Friday, December 23, 2016

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season filled with Christmas Minions!

I’ll be back next month for The Insecure Writer’s Support Group and the announcement of the winners of the anthology contest.




Tuesday, December 06, 2016

The Insecure Writer's Support Group - Double Release Day

One day early, but it’s time for another edition of The Insecure Writer’s Support Group, founded by Ninja Captain, Alex J. Cavanaugh.

In terms of your writing career, where do you see yourself five years from now, and what’s your plan to get there?

Five years from now, I intend to be 100% free from my other commitments so I can focus again on my own writing. I have a lot more I juggle outside of Dancing Lemur Press and I intend to eliminate all of it so I can just publish and write. Speaking, formatting, etc., it’s all fun, but I’m aiming for a time when I can focus on my two greatest passions - writing and publishing.

Because, I want more days like today - double release day!

The George Washington Chronicles
Edited by Jen Clymer
$7.95 USA, 6x9 Trade paperback, 110 pages, Middle Grade
Print ISBN 9781939844316
EBook ISBN 9781939844323
$2.99 EBook available in all formats

Come on a timeless adventure!
Captured within these pages are superheroes, animals, and the triumph over evil. From the fantasy realm to the baseball field, these stories unleash the creativity of youth for all to enjoy.
Don your journey hat and march right in!

Purchase Links:
EBooks - Amazon / B&N /iTunes / Kobo
Print - Amazon / B&N /Dancing Lemur Press


CassaDawn
By Alex J. Cavanaugh
eBook ISBN 9781939844354 $0.99
Science Fiction-Space Opera/Adventure/Military

The prequel to the best-selling Cassa series!
A pilot in training...
Fighting the odds, Byron is determined to complete Cosbolt training. Poised at the top of his class, only one situation holds him back–his inability to work with anyone in the cockpit. Byron’s excellent piloting skills won’t be enough without a good navigator…

Purchase links: Amazon / B&N /iTunes / Kobo / Amazon UK



What are your five year plans?


On Wednesday, visit the The Insecure Writer’s Support Group site for your chance to win a copy of The Independent Author's Guide to Audiobook Production by Michael Burnette, narrator for all of Alex J. Cavanaugh’s books.

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Starfish Tales - the Story Behind the Book

I am so excited to announce this book!

This has been a special project for the past three years, involving local students and one dynamic teacher.

I offer characterization sessions and have visited numerous schools, walking students through the process of building a character.

A couple years ago, I partnered with a local teacher and we came up with an incredible opportunity for the students - inclusion in a published anthology. The kids responded with some amazing stories and the best ones were selected for Snapping Turtle Tales. The following year, we produced Snapping Turtle Tales Vol. II.

This year, it’s a new school, and a brand new anthology of middle grade stories written by kids for kids! And I am so proud of what they created. This is a great book for kids - those who love to read and those who love to write.

Starfish Tales
Vol. I
Edited by Michelle Rutledge

$7.95 USA, 6x9 Trade paperback, 94 pages
Dancing Lemur Press, L.L.C.
Print ISBN 9781939844330
EBook ISBN 9781939844347
$2.99 EBook available in all formats

Prepare for an ocean of tales!

Imagination comes alive in this collection of stories. From the struggles of everyday life to the far reaches of outer space, these tales are sure to delight.

So come aboard and share the adventure!

Purchase Links:
Ebook- Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iTunes / Kobo
Print- Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Dancing Lemur Press

Monday, November 07, 2016

Christmas Special

Due to impending deadlines and upcoming book releases, I will be offline most of this week.

I do have a special book release to announce at The Circle of Friends blog.

********************************

Dancing Lemur Press, L.L.C. is also running a special this month -

Buy one get one free Christmas special!

Buy one print book at regular price, get a second same price or lower free.
Buy two print books, get two same price or lower free, plus a bonus book!
When ordering online, note free book(s) desired in “Instructions to Seller” section.
Bookmarks, postcards, and other swag included with every order.
Please see Dancing Lemur Press, L.L.C. for a full list of titles.

See you next week.

Wednesday, November 02, 2016

The Insecure Writer's Support Group - Mâtowak: Woman Who Cries and CassaSeries

It’s time for another edition of The Insecure Writer’s Support Group, founded by Ninja Captain, Alex J. Cavanaugh.

For those who are enjoying the prompt, November's question is: What is your favorite aspect of being a writer?

What goes into producing a book?

Recently I saw a self-published author, Sandra Almazan, post a list of what it takes for her to produce a book. You can read it HERE.

Now as a publisher, I’d like to add a few more layers to that list. At least twenty. Maybe more.

Can you make it as a self-published author? Yes. It’s just you, though. No, you won’t make a fortune. You’ll work your ass off. But everything you make will be yours.

What more could a publisher offer? Got an hour or so?

Formatting - professional, print and eBook, bar code, ISBN, CIP block
Cover art - professional, marketable
Professional editing
Review copies - both print and eBook; to pre-publication reviewers, periodicals, book bloggers, authors for blurbs, media, etc.
Marketing - large database, connections, experience, giveaways, funds, etc.
Extra - audio books, merchandise, foreign rights, etc.
All of the above - paid, researched, contacted, created, and risked by publisher

It’s a huge task.

But my team and I do it every day. I suppose it's now my favorite thing about writing. Because the results are amazing:


Mâtowak: Woman Who Cries

The follow-up to Broken But Not Dead, an IPPY Award Silver Medalist

A murder enveloped in pain and mystery...

When Canada's retired Minister of National Defense, Leland Warner, is murdered in his home, the case is handed to Corporal Danny Killian, an aboriginal man tortured by his wife's unsolved murder.

The suspect, 60-year-old Sally Warner, still grieves for the loss of her two sons, dead in a suicide/murder eighteen months earlier. Confused and damaged, she sees in Corporal Killian a friend sympathetic to her grief and suffering and wants more than anything to trust him.

Danny finds himself with a difficult choice—indict his prime suspect, the dead minister's horribly abused wife or find a way to protect her and risk demotion. Or worse, transfer away from the scene of his wife’s murder and the guilt that haunts him...

“From its gripping beginning to its thrilling end, Matowak: Woman Who Cries delivers a fast-paced ride in this skillfully-written mystery from Joylene Nowell Butler.” - Mystery writer Elizabeth S. Craig

“A psychological puzzle unfolding from two very different points of view...an excellent whodunnit for the thinking reader.” - Patricia Stoltey, author

“…as complex in its plot as it is in its character development.” – Stuart Aken, author

Release date - November 1, 2016
$18.95 USA, 6x9 trade paperback, 312 pages
Thriller/Psychological (FIC031080) and Mystery (FIC022020)
Print ISBN 9781939844231, eBook ISBN 9781939844248
$4.99 eBook available in all formats

Joylene, Métis, is the author of Dead Witness, Broken But Not Dead, and Break Time. She and her husband and their two cats reside in Canada for the summers and Nayarit for the winters. They believe life should be an adventure.


Follow her blog tour for reviews, excerpts, interviews, guest posts, and your chance to win a copy of Mâtowak: Woman Who Cries.


Now an audio book:

CassaSeries by Alex J. Cavnaugh

The best-selling Cassa Trilogy
CassaStar - Will Byron’s skills be enough as he and Bassa embark on a mission destined to stretch their abilities to the limit?
CassaFire - Tensions mount as Byron deals with a fiesty woman pilot, an overeager young scientist, and potentially deadly weapon.
CassaStorm - Byron is caught between a galaxy-wide war, a strange alien transmission, and his son’s nightmares.

“…calls to mind the youthful focus of Robert Heinlein’s early military sf, as well as the excitement of space opera epitomized by the many Star Wars novels. Fast-paced military action and a youthful protagonist make this a good choice for both young adult and adult fans of space wars.” - Library Journal


Tuesday, November 01, 2016

The Follow-up to an IPPY Silver Medalist - Mâtowak: Woman Who Cries

I am so proud to announce the release of this book!!
This story captivated me and slowly crept under my skin.
Mystery and thriller fans, you don't want to miss this one!

Mâtowak: Woman Who Cries

The follow-up to Broken But Not Dead, an IPPY Award Silver Medalist

A murder enveloped in pain and mystery...

When Canada's retired Minister of National Defense, Leland Warner, is murdered in his home, the case is handed to Corporal Danny Killian, an aboriginal man tortured by his wife's unsolved murder.

The suspect, 60-year-old Sally Warner, still grieves for the loss of her two sons, dead in a suicide/murder eighteen months earlier. Confused and damaged, she sees in Corporal Killian a friend sympathetic to her grief and suffering and wants more than anything to trust him.

Danny finds himself with a difficult choice—indict his prime suspect, the dead minister's horribly abused wife or find a way to protect her and risk demotion. Or worse, transfer away from the scene of his wife’s murder and the guilt that haunts him...

“From its gripping beginning to its thrilling end, Matowak: Woman Who Cries delivers a fast-paced ride in this skillfully-written mystery from Joylene Nowell Butler.” - Mystery writer Elizabeth S. Craig

“A psychological puzzle unfolding from two very different points of view...an excellent whodunnit for the thinking reader.” - Patricia Stoltey, author

“…as complex in its plot as it is in its character development.” – Stuart Aken, author

Release date - November 1, 2016 from Dancing Lemur Press, L.L.C.
$18.95 USA, 6x9 trade paperback, 312 pages
Thriller/Psychological (FIC031080) and Mystery (FIC022020)
Print ISBN 9781939844231, eBook ISBN 9781939844248
$4.99 eBook available in all formats

Joylene, Métis, is the author of Dead Witness, Broken But Not Dead, and Break Time. She and her husband and their two cats reside in Canada for the summers and Nayarit for the winters. They believe life should be an adventure.



Follow her blog tour for reviews, excerpts, interviews, guest posts, and your chance to win a copy of Mâtowak: Woman Who Cries.

Monday, October 24, 2016

Don't Buy My Book!

Yes, I’m posting five times this month! It’s been a busy month with lots of book releases. Today I welcome the wit and wisdom of Roland Yeomans.

Welcome to the latest stop in my DON’T BUY MY BOOK! Blog Tour.

   Don’t Buy My Book? Am I kidding? All Indie Authors want their books bought, right?
   Yet, I bet you’ve often felt as I have: like the first slice of bread in the loaf; everyone touches you, but no one wants you.


  Rejected, Abandoned, Unwanted.
   It is a congested marketplace out there and only getting more crowded each month. In a crowded market, Brand stands out where individual titles may not.
   We need to build our books around a Brand:
   (Our style of spinning a story, the unique twist we give to each book that tells readers: “Oh, this is a Yeomans kind of Story: the zinging dialogue, the unpredictability of the plot, the epic scale to the action.)
   Know what 3 words are on the office wall facing the writers of the TV show, The Flash?
   HEART, HUMOR, ACTION.

So Don’t Buy My Book; Buy My Brand.
   What is my Brand?

A dichotomy of images –
   an Old West Texas Ranger fighting Sidhe in England and Dragons over the Eiffel Tower:

Inserting Fantastical Elements in historical tales –
   Warring Vampire Kingdoms interrupting the maiden voyage of the first Air/Steamship.

Startling Versions of Legendary People –
   11 year old Nicola Tesla; an insane Abraham Lincoln, white supremacist; a vampire, two-faced Benjamin Franklin; a mysterious Greek physician who turns out to be an immortal Saint Luke; and a mischievous young Mark Twain making passes at every pretty lady he meets – even unknowingly to a famous lesbian!


Reader Discussion Sections in the back of the Books –
   There are book clubs still out there and Goodreads as well. Why not encourage discussion of our books to spark further sales?

Distinct Twist to A Genre –
   It takes at least 3 books to gain traction to your Brand. I stumbled into Steampunk with my 1895 Egyptian Historical Fantasies (DEATH IN THE HOUSE OF LIFE & THE STARS BLEED AT MIDNIGHT).
   I purposely twisted the Steampunk genre with THE NOT-SO-INNOCENTS ABROAD and now with

Excerpt:
Chapter 20: RED WEDDING
   “I hate violence as only a man who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity.”- Samuel McCord
   The darkness beckoned. I stiffened. Children laughing. There were children down below. I went cold, my face turning to flint.
   Baptiste smiled like a mortician reading of a coming plague. “All know how the safety of children is paramount to The McCord.”
   Lucanus growled, “Sometimes when you stack the deck, werewolf, the cards do not play as you expect.”
   Baptiste laughed, “See? I go down the stairs before you to light the way.”
   He stepped down into the opening. I heard the striking of flint against stone. Then, the flickering light of a torch descended before us. I dropped the Whisper of the Winds I usually wore to conceal my Orenda and followed him.
   Meilori, my wife, whispered behind me, “Showing off is the fool’s idea of glory.”
   Ralph Waldo Emerson sighed further back, “To know and not to do is not to know at all.”
   Sammy grumbled up closer to me, “Thank you so much for sharing that round-robin with us, poet.”
   Nicola said, “Don’t worry, Mr. Clemens. We shall do the best we can with this situation. And if we are doing the best we can, worrying will not make it any better, will it?”
   Emerson said, “Why those could have been my words, lad.”
   Horace Greely snorted, “Do not worry, sir. In the fortnight, you will quote them as if they were. And cad that I am, I will print them.”
   High Fae Queen Oyggia said, “Mortals plan, the Universe laughs, and the survivors weep.”
   Benjamin Franklin sniped as we descended into near darkness. “Madame, remind me again who is wearing the Collar of Restraint from Elohim?”
   Nicola bent to pet his cat, Macak. “Do not growl so. You will not have to defend me. The good captain has things in hand.”
   General Sherman growled, “Oh, if my Colt had not been taken by that infernal Ningyo bodyguard, Ice.” Lincoln said, “A fact of which I am glad. Death by ricochet would just add insult to a mortal wound.”
   And with that bit of whimsy, all of us found ourselves in a huge chamber whose walls fluttered with scarlet silk hangings. Torches were but few that lined the walls. I could but barely make out robed shapes milling about. I flicked my eyes up. Small balconies with dark-faced archers, arrows notched and ready. I scowled. It was what generals called a “Kill Box.” Sherman’s beady eyes seemed just as pleased as I felt … which meant not at all.
   Baptiste called out to me from the far corner. “They who walk the night are not all men. Ka nama kaa lajerama!”
   Sammy snorted, “And a Gesundheit to you, too.”

What are you waiting for? Buy My Book! I know what the name of my tour is. But I changed my mind. I am a man, after all!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
   Roland Yeomans was born in Detroit, Michigan. But his last memories of that city are hub-caps and kneecaps since, at the age of seven, he followed the free food when his parents moved to Lafayette, Louisiana. The hitch-hiking after their speeding car from state to state was a real adventure. Once in Louisiana, Roland learned strange new ways of pronouncing David and Richard when they were last names. And it was not a pleasant sight when he pronounced Comeaux for the first time.
   He has a Bachelor’s degree in English Education and a Master’s degree in Psychology. He has been a teacher, counselor, book store owner, and even a pirate since he once worked at a tax preparation firm.
   So far he has written thirty-four books. You can find Roland at his web page or at his private table in Meilori’s. The web page is safer to visit. But if you insist on visiting Meilori’s, bring a friend who runs slower than you.

   Find The Not-So-Innocents at Large at Amazon in ebook and print. You can view all of Roland’s books on his Amazon Author Page.


Friday, October 21, 2016

If I Were a Mobster...

I’m participating in Chrys Fey’s If I Were a Mobster Blogfest. This is in celebration of her latest release, 30 Seconds Before: Prequel to 30 Seconds.

She offered a mobster profile to fill out and I decided to go back to my German roots, plus the time I lived in New Mexico.


My Mobster Name: Delmi Wittmeyer (That is my real maiden name. The Wittmeyers were kicked out of Germany in the 19th century. I’ve never heard why, but I can pretend we were involved in illegal dealings.)

Crime Zone: Alamogordo, NM (That city has a large population of Germans. Plus I lived in Albuquerque four years before moving to NC.)

My Look/Disguise: I have long dark hair, I’m pale and thin, and possess a beauty to die for. Disguise? No way! I’m flaunting my stuff.

Weapon of Choice: A German Pistole 8 handgun

Mobster Vehicle: Porsche 911 GTZ RS - black

What I’m Known For: Drug and booze trafficking - between the Indians, the Hispanics, and the Caucasian population, I have it made! No one delivers the goods like I do.

My Catch Phrase: “Bitteschon!” (Means “You’re welcome” in German. I say it often and always after killing someone. Those pathetic worm of a human beings should thank me!)


30 SECONDS BEFORE BLURB:

Blake Herro is a cop in the Cleveland Police Force. Ever since he was a child he wanted to do right by the city he loved by cleaning up the streets and protecting its citizens. Red, a notorious mobster, has other plans.
On a bitter December night, ten police officers are drawn into a trap and killed by Red’s followers. Blake wants to bring down the Mob to avenge his fallen brothers and to prevent other cops from being murdered. Except the only way he can do that is by infiltrating the Mob.
Every minute he’s with these mobsters he’s in danger. Around every corner lies the threat of coming face to face with a gun. Will he make it out of the Mob alive or will he be their next victim? 

BUY LINKS:


To celebrate, 30 Seconds, the follow up story, is on sale for 99 cents!

Sale Oct. 21st – Nov. 4th

SALE LINKS:


BIO:
Chrys Fey is the author of the Disaster Crimes Series (Hurricane Crimes and Seismic Crimes), as well as these releases from The Wild Rose Press: 30 Seconds, Ghost of Death, and Witch of Death. Website / Blog / Facebook / Twitter

Monday, October 17, 2016

Manchineel, Book Tours, and Cling to God




The manchineel (Hippomane mancinella) is native to Florida, the Bahamas, the Caribbean, and Central America. The name comes from the Spanish word manzanilla which means, little apple, because the fruit and leaves resemble the apple tree and is has such a lovely, sweet, fruity smell.

But don’t be fooled.

The little death apple, or Columbus death apple -- because he recorded the first encounter with it when some of his men died after eating it -- is one of the most poisonous and deadly plants in the world. Every part of the tree is toxic. Rain water dripping off the leaves can cause blistering of the skin. The milky sap can cause permanent blindness if it makes contact with the eyes. Even smoke from burning the tree can cause blindness and respiratory problems.

The fierce Carib Indians were known to poison the water supply of their enemies with the leaves and for tying captives to a tree, ensuring a slow, painful death. They also used the milky sap to poison arrows and it was from one such arrow that the Spanish explorer, Juan Ponce de Leon, was killed in Florida during a battle with the Calusa Indians.

Let it here be known, the manchineel spears Sam and her best friend Nick use in The Bowl and The Stone: A Haunting Tale from the Virgin Islands, are purely imaginary though no less effective in driving off the invading Squalsh.

Diane wanted me to talk a little bit about promoting. Like most authors, this is the hardest part of the job, one that I can’t say I’m very good at. But here’s what I did. I asked for help. And my post here isn’t so much about promoting as it is about how I organized a tour.

First thing I did was go to Google forms and make up a form I posted to my blog and that people could fill out. They were in charge of deciding what they wanted to do. But that didn’t stop me from emailing other people to see if they’d help out. Everyone I asked said yes. This is a fabulous community!

Questions I asked on the form related to The Bowl and the Stone and included:
Would you like to read and review the book?
Would you like to send out tweets? (I provided some pre-written ones with links)
May I guest post on your blog? (I gave the month of October as the month I wanted to be on their blogs. I realize now I could have had a section for them to write in a date convenient for them, but I didn’t. So, I had to *manually* coordinate dates with those who responded.)
Then I listed a bunch of subjects I could write about that would relate back to the story. These included, but were not limited to, the following:
An interview with a character or question to me
St. John in 1962 (a magical time)
A brief history of slavery in the Virgin Islands
The St. John Slave revolt of 1733
Annaberg (a sugar plantation)
The dungeon at Annaberg
Jumbies (mischievous spirits)
Plants and animals mentioned in the story
The Mysterious Moving Grave (the real story)
Earliest known ghost stories

Even if several people picked the same subjects (jumbies was the most popular) I was be able to make each post different enough that visitors, if they saw a post on jumbies elsewhere, would learn something new.

After I’d collected all my data, which Google forms organized for me neatly, I realized the form, when printed out (I like me a hard copy) was too small to read and I couldn’t figure out how to enlarge the print. So, I took the data and it plugged into Excel. I organized my Excel sheet in this manner.

With hard copy in hand I was able to pencil in when I sent the info (which included the blog post, book blurb, author bio, and pictures of the book cover and moi.) And, I could do the same when I got a confirmation that the email was received at the other end. I started gathering data in July which gave me August and September to write and send posts for October. A person could certainly start earlier.

I don’t know how other people have done it, but this was my method and if it helps someone else along the journey, I’m happy to pass it on.


About the Author
Bish Denham, whose mother’s side of the family has been in the Caribbean for over one hundred years, was raised in the U. S. Virgin Islands. She still has lots of family living there whom she visits regularly.
She says, “Growing up in the islands was like living inside a history book. Columbus named the islands, Sir Francis Drake sailed through the area, and Alexander Hamilton was raised on St. Croix. The ruins of hundreds of sugar plantations, built with the sweat and blood of slave labor, litter the islands. Then there were the pirates who plied the waters. It is within this atmosphere of wonder and mystery, that I grew up. Life for me was magical, and through my writing I hope to pass on some of that magic.”
The Bowl and the Stone: A Haunting Tale from the Virgin Islands, is her third book and second novel. You can find Anansi and Company: Retold Jamaican Tales and A Lizard’s Tail, at Amazon.com.
To learn more about Bish, you can visit her blog, Random Thoughts. She can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

Thanks, Bish!


And Tuesday, October 18 is the release date for this wonderful book:

Cling to God

A Daily Devotional

Cling to God in the chaos of life...

Cling to God is a book of devotionals for every day of the year. The aim is to encourage Christians in their faith, to help them think about their beliefs and learn more about God. The devotions are short and inspirational so that people with busy lifestyles will still able to spend time with the Lord each day. It’s designed for a wide Christian audience–those new in their faith as well as those matured beyond milk and honey.

Freedom Fox Press - Dancing Lemur Press, L.L.C.
$17.95 Print ISBN 9781939844279, $3.99 eBook ISBN 9781939844286

Lynda R. Young, a Christian first, writes devotionals, articles, and speculative short stories. In her spare time she is also an editor, game developer, artist, and dabbles in photography and all things creative. She lives in Australia with her sweetheart of a husband.

Find Cling to God: Amazon / Kindle / Barnes & Noble / Nook / ITunes / Kobo / Goodreads

Wednesday, October 05, 2016

The Insecure Writer's Support Group - It's a Crap Shoot

It’s time for another edition of The Insecure Writer’s Support Group, founded by Ninja Captain, Alex J. Cavanaugh.

And we have changed the qualifications for the Anthology Contest. Entries can be between 3000-6000 words.

September’s question of the month - When do you know your story is ready? 

When I’ve gone over it a hundred times and I’m just making little cosmetic changes, then I know it’s done.


When I began as a publisher, I knew one of the challenges would be selecting just the right stories to produce as books. It’s a crap shoot sometimes. Some of our titles have not done as well as expected.

I quickly discovered, that’s only half of the equation. It’s a crap shoot picking just the right authors to bring on board, too. Not all of them are willing to promote their books as whole-heartedly as needed. (Or find someone to help.) And it’s not just promoting, but ease of working with, their connections, etc.

When the two line up, it’s gold. We’ve had a couple best-sellers. And I’m banking on more. (Obviously, as we now have SIX releases between now and the end of the year.) Coming up soon is Cling to God: A Devotional by Lynda R. Young on October 17 and Mâtowak: Woman Who Cries by Joylene Nowell Butler on November 1. Three other books will follow.

But this week, our big release is...

Bloodwalker by L.X. Cain

Lightning flashes. Another child disappears...

Zorka Circus’s big top roars with laughter and cheers, but when it moves on, children vanish.

Circus Security Chief Rurik suspects a killer hides among the performers, but they close ranks—they’ve always viewed lightning-scarred Rurik as the monster. He must find the culprit before anyone else disappears and his home is destroyed by the murders.

Into Zorka Circus comes the Skomori clan, despised as gravedigging ghouls. A one-day truce allows bloodwalker Sylvie to marry. Instead, she finds a body. Alerting others will defy her clan’s strict code, break the truce, and leave her an outcast.

When more bodies turn up, the killer's trail becomes impossible to ignore. Rurik and Sylvie must follow the clues—even if they lead to something unimaginable…

“...captivating shocker... Cain immerses the reader in the working life of a struggling circus and in the daily chores of a fascinating, albeit fictional, Slavic folkway.” - Publishers Weekly

$18.95 USA, 6x9 trade paperback, 284 pages, Freedom Fox Press
Fantasy/Paranormal (FIC009050) and Horror (FIC015000)
Print ISBN 9781939844255, eBook ISBN 9781939844262
$4.99 eBook available in all formats

Purchase the print version at Barne & Noble / Amazon /BAM / Powell’s / Dancing Lemur Press LLC
Purchase the eBook version at Nook / Kindle /iTunes / Kobo / Dancing Lemur Press LLC - Mobi & ePub


The Insecure Writer’s Support Group 2016 Anthology Contest is open until November 1st. Don’t miss your chance to be in a royalty-paying anthology.




When do you know you’re done? Did you realize publishing as a business was such a crap shoot?

Tuesday, October 04, 2016

The Bloodwalkers are Among Us!

Announcing the release of the latest from Freedom Fox Press!





Lightning flashes. Another child disappears...

Zorka Circus’s big top roars with laughter and cheers, but when it moves on, children vanish.

Circus Security Chief Rurik suspects a killer hides among the performers, but they close ranks—they’ve always viewed lightning-scarred Rurik as the monster. He must find the culprit before anyone else disappears and his home is destroyed by the murders.

Into Zorka Circus comes the Skomori clan, despised as gravedigging ghouls. A one-day truce allows bloodwalker Sylvie to marry. Instead, she finds a body. Alerting others will defy her clan’s strict code, break the truce, and leave her an outcast.

When more bodies turn up, the killer's trail becomes impossible to ignore. Rurik and Sylvie must follow the clues—even if they lead to something unimaginable…

“...captivating shocker... Cain immerses the reader in the working life of a struggling circus and in the daily chores of a fascinating, albeit fictional, Slavic folkway.” - Publishers Weekly

“Fresh, original, and a frightening fun read.” - Brian Moreland, author of Blood Sacrifices and Dead of Winter

“Absolutely unique, unusual and brilliant!” - Maxine, Booklover Catlady reviews


$18.95 USA, 6x9 trade paperback, 284 pages, Freedom Fox Press
Fantasy/Paranormal (FIC009050) and Horror (FIC015000)
Print ISBN 9781939844255, eBook ISBN 9781939844262
$4.99 eBook available in all formats


L.X. Cain was born in the U.S. but now lives on the Red Sea and busily taps away at a laptop, coming up with stories to thrill and entertain readers.

Purchase the print version at Barnes & Noble / Amazon /BAM / Powell’s / Dancing Lemur Press LLC
Purchase the eBook version at Nook / Kindle /iTunes / Kobo / Dancing Lemur Press LLC - Mobi & ePub


Congrats, Lexa! I’m delighted Freedom Fox Press had the opportunity to work with you and bring this riveting story to the world.

Monday, September 19, 2016

The Best Book Tour Service and Narrator Money Can Buy

Today I have an article at The Insecure Writer’s Support Group regarding blogging etiquette as a writer or author.


The Best Book Tour Service

Many of you know Mason Canyon who runs a high-profile book blog, Thoughts in Progress.

After years of dealing with publishers, authors, publicists, and blog tour services, she has branched out on her own and now runs MC Book Tours.

She’s been working with one of Dancing Lemur Press’ authors and now has over 40 stops with reviews, interviews, and articles set this fall for Mâtowak: Woman Who Cries. I’ve recommended her to my other authors with releases coming out next spring.

Mason has been around the book blogging business for many years and she knows her stuff. I highly recommend you check out her services.


The Best Narrator

Dancing Lemur Press ventured into the world of audio books this past summer. We were very
fortunate to acquire the most amazing narrator for our first three titles - Michael Burnette. He and his wife Kerry, who puts it all together, make the best team.

Michael signed on right away to do all three of Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Cassa books. Not only did he deliver quickly, but he gave us a high quality product with many layers and special effects. I’ve listened to many audio books in the past (on cassette and CD) and I can’t recall any that were as captivating as what Michael produces.

CassaStar and CassaFire are available now.
(Dragon of the Stars by Alex J. Cavanaugh and Under a Purple Moon by Beverly Stowe McClure are currently in production. Bloodwalker by L.X. Cain will go into production in October.)

Listen to a sample of the Cassa books and you will be impressed!

Find by Michael Burnett on ACX and Facebook.


And to round out this post, the cicadas have been extra thick this year and we have hundreds of their shells on our pine trees:



Wednesday, September 07, 2016

The Insecure Writer's Support Group Anthology Contest

It’s time for another edition of The Insecure Writer’s Support Group, founded by Ninja Captain, Alex J. Cavanaugh.


September’s question of the month - How do you find the time to write in your busy day?

Some days, I don’t. I have so many duties with Dancing Lemur Press, formatting, speaking, and other things I do to make money that usually my own writing is one of the last things on the list. Which means sometimes, I don’t get to it. Weekends I have a better shot at it though and can usually get in a couple hours. Which I did do this past weekend.

I also spent the weekend on a new page at Dancing Lemur Press - Merchandise! Our book covers featured on mugs, t-shirts, and playing cards - a great opportunity for our authors to market and their fans to show their support. Something for everyone, so please visit our Merchandise page sometime this week. (Since I know today is crazy.)


Announcing the 2016 IWSG Anthology Contest!

Eligibility: Any member of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group is encouraged to enter – blogging or Facebook member. The story must be previously unpublished. Entry is free.

Word count: 5000-6000

Genre: Fantasy

Theme: Hero Lost. It could be about a hero turned villain, a villain's redemption, a hero's lack of confidence, a hero's lack of smarts, etc. It can be about any kind of hero including superheroes, mythological heroes, unexpected or unlikely heroes, or a whole new kind of hero. This theme has plenty of scope and we’re open to pretty much anything along these lines. No erotica, R-rated language, or graphic violence.

Deadline: November 1st 2015

How to enter: Send your polished, previously unpublished story to admin @ insecurewriterssupportgroup.com before the deadline passes. Please include your contact details and if you are part of the Blogging or Facebook IWSG group.

Judging: The IWSG admins will create a shortlist of the best stories. The shortlist will then be sent to our official judges.

Prizes: The winning stories will be edited and published by Freedom Fox Press next year in the IWSG anthology. Authors will receive royalties on books sold, both print and eBook. The top story will have the honor of giving the anthology its title.

We’re excited to see the creativity and enthusiasm that’s such a part of this group put into action. So don your creative caps and start writing. And spread the word!

Our amazing judges this year:

Elizabeth S. Craig writes cozy mystery series for Penguin Random House, Midnight Ink, and independently. She curates links on Twitter as @elizabethscraig that are later shared in the free search engine WritersKB.com.

Richard Harland finished his first novel in 1993 and resigned a university lectureship to become a full-time writer. With seventeen fantasy, SF and horror novels published since, he went international with his steampunk fantasies, Worldshaker, Liberator and Song of the Slums. He has won six Aurealis Awards and the A. Bertram Chandler Award in Australia, the Tam Tam Je Bouquine Award in France. Writing Tips

Laura Maisano has an MA in Technical writing and is a Senior Editor at Anaiah Press for their YA/NA Christian Fiction. She’s excited to release her debut YA Urban Fantasy SCHISM, and she’s finishing up the sequel UNITY.

Russell C. Connor has been writing horror since the age of 5, and has been in the self-publishing industry for a decade. He has published 8 novels and 4 novellas in both paperback and eBook, including the Box Office of Terror Trilogy and "Whitney," an epic horror novel about hurricane survivors fighting a washed-ashore sea monster. He also designs books for clients and assists them with self-publishing endeavors.

Dawn Frederick is the founder of Red Sofa Literary, previously of Sebastian Literary Agency, and she brings a broad knowledge of the book business to the table—with multiple years of experience as a bookseller in the independent, chain, and specialty stores; sales, marketing, & book development at a YA publisher, a published nonfiction author, and an agent associate literary agent at Sebastian Literary Agency.

Michelle L. Johnson is a literary agent, the founder of Inklings Literary Agency and has a business administration background in addition to a lifetime of working with books (sales, editing, and writing) and authors (marketing, promoting, event planning), and also has been a script/story consultant for an independent film.

Ion Newcombe is the editor and publisher of AntipodeanSF, Australia's longest running online speculative fiction magazine, regularly issued since January 1998. His qualifications and employment range from horticulture through electronics into literature and communications.

Author, Public Speaker, and Executive Producer, Lynn Tincher was born just outside of Louisville, Kentucky in the beautiful city of La Grange. She has written four books, with the fifth one currently in the making. Her first book, Afterthoughts was optioned for movie production by Kilted Pictures and Dancing Forward Productions in Los Angeles. It is currently in pre-production with plans to shoot in Louisville, Kentucky very soon.


How do you find time to write?

Are you thinking of entering the IWSG contest?

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

WEP Gardens and Dancing Lemur Press LLC Update

This post is for the August WEP Challenge, hosted by Denise Covey and Yolanda Renee.

Since I knew I wouldn't have time to write anything, I’ve decided to share some of my garden this year. Last year was met with minor success. I harvested just a few tomatoes, but rot claimed most of them. Basil was our biggest crop. So, I was determined this year would be different.

It began innocently enough.

And soon the tomatoes began to grow.

We started harvesting tomatoes, basil, and oregano.

The tomatoes continued to grow.

And take over the deck.


Yielding A LOT more tomatoes.

Thanks to messy birds at the birdfeeder, we even ended up with a couple stray sunflowers.

Which adds to the mums on the deck, seen here during a rainstorm. (And with a candle burning despite the rain.)

We’ve now harvested over 55 pounds of tomatoes! I’ve given them away, made several batches of spaghetti sauce for the freezer, and frozen a dozen bags of sliced tomatoes.

I’m calling this year a big success.



On the Dancing Lemur Press LLC side of things...

Our very first audiobook came out - CassaStar by Alex J. Cavanaugh.
Purchase the audio book on:
Amazon / ITunes / Audible

We have two more in production and two more scheduled to go into production.

Including Bloodwalker by L.X. Cain, which releases October 4.

Needless to say, I’m one busy puppy!