COVER REVEAL: My New Poetry Book, GUIDE ME, O RIVER

Big news! On January 2, I'll be releasing a new book of poetry! 

As you know, my first love is writing speculative fiction, including my published scifi, fantasy, and horror books. But now I can add another genre.

GUIDE ME, O RIVER is a collection of the various poems I've written over the first half of my life. There are poems of love gained and love lost, poems on the travails of a father trying to work hard at a white collar job while holding down a house and raising children, and poems about a love of nature and longing to be back in the forest. 

The Kindle version is available for pre-order now. Go here to order yours: mybook.to/GuideMe

A paperback version will also be available on the release date.

Even though releasing immediately after Christmas is about the dumbest thing you can do for sales, the date of January 2 is very significant to me. This was my grandmother's birthday. But she wasn't just beloved as my grandmother. Verna Lee Hinegardner was poet laureate of Arkansas. She released numerous books of poetry in her lifetime, wrote a regular poetry column in the local newspaper, served many different roles in poetry societies, and won lots of awards, including being inducted into the Arkansas Writers' Hall of Fame. She even invented a poetry form, called the "Minute." Most of all, she loved encouraging children to write poetry and express themselves in writing... including me. I can't think of a better way to honor her.

I also need reviewers and ARC readers. If you're interested, please let me know!

Check out the cover below:

Cheers and happy reading!

Dragon of the Federation COVER REVEAL and Promo!

Exciting news! I'm releasing my third book. This one is a fantasy, and the first in a series, the Heartstone series.

DRAGON OF THE FEDERATION

How far would you push yourself to save the world?

Ingal Jehai is an ancient Gold Dragon who rules over the White Lands Federation, but at over two thousand years old, his age wears on him. A young but powerful female mage, Torra Com Gidel, ventures to Ingal’s palace to deliver a dire warning from wrathful gods, pushing the limits of her courage. When an elvish prince is assassinated in Ingal’s court, the dragon and the mage team up to investigate. As war brews between three nations, the pair uncovers a vast conspiracy by the elves to let loose domineering gods upon the land, aided by the ruthless Iron Dragon, a vicious elvish warrior-cleric, and powerful renegade spells. If Ingal and Torra fail to stop the scheme, the world of Irikara –  and its wild magic— will be forever lost.

Available for PRE-ORDER NOW for only $0.99 until it releases on October 1.

Cheers and happy reading!

My Review of "The Fallen Banner: Part I of the Chronicles of Aerothos" by Rob F. Nugent

The Fallen Banner: Part I of the Chronicles of Aerothos by Robert F. Nugent
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Fallen Banner is sweeping in design. Fans of George R. R. Martin to the front! Like Martin's Song of Ice and Fire, the Fallen Banner tells the story of a vast continent through many point of view characters: a common soldier, a prince, a queen, a princess, others. As the continent fractures between multiple nations and war unfolds, each character is seen in their struggles to come to grips with the results, whether they fight or flee.

This isn't a book with elves or dragons. Rather, it is medieval warfare come to life in gritty detail and strategy. The author demonstrates a firm grasp of swordsmanship and armor. And yet, it isn't all in broad strokes. The characterizations are distinct and interesting, and you are swept along their personal stories.

It is a very long novel, but it is worth sticking with it. The tale continues into the sequel, and I am definitely purchasing the next one to see how the story progresses.

Cheers and happy reading!  

View all my reviews

I've been interviewed by Nosh with Chef Julie

Hey, I got interviewed! By Nosh with Chef Julie ("Author interviews, Book Promotions, Recipes, and more!")

Read it HERE.

Author Spotlight- Interview with Jason A. Kilgore and his new sci-fi novel book- The First Nova I See Tonight

Excerpt:

What advice do you have for new writers just starting out?

First, learn the craft of writing. Give yourself a good foundation and take a creative writing course at your local community college. Trust me on this. I tried to write a book before doing this, and considered myself well-versed in writing fundamentals, but later discovered how much I had yet to learn. The second thing is that you should join a writer’s group that’s accepting new writers. And if there isn’t one around, find some authors and start your own (you can do so virtually via Zoom and email, by the way, if not meeting in person). Getting neutral critiques is critical to writing quality work. I’ve been with a writer’s group since 1999 (The Village Peeps) and they find things to improve every single time I have them read a piece. If you want to read more on my group and how it operates, and maybe use the “rules” we follow for your own group, you can do so HERE.

You can read other interviews of me HERE, HERE, and HERE.

Cheers and happy reading!

A Writer's New Year's Resolution for 2021

Happy New Year's, folks. Now that it is the first day of 2021, I can truly say that hindsight is 2020. And as one of my friends said, "I'm all about giving 2020 a sight of my hind." It's been a helluva year. But despite the pandemic and any personal turmoil in my life, I can say with a smile that I wrote another book and it's almost ready for publication. Yay! 

And I'm a forward-thinker, always looking to a brighter horizon, anyhow. My writing resolutions for 2021 include publishing that book on Amazon (it's a space opera), writing another (I may pursue another horror book this year, or perhaps finish my half-finished fantasy sequel, or both!), and finding an agent so I can publish my fantasy series in a traditional publishing market. I also need to read more fiction. That's a lot to resolve!

For all you other writers out there: What are YOUR writing goals?

I ran a poll on Twitter, listing four possible resolutions. 

Unsurprisingly, over half of you wanted to finish your work in process (WIP).

Getting an agent was higher than I thought it would be, at 22%, followed by publishing your work (17%) and, lastly, figuring out marketing (for all of you who have already published, or gearing up for it), at 8%.

Whatever your goals are, I wish you all the best in reaching them. With the vaccines rolling out, I think a lot of us are looking forward to opening up again, and not just with regard to going out in public, but emotionally as well. It's been a hard year. Time to be prosperous again!

Cheers and happy reading!