September 07 is a big day around here. Not only does my new novel Z come out in hardcover, but my novel Suicide Notes is being released in paperback, both from HarperCollins.

I hesitate to mention that Z is a zombie novel, as I know a lot of readers are completely over zombies at the moment. But Z isn’t really about zombies. It’s about our desensitization to war and violence and what happens when we allow ourselves to see human beings as things instead of people. Only not in a boring, preachy way. And lots of stuff gets “blowed up,” as a friend of mine likes to say.

I’m really pleased that Suicide Notes is out in paperback. In case you missed it the first time around, now’s your chance to check it out. This is one of my favorites of all my books. Again, don’t let the whole suicide thing scare you off. This one isn’t a downer. In fact, it’s pretty funny.

Oh, and I have some exciting news on the Jane Bites Back front, but you’ll have to wait a little longer for that . . .

I’m very, very pleased to announce that Jane Bites Back has been published in Portuguese.

Many thanks to all of the readers who have already written to say how much you like the book.

At the 22nd annual Lambda Literary Awards honoring the best in LGBT literature Mike’s novel What We Remember won the Lammy for Gay Men’s Mystery. This is Mike’s fifth Lammy, having previously won twice in the humor category and twice in the romance category.

What We Remember is out now in paperback.

For those of you who have never seen one, this is what a Lammy looks like.

Please note that I have cleverly photographed it against a bedsheet from my personal collection. Please also note that the Lammy is made of glass and engraved. Despite what some people might tell you, this is just about the most impossible thing in the world to photograph, with the possible exception of Great White sharks mating. So my apologies for the bad image. Despite my failings, I think you’ll get the general idea of the thing.

There’s a fantastic interview on NPR today with Claire Harman, author of Jane’s Fame: How Jane Austen Conquered the World. Take a listen here.

Many thanks to my friend Michael Calanan for alerting me to this entertaining piece.

I am really pleased (and not a little relieved, I don’t mind telling you) that the delightfully wicked ladies of AustenBlog are very fond of JBB.

You can read the review here.

For those of you who enjoy reading with your ears, I have a delightful announcement.

Jane Bites Back is now available as an unabridged, downloadable (don’t you love new words?) audio book exclusively from audible.com. The book is narrated by Katherine Kellgren, who also did the narration for my friend Seth Grahame-Smith’s Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

So hop on over to audible.com and take a listen.

Mike will be appearing on KWMR’s “Lifequest” on Tuesday morning. The show runs from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM, and Mike will be talking about Jane Bites Back, his writing career, and what’s up next for everybody’s favorite literary vampire.

Those of you in Northern California can tune in to KWMR at 90.5 FM in the Pt. Reyes area and 89.9 FM in Bolinas.

The rest of you can listen online by going here: http://kwmr.org/listen_kwmr.html

How can you not love a review that starts off, “In the past year, I have read quite a few Jane Austen spin-offs, but none quite as original as Jane Bites Back by Michael Thomas Ford.”?

Read the rest of the review here.