Art by Cynthia Sheppard

Tor.com Publishing is proud to announce that we will be publishing Stone Mad, a new novella by Elizabeth Bear in the steampunk world of Karen Memory. When last we saw Karen Memery (“like memory only spelt with an e”) she was managing a high quality bordello in steampunk Seattle and hunting down the threat behind a curious device that could take over anyone’s mind.

Author Elizabeth Bear explains what Karen will get up to next:

It’s so great to be working with Tor.com and channeling Karen again. This story has been bugging me since the end of 2015, and it was one of the ones where I had to keep coming back to it from different angles to get it to come out right. I was trying to write a caper, actually, but the characters were too smart for the plot so it went in a direction that really surprised me! I’m thrilled to show a little more of Karen’s world, and watch her get into ever more trouble.

Stone Mad was acquired for Tor.com Publishing by Executive Editor Beth Meacham. About this new Karen Memory tale:

It is such a pleasure to have the chance to visit with Karen Memory again, and have her tell us another tale of Mad Scientists and ladies of the evening in the gold rush Pacific Northwest. This time with Illusionists, spiritualists, and a very annoyed Borglum. Karen never met trouble she didn’t want to get into, and we’re the ones to reap the benefit.

Elizabeth Bear was born on the same day as Frodo and Bilbo Baggins, but in a different year. She is the Hugo, Sturgeon, Locus, and Campbell Award winning author of nearly 30 novels (The most recent is Karen Memory, a Weird West adventure from Tor) and over a hundred short stories. She lives in Massachusetts with her partner, writer Scott Lynch.

Look forward to Stone Mad in 2018.

Karen Memory cover art by Cynthia Sheppard