New Year, New Books! (#IWSG January 2021)

Happy 2021! It won't solve all your problems, but at least we can start with a more optimistic outlook, right?

You've probably already read the news by now: My story has been chosen for the IWSG 2020 Anthology! Pretty crazy, right? This will be my third time appearing in the anthology. I want to thank Alex, the folks at Dancing Lemur Press and all the judges for putting up with my ridiculous stories time and time again. And congratulations to all of my fellow contributors!

Dark Matter: Artificial

An Insecure Writer’s Support Group Anthology

Discover dark matter’s secrets…

What is an AI’s true role? Will bumbling siblings find their way home from deep space? Dark matter is judging us—are we worthy of existence? Would you step through a portal into another reality? Can the discoverer of dark matter uncover its secrets?

Ten authors explore dark matter, unravelling its secrets and revealing its mysterious nature. Featuring the talents of Stephanie Espinoza Villamor, C.D. Gallant-King, Tara Tyler, Mark Alpert, Olga Goldim, Steph Wolmarans, Charles Kowalski, Kim Mannix, Elizabeth Mueller, and Deniz Bevan.

Hand-picked by a panel of agents, authors, and editors, these ten tales will take readers on a journey across time and space. Prepare for ignition!

Founded by author Alex J. Cavanaugh, the Insecure Writer’s Support Group offers support for writers and authors alike. It provides an online database; articles; monthly blog posting; Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram groups; #IWSGPit, and a newsletter. https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/

Release date: May 4, 2021
Print ISBN 9781939844828 $14.95
EBook ISBN 9781939844835 $4.99
Science Fiction: Collections & Anthologies (FIC028040) / Space Exploration (FIC028130) / Genetic Engineering (FIC028110)
186 pages

Table of Contents
Artificial - Stephanie Espinoza Villamor https://stephanieespinoza.com/
Space Folds and Broomsticks - C.D. Gallant-King  http://www.cdgallantking.ca/
Rift – Kim Mannix  https://makesmesodigress.com/
The Utten Mission – Steph Wolmarans  https://www.teasighcreate.com/
Sentient – Tara Tyler  https://taratylertalks.blogspot.com/
One to Another – Deniz Bevan http://thegirdleofmelian.blogspot.com/
Resident Alien - Charles Kowalski  https://charleskowalski.com/
Nano Pursuit – Olga Goldim https://olgagodim.wordpress.com
Resurgence – Elizabeth Mueller  http://www.elizabethmueller.com/
Vera’s Last Voyage – Mark Alpert  http://www.markalpert.com/

For more info on the anthology, check out the IWSG website.

AND IN OTHER NEWS...

In other news, I also have a story in another anthology released this week:

Mardi Gras Mysteries is an anthology of Mardi Gras-themed crime and mystery tales, edited by Sarah E. Glenn and published by Mystery & Horror, Inc. It's available in paperback and for Kindle from Amazon.

My story features inept gumshoe Gussy Saint, who coincidentally first appeared in another IWSG anthology, Tick Tock: A Stitch in Crime, a few years ago. Unlike the first story, Gussy's latest outing is a little, shall we say, racier, as you can see from the opening lines:

I woke up in a brothel and stumbled out of the back room in nothing but my socks and boxer shorts. I expected some hard looks from the ladies and the madam, who did not take kindly to me passing out and taking up one of their beds for the night, and I was ready with a witty retort to put them at ease and call off their goon, a huge Polynesian man named Leakee.

I was not expecting to be surrounded by cops, and thus found myself for perhaps the first time in my life at a loss for words. My quip about polishing the morning wood would probably fall flat on these uncultured, humorless swine...

Not all of the stories are as odd or racy as mine (they actually asked me to tone it down a bit), so there should be plenty in there for mystery of lovers of all kinds. Even if you're not into bumbling, foul-mouthed detectives chasing women with polymastia.

So, 2021 is starting off pretty well for me, writing-wise. Then again, we're less than a week in, so there's still plenty of time to go downhill.

How's your New Year going?

Hugs & Kisses,
-CDGK

The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Writers post their thoughts on their blogs, talking about their doubts and the fears they have conquered. It's a chance for writers to commiserate and offer a word of encouragement to each other. Check out the group at http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/.

Write Story, Place in Drawer (#IWSG June 2018)

I wrote a short story last month. It wasn't very good and it will probably never see the light of day, but it was the first one I've written in a long time (seven or eight months, for sure), so it was nice to finally get back into it.

Life has started to settle back into a routine. There's still plenty of bad stuff happening but we're learning to deal with it.

Oh and hey, in case you missed it, there was not one but TWO anthologies released in May featuring yours truly. I'm sure you've heard ad naseum about Tick Tock: A Stitch in Crime from our very own IWSG, but I'm contractually obligated to mention it in every blog post or conversation I have for the next six months. :-P What you might have missed though is STRANGELY FUNNY V, a new collection of comic supernatural tales from Mystery & Horror. It was released quietly a couple of weeks ago, and while the paperback is still forthcoming you can get the Kindle version from Amazon RIGHT NOW. I haven't read through all of this year's edition yet, but last year's was delightfully bonkers, which prompted even my usually stoic father to ask: "What the f*ck is this?"

It's funny, that's what it is.

Oh, and in case you want to read even more of my weird ramblings, last week I posted an interview on the official Tick Tock: A Stitch in Crime blog. It's the interview that was BANNED from a book review site earlier this year, so if you want to see for yourself what the fuss is about, be sure to check it out.

June 6 IWSG Question

What's harder for you to come up with, book titles or character names?

Book names, without a doubt. I actually mentioned in the interview from last week that I put about as much thought into character names as I do into what socks I should wear. Since I own fifty pairs of identical black socks, that amount of thought it exactly zero. It's how I end up with characters with names like Fistpunch, Thumb and Rat Bastard.

Book titles (and short story titles) on the other hand, provide me with no end of headaches. It took me weeks to come up with "Hell Comes to Hogtown," which in the end is joke that I find funny but probably only six people will get the references it comes from. Originally the title was supposed to be something along the line of "Come Into My Parlour" or "Spake the Spider to the Fly," but there are literally hundreds of other books out there with those titles, so I rightly chose to avoid it. I have a short story I've been shopping around for over a year and I think part of the problem is the name of it is stupid, but I can't think of anything better to call it.

To be fair, it's not THIS bad.

#

The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Writers post their thoughts on their blogs, talking about their doubts and the fears they have conquered. It's a chance for writers to commiserate and offer a word of encouragement to each other. Check out the group at http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/.

Book Release: SOME VERY MESSY MEDIEVAL MAGIC by C. Lee McKenzie

Fellow Tick Tock: A Stitch in Crime contributor C. Lee McKenzie has a new book available that I think everyone should check out. If you love intricately-plotted fantasy with a bend toward younger readers, then this is definitely for you.

THE BOOK!

Pete’s stuck in medieval England!

Pete and his friend Weasel thought they’d closed the Time Lock. But a young page from medieval times, Peter of Bramwell, goes missing. His absence during a critical moment will forever alter history unless he’s found.

There’s only one solution - fledgling wizard Pete must take the page’s place. Accompanied by Weasel and Fanon, Pete’s alligator familiar, they travel to 1173 England.

But what if the page remains lost - will Pete know what to do when the critical moment arrives? Toss in a grumpy Fanon, the duke’s curious niece, a talking horse, and the Circle of Stones and Pete realizes he’s in over his young wizard head yet again...


Release date – May 15, 2018
Juvenile Fiction - Fantasy & Magic/Boys & Men
$13.95 Print ISBN 9781939844460
$3.99 EBook ISBN 9781939844477

THE AUTHOR!

C. Lee McKenzie has a background in Linguistics and Inter-Cultural Communication, but these days her greatest passion is writing for young readers. When she’s not writing she’s hiking or traveling or practicing yoga or asking a lot questions about things she still doesn’t understand. http://cleemckenziebooks.com

THE LINKS! 

BARNES & NOBEL | KOBO | iTUNES

AMAZON | KINDLE | FOYLES

GOODREADS

Like A Screaming Hippo in a Bobsled (#IWSG May)

Every month I talk about (or at least hint about) all the shitty stuff going on in my life. Today I'm not going to do that. I'm going to be positive for once, and celebrate the release of TICK TOCK: A STITCH IN CRIME.

If you're reading this you're probably members of the IWSG, so I won't go into detail on the backstory of the anthology. Instead I'll just add that I'm proud of the story I contributed and have received great feedback on it so far. I'm also proud to be included with so many talented writers, and I want to say thank you to the judges, the folks at Dancing Lemur Press, and to Alex for making it all possible.

And here's something I don't usually do: share an excerpt from the story. If you like what you read, check it out and pick up your own copy. There are ten more great stories in the book even better than this one:

GUSSY SAINT AND THE CASE OF THE MISSING COED

by C.D. Gallant-King

As I awaited the inevitable impact, my mind wandered back to the day this investigation went downhill like a screaming hippo in a bobsled. The moment when I seriously started reconsidering my decision to be a private dick.

Rain fell in Mount Vernon. It always rained in Mount Vernon. The rest of the country was suffering through sub-arctic temperatures and enough snow to make an Inuit pack up his dogsled and move south for the winter, but if you looked out the window in Mount Vernon you'd swear Noah was going to buzz by on a jet ski any moment.

The rain was cold and chewed down deep into your bones like a junkie trying to bite through a baggie of heroin. I hated a rain like that. It always portended something terrible on the horizon, like spilling a baggie of heroin all over the toilet of a bus station restroom.

It was a place I’d found myself more than once that I hoped not to visit again.

I was a long way from that bus station restroom and the lifestyle that had driven me to the stoniest of rock bottoms. In many ways,  you can’t get away from that place—not completely—but I made improvements. I had steered clear of hard drugs and bus stations for nearly six years, though I replaced that addiction with liquor, gambling, and women.

I was sitting in my office, which was only slightly less filthy than the aforementioned restroom, with my shiny wing tips up on the desk and my chair tilted back to the point of toppling, lost in my thoughts around the biggest case of my life. I heard my new secretary's heels clicking across the tile in the outer office and it snapped me back to reality so fast I nearly ended up on the floor. That woman was probably the biggest score of my life, and I hadn't even slept with her yet.

I found her in a club downtown, drunk out of her mind and looking for a fight and a lay, and not necessarily in that order. Usually that's just the way I like my lady friends, but before I could move in another broad knocked over her drink and sparked off the most beautiful cat fight I'd ever seen. I’ll dream about those two gorgeous women rolling around on the floor, tearing at each other,  until the day I die.

It had taken all my pull and connections down at the precinct to get her off. By that I mean I had to get the police captain off—twice—which was a moderate challenge but not really much of a hardship. The girl was so happy not be going to jail or deported that she threw herself at my offer of a job. And of course, by that I mean I had to beg and plead with her to work for me and had to offer way more money than I can afford. It was worth it, though. It's  It was a little piece of heaven to have a nice pair of legs around the office, and the new bird had legs to die for.

She called herself George. I had no idea if that was her real name, and frankly I didn't give a damn. With legs like that she could call herself whatever she wanted...

#

TICK TOCK: A STITCH IN CRIME is available in paperback or eBook format at any of the fine retailers below. We're currently working on converting it to smoke signals, stay tuned.

AMAZON US

AMAZON CANADA

BARNES & NOBLE

KOBO BOOKS

iTUNES

#

The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Writers post their thoughts on their blogs, talking about their doubts and the fears they have conquered. It's a chance for writers to commiserate and offer a word of encouragement to each other. Check out the group at http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/.

Book Release: TICK TOCK: A STITCH IN CRIME!

It seems like it's been forever (actually it's only been about 4 months, which is pretty quick in the publishing world), but the TICK TOCK anthology is officially available today!

Observe.

In case you've been living under a rock these last four months (technically six months, since the submission deadline closed), Tick Tock: A Stitch in Time is a collection of eleven crime and mystery short stories all centered around the theme of time and clocks. Submissions came from the Insecure Writers Support Group, and the final stories were chosen by panel of authors, editors and agents from the mystery industry. The book is published by Dancing Lemur Press.

You'll see when reading the stories that "mystery" is a pretty broad category, and the individual tales venture into horror, cozy, supernatural, comedy and more, so there should be something for everyone in there. If you don't believe me, here's a picture of some random dude enjoying his copy:

Who the f*** does this guy think he is?

You can get your copy in paperback or eBook format at any of the fine retailers below:

AMAZON US

AMAZON CANADA

BARNES & NOBLE

KOBO BOOKS

iTUNES

And if you want to find out more about the stories and the writers involved, be sure to check out the Tick Tock Anthology website and blog.

April Fools (#IWSG April)

Life sucks right now. Just setback after setback. I'll spare you the specific details, and try to find solace in a few positive writing-related events that are happening.

So not only is Tick Tock: A Stitch in Crime less than a month from release (pre-order it right here!), I just signed the contract for another anthology that will be released in a couple of months. That's pretty exciting, and I'll have the full news of the release as soon as I'm allowed to share it.

Other big news? Remember the #IWSGPit Twitter Pitch party back in January? Not only did someone request sample chapters for my book, but they just followed up and asked for the complete manuscript. Obviously that doesn't mean anything yet, but just the fact that someone enjoyed it enough to request the full manuscript is pretty amazing, and gives me hope that I'm not completely wasting my time.

I'll be honest, I've been too busy and tired to really appreciate it, but someone requested the complete manuscript.

Holy shit.

It's weird. As crummy and difficult life has been lately, there are odd little glimmers of light in writing.

Don't Forget to check out the Tick Tock: A Stitch in Crime blog!

And make to sure like the Tick Tock Facebook page to get all the latest updates!

April 4 Question

When your writing life is a bit cloudy or filled with rain, what do you do to dig down and keep on writing?

This is a tough question, because I haven't done any writing in quite awhile. Life has just been too hard and there hasn't been time. In the past, I've sometimes forced myself to go on because writing fulfills a part of brain that just makes me feel terrible if I don't exercise it. Lately I've been thinking I need to write something, anything, even if it's just a paragraph here and there, in order to keep my sanity.

The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Writers post their thoughts on their blogs, talking about their doubts and the fears they have conquered. It's a chance for writers to commiserate and offer a word of encouragement to each other. Check out the group at http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/.

It Was A Month (#IWSG February 2018)

My wife's surgery went well. Actual recovery is a long and hard process. Life is hectic. It's a struggle to balance everything, and in case it wasn't hectic enough I also took a promotion at work. I'm actually kinda torn about it because it's a lot more work and part of me feels I need to move on to something different, but the money is just too much to pass up right now.

There is not enough hours in the day for everything and I'm just waiting for something to fall apart.

Writing of course has been non-existent. The folks from the Stitch in Crime anthology have been hard at work planning promotion for the book, preparing blogs and Facebook pages and interviews and all that jazz, and I've barely had time follow the messages, let alone help out with anything. I'm really crossing my fingers that in a month or two things will settle down into a more regular routine and life can get back into some semblance of order. Of course, I've been saying that for the last six months, but eventually it has to be true, right?

While I'm thinking about it, though, you have all checked out the Stitch in Crime blog, right?

TICK TOCK: A STITCH IN CRIME BLOG 

And what about the Facebook page?

A STITCH IN CRIME ON FACEBOOK

And of course, while the book comes out May 1st, you know you pre-order it RIGHT NOW, right?

GET IT ON AMAZON!

Available May 1st!

#

February Question:

What do you love about the genre you in most often?

I think I've said this before, but I write fantasy mostly because I can just make everything up. It's not even that I don't like doing research - I quite like it, actually - but I hate writing something that someone will inevitably say "That's not how it works!" Well, if everything happens in a made-up world that I created, then PFFFT, too bad, it works exactly the way I say it does.

Of course, my story in Stitch in Crime is actually set in the real world, without any fantasy elements at all. It's a gritty noir thriller, or as gritty as I ever get, anyway. Also, unlike most of my stories, it's not set in Canada, but in the exotic and seedy urban metropolis of Mount Vernon, Washington. I actually had to do a tiny bit of research to look up some street and business names in Mount Vernon, but I'm sure someone is going to point out inaccuracies. I assume there are tens of thousands of people from Mount Vernon who read this blog.

A wretched hive of scum and villainy.

#

The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Writers post their thoughts on their blogs, talking about their doubts and the fears they have conquered. It's a chance for writers to commiserate and offer a word of encouragement to each other. Check out the group at http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/.