Tag Archives: Debut News

Guest Post – Kevin Breaux, author of SOUL BORN

Posted on by

Keven Breaux is a short fiction author and an artist who recently released his first novel, Soul Born, through a small press called Dark Quest Books. Now you guys know I’m picky about small presses, but these guys have published novels by Andy Remic, Jack McDevitt and David B. Coe. Kevin has a site for his book at www.soulborn.net and his twitter account is @kevinbreaux. Here are links for Soul Born through the publisher, and through Amazon.

~*~

Kevin Breaux’s Long and Squirrelly Road

High School, a time of your life when people ask you the same set of questions over and over and over… “How do you like your classes?” “How are your grades?” “What do you want to do with your life?”

When I went to high school the most appropriate answer to all three of those questions was a grumpy monosyllabic grunt, “Ehh.” (this was before “meh”, was invented) I hated most of my classes, got poor grades and had no idea what I wanted to do with my life.

If future Kevin traveled back in time and told past Kevin he was going to write a book some day, and it would be published.  Past Kevin would have reacted something like this.

“Really? Who will do the cover art? Wait… do I have to spell all the words correctly and get all my grammar right?”

When I was in high school some of the worst grades on my report card came from English classes. I know you’re all shocked, right? Well my bad grades were not in the ones that studied literature, I kinda liked those.  My C’s D’s and F’s appeared in the English classes that did book reports and speeches. Grammar was not a friend of mine, and mandatory summer reading assignments totally took the FUN out of reading being fundamental.

What did I want to do with my life? I wanted to be a comic book artist, yeah me, Kevin Breaux the next Jim Lee! The good old days, 1991-1993, and comics were at an all time high. Remember DEATHMATE, when Image and Valiant comics crossed over? I do, and looking back now I should have seen it as one of the seventh signs of the pen and ink apocalypse. I should have taken my comic art dream and headed for ze hills! (note to future Kevin, when you travel back in time warn me on this one okay? Thanks!)

I started off my college career in a community college and majored in graphic art. It was not long before I switched to fine art, so I could focus more on drawing and less on typography. By the time I got my associates degree the comic book industry was amidst a major decline and so was my desire to be a comic artist.

When I transferred to a full college I had to start back at the beginning, sadly I was misled that the community college and the four year college were connected, and as a result most of my classes did not transfer. This time around I studied photography and graphic design. When I graduated I took a job as a graphic artist and guess what? Within months of starting that job I began taking web design classes at night, at my former community college and slowly became more focused on web design and internet operations.

One dot com bubble burst later and I was back out of work. I supported myself as an artist for about a year doing comic book art commissions on eBay. While painting and drawing I decided to start studying IT and over the course of another year I got my A+ and MCSE certifications.

I took a job doing IT work and kept my shoulder to the wheel for over seven years. (Ok, start swirling the camera until the viewer gets dizzy and play the echoing sound effect now… seven years….seven…seven…seven….)

Huh? Where am I? What happened?

The economy shifted and I decided to move out west, so I could grow up with the country. To my surprise all the gold was mined already and I was stuck being an unemployed comic book artist wannabe, graphic designer, web designer and IT professional rolled up in one.  After a bunch of interviews, where I always seemed to come in second place, I did what came naturally and grew a beard.  No really, I finally focused on my true love, something I had discovered a long long time ago, but could never quite give the effort needed to, ice fishing! No, I’m kidding, I focused my energy on writing!

And yes, I did grow a beard.

From early childhood I always seemed to suffer with my art, never totally happy with it. Throughout art school I never could get what I saw in my head down on paper properly. I tried drawing, painting, sculpting and even photography.  I was so frustrated, and often felt like a failure. I just wanted to be able to express the beauty I was seeing, and it was during all that artistic angst that I discovered writing. I had liked to write from time to time when I was in middle school and high school. Normally I just penned short stories about my friends, putting them in tales of space travel and epic games of billiards. Nothing serious, but I clearly remembered writing being fun.

SoulBornWhen I was in my final years of college I started writing again. Maybe ten to fifteen pages a weekend, maybe less. Over the span of a few years I realized, I had a book.  Fast forward to 2007 and a few dozen drafts later and I did it; I finally fully expressed myself as an artist. What I saw in the cinema of my mind was down on paper, Soul Born was… well… born. I quickly started the sequel and a year later I had two books completed. After that I challenged myself to a new genre and a new writing pace. How fast could I write a new book? Less than nine months later I was on the third or fourth draft of an Urban Fantasy novel and could state, with a strong sense of accomplishment, that I had written three books.

By 2009 I was feeling pretty good about myself as a creative being. I had sold some short stories and was about to ink a deal with my first publisher. This was it, I finally found my calling.

So what have I learned after this very long and squirrelly road? A bunch of things!  After all those changes in my life, I can now look back and see that my constant was creating. Like most people I have heard my share of the lines, “you are not good enough” and “what makes you think you can do that?” But I did never gave up, I kept pushing forward and now I am finally seeing the realization of a dream.

Most importantly I learned that you may need to travel down many side streets in order to get yourself back on the highway.

Debut Author Interview with Stephanie Dray

Posted on by

stephaniedray408x570

Today, my special guest is Stephanie Dray. Her novel, Lily of the Nile, is right up my alley–a historical fantasy that takes place in ancient times. I’ve already started digging into an electronic copy that Stephanie sent me, and it is absorbing from page one. Here is an interview that I’ve conducted with her by email since Thanksgiving.

~*~

Can you give us a little story-behind-the-story: a tidbit about about how LILY OF THE NILE came to be?

I’d always been interested in Cleopatra VII of Egypt and I wanted to write an alternative history in which Caesarion was not killed. Of course, such a thing had already been written by Gillian Bradshaw, but I didn’t know that at the time. As I did the research for the book, however, Caesarion became far less interesting to me than Cleopatra’s daughter, Selene, who was the very last Ptolemaic Queen. She was such a survivor that I was captivated by her story and eager to tell it.

I checked out your bio and noticed that you’re a game designer. My dream job! Can you tell us about it?

Oh, don’t get too excited! My husband and I designed and ran a text-based internet game for more than a decade. Others run it for us now, but I honed my storytelling craft there and I also made some lifelong friends along the way. There’s real power in collective storytelling and I will always credit my game experience with helping to develop my writing skills.

A MUD? I used to love MUDs! I don’t mind sending business your way–how do we find it?

It’s called FiranMUX and it’s based on an original Greco-Roman fantasy world that my husband and I created together. I never get a chance to play anymore, but I miss it!

I was amused to discover you have a page devoted to any bloopers that appear in your work. What a cute idea. Find any yet?

I approach my work with a sense of humility, so I expect that there will be some errors, but the idea of keeping a blooper’s section is actually something I should credit to Sharon Kay Penman. As far as mistakes, I haven’t noticed any yet, but I think I mention Selene and others eating with forks. The Romans certainly had forks–you can find some of them in museums. However, most Roman food was finger food so the fork wouldn’t have been used quite as often or casually as I might have otherwise indicated.

LilyOfTheNileLILY OF THE NILE is rooted in the worship of Isis. Some of us vaguely know of her as an Egyptian goddess, but most of us only know of her through the old TV series, The Secrets of Isis. (Yes, I have dated myself.) Please educate us! And please elaborate on the decline of female-oriented religions, which is mentioned in your bio.

Though Isis started out as an Egyptian mother goddess, her worship eventually spread throughout the Mediterranean. Her rising popularity was taken advantage of by Cleopatra VII of Egypt, who called herself the “New Isis” but she was certainly not the first of her line to do so. This had a very long tradition in Egypt, but Cleopatra did a spectacular job using religious propaganda to prop up her cause.

This may account for Augustus’ unusual hostility towards the cult of Isis. After he defeated Cleopatra, he made repeated efforts in Rome to suppress the worship of Isis. This can’t have been comfortable for Cleopatra’s daughter. Here she was, a hostage and ward of the emperor, her mother dead and her goddess forbidden. That’s the kind of emotional trauma that drew me to write about her, but I was astonished to learn that after Selene became a queen in her own right, she created a safe haven for Isis worship in Mauretania. Perhaps due to this and her influence over her half-sisters and the women of Augustus’ household, Isis worship survived Augustus’ enmity and went on to be the predominant religion of the empire for quite some time.

Of course, with the rising influence of Judaism and Christianity–both monotheistic male-centric religions–female oriented religions in general, and Isiacism in specific, lost ground and all but died out. However, it is worth mentioning that the Isiac temple at Philae remained open until the sixth century AD and Isiacism is a living faith today.

I stumbled across some blog entries about your short fiction, but I don’t see an official page about it. Could you point us to where we might find some of your short fiction online?

I haven’t provided a page with my short fiction simply because it’s so different from the historical novels that I’m writing now. However, there is a free story for your adult readers to upload to their e-readers available here. I warn against strong language, but it is a story about a modern day young woman who faces down the darkest decisions of her life with the help of the goddess Tanit.

Let’s delve a bit deeper into the story, itself. Are there any favorite parts of LILY OF THE NILE that we can look out for as we read? Were there any scenes that gave you trouble?

Like a proud mother of many little darlings, I’m not sure I can pick out just one favorite part. However, the scene that I wrote over and over again to make sure it packed a wallop is the one in which Selene realizes that the emperor is so obsessed with her dead mother that she finally has something to exploit. Some control over her own fate. That by imitating her mother, she can manipulate the emperor.

Do you have any recommendations for further reading in the time period, either fiction or nonfiction?

I have an extensive bibliography listed on my website that I hope readers will check out! As for my personal recommendations, I can’t recommend Margaret George’s Memoirs of Cleopatra more highly. I’ve read that book so many times that it’s dog-eared and worn. This is a little before Selene’s time, but I’m also a big fan of John Maddox Roberts’ SPQR series. I’ve read all of Colleen McCullough’s Rome series and Judith Tarr’s Throne of Isis. Huge fan of I, Claudius. I’d better stop now or I’ll never stop!

Please share the story of how LILY OF THE NILE came to be published.

Oh gosh, that’s such a long story. When my agent first started shopping it around, there was a frenzy of interest but everything fell apart when we learned that best-selling author Michelle Moran was coming out with Cleopatra’s Daughter.

It was sort of silly, really. There are ten thousand books about Anne Boleyn and each of them feeds interest in the other, but it’s a skittish time in the industry. In truth, my book is very different than Michelle’s, though we do cover the same subject matter and do reach some similar leaps of imagination. For example, while Michelle Moran doesn’t portray Augustus as being obsessed with Cleopatra, she does imagine that he fashions his tomb on the dead queen’s example and so did I.

On the other hand, Lily of the Nile’s magic realism certainly sets it apart from every other book that’s been written about Selene. In the end, I’m lucky that things shook out the way they did because I now have the chance to work with Berkley’s Cindy Hwang, who is a brilliant editor and a fellow Smithie!

Did you originally set out to make LILY OF THE NILE a historical fantasy, or did the fantasy elements come out you wrote?

It was a little bit fantasy right from the start. Magic was real for the Egyptians and Romans, so I think it makes an important statement about the culture!

Thanks for stopping by, Stephanie! Lily of the Nile releases in January, but is available for pre-order now.

Debut Review – Rakes and Radishes

Posted on by

RakesAndRadishes
Rakes and Radishes
by Susanna Ives
ebook – Carina Press $5.39

FiveStarsAKeeper

I loved Rakes and Radishes! This is one of the best books I’ve read all year. It made me cry. It made me laugh. It made me want to shake some sense into the main characters.

Ok, so I’ve become quite friendly with the author, Susanna Ives. She looks to be quite a bit younger than me, but we hit it off a while ago, and I really get a kick out of her. BUT, I’m telling you, I would not be reviewing this book if I didn’t love it. I had to ask her permission to review it because when we swapped books, she told me not to review it–she just wanted to know what I thought of it.

Anyway. Caveats aside.

Henrietta–how’s that for an non-glamorous heroine name?–dreams of London. She dreams of her future with her cousin, Edward, with whom she lately became secretly engaged. And she dreams of her favorite novel, the fictional The Mysterious Lord Blackraven. What she doesn’t dream of is a future with her grubby neighbor, even if he is the Earl of Kesseley. Kesseley is just a friend, but in him, she confides anything.

Kesseley is the one who dreams of a future with her. Henrietta knows this, and it makes things a bit awkward in their friendship.

When Henrietta learns that her cousin–a recently published and feted poet–is now engaged to one Lady Sara, this year’s Diamond debut, she feels betrayed and heartbroken. She comes up with a scheme to transform Kesseley into a rake–modeled on Lord Blackraven–so he can steal Sara away, leaving Henrietta to pick up the pieces.

Yeah, so she’s a twit. I have a soft spot for twits–especially when they have to grow up and become wise young ladies. And Henrietta does a lot of growing up in this novel.

Kesseley has his dreams firmly in the earth. He is a farmer, heart and soul, and turns his scientific mind toward increasing the crop yield and figuring out better irrigation methods. He is so NOT a gothic hero–he has dirty fingernails and grubby clothes. And his one-armed, color-blind valet does not improve Kesseley’s state of dress. When Kesseley finally decides that Henrietta is forever out of his reach, he turns to The Mysterious Lord Blackraven–and Kesseley becomes him. Suddenly,  Henrietta goes from the only one who would dance with him to one in a crowd.

I’m leaving out so much. I have not mentioned the aging princess and her companion, who has a secret occupation. I have not mentioned the dashing old man who wanders the park, and with whom Henrietta has many mysterious encounters. I have not brought up Kesseley’s mother’s secret heartbreak, nor the man who emotionally abuses her. And I haven’t brought up Kesseley’s dead rake of a father, who still torments Kesseley and his mother from beyond the grave.  And what about the attempts of Henrietta’s entire family to discover a planet that they just know is out there, and can prove it mathematically? There are many plot threads that Ms. Ives deftly twists and turns and weaves together until we have a dazzling tapestry of a story. The timing is impeccable and the metaphors are inspired.

Nitpicks? Only one. But I can’t get specific without spoiling a plotthread, so I’ll just move on. All I’ll say is I wonder what became of Henrietta’s father.

But most importantly, this book made me cry. I hate crying over a book, but an author who can make me cry has ensured that I will never forget the book. For some reason, I have a tendency to cry over twits that grow up. The last time I did so was over Amanda Ashby’s You Had Me at Halo. I cry over kids’ movies all the time. I have to leave the room during The Little Princess when Sarah is saying goodbye to her friends–especially when she hugs the girl who was her enemy. Up sent me over the edge when the boy was eating ice cream with the old man. I never cry over romances. But I cried over this one.

Therefore, I must say brava and well done. A keeper.

~*~

Don’t forget–all commentors are automatically entered in my Amazon Review Drive Giveaway – Phase 2!

Debut Showcase – Week of August 15th

Posted on by

This is a quick post during a busy week for me, but I did want to let you know about these two debuts in particular.


The Last Page
by Anthony Huso
Tor Books
Hardcover – 25.99

(Complementary hardcover provided by Tor Books.)

The city of Isca is set like a dark jewel in the crown of the Duchy of Stonehold. In this sprawling landscape, the monsters one sees are nothing compared to what’s living in the city’s sewers.

Twenty-three-year-old Caliph Howl is Stonehold’s reluctant High King. Thrust onto the throne, Caliph has inherited Stonehold’s dirtiest court secrets. He also faces a brewing civil war that he is unprepared to fight. After months alone amid a swirl of gossip and political machinations, the sudden reappearance of his old lover, Sena, is a welcome bit of relief. But Sena has her own legacy to claim: she has been trained from birth by the Shradnae witchocracy—adept in espionage and the art of magical equations writ in blood—and she has been sent to spy on the High King.

Yet there are magics that demand a higher price than blood. Sena secretly plots to unlock the Cisrym Ta, an arcane text whose pages contain the power to destroy worlds. The key to opening the book lies in Caliph’s veins, forcing Sena to decide if her obsession for power is greater than her love for Caliph.

Meanwhile, a fleet of airships creeps ever closer to Isca. As the final battle in a devastating civil war looms and the last page of the Cisrym Ta waits to be read, Caliph and Sena must face the deadly consequences of their decisions. And the blood of these conflicts will stain this and other worlds forever.

I’m going to be giving this one a try in the upcoming weeks. It looks very suspenseful. I’m intrigued by a heroine who is trying to do something evil  but doesn’t seem to quite be able to do it. I just hope the characters aren’t too dark. On Tuesday, John Scalzi had the author as a guest for a Big Idea post .

~*~


I’ll become the Sea
by Rebecca Rogers Maher
Carina Press
ebook – 3.99

Contemporary Romance

Jane Elliott has found peace. By all accounts, she’s a success story: a survivor of childhood abuse who has dedicated her life to teaching. She’s also engaged to marry Ben, an ambitious documentary filmmaker.

But hers is a false and fragile peace. Focusing on her students at an urban Jersey Shore school and maintaining a relationship with an absentee fiancé conveniently keep Jane from feeling much of anything at all.

This safe existence is threatened when she meets David, a musician who runs an afterschool program for at-risk kids. Because of her commitment to Ben, Jane can deny her attraction to David and convince herself they are just good friends.

But an accident, a death, a grim family obligation and her own intense desire force Jane to overcome the past, rethink the present—and take a genuine risk on love.

I don’t normally feature contemporary romance, but this book is getting some awesome reviews so I wanted to bring it to your attention. Romantic Times gave it 4.5 stars.

Debut Showcase – Week of June 28 (and Earlier)

Posted on by

I included publisher’s links on this edition because most of these publishers are either small presses or are significantly discounted at the publisher’s site. Enjoy!


The Loving Dead
by Beamer, Amelia
Night Shade Books
Trade Paperback – 14.95

Girls! Zombies! Zeppelins!

If Chuck Palahniuk and Christopher Moore had a zombie love child, it would look like THE LOVING DEAD, a darkly comic debut novel by Amelia Beamer.

Kate and Michael, twenty-something housemates working at the same Trader Joe’s supermarket, are thoroughly screwed when people start turning into zombies at their house party in the Oakland hills. The zombie plague is a sexually transmitted disease, turning its victims into shambling, horny, voracious killers after an incubation period where they become increasingly promiscuous.

Thrust into extremes by the unfolding tragedy, Kate and Michael are forced to confront the decisions they’ve made, and their fears of commitment, while trying to stay alive. Kate tries to escape on a Zeppelin ride with her secret sugar daddy — but people keep turning into zombies, forcing her to fight for her life, never mind the avalanche of trouble that develops from a few too many innocent lies. Michael convinces Kate to meet him in the one place in the Bay Area that’s likely to be safe and secure from the zombie hordes: Alcatraz. But can they stay human long enough?

And the zombie craze goes on! I imagine this novel will be very popular, but zombies aren’t for me. I do find the concept of zombification as a sexually transmitted disease an interesting concept, but that incubation period would probably set me over the edge.

~*~


Redemption in Indigo
by Karen Lord
Small Beer Press
Trade Paperback – $16

Karen Lord’s debut novel, which won the prestigious Frank Collymore Literary Prize in Barbados, is an intricately woven tale of adventure, magic, and the power of the human spirit.

Paama’s husband is a fool and a glutton. Bad enough that he followed her to her parents’ home in the village of Makende, now he’s disgraced himself by murdering livestock and stealing corn. When Paama leaves him for good, she attracts the attention of the undying ones—the djombi—who present her with a gift: the Chaos Stick, which allows her to manipulate the subtle forces of the world. Unfortunately, a wrathful djombi with indigo skin believes this power should be his and his alone.

Bursting with humour and rich in fantastic detail, Redemption in Indigo is a clever, contemporary fairy tale that introduces readers to a dynamic new voice in Caribbean literature. Lord’s world of spider tricksters and indigo immortals, inspired in part by a Senegalese folk tale, will feel instantly familiar—but Paama’s adventures are fresh, surprising, and utterly original.

I reviewed this last week and found it wonderful.

~*~


Meeks
by Julia Holmes
Small Beer Press
Trade Paperback – $16

No woman will have Ben without a proper bachelor’s suit . . . and the tailor refuses to make him one. Back from war with a nameless enemy, he’s just discovered that his mother is dead and that his family home has been reassigned by the state. As if that isn’t enough, he must now find a wife, or he’ll be made a civil servant and given a permanent spot in one of the city’s oppressive factories.

Meanwhile, Meeks, a foreigner who lives in the park and imagines he’s a member of the police, is hunted by the overzealous Brothers of Mercy. Meeks’s survival depends on his peculiar friendship with a police captain—but will that be enough to prevent his execution at the annual Independence Day celebration?

A dark satire rendered with all the slapstick humor of a Buster Keaton film, Julia Holmes’s debut novel evokes the strange charm of a Haruki Murakami novel in a dystopic setting reminiscent of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. Meeks portrays a world at once hilarious and disquieting, in which frustrated revolutionaries and hopeful youths suffer alongside the lost and the condemned, just for a chance at the permanent bliss of marriage and a slice of sugar-frosted Independence Day cake.

Small Beer Press sent this along with Redemption in Indigo, and I’m reading it now. It’s rather dark and grim so far, but I have not been put off by it and I’m looking forward to those humorous moments promised in the blurb. I love a good dystopian novel.

~*~


Dark and Disorderly
by Bernita Harris
Carina Press
eBook – 4.79

“I was standing there naked when my dead husband walked into my bathroom…”
Lillie St. Claire is a Talent, one of the rare few who can permanently dispatch the spirits of the dead that walk the earth. Her skills are in demand in a haunted country, where a plague of ghosts is becoming a civic nuisance.

Those skills bring her into conflict with frightened citizens who view Talents as near-demons. Her husband comes to see her as a Freak; so when Nathan dies after a car crash, she is relieved to be free of his increasingly vicious presence. Lillie expects to be haunted by Nathan’s ghost, but not to become Suspect #1 for her husband’s murder and reanimation.

But what’s most surprising of all is the growing attraction between her and psi-crime detective John Thresher. He thinks that Lillie killed Nathan—and Nathan must agree, because his zombie is seeking revenge. Now she and Thresher must work together to solve her husband’s murder—before his corpse kills her…

If I didn’t already have seven other brand-new ebooks on my brand-new nook waiting for my attention, I’d probably try this out. In fact, I probably will try it. It looks fun.

~*~


Scene Stealer
Elise Warner
Carina Press
eBook – 3.59

“For a moment our eyes met; his were frightened, seeking help. Was it my imagination gone wild? No. After all those years of teaching elementary school, I knew this child was afraid.”

After a chance encounter on the subway, Miss Augusta Weidenmaier, a retired schoolteacher living in New York’s Greenwich Village, is determined to help the police in the search for missing nine-year-old child actor Kevin Corcoran. Never mind that she has no training in law enforcement—she spent decades teaching. She knows when someone is lying.

Once set upon a course of action, the indomitable Miss Weidenmaier cannot be swayed—or intimidated. Facing down megalomaniacal business executives, stuck-up celebrities, pushy stage mothers and a rabble-rousing talk show host, Miss Weidenmaier will stop at nothing—not even the disapproval of one Lieutenant Brown of the NYPD, who does not take kindly to amateur sleuthing—to bring young Kevin home.

I already have this on my nook. I love a cozy mystery every now and then and the excerpt at Carina Press’s website is promising.

~*~


Captive Spirit
by Liz Fichera
Carina Press
eBook – $4.49

Sonoran Desert. Dawn of the sixteenth century.

Aiyana isn’t like the other girls of the White Ant Clan. Instead of keeping house, she longs to compete on the Ball Court with her best friend Honovi and the other boys. Instead of marriage, she daydreams of traveling beyond the mountains that surround her small village. Only Honovi knows and shares her forbidden wish, though Aiyana doesn’t realize her friend has a secret wish of his own…

When Aiyana’s father arranges her marriage to a man she hardly knows, she takes the advice of a tribal elder: run! In fleeing, she falls into the hands of Spanish raiders and finds herself being taken over the mountains against her will. Now Aiyana’s on a quest to return to the very place she once dreamed of escaping. And she’ll do whatever it takes to survive and find her way back to the people she loves.

Here’s a familiar refrain–I have this on my nook. (Why do so many of the electronic devices shun uppercase names? I now have a “nook” and an “iPod touch”, all capitalized just like that.) I’m almost finished reading it and it is utterly gripping.

Any of these look good to you? Discuss in the comments!

Debut Novels from Carina Press

Posted on by

Here are some debut authors who have novels that became available through Carina Press in the past few weeks. From this point on, Carina debuts of the genres that I usually cover will appear in my regular debut showcases.

~*~


On her Trail
by Marcelle Dube
Carina Press

Romantic Suspense – 3.19 (with discount)

After five years of covering seedy Eastern European politics, Laura Thorsen returns to Canada only to run afoul of the mob. When they try to kill her over an explosive exposé, she flees to her secluded childhood home in the Yukon. Little does she know that her estranged mother is also being haunted—by the ghosts of her dead husband and a former lover who disappeared thirty-four years ago.

Their nearest neighbor, Mack Hawkins, is drawn into the action when mobsters track Laura down. Despite her protests, he insists on his own brand of personal protection, and desire soon sparks between them. But in this race for time, will Laura be able to evade those who want her dead and mend her relationship with her mother before it’s too late?

This is one of those experimental locations that Carina Press is rapidly becoming known for. This is the Yukon we’re talking about. As in the far, far northern reaches of Canada. Land of auroras. And snow. And ice. And in this novel, the mob. I can see a lot of fun with this. I mean, how many members of the mob are prepared for a place like the Yukon?


Allegra Fairweather: Paranormal Investigator
by Janni Nell
Carina Press

Paranormal Mystery – $3.99 (with discount)

Allegra Fairweather here. Paranormal investigator. Got problems with specters? Shapeshifters? I’m the woman to call. Just don’t call me a Ghostbuster. The last guy who did that ended up flat on his back with my boot at his throat.

With my 99.5% success rate, solving the mystery of a bleeding rose that has sprung up on the shores of Loch Furness should have been an easy gig. But already I’ve heard the shriek of the local banshee, discovered two bodies (and then lost two bodies), and had a near-death encounter with a three-hundred-year-old ghost. And perhaps most dangerous of all, the hot pub owner who hired me now wants to show me exactly what’s under his kilt.

Luckily, I’m ably assisted by my very own guardian angel. I’m grateful for his help—but he’s also drop-dead gorgeous. A bit distracting when I’ve got a mystery to solve, and the clock is ticking…

I bought this one just the other day. It looks fun, although I hope she goes for the Scot and not the angel. We’ll have to see how it works out. So far, I don’t have an ebook reader–just my iPod touch and Adobe Digital Editions. Which means I probably won’t be reading these very quickly until I do get that reader. I’m leaning toward the cheap Nook that just came out.


Liberty Starr
Rebecca Grant
Carina Press

Contemporary Romance – $3.99 (with discount)

Rafe had never met a truly irresistible woman, until he met Liberty.

Libby has the kind of beauty that comes on slow—strikes a guy the longer he looks. And Rafe sure is having a fine time looking, and touching, and loving Liberty Starr.

The only problem is that Rafe is pretending to be just another cowboy down on his luck. Working for the FBI, he’s come to Stone Hill, Colorado, to investigate the man Libby loves like a father.

He was just another cowboy.

Free-spirited Libby offers him a job and a place to stay. Together they spark like wildfire, their intense passion filling their days and nights. But Rafe is only in town for the summer, and while Liberty is willing to risk her heart, secrets threaten any possibility of a future together…

Woah, look at that cover! This is way racier than the novels I usually showcase, but I promise that this is as racy as it will get. I don’t want to blow out your monitors, after all.


The Price of Freedom
by Jenny Schwartz
Carina Press

Paranormal Romance – $2.39 (with discount)

Duty will bring them together—and tear them apart!

As a guardian angel, Mischa must protect the one man who may be able to bring about lasting peace to the Middle East. As a djinni, Rafe must fulfill the wishes of a terrorist leader. Their duties colliding, Mischa and Rafe become foes, but the heat between them is undeniable.

When the terrorist learns that a guardian angel stands between him and his greatest wish, he orders his djinni to remove her. Taking creative license, Rafe spirits her away to his private oasis, where she will be unable to protect the peacemaker.

Beyond their mutual desire, they find common ground in honor and loneliness. Passion quickly grows into love. But it’s soon clear to Rafe that love cannot be bound, and Mischa must be true to her life’s purpose. Even if Rafe must sacrifice his own taste of freedom to grant hers…

Oh, and you should know that the shorter these books are, the lower the price. This is a novella, fewer than 25, 000 words. Which means you could read it in about an evening.  I won this one in a contest. So far, it’s way steamier than I usually read, but I was pulled in by premise and the great conflict that is evident in the blurb.

~*~

So how have I decided to handle reviews of Carina Press novels? Well for one, if I’m interested, I’ll buy them. If I read them and enjoy them, I’ll give them a regular review, with a disclaimer that I’m having a hard time being impartial. If I don’t enjoy any particular novel, I most likely will simply not mention it beyond the showcase.

I’m open to suggestions.

Happy Release Day – 13 To Life

Posted on by

Happy release day to Shannon Delany for her debut novel, 13 to Life! Check out that bookmark!

Shannon has done a great job publicizing her novel, and I’ve even gotten in on the action. She’ll be by here on Friday to tell us the unusual means by which she achieved publication. She is also serializing part of her novel as part of her blog book tour, and we’ll be including a snippet here.

In the meantime, here’s all the info!

13 to Life
by Shannon Delany
Young Adult Paranormal
Trade Paperback – $9.99

Hat Tip: Deborah Blake

Blurb:

Something strange is stalking the small town of Junction…
When junior Jess Gillmansen gets called out of class by Guidance, she can only presume it’s for one of two reasons. Either they’ve finally figured out who wrote the scathing anti-jock editorial in the school newspaper or they’re hosting yet another intervention for her about her mom. Although far from expecting it, she’s relieved to discover Guidance just wants her to show a new student around—but he comes with issues of his own including a police escort.
The newest member of Junction High, Pietr Rusakova has secrets to hide–secrets that will bring big trouble to the small town of Junction—secrets including dramatic changes he’s undergoing that will surely end his life early.
~*~
Her Book Blog Tour is called Start Your Day With Serial. Check back on Friday for our turn.

Debut Showcase – Four Fantasies and a Thriller

Posted on by

Here are some debuts that were on my debut calendar from May. I meant to keep up on these from week to week, but believe me when I say that May was the busiest I’ve been in longer than I can remember.

Some of these were on my Debut Calendar, but I never got in touch with the author. I do apologize, and will try to correct that situation after I post this.


Wolfsangel
by MD Lachlan
Gollancz (UK)
Hardcover and Paperback

The Viking King Authun leads his men on a raid against an Anglo-Saxon village. Men and women are killed indiscriminately but Authun demands that no child be touched. He is acting on prophecy. A prophecy that tells him that the Saxons have stolen a child from the Gods. If Authun, in turn, takes the child and raises him as an heir, the child will lead his people to glory.

But Authun discovers not one child, but twin baby boys. Ensuring that his faithful warriors, witness to what has happened, die during the raid Authun takes the children and their mother home, back to the witches who live on the troll wall. And he places his destiny in their hands.

And so begins a stunning multi-volume fantasy epic that will take a werewolf from his beginnings as the heir to a brutal viking king, down through the ages. It is a journey that will see him hunt for his lost love through centuries and lives, and see the endless battle between the wolf, Odin and Loki – the eternal trickster – spill over into countless bloody conflicts from our history, and over into our lives.

MD Lachlan is the nom de plume of Mark Barrowcliffe, who didn’t write fantasy, so that’s ok. He did write a nonfiction book called The Elfish Gene: Dungeons, Dragons and Growing Up Strange, which looks like a book I would read, and which shows he’d fit right in around here. Maybe I should recruit him for a Writer Wednesday. About his book, it looks like it might be a bit bloody and gritty, but I’m intrigued anyway by the connection to Viking myth, and I will read it when it comes out in the United States.

~*~


Shadow’s Son
by Jon Sprunk
Pyr
Trade paperback – $16 (discounts available)

In the holy city of Othir, treachery and corruption lurk at the end of every street, just the place for a freelance assassin with no loyalties and few scruples.

Caim makes his living on the edge of a blade, but when a routine job goes south, he is thrust into the middle of an insidious plot. Pitted against crooked lawmen, rival killers, and sorcery from the Other Side, his only allies are Josephine, the socialite daughter of his last victim, and Kit, a guardian spirit no one else can see. But in this fight for his life, Caim only trusts his knives and his instincts, but they won’t be enough when his quest for justice leads him from Othir’s hazardous back alleys to its shining corridors of power. To unmask a conspiracy at the heart of the empire, he must claim his birthright as the Shadow’s Son . . .

I’m a little underwhelmed by this blurb and I’m thinking there has to be more to the story than this. I find myself wanting to know more about the birthright of the Shadow’s Son. Fortunately, I found one for you at Tor.com, and I think its pretty awesome of them to help out the author from another publisher.

At Debuts & Reviews, we always look beyond the blurb!

~*~


Thief
Sarah-Jane Lehoux
Mundania Press
Trade Paperback – 13.95 (Mundania Press Page)

In the crumbling city of Eloria, there is one indisputable fact: everyone has a price. Protestations of morality and better judgment have little meaning when confronted with the chance to obtain the unobtainable. The only question remaining is just how much a person is willing to sacrifice in order to win their heart’s desire.

Sevy has always been a quick study in the wicked ways of Eloria. She has no qualms about taking what she wants, and when the love of her life is mysteriously murdered, Sevy will stop at nothing to get him back. Elvish black magic, necromancy and demonic pacts are of little consequence if it means she can once again have her beloved at her side. But is she willing to murder her only friend to get the job done?

This is my first showcase from Mundania Press and this was the book  that triggered my research of this publisher, which I posted about in May. The excerpt (scroll down) looked promising. I especially liked the way she opened it through the eyes of Sevy, then expanded it to an omnipresent description, and then tightened it back up again behind Sevy’s eyes. Touches like these make me want to read on, but ultimately this character might be too dark for my taste.

~*~


The Passage
by Justin Cronin
Ballantine Books
Hardcover – $27 (discounts available)

Blurb text

‘It happened fast. Thirty-two minutes for one world to die, another to be born.’

First, the unthinkable: a security breach at a secret U.S. government facility unleashes the monstrous product of a chilling military experiment. Then, the unspeakable: a night of chaos and carnage gives way to sunrise on a nation, and ultimately a world, forever altered. All that remains for the stunned survivors is the long fight ahead and a future ruled by fear – of darkness, of death, of a fate far worse.

As civilization swiftly crumbles into a primal landscape of predators and prey, two people flee in search of sanctuary. FBI agent Brad Wolgast is a good man haunted by what he’s done in the line of duty. Six-year-old orphan Amy Harper Bellafonte is a refugee from the doomed scientific project that has triggered apocalypse. He is determined to protect her from the horror set loose by her captors. But for Amy, escaping the bloody fallout is only the beginning of a much longer odyssey – spanning miles and decades – towards the time and place where she must finish what should never have begun.

This novel has a publication story that drives us writers nuts and make us writhe in jealousy. Read it here. I remember reading about this bidding war a while back, now here the novel is. This kind of thing gets an author a lot of publicity, and I’m all for publicity for a debut(ish) novelist. Reviews abound.

~*~


Guardian of the Dead
by Karen Healey
Little, Brown Book Group
Hardcover – $17.99 (discounts available)

In less than a day I had been harassed, enchanted, shouted at, cried on, and clawed. I’d been cold, scared, dirty, exhausted, hungry, and miserable. And up until now, I’d been mildly impressed with my ability to cope.

At her boarding school in New Zealand, Ellie Spencer is like any ordinary teen: she hangs out with her best friend, Kevin; obsesses over her crush on a mysterious boy; and her biggest worry is her paper deadline. Then everything changes: In the foggy woods near the school, something ancient and deadly is waiting.

I owe the author an apology; I should have announced it in April. Again, I would have liked a longer blurb, which gives me a better idea of what the conflict was all about. Except for the first sentence and the last sentence, this is the life of an ordinary teenager. I can’t help but to feel an agent would have rejected an author with a blurb this vague.

So here is an excerpt, courtesy of TeenReads this time. Maybe this will make up for the tardiness of this post.

~*~

Of all of these, I’d have to say Wolfsangel most intrigues me. What about you?

Debut Showcase – Two Fantasies and a Quirky Mystery

Posted on by


Black Blade Blues
by J. A. Pitts
Tor Books
Trade Paperback – 15.99

Sarah Beauhall has more on her plate than most twenty-somethings: day job as a blacksmith, night job as a props manager for low-budget movies, and her free time is spent fighting in a medieval re-enactment group.

The lead actor breaks Sarah’s favorite one-of-a-kind sword, and to avoid reshooting scenes, Sarah agrees to repair the blade. One of the extras, who claims to be a dwarf, offers to help. And that’s when things start to get weird. Could the sword really be magic, as the “dwarf” claims? Are dragons really living among us as shapeshifters?

And as if things weren’t surreal enough, Sarah’s girlfriend Katie breaks out the dreaded phrase… “I love you.”  As her life begins to fall apart, first her relationship with Katie, then her job at the movie studio, and finally her blacksmithing career, Sarah hits rock bottom. It is at this moment, when she has lost everything she has prized, that one of the dragons makes their move.

And suddenly what was unthinkable becomes all too real…and Sarah will have to decide if she can reject what is safe and become the heroine who is needed to save her world.

Deborah reviewed Black Blade Blues just last week, and she loved it. Check it out here!

~*~


Song of Scarabaeus
by Sara Creasy
HarperCollins
MM Paperback – 7.99

The best cypherteck in the galaxy, Edie can reinvent planets with little more than a thought. Trained since childhood in advanced biocyph seed technology by the all-powerful Crib empire, her mission is to terraform alien worlds while her masters bleed the outlawed Fringe populations dry. When renegade mercenaries kidnap Edie, she’s not entirely sure it’s a bad thing… until they leash her to a bodyguard, Finn—a former freedom fighter-turned-slave, beaten down but never broken. If Edie strays from Finn’s side, he dies. If she doesn’t cooperate, the pirates will kill them both.

But Edie’s abilities far surpass anything her enemies imagine. And now, with Finn her only ally as the merciless Crib closes in, she’ll have to prove it or die on the site of her only failure… a world called Scarabaeus.

This looks like a complicated but engaging plot. It’s being compared to Ann Aguire’s science fiction, which I enjoyed, and I haven’t read any science fiction in a while. Allow me one critique–I do hate that cover. If she’s all that powerful, then why is she at that guy’s feet, clinging to his leg a la Princess Leia??? Crikey! I thought we were over covers like that!

~*~


Orion You Came and You Took All My Marbles
by Kira Henehan
Milkweed Editions
Trade Paperback – $16

Welcome to the off-kilter world of Finley, an investigator of indiscernible origins and prowess. Her assignment: the mysterious Professor Uppal and his puppets. The objective: impossible to say. But Finley is unassailable. She forges ahead with occasional assistance and hindrance from her colleagues Murphy, The Lamb, and Binelli, as well as the professor’s beautiful daughter and her sinister artiste boyfriend. In her meticulous and completely unbiased report, Finley tracks the investigation’s slow spiral back upon itself, as the clues she uncovers reveal questions that lead directly back to her own forgotten past.

No, this isn’t a self-published novel, just a novel with a quirky title. It won the Milkweed National Fiction Prize, which appears to be a contest run by the publisher.

Recent Debuts, or, My Debut Catch-Up Post

Posted on by

Mind Games by Carolyn Crane
Bantam/Spectra
MM Paperback – 7.99
Urban Fantasy

Justine Jones isn’t your typical kick-ass type – she’s a hopeless hypochondriac whose life is run by fear.

She’s lured into a restaurant, Mongolian Delites, by tortured mastermind Sterling Packard, who promises he can teach her to channel her fears. In exchange, she must join his team of disillusionists – vigilantes hired by crime victims to zing their anxieties into criminals, resulting in collapse and transformation.

Justine isn’t interested in Packard’s troupe until she gets a taste of the peace he can promise. Soon she enters the thrilling world of neurotic crime fighters who battle Midcity’s depraved and paranormal criminals.

Eventually, though, she starts wondering why Packard hasn’t set foot outside the Mongolian Delites restaurant for eight years. And about the true nature of the disillusionists.

I’ve briefly mentioned this novel before, but here is the full treatment. Such as it is. I remember a lot of you liked the idea of “disillusionists”, so consider this a little reminder for you. Carolyn runs a hilarious and popular blog called The Thrillionth Page.

Master of None by Sonya Bateman
Pocket Books
Read the First Chapter (pdf)
Paperback – 7.99
Urban Fantasy

Gavyn Donatti is the world’s unluckiest thief. Just ask all the partners he’s lost over the years. And when he misplaces an irreplaceable item he was hired to steal for his ruthless employer, Trevor—well, his latest bungle just might be his last. But then his luck finally turns: right when Trevor’s thugs have him cornered, a djinn, otherwise known as a genie, appears to save him.

Unfortunately, this genie—who goes by the very non-magical name of “Ian”—is more Hellboy than dream girl. An overgrown and extremely surly man who seems to hate Donatti on the spot, he may call Donatti master, but he isn’t interested in granting three wishes. He informs Donatti that he is bound to help the thief fulfill his life’s purpose, and then he will be free. The problem is that neither Donatti nor Ian has any idea what exactly that purpose is.

At first Donatti’s too concerned with his own survival to look a gift genie in the mouth, but when his ex-girlfriend Jazz and her young son get drawn into the crossfire, the stakes skyrocket. And when Ian reveals that he has an agenda of his own—with both Donatti and the murderous Trevor at the center of it—Donatti will have to become the man he never knew he could be, or the entire world could pay the price. . . .

This one should look familiar, too. I reviewed it last month, and I’ve seen it pop up on some of your blogs since then. This novel is hilarious. Now, if we can only get Sonya to start a blog.

The Case of the Missing Servant by Tarquin Hall
Simon & Schuster
Trade Paperback – 14.00
Mystery

Portly, persistent and unmistakably Punjabi, Vish Puri cuts a determined swathe through modern India’s cheats, swindlers and murderers.

In hot and dusty Delhi, where call centers and malls are changing the ancient fabric of Indian life, Puri’s main work comes from screening prospective marriage partners, a job once the preserve of aunties and family priests.

But when an honest public litigator is accused of murdering his maidservant, it takes all of Puri’s resources to investigate. How will he trace the fate of the girl, known only as Mary, in a population of more than one billion? Who is taking potshots at him and his prize chili plants? And why is his widowed “Mummy-ji” attempting to play sleuth when everyone knows mummies are not detectives?

With his team of undercover operatives — Tubelight, Flush, and Facecream — Puri ingeniously combines modern techniques with principles of detection established in India more than two thousand years ago — long before “that Johnny-come-lately” Sherlock Holmes donned his deerstalker.

I must have this one. Must. I took a trip to India once, and it was unforgettable. This reminds me of the playful African-based mystery series, No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, which is also written by a British white guy.

Imaginary Jesus by Matt Mikalatos
BarnaBooks
Trade Paperback – $14.99
Christian (I think)

Imaginary Jesus is an hilarious, fast-paced, not-quite-fictional story that’s unlike anything you’ve ever read before. When Matt Mikalatos realizes that his longtime buddy in the robe and sandals isn’t the real Jesus at all, but an imaginary one, he embarks on a mission to find the real thing. On his wild ride through time, space, and Portland, Oregon, he encounters hundreds of other Imaginary Jesuses determined to stand in his way (like Legalistic Jesus, Perpetually Angry Jesus, and Magic 8 Ball Jesus). But Matt won’t stop until he finds the real Jesus-and finally gets an answer to the question that’s haunted him for years. Be warned: Imaginary Jesus may bring you face-to-face with an imposter in your own life.

The author’s website is a bit scanty of information (like a blurb, which was surprisingly hard to find), but his blog is pretty funny — the current post is about how Amazon is classifying this novel. For example, Imaginary Jesus is ahead of C.S. Lewis: “Ah, C.S. Lewis.  Allow me to take a moment to say IN YOUR FACE, C.S. LEWIS! Imaginary Jesus is totally rocking The Screwtape Letters.” Anyway, if the blog is any indication of the novel, then it’s probably pretty zany.

Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn
Berkley Trade
Trade Paperback – $15.00
Historical Fiction

Thea is a slave girl from Judaea, passionate, musical, and guarded. Purchased as a toy for the spiteful heiress Lepida Pollia, Thea will become her mistress’s rival for the love of Arius the Barbarian, Rome’s newest and most savage gladiator. His love brings Thea the first happiness of her life—that is quickly ended when a jealous Lepida tears them apart.

As Lepida goes on to wreak havoc in the life of a new husband and his family, Thea remakes herself as a polished singer for Rome’s aristocrats. Unwittingly, she attracts another admirer in the charismatic Emperor of Rome. But Domitian’s games have a darker side, and Thea finds herself fighting for both soul and sanity. Many have tried to destroy the Emperor: a vengeful gladiator, an upright senator, a tormented soldier, a Vestal Virgin. But in the end, the life of the brilliant and paranoid Domitian lies in the hands of one woman: the Emperor’s mistress.

I like stories that take place in Rome, but I’m not sure about this one. She has a blurb by the fabulous Diana Gabaldon, so maybe I would like it.  However, Domitian is one of the more horrible Roman emperors, and my interest in Rome is more in the Republican era, not the Empire. I do think this is worth checking out if you like historical fiction.

The Alchemy of Murder by Carol McCleary
Forge Books
Hardcover – 24.99
Mystery

The world’s most famous reporter, the intrepid Nellie Bly, teams up with science fiction genius Jules Verne, the notorious wit and outrageous rogue Oscar Wilde, and the greatest microbe-hunter in history, Louis Pasteur. Together, they must solve the crime of the century.

They are all in Paris—the capital of Europe and center of world culture—for the 1889 World’s Fair. A spectacular extravaganza dedicated to new industries, scientific discoveries, and global exploration, its gateway is the soaring Eiffel Tower. But an enigmatic killer stalks the streets and a virulent plague is striking down Parisians by the thousands. Convinced that the killings are connected to the pandemic, Nellie is determined to stop them both… no matter what the risks.

This kind of sounds like The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but with historical figures rather than fictional. It has already been shortlisted for an International CrimeFest Award.

Shadow Prowler by Alexey Pehov
Tor Books
Hardcover – 24.99
Fantasy

After centuries of calm, the Nameless One is stirring.

An army is gathering; thousands of giants, ogres, and other creatures are joining forces from all across the Desolate Lands, united, for the first time in history, under one black banner. By the spring, or perhaps sooner, the Nameless One and his forces will be at the walls of the great city of Avendoom.

Unless Shadow Harold, master thief, can find some way to stop them.

Epic fantasy at its best, Shadow Prowler is the first in a trilogy that follows Shadow Harold on his quest for a magic Horn that will restore peace to the Kingdom of Siala. Harold will be accompanied on his quest by an Elfin princess, Miralissa, her elfin escort, and ten Wild Hearts, the most experienced and dangerous fighters in their world…and by the king’s court jester (who may be more than he seems…or less).

Wow. A debut epic fantasy that features elves! It was first published in 2002 in Russia, so that might explain it. Or maybe it is still possible to sell an epic fantasy with elves. This novel sold in the US for six figures.

~*~

I’m posting this on Sunday instead of Tuesday because these have all been out for a while. I’m going to try to put these out weekly — like I used to — and in smaller chunks. Also, please notice that I’m only including novels of genres that interest me. It’s hard to muster up enthusiasm for novels that I have no interest in. In fact, I’d rather not have to muster up enthusiasm at all. I’d rather it came naturally.

I hereby certify that any and all enthusiasm in the posts above came naturally.

So what did you think? Any of these float your boat? Any you’d like to cuss and discuss?