Wednesday, January 13, 2021

Meet the Authors of Dark Matter: Artificial

Greetings all! I'm excited to be taking over as blog coordinator from Louise (Fundy Blue), who did a fabulous job last year as coordinator for the Insecure Writer's Support Group anthology, Voyagers: The Third Ghost, available on Amazon and more!

We're starting off the new year and new IWSG anthology buzz with some brief introductions of the authors featured in Dark Matter: Artificial. Come meet the 10 authors showcasing their talents through young adult to adult science fiction stories on topics ranging from artificial intelligence and deep space to alternative realities and dark matter secrets.

Stephanie Espinoza Villamor - Artificial

Stephanie is a librarian writer mom who lives with her husband and young son just outside Las Vegas. As a child she wrote her own books on dot matrix printer paper, and now works as a college eLearning Librarian. She writes stories inspired by her supportive family and Hispanic heritage, especially for middle grade and young adult readers.

 



C.D. Gallant-King - Space Folds and Broomsticks 

C.D. Gallant-King wrote his first story when he was five years old. He had to make his babysitter look up how to spell "extra-terrestrial." He now writes stories about un-heroic people doing generally hilarious things in horrifying worlds. He's a loving husband and proud father of two wonderful kids. He was born and raised in Newfoundland and currently resides in Ottawa, Ontario.


Kim Mannix - Rift 

Kim Mannix is a fiction writer, poet and journalist currently residing on Treaty 6 territory in Sherwood Park, Alberta. She has been published in several journals and anthologies in Canada and the U.S. and is a contributing editor of Watch Your Head, a climate crisis anthology. You can find her on Twitter, usually posting about kids, cats, music and creepy things.

 


Steph Wolmarans - The Utten Mission

Steph Wolmarans is an educator, mother, wife, gardener, beekeeper, and speculative fiction author. Steph has been creating galaxies since she visited Arrakis as a child. Now she envisions worlds, discovers new beings, and spends a lot of time exploring planet Earth with her husband and two small children.

 


Tara Tyler - Sentient

Tara Tyler has done everything from waitressing to rocket engineering. After moving all over the US, she now writes and teaches math in Ohio with her husband and one boy left in the nest. She has two novel series, Pop Travel (sci-fi detective thrillers) and Beast World (fantasy adventures), plus UnPrincess, a novella series where maidens save themselves.


Deniz Bevan - One to Another

Deniz Bevan has lived in Turkey, and her non-fiction work appeared in the trilingual newspaper Bizim Anadolu. Her short story was shortlisted for the Surrey (Canada) International Writers' Conference Storyteller's Award in 2013. Her contemporary romance, Summer Fire is out now with Carina Press.


 Charles Kowalski - Resident Alien

Charles Kowalski's contemporary thrillers, Mind Virus and The Devil's Son, have won prizes and nominations including the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers' Colorado Gold Award, the Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award, and the Adventure Writers Grandmaster Award. He is also the author of the Japan-themed historical fantasy Simon Grey and the March of a Hundred Ghosts (Tokyo: Excalibur Books, 2019). When not writing, he teaches at the International Education Center at Tokai University, near Tokyo.

 

Olga Goldim - Nano Pursuit

Olga Godim is a writer and journalist from Vancouver, Canada. Both her children have already flown the nest. As a journalist, Olga focuses on the local arts and culture scene. As a fiction writer, she prefers speculative fiction. In the past few years, her fantasy and science fiction short stories have been published in magazines and anthologies. Her book SQUIRREL OF MAGIC is a collection of urban fantasy short stories. In 2015, her fantasy novel EAGLE EN GARDE won EPIC eBook Award.

 

Elizabeth Mueller - Resurgence

Award-winning author Elizabeth Mueller lives deep in the heart Texas surrounded by everyone she loves—including the characters who don’t stop talking in her head. While she enjoys homeschooling her kidlets, she thrives as a full-time writer of any genre that captures her heart.

 



Mark Alpert - Vera’s Last Voyage

Mark Alpert is a bestselling author of 10 sci-fi novels. He first heard of dark matter studying astrophysics at Princeton University, and learned more working at Scientific American. His first novel, FINAL THEORY (Simon & Schuster, 2008), was published in 24 languages and optioned for film. His YA novel, THE SIX (Sourcebooks, 2015), was nominated for several awards. His latest novel is SAINT JOAN OF NEW YORK: A NOVEL ABOUT GOD AND STRING THEORY.


You can learn even more about each of us, and how to reach or follow us online, through the blog's author page for Dark Matter: Artificial.


Coming on Wednesday,  January 20, 2021 . . .
Each of the authors in Dark Matter: Artificial will be posting over the coming weeks about how their anthology stories came to be.

I'm excited to be the one to kick off this series! I'm author Stephanie Espinoza Villamor, and I couldn't be more honored to have my story, "Artificial," chosen for the anthology's title and cover as winner of the 2020 Annual IWSG Anthology Contest. I can't wait to preview it for you all!

Thursday, January 7, 2021

Prepare for Ignition! "Dark Matter: Artificial" is about to Liftoff!

Happy New Year, Everyone!
 
And it is already happier than the last one.
I have great hope for the coming days, weeks, and months;
and I feel the weight of heavy black clouds lifting,
starting with the potential end of this tragic pandemic.

One of the exciting things on the horizon is the release
of the 2021 IWSG anthology on May 4th!




Congratulations to the ten talented IWSG members
whose stories are included in this anthology:

Artificial by Stephanie Espinoza Villamor
Space Folds and Broomsticks by CD Gallant-King
Rift by Kim Mannix
The Utten Mission by Steph Wolmarans
Sentient by Tara Tyler
One to Another by Deniz Bevan
Resident Alien by Charles Kowalski
Nano Pursuit by Olga Godim
Resurgence by Elizabeth Mueller
Vera’s Last Voyage by Mark Alpert


A thank you to our awesome publisher: 

The Insecure Writer's Support Group is fortunate to have L. Diane Wolfe
and Dancing Lemur Press to publish our sixth anthology.


This spunky dynamo and DLP published the first five anthologies

Here's a peek at what readers have to look forward to:

Dark Matter: Artificial
An Insecure Writer’s Support Group Anthology

Discover dark matter’s secrets…

What is an AI’s true role? Will bumbling siblings find their way home from deep space? Dark matter is judging us—are we worthy of existence? Would you step through a portal into another reality? Can the discoverer of dark matter uncover its secrets? 

Ten authors explore dark matter, unraveling its secrets and revealing its mysterious nature. Featuring the talents of Stephanie Espinoza Villamor, C.D. Gallant-King, Tara Tyler, Mark Alpert, Olga Godim, Steph Wolmarans, Charles Kowalski, Kim Mannix, Elizabeth Mueller, and Deniz Bevan. 


Wikimedia:  "Dark matter is invisible. The effect of gravitational lensing
causes multiple images of the same galaxy. 
A ring of dark matter has been suggested to explain this.
In this image of galaxy cluster (CL0024+17) the dark matter is seen in blue."


Preliminary publication data:
Release date: May 4, 2021
Print ISBN 9781939844828 $14.95
EBook ISBN 9781939844835 $4.99
Science Fiction: Collections & Anthologies (FIC028040) / Space Exploration (FIC028130) / Genetic Engineering (FIC028110) 
186 pages



A huge thanks to our hardworking judges:
A panel of agents, authors, and editors handpicked ten tales that will take readers on a journey across time and space. 

Dan Koboldt, author and #SFFpit founder
Lynda R. Young, author
Colleen Oefelein, agent, The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency
Damien Larkin, author
Ion Newcombe, editor and publisher
Julie Gwinn, agent, The Seymour Agency
David Powers King, author


A huge thanks to our Ninja Captain:
Without the vision and hard work of IWSG founder Alex J. Cavanaugh,
none of this would be happening!  
He is one amazing and generous spirit!




What to read while you're waiting:
Let me recommend any and all of the first five IWSG anthologies.

        
                       2016                           2017                          2018                            2019

2020





Coming on Wednesday,  January 13, 2021 . . .
Our next post will introduce the talented authors of Dark Matter: Artificial.



Till next time ~
Fundy Blue 




Upcoming IWSG Events . . .
Ready to try your hand at a Twitter pitch? Then join us January 20, 2021 for #IWSGPit - https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-twitter-pitch.html 
And polish, polish, polish those pitches. Good luck!

For some excellent tips check out Alex J. Cavanaugh's post:

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

A Flashback and Perhaps a Reveal


Where has this year gone?  It seems like mere weeks have passed since the Insecure Writer's Support Group announced the winners of the 2019 Anthology Contest, not a year ago.




Flashback to December 4, 2019: 
Coming May 5, 2020 - Voyagers: The Third Ghost 
Middle grade historical/adventure

Featuring these stories and authors:
The Third Ghost – Yvonne Ventresca
Winter Days - Katharina Gerlach
Feathered Fire – Roland Clarke
The Ghosts of Pompeii – Sherry Ellis
Dare Double Dare – Louise MacBeath Barbour
The Blind Ship – Bish Denham
A World of Trouble – Rebecca M. Douglass
The Orchard - Beth Anderson Schuck
Return to Cahokia – L.T. Ward
Simon Grey and the Yamamba - Charles Kowalski

That was certainly a thrilling day for each of us ten authors featured in Voyagers: The Third Ghost!

I hope that the winners of the 2020 Anthology Contest will be revealed tomorrow on IWSG Day.  But like everyone else, I'll have to wait and see.
I'm out of the loop this year.





If the winners of the 2020 Anthology Contest are announced tomorrow, 
I'll come back and add them to this post.

Meanwhile, as blog coordinator for the 2019 winners, I'm giving my fellow authors a last twirl or leap in the spotlight.  They are a wonderfully diverse and talented group, and I am honored to be included among them.



One of the pleasures I have enjoyed most during this past year has been reading books published by the Voyagers authors.  If you, as a reader, have not treated yourself to the Voyagers stories or published books by these authors, you are missing out.

Here for a final bow are the ten authors who showcased their talents in the 2020 Insecure Writer's Support Group anthology Voyagers:  The Third Ghost.  Their juvenile fiction stories that earned them a place in the anthology are exciting, suspenseful, and surprising, and they range throughout time and place from from Hoboken to Pompeii, Port Royal, and Cahokia.






Yvonne Ventresca
"The Third Ghost"













Yvonne Ventresca is the author of the award-winning young adult novels Pandemic and Black Flowers, White Lies. In addition, Yvonne has written two nonfiction books and several stories selected for collections, including the previous IWSG anthology, Hero Lost: Mysteries of Death and Life. She is currently pursuing an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Vermont College of Fine Arts. You can learn more at YvonneVentresca.com, where she features resources for writers.









Katharina Gerlach
"Winter Days"













Although Katharina Gerlach was born in the late sixties, she’s still a child at heart. She inherited her love of fairy tales and words from her mother, an ex-secretary and avid reader, and her love of all things nature and science from her father, an ex-forester. Memories of her rather interesting life in Germany flow back at the smallest trigger, even though she tends to merge her three brothers into one when she tells stories about their childhood adventures. And more often than not, she recalls events truthfully. Supported by her husband and her three children and distracted by her dog and grandchild, she currently writes stories of varying length in fantastical and historical genres. She runs the Indie Authors’ Advent Calendar each year, a free for all story feast.  Learn more about Katharina at katharinagerlach.com.









Roland Clarke
"Feathered Fire"








After diverse careers, Roland Clarke was an equestrian journalist and green activist when chronic illness hastened retirement. But he hasn’t stopped exploring rabbit holes and writing - mainly mysteries and alternative history. Roland and his wife – both avid gamers - now live in Idaho (USA) with their four fur-babies, although their hearts are in North Wales (UK).  His equestrian thriller Spiral of Hooves is an engaging mystery.  Learn more about Roland  at roland clarke.com.









Sherry Ellis
"The Ghosts of Pompeii"













Sherry Ellis is an award-winning author and professional musician who plays and teaches the violin, viola, and piano. when she is not writing or engaged in musical activities, she can be found doing household chores, hiking, or exploring the world.

Ellis' books include  Don't Feed the Elephant; Ten Zany Birds; That Mama is a Grouch; That Baby Woke Me Up, AGAIN; Bubba and Squirt's Big Dig to China; and Bubba and Squirt's Mayan Adventure.

She lives in Atlanta, Georgia. For more information about her work, she invites you to visit her website at www.sherryellis.org.









Louise MacBeath Barbour
"Dare Double Dare"












Born in Nova Scotia and raised throughout eastern Canada, Louise is a writer and blogger who now lives in Colorado.  She writes fiction and nonfiction with the encouragement of her supportive husband.  A passion for reading, photography, geology, and travel round out her enthusiastic embrace of life.  "Dare Double Dare" is her first published middle grade story.  Learn more about Louise at her blog Standing Into Danger.








Charles Kowalski
"Simon Grey and the Yamamba"












Charles Kowalski invites you to read the full story of Simon, Oyuki, and their adventures through haunted Japan in Simon Grey and the March of a Hundred Ghosts (Tokyo: Excalibur Books, 2019), and keep an eye out for sequels. In addition to middle-grade fantasy, Charles' thrillers for adults, Mind Virus and The Devil's Son, have won prizes and nominations including the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers' Colorado Gold Award, the Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award, and the Adventure Writers Grandmaster Award. Charles lives in Japan with his wife and two young Muses.  He invites you to his website simongreybooks.com.









Bish Denham
"The Blind Ship"













Bish Denham is from the U.S. Virgin Islands, where her family has lived for over a hundred years. The author of two middle grade novels and a collection of retold Jamaican Anansi stories, she says, “Growing up in the islands was like living inside a history book.”  Learn more about Bish at her blog bish-randomthoughts.blogspot.









Rebecca M. Douglass
"A World of Trouble"













Rebecca Douglass grew up in Idaho, Arizona, and Washington states, and now lives and writes in California. Her imagination resides where it pleases, in and out of this world. Her passions include backpacking, hiking, books, swimming, biking, and moderately adventurous travel. Rebecca has two grown sons and a husband with whom she travels. Rebecca is the author of the delightful Ninja Librarian books, as well as a picture book for outdoor families, a mystery series for the parents, and her middle-grade fantasy, Halitor the Hero. After more than seventeen years working at the library, she has retired still without learning all the secrets of the Ninja Librarian.  Learn more about Rebecca at her blog ninjalibrarian.com



       


Beth Anderson Schuck
"The Orchard"













Beth Anderson Schuck is a retired librarian who believes reading can take you anywhere. She writes historical fiction featuring willful female characters. Being in nature whether hiking, birdwatching or gardening makes her whole.  Visit Beth at twitter.com.







L.T. Ward
"Return to Cahokia"













LT hails from the Land of Corn, otherwise known as Central Illinois, where weather inspires her literary works. When not writing speculative fiction shorts and novels, she spends her days raising a brood of plague monsters (a.k.a. her children) as well as satisfying her never-ending thirst for knowledge through reading, meeting people, and first-hand life experiences.  Visit LT at Twitter: @Ltward






Till next time ~
Fundy Blue 





* * * * * * * * * *


Check out the holiday special of free books from our publisher 
Dancing Lemur Press, L.L.C.  You can buy a copy of Voyagers and get another book free:  http://www.dancinglemurpressllc.com/press-room




Buy 1 print book, get 1 print book free
Buy 1 eBook, get 1 eBook free
Buy 1 audio book, get 1 audio book free

Print & eBooks – must be purchased directly from Dancing Lemur Press’ website; free book must be same price or lower; when paying, note your desired free book in the comments section; free swag provided with print orders

Audio books – purchase from Audible, iTunes, or Amazon and send us your receipt stating your desired free audio book and we will send you a code for a free audio book; free audio book must be same price or lower
Inquiries AT dancinglemurpressllc DOT com

Offer good through December 10, 2020

Visit Dancing Lemur Press and explore our titles.





You can also order a copy of
VOYAGERS: The Third Ghost 
at the links below.

Print 9781939844729 $13.95
EBook 9781939844736 $4.99

Juvenile Fiction - Historical / Action & Adventure /
Fantasy & Magic