Trees? Yes, trees!

October 28, 2015October 27, 2015Leave a comment

With me today is another new author, Sam Smith. His debut novel, Trees, releases on October 31 from Safkhet Publishing. Take it away, Sam!

My thanks to Kay Kauffman for asking me to guest on her blog.

Although I’ve done many things sub-literary in my writing life – organised poetry festivals and book fairs, run a small press, Original Plus, and for nearly 20 years now the poetry magazine The Journal (once ‘of Contemporary Anglo-Scandinavian Poetry’); and although I’ve had many publishers of my work, 2 of which went disastrously bust while I was working as editor for them, Safkhet Publishing is the first that has suggested that I be a guest blogger.

trees The novel by the way is Trees and Safkhet are based in Germany.

I’m based in the UK on the Cumbrian coast. Maryport describes itself as ‘By the sea near the Lakes.’ Not wholly sure
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Interview time!

October 27, 2015June 5, 20176 Comments

Today I have with me Robert Eggleton, author of Rarity from the Hollow, here to tell us about himself and his work.

KK: So, Robert, tell us about yourself.

roberteggleton RE: I would love to tell your readers rags to riches story, Kay, but the best I can do is a rags to almost middle income story. In 1951, I was born into an impoverished family in West Virginia. I started paying into the U. S. Social Security fund at age twelve and dreamed of a brighter future for my family.

In the 8th grade, I won the school’s short story contest. “God Sent” was about a semi truck driver so consumed with theological debate that he caused a terrible accident. As it often does, life got in the way of my dream of becoming a writer. Except for a poem published in the state’s student anthology and another poem published in a local alternative newspaper, my creative juices were spent writing handouts for civil rights and anti-war activities.

After earning an MSW in 1977, children’s rights and protection became my cause. I focused on children’s advocacy for the next forty years. In 2002, I started a job as a psychotherapist at the local mental health center, and five months ago, I retired from my job so that I could write and promote fiction. It wasn’t a clean escape though. I had to make a deal with my conscience. Author proceeds have been donated to a child abuse prevention program.

KK: And Rarity from the Hollow? What’s it all about?

Grudging: Birth of Saints

October 18, 201510 Comments

On Thursday, a brand new novel had a fantastic cover reveal, and I signed up with Rockstar Book Tours to help spread the word. But Thursday was a rough day, and Friday was no better, and yesterday was just wild. So today, I’m stealing five minutes to tell you about a new book from Michelle Hauck called Grudging:

A world of chivalry and witchcraft…and the invaders who would destroy everything.

The North has invaded, bringing a cruel religion and no mercy. The ciudades-estados who have stood in their way have been razed to nothing, and now the horde is before the gates of Colina Hermosa…demanding blood.

On a mission of desperation, a small group escapes the besieged city in search of the one thing that might stem the tide of Northerners: the witches of the southern swamps.

The Women of the Song.

But when tragedy strikes their negotiations, all that is left is a…

Baby, when the lights go out…

October 5, 20154 Comments

The Ink Slingers League is proud to present another anthology for your reading pleasure, and it’s just in time for Halloween! A collection of twenty-five short stories from authors such as Tricia Drammeh, Joleene Naylor, Roger Lawrence, and DM Yates, When the Lights Go Out is chock full of thrills, chills, and mysteries. And best of all, it’s free!

You can get your copy today at Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iBooks, and Amazon.

Time to party like it’s 1999!

October 2, 2015October 1, 20154 Comments

Reunited and it feels so good…

I can’t remember the last time I’ve gone this long without blogging. I’ve thought about it often over the last *checks notes* several weeks, but I’ve been busy. Between football games and family time and working and cleaning and moving my in-laws and all the other stuff I tend to put off till the last possible minute, I’ve been doing something wonderful.

I’ve been writing.

And it has been glorious.

Sure, it’s first-draft type stuff. Sure, it’s going to need a lot of work. But I’ve been writing. And it makes me happy.

Almost as happy as that can of pop over there on the right.

Who besides me remembers Surge? Anyone?

Release day!

September 4, 2015September 4, 201517 Comments

That’s right, my lovelies, it’s release day at long last! Starting today, you can get A World of Their Own to have and to hold, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do you part.

Oddly enough, those last two bits have had a profound impact on the making of this book. A World of Their Own is dedicated to great friend, fabulous author, and beating dragon heart of the Alliance of Worldbuilders, Lindsey J. Parsons, who died unexpectedly in January 2014. All proceeds from this book will be donated to the World Literacy Fund.

So go on, buy a copy for yourself, your friends, your family, even that baby down the street. Literacy is not just a privilege – it’s a right.

“A home without books is a body without a soul.” –Marcus Tullius Cicero

Pick up your copy today, available in paperback (Amazon and Amazon UK) and e-book (here and here), and have a great weekend! 🙂

A bloody review

August 27, 201516 Comments

Today’s review is brought to you by the fine folks at Glass House Press and the letter S.

Why the letter S? Because you can’t have serpents in the Thames without it! 😀

Hold on, I hear you saying. Serpents? In the Thames? What on Earth are you talking about?

Very well, then, I’ll tell you: behind the cut!

Mmm, books… :)

August 25, 2015August 24, 20154 Comments

Today I’m excited to share with you some excerpts from Blood in the Water by Tash McAdam, a fantastic new novella from the fine folks at Glass House Press. I’ll be reviewing it as well, but for now, here’s a little taste of what it’s all about:

Purchase on Amazon: http://amzn.to/1MtINrb

Purchase on B&N: http://bit.ly/1ExFSr7

Purchase on iBooks: http://apple.co/1E0aW80

About the Book

There have always been warps—tears between realities—and they’ve always been a threat to humanity. Most people are blind to them. But Hallie’s eyes are opening. Now that she’s going to school at the Protectorate, she’s learning there’s more to life than fun and games.

The truth is, she’s just become part of Earth’s only shield against the monsters of the warps. Before, she didn’t think she was anything special. Now, yanked from her relatively normal life, she realizes that she doesn’t have a choice.

When the emergency alarm sounds, calling everyone in the school to arms, even the young and inexperienced are needed. As one of the warp weavers—capable of closing the warps and stopping the monsters—Hallie must now work to save lives. And she must do it in the most complicated situation she’s ever experienced. Because there are sea serpents in the Thames, and Hallie has to close the doors that are letting them in.

The problem is, they’re underwater, and they’re hungry.

Now everyone is relying on her, and Hallie must find a way to do her job—with a brand new partner—before it’s too late. Because if she fails she’ll die, along with everyone who’s depending on her.

Excerpts

The team next to us glides to the edge of the wharf and drops into the water, the weight of the girls plunging the whole apparatus under.

I flinch in shock, and…

All good things must end

August 20, 2015August 20, 20158 Comments

It’s true, isn’t it? All good things must, eventually, end. Like childhood, summer vacation, and a favorite book series, Authonomy is about to go the way of the dodo.

*sniffles*

True, I haven’t hung out there regularly in a very long time. Years, even. But without it…

Can you believe it?

August 14, 20156 Comments

It’s been almost a whole week since my last post! Hard to believe the week is almost over already.

Today, to make up for my absence, I’d like to share the first couple lines of my current WIP (no, not from The Lokana Chronicles), a short story I’m working on for the upcoming Ink Slingers League’s next anthology.

It’s a ghost story, but I don’t have a title for it yet. Heck, I don’t even have an ending for the story yet, or even a middle, which means I’ve got my work cut out for me to get it into shape by the submission deadline. But this idea’s been rattling around in my head all summer, and I’m really starting to get excited about it.

It’s the stuff of urban legends (and Saturday morning cartoons): a long-lost relative has died, leaving you part of her fortune. But there’s a catch.

There’s always a catch.

Very, very, VERY loosely based on something that actually happened to me, I love this story idea. I used to read all the ghost stories I could get my hands on as a kid, but I haven’t really written very many of them. This is going to be a fun challenge.

So, tell me – what do you think of my opening? And what kinds of books did you love as a kid?

Have a great weekend, folks!