Carina Press, Other People's Books

Working list of Carina Press POD titles

Good news everyone! Carina Press has launched a Print on Demand program, making an initial wave of titles available for ordering via Amazon.

The bad news is, I’m not in that list. The better news is, if this initial wave of titles generates enough interest, it bumps up the possibility that I might be added to the list later. So if you have a vested interest in seeing the Rebels of Adalonia trilogy get into print, the best things you can do are:

  • Buy the ebooks if you haven’t already (and as always the links for where to buy the ebooks are on the Valor of the Healer and Vengeance of the Hunter pages)
  • Encourage others to buy the ebooks
  • Show support for the first wave of Carina POD titles

With the third of these in mind, I showed my own support by ordering a copy of Cindy Spencer Pape’s Steam & Sorcery, the first of her steampunk romance series, the Gaslight Chronicles. I’ve already bought this in ebook form, but I wanted to see what the output of Amazon’s POD system would look like, and hey, I like the book. Yesterday evening, my copy arrived.

And I’m pleased to report that it looks pretty awesome, layout-wise. Paper quality is good, design’s quite nice (though Dara had quibbles with the guttering closest to the spine), and while my copy sustained a bit of damage in transit, I would in general consider this as an option for POD for future self-published works.

Check it out, it’s a book! With a spine and a colophon and everything!

And, here’s a roundup of titles I know for sure are on the POD lineup! I will be adding links to this list as more of Carina’s POD authors make themselves known to me, so check back here often!

Steampunk romance:

Historical romance:

  • Ruined by Rumor, by Alyssa Everett (note: I’d already nabbed this one in ebook because I appreciate a romance cover with fully-clothed cover models, and the plot sounded fun too)

Mystery:

  • No One Lives Twice, by Julie Moffett (note: I’ve read this one! It’s lighter-hearted)
  • Fair Game, by Josh Lanyon (note: this one has an M/M romance in it)

Urban fantasy:

Contemporary romance:

See anything on this list that looks interesting? Go buy it! Carina authors will thank you!

ETA: Since Michele Mannon was kind enough to send me her cover for Knock Out, check it out! I normally roll my eyes at shirtless hero covers, but given that she’s writing romance about fighters, it’s actually appropriate for her guy to be shirtless. He totally looks like he’s about to step into a bout, or maybe he’s coming out of one. Either way, it’s a visually arresting cover.

Knock Out

Knock Out

Books

Oh hey Carina is doing POD finally book roundup

It’s been a while since the last time I emptied the change jar, so I took it to the Coinstar machine at Safeway and found I had a whopping $77, woo! So I dumped it all into an iTunes code, and promptly bought myself a bunch of Tor titles I had on the To Read list–because I will happily buy from the iBooks store if the titles are DRM-free.

So here are the Tor titles I nabbed:

  • In the Garden of Iden, by Kage Baker. SF. Because I’d always heard this series was good, and although Ms. Baker has unfortunately passed away, I kept meaning to check this out.
  • Awakenings, by Edward Lazellari. Urban fantasy. One I’d seen buzz about on tor.com, and thought it sounded interesting.
  • A Darkling Sea, by James L. Cambias. SF. First contact story. Nabbed because this had an excerpt posted on tor.com, and the excerpt was interesting enough that I wanted to read the book.
  • The Highest Frontier, by Joan Slonczewski. SF.
  • Eyes to See, by Joseph Nassise. Urban fantasy. Nabbed because I thought the idea of the blind protagonist (who of course has otherworldly sight) sounded nicely creepy.
  • Three Princes, by Ramona Wheeler. Fantasy. Nabbed because AU involving a world where the Egyptian Empire remained a dominant power through most of history.
  • Silver, by Rhiannon Held. Urban fantasy. Nabbed because werewolves.

And meanwhile, I nabbed these from B&N:

  • Dangerous Refuge and Night Diver, by Elizabeth Lowell. Her two most recent romantic suspense releases, which I have already read as of this writing. Found them less interesting than many of her earlier works, although Night Diver actually surprised me by having queer side characters.
  • Maplecroft, by Cherie Priest (pre-order). Historical fantasy. Nabbed by pre-order because LIZZIE BORDEN. 😀

Nabbed from Amazon:

  • Steam & Sorcery, by Cindy Spencer Pape. Steampunk romance. Grabbed this (even though I already own it in ebook form) because it’s one of Carina’s first print-on-demand titles and I want to see what the output looks like, not to mention support the POD effort.
  • Per-Bast: A Tale of Cats in Ancient Egypt, by Lara-Dawn Stiegler. Nabbed because I know the author and she was offering the book for free on the Kindle over the weekend. Also because fantasy set in ancient Egypt, and cats!

Grabbed this from GreatBigSea.com:

  • Where I Belong, by Alan Doyle. Because ALAN DOYLE, and also because this is his forthcoming memoir, to be released in October! Pre-ordering straight off of greatbigsea.com because pre-orders are, indeed, love. And because GBS.com is guaranteeing signed copies, woo.

Lastly, picked these up from Dragonwell Press:

  • Lex Talionis, by R.S.A. Garcia. SF/mystery. Grabbed this because of featuring it on Boosting the Signal!
  • Mistress of the Solstice, by Anna Kashina. Fantasy. Grabbed this because I’d originally bought it when it was called Ivan and Marya and published by Drollerie Press. Wanted to grab a copy to support Anna Kashina’s re-issue of the book.

86 for the year.

Great Big Sea, Other People's Books

For the Great Big Sea fans, hey look! Alan Doyle, author!

Those of you who’re in Great Big Sea fandom undoubtedly know this already, but just in case you don’t, Alan Doyle is releasing a memoir in October! It’s to be called Where I Belong. Alert fans will note that this is the same title used by one of Alan’s songs on his solo album Boy on Bridge, and it’s about the importance of family collections even when a Newfoundlander wanders far from home. A fitting title indeed for a personal memoir.

GreatBigSea.com announced today over their newsletter that the book’s now available for preorder directly on their site, in hardcover form. So just for giggles, I went and poked around my various favorite ebook sites, and I’m seeing available on a lot of the major ebook sites as well. Here’s a roundup of places I’m seeing for sale!

GreatBigSea.com

Amazon US (Kindle and hardcover)

Amazon CA (Kindle and hardcover)

Barnes and Noble (hardcover only, no sign of a Nook version yet)

Powells

Chapters CA (hardcover and ebook, note that Chapters sells ebooks via Kobo)

iBooks US

iBooks CA

Kobo US

Google Play US

These are all the various links I can get at, browsing on computers in the States. If anybody in Canada or elsewhere wants to add links to this list, drop ’em in the comments!

AND! For those of you who’re on Goodreads, be advised that there is a giveaway in progress for both United States and Canadian readers! So if you don’t want to commit to buying a copy yet, you might want to jump in on this.

As y’all know, I am a voracious buyer of books, not to mention a longstanding voracious buyer of anything with Alan’s name on it. It tickles me deeply that I get to throw some of my book-buying money to Alan’s first venture into writing, and I very much look forward to having a signed hardcopy and a digital version. ‘Cause I ain’t taking a signed hardback on a bus commute!

Rebels of Adalonia

Some notes on the setting of the Rebels of Adalonia books

I have been asked by a coworker of mine (who also happens to be a writer!) if I have a map available of Adalonia, the country where Valor of the Healer and Vengeance of the Hunter are set. Short form answer: no. The only map of the country exists in my brain. I’d draw one, except I’m not that much of an artist!

However, I’ll talk a bit about the various important places in the setting, and my mental spatial sense of where everything is.

Adalonia: The main setting of the story. In general it’s situated in my brain on a very large peninsula of the continent it’s on, somewhat roughly analogous to the Iberian Peninsula in Europe.

Nirrivy: A currently non-existent country that was swallowed up by Adalonia a couple hundred years before the story. The territory formerly occupied by Nirrivy is now Adalonia’s western provinces.

Kilmerry Province: The largest of the western provinces that formerly made up Nirrivy. Kilmerry is where most of the action in the story takes place, although I’ll be moving a lot of the action eastward in Victory of the Hawk.

Shalridan: The capital city of Kilmerry Province and the former capital of Nirrivy. It’s on Kilmerry’s western coast and has open access to the ocean.

Camden: Smaller than Shalridan, but still large enough to be fairly important, Camden is where the Duke of Shalridan’s family have their primary residence. It’s 2-3 days ride roughly east of Shalridan, depending on how fast you’re moving.

Bremany: The estate of Kestar Vaarsen’s family and its attendant village. About a day and a half to two days’ ride roughly northeast-ish of Camden.

Arlitham: A small village east of Bremany, close to the eastern border of Kilmerry Province.

Dolmerrath: The last stronghold of the elves anywhere in Adalonia, situated pretty much as far northwest in Kilmerry Province as you can get before you hit water. Roughly three days’ ride north of Shalridan, two if you’re pushing it, and you can get up there faster if you go by boat.

Tantiulo: The other major country mentioned in the story, from which several of the characters in the cast hail. Tantiulo is on a continent south of the one that contains Adalonia and is only reachable by ocean voyage, there’s no overland route between the two countries. Relations between the two have been strained ever since the war that took place roughly twenty years before the start of Valor of the Healer.

Other things I know about the setting:

1) Elisiya, the long-lost homeland of the elves, was destroyed by Adalonia. Its territory is currently considered an Adalonian colony.

2) Vreyland, another country that exists in this world and which is passingly mentioned in Vengeance of the Hunter, will eventually be showing up in another book I have in progress, currently called Mirror’s Gate. Vreyland is a considerable distance to the northeast from Adalonia, and has a colder and harsher climate. When Adalonia wiped out Elisiya, quite a few of the elves fled in that direction rather than fleeing west, and Vreyland now has a considerable elven population. I will be referencing this in Victory of the Hawk.

And here’s a fun side note: Vreyland also has human mages. (Of course, if you’re following the trilogy, you know Tantiulo has at least one. >:D )

3) The world in general, at least in Adalonic, is called Khilann. There are other names for it in Tantiu, Elvish, and the other languages in play in the setting, but Khilann is how I think of it.

If anybody ever wants to draw me a map of the world of Khilann, I will totally make it available here on my site. And if anybody wants to know anything about what I know about the geography of the world, you have but to ask!

Boosting the Signal

Boosting the Signal: Lex Talionis, by R.S.A. Garcia

R.S.A. Garcia comes to me by way of Anna Kashina, who was one of the first authors I featured on Boosting the Signal. Anna is however also one of the primary movers and shakers with Dragonwell Publishing, and Lex Talionis is a new SF/mystery release from Dragonwell.

And, now that I’ve read this piece from the book’s main character’s POV, I gotta say, I’m intrigued! It’s official! And thinking I need to read this book just to see her mow down her enemies. Because after all, you don’t get much more basic or elemental a goal than revenge.

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Lex Talionis

Lex Talionis

I would introduce myself, but I don’t know my name.

My life began a couple of weeks ago, when I died in the Emergency Room of the Mathis Clinic on the planet Serron. My doctor, Colin Mayfeld, was about to write his final report when a little humanoid alien broke into the room, sat on my chest and brought me back with one touch.

I don’t remember any of it.

I don’t remember being in an alley near Bradley spaceport, even though that’s where I was found, barely alive but still breathing. An unconscious girl in a bloody spacesuit, with no ID chit.

I don’t remember talking to the alien when it brought me back, but Dr. Mayfeld says I did. The funny thing is, he says I didn’t speak Universal—I spoke Latin. And I asked the alien for help.

I’ll have to take his word for it. About what I said, that is, not about speaking Latin. I know I can speak Latin because I have had the same phrase going round and round in my head since I was able to make a coherent thought.

Lex Talionis. The law of retaliation—of revenge.

That’s the other thing I know.

I want revenge.

Someone killed me. Someone beat me, tortured me, raped me and left me for dead in an alley. Someone is walking around out there thinking I’m gone and never coming back. Some bastard thinks my story is over.

Well, it’s not over.

I’m not an ordinary girl. I’m healing faster than Dr. Mayfeld expected. I’m getting better every day. It’s because I’m an N-gene. I was genetically engineered in vitro to be smarter, stronger, faster. Whoever did this to me might have over-powered me once, but they’re never going to get that chance again.

I’ve given myself a name—Lex. And I have help. The alien that saved me can’t speak, but it’s still with me. I think it knows something. I think it can help me remember.

Dr. Mayfeld is doing what he can too. He has friends who might be able to assist the Troopers as they investigate the attack on me. There are ways to work on getting my memory back. He’s going to do whatever it takes to help. I don’t know why he cares. But he does.

I only care about a few things right now. I care about remembering my past. I care about being fully healed. And I care about finding who did this to me.

Because when I do find them, I’m going to make them wish to all the Gods in all the galaxies that they had killed me right the first time.

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Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Dragonwell Publishing

Follow the Author On: Official Site | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

The Internet

Oh look, more snobbery about people reading the wrong things

While the SF/F genre’s been busy with yet another round of You Wimmens Are All Crazy, There’s No Sexism in Science Fiction, looks like Slate decided to put up an editorial rant about how adults who read YA should be ashamed of themselves. I’ve seen a unilateral reaction of “fuck you” directed at Slate, justifiably so.

I’m not going to link to the article because I’m not going to give it the click traffic; if you really want to read it, io9 does link to it in their excellent rebuttal.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again–any form of “you’re reading the wrong things” snobbery is bullshit and it needs to stop. And in this particular case, people who roll their eyes and assume that YA novels are dumbed-down, simplistic crap just because they’re marketed to teenagers clearly has no actual working familiarity with the best that YA has to offer. It’s also dismissing the mastery that an author can bring to a story, in general. And while I’m not a regular reader of YA, I’m here to tell you: it’s rare that I’m compelled to plow through an entire trilogy as fast as I can cram the words into my head. But the Hunger Games books did that.

Also, two simple words: The Hobbit.

Sure, it’s not marketed as YA, but Tolkien absolutely intended children to be the primary audience for that story. And sure, it’s not nearly as complex and dark as The Lord of the Rings. But Tolkien lavished his love for the language all over that book, and turning up your nose at it just because “oh well, it’s intended for children, and I am a Mature Adult” means you miss out on a masterpiece.

Others have pointed out, too, that YA gets a lot of shit because of more than a little sexism, too. A lot of YA authors are female. A lot of YA readers are female. It’s not a coincidence that “YA is simplistic claptrap for children” goes hand in hand with “women write YA because they can’t write real science fiction”.

At the end of the day, though, it still all boils down to “Hey you, you over there, you are reading the WRONG THINGS, and now I’m going to appoint myself the arbiter of your reading choices”.

I’m tired beyond belief of this. Literature readers sneer at genre readers. Male authors sneer at female authors. Male readers sneer at female readers. SF/F sneers at romance–hell, everybody sneers at romance, and boy howdy am I sick of that in particular. Now we’ve got sneering at people for reading books because of a mistaken idea that “marketed for a young audience” equals “claptrap”.

The other two words I’ve got for that: “fuck you”.

Boosting the Signal

Boosting the Signal apologies, general reminders, and upcoming dates

Some Boosting the Signal updates, folks.

First up, my profoundest apologies to Rhonda Garcia! I’d arranged with her to put up a post on May 30th, and completely spaced on getting it ready. So I’ll be getting a post ready for her ASAP, and y’all will be getting a special bonus Boosting the Signal post this weekend! Watch for that link to go up today!

Also, it came to my attention that I misspelled the name of Kimberley Long-Ewing, on her post here. Apologies to Kimberley as well!

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I also would like to note that for the next several weeks, Boosting the Signal posts are going to be somewhat erratic as I need to focus on writing Victory of the Hawk. On Friday June 13th in particular, I’m going to not have a post at all on the grounds that I get to have dental surgery. JOY OH GLEE!

However, I will have a post coming from author Emma Barry on June 20th. I don’t have anything scheduled for July, but I’ll have another one coming from Anna Kashina on August 8th–and THEN, I’ll have Chaz Brenchley on August 15th!

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Although I’ve been a little erratic on getting these posts up, I’m greatly enjoying sharing them with you all. I’m particularly charmed by some of the more creative responses I’ve been seeing to the theme of “character goals”.

Once I get Victory of the Hawk written, I’ll look forward to resuming scheduling of posts. And I will be pestering authors I know to get me submissions! Stand by for more news on that as it happens!

I hope y’all are enjoying reading these as much as I’m posting them!