It is with great pleasure that I announce Overdue: Mystery, Adventure & The World’s Lost Books, the new anthology from 18^th Wall Productions – an anthology of stories revolving around the quest for history’s lost or legendary books.

And, when I call Overdue “my latest work,” I mean that in three different ways…

…yes, it contains my near-novel-length story, “Provenance.”

…it also marks the first time I am receiving an editing credit, having co-curated the anthology with the ever-excellent M.H. Norris (and an occasional silent but steady hand lent by 18^th Wall’s CEO James Bojaciuk).

…but what really makes this special for me is the concept behind Overdue: a shared-universe anthology bringing together the world of my Bel Nemeton series with the world of M.H. Norris’s All the Petty Myths. So, all the stories in Overdue have some element of my handiwork: a fragment of my world, sometimes my characters. And that was something really special for me.

I was incredibly flattered when M.H. approached me with the idea of a shared universe anthology – and very excited by how supportive 18^th Wall was about the idea. But it was a bit of our journey to get from the “hey, wouldn’t it be neat if…” kernel of an idea to a finished anthology. While Bel Nemeton and All the Petty Myths have many similarities, they also have differences. M.H. and I put our heads together to see what we could make out of the similarities: quirky, cerebral protagonists and an obsession with history – whether that “history” is the relatively recent urban folklore of All the Petty Myths or the dusty old manuscripts from Bel Nemeton’s 6^th century historical-fantasy Arthurian Britain.

We imagined the three principal modern-day protagonists of the shared universe teaming up to launch an initiative to recover, discover, or rediscover the world’s lost, forgotten, or rumored books. That framework would give authors the opportunity to use their imaginations to create such books or to weave actual works of history or legend into their tales. It also created opportunities for a wide range of protagonists: archaeologists, historians, linguists, anthropologists, antiquarians, and book scouts – all, more or less, on the up and up. But it also left space for mercenaries, morally ambiguous archaeologists, treasure hunters, gentleman and gentlewoman rogues, warlords, and even the street kid who got lucky (or unlucky) and snatched the right backpack. If anyone really wants to nerd-out, you can read the full submission call here.

The Overdue curation team was floored by the response – not just the quality of the submissions we accepted, but the sheer diversity of the nine stories we accepted: “Wicker Man” by M.H. Norris, “Wholly Holy” by Kara Dennison, “Perpetual Happiness” by Heidi J. Hewett, “Loredana’s Challenge” by Liam Hogan, “The Book of the Ways” by R.C. Mulhare, “Bring the Fire” by Michael O’Brien, “Under Cover” by Sean Michael O’dea, “Clue to the Past” by Karen Thrower, “Provenance” by Jon Black, “In the Hearts of Lads” by Fio Trethewey

Within the parameters of the shared universe, our authors wove tales that count as Mythos horror, neo-Gothic, supernatural techno-thriller, Arthurian magical realism (no, not mine, surprisingly), fine-dining intriguing, clock-punk-adjacent YA slipsteam, YA coming of age, and even romance-adventure.

That being said, I’m also very pleased with my own contribution, “Provenance.” In one important way, it is unique from the other stories in the anthology. While spelling out that difference would probably be an unwelcome spoiler, the story’s title gives at least a bit of hint. Fans of the Bel Nemeton series, and my work in general, will likely appreciate the story for several reasons. It sheds some light on Jake Booker’s shady pre-Bel Nemeton past. It gives me a chance to write “linguistics-porn” about a language family other than Celtic, and it includes some Easter eggs establishing that the Bel Nemeton series, Gabriel’s Trumpet, and my Junzt County stories all take place in the same world. (I also need to give a very grateful shout-out to Jeremy Brett and Alexandra Hubbard for serving as authenticity readers on “Provenance.”)

That was one of the greatest joys of Overdue for me: seeing what other authors -including some who are better-known, or just plain better- did with worlds and characters I had created. (Interesting observation: our authors have many different interpretations of Myths’ Dr. Rosella Tassoni and Nemeton’s Dr. Vivian Cuinnsey. But everyone sees Nemeton’s Jake Booker the same way!)

Overdue: Mystery, Adventure & The World’s Lost Books is available in Kindle and paperback on Amazon and multiple eBook formats through 18^th Wall.

Hebrew text printed in 16th century Prague, evocative of the fictional Sefer Bohem in Overdue’s “Provenance” by Jon Black.