Yeehaw! Launch Day for Ten Sleep!
My second eco-horror greets the world during uncertain times
Oh my. Hi everyone! It’s launch day for my second novel, Ten Sleep . . . Some much-needed fun news amid the darkness in which the world has sunk . . .
I’m a big sappy baby right now. Can’t believe this day has arrived. Feels similar to the launch day of The Deading. Experiencing anticipation. Some dread. Will folks buy my book?? Lots of excitement. Wow, I have a new book in the world! All blended together with euphoria. Ten Sleep is really real?! Big thanks to the Erewhon Books and Kensington Books teams, and to my agent Jud Laghi, for making this day happen.
Some cool things. I’ll be launching Ten Sleep in Portland at Powell’s City of Books Wednesday evening, June 25 at 7 pm in conversation with Wendy N. Wagner of Nightmare Magazine. We’ll talk Ten Sleep and her forthcoming release, The Girl In The Creek. Stop by if you can!
The next evening, June 26, I’ll be at Bloomsbury books in Ashland, possibly in conversation with Jane Hawley or booksellers. Might make a library appearance there too. Then I’ll be back in San Luis Obispo for some events in July/August.
You can hear my first reading of Ten Sleep on the Fearmongers where I also talk with acclaimed novelist Clay McLeod Chapman and writer Kailee Pedersen about Ten Sleep and her book, Sacrificial Animals. Check it out below . . .
Signed copies. If you want a signed copy of Ten Sleep, order from The Cove Books. Goes the same for The Deading, which you can get here! Get those signed copies while you can!
Bonus material. Wherever you order, maybe direct from Kensington Books, if you show me either an image of your hardback, or a screenshot of a receipt, then I will send you forty-five pages of bonus material! I’ve written “The Buried of Ten Sleep,” which offers a new twist on the novel, explaining that wicked grin from Bernice. And if you love the animal chapters, and especially the prairie dogs—a hit with early readers compared to the classic, Watership Down—then you’ll want to read “The Ballad of Yellowbrown.”
I worked hard on these extra pages. I hope to hear from you so I can send them over.
Find me on Bluesky or Insta, or send an email to nickbelardes (at) gmail (dot you know what). I’m not doing much with Facebook lately, though maybe messenger? I find the engagement there kind of dead and too ad-driven. Anyway, please help. This is when buying books matters. The way things are going, might be your last chance to buy a book! Gah!
That’s all for now. Thank ya!
Nicholas
SOME PRAISE FOR TEN SLEEP
“Open these pages and fall into a cattle drive up in the high lonesome country, where it’s not just the cattle and the work that are challenging—here there be monsters, too.” —Stephen Graham Jones, best-selling author of The Only Good Indians
“The consequences of a fatal 100-year-old deal between greedy cattle barons and an ancient canyon entity come to a head in Belardes’ evocative follow-up to The Deading . . . Defying easy categorization, Belardes’ atmospheric slow burn alternates between Greta’s perspective and short interstitials told from the points of view of the canyon’s wildlife, upping the stakes as the area’s secrets are revealed. Fans of Weird Westerns and ecohorror will want to check out this ambitious offering.” —Booklist
“Belardes adroitly keeps readers guessing about whether his protagonists will survive their harrowing journey, while demonstrating a mastery of daylight terror. Matthew Lyons fans will be riveted.” —Publishers Weekly
“A coming-of-age, visceral Weird Western marked by palpable terror and populated by uncanny creatures.”—Library Journal
Congrats!