Celebrating Independent Authors
Triple Dog Dare
by K.S. Brooks and Stephen Hise
Genres: Chick-lit, humor, rom-com
Rating: 4.8 star average from 46 reviews
Available at Amazon.
Mayhem ensues when Stu, a wealthy dog breeder, is forced to retrieve a prize pup from the woman he secretly loves. But the dog has become a celebrity, and Stu’s dream girl needs the pup to meet a publication deadline she was obligated to by her arrogant and controlling fiancé. Continue reading “Saturday Book Showcase: Triple Dog Dare”
Congrats to Ed Drury, the readers’ choice in this week’s Indies Unlimited Flash Fiction Challenge.
The winning entry is recognized with a special feature here today and a place in our collection of winners which will be published as an e-book at year end.
Without further ado, here’s the winning story:
The Witch of Leper Cove
by Deborah Bogen
Genre of the Book: YA Historical Novel, Medieval
Length: 353 pages
Early in the 13th century Pope Honorius launched the Holy Inquisition sending his Hounds of Gods, into Christendom to root out heresy.
In the English village of Aldinoch, sixteen-year-old Lily and her younger twin brothers have finally accepted their parents’ disappearance and are adjusting to new lives. Separated from each other and their childhood home, grappling with grief, fear, loneliness and guilt, each is sure nothing more can threaten them.
Lily is apprenticed to the local healer, Alice, who takes care of Aldinoch’s sick and gives aid to the colony of lepers living downstream from the village. Her knowledge of the local herbs and illness is the only thing standing between Aldinoch’s villagers and the fevers and agues afflicting them.
But when the Church is infected with worldly ambition not even such a force for good is safe. Bishop Hugo, one of the Pope’s Inquisitors, is called to the nearby town of Guildford to hold hearings and investigate heresy. When Alice is officially accused of witchcraft and imprisoned in Guildford’s ancient dungeon the siblings are forced into action.
In The Witch of Leper Cove we meet not the knights and ladies who so often populate historical novels, but common people caught in the cross-fire of the ruthless and striving. Lily and her brothers are forced to take on a monolithic institution and the powerful men within it. What they discover about the Church and themselves will change them forever.
This book is available from Amazon. Continue reading “Book Brief: The Witch of Leper Cove”
It’s easy to understand why authors would feel that way. You can’t copyright a title and sometimes finding a good one is harder than writing the freaking book. That causes two things to happen:
1. A lot of books have the same title as at least one other book; and
2. A lot of books have bizarre titles that are hard to remember, like The Return of the Revenge of the Curse of the Son of the Bride of Vampire Ninja vs. Robot Space Monkeys, Part II.
So it is not that terribly surprising that Stephen King has a book with the same title as that of another author. Emily Schultz published her debut novel, Joyland, in 2006. Stephen King’s Joyland was released in 2013.
What I do find surprising is that the coincidence seemed to result in a sales spike for Ms. Schultz. According to The Telegraph article, a lot of those purchases were made by people who thought they were buying the King book. I guess I can see how someone might make that mistake. Still, the author’s name on the cover should be a clue. Continue reading “Title Twins: What Happens When Your Book has the Same Title as Another Book?”
