I’m still pinning down the fine details, but I am currently scheduled to appear at the Connecticut Renaissance Faire for a book signing on Sunday, October 4 from 1 to 3 PM.

This will be a new experience of sorts. I’ve been involved with CTRF in various capacities for 10 years now (I started out as a staff script writer before moving on to performing and fight directing), so it’ll be odd to be at the show as a special guest.

I’ll be one of three authors making in appearance at the fall show. My friend J.M. Aucoin will be there on Monday (Columbus Day), October 12 signing copies of his new book Honor Among Thieves (Hope & Steel Book 1), and some guy named R.A. Salvatore will be there on Saturday, October 15. I hear he’s got a few books out there, and a bit of a following.*

While I will of course have copies of the Action Figures series on-hand, I am using the opportunity to finally finish work on a book I’ve had sitting on the back burner for a while. That’s right, CTRF will host the official debut of my humorous fantasy novel The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot! I’ve already spoken to my editor Julie and cover artist Tricia and put them on alert so I can get this sucker wrapped up and ready for sale by the show.

I often refer to this book as the fantasy novel for people who don’t like fantasy novels or, when I’m in a more hyperbolic mood, the anti-A Song of Ice and Fire. It’s got plenty of action in it, but also a lot of humor, including some gentle (and not so gentle) jabs at some of the well-worn tropes of the genre.

The book will be something of a test. It is set up ad the first book in a series, but whether I continue the series will depend on how well-received it is. We’ll see.

One potential downside to this is: it might delay Action Figures – Issue Five: Team-Ups slightly. I am still plugging away at it and should finish up draft one soon, but there are other elements of putting a book together I have no control over (namely the availability of my aforementioned editor and cover artist, who now have the AoS&L project on their do-to lists) that could delay the release — hopefully not long, but it could happen.

One final note: Strongarm & Lightfoot will be my first non-YA release. It’ll have some more mature elements that might make it inappropriate for younger readers, but I will aim to give readers another title that leans toward fun escapism rather than the darker, more serious fare that tends to dominate the genre.

* Chill out, people. I know who R.A. Salvatore is, and I’m extremely flattered to be in the same airspace as the man.