The First READ THIS! BotM for the New Year, Announcements, and More!

Happy New Year! Hope all of you enjoyed wonderful December holidays and safe and very happy New Year's celebrations. The next year is upon us already and I'm jazzed about it. My birthday is later this month, we have a great READ THIS! selection, and I'm super SUPER close to being able to give all y'all the news you REALLY want (yes, I swear that I'm "this close" to being able to send Aliens Like Us in to DAW. Finally. Well, ALMOST finally.) Meanwhile, there's lot of other things going on as well, and I'm excited to tell you about those. So let's get to it, shall we? We shall!

Read Out Loud! Do you have your copy of the Touched by an Alien audiobook yet? If not, don't wait! Grab yours today and start your year right!

Speaking of Reading Out Loud... Graphic Audio has renewed the contract for The Legend of Belladonna, Part 1: Natural Born Outlaws, by moi writing as A.E. Stanton. If you haven't grabbed this fantastic audiobook, don't delay, grab it today!

READ THIS! A Book Club by Moi for All Y'all Welcome to READ THIS! A Book Club by Gini Koch. This is my chance to introduce you to some great authors that I love and know you will, too. Every month I'll spotlight a book and, even better...every month I'll host a live discussion with the author, that all y'all can join! I know, it's too happy to be true, but true it is!

January 2024 READ THIS! Selection

The READ THIS! Selection for January 2024 is:  The Trouble With Hairy By Hal Bodner Gini's Take: Another fun and funny outing to a paranormal West Hollywood where the city coroner and her vampire bestie have to once again save the day against what seems to be a werewolf on a rampage. About the Author: Hal Bodner is best known for writing hilarious paranormal featuring fluffy vampires with real bite. He writes paranormal romance and is working on a series of thrillers which paint classic noir with a lavender glaze, and has two fun and funny superhero novels available from Crossroads Press.

January 2024 READ THIS! Author Q&A

So, you've read the READ THIS! selection and you want to share what you thought with the author, hang out with them and Gini, and generally talk books for an hour. Well, guess what? You can! The third Thursday of every month will be READ THIS! Author Q&A time. The event will be held utilizing Discord, and the invitation to Gini's READ THIS! room will come out in the week prior to the chat. And that's not all! Near the end of each Q&A session, we'll be doing a raffle and one lucky winner will get a copy of the next month's READ THIS! selection! (You must be present in the Q&A to win. Physical book prizes will be U.S. only. Ebook prizes will be worldwide.)

January's READ THIS! author Q&A  featuring Guest Author Hal Bodner will be on Thursday, January 18, 2024 from 9pm-10pm Eastern. Access to Discord is available worldwide, and everyone is invited to attend!

February's READ THIS! Selection   And Remember: One Lucky Q&A Participant can win it early!

The READ THIS! Selection for February 2024 is:  Reel to Real Love By Elle E. Ire

Speaking of Books...

So, the good folks at Ginger Blue Publishing apparently read the original version of Plush Life, and liked it enough that they wanted to do a re-release: as long as I added on an Epilogue so we could actually see what the future held for the characters. And, when a press asks if they can re-release your book and also asks you to write a bit more, most of us say yes. And I did. The re-release of Plush Life is coming this February, on the 13th, just in time for Valentine's Day. For those looking for romantic suspense, action, smexy times, and danger in and around New Orleans, pre-order your copy today from B&N or Amazon  (and other outlets). For those who aren't in the mood for romance, read about the most evil of exes and rejoice that you're not dating anyone like that. And for those who are curious about what kind of epilogue I wrote (spoiler alert: a long one), you can grab your revised and epilogue-filled copy, too!

More Yapping! That's right, more yapping from me and other awesome authors over at ConTinual. The latest offerings are Stocking the Holiday Bar, where you get to find out what my fave holiday drinks are, and Captain America: WWII Hero for the Space Age, where we talk all things Cap. So head over and watch and have some fun along with the rest of us at ConTinual! And don't miss these other cool panels I've run the yap on: Breaking Down the Genres Economics in World Building Horror and Romance Sherlockian Mystery Sherlock Returns Christmas in July Holiday Short Reads Hot off the Press #54 Characters in the Public Domain Zombies! Holiday Special Event 2021 Christmas & New Years in Film Holidays Real and Imagined Favorite Holiday Episodes in SciFi and Fantasy Series Holiday Action-Adventure Hot Off the Press #64 Weird Westerns Pets and Familiars Intellectual Property for Creatives Separating Problematic Creators from Their Work Selling At Conventions Scarred For Life How To Write Animals Hot off the Press #72 Unicorns And Other Fantastic Creatures Tinkerers and Inventors A ConTinual Special Mystery Event: The Game is Afoot - Sherlockian Universes Hot off the Press #76 Space Opera Technology in Your Tales Building the Story and Scares Things That Go Bump in the Night -- Monster Hunters Mythological Tropes in SF and Fantasy Bad Places - Evil Locations that Set the Scary Scene We Love You, Scooby-Doo! Magic, Monsters, and True Love Ghost and Monster Hunters Haunted Places Creature Feature - Monsters and Hunters Hot Off the Press #81 Demons Galore Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic Fiction A Fantastic Fantasy Holiday Hot Off the Press #87 Banned Books 2023 When Technology Goes Awry Sci-Fi and Alien Romance Daring to Write Fantasy Books That Formed Us Fandom: British Mysteries Comics Lair: Shang Chi's Journey Writing Spies and Secret Agents Monster Motivations PIs, Gumshoes, and Sleuths The Universes of Blade and Underworld Hot off the Press #108 The Wizard of Oz Heroes of a Certain Age Monster Romance Blending Genres Death Customs in Fact and Fantasy Hot Off The Press #109 Hot Off The Press #110 Classic Thrillers and Horror - Hitchcock & Universal Writing With Partners Multiverses & Time Travel There's a whole lot more over at the ConTinual YouTube page, so browse around and get your panel fixes in!

It's a new year and a new "I'm not quite done" message. BUT, I'm so close to done that I'm willing to say that all y'all can start expecting the Official News Of Goodness much sooner than later. (And now I wince and duck, waiting for what 2024 will throw at me for my hubris in sharing that I'm excited to be this close to turning the book in.) So, watch this space, I have all the digits crossed that the information here is going to be new and different soon, quite soon...

Limited Time Offer! One of the Members of the Alien Collective in Very Good Standing is offering a starter website with blog at a sale price for a limited time. Not only is the price reduced, but if you tell her that Gini Koch referred you, she'll give the rest of the Alien Collective an additional 5% discount! Kae is based in Dallas but can work with pretty much anyone anywhere, and as long as her ad is active, the deal is too!

Oh, yeah, it's my birthday month and, oh yeah, what I want, what I really, really want, is reviews for every book I have out there. (Well, and books preordered and bought, but mostly, reviews.) Amazon is the best, with B&N following close behind, but anywhere you want works best. And that's something that every author wants, so be generous with the reviews for all, because we all love and appreciate you doing said reviews.

So many bookie wookies, so much time to catch up on all of them while waiting for Aliens Like Us and the next READ THIS! selection. Check out my Bookstore for all the things!

That's it for today but, never fear, another Update, including the Discord Q&A chat invitation, will be arriving in a couple of weeks! In the meantime, stay safe and healthy, remember we're all in this together, be kind to one another, give love and support to all those who are on the front lines in any capacity, and let's be readers out there. Peace out, my li'l gangstas, and I'll catch you on the flip side! Love, Gini