A date with two meanings, and a peek at Chapter 1 of my next novel

 Today is September 17th, a date that echoes of the past and the future.

One month ago, August 17th, was my parents' anniversary. They were married almost seventy years, my father dying three months and one day before they would have reached that landmark. Here's a photo from their wedding day, in 1947.

I've always thought that my mother bore some resemblance to Olivia deHavilland.

As for the future, my next novel, That the Dead May Rest, comes out on October 17th. Here's the cover.

(I just opened a box of paperbacks, twenty in all, purchased for a book signing the day after the release -- and hurrah! Huzzah! They have no obvious defects preventing me from using them!)

I posted the teaser a few weeks ago (at this link), and it seems crass to post it again this soon -- so I'm doing something different. I usually wait until much closer to the release date before I post excerpts . . . but I don't usually have so long a wait between finishing a novel and releasing it. I did so this time because my daughter very sensibly suggested that with the subject matter and cover of this book, it might do better if released during Halloween month. That'll be my excuse for posting the following excerpt from Chapter 1. The point of view is that of Millie, a woman who died in middle age and is about to welcome a new arrival to the afterlife.

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Reception, where all the new arrivals came, transformed every time to reflect the arriving spirit’s conception of the most benign possible afterlife. As the welcomer helped the spirit understand what had happened to them, the surroundings would gradually shift to accommodate any details the conversation revealed about what would most deeply satisfy the spirit’s needs and hopes. Sometimes the result was quite different from what she’d expected. A man who arrived dressed in velvets and silks like a king (what he’d been buried in, perhaps) might turn out to cherish the thought of a sunny cottage with a ticking grandfather clock.

This time, Millie entered a spacious circular hall with pale marble columns dividing intricate mosaics, the tiles’ colors as bright and cheerful as a kindergarten crayon box. The tops and bases of the pillars had gilded trim, and the same trim framed the mosaics. The scene, though grand in its way, reminded her of the needlepoint tapestry one might expect in the living room of a very traditional American Christian family, especially since the mosaics featured winged cherubs and blue-robed Madonnas and a brown-haired bearded Jesus with his arms spread wide. She had seen such living rooms through house windows in her own town, and the pillars and mosaics might have been inspired by the most opulent of the town’s churches.

The man who sat on a cushioned bench along one wall looked as if he would normally carry himself with some degree of authority. A mayor, perhaps, or a councilman. He wore a suit, not closely tailored but fitting him well, though the buttons of the jacket strained slightly over his middle. She couldn’t see his features as she entered, and presumably he couldn’t see hers, but he started to stand with an air of polite deference, gentleman to lady. And then he froze, and staggered backward against the bench before scuttling around it and backing against the wall, arms raised, covering his face.

The man’s terror made her heart pound and her pulse race. Struggling to catch her breath, she told herself over and over: I’m safe here. I’m safe. Even if he wants to hurt me, even if he strikes out in his fear, he can’t hurt me here. No one can. I’m safe. He’s just scared. He’s scared. I know what that feels like. I have to find out why he’s so frightened, so I can help, so I can make him feel safe, so I can feel safe again.

Another member of the welcoming committee — Johnny, a large, quiet man whose voice had the warmth and depth of melted chocolate — had appeared and was now holding the man’s hands, speaking softly to him, coaxing him to sit. Millie moved quietly toward the wall and tried to remember how to blend into the background. It was a skill she’d been so happy to leave behind . . . .

Her efforts made no difference. The man had been calming down, but when he glanced her way he sat bolt upright and pointed a shaking hand at her. “You! What are you doing here? What is this place, if you’re here? Are you here to drive me crazy? Isn’t it enough that you killed me? That you, you — ” He turned and clutched Johnny by the arms, shook him, shouted: “She came at me, with her fingernails like claws, and her, her teeth, she clawed my face and she tore it with her teeth! And the smell, she smelled like rotting flesh and, and falling-down houses, I’d never smelled anything like it . . . .” He paused, as Millie stood with eyes wide and mouth open, staring at him, trying to find any sense in what he was saying, in any of this. “She . . . .” He took a slow step toward her. He spoke to her, this time. “You don’t smell like that anymore. And your clothes were rags, dripping with something like oil, or mold. And your eyes were, were dead eyes, you looked dead, like a corpse pulled out of the grave . . . .”

Millie shook her head, trembling. “It couldn’t be. None of this. I’ve been here, not there. I’ve been here for . . . .” Did she even know? What was time, here? But surely her life had ended months ago, or years. “I’ve been here. And I would never have done anything like that. It couldn’t have been me.” She gulped. “I’m so sorry that happened, that you died that way. No one should die that way. But it’s all over now, all different. You’ll be all right now. You’ll be safe.”

The man stared at her, his large hands opening and closing spasmodically. “How can I be safe here, if you’re here? You killed me, and now you’ve followed me here! Unless . . . .” His voice dropped to muttering. “Unless I’m supposed to kill you now, to make things right. But I’ve never killed anyone. Is that what I’m supposed to do? Is that what I’m here for?”

Johnny gripped the man’s shoulders and pulled him back toward the bench. He would find something to say, some way to make things better, but Millie wouldn’t stay to hear it. She backed out of the room.

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If I've been fortunate enough to intrigue you, you can visit the book's web page here. From there, one click will take you to three links (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and bookshop.org) for preordering.

I'll be back, probably next month, with more excerpts. In the meantime, I hope you're reading something you love!

the quest for reviews of my upcoming paranormal fantasy THAT THE DEAD MAY REST

 Well, I've done it again -- written a novel. And again, I've branched out into a new genre, or rather a new subgenre of fantasy, namely paranormal. To the surprise, not to say shock, of people who know me, it even involves zombies -- though it takes what I fondly hope is an unusual approach to the subject, as described below.

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After a life of peril and fear, Millie has reached the peace, beauty, and security of the afterlife. But one day, when she is performing her glad duty of welcoming a new spirit, that spirit recoils from her in horror—because her body had become a zombie, and had brutally killed him.

As more spirits make the same terrible discovery, they ask themselves, and each other: is this somehow my fault? When will it end? And finally: what can we do? Is there something we can do to stop this?

And are there people among the living who can help them to do it?

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That the Dead May Rest comes out on October 17, 2025, in time for Halloween. I fancy the cover is seasonally appropriate.

Now that the book is finished and formatted, I've begun the process of telling people about it and hunting for reviewers. Besides posting on Goodreads and contacting various book bloggers (and a magazine or two), I'm trying new approaches.

One is BookSirens. This site is a paid, but modestly priced way to get reviews. Visitors to their page can find books to review, while authors and others can direct people to a particular page -- like this book's. As I write this post, no one has "joined my review team" yet, but it's early days.

The other is Revvue. The Revvue site (link goes to my book's page) rewards authors for reviewing other authors' books. Reviews earn coins, in quantities dependent on the book, and amassing sufficient coins (an amount also depending on the book) allows one to request reviews. It also requires coins to pick a book to review. The author chooses whether to accept a more limited category of review, e.g. Amazon-verified reviews only, or to be less choosy. One lovely reader has already chosen my book for review.

When my publication date gets closer, close enough that it isn't long before reviews can go live on Amazon, I'll take one more step, a bigger one. You may have heard of NetGalley, a site where a great many authors and publishers make their books available prior to publication (and afterward). It isn't cheap to put one's book there, but there are ways to make it more affordable, including joining any of several author associations. I'm a member of the Alliance of Independent Authors, and through AIA and an associated group called BooksGoSocial, I can get a substantial discount.

Will all this help me get more reviews for my book? Maybe, and every one helps. 

Different ways of writing villains

I read quite a bit of historical romance, most of it set in Regency England (roughly, though not precisely, the early 19th century period when George III's son, also George, acted as his regent). These novels tend to come in series based on a particular extended family, so one can easily gobble them up in sequence. There are, of course, differences in how various authors treat the historical period, the characters, their romance arc, et cetera. One such difference that has struck me lately is how two authors in particular approach villains.

The villains in Grace Burrowes' novels can be vividly nasty, but sooner or later the reader is likely to learn something about how they got that way. They can (though not all do) even end up moving in the direction of being more sympathetic characters. Such surprising shifts can give the book added depth, with the reader given the chance to leave the book with a broader, more thoughtful perspective. On the other hand,  Mary Ballogh's villains tend to be utterly and consistently despicable. (In the only Ballogh book I've read so far where a villain is eventually characterized as more foolish and shallow than wicked, his father has no redeeming qualities whatsoever.) This makes it particularly satisfying when she provides a devastating comeuppance.

I've also written a villain or two. My sci-fi thriller Playback Effect features a sociopath, and wasn't he fun to write! (What that says about me is for you to decide. . . .) As for my historical romance series -- Cowbird Creek, set in latter 19th-century Nebraska -- there's a significant villain only in the fourth one, What Wakes the Heart. The book description mentions the heroine's "traumatic encounter with the president of her teacher's college," but that understates how persistent his villainy proves. Otherwise, all you'll find is a loudmouth bully here and a self-important, narrow-minded preacher there, along with the occasional family members who do harm by not understanding their relatives better or not being flexible enough to step outside their own world views.

How do you like  your villains? Do you prefer the "love to hate" kind, or the more nuanced?

Historical fiction, including historical romance -- and yes, it's included

 I've finally reached the last of the genres I write. (Will I write in other genres at some point? I can't see myself writing horror, but I wouldn't bet too much that it'll never happen....) Here are my works of historical fiction, including my probably-ongoing historical romance series. As with my other books, you can probably have your local bookstore order them, but I'm including some purchase links.

I'll start with my most recent novel in this category -- one based on a crucial moment in family's history, and yet focusing on a man my father and uncles met for only a few minutes. They never knew his name, let alone how to explain the blatant contradictions they observed in his appearance and behavior. So I set out to imagine some answers.

"A Life of Contradictions, and A Moment of Truth

It is autumn of 1938, in Hitler’s Germany, in the capital city of Berlin, perhaps a month before the devastating anti-Jewish violence of Kristallnacht. Three Jewish boys have received new bicycles — because their family has, with difficulty, arranged to leave Germany, and they will not be allowed to take much cash with them. Two of the boys are experienced bicyclists, but the youngest is less so. On a downtown street, the latter’s lack of skill causes an accident. And the traffic policeman on the scene wears, just visible under his uniform, the brown shirt of a member of Hitler's storm troopers.

"What did the policeman do? The answer is known, because the preceding paragraph describes an actual event. But why did the policeman make the choice he did? What life did he live that led him to make it? And what happened to him, while the boys and their family escaped, lived, and thrived? This novel imagines possible answers to these questions. In doing so, it takes the reader into the heart of the experience of wartime, and the repercussions of such conflict for years thereafter."

You can order this book from Amazon, bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, and Books-A-Million.

On to my Cowbird Creek series, with a short detour: on what basis do I include "historical romance" in the historical fiction genre? Besides the most obvious reasons -- "historical" in the genre label and a setting in the past (not, by the way, an alternate past, which would make it "alternate history"), there's the nature of the writing process. I don't believe there's a way to write good historical romance without plenty of research into the place and time in which the story is set. (One can, to some extent, piggyback on the work previous writers have done, but there are risks in relying on someone else's research too much.) The Decision and my Cowbird Creek books have back matter describing the extensive research I've done for that book. I used to list all my sources, including every website I consulted, but the lists got so long they were increasing the printing costs for the books, so I now ask readers who are sufficiently interested in the sources to get in touch with me.

If you read much historical romance, you probably know that a series in this subgenre typically revolves around either a particular family or a particular place. In the case of Cowbird Creek, that's the fictional small town in southeastern Nebraska that gives the series its name. It's also common for the names of the books in a series to be related in some way, and mine all use the format "What [verb] the Heart" -- starting with What Heals the Heart.

"Can they help each other heal?

"Joshua Gibbs survived the Civil War, building on his wartime experiences to become a small town doctor. And if he wakes from nightmares more often than he would like, only his dog Major is there to know it.

"Then two newcomers arrive in Cowbird Creek: Clara Brook, a plain-speaking and yet enigmatic farmer’s daughter, and Freida Blum, an elderly Jewish widow from New York. Freida knows just what Joshua needs: a bride. But it shouldn’t be Clara Brook!

"Joshua tries everything he can think of to discourage Freida’s efforts, including a wager: if he can find Freida a husband, she’ll stop trying to find him a wife. Will either matchmaker succeed? Or is it Clara, despite her own scars, who can heal the doctor’s troubled heart?"

Joshua and Clara appear in the succeeding books to a greater or lesser extent, and a couple of secondary characters in this book take center stage in those later books. While the books all have a setting in common, and are all romances (including the essential element of the probable Happy Ever After), they also feature different psychological and societal issues. Joshua Gibbs, as the above description shows, suffers from PTSD. The key male character in What Frees the Heart has a physical disability, while the key female character is in a shunned profession. The female lead in What Shows the Heart is in a related profession, and the male lead carries a serious amount of guilt over past actions. (The story also falls within the subgenre of "second chances.") What Wakes the Heart features both sexual harassment and religious differences.

I was hoping to use just one set of purchase links for the whole series, but it turns out the pattern of which retailers carry which of the books is somewhat erratic. So here are the book names and the links for each.

What Heals the Heart: Amazon, bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, Walmart Business, Mighty Ape (New Zealand) 

What Frees the Heart: Amazon, bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, Walmart Business, Waterstones (UK), Mighty Ape (New Zealand)

What Shows the Heart: Amazon, bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, Walmart Business, Waterstones (UK) 

What Wakes the Heart: Amazon, bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, Target, Walmart Business, Waterstones (UK), Mighty Ape (New Zealand)

Well, that's the lot! If you're shopping for books this holiday season, I hope you'll look at some of the books I've highlighted in these posts. Merry holidays!

Two very different fantasy novels

As the holidays rush toward us, I'm reminding folks of the books I've written, hoping one of them might turn out to be the perfect gift. After summing up my science fiction (first my SF with aliens, then my near-future SF) and my picture books, I'm now ready to talk about fantasy. As with all my books, you can probably order copies of these novels at your local bookstore -- but I'm including purchase links as well.

 

 

I've written two fantasy novels, though if there's a subgenre called "afterlife fantasy," the first of them, Wander Home, falls within it. Here's the teaser.

"Death is what you make it. . . .

"Eleanor never wanted to leave the daughter she loved so much. The overpowering urge to wander -- to search, without knowing what she sought -- drove her away. She left little Cassidy in her family's loving care. But Cassidy and the others died in an accident before Eleanor could find her way home. Now, they are all reunited, in an afterlife where nothing is truly lost: places once loved may be revisited, memories relived and even shared. Surely this is a place where they can understand and heal. And yet, the restlessness that shaped Eleanor's life still haunts her in death. Somehow, she must solve the mystery of her life -- or none of them will be at peace."

This book taught me that if you start writing a story with a mystery in it without knowing the resolution to that mystery, the answer won't necessarily appear when you're ready for it. I ended up having to go in a direction I hadn't anticipated. Does it work? So far, I haven't had a review saying otherwise....

You can pick up Wander Home on Amazon, bookshop.org, Books-A-Million, and Thriftbooks.

My other fantasy novel, like my near-future SF novels, has lawyers in it. In fact, the main characters are the father-daughter legal team of Abe and Adira. So where's the fantasy element? Read on.

"Negotiating with the Fair Folk is a tightrope walk over deadly perils. And even the most skilled can misstep.

"The many wondrous realms the Fair Folk inhabit offer tempting opportunities for mortals hoping to benefit from faerie magic. But making bargains with the Fair Folk is a dangerous business, for the fae have a habit of leaving loopholes to snare the unwary. Father-and-daughter lawyers Abe and Adira have made a career out of helping their fellow humans reach such agreements safely.

"Abe and Adira know the rules for dealing with Fair Folk: don't reveal your true name, don't say thank you, don't accept gifts, don't eat fae food, don't tell even the slightest of lies . . . . Oh, and always, no matter the provocation, be unfailingly polite.

"A moment of carelessness, a brief lapse, and a professional defender of mortal interests may be in dire need of rescue."

Far From Mortal Realms would be a good choice for someone who loves picturing exotic and/or beautiful fantasy settings, or for someone who enjoys trying to design a wish that a hypothetical genie couldn't turn against them . . . or for someone to whom parent-child relationships are important. You can get it on Amazon, Walmart, or Thriftbooks.

Next and last list: historical fiction, including historical romance. In the meantime, happy reading!

Hubris in action, aka a guide to American law and lawyers

 

This book -- a great big brick of a paperback, though only $25.99 in general, and currently $20.89(!) on Amazon -- grew out of a series of blog posts. Their topic was how to write courtroom drama and other legal fiction without making the sort of howlers that make knowledgeable readers throw your book against a wall. Somehow, it expanded into an attempt to summarize essentially all of American law and legal practice. The original subtitle (A Writer's Guide to Law and Lawyers) reflected the book's origin, though I realizesd before it actually came out that it could be useful well beyond that context -- as this description shows.

"The legal landscape can be a minefield. Here's a map.

"Most people don't know all that much about the framework of the American legal system,nor about details that haven't touched their lives or become major news stories. That lack of knowledge can be dangerous, in ways one has to know more about the system to appreciate. This book offers invaluable assistance in understanding, and safely navigating, the often treacherous legal landscape.

"Moreover, the legal world -- with its suspense, moral quandaries, and ripped-from-the-headlines subject matter -- provides wonderful material for fiction. Included throughout the book are ideas for stories or story elements based on the content and available for the readers' use, going well beyond the most common homicide courtroom context. This guide will help writers explore these story possibilities, and will assist writers and others who wish to avoid the many pitfalls awaiting the unwary."

This book could be a useful reference for law and prelaw students, newcomers to this country, and anyone else who wants to know more about the legal system surrounding them. In addition, I really want authors writing in the legal genre to take a look at this book and realize how many very interesting stories can feature legal doctrines unrelated to homicide. To cite an example that isn't from one of my novels, Kristine Kathryn Rusch's compelling Retrieval Artist SF series arises from the extremely dry-sounding "choice of law" doctrine, which concerns which country's/state's/planet's law will apply to a particular dispute.

You can get the book on Amazon (where I hope the discount is still there when this post goes up); on bookshop org (where it's also discounted, though not as much); on Thriftbooks (currently even cheaper than on Amazon!); on AbeBooks (in the UK); and on Ebay (also somewhat discounted).

Next time, it's back to my novels! -- specifically, my two quite different fantasies.

Picture books!

 

 These are just two of the five picture books I've written so far.

What do the others look like, you may ask? Well --

  

 

You can make some reasonable guesses at the content from the titles and covers, but here are the details and some purchase links. Note: you can also ask your local bookstore to order them from Ingram Group -- if they don't already carry it!

You Can't Kiss A Bubble, illustrated by Siski Kalla: "What can you do with a bubble?

"Many children – and adults – find bubbles fascinating, even enchanting. And yet they’re so different from most things we enjoy, lasting only a few moments. This little book, with its lovely and whimsical illustrations, looks at both the charm and the transitory nature of bubbles, and reminds us that we can take joy even in the impermanent."

For what it's worth, this is my most popular picture book. You can pick up the paperback and/or the hardcover on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, bookshop.org,  AbeBooks, and Walmart Business.

Continuing in order of publication, next comes When It's Winter, illustrated by Barbara Dessi: "What makes winter special? This picture book celebrates the many fun activities and sensory experiences of the season. Follow a girl and her dog through the play and discoveries of a snowy day, and on toward bedtime.

"The first person narrative will encourage new readers to claim it as their own. The repetition of the phrase 'When it's winter . . .' will encourage children to chime in, and be of assistance to early readers.

Online purchase opportunities include Amazon, Barnes & Noble, bookshop.org, Waterstones (in the UK), and Fishpond (in New Zealand). 

 

Then there's Wind, Ocean, Grass, illustrated by Tomasz Mikutel: "This unique picture book has neither human nor animal characters, but instead features the wind speaking to the grass, explaining how long grasses are both like and unlike the waves of the ocean. Through lyrical prose and breathtaking impressionist-style paintings, the reader follows the wind’s journey over sea and land: the many moods of the ocean, the different seasons of the grassy field. We see glimpses of the birds that live off the bounty of the ocean, and the birds and flowers that live among the grasses.

"Through this nature metaphor, the story, without becoming didactic, teaches children about seeing commonality and celebrating differences.

Pick this up on Amazon, bookshop.org, Books-A-Million, Walmart, Riverwalk Books, and Watermark Books, among other sites.

Next comes a sentimental favorite of mine, due to a lovely evening on which I read it to my (late) brother and some friends of his: Where Fireflies Sleep, illustrated by Barbara Dessi.

"What is sweeter than the special times a parent and child spend together?

"In this picture book, Molly and her father sit on the porch as a summer day moves into evening. They're waiting for fireflies. The reader shares Molly's excitement and delight as first one and then more of the glowing insects appear. Molly has questions about fireflies, and her father does his best to answer. And then it's time to get ready for bed. After Molly is finally tucked into bed, Dad goes out on the porch for one final word with the fireflies."

Where Fireflies Sleep is available from Amazon, bookshop.org, Books-A-Million, and Walmart.

Finally, there's my first nonfiction picture book: A Boy Who Made Music: The Extraordinary Life of Joaquin Rodrigo, illustrated by Tomasz Mikutel. I'm particularly proud that Rodrigo's daughter Cecilia Rodrigo, who runs the Victoria and Joaquin Rodrigo Foundation, loved the book.

"Joaquin Rodrigo was a brilliant Spanish composer, writing music for piano, violin, chorus, and guitar. He was also, from the age of three, almost completely blind.

"This picture book follows Joaquin from carefree early childhood through his life-altering illness, his discovery of classical music, and his successful career and family life. Joaquin's story can inspire children to dream beyond the apparent limitations suggested by circumstance.

"The book's back matter includes multiple activities and enrichment materials."

This book presented Tomasz and me with a dilemma: how do you illustrate the absence of sight? I think you'll like the solution we found.

You can get this book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, bookshop.org, Books-A-Million, The Book Loft of German Village, and who knows where else?...

That's it for the picture books! I have many (well, seven) more novels to get to, but next time I'll put on my lawyer hat and talk about my one work of legal nonfiction. Until then!