New Releases! Calamity by Brandon Sanderson and Bluescreen by Dan Wells, and Teen Author Boot Camp!

Back from the LTUE conference and spent the weekend recovering. Now it's back to work and back to something I used to do a lot of ... share new release news! Here's a couple that I'm excited about:

The conclusion of the bestselling Reckoners series!

When Calamity lit up the sky, the Epics were born. David’s fate has been tied to their villainy ever since that historic night. Steelheart killed his father. Firefight stole his heart. And now Regalia has turned his closest ally into a dangerous enemy. David knew Prof’s secret, and kept it even when Prof struggled to control the effects of his Epic powers. But facing Obliteration in Babilar was too much. Once the Reckoners’ leader, Prof has now embraced his Epic destiny. He’s disappeared into those murky shadows of menace Epics are infamous for the world over, and everyone knows there’s no turning back. . . .

But everyone is wrong. Redemption is possible for Epics—Megan proved it. They’re not lost. Not completely. And David is just about crazy enough to face down the most powerful High Epic of all to get his friend back. Or die trying.

And Bluescreen, the start of a new sci-fi-noir series by Dan Wells!

Los Angeles in 2050 is a city of open doors, as long as you have the right connections. That connection is a djinni—a smart device implanted right in a person’s head. In a world where virtually everyone is online twenty-four hours a day, this connection is like oxygen—and a world like that presents plenty of opportunities for someone who knows how to manipulate it.

Marisa Carneseca is one of those people. She might spend her days in Mirador, but she lives on the net—going to school, playing games, hanging out, or doing things of more questionable legality with her friends Sahara and Anja. And it’s Anja who first gets her hands on Bluescreen—a virtual drug that plugs right into a person’s djinni and delivers a massive, nonchemical, completely safe high. But in this city, when something sounds too good to be true, it usually is, and Mari and her friends soon find themselves in the middle of a conspiracy that is much bigger than they ever suspected.

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Now, if you didn't already know, a fantastic event is about to take place in the next couple of weeks. I'm talking about the Teen Author Boot Camp! I was a presenter there, and had a blast. Now they're letting me come back to teach a class on collaboration with my good friend and co-author Michael Jensen! The conference will be held at the Utah Valley Convention Center. So if you have aspiring teen authors in your home and live near or around Utah, let them know. Going to conferences is what led to improvement for my writing. It can for your writer, too!

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Time for me to run.  As always, thank you for stopping by. Be sure to let your zombie fan friends know about The Undead Road if they need a good zombie fix before the next Walking Dead episode. This books is still doing surprising well, so I'm very happy by how well it's being received. Getting close to 1/3 of the way done on Part Two now.

Time to shove off into the galaxy. Have a great week, everyone!

If you're a writer, when did you start? Who's excited for these two new books? Know anyone interested in Teen Author Boot Camp?

I'm David, and 12 is an odd number if you like beans ...