Coming soon--Chimera in Vella

 I'm giving Vella another trial after finding this cover (and another) from Chris at Novel Storm on Etsy. (Find it here.)

My story is a future, space opera-ish take on Robert Louis Stevenson's Island of Dr. Moreau. I've been playing with the idea for years!

CHOSEN ...Fight Like a Girl now on pre-order

 

Stories of bad-ass women (some of them with swords) available on preorder now. I have two stories in this collection. One by my pen name Kat Parrish, one by Katia Kozar. The stories will fit into my Twelve Realms world and be short works of epic fantasy. 

Find it here.

Speaking of epic fantasy, I watched Dungeons and Dragons today, which I enjoyed very much. I never played the game, but I know all the tropes and it was to see how the writers handled them Loved the fat dragon. It looked like Hugh Grant was having a great time. Ditto Chris Pines. Not a rod of lordly might in sight and nobody paid for their drinks with coppers!

Seasons of Silver Birch out today and FREE on Kindle

 The Christmas Experience was my first novel as a romance writer, and I created the fictional town of Silver Birch, Washington to be its location. At the time I was living in Bellingham, Washington (it's so gorgeous in the fall that it almost looks like it's a fairyland). I took my favorite parts of the city, embellished them, and before I knew it, I'd written a bunch of novellas and short stories based in Silver Birch. So I decided to combine them. The result is more tha 400 pages of cozy romance with all the tropes--second chance, friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, surprise love, holiday romance. The  book is out now and it' free on Kindle. 

I had a lot of fun writing the stories. I hope you will enjoy reading them. 

Find it here.

Magic Discovered...now on preorder.

 

This new anthology was a lot of fun. My story, "Dragon Moon," is about what happens when the employees of a bookstore in Toronto are stuck inside at closing time when Dragons suddenly start appearing. It's got all my favorite tropes--enemies to friends, the outsider becoming a hero, working class kids and intellectual dreamers, and lots and lots of books. I think you might enjoy the story, and all the other ones you'll find inside. You can preorder it here. 

A new series...coming soon

 I've lately been wanting to do something that combines historical fiction, spy thiller, and mystery. And as often is the case, I found a series of book covers that inspired me. Set in the WWI era, with a train, a dreadnought and a plane, the particulars of the character and the situations came to life. I'm still researching those. My grandfather served in WWI so it doesn't seem so long ago but more than a century?  All the covers have a similar sepia tone with the ghostly immages of WWI era machines in the background.

But then yesterday I was searching covers on Etsy and ran across a perfect cover by Puzzle Vault (www.etsy.com/shop/PuzzleVault). And it was perfect for updating my character to a new war and a new set of circumstances. It's in color, which helps sell the time shift. It's going to be set in 1937, 20 years after the first book ended. My hero is 50 and tired of "the Great Game." He was always a cynic, but now that cynicism is on the brink of turning dark.

All around him, he sees betrayal. Especially of the men who fought the war and the many who died. 

All around him, he sees disruption.

And all around him, he sees despair. For the mistakes after the Armistice have seeded the war that's coming and he fears it will be terrible.

His world has endured the Spanish Flu Epidemic. The Great Depression. The Advent of Talking Pictures. The Communist Revolution. 

The world was never simple but now it is more complex than ever.

I am eager to write these books but first I need to clear a bunch of sequels off my plate. 

Blue Hearts

 I'm starting to see Blue Heart gifs everywhere. i think this is my favorite:  https://tenor.com/view/heartonfire-blueheart-gif-11948513

I think symbolism is important. I don't wear t-shirts with slogans. I don't wear buttons or caps with initials on them. But my politics are pretty simple and pretty straightforward. I'm for kindness. I'm for inclusivity. i read banned books. I watch more than one news station. 

But wearing our (blue) hearts on our sleeve isn't enough. There is so such going wrong--everything, everywhere, and all at once--that it's really easy to be overwhelmed. And it's not like you can hit pause on your life and devote yourself full time to solving problems. But there are things you can do. 

Check out the suggestions from the ALA's Office of Intellectual Freedom. 

Join Unite Against Book Bans to find out abotu the latest legal shenanigans

Check out these tips on how to get nvolved. And read these books. Buy copies ad leave them in Little Libraries. Give them as gifts. 

BE AN ALLY

Support LGBTQ rights.

Support social justice for all Americans. Southern Poverty Law Center.

Advocate for gun sense. 

Everytown for Gun Safety

Texas Gun Sense

Moms Demand Action

Gun Sense Voter

Students Demand Action

The Brady Foundation (Take Acton, Not Sides)

Sandy Hook Promise

Giffords Law Center

One Aim (Illinois)

There's a lot going on right now.

Pay attention.

Read everything you can.

And vote.

Castle of Shadows is up for preorder

 

As you know, I love my fairytale retrellings. I was very pleased to be selected to participate in the Castle of Shadows boxed set. My story is a retelling of the Snow Queen called, "The Ice-bound Heart."

Here's the blurb:

What fairy tales lurk in the dark? Are they good or evil? Who gets their happily ever after, the heroes or the villains? 

Grab your pixie-dust, hoist up your sword, spin some gold, and take a climb into this riveting limited collection of fairy tales!

This collection will leave you breathless with wonder, shower you with laughter, and might even bring on a spout of tears. But have no fear! These twenty authors will be sure to give you a story you won't soon forget. 

Because let's face it . . . Not all fairy tales are meant to stay under the castle's shadow.

Here's where to preorder it for $4.99. It will be FREE on KU.