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

A Quintet of Good Book-Related News

This isn’t all strictly new, as some of these things happened a bit ago, but it’s good news nonetheless and I’m quite happy to share it. In the approximate order I learned about these, here goes.

First, the adventures of “Winnie and the Wizard” continue! My friend and critique partner Aud Supplee has gotten the green light for the third book in the series, with the working title “Aylen Isle.” I read a recent draft of the book last summer, and it’s such a fun adventure. I’m eager to see how it’s evolved since then. You can read more about this announcement on Aud’s blog.

Stan Gale, another writing friend and critique partner, has recently published “A Living Faith.” I’ve had the pleasure to read much of Stan’s writing over the years; it is always thoughtful, thought-provoking, and warmed with his personal voice. I recommend his works for anyone looking for inspiring devotional reading.

My writer friend Kilmeny MacMichael has had two poems recently published, one in an Off Topic Publishing Poetry Box. This subscription sends you an original poem, organic tea and artisanal chocolate to “savour while you read.” (If I lived in Canada, I’d surely indulge!) She has another poem about a merman in Worlds of Possibility, an anthology of uplifting science fiction and fantasy.

And she has a story in an upcoming anthology called Red Eyes & Tired Lungs, collected to bring some good things out of a summer of wildfires. I’m looking forward to Kilmeny’s new writing.

Jason Zeitler, my Running Wild Press colleague, released his novel Half-Caste in December, published by Polyphony Press. I enjoyed Jason’s short story, “Inglorious Carnage,” in the third volume of Running Wild Anthology of Stories. His new novel, described as a “thrilling tale of political intrigue, love and loss, and the soul-stirring value of friendship,” sounds fascinating. You can find out more about Jason and his work here.

And last (though not chronologically), in 2023 I finished the medieval-esque fantasy novel I’ve been working on for lo, several years now. It is the story of a girl who swears she will not be helpless in the face of prophecy, but will face her fate and protect her people. This is still a draft, but not a first draft, as I’ve been editing it as I go with the help of my excellent critique partners. Partway through, I realized this story will take two books to tell, so I have launched myself into Book Two now. I’m enjoying adventuring with my heroine!

Congratulations to Aud, Stan, Kilmeny, and Jason. Much success to you and your new works!

January 16, 2024 5

Some Excellent (Belated) News

A nonfiction project has kept me so busy that I have rather badly neglected my blog. So, without further ado, here is some belated but really fine news.

First of all, my good friend Aud shared something quite exciting: not only did she get a really good review from Kirkus, but that august publication also made her an offer it makes to only a select group of Indie-published authors! Go, check out her blog and find out. My other news can wait.

If you haven’t already gone to Aud’s blog, here’s more: she also revealed the cover for her second “Winnie and the Wizard Book.” And I love it even more than the cover to Frama-12! Is that a Frama-scope I spy? And…perhaps even a time-tear??

I’m so tempted to ask Aud if I can post that cover, but I want you to see it for yourself along with her cool Kirkus news. (This is not a spoiler: I’ve read an earlier draft of Hutra even before Frama-12, and that’s where I became so very fond of Winnie and her companions.)

My second (or is it third?) bit of news: the next Enola book is out: Enola Holmes and the Elegant Escapade! (Truth be told, it came out just two days after Aud posted her fun blog; this is an embarrassment of riches.) I loved this latest Enola adventure! Lady Cecily appears for the third time, and I think I enjoyed this book even more than her second appearance. There’s such a wealth of great characters, old and young, and Enola (my favorite as always) is in fine form. Elegant, even. It was a treat to read. (Just don’t read it as your first Enola book. Start at the beginning!)

So, here’s a number of things to celebrate and I’m happy to share them. I urge you to check them both out if you haven’t already.

October 26, 2022 3