Over at Goodreads, the Pulp Magazine Authors and Literature Fans group is discussing my book, Doc Wilde and The Frogs of Doom (it was the official common read for November, but the discussion is only really just beginning).

I’d like to invite any and all of you to join in, or at least hop by and take a peek:

Pulp Magazine Authors & Literature Fans Home Page

“Common Reads” Discussion Board

If you’re a reader and you’re not taking advantage of Goodreads, you should be. It’s a great site for sharing and discovering books, and there’s a lot of dialogue between not only readers and other readers, but readers and writers.

The Saturday before Christmas (December 19, 2009, from 3-5 pm), I’m going to be at Eagle Eye Bookshop in Decatur, GA for a reading/discussion and book signing. Eagle Eye is a fantastic indie bookstore, well known for its author events.

It being the Yule, I figured I’d do something special. So instead of just doing the usual reading from Doc Wilde and The Frogs of Doom, the first book in the series, I’ll be reading the opening chapters of the second book, Doc Wilde and The Mad Skull, which will see print a while down the line.

This will be a rare opportunity to get a peek at a book that’s still being written, prior to any editorial input. First draft pulp, straight from my swashbuckling brain pulp.

Afterward, there’ll be a casual discussion about the book(s) and I’ll be signing Frogs of Doom. Which is not only a fun pulp adventure tale for kids and adults, but a FANTASTIC holiday gift. 

Just a quick note to let you know that my already sporadic posting to the blog is slowing down further. I'm nose-deep writing Doc Wilde and The Mad Skull, and on a tight deadline, so most of my typing needs to be on the book right now.

But I will try to keep you posted on news as it pops up...

Big news, folks!

I always intended the adventures of the Wilde family to be a series, and have always considered it one. My publisher (G.P. Putnam's Sons) also saw it as a series, but hadn't yet committed to doing more books. They had to wait and see how the first book, Doc Wilde and The Frogs of Doom, did in order to be sure it was a good idea.

A few weeks ago my editor contacted my agent and told her they were ready to buy more Doc Wilde. Not only that, they were ready to contract for the next two books.

It’s now official: the adventures of the amazing Doc Wilde and his daring kids are a series. An actual, real, genuine, more-than-one-book series.

I've been working all along on the assumption that would happen, and had three Wilde books in varying states of development. I'd intended the second in the series to be Doc Wilde and The Daughter of Darkness, so most of the work had gone into it.

Unfortunately, DoD is a complex tale with lots of moving parts, and I wasn’t sure I could finish it properly, the way I want it to be, before the agreed upon deadline for the next book (which is not far off).

So one of the other stories leaped heroically forward to take its place:

Doc Wilde and The Mad Skull

The elements of this tale, filled with weirdness and cliffhanging action, date back to the earliest days of Doc Wilde's existence in my imagination, the 1980s. The story's been brewing long enough and it's a great time to let it loose on the world.

Publication is scheduled for May 2011, after which the books will go to a yearly schedule.

And in the meantime...

I also have a secret project underway, and if it works out, there will be some extra adventure coming along to entertain you while you wait.

Watch this space (and sign up for the newsletter!) for more news as it develops...

For those in (or coming to) Atlanta, I'll be making appearances at two big events on Labor Day weekend (Sep. 4-7).

I'll be hopping back and forth between DragonCon in downtown Atlanta and the Decatur Book Festival in (you guessed it) Decatur all weekend.

At DragonCon, I'll be on these panels:

Writing for the YA and Children's Market

Time: Sun 11:30 am Location: Manila / Singapore / Hong Kong - Hyatt (Length: 1)

Description: How to write for an audience that's half your age--or less. Tapping into the minds of today's young people--what DO they want to read?

The Future of Fantastic Fiction

Time: Mon 04:00 pm Location: Manila / Singapore / Hong Kong - Hyatt (Length: 1)

Description: What lies ahead for the S/F, Fantasy and Horror genres? Can we forecast trends or should we just jump on the bandwagon?

At the Decatur Book Festival, I'll be appearing along with author David Lubar at 4:30 pm Saturday on the Target Children's Stage.

And I'll be wandering both events with no real planning all weekend.

Books will be available at the DBF for signing after the appearance, and signed copies of the book will also be available the whole weekend at Little Shop of Stories on Decatur Square. I'm going to try to have some on hand for random buyers at DragonCon.

I hope to see as many current and potential Doc Wilde fans at both events as I can.

After promising various folks I'd do so, I have finally gotten around to figuring out how to handle personal inscriptions for folks unable to see me at a public appearance.

If you already own a copy of my book, for $1 US I'll mail you a signed adhesive book plate to put in your copy, inscribed to whom and however you wish it to be inscribed (within reason).

If you don't already own the book, or wish to obtain more copies, for cover price ($15.99) you can order a personally inscribed copy directly from me. Shipping is free (unless you're outside the US, then I'll have to check on rates). Again, I'll sign it to whomever you wish.

A note to collectors: the first printing has sold through about 2/3 of the way since the book came out in May. So if you'd like your copy to be a first edition, you may want to get your order in sooner rather than later.

Payment can be made by credit or debit card via PayPal (there will be an additional .50-75 charge to cover PayPal fees) or by money order (no checks). I can assume no responsibility for postal failures; if you’d like to insure the delivery, it’s an additional $1.75.

To order, contact me through the Contact form on this site. And, as always, please be patient if I take a few days replying, as I'm doing all this on my own.

This Sunday (August 16) I’ll be interviewed on the monthly science fiction show on WREK radio. We’ll be talking about Doc Wilde, and perhaps about saving the world, we’ll see.

Here’s the blurb from WREK:

The Science Fiction Laboratory on WREK Atlanta (91.1 FM) airs the third Sunday of every month from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. This Sunday, August 16, 2009 we will broadcast, among other things, an interview with author Tim Byrd and a discussion of our favorite pieces of the quickly developing vampire mythology. For listeners not in the Greater Atlanta Metropolitan Area, we stream online at http://www.wrek.org; just click the play button in the upper right. We also stream the show for two weeks after the broadcast. You can access the archive by clicking “Listen to our 14-day archive!” on the left side of the WREK homepage and finding the correct date and time of the show.

For those in (or coming to) Atlanta, Tim Byrd will be making appearances at two big events on Labor Day weekend (Sep. 4-7).

He will be hopping back and forth between DragonCon in downtown Atlanta and the Decatur Book Festival in (you guessed it) Decatur all weekend. At DragonCon, he will be on various panels over the course of the convention, and at the DBF will be appearing along with author David Lubar at 4:30 pm Saturday.

He hopes to see as many current and potential Doc Wilde fans at both events as he can.

More details to follow...

It's been a while since the last entry (about the debut of Doc Wilde and The Frogs of Doom), and I apologize. A lot of things have been happening here at Wilde HQ, and it's been difficult to get to everything I need to do. But I'm here for the moment, and will try to tell you the things you need to know in this entry and those to follow...

Howdy, folks.

The wait is nearly done: this Thursday, May 14th, Doc Wilde and The Frogs of Doom will be released into the wild. It can be ordered online (just visit the Order Doc Wilde! page of this site) already, but as of Thursday, you should be able to find it at your local bookstore.

For those in the Atlanta area (or able/willing to travel there), the big debut/reading/signing for the book will be next Saturday, May 16th, 7 pm EST at Little Shop of Stories in Decatur, GA. Details are in the blog post just below this one.

Click "Read More" for more Doc Wilde news...

Earlier, I announced that the debut event at Little Shop of Stories for Doc Wilde and The Frogs of Doom was to be held on Friday, May 15th.

This has been rescheduled to Saturday, May 16th. The details:

The Day: Saturday, May 16, 2009

The Time: 7 pm

The Place: Little Shop of Stories in beautiful downtown Decatur, GA.

There will still be gummi frogs.

Another rave review for Doc Wilde and The Frogs of Doom, this time from The Baryon Review:

It's a true delight...Tim Byrd has taken Doc Savage, added in a pinch of Robert E. Howard, a liberal dose of H.P. Lovecraft, and mixed it all together in a well done, enchanting pastiche of the pulps that will appeal to the adult audience as well as the young adult readers. It is an over the top at times, rip roaring adventure that returns us to the days of yesteryear and leaves us wanting more. I hope to see more from Tim Byrd and Doc Wilde in the future.

You can read the whole review here.

I found wisdom in a gamebook the other day, advice I think everyone should take, everyone should remember, everyone should act on.

Click Read More to, well, read more.

UPDATE: This event has been rescheduled from Friday, May 15th to Saturday, May 16th.

It's official: Doc Wilde and The Frogs of Doom hits bookstores on May 14th, and I'm having my first signing two days later!

The Day: Saturday, May 16, 2009

The Time: 7 pm

The Place: Little Shop of Stories in beautiful downtown Decatur, GA.

There will be gummi frogs.

My editor just sent me the first BIG review of Doc Wilde and The Frogs of Doom, from Kirkus Reviews (from Wikipedia: "Kirkus has long been a respected, authoritative pre-publication review source within the literary and film industries"):

When their scientist grandfather disappears again, 12-year-old Brian, his ten-year-old sister, Wren, and their world-renowned father, Dr. Spartacus Wilde, are off on an adventure to kick off Byrd's debut novel and the first volume in a new series. The high-tech Indiana Jones-type tale takes the adventurers to the uncharted South American jungles of Hidalgo to find Grandpa Wilde, who had researched dark matter and the possibility of traveling to other universes. The problem is that Frogon, a dark god from another universe, wants to take over ours. Besides finding Grandpa, the Wildes must face a glut of frogs-spy frogs, man-frogs, saber-toothed frogs and the dark elder god frog-and save the universe.

Written in fast-paced, intelligent prose laced with humor and literary allusions ranging from Dante to Dr. Seuss, the story has all of the fun of old-fashioned pulp adventures. A tale "terrifying and dark, of indescribable horrors and eldritch mysteries," this is sure to be Wilde-ly popular, and readers will anxiously await future installments.

Author Will Murray just posted these short comments on my book in various forums devoted to pulp adventure fiction:

Over the weekend I read Tim Byrd's young adult Doc Savage pastiche novel. Let me say that DOC WILDE AND THE FROGS OF DOOM is a pulp-pounding ribbiting croaker of a tale! It mixes a 21st century version of the Man of Bronze and his extended family of adventurers with evil Lovecraftian frogazoids infiltrating our reality via the South American republic of Hidalgo. It's out in May.

This is a particularly gratifying review for me, because Doc Wilde is in many ways an homage to the old pulp hero Doc Savage (see more on the Suggested Reading page), and Will is the official manager for the literary estate of Lester Dent, Doc Savage's creator. Will has also written seven actual Doc Savage novels (published under the pen name "Kenneth Robeson," just as all of Dent's stories were).

So the current keeper of the Doc Savage literary legacy loves Doc Wilde.

That's pretty cool.

If you look down along the left column of this site, you'll see a new spot you can sign up for the Doc Wilde newsletter.

What does this mean?

At the moment, it's nothing formal, mostly an email mailing list. Every once in a while, we'll send something out if there's something new or cool going on, like upcoming book signings, or new reviews of the book, and we'll of course send out news when major things happen like the actual release of the book (May 14, 2009).

We have plans, though, to turn the newsletter into an actual monthly feature with special content (like Doc Wilde's Cliffhanger Survival Tips). So if you get on the list now, you'll not only receive any news we send out (and we promise not to overdo this, we know how annoying an overflowing Inbox can be), when the monthly newsletter begins, you'll start getting those too.

The book is meant for anyone 10 and up.

My son, a very advanced reader, thrilled to its cliffhangers and monsters when he was 8. Many adults have read it and loved its retro action and in-jokes and allusions.

There has been some confusion about this because on various bookseller sites, the "Suggested Reading Level" is showing up as 4-8.

It's not. Somewhere along the line, some bad info got into the system, and I'm trying to get it fixed.

Hello, and welcome to the online headquarters of Doc Wilde and his amazing family.

I'm Tim Byrd, and I'm a writer. In May 2009, G.P. Putnam's Sons is going to publish my first novel, Doc Wilde and The Frogs of Doom. The book is the first of a series depicting the adventures of Doctor Spartacus Wilde, super-scientist, gadgeteer, physical exemplar, warrior, and the coolest dad in the world except for me.

Doc has two brilliantly capable kids, Brian and Wren, who join him for his perilous travels, often saving the day (and the planet) themselves.

Anyone who enjoys grand old pulp adventure in the Doc Savage/Indiana Jones/The Shadow style should enjoy Doc Wilde. It's written for young readers, but full of literary allusion and other stuff for smart folks of all ages.