Make sure you drop by over the next few week as we have some amazing and fun interviews with a few of your favorite authors. While attending author Lori Foster’s #RAGT23, we had the privilege of speaking with::
About their upcoming books, book-signings, and some Behind The Words moments about their personal lives, and well, all things books!
Stay Tuned………
“THE ODDLY PEDESTRIAN LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CHAOS” SELLS OUT IN ADVANCE OF PUBLICATION
Dark Horse and Tiny Onion Announce Second Printing Cover by Nick Robles and Promotion to Ongoing Series
The debut issue of James Tynion IV, Tate Brombal, and Isaac Goodhart’s The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos #1 has sold out at the distributor level ahead of publication on June 28, 2023. Dark Horse Comics has announced a second printing, featuring a new cover by Nick Robles, and has promoted the series to be Dark Horse’s next ongoing series. The first issue also features colors by Miquel Muerto and letters by Aditya Bidikar, rounding out the all-star team behind this exciting new comic.
“It’s extremely exciting news to me to see the first issue sell out so early!” said Senior Editor, Daniel Chabon. “I see Christopher Chaos joining the ranks of Dark Horse’s other long-running creator-owned series like Black Hammer, Hellboy, The Umbrella Academy, and more. I am super proud of the creative team and I hope to see this continue as far as we can take it.
“James and I developed an entire world and history for Christopher Chaos that is filled with monsters and mad science going back centuries… Now, due to such an overwhelming response from readers, we have the expanded scope necessary to explore it in its entirety! Thank you so much to everyone that’s supported this odd book, and get ready to spend the next few years alongside Christopher and the monsters he picks up along the way,” said Tate Brombal.
“Yes! YES!! It’s alive! It’s ALIIIIVEEEE (for many more issues)!” said Isaac Goodhart.
Orders close for the second printing on June 12, 2023.
The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos #1 arrives in comic shops June 21, 2023, just in time for Pride Month, with covers by Nick Robles, David Talaski, and Isaac Goodhart. The second printing variant will be available July 26, 2023.
Praise for The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher ChaosT:
“Christopher Chaos, much like Brombal’s prior Barbalien (also lettered by the ever-excellent Aditya Bidikar), is a book steeped in the experience of being queer. It is about being the absolutely neurotic, anxious mess of a queer teenager. An experience we can all understand and relate to. Only it, y’know, has more Werewolves, Frankensteins, and crazy Cult Cops Of Complicity that want to help enforce the normalcy of the world.”—Comic Book Herald
“THE ODDLY PEDESTRIAN LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CHAOS is fun, funny, heartfelt, and horrific. It’s everything you could possibly want in a comic about a mad teen scientist.”—Chris Condon (That Texas Blood)
“An artful blend of everything that makes comics great! Monsters, super-science, and a weird coming-of-age superhero story that’s unlike anything else on shelves.” Zac Thompson (Undone By Blood, The Brother of All Men, The Dregs)
THE SIBERIA JOB By Josh Haven
Simiakia by Lori Windows
Simiakia by Lori Windows, a champion endurance rider, is a modern western that combines adventure, romance, and the search for pride in oneself
Simikia, the first novel by champion endurance rider Lori Windows, now available from Endless Sky Books, is a modern western (set in the 1980s in Idaho) that combines a deep love and understanding of horses (specifically Appaloosas) with adventure, Native American identity, the search for pride in oneself and one’s heritage, and a touch of romance.
“After fifty years of newspaper articles, magazine articles, and short stories, seeing my name in print attached to a work of my heart, a full novel, thrills me beyond belief. My friends say it is autobiographical,” says Lori Windows. “That may be true, but I am more related to the coydog in the story than I am the heroine.”
“I’m delighted to be able to publish this exciting and ultimately life-affirming modern-day western,” says Edward Willett, editor and publisher of Endless Sky Books. “I can’t wait for readers to discover it. I hope they enjoy reading it as much as I did.”
Simiakia can be ordered through most bookstores, online or off. It can also be purchased directly from Endless Sky Books at www.endless-sky-books.com.
More about the book
It was not whimsy that had brought him together with this red horse to run this race. It was the justice of time.
Raised without hope or pride in his heritage to what promises to be a short life of crime, alcohol, and drugs, Nez Perce teenager Al George gets an unexpected second chance. A heist gone wrong ends up with him working on probation at the very Idaho ranch he and his “friends” tried to rob, owned by Celia Bolt, who left her own rich-but-dysfunctional family to move West many years ago, and the taciturn Morgan Kyles, who has his own checkered past.
Over the course of the summer of 1986, Celia and Morgan work out the thorny details of their relationship, while Al regains his pride and his sense of self as he works with the ranch’s signature Appaloosas, finds love—and finally, through a deep bond with one very special horse, reconnects with his Nez Perce heritage and discovers the truth of his strange, recurring dreams of an Indian brave on a very special horse, striving to protect his people from the soldiers pursuing them.
For everyone involved, one summer changes everything.
About the Author
Lori Windows grew up enamoured of the writings of Grey, Brand, Terhune, London, Burroughs, and Farley. Her father set her on a horse when she was two years old, and she has now ridden horses on six continents.
In 1982, she discovered the sport of distance racing. She and her variety of horses and mules have amassed multiple national titles and more than 63,000 sanctioned race miles.
THE HUSBAND LIST By Ella Quinn
By popular demand, USA Today bestselling author Ella Quinn returns Regency England’s beloved extended family, The Worthingtons, for the second in a sparnking spin-off series!
Determined to tame the marriage market on their own terms and make advantageous love matches, three confident sisters draw up a list of qualities they expect their new beaus to meet. But as they are about to discover, people are hardly ever perfect – including one handsome politician whose ambition and glib smile masks a tender heart and the sincere desire to help improve the everyday lives of the average English citizen…
While her older sisters have sought out adventure, Lady Madeline Vivers is content to be the conventional one in the family. A respectable husband, spring and autumn in Town, a place in the country—these are Madeline’s very reasonable goals. And Mr. Harry Stern is not the man to help her reach them—no matter how much he causes her pulse to race. He is far too ambitious and determined to make his mark in Parliament. Yet, somehow he’s convinced that Madeline is just the helpmate he needs . . .
The moment Harry witnesses Madeline gently convincing a shopkeeper to hire the child who is stealing from him, he’s intrigued. If only she realized how much good they could do together, aiding their fellow countrymen and women. And the way her color deepens at his touch tells him she too feels their intense attraction. In fact, Harry has never felt so powerful an attraction either. What better reasons to use all his gifts of persuasion to convince her she belongs by his side—and in his arms . . .
Today, Bo Bennett, founder of BookMarketing.pro and acclaimed author of over a dozen books, including the bestseller “Logically Fallacious,” announced the release of his latest book “Artificial Intelligence, Real Profits: Mastering ChatGPT-4 for Business Marketing.” Notably, this book is a testament to the revolutionary power of AI, as Bennett wrote it almost exclusively with artificial intelligence, even crafting the marketing materials and the audiobook in his voice using AI technology.
Bennett’s background spans programming and technology, and he holds a PhD in Social Psychology. His diverse background and deep understanding of technology, human behavior, and self-publishing have uniquely positioned him to explore AI’s potential to transform business marketing. Bennett has used AI for various aspects of writing and marketing his new book, including creating the book description, keywords, selecting the categories, and even writing this press release.
“Artificial Intelligence, Real Profits” is a comprehensive guide designed to demystify AI-driven business marketing, providing actionable techniques and real-life examples. It aims to help entrepreneurs and marketers leverage the power of AI to maximize their profits and success. It’s not just about AI but about leveraging AI in a way that augments human creativity and productivity, as Bennett has demonstrated in creating this book.
Bennett demonstrates how AI can be a powerful tool, even transforming the publishing industry more profoundly than the internet has. “AI is going to change the publishing industry more than the Internet has. Mark my words,” said Bennett.
In this groundbreaking book, Bennett employed AI to assist in creating the topics and, through carefully crafted prompts, got the AI to write the book he envisioned. This innovative approach makes “Artificial Intelligence, Real Profits” stand out among other books in the field. “As an industry professional and a prolific author, it not only blows my mind that I created this book, all marketing materials, and audiobook (in my own voice) in about 8 hours, but that with the help of AI, this is probably better than anything I have written on my own,” Bennett added. “After all, who is more qualified to write about AI than AI?”
Bennett’s primary goal with this release is not just to sell more books, but to raise awareness about AI’s transformative potential in the publishing industry and to inspire other authors to explore the possibilities. He encourages readers to read the book and the media to contact him for interviews. Website/URL: https://www.BookMarketing.pro/
About Bo Bennett: Bo Bennett is the founder of BookMarketing.pro, a business that has been helping self-published authors for over a decade. He is also an author of over a dozen books, including the bestseller “Logically Fallacious.” His latest book, “Artificial Intelligence, Real Profits: Mastering ChatGPT-4 for Business Marketing,” explores the revolutionary potential of AI in business marketing and the publishing industry.
Science-fiction writer and Canadian icon Robert J. Sawyer has been recognized once again for his contributions to science fiction literature and arts and culture. Called the “Dean of Canadian Science Fiction” by The Ottawa Citizen, Sawyer has had numerous successes in his writing career including being the only Canadian to win all three major science fiction awards for best novel of the year: the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award. Now, he has one more accolade to add to his list.
On Friday, April 28, 2023, Sawyer received the L. Ron Hubbard Lifetime Achievement Award in conjunction with the 39th Annual Writers and Illustrators of the Future contest ceremony held at the Taglyan Cultural Complex in Hollywood, California.
The writers who have previously won this award represent a Who’s Who of science fiction: Gregory Benford, Algis Budrys, Orson Scott Card, Anne McCaffrey, Larry Niven, Frederik Pohl, Jerry Pournelle, Mike Resnick, Robert Silverberg, and Jack Williamson.
Emily Goodwin, Vice President of Public Affairs for Author Services, Inc., served as event producer and she presented the award to Rob, who has penned such science-fiction classics as Hominids, Quantum Night, and The Oppenheimer Alternative.
L. Ron Hubbard was one of the founders of modern science fiction, and his short stories were a mainstay of the classic SF pulp magazines, including the famed Astounding Science Fiction (still published today as Analog Science Fiction and Fact). The Writers of the Future contest, now in its 40th year, was founded by him to encourage new authors of science fiction and fantasy. Rob has served as a judge for the contest since 2005.
During his acceptance speech, Sawyer said, “Thank you all so very much! Although I entered this contest when I was starting out, I’ve only ever been on the stage here at the L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers and Illustrators of the Future Gala as a presenter, never an award recipient. I am thrilled to have finally made it! I thank John Goodwin, Emily Goodwin, Joni Labaqui, and everyone else at Author Services, Inc. from the bottom of my heart—which is beating awfully fast right now!”
Robert J. Sawyer is a Canadian science-fiction author with twenty-five novels and three short-story collections to his name. He is the bestselling author of FlashForward, which was adapted as an ABC TV series, and he wrote the script for the series finale of the web series Star Trek Continues. As a futurist, he’s consulted with NASA, spoken at Google’s headquarters, and advised Canada’s federal Department of Justice.
Receiving a lifetime-achievement award would truly be a great accomplishment for anyone, but this is Sawyer’s fourth such award. He’s previously received lifetime achievement awards from the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association, the Mississauga Arts Council, and the Baltimore Science Fiction Society in conjunction with the estate of science-fiction grandmaster Robert A. Heinlein.The L. Ron Hubbard Lifetime Achievement Award is a wonderful addition that only emphasizes Sawyer’s dedication to the literary world of science fiction.
Rob is available for interviews and appearances. For media appearances, interviews, and/or book review requests please contact mickey.creativeedge@gmail.com by email or by phone at 403.464.6925
The Robert J. Sawyer web site: sfwriter.com
Rand McNally today released the new annual edition of its best-selling Motor Carriers’ Road Atlas for professional drivers.
Despite near ubiquitous use of GPS for routing trucks, Rand McNally’s best-selling atlas is often the go-to navigation device that experienced drivers use to plot their course and to use when GPS devices fail to operate appropriately. This is why Rand McNally’s Motor Carrier’s Road Atlases continue to elicit five-star reviews for accuracy, dependability, and ease of use.
Each edition includes updated state and national truck-accessible routes; the latest state-by-state regulations; fuel tax charts; restricted routes, low-clearance, and more.
The 2024 edition updates include:
The new editions of the atlas are available in paperback; a spiral-bound, laminated Deluxe version; and a Large Scale edition with maps that are 37% larger printed on laminated pages with a tough spiral binding that allows the book to lay open easily. All can be purchased at travel centers, in bookstores, online at the Rand McNally Store, and other e-commerce stores.
To learn more about these atlases, visit randmcnally.com/motor-carriers-road-atlas.
Visit randmcnally.com/roadatlas for more information on all Road Atlas products, celebrating 100 years with the 2024 editions.
About Rand McNally – Rand McNally is the most trusted source for maps, directions, and travel content. Products and services include: America’s #1 Road Atlas, MileMaker® truck routing software (milemaker.com), leading geography-based educational resources and mobile fleet management solutions. (randmcnally.com)
THE ALL AMERICAN By Susie Finkbeiner
Michigan Notable Book Award–winning author Susie Finkbeiner takes readers back to the complex decade of the 1950s in the American Midwest. It was a time of baseball and apple pie—and also a time of questioning the status quo. Join Finkbeiner for a summer of chasing down dreams, seeking out the good, and discovering the place you truly belong in The All-American.
Sixteen-year-old Bertha Harding is not like other girls. She isn’t interested in getting married, having babies, and being a homemaker. She is far more interested in joining the neighborhood boys in a fast-paced game of baseball.
Her eleven-year-old sister, Flossie, on the other hand, wants nothing more than to fit in with the girls in her class. But, try as she might, she can’t seem to make a single friend other than those she finds in her books. It’s in those books that she finds hope for her own happily-ever-after.
But every life has a few strikes against it. When their father is accused of being part of the Communist party, life comes crashing down around them. It is clear they can no longer stay in their hometown, where rumors about the Harding family run rampant, so they escape to the small town of Bear Run, Michigan.
It’s there where Bertha grows even more determined to play for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, even trying out for the Workington Sweet Peas. And it’s in Bear Run where Flossie learns to be a friend and to find the good in everything.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Susie Finkbeiner is the CBA bestselling author of All Manner of Things, which was selected as a 2020 Michigan Notable Book, as well as Stories That Bind Us, The Nature of Small Birds, and other novels. Susie and her husband have three children and live in West Michigan. Learn more at www.susiefinkbeiner.com.
Behind the Words welcomes authors Alli Frank and Asha Youmans. We’ll be talking about their latest release THE BETTER HALF!
Let’s start with where you’re from, where you live? Is writing your full-time job?
Alli: I am from Washington state, lived in San Francisco forever, but now I live in Ketchum, Idaho. Writing is my full-time job with a side gig of supporting student essay writing for college and graduate school applications.
Asha: I was born in Massachusetts but Seattle, WA, has been my home since birth. I lived in the Bay Area for many years, though I never crossed paths with Alli there. Writing is my full-time job, but caring for family takes up much of my time and occupies most of my heart.
How long have you been writing?
Alli: I spent a decade plus writing education industry articles when I worked as an assistant head of school. As a novelist, since 2017.
Asha: When I was a kid, I loved writing short stories and I kept that up into my college years, but always for my own pleasure. I began writing as a professional with Alli in 2018.
How did the two of you collaborate on this novel, and has your writing process changed at all over the time you’ve been writing together?
Alli & Asha: Over the course of three books, our writing process has changed, morphed, transformed, and gone back to original methods that worked in the beginning. Our first book, Tiny Imperfections, the phrase ‘ignorance is bliss’ reigned supreme and we just hoped that what we were doing together would one day turn into a novel. Never Meant to Meet You, our second book, was written during the long stretch of Covid so we were in a bubble together and we did a lot of writing side-by-side to fill our days. While working on The Better Half, our partnership was challenged by the move of Alli and her family to another state. But we have figured out how to navigate that hurdle as well between Facetime, an insane number of calls and getting together for intense writing and editing sessions by traveling back and forth about every six weeks.
What inspired you to write The Better Half, and how did you create your character, Nina?
Alli & Asha: Nina is a first generation, American born child of Jamaican immigrants. She is a focused, driven, woman with a step-by-step life plan that, she is confident, will ensure the sacrifices her parents made in coming to America were worth it. As writers, the two of us are at an age where we have learned the hard lesson of detachment, to hold onto things a little more loosely. We have embraced the fact that even with the most scrupulous planning, some results are beyond our determination. In this book, we wanted to explore a controlling, calculated protagonist living in the exact moment of her life when this lesson comes to light.
Could you share one detail from your current release with readers that they might not find in the book?
Alli & Asha: We wrote The Better Half just before the dismantling of Roe v. Wade. We wanted our readers to consider the complications of an older mother who could absolutely take care of a baby, provide a beautiful life, but who had been there, done that and is ready and desires to move on to other opportunities in her life. We never imaged the scope of this story arc would launch in such charged time for women and the fight, yet again, for autonomy over our bodies.
What are you most excited about with this book?
Alli & Asha: We are so proud to share that The Better Half will be brought to readers by Mindy’s Book Studio, an imprint of Amazon Publishing, to include books developed in conjunction with and curated by author, director, actor, producer, Mindy Kaling. With an eye toward celebrating emerging and diverse voices, the imprint has welcomed us along with a growing roster of talented women writers. Mindy herself had this to say about our book: “Charming, laugh-out-loud funny, and honest, The Better Half celebrates the absurdity and joy in life, and does so with an enviable grace and good heart.”
If you could be one of your characters for a day which character would it be?
Alli: I would love to be Marisol for a day. I would get all the treatments I could possibly pull off in a day from The Clean Slate for free! Female upkeep is expensive!
Asha: I would be Nina for a day and spend it with students. I still get a huge kick out of working with kids. They energize me and remind me of the possibilities of life.
If you could spend the day with your character, what would you do? What would that day look like?
Alli: Per above, we would not leave the Clean Slate. Might be boring for Marisol, but there is a full bar, all we would have to do is order in food. And I would leave looking absolutely fresh and fabulous.
Asha: I hope Nina would allow me to take a class out on a field trip, possibly to the Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle or to hike in the Washington state peninsula old growth forests. I loved teaching beyond the classroom, and I miss the opportunity to impress upon young scholars the importance of community and being a respectful citizen.
Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write?
Alli & Asha: There are not any particular authors that have influenced how we write, but it is our colleagues, and the parents and students in schools where we have worked that have influenced us. When you work in schools you become an expert in human nature and dialogue. We are often complimented on our characters’ dialogue being authentic and relatable. Our ability to do that comes from years and years of listening to people of all ages.
Do you have a secret talent readers would be surprised by?
Alli: I am an insane negotiator. And I now mentor younger women in the art. From a young age I committed to knowing my worth and fighting for it.
Asha: Part of what makes me a great storyteller is my love of voice and performance. I am a great mimic, I sing, and from my time in a kids’ traveling circus group, I developed a talent for making whacky facial expressions that enhance any story I tell.
Your favorite go to drink or food when the world goes crazy!
Alli: You will find me huddled in a corner hoarding Trader Joe’s corn dippers and cowboy caviar salsa with a vat of freshly made guacamole and elote. A freezing cold Diet Coke over crushed ice will be tucked into my side.
Asha: Seattle is my hometown so coffee it is! Make it an espresso martini alongside fresh chips and guacamole and I might move in.
What is your writing kryptonite?
Alli: A new series I have been waiting to start. I can easily set aside writing and talk myself into believing that my watching an entire series in a day or two is actually me “studying” and “learning” more about the storytelling/creative writing process. Ridiculous, but I can rationalizing a screen binge like none other.
Asha: My 13-year-old Yorkie, Tempo is writing kryptonite for me. He hates it when I am in video interviews or online with book clubs and he regularly chooses those times to bark to demand going out for a walk. If I am writing, I elect a time after a long walk with him so he can nap next to me. Tempo is an attention hound.
What is the one question you never get ask at interviews, but wish you did?
Why the heck do you put yourself through the agony of writing only to then be subjected to the brutality of reviews and reviewers?
Alli & Asha: While we like (as girls and now women) very different types of storytelling, we have always been captured by plots, arcs, character development other words. Some people simply read stories; we dissect them, agonize over them, feel them deeply. Creating story is like a lover you can’t release. Sometimes good for you, often bad for you. The lows are low, but when you have the highs, there is nothing like it.
What are you working on now?
Our fourth book that we are currently working on does not focus on schools and educators. We are stepping into a whole new landscape to explore generational themes and examine theories about what it means to be a success in America. We are excited to escort our faithful readers and to welcome new ones into an arena we found compelling but which we had to research to accurately honor. So far, we have found that there is another level of thrill to challenging ourselves in building characters that live in a world not intimately known to us. The teachers and students in us both are delighted to continue to learn and to take our writing to new heights.
Wow, thank you ladies, what a great interview!
Reader’s, here’s a peek at THE BETTER HALF:
After a difficult five years, at age forty-three, Nina Morgan Clarke’s time has finally arrived. With an ex-husband relocated across the country, her father bouncing back after the loss of his beloved wife, and her daughter, Xandra, thriving at boarding school, Nina is stepping into her dream job as a trifecta: a first-generation, Black female head of the storied Royal-Hawkins School. To mark the moment, Nina and her best friend, Marisol, take a long-overdue girls’ trip to celebrate the second half of Nina’s life―which is shaping up to be the best part of her life.
As Nina’s school year gets underway, all seems to be progressing as planned. Before long, wunder-hire Jared Jones, two hundred pounds of Harvard-educated ego, relentlessly pushes Nina to her ethical limits. Soon after, dutiful Xandra accuses one of her teachers of misconduct. And most alarming, the repercussions of her trip with Marisol force Nina into a life-altering choice. Time is of the essence, and Nina must decide if she will embrace a future she never could have predicted.
