Springtime Renewal with a Free Book and Big Sale

It' been a long winter. Luckily, the Vernal Equinox anthology is here, just in time to celebrate spring. This free anthology takes renewal as its theme. If you've ever wondered whether Emily from Awash in Talent is trapped forever in her bizarre forced-therapy prison, the story I contribute will show you the way she finds renewal. It's the first chapter of Awash in Talent's anticipated sequel, Call It What You Will (which is still being written). This entertaining story and nine others in the fantasy, horror, romance, and literary fiction genres are yours for free!

Author and anthology-maker Lincoln Cole's page gives you a link to Vernal Equinox and showcases all the featured novels in one convenient place.

The release of Vernal Equinox coincides with the Kindle Scout Anniversary Sale. In honor of two years of reader-powered publishing, all Kindle Press titles are only 99 cents each, today through April 3. A panoply of wonderful writing awaits, including Awash in Talent and all the books from Vernal Equinox! Check them all out at Amazon or get the deal conveniently on Awash in Talent's page.

Be sure to check out A Book A Month's appealing and well organized page for the event. Don't mess around with genres you don't care about—find your favorites with an easy click!

Also in celebration of renewal, in April my deep psychology story "The Lake," based on an Edgar Allan Poe poem, will appear in award-winning Dark Gothic Resurrected Magazine.

Lest you think I haven't been busy, I'll let you in on a secret: I've been writing a fantasy story, set in Providence, Rhode Island, and another special place, with all new characters. I'm letting my imagination run wild. My writers group has called it magical, unique, vividly rendered, entertaining, and just great. It's good to have my honest efforts rewarded, and I have high hopes I'll be able to share a complete version of this story with you soon.

And last but not least, check out the popularity ranking of the Seven Noble Knights All Classical interview, also available here.

Hoppin' Around the Blogosphere with Awash in Talent

Awash in Talent, the little novel that could, is celebrating a super secret Kindle Fire sale on September 15 with a week-long blog tour with some great author hosts.

Enjoy!

Today, finally hear what Beth has to say when you meet her without her overpowering sister, Emily, in a character interview at A.J. Culey's blog!

On Tuesday, delve into the fraught world of people who can read minds at Cara McKinnon's blog with an excerpt!

Andi Adams finds out how this sweetly weird book came into being—the characters made me do it!—on Wednesday.

Thursday, J.L. Gribble asks me probing questions about trying to keep paranormal fiction in line and the universal nature of YA, complete with an excerpt at the archaeological dig site!

Jennifer Loring ends the madness on Friday with Emily's zany antics in a character interview. Can her author get her to sit still long enough to answer?

Extra unexpected bonus: scary good author Norman Prentiss features Awash in Talent in an author spotlight (you may have to scroll down to September 2016 if you're reading this in the future). This goes nicely with an intelligent and much-appreciated new review at Amazon.

Many thanks to these terrific authors for hosting me and the crazy, underdog-filled book I dedicated to the love of my life. Thanks for stopping by!

And you didn't hear this from me: If you have a Kindle Fire, don't tell anyone, but Awash in Talent will be available to you and you alone for 99 cents on Thursday, September 15. Look for it then!

Cover Reveal and the Beginnings of My YA Paranormal Adventure Set in Providence

It's the book with telekinesis, pyrokinesis, and psychic powers. Just as importantly, it's the novel with a field study in Ethiopia, a snowy trip to Boston, and the wonders of Waterfire in inimitable Providence, Rhode Island. It's Awash in Talent, and it's nearly ready to knock your literary socks off!

The amazing cover was created by Jasmine Green. It captures the female focus of the book and the way their Talents can make the characters feel, at the same time, invincible and about to drown.

I'm sharing the cover with you on the auspicious occasion of the beginning of Awash in Talent's Kindle Scout campaign. This is your opportunity to select Awash in Talent for publication by Kindle Press!

The link takes you a rather attractive page with the cover, the tag line (So much Talent can kill you.), an excerpt from the beginning through most of Chapter 2, a short bio, and three questions and answers about the book. It also shows a "Nominate" button. If you think Awash in Talent is worthy, all you have to do is click the "Nominate" button before February 29 (Leap Year Day!).

This simple act will get you three major benefits:

1. If Awash in Talent is chosen for publication (because you nominated it!), you will receive an exclusive edition of the novel for free before anyone can buy it! You'll be under no obligation to read it or to leave a review, although that's what Amazon (and I) will be hoping for.

2. You will have helped an author's dreams come true. How great will that feel?

3. You will be the proud owner of my gratitude. I will remember you when my writing career takes off. The value of this benefit is incalculable.

Here's a little more about the novel. At the link, you can also read an excerpt that introduces Emily's world. More beautiful graphics and descriptions are to come in the following weeks.

Emily can’t escape her annoyingly Talented telekinetic healer sister by going to a university 3000 miles away, in Providence, or even by doing a field study in Ethiopia. Why don’t people give credit where credit is due?

Kelly is forced to attend a pyrokinesis school/lockdown facility, but she must escape and bring Emily’s healer sister to Boston—her mother’s life depends on it.

Appointments with Emily might drive psychic therapist Patricia insane. Meanwhile, Patricia falls ever deeper into her husband’s selfish, cruel trap. In Providence, Friendship is a one-way street.

Awash in Talent is a novel in three interrelated novellas, all set in Providence, Rhode Island, where telekinetics, firestarters, and psychics attempt to function in a largely un-Talented society unappreciative of what they have to offer. Love/hate between sisters, mother and daughter, scared teenagers, a mismatched married couple, adult female friends, and an obsessive and the object of her affection are all put to the test.

The Kindle Scout campaign runs from now until midnight EST February 29. It's easy—just one click brings so much joy! Thank you so much for your consideration.

Best Books of the Year and What's to Come in 2016

It's been a great year. I won a prize for flash fiction, got seriously started on my editing business, released Unpredictable Worlds and received some recognition for it, released Tree/House in audiobook, spent ten gorgeous and hard-earned days in Spain, took part in Launch Lab, made it safely to my new home, and had Seven Noble Knights accepted for publication, to name just a few of the best events.

I also read quite a few good books. Which were the best?

That's really not a fair question in the year when the grand finale of a trilogy I have passionately, unreasonably adored came out.

The Map of Chaos by Félix J. Palma

Which book is best is hardly fair in light of another fact: this one is the manifestation of a historical novel I hoped would materialize some day to dramatize the life of Queen Emma for this Anglo-Saxon enthusiast.

The Price of Blood by Patricia Bracewell

So there you have it, the best novels (in my humble opinion) of 2015. The best nonfiction book was undoubtedly La nación inventada by Arsenio and Ignacio Escolar. I enjoyed this book more than I expected to (which is saying a lot) and will probably tell you more about it in future posts.

The year 2016 will see the debut of my darling Seven Noble Knights, so many of my resolutions have something to do with getting it into the limelight as much as possible. I also plan to draft the sequel this year. You didn't know Seven Noble Knights was going to have a sequel? It's a pleasant surprise for all of us! For those of you waiting patiently for more of my unusual contemporary work, I've resolved to get Awash in Talent published this year. More on that soon, for sure. In my personal life and "day job," I've got a lot to do to make this latest move make sense. In the meantime, if you need an editor for your awesome novel, call on me.

Vague as they seem, these are my professional resolutions, leaving room for the surprises that always seem to crop up.

What are your plans for 2016? Happy new year!

A selection of some of the other best books of 2015:

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Along the Far Shores by Kristin Gleeson

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Mermaids in Paradise  by Lydia Millet

Raven Brought the Light by Kristin Gleeson

Lucky Us by Amy Bloom

The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan

Love in Infant Monkeys by Lydia Millet

Music to Your Literary Ears

As you know, this week (Friday) will see the release you've been waiting for of the new edition of Tree/House and Unpredictable Worlds in all formats.

But the most wonderful news has been years in the making. In 2011, a reader on Goodreads asked me if Tree/House was available in audiobook. I knew it was a great idea, but it just wasn't the right time. Now, it's the right time! Through the magic of the internet, I've been able to find the perfect narrator for Tree/House. Her name is Melissa Moran and she's hard at work finalizing the audio files now! I've heard the proofs, and I can't describe how exciting it is to hear this crazy, heartfelt story out loud. Melissa really makes the characters come to life.

The audiobook will be available very soon. It will make a great holiday gift...

Tree/House is now available in Kindle and Nook and in Softcover, Softcover at Indiebound, Softcover at Amazon,  Softcover at Barnes and Noble, and you can request it at your local library or bookstore. Many other ebook sites will have it on November 20. Preorders are available at Apple iBooks and Kobo. Buy it now and on November 20, it will magically appear!

At first, Unpredictable Worlds was in Softcover, Softcover at Indiebound,  Softcover at Amazon, and Softcover at Barnes and Noble, but only in Kindle for ebooks. Now, it's ready for you on Nook! Those amazing preorders are being taken at Apple iBooks and Kobo, so you have something downloading to your device while you're waiting for the next showing of the final Hunger Games movie on November 20. Many other retailers will have it on November 20. If you feel like shopping at your favorite ebook retailer, it will be waiting for you!

The Most Popular Book on Pluto—FREE Here on Earth!

NASA/APL/SwRI 

Even from 476,00 miles above the surface, scientists have been able to learn fascinating facts about Pluto. Foremost among these is that the best selling book there is none other than Unpredictable Worlds—Plutonians like their fiction unusual. They love to read about Earth's warmth, its liquid water, and its rhinos. On their icy dwarf planet, this short story collection costs eight million plutons, which is the equivalent of a median year's salary there!

Here's the big news for us Terrans:

Unpredictable Worlds, a five-star-rated fresh release, normally $3.99 on Kindle, is now FREE this weekend! Saturday, July 18 through Monday, July 20, this collection with award-winning stories can be yours at no charge. 

A teacher controls her students with an edible microchip. A reporter turns into a rhinoceros. A couple’s efforts to eat local go frighteningly awry. If you’re looking to be surprised, puzzled, or just plain entertained, pick up this omnibus. There’s something for everyone! 

More than twenty years in the making, Unpredictable Worlds contains all of Jessica Knauss’s published and prize-winning short fiction as of March 2015 and a few of her best stories never before seen in print or ebook. Zany plots and outrageous characters will stretch your belief and tug at your heart. 

Reviewers have called Unpredictable Worlds “funny, touching, thought-provoking, anger-inducing, and faith-affirming.” You can’t regret spending $0 on this unique journey through worlds and words. 

Easy links to the sale, July 18 through July 20:

US | UK | Canada

Let those Plutonians know you have good taste, too, and download Unpredictable Worlds and tell other Earthlings about it. More news about this interplanetary success soon!

Cover Reveal: New Amazing Book of Stories Ready for Bargain Pre-Order

It's almost here. Unpredictable Worlds releases May 15!

If you've ever despaired that my published and prize-winning fiction is all over the web, in no single place, and that I have many more stories to amaze you with, but they haven't been picked up yet, despair no more! Unpredictable Worlds has it all, and more!

The synopsis:

A teacher controls her students with an edible microchip. A reporter turns into a rhinoceros. A couple's efforts to eat local go frighteningly awry. If you're looking to be surprised, puzzled, or just plain entertained, pick up this omnibus. There's something for everyone! 

More than twenty years in the making, Unpredictable Worlds contains all of Jessica Knauss’s published and prize-winning short fiction as of March 2015 and a few of her best stories never before seen in print or ebook. Zany plots and outrageous characters will stretch your belief and tug at your heart. 

WARNING: These stories contain exaggeration, elision, and disregard for “the real world.” Some even exhibit a tone of blatant optimism. However, they respect human speech patterns, admire good grammar, and hold proper punctuation in the highest regard. 

Enjoy!

The cover features details from a French painting that dominates one of the galleries at the Worcester Art Museum. I find the turbulence and the barely visible hand reaching out of the water disturbing. I hope it captures the vaguely unsettling nature of many of the stories in Unpredictable Worlds.

Unpredictable Worlds releases for Kindle on May 15 with a softcover edition to follow. Seem too far in the future? It isn't so far when you consider this: Unpredictable Worlds is already available for preorder for only 99 cents. Once it's out there in the world, the price will go up, so save at least 66% now and have this strangely amazing book delivered to your device on release day.

Author Kristin Gleeson's Children's Book Inspiration

Kristin Gleeson, already the author of Selkie Dreams and Anahareo, has just released an even more magical (if that's possible) novel, Along the Far Shores. In it, a twelfth-century Irish woman travels to American shores. Even more amazing to consider, the story is based on an ancient legend that may just have a grain of truth in it. Kristin stopped by to share what inspired such an unexpected mixture of cultures.

Inspiration for novels can come from almost anywhere, some unexpected places. For Along the Far Shores, it was especially unusual. When I was a children’s librarian outside of Philadelphia years ago, I was doing some much needed weeding and I came across this book that told about the legend of Prince Madog of Wales’s voyage to America in 1170. It wasn’t a beautifully illustrated picture book; it was a nonfiction text that investigated the legend in order to substantiate its truth.

I was so intrigued, I took it home and read it in a night. I have to confess I’d never heard of the legend before this. I’d heard of Leif Ericsson’s eleventh century voyage along Labrador and that area and of course I heard of the sixth-century voyage of St. Brendan, which again was most likely up in the northern areas of the Americas. Madog’s voyage apparently ended up in Mobile Bay, in what is now Alabama, and he sailed up what is now called the Mad Dog River. All very intriguing.

At the same time, I was writing a novel that looked at the red-haired plaid-clothed mummies that were discovered in the Xinxiang Province in western China. They dated back to about 1500 BC, long before any archaeological evidence of “Celts” or what we group as Celts, though they seemed to share many of the same characteristics in their burial patterns, clothing composition and other items. I loved the idea of it and my novel evolved as two parallel narratives, one in the ancient past that brought a small proto Tlingit group and a proto Irish/Celtic group together, and the present that brought an Irish woman and a Tlingit man together. In the many centuries in between those periods I thought I would write other novels that told the story of similar encounters between the two groups where I could show the two cultures in different periods and the aspects of prejudices and assumptions that each time period might have. Linking all this was a medallion passed down through the centuries and back and forth and appearing in each novel as a connection that means something strongly to one of the characters. 

When I read the Madog tale, it seemed like a wonderful event to use as part of this novel chain. Aisling, an Irish noblewoman, escapes the turmoil in her country only to find a similar situation in Wales, where her brother is serving one of the many princes. She stows away on Madog’s ship in order to be with her brother and is tossed overboard during a storm. She is rescued by a Tlingit trader, Caxna, who reluctantly takes her along his trading journey, first to the declining Mayan city of Xicallanca and then later to Etowah, the powerful city of the Mississippian empire.  For Caxna a successful journey means his clan’s freedom. But Aisling changes everything. 

Very exciting! Along the Far Shores is available in ebook and softcover. Visit Kristin's site to learn much more! 

Interview: A World of Joy Author K. N. Lee

Author K. N. Lee

Please welcome prolific author K. N. Lee! Her story adds some fantasy to the holiday magic of A World of Joy.

JK: What is your story about?

KNL: "The Ticking Ring" is about a young couple in Ireland. Amidst a strange snowstorm, they experience a magical moment that reveals to them what their true dreams and priorities are. Jack and Ella discover a few spectacular things about one another. 

JK: Does the story depart from your usual writing?

KNL: While the anthology A World of Joy is about joy, goodwill, family, and the holidays, I knew that I must stay true to my fantastical style. Therefore, the reader can look forward to a few surprises and a hint of magic!

JK: What else can readers find written by you?

KNL: I am the author of the urban-fantasy, The Chronicles of Koa: Netherworld, Thicker Than Blood, and the poetry collections Wicked Webs and Empty Your Heart. The Chronicles of Koa has a sequel called Lyrinian Blade coming out this December!

JK: What are your plans for this holiday season?

KNL: I'm quite the avid traveler, so this Christmas I'll either explore Munich, Germany or go somewhere tropical! I haven't decided, but I'm certain that I'll have a blast working on my next science-fiction series, Freya's Bridge.

JK: Thank you so much for sharing the holiday spirit with us. 

KNL: Thank you! 

Visit any of K. N. Lee's many websites:

www.TheChroniclesofKoa.com

www.TheBookNymph.com

www.WriteLikeAWizard.com

www.TheNomadScrolls.com

Facebook Twitter 

And of course, A World of Joy is available for download now! Thank you, readers, for spending December with the World of Joy authors. Happy Holidays! Come back December 30 for the Knauss Awards.

Interview: A World of Joy Author Juliet Kincaid

Welcome Juliet Kincaid, whose story in A World of Joy features not just people, but also Maine Coon cats.

Q: Tell us about your story.

JK: “Another Christmas Carol” is actually the third of the mystery stories I’ve written involving Jen Shirey, a young female private detective, and several Maine Coon cats. In the first story, “Cat Show Caper,” she meets the cats and their owners, Blanche Hubbard and Blanche’s mother, Mrs. Elvira Jones. In the second, “Catnapped!” Jen travels to the Hubbards’ bed and breakfast located in a small town much like Westin, MO. Here she meets Blanche’s personable son, Eric Hubbard. By time “Another Christmas Carol,” takes place, Eric and Jen have gotten to know each other fairly well and seem ready to take their friendship to the next level — until Eric’s old flame shows up.

Q: What was the inspiration for the tale?

JK: Part of the fun and festivity of the holidays for me is attending productions of seasonal favorites like the Nutcracker Ballet and A Christmas Carol. Also, in and around Kansas City, historical homes are often open to the public with appropriately seasonal decorations and costumed guides. Yet in Dickens’ original story and in our very real lives, we can have mixed feelings about the holidays. Partly, this arises from disappointment when holidays don’t meet our high expectations for them. So Jen’s cranky and not at all joyous to start the story, pretty much like Ebenezer Scrooge, but the story ends happily for Jen, as it does for Scrooge.

Q: What other writing are you working on?

JK: Currently I’m writing and publishing Cinderella, P. I. stories and a novel. Like “Another Christmas Carol,” they’re crime fiction, but not murder mysteries. They have humor and happy endings. Walls, a Cinderella, P. I. Novel is now available as a Kindle eBook and a trade paperback. And Cinderella, P. I., and Other Fairy Tale Mystery Stories is also available as a Kindle eBook. The trade paperback version of the story collection should become available this month. And coming in January 2014: January Jinx, the first in the Calendar historical mystery series.

Q: Do you have holiday traditions of your own? 

JK: My daughter and I are looking forward to attending a friend’s ladies tea, a mystery dinner theatre with a Roaring 20’s theme, and The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, a wild and fun variation on the usual story from the Owen/Cox Dance Group. We will spend Christmas itself quietly with just the two of us. We’ll give each other gifts, eat well (maybe we’ll roast a duck this year), and take joy in being together.

Q: Where can readers fin out more about your writing?

JK: My web site is www.julietkincaid.com, recently restored after a hiatus. I post blogs on a variety of subjects including my experiences launching a new career after the age of sixty and what I learn from the books I read that help me write my own.

Q: Thanks for sharing your story from this joyous anthology.

JK: Thank you so much!

Spread the yuletide cheer! A World of Joy is available for free download now.

Interview: A World of Joy Author Judith Works

Welcome Judith Works, who brings a special Italian flavor to the World of Joy anthology.

JK: What is your story about? Is it inspired by your personal experiences with the holidays?

JW: I wrote this little story about Christmas in Rome because at this time of the year my thoughts always return to Italy, where I lived for ten years. My husband and I moved to Rome when I had a job with the United Nations and he took a very early retirement from his own job to become our chef, home manager, driver and tour guide for us and for our daughter and friends who visited regularly. 

The story tells how different the holiday celebration is compared to here: much lower key, more emphasis on the Christmas story, and with its own traditional foods. Because of the happy memories from those years, we now keep some of the Italian traditions like eating panettone, and enjoying a Nativity set made in Italy. In the story, I write about the crystal drops we purchased at a flea market to hang on our Christmas tree. The drops, taken from old chandeliers, always make me think of who might have danced under the glittering lights in the 1800s —a sentimental touch for our home now so far from Italy.

JK: Do you ever get to go back to Italy?

JW: We return to Italy nearly every year to see friends and to enjoy life. This year we spent two weeks in September in Milan and Rome, and for a special treat, we are returning for Thanksgiving. Italians do not celebrate this holiday, but there are special events to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the UN World Food Program which we will attend.   

JK: What else have you written and published?

JW: I am the author of a memoir, Coins in the Fountain, which depicts the joys and travails of expat life in Italy. It is available as an ebook. I also blog at http://aLittleLightExercise.blogspot.com about my travel adventures. I write travel articles for two on-line magazines, Travel Belles and Plum Deluxe. My forthcoming novel, set in Rome, is in the final stages as my editor is just finishing up reviewing the last two chapters.

JK: Thank you so much for adding an international flair to the anthology.

A World of Joy is available for free download now.

Interview: World of Joy Author Diane Major

Author Diane Major

Welcome Diane Major, whose wonderful World of Joy story is "Mason and Bess at Christmas."

JK: What is your story in the anthology about?

DM: Mason and Bess live in a world named Sanctea. It is Christmas Day when the children wake up to discover their Christmas tree has vanished. Queen Anna, Mason’s mom, accompanies the children in their search for the tree. When Mason and Bess finally find the tree, they meet Father Christmas, who has a splendid surprise.

This is a story which suggests that giving presents is fine, but it is more important to bring friends and family together to celebrate the festive season.

JK: What else have you written and published? 

DM: To date, I have written several fantasy adventure novels. They range from books for adults to my children’s series about Mason and Bess. The Mason and Bess books are all fantasy adventure, or you might call them fairy tales. I wrote these stories to inspire children, but particularly boys, to enjoy reading. They are fast-paced stories about two friends who meet various creatures, both good and bad; however, they all have a happy ending.

JK: Do you have any special holiday traditions in real life?

DM: All of my relatives come together at my house for Christmas dinner. We do this on an annual basis on Christmas Day. This is the one time of the year when my mother, children, grandchildren, brother, nephew and his family, ensure we meet to celebrate the festive season as a family.

JK: What's next for you?

DM: As well as "Mason and Bess at Christmas" being available in A World of Joy, my third book in the series which is called, Mason and Bess, A Different Adventure, will be published in the very near future. This is a story when the children meet Dragons and Boggarts.

JK: Sounds cool! Thanks for sharing the seasonal joy at my blog.

DM: Thank you so much, Jessica.

Visit Diane's author page: Amazon US and Amazon UK

And don't forget to get your free copy of A World of Joy!

Interview: World of Joy Author Marcy Dyer

Welcome Marcy Dyer to the blog as the second guest in the World of Joy interview series. Her story in the anthology is called "Bleak Christmas."

JK: What is your World of Joy story about?

MD: The main character in my story is Gabby. She's grieving and wants nothing to do with Christmas. Until she meets a young girl, Jenny. Jenny's kindness changes Gabby's outlook.

JK: What was the inspiration for the story? How does it reflect your experience of the holidays?

MD: I have difficulty relating to Gabby, because I have never endured her circumstances, but as nurse who worked in hospice for many years, I've been with family members as they faced the holidays without joy because of their loss. They provided some of the inspiration for the story.

It reflects the holidays for me, because I feel Christmas should be a time of year to reach out to others — those who are hurting or less fortunate.

JK: What else have you written and published? 

MD: This story is a departure from my usual writing. I normally write Christian Suspense/Romantic Suspense. I have two books out now, Down & Out and Out for Blood. Both are available in electronic format and in February, Down & Out will come out in paperback.

JK: Thanks for visiting my blog for this joyous interview series.

Please visit Marcy's website: http://www.marcydyer.com

Her books are available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

And don't forget to pick up your free copy of A World of Joy!