Matthew Ledrew's Blog, page 27
June 10, 2018
Touch Your Nose | A Novel by Matthew LeDrew
Espionage and subterfuge on a grand scale!
Simon Monk is a spy living a lie in San Francisco, struggling to maintain his cover as he attempts to infiltrate one of the largest companies on the Eastern seaboard: Shane International. Using his tech and his contacts and his cunning, Simon will get closer to some sinister dark secrets than anyone ever has… and possibly lose it all after a careless romantic slip.
How long can a man pretend to be someone else without losing who they are?
Reviews
“Touch Your Nose is a seductive potboiler that pulls you in and leaves your head spinning. LeDrew’s prose elevates this tale of corporate espionage beyond the usual pulp fiction fare, subverting cliches, tropes, and expectations. It’s sexy, clever, and fun with a final twist that will hit readers harder than a right hook from Daniel Craig”
– Brad Dunne, author of After Dark Vapors
“Spy Tale meets Corporate Espionage meets Romance meets What the Heck Did I Just Read?” — Ali House, author of The Six Elemental
“A fascinating dive into an area of the Engen Universe that was sorely in need of expansion.” — Sam Bauer, author of Dark Peaks
Purchase
Amazon.com
Amazon.ca
Amazon.UK
Title Information
Publication Date: May 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-926903-78-1
Author: Matthew LeDrew
Print Length: 144 Pages
Print Dimensions: 5 x 8 in
Price: Print: $19.99 | EBook: $2.99
Related Titles
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June 8, 2018
“Tarnished” by Jennifer Combden | Short Story Winner
She rounded a corner, nearly running into an unexpected dead-end. Blinking in surprise, she stood unmovingly. She couldn’t say how long she’d been trapped in this white labyrinth, as time had no meaning here. She had no need to eat, her body never changed, her teal dress never ruffled, and she never felt fatigued. So she continuously wandered, memorizing its layout, measuring time by completed circuits. However long it had been, nothing had ever changed. Until now, that is.
With nothing but her continuous exploration to keep the overwhelming whiteness from enveloping her, she kept moving. Re-memorizing the layout, the changes came slowly at first. At first, she might have done several rounds before she came across a missing door or hallway, but now there were perhaps a dozen or more changes by the time she returned to the room where her entrapment began.
Normally she rushed through the room, the window to the room where she first discovered the beautiful silvered mirror only a flash in her periphery. This time she paused before the glass she had banged on for likely hours after she had pressed too hard on the mirror. She had tumbled into this room most ungracefully, amazingly not damaging herself or the mirror. With a deep breath, she looked forward and gasped. The oval of glass was no longer clear, only a small section still showed the room she
remembered. Silver tarnish closed in, destroying the mirror. Destroying her world.
To read the second and third place entries and for more contests and opportunities, please subscribe to the Fantasy Files Newsletter.
For exclusive content and FREE books, be sure and check out the Engen Books Patreon.
Words © 2018 Jennifer Combden. Image © 2018 Kit Sora.
June 7, 2018
Winner: “Tarnished” by Jennifer Combden | Kit Sora Flash Fiction Photography Contest
After much deliberation, Engen Books is proud to announce the winner of the May 30 2018 Kit Sora Flash Fiction Photography Contest: Jennifer Combden with her story, Tarnished!
Jennifer Combden is a meteorologist living in St. John’s, Newfoundland. She is a sponge for knowledge, and her love of learning is second only to her love of sharing that knowledge. Jennifer prefers to write science fiction, with a strong emphasis on the science, as a medium by which to explain complex ideas. When not explaining quantum physics to 12 year olds she can be found living on the (PG) Nerdcrafteria minecraft server where she volunteers, writing forecasts at work, and getting lost on Wikipedia. Combden’s work will be recognized by longtime short fiction readers for her stories ‘Sunny Days’ and ‘Immune’ in Sci-Fi from the Rock (2016).
We received over twenty submissions for this month’s image, all of them interesting in their own right. To find the winner we used a double-blind alternate-vote method, in which no judge knew the name of the person who had written any story. Each judge then compiled a list of their own personal Top Ten picks, and each entry was assigned a point title. The lowest entries were whittled down every round until only one remained!
There were three judges for this month of the contest:
Dianna Brown is the author of Saltwater Joys, a literary fiction novel released May 4th, 2018. It is available on Amazon, your favorite ebook retailers, and can be purchased in some local independent book stores. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Calgary, and is currently a student at St. Mary’s University in Calgary to obtain her Bachelor of Education degree. She was born in Gander, and raised in Kelligrews, Newfoundland.
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Matthew LeDrew has written eighteen novels for Engen Books, Black Womb, Transformations in Pain, Smoke and Mirrors, Roulette, Ghosts of the Past, Ignorance is Bliss, Becoming, Inner Child, Gang War, Chains, The Long Road, Cinders, Sinister Intent, Faith, Jacobi Street, Infinity, The Tourniquet Reprisal and Exodus of Angels.
[image error]Kit Sora Photography. Kit Sora is an artist and photographer from St. Johns, Newfoundland. Her photography draws inspiration from fantasy, dystopia, and thrillers to create evocative imagrey that startles, inspires, and excites.Kit signed with Engen Books in 2018 as head photographer, producing the thrilling image for Chillers from the Rock and re-imagining the covers to the entire Black Womb series into the Coral Beach Casefiles series. Drew Power is a currently seated member of the Sci-Fi on the Rock committee. He was recently featured as the model on the cover of the bestselling collection Chillers from the Rock.
Runners up include In Me, The Terrible Fish by Rob McDonald, Angels by Ali House, and A Paper Mash Married to the Sea by Nick Morine.
The Flash Fiction Photography Contest is sponsored in part by FictionFirst Used Books, which specializes in previously enjoyed Sci-fi & Fantasy Novels, Roleplaying Manuals and Graphic Novels. It is run out of my home in the Annapolis Valley and open by appointment only. Their inventory is currently over 5000 titled strong and they ship within Canada, USA and Europe. You can find them on Facebook, here.
The winning entry will be featured on this website as well as on the Fantasy Files newsletter (click to join!). The second and third place entries will also be featured in the Newsletter.
Click here to see the next Kit Sora Photo Contest!
June 1, 2018
Flash Fiction/Photography Contest | Deadline June 15! |Engen Books | Kit Sora Photography!
Engen Books is proud to team with the imaginative and creative people of Kit Sora Photography to bring you the “Flash Fiction Photography Contest”!
Every month we’re going to upload one of the photos from the amazingly talented Kit Sora, a local Newfoundland artist known for her stunning work with props, lighting, and imaginative designs. Kit uses her art in a variety of fantastical settings, so we’re tasking the authors and creative minds of the Atlantic Provinces to write short fiction based on the subjects!
The catch: these entries must be short: a maximum of 250 words! Thus we have the Flash Fiction/ Flash Photography Prize from Engen Books and Kit Sora Photography. Every month Engen and Sora will select a winner from eligible entrants.
Winners will be crowned the prize-winner for that month and be allowed to use the title of “Prize/Award Winner — X Month” on their writing CV / resumé! Winners will be paid at a rate of 10 cents a word for their fiction and may be featured in an upcoming collection of Sora’s photography!
The Flash Fiction Photography Contest is sponsored in part by FictionFirst Used Books, which specializes in previously enjoyed Sci-fi & Fantasy Novels, Roleplaying Manuals and Graphic Novels. It is run out of my home in the Annapolis Valley and open by appointment only. Their inventory is currently over 5000 titled strong and they ship within Canada, USA and Europe. You can find them on Facebook, here.
In order to be eligible, entrants must be Canadian citizens and the work must not have been previously published. No more than five entries per photo, per author. Entrant must share the contest post on facebook / social media / twitter. 
May 27, 2018
“Bubbly” by Sara Burke | Short Story Winner
In the end it was probably not the best idea to ship a person across country in safety wrap, but it was certainly cheaper.
As with everything, we must start at the beginning, as She did. Every bauble and bit, meticulously made was at first a tiny thought stretched over hours, days, weeks. Her bright tousled hair danced happily with her smile as she wrapped her creations for shipment. Her hands were rough from work, but it was a labour of love. She did well, except when she didn’t. Few complained, but those few hung heavy on her heart.
Ignorance sneers, “That cost is too much!” Or “I could make that myself!”
And her silence screams, “Then why don’t you!”
She got by on her craft, and her craft was her life. One day as she wrapped a trinket in a swath of bubbles, while her heart was still full, she decided that she too should travel. But, how? She scarcely had disposable income, but the thought had been thought, and now she had to make it work. After hours, and days, and weeks she thought. The planes, trains, and boats all cost a pretty penny. Ah, but shipping, that is much less! She gathered her bubbles and boxes and created a vessel to ship herself somewhere nice. She called the courier, put postage on the box, and hopped inside.
For hours it sat on her step.
Waiting.
Pop, pop, pop.
To read the second and third place entries and for more contests and opportunities, please subscribe to the Fantasy Files Newsletter.
For exclusive content and FREE books, be sure and check out the Engen Books Patreon.
Words © 2018 Sara Burke. Image © 2018 Kit Sora.
May 25, 2018
Patreon Update: Support Engen Books! | How you can help
[image error]Hey everyone, Matthew LeDrew here, founder and partner at Engen Books. I just wanted to thank all our amazing fans for a spectacular year thus far in 2018. In only five short months we’re doubled our output and page views, made Amazon bestsellers of multiple titles, and made strides toward bringing you even more amazing books in the coming months, starting next month with Amanda Labonté’s anticipated sequel to Call of the Sea, Drawn to the Tides.
All that said, we’re always looking for ways to expand and one of the efforts we started in 2018 was the Engen Books Patreon. Patreon is a platform for artists, authors, and other creatives to get income for their work and for users, dubbed Patrons, to get extra content such as free books, discounts when purchasing books and eBooks, input and behind the scenes information. We didn’t set a “monetary goal” when we started: we want to build a network, and our goal is to reach 100 Patrons, even if it’s only at the $1.00 a month level!
We use this money to fund community-building projects like the Kit Sora Flash Photography Challenge, as well as explore new and untested authors, produce more of our popular short-story collections, and continue to grow the Newfoundland and Labrador genre community as best we can! Becoming a Patron also gives you a voice in what we do and how we use those dollars.
If you have even $1 a month to spare, we promise we will put it to good use 
Our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user/memberships?u=3000324
If you don’t, other ways to help local authors include reviewing their work on Amazon and Goodreads, or locally on your blog and sharing it on our platforms. Reviews are the lifeblood of this industry, and are a part of what allows new readers to find our products.
However you help, either by donating, reviewing, or just remaining a loyal reader: we want to say: THANK YOU from the entire Engen Books team!
Special thanks to our existing Patrons, FictionFirst Bookstore, author Carolyn Parsons, Liz LeDrew Photography, author Jeff Slade, and Monolithic Studios!
Winner: “Bubbly” by Sara Burke | Kit Sora Flash Fiction Photography Contest
After much deliberation, Engen Books is proud to announce the winner of the May 15 2018 Kit Sora Flash Fiction Photography Contest: Sara Burke with her story, Bubbly!
We received over twenty submissions for this month’s image, all of them interesting in their own right. To find the winner we used a double-blind alternate-vote method, in which no judge knew the name of the person who had written any story. Each judge then compiled a list of their own personal Top Ten picks, and each entry was assigned a point title. The lowest entries were whittled down every round until only one remained!
There were three judges for this month of the contest:
[image error]Bestselling Author and freelance writer/editor, Candace Osmond was born in North York, ON. She published her first book by the age of 25, the first installment in a Paranormal Romance trilogy to which two others were published with it; The Iron World Series. Now residing in a small town in Newfoundland with her husband and two kids, Candace writes full time developing articles for just about every niche, more novels, and a hoard of short stories. All of Candace’s titles are available wherever books and eBooks are sold!
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Matthew LeDrew has written eighteen novels for Engen Books, Black Womb, Transformations in Pain, Smoke and Mirrors, Roulette, Ghosts of the Past, Ignorance is Bliss, Becoming, Inner Child, Gang War, Chains, The Long Road, Cinders, Sinister Intent, Faith, Jacobi Street, Infinity, The Tourniquet Reprisal and Exodus of Angels.
[image error]Kit Sora Photography. Kit Sora is an artist and photographer from St. Johns, Newfoundland. Her photography draws inspiration from fantasy, dystopia, and thrillers to create evocative imagrey that startles, inspires, and excites.Kit signed with Engen Books in 2018 as head photographer, producing the thrilling image for Chillers from the Rock and re-imagining the covers to the entire Black Womb series into the Coral Beach Casefiles series. Drew Power is a currently seated member of the Sci-Fi on the Rock committee. He was recently featured as the model on the cover of the bestselling collection Chillers from the Rock.
Runners up include Special by Jen Combden and An Err in Design by Chantal Boudreau.
The Flash Fiction Photography Contest is sponsored in part by FictionFirst Used Books, which specializes in previously enjoyed Sci-fi & Fantasy Novels, Roleplaying Manuals and Graphic Novels. It is run out of my home in the Annapolis Valley and open by appointment only. Their inventory is currently over 5000 titled strong and they ship within Canada, USA and Europe. You can find them on Facebook, here.
The winning entry will be featured on this website as well as on the Fantasy Files newsletter (click to join!). The second and third place entries will also be featured in the Newsletter.
Click here to see the next Kit Sora Photo Contest!
May 18, 2018
12 Hours | House Blog
On Wednesday at 1pm, I sat down in front of my computer, opened up the latest draft of the novel I’m working on*, and got to work. Other than getting up to refill my water glass, grab a snack, etc, I only took one actual break – around 8pm I took a half-hour to go get Taiyaki.
When I was finished, it was 1am. Over the past 12 hours, I had gone through the entire novel – almost 60,000 words.
Now, you’d probably think that I’d be done, but nope. On Thursday I spent time picking away at newly-written scenes, making sure that the changes fit and nothing sounded clumsy or thrown in. I also had to add a few things I’d forgotten to include. And on Monday I’ll probably read the whole thing over again.
Sometimes editing seems like insanity, reading the same thing over and over, wondering if that comma belongs there or if it should be deleted. Or wondering you used the right word for the moment or if there’s a better word out there somewhere. ‘Very’ sounds lazy, but ‘extremely’ sounds too severe – where’s my thesaurus…?
I think the Bard from Something Rotten put it best**:
And you’re trying to find an opening line
Or a brilliant idea and you’re pacing the floor
And hoping for just a bit of divine intervention
That one little nugget, that one little spark
Then Eureka! You find it, you’re ready to start
So now you can write, right? Wrong!
You’re not even close, you remember that damn it
Your play’s gotta be in iambic pentameter!
So you write down a word but it’s not the right word
So you try a new word but you hate the new word
And you need a good word but you can’t find the word
Oh where is it, what is it, what is it, where is it?
Blah-blah-blah, ha ha, ah-ha -UGHHHHHHHH!
But even though editing can be annoying and time consuming – putting your heart and soul into making something the best version it can be, and fretting over the smallest, tiniest, minuscule detail – there’s no feeling better than when you fix a problem in a scene and it becomes so much better than it was.
And if you’re really stuck on what to do with those commas, get an editor and leave it in their hands.
________
* The Fifth Queen (sequel to The Six Elemental) coming out… eventually…
**From the song “It’s Hard to be the Bard“
12 Hours
On Wednesday at 1pm, I sat down in front of my computer, opened up the latest draft of the novel I’m working on*, and got to work. Other than getting up to refill my water glass, grab a snack, etc, I only took one actual break – around 8pm I took a half-hour to go get Taiyaki.
When I was finished, it was 1am. Over the past 12 hours, I had gone through the entire novel – almost 60,000 words.
Now, you’d probably think that I’d be done, but nope. On Thursday I spent time picking away at newly-written scenes, making sure that the changes fit and nothing sounded clumsy or thrown in. I also had to add a few things I’d forgotten to include. And on Monday I’ll probably read the whole thing over again.
Sometimes editing seems like insanity, reading the same thing over and over, wondering if that comma belongs there or if it should be deleted. Or wondering you used the right word for the moment or if there’s a better word out there somewhere. ‘Very’ sounds lazy, but ‘extremely’ sounds too severe – where’s my thesaurus…?
I think the Bard from Something Rotten put it best**:
And you’re trying to find an opening line
Or a brilliant idea and you’re pacing the floor
And hoping for just a bit of divine intervention
That one little nugget, that one little spark
Then Eureka! You find it, you’re ready to start
So now you can write, right? Wrong!
You’re not even close, you remember that damn it
Your play’s gotta be in iambic pentameter!
So you write down a word but it’s not the right word
So you try a new word but you hate the new word
And you need a good word but you can’t find the word
Oh where is it, what is it, what is it, where is it?
Blah-blah-blah, ha ha, ah-ha -UGHHHHHHHH!
But even though editing can be annoying and time consuming – putting your heart and soul into making something the best version it can be, and fretting over the smallest, tiniest, minuscule detail – there’s no feeling better than when you fix a problem in a scene and it becomes so much better than it was.
And if you’re really stuck on what to do with those commas, get an editor and leave it in their hands.
________
* The Fifth Queen (sequel to The Six Elemental) coming out… eventually…
**From the song “It’s Hard to be the Bard“
May 17, 2018
Flash Fiction/Photography Contest | Deadline May 31! |Engen Books | Kit Sora Photography!
[image error]Engen Books is proud to team with the imaginative and creative people of Kit Sora Photography to bring you the “Flash Fiction Photography Contest”!
Every month we’re going to upload one of the photos from the amazingly talented Kit Sora, a local Newfoundland artist known for her stunning work with props, lighting, and imaginative designs. Kit uses her art in a variety of fantastical settings, so we’re tasking the authors and creative minds of the Atlantic Provinces to write short fiction based on the subjects!
The catch: these entries must be short: a maximum of 250 words! Thus we have the Flash Fiction/ Flash Photography Prize from Engen Books and Kit Sora Photography. Every month Engen and Sora will select a winner from eligible entrants.
Winners will be crowned the prize-winner for that month and be allowed to use the title of “Prize/Award Winner — X Month” on their writing CV / resumé! Winners will be paid at a rate of 10 cents a word for their fiction and may be featured in an upcoming collection of Sora’s photography!
The Flash Fiction Photography Contest is sponsored in part by FictionFirst Used Books, which specializes in previously enjoyed Sci-fi & Fantasy Novels, Roleplaying Manuals and Graphic Novels. It is run out of my home in the Annapolis Valley and open by appointment only. Their inventory is currently over 5000 titled strong and they ship within Canada, USA and Europe. You can find them on Facebook, here.
In order to be eligible, entrants must be Canadian citizens and the work must not have been previously published. No more than five entries per photo, per author. Entrant must share the contest post on facebook / social media / twitter.
