My latest short story, “The Saffron Curse,” is among a bunch of excellent stories (even if I do say so myself) in the latest issue of On Spec: The Canadian Magazine of the Fantastic. I just received my copies and am very proud to be included with these writers, especially Robin Carson!
I have no idea where the idea for Saffron came from, but it was a lot of fun to write!
On August 18, I’ll be part of a panel discussion at Bolen Books, in Victoria, with Liz Freeland, 
Janice MacDonald and LAURIE R. KING!!! No, I’m not excited. 🙂
The panel will be moderated by the wonderful S.G. Wong and the topic is Author Alchemy: Spinning Facts into Fiction Gold.
The panel comes at the end of the Sisters in Crime Canada West Writers Retreat, which takes place that same day. The panel is scheduled from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. and the doors open at 6:30 p.m.
BOLEN BOOKS is at #111 – 1644 Hillside Ave., Victoria, BC
Come join us!
The Sci-Fi Stories — Space Opera Mashup anthology is now available for sale everywhere ebooks are sold. And next week, the print version will be available, too! Mashup includes 10 space opera short stories:
“Murder on Marawa Prime” by Vonnie Winslow Crist
“Astromancer” by Debbie Mumford
“One Universe is Never Enough” by Mary Jo Rabe
“A Little Old Fashioned” by Rita Schulz
“Funeral Sails” by Scott T. Barnes
“Station OSCX-9” by Marcelle Dubé
“GENIE and the LAMP” by Steph Bennion
“Runaway” by Barbara G.Tarn
“Seeking Sky” by Jennifer R. Baumer
“Final Chapter” by Randy Tatano
I’m quite pleased that my story, “Station OSCX-9,” (one of my few SF stories — let alone space opera!) is in such good company!
You can get your copy for only $4.99 at http://books2read.com/u/4AY5XN
Hallelujah.
It’s done. Finished. Wrapped up.
Well, okay, only the first draft, but still, it has THE END actually written down.
Plague Year is the second in my A’lle Chronicles Mystery series and it’s been five years in the writing. Not that it actually took five years to write, you understand. I started it five years ago. In between then and now, I wrote four novels (The Untethered Woman, The Forsaken Man, Shelter, Ghosts of Morocco) and ten short stories. So I’ve been busy. But still… five years is a long time to have characters waiting impatiently for you to get back to them.
To the left is the draft cover for Plague Year, though it may change before publication. I’ll announce here when Plague Year is available for pre-order. And, in case you’re curious, here’s the cover for the first in the series, Backli’s Ford. Here’s the write up for Backli’s Ford:
In the early 18th century, an A’lle generation ship crashed in the woods of Lower Canada. Survivors stumbled out of the wreckage to find French settlers working the land. While many of the colonists sheltered the injured A’lle, some reacted with fear and loathing. Two centuries later, nothing much has changed.
This is the world Constance A’lle, first A’lle investigator for Lower Canada, must deal with when she investigates the beating death of an A’lle boy in the small village of Backli’s Ford.
Set in 1911, Backli’s Ford follows Constance as she survives an ambush that would have killed a human, fights prejudice in the constabulary, and discovers a terrible secret that risks destroying the delicate balance that has endured for two centuries between A’lle and humans.
Now to get going on revisions…
Backli’s Ford links:
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2ISf6ah
Kobo: https://bit.ly/2xlYmTi
The Canada West chapter of Sisters in Crime is organizing a one-day retreat in Victoria, B.C. on August 18. There will be five presentations for mystery/crime writers, including one by Laurie R. King, famous for the Kate Martinelli series, the Stuyvesant & Grey series and the Russell & Holmes series. I’m very excited to attend and look forward to meeting Ms. King!
Interested? See here.
The lovely Sherry D. Ramsey, curator of Short Flights of the Imagination (https://bit.ly/2GglIhd), interviews me today about my short story (Chimere) in the bundle https://bit.ly/2GgXhMt. I ramble on about series, process, and current and upcoming stories. Thanks, Sherry!
Here’s the table of contents:
Watcher Ghost by Linda Maye Adams
In Search of the Perfect Cup by Russ Crossley
Chimere by Marcelle Dube
Finder by Michael Jasper
The Bear in the Cable-Knit Sweater by Robert Jeschonek
Unsafe, Unsound by Kate MacLeod
Ghosting by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Moon Spell by Rita Schulz
By Her Hand, She Draws You Down by Douglas Smith
The Librarian by Blaze Ward
And some package deals (collections!):
One Horn to Rule Them All by Lisa Mangum
The Cache and Other Stories by Sherry D. Ramsey
Decision Points by Bryan Thomas Schmidt (ed.)
Bad Ends by Rebecca Senese
S, F & H by Harvey Stanbrough
A fine collection for anyone who loves short fiction!
Beauty and Wickedness, the first volume in the Ever After Fairy Tales series, edited by Jamie Ferguson, is now available everywhere ebooks are sold: http://books2read.com/beauty-and-wickedness
Even in this modern world, the heart still recognizes the power and mystery to be found in a fairy tale.
In Beauty and Wickedness, sixteen authors retell and reimagine some of the most enchanting fairy tales ever told. Within these pages, you’ll find beauty and treachery, magic and courage, innocence and wickedness…and at least some happy endings. And I am stoked to be in a table of contents with so many fine writers:
Troll Country by MARCELLE DUBÉ
Ricardo del Penacho by DIANA BENEDICT
Doctor Rudolfo Knows All by DEANNA KNIPPLING
The Red Boots by LEAH CUTTER
A Froth of Starry Sea Foam by REI ROSENQUIST
The Nests of Old Women by KAREN L. ABRAHAMSON
Ilsa and the Dragon by JAMIE FERGUSON
Red in the Hood by REBECCA M. SENESE
Bye Bye, Daddy by LOUISA SWANN
The True Bride by LINDA JORDAN
Faery Beautiful by DEB LOGAN
On the Edge of Faerie by STEFON MEARS
The Strangeness of the Day by KRISTINE KATHRYN RUSCH
Oroflex (Patent Pending) by DAYLE A. DERMATIS
Marriage of Convenience by LEIGH SAUNDERS
Thorn and Thimble by BRIGID COLLINS
Specific buy links:
A.L. Butcher, curator of The Spring Surprise bundle from BundleRabbit, has posted a character interview with Kate Williams, the hero of my Mendenhall Mystery series. The interview is on the Library of Erana blog here.
In this mixed-genre bundle, 11 tales of hope, fresh beginnings and emerging dreams, dangerous new lives and daring schemes awaken the springtime in us all.The bundle is available for March, April and May only, for $3.99.
If you like detective fiction, here’s a great deal. The Gumshoes Redux bundle from BundleRabbit offers 13 novels and one short story featuring “[a]mateur sleuths, women and men, willing to put themselves on the line to solve a crime or even a murder, police detectives working the case following the clues seeking justice for the victim, private investigators hired to solve a crime. Whether they be amateurs or professionals they all seek the same result, to make the world right once again and bring to justice those who threaten us all. These 14 writers invite you along for the ride to mystery and adventure. We hope you enjoy these stories and seek more books by these talented authors.”
Curated by Russ Crossley, Gumshoes Redux features stories by K.L. Abrahamson, Robert Jeschonek, Kevin J. Anderson, Rebecca Senese, Dean Wesley Smith, Harvey Stanbrough, Sherry D. Ramsey, Rita Schulz, Eugene Lloyd MacRae, Alison Naomi Holt, Michael Kowal, Russ Crossley, and me.
The bundle is available at BundleRabbit and everywhere ebooks are sold for $4.99. A great deal.
I’m so very pleased to be part of this new anthology edited by Jamie Ferguson. It features 19 tales of faeries and magic at Midwinter.
On the day of the shortened sun
A battle between two kings has begun.
The old year dies, and the Oak King rules
We celebrate with logs of Yule!
But the Holly King is defeated, not dead
To Caer Arianrhod he heads.
Until Midsummer, when they battle again
And the Holly King will once again reign…
It features “Midwinter Run,” my brand new short story, plus stories by Dalye A. Dermatis, Diana Benedict, Leah Cutter, Leslie Claire Walker, Eric Kent Edstrom, Ron Collins, Rei Rosenquist, Karen L. Abrahamson, Deanna Knippling, Anthea Sharp, Deb Logan, T. Thorn Coyle, Jamie Ferguson, Kristine Katherine Rusch, Rebecca Senese, Stefon Mears, Brigid Collins and Alexandra Brandt.
All that, and a gorgeous cover, too!