FULL BLEED: DON'T PASS OUT NOW, THERE'S NO REFUND, NO FINDING OUT WHAT YOU WERE MISSING

This morning I signed a contract for a new novel. If you've been following closely on Twitter, I've been letting some details slip out in terms of research, and I think that I even mentioned titles but let's dive in a little deeper.

The book is called THE DROWNING CITY, a direct follow-on to QUEEN OF NO TOMORROWS. Yes, it's about Cait MacReady and the cast that I assembled in the last book (minus the titluar Queen for reasons that would be obvious if you've read it -- no spoilers). Yes, it's being published by Broken Eye Books out of Washington state.

I mostly know what the book is about. That is to say, I have the plot basically laid out. There's some threads that are crossing and I'm not sure what they're going to weave themselves into. I'm only kind of in charge at a fundamental level. Yes, the setting will be Los Angeles once again. No it couldn't really work anywhere else. The energetic landscape of Southern California exerts a magnetism that's too difficult for me to overcome, at least for now. A particular gravity that bends everything back towards it. And why shouldn't it? I was a kid there once. You only get a single shot at that. It warps your atoms.

The plot largely orbits around water and memory, deep time and revenge, paleontology and the submergence of depression. And crime. My only hope is that it's not what you expected yet sits right next to QUEEN OF NO TOMORROWS without upsetting too much of it. And yeah, I'll try to make it stand alone, though to be sure there's going to be some notes that started ringing before page one and will continue to sound into the next book and after.

For the record, I've got plans for several more books after THE DROWNING CITY. I can't speak as to the publishing plan beyond it, though. I believe the loose plan is for there to be one more following this one and then a gothic space fantasy/horror titled VOIDMAW. That's today.

I'm still not positive where this is going.

I'll probably share some research work on this. And I guarantee that some of the things I post will be absolute red herrings. Ha ha. Only serious.

In other news, I head down to Los Angeles and the 2019 World Fantasy Convention at the end of the week. Los Angeles is on fire currently, so it should be an interesting trip. I'll be at two panels on Friday: moderating a panel on contemporary horror and California as a setting, speaking on a panel on fantasy fiction set in California. Additionally, I'll be speaking at a panel on Sunday covering authorship and design. Floating around otherwise. Hope to get to the Museum of Neon and maybe the LA Museum of Natural History and even the La Brea Tar Pits. Oh, I should see what Esotouric is running this Saturday, too.

Oh, right. I'm supposed to be doing the convention. Work, work.