Hello, Protagonist Labs — And Other News!

I’ve been talking to this fine upstanding deviant by the name of “Stephen Hood” (sounds like a criminal’s name to me) for some time about a little product that way back when didn’t even have a name, but has since evolved to become Storium, an online storytelling engine — a cross between playing a tabletop roleplaying game and controlling a novel from within its pages.

I’ve seen Storium go from something totally theoretical to a thing that’s now in an alpha state.

A thing you can actually use.

And I’ve seen the company behind Storium — Protagonist Labs — hire on a series of fascinating advisors. Talented creative folks I call friends, like Mur Lafferty, Will Hindmarch, J.C. Hutchins.

And I thought, “Well, somebody needs to get in there and lower the level of discourse. They need a smudgey dark mark against them — they need a little dirt on that chrome.”

So, I am now an official advisor to Storium.

AND SO I WILL DESTROY THEM FROM WITHIN.

I mean, “advise them” with all my “wisdom.”

Thanks to Stephen and the team for having me.

And if you wanna sign up to be notified of the Kickstarter (on track for next month):

Clicky-clicky.

Other News

THIS IS HORROR reviewed CORMORANT, and it’s a whopper of a review:

“Writing the blurb for a Chuck Wendig ‘Miriam Black’ book must be amongst the hardest tasks in publishing. Just how do you distill such an exhilarating, twisty narrative into a mere handful of words? Writing a review, even with a larger word count at our disposal, isn’t much easier. Giving consideration to the plot developments and surprises that the author peppers throughout The Cormorant, Miss Black’s third outing, without spoiling it is trickier than changing a person’s destiny.”

Adventures in Poor Taste gives the book an amazing review:

“Chuck Wendig and Miriam Black are at the top of their games with this one. You really can’t ask for a more entertaining and affecting work of supernatural fiction…or any type of fiction, for that matter.”

Sean Ferguson reviews the second Miriam book, MOCKINGBIRD:

“If this book series isn’t even on your radar yet, I implore you to make swift changes to make it so. These books have a little bit of everything: action and horror, love and suspense, sex and mayhem. Moments of unadulterated horror are punctuated with tongue-in-cheek comedy, as Wendig’s foul-mouthed Miriam wanders the highways and byways of Pennsylvania and New Jersey.”

Plus, some folks have been finding BLACKBIRDS, still, which is exciting!

From Serial Distractions:

“Here Wendig really flexes his writing muscles. In Miriam, he’s created a wonderfully flawed, but redeemable, character. The pacing, as usual, is relentless and the dialogue crisp and natural. Further, Wendig plays with a lot of serious issues here–death, redemption, fate–and does so in an entertaining, but no less thoughtful, way. It’s a road-trip novel that’s several layers deep, succeeding in being literary without sacrificing its pulp roots. It’s simply a great read.”

Skyla Dawn re-reviews the book, too:

“Wendig has written a better rounded, more realistic heroine than a number of female writers I can think of; the man knows what he’s doing and he gets his character. Miriam is abrasive and damaged and cut with sharp edges, but you can be damn sure I know a fuck-ton of women who are just like that. Some of them say ‘fuck-ton.'”

Let’s see. What else?

CORMORANT is eligible for this year’s Hugos, not next year’s, FYI.

I’ll also be launching CORMORANT locally at the Doylestown Book Shop on Saturday, February 15th — signing, a talk, a Q&A! 2pm. Details here.

Oh! The CORMORANT photo contest ends Friday! Get in now, win books, maybe a Chemex and some coffee. Already got some neat entries so far — jump in, get a camera, try your hand.

Gonna be at Phoenix ComicCon, for those that didn’t know. Along with a handful of megamazing authors: Kevin Hearne, Pat Rothfuss, Delilah Dawson, Stephen Blackmoore, Myke Cole, Sam Sykes, the syzygy that is James S.A. Corey, Jason Hough, Jaye Wells (NEMESIS), Brian McClellan, Charlaine Harris. JOIN US. We have such sights to show you.