Patrick Swenson

Dave Crowell and alien partner Tem Forno are on the move again in “The Silent Passage,” a short story set soon after the events of The Ultra Big Sleep! This will be out in September (really soon!) in Crooked V.2, a volume of sci-fi crime stories edited by Jessie Kwak.

In this volume you’ll find 18 stories of mayhem and tangled loyalties. Bounty hunters chase targets who aren’t what they seem. Private eyes hunt wrongdoers in mean, futuristic streets—and are hunted in return. Easy jobs go wrong. (<–This one describes mine!) Hunted bounties get wily. Mysteries get solved, only to lead to more horrifying mysteries.

Some other stories are by a number of writers I know, including Mark Teppo, Erik Grove, Mark Niemann-Ross, and the inimitable editor herself, Jessie Kwak.

You’ll be able to get it at the usual places online, but for now, you can see more about the book at Jessie’s website.

The soon-to-be gorgeous Unbound II is scheduled for a December release! My story “Homecoming” will be included. Quite excited to be back in an anthology from Grim Oak Press (the first being Unfettered III from a few years back). The fab artwork is by artist Todd Lockwood (who lives just a mile down the road from me!)

You can preorder from almost anywhere.

…and I’m back! (to back.)

A few weeks ago I was able to announce I sold a story to the anthology Gunfight on Europa Station,  a Space Western Anthology due out from Baen Books this fall, 2021.  I wrote a far-future take on the John Henry story when a widowed farmer has to outthink a crafty salesman and his revolutionary device.

No cover here yet, either, but again, I’ll update y’all when I’ve seen it. Some of you may know Baen has done a number of weird western anthologies set on Earth, including Straight Outta Tombstone. But this time all the stories explore the not-so-final frontier, and no stories would actually take place on Earth itself. Other writers you may know include Elizabeth Moon, Alan Dean Foster, Cat Rambo, Jane Lindskold, and Wil McCarthy.

Here are covers of the previous on-Earth weird-horror-ish westerns:

Hello, everyone! Long time no hear from. And long time no see, considering the pandemic and lockdowns.

I forgot to mention a story sale to be published in summer 2020, and that was because due to Covid, the publication was postponed until THIS summer. The sale was to the anthology Seasons Between Us, edited by Lucas Law and Susan Forest. The anthology features 23 SF/F writers writing about the seasons of life and coping with journeys of growing older. “From the moment of birth, through each threshold of our lives, to the moment we take our last breath, we age. Some of us leap into a hopeful future, some cling to the knowns of our former selves, some wander obliviously through the minefields and poppies of change. Something is lost, something is gained in each season. Things forgotten, things remembered.”  [From the book description.]

I don’t have a cover to share yet, due to postponement and distribution workarounds. But I’ll share when I have it! Possibly you might head over to the publishers’ page, where they have the little teaser I have below. And maybe you’ll find some other cool books.  https://laksamedia.com/

And now for something completely different. BACK TO BACK POSTS ON THE SAME DAY. And why not? I’ve been quite remiss in keeping things from getting too cobwebby on this site. . .

Yes, it’s been just over a year since I blogged. I’m not a great blogger. I think it’s been even longer since I did a newsletter. WEIRDLY, there were a bunch of folks who signed up for the newsletter over the course of a few months, without me doing anything. Of course, maybe I should go look to see if they’re all real people.

So I at least owe you an update on what I’m writing, just in case you’re not privy to my social media platforms. (Not that I’m much better there disseminating news.) That post a year ago? In it I said I was about halfway through a dark fantasy called Rain Music. It is, in fact, now finished! It is off to readers, and it’s off to my agent. It’s different for me (no space opera noir here), so we’ll see how that goes. It’s set out in the Olympic Rainforest, where I used to live and work, and where my annual writers retreat still takes place. My protagonist? He’s a lot like me, except he comes out there for a year to write some music. Me? I took a year and a half off from teaching and went back there just to write a novel. Of course, none of the magic and bad stuff happened to me while I was there. Wellll, there was that one time. . .

I also sold a short story to an anthology called Unfettered III.  Yes, there were two previous volumes. Great ones, too, with wonderful names in the fantasy field. So indeed, this story is a fantasy story. But it’s a fantasy mystery. You know me so well. It’ll be a beautiful hardcover, with cover art by my buddy (and fellow Bonney Lake inhabitant) Todd Lockwood. It also helps fund a fabulous cause. It should be out later this year. Check it out by clicking here.

Summer has been in full swing almost a month. With my Fairwood Press hat on, I’m working on new projects, finalizing and getting them ready for some August conventions. With my writing hat on, now that Rain Music is in my agent’s hands, I’ve started book three of the Union of Worlds novels. I’ve been a captive audience since last week, spending time in Redmond and Kirkland while my son is doing a class. Since last week, and counting today, I’ve put down the first three chapters. Dave Crowell is back, as is his alien partner Tem Forno. There will be some other familiar characters here and there. I’ve not yet decided on a title, which will follow the pattern of the first two. The Ultra Something Something. (But wait…the Ultras? Aren’t they…you know…?)  Not having a title to start with is different for me with this series. In the first two books, the titles came first. Okay, I’ll fess up and say I have TWO possible titles. But I’m keeping them to myself for now.

Want a taste? Crowell meets a new client:

Morgan was a big man, wide in the shoulders, seemingly all muscle, and taller than me by a good six inches. He wore a nice suit, a three-piece, but it didn’t cover up the fact that he was built like a jump slot mechanic. Seriously. You had to have some heft and power to manipulate slot beams and wheels.

He wasn’t bigger than my alien partner Tem Forno, of course, who was hiding in my bedroom on the other side of the plywood wall separating the two rooms. Forno was a Second Clan Helk, and I didn’t like him scaring away potential customers. I had a feeling, though, that this guy wouldn’t blink at the presence of a Helk. 

As usual, I never quite know how Crowell’s cases are going to turn out until … well, until he’s on the case. So far, though, I’m enjoying getting back into this universe.