TNBBC's The Next Best Book Blog

The 40 But 10: J. Todd Kingrea

noreply@blogger.com (TNBBC Super Mod) — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 09:00:00 +0000

I've pulled together 40ish questions - some bookish, some silly - and have asked authors to limit themselves to answering only 10 of them. That way, it keeps the interviews fresh and connectable for all of us!

Today we are joined by J. Todd Kingrea. J Todd is the author of With A Blighted Touch and The Deiparian Saga (The Witchfinder, The Crimson Fathers, and Bane of the Witch). He has also authored two non-fiction books, two short stories, and role-playing game scenarios. When not writing, he enjoys collecting and watching movies, reading, and prowling through dusty old bookstores. He and his wife live in Galax, Virginia. You can find him online at www.jtoddkingrea.com, on Facebook, X, and Instagram. Stay in touch at jtoddkingrea@yahoo.com.

What made you start writing?

I started in the early 1990s with a desire to write for “The Call of Cthulhu” role-playing game. I knew a few of the freelancers who did that and developed relationships with them. They helped me hammer out problems in the early scenarios I created for the game, and I ended up having a couple of them published. My first two short stories appeared in print in the mid-1990s.

My wife and I have two sons. As they were growing up, I didn’t have much time to write, so it got put on the back burner. Around 2011, I got back into writing. I published a Christian devotional book and followed that with a church leadership book. Since both were non-fiction, I started to wonder if I could write a novel.

I did a lot of research for The Witchfinder, book I of my Deiparian Saga trilogy, and I read a lot of creative writing books. I had to learn how to write a novel. I’m not sure how I jumped straight into a trilogy the first time out; that seemed like a backward way of doing things. However, the story I wanted to tell was too big for one book. So, I found a publisher that contracted for all three books and they were all in print by 2022.

The Deiparian Saga is a post-apocalyptic epic fantasy tale. By the time I finished the final book, I was ready to turn my attention to horror. With A Blighted Touch came next, followed by my most recent release, Only Angels Have Blue Eyes.

Why do you write?

Like most authors, I write because I want to tell stories. A good idea catches our attention and draws us in. We play around with characters, settings, dialogue, and plot to create the best story we can.

I like to challenge myself when I write. The first time I did that was with The Witchfinder. I wanted to know if I could pull off a novel. The next time I challenged myself to complete the trilogy. For With A Blighted Touch, I challenged myself to synthesize a lot of stories told to me by a close friend. Only Angels Have Blue Eyes emerged because I challenged myself to write a female main character. All my previous leads had been male. Could I write a believable female to carry the story? I suppose the readers will have to decide if I succeeded or not.

Do you think you’d live long in a zombie apocalypse?

Oh, absolutely! I was watching zombie films long before zombie films became cool. I’ve seen and read enough about it that I think I’d be a pretty good survivor. I wouldn’t be one of those important folks like doctors, mechanics, nurses, or survivalists, but I’d be able to contribute in some way.

What is your favorite book from childhood?

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. I can still read it today and love it just as much as I did back then.

Do you DNF books?

Yes. If I’m reading a book that doesn’t click with me, I move on to something else. Life’s too short to read books that you don’t like.

What’s the best money you’ve ever spent as a writer?

I’d have to say buying books on creative writing. I never studied the subject in school. I don’t have any kind of creative writing degree. So, I needed to learn as much as I could about the craft of writing. I’ve found many nice used books on plot, character emotions, scenes, dialogue, publicity, editing, etc. I’d encourage writers to hit their local used bookstores for creative writing resources. You’ll learn a lot that will help your craft.

What are you currently reading?

Starve Acre by Andrew Michael Hurley and Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA and More Tell Us About Crime by Val McDermid.

Do you read the reviews of your books, or do you stay far, far away from them, and why?

I try to read every review. I believe that if readers take the time to share their thoughts, I need to honor that by reading them, especially if I’ve been pestering people for reviews! It’s enjoyable to see how different people respond to different aspects of a novel.

What songs would be on the soundtrack of your life?

“The Secret of My Success” by Night Ranger.

“Wasted Years” by Iron Maiden.

“Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey.

“Flavor of the Weak” by American Hi-Fi.

“Dancing With Myself” by Billy Idol.

“Jokerman” by Bob Dylan.

“Shout It Out Loud” by KISS

The entire “Operation: Mindcrime” album by Queensryche.

The entire “Hi-Fidelity” album by REO Speedwagon.

Most anything from ZZ Top.

If you could have a superpower, what would it be?

That’s easy: the power of flight. I’d love to be able to fly under my own power.

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Purchase a copy here

Things are looking up for Maylin Cole and her 4-year-old daughter, Margo. Fleeing an abusive relationship, the private clinic Heaven’s Hope offers shelter and the promise of a new life. Led by the charismatic and beguiling Seraph Nakir, they learn a surprising truth: they’re actually angels who have lost their way.

Everyone has an angel name and is being prepared to ‘ascend’ when the time is right. Their angelic identities will play a significant role in aiding humanity when the world ends.

As the weeks pass, Maylin becomes accustomed to the peculiar confrontational therapy. The black curtains and bars on the windows no longer trouble her. The lack of privacy, mystifying theology, and strange rules become commonplace. She sees Margo less frequently since the children are kept in the basement.

The death of another patient awakens Maylin to dark secrets within the walls, and soon the horrifying truth about Nakir and Heaven’s Hope is revealed. Maylin must confront her insecurities, rediscover her individuality, and use her wits and resources if she hopes to save Margo and the other children.

Inspired by a true crime case, this slow-burn thriller roars to a pulse-pounding climax, reminding the reader to think independently, ask questions, and be careful who you trust.

Warning: This story contains descriptions of domestic abuse, indoctrination, and child abuse.

*AI disclosure - the author states this book was created 100% by humans. AI was not used in any aspect of it's creation or cover.

The 40 But 10: Karlo Petigny

noreply@blogger.com (TNBBC Super Mod) — Mon, 05 Oct 2026 09:00:00 +0000

Today we are joined by Karlo Petigny. Karlo is a Canadian writer drawn to dark, cinematic stories where ordinary people are trapped inside systems that should not exist. CUSTODIAN EMBEDDED is his debut novel and the first book in The Continuity Cycle.

Why do you write?

Because I have to. I constantly have stories running through my head, and eventually they have to go somewhere. For years, I procrastinated because I doubted myself. There are so many great writers out there. Would my stories be good enough? Would anyone want to read them?

The original idea for CUSTODIAN EMBEDDED came to me fifteen years ago. I finally decided to write it because I had never read or seen a story quite like it - especially one built around this kind of preserved presence without becoming a traditional ghost story.

What made you start writing?

I took a Udemy course on writing and decided it was time to stop postponing it. Despite my busy work schedule, I made the time and sacrificed a lot to take the project seriously. I collected my ideas in a master story bible, organized the entire concept, and started writing.

What do you do when you're not writing?

I ride motorcycles, snowboard, go to the gym when I can, and play guitar. Music has always been a major part of my life, especially metal.

What's your kryptonite as a writer?

Starting and ending a book. Starting means facing the blank page and turning a huge collection of ideas into an actual story. Ending means deciding when the story is truly finished and letting it go.

Describe your book in three words.

Eerie. Absurd. Dark.

If you met your characters in real life, what would you say to them?

"Chill out, mate. You are not the one sitting in that chair."

If you could cast your characters in a movie, which actors would play them and why?

I would cast Anya Taylor-Joy as Nora. She has the intensity, intelligence, and unusual screen presence the character needs. She can communicate fear, suspicion, and dark humor without overplaying any of them.

If you could spend the day with another author, who would you choose and why?

Stephen King. He has remained prolific, relevant, and creatively driven for decades. I would want to understand how he continues generating ideas, maintains that level of discipline, and keeps writing after accomplishing so much.

What would you do if you could live forever?

Everything. I would learn as much as possible, travel everywhere, master every skill that interested me, and create without worrying that time was running out.

What scares you the most?

Not accomplishing what I have set out to do. Failure does not scare me as much as reaching the end of my life knowing I did not fully pursue what I was capable of.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Series: The Continuity Cycle, Book One

Released September 22, 2026

The house was free. The contract was not.

Nora Feldman thought divorce had finally freed her from the Feldman family.

Then her billionaire ex-father-in-law dies and leaves her a house, a monthly stipend, and a condition tied to BioContinuum's newest funeral technology: the Continuity Suite.

The company calls it care. The lawyers call it binding. The homeowners association calls it compliant.

Nora calls it hell.

What begins as a grotesque inheritance arrangement soon becomes a nightmare of corporate control, biotech grief, suburban surveillance, and polite language hiding something monstrous.

In Feldman Oaks, even death comes with terms and conditions.

CUSTODIAN EMBEDDED is a darkly comic speculative horror novel about inheritance, obedience, and the terrifying business of keeping the dead close.

Other links to connect with the author: Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | X

* AI disclosure - the author used AI to assist with research, proofreading, and cover generation.

What I Read in September

noreply@blogger.com (TNBBC Super Mod) — Sun, 04 Oct 2026 13:06:16 +0000

Here's what I read in September. 11 books total. Of those, one was 5 stars, five were 4 stars, three were 3 stars, and two were 2 stars. Not the best month I've had but definitely not the worst.

Eight of the eleven were review copies, One was audio, Five were print. The longest book was 381 pages. The shortest was 106. A total of 2691 pages read.

Phantom Limb by Brian Evenson

I literally just finished Last Days, which I friggen adored, and wasted no time diving straight into the sequel the second I swiped that final page.

Phantom Limb picks up some time after Last Days leaves off, with our guy Kline facing jail time... but not for what he did to The Pauls or The Brotherhood. He assumes he's incognito, beliving he’s finally crawled out of that amputee‑cult horrorshow free and clear, but learns pretty fast that the promises made to him are already being broken. Inside those prison walls, the zealots are still hunting him, still convinced he’s theirs.

It’s just as grody, just as violent, and maybe even a little weirder than its predecessor, which is saying something. And while it didn’t hit quite as hard for me as Last Days did (sequels rarely do), it’s still a damn solid follow‑up and an absolute blast of a return to one of the coolest protagonists out there. Missing limb, missing toes, missing patience — Kline remains an all‑time fave!

I had a helluva time hanging out with him again.

Ship of Death by Kyle Winkler

Another highly anticipated release that did not disappoint. I’m honestly so glad I didn’t let my hatred of Grasshands turn me away from this one — I cannot believe these two books came from the same person.

The Ship of Death unfolds through non‑traditional storytelling: journal entries, after‑game reports, forum chats, and excerpts from the rulebooks for the mysterious board‑game/RPG hybrid Cory and his wife are playtesting. From what they can tell, it’s part large‑scale board game, part role‑playing campaign, and intriguing as hell. So intriguing, in fact, that Cory starts bringing pieces of it to work just to read and obsess over while his wife sets things up at home.

But then the weirdness starts. Strange things begin happening around (and to) them as they play. It doesn’t take long before the world inside the game starts bleeding into the real one. And when it does, the book shifts from fun and fanciful to totally unhinged and fucked up.

Something got out that desperately wants back in… and something inside does not want it to.

I know I’ve been saying this a lot lately, but The Ship of Death honestly blew me away. I didn’t want to put it down, and the only reason I didn’t finish it in one sitting was because I had to work the next day and needed at least a little sleep. All the stars. All I wanted it to be and more. And I probably owe some of my love for this book to my husband who is an avid board gamer, D&D campaigner, and the reason I understood most of the gameplay unfolding on the page.

Go. Get it. Read it. Tell me I’m wrong.

The Flayed Man by Chloe Lauter

Was I sad that I got declined for a NetGalley copy of this book? Yes, totally.
Did that stop me from trying to get my hands on it the second it released? Absolutely not.

And did it take forever because none of the bookstores near me were carrying it and I had to stalk PangoBooks until someone finally listed a used copy? It sure did. But once I got my grubby little hands on it, I couldn’t wait to dive in.

Was it everything I thought it would be? Strangely … no.

It's not like the other vampire books I’ve been reading. Though, that’s kinda been the trend. Every vampire book I’ve picked up this year has brought something new and unique to the table. And honestly, good on all these authors for giving the classic genre a little shakey‑shakey, oven‑bakey by cooking up fresh additions to the canon.

By the way, did anyone else think Lauter’s vampires had a little too much werewolf energy? If they didn’t feed regularly, their bodies would morph and shift, and not in the growing vampy teeth way. It felt a bit like the vampire‑lycan hybrids from those Kate Beckinsale movies, and once I thought that, I couldn’t stop seeing it.

Was I totally blown away? No. But don’t get me wrong when I say that. I really enjoyed the book and practically inhaled it in a single day. Ellis and her mother (who’s dealing with early‑onset Alzheimer’s) have a compelling dynamic. The concept of a flayed man who will come and take them away if they don't behave was intriguing as well, but even with that, the vampiric lore and its broader backstory felt a little underdeveloped. And full disclosure... I wasn’t the biggest fan of Ellis’s romantic obsession with Veer. I thought the whole relationship felt forced and cringey. Maybe because I found Veer herself to be really cringey. Give me less “should I kiss her or should she kiss me” and more gore and chaos any day.

But there’s so much here to love. Even with my quibbles, it’s a fast, weird, bloody ride, and I’m glad I finally got to read it.

If you liked Night's Edge, you'll very likely dig this.

Crone by Keith Rosson

Keith Rosson has definitely found his audience with Coffin Moon, and as a long‑time fan of his work, it’s refreshing to see him continue that high‑stakes weirdness with Crone. From vampires to witches, he’s out here capturing and singlehandedly wrecking readers’ hearts, book after book.

Crone leans hard into grief fiction. Eli’s disabled teenage daughter, Hannah, disappears one night, and his entire world collapses. He spirals into wire... a crystal drug slipped under the nailbed that dissolves reality into a dreamlike haze... gets kicked off the police force, goes on a violent tear trying to track down whoever took his kid, and ends up deeply indebted to local dealer Trying Dave Novak. Truly Olympic‑level bad luck.

Thirteen years later, with no leads and nothing left but guilt, Eli runs into Hannah’s childhood friend Avery — the last person who saw her step into that blue van. Avery’s return brings a rival drug crew, old wounds, and fresh danger. And when one of Novak’s sons turns up gruesomely dead in the woods, Novak turns to Eli to solve the murder.

Meanwhile, the dead are clawing their way out of graves. Sightings of a pale woman with grey hair and massive wings are increasing. Bodies are piling up. And Eli starts to realize that every strange, witchy, torn‑up thing happening around him might be tied to Hannah’s disappearance all those years ago.

It’s a story about shame, loss, and revenge. Crone is slow to start, but once it kicks into gear, nothing stands between these characters and the reckoning coming for them. I’ll be honest, Coffin Moon hit harder for me, but Crone shows Rosson is absolutely onto something with this new lane he’s carving out. Weird, bleak, supernatural, and emotionally raw, he’s building a canon worth paying attention to.

The Man in the Watch Still Visits Me at Night by Joshua Chaplinsky

Oh man does this book really work your brain, especially if you're reading it in digital format. It's a haunted house (origin?) story that is told out of order across three main overlapping timelines. It starts off kind of chill as it sets everything up but whoa nelly when the weird stuff starts creeping in and everyone starts realizing that nothing is what it seems inside the Vogel House.

If you grew up in the 80's and 90's like I did, there really wasn't a whole heck of a lot of adult supervision and you were kind of left to your own devices when it came to keeping yourself occupied. On more than one occassion, my friends and I may have let ourselves in to new homes that were still mid-construction or homes and hotels that were decrepid and abandoned for a change of scenery. Never to vandalize or steal... just to hang. Reading this book brought those memories back full force and had me wondering, what if one of the places I snuck into decided not to allow us to sneak back out? What if I got stuck in there, in an endless fear-inducing loop of attempting to escape...

Joshua Chaplinsky's The Man in the Watch Still Visits Me at Night is what you would get if House of Leaves, Monster House, Backrooms, and Groundhogs Day all hooked up and had a freaky ass little baby. Unlike anything you've read before, but also so eerily familiar, and I'm not shamed to say that I enjoyed every second of it.

Strange New Moons Anthology

Man it's taken me a while to get to this one, and I'm not terribly ashamed to admit it would likely still be sitting in my TBR pile had my husband not wandered into my antilibrary, wanting to choose my next read for me, and randomly snatched it off one of the stacks.

This was a review copy that was sent to me back in 2024 (see how I'm telling on myself right now... see how far behind I get with arcs?). It's an anthology of wildly different werewolf stories - werewolves in space, a werewolf apocalypse, an alternate reality where once a month all females turn into 'bitches' and the men are trained to stay out of sight out of mind, kidnapped werewolves who are thrown into a concrete arena and made to fight to the death, you name it, it's in here.

For a 350 paged chunker, it reads fairly quickly. The stories are entertaining but not amazing. Fun but not fantastic. If you're looking for a quick, bloodsoaked read to get you closer to your end of year reading goal, you could do worse picking this one up.

The Unknown by Riley Sager

This was an ALC, and I nearly DNF’d it because of the narrator’s relentless talk‑whispering. She’d start a sentence at a normal volume and end it like she was confessing a secret in a church pew. I already have trouble hearing, so this audiobook had me feral.

The setup is solid but it took a while to pull me in. Five women shipped to a haunted island to “live” as the characters they’ll portray in a film, all of whom mysteriously disappeared a century ago. And wouldn’t you know it… history is determined to repeat itself.

The story spins its wheels for a while. Repetitive, slow, not quite gripping. But as we get closer to the end, we're hit with twist after twist and I was like, okay Riley, NOW we’re cooking, keep those coming.

When all was said and done?
Not horrible. Not great. A decent companion for a work commute.

But good lord, girl… please stop whisper‑speaking.

Rooted by Leopoldo Gout

Do all of Leopoldo’s books start painfully slow and then unleash all the chaos in the final act? Because at this point, Piñata and Rooted are making a very compelling case. It's good to lead with the weird... but not when it’s only in the prologue, which he seems to love to do.

And the prologue here is suuuuuch a tease. You rub your palms together thinking, okay, yaaaaas, this is gonna be good. And then the main timeline kicks in and you’re like… wait… is this the same book? When do we get back to the weird stuff? Soon? No? Oh, you’re going to make us wait a painfully long time, huh? Sigh.

In Rooted, we meet Aurora, returning home after many years away. She’s excited to see her mother again, and she’s coordinating the return of stolen ancient artifacts to her hometown museum. As with any homecoming story worth its weight, we know there’s a reason she left, even though the reason might not be clear yet... and now that she’s back, the memories and nightmares start rushing in, surfacing right as they unbox a creepy statue of Xipe Totec, The Flayed One, an old god who does not exactly bring comfort.

It’s another “that’s what you get for going home again” novel, this time filtered through Aztec mythology, Mexican folklore, a touch of body and eco horror, a generous scoop of mental instability, and a very… uhm… painful reconciliation? Or maybe it's more like a reckoning? Fuck it, it's kind of a bit of both.

When the ending finally brings the action, we remember the slow build up and the not‑quite‑horror vibe, so the book's imbalance kept this one from fully landing for me. Not bad enough to DNF, but not a book you'll see me raving about either. Which is shameful because hello, have you seen the cover? It's stunning.

The Sea Hides Its Dead by Megan Bontrager

Yeah... this was a no for me. I thought about DNFing it multiple times but I paid full price for it and wasn't allowing myself to just chuck it. But man I definitely should have. I had no idea it was going to be sooo long and painful and repetitive.

For those of you who haven't read it yet, it's basically a cosmic horror about a weird cave system that just suddenly appears out in the middle of the ocean one day. A professor of anthropology and his little side-piece research assistant immediately head out there with a small group of specialists to see what's what. Once they get there though, the front of the cave system collapses, locking them in, kickstarting a claustrophobic and torturous series of "tests" meant to appease the Leviathan that calls that place home.

I eyerolled. I sighed a lot. I counted the characters and realized Megan was going to keep us here for a while. Everytime I put it down, I was almost loathe to pick it back up.

And what's most disappointing... the first chapter contained two major no-fly-zone triggers for me - infidelity and an animal death. When the books goes all in right up front with both of those things, I mean... shame on me. I should have known better.

The writing was weird for me too and I had a hard time jiving with it. I don't know why, but I had a really hard time visualizing where they were and what was going on, even after going back and re-reading the descriptions. I felt like the author knew what she was writing but forgot that she needed to take the readers along and make it make sense for them.

I dunno. I see a lot of you loved it and I'm ok with being in the minority. It's a position I find myself in pretty frequently when reading the big five buzzy books...

Shrugs.

Glad it's behind me and that I can move on to the next.

The Eye of Goliath by Deigo Muzzio

First, thank you to Pushkin Press for their extreme patience with me. For whatever reason, the NetGalley PDF refused to transfer to my Kindle app, and I couldn’t get to it in the NetGalley app before it archived. After some failed troubleshooting, they kindly popped a print ARC in the mail and I’m so glad they did. This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, and I’m happy to confirm it did not disappoint.

The Eye of Goliath unfolds in a sanatorium where David Bradley, a mute and mentally disturbed engineer, has been placed under the care of psychiatrist Dr. Pierce. Pierce, who considers himself miles ahead of his peers, favors hypnosis as a cure for mental afflictions rather than the trendy, torturous methods of electroshock therapy and terapanning.

Through conversations with Bradley’s guardian and by reading Bradley’s journal, Pierce learns that Bradley, a once normally functioning and rational man, was sent out to an abandoned lighthouse to assess its structural defects and report his findings back to the Northern Lighthouse Board... a straightforward assignment that quickly became anything but. Alone on the island, Bradley discovers the grave of the last lighthouse keeper, an accused murderer sent there as a compromise to his prison sentence. Soon after, Bradley begins hearing voices and distant music, complains of objects being moved from where he last left them, and feels watched by a black albatross that begins circling the lighthouse.

What follows is a dark, atmospheric descent into isolation, trauma, and the lingering psychic wounds of WWI. It’s gothic, yes, but also deeply nautical and internationally horroresque, steeped in salt, shadow, and the eventual lose of one’s grip on reality.

It’s a slim novel that reads quickly, but it lingers. The mood, the dread, the ache of not being understood — all of it stays with you long after you’ve closed the final page.

For fans of books like The Autodidacts by Thomas Kendall, The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex, The Tower of Love by Rachilde....

Going to Summertime by Kaaron Warren

I love Meerkat Press to the moon and back and genuinely enjoy almost everything they publish. But every once in a while, a book just doesn’t click for me and despite my high hopes, Going to Summertime fell flat.

The premise sounds absolutely fantastic. A salon owner and her three hairstylists sign up for a team‑building exercise. Instead of doing something fun like an escape room, they sign up for a game of breaking and entering into a cluster of abandoned homes in a strangely cut‑off cul‑de‑sac. Each participant signs a waiver, enters the development alone, is assigned a different house, and whoever emerges first with a unique token or treasure wins.

From what I can tell, the only real prize is a major mind fuck of an experience, because nothing in Summerland Place is what it seems. And once they return to their Red Mullet Salon lives, each woman finds herself unexpectedly haunted by what happened there.

On paper, it sounds pretty badass and by all rights, it should have been. But Kaaron’s style of storytelling is both weirdly simple and extremely complicated, and it didn’t work for me. The writing was distracting, the characters felt underdeveloped, and I spent most of the book confused rather than intrigued.

It clocks in at just under 100 pages, so it’s a quick read. And honestly… thank god for that.

The 40 but 10: Yoav Avni

noreply@blogger.com (TNBBC Super Mod) — Mon, 28 Sep 2026 09:00:00 +0000

Today we are joined by Yoav Avni. He is an Israeli author, translator, editor, and writing mentor, born in 1969. His fiction includes novels and short stories. His novels have been published by two of Israel’s leading publishing houses, Kinneret Zmora Bitan and Keter. One of them, Three Things for a Desert Island, became a national bestseller, and he is a two-time winner of the Israeli Geffen Award for Best Speculative Novel, often regarded as Israel’s equivalent of the Hugo Award.His latest novel, Time Clocks, was published in Hebrew in December 2024 and will be published in English on September 29, 2026, by Roundfire Books in the UK and US. His novel Crossing a River Twice was first published in Hebrew in 2016 and is scheduled for English-language publication in the UK and the United States in 2027. Some of his short stories have been published in N-Zine (London), Words Without Borders, JewishFiction.net, and Jewcy. His writing blends magic realism and speculative fiction with humor, emotional warmth, and a deep curiosity about human nature, drawing inspiration from authors such as Tom Robbins, Kurt Vonnegut, Jerome K. Jerome, Gerald Durrell, and Douglas Adams.

Why do you write?
That’s a little like asking why I live. I’m a storyteller. Writing is my dialogue with the world.

What’s something that’s true about you but no one believes?
I have koumpounophobia, although in my case it isn’t really fear so much as a physical aversion to buttons. People usually think I’m joking. I’m not. There are no buttons in my wardrobe. None on my bedsheets either. It also raises a surprisingly philosophical question: what exactly makes a button a button? Is it the material? The shape? For me, it seems to be the holes and the thread between them. A random circle or square becomes a button once those appear. Which is why, for example, the metal fastener on a pair of jeans is perfectly legal. And of course: blessed be the inventor of the zipper.

What’s the best money you’ve ever spent as a writer?
Traveling, and a good laptop. One gives me material, the other gives me somewhere to put it.

Summarize your book using only gifs or emojis.
🕰️🎩👮‍♀️🔥⚔️💻❤️☕

Would you and your main character(s) get along?
Yes. Boaz Grand, the protagonist in Time Clocks, is about 85% me (and 15% water), so I think we’d get along just fine.

If you could spend the day with another author, who would you choose and why?
Jerome K. Jerome. I’d like to spend the day walking along the Thames with him, without George, Harris, or Montmorency, and hear him talk about all three.

What’s the one book someone else wrote that you wish you had written?
Richard Adams’s Watership Down. I wish I’d written it, but at least I had the privilege of translating it into Hebrew.

What’s the single best line you’ve ever read?
Tom Robbins, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues: “A book no more contains reality than a clock contains time.” I loved that line long before I wrote Time Clocks.

What’s on your literary bucket list?

To keep writing the books I would want to read but that haven’t been written yet, and to keep reaching new readers, communities, and languages with them.

What would you do if you could live forever?
The same things I do now, only with much greater peace of mind. And maybe a little more slowly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Purchase here

US | UK | Publisher's webpage

is a time-travel novel about learning to be present.Time Clocks

Boaz Grand is an AI developer whose system, FocalAI, has become famous for producing cryptic prophetic limericks on a popular television show. One unfortunate appearance by Boaz on the show ends with him losing his job.

On his way home, he encounters three people who seem to have arrived in present-day Israel from completely different periods of history: a biblical shepherd, a nineteenth-century Frenchman, and a policewoman from the 1980s. Somehow, their arrival appears to match part of FocalAI’s latest limerick, drawing Boaz into a much larger mystery involving artificial intelligence, friendship, memory, and time.

But beneath the time travel, the novel is really about our relationship with the present: learning to recognize it, feel at home in it, and accept that it is the only part of time we can actually live in.

The 40 But 10: G. Signore

noreply@blogger.com (TNBBC Super Mod) — Fri, 25 Sep 2026 09:00:00 +0000

Today we are joined by G. Signore. He is the author of The Cost No One Chose, Book I of The Open Debt, and the creator behind VARENIVA. His work focuses on speculative worlds built around rules, consequences, moral choice, and the human cost of systems that appear rational until reality stops behaving as expected.

What made you start writing?

It actually started as an experiment rather than a lifelong ambition to become a writer. I wanted to see whether I could take a complex idea, give it precise rules, build a coherent world around it, and turn it into a story that could stand on its own.

At some point, the experiment changed. The characters, the rules, and especially the consequences started creating questions I genuinely wanted answered. I stopped wondering whether I could write the story and started wanting to know where it would lead.

That became The Open Debt. So I can't really point to the moment I decided to become a writer. I can point to the moment I decided this story needed to exist.

Describe your book poorly.

People mess with reality. Reality sends the bill to the wrong address.

Do you read the reviews of your books or do you stay far far away from them, and why?

I read them. If someone has spent hours inside a world I created and then taken the time to explain what worked or didn't work for them, I want to know.

I don't think every criticism should automatically lead to a change, because different readers can want completely different things from the same story. But patterns matter. If several people independently react to the same element, that's information worth paying attention to.

I tend to approach reviews the same way I approach most things: not as a verdict, but as data. Sometimes uncomfortable data, admittedly, but still useful.

If you met your characters in real life, what would you say to them?

I'd probably start with an apology.

Not because I regret what happens to them, but because I know exactly why it happens, and they don't. As the author, I'm responsible for putting them in situations where every solution has a cost and even the right choice can hurt someone else.

Then I'd probably avoid telling them what happens next. I suspect some of them would have very strong opinions about me if they knew.

What's something that's true about you but no one believes?

Probably that I became an author without really being a reader.

I've always had a complicated relationship with reading. When I was younger, I mostly associated books with school and obligation, and even later I struggled to stay engaged with them for very long.

Strangely, that became part of the reason I started writing. I wanted to build a story that would keep giving me a reason to ask what happens next. In a way, I ended up trying to create the kind of book I had never managed to find for myself.

I realize that "I wrote a novel because I wasn't much of a reader" sounds slightly backwards. But apparently that's how I got here.

What's your kryptonite as a writer?

Knowing when to stop improving something.

I naturally tend to treat a story like a system: if I see something that can be made more coherent, more precise, or better connected to everything around it, I want to fix it. The problem is that there is almost always something else you could improve.

At some point, refinement stops being progress and becomes an excuse not to finish. Learning to recognize that line has probably been one of the hardest parts of writing for me.

Sometimes the most difficult decision isn't what to change. It's deciding that something is finished.

If you could time travel, would you go back to the past or forward into the future?

Forward. Definitely.

The past is fascinating, but we already know at least part of what happened. The future is the unanswered question.

I'd want to see which ideas survived, which problems we solved, which new ones we created, and which things we were completely wrong about. I'd probably be less interested in seeing flying cars than in discovering what people fifty or a hundred years from now consider perfectly normal.

Of course, knowing the future would immediately create another problem: deciding whether I should change anything when I came back.

And given what I write about, I should probably know better than to try.

What's on your literary bucket list?

I want to complete The Open Debt and see the story reach the scale I originally imagined for it.

But my ambitions go beyond a single series. I'd like to build different stories and worlds while continuing to develop the system behind them, VARENIVA OS™, which grew out of the way I organize, test, revise, and maintain consistency across a narrative project.

Ultimately, I'd like VARENIVA to become something capable of producing more than one story or one saga without losing the structure and identity behind them.

So my literary bucket list is probably less of a list and more of a construction project. Apparently I'm incapable of choosing the uncomplicated version of anything.

What's the one thing you wish you knew when you were younger?

That not knowing exactly where you're going isn't necessarily a problem.

I used to think you needed a clear destination before starting something important. Over time, I've learned that some of the most interesting things I've done began with curiosity rather than certainty.

The Open Debt is a good example. I didn't begin with a lifelong plan to become an author or build a publishing project. I started by testing an idea and following where it led.

I think I would tell my younger self to experiment more and worry less about whether every experiment already has a practical destination. Sometimes you discover the destination by building the road toward it.

Describe your book in three words.

Choice. Debt. Consequence.

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Out now

Purchase your copy here

Reality can be corrected, but every correction creates a debt. And the person who pays may not be the one who made the choice.

When measurements, memory, and evidence begin to disagree, Teren is forced into a world where two answers can both be true and every attempt to restore order carries a human cost. The Cost No One Chose is an adult speculative fantasy / science fantasy novel built around a rule-driven world, mystery, moral choices, and the consequences of changing reality.

Indie Ink Runs Deep: Ani King

noreply@blogger.com (TNBBC Super Mod) — Wed, 23 Sep 2026 09:00:00 +0000

Every now and then I manage to talk a small press author into showing us a little skin... tattooed skin, that is. I know there are websites and books out there that have been-there-done-that already, but I hadn't seen one with a specific focus on the authors and publishers of the small press community. Whether it's the influence for their book, influenced by their book, or completely unrelated to the book, we get to hear the story behind their indie ink....

Today's ink story comes from Ani King, whose released their story collection Family Night earlier this year with Mason Jar Press!

The Presence of Wildflowers by Ani King

I can be a particularly impulsive person, which is evident in all of my early tattoos. It is also evident in my writing process, which is largely a vibes and inspiration driven affair. A fair number of the stories in Family Night were written in stoplight bursts on my phone, or at the kitchen counter while asking if my family would be so kind as to let me just write this down, even though we might have been in the middle of something.

As far as my tattoos, I spent very little time considering what they should be beyond what felt cool in the moment, while also factoring the amount of money I had available at the time. I have a couple of terrifically stupid, cheap tattoos, including a playboy bunny with blue flames around it that I got on my stomach. I have since had two children and grown well into middle age and that bunny looks really bad now. I will not be sharing a picture here of that tattoo. I also do not fully remember the circumstances in which I chose it but will note that it is also a shared tattoo. Yes, someone else has the same bad tattoo, with the flames in a different color, and no, we were not sober. We don’t even know each other anymore. I tell you this first for a couple of reasons: it makes for good contrast against how long I spent thinking about and planning this wildflower forearm sleeve, and it probably will make most of the characters who inspired the tattoo seem a little obvious. I’m not saying that Anne Shirley or Jo March or Lolly Willowes would get an impulse tattoo (I’m lying, in modern times Jo for sure would have some embarrassing literary quote, I promise you), but I am absolutely saying that young adult Pippi Longstocking would have a left forearm full of ink and poke nonsense that she did herself. I will not be taking counter arguments.

This specific tattoo was always meant to do a lot of heavy metaphorical lifting, and so much like a short story that takes forever to complete, the style and intent shifted over the course of six years. It started with a list of words that I felt like I was reclaiming (obstinate, difficult, headstrong, stubborn, to name a few); I had also just come to the full realization that I am non-binary. Gender non-compliant, if you’re nasty. As I thought about the words themselves, I found myself returning to foundational books and characters, largely from my elementary and preteen years. For a brief moment, I thought about getting a typographically interesting box of the most impactful words, with wildflowers growing out of the box. I like the imagery and how it would let me throw a little love for Michigan into the mix. As well, wildflowers are stubborn plants, weedy and prone to growing even where they might not be wanted, and they tend to survive where other more delicate or desirable flowers would not.

As a person who is prone to impulsive decision, I have always needed at least a couple of rules that keep me employable and from having too much expensive regret. My three tattoo rules are: no words or names, no political symbols (ask me how I came up with this one, and yes, the answer is a very expensive cover job), no flags. As you can see, I was prepared to break one of those pretty quickly. I was having a really hard time bringing all the elements—the flowers, the characters, the words and meanings—in a way that sounded at all appealing. As much as I am an artist, I am not a tattoo artist, and that was evident after five years of trying to come up with something.

My tattoo artist did an amazing job, though I did not remotely explain the relationships between the flowers, characters (and one author) or words and feelings that they were representing. I managed to tell her which flowers I was keen on (except I forgot one), and that I didn’t want it to be too structured. What she designed after a five-minute interaction is perfect: sketchy, organic, and very free. She added a few more flowers that pop up here in Michigan and included the ferns I had forgotten. A fun final fact: I didn’t get to see the design until the day of my appointment, so in a way it felt a bit impulsive because I took one look, fell in love, and about twelve minutes later my artist inked the first line.

Pippi Longstocking, Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren, 1945 | Goldenrod (Solidago nemoralis)

Picture of a white person’s forearm with a sketch-style tattoo of wildflowers.
This image is focused on the Goldenrod part of the tattoo,
which has black-lined stems and leaves and unlined yellow blossoms.

Until I was about eight, I lived in a conservative, restrictive environment. I largely read select Little Golden Books, and Bible stories or books that were tied to Bible stories in some way. Sometimes it surprises me that Pippi Longstocking made its way to me in that time period, considering what subversive female character she was compared to how I was supposed to behave. I related far more to Annika and Tommy Settergren than Pippi, and like them I think I found her as terrifying as I did amazing. Pippi was the very definition of non-compliant. She was willful and confident and headstrong, and she was always asking why, and while not without her problems, she was very happily herself.

A lot of the time, Pippi is treated like a nuisance, like she’s too much, like she’s a problem to be managed into obedience, and Goldenrod is a hardy, beautiful, overpowering plant that millions of people are allergic to, and bees and other bugs and birds love this flower. In fact, Goldenrod is tremendously important to bees in that it provide nectar and pollen in quantity, and it’s still around in late summer and early fall when other plants are already done for the year. I like to think Pippi in real life would be a stay too late at the party until someone very directly explains that it’s time to leave kind of person.

Anne Shirley, Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery, 1908 | Queen Anne’s Lace (Daucus carota)

Picture of a white person’s forearm with a sketch-style tattoo of wildflowers.

This image is focused on the Queen Anne’s Lace part of the tattoo,

which is lightly done black line work, to emphasize the delicacy of the blossoms.

Where Pippi is honestly kind of cool, Anne is dramatic and messy. She has big feelings all the time and she desperately wants to be beautiful, and just as desperately wants to be good, but she also wants to be loved as herself.

The core thing about Anne is she’s so vulnerable. Her layer of armor barely covers her deep sensitivity, and her heart lives on the outside of the armor. While it’s not graphic, on the page trauma, Anne goes through being moved around foster homes, often chosen or rejected based on her gender and usefulness; she’s known hunger, she knows enough to try and get in front of all the complaints Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert are going to have, because she’s heard it all before. But still, there’s a bit of her that cracks every time she’s confronted with her supposed flaws, no matter how much she tries to summon the mantle of graciousness that might hide it when then remark cuts. Associating her with Queen Anne’s Lace is pretty obvious, but if there’s any wildflower that simultaneously belies its own toughness and fragility, it’s this one.

Jo March, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, 1868/1869 | Chicory (Cichorium intybus)

Picture of a white person’s forearm with a sketch-style tattoo of wildflowers.
This image is focused on the Chicory part of the tattoo,
which has lightly sketched purple blossoms and watercolor style leaves and stem.

Chicory is a hardy plant, said to represent perseverance, determination, and adaptability. I think it’s a flower worthy of representing Jo March, who was in many ways representing her creator, and I like to think they would both appreciate the comparison. When I look at Chicory on the side of the road hanging out with all the other ditch weeds, I think, Dang that is a masculine but jaunty plant! I love that Jo March is rough and wild and boyish, and also tenderhearted to boot. Her best friend is a boy who is in love with her and she is not in love with him, and I remember thinking of the boys I had friendships with, that I roughhoused and spit and swore with, as being a part of a brotherhood with me, and what a blow it is to find out those boys were thinking of me like a girl. I didn’t have the words yet to explain it when I was younger, but I understood why Jo was so disappointed, even in herself. Sometimes it would a lot easier, or feel a lot safer, to do the expected thing. She even considers it, knowing she doesn’t love Laurie, but out of loneliness. As well, Jo isn’t fearless, though she lets people think otherwise. I’ve always thought it’s more that she does things despite the fear, because the end result is more important. She hustles to sell her stories, she works hard to take care of her family, she sells her hair for a good amount of money and is deeply sad about it, so she’s a hard worker for what or who she loves. And like Anne, she also feels set apart at times. She struggles with the boundaries of her sisterhood expanding and changing, even while changing them herself.

Louisa May Alcott was herself a deeply political person, an abolitionist and feminist, and she intentionally never married. In an interview with Louise Chandler Moulton, she said, "I am more than half-persuaded that I am a man's soul put by some freak of nature into a woman's body.... because I have fallen in love with so many pretty girls and never once the least bit with any man." The authorial layer feels well represented in Little Women, and I think Alcott, who was also a very practical person who worked as a nurse during the American Civil War, was part of helping people find employment, and later raised her niece after her sister died, while managing her own health issues. Determined. Adaptable. Reliable.

Meg March, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, 1868/1869 | Marguerite Daisies (Garden marguerite)

Picture of a white person’s forearm with a sketch-style tattoo of wildflowers.
This image is focused on the Marguerite Daisies part of the tattoo,
which has pale purple and blue blossoms and a black shared stem.

There’s a lot that could be said about Meg’s role in Little Women as the oldest daughter, and the mini-Marmie and peacekeeper. Or about Jo wanting Meg to be the kind of woman who bucks marriage and everything that comes with it so she can tread the boards, but how Meg actually would like marriage and most of what comes with thank you, especially if it could please be with the poor but hot tutor from across the way. But the thing about Meg March that has always stuck with me is from the scene that made me hate Laurie’s smug rich-boy ass with a vengeance. She’s at a party and she is so happy to be at the party, because most of the time she is doing chores and helping care for her family, and yes, her sisters can be fun, but they are also her responsibility, and no one at this party is her job. Of course, there are all these rich girls with more modern, more expensive dresses, and one girl takes her under her wing, but in that benevolent rich girl way where it’s not quite actual kindness. Meg embraces it, she lets herself be “Daisy” which is the benevolent rich girl’s nickname for her. And listen, as a kid who grew up on hand-me-downs, thrift-store finds, government cheese, and Kiwanis Christmas baskets, I promise you Meg did not think she was going to live like this afterwards. I’d bet money she never even forgot for a second that it wasn’t real. But Laurie couldn’t let a girl have a minute, instead he craps all over her dress and how she looks and then lectures her about essentially being fake and basic. I still hate him for it, because it takes a lot to lean into a moment where you know you’re not welcome and still make something of it your own, only to have this oblivious, moneyed-up, hometown-bro crap all over it. The Marguerite Daisy is a little more dressed up that some of its siblings, just a little bit more delicate in the petals, and I chose it for Meg’s moment as Daisy, where she very briefly got to enjoy something on her own. Still mad at Laurie though.

Lolly Willowes, Lolly Willowes; or The Loving Huntsman by Sylvia Townsend Warner | Lady Fern (Athyrium felix-femina)

Picture of a white person’s forearm with a sketch-style tattoo of wildflowers.

This image is focused on the fern and fiddlehead part of the tattoo

which is done in a thin, black line style, with a couple of leaves that have a dusky green color.

Finally, we come to the plant I forgot to mention to my tattoo artist about, the one she included in her design as a given, and to Lolly Willowes, the spinster-aunt, possibly-aro-ace satanist of my heart. I didn’t find this book until I was a little shy of forty, at which point I became obsessed with it and gave a lot of my middle-aged lady friends copies, because I felt (and still do) that it said a lot about women bucking the expectations of age and station; it said a lot about being done with doing emotional labor for everyone else. It absolutely said a lot about wanting even more than a room of one’s own and then fighting to keep it by becoming a satanist and hexing bothersome nephews so they will not in fact move to town and continue to disrupt everything and fit everything into the shapes they want. When Lolly Willowes finds in herself someone she would like to get to know, everything changes. She wants to be alone, because she’s not especially lonely when she is, not after most of a lifetime spent caring for others. She doesn’t resent having done so, but once she embraces life for herself, she can’t possibly let it go. As I get older, I find that I crave more alone time, I enjoy the time I can spend in my own head.

I chose the Lady Fern for this representation because the ferns in a floral arrangement are considered filler, even though the bouquet often looks shabbier without them. In a field, or along the edges of a forest, ferns are the background characters in the party, but ferns are capable of living through below freezing temperatures for a while, and they’re a backbone plant in their ecosystem, and one of the first plants to grow back after a wildfire. Ferns are so dependable that they are sometimes overlooked or taken for granted, much like Lolly Willowes becomes in her family. Like my favorite spinster aunt, ferns are complicated in their beauty and they’re not all that intentionally inviting. I personally find the smell of hot ferns nostalgic, but also a little unpleasant, though not so much as certain body sprays and colognes. Lolly Willowes helped raise kids and carefully lived in the background to maintain an easy seeming peace in her brother’s home, and then she went to whatever lengths she could to keep her own actual peace. I’m not saying we all need to make the quietest and politest of fictional deals with the devil to do so, but I am saying it’s an option, and I don’t judge.

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Releasing October 20, 2026

Pre-order here

FAMILY NIGHT is by turns a lyrical celebration of queerness and an exploration of family and loss, often through a lens of magical realism. Ani King's collected flash fiction stories explore relationships and connections: a teen girl attempting to summon her missing mother home with cigarette smoke and yacht rock songs; two sisters disputing how to care for an unhealthy elderly unicorn; a woman accidentally raising two daughters from the bones of her long-dead pet rabbits. Throughout FAMILY NIGHT, there is a sense of yearning for connection, be it with family, old friends, lovers, or community.

Ani King (they/them) is a queer, gender non-compliant writer and artist from Michigan. Ani is a Monarch Queer Literary Award recipient, with work on the Wigleaf Top 50 Long List, and in Best Small Fictions 2025 and Best Microfiction 2026. Family Night, their debut flash collection is out in October 2026 with Mason Jar Press.

The 40 But 10: Ajesh Chacko

noreply@blogger.com (TNBBC Super Mod) — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 09:00:00 +0000

Today we are joined by Ajesh Chacko is an Indian author interested in the ordinary moments that quietly shape a life. The Hours We Never Entered is his literary novella about grief, attention, love, and what it means to be present when life refuses to follow a plan.

Why do you write?

I write because I’m interested in the parts of life that are easy to overlook while we’re busy trying to get somewhere else. A conversation we almost miss, a room after someone has left it, the way a small regret can stay with us for years — those things feel ordinary until they suddenly don’t. Writing gives me a way to stay with them long enough to understand what they mean.

What made you start writing?

It wasn’t one dramatic moment. I kept finding myself thinking about the same questions: Why do we postpone the people we love? Why are we so good at organizing life and still so bad at being present for it? Eventually those questions stopped feeling like thoughts and started feeling like a story. That became The Hours We Never Entered.

What’s your kryptonite as a writer?

Trying to make every sentence perfect too early. I can spend far too long adjusting a line that may not even survive the next draft. I’ve had to learn that sometimes the best thing you can do for a story is keep moving and come back with clearer eyes later.

Describe your book in three words.

Grief. Attention. Presence.

Describe your book poorly.

A man ignores a nineteen-second voice note, goes to the coast, meets a dog, and slowly realizes his calendar was not actually the meaning of life.

If you met your characters in real life, what would you say to them?

I think I’d say less than I imagine. Tom has enough people telling him what he should do. I’d probably sit with him for a while and tell him he doesn’t have to turn grief into a lesson. To Lucy, I’d say thank you. Even though she is absent for so much of the book, her warmth is one of the things that keeps the story alive.

Would you and your main character get along?

Probably, but I think we would annoy each other first. Tom likes control, efficiency, and having an answer. I understand that part of him more than I’d like to admit. We might spend the first hour disagreeing and the second hour realizing we were arguing about the same fear from opposite sides.

Do you read the reviews of your books or do you stay far far away from them, and why?

I read them. I’m a new author, so pretending I don’t care what readers think would be dishonest. At the same time, I’m trying to learn the difference between listening and chasing approval. A thoughtful negative response can teach me something. A positive one can encourage me. Neither should decide what I’m allowed to write next.

What’s the one thing you wish you knew when you were younger?

That life does not begin after the next achievement. It’s very easy to live as if the real version of your life is waiting somewhere ahead — after the right job, the right amount of money, the right plan, the right timing. I wish I had understood earlier that ordinary days are not the waiting room. They are the life itself.

What scares you the most?

Not failure in the usual sense. What scares me more is reaching the end of a year — or eventually the end of a life — and realizing I was physically there for it but mentally somewhere else. That fear is probably one of the deepest reasons this book exists.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Purchase the book here

A NINETEEN-SECOND VOICE NOTE.

He listens too late.

Tom Kerr is good at measuring attention. His job is to make people look, click, and return. Being present in his own life is harder.

At 8:17 one morning, his younger sister Lucy sends him a nineteen-second voice note. Tom listens too late.

In the weeks that follow, grief fractures his routines, his relationship with Rachel, and the version of himself he has spent years building. He leaves the city for Bellwether, a wind-worn coastal town where a widowed landlady refuses easy answers, a nurse with a dry sense of humour keeps him honest, and a stray dog named Finn begins following him home.

Tom goes looking for quiet. What he finds is messier: guilt that cannot be solved, love that cannot be scheduled, and moments that ask nothing of him except that he be there.

The Hours We Never Entered is a literary novella about grief, attention, love, and the difficult grace of staying present when life refuses to be fixed.

Indie Spotlight: Kevin R. Andrade

noreply@blogger.com (TNBBC Super Mod) — Tue, 08 Sep 2026 09:00:00 +0000

Welcome to our Indie Spotlight series, in which TNBBC gives small press authors the floor to shed some light on their writing process, publishing experiences, or whatever else they'd like to share with you, the readers!

Today's spotlight shines on Kevin R. Andrade, who released In For a Dime on August 5th.

Origin Story

The origin story behind In for a Dime and the first book of the series, Ten to the 405, was a bad beat in the first game of the 2011 college football season between USC and Utah. A blocked field goal and a returned touchdown overturned by an erroneous penalty call caused millions of millions of dollars to switch hands. From that game, began the origins of Jake Hansen. Out of that moment of frustration emerged the idea of a man whose whole life had become a bad beat- someone who had once possessed talent, ambition and promise but had squandered it. Jake devolved into a disgraced former journalist, a man damaged by his sins, vices and proclivities and found himself searching for redemption.

The world of Jake was created in Ten to the 405, the first book of the series. Many of the short stories that occur in the South Bronx were inspired by real stories and my own experiences as a journalist, although some poetic license was used to reshape and serve the novel. That mixture of truth and invention is central to the way I write. I begin with something real - a person, a neighborhood, an anecdote I might tell in a bar and then I ask how a similar experience might affect the characters inhabiting the world of In for a Dime and Ten to the 405.

By the time I began writing In for a Dime, Jake, as well as Pete, Lamar, Sophie, Danny and a few of the ancillary characters had developed their own histories, flaws, loyalties and voices. I have a relationship with these characters and it’s not simply to move the plot forward. I wish to convey what each of them wants, what they fear, what they regret and what lines they will, or will not, cross. I believe the most revealing moments occur not during the violence or mystery, but in the quieter conversations between people who have survived together and have found salvation in each other.

Loyalty is paramount in these books. Jake and the people around him are imperfect, reckless and compromised. But when someone they love is threatened, they are there. Their loyalty is what saves them and it is also what puts them in dangerous situations and forces them to make choices that challenge their morality.

Above all, In for a Dime, is a love letter to Los Angeles. It’s not a postcard version but a missive to the sprawling, divided, beautiful, unforgiving city beneath it. Its bars, streets, freeways, neighborhoods and people, shape every decision. Los Angeles is more than the setting for the Jake Hansen series. It is one of its most important characters.

Former journalist turned reluctant PI, Jake Hansen, alongside Pete Mills and Lamar Wagner, is hired to track a missing accountant and $2 million in stolen funds. But when their investigation leads to a dangerous web of corruption and a sex trafficking ring tied to the city’s elite, the case becomes personal.

When Sophie, their bartender and closest ally, is targeted by a predator from her past, the stakes escalate. With bodies dropping and the law closing in, Jake and his crew must uncover the truth before everything they care about is destroyed.

In for a Dime delivers a dark, cinematic look at loyalty, corruption and the cost of digging too deep.

Kevin R. Andrade is the author of the Jake Hansen Mystery series, including Ten to the 405 and In For a Dime.

A Mexican American raised in Ohio, Kevin earned degrees in English and Political Science from Bowling Green State University before building a career as a speechwriter, music journalist, travel writer, and novelist. He has lived in Los Angeles, Mexico City, Boston, and New York City, experiences that continue to influence the authentic settings, dialogue, and characters throughout his fiction.

Before writing novels, Kevin crafted speeches for politicians, interviewed music legends, and explored destinations around the world as a travel writer. Those experiences taught him that every person has a story worth telling, a philosophy that continues to shape the characters and investigations at the heart of the Jake Hansen Mystery series.

The 40 But 10: Ivan Carl

noreply@blogger.com (TNBBC Super Mod) — Thu, 03 Sep 2026 09:00:00 +0000

Today we are joined by Ivan Carl. Ivan is a traveler, engineer, and educator. The idea behind The Equation began decades ago in the Andes mountains and took shape over years of adventures with family and friends — and one question he couldn’t stop asking: what makes a life work? He still travels the world with his wife and kids, and the pursuit continues.

What made you start writing?

I had a message I really wanted to share with the world, and writing this book was the most fun, and I think the best, way to share it. I've always loved a great story, so weaving my message into a thriller felt like the natural way to reach as many people as possible.

What do you do when you’re not writing?

I'm outside as much as I possibly can be. I love hiking, skiing, surfing and playing tennis with my friends and family. If there's a mountain or a ocean nearby, that's usually where you'll find me.

What’s your kryptonite as a writer?

Self-doubt. When I start worrying about whether the writing is good enough, or whether I'm really connecting with the reader, that's when I struggle. Getting out of my own head is the hardest part of the work.

How do you celebrate when you finish writing a new book?

Well, this is my first book, so I only have one data point! I celebrated by taking my van up to the North Cascades for a solo overnight and a backcountry ski. It was the perfect way to mark the moment. The photo on my dust jacket is actually from that trip.

Describe your book in three words.

Thoughtful, entertaining, unfinished. (That last one is on purpose. The book is designed to leave you with a question, not an answer.)

Would you and your main character(s) get along?

For sure. I think I'd get along really well with Nathan, the protagonist. We'd have a lot to talk about. And honestly, I think I'd even get along with the antagonist, as long as we could openly debate the big questions in the book without letting that define the relationship. The best conversations are often the ones where you can politely disagree.

If you could spend the day with another author, who would you choose and why?

Paulo Coelho. I'd love to know whether he's as philosophical and interesting in person as he is on the page. I suspect a day with him would leave me thinking for months.

Do you read the reviews of your books or do you stay far far away from them, and why?

So far, I'm reading all of them. Whenever I can, I engage with the reviewer. I've had some genuinely fascinating conversations with readers after they finish the book. If anyone reading this wants to connect, you can always reach me through my website.

If you were stuck on a deserted island, what’s the one book you wish you had with you?

50 Philosophy Classics. It's a little obscure, but it's a beautifully condensed summary of the great philosophical works. My time on the island would be filled with deep thought and a lot of internal debate which, honestly, sounds like a pretty good island to me, especially if there was a surf break too!

If you could time travel, would you go back to the past or forward into the future?

Definitely the future. I'm endlessly curious about how humanity will overcome the challenges we face today. I'm an optimist. I believe we have a very bright future ahead, even now. My ideal journey would be to jump forward in fifty-year increments, just to watch the world evolve. I would also love to see how my book has been received!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Releases Septmber 1st, 2026

Amazon | Audible

Some truths are hidden. This one could change the world.

A murdered professor. Two words written in blood. And an equation that could change everything.

Nathan Brooks was a mathematician going through the motions — publishing papers, chasing tenure, measuring his life in productivity metrics — until his mentor was killed for a discovery he'd spent forty years protecting. Now Nathan has the key to the research, a former intelligence operative at his side, and a target on his back.

The equation is elegant. What it proves is explosive — and the organization that has spent two centuries burying it will do whatever it takes to make sure Nathan never shares it with the world.

What would you risk to know the truth?

What I read in August

noreply@blogger.com (TNBBC Super Mod) — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 09:00:00 +0000

Here's what I read in July. Ten books total. Of those, three were 5 star reads, four were 4 star reads, one was 3 stars, and two were 2 stars. A pretty strong month, comparatively.

Seven of them were review copies. Two were audio. Three were print. The longest book was 400 pages. The shortest was 176 pages. A total of 2676 pages read.

Last Day of a Prior Life by Andres Barba

5 stars. Last Day of a Prior Life is a ghost story that might not be a ghost story, but one that will absolutely steal your heart.

Our unnamed narrator is prepping a house she’s trying to sell, moving through the familiar motions of cleaning and staging, when she turns from the sink and sees a boy sitting perfectly still in one of the kitchen chairs. She asks him what he wants, and when he doesn't respond, tells him he can’t be there, that people are coming, and he simply stands up and walks away. A quick search of the house reveals nothing. No boy. Not a trace. Just a lingering sense of unease and curiosity.

She moves through the showing in a kind of waking dream, unable to shake the encounter. She doesn’t tell her The Man She Lives With. She doesn’t tell anyone. Instead, she cancels her appointments the next day and returns to the house, pulled by a strange, quiet desire to see the boy again.

But what she finds is even stranger. A reflection of herself at the sink, turning, reacting to the boy exactly as she did the day before. The cringey moment replaying itself without her permission.

From here, the story slides beautifully into that eerie space where reality thins as she begins to slowly detach from herself and chases the strangeness of the house and the boy who haunts it. It's less about the supernatural and more about the parts of our lives we abandon, neglect, or refuse to face.

This is a captivating, dreamlike meditation on obsession, grief, and the inescapable regret that follows as a consequence of the choices we make. It’s tender and unsettling.

I went in with zero expectations and found myself completely enraptured. If this isn’t on your radar, consider yourself officially on notice.

Summer Fun Masscare by Craig DiLouie

Brought this book with me while vacationing in a cabin in the Smoky Mountains bc I anticipated it would be the perfect horror companion, expecting a full on slasher, dripping with campy ’90s nostalgia and enough bloodshed to make a VHS horror fan grin. Unfortunately, that’s not what this book delivers.

We get maaaaybe five minutes of gory goodness before the story pivots hard into a tongue and cheek police‑procedural. From there, it’s nearly 200 pages of following the local deputies as they try and repeatedly fail to solve the case before it goes cold… just like the eerily similar massacre from the early ’80s. And the one before that. And the one before that. Because this town has a long, strange history of bodies piling up in the same patch of woods, stretching back to the ’60s.

Local legend blames a hare‑masked creature that burrows underground and rises every so often to feast on human flesh. Deputy Tom, however, is convinced the truth is far more human ... and far more personal. With ties to the ’83 killings and this fresh massacre happening practically under his nose, he’s determined not to let the killer slip away again.

I’ve yet to find anything by DiLouie that hits the same unforgettable high as Suffer the Children, though I keep hoping. I really thought Summer Fun Massacre might be the one ... but nope. It’s not a bad book, just not the book I was expecting. Instead of a slasherfest, we get the behind‑the‑scenes politics of small‑town policing and the slow grind of an investigation that may never find its monster.

If you’re looking for a procedural with a horror edge, this might work for you. But if you’re craving a blood‑splattered slasher romp? Adjust your expectations accordingly. Sigh.

Marla by Jonathan Janz

I picked up Marla right after finishing Craig DiLouie’s Summer Fun Massacre, not realizing I was about to tumble into another horror novel obsessed with small‑town police politics. A weird coincidence for vacation reading... almost as if the universe decided I needed a double feature of local cops losing their minds.

But Marla did something different. Beneath the procedural surface, this is straight‑up grief horror. It's packed with small‑town secrets, a string of bizarre deaths that make zero sense, a community that seems to know more than it’s willing to say, and a mother–daughter duo who radiate unease from the moment they appear on the page, with Marla herself becoming a person of interest when she's spotted right before or right after someone dies. Meanwhile Carl, our main guy and local cop, is perpetually one step behind every death, which only makes the whole thing feel more frustrating and cursed.

I’d actually marked Marla as a to‑buy title years ago after seeing people rave about it, not realizing it was a limited release. Trying to track down a copy was fruitless, so when it popped up on NetGalley, I wasted no time in requesting it. And honestly? I found it to be worth the wait.

This was my first Jonathan Janz novel, and it won’t be my last. His writing is super accessible, and quietly unsettling in that creepy WTF way that keeps you glued to your Kindle screen. It's more psychological than splatter, where the atmosphere is thick and the emotional undercurrent of grief, guilt, and the way loss distorts our perception, gives the story a bit more weight than I had expected.

Marla isn’t just another small‑town horror procedural. It’s stranger, sadder, and more haunting than that... and it's left me wanting to dig deeper into Janz’s backlist.

Meat Bees by Dane Erbach

Serendipity and I? Besties. I swear, half the books I pick up at random end up weirdly connected, like they’re conspiring behind my back. My last two reads both dove into small‑town police politics and the absolute clown‑show attempts of local cops trying to handle supernatural chaos.

Then Meat Bees waltzed in with the same vibe. And here’s where it gets freaky. My husband, our son, and our daughter‑in‑law had just come home from a trip to the Smoky Mountains. And not just the Smokies — the Tennessee side. And not just the Tennessee side — but a tiny town right outside Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, where this book goes completely off the rails. Dolly Parton Stampede? Drove right past it because we opted for the Pirate dinner show instead. Mountain coasters? Planned, but the weather said “lol no.” Souvenir shops full of Dolly merch and chaotic tourist tchotchkes? We lived in those and are 100% guilty of leaving with arms full of fun merch.

So tell me — what are the chances of picking up a book set in the exact place I just visited for the first time ever? I love when the universe aligns like that. It feels intentional, like life is unfolding on a track you’re meant to follow.

Erbach wrote this after their own Smokies trip, when their kids got attacked by wasps. Thankfully, we avoided that nightmare. Aside from some aggressively hungry nighttime mosquitos, nature pretty much minded her own business. And thank god, because if I had stumbled across skeletonized bodies or heard the mountain whisper “leave now,” girl… I would’ve sprinted. I am not built for wilderness horror. Scarlet, Liz, and their Stovetop Outfitters co-workers? Bless them. I would not have made it.

Hard pass.

Four solid stars. The writing is sharp, the pacing is wild, and the story barrels forward like a zipline you can’t get off. There's some gore here but not the kind that would make anyone vomit in their mouth or get that weird fuzzy feeling behind thier knees. And good lord, I tore through it all because I had to know how it all wrapped up.

The Burn Line by Jonathan Sims

Damn, this book had me by the throat.

Sims plunges you straight into the dark, claustrophobic labyrinth of the London Underground, where something is stalking commuters on the Central Line... yet no one remembers a thing. Five strangers wake without having realized they dozed off, full of anxiety they can’t explain, faintly smelling something sweet and rotten, brushing greasy ash off their clothes like it’s no big deal, but also realizing they’ve all experienced the same thing.

As they gravitate toward one another and begin unlocking the memories that were taken from them, the novel tightens like a noose. And once they start remembering? Oh, they regret it immediately.

Sims excels at atmosphere — the claustrophobia, the tension, the sense of being hunted. The book toys with you, unsettling you in all the right ways. But when the creature finally steps into full view, the reveal is simultaneoulsy satisfying and disappointing, shifting the story from something uniquely eerie into something a little more cliche. The pacing mirrors this - slow, deliberate dread that give way to bursts of frantic momentum.

Even still, The Burn Line remains an engrossing, grimy journey through the London Underground and the social machinery grinding beneath it. Imperfect, yes but undeniably compelling. Even so, I tore through it. It’s creepy, it’s weird, it’s sweaty in that summer‑subway kind of way. A perfect pick for a gross, humid afternoon when you already feel like something is breathing down your neck.

Tapeworm by AP Thayer

FFS, you guys. Two pseudo‑vampire wannabe novels back‑to‑back, completely by accident. I started The Burn Line right as I queued up Tapeworm for my commute, and somehow I ended up in the exact same situation twice: books insisting their weird little creatures were vampires when they were very clearly… not. The synchronicity was almost unsettling and this one was just...sigh.

This book was weird, the sex was icky, and I still have no clue if those things were supposed to be vampires or just desert parasites with a superiority complex.

The opening drags — we’re stuck with a miserable couple on a desert vacation with their equally miserable couple‑friends. Fast‑forward a year: same trip, except now the husband shows up solo and refuses to talk about the split. Then he meets a hot desert girl and immediately loses all brain cells.

Nothing actually happens until the last 2.3 hours — which I listened to at 1.9x speed because the narrator read so slowwwww — and then suddenly it’s chaos. Are they vampires? Parasites? Worm‑people? I finished the book and still couldn’t tell you.

And the sex scenes. LORD. I am not built for “daddy do me dirty” desert kink. These scenes were physically painful to endure. I have yet to encounter a monster‑spice moment that isn’t cringe, and this book doubled down.

In the end, Tapeworm is a strange, uneven novel that left me more perplexed than satisfied. Entirely too horny, completely confusing, and absolutely not the vampire book it thinks it is.

Our Cut of Salt by Deena Helm

Our Cut of Salt is presented as a haunted house novel, but what it really offers is a multigenerational family narrative with a light supernatural undertone. The pacing is slow, the prose more clunky than not, and the ghostly elements feel symbolic rather than frightening — with nearly all the actual “haunting” crammed into the final few pages.

The premise had real potential - a house shaped by grief, resisting new occupants, waiting for the return of those it lost. It’s evocative, even cinematic at times. But the novel devotes most of its energy to the inner lives and hidden traumas of three generations of women, leaving the haunting underdeveloped and rushed.

It’s not a bad story — just not the one I signed up for. If this had been marketed as a generational narrative with a haunting twist, I’d have been less disappointed. And if it had leaned harder into the “rage house” concept, it could’ve been something wild and memorable.

I came for the angry house. What I got instead was a family epic with a ghostly garnish.

Jaws by Peter Benchley

It's about time I read this, right?! Born in the 70's, I grew up on the Jaws films, but I'm honestly not sure I would have ever picked up the book if I hadn't seen it on sale on Chirp.

The narration wasn't horrible. Erik Steele has a weird, slightly transatlantic accent, unless he's softening up a Lawng Island accent but it's defintely not the New Yawk accent I grew up with. His women voices were a little cringe and some of his male characters sounded a little too similar to each other, but Benchley's writing had a tendency to overstate who was speaking so it was really easy to follow.

The writing has that very dated, very direct "why you listen here, you" flavor to it which was kind of refreshing, and there was tons of male posturing, which was quite entertaining - all of which lends itself really well to audio.

While the movie ruined beaches and ocean swimming for a lot of people, calling Jaws, the novel, horror... I dunno. The book definitely focused more heavily on the relationship between Brody and his wife, and the politics that drive a summer tourist town, than it did the actual people eating, blood spraying, terrifying, man eating shark. And when it did focus on the shark, it was kind of neat because we were given the shark's perspective... which I enjoyed. Sadly though, once Brody, Hooper, and Quint all hit the ocean together, it felt like Benchley chucked that approach into the water with the chum. Oh well.

And was the affair subplot really needed? A forever pet peeve of mine... authors throwing in cheating spouses, especially when it's not really doing much to drive the story forward and just creates an unnecessary distraction. Book Brody was angry and violent enough. Why anger him more by making his wife sleep with someone else while he's already fuming over the giant fish who keeps killing the tourists and the mayor who refuses to let him close the beaches?

I know it sounds like I'm bitching a lot but keep in mind, I'm comparing book to movie and you will almost never hear me say this because I'm firmly camp "the book is better" buuuuttt... not in this case.

If I just take the book at face value, it's a 4 star. I really enjoyed it. And I looked forward to hitting play on the app every time I got into the car soooo....

Maybe I'll take a peek and see if Benchley's other book is marked down on Chirp... to keep the fish vibes going a little longer!

The Instruction Manual to Being a Vampire by Craig Wallwork

Hold up. Just hold up one freakin’ minute. Truborn Press dropped an unexpected front‑runner for my favorite read of the year, and somehow you’re all sleeping on it. How is no one else reading this book yet? It’s flying under your radars and frankly, you should be ashamed.

The book opens with a woman strolling into a police station covered in blood, wearing a necklace made of severed fingers, calmly announcing she’s the witness to thirty‑three murders. That’s page one. From there, Wallwork hits the gas and never lets up.

As the investigation unravels, we learn our narrator narrowly escaped a late‑night attack thanks to an elderly vampire priest named Roth — the same priest who recently appeared at her grief counseling session, which she reluctantly attends after her father’s death in an attempt to find connection and eavesdrop on other's sufferings. After witnessing the brutal way he dispatches her attacker, she teams up with Roth to help him hunt the “bad blood” he needs in order to survive. Think Dexter, but swap the forensics for fangs. Both murderers with weird moral codes.

Wallwork shines a whole new light on the vampire genre and torches the tired damsel‑in‑distress narrative while he’s at it. Our leading lady is nobody’s victim. She goes toe‑to‑toe with anyone who has the balls to cross her path.

But here’s the kicker: beneath all the gore, the book digs deep into loneliness, grief, and the hollow ache of trying to keep living when life keeps taking. It’s as much about redemption as it is about revenge... a fist punching straight up through blood, bile, and despair. And just when you think you’ve got the whole thing figured out, Wallwork’s like… uh… no ya’ don’t.

This one’s a wild, bloody, unexpectedly tender standout... and absolutely a contender for my top reads of the year.

For fans of In The Valley of the Sun and Coffin Moon.

Last Days by Brian Evenson

This book had been sitting in my Kindle TBR for waaay too long, and landing a NetGalley copy of the sequel Phantom Limb, which is coming out in October, was exactly the shove I needed to bump Last Days straight to the tippy top of the pile.

I adore Brian Evenson. Not only does he write fiction like no one else, he’s genuinely one of the coolest humans walking around. He was incredibly generous with his time the few chances I had to meet him, and hosting him as a #SMOLfair keynote speaker was one of those pinch‑me moments I’ll never forget.

All that gushy admiration aside, I am kicking myself for waiting this long to read Last Days. This thing is a phenomenally fucked‑up masterpiece and gets every single star from me. Kline might be one of the calmest, most unhinged MCs I’ve ever encountered, and I am fully obsessed.

I wasn't feeling well yesterday and took a sick day from work, and devoured this book with every scrap of energy I could muster... and honestly, it was the perfect story to disappear into. I cannot wait to dive into Phantom Limb today and keep riding this Evenson high.

Blog Tour: CRIMSON IN QUIETUS by Eugen Bacon

noreply@blogger.com (TNBBC Super Mod) — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 09:30:00 +0000

We're happy to help Meerkat Press support the release of their latest title CRIMSON IN QUIETUS by Eugen Bacon by participating in their blog tour.

For our portion of the tour, Eugen has decided to participate in our indie spotlight, sharing some insight into fear... fear of writing, fear of rejection, and overocming imposture syndrome.

Confessions of a literary magpie

I had a lot of fear writing this book. My fear was about rejection—how would the audience receive this book? I was nervous, why? Because it was the first time I was writing such a big work set in the Afrocentric Sauútiverse.

True, I’d already written stories set in this universe, including award winners, as in The Nga’phandileh Whisperer: A Sauútiverse Novella that recently won the Foreword Indies Book of the Year, was a finalist in the same award for the Fantasy category and was a finalist in the British Fantasy and Aurealis Awards. It also made the preliminary ballot for the 2025 Bram Stoker Awards.

But, as writers, we only feel as good as the last book. We tell ourselves: The publisher is expecting… The audience is expecting… Awards are expecting… And we are also expecting…

There was already so much expectation for this book, the development of which was supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund as part of the University of Tasmania’s three-month Hedberg Fellowship. I spent three whole months in Tassie researching the novel, whose fiction borrowed from the island’s natural beauty of rocky outcrops, stalactite and stalagmite caves, cascading waterfalls, rivulet trails and fiery auroras that now found themselves in an Afrocentric Sauútiverse novel.

In writing it, I connected with the characters, found order in their disorder. I worried if my new kind of speculative literary mystery where the investigator was not a detective, but a sound magic specialist held. The opening of the book was reassuring, as were the publisher’s comments: “This is such a wonderful book!”

The story opens with the afterlife, a dimension of the dead, where the souls of our ancestors lurk:

Prologue: Crossing to Eh’wauizo

The crossing to Eh’wauizo, the spirit realm, is in the backwaters of a black river. Put a pinch of shadow and blood salt in your pocket, or sew it in a hem. Slip a button, a tooth, a chicken bone, a crystal or a small, shiny thing under your tongue for Ze-ne to collect. The ear of a ghost orchid, or the twig of a dragon-no’s blood tree is also good. It will ward off omens.

Tie a blindfold with a spotless garment—ebony or crimson—and listen for light. You will see silver specters in nondescript shapes turning to wine colors. Don’t mind them. Tend away from echoes and negotiate towards ripples of gentler waters whose lick at your calf then your waist then your chest then your neck especially frightens you as you submerge. Keep treading underwater even as your lungs swell.

Resist an urge to scream. Don’t struggle or hold your breath, even as your arms and legs begin to feel laden with rocks. Relax your body, think of the potential. Your chest is tearing, everything inside burning, but it isn’t. Your head will feel light, lighter still as you recognize the approaching Ze-ne-nazala, dear Ze-ne—the demigoddess of death—who will float you to a place of no fear.

This is Eh’wauizo, the dimension of our ancestors.

Protagonists Muso’mi and Fin’Lei each reminds me of myself in their own different way. Muso’mi is gifted and sometimes wishes she wasn’t. She’s not consumed with vanity and doesn’t like confrontation. She doesn’t need a mirror to tell her what she looks like, because she’s studied many mirrors and decided she likes her jaw, she doesn’t like her jaw. She likes the shape and fullness of her lips, she doesn’t like the shape and fullness of her lips… It varies with moods, how she feels about herself.

Like Muso’mi, Fin’Lei is curious about the world, she’s exploratory. She’s had the best and the worst of worlds. She’s had Granmaé, someone to look up to, clear-eyed, honest-faced Granmaé whose entire being said trust me, because you can. On the other hand, Fin’Lei has never known familial love. Her parents are hardworking, doing the best they can as humans would in a world where robots and enhanced humans perform better. Such is the iron of life—Fin’Lei didn’t choose it.

It’s natural, then, that these two misfits, Muso’mi and Fin’Lei, find kindredhood in each other. But the universe is warped and has other ideas.

I wrote this novel as stories-within-stories. It’s a creative composition that’s both spontaneous and researched. My writing was discovery, lived experience and more. I layered the novel story by story, creating a longer piece of work using a discipline of short story writing already familiar. I paid attention to the short story and embedded vignettes and tales that could be continued, carefully placed within the novel, interlinked them and layered with characters, events, motifs and interplays—a sum of the parts.

In hindsight, I can say imposter’s syndrome be damned! The reviews are coming and they affirm that, in Crimson in Quietus, I did something right.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Crimson in Quietus

Release today!

Science Fiction | Horror | Afrofuturism

From the queen of genre-bending speculative fiction, comes the newest Sauútiverse offering, a mystery like no other, where the investigator is not a detective, but a sound scientist.

In a world where sound is a tangible force, Muso’mi is a maadiregi—an expert in the art of consuming it. At the prestigious Mahadum, she researches the language of silence, seeking to master the gift her mother calls theft. But academic intrigue turns to deadly peril when her friend vanishes after unearthing a hidden truth. Pursuing clues through pools of quietude across worlds, Muso’mi stumbles upon a horrifying discovery: a pattern of carnage left in fields of harvested silence. Now, the hunter becomes the hunted, as her unique expertise draws her into the orbit of a serial killer who understands the power of sound all too well.

Includes a glossary of Bantu, Afrocentric and made-up words from this cross-cultural tale written in gorgeous lyrical language packed with emotion.

Meerkat Press | Bookshop.org | Amazon

“Bacon has one of the most unflinchingly unique voices in modern fiction, be it in the speculative field or anywhere else. Crimson in Quietus is her most lyrical, ambitious work to date.”

—Keith Rosson, author of Coffin Moon

“Eugen Bacon has crafted a unique and utterly fearless literary mosaic that gleefully defies genre traditions and rejects all conventional standards of classification. Unflinching and written with such powerful poetry and lyricism, Crimson in Quietus is raw, intense, and captivating. One of the most extraordinary, mesmerizing, and magnetic novels I've ever had the honor of reading.”

—Eric LaRocca, author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke

“Bacon’s prose is as rich as the worldbuilding, studded with neologisms derived from African language and legends (a helpful glossary provides both meanings and derivations).

—Publishers Weekly

Eugen Bacon is an African Australian author. She is a Solstice, British Fantasy, Ignyte, Locus, Foreword Indies and BSFA Award winner. She’s also a twice World Fantasy and Shirley Jackson Award finalist, and a finalist in the Philip K. Dick Awards and the Nommo Awards for speculative fiction by Africans. Eugen is an Otherwise Fellow, and was announced on the honor list for ‘doing exciting work in gender and speculative fiction’. Danged Black Thing made the Otherwise Award Honor List as a ‘sharp collection of Afro-Surrealist work’. Visit her at eugenbacon.com.

The 40 but 10: Roie Oknin

noreply@blogger.com (TNBBC Super Mod) — Tue, 25 Aug 2026 09:00:00 +0000

Today we are joined by Roie Oknin. Roie is a writer, artist and medical student. He holds a BSc in Neuroscience and a BA in Psychology and works as a research assistant in ophthalmology. Ramen, Existential Crises is his first novel.

Why do you write?

I think I write for the same reason I make anything. I like taking something that only exists in my head and giving it form. Writing also lets me spend an unreasonable amount of time thinking about very small things, which suits me quite well, as an overthinker.

What do you do when you’re not writing?

I enjoy far too many things. My personal motto is trying to unlock the 25th hour of the day. I paint, sculpt, take photographs, travel, hike, play the piano, code, and generally start more projects than I have hours to finish. I’m also a medical student and work as a research assistant in ophthalmology. I drink plenty of coffee.

Describe your book poorly.

Several people work in a shop. One of them is extremely bad at making decisions. Noodles are involved.

If you met your characters in real life, what would you say to them?

No spoilers, but: “It’s going to be alright.”

(Or is it?)

Would you and your main character(s) get along?

I think Koji and I would get along very well, which is probably not an entirely reassuring thing to admit.

If you could spend the day with another author, who would you choose and why?

Dead or alive? Dostoevsky. I’d like to know what he was like when he wasn’t being Dostoevsky. I’d probably spend half the day asking him questions about his masterpieces, and the other half trying to find out whether he was actually enjoyable company.

What are some of your favorite books and/or authors?

Dostoevsky is one of my favourites, especially Notes from Underground. I also love Camus, Kafka, Beckett and Virginia Woolf. I’m drawn to absurdism, stream of consciousness writing, and contemporary Japanese writers such as Banana Yoshimoto, Sayaka Murata and Mieko Kawakami, to name a few.

What are you currently reading?

Nipponia Nippon by Kazushige Abe.

What’s the single best line you’ve ever read?

I know, I know, it’s an obvious one, but I have to go with the opening of Anna Karenina: “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

What would you do if you could live forever?

Eventually, I’d try to win every prize there is. The Nobel, an EGOT, everything. Given an infinite amount of time, even the statistically improbable is inevitable. I’d also finally have enough time for all my hobbies.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

August 8, 2026

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HDFG28SF

Koji is twenty-seven and one module short of a degree in Politics and Government. The missing module is Crisis Management. It feels appropriate.

For six years, he has worked in a tiny ramen shop with eleven seats, one dish and a broth whose flame has not gone out in thirty-two years. The noodles cook for exactly eighty-five seconds.

Then the timer fails. A stranger gives Koji his business card. Someone from his past walks into the restaurant. Around him, other people make decisions and continue with their lives.

Koji has always known what should be done.

Doing it is another matter.

Indie Spotlight: Eugene Costello

noreply@blogger.com (TNBBC Super Mod) — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 09:00:00 +0000

Today's spotlight shines on Eugene Costello who released Puta Madre on August 5th.

Why I Made a Colombian Migrant and Former Sex Worker the Heroine of My Novel

I arrived in Spain to begin my new life just a couple of weeks before the country entered one of the strictest pandemic lockdowns in the world. Arrangements to connect the electricity, water, gas and Wi-Fi in my rented apartment ground to a halt. For weeks, I was permitted to leave only to walk the hundred metres to my nearest grocery store for essentials.

Shortly before lockdown, I had decided to employ a cleaner and, through word of mouth, found a Colombian single mother then in her late thirties, with a four-year-old son.

It proved a wise decision for reasons that had little to do with cleaning. We became immediate friends, her infectious laughter and singing filling the apartment like sunlight. When restrictions permitted, she welcomed me into her home, where I could take my laptop and work in her son’s bedroom using her Wi-Fi. Love is as love does, and she made me feel at home when I was far from my own family.

Valencia is compact enough to feel less like a metropolis than a collection of barrios and interconnected villages. It is also home to sizeable communities from Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Cuba and elsewhere in Latin America. As I applied myself to learning Spanish, my friend introduced me to people, stories and food that revealed lives very different from my own.

There was always food.

Somebody died? We’ll cook.

Won the lottery? We’ll cook.

A son scored a goal at his football match? We’ll cook.

Food marked sorrow, celebration and all the ordinary moments between them. The voices, jokes, anxieties and ambitions I encountered began crowding my imagination. Over time, elements of them were made flesh in the characters I tried to create—not as portraits of particular individuals, but as fictional people shaped by the world in which I was now living.

The story of the world is the story of migration. People leave because they are hungry, frightened, ambitious, trapped or simply convinced that another life must be possible somewhere else. Usually, it is a mixture of all five. They arrive carrying recipes, memories, obligations and expectations, and begin the exhausting business of constructing a new life.

Daniela emerged from that world, but she was never intended to represent every Colombian woman, every migrant or every mother. No character could bear that burden, and no writer should impose it. She is one woman confronting a particular set of circumstances and making choices that are sometimes courageous, sometimes questionable and always her own.

Through Sofía — whose name I have changed — I met several women whose circumstances had led them into sex work. They were among the warmest, funniest and most generous people I encountered. What also struck me was how little moral judgement they faced within their own communities. Migrant life can mean badly paid work, insecure housing, uncertain legal status and almost no employment protection. People do what they need to do to survive, and their friends understand that.

I did not want sex work to define Daniela, still less to present her as either a fallen woman or a helpless victim waiting to be rescued. It is something she does during a difficult period of her life; it is not the sum of who she is. She remains a daughter, sister, mother, friend and, eventually, entrepreneur.

That is why I gave her the idea for Empanadas de Puta Madre, the food business through which she transforms her life. She does not escape poverty through luck or the intervention of a benevolent man. She builds something from the skills, recipes and determination she already possesses. Her son’s eventual literary success extends that story into the next generation: the child of a migrant woman who was denied an education becomes an acclaimed writer.

I wanted to celebrate the contribution migrants make to the societies in which they settle without pretending that migration is easy or that every struggle produces a triumphant ending. Above all, I wanted Daniela to be permitted the same complexity that fiction has traditionally granted more privileged characters: to make mistakes, take risks, survive compromises and create a life larger than the one circumstances appeared to have allotted her.

I hope I have done her justice.

You can buy the English paperback of Puta Madre here and the Kindle version here.

The sequel Beyond Puta Madre is available in paperback and Kindle.

Daniela Arango arrives in Valencia from Colombia with little money, limited choices and a determination to create a better life.

After surviving through sex work and cleaning jobs, she becomes a mother and begins building something of her own: Empanadas de Puta Madre, a food business rooted in the recipes, resilience and communal spirit she brought with her from home.

As Daniela’s fortunes change, so does the life of her son, Daniel, whose literary ambitions carry the family’s story into another generation.

Set against the streets, neighbourhoods and migrant communities of Valencia, Puta Madre is a novel about motherhood, migration, friendship and the stubborn human capacity for reinvention.

Eugene Costello is a British-Irish journalist and author based in Valencia, Spain. During a career spanning more than thirty years, his work has appeared in numerous British national newspapers and magazines. He is the founder and editor of Valencia Life and writes about Spain, migration, public health and the glorious absurdities of everyday life. His novels Puta Madre and Beyond Puta Madre follow a Colombian migrant who rebuilds her life in Valencia through motherhood, friendship, food and formidable determination.

So Close Yet So Far: Brian Fitzgerald

noreply@blogger.com (TNBBC Super Mod) — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 09:00:00 +0000

I've always been curious to know who authors get star struck over, and whether they've brushed shoulders with the people they most admire. So...we're starting a cool new author series in which they get to share their six degrees of separation or close calls with celebrities/authors/musicians....

This story comes from author Brian Fitzgerald, who has a very unique and interesting family history:

During World War Two a mysterious phenomenon developed. The phrase ‘Kilroy Was Here’ started appearing wherever American soldiers and sailors went. It was scrawled on walls and ammunition boxes. Painted on airplanes. Scratched into bricks. It became so commonplace that Adolph Hitler was said to inquire to his staff about ‘who is this Kilroy man who seems to be everywhere?”

After the war a search was conducted by Yankee Magazine to get to the root of the mystery. The originator, it turns out, was my grandfather on my mother’s side, James Kilroy. He was an inspector at the Fore River shipyard in Quincy Massachusetts, where the ‘Liberty Ships’ were being built that ferried soldiers and supplied across the oceans to the front lines. His boss, the story goes, had criticized him for not inspecting all the areas of the ship during construction. So he began scrawling ‘Kilroy Was Here’ on the panels of the ship as he inspected them, to prove he was doing his job. Soldiers spent weeks on these vessels and saw the saying in air ducts, on deck plates and in places no human could reach. As mystified as anyone as to the origin of these writings, they took the saying with them across Europe and the Pacific.

Today the saying appears on T-shirts, the Duck Boats in Boston, and still exists in thousands of places across Europe and the Pacific.

Even more strangely, after the contest had been solved by Yankee Magazine, the Boston Transit company gifted my grandparents a trolley car as a recognition of his role in the story. The car was converted to sleeping quarters for my uncles at their small house in Halifax Massachusetts, as the family had fallen on hard times during the war.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ten years of frustration and heartbreak caring for his son John, born with a catastrophic heart defect, have convinced Rick Morrow that the world is stacked against his family. And on what should be the best day of their life -- the day when John will finally get a new heart - an even worse nightmare begins, when the helicopter carrying the heart crashes, destroying the heart and the hopes of the Morrow family.

Rick's heartbreak turns to rage as he begins to suspect that the accident was no accident at all. His pursuit of the truth puts him on a collision course with the giant Cera Corporation and the powerful family that runs it, who have an agenda of their own and will stop at nothing to make it come true. The escalating conflict threatens Rick's reputation, his safety and even his marriage. It reaches its gut-wrenching climax with Rick and his wife Mary facing and even more terrible question; will they sacrifice all they believe in to save their own son, at a cost almost too high to imagine?

Over the course of career in marketing and technology Brian made his living through storytelling, communicating in print, online and national broadcast TV. During that time, as head of communications for a billion-dollar information security firm, he had a role in some of the most tumultuous events in cybersecurity including major breaches and global privacy issues. Brian has worked with (and at times been at odds with) the media, academia and even America’s intelligence and law-enforcement agencies. These experiences have informed his fiction writing, as he strives to bring to life the human consequences of advances in technology, medicine and social media.

What I read in July

noreply@blogger.com (TNBBC Super Mod) — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 09:00:00 +0000

Here's what I read in July. Nine books, not counting two that I read for publicity purposes.

Of the nine, there were no 5 star reads. But five of them were 4 stars, three were 3 stars, and one got 2 stars. Another not super great, but not horrible, month.

Six of them were review copies. Two were audio. One was print. The longest book was
336 pages. The shortest was 99 pages.

A total of 1892 pages read. (I read a lot of a short books, which makes the fact that I only read 9 a bit funny to me)

The Hill in the Dark Grove by Liam Higginson

"Hindsight was just a multiplier of regrets."

Creepy Welsh folklore for the win — and one of my most anticipated reads of the year.

The novel centers on Carwyn, the last in a long line of Welsh sheep farmers, and his wife Rhian as they struggle through a brutal winter. After rescuing two lost trespassers on his land, Carwyn discovers a partially buried stone head — the hint of a much larger set of ruins hidden beneath a mound at the far edge of his property. As he abandons his daily routine with the sheep to dig deeper, his obsession grows, and Rhian becomes increasingly afraid she’s losing her husband to something she may not be able to pull him back from.

If you've been following my reviews, you'll know I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump, where the books have been fine but forgettable, and Higginson’s novel was the breath of cold, clean air that I so desperately wanted. I needed something to clear the cobwebs, and this absolutely did the trick.

It's slow‑burn folklore done right... atmospheric, tender (until it isn't), and deeply unsettling. It layers the tension carefully, shifting POVs at just the right moment, and building a creeping sense of dread that settles in your bones. At its core, it’s about a husband and wife bound so tightly that the thought of leaving is almost unimaginable.

"They were not made for each other as much as they were made of each other."

Mule Boy by Andrew Krivak

I read The Bear five years ago and it pierced my heart. Naturally, I was anxious to see what this book would do.

I tried to snag a copy on netgalley before it released but my request was left on hold, so I ended up buying it in print and it was kind of lingering in my TBR stacks so when I saw it on Chirp for cheap, I bought it there, too, and I'm glad I did because I listened to it much sooner than I ever would have gotten around to reading it.

And I love how he starts every chapter with "And".

And I love that it's set painfully close to my backyard - Scranton, Wilke-Barre, Hazleton - I know those places. I've been to those places, I've bought books from the Barnes and Nobles in those places, though obviously not in Ondro's timeline.

And Ondro, he's the sole survivor of a horrific mine collapse in 1929. A young kid who quickly moved up the ranks to Mule Boy, working alongside the miners, loading up carts and dragging them away with Wicked, a mule who only ever listened to one other miner and it was because he, like Ondro, spoke Slovak to it.

Trapped for days with dead and dying men, Ondro carries the memories of thier last moments with him for the rest of his life - through his marriage to one of the dead miner's daughters, through his refusal to serve in the war because he was done with dead bodies, all the way through his older years, when the sons and daughters of the other miners seek him out to hear the stories of their fathers who died, and to hear their final words.

Krivak's writing reminds me of Denis Johnson's Train Dreams and Paul Harding's Tinkers. This is a story that begs to be read. It's an exercise in pain and isolation and punishment and guilt and...

and...

and...

Plant Lady by Monyoung Kang

If you cross The Eyes Are the Best Part with Dexter and Eat the Ones You Love, you’ll get Plant Lady. That’s the ecosystem this book grows in — a revenge fantasy with potting soil under its nails and a woman who knows plants can solve problems people can’t, using her shop and her botanical expertise to help other women escape violent partners.

Men, consider this your horticultural PSA: if you hit her, belittle her, or try to break her down, she might just know a philodendron that can take care of the cleanup.

Plant Lady balances the cuteness of a cozy mystery with the darkness of a horror novel, tossing in some closed‑door gore for good measure. It’s definitely more “tell” than “show,” with Kang playing magician — giving you the setup, then leaving you to infer what happened to the bodies. The timeline occasionally bends backward to fill in gaps, and while it tripped me up a few times, the pieces eventually click.

Not the best book I’ve read this year, not the worst. If you’re into weird‑girl revenge stories, this one will give you a little thrill.

Of Cattle and Men by Ana Paula Maia

I bought Of Cattle and Men back when it blew up on Bookstagram, but I let it sit on my shelf for years. I didn’t want the hype to get in my head. So why now? Because I have an advanced copy of Ana Paula Maia’s next book, Bury Your Dead, coming in August — the one that follows Edgar after he leaves the slaughterhouse — and it felt like the right moment to finally step into the blood and smoke of this one.

As a fan of Tender Is the Flesh and I Who Have Never Known Men, I knew I’d love this book, but I also knew it would hurt. I hate reading about animal death and abuse. But Maia handles her characters and the cows with a strange, solemn grace. Edgar is gentle in his brutality, a repentant murderer who carries his shame like a second skin. Before each killing blow, he prays over the animals, hoping God will tend to their souls in a way he knows his own never will. If they have to die, he wants to be the one to do it, because he knows he’ll do it right.

But his mind-numbing routine fractures when the cows begin acting strangely — miscarrying, drowning themselves, even hurling their bodies off cliffs. Edgar and his crew of slaughterhouse misfits can’t make sense of it. Is it the polluted river? An unseen predator? Or something deeper than even he can come to terms with?

If this book doesn’t put you off meat for a few days, nothing will. And if it doesn’t haunt you a little, you might already be working inside the slaughterhouse.

Bury Your Dead by Ana Paula Maia

Just two road crew dudes picking up dead animals from the side of the road, who keep stumbling across dead bodies in the woods. In between dropping the roadkill off at the grinder, they make it their mission to give the corpses they find a good send-off, but nothing is ever easy and this seemingly simple task ends up becoming quite the journey.

Rot, decay, and decomposing flesh has nothing on these two.

Bury Your Dead is a slow, plodding, and also strangely relaxing read, and I mean that in the best way. It's super chill and I adore Edgar and Tomas, they have the best laid back 'let's just get through the day without getting killed' energy.

I assumed this was a sequel to Of Cattle of Men since it's a continuation of Edgar's storyline, but when I look at goodreads, this appears to be the first book in a triology that has yet to be translated. Can't wait to get to the others... Ana Paula Maia's got my attention now.

The Unheld by Luke Larkin

Western horror is my kryptonite. I see it, I grab it, I devour it. So when I picked up The Unheld, I was ready for dust, dread, and danger.

The beginning delivered. Webber and his daughter Charlie are living off the land, fending for themselves in the woods on the outskirts of town — self‑isolated, relying on each other for survival — until the woods start spitting out disfigured nightmare creatures. You’d think losing their main source of food would be the problem, but that ends up being the least of their worries. Because with these strange animals comes something much larger and much scarier, and it seems to be stalking their cabin. Webber manages to catch it and chain it up in his shed, even turning it into a money‑maker by selling tickets to townspeople who want to see the thing up close. But it breaks loose and drags Webber away.

The setup was killer. I was convinced I was holding a five‑star book.

And then… the vibes shifted. Hard. What began as western horror slowly morphed into historical weird fiction and started feeling like a mashup of Stranger Things and Pan’s Labyrinth. I held on, but I wasn’t fully sold. And when the ending went a little Wizard of Oz on me, I was out.

I finished it, but not happily. More like stubbornly.

If you’re into genre chaos, this might thrill you. I just wanted the western horror I was promised, not a surreal carnival of plot detours.

Small Town Horror by Ronald Malfi

There was a bundle deal on Malfi’s audiobooks over at Chirp, and I had just finished The Hive, which wasn’t horrible, but definitely would’ve benefited from a 200‑page chop LOL.

Since I found The Hive enjoyable enough, I figured I’d take the risk, and this was the first audiobook I chose from the bundle.

For starters, the narrator was not doing this book any favors. I really didn’t care for his voice or delivery, and I had to work hard not to let that influence how I felt about the story itself.

Small Town Horror is basically a giant billboard for why you should never go home again. Andrew is a NYC lawyer who escaped his hometown years ago but gets pulled back when a childhood friend calls in a panic. He reluctantly agrees to return — lying to his pregnant wife about where he’s going, lying to his old friends about his relationship status — and once he arrives, the old gang reunites: the single mom who owns a bar, the cop following in his father’s footsteps, the druggie trying to clean up, and the one under suspicion for his wife’s recent disappearance. This ragtag group also shares a dark secret from twenty years ago, and since they’re all back together on the anniversary of the incident, a lot of their time is spent rehashing the past and side‑eyeing each other.

I was pretty proud of myself for thinking I had things figured out early on, but then it all got so complicated. Malfi pulls twist after twist after twist, and eventually I gave up trying to track who was setting up who or how their old secret tied into everything. Kudos to Malfi for keeping my head spinning and proving just how off‑base I was.

Even though it kept me on my toes, I wasn’t totally in love with the storyline, and by the end it felt like it had a little too much going on for its own good.

I’m landing squarely in the middle on this one. And I’ve still got two more audiobooks from that bundle to go. Here’s hoping one of them finally blows my socks off, because between this and The Hive, I’m not super impressed yet.

A Plagued Sea by Kim Bo-Young

Oh man. This started out so strong — eerie atmosphere, weird body horror, pandemic panic, seriously... all the right ingredients — and then the back half of the book just… unravels. It swerved from cosmic dread into full blown absurdity so fast I had to stop and reacclimate myself.

The setup is fantastic. A woman and her niece arrive at a quaint coastal town on the worst possible day, just as an underground volcanic eruption releases something into the air that begins transforming the residents. Hair falls out, skin erupts in sores, jaws warp under the pressure of newly sprouted teeth — and in the worst cases, their bodies morphing into increasingly grotesque, fish‑adjacent forms.

Our protagonist becomes an outcast twice over: trapped as a tourist and immune to whatever’s infecting the locals. She’s drafted into quarantine enforcement, ushering the sick back indoors when they try to flee. And then one routine visit ends in a killing, and the story takes a turn so bizarre it derails the momentum the book worked so hard to build.

If you’re into books like Wife Shaped Bodies, Reef Mind, or The Unfamiliar Garden, there’s a lot here to enjoy. And knowing now how heavily this draws from Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth, which I haven't read by the way, I think I get the intention but, for me, the execution doesn’t quite stick the landing.

Bloodbound by Anthony Lee Herd

Have you ever finished a classic and thought, waaaait… why didn’t we spend more time with THAT character? To many people, Quincey Morris (the Texas cowboy who helps destroy Dracula) has felt like one of literature’s underused heroes. And Anthony Lee Head heard the call loud and clear!

Bloodbound gives Quincey the spotlight he deserved all along. Head takes us through his childhood, showing us how he developed his grit and moral compass, how he ended up being one of Lucy’s suitors, and walks us down the path that leads him into Van Helsing’s circle... and ultimately... the hunt for Dracula. It’s a behind‑the‑scenes expansion that feels both fresh and faithful, adding depth without disturbing the bones of Stoker’s original.

Retellings can go sideways fast, especially when they mess too much with a beloved story. But shifting the lens to Quincey doesn’t distort Dracula. It actually enriches it. Sure, the vibe is different, but it's firmly still anchored in the world Stoker built. It's creative as hell and a lot of fun, too.

If this wasn’t already on your radar, consider it officially added. And honestly? You don’t need to remember every detail of Dracula to enjoy this. I had forgotten more than half of it and I'm ashamed to admit that I barely remembered Quincey until I looked him up. Now... I’m itching to reread the original with this new perspective still buzzing in my head.

As a sidenote: if you like these kind of retellings, check out Julia by Sandra Newman, which takes the story of 1984 and tells it through the eyes of... well... Julia, the original main character's girlfriend, basically shoving Winston into the background.

The 40 But 10: Alexandra Fleder

noreply@blogger.com (TNBBC Super Mod) — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 09:00:00 +0000

Today we are joined by Alexandra Fleder. Alexandra worked in “big law” as a litigation paralegal for over fifteen years. She is the author of two poetry chapbooks, Earthquake Warnings and Crystal Woman, both published by Bottlecap Press. Today she is a full-time writer as well as a native plant enthusiast. She lives with her two blind cats in her native Los Angeles.

Why do you write?

Because I have to. If I don’t write, I feel like I’ll spontaneously combust.

How do you celebrate when you finish writing a new book?

I go somewhere for a margarita! But not the mind-altering kind a fake astronaut makes.

Describe your book in three words.

Woman follows hunch.

Describe your book poorly.

Astronauts are just actors. A woman can be a paradox—both a mother and a punk singer. The truth masquerades in front of us in a gaudy costume. Patriarchy is a predator. The standard American Diet is SAD. Gravity is just an agreed-upon concept. A woman’s howling voice can take down an empire.

Summarize your book using only gifs or emojis.

💃🌴🌴🌴👃🚀🎥🌎🪐🌝📺🕶️🎭🎬🔮🔮🔮🪬🍹🏳️🌋☢️📡👠🔦🎱 🏜️ ☠️⚡💥👄💅 💵📚🤯 🧓🔫🕵️🍾🙆🏼‍♀️🦋🌙🌲

What’s the single best line you’ve ever read?

“Let San Andreas yawn down there in the butchered plateau.”

What’s on your literary bucket list?

To read Infinite Jest cover to cover. It would be fun to brag about at dinner parties.

Do you think you’d live long in a zombie apocalypse?

Yes, because I’ve been prepping for several years now. I have an anti-zombie plan that includes seeds, soil, shovels, tarot cards, a generator, books of prayer, protective crystals, several bottles of good wine, and an understanding of how to manipulate negative energy. It’ll be rough for a while, but through enough spell work and meditation, the zombies will self-destruct and it will be safe to leave the bunker again.

What is under your bed?

Dried cat vomit, cat hair, a misplaced sock with a hole in it, and a bag of desert rocks.

What scares you the most?

A world without books. A world without trees. Newspeak and thoughtcrimes like Orwell warned us about. AI and Big Brother always watching from your pocket.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She Writes Press

Releases 8/11/26

Book shop | Amazon

Perfect for fans of Mona Awad and Maria Semple, this gripping, offbeat journey through modern-day Los Angeles is a genre-blending, darkly humorous exploration of suburban life, conspiracy theories, and spiritual awakening.

A page-turning psychological trip for anyone who’s ever wondered if all their crazy ideas . . . might actually be right.

Joan is a middle-aged punk rocker turned housewife who’s seen too many TikToks to trust the official narrative. The moon landing? Faked. Weather? Controlled. Food? Poisoned. Her suspicions ignite when a strange new neighbor—possibly a dead astronaut with ties to secret ops—arrives on her block.

As Joan spirals deeper into the rabbit hole, she begins to question everything: her marriage, her sanity, and her soul’s purpose. Armed with a mystical book and a fading voice that once shook LA punk clubs, she sets out on a spiritual journey through canyon trails, desert portals, and shadow realms to expose the truth—and reclaim her power.

“Fleder’s novel is dark, funny, sometimes ridiculous, and endearingly human. Its expertly paced plot is appealingly offbeat, with just enough emotion to ground the proceedings and connect readers to its complex protagonist.”—Kirkus Reviews

?“The novel stayed with me long after I finished, not because of dramatic twists, but because of how vividly it captured the quiet, unsettling encounters that can reshape a life.”—Los Angeles Book Review, 5-star review

“Timely storytelling at its finest, Joan of the Arcane invites us to consider the truly wild moment we find ourselves in as a species. A fun and provocative read, this book opens unexpected possibilities about our world we may not see coming. To that end, Joan of the Arcane is an essential addition to any reader’s library.”—Danielle Dulsky, author of The Night House and Founder of the Hag School

“Joan of the Arcane is a hypnotic fever dream. Arresting and absurd, it offers a piercing examination of suburban malaise, forced conformity, conspiracy theory rabbit holes, and the dangers of masquerading as someone other than your true self.”—Emily Jane, USA Today best-selling author of On Earth as it Is on Television

“Joan of the Arcane is a must-read for anyone who has ever doubted the veracity of official announcements. . . . [The] plot will entice anyone who has ever hovered over an absurd title on an internet video and wondered, “Really, could that be true?”—Readers’ Favorite, 5-star review

Blog Tour: Liberation Now!

noreply@blogger.com (TNBBC Super Mod) — Tue, 04 Aug 2026 09:00:00 +0000

We're happy to help Meerkat Press support the release of their latest title Liberation Now! by Seb Doubinsky by participating in their blog tour.

For our portion of the tour, Seb has decided to participate in our 40 But 10 series - where I've pulled together 40ish questions - some bookish, some silly - and have asked authors to limit themselves to answering only 10 of them. That way, it keeps the interviews fresh and connectable for all of us!

Seb Doubinsky is a bilingual French dystopian writer and poet. He is the author of the “City-States Cycle”, comprising, among others, The Babylonian Trilogy, The Song Of Synth, Missing Signal,The Invisible and Paperclip. Missing Signal, published by Meerkat Press, won the Bronze Foreword Reviews Award in the Best Science-Fiction Novel category in 2018. He lives in Denmark with his family and teaches literature, history and culture in the French department of Aarhus University. His new novel, Liberation Now! is coming out August 4th, through Meerkat Press.

Describe your book poorly.

It’s like the Power Puff Girls, but they have no magic powers, do drugs and are Communists.

What’s your kryptonite as a writer?

Cafés and crowded spaces. And writer’s retreats. Could never write there. I need my own space.

Would you and your main character(s) get along?

In “Liberation Now!”, yes, absolutely. I would be part of their gang, live in their community and do all sorts of illegal and fun stuff with them.

If you could spend the day with another author, who would you choose and why?

Thomas Pynchon, for sure. Because Thomas Pynchon, you know, and… Thomas Pynchon!!!

What is your favorite book from childhood?

I would say Dr. Seuss’s “Green Eggs and Ham”. Absolutely loved it as a kid. It made no sense and yet, it did. It could even be the book that made me a writer, because, in many ways, it respected nothing, except the child who was reading it. It was pure subversion.

What genres won’t you read?

I am not prejudiced, but romance is definitely not my cup of tea.

You have to choose an animal or cartoon character that best represents you. Which is it and why?

Wile E. Coyote, because he’s excellent at failing. Soul brother. And I’ve used him in my first City-States novel, “The Babylonian Trilogy” as a minor character.

Are you a toilet paper over or under kind of person?

Definitely under. It’s the only way that makes sense. And I think people who defend the other way are weird. Like really weird.

Do you DNF books?

Yes. Absolutely.

What scares you the most?

You mean, apart from a slow and painful death and my fear of heights? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Releases August 6th

Science Fiction | Fantasy

Meerkat Press | Bookshop.org | Amazon

A radical and trippy scifi political fable about an improbable gang of women fighting for the freedom of planet Earth. Things are looking grim for Earth as the alien force known as the Subliminal Empire seems to enjoy a complete yet unnoticed control of the planet. However, a motley crew composed of a city-state president on the run, a financial advisor who quit her job, a disgruntled academic studying the dangers of A.I. and an undercover alien agent who previously worked as a manager for a rock band might very well jeopardize the cosmic imperialists' plan and prove once and for all that one should never underestimate the power of women when it comes to liberation. Doubinsky masterfully crescendos his genre-defying saga in this breathless, action-packed standalone finale.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EXCERPT from LIBERATION NOW!

VITA

Vita parked her bike next to the other machine in front of the bleached bungalow, a superb chopper with a shiny blue tank. The ocean roared some fifty feet away, gnawing helplessly at the sandy beach. Ash’s house was one of a long stretch of small houses and businesses obviously built to enjoy and exploit the seashore. On the opposite side of Ash’s abode stood a bar and a lawyer’s office specialized in real estate. Everything looked a little run-down, probably because of the highly polluted waters, which made bathing impossible. A few miles up, a concentration of chemical and oil industries had gradually destroyed the environment, with the blessing of New Petersburg’s politicians. Global warming had helped the process, by developing algae which fed on the chemicals, turning them into toxic plants. They shone under the surface at night, a beautiful and eerie yellow-green glow that could be seen for miles. Your skin would develop a myriad of itchy pustules should it come in contact with them and leave you with impressive scar tissue once the eruptions dried and finally fell off like tiny skin petals. The town was called Blue City, but Ash thought that they should change it to Poison-Green City.

Vita was getting off her bike when Ash came out of the bungalow to greet her, holding a coffee mug in each hand. She wore a simple white t-shirt that enhanced the dark ink of the tattoos covering her arms and neck, and a pair of jean shorts which had the same effect with her long legs. Her feet were bare, tip-tapping on the warm concrete. Ash put down the mugs on the parking’s concrete and they hugged for a long time, clinging on each other’s body like the proof of their own existence.

“I’ve made some coffee,” Ash said. “Let’s sit on the porch and admire the devastation.”

Vita nodded, and they sat side by side on the brittle beach chairs, the steaming mug in their hand. Even if it was a beautiful late August morning, there were only a few people on the beach, sitting in the sand or walking at a safe distance from the shore.

“Every day reminds me how stupid humans are,” Ash said, blowing on her coffee to cool it down.

Vita nodded. Ash’s words made her think of one of her favorite jokes: “As Confucius said, only human stupidity can give an idea of the infinite.”

“What brings you here? Not that it isn’t great to see you, but five years is a long time.”

“I need a place to lay low for a while. Last mission was a disaster. You might even have heard about it.”

Ash shook her beautiful head, her blonde hair rolling like a matte fire around her perfect features.

“You’re the only contact I’ve left. We’re all in hibernation right now. Total communication ice-age.”

“And you think you’re safe here?”

“The Subliminal Empire definitely doesn’t know you exist. You’re completely under their radar, and I’ve managed to escape their surveillance, I think.”

“You think?” Ash asked, half-ironic, half-worried.

“No, I know. I hid in the same motel for two weeks, my Synth tuned on the 1880s. No grays appeared during the whole time.”

Ash nodded, playing with her mug.

“OK, just to make sure: Let’s tune into the Planet X Super Blue Beach Resort and check, just to be safe. You could be a double agent now, for all I know. Five years, girl. It’s a long time. Things happen.”

“Sure. I understand.”

Synth was a drug that allowed its users to access parallel dimensions that could be shared, if you synchronized your experience. Ordinary non-users would just appear in the setting with their normal clothes on, while Synthers would be part of the setting: cowboys in a saloon, knights in armor around the Round Table, astronauts in a space station and so on. But Synth also revealed agents of the Subliminal Empire, who couldn’t manipulate space-time, and became gray shapes in the hallucination. Any weapon, police apparel or hostile aura would turn a person gray. Gray was the color of power. Gray was dangerous.

Both women let the Synth take over their neural systems, shifting the time-frame to the date and place of their choosing. Ash turned her head towards Vita, as the two suns stood high in the impeccable red sky. Their coffees had morphed into complicated cocktails, and they were both reclining in comfortable deckchairs. The beach was crowded with bathers and families, and children screamed and laughed as the purple waves hit their chests. Not a spot of gray in sight.

“Cheers,” Ash said. “Good to see you again.”

The 40 But 10: Anna Nordberg

noreply@blogger.com (TNBBC Super Mod) — Mon, 03 Aug 2026 09:00:00 +0000

Today we are joined by Anna Nordberg. Anna is a journalist and culture writer whose essays have appeared in Slate magazine, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and the San Francisco Chronicle. She grew up in New York City and now lives in San Francisco with her husband and two children. When She Was Ours is her first novel.

What made you start writing?

When I was around four years old, I started dictating stories to my mother from the bathtub. She would write them down, and then I would illustrate them. She had a lot of patience, and I loved the time with her, so maybe that was a part of it—getting to have this wonderful ritual with my mom, who was very no-nonsense and time efficient when it came to other activities. She wasn’t someone who got on the floor and played dolls or blocks, but she would tell me stories and write down mine.

My parents were also huge readers, and my father read the entire Lord of the Rings series to my brother and me when I was around five or six. LOTR was the Harry Potter of its day, and my brother and I were obsessed. When I was 8, I attempted to write my own version of a Middle Earth fantasy novel on a yellow legal pad. I still have it.

But I think the biggest influence on my writing was watching my mother work on her own novel. She wrote it in her 40s, when she was recovering from a serious surgery, typing away in the tiny guest room off our kitchen in our Manhattan apartment. It was never published, and I think in the end she viewed it as a failure—I remember her telling me, “The first three times I read it I cried, and then the fourth time, I thought it was sort of boring.” My mother died when I was 17, and I know if she’d had more time, she would have written another book. But what inspired me wasn’t whether her novel got published or not. It was that she sat down and did it. I wish I could tell her that now.

What’s your kryptonite as a writer?

Fear of upsetting people—whether it’s a reader, a source for my journalism, the author of a book I’m reviewing, or a friend or family member who might, accurately or not, perceive themselves in my writing. Not that I think worrying about your sources and readers is by definition a bad thing. You should care. You just don’t want to think about it so much that it paralyzes you, and sometimes, this can happen to me.

Describe your book in three words.

Families under pressure.

If you could cast your characters in a movie, which actors would play them and why?

This is such a wonderful question. For Thea, the mother, who’s a renowned surgeon facing a terminal cancer diagnosis, my dream casting would be Laura Dern. Not just because she’s made an art of playing mothers—in Wild, in Big Little Lies, in Little Women, just recently in Is This Thing On?—but because she has this fierceness and warmth that never tips over into cliché. Her performance as Marmee in Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of Little Women is a touchstone, and I thought a lot about it when I was writing my novel. Marmee is deft at unconditional love—which is harder than people think—but she’s not perfect; she feels anger. I found that very real.

Another absolute legend I would cast to play Thea is Sigourney Weaver. Thea is incredibly strong but also understands and acknowledges her fear. I think, as much a working mother in 1990s Manhattan can, Thea has Ripley from Aliens energy.

This is obviously leaning hard into nepotism but since this is my own fantasy casting, I think that’s okay. For Thea’s older daughter, Phoebe, I’d pick my absurdly talented niece, the actress Madison Thompson, who played Janet McTeer’s daughter on Ozark and is in the current season of Euphoria. Phoebe has to walk this very narrow path of being the cool girl who’s not mean, someone who is confident in her beauty and competence but hasn’t let that curdle into arrogance or cruelty. Madison has known her own mind since she was six years old, but she’s also relentlessly kind, and I see her as Phoebe.

For Astra, Thea’s college-age daughter, I love the idea of Angourie Rice, who plays intelligent, vulnerable young women so well, or Saoirse Ronan, who was so alive and luminous as Jo, also in Gerwig’s Little Women. If I was really going to cheat, I’d go back in time and cast 2009 Romola Garai, who did such a beautiful job as Emma in the BBC miniseries that year. Astra is emotionally astute, and she desperately wants to be good, but she’s also naïve in many ways, because she’s young, and she has a rigidity, a certain inflexible idea of what’s right and wrong, that reminds me of Garai’s Emma before she has her full circle moment.

If you could spend the day with another author, who would you choose and why?

This is a totally paralyzing question, but if I am going just with living authors, I’d say Ann Patchett. She has such incredible range—The Dutch House and Commonwealth are two of my favorite novels, but her essay collections, These Precious Days and This is the Story of a Happy Marriage—are also tremendous. I think her essay “The Getaway Car” is my favorite piece of writers on writing.

I reviewed These Precious Days for the San Francisco Chronicle years ago, and it influenced me deeply as a writer. In her essay “Three Fathers,” she writes about her father’s concern that she could not support herself as a writer made her fierce. “Without ever meaning to, my father taught me at a very early age to give up on the idea of approval. I wish I could bottle that freedom now and give it to every young writer I meet, with an extra bottle for the women.” I think about that line all the time.

What are some of your favorite websites or social media platforms?

I think Books + Bits by Pandora Sykes is the best newsletter on books in Substack. Sykes is the kind of person who eats her books—she reads all the time, almost compulsively—and she’s really attuned to the culture. She used to do the podcast The High Low and is really good about understanding media, including film and TV, and how it all feeds into the zeitgeist.

For news and advice on the publishing industry, Publishing Confidential by Kathleen Schmidt is essential. I only just started listening, but I love the Debutiful podcast with Adam Vitcavage, who interviews first-time authors. A debut is just such a lovely moment for a writer, and Vitcavage captures that sort of “all the wrong turns that got me here” energy I find really inspiring.

Finally, I’ve been surprised and delighted with Bookstagram—it’s a really generous, informed, uplifting corner of the internet, and it feels like there’s fewer trolls lurking there. There are many accounts I love, especially @MrsDalloways, an independent bookstore in Berkeley. As a staff pick they featured O Caledonia, this beautiful, eccentric, elegant weirdo of a novel that is simply brilliant, and more people should read. Once I saw that I was all in.

What is your favorite way to waste time?

Watching videos of Tom Hiddleston dance. And if we’re truly going down a rabbit hole, I could also watch Ben Fensome’s Instagram re-enactments of Jane Austen adaptations on a loop until the end of time. Stuffing socks down his shirt in place of a cravat to play Mr. Darcy? Utter brilliance.

What are you currently reading?

Brawler by Lauren Groff. I have one story left to go. It’s completely exceeding my very high expectations. Groff’s short stories feel like Flannery O’Connor meets Alice Munro, and Munro was one of my favorite authors, perhaps my favorite, until the revelations from her daughter that were publicized after Munro’s death. It came out not just that she failed to protect her daughter from abuse from her stepfather, but that she used that failure, that dark secret, as the engine of her writing. That absolutely broke my heart, and I can’t read her stories the same way. But I’d never encountered a writer as gifted as Munro, until Groff. Her stories are sharp enough to cut yourself on; a universe built in a few pages.

What genres won’t you read?

I don’t read romance, which is silly, because there’s so much amazing romance writing out there! It’s so different than the bodice rippers of my youth, and I know that Romantasy is basically saving book publishing right now. But it’s never a genre I was drawn to so maybe it just feels too late to start now. That said, if readers have any recommendations, I will take them!

What’s the one thing you wish you knew when you were younger?

It actually gets better.

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Lake Union Publishing | August 2026

Thea Erickson, a renowned surgeon, is filled with both joy and grief as her family gathers at their home on a summer night in 1995. Her elder daughter Phoebe is getting married, but even the happiness of the day feels bittersweet, as Thea grapples with a terminal cancer diagnosis. She worries she won’t be around to support her younger daughter Astra, who’s still in college, but even Thea cannot foresee what is to come―a terrible accident the night of the wedding that changes Astra’s life forever.

In a last-ditch effort to protect her family, Thea arranges a secret meeting with an old family friend and extracts a promise that will reverberate long after she’s gone.

Years after her mother’s death, Astra has moved forward with a career and relationship, but she still struggles with her grief. When a man reaches out to her and Phoebe, offering a window into their mother’s past, Astra must make a choice, and her decision forces her to face what it means to love someone after they’re gone, who we decide to forgive, and how families reckon with the past.

ADVANCE PRAISE FOR WHEN SHE WAS OURS:

“When She Was Ours is an affecting debut about the fault lines that run through families and the resilience that emerges when they’re exposed. Nordberg writes with clarity and compassion about the secrets that shape a family as she traces a mother’s final choices and the long shadow they cast on her daughters. The result is an insightful and gripping story about grief, forgiveness, and the stubborn love that binds us, even when it hurts.”―Jacqueline Friedland, USA Today bestselling author of He Gets That from Me and Counting Backwards

“Beautifully told, this deeply moving story about mothers and daughters, grief and memory will resonate with anyone who has ever looked at their mother and thought, but how will I go on without you?”―Nicola Kraus, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Best We Could Hope For

“When She Was Ours is a spellbinding portrait of love in its fiercest and most fragile forms: between partners, between sisters, and above all, between mothers and daughters. I read with my heart in my throat, swept away by Nordberg’s deeply human characters and their quest for wholeness in the wake of loss and rupture. An unforgettable tale by a brilliant magician of a storyteller.” ―Nicole Graev Lipson, USA Today bestselling author of Mothers and Other Fictional Characters

Indie Spotlight: Kaitlyn Bankson

noreply@blogger.com (TNBBC Super Mod) — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 09:00:00 +0000

Today's spotlight shines on Kaitlyn Bankson who just released her novel Nest on July 6th.

Why I Wrote Nest: The Quiet Psychology of Motherhood

When most people imagine pregnancy, they picture joy: baby showers, tiny clothes, decorating a nursery, a growing family.

What interested me was everything happening beneath those moments.

I wanted to write about the invisible work of becoming a mother—the endless calculations, the quiet fears, and the desire to make the world safe for someone who has not even arrived yet.

That desire has a name. We call it nesting.

On the surface, nesting looks simple enough: painting walls, folding tiny clothes, organizing drawers. But I began wondering whether those rituals are really about furniture and blankets at all. What if they're an attempt to create order when life suddenly feels unpredictable? What if preparing a nursery is, in some small way, preparing yourself?

Those questions became the heart of Nest.

My protagonist, Winnie Amato, desperately wants to become a mother. Alongside that hope comes what she simply calls "the Fear"—an anxiety that follows her through every decision, every doctor's appointment, every ordinary day. Her husband, Thomas, wants the same future, but each of them experiences uncertainty differently.

I wasn't interested in writing a thriller where danger comes from outside the home. I was interested in the quieter tension that many people recognize: the way our own minds can magnify uncertainty until it becomes difficult to distinguish genuine caution from imagined catastrophe.

Literary fiction gives us room to linger in those interior landscapes. It allows ordinary moments to carry extraordinary emotional weight. A nursery can become a symbol of hope. A routine conversation can reveal the distance between two people who love each other deeply. A single choice can echo for months.

Anxiety is rarely defeated by one inspirational speech or one dramatic breakthrough. More often, it is navigated through thousands of ordinary moments—moments of noticing, choosing, trusting, and continuing forward despite uncertainty.

Perhaps that is what nesting really is.

Not simply preparing a room but preparing yourself to love someone enough that every ordinary object suddenly feels important.

If Nest encourages readers to look more closely at the emotional landscape of pregnancy, motherhood, and the quiet courage required to embrace an uncertain future, then it has accomplished exactly what I hoped it would.

“I, Winnie Amato, have had sex today with my husband, Thomas Amato.”

Winnie and Thomas Amato have decided to have their first baby together. Although the excitement levels are high, Winnie, especially, is also full of dread. Already prone to being an anxious person, the fluctuating hormones and nauseous waves aggravate her fears. In fact, she calls it “the Fear” because sometimes it becomes so loud that there is nothing else.

After Winnie becomes fed up with her suffering and feelings of madness, she finds that her new desire to nest runs deep into the very marrow of her bones. She cleans and preps and spends countless hours preparing a nursery for their baby. And somewhere within the frantic nesting, Winnie finds moments to breathe and discover peace.

But can these minor moments of noticing and slowing down really stop “the Fear” from reappearing? Can Winnie make it through her pregnancy without losing the baby? Will Thomas and Winnie remain together as man and wife? Nine months turn into eons for a woman who is holding a growing baby inside her body for that long. Every day brings unfamiliar sensations and new ways of exploring the world, as if both soon-to-be parents were only babies themselves.

Kaitlyn Bankson is an American literary novelist who writes psychological literary fiction for the individualist. Influenced by Objectivism and the tradition of Romantic Realism, her novels explore the individual mind under pressure. She is the author of five novels—The Paper Pusher, The Dormant Age, A Man of Silence, A Man of Action, and Nest. She lives in Dubuque, Iowa, with her husband and daughter.

You can find her on:

The 40 But 10: Kelly Lydick

noreply@blogger.com (TNBBC Super Mod) — Mon, 20 Jul 2026 09:00:00 +0000

Today we are joined by Kelly Lydick, received a Bachelors degree in Writing & Literature from Burlington College, with emphases in Psychology and Music, and a Masters degree in Writing & Consciousness from New College of California. Her work has been published in literary magazines such as Guernica, Rain Taxi Review of Books, The Rumpus, Tarpaulin Sky, Drunken Boat, Mission at Tenth, Thema, Switched-On Gutenberg, and many others. Her articles have appeared in other magazines including Natural Awakenings, Co Yoga + Life, True Blue Spirit, American Art Collector, Western Art Collector, and many others. She has also been featured on NPR’s The Writers’ Block and the Word podcast, and on iHeart radio. Kelly is the author of the experimental Mastering the Dream, and a contributing author to the anthologies Dreams That Change Our Lives, the IPPY Award winning Are You the Missing Piece?, and My Journey, My Journal. She's also the author of Dream Incubation for Greater Self-Awareness: A Handbook. She’s a recipient of a Professional Development grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts, a National Endowment for the Arts program, and a past Writer in Residence at the Idaho Commission on the Arts’ Idapost Pen Pal project. Kelly holds professional memberships with the International Association for the Study of Dreams, where she has presented her work on dream studies and served on the board of directors, and the Academy of American Poets. You can find her at www.kellylydick.com.

What do you do when you’re not writing?

It’s so important for writers to have other things besides writing given it’s such a solitary thing. Thank you for asking! I’m not a person who sits down and forces a written quota per day or week. I wrote for a monthly magazine in the past and that deadline driven work was some of the best training in writing I have ever gotten during the course of my career. But I much prefer to court the muse—not race against the clock. When I’m not writing, I’m doing yoga, hiking, editing other authors’ books, taking my son to soccer games, coaching people on empowerment, leading ceremonies of cacao, helping my son learn music and how to speak Italian, journaling about my dreams, cooking, playing games or reading with my son, and spending time with my parents, friends, and family.

Describe your book poorly.

She’s a nosy girl. A really nosy girl. And she asks a lot of questions, too. If I were trying to keep a secret, I would find her annoyingly nosy. I mean, she’s likable for a main character. And we all have our flaws, her especially, but I still ponder whether or not I would actually be friends with her in real life. I could tell you what she does for a living, but that would be a spoiler alert. I could tell you what her father’s secret project is, but that would be a spoiler alert. I could tell you if her story ends on a high note, but that would be a spoiler alert, too. The main thing is, she’s a strong character. And she’s been heartbroken in her own strange way. Everyone can relate to that, right? And sometimes it takes a minute to morally sort yourself out, especially when your parents have passed away at a young-ish age, and you’re left without good role models. That’s where this one starts. But that’s not where it ends. I cried at the end when I wrote it. And cried again at the end when I proofread it before publication. And, honestly, I hope you cry at the end, too. If you don’t, then I didn’t do my job well enough.

If you could cast your characters in a movie, which actors would play them and why?

I so love this question because I often ponder this about all of my writings. And this is a multinational group of characters in Everything That’s Left Behind. It would be:

Rupali Jenga played by Kareena Kapoor Khan.

Nichola Rodale played by Phoebe Tonkin.

John Downing played by Jack Whitehall.

Alice Masterson by Stana Katic.

Rebecca Snow by Nathalie Emmanuel.

Dang Jin by Michelle Yeoh.

Kang & Guerin (both) by Ben Wang.

Alexander Rodale by Henry Cavill.

Deborah Rodale by Catherine Keener.

Roy Dubois by Sean Bean.

Pamela DuBois by Holly Hunter.

Catherine Rodale by Elizabeth Olsen.

Chase Bennett by Josh Hartnett.

Frank Murray by Miles Teller.

Henry Moorehouse by Danny Glover.

David Anderson by Liam Hemsworth.

Commander Williams by Hugo Weaving.

Amina by Halle Berry.

What are some of your favorite books and/or authors?

Ooohhhh…. So many to name it’s not fair. I will inevitably leave someone out… (Apologies in advance.)

Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes is what made me want to become a writer. So, naturally, Alice Hoffman as well. Allegra Hyde for her prose. Jenny Lawson for her humor. Marianne Wiggins for the longest extended metaphor in literary history; in my opinion at the very least she should have won the National Book Award for Evidence of Things Unseen, not just been a finalist. Jodi Picoult for keeping it real always, and Leaving Time is one of my all-time favorite books. Kristin Hannah for the best first line ever written, in her book The Nightingale. David Mitchell, for re-writing the way everyone sees the soul, in Cloud Atlas. Paul Corman Roberts for leading an example that to live and breathe and embody poetry as life as art in a seamless and inseparable way is absolutely possible. Dobby Gibson for Little Glass Planet. Michael Talbot for The Holographic Universe. And, the late souls who have left this plane, colleagues and mentors David Henderson, Jerome Rothenberg, Neeli Cherkovski, and Akilah Oliver.

What is your favorite book from childhood?

A tie between Bunnicula and The Phantom Tollbooth for single titles. My son is in elementary school and we recently read both of these together, and it was so wonderful to revisit these stories in a new context. I gifted him the actual vintage copies of both that I had saved for that exact reason, which was really special. But also, the entire Nancy Drew series. It doesn’t matter to me that the individual books weren’t written by the same writer under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene. I still have all my old original hardcover copies, nearly a complete original set. It’s my childhood treasure.

What are you currently reading?

I never read just one book at a time! Currently, I’m reading The Gospel of Mary Magdalene translated by Leloup, The Spiritual Combat by Lawrence Scupoli, and The Saturday Night Ghost Club by Craig Davidson, apropos to summer.

I often refer to nonfiction reference books daily or weekly on a rotation, depending on what I’m doing. Current references are David Hawkins’ The Map of Consciousness Explained, Jose Luis Stevens’ The Shaman’s Book of Extraordinary Practices, and Brianna Wiest’s The Pivot Year.

And, with my son for his summer reading project, Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling, which is a really sweet little book, also set in Arizona.

Do you think you’d live long in a zombie apocalypse?

If the zombie apocalypse took place and I were stuck inside a bookstore, I would become quickly infected and die, bleeding all over the pages of bell hooks’ All About Love.

If I were somewhere else with my friends and family, we’d definitely be the last ones standing. My closest friends are Gen Xers, like me. I grew up in Chicago, and my dad was in the military. That’s an impermeable character backstory and a plot set-up to be able to survive anything.

Are you a toilet paper over or under kind of person?

This is so funny! I couldn’t care less. I actually once dated a guy who got mad at me because I put the toilet paper on the “wrong way.” I dumped him during that conversation and never talked to him again. But I admit, that experience crosses my mind from time to time, and I’m so grateful he wasn’t “the one.” I’m waaayyy too much of a free spirit to be worrying about the way my toilet paper hangs.

I also have several more books to write.

What songs would be on the soundtrack of your life?

I love this question, too! I’ve always lived and breathed music since I started piano when I was 5. I stuck with it in various forms over the years—played the flute in band, sang in choir, and had a music concentration in college. I LOVE to sing. This list is looooonnnggg and varied. How could it not be with more than four decades of history?

Van Morrison “Into the Mystic”

Tom Petty’s “Wildflowers”

Talking Heads “Once in a Lifetime”

Lionel Richie “Sail On” & “My Love” & “You Are”

Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks “Crystal”

Fleetwood Mac “Storms” and “Silver Springs”

Keith Garret “The Koln Concert”

Dave Matthews Band “Ants Marching” & “Lover Lay Down” & “I’ll Back You Up” & “Stay or Leave”

Patty Griffin “When it Don’t Come Easy”

Yazoo “Only You”

Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton “Islands in the Stream”

Christopher Cross “Sailing” & “Never Be the Same”

Alanis Morissette “You Learn” & “Thank You” & “Uninvited”

Radiohead “Everything in Its Right Place”

The Doors “Riders on the Storm” & “The End” & Indian Summer”

Led Zepplin “Fool in the Rain”

Omkara & Gotama “A Prayer”

Grateful Dead “Ripple”

Yaima “Rebirth” & “Pellucidity”

Rage Against the Machine “Mic Check”

Peter Gabriel “In Your Eyes”

The Cars “Drive”

Crowded House “Don’t Dream It’s Over”

Duran Duran “Ordinary World”

George Michael “Careless Whisper”

The Outfield “Your Love”

Heart “Alone”

RJD2 “Ghostwriter”

Wu-Tang Clan “CREAM”

GZA “Shadowboxin’”

The Roots “The Next Movement”

KRS-One “Step into a World”

Jedi Mind Tricks “The Three Immortals” & “The Deer Hunter”

Mazzy Star “Fade into You”

DJ Taz Rashid “Cloud Nine” & “Deep Sweet”

Justin Timberlake “Mirrors” & “What Goes Around Comes Around”

Ed Sheeran “I Don’t Care” & “Shivers”

Dua Lipa “We’re Good”

Justin Beiber “Holy” & “Ghost” and “Daisies”

Jay Sean and Lil Wayne “Down”

Sage 808, Ruby Chase & Equanimous “Kairos”

Khruangbin “People Everywhere”

Amistat “Seasons”

Enigma “Return to Innocence”

Everything Beethoven.

Okay, I’ll stop now.

Do you DNF books?

I never used to do this. Especially in college and grad school. If I started it, I was committing to finishing it. But as time has gone on, I feel like reading a book is an investment. It takes time that could be spent doing other things. I got really lean with my time and focus of energy after I became a mom. So now, if I don’t like something, it doesn’t resonate with me right away, or I struggle to engage, I disengage and move on to the next one. And I don’t feel weird or guilty about it either. It just wasn’t for me, or the wrong time for that particular story and resonance. And sometimes when it’s just that the timing and mood is off, I circle back to a book at another time and it’s the perfect book later.

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Out now!

Bookshop | Amazon

Nichola Rodale has followed in her father's footsteps, joining an elite team dedicated to creating a sustainable future for humanity. But when she stumbles upon information suggesting her father—a renowned scientist and brilliant puzzle maker—may not have died during The Great Drought as everyone believes, she begins to question everything, including the organization for which she works.

Determined to discover the truth, Nichola embarks on a perilous journey across the desolate American Southwest. Her search takes her from the remnants of Phoenix to an underground rebel café and, ultimately, to the legendary Valley of Fire—a place whispered about but believed by most to be nothing more than a myth.

As powerful forces close in and the lines between friend and foe blur, Nichola must stay true to her heart to navigate a world of loyalty, power, and betrayal. She will have to risk everything—including her own life—to protect her community, secure its future, and survive long enough to expose the truth about her father's work and uphold his legacy.

What I Read in June

noreply@blogger.com (TNBBC Super Mod) — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 15:10:15 +0000

Here's what I read in June. Twelve books total, not counting two I read for publicity purposes.

Of the twelve, there was one 5 star read, three were 4 stars, six were 3 stars, one got 2 stars and one was a DNF. Ten of these were review copies. Only one was a print copy, and I listened to two of them on audio. The longest read was 512 pages and the shortest read was 88 pages. For a total of 2670 pages read.

Question Not My Salt by Amanda M Blake

Good lord… this book has single‑handedly convinced me that if I didn’t personally buy it, season it, and cook it with my own two hands, I’m not eating it. Ever again. It’s a delectable, revolting, downright deranged little feast of a story.

Sierra’s college roommate invites her home for a good ole American Thanksgiving. Being Canadian and far from her own family, Sierra figures, why not? But the moment she steps through that door, she realizes her roommate wildly undersold Mother’s mealtime rules. You eat what you’re given, exactly as it’s given, and you leave not a single crumb behind… or you face the consequences.

And let’s just say the punishments are so twisted I had to pause, gag, and then immediately keep reading.

If On Sundays She Picked Flowers, The Lamb, or Bloom live rent‑free in your brain, this book is about to move in with a suitcase.

I’m horrified by how much I enjoyed this and I’m deeply concerned about what that says about me. Five blood‑filled, freshly cauterized stars!!

The Unfamiliar Garden by Benjamin Percy

The Unfamiliar Garden is book two in The Comet Cycle, and so far it’s the standout of the series. Though connected to the events of book one, it’s written to function as a true standalone — same meteor shower, different location, and a mutation that feels even stranger, darker, and far more compelling.

This is alien fungal fiction to the max. At its heart, it’s a story about a broken family: a college professor who studies fungi loses his daughter in the woods one early morning while out on a mushroom hunt. Five years later, his ex‑wife is investigating a strange resurgence of murders where the dead are found with odd swirling carvings in their flesh and all of their hair removed. People in the area are suddenly falling ill, acting out violently or becoming almost comatose as grey, gooey matter oozes from their eyes, noses, and mouths.

Every thread (heehee) leads back to the meteors that crashed into the region five years earlier… and to something that has been quietly growing ever since.

I ended up liking this installment far more than I expected. I stuck with the audiobook format, and while the male narrator’s chapters were excellent, the female narrator’s delivery was a bit off for me... too soft‑spoken, with a habit of whispering the ends of sentences that pulled me out of the moment.

Still, the story itself absolutely delivers. I’d recommend this one to fans of fungal fiction, especially readers who appreciate the creeping, uncanny weirdness of VanderMeer’s Southern Reach trilogy. I would just recommend reading it in print.

Cross My Heart I Hope You Die by Mallory Arnold

Mallory Arnold did it again. I cracked this open expecting a good time, and next thing I knew I’d inhaled 400 pages like it was nothing. It’s breezy, it’s bonkers, and okaaaayy... it’s occasionally cheesy ... but I was hooked.

Three women discover, under the most unique circumstances, that they’re all dating the same man. As if that weren’t enough, he’s also convinced each of them to loan him an absurd amount of money… and then promptly ghosts them. Naturally, they do what any self‑respecting, scorned queens would do... catfish him, drag him to a creepy cabin, and attempt to scare the absolute hell out of him until he coughs up their money. Except their little revenge prank goes sideways fast, and suddenly they’re trapped in a full‑blown gore‑fest.

A fast‑paced thriller that isn’t afraid to let its hair down... one that sprints, stumbles, laughs at itself, and then sprints again. It’s a delightfully messy mash‑up of female fury and classic slasher mayhem.

Imperfect? Sure. Fun as hell? Absolutely.

The Stages of Decay by Sam Weiss

A man haunted by a past he can’t outrun gets lost in the woods after being reluctantly dragged on a guided hiking tour. At under 90 pages, more short story than novelette, Weiss has no choice but to throw you straight into the chaos of Tom’s life. We know there’s been an accident. We know he’s lost someone. But the details are blurry, just like Tom himself when we first meet him... hungover, disoriented, and running from something he can’t even look at head‑on.

As he trudges up the mountain beside a man named Buster, the memories begin to creep up on him. And in the span of a few pages, he loses not only the group he’s half‑heartedly following, but his grip on the present as the ghosts of the past aim to drag him under.

As a standalone, it’s… okay. Compelling in moments, but thin in others. It feels like we’re missing a crucial piece of the emotional machinery... like The Stages of Decay isn’t the starting point, but a stop along the way. Just a shard of a bigger story rather than the whole thing.

The Red Sacrament by Sara Hinkley

Review to come, posting for part of a blog tour on July 8th

The Sky Vault by Benjamin Percy

Meh. A weird way to end The Comet Cycle if you ask me. We kind of find out the origins of the comet and learn of some shady whacky government stuff that was happening back in the 40's in Alaska, that might or might not be responsbile for whatever the heck is hiding out there in the fog and clouds.

It's a short series on audio and the narration is pretty solid. My preference of the books in order from best to least - The Unfamiliar Garden, then The Sky Vault, with The Ninth Metal coming in last.

I still stand by what I said early. I'm a victim of wanting to like Benjamin Percy more than I actually do. And I know I'll keep reading him because each book he releases sounds totally unlike the ones before it.

Earth 7 by Deb Olin Unferth

A whimsical little apocalypse that’s more about the people who stay than the planet that’s slipping away.

Dylan grows up with her scientist mother in an underwater pod, tucked beneath the wreckage of an Earth that can no longer sustain life. The novel follows Dylan as she builds an online friendship with a Martian, resurfaces to take a groundskeeper job at her mother’s former research lab, and falls for a woman whose body has been altered so thoroughly she’s nearly indestructible.

We occasionally drift into the minds of the people who cross Dylan’s path, each perspective adding a small, unexpected shard of insight.

Written in short, staccato bursts, the book moves like a slow sand bike across a collapsing world — dusty, patient, and quietly aching. It’s a story that balances dark humor with grief, hope with the soft surrender to hopelessness. I found myself slipping in and out of it, but even that felt fitting for a book about holding on when everything else is falling away.

Habits of the Sea by Shea Ernshaw

I really liked Ernshaw’s The History of Wild Places and had high hopes for this one. It has the same woman‑goes‑missing, mystery‑but‑not‑quite‑a‑mystery vibe, and it definitely scratches the remote‑island‑with‑strange‑inhabitant itch. But everything between the opening and the ending left me severely disappointed.

I wanted an atmospheric, immersive read I could lose myself in. Instead, I got an indecisive woman torn between worlds — the real one, where she’s engaged to a man who genuinely adores her, and the imagined one, where she’s still pining after a fabled floating island she believes she visited as a child. The middle section leans hard into a weird version of the enemies to lovers trope (which I typically avoid at all cost) complete with some seriously eyerolling Stockholm‑syndrome-ish longing and sex which drained the tension... instead of building it.

Three stars for the beginning and the end, but a solid uuuuugh for everything in between.

Women who can't make up their minds and who force themselves to be happy in whatever weird ass situation they find themselves in are my kryptonite. Especially when it’s a woman writing that kind of woman.

We Were Forbidden by Jaqueline Harpman

When I saw that Harpman had a new book coming out, I ran to Edelweiss without hesitation. I Who Have Never Known Men is one of my all‑time favorites, so I knew this collection had impossibly big shoes to fill.

The first story is fantastic and, sadly, the only one that captures the eerie strangeness that Harpman does so well. A group of people wandering a forest, waiting for a summons that may never come, slowly dwindling in number. It’s devastating and unsettling and quietly profound. Exactly what I wanted.

The other two stories, though, never quite rise to that level. One follows a schoolgirl being silenced and ostracized for turning a classmate’s logic back on her. The other follows a writer who imagines an entire life for a fictional woman during a train ride. They’re fine, but they lack the atmospheric tension, the existential dread, the haunting atmosphere I was craving.

In the end, this collection has one standout story followed by two that fail to echo what makes Harpman’s work so compelling. Don't get me wrong. It's not bad. Just nowhere near the brilliance I know she can deliver.

Bestiary by Patrick Rutigliano

DNF @ 59%

The Whisper by Chelsea Iversen

If you are familiar with my tastes, you'll know I don’t typically reach for witchy books or thrillers, so I was hesitant when the publisher offered this one since it sits squarely in both genres. But I ended up enjoying it more than I expected. It’s a little longer in the tooth than it needs to be, but it’s a very readable story about three friends reuniting on the 15th anniversary of their best friend’s accidental death, determined to dig into the secrets — including their own — that surrounded it.

Strangely, The Whisper doesn’t lean into the magic as much as I anticipated. Considering the entire premise hinges on it, I was surprised by how lightly it’s handled. As the trio conducts their own investigation, they uncover new clues and old relationships that reshape everything they thought they knew. It’s fun tagging along as their theories shift, and while I was late to the game on the culprit, the magical element becomes pretty easy to spot.

This isn’t a cozy mystery — there’s plenty of grief, regret, and long‑buried secrets — but the repeated references to “doing magic” and visiting the “spell circle” did add a layer of cheesiness that occasionally undercuts the darker tone.

A solid 3 star read.

The Silence at Asheboro by Bo Poske

After seeing my DNF status and my response to one of the bookstagrammers who wanted to know what I didn't like about it, the author reached out based on what I had shared, concerned that I had a much older copy and offered to send me an updated arc.

And after comparing the first couple pages of the updated arc to the one I had read, I could see that it was much different, soooo.... I decided to give it another whirl.

Oh girl. I should not have done that. The first 10% was actually ok, especially considering that I had gotten farther with it than I originally had. The writing was better and less repetitive. There was more time spent on introducing and developing the characters. But once they got to the zoo, the repetitiveness came screaming back.

This is a story in which a wife and her son escape the abusive clutches of her husband, with the help of her brother Evan and their friends Jess and Marcus. After successfully running away, they decide to take the kid to a zoo to have a 'normal' day but of course, the universe has other plans. Somehow, they enter the zoo without realizing something is horribly horribly wrong and are immediately hunted by a half dead, ridiculously enraged elephant with red eyes. It stalks them and terrifies them and then buckle up because so does every other animal in the zoo for the next 5 days. So out of one abusive situation just be thrown into another... one that is much muuuuuch worse.

Tread carefully here, I'm not going into full spoiler mode but I am about to outline some of the stuff that comes up that really annoyed me. Are you sure you want to stick around to read it? You still here? You're sure? Ok... I warned you...

The characters are beaten, bloodied, bitten, and bashed over and over and over again and yet they just... keep.... going. Not only is it wildy unlikely that a person could survive with those types of untreated injuries and that amount of blood loss without succumbing to infection and fever, they just kept running and hiding and taking beatings like it was no big deal, rationalizing all the craziness away.

Not only was that part distracting, but the timestamps at the start of each chapter didn't always line up with its content. For example, it would say it was 9:50pm but the action was happening at dawn. Or it would say it was 5pm and the characters were walking around with a flashlight and seeing the moon reflected in the swampy water.

On top of that... they kept running into journals and notes and carvings in walls and tables that just happen to explain exactly what they were experiencing at that moment. Every time they ended up in a new part of the zoo, which, hello... new parts of the zoo kept being discovered days and days later... like what? ... the descriptions were always the same - all of the food and drink debris, all of the blood stains, all of the opened gory rib cages - and everything appeared to have been left or written a long time ago, and not just a few days ago.

And then there were these sections that were kind of just inserted into the chapters that gave you an actual date and shared random snippets of things that were happening outside of the zoo - police getting missing person reports, claims of animals in the zoo going bezerk or acting strangely, strange cloud formations. I mean... what? If all this shit had been happening for a few months prior to our crew getting to the zoo, how did they not know about the weird shit until now? And when IS now?!

Ugh. I should have let it stay in the DNF pile. Now I'm even more frustrated than I was. And to no fault of the author's. He was actually so cool about it and is such a nice guy online that I kind of feel bad about this.

I stand behind what I said before - I see so many people loving this book that it might just be me.

The 40 But 10: Grace Sammon

noreply@blogger.com (TNBBC Super Mod) — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 16:37:00 +0000

Today we are joined by Grace Sammon. Grace is an award-winning author, educator, and radio host whose work centers on storytelling, reinvention, and voice. Recognized in Who’s Who in Education and Who’s Who in Literature, she is the recipient of the 2025 Indies United Award for Inspirational Women in Literature, Media, and Journalism. Her debut novel, The Eves, marked a major career reinvention and earned critical acclaim. She is also the former host of the multi-award-winning radio shows The Storytellers and LAUNCH PAD. Grace is the author of eight books, including the LAUNCH PAD series and the forthcoming novel The Reliable Narrator (May 2026). She lives on Florida’s west coast with her husband and a small herd of imaginary llamas. Learn more about Grace at www.GraceSammon.Net and follow her on Facebook (grace.sammon) and Instagram (GraceSammonWrites/)

Why do you write?

I’ve been mulling that question over, both privately and with some fellow authors, quite a bit recently. There really isn’t one answer. There’s the simple answer: I love rearranging 26 letters into beautiful, sometimes heartbreaking sentences. The bigger answer is far more complex, however, because it entails the whole breadth of the industry, the writing, the publishing, marketing, and the reader interactions – all of it. At times, it feels like an expensive hobby; at other times, it feels like you are touching lives in meaningful ways. More often than not, I opt to touch others’ lives, lift up unheard voices, and make human connections through my words.

What’s something that’s true about you but no one believes?

Have you ever played “Two Truths and a Lie,” the game where you tell others two things that are true about you and one thing that is false? I use it in my workshops when I ask my participants to share about themselves as a way of beginning their own storytelling. I usually share three sentences: First, I have refueled the stealth bomber mid-air over the Grand Canyon. Second, every book I’ve written, and every radio show I’ve hosted, has garnered financial reward. And, lastly, I have participated in three autopsies. Can you guess the lie? Sadly, perhaps, it’s the one about the books and radio shows. They’ve been rewarding, absolutely, but not always financially. The other two experiences – just, wow!

If you could have a superpower, what would it be?

We all have a superpower and should claim it. I’m highly organized, have a strong network of friends and family, and have a pretty deep knowledge of useful and useless information. I’m frequently praised for what I think of as a rather useless talent: I make amazing charcuterie boards. If I could add a superpower, I think flying would be nice, but I’d rather like to heal the hurt and suffering in the world.

Would you and your main character(s) get along?

Sometimes. I write flawed characters, with the understanding that we are all flawed in some ways. Next to the primary character in my books, there is usually a strong (less flawed) friend who helps the character and the plot along. Sometimes, said friend gets very frustrated and just wants to, honestly, kick the main character into action or resolution. In my writing, all of my characters are a little bit of me, the good, the bad, and the ugly. So, like it or not, we all have to get along.

What is your favorite book from childhood?

That’s easy. BLACK BEAUTY by Ann Sewell. It was first published in 1877, but I still have the copy my big brother gave to me when I was ten years old, published in the early 1960’s. I got it on Christmas Day and spent the entire day reading. It’s the first book I couldn’t put down.

What’s the single best line you’ve ever read?

At the moment, and I am being prideful here, it’s a line from my just-released novel THE RELIABLE NARRATOR. I’m not sure where such sentences come from, but I’m grateful when they come.

It’s the morning after Darby Small and her mother have finally, after decades, discussed Darby’s childhood and her long-held feeling that her mother should have done more. It’s an emotionally intense scene that leaves them both drained. The next chapter opens with: The next morning, they maneuver around the kitchen like overly cautious bulls in a China shop of emotions.

Do you read the reviews of your books, or do you stay far, far away from them, and why?

Yes, I read them. Reviews are an author’s lifeblood. Please leave them. I cringe sometimes, I question sometimes, but I’m always grateful, and I always learn from them.

If you were on death row, what would your last meal be?

First, I’d want to understand how I wound up on death row! But, hands-down, my mother’s recipe for risotto – a dish of cheese and egg yolk-laden, layered rice and rich Italian meat sauce, accompanied by her veal/chicken rolled dish stuffed with breadcrumbs, garlic, and onions cooked on a skewer with onions and bay leaf. A nice Chianti would be nice.

What’s the one thing you wish you knew when you were younger?

To trust myself more. To not care as much as what others thought.

Do you DNF books?

Yes, and this term is new to me. On my DNF journey, I start out skimming and at least try to get to the end and read the last chapter or two. Too many good books, too little time.

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Out now!
Amazon link

Some truths aren’t hidden. They’re just waiting to be claimed.

Darby Small has spent her life perfecting the art of invisibility. As a premier ghostwriter for memoirs, exposés, and self-help bestsellers, she knows how to elevate other people’s voices while silencing her own. But when a late-night text from Phoebe Zazlove—her brilliant, infuriating, estranged childhood friend—shatters the quiet of Darby’s carefully constructed world, old secrets begin to stir.

Phoebe is dying. She’s written a manuscript. And she wants Darby to help finish it.

Reluctantly drawn back into a friendship forged at summer camp and fractured by life’s betrayals, Darby travels between the past and the present to confront the silence she’s long buried—from childhood trauma to the cost of hiding in other people’s stories. As the two women navigate the final chapter of Phoebe’s life, Darby begins to understand the power—and danger—of being the reliable narrator.

Set against the backdrop of the Hudson River Valley and the high desert light of New Mexico, The Reliable Narrator is a luminous, deeply moving novel about female friendship, reinvention, and the stories we dare to tell when time is running out.

For readers of Dani Shapiro, Claire Messud, and Elizabeth Strout, this is a novel about truth, voice, and finally claiming your story.

The 40 But 10: Nanda Roep

noreply@blogger.com (TNBBC Super Mod) — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 09:00:00 +0000

Today we are joined by Nanda Roep. Nanda is a Dutch author who has spent the past thirty years living inside stories. She has written and published more than one hundred books, ranging from imaginative children’s books to feel-good fiction and cozy mysteries filled with secrets, family tension, and emotional twists. Her stories often explore what happens beneath the surface of ordinary lives. Besides writing, she also helps aspiring authors turn their creative ideas into real books. You can find her on facebook and Instagram.

Why do you write?

I write because I live inside stories. My mind naturally turns almost everything I see into a story — a landscape, a conversation, even an ordinary activity. My first book, a whimsical children’s fantasy, was published in the Netherlands thirty years ago. Since then, I’ve explored many different genres as a writer.

What made you start writing?

I honestly can’t remember the exact moment my writing life began — or exploded. As a child, I wrote little plays that I performed at school, made up songs, and later, in high school, I started writing short stories and doing journalism. Before I knew it, a publisher wanted to release my book. I remember feeling more surprised than proud, because my real goal had never been publication itself. I simply wanted to tell my stories.

If you met your characters in real life, what would you say to them?

Over the past thirty years, I’ve written and published more than one hundred books. I’ve always loved strong-willed characters, and honestly, I’d probably want to hug all of them first.

With the central character from May the Best Sister Confess, I think I would talk about what it feels like when many people talk about you, but very few truly listen to you.

And Layla? I’d give her a proud fist bump and say, “You did it.”

Would you and your main character(s) get along?

Absolutely. I think we would connect through the way we look at society and people. With Hilda and Layla, I’d probably end up starting creative projects together. And with the characters from my children’s books, I think we would mostly joke around and laugh a lot.

What is your favorite book from childhood?

Without a doubt: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. I received a first Dutch edition as a child, and it completely captured my imagination. It had everything I loved: humor, fantasy, slightly mischievous songs, and of course, candy.

What’s the one thing you wish you knew when you were younger?

I wish I had realized earlier how special it was that I could write so many books. I could have shared that confidence and experience with other writers much sooner. I’ve finally started doing that now, but it took me a long time to understand that my creative journey could also be valuable to other people.

What’s the one book someone else wrote that you wish you had written?

Probably Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty. Or maybe The Husband's Secret. I absolutely love books that combine emotional depth, relationships, and mystery in that way. It’s a genre I’d love to continue growing into myself.

Do you read the reviews of your books or stay far away from them?

I wish I could say that I eagerly read every review and immediately start conversations with readers, but in reality, I tend to hide behind a little emotional wall first. When someone shares their opinion of my work, I usually need about a week to recover before I dare to look at it. I’m hoping to become a little braver about that over time.

What are some of your favorite books and/or authors?

Over the years, I’ve stayed loyal to certain authors during different phases of my life. As a child, it was Roald Dahl. As a student, I loved John Irving. Later, I gradually moved more toward feel-good fiction and cozy mysteries, with Liane Moriarty becoming one of my favorite contemporary authors.

Describe your book in three words.

Mystery. Love. Ambition.

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Out now!

Check it out on Goodreads

Two sisters. One fall down the stairs. And a past that refuses to stay buried.

In 1983, a woman is found dead at the bottom of the stairs. Her husband is suspected — then acquitted. The case is closed, but doubt lingers.
Nearly forty years later, during the 2020 lockdown, his youngest daughter falls down the same staircase. She survives, but slips into a coma.

When the father is later found dead in a roadside ditch, public suspicion quickly turns to the older sister — a woman who has lived in seclusion for years. She denies everything. And keeps her silence.

Young journalist Layla begins investigating the sisters’ past, determined to prove herself and uncover the truth. As buried secrets resurface, she learns that guilt is rarely straightforward — and that family loyalty can be as dangerous as betrayal.

May the Best Sister Confess is a cozy mystery with emotional depth, blending family drama, long-held secrets, and the unsettling question:

What if the truth has been hiding in plain sight all along?

The 40 But 10: J.R. Mann

noreply@blogger.com (TNBBC Super Mod) — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 13:37:00 +0000

Today we are joined by J.R. Mann. J.R. grew up in London and spent over three decades working at the heart of global finance. As an AI model evaluator, he has worked directly with the systems that inspired The Banyan Project – giving the novel an authenticity that pure fiction rarely achieves. Mann wrote The Banyan Project because he believes we are running out of time. The unrestricted AI arms race could have disastrous consequences, and the public is already living with the contradiction – AI is transforming our working lives even as it threatens them. His message is simple: guardrails must be imposed. Before it is too late. If it isn't already. The Banyan Project is his debut novel.

Why do you write?

I write because I’m not good enough at golf. But seriously, I think it is a combination of a number of factors: a love of words, an overactive imagination and (this might sound pompous) to leave a legacy.

What made you start writing?

I started writing The Banyan Project as a response to a traumatic event that happened in my life. It began as therapy, a way to take my mind to a different place and then developed into something far bigger.

Describe your book poorly.

If AI took control of power and water, what would you do? Do you have a plan? Banyan does. If you are one of the lucky ones, you will be on Banyan’s list. If not...

If you could cast your characters in a movie, which actors would play them and why?

Easy. I think about this far too much.

Tom Hardie as Alex Miller – Quiet intensity

Rhianna Barreto as Mira Kapoor – Fierce. Grounded.

Jeremy Irons as Sir Julian Redmayne – Polished. Ruthless.

Amanda Seyfried as Sophie Redmayne – Fractured loyalty.

Jodie Comer as Imogen Hart – Brilliant. Unflinching.

If you could spend the day with another author, who would you choose and why?

George Orwell. The most insightful writer I have come across. I would love to know his thoughts on AI.

What’s the single best line you’ve ever read?

Technically it is more than one line, but it is the perfect ending to a perfect book.

Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter--tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.... And one fine morning – So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.

Do you DNF books?

As someone with ADHD I need a story to grab me quick. I’ll give it a chance, but I won’t finish just for the sake of finishing. It is because of my lack of patience that I made sure mine was a page turner – otherwise I wouldn’t be able to do the edits.

What scares you the most?

Sending the book to my siblings was terrifying. They’re both very booking and opinionated.

What’s the one thing you wish you knew when you were younger?

Just start writing. First drafts are always crap.

What are you currently reading?

I, Robot. It’s so different to the Will Smith movie. It is incredible how prescient Asimov was back in 1950.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Amazon

When artificial intelligence quietly takes control of the world’s power and water, what happens next?
Alex Miller is an ambitious consultant advising the ultra-wealthy. He thought he was just doing his job – until he discovers he’s been building Banyan, a secret network of underground sanctuaries designed to preserve a carefully selected few.

When a close colleague vanishes, Alex’s questions cost him everything. Desperate, he turns to fierce housing activist Mira Kapoor. Together, they chase a leaked manifest revealing Banyan’s brutal logic.
As collapse approaches, Banyan opens a 72-hour entry window, and Alex and Mira race to expose who’s been chosen.

Then the lights go out.

Inside Banyan, survival is engineered. Outside, London fractures into barter and blood.
The Banyan Project is a propulsive dystopian thriller that asks whether morality can survive in an AI optimized world – perfect for fans of Red Rising and Silo.

Eat Like An Author: Gabriel Fowler

noreply@blogger.com (TNBBC Super Mod) — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 09:00:00 +0000

When most people get bored, they eat. When I get bored, I brainstorm new series and features for the blog, and THEN eat. And not too long ago, as I was brainstorming and contemplating what I wanted to eat, I thought how cool it would be to have a mini-foodie series where authors share the things they like to eat. Photos and recipes and all. And so I asked them, and amazingly they responded, and I dubbed it EAT LIKE AN AUTHOR.

Today, Gabriel Fowler joins us and shares how his writing and love of food are close companions, requiring an immense amount of patience and instinct.

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Since becoming a professional chef, I’ve realized that my arc in food and writing are close companions—two crafts that both require patience, instinct, and a willingness to start over when something just doesn’t feel right. It reminds me of the first time I made mac and cheese with my mother. Simple, and yet there is a memory that remains. It wasn’t much different from the first time I wrote a story about a boy who became a superhero. It was something I could call my own.

As my life progressed, so did both crafts. But I’ll admit—because I cook for a living, my go-to meals are often peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (creamy peanut butter only and a layer on each side so the jelly has a secure place to live), and still, that same three-ingredient mac and cheese—noodles, cheese, and milk. The professional and the personal don’t always overlap.

But sometimes they do. And when they do, it means something.

The inspiration behind my debut novel Remember Me was my grandmother, who passed away from Alzheimer's disease. The book is loosely based on her — and on the effect her illness had on our entire family. The lesson I carried out of that experience, and into those pages, was simple: never forget. The dish I'm sharing today is one I return to for the moments that matter. It's the kind of meal that commands your full attention — as a cook and as a guest. One that lingers. One you don't forget.

Deconstructed Beef Wellington with roasted garlic potato puree, asparagus, and a red wine sauce.

Ingredients

Beef

● 4 beef tenderloin medallions (6–8 oz each)

● Salt and pepper

● 2 tbsp oil

● 2 tbsp butter

● Fresh thyme

Duxelles

● 1 lb mushrooms, finely chopped

● 2 shallots, minced

● 2 tbsp butter

● 1 tsp thyme

Potato Purée

● 2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes

● 1 head roasted garlic

● 4 tbsp butter

● ½ cup heavy cream

Asparagus

● 1 bunch asparagus

● Olive oil, salt, pepper

Puff Pastry

● 1 sheet puff pastry

● 1 egg, beaten

Red Wine Sauce

● 2 cups red wine

● 1 cup beef stock

● 1 shallot, minced

● 1 tbsp butter

Method

1. Duxelles:
Cook shallots in butter. Add mushrooms and thyme and cook until dry. Season.

2. Potato Purée:
Roast garlic at 400°F for 40 minutes. Boil potatoes until tender, mash with roasted garlic, butter, and warm cream. Season.

3. Puff Pastry Rings:
Cut puff pastry into rings, brush with egg wash, and bake at 400°F for 12–15 minutes until golden.

4. Asparagus:
Toss with oil, salt, and pepper. Roast at 425°F for 8–10 minutes.

5. Red Wine Sauce:
Cook shallot until soft. Add wine and reduce by ¾. Add stock and reduce until slightly thickened. Finish with butter.

6. Beef:
Season tenderloins. Sear in oil 2–3 minutes per side. Add butter and thyme, baste, and cook to 125–130°F. Rest 5 minutes.

Plate

Spread potato purée on the plate. Add a spoonful of duxelles, top with beef, arrange asparagus alongside, lean a puff pastry ring against the beef, and finish with red wine sauce.

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Purchase at

Barnes & Noble | Amazon

At the funeral of beloved Brooklyn community leader Mary-ann, journalist Salvador Pitello reflects on the extraordinary life that inspired him to write her story. Known affectionately as "Mama," Mary-ann spent decades serving her neighborhood through a soup kitchen she founded with her best friend and helping transform Brooklyn into a safer community.

As Sal chronicles her life, he witnesses the devastating effects of Alzheimer's disease on Mary-ann, her husband Allan, and their six children. While in a rehabilitation ward, Mary-ann forms an unlikely friendship with Landon, a young boy battling brain cancer whose remarkable memory contrasts with her fading one. Their bond rekindles glimpses of the woman she once was and leads to a profound act of sacrifice that forever changes both of their lives.

Gabriel Fowler, originally from Upstate New York, is a writer and personal chef whose journey has been shaped by creativity, travel, and a passion for food. After a football injury redirected his focus from sports to storytelling, he studied journalism at Liberty University and graduated in 2007.

His path has taken him from working with his family's nonprofit in Ethiopia to backpacking across nine European countries, experiences that broadened his perspective and fueled his love for adventure. Today, Gabriel lives in the Philadelphia area with his wife, two children, and their two dogs. He spends his days writing and his evenings creating memorable dining experiences as a personal chef.