Surprise! I have a book coming out next year.

I mean, it was kind of a surprise to me when I woke up this morning and one of my collaborators wrote to say, “Hey, guess what’s up?” I had hoped to have time to put together a whole list of stuff, but…

And when it does, what can you do except…

Anyway. I have a YA book coming out next year! (Yes, I know I already said that.) It’s called Three Left Turns to Nowhere, and it’s a collection of three interconnected novellas set in the small town of Hopewell, Ontario. (Thankfully, my friend Phil from college got married in Ontario, so I can at least say that yes, I’ve been to the place I’m writing about. Sort of.) My contribution is titled “Roadside Assistance,” and car trouble is a running theme throughout.

Here’s the whole blurb:

Three strangers heading to a convention in Toronto are stranded in rural Ontario, where a small town with a subtle kind of magic leads each to discover what he’s been searching for.

Ed Sinclair and his friends get stuck in Hopewell after their car breaks down. It’s snark at first sight when he meets local mechanic Lyn, but while they’re getting under each other’s skin, the town might show them a way into one another’s hearts.

Rome Epstein is out and proud and clueless about love. He’s hosting a giant scavenger hunt at the convention, but ends up in Hopewell. When the town starts leaving him clues for its own scavenger hunt, he discovers a boy who could be the prize he’s been searching for.

Fielding Roy has a gift for seeing the past. His trip to reunite with friends hits an unexpected stop in Hopewell, but a long-lost love letter and two local boys give him a chance to do more than watch the past. This time, Fielding might be able to fix the present.

And now, my favorite part: the cover!

Cover Art for Three Left Turns to Nowhere

Another gorgeous design by Matthew Bright of Inkspiral Design. He also designed the cover for The Final Decree, as well as a number of covers for my friend ’Nathan Burgoine, who is one of the collaborators on this book.

And can I just say how absolutely delightful it is to be collaborating with him on this? It’s hard to believe we’ve been friends for over ten years now, and we’ve talked about working on something together for the longest time (although it was probably more him saying “I have this idea for a shared-world collection of stories” and me going “please let me! Can I? Huh? Can I?” because I’m subtle and cool like that). It’s great that we’re finally getting to do that.

I’ll share ebook links as soon as they’re available, but here are a few places you can preorder the paperback now (with more to come):

Left Bank Books (my local!)

Indigo

Barnes and Noble

Amazon

Preorders help a lot, so click that link and keep my so-called writing career going!