Mark Twain Award Winner

I'm way behind on blogging, but last night I got word that In Search of the Magic Theater has won first place in the 2022 CIBA Mark Twain contest! This award is "for the best books featuring satire, humor, political ideology, parody, fantasy, and allegory or fable."

You can get a copy direct from the publisher (Regal House), from Bookshop.org, many other online retailers, or from your favorite bookstore (ask them to order your copy if it is not currently in stock there!)

This Coming Saturday in Illinois...

I'll be visiting the University of Illinois later this week for the annual Czech/Slovak Workshop, where I'll be giving the keynote address. After the Workshop, I'll be doing a discussion and reading at The Literary bookstore in Champaign at 4:30 on April 1. If you're in the area, please come!

Launching Thursday!

Too Early to Know Who's Winning launches this Thursday, March 23! There's a narrow window of time still to use the discount code PREORDER2023 with the publisher--go to https://www.blackrosewriting.com/womens/tooearlytoknowwhoswinning. Also, do you know about BookBub? It's an e-book focused social network where you can follow favorite authors, get New Release Alerts (one will be going out on my book), and find special deals on e-books. Follow me on BookBub here!

Finalist for Mark Twain rather than Somerset

I've just had word that In Search of the Magic Theater has been moved from competition for the Somerset prize (literary/contemporary) to the sibling Mark Twain prize (satire/humor), and it is a finalist for Mark Twain. I know there are some moments in it that make me laugh, but compared to some novels I've written, it's fairly serious! Readers, what do you think? Is this an unusually funny or satirical novel?

Giveaways Ended and Ending...

The Goodreads giveaway of twenty Kindle copies of In Search of the Magic Theater ended on March 12, but there's one day more for the giveaway of ten paperback copies of Too Early to Know Who's Winning! If a novel about liberal women approaching retirement during the Trump presidency and climate crisis sounds like it might be your cup of tea, be sure to enter before midnight on Thursday.

You can also still get a digital review copy of Too Early to Know Who's Winning from NetGalley and/or preorder it with discount code PREORDER2023 direct from the publisher.

Both novels have received some very favorable comments. In Search of the Magic Theater is currently a semi-finalist for a CIBA Somerset prize (the finalist list is expected to post soon) and early readers of Too Early to Know Who's Winning say "One of the many pleasures of this novel lies in its razor-sharp and very funny observations of contemporary life" and "This novel is very funny in a low-key way and it’s a page-turner. It pounces on what is droll in ordinary contemporary life and the writing is economical and tasty."

If you've already read one or both, please do post your thoughts, whether on Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, BookBub, Instagram, Twitter, or wherever else!

Regal House Authors at AWP

We're doing a reading Thursday as part of the AWP conference! Free and open to the public.

Semi-Finalist Now on the Somerset Award

I had barely registered that In Search of the Magic Theater had moved from the longlist to the shortlist for Chanticleer's Somerset Award, when I learned it had taken another step up to semi-finalist! Now, I grant that this is a contest with quite a few stages (vs those that might stay mum until they announce five finalists and then a winner, or something like that), but it's still exciting. I know some of the other competitors, as well as authors in the running for other Chanticleer awards, so here's to all of us!

Regal House Authors to Read during AWP

I'm thrilled to announce that I'll be among the Regal House authors reading during the AWP (Association of Writers & Writing Programs) conference! We'll be at Optimism Brewing Company, 1158 Broadway, Seattle 94122, from 1:30-3:00 on Thursday, March 9. Featuring Tim Cummings, Mimi Herman, Karla Huebner, Heather Newton, Zack Rogow, Kerri Schlottman, Stephanie Vanderslice, and Peter Selgin! https://regalhousepublishing.com/regal-events/

Another Goodreads Giveaway!

For the rest of February and into March, both of my novels will be having Goodreads Giveaways. The giveaway for Too Early to Know Who's Winning is already underway and continues until March 16, just a few days before the novel launches March 23.

We are now adding a giveaway of twenty Kindle copies of In Search of the Magic Theater beginning tomorrow (February 24) and lasting until March 12.

Where to Find Too Early to Know Who's Winning Right Now

My new novel, Too Early to Know Who's Winning, a tale of liberal women during the Trump presidency, will be launching March 23 and is currently available for preorder direct from the publisher, Black Rose Writing. In fact, if you order before March 23, use the promo code PREORDER2023 for a 15% discount!

If you can't wait till then and are up for writing a review (can be short), the novel is currently available free on NetGalley. Anyone can sign up with NetGalley, but as its purpose is to gather reader reviews prior to publication, many publishers will only okay downloads to reviewers who have shown that they review most of the books they request. (That said, I hope to get lots of early reviews, because they help readers find and decide on new books!)

Finally, I'm giving away ten print copies via Goodreads. You can sign up right now; giveaway ends March 16.

A Finalist for a Readers' Choice Award

In Search of the Magic Theater is a finalist for a Readers' Choice Award--winners are announced at the end of May. At that time they'll publish their full review, but here are some advance tidbits:

"...authentic and intriguing characters, rich and honest dialogue, and a unique and unusual plot... A well written, unique and unusual novel, which will appeal to readers who enjoy theatre, music, art history and classics."

Just Around the Corner on NetGalley

During the month of February, my new novel Too Early to Know Who's Winning will be available for review on NetGalley! If you're a reader and reviewer curious to get an early look at this sometimes grim, sometimes humorous tale of liberal American women approaching retirement during the Trump presidency, the NetGalley e-version should be available starting February 1.

The novel is also available for preorder direct from the publisher. Use the code PREORDER2023 for a 15% discount!

Advance Praise:

“With clear eyes, courage, and wit, Karla Huebner’s Too Early to Know Who’s Winning captures the uncertainty, fear, desperation, and grief of the early Trump era. Through the eyes of her protagonist, professor and historian Jacobine Flaa, Huebner recounts the harrowing days of the new normal, a time in which everyday life seemed otherworldly and the unimaginable likely, in which hate-speech, bigotry, and outbursts of violence began to fray communities, and Americans rediscovered their capacity for protest. From ‘American carnage’ to alternative facts, from the Muslim ban to the Women’s March, from the Russia investigation to Charlottesville, Huebner documents the emotion and psychological fracturing of a nation. Too Early to Know Who’s Winning is also a penetrating exploration of mortality, companionship, mental health, and the search for glimmers of light in an ever-darkening world.”--Fredrick Soukup, author of Bliss and Blood Up North

Longlisted for the Somerset Award

In Search of the Magic Theater is one of an impressive longlist of books in the running for the 2022 Somerset Award, which is given for Literary and Contemporary Fiction as a genre division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

I'm hoping it will make it to the shortlist and, of course, on up from there!

Getting Ready for Another Goodreads Giveaway

If you haven't yet gotten a copy of In Search of the Magic Theater, I've arranged to do a second Goodreads giveaway--this one of twenty copies of the Kindle edition!

Karla Huebner's IN SEARCH OF THE MAGIC THEATER is a well-told, bittersweet tale that evokes the certainties and uncertainties of youth, as well as the regret at the missed opportunities of middle age, and the possibility of redemption.--Craig Jones, for IndieReader

The giveaway will begin February 13 and go through March 12.

Against the World

Historian Tara Zahra's new book Against the World: Anti-Globalism and Mass Politics Between the World Wars is out!

Prior to World War I, many people enthusiastically envisioned a borderless world—one with unrestricted travel, migration, and trade. International movements for women’s rights and world peace were also strong. Yet reaction was also growing, with strong support for nationalism. There was also recognition that the global economy threatened homegrown and local foods, domestically produced goods, and back-to-the-land communities. The “Spanish flu” heightened anxieties about migration, while the Great Depression intensified demands for economic autonomy. Immigration restrictions and punitive tariffs increased, yet social protections increased, colonialism lost favor, and there were efforts to make the global economy more equitable. Popular revolt against globalization took hold in democracies and dictatorships alike. Tara Zahra’s archival research in five languages will be informative reading for all who seek to understand the anti-global currents of the twentieth century, and today’s battles over international trade, immigration, public health and global inequality.

New Novel Available for Pre-Order!

That's right, I've got a second novel on the way. (I've waited a bit to announce it in order to focus on promoting In Search of the Magic Theater.)

Too Early to Know Who's Winning, a novel of liberal women during the Trump years, is available for preorder NOW, and ONLY from the publisher, Black Rose Writing, at
https://blackrosewriting.com/womens/tooearlytoknowwhoswinning.
If you order before March 23, 2023, use the promo code PREORDER2023 for a 15% discount!

Copies will ship March 23.

It’ll show up on Goodreads, Amazon, and other sites very soon, including NetGalley starting February 1.

Discussion Questions for In Search of the Magic Theater

Book groups are taking an interest in In Search of the Magic Theater, and I'm thrilled!

I've put together some discussion questions to get your book group started talking. (To save these, just right-click and download.)