What makes a good cover?

This week I'm collectiong people's favorite urban fantasy/fantasy cover designs on my Facebook page. Head on over and let me know what yours are?

I'll also be posting several of mine on my Instagram.

Cover reveal! Fight, Flight, or Shift by Kira Brinamon

Fight, Flight, or Shift
Kira Brinamon
Publication date: May 4th 2021
Genres: Adult, Urban Fantasy

When she was a kid, Billie’s father accidentally shot her mother, thinking he was protecting the family from a mountain lion. Only, the mountain lion was her mother, and now Billie is the only shapeshifter left in the mountain town of Juniper, Colorado—possibly the only one left anywhere, as far as Billie knows. Now, Billie works at the historic Silver Coin Hotel, and when she’s not serving drinks, checking in tourists, or leading bogus ghost tours, the hotel proprietor, Mitch, exploits her shapeshifting abilities to spy on the patrons of his illegal casino.

When she discovers that a local drug dealer is peddling a dangerous new synthetic drug called Scarlet, Mitch wants him taken care of and tries to convince Billie to do the deed. She refuses—but he winds up dead anyway, along with two of Mitch’s henchmen. With all three deaths looking like the result of wild animal attacks and a vindictive boss ready to out her secret, the blame is going to rest on her shoulders if she can’t figure out who or what did the killing.

Add to Goodreads / Pre-order

Author Bio:

Kira Brinamon grew up in the Rocky Mountains and now lives near the Rio Grande. She holds degrees in Creative Writing from the University of New Mexico and the University of Colorado, Boulder. When not writing, you can often find her at a yoga studio or on a hiking trail. Find her on Twitter @KiraBrinamon and online at www.KiraBrinamon.com

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

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Out now on Radish Fiction: An Apocalyptic First Impression

It's been seven years and one apocalypse since Aline last saw Micah, the love of her life. They met in high school, dated for a few months, and then were shunted to different realms as magical forces rent the bounds of reality. Now she's back on Earth and desperate to make things work, but it's complicated. Micah never knew Aline was a shifter, or has the supernatural ability to jump worlds. He's had his fill of the strange and fantastical. It nearly got him killed seven years ago. 

But he is at least willing to let Aline tell him her story and explain why she disappeared. Will she be able to convince him that even though the rest of her kind were psychopathic, nihilistic manipulators, she's different? Or is she lying even to herself? She does have a few murders to explain, after all. 

Can true love endure across so much time and chaos, or will Aline have to accept that the things she did to save the world are a bridge too far for the man she loves?

You can get this story on Radish, which is a phone app that lets you read chapters one at a time. (So please make sure to click that link on your phone--if you are on your computer, you just get a link to the story summary and no way to get to the book itself.) If you're patient, you can read this for free, or you can pay to unlock chapters faster.

Access the story here: https://radishfiction.com/stories/11694?_branch_match_id=884854224957644928

You can find my work on this app as: EmilyMah

Every Monday I'll be posting a giveaway for my Street Team, and for the first giveaway I'm doing two additional things: 1) teaming up with Kira Brinamon and 2) posting the giveaway here and on social media.

Here's the giveaway: https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/b30e992814/

Usually, only Street Team members will see/be eligible to enter the giveaway, so if this is your kind of thing, head on over and join my Street Team (which is one of the ways to enter the giveaway, too! http://facebook.com/groups/emilymah)

LAUNCHED: Book 3 of The Sunrise Prophecy

The entire series is live! Conquering Starlight, book 3 of The Sunrise Prophecy is out now.

Angels are falling all over the world and earthquakes and tidal waves are demolishing the major cities. Vampires are proliferating in the chaos, and a deadly, demonic plague is spreading like wildfire.

Liana thought her battle to keep from turning into a vampire and stay human was personal, but prophecy says she's the only person alive who can free humanity from demonkind. Others have been called before, but none have succeeded, and she is the last. If she can't win this war, nobody can.

The pressure is on her and her faithful friends: Corban, the ex-angel and possible boyfriend; Amy, the anthropology-student-turned-loremaster; and Gina, the jeweler-turned-supernatural-weaponsmith. The four of them plus an army of soldiers drawn from across all the human realms must journey into the demon realm and close the portal once and for all.

But when the fallen discover their plans, the battles begin, and Liana finds herself alone in a strange realm of immortal demons who live in perpetual night, under a sky studded with stars. While her friends fight to reach her, she must decipher the prophecy and figure out how to free both Earth and herself from dark forces that could rend the very fabric of the universe, and destroy all creation.

You can buy this book on:

Apple

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Google Play

Kobo/Walmart

LAUNCHED!

It's out! The second book of The Sunrise Prophecy is now for sale, and for a limited time, only $0.99!

You can purchase it on:

Apple Books
Amazon
Kobo
Google Play
Nook

It's also available via Overdrive and other subscription/library services.

Back cover copy:

Corban Alexander has a dark side, and ever since a chance encounter with Liana Linacre, a girl he was supposed to protect, it's darker and more addictive than ever. Every minute of every hour of every day he fights to resist succumbing. If he does, he will fall, and gain the power to scourge and wreak havoc upon humanity, feeding off their pain. It would take a legion of angels to stop him.

So when he learns that Liana needs help once again, he knows he is the last person to provide it. The problem is, no one else is willing.

Corban must return to the side of the girl he loves, and pray that he is strong enough to save both her and himself.

LAUNCHED!

The book is out (and I have a lot of sleep to catch up on ;-) Here are the sales links:

Amazon
Apple Books
Nook
Kobo
Google Play

Here's the cover copy:

Liana Linacre thought she was in love, but what began as her fantasy romance ended with a curse that threatens her life and everything she loves. Orphaned and alone, she barely escapes the dark forces that want her soul.

Corban Alexander belongs to an ancient order of vampire hunters and wants to kill everyone who is demon-touched. He knows that the creatures who want Liana dead will find her again before long.

Liana must fight if she wants to live, while Corban must decide if he can love a girl who made the one mistake he believes is unforgivable.

No one, mortal or immortal, has ever won against the evil that plagues Liana, but if she and Corban can work together, they might just defy the laws of the universe.

Head on over and get yourself a copy ;-)

My Interview of J. Barton Mitchell at the Jean-Cocteau Cinema

I had the privilege of interviewing J. Barton Mitchell at the Jean Cocteau Cinema a couple of weeks ago. In this interview, he does several readings from his latest release, The Razor (which I *highly* recommend. It is really a great book.)

My Black Gate post of this interview is here: https://www.blackgate.com/2019/03/26/j-barton-mitchell-reads-from-the-razor-with-audience-qa/

Or if you just want the video without the attached article that describes his book and such a bit more, you can watch it here:

New podcast interview of yours truly

I had the privilege a few weeks ago of being interviewed by Chrissy for The Return Cart. She was a great interviewer (I always feel like a dork talking about myself, but she managed to get me to do it!)

We talked both about writing and self publishing, and you can hear me give my honest opinions about writing life and the publishing industry. Obviously, a lot of people have opinions about these things. Mine is from the point of view of someone with a lot of contact with traditionally published writers and a pretty respectable number of sales as an indie author (as of this writing, I've sold about 150,000 books).

So click on over and check out the interview here: thereturncart.com/2018/11/19/chapter-6-emily-mah-and-self-publishing/

Reading and Q&A for Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse

Last week I had the privilege of helping out with Rebecca Roanhorse's launch event for Trail of Lightning at the Jean Cocteau Cinema here in Santa Fe. It's always a pleasure to spend time with Rebecca and I highly recommend her book. It's action packed, fun, weighty, subversive--the kind of book that you read and enjoy, then ponder and reflect upon for a long time after.

I filmed the reading and Q&A that we did at the Cocteau and have uploaded that video onto Black Gate, so head on over there to check it out!

Smoke and Mirrors by Jane Lindskold - Out for the first time as an ebook!

One of the coolest things I've been able to do lately is to work with Jane Lindskold on releasing some of her backlist as ebooks. The first of these is her classic, Smoke and Mirrors, which you can get on:

Amazon

iBooks

Nook

Google Play

Kobo

The gorgeous cover is by Linda Caldwell, who works over at E.M. Tippetts Book Designs.

How do you fight an enemy who can, literally, change your mind?

From the moment she first senses the whispers of the alien mind within the thoughts of her current client, Smokey – touch telepath, industrial spy, and high-end prostitute – becomes an unwitting player in a conflict that may be as old as humanity.

Determined to protect herself and her young daughter, Smokey soon realizes that the stakes are much, much higher.

After millennia of setting up the field, the aliens may be making their final move. If Smokey is to defeat them, she must win the respect and trust of people who despise her – perhaps at the cost of those she loves the most.

This reprint of the 1996 science fiction novel features an original afterword by the author.

LAUNCHED! The Jurassic Chronicles ($0.99 for a limited time)

The Jurassic Chronicles (Future Chronicles Book 15) is live and $0.99 for a limited time! This is the latest installment in Samuel Peralta's Future Chronicles anthology series, and was edited by Crystal Watanabe. Hugh Howey states: "The best place to discover new SF authors, I think, is any of the anthologies coming from Samuel Peralta." Don't just take his word for it, though. Check out the authors and stories included in this one:

"Fatal Mutation" (Anthony J Melchiorri)

A Baltimore beat cop is called to check out screams coming from a run-down laboratory. But when she answers the seemingly routine call, she finds herself embroiled in a deadly race to solve a terrifying mystery compounded by two hundred million years of evolution.

"Noble Savage" (Terry Maggert)

Other worlds are possible through the massive engine of The Point project, but where it leads will reveal that humanity is the alpha predator only as long as it remains on Earth. With the promise of unlimited power, one woman will make the decision to match wits with beings who are not our equal. They’re better.

"An Implant and a Hard Place" (Zen DiPietro)

To achieve her dream of becoming a cyberneticist, Brak had to fight everything it means to be Briveen. Now, she has to wrestle with her morals. Can she disregard them in order to help other people?

"Szcar’s Trial" (Harry Manners)

Another hunt, ruined. Szcar faces exile from her pack. Without them, she faces a slow death in the desert, if hungry jaws don’t find her first. But a strange flying orb has appeared from across the sands, and with it comes Szcar’s last chance to win her pack’s respect.

"Glitch Mitchell and the Island of Terror" (Philip Harris)

A routine flight turns to terror when Dwayne “Glitch” Mitchell and his friends crash land on an island filled with deadly creatures from Earth’s distant past. But is it just a land that time forgot, or is there something more sinister at work?

"The Screaming of the Tyrannosaur" (Stant Litore)

The Hunger Games meets The Lost World. In the far future, young athletes compete with tyrannosaurs. In space.

"Ugly" (Laxmi Hariharan)

When Zoya inherits a piece from the asteroid that ended the Jurassic Age, she also unearths a secret that will change the destiny of Earth forever.

"Cryptoscience" (Emily Mah)

Daryl McPhie was once a reputable biologist, but he’s frittered his credibility away, investigating cryptozoology. When a known snake oil salesman approaches him with a creature that just might be real, it should be the happiest day of his life. And yet, redemption doesn’t come easily.

"Victor Mula’s Earth Dream" (M. J. Kelley)

Long after Earth’s demise, select plants, animals, and genetic records are all that remain of the mythical home world. Collecting these remnants, Victor Mula breaks deals and then disappears. When Flint loses his crew and starship working for Mula, he vows to find him, discover his secret, and exact revenge.

"The Thundering Grind of Jurassic Gears" (Ed Gosney)

Fred Wichman waited 14 years for the most realistic, animatronic dinosaurs ever built to come back to his local zoo. It was also 14 years ago that Fred’s psionic powers kicked in. And he’s been practicing ever since, becoming, in his mind, a great artist. It was supposed to be a good day. A nice time to spend with his mother. But when Fred’s nemesis from school shows up, the day turns out better than he could have imagined.

"A Spear for Allosaur" (Victor Milán)

Peasants of Nuevaropa have begun reporting attacks from what the Book of True Names called an Allosaurus fragilis. Karyl Vladevich Bogomirskiy—scion of a family of dinosaur-slayers—is asked to deal with the monster, and his worst nightmare has just begun.

"Monsters" (Piers Beckley)

In the near future, technology has made it possible to re-engineer the human genome and alter the body you wear by splicing in the DNA of other creatures. Some people choose to become cats or foxes. And some people choose to become monsters.

"Please Accept My Most Profound Apologies for What is About to Happen (But You Started It)" (Seanan McGuire)

Dr. Constance O’Malley was twelve when the film Jurassic Park came to the theater near her house. She stole five dollars from her mother’s purse, using it to purchase a ticket into the flickering splendor of a future she now wants to make real.

COMING SOON: The Jurassic Chronicles

I am super excited to announce that I am in the upcoming, The Jurassic Chronicles! Well, not me personally. One of my stories :-) This one is titled Cryptoscience. Here's the blurb:

Daryl McPhie was once a reputable biologist,

but he's frittered his credibility away, investigating

cryptozoology. When a known snake oil salesman

approaches him with a creature that just might be

real, it should be the happiest day of his life.

And yet--redemption doesn't come easily.

Also in this antho is The Dinosaur Knights (The Dinosaur Lords) author, Victor Milan, and I have to say that I LOVE his story, A Spear for Allosaur, so much. 

This is part of the Chronicles anthology series by Samuel Peralta, who has published some truly excellent short fiction (and stories like mine). To get a free copy of the anthology that started it all, The Future Chronicles - Special Edition, sign up for his listserv here.

LAUNCHED! Secrets of the Dragon Tomb by Patrick Samphire; Watch His Interview

A very exciting launch happened today, and no, I am not talking about my own book. What kind of egomaniac do you take me for? I'm obviously talking about Secrets of the Dragon Tomb by Patrick Samphire. This is a middle grade pulp adventure set in a British colony on Mars in the 1860's, with dinosaurs and dragons. Can you think of a more perfect book?!?! I didn't think so.

Lucky person that I am, I happen to know Patrick Samphire and he put up with me for an hour long Skype interview. In it we discuss not only this book, but his path to a writing career and his life in an all-writer household (he is married to Stephanie Burgis.)

So, first you probably want to go read Secrets of the Dragon Tomb, but once you've done that, come watch this interview. As always, if you click over to Youtube and expand the description, there are time stamp links that allow you to jump to the parts that interest you most.

EXCLUSIVE! Interview with The Expanse Actor, Elias Toufexis

I know I haven't said much about The Expanse, neither my visit to the set nor the cast and crew premiere here in Santa Fe the week before last. Suffice it to say, it's awesome. By now I hope you've watched the pilot at least???

I spent my time on set looking for someone to interview especially for my followers. That person turned out to be Elias Toufexis, who plays the character, Kenzo. I've heard several people freak out about this character because he's not in the books.

So Elias and I sat down over Skype to discuss the creation of this character. James SA Corey (aka Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck) were squarely behind the decision to create this character and even developed him specifically for Elias after seeing him audition.

Aside from his work on The Expanse, Elias has had a recurring role on Bitten and is playing the lead in both the latest Deus Ex and the latest Far Cry installments. We also discussed his performance capture work, and then just like with all my interviews, I asked him a bunch of really basic questions about building an acting career.

As with all my interviews, if you click over to YouTube and expand the description, there are hyperlinks that will jump you to whichever parts of the interview you want to see most.

My Black Gate Interview with Heather Hildenbrand

First, I suppose I owe everyone an explanation about why I'm late posting this. My explanation is... something I will tell you later. Because I'd be remiss if I took any attention away from the super-awesome Heather Hildenbrand and my interview of her on Black Gate. Seriously, this is one of the best interviews in terms of advice and services offered to indie authors.

Heather is a hybrid author, coach, and publisher. Aside from the services that she offers for a fee, there is also her Connective Collective, which anyone can join. There are no membership dues; it's just a free exchange of information.

Besides that, Heather is just a very cool person, and a lot of fun to talk to. So kick back, relax, and watch her interview. Actually, you may want to have a pencil and paper handy to take notes. As always, if you want to skip around, click over to Youtube and expand the video description. Your table of contents with timestamp links is right there.

   

My Black Gate Interview with Laxmi Hariharan!

It's been a crazy few weeks around here. I got the final draft of my next chick lit (which will come out under the E.M. Tippetts pen name) finished, and I'm now working on a science fiction novel that an agent has asked to see.

But during all the insanity, I also had the opportunity to interview Laxmi Hariharan for Black Gate. I had the privilege of meeting Laxmi through a mutual friend, and I can't help but be chuffed that I got an interview with her. She's an indie author and a professional marketer, and one of the first indie authors to successfully launch a book in India! Given the size of that market, this is a BIG deal.

The company she partnered with to do this is Read Out Loud, and she was one of their first clients. Her book, The Many Lives of Ruby Iyer, is set in Bombay, where Laxmi grew up, and is a YA dystopia. It's unique setting and cultural world view really set it apart from the glut of other YA dystopias in the market. Ruby is a strong female character, unlike any you've seen before.

It's also part of a wider series, and the latest installment, The First Life of Vikram Roy, has just recently come out. Tune in to her interview below, and if you want to be able to skip to specific parts or topics, click the link to go to YouTube and expand the video description. Your timestamp links are there.

  

My Black Gate Interview with T.L. Zalecki

T.L. Zalecki was one of the first speculative fiction authors to be published via Amazon's Kindle Scout program. She was kind enough to sit down with me for an interview in which she details their selection process, the terms of the contracts they offer, their publishing timeline, and their marketing package.

If you're interested in keeping the control you have in self publishing, but gaining some of the marketing and distribution support you can get from a traditional publisher, definitely check out this program.

As usual, there are timestamp links in the description on YouTube.

You can nominate Book 2 in this series here: https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/1N2IKWX60FK2L and get a free copy if it is selected.

My Black Gate Interview with Victor Milan, Dinosaur Master

This week I've posted my recent interview of Victor Milan on Black Gate. Vic was kind enough to sit down with me to talk about his new release The Dinosaur Lords, which I had the pleasure of reading as he workshopped it through our writers group. George RR Martin calls it "Game of Thrones meets Jurassic Park," and that's a pretty good description.

Take a lost Earth colony which was seeded with dinosaurs, add some feudalism, and then toss in a dash of ancient religion proving to be shockingly real, and you've got The Dinosaur Lords. The book also has a lot of knights riding dinosaurs, and honestly, can you get cooler than that?

Check out our interview, and check out Vic's latest book!

Here's your Timestamp Table of Contents:

We begin with an introduction of Victor Milan (http://www.victormilan.com) and his newest releases, his short story in The Change: Tales of Downfall and Rebirth, and more importantly, his novel, The Dinosaur Lords.

We are in Page One Bookstore: http://www.page1book.com/ an independent bookstore that is very supportive of the author community.

The Dinosaur Lords

1:05 An overview of The Dinosaur Lords, "Game of Thrones meets Jurassic Park" - George RR Martin. First an overview of the world, Paradise.

3:38 We discuss the religion of Paradise, and the spiritual event that kicks off the plot.

6:15 How fantasy and science fiction blend in this series.

7:11 Vic introduces a few individual dinosaurs (some of the best characters in my opinion) and outlines his depiction of dinosaurs in general.

9:52 The political situation on Paradise.

11:51 A summary of the first book's setting and set up.

Victor Milan's Career To-Date

12:38 How to pronounce Vic's name.

13:28 Vic outlines his 31 year long career and lists off several of his pen names.

14:43 We discuss writing under house names and doing work for hire.

16:42 How Vic survived the publishing apocalypse of the 80's and 90's.

18:12 A summary of books under his own name and the early books he wrote.

19:32 We discuss Vic's pivotal role in the Wild Cards shared universe books.

22:40 Vic describes the process of relaunching his career of writing under his own name.

24:30 He outlines the process of selling The Dinosaur Lords books to Tor and having it edited.

25:46 The cover art, and why we love it.

26:30 Summing up The Dinosaur Lords one more time, including a discussion of a dinosaur with metallic paint.

Victor Milan's Bio:

I’ve been a professional writer of science fiction, fantasy, and other adventure tales my whole adult life – as in, forty years now and counting. I’ve also done time as a cowboy, semi-pro actor, computer support tech, and Albuquerque’s most popular all-night progressive rock DJ.

I live on Jupiter with my cats and a cat-loving dog named Emma. I serve as MC for Life for Archon’s unequalled Masquerade, as well as, apparently, for our fine home-grown con Bubonicon. I love reading, birding, games, recumbent cycling, firearms, hanging with friends, and walking Emma along the ancient irrigation ditches in Albuquerque’s scenic North Valley.

I’ve published over 100 novels, including the Prometheus Award-winning The Cybernetic Samurai, its sequel Cybernetic Shogun, CLD: Collective Landing Detachment, and numerous short stories. I’m a founding member of the Wild Cards shared-world project, which has a movie in the works.

My work appearing in 2015 includes the novella “The Seeker: A Poison in the Blood,” in S. M. Stirling’s anthology The Change: Tales of Downfall and Rebirth (June 15th), based on his best-selling Emberverse series, and what is as of now the last-ever novel in the Deathlands action/adventure series, currently entitled Wrath Child.

The big news by far is that my long-awaited (not least by me) novel The Dinosaur Lords, first volume of an epic fantasy cycle, will be released by Tor on July 28th, 2015. It’s already attracting a great deal of buzz. I’m excited about it, to say the least. 

And thanks to all my friends and fans, whose love and support have literally kept me alive.

Cover Reveal: Cleansing Fire

This is the third book in the Sky Chariots Saga and releases September 20th. The first two books, Restless Earth and Blessing Sky are available for sale.

About Cleansing Fire:

Kasha has lived her life in hiding, working the job of the City Engineer of Wingmount, in a society that lets neither women, nor any member of the Tanoa race work trades. Finally, she has been offered the chance to work for her own people, who must evacuate their beloved Earth Shaman from the slopes of an active volcano. No other engineer in history could build the craft that Kasha has designed for this task: the sky chariot.

However, in order to fly it, she and her cousin, Ahote, will breach the most sacred rules of the Andalanos, the pale skinned race of people who govern their nation. Once, Kasha thought she would not mind betraying them. They had only given her grief.

But as she has grown in her talent for engineering, many Andalanos have supported her at great risk to themselves. Even high ranking government officials seek her counsel and beg for her aid in a costly war they fight on the coast, in a part of the kingdom Kasha has never seen and never thought she’d care about.

There is no way to help one people without betraying the other, and in this society, betrayal often means death. Kasha must decide where her loyalties lie, and whether she is up to the task of saving the last shaman of her people.

Amazon | iBooks | B&N | Kobo | Google Play

Goodreads

Don't miss out on the first two books Restless Earth and Blessing Sky!

Amazon | iBooks | B&N | Kobo | Google Play

This event was organized by CBB Book Promotions.