S.G. Browne

To celebrate the German publication of Lucky Bastard (aka Pech Vogel, which hits Deutschland buchhandlungs October 1), I’m giving away two signed copies of the U.S. hardcover edition to two lucky winners. That’s the U.S. edition over there on the left.

If I get more than thirty entries, I’ll make it three signed copies. Deal? Deal.

So how do you enter to win? Piece of cake:

1) Sign up for my e-mail newsletter by submitting your name and e-mail address HERE. There’s also a link to sign up at the top of the sidebar over there on the right.

2) Comment on this post to let me know you signed up.

That’s it. That’s all you have to do. And if you’re already receiving my newsletter, just leave a comment and you’re good to go.

For those of you who are concerned about getting bombarded with e-mails, I don’t send out my newsletter more than once or twice a month and usually just to announce book releases, events, signings, etc. While you can get this information by following me on Facebook or Twitter, signing up for my newsletter is the best way to make sure you don’t miss out. Also, I don’t share my mailing list with anyone, so you don’t have to worry about getting a bunch of spam.

Contest is open to U.S. residents only.

Contest runs until Sunday, September 30 at 11:59PM PST.

Good luck!

It’s that time of year again when hordes of pop culture obsessed geeks and geekettes make the pilgrimage to southern California to pay homage to their favorite superheros, science fiction icons, and comic book characters.

Yes, my friends. It’s time once again for San Diego Comic-Con.

In addition to all of the actors and celebrities and icons of popular culture who will be in San Diego over the weekend, you’ll also find an assortment of authors and writers in attendance. Including me.

I’ll be appearing on a panel Saturday and doing several signings Friday and Saturday, with my schedule and where to find me listed below.

(Note that my signings on Friday are in specific booths on the main floor while my signings on Saturday both take place in the Sails Pavilion, the main autograph area, table AA09. The second signing on Saturday is a group signing for the soon to-be-released zombie anthology 21st Century Dead, edited by Christopher Golden.)

Friday, July 13
Signing: 2:00-3:00PM (Geekscape Booth #3919)
Signing: 4:00-5:00PM (Mysterious Galaxy Booth #1119)

Saturday, July 14
Urban Fantasy Panel: 10:30-11:30am (Room 5AB)
Signing: 11:30am-12:30pm (Sails Pavilion, AA09)
21st Century Dead Signing: 3:00-4:00PM (Sails Pavilion, AA09)
(Group signing with Amber Benson, Cody Goodfellow, John Skipp, Thomas E. Sniegoski, and Daniel H. Wilson)

But wait, there’s more!

For your post Comic-Con hangover, I’ll be appearing with Amber Benson, Cody Goodfellow, and John Skipp at Dark Delicacies in Burbank for another group signing to celebrate the official release of 21st Century Dead.

Tuesday, July 17
21st Century Dead Signing: 7:00-8:00pm (Dark Delicacies, Burbank)

There will also be copies of my novels available at the Burbank signing, just in case you were wondering. Even if you weren’t, I hope to see you in San Diego or Burbank.

*THE GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED AND WINNERS AWARDED. THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR PLAYING!*

To celebrate the Summer Solstice, I’m giving away two signed copies of my latest novel Lucky Bastard. That’s right. Two signed copies to two lucky winners two months after the release of the book.

Think of them as twins separated at birth.

Anyway, since we’ve got a lot of deuces going on here, let’s keep the theme going as we roll on into the relevant details.

There are two ways you can enter to win:

1) Leave a comment on this blog post about your favorite superstition or something you do to attract good luck. Any ritual you perform or talisman you might carry around to improve your good fortune. I’ll pick one lucky winner from the comments posted below. Please post only once. (And if you’re reading this on Goodreads, please leave your comments on the original post on my web site rather than on Goodreads.)

2) Tweet the following on Twitter:

Feeling down on your luck? Pick up a copy of LUCKY BASTARD by @s_g_browne http://su.pr/2DfDyG #luckpoachers

Again, please tweet this only once. And make sure to include the link and the hashtag. I’ll pick a second lucky winner from this pool of entries.

Yes, you can enter to win both ways but again, please, enter only once each time.

The contest will run until Friday, June 22 at 11:59pm PST. Winners will be announced on Monday, June 25.

I’ll cover shipping to any address in the United States. Outside of the United States, any exorbitant shipping costs are on you. Deal? Deal.

Good luck!

This Wednesday, May 23 at 6:00pm EST (or 3:00pm for those of you here with me on the west coast), I’ll be doing a live chat and reading of Lucky Bastard on Shindig, a new customized video chat space for live events. We’ll be connected globally via webcam online where you can ask questions, get live answers, and socialize with other participants. Or if you’d prefer, you can just sit back and watch and listen.

Here’s how it works. Click on the following link to pre-register:

http://www.eventbrite.com/event/3553934915

The day of the event, arrive about 15 minutes early to test your microphone and camera to make sure everything’s working. Then when the event starts we’ll have an interactive reading and discussion, complete with a Q&A session that will last about an hour. The talk is hosted and sponsored by Shindig Events.

Obviously, I’d love to have you join me and ask questions to make the event fun. And please invite your friends to join us! The more the merrier. So feel free to spread the word.

I hope to see you on Wednesday!

I don’t deal in happy endings or plots that don’t leave anything unresolved. The best you’re going to get from me is an ambiguous final chapter with the ultimate outcome for the main character yet to be decided. Possibly in a sequel but not necessarily. And even if there is a sequel, the ending of that one is probably going to leave some loose strings.

So if you like your endings wrapped up in a nice tidy package with a big shiny bow, then you’re probably better off watching a Hollywood movie.

But life isn’t like a Hollywood movie. Things are always left unresolved, and my novels echo that. I realize a lot of people read books and watch movies so that they can escape from reality and have the satisfaction of coming away feeling like someone rose above their circumstances. It gives us hope in our own lives that maybe it can happen to us, too.

The guy gets the girl.
The heroine overcomes her fear.
The underdog saves the day.

The truth is, things don’t always work out the way we want them to.

You don’t find Prince Charming.
You don’t overcome your fears.
You don’t realize your dreams.

And that’s what I like to write about. How things don’t always work out. Or how they might work out in one fashion, but ultimately the ending isn’t what the main character had hoped for. So if you’re picking up one of my books expecting a Hollywood ending, then you’re probably not going to get what you want. But if you try sometime, you just might find, you get what you need.

With apologies to Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones.