Friday the 13th! The origins come from the Middle Ages. If you’re afraid of the day as being unlucky, curl up and read a good book…especially if the weather no longer looks like summer! (Obviously I don’t believe in the bad luck–I wouldn’t offer my newsletter otherwise.)

School time! It’s here again: School buses, kids on the streets, walking or in bicycles…Every driver must expect the unexpected now, because, as Art Linkletter used to say, “Kids do the darnedst things” (okay, he actually said “say the darnedest things,” but I wanted to generalize). Have you seen the signs that say “Drive as if your kids lived here.” We all have to do that now, with schools back in session. Be a watchful, careful driver. In particular, if a school bus has flashing red lights and that “Stop!” sign out, it’s illegal to pass.

Terrible segue? Kids will be writing book reports soon. Maybe they have a list to choose from, or maybe they can choose their own. If the latter case, think about young adult novels for ages 12 to 18. Children’s lit is often divided into children’s, middle, and young adult books—it’s a bit like movies going from general to PG-13. For young adults (and adults who are young at heart), please consider A.B. Carolan’s sci-fi mysteries.

The first, The Secret Lab, features four tweens living on the International Space Station in the future as they try to discover the origins of a mutant cat. The second, The Secret of the Urns, follows the adventures of a young girl living on a satellite of a Jupiter-like planet who wants to study the ETs there; she must first combat the hatred and bigotry of the few humans, including her parents. The third, Mind Games, has a young teen trying to discover who killed her foster father; she’s forced to develop her ESP powers in the process.

All these books were written for young adults—A.B. and I love writing for them. All the books take place in my sci-fi universe, but at different times so they can be read independently. For reviews, please see Amazon or this website.

Want to perform a good deed? We have our own wolf preserve here in NJ, but a group of writers called the Wolfpack has found a way to help both wounded wolves and wounded warriors, i.e. veterans with physical disabilities and/or mental problems. The anthology of wolf-themed short stories and poems Once Upon a Wolfpack is now available on Amazon—there are both print and ebook versions. All royalties will be donated to …, where veterans help wolves at the preserve and around the U.S.

Sales. You won’t find them here in this online newsletter or on my website. Sorry. They’re only offered in my email newsletter. (Sign up for it using my contact page at this website.) All my books are reasonably priced, though, even the print versions, where available.

Free fiction. Check out the list on the “Free Stuff & Contests’ web page. If you like what you download from that list, or the free fiction you find in my blog categories “Steve’s Shorts” and “ABC Shorts,” please consider donating to one of my favorite charities (see the “About the Author” web page for a list)…or one of yours. My free PDFs are like open source software. Instead of sending me whatever you can for my stories, your charitable donations will motivate me to offer you even more free fiction.

Son of Thunder. Scotland Yard Inspector Esther Brookstone, now retired, becomes obsessed with finding St. John’s tomb, following the directions left by a traveling companion of Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli. Interpol agent Bastiann van Coevorden tries to keep her focused and safe while multitasking in his efforts to thwart illegal gun merchants. You can also follow how Esther and Bastiann’s romance progresses.

This is a sequel to Rembrandt’s Angel. Coming real soon from Penmore Press. And don’t worry—you can read it independently from the first book, but while you’re eagerly awaiting the next adventure in the “Esther Brookstone Art Detective” series, you might enjoy reading that first book.

That’s all, folks!

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Comments are always welcome.

“Detectives Chen and Castilblanco Series.” Their homicide cases often go from local to national and international—for example, Gaia and the Goliaths. In this seventh book of the series, the homicide case of an environmental activist leads to the discovery of an international conspiracy perpetrated by a US energy conglomerate and a Russian oligarch. Bastiann van Coevorden, Interpol agent and paramour of Esther Brookstone in Rembrandt’s Angel, has a cameo in the novel. And the villain of the first book in the series, The Midas Bomb, continues to play a nefarious role. But which side is he really on? Lots of entertaining reading for mystery, crime, and suspense fans! Available on Amazon and Smashwords and at all the latter’s affiliated retailers (iBooks, B&N, Kobo, etc.).

Around the world and to the stars! In libris libertas! 

 

This entry was posted on Friday, September 13th, 2019 at 3:27 am and is filed under News and Notices from the Writing Trenches. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.