Esther Royer Ayers has published a new book entitled The Amazon Ladies' Caper—a fun-filled fiction adventure. Three wives, tired of their husbands' annual hunting trip, clandestinely plan a trip of their own. Their goal is to become Amazon Warriors, take over the very town where their husbands hunt, and forever end their trips.
Within the pages of this book, we travel with the Amazon Ladies from Sacramento, California (their hometown) to Glendive, Montana (where the caper takes place). Along our way, we join Elderhostelers on a dinosaur dig conducted by a Blackfoot Indian paleontologist. We enter the strange and secretive lands of Hutterites where we attempt a rescue. We even help a frustrated psychologist-author complete his book. But do the Amazon Ladies' end their husbands' annual hunting trip? You'll have to read the book for the answer.
Books and e-books are available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and through all book sellers. Please see www.EstherRoyerAyers.com for information.
Susan Manker-Seale used Createspace to published her novel, Mysteries of the Esse: Shala's Hope. Ralena was raised to be wary of magic. Now she finds that she is magic and must seek refuge from the sorcerers she fears. Her starshield pendant holds a stone connecting her to an evil that murdered her mother, but its protections hide Ralena.
Mordon wears a starshield as he leads the Council of Sorcerers. When ripples of an extraordinary magic interrupt the council, he races south to bind it. Instead, he's caught in a sorcerers trap, and must betray his new apprentice to defeat the greatest evil of their time: Betrayer Jagon, sinister mind-reader and creator of the sansanima, the soulless.
Ril is a shapeshifter, one of the Esse, and guardian of the starshields. With his partner, Anka, he has planted a many-layered trap in Ralena's mind for Betrayer Jagon, keeping her unaware of their shared lineage, her magic, or her purpose. When Ralena discovers their deceptions, she searches her soul and begins to unravel the mysteries of the Esse, threatening what took Ril a hundred years to craft. And something else dwells within the dimension of the starshields, spying on their lives, mystifying even the Esse.
Susan writes in the deserts and mountains of Arizona, contemplating the beauty and mysteries of nature and the universe. She is a mystic and Unitarian Universalist minister. Her poetry and essays have been published in books on spirituality and meditation. In struggling to categorize her fiction, she hereby proposes a new genre: mystical fiction or mysti-fi.
Mysteries of the Esse: Shala's Hope is available on Amazon.com.
Molly McKinney's new romantic mystery novel, Crystal Shadows, will be featured on Mystery-Anthology.webnode.com as a monthly serial, beginning with the November 2013 issue. A quality paperback version is planned for the future, published by Moon Cactus Books. Discount schedule is listed on the website. Come visit the wide selection of mysteries by Tucson authors at Mystery-Anthology.webnode.com.
D.R. Ransdell's YA Romance Thai Twist has recently been accepted by Breathless Books (Assent Publishing). For recent high school graduate Gina Campanello, winning a trip for two to Thailand seems more like a chore than a prize. The country is a long plane ride from her home in Tucson, and besides, she'd rather stay in town and flirt with college boys.
Before Gina leaves, a neighbor asks her to deliver a small package to a long-lost brother. Intrigued, Gina arrives in Bangkok with a purpose. While her sister Rachel visits every available temple, Gina checks out leads. She has so many setbacks that by the time she learns that the man she's looking for lives in Chiang Mai, she's en route to Phuket! She spends the rest of the trip unraveling the mysterious connections between her neighbor and her Thai counterpart.
The novel celebrates travel and a spirit of adventure. Gina's misconceptions about the target culture initially throw her off track, but after she begins to see Thailand through a native's eyes, she develops a deeper appreciation for her new surroundings.
For more info. visit drransdellnovels.com
Duke Southard's A Favor Returned (the revised version) was named as a finalist in the 2013 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards. There were 201 finalists in 46 categories from over 1,800 entries. The complete finalist list can be viewed and downloaded at http://nmbookcoop.com/BookAwards/2013-finalists/2013-finalists.html.
Competition was particularly high this year with many very high quality books.
The winners were announced at the 7th Annual Book Awards Banquet on Friday, November 15, 2013 at the Hotel Albuquerque. Duke didn't win but we should all congratulate him for being in the running.
Barbara Stahurah's book, After Brain Injury: Telling Your Story, co-authored with Susan B. Schuster, MA, CC-SLP, is finally available on Amazon. Barbara says "It's the first (and as far as I know, only) journaling book for people with brain injury, and it's gotten wonderful reviews from many people over the years."
It was published in 2009 and is now in use around the country by individuals with brain injury, their families and caregivers, therapists, and support groups. Until now, it was only available from the publisher or from Barbara. Now that it's on Amazon, it's more easily available to everyone.
For the December Meeting, Dec. 15, 2013, on our usual 3rd Sunday of the month, The Society of Southwestern Authors will have a reading of members' Holiday stories, poems and memoirs from 11:00 am—2:00 pm. What makes the holidays important to you? Was it the night before Christmas, Kwanza or Hanukkah, that made it special or some other thing? We hope you join us to share. If you are a member of SSA and not yet have signed up, please call Penny Porter at 296-5299 to reserve a spot for your story.
