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Civil War Antho Review: Defiance

Sherri reviewed Drollerie’s Civil War anthology, Defiance.  About my contribution, Storms As She Walks, Sherri says:

I was hooked from the first sentence and pulled right along though the story. Burkhart has an amazing knack for building bonds between characters. I loved the dynamic of the regiment. I loved Meli’s strength and commitment. I loved Steadmen’s straight-shooting manner. I’m left with a soft spot for Lying Abe and Big John. This is defiantly one of the short stories I wish was a full-length novel because I wasn’t ready for it to end…despite being satisfied with the ending.

Read the whole review here.  Thank you, Sherri!

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E-Reader Giveaway from Drollerie Press Authors

If Santa isn’t bringing you an e-reader this year, maybe you can win the JetBook Lite from E-Reader, supplied by Drollerie Press authors Angela Korra’ti, Cindy Lynn Spear, Meredith Holmes, Michael Stewart, and me.  We’ll load it with Drollerie Press books and ship it anywhere on the planet.  Details for how to enter are here

Don’t miss the 12 Days of Christmas giveaways at Drollerie, where we’ll be giving away books each day!

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Two New Reviews!

First up, Conn has made a new conquest for the dark side (or is that the poetry side?) of BDSM.  KC from Smokin’ Hot Books writes:

Dear Sir I’m Yours was a beautifully written exploration into what I find is one of my top 10 fantasies of the sexy professor and naïve/innocent student. I literally was swept away by her prose and sexy professor Conn who takes submissive Rae on an exploration of her own wants and desires.

The W-2 comment made me snort coffee on my monitor (go read the full review to get the joke!).  She also reviews Holly Summers’ (Victoria Dahl’s) The Wicked West, which I loved too.

Next up, a lovely review for Defiance from Soleil Noir of Beyond the Invisible, in particular, for Storms as She Walks:

This is the most Romance-oriented story out of the lot, but there is so much more too. Joely has a knack for building bonds between her characters, both romantic and platonic. What really brought this story home to me was the dynamic of Thunderer’s regiment. The military-style banter had me in stitches and the battle scenes were beautifully executed.  The romance was a bit tame-for a Burkhart read, which usually scorches off the page- but not in an unsatisfying way. Sweet and fulfilling, it fit perfectly within the confines of its tale.

Hands down my favorite Anthology from Drollerie Press thus far. Probably the best Anthology I’ve read. Ever.

Read the whole review here including Soleil’s detailed comments for Laura Anne Gilman’s and Angela Korra’ti’s stories.

Thank you, Soleil and KC!

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New Release: US Civil War Anthology, Defiance

Yay, it’s here!  Three stories set during the US Civil War with strong female protagonists with unique gifts are now available in an anthology from Drollerie Press

  • Finder’s Keeper by Laura Anne Gilman
  • The Blood of the Land by Angela Korra’ti
  • Storms as She Walks by me!

Laura Anne Gilman, Joely Sue Burkhart, and Angela Korra’ti take us back to the days of the Civil War with ministering angels, magical creatures, and death. Each of the women in these stories refuses to take on the role she’s been assigned by birth, race, or circumstance. Each woman demonstrates life changing defiance.

There’s a nice long excerpt up if you want to check it out first.

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Civil War Anthology: Defiance

Remember that little Civil War short story I was working on a few months ago?  I’m thrilled to announce that it’ll be included in a US Civil War anthology from Drollerie Press, including stories by Laura Anne Gilman and Angela Korra’ti!  Watch for it to be released end of October.  Isn’t the cover lovely?

Defiance

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Drollerie Press Blog Tour

In honor of Father’s Day, this month’s theme is, of course, fathers!  Please welcome Angela Korra’ti, author of the fabulously fun Faerie Blood.  The links for the rest of this month’s posts can be found at Drollerie Press.

Faerie Blood

Every writer who’s strung together more than five words in a row knows the maxim “write what you know”. Given that my mother passed away when I was sixteen and that I saw very little of my father throughout my childhood and much of my adulthood before he too finally passed away, it’s therefore probably no surprise to anyone that a lot of my characters wind up with parental issues–if they have parents around on camera at all.
In Faerie Blood‘s cast alone, I’ve got a heroine whose parents are both dead, a hero with a dead mother and a father shattered by her death, and an antagonist who is himself a father with severe issues. And if I go and survey stories I haven’t sold yet, I’ve got an epic fantasy with three main characters whose fathers are all dead, a Greek-mythology-based urban fantasy which by definition has characters with father issues all over the place, and a couple of science fiction novels whose lead characters are decidedly father-deficient.

Are y’all sensing a pattern here?

And yet, I can’t say that I set out to work out my daddy issues through my characters. If anything, I’d say that I picked it up from all the books I’ve ever read in my life–since after all, you can’t swing a stick in a library without hitting a book that involves at least one character with major parental issues. It’s one of the most universal themes there is.

I can say this, though: that memory I have of writing the leprechaun story, the one where the girl gets swept off by the leprechauns to be their queen for a day? I remember telling my dad about that not long after I’d written it. I was riding somewhere with him in his big convertible car, and although I can barely remember the incident now, I’m pretty sure Dad was listening to me with that tolerantly interested way I’m thinking any parent reading this will recognize themselves having whenever their child starts telling them all about leprechaun stories they made up. It was my dad, too, who bought me my first typewriter, the one on which I typed up the very first manuscript I ever tried to professionally submit. So among all of my family members, my father’s still the one who gave me the most support.

Which means a lot to me, to this day.

I wish you could have gotten to see my first real novel come to life, Dad. I miss you. And if I ever sell Queen of Souls, for the record, none of the daddy issues in there came from you.