This Month's READ THIS! BotM, I'm at DragonCon, & More!

Happy Almost September! Happy upcoming Labor Day to those who celebrate (and by "celebrate" I mean "get the day off, hopefully with pay")! Well, as with most of this summer, I'm at a con as you read this -- DragonCon to be exact (and, my schedule is live at the Blah, Blah, Blah Blog <as in, scroll down for the prior blog entry>, so if you're coming, come see the me!) -- and that's why this blog has arrived a little earlier than normal. Currently it's my last con of the year, so I'm going to do my best to make sure it's a good one! As stated before, I'll be doing the ginormous con recap in the next blog. Right now it's all about the READ THIS! Book of the Month and many other things, too! 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!

September 2024 READ THIS! Selection

The READ THIS! Selection for September 2024 is:  Kakistrocracy by Alex Shvartsman Gini's Take: Another fun, funny, and exciting entry in the Conradverse, where magic's all around us, if you know how to look for it. If you somehow missed Book 1 (The Middling Affliction), do NOT miss Book 2 (um, this one). About the Author: Alex Shvartsman is the author of The Middling Affliction (2022) and Eridani’s Crown (2019) fantasy novels. Over 120 of his stories have appeared in Analog, Nature, Strange Horizons, etc. He won the WSFA Small Press Award for Short Fiction (2014) and was a two-time finalist (2015 & 2017) for the Canopus Award for Excellence in Interstellar Fiction. His translations from Russian have appeared in F&SF, Clarkesworld, Tor.com, Asimov’s, etc. Alex has edited over a dozen anthologies, including the long-running Unidentified Funny Objects series. Alex resides in Brooklyn, NY. His website is http://www.alexshvartsman.com.

September 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.)

September's READ THIS! author Q&A  featuring Author Alex Shvartsman will be on Thursday, September 19, 2024 from 9pm-10pm Eastern. Access to Discord is available worldwide, and everyone is invited to attend!

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

The READ THIS! Selection for October 2024 is:  Dante's Garden By Teresa Cutler-Broyles

THE KICKSTARTER'S GOING STRONG BUT STILL NEEDS YOU!

The Kickstarter for the next set of awesome anthologies from Zombies Need Brains is looking good but still needs more funding to make it over the top. I'll be in WERE-2, writing another Missy the Were-Pomeranian story (which you know you don't want to miss). I'm offering tuckerizations (where you get your name, or the name you choose working with me, in lights in the story -- most authors kill their tuckers. I tend to keep mine around...). I'm also offering various rewards at certain levels, as are a bunch of the other authors, so be sure not to miss out! The Kickstarter is live but runs out of time on Saturday, September 14th. Score more great reading and support this Kickstarter today!

Speaking of Books...

It's Almost Here... I'm in a wonderful anthology from Albert Whitman & Co. celebrating Hanukkah with a diverse collection of poems and stories filled with history, humor, and hope, and it's releasing THIS week, on September 5th. My story, "The Luck of the Irish," deals with a family discovering they have a whole history they know nothing about. This YA collection is great for everyone of all ages, even if you don't know a yarmulke from a menorah. Preorder your copy today or, if you're waiting for release day, buy it on the 5th! And either way, check out this nice review of the anthology from Kirkus Reviews.

It's Preorder Time! Something Wicked, the first novel in the Santa Paloma Mysteries series written by moi and Bebe Bayliss, will release on November 22, 2024 from Ginger Blue Publishing. Coming in ebook and paperback, preorders are live at Amazon, Kobo, and Apple Books. Per the publisher, B&N is (still) being persnickety, but the book will be there for preorders in the near term.

Speaking of Preorders... Ginger Blue Publishing is re-releasing my humor collection, Random Musings from the Funny Girl, with new pieces (!), coming October 22nd. If you don't have this collection yet, now's the time to preorder from Amazon, B&N, and all the usual suspects. And if you have the original, but want those new pieces in their snazzy new format, well, I'm not gonna tell you no. ;-D

HAVE YOU MET STACEY YET?   FALL'S GIRL, book 1 in the Fall's Girl Mysteries series, cowritten by moi and Bebe Bayliss, is alive and doing well! So well that Ginger Blue Publishing has contracted for Book 2! So if you haven't gotten your copy yet, don't delay, grab it today from Amazon, B&N, and all the other usual suspects! Don't miss out on a new heroine you're going to love -- possibly almost as much as you love Kitty.

I know, I know -- all these other books and where is Kitty's next one, darn it? Super close now, that's where. (And again I wince, waiting for the punishment for hubris and excitement because, yes, the last time I posted I was close the Universe laughed a nasty laugh and said I'd pay for that...and I did.)  However, I'm still optimistic that I'm going to have good news in this space soon...

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