Book Launch Parties!

Have you ever been to a book release party? I have, and it’s been a lot of fun. And book launches combined with Philcon, the “longest-running conference on science fiction, fantasy, and horror,” sound excellent!

My writer friend Bernie Mojzes has not one, but two book launches coming up as part of Philcon. His book, Mistress of Bees (featured in my previous blog), will be launched at Philcon on Saturday Nov 22nd at 6 p.m.. Bernie says, “It’ll be in a section of the hotel that is not restricted to Philcon guests, so you don’t need to buy a badge for the day or weekend to attend.” Bernie also has a cat story in A Future for Ferals, an anthology of speculative fiction stories and real-life accounts to benefit stray and feral cats.

Bernie tells me that anthology will be part of another launch party at Philcon at 8pm the same day.

Philcon sounds pretty awesome to me. According to its website, it will have an “Art Show and Auction; a Vendors Room full of unique merchandise; a full-featured Tabletop Gaming room; our Writer’s Workshop (featuring professional authors and editors); Concerts; Dances, our Masquerade/Costume Competition, and more!”

But you don’t have to wait until Philcon to get your hands on these two books. Mistress of Bees is available now through Barnes and Noble and Amazon. And A Future for Ferals has a planned release today, October 16th, for National Feral Cat Day. To give the greatest benefit to the cats, you can get it from its dedicated webpage. It will also be available at Barnes and Noble.

Though I have not had the opportunity to read the anthology as a whole, I have read a draft of Bernie’s story in A Future for Ferals, and I am reading Mistress of Bees now. Both would make excellent October reading for those who like haunting, chilling stories in anticipation of Halloween! One caveat: both are for mature readers, and they veer as close to horror as I care to read. Caveat lector for tender-hearted readers. But for those who seek out chills, I recommend them.

October 16, 2025 3

Friends’ Book News!

As I make progress on the second book in my fantasy duology, several of my writing friends have news of actual book releases, upcoming or already accomplished! These range from nonfiction books on passionate interests to fantasy novels for both the young and the mature reader. I’m so pleased for my colleagues.

Here are the books, in approximate order of release.

My Canadian “friend of the pen” Kilmeny MacMichael has not one but two publications. The first is a chapter in the book Cooking The Detectives: A bite sized guide to the tastiest TV detective shows by Jenny Hammerton. Kilmeny describes it as “introductions to many popular and excellent TV detective shows… gossip about acting celebrities and their relationships with their kitchens… recipes from said celebrities…” plus her chapter about detective characters on the radio.

And after much dedicated work, Kilmeny’s very own book Blackmail, Bodies and Baked Noodles: A Guide and Recipe Collection Celebrating Box 13 is now available as an e-book and in a print format that should be easy to use for cooking! Here’s the description: “This book includes an introduction to each episode in the old time radio Box 13 series alongside half a dozen recipes from the voices of America’s golden age of radio and seventy recipes in total. Come and sink your teeth into history and adventure.” The recipes sound delicious! And if you’ve never enjoyed the excellence of old-fashioned radio drama, Kilmeny would be a good guide for where to start!

My old friend Susan Bensema Young has exciting news: she has just released her own passion project, Advanced Braidwork for the Model Horse after more than 3 years in the writing and decades of aspiration. Congratulations, Sue! As she describes it, “I have wanted to document my miniature braidwork techniques for many years, and this is it! This 225 page book exhaustively covers eight of my favorite pieces of braided headgear…There are 47 beautifully hand-drawn full page Plates and 323 photographs (all but 2 in color), buttressed by a couple of full page drawings.”

Her works are truly pieces of art in miniature. You can see many, many examples of her art on her website, and read more about the book in her blog. You don’t have to know anything about model horses to appreciate the beauty of these pieces.

My local friend Bernie Mojzes now has his own book of fantasy for the mature reader, Mistress of Bees available for Pre-Order, to be released on September 16, 2025. “Noble or ignoble, human or otherwise, everyone knows there is only one person in Ashbury to turn to when things go horribly awry: the self-proclaimed “Lady” Maris Goselin. Handy with a spell or a blade, Maris is known for her wit, her cunning, and her temper-and of course for her loyal bees.” I know I’m intrigued! (Plus I’ve had a peek at its excellent map.)

Meanwhile, my friend Aud Supplee is hard at work on the fourth book in her “Winnie and the Wizard” series. As a fan of her first three books for young adults and the young at heart, I’m very eager for the fourth book to come out! I must confess, I’ve had sneak peeks at Book Four as Aud has shared drafts of chapters with me, and I am really enjoying what I’ve read. Of course, since reading Frama-12, I feel like the characters Winnie, Mikey, and Kip are good friends of mine, and I’m anxious to see what happens to them. You can read a bit about the books progress on Aud’s blog.

Frama 12 Cover Art — Book One in the Series

I am so very pleased for you all, my friends! Congratulations on your hard work and exciting book news!

September 9, 2025 5

Book Review: Hutra by Aud Supplee

Happy National Tell a Fairy Tale Day! In honor of the day, I want to celebrate Hutra by Aud Supplee.

“One lefthanded world. Two missing little boys. Three teens must make it right.”

Hutra isn’t a fairy tale or retelling per se, but it is a fine, fun portal fantasy, part of a series with many fairy tale elements: queens and kings, enchantments, wizards, and knights in shining, er, pink armor with magic swords! Check out Frama-12 (available now) and Aylen Isle (when it’s released) for more about those excellent things.

But you don’t need to have read Frama-12 to enjoy Hutra. Just jump right in, and soon you’ll be plunging through a time tear into another world. You’ll get to know some of my favorite young people: Winnie, avid runner and former reluctant general; her friend Kip, aspiring magician; and her adorable little stepbrother, Mikey, who knows something about generals and magic.

The world they jump into seems like Earth, but something is definitely—off. Make that a lot of somethings. Good thing they have young Nor to help guide them in this new world, though he’s more astonished than they are at their arrival. Nor is an animal communicator, and one of my favorite people in the whole series. As Kirkus Review says, he shines: he’s “privileged but principled, rebellious but deeply affectionate.” Nor may be privileged, but he’s not at all spoiled; in fact, he’s a pretty humble young man, driven by curiosity and a passion for helping animals. Which turns out to be helpful when looking for a lost little boy!

You can meet Nor early in Hutra, and also on Aud’s blog, where she’s posted a deleted scene in honor of Hutra’s “birthday.” I like this scene a lot, and I like the rest of the book even better!

Happy belated birthday, Hutra! And happy reading to all.

February 26, 2024 1

Adventures at Home: Compendium

I have planned to post this for a couple of months. With all the uncertainty of where and when it’s safe to travel, and what places are open, this seems a good time to compile my posts of some opportunities for enrichment and inspiration.

Please note: I have not revisited most of the links, and some things have undoubtedly changed. Also, I hope people are able to find ways to get outside that are safe and healthy for themselves and those around them.

Click here for virtual travel to:
Museums
Gardens
Libraries
Unusual destinations
Fantastic worlds and their soundscapes

Click here for ways to experience:
Theater
Old Time Radio
Audiobooks and storytelling
Shakespeare’s sonnets
Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Sessions of world music
More arts and music

Click here for mostly off-screen adventures, like:
Reading
Audiobooks (again)
Jigsaw puzzles
Coloring pages for adults and kids

And for a small fee you can take a virtual tour of a mystery house, or explore some of it via still photos for free.

May you all find ways to stay creatively engaged and connected.

July 17, 2020 0

Adventures at Home: Off-screen (Mostly)

People have been sending me cool ideas of things to do at home, and I’ve been collecting them to share. Maybe you’ll enjoy some of them, too!

There are so many, I plan to divide them into multiple posts. First up: things to do off-screen.

Here’s one of my favorites: reading.

Have any books you have around the house you’ve been meaning to read? This may be the perfect time. Pull some off the shelf, and start with any that calls to you.

Need a new book? This is the perfect time to buy anything from my publisher, Running Wild Press. They have put all their published catalog on sale for pennies above cost for paperback and 99 cents for eBooks* through May 1, 2020. You can find contemporary and historical fiction, memoir and other nonfiction, and eclectic collections of all kinds of short fiction. Here’s their list and details.

If you want a book — ANY book — paperbound, try your local bookstore — a lot of them can ship from online orders! You can search for an independent bookstore on Indiebound. Or try Barnes & Noble, especially for e-books*. Support real bookstores! (Amazon will probably weather this storm all right; bookstores are struggling.) And support booksellers, authors and publishers – they all need it.

If you don’t want to buy a new book, check out your nearest library’s website. Many libraries have e-books, audio books, and even magazines available online. And yes, checking out e-books from libraries does support authors and publishers! And it supports the libraries, too, by showing the Powers That Be how vital they are to our communities, especially in a time like this.

For the young and young at heart, Audible is offering free audiobooks for now.

If you have some spare time, review books you like on Goodreads or Amazon. Help out authors to get through these hard times!

Here’s something that uses a totally different part of the brain: jigsaw puzzles!

Again, you can try your local bookstore to see if they deliver. We stumbled upon a favorite of ours in Wellington Square Bookshop, a wonderful bookstore I look forward to making the journey to when bookstores can open their doors again. Scroll down a bit to see results when you do a search on Wellington’s website.

Or try Barnes & Noble for puzzles — they seem to have a good number right now.

Another hands-on pursuit: coloring, for kids and adults as well. Coloring is another cool pursuit that uses other parts of our brains, and I find it fun and calming, both.

A library reached out to Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., who very kindly shared their Kids’ Resource Hub – coloring, puzzles, and more.

The Winchester Mystery house is offering their kids’ coloring book and crosswords puzzle.

An astounding array of museums are offering coloring pages from their collections – plenty to appeal to adults and older kids.

I plan on another post soon about more adventures at home on computer – including touring some amazing places, and seeing world-class performances. Check back!

*OK, yes, e-books are on screens. But I find reading a book a different experience than browsing the web, streaming a show, etc. And sometimes e-books are the best choice.

April 10, 2020 3