L.T. Vargus's Blog, page 8

Sand Gets in Your Eyes

Holy sandstorm! The Girl in the Sand is free through Thursday, and believe me, this is the kind of sand you want in your eyes via reading. Grab it here: The Girl in the Sand on Amazon Tell your friends. Tell your enemies. Tell your mama. I have to say it: The Violet Darger series has reached ...
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Beyond Good and Evil

Behold! We’re back with a new book — a new series, even — and a new tag-team partner as well, the great E.M. Smith. You may recognize the star of our new series, however: Loshak. Special Agent Victor Loshak. Yep. He likes his Dunkin’ Donuts coffee shaken, not stirred. And now, for the first time, he’s on ...
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(Mandatory) Reader Appreciation Sale!

Apparently Amazon slashed the price of Dead End Girl to $1.99 this week. Didn’t say a frickin’ word to us about it, but… Wait. Hang on. What I meant to say was: We love our readers so much that we decided to go above and beyond this week! Yep. We’re slashing prices. Dead End Girl is 60% off! Dead End Girl on Amazon ...
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Life-Changing Reading Hack…

Whoa-ho-holy audiobooks! Let me tell you about the reading hack that changed my life. And you can try it for free. (I’ll get to that in a bit.) I started listening to audiobooks heavily a couple of years ago, and I’ve roughly quadrupled the number of books I read in a year — from something like 50 ...
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Violent Danger

A not-so-little-known fact is that I design all of our covers. That means I spend a fair amount of time dicking around in Photoshop. Sometimes I just make something for shiggles. Like this here photo manipulation portrait I did of Violet Darger. Click the thumbnail to see a larger version.

This is the end…

The Scattered and the Dead (Book 2.6) is live on Amazon! Yahtzee! Erin! Izzy! Others! Grab this baby and get swept up in an apocalyptic adventure: The Scattered and the Dead (Book 2.6) on Amazon Who knew the end of the world could be such an entertaining read, right? Almost makes you wish…. Well, that reminds ...
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A Free Book. (And an audiobook announcement.)

The Vargus McBain universe is swirling with news as well as a sticky tan substance we believe to be butterscotch. (We’re kind of hoping caramel, but there’s a tinge of yellow, so we’re not optimistic.) So here are two really quick annoucements: As part of the build up toward the release of The Scattered and the Dead ...
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The Scattered and the Dead Book 2.6 – Sample Chapter

Jeremiah Rural Maryland 10 years, 38 days after When I close my eyes, I still see it. The blood. The wounds. The human body with its insides taken out. Guts all strewn through the branches of a bush. Just the thought makes my throat tighten up as though to vomit. Makes my insides flex and ...
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I am cursed.

Got my teeth cleaned today. And I have to share with you a curse that has haunted me nearly my entire life.

You know how dentist offices always play the same [fucking terrible] Easy Listening music? Bad enough, right? Well, for as long as I can remember, I have been at the mercy of one particular Dental Office song: “Take My Breath Away” by Berlin.

I know what you’re thinking. “But LT, surely you don’t remember every song that played when you were at the dentist six months ago or twelve months ago.” And you’re right. I don’t. But I remember THAT song, BECAUSE I HATE IT.

I have such loathing for it that I decided around age ten that it was my official Least Favorite Song Ever. Nothing has ever knocked it from that lowly excrement-covered pedestal, in part because I outgrew the need to trumpet all the things I Don’t Like, but also because it is a repulsive song, and no other can ever hope to sink to its level.

For twenty-some years, I was plagued by this song. Each time I passed over the threshold of that hallowed place and climbed into the reclining seat, I knew I was doomed to hear the farty synth stylings of “Take My Breath Away.”

So I did the only thing any sane person would do: I stopped going to the dentist.

Actually, I stopped going because I didn’t have dental insurance.

But maybe also a little so I’d never have to hear the song again.

I had seven years of peace, and I enjoyed every moment.

And then, a few years ago, I decided I really did need to start going to the dentist again, because being able to chew food is kind of handy and stuff. I put on my adulting pants, got dental insurance, and made an appointment for a cleaning, all the while dreading what I knew was lying in wait, probably crouched somewhere behind the spit sucker.

But a strange thing happened.

I sat in the waiting room, perusing old issues of Women’s Health and Good Housekeeping.

No Berlin.

I lay supine, with metal instruments scraping at my gums and also sometimes my teeth.

No Berlin.

Polishing, flossing, X-rays…

No Berlin.

The curse was broken!

Or so I thought…

Fast forward to today. I enter the office. I wait until my name is called. I say hello to my hygienist. And at the exact moment my butt hits that vinyl chair, I hear it.

BOWNOWNOWNOWNOW NOWNOW NOWNOW

I am now convinced the song slow-rolled me on purpose, lulling me into a false sense of security and allowing me to believe the curse was over. That I’d finally eluded my damned existence.

But I should have known all along. I can not escape this evil.

No one can.

When Will There Be More TSATD?

Not long ago, someone asked about The Scattered and the Dead series — I believe it was on our Facebook page. Someone that was neither me nor Tim responded, “There won’t be any more. They have abandoned the series.”

And I thought, “We have? Damn, I wish someone would have told me, because I just wasted the last month or so writing 40,000 words in a series we’ve apparently given up on…”

Presumptuous fans aside, it’s a question we get fairly often, so I figured I might as well make an official clarification.

Will there be more books in The Scattered and the Dead series?

Yes.

When?

Soon-ish.

What does “soon-ish” mean?

It means that we have a lot of projects in the works, and we’re not always certain about release schedules. That goes double for audio production. So while we are 100% committed to finishing the series — both Tim and I are very completis, and neither one of us would be able to stand the idea of leaving a series hanging — we don’t have a release date for the next book at the moment.

Be patient. We promise it’ll be worth it.