Karla Huebner's Blog, page 21

Quilt City Murders

Quilt City Murders, by Bruce Leonard, is a 2022 cozy mystery debut with a February 7th launch. Murdered quilters start turning up around Paducah, Kentucky, as Quilt Week approaches (did you know that Paducah is the home to the National Quilt Museum and hosts an annual Quilt Show?), and journalist Hadley Carroll, who discovers one of the bodies, starts investigating.

Pre-orders Are a Win-Win

Don't forget, you can pre-order In Search of the Magic Theater at https://www.regalhousepublishing.com/product/in-search-of-the-magic-theater/--this is where you can get not just the paperback or e-book, but the special edition hardback that is only available from the publisher! Books will be shipped for the June 1 launch. With a pre-order, you get a nice surprise in the mail later on and you also help raise the visibility of the book via the mysterious algorithms. And when you pre-order from the publisher, the author and publisher earn more than when you pre-order though another site. (It's also lovely if you pre-order via your local independent bookstore, of course!)

Karla Huebner's debut novel offers a sophisticated meditation on the idea of art, mythology, (experimental) theater and music (classical and jazz) as two women, separated by a generation and divided by a cultural shift - from 60s to post-60s - negotiate sexuality, love, regret, grief, and above all forgiveness, all done in a style that's deceptively simple at first but grows on the reader and quietly lures him inside the magic theater only to discover that all lies within - the actors, the script, the theater, the magic. A treat for the denizens of the world of art and intellect. --Moazzam Sheikh, author of Café Le Whore and Other Stories.

Four February ARCs

Here are four 2022 Debut novels that are available for advance review on NetGalley and/or Edelweiss!

Ramón and Julieta

Alana Quintana Albertson's 2022 Debut Ramón and Julieta, launching February 1st, is a contemporary romance that plays off a familiar and beloved story line (I'm sure you can guess which one!). This time around, fate and tacos bring Ramón and Julieta together on the Day of the Dead, and the star-crossed pair must decide whether to accept the bitter culinary rivalry that drives them apart or to surrender to love.

What the Fireflies Knew

What the Fireflies Knew, by Kai Harris, is a 2022 Debut launching February 1st. This coming-of-age novel follows almost-eleven-year-old Kenyatta Bernice (KB) after the death of her father from an overdose, when debts incurred from his addiction cause the loss of the family home in Detroit. KB and her teenage sister, Nia, are soon sent to live with their estranged grandfather in Lansing, Michigan. During the sweltering summer, KB attempts to navigate a world that has turned upside down. This novel of family, identity, and race sounds like one not to miss.

Catch Her When She Falls

Allison Buccola's Catch Her When She Falls is a 2022 Debut that will be launching February 1st. It's a thriller about a young woman who finds herself questioning everything she thought she knew about the murder that changed her life when her high school boyfriend was convicted of murdering her best friend.

While I don't read tons of thrillers, I do read a lot of mysteries, and this sounds like it could be riveting!

Some Advance Praise...

Love and Other Disasters

Looking for a queer-friendly rom-com? Anita Kelly's 2022 debut Love and Other Disasters, which launched January 18, could be just the thing. Disastrously married Dahlia goes on a cooking show and meets nonbinary London, who hopes to raise money for the queer community--sparks fly!

Meet the 2022 Debuts!

Over at Facebook, the 2022 adult traditionally published debut novelists have a lively group where we exchange ideas and information about how to promote our books to the readers who will love them. Which is why I'm doing lots and lots of brief blog posts this year highlighting debut novels! I want to do my part to help everyone's books be a success.

We now have a website, https://2022debuts.com/, where you can learn more about us and about our books, which include mysteries, romcoms, thrillers, fantasy, science fiction, women's fiction, literary fiction, and pretty much anything else you can think of--something for pretty much any reader. Many of us are on Instagram and/or Twitter as well, posting about books and reading and many other things. Below, you can see just a few of us whose names begin with K!

How High We Go in the Dark

How High We Go in the Dark, by Sequoia Nagamatsu, is a 2022 Debut that has been prompting a lot of pre-publication buzz. It launches January 18th.

Set in 2030, it features an archaeologist discovering the body of a girl preserved in melting Arctic permafrost--and she appears to have died of an ancient virus. Arctic Plague soon sweeps the earth, altering human civilization. This is timely science fiction and I'm eager to read it! [image error]