What's New from Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers?

Happy Valentine's Day! Here are a few of the recent and upcoming releases from members of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers:


All the Old Lions
#1 of the Thea Barlow Wyoming mystery series
By Carol Caverly
Now available as an ebook $.99

"Magazine editor, Thea Barlow, goes to Wyoming to nurture the author of a manuscript she wants--the detailed history of a local 19th century bordello, Halfway Halt. She quickly becomes the focus of an irate group of townsfolk who don’t want old family secrets revealed. One of them wants nothing less than to see Thea dead."

Carol is busy getting her remaining backlist uploaded as e-books as well. For more information, visit her website.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




Mary Gillgannon announces that two more of her series novels are available as e-books.

The Dragon Bard $2.99
The Dragon Prince $2.99

You can find the rest of the story at Mary’s website.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Curses! A F**ked-Up Fairy Tale
By J. A. Kazimer
Kensington 2/28/12
ISBN: 978-0758269126
Trade paperback $15.00
E-book $9.99

"When Cinderella is run over by a New Never City bus, her not-so-ugly stepsister, Asia, suspects murder. So she hires RJ, a private eye, to investigate. Little does she know RJ is actually a villain on mental health leave from the Villain's Union. Cursed with an inability to say no to damsels in distress, RJ travels to the Kingdom of Maldetto, meets the rest of Cinderella's family--including her fiancé, the flamboyant Prince Charming, Cinderella's crazy stepmother, and a seriously twisted version of Hansel and Gretel--and dodges bullets, explosions, fires, and his own ex-wife to slip his own version of glass handcuffs on the wrists that fit. All while falling for Asia, who has a curse of her own to deal with..."

Everything you ever wanted to know about J.A. Kazimer can be found at her website and in this recent Chiseled in Rock interview.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Michael Madigan

"You've been here before! Standing in a line out to the parking lot, trying to buy this year's "must-have" gadget for your kid's Christmas. The experience inspired Michael Madigan to stretch the idea, and his short story has made the finals of the Labello Prize in Ireland. Winners receive cash and a spot in an anthology."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Back to Salem
By Alex Marcoux
Bella Books 2/14/12
ISBN 978-1594933035
Paperback $15.95

"Jessie Mercer has it all—fame, fortune, and a best-selling novel being made into a major motion picture starring the alluring Taylor Andrews. When disturbing, real-life events begin mimicking the movie's plot, Jessie and Taylor find themselves drawn into a cosmic web of passion, treachery, and deception that began centuries ago! As the terror mounts, Jessie realizes she is the target and must go back—all the way back to Salem, where answers to the mystery unfold—before the evil from the past destroys her!"

"Back to Salem has been dubbed a "gender-bending thriller" and is a Lambda Literary Award Finalist for best lesbian mystery." Alex’s website and blog have lots more information about her and her books.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



The Woman Who Loved Jesse James
By Cindi Myers
Belle Bridge Books 1/15/12
ISBN: 978-1611940824
Trade Paperback $14.95

"Zee Mimms was just nineteen in 1864—the daughter of a stern Methodist minister in Missouri—when she fell in love with the handsome, dashing, and already notorious Jesse. He was barely more than a teenager himself, yet had ridden with William Quantrill’s raiders during the Civil War.

'You’ll marry a handsome young man,' a palm reader had told her. 'A man who will make you the envy of many. But . . . there will be hard times.'

Zee and Jesse’s marriage proved the palmist right. Jesse was a dangerous puzzle: a loving husband and father who kept his “work” separate from his family, though Zee heard the lurid rumors of his career as a bank robber and worse. Still, she never gave up on him. And he earned her love, time and again."

Learn more about Cindi and her books at her website.


This list was compiled by Pat Stoltey

Chiseled Author j.a. kazimer is Interviewed!

By Janet Fogg

We’ve been asked, so today we’re offering answers to questions such as: Chiseled Staff? Are they really that chiseled? Are they completely off their Rockers? And what do they do behind that closed door?!

Over the next few months you’ll see interviews with our own Chiseled Staff, and today we’re talking to j.a. kazimer.

With a master’s degree in forensic psychology, j.a. has worked as a PI, bartender, and at the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics. Books include The Junkie Tales (Obscure Publishing, 2010), Stolen Kidneys, Dead Hookers & Other Nursery Crimes (Obscure Publishing, 2010), and The Body Dwellers (Solstice Publishing, 2011).

Forthcoming books include CURSES! A F***ed-Up Fairy Tale (Kensington, March 2012, with the second book in her Fairy Tale series scheduled for 2013), and Holy Socks and Dirtier Demons (Champagne Books, April 2012).

CIR: j.a., thank you for joining us today! How do you describe yourself (the top three things that come to mind)?

j.a.: Writerly nerd with delusions of grandeur and a cat.

CIR: Please describe the path of your writing career.

j.a.: I started writing in 2001, nine years, seven manuscripts, an agent, and over 1,000 rejections later, I landed my first big publishing contract with Kensington for the F***ed-Up Fairy Tale series.

CIR: What are your current writing goals and challenges? (What are you working on?)

j.a.: Keeping sane with my first big book release on March 1st. There is so much self-promotion to do that I’m finding it hard to write new stuff.

CIR: What are the two toughest things about writing?

j.a.: Writing and writing...oh and spelling, that’s a bitch at times...

CIR: Do you prefer igneous, metamorphic, or sedimentary?

j.a.: I’m a fan of shale. Not sure where that falls in, but I like a rock that I can use as a chalkboard.

CIR: How has RMFW helped you advance your career?

j.a.: Other than being the very reason I got a book deal (met my editor at the 2010 Colorado Gold Conference, where he requested the full manuscript and we signed a deal less than a month later) I’ve met so many excellent writers and now friends, I can’t begin to say how much I love RMFW. In fact, if you buy CURSES! you’ll see that I’ve made a special mention of RMFW and its wealth of talent.

CIR: As we know, RMFW is an all-volunteer organization. Have you or do you volunteer elsewhere in the organization?

j.a.: I volunteered as well as taught at the 2011 conference. I hope to do so again this year.

CIR: What writers inspire you?

j.a.: Christopher Moore is the big one, but I also love Tim Dorsey, Mario Acevedo, Jeanne C. Stein, Cindi Myers, Jennifer Crusie, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Oh, I could go on all day.

CIR: What genres do you read?

j.a.: Mystery, romance, urban fantasy, biography, thrillers. More to the point, I read anything with a fancy cover.

CIR: Do you ever get writer’s rock, er… block? If so how do you break through?

j.a.: Why would you curse me like that?

CIR: What do you feel your stories are born of?

j.a.: The need to answer a question. For example, CURSES! A F***ed-Up Fairy Tale was born of the question, What if being a villain was merely your job instead of a way of life?

CIR: What one piece of advice would you offer to new writers?

j.a.: Read. Write. Try again. Very few of us sell our first manuscript.

CIR: What’s your favorite rock and roll song?

j.a.: Oh, the pressure.... Let’s go with...Lou Reed’s Ecstasy...oh wait, hope about Jim Bianco’s I’ve Got a Thing For You...But then again, I do love the song La Vie Boheme off the musical RENT’s soundtrack...I’m also a sucker for Jesse’s Girl...Damn, why would you do this to me? I have a deadline to meet... Okay, final answer....

CIR: When did you first consider yourself a writer?

j.a.: Two days ago, but I’ve since revised my opinion.

CIR: Do you still have a “day” job? Other interests or hobbies?

j.a.: Since my cat and I like to eat, yes, I have a day job at the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics...yeah, you should see my business card.

CIR: What books have most influenced you?

j.a.: Where the Sidewalk Ends. I still pray each night for the Lord to break my toys so none of the other kids can play with them.

CIR: Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?

j.a.: After 9/11, I couldn’t emotionally process what was happening, so I started to jot down notes filled with statics, which then morphed into stories of survivors. Now I write f***ed-up fairy tales. I think I’ve come full circle.

CIR: Do you like rocking chairs?

j.a.: The rockier the better.

CIR: If you could time travel, when and where would you go?

j.a.: Not the holocaust or the assassination of JFK. I selfishly (and guiltily) would travel seventy-five years into the future to check to see if I was right about Larry King being a cyborg. I’m betting I am.

CIR: What do you predict for the future of the publishing industry and where you fit into that?

j.a.: I think writers need to keep their options open right now. Don’t jump ship too quickly for indie publishing, and don’t sign a traditional book deal without considering the e-book ramifications. I am happy to be firmly in both worlds, in that I have e-published stories and a short story collection, and am traditionally published with international distribution.

The foolish writer is one who sees publishing through only one model.

CIR: And lastly, what did you dream of when you were twelve years old?

j.a.: To grow boobs. Seriously, the women in my family are...well-endowed and I get these? WTF?

CIR: Thank you for joining us today, j.a.!

You can learn more about j.a. and her writing at http://www.jakazimer.com/, or by visiting her blogs: http://thenewnevernews.blogspot.com/ and http://jakazimer.blogspot.com/. She’s on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jakazimer and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/jakazimer.

BOOK SIGNING: j.a. and Cindi Myers will be signing books at 3 P.M. March 3, 2012 at the Broadway Book Mall, 200 S. Broadway, Denver, CO.

CURSES! A F***ed-Up Fairy Tale is definitely not for baby’s bedtime reading, this hilarious and irreverent take on classic fairy tales—think Shrek for grownups—combines humor, mystery, and characters only a fairy godmother could love…

Is There Some Romance in Your Nanowrimo Draft?

Cindi Myers knows romance. Multi-award winning author of over 36 titles, spanning across publishers such as Berkley, Kensington, and Harlequin, she is an authority on the subject.

Hungry to be an author, I tried my hand at penning the dramatic love genre and was fortunate enough to get pointers from Cindi. Several things dawned on me soon after as a result of her guidance. These epiphanies were noticing that: most movies and books--be they suspense, horror, sci-fi, or any of the countless sub genres--usually have some kind of love interest in them; Shakespeare always employed the romantic element in his plays; and ultimately, most tales really are love stories at the core.

Here’s the axiom that I gained from reading Cindi’s publications and paying attention to her expertise: writing romance forces an author to capture emotion on the page. Every writer should have this in their toolbox.

The characteristic that I absolutely must tout about Ms. Myers and will keep praising is that she constantly produces quality manuscripts. If you make it as a writer, then you should embrace the job and keep putting out titles. With the Harlequin special release of Things I Want to Say in August of 2010 and The Woman Who Loved Jesse James releasing in January 2012, one can see that Cindi is a prolific committed professional.

At the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writer’s Colorado Gold Conference, I caught up with Ms. Myers and we talked a bit about the genre in which she prospers.

CIR: Do you agree that at least a thread of romance is in most stories?

CM: Absolutely! While romance may not be the focus of every story, it's often in the background. Hard-boiled detectives brood over the woman who got away and the complications of romance form a powerful subplot as aliens take over the world in a science fiction epic.

CIR: What is your take on why love pops up in so many genres?

CM: Romance – wanting it, having it, remembering it, pursuing it – is an important part of human life, so it's important to fiction, too.

CIR: Obviously, I’m most impressed with how productive you are. How do you kick out so many books?

CM: Sheer terror at the idea of having to go out and make a living at a "real" job. I am constitutionally unsuited for corporate life, as I learned after ten years working for a large medical corporation.

CIR: Erotic romance has bumped up as one of the bestselling genres. Harlequin has its Blaze line (Ms. Myers has a few titles in this category) which is pretty steamy and then the Spice titles which are outright erotic. What do you envision in the future as far as erotic romance vs. traditional. Will they be the same thing before long?

CM: Interestingly enough, two of the areas of romance which currently show the strongest sales are erotica and inspirational romance. Which I think shows there are readers hungry for both extremes. I think erotica is a way for the romance market to capture another segment of readers, but not to the exclusion of other types of romance, including sweet romance. That said, editors and readers seem to prefer sex with romance, even if it's not out and out erotica.

CIR: Because I have to be different, one question way off the beaten path. I hear that you dabble in belly dancing; how did you get into that?

CM: Sitting on your butt in front of a computer all day is hazardous to your health, not to mention your figure, so I was looking for some form of exercise that wouldn't bore me out of my skull. A friend invited me to a belly dancing class and I was hooked. I've been doing it about four years. I'm part of the Mountain Kahai Dancers and we perform at festivals and shows around the area. We recently did two shows at the Taste of Colorado.
(And the heroine of my October book, DANCE WITH THE DOCTOR is a belly dancer.)

CIR: Is there any thing that you wished someone would have told you when you started writing romance?

CM: That this is a wildly unpredictable business and the only thing you can really control is the story you choose to tell and the writing itself. Try to enjoy yourself as much as possible and have fun with your writing. Don't be so deadly serious all the time – millions of people envy the fact that you get to create, so don't waste today by worrying over what you don't have or what might happen tomorrow.

Gusto Dave

What's New from Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers?

Here are a few of the new and upcoming releases from members of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers:


Song of the Beast
by Carol Berg
New American Library/Roc Books, Oct 4, 2011
ISBN 978-0451464231
Trade paperback, $16.00
Winner of the Colorado Book Award for Genre Fiction.

"Seventeen years of brutal imprisonment has broken Aidan McAllister. His voice is silent; his hands ruined; his music that once offered beauty and hope to war-torn Elyria destroyed. The god who nurtured his talent since boyhood has abandoned him. But no one ever told him his crime. To discover the truth, he must risk his hard-bought freedom to unlock the mind of his god and the heart of his enemy."

Find out more about Carol and her books at her website: Carol Berg, Author and her blog, Text Crumbs.


-------------------------


Seance in Sepia
by Michelle Black
Five Star/Cengage, October 11, 2011
ISBN: 978-1432825485
Hardcover $25.95

"Enter the bizarre world of Victorian spirit photography with Flynn Keirnan who buys a strange old photograph at an estate sale. Her research on it leads to a notorious 1875 Chicago murder trial where real-life feminist firebrand and spiritualist Victoria Woodhull is asked to contact the victims, but soon finds herself entangled in a web of intrigue and deceit that will take much more than a séance to resolve."

Michelle's website is The Victorian West of Michelle Black and her blog goes by the same name.



-------------------------


Murder by Music: The Wedding Quilt
by Barbara Graham
Five Star/Cengage, October 21, 2011
ISBN: 978-1432825447
Hardcover $25.95

"Autumn brings cooler temperatures to the Smoky Mountains. While the weather may be cooling down in tiny Park County, Tennessee, crime is heating up. Weevil Beasley, the county's loan shark, is found dead and the body count begins. Sheriff Tony Abernathy is soon up to the top of his bald head in murder and mayhem. Tony's quiltmaker wife Theo is in the thick of it. When she leads her quilting group on a retreat, a killer follows."

Barbara's website is at Barbara Graham Mysteries.


-------------------------


West With the Wind
by Cindi Myers
Musa Publishing, October 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1619370005
PDF and Ebook Edition $5.99

"West With the Wind follows widow Mariah Tate (and her faithful dog, Worthy) on their journey to California is a wagon train led by veteran guide Campbell Jefferson. Mariah may be the only woman who's ever made Camp think of settling down, but his desire to protect her wars with her need to keep secrets. The past comes back to haunt the lovers when they find more than gold waiting for them at the end of the trail."

Read more about Cindi and her books at her website and Cindi Myers Market News Blog.



-------------------------


Mercury's Rise
by Ann Parker
Poisoned Pen Press, November 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1590589632
Hardcover $16.47

"In the summer of 1880, Inez Stannert is reuniting with her young son and her beloved sister at the fast-rising health resort of Manitou. However, the stagecoach journey to Manitou turns lethal when businessman Edward Pace mysteriously dies. Pace’s widow begs Inez to make inquires into her husband’s untimely death. As Inez digs deeper, she uncovers shady business dealings by those hoping to profit from the coming bonanza in medicinal waters and miracle remedies, medical practitioners who kindle false hopes in the desperate and the dying, and deception that predates the Civil War."

Ann can be found at her website, The Silver Rush Mysteries blog, on Facebook, and on Twitter.

-------------------------

List compiled by Pat Stoltey