News and Notices from the Writing Trenches #164
It’s been a while. Or so it seems. I was very busy finishing three manuscripts—one, Goin’ the Extra Mile, has just been published (see below)— while expecting to receive edits and cover ideas from Black Opal Books for my new novel The Last Humans (again, see below), so that I’ve been focusing on writing blog articles and short fiction pieces rather than collecting news items for this newsletter. My apologies. Hopefully this installment will make up for that! (I’ll try to keep it short.)
Stan Lee. He had a good run, this genius who created the Marvel Universe. I think he started in 1939, but I didn’t start reading Marvel Comics until around ten or so. (I wish I’d kept all those comic books! What would they be worth now?) Of course, now new generations can watch his creations on the silver screen (I’ve reviewed some of those movies—see my blog archive “Movie Reviews” at https://stevenmmoore.com/blog ). He will be missed, and his creations will live on.
Holly Berry Show in Montclair, NJ. To all who stopped by and chatted and perused my books, thank you. This was a festive arts and crafts show, and it always puts people in a good mood for the holidays. I always say writing is both art and craft, so I was honored to participate in the show even though I was the only author there. To the raffle winners, I hope you enjoy my books!
Interviews. One good way to discover new and interesting authors is to read about them in interviews. I’ve contributed to that lately by interviewing some fantastic authors—see the “Interviews” archive at https://stevenmmoore.com/blog . Authors often discuss their motivations and how they write their stories. Most are rather candid in their answers. We’re all on spaceship Earth together, just doing our thing.
Small press catalogs. With those interviews, it became clearer to me that one can complement that discovery path to new books and new authors by perusing small press catalogs. Books get lost on Amazon and Smashwords (the latter retail site just changed their interface to join Amazon in burying “old” books—all mine are still current—and featuring “new” ones) and at other huge retail sites, whether online or at big book barns, so if you find small press authors you like, check out their publishers’ catalogs for other interesting and entertaining books. I’ve recently found a lot of entertaining books to read that way.
Bookstores. Or you can find new books at your favorite bookstore. Their books often offer access to small press books, but not always, and browsing through those stacks can be fun. Small bookstores are better. (In Montclair, NJ, check out https://www.watchungbooksellers.com/ .) If you have a book in mind and your bookstore doesn’t have it, see if they will order it. (That doesn’t work for ebooks, but if you have an ebook in mind, you can just buy the ebook online and download it.)
Libraries. We have a good one in Montclair, NJ. I’ve donated some of my books to it. I’m not sure they are all up to date about ebook borrowing, though. Ask for an ebook from a favorite author and see what they say. In any case, public libraries are great places to discover books to read. Support their programs.
Blog topics. It’s probably good to remind people about what I now feature in my blog. In addition to author interviews, you’ll find articles on reading, writing, and the publishing business. You’ll also find book and movie reviews. And you’ll find free short fiction from my colleague A. B. Carolan and me. All at https://stevenmmoore.com/blog.
Other free fiction. Besides what appears in my blog posts, archived in “Steve’s Shorts” and “ABC Shorts,” you can download any of the free fiction you find listed on the “Free Stuff & Contests” web page. There are also a few other free and downloadable PDFs of interest to readers and writers as well as book club members. If you’ve perused the list earlier, please do so again—new PDFs have been added recently.
Rembrandt’s Angel. Published in May 2017 by Penmore Press, my novel Rembrandt’s Angel was popular at the recent Holly Berry Show in Montclair, NJ, and it is still getting positive reviews.
Here’s one: “Steven Moore’s knowledge of current affairs and history is both obvious and impressive in this highly enjoyable read about the hunt for a rare missing painting stolen by the Nazi’s and now selling on a secretive dark market needing to be infiltrated. The various characters that Moore peppers us with never allow the reader to let their guard down in this winding path of intrigue. It’s part espionage and, just as enjoyably, part travel brochure as he takes us to different parts of the world for both scenic and culturally educational descriptions while simultaneously keeping his eye on the ball towards the goal of keeping us in suspense.”—Keith Steinbaum, in his Goodreads review.
Here’s another: “Steven Moore crafts a brilliant and complex international crime thriller that doubles as a modern-day spoof on an Agatha Christie mystery that would have involved both her well-known characters, Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot. Esther Brookstone, an aging Scotland Yard inspector who specializes in stolen art successfully solves the mystery of a disappeared Bernini bust, and along the way gets embroiled in the mystery of art treasures taken by the Nazis for Hitler’s museum, particularly the elusive ‘An Angel with Titus’ Features,’ Rembrandt’s lost masterpiece of his dead son. She joins forces with Interpol Agent Bastiann van Coevorden,’ a longtime friend and casual lover, to battle neo-Nazis, ISIS terrorists, and South American drug lords in her efforts to recover the painting. This is a wonderful tale that reinforces the fact that superheroes in books or films need not be twenty or thirty-year-olds…. A great read for all ages.”—Geza Tatrallyay, in his Goodreads review
(Caveat: take Geza’s last line with a grain of salt. Parts of the novel are a wee bit racy.)
If you read books that you like, including this one, take some time to help authors out by writing reviews of their books. Your reviews don’t have to be long, they help readers like you discover the book, and they help the authors know what readers like.
(See information about the sequel to Rembrandt’s Angel below.)
“Detectives Chen and Castilblanco Series” Smashwords sale. The above novel, like the novel The Golden Years of Virginia Morgan and the novella The Phantom Harvester (a free PDF download), are spin-offs from this series. Esther Brookstone first appears in The Collector; Bastiann van Coevorden makes several cameo appearances in the novels. Every week until 12/28, and starting 11/30, at least one of the ebooks from this seven-book series will be on sale at Smashwords for $0.99. (The Golden Years of Virginia Morgan, along with Soldiers of God, are offered at a special sale price only to my email newsletter subscribers.)
Goin’ the Extra Mile. The U.S. made the MECHs (“Mechanically Enhanced Cybernetic Humans”), Russia stole them, and now China wants them…and will kidnap Mary Jo Melendez and her family to get them. Returning to the globe-trotting suspense and action of #1 with many of the same actors as #2, this new and third book in the “Mary Jo Melendez Mysteries” is a rousing finale for this trilogy. Available on Amazon and Smashwords and all the latter’s affiliates (Apple iBooks, B&N, Kobo, and so forth).
Several reviews are already in (all 5 stars on Amazon and Goodreads so far). Here’s just one: “I was captivated by the end of the first chapter and I couldn’t stop reading. The author did an incredible job with character development and storyline. The twists and turns of this suspenseful read will have you turning pages as fast as possible. I was trying to guess what was going to happen next, but the author kept surprising me. I enjoyed every chapter of this book and look forward to reading more from this author.”—Valerie, in her Goodreads review.
The Last Humans. Goin’ the Extra Mile was a recently finished novel manuscript that was just published. The next one published will probably be this post-apocalyptic thriller from Black Opal Books (2019). Ex-USN diver and LA County Sheriff’s Deputy Penny Castro survives the apocalypse, but will she survive the aftermath? Her adventures in the SoCal wasteland are full of action and suspense as she tries to create a safe refuge for her new family. (Penny and Mary Jo above would be good friends, I’d bet.)
Son of Thunder. You’ve read Rembrandt’s Angel (Penmore Press), right? This is its sequel, the third manuscript from the novel-writing marathons I’ve run this year. Here Scotland Yard Inspector Esther Brookstone and paramour and Interpol Agent Bastiann van Coevorden meet artist Sandro Botticelli and the disciple St. John the Divine…but there’s no time travel! (I’ve submitted this manuscript for publication.)
Social media. I assume you’re reading this newsletter at my website or in your feed. My Facebook page and Twitter feed @StevenMMoore4 (I’m surprised there are only four!) can be considered extensions of this blog—little snippets of news to fill in the gaps between newsletters (as you’ve seen, those can be considerable!).
However, just an FYI: I will no longer be posting on my personal feed at Facebook until Ms. Sheryl Sandberg is fired. Her campaign against Mr. Soros was unconscionable. Is she a secret agent for the right-wing Hungarian government? I suspect Mr. Zuckerberg was involved in that too—he didn’t appear to testify before the EU committee. It’s time to regulate Facebook and Google, I’m afraid.
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Comments are always welcome.
Around the World and to the Stars! In libris libertas!
