FREE CHRISTMAS SHORT STORY

In the spirit of the season, I’ve made my romantic Christmas short story, A Yukon Christmas, free for the month of December. You can find it here: https://books2read.com/u/bPdDrb

After her 20-year marriage ends, Beatrice finds herself in a cabin in the Yukon. For the first time in a long time, she’s happy. Or she would be, if her attractive neighbor and landlord, Henry Pekarik, didn’t try to help her quite so much.

And if you’re really in the Christmas mood, I have other short stories:

McKell’s Christmas: https://books2read.com/u/brWJ8w

Deputy Chief Rob McKell doesn’t trust Christmas. Bad guys don’t take time off during the holidays so why should he? Then the lovely Jillian, a gemologist with an independent streak, invites him to dinner on Christmas Eve for the all-important meeting of her friends. Soon, he starts to revise his feelings about the holiday—and his fear of long-term commitment. But before the evening ends, Jillian’s dangerous past will rear up to prove that Christmas is no time to let his guard down.

Trepalli’s Christmas: https://books2read.com/u/m2vDp7

It’s Christmas eve day and Constable Marco Trepalli of the Mendenhall Police Department can’t wait to be off shift. He’s planning a big surprise for his girlfriend, Amanda. Something special. Something romantic.

Then a kid doesn’t return home after sledding and Trepalli forgets all about his plans in the mad scramble to mobilize search parties and interview the kid’s friends. And as hour after hour slips by with no sign of the boy, Trepalli braces himself for what could turn into the worst Christmas ever… for him and the kid’s family.

Running Away from Christmas: https://books2read.com/u/b6Z7LZ

When Faith decides to escape Christmas and her friends’ matchmaking efforts by spending the holiday alone in the big city, she never expects to find Christmas waiting there for her.

Christmas Magic (collection): https://books2read.com/u/mVA2p3

In Christmas Magic, Marcelle Dubé sweeps the reader into cozy worlds of Christmas snow, wood stoves, and new romance… with a little mayhem thrown in. A collection of three romantic Christmas short stories (McKell’s Christmas, A Yukon Christmas and Running Away from Christmas) by the author of The Shoeless Kid and Ghosts of Morocco.

And a good time was had by all

Last weekend’s book sale at Fort Macleod was a blast. We were in the Ft. Macleod library, hosted by the most wonderful librarians, ever (I’m looking at you, Susan!). The library was buzzing with activity, including a chili fundraiser (I forget for what now). You bought a small pottery piece donated by local potters and got a bowl of delicious chili, too! I got a beautiful little vase, round like an ancient Venus. People flowed in and flowed out–to pick up books, get some free hot chocolate, use the washrooms… and they all stopped to visit with us (and have some candy). Then the place emptied out because the Santa Claus parade was going by on the street!

My first Santa parade in decades and it was wonderful. School bands from all around the area participated, great floats, lots of candy tossing. Apparently a man riding a bison was at the front of the parade but I never saw him. I did see a bunch of antlers going by from my vantage point in the library. I presume they were attached to reindeer…

Ft Macleod is a happening place. Every building was decorated for the season and there were craft fairs going on at the same time. Hundreds of people came for the parade and stayed for the chili. What a blast. Here’s a photo of the five of us at our table: Lorraine “Lorrie” Morales, me, Laurie Carmichael, JT Conners and Marcia Laycock.

Off to Fort Macleod!

On Saturday, Nov. 26, I’ll be at the Fort MacLeod Library (264 24 St. in Ft Macleod, Alberta) from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for a mini book fair with Lorraine (Lorrie) Morales, Laurie Carmichael, Marcia Laycock and Jantina Herrick (J.T. Conners). The Santa Claus parade will pass right in front of the library, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. And it’s going to be warm! Join us for some early Christmas shopping.

If you’re wondering about the readings at Owl’s Nest Books on Nov. 22, the whole evening was a lot of fun. The good folks at Owl’s Nest do a wonderful job of hosting these events and the readings were excellent. Here’s a photo, taken by my friend, Karen Keeley (a fabulous writer, by the way):

If you’re in the Okotoks area…

…then do come to the Indie Author Book Fair, in honour of National Authors Day.

WHEN: Saturday, November 5 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

WHERE: Okotoks Public Library (23 Riverside Dr.)

Thirteen local authors will be reading from their books: a variety of children’s, non-fiction and fiction. And their books will be for sale–just in time for Christmas!

I’ll be reading from my latest book, Identitty Withheld. For more info: okwriters22@admin

And if you’re wondering how the launch of Crime Wave: Women of a Certain Age went, well it went swimmingly! (Never really understood that expression but it seems to fit here…) The book is now available everywhere: https://books2read.com/u/4DPKaP.

And if you feel left out for missing the launch, you can see it here:https://youtu.be/Qhn9S12LfsI

WHEN WORDS COLLIDE 2022

This summer, not only am I attending When Words Collide, I’m participating on two crime fiction panels:

Friday, August 12 at 5 p.m. Mountain time, I’ll be a panelist on Western Voices Hitting the Shelves.

Saturday, August 13 at 3 p.m. Mountain time, I’ll be chatting with other panelists about Running the Obstacle Course–all about the external and internal obstacles that keep us from writing.

Do join us. It’s free but you must register. Go to www.whenwordscollide.org/ for information on how to register, programming, merchants table, etc. It’s going to be a blast!

Here’s how the organizers describe WWC: “The festival is designed to bring readers and writers together in a celebration of the written word. Up to 10 tracks of programming, beginning at 1 PM on Friday and running through 5 PM Sunday, offer informational, educational, and social activities covering a wide spectrum of literature including Mystery, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, Historical, Literary, Script-writing, Poetry, Comics, and Non-fiction.”

The A’lle Mutation in a new StoryBundle

The 2022 Aliens Among Us StoryBundle, curated by Dean Wesley Smith is now up! It includes eight novels, one anthology and one collection, including my A’lle Chronicles mystery, The A’lle Mutation (previously called Epidemic):

Two months after the events in Backli’s Ford, Constance A’lle, first A’lle investigator for Lower Canada, and Chief Investigator Desautel still haven’t identified the cabal responsible for the kidnapping and murder of so many A’lle.

While they pursue their investigation in Montreal, Constance is sidetracked by family and the threat of an epidemic—an epidemic for which the immune A’lle might be responsible, intensifying the already simmering human resentment against the A’lle.

Here’s what Dean has to say about The A’lle Mutation:

“In The A’lle Mutation, award-winning writer Marcelle Dube gives us an amazing place in Canada set in 1912 when an alien ship crashes and the humans and the aliens must learn to work and live together. This book gets you thinking almost from page one and won’t let you put it down. Stunning story.”

The other writers are: Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Kari Kilgore, Rebecca Senese, Robin Brande, Cameron Cooper, Robert Jeschonek, Raymond Eich, Dean Wesley Smith, and the writers from the Pulphouse anthology, Aliens Among Us.

These story bundles are a fantastic deal: $5 for the first four books, or $20 for all ten. That’s $2/book. What a great opportunity to discover new-to-you authors. Read more about it here: https://storybundle.com/aliens

The Wronged Woman

My sixth (and maybe last) Mendenhall Mystery, The Wronged Woman, is now available for pre-order. It will launch on January 30, 2022. Here’s the blurb:

In less than a week, Chief of Police Kate Williams’ constable, Marco Trepalli, and her niece Amanda will marry. Before then, however, the two families will swoop down on Mendenhall and disrupt Kate’s quiet life.

The people, the noise, the inescapable chaos… Why couldn’t they just elope?

The discovery of a murdered woman in a canola field almost comes as a relief.

But it’s short-lived relief, because now Kate must investigate who killed the young woman while navigating the dynamics of both families. Not to mention the craziness that comes with weddings.

Then one of her constables becomes a suspect in the murder and things get even more complicated.

The sixth in the Mendenhall Mystery series, The Wronged Woman plunges readers into Mendenhall Chief of Police Kate Williams’ hectic life as she deals with an upcoming wedding and a murder that hits too close to home.

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