League of Extraordinary Authors

NEW from Orna Ross: BEFORE THE FALL

2012-02-29T00:00:00.000-06:00

The Sunday Independent calls Orna Ross' freshly released Before the Fall "Magnificent… A hauntingly captivating read."

Per the PR:
In 1923, Dan O'Donovan, an Irish Free State soldier, was found dead in the notorious sinking sands at Mucknamore. Was he a victim of the civil war that tore this village apart ? Or lured to his death for other, more personal, reasons?

Now it is 1995 and Jo Devereux has returned to Mucknamore from San Francisco, pregnant and troubled, to uncover the silence that surrounds this event in her family history.

A sweeping multi-generational tale, set in rural Ireland, London and San Francisco.

Sample free and read now on Amazon.

Gillard's EMOTIONAL GEOLOGY scores prime listing and customer raves!

2012-02-28T10:25:00.000-06:00

Linda Gillard's Emotional Geology, a passionate, off-beat love story set on the bleak and beautiful island of North Uist in the Outer Hebrides is featured this week on Amazon.UK's romance page.

Listed under "Customer's Rave" (always a good sign!), Emotional Geology, follows Rose Leonard to a refuge in a remote Hebridean island community, where she cocoons herself in work, silence and solitude in a house by the sea, reconnects with her estranged daughter and gets entangled in an affair with a younger man who has his own demons to exorcise.

One of the raves came from US book blog, Angieville:
"I dropped everything to read it. Read it that very night, in fact. In one solid chunk. I had things to do, sleep to get, work to wake up for, and yet none of it mattered and nothing could tear me away from this breathtaking story... I've been dreaming of Scotland for the past several nights and I have this book to thank for it."

The new noisier writing life is old hat for a lot of us

2012-02-27T00:00:00.000-06:00

In Anand Giridharadas' NYT op ed A New, Noisier Way of Writing, he reports that Jonathan Franzen is “doubtful that anyone with an Internet connection at his workplace is writing good fiction.”

Maybe he should check out a few "her" workplaces. The writer/moms I know are multi-tasking divas.

Fortunately, while I wrote my first two novels - Crazy for Trying and Sugarland - I had no internet. All I had was two small children, various day jobs, bill collectors, a cross-country move and blood cancer.

But twitter? Oh, no. Thank God, I didn't have to deal with the distraction of that. I’m such a hothouse flower.

I wrote about becoming a writer and other strange side effects of chemo in my third book, Bald in the Land of Big Hair.

Today's best bargain book: Melissa Foster's award-winning debut novel CHASING AMANDA just $2.99

2012-02-26T00:00:00.000-06:00

Todays best bargain book: Melissa Foster's riveting debut novel, Chasing Amanda, winner of a Global eBook Award and three Readers Favorite Awards.

Grab it right now for just $2.99 on Kindle or read it FREE with Kindle Prime.

"Foster captures the terror and fear of an abducted child as well as the passion and resolve of the woman who is driven to rescue her before it’s too late in this riveting, polished page-turner." --IndieReader.com

Author Dwight Okita anticipates magic for grownups in new JK Rowling novel

2012-02-25T00:00:00.000-06:00

Like pretty much everyone in the reading world, Dwight Okita is eager to get his hands on the forthcoming JK Rowling novel.

"It will be fascinating to check out YA writer J.K. Rowling's new book of fiction for grown-ups. To see if the author's characters continue to search for magic in the adult world as they did in the young adult world."

Okita's gorgeously unexpected novel The Prospect of My Arrival is a journey that begins with childlike imagination and takes a dark turn into some very grownup issues. The genius premise: an unborn soul is given the opportunity to test-drive the world before deciding whether or not he wants to be born.

Grab it on Kindle for just $2.99 or read it free with Kindle Prime.

JK Rowling novel skipped auction: BLOOD ANGEL author Kelly McClymer on art/commerce of publishing

2012-02-24T11:28:00.000-06:00

More buzz around the biz pursuant to yesterday's announcement of JK Rowling's new novel, which will be out later this year, according to a tweet from Rowling.

One of our newest editions to the LEA, YA/grownup crossover novelist Kelly McClymer says, "I am so excited to see Rowling tackle a book for adults. I really came to appreciate her keen observations and humor while reading Harry Potter aloud to my family on our all-day-long car trips to visit family for vacation and holidays."

Literary agent Neil Blair told the WSJ that he "negotiated directly with Little, Brown in the UK for world English rights rather than offering the title for auction."

A lot of people were surprised by that, but Rowling has the luxury of putting money at the bottom of the list of publishing priorities -- which, in a perfect world, is exactly where we'd all like it to be. I personally love her all the more for further proof of the artistic integrity with which she's always conducted her career.

In the publishing industry, art and commerce are sometimes uneasy bedfellows.

McClymer, a publishing industry mover/shaker and blogger with Book View Cafe, examines some of the issues in the indie/traditional mashup currently rocking the publishing world in "Writing in the Digital Age: Pulling Aside the Curtain Reveals Some Nasty Dustbunnies."

Check it out and visit the Stella Link eBookstore, where you'll find Kelly's YA series featuring teenage witch Prudence Stewart, her Once Upon a Wedding series for adult readers with a yen for happy endings, and her intriguing single title, Blood Angel, in which a murdered woman finds herself trapped in jail with her killer, who must help her find a way to the afterlife.

Genre jumper Colleen Thompson knows all about Rowling with the changes

2012-02-23T10:51:00.003-06:00

The reading and writing world is buzzing about JK Rowling's forthcoming novel for adults. Will she be able to make a drastic jump in genre?

It's all about the storytelling, and with 20+ novels under her belt, Colleen Thompson has proven she can take her mad storytelling skills across genre borders, taking readers with her. The most thrilling aspects of the indie revolution is an author's ability to bring early work out of the vault and explore new ideas without a publisher's permission.

Thompson is a contemporary romantic suspense Ritanista known for creating evocative atmospheres, richly developed characters and tightly driven plotlines.

The Salt Maiden's stark desert setting provides the perfect backdrop for the story of a snake-bitten heroine, dodging bullets and searching desperately for her artsy-so-possibly-mental-case sister with the help of a complicated (but appropriately hunky) sheriff.

But Thompson started her career as Gwyneth Atlee, writing meticulously researched historical romances. Innocent Deceptions is based on the true story of a southern belle spy during the Civil War.

And just for fun, Thompson recently teamed up with a writing pal to create The Night Holds the Moon, an epic fantasy novel about a magic flute that falls into the hands of a rowdy young lady-in-waiting. The exercise in world building was a visit to her youth, in which she admits to playing Dungeons and Dragons -- between fencing, barrel racing and getting nerdishly good grades, of course.

Neal Pollack's indie novel JEWBALL picked up by Amazon's Thomas & Mercer imprint

2012-02-22T15:04:00.001-06:00

Excellent occasion to explain the meaning of "TAWANDA!" to Neal Pollack today with the breaking news that his indie-pubbed novel Jewball will be in print later this spring from Amazon's publishing arm, Thomas & Mercer.

The self-published paperback edition of Jewball will remain on sale till the end of March. The ebook is available on Kindle for just $4.99.

A bestselling satirist and memoirist, Pollack self-pubbed Jewball, his first novel, last year as the climate in NY made a risky reimagining of events surrounding a real life pre-WWII Jewish basketball team a tough sell. With the Nazi storm rising in Europe and fascism on the rise in America, point guard Inky Lautman and his teammates are on a quest to change history, which is exactly what the book does in a magnificently funny, poignant "Inglorious Basterds" kind of way.

In my review of Jewball last year, I wrote:"It's a smart, funny, thought-provoking mover/shaker of a novel. ...This high caliber of indie published fiction gives me hope for the future of American lit. Here's an author in the full presence of his craft, taking creative control and (sorry to mix sports metaphors) hitting it out of the park."

This is one of the books that convinced me to form The League of Extraordinary Authors. I'm incredibly proud to have been one of the early champions of excellent books like Jewball, Eric Coyote's The Long Drunk and Barbara Taylor Sissel's The Volunteer. Some of the best, bravest, riskiest fiction I've read in years. That's what we're all about.

Congratulations, Neal!

("Tawanda" comes from Fanny Flagg's Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. Book clubbers say "Tawanda!" like Charlie Sheen says "Winning!")

#Free4Kindle FINDING MARGO: a delicious trip to France

2012-02-22T00:00:00.000-06:00

Free on Kindle today and tomorrow: Susanne O'Leary's contemporary romance, Finding Margo, a full-of-surprises love story set in France.

O'Leary shares the backstory on the story:
"A few years ago, I was on holiday with my husband in France. It was the hottest summer for over a hundred years. I was reading the map, got it all wrong and we ended up driving for miles in the wrong direction. My husband blew his top (just as in the opening chapter) and there was a huge row.

"When we stopped at a motorway cafe while he refuelled the car, I went inside to have a cup of coffee while I waited for him to calm down. As I sat there, I toyed with the idea of just disappearing, stepping out of my life and into another one. If he had been the abusive husband in the story, I might have done just that. But he came into the cafe, called me nit-wit and then we had a good laugh.

"But the idea stayed with me and I though that, maybe, a lot of women might like the idea of escaping, of simply stepping out of their lives and start another one, and peel off all the labels we women have stuck on us. We're always someone's daughter, wife, sister, mother etc, and we have to answer so many other people's needs and be there for everybody.

"The idea of escape was so real to me then, as I thought about it and Margo was born in my mind very early on. Many women are, like Margo, dependent on their husbands both financially and emotionally and it takes great courage to break up from such a relationship."

Download Finding Margo free today and tomorrow!

#MustRead AN ACCIDENT WAITING TO HAPPEN

2012-02-21T00:00:00.000-06:00

I'm quickly becoming addicted to contemporary Brits who write intelligent, dryly witty fiction, and I'm delighted to add Adrian White to my list.

An Accident Waiting to Happen is like watching a man fall down a well and try to claw his way out. Gregory and Caitlin are doing their best to leave their emotional baggage behind and make a family for themselves and Caitlin's son Tomas, but after they receive a bit of devastating news, Caitlin suddenly disappears. Police suspect foul play and immediately focus on the most obvious person of interest: Gregory.

Over one shoulder, we watch the heartbreaking past unfold; over the other, we see time and trouble close in. With his avenues for help rapidly narrowing, Gregory struggles to care for Tomas and find Caitlin. Toward the end, I sat there with my heart in my throat, feeling every jolt like I was on the train right alongside them.

Highly recommended. If you loved Case Histories: A Novel (Jackson Brodie) or The Ninth Step, you'll love the tense undercurrent and emotional complexity of An Accident Waiting to Happen.

FINDING MARGO: a rocky road trip through modern love (and France!)

2012-02-20T00:00:00.000-06:00

"I can't read maps," says author Susanne O'Leary. "I have misdirected myself, my husband, the entire family and carloads of friends for years in several different countries. We have ended up miles from our planned destination, usually hungry, hot, tired, and sometimes out of petrol, far from a hotel or even a petrol station. I have seen my nearest and dearest look at me with murder on their minds."

An incident of momentary map confusion serves as the catalyst in O'Leary's novel, Finding Margo, a full-of-surprises love story set in France.

When the protagonist misreads a roadmap on a driving trip, her husband flies off the handle. No longer willing to take his verbal abuse, Margo slips away from him at a roadside café, hitches a ride with a woman truck driver and escapes into the French countryside, where she finds adventure, love and, ultimately, herself.

Download Finding Margo free on Kindle this weekend.

#StarredReview for Eric Coyote's THE LONG DRUNK

2012-02-19T23:00:00.000-06:00

Congratulations to Eric Coyote, who scored a starred Kirkus review for THE LONG DRUNK!

"A vagrant turned amateur sleuth investigates a murder in Coyote's debut novel. ...unshakable noir with a protagonist learning along the way, but beyond the more overt genre traits is a rewarding story of a man's unconditional love for his faithful companion."

The freebies are coming! #WatchThisSpace

2012-02-19T14:14:00.000-06:00

Check out our new Freebie box at the top of the sidebar on the right.

Every day, you'll find at least one great book you can download FREE on Kindle.

VOLUNTEER rockets up Kindle list in "aspirin between their knees" tweetstorm

2012-02-17T10:45:00.000-06:00

Author Barbara Taylor Sissel posted this timely item on her blog yesterday, relating some of the heart-wrenching stories she heard while researching her novel The Volunteer and found herself in a bit of a tweetstorm after the inflammatory "aspirin between their knees" comment by a Santorum backer brought the issue of birth control into raging debate.

"Regardless of our beliefs on the issues of premarital sex and pregnancy," says Sissel, "silence is not the answer. Neither is judgment against or consignment to hell. That was life before birth control."

Sissel, who has a talent for putting issues into powerful context (a la Picoult and Shreve), offered The Volunteer free on Kindle this weekend, and it rapidly rocketed to the Top 10 list on Amazon.

"Hush, don't tell." BT Sissel on life before #birthcontrol

2012-02-16T16:00:00.000-06:00

"Shannon was a class beauty. She was a homecoming queen nominee. But it was the Sixties; nice girls—class beauties, homecoming queens—didn’t get pregnant..."

In response to the recent political flap surrounding free access to birth control, author Barbara Taylor Sissel writes this timely post on her blog, relating some of the heart-wrenching stories she heard while researching her novel The Volunteer.

"Regardless of our beliefs on the issues of premarital sex and pregnancy," says Sissel, "silence is not the answer. Neither is judgment against or consignment to hell. That was life before birth control."

Sissel, who has a talent for putting issues into powerful context (a la Picoult and Shreve), is hoping to bring the message home, offering The Volunteer free on Kindle this weekend.

MILKSHAKE author J Weiss on problem-solving in pink

2012-02-15T02:00:00.000-06:00

This week, Boston Globe columnist Joanna Weiss examines the sexism and self-fulfilling prophesies being delivered to girls in flowery pink packaging.

Weiss observes, "figuring out what girls want is a matter of asking the right questions. A year ago, when the Girl Scout Research Institute embarked on a study of girls, math, and science, researchers expected to find a Lego Friends sort of world: girls drawn to cute and pretty stuff, who didn’t aspire to careers in science. Instead, the study’s results, which are being released today, upend those old assumptions."

Milkshake, Weiss' terrifically funny and incisive novel about political controversy surrounding a woman's right to breastfeed in public, is currently promo-priced at just $2.99 for Kindle.

Instant V-Day Gift: 10 THOUGHTS ABOUT LOVE ebook

2012-02-14T15:34:00.000-06:00

Don't panic! It'll take you less than 30 seconds to produce the perfect Valentine's Day gift for your favorite Kindle reader.

Orna Ross' poems are elegant, simple, powerful and profound. In Ten Thoughts About Love, an artist ignores what he is creating in his life; a woman survives genocide and its aftermath; an Irish wedding blessing is reworked: these poems from an acclaimed and bestselling novelist aim straight at the heart of what it is to know love.

5 #MustRead Love Stories that take you by surprise

2012-02-14T13:20:00.000-06:00

Great love stories resonate, no matter what genre you're reading. Here are a few of my recent favorites:

Love totally is having to say you're sorry.
The Ninth Step by Barbara Taylor Sissel

Those familiar with the 12-step philosophy recognize the 9th step as the tricky passage where a recovering addict must revisit the past, ask forgiveness and do his best to right the wrongs he's done. For Cotton O'Dell, this means finally confronting the fact that he destroyed the lives of two women. If you're a Jodi Picoult fan, you'll love the tapestry Sissel weaves, placing complex characters in an impossible situation.

Love as an adventure fantasy
The Night Hold the Moon by Colleen Thompson and Parke Roberts

An ancient instrument of unspeakable power, Lhant’s legendary Saireflute is meant to be played only as a ceremonial reminder of the Queen’s might, and to be handled only by a docile, well-trained virgin. An accident of fate (or magic) places it in the hands of a disgraced and disreputable young lady-in-waiting, setting in motion an epic tale of political intrigue and inconvenient passion. If you love getting lost in an alternate universe Game-of-Thrones-style, you'll appreciate the intricate world-building and witty dialogue.

Love that knows no bounds
The Book of Lost Fragrances by M.J. Rose

Haunted by memories infused with exotic scents, Jac L'Etoile inherits her family's storied French perfume company, along with painful reminders of her mother's suicide, the foundering company's financial problems and a foundation-shifting family secret. The unfolding story sweeps away boundaries that separate human souls, spanning continents and centuries. This high-voltage novel of suspense transcends genre, taking readers to that place book clubs exist for.

Love in the time of basketball
Jewball by Neal Pollack

The last thing I expected from sharp-tongued, gimlet-eyed satirist Neal Pollack was a sweetly sentimental love story, but he sneaks it in here. With Nazis at the gate and fast-paced action playing out on the basketball court, we're reminded that love happens. It's a plainspoken, endearing aspect to this novel that reimagines the history of a real life Jewish basketball league just prior to WWII. If you're a Pollack fan, you won't be disappointed; his acerbic wit and crusty observations are intact. If you haven't read Pollack, well, you should.

Love and other natural disasters
The Hurricane Lover by Joni Rodgers

A puff-piece reporter sets out to do a sordid little story about people who hook up online to have sex during hurricanes. She ends up in a deadly game of cat and mouse when she stumbles on the grittier reality: a con artist is using chaos in the storm's aftermath as cover for identity theft and murder. Set in the record-smashing hurricane season of 2005 (Katrina, Ophelia, Rita), the story puts two storm-crossed lovers in the middle of polarized politics, high-strung southern families and the worst disaster management goat screw in US history.

FRESH POWDER author Susanne O'Leary joins our merry crew

2012-02-13T14:11:00.000-06:00

I love the way our UK contingent is growing!

Susanne O'Leary is a critically acclaimed, Swedish-born, Dublin-dwelling author whose work reflects the international adventure of her life.

"I want to take the reader on an exciting journey, where the protagonists leave their environment to go to new places," says O'Leary, "sometimes even stepping out of their old life into a whole new one. You could say that the strongest 'theme' in my writing is that of escape."

Fresh Powder takes readers to a luxury chalet in the French Alps, where six people are thrown together by accident and stranded as snow (and inevitable drama) pile up around them.

Read an excerpt on the author's website.

Check out Susanne's book page in our bookstore.

INNOCENT DECEPTIONS is #1 Kindle historical

2012-02-12T15:39:00.000-06:00

Innocent Deceptions is currently ranking in the Top 10 on the Kindle free list -- #1 in historical fiction -- and the Kindle giveaway has been extended through Tuesday.

Colleen Thompson (writing as Gwyneth Atlee) was inspired by the true story of a Memphis belle-turned-Confederate spy who became engaged to multiple Union officers during her city's occupation.

"Love in a time of war is always a compelling theme, and Gwyneth Atlee uses it to her advantage in this complex, engrossing, beautifully written love story with characters who grab onto your heart and don't let go. This is a must read for fans of Civil War novels and anyone who loves a really gripping story..."--Cathy Maxwell, Romantic Times TOP PICK

INNOCENT DECEPTIONS #Free this weekend!

2012-02-10T02:00:00.000-06:00

Colleen Thompson's Innocent Deceptions is free on Kindle Friday now through Sunday.

Inspired by the true story of a Memphis belle-turned-Confederate spy who became engaged to multiple Union officers during her city's occupation, Innocent Deceptions explores what happens when she falls for the most dangerous man among them.

"The story has always been my favorite blend of history and imagination," says Thompson, who meticulously researched using period diaries and letters.

Innocent Deceptions was a Romantic Times Top Pick and Reviewer's Choice nominee.

Weiss on high FB anxiety: "We are all Winklevi."

2012-02-08T15:36:00.000-06:00

Always funny and incisive, Milkshake author Joanna Weiss weighs in on the phenomenon of Facebookfreude today in the Boston Globe.

Trailer for Sarah Stonich's gorgeous ICE CHORUS

2012-02-07T02:00:00.000-06:00

From Booklist:
"In this tender, elegantly told love story, Liselle flees her native Toronto for a small village on the coast of Ireland. As she slowly incorporates herself into the lives of the villagers, Liselle re-creates the circumstances surrounding the bitter breakup of her 18-year marriage. When she accompanied her workaholic husband on an archaeological dig in Mexico, she met Charlie, a gifted painter. Their intense affair prompts her realization of how she has avoided intimacy ever since she found her father dead and discovered that he had led a double life during her teen years. Although she is now aware of the many ways she has settled for less in her life and marriage, she is slow to act. Then Charlie mounts an art exhibit consisting of eight shockingly intimate portraits of her, forcing her to make a decision. Stonich effortlessly conjures multiple vivid settings and uncommonly interesting characters even as she moves seamlessly between the past and the present. A subtle, lovely evocation of the transforming power of love."

Sissel channels duMaurier in LAST INNOCENT HOUR

2012-02-06T02:00:00.000-06:00

Now PromoPriced at just $2.99 on Kindle (FREE with Kindle Select): Barbara Taylor Sissel's haunting first novel, The Last Innocent Hour.

Something twisted is stalking the Cunningham family. It lurks at the periphery of Beth's vision. Her husband Charlie can't help, if she could even remember him; he's doing time for a murder he didn't commit. The small child Beth was found with, whom she doesn't know either, was taken to foster care. There isn't much time now. If Beth doesn't recall the hideous events that stole her memory soon, the killer will strike again, and someone else will die.

"This is a plot worthy of Daphne du Maurier... a compelling tale of innocence lost." ~ Houston Chronicle

Joni Rodgers on the Real Susan G #Komen

2012-02-04T12:05:00.000-06:00

During the FB firestorm over Susan G Komen for the Cure cutting Planned Parenthood funding, author Joni Rodgers spoke out on her Girl with the Shakespeare Tattoo blog.

"I knew it wouldn't be popular to speak up for Nancy Brinker, but it killed me to see her getting personally bashed by people who don't know her and don't know what went on behind the scenes," says Rodgers, who spent 18 months working with Brinker on her memoir, Promise Me (Random House 2010).

"As a ghostwriter and book doctor," says Rodgers, "I've never had that level of open access with any other client. Not many people live their lives with the kind of integrity that stands up to that sort of scrutiny. Nancy does. She's the real deal."

Rodgers used letters and journals written by Suzy Komen from childhood until her death from breast cancer at age 36 to construct scenes and dialogue for the book.

"I didn't want to put words in Suzy's mouth. I wanted readers to hear her voice. This week, I heard a lot of 'Suzy would have said this' or 'Suzy wouldn't want that' from people who never met the real woman, who was compassionate and unassuming and fiercely protective of her sister - just as Nancy is fiercely protective of Suzy's name and memory. I just wish people would read the book and get to know the real story behind both these remarkable women."

Rodgers, who's taken heat for the lefty politics and eroticism in her novels, isn't one to shy away from controversy. Her latest novel, The Hurricane Lover, throws a conservative journalist and a liberal environmentalist together in the midst of Hurricane Katrina. Woven into the story are actual emails to and from FEMA director Michael Brown, which were later released via the Freedom of Information Act.

#PerfectWeekendRead: Dwight Okita's PROSPECT OF MY ARRIVAL

2012-02-03T11:14:00.000-06:00

This weekend only, Dwight Okita's wonderfully quirky The Prospect of My Arrival is promotion priced at $1.99.

From Joni Rodgers' Amazon review:

I loved this book. The premise is genius, and the beautiful writing totally delivered the goods. ..."Benjamin Button" meets "What Dreams May Come"...quirky and delicious. Like ice cream with bacon. But it's also profoundly uncomfortable in places. One moment two loving parents are tucking their child in under a magical lit up ferris wheel mural, the next moment something incredibly dark unfolds. ...What keeps you reading is the austerely lovely writing and a compulsion to find out what Prospect's decision will be when he's presented with the choice to live - or not - in this world that weaves magical realism with dystopian surrealism.

Exciting rights news for Melissa Foster's CHASING AMANDA

2012-02-03T02:00:00.000-06:00

Agent Jenny Bent has sold audio, Turkish and Russian rights for Melissa Foster's international bestseller and Pixel of Ink Top Ten 2011 pick, Chasing Amanda.

Haunted by memories and struggling to keep her marriage together, a young woman jeopardizes her precarious normal life to follow her deepest instincts and help and abducted child.

"I tend to write about my worst fears," says Foster, "and as you will read, this touched on the one that scares me the most."

Neal Pollack heads SXSW panel on Self-Publishing

2012-02-02T02:00:00.000-06:00

Jewball author Neal Pollack, along with panel members Carolyn Kellogg, Joni Rodgers and Marty Beckerman, will discuss "Self-Publishing: A Revolution for Midlist Authors" at SXSW, Monday, March 12 at 5 PM at the Sheraton Austin.

Self-publishing's moment has arrived. Authors both famous and obscure are releasing their own ebooks,cutting out the middleman, bypassing the gatekeepers of a notoriously hard-to-break-into industry, and sometimes making huge profits. But it's midlist authors, established but not bestselling, who stand to benefit the most from the self-publishing boom.

This panel, comprised of already-published authors who are either trying to or intending to self-publish, will examine the benefits, pitfalls, and potential of self-publishing, and will point the way toward a new self-reliant digital future for book writers.

AFTER THE RISING author Orna Ross on creative intelligence vs conventional intelligence

2012-02-01T15:00:00.000-06:00

I'm feeling completely energized after a transatlantic coffee Skype with Orna Ross, author of After the Rising, a sweeping, multigenerational tale set in 1920s and 1990s Ireland that explores the conflict between freedom and belonging.

What initially got me interested was Orna's smart and insightful compare/contrast of conventional and creative intelligence. The point I found particularly relevant to publishing: "Conventional intelligence reasons and critiques; creative intelligence absorbs and explores."

Sarah Stonich's SHELTER now on Kindle

2012-01-30T18:01:00.000-06:00

On sale this week, Shelter by Sarah Stonich, internationally acclaimed author of The Ice Chorus and These Granite Islands. Stonich recalls stories of her relatives, meets admirable and remarkable characters in the community, considers another go at love, and, finally, builds a small cabin. But when "progress" threatens to slice her precious patch of land in half, she must come to terms with the fact that a family legacy is no less valuable with or without a piece of earth.

"How do we value the land? Through the story of her tiny cabin in the woods, Sarah Stonich suggests--even as dark clouds of something other than bad weather gather above her cherished ridge--that the truest sense of place may be found not on the ground but in our hearts." ~ Michael Perry, author of Population: 485, Truck: A Love Story, and Coop: A Family, a Farm, and the Pursuit of One Good Egg

Joni Rodgers' SUGARLAND is #1 literary fiction download

2012-01-30T02:00:00.000-06:00

Sugarland, Joni Rodgers' suburban Texas retelling of the Psyche and Eros myth, is currently the #1 download in free literary fiction on Kindle! Free for one more day!

#FreeKindleBook It's m'birthday!

2012-01-29T10:06:00.000-06:00

Celebrating my birthday and the 50th anniversary of Patsy Cline's "Crazy" today! Download my firstborn novel, Crazy For Trying, FREE on Kindle.

Colleen Thompson's Touched By Fire: #FreeKindleBook today!

2012-01-28T17:37:00.000-06:00

Free on Kindle today: Touched by Fire by Colleen Thompson (writing as Gwyneth Atlee), a searing (pardon the pun) and suspenseful historical romance backdropped by the Great Peshtigo Fire in 1871.

At this moment, it's the #1 historical romance download with unanimous 5 star reviews.

BT Sissel's NINTH STEP gaining traction and 5 star reviews

2012-01-28T09:58:00.000-06:00

The Ninth Step, Barbara Taylor Sissel's suspenseful family drama about a recovering alcoholic whose quest for redemption goes horribly sideways, is still selling strong after last weekend's give away promotion. The rest of the reading world seems to be discovering what I've known for years: this is fantastically talented author who brings real heart, gut and grit to a great story.

Still bargain priced at $2.99, by the way.

Joni Rodgers' CRAZY FOR TRYING free on Kindle this weekend

2012-01-27T08:34:00.000-06:00

Celebrating my birthday and the 50th anniversary of Patsy Cline's "Crazy" this weekend. My firstborn novel, Crazy For Trying, is FREE through Sunday! The song and I were both born on January 29, 1962.

"Jane Eyre with rock and roll." Houston Press

"A fresh pleasure... unconventional love scenes scorch the pages." Orlando Sentinel

Neal Pollack gets some props from Christian Bauman

2012-01-26T10:21:00.000-06:00

Terrific post about about Jewball author Neal Pollack on Christian Bauman's blog this week.

Quoth he:

Neal and I were both rabble-rousing back then, and Atrios often hosted our individual rants. As one of very very few pissed-off writers back then who had actually been to war, I was skeptical of everyone. Neal took about two sentences of Neal Prose to win me over. Neal was a god when those of us in our generation who write needed a god. He was an organic god, real and smelly and not something you would bring home to meet the folks, so to speak. He wasn't presented to us by the Times or the Guardian or the New Yorker, he made no best seller list, there was nothing sanitized about him.

I'm a fan, too. Loved Jewball, and I'm jazzed about appearing on Pollack's indie publishing panel at SXSW in March.

Sarah Stonich in Winter Jackets Reading Series

2012-01-25T17:13:00.000-06:00

Rum River Library patrons are invited to submit book reviews to win prizes* and meet Minnesota authors in the Winter Jackets Reading series. This Saturday: Sarah Stonich, author of The Ice Chorus.

(*Submit reviews to win a FREE Kindle from Stella Link Books. Go here for details: #ReadReviewWIN!)

MILKSHAKE author Joanna Weiss waxes hilarious on the topic of political ads

2012-01-24T15:54:00.000-06:00

Terrific call out of the political ad machines by Boston Globe columnist Joanna Weiss. This is the same witty take on political process that made me love Joanna's debut novel Milkshake.

Don't miss this lovely story by Mylène Dressler

2012-01-23T13:06:00.000-06:00

Mylène Dressler has been one of my favorite authors since I read her gorgeous novel, The Deadwood Beetle. She writes like a dancer: grace and lyricism combined with serious craft skill.

Don't miss her latest post on American Stories NOW.

THE HURRICANE LOVER featured on Kindle Nation Daily

2012-01-22T10:54:00.000-06:00

Incredibly excited about the official launch campaign for The Hurricane Lover, starting today with a nice big fat plug on Kindle Nation Daily.

MJ Rose and Barbara Taylor Sissel grab top two spots on #FREE Kindle Suspense list

2012-01-21T01:13:00.001-06:00

M.J. Rose's The Delilah Complex and The Ninth Step by Barbara Taylor Sissel are currently available for free on Amazon.

MJ's edgy Butterfly Institute thriller is at #1 in the suspense category, and Bobbi's intense drama about a quest for redemption gone wrong is a close second.

Dwight Okita's PROSPECT OF MY ARRIVAL is picking up buzz

2012-01-19T02:41:00.000-06:00

I'm hearing some healthy subright rumors about one of my favorite reads of 2011: Dwight Okita's strange and wonderful The Prospect of My Arrival. I loved this book. The premise is genius, and the beautiful writing totally delivered the goods.

Interview with Joanna Weiss on Mom's Own Words blog

2012-01-17T09:03:00.000-06:00

Boston Globe columnist Joanna Weiss shares some backstory on her debut novel Milkshake, a political send-up on the touchy subject of breastfeeding in public:

It started with my own experience when my daughter, who’s now 7, was an infant. Breastfeeding was much harder and more fraught than I’d expected, though I did it for a year (while giving her formula, too). And when I wrote an essay for the Globe, suggesting that some moderation was in order, I was stunned by the response. A lot of mothers wrote to thank me, but a lot of lactation advocates were very angry. As a journalist, I know that conflict makes a good story.

Read the rest.

Buy the book.

Eric Coyote's THE LONG DRUNK "highly recommended" by Book A Day

2012-01-12T03:02:00.000-06:00

"Although the story nominally revolves around Murph's attempt to solve a murder and get the reward money, it's the characters and their lives, in all their seamy glory, that make this novel so compelling. The social critique inherent in the contrast between the homeless and the wealthy denizens of Venice propels The Long Drunk into the realm of the extraordinary. Highly recommended for adults only."

Read the full review.

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2012-01-01T17:41:00.000-06:00

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