And I’m in it! I’ve been really excited about announcing the sale of my short story to the upcoming anthology When the Hero Comes Home 2. 

It’s the first hard scifi I’ve sold. And being in When the Villain Comes Home with authors I’ve admired since before I knew I was ever going to share my writing was an amazing experience. So the chance to do it again, to work with Gabrielle Harbowy and Ed Greenwood and see the incredible stories that are going to come from these other authors just tickles me to my toes.

Now I get to be a part of When the Hero Comes Home 2, expected release August 2013.

Here’s the announcement from Co-Editor Gabrielle Harbowy‘s blog:

We have 29 excellent stories lined up for you, 8 of which will be available exclusively in the ebook version of the anthology.

The following listing is in alphabetical order by author.

* denotes ebook-only bonus stories

*Bagabones by Jacquelyn Bartel
Beginning by Jillian Boehme
Bringing Back Raby by Chaz Brenchley
After the Winds by K.T. Bryski
Living Bargains by Suzanne Church
Vasilissa’s Doll by Elaine Cunningham
The Last Perfect Heart by Fanny Valentine Darling
Remnants by Erin M. Evans
*Prince Goldgriffin Rides In by Ed Greenwood
*Closure by Gabrielle Harbowy
Jack Crochety by Larry Kay
Juan Carceres in the Zapatero’s Workshop by Derek Künsken
Safe Within You by Mercedes Lackey
Broken by K.D. McEntire
Narcolepsy by Bob Neilson
The Last of the Unicorn Hunters by Diana Peterfreund
Waiting For You by Leah Petersen
*Blood Runs Thicker by Mary Pletsch
*Come is the Wolf in her Wounding by Dan Rabarts
*The Return of Hobard the Vanquisher by Mike Rimar
The Hero of Abarxia by Deborah J. Ross
*The Stiletto by Maggie Sokoll
A Spray of Bittersweet by Andrea Stewart
Faces of the Revolution by James L. Sutter
A Sword that Heals by Clint Talbert
*Smoke and Feathers by Juliette Wade
Call of the Sky by Cliff Winnig
Faith by Chris Wong Sick Hong
The Clever One by Jamie Wyman

It should be available for pre-order soon. I’ll keep you updated!

Some people rushed into the smoky aftermath of an explosion to help, not even hesitating. One uninjured bystander took off his belt and handed it to a man who then used it as a tourniquet on someone lying on the ground. Some men were cursing in thick Boston accents even as they were heading toward all the carnage without stopping to consider whether or not they were putting themselves in danger.

This warms and humbles me.

But the story that affected me the most was from a bystander who said they were only feet from the explosion. The woman recounts that her husband immediately pushed their two children to the ground and lay over them. Then another man, a man they didn’t know, lay over them as well.

Was he trying to protect the two children better than one body could manage? Was he trying to protect the father who was trying to protect his children? Maybe he wasn’t trying to do anything at all, it was simply his first instinct to shelter someone in danger, no matter what.

The thing that amazes me about this story is that the act of shielding another with your body is an acknowledgement that they are still in danger, that you know there’s a very real chance that any person in that space could be badly injured or killed and you are choosing to make your body the target, for that to be you. That, on some level, the father and the other man were thinking, “Take me, not the kids. I’ve had 30 or 40 or 50 years, they still have their lives ahead of them. I might die or suffer, but I choose that to protect them.”

When you remember the senseless violence and tragic loss of lives that happened yesterday, remember this too. That there are those who will plant bombs to hurt and kill innocent people. But there are more who will stand up in the face of that and say, “No. My act of compassion is bigger than any bomb you can ever make.”

And no one can blow up, crash, kill, or take that away from us. Ever.

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And today I was interviewed by Peter Salomon, author of the fantastic and very popular YA Horror novel, Henry Franks. There’s a giveaway over there, too, for a copy of Fighting Gravity. Because you’ll want to read that before you get to Cascade Effect.  

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Bah humbug, and yay me in hindsight for never selling any of my Jayne hats.

Ed Greenwood & me in hats. The others are just cool.

But seriously, I make Jayne hats all the time, and I take them with me to cons. (In fact, I usually make a few on the plane when I’m on my way to cons, and then at the table where I’m hoping very much to sell my books.)

I tend to set the finished hats on the table with the books I’m hoping to sell. People often comment on them, and sometimes they ask how much for the Jayne hat.

And that’s when I hand it to them and say “enjoy.” I don’t sell my Jayne hats. That would take all the fun out of them. The Jayne hats connect me to other Browncoats, people who are passionate enough that they’re willing to fork over money they could spend on the countless other cool things in the dealer’s room at the con. I love the feeling I get when I see how excited they are about it. And then when I go to a panel and there in the audience is the hat, perched lovingly on the head of the person I gave it to and who smiled because I did.

We all get our warm fuzzies out of it and, really, it’s one of the coolest ways I connect with other fans. I love my Jayne hats.

Recently I gave one to Authoress Anonymous, and made some available to her to give away to her readers. I enjoyed that very much.

But there has been one encounter that tops all the others for me. Here is the visual aid:

It was the last day of the con, the last hours, really. The dealer’s room was closing in less than an hour. We were all tired, we were all itching to pack up our things and just go crash somewhere. Oh, we were hoping to sell one more book or two, but the con attendees were crashing too. They were few and far between in the dealer room.

And then here was a group of ladies and one toddler. She was one of those cute ones who smiles when you smile at her, and she waved goodbye to me, vs. hello, but that was cool too, because I got a wave.

I can’t remember the exact chain of events, but somehow the last Jayne hat on the table was mentioned. This was one I wasn’t really expecting to give away because I’d made it too small, and it was child sized, not adult. But I asked the lovely little lady’s mom if she’d like the hat and her mom assured me she would. I asked permission to put it on her, and got it. I put the Jayne hat on the toddler’s head and she grinned at me.

My heart was very happy.

For the next 24 hours, I kicked myself at regular intervals for not getting a picture of her wearing the hat, or even getting anyone’s names. And then I got an email with the subject line: You did something nice for a friend of mine at Ad Astra, which linked to a blog post about it.

Little did they know that THEY had done something nice for me! I was so excited to see the blog post about the encounter, and to hear that Sofia was enjoying the hat that she had, in fact, been wearing all day. They were nice enough to send me a picture when I asked. And now you can see her, and her Jayne hat, and you can imagine me with a huge smile on my face.

Ad Astra was, as always, tons of fun and I saw many good friends and made many new ones. I had a great launch for Cascade Effect, and I sold many books. I was on three panels that were tons of fun, and sat in the audience for others that were great. But Sofia and her hat made my con.

This is why I love the fan community. KEEP IT UP, guys!

In all seriousness, what better way to celebrate a new book than by drinking and having a party? Am I right? Or to celebrate the fact that books exist at all!

If you’re a teetotaler, don’t feel left out. Any beverage works, and you can party with us in spirit. To celebrate the Cascade Effect Launch, hosted by Futurecon, Good Times for Good Causes, we’re going to have lots of fun with Booze and a Book!

Follow the hashtag on Twitter #boozeandabookday, or join us on reddit.

Congrats Angela and Val!

There’s still a chance to win CASCADE EFFECT! Get in on it in a hurry, the giveaway ends April 2.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Cascade Effect

by Leah Petersen

Giveaway ends April 02, 2013.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Well, one thing I DO want to know is when an author I love has a new book out. And it’s just too easy to miss the notification on Twitter or Facebook or Amazon. (Though Goodreads has a nice notification feature. You should check it out.)

But back to the point I came here to make. Would you like to know when MY books are available?

To help you with that, I’ve set up a nifty newsletter. Right now I have a book or anthology I’m in coming out about twice a year. It’s unlikely to last at that pace, but it’s nice right now. What that means for you is that if you sign up for the newsletter, you’ll get an email from me about twice a year or less, just to let you know when you can get my latest book.

Sound like something you’re interested in?

Sign up here!

I’ve already gushed about this a bit in other posts, but here’s the full details and the announcement poster the lovely J.M. Frey designed and put together for us. We’re having a CASCADE EFFECT LAUNCH Party Friday, April 5, at Ad Astra Con hosted by Futurecon, Good Times for Good Causes!

]]> http://www.leahpetersen.com/2013/03/cascade-effect-book-launch-hosted-by-futurecon/feed/ 0 http://www.leahpetersen.com/2013/03/two-giveaways-win-cascade-effect-and-fighting-gravity/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=two-giveaways-win-cascade-effect-and-fighting-gravity http://www.leahpetersen.com/2013/03/two-giveaways-win-cascade-effect-and-fighting-gravity/#comments Wed, 20 Mar 2013 13:36:41 +0000 Leah Petersen http://www.leahpetersen.com/?p=4607 I already told you about how I’m giving away two signed copies of Fighting Gravity as part of the celebration of the release of the sequel, Cascade Effect.

But what fun is one giveaway when you can have two? From now through April 2, you can win one of two autographed copies of Cascade Effect!

Here’s where you go to enter. Get on that!

Congrats to two incredible editors and all the authors in it! (Congrats, me!)

Heroes can save the world, but villains can CHANGE it.

We’ve assembled a great mix of science fiction, fantasy, and speculative fiction. Come with us while we explore villains of all stripes — sons and daughters, lovers and fighters, minions and masterminds, in this giant volume of thirty great stories by award winners, rising stars, and bold new voices. With masterful tales by: Camille Alexa, Erik Scott de Bie, Chaz Brenchley, Eugie Foster, David Sakmyster, Marie Bilodeau, Richard Lee Byers, K.D. McEntire, Peadar Ó Guilín, Jim C. Hines, Ari Marmell, Karin Lowachee, Jay Lake, Julie Czerneda, J.M. Frey, Clint Talbert, Rachel Swirsky, Tony Pi, Leah Petersen, J.P. Moore, Ryan McFadden, Todd McCaffrey, Erik Buchanan, Gregory A. Wilson, Rosemary Jones, Gabrielle Harbowy, Ed Greenwood, Mercedes Lackey & Larry Dixon, Chris A. Jackson, Steve Bornstein.