Whatever Holiday Gift Guide 2021, Day Two: Non-Traditionally Published Books

Posted on November 30, 2021    Posted by      140 Comments

Today is Day Two of the Whatever Holiday Gift Guide 2021, 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. If your book is only available in the UK or some other country, please let people know!

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 or URL. 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!

Tomorrow (12/1): Other creators (musicians, artists, crafters, etc!)

Category: Uncategorized    

140 Comments on “Whatever Holiday Gift Guide 2021, Day Two: Non-Traditionally Published Books”

  1. Looking for sweeping space opera adventure with ancient empires and lost planets and sentient spaceships and giant bear-cats and plucky starpilots and two teenage Princesses who will shape the fate of an entire galaxy? Sure you are! It’s THE SONG OF FORGOTTEN STARS, now four books strong!
    https://forgottenstars.net/my-books/

    (And thank you, Mr. Scalzi, for this annual service. A happy and blessed holiday season to you and your family!)

  2. I am pleased to announce that Petra Rising, the concluding volume in my Prison World Revolt series, came out just last month.

    This is the climactic third book in the series that began with Petra, followed by Petra Released. Think of it as Escape from New York, but on a planetary scale.

    I have taken an inexcusably long time finishing this series, but at last it is done. You can find links to all three books at my website.

    Happy holidays!

  3. Greetings everyone!

    Not everyone can be a badass supersoldier, a wily smuggler, or a deadly assassin. That’s where THE Z TEAM comes in. This space opera adventure follows everyday space truckers thrust into a world of shady job contracts, blundering bureaucracies, and galactic conspiracies.

    Follow Captain Dash Anderton and his misfit crew as they become unwilling pawns of powerful forces following a galaxy-spanning tragedy-the mysterious destruction of the planet Auturia. If you like the grit and intrigue of The Expanse/Mass Effect and the wit of Firefly, this is for you!

    Read THE Z TEAM in print and ebook on Amazon today. Sign up for more updates on my site .

    Happy reading!

    PS A special thank you to Mr. John Scalzi for sharing his platform. If you haven’t read all his books, you’re missing out.

  5. For those who love winter, or have children who do (or children who’ve never seen snow, and want to know what it’s all about), here’s When It’s Winter, a picture book wonderfully (in not just MHO) illustrated by Barbara Dessi. The blurb:

    “What makes winter special? This picture book celebrates the many fun activities and sensory experiences of the season. Follow a girl and her dog through the play and discoveries of a snowy day, and on toward bedtime.
    “The first person narrative will encourage new readers to claim it as their own. The repetition of the phrase “When it’s winter . . .” will encourage children to chime in, and be of assistance to early readers.”
    (If you click on my name at the link, you can see my other picture book, You Can’t Kiss A Bubble, illustrated just as delightfully by Siski Kalla.)

    https://www.amazon.com/When-Its-Winter-Karen-Wyle/dp/1735558621/

  6. I would like to introduce my two novels:

    LOVELADIES ENNUI: A fast paced spy thriller that takes place on Long Beach Island, NJ and is based on the actual accused spies of Loveladies. “While Miranda Craig searches for answers behind hacked computers, she finds out who and what her dying neighbors really are.”

    DEADLY DEPOSIT: Book 2 of the Miranda Craig Thrillers finds Miranda and her property manager Celia deep in internet, phone, Social Security scams and death of their tenants. “What do you mean you don’t like the way the dead man got up and walked away?!”

    Available on Amazon (book & Kindle), Barnes & Noble (Nook) online only and my website:
    https://www.kesliebohrod.wixsite.com/loveladiesennui

  8. The Questrison Saga (HELIOPAUSE, EPHEMERIS, ACCRETION, LUMINIFEROUS): A space opera story that’s got it all: superheroes, humans, telepaths, aliens, bots, androids, talking animals, exotic worlds, powerful yet vulnerable heroes, chilling villains, galactic mages, steamy love scenes, fantastic ships, hidden worlds, found and made family, love and war and friendship! Get the set of four books of #TheQuestrisonSaga from your favorite bookseller or see https://jdiannedotson.com/books/

  9. Thank you, Mr. Scalzi!

    My debut self-published novel is MEMOIRS OF A MAD SCIENTIST ONE: SOLARPUNK OUTLAW

    2076 is a world we want to live in, a protopia that is not perfect but that gets a bit better every day. 113-year-old Robin Goodwin is an autistic scientist and inventor who helped make this future possible. Robin’s first-person memoir uses reflections and essays to frame a century’s worth of adventures fighting bureaucrats, profiteers, warlords and fanatics to beat climate change, pollution, pandemics, and famines for a solarpunk future. These are the stories of one brilliant scientist’s efforts to apply knowledge to enhance human flourishing.

    If you enjoyed Hope Jahren’s LAB GIRL, Kim Stanley Robinson’s THE MINISTRY FOR THE FUTURE, or Brad Bird’s TOMORROWLAND, give this a try!

    E-book and trade paperback available wherever you buy books:
    https://books2read.com/solarpunkoutlaw

  10. Thank you! My latest short story collection, “Someone to Share My Nightmares: Stories,” features 9 stories exploring the more sensual side of horror. Description:

    A band of bloodthirsty sea creatures terrorize a scientist and a journalist trapped in a Carolina cove. The seduction of a plumber making a house call becomes a nightmarish haunting for both parties. A woman transformed for her lover has second thoughts about just how good “together forever” can be. And the one man a woman wants for Christmas is the holiday demon sent to punish the wicked.

    Someone to Share My Nightmares is a tapestry of horrors interwoven with sensuality. Can our deepest fears be vanquished when they’re shared with someone else? Or is the danger doubled when two people come together?

    Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09D6J59XJ/

    Books2Read: https://books2read.com/u/mZrZ9E

  11. Do you like playful poetry and drawings? If you bellowed “YES!” then please check out my book The Dancing Fish.

    Examples of the poems: a boy plants a popcorn kernel, which grows into a tree … a cheese danish escapes and is followed … Pomegranate Janet visits a city… a pirate captain changes his life … a ham sandwich delivers Hamlet’s famous “to be or not to be” speech (revised for sandwichy-ness).

    Available as an ebook and paperback on Amazon. Narration and drawings of 4 poems on YouTube.

    Mr. Scalzi, thanks for doing this Holiday Shopping Guide! Not only do you have exquisite taste in foodstuffs, you are a kind gentleman.

  12. The Fermi is the Earth’s first and last faster-than-light spaceship. The last, because it turns out its engine vaporises entire star systems in its wake. And nobody knows how to turn it off.
    Described as “fresh, fun SF with a dark conceit, dangerous thought experiments, thrilling action adventures, and lots of wit and warmth” by Ken MacLeod, Fermi’s progress is a cycle of four “Planet of the week” style novellas. Each store features a brand new alien world, from mushrooms fighting a zombie apocalypse to an interstellar telesales scam.
    Get all four novellas at Amazon here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08QG5BLFD
    or get the Season Pass (with bonus extras) at indie eBook store Scarlet Ferret: https://scarletferret.com/books/fermis-progress-season-pass

  13. My most recent novel is Miss Percy’s Pocket Guide to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons!

    What is it about? Dragons! Cake! Middle-aged main characters having all the adventures!

    Miss Mildred Percy inherits a dragon.

    Ah, but we’ve already got ahead of ourselves…

    Miss Mildred Percy is a spinster. She does not dance, she has long stopped dreaming, and she certainly does not have adventures. That is, until her great uncle has the audacity to leave her an inheritance, one that includes a dragon’s egg.

    The egg – as eggs are wont to do – decides to hatch, and Miss Mildred Percy is suddenly thrust out of the role of “spinster and general wallflower” and into the unprecedented position of “spinster and keeper of dragons.”

    But England has not seen a dragon since… well, ever. And now Mildred must contend with raising a dragon (that should not exist), kindling a romance (with a humble vicar), and embarking on an adventure she never thought could be hers for the taking.

    https://www.amazon.com/Percys-Pocket-Feeding-British-Dragons-ebook/dp/B097GF4Z1H

  14. Several well-reviewed books of mine available here: http://geoff-hart.com/books/index.htm
    (Note that I offer academic/student discounts and discounts for members of professional socities. Contact me privately for details.)

    Of particular interest to writers, “Write Faster With Your Word Processor” (http://geoff-hart.com/books/write-faster/write.htm), which distills my 30+ years of experience teaching writers to use Word and other word processors into one tidy package. Reviews just beginning to trickle in (should be posted in January), but you can see reviews for the previous book on which this one is based here: http://geoff-hart.com/books/eoe/onscreen-book.htm#reviews

  15. As a house-call veterinarian, Ginny Reese is used to seeing the weird and wacky, but nothing could have prepared her for finding the body of a client in her swimming pool.

    When she comes the prime suspect, it’s up to Ginny to prove her innocence to the new sheriff. Who just happens to be her ex, The One Who Got Away.

    It’s Diagnosis Murder meets All Creatures Great and Small (and on sale right now for a limited time)!

    An Embarrassment of Itches is available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B099QVRT7J

  16. Thanks for inviting us to post here! I have a zine and three book titles to share: two are part of an urban fantasy series, and one is poetry. They were published through a very small indie press and are available at all major book retailers (including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Bookshop — https://bookshop.org/books?keywords=ang%C3%A9lique+jamail) and can be ordered through Ingram by your favorite local/indie bookshop (if they’re out of stock). Two indie bookshops which I know have them on the shelves now are Blue Willow in Houston (https://www.bluewillowbookshop.com/event/angelique-jamail-homecoming) and The Twig in San Antonio (https://www.thetwig.com/search/author/%22Jamail%2C%20Ang%C3%A9lique%22).

    SONIC CHIHUAHUA — I restarted this zine back in May after a 29-year hiatus and have been publishing it monthly. It contains poetry, memoir, fiction, art, interviews, recipes, and other fun-and-games. SONIC CHIHUAHUA can be ordered directly from me via my blog or by emailing SonicChihuahuaZine@gmail.com. Click here to see the covers and tables of contents for all the issues this year: https://sapphostorque.com/2021/11/27/the-sonic-chihuahua-volume-2-issues-1-7/

    FINIS. (Book 1 of the Animal Affinities series) — 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. How far will she go to evolve?

    HOMECOMING (book 2 of the Animal Affinities series) — Raqia and her two best friends, Anabelle and Eddie, navigate homecoming at their high school while the threatening undercurrent of wolf packs encroaches around their city. Complicating all of this are two things: first, charismatic Eddie himself is a wolf–though not, he claims, associated with one of the gangs engaging in violent criminal behavior; second, Anabelle’s emotional swings grow more wild as one of the girls begins to evince her Animal Affinity. The balance between this trio–and the friendships which matter in Raqia’s life–are on the cusp of an irrevocable shift.

    THE SHARP EDGES OF WATER — This is a book of stories as much as a collection of poems. In it, the characters swerve between the rain-drenched, tree-lined, concrete plains of Houston and the voluptuous, dynamic terrain of Los Angeles. They face multiple realities, and though they’re earnestly grounded, they sometimes swim in the waters of magic realism. Their story is both relatable and a little bit surreal. One of the characters may or may not be a mermaid.

  17. Thanks for the promo opp- and hello, readers!
    Welcome to Resurrection, a former mining company town with too many dark secrets, where science and religion form a shady alliance. Teen Judy Winstead is forced to move there with her recently widowed mother, but finds few allies among the tight-lipped townsfolk. People who stand out or speak out endanger themselves, while dreadful experiments and worse take place in the caverns and tunnels beneath the town.
    https://www.amazon.com/Locust-Time-Suspense-Dale-Phillips-ebook/dp/B0961ZTCDN/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1638285698&sr=1-4

  18. Sex, Drugs, Rock ‘n Roll, and a Tiara/How I Celebrated Kicking Cancer’s Ass is a memoir about a lot of things. Breast cancer, obviously. Also, polyamory, music, dealing with grief and losses, body acceptance. Reviewers have been surprised by the humor and upbeat tone, because isn’t a story about cancer supposed to be dark and sober?

    It’s about joy, and the support of so many people. Also, boob pictures.

  19. I would like to introduce the two novels in my West Kensington Paranormal Detective Agency series, followed by alternative fantasy, the Sleeping Dragon:

    IF PIGS COULD FLY

    London Social Worker Ravinder Shah moonlights as a paranormal detective, aided by one of his clients and a Border Collie he rents by the hour. It was supposed to be a bit of fun, a chance for a life more interesting than the one that fate, destiny, and personal apathy had granted him.

    But then a case involving a Yorkshire farmer stalked by flying pigs leads him into a world darker and more dangerous than he’d ever dreamed. Rav, the Professor, and Jess will need to draw deep upon their reserves of courage, intellect, and canine intuition as events tumble toward a dramatic and dangerous climax.

    https://www.amazon.com/Could-Kensington-Paranormal-Detective-Agency-ebook/dp/B0116IBO8G

    STICKS AND STONES

    London Social Worker Rav Shah moonlights as a paranormal detective, aided by one of his clients and a Border Collie he rents by the hour. The truth might be out there, but it’s spent the year since his last case in hiding. Now he’s got a new job though, and it’s a big one: a single dad tormented by a talking tattoo he accidentally acquired during a drunken night out.

    Rav’s investigations will take him from Hounslow to Istanbul, from the world of the mundane into the realm of dark, twisted occult magic, and to a final climatic confrontation whose prize is the fate of the nation itself.

    “Jonny Nexus has a genius for setting his weirdness firmly in Britain, with what feels like first-hand local detail and a marvellous deadpan delivery of Ravinder’s mishaps.” — Becky Ottery

    https://www.amazon.com/Sticks-Stones-Kensington-Paranormal-Detective-ebook/dp/B08KFPS2PY

    THE SLEEPING DRAGON

    In a fantasy world transformed by mass-produced magic, five individuals find themselves drawn into a mystery five hundred years old. They are: Blade, an AdventureSport warrior at the tail end of a once glittering career; Presto, a disgraced and unemployed ex-wizard once of the Imperial University; the Storm, the herb-addicted lead lutist of the rock band Northern Fire; Darick, a priest whose career progress is blocked by his possession of actual religious beliefs that his church no longer shares; and Dani, a grifter who lives her life on the margins of a complex and soulless society.

    Thrown together by circumstances outside of their comprehension, they find themselves embarking on a quest that will take them from the towering spires of Empire City to the wild and bleak Eastern Territories, and from the decadence and glamour of Upabove to a final confrontation upon which rests the fate of their world.

    https://www.amazon.com/Sleeping-Dragon-Jonny-Nexus-ebook/dp/B07KWFNXVS/

  21. Little Heist in the Big Woods and Other Revisionist Atrocities. While everybody else was at the sugaring-off dance, Pa and his crew stole Grandpa’s gold. Laura didn’t just throw a tantrum about how bad she wanted that Indian baby. She got it. Marlow told the story of a ruined seaman who fled to Borneo, but he couldn’t speak freely about the full horror and magic that Lord Jimi found. Stories of extremely petty theft, high stakes plumbing, a little witchcraft, a masked hero’s mistake, and a movie series so long forgotten that it never happened. You won’t lose your way in these woods. Get in, get what you came for, get out. No one will be the wiser except you.

  22. Comfort food for the soul…in space! Not your usual space opera, the novellas Finding Refuge and Accepting Refuge from Kalikoi feature badass lesbians in space, the kindness of strangers, banter, found family, trauma recovery, and endless pastries.
    Finding Refuge
    Accepting Refuge

    Thanks, John! I look forward to this post every year. I’ve never had anything to add before, though!

  23. Thank you for allowing us to share!

    My first novel, The Heart of Lightspeed, is a fun jaunty space adventure across the known galaxy.

    The crew of the Leviathan will battle each other, a temperamental experimental FTL-engine, and unknown dangers lurking on their ship before they reach the end.

    Will they unlock the secrets of both lightspeed and the anomaly eating their galaxy before it’s too late?

    You can find Kindle & Print to Order copies of my book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09G23VWVM/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_D0ED8MATW8JTJ3HDV0NN

  24. You are lost and starving deep in the rain forest of the Pacific Northwest when a house cat with a human face approaches and offers you food. What do you do?

    Find one possibility in CATS OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST by J.W. Donley.

    Available here:
    https://amzn.to/3Cc292k
    https://books2read.com/u/3Gwg6O

    “Creepy and disquieting, CATS OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST is written with a sinister lyricism that seeps the story in a compelling atmosphere of horror and magic. I won’t be forgetting this one soon!”—Cassie Daley – illustrator, writer, & podcaster at Let’s Get Galactic

    “Thanks to Donley, I’ll have to look at my cats with a raised eyebrow from now on. Cats of the Pacific Northwest is unnerving and has visuals that will creep up your brain stem in the dead of night.”

    —Shane Hawk – author of Anoka

  26. IDYLLIAN is a compendium edition of the first four novellas of my space opera series. With two protagonists in an interconnected world, it explores themes of self-identity in the face of mind-modifying technology, along with AI characters, planetary empires, adventure, and a touch of romance.

    It is available in print and ebook, or the first novella is available in ebook to try it out!

  27. Thanks for this!

    Do you want a space opera that has been compared to Becky Chamber’s Wayfarer series (in terms of being character-driven) but also contains a lot of action? Check out Escaping First Contact, the first novel in The Burnt Ship trilogy. Reviewers have lauded how my alien characters actually feel alien and the depth of my characterization.

    The story is simple – eight characters (from various alien/Terran species) have to work together to escape a derelict ship. Unfortunately, they don’t trust one another due to a history of galactic conflict. There’s space marines, a smattering of horror, a diverse cast, forbidden romance, and memorable characters.

    It’s available on Amazon, Kindle, and Kindle Unlimited. It’s fun, fast, and also very funny.

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B095KPVXFP

  28. Know someone who was a kid in the sixties? How about someone who grew up in Southern California — or wishes they had?

    Growing up in Orange County, California in the sixties and seventies meant fragrant orange groves, fabulous amusement parks, golden beaches, and balmy weather all year round. Throw in skateboards and Barbies, sibling wars and the women’s movement. Garnish with the evergreen nightmare that is junior high school, and this is a seriously funny memoir of coming of age in “paradise.”

  29. Do you love classic fantasy? Are you a geek of many colors? Did you get unreasonably annoyed at the poor quality of GoT Season 8 and/or think “I would love to read a grimdark fantasy that actually has heroes worth rooting for?” Then you need to check out Inferno, my heroic fantasy series, with installments 1-3 currently out and #4 coming this January!

    Link to my website, which allows you to buy any of the three books on the store of your choice and also sign up for the mailing list so you never miss a release: https://freethinkerfantasy.com

    Are you an Amazon partisan who wants to cut to the chase? Here’s the series page on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MBKJQ52

    Much in the style of Chris Claremont’s X-Men, Inferno has a heavy focus on interactions between the characters, but never fear – there’s plenty of action! Come meet Moose, the enigmatic bounty hunter in armor; Alex, the thief who punches well above his weight; Gwynn, the warrior of the wood; and Lady Cassandra, the noblewoman who brought them all together to execute her master plan. Support indie fantasy and find your new favorite team of heroes!

  30. Lock, Stock & Peril

    A murder mystery with a history. Order from Amazon:

    https://www.amazon.com/dp/1736513826/

    Key West radio reporter Milo Bird has quit his job, eager to embrace island life in early retirement in the tropics. His plans are upended when his old boss persuades him to take one last assignment and investigate the savage murder of a local museum staffer. Enlisting the help of his cadre of bar pals, together they uncover a stunning secret kept hidden for nearly a century. And none among them could guess that, ninety years after his death, Thomas Edison’s personal connections to Key West might inspire a motive for murder. Milo and his allies become ensnared in an increasingly dangerous race against killers to be first to find a lost treasure of great value.

    Dave McBride is a writer of long acquaintance with the excellent bars of Key West. For more than twenty years he wrote and performed entertaining spoken word essays daily for a large and appreciative Chicago radio audience. He now lives and writes in South Florida.

    Author web site: http://www.davemcbride.com

  31. If you are looking for a very different book for Christmas, might I suggest In the image of Man, a book about the small god of computers and vending machine repair?

    He may be new at the job, and he is still learning, but he is a very hard worker.

    As the story unfolds, there is an ancient godling adrift in Berkshire, England, and he needs believers if he is going to keep existing. This tiny god, who comes to be known as Bob, is small, powerless, and unseen. Drifting through the ages, he is brought to consciousness following a tragedy and must gain followers to stay alive – and without belief, there is no capacity for miracles.

    Bob goes to work, invisible and inexperienced, silently watching and hoping for people to love him. He learns all about vending machines and then computers, but humans prove much more complicated. As the days pass, his power increases as his unknowing colleagues mutter “oh God” and start to believe, even if only a little.

    But modern life takes its toll, even on a higher deity. Bob needs a sacrifice, a token of dedication. Not any old sacrifice, though – no blood and guts are needed here, just a chocolate bar given freely in his name.

    Ray Charles and Mary Callaghan had no idea that their lives were going to be changed forever when this weak but desperate small god introduced himself. Ray’s anger over his wrecked car tire draws Bob like a beacon to him. Mary’s emotional turmoil teaches Bob all about love and betrayal. He watches over her, but not even a god is safe from making serious mistakes. Soon, a psychiatrist, the police, and even the Pope are brought into the confusion. On top of all that, Bob finds that he needs a far bigger congregation if he is going to save the world from impending doom. Can he do it?

    Available in print, e-book and audiobook format

  32. The Elsehere Book 1: Sekhmet

    What do you do when dreams become nightmares…

    …and nightmares become reality?

    Ayana just wants a normal life. A life-threatening accident as a child has left her with a mysterious, unwanted power. But at last she seems to be getting close to her goal: she’s earned a place at university. Things are looking up. Right?

    Nick isn’t sure he’s cut out for this paranormal existence anymore. With two successive jobs having gone sideways, he’s having second thoughts, but when an old friend asks for a favour, he can’t say no. Keeping an eye on a first-year student at Cambridge doesn’t sound that dangerous. What could go wrong?

    Ayana and Nick both reckoned without sinister forces who want Ayana, and who want Nick out of the way—permanently. On the run, they have to find a way to work together against enemies who are far more personal than either of them suspects—or risk bringing about the end of the world…

    https://books2read.com/elsehere-sekhmet – Available from all good eBook stores and in print from Amazon

  33. H2LiftShips, a tech manual for a future

    Imagine a world, exactly like ours, but different.

    Anti-dystopian solar sail heliosphere scifi stories.
    It is easy to see the horrors of this world, trapped on this gravity well. We’re stuck using kerosene powered farty rockets that can barely get off this earth.
    It doesn’t have to be that way.
    A little tweak of the math, a little imagination as you join the crew of the LunaCola as they travel throughout the heliosphere on Solar Sail cargo ships.
    No blasters, no aliens, no faster than light drives. Humans, simians, and canines work together for profit and fun.
    And the only alien is the Octopus navigator.
    http://www.h2liftship.com/beyondluna
    http://www.h2liftship.com/backstory

  34. Magic… and murder?

    Reclusive witch Hulda van Dusen has spent the last five years hiding at home with her beloved Grandpapa, but suddenly he’s gone, and the circumstances don’t add up.

    A series of monstrous, magical attacks makes it clear: someone wants her dead too.

    But Hulda’s a fighter, and has magic of her own—as do her genius brother and pyromaniac sister. And putting the puzzle together with the help of some new friends might just teach her how to live again—if it doesn’t kill her first.

    A fun read and a great gift for this holiday season!
    https://www.amazon.com/Force-Majeure-Ashley-J-Barner/dp/1733983406/ref=sr_1_1

  35. Much appreciation to John for hosting this every year!

    My two novels are below. A team of US Marines takes on a magical nemesis from another world. First book takes place on present day Earth amid a civil war in Pakistan. Second book takes the fight offworld and well beyond the scope of modern military planning.

    Third book to be released Q2 of 22.

    Realms’ Anchor: Contact by William H. Nugent https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08L34HGM5/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_J5T539KXX8YZHE0FJ61B via @amazon

    Semper Gumby: Realms’ Anchor II by William Nugent https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TLS2284/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_M0X8G6R8XBYT40QRDWS2 via @amazon

  36. John: Thanks so much for this opportunity!

    Readers: If you fancy historical romance and enjoy holiday reads, I’d like to suggest my book A SECRET CHRISTMAS, which is currently #2 in Holiday Fiction on Amazon and free through tomorrow for everyone (plus free with Kindle Unlimited for all of December):

    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073YFVGBZ

    If you’d prefer a boxed set with nearly 1500 pages, the same book is available in my CHASE FAMILY COLLECTION: LIMITED CHRISTMAS EDITON, a set of 4-books-for-the-price-2, or free with Kindle Unlimited:

    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NY168CS

    Wishing everyone the happiest of holidays!

  37. New Novel! “A Matter of Scale”

    Welcome to Willow Falls, where dimension-tripping werewolves, angels popping through walls, and a teleporting cat are all part of an average day. Not that Cass buys into any of that nonsense. But, when dragons, actual dragons, sneak into her back yard at night to make a mess of her trash bins, she finds it impossible to ignore.

    Not knowing what to do, Cass turns to her eccentric new neighbor Charlie for help. Together the two, along with a ragtag group of oddballs, strive to discover more about these creatures. Where did they come from? How did they end up in the woods behind her house? And how does the teleporting cat fit into all of this?

    Cass must wrap her mind around a new reality of superscience, parallel worlds and time travel in order to keep her scaly new friends safe from the shadowy corporation bent on exploiting them and possibly all of Willow Falls.

    Kindle, paperback and (possibly) hardcover:

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09H13Z19Q

  38. I took a break from science fiction to write a psychological techno thriller. “Weatherly Hall” is about a (maybe) haunted house set in the near future, after the US Second Civil war. Check out weatherlyhall.com for reviews, details, and a sample chapter. Enjoy!

  39. Thank you for this opportunity!

    Heroes of Andromeda – SFF series

    Andromeda’s Rebel– They took the sky from her. She wants it back!

    Readers will revel in the desire for freedom and thrilling space battles as they embark on an explosive journey of shadow schemes and new-found love. ~ InD’Tale Magazine, Tonya Mathenia.

    Andromeda’s Pirate – It’s pirate vs. pirate hunter until both realize all that glitters is not gold, is alive, and will kill them if they don’t join forces to stop it.

    Andromeda’s Pirate is full of fast-paced action and cosmic intrigue…in a treasure hunt like no other… ~J.E. McDonald, ~ author of the Wickwood Chronicles

    link text

  41. Nexus Point, book #1 of the Time Ranger series. An action packed, sci-fi, time travel novel. Winner of Canada Book Award.

    Take a trip through time and space with Commander Sawyer and his team as they race to save a dangerous Historical Contamination Act in 1634 France, from destroying their future.

    ‘This time-travel thriller kicks off an exciting new series that lovers of the genre will relish.’
    – BookLife (Publishers Weekly)

    Available everywhere, including Audible!

  42. If you enjoy epic fantasy with a twist of romance than the Song of Souls trilogy is for you.

    Aislynn never dreamed of adventure in far off places. She loved her home village of Brittendell, and envisioned a life of family and comfort. When she married Rorin it seemed that her dreams were coming true. But life rarely works out as we plan.

    Tragedy shatters Aislynn’s plans when Rorin is unexpectedly killed. Yet, the bond they share cannot be so easily broken, and their connection sends Aislynn far from the life and home she loves.

    Trained as one of the Soulbound, Aislynn is thrust into a world of hobgoblins, banshees, magic, and danger.

    The adventure begins with Soulbound, it continues in Soulfire, and concludes in Boundless. The trilogy is complete and available in print and kindle formats.
    https://www.amazon.com/Christen-Stovall/e/B01M2BXYGM?ref_=dbs_p_ebk_r00_abau_000000

  43. Thank you for this thread!

    I would like to introduce our shared world, Perfect Coven Earth, and our first anthology set in that world, Witch’s Tales.

    How much trouble can a group of college-age witches, deva, orthos, and their familiars find?

    The Perfect Coven series is a new adult paranormal romance/fantasy series where the existence of witches and other supernatural beings are posited as a normal part of everyday life. This anthology introduces you to some of the main characters, showing you how they became the witches they are today.

    It’s available solely as an Amazon e-book at this time and is free to read if you’re a Kindle Unlimited subscriber.

    There is also a series of cozy mysteries set in Perfect Coven Earth, starring lottery winner and Earth witch Rocky Stanton and his canine familiar, Esmie.

    The first book, Homegrown Trouble, finds Rocky and Esmie desperately trying to solve the murder of the wife of a well-known anti-witch pastor before Rocky’s ortho best friend, Toby Sinclair, is charged with the crime.

    Homegrown Trouble is available from Amazon in e-book and paperback formats.

    Here are the links:

    Witch’s Tales: https://www.amazon.com/Witchs-Tales-Stories-Perfect-Witches-ebook/dp/B0918WP22N/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=witch%27s+tales+perfect+coven&qid=1638288070&sr=8-2

    Homegrown Trouble: https://www.amazon.com/HOMEGROWN-TROUBLE-Gentleman-Investigation-Investigations-ebook/dp/B09HP6TWC4/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=homegrown+trouble+james+lock&qid=1638288107&sr=8-1

  44. 2nd DUCK ON THE RIGHT AND OTHER VERY SHORT STORIES is a collection of flash fiction spanning all genres – sci fi, fantasy, historical, and more. In these pages, you’ll find sneaky ducks, angst-ridden super villains, and a future where no one poops! Sometimes the stories are serious. Sometimes bad poetry. Always very odd. Print, ebook, get it wherever you like! Thanks!

    Here, have a book trailer.
    https://youtu.be/hDrfq2wrfo0

    More about this and other books and podcasts of mine: https://www.carnivalofgleecreations.com

  45. One moment Lieutenant Charles Clee was fighting German soldiers in France, the next he was 800,000 years from home. The Earth has changed, but humanity has not, and he is soon embroiled in a new war, a war of resistance to alien invaders–and he is on the wrong side.
    Deserting, he finds himself alone in an alien landscape, hunted by men and fantastic beasts. And when he finally finds a home among the creatures of this new world, he discovers that he may yet return to the past and save the men he left behind–but to do it would be to abandon his allies in the future.
    Charles Clee must forswear one set of loyalties for another, and whichever choice he makes, a civilization will fall.

  47. Looking for older women as heroes of their own lives, found family, coming out at midlife and…menopausal werewolves? BLOOD MOON, Book 2 of my Wolves of Wolf’s Point series, came out in March and is available everywhere! If you liked my novel SILVER MOON, I hope you’ll check this one out too!
    Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1734360305/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?ie=UTF8&qid=&sr=
    Powell’s –
    https://www.powells.com/searchresults?keyword=Catherine+Lundoff
    B&N –
    https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Blood%20moon,%20lundoff

  48. Thank you so much for the lovely space here.

    Veil of the Void Reforged is the sci-fi fantasy tabletop roleplaying game (TTRPG) created by a storyteller for storytellers. Our book was designed with a focus on the fun of storytelling, homebrewing, player freedom, creativity, and actual character progression. It completely covers all of this in one rulebook while giving the GM a dedicated guide chapter on creating everything and controlling the beautiful chaos inside.

    Our motto is “This is going to be fun,” and this rulebook’s ruleset focuses on that idea. Any character, even those that have not worked in other TTRPGs, can be made with our flexible ruleset.

    Even more, our rulebook contains 10 base classes (plus a unique custom class rule), 9 diverse playable species, an excellent GM’s guide and homebrew chapter, as well as lore, artifacts, and 50+ Monsters. It’s the perfect gift for any tabletop roleplaying fan, whether new to TTRPGs, or veterans. Even better, it’s easy to pick up and hard to put down!

    All of our products are direct shipped from us with care and are available here:
    https://www.sdgcreatives.com/product-page/veil-of-the-void-reforged-hardback

  49. Eclipse is a friends to lovers staffroom romance between teachers at an elite magical school in 1924-25. It is full of astronomy, what it means to be a good teacher, glittering social events, and students who are definitely up to something.

    Learn more at https://www.celialake.com/books/eclipse/ (includes a link to a detailed Squee review from Smart Bitches, Trashy Books in June 2021).

    My Albion books are available in print and your favourite ebook platform. They can be read in any order and explore the magical community of Great Britain. The FAQ on my website has suggested starting places, a timeline, and content notes. (And thanks for the chance to share!)

  50. The future is space. Earth’s a disaster, and most resources are being put towards the technology for that future in space.

    Reach for the stars meets a child that didn’t realize adolescence was the future – the future forever guided on a whim.

    A campy scifi romp that follows Captain and small crew on their adventures. https://amzn.to/3qjSmo8 Also available on Vella.

  51. Pelajis is science-based SF for the middle grade crowd: kids travel across a unique planet and avert an ecological catastrophe. I like to think the writing style of Pelajis is suited to reading aloud by an older SF fan to younger ones.

    The book is hosted on Amazon’s tragically under-promoted Kindle Vella, a platform for serialized fiction. Read the first three episodes for free, then buy inexpensive “Vella tokens” to continue. Find it at:

    https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B0992ZHTPD

  52. Winner of the 2021 NYS Indie Author Project Winner and 2020 Lambda Literary Award Finalist, INK AND ICE features a romance between an elite figure skater and a former war reporter with PTSD. Set in part on the remote Lake Erie islands, this is a novel about trust, myth, and what it really means to be comfortable in your own skin. Yes, there are selkies. Available in ebook and paperback.

    A QUEEN FROM THE NORTH is an alternate history royal romance set in a modern U.K. where the Wars of the Roses never ended. Winner of Library Journal’s 2017 Best Indie Ebook Award, this title is available in ebook, paperback, hardcover, and now an audio edition that is a current nominee for two SOVAS awards. In a starred review, Publisher’s Weekly said, “… splendid…. Rich, diverse worldbuilding sets this story of contemporary royalty apart…. a perfect cocktail of political intrigue and slow-burn romance.”

    THE ART OF THREE is a low-heat, low-angst polyamorous romance about hope, family, and talking things out like an actual adult. A 2017 Rainbow Award Winner, the authors were also finalists for the 2017 Bi Writer of the Year Award for this title. Publisher’s Weekly called it “”…sophisticated but escapist…” and a “…purely feel-good story…” in a starred review.

  54. Two’s Company by M.A. Kropp

    “If you’re looking for a good ol’ fast-moving space procedural with AI, space ships and a couple of fist fights, this is it.”

    Medusa “Deuce” Grainger is smart, confident, and as good a pilot as she is a poker player. A freelance shuttle jockey working for an independent terraforming company, she’s left her former life, and her father, behind. Mostly. Now, her AI has downloaded another Personality off a wrecked ship, and he’s acting oddly ever since. Someone wants to sabotage her friend’s company out of business, evidence of tampering is being corrupted, and people have died. With an investigation looming that could shut down the company and cut off her main source of income, Deuce needs to figure out what’s going on. And she needs to do it fast, because there’s more at stake than anyone realizes.

    I also have fantasy and urban fantasy books, all available at Amazon (M.A. Kropp) and most ebook retailers.

  55. In the mood for a new space opera adventure in the tradition of Mass Effect and Star Wars? Look no further than THOSE LEFT BEHIND, a galaxy-spanning story with first contact politics, ancient alien technology and an empire on the brink of war…

    Available now on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09JB7FG6F

    Time is running out for the people of New Pallas. Nobody knows that better than Alvera Renata, a tenacious captain determined to scout past the stars with nothing but a handpicked crew and the promise she made: to find a new home for humanity.

    But between navigating the dangers of dark space and playing first contact politics with a galactic civilisation already on the brink of war, Alvera soon realises keeping her word might not be as easy as she thought.

    Her only hope may be the secrets of the ancient alien waystations scattered across the galaxy. The mysterious technology could be the key to humanity’s survival—or bring the unwanted attention of the long-forgotten beings who built them…

    “Those Left Behind is nothing short of epic.” – Indies Today, ★★★★★

    You can read more about the book and my other work at https://ncscrimgeour.com/

  56. Thanks Mr. Scalzi!

    For the romance readers out there: if you or a potential giftee are looking for a billionaire romance that isn’t about tying up a virgin, there’s PUBLIC OFFERING.

    A venture capitalist walks into a law firm for a signing; he walks out sending a text to the good-looking patent attorney he spotted in the hall. A few hours later they’re in bed. Then a hookup turns into something neither of them can define.

    M/M featuring English and Korean-American main characters in their thirties who both put work first, until they don’t.

    https://smile.amazon.com/Public-Offering-PRIVATE-CONTRACTS-Alexandra-ebook/dp/B09754XZLW/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=public+offering+alexandra+caluen&qid=1638290833&sr=8-1

  58. For the graduate student or higher ed employee on your list, stories about what life would really be like in a magical university – from the world’s most dangerous research museum to a professional lecher at a fundraiser, unionizing demons, and the dryad rights movement. You’ll find it all in Want’s Master and Other Stories, in a world where cursing your major professor actually works. https://www.amazon.com/Wants-Master-stories-Academy-Stories/dp/1494357399/

    And on the non-fiction end… do you have a nursing student on your list? Then you know someone who’s worried about passing Pathophysiology. Help them prepare for the scariest science course in the program with this workbook by a long-time instructor. The A&P you really need to remember boiled down to a few pages per topic, with review activities and a ‘what if it goes wrong?’ focus to get students into the patho mindset before class even starts. https://www.amazon.com/Bridge-Between-Pathophysiology-black-version/dp/1733088814/

    Thanks to John for providing this opportunity!

  59. Thank you, John! My first indie book is titled Youngest. Available in all ebook formats, and in paperback on Amazon.

    In 1909, in a California that never was, a creature in a tan frock coat watches Etta from the top of a mountain….

    Deep in the old growth redwoods of Northern California, a coven of forest witches guard the trees, the plants, and the creatures who depend on the forest. Etta Erwin is the youngest witch in the Mendocino Coven, born with more earth magic at her core than any witch in over five generations. By tradition, she’s her grandmother’s heir, destined to lead the coven when Milly steps down. None of that explains why a powerful magic user, a stranger, first tries to kill her, and then won’t stop watching her from the mountaintop.

    Wyatt John Erwin was born with a sorcerer’s power, but was never trained and most of that power is out of his reach. Etta is the center of his life, and he’s determined to find a way to end the threat, no matter what that takes. But the second time the stranger attacks, he goes after Wyatt too. One of the coven witches sends a message to the Russian sorcerer’s colony near Fort Ross, asking for help. Help arrives in the form of Sebastian Stefanovich Sokolov, one of the most powerful sorcerers on the West Coast.

    https://www.amazon.com/Youngest-Jaime-Lee-Moyer-ebook/dp/B097B3LXDJ/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Youngest+Jaime+Lee+Moyer&qid=1638291343&sr=8-1

  60. Thanks so much for hosting this, John!

    Fans of gothic fiction, dark fantasy, and horror will find a lot to like in LADY VAGO’S MALEDICTION. My coauthor and I think it’s a great choice for people who love CRIMSON PEAK, gothic classics like REBECCA or anything by the Bronte sisters, and are looking to dip into the fantasy side of the genre pool.

    From merchant to baroness to banshee, Lady Vago communes with the ruins of her haunted castle to relive her rise and fall and solve the mystery of her imprisonment.

    Reviewers call it compelling, atmospheric, and heartwrenching, and the second part of the duology will be out early next year!

    https://www.amazon.com/Lady-Vagos-Malediction-K-M-Beach-ebook/dp/B08GS694LW

  61. Hello, readers! Looking for an all-ages friendly comedy-fantasy graphic novel?

    The Extras is a modern take on a classic boarding school story, a slice-of-life tale about the everyday adventures of growing up. Located in the City, the School of Saints Java and Hellbender is as much a character in the story as the girls from almost everywhere who live and learn there, and just as full of secrets.

    Order the first softcover collection at the kofi shop! https://ko-fi.com/the_extras/shop

    Book 2 coming out Q1 of 2022!

    The Extras is a webcomic that updates every Friday. Check it out here: https://theextras.thecomicseries.com/

    John Scalzi is an excellent human being and a great deejay! He writes awesome stories, too. Thank you, John!

  63. If you have a writer on your gift list, especially one who writes science fiction or fantasy, may I recommend my WRITING THE ENTERTAINING STORY. Half is of the book is on the craft and practice of writing, and half on getting your book noticed.
    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07WZ6V87Z/

    If there is a person on your gift list who loves true stories that read like novels, they might enjoy the best selling of my books: CONFESSIONS OF A FEMALE SAFETY ENGINEER. It’s a true life adventure, all about making it as a woman in a male-dominated field: heavy construction in New York City. Plus everybody love the “Safety Xena” on the cover! https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077VP5M94/

  64. Thank you for the opportunity to post here, John! It’s much appreciated.

    Hello, readers! I have 7 YA Speculative Fiction books available at Amazon, ranging from a contemporary fantasy trilogy featuring dragons, to a ghost story, to a science fiction story featuring baseball in space, a virtual reality adventure featuring classic video games, and an adventure story to save the concept of time travel. If you’d like to read these yourself, or gift them to someone this holiday season, you can find them all on my Amazon Author page. All seven are also available in Kindle Unlimited. I hope you check my work out and enjoy!

    https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B018CR1Z4W

  65. My young adult haunted house novel is Defying the Ghosts.

    (Full description at defyingtheghosts.com)

    A teen without a home. A dangerous residence.
    Can she survive one terrifying night to secure her future?

    Charlene Griffin never thought she’d be without a home. But when she’s kicked out on her eighteenth birthday, she has no choice but to sleep inside an ominous Victorian mansion. And with the owner offering the estate to anyone who can spend a full night in the haunted property, Charlene decides to risk life and limb to get off the streets.

    Refusing to heed the warnings of those sent running in fear for their lives, Charlene is confident she can last from sunset to sunrise. But she’ll need all her wits about her to withstand the hours of terror, because these ghosts are determined to get rid of her.

    Will Charlene outsmart her supernatural foes and make it to dawn?

    Defying the Ghosts is an eerie YA haunted house story. If you like heart-racing action, fearless heroes, and survival adventures, then you’ll love this thrilling tale.

  66. HIS SECRET WILL EITHER SAVE THE UNIVERSE OR DAMN US ALL. OR, UM, MAYBE BOTH? PROBABLY BOTH.

    With the next volume coming soon, now’s a great time to pick up PERCIVAL GYNT AND THE CONSPIRACY OF DAYS (2018), the novel that PUBLISHERS WEEKLY says “reads like post-modern Douglas Adams” and that KIRKUS calls “equal parts goofiness and grandeur.”

    A great gift for fans of DOCTOR WHO, GOOD OMENS, SPACE OPERA. SAGA. THOR: RAGNAROK and/or HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE.

    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D94XGSX

  67. SEDALIA CHRONICLES: A Cycle of Hoosier Tales.

    A journey back home for Hoosiers and other Flyover Country natives.

    In Eileen’s Café they’re gossiping about the car in Mrs. Aubrey’s driveway last night. At Big Iva’s Truck Stop the parking lot girls stomp a randy trucker. Sheriff Tungate stops the great mole trap theft with Mole Trap Amnesty. Local girl makes good in the Big Apple, but comes home anyway. Deputy Biggle patrols River Road to catch young parkers and gets his comeuppance. Big Iva and the town save Doc Quick from the IRS. An East Coast reporter comes to do a hit-job profile on the town and ends up staying. And busybodies conspire to match a young widow and a young widower.

    Twenty stories of Sedalia, Indiana, seat of Howarth County, Indiana, not far north of the Ohio River. You won’t find it on any map, but it lives in the hearts of Hoosiers everywhere. And in the hearts of all those who grew up in a small town.

    Buy it on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/William-Crow-Johnson/e/B00PUS1Z8I Please. It’ll be a nice deposit in your karmic account.

  68. Thanks to John Scalzi for hosting all of these opportunities “to get the Word Out” for authors and other creators. Way To Go! // It occurred to this Retired Reference Librarian that it might also be a Good Idea to make sure that hybrid and independent authors also knew about this libraary website: http://www.worldcat.org // See if libraries have ordered your book yet! // “Good Luck!” to Everyone! // Always Best Wishes From My Own Private Paper Labyrinth Burrow, Michael D. Toman aka “Bardwulf the Sorta Kinda Memorious” ps. And here’s a Shout-Out Recommendation for Franz Kafka’s “The Burrow.” Look for it online or at your local library!

  69. Channel Zilch by Doug Sharp

    Stealing a space shuttle was the easy part.

    “Hel claims that her hacker friends are a bunch of freaking geniuses. A Sidewinder up the tailpipe would be a brutal way to learn that Hel overestimates her geek pals’ expertise.”

    Fired by NASA for stunt-flying a space shuttle during re-entry, ex-astronaut Mick Oolfson now spends his unhappy days spraying manure over soybeans from his ailing DC3, dreaming of returning to space. So when testosterone-surfing geek goddess Heloise Chin offers him an astronaut gig on Channel Zilch, a pirate orbiting reality show, Mick jumps at the chance. What Heloise doesn’t mention is that the dream gig involves stealing the space shuttle Enterprise.

    Getting back into space is worth a little risk, but Mick never signed on for Russian gangsters and nightmare journeys on reeking Turkish freighters. He also didn’t expect Tobias Ishwald, the relentless head of NASA Security—and the man who got him canned—to try to ruin his dreams a second time. Trusting Hel will probably get him killed, but with a little fancy flying Mick just might see the stars again.

    A near-future, hard-science thriller with heart and purpose, CHANNEL ZILCH is a smart, fast-moving adventure you won’t soon forget.

    https://www.amazon.com/Channel-Zilch-Hels-Bet-Book-ebook/dp/B00RC9WYQU

    I wrote a post on John Scalzi’s blog about why it took me 21 years to write Channel Zilch:

    https://whatever.scalzi.com/2013/09/10/the-big-idea-doug-sharp/

  71. When I submitted BAD ACTORS to my publisher, his first response was that it was every bit as funny as my previous books. At first, I couldn’t understand the comment: was the expiry date on my ability to be funny the end of my sixth novel? It took me a while, but I eventually realized that he meant that it was funny even though it dealt with serious subjects (such as racism and the exploitation of desperate migrants). You be the judge. https://www.amazon.com/Bad-Actors-Multiverse-Refugees-Trilogy/dp/1911409840/

  72. Looking to dive into Tudor era murder and mystery? Check out the Tyburn Folios – going on sale from Dec. 1 – Dec. 8 in the US and the UK:

    The Jesuit Letter https://amzn.to/3l9x8Wz
    Thieves’ Castle https://amzn.to/2m6u6GX
    Black Dog (novella) https://amzn.to/3llOC1U

    Black Dog is available FREE from Dec 1-5th, 2022.

    “As rich and as vibrant in detail as any of Shakespeare’s plays, Thieves’ Castle has it all — warring houses, intrigues, violence, love, death, a spymaster, & a plot that will keep you up until late into the night”

    Have a very happy holiday!

    Dean

  73. A gift for those who cook for you:

    The Crane and the Wolf is a fantasy bake off with sorcerers, disgruntled hobbits, and a werewolf for a judge. If no one in the Crane’s kitchen can make a good enough pastry (or whatever Hollis is craving that full moon) then only flesh will do!

    https://www.amazon.com/Crane-Wolf-Joseph-Mitchell-ebook/dp/B09B45YXTC/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+crane+and+the+wolf+darris&qid=1638298184&sr=8-1

    Get this book for anyone who has ever watched the Great British Bake Off and understands that baking truly is magic!

  74. The Hereafter Bytes is a comedy science fiction novel. Think cyberpunk, discworld.

    Romeo is dead, but that doesn’t mean he’s not still running about the place. Housed in a retrofitted delivery drone, his digital reincarnation has had less stressful days. His best friend has reported herself missing, his boss is now on the FBI’s radar, and some kink riddled software engineer has gotten himself killed. Behind it all is something or someone with Australian, Golden Retriever bounty hunters on the payroll. Romeo is ill equipped, but conspiracies rarely ask if now is a good time.

    Amazon:
    https://www.amazon.com/Hereafter-Bytes-Vincent-Scott/dp/1942480288

  75. Birth of the Black Orchids
    Two novellas kick off a new cozy mystery series, as a troupe of former college roommates figure out that the American Dream was cancelled when they took out their first student loan. They quit all the high-powered jobs that all the degrees and professional certifications earned for them and move to a lovely old mansion in Central Texas.

    Too bad about the murder, which they’d better solve before it ruins their Christmas grand opening. Can a vet, accountant, lawyer, and ABBA tribute band solve the crime and save the world, or at least themselves?

    The second tale finds the group racing across country to prevent their clients from breaking into Special Counsel Mueller’s office. This cannot go well.

    Everywhere this book is available should show on
    this page. Print and large print are lagging behind ebooks, but they will arrive.

  77. Magic, Mayhem, Murder, Mischief, and Mirth

    There’s a little bit of everything waiting for you at my website. From cozy mysteries set in the 80s, to post-apocolypse stories where nothing is what it appears to be, to twisted rom-coms, or even just stories about living in another country.

    The only consistent thing you’ll find in my books is a good time. Come have a look, see what strikes your fancy!

    https://www.noahchinnbooks.com/my-books/

  78. Hitman ghost? Gun-running ogre? Vampire assassins? A unicorn serial killer?

    If you ever wanted Lee Child and Stephen King to collaborate on a series of supernatural thrillers, The Lockman Chronicles is probably as close as you’ll get. It’s a complete five-book series available in ebook at all the major retailers and paperback through Amazon.

    The first book is Darker Things, and you can find more information at my website: robcornellbooks.com. Or here’s a link to Amazon: Darker Things.

    Thanks!

  79. Infinity’s Trinity is a two-book series that disproves the notion that the three edges of a love triangle can’t work together to preserve eternity. To quote Jake and Elwood Blues, Paul Tomenko, Maggie Mae Monahan, and Allie Briarsworth are “on a mission from God.” The Lord is trying to figure out why humans can’t ascend through the Planes of Existence, a process that will pick his replacement. To be sure, the trio receives help from some unlikely supporting characters—replicant celebrities such as Katharine Ross and Cher, a pair of neo-Neanderthal children, and Dzhambo the Ukrainian Vodka-Drinking Circus Bear.

    Buckle up for an existential trip oiled with humor that glides across all that has been on the way to all that we hope will be.

    Damaged Beyond All Recognition (Book 1): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077VJGJCD

    Damaged And No Longer Under Warranty (Book 2): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B098BRYJ61

  80. Chocolate for the soul !

    When days get shorter, we crave a good book and a cup of hot chocolate. Those five short-stories deal with trials and new beginnings, and how friendship or even love can bloom in the worst conditions, provided we never stop hoping for the best.

    Five upbeat Holiday tales of compassion and courage, of wonders and sweetness by multi-award winner Michèle Laframboise, to enjoy with your favorite mug of warm chocolate !

    https://books2read.com/u/31KZBM

    And a big thank you, John, for Red Shirts ! As a SF writer and ST fan, I loved it.
    :^)

  81. “The greatest stars of Ohio State football’s sepia age have dimmed so much that the names of the players who were once revered as supernovas have faded to near complete obscurity.”

    Days of Yore: Men of Scarlet and Gray reveals the stories of the people who helped establish varsity football at The Ohio State University. The book covers the time of the conception of football at OSU in 1890 and travels through what the great James Thurber called “the dear dull days” when their fierce rivals were Kenyon, Oberlin and Case Institute, and continues until Ohio State joined the Big Ten in 1914.

    Readers will be introduced to the students, faculty members, and Columbus sportsmen who worked together to establish football in Columbus. The origins of the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry are chronicled in detail, including how Columbus erupted into an all-night party if OSU scored a touchdown. The book discusses the emergence of OSU’s band from an outfit playing solely to provide a cadence for military cadets to march in intricate formations to a regular feature at games. Other traditions such as the singing of Carmen Ohio at games are revealed. Readers will learn about Ohio State’s first truly dominant teams (1899-1901) and how the run came to an end following the death of a beloved player.

    https://www.amazon.com/Days-Yore-Men-Scarlet-Gray/dp/B08PXJZJ6H

  82. Chocolate for the soul !

    When days get shorter, we crave a good book and a cup of hot chocolate. Those five short-stories deal with trials and new beginnings, and how friendship or even love can bloom in the worst conditions, provided we never stop hoping for the best.

    Five upbeat Holiday tales of compassion and courage, of wonders and sweetness by multi-award winner Michèle Laframboise, to enjoy with your favorite mug of warm chocolate !

    https://books2read.com/u/31KZBM

    For my brand of science fiction: visit my indie website:
    https://echofictions.com/genre/science-fiction/

    And a big, chocolatey thank-you, John, for your book “Red Shirts” ! As a SF writer and ST fan, I loved it.
    :^)

  83. For fiction, my self-published Atoms For Peace — what happens when all the 1950s SF films turn out real? (https://www.amazon.com/Atoms-Peace-Stories-Fraser-Sherman/dp/1720514275)
    For nonfiction (from McFarland, which doesn’t usually put books in bookstores), my last film book was Now and Then We Time Travel, an exhaustive look at time travel in films and TV: https://www.amazon.com/Now-Then-Time-Travel-Television/dp/0786496797/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=now+and+then+we+time+travel&qid=1638301641&s=books&sr=1-1

  84. This book punches Nazis!

    Hi! I’m Amanda Cherry and my second book was published this year by Zombie Orpheus Entertainment. They primarily produce independent films and television series and mine is their first book! Although THE DRAGON STONE CONSPIRACY ties into their STROWLERS television universe, it’s a solid standalone and a great entry point into this magical world.

    When the Fae go to war with a Nazi cult, one woman will protect humanity’s future….

    Join Pepper Jones on her thrilling quest through wartime Germany, into the Changing Lands, and back again in hopes of denying the Nazis ultimate magical power in THE DRAGON STONE CONSPIRACY

    https://bookshop.org/books/the-dragon-stone-conspiracy-a-strowlers-novel-9781944217310/9781944217310

  85. My latest short story collection, KAYONGA’S DECISION AND OTHER STORIES features tales originally published in ANALOG SCIENCE FICTION – SCIENCE FACT, AMAZING STORIES, and other outlets, as well as one original work.

    The best-selling author Jack McDevitt was kind enough to provide an introduction, and the great original illustration for the cover is by Christine Avery.

    http://davecreek.com/public_html/KAYONGAS_DECISION.html

  86. Stone Tooth Press is excited to announce that “ZHIA DIVA”, an Epic Fantasy novel by Karen Ann Ferrell is now available in both print and ebook from Amazon and also in print from most online book sellers.

    “What happens when a woman realizes a long-held dream, only to discover that it may have been a nightmare?”

    “Zhia Diva is a story of self-discovery, survival, and redemption, based in and wound through with the healing power of music. It is a compelling meditation on the nature of service, sacrifice, and faith.

    Set in a world that is both unlike our own, yet oddly familiar, and populated with unapologetically human characters, the story coaxes the reader along with the characters in a satisfying tale of the triumph of the human spirit, and the victory of kindness over cruelty.”

    Content Warning: Non-graphic descriptions of assault and atrocities inflicted on a captive.”

  87. I’d like to present my sweet werewolf family saga romance/adventure. Fast-paced action and a romantic Kiss are central elements in each of the six books in the series set in the South of the United States.

    The Wolves of the South is a complete series, with the final book on pre-order with a release date on December 10th – perfect for curling up with some hot chocolate.

    “A Wolf’s Quest” is the first book, available in all stores for just 99ct:

    Ben is a wolf on the run…
    …away from his father’s dreadful past.
    But what if that past also holds his future?

    https://books2read.com/WolvesSouthQuest

  88. Check out my indie pubbed sci fi epic Dropnauts:

    roduct Description
    Life after the Crash.Over a century after the end of the Earth, life goes on in Redemption, the sole remaining Lunar colony, and possibly the last outpost of humankind in the Solar System. But with an existential threat burrowing its way into the Moon’s core, humanity must recolonize the homeworld.

    Twenty brave dropnauts set off on a mission to explore the empty planet. Four of them—Rai, Hera, Ghost and Tien—have trained for two-and-a-half years for the Return. They’re bound for Martinez Base, just outside the Old Earth city of San Francisco.

    But what awaits them there will turn their assumptions upside down—and in the process, either save or destroy what’s left of humanity.

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08ZLDNK3C/

  89. Hello nerds. I write and self-publish children’s books. Find them here: http://hbarpress.com/adam-b-ford/ or on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Adam-B-Ford/e/B00DTEZK9A or get ’em from your local independent bookstore!

    Quick overviews:

    The Six Sisters and Their Flying Carpets - Six girls fly magic carpets from their big old house; the Prince of the province steals them and makes them tell him how to fly them, but he fails.
    Jam-Bo, Litta-Girl, and the Bullies - Jam-Bo and Litta-Girl overcome their bullies by using progressively longer and longer words against them.
    Molly Rides - Molly was a skier who decides to learns to snowboard.
    Big Cat - A small house cat wanders the wilderness, getting bigger and bigger.
    The Smiley-Face Book - A simple book about cartoonish smiley-faces.
    The Clues to Kusachuma - A Middle Grade novel about a treasure hunt in a small mountain town.
    Ryder, Sky, and Emmaline - A rhyming day on a vegetable farm with three inquisitive and imaginitive kids.

  90. A Most Inconvenient Corpse has been created in Avrenante.

    There is elegant music and dance, astronomical research, courtly intrigue–and murder, in a world inspired by 18th century Versailles.

    We know who did it. We see her do it. But will Marguerite de Lille get away with murder, and if so, how?

    You can find out through Amazon and Smashwords.

    https://www.amazon.com/Most-Inconvenient-Corpse-Jane-Bigelow-ebook/dp/B09K2QKVS3/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=a+most+inconvenient+corpse&qid=1638304512&sr=8-1

    https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1111728

  91. Thank you for this opportunity, John.

    “Shadows Over Bishop Hill” has recent Knox college graduate and amateur sleuth Shelley Anderson back in action. She must deal with arson, kidnapping, and a wild nighttime chase along Henry County, IL backroads as she follows a trail of shady money deals to find out who killed her best friend’s fiancé. It’s a cozy mystery with humor and an attitude.

    https://www.amazon.com/Shadows-Over-Bishop-Hill-Mystery/dp/0578908255/

    https://bookshop.org/books/shadows-over-bishop-hill-mystery/9780578908250

  92. Well, I have three books in the same series all available this year–all standalone, all falling into the category of “Related Content” as they’re studies of particular characters.

    Essentially, The Martiniere Legacy stories are near-future agripunk corporate soap opera; incorporating a mix of agricultural tech focused on coping with climate change intertwined with mind control, experimentation on indentured workers, and my protagonists’ struggles against megalomaniac, psychopathic Philip Martiniere, who controls the family-held corporation, the Martiniere Group. Philip’s son Gabriel leads the fight, aided and abetted by his beloved Ruby and his sister Justine.

    Gabriel’s book, Broken Angel: The Lost Years of Gabriel Martiniere, is currently in contention (i.e., not eliminated as of this moment) for the Self Published Science Fiction Competition.
    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09256Q4FW

    Justine’s book, Justine Fixes Everything: Reflections on Mortality, is available here:
    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09H6GVGBZ

  93. Looking for an urban-fantasy series you can really dive into?

    Join Dr. Alastair Stone, British expat, master mage, and occult studies professor as he battles magical and extradimensional threats of all shapes and sizes.

    The Alastair Stone Chronicles series (28 books and counting) features twisty, complex plots, tons of character development, snarky humor, and plenty of magical action (but not much romance).

    Check out this Amazon-bestselling series starting with book 1, STONE AND A HARD PLACE. Fans of Jim Butcher, Benedict Jacka, and Shayne Silvers will likely find something to enjoy here.

    Amazon link to book 1: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UGBEQYY

    The whole series is also available to read for free if you’re a Kindle Unlimited subscriber.

  94. The Stariel Quartet, beginning with The Lord of Stariel – a completed romantic fantasy-of-manners series set on a sentient magical estate. Think fantasy Downton Abbey.

    Everyone knows which family member the magical estate will choose as its new ruler. Or do they? But whoever Stariel chooses will have bigger problems than eccentric relatives to deal with. For the first time in centuries, the fae are returning to the Mortal Realm, and only the Lord of Stariel can keep the estate safe.

    https://books2read.com/TheLordofStariel

  95. Welcome to THE WELL, a roleplaying game of exploration, undead monsters, and survival with simple dice rules, a handful of tactical consideration, and a lot of player contribution. Climb the Well, defeat your undead ancestors, and come home bearing lost treasures and indelible scars.

    The Well takes place in an underground city, generations and generations after anyone remembers there even being an “above ground.” Down leads to new tunnels, new resources, and more distance from the tombs they’ve left behind. Only a few brave or crazy souls go back up, because some malicious force animates their dead ancestors.

    Easy to start playing and with glorious art from Kurt Komoda, try The Well today!

    https://www.shoelesspetegames.com/the-well

  97. For: theater nerds, recovering theater nerds, former drama kids who love romance (written by a former actress and stage manager).

    The Center Stage series (3 out now at all retailers, 4th drops on 12/17). All book stand alone and have at least 1 main character who works in theater. Starting with ACTING UP, where the MCs are a director and a stage manager, long-standing best friends, and business partners who, inconveniently, have hired a total nightmare of a leading lady for the play that could make or break their career.

    More information can be found at: https://adelebuck.com/

  98. Like to laugh? Like intrigue? Karaoke?

    If so, kindly consider reading reviews of my comedic spy technothriller. The novel enjoys 4.52 Stars on Goodreads. See clamPies.com

  99. At the End of the World https://books2read.com/ateotw

    The End of the World is a wayward city where fate is currency, magic infects, and everyone is lost. Even a mourning mammoth.

    Stina is lost. All she wanted was to escape a terrible date. Joao wanted to return to his regiment under the King of Portugal, and young Croydon wanted to find his parents. But everyone at The End of the World is lost in a wayward city out of time and place. Each must choose to either stay in the strange city or leave to find a new home in an unknown time and place.

    Thank you, John.

  100. Much obliged, John!

    TRIGGERNOMETRY and ADVANCED TRIGGERNOMETRY are part of a British Fantasy Award-nominated novella series set in an alt-history world where mathematicians are dangerous outlaws…

    “I hereby arrest the fugitive “Mad” Malago Browne for murder, arson, robbery and acts of pernicious arithmetic against the Capitol States. Also the fugitive Pierre “Polecat” de Fermat, for sundry of the same.”

    In the Western States, it doesn’t pay to count your blessings.

    Professor Malago Browne, once the most notorious mathematician in the west, has been trying to leave her outlaw past behind and lead a quiet life. But all of that changes when her former partner – the deadly and capricious Pierre de Fermat – shows up with a proposition of a lifetime.

    One last job, one last ride: a heist big enough to escape the tyranny of the Capitol forever.

    With a misfit crew of renegade topologists and rebel statisticians, Browne and Fermat prepare to take on the Capitol in the crime of the century. Little do they know the odds are stacked against them…

    “A wild, rollicking and endlessly-surprising tale of low lives and higher mathematics. I loved it!” – Lavie Tidhar, award-winning author of By Force Alone, Unholy Land, Central Station and more

    Available on Amazon, Kobo and Gumroad!
    https://starkholborn.com/triggernometry/

  101. Strong Fort Spathi is a modern day fantasy with witches, werewolves, and fae, oh my! Follow the trials of witch Sinikka, her werewolf adopted brother Jordan, and those they meet along the way. When Sinikka is kidnapped, Jordan has to deal with the complications of out of town visitors while searching for her and Sinikka has to work to keep herself and the other victims safe as she tries to find a way out.
    (More information and a variety of purchase options available in many countries here: https://heathercwright.wordpress.com/books/.)

  102. In the mood for frothy holiday rom-com, but tired of heroines learning they have to give up their big city dreams and conform to have a soul?

    In Leah’s Perfect Christmas, a nice Jewish girl goes home for the holidays with her WASP-y boyfriend and learns that sometimes the true meaning of Christmas…is Chinese food dinner with your family on Long Island.

  104. Thank you for this opportunity! Deixis Press is a micropublisher with two books out in 2021.

    First up: SOME RISE BY SIN by Siôn Scott-Wilson

    1829 is a tough year to be a body snatcher. Burke and Hare have just been convicted of killing people to sell their bodies, to widespread outrage—but despite the bad press, doctors still need fresh corpses for medical research.

    Sammy and Facey are a couple of so-called ‘resurrection men’, making a living among society’s fringe-dwellers by hoisting the newly departed from the churchyards of London whilst masquerading as late-night bakers. Operating on tip-offs and rumours in the capital’s drinking dens and fighting pits, the pair find themselves in receipt of some valuable intelligence: an unusual cadaver has popped up on the market, that of a hermaphrodite.

    For any medic worth his salt it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—a medical curiosity and rara avis—and famous anatomist Joshua Brookes commissions the two men to obtain the body, at any cost. But some corpses hold secrets, and before long the enterprise becomes a deadlier and more complex undertaking than either man could ever have imagined.

    https://www.amazon.com/Some-Rise-Sin-Si%C3%B4n-Scott-Wilson/dp/1838498710/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= or you can order it from your favorite bookstore (non-returnable!)

  105. The Network is a sci-fi novella where a human girl and an alien girl go monster-hunting on a sentient spaceship and fall in love along the way.

    Previously published by Less Than Three Press, and also available on Scribd as an audiobook, you can find the ebook on Gumroad:
    http://gum.co/networkbook

  106. Second, and finally,
    THE WORKSHOP OF FILTHY CREATION by Richard Gadz

    (This one was picked for Lisa Tuttle’s October roundup of the best science fiction and fantasy in The Guardian, which isn’t too shabby for a micropress, if I do say so myself.)

    In the autumn of 1879, an intelligent, artificially-created being—outwardly a young woman called Maria—arrives in London under the protection of biologist Professor George Hobson. Hobson gathers a few close friends and reveals her existence, explaining that she is the final result of a research programme undertaken by a dynasty of unethical scientists, the von Frakkens—all now dead.

    Unknown to Hobson, one of his friends, Jabez Pell, is linked to an underground scientific organisation, the Promethean Society. Set up in the early 1800s, its aim is to conquer death by whatever means possible. Pell immediately recognises the potential that Maria’s regenerative abilities can offer to the Prometheans – but after his attempt to kidnap her turns deadly, Maria goes on the run.

    Maria finds herself at the heart of raging controversy: some want her jailed, some want her dead, and some want to peel the flesh from her bones. Worse, she is now hunted not only by members of the Prometheans but also by the police—and her creator Wilhelm von Frakken, who, as it turns out, is alive (in a sense).

    Again, you can get it at Amazon or order (non-returnable) from your fave bookstore.

  107. If you like history with a fantastical twist, you might enjoy ‘A Fire in the Sky’.

    Set in late 18th century England, this novel is (extremely) loosely based on the story of James Sadler, an Oxford shopkeeper’s son who sets out to become the first English balloonist.

    Complications ensue, of course – expect family feuds, Town vs Gown, a mesmerizing femme fatale, dandy highwaymen, duels, and more!

    It’s available as a Kindle ebook and in paperback from Amazon in both the US and the UK:

    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09FQXX8N4
    https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09FQXX8N4

    (Many thanks to John for the opportunity to post here!)

  108. Here’s a digital stocking stuffer for anyone who enjoys tasty bites of hope and darkness.

    Cultural Artifacts is a collection of science fiction, horror, and fantasy flash fiction: tales of infernal devices animated by kind magic and cruel sorcery, of curios that create image and identity, of keepsakes that magnify repression and foment revolution.

    Meet an angry kitten, the gods of theater, and the bored young aristocrats of Mars. Take two trips to “the most beautiful planet known to humanity,” and visit Wok Like An Egyptian, “LA’s latest fast friendly food sensation.” Feel frissons of discovery and watch as history is misinterpreted and misunderstood in objects mysterious and quotidian.

    Ebook only on Amazon US:
    https://amzn.to/31ghd1s

    On Amazon UK:
    https://amzn.to/3o5pZIG

    And Amazon everywhere else, too. (Also on Kindle Unlimited.)

    Thanks, John, for this opportunity!

  109. Lovers of horror, especially queer horror, have I got something for you-

    A book of abandoned lore and history for a long-forgotten accursed tarot deck. Complete with a full length horror novel at the back detailing on doom Archivist’s search for the missing cards on the long-abandoned Windrow estate in 1920. The Windrow-Ravenswood Guidebook. Get it here in digital, or paper formats: https://www.drivethrucards.com/product/332236

  110. It’s a world like our own, but when people started doing extraordinary things, they gained leverage to make faster social change. Now powered individuals can legally use their talents in one of two ways: out in the open as Superheroes, or as private contractors called Operators.

    Operator is the story of Sana Parker, top operator and secretly in a relationship with the country’s most famous superhero. Her latest job has the possibility of destroying both statuses fast.

    Audition is what happens when an opportunistic D-list superhero realizes her barista has hidden talents.

    And Supercell is the YA prequel to Operator and can be read on its own.

    https://polyamorouslibrarian.wordpress.com/books-stories/ contains links to all formats where available, and non-Amazon options for those who like to shop elsewhere.

  111. THE RED MAN AND OTHERS collects the tales of a found family of con artists. Kaila is a small but tough sell-sword who didn’t expect to acquire a protégé and a girlfriend, Sebastien is a teenage thief with a flexible conscience, and Ymke is a disabled scribe who’s escaped a war-torn childhood to find love (and trouble) with Kaila. When they fall foul of the Brotherhood of the Wheel, Sebastien’s resemblance to the cult’s beloved saint offers them a chance for revenge – and to make some money. But bringing the Uncomplaining Child back to life has some unplanned effects on the townspeople, and on the trio. 

    It’s available as an ebook, and as a special paperback edition with additional flash fiction and extra illustrations. You can find it on Amazon wherever you are, and here are the US and UK links:

    US: https://www.amazon.com/Red-Man-Others-Angeline-Adams/dp/1800495749/

    UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Red-Man-Others-Angeline-Adams/dp/1800495749/

    Thanks for this opportunity!

  112. Thanks, John, for doing this!
    And if any of you have actually scrolled down this far…
    The glowing structure at the bottom of a
    lonely northern lake is not of this Earth.
    But Michael Hart can’t stay away.
    His choice will bring him astonishing abilities
    and a destiny he could never have imagined.
    A hero.
    Or the greatest traitor the world has ever known.
    Because he is no longer alone,
    not even in his own body.
    There is another.
    Naïda.

    Sci-fi with a strong thriller element, my novel Naïda is available at your favorite book outlet via https://books2read.com/Naida

  113. Have you ever wondered what Dungeons & Dragons or World of Warcraft would be like in the real world?

    Do you search Craigslist every day in vain for a section called Quests?

    Do you wish Neil Gaiman had written Neverwhere set in New York City?

    Then look no further than Guild of Tokens, my epic urban fantasy, where the quests of your fantasy novels and video games have hit the streets of New York City.

    Guild of Tokens is available on Amazon and you can also get signed paperbacks and hardcovers directly from me, which come with an art swag pack and a free ebook copy.

    Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07STPH2F5/
    My shop: https://www.jonauerbach.com/product/guild-of-tokens-special-edition/

    And thank you John for this thread!

  115. An exciting and funny new Urban Fantasy! All Five star ratings on Amazon! A PI and his quirky friends are drawn into a war between feuding magical secret societies! If you love Harry Potter, Guardians of the Galaxy and Doctor Who, you’ll love this!

  117. Sylvio spent the past decade banished from Simare’s court, stripped of land, ancestral home and title – from Minister of National Security to back-country bowyer. But not any bowyer; Sylvio creates bows from laminations of wood and human bone, bows that are said to speak, bows known as the legendary arcossi.

    And now, after a decade, he is called back to the capitol, summoned by his Prince whom he suspects is a patricide and insane. His very life is in danger and with it the country he has served through all his days.
    From Mountains of Ice is a story of love, endurance and the meaning of honour.

    From Mountains of Ice is an entertaining and original fantasy from Lorina Stephens, highly recommended. – Midwest Book Review

    …a non-stop ride filled with surprises at every turn. – The Little Red Reviewer

    Among the best fantasy books I’ve read in quite some time. – Brian Rathbone, The Dawning of Power

    If you enjoy stories with rich characterization and intricate world-building, told in leisurely, lyrical prose dense with imagery, From Mountains of Ice is for you. – L.M. Spilsbury, Immunity Cage

  118. 20 years ago I wrote a short story, “Buffalo Dogs,” which was supposed to a one shot. It turned into a series, THE AMAZING CONROY, about a stage hypnotist and his alien companion animal.

    That series begat a second series, FREELANCE COURIER, a seemingly ordinary teenager who only appears to be Human, but is actually a mutant variant from a race of teleporting aliens who have hidden in plain sight for millennia.

    Then, when I wasn’t looking, I started a third series in the same universe, PIZZA IN SPACE, about a young woman who’s trying to complete her doctorate at a university on a space station orbiting Neptune.

    All together, there’s a dozen or so titles (and more on the way). So earlier this year I put together a “sampler” to make it easy for folks to meet the different characters. The result is CONROYVERSE, an omnibus which includes that original short story and three complete novels — the first novel in each series — all in one convenient package.

    Hypnosis, Teleportation, and Alien Academia, Oh My!

  119. Thank you, Mr. Scalzi, for the opportunity to bring to your readers’ attention SAVAGE CITY, a historical crime novel by Donald Levin.

    Detroit. 1932. The fates of four people converge during a violent week of labor unrest in the bleakest year of the Great Depression. Detective Clarence Brown is one of a handful of Black officers in the Detroit Police Department, navigating a thicket of lies and racism to find the killer of a young Black man. Ben Rubin wants to move from petty crime into the ranks of Detroit’s notorious Purple Gang. Elizabeth Waters is a fiercely independent Communist sympathizer who has turned her back on her privileged Grosse Pointe upbringing to join the workers’ fight for a piece of the American dream. Roscoe Grissom is an unemployed auto worker enlisted by the fearsome Black Legion to sow terror as a night-riding emissary of hate.

    Against the backdrop of the bloody Ford Hunger March, events hurl these four into the center of a political storm that will change them forever. SAVAGE CITY captures a key inflection point in the creation of modern American life.

    On sale now at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0997294183/ref=dbs_a_def_awm_hsch_vapi_tpbk_p1_i0.

  120. Friends, how do you feel about an anthology of modern Gothic horror from female or nonbinary authors – with illustrations? Of course you need it. You need it now.
    It includes my Southern Gothic story “We Named You After Her”, which is thick with the stench of family responsibilities and family history, and also has an illustration that reminds me of Edward Gorey’s work.
    https://tenebrous-press.square.site/product/in-somnio-anthology-180-pages-/21?cs=true&cst=custom

  122. https://www.amazon.com/Everything-About-Zombies-Learned-Kindergarten/dp/0990853306

    “Everything I Know About Zombies, I Learned in Kindergarten” was a winner of a 2014 IndieFab Award for Multicultural Adult Fiction. Even before the apocalypse, nine-year-old Letitia Johnson’s life had never been simple. Shuttled from foster home to foster home in the impoverished neighborhood of Mott Haven, it was all she could do to keep track of her little sister. When the apocalypse came, she tried to keep her sister’s kindergarten safe by locking them all in a tiny school bathroom, hiding while they waited for a rescue that never came. For five days, they hid. They hid while their teachers were being eaten, while their classmates were being killed. They hid while the Bronx was being evacuated. Now, there’s no one left to help them. There’s no place left to hide. It’s just her, one ax, twelve kindergarteners, twelve sharp sticks, and a will to live. While the cast of this novel is primarily children, the book is intended for adults and contains material unsuitable for younger readers.

  123. The complete ‘Divided Elements’ trilogy is now available to buy. Perfect for fans of classic dystopian spec fic – think Fahrenheit 451 x Brave New World – the first book in the series won a OneBookTwo Standout Award and is currently a quarter-finalist in Hugh Howey’s inaugural SPSFC. Set in a future Paris where the facade of a utopian golden age is starting to slip, a neuro-aligned Peacekeeper is realigned and sent undercover to infiltrate a growing resistance movement that threatens the strictly enforced status quo.

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08B1K8RZ7

  124. In 1661, Arden West runs away from an abusive Puritan stepfather with the goal of becoming one of the first actresses of the London stage. One of the first people she meets is the jaded and sensual aristocrat Robert Courtenay, and sparks fly hot and fast between them. Will he help or harm her new career? Will she give up her quest for fame for him? Will he give up his arranged betrothal for her? Will her stepfather succeed in dragging her back to his peculiar brand of torment? And what of Charles II’s desire to make Arden his royal mistress? Royal intrigue, assassination plots, ghosts, and kidnappings are among the obstacles standing in the way of Arden and Robert’s chances for happiness.

  125. WILD INCORPORATED
    by Jack Mackenzie

    WHAT IS WILD INCORPORATED?
    To the world at large, Wild Incorporated is an unusual and mysterious organization whose origin is shrouded in secrecy and lost to human memory. To the members of this strange group – six of the most singularly unique and expert intelligences ever assembled – it is a sacred trust, a lifetime’s mission dedicated to the extermination of criminals and evil-doers the world over. Together they form a team of unstoppable heroes whose fantastic exploits are unequaled for hair-raising thrills, breathtaking escapes and pulse-pounding excitement!

    THE SHATTERED MEN
    Harry Calhoun is a reformed small time crook trying to stay out of trouble, but on a trip to New York trouble finds Harry in a big way. Men are literally falling to pieces. They melt. They shatter like glass, or dissolve into clouds of dust. As a witness to one of these bizarre deaths, Harry becomes a wanted man, on the run from the police, the mob and two strange characters, all of whom want to know what Harry knows. Desperate and alone, Harry soon comes face to face with Morrigan Wild, the leader of an extraordinary group of heroes known as WILD INCORPORATED.

    http://darkworldsquarterly.gwthomas.org/wild-incorporated/

  126. Bitten by a werewolf. Taught by a vampire. At this rate, she’s going to start a war.

    Literature major Jordan Abbey ordered a double mocha latte, but it wasn’t supposed to come with a side order bite by a love-sick werewolf. When a vampire comes to her rescue, gut instinct tells her he has questionable motives. But he’s the only one she can trust to help get in touch with her inner animal.

    Within a week, her smart mouth lands her in trouble with the hostile alpha of the local pack and the stiff-necked vampire elder. She now has less than a moon cycle to master shape changing… or else. And the besotted werewolf who started this whole mess is stalking Jordan and killing her friends. He won’t take no for an answer.

    In the Northern California town of Rancho Robles where the children of the Wolf and the Bat share an uneasy coexistence, one woman makes an epic mess of the status quo.

    CHAOS WOLF is available from major book sellers in ebook and paperback format. https://books2read.com/chaos-wolf

  127. Thank you for this opportunity!

    Warm and cozy feelings of the maternal and all things domestic. Closest to hearth and home…with only faint whispers of the dark and horrific underbelly. The things inside home that aren’t spoken of. Monstrous domesticity.

    https://amzn.to/3BLmomA

  128. John, thank you for the opportunity!

    Amarantha, goddess of memory, is called to present Earth’s case before the Elder Council.
    If she fails to persuade them that Earth is on track to Ascension, the planet will be reset back to prehistoric days.
    And that’s the good ending.
    The Devourer of Worlds looms in wait to claim Earth as his rightful salvage. Not content with the planet as a main course, he’s also set his eyes on having godlings as appetizers.
    Since drama comes in threes, not only does Amarantha have the Council and the D to contend with, but she must also negotiate the status of her marriage with Death himself.
    Can a goddess nearly Faded into mortal flesh save the world, herself, and her marriage along with it?

    https://www.amazon.com/Goddess-Waiting-Ekaterine-Xia-ebook/dp/B078XDQK6L/

    If you like fairy tale re-tellings, perhaps you’d enjoyed Silenced.

    I’ve heard the rumors.

    They say that I gave up my home, my kingdom, my people for love of a man I’d only seen once, who I never even spoke to because he was unconscious when I rescued him from the sea. They say that I bargained away my voice and then paid more in pain to the sea witch so I could be with him.

    Lies.

    There was no pain, except that of the king’s betrayal. He was the one who bargained with a witch, but one of the land not of the sea, and he was the one who took my voice. His were the hands at which I suffered agony, a little death with each step.

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MXXN1XW

  129. HELIOTROPE, by AE Currie

    JUST OUT: The latest in the Panopticon series – a set of page-turning techno-thrillers that challenge everything you think you know about the future. Trust me, you don’t have a clue what’s coming…

    Written by a veteran female tech insider, the Panopticon series is action-packed speculative science fiction about climate change, AI, surveillance, deep fakes, social media influence, the individual vs the state, and everything else that’s going to screw with humanity in the next two decades. If you want to know what could happen next and you want a book you can’t put down, try the Panopticon series.

    https://www.annecurrie.com/

  131. Thanks for the opportunity to post.

    A SENSE OF DANGER, book #1 in the Section 47 series, is now available in ebook/print. This urban fantasy is basically spies with magic, so if you like Alias, Nikita, James Bond, or Jason Bourne, you might enjoy it. Thanks!

    A SENSE OF DANGER EBOOKS: 📕
    Amazon Kindle: https://amzn.to/3nk9Krm
    Barnes & Noble: https://tinyurl.com/ddd85jjc
    Apple Books: https://tinyurl.com/2fmm6b2t
    Google Play: https://tinyurl.com/34ec8h9w
    Kobo: https://tinyurl.com/dwbcht97
    Smashwords: https://tinyurl.com/6nsymnuy

    A SENSE OF DANGER PRINT BOOKS: 📕
    Amazon: https://amzn.to/3mlNWJB
    Barnes & Noble: https://tinyurl.com/8kt4bpwx
    IndieBound: https://tinyurl.com/mhssc2rs
    Booksellers and librarians can order copies through IngramSpark: https://tinyurl.com/3w9z57vz

  132. I wrote a book called “Dwarves Can’t Climb Trees”. It’s essentially “Stand By Me” with female dwarves.

    Four friends must begin the traditional migration to the sacred grove to find their husbands. But by taking a shortcut to get an advantage, they face dangers that threaten test not only their survival but their friendship.

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0159JOZAW

  133. Can you imagine having you father open up at the age of 85 and start telling you off the wall stories of being in WWII? Can you imagine flying in a non-pressurized thin skinned plane 22,000 feet above the ground? Can you imagine manually navigating this plane over Germany and France with the outside temperature between 40 to 50 degrees below zero? I couldn’t, but his stories were so intriguing that I had to give them away to all of you.

    Flying with Dad: A Daughter, A Father, And The Hidden Gifts in His WWII Stories is not only a history, but it is also a memoir. Through the interviews with dad, I received the father I always wanted and he receive the daughter he didn’t know he had. He trusted me to be there with him for our no regrets final goodbye.

  134. Hi all,

    If you’re a fan of Babylon 5, The Expanse, Star Wars, Firefly then you’ll love my book Where Weavers Daire. It’s available in print and wide on-line.

    Where Weavers Daire is the first book in an on-going sci-fi series that takes place on a planet where magic, mech and mortals exist.

    Ten years after the last war, Melinda Scott discovers something in deep space and is dragged back into a world her family was banished from. Now with Necromancers to her left, Liches to her right and humanity in the middle it’s up to her to figure out why someone is trying to kill her.

    http://www.books2read.com/weaversdaire

    And if you like ebook box sets, check out the ARIA Sci-Fi Fantasy First box set. Six authors present the first book in their own on-going series. The box set covers all the sci-fi genres from space opera to ancient aliens to vampires and more. It’s available on-line everywhere.

    http://www.books2read.com/ariasff

    Thanks and have a great holiday!

    RKB

  135. My young adult rom-com, CYRANO AND ME is about a plus-size teen girl, Cassie who sings. But because she doesn’t believe anyone will accept her because of her size she enlists her best friend, Rachel to pretend to be her by lip-syncing to Cassie’s voice. When the vid goes viral Cassie’s crush is interested in the girl with the beautiful voice he thinks is on the video. With the help of Rachel’s filmmaker brother and his boyfriend Cassie has to decide, reveal all to her crush and risk losing him or continue living a lie. https://twitter.com/kathleea/status/1104905426989006848?s=21

  136. Thank you for this, Mr Scalzi! My debut novel, The Nightshade Cabal, is a paranormal steampunk thriller set in 1880s Halifax, Nova Scotia. Released in early 2020 by Parliament House Press, it was selected as a finalist for the Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence ‘Best First Novel’ award. Reviewers have described The Nightshade Cabal as “A delicious debut,” “The perfect steampunk mystery,” and “Definitely a book.”

    Read the first two chapters:
    https://www.parliamenthousepress.com/post/read-the-first-two-chapters-the-nightshade-cabal-by-chris-patrick-carolan

    Amazon (US)
    https://www.amazon.com/Nightshade-Cabal-Chris-Patrick-Carolan/dp/B084DGFSP9

    Amazon (Canada)
    https://www.amazon.ca/Nightshade-Cabal-Chris-Patrick-Carolan/dp/B084DGFSP9

  137. Thank you, John.

    Looking for a MG portal fantasy?

    In THE CRYSTAL THRONE, two twelve year olds are pulled into a magical world and asked to break a curse.

    Peter Burns doesn’t believe in magic, but when horses talk to you and a witch hound swoops out of the sky, how long can you disbelieve?

    Jeanne Tucker believes in magic, but she’s teamed with someone who’d rather examine the special effects.

    Witches, wizards and talking horses.

    https://www.amazon.com/Crystal-Throne-Kathryn-Sullivan-ebook/dp/B07VK38RXP

  138. Space Hobbits for Christmas anyone?

    A hungry maze called Dark. A wary hero called Dun and a map to decode before it’s too late.

    “Watership Down in Space Junk.”

    Book one of the thrilling Dark Series of Sci-Fi Fantasy adventures.

    Buy from your favourite store at: books2read.com/darkarvidson

  139. Cozy Historical!

    Could an old-fashioned ballgown be used to commit murder?

    Daiyu Wu believes there’s been a murder by arsenic poisoning. But being blind, Chinese, and living in Dallas in 1930 carries many impediments. Add in the fact that the police aren’t aware of any foul play, and her job becomes doubly hard.

    With the help of her confidant, Jacques, Dai sets out to find the murdered and the murderer.

    A Daiyu Wu Mystery – Book 1

    https://www.amazon.com/Black-Jade-Daiyu-Mystery-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B094PXSNPS/

  140. John: Thank You for the lists!
    I was distressed to see that Quenby Olsen’s “Miss Percy’s Guide to the Care and Feeding of British dragons” seems to available only through Amazon. I have an – ummm, an aversion is the undeservedly polite word – to Amazon. I will try one other source of eBooks. Then resort to Amazon.
    My local, and only, bookstore has finally joined IndieBound, but eBooks are not available there.

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Taunting the tauntable since 1998
John Scalzi, proprietor – JS
Athena Scalzi, editor – AMS
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