KJToo

Another podcast novelist makes the leap (over a tall building) to print on Monday, 25 August as Mur Lafferty’s superhero novel, Playing for Keeps, debuts from Swarm Press.

I read Playing for Keeps about a year ago, when a pre-overlord Chris Miller and I were asked to assist with some of the “Stories of the Third Wave” supporting material for the podcast release of the novel. Unfortunately, I had to drop out of the production after only one episode due to some conflicting obligations, but the story of super-powered people whose abilities aren’t quite good enough to make them full-fledged superheroes is right up my alley and I’ve often speculated that my own “Third Wave” power could be anything from killing hard drives to sipping coffee just before it has cooled down to the point where it won’t burn my tongue.

Here’s the official press release from the publisher:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 25 Release Date for Mur Lafferty’s Playing for Keeps

Swarm Press is pleased to announce the upcoming release of breakthrough podcaster and author Mur Lafferty’s newest novel of superheroic action Playing for Keeps. Originally a self-released “podiobook,” this new printed version of Lafferty’s novel is due to hit shelves on August 25, 2008.

Playing for Keeps by Mur Lafferty.

Welcome to Seventh City, the birthplace of super powers. The First Wave heroes are jerks, but they have the best gifts: flight, super strength, telepathy, genius, fire. The Third Wavers, like bar-owner Keepsie Branson and her friends, are stuck with the leftovers: the ability to instantly make someone sober, the power to smell the past, absolute control… over elevators. They just aren’t powerful enough to make a difference… at least that’s what they’ve always been told. But when the villain Doodad slips Keepsie a mysterious metal sphere, the Third Wavers become caught in the middle of a battle between egotistical heroes and manipulative villains.

“Playing for Keeps grabbed me and kept me reading straight through when I should have been plotting a new fantasy series for Tor Books. Mur, thank you. Tor, however, does not thank you.” – David Drake, author, Hammer’s Slammers.

Mur Lafferty is an American podcaster and writer based in Durham, North Carolina. She attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and graduated with a degree in English. Her nonfiction work has appeared at www.SuicideGirls.com, as well as in the magazines Knights of the Dinner Table, PC Gamer, Computer Games, Scrye, and SciFi Magazine. Her short fiction has appeared in Hub, Escape Pod, and Scrybe. She was, until July, 2007, the host and co-editor of Pseudopod, and is currently the host and creator of the podcasts Geek Fu Action Grip and I Should be Writing. Visit Mur online at www.murverse.com

Playing for Keeps is still available as a free audio production at Podiobooks.com.

Posted August 24, 2008 Comments(0)

Mur Lafferty’s new audio novel, Playing For Keeps, tells the story of Keepsie Branson, a young woman with a unique ability: nothing she owns can be taken from her against her will. Unfortunately, in a world where superheroes are subsidized by taxpayer dollars, Keepsie doesn’t quite make the grade; she’s just not powerful enough to be officially sanctioned as a full-fledged hero. Denied the opportunity to use her ability for the betterment of humanity, Keepsie has opened a bar across the street from the Academy, the home base of Seventy City’s A-List superheroes. Keepsie’s Bar is a popular watering hole where Third Wavers—people like Keepsie, whose powers have been designated useless by the elitist metahuman snobs at the Academy—gather to commiserate.

Despite being shunned by the Academy, Keepsie and her friends find themselves swept up in the action as the criminal mastermind known as Doodad brings his latest evil plan to bear on Seventh City. Keepsie finds herself in possession of a strange object that both heroes and villains want, and suddenly her power doesn’t seem so insignificant anymore. Neither side can take the object without her permission, and now Keepsie finds herself in a position to help the heroes she despises…or the villains who just might destroy everything she loves.

The first chapter in this unconventional superhero tale is already available at the official Playing For Keeps website and a new chapter will be published each week. While you’re there, read the official PFK blog, listen to promos, download wallpaper and Twitter icons, and more!

But wait, there’s more! To enhance the Playing For Keeps experience, Mur has enlisted the help of some very talented people and created Stories of the Third Wave, snippets of radio broadcasts from Seventh City. Tune in for morning drive-time radio, the evening news, interviews, talk radio and more! Subscribe to The Playing For Keeps Experience to receive the audio novel, the Stories of the Third Wave segments, and a PDF of each chapter that you can read on your PC.

Go to the website. Subscribe to the feed. Join the next wave of serial audio excitement!

Posted November 5, 2007 Comments(6)