Month: November 2016

I recently made my first visit to New Orleans. Of course I have photos to share.

 I got a direct flight from Oakland to New Orleans, and I enjoyed every minute in the air. For one thing, the seat next to me was empty. And for another, I got over 4 uninterrupted hours in my happy place, with my Kindle and caffeine cuddled close.

New Orleans is a beautiful place. It reminded me quite a bit of Europe. And Disneyland. Also, I was born in Illinois but haven’t been near the Mississippi River for many years, so it was nice to visit with an old friend.

 And speaking of the Mississippi, this statue is near it and is, apparently, entitled Old Man River. I think it looks more like some sort of graphic warning on the horrible effects of masturbation. But maybe that’s just me.

 If you know me at all, you won’t be surprised I visited a cemetery. In this case, St. Louis Cemetery #1, where you’ll find the tomb of Marie Laveau, the voodoo queen (although it’s questionable whether Marie herself is actually inside). A couple of the other tombs have voodoo vandalism. Also within that cemetery is a big white pyramid that will someday house the mortal remains of Nicholas Cage.

 Although work kept me from doing too much sightseeing, I managed to eat well. Very well. One night my friend and I ate two dinners, one right after the other. Those oysters were part of the second dinner. I had bananas foster french toast for brunch. And, of course, café au lait and beignets at Café du Monde.

I loved New Orleans and felt oddly at home there. I hope I get to visit again soon.

 

 

Equipoise is here!

See, there’s my print copy with Reese Dante’s beautiful cover. Yes, I’ve been petting it.

This is the second edition of the final book in the Ennek trilogy. Here’s the blurb:

Ennek, the son of the Chief, and Miner, a former slave, have escaped the totalitarian city-state of Praesidium and remain fugitives. Having defeated two mighty wizards, they begin to realize complete freedom can be as dangerous as absolute power. Now Ennek and Miner must face battles, corruption, and further journeys through lands both new and familiar.

As they grow more secure in their relationship, they learn the greatest challenges sometimes come from very close to the heart and everything of value has a price. With the help of a few allies, they seek equipoise—a balance for themselves and for their world.

You can buy this book in ebook or print versions from

DSP Publications

Amazon

and other retailers.

All my royalties from this series go to Doctors Without Borders. Maybe someone on your gift list likes dark fantasy but isn’t so sure about gay romance? This trilogy might make a good gift for them. Or for yourself.

I went to New Orleans. I have photos. I’ll share them later this week (she says threateningly). I have a book coming out tomorrow. I’ll post about that… tomorrow.

But today I want to give you holiday shopping ideas.

I donate all the royalties from my self-published books to Doctors Without Borders. That includes my self-pubbed audiobooks (with some of your favorite narrators). It also includes the Ennek series, which I originally self-pubbed but which has been released in a 2nd edition by DSP Publications. In fact, tomorrow’s book, Equipoise, is the final book in that trilogy.

All of these books are available in e-book versions. Some are also in print, and some are on audio. So here, for your shopping ease, is a complete list. Again, all my royalties from these purchases go to Doctors Without Borders, so you can buy a gift while also supporting an excellent cause.

Buy links for all of these are on this page.

• Stasis (print, ebook, audio)
• Flux (print and ebook; audio coming in 2017)
• Equipoise (releases Nov. 29!) (print and ebook)
• The Sacrifice and Other Stories (print and ebook)
• The Festivus Miracle (ebook and audio)
• Joys R Us (ebook and audio)
• The Downs (ebook is free on my website or 99 cents at Amazon; also on audio)
• Guarded (ebook is free on my website or 99 cents at Amazon; also on audio)
• Treasure (ebook is free on my website or 99 cents at Amazon; also on audio)

If you’re looking for something besides books, I have a Zazzle store. There you can find cool stuff emblazoned with beautiful art from some of my books. And there, too, all my proceeds go to Doctors Without Borders.

Have fun shopping!

Two authors walk into a bar….

Okay, yeah, but it actually happened. Last year I was in Portland, doing a reading at a bookstore, and the amazing Ginn Hale was doing a reading too. And it turned out by coincidence that our readings had some plot similarities, although we’d handled them in very different ways. So after the reading a group of us went to a nearby bar, and Ginn and I got to chatting about how fun it would be to give a group of authors the exact same prompt, and then see the varying directions they took it.

Well, we gathered together a fantastic bunch of our author friends, and Ginn came up with the prompt: Once upon a time in the weird west…. That’s it. The only limitations were length (short story) and that it be some kind of spec fic based on that prompt.

We all had a lot of fun with this. I know of at least two authors who had so much fun they ended up going way over the length limits–and had to write new, shorter tales.

Dreamspinner agreed to publish the collection, and Nathie Block created a gorgeous cover. And now you can preorder the anthology. Thirteen tales by some of your favorite spec fic authors, all with a weird west theme.

Stories by: Langley Hyde, Astrid Amara, Ginn Hale, Nicole Kimberling, C.S. Poe, Lex Chase, Venona Keyes, Tali Spencer, Shira Anthony, Kim Fielding, Jana Denardo, Andrew Q. Gordon, and Jamie Fessenden.

You can read blurbs for all the stories on the preorder page. Come join the fun!