I’ve spent the past two weeks making final edits to my upcoming Saturn Society novel, Time’s Best Friend.
That’s right, I can finally announce it, as my publisher has fast-tracked it for publication – and the release date is next Monday, September 21! Even better, they’re offering it for a special preorder price of $2.99. After the release, it goes up to $4.99. Of course, you can score an even better deal if you join my readers group email list (hint, hint). Anyway, here’s the scoop on Time’s Best Friend:
A Saturn Society Novel ISBN: 978-0-9839097-9-8 A Chance She Can’t Miss A Tale He Can’t Believe A Predicament They Can’t Escape Readers who enjoy the Saturn Society won’t want to miss this standalone addition, while those new to the series will find this introduction an unusual time travel story rich in action, romance, and history.
In 1939, time-traveling, Appalachian farm woman Florie LeBeau fell in love with an 18th-century frontiersman, and vowed to cross time to be with him again. Then war broke out, forcing her to wait four years to travel back two hundred. But when she arrives in 1756, she finds her frontiersman doesn’t know her, Nazi soldiers occupy her historic home, and her only friend a mysterious dog who just might be their spy.
Ousted from his home by strange Hessian soldiers, fur trapper Zeke Allen can’t believe his luck when his new hunting dog brings him a woman. Knowledgeable in the ways of pioneer life, the lovely Miss LeBeau could make the perfect wife, if not for her crazy tales of time travel, a club called the Saturn Society, and an impossible war in the twentieth century she insists she comes from—and to which she must return.
Slowly, Zeke begins to believe Florie’s crazy stories as his fondness grows into a love she returns. But the men she calls Nazis tear her away from him, plunging her into a future where she must deliver information that could change the outcome of the war. Finding her way back to Zeke proves difficult. Harder still: convincing others of the truth–and saving her canine rescuer and herself from the Saturn Society, the very people she thought would protect her.
That has taken up most of the past week, though there was also a family birthday gathering and my professional writers group meeting in there. I still found time to read, though!
What I read this week and last: Hell on High by Holly Lisle and Ted Nolan. This is the third and final book of Holly Lisle’s Devil’s Point series. The main premise of the series overall is that several hundred thousand denizens of hell have been released in North Carolina, for a chance to repent and become what they once were. It’s a contemporary fantasy with a lot of humor. I liked this book, but not as much as I liked books 1 and 2. I think the reason was that there were many different points of view, and it took a while before it focused on the main characters. However, it got better as it went on, with a nice romance in there, too.
I also read a couple of short nonfiction books for writers: The Eight-minute Writing Habit, and Dictate Your Book by Monica Leonelle. The first book is great if you’re having trouble finding time to write, or when you do have time, you don’t write. It distills the things that keep us from writing into short, yet comprehensive lists, starting with the number one detractor: fear. While it also deals with getting to the writing when we have limited time, it focuses on fears first, which IMO is exactly what most of us need. What is especially helpful is it then gives writers a plan for conquering each of the fears and other things that keep us from writing. While it is geared more toward beginners, those who have been writing for a long time and even published will find many useful tips here.
The other writing book, Dictate Your Book (also by Monica Leonelle), gives some great tips on how to get started with writing by dictation–some fast, easy ways to try it out, software to use, device and hardware recommendations, and more. It starts by giving some good reasons to give this a try and how to go about dictating if you’ve never done it before. I hadn’t really considered doing this, as I don’t like talking to myself and tend to fumble with my words when I speak, but after reading this, it’s something I want to try.
ROW80 Update: Last week’s goals were to get my edits done and back to my publisher. Then this past week’s primary goal was to proof my galleys when they sent them to me, and get them back in a timely manner. Both of those are DONE so that’s a big win! It also marks a big goal that’s been on my list for over a year: to finish this story for publication. Luckily, my publisher was understanding when what started as a short story turned into a novel, and adjusted my deadline accordingly. This week’s goal is to get back on the related novella (which I am pretty sure will stay a novella) for 5,000 new words. In addition, I want to do another 3-5 things on my marketing/promo/website list.
What about you–have you met any big goals or crossed any big to-dos off your list lately? How are you doing on any goals you might currently have? Have you read anything good lately, whether fiction or nonfiction? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!
Jennette Marie Powell writes stories about ordinary people in ordinary places, who do extraordinary things and learn that those ordinary places are anything but. In her Saturn Society novels, unwilling time travelers do what they must to make things right... and change more than they expect. You can find her books at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Kobo, iTunes, and more.