It pays to take a second look.
In the Deep Dark, it’s a long walk home.
The Marva Collins runs into unexpected problems a long way from port. Faced with some hard decisions, and uncertain about the choices, Ishmael has to roll the dice with inadequate information.
Is he sailing too close to the edge of forever?
A Brand New Ship
A Brand New Crew
What could possibly go wrong?
When Ishmael takes a crew of academy cadets into the Toe Holds, he’s unprepared for the level of trouble green hands can get into.
Meanwhile their academy liaison discovers what can go wrong when you learn the wrong lessons and try to teach the wrong students.
Will they all make it back to the academy before somebody accidentally takes a short walk out the air lock without a suit?
You should be seeing some visible results on Amazon this month. It’s been a long time since I hit the publish button. It felt pretty good. Just sayin’
New Ishmael:
School Days: SC Marva Collins – Book 1 on Amazon in both ebook and paper (or will be as soon as Amazon finishes their messing about). I hit publish yesterday. Podium has the file and expects a release in late fall ’23.
Working Class: SC Marva Collins – Book 2 is back from the editor and waiting on cover art. Look for it around the end of the month. Podium has the file and will probably schedule it right after School Days.
Hard Knocks: SC Marva Collins – Book 3 is in the final editing stage now. I don’t expect the cover art until July but, fingers crossed, it should drop at the end of July.
Shackleford House:
The Wizard’s Cat: The Wizard’s Butler – Book 2 is cranking along. After a month of wrestling with it, I finally have a plot, a path, and a thrilling conclusion. What I don’t have is a finished first draft yet, but I’ve already reserved an editor slot for July. That gives me a month to get this kitty purring before I have to send it to Karen to work her magic.
My classic last month was Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I found that it didn’t stand up well to the memory I have of it. I haven’t picked a new one for this month yet.
My recommendation this month is a the first book in a new series from C. J. Archer – The Librarian of Crooked Lane. It’s a sequel series to the Glass and Steele series that I enjoyed greatly and features the next generation of magic users and an updated time frame to the post World War I era. Great characters – because it’s always the characters – and an interesting transition in setting. Archer does a great job with this story. I’m looking forward to the next books.
But – as always – don’t take my word for it. Grab a sample and see what you think.
Notes in the Margins:
I read a lot of books that I didn’t review this month. One because it’s not available yet and I won’t review a book you can’t get. Several because they were sequels in a lot of series that I needed to catch up on. Bob and Nikki. Henri Davenforth. Some Deanna Chase. You can see my new reviews when I post them on my BookWyrm account at The Unseen City.
The Wizard’s Cat has been a pain in the butt for too long. Thanks to some brainstorming and a lot of ponderation, I think I’m finally on the right track to getting it actually drafted out. It’s been a long time in the making and so many people have written to me asking for it.
After that, I need to check in with EJ on the sequel to Salt. I think their half is done already and I need to fill in my parts. It’s a fun, lore-filled world with so much mythology that we’ve created to support the narrative. Wazor the Scholar is one of my all-time favorite characters, but it’s probably because I identify with grumpy old men.
What happens after that? I take a break, I think.
But that’s all a problem for Future Me. I need to wrangle this cat before I can get back there.
Until next month, safe voyage.
-N