. This has been a year of stress, disorganization and trying too hard to keep working. 

But, maybe, things are starting to level out a bit now. 

I spent most of July finishing up a new novel for Falstaff Books. This one is a sequel to the SF Western novella "Brass Stars", and is the first of two books I will be writing for Falstaff this year. The release date for "A Fistful of Dust" hasn't been finalized yet (I just turned the manuscript in) but we suspect it will be sometime in the Spring of 2019. As usual, I will post more about that when we get closer to the release. 

I'm also working on a couple of novellas, pondering the revisions for the Cozy Mystery/Fantasy novel, and working on finishing the Southern Gothic Magic Girl novel. In other words, still writing all the things even if progress this year has been somewhat slower than in previous years. 

Also, if folks are interested in buying an autographed copy of "Touch: A Trilogy" you can check out my Gumroad page. 

Once More Around the Sun: The End of the Year Wrap, Round Up and General Review of Things

This has been a year of even less blogging than usual. Mostly because I've just been busybusybusy and at the end of the day my social media stuff comes second to the other creative work. But, as we head into and through the winter holidays and the last couple weeks of the year, I thought I would go back over the highlights of the year.

In January I finished up a third round of revisions on the Epic Not Fantasy and it has been out in my agent's capable hands since then, looking for a home. January also saw the release for "Of Shade and Soul", the second book in Touch: A Trilogy.

In February I wrote the first draft of a project that is Jane Austen meets the Greek Gods for a retelling of the Hades and Persephone myth. Because of other work under contract that one got shelved after the first draft, but I'm hoping to pick it back up in the new year and get it ready for publication.

In March and April I wrote "Of Flesh and Bone", the final book in Touch: A Trilogy, and co-wrote a brand new novella for inclusion in the forthcoming Monster Society collection. (Currently projected for release in 2018.)

In May I wrote Mother's Last Child, and polished up the first draft of Jacquelyn and the Sparkly Emo Vampire Goat - both of which were released as ebooks later in the summer.

In July, Falstaff Books released "Of Flesh and Bone," and in August the omnibus edition of the trilogy came out in print and ebook.

In August I also started a Patreon which revolves around my Steampunk novel, The Gear'd Heart, and provides the opportunity to subscribe for $1 a month and read as new chapters are released every week.

I also started a YA novel in September and the first draft is nearing completion. It's a Southern Gothic, magic girl, fantasy that's kind of Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Gilmore Girls in rural Georgia. It's fantastic and I love it, but it's also been one of the harder projects I've written.

And, finally, in November I took a break from the YA novel and wrote the first draft of a Cozy Mystery/Fantasy mash-up that is loads of fun and also weird and full of feels. (Because you know how I love weird and full of feels.)

I will be updating some things here on the blog over the next few weeks with better links for those looking to find any of these projects I've been talking about. And, you may have noticed, I've added a couple of buttons to the top right of the page for those who just want to drop a few dollars into the proverbial tip jar. (One is PayPal.me, the other is Ko-Fi. Money distributed through either helps me pay bills and spend time writing instead of doing something else to make ends meet.)

This has been a long year, full of work, and some disappointment, but I am looking forward to 2018 and the projects I'm hoping to bring to you over the next several months.

Thank you to all the folks who have bought my books or support me on Patreon. Y'all mean a lot to me.

See you in the new year!

New Release! The Complete Touch Trilogy

As promised folks, Falstaff books has released the entire Touch trilogy (Of Lips and Tongue, Of Shade and Soul, Of Flesh and Bone) in a single volume. It's available both for Kindle and as a paperback via Amazon HERE.

Since I have been busy with other things since my last blog post (I know, I know. It's been a minute.) let me share the cover art and back cover copy now.

"I loved this novella series. Brooding, earthy, whispering to us with a delicious mood of creeping dread while filling the heart with a pure sense of wonder." - Charles de Lint, World Fantasy Award Winning Author of Moonlight & Vines.

"A. G. Carpenter's Touch Trilogy is a terrific paranormal mystery series... If you like Faith Hunter's Jane Yellowrock series, you owe it to yourself to check out A. G. Carpenter." - Bruce Bethke, Philip K. Dick Award Winning Author of Headcrash

Magic and madness don't always run hand in hand, but there's a reason they call it the Touch.

Delaney Green is one of them that don't burn, not that no one ain't never tried. After her mama tried and failed to murder her for pulling on the future like it was a piece of string, Del has spent her whole life in a mental institution for her own safety. And everyone else's. No one wants to see what might happen if she goes cracked.

When a dozen young women turn up burned to a crisp, local folks are quick to point the FBI team investigating the supernatural killings straight at Del. But Percival Cox, the quiet agent with secrets and magic of his own, doesn't see a monster, and he finds himself drawn toward Del and her strange abilities.

As Del struggles to keep their newfound love from going the way of Romeo and Juliet, but with less fancy speech and a lot more killing, she'll cross from this life to the next, and back. Her daddy always said, once you see the future you can change it, and Del will do her damnedest to temper the wild magic she sees in Percy before he destroys them both.

"The 'Touch' trilogy is a masterclass in world-building, tells a fascinating story with economy and intelligence, and does so with fine, pared-down prose. But best of all is the characterisation; Carpenter writes about real people the reader comes to care about. An all-round winner!" - Eric Brown, Philip K. Dick Award Nominated author of Rites of Passage."

I am very excited to have all three novellas available in a single volume. These were a bit of a passion project for me, and I hope that you will take the opportunity to pick up a copy today and discover the magic for yourself. 

The Long Slog

For most folks who ID as "creatives" we start doing the thing because we love it.

Whether that's illustration or comics or knitting or sculpture or short stories or screenplays or or or....
All these things start from a place of "OMG! I love this so much that I want to do it too!" So we write or draw or knit or whatever because it makes us happy. (Even when it makes us sad, too.)

But, at some point we realize that we can either do this thing we love a little bit less or we can try and make money at this thing we do. (Because, let's be honest, we all have bills and life and things that can't be paid off with sheer creativity. And the Bohemian ideal of living in abject poverty while devoting oneself to the arts is not as cool as the musical versions make it seem.)

For me, personally, I write because I love it, but I try and sell my work because I also need to eat. And pay the electric bill. And the water bill. And the internet bill.

It's a fine line to walk - writing the things you love, and then finding an audience who is willing to give you cash money for said things. (Especially hard if you don't fit neatly into a genre or category.)

I am extremely grateful to the fans who have bought my self-published novelettes and novellas. To the folks who have bought the Touch trilogy and waited eagerly for the finale. But the last of the Southern Gothic novellas comes out in a week, and the self-published books sell best at conventions.

So, in the quest to continue doing the thing I love (writing) while still being able to pay for the things I must have (electricity, water, internet, etc), I have started a Patreon.

I've been considering the idea for quite some time, but given the realities of being a mother and primary guardian of the homefront, and all the work that entails, I was uncertain about committing to new content every month. However, I have a lot of content that is already written and ready to be shared. Including, The Steampunk Novel.

This is a book I spent a lot of time on. Years, even. I learned how to write a novel by writing this book and it is the start of the most ambitious story-world I have come up with. And now, thanks to the magic of Patreon, you can have it in serial format for just $1 a month.

It's always... challenging, asking folks to help you keep doing something that can seem so very ephemeral. But this is a novel I love. It's a novel I think you will love. And, with your help, I can not only let you read it, but I can continue to write other things that I love as well.

Check it out, the first two chapters are posted for free.

https://www.patreon.com/AggyCarpenter

Coming Soon: Of Flesh and Bone

It's almost here, folks! Of Flesh and Bone, the final book in the Touch trilogy is coming in July from Falstaff Books. And that means.... a brand new cover. (And it's especially shiny.)

Are you ready?

Delaney Green may have found her way back to the living, but her new body isn't going to last. Without magic, and still separated from Percy, she is forced to rely on the tangled memory of what might be to find a way to reclaim her bones. With the help of an old ally, and the reluctant assistance of new enemies, Del takes the final steps down a long road home. 

I will at LibertyCon this weekend (Jun 30 - Jul 2), but stay tuned for more details and some exciting announcements coming soon. 

Coming Full Circle

Last week I dropped in to let y'all know that I'm still here, I've just been busy. And one of the things I've been busy with is BRASS STARS.

Some of y'all might remember that this SF Western novella was first published by Eggplant Literary Productions back in 2013. That was a year that felt like a really big deal as far as my writing career was concerned. This novella was accepted and published, and - after ten months and a shiteload of queries - I also found representation for The Steampunk Novel.

It felt like the wheel was starting to turn in my favor after five years of working really hard to not only polish my craft, but push beyond short stories. I shared links and the gorgeous cover art and told myself that This is it. This is the break I've been looking for.

And then things... just didn't go the way I thought. BRASS STARS sold, but not well. And then the publisher folded less than a year later and I was left with a book I loved, but was now a reprint.

What to do?

My first thought was to find another home for it, but that proved unsuccessful (despite getting all the way to final consideration at another small press). And I was worried that maybe this little book that I really love so much was, well, maybe not that good. (I know, I know. Why am I telling you this? In the business side of things everything is supposed to be shiny and wonderful.)

The good news is, I still love this novella to death. It's not a fancy book. It's not a literary book. It is a book about a snarky, sweary, determined woman who wants revenge. And a psychopathic, cybernetic horse. I mean, really? What's not to love?

So, I am republishing this one myself, complete with additional revisions (about 10% new material) and a brand, spankin' new cover. The exact release date has not been decided on yet, but I should have a preorder page up on Gumroad in the next week or so.

In the meantime, you can check out the cover and blurb below.

Tashndelu Sand has traveled across the deeps of space in the company of Snyder - a cybernetic beast who has no ones best interest in mind - to Paradise, a lonely town on a desert planet, to find the
last man in the posse that killed her mother. The plan is simple. Get in, kill Brannigan, and get out, and nothing is going to stand in her way. Not John Crow, an Extra Sapien like herself, trying desperately to win her heart. Not Diamondback Jack, a retired gunner who is determined to save her soul. Not even her own fear of the brutal darkness growing inside her.
Fifteen years ago, Brannigan shot her and left her for dead. It’s time to return the favor.

Coming Up For Air

Every now and then you get a year that's just full of stuff - both good and bad.

This spring I've managed to deal with the flu, a lingering (think 2+ months) cough, a head cold, and a fractured rib.

I also finished up two drafts Of Flesh and Bone, the final Touch novella. Plus managed to crank out 13k in a week on the Monster Society novella that will be featured in the forthcoming anthology with Eric S. Brown and Robert Waters, in order to get it turned in a month early. (In addition to a brand new, never-before-seen novella, the anthology includes all of the short stories about the Monster Society previously published in The Grantville Gazette.)

I had a point, shortly after finally getting over the flu which knocked me out for two solid weeks, where I was frustrated because I felt like I hadn't gotten anything done. And then I sat down and looked at what I had written and realized that I already had almost 80k under my belt between Christmas and the middle of April.

(Oh, yeah. Did I mention finishing up revisions on the Epic Not Fantasy? There was that too and I am waiting on pins and needles for it to find a home so you can all read it because it might just be my favorite book yet.)

But, as we head into Memorial Day weekend - and near the middle of the year - I am trying to take stock of what I've accomplished and what's still to come.

My remaining big conference of the year is LibertyCon at the end of June. (I know, I know. I would love to make it to more cons too, but finances don't currently allow me to travel very far.) The plan is to be able to share both the Monster Society anthology and the completed collection of the Touch trilogy with y'all by then. And if that doesn't happen, then they should be available shortly afterward. (And Of Flesh and Bone will also be available as an individual ebook as well for those that have been buying the novellas as they have been released. The advantage of the collection is that it will be available in print, for those that don't like reading on a screen.)

In addition to both of those novel-length collections, I have two novelettes coming out end of June and early July. I've been teasing the cover of the first (Jacquelyn and the Sparkly Emo Vampire Goat) on Twitter and my Facebook author page, but I'll be doing a more detailed write-up here in a few days. [SparkleGoat is currently available for preorder on my Gumroad page, but I'm still finishing up some details on the second book, Mothers Last Child, and would like to put them both up here together.]

Suffice to say, if you are looking for more of my work, it's coming very soon. But, due to the repeated health issues and the sheer volume of work I've been tackling, I've not had much of a chance to talk about any of it here. Or much of anything else.

That's about to change though as I am working on getting all the pertinent covers and links, etc together. So, please stay tuned.

There's a lot of great stuff coming.