A book club!

I had an author first just today. I was an invited guest author for a book club in St. James, NC, a town near the coast. I got to enjoy a killer Caesar salad with a group of readers who'd just read What Grows From the Dead.

We had a wide-ranging and fun discussion of the book, of my approach to writing, of trying to write strong female characters, of the nature of reviews, of agents and the divide between indie publishing and traditional, and many other subjects. It was very kind of the group to read my book and host me. A close friend from has retired down to St. James, so she invited me to come down and join the group. These readers are not the kind of reading group that just meets as an excuse to hang out and drink wine - they offered insightful, critical, and wise discussion, plus a boatload of insight as to how the book worked and didn't work with them. I left the room while they did their traditional 1-10 rating of this month's book, not wanting to influence the votes, but an inside source tells me the story of Morris, Annie, Mindy, and Steve garnered nothing less than a 7 among the 11 of them, and in some cases 8's and 9's. All in all, a really fun experience, and I'm grateful to all of them for reading and discussing. If any of you out there in reader-land would be interested in that kind of thing, I'm happy to try to make it work. Just drop me an email at dave@davedobsonbooks.com.

A presentation!

I recently did a presentation for Science Fiction Writers' Week, a writers' conference I got invited to participate in. It's a bit of a ramble, but it has a lot about my process and experience and some stuff I've learned publishing.

Watch my session on YouTube

Kenai goes to audio!

I'm so happy to announce that Kenai is now available as an audiobook. This sci fi novel, winner of this year's SPSFC competition over 220 competitors, is voiced by the wonderful Jennifer Pratt, the same narrator who performed Daros for me. She does a great job bringing Jess Amiko to life along with all the residents, visitors, heroes, and villains of Kenai, a world that was supposed to be long dead but turns out to be something else entirely.

The audiobook is available on Audible: https://adbl.co/3Nn4nTZ

and Amazon: https://amzn.to/4dGiYEH

and Apple: https://apple.co/4f0ij1X

If audiobooks are your thing, and you haven't yet experienced Kenai, I hope you'll give it a try.

More audiobook news!

I'm also happy to report that I got more than 80 auditions to voice an audiobook version of What Grows From the Dead. I've narrowed those to four favorite narrators, and I'm waiting on some feedback from consulting listeners before making an offer. I'm hopeful that WGFTD will move quickly after that and that I'll be able to release an audiobook before the end of the year. The book has been doing really well, reaching 550 reviews on Amazon today in seven months, far more than any of my other books (Flames Over Frosthelm, my oldest release, is in 2nd place with 321).

Hopefully, I'll have more to report in my next newsletter. Watch this space! :-)

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 Ranger of Kings by C.J.R. Isley, the first book in the popular William of Alamore series. This is a coming-of-age tale of a village boy who dreams of becoming a knight but meets conflict, danger, and political intrigue.

Next, I have The Dragon That Never Was by Timothy Currey. This is a novella-length story of a culture where every young woman is given a dragon egg to raise into a dragon to ride. One young woman faces a different destiny. This one has impressively high ratings from Amazon readers.

Third, I have the series-opener paranormal mystery Dead Wrong by Kate Allenton. This tells the story of a psychic detective who can speak with ghosts and is helping a relative on the local police force solve crimes. When he's attacked, she needs to step out of the shadows and risk her security and her privacy. With over 1400 ratings and a 4.5 average on Amazon, this is a popular book with a strong track record.

Finally, I have a group promotion of over 150 fantasy and sci fi books. There is such a wide variety of topics and authors here that you're sure to find something that catches your fancy!

Thanks

Thanks so much for signing up for my newsletter! I hope you've enjoyed my books and also these updates of my various goings-on. If you have any questions or ideas for newsletter topics, don't hesitate to ask - I'd love to hear from you, and I promise I'll do my best to give you whatever you're after.

I hope you and your friends and family are having a safe and rewarding 2024!

May the Bloodmother watch over you - 

Dave