TINKER’S SEA coming this summer!

We are thrilled to announce the upcoming release of Tinker’s Sea, the highly-anticipated sequel to Stephen B. Pearl’s Tinker’s Plague!

Ebooks are already available for preorder! Visit the ebook purchase pages on Amazon and Smashwords and be one of the first people to own this exciting post-apocalyptic seafaring story.

Tinker’s Sea will be released during The Pirate Festival, happening July 30-August 1 at Marden Park in Guelph, Ontario.

Full press release:

Milton, ON – Science fiction and fantasy publisher Brain Lag is proud to announce the July 30, 2016 release of TINKER’S SEA, sequel to the post-apocalyptic scifi novel TINKER’S PLAGUE by Stephen B. Pearl. In a world ravaged by the exhaustion of fossil fuels, small societies in southern Ontario re-introduce modern technology, powered by sustainable energy, into lands without electricity. While fulfilling her Coast Guard service obligation, aquatic tinker Tabby Drivensky saves a boy who turns out to have information vital to stopping a pirate who has been plaguing the Great Lakes for years in an ancient, nuclear-powered submarine.

Stephen B. Pearl, a southern Ontario native, has written nine novels that run the gamut of speculative fiction from historical fantasy to military science fiction to paranormal romance. With a strong focus on the way advanced technology or classical mysticism affects the worlds he writes, Pearl brings the science into science fiction and the real world into fantasy.

In TINKER’S SEA, environmental and nuclear technology, medical procedure, seafaring, and politics form a backdrop to a story of how terrors from the past can continue to haunt the present, even after societal collapse. The book follows up TINKER’S PLAGUE, also published by Brain Lag in spring 2016, which readers have hailed for its realistic predictions of environmental changes, clashing ideologies, and both the advancement and devolution of technology in a world without oil.

TINKER’S SEA will be released during The Pirate Festival (www.thepiratefestival.com), taking place July 30-August 1 at Marden Park, 7368 Wellington Road 30, Guelph, Ontario. The book will then be available for purchase by the general public in paperback (MSRP $16.99 CAD) everywhere. Ebooks (MSRP $2.99 CAD) are now available for preorder and can be purchased from Amazon (https://amzn.com/B01F6FARNS) and Smashwords (https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/634390).

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Ad Astra schedule and double launch party!

If you’ve been following the Brain Lag social media, you’ve seen that we’ve now posted four parts of Alan Gordon’s five-part interview with Hugh A. D. Spencer about Why I Hunt Flying Saucers And Other Fantasticals, along with a dramatic production of a scene from one of the stories and a complete radio play of the same story to our YouTube channel. Please like and subscribe to our channel, as we still have the final part of the interview to share, which is coming this Friday before Ad Astra.

We have also released the full schedules for Brain Lag authors at Ad Astra! Check our events calendar to see the many panels and readings that our authors are participating in. We will also be featuring these events throughout the week on our Facebook and Twitter feeds.

We are also thrilled to announce our double launch party during the convention celebrating the release of Why I Hunt Flying Saucers And Other Fantasticals and Tinker’s Plague!

Full press release follows:

April 25, 2016

Milton, ON – On Saturday, April 30, science fiction and fantasy publisher Brain Lag is hosting a double launch party celebrating the release of its two newest titles. The launch party will take place during Ad Astra, the science fiction, fantasy and horror literary convention taking place April 29-May 1 at the Sheraton Parkway Toronto North, 600 HWY-7 E, Richmond Hill, Ontario.

WHY I HUNT FLYING SAUCERS AND OTHER FANTASTICALS collects thirteen critically-acclaimed short stories by author Hugh A. D. Spencer. Featuring malfunctioning household robots, an apocalyptic endless loop, potash-fuelled interstellar travel, and more, these truly Canadian stories stretch science fiction to its limit and bring it into our back yards at the same time.

TINKER’S PLAGUE is a post-apocalyptic medical thriller by Stephen B. Pearl. In a world ravaged by the exhaustion of fossil fuels and environmental degradation, small societies in southern Ontario re- introduce modern technology, powered by sustainable energy, into lands without electricity. Brad Cooper is on his usual route in Guelph when a plague breaks out. Stranded without support as the villagers fight against the quarantine, he seems to be fighting a losing battle as the casualties mount. The launch party will also feature an exclusive preview of the cover art for the upcoming sequel to TINKER’S PLAGUE, TINKER’S SEA.

Both authors will be on hand at the launch party to give readings and sign autographs, and free snacks and drinks will be provided. All convention attendees are invited to join Brain Lag, Hugh A. D. Spencer, and Stephen B. Pearl in celebrating the release of these books. The launch party will be taking place in the penthouse suite of the Sheraton, room 1080, on Saturday, April 30 from 6:00- 8:00 p.m. The books will then be available for purchase by the general public in paperback and ebook formats in online and brick- and-mortar bookstores everywhere.

 

Presenting The Black Trillium

Thank you to everyone who came out to see us at Ad Astra last weekend! It was a fantastic event both at our booth in the dealers room and with the many events that our authors participated in. Our exclusive preview of our next title, The Black Trillium by Simon McNeil, was very warmly received, and so we are proud to release the cover art for The Black Trillium!

This post-apocalyptic wuxia fantasy, set in the ruins of Toronto, will be released on June 27. Ebooks are available for preorder in some major ebook retailers and will be appearing in more over the coming weeks, so order your copy and be one of the first to read this exciting new adult story. More details on the book are available on the book detail page.

We hope you’ll join us in welcoming Simon McNeil to the family of Brain Lag authors and will join us for the launch party of The Black Trillium this summer in Toronto. Stay tuned to our social media outlets or sign up for our mailing list for details as they’re released.

 

May events

New events have been added to the event calendar for May.

Brain Lag will be in the vendors room at SuperFan ComicCon at the Better Living Centre in Exhibition Place in Toronto, May 17-19 (Victoria Day weekend). Author Catherine Fitzsimmons will also be there hosting panels on writing.

Also, ChiSeries Toronto will be hosting Hugh A. D. Spencer along with several other local authors, where you can take in a reading from Extreme Dentistry. Join him Wednesday, May 21 at 8:00 p.m. at ROUND Venue, 152a Augusta Ave. in Toronto. View the Facebook event page for full details.

 

Extreme Dentistry now on sale!

Our newest title, Extreme Dentistry by twice Aurora Award-nominated author Hugh A. D. Spencer, is now available for purchase! Middle-aged, middle-income and lapsed Mormon Arthur Percy felt his life lurch from a difficult normality onto the rails of a carnival ride heading somewhere too much like the Twilight Zone for his liking. Perhaps it is more the “Anti-Twilight Zone” that Arthur enters—where vampires, shape shifters and ghouls are not gorgeous or glamorous but genetic parasites from a hideous communal intelligence known as the Hive. Who will save the human race? And what does all this have to do with Dr. Calvin Stewart, Arthur’s new dentist?

This tale of sarcasm, Mormonism, shopping malls, and more will leave you in stitches. Visit the book detail page to pick up your paperback or ebook today, and join us Saturday, April 5th at 4:00 p.m. during Ad Astra for the official launch party!

 

SFContario and Enduring Chaos launch events

We will be at SFContario at the Ramada Plaza Hotel in Toronto at 300 Jarvis St. next weekend, November 29-December 1. Brain Lag will be in the dealers room all weekend and authors Simon McNeil and Catherine Fitzsimmons will be hosting panels and workshops throughout the convention.

Also, the official launch party for Enduring Chaos, the newest novel by Catherine Fitzsimmons, is happening during SFContario. The launch party is open to the public so come to the Courtyard room of the Ramada Plaza Hotel on Saturday, November 30 at 6:00 p.m. to celebrate the release of our fourth title with prizes, games, and more. RSVPs by e-mail or on the Facebook event page preferred but walk-ins are welcome.

For those in the Milton area, there will be a local launch event taking place at Recycled Reading on Main St. between James and Martin St. on Friday, December 6 at 3:00 p.m. Come meet the author, get a signed copy, learn more about this new book, and enjoy complimentary snacks and beverages.

We hope to see you at one of our upcoming events. For more information, please check out the event calendar or watch our Facebook page.

 

New book this fall: Enduring Chaos

Details on our next title, releasing at the end of November, are now available. Presenting Enduring Chaos by Catherine Fitzsimmons, author of Aurius and Halcyon, and the second book taking place in the world of J. R. Dwornik’s Ruins of Change:

Synopsis:

Cursed with fearsome eyes and a dangerous gift, any chance of Damian Sires having an ordinary life was dashed the moment she was born. All her life, she has hidden her abnormalities and fought for acceptance behind the shadow of a veil and her respected merchant father.

When Damian’s power spirals out of control and casts her out alone into the world, she finds herself caught up in plots as old as the gods themselves. Bitter exiles, deposed nobility, clandestine knights, and a divine being with an ancient grudge all close in on the unstable power radiating from Damian.

Desperate to keep that power contained, she sets out with mysterious allies in an attempt to find someone who can help her in a world that fears magic. Yet the source of Damian’s ability is far more deadly than she imagined.

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Visit the book’s official website for more information and for a chance to win a free ebook of Ruins of Change, and stay tuned to Brain Lag for more information as we get closer to the book’s release date.