May's BotM, New Yaps, New Preorder, & More!

Happy Upcoming Mother's Day! Hope everyone had a fun-filled May Day as Spring races in with all its pollen. And hope all those who are moms, stepmoms, grandmoms, aunts, sisters, cousins, or anyone else doing the mom role (including the many dudes out there who step up) have a wonderful day filled with love and happiness. We cannot do it without all of you. Con season is also racing in, not quite as fast as the pollen, but close. No, no schedules yet, but you'll find the list of those cons I'm confirmed to be attending lower down in the newsletter, so rev up those con-going engines! Plus, more things to preorder and read! And we've got a great book for this month's READ THIS! selection, so let's get to it all, 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!

May 2024 READ THIS! Selection

The READ THIS! Selection for May 2024 is:  Benny Ramirez and the Nearly Departed by José Pablo Iriarte Gini's Take: It's a Middle Grade book...and it's awesome! This is a lively, lovely, and funny book about a family getting a lot more than they bargained for when they inherit their grandfather's home.  About the Author: José Pablo Iriarte is a Cuban-American writer and teacher who lives in Central Florida. José’s fiction can be found in magazines such as Lightspeed, Strange Horizons, Fireside Fiction, and others, along with various year's best anthologies. José’s novelette, “The Substance of My Lives, the Accidents of Our Births,” was a Nebula Award Finalist and was long-listed for the James Tiptree, Jr. Literary Award. Learn more at www.labyrinthrat.com, or follow José on Twitter @labyrinthrat.

May 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.)

May's READ THIS! author Q&A  featuring Author Jose Pablo Iriarte will be on Thursday, May 16, 2024 from 9pm-10pm Eastern. Access to Discord is available worldwide, and everyone is invited to attend!

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

The READ THIS! Selection for June 2024 is:  Star Chaser: The Traveler By Reiter (aka G. Russel Gaynor)

Speaking of Books...

IT'S PREORDER TIME! There is no Kitty without Belle. Want to read the book that is, truly, the reason I started writing? Well, now you can, because Natural Born Outlaws: The Legend of Belladonna Book 1 by moi writing as A.E. Stanton, is coming soon from Ginger Blue Publishing! Get your preorders in now from Amazon, B&N, and all the other usual suspects, so as to grab the bookie wookie as soon as possible. (And yes, for you audiobook lovers, scroll back up because the excellent audiodrama has been available from Graphic Audio for a while and is waiting for you to enjoy it.)

Speaking of Preorders... 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. 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!

HAVE YOU MET STACEY YET?   FALL'S GIRL, book 1 in the Fall's Girl Mysteries series, cowritten by moi and Bebe Bayliss, released last month from Ginger Blue Publishing. Thank you to all of you who preordered -- the publisher was super pleased and continued to be pleased with sales! And we'll be extra pleased if you could please leave a review, because those matter to everyone up and down the line, too. But 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.

Come See The Me!   My 2024 con schedule for this year is below. Schedules will be updated as they're confirmed, but I WILL be at these cons and hoping to see as many of all y'all as possible!   LibertyCon, June 21-23 Chattanooga, TN San Diego Comic-Con, July 24-28 San Diego, CA Gen Con, August 1-4 Indianapolis, IN DragonCon, August 9- September 2 Atlanta, GA

More Yapping! That's right, more yapping from me and other awesome authors over at ConTinual. The latest offerings are Hot Off the Press 122, where Bebe Bayliss and I talk about writing Fall's Girl, Action and Adventure, where we discuss faves new and old from page and screen, Creators and Fan Girls, where we talk about portrayals both good and bad, Inspired by Victorian Gothic, where we discuss Gothic influences and why we like them, Favorite Comic Book Couples, where we do the shipping for you, and A Star Trek Rogues Gallery, where we discuss our favorites and why (mine may shock you!). So head over and watch and have some fun along with the rest of us at ConTinual! Don't miss these other cool panels I've run the yap on recently: Adaptations of Philip K. Dick Nick Fury & Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D The Predator And check out all the other cool ConTinual panels I've run the yap this year and over the past years -- you can find them over on The Yap In Charge! Plus 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...

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