For Your Listening Pleasure

I work, sometimes in passing, with some insanely talented people.

I say "insanely" because they have this weird idea that I, too, am talented... anyway, as a result of working with some crazy writers and podcasters, I have two things of interest...

First off is Nobilis Reed's podcast, where my work has appeared before, for Ripped, now has one of my steampunk stories, Deep Breath, available...

Like steampunk? Submersibles? Robot Sharks? And sex up against the bulkhead? Then Deep Breath is for you. Read by Kristen Bays, who does my terrible dialect writing in glorious performance (seriously, I could NOT stop listening to this, it gives me chills...)

Deep Breath takes place in the same universe as London Steam (and the project-to-come, The Wormwood Trade), in a reimagined London, where Napoleon won the war and Britain is just returning to independence after the assassination of the Emperor's bride (yeah, yeah, back story that never really comes up, but I promise, after I write Wormwood Trade, it all fits together...)

Deep Breath appeared in Ladies of Steampunk magazine, the premier issue, inspired by the lovely photograph at the left there...

The original "idea" for the calendar was for people to write little short flash fiction to go with each month's Steampunk lady, but that fell through when not enough stories were submitted, and the calendar went forward without the stories. The calendar was popular enough that they decided to move to magazine publications, and thus the Ladies of Steampunk magazine was born.

My rights returned to me quite some time ago--but you can still get the premier edition of the magazine, if you want it. It's very lovely--and I hadn't really decided what I wanted to do with the story. Since it's still available in an eMag and print copies, I didn't think it necessary to publish it elsewhere. But Nobilis, who is a lovely person, a talented writer, and a good friend, has been doing podcasting for a while, and offered submissions to a writer's group we both belong to, and I sent in Deep Breath as something I had easily available.

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And then, for more listening enjoyment, Dead in the Water, my zombie story, will also be available in an audio format Real Soon Now...

Rose Caraway's Kiss Me Quick Podcast will be featuring Dead in the Water as its next episode, along with this crazy, sexy cover...

Dead in the Water originally appeared in Sommer Marsden's anthology, Coming Together: Hungry for Love, which featured a wide variety of sexy zombie stories... I love that collection, it's one of my pride and joys. I especially love it because I'd wanted to work with Sommer for a while--she is one of my idols in the erotica corner of the world... when I grow up, I want to be Sommer--and because I adore zombies.

The story was inspired by a sign in front of a boat shop that read "Zombies Can't Swim, Buy a Boat."

So I wrote a story about a group of refugees after the zombie apocalypse who'd taken shelter in a cluster of houseboats and yachts and lived out in the middle of a sheltered bay (okay, I'll be honest, it's set right in front of my parents' bayside cabin...)

In the course of writing the story, I realized that I absolutely didn't know what firing a handgun felt like, so I enlisted some help from a friend, went to a firing range, and actually did use a handgun for a while. I wouldn't say I'm good at it, and I'm still never sure if I enjoyed it or not, but I've been a few times since, and I'm no longer terrified of guns as objects. (I'm still terrified of idiots with guns, but I'm also terrified of idiots with cars, so you know, there's that.)

I really love this story, and I adore Rose. Can't wait to hear it... Take a listen, and let me know what you think...

A Pair of Earbuds

I've been just on the edge of my seat for this announcement...

Ripped is now available as an audio book!

Among other things to come out of the writer's retreat... Nobilis, Elizabeth and I discussed setting some of our favorite stories from Whetting the Appetite (also now available in PAPERBACK!! Woo woo!) to earphones everywhere...

So, for those fans who want to take a listen, please go over and enjoy. At the end of the podcast is a coupon code for 20% off the ebook. (I'm not sure if this coupon code applies to the paperback or not. Probably not, because I think JM set it up for just the ebook... anyway....)

Whetting contains 40+ short stories across a multitude of genres, a wide variety of sexual partners (m/m to m/m/f/f to male/alien plant... no, I'm not kidding.)

Ripped is one of - in my personal opinion - the best things I've ever written. It's gloriously unrestrained, unapologetic for what it is, and written in an undeniable creepy voice. Which Nobilis captures quite well, I'm impressed.

I'm not the only one who thinks so.

Here, I have Malin James' review of the book and all the wonderful things she has to say about it...

including this final paragraph...

Lynn Townsend's "Ripped" is one of the most effective usages of the Jack the Ripper mythos that I've ever read. It is chilling and brutal and incredibly hot in a gritty, very human way. It is literally worth the price of the collection, and considering how incredibly good the rest of the collection is, that means anyone who buys the book is getting one hell of a ridiculous bargain.

So, listen, buy, read, enjoy....