Books
Books for Adults
JOSIE’S GUIDE TO NECROMANCY
Coming March 2027
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries meets The Mummy in this fantastical jazz-age horror romance where a debutante and a thief have to stop a witch and her army of the undead from claiming the city.
Josephine (Josie) Payne has her life meticulously planned, down to every detail of her engagement party and the groom she has chosen to fulfill the role. After her mother’s murder, Josie has spent her life building the perfect existence, managed by schedules and lists to avoid the possibility of tragedy striking again. What she did not plan for, however, was an army of the dead crashing her party, led by a witch who aims to take over the country.
While Theron does have a history of witchcraft and necromancy, Josie finds it all to be absolute poppycock–except she cannot deny the rotting corpses in front of her eyes or the horrid smell they leave behind. A case of cold feet had sent her to the powder room during the attack, leaving her free to seek help, and the help she finds is Will Garande, a thief hiding in her garage, drinking her very expensive champagne, (an issue she will deal with after he drives her to the police station.)
Except the dead have taken over the city, and a second witch prowls the streets, eliminating anything living that gets in her way. The only way Josie can save her family, and her party guests, is to uncover the spell the witches used to call the dead and end it. As Josie unravels the secrets of witchcraft, she finds there are some things impossible to plan for, like falling in love with the ghost who had been haunting your garage for 40 years, or what happens when the dark secrets plaguing her family finally crawl from the grave.
Books for Young Adults
Game of Strength and Storm by Rachel Menard
Ages 12-17 / ISBN 978-1-63583-076-7 / $14.99 paperback original / 400 pages / Publication date: June 7, 2022
GAME OF STRENGTH AND STORM
Victory is the only option.
Once a year, the Olympian Empresses grant the wishes of ten people selected by a lottery—for a price. Seventeen-year-old Gen, a former circus performer, wants the freedom of her father, who was sentenced to life in prison for murders she knows he didn’t commit. Castor plans to carry the island Arcadia into the future in place of her brother, Pollux, but only after the Empresses force a change in her island’s archaic laws that requires a male heir.
To get what they want, Gen and Castor must race to complete the better half of ten nearly impossible labors. They have to catch the fastest ship in the sea, slay the immortal Hydra, defeat a gangster called the Boar, and capture the flesh-eating Mares, among other deadly tasks.
Gen has her magic, her ability to speak to animals, her inhuman strength—and the help of Pollux, who’s been secretly pining for her for years. But Castor has her own gifts: the power of the storms, along with endless coin. Only one can win. The other walks away with nothing—if she walks away at all.
“GAME OF STRENGTH AND STORM is bursting with action, slow-burn romance, and heart!”
“Fast-paced and full of imagination, this glittering twist on Greek Mythology surprised me at every turn. ”
Clash of Fate and Fury by Rachel Menard
Ages 13-17 / ISBN 978-1635830828 / $14.99 paperback original / 416 pages / Publication date: March 21, 2023
CLASH OF FATE AND FURY
Seventeen-year-old Gen may have rescued her beloved father from prison, but she hasn’t saved him yet. If she fails her end of a bargain with the Olympian Empresses, they will send him right back to his cell. To keep the Empresses happy, Gen must bring them the legendary golden apples of Hesperides and the monstrous Cerberus. But both are rumored to be in the neighboring Elysium Empire, which has a long history of war with Olympia.
Making matters worse, Gen’s former enemy and newly designated heir to the isle of Arcadia Castor invites herself on the journey, hoping a golden apple could end Arcadia’s reliance on Illumium for storm vials. And Castor’s twin brother, Gen’s StormMaker boyfriend Pollux, has been pulling away from Gen due to troubles stemming from her mind magic.
With Castor’s pirate-thief girlfriend and Pollux’s servant companion in tow, the unlikely team embarks on its voyage. But war is only an insult away in Elysium, and more than the Emperor has their eyes on Gen’s mission. The quest has caught the attention of one of Elysium’s Oracles, and trouble is sure to brew with Prophecy on the rise.
“Menard’s imaginative world, lovably flawed characters, and solid plot impress. I was swept into the story and felt as though I was journeying right alongside Gen, Pollux, and Castor. ”
Steel Hand, Cold Heart
WINNER OF THE 2019 WRITER’S DIGEST SELF-PUBLISHED E-BOOK AWARDS!
On the island of Helvar, women rule. Sixteen-year-old Carina has trained for most of her life to belong to the coveted Daughters of Hel, the steel-handed Viking warriors who provide souls to the Death Goddess in exchange for the prosperity of their island. Gaining her place hasn’t been easy. She was not borne of the island, but another spoil from another raid, raised by the island Chieftain. There are many who would see her fail, and on her first raid, she does. She doesn’t kill a priestess she should have.
Carina needs to prove her worth or risk losing her place. Before she can, her arch-nemesis drugs her wine and sends her off the isle as a captive of three foreign boys. But what is Carina’s greatest misfortune may turn out to be her greatest gift. The young men are taking her to the jewel of the Southern Isles – Fortis Venitis, a place no other Daughter of Hel can venture. Carina can place Hel’s claims on the Southern isle and return to Helvar with the spoils, a victor.
However there are many obstacles to pass before she reaches her goal. Like her rune stone that everyone keeps trying to steal, the mismatched pirates from a country that no longer exists, and the priest with his poison that melts flesh from bones. But the most dangerous obstacle of all are the odd feelings she’s developing for her victims, especially the knife-thieving captain Nik. That could make it difficult for her to kill him in the end.
“An invigorating story with a fresh take on Norse Mythology!”