For Immediate Release
(Austin, Texas)
Local writer Mark Finn had just published his first story collection, titled
Gods New and Used. Mr. Finn has been working as a writer of non-fiction for
several years. This collection of novellas is his first work of fiction.
The novellas are, in order of appearance:
A Gathering of Storms
Bryan Donner, a bureaucratic weatherman, learns how to be human when the
weather conference he's moderating turns out to be aimed not so much and
weathermen, but weather gods . . .
Slings and Arrows
Mike Bretz may be the most powerful magician in the city, but one thing he
can't conjure up is true love. Fortunately, Doyle's is the kind of bar where
the short guy with the bow and arrow is Eros himself . . .
Road Trip
The stranger at the side of the road doesn't know much about himself, but he
knows he is definitely not Elvis. That aside, the baby driving the car has
his own set of problems. Now they're off to experience the southwest in the
only vehicle that makes sense for both of them: a carnation-pink 1963
Cadillac El Dorado . . .
The Secret Life of Lawrence Croft: or Three Days of the Con Dorks
MagicCon is an ordinary fantasy/science fiction convention. Three days of
comic books, anime, and X-Files jokes, which is exactly what Larry and his
friends are looking for. Unfortunately for Larry, a long-forgotten Roman god
named Stercutus is primed to make a comeback, and this particular god's
sphere of influence really stinks . . .
Set in and around the fictional city of San Cibola, Gods New and Used is a
stand-alone companion piece to Clockwork Storybook, an online shared world
anthology of urban fantasy (http://www.clockworkstorybook.com). Mark Finn's
contributions are often larger than life; they can be both sublime and
ridiculous, both wise and painfully dumb. Like the gods he portrays, Finn's
writing style ranges from heroic to slap-happy, weaving together broad
comedy
and genuine emotion into something that is nothing less than true to life.
The stories in this collection showcase what Finn does best: corralling the
supernatural and the archetypal, and bringing them down to earth, to sit
next to you in the passenger seat as you cruise along a highway somewhere in
the California desert. Here you will meet the embodiments of love, of
thunder, and of rock and roll, and discover about them what is frequently
overlooked: that the gods are often more human than we are.
Gods New and Used is distributed by Ingram and is available now from
Amazon.com.
