Happy New Year from Frosthelm!
Jan 02, 2024 10:37 pm
Welcome, new folks!
Hi, there. If you've joined the mailing list recently, I want to make sure you get your free Frosthelm book, Traitors Unseen. If you haven't gotten it, you can get it free here (the site will ask you to sign up for this newsletter, which you're already getting) or here from Smashwords. It's also on Apple Books, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble. Please, enjoy with my compliments.
Best wishes for 2024!
I hope your new year is starting off well. I am returning today from two trips: one to see my family for the Christmas holiday in Santa Fe. We had my whole side of the family together for the first time since 2017, which was really neat. After that, I flew with my oldest kid to Boulder, CO, and helped them move across country to Brookhaven National Lab in Long Island for a grad student fellowship in atmospheric chemistry. 1900 miles in a packed Prius with a disgruntled cat is an adventure, but we made it OK. I'm actually writing this from LGA as I wait for my plane home.
Needless to say, I didn't get a lot of writing done over the past few weeks, but I did get a lot of useful feedback from my early reading team for What Grows From the Dead, my upcoming mystery/thriller. My Reader Number One (my wife, Christina) had already given me feedback, so these folks are the second round. Although they all had suggestions (some of them contradictory!), all report enjoying the book. I'm looking forward to diving back into edits on that when I get home. Here's a look at the cover, which I also got through the design process.
The artist is Abby Blanchard, and the designer is Olivia Pro Design. The book is about an out-of-work former professor in North Carolina who thinks his life can't get much worse but is very, very wrong.
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 up is The Doorway by Jesse Watson, a portal fantasy about an FBI agent trying to help a missing girl who follows her twin sister through a doorway (hence the name, I think) into another world.
Next, I have The Sky Place by Lyla Cork. This is a dark fantasy tale of ancient Mayan magic, where a princess born 1500 years ago connects across time and magic with a modern-day surgeon lost in Belize. Sounds like great stuff!
Next, I have Five Stars by Scott Burtness, a free short story about a travel agent in Hell who always (and appropriately) gets one-star ratings. One day, a demon returns from a trip and awards them five stars, which (unlike the real world) is very bad news. Such a fun concept! Try it out for free. Scott has many other comic horror and fantasy books if you like it.
Finally, I have Argentum by Debbie Manber Kupfer. This is the second book in a long YA shapeshifter series set in the present day (except, you know, actual werewolves and such).
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.
I hope you and your friends and family are having a safe and rewarding start to the new year!
May the Bloodmother watch over you -
Dave