I’m on a string of books that are annoying the snark out of me. Or bringing the snark to the forefront, depending on your view. Two of them were awesome books right up until the end. The first one was a fantasy and it was okay, but sort of had characterization drifting off at the end, making me scratch my head. So I read the next in the series and it was a real, “Throw it against the wall” ending. The entire last 1/4 of the book just FELL APART with lots of things happening that didn’t match the plot OR the characters. What a waste. I’m still mad about it. The book was so good and then we had weird appearances by characters out of nowhere, characters suddenly doing things out of character to forward some subplot mechanism (that stunk anyway) and a necessary-to-the-plot kidnapping that was never explained. Just happened to characters that heretofore had been strong enough to resist attack. No description of the kidnapping was given either. Just magicked to a different location and kidnapped. OH–and let’s not forget a character who let them go when he could have held them captive earlier in the book–he seemed to be involved AGAIN in the kidnapping and if that was the case, why let them go the first time??

I don’t like to trash books and when they show such promise followed by dismal plot wrap-ups…I don’t know how to rate them. So I usually don’t talk about them at all. I don’t put them on goodreads or review them on Amazon. What is the point? I can’t complain about them without giving away spoilers. I’d like to rant about them for letting me down. Especially when they are epic fantasy that took me a lot longer to read than usual because epic fantasy is…epic in pages. I especially hate it when I’ve read other works by the author and enjoyed the work. Or even in this case–enjoyed 3/4rds of the book to be totally let down by crappy endings.

I picked up a third book (not in the series. I won’t be reading anymore by the previous author.) It was also a decent read, although the f-bombs were annoying. Okay, I get that cops use filthy language, but f-bombs overused are like billboard signs ruining the scenery. So the plot to the thriller I was reading was quite good. Gore was kept off the pages so it didn’t turn into too much horror. But then at the end…there’s this stupid scene. It’s kind of the epilogue, and I’m kind of a prude, and it is implied it could be a dream or the real thing…but seriously. It’s a “threesome” kind of thing. So you went to all the trouble to write a 4 star thriller. You littered it with f-bombs and some pretty filthy cop talk. Who am I supposed to recommend this book to? I’m not giving it a 4 star rating, and that’s a shame because the plot deserves it. But the filler? I don’t even want to admit I read books that have that kind of crap in them. It’s not like I’m going to tell my mom (who is an avid reader) “Just don’t read the last chapter.” Yeaaaaah, that’s gonna work.

And now, I’m out of reading time. I have to get back to work and I’m left with a foul taste in my mouth.

*If you must know, the books in question were books 2 and 3 of the Beka Cooper fantasy series by Tamora Pierce. Not recommended. The thriller was Justin Gustainis’ latest “Evil Dark: An Occult Investigation.” I suppose it’s actually recommended for the story, but the reservations are so severe that I will not be admitting that I read the thing.

Haven’t done a book post in a while because I’m not reading as much lately. It’s spring–there’s gardening, lots of writing and lots of cooking going on. There would be more eating going on, but I’m dieting…

I read both of these books on the Kindle–what great finds!

Wistril Compleat by Frank Tuttle is several novellas all in the same fantasy setting, all about the trials and tribulations of the grumpy Wizard Wistril. Humor, adventure, and fun capers all around. The first story started off a little slow and I was leery–but this book was some of the best fantasy I’ve read in long while. Great beach read–the pages turn faster and faster. I’m not that fond of short stories, but when they are all in one setting about the same characters, they read much more like a novel and are fully satisfying.

Wistril Compleat is also available on CD, although I’m not linking to it because it wasn’t currently in stock at Amazon.

Next up is a crime novel, Fatherly Love. I know, I know. Looking at the cover, this book doesn’t look like much, but we all know that covers don’t make the book!

Fatherly Love is a very good mystery, similar in tone/style to those great pulps of yesteryear, but with a modern sensibility (the women aren’t just for looks). It’s available on Amazon and also at Smashwords.com.

I’m also not sure I love the title of this novel; “Fatherly Love” while appropriate, leaves out a lot. I think it could be more…interesting. No, I don’t know what it should be, but somehow it seems like it should capture something mob-like.

The book world version of March Madness–68 books against each other in a process of elimination to determine the most worthy books. There are two books in the early rounds that I had to vote for:

New Tricks

and

Goblin War (Jig the Goblin)

I didn’t know these books would make the tournament, but boy was I happy to see them there! I even voted on some books that I hadn’t read (if I had read anything by an author, I figured that made me practically an academic expert on that author’s work, right???) Anyway, it’s a fun tournament. There’s a lot of books to choose from, all from the fantasy persuasion. I enjoy reading the reader comments and thoughts on why a book is good.  I think every book in the tournament has been reviewed by BookSpotCentral also.   Here’s a direct link to the tournament page:

http://www.bookspotcentral.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=88

The first round ends tonight.  Then there’s the other rounds (process of elimination) as well as some “all time great” tournaments coming up.  Go see if there is a book or three that you want to vote for.  It’s fun!

UPDATE: BOTH books made it through the first round of voting yesterday!!   Round two today (3/17)!  Go Vote!!!  Woot!! Voting Ends on this round 3/20. Vote early, vote often!

One of the boons of e-readers is the bargain books to be found. I often use Inkmesh–you can see the link down in the left-column where the list of my books shows the current, cheapest pricing. Inkmesh is a search engine for e-books, but it can take a day or so to “grab” the cheapest prices. It doesn’t actively look for books and highlight them, but I recently found this site:

KindleCheapReads They have reviews now and then, but daily–they post about books that cost five dollars or less. They post books from big publishers (that is their main focus) smaller publishers and independent authors-whatever great deal comes along. Check it out!

Along the lines of bargains, I came across this book that looks right up my alley:

Take the Monkeys and Run (A Barbara Marr Murder Mystery)

Soccer mom and film lover, Barbara Marr is on the brink of a dream: launching her own movie review website. But on her 45th birthday, this stay-at-home mother of three unwittingly launches herself and her suburban housewife friends into the middle of their own explosive action adventure just like the movies – except these bullets are real.

I downloaded the sample. Can’t wait to get to it! The sample was great. Bought it and now I have a whole book to read!!! finished it and it was highly entertaining! I’ll do a review over at Amazon and maybe here on the blog too. If you like mysteries with a lot of fun, check it out. There are some highly improbable scenes, but all in good fun and a great little-page turner. My kind of book.

UPDATE: And it turns out Kindle Just Went Down In Price to $189!!! Guess it might be a good time to buy–or a better time anyway!

On the reading front, I just reviewed two very good books over at BookSpotCentral (click links below to read the reviews):

New Tricks by John Levitt – This one is definitely going on my books of the year list. The first in the series is Dog Days. I loved them both. If you love urban fantasy, this series is for you.

Shadowmagic by John Lenahan – This one is also very good; an unintended quest survival tale with a family-oriented twist. Good humor in this fast YA read.

And here I thought I did in-depth reporting on cover art! Well, author Jim Hines has gone out in the field (possibly left field) to uncover the secret behind cover poses. He’s dedicated. Very dedicated. Check out Jim Hines version of being a cover model.

Jim Hines is the author of the very excellent Goblin series, starting with Goblin Quest. I reviewed it here, back when I was just starting to do reviews. In short, it’s a very good fantasy series and worth a look for both YA and adults.

Jim has also written the alternate fairy tale series Princess Series series. I’ve read the first book, which is a wild adventure of what happened to Cinderella AFTER the happily ever after. She’ll get some help from some other fairy tale characters you may recognize. For a frugal and fun way to check out Jim’s writing, he has an anthology on sale right now for 99 cents: Goblin Tales

Y’all know I love DailyCheapReads for the bargains that can be found there (books under 5 dollars. There’s a separate site for Juniors and one for the UK as well.)

Anyway, I was over there browsing away and found out that Paula (site owner) decided to try her hand at short stories. 55 word stories. Now, I can tell you that getting a story right in 55 words is very difficult. Impossible for some of us. You gotta make a point and capture enough emotion to make the reader smile, or say, “Got it!” Or have a twist or something that makes you think.

Check these out. *CUTE ALERT* *FUN ALERT*

(The stories are after the book review.)

I have a few places I like to use for finding ebook bargains:

Kindle Reader There’s a frugal pick every day so far as I can tell. The other books listed may or may not be bargains depending on your budget! There are good book descriptions, prices and the posts say whether text to speech is enabled or not.

Books On the Knob is becoming ever more relevant to the e-reader world. Not only does it have bargain Kindle books, but also Nook, Sony and any other e-book that is a bargain. There is a new post daily, sometimes more than one. You can subscribe to get your bargain list daily: Books on the Knob

And here’s another one that I just started following, DailyCheapReads. I’ve found some excellent bargains on this one–everything is under five dollars. This is a fun site with good books!

I was recently fortunate enough to receive a review copy of The Heretic by Joseph Nassasi. I don’t accept many review copies these days; my reading time is almost nil and it has to be something special to catch my attention. Even after I get a copy, I never know if it will work out to be something I like. Well, let’s just say just say this was a real winner, and I’m thrilled to have had the chance to read it. Five stars, highly recommended–it makes my top book reads for 2010 EASILY.

The Heretic is a fast-paced supernatural thriller with wonderfully drawn characters. The book starts a bit like a report and I worried it might not grab me, but it quickly drew me into the world of the Knights Templar. These are not your ancient Knights either; it’s a contemporary set of heroes hoping to protect the world from evils seen and unseen.

It has more than one Point Of View (POV) but it all works extremely well. I don’t normally warm to multiple POV, but the characterization is so strong, I had no complaints.

The Heretic is a mix of “tough guy” literature with epic fantasy story. The only other series that I think I’ve read that is similar is The Adept by Katherine Kurtz.

The Heretic is Awesome Stuff; a total page-turner. My only possible complaint is that while the story wraps up nicely, it has many an open-end. I’m feeling pretty happy that the other books in the series are available already.

There’s a love story here, a lot of action, more danger than a body can reasonably live through and huge imagination. For my cozy blog readers–this one does have more battle and violence than a cozy, but nothing that put me off. It’s not all off-stage though so be warned if you are a strict cozy reader.

An excellent read. I’m greatly looking forward to the next one.

This is a list of books that I have read and enjoyed that are at the 99 cent price. Updated: 5/2/12. I’ll periodically repost this as I add new finds. I’ve added a historical novella, a cozy mystery and a romance/mystery. The link is on the left sidebar so any time you’re looking for a good, cheap read, just check the sidebar.

Always double-check the price because prices seem to shift daily. However, with all the books out there, I thought I’d start a list of good reads that are at 99 cents. I plan to also do a list of books that are under 5 dollars. In short, there aren’t very many good ones at 99 cents because once word gets around, the book seems to go to $2.99. So if you see a book for 99 cents and you think you might like it, it probably pays to pick it up. Several of the 99 cent books I enjoyed (not listed here) are no longer 99 cents!

Cozy Mysteries
Take the Monkey’s and Run by Karen Cantwell (cozy mystery, fun, zany beach read) Not currently 99 cents (2.99)

Executive Lunch by Maria Schneider (cozy mystery, humor, first of the series)

The Alto Wore Tweed by Mark Schweizer (cozy mystery, okay, I haven’t read this one, but it comes highly recommended.)

Girl’s Guide to Witchcraft by Mindy Klasky Okay this is not deep literature here and I found it on the light side when it came to plot (whether referring to the romance plot or the mystery plot). Admittedly I like a little more complexity. That said, for 99 cents? Give the sample a look. It’s definitely a cozy and something you might want for a quick read.

Mystery
Tilt a Whirl by Chris Grabenstein is a solid mystery tale–not cozy, not thriller, but somewhere in-between. The characters are wonderfully cozy for the most part; people you can easily like. The two main characters are funny and endearing. The mystery itself starts out looking like a simple murder, but the latter half of the book is darker and definitely not cozy.

Fantasy or Urban Fantasy

ShadowMagic by John Lenahan (Fantasy adventure. This is a steal for 99 cents; for YA and adults. Great read.)

Hollowlands by Amanda Hocking (YA Urban Fantasy) It’s free or 99 cents. Dystopian adventure. Good stuff, if not always accurate in some basic facts (basements in the southwest are not damp.)

Wistril Compleat by Frank Tuttle (Cozy Fantasy. Set of short stories but reads more like a novel. All the same characters/setting. I really enjoyed this.)

Child of Fire by Harry Connelly (UF, little darker than some I read, but a good tale.)

Hal Spacejock by Simon Haynes (Cozy Science Fiction — guy can’t get out of his own way. Funny and zany. Cozy mystery readers should like this one. It was free at last check.)

Milrose and the Den of Professional Thieves by Douglas Anthony Cooper (YA fantasy; this is a decent read for the price, but there were slow spots. I wasn’t totally sold on this, but for 99 cents it’s a decent read.)

Romance/Mystery

A Gift of Ghosts by Sarah Wynde This book changes prices frequently, so double-check! (Not Currently 99 cents). I enjoyed it quite a bit–fun, quick read with enough mystery to keep the whole thing moving along. The romance is mostly a sweet romance, but falls short of being completely young adult appropriate.

Short Stories

Hexes and Tooth Decay by Nancy Fulda (Fantasy, cute fun and could be a good read for kids.)

Dead Men Don’t Cry by Nancy Fulda (science fiction and fantasy; mix of 11 short stories; price changes a lot)

It’s a Dunderbull Wife by Karen Cantwell (A Barbara Marr adventure)

Year of the Mountain Lion by Maria Schneider (Fantasy adventure; American desert historical)
Snitched, Snatched by Maria Schneider (Fantasy adventure, medieval setting)
Black-Tie Bingo Maria Schneider (cozy mystery; deal with the devil short pack)

Lies I Told My Children – Karen McQuestion short essays on motherhood; funny. Nice intro to her style of writing.

The Angel of 1776 by Jeffry Hepple I don’t read a lot of historical fiction, but this one drew me in. It’s a novella (which is about my attention span for historical fiction.) It recreates real historical scenes, gives the characters a voice–and in this case, well, it has a touch of “otherly” which made the story for me.

Feel free to list any books you loved that you found for 99 cents or under! I noticed that it’s much more common to see short stories at that price and apparently it’s also more common in fantasy than in mysteries.

Woohoo! I got to guest blog over at Kindle-aholic’s awesome book blog! And she let me babble about one of my favorite series. How cool is that???

Click the link to read my review of The Banshee’s Walk by Frank Tuttle! (Highly recommended. Highly. Buy link: The Banshee’s Walk.)

Unleashed is the third book in my favorite Urban Fantasy series and is released into the wild, today, Nov 24. The first in the series is Dog Days (Ace Fantasy Book) and the second is New Tricks. If you haven’t read the first two, they are a great place to start.

I reviewed Unleashed for BSCreview–my last review for them! Here’s the review:

From the San Francisco aura described in the first paragraph to the magic on the last page, this book never let up. It’s action-packed danger, a see-saw between clues and just staying alive.

Not only did the characters grow and change in Unleashed, we get some unfinished business cleaned up. There were a few loose ends from novels one and two, but nothing that seemed major until this book, where we get to see what has been festering in the background. Mason has accepted that as a practioner of magic, he has some responsibility to the community. He’s more willing to look into problems and help clean them up. He’s still impatient and impulsive, but he’s also getting smarter.

Levitt uses his respect for and experience with music to describe magic and its traits, an analogy that really works, especially if you’ve ever heard someone play that has an indescribable talent, something beyond the mere human touch. His world-building is subtle; many times magic doesn’t even seem magic. It’s just another color or iridescent hue across the pallet. It’s a dog being a dog–is it magic, intelligence, or both?

Levitt’s biggest strength in world-building is his ability to create depth in characters–from the monsters to the people and everything in-between. There’s a subtle message that big, ugly and mean don’t always equate to true monster. There’s even a case made that those hanging on to what we view as sanity might be just a horse of a different color–a dangerous horse, but of value nonetheless. When dealing with something beautiful, be it a person or a place, you never know whether to expect poison or peace. The constant mixing of the world adds a realism that is unexpected, but delightful.

The mystery plot in Unleashed is very strong, probably the strongest of the three books and certainly the most tangled. There were enough red herrings to keep me guessing all the way through the book. Who was the guilty party? Who??? Every time Mason and Lou came close, there were more clues–and more false trails to be explored.

I could nitpick a character flaw or two and definitely pick on an area where I didn’t love the logic, but the plot moved so quickly, a minute detail here or there wasn’t important enough to hold me back. Magic isn’t always logical, and neither are monsters–be they human or other.

There are very few books I want to read twice. Unleashed made me want to go back and re-read books one and two. And before I was even done with Unleashed, I wanted to read it all over again.

Note: There are Kindle editions for “New Trick” and for “Unleashed,” but not “Dog Days.” The Kindle edition is about a dollar and a half cheaper than the 7.99 paperback. However, “Dog Days” and “New Tricks” are both available as part of the “order 4 books and pay for 3.” It’s possible Unleashed will be added to that deal…but if you need recommendations for how to fill out that order to 4 books, let me know. More than happy to help!

I reviewed Hard Spell: An Occult Crimes Unit Investigation a while back for DailyCheapReads. I gave it a thumbs up.

The sequel, Evil Dark: An Occult Crime Unit Investigation, is now out and is on sale as a pre-order for $3.59. If it’s as good as the first, I’ll be very pleased.

My review, reprinted here:

If you like hard-boiled crime fiction and wizardry, this is the book for you. Hard Spell is edgy, dark and spell-binding. It starts with: “My name’s Markowski. I carry a badge.” That sets the tone, and the succinctness gives you an idea of the pace: non-stop, turn the page, what happens next. It’s part thriller, part urban fantasy and still manages to have a detective with a lot of loyalty and passion for stopping those on the wrong side of the law, especially when they come after people he knows.

Like any good pulp fiction there are clichés–but Gustainis weaves in a unique flavor, some awesome world building and some creative characters. He has a lot to chose from: vampires, banshees, humans, and even an ogre or two. He creates his own history; a mash of witch hunt facts, modern day settings and creatures from both. Gustainis does it all with a flair that keeps the plot moving. For the first quarter I was skeptical–wondering at this “huge evil” and the “certain doom” that was ill-defined and a little too pat for a good plot, but as any good book does, that plot was filled in. There were no info dumps so it took some time to learn about Markowski, his past and the nature of the evil being fought. Markowski is not magical himself; he relies on his wits, his gun and after he proves himself, his partner.

Formatting: Chapter Breaks are completely missing so there are some jarring transitions. From one paragraph to the next, the characters are suddenly in a different place or a new character that wasn’t in a previous conversation, is now talking. I’ve been told this was done on purpose as some kind of style thing. I guess I’m not stylish because I found it annoying.

Language warning: This is noir and involves cops, SWAT teams and crime. The language is not safe for work. It was natural in most spots, but probably could have been toned down in a couple of scenes without losing anything.
If you like Dresden Files, I think you’ll like Hard Spell.

Magic Bleeds (Kate Daniels, Book 4)) by Ilona Andrews is entertainment at its best! Wonderful stuff! In the acknowledgments in the front Andrews says she had a hard time with the book–well, she took her time and got it right. Kudos for fighting it to the win and doing whatever it took to reach perfection. Magic Bleeds is another high-paced adventure for Kate Daniels; she’s got monsters, a rocky relationship and her past all vying for her attention. There isn’t much about this book that I didn’t like. Andrew’s attention to world-building details, magic details and setting are top-notch. It doesn’t get any better than this. She creates a believable world and does it without a wasted word or a single boring instance.

If I had a complaint (and I really don’t) I’d mention that like with book 3 (Magic Strikes), the fight scenes might be a tiny bit much in one or two spots. In book 3 it was one particular fight sequence that went on rather longer than I thought necessary. In this book, I thought maybe one or two fight scenes could have been cut completely. Does it detract from the book? No, it’s nearly as perfect a book–and series–as you’ll get.

Book 5 – Magic Slays is already out. I’ve purchased it, but when I read about Kate Daniels, I set aside a WHOLE day–dinner already planned and cooked–with no interruptions so that I can read straight through. I’ll probably wait until Book 6 is released before I start it. I’m very much a book hoarder and like to have my emergency stash waiting–in case I need one.

If you haven’t started this series, you are missing out. Book one is: Magic Bites (Kate Daniels, Book 1)

I highly recommend every single book in the series. It’s one of the rare series where I have continued to read past a book or two.

Jim Hine’s “Goblin War” is available starting today at your nearest bookstore!

Jim was kind enough to answer a few questions for readers. The full interview is posted below:

Jim, welcome to Fantasybookspot and thanks for answering our questions! First, here’s a little information about Jim C. Hines, the author of the Goblin trilogy:

Jim C. Hines began writing in the early 90s, while working on a degree in psychology from Michigan State University. For many years, he focused on short fiction. His work has appeared in Realms of Fantasy, Turn the Other Chick, Sword and Sorceress XXI, and over thirty other magazines and anthologies.

His first published fantasy novel was Goblin Quest, a funny, popular* tale about a nearsighted goblin runt named Jig. Goblin Hero followed in 2007, and Goblin War will be out in March of 2008.

DAW will also be publishing The Stepsister Scheme, which will hopefully be the first book in a new series.

Jim lives in mid-Michigan with his wife and children, who have always shown remarkable tolerance for his bizarre and obsessive writing habits.

Maria: Goblin War is a great little read. I loved the new setting (Poor Jig had to go outside his “safe” mountain lair) and I really enjoyed the new cast of characters. What was the most challenging aspect of writing in the new setting?

Jim: Thank you! After two books exploring the caves, it was time to get Jig out into the world. See more places, meet more people who want to kill you, that sort of thing. The new characters were fun, but it was also nice to revisit a few old friends. I do wish I had been able to spend more time with Oakbottom … one of these days, I may have to give him his own story.

One challenge was trying to keep everything interesting. Jig gets around in this book, to several towns and camps, each of which needed its own history and description to distinguish it from Generic Medieval City #15239. I’m particularly fond of Avery. Making it a formerly-elven town which had passed into human hands opened the way for a lot of entertaining details.

Maria: While my favorite characters will always be Jig and his pet fire-spider, Smudge, I really took a liking to Shadowstar, the “god” that pesters Jig. I thought your storyline there was brilliant, fun and…quite human. Have you known all along how Shadowstar’s history meshed with Jig or is this something you invented solely for Goblin War?

Jim: I would like to say that I planned it all from day one, because that would make me look far smarter than I really am. The truth is, it wasn’t until after the second book that I started thinking more about Shadowstar’s history. This led to some problems as I was writing Goblin War. Things I tossed into the first book because they were funny suddenly needed to make sense in the context of Shadowstar’s overall backstory. (The lizard bit was a huge headache.) I also had to figure out why a relatively nice, peaceful god like Tyamlous Shadowstar would have gone to war in the first place. (It’s mentioned in Goblin Quest that Shadowstar was one of the Forgotten Gods who rebelled during the War of Shadows.)

Showing how he and Jig came together from Shadowstar’s point of view was also a little tricky, though it was fun getting to see some of Jig’s history through those divine eyes. I’m very proud of the end result, and I’m eager to see what readers think.

Maria: Will Goblin Quest (and the rest of the series) come out in audio?

Jim: It will indeed! Just … not in English. But if you speak German, the first two books have been released on CD by my German publisher. I would love to see an audio version in English, but that doesn’t seem to be in the cards right now. We should be getting a goblin short or two in audio format one of these days, though. I’ll post the links from my blog and web site when they go live.

Maria: If you could choose a “voice” to do the Goblin series…who would it be???

Jim: In the past, I’ve said Patrick Stewart, simply because I want to hear that cultured Shakespearean voice doing Jig’s, “Oh, dung!” James Earl Jones would be fun, for similar reasons.

But if I could choose, I’d probably go with Jim Dale, who did the audio version of the Harry Potter series. I was very impressed with his skills as a voice actor. In some cases, I thought his characterization through voice alone exceeded what we saw on the screen. I would love to hear him bring my goblins to life.

Maria: You mean—you hear your Goblins—with an English accent?

Jim: Hm … good point. I could imagine Barius and Ryslind with the accent, and I suspect Dale would do a marvelous job with Darnak the dwarf. Ooh, what about Wil Wheaton? Do you think he’d make a good Jig?

Maria: Somehow I was thinking more a combo of James Belushi, Dan Aykroyd—and Billy Crystal as Jig, of course. Shrug. Oh well, maybe they can do the movie. Belushi…or Aykroyd as Shadowstar…now, there’s a thought!

Maria: With Goblin Quest you did a lot of online interviews, book signings, contests with book art, etc. From reading your blog, I know you’ve found a lot of the marketing aspects frustrating. If you could only do one thing–what do you think is the most effective promotion tool?

Jim: If I could do only one single thing? That’s easy; I’d write the next book. The release of Goblin Hero is the only thing (aside from Christmas) that ever caused a visible spike in my sales numbers for Goblin Quest.

I have a limited amount of time, energy, and money, so the actual writing has to come first. But I do what I can to help promote the books. The blog has been great that way. Not only have some of my readers found me and my books that way, but I get to chat and interact with a lot of great people.

I also made up some temporary tattoos of Jig. I don’t know if they’ve sold books, but they’re definitely fun!

Maria: I was very exited to see one of your short stories, Blade of the Bunny—first published in Writers of the Future—available in a “pick and build your own anthology” over at www.AnthologyBuilder.com Any chance we’ll see some of the short-stories that star Jig and Smudge over there? I’m building an anthology now, and I’d love to have a few more Jim Hines stories in there (Hint: especially Goblin Lullaby).

Jim: AnthologyBuilder is such a great project. I have no idea whether or not it will take off, but I’d like to see it do well. I’m excited to see Nancy Fulda trying something new in terms of publishing and distribution. (It was particularly nice to see that “Blade of the Bunny” was one of their top-selling stories!)

I’ve sold “Goblin Lullaby” to Podcastle, and “Goblin Hunter” (the short story formerly known as “Goblin Hero,” no relation to the book) to Clonepod. I’m looking forward to hearing these stories performed, but I don’t want to steal their thunder by publishing the stories elsewhere first, if that makes sense?

But getting the goblin short stories out there for more people to read is certainly on my To Do list.

Maria: So, if I’m looking, where can I find more short stories by Jim Hines?

Fictionwise has some of them. A lot of the anthologies I’ve sold to are still in print, like Fantasy Gone Wrong, If I Were an Evil Overlord, and Places to Be, People to Kill. Magic in the Mirrorstone should be out by the time this interview goes live, and includes a goblin story about Veka that takes place after the second book. The anthology Prime Codex has a reprint of “Sister of the Hedge,” the story that’s currently on the preliminary Nebula ballot. (We’ll see if it makes the finals — cross your fingers for me!)

My web site (www.jimchines.com) has a full bibliography, for any true collectors

Thanks for the great questions, Maria! It’s been fun!

Thank you, Jim.