Time Travel Holidays: A Holiday Anthology, which includes my short story “Training Run,” is set to go live on November 3, wherever ebooks are sold. That said, the anthology is also included as a stretch reward in WMG Publishing‘s Kickstarter for The Holiday Spectacular.
This is how it works: Every day from November 23 to January 1, backers will receive one holiday-themed short story… a kind of fictional Advent calendar. Those who back it for a bit more will receive their choice of a number of excellent anthologies, including Time Travel Holidays. Check out the Kickstarter here.
You have until November 2 to take advantage of this great deal!.
The Foothills Writers Group is having its annual book fair, featuring southern Alberta writers, at the Okotoks Public Library this Saturday, October 14, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
I’ll be sharing a table with Wendy Portfors and a number of my titles will be available, including my latest short story collection, A Little Strangeness.
If you’re in the area, drop by for a visit and a chance to do some early Christmas shopping!
I’m pleased to report that my local bookstore, Margins Bookstore in High River, is carrying six of my books: The Shoeless Kid (#1 in a mystery series), Ghosts of Morocco (suspense), Identity Withheld (suspense), The A’lle Murders and The A’lle Mutation (first two in a SF/Alternate History/Mystery series) and A Little Strangeness (a collection fantasy short stories).
So, in answer to local folks who have asked, why yes, my books are available locally.
I spent July and August in Montreal, looking after an injured family member. She has recovered nicely but I haven’t. I think Quebec was trying to kill me with heat and humidity…
So I didn’t get much writing done. I did have a story accepted by Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine (“The Boy”) but I don’t know when it will appear. And “Getting Back into Heaven” is due to be published in Black Cat Mystery Magazine before the end of the year.
I may not have fresh news of my own but my friend, Charlotte Morganti, is releasing The End Game, the first in her D.S. Gabrieli mystery series. I’ve read this novel (twice) and highly recommend it. If you’re anywhere in the vicinity of Gibsons, B.C. on Friday, September 15, drop into the Gibsons Public Art Gallery from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. Pacific for the official launch. You can also buy The End Game here https://books2read.com/u/mVeKq5.
You can visit her web site at https://charlottemorganti.com/ and while you’re there, sign up for her always amusing newsletter.
Here’s the write-up:
Some promises are killers to keep.
Private investigator D.S. Gabrieli can name a hundred places he’d rather visit than Cheakamus, British Columbia. But a promise is a promise. The trip should be a cameo: check in, attend a christening, check out. Two days max. What could go wrong in two days?
When a burned body is discovered at a sabotaged mine site near the small town, and police finger his kid brother as their prime suspect, Gabe realizes he’s not getting out of Cheakamus quickly, or easily. His battle to save his recalcitrant brother’s neck pits Gabe against deceptive locals, a mountain’s secrets, and a cunning killer who ultimately threatens to destroy all Gabe cares about, and pushes him to his breaking point.
What can go wrong in two days? Everything.
I am so looking forward to the next in the series!
In my mind, I sound like Kathleen Turner. In reality, it turns out I sound like I’m high on helium. It always shocks me when I hear my recorded voice. If I was going to have such a high-pitched voice, couldn’t I have been a singer…?
Last week, Logan Coutts of Eagle 100.9 in Okotoks, Alberta, interviewed me and Laurie Carmichael as part of his series on Foothills writers. Laurie, a fine, fine writer, was representing the Foothills Writers Group. Logan is the charming, funny and welcoming host of the morning show on Eagle 100.9.
I’m pleased to announce that my new short story collection, A Little Strangeness, will release on April 15, 2023. It features 14 of my stranger short stories:
A woman whose talent is the ability to find her way whenever—or wherever—she gets lost; a veteran who returns from the war with strange new powers; a midwife who receives help…
…from an unexpected source; a lonely woman who finds her purpose in an old photograph; Fey ironworkers who build a bridge to freedom; a young woman who inherits a fierce and dangerous guardian; an amulet designer dealing with evil in an alternate Belgium; a grieving woman whose airship crashes in the Yukon; a creature who lives in the Arctic Ocean; a woman confronted with a maiden, a mother and a crone; two Yukon women who battle a otherworldly creature; a daughter who bargains with the Fey for her father’s life; a chef and his partner who must deal with unexpected guests; and a trio of sisters whose terrifying past suddenly returns for them.
A Little Strangeness is available now for pre-order: https://books2read.com/u/3nDjeB
Well, the Kickstarter for Thrill Ride the Magazine funded, and I forgot to update here. What can I say? It’s been busy. Backers pledged over $7,800 USD ($10,600 CAD), so the first year is assured. Thanks to all of you who backed this new enterprise by Matt Buchman. I’m looking forward to getting my first issue!
Matt Buchman, who writes very popular action adventure thrillers, is launching Thrill Ride the Magazine, via Kickstarter from Feb. 7 to 21.
As the title indicates, the magazine will focus on action adventure. He’s already filled the first four issues, a year’s worth, with short stories by excellent writers. My own story, “Sins of the Past,” will appear in the Betrayal issue.
If the Kickstarter funds.
If you’re not familiar with Kickstarter, it’s a site where creative people (like writers) can set up campaigns to share their visions. Then interested communities come together to fund these projects. There are all kinds of perks that come with funding a Kickstarter campaign—for instance, free short stories (I donated “Cold Wave,” my award-winning short story) and novels to sweeten the pot. But only if the Kickstarter funds.
DECEMBER 17, 2022 UPDATE: I have taken down “Training Run,” as my contract allowed me to keep up for one week only.
December 10, 2022: Today, my short story “Training Run” is the feature story in the WMG Holiday Spectacular. I will post the story here for one week–on December 17, it comes down. The Holiday Spectacular is a calendar of short stories, one a day, from American Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day, delivered directly to your inbox. One a day for 39 days! It’s not too late to subscribe and get all the stories emailed to you. Just visit https://wmgpublishinginc.com/project/spectacular/.
Kristine Kathryn Rusch, who edits the Holiday Spectacular, says of my story:
“Marcelle Dubé writes great atmospheric mysteries, sometimes venturing into Gothic territory. Her work has finally caught the attention of the Crime Writers of her native Canada. They gave her short story, “Cold Wave,” the award of excellence in the short fiction category in 2021, and shortlisted her novella, “Identity Withheld,” for the novella category of the same award just this year.
“Her stories appear everywhere, including Black Cat Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Crime Wave, and many other publications. She has also written a number of novels. Her most recent, The Wronged Woman, just came out in January. Find out more about her work at marcellemdube.com.
“So now that I’ve told you all about her mysteries, I’m going to tell you that “Training Run” isn’t mystery at all. It’s a time travel story, but it does have crime and a haunting sense of wrong at its heart.
“It’s a powerful tale about truth and lies, history and family. And it’s set in Quebec on one very snowy Christmas Eve.”
