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$2.99 Ebook Sale: Motherless Child by Glen Hirshberg

Image Placeholder of - 63The ebook edition of Motherless Child by Glen Hirshberg is on sale now for only $2.99! Get the first book in the Motherless Children trilogy, before the last book, Nothing to Devour, is released on November 6th. This offer will only last for a limited time, so order your copy today.

About Motherless Child: 

In his powerful novel, Motherless Child, Bram Stoker Award–nominee Glen Hirshberg, author of the International Horror Guild Award–winning American Morons, exposes the fallacy of the Twilight-style romantic vampire while capturing the heart of every reader.

It’s the thrill of a lifetime when Sophie and Natalie, single mothers living in a trailer park in North Carolina, meet their idol, the mysterious musician known only as “the Whistler.” Morning finds them covered with dried blood, their clothing shredded and their memories hazy. Things soon become horrifyingly clear: the Whistler is a vampire and Natalie and Sophie are his latest victims. The young women leave their babies with Natalie’s mother and hit the road, determined not to give in to their unnatural desires.

Hunger and desire make a powerful couple. So do the Whistler and his Mother, who are searching for Sophie and Natalie with the help of Twitter and the musician’s many fans. The violent, emotionally moving showdown between two who should be victims and two who should be monsters will leave readers gasping in fear and delight.
Originally published in a sold-out, limited edition, Motherless Child is an extraordinary Southern horror novel that Tor Books is proud to bring to a wider audience.

Order Your Copy

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This sale ends November 1st.

On the Road: Tor/Forge Author Events in August

Deadout by Jon McGoranLock In by John ScalziThe Ultra Thin Man by Patrick SwensonCopper Magic by Julia Mary Gibson

Tor/Forge authors are on the road in August! Once a month, we’re collecting info about all of our upcoming author events. Check and see who’ll be coming to a city near you:

Saturday, August 2

Julia Mary Gibson, Copper Magiczz
Horizon Books
Traverse City, MI
1:00 PM

John Scalzi, The Human Division
Barnes & Noble
Beavercreek, OH
2:00 PM

Glen Hirshberg, Motherless Child
Borderlands Books
San Francisco, CA
3:00 PM

Brian Herbert, The Little Green Book of Chairman Rahma
Writers’ Workshoppe
Port Townsend, WA
7:00 PM

Wednesday, August 6

Jon McGoran, Deadout
Launch Party at the Morris Arboretum
Books provided by Big Blue Marble Books
Flourtown, PA
6:00 PM

Thursday, August 7

Julia Mary Gibson, Copper Magic
Saturn Books
Gaylord, MI
6:30 PM

Brian Herbert, The Little Green Book of Chairman Rahma
Eagle Harbor Book Co.
Bainbridge Island, WA
7:30 PM

Friday, August 8

Julia Mary Gibson, Copper Magic
Between the Covers
Harbor Springs, MI
2:00 PM

Jon McGoran, Deadout
Barnes & Noble
Willow Grove, PA
6:00 PM

Saturday, August 9

Jon McGoran, Deadout
Farley’s Bookshop
New Hope, PA
1:00 PM

A.M. Dellamonica, Child of a Hidden Sea
Barnes & Noble
Amherst, NY
2:00 PM

Julia Mary Gibson, Copper Magic
McLean and Eakin Bookstore
Petoskey, MI
2:00 PM

Terry Goodkind, Severed Souls
Barnes & Noble
Henderson, NV
5:00 PM

Sunday, August 10

A.M. Dellamonica, Child of a Hidden Sea
Barnes & Noble
Rochester, NY
2:00 PM

Jon McGoran, Deadout
Moravian Bookshop
Bethlehem, PA
2:00 PM

Monday, August 11

Jon McGoran, Deadout
Main Point Books
Bryn Mawr, PA
7:00 PM

Tuesday, August 12

Patrick Swenson, The Ultra Thin Man
University Bookstore
Seattle, WA
7:00 PM

Wednesday, August 13

Tracy and Laura Hickman, Unwept
Indy Reads
Indianapolis, IN
3:00 PM

Thursday, August 14

Patrick Swenson, The Ultra Thin Man
Third Place Books
Lake Forest Park, WA
7:00 PM

Friday, August 15

Jon McGoran, Deadout
Edgartown Books
Edgartown, MA
7:00 PM

Tuesday, August 19

L. A. Campbell, Cartboy Goes to Camp
Books of Wonder
New York, NY
5:00 PM

Wednesday, August 20

Patrick Swenson, The Ultra Thin Man
Powell’s Books
Beaverton, OR
7:00 PM

Thursday, August 21

Julia Mary Gibson, Copper Magic
Elk Rapids Historical Society
Elk Rapids, MI
7:00 PM

Thursday, August 21-24

Kevin J. Anderson, The Dark Between the Stars
Chicago Comic Con
Chicago, IL

Saturday, August 23

Julia Mary Gibson, Copper Magic
Island Bookstore
Mackinac Island, MI
1:00 PM

Gary Kriss, The Zodiac Deception
Barnes & Noble
Norwalk, CT
2:00 PM

Sunday, August 24

Julia Mary Gibson, Copper Magic
Island Books & Crafts
Sault Ste. Marie, MI
2:00 PM

Tuesday, August 26

Julia Mary Gibson, Copper Magic
Sault Ste. Marie Library
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada
2:00 PM

John Scalzi, Lock In
Brazos Bookstore
Houston, TX
7:00 PM

Jon McGoran, Deadout
Mystery on Main Street
Brattleboro, VT
7:00 PM

Wednesday, August 27

Stephen Baker, The Boost
Bank Square Books
Author Luncheon
Mystic, CT
12:00 PM

Julia Mary Gibson, Copper Magic
Snowbound Books
Marquette, MI
1:00 PM

John Scalzi, Lock In
Book People
Austin, TX
7:00 PM

Thursday, August 28

Patrick Swenson, The Ultra Thin Man
Mysterious Galaxy
San Diego, CA
7:00 PM

John Scalzi, Lock In
Quail Ridge Books & Music
Raleigh, NC
7:30 PM

Friday, August 29

John Scalzi, Lock In
Flyleaf Books
Chapel Hill, NC
7:00 PM

Friday, August 29-September 1

Kevin J. Anderson, The Dark Between the Stars
Dragoncon
Atlanta, GA

Saturday, August 30

Jon McGoran, Deadout
Buffalo Street Books
Ithaca, NY
2:00 PM

Patrick Swenson, The Ultra Thin Man
Brian Herbert, The Little Green Book of Chairman Rahma
Borderlands Books
San Francisco, CA
3:00 PM

John Scalzi, Lock In
Decatur Book Festival
Decatur, GA

Tor Books Announces Programming for San Diego Comic-Con 2014

Tor Books is heading to San Diego Comic-Con!

Image Placeholder of - 94 Once again Tor (Booth# 2707) continues our wildly popular *in-booth signings and giveaways, offering you a chance to meet your favorite authors up close and personal and pick up free books. We’ve got a great line up including appearances by: John ScalziGreg van EekhoutTobias Buckell, and Tor Teen debut author Ben Tripp.

 


Thursday, July 24th

  • 12:00 – 1:00am Panel: Fairy Tale Remix, Room 32AB
    Tor Teen author Ben Tripp (The Accidental Highwayman) joins Marissa Meyer (The Lunar Chronicles) and others that will give insight to the fairy tales of old, and new!
  • 1:30pm – 2:30 pm Signing to follow in the autographing area, Table AA09
  • 1:30pm – Author Reading Spotlight – John Scalzi, Science Fiction Author Cosplay, Horton Grand Theater, 444 4th Ave, between Island and J Street.
    John Scalzi reads from his forthcoming near-future thriller, Lock In, answers audience questions and maybe even serenades them on the ukulele!
  • 3:00pm – 4:00pm Panel: When Magic & Myth Meet Main Street, Room 25ABC
    When stories mix modern cities like Paris, LA, New York with magic, myth and demon spawn they are collectively known as Urban Fantasy, and many of today’s popular authors are adding their otherworldly ingredients to the melting pots of modern (and not-so-modern) society. Join some of today’s top urban fantasy authors, including Greg van Eekhout (California Bones), Jim Butcher, Seanan McGuire and others as they discuss why something old with something new equals gold.
  • 4:30pm – 5:30pm Signing to follow in the autographing area, Table AA09

Friday, July 25th

  • 1:00pm – 2:00pm Panel: 101 Ways to Kill a Man, Room 32AB
    Coming up with creative ways to commit mayhem and murder is the lifeblood of these talented thriller authors. A fatal chimera virus; hybridized bioengineered parasites; murderous microchips; lethal electric stimuli; deathstrike via satellite targeting. How many ways can you kill someone? Join top thriller authors Tobias Buckell (Hurricane Fever)Greg Hurwitz (Don’t Look Back) and others as they discuss the art of delivering deadly thrills. But don’t worry too much. A little light reading never killed anyone.
  • 2:30pm – 3:30pm Signing to follow in the autographing area, Table AA09

Saturday, July 26th

  • 12:00pm Tor Booth (#2707) Signing: Hurricane Fever – Tobias Buckell
  • 2:30pm – 3:30pm Panel: The Art of Fear, Room 8
    Horror novels have been keeping us at night for years. From puppets that come to life, to creepy-crawly worm, haunted towns, demons out for blood, killer wolves, possible possessions, to the apocalypse, these authors give you goosebumps while you read. Glen Hirschberg (Motherless Child), moderates this panel featuring, Mira Grant and others as they discuss their novels, the writing process, and why you keep the light on while you read.
  • 4:00pm – 5:00pm Signing to follow in the autographing area, Table AA09

Make sure to follow @TorBooks on Twitter for up to date information and last minute events!

All Tor Booth signings are on a first come first serve basis and while supplies lasts. Limit one book per person.

On the Road: Tor/Forge Author Events in July

Hurricane Fever by Tobias BuckellA Plunder of Souls by D. B. JacksonThe Dark Between the Stars by Kevin J. AndersonFull Fathom Five by Max Gladstone

Tor/Forge authors are on the road in July! Once a month, we’re collecting info about all of our upcoming author events. Check and see who’ll be coming to a city near you:

Thursday, July 3

Jo Walton, My Real Children
Flights of Fantasy
Albany, NY
7:00 PM

Thursday, July 10

Kevin J. Anderson, The Dark Between the Stars
Connecticon, July 10-13
Connecticut Convention Center
Hartford, CT

Saturday, July 12

Jane Lindskold, Artemis Awakening
Bookworks
Albuquerque, NM
3:00 PM

Sunday, July 13

Paul Park, All Those Vanished Engines
Brian Staveley, The Emperor’s Blades
Max Gladstone, Full Fathom Five
Felix Gilman, The Revolutions
Barnes & Noble
Burlington, MA
3:30 PM

Monday, July 14

D. B. Jackson, A Plunder of Souls
BooKnack
Rock Hill, SC
6:00 PM

Tuesday, July 15

D. B. Jackson, A Plunder of Souls
Books A Million
With authors Faith Hunter and A. J. Hartley
Gastonia, NC
6:30 PM

Max Gladstone, Full Fathom Five
Pandemonium Books & Games
Cambridge, MA
7:00 PM

Thursday, July 17

D. B. Jackson, A Plunder of Souls
Fountain Bookstore
Richmond, VA
6:30 PM

Paul Park, All Those Vanished Engines
Barnes & Noble
Holyoke, MA
7:00 PM

Friday, July 18

Tracy and Laura Hickman, Unwept
Barnes & Noble
Orem, UT
7:00 PM

Paul Park, All Those Vanished Engines
Amherst Bookstore
Amherst, MA
7:00 PM

Monday, July 21

Glen Hirshberg, Motherless Child
Literati Bookstore
Ann Arbor, MI
7:00 PM

D. B. Jackson, A Plunder of Souls
Quail Ridge Books
Raleigh, NC
7:30 PM

Wednesday, July 23

Max Gladstone, Full Fathom Five
Barnes & Noble
Framingham, MA
7:00 PM

Saturday, July 26

Jane Lindskold, Artemis Awakening
Steven Gould, Impulse
Barnes & Noble, Coronado Mall
Albuquerque, NM
2:00 PM

Julia Mary Gibson, Copper Magic
Benzie Shores District Library
Frankfort, MI
3:00 PM

Sunday, July 27

Tobias Buckell, Hurricane Fever
Borderlands Books
San Francisco, CA
3:00 PM

Monday, July 28

Tobias Buckell, Hurricane Fever
University Book Store
Seattle, WA
7:00 PM

Tuesday, July 29

Tobias Buckell, Hurricane Fever
Mysterious Galaxy
San Diego, CA
7:00 PM

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Is Horror Literature?

Motherless Child by Glen Hirshberg

Written by Glen Hirshberg

When I first saw the question, I read it wrong.

The question came to me from writer-editors Chris Shearer and Tim Waggoner, who had invited me to contribute to a critical work they’re assembling called The Dark Now, due out from Post Mortem Books in 2015. They sent me a set of provocative queries, including this one:

“Horror seems to be gaining a certain amount of literary respectability… What do you think of that trend? Does it make horror a less rebellious genre?”

But what I read, and immediately started to answer, was a related but very different question, one I have been asked a thousand times before: by my teachers; by graduate school workshop peers; by vaguely concerned Faculty Search Committees (I mean, he seems pleasant enough, but have you read his stuff?) when I interviewed for jobs; even by readers. And that question goes something like this:

“Can horror even be literature?”

Or, “Why would a real writer ever want or need to write that?”

The implications of those questions have dogged my career ever since my waggish brother mocked up a book jacket for my first novel, The Snowman’s Children, complete with an imaginary blurb from Stephen King proclaiming (a little too accurately), “It’s like To Kill a Mockingbird meets Silence of the Lambs.”

Then I read Chris and Tim’s question again.

And once more.

And I burst out laughing.

In a way, the query itself says a lot about the health and dynamism of the field right now. If horror has reached (or returned to) its Nirvana—meaning, the moment where it has erupted so forcefully into the mainstream that its practitioners perceive a danger of becoming mainstream—then maybe we really have left the much-maligned Dark(er) Ages of slasher films and black-spined paperbacks behind us.

But with the exception of the above era, stretching, say, from the death of Shirley Jackson in 1965 to wherever you pinpoint the emergence of the New Wave Fabuwhatevers sometime in the 2000s, horror has always been literature, always been a shadowy corner of the mainstream.

Virtually every human civilization that has ever told itself stories has told itself ghost stories. In this country, one could certainly make the case that more of our literary giants have written supernatural fiction than have not (starting with Charles Brockden Brown and Washington Irving and continuing right on through Hawthorne, Chesnutt, Poe, Henry James, Edith Wharton, Willa Cather, William Faulkner). Meanwhile, the leading lights of horror— from M.R. James and Arthur Machen to Theodore Sturgeon, Shirley Jackson, Ramsey Campbell, Peter Straub, Lucius Shepard (Goddamnit)—have all eventually been recognized for the dazzling, and literary, writers they are.

This détente has been the norm, not the exception, so much so that even the afore-mentioned black-spine era is now being reassessed; witness the recent and frequent welcoming of Stephen King—belatedly, and with more than occasional traces of condescension—into the pages of that august organ of the Academy, The New York Times Book Review.

The only danger to horror or literature, it seems to me, is the assumption that they are separate or opposing things. That literature can’t be rebellious. That dark fiction can’t be gorgeous and hurtful and heartfelt and life-affirming.

In January, in The New York Times, Russell Banks caused predictable feather-flapping in the spectral fiction community when he declared that he avoids reading “Anything described by the author or publisher as fantasy, which says to me, ‘Don’t worry, Reader, Death will be absent here.’” If I had a dog—or a gigantic hound—in this fight, I’d be tempted to respond that I avoid anything proclaiming itself Literature, which says to me, ‘Don’t worry, Reader, Life will be absent here.’”

But I don’t (have a dog, or avoid literature). Because the truest and only response I’ve got, to all these questions, is this: actual human experience, whatever that turns out to be, is so bound up in and suffused by our expectations for the experience beforehand and the memories and meanings we attach afterward that we are, as a species, incapable of telling the difference between reality and the way we experience reality. There is no reality without imagination, in living or in art. And there is no imagination without a reality to trigger it.

We are so much more—and less—than the stuff dreams are made on. We are dreams, walking.

…………………………

From the Tor/Forge May 19th newsletter. Sign up to receive our newsletter via email.

…………………………

More from the May 19th Tor/Forge newsletter:

On the Road: Tor/Forge Author Events in May

Valour and Vanity by Mary Robinette KowalThe Kraken Project by Douglas PrestonThe Tropic of Serpents by Marie BrennanMy Real Children by Jo Walton

Tor/Forge authors are on the road in May! Once a month, we’re collecting info about all of our upcoming author events. Check and see who’ll be coming to a city near you:

Thursday, May 1

Renee Graziano, Playing With Fire
Barnes & Noble
Eatontown, NJ
7:00 PM

Marie Brennan, The Tropic of Serpents and Mary Robinette Kowal, Valour and Vanity
DePaul University Bookstore
Chicago, IL
6:00 PM

Friday, May 2

Marie Brennan, The Tropic of Serpents and Mary Robinette Kowal, Valour and Vanity
University Bookstore
Seattle, WA
7:00 PM

Daryl Gregory, Afterparty
Copperfield’s Books
Petaluma, CA
7:00 PM

Saturday, May 3

W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O’Neal Gear, People of the Morning Star
Hastings Entertainment
Laramie, WY
1:00 PM

Marie Brennan, The Tropic of Serpents and Mary Robinette Kowal, Valour and Vanity
Powell’s Books
Beaverton, OR
2:00 PM

Daryl Gregory, Afterparty
Borderlands Books
San Francisco, CA
3:00 PM

Sunday, May 4

Daryl Gregory, Afterparty
Mysterious Galaxy
San Diego, CA
2:00 PM

Marie Brennan, The Tropic of Serpents and Mary Robinette Kowal, Valour and Vanity
Book Bin
Salem, OR
3:00 PM

Tuesday, May 6

Marie Brennan, The Tropic of Serpents and Mary Robinette Kowal, Valour and Vanity
Murder by the Book
Houston, TX
6:30 PM

Thursday, May 8

Marie Brennan, The Tropic of Serpents and Mary Robinette Kowal, Valour and Vanity
Weller Book Works
Salt Lake City, UT
6:00 PM

Elizabeth Bear, Steles of the Sky
Pandemonium Books & Games
Cambridge, MA
7:00 PM

Saturday, May 10

Marie Brennan, The Tropic of Serpents and Mary Robinette Kowal, Valour and Vanity
Mysterious Galaxy 21st Birthday Bash
San Diego, CA
10:00 AM

W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O’Neal Gear, People of the Morning Star
Hastings Entertainment
Gillette, WY
2:00 PM

Elizabeth Bear, Steles of the Sky
Annie’s Book Shop
Worcester, MA
3:00 PM

Sunday, May 11

Marie Brennan, The Tropic of Serpents and Mary Robinette Kowal, Valour and Vanity
Borderlands Books
San Francisco, CA
3:00 PM

Monday, May 12

Mary Robinette Kowal, Valour and Vanity
Quail Ridge Books
Raleigh, NC
7:30 PM

Tuesday, May 13

James L. Cambias, A Darkling Sea
Powell’s Books
Beaverton, MA
7:00 PM

Wednesday, May 14

Douglas Preston, The Kraken Project
Murder by the Book
Houston, TX
6:30 PM

Thursday, May 15

W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O’Neal Gear, People of the Morning Star
Barnes & Noble
Billings, MT
7:00 PM

Hilary Davidson, Blood Always Tells
One More Page Books
Arlington, VA
7:00 PM

Douglas Preston, The Kraken Project
Tattered Cover
Highlands Ranch, CO
7:30 PM

Friday, May 16

Kevin J. Anderson, The Dark Between the Stars
Dallas Comic-con
Dallas, TX
May 16-18

Douglas Preston, The Kraken Project
Arizona Biltmore, books provided by Poisoned Pen
Scottsdale, AZ
7:00 PM

James L. Cambias, A Darkling Sea
University Bookstore
Seattle, WA
7:00 PM

Saturday, May 17

Jon Leiberman and Margaret McLean, Whitey on Trial
Meriden Public Library
Meriden, CT
2:00 PM

W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O’Neal Gear, People of the Morning Star
Barnes & Noble
Bozeman, MT
2:00 PM

Hilary Davidson, Blood Always Tells
Mystery One Bookstore
Milwaukee, WI
2:00 PM

Sunday, May 18

Glen Hirshberg, Motherless Child
Mysterious Galaxy
San Diego, CA
2:00 PM

Monday, May 19

Douglas Preston, The Kraken Project
Collected Works
Santa Fe, NM
7:00 PM

Tuesday, May 20

Douglas Preston, The Kraken Project
Bookworks
Albuquerque, NM
7:00 PM

Thursday, May 22

Jo Walton, My Real Children
Towne Book Center
Collegeville, PA
7:00 PM

Friday, May 23

Kevin J. Anderson, The Dark Between the Stars
Comicpalooza
Houston, TX
May 23-26

Saturday, May 24

Glen Hirshberg, Motherless Child
Dark Delicacies
Burbank, CA
2:00 PM

Douglas Preston, The Kraken Project
Book People
Austin, TX
4:00 PM

Sunday, May 25

Gary Kriss, The Zodiac Deception
Booksy Galore
Pound Ridge, NY
2:00 PM

Tuesday, May 27

Jo Walton, My Real Children
Word Bookstores
Brooklyn, NY
7:00 PM

Wednesday, May 28

Jo Walton, My Real Children
Wellesley Books
Wellesley, MA
7:00 PM

Saturday, May 31

Melanie Rawn, Thornlost
Alamosa Books
Albuquerque, NM
4:00 PM

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Starred Review: Motherless Child by Glen Hirshberg

Motherless Child by Glen Hirshberg“…this one is a spine-tingler with smart dialogue, a thickly atmospheric setting, and plenty of visceral violence. Fine old-school horror…”

Glen Hirshberg’s Motherless Child got a starred review in Booklist!

Here’s the full review, from the May 15 issue:

Placeholder of  -96 Award-winning author Hirshberg takes readers on a grisly yet darkly comedic road trip in this outstanding southern horror tale about two single moms and their unfortunate encounter with a shadowy and irresistible singer known as the Whistler. Natalie and Sophie have been “turned” into vampires, and, as realization sets in, they leave their children with Natalie’s mother and take off on a road trip to figure things out. The story begins on a surreal note with the women casually discussing music and life as they agonize over whether to satisfy their need to “eat” or to resist their urges and go home. All the while, the Whistler and his longtime companion, Mother, are looking for Sophie and Natalie, with Hirshberg deftly switching from comic banter into tension-laced, decidedly creepy horror mode. No fangs, no pretty shirtless vampires, and no romance here—this one is a spine-tingler with smart dialogue, a thickly atmospheric setting, and plenty of visceral violence. Fine old-school horror, which will delight fans disgusted by the overabundance of vampire lite now dominating the genre.

Motherless Child will be published on May 13.

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