A meme is worth a thousand words

I've worked in a sexist business since I was in my 30s. If I blushed every time a man used the C word or the P word around me, I'd  be permanently beet red. I've heard producers candidly dismiss actresses because they weren't sexy enough (or because they didn't want to sleep with them and as Rachel Maddow would say, "That's not the word they used.")

I saw one of Donald Trump's female surrogates on CNN yesterday defending what he said on the leaked Access Hollywood tape as just being the way people in Hollywood talk. And you know--she wasn't wrong. There are people in Hollywood who do talk like that. But they're not running for president.

Another Great Cover

And another book for the TBR pile. This one is a "Roaring Twenties" fairy tale retelling  that came up in the "also boughts" section when I was checking out another book. The cover caught my eye. So many books!  But this is a three-day weekend so I see some reading in my future.

Free Monday Mystery

I'm signed up for a lot of the newsletters that showcase free Kindle books. When I'm feeling a little light in the wallet, it comforts me to know that I can still have new books to read without spending any money. (I spend a lot of money on books when I have it to spare, so I'm not one of what a friend of mine calls a "greedy grabber" who won't spend money on books and just slurps up all the freebies.)
Today it's Mystery Monday, and I snagged this thriller, the first of a series set on the Oregon Coast. I'm still new to the Pacific Northwest, so I'm eager to see how it's depicted in The Gray and Guilty Sea.

A luminous novel of female empowerment

I'd heard of Caroline Herschel before, sister of the composer/astronomer William Herschel. (He is the man who discovered Uranus, which was once known as "Herschel's Planet.") When I stumbled across this book on Pinterest, on a board dedicated to beautiful covers, my curiosity was piqued. (I LOVE the cover.) The Stargazer's Sister was a wonderful historical novel and I recommend it highly.

Free Sci Fi and Fantasy Books

Love free books?  Click here to go to Patty Jansen's monthly promo site where you can choose your favorite retailer. Just one click gives you a choice of more than 100 books in all flavors of sci fi and fantasy. You'll find short reads like my book Daughter of the Midnight King there, along with Heartblaze 1: Vampire Soul, The Cobweb Bride, and many others I KNOW you've been dying to read. And did I mention it's FREE???

Cover reveal--my new urban fantasy series

I know that generally you reveal a cover when you're about to actually publish your latest novel, but I am so excited about this new cover that I can't wait. It was created by Kristyn McQuiggan of Drop Dead Designs, who sells both premades and custom covers. (There's a pre-made I have my eye on right now that's pretty stunning.)

This image is fabulous, I think. The model is gorgeous, the photoshopping is fine, and the overall urban fantasy concept just works beautifully. Go check out her work. She prices her work for the indie author on a budget but her work doesn't look like those cheap covers you pick up on Fiverr. (She includes the print book wraparound in her cover prices, and they are VERY affordable.)

An anthology of political satire

My story, "Looking Good America," is part of this new anthology, We've Been Trumped, timed to hit the bookstores a month before the election. The genre is political satire, the them is what life might be like under a Trump presidency. There are some excellent stories in the collection, and if you enjoy snark, you might enjoy them.