Today's Featured Books

Congratulations to Brendan Gillen and Vine Leaves Press on the release of Static, "a High Fidelity for our millennium."

★★★★★ “Reverberates with the drumbeat of why we make art.” ~Will Musgrove, author of Asphalt Dreaming

Static

For Paul, stealing is easy. When he's hungry, he strolls into a bodega and steals lunch. When rent’s due, he steals records and flips them for cash. As a lonely kid growing up in Ohio’s Rust Belt, stealing was the only way he could score the hip hop records and production equipment that fueled his musical dreams.
 
Now he’s in NYC fighting to keep his once-ascendant band alive and his life from falling apart. His bank account is flatlining. The love of his life has broken his heart. Bunky, his bandmate, is ditching him for Eloise, a soulful vagabond with an intoxicating voice. When financial trouble forces his parents from their lifelong home, Paul ramps up his stealing to save his family from collapse. And in a fever of creativity, he begins to steal from the voices in his life to make the music he’s sure will save his soul.
 
Set against the modern music industry, where a single social post can change your destiny, Static is alive to the weight of familial expectations, the pursuit of our deepest hopes and dreams, and the struggle to make meaningful connections in the anxiety of the digital age.

Praise for Static
★★★★★ “Static is a deep dive into the dark web of the American way of success and failure, and the unforgiving scream of the music of chance.” ~Salar Abdoh, author of A Nearby Country Called Love

★★★★★ “Funny, witty, and energetic... will hook you like a beautiful, catchy song that you’ll be humming for days.” ~Will Musgrove, author of Asphalt Dreaming

★★★★★ “A heartfelt, moving debut about the downtown New York music scene, brimming with wasted talent, floundering ambition, broken hearts, and betrayals—and wonderfully redeemed by the possibility of second chances.” ~Elizabeth Gaffney, author of Metropolis and When the World was Young

★★★★★ “Music pops out of every page in multi-sensory detail - the warm crackle of a needle on vinyl, the sweat of a crowd, the vibration of strings, the digitized reanimation of a sample, and the cacophonous ambient symphony of New York City.” ~Will Hagle, author of Madvillain's Madvillainy

★★★★★ “A generation ago, Nick Hornby showed us that a record store can be the perfect backdrop for a novel about the twisted path to growing up. So why haven’t more people paid attention since then? Luckily, Brendan Gillen has, and the result is Static, a High Fidelity for our millennium.” ~Dan LeRoy, author of Dancing to the Drum Machine

Free online: Mindful Reinvention for Women In Midlife, a two-night virtual gathering focused on empowering women in midlife to embrace change and reinvent themselves through mindful intention. July 16 & 17, 7 PM CDT each night. 

“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” ~Alice Walker

Today, we are shining a spotlight on Doombringer, a gritty dark fantasy novella from Marcel Liemant. If you relish twisted magic, supernatural creatures, and complex LGBTQI+ characters, dive into this mysterious tale!

★★★★★ "A beautifully written story set in a dark fantasy realm... The relationship between Oden and his daughter is magical and truly heartwarming. This story had war, loss, hope, love, perseverance, and strong family dynamics.” ~Tara Johnson, Goodreads Review

Bonus: Purchase print editions of Marcel Liemant books directly from the author at MarcelLiemant.com to get signed, wax-sealed paperback editions. 

Doombringer: Of Shadows and Sacrifice

Ancient enemies on the horizon. Twisted magic with a cost. A father who will sacrifice anything to save his daughter.

Oden Treaty is tireless. His nights are devoted to mining magic, his days to shielding his daughter from the reality of their realm ravaged by war. As the skies blacken with signs of imminent attack by the merciless Red Mages, Oden refuses to let the enemy that killed his wife destroy more of his home.

Surrounded by a community resigned to defeat, Oden unearths an unsettling prophecy foretelling his role in the destiny of the final battle. But with every spell cast eroding his body to dust, and their village about to be overrun, Oden is desperate to survive long enough to save his daughter’s world.

Can Oden wield unimaginable power in time to rescue his realm from doom?

★★★★★ "An intriguing dark fantasy." ~Amazon Review

★★★★★ "The author's writing style is particularly captivating, vividly painting scenes that pull you deep into the story." ~Goodreads Review

Other titles from Marcel Liemant:

  

           

Free online: Poets in Pajamas. This virtual poetry reading series takes place each Sunday at 7 PM ET. This week, join poets Dorinda Wegener and Mukethe Kawinzi for two 20-minute live readings, immediately followed by Q&A. Sunday, July 14, 7 PM ET.

“What is the meaning of life? The great revelation had never come. The great revelation perhaps never did come. Instead there were little daily miracles, illuminations, matches struck unexpectedly in the dark.” ~Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse

Have you had health issues after getting a mRNA (COVID-19) shot? This book encourages people to detoxify to restore health. This is an updated color edition with a toxicologist-approved supplement listing. "If you have had the COVID-19 vaccination and are worried about its health implications, you need to read Bad Shot? ASAP: Detox!" ~Readers' Favorite. From $2.99. Free via KU. SHOP NOW / 

In this special edition of the LitNuts newsletter, we are shining a spotlight on the work of Lewis Pennington, author of The Memory Stones series of sci-fi thrillers and 12 Coffins, a coming-of-age thriller with a paranormal twist.

★★★★★ "The easiest five stars I've ever given a book." ~Tea&BookLover, Amazon Review of The Memory Stones
 

BONUS:
The Kindle Edition of 12 Coffins is currently
available as a free download! 

12 Coffins

Brothers Cody and Drew Edwards and their gang of mischievous friends are looking for excitement in their sleepy little southern town. It is only when they venture into a supposedly haunted coffin factory that they get more than they had hoped for...

When they discover that lying in the coffins grants them paranormal abilities, they begin a mysterious journey involving murder, deceit, and greed, along with the power to prevent one of the nation’s most devastating events. Determined to use their power for good, they realize that every action they take is accompanied by harrowing consequences.

In this crucible of danger and discovery, family bonds and friendships are tested, and true strength of character is revealed. The stakes couldn’t be higher, but neither could their determination.

★★★★★ "Mystery, suspense, and fun all wrapped into one book!" ~Amazon Review

The Memory Stones: Forgiveness is a Journey in Time

When Mase Winslow, the heir to a Civil War-era plantation, is forced to almost kill his best friend, a slave named Spoon, Mase unconsciously brings about the demise of his beloved home.

As guilt and remorse overtake him, he seeks atonement through death on the battlefield. With the help of an ordinary-looking stone given to him by Spoon’s mother, Mase is transported through time. When he realizes he can redeem himself by altering his actions, he suddenly has hope.

The reality-bending journey that ensues takes Mase to present-day New York City and then back to Civil War-era South Carolina, requiring him to navigate myriad challenges. With more than a century of guilt weighing him down, he battles himself, Yankee troops, nature’s elements, and a nemesis that follows him through time. Set against an ominous ticking clock counting toward a deadly showdown that could cost him the love of his life, all odds are stacked against him.

"One can't help but think of the Outlander series and Twelve Years a Slave. The Memory Stones is a rapid-fire thriller with endless twists and turns." ~Pamela Pyms, General Podcasts

The Memory Stones Series

• Book 1: The Memory Stones: Forgiveness is a Journey in Time
• Book 2: The Memory Stones: Righteous Love is a Narrow Path
• Book 3: The Memory Stones: True Sacrifice is Never Looking Back

  

This special edition of LitNuts is focused on Faeries Don't Lie and the Heart of the World Series from TF Burke, a world of of faeries, pegasi flyers, myths, and secrets for teen and young adult readers.

★★★★★ "A delightful, magical YA book." ~Goodreads Review

Bonus: Get a free download of Whirl of the Fae when you sign up for TF Burke's "Wyrd & the Wisp" newsletter. Whirl of the Fae is a mythological retelling of how the Irish Goddess of Love also became Queen of the Banshees. And with the "Wyrd & the Wisp" newsletter, you will receive special deep-dives into the mysterious world of the fae, along with adventures into swordplay, details on new releases, and more.

Faeries Don't Lie

Can Two Worlds Survive an Augury?

The worlds of Ahnu-Endynia are full of faeries, pegasi flyers, myths, secrets, and themes of belonging despite being misunderstood.

Sixteen-year-old Aunia, the village outcast, wants to impress Mathias, a visiting seventeen-year-old pegasus flyer. Mathias believes the time has come to choose between survival of the Mortal world or the Faery world.

But when Aunia releases a Chandarion’s god-like magic into the world, her action calls forth the Boggleman, a soul-sucking ghoul who abducts her father, eats her faery friends, and sets Dagel demons on her isolated village.

If Aunia and Mathias are not careful, they might be pulled into the Betwixt, the space between the worlds.

★★★★★ "A unique fairy story, with action, magic, romance, and a wonderful setting." ~Goodreads Review

Faeries Don't Forgive

Getting back to the underworld and saving her dad should be easier with the Boggleman gone. However, there are multiple obstacles in her way, and Aunia can't decide which is worse.

Is it the Da Vennen cult and packs of wererats hunting her for imprisonment or death? Her ongoing conflict with Mathias wanting to hide her away? Or maybe it's herself since she cannot un-know what she has learned.

        

Free online: LitPR Summer Showcase. Join to hear from an array of indie authors, including M. N. Rosen (author of The Consciousness Company), C.F Dunn (Wheel of Fortune & Sun Ascendant), Charlotte Hastings (Kitchen Therapy), Philip Davidson (Birth of the Tiptons), and Elena Joannides (Meli & Mac). Thursday, July 11, 6-7 PM CDT.

"Your own positive future begins in this moment. All you have is right now. Every goal is possible from here." ~Lao Tzu