Stars are dying and Sci-Fi Author Jeffrey Carver Knows Why

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25 October 2020

NEBULA AWARD FINALIST, JEFFREY A. CARVER
RELAUNCHES SUNBORN Book 4 of the Chaos Chronicles Series

Stars are dying.

John Bandicut and his companions are summoned to a star-cloud called Starmaker, known to humans as the Orion Nebula, to discover what force threatens newborn stars–and possibly every world within a thousand light-years. Their journey takes them not just into the perils of a stellar nursery, but into confrontation with the Mindaru, a billion-year-old AI and adversary of life as they know it. The task is daunting. But with the aid of Deep and Dark, sentient clouds who are perhaps the strangest beings they have met yet in their exceedingly strange journey, there may be hope.

Back on Triton, Julie Stone–briefly Bandicut’s lover before he was transported away to a new life at the edge of the galaxy–encounters the enigmatic translator, the alien entity that first drew Bandicut into his extraordinary adventures. Julie must face her own life-or-death decision in defense of the Earth–while for Bandicut and company, whatever chance they have of stopping the terrifying Mindaru will be found only in the fiery heart of an intelligent sun.

Sunborn continues the harrowing journey through the tumultuous worlds of The Chaos Chronicles, from the Nebula-nominated author of Eternity’s End. It was recently released in new audiobook, print, and ebook editions.

“Leaps quite madly from pot to kettle to frying pan to fire. The pace never lets up…[a] remarkably expansive vision.” —Analog

“Carver’s latest addition to The Chaos Chronicles… ensures his place among the most inventive of contemporary authors of hard sf and speculative theory. Filled with startling ideas and ingenious plot twists, this sf adventure (along with its series predecessors) belongs in most sf collections. —Library Journal

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jeffrey A. Carver is the author of numerous science fiction novels and stories, including The Chaos Chronicles series and the Nebula-nominated Eternity’s End. Though he’s an absolute junkie for science, his greatest loves in writing are character, story, and a healthy sense of wonder. He has taught writing all over New England, from Bread Loaf to MIT. He lives with his family in the Boston area. His website and blog are found at starrigger.net. The Reefs of Time and Crucible of Time—a two-volume novel—represents Carver’s first new book in eleven years, and is a major addition to his collected works.

To request additional review copies or an interview with Jeffrey A. Carver, please contact Mickey Mikkelson at Creative Edge Publicity: mickey.creativeedge@gmail.com / 403.464.6925.

Book Lights Podcast Features: Karen Rose

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Sheila English

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24 October 2020

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Lisa Kessler got the chance to do a special Book Lights episode talking with bestselling author Karen Rose about her new release Say No More!

You can listen to the podcast HERE

Internationally bestselling author Karen Rose was born and raised in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC. She met her husband, Martin, on a blind date when they were seventeen and after they both graduated from the University of Maryland, (Karen with a degree in Chemical Engineering) they moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. Karen worked as an engineer for a large consumer goods company, earning two patents, but as Karen says, “scenes were roiling in my head and I couldn’t concentrate on my job so I started writing them down. I started out writing for fun, and soon found I was hooked.”

Her debut suspense novel, DON’T TELL, was released in July, 2003. Since then, she has published more than fifteen novels and two novellas. Her twenty-fourth novel, SAY NO MORE, will be released in 2020.

Karen’s books have appeared on the bestseller lists of the New York Times, USA Today, London’s Sunday Times, and Germany’s der Spiegel (#1), and the Irish Times, as well as lists in South Africa(#1) and Australia! To date, her books have been translated into more than twenty languages.

A former high school teacher of chemistry and physics, Karen lives in Florida with her husband of more than thirty years. You can find out more at: http://karenrosebooks.com/

And for more about our host Lisa Kessler visit http://Lisa-Kessler.com

Book Lights – shining a light on good books!

BEHIND THE WORDS: WITH YA HORROR AUTHOR LIZ BUTCHER

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Jocie McKade

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24 October 2020

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Welcome Liz, we’re excited to have you on Reader’s Entertainment. First, tell our readers a bit about yourself.

I’m Liz Butcher, and aside from writing, I love spending time with my husband and our sassy-pants daughter, and of an evening I knit like a nanna and binge watch Netflix.

Where you’re from, where you live?

I live in Brisbane, Australia, though I’ve lived all over the country.

Is writing your full-time job?

For the moment I’m blessed to say it is. I’m presently on a six-month career break from my day job to focus solely on my writing and I’m loving every second of it!

How long have you been writing?

Off and on for most of my life. I loved writing ‘books’ in primary school though as I progressed through high school I suppose I was too busy with homework! Then through uni, I was so busy writing assignments and things that it wasn’t until after all of that, that I felt the pull back to creative writing.

Give readers a look at a typical writing day.

Well, at the moment, I see my husband and daughter off for the day, and then depending on my schedule, I alternate between ghost-writing projects and my own projects. I love the mix and my days are never boring.

Tell us about your latest release? Where the idea came from? Perhaps some fun moments, or not so fun moments?

So my latest release is a YA horror called LeRoux Manor, set in a fictional town in the UK called Woodville. I’ve long found old estates fascinating, especially since we don’t have anything that old here in Australia. I’d always wanted to feature one in a story but I also didn’t want to follow the same kind of path as a lot of my personal favourite horrors of this setting – like The Woman in Black, The Haunting of Bly Manor etc. So I’ve hope that I’ve come up with something that might look similar on the outside, but is very different within.

Could you share one detail from your current release with readers that they might not find in the book? Perhaps a juicy bit of back-story, or something only you know about a character.

Lachlan’s Uncle was unable to physically see his attacker, as he wasn’t of the blood line…

Who has been the most difficult character for you to write? Why?

Mena, one hundred percent! She’s such a complex character but I think also because I had to write her both as a child of five and then as an old woman, it was quite challenging – but I can’t say too much without giving anything away!

If you could be one of your characters for a day which character would it be? Why?

I think I’d have to be Camille, just to see a place like LeRoux Manor for myself, to rummage through all the old belongings in the attack and listen to the trees whispering the secrets of the past. It would be heaven!

All writers are readers. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?

So many! Naturally, Stephen King is a massive influence and has been since I was a child and started reading his work at the tender age of ten. Anne Rice is another influence – the way she weaves words to show a location, or a building etc, I just love.

Do you have a secret talent readers would be surprised by?

Hmm…not really? I’m a great knitter!

Your favorite go to drink or food when the world goes crazy!

All the wine…haha!

What is the one question you never get ask at interviews, but wish you did? Ask and answer it.

This is cool! Name bands you wish could have seen live in their original line up:

The Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, Led Zeppelin, The Doors

Thank you so much for joining us today, Liz!

Readers, here’s a look at Liz’s latest release…LEROUX MANOR
Camille’s father just inherited the family manor from his estranged uncle, forcing her to leave her friends and city life just before her senior year of high school for the small town of Woodville, England. After seeing a strange old woman lurking on the estate grounds, she embarks on a mission to uncover the history of her new home. What she finds is wilder than she could have imagined—the murder of her ancestor, Caleb LeRoux, on the same day his six-year-old daughter vanished without a trace. And an unforeseen connection to Camille herself, as the only female LeRoux born to the family in over two hundred years. With the help of her new school friends, Camille delves into the secrets of the manor, uncovering an all-encompassing truth that will change the entire course of her life—past, present, and future.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Liz Butcher resides in Australia, with her husband, daughter, and their two cats. She’s a self-confessed nerd with a BA in psychology and an insatiable fascination for learning.

Website: https://lizbutcherauthor.com.au

Twitter: https://twitter.com/lunaloveliz

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lunaloveliz/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Liz-Butcher-1394868604152823/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13845425.Liz_Butcher

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com.au/lizbutcherauthor/

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00X6XN5O6

Book Lights Podcast Features LaQuette

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Reader's Entertainment Radio

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23 October 2020

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Lisa Kessler chats with author LaQuette about her books, her writing and her life!

You can listen to the podcast HERE

LaQuette is a romance author of bold, provocative love stories featuring multicultural characters. Her writing style brings intellect to the drama. She often crafts emotionally epic, fantastical tales that are deeply pigmented by reality’s paintbrush. Her novels are filled with a unique mixture of savvy, sarcastic, brazen, and unapologetically sexy characters who are confident in their right to appear on the page.

This bestselling Romance Author is the 2016 Author of the Year Golden Apple Award Winner, 2015 Swirl Awards Bronze Winner in Romantic Suspense, and 2015 Georgia Romance Writers Maggie Award Finalist in Erotic Romance. LaQuette—a native of Brooklyn, New York—spends her time catering to her three distinct personalities: Wife, Mother, and Educator.

Writing—her escape from everyday madness— has always been a friend and source of comfort. At the age of sixteen, she read her first romance novel and realized the genre was missing something: people that looked and lived like her. As a result, her characters and settings are always designed to provide positive representations of people of color and various marginalized communities.

She loves hearing from readers and discussing the crazy characters that are running around in her head causing so much trouble. Contact her on Facebook, Twitter, her website, LaQuette.com, Amazon, and via email at LaQuette@LaQuette.com

And for more about our host Lisa Kessler visit http://Lisa-Kessler.com

Book Lights – shining a light on good books!

BEHIND THE WORDS: AUTHOR JESSICA ELLICOT

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Jocie McKade

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23 October 2020

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Welcome Jessica, we’re excited to have you on Reader’s Entertainment. First, tell our readers a bit about yourself.

Where you’re from, where you live? Is writing your full-time job?

I live in northern New England. In the summers I live on the coast of Maine and I spend the rest of the year in rural New Hampshire. I am delighted to write full-time from both locations.

How long have you been writing?

My first novel was published in 2010 and I was writing for several years before it was released so I would guess around 13 years in a serious way. Like most authors I also wrote regularly throughout childhood.

Give readers a look at a typical writing day.

I start most days by walking my dog, Sam. Upon returning home I make coffee before heading to my office for my morning routine of reading non-fiction, journaling and looking over my plans for the day. I get busy with my work-in-progress at about 10 am and tend to work until 12:30 or so. Depending on where in the process I am I either research, plot, write or revise. I break for lunch and then spend the afternoons on the admin side of the writing business like my correspondence, blog posts etc…

Tell us about your latest release? Where the idea came from? Perhaps some fun moments, or not so fun moments?

My upcoming novel, Murder Comes to Call, was inspired by research. I discovered that the UK Census in 1921 had to be delayed by a couple of months due to civil unrest. I was intrigued by all that could mean and the story grew from there.

If you could be one of your characters for a day who would it be and why?

I would love to be Beryl for just one day. Any more than that might be exhausting! She is so untroubled by the opinions of others and is so bold and adventurous in ways that I sometimes find more challenging!

All writers are readers. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?

I absolutely love books by P.G. Wodehouse and E.F. Benson. I think both authors influenced my interest in the interwar period. They both encouraged me to enjoy the lighter, fun moments in a story and also how rich a book set in the intimacy of a rural village can be.

Do you have a secret talent readers would be surprised by?

Since I generally refuse to check luggage, I can pack really, really lightly. I went on a nine day trip to China a few years ago with only a small duffle bag and half of that was filled with knitting and granola bars.

Your favorite go to drink or food when the world goes crazy!

Coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon and wine or champagne in the evening. If things are really off the rails, I might substitute a dry gin martini for the champagne!

Thank you so much for joining us today, Jessica!

Make sure you check out Jessica’s latest release MURDER COMES TO CALL:

The lean years following World War I can lead to desperate acts—even in the quiet English village of Walmsley Parva. When a series of burglaries seems to culminate in murder, brash American Beryl Helliwell and proper Brit Edwina Davenport are eager to solve the case . . .

World-renowned adventuress Beryl Helliwell cited for “reckless” motoring? Why, the very idea! Constable Gibbs just has it in for her. The solution? Charm the magistrate, of course. But days after Beryl’s appearance before the bench, she and Edwina pay a visit to the magistrate only to find his home ransacked and the man himself lying dead at the bottom of a grand staircase.

Given the state of the house, his death appears to be connected to a rash of robberies in the village. Declan O’Shea, the handsome helper Beryl hired to assist their aged gardener Simpkins, falls under suspicion after having had his own run-in with the magistrate—but mostly, Beryl believes, because he’s Irish.

While unofficially looking into the magistrate’s murder, the ladies are hired in their official capacity as private inquiry agents to find census reports that have gone missing. Is someone trying to hide something from the census takers—and could that theft have anything to do with the magistrate’s death? Beryl and Edwina are once again in fine form as they engage in a little reckless sleuthing to bring these assorted mysteries to a speedy conclusion. . . .

You can purchase MURDER COMES TO CALL at:

Amazon
BAM
B&N
Bookshop.org
Hudson Booksellers
Indiebound
Target
Walmart

About the Author:
Jessica Ellicott is the author of Murder in an English Village, the first book in the Beryl & Edwina Mystery series. She loves fountain pens, Mini Coopers, and throwing parties. She lives in northern New England where she obsessively knits wool socks and enthusiastically speaks Portuguese with a shocking disregard for the rules of grammar.

Find out more about Jessica at:

Facebook

Instagram

Bookbub

Sneak Peek: TIMELAB: EPISODE ONE SAN FRANCISCO A sci-fi adventure

By

Jocie McKade

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23 October 2020

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TIMELAB: EPISODE ONE SAN FRANCISCO
A sci-fi adventure in a new direction by acclaimed musician and saxophonist Jackiem Joyner

Two Scientists. One from long ago. The other from modern day 2018.
Both on the precipice of greatness.
Both met with disdain, and in one case, branded a witch.

Sir Bernard, a seasoned and trusted scientist, living in the time of King Caesar, is lauded by many… until his invention sparks rage and fear among the people. When they brand him as a witch, practicing dark magic, he makes a daring escape via his time machine.
He finds himself in San Francisco, 2000 years in the future. There, he befriends Kyle, a young, talented physics student, whose brilliance also sparks distrust, and in some cases, maltreatment.

Together, the two scientists are a formidable force, but there are barriers that prevent them from making good use of their scientific theories.
Sir Bernard’s homeland is on the brink of war. To save his people, he must go back in time, but first he’ll need a new, more powerful time machine.
Kyle has struggles of his own. His brain puts him ahead of the class, but he has trepidation about his mother’s legacy. He wants to clear her name and prove that she didn’t intentionally detonate a scientific lab, killing everyone, including herself.

Two scientists from vastly different worlds fight to erase the past. Can they prove their theories are real and can they save lives and reputations, including their own?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Contemporary saxophonist, author, and music producer Jackiem Joyner is set to release his 7th album, Touch, worldwide this fall, 2019.

After more than 12 years as a recording artist, Jackiem continues to stand out with electrifying live performances and brilliant music productions. As a performer, he has toured over 30 countries and performed with the likes of the late George Duke, Marcus Miller, Keiko Matsui, Donnie McClurkin, Angela Bofill, Najee, Kirk Whalum, Peter White, and many, many more. Joyner’s radio success is widely known within the industry.

Joyner has two number 1 hit songs, five top 10 billboard singles, and a number one debut album under his belt. In addition, he published the highly acclaimed science fiction novel Zarya, which received high praise and a five star rating on Amazon. Timelab Episode One: San Francisco is Jackiem’s second novel.

To request additional review copies or an interview with Jackiem Joyner, please contact Mickey Mikkelson at Creative Edge Publicity: mickey.creativeedge@gmail.com / 403.464.6925.

Finding Inspiration! Let’s Talk by Art Rios Book Trailer

By

Sheila English

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22 October 2020

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The amazingly inspirational and helpful Art Rios talks about his book and how it’s never too late to have your best life in his new book entitled LET’S TALK. Now, you can learn more from Art himself in this book trailer by COS Productions!

Let’s Talk: About Making Your Life Exciting, Easier, and Exceptional by Art Rios Book Trailer Can you look back at your life and say you have no regrets? Are you bogged down by the meaningless complexities of the world? In his witty, conversational book, Let’s Talk, debut author Art Rios wants to make sure his readers know that it’s never too late to make your life exciting, easier, and exceptional.

“When, where, why, and how did life stop being exciting and straightforward?” Rios asks. “We’ve taken on so much stress and worry. All the time. But why? For what?” In each of his “talks,” Rios offers fun, simple ways you can improve your life today. It can be as easy as spending more time with family, relaxing with a long lunch, or enjoying a lazy Sunday in your pajamas. “Improving your life doesn’t have to be complicated,” says Rios. “It’s just a matter of putting a little common sense and thought into the way you’re living your life.”

http://www.RiosTalks.com

Here are a few topics that Rios covers in his “talks”

1. The art of Happy Hour

2. How to be yourself

3. How to simplify and declutter your life

4. The power of kindness and gratitude

5. A balanced life of pleasure and responsibility

6. Disconnecting from technology

7. The importance of the lunch break

Media Contact: For a review copy of LET’S TALK or to arrange an interview with Art Rios, contact Scott Lorenz of Westwind Communications Book Marketing at scottlorenz@westwindcos.com or by phone at 734-667-2090. https://www.Book-Marketing-Expert.com

Reader’s Entertainment Radio Presents: Say No More: A thriller of a read

By

Sheila English

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22 October 2020

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Patricia Walters-Fischer has a thrilling talk with internationally bestselling author Karen Rose about her novel Say No More!

You can listen to the podcast HERE

ABOUT THE BOOK:

About the book: Michael Rowland is not your typical teenager. Deaf from birth, he’s always looked out for his five-year-old brother, Joshua. When his stepfather comes after Joshua, Michael takes the child and runs. He’s determined to protect his brother at all costs, even if that means making himself vulnerable to a danger he can’t hear coming. And the danger intensifies when Michael witnesses a stranger kill his stepfather.

Desperate and afraid, the boys have nowhere else to go but to Joshua’s soccer coach, journalist and ex-Army ranger Diesel Kennedy. When Diesel sees that Michael is injured, he takes them to see Dr. Dani Novak—not only because she’s fluent in American Sign Language, but because he’s drawn to her and everything she stands for. She never refuses Diesel’s requests—because she, too, feels their connection—but she resists him for reasons she doesn’t want to confess.

When Dani and Diesel learn that Michael saw the face of his stepfather’s killer, they fear for his safety. But they quickly discover that it’s even worse than they feared: They may have a serial killer on their hands—and all signs point to Michael as the next target.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Internationally bestselling author Karen Rose was born and raised in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC. She met her husband, Martin, on a blind date when they were seventeen and after they both graduated from the University of Maryland, (Karen with a degree in Chemical Engineering) they moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. Karen worked as an engineer for a large consumer goods company, earning two patents, but as Karen says, “scenes were roiling in my head and I couldn’t concentrate on my job so I started writing them down. I started out writing for fun, and soon found I was hooked.”

Her debut suspense novel, DON’T TELL, was released in July, 2003. Since then, she has published more than fifteen novels and two novellas. Her twenty-fourth novel, SAY NO MORE, will be released in 2020.

Karen’s books have appeared on the bestseller lists of the New York Times, USA Today, London’s Sunday Times, and Germany’s der Spiegel (#1), and the Irish Times, as well as lists in South Africa(#1) and Australia! To date, her books have been translated into more than twenty languages.

Falling In Love With Fall by GINGER BOLTON

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Jocie McKade

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22 October 2020

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Special Feature — Falling in Love with Fall

WHAT I LOVE MOST ABOUT FALL by Ginger Bolton

I love fall. I love fog softening moonlight beyond spooky, bare trees. I love cool nights, warm blankets, cuddly sweaters, and wood fires creating fleeting images and long memories. I love walking in the woods and the scents of cool, fresh air. gurgling brooks, and mossy earth.

It’s a perfect time to round up friends and kids, head out to a pick-your-own apple orchard, buy too many apples, and then party with chili, apple fritters, mulled cider, apple cider donuts, and lots of laughter. If any of that cider that was made in an old-fashioned cider press is still around a few days later, that cider might have become more interesting. . . .

Fall is when we find ourselves making comfort food—stews and sauces simmering on the stove. Pot roasts in the oven. Cookies, cakes. One of these days, I’m going to have a taffy-pull again, working with a partner, both of us with buttered hands, tugging at the warm ropes of candy, slowly adding air to make it chewy instead of hard.

Leaves are a big part of what makes fall special. There’s that onslaught of color—the reds, the oranges, the yellows mixed with evergreens against a pure blue sky. And there’s that fragrance after they fall to the ground, and the crisp crackling as we shuffle through them, kicking them up like we did years ago.

Back then, raking leaves took all day, heaping them up, jumping into them, and raking then into another mountain, only to leap into them and scatter them again. Leaf bits got into our hair, clothes, and shoes. That was part of the fun.

And then there was Halloween, possibly the quirkiest holiday of the year. Costumes, candy, and scary critters. What could have been better?

My mother loved making costumes. Every September, she asked us, “What do you want to be?”

When I was little, I answered with whatever I was looking at while she was asking the question. Luckily, she was up the challenge of turning me into a telephone or a baked potato.

Telephones, at least the ones in our house, really looked like the one my mother made for

me.

Unfortunately, I have no photos of the baked potato.

It was too bulky to fit in the space between our second grade desks and the chairs welded to them. I had to sit in the reading circle. Made brave by my newfound anonymity, I proclaimed in the deep voice that any self-respecting potato might employ, “I’m a baked potato!”

Wearing our costumes, everyone in the school paraded around a couple of blocks to the cheers, applause, and probably laughter, of onlookers.

Because of the way I’d disguised my voice and also because I was wearing my brother’s old brown cords and shoes, but mainly because my head was concealed in a cereal box painted yellow to resemble a pat of butter with eyeholes, I won the prize for being the last one in class to be recognized. Then I was able to take off the costume and eat my cookie, a jack-o’-lantern with the yummiest orange icing ever.

That night, I had trouble seeing where I was going. My brother, disguised as a giant hat, couldn’t see much, either. But we bumbled safely around the neighborhood. And collected apples, popcorn balls, and best of all, candy.

I love fall.

Check out Ginger’s latest release: BOSTON SCREAM MURDER
Halloween in the small town of Fallingbrook, Wisconsin, is the perfect season for Deputy Donut owner Emily Westhill to unmask a killer.

October 31 is just around the corner and Emily Westhill’s Boston cream donuts, carved with a scream, have made an indelible impression on local eccentric Rich Royalson. So much so that he’s ordered three dozen, with no screaming faces and twice the fudge frosting, for his seventieth birthday—a special event in more ways than one. It’s to be held on fog-shrouded Lake Fleekom where, twenty years ago, his wife mysteriously drowned.

But the next day, when Emily arrives with her Boston cream donuts, she stumbles upon Rich’s corpse. The poor guy wanted a unique birthday bash—just not one to the side of his skull. With a guest list of possible perpetrators left at the scene, Emily soon discovers that the Royalson closet is rattling with skeletons. As the fog thickens, motives mount, and the tricks outnumber the treats, Emily fears that Rich may not be the last one in Fallingbrook to go out screaming.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Ginger Bolton is very fond of donuts, coffee, and coffee shops that encourage patrons to linger and chat. Ginger lives in a rural area dotted with cozy villages. When she isn’t reading, writing, or daydreaming while gazing out windows, she plays with sewing, knitting, and embroidery, and generally wreaks havoc. As Janet Bolin, Ginger wrote the Threadville Mystery Series–murder and mayhem in a village of needlecraft shops.

Find out more about Ginger’s books by visiting her website.

He’s The Fall Guy– Marc Watson

By

Jocie McKade

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22 October 2020

0

Have you ever heard the term ‘built in fan’? It’s usually used for things like sports or entertainment of some kind. You may be a fan of a particular team because their star player went to your school (even if you weren’t friends or never met), or you’ll like a particular actor because in an interview you read once they claimed to love a band you love as well. It creates a connection between you and that particular person, for no good reason other than coincidence.

I’m a built in fan of autumn.

I am a good Canadian boy. I love the cold and chill of the fall and winter. It’s engrained in me, written in my DNA like a cattle brand on every strand. It could be because in the right direction up the family tree I’m a 9^th-generation Canadian, my family coming here before Canada was even a thing. Or it’s just luck of the genetic draw, but I prefer to believe it’s because I was born in the heart of October, nestled neatly between Canadian Thanksgiving and Hallowe’en. Birthed deep in the heart of north winds and kaleidoscope forests.

As my life as carried on, the connections grew. Not short on that list is the joy I feel at Hallowe’en. I embrace my love of darker things and death as an abstract, because death keeps us human. It puts us all on an unseen ticking clock above our heads that forces us all to embrace the moment however we see fit, and that is beautiful. Hallowe’en, as the poster child for this time, connected with me early. I love its history and traditions, which I’ve made sure to pass on to my kids. Sure we carve pumpkins in to Jack-o’-lanterns, but why? What do they mean? Why do we hand out candy and dress up? Even on a surface level, the history of these traditions resonate with me far more than the traditions of Easter or Christmas (not that I don’t love those times for their own reason). I’m not obsessed with death (despite Death being one of my favourite characters to write! Just see my debut novel Death Dresses Poorly for proof), but I do feel a respect for it I think other people lack. That’s part of the reason I look forward to making a feast on Dia de Muertos, and enjoying the yearly reminder that that clock continues ticking, and that is something to celebrate, not fear. Autumn is truly the season of death, and I love it all the more for that.

But let’s slide away from that morbidity and look at more joyous things. Thanksgiving was always fun for me growing up. My family would all truck up to the old farmhouse and spend the day listening to my grandparent’s stories about when they were kids growing up in the open fields of Southern Ontario. The leaves would be so bright and vibrant, and before our dinner was ready many of us would wander through the acreage and back to the forest behind the property and just enjoy the cold wind on our faces and the smell of sweet rot in the air. Even typing this, I can feel and smell those moments as if they are happening right now at my desk.

So when I grew up and fell in love, when did it happen? When did I meet the love of my life? And when we wanted to get married, when did we do it? What season on the calendar could possibly hold such a memorable and life-changing event? Naturally we had a chilly autumn wedding, complete with accompanying turkey wedding dinner. There was never a doubt that we wanted that kind of feeling to surround us on a day so important.

As a huge baseball fan, when is the most important part of the year? As a Maple Leafs hockey fan, when is the time of year things get started and are filled with the most promise (though don’t get me started on, like, all of the rest of the season. Spring is where hope goes to die)? Playing catch with the football in the yard with my kids? It’s always there, where the furnace starts to turn on and we aren’t yet crushed by the cold of the coming months… well, except this year, it seems. Such is the nature of living where I do, I suppose.

There’s just a feeling that fills me when the air chills and I switch from cold sunny drinks to Irish cream in my coffee. When a hot drink is worth its weight in gold, but it’s not so cold beyond your door that you fear to venture out there. The earthy smells and hearty meals. You may not live somewhere that autumn really hits like it does here, but I sure do and I always have. It’s something written on every part of some of my favourite memories, and some I’m looking forward to in the years to come. Even now I’m working on a story where autumn is practically a character, like New York is in movies. I can’t wait to share it with you one day, and hopefully my love of everything fall-related shines through!

…Except anything pumpkin spice. Good lord do I hate pumpkin spice…

Here’s a look at Marc’s latest release

Between Conversations Tales From the World of Ryuujin from the links below:

In the world of Ryuujin, heroes rise and fall, but there are always stories that slip through the cracks. The tales of the people who shape the years to come. Heroism and betrayal. Conversations between friends and enemies that will change the course of the world. These are nine stories from a world that is historic, modern, and terrifyingly futuristic. A world where science and magic intertwine, and give birth to the unknown souls who become heroes, and the legends who fade away into history. From the author of the renowned dark comedy Death Dresses Poorly, and from the world of his hit science-fantasy duology Catching Hell comes a collection of adventure, drama, joy, and terror as we look into the lives of the powerful, the meek, and the people who make the world turn over the course of centuries.

Amazon Kindle
Amazon Print

About the author:
Marc Watson is an author of genre fiction of all lengths and styles. He began writing at the age of 15 and continues to be a part-time writing student at Athabasca University. His debut novel Death Dresses Poorly was released in 2017, followed closely by duology Catching Hell: Journey & Destination. His new book Between Conversations: Tales From the World of Ryuujin is available starting September 25^th, 2020.

Marc lives in Calgary, Alberta. He is a husband and proud father of two. He is an avid outdoors-man, martial artist, baseball player, poutine aficionado, and lover of all Mexican foods. He can be found at online www.marcwatson.ca, as well as on Facebook at www.facebook.com/marcwroteabook, and on twitter and Instagram at @writewatson.