Getting Crafty - The Artist's Way & Updated Book Tour

It used to be I was frequently surrounded by writers. There was constant interaction when I ran local writing events. Once I stepped down from that I was busy enough with other things that I didn't notice the gap. Of course, COVID was at its societal peak when I stopped running those events, so there were other things to pay attention to. Now, other than on here and social media, I rarely interact with writers in that sort of creative sense, and I realized I'm missing it, though not quite enough to engage in the community I used to volunteer for (last time I went back to engage as an attendee, I got dragged back in).

Instead, I've been reading craft books. Typically, I sit on my front porch with my breakfast smoothie and whichever craft book I'm reading. Only on sunny days, of which we've had a surprising amount lately. We've got a solid snowstorm heading our way this morning, so it will be at least a few days before one nice enough to sit on the front porch again comes along (March is our snowiest month here in Colorado). 

No worries, though. My current craft book is The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron. After the introduction, there's not a ton of reading to do, but there are activities that take up the space of a week. I'm only in the first week now. The A #1 requirement at this point is to do "morning pages." These are handwritten (a must), three pages, and are about whatever comes to mind. I've seen the premise done differently elsewhere, but it might have been inspired by this book since it's been around awhile. 

The first day, the morning pages didn't take long at all. The second day, I dragged a bit, so it took longer. Yesterday went more smoothly. I'm writing this post before going to bed, so "today's" pages aren't written yet. I have a meeting first thing, followed by another meeting. Then I'll be getting ready for a livestreamed podcast episode on which I'll be a guest (Minddog TV, 8 PM ET). It should be fun! But that leaves my morning pages up in the air. I've decided not to stress about the pages tomorrow. As long as they get done when I'm able, it doesn't matter if I did them first thing.

I'm trying to go into this craft book and its exercises with an open mind, with the intention of doing all the exercises. The introduction says that if you don't want to do them all, you should do the ones you're resisting the most, because those are likely the ones you need the most. In this first chapter, I didn't have a problem with any of them. I believe this is a 12-week process, so we'll see what happens!

BOOK TOUR

My book tour is going on right now. Below is the current schedule:

March 4 - Patricia J.L.'s blog Twisting the Myths: I write about the background of Wendigo in Michigan Isn't Safe From the Wendigo

March 6 - Alex J. Cavanaugh's blog: I write about my favorite childhood myths in movie form in Childhood Magic

March 8 - Roland Yeoman's blog: I write about Sasquatch in A Sasquatch by Any Other Name *this one hasn't shown up yet

March 13 - Anna at Elements of Emaginette, where she'll be writing about her favorite mythological character

March 15 - Jonathan and Kristina will be writing about their favorite mythological creature(s)

March 15 - Sandra Cox at Sandra's Place: I write Three Character Foodie Facts with Selina Moonstone

March 15 - Nate at Habitual Hobbit: It's More Fun to Believe

March 15 - DeAnna Knippling at Wonderland Press: I write about Ogopogo and the Muck Monster

March 18 - Steven Arellano Rose at Far Out Fantastic with a Q&A

March 20 - Toi Thomas at The Toibox of Words

March 25 - Jennifer Lane at Jennifer Lane Books

And in April, Mary at Dimensions in Fiction

Thank you to the following people who shared out in other ways: HR Sinclair, Amanda Casey, and Natalie Aguirre.

Have you ever read The Artist's Way? Did you do all the exercises? Do you still do your morning pages? Were there any exercises you weren't willing to do?

May you find your Muse.

IWSG - Book Tour & Amanda Casey Book Launch

It's IWSG time! And I'm excited I didn't have another gap since I was running every other month there for four months.

The Insecure Writer's Support Group is a place for writers to air their insecurities and support each other. Created by Alex J. Cavanaugh, it occurs the first Wednesday of every month. Anyone can join. Simply click on his name and sign up on the IWSG tab.

The co-hosts this month are Kristina Kelly, Miffie Seideman, Jean Davis, and Liza Salerno.

The optional question this month is: Have you "played" with AI to write those nasty synopses, or do you refuse to go that route? How do you feel about AI's impact on creative writing?

I'm not touching it with a 10-foot pole. I write because I enjoy writing.

I've also been seeing the harm it's causing from an angle maybe some folks haven't. Short story markets have been having to shut down over the last few months because they're being absolutely flooded with AI submissions from non-writers. Markets are having to figure out how to pick out the AI submissions. A highly respected speculative fiction magazine, Clarkesworld, had to shut down for a bit because they were featured in one of those articles on how to make easy money, with the pitch that you could use AI to write short stories and submit them. Since it's a pro-pay market, it was considered a great target. I'm sure others have been featured similarly. 

Because of all this, speculative fiction markets keep shutting down, at least temporarily, so it's already impacting short story authors. But even novelists are going to be impacted. The RWA is doing a workshop on using AI to help with your books, taught by an author who openly uses AI to mill out books already. Self-published authors were already constantly under attack from some traditionalists, and now self-published "authors" who use AI are going to make that worse by putting up poor quality novels that compete with the real books and make a joke of self-pubbed folks.

So that's how I feel about it. It's already impacting my worlds.

BOOK TOUR

My book tour is going on right now, though I'm still looking for help if you're willing and able. You can sign up by clicking HERE. Below is the current schedule:

March 4 - Patricia J.L.'s blog Twisting the Myths: I write about the background of Wendigo in Michigan Isn't Safe From the Wendigo

March 6 - Alex J. Cavanaugh's blog: I write about my favorite childhood myths in movie form in Childhood Magic

March 8 - Roland Yeoman's blog: I write about Sasquatch in A Sasquatch by Any Other Name

March 13 - Anna at Elements of Emaginette, where she'll be writing about her favorite mythological character

March 15 - Jonathan and Kristina will be writing about their favorite mythological creature(s)

March 15 - Sandra Cox at Sandra's Place: I write Three Character Foodie Facts with Selina Moonstone

March 15 - Nate at Habitual Hobbit: Topic TBA

March 15 - DeAnna Knippling at Wonderland Press: I write about Ogopogo

March 18 - Steven Arellano Rose at Far Out Fantastic with a Q&A

March 20 - Toi Thomas at The Toibox of Words

And in April, Mary at Dimensions in Fiction

Thank you to the following people who shared out in other ways: HR Sinclair, Amanda Casey, and Natalie Aguirre.

Speaking of Amanda Casey, she has a new book out, as well! You can find out more at her website.

I was a guest at Geeky Gamer Podcast. I can't even sum up what we discussed--creatures, books, Dreadlore (the game), voice actors, and more.

Do you listen to podcasts? What are your insecurities? How do you feel about AI? What's your favorite mythological creature? How do you feel about online book launches?

May you find your Muse.

WEP, RMFW Podcast, & Jemima Pett's 10 Things You Didn't Know About Zanzibar's Rings

I was interviewed on the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers' podcast, and it can be listened to (click on the title) or watched! The interviewer is Mark Stevens, a mystery writer himself.

My WEP post is below. But first, Jemima Pett visits to tell us 10 Things You Didn't Know About Zanzibar's Rings:

10 Things you Didn’t Know about Zanzibar’s Rings

Image for Saturn taken by Cassini-Huyghens and used for the cover of Zanzibar’s Rings: https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08388

 

1.     Zanzibar’s Rings is the third book of the Viridian System series. Dolores and Maggie now have their own businesses; Pete is occupied with his family, now settled in the southern part of their world, Sunset Strip, and Lars is, well, Lars is wondering what role he has now.

2.     Pete and Lars got rich by mining asteroids for a rare element called orichalcum. So rich they don’t plan on doing it, ever again.

3.     The Viridian System is the richest source of orichalcum in the galaxy. The asteroid belt is considered to be the property of the two planets in the third orbital ring, Pleasant Valley and Sunset Strip.

4.     Orichalcum is essential for instantaneous communication systems. Other faster-than-light communications systems allowed for inter-stellar navigation before the discovery of orichalcum, but this metal with its strange properties was a game changer.

5.     Asteroid miners still use archaic radio (speed of light) to communicate with other spacers within the same planetary system.

6.     The Viridian System is so named because its sun, Viridium, emits a green-tinged light. It has long been held by Earth scientists that stars cannot emit green light, because of the way we see colour. In my science, it is green because of the presence of orichalcum, which produces the green effect throughout the system. In real science, astronomers have recently found something that is pretty much green, a star called Zubeneschamali.

7.     Zanzibar is a planet in the Viridian System, in the orbit beyond the asteroid belt. It is a gas giant with distinctive rings.

8.     Zanzibar is modelled on the planet Saturn, of course. Much of what we know about Saturn was produced by the Cassini-Huyghens mission. Cassini orbited Saturn for 13 years, and took a total of 453,048 images. You can browse them on the Cassini mission pages.

9.     Saturn is light enough to float on water, if you could find an ocean big enough.

10.  I asserted somewhere that ringed planets are now thought to be common. I didn’t find the exact reference, but they are more common than water worlds like Earth (and Sunset Strip). Astronomers currently think that exoplanets classed as ‘puffy’ may in fact be ringed planets, much like Saturn—and with similar densities.

 

 

Galactic communications crisis strands several well-loved travelers with deadly enemies and no safe way to get home…

By Jemima Pett

Zanzibar's Rings, Science Fiction, Princelings Publications, 389 pp.

A Galactic crisis: the entire comms system destroyed. No waypoints, no navigation aids, no database access… and how will spaceships in flight get home—or to any destination?

Dolores is stuck in warp with a very dangerous passenger, Pete gets his shuttle back home on manual. But how come anything in close contact with pure orichalcum fixes itself? Just flying through Zanzibar’s Rings solves the problem—as the Federation’s fighters find, as they descend on the Viridian System to take possession of the planets.

Zanzibar’s Rings brings the Viridian System series to a conclusion with a bang—and a lot of whimpering. And possibly a view of things to come.

Book Information

Release Date: February 22, 2022

Publisher: Princelings Publications

Kindle: ISIN: B093QFX6DV; 380 pages; E-Book, $2.99

Apple Books: https://apple.co/3mSjrvZ

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B093QFX6DV

Jemima Pett has been writing stories since she was eight, but went down the science path at school, and into a business career before retraining into environmental policy research. She wrote many manuals, papers and research documents before returning to fiction, publishing the Princelings of the East in 2011. That led to ten books in the series of the same name, written for older children. She started the Viridian System series in 2014.

Jemima reckons she read all of the science fiction in her local library, and most enjoys alternative universes, time travel, consequences of social change and unusual ideas surrounding alien species.  Her favourite authors included Anne McCaffrey, Fritz Lieber, Poul Anderson, John Brunner, Robert Heinlein and Arthur C Clarke. These days she likes Becky Chambers, Matt Haig, Lindsay Buroker, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Clare O’Beara, M T McGuire, Jennifer Ellis…  She also loves series – once involved with characters she loves to read their continuing adventures.

She has degrees or diplomas in maths, earth sciences and environmental technology and studied with the Unthank School of Writing while she lived in Norfolk. She now lives in Hampshire, where she enjoys rewilding her garden, raising organically grown vegetables, and birdwatching.

She would most like everyone to use their natural resources sustainably, since we only have the one planet to support us.

Her latest book is Zanzibar’s Rings: Viridian System Series (Book 3).

Visit Jemima’s website at www.jemimapett.com or connect with her at Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Instagram and Pinterest.

Sponsored By:

Twice in a row? Gasp! Check out the WEP blog for other entries.

All the Time in the World

Tagline: Sometimes love requires creative measures.

Beseeching, she drops to her knees, hands clasped so that her knuckles whiten. 

He scoffs then steps around her and, without looking back, exits through the front door. A slam would have showed he had some emotion about the situation, but he closes it softly. 

She expects it to feel different, but somehow that quiet click has left her feeling unsatisfied. She waits for the tears to come. Waits for the big emotions to wash over her. Waits for the grief.

Instead, that click flips a switch. A gentle sort of anger seeps through her veins, flushing up through her cheeks. Her eyes even feel hot. Then it becomes a throbbing rush. Blood roars in her ears, and she tastes blood.

No one walks out on Samantha.

She throws herself into changing things around the apartment. All that energy and rage needs to be funneled and directed. Walls come down. Walls get framed and built. Remote controlled metal shades go in. Samantha shops for brand new furnishings, including a comfy bed and two easy chairs. Bamboo sheets that are soft and cool get fitted onto the mattress. A second bathroom goes in. Security cameras go up. After all, she's a woman living alone now. Safety matters.

He doesn't call. Within a week, his mail stops arriving. Bill carriers contact her to confirm the removal of his name. The effect on her emotions is a blade to the gut every time. 

Samantha meditates. She does her breathing exercises and ponders gratitude for what she has. She stretches and does yoga and goes for runs and hits the exercise bike and desperately seeks some new way to work it all out of her system. 

The next step is to move his remaining belongings into the renovated guest room and let him know. She discovers that, despite her best efforts, his smell wafting up from the clothing tightens her belly. She strokes his silk ties and gently folds his sweaters. Images of him in her favorite light blue cable knit flit through her mind. 

With an irritated grunt, she pushes it all back down into the emptiness inside her, sealing it up as best she can.

Finally, she texts him: All your stuff is in the guest room. I'll be gone between 2 and 4 tomorrow so you can come get it.

He replies: Got it.

With a small smile, she eats her lukewarm microwave meal and drinks a glass of wine. It will all be over soon.

#

The next day, she puts on a silk kimono that looks stunning with her eyes and brushes her hair until it shines. She takes painstaking care to apply her makeup. When she hears his key in the lock, she hides in the master bedroom and pulls out her phone to watch him on the security cameras.

He comes in carrying some boxes. These he sets against the entryway table long enough to dump his keys into the bowl and take off his coat. He looks like he's just coming home from work, following his usual routines. It makes her heart ache, but she steels it again, locking it back in its cage.

He's wearing a button-down shirt that hangs from his broad shoulders just right. His jeans hug him in all the right places. Just as he usually does, he slips off his loafers and nudges them under the table to keep the walkway clear. Then he grabs the boxes again and heads into what used to be the "guest room," which was actually an office with a futon previously, in case someone came to visit. No one ever did. They'd been enough for each other.

He pauses in the entryway, taking in the changes she's made. She's known him long enough to read the puzzlement in the stiff set of his frame.

He recovers quickly and steps inside, setting the boxes against the bed. 

Samantha tiptoes from her room and crosses the living room. In the doorway, she arranges herself in that special way that drapes the soft fabric across her breasts and clings to her curves. He always complimented her on how she looked in it.

He turns around at the rustling behind him and his shoulders droop. "You're not supposed to be here."

"Plans change," she says. "You taught me that." With a wicked smile, she steps backward, out of the doorway, and pushes "3*" on her phone screen. The door slams shut, as do the metal shades.

He pounds uselessly on the door.

Samantha sends him a text and watches the camera until he gives up his pounding and checks his phone. 

Anger thunders across his face and he flips off the camera over the door.

She sends another text: All you need is love.

He'll come around. They've got all the time in the world.

The End.

806 words. NCCO.

What do you think of the cover for Zanzibar's Rings? Have you purchased your copy? Are you participating in the WEP challenge? 

May you find your Muse.

Recent Media Enjoyed, Tribute Info, & Countdown

I haven't done one of these posts in a while, so there's quite a bit I've enjoyed since then. I'm going to be more selective than usual for this one, though it's still a long list.

Really quick before I jump in, the paperback of The Business of Short Stories is now available for pre-order from Barnes & Noble!

TV Shows

The Real O'Neals

This show is hysterical on its own, but it's also great to experience with a child on the rainbow. I introduced my daughter to it, and she absolutely loved it. She is always actively seeking positive representation, and this hit the right spot. 

It's about a young man in an Irish Catholic family who comes out, not only to them, but to everybody, including the other students at his Catholic school. While it's a light, humorous look at many aspects of an individual who has come out, particularly in a family where that could be extra problematic, there are many incredibly touching moments and some heavier topics are touched upon. 

The mom is played by Martha Plimpton, who I've been a fan of since Goonies. She's still fantastic in this. (Hulu, I think)

Reservation Dogs

I may have recommended this one before (?). Not sure. But I love it, so I'm recommending it again. If the name Taika Waititi means anything to you, you'll know that his being attached to this show means comedy gold. This is a TV show by indigenous people for everyone. Reservation life isn't easy, but with an eclectic group of folks moving around the rez, it's also never boring. With a fabulous cast of older familiar faces in addition to the young actors the show primarily follows, there are phenomenal moments of humor. All the while, people get a backstage glance at rez life and the challenges therein.

There are mild fantastical elements, basically in the form of a spirit guide who haunts one of the main kids. He never got to fight Custer, because his horse stepped in a gopher hole and rolled over on top of him as he rode down to the battle. Every time he's on the screen, I'm laughing. But maybe there's some wisdom under his comedy, after all. (Hulu)

Samantha, Who?

I know, this is an old one. I've only just discovered it, surprised that there was a Christina Applegate show I'd never watched. It was also fun to discover a younger Melissa McCarthy in this one.

A woman wakes up in the hospital with complete amnesia. As she tries to get back to her life, she discovers she was a horrible person before her accident. The situations she finds herself in, often because of who she used to be, are hilarious, and her parents are ridiculous. Light and entertaining. (Hulu)

Peacemaker

I had no idea until last night that this show existed. Suicide Squad 2 wasn't the best (though I actually liked it), but John Cena's character Peacemaker was one of the better elements. Well, he's got his own spinoff, and it's hilarious. It popped up after we'd finished a movie, and we clicked on it out of curiosity. The opening sequence will make you laugh, which is always a good sign. 

Peacemaker is loyal to the U.S. to a fault. He follows orders and takes things very literally. This shows follows his miraculous recovery after a building fell on him in Suicide Squad 2. He's been hired to kill very bad people. However, he's a bit of an idiot. Fun and mayhem ensues.

Also, he has a pet/sidekick American bald eagle named...Eagly. Seriously. (HBO)

Pivoting

I hadn't heard anything about this, but saw it streaming. Seeing who the actresses were, I figured I'd give it a gander. So glad I did! While the storyline isn't necessarily terribly original, the actresses and writing make it worth it.

Three women face life after one of their friends dies suddenly, just in time for their midlife crises. Maggie Q plays a doctor who decides she needs a change, so applies to work at a grocery store. Eliza Coupe is a mom with questionable momming abilities and an addiction to artificial sweeteners. Ginnifer Goodwin starts considering an affair with her younger personal trainer. Their foibles are unforgettable, and the actresses smash their roles. (Hulu)

Below Deck

It's a reality show, but I had to add it, because my husband and I got hooked on this mindless entertainment for a while. The cameras follow the crew of luxury yachts as they scramble to work the interior and exterior for eccentric, rich clients. Drama, humor, sex, romance, tensions, and fights riddle the ship's crew, but they have to be professional when interacting with the clientele. The staff are global, so if you like accents, you'll be in Heaven. Never worked with a chef? Well, you'll learn they're all crazy. The chief stew is basically mom to the rest of the crew, and they aptly resent her for it. The bosun or First Officer runs the deck crew with varying degrees of success. And, hey, if you've ever doubted sexism is alive and well, you'll see it on a few seasons, especially if you get to the one with the Smashton Bru Crew. (That's not a typo--bru is bro in South Africa). Happily, it's not a constant issue in other seasons, and the captain of one of the fellow shows, set in the Mediterranean, has a female captain.

There are several variations, including Below Deck Sailing Yacht and Below Deck Mediterranean, plus a new show starting in February, Below Deck Down Under. My favorite captain is the one on Sailing Yacht, a laid back, but firm, guy from Canada. (Peacock, Bravo)

Books

We Sold Our Souls, Grady Hendrix

If you like dark, but humorous, Grady Hendrix is your guy. Especially if you also like a clever new view on tropes. While this one isn't my favorite by him, I enjoyed it. The MC gets a blast from the past when the guy who used to be in her band, but tricked his bandmates into selling everything to him shows up on a comeback tour. Her need for revenge quickly becomes a desperate rush to save not only herself and her ex-bandmates, but the world. It turns out those contracts he had them sign involved more than their playlist.

The Winter People, Jennifer McMahon

I'll admit that I wasn't sure I'd like this one at first. It felt too meandering and it was hard to who anyone was or why they had anything to do with the others. However, the writing was beautiful, and I was certain it would tie together eventually, so I persevered until it wasn't about persevering but about not being able to put the book down.

An isolated farmhouse holds more than its share of secrets. From that farmhouse, a single mother goes missing, leaving her teenager daughter suddenly responsible for her little sister while trying to find out what happened to her mom. Hidden caches in the floorboards and a sealed closet door in the master bedroom lead her on a mission that introduces her to crazy and dangerous people and a secret she never saw coming.

Yours Cruelly, Elvira, Cassandra Peterson

It will surprise absolutely no one that I'm an Elvira fan, so when I happened across a signed copy of this at Barnes & Nobles (does that mean I missed the signing?? Sob), I had to get it. Here's the thing, though, her time as Elvira is a relatively small portion of a fascinating life. I found myself enthralled with her adventurous personality and pure bravery in throwing herself into new situations and opportunities. From her days as a groupie and go-go dancer, to being a showgirl in Vegas, to traveling Italy with a band then getting stranded there, penniless, she finds a way out and eventually makes it to Hollywood, making it big, but not in the classic way.

I had a lot of fun reading about the band and club scene in Colorado Springs (yes, she was a local) while it was still coming into its own. In addition, she dishes on some celebrities, some of which you'll appreciate and some of which you'll see for the snakes they are.

Die Trying, Lee Reacher

It's been some time since I read a Reacher novel, though I used to enjoy them. It took me a bit to get past the rampant use of sentence fragments, but once I did, I was sucked in. 

Jack Reacher finds himself held hostage with a female FBI agent, no explanation, and no concrete knowledge on whether they were after him or her. They're dragged across the country to deal with a dangerous group with a fraught ideology and a violent plan.

I felt like Reacher was allowed to be more flawed and human in this one than what I remember from earlier books. He even faces a seriously phobic moment that had me tense, too.

Movies

Matrix: Resurrections

Okay, so this one was more for fans to get a meta revisit than anything else, but it was floofy entertainment for a while. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it. The actors who took over as Morpheus and Agent Smith didn't have the charisma of the original actors (close, but just not there), but it was good to see Reeves and Moss back again, as well as Jada Pinkett Smith. I liked Neil Patrick Harris's role, and it felt fitting. I'm glad I didn't actually pay to go see it, though, so I'd recommend waiting until it's back on HBO or renting it when the time comes.

Clearcut

It's not often I get to see angry, militant Graham Greene vs. calm, philosophical, friend-of-the-white-man Graham Greene. You'll also probably recognize Floyd Red Crow, even if you don't know the name. In this film, a white man is fighting to cease deforestation, working with local tribes. But when his efforts in court are a loss, Greene's character overhears him saying he wants to make the men who did this pay, to suffer. Greene takes the MC hostage, along with the head of the logging company, whisks them away to the middle of nowhere, and proceeds to makes things very rough for the logging exec.

There are some problematic areas, including, of course, the Great White Savior trope, but I felt like that was subverted a bit. When I looked up the director, it was, of course, not an indigenous director. However, the director had fled dangerous politics in Poland, and this was his first English-language film. I found it fascinating watching the take of someone who was very much an outsider in all ways. The fact that he'd cottoned to this issue upon fleeing his own country meant it touched him in some way, but also that it was a visible issue at the time.

I'm a Greene fan, so I'll watch anything he's in. I liked seeing him angry for once. I liked seeing him fight back. I'm not going to lie, there was some satisfaction in that. (Shudder)

February 2 will not just be the usual IWSG day, though that will be happening, too, but it will also be an opportunity to pay tribute to a friend the blogging community has lost. Jeremy Hawkins died earlier this month, and Alex J. Cavanaugh is organizing a tribute to him. Click on Alex's name for more information.

T-6 days and counting! I've closed signups for help with the launch, because I've been absolutely overwhelmed by the positive response from you guys. Thank you so much to everyone who has helped and will be helping by spreading the word in the next month, and to those of you who have visited and commented at other blogs. Here's the ongoing schedule:

January 12 - Beth Camp - Beth and Writing - Part I of Q&A

January 12 - Jean Davis - Discarded Darlings 

January 13 - diedre Knight - Stream Pebbles - Part I

January 14 - Michael Di Gesu - In Time 

January 17 - Jemi Frasier - Jemi Frasier - Q&A

January 18 - diedre Knight - Pensive Pens - Part II

January 18 - Toi Thomas - The ToiBox of Words

January 18 - Victoria Marie Lees - Victoria Marie Lees

January 19 - J.Q. Rose - Focused on Story by J.Q. Rose - Her Favorite Short Story (I already know which one it is, and it's one of my favorites, too!)

January 19 - Rebecca M. Douglass - Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

January 24 - Alex J. Cavanaugh - Alex J. Cavanaugh - Top Five Movies About Writing

January 26 - DeAnna Knippling - Wonderland Press & Writing Craft - Q&A

January 27 - Diane Burton - Diane Burton - Her Favorite Short Story

January 27 - Elizabeth Seckman - Elizabeth Seckman - Her Favorite Short Story

January 31 - Annalisa Crawford - Blogging with My Fountain Pen - Her Favorite Short Story

January 31 - Jemima Pett - Jemima Pett 

February 1 - Beth Camp - Beth and Writing - Part II of Q&A

February 2 - Michelle Wallace - Writer-in-Transit - Q&A

February 9 - C. Lee McKenzie - C. Lee McKenzie, Author - Her Favorite Short Story

February 11 - Sandra Cox - Sandra's Place - 3 Quirky Food Facts

And a thank you to Natalie Aguirre, The Faerie Review, and my brother Alex Kenoyer for individual shoutouts! And to anyone who has shared or helped in any way!

There will also be reviews coming out soon, so I'll share those when I see them. Pre-order available at Amazon in e-book and paperback. Coming to Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and other e-formats after release day.

What have you watched or read lately? Any good podcasts? Did you know Jeremy? Will you be taking part in his tribute? 

May you find your Muse.

Chrys Fey's Frozen Crimes Blog Tour

 

When disasters strike around every corner, is it possible to have a happily-ever-after?

 

 

BLURB: Beth and Donovan are expecting their first child. Life couldn’t get any better…until a stalker makes his presence known. This person sends disturbing messages and unsettling items, but it isn’t long before his menacing goes too far.

Hoping for a peaceful Christmas, Donovan takes Beth to Michigan. Days into their trip, a winter storm named Nemesis moves in with the goal of burying the state. Snowdrifts surround their house, and the temperature drops below freezing.

Except, the storm isn’t the only nemesis they must face. Everyone’s lives are at stake—especially that of their unborn child. Will they survive, or will they become a frozen crime?

 

BUY LINKS: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iTunes

 

EXCERPT:

The crunch of the shovel pounding into the snow and ice filled his ears. It was all he could hear. The rest of the street was silent beneath its wintry blanket. Breathing was difficult with the icy air clogging his lungs. His nose burned. His throat was dry and on fire. But he ignored it, focusing on his task.

Crack, crack, crack.

He jabbed the shovel into a hunk of snow. On the third hit, it shattered into several pieces. He scooped them up and flung them to the side. He surveyed what remained. There was one big ball in the middle of the path that needed to be dealt with next. He moved over to it and struck it. That one impact had it severing in two. He was about to hit it again when something crashed into the back of his head.

Explosions of white light danced over his vision. Pain enveloped his skull. The shovel slipped from his fingers. Blackness cloaked his mind, coaxing him into its depths.

Beth. Her name was a whisper in his head, as if his thoughts were being sucked into a wormhole.

His legs collapsed under his weight.

Cold. It seeped into him, consuming him. And then his consciousness fled down that same void that ate his thoughts.

 

***HUGE DISASTER CRIMES GIVEAWAY*** 

 

 

Prizes: 4 eBooks (Disaster Crimes 1-4: Hurricane Crimes, Seismic Crimes, Tsunami Crimes, Flaming Crimes) + Girl Boss Magnets (4), Inflatable Cup Holder (1), Adventure Fuel To-Go Cups (2), Anchor Fashion Scarf (1), Mermaid Nail Clippers (2), Citrus and Sea Salt Scented Candle (1), Snowflake Handmade Bookmark (1), Insulated Cooler Bag (1)

 

Eligibility: International

Number of Winners: One

Giveaway Ends: October 30, 2020 12:00am EST

LINK: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/76132e0221/?

 

 

***FREE EXCLUSIVE EBOOK***

 

 

To get the exclusive prequel to the Disaster Crimes series, sign up for Chrys’ newsletter. By signing up, you agree to receive Chrys Fey’s newsletter. After you confirm subscription, you will receive an email (so check your inbox and spam folder) with directions on where to snag your eBook copy of THE CRIME BEFORE THE STORM.

Click here to sign up and get The Crime Before the Storm FREE!

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Chrys Fey is author of the Disaster Crimes Series, a unique concept that blends disasters, crimes, and romance. She runs the Insecure Writer’s Support Group Book Club on Goodreads and edits for Dancing Lemur Press. https://www.chrysfey.com

Author Links:

Website / Blog / Goodreads

Facebook / Twitter / Amazon