The Merry Blacksmith Press

Looking for the latest by Tim Pratt? Sure, you could go to Amazon or you could hunt us down at a convention… but you could also just order straight from us. Right here.

Right now.

And why not? These are some great books, and we have the ordering pages all updated. Take a monent and flip through some links to get the skinny on The Nex (great YA reading, great reading for all ages), Bone Shop (a Marla Mason novel that answers a lot of questions), and Antiquities & Tangibles and Other Stories featuring many of your favorite short works by Tim Pratt as well as a number of new stories.

As they say ’round these parts… Finest Kind.

We’ve got the order page up and running for Western Promise, and, by request, we’ve posted the Tables of Contents for both Western Promise and My Name Is Lesion. An asterisk in the table lists a story that is original to the collection–never having appeared before in print.

That’s a lot of great Matt Howarth up there!

We’re having a grand time at Arisia in Boston–meeting many fine folk, enjoying many a fine spectacle in costuming, and selling books! A lot of folk have been grabbing our business cards and promising to check out our website. I’m just letting y’all know that the first order of business when I sit back to my desk Tuesday morning is making sure all of the book pages are up to date, and that we’ve added all of the latest titles. We’ve had a request to include some Tables of Contents to some of the fiction and comic collections, so we’ll be doing that as well.

Good times! A more full report after we get home and sleep for twelve hours.

Cheers!

We have a couple of things to mention briefly this fine, dark, wintry Thursday morning.

First up–The Night the Music Ended is now available in the Musician’s Corner at Luca Music (1530 Mineral Spring Avenue North Providence, RI) and at the South County Artisans Shop located at The Fantastic Umbrella Factory in Charlestown, RI. As always, it is also available Amazon or through this website. The next scheduled book signings will be January 10 at the Middletown Public Library and January 11 at Books On the Square in Providence, RI. There are more events coming in February as well. Stay tuned.

Next, we’re getting closer to press time on two great books–both of which should be available when we appear in the Dealers Room at Arisia in Boston in January. Tim Pratt’s successfully Kickstarted collection of short stories Antiquities and Tangibles (cover by Jenn Reese) is nearing completion. Also, Matt Howarth’s Western Promise should be ready in time as well. Just dotting some teas and crossing some eyes.

And because we can’t leave well enough alone, the artistic side of things is getting a workout with a special “Wish We Had Thought Of This Sooner Sale” at the Merry Blacksmith Studio website. Currently we have pages for acrylics/mixed media and for watercolors. We’re planning on adding oils and photographic prints soon.

And there’s more coming up as well. We’ll pass on more news as it becomes ready for release. In the meantime, we hope everyone has a terrific holiday season and a wond’rous new year!

Cheers!

We have a number of signings coming up for our recently-released The Night the Music Ended by Marilyn Bellemore. Books will be available for purchase, and you’ll be able to meet and speak with the author. As we approach the tenth anniversary of the tragic events at The Station nightclub, it’s important to remember the community that formed around the nightclub, those who were there, and those who are no longer with us.

Saturday, December 15, 2012 from 11:30 to 1:30
Cowesett Inn, 226 Cowesett Ave.
West Warwick, RI

Sunday, December 16, 2012 from 1 to 3 pm
The Twisted Vine, 3 Canal Street
Westerly, RI
(The Tom Lanigan Band will be playing from 1 to 1:45 pm)

Thursday, January 10, 2013 from 6 to 7:30 pm
Middletown Public Library, Meet the Author Series, 700 West Main Road
Middletown, RI

Friday, January 11, 2013 from 7 to 8:30 pm
Books on the Square, 471 Angell Street
Providence, RI

Saturday, February 9, 2013 from 1 to 3 pm
White Light Books, 1464 Park Avenue
Cranston, RI

Tuesday, February 12, 2013 from 7 to 8:45 pm
West Warwick Public Library, 1043 Main Street
West Warwick, RI

We’ll be posting more information in days and weeks to come, including bookstore availabilities. Right now, The Night the Music Ended can be found at the Barnes and Noble in Smithfield and Middletown, Island Books, The Other Tiger, Wakefield Books, and Looney Tunes II.

From Tim Pratt, the author of the wildly popular Marla Mason series, comes The Nex, a fantasy story sure to thrill.

Teenager Miranda Candle finds a mysterious necklace and is suddenly transported to The Nex, the bizarre city at the center of all possible universes, where she falls in with a pair of would-be revolutionaries–the skinshifter Howlaa and the bodiless Wisp–fighting the oppressive regime of the city-state’s Regent and his army of steam colossi, cynical cyborgs, and the depraved royal orphans.

This is a classic sort of story with a number of new twists., with great pacing and engaging characters. While perfect for YA readers, it’s a fun read for all ages.

We should have this book out by late December/early January and will throw up an order page as soon as we can start fulfilling.

Cheers!

We’ve been busy. We’ve had three new titles come out within the past couple of days, and we have a couple of more planned for release by the end of the month. In particular, we have news about one of our recent releases, The Night the Music Ended:

• An interview with author Marilyn Bellemore is scheduled to be broadcast Sunday morning, December 9, on radio stations WHJY, WSNE, and B101
• A book signing event is scheduled for Saturday, December 15 at the Cowesett Inn (226 Cowesett Ave., West Warwick, RI) from 11:30-1:30 pm
• A book signing event is scheduled for Sunday, December 16 at the Twisted Vine (3 Canal Street Westerly, RI) from 1-3pm. The Tom Lanigan Band will be playing from 1-1:45.
•  Wednesday, December 12, Marilyn will be interviewed on The Celtic Realm (6-9pm) along with Tom Lanigan on WRIU.
• A book signing is scheduled at the Middletown Public Library on Thursday, January 10 from  6-7:30 pm.

And there should be more coming up. We’ll keep you posted both here and on Facebook.

In other book news, Connie Corcoran Wilson’s triumphant second volume of true terror tales, Hellfire & Damnation II, continues to get glowing reviews. It kicks off a new “Virtual Book Tour” on December 10 with a multitide of reviews and interviews all coming up. We’ll keep you posted on the details and where you can read what.

Matt Howarth’s latest novel, The Eiger Contagion, is now available and ready for order. Matt has to be one of the most imaginative writers out there. This story of space marines on a rescue mission may seem like an old story you’ve seen before, but you’d be very wrong. Matt Howarth takes a science fiction adventure rescue set up and adds elements that are unexpected and startling. You’ve never read anything like this before.

Speaking of which, stay tuned for news on our second collection of Matt Howarth comics, Western Promise, and Other Tales of Interstellar Cynicism. This volume features mostly Matt’s science fiction-themed comics, but long-time fans of Matt’s are bound to recognize a few faces here and there.

Speaking of second volumes and comics, we’ve just released and made available for order a new collection of cartoons by Timothy C. Lockley entitled Somewhere There’s a Cartoonist Making Fun Of Us. Like his first collection (On Facebook… Everybody Knows You’re a Dog), Tim indulges in wicked wordplay coupled with entertaining and downright funny imagery. These are perfect gift books, and perfect books to give to yourself. Who doesn’t like to laugh?

We’ll have more news in a few days. Look for word on releases by Tim Pratt, Chris Reilly, Uncle River, Bud Webster, and more. We don’t take time off for good behavior here. We keep working.

Cheers!

Now available for order! The Night the Music Ended, The Station Nightclub: March 2000 – February 2003 by Marilyn Bellemore looks at The Station nightclub’s history, its place in the community, the tragic fire and its aftermath. In addition, Marilyn takes those years in which she was a reporter for the Kent County Daily Times and shares numerous interviews with some of the bands who performed at The Station including Quiet Riot, The Dave Davies Band, The Tubes, Warrant, and more.

As we approach the tenth anniversary of that tragic night, we put this book out to both celebrate the special community that formed around The Station and to remember the tragic passing of so many victims of the fire. With that in mind, a portion of all sales will be donated to The Station Fire Memorial Foundation.

This book is available for order here, through Amazon.com, and will be available in various locations around Rhode Island. There are a number of events being planned for the release of this special book, the first being a meet-the-author and signing event at the Cowesett Inn in West Warwick (across the street from the former location of The Station nightclub and the new location of the memorial) on December 15, 2012 from 11:30am to 1:30pm.

There are other events coming up. Stay tuned for more announcements as they develop.

As you may be away, the Merry Blacksmith is also an art studio in addition to being a publisher. While we’re in the process of setting up a distinct online presence for the studio side of things, we’ll still have some crossover twixt there and here.

On such item is an announcement that we have some great wall space over at the South County Artisans Market located in the Fantastic Umbrella Factory in Charlestown, RI. We have a number of original paintings and photos up for sale at some very friendly prices. The gallery will be open from Wednesday-Sunday from 10am to 5pm every week until the end of December. There will be an Open House this Saturday (October 27) from 12-5 in which you can meet the artists, have a little food, and enjoy a little music. Yours truly will likely be bringing his banjo, and will–most certainly–be playing the tune “The Merry Blacksmith” at some point or another.

Other artists present include Jon Campbell, Sarah Campbell, Nancy Cook, Jennifer Farmer, Brad Sherman, Tom Rose, Jan Doyle, and many others. Some folks will be added along the way, I’m sure, and the selections will likely shift a bit as well over the months as current pieces are sold and more pieces go up in their place. Right now we’re featuring the paintings and photographs we have, but we’ll be adding a few more items including books by Rhode Island authors.

Check it out. There’s lots of great stuff there… not just ours, but a wide variety of arts, crafts, and more.

We have a lot of titles being prepped for a January Arisia release. Among those new titles will be a collection of Chris Reilly and Darron Laessig’s Punch and Judy series. This omnibus edition will include all of the comics from the first Comical Tragedy collection, the Grand Guignol, and Twice Told Tales.

All there.

Between Reilly’s twisted insight into this iconic character, and Laessig’s distinctive and imaginative artwork, you’ll be taken on a roller coaster ride to surprising heights and shuddering depths… with a lot of dark, very dark laughs along the way.

This ain’t no kids’ puppet show. This is Mr. Punch, and … friends?