Character Creation by Michael Ross – Guest Blog and Giveaway

August 7, 2024 By 2 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Character Creation

This book has been hanging around in my head for 30 years, after the time I delivered a car from the UK for a friend to Portugal. I loved the journey, just me, foreign travel, time to stop and start whenever and wherever I pleased. I stayed the night in a random hotel in Northern Spain and when I paid the bill in the morning the receptionist was moody and wouldn’t meet me in the eyes, I got back into the car, and as I drove south whichever radio station, I tried they were playing the most miserable music, even down into Portugal. After lunch that day I got a phone call from a friend telling me that Princess Di had died in a car crash that night. My oblivion to this world-shattering event has stuck with me, I started twisting the story to have my main character delivering the car back to the UK, not realising just how important this journey would be in the story of his lifetime.

So, I sat with my main character in a café In Rennes, chilling whilst breaking up the journey (with me it was in Biarritz.) I had no idea what sort of person he was, until his reaction to see a stranger in distress – he was empathetic, sympathetic, self-confident. With in next to no time the first three chapters were written and I was fully into his character and a clear idea how he would react in most situations. Claire was a different evolvement, I liked her from the get go, but she revealed herself to me much more slowly.

Thank you for hosting and I look forward to the stopover.

Best wishes,
Mike

For Ryan Gould it’s just another pay day, collect a car from Portugal deliver it to the UK. Nothing too complicated – until he decides on an unscheduled stopover in Northern France, in the city of Rennes, a quiet drink in the town square, where life would have turned out so differently if he not noticed the girl sitting on the bench was sobbing her heart out.

From there onwards his life twists and turns out of control until he finds himself in police custody charged with abduction and a journey to get to the truth. The girl on the bench, Claire, had misled him from the very beginning; who was she, and how had she managed to wreak so much havoc in his life?

Enjoy an Excerpt

The room stinks, the historic stench of soiled human bodies is overpowering.

There are No Smoking signs posted at either end of the room but the smeared and dirty state of windows suggests years of people defying that advice. When we first met, I was willing to give the man the benefit of doubt, but the way he looks at me now is a challenge; maybe I was right – he is a total bastard after all. In all fairness it’s been a long day for him, and an even longer one for me. Leaning back in his chair he stares into space for a full two minutes before speaking, his voice gravelled with fatigue.

“Let me ask you this Ryan. If we swapped places and you were me, sitting here in my chair, would you believe one single word of the statement you’ve made today?” He takes a breath before continuing. “You need to quiet the waves.”

“Sorry?”

“You need to pull something special out of the bag to get you off the hook here, Ryan. You’re on your own in a single boat in the middle of a raging storm and without a change of direction to pacify me you’re in real trouble my friend.”

My friend? I’m screaming inside – it is not a story – it’s the truth, but the point he’s making is fair, because even I have a job to believe the witness statement I’ve just signed. Much has happened in the few days since I left Rennes, almost too much to recollect properly and somewhat impossible to comprehend. Last Friday seems like a hundred years ago, and yet it feels like only a few hours have passed since I was sitting in the city square, relaxed, drinking coffee and reflecting on my life.

About the Author: Born and raised in Bristol, England I now live halfway up a mountain in the Welsh Valleys, with my partner Mari and our rescue dog Wenna. I have a BA in English Literature from Bristol Uni and after creative writing classes at Cardiff Uni I won prizes for short stories. I write with a smile on my face.

I have self-published (including Quiet the Waves) five short story anthologies and five novels

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The Big Comb Over by J.P. Rieger – Interview and Giveaway

August 6, 2024 By 7 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. A randomly drawn winner will receive a $25 Amazon/BN gift card – a Rafflecopter giveaway. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

What are your favorite TV shows?

I really enjoyed the series, Severance. A wild and wacky ride in an alternative reality. I love good comedies so Resident Alien is another winner. Of course, as a fan of mysteries, I enjoy the tons of shows available on BritBox. My spouse and I have been binge-watching for months, now. The Brits really know how to do crime and mystery.

What is your favorite meal?

Well, mostly the ones you’re supposed to avoid: pizza, hot dogs and potato chips, cheeseburgers and fries. I enjoy those but try not to overdo. A nicely dressed Cesar Salad with grilled chicken is a favorite that carries less guilt, carbs and fats. (And then I’ll sneak a fry or two from my spouse’s plate.)

If you were to write a series of novels, what would it be about?

I enjoyed writing the characters in my second novel, Clonk! which features Baltimore City Police Detective Kev Dixit and his coterie of old high school friends. My fourth, as yet unpublished novel, Sunscreen Shower, is a standalone that reprises many of the characters from Clonk! including Dixit. But I’ve considered moving that gang forward, and my fifth novel (under construction) may take Dixit and the gang into series mode.

Is there a writer you idolize? If so who?

I’m a big fan of the crime writer, Charles Willeford. He passed away in the late 1980’s but not before gifting us with his four-book series featuring Miami Police Detective Hoke Mosely. Willeford’s darkly existential humor brings the characters to life. He writes in an unsentimental fashion and always includes a sociopath or two in each novel.

How did you come up for the title of this book?

The reader will quickly learn that the character of Roland, a mildly hypochondriacal actor and one of the three uncles, is obsessed with his hair. He’s going bald and is desperately trying anything/everything to enhance his hair. The comb over is one of his “go to” hair compromises, but not one he particularly wants to employ. (Yes, I comb over myself, daily.)

Three nephews and three eccentric uncles.
———
It’s 2050 and Robbie Elders has all but forgotten about his oddball, religious fanatic uncle, tim tim. He’s taken up the latest fad, genealogical research based solely on DNA. But Robbie’s “inconclusive” DNA results are unsettling. He crashes back to his childhood, back to his world of comic books and tim tim.

“I opt for posh and London” declares Lady Florence Stour. It’s 2019 and time for a Royal Wedding. Robbie’s uncle, Stef, is engaged to Lady Florence, a distant member of the British royal family. Stef’s Baltimore clan have been invited, but Robbie’s mom and dad can’t attend. They’ve entrusted Robbie and big brother, Doyle, to their mom’s two eccentric brothers, uncles Roy and Roland. Roy, a weathered waterman with a severe Baltimore accent, lives for Maryland blue crabs. Roland, a mildly hypochondriacal actor, lives to survive the Karens he unavoidably encounters. And then there’s Desales, Roy’s smart aleck, teenage son. He lives to prank. They’ve descended upon London. What could possibly go wrong?

Meanwhile, tim tim has been coaching Robbie on “the mission.” A silly religious fantasy according to Robbie’s atheist parents and the therapists. Or perhaps not? Things are not always as they appear in The Big Comb Over.

Enjoy an Excerpt

Roland looked at the bottle in awe. “Fletcher’s Dry Shampoo – Hint of Almond.” He looked over the directions and ingredients on the back. “Wow! It’s gluten-free and approved by PETA, too!” He handed back the bottle, gingerly, as though it were an egg.

“Yes! So, I’ll get things started, today, but when you use it, remember to follow the instructions carefully. You have to shake the thing like a bastard.”

He pulled off the top cap and shook the bottle frantically.

“Okay, shield your eyes with your hands, Roland.”

Morris began carefully spraying the bald spot. The bottle produced several quick spurts—the initial “targeting” move. He then pulled the can back several inches and sprayed in a wider arc, slowly filling in the surrounding areas. Excess brown powder fell gently onto the cape; iron filings mixed with cinnamon.

“Yes, there we go! Success! Let me give it a brush-through and a good zhuzh!”

Morris began to carefully run the boar’s hairbrush through the mixture of hair and powdered shampoo. There was that one tricky area, so he gave it another quick blast with the aerosol can. He completed brushing and found the most optimal place for the all-important part. Something natural. Avoiding the comb-over effect was difficult. Balance . . . balance . . .

He then gave Roland’s hair a quick blast with the hair dryer. Not too much, as there was not much to dry. The shampoo had absorbed most of the hemp oil treatment. He put the dryer aside and gave Roland’s hair a two-handed, final zhuzh. He spun the chair around, dramatically, and placed a hand mirror in front of Roland’s face so that he could check out the back.

“Looky loo, Sir Roland! Nary a hint of . . . deficiency!”

Roland looked with disbelief. He no longer had that bald spot! It was gone!

“Oh dear Lord, Morris! You are a genius! Look at this! Michelangelo!” He handed back the mirror, stunned.

“Thank you, thank you!” Morris took a quick bow and rapidly turned the chair back around, causing Roland some dizziness. “Now, let me hit you with a finishing spray to hold everything in place!”

He dramatically removed the top of the hairspray aerosol and shook the can furiously. He sprayed the mist in a near random fashion near the scalp and then away from the scalp and then back toward and quickly away again—a symphony conductor of a twelve-tone sound poem.

He spun Roland around again and thrust the mirror before his face. “What do you think?!”

“Yes, yes, Morris, this is perfect! This is what I’ve been waiting for . . . dreaming about!”

About the Author: J. Paul (J.P.) Rieger is a born and bred Baltimorean and mostly retired Maryland attorney. As such, he’s well acquainted with the quirkiness and charm of Baltimore’s unique citizens. He’s author of Clonk!, a police farce set in Baltimore and published in 2023 by Apprentice House Press (Loyola University-Baltimore). He’s also author of The Case Files of Roderick Misely, Consultant, a mystery novel featuring a wannabe lawyer anti-hero. The Big Comb Over, a slipstream comedy of manners featuring three nephews and their three eccentric uncles, is Paul’s third novel. Paul is married and lives in Towson, Maryland.

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Secrets of My Favorite Genre and Hero Writing by Sandy Lender – Guest Blog and Giveaway

August 5, 2024 By 9 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Secrets of My Favorite Genre and Hero Writing

I’ve learned not to pause when people ask what genre I write in. Although I have over 20 titles out there in a few genres, the main one is fantasy. Epic, to be exact.

I love reading and writing big, sweeping stories of good versus evil with a complex dragon who could switch sides if you don’t treat him (or her) right. Readers who know me know I write strong female characters but a secret to keeping this genre exciting for myself is in the dragons and the heroes. I’m a sucker for a hero who, like the dragon, could switch sides if you betray him. Or if you harm his dragon companion.

Another secret to my genre fiction is the type of hero I write. Considering I’m talking this week about my latest release, “100 Things Duran Duran Fans Should Know & Do During This Life,” it’s probably time to come clean and admit most of my heroes bear a striking resemblance to DD’s bass guitarist. There’s a reason for that.

John Taylor is hot like the rising sun. He has aged like a fine wine you want to sip while listening to all the slow, moody-and-grey Duran Duran songs through high-quality headphones.

Why wouldn’t I model the look of the hero you’re supposed to fall for after my lifelong crush? Now, don’t let this fool you into thinking my heroes are “based on” Mr. John Taylor. That would be creepy. (And probably worthy of a cease-and-desist.)

While John Taylor definitely inspires the heroes in the CHOICES series, the DRAGONS IN SPACE series, the FAERIE HOLIDAYS series, and a few other stories I’ve penned, these heroes are their own fabulous hotties with their own back stories and blends of mannerisms and traits from interesting people I’ve met or observed over my lifetime. It takes more than a handsome face to create a hero, no matter what genre you’re working in.

For me, it’s fun to write in the fantasy genre. It’s fun to bring a gorgeous hero onto the page to assist the strong young women I’m writing about. And to add in some epic dragons.

Best-selling, award-winning author and life-long Duranie, Sandy Lender, offers a delightful guidebook to the fun and sometimes wacky events that bring a fandom together. 100 THINGS DURAN DURAN FANS SHOULD KNOW & DO DURING THIS LIFE is a unique, positive, optimistic, totally new take on exploring nostalgia alongside your BFFs with the supergroup that continues to provide the dance track for so many people’s lives.

This non-fiction foray into Duran Duran history is unlike any biography you’ve read before. Instead of dry stats and facts, it’s a reminder of the joy and positivity that comes from obsessing over a shared musical interest. Herein you’ll find a series of random acts “to do” and trivia you might have forgotten to celebrate. To-do: Dive in and celebrate again!

Enjoy an Excerpt

Introduction

Let me admit, up front, you’re about to read a frivolous romp through a Duranie’s brain. We’re about to dance together down Memory Lane, inspired by a Star Wars book title I saw about four months ago. To prevent myself from stealing the author’s intellectual property, I didn’t open the unauthorized 100 Things Star Wars Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die.

Instead, I’ve put together a Duran-o-rama of my own making. It’s arranged exactly as the title suggests: first an item of what a Duran Duran fan should know, followed by an item a fan can do. This order proceeds from one to one hundred in a conversational tone.

The prompts of nostalgia might be numbered, but they’re not in chronological order. Most of the to-do items are geared toward sharing your insanity with others.

Basically, you’re holding amusing reminders of carefree times when a ticket to a concert cost all of eighteen dollars, when you listened to the local radio station at midnight because they were playing the entire new DD release, or when you could grab a crew of giggling girls to plop down on the couch with a six-pack of Pepsi—because that’s what John preferred over the sponsor of the Arena tour—to watch and sing along to Arena: An Absurd Notion, complete with parental advisory.

Now, let me lift the needle off the record for a second.

About the Author Sandy Lender is an international best-selling poet and award-winning author of fantasy, literary fiction, poetry, and short story work. She’s a construction magazine editor by day and author of #GirlPower fantasy novels by night, living in Florida to help with sea turtle conservation and parrot rescue. You can follow her author page on Amazon, check her website at SandyLenderInk.com, or subscribe to her newsletter at https://bit.ly/SSReNews.

With a four-year degree in English and thirty-year career in publishing, Sandy’s successes include traditionally and self-published novels, hundreds of magazine articles, multiple short stories in competitive anthologies, a handful of technical writing awards, a handful of creative writing awards, and the 2023 Michael Knost Wings award. Sandy’s been writing stories since she was knee-high to a grasshopper when her great-grandmother shared her odd little tales of squeaky ghost-spiders around an apartment complex in Southern Illinois. The stories have developed to include strong young ladies working with dragons to save worlds from terrible fates, but those pesky spiders still show up from time to time.

There’s always something brewing at Sandy Lender Ink headquarters where some days, you just want the dragon to win.

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Research by Jeanette Watts – Guest Blog and Giveaway

August 2, 2024 By 4 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will be awarding a Jane Austen Coloring Book (US only) to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Research

I think one of the reasons I am usually writing historical fiction is because I*love* research!

I’ve heard other authors talk about falling down a rabbit hole while researching as if it were a bad thing…but it’s those very side trips that make someone a better writer. If I were writing fantasy novels instead of historical fiction, it’s called “world building.” If the year is 1882, and it’s Pittsburgh, and I want to know about the hospital that my character is in, so I’m reading newspapers at the Heinz History Center, and I just found out there was record rain that year, or record snow, or there was a new craze for roller skating, that’s all useful information. It helps build texture. The reason people read historical fiction is because they are curious about what it was like to live in the past. Telling them what it smelled like, what it sounded like, and what it tasted like is what I’m here for. To educate as well as entertain.

Even my two modern novels, A Woman’s Persuasion and Jane Austen Lied to Me, required research. AWP is set in 2007 – my readers have lived through it. So they remember it. Don’t screw up. Because as soon as you forget that iPhones first come out on June 29 of that year, and either assume that either no one has them, or everyone already has them, you’ve just lost all the tech enthusiasts among your readers. JAL2M, the book currently coming out right now as an audiobook, is set on a modern college campus. (Well, modern to 2017, when it was first published.) I haven’t been a college student for a long time, and being an adjunct professor only takes you so far. What’s the registration process like nowadays? I bet students don’t run around campus with a registration form like when *I* was in school…I asked my students a LOT of questions.

That’s all that research is. Asking questions. I want to know the answer because either my readers want to know, or my readers already know, and I will look like an idiot if I demonstrate to them that I don’t know.

The thing that people forget is that research is more than just reading. That’s why the best crime novels are written by former members of the justice system, and the best cookbooks are written by chefs (or moms that cook every day). Experience is a form of research. That’s why they say “write about what you know.” In order to write about something, you have to go do it. Unless you write murder mysteries. Then I suggest you job shadow the mortician, not the murderer…

I am a dance teacher, and there’s a dance scene in every book I’ve written. Because I know what different social dances in different eras feel like. (I had a dance student from one of my dance groups read one of my novels and correctly identify the name of a set dance from 1878 by my description! That was satisfying.)

I am also a costume enthusiast, and there is no understanding corsets, and hoopskirts, and bustle dresses, until you put one on and wear it all day. For every actress in Hollywood whining about how uncomfortable they are, there are three re-enactors or living history presenters rolling their eyes at this stupid fuss about underwear that women wore while dancing the polka, and building log cabins, and lifting heavy iron pots. I can talk about what it feels like to waltz in a bustle dress, when your skirts arrive a few seconds after the rest of you had finished turning, because I’ve done it.

Research is about getting out and doing, as well as reading. I confess I do absolutely *love* the growing digitized newspapers available online. The University of Illinois has a fabulous collection, and it’s all searchable by keyword. But in order to really understand what I’m reading, I had to have gone out and done it. I teach historical dance, and all the descriptions of “the mazy waltz” would make no sense if I haven’t been on a crowded dance floor, where my partner and I have to navigate a dance floor filled with other spinning couples.

And sometimes, while writing a modern story about a college girl who loves Jane Austen, that research means sharing personal stories about working at the library or being really bad at math.

What college girl doesn’t dream of meeting Mr. Darcy? Lizzy was certainly no exception. But when Darcy Fitzwilliam comes into her life, he turns out to be every bit as aggravating as Elizabeth Bennett’s Fitzwilliam Darcy. So what’s a modern girl to think, except….

How could my hero be so wrong?

Enjoy an Excerpt

Well! That was interesting. My roommate invited me along to this frat party she was going to. She went through something called rush week, and she is now pledged to a sorority. She said the frats are less formal than the sororities, and even though I wasn’t a pledge I could go with her. I figured, why not, it should be fun, right?

I got to meet the guy she’s chasing. I couldn’t blame her for being interested. He’s cute, and sweet, and considerate, and a total people-pleaser. One of his parents must be the demanding sort who is never happy.

He introduced us to his friend… whose name is Darcy Fitzwilliam! I wasn’t sure at first that the guy wasn’t just pulling our legs.

“Your mother obviously loves Jane Austen,” I laughed.

“Obviously,” he answered. Not much to go by.

“I love Pride and Prejudice,” I continued.

“I hate Pride and Prejudice,” I can only describe the look he was giving me as hostile.

“I think you will find yourself very much in a minority,” I answered, returning his look with one of my own.

We didn’t talk any more that night. Talk about getting off on the wrong foot!

About the Author: Jeanette Watts has written three Jane Austen-inspired novels and two short stories for Jane Austen Fan Fiction anthologies, two other works of historical fiction, stage melodramas, television commercials, and historical dance manuals. She is a regular contributor to MOMCC Magazine.

When she is not writing, she is either dancing, sewing, or making videos for her YouTube channel and TikTok accounts, “History is My Playground.”

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Researching Tips by Dale E. Dallman – Guest Blog and Giveaway

August 1, 2024 By 6 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Dale E. Dallman will award a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Researching Tips

I think the best research for a book is living it! If you are going to write about a place, go there, live it, touch the dirt, listen to the wind. I am part Native American, and I swear, I can feel my ancestors as I go into the Montana and Dakota country. I can hear their wisdom. I do research the area I am writing about, but firsthand experience seems to be what the reader wants! They can read research, look up, look at pictures, but they can’t find the thoughts in your head, unless you tell them. That is what sets you apart from books based on research! My book just released “LETTERS FROM A WARRIOR P.S. Mom, I love you” has no research. It is actual events that you would never be able to research. Every letter is real. Every event is something you can’t find unless you tell it! It is the most personal, look inside another person’s brain, you can get!

Writing is my destiny! It took 60 years to finally get it to happen! I started writing in Grade School! My projects always got good reviews from my grade schoolteacher. She would give a project. The other kids would have two or three lines–I would have 30! High school changed me! I started running and lost interest in school! I went from an A student to barely passing. I was the epitome of the Elvis Pressley look! The greasy, Vitalis, combed back, Duck Tail hair, the black leather jacket, the t-shirt, with the Camel Cigarettes rolled up in the sleeve! The Engineer boots. No interesting anything, let alone writing. Joining the Marine Corps started me back. I kept a Journal, which I incorporated into letters I sent home. That was the extent, until I started VA treatment with a shrink. She suggested I get writing again. SO, I opened the bottom desk drawer, took out the old letters and started this book. It was a combination of the shrink and a GREAT Publisher, Traci Wooden, that I got back into serious writing.

Publication was never a reality. I tried a few times to send the book idea to publishers! Most never even responded! I kept working on three books, knowing that the only person who would ever read them was me and the guy who didn’t publish! My wife, who is a professional photographer, and a singer was going to Las Vegas to record a song. I went along to lose my $300. BUT-the people who were doing her recording started asking me questions! I made the mistake of saying I wish I could publish a book! Oh Oh-that started a flood of questions, with me promising to send the series of letters used to write this book. Long story short, they loved em’! They in turn sent them to Traci Wooden, a great publisher! With the help of my wife, Traci and GOD, I got one!!

My favorite author has always been Louis L’a Mour. I have read his works for decades! He wasn’t just an author; he was an inspiration to the American West. I don’t stick to a specific genre! I jump from Western, to military to women’s rights! Every book I write, I am involved! It is personal. I travel the land I write about. I walk in the shoes of the characters in my books.

The best part of being an author is being able to influence people, connect with people, relate to people! I am not very polished. I don’t have an Ivy League education. I learned street smarts from failure and success. The Marines taught me to “IMPROVISE, ADAPT and OVERCOME! I write from experience! The book about the car business that is coming out-I sold cars, the book about the WHITE BUFFALO that is in process is written on ground I stood on! The Marine Corps book is me!

The worst part-well, the first chapters of the BUFFALO book were written on a trip into the Big Horn Mountains in Wyoming. I was in a cabin that was 12 miles in by horseback. It was so quiet that at night, a fly sounded like a bomber! The Packrat that lived there would scamper through my stuff and steal every pen or coin I dropped! The pages were written with pen and paper! It is just recently that I advanced to a computer! You would laugh (as my wife does) to watch me type with one finger! (her sister was sitting out in the living room, asking my wife “what that clicking noise was as I beat out a chapter!) That is the worst part! I wish I was not Electronically challenged! I have a 50 word a minute brain, but a 5-word finger!

Well, I’m presently working on three books!! I didn’t plan it that way! I will be putting together a part in one book and think, “you know, I can use that thought in this other one” The WHITE BUFFALO is probably the next one to go to TAWC Publishing! If Traci sees fit! I will continue the work of this military book that is just published and plead with Traci to publish another for this poor ol’ country boy!

I really get involved in my books! I try to feel what the character is feeling! I dedicated the book- Letters From A Warrior P.S. Mom, I love you-to every mom who received a flag back, instead of her son or daughter!

Writing is a high hanging fruit! I encourage every reader who thinks they have a story in them to reach out and grab that high hanging fruit. It tastes so good when you get it!

“Letters From A Warrior, P.S. Mom, I Love You” is a captivating true story full of adventure and self-discovery. It is portrayed with a relentless wit that offers an intimate glimpse into the world of the US Marine Corps Boot Camp in 1960. This is all done through the eyes of a young man who trades his small-town roots in Minot, North Dakota for the thrilling and challenging life of a Marine.

Through a series of unapologetically honest and unintentionally humorous letters to his mother, the author shares his unvarnished experiences as a naive 18-year-old navigating the tribulations of boot camp. With the specter of his seemingly menacing drill instructors looming large, this young man’s quest for a life beyond his hometown quickly becomes a rollercoaster of exhilaration, fear, and personal growth.

Witness the author’s transformation from a small-town boy to a dedicated warrior as he overcomes adversity and learns invaluable lessons about courage, resilience, and the true meaning of strength. From his first day at the MCRD to his thrilling new beginning in Hawaii, this unforgettable memoir stands as a testament to the power of determination and the indomitable spirit of youth.

Enjoy an Excerpt

I sat up in bed and observed a Marine with two stripes coming toward me. He was shaking and yelling at each bunk as he went by. He did an about-face when he reached the end of the aisle and yelled that he was Corporal Johnston, corporal of the guard.

He said Staff Sergeant Smith was busy so he was taking us to chow. He said we had fifteen minutes to shit, shower, shave and dress after which he wanted us all standing on the painted stripes outside. He said anyone late would die. He said the one they’d taken out last night was already dead.

I wanted to say, “You can’t kill a man for pissing his bed,” but my mouth wouldn’t open. I decided I didn’t need a shower, I was too scared to shit, and I was still too young to shave so I just dressed, used the urinal, and stood around talking to my friends.

Todd asked me if I had seen Adam. I said no, but I figured he was gone for good.

Thomas delivered the next question with as serious a face as I’d ever seen on him. “They really can’t kill him for pissing his bed, can they”?

I said no but I thought they might put him in jail. I had read stories about military brigs, and I figured Adam was already in a striped suit, breaking rocks as we spoke.

About the Author: Dale E. Dallman, Senior was born on a hot dry day in Britton, South Dakota, just off the Sisseton Indian Reservation, east of Lake Tewaukon, because that was the closest hospital. His relatives all worked for the railroad and/or farmed near Fort Ransom, Cayuga, and Rutland, North Dakota. When his father got the chance to quit farming and transfer to the railroad they moved to Minot, North Dakota where Dale attended grade school at Sunnyside and graduated high school at Minot High.

After Dale and a few of his friends got themselves into trouble towards the end of their senior year, a nice judge “suggested” that he and several of his acquaintances join the United States Marine Corps. The formation of the “NODAK PLATOON” made the timeline fit. The Marines took him to San Diego, California, Hawaii, Asia, and back to San Francisco, California. He grew up fast in the Marines. One of his buddies stuck with him after they were discharged and the two followed each other off and on through life.

His first real job after the service was in Billings, Montana with Brown & Williamson Tobacco Co. as a road salesman. This led to other road salesman positions with the American Greetings Company and the Bristol Myers Drug Company. He ventured into real estate, casinos, auto sales, RV sales, which took him to Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota. He became a deputy sheriff in California for a while, then traveled on to Washington, Arizona, Virginia, Germany, and Colorado, to name a few.

Today, Mr. Dallman lives in the South with his wife Cassandra Dallman, a professional photographer and singer out of Atlanta, Georgia. He enjoys and continues to take great pride in his children and their offspring.

This book is neither his first nor last written work so please check back to see upcoming books from Dale E. Dallman.

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Twice Hung by Vanessa C. Hawkins – Spotlight and Giveaway

July 24, 2024 By 4 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Vanessa C. Hawkins will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.


Ethel Arsenault’s been hearing noises in her brother’s house ever since she arrived from Summerside, but when he turns up dead, could the supernatural be to blame, or her sister-in-law Dolly whose been caught talking to herself when night falls?

Ethel isn’t sure, nor is she happy when she’s left alone to care for Ernest’s estate. Was her brother the victim of sweet, little Dolly Arsenault, or is some other sinister force at work? The city of Charlottetown is quick to point the blame at Dolly, but now Ethel has been hearing things in the house…

… or is it just her imagination?

Enjoy an Excerpt

The day was damp, yet hardly a day at all. Gray clouds hung low in the dismal sky with the promise of reluctant showers. A storm loomed behind the ashen canvass. It had been present ever since the winter months had concluded, and a sodden pall had swept over the coast of the island to remain indefinitely.

Ethel Arsenault longed for the summer days back home at Green’s Shore, even though it would be just as wet there. The farmers would prepare their fields, and heave at the heavy earth in hopes it would soon be pregnant with their summer harvest. Ethel liked when the potato fields stood in perfect columns like soldiers. When she was young, she often gathered the flowers in her apron, picking them before they were pruned to make laurels for the boys.

She hadn’t done that ever since her brother, Ernest, had moved to Charlottetown to invest in shipbuilding. Now, as the wagon bumped between the muddy ruts of the road, the scent of mussel mud was prevalent over the low-hanging lady slippers and spruce trees that crowded the marshlands. It crept in the nose, more sour than regular fertilizer, and made Ethel and her servant, Beulah, want for warmer weather.

“How much longer till we arrive?” Beulah asked as she rearranged the cushions beneath her bottom. Ethel smiled, sympathetic to her friend’s condition. They’d only been traveling a day and had stopped for the night in Cornwall, but even the simple journey in an extravagant stagecoach had taken its toll on their backsides.

“We’ll be crossing the Yorke River soon, Miss Murphy,” one of the lads called from the front, spitting out a mouthful of chew to plop upon the ground.

“It seems to me like we’re headed back in the direction we came, Mr. Carlow!”

Aloysius Carlow—Al—laughed and reached into his pocket to draw out another handful of chewing tobacco. The young man must have taken a liking to Beulah Murphy’s robust personality, as he never spoke back to her when she complained or prattled on idly about dirt, mud, flowers, and horses. For a servant, Ethel had to admit that Beulah was unusual, but the girl was cheerful and had a good head on her shoulders, despite her many eccentricities. Ethel loved her dearly.

“Only way to cross the river, Miss, is by Moor’s Bridge north of Cornwall. Most people take the boats these days. They tend to be faster.”

Mud had speckled the sides of the carriage, but Beulah hung her head out anyway, catching a few freckles upon the slope of her ample cheeks as she peered at the young man’s back.

“Never-you-mind about that, Mr. Carlow!”

Al laughed and tugged at the brim of his straw hat that sat low over his brow. “Just sayin’ is all, Miss Murphy. Mr. Arsenault would have had you and your lady carried by royalty if you’d have wanted.”

About the Author:A life-long lover of horror, Vanessa wrote her first story in the genre when she was only in grade five. It was titled Mutilated and it warranted her a trip to the school guidance counsellor. A lifetime later, she continues to write about anything that suits her fancy. She was afforded second place in the David Adams Richards Prize this year, and honourable mentions in the WFNB writing competition for her novel A Child to Cry Over. With over a dozen publications under her belt, Vanessa was celebrated as a bestselling author with Books We Love Publishing for the sale of over a thousand copies of The Curious Case of Simon Todd! She lives with her husband Brendon and daughter Bernie in New Brunswick.

Vanessa is the author of the following BWL Publishing Inc. releases:

The Curious Case of Simon Todd
Bunker Blitz
Ballroom Riot by Vanessa C. Hawkins & Tara Woodworth

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What Would I Tell a New Author? by Shelly Campbell – Guest Blog and Giveaway

July 22, 2024 By 14 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

What Would I Tell a New Author?
Thanks so much for having me as a guest on Long and Short Reviews!

Being an author is a mercurial thing. You live in a state of flux. When you’re drafting, it’s singular work, just you, the characters in your head, and that blank page itching for you to fill it with words. Yet when editing time comes, your story transforms into a collaborative effort with back and forth feedback between you and your editors.

If you are querying, publishing often feels like a never-ending loop of hurry-up and wait, but if you’re on a deadline, it’s just hurry up.

You will have positive feedback that lifts you up like few things can, and one-star reviews that bring you right back down to earth again.

There’ll be the highs of cover reveals, release days, and book-signings, but also the doldrums that inevitably come after.

Some days the words flow like rapids and others, you’re stuck in the swamp of writer’s block. First drafts that read like hot garbage. Polished manuscripts that just sing.

I guess what I’m saying to new authors out there is that this is a rollercoaster ride, so hang onto something. Better yet, hang on to someone, multiple someone’s—preferably other authors who are marathon riders. Because it is a marathon.

Your book might not catapult out of the gate. Mine haven’t. They’re all on that slow clackity sort of climb. And that’s okay. My stories will find readers who’ll cherish them, all in good time. Yours will to. And whatever part of the rollercoaster ride your on, I’d love to grab hold of your hand and scream along with you. Just don’t puke on my shoes, okay?

When we were children, they told us monsters weren’t real. They were dead wrong.

It’s just a closet door with a skeleton key, but when David opens it, he unlocks a gateway to a sinister world that’s bent on destroying everything and everyone he loves. Some doors are better left closed.

Embark on a thrilling journey with the Dark Walker Series, and be transported into an interdimensional tale of monsters, lies and self-discovery. Where the terror of darkness is real and the line between ally and enemy is as thin as a blade.

“Equal parts coming of age story and otherworldly horror, Gulf probes the depths of loneliness, loss of identity and childhood trauma. It is a true treat for fans of the genre and had me clutched in its razor-clawed hands from the first word to the last.” -C.M. Forest author of Infested

*****

Seventeen-year-old David is fading from his world, like a Polaroid picture in reverse. He longs to feel connected to something bigger.

When his brothers discover the new extension at the rental cottage comes with a locked door, David finds the key first. Expecting to claim a bedroom, he opens a dimensional gateway instead, exploring abandoned versions of his world in different timelines, 1960s muscle cars alternating with crumbling cottages.

Except now the dimensional bridge won’t close, and something hungry claws the door at night. David scours for clues to break the bridge, but each trip to the other side makes him fade more on his. Even if he succeeds, he risks severing his connection to his own world, and dying on the wrong side, forgotten.

*****

There are doors that open to other worlds, but it’s no fairytale on the other side.

I thought otherworldly monsters bent on devouring my whole world starting with my family trumped everything. Turns out, I was wrong. My world’s only one of thousands facing annihilation from the maneaters that tried to eat me alive. Charlie saved me, rolled into my life on a motorcycle, and rescued me.

Problem is, I’m the Embassy’s property now. They’re the interdimensional agency tasked with stemming the flow of ravenous aliens into our universe, but they seem more interested in studying me. I crashed a gateway in a way they’ve never seen. The Embassy wants to replicate that. I think they want to use me as a war weapon.

If I don’t convince Charlie to help me escape, I’ll be an Embassy science experiment for the rest of my short life, or worse, eternally trapped in the dark hell that fills the spaces between worlds.

Enjoy an Excerpt from GULF

Certain my family is gone, I cross to the five-panel in two strides, twist the key into the lock, and push the door.

It doesn’t open.

Of course it doesn’t, idiot. It’s still hung like a closet door. It opens out, not in.

I pull.

Mirror.

That’s the first thought that strikes me as I take in the exact duplicate of the living room I’m standing in. Same green, crushed velvet sofa bed sagging behind me. Identical chipped melamine cabinets. Same painted windmills on the porcelain tile backsplash—wait.

No me.

No reflection of me. Tentative as Alice in bloody Wonderland, I pull the black skeleton key from its hole and crane my head through the doorway. No dirty breakfast dishes, but when I look over my shoulder, there’s still stacks of egg-yolk spackled tin plates beside our sink. Crumpled under one arm of the hide-a-bed is my plaid blanket, but the one in front of me is empty. Looks dusty.

“What the hell, Everett?” This is creepy.

The ole bugger’s built an exact mirror image of the room next door. Where on earth did he find the twin to that green monster of a couch? There’s even a spring beckoning through the same spot in the back cushion.

Got an eye for detail, hasn’t he?

Same woodstove too, only this one has a cold, crusty frying pan on it. I can still feel the heat on my back from ours across the wall.

The pine planking creaks under my next step, and I jump and then smile, but I’m pretty sure it ends up as a snarl. An odd feeling consumes me whole, the one I had just before Sam Ren and his gorilla wingmen beat the piss out of me behind the Dairy Queen. A curdled sense of approaching doom slithers through my lungs.

Get out.

Primal instinct presses me back a step toward the door, but I hold fast there, like a dumbass, like I waited while Sam Ren eased toward me in the Dairy Queen parking lot.

Shaking out my hands and hissing through my teeth, I scan the room trying to identify what’s wrong, because something is. Something is very wrong, and it’s not just the duplicate room, or the draft emanating from here at night. It takes a few seconds to pin it down. The out-of-place thing. My throat spasms when I see it. I swallow and shift to the balls of my feet.

“Window,” I whisper.

About the Author: At a young age, Shelly Campbell wanted to be an air show pilot or a pirate, possibly a dragon and definitely a writer and artist. She’s piloted a Cessna 172 through spins and stalls, and sailed up the east coast on a tall ship barque—mostly without projectile vomiting. In the end, Shelly found writing and drawing dragons to be so much easier on the stomach. Shelly writes speculative fiction ranging from grimdark fantasy, to sci-fi and horror. She’d love to hear from you.

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Gulf and Breach are both available to read for free on Kindles Unlimited.

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The Secret Cottage by Kate Ellington – Spotlight and Giveaway

July 22, 2024 By 4 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Kate Ellington will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Isabel Tate yearns for the simple pleasures she took for granted before scandal rocked her family two years ago. On May Day, she’s determined to forget her troubles and enjoy herself at the Claremont family’s annual festival.

Meanwhile, Robert Claremont steels himself to begin courting the haughty heiress next door, but his bashfulness is only one obstacle to winning her hand. Despite a deep sense of family obligation, he dreams of choosing his own bride.

Captivated by each other from the moment they meet, Robert and Isabel are kept apart by a misunderstanding until a chance encounter leads to friendship and more.

With opposition on all sides, they must overcome inconceivable odds to claim happiness.

Enjoy an Excerpt

Isabel turned her horse into the woods, directing him to a gurgling stream under a canopy of trees. The forest was quiet but for the splashing of the water, bird songs and the rustle of branches. They hadn’t been there long when Isabel heard a new sound. Hoofbeats and muffled voices. She urged her horse closer to the road, and easily heard the riders’ conversation.

“What makes you think she came this way?” a man asked.

A deeper voice answered, “Merely a guess. It seemed as good a place as any to look, but I’m thwarted again.”

“Let’s turn back, we can look for her tomorrow.”

“I’m sitting for the portrait tomorrow.”

Isabel’s pulse quickened as she recognized the deeper voice. Robert Claremont. So he’d been looking for her. Why hadn’t he come to the house? She started back toward the stream, but suddenly reason left her and she guided her horse through the trees, emerging just as Robert and his companion rounded the bend going in the opposite direction. They hadn’t seen her.

Isabel paused for a moment, thinking what to do. Go back home and hope he came to the house soon? Or seek him out for herself? Her reckless side won. Spurring her horse to a gallop, she chased after them. Robert turned in his saddle and Isabel was delighted with the look of shock on his face as she sped past him and who she could now see was Mr. Kensington.

About the Author: Kate grew up in a woodsy New England town where summer days at the lake seemed to last forever. She read her first historical romance at age eleven when a teacher challenged her to find a book in the library written by an author she’d never heard of. Thus began a life-long love of love stories.

After graduating from college with an art degree she settled in the Pacific Northwest, where she currently resides with her family.

Kate wrote her first romance when she was sixteen, then set her pen down for years until another story floated into her head out of the clear blue sky. She jotted it down, just for fun, but soon it took on a life of its own.

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Advice for a New Writer by Dennis Scheel – Guest Blog and Giveaway

July 18, 2024 By 6 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Dennis Scheel will award a $15 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Advice for a New Writer

I want to tell new writers to just keep writing. It can be hard and if you’re a perfectionist, you might feel self-critical and have trouble accepting the ideas you are putting down on the page, but a first draft is a huge milestone and you’re never going to get there if you keep fixating on the specifics. A draft can always be adjusted, changed, and developed upon, but it’s only effective if you can get a complete draft written. Forget about the word count, grammar, and times where you feel like you can’t think of the right word for the sentence. You can refine everything once you’ve written the story once. The things you need to change to improve the draft becoming even more clear when you’ve written through the story once.

Of course, you’ll get stuck sometimes, so you’ll occasionally need to wait for inspiration to strike. I’ve had ideas come to me when I’ve least expected it. Sometimes, you just need to step away and wait for something to come to you by doing something else. Some of my best ideas have come to me when I’m not even trying to come up with anything, such as while I’m taking a shower, out walking, or trying to fall asleep at night. So don’t be afraid to give yourself breaks and wait for inspiration to come when you’re stuck. Often times, if you try to force the story to come together when you’re just not feeling it, it’ll make your writer’s block worse. But my editor once gave me some really good advice: if you’re not sure how your character would act in a given situation, just ask them what they’d do!

Additionally, I’d tell new authors that becoming self-published comes with its pros and cons. For example, it allows you to maintain complete control over your stories and the rights to your books, but it also makes you responsible for all the book’s marketing, e-book formatting, and design-choices, such as the book’s cover. Formatting the book determines how many pages it will turn out to be, which also affects the size of the book’s cover and spine. These sorts of challenges would normally be a publisher’s responsibility, so you become accountable for them if you choose to self-publish.

Will it end in peace or a silvery dose of fate?

Henna’s manipulation knows no bounds,
Denida is still the object of her prophecy, while Lucifer, God, and Gabriel remain in her sights.

Having seen her son, Nina is more determined than ever to bring him back from Henna’s world of dead souls. Meanwhile, the Darkness runs rampant across the Underworlds and on Earth as Lucifer’s grief over Heavani’s death overwhelms him.

Everyone has their own goals and ends, but one thing is inescapable: the bright silvery path that Henna willed.

Can these characters escape destiny’s hold on them, or will they become pawns in Henna’s quest for revenge?

Enjoy an Excerpt

Den, Denida’s human form, trotted from his grandparent’s house with a smile painted across his face. He admired the sunny sky before skipping down the road, humming to himself.

He’s barely grown. Odin clenched his scepter. “We have to do it within one week.” He glared in through a window, then turned to Loki. “I’ll leave the task to you; don’t fail me.”

Loki chuckled. “Why bother? They’re lowly humans.”

“I want to expedite Henna’s prophecy. We have waited in this world long enough. This is your chance to show me that I can rely on you, Loki.”

“But what I still don’t understand is: why? Isn’t that kid Henna’s chosen one?”

Odin adjusted his grip on his scepter. “His soul form is, not the boy, but certain events must fall into place to achieve Henna’s desired outcome, instead of a less desirable one.”

“Understood.” Loki smirked.

“You must use dark magic to kill the boy’s grandmother within one week. I can’t specify how important that is.”

Loki’s eyes widened. “To frame Lucifer?”

Odin sighed. “Aren’t you attentive today.” He leaned closer to Loki. “Correct.”

About the Author: Wring about myself… oh, the horror!

As a Christmas Child, I believe magic is everywhere, especially during the winter, and I try to weave that magic into my stories. After all, my firm belief in karma and destiny has shaped who I am, so it should guide my stories, as well.

I was born and raised in Denmark, but faced many challenges during my life, one of which was my inability to write my stories in Danish! I’ve had my stories brewing in my head since I was a child and struggled for years to express them properly. After recovering from a diabetic attack that left me hospitalized, I managed to find my writer’s voice in English, and am thrilled to now have the ability to share my tales with you.

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Why Do I Write and for Whom Do I Write? by Robert Creekmore – Guest Blog and Giveaway

July 18, 2024 By 1 Comment

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Robert Creekmore will award a randomly drawn winner a $10 Amazon/BN gift card. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Why Do I Write and for Whom Do I Write?

If you write adult fiction, and your work angers no one, you’re doing something wrong.

I feel as though the purpose of my writing career is to piss off all the right people and to comfort those they seek to crush.

Who are the right people? Those who have used their station in life to make existence miserable for others because of immutable differences. In fact, I believe this theme to be the characteristic that sets good literature apart from paragraphs of window-dressing bound between two covers.

In my work, I deal with the realities of the rural Evangelical South which is the environment where I grew up. I was even named after Confederate General, Robert E. Lee. Though, I am of no relation. I attended a church and school where I was taught to hate anyone who wasn’t white, straight, and a specific type of Christian.

Today, I write fiction featuring LGBTQ+ characters fighting against a cult with similar viewpoints, albeit, far more extreme as the novel series goes on. However, the beginning of the first novel provides a rather accurate depiction of what the world was like for queer youth in the early nineteen-nineties.

The Prophets series is also an allegory that begins purposefully during the rise of modern Christian nationalism, specifically, nineteen-ninety-three. That was the year of the Branch Davidian incident in Waco, Texas.

By the end of book three, Prophet’s Death, I’ve laid out a vision of how a militia movement metastasized so virulently that it bamboozled a segment of the population to a point where they were willing to base their entire lives around a man who is the antithesis of the savior they claim to worship. The truth is, they only wanted an excuse to hate openly and to control others who weren’t like them.

I make no secret that this is an allegory for the MAGA movement and that the Character Abraham Prophet is based upon his actions and the manipulation techniques he’s harnessed to control the hordes of rubes who follow him blindly. If this offends you, I truly don’t care. Cruelty and stupidity should bother you more. Stop personalizing politicians of any party because they tell you that you’re somehow special, or a ‘real American’. They’re lying. They don’t care about you. They care about power and making their friends and themselves wealthier off of your underpaid labor.

This, along with the extreme level of violence in my novels, will probably be a turn-off for a lot of readers. I’m fine with that. I’m here to appeal to the weirdos. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Death-cult leader Joseph Proffit has met his end! Along with him perishes the secret method for manufacturing indigo, the substance that imbued him with godlike abilities.

To the dismay of Naomi’s family, she succumbed to the injuries Joseph dealt her during their final battle atop the abandoned Coast Guard station, Frying Pan Tower, thirty miles off the North Carolina coast.

Both of their bodies were lost at sea when the one-hundred-foot-tall structure crumbled during Tropical Storm Gabriel.

Naomi’s beloved companions escaped aboard her dive boat, along with Joseph’s final victim, who is on the verge of death.

In the aftermath, Naomi’s family has no choice but to rebuild their lives in hiding, fearing reprisal from the handful of remaining Apostle loyalists.

Soon, their secret, dormant conflict will be thrust onto the world stage by a wealthy benefactor who funnels his personal hatred and unfounded grievances into throngs of ignorant followers.

Is this the end of Naomi’s family? Without her, how will they survive?

Enjoy an Excerpt

The winds of Tropical Storm Gabrielle punish the small dive boat. Its howling feels like the voice of nature herself crying out in lamentation at the death of Naomi Pace.

As Nate pilots the craft over each wave, there’s a moment when he can hear the engines rev hard as the props come out of the water momentarily just before crashing down again. This cycle repeats every few seconds, seemingly without end.

Below deck, Rebecca and Herschel steady an unconscious Malcolm by keeping him squeezed between their bodies. It’s difficult. There’s nothing to hold onto since the Apostles stripped the cabin bare. The two hours it takes to get back to their dock are hell, both physically and introspectively.

Naomi was Nate’s best friend. To him, she was invincible.

How could she be dead? Nate thinks to himself as he involuntarily projects images of their time together across the water.

He has successfully outrun the incoming storm wall, but a new one awaits his fractured mind when all of the chaos subsides.

Neither Herschel nor Rebecca has the same composure. They wail with grief. Reaching across Malcolm’s limp body, they hold one another’s hands for comfort as much as they do to keep their injured companion safe from the onslaught of the turbulent water.

Nate threads the needle at the Masonboro Inlet, just like Naomi taught him. The waves rocking the swollen bay attempt to push them easterly into the mainland. Even though it means safety, the sight of the dock fills Nate with dread. Its arrival in the foreground always meant the end of a day fishing with Naomi, until now.

About the Author:
Robert Creekmore is from a rural farming community in Eastern North Carolina.

He attended North Carolina State where he studied psychology. While at university, he was active at the student radio station. There, he fell in love with punk rock and its ethos.

Robert acquired several teaching licenses in special education. He was an autism specialist in Raleigh for eight years. He then taught for four years in a small mountain community in western North Carolina.

During his time in the mountains, he lived with his wife Juliana in a remote primitive cabin built in 1875. While there, he grew most of his own food, raised chickens, worked on a cattle farm, as well as participated in subsistence hunting and fishing.

Eventually, the couple moved back to the small farming community where Robert was raised.

Annoyed with the stereotype of the southeastern United States as a monolith of ignorance and hatred, he wanted to bring forth characters from the region who are queer and autistic. They now hold up a disinfecting light to the hatred of the region’s past and to those who still yearn for a return to ways and ideas that should have long ago perished.

Robert’s first traditionally published novel, Prophet’s Debt, was a Manly Wade Wellman Literary Award Finalist.

His second, Prophet’s Lamentation, was a Lambda Literary recommendation for July 2023.

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