In all the hustle and bustle of book launching (still on sale, dontcha know!) I have neglected to properly inform the internets about the costuming madness that has gone on. Yes, I do have a life outside of The Battle Of Blood & Ink, a life that is frequently involves me dressed like-a Bat-themed vigilante. Why, just this last weekend, no less than Kyle Cassidy came by with a vision of Batman taking out the garbage, and I did my best to oblige.

Yes. That’s a comic of me in costume as the character of my comic. The mind, appropriately, boggles.

The Battle of Blood and Ink: A Fable of Flying City
Purchase available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, BooksaMillion, Powells Books, IndieBound, Walmart, Overstock and your local bookseller.

It’s a Steampunk/Jungle Fae/Hyperspace Opera — Genre blending and bending
Friday at 6:00 pm in Derby
How many genres and sub genres can you really blend together before the reader’s mind explodes? And do you really want to push that limit?
Moderator: Gary L. Lester
Speakers: Jared Axelrod; Nobilis Reed; Patrick Scaffido; Paul D. Lagasse

Narratives in New Media
Friday at 11:00 pm in Derby
Between blogs, flash games, podcasting, ebooks, twitter fiction, and more- stories can be experienced in strange new ways. What has worked well so far? What would we like to see for the future?
Moderator: Jared Axelrod
Speakers: Patrick Scaffido; Paul D. Lagasse; Gary L. Lester; Jay Smith

Just Dandy: The Importance of Accessories in Steampunk
Saturday at 1:00 pm in Salon D
Finding the perfect accessories is vital to having the perfect steampunk costume: Find out the best places to get these accessories and tips and tricks to making your own.
Moderator: Elektra Hammond
Speakers: Janine K. Spendlove; Jared Axelrod; Doc Coleman; Rebecca K. Davis

Gender and Narration in Podcasting
Saturday at 7:00 pm in Chesapeake

Battle of Blood & Ink — Book Launch
Sunday at 12:00 pm in Chesapeake
Two years ago, “Aliens You Will Meet” & “Voice of Free Planet X” creator Jared Axelrod announced that the original graphic novel THE BATTLE OF BLOOD AND INK would be published from Tor Books. Several episode of the prequel podcast FABLES OF THE FLYING CITY later, and the book is out! Join Jared and artist Steve Walker as they launch and celebrate the book that was years in the making! (Also listed as BL-4 in Literary: Readers (Book Launches) Program).
Moderator: J.R. Blackwell
Speakers: Jared Axelrod

Secret Lair Design For Minions 101
Sunday at 6:00 pm in Derby
In this highly informative educational session, the staff of the Secret Lair will work with the audience to design and implement traps and countermeasures to keep those meddling heroes out of The Secret Lair. Special Guest Star Jared Axelrod will play the part of The Hero, describing how he would attempt to break into The Lair. The audience (minions) will have to assist the Lair staff in designing traps to foil the hero.
Moderator: Miller, Chris
Speakers:John Cmar; Jared Axelrod

The Battle of Blood and Ink: A Fable of Flying City
Purchase available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, BooksaMillion, Powells Books, IndieBound, Walmart, Overstock and your local bookseller.

Space-minded superstar Laura Burns sent me this pic of THE BATTLE OF BLOOD & INK, hanging out in the wild. I have yet to see it in a bookstore myself, but this vicarious image contains enough squee-worthy imagery that I’m content. I mean, I’m on the same shelf as Carla Speed McNeil! Like I belong there, and stuff.

I have received many a note of satisfaction, as people received their copies of BATTLE OF BLOOD & INK and set down to the business of reading it. A common thread is that people want more. I feel the same way.

On the subject of nice things said about my book, take a gander at this review from Sarah Hunter at Booklist:

Axelrod and Walker use rich visual details of luxury and the street life to underscore just how divided the city really is. With a spunky, headstrong female lead and an abundance of steampunk touches—airships, ray guns, and printing presses—this original graphic novel hits all the right buttons . . . or should we say levers?

It nice to see so many people picking up what Steve and I were laying down.

The Battle of Blood and Ink: A Fable of Flying City
Purchase available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, BooksaMillion, Powells Books, IndieBound, Walmart, Overstock and your local bookseller.

Boxes like the one above (which was received by no less than Steve Walker himself) arrived at bookstores across the country. For today is the day that The Battle of Blood & Ink hits stores!

Unsurprisingly, I have found it difficult to think about much else today. So let’s some other people talk.

“The Battle of Blood and Ink is a great read. Engaging heroine, sinister adversary, mysterious sky captain, intriguing world, fascinating setting—all taking flight in the first dozen pages. I very much want to see what happens next and where the story leads, not just for this volume but many more to come. Bravo, Axelrod and Walker!”
—Chris Claremont, award-winning writer of Uncanny X-Men

“A fun adventure.”
–Publishers Weekly

And here’s me and Steve talking about the book, and where it came from:

The Battle of Blood and Ink: A Fable of Flying City
Purchase available from Amazon,  Barnes & Noble, BooksaMillion, Powells Books, IndieBound, Walmart, Overstock and your local bookseller.

Tor has gone and put up the first 20 pages for preview, which has been a nice boost, I won’t lie. Being able to show everyone Steve’s amazing artwork for the book has been great. But, as is the case with most things on a digital screen, it didn’t feel real. After the despair of the past month, I needed something real.

And then, yesterday, my advance copy of The Battle Of Blood And Ink arrived. And I got to hold in my hands. It was real.

I don’t think I can adequately express how great it is to hold this book. Even turning the pages is wonderful, as Tor has printed the art on rough, off-white paper. It feels like it’s from the Flying City.

The not-quite-white of the pages sets off Steve’s powerful inks well, too. Gives the whole package a warm feel.

I put it on my comics shelf, next to the Batman comics and near Marian Churchland’s Beast. It looks like it belongs there, up with the classics. It’s a real book. It’s got my name on it. I can hold it in my hands whenever I like.

Which is an indescribably wonderful feeling.

The Battle of Blood and Ink: A Fable of Flying City
Pre-order available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble

Fables of the Flying City, Episode 35 “To Stand In The Center”

Scene: The docks of Amperstam, The Amperstam Circus

Characters involved: Ashe, Mari, Grayson

References: Grayson the trapeze artist is based somewhat on Charmion (pictured) a strongwoman, trapeze and strip-tease artist, and somewhat on one of my instructors back when I learned the flying trapeze myself (I imagine I don’t have to tell you where her name comes from).  Grayson’s line about standing in the center and not being swallowed by it is taken verbatim from clown Glen Henroy, in the amazing documentary CIRCUS.

Notes: I love the first part of Mouths Of The Dead, but I think this is where I started writing it as it’s own story and not as extension of what’s come before. Mouths Of The Dead has different rhythms than Ashe of the Air, and this is first time those differences start making themselves known.

This is also the spot where I realized the circus could not be the center of the story. I love the circus (I’ve performed in 3), and I will, someday, tell my Great Circus Novel. But Amperstam stories require a broader scope, so while it’s important that Ashe starts here, she’s got other places to be.

The Battle of Blood and Ink: A Fable of Flying City
Pre-order available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble

Have Blaster, Will Travel is anthology of stories set in the awesome BULLDOGS! universe, and looks to be the very definition of the BULLDOGS! subtitle “Sci-fi That Kicks Ass!” The Kickstarter began yesterday, so nows the time to not only get a copy of this anthology, but also other BULLDOGS!-related goodies.

I’ve been sworn to secrecy about the content of my story, but I can tell you the title: “A Fist Full Of Urseminites.” If you want more than that, well, you’ll have to get the book!

The Battle of Blood and Ink: A Fable of Flying City
Pre-order available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble

Scene: The tunnels below Amperstam, The Redlaw Arms, The Amperstam Circus, and the Aerial Guard barracks.

Characters involved: Mukul, Olig, Provost Elderheim, Cardor Ashe, Popoff the Clown, Lax Harisha, Mari

References: The theater the Amperstam circus performs in is based on Astley’s Ampetheater, in London. Lockhood Allehander was inspired by Pablo Fanque, master equestrian and the first black circus proprietor in Britain.

Notes: Book 2: Mouths of the Dead begins here! A bold new chapter in the Fables of the Flying City Saga!

Book 2 was really supposed to be about the circus (it was not called Mouths of the Dead then). It turned out not to be–and is much better for it–but I’m glad we get a bit about the Amperstam Circus. Popoff was supposed to be a major character, a way of inserting myself into the story, but in the end, I think his one scene gives us all the Popoff we need. I’m sad that Lockhood doesn’t show up more, but like I said, the story is better in the direction it’s goes. In any case, what better place to start than the circus?

This is the first time Ashe wears what I consider her “costume,” i.e. what she wears in the graphic novel and all the promotional material Steve has drawn. The reason for her outfit, that she has literally destroyed all her other clothes, fits perfectly with the character.

The Battle of Blood and Ink: A Fable of Flying City
Pre-order available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble

Every day brings us closer to the release date of THE BATTLE OF BLOOD AND INK, the graphic novel that Steve and I have been working on for the past five and half years. And every day I get a little more excited. I’m probably going to explode come May 8th.

As you may have noticed from the tag at the bottom of all of my blog posts, THE BATTLE OF BLOOD AND INK is available for pre-order  Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and, I am certain, at your local bookstore or comic shop. Buy early and buy often, as I always say.

As we ramp up to the release of the book, Steve and I have a massive amount of goodies planned to get you as excited as we are. Book 2 of the Fables of the Flying City podcast, Mouths Of The Dead starts soon, bridging the gap between Book 1, Ashe of the Air, and the graphic novel. If you need a refresher on Book 1, it’s all still there under “Episodes” (I know some folks have been having trouble with the players, but that’s been taken care of), each with a dandy new Ashe of the Air cover image. We’ve also got a few more mini-comics that will go up before the graphic novel comes out, so keep your eyes out for those.

Steve and I also got a few appearances up our sleeves. We’ll be at Brooklyn Comics on May 5 (Free Comic Book Day, y’all!), doing a reading/signing at Barnes & Noble on the corner of 36th and Walnut on May 8th, and having a proper Amperstam party at Batlicon on May 25-28. More details on those to come.

So mark your calendars and fasten your seat belts. THE BATTLE OF BLOOD AND INK is on it’s way!

The Battle of Blood and Ink: A Fable of Flying City
Pre-order available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble

It’s good to know that even a towering comics genius like Moebius made mistakes.

Speaking of comics, there’s a new Ask Comrade Cockroach, iffin you want to take a look-see.

The Battle of Blood and Ink: A Fable of Flying City
Pre-order available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble