A Little Bit of Encouragement
It really does go a long way.
Exciting News—Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award Finalist!
I am thrilled to announce that my book, A Place for Good and Evil, has been shortlisted for the Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award in the Mystery category!
I was enjoying a weekend getaway with my husband when the email from Forward Reviews popped into my inbox—and to say I was surprised by the news would be a huge understatement. Being shortlisted is an incredible honor, especially knowing the caliber of books submitted in the mystery category. It feels especially meaningful as A Place for Good and Evil was my debut adult mystery novel, the first in the Old City Mysteries series. Switching from YA novels to adult mysteries was an exciting creative leap, and I’ve loved every second of crafting these stories. Hopefully, readers feel that joy reflected in the pages.
But for me, this recognition was also the perfect boost of encouragement at exactly the right moment.
My third book in the series releases next month (check out the details below!), and I’ve been debating whether to continue the series beyond that point. Three is a good number. Maybe the series doesn’t need more books than that. Maybe the characters should simply be left alone to live their lives in peace, rather than be wrestled onto the page by me once again. Maybe the world doesn’t need more Old City Mysteries.
These are the kinds of thoughts I’ve been having recently, but the email from Foreword Reviews notifying me of the award has allowed me to exhale, relax, and pause. It has also given me a renewed sense of enthusiasm for the series. I can keep writing the stories if I want, whenever I want. Who knows? It might not be long before I find myself drawn back into the vibrant and macabre world of St. Augustine and the mysteries waiting there.
Sometimes, a simple moment of encouragement or celebration can make all the difference, and that was absolutely one of those moments for me. Have you ever experienced that kind of motivation just when you needed it?
Over on my podcast . . .
I had some great guest authors visit with me last month on The Bookshop at the End of the Internet podcast. Check them out!
Episode #232 Author R.B. Kelly discusses her debut sci fi novel, Edge of Heaven, and its sequel, On the Brink. Rachael began the first draft of the story when she was only fifteen years old. Always a fan of Terry Pratchett, Rachael loves his notion of inspiration particles sleeting through the universe. What was her own inspiration particle for these books? An imaginary vision of a city built on top of another city. A long-time fan of speculative fiction and being deeply impressed by the movie, Blade Runner, Rachael set about trying to write the story surrounding that city on top of a city. Edge of Heaven went through too many iterations for Rachael to count, but she always knew it was the story she was meant to write.
Episode #231 Author Francine Falk-Allen discusses her new book, A Wolff in the Family. This novel has its origins in a Francine’s own family history. About twenty years ago, she learned a family secret that very few of her living relatives knew. She discovered that the five youngest of her mother’s eleven siblings were sent to an orphanage by her grandfather. It was Francine’s mother, the eldest of the siblings, who kept the siblings in touch with each other through the years. In A Wolff in the Family, Francine explores the family’s hardships during the 1920s and 30s and the circumstances that would lead a father to place his own children in an orphanage, as well as the effects that decision had on the rest of the family.
Episode #230 Author Rebecca Hendricks discusses her latest books, Hound Dogged and Hard Dogs Night. These first two books in Rebecca’s new series follow a group of friends in a small town as they attempt to establish themselves as a rock-n-roll band called the Hound Dogs. The year is 1958, and rock-n-roll is just getting started. Rebecca’s stories feature a harmonious mix of friendship, coming-of-age challenges, the notion of found families, the rolls of women in that era, and, of course, the birth of rock-n-roll. She spent a great deal of time researching 1950s pop culture, as well as the various societal influences on the musical genre.
Don’t forget to check out some of the previous episodes featuring other talented authors and their wonderful books. Here are a couple of them (selected at random from the podcast’s 200+ episode backlist):
Episode #113 Author McKenna Dean discusses the first two books in her Redclaw Origins paranormal romance series: Bishop Takes Knight and Bishop’s Gambit. Set in the 1950’s, the stories center around Redclaw Security, part detective firm and part enforcement agency, which regulates matters involving the growing population of shifters that has emerged since the onset of the nuclear age. McKenna also discusses her writing journey and some of the strange things she discovered during her research into the 1950’s.
Episode #013 Boo Walker is the best-selling author of the Red Mountain Chronicles series. Tune in to hear Boo talk about his passion for writing and how his real life adventures color and shape his stories.
One more thing . . .
Ahoy, Readers! The countdown is on!
My new book, There Will Be Pirates, is set to release in April, and I am so excited to share it with you. I’ll provide more details in next month’s newsletter, but here’s a sneak peek: the story unfolds once again in the hauntingly quaint and quirky St. Augustine, Florida, where our beloved characters find themselves swept into yet another thrilling paranormal mystery. The Old City is filled with modern-day pirates, both living and dead, and some of them are frighteningly close to home.
There Will Be Pirates is a real treasure—and it’s packed with surprises you won’t see coming!
Stay tuned for more updates in the next newsletter, and don’t forget to visit my website or follow me on social media for information about my books, my podcast, and my writing journey.