Happy Black Friday y'all!

Whether you're done with your Black Friday strategic strikes, or just plotting your online shopping spree today, here's a few holiday gift suggestions for the sci-fi/fantasy reader in your life...

(See ⬇️ for the Amazon connections!)

ONE OCTOBER NIGHT , born from a drawing. Fantasy, science fiction, mystery, this collection has it all. Come for the night and see what you find, because it's never boring here in October.

RECALL NOTICE - (ebook only) Eddie's had a rough thirteen months. He's been cursed by a gypsy, assigned his own sister as his court appointed witch, and is up to his neck in mandated community service. When he picks up a new client, his luck finally changes — for the worse. Can this PI turned black cat navigate a world of friendly zombies, orcish goons, and bad luck by the crate to somehow save the day?

MINSTRELS IN THE GALAXY - A dozen science fiction authors spin their own yarns, inspired by the music of Jethro Tull. Belly up to the bar somewhere out among the stars. Grab yourself a drink, and settle in for some colorful tales from our minstrels in the galaxy. Stories of things that could have been, things that might have been...and of things that should have been, but never were.

TALES FROM THE WOOD - A dozen fantasy authors spin their own tales, inspired by the music of Jethro Tull. Come join us around the fire for stories of all manner of witches, wizards, dragons, and fae beings both light and dark as these bards bring you their Tales from the Wood.

2024 HIGH CALIBER AWARDS - A young traveling judge on the road with an Imperial Magus struggles to keep his own magical talent hidden while investigating a series of crimes that look to be the work of a powerful necromancer. (I'm working on continuing this story into a full novel for Cannon Publishing! 😁)

WYRD WEST - Out in the Wasaya territory of the Old West, myth collides with reality, and anything can be true. A missing town draws a Federal Marshal and an itinerant preacher together to confront an ancient evil that wants to consume them all - and more. Get my story and another nine from stellar authors in this volume!

ZNB PRESENTS: YEAR TWO - What would happen if the "Chosen One" was a sixty year-old widowed fisherwoman? Find out in "Harrold of the Gods", only one of the two dozen stories in this anthology!

And more! That's a sample of what you can find on my Amazon Author's page. Take a look and find something for the geek that you love, and give them a gift they can enjoy while they're curled up next to a fire this holiday season!

Oh, and if you're looking for some additional information, I list some of my favorite indie publishers and samples of what they offer in a Substack post - pop over and check it out.

substack.com/home/post/p-15…

You don’t say!

@lololeereveriet it's more socially endemic than that. We've had 100 years of reading not being a thing men do. It's not cool or socially acceptable for boys to read rather than play ball. Other boys enforce this, true, and a lack of role models hurts - but teachers and parents hammer this home, too

Status Saturday?
BAZINGA!!!
#1 New release in Children's Pirate Action & Adventure on Amazon Kindle folks!

Do you really want to know why boys don't read, @TheAtlantic

Ask to @Maloryauthor.

He's a popular author & his PhD is LITERALLY in the subject you're bloviating about. If you had any interest in a real story, you'd ask him what he's found in, you know... his RESEARCH.

@TheAtlantic @sophiah_n Do you really want to know why boys don't read, @TheAtlantic?

Talk to @Maloryauthor.

He's a popular author & his PhD is LITERALLY in the subject you're bloviating about. If you had any interest in a real story, you'd ask him what he's found in, you know... his RESEARCH.

Having not bothered to read the article, I'll nevertheless confidently predict The Atlantic ain't suggesting a viable cure.

@TheAtlanticu@sophiah_nndustry is women. Who wants to make a guess at how many of them sound exactly like this quote? Maybe when the industry doesn't treat boys as proto-incels that need to be begrudgingly handled until they are forced to read the "correct" books, boys will read more.

Spoiler: I have never had sex scenes in my books. However, the internet got all in a froth about Elisabeth doing this, and you can't BUY coverage like that. So come on, internet! Send me some of that sweet, sweet hate advertising!

@MorlockP my soap box about this and I can go for hours...

I'm a teen librarian in addition to writing teen SF/F. What actually circs at my library (teen section) is about 20% books that appeal to boys and girls, 40% each books that appeal to girls or boys, and a couple % books primarily for an LGBT+ audience.

Dig deeper, though, and you realize that the most popular 'boy' books are mostly either older than the teens themselves (20+ years, 40+ for things like Hatchet and Redwall) or translation of teen books from Japan.

They publish far less 'boy' books than 'girl' for teens, and the teen boys are going elsewhere to find reading material.

This is reinforced by a great deal of the required reading in school.

Doesn't matter how much of a masterpiece Jane Eyre is, when they force it on boys who aren't interested and often aren't ready for it.

On two worlds, a new generation is coming of age.

A young woman returning to the world she fled. Two teens with powers no one fully understands. Hidden threats. Old enemies. The Lunar Free State’s next generation is coming of age… and the enemy is already moving.

The future g to fight for it.

Daughters of Two Worlds by @JohnSiers7987 and Charli Cox is out now from @CKPBooks:

link.amazon/B0fPSiWIy

#BookTok #SciFiBooks #MilitarySciFi #NewRelease #SpaceOpera #LunarFreeState #bookstagram

After consideration, I have decided that for personal reasons, I will be removing all sex scenes from my books. Future editions will now be "fade to black" only. Thank you to @WheatleyWrites for the inspiration & to my readers for their understanding.

amazon.com/dp/B0H1HR8V6F

It's the Noodle Incident all over again.

It's time to meet the authors of Annals of the Auran Empire! Read the update to get to know @johncwright2001 @SamRobbWrites @bkgibsonwrites @ZaneVoss @AKCasasent @BrianRenninger6 and more.

backerkit.com/c/projects/asc…

Actually, I'm drinking decaf these days (stupid heart!) so I'm pretty much just running on pure weirdness.

This would be me, 100%.

Update: Heck yeah.

The launch of Annals of the Auran Empire is a bit bittersweet. My mother, who introduced me to fantasy fiction when I was a kid, would've delighted in reading short stories set in my fantasy world. Sadly she passed away just weeks ago. It seems fitting to dedicate it to her.