New month, new stuff! Also a couple of not-quite-new stuff, hey! So firstly, it's finally out:
In the fairy tale-like and colorful town of Glossop lies a small graveyard guarded by an ancient yew. Residents have long resigned themselves to its existence, with the poorer ones forced to trek through its dreary space just to get to work each day.
For little Rowan Linville, the mysterious graveyard is both a necessary ordeal for his parents and a strange place where something in the shadows whispers after him. Something that might also be behind a number of personal items Rowan's lost in his occasional walks through the graveyard in his mother's company. As he grows older, those whispers follow him, and boys his age intent upon courting him suddenly fall victim to all kinds of misfortunes. Illness, broken bones, sprained limbs, and odd accidents plague hopeful suitors until Rowan is saddled with the reputation of a cursed youth.
Hope stirs at the arrival of the Akker family and their younger son, the dashing Tennyson, who is immediately drawn to Rowan. A couple of chance glimpses of the lonely boy stir Tennyson's artistic muse and lay the foundation for a future courtship that seems to come straight out of a Shakespearean comedy—and tragedy, for that matter.
That is because the entity that has attached itself to Rowan is not at all pleased with this new suitor, and it will do anything to keep him away. Unfortunately for the ghost of an embittered man, it appears it has met its match in a determined and ridiculously smitten rival.
I had way too much fun writing this book, and with any luck, I'll be able to enjoy another dip in the nutty pool in future books. For a behind-the-scenes look, go here for the book's gallery page. The Twilight Lover is available for 99 cents in e-book format and $9.00 USD in print. Go here for the main book page and the links to bookstores.
This book also marks the end of my 4-month release calendar. From 2026 onward, I'll be publishing two books a year following a 6-month calendar to ensure I don't burn myself out (especially given the ridiculous pace I've been following for years now). Time to slow down and take care of those gray cells and keep inspiration going.
And secondly, we have a couple of books on the block for this month's Backlist Bonanza:
"Outside, on the bough of a tree, sat the living nightingale. She had heard of the emperor's illness, and was therefore come to sing to him of hope and trust. And as she sung, the shadows grew paler and paler."
- Hans Christian Andersen, "The Nightingale"
A marionette, a weeping willow, a house shade, and a lonely, abused boy - there are more to them than what meets the eye.
Written in a style reminiscent of classic European folktales, the four original fairy tale novellas in this collection explore a gay teen's coming-of-age in settings steeped in magic, wonder, romance, and infinite possibilities.
In Benedict, a marionette is given a strange puzzle to solve during the king's quarter dance. A cursed tree finds salvation in the love of a homeless, ragged boy in The Weeping Willow. In Grave's End, a house shade learns what it means to be human. And in Ansel of Pryor House, a boy rescued from his abusive father discovers the darker fate marked for those whom Nature refuses to forgive.
Boy meets boy. Boy hates boy. Each swears never to have anything to do with the other, forever after.
Unfortunately for Prince Hamlin and Prince Edouard, history has a bad habit of repeating itself, and worse, each time the two boys run across each other, things get a touch muddier as well. Destiny and free will go head-to-head, the princes' dilemma echoing the more baffling curse that's been placed on Edouard's young cousin, Princess Roderika. Doomed to prick her finger on a spindle on her fifteenth birthday and fall asleep for a hundred years as a result, Roderika's rapidly dwindling time becomes an inescapable tapestry into which Hamlin and Edouard's own fates are woven.
With the help of a magician princess and a crotchety talking raven, Hamlin and Edouard not only have to outgrow prejudices, but also find the courage and the will to define their destinies, even if it were to take them a hundred years.
Both books are 50% off in e-book format for the month of November. Click the book titles to go to their respective pages for online stores. And if you do purchase copies for yourself, I hope you enjoy them! I'll be posting more about these two in the coming weeks.
No comments:
Post a Comment