Sneak Peek: At Her Service by Amy Spalding

4 February 2024

Fans of Casey McQuiston, Alexis Hall, and Meryl Wilsner will fall for this sweetly sexy, gloriously relatable sapphic rom-com about self-improvement, chasing your dreams, and writing your own Hollywood love story – from the acclaimed author of For Her Consideration.

Max Van Doren has a wish list, and a great career and a girlfriend are at the top. But despite being pretty good at her job as an assistant to one of Hollywood’s fastest rising talent agents, she has no idea how to move up the ladder. And when it comes to her love life, she’s stuck in perpetual lust for an adorably perfect bartender named Sadie. Her goals are clear—and Max has everything but the self-confidence to go for them. Even her mother seems to assume she’ll be crawling home to her childhood bedroom at some point . . .

When Max’s roommate, Chelsey—an irritatingly gorgeous and self-assured influencer in plus-size and queer spaces—offers to sponsor her for a new self-actualization app, Max gives in. If she can’t run her own life, maybe an algorithm guiding her choices will help? Suddenly Max is scoring big everywhere, and her dreams are achingly close to coming true. But when one of Chelsey’s posts reveals Sadie’s part in the app’s campaign, Max is poised for heartbreak on all fronts. Tired of the sponcon life with its fake friends and endless selfies, Max realizes that to have true influence, she’ll have to find the courage to make her own, totally authentic way in the world . . .

Fresh, feel-good, and endlessly relatable, here is a glorious love story for the digital age and beyond.

THE EASY LIFE CAN NEVER BE EASY FOR GERALT IN “THE WITCHER: CORVO BIANCO”

Jocie McKade

3 February 2024

A swig of wine and a drop of blood have a great deal in common

Created in collaboration with CD Projekt Red, Dark Horse Comics presents The Witcher: Corvo Bianco, a brand new comic series featuring the U.S. comics debut of Italian comics legend, artist Corrado Mastantuono (Disney Italia, Nick Raider), and written by celebrated Witcher storyteller Bartosz Sztybor (The Witcher: Fading Memories, The Witcher: Wild Animals). Colorist Matteo Vattani (Tex Stella d’Oro, Sharkey the Bounty Hunter) and letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou (The Unlikely Story of Felix and Macabber, All Eight Eyes) complete the series team, with variant cover artwork for issue #1 from acclaimed artists Tonci Zonjic (Skulldigger and Skeleton Boy, Shadowman), Neyef (Bayou Bastardise, Puta Madre), and Jorge Molina (X-Men, Birds of Prey).

For a witcher, the simple life can be hard to come by, and even harder to pass up. When Geralt acquires a taste for a slower pace—good wine, and good company—the routines of a witcher are easily eclipsed. With Yennefer at his side, one might hope that Geralt will truly get to enjoy a taste of the good life. But the stains of history are deep, and with blood and wine, every drop attracts those who want more.

“For all who know Geralt, Corvo Bianco is his endgame,” confirmed longtime Witcher writer Bartosz Sztybor. “The end of his journey, one and only place where he can retire – taking a break from killing monsters and trying to figure out how to make his own wine. As a fan of pop–culture and postmodern genre mixing, that setup above sounded like a perfect premise for a western. A western in The Witcher world – that’s something that was never done before! So I quickly got excited and thought about getting on board someone who really knows what western is. Corrado Mastantuono is a comic book legend, one of the biggest names of all time, a person that created the most important titles in European comics, including a real western classic – Tex. With him mixing fantasy and western was never easier and more beautiful. Geralt roaming the Continent with a wild bunch of mages, Elves and Dwarves is my homage to Andrzej Sapkowski, Clint Eastwood and Sergio Leone. Just imagine, Yennefer having a duel with another mage and Geralt attacking a stagecoach. Corvo Bianco was his dream, but he needs to fight for it!”

Based on the hit games by CD Projekt Red, Geralt and Yennefer reunite on the page to find out just how dangerous the simple life can be when The Witcher: Corvo Bianco #1 (of 5) arrives in comic shops May 8, 2024. Pre-order at your local comic shop for $3.99.

Praise for The Witcher: Wild Animals:

“A thrilling adventure from Sztybor. The story has some great action throughout and an interesting premise that puts Geralt on the defensive from multiple sides. The plot is immediately engaging and draws in the reader with its immediacy and twists.”—The Super Powered Fancast

“Wherever The Witcher: Wild Animals is heading in future chapters, readers may anticipate them without any worry that they’re getting anything but the best Witcher story available in comics today.”—Comicbook.com

Dark Horse Comics

PODCAST: Step into the fantastical worlds of Author Cerece Rennie Murphy on Book Lights

Jocie McKade

3 February 2024

Step into the fantastical worlds of Author Cerece Rennie Murphy on Book Lights

LISTEN HERE!!

Cerece Rennie Murphy is the national bestselling and award-winning author of ten novels, children’s books, and short stories. She is also the founder of Virtuous Con, an online science fiction and comic culture convention that celebrates the excellence of BIPOC creators in speculative fiction, across the mediums of fiction, comics, film, and visual arts.

Ms. Murphy is the recipient of Black Pearls Magazine’s Author of the Year Award for Children’s Literature, the National Best Sellers designation from the African American Literature Book Club (AALBC), and the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA)’s Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award for significant contributions to the science fiction, fantasy, and related genres community. Created in 2008, Ms. Murphy joins the ranks of distinguished previous Solstice Award winners, including Petra Mayer, Carl Sagan, Octavia Butler, and Gardner Dozois. Ms. Murphy lives and writes just outside her hometown of Washington, DC with her family.

You can find out more about her and her books at her website: https://cerecerenniemurphy.com/

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

Book Lights – shining a light on good books!

Here’s a look at Cerece’s latest release::

IN THE GARDEN OF LIGHT & SHADOW: THE CHRONICLES OF ADA ST. JAMES

4000 years ago, a rebellion in the Ever brought angels to live among us.

At first, they were worshiped as gods.

But that was not enough.

And in their hunger for power,

Evil claimed their hearts

and made them demons.

Lilavois St. James rose to fight them.

As a member of the Sisters of Light, she swore an oath to use the magic of the moon to battle the demons and defend humankind.

Until one day, she met a demon and fell in love.

And I was born.

My name is Ada St. James, and these are the chronicles of how I came to be and the destiny that awaits me.

Sneak Peek: Sisters of Fortune: A Novel of The Titanic by Anna Lee Huber

Jocie McKade

3 February 2024

Sisters of Fortune: A Novel of The Titanic by Anna Lee Huber

Based on the true story of the Fortune sisters, three young women each at a crossroads when they boarded the RMS Titanic in the spring of 1912 – and how that maiden voyage would transform their lives in profound and unexpected ways.

Fans of The Second Mrs. Astor by Shana Abé and Patricia Falvey’s The Titanic Sisters will be captivated as USA Today bestselling author Anna Lee Huber expertly weaves real historical figures and events into this vivid, surprising, emotionally powerful novel about the longing for independence and love—and the moments that irrevocably change even the best laid plans . . .

“Lush with sumptuous historical details and riveting as the events of that fateful voyage unfurl, readers will love this one!”
—Madeline Martin, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Keeper of Hidden Books and The Last Bookshop in London

“Vividly detailed and painstakingly researched, Sisters of Fortune threads fact and fiction into a compelling story.” —Bryn Turnbull, author of The Paris Deception and The Woman Before Wallis

“Filled with luscious detail of the Titanic’s maiden voyage and spot on depictions of its many passengers, from the grand to the ridiculous…absolutely riveting until the very last page!”—Shelley Noble, New York Times Bestselling author of The Tiffany Girls

April,1912: It’s the perfect finale to a Grand Tour of Europe—sailing home on the largest, most luxurious ocean liner ever built. For the Fortune sisters, the voyage offers a chance to reflect on the treasures of the past they’ve seen—magnificent castles and museums in Italy and France, the ruins of Greece and the Middle East—and contemplate the futures that await them.

For Alice, there’s foreboding mixed with her excitement. A fortune teller in Egypt gave her a dire warning about traveling at sea. And the freedom she has enjoyed on her travels contrasts with her fiancé’s plans for her return—a cossetted existence she’s no longer sure she wants.

Flora is also returning to a fiancé, a well-to-do banker of whom her parents heartily approve, as befits their most dutiful daughter. Yet the closer the wedding looms, the less sure Flora feels. Another man—charming, exasperating, completely unsuitable—occupies her thoughts, daring her to follow her own desires rather than settling for the wishes of others.

Youngest sister Mabel knows her parents arranged this Grand Tour to separate her from a jazz musician. But the secret truth is that Mabel has little interest in marrying at all, preferring to explore ideas of suffrage and reform—even if it forces a rift with her family.

Each sister grapples with the choices before her as the grand vessel glides through the Atlantic waters. Until, on an infamous night, fate intervenes, forever altering their lives . . .

There’s a Book for That: Black History Month

Jocie McKade

2 February 2024

“History is a ship forever setting sail.”

— Tracy K. Smith

Since 1976, Black History Month has been observed every February. The commemoration grew out of “Negro History Week,” the brainchild of noted historian Carter G. Woodson and other prominent African Americans. To further educate and inspire, we present the following award-winning and acclaimed nonfiction for adults, including books about black history in the medical field. Please also visit Penguin Random House’s initiatives, All Ways Black and Amplify Black Stories. Check back next week for Black History titles for young readers.

THE MIS-EDUCATION OF THE NEGRO by Carter G. Woodson; Introduction by Jarvis R. Givens; Series edited by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

The most influential work by “the father of Black history”, reflecting the long-standing tradition of antiracist teaching pioneered by Black educators. As both student and teacher, Woodson witnessed distortions of Black life in the history and literature taught in schools and universities. Woodson’s primary focus was the impact dominant modes of schooling had on Black youth. This systematic process of mis-education undermined Black people’s struggles for freedom and justice, and it was an experience that scholars before and after Woodson recognized and worked to challenge. Woodson argued that students, teachers, and leaders needed to be educated in a manner that was accountable to Black experiences and lived realities, both past and present. This edition includes an appendix of selected letters and articles by Woodson, and Suggestions for Further Reading.

Legacy by Uché Blackstock, MD LEGACY: A BLACK PHYSICIAN RECKONS WITH RACISM IN MEDICINE by Uché Blackstock, MD

The rousing, captivating story of a Black physician, her career in medicine, and the deep inequities that still exist in the U.S. healthcare system. Legacy is a journey through the critical intersection of racism and healthcare. At once a searing indictment of our healthcare system, a generational family memoir, and a call to action, Legacy is Dr. Blackstock’s odyssey from child to medical student to practicing physician—to finally seizing her own power as a health equity advocate against the backdrop of the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement.

PRAISESONG FOR THE KITCHEN GHOSTS: STORIES AND RECIPES FROM FIVE GENERATIONS OF BLACK COUNTRY COOKS by Crystal Wilkinson

A lyrical culinary journey that explores the hidden legacy of Black Appalachians, through powerful storytelling alongside nearly forty comforting recipes.Years ago, when O. Henry Prize-winning writer Crystal Wilkinson (former Poet Laureate of Kentucky) was baking a jam cake, she felt her late grandmother’s presence. She soon realized that she was not the only cook in her kitchen; there were her ancestors, too, stirring, measuring, and braising alongside her. These are her kitchen ghosts, five generations of Black women who settled in Appalachia and made a life, a legacy, and a cuisine.

Half American by Matthew F. Delmont HALF AMERICAN: THE HEROIC STORY OF AFRICAN AMERICANS FIGHTING WORLD WAR II AT HOME AND ABROAD by Matthew F. Delmont

WINNER OF THE 2023 ANISFIELD-WOLF BOOK AWARD IN NONFICTION

Half-American is the definitive history of World War II from the African American perspective, by award-winning historian and civil rights expert Matthew F. Delmont. In these pages are stories of Black military heroes and civil rights icons …Their bravery and patriotism in the face of unfathomable racism is both inspiring and galvanizing. An essential and meticulously researched retelling of the war, Half American honors the men and women who dared to fight not just for democracy abroad but for their dreams of a freer and more equal America.

Requiem for the Massacre by RJ Young REQUIEM FOR THE MASSACRE: A BLACK HISTORY ON THE CONFLICT, HOPE, AND FALLOUT OF THE 1921 TULSA RACE MASSACRE by RJ Young

NAACP IMAGE AWARD NOMINEE FOR OUTSTANDING LITERARY WORK – NONFICTION

With journalistic skill, heart, and hope, Requiem for the Massacre reckons with the tension in Tulsa, Oklahoma, one hundred years after the most infamous act of racial violence in American history. RJ Young has written a cultural excavation of Tulsa one hundred years after one of the worst acts of domestic terrorism in U.S. history. Young focuses on unearthing the narrative surrounding previously all-Black Greenwood district while challenging an apocryphal narrative that includes so-called Black Wall Street, Booker T. Washington, and Black exceptionalism. Young also provides a firsthand account of the centennial events commemorating Tulsa’s darkest day as the city attempts to reckon with its self-image, commercialization of its atrocity, and the aftermath of the massacre that shows how things have changed and how they have stayed woefully the same.

To Free the Captives by Tracy K. Smith TO FREE THE CAPTIVES: A PLEA FOR THE AMERICAN SOUL by Tracy K. Smith

With lyricism and urgency, former U.S. Poet Laureate Smith draws on several avenues of thinking—personal, documentary, and spiritual—to understand who we are as a nation and what we might hope to mean to one another.To Free the Captives touches down in Sunflower, Alabama, the red-dirt town where Smith’s father’s family comes from, and where her grandfather returned after World War I with a hero’s record but difficult prospects as a Black man. Smith considers his life and the life of her father through the lens of history. Hoping to connect with their strength and continuance, she assembles a new terminology of American life. Bearing courageous witness to the terms of Freedom afforded her as a Black woman, a mother, and an educator in the twenty-first century, Smith etches a portrait of where we find ourselves four hundred years into the American experiment.

The Black Period by Hafizah Augustus Geter THE BLACK PERIOD: ON PERSONHOOD, RACE, AND ORIGIN by Hafizah Augustus Geter

WINNER OF THE PEN/OPEN BOOK AWARD

An acclaimed poet reclaims her origin story as the queer daughter of a Muslim Nigerian immigrant and a Black American visual artist in this groundbreaking memoir, combining lyrical prose, biting criticism, and haunting visuals. A unique combination of gripping memoir and Afrofuturist thought, in The Black Period, Hafizah manages to sidestep shame, confront disability, and embrace forgiveness: to emerge from the erasures America imposes to exist proudly and unabashedly as herself.

Under the Skin by Linda Villarosa UNDER THE SKIN: THE HIDDEN TOLL OF RACISM ON AMERICAN LIVES by Linda Villarosa

From an award-winning writer at the New York Times Magazine and a contributor to the 1619 Project comes a landmark book that tells the full story of racial health disparities in America, revealing the toll racism takes on individuals and the health of our nation.

Afrofuturism by Nat'l Mus Afr Am Hist Culture AFROFUTURISM: A HISTORY OF BLACK FUTURES from Nat’l Mus Afr Am Hist Culture: edited by Kevin M. Strait, Kinshasha Holman Conwill, Vernon Reid; Foreword by Kevin Young,

This timely and gorgeously illustrated companion book to an exciting Smithsonian exhibition explores the power of Afrofuturism to reclaim the past and reimagine Black futures. Afrofuturism: A History of Black Futures explores the evolving and exhilarating concept of Afrofuturism, a lens used to imagine a more empowering future for the Black community through music, art, and speculative fiction. Sumptuous, beautifully designed spreads feature 100 gorgeous illustrations of objects and images that reflect Black identity, agency, creativity, and hope, including: T’Challa’s suit from Black Panther, Octavia Butler’s typewriter, Uhura’s outfit from Star Trek, Sun Ra’s space harp, costumes from Broadway’s The Wiz, handwritten lyrics by Jimi Hendrix, and Janelle Monae’s ArchAndroid dress.

Shine Bright by Danyel Smith SHINE BRIGHT: A VERY PERSONAL HISTORY OF BLACK WOMEN IN POP by Danyel Smith

American pop music is arguably this country’s greatest cultural contribution to the world, and its singular voice and virtuosity were created by a shining thread of Black women geniuses stretching back to the country’s founding. Smith’s detailed narrative begins with Phillis Wheatley, an enslaved woman who sang her poems, and continues through the stories of Mahalia Jackson, Dionne Warwick, Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, and Mariah Carey, as well as the under-considered careers of Marilyn McCoo, Deniece Williams, and Jody Watley.

A Little Devil in America by Hanif Abdurraqib A LITTLE DEVIL IN AMERICA: IN PRAISE OF BLACK PERFORMANCE by Hanif Abdurraqib

WINNER OF THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL AND THE GORDON BURN PRIZE

Touching on Michael Jackson, Patti LaBelle, Billy Dee Williams, the Wu-Tan Clan, Dave Chappelle, and more, Abdurraqib writes prose brimming with jubilation and pain. With care and generosity, he explains the poignancy of performances big and small, each one feeling intensely familiar and vital, both timeless and desperately urgent. Filled with sharp insight, humor, and heart, A Little Devil in America exalts the Black performance that unfolds in specific moments in time and space—from midcentury Paris to the moon, and back down again to a cramped living room in Columbus, Ohio.

All That She Carried by Tiya Miles ALL THAT SHE CARRIED: THE JOURNEY OF ASHLEY’S SACK, A BLACK FAMILY KEEPSAKE by Tiya Miles

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER

In 1850s South Carolina, an enslaved woman named Rose faced a crisis: the imminent sale of her daughter Ashley. Thinking quickly, she packed a cotton bag for her with a few items, and, soon after, the nine-year-old girl was separated from her mother and sold. Decades later, Ashley’s granddaughter Ruth embroidered this family history on the sack in spare, haunting language. Historian Tiya Miles carefully traces these women’s faint presence in archival records, and, where archives fall short, she turns to objects, art, and the environment to write a singular history of the experience of slavery, and the uncertain freedom afterward, in the United States. All That She Carried is a poignant story of resilience and love passed down against steep odds

Four Hundred Souls by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain FOUR HUNDRED SOULS: A COMMUNITY HISTORY OF AFRICAN AMERICA, 1619-2019 by Ibram X. Kendi, Keisha N. Blain

A chorus of extraordinary voices tells the epic story of the four-hundred-year journey of African Americans from 1619 to the present—edited by Ibram X. Kendi, author of How to Be an Antiracist, and Keisha N. Blain, author of Set the World on Fire. The story begins in 1619—a year before the Mayflower—when the White Lion disgorges “some 20-and-odd Negroes” onto the shores of Virginia, inaugurating the African presence in what would become the United States. It takes us to the present, when African Americans, descendants of those on the White Lion and a thousand other routes to this country, continue a journey defined by inhuman oppression, visionary struggles, stunning achievements, and millions of ordinary lives passing through extraordinary history.

Twice as Hard by Jasmine Brown TWICE AS HARD: THE STORIES OF BLACK WOMEN WHO FOUGHT TO BECOME PHYSICIANS, FROM THE CIVIL WAR TO THE 21ST CENTURY by Jasmine Brown

Black women physicians’ stories have gone untold for far too long, leaving gaping holes in American medical history, in women’s history, and in black history. It’s time to set the record straight. In this work of extensive research, Jasmine Brown offers a rich new perspective, penning the long-erased stories of nine pioneering black women physicians beginning in 1860, when a black woman first entered medical school.

The Black Angels by Maria Smilios THE BLACK ANGELS: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE NURSES WHO HELPED CURE TUBERCULOSIS by Maria Similios

Spanning the Great Depression and moving through World War II and beyond, this remarkable true story follows the intrepid young women known by their patients as the “Black Angels.” For twenty years, they risked their lives working under appalling conditions while caring for New York’s poorest residents, who languished in wards, waiting to die, or became guinea pigs for experimental surgeries and often deadly drugs. But despite their major role in desegregating the New York City hospital system—and their vital work in helping to find the cure for tuberculosis at Sea View—these nurses were completely erased from history. The Black Angels recovers the voices of these extraordinary women and puts them at the center of this riveting story, celebrating their legacy and spirit of survival.

For more on these titles visit Black History

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Sneak Peek: Murder at An Irish Chipper by Carlene O’Connor

Jocie McKade

2 February 2024

Murder at An Irish Chipper by Carlene O’Connor

A belated honeymoon turns into a busman’s holiday when gardas Siobhán and Macdara Flannery find themselves investigating a dead body found in a fish and chips shop . . .

Siobhán’s brother Eoin’s new family restaurant, The O’Sullivan Six, is so close to opening—but waiting on the necessary permits plus the heat of July in the village of Kilbane in County Cork is driving everyone a bit mad. Macdara Flannery comes to the rescue with a plan—take a holiday by the sea and stuff themselves with fish and chips to support the struggling business of the aptly named Mrs. Chipper.

But when they arrive, a crowd is gathered in front of the closed shop: a local fisherman with a fresh cod delivery, a food critic, Mrs. Chipper’s ex-husband who’s opening a competing fish and chips shop directly across the street, and a repairman to fix the vent for the deep fryer. With Siobhán and Macdara as witnesses, a local handyman gets the locked door open, only to find the proprietor lying dead and covered in flour at the base of a ladder, its rungs coated in slippery fat. Clearly this was not an accidental tragedy . . .

Even as the local garda take over the murder investigation, Siobhán and Macdara can’t help themselves from placing their long-delayed honeymoon on hold—at least until they can help apprehend an elusive killer.

Guest Post: 2024 Solar and Lunar Eclipses Through the Houses By Alice DeVille

Jocie McKade

1 February 2024

Eclipses have always been a favorite topic I cover when I’m analyzing a client’s astrological chart. A minimum of four eclipses occur each year, two solar eclipses (New Moon) and two lunar eclipses (Full Moon). Sometimes as many as six eclipses take place. Their presence creates intense periods that often start to manifest a few months before the eclipses actually occur.

Eclipses unfold in cycles involving all twelve signs of the zodiac and usually manifest in pairs about two weeks apart. In 2024, the first eclipse pair is a lunar eclipse in Libra on March 25 at 5°07′ at 3:00 a.m. EDT, and in the opposite sign Aries on April 8, a solar eclipse at 19°24′ at 2:21 p.m. EDT. The remaining 2024 eclipses are the final lunar eclipse on September 17 in Pisces at 25°41′ at 7:34 p.m. EDT, and the final solar eclipse on October 2 in Libra at 10°04′ at 2:49 p.m. EDT.

Eclipses Through the Zodiac
This article examines possible outcomes or meanings for the eclipses through the houses, using the natural wheel of the zodiac beginning with Aries and ending with Pisces. Your natal chart drives the actual houses where these eclipses occur. Natal planets in those houses affect the intensity of the eclipse; the closer to a conjunction, the more powerful the effect.

First House
Solar eclipses that occur in this house tend to make a strong statement about self-esteem and a desire for personal growth. Dealing with setbacks results in a lack of self-confidence that you’ll want to shed in order to succeed. Image is important, along with acknowledgment of strengths that you would like to show the world. If they are lacking, you are likely to enroll in seminars or workshops to develop them. This house represents what you show the world. When a solar eclipse falls here, you often land in the spotlight headed toward a promotion, a status change via an engagement or marriage, or notoriety related to a significant accomplishment. A solar eclipse occurs here this year in Aries on April 8, allowing the Sun to warm your spirit and help dreams come true.

If a lunar eclipse were to occur here in 2024 in Aries, you would be motivated to explore your inner desires, develop passion and incentive for your goals, and eliminate a tendency to put off asking questions or taking charge of your life purpose. The solar eclipse will have sign polarity with your seventh house of partners since two Libra eclipses will occur in 2024.

Second House
When a solar eclipse occurs in your second house, the focus is on your financial picture, which includes assets, income, personal possessions, resources, and what you would like to do to increase prosperity and your buying power. It also reflects how you like to spend your money, what you value, and how you feel about saving. If you feel that an important skill is missing from your portfolio, you usually enroll in classes to make sure you are qualified for future advancement.

A lunar eclipse in the second house has you looking at any situations that may contribute to emotional or financial instability, such as difficulty finding work, not enough money to pay bills, too much emphasis on material values, or marrying for fiscal security rather than love. Self-doubt in earning capacity is at the root of the anxiety. The lunar eclipse motivates you to open retirement and savings accounts to build financial security for the future.

Third House
Communication is at the core of the impact a solar eclipse has in your third house. You could have a profession where verbal expression is key, such as teaching, instructing, developing guidelines, or writing. Your mental capacity plays a role in how curious you are to stretch your mind, improve your memory, or educate yourself in numerous disciplines via formal or online classes.

Lunar eclipses drive your mental state and how you perceive the world around you. You stretch your intellect via reading, studying languages, using your intuitive mind to solve problems, expanding your imagination, and writing expressive material. You could be an over-talker or a bookworm. You get to the heart of the matter through your feelings. Humor becomes you.

Fourth House
The domestic scene in your home dominates the landscape when a solar eclipse occurs in your fourth house. From the type of home you choose to live in to the people who live with you—family, friends, or roommates—you’ll be aware of what needs attention in your household. This might be safety and security, improvements to the interior of the home, the outer facade including landscaping and gardening, and the pride you feel in showcasing your unique residence. Often, a residential move takes place when a fourth house eclipse occurs.

A lunar eclipse in the ruled-by-the-Moon fourth house is sure to involve concerns about family matters, parents, emotional satisfaction, and a home that gives you a feeling of security. When an eclipse lands here, disruptions occur, and you’ll soon know about any secrets hiding in the woodwork that will have to be addressed, ranging from physical repairs to healing of the heart and people who are coming and going. Temporary residents often show up.

Fifth House
Here’s your chance to bond with dear ones when an eclipse lands here. The natural ruler of this house is the Sun, bursting with creative energy, passion, and affection that is ready to embrace children, romantic partners, and your love of entertainment and fun. Individuals grow closer to parents, children, students, and people they coach. An eclipse may bring out your entrepreneurial side.

A lunar eclipse shows you what makes your children tick and how you can achieve nirvana in perfecting these relationships so that no alienation exists. Learn to listen rather than judge. An eclipse here can lead you to the trip of a lifetime like your bucket list cruise, an amazing yet unexpected career, or the love of your life.

Sixth House
A number of events may occur when a solar eclipse connects to this house and makes you aware of responsibilities to yourself and others. Illness makes you aware of the state of your health or the health of others around you, prompting you to seek medical advice and correct the physical problems. The health of your work environment may be plucking your nerves when you notice the lack of organization and the impact it has on delivering the finished product.

If a lunar eclipse shows up, it can get emotional if your mental state feels the strain of unsuitable work relationships and chaotic conditions. Cohesiveness and a sense of belonging are your preferences as you seek compatible workmates. Orderliness motivates performance and accelerates the rate of accomplishment. You cherish a secure relationship with your boss.

Seventh House
This year two eclipses fall in the natural seventh house. A Libra lunar eclipse occurs on March 25, highlighting personal or professional relationships. Everything you love about intimate partnerships surrounds you when this eclipse appears. Happiness with partners blossoms, giving you a sense of fulfillment. You could meet someone new, get engaged, or tie the knot. Knock your socks off with joy. Business partnerships could be in the works. Sit down at the table with these important cooperators and work out an agreeable deal.

A solar eclipse in Libra occurs here on October 2. Quite the opposite occurs when you’re trying to hold on to emotionally empty relationships. If you are experiencing aching disappointment, it’s time to explore the reasons. Remember the adage “happy wife, happy life,” and get to work on restoring unity. It’s not unusual for partners to drift out of your life, and divorce can be the outcome. Business associations could start falling apart over differences in goals, daily operations, and staff employment. Heed warning signs and consider interventions using a neutral management consultant.

Eighth House
This complex house covers all facets of joint financial holdings: savings, debts, mortgages, and retirement funds as well as how you use your mutual income to fund the goals you agreed on as partners. An eclipse here can announce a big raise or inheritance for you or your partner. The house represents intimacy too, and an eclipse might reawaken the sexy spark between you and draw you closer depending on what is going on in the relationship.

When the eclipse is lunar, one emphasis may be on your money and how you will protect it via wills and legal documents related to disposition of goods. It can also be a wake-up call when the assets arrive to make sure your plans for the future are in pristine working order. Your motivation to succeed intensifies, and you might consider new employment or education that qualifies you for a higher salary. The Full Moon aspect draws you closer to your psychic insight and the spiritual realm. Individuals may find themselves soul traveling between the worlds when their deep intuitive vibe is receptive.

Ninth House
When a solar eclipse contacts this house, your higher mind awakens, and you seek answers to explain practices, codes, theories, ethical and moral standards, and political positions. Individuals often experience a change in outlook or a religious conversion, enroll in a university, study languages, travel, and spend time with people from other countries to experience new cultures. You might become an activist and separate philosophically and spatially from your family in your search for the truth. Writers develop material and often publish books, articles, or journals.

If the lunar eclipse occurs here, you may be more restless than usual. Travel holds considerable appeal. You could go on the honeymoon of a lifetime or fulfill a bucket list wish, like a multicountry cruise or tour. Eclipses here stretch your intellect, and you crave learning experiences. You may enroll in online seminars or attend classes on topics that interest you. Check good chart dates for travel plans to avoid getting stranded in undesirable locations.

Tenth House
When eclipses drop by this house, you’ll be concerned with career matters, ambition, and your status in the world. Opportunities crop up and offers come in to improve your profile in the work organization. Expect promotions, awards, bonuses, or transfers. Bosses praise your performance and could offer you a leadership position. Show your stuff if you supervise others by building a talented team, making sure all members get the recognition they deserve. Your family situation could be in high focus now as well, especially if you are dealing with parents’ health and family matters.

If a lunar eclipse arrives in your tenth house, you are probably in the midst of evaluating how much your work is providing you with emotional satisfaction. “Is this the right job for me?” could be the refrain going through your mind if it has been lacking, and you could be looking for a new job. If you have gone as far as you can in the current organization, the eclipse hit may be the source of your search for new employment. Instead of dwelling on what isn’t working, focus on your accomplishments and how they may strengthen your resume for future employment. Sometimes the lunar eclipse leads to layoffs, transfers, or getting you fired. Take heart. A better option is behind the next door.

Eleventh House
A solar eclipse in this gregarious house aligns you with group interests and how your humanitarian attitude helps you interact with associates, friendships, goals, and members of professional organizations. These groups participate in endeavors that look for the betterment of conditions that improve the stability of the world population. You’ll be genuinely concerned about how humanity survives challenges, overcomes poverty, rebuilds structures damaged by storms, and receives much-needed health care coverage where it has been lacking. You’ll tap your best networks to find work that meets goals to lift the human spirit, such as with charities, medical facilities, and training institutions. Politics is another field that draws you to seek new employment.

When a lunar eclipse occurs in the eleventh house, you may be doing an about-face regarding your attitude to support humanitarian causes, which you may have previously thought were too boring. Suddenly, an aha moment captures your curiosity, and you start researching current local or global dilemmas, feeling the pull deep inside to join forces with those who are busy creating awareness that gives these circumstances attention. Your altruistic nature finds a home in a rewarding passion that motivates you to expand your worldview and brings you the emotional satisfaction you desire.

Twelfth House
The psychological and spiritual sides of your life get a wake-up call when a solar eclipse visits your twelfth house. You may feel in the pit of your stomach that something is giving you an uneasy, queasy feeling—one that you ordinarily just blow off. Not this time, though, because your subconscious mind is turning out visions of what is off-kilter and needs attention to bring your spiritual core into balance. One aspect could be that you need more sleep, and quality rest is one of this eclipse’s gifts. If you seem confused more than usual, you have work to do. Start with identifying phobias that keep you from performing your best work while you hide in the shadows taking too many days off from work. Identify the fears that drive you to a standstill instead of confronting what is in the way of success and a positive mindset. Keeping too many secrets may cause them to come out unexpectedly. Seek help from qualified advisors and bare your soul.

This year a lunar eclipse in Pisces occurs in this house, awakening your subconscious mind and your psychic senses, while deeply stirring the spiritual instincts that drive your soul. At the same time you are craving emotional support, this powerful eclipse is awakening your creative mind and generating ideas that help you turn out beautiful, original work. Your mind becomes more receptive to assimilating better health care practices and showing compassion for those who are suffering. That body-mind connection leads to improvements in relationships with children, entrepreneurs, romantic partners, authority figures, and teachers. By staying in an unsatisfactory personal relationship, you will either seek a way to improve it or leave it altogether, especially in a year like this one where two eclipses may have appeared in the natal seventh house. Under this lunar eclipse, individuals sometimes merge with their psychic powers and embrace mediumship.

Here’s a look at Alice’s latest release:

Llewellyn’s 2022 Sun Sign Book: Horoscopes for Everyone (Llewellyn’s Sun Sign Book)

Achieve your goals and let your light shine all year with Llewellyn’s 2022 Sun Sign Book. Providing in-depth horoscopes and forecasts for every sun sign, this accessible almanac shows you how to use planetary wisdom to find exciting opportunities in your future. It also helps you answer important questions about love, money, family, and more.

Discover which areas in your life have potential for great success and which require extra attention. Explore which days each month will be rewarding and which will be challenging. This practical guide also includes a list of the best dates for big ventures, such as finding a job, taking a vacation, buying a home, and getting married.

Sneak Peek: After Camus by Jay Neugeboren

Jocie McKade

1 February 2024

After Camus by Jay Neugeboren

A troubled marriage—and love story—set against the background of the AIDS pandemic, and the American wars in Vietnam and Iraq lie at the heart of After Camus. Saul Davidoff and Tolle Riordan, who meet during a protest against the Vietnam War, marry, live through the Plague Years of the AIDS epidemic, raise a family … and burn out. Camus is a hero to both of them: Tolle, a young dancer and choreographer, has a liaison with him in Paris shortly before his death; Saul, inspired by Camus’s The Plague, becomes an infectious disease (and AIDS) doctor … and Camus becomes a ghostly presence central to our story.

Hoping to repair their marriage, Tolle and Saul return to a village in the South of France where they lived when they were first in love, and where Camus lived when recovering from a siege of tuberculosis. The novel draws a vivid portrait of a marriage that spans a series of historical events: from the Vietnam war through the AIDs epidemic and Gulf War, to the Iraq War and the advent of the right wing Le Pen movement in France.

After Camus is both a fictional meditation on recent history and a compelling tale of how various forms of love and friendship do and do not survive in times of social and political upheaval. In this novel of enchantments, internationally acclaimed author Jay Neugeboren is at the peak of his powers as a master storyteller.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

JAY NEUGEBOREN is the author of 22 books, including five prize-winning novels, four collections of award-winning stories, and two prize-winning books of non-fiction about mental illness: Imagining Robert:My Brother, Madness, and Survival and Transforming Madness: New Lives for People Living with Mental Illness.

His stories and essays have appeared widely in The New York Review of Books, The Atlantic Monthly, The American Scholar, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Psychiatric Services, Ploughshares, Black Clock,Tablet, Commonweal, among others, and have been reprinted in more than 50 anthologies, including Best American Short Stories, Penguin Modern Stories, and The O. Henry Prize Stories.

He is the recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Massachusetts Council on the Arts, and is the only author to have won six consecutive Syndicated Fiction Prizes. His archive is housed at the Harry Ransom Humanities Center in Austin, Texas.

Nuegeboren was Professor and Writer-in-Residence at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, as well as the Director of the Graduate MFA Writing Program there. He has taught at other universities, including Stanford, Indiana, S.U.N.Y. at Old Westbury, and Freiburg (Germany). He now lives and writes in New York City, where he is on the faculty of the Writing Program of the Graduate School of the Arts at Columbia University.

Behind The Words with Amina Akhtar

Jocie McKade

1 February 2024

Behind The Words welcomes Amina Akhtar, author of ALMOST SURELY DEAD to our blog today. Welcome Amina. First, tell our readers a bit about yourself.

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

I live in the mountains of AZ; I’m a former New Yorker. Yes, writing is my full-time job.

How long have you been writing?

My whole life. My previous career was as a fashion writer/editor in New York.

Share what your typical writing day looks like.

It varies. I have chronic migraine and long covid, so some days I can’t get much done. I try to write a few days a week, sometimes it’s more, sometimes it’s less. When I have a writing day I generally write in the morning with my coffee.

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

I wanted to explore the nuances between being haunted and losing one’s mind. The idea came from family lore of jinn and the stories my dad would tell us as kids.

Could you share one detail from your current release with readers that they might not find in the book?

Some of it is based on real events in my life.

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

I think every character I have to get inside of is a challenge. You have to get to know them inside and out to be able to write them.

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

Oh, Anya from #FashionVictim.

If you could spend the day with your character, what would you do? What would that day look like?

I’d watch her murder because that’s what she does (if I’m Anya from my first book.)

What’s your take on research and how do you do it?

Research can help but sometimes I get so deep into it that I wonder how to fit all that info into a story. So you have to pare it down and make it work within the confines of your plot.

Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write?

Caroline Kepnes, Silvia Moreno-Garcia. As a child I loved Oscar Wilde. Stephen King is always a gold standard.

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

I sleepwalk, like Dunia in Almost Surely Dead. Not sure if it’s a talent or curse.

It would certainly be a unique day with your character! LOL And please be careful sleepwalking!! Thank you so much for joining us today, Amina.

Reader’s, here’s a quick look at ALMOST SURELY DEADLY. The book releases today – so snag your copy!

ALMOST SURELY DEAD. . . .

“Amina Akhtar’s Almost Surely Dead is a witty, fresh psychological thriller that’s part stalker thriller, part ghost story. This book took turns I never saw coming. I was up all night, tearing through the pages as the mysterious pieces came together, leading to an explosive conclusion.” ―Mindy Kaling

A psychological thriller with a twist, Almost Surely Dead is a chilling account of how one woman’s life spins out of control after a terrifying―and seemingly random―attempt on her life.

Dunia Ahmed lives an ordinary life―or she definitely used to. Now she’s the subject of a true crime podcast. She’s been missing for over a year, and no one knows if she’s dead or alive. But her story has listeners obsessed, and people everywhere are sporting merch that demands “Find Dunia!”

In the days before her disappearance, Dunia is a successful pharmacist living in New York. The daughter of Pakistani immigrants, she’s coping with a broken engagement and the death of her mother. But then something happens that really shakes up her world: someone tries to murder her.

When her would-be killer winds up dead, Dunia figures the worst is over. But then there’s another attempt on her life…and another. And police suspect someone close to her may be the culprit. Dunia struggles to make sense of what’s happening. And as childhood superstitions seep into her reality, she becomes convinced that someone―or something―is truly after her.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Amina Akhtar is a novelist and former fashion editor. Her debut novel, #FashionVictim, drew rave reviews and acclaim and was covered in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Martha Stewart Living, Entertainment Weekly, Fashionista, Book Riot, CrimeReads, and more. Akhtar’s second book Kismet, took on the stunning and creepy world of wellness and all the crystals that go with it. Her third novel, ALMOST SURELY DEAD, will be published by Mindy’s Book Studio in February 2024.

Akhtar has worked at Vogue, Elle, the New York Times, and New York Magazine, where she was the founding editor of the women’s blog The Cut. She’s written for numerous publications, including Yahoo Style, Fashionista, xoJane, Refinery29, Billboard, and more. She currently lives not too far from the Sedona vortexes.

Website: https://www.aminaakhtar.work

Instagram: @drrramina

X: @Drrramina

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