My mom

My deep thanks to the many of you who wrote with condolences when I mentioned my mother's passing on April 15. I didn't respond to all of you, because I was a little overwhelmed with all of it, but I really appreciated hearing from you and reading your kind words. If you're interested in learning a little more about her, I wrote a remembrance that talks a little more about her life and her personality. Click the link above or the picture below.

The picture is her with my kids, probably in about 2001 or so. She was a great grandmother to them, and they made many happy memories together. I'm so grateful to her for so many things, but especially for fostering my love of books.

Kenai for free May 5th-9th!

A sneak bargain preview for newsletter readers! My award-winning military sci-fi book, Kenai, will be free as an ebook for five days from May 5 to 9. Mark your calendars and get a free copy of the space (and time) adventure that beat out 220 other books to win the 3rd annual SPSFC competition across nine judging teams.

Here's the blurb:

Jess Amiko is long past her days as a space marine, with all the glory of that time tarnished beyond repair by what came after. Trying to rebuild from the ashes, she's taken a job as a security guard on Kenai, a lonely world far from the Council systems. It's supposed to be easy duty - quiet and peaceful, on a docile world with no real threats, watching over an archeological dig at a site built by a race long vanished.Betrayed and attacked by forces unknown, and finding that nothing on Kenai makes sense, Jess is plunged into a desperate fight for survival that leads her deep into the mysteries of Kenai's past, and deep into the hardship and paradox the planet imposes on all who call it home.

It's available as an audiobook narrated by Jennifer Pratt also!

Best is on the way!

I've spoken in this space frequently over the past year about Best, the romantic comedy novel I co-wrote with my friend and writing buddy. Each of us alternated chapters writing from the perspectives of a man and woman, both professors, who start out hating each other. Forced to work on a thankless committee together, they come across a mystery, with secret informants, scandal, and the possibility of significant fraud, and that work brings helps them see something in each other that they missed before. Part romance, part comedy, and part mystery, the book was a blast to write, and I'm so excited to share it with you. My co-author is working through an agent who was much more interested in her solo book projects. That means we will probably need to leave her name off this book to serve those big-league endeavors better, but have no fear - we'll come up with a suitably mysterious way to give her credit for her half of the story.

The book is totally ready - written, revised, sent to our early reading teams, and rewritten several times. Our academic friends who've read it frequently called it "hilarious" and "retraumatizing," only one of which we can probably put on the cover in the blurb. We're working on a cover now, and I hope to have it ready to go by the end of the month. Watch this space for more news!

Writing projects

I've spent most of the last week or two writing a short story for an anthology I was invited to. It's a fun one - it will have about 30 stories, all by indie fantasy and sci-fi authors, and it'll be set up a little like an advent calendar, with one story a day leading up to Christmas. The stories aren't Christmas themed (mine certainly isn't!) but it's a fun way to put an anthology together, and depending on how you sign up, you could get one story a day to finish out the year. The stories are all supposed to involve a ring in some way, and mine has a magically-trained woman forced to summon ferocious beasts in service of a war fought by her oppressors. We have an active Discord server going for all the authors, and we're reading and commenting on each others stories now. The book will go up on Kickstarter in September if you'd like a copy, or you'll be able to buy it later. I think it's going to be a lot of fun.

I've gotten some feedback on my play, A Light Reign, and I'm incorporating the comments in my revisions. I'm going to submit it to a North Carolina playwrights workshop for consideration to include in their next round of staged readings, and I've got a local Greensboro playwrights group I've joined also that will take a look at it. I'm hoping to get more feedback and then organize a table read or even a staged reading going to see how it all works, and I have several avenues to pursue to get that to happen (hopefully).

After I get that done, and cheer on my oldest through their Ph.D. defense, I'll get back to novels. I'm going to continue work on my sci fi novel next. More on that later!

Some stories to try

I'm part of several author collectives, and we share each other's work to try to help all of us reach more readers. In many cases, the books we share are are free or discounted. Sometimes, they ask that you sign up for a newsletter like this one. Here are some new books I have to share this month:

First, I have Cryogenic Clues by Zeph Baxter. This book, coming out on May 30th, is the third in his series of locked-room space mysteries - a cool idea, like Knives Out in space. Check it out to see if it's your kind of thing, and for sure have a look at the first two that are already out.

Next, I have a set of thirty-eight indie mystery, crime, and thriller books. There's a huge variety of genre and style here, with a whole bunch of all-caps sans serif titles. Check them out! I'm sure there's something that will tickle your fancy.

Finally, I have a set of forty-four indie fantasy and paranormal books, all of which are free for Kindle Unlimited subscribers. That's something like 15,000 pages of indie fantasy, including a huge variety of genres, some with dogs on the cover, and three of the coveted naked man chest variety. Something for everybody!

Thanks

Thanks so much for signing up for my newsletter. Please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions for upcoming books! I love hearing from people. If you've read one of my books and wouldn't mind leaving a review anywhere (Amazon, Goodreads, Bookbub, LibraryThing) I'd really appreciate it! Each review helps me reach more readers. 

We're really looking forward to sharing Best with you soon!

May the Bloodmother watch over you - 

Dave