Just a week or so ago, I found out that my Shadowrun novel’s publication date got pushed up from August to April. Wow, that was a happy (but somewhat terrifying!) surprise! Suddenly, instead of having 8 months to prepare, I’ve only got about three. I guess that’s what happens when you turn your manuscript in 3 months before it was due.

So now I’m doing fun things like sending in art notes and back-cover copy, and the book has been officially announced on Catalyst’s “coming soon” page. It’s real. I still have to pinch myself a little bit, since writing a genuine published Shadowrun novel has been a dream of mine pretty much since the game came out and I fell in love with it.

I’m steeling myself for the inevitable haters–because there will be haters. Every Shadowrun novel that’s ever come out has some contingent of readers who say it’s the worst thing they’ve ever read. Even the late Shadowrun fiction uber-god Nigel Findley has his detractors. For a while, I was nervous about it. I tend to take every negative comment personally, which is something I suppose most authors do until they get so big that they can laugh it off.

But I think I’m okay with it now. The other Shadowrun novels that have come out in this new batch (all of which I’ve enjoyed a lot) have gotten their good reviews and their bad, their five-star endorsements and one-star eviscerations. All they mean is that some people liked them and some people didn’t. So if I get some bad reviews, I’ll be in darn good company. And if I get some good ones, they’ll make me happy. Either way, it means people are reading the darn thing, right?

I do hope people enjoy it. I had a great time writing it, and I feel thrilled and privileged to be able to finally bring Winterhawk into an “official” fiction setting. I can’t wait to see it sitting proudly on the Barnes and Noble bookshelf next to its brethren that have come before.

Borrowed Time, coming April 2015.