Whatever Holiday Gift Guide 2017, Day Two: Non-Traditionally Published Books
Posted on December 5, 2017 Posted by John Scalzi 194 Comments
Today is Day Two of the Whatever Holiday Gift Guide 2017, and today the focus is on Non-Traditionally Published Books: Self-published works, electronically-exclusive books, books from micro presses, books released outside the usual environs of the publishing world, and so on. Hey, I put my first novel up on this very Web site years ago and told people to send me a dollar if they liked it. Look where it got me. I hope you find some good stuff today.
Please note that the comment thread today is only for non-traditional authors and editors to post about their books; please do not leave other comments, as they will be snipped out to keep the thread from getting cluttered. Thanks!
Authors/editors: Here’s how to post in this thread. Please follow these directions!
1. Authors and editors of non-traditionally published books only. This includes comics and graphic novels, as well as non-fiction books and audiobooks. If your book has been traditionally published — available in bookstores on a returnable basis — post about your book in the thread that went up yesterday (if you are in doubt, assume you are non-traditionally published and post here). If you are a creator in another form or medium, your thread is coming tomorrow. Don’t post if you are not the author or editor, please.
2. Completed works only. Do not post about works in progress, even if you’re posting them publicly. Remember that this is supposed to be a gift guide, and that these are things meant to be given to other people. Likewise, don’t just promote yourself unless you have something to sell or provide, that others may give as a gift.
3. One post per author. In that post, you can list whatever books of yours you like, but allow me to suggest you focus on your most recent book. Note also that the majority of Whatever’s readership is in the US/Canada, so I suggest focusing on books available in North America.
4. Keep your description of your book brief (there will be a lot of posts, I’m guessing) and entertaining. Imagine the person is in front of you as you tell them about your book and is interested but easily distracted.
5. You may include a link to a bookseller if you like by using standard HTML link scripting. Be warned that if you include too many links (typically three or more) your post may get sent to the moderating queue. If this happens, don’t panic: I’ll be going in through the day to release moderated posts. Note that posts will occasionally go into the moderation queue semi-randomly; Don’t panic about that either.
6. As noted above, comment posts that are not from authors/editors promoting their books as specified above will be deleted, in order to keep the comment thread useful for people looking to find interesting books.
Now: Tell us about your book!
A Matter of Oaths by Helen S. Wright, first published in 1988, has just been re-issued worldwide with a new introduction by Becky Chambers, author of The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet who describes it as ‘A compelling, mind-bending future that’s finally come home to the present.’ It’s available at all the usual venues (ebook and print-on-demand).
You’ll enjoy it. Really. Especially if you like fun space opera with a diverse cast of characters.
But don’t take my word for it.
C. J. Cherryh calls it ‘Fast paced and inventive…it held my attention to the end.’ Blue Book Balloon says: ‘It’s simply a rattling good story, the sort that would capture the imagination of any space opera aficionado…I don’t think I’ve seen such a convincing description of an invented technology since Terry Pratchett’. Ann Leckie said: ‘This is fun, quick-moving adventury space opera… I really enjoyed reading it.” Tor.com said: ‘It’s really compelling and a hell of a lot of fun. I recommend it highly. GO AND READ IT.’
There is an interview with me about the book at Pornokitsch : ‘I was living in London, and my friends were a very diverse group of people – different ages, different sexualities, Black British, Asian and white. How could I write a novel that airbrushed those people out?’’
And I wrote an article about it at ThePortalist: ‘What Happens When an Old Woman Steals Your Story?’
Links and more at my website (including the gorgeous cover).
Or read a sample here (links to Amazon).
My book, Go Forth, takes place in a high-tech fantasy world that’s seen so many heroes come and go over the ages that they’ve become very self-aware of the hero’s journey. Now, when a prophecy foretells the birth of someone who will vanquish evil, they don’t need to wait for that person to go on a quest and muck about in the wilderness, they can simply plug them into an equation and build a perfect hero by wielding standard fantasy tropes as their tools.
Unfortunately for Nova Scratshot, he’s just found out he’s one such hero, and he’d really rather not be. In order to find himself and accept his power, he’ll need to dismantle the very structure that’s intended to make him powerful.
Oh, and he decides to write a blog about it.
Get the eBook on Amazon!
Read it for free online!
I’ve got a set of four collections of short stories, available in paperback and pretty much any ebook format you might need. Best way to find them is via stevedegroof.com.
The stories tend to fall into the “quirky sci-fi/fantasy” category. Think Larry Niven and Ray Bradbury with a little Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett thrown in (though not nearly as good, obviously). Subjects include aliens, time travel, magic, dragons, vampires, zombies, space ships, killer robots, giant robots, simulated realities, hyperdimensional cats. So, a little from column A, a little from column B.
Some reviews I’ve gotten:
“…fun and often funny, and cleverly twisty.”
“A great little collection of short stories. Reminds me a lot of John Scalzi, whom I also enjoy.”
“…these stories read much like the basis for episodes of the old Ray Bradbury Theater show.”
“The world building in particular made each story feel fleshed out and grounded in its own strange way.”
“The author is the guy who does the Tree Lobsters web comic (which I highly recommend) so you know it’s going to be clever and quirky!”
“The stories are quirky, whimsical, and very similar to Ray Bradbury’s stories from the Fifties and Sixties.”
“The author has mastered the art of the short story, with emphasis on short.”
“Three books in and the short story world building hasn’t slowed down in the slightest. Wildly creative and surprisingly fun.”
Whoops. Here’s those links:
eBook: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N1SDMYU
Online: https://www.goforthnova.com/
Do you like good jokes?
Sorry then, this isn’t for you.
It’s just bad jokes.
Really bad jokes.
One liners, knock-knock jokes, looooooooong shaggy dog jokes.
Jokes that will make you want to throw your kindle across the room in disgust.
Illustrated with tons of public domain photographs (and one of my kids in the dedication)!
Of which, at least three are somewhat funny!
Really Bad Jokes Volume I: Stupid, but Clean
Skip the paperback – it’s overpriced.
The Kindle version is just a buck.
It’s probably overpriced too.
For Gamers, Geeks and Goofballs, “Operation Ragnarok” is about a group of middle-aged gamers who decide to steal a Viking longship and unleash Ragnarok. It’s the “Big Bang Theory” meets “Night at the Museum” available in both print and ebook
You know what? I like physical books.
There’s something satisfying about them: a real thing you can hold, right in your hands — filled with dreams, imaginings, adventure. Reading on paper is comfortable, even restful. It’s a release, an escape from all these eye-jabbing, glowing screens that yammer at us all day. My idea of paradise: A fireplace, a big armchair, and a fat book (cat optional).
When my novels (The Steerswoman, The Outskirter’s Secret, The Lost Steersman, and The Language of Power) went out of print, I followed the advice of other writers: I got the rights back from my trad publisher, and self-published ebook versions of the novels.
It was quick, easy to do, and rewarding. They sold well. But my readers did ask me: when will there be paperback versions?
The answer: now. The Steerswoman is now available in paperback as well as ebook format; The Outskirter’s Secret should be going live any minute now; and the other two will be out in time for Christmas.
The Steerswoman in paperback on Amazon
The Steerswoman Series in ebooks on Amazon
Here are some reviews:
Hugo and Nebula winner Jo Walton: “If you like science, and if you like watching someone work out mysteries, and if you like detailed weird alien worlds and human cultures, if really good prose appeals… you’re really in luck.”
Physicist Chad Orzel (Eureka! and How to Teach Physics to Your Dog): “Maybe the best depiction of the process of science I’ve encountered in fiction is the Steerswoman series.”
Damien Broderick & Paul Di Filippo, in Science Fiction: The 101 Best Novels 1985-2010: “[Kirstein] walks the tightrope between fantasy and science fiction with precision and grace… [her] compassion for even minor characters is evident on every page, and her prose is measured and alluring without being overworked.”
Suzy McKee Charnas (Motherlines and Walk to the End of the World), about The Lost Steersman: “[a]n original and fascinating take on the tensions between science and belief, observation and expectation, courage and fear. Highly recommended.”
Publisher’s Weekly: “Kirstein’s striking portrait of an innovative woman who is scientist, judge, historian, and adventurer makes for a good, thought-provoking read.”
https://www.amazon.com/Operation-Ragnarok-Gamers-Kevin-Coolidge/dp/0692760636/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1512484211&sr=8-1&keywords=operation+ragnarok
The process of converting one’s former mass market publications into both ebooks and shiny new trade paperbacks could be a thrilling tale in its own right, filled with laughter, terror and unintended consequences. (For one thing, now that I’m the publisher of my own books I find I expect myself to pick up the tab every time I dine out alone–and it’s getting expensive!)
As of this fall, the two volumes that comprise the opening of my most popular series are available once again on Amazon.
The FADING WORLDS series was originally intended as a re-imagination of the Edgar Rice Burroughs-type adventures I read as a kid, and there was a temptation to make them little more than fast-paced entertainment that would hopefully sell like hotcakes. Going into the series, I had pretty much assumed that anything more than that should be reserved for more “serious” undertakings. But things have a way of heading in unexpected directions, and I’m more than happy with the way they’ve turned out. I’m working away on more volumes, which I hope to be able to tout in this space next year, and in the meantime, here are some reviews for the first two, along with a handy link to where they can be purchased.
From Locus, the Magazine of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Field: “A KEY FOR THE NONESUCH feels like sf, but has many of the trappings of magical adventure. Many weird and wonderful scenes and characters, not to mention lots of action, keep the pace lively . . . RETURN OF THE BREAKNECK BOYS continues the Fading Worlds series, as the contemporary hero begins to come to terms with the war-gaming universe where he’s accidentally (or not?) found himself . . . When the scene shifts back to Earth, the balance of humor and seriousness is just right. A new character, a gay high school buddy of the hero’s, comes in late and steals the show.”
From Aboriginal SF: “Geary Gravel’s delightful new SF adventure story . . . is written with a sharp wit. The characters are a lot of fun, and the alien races intriguing.”
From Rosemary Kirstein, author of The Steerswoman books: “The Fading Worlds series is lively, diverting, and a good turnaround of genre tropes about mighty Earthmen battling foes on barbaric alien worlds. Things are not quite what they seem, and Geary handles it all with wit and grace.”
Finally, John Clute, writing in the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, describes the author as “a polished writer who has not quite yet unleashed what seems a considerable talent.”
Given that last comment, and the fact that I’m hard at work on the third book, this would probably be a good time to get in on the ground floor of the series. Oh, and pack your hazmat suit–or at least some sturdy galoshes: you never know when it all might be unleashed!
Here’s a link to the first two books on Amazon: Geary Gravel’s books on Amazon
Caresway: It’s the pill that cures depression. More than that, it can make you a success in business. But would you take the quick route to the CEO’s chair if the price was becoming a psychopath?
I started thinking about this one when I heard Jon Ronson speaking about his research for ‘The Psychopath Test’. Several people asked him about whether psychopathy might one day be curable. Being me, my mind went up in completely the opposite direction and ended up with this novelette:
myBook.to/CaresawayHardcopy
My book, A Boy Worth Knowing, is perfect for the teen reader in your life:
Ghosts can’t seem to keep their opinions to themselves.
Seventeen-year-old Nate Shaw should know; he’s been talking to them since he was twelve. But they aren’t the only ones making his high school years a living hell. All Nate wants is to keep his secret and keep his head down until he can graduate. That is, until the new boy, James Powell, takes a seat next to him in homeroom. James not only notices him, he manages to work his way into Nate’s life. But James has issues of his own.
Between dead grandmothers and living aunts, Nate has to navigate the fact that he’s falling in love with his only friend, all while getting advice from the most unusual places.
Ghosts, bullies, first love: it’s a lot to deal with when you’re just trying to survive senior year.
You can find it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and my publisher’s website, Nine Star Press. Go to my website, http://www.jcozwrites.com for links.
Thanks!
Lost planets! Ancient galactic empires! Forgotten civilizations! Sentient spaceships! Prophecies! Enormous cities! Hidden island fortresses! All that and the Space Princesses and their crusty starpilot who save the day!
It’s The Song of Forgotten Stars, my ongoing space opera series, Book III of which, Amongst the Stars, dropped earlier this year. For more info, hop on over to my Official Site: ForgottenStars.net/books!
(And thank you, Mr. Scalzi, for continuing to perform this quite excellent service.)
The Universe in Flames book series is an Epic Space Opera saga with Greek mythology & Fantasy thrown into the mix. Gods of Olympus, Titans, Furies, Dragons… this series has it all and more. A one of a kind SciFi experience.
For fans of Star Wars, Stargate, B5 & DBZ. Action-packed, edge of your seat SciFi that grabs you and never let go. (Fair warning: my readers have informed me that they lost a lot of sleep reading the Universe in Flames books)
I am Fury. Evil has followed me to Earth. I shall Protect this World until my Dying Breath.
Series Link on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076L2BVJJ
Series Trailer:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yADG-Opojs&w=560&h=315%5D
Quotes from Amazon’s customer reviews of the Universe in Flames book series:
“There was Star Trek, then Star Wars, but now there is the Universe in Flames!”
“Reinventing a whole new meaning to good sci-fi!”
“Very difficult to put these books down without needing to pick them back up and continue reading!”
“Best story I’ve read in a very long time. We need more writers like this to enrich our lives. I recommend this book 100%.”
“Best storyline ever. Non-stop action. Bringing all my favorite myths to life. It was over way too soon.”
“I haven’t gotten into a series like this in a while. I read 1-7 nonstop. I’m addicted.”
“A true mark of excellence.”
For more information about my books (as well as FREE ones), visit my website: https://www.christiankallias.com
Thank you, John!
Yumi is so unprepared for this disaster. But crash landing on a dying, foreign moon is easy. Surviving until rescue comes? A lot harder. Crash Land on Kurai is the first book in the Hikoboshi Series, an action adventure, space opera series that explores the worlds settled by the Japanese who fled Earth a century ago. Culture, history, technology, and swords clash in a fast-paced future society on the brink of war.
“My desire to read more books by the author just goes to show how powerful a read Crash Land on Kurai is. From the very first page, I was pulled into the story, unable to put it down.” — I love this review. She totally GOT the book and enjoyed the whole read.
You can check out Crash Land on Kurai here. http://www.spajonas.com/crash-land-on-kurai/
Thank you Mr. Scalzi for this opportunity to promote my books. I owe you a burrito!
The Bug Boys (released August 2016)
The Bug Boys vs. Professor Blake Blackhart (released August 2017)
http://www.TheBugBoys.com
“Two South Yorkshire boys get infected with alien nanobots, and become the heroes their village doesn’t need.”
These are written for advanced middle grade readers, but the great reviews I’ve gotten so far (from big kids) suggest these stories have broad appeal. (Goodreads 47 ratings – 4.33/5 stars)
Today marks the release of my short story collection, MEAT CITY ON FIRE (AND OTHER ASSORTED DEBACLES).
The cover copy:
Angel Luis Colón (Anthony award-nominated writer of NO HAPPY ENDINGS) invites you on a short tour of the world as a literary mix tape to that strange goth girl with the lazy eye who still wants nothing to do with you; no matter how good that fedora looks on your head.
So what’s in store for your brain?
Follow three major moments in the life of gambling addict and mafia muscle, Sean Clarke as he goes from softhearted kid to full blown bastard to broken old man.
Thrill at the short-lived and incredibly violent courtship, marriage, and honeymoon of Hank and Annie.
The set of the country’s most popular trash TV talk show is appropriately trashier than what makes the air.
Beards make absolutely terrible trophies.
Sometimes you’ll crawl through the fire and smoke for a chance at a semi-decent score and a way out of working in a place called “Meat City”.
All that along with even more violence, revenge, Lee Van Cleef, light sex crimes, and cannibals than you can shake a stick at!
Linkage to my publisher’s page: https://downandoutbooks.com/bookstore/colon-meat-city-fire/
Hello, everyone! I’m Tori Rigby, the author of the YA dark fantasy DREAMCATCHER series. The first two books of the series are available on Amazon, and the third one is coming soon! The DREAMCATCHER series follows Daniel Graham, a Dreamcatcher, as he’s assigned to protect a girl from the Nightmares that feed off her dreams. But he quickly discovers this girl is more than just a patient in a psychiatric ward—a dark warlock with the power to control the Nightmares wants to use her in his twisted version of the Apocalypse.
I’ve been told it’s a good read for fans of Cassandra Clare or the Supernatural TV show, so if dark fantasy is a genre you enjoy and you want to check out my books, here’s the link to my Amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/Tori-Rigby/e/B06XFFVRM7/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_2?qid=1512484570&sr=8-2. Book 1 is just $2.99 right now, so hopefully you’ll consider picking it up! :)
Thank you, John, for the opportunity to share a little bit about my self-published books. Can’t wait to hear about all the others. Happy reading, everyone!
I was the 2017 Down Under Fan Fund delegate this year, which means I got to travel to New Zealand and Australia to attend their National Conventions. Naturally, being down there, I went and saw some of the countryside in addition to con adventures.
“What I did on my Summer Vacation: The 2017 DUFF Report” is over a hundred pages of pictures and travelogue. From Hobbiton to the Sydney Opera House, volcanic features, and coastal beauty, read about me struggle with left hand driving, being on panels, visiting radio telescopes with fans and writers, and so much more.
All proceeds from the sale of the DUFF Report go to the Fan Fund–which will help bring an Australian/Kiwi in 2018 here to North America in the same spirit as I went this year.
https://www.princejvstin.com/buy-a-print-or-image/the-2017-down-under-fan-fund-report
My new kids’ hockey sci-fi book, The Intergalactic Adventures of the Rainy River Bees is perfect for getting hockey fans looking at the stars, or gtting aspiring astronauts lacing up their skates!
The book tells the story of an elite peewee hockey team who get abducted by aliens moments after winning a major championship. They rocket across the universe to play in the Intergalactic Hockey Championships, where they face-off against strange aliens with even stranger rules. But what seems to be a friendly competition hides a dark secret that puts the entire universe in peril. It’s up the the twelve Bees and their new friends to save the day: and win the tournament!
Learn more about the book
Link to purchase on Amazon
The Puppet Kingdom is a YA fairy tale remix in which Little Red Riding Hood shows up in modern day suburbia and proceeds to turn traditional tropes on their heads.
While living with a human family, Red slowly comes to believe that she, too, is human. But there is more to her story and history than she knows, and Red cannot shirk her responsibilities. An evil queen, herself a tale brought to life, starts erasing well-known fairytales from all memory, and Red is the only one who can stop her. But to do that, she needs to know who she is and what she is capable of. She needs to understand the role of Legends and Tales — and she needs to give up being human, and the boy who gifted her with humanity.
The Puppet Kingdom is sweet, exciting, and entirely satisfying: https://www.amazon.com/Puppet-Kingdom-Meridel-Newton-ebook/dp/B00G7W6HH
Thanks for sharing this and giving a spotlight to indies. My newest release, Grave Dealings, book three in my urban fantasy detective series: The Grave Report.
Blurb: Don’t make deals with the paranormal. They’re better at it than you, and they never play fair.
Paranormal investigator and soul without a body, Vincent Graves, did just that—a deal made in desperation. Now it’s coming back to bite him in the middle of a case.
He has 57 hours to investigate a string of deaths involving people who’ve made some devilish bargains. Too bad devils don’t deal in good faith. It’d be easy enough, if he didn’t have to deal with things such as:
-Being hunted through the streets of Queens by a dark elf with a motorcycle fetish.
-Ending up the target of a supernatural hit.
-An old acquaintance dragging him to a paranormal ball where he could end up on the menu.
-And having one of his closest guarded secrets brought to light…
Not great for a tight clock, because if he doesn’t get to the bottom of this case in time, Vincent and company might just lose their souls.
Dirty deals are never done dirt cheap. And the supernatural always collect—big!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076GWWK9X/
Here’s a short novella that makes a good gift or stocking stuffer: FINIS. by Angélique Jamail
The story:
Elsa’s family grows more unkind by the week. Her boss, a seven-foot-tall rage demon, has control of everything but his anger. And her cat wants to eat her. Things could be better.
**
In a world where one’s Animal Affinity is a sign of maturity and worth, Elsa’s inability to demonstrate hers is becoming more than a disappointing nuisance; it’s becoming a danger. She has no confidence she’ll ever conquer her Plainness by “blossoming.” She also fears both the wolf packs that prowl her neighborhood and being stuck in a life plummeting rapidly from lackluster to perilous. Fortunately, she has a cousin and a co-worker who know her better than she knows herself and can see through to what society won’t.
**
FINIS. is the magic realism of our time, a story of finding one’s way to the end of things, of persevering through the dregs of life to discover something more.
And here’s the link to buy it on Amazon, which sells the illustrated print edition and the (non-illustrated) e-book: https://www.amazon.com/Finis-Ang%C3%A9lique-Jamail/dp/0692581707/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1512484712&sr=8-1
The e-book is also available just about anywhere e-books are sold.
Thank you for the chance to spread the word farther, John. :) Happy holidays to all!
I just released my latest Peavley Manor novelette, “The Missing Mallard (Or ‘Duck, Macalley! Duck!’)”, today. It’s a steampunk fantasy comedy of manners with a food fight, an adorable yet deadly automaton, snarky villains, and ducky goodness. Can heiress Alice Peavley and her brilliant gnome valet Macalley unravel the mystery? Get buying links and a sneak preview here: wp.me/p6fnqt-qw
My book, Child of Nod, is a fantasy/horror/fable mashup about, well, here’s a blurb:
Alice wakes one day to find herself on the other side of death, in the corrupted fairy tale land of Nod. Unable to remember much of the events leading to her demise, she sets out on a journey to discover her memory and the reason for her presence in Nod. Unknown to her, the man responsible for her death, Jack, is on a mission to find her spirit and end her second life.
More at Goodreads.
You can get the ebook here,
or
Paperback here.
For a blend of science fiction and Arthurian legend, this series for you, beginning with FALL TO EARTH:
Avallach makes a breakthrough in its super-soldier program. Arthur finds an outsider with unlimited potential and raw talent. But only she holds the key to Avallach’s survival.
Young and brash Indiana Beckham only wants one thing–to be the best swordsman in the world. There’s only one problem (two if you count her ego)–she’s been banned from the Olympic games, ruining her shot at sweeping gold.
Deep in the hills of Pennsylvania, a secret project is brewing, led by two brilliant scientists. Arthur MacGabran has harnessed new technology that can change the world–or destroy it. Convinced by Arthur, Indiana joins his team at Project Avallach, undergoing a transformation of body and mind to unlock the ability to tap into a new energy source.
Commander Jeri Brand is ready for space, only her chances of being on one of the last space shuttle launches are fast dwindling. A new project begins in secret, promising a revolutionary shuttle engine that will make space travel achievable.
Cornwall Marks wants only one thing: to make Arthur pay for past transgressions. He’s determined, in power, and has a secret weapon–the precognitive AI named Oracle. He’ll bend Arthur, Indiana, and the future to his will.
Only Indiana can keep Arthur’s vision alive, but will her quest to be the greatest also be the death of her?
Available in print and ebook on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XY1LYSL
Hi John. Thanks, as always, for letting us post about our goodies.
My novella, Piper Deez and the Case of the Winter Planet, came out this past July, the second release of Candlemark & Gleam’s new ebook-only novella imprint, Reckless.
Detective Piper Deez, newlywed but still hardboiled, is a solar system away from home investigating murder and thievery on Alta-na-Schell, the Winter Planet. Who can she trust? Who should she trust? Why didn’t anyone tell her monogamy was going to be this difficult? Eye of the Storm, a domed city riven by clan rivalries and corruption—with only fingerlengths of shielding protecting its denizens from certain death—may hold some answers and, perhaps, even the end of Piper Deez.
If monogamy doesn’t get to her first…
Review from author/editor Catherine Lundoff (Silver Moon, Out of This World): “Fun blend of science fiction and noir with a newly married lesbian protagonist. I love the way Fenn does her world building and integrated the noir elements into her story. I also appreciated the details and intricacy of Piper’s negotiation between her clan, social and marital statuses. This was a delightful read and one of the early releases in Candlemark & Gleam Press’ new novella imprint – I look forward to more!”
Thanks for checking it out!
Hi! I run a small indie press called Annorlunda Books, which focuses on short writing. In addition to publishing new stories, I put together anthologies of classic short stories that all share a common theme.
This year’s anthology is HEMMED IN, and it is a collection of short stories about women’s lives and the ways in which they have been constrained through the years. There’s a Willa Cather story in there, but the most famous story in the collection is probably The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Gilman Perkins. And the story that wouldn’t leave me alone until I created an anthology for it is A Jury of Her Peers, by Susan Glaspell.
But really, I love all the stories. That’s why I picked them! I think the people on your gift list will love them, too.
You can see the full list of stories and find the purchase links here: http://annorlundaenterprises.com/books/hemmed-in/
While you’re there, poke around and see the other great books in the catalog!
I have two books up on amazon. They are in the mystery/thriller genre but might better be classed as “caper” books. There are definitely mysteries to be solved, but they are as much about the group of friends who solve them as they are about the mysteries.
If you enjoyed “Burn Notice”, “Leverage”, or the old TV shows “Mission:Impossible” or “Switch”, you might enjoy these. They are very fast reads and run around 270 pages. I am told the dialog is quite good.
The first book “Into The Fire” is about a man who is asked for a favor by a friend: clear his daughter’s name. Trouble is, she’s dead. And he’s no investigator. So he draws on his friends.
The second book takes place about eight months after the first. This time the crime is embezzlement. The trick is catching the perpetrator!
In ebook
https://www.amazon.com/Into-Fire-Jobs-Mystery-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B01M5DLYR5
https://www.amazon.com/Dollar-Short-Jobs-Mysteries-Book-ebook/dp/B073PZQLLT
In paperback
https://www.amazon.com/Into-Fire-Jobs-Mystery-Mysteries/dp/1539638235
https://www.amazon.com/Dollar-Short-Odd-Jobs-Mysteries/dp/1548319805
I’ve got two short story series out this year, both in erotic romance and available for Kindle, Kobo and Nook. Amazon links provided below, but all my work and more details can be found on my website: http://www.thodestool.ca/books
1) Death’s Door is like Nightmare Before Christmas meets Discworld, but for grown ups.
“Isis is flirting with death… literally! When she catches the eye of the Grim Reaper himself, her life (and afterlife!) will never be the same. Living beyond time and reality, Death uses his mysterious Door to Everywhen to bring Isis on steamy adventures across all of history.”
https://www.amazon.com/Deaths-Door-Complete-3-Collection-ebook/dp/B074TGQY73/ref=sr_1_5?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1512485179&sr=1-5
2) Summer Fling is f/f fantasy
“Summer is a broken soldier struggling to move forward after a string of personal traumas. Karanda is the cute librarian determined to piece Summer back together, one sensuous kiss at a time. From Summer’s first time with a woman to a risqué public tryst, Summer and Karanda heat up the nights.”
https://www.amazon.com/Summer-Fling-Collection-Nights-ebook/dp/B075P9N3NJ/ref=sr_1_13?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1512485248&sr=1-13
Ever wonder why grownup books don’t have more moving parts and secret codes? Check out my history of the Renaissance Pop-Up book! If you (or your librarian) don’t want to cut out and assemble the 16th-century Pope is the Devil flap print inside the book, just download your own gloriously colorful and demonic PDF here! http://www.brill.com/products/book/interactive-and-sculptural-printmaking-renaissance
Not all halflings dream of magic… but Epik isn’t like the rest. Adventure. Excitement. He craves those things.
For round world fans of Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams comes an adventurous and often humorous romp through fantasy tropes, featuring halflings, dwarves, elves, and a ranger or two.
Read a sample using Amazon Look Inside
Hey all, I have a bunch of stuff for everyone!
1) The Four Kingdoms Saga: a YA-ish classic fantasy quartet centered around a young Elven woman discovering who she is, who she wants to be, and maybe uncovering a centuries-old infernal plot to rule the world. Critics have billed it as “reminiscent of Michael J. Sullivan’s Riyria books” and “Like Tolkien meets Legend of Zelda”! Available in paperback, on Kindle, book one also available on Audible and iTunes.
2) Dragon in the Doghouse: a young boy wakes up to find his house overrun by a whole menagerie of fantasy creatures, with no idea of how to get them out! Early reader picture book that’s one part “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” and one part D&D Monster Manual. Available in paperback and kindle.
3)Dwarves of the World: a digital short story anthology featuring nine authors’ distinct takes on the dwarven race! Good if you love dwarves, great if you love good stories. Available on Kindle, Kobo, and Nook.
4)Brave New Girls vol 2: a YA sci-fi anthology centred around young heroines using their knowledge of STEM to save the day. Settings range from steampunk to space opera. All proceeds from the book go to a scholarship run by the Society for Women Engineers. Available in paperback and kindle.
Amazon is the easiest aggregate for all these fine works, so head to http://www.amazon.com/author/brandondraga to check them out!
Huge thanks to John Scalzi for offering up this opportunity, and a huge thanks to all of you reading this. Happy holidays!
“READERS WILL BE TRANSFIXED BY THIS NOVEL” — Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review).
If you aren’t at the top, you’re at the bottom.
Daniela Machado can run. She’s the track star of destitute Bronx City and an ace student, but that isn’t enough to get a nope like her out of the barrio.
In a prescient, post-democracy America, the Orderist movement has spawned a society that rewards those who supposedly possess “merit,” which includes the nation’s wealthiest. Manhattan has become the capital of the forty-nine Orderist-led states, while California suffers under an economic embargo. Cities are cocoons where the so called “highborn” enjoy the pleasures of farm-grown food and private parks, while their outwardly perfect children are protected by floating nanny-like drones that follow them everywhere.
For Daniela, the chance to attend the elite Tuck School—a place where even the highborn struggle to obtain a spot—is too great an opportunity to ignore. But what do the richies really want from her?
INDULGE YOUR IMAGINATION HERE: https://www.amazon.com/Age-Order-Saga-Book-ebook/dp/B01N25QE72
Mr. Scalzi, you are a fine man! My thanks for this opportunity!
Thanks for allowing us to post! THE FATED STARS, kickass lady mercenary tries to save imprisoned alien empath priest, the latest in my Sectors SF Romance series: https://www.amazon.com/Fated-Stars-Sectors-SF-Romance-ebook/dp/B0776L7PX5/ STAR CRUISE: OUTBREAK Trapped on an interstellar cruise ship when a deadly epidemic spreads among the passengers: https://www.amazon.com/Star-Cruise-Outbreak-Sectors-Romance-ebook/dp/B01E1VPVXO/ Happy Holidays and Happy Reading!!!
Once a scientist, always a scientist. Private eye Charlie Handler used to be a scientist, and she still prefers using her brain, leaving the footwork to lesser PI minds. What’s the big deal with brawn anyway? Think through the possibilities, pick the likeliest one, use e-skills to fill in the details, case closed. Then a witness goes missing, and she soon gets clued in that there’s something seriously weird about this case as chessmaster logic fails her. How far down the rabbit hole will Charlie go?
Looking for a detective mystery a little off the beaten path? The Brain Loses The Game is the book for you. Reviewers called it “humorous and intriguing,” “interesting and a bit insane,” and “a nice read if you like puzzle-like mysteries.” A bargain at $1.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071WNTNSG
The holidays are often a time for bringing people together. A Very Faerie Christmas is a collection of faerie themed holiday novellas by authors across the spectrum of fantasy storytelling. You’ll find something for every fan of fantasy, be it more traditional faerie stories, to romance, to urban fantasy.
Get it for:
-Anyone on the hunt for new stories or authors with existing series
-The lover of all things Christmasy or Holiday-y (That is totally word…now)
-Anyone who hates this time of years because it’s all just twinkle and joy
-The friend who loves love and/or the allure of the fae
-The family member who thinks the only good fantasy story is a traditional one
-People who like to read!
Meara Platt – A Mistletoe Kiss: When Lady Imogen Fairchild wishes for a faerie godmother, her Christmas wish goes awry and she finds herself with Beogrin, a handsome Fae warrior, instead.
Avril Borthiry – Matthew’s Hope: Set in England’s rural north at the turn of the 20th century, Matthew never forgets the little girl who saved his life, the girl no one else could see.
Jack Heckel – The Holly And The Ivy: After leaving a party, Malcom encounters the faerie Phaedra, but can her magic help him find true love in time for Christmas?
Ruth Vincent – Above Thy Deep And Dreamless Sleep: A vindictive Faerie Queen tries to guilt trip her changeling daughter into coming home to fairyland for the holidays.
Michele Lang – The Laws Of Magic: Ayna Cassidy, human chaos machine, must somehow overcome her past and stop an army of night Fae from ravaging her home.
Bishop O’Connell – The Greatest Gift Of All: Wraith is a homeless teen able to manipulate reality itself, but can she bring hope to those society has forgotten and ignored?
https://www.amazon.com/Very-Faerie-Christmas-Inspired-Novellas-ebook/dp/B076YKTHVX/
“One of the Most Anticipated Books of 2017” – Hypable
Homicide detective Kim Phillips isn’t like the other officers of the Chicago Police Department. She’s quiet, isolated, and she can speak with the dead. Born with the ability to see into and interact with the afterlife, she is a Burner: a person tasked with hunting down dangerous spirits and sending them to the other side.
When Kim exorcises the ghost of a young girl, she’s dragged into a new and unsettling case, one where people like Kim are being killed. The only problem? There’s no connection between the victims and no proof that they were murdered in the first place. Kim has to catch the killer before he finds his last victim and unleashes an unknown evil on the world.
Burner, the first book in the Affinity Series, is a dark exploration of how life and death are only separated by a single breath and how even those with power can be powerless.
“A nail-biting mystery novel that did not disappoint.” – S. J. Main
“The way the author writes this book is totally immersive. She grabs your attention from the first page till the last page.” – A Fold in the Spine
“I absolutely loved this book. I couldn’t put it down.” – Angela from Addicted to Reviews
4.6 stars on Amazon, 4.5 on Goodreads
Available for purchase on Amazon and Barnes & Noble
My book, Fragile Chaos, is a YA fantasy romance. It’s about a young God of War seeking to regain his power and the sister of a traitor who is unwillingly sacrificed to him to save her country. It’s full of love and betrayal in a modern setting/fantasy world with a new pantheon of gods and goddesses.
Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071CYFGJV/ref=x_gr_w_glide?caller=Goodreads&callerLink=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32181158-fragile-chaos&tag=x_gr_w_glide-20
And there’s now a free companion e-novelette! The Last Goodbye features the God of Death and his last sacrifical bride 500 years before Fragile Chaos.
Link: https://www.amazon.com/Last-Goodbye-Amber-R-Duell-ebook/dp/B077XTVY9J/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
You do not have the right to drive.
Roman Jasko patrols the automated highways of 2067 America, watchful for illegal cars. He’s put on a robbery case that leads to a band of sophisticated thieves armed with stolen military technology. Things take a turn for the worse when he discovers a personal connection to the thefts, and finds himself in the middle of a vicious attack. Suddenly, he’s stuck on the wrong side of the laws he upholds.
Rome will have to use all his skills to avoid every obstacle in his path, and determine the quickest route to the truth.
“Man Behind the Wheel” is a thrill ride through a future in which advanced AI has led to the outlawing of human drivers.
https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B0778S8HRJ&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_4sRjAbVMHWTAH
ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS by Ann Roth
Just in time for Christmas! Ebook is only $.99! Also available in paperback at the sites listed below.
If you enjoy stories of tough men and the women who capture their hearts, you’ll love ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS. (book 1 in the Halo Island series)
What would you do if your five-year-old daughter was plagued with nightmares and you couldn’t stop them?
Widower Ryan Chase has tried everything, even given up his high-powered career and moved to sleepy Halo Island, where he can spend more time with her. It doesn’t help. Nothing works, and he’s desperate.
But that’s about to change—provided he lets the woman he most distrusts into their lives.
Available now:
Amazon http://amzn.to/2yZrZsU
iBooks http://apple.co/2z2V9FB
Nook http://bit.ly/2gR1yv5
Kobo http://bit.ly/2z12Xdq
Tired of superhero movies? Try a superhero book!
The Bedazzlers parodies the genre to tell the tale of a narcissistic billionaire who creates a superhero team for good PR. The six other members of the team are being bribed or blackmailed into service, and they all hate him. But they’ll have to overcome that if they’re going to save a world facing extreme traffic, sea monsters, and a shortage of Hamilton tickets.
Paperbacks available on Amazon.
Ebooks available at Amazon, B&N, iTunes, and Google Play.
Thank you so much for hosting this!
The Panther’s Lost Princess (I know, I know, that title!!) is the first in a series of books featuring characters from Redclaw Security–an elite paranormal agency that investigates and handles matters in the shifter world. A world that’s about to get a lot more complicated, now that an Anti-shifter President has been elected and is instituting new regulations and laws governing shifters.
I can’t think where that inspiration might have come from. *coughs*
Imagine thinking your parents abandoned you as a baby because you’re a monster. Then you find out you not only have special abilities, but you’re the long-lost heir to the throne of a powerful shifter kingdom. Only there are hired assassins on your trail and the hot guy helping you might just be your fated mate. What’s a good Southern girl to do except take names and kick ass?
The Panther’s Lost Princess on Amazon
I recently released Book Three in my Calusa Town Tales series. The novels are all set on a quirky island off the coast of Florida. All are “sweet” or “clean” romantic comedies. To my mind, there is enough turmoil in the world nowadays, I want to escape into a community where everyone not only knows everyone but also wants to help one another. I’m hoping to find readers who feel the same way and still believe in happily ever after. Island Dream is available at http://amzn.to/2ipBQyI and information about the first two books can be found there too.
My most release, The Weather War, is the fourth book in my five-book epic fantasy series Storms in Amethir. Filled with a self-rescuing princess, a gay prince, assassins, dragons, weather mages, and mad prophets, Storms in Amethir will appeal to readers who grew up on Tamora Pierce and Robin McKinley.
I also write urban fantasy set in Indianapolis. The first book, Shades of Circle City, is out now, and the second, Circle City Psychic, is forthcoming in early 2018. Chloe is a cop killed in the line of duty–fortunately resuscitated a few minutes later–but unfortunately with the new ability to see ghosts. She joins forces with a werewolf detective to figure out who’s trying to raise the dead in Indianapolis.
Links are to my website so you can read more and buy from the online vendor of your choice.
Two of my film reference books: Now and Then We Time Travel is an encyclopedic book on time travel films and TV series, American and foreign. Published by McFarland, available on Amazon. Sex for Dinner, Death for Breakfast: James Bond on Screen was self-published (also on Amazon in hard copy). Just like the title says it’s a look at the James Bond films, how they fit into the series and how they fit into the context of their times.
I wrote a children’s book about Ghana called A is for Accra!
“But I’m not from Ghana.” I hear you say. Hear me out.
A is for Accra is a book for anyone who wants their kids to know about the world around them. Learning about other places expands a child’s mind and opens them up to other cultures. The book is for 3-6 year old’s and makes a great Christmas gift for nieces, nephews and grandkids. Did I mention it’s an alphabet book and that it’s illustrated (by my sister)? Oh, and it rhymes! Lastly, there’s a glossary in the back for older kids (or curious adults)
You can get it on Amazon
http://a.co/drbcMLJ – USA
http://amzn.eu/hwBZgDz – EU & UK
Private Marco Cruz has always wanted to be a soldier in the Interplanetary Army. It’s in his blood. He’s just really bad at it.
After yet another screw-up, Marco is giving one final chance. He can either be discharged, or he can join a top secret task force known as Zeta Team. It seems like a no brainer until he arrives at Planetoid 54174340 (better known among its few residents as Planet Shithead) and discovers the exact nature of the squad. Guarding a secret yet incomprehensible set of alien ruins, Zeta Team is where the Interplanetary Army sends everyone it wants to get rid of but can’t outright discharge. It’s mind-numbing, and no one expects anything from the team except to quietly serve their remaining time in the service.
Until Marco becomes the first person in over a hundred years to decipher the ruins. Now an alien invasion is coming, and Zeta Team are the only people that can stop it.
Humanity is probably doomed.
—–
The Zeta Team by D.J. Goodman is available on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Zeta-Team-D-J-Goodman-ebook/dp/B072QBCKWB?SubscriptionId=AKIAJBDF5XQBATGDX4VQ&tag=spea06-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B072QBCKWB
If you like cooking and you like science fiction, you might get a kick out of my cookbooks. From spherification and whipping siphons to foams and sous vide, I show you how to take the latest modernist techniques and apply them at home to wow your friends and family. Two of my more popular ones are:
Modernist Cooking Made Easy: https://www.amazon.com/Modernist-Cooking-Made-Easy-Introduction/dp/1481063316/
Healthy Sous Vide: https://www.amazon.com/Amazing-Food-Made-Easy-Flavor-Packed/dp/1945185023/
The Whipping Siphon: https://www.amazon.com/Modernist-Cooking-Made-Easy-Sensations/dp/099105010X/
I hope you enjoy!
Do you need more mayhem in your life? How about some drunken faeries? Or maybe a book with a very cranky space captain merc who finds herself saving the Universe whether it wants it or not? If fantasy (and said drunken faeries) are more your thing, come visit my fantasy series, The Lost Ancients. If you prefer your shenaghans in space–check out Warrior Wench and Victorious Dead. Action, advention, and mayhem–what more do you need for the holidays? (Did I mention they are all free if you are in Kindle Unlimited?) https://goo.gl/GzotDi
Time traveler Jeremiah Gale kills people in the past to create a better present. He fails to kill target seventeen, but when he returns to the future, it is changed for the better. Gale thinks he is done, but soon gets kidnapped and interrogated. It doesn’t take long for him to realize somebody from even farther in the future hunt a target for their own reasons. Can he stop these temporal assassins and protect his new home?
Available on Amazon, nook, iTunes, tolino. Link to Amazon below:
https://www.amazon.com/Target-Seventeen-Must-Die-Clark/dp/1546870288/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1512487044&sr=8-1&keywords=target+seventeen+must+die
Do you like your villains really EVIL, all-pervasive and… with a Lancashire accent?
Want a scientist heroine (with kids at college), fighting a very topical curse?
Fancy a visit to death, but without having to stay?
Then THE PRICE OF TIME is for you…
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Some people have a Guardian Angel. Others aren’t so lucky and have a Guardian Devil.
Late one autumn evening Yorkshirewoman and lifelong green campaigner Verity Player comes face-to-face with Lancastrian evil genius Stan ‘Satanic’ Mills, who has been stalking her for over half her life.
As soon as he speaks, she recognizes him from an incident in her youth. He’s the mastermind behind the spread of an idea so simple — and so fundamental to everyday life — that few people would think to question it.
But Verity has long ago grasped its infernal logic. She knows it as the mechanism that lurks behind humanity’s apparent death wish.
And now, facing its creator, she’s the only mortal who can fight to make him halt it before its final, devastating phase.
Her struggle pitches her into a surreal game. Desperate, she bargains for a sporting chance. But this comes at a price: the forfeit of her precious conscience if she fails to strike the first blow by New Year…
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Price-Time-C-L-Spillard/dp/0956046983/
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http://www.cspillardwriter.co.uk/
Thank you John Scalzi for the brilliant idea!
Hello everyone!
I’ve never really promoted my self-published children’s book before, but I thought this was the perfect platform. I think you’ll like Goodnight Princess.
A little princess is going to bed, but needs a story!
With her parents, the king and queen, out of the castle, it’s up to Sebastian and the rest of the servants to read her a story. Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite go as planned. This bedtime story about a bedtime story is perfect for silly readers and little princesses alike.
Visit the website here: http://goodnightprincess.com/
Buy on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0615994903/
Thank you for reading and happy holidays!
The holidays are often a time for bringing people together. A Very Faerie Christmas is a collection of faerie themed holiday novellas by authors across the spectrum of fantasy storytelling. You’ll find something for every fan of fantasy, be it more traditional faerie stories, to romance, to urban fantasy.
Get it for:
-Anyone on the hunt for new stories or authors with existing series
-The lover of all things Christmasy or Holiday-y (They are totally words…now)
-Anyone who hates this time of years because it’s all just twinkle and joy
-The friend who loves love and/or the allure of the fae
-The family member who thinks the only good fantasy story is a traditional one
-People who like to read!
Meara Platt – A Mistletoe Kiss: When Lady Imogen Fairchild wishes for a faerie godmother, her Christmas wish goes awry and she finds herself with Beogrin, a handsome Fae warrior, instead.
Avril Borthiry – Matthew’s Hope: Set in England’s rural north at the turn of the 20th century, Matthew never forgets the little girl who saved his life, the girl no one else could see.
Jack Heckel – The Holly And The Ivy: After leaving a party, Malcom encounters the faerie Phaedra, but can her magic help him find true love in time for Christmas?
Ruth Vincent – Above Thy Deep And Dreamless Sleep: A vindictive Faerie Queen tries to guilt trip her changeling daughter into coming home to fairyland for the holidays.
Michele Lang – The Laws Of Magic: Ayna Cassidy, human chaos machine, must somehow overcome her past and stop an army of night Fae from ravaging her home.
Bishop O’Connell – The Greatest Gift Of All: Wraith is a homeless teen able to manipulate reality itself, but can she bring hope to those society has forgotten and ignored?
https://www.amazon.com/Very-Faerie-Christmas-Inspired-Novellas-ebook/dp/B076YKTHVX/
Like opera? Don’t like opera? Don’t know anything about opera?
My new series of three sweet romances is set in the world of opera, each with a different paranormal twist. This is light paranormal: no major battles with the Queen of Hell or suchlike. Instead, a ghost, the Tarot cards, a demon. Or maybe not.
As a bonus, by the end of each story you’ll have a great grasp of a different opera. Haunting the Tenor features Verdi’s Don Carlo. Friendzoned Soprano is wrapped around Puccini’s Tosca. And Defiant Diva delves into Bizet’s Carmen.
These are sweet romances with a tiny hint of steam. Euphemisms, y’all. Not for kids, because, well, opera singers know how to use their tongues.
Oh, and Friendzoned Soprano is all about a soprano with a serious weight problem. Easy to relate to her daily struggles.
Haunted Tenor releases December 26th. (The paperback edition may release earlier.) By the holidays, all three books will be available for pre-order. The first two books are available at Amazon for pre-order right now:
Haunted Tenor http://amzn.to/2z6MW2g
Friendzoned Soprano http://amzn.to/2iUwtLK
Thanks, John.
I write geeky chick lit/romantic comedies about women who work in STEM fields:
Remedial Rocket Science
Intermediate Thermodynamics
An urban fantasy series compared favorably to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the Iníonaofa Chronicles features a single mother hunting demons in Montreal…
Intrigued yet?
Eléonore Dormant’s life is a precarious balancing act: librarian by day, demon hunter by night and single mother around the clock. Each day brings its challenges and she brings her A-game. It helps that coffee and a bottle of painkillers are always in supply.
For six years, she’s protected the streets of Montreal from all manner of demons and the consequent evil that they would wreak on her city. But even a resumé like hers isn’t enough to prepare her for the unforeseen night when she becomes the hunted.
With chaos brewing in Daemoniar—the demon realm—and a tyrannical group on the rise, one thing is for certain…
Eléonore’s about to stumble into a whole new hellhole of trouble.
Book one and two are now available on Kindle and paperback from Amazon!
Find them here: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B01MRTPGVU
Steampunk, fantasy, romance and more!
A proper Victorian must learn to use her bloodline’s wild magic to help the shapeshifter she loves, or become a cog in a magnate’s plan to control agriculture.
ebooks & lovely paperbacks for gifting ~ perfect for:
– Older teens 15 + seeking adventure with poelcat & sparrowhawk shifters
– College-age-new-adults, with themes of new job, making new friends, finding love
– Adults who love light fantasy
– Anyone who yearns for life in the countryside and living with the land.
Find the series at Amazon, iBooks & Kobo, starting here:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NBIS320
Thanks, John, and happy holidays!
Thanks so much for this opportunity, John!
If you’re into dystopian YA fantasy, but eager for a fresh twist, check out THE SILVER CHILD.
Maia Starfield has spent her whole life hiding her ability to spin silver when she sings. When the government arrives to take her away, her mom sends her running, with just one instruction: Find Dr. Martus—whoever that is. Albert Martus is just as confused when Maia turns up in his waiting room, though he does remember her unusual birth 17 years before—but from the moment she turns up, his story becomes intertwined with hers…as it has been since before she was born.
Teens and adults have enjoyed the story of this unlikely pair as they work together to discover the truth about the past and their present, the regime known as the Brotherhood, and the magical and ordinary power they each carry deep inside.
Amazon reviewers have said:
“This is listed as “young adult” but as an “older adult” I found so much here that touched my inner imagination as well as my heart. I thoroughly enjoyed this and as another reviewer said, I couldn’t put it down.”
“Dramatic without being melodramatic, Norbeck had me rooting for her protagonists, Maia and Dr. Martus, from the get-go.”
“I read, and very much enjoyed, The Silver Child. But my 11 year old has become a most devout disciple of this book. She cannot, will not, stop talking about it to every single person who crosses her path.”
“I’m 51 years old and would recommend this book to anyone from young adult on up.”
“Ms. Norbeck has a gift for pulling you into a story and you just have to keep reading to find out what is going to happen next to the characters.”
“I particularly loved Maia’s wit and cleverness as she grappled for solutions during her life on the run. From the start, the narrative intrigues, captures the imagination, and builds suspense chapter by chapter.”
“Miss Norbeck has crafted a tale that fits nicely between The Hunger Games and The Fifth Wave, but stands head and shoulders above those stories in the implications it states as the story unfolds. I highly encourage parents to buy two copies and read with your teens.”
Available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
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KILROY WAS HERE is a comedic sci-fi YA novel best described as John Hughes meets Douglas Adams meets Men In Black.
Normal teenagers flip burgers to earn cash during high school. Tony Pershing is not a normal teenager. He broke up with his girlfriend because he was worried his job monitoring a mysterious portal to space for an enigmatic company named Corporate would put her in danger. In other words, he sucks at making decisons. His best friend and Corporate co-worker is Jeff Harper, who.is obsessed with the music of Styx and his 1976 Chevy Vega. Jeff got sucked through the portal on prom night and now, armed with an arsenal of bizarre weapons and a mild case of PTSD, Tony has to find out what happened to his friend.
Tony also has to deal with a sudden and random ability to spout off information he never knew and a neurotic alien real estate developer bent on turning Earth into a resort planet.
KILROY WAS HERE is my first novel and you can purchase it on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. You can also buy an autographed copy through my website.
Keeping it short and sweet (like my heroine): The Conn-Mann Chronicles (https://theconnmannchronicles.com/novels/) is a self-published series of four (currently) Steampunk adventures with a Dime Novel flair. They follow the comings and goings of Josephine Mann and her employer Alistair Conn in an 1870s New York City that never exactly was.
Jo, and her ever-expanding network of acquaintances find themselves in difficult situations where they must survive with their wits, their hearts, and Alistair’s substantial pocketbook.
Told from the viewpoint of the VERY opinionated Jo, here is a peek into a world we can’t ever visit in reality, but can vicariously sample on the written page.
Amazon link as well: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=The+Conn-Mann+Chronicles
I have a steamy contemporary romance out on Amazon. Holiday-themed, but definitely not sweet! For any cross-genre readers. Also part of Kindle Unlimited. Details here: https://www.amazon.com/Holiday-Heat-Christmas-Carrie-Lomax-ebook/dp/B076YWWNYV/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1509377076&sr=8-3&keywords=holiday+heat
Steampunk Romance
“…enough sexual tension to choke a kraken.”
Lady Olivia is not all she seems.
Trained for marriage to an assigned political target, her skills lie in programming household steambots to serve tea, dress her hair… and sound the alarm while she picks locks and listens at doors. Humiliated by a failed assignment, she decides to redeem herself by tailing a suspected double agent.
Lord Rathsburn must flirt with treason.
Struggles to cure a horrible disease have met with unexpected complications. The cells he engineered can make a man’s bones unbreakable, but the side effects are fatal. He believed the research terminated… until his sister was kidnapped by a German count. Her ransom? A cure.
Piloting a stolen dirigible, he uncovers an unlikely stowaway, Lady Olivia.
Arriving together at a crumbling castle, an impossible task is set before them: cure the count’s guardsmen. Amidst their fake marriage, a very real growing attraction, dying guardsmen and escalating hostilities, Lady Olivia and Lord Rathsburn are thrust deep into the world of international medical espionage from which there may be no return.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N7PU9G1/
The urban fantasy Dark Choir series marches on with Book 4, THE DARK INTEREST.
The series takes a dark *cough cough* turn in book 4, with a wave of vicious magic spilling into Baltimore, sending it into chaos. Hex peddler Dorian Lake teams up with a Stregha witch, a metaphysical scientist, and a coven of Wiccans to halt the wave of violence sweeping the city… but the intrigues of rival hermetic cabals may prove too arcane to navigate without taking matters into his own hands.
Start with Book 1, The Curse Merchant, and then strap in for a snarky anti-hero on his quest to find and redeem his own soul before the ancient evils exterminate the human race.
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The 5 Day Novel!
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Five-Day-Novel-Optimizing-Workflow-ebook/dp/B01MDN3015/
Tried to do a preview link but didn’t work. How are people posting those?
i’ve two self-published oddities out there. both mixes of short (mostly dark) fiction & poetry –
…
…yes, poetry.
writing night book
( http://amzn.to/1LcD1c1 )
an anthology i put together of various tumblr poets & others & myself, mostly poetry (poetry!). it includes poetry (!) by laird barron & tara vanflower. (tara wrote one specifically for the book!)
the skeleton girl
( http://amzn.to/1QQUAmb )
a collection of short stories & poetry (!!!), about, well, you know her already, even if you think you don’t. no special guest writers here – just my strange words.
Do you like Science Fantasy Space Opera with music-based magic? Try out my Dissolutionverse series. The Seeds of Dissolution is my new novel, on pre-order now for only $0.99! It releases on Dec 19th, just in time for the holidays.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077V2YHKR
On a bright August day, the sun disappears.
Sam van Oen barely escapes freezing to death in his house, as his watch stops and fire ceases to burn. He is pulled into the Nether—a nexus between ten alien cultures—where he meets Rilan and Origon, two maji who can control the musical foundation of the universe. While coping with anxiety attacks prompted by his new surroundings, Sam must learn to hear and change the Symphony, and thus reality, in order to discover what happened to his home.
But more freezing voids like the one that started his journey are appearing, and Sam’s chances of getting back are fading. The Assembly of Species is threatening to dissolve and the maji are being attacked by those they protect, while rumors grow of an ancient, shape-changing species of assassins, returning to wage war.
The Dissolution is coming
I also have two novellas out in the same universe, Tuning the Symphony and Merchants and Maji, Available here:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CYJFOFA
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KWCSIWM
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/8183vitdcwL._SL480_.jpg
“Five Corner Rose”
Cowboys and Dragons. Gods and Centaurs. The Five Corner Rose embodies the myths and legends of the creation of the world. And, perhaps, its destruction.
Paperback and ebook.
https://www.amazon.com/Five-Corner-Rose-Lucius-Phoenix-ebook/dp/B00YTNNFNI
Are steampunk, romance, and intrigue your cup of tea? How about a girl required to stop a plot against the Queen or face returning to the torturer’s dungeon? Maybe a Christmas ball where old flames come face to face for the first time since one of the two disappeared? This book includes all that — plus a bunch of secrets.
And, as Pockets of Deception is a standalone book, you won’t have to wait for a sequel. (Let’s face it — waiting is hard.)
Available on Kindle and as a paperback from Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Pockets-Deception-Rebecca-McKinnon/dp/1548201200/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1512488021&sr=8-1&keywords=pockets+of+deception
Thanks, John, this is a real cool thing to do!
I’m M. U. Zaetl. Author. Wanderer. Were-nerd. I write dark fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and bizarre hybrids of the three. My first novel, The Great Unlife, is available from your favourite Amazon Marketplace, Barnes & Noble, and seems to be popping up in other miscellaneous locations across the planet!
THE GREAT UNLIFE is a tale of dark fantasy and science fiction in an original world of magic and technology. Martin Tundra, an ancient and powerful wizard, nears the end of his life. When medicine and arcane might can no longer sustain him, he goes in search of an artifact from the distant past: a device that may hold the key to eternal youth.
Joined by an eccentric mage named Bill, a powerful flesh construct, a nightmarish werewolf, a wily kobold, a mysterious green dragon, a pair of exiled dwarves, and a psychotic entity known only as the Other, Martin’s journey will take him through continent-spanning forests, haunted cities, dark and dangerous caverns, and deep into the heart of a dwarven city. With is health fading fast, both physical and mental, can he stay alive and sane long enough to reach the artifact and claim the immortality he so direly desires?
The Great Unlife can be purchased at Amazon in both Kindle and high-quality 5″x8″ paperback formats. Check out my page at About.me and visit my various social media feeds to read an excerpt of the book and discuss my works and other nerdy things with me!
STATIC SHOCK by Elis Flynn
Jeanne Muir is her own human electromagnetic pulse, one of a minority of outcasts feared and ostracized in a world full of smartphones, wifi, and cars with digital dashboards. She is a “Reader” — forced by law to wear the field-dampening gloves identifying her kind to all. When she is framed for murder, she must reach out to the Reader underground, where she discovers her mysterious and sexy Reader boss could be her salvation — even as he is leading the charge to have their fellow Readers confined in government internment camps. Set in the realistic near-future, this science fiction allegory speaks to circumstances both historical and current-day.
Link: https://www.amazon.com/Static-Shock-Eilis-Flynn/dp/1535428171/ref=la_B0036N8WS0_1_3_twi_pap_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1512435699&sr=1-3
Thank you, John, for this space!
Vacui Magia: Stories is my World Fantasy Award finalist, containing eight dark fantasy stories that the judges called “delightfully creepy.”
Harkworth Hall is a gothic novella, which is also a f/f paranormal romance, which is also pulpy horror fun. One reviewer called it Austen meets Lovecraft and I’m okay with that. (Revising the sequel now for–hopefully–a late spring publication!)
http://traversingz.com/
http://amazon.com/author/lsj
Death is Good: Adventures of the Not-So-Grim Reaper
A book based on a story I accidentally started writing in the form of parody t-shirts. After I noticed I was fitting the shirt designs into a coherent story, I really wanted to answer my own questions about this character, which led to the idea for this book. It’s 64 pages, fully illustrated, and I did all of the layout and design, and art directed all of the illustrations, and printed them under my own Dead Bat Designs imprint. Right now I am running a special where you can buy the book *plus* one of the “Grim Quacker” rubber ducks that I created to go with the book for only $10 plus shipping.
http://deadbatdesigns.bigcartel.com/product/death-is-good-cyber-holiday-special-book-plus-grim-quacker-rubber-duck
Thank you, Mr. Scalzi, for offering us indie authors space to talk about our work on your blog. Not only am I going to shamelessly self-promote, thanks to this list I found a fabulous present for my hard-to-shop for husband (waves to Jason Logsdon).
My book, WHAT’S THAT, MOM?, describes how parents can use public art to get their kids engaged, curious, and outside. Great for parents and caretakers of kids ages 3-10.
Available on Amazon here:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0998289108
Reviews:
“…as an art teacher of young children and a mother, I love this book!” – Catherine Gruetzke-Blais, artist
“Great book for enjoying art with your kids” – K. Hawkins
Happy Tuesday, y’all.
For three or four years now, I’ve wanted to put out anthologies of my work in so-called Dead Tree Editions, and last year I finally managed to make that happen.
The two that brought me the most joy were:
Strange Seasons:
https://www.amazon.com/Strange-Seasons-Collected-Short-Fiction/dp/1520159234/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
This is a collection of my short fiction, putting all my previously published short works (including The Door in Red Hook, my Lovecraft-meets-Lovecraft short story) into a single collection.
I also put my vampire trilogy into one big fat paperback, for those that love that kind of thing (I do!):
https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Calling-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B01NGYRP0O/ref=la_B005OGX39K_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1512489233&sr=1-7
I have five books available.
1) The Once and Future Queen: Guinevere in Arthurian Legend
This non-fiction book traces the evolution of the character of Guinevere from her Celtic roots all the way to fiction published in 2016, emphasizing how she changed based on the views of women in the society for which she was written.
2) Daughter of Destiny The first book in a historical fantasy trilogy that tells Guinevere’s life from her point of view. Before queenship and Camelot, Guinevere was a priestess of Avalon. She loved another before Arthur, a warrior who would one day betray her. Named Book of the Year by Chanticleer Reviews.
3) Camelot’s Queen The sequel to Daughter of Destiny which covers Guinevere’s life with King Arthur. History remembers Guinevere’s sin, but it was Arthur who transgressed first. Named Fiction Book of the Year by Author’s Circle.
4) Been Searching for You A romantic comedy set in Chicago, where a 30+ single girl is struggling to find her soul mate. Think Hallmark or sweet Lifetime movies. Named a Novel of Excellence by Author’s Circle.
5) Madame Presidentess A biographical historical novel about Victoria Woodhull, America’s first female Presidential candidate.
Amazon links are in the title. If you want to purchase elsewhere, the best place for all buy links is my website: https://nicoleevelina.com/the-books/.
Thank you for doing this, John!
It’s life or death both in the arena and out for Mederei and Adalbern as they try to survive and save their people from Rome.
Daughters of Britain, published by Renaissance Press in Ottawa, Canada. You can find more info here:
https://www.smcarriere.com/daughters-of-britain.html
HORIZON – Writer’s Digest Grand Prize Winner for Self-Published Fiction in 2016
Fleeing a ruthless regime on her war-torn planet, an empathic healer risks discovery to save an injured pilot. But his world is as treacherous as hers—full of spies, interplanetary terrorist plots, and political intrigue. Soon the Horizon team is racing to defend an outlying planet from a deadly enemy, and Caeli’s unique skills may just give them the edge they need to save it.
INFINITY – In the second installment of the award-winning Horizon series, Dr. Caeli Crys returns to her war-torn world to fight for those she left behind. Joined by Commander Derek Markham and his elite squadron of operatives, Caeli embarks on a dangerous mission to find the Resistance, rescue her captive people, and save her civilization from destruction.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0723C1RX1/
A LONG WAY FROM TIPPERARY
This novel is a retelling of World War 2 as a space opera. When I began writing this 5 years ago, I had my doubts that humans would be foolish enough to let history repeat and have a genocidal tyrant take power. Today, I wish I had those doubts back.
The story focuses on three characters: Sabiha Soyuz and Birm Futon are two college sweethearts who find themselves fighting on opposite sides of a war that consumes the entire Milky Way. Sven Carlton is a young man who reluctantly joins a resistance cell when he faces persecution for his religious heritage.
https://www.amazon.com/Long-Way-Tipperary-Robert-Enders-ebook/dp/B072C21759/
My series Aggadeh Chronicles has proven to be a big hit with the release of the second book, Dragon. You can purchase the ebook version you are looking for here: https://goo.gl/Q1LDSE
A new cover is being retooled for the first book and both books will be available in print starting in January.
“In a world on the verge of upheaval, Nem Aster didn’t go looking for adventure. It found him. One event after another drew him deeper into the Aggadeh Empire. Trying to go unnoticed, he instead got pulled to the very center of power in the Empire. When things start to come apart, does Nem have the power to save the world? Or destroy it?”
You can read the all ages comic http://www.thingswithout.com/
For free online.
Add some Christmas cheer by buying a collection to give to loved ones http://www.thingswithout.com/product/hello-world-comics-collection/
Looking for classic ’80’s heroic fantasy? Swords, battles, derring-do? The Horseclans series, by Robert Adams, is for you- all of the above, and intelligent saber-tooth tigers to boot. Available at Amazon and other e-retailers. (also available in paperback)
Oh, hey, just as I was gearing up for the “Give your friends Hell for Christmas” posts, too. Excellent timing. OK, so. HOW TO GO TO HELL IN 10,000 EASY STEPS is about a young woman who wants to sell her soul, finds out Hell has serious problems of its own, and gets accidentally embroiled in them. It is also about demonic Louisiana political conspiracies, strange and occasionally horrific events, and The Truth About What Happens To Souls After You Die That They Don’t Want You To Know.
It’s available on Amazon in ink or pixel formats, and is also in Kindle Unlimited should that be your kick.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075CF3LXM
I’m known more for urban fantasy, but I had some fun writing a sci-fi romance trilogy this year about sending the first permanent colonists to Mars and the reality show that chooses who gets to go.
Here’s some info on the first book, Mars Ho! All are available in Kindle Unlimited.
Lori Ridgway is prepared to give up everything to go to Mars.
She entered the Mars Ho reality competition to be one of the first corporate-sponsored colonists on Mars. But she didn’t anticipate the chaotic, meat-market atmosphere that has candidates competing on everything from flirting to life-and-death in the airlock.
She certainly didn’t expect Mark Lauren—handsome, intelligent, principled, one of the strongest competitors, and an infuriating stickler for the rules.
As rivals, Mark and Lori must each decide what they would do for a one-way trip to Mars. Can they pull together to survive the hazards of dangerous competition, manipulated drama, and an endless supply of unpalatable protein paste that threaten to keep them apart?
Mars Ho! is the first book in the spicy M.A.R.S. sci-fi romance series.
MARS adventure romance series:
Mars Ho!
Lovers and Lunatics
Mars Heat
Thanks, John!
Do you like mysteries? How about cozy mysteries with a side of romance, set on a beautiful, tropical island? How about cozy mysteries, with a dash of romance, set on a beautiful island, that make you smile and laugh out loud? Well, if you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you clearly need to read my new book, A SHELL OF A PROBLEM: A SANIBEL ISLAND MYSTERY, which is available as an ebook and in paperback on Amazon. (Click the link.) A SHELL OF A PROBLEM is a fun, fast-paced read, full of quirky, memorable characters. And it’s the perfect gift for the mystery (or Sanibel) lover in your life, or for those of you looking for a good book to cuddle up with on a cold winter’s night, or when you are relaxing on the beach this winter. Buy it now! :-)
Can’t finish your work?
Can’t start it?
Missing deadlines and opportunities?
The 7 Secrets of the Prolific has the solutions you need! In it, author Hillary Rettig shows how fear, scarcity, ambivalence, and other inner obstacles trigger a Disempowerment Cascade that can derail even the most dedicated writer. How perfectionism plays a more serious role in underproductivity than most writers realize. And how some criticisms and rejections can linger, hidden, for years and even decades, undermining your productivity.
Then she shows you how to interrupt the Cascade, recognize and defuse the perfectionism, and recover from the criticisms and rejections all so you can return to your work as quickly as possible.
She also shows you ways to boost your writing pace so you can get more done than you had ever imagined.
Unlike the superficial and gimmicky solutions some other books offer, Hillary’s are based on a new way of looking at yourself, your work, and the world. She developed her method over more than a decade of teaching at some of the country’s premier literary and cultural organizations, including Mark Twain House & Museum, Grub Street Writers, and The Loft; and while coaching hundreds of successful creative, business, and academic writers.
The 7 Secrets of the Prolific also features unique and timely sections on writing for the Internet (and coping with its hypercritical culture), and how to respond to the many clueless and/or challenging comments and questions people direct at writers (e.g., ‘When will you get that thing done?’). And the section on Values-Based Time Management will help you reclaim time for your writing (and other priorities) you never knew you had.
Whether you write for work, school, or fun, The 7 Secrets of the Prolific will help become the productive, fulfilled, and joyful writer you always wanted to be.
Paperbacks and Ecopies available through Amazon ( http://a.co/7ct0Txo ) , or directly from http://www.hillaryrettig.com .
When snarky food critic, Josie Tucker, heads to Austin, Texas, to wax philosophical about the local barbecue joints, she stumbles on to a decades’ old missing person case. With the help of a local reporter, a Goth ghost hunter, and a bunco-playing transvestite, she tries to unravel the heart-tugging, hidden history before the whole place goes up in smoke.
Rated 9.5/10 by BookLife Prize at Publisher’s Weekly *gasp*
http://www.amazon.com/Full-Slab-Dead-Cozy-Culinary-ebook/dp/B071LLMRV9
Want some snarky urban fantasy with a heroine who punches vampires rather than kisses them? Now optioned by some fancy pants people for film and television development! And the best? Pick up Maggie for Hire! And the best? Book one is FREE!!! http://amzn.to/2ATyRcw
Enjoy something a bit darker? With classic tones and a dash of romance? Put not skimping on the fairies and Roman gods? Grab Queen Mab! Here it is on Kindle: http://amzn.to/2BKCKxZ And if you’re a fan of audiobooks, you can get this narrated by the incredible British actor Julian Rhind-Tutt (Banished, Green Wing, Hoff the Record) http://amzn.to/2jShNJD
Thanks for this opportunity!
Meet Dr. Alastair Stone.
His magic is real.
His enemies are horrific.
And his exams are a nightmare.
The Amazon-bestselling Alastair Stone Chronicles is an urban fantasy series featuring a British expat mage who teaches Occult Studies at Stanford University when he’s not dealing with increasingly nasty magical threats. If you like character-driven stories featuring magic, mayhem, and adventure, you might want to give the Stone Chronicles a try! It’s available on Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, and Nook, as well as paperback and audiobook (we’re up to book 7 in the audiobook series and more are coming every month).
You can get the first book for free by joining my mailing list at alastairstonechronicles.com (1 newsletter per month plus very occasional short updates around release times), and I also have a box set of the first four novels available for a discounted price from all the retailers.
https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B00UGBEQYY&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_u9SjAb0DXHHJ0&tag=boxset-nondresden-20
Sherlock Holmes is one of the most beloved and most portrayed characters in all of fiction. Everyone assumes that his creator was Arthur Conan Doyle. But what if that presumption is turned on it’s head? What if…Holmes was first envisioned by a woman?
Shadow Woman: The Real Creator of Sherlock Holmes is the startling result of a thirty year investigation into the origin of Sherlock Holmes, one of the most compelling and mysterious figures in all literature. Taking advantage of research and analysis tools only recently available, Shadow Woman will leave you with little doubt that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle neither created Sherlock Holmes nor wrote the early adventures. Early suspicions of Arthur’s authorship are revealed, and the earlier writings of Mark Twain and Mary Shelley give Arthur away. Doyle’s penchant for fabrication and his racist attitudes preclude him as the author of the early Holmes adventures. Time, circumstance, and collusion have kept the reading public unaware of his ghostwriter. In Shadow Woman, you will meet the modest, incredibly brilliant woman who defied Victorian sensibilities and customs to actually create Sherlock Holmes. Written by John Allen, a recovering engineer, a forensic data miner, and a research beast. It’s non-fiction, but eminently readable. It serves as the lead-in to an upcoming fictionalized series of mysteries about Sherlock’s true creator.
Now available on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Woman-creator-Sherlock-Holmes/dp/098427166X and
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/shadow-woman-john-allen/1127093406?ean=9780984271665
A machine designed to transform the world into a utopian paradise is instead used by a saboteur to break the earth into patches of every kind of genre fiction. Only a handful of people know this machine exists and they are trying to put things right before everybody on the planet dies.
https://www.amazon.com/Actuator-Fractured-Earth-LitRPG-Adventure-ebook/dp/B00EI77VS0/
Kate vs the Navy
Gareth Fothrington-Thomas has made a huge mistake. He’s given Dave Thomas a job without
consulting Kate. And Dave and Kate have history – embarrassing, complicated history.
But the Ministry of Defence have just asked KoD Associates to oversee the closing of an almost-forgotten naval base. It’s the company’s biggest contract yet, and a good performance could mean Kate can finally buy Gareth out.
However, nothing is ever straightforward. Tracey views work as a chance to have fun. Kelvin’s virtual life is far more exciting than his real one. And Captain Norris and his crew not only want to stay employed, they’re also keeping a secret. A rather large grey secret.
When Kate misses a key meeting she feels the whole process slipping out of her hands. Even an unexpected upturn in her personal life can’t compensate for the worry that things are about to go horribly wrong …
Join the team who first appeared in Kate vs the Dirtboffins as they become reluctant and unwelcome guests on a tiny island, battle local wildlife and tackle the Royal Navy in another madcap adventure.
Buy Kate vs the Navy from Amazon – Kindle and print formats
She thought she was just drawing superheroes. She never imagined she’d have to become one.
The Private Life of Jane Maxwell is about a comic book artist who ends up on a parallel world where her characters are real, except that SHE is the leader of the band of superheroes that she’s been writing about.
F/F, nerdy, meta. Readers have called it a graphic novel in prose format.
https://jenngott.com/books/the-private-life-of-jane-maxwell/
Most historical fiction embedded in the Elizabethan era tends to be bodice-ripping tales of Court intrigue, set amidst the silken splendor of palaces. Mine tends to hang about in ale-soaked taverns, muddy streets and fetid back-alleys where cold-steel by lantern light offers redemption or grim death by turns…
THE JESUIT LETTER is available in print, e-book and now newly available, gloriously narrated, in an Audible audio book version. All three very affordable formats may be found on Amazon at http://amzn.to/2nviptA .
Ex-soldier turned play-actor Kit Tyburn thought he had left bloodshed and violence behind him when he abandoned the war against the Spanish in Flanders, but fate has different and far bloodier plans waiting.
When Tyburn accidentally intercepts a coded letter from a hidden Jesuit priest in Warwickshire, he is entangled in a murderous and deadly conspiracy. Stalked by unknown enemies, he must race to uncover the conspiracy and hunt down the Jesuit to clear his name. . .or die a traitor’s death. His only hope – an eleven-year old glover’s son named William Shakespeare.
You can also get my novella BLACK DOG for a mere $.99 at http://amzn.to/2zOQNkO where Tyburn must dive into the cesspool of London’s back-alleys when he runs afoul of a deadly prison rooker.
So get some Elizabethan swashbuckling for the holidays!
Thanks!
The Royal Academy of the Arcane Arts and Sciences at Osyth by Patricia S. Bowne
The perfect gift for any fantasy-loving faculty or grad students on your list, here’s a series of academic satires without a single angst-ridden English professor or adulterous don. The characters in these books are too busy summoning demons, enchanting donors, and venturing into hell for spring break. Come along as they wrestle with the really big questions of University life – what happens to your health insurance if you lose your soul on the job? Will it be harder or easier to get tenure if you’ve helped a monster eat the department chair? Can a demon appearing onstage during graduation be passed off as part of the ceremony? and just how professional is a professional lecher?
You’ll find summaries,links to purchase Royal Academy novels and novellas, reviews, and all about the world of Osyth at http://www.patbowne.com (alternate address: http://www.raosyth.com). One of the Osyth stories was published in Year’s Best Fantasy, another received honorable mention in Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror, and the first novel received a 5-star review from World Fantasy Award winner Sofia Samatar.
Thanks to John Scalzi for providing this opportunity for shameless self-promotion!
The Nameless series is probably better experienced than summarized, but I’ll take a moment and quote one of my favorite reviews: “And how do I sum it up? It’s like a mainstream weird horror novel… and then Santa Claus shows up in a major battle.”
These are strange books with non-traditional relationships and characters. There’s magic, weirdness and more — everything from Lovecraftian insanity to four color comic books and laser swords from space opera meeting cartoon robot lions. Love, sex, the pain of lost family, people coming together in shared grief to make a new life, and even the villains are people. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071JYV34R/ref=series_rw_dp_sw
If you’ve ever wondered if Santa Claus could beat Cernunnos, read these books. If your answer to a massive dragon is to use a space station that absolutely isn’t a moon, read these books. If you wonder if Nyarlathotep has a point, check these out. There’s a vampire bookseller who has never read Dracula, a wererat gang, a ghost wizard, worms that walk and more. This is a book that argues that Love is a powerful, even terrifying force, and can be harnessed to set monsters on fire.
You can also get the series in paperback starting with the first book, nameless – https://www.amazon.com/nameless-novel-Nameless-Matthew-Rossi/dp/1519039174/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1519039174&pd_rd_r=FQ5MWQ53K2CBWHC3C50Y&pd_rd_w=Q5rEC&pd_rd_wg=pLfuY&psc=1&refRID=FQ5MWQ53K2CBWHC3C50Y But the Kindle version tends to get all the reviews. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FQYYWYO/ref=series_rw_dp_sw
A Greater Duty is the first book in the Galaxy Ascendant series. Fresh, new, action-packed, grand-scope space opera featuring an entirely non-human cast.
A warrior struggles to prevent the collapse of the civilization he swore to protect.
A young grand admiral seeks vengeance.
An emotionless conqueror faces a crisis of conscience…and the fate of the galaxy hangs in the balance.
After her homeworld suffers a devastating attack, Grand Admiral Nayasar Khariah wants nothing more than vengeance upon the Galactic Alliance, the interplanetary civilization that had expelled her people and then refused to punish the organizers of the attack. Her opportunity finally comes when she meets Executor Darkclaw, who has been tasked with conquering the Galactic Alliance— to be followed by the rest of the galaxy—by his master, the all-powerful energy being known only as the High Lord.
Things abruptly change, however, when Darkclaw unexpectedly starts feeling emotions he does not understand, and finds himself heretically questioning the only purpose he has ever known—irrevocably altering his view of the ongoing war.
Meanwhile, within the Galactic Alliance, Second Scion Dalcon Oresh, member of an order dedicated to preserving the it, struggles to stop the Alliance’s bleeding, the source of which may not be entirely external.
Darkclaw’s friendship with Nayasar will be pushed to its breaking point, Nayasar’s relationships with her closest friends and loved ones will be strained as her quest for vengeance becomes more and more a personal obsession, and Dalcon must determine who he can truly trust.
All the while, the imminent existential threat of the High Lord looms over everything, and the key to stopping him, and saving not just the Alliance, but the entire galaxy, may only be found in the remains of a ancient, powerful race, and the creations they left behind…
“1 part Weber’s Starfire series. 1 part Wing Commander. But it brings its own voice to the table.” -Amazon reviewer.
Available on Amazon in print & ebook: https://www.amazon.com/Greater-Duty-Galaxy-Ascendant-Book-ebook/dp/B071LD7LL8/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
For more information, as well as free short fiction, one can sign up for my email list at yakovmerkin.com
The Royal Academy of the Arcane Arts and Sciences at Osyth by Patricia S. Bowne
The perfect gift for any fantasy-loving faculty or grad students on your list, here’s a series of academic satires without a single angst-ridden English professor or adulterous don. The characters in these books are too busy summoning demons, enchanting donors, and venturing into hell for spring break. Come along as they wrestle with the really big questions of University life – what happens to your health insurance if you lose your soul on the job? Will it be easier or harder to get tenure if you’ve helped a monster eat the department chair? Can a demon appearing onstage during graduation be passed off as part of the ceremony? and just how professional is a professional lecher?
You’ll find summaries,links to purchase Royal Academy novels and novellas, reviews, and all about the world of Osyth at http://www.patbowne.com (alternate address: http://www.raosyth.com).
One of the Osyth stories (Want’s Master) was reprinted in Year’s Best Fantasy 3 and another received honorable mention in Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror. The first Royal Academy novel received a 5-star review from World Fantasy Award winner Sofia Samatar.
Thanks to John Scalzi for providing this opportunity for shameless self-promotion!
The Case of the Questionable Quadruplet is the first book in the Safe Harbor Medical Mystery series, self-published by the USA Today bestselling author of more than a hundred books (that’s me, Jacqueline Diamond). Young, widowed obstetrician Eric Darcy is stunned when the mother of triplets claims to have borne a fourth baby, a quad, that was stolen from her years ago. When someone murders his patient, Eric believes the police are dismissing a vital clue, and teams up with his PI sister-in-law to investigate, never imagining his own life might be in danger.
Amazon link: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1123713375
Kobo link: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-case-of-the-questionable-quadruplet-safe-harbor-medical-mysteries-book-1
iTunes link: https://itunes.apple.com/nz/book/case-questionable-quadruplet-safe-harbor-medical-mysteries/id1132318870?mt=11
Book 2, The Case of the Surly Surrogate, is also available. Book 3, The Case of the Desperate Doctor, will be published in early 2018.
Music, magic, and computer geekery: the Free Court of Seattle urban fantasy series! If you like lighter-hearted yet still adventurous urban fantasy (particularly if you like Tanya Huff or Esther Friesner), you may find books 1 and 2 of this series, Faerie Blood and Bone Walker to your taste too!
Faerie Blood, Book 1: A young woman discovers her fey heritage when her immortal Seelie Court kin come to Seattle to kill her.
Bone Walker, Book 2: Half-fey mage Kendis Thompson must defend her loved ones–and Seattle–when a dark spirit in dragon form threatens the Emerald City.
Both books are on sale in ebook form for 99 cents through the end of December! For the print-inclined, I am also waiving shipping costs for the duration of the holidays, and print copies can be ordered directly from me. Find out more about each book and read samples on their official pages:
Faerie Blood
Bone Walker
Thanks to our host for doing this, and if you come visit me on my site, thanks for stopping by! :)
For flash fiction, a modern spin on a Swedish fairy tale, and a snowy walk through a real crime scene check out “Winter Worlds: Three Stories.” This collection of short stories tie into the backstory of Clouds Over Bishop Hill, a cozy mystery novel based on the former Swedish Utopian society founded in western Illinois in 1846.
Clouds Over Bishop Hill begins when wispy cross in the sky jogs the memory of an elderly woman. It sends her off in a stolen minivan straight into the path of Shelley Anderson, a college grad heading home for a summer museum job. The near collision reveals a body and the mystery of Olof Krans’s last portrait. Centenarians make poor detectives, so it is up to the younger generation to continue the mission. Shelley pounds the brick sidewalks of Bishop Hill as she tries to determine if the old woman’s dreams are real or not, if there is a painting to be found, and how dangerous will it actually be to discover it. After all, it had to have been hidden for a good reason.
Amazon link for both books: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=mary+r+davidsaver
Johnny Griffin has stumbled onto a plot to bring about Armageddon. Again.
Griffin, who used to be a cop and an honest-to-God American hero, now has to take scutwork as a private eye to make enough money to feed his addiction to Truth, a drug made from the blood of angels. Ananke, half-angel and daughter of a high profile priestess for a cult turned respectable church, hires Johnny to find her missing mother.
And then things get apocalyptic….
Truth is a Drug
John, thank you for the chance to tell folks about B Cubed Press’ new anthology More Alternative Truths: Tales from the Resistance.
Forty-give science fiction and fantasy writers examine the world brought to us by the current administration, from Mount Sinai to Mars. Stories, essays and poems by Vonda N. McIntyre, Jim Wright, David Brin, Mike Resnick, Adam-Troy Castro, Jane Yolen, Philip Brian Hall and others look at the strange new world of American politics.
In Jim Wright’s “Ten Commandments Renegotiated,” Trump takes the place of Moses (“God. I love God. He’s a great guy, but the commandments, folks. Too many.”).
In Lou Antonelli’s “Queens Crossing,” a meeting between a young Jerry Springer and a young Donald Trump changes the fate of two cities…and the world.
In my story, “The Right Man for the Job,” LBJ returns to haunts the White House.
On the serious side: Stu Hardy looks at the angry redneck whose prejudices are focused on robots taking blue collar jobs. “Small Courages,” by Eric Witchey, and “One of the Lucky Ones,” by Wondra Vanian, may break your heart.
You’ll find More Alternative Truths on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/More-Alternative-Truths-Stories-Resistance/dp/0998963437
As well as at Barnes and Noble and Apple’s iBooks.
A failed attempt to destroy Samuel robs him of memories, but leaves him assaulted by visions of a brutal murder. Adrift in a world that sees constructs like him as property, he must find a way to restore his fractured mind before the ruthless hunters pursuing him snuff out his only chance to discern if he’s a witness… or a killer.
My debut novel, CONSTRUCT, has been described as “The Bourne Identity meets The Iron Giant.” Sarah Chorn over at Bookworm Blues gives it 4/5 stars, and awarded it “Most unique” during the inaugural SPFBO. Comic book writer Cullen Bunn had this to say: “Matthews’ brisk vivid description, brisk pacing, and page-turning mystery hooked me from the very first page. The haunted construct Samuel is as fine an example of a compelling fantasy character as I could hope to find. CONSTRUCT is a delight!”
Preview the first six chapters, or link to your favorite eBook retailer to buy a copy for just $3.99 by going to http://www.chroniclersaga.com/buy-the-book!
In a world where a significant fraction of the population has super powers, why are there no schools to teach people how to use them? Well, there’s one now!
I started this project over a decade ago as a fun break from my more serious writing, but many others also enjoyed the tales. These stories have proven very popular, in fact, and eventually attracted the attention of Doppler Press. They’re superhero stories set in my own universe. The first few emphasize Template, a new super – or Mask – who finds superhero work fulfilling, but not what she really wants to do with her life. At the end of the first story she begins working with others to create a school for supers. The third story just came out:
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=as_li_ss_tl?tag=dopplerpress-20&ie=UTF8&text=Rodford+Edmiston&search-alias=digital-text&field-author=Rodford+Edmiston&sort=relevancerank&linkCode=sl2&linkId=668e393b8512b1a22da33b61e6267d8c
There are eighteen completed stories, and I’m currently about halfway through number nineteen. :-)
Their pretend marriage—cover for a top-secret military assignment—turned into something real.
Maddy and Hunter have completed their assignment, but neither wants their roles as husband and wife to end. They’re ready to exchange vows, but their plans for a quickie ceremony at the courthouse unravel when Grayce Walters and company decide the two Marines deserve a real wedding.
Overwhelmed by the generous attention of her new circle of family and friends, loner Maddy realizes falling in love with Hunter comes with big changes. Worried that the next assignment might separate him from the woman he can’t live without, Hunter struggles not to ruin his fiancée’s pleasure at getting her dream wedding.
But it’s Christmas—the season of miracles. Tough-as-nails Major Hunter Hines and fiercely independent Second Lieutenant Maddy Jeffers will soon discover Christmas wishes can come true.
Here’s the link!
https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B077FRXGFC&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_O9TjAbYXB4M3S&tag=jackideleck07-20
Many thanks, @Scalzi! This is a great opportunity for indie authors.
***
When you’re the nicest man in town, you can get away with murder. Until you run into a disgraced ex-cop with the balls for a bloody game of small-town politics and serial killers.
“Smiley” – A thriller with a nasty edge.
https://www.amazon.com/Smiley-Michael-Ezell-ebook/dp/B0756RN6S1
Feel like pirates for the holidays? The Wrath of Brotherhood is an international award-winning indie historical novel set in the Caribbean, 1660–Captain Morgan’s time (isn’t it always Captain Morgan time?). Captain Roy Toppings, and English privateer, sails to the Caribbean on a misguided mission of vengeance for his sister’s death. Trust me, the misguided bit matters in this series.
The Wrath of Brotherhood is the first book in the Brethren of the Spanish Main trilogy, so there’s plenty of time yet to watch the main characters (Roy, Ajuban, and Coya) navigate the intrigue and deadly invasion in which Roy’s misguided quest against his Spanish brother-in-law embroils them.
This book is PG 13 with obvious violence, but no real sex or swearing. You’ll like it. Your dad will like it. Your favorite naval officer will like it. Your wife will like it. Your kids will like it. It has color maps.
Whether you get it through Amazon or my website, it’s still me signing your book and stuffing an envelope, so here’s a link to all the eBook and hardcover purchasing links:
http://www.ozgurksahin.com/books
Check out the free sample on Amazon and then order the full 409 pages of piratey awesome!
The Cavanaugh House
This house held secrets…
When Jesse Graham unlocks the door to the deserted house she inherited from her Aunt Helen, she doesn’t realize she’s unlocking secrets that had lain dormant for years. Someone doesn’t want those secrets unearthed and will stop at nothing, even murder, to keep them hidden. Questions about her aunt’s death lead Jesse to investigate events surrounding it and the people involved, but she uncovers a web of deceit that reaches far beyond the occurrences of twenty-eight years ago. Still reeling from a broken engagement, Jesse finds it difficult to trust anyone, even her self-absorbed mother. Her dearest friend Maggie, aka Sr. Angelina, is her lifeline to sanity. Joe Riley is irresistible, but secrets obstruct involvement with him until Jesse can solve the mystery of the Cavanaugh House.
Available on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Cavanaugh-House-Elizabeth-Meyette-ebook/dp/B00KBAZ9ZK/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
Feel like pirates for the holidays? The Wrath of Brotherhood is an international award-winning indie historical novel set in the Caribbean, 1660–Captain Morgan’s time (isn’t it always Captain Morgan time?). Captain Roy Toppings, and English privateer, sails to the Caribbean on a misguided mission of vengeance for his sister’s death. Trust me, the misguided bit matters in this series.
The Wrath of Brotherhood is the first book in the Brethren of the Spanish Main trilogy, so there’s plenty of time yet to watch the main characters (Roy, Ajuban, and Coya) navigate the intrigue and deadly invasion in which Roy’s misguided quest against his Spanish brother-in-law embroils them.
This book is PG 13 with obvious violence, but no real sex or swearing. You’ll like it. Your dad will like it. Your favorite naval officer will like it. Your wife will like it. Your kids will like it. It has color maps.
Whether you get it through Amazon or my website, it’s still me signing your book and stuffing an envelope, so here’s a link to all the eBook and hardcover purchasing links:
http://www.ozgurksahin.com/books
Check out the free sample on Amazon and then order the full 409 pages of piratey awesome!
-Ozgur K. Sahin
One of my readers calls my series The Empowered “super-powered urban fantasy”, and that’s a pretty apt-description. It’s superheroes without the costumes and nicknames. It’s a world where the few who possess super powers face a stark choice: either join the Hero Council put on the blue jump suit and follow any and all orders, or forswear to ever use their power. Those who refuse either choice are deemed rogues and imprisoned.
Empowered: Agent is the first novel:
https://books2read.com/Empowered-Agent
The world says those with superpowers are either heroes or villains. But what if you’re both?
The last thing Mathilda Brandt ever wanted to be again was a super-villain. But a secretive government agency gives her a stark choice: either return to prison for life, or infiltrate the Scourge, the world’s most notorious Empowered criminal organization. She’ll have to fight to survive in the Scourge, with dangers on all sides. She’ll have to use her superpower to commit crimes.
She can’t trust anyone. Being exposed would mean losing her life. Failing her mission means returning to prison. Failing also means jeopardizing the lives of her sisters, her grandmother, and thousands of other innocents.
Only one thing is for certain: Mat never backed down from a fight before, and she’s not going to start now.
Mage Music: the Blog: Writings on Magick and Creativity http://amzn.to/2Au3moT is a book about what magic really is in today’s world. It is not a how-to book as a much as a how-and-why book. However, those who pay attention can learn how to use creative acts to make magic for themselves.
In addition to my near-future alternate-history urban fantasy Wilders series (Lies and Prophecy and Chains and Memory, with their prequel novelette “Welcome to Welton” free to read on my website or available for ebook purchase), I have some nonfiction and short story collections to offer!
* Maps to Nowhere — a collection of my secondary-world fantasy short stories, including a Lady Trent short story (“From the Editorial Page of the Falchester Weekly Review”).
* Ars Historica — a collection of my historical fiction and historical fantasy short stories, including several Onyx Court tales.
* Writing Fight Scenes — what it says on the tin! Guidance on how to write a good fight scene, from the role it plays in the story to the moves your characters make to the sentence structure you use to convey it all.
* Dice Tales: Essays on Roleplaying Games and Storytelling — practical advice and theoretical food for thought for players, GMs, and writers who like to play RPGs.
Sarah’s Song would make a great gift for the reader in your life! Signed & personal copies available at the link below!
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
By Renee Georgoudakis on July 22, 2017
Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
Beautifully written. It touches the heart, and stirs emotions.
It’s the 1940’s, in rural East Tennessee, Appalachian country. For most everyone, there is only work, and possibly church, if there’s one nearby. People rise before the sun is up, work hard, go to bed early, and rest in church on Sunday. Little chance for much else to happen. Right?
So, why would keeping one little secret for over sixteen years be so important? What could possibly have happened, that could change the lives of so many people, if the secret were to be revealed?
There are only three people alive that know the answer to that question. For now. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072BMPSYR
https://www.ebay.com/itm/6568-NEW-COPY-OF-Sarahs-Song-SIGNED-PERSONALIZED-GREAT-GIFT/232570580783?hash=item3626496f2f:g:7OwAAOSwFb5aFJwJ
A courtesan with a warrior’s heart discovers she has the strength to defend the woman she loves from evil magicians, crusaders and demigods.
“Beneath the Silver Rose.” A romantic sword and sorcery for adults set in a renaissance age of veiled magic.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MZ1LJDC/
Watershed, a dark fantasy novel by David L. Duggins
Jimmy Richardson is drowning in black, his life shattered following his mother’s painful death from cancer. He believes in nothing, least of all himself. Forced to live with his Uncle Walter to avoid becoming a ward of the state, he trusts only his best friend, Diane Stooksbury.
When the mysterious Dale Gallow arrives, fulfilling Jimmy’s prophetic visions of impending flood and doom, Jimmy is forced into a battle against an adversary who appears human, but is really something else.
With Uncle Walter’s help, Jimmy begins to discover his own extraordinary capabilities, which go far beyond his dreams of a coming apocalypse. He’s an extraordinary boy. A strong boy.
But in a battle against ancient evil, even extraordinary may not be enough …
https://www.amazon.com/Watershed-David-Duggins-ebook/dp/B076ZXQSNZ/ref=sr_1_5?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1512500141&sr=1-5&keywords=watershed
Honey Beaulieu – Man Hunter series, winner of four Will Rogers Gold Medallions for Western Humor, and winner of Chanticleer’s Laramie Grand Prize.
You’ll laugh. You’ll gasp. You’ll wonder what on earth Honey’s going to do next as she hits the bounty hunting trail. She’s bold. She’s brash. She’s got brass. She’s also got a donkey named Sassy and a mule named Pickles who help her pin down the bad guys.
https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B01BZXYYMA&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_XxUjAbFM6MP9E
https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B01LZJF92I&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_s2UjAbNE3TCFQ
https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B0736S1ZG8&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_72UjAbAH1PYZR
Happy Holidays!
So many books to check out now!
Fool’s Gold is a story of lost loves and second chances, set in the exciting sport horse world of Olympic eventing. Young and in love, Rich and Jake are split apart in the aftermath of a terrible accident. When Jake has another shot at the Olympics eight years later, fate has the last laugh by making Rich Jake’s new coach.
Rich was forced to give up Jake all those years ago. Now he has a second chance with Jake, but the secrets that drove them apart haven’t changed, and Rick must face them or risk losing Jake forever.
Fool’s Gold received an Honorable Mention in the 2016 Rainbow Book Awards and is available on Amazon and Audible. (Come on, how can you resist a horse book narrated by a guy named Gary Furlong? Get it? Furlong!)
This years SPFBO (Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off) gathered 300 books and is currently in the process of pulling out 10 for the final round. And what do you know, my book is a finalist.
The Way into Chaos is an apocalyptic epic fantasy about a sentient curse that destroys an empire. It’s the first book of a completed trilogy, and the audiobook is also available.
Check it out.
We are Legion (We are Bob)
by Dennis E. Taylor
The Bobiverse Trilogy
We are Legion (We are Bob): https://www.amazon.com/dp/1680680587
For We are Many: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1680680595
All These Worlds: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1680680609
Bob Johansson has just sold his software company and is looking forward to a life of leisure. There are places to go, books to read, and movies to watch. So it’s a little unfair when he gets himself killed crossing the street.
Bob wakes up a century later to find that corpsicles have been declared to be without rights, and he is now the property of the state. He has been uploaded into computer hardware and is slated to be the controlling AI in an interstellar probe looking for habitable planets. The stakes are high: no less than the first claim to entire worlds. If he declines the honor, he’ll be switched off, and they’ll try again with someone else. If he accepts, he becomes a prime target. There are at least three other countries trying to get their own probes launched first, and they play dirty.
The safest place for Bob is in space, heading away from Earth at top speed. Or so he thinks. Because the universe is full of nasties, and trespassers make them mad — very mad.
Awarded Audible.com’s “Best SF of 2016” and “Best of the Year 2017”
Featured on the NY Times Top 10 Audio books
Featured on Goodreads’ Best HARD SCIENCE FICTION of the 21st Century
Thanks for the opportunity, John! Here’s the first book in a sci-fi series…
The Auriga Project
by M.G. Herron
Ripped from Earth in a horrifying translocation accident, archaeologist Eliana Fisk finds herself stranded on a strange planet at the center of an ancient and bloody ritual.
Can she stay out from under the knife long enough to find a way home?
Read The Auriga Project, the first book in the Translocator series. Get it now!
Centuries ago, theocratic governments subjugated the last resistance on Earth. Those unwilling to tolerate the religious bigotry, fled the planet seeking a new beginning among the stars.
Generations later, their descendants found a new home in a far away system.
But no matter how far humans travel, greed and the desire for control journey with them and now the specter of intolerance rises again.
The Lady Cassandra — FemDom, slave owner, Dominatrix — finds her lifestyle and her livelihood threatened by a fast-rising fanatical movement founded by a former client. Her alpha slave, Captain Varyl Malonds aka Spyder — smuggler and superb pilot with incredible tactical skills — risks his ship, his income, and even his life for his Lady.
http://transgressivewriter.com/spyder.php
Feeling vengeful this holiday season? Longing for a world in which justice prevails and the good guys win? Enter the world of the SSU, a privately run special operations group.
A government program attempted to turn men into superhuman soldiers and spies.
Those who survived were barely human.
Now key players want to revive the program. But the microchip containing the program’s data has been stolen. Governments and criminal organizations from Russia to Mexico also want to get their hands on the data. If the SSU doesn’t stop them, a new wave of unstable and deadly soldiers will be unleashed on the world. But our heroes have other priorities—from avenging the deaths of family members to rescuing a kidnapped aunt.
If you enjoy stories where heroes fight against clandestine government agencies and powerful criminal organizations; where heroes are pushed up to their moral line in the sand and forced to decide whether or not to step over; and where the globe-spanning action keeps you on the edge of your seat, then you’ll love these books. Get the complete series in one volume now. Perfect for binge reading!
http://www.vanessakier.com/ssu-complete-box-set/
BLUE SHIFT – a blackly comic tale about a boy, a girl, and a collapsing universe.
Reviewers say it’s “how I’d imagine the result of a collaboration between Irvine Welsh and Greg Egan, or Niall Griffiths and Neal Stephenson”.
Available on Amazon.com:
https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Shift-Tim-Chapman/dp/1549866710
on Amazon.co.uk:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blue-Shift-Tim-Chapman/dp/1549866710/
and probably the equivalent wherever you are.
It’s a small universe, and getting smaller.
Wings of the Golden Dragon: Second in my Strikersport Chinese fusion pulp series, where weird science meets wuxia/xianxia and Gods, Immortals, mortals and monsters do battle.
Find it on Amazon or you can get a signed copy for $15.00 through my Patreon Page.
For my other books on Amazon, go here.
Happy Holidays, everyone! Thank you for doing this, John Scalzi.
The Harper Sisters Series is a romantic suspense series set in Bath, ME. Each book is 18+ and contain suspense that sizzles!
SECRET HUNGER is the story of Olivia Harper. She is a 27 year old experiencing empty-nest syndrome, wondering if she should pursue the dream she had to forsake or stay on the path life has given her. She meets Mason Clark who is a Boston police detective recovering from a tragic incident on the job. They’re both at turning points in their lives, trying to figure out what to do, when they discover Mason has brought danger to Olivia’s doorstep!
https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B00WXHB7LE&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_e1VjAbDKWWMME
SECRET NEED is the story of the middle sister, Liz Harper. She is a female mechanic who is framed for drug trafficking and murder. She must rely on her old high school bully, Alex Weston, to stay alive and help clear her name.
https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B072C6TLCV&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_-7VjAb29QVB9M
Oh, hello, a chance to shop AND promote! Thanks to John for offering this thread, and thanks to all the writers posting their links! I’m, um, buying a lot of your books. :) The Mathematical Gambit, the second book in my self-published series of novellas about a lady spy and her hapless wizard partner in Regency England came out in November! Join Miss Anastasia Galipp and Simon Armistead as they venture into all kinds of places they shouldn’t in search of magical mysteries. (You can find book one here.) And you can also check out my small-press pubbed Wizards of London series, set in the same magical Regency world a few years later! 1. Thieves’ Honor; 2. Witch’s Stone; 3. Captain’s Lady. Bonus: all three Wizards of London books are available for free in Kindle Unlimited if you’re a subscriber!
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IMMORTAL: By some twist of fate thirteen people a year find themselves gifted with limited immortality, but when they start disappearing a four thousand year old woman named Dervy is tasked with finding out why.
After receiving an anonymous tip, Dervy flies across the United States to gather a new immortal with a death wish, but can she find out what is happening to these newly “Taken” while still protecting one who doesn’t want to live for a day, let alone forever?
Available in eBook or Paperback at Amazon US (the link), UK, etc. Also available on iBooks, NOOK, etc.
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For fans of historical gothics, check out the first book in the Dark Gothic Series—DARK DESIRES—for FREE! As a murderer stalks the streets of London’s East End, Darcie Finch accepts a position that no one else dares as assistant to Dr. Damien Cole, a dangerously attractive man with dark secrets, a man who may well be a remorseless killer. There are six stand-alone books in the series. Get Dark Desires FREE at your favorite eretailer: https://books2read.com/dark-desires/
Prefer urban fantasy / paranormal romance? You can read the first book in the Sins series—SINS OF THE HEART—FREE at your favorite eretailer! Library Journal raves “…dark, seductive, and sexy as sin.” When powerful soul reaper Dagan Krayl is pitted against his enemy, Roxy Tam, in the hunt for his brother’s killer, neither expects to join forces for the sake of mankind. Or to have their loyalties tested as they struggle against treachery, betrayal, and the potent desire that threatens to consume them both. Get SINS OF THE HEART now! https://books2read.com/sins-of-the-heart/ There are five titles in the Sins series.
Waking Up Dead is the first book of my Life After series. It’s kind of a “Men in Black” meets “Ghost Hunters,” but from the ghost’s perspective.
Cadence Riley was a detective in life, until she died and was recruited to be part of an organization in the afterlife that tries to keep spirits from giving away too much. She and her new partner were working what seemed a normal case until cultists accidentally unleash a demonic entity in a haunted asylum. The ability to summon this particular demon hadn’t been around for almost 200 years. Someone broke the rules to summon it, and now Riley and her partner have to try to vanquish it before the bodies, spiritual or otherwise, begin piling up. The only question is, how many rules will they have to break to do it?
So far it has received solid 5 star ratings from people on Amazon and the book review site Nerd Girl.
https://www.amazon.com/Waking-Up-Dead-Life-After/dp/1539179443/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1512506108&sr=8-5&keywords=waking+up+dead
Enjoy!
Not the Dark That Kills You is my caving themed suspense novel that I’m told reads like nuts and bolts science fiction. Due to the Finnish centenary it’s now available ar measly 1.50 EUR on my site http://blog.karmavector.org/ with the discount code “suomi100” (also includes the Finnish version, if you grok that language). Available on Amazon as well, but is not on sale there.
Support your starving science-fiction-thriller-mystery-anything-really author and his geriatric country by buying some quality reading!
Raised in the tunnels beneath an aging colony, Trina learns a sense of what’s right not from her mother’s unwanted people, but from books left by her absent father. These heroic tales teach her to dream when little else is possible for those condemned to live in the shafts.
Trina has no choice but to steal from the colony above to survive, but she lingers to admire spaceships launching into the sky every time. She’s willing to do anything to leave the planet of her birth and find a better life in the stars. The price of starting over, though, may be higher than she’s willing to pay.
Shafter, Book 1 of Seeds Among the Stars, is a science fiction adventure written for the enjoyment of readers 12 years and older (or at that reading level). Cultural clashes, class conflicts, and standing up for what is right form the heart of Trina’s story as she makes her way through a world more complicated than she could have imagined.
Find direct links to the various stores (Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, etc.) on my website: http://margaretmcgaffeyfisk.com/shafter/
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to share our books on Whatever. I hope everyone has a lovely holiday season with much fun, family, and friends.
The Pegasus Potential
On the day twelve-year-old Sophie Furrow learns that she may never walk again, she discovers that her seemingly ordinary farm horse, Rooster, just might be able to fly! Together, they face a powerful snob, a high-altitude stampede, and a life-threatening secret before Sophie’s dreams take wing in a way no one ever expected. This fantasy novel is intended for middle-grade readers.
https://www.amazon.com/Pegasus-Potential-Book-ebook/dp/B00N6WY49W
The Pegasus Shortcut
When a messenger accidentally leaves lifesaving medicine behind, his son must ride a stubborn pony through a dangerous shortcut to reach him in time. This short story takes place 500 years before the e-novel The Pegasus Potential.
https://www.amazon.com/Pegasus-Shortcut-Potential-Book-ebook/dp/B013XNEFY2
Happy holidays, y’all! For the urban fantasy lover in your life, books one and two in my Crossroads of Worlds series are out now, in which the human magical community comes into conflict with the fae after tragedy strikes.
In Strangehold, Morgan, a spellcaster with a painful magical past, must find her nieces when the queen of Faerie closes the gates between worlds as a mysterious illness devastates the magical community. As relations between Faerie and humans fall apart and her allies fall to the deadly sickness, Morgan’s past resurfaces. Can she find the key to save the world in time to save her nieces?
Some folks said some nice things about it:
“Strangehold is a fabulous creation, in every sense of the word, and I cannot wait to read more! Grounded and real, yet infused with startling wonder. Highly recommended.”
–Julie E. Czerneda, author of A TURN OF LIGHT
“My favorite new urban fantasy in years! Sears’s writing is confident, assured, and full of magic, just like her practical and powerful spellcaster heroine. I can’t wait for the next story in the series.”
–Stephanie Burgis, author of SNOWSPELLED and THE DRAGON WITH A CHOCOLATE HEART
“(A) page-turning debut…the worldbuilding comes rapidly, but the author balances it with solid characters and skillful descriptions.These elements, combined with a bit of romance, will enchant fantasy fans.”
–Publishers Weekly (BookLife)
Goodreads here
Book Two is also out.
Thanks, John. :)
Thanks, John! Check out The Killbug Eulogies, a darkly humorous novel about space marines torn apart by giant insects in a galactic war.
Disemboweled by the razor scythes of a six-foot mantis, lobotomized by hungry larvae, or roasted on an exoskeletal skewer: these are only a few of the disgusting ways to die in humanity’s hopeless war against giant space insects. Deployed on a brutal bug planet without a chaplain, a depleted infantry unit has entrusted its eulogy duties to the soldier standing closest at time of death. Somehow this rotten privilege keeps falling to Pvt. Timothy Archon.
Archon’s speeches explore the strange obsessions the men have developed since the war began—from archiving killbug death psalms to trying to seduce the enemy. Did these manias somehow redeem them, or only bring them quicker to their messy ends?
But more importantly: Why does Archon keep having such terrible luck?
Available on Amazon in ebook, print, and audiobook.
Oh, dear! Somebody is messing with the multiverse…again!
A man contemplating the coldness of his Canadian life finds himself in a world where everything from objects to emotions is commented upon with HTML tags. Three actors performing Shakespeare at Stratford (the Ontario one, not the real one) find themselves transported into different bodies in an Elizabethan forest. The bridge crew of a starship find themselves strangely immobile in the face of an enemy attack. Then, things get a little strange.
The Multiverse is a Nice Place to Visit, But I Wouldn’t Want to Live There is the fifth book in my multiverse series. Previous books in the series have been described as “freewheeling weirdness” (Shirley Meier, The Fifth Millennium series) and “something that Tom Wolfe, had he mind-melded with Kurt Vonnegut and a little with Dr. Seuss, might have concocted” (Paul Levinson, author of The Plot to Save Socrates).
ORDER THE BOOK ON AMAZON
WATCH KITTEN VIDEOS ON FACEBOOK (Yes, I know there is no link there. Honestly, if you can’t find your own kitten video on Facebook, why should I enable you?)
Thanks, as always, for all of the opportunities John Scalzi gives writers to reach his readership.
The Workhouse War is now available and both digital and paperback formats.
Thanks for the opportunity, John. Much appreciated.
Here are a few of my more recent releases.
SNOW (3 books in series so far. Book 4 coming early 2018).
SNOW FALLS
A novella by Bobby Nash
Published by BEN Books
“Bobby Nash is my ‘go to’ guy for thrills and kills on the page, and Snow is why…”
— Paul Bishop, author of Lie Catchers, Croaker
After a near fatal encounter while deep undercover in South America, Abraham Snow retires from his work as a government operative, moving in with his grandfather during his recuperation. Once there, however, Abraham realizes that his grandfather has an ulterior motive: He wants Abraham to join the family business, Snow Security Consulting.
Abraham, however, soon learns that working with his family can be just as treacherous as deep cover work – especially when caught in the crossfire between his father and grandfather. But when an assassination plot against a visiting dignitary puts the entire family at risk, Abraham must use all of his talents and contacts to keep them safe.
SNOW FALLS is the first book in the continuing adventures of Abraham Snow.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1542579856
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SNOW STORM
A novella by Bobby Nash
Published by BEN Books
Abraham Snow’s career ended with a single shot, but his adventures are just beginning.
Snow’s former partner, Samson Brooks, a retired agent turned p.i., arrives in Atlanta with a problem. He’s gotten into some trouble with some bad people and needs Snow’s help to get out of it.
When college student, Katie Masters is kidnapped, snow and his friends leap back into action to rescue her before the Atlanta underworld erupts into all out war.
SNOW STORM is the second book in the continuing adventures of Abraham Snow.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N6O9USZ
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SNOW DRIVE
A novella by Bobby Nash
Published by BEN Books
Abraham Snow is back in action in SNOW DRIVE, the third book in the popular SNOW series of digest novels by Award-Winning Author Bobby Nash.
Abraham Snow’s career ended with a single shot, but now he’s back behind the wheel and looking for a saboteur.
The Chambers Stock Car Racing team hires Snow Security Consulting to get to keep their people and equipment safe and to get to the bottom of whoever is trying to put them out of business and why. Archer Snow volunteers Abraham Snow and Big John Salmon as part of the pit crew. Can they keep the team’s young hothead out of trouble long enough to stop the saboteur before the next race? Meanwhile, an old enemy sets her sights on Snow when a bounty is placed on his head.
SNOW DRIVE is the third book in the continuing adventures of Abraham Snow.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0721DH8XT
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SANDERSON OF METRO
A novel featuring The Wraith by Frank Dirscherl and Bobby Nash.
Published by Trinity Comics
Two masters of the superhero pulp fiction world, Frank Dirscherl and Bobby Nash, have come together to tell this tale, the NEVER before told origin of the first Wraith/Paul Sanderson, as only they could. Witness to the original Sanderson’s early childhood, the emptiness in his soul, his yearning for meaning in his life, his finding it in the wilds of Africa and coming face-to-face with the man who would one day become his greatest nemesis. And finally, how he was endowed with the awesome powers of the Eyes of Judgment, becoming the very first Wraith Dread Avenger of the Underworld.
This action packed, atmospheric thrill ride could only be told now and could only be told by master storytellers like Dirscherl and Nash. An epic, never to be repeated and not to be missed.
HC: http://www.lulu.com/shop/frank-dirscherl-and-bobby-nash/sanderson-of-metro/hardcover/product-23383921.html
SC: http://www.amazon.com/Sanderson-Metro-Frank-Dirscherl/dp/064697923X
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85 NORTH
A short story/novella collection by Bobby Nash
Published by Falstaff Books
ROAD TRIP! There are many roads along life’s highway, paths taken or not. You come to a crossroad. Do you turn left? Do you turn right? And can you live with the consequences of that decision? 85 North is a collection of tales from Award-Winning Author Bobby Nash that heads off the beaten path into roads not yet discovered. From superheroes to robots, 85 North is full of tales of action and adventure for the modern world and beyond. Buckle up. It’s gonna be a bumpy ride.
http://www.amazon.com/85-North-Bobby-Nash/dp/1946926043
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SAMARITAN
An ebook novella by Bobby Nash
Published by BEN Books Only $0.99
2013 PULP ARK NOMINEE – BEST NOVELLA
Deep space. The science ship Aquarius, under the command of Captain Jeremiah Rains has finally reached the end of its exploratory mission to the depths of uncharted space and is returning home to Earth. Captain Rains and his skeleton military crew are tired and bored from the lack of adventure they expected to find out in the great beyond. The scientists, however, are extremely happy with their many discoveries.
When the ship comes upon the wreckage of a destroyed space vessel, the crew is surprised to find one survivor; a woman, quite possibly the most beautiful woman any of them have ever seen. Her name is Lari and all she wants is someone, some Good Samaritan, to take her home. The catch is that her planet is located at the center of a black hole.
http://www.amazon.com/Samaritan-ebook/dp/B008RRTLB2
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THE ADVENTURES OF LANCE STAR – SKY RANGER
An ebook collection by Bobby Nash
Published by Airship 27 Productions
This ebook only edition collects award-winning author Bobby Nash’s four Lance Star: Sky Ranger novellas from the Lance Star: Sky Ranger anthology series published by Airship 27 in preparation of the 2018 release of the Lance Star: Sky Ranger novel, “Cold Snap!”
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N8VOANK
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OPERATION: SILVER MOON
A Graphic Novel by Bobby Nash and Rick Johnson
Published by BEN Books
TOP SECRET – EYES ONLY
ROMANIA JULY 1943
Behind enemy lines, Agent Tom Lupis of The American War Department uses his special skills to thwart the Axis takeover of the world. What makes Agent Lupis such a unique agent is his gift/curse. Tom Lupis is a werewolf. When war breaks out, Lupis and his beastly alter ego agree to work together for the greater good and end the Axis threat once and for all.
In Operation: Silver Moon, Nazi agents have discovered a long lost army of the undead that they plan to unleash on an unsuspecting world. Agent Lupis is sent in to deal with the threat, which brings him into contact with the vampire lord known as Vlas. Can Lupis and Vlas put aside their ages old differences and work together to stop the Nazi’s Army of the Undead?
Operation: Silver Moon is a graphic novel written by Pulp Ark Award Winning Author Bobby Nash with beautiful artwork by Rick Johnson.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1495371654
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Thanks again. You can check out these books and more (with links) at http://www.bobbynash.com
Bobby
You’re the man, Mr S! Absolutely nothing like this man:
“The Worst Man on Mars” is a Sci-Fi Comedy in the footsteps of Douglas Adams.
Flint Dugdale, blunt Yorkshireman and reality TV show winner, has used his large frame and ‘persuasive personality’ to take charge of Britain’s first mission to Mars.
Little does he know that the base – built by an advance party of incompetent robots – is not quite ready yet, with no food, no water and no doors. Worse, the ship’s scanners are picking up strange signals from the surface.
Hero. Legend. Role model. He’s none of those.
Amazon – http://smarturl.it/TWMOM
Barnes & Noble – https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-worst-man-on-mars-mark-roman/1124607292?ean=2940155003878
Publishers Weekly – “Duke and Roman inspire much laughter in their first book … With humor that ranges from slapstick to the macabre, this story reveals the absurdity that might ensue if technology is endowed with too much personality.”
SFcrowsnest magazine – “Some parts of the book had me laughing so much I had to literally put it down and step away.”
BookLore – “… a real gem that will have you grinning inanely a lot as well as laughing out loud at inopportune times … Highly recommended.”
Winner in the Captivating Opening 2017 contest run by WriteIntoPrint.
Chapter 10 – “The Rovers Return” – was shortlisted in the short story category of the Yeovil Literary Prize 2014.
Urban Fantasy series The Yo-Yo Files. Ever wonder if something you bought was possessed because of the way it acted? Well, if you shop at MIss Lucy’s, you don’t have to wonder. Demon hunters Johnny and Cerise will have a devil of a time figuring out just what is going on in the small town of Carroll Fork in The Yo-Yo Files #1: Five and Daemon: https://makropp.com/five-and-daemon/
Also available is The Yo-Yo Files #2: Snake’s Alive which has Lucifer asking for Johnny’s help with a celestial mystery. With snakes, a mythical wolf, and the possible end of, well, everything. https://wordpress.com/page/makropp.com/7105
I also have a couple sci-fi dystopian shorts, a sci-fi novel, and a collection of fantasy short stories. The novel and short story collection are available in print, and all are available as e-books. More here:
https://makropp.com/books/
Run and don’t look back!
The first time Moses Murphy’s granddaughter killed on his orders, she was six years old.
For twenty years, she was a prisoner of an organized crime syndicate, forced to use her magic to make Moses the most powerful and feared man on the East Coast. To escape his cruelty, she faked her own death and started a new life as Alice Worth. As a private investigator specializing in cases involving the supernatural, Alice walks a precarious line between atoning for the sins of her grandfather’s cabal and keeping her true identity hidden.
Hired to investigate the disappearance of a mysterious object of power, Alice enlists the help of Malcolm, a ghost running from a past as nightmarish as her own. It soon becomes clear the missing object was taken by someone with a dangerous secret and an unknown agenda. When her client is kidnapped, Alice must find her and the object of power before a vengeful killer destroys the city and slaughters thousands—starting with Alice.
“A pretty amazing new urban fantasy series.” -All Things Urban Fantasy
Heart of Malice is an Amazon best-seller in fantasy!
Check it out here:
https://www.amazon.com/Heart-Malice-Alice-Worth-Book-ebook/dp/B071QZ6K3N/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
Thank you for the opportunity! In My Brother’s Name is the story of a man who won’t admit that he’s made a terrible mistake. As a consequence, a master terrorist carries out a series of attacks throughout the nation’s capitol, bringing Washington DC to the brink of chaos over the course of one long, ugly, day.
On Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/My-Brothers-Name-Wayland-Smith/dp/0615684998/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1512509788&sr=1-1&keywords=in+my+brothers+name
It’s been a busy year for me with non-fiction titles. If you know a writer interested in learning more about AMS ads, ACX, CreateSpace, or Excel in general (and in particular for writers or self-publishers), I’ve got you covered.
Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/M.L.-Humphrey/e/B00V2QSXI2/
Titles are available everywhere in print and ebook. Website page for non-fiction: https://mlhumphrey.com/my-books-non-fiction/
Looking for YA fantasy, YA contemporary, or adult murder mysteries? Most of mine are available on Amazon. Go to my website and click on book cover for the buy link!
http://www.kathleensallen.weeblyc.com.
My website with book covers and buy links is:
http://www.kathleensallen.weebly.com
Zombie book lovers, rejoice this holiday season…FREE gifts!! Treat yourself and others to the first half-breed zombie, Penelope Hope, as she saves Tom and a handful of grizzled, veteran zombie hunters from the dangers of the quarantine zone…read Plagued: The Midamerica Zombie Half-Breed Experiment.
Amazon: http://a.co/aBC7QGO
( Audible upgrade available, paperback also available, signed if you shop via Mysterious Galaxy Booksellers in San Diego: http://www.mystgalaxy.com/ just add your signature request in the memo when you place your order )
A Second Chance at Love…
Raef Alvero has been groomed his entire life to take over as CEO of Alvero & Alvero. He’s also spent his entire life trying to please his father…Even if that meant giving up the one woman he ever truly loved. Now fate has intervened. Raef is faced with handling the buyout and closing down of a chain of hair salons…one in which Gemma works. Five years has passed since Raef decided to leave Gemma, but everything comes rushing back when he walks into the salon. All the pain, all the memories…all the love. And he knows he won’t let her go again. Not ever, no matter what else he has to give up.
Can be a dangerous thing.
Gemma Warren knew the salon franchise had been sold …but she never expected the new owner to show up at the shop –and she really never expected he would be the same 6 feet of seduction who left her heartbroken and pregnant 5 years ago. But what she’s feeling –aside from total shock – isn’t hatred. The feelings of love Raef left her with have just been buried deep in her heart ,and now that he’s back, keeping them secret from him will be as impossible as keeping their daughter a secret. With pictures of little Charlotte displayed all over the salon, Raef would know immediately he had a child. Then what…? Could he ever forgive Gemma for hiding her?
A second chance is all they need, some time to forgive, but there’s a sinister plan already set in motion—one that will threaten not only Raef and Gemma’s happiness, but the life of their little girl.
Find it at Amazon: http://amzn.to/2jVijWX
Dear folks,
Welp, I’ve got four very spendy books which would make great gifts for somebody you really, REALLY love… including yourself. And one entirely free book for… well… anybody who would like it!
The spendy books are my Limited-Edition Monographs ( http://ctein.com/monographs.htm )
These are limited-edition portfolios of approximately two dozen signed-and-numbered hand-printed prints, available as either a boxed set or a hand-bound volume. You can read details and see lots of cool pictures at the link, above.
I’ve done four portfolios, each of which has its own webpage where you can read more about it and see all the photographs that appear in each portfolio:
“The Final Frontier” ( http://ctein.com/Final_portfolio.htm )
This is a collection of the very best of my photographs of the US space program, spanning the last moon mission to the first shuttle mission. In other words, what is now ancient history!
“Chasing the Sun, Baja Mexico” ( http://ctein.com/Baja_portfolio.htm )
In 1991 I drove the length of Baja to photograph the total solar eclipse. This is a select portfolio from that trip, including all four of my eclipse photographs.
“Christmas in California” ( http://ctein.com/Xmas_portfolio.htm )
We don’t got snow and we don’t got jingle bells, but OMG, have we got Christmas lights! I’ve been photographing the best displays in my area for almost 2 decades. If you like color, you’ll love this.
“Scotland ~ 1995” ( http://ctein.com/Scotland_portfolio.htm )
After the 1995 Worldcon, I circumnavigated the Highlands, and this collection of photographs is the result. Scotland at its finest (and greenest).
[Important note: because these portfolios — and the boxes or bound volumes — are created individually by hand, delivery before Christmas is impossible. But if you decide to order this, for yourself or for someone you love, I’ll send you (or them) a gift announcement that will include a lovely 8 x 10 print of the last solar eclipse, signed by me.]
~~~~
And then there’s the freebie — back in 1995 I wrote:
POST EXPOSURE – Advanced Techniques for the Photographic Printer ( http://ctein.com/booksmpl.htm)
Although you can still find the book through booksellers, it’s been technically out-of-print for years, and the rights reverted to me, so I made it available as a free download from my website.
Digital photographers will enjoy the first three or four chapters, which discuss how we see, what we don’t see, what constitutes a good print, and other basics. Solid, factual information that you won’t find anywhere else, I can guarantee it. After that it’s more specialized, devoted to traditional darkroom printing. But since it’s free, you can “throw away” the rest of the book and you haven’t lost anything!
If you’re one of those exclusive folk who are still doing darkroom printing, you absolutely have to have this book. The best description I heard of it, from one of the most knowledgeable photography writers was, “This is the last great darkroom book.” And it was.
Happy holidays to all.
– pax \ Ctein
[ Please excuse any word-salad. Dragon Dictate in training! ]
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— Ctein’s Online Gallery. http://ctein.com
— Digital Restorations. http://photo-repair.com
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May I suggest my novel “Robot Captain”. It’s a comic Science Fiction adventure.
From the back cover:
“Aboard the starship Undertoe, a skeleton crew of misfits takes orders from a smugly bureaucratic computer which couldn’t care less if they live or die.
The Undertoe is part of the Galactic Freedom Corporation, a huge interstellar conglomerate whose owner — the inconceivably wealthy Largo Foote — has a cunning scheme to seize control of the galactic economy.
Unaware that their ship is a key pawn in Largo’s master plan, the crew just try to do their jobs, despite the fact that their assignments rarely make sense, and deadly peril seems to stalk them at every turn.
Set in a future that is both weird and weirdly familiar, Robot Captain is a comic adventure filled with reluctant heroes, strange aliens, lunatic machines, and more than a few twisted surprises.”
The book is fun, smart, topical satire. It’s written for adults, but suitable for teens and up. Currently rated 4.8/5.0 stars on Amazon. Available both in paperback and e-book, just about anywhere on-line.
Paperback:
https://www.amazon.com/Robot-Captain-Doug-Bedwell/dp/1943219044/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1512514119&sr=8-1&keywords=doug+bedwell
E-Book:
https://www.amazon.com/Robot-Captain-Doug-Bedwell-ebook/dp/B01M0MIXDT/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1512515501&sr=8-2&keywords=doug+bedwell
DARK WINE AT MIDNIGHT
A seductive spy. An alpha vampire. A deadly assassin after them both…
When a rogue vampire group emerges from the shadows to enslave mortals, research scientist Cerissa Patel is the only one with an inside track to stop them.
The catch – she must go undercover in a vampire-controlled town where an assassin is on the loose and everyone is a suspect, including herself.
Worse, she must ignore her growing attraction to Henry Bautista. He’s rich, dangerous, and as complex as the wines he makes, and he will do anything to stop her from hurting the community he built.
With Henry watching her every move, she must uncover who’s behind the rogue vampires and stop the assassin before Henry discovers what’s hidden beneath her skin…
https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Wine-Midnight-Vampire-Novel-ebook/dp/B06XTKJRHZ/
REVIEWS:
“Dark Wine at Midnight is an innovative paranormal adventure that is dangerous, sexy, and gripping! Readers will be clamoring for more!” -InD’tale Magazine
“Dark Wine at Midnight is overwhelmingly seductive with an aura of mystery and suspense. Enticing and surreptitious, [it] leaves readers completely speechless at the twists and turns Barwin takes us on this urban fantasy journey. . . . For those who really enjoy romantic novels with a mix of sultry, seductive scenes – you really should read this. For those who don’t, I would still give it a chance! Mystery, thriller, action…these all await for your entertainment in Barwin’s Dark Wine at Midnight!” -Bookmark Your Thoughts Book Review Blog
https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Wine-Midnight-Vampire-Novel-ebook/dp/B06XTKJRHZ/
A new cozy mystery for the cat lover on your list! Last Chance for Murder by Estelle Richards:
One last chance to get things right.
Too old for Hollywood at age 29, Lisa Chance leaves her failed acting career and a cheating boyfriend in LA and goes home to Moss Creek, Arizona.
The Folly, a stately 1870s mansion in the middle of her hometown, has always drawn Lisa like a magnet. She thought she was done with that place, but now she has the chance to turn it into the coffee shop of her dreams.
But when a dead body turns up on the property, she’s the prime suspect in the murder. Can Lisa figure out whodunit, or will she lose her last chance at happiness?
Available in paperback or ebook on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Last-Chance-Murder-Lisa-Mysteries/dp/1976105900/
Suitable for any mystery lover, no sexy parts or swearing to make you blush if your Great Aunt Minnie reads it aloud at the dinner table.
Thanks Mr. Scalzi for doing this! (And loved Redshirts, btw. Husband is also a big fan of the Old Man’s War series.)
KILLING TIME AT THE LINGERROOT INN is the story of Eric Williams, a man who wrecks his rental car in the New England woods and is forced to seek shelter at a creepy hotel. Mysterious caretaker who looks like death warmed over? Check. Neurotic nurse with a thing for romance novels? Check. Tiger? Uhhh, Ok. But regardless of how impossible the Lingerroot Inn and its inhabitants are, Eric needs to put his problem-solving skills to work. And fast. For it’s not only his budding romance with the hunky bartender—and his own life—that are in danger, but everyone else trapped at the Lingerroot Inn as well.
Get it for:
Your gay friend, who doesn’t get to read enough novels with gay protagonists
Your open minded friend, who has read just about every other traditional paranormal mystery adventure romance novel & needs something a little weirder in his life.
Yourself. You deserve to treat yourself to books your friends probably wouldn’t think to buy for you.
Available in Print or for the Kindle at Amazon.com. https://www.amazon.com/Killing-Time-at-Lingerroot-Inn/dp/1532949081
Or, if you’re looking for something holiday themed, pick up my short story, “A Seriously Screwed Up Christmas Story” for the Kindle for only 99 cents! https://www.amazon.com/Seriously-Screwed-Up-Christmas-Story-ebook/dp/B0759DCC4H
Thank you Mr Scalzi.
A Breathtaking Window on the Universe Paperback
Guide book to the observatory at the Roque de Los Muchachos, La Palma. This book is written for the normal people (amateur astronomers and tourists) rather than professional astrophysicists, with over 120 photos and diagrams, and a full glossary of all the technical terms for non-geeks.
Somehow all the Amazon reviews are 5 stars.
Excepts available here
The Seer’s stone.
An anthology of twelve gripping adventures for children set on the remarkable island of La Palma’s starry sky. The stories take place at various times in the island’s history, from the conquest in 1493 to a Palmeran astronaut in 2034, and include pirates, a dragon, an erupting volcano, and the time everyone expected to die on Wednesday night.
Excepts available here
The Dodo Dragon and other stories Kindle Edition
Nine quirky science fiction stories from the off-beat imagination of Sheila Crosby.
Travel in your mind to distant planets, asteroid mines, the past and the distant future. Meet star-crossed lovers, a bed with too much personality for its own good, time travellers, a man who’s travelled a trillion miles for revenge an over-optimistic alien and more.
Title: Texhromancy Scrolls: Adept
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2zRXuCC
Genre: Fantasy/Adventure/Post Apocalyptic/Swords & Sorcery/Lesbian Fiction
Almost three thousand years after an extinction level event on Earth, mankind seeks to regain its former glory, in a new world where magic and technology collide.
Laney Herder, a commoner in the realm of Wexbury, finds herself thrust into the world of nobles and knights. At the side of her Lady Celeste, Knight of the Realm, she goes on an epic journey from being a simple chicken farmer to one of the greatest heroes of the realm, while helping the Lands of Sparo avoid a second Great Mage War.
Can kindness and innocence, defeat the oncoming storm?
MRS. CLAUS: NOT THE FAIRY TALE THEY SAY, an anthology of fantasy and sci-fi stories that spotlight the woman behind the red suit. Think Mrs. Claus is all about cookies and reindeer? How about a magic-wielding ice goddess, or a tough-as-nails Valkyrie? Could Mrs. Claus be a cigar-smoking Latina, or a crash-landed alien? In these re-imaginings, Mrs. Claus is a hero, a villain, a mother, a spacefarer, a monster hunter, and more. The only thing she decidedly is not, is a sidekick.
Publisher’s Weekly said the MRS. CLAUS anthology “delivers comfort, joy, and more than a little Christmas spice in this adorable anthology that explores the woman behind the Christmas mythos in various guises, drawing on mythological influences that span the globe,” but Tangent Online rightfully pointed out “These aren’t the kinds of Christmas stories you share with elementary school children.”
MRS. CLAUS is available in both ebook and paperback at Amazon and most other online retailers. You can also request your library pick up an ebook copy through Overdrive.
Amazon link: http://amzn.to/2B0t1Xo
World Weaver Press link: https://www.worldweaverpress.com/store/p141/Mrs._Claus%3A_Not_the_Fairy_Tale_They_Say.html
Christmas romance story from twin Authors!
My twin sister, Carol Stokes and I wrote a sweet contemporary novel, A Christmas Holiday Affair: Abby’s Story about a pretty, feisty high school teacher and Garth Harrison, a charismatic Las Vegas casino owner. The story includes a bet, an unexpected event, a reward, overcoming an irrational fear, and passionate romance.
Available in print or for the Kindle at Amazon.com.
Tales from the Canyons of the Damned: No. 19.
This nineteenth issue of Tales from the Canyons of the Damned consists of five sharp, suspenseful, thought provoking short stories—each from a different featured master of speculative fiction.
Peter Cawdron puts a new spin on a Twilight Zone Classic
Christopher J. Valin pays tribute to the Halloween of our youth
Lara Frater invites us into the world of house hunting
Kevin Lauderdale feature James and Reggie in yet another of their comedic adventures
And Daniel Arthur Smith shares another clip from the Lost Tapes series
Tales from the Canyons of the Damned (canyonsofthedamned.com) is a dark science fiction, horror, & slipstream magazine we’ve been working on since 2015. What is Dark Science Fiction and Horror? Think of it as a literary Twilight Zone, Night Gallery, or Outer Limits, it’s Netflix’s Black Mirror in the short story format. And it’s a bargain. Each monthly issue has three-to-five sharp, suspenseful, satirical tales from today’s top speculative fiction writers.
These are Dark Sci Fi Slipstream Tales like you’ve never read before.
https://www.amazon.com/Tales-Canyons-Damned-No-19-ebook/dp/B076339QFL/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1512521001&sr=1-1&keywords=Tales+from+the+Canyons+of+the+Damned%3A+No.+19
I recently published a prequel to the Pendragon Chronicles, Ygerna:
When young Ygerna first meets Uthyr, Pendragon of Britain, she is dazzled by the handsome and famous warrior. But when Uthyr interprets admiration as consent and takes her by force, Ygerna’s hero worship turns to hatred.
And she will do anything to get revenge on the man who got her with child and ruined her life.
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B075XPN4ZK
Want a fabulous book PLUS good karma this Christmas? Pick up a copy of “Children of a Diffenent Sky”, an anthology on the theme of refugees and immigrants, proceeds from which will go to two charities working with displaced people in need of assistance. Twelve luminous stories (by the likes of ALiette de Bodard, Seanan McGuire, Patricia MacEwen, Brenda Cooper, Marie Brennan… as well as at least one tale by a brand new writer whose first published work this is…) and two heartbreaking poems by Jane Yolen – this is an amazing book, and I don’t just say it because I happened to be the editor of it. If you pick up ONE collection for Christmas – for yourself or as a gift for someone else – make it this one. No, really, I am not just saying that. It’s WORTH it. On Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Children-Different-Sky-Alma-Alexander/dp/0578196662/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1512521236&sr=1-2 (ebook available in other fomats, at B&N, Kobo, etc)
ALso, take a look at “Ever After”, which is a four-part story of my own. A shortie, really, less than 10,000 words long. But some of the most powerful words I’ve written in a while… On Amazon as an ebook at https://www.amazon.com/Ever-After-Alma-Alexander-ebook/dp/B077GHZ8YM/ref=la_B001IXNUQ4_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1512521236&sr=1-5 also available in other formats elsewhere.
I’d put in cover images but I’m not sure how :)
A new chapter in the acclaimed Legacy Fleet series by Nick Webb arrives:
With the Battle of Valhalla Station over, the Second Swarm War is in full swing and Earth is barely holding on.
In an attempt to regain the initiative, the IDF has sent its remaining legacy armada to Francia Sector under command of the legendary Captain Granger.
Earth’s defense now rests upon the prototype asteroid ship Colossus, a behemoth of awesome power, as it watches and waits for the next Swarm appearance…which occurs all too soon and unexpectedly.
Battlestar Galactica meets Secret Agent as the Colossus’s crew must defend against a desperate Swarm attack…as well as a political conflict it was never designed to survive.
https://www.amazon.com/Legacy-Fleet-Colossus-Kindle-Worlds-ebook/dp/B06WGPLQC1
Fantasy adventure for fans of Joe Abercrombie, Mark Lawrence and Scott Lynch! Read Fire and Sword FREE! https://books2read.com/fire-and-sword/
Condemned to hang for their crimes, they’ll march instead to perish as heroes or live as free men.
A broken nation in need of a savior – ravaged by plague, decimated by dark magic, infiltrated by a foreign evil seeking to dominate from within. Three will rise to save the beleaguered land. But will they be enough?
Three men condemned to die: Aldous Weaver, a heretic monk turned sorcerer, imprisoned for accidentally incinerating the leader of his order. Kendrick the Cold, an infamous crusader turned fugitive, is a villain who knows he can never be a hero. Theron Ward, an aristocrat with a penchant for slaughtering monsters, and a legend in his own mind.
When the kingdom of Brynth is threatened by a far greater evil, the unlikely trio must make a choice — seek to escape this land that cries for their execution, or find the true heroes within themselves. And then, armed with fire and sword, march together against the forces of darkness. But can three such disparate warriors ever prevail?
**Fire and Sword received an honorable mention in Library Journal’s 2016 Indie Ebook Awards and is a Shelf Unbound Magazine Notable 100 for 2015**
Don’t miss the dark fantasy that reviewers are calling ‘gritty, fast-paced and compelling’—get your copy of Fire and Sword today!
Read all the books in the Sword and Sorcery Series!
Fire and Sword (Volume 1)
Catacombs of Time (Volume 2)
I Remember My First Time (short story)
The Pyres (Volume 3)
Ice and Stone (Volume 4)
As They Burn (Volume 5)
This series was featured on The Big Idea this summer!
Aren’t you tired of doing everything right?
Wouldn’t you like a second chance to go back and do it wrong?
Coed Demon Sluts: There’s always room on the team.
_________________________
BOOK #1 – COED DEMON SLUTS: BETH
Beth is fifty, dumped by her husband for the babysitter, jobless, skill-less, homeless, cashless. She’s about to jump in front of a bus when she meets Delilah, recruiter for the “Regional Office” and receives an offer she can’t refuse: become a succubus for the Second Circle of Hell. Heartbroken, Beth decides to use the powers of her new sex demon body and the remains of her thrown-away life to track down her ex-husband and find out why he dumped her.
But Beth can’t get any information without help from her team, and she can’t accept their help until she learns something about what she has become—a coed demon slut—who she’s always really been, and who she wants to be from now on.
Book #1 Coed Demon Sluts: Beth is free at your favorite etailer!
Check here for links: http://jenniferstevenson.com/jens-books/coed-demon-sluts/
or just see Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071D3CZQG/
I’ve been writing about a utopian society called the consortium in present or near-future science fiction. I’m up to six books either directly or peripherally taking place there. The most recent External Forces (https://www.amazon.com/External-Forces-Marc-Sobel-ebook/dp/B01N7WSDRK $3.80) is about an attack by a banker and a mercenary on Powerton, their main city, built on the outskirts of Pueblo Colorado. Naturally, a rag tag bunch of misfits defend the innocent villagers. Seven of them, and a talking beagle.
Kindle only, priced about what a medium latte costs while they were being written
Thank you so much for this opportunity.
Orphaned by his parents and his artificial mother, and abandoned by his older brother at a young age, Jay spends most of his adulthood serving as a government therapist to those like him. He considers his own happiness proof of success in his career and life. Little does he know that his picture perfect world, occupied by his wife, Sasha, and their two children, is not as idyllic as it seems.
When Jay’s older brother, Ian, returns Jay finds himself torn between the happy bubble he resides in and helping his troubled brother keep his own children out of the hands of the very institution Jay serves. Can Jay save Ian while holding onto the loving memories of his artificial mother and all that he believes in? More importantly, does he even want to?
You Shouldn’t Call Me Mommy is a story about the difficult journey of self-discovery, one that explores the power of truth over illusion and the meaning of a mother’s love.
Thank you, Mr. Scalzi, for the opportunity! Hello readers!
In the snowy Canadian wilderness, a terrifying legend springs to life, sparking a series of gruesome crimes. Government agent Sean Laporte is sent to investigate, and must contend with an obsessive, resourceful foe, a hostile environment, and an elusive search for the truth. He is soon pulled between worlds of myth and madness, a present haunted by the past, and a primitive world of mystery and power.
In Shadow of the Wendigo, the myths described by Joseph Campbell are crossed with a David Lynch-type world of dreams and visions. Gruesome crimes set off a chain of events, and a wilderness chase begins. We have the hero’s journey, where he is the gateway between different worlds. In a hostile place where a mistake can mean death, Sean Laporte must overcome many obstacles, including his own disbelief.
https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Wendigo-Dale-T-Phillips-ebook/dp/B00HOTNE2Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1512525003&sr=1-1&keywords=shadow+of+the+wendigo
God’s Evil, by JS Carter Gilson
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071DRTT8M
http://jscartergilson.com/
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34880539-god-s-evil
Detective Brooke Scanlon may be one of the best detectives in the Boston Police Major Crimes division, but nothing prepared her for the horror in East Boston. Dozens of mutilated bodies and just a single, dead suspect, facts which don’t jibe with nearly identical attacks happening across the country.
Vampires are the farthest thing from Scott Reid’s mind. He just wants to marry his fiancée Margie and settle down for a nice, normal, quiet life. Life has other plans in mind.
As more bodies pile up, circumstance draws them into a dangerous web where the supernatural is suddenly all too real.
Vampires are attacking, hungry, vicious, and wild. Soon, Scott and Brooke are fighting to save Boston from its greatest threat ever.
Thank you for the opportunity! If you like 1930s Cthulhu with rich characters and a lot of action, please consider:
“The Curse of Kereves Dere” By Nick Falkner
The Great War is over and Europe is slowly recovering. Kerry and Bosco, survivors of the Gallipoli campaign, are struggling to move on as they make a life in London. But the inhuman horrors they witnessed at the Battle of Krithia heralded a more terrible fate for the world: to be crushed in the talons of unnamable powers from other dimensions. As the Nazis rise in Europe, the agents of the British-Kadariak society are striving to bring forth a creature that will end life as we know it. Kerry and Bosco have powerful allies: Williams and Fauve, London’s most unusual booksellers, and Doctor Jenny Cavendish, the deadliest archaeologist in England. But they face terrible forces and time is against them because, all too soon, the stars will be right…”
It’s available for Kindle, iBooks and Smashwords with convenient links on this page or head to my writing website https://velourfuture.com.
Thanks for the opportunity, sir! The Curse of Life is my debut novel, which God willing will become a series. Think something in the same general lines as Dune, LeGuin or McCaffrey; an intensely immersive and complex fantasy world, and a focus on the social effects of changes in human circumstances. The blurb:
Seven centuries ago, disaster struck the terraformed colony world of Corban, killing almost everyone and leaving the survivors with no technology but the fruits of their ancestors’ genetic engineering experiments. Global civilization recovered, after a fashion, under the rule of a highly conservative and domineering priesthood. Now that priesthood is itself beginning to fray at the seams, undone by indolence and corruption. The face of the world is changing, but its final shape is as yet unknown. Into this volatile situation is born Yunise Columabbi, a high-born young woman with fantastic powers of healing. As a living sign of divine grace, she presents both a threat and a promise to the priesthood. She struggles to find her place in a world that is tearing itself apart. An epistolary novel interweaving three distinct perspectives on a marvelous adventure through a strange and wonderful world.
https://www.amazon.com/Curse-Life-Brayton-Cole/dp/1537163191/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499090164&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Curse+of+Life
https://www.facebook.com/author.brayton.cole/
Wiser Guys is the sequel to A Change In Crime, finalist for the 2017 Dragon Award in Alternate History. How will Prohibition change when monsters and magic come to the Mafia? You can find out by reading either the paperback or ebook versions of these works by D.R. Perry.
Thank you!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/bookseries/B0755J9TJL/ref=st_afs_B0755T1P4P
Thank you for this opportunity, John Scalzi! Happy Holidays all!
Who doesn’t need a little historical time-travel fantasy for the holidays? A Timeless Story series is a duology, plus a “pre-story” novella. Magical. Adventurous. Timeless.
THE TIMELESS ONES (Book 1): When Merry Chalmers, accused witch, leaps from the 17th century into modern-day Salem, she is thrust into a fight to save both herself and the man she loves from the disastrous fate history holds for them.
A NECESSARY DARKNESS (Book 2): Merry Chalmers is found near Gallows Hill, an angry rope burn around her neck and no memory of her life. William Darling struggles for his soul. They must find their way back to each other in time to unite against The Tall Man as the hysteria he ignited in the 17th century culminates in an epic battle fought in the modern streets of Salem.
WITCHES 3 (A Timeless Story Novella): A woman, a girl, and a witch. Get a glimpse into the lives and evolution of the three evil witches from The Timeless Ones as they join forces to search for a power desired by the Devil himself.
Paperbacks: https://www.amazon.com/Timeless-Ones-Susan-Catalano/dp/1499750579
https://www.amazon.com/Necessary-Darkness-Timeless-Story/dp/1532864337
What a great thread! I’d like to an my self-published novel, Transference, which is the story of a disgraced psychiatrist with a telepathic patient. The doctor has recently ruined his life, and the mind-reader is the wife of a Senator and therefore is often surrounded by the minds of politicians, including her husband. The result is a darkly comic odd-couple origin story that tackles honesty, isolation, mental health and even politics. Transference is $4.99 Kindle and $14.99 paperback, and I hope anyone who picks it up enjoys reading it as much as I had fun writing it. Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0749Q6CHH
The Eight Weapon Hand. The Four Conflagration Touch. The Diamond Word. The Silken Palace Palm. The Crane’s Migration Step. The Infinitesimal Breath. The Eye of Ten Thousand Apprehensions. The Reflecting Pool Mind.
Eight generations ago, the Priestkiller Worm threatened to ravage all of Ua, but a hero named Tenshing subdued it. But soon the Worm will rise again. Only a master of all the Rigors Martial can stop it; and only a rightful king of Ua can master all eight Rigors.
King Tenshing Astama has mastered seven.
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The Eighth King is a swashbuckling epic wuxia fantasy — think Game of Thrones by way of The Three Musketeers with mood lighting by Avatar: The Last Airbender. Or, as I pitched it to my editor on Twitter,
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
The Eighth King on Kindle. Enjoy!
Thanks for making a space for self-pub!
“From God To Verse” – a rhyming version of the Bible/Torah
Do you know anyone of the Judeo-Christian persuasion who might like a more fun/accessible version of the Torah/Bible which remains true to the original, whether for themselves or their children? Well, I spent a decade going through Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, line by line, in four different translations, and converted the whole thing to rhyming couplets. Every single line is now lovingly rendered in rhyme, chapter summaries in larger text, even laudatory quotes from a priest and a rabbi.
Read a free sample chapter or five of Genesis online and see what you think!:
https://www.amazon.com/God-Verse-Genesis-Leviticus-Deuteronomy/dp/1451522134
Thank you, and Happy Holidays, Mr.Scalzi!
The Amber Elixir – an Arthurian tale of magic, shape-shifters, and the quest to win back a forbidden love.
Viviane, the new Lady of the Lake and High Priestess of Avalon, accepts a challenge from Merlin unaware her bold actions will have tragic consequences. Two of her priestesses are turned to stone. A forbidden love deserts her. Now alone, she has six young handmaidens to train and protect.
When Morgan le Fay demands assistance with a spell that could change the balance of power in the Two Realms, Viviane refuses her. But what if Morgan’s secret knowledge could restore the stone priestesses? Would an alliance with the sorceress prompt Viviane’s love to return? Or will the gamble cost her all she holds dear?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075L3YZBG
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-amber-elixir-ariella-moon/1127121244?ean=2940158563904
AGENTS OF HOPE
4 STARS – IndieReader
“McDaniel has a knack for writing characters that live and breathe across the page like intimate acquaintances. Most of the narration is done by survivors and rebels, who eke out an illicit, off-grid small community in Denver, but even the iniquitous administrators and agents never come across as cartoonish, but plausible as power-hungry, prejudiced, sycophantic, and unreasoning.”
“Character-driven, quietly powerful writing is the strength of this highly relevant tale of a dystopian America sunken further into bigotry.
~Christopher James Dubey for IndieReader
Survivors of Pan21–who didn’t report to one of the camps–are being hunted by a ruthless group of Texas Rangers throughout the Republic. Destin, a young survivor who is one of the terrorists at large, has learned to cope and survive on his own, traveling the Republic on freight trains and in the back of semi trucks, moving from place to place to stay ahead of the law, developing back up plans, contingencies, always contingencies.
But Destin longs for more. He’s searching for community and a place to belong. He’s tired of being alone. The only problem is the paranoia. It won’t let him trust anyone or hang around long in any one area. But then he meets Bird, a quirky girl who offers him more. She allures him with answers to his questions and a way out of the constant running.
BUY ON AMAZON OR IN BOOKSTORES
https://www.amazon.com/Agents-Hope-Pan21-Jack-McDaniel-ebook/dp/B075G2LHX6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1512539165&sr=8-2&keywords=agents+of+hope
AGENTS OF HOPE
>img src=”https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51OyIxSob3L.jpg” />
4 STARS – IndieReader
“McDaniel has a knack for writing characters that live and breathe across the page like intimate acquaintances. Most of the narration is done by survivors and rebels, who eke out an illicit, off-grid small community in Denver, but even the iniquitous administrators and agents never come across as cartoonish, but plausible as power-hungry, prejudiced, sycophantic, and unreasoning.”
“Character-driven, quietly powerful writing is the strength of this highly relevant tale of a dystopian America sunken further into bigotry.
~Christopher James Dubey for IndieReader
Survivors of Pan21–who didn’t report to one of the camps–are being hunted by a ruthless group of Texas Rangers throughout the Republic. Destin, a young survivor who is one of the terrorists at large, has learned to cope and survive on his own, traveling the Republic on freight trains and in the back of semi trucks, moving from place to place to stay ahead of the law, developing back up plans, contingencies, always contingencies.
But Destin longs for more. He’s searching for community and a place to belong. He’s tired of being alone. The only problem is the paranoia. It won’t let him trust anyone or hang around long in any one area. But then he meets Bird, a quirky girl who offers him more. She allures him with answers to his questions and a way out of the constant running.
BUY ON AMAZON OR IN BOOKSTORES
AMAZON
Happy holidays! For fans of action, romance, and strong female leads who fight against all odds. The complete Mortality series is available in paperback:
https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Ever-Reach-Mortality-1/dp/0995407304/
What if everyone in the world was invincible…except you? In an alternate world where everyone is invincible, Ava Holland has the power to change everything—but first she has to survive. When her brother’s death rocks the foundations of the world she lives in, Ava’s only ally is the boy she should fear the most. Michael Bradley is the strongest, fastest healer anyone’s ever seen. But Michael has secrets, too. The complete series is available on Kindle and paperback.
An apprentice jailer of the gods training in the hollowed-out center of the planet, Ses Lucani is the secret daughter of a mogul mother and a terrorist father who want nothing more than to kill one another. When an attack on Ses’s 16th birthday attempts to free the gods from their prison, Ses has to go on the run when the secret of her parentage is discovered. On a desperate quest to find shelter from her parents’ private war, Ses will journey across a continent of cities built into the bones of the leviathans that destroyed their predecessors. Dodging deranged cultists and sadistic police of both the human and giant-spider variety, Ses relies on her half-trained knowledge of how to forge soul-infused weighting, her nascent trust in a shadowy boy called Murien, and some strange and newfound abilities to stay one step ahead of her many pursuers.
https://www.amazon.com/Unwilling-Souls-Gregory-D-Little/dp/1518756425
My most recent book is courtesy of my alter-ego, Garth Owen. The premise is simple enough- everyone else has had a go at fighting zombies, except for vampires. Northern Gorehouse is exclusive to Amazon, available as an ebook or paperback, and can be read for free if you’re subscribed to Kindle Unlimited. This link- http://geni.us/Niyst – will redirect to your local Amazon.
An old, but ever more relevant, book is Sounds of Soldiers. After a crazed US President declared war on former allies and started the implosion of their own country, the world is finally returning to some sort of normal. Told as a travelogue and flashbacks, the book follows one witness to the war as he returns home to Britain. Redirecting Amazon link- http://geni.us/2k7G.
The first two books in the Reality Star series are currently available, with the third coming in March. These are light, fun romantic comedies/chick lit. Each is intended to stand alone, but if you prefer to start at the beginning (like I do):
AMERICA’S NEXT REALITY STAR
Twenty-four-year-old Jen Reid had her life in good shape: an okay job, a tiny-cute Seattle apartment, and a great boyfriend almost ready to get serious. In a flash it all came apart. Single, unemployed, and holding an eviction notice, who has time to remember trying out for a reality show? Then the call comes, and Jen sees her chance to start over—by spending her summer on national TV.
Luckily The Fishbowl is all about puzzles and games, the kind of thing Jen would love even if she wasn’t desperate. The cast checks all the boxes: cheerful, quirky Birdie speaks in hashtags; vicious Ariana knows just how to pout for the cameras; and corn-fed “J-dawg” plays the cartoon villain of the house. Then there’s Justin, the green-eyed law student who always seems a breath away from kissing her. Is their attraction real, or a trick to get him closer to the $250,000 grand prize? Romance or showmance, suddenly Jen has a lot more to lose than a summer . . .
Available in digital and paperback from all major online retailers.
You can also check out SWEET REALITY.
“Smart, witty, and really freaking good, America’s Next Reality Star is a fun read that has you cheering from the first paragraph through the last page. Laura Heffernan spins an entertaining tale, expertly mixing the main character’s real life events with the reality show’s challenges. With enough drama to not only satisfy fans of reality TV shows, but readers who thrive on a good story with humor and romance, this book is a perfect read.” –Kerry Lonsdale, Wall Street Journal bestselling author
“Reality TV fans, this is your book! Laura Heffernan captures all the drama and over-the-top craziness in this fun and flirty romance.” –Amy E. Reichert, author of Love, Luck, and Lemon Pie
“America’s Next Reality Star is one sweet, sexy brain-candy read! You won’t be sorry you indulged.” –Leah Marie Brown
Hello! My first book is out in the wild as of this week! Very excited to have something to contribute to this list.
Summer Fire by Deniz Bevan
https://www.carinapress.com/shop/books/9781488089299_summer-fire.html
““You know how it is with Canadians. We come alive in the summer.”
Ayse had resigned herself to an interesting—but in the end unromantic—trip visiting family in Istanbul. Great-aunts, touristy sites and endless meals…until she meets fellow doctor Hakan.
All tanned skin and defined muscle under his polo shirt, his kisses cut off her breath, making her dizzy. His every touch is a thrill.
Ayse wants all of Hakan at once. His sweet mouth, the heat of his body against hers, their heartbeats slowing together.
A holiday romance might give her some blazing memories come the lonely winter, but maybe, just maybe, the fire between them doesn’t have to be as fleeting as the summer.
For those times when size does matter. The Dirty Bits from Carina Press: quick and dirty, just the way we like it.”
Here’s a blog post I wrote for Carina featuring images from Istanbul related to the story: https://carinapress.com/blog/2017/12/images-from-istanbul/
Happy holidays, all!
First off, thanks to Scalzi for giving us this opportunity!
Beyond the Burning Sea is the first book in the Fate’s Crucible series by Lions of the Empire, an independent partnership dedicated to delivering the best of our homemade, small batch, cold forged, quality crafted fiction.
https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Burning-Sea-Fates-Crucible/dp/1537431900
In Beyond the Burning Sea you’ll follow two gripping tales:
The survivors of an expedition that has travelled beyond the edge of the world struggle to return home with dark secrets…
…While the mortal remains of an army in service to the dead gods are dispatched to deal with sinister whispers on the fringes of the frontier wilderness.
Get it now, because the next book in the series drops as soon as we can finish putting a bow on it.
You can pick up the book through the link above or major online retailers. You’ll find other news, stories and book offerings at our website:
http://lionsoftheempire.com
Thanks for giving us a look and we wish all of you the best in the coming new year!
Thanks, John, for this annual opportunity!
This year, I’ve started publishing an urban fantasy series set in Boston.
Pepper Karalis, Boston’s only technowitch, doesn’t spend a lot of time hanging out with other witches.
Most of the time, she’s too busy working at a coffee shop and raising her twins to bother with magic, although it’s there when she wants it.
But then she runs across the ghost of a murdered woman in a neighborhood parking garage — the first of many. The ghosts are raising tempers everywhere, and Boston’s other witches are certain Pepper’s to blame, even though she’s doing everything she can to banish the ghosts.
Now she needs to find the real killer and clear her name before the other witches decide they have to stop her permanently…
Ghost Garages, the first book in the new Boston Technowitch series, is available at Amazon in e-book and paperback.
If you want more, the second book, Siren Circle, is also available.
HI,
My name is Tim Hamilton.
In my day job I create or have created work for The New Yorker, Amazon Studios, Holiday House publishing, Cicada Magazine, Mad Magazine, Nickelodeon Magazine, Dark Horse, Marvel and DC Comics.
But I also self publish my own comic, Rabbit Who Fights which I write and illustrate. The comic is a full color 24 page anthology of science fiction and humor.
Issue one can be purchased here: https://gum.co/WycUQ
Issue two can be purchased here: https://gum.co/fnQaj
Thanks for your time and thanks to John Scalzi!
Tim
As usual, I’m late to the party… but here is my non-traditional contribution. It’s the first in the Devious Heroes series, aptly named Devious Origins. The teaser from smashwords:
It started with a chance encounter in the Student Union. She was definitely the most interesting woman Barry had met at Penbrooke College, but when she claimed to be a superhero, he realized she must be crazy. That was before he found himself being chased by drug dealers, kidnapped by gangsters, and caught in the tangled web of a global conspiracy. Maybe his new friend is crazy, or maybe she really is a superhero… Barry’s not really sure anymore. He’s just hoping he survives long enough to graduate.
If that sounds fun, grab yourself a copy to give to a friend: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/675937
You can also get updates on my other projects, including the occasional free short story or teaser chapter, at my blog: http://thadphetteplace.com
Thanks, and Happy Holidays!
A 20th century soldier finds himself stranded 800,000 years in the future, a world of alien overlords hunting reincarnated dinosaurs from anti-gravity airships out of antiquity. When Charles Clee finds himself an enemy to one of the most powerful men on Earth, he must cross the planet to rescue the woman he loves. But when he learns of a half-legendary time machine that could take him home, he must choose between the past that needs him, or the future that cannot succeed without him. The Stolen Future trilogy–try the first volume, The Invisible City, for FREE. On Amazon and Smashwords.
What I am selling is not a book but an ever-expanding library. Last year I began to publish old & new work on Patreon. There are more than two hundred posts at the moment, short stories and poems mostly but also a novella.
You can read everything I post there for one dollar per month – which would make it one of the cheapest gifts ever…: http://www.patreon.com/janthie
Kingdom of Clockwork:
In a future Denmark, royal clockmaker Karl Nielsen becomes enmeshed in a web of court intrigue and undertakes a fateful journey to the far north.
Autumn Barlow comments:
“I loved this book. It’s alternate history, it’s historical fantasy, it’s steampunk. It has a literary feel without being pretentious or alienating. Maybe by ‘literary’ I simply mean ‘damn well written’.”
‘Kingdom of Clockwork’, the first book in a trilogy, is available as a paperback from blackswan.dk,, as an audiobook from Audible, and as a Kindle download from Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Kingdom-Clockwork-Billy-OShea-ebook/dp/B00LXGSP8Y
“What Is Life?” is the eternal question that we all seek an answer to. This four act play sets out to answer that question with stories featuring the twin themes of the four seasons of Nature and the four stages of life.
E-book available exclusively on Amazon for less than the cost of a yummy bagel and via Books by G.B. Miller for the cost of a good latte at Starbucks.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01JJ5CRDO
https://booksbygbmjrofct.blogspot.com/2016/08/what-is-life-four-act-play.html
SPARTAN HEART is the first book in my Mythos Academy spinoff series. This is a YA book that features myths, magic, and monsters:
New school year, same old problems . . .
At Mythos Academy, everyone knows exactly who I am: Rory Forseti, Spartan girl and the daughter of Reapers.
Even though I fought alongside my cousin Gwen Frost to save the mythological world from Loki and his evil Reapers of Chaos, I’m still the most hated girl at the academy because of all the horrible things my parents did. I had hoped that this school year would be different, but the other kids just won’t let me forget about my parents.
But something strange is going on at the Colorado academy. First, I run into a Viking guy who dislikes me more than most. Then I notice some odd artifacts in the Library of Antiquities. And worst of all, I start hearing rumors about a new group of Reapers who can summon mythological monsters.
I might be the most hated girl at Mythos Academy, but I’m also the only one who can save it . . .
SPARTAN HEART is available at all the usual online book retailers, including Amazon: http://amzn.to/2zVQnZZ
Happy reading!
Odette has spent her life in service, raised to follow in her mother’s footsteps and become a lady’s maid. She tries her hardest to be the best servant: the perfect friend, the anticipating assistant, the unheard and unseen figure. Most of the time, despite her anxiety, she manages it.
Now her mistress’s cousin, Henry – a Professor at Oxford University – has come to visit. But he isn’t just here for dinner. He’s here to see if any of them have magical powers.
Because magic exists – and Odette has no idea how much her life is about to change.
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Hello! I’m Rebecca, and Mundane Magic is my debut novel. It is a low fantasy story set in early 19th Century England, and follows Odette and Henry as they are dragged into opposing one man’s attempt at revolution.
The link above goes to Amazon.com, but it is available in both digital and paperback at most major online retailers – from Barnes & Noble to Kobo to other regions of Amazon.
If you like philosophical fantasy, historical fantasy, or books that concern mental health, please consider checking it out!
I wrote a poem about every televised story from the show Doctor Who from 1963 all the way to 2013! Its a great gift for the whovian in your life :).
http://a.co/9NQeyd6
My debut novel, A Savage Art, was published last year by indie crime fiction publisher Fahrenheit Press. It’s available on Amazon in ebook and paperback format –
A Savage Art
It’s an erotic thriller featuring Kate Savage, an artist who creates dark fairy tales in textiles who is driven to a very dark revenge.
Ann