Lover's Moon: The Podcast

On May 24, 2022, the latest novel in my Canadian Werewolf series launches.

LOVER'S MOON was co-authored with my friend Julie Strauss and is the first full length romance novel I have written. (Well, to be honest, I could NOT have written it without Julie's help. I did try, for the longest time, to write it. But I wasn't able to get that done without Julie's help in both the conception of the story itself, as well as her handling of Gail's perspective)

This book, which can be read as a stand-alone, tells the back-story of how Michael and Gail first met and fell in love back in 2011.

Because we enjoyed the collaboration so much, Julie and I decided to create a podcast version of the novel, with us reading alternating perspectives. (Yes, there will be a professionally narrated audiobook produced - it's in the works right now. But we thought a serialized weekly version would be an interesting way to celebrate the book's launch).

Here's the first episode. A trailer, or teaser, if you will.

 

He’s an alpha wolf and a beta boyfriend.

She’s dated every monster in New York City.

It’s time for their Meat-Cute.

Michael Andrews, a Canadian living in New York, is learning to live with the side effects of lycanthropy. Other than waking up naked and bloody in Central Park once a month, he’s managing just fine. If only he could finish the book he’s supposed to be writing. If only he could find someone he trusted enough to tell the truth to.

Gail Sommers may not have her love life in order, but at least she’s smart about things that really matter. She runs the coolest occult shop in the city, and is a pre-eminent scholar of the occult. She’s made a vow of celibacy so that she can spend this year focusing on her work and her self-care. She’s even been hired to help out a very famous and very sexy horror author.

As a new era in the Canadian Werewolf saga begins, Lover’s Moon flashes back to the romantic and comedic story of how Michael and Gail met and fell in love back in the summer of 2011. Told through both Michael and Gail's unique perspectives, it also explores Gail's past, introduces new characters, and reveals some of the deeper secrets of both of their lives.

A special Canadian Werewolf tale co-authored by Mark Leslie and Julie Strauss.

 

Meet The Author: Burlington Public Library

On Aug 31, 2021 Burlington Public Library is hosting an event with me.

 

During the event I'll be sharing my journey through writing and publishing, the inspiration and origin of my "Canadian Werewolf" series, and an excerpt from my most recent novel in that series: Fear and Longing in Los Angeles.

The event is free, but you'll have to register online in order to attend.

Video Review of Canadian Werewolf Books

 I was beyond thrilled to see how much Nichi, the host of Dark Between the Pages, enjoyed my Canadian Werewolf books.

In this video review, part of her Recent Reads video, she shares her thoughts on my character Michael Andrews and the situations he ends up finding himself in in A Canadian Werewolf in New York, Stowe Away, and Fear and Longing in Los Angeles.

The part where she talks about my books starts at about 6:30.

Dark Between Pages Live Chat

I had the opportunity to chat with Nichi of Dark Between Pages the other day during an hour long live chat. Okay, we went one hour and eighteen minutes. But that's because the chat was so fun, and the folks watching and commenting during that chat were so lively and entertaining.

We spent quite a bit of time talking about my Canadian Werewolf series . . .

Canadian Werewolf Series

Though we talked about all kinds of other writing things too, including my background helping authors steer clear of the predators and thieves trying to trick authors out of their money using a combination of "smoke and mirrors," false promises, and highly exaggerated "results" from their useless marketing packages.

It was a load of fun. It's always a grand time talking to someone who adores books.

Fear and Longing in Los Angeles

Today is the release day for the latest full length novel in the Canadian Werewolf series.

It all started back in 2006 when I attempted to turn the short story "This Time Around" into a novel called A Canadian Werewolf in New York. It took me almost ten years to finish writing the book, which was originally published in 2016.

But in the summer of 2020, after spending a few years working on the characters and considering the other adventures that Michael Andrews, the main character and werewolf in the story, might get into, I decided to invest in the Canadian Werewolf  brand as a series with new covers.

In August 2020 I launched Stowe Away an approximately 20,000 word novella adventure.

And, on Feb 23, 2021, Fear and Longing in Los Angeles, the second novel in the series.

Fear and Longing in Los Angeles takes Michael Andrews to Hollywood where he is working as a script consultant on the set of one of his books that is being turned into a movie.

He is using the trip as a chance to clear his head and get away from his frustrating love-life. The only woman he has ever loved, Gail, has made it clear that there's no chance of ever returning to the previous relationship. That, at best, they would only be friends.

When in LA, Michael encounters a mysterious woman he is compelled to get to know, and she turns out to be the perfect distraction for him. But while he's there, he also encounters some a nefarious hate group cult that is growing and threatening innocent people. And the woman he is getting involved with seems to have ties to that group.

Teaser for THIS TIME AROUND

 There are a couple of audio/video teasers for the first story in my "Canadian Werewolf" series which introduces readers to my main character, Michael Andrews.

 

The first one is a basic audio with animated audio waves and transcription on it which I made using Headliner.

 

The second one is a collection of videos and still images with an appropriate soundtrack to accompany the opening text of the story. This is one I made using Camtasia from TechSmith.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles meets Logan

 My latest book in the Canadian Werewolf series, Stowe Away, which launched today, has been described as "Planes, Trains and Automobiles meets Logan."

Perhaps because it's about a man with enhanced strength and senses (a la the character of Wolverine) on a cross-country road trip with a young girl who is he trying to protect; but with some of the misadventures, detours, and slight humor of the John Hughes classic.

Stowe Away (Book 1.5) is a novella length story that takes place about one year after the events in A Canadian Werewolf in New York (Book 1), and about another year before the events in Fear and Longing in Los Angeles (Book 2), which is releasing in Feb 2021.

Michael Andrews is an Alpha Wolf and Beta Human trying to live a normal life in the Big Apple while living with the side-effects of being a werewolf. During the right phase of the moon, he turns into a grey wolf, with no control, or memory of the experience from his human brain.

In the novel, Michael is desperate to get to Stowe, Vermont, to be there for his best friend, Gail. Without a driver's license or a passport, he is unable to rent a car or fly there, so he boards a train. Only, there are a couple of challenges in his way:

• The train arrives about half an hour after sunset, and it's "that time of the month" for this werewolf
• There is a young woman being stalked by a human predator and Michael being Michael, is obligated to ensure her safety and escape from harm 
  

The book (and the previous titles in the series) is part of a re-branding, and is available in Print (Hardcover and Trade Paperback), eBook, and Audiobook simultaneously. The audiobooks are read by Scott Overton.

Stowe Away and the other books in the series, are available to order through most online bookstores, through your favorite local bookstore, as well as via your local library.

Saving The World One Book At A Time

Studies have shown that reading fiction can heighten and increase empathy in people. Empathy is the ability for someone to understand and share the feelings of others, typically by having the capacity to place themselves within that person's frame of reference or point of view.

Research has shown that cognitive empathy in a person has predicted helping behavior towards victims in natural disasters.

One might then extrapolate that one way to save the world might be to get more people to read.

The more people who read fiction, the more empathy within a society can grow, and the more likely it is to generate a hero who can save the day, or save the world.

Okay, maybe I'm stretching things a little, but perhaps it's not a bad way to suggest that grabbing this awesome limited time Saving the World StoryBundle can not only be good for you, but good for the world in general.

Saving the World StoryBundle

Dean Wesley Smith, the curator of this bundle, set off to create it with a goal to find as many ways to save the world as possible, as well as having as many worlds to save as possible.

What he came up with was eight novels and two collections of short stories - four of which are exclusive to this limited time bundle, which is available for less than a month.

I compiled a short story collection exclusively for this bundle called Nocturnal Saves. It's a riff on the short story series Nocturnal Screams and collects together more than 40,000 words from seven different stories, that each explore the theme in different ways, from people with superpowers to those in the midst of an apocalypse, to everyday people wanting to make some small positive difference in their way.

Exclusive to Saving the World StoryBundle

Is a hero someone who puts on a mask and costume and rushes to the rescue to save the day? Is a hero someone whose exploits results in the discovery of a miraculous cure to a life-threatening disease or plague? Is a hero someone who employs their supernatural ability for good and to assist others? Is a hero someone who loves another person or a cause so much that they risk life and limb in order to protect or save them from peril? Is a hero someone who stops in the midst of hustle and bustle to listen to those who no longer have a voice?

All of those things, can, of course, make a hero.

Heroes come in all kinds of shapes, sizes, and personas.

Saving the world can come in an epic and dramatic, world-shattering event; but it often can happen in small ways, in the one-on-one interactions people have with one another; in the subtle ways one small action can have a dramatic impact.

The stories in this collection, collected exclusively for this StoryBundle theme, explore all that and more.

Open your mind, heart, and imagination to these seven nocturnal saves.

• Some Are Born to Save the World
• Collateral Damage
• The Zombie Whisperer
• This Time Around
• A Murder of Scarecrows
• From Out of the Night
• Memento Mori

But that's just my own addition to this wonderful collection. You also get novels and stories from some of the most amazing imaginative writers working today.

Saving the World StoryBundle

The way this works is that you decide what price you want to pay. For $5 (or more, if you're feeling generous), you'll get the basic bundle of four books in any ebook format—WORLDWIDE.

•         Earthbreaker by Robert Jeschonek   (StoryBundle Exclusive)
  
•         Meteor Attack! by Robert J. McCarter
•         Recombinant by Lisa Silverthorne   (StoryBundle Exclusive)
•         How to Save the World by Fiction River

If you pay at least the bonus price of just $15, you get all four of the regular books, plus SIX more books!

•         Chasing the Setting Sun by Ron Collins
•         Nocturnal Saves by Mark Leslie  (StoryBundle Exclusive)
•         Broken Gears by Louisa Swann  (StoryBundle Exclusive)
•         Searching for the Fleet by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
•         Destroyer of Worlds by J.F. Penn
•         The Taft Ranch by Dean Wesley Smith

This bundle allows easy reading on computers, smartphones, and tablets as well as Kindle and other ereaders via file transfer, email, and other methods. You get multiple DRM-free formats (.epub and .mobi) for all books!

The bundle also includes support for AbleGamers - they use the power of video games to bring people together, improving quality of life with recreation and rehabilitation by giving people with disabilities custom gaming setups including modified controllers and special assistive technology, like devices that let you play with your eyes, so they can have fun with their friends and family. Any purchase allows you to assign a portion to this cause, at no extra cost to you.

Which kind of ties back to saving the world one book at a time.

Rut-Busting for Writers with Nancy Christie

In the latest episode of my writing and publishing podcast, I interview Nancy Christie about her book Rut-Busting Book for Writers.

You can listen to the episode in the window below or click here to read the full show notes and listen to it from that site (or download the episode to listen)

The timing on this was perfect, because I recently applied a few of the strategies she shared with me (which I talk about in the pre-interview personal update as well as in the post-interview reflections that I share).

Specifically, I talk about getting started back into the "Canadian Werewolf" universe by writing a short story about my nain character, Michael Andrews. I also talk a bit about the revision to the existing cover (to give it a slightly more "urban fantasy" feel than it had before - as well as the forthcoming audiobook of the short story "This Time Around" which was recently completed and should be showing up soon on audio retail and library platforms.