Thursday, March 31, 2022

Get Ready... Goodreads Giveaway Coming!

That's right, if you're on Goodreads, in just days you'll have the chance to enter my giveaway of ten advance reader copies of In Search of the Magic Theater! The giveaway will run till the beginning of May, so sign up for a chance to win your copy.

Wednesday, March 30, 2022

Death on the Set

Canadian author Rose Kerr's 2022 Debut mystery Death on the Set is a cozy launching March 29th. It's the first in a planned series featuring Brenna Flynn, a recent widow who has also lost her job and takes a new job on a cooking reality show... where she discovers a body in the studio.

Tuesday, March 29, 2022

Cheddar Off Dead

Korina Moss's 2022 Debut mystery Cheddar Off Dead features a Sonoma Valley cheese shop and a nasty critic who's apparently better of dead. If you're fond of cheese and mysteries (sounds like me), you probably don't want to miss this one...

Monday, March 28, 2022

Still Available for Review on NetGalley!

Authors in the age of social media often find outselves feeling a little like the proverbial broken record as we keep mentioning our books. But it isn't (usually) because we're vain or can't think about anything else. In today's hyper-saturated publishing world, where far more books than ever before are published, it's simply necessary for us to do everything we can think of to bring our books to the attention of potential readers. Our publishers do some of that work (if we're lucky), but they generally have quite a few books to publicize all at once.

And so, once again, let me point out that my novel In Search of the Magic Theater--a tale of music, theater, generational tensions, strong women, and a bit of romance--is currently available for pre-publication review on NetGalley. Reviews that appear prior to publication, whether in Publisher's Weekly, Kirkus, NetGalley, Goodreads, or elsewhere, help readers learn about books they may be interested in, which encourages pre-orders, which encourages more support from publishers.

If you read and review via NetGalley, this post is for you!

Saturday, March 26, 2022

And a Good Time Was Had...

The Barnes & Noble at Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia, welcomed Regal House authors with a great window display and proved an enthusiastic host of our two nights of readings. Hoping that we can do something similar to coincide with next year's AWP conference when my own novel is out!

Thursday, March 24, 2022

Regal House Authors Read in Philadelphia March 24 & 25th

If you're in Philadelphia for the AWP conference--or just happen to be in the area--please join the Regal House authors Thursday and/or Friday for two evenings of celebration of our books at the Rittenhouse Square Barnes & Noble. We are featuring readings by those whose books are already out, while those (like me) whose books are on the verge of publication will be helping out and also handing out info on our own books. We'll be at the store from 5:30 to 7:30!

Please consider pre-ordering my forthcoming novel In Search of the Magic Theater, ideally directly from Regal House. It's also currently available for review through NetGalley.

Wednesday, March 23, 2022

Disorientation

Elaine Hsieh Chou's satirical 2022 Debut novel Disorientation, launching March 22, follows Taiwanese American PhD student Ingrid Yang through a wild series of adventures and misadventures after she discovers a curious note in the archives. Things get wilder and wilder as she confronts her sticky relationship to white men and white institutions and, of course, herself.

Tuesday, March 22, 2022

The Girl Beyond the Gate

British author Becca Day's 2022 Debut The Girl Beyond the Gate is a psychological thriller launching March 22nd. Jodie Madison moves to a gated community to make a fresh start (hmmm... what is she hiding?) and finds herself alarmingly drawn to a strange neighbor and the neighbor's terminally ill daughter. Soon there's a murder in the community... what are the secrets we'll discover about both women?

Monday, March 21, 2022

Trevor

The 2022 suspense debut Trevor, by S. Hilbre Thomson, launches March 21 and tells the tale of a bereaved man who comes across his late son’s doppelgänger, and becomes obsessed and begins stalking him.

Sunday, March 20, 2022

AWP Is This Week!

I'm looking forward to going to the AWP (Association of Writers & Writing Programs) conference this week, never mind that I've never attended nor taught in a writing program. It's a huge event filled with panels, readings, external events, and a vast book fair, and this year it'll be in Philadelphia (last year it was remote, of course).

One of the most exciting aspects of the conference for me this year is that I'll be joining with quite a few other Regal House authors to do two evenings of celebration of our books at the local Barnes & Noble. We are featuring readings by those whose books are already out, while those (like me) whose books are on the verge of publication will be helping out and also handing out info on our own books. If you'll be in Philadelphia on Thursday or Friday, please come by and see us from 5:30 to 7:30!

Meanwhile, of course, please do consider pre-ordering In Search of the Magic Theater, and it's also available for review on NetGalley right now.

Wednesday, March 16, 2022

A Novel Obsession

Caitlin Barasch's A Novel Obsession, which launches March 15, examines an aspiring novelist who finds herself stalking—and writing about—her boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend.

Monday, March 14, 2022

The Lost Son

The Lost Son, by Stephanie Vanderslice, launches March 14th from Regal House.

From the Regal House website:

Julia Kruse, a German immigrant, is living the American dream in 1920s Queens, New York. Her husband is a successful businessman, and she is the mother of two boys, Johannes and Nicholas. Her life is shattered when she discovers that her husband and the baby’s nurse have kidnapped Nicholas from his crib and returned to Germany. As the Great Depression looms, Julia struggles to provide for her remaining son Johannes, but she never gives up hope of finding Nicholas, even as her attempts are thwarted at every turn. Now, with World War II on the horizon, she worries that she might lose Johannes, who has enlisted in the United States Army. Help comes in the form of a new love interest, Paul Burns, a chauffeur, whose boss has political connections. Now Johannes, who is stationed in Germany and fighting for the Allies during the last days of the Third Reich, must run a race against time to bring his younger brother home to America and back to Julia.

Wednesday, March 9, 2022

Radical Dreams

Huge congratulations to my friends Abigail Susik and Elliott King upon the publication of their edited volume Radical Dreams: Surrealism, Counterculture, Resistance!

While many people think of surrealism as a European artistic movement that flourished between the two world wars, that's actually a very limited understanding. Not only has surrealism continued to the present and taken hold worldwide, but during the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s, diverse radical affinity groups, underground subcultures, and student protest movements proclaimed their connections to surrealism. Radical Dreams argues that surrealism was actually a living current of anti-authoritarian resistance. The book's chapters are devoted to Afrosurrealism, Ted Joans, punk, the Situationist International, the student protests of May ’68, and other topics.

You (or your library) can order it here.

Tuesday, March 8, 2022

Truth and Other Lies

Maggie Smith's 2022 debut Truth and Other Lies, which launches March 8, follows three women whose lives converge as one fights a devastating accusation, another campaigns for a contested seat in Congress, and one, the young reporter with ties to both, navigates the tricky line between secrets and lies.

Friday, March 4, 2022

Now On NetGalley and Edelweiss

As the publication date for In Search of the Magic Theater nears (June 1!), pre-publication reviews become important. Reviewers who use the NetGalley or Edelweiss platforms can now get advance reader copies there.

In Search of the Magic Theater begins as something of a female version of Hesse’s renowned Steppenwolf, but its dual narrators find themselves grappling with unexpected challenges in their search for creative and personal fulfillment.

BOOK CLUB POTENTIAL: Lots of topical discussion points relating to gender roles, generational tension, love and marriage, pursuing one's dream, drug use, power dynamics.
FOR READERS OF WOMEN'S FICTION: Two strong female protagonists deal with issues of personal identity, career, and family/friend/romantic relationships.
FOR PERFORMING ARTS FANS: Set in the world of theater and music, this lively work features the loves and friendships of an experimental playwright, a classical cellist, and guitarists who span classical, jazz, and rock.

Thursday, March 3, 2022

Rabble

While I've given a shout-out to Geoff Fox's new historical novel over on Instagram, I realized that I hadn't noted it here! Rabble is a wonderfully rich and lively tale of the Paris Commune.

In 1870, 17-year-old apprentice bookbinder Étienne Bonin travels from Lyon to Paris seeking excitement and professional opportunity. By spring 1871 he is deeply committed to the movement for workers’ power, to his 16-year-old coworker and budding feminist Rose Durand, and to his new comrades. Together they experience celebrations, military disasters, and the final “week of blood.” These workers created the first self-governing, proto-communist society in the modern world, in the most advanced capitalist city of its time. They then had to defend it against bombardment and attacks, which would finally annihilate the Commune but not its ideals.

I highly recommend Rabble for its deep and detailed dive into one of modern history's most interesting periods. You can get a copy from the publisher or from many retailers.

Wednesday, March 2, 2022

A Brush with Love

A dental love story? Yes--Mazey Eddings's 2022 Debut A Brush with Love explores the nuances of falling in love while having a mental illness. This does not sound like your average romance! I might need to check this out. Launches March 1.

Tuesday, March 1, 2022

The Tobacco Wives

Adele Myers's 2022 Debut The Tobacco Wives launches March 1st. The Tobacco Wives is a historical novel set in 1946 North Carolina and features a young seamstress who uncovers dangerous truths about Big Tobacco.