Current Titles
A Song of Awakening by Roby James
A Song of Awakening by Roby James is a monumental, richly romantic historical with a subtle touch of fantasy.
Click here to read an Excerpt...
Born into the 13th century's turmoil and warfare, Briana of Flint is a lady of legend. Myrrdin, the greatest bard in Wales, prophesied at her birth that she would "rise from fetters and bring freedom with her."
In the struggle of the Welsh against the ruthless King Edward I of England, Briana loses almost everything she loves -- her family, her home, and her liberty. But three extraordinary men offer her ways to discover the ultimate, unanticipated truth of Myrrdin's prophecy.
Ine, a lesser bard, has no idea why he has been chosen to inherit the Welsh bardic tradition...
Rees, the King's nephew, experiences a near death on Crusade, an event that transforms him more than anyone guesses...
Owen Glyn, the last of the Welsh rebels, gathers to himself in the fastness of Snowdonia all that remains of Prince Llewelyn's dream of freedom for Wales...
Ranging from the deep valleys and high mountains of Wales to the English court at Windsor and Westminster, with stops in France and the Holy Land, this intricate story of music, swordplay, loss, and redemption follows exceptional men and women trying to live in an age with values different from their own -- an age of awakening.
Roby James has been writing since she was nine years old, with a ten-year hiatus to ensure that her marriage would succeed (it has). She is the author of five novels and of heaps of nonfiction. She has spoken before audiences as large as 1,000 without being pelted by tomatoes or cabbages. At one time, she wrote for television (where assault by vegetables is one of the nicest things that happens to you), and her plays have been presented in Los Angeles, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. She is also the editor of the science fiction anthology series Warrior Wisewoman.
Her other titles include: Commencement (Hawk Books, 2000); Commitment (Hawk Books, 2000); The Soldier's Daughter (Wildside Press, 2001) and Beyond the Hedge (Juno Books, 2007).
Official website: http://sff.net/people/robyj/
"Roby James' historical novel A Song of Awakening, set in the reign of Edward I Plantagenet, ranges over the known world from the Holy Land to the North, but, in the end, returns to England, Wales and, in particularly, Flint Castle, to which the child Briana is heiress. Its native rock is strong beneath her feet and dear to her heart. She also has fire in her blood, a spine of steel, and carries the burden of bardic prophecy. She needs all three of these things to fight for her land's and her people's survival during the wars between England and Wales. Although a canny Edward Longshanks seeks to use her as a pawn, she is very much her own woman. She becomes a fit adversary for the half-Norman Crusader whom the king also advances on a bloodstained chessboard of castles, crowns and hearts. A Song of Awakening is a worthy successor to Edith Pargeter’s trilogy set over 100 years earlier: The Heaven Tree, The Green Branch and The Scarlet Seed."
—Susan Shwartz
Author of Shards of Empire and Cross and Crescent
Nebula, Hugo and World Fantasy nominee
"Roby James spins a web that draws us deeply into her mythic Celtic world, described in her latest novel, A Song of Awakening. A trio of male bards opens the door to this post-Arthurian universe, but it is the memorable female characters who keep the reader locked inside. Duty, honor, war, love, death: each makes its appearance, and its mark, but the deepest search is the one that leads toward healing, both personal and political."
—Paula Butturini
Author of Keeping the Feast
"Set against the backdrop of the 13th-century Welsh battle for independence from English domination, this masterly romantic fantasy entwines legend, music and love with the despotic whims of King Edward of England. Briana of Flint, heiress to strategic Welsh property and a prisoner in the English court since the death of her family, is forced to wed the man responsible for their deaths: Rees, Earl Connarc, who is in service to the king they both have reason to hate. And Ine, a bard who has been part of Briana's life since her birth, uses music and mystery to help them. Along with the central story are wonderful subplots, characters and intrigues that make A Song of Awakening a satisfying read. I couldn't put it down till I finished it."
—Miriam Lippel Blum
Author of "Recollection of the Heart" in Jewish Values in Health and Medicine
"Roby James writes with passion and intelligence."
—Jack McDevitt
Original Press Release (6-24-09)
James Fairfax
by Jane Austen and Adam Campan
It's same-sex marriage in Jane Austen's Regency England!
In this stunning, gender-bending, stylish dance-of-manners version of Jane Austen's beloved classic novel Emma—an alternate Regency where gay marriage is commonplace and love is gender-blind—matchmaking Emma Woodhouse tries to find a suitable spouse for her lover Harriet Smith, and is embroiled in the secrets of the relationship between the mysterious and accomplished James Fairfax and the handsome Frank Churchill...
James Fairfax website...
Original Press Release (4-23-09)
Another Chance at Life: A Breast Cancer Survivor's Journey by Leonore H. Dvorkin
"A reflective and ultimately optimistic memoir."
—Midwest Book Review
"Beautiful, moving, informative, uplifting.... I only wish there had been a book like this back when I had cancer."
—Lee Christopher, author of Jaded Love
"A terrific read—well-written, frank, and honest. This book's many hard-won truths make it truly special and inspiring."
—Nina Romberg, author of Shadow Walkers
Leonore H. Dvorkin was born in 1946 in Chicago, Illinois. She has lived in nine different states and Germany. Her two BA degrees in languages are from Indiana University (Bloomington) and Metropolitan State College of Denver. She and her author husband, David Dvorkin, have lived in Denver, Colorado since 1971. Their son, Daniel Dvorkin, has written two novels with his father.
Leonore works as a tutor of Spanish and German, a translator, a proofreader, and a weight training instructor. In 1977, she won the YWCA Sportswomen of Colorado Award in the category of Health and Physical Fitness.
Her publishing credits include numerous articles on fitness and nutrition, the literary novel Apart From You (Wildside Press, 2000), and the autobiographical book Why I'm Glad I Had Breast Cancer (Wildside Press, 2005).
Official website: www.dvorkin.com
Original Press Release (11-3-08)
A Cold Day in Hell by Ken Rand
In Las Vegas, everybody has secrets...
The young mother rent-a-cop who dreams of dead people's graves and her incompetent, thieving P.I. boss. The eccentric billionaire toy-collector, his lesbian "right-hand man" and her dazed and confused lover. The angst-ridden cop. The rabble-rousing bag lady, her band of homeless pranksters, and the preacher who wants to levitate a casino. They all have secrets.
One is a murderer.
"Quirky and compelling, Ken Rand's A Cold Day in Hell captures readers' imaginations from its first page. And whether it's Rand's darkly humorous comments on society, his fascinating cast of characters, or the poignant moments that catch you by surprise, A Cold Day in Hell is a story that will stay with you long after you've turned its last page."
—Julie Hyzy, author of State of the Onion and Hail to the Chef
"From crooked politicians, to clandestine love affairs, to an obsessed evangelist intent on creating a miracle, to the death of a homeless guy who freezes to death in a Vegas casino named Hell . . . Ken Rand's new book stretches all the boundaries and will delight fans of off-beat mysteries and genre-bending fantasies alike. You'll be entertained through the very last page."
—Michael A. Black, author of Random Victim and Windy City Knights
"... a wealth of quirky characters ..." —Publishers Weekly
Ken Rand is the prolific and versatile author of more than a hundred short stories, two hundred humor columns, and a dozen books, including The Ten Percent Solution: Self-editing for the Modern Writer (Fairwood Press); The Paradox Stone; Tales of the Lucky Nickel Saloon, Second Ave, Laramie, Wyoming, U S of A (Yard Dog Press); and Phoenix. He’s written thousands of articles, and does interviews for Talebones Magazine.
In 1992, after ending two-plus decades as a broadcast and print reporter and editor in Utah and then Wyoming, Ken Rand, moved back to West Jordan, Utah, remarried his ex-wife, and began his freelance writing career in earnest. In addition to numerous awards for his work as a reporter, Rand won 2nd place in the Writers of the Future contest, 3rd place in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, volume 2, and has received four honorable mentions in Year’s Best anthologies.
Rand has worked as a freelance writer, reporter, photographer, talkshow host and producer, editor, PR flack, furniture mover, temporary secretary, teacher, print and broadcast ad peddler, and announcer for sports events, daredevil shows, air shows, mudbogs, and stock car races.
He grew up in the little town of Port Chicago, Calif., which no longer exists; the Navy bought it because it was in the way of their ammo depot. A hippie before he lost his hair, he lived in San Francisco in the 1960s, where he attended the first Be-In. Rand makes kaleidoscopes just for the fun of ithe is the world’s only humor kaleidoscopist. His writing and living philosophy is: "Lighten up."
Official website: http://www.sfwa.org/members/rand/
Original Announcement (1-16-08)
Leaving Fortusa by John Grant
A dystopian masterpiece by the Hugo, Locus, Chesley, and World Fantasy Award-winning author...
A disabled US veteran from Iraq finds in Scotland a bizarrely distorted form of Fairyland and realizes he has lost his own country. A New Yorker learns how to discard the sad times from his life as around him society crumbles. A dream-research laboratory uncovers the true origin of our reality, a secret too dangerous to reveal . . .
The powerhouse dystopian novel by a master of fantastic literature.
Two children are taught to suppress their imagination. Armies travel back in time to conquer the worlds of the past, there to hold gladiatorial circuses. A man suffers the death penalty over and over for everyone else’s murders, so the victims’ families may have “closure” . . .
Ten episodes from a horrifying future, with the Decline and Fall of the American Empire as their backdrop.
Two karmic tempters dance through myriad different universes in search of ways to engineer the downfall of their enemies here. A rusted ferris wheel standing tall above the desert is a locus for barbarous religious executions. An old woman recalls her childhood loss of innocence about the world in which she lives . . .
In the great If This Goes On tradition, an impassioned assault on the seeds of destruction sown within our society. Searing prose conjures a nightmare vision you will never be able to forget.
A loner foraging in the graveyard of our civilization comes across what may be all that's left of human literature . . .
One of the most astonishing novels of the new century’s first decade, Leaving Fortusa is also one of its most urgent.
John Grant is author of some sixty books, of which about twenty-five are fiction, and has received two Hugo Awards, the World Fantasy Award, the Locus Award, and a number of other international literary awards. Under his given name, Paul Barnett, he has written several further books and for a number of years ran the world-famous fantasy-artbook imprint Paper Tiger, for this work earning a Chesley Award (as Best Art Director) and a nomination for the World Fantasy Award.
Official website: www.johngrantpaulbarnett.com
"In a world that seems to value specialization above all else, a true multi-hyphenate is rare. John Grant the book reviewer; John Grant the fantasy novelist (and science fiction novelist, and political satire novelist, and . . .); John Grant the short-story writer; John Grant the editor; John Grant the essayist. All apply, and all apply equally well. The man is a writing dynamo, and we are all the better for it."
—James A. Owen, Argosy
"Grant takes a mosaic-novel approach with his latest book, Leaving Fortusa. [. . .] The sequence of the stories significantly affects one's reading of the book as there is a noticeable shift both in chronology and atmosphere. It's certainly possible to read the stories on their own—and some of them have been published elsewhere—but they take on that extra layer of depth when taking the new paradigm into consideration. [. . .]
"Leaving Fortusa is clearly influenced by modern events and the fiction is politically charged so much so that it's evident where the passion of the author is. Grant has several strong points going for him. The first is that his language is easygoing and casual, making him accessible even as he goes about explaining various sci-fi theories. He also knows when to lighten the mood, sprinkling comedy and satire when necessary. The other strength of Grant is his characterization and Leaving Fortusa is no different from his other short stories or novels. [. . .] The third strength of the book is its flexibility and Grant manages to infuse his stories with elements of fantasy, science fiction, and horror—whichever is appropriate for the story.
"Overall, Leaving Fortusa is an ambitious and daring book."
—Charles A. Tan, Bibliophile Stalker
"I loved this book. There was much to chew on, and some amazing writing. Mr. Grant had a different voice and a different tone in every story, and he caught each of them perfectly. Based on my review of [Cory Doctorow's] Little Brother, one might guess that I’m not a fan of the policies of this current administration. Mr. Grant seems to be a lot more pessimistic than I am, though . . . I do not necessarily agree with all his projections; in some ways, it’s like a horror novel — a delightful thrill down my spine. . . . [A] very thought-provoking and frightening book. I’d definitely recommend it with caveats—it’s not for the faint of heart (or youngsters), what with the amount of violence, gore, sex, and horrible language. 5/5 stars for sheerly amazing writing, and a big kudos to Norilana Books for publishing it."
—Someone's Read It Already
Original Press Release (4-4-08)
