Diane Bator's Blog, page 18
January 5, 2023
GHOST DREAMS, a new direction for critically acclaimed novelist, Matthew Hughes
GHOST DREAMS
A new direction for critically acclaimed novelist, Matthew Hughes
The book is now available in e-format in North America
Commercial burglar Stan Winkelman encounters the ghost of Jane Manchester, wrongly confined for life in a 1940s insane asylum by a powerful family. She wants to know what happened to Harmon, the baby boy that was stolen from her.
Aided by Jeannie, his ghost-obsessed autistic daughter, Stan and Jane begin a quest to find Harmon, or his descendants. But their search will run them afoul of Andrew Bigelow, reclusive heir to the fortune Jane was robbed of.
And Bigelow is in cahoots with a murderous crew who deal in guns and blood diamonds and will stop at nothing to keep their crimes hidden.
Amazon.com: Ghost Dreams eBook : Hughes, Matthew: Kindle Store
Ghost Dreams eBook : Hughes, Matthew: Amazon.ca: Kindle Store More from Matthew Hughes:“I really enjoyed Barbarians of the Beyond. Matthew Hughes does Jack Vance better than anyone except Jack himself.” — George R. R. Martin
Twenty years ago, five master criminals known as the Demon Princes raided Mount Pleasant to enslave thousands of inhabitants in the lawless Beyond. Now Morwen Sabine, a daughter of captives, has escaped her cruel master and returns to Mount Pleasant to recover the hidden treasure she hopes will buy her parents’ freedom.
But Mount Pleasant has changed. Morwen must cope with mystic cultists, murderous drug-smugglers, undercover “weasels” of the Interplanetary Police Coordinating Company, and the henchmen of the vicious pirate lord who owns her parents and wants Morwen returned. So he can kill her slowly…
Amazon.com: Barbarians of the Beyond: Hughes, Matthew: 9781619474055: Amazon.com: Books
Amazon.ca: Barbarians of the Beyond eBook : Hughes, Matthew: Amazon.ca: Kindle Store
“Lock the door, turn off the phone, get into a comfy chair, and deep-dive into a marvelous continuation of Jack Vance's Demon Princes series. Matthew Hughes is a treasure and Barbarians of the Beyond is a terrific adventure.” — David Gerrold
“Matthew Hughes follows nimbly in Jack Vance's footprints, then breaks some fresh trail. First-class space opera.”— Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of Hominids
“Engaging and enchanting…a fine companion adventure to Jack Vance’s The Demon Princes series, told with Matthew Hughes’s excellent sense of charm, ethical complexity and exotic worldbuilding. Let’s hope this is just the beginning!” — Kurt Busiek
“Barbarians of the Beyond is just plain old-fashioned space opera fun with a relatable heroine who is sometimes fallible, rather than some Shaolin Temple kung fu megamaster. I enjoyed it a lot.”
— Glen Cook
“…a tale that captures that special ‘golden age’ feel in which mankind has travelled far into the stars yet still behaves as though it’s the Wild West.” — David White, RNR Magazine
About Matthew:
Matthew Hughes is a Canadian author of science fiction and fantasy.
His speculative fiction novels are: Fools Errant, Fool Me Twice, Black Brillion, Majestrum, The Commons, The Spiral Labyrinth, Template, Hespira, The Other, The Damned Busters, Costume Not Included, Hell to Pay, Song of the Serpent and Wolverine: Lifeblood (both as Hugh Matthews), A Wizard’s Henchman, A God in Chains, Baldemar, and Passengers & Perils.
His magnum opus is What the Wind Brings, a historical novel with magical realism elements. It was the first Canadian work to win the international Endeavour Award. He waited more than forty years to write the novel, and spent a year composing several drafts, made possible by a $25,000 grant from the Canada Council for the Arts.
His major influence as a writer of speculative fiction is the Grandmaster Jack Vance. Booklist has called Hughes Vance’s “heir apparent.”
In 2021, Vance’s estate (Spatterlight Press), published Hughes’s Barbarians of the Beyond, an authorized companion novel to Vance’s iconic revenge series, The Demon Princes. The book prompted George R.R. Martin to say, “Hughes does Jack Vance better than anyone except Jack himself.”
His short fiction has appeared in Asimov’s, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Lightspeed, Pulp Literature, Postscripts, Storyteller, Interzone, Amazing, Unfit, and several anthologies edited by Gardner Dozois and George R.R. Martin, including the bestseller, Rogues.
His works have been short-listed for the Aurora, Locus, Nebula, Philip K Dick, A.E. Van Vogt, Neffy, Alberta Book Publishing, and Endeavour Awards.
In 2020, he was inducted into the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association’s Hall of Fame.
Before turning to writing fiction, he spent three decades as the top-ranked speechwriter in British Columbia, writing for leaders of all three provincial political parties and CEOs of the province’s largest corporations.
Since 2007, he has traveled the world as a housesitter, living in twelve countries.
His web page is at https://www.matthewhughes.org
To request additional review copies or an interview with Matthew Hughes, please contact Mickey Mikkelson at Creative Edge Publicity: mickey.creativeedge@gmail.com / 403.464.6925. We look forward to the coverage!
January 3, 2023
More Than a Bootlegger's Daughter, a new book by June Wilson
I was fortunate to meet June Wilson at a local author event in Tottenham, Ontario. She was fun to chat with and I looked forward to learning more about her story!
Although born and raised in Toronto, I did spend twenty-five years in Tottenham raising four children with my husband. In 1998, I left my marriage and returned to Toronto where I found an apartment and work as a Toronto Area Manager for Welcome Wagon. From there I re-entered the world of administration work and finally retired in 2013 from the Finance Department in the Head Office of TD Bank.
My retirement afforded me the time to pursue my interest in writing and I began searching writing groups. Fortunately, I learned about a Creative Memoir Writing Class and promptly enrolled. MORE THAN A BOOTLEGGER’S DAUGHTER is a compilation of the many stories I wrote over a span of about six years.
My first published work appears in my Grade 8 Yearbook in the form of a poem entitled “Spring.” Subsequently, my writing has consisted of impassioned letters to the editor. Also, when I began travelling in Europe, I was gob smacked by the beauty of the architecture and history and would write long emails to friends and family sharing what I was experiencing. Their enthusiastic response was great encouragement to continue.
1. My life outside of writing includes visits to jazz clubs, other live music events, travel, piano lessons and a monthly book club.
2. Another writing project is not on my radar just now.
3. When I was writing, I often had to take a break due to the heaviness that would descend on me as I relived some events.
4. Since my book was a personal memoir, I only had to research some of the facts around things like liquor laws of the time. Also, I had kept journals for the last twenty-five years, so I was able to verify the more recent events.
5. My earliest memory of books in my life began as a young girl in a public school library. Due to my love of songs such as O Susanna, Camp town Races, etc I requested a biography of the Composer, Stephen Foster. Memoirs became my go-to genre for the many life lessons I have found. However Maya Angelou is probably the most inspirational for everyday living.
My love of mysteries started with Nancy Drew and now include Canadian authors Ian Hamilton and Louise Penny as well American authors Michael Connelly and Carol O’Connor.
6. The first spark of interest in writing began in 2006 when a friend gifted me a book called Bird By Bird by Anne Lamott, an often hilarious account of her own writing and what she has learned. Encouragement to write later came from various friends and the sense I had that it was important to record my history.
MORE THAN A BOOTLEGGER’S DAUGHTER is self-published and may be purchased directly from the author by contacting June Wilson by email at apt_50@yahoo.com, https://www.facebook.com/Messenger, or by phone at 416 783-6983.
December 31, 2022
Happy New Year 2023!
Happy New Year to you all!
I have to say 2022 for me has been every bit a rollercoaster as the previous two years!
Family stuff.
Personal stuff.
New books ~ I launched The Conned Lady and Dead Man's Doll! Check them out!
New projects ~ I started creating essential oil products under the name Lavender Moon... My witch name. Yup. I'm one of those! I don't do well with perfumes but love the smells of essential oils. I'm also loving upgrading my Reiki to go along with it!
So with all these great things, what's coming up in 2023?
More great classes and becoming a Reiki Teacher!
A new Glitter Bay Mystery in June called All That Shimmers - Laken, Sage, and Quinn are back with a whole new mystery!
Many more interviews, podcast appearances, and book reviews!
Maybe...just maybe...another new book in time for Christmas 2023. More details to come!
Oh and a great new book coming in November 2024! A Canadian Historical Mystery from my publisher BWL Publishing called Jesse James' Gold. https://bwlpublishing.ca/authors/canadian-historical-mysteries/ Believe it or not, there is a local legend here in Southern Ontario that Jesse James rode and buried gold here. I'll be taking a road trip in the spring to find the area where he's rumoured to have buried it. In the meantime, I'm planning a book around the legend.
As you can see, lots of great things coming in 2023! Even a couple things on the back burner that I haven't shared yet.
Have a wonderful year!
DianeCome find out more on my website: https://dianebator.ca/
December 29, 2022
Extinction Hymns, a new horror and sci-fi collection from Eric Raglin
EXTINCTION HYMNS
The newest collection of horror and science fiction by author, Eric Raglin
Released and published by Brigids Gate Press
The book is available worldwide in e-format
Amazon.com: Extinction Hymns eBook : Raglin, Eric, Leggett, Elizabeth, Allison-Rolling, Carrie, Ellis, Stephanie: Books
About Eric Raglin:
Eric Raglin (he/him) is a Nebraskan speculative fiction writer. His debut short story collection is NIGHTMARE YEARNINGS, and his second collection, EXTINCTION HYMNS, is out December
2022. He is the editor of SHREDDED: A SPORTS AND FITNESS BODY HORROR ANTHOLOGY and ANTIFA SPLATTERPUNK. Find him at ericraglin.com or on Twitter @ericraglin1992
To request additional review copies or an interview with Eric Raglin, please contact Mickey Mikkelson at Creative Edge Publicity: mickey.creativeedge@gmail.com / 403.464.6925.
We look forward to the coverage !
December 27, 2022
Howl Once for Murder, a new cozy mystery series by Krista Lockheart with Dorothy Danger
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A new cozy mystery series by Award-Winning author, Krista Lockheart with acclaimed editor, Dorothy Danger!
Published by Next Chapter Publishing and is available worldwide in e-book format
Howl Once for Murder is the fast-paced new charming cozy mystery from critically acclaimed, award-winning author Krista Lockheart and experienced author and editor Dorothy Danger.
It is an absolutely gripping whodunit set in Belle Chasse, Louisiana, right outside New Orleans.
Adelaide and Truman—Belle Chasse’s funniest and smartest Basset Hound—are practically inseparable. And when a murder mystery comes barking at their doorstep, they band together to fight for the town they love.
Come for the mystery, stay for the charming characters. The main character is a smart, sassy, creative, and charming leader, and her beloved dog will steal your heart as he steals the show!
Full of twists and delightful red herrings to chew on, this book will keep you entertained as you puzzle out the clues left by four wily suspects.
Just when you think you know who it is . . . BAM! PLOT TWIST! Settle in with this first book in the Baked Book Mysteries series and prepare to enjoy!
“ . . . Krista Lockheart’s writing reminds me of some of my all-time favorite cozy mystery writers such as Agatha Frost and Angie Fox. It was heartfelt and engaging from the start.” ~ Urban Book Reviews
“ . . . Krista Lockheart does a charming job of building a quirky setting around the love of flowers and animals with writing that establishes a cheery, colorful, and humorous tone. This is a world that you want to be part of and immerse yourself in . . . April Showers Bring Dead Flowers is a charming story with a great sense of humor, delightful animal characters, a strong love of gardening, a sweet romance, and a well-written murder mystery.” ~ Readers’ Favorite
ABOUT KRISTA:
Krista Lockheart is a rising star in the cozy mystery genre. Her funny short story is included in an anthology that is making a USA Today bestseller list run in 2023. A debut author this year, with two pen names, her books have found favor with five-star editorial reviews and earning nine awards on the book competition circuit.
Ø FIRST PLACE 2022 Winter Pinnacle Book Awards in Romance
Ø FIRST PLACE 2021 Royal Dragonfly Book Awards in Romance
Ø FIRST PLACE 2022 BookFest Awards in Humorous
Ø FINALIST 2022 Book Excellence Awards in Romance
Ø SECOND PLACE 2022 Bookfest Awards in Girls & Women
Ø SILVER AWARD 2022 Literary Titan Book Awards
Ø SILVER AWARD 2022 Global Book Awards
Ø BRONZE MEDAL 2022 Readers’ Favorite Book Awards
Ø HONORABLE MENTION 2022 BookFest Awards in Coming of Age
To request additional review copies or an interview with Krista, please contact Mickey Mikkelson at Creative Edge Publicity: mickey.creativeedge@gmail.com / 403.464.6925.
We look forward to the coverage!
December 22, 2022
Chorale, the breathtaking conclusion to the Allaigna’s Song Trilogy by JM Landels
Allaigna’s Song: Chorale (Fantasy Novel)
By JM Landels
The Allaigna’s Song trilogy is a love story, a family saga, and a coming-of-age novel that braids together the stories of daughter, mother, and grandmother.
SynopsisIn the six years since Allaigna left home, killed her betrothed, and joined the Brandishear Rangers, she has hidden her family name and her ability to sing music into magic. Confronted with the dire implications of her grandfather’s exploration into long-forbidden arcana, Allaigna must swallow her pride and summon her courage to return home with the ashes of her cousin to prevent yet another war, or worse, an arcane catastrophe to rival that of the legendary Cataclysm.
About the AuthorIn addition to her work as a writer, editor, artist, and publisher, JM Landels teaches swordplay and horseback riding — sometimes both at the same time — in Langley, BC. She drew on this experience, as well as her time as a rock musician and childbirth educator, to inform her fantasy trilogy, Allaigna’s Song. She is currently working on a new series, La Bergère, featuring a shepherdess-turned-spy in seventeenth-century France. Her debut novel, Allaigna’s Song: Overture was an Amazon bestseller, and the sequel Aria was published in 2020.
Publication Information
Publisher: Pulp Literature Press (pulpliterature.com)
Release Date: November 2022
Price: $24.95 USD / CAD
978-1-988865-41-6 (trade); 978-1-988865-42-3 (ebook)
Her novels are:
Allaigna’s Song: Overture (Pulp Literature Press, 2017);
Allaigna’s Song: Aria (Pulp Literature Press, 2020);
Allaigna’s Song: Chorale (Pulp Literature Press, 2022).
Other works from Pulp Literature Press include:
‘Masquerade’ Pulp Literature Issue 12 (Pulp Literature Press, Autumn 2016);
‘Treason’s Fulcrum’ Pulp Literature Issue 25 (Pulp Literature Press, Winter 2020);
‘The Shepherdess’ Pulp Literature Issues 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, & 34 (Pulp Literature Press, Autumn 2019, Spring 2020, Autumn 2020, Spring 2021, Autumn 2021 & Spring 2022);
‘Allaigna’s Song: Oburakor’ Pulp Literature Issues 27, 29, & 31 (Pulp Literature Press, Summer 2020, Winter 2021 & Summer 2021).
‘Gwannyn’s Song’ Pulp Literature Issue 35 (Pulp Literature Press, Summer 2022)
‘Zara’s Song’ Pulp Literature Issue 37 (Pulp Literature Press, Winter 2023)
In addition to her work as a writer, editor, artist, and publisher, JM Landels teaches swordplay and horseback riding — sometimes both at the same time — in Langley, BC. She drew on this experience, as well as her time as a rock musician and childbirth educator, to inform her fantasy trilogy, Allaigna’s Song. She is currently working on a new series, La Bergère, featuring a shepherdess-turned-spy in seventeenth-century France.
Her web page is athttp://jmlandels.stiffbunnies.com/.
Previously in the trilogy
When Allaigna was a child, she nearly sang her baby brother to sleep — forever. Heir to neither her mother’s titles nor her secrets, she inherited her grandmother’s dangerous talent for singing music into magic. Secrets are stock-in-trade for her grandmother Irdaign, who married a prince and turned the gift of the Sight into a double-edged weapon of state, and her mother Lauresa, who disappeared for two weeks en-route to her wedding to the Duke of Aerach.
At the age of fourteen, Allaigna discovered that her nurse Angeley was really her grandmother and former Princess High of Brandishear; and that Allaigna herself is the product of a tryst that occurred when her mother was lost in the Valnirata Greatwood en route to her wedding. Fuelled by hurt and anger, Allaigna stole her mother’s only keepsake of the man who rescued her — his Ilvan dagger — and fled from her home and her unwanted betrothal, hoping to find her father by retracing her mother’s decade-and-a-half-old route.
Captured by her intended husband, Lord Doniver, she avoided rape when she inadvertently killed him with her unschooled magic. Fleeing with her new-found mentor the travelling singer Morran Rhoan, she forged new friendships in both Aerach and the Sandhorn. But any clues to her birth father continued to elude her, and, stricken with grief over the harm she’d caused in her flight from home, she enlisted in the Brandishear Rangers, relinquishing her past and her magic.
Six years later, Allaigna mustered out and took a private commission from her grandfather, Prince High Chanist, which took her and a handful of mercenaries, including her cousin Goff, to the wilds of Oburakor, tasked with exploring the ancient arcane Lothgates, long thought to be inactive. After witnessing the cataclysmic destruction of a gate, Allaigna and her companions travel through hostile territory and mountain passes to make it back to the Ilmar, but not without cost.
Now, burdened by the loss of two comrades and the knowledge that the princes of the Ilmar intend to re-open the Lothgates — an action that will surely incite war and could cause a second Cataclysm to rival the destruction of Ulaonnor Mor — Allaigna must decide where her loyalties lie: with her grandfather the Prince, or with the people of the Ilmar.
Sample chapter
Reviews of Allaigna’s Song: Overture
CC Humphreys, award-winning author of Plague and Shakespeare’s Rebel
Magically unputdownable! JM Landels not only knows her magic, music, and swords, she knows how to weave all these elements into an exciting, enchanting, and uplifting tale. More please!
Grady Harp, San Francisco Review of Books
An immensely satisfying epic. Landels delivers her richly woven story with both grace and ardor as befits the realm of her tale. Yes, the story includes magic, even beyond the quality of the prose, and the loom is elaborated with line drawing illustrations. This is a fine launch for a promised series – one that seems destined to become a standard! Recommended.
Brandon Crilly, BlackGate.com
Elegantly constructed, boasting a subtle and well-thought out magic system based on music, on top of everything else. I’d highly recommend checking it out.
Myst de Vana, Netgalley.com
A compelling coming-of-age story that launches a fantasy trilogy to watch for. JM Landels writes with exquisite effect in this emotionally taut, action-imbued book set in a land that battles to come to terms with different forms of magic. Three intriguing women chart their own paths, creating a weave of intersecting consequences for the heroine. There is no shortage of surprises for the reader, in no small part because the characters in this tale refuse to fit into boxes. Good luck putting Allaigna’s Song: Overture down – I read it in a single sitting.
Sylvia Stopforth, author of Dragon Rock
Author Landels knows her stuff. Whether it’s horses, sword-fighting, or midwifery, the details and descriptions are well-chosen and convincing. And she makes magic out of music ... or music out of magic. Either way, it works.
Mel Anastasiou, author of Stella Ryman and the Fairmount Manor Mysteries
From the very first page, JM Landels draws me into Allaigna’s brilliantly observed world, a land rich in conflict and magic. Landels is gifted with storytelling abilities and gives her readers those greatest of rewards, surprise turns and great character growth and transformation. Subtle and powerful, her writing always pleases.
Susan Pieters
Allaigna by JM Landels is satisfying fantasy with the emotional grit and depth that could only be written by a mother of girls. It’s part romance, part step-family dynamics, part magical coming-of age story, braided together in narratives that have distinct yet overlapping points of view.
Amanda Bidnall, author of The West Indian Generation
The fantastic detail of Allaigna’s adventures would’ve been enough to keep me hooked. But it is her spirit, and the emotional history tying her family together, that really makes this an epic.
Alana Krider
For everybody out there who hasn’t been reading it in serialized form in Pulp Literature, do yourself a favour and buy it! Heck, buy it even if you read the serialized version already! It’s that good.
Reviews of Allaigna’s Song: AriaAlana K, 5-star Goodreads review
As most fantasy fans know, the second novel in a trilogy is often weaker than the first. This book is that rare and happy case of a second novel that’s even better than the first. JM Landels hits the ground running in Aria and never slows down. She draws us in, making us care deeply about her complex and flawed characters, and steeps us in the reality of her world through wonderfully rich and well-chosen details.
Landels’s deft handling of non-linear storytelling from the points of view of Allaigna, her mother Lauresa, and her grandmother Irdaign gives readers the thrill of putting together the pieces of the past to discover the true shape of the present. We’re treated to jaw-dropping moments of understanding, shifting our perceptions of characters and world-changing events, even as we continue to follow Allaigna’s adventures in the present. And for once, we’re treated to a high fantasy tale that’s about three generations of women. Aria doesn’t just pass the Bechdel test; it casually stomps it into the ground and strides forward to set a new bar.
Allaigna’s Song: Aria is simply a joy to read; the words seem to flow off the page, making it very difficult to put down. I can’t wait for the final instalment of the trilogy. I need to know what Allaigna does next, and what happens not only to her family and friends, but to the fragile peace in the land of the Ilmar.
Lyz, 5-star Goodreads review
I so enjoyed the first novel in this series, Overture, and have been eagerly waiting for this one to come out. I was not disappointed at all. I was quite the fantasy series buff once upon a time but this is the first saga to grab and keep my attention on a long while. I was a bit worried that I’d have lost many of the threads established in the first book but I jumped right in to this one without any issues. The short recap at the beginning was all I needed to catch up on the plot. Last book I needed to flip back to the Dramatis Personae several times but this round I sailed through. There’s no sophomore novel slump here, Aria keeps you turning pages from beginning to end. Now to find the patience to wait for the last book in the series to be written.
Victoria Lee, Goodreads
I was hooked reading Allaigna’s Song: Aria, the second in a trilogy. I enjoyed the interweaving of the lives and stories of Allaigna, her mother, and her grandmother. Allaigna’s journey is a coming of age tale as she discovers more about her magical singing and the deceptions that exist everywhere in her life. I am looking forward to reading the conclusion to Allaigna’s Song. I highly recommend it!
Short quotes for Allaigna’s Song: Overture
“Magically unputdownable,” CC Humphreys
“The compelling plot kept me hooked for hours! It was addictive,” Nabila Fairuz, author of The Chronicles of Captain Shelly Manhar
“Loved, no, LOVED it. Superb,” Donna J Saunders
“I love the characters and their stories. I want to read them again and again,” Cathy Levinson
“Beautiful writing and gripping storytelling throughout.”
“Allaigna, Lauresa, and Irdaign are tough, flawed, and appealing heroines”
“Superb writing, a gripping tale.”
“Great tension, big world, perfect pacing, intriguing politics [and] lovely magic.”
Praise for JM Landels“Author Landels knows her stuff,” Sylvia Stopforth
“Landels is gifted with storytelling abilities,” Mel Anastasiou
“JM Landels not only knows her magic, music, and swords, she knows how to weave all these elements into an exciting, enchanting, and uplifting tale,” CC Humphreys
For review copies
Please email Brooklynn Hook at Pulp Literature Press.
To contact the author:
December 20, 2022
BISHOP’S WAR, a stunning debut thriller from Rafael Amadeus Hines
BISHOP’S WAR
A stunning debut thriller from critically acclaimed author,
Rafael Amadeus Hines
This fast-paced and action-packed suspense thriller introduces us to Special Forces Sergeant John Bishop, decorated war hero, and nephew of crime boss, Gonzalo Valdez. After returning home from Afghanistan John’s hopes for a peaceful future are quickly shattered when he is catapulted back into the global war on terror through a succession of life-threatening events and corrupt intrigue. He battles against terrorist operatives in New York, a powerful Afghan warlord, and a psychopathic billionaire with powerful White House connections. When John’s uncle gets involved, he proceeds to treat John’s enemies to a bitter taste of mob vengeance. From that point on the ride speeds up and the reader will have to hold on for dear life. This is a thriller not to be matched for intensity and breathless excitement—not for the faint-hearted.
Bishop's War (Bishop Series Book 1) eBook : Hines, Rafael Amadeus: Amazon.ca: Books
Bishop's Law (Bishop Series Book 2) eBook : Hines, Rafael Amadeus: Amazon.ca: Books
** 2,300 Reviews and an average rating of 4.5-star consensus/average!!**
** Both books have been Amazon bestsellers in multiple categories in both the US and the UK**
“This is a rollicking debut, the first book in a series. In it, Hines dexterously keeps each of his many plot elements moving along furiously…Throughout this multilayered narrative, he particularly demonstrates a unique talent for realistic dialogue… which complements the story well as characters find themselves embroiled in a seemingly endless streak of deadly ordeals. Hines shows himself to be masterful at pacing and plot progression as well as effective at supplying gritty characterization. Fans of suspense fiction will find much to appreciate here… It’s a provocative, densely plotted action tale even if it’s not for the squeamish. A consistently thrilling opening installment” _ Kirkus
“Since the far too early demise of my favorite author, Vince Flynn, I have waited, and longed, for someone who could write realistic, action-oriented novels, with compelling characters. That wait ended when I received “Bishop’s War,” the debut of Rafael Amadeus Hines’ (what a fantastic name, by the way) amazingly unique character-driven, action series. It was a one-sitting, page-turner of a read (I read slowly, so it was a long, very worthwhile sit), and I loved every page of it. I truly believe my now second-favorite author, Vince Flynn, would love the world of John Bishop, and would tip his hat to Rafael for his splendid storytelling, and varied and deep personalities. He takes the reader into an otherwise unknown world of tangled webs, situated on the Lower East Side of NYC. My only regret about Bishop’s War is that there wasn’t a second and third book in the series ready and waiting for me to devour when I completed the first, so, once again I wait… and long for the sequel.” _ Tim Clemente (Counter-Terrorism Expert, Retired FBI Special Agent, Swat Team Member, Producer and Author)
“Not for the faint of heart, Bishop’s War had us breathlessly grasping pages as they seemed to almost vanish at lightning speed. Rafael Amadeus Hines is clearly a master storyteller, which begs the question–– where the heck is the next book?”_Top Shelf Magazine
Rafael Amadeus Hines is a native New Yorker with Panamanian, Jamaican, and Irish roots, who was born and raised on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Dipping into his early Alphabet City memories, he loosely based many of the characters in his first novel, Bishop’s War, on the people he grew up with, and adapted many of his own experiences into the book as well.
Rafael is a former Jazz club owner and restaurateur, and has worked in the financial and energy markets for over twenty years. On 9/11 he watched his office along with all the others in the Twin Towers come crashing down and, like many New Yorkers on that day, he anticipated follow up attacks to take place throughout the city. Years later he envisioned a lone citizen soldier preventing these attacks and the hero Sgt. John Bishop appeared on paper.
Rafael is a former Jazz club owner and restaurateur, and has worked in the financial and energy markets for over twenty years. On 9/11 he watched his office along with all the others in the Twin Towers come crashing down and, like many New Yorkers on that day, he anticipated follow up attacks to take place throughout the city. Years later he envisioned a lone citizen soldier preventing these attacks and the hero Sgt. John Bishop appeared on paper.
Rafael is the father of three and still spends much of his time in the New York neighborhood where he grew up. A voracious reader of suspense thrillers, his writing career was inspired by legendary artist-authors Elmore Leonard, John Sandford, Stephen Hunter, James Lee Burke, Tom Clancy, Vince Flynn, and Walter Mosley. He is currently working on book three in the Bishop series.
To request additional review copies or an interview with Rafael Amadeus Hines, please contact Mickey Mikkelson at Creative Edge Publicity: | 403.464.6925.
We look forward to the coverage!
December 17, 2022
The Crow Who Tampered With Time, an acclaimed collection of essays by author Lloyd Ratzlaff
The Crow Who Tampered With Time , acclaimed collection of literary essays by noted Saskatchewan author Lloyd Ratzlaff, finds new home with Shadowpaw Press
The Crow Who Tampered With Time, an acclaimed collection of essays reflecting on nature and spirituality by noted Saskatchewan author Lloyd Ratzlaff, now has a new home with Shadowpaw Press Reprise, which publishes new editions of notable, previously published work. Shadowpaw Press will also be republishing Ratzlaff’s second collection of essays, Backwater Mystic Blues, in 2023.
“The Crow Who Tampered With Time was published twenty years ago by Thistledown Press,” says Ratzlaff. “It was my first book, and after three printings seemed to have run its course. To have this new edition released by Shadowpaw Press makes me feel (as Mark Twain said) ‘very proud and happy.’”
“Each essay in The Crow Who Tampered With Time is a sparkling gem of literary nonfiction. As a whole, the collection elicits the full panoply of emotions from readers, who will close the book feeling both thoughtful and fulfilled,” says Edward Willett, editor and publisher of Shadowpaw Press. “I’m thrilled to be able to bring The Crow Who Tampered With Time back into the marketplace, where I hope many new readers will find it and fall in love with it as I did.”
The Crow Who Tampered With Time can be ordered through any brick-and-mortar or online bookstore. It can also be purchased directly from Shadowpaw Press at https://shadowpawpress.com/product/the-crow-who-tampered-with-time/.
More about the book
In this collection of essays, Lloyd Ratzlaff brings the prairie landscape to life through a capacious imagination charged with wonder and the gentle irony of an awareness tempered by time and love. Ratzlaff connects with the challenges posed by skepticism and belief, countering both the cynicism and doctrinairism of contemporary life with a renewed praise of the profound depths of the spirit and the natural world.
Critical praise
“The Crow Who Tampered With Time blossoms with essays that find radiance and coherence in a world (both natural and human) that formal religious dogma has forgotten. A visionary humility and an original, engaging voice make these essays and recollections both accessible and wonder-filled . . . This is a book of exquisite imagery, humorous observation, breathtaking honesty and profound insight. The essays pulse with emotional poignancy . . . ” – All Lit Up
“Sometimes we read exactly the right book at exactly the right time in our life. The Crow Who Tampered With Time, a book of short, spiritual reflections by Saskatoon’s Lloyd Ratzlaff, was a healing balm for me. I took it into my garden, pulled a chair into the sun, and didn’t move again—except to wipe tears of joy and enlightenment—until I’d completed it . . . The author is a man who can sit alone in a park and announce to the air, ‘I love this world, I love being here,’ and, after reading his book, I was able to do that, too. Highly recommended.” – Shelley A. Leedahl, SaskBooks Reviews
“(Ratzlaff’s) prose is so sensual, so sensitive to sound, and so layered with meanings that it often elicits a gasp of surprise, followed by delight over the rightness of the phrase. This is language to be savoured. . . It is not possible to read these short essays . . . without having one’s vision expanded.” – Edna Froese, Journal of Mennonite Studies
“This is a book of exquisite imagery, humorous observation, breathtaking honesty, and profound insight. As I read, the poignancy of each piece left me shaking my head, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. In many cases, it was both . . . This ‘small’ book carries within its pages the expansiveness of the prairie sky-it changes and deepens at each look.” – Maureen Weber, Prairie Messenger
About the Author
The most recent book by Lloyd Ratzlaff is a third collection of literary nonfiction, Bindy’s Moon (Thistledown Press). His essays are also featured in several anthologies, including Sons and Mothers: Stories From Mennonite Men, Reading the River: A Traveller’s Companion to the North Saskatchewan River, and apart: a year of pandemic poetry and prose. A former minister, counsellor, and lecturer at the University of Saskatchewan, he has taught writing classes for READ Saskatoon, the Western Development Museum, and the University of Saskatchewan Certificate of Art and Design. He was a columnist for Prairie Messenger Catholic Journal through its last nineteen years of publication. He lives in Saskatoon.
About the Publisher
Shadowpaw Press, founded in Regina, Saskatchewan, by award-winning author Edward Willett in 2018, publishes new work by established and emerging authors through its Premiere imprint and new editions of notable, previously published work through its Reprise imprint. For more information, contact publisher@shadowpawpress.com or visit www.shadowpawpress.com.
Lloyd Ratzlaff is available for interviews, media appearances, speaking engagements, and/or book review requests. Please contact mickey.creativeedge@gmail.com by email or by phone at 403.464.6925
December 15, 2022
THE TRAITOR, Book Two of The Order’s Assassin Series, by USA Today Best-selling author, DC Gomez
THE TRAITOR
Book Two of The Order’s Assassin Series
The Urban Fantasy Dynamics continue with USA Today Best-selling author, DC Gomez
Released by Gomez Expeditions
The book is available worldwide in digital and print format
Witches, Demons, and Shifters are all landing in Salem. But who do you trust?
Eric’s search for Rafael, the Order’s betrayer, is leading to a dead end. Running out of time, he decides to enlist the help of some old acquaintances in Salem’s underground.
In the meantime, the Garcia Clan, the deadliest of all the shifter assassin families in the world, has been attacked. Tensions are rising as Sasha is forced back on the field to investigate and bring the culprit to justice.
With both the Order of Witches and the Garcia Clan searching for the truth, Eric and Sasha are the only ones standing between a full-on blood bath.* The Traitor is book two in the Urban Fantasy Series The Order’s Assassin. Our favorite witch and former cop, Eric, from the Intern Diaries Series, has a new job with the Order of Witches. With no way out, he must continue his mission to clean out the Order, before he becomes the one hunted down.
The Traitor (The Order's Assassin Book 2) - Kindle edition by Gomez, D. C. . Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com. The Traitor (The Order's Assassin Book 2) eBook : Gomez, D. C. : Amazon.ca: Kindle Store
What readers and critics are saying about DC Gomez:
“The concept of Death and the interaction between life endings and soul capturing provides a stage for a cast of inimitable characters, both supernatural and strange natural, whose interactions provide one fine-tuned rollicking tale - the initial adventure of a series that now numbers six volumes! For those who love humorous paranormal fiction, this is a series to explore!” _ Grady Harp, Top 100 Amazon Reviewer
It isn't very often that I buy the second book in a series before I've finished the first so that should tell you just how much I enjoyed this one. Grab yourself a copy and join Isis, Bartholomew, Bob and not forgetting Constantine in their unusual jobs._ Mike Powell, Amazon Reviewer
Other Books in The Series:
To save his race, Eric will have to risk losing his soul. If he still has one…
Being the Order of Witches’ Hitman, is not Eric’s view of an ideal job. But he can’t deny he is good at the job. If he can find the traitors, he might have a way out of the mess he finds himself in.
It seems Eric is not the only one hating being an assassin. The sexy Sacha Garcia, from the renowned clan of assassins, is having her own morality dilemmas. Too bad the world cannot wait for either of them to address their internal turmoil.
Amazon.com: The Hitman (The Order's Assassin Book 1) eBook : Gomez, D. C. : Kindle Store
The Hitman (The Order's Assassin Book 1) eBook : Gomez, D. C. : Amazon.ca: Kindle Store
About The Author
D. C. Gomez is an award-winning USA Today Bestselling Author, podcaster, motivational speaker, and coach. Born in the Dominican Republic, she grew up in Salem, Massachusetts. D. C. studied film and television at New York University. After college she joined the US Army, and proudly served for four years.
D. C. has a Master’s Degree in Science Administration from the Central Michigan University, as well as a Master in Adult Education from Texas A&M- Texarkana University. She is a certified John Maxwell Team speaker and coach, and a certified meditation instructor from the Chopra Center.
One of D. C. passions is helping those around her overcome their self-limiting beliefs. She writes both non-fiction and fiction books, ranging from Urban Fantasy to Children’s Books. To learn more about her books and her passion, you can find her at www.dcgomez-author.com.
To request additional review copies or an interview with DC Gomez, please contact Mickey Mikkelson at Creative Edge Publicity: mickey.creativeedge@gmail.com / 403.464.6925. We look forward to the coverage!
December 13, 2022
Creative Edge Publicity is pleased to announce multiple represented Winners in the GLOBAL BOOK AWARDS
CREATIVE EDGE PUBLICITY IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE MULTIPLE REPRESENTED WINNERS IN THE GLOBAL BOOK AWARDS!!!!
The 2022 Global Book Awards for Self-Published Authors.
Featuring our medal winners and finalists in each of their categories.
The Global Awards aim to discover new talent as well as recognize fine examples of self-published books. As such, we hope they will give self-published authors the recognition they deserve, whether that is in their writing creativity, or in the way they have marketed their books to attract new readers.
In this modern age of self-publishing, books need to be appraised not only by their content and writing style, but also by the way they present and market themselves to the prospective buyer, whether that is in the good ratings it has on important stores like Amazon, its book cover and description, or the number of reviews it has collected. They must also appeal to new readers so part of the evaluation included a survey asking avid readers to select the top 5 books they enjoyed the most.
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To request additional review copies or an interview with any of the winners, please contact Mickey Mikkelson at Creative Edge Publicity: mickey.creativeedge@gmail.com / 403.464.6925.
