Tag: recommendations

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a bridge of shadow

Recently we finished up our second Creativia anthology.  Like the first one, all of the writers started with the same prompt, and had about four months to write.  This time around, their prompt was “The letter/email/missive/message was ominous, if a little vague in the details. “Midnight, on the bridge. Come alone.””

The finished product is an unusual mix of genres and subjects.  Each writer really set off on their own path from the prompt.  As usual, they are give a fair bit of leeway in interpreting the prompt as long as they kept the heart of it the same.

As a result, you’ll find colonial America, Victorian London and fantasy worlds alike.  There are love stories, cautionary tales, and fantasy.  You will find paranormal creatures like wendigos, vampires, Shades, sentient shadows or talking animals.

The six authors represented here took our prompt and each of them headed off in a different direction, and that right there is half the reason I do it!  I love the way creative minds work, and it is a thrill getting to edit (and contribute) to this collection.

Now available on Amazon in kindle and paperback formats, get your copy of A Bridge of Shadow today!

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giving thanks

I realized this morning that it’s been a while since I posted here.  The reasons are many: the continued issue with the pinched nerve, getting back to work full time, taking on an editing job, plus working on a new anthology, plus two novels currently in progress…all of which means I haven’t really had much free time to do promo work or write up blog posts!

When you’re surrounded by what feels like insurmountable debt, it’s hard to find your way to being thankful about much.  It is insane that a grown woman with a good job and decent insurance should be this deep in medical debt, but it is what it is.  You either suck it up and get the work done, or you continue to suffer. (I have a fundraiser set up to help me cope with the unexpected medical bills, if you’re interested: You Caring Fundraiser)

But, even with all of the doctor visits and the pain and the physical therapy, and the bills and prescriptions that come with that, I am blessed.  I’m living a dream I have had since I was pretty young, I’m a published author!  And I get to make a living working with words.

Not everyone gets to live their dream.  You can’t help but be thankful when you see a lifetime of learning and crafting become an actual reality.  My first book, Forever, took me years to bring to fruition and I learned a lot along the way.

Currently I am working on two different novels, the ending of the Shades and Shadows series and a new one that jumped up out of the abyss that is my mind a few weeks ago and took up residence in the front part of my Brain where it will not leave me alone.

And do you remember the anthology we published a few months ago? Once Upon a Broken Dream was the first in a series of anthologies from Creativia Publishing.  Each anthology begins with a prompt and writers are invited to submit stories using that prompt.  Well, the next one should be ready in December, so keep your eyes open.

So yeah, I’m pretty blessed and living a life that’s pretty amazing.  Even if I’m struggling in some areas.  I hope you can say the same.

Oh, yeah, and if you want autographed copies of my books this holiday season, hit up my facebook page or email me at natalie@nataliejcase.com.

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early morning coffee

Lately, the pain from this pinched nerve gets me up and out of bed around 3am every morning.  Today it’s the tightness in my shoulder muscles and my forearm muscles.  Some mornings it’s the searing, stabbing pain in my neck and shoulder joint.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s much better than it was a week ago.

I’ll wake up, possibly needing to go to the bathroom around 1 or 2 am.  I’ll shift around, take the middle of the night pain pills, then toss and turn and doze a bit until I give up because I just can’t get comfortable.  That’s almost always right around 3am.

I get up, get the cats their morning treats and start a pot of coffee.  Then I sit and play silly Facebook games with my left hand working the mouse while I let gravity help loosen up my right arm.  Usually by the end of the first pot of coffee, I’m mostly functional, though typing isn’t usually on the agenda this early.

Because I’m on limited duty for work, and am largely working from home, this means I have a little time to kill before I start my work day.  Yesterday that meant working on my short story for the second anthology, and that’s probably what I’ll do today too.  Either that or I work on the third book in the Shades and Shadows series.

Speaking of which, have you gone to get your copy of In Gathering Shade yet?  The kindle version is available now.  Paperbacks coming soon!

You can also get Through Shade and Shadow and In Gathering Shade together as a bundle on Kindle.

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Once you’ve read them, I’d really appreciate a review.  It only takes a minute.  You don’t have to say much.  I really hate how much we rely on them to get our books into recommendations, but we do.

I’m putting together a giveaway package that I’ll probably award in December.  It will include autographed copies of both books in the series, as well as some fun things you’re going to love, so stay tuned!

On that note, my coffee cup needs refilling and my arm needs a rest.  Happy Tuesday, Readers!

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in search of…

Are you a book reviewer?  A reader who loves books?  I’m looking for folks who will provide honest reviews of my books.  I can provide electronic ARCs if you are a book blogger or reviewer.

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I know my work isn’t everybody’s cup of tea, but if you’re interested in vampire stories that go beyond the modern teenage love story, you might enjoy Forever, the story of Amara: born to a vampire mother and raised in a clan of killers, Amara finds herself at odds with her family and drawn toward the world of man.

 

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Once Upon a Broken Dream is an anthology of short stories that all emerged from a single prompt.  Two of my own stories are in there and I edited the overall anthology.  The stories cover a broad spectrum of genres.  My two offerings are an introduction to a sci-fi story I hope to introduce next year, Jericho Jordan and a fairy-tale fantasy called Red-Belly about a world once governed by dragons.

 

Through Shade and Shadow

Through Shade and Shadow is the opening salvo in a series filled with danger, secret government agencies, psychics, healers and shape-shifters and a world on the brink of war. Meet Mason Jerah, a Shade, who we meet as his world dies, goes from a backwoods, sheltered boy to government agent at the focal point of the coming civil war and Alaric Lambrecht, a Shadow who just wants to keep his people safe.  When they finally come together, it could signal the beginning of the end.

 

In-Gathering-Shade-Main-FileIn Gathering Shade picks up where Through Shade and Shadow left off, joining Mason and Alaric on a daring escape and meeting a few new players.  Raven Ivany is a government agent, working for the same agency as Mason.  She too is a Shade, and while investigating what seems to be a Shade serial killer, she happens across Zero, a teenager with the abilities of a Sage and a Shadow, together with Evan Chayton, they find themselves caught up in the machinations of a Shadow who has been manipulating things from behind the scenes.

 

Anyone interested in reviewing any of these, please reach out to me at natalie@nataliejcase.com.

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In Gathering Shade

I’m so excited, Readers!  Today the Kindle version of In Gathering Shade is available on Amazon!  The paperback always takes a few days, but should be available this week.

Held captive by the fanatical 8th Battalion, Mason Jerah is convinced he doesn’t have long to live… and he isn’t alone in his captivity. The Shadows have a plan; one that could mean freedom.

Meanwhile, operative Raven Ivany struggles against the forces aligning against Shades and Shadows – Shifters and Sages – and finds an unlikely companion in Zero, a teenage girl with a mysterious past and desire to prove herself.

*insert flailing and dolphin noises*

It doesn’t matter how many times I do this, the birth of a new book is always this combination of excitement, terror and a flailing need for validation.  So, please let me know what you think, write a review, pimp me to your friends.

I will get this listed on my books page soon and will add it to my facebook store as soon as I have a few copies.  In the meantime, if you already know you want an autographed paperback, drop me a note to pre-order and I’ll make sure you’re among the first to get yours.

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free on kindle

I almost forgot to let you know that Through Shade and Shadow is currently free for kindle, now (well, starting yesterday) through September 3rd!

through-shade-and-shadow-reders-favYou read that right!  FREE!

Just in time to be ready for In Gathering Shade, get Through Shade and Shadow for your kindle, and if you’re up for it, write a review.

Remember that any NEW reviews will be entered for a chance to win a copy of In Gathering Shade!

 

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And while you’re at it, you should pick up a copy of Once Upon a Broken Dream too!  Just $.99 for your Kindle!

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ready to share some broken dreams?

Today is the day, everyone!  The very first, multi-author anthology for Creativia publishing is LIVE.

Dragons, magic, fairies, angels, vampires, knights, a gollum, a vengeful child’s toy, a depressed cashier, a bridge made of stars, and a donkey… What do they all have in common? An appearance in this anthology.

This collection of short stories is as diverse as the Creativia authors who wrote them. Travel to Victorian London, an otherworldly slave market, a faraway planet, a quaint English town and other wondrous places in the pages of Once Upon a Broken Dream.

I am so very happy that this is finally ready for all of you.  We have a diverse group of stories, and I hope they serve to introduce you to a few new authors along the way.

I plan on asking each of the authors to do a short interview and I will be featuring each one here in the next week or two.

So for $.99 you can get your copy of Once Upon a Broken Dream for your Kindle!

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*so excited*

It won’t be long now before this anthology is on it’s way to Amazon for all of you to snap up and enjoy!

We’re just finishing up the final little things and then we’ll be off and running.  There are twelve stories for you to enjoy.  But for right now, I have the cover to share with you, isn’t it gorgeous!?

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I think it’s gorgeous!

Stay tuned for purchase links!

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one of the girls

One of my favorite things in the world right now is the growing awareness of female writers in genres that have been dominated by men for as far back as books have been getting published.  In fact, it’s one of the reasons that I embraced alternative publishing right from the beginning.

In the “traditional publishing” world, what gets published is decided by a small group of people, traditionally older white men, so it’s no surprise that they gravitate toward male writers who write male characters in worlds populated mostly by men and women who are there mostly to serve as a love interest or sex object.

But today, with all kinds of self-publishing and hybrid publishing options opening up, plus the appearance of more and more small and niche publishing companies, women are finding ways to get their voices heard.  So far this year I’ve read something like 10 books (I’m woefully behind due to writing obligations), and a full 7 of those have been written by women.

Most exciting for me is the growing abundance of women authors writing female characters in worlds of sci-fi and fantasy, bringing characters to life that are all the varied things women can be, and building diversity into the worlds they create.  I’ve long turned to science fiction for normalizing the unusual, and now it is stepping beyond the science fiction that I first learned about things like homosexuality, group marriage, alternative religions and other things I hadn’t been exposed to, and showing some real inclusivity.

Women of color are emerging as authors as well as characters.  Old, tired stories are getting pushed aside for some exciting and new tales that are refreshing, challenging, that press our sense of self to the side to experience a sense of someone else, and it’s these books that I find myself wanting to set aside the daily grind for.  My commute is far more than a train ride from the East Bay into San Francisco when I dig for my bookmark and immerse myself in an alternative time line or a space empire or a fantasy land where magic flows.

I’m currently reading The Fifth Season, by N.K. Jemisin.  It’s challenging, and it took me a bit to connect to her changing narrative, but on page 69, I’m hooked in and find myself wishing the train ride took a little longer.

I found this book on a reading list of women writing women in sci-fi and fantasy, as part of a conference I’m going to in October.  I’m looking forward to finding myself in a group of women who write, who read.

Got a suggestion for a good book from a female author?  Drop a note in the comments so I can add it to my reading list.

 

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a festival of books

I have a confession to make.  I have never been to a book festival or convention or other celebration of books.  Not as a reader, certainly not as a writer.  Some of the reasons for this are fundamental issues of who I am, namely the agoraphobic part of who I am.  Large crowds, even mediocre crowds in small spaces make me sweat, palpitate, hyperventilate and ultimately need to leave quickly unless I do an awful lot of prep work first.

So, when I show up on Sunday, June 4th at Civic Center Park in Berkeley, California, I will be attending my first event.

babf_logo The Bay Area Book Festival is in it’s third year, and while I’d love to be able to attend some of the talks and such on Saturday, I have other obligations.  But come Sunday morning, I will load up my cart with books and a table cloth (reminder to self, get a tablecloth), my tablet and credit cart doohicky plus a bunch of water and snacks for the day, and I will BART myself into Berkeley and find my assigned place in the park for the day.

Of course, I hope to sell enough books to break even on the day, but beyond that, my hope is that I can keep my agoraphobic anxiety down and that I get to meet new folks, talk about my books and other books.  I’d love to meet readers who are passionate about what they read and love.  I’d also love to meet fellow authors who are passionate about what they write and love.

If it isn’t too much to hope for, I’m going to hope that some of my friends and family come out to see me too.  It isn’t every day an author gets to do their first event like this…and if I’m being truthful, maybe having someone watch my table for a bit while I look around would be awesome too.

So, if you’re somewhere in the San Francisco Bay area and fancy some book loving come Sunday, June 4th, you should hope on BART and take yourself to the Berkeley Civic Center station.  The park is just a short walk away.

I won’t be too hard to find.  I’ll be the author with green hair, probably wearing a fedora or other hat, and possibly a Star Wars shirt, depending on my mood.  Come Say HI!