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Publisher’s Note: Christmas in July
Christmas in July is taking on a whole new significance this summer because of the Covid-19 pandemic. This year, it’s becoming more literal for some families who now feel safe to gather because they’re fully vaccinated after skipping their usual festivities and gatherings at Christmas.
Magazines are even offering tips to host literal Christmas in July (click here to read one such article from Real Simple magazine).
And if you’re one of the many people who are looking forward to celebrating this Christmas in July, we have just the book for you.
The ever so timely The Holiday Spectacular #2 publishes tomorrow in ebook format.
Here’s the synopsis:
Read a holiday story per day from the end of November to January first…or binge the entire collection.
This volume contains 37 stories—ranging in genre from mystery to fantasy to romance—that center around traditional holidays such as Christmas and New Year’s but also fictional holidays like Hogswatch. Featuring works from award-winning and bestselling authors Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Dean Wesley Smith, Anthea Lawson and many more, each story comes presented as it first appeared in a newsletter that went to subscribers every single day for 37 days.
The second volume in an annual series, The Holiday Spectacular #2 will bring joy and so much more any time of year!
Click here for more information.
And don’t forget about The Holiday Spectacular #1, which published last July and featured the WMG Holiday Spectacular 2019 project.
In fact, click here to learn more about the entire WMG Holiday Spectacular concept and the books that derive from it.
We can all use a little more joy these days. What better way than with a Christmas in July reading celebration!
Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer, working mother, and brain tumor survivor.
Publisher’s Note: Wrapping Up the Month of Dean
We’re finishing up June (aka the Month of Dean) with the release of 12 new books!
Ten of those are hardcover editions of books you might have already read. For the first time, Dean Wesley Smith’s Cold Poker Gang series is out in hardcover!
So, if you love the series and really want a hardcover edition, your wish is granted. These books look fantastic in hardcover, and they feature new art we licensed specifically for this series so we can use the art for merchandising in the future.
To check out the series and find links to all of the hardcover editions, click here and then go to the book(s) you’re looking for.
Dean reaches another milestone on Tuesday, with the publication of the 50th issue of Smith’s Monthly. That’s right, he’s done 50 issues of that fan-favorite magazine with no sign of slowing down!
Here’s the synopsis:
This 50th issue of Smith’s Monthly contains more than seventy thousand words of original fiction from USA Today bestselling writer Dean Wesley Smith. Including The First Year, the new novel in the Marble Grant series, and five new short stories in some of Dean’s most popular series; Cold Poker Gang, Bryant Street, and Thunder Mountain, among others.
Also in this issue is Stories from July, part 2, with six classic short stories from Dean’s groundbreaking project for which he wrote a short story (or two) a day for one month, blogged about it, and designed a cover for each one. The fun continues!
Click here to get your copy of Smith’s Monthly #50. And click here to find out how you can subscribe and never miss an issue!
Last but certainly not least, Issue #12 of Pulphouse Fiction Magazine, which is edited by—you guess it—Dean, came out last week. And it’s our biggest issue ever—with 21 stories!
Here’s the synopsis:
A three-time Hugo Award nominated magazine, this issue of Pulphouse Fiction Magazine offers up twenty-one fantastic stories by some of the best writers working in modern short fiction.
No genre limitations, no topic limitations, just great stories. Attitude, feel, and high-quality fiction equals Pulphouse.
Includes:
“Jesting Pilate” by Lee Allred
“Exchange Policy” by Scott William Carter
“Dead Girlfriend” by Ray Vukcevich
“Laugh Track” by David H. Hendrickson
“Family Bonds” by R.W. Wallace
“Mystery Weekend” by J. Roderick Clark
“A Magical Negro” by Ezekiel James Boston
“Be Very, Very Afraid” by Jerry Oltion
“Barely Decent” by Kent Patterson
“Call Me Peaches” by Daemon Crowe
“Death by Vodka” by Robert J. McCarter
“Virtual Oracle” by Leigh Saunders
“Machine in the Ghost” by Rob Vagle
“The Postcard” by David Stier
“Gordie Culligan vs. Dr. Longbeach and the HVAC of Doom” by J. Steven York
“On Red Mountain” by Robin Brande
“Fort Dumpster” by O’Neil De Noux
“Scrawny Pete” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
“My Father, the Popsicle” by Annie Reed
“The Neighborhood” by Angela Penrose
“As if My Every Word Has Turned to Glass” by Robert Jeschonek
As you can see: We’ve been busy, Dean’s been busy, and now you’d better get busy. You’ve got a lot of reading to do!
Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer, working mother, and brain tumor survivor.
Publisher’s Note: The Fur-midable Staff of Promotion Central
Have you been following our team at Promotion Central on social media? If not, you’re missing out.
The team got its start during the early days of the pandemic, when curator (and bestselling author) Kristine Kathryn Rusch had a cat-themed StoryBundle to promote. Their probationary hires made sense at the time, given their expertise in the subject. But once we realized how incredibly skilled they were at marketing, we knew we were on to something.
They were natural hires after that.
Gavin and Cheeps have been working hard ever since that StoryBundle, promoting more bundles, workshop sales, even Kickstarters.
Like many WFH positions, they set their own hours. They haven’t ever worn pants, but, really, that’s perfectly acceptable given who they are. And of course, they need plenty of cat naps. So, a WFH setup definitely makes sense.
They don’t always see eye-to-eye about how to divide their duties, however, so hissy fits have been known to happen.
But now the boys (HR says we aren’t violating any rules by calling them that—I checked) are getting nervous. Because we have a new probationary hire at Promotion Central. She’s a sweet young thing, but she’s got the energy and skills to really show those boys who’s boss.
They haven’t met Angel yet, but they can sense something is coming.
I have no doubt she’ll fit right in. She’ll probably even inspire the boys to be at the top of their game.
And to prove herself, Angel has taken on the promotion duties for the biggest cat project we’ve ever done here at WMG—The Year of the Cat: The Complete Collection.
With all 100 stories from the 12 volumes of The Year of the Cat series, this ebook contains not just a clowder but an entire colony of cat stories.
Here’s the synopsis:
Cats distract us. Cats make us think of things outside of ourselves. And cats love to involve themselves in human affairs.
In this omnibus volume of WMG Publishing’s notable series, The Year of the Cat, felines of all stripes pounce and play and stalk through 100 cat stories in genres ranging from light romance to dark crime and everything in between.
Entertaining cats, loving cats, even super-talented and time-traveling cats grace the pages of these twelve volumes edited by bestselling authors Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith.
Enjoy this treasure trove of fantastic cat stories. Perfect for cat-lovers everywhere.
Angel says that if you missed the Kickstarter or the subsequent release of the 12 individual volumes, you need to check out this new book. Gavin and Cheeps insist that of course you’ve already picked up some or all of these volumes, but you’ll want to get this ebook so you have them all in one place.
Clearly, they have some team-building to do, but they all have valid points.
Help them out and click here to get The Year of the Cat: The Complete Collection.
And do be sure to watch our Facebook page (and/or follow Kris on Facebook at facebook.com/KristineKathrynRuschWriter) for more recommendations from our staff at Promotion Central.
They do have exquisite taste.
Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer, working mother, and brain tumor survivor.
Publisher’s Note: The Closing of a Chapter
This has been/will be a busy couple of weeks in my household.
My daughter’s 11th birthday fell over the weekend, and to make up for the fact that we’re still in a pandemic and she can’t gather with friends inside (and we live on the rainy Oregon Coast, so gathering outside in June is not a good idea…), it was a Mommy and Nola weekend. She got to pick the menu for the whole weekend. She got to open presents early and on her birthday. We got a custom bakery cake. We had movie night and did our nails and did basically whatever she wanted all weekend.
Because she is 11, she thought this was the best birthday ever. And I’m thankful we did it this way, because in a couple of years, I doubt a weekend with her parents would count as a banner birthday celebration <grin>.
And tomorrow is her last day of the weirdest school year on record. So, last week they did spirit week, which included twin day, favorite character day (she went as Star Butterfly) and pajama day. And this week her teacher has special movie events planned to help the year come to a close.
I fervently hope that by September, we are in a place where kids can get back to a more normal school year. I’m optimistic that will happen. It looks like vaccines for the under-12 crowd could be approved by September. Cases are falling (at least at the moment). Vaccination rates for Oregon are approaching 70 percent. Data show that some cities (San Francisco and Seattle, for example) seem to be hitting herd immunity.
We seem to be pulling out of this finally. I won’t really be able to breathe a sigh of relief or feel like some semblance of normalcy has returned until my daughter is vaccinated, but for us adults, life is entering a new normal.
Take our offices at WMG. I am proud to say that the staff is 100 percent fully vaccinated. As are all staff spouses. As such, we can now be inside with each other—maskless! That has been fantastic.
All this good news is what prompted us to be able to announce our last half-off workshop sale. That’s right. The very last one.
This is the very last 50%-off sale on everything on Teachable. Every WMG Publishing Workshop, Lecture, Pop-Up, Class, or Subscription on Teachable is half price!
Got to the WMG Teachable page and click on “view all products.“ Then find the course you would like to buy and hit purchase. On the top of the next page there is a place to put in the code:
THELASTSALE
But you’ll want to hurry. Not only is this the last time we’re doing one of these sales, but you only have a couple more days to take advantage of it.
Just like Nola’s last day of school is coming up this week, The Last Sale ends on Thursday.
Click here to learn more.
I think we’re finally seeing an end to pandemic-oriented learning. But I can’t wait to see what opportunities for learning will open up in the coming months.
Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer, working mother, and brain tumor survivor.
Publisher’s Note: The Month of Dean
As I mentioned last week, this is a busy month for book releases. And six of those are written or edited by bestselling author Dean Wesley Smith.
Last week, we released Dean’s latest nonfiction book: How to Write a Novel in Half a Month. (Click here to read more about that.) Dean also has titles called How to Write a Novel in Ten Days, Writing a Novel in Seven Days, and Writing a Novel in Five Days While Traveling.
See a theme? Dean brooks no excuses for not writing!
He wrote those nonfiction books while writing fiction. They are often hands-on examples.
So, it’s no surprise that Dean can have so many books publishing in one month.
He’s a very busy guy!
This week, we’ll be publishing one new novel and a new Pulphouse book.
The novel is Bottom Pair: A Cold Poker Gang Mystery.
Here’s the synopsis:
Sandy Goodson in 2002 vanished without a trace.
Seventeen years later, retired detectives Isadora Fawn and Hugh Halligan team up, working for the Cold Poker Gang task force, to look into the Goodson missing person’s case.
As active detectives years earlier, both individually tried to solve this impossible case without luck. Now, together, they uncover far, far more than they ever imagined.
Another very twisted Cold Poker Gang mystery novel.
Bottom Pair releases tomorrow. You can find more information about that here.
The new Pulphouse book is called Cattitude, edited, of course, by Dean. It’s the perfect mix of cat stories with attitude! Here’s the synopsis:
From the pages of Pulphouse Fiction Magazine come eight delightful stories featuring cats—some who charm, some who connive, even some who simply demand attention.
In short, these stories have Cattitude.
From some of Pulphouse’s best and most prolific writers, these stories embody the Pulphouse spirit: no genre limitations, no topic limitations, just attitude and top-quality writing.
Includes:
“Queen of the Mouse Riders” by Annie Reed
“The Fur Tsunami” by Kent Patterson
“Bushtits Gone Wild” by Stephanie Writt
“The Goddess Particle” by Dæmon Crowe
“An Incursion of Mice” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
“Erwin or Ralph” by Ray Vukcevich
“The Mouth that Walked” by Dean Wesley Smith
“Life, with Cats” by Annie Reed
Cattitude releases Thursday, June 10. You can find more information about that here.
And stay tuned for more new books by Dean later in the month!
Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer, working mother, and brain tumor survivor.
Publisher’s Note: A Busy Month Ahead
Although our offices are closed this Memorial Day, we still have lots to talk about. June will be a busy month for releases from WMG, with 13 new books releasing along with a variety of other projects.
First up are two nonfiction books for writers: Tips about the Film/TV Industry for Novelists by Kristine Kathryn Rusch and How to Write a Novel in Half a Month by Dean Wesley Smith.
Here are the synopses for each:
Tips about the Film/TV Industry for Novelists
Mention Hollywood and novelists hear promises of riches, fame and glory.
But any writer who ventures into Hollywood alone or with an agent as their guardian actually walks buck naked and unarmed onto a battlefield filled with trained soldiers poised to strip that writer of everything that matters most to them, including the rights to their own work.
In this invaluable guide, award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch offers novelists an arsenal of survival tools and tips for the unwary.
How to Write a Novel in Half a Month: A Personal Guide to How It Can Be Easily Done
Many writers seem to view writing a novel while working a full-time job as an impossible task.
USA Today bestselling writer Dean Wesley Smith once again proves that notion false.
In this latest WMG Writer’s Guide, Smith details out his days while he works at his publishing business, teaches online workshops, keeps fit, and writes the latest novel—all in 15 days. And enjoys doing it all!
Author of more than one-hundred-and-fifty novels, Smith shares his strategies for staying focused, keeping upbeat, and enjoying what he loves most—writing.
Both books will be released in ebook and trade paperback formats tomorrow. You can read more about Kris’ book here and Dean’s book here.
We’re also in the final days of The Chase: A Diving Kickstarter, which has already reached several stretch goals, guaranteeing lots of great rewards for backers. This latest Diving Series Kickstarter offers the new novel, The Chase, months ahead of its September release (in all formats, including signed limited hardcover), plus new Diving Pairs, special workshops and so much more.
You can check out the Kickstarter here to read all about it, see Kris’ video, and check out all the fantastic rewards, stretch goals and more.
The Kickstarter ends Thursday, so don’t delay.
And stay tuned for more new release news all month long!
Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer, working mother, and brain tumor survivor.
Publisher’s Note: Writing and the Future
It’s no secret that WMG is the home of great fiction. But we’re also the home of great nonfiction. And workshops to help writers create great fiction.
Well, we’re covering all three of those missions right now with two projects that give a whole host of great deals to writers and readers.
For the writers, we have The Write Stuff 2021 StoryBundle, curated by bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch, which offers everything you need to get you or the writer in your life back to the keyboard with new creativity and vigor! It includes Tips about the Film/TV Industry for Novelists by bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch; How to Write a Novel in Half a Month by Dean Wesley Smith, one of the most prolific authors working today; WMG online workshop The Pop-Up Series #22: Dealing with Toxic People; plus seven other fantastic writing resources.
Here’s what Kris has to say about this bundle:
In 2021, there are hundreds of ways to get your books to an audience, but most writers just go through bookstores, online and brick-and-mortar. The Write Stuff Bundle 2021 will help writers in their relationship with bookstores, but also includes books that will help writers get their stories in front of new readers. If the writers follow the advice they’ll find in this bundle, they’ll make a great living.
To learn more about all the fantastic books in this bundle, click here. But hurry. The bundle ends Thursday.
And for the fiction fans, The Chase: A Diving Kickstarter has already reached its second stretch goal and is well on its way to the third. This latest Diving Series Kickstarter offers supporters the new novel, The Chase, months ahead of its September release (in all formats, including signed limited hardcover), plus new Diving Pairs, special workshops and so much more.
You can check out the Kickstarter here to read all about it, see Kris’ video, and check out all the fantastic rewards, stretch goals and more.
The Kickstarter ends next week, so you’ll want to hurry on this one, too.
From planning for the future to diving into incredible stories set far in the future, your present just got a whole lot more interesting.
Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer, working mother, and brain tumor survivor.
Publisher’s Note: All Kinds of Romance
My husband and I don’t consider ourselves particularly romantic, at least not in the commercial sense. We don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day in the traditional sense (one year, we got tetanus shots that day), and we don’t go in for romantic cards or dinners or gifts.
We’re really rather practical people. But that doesn’t mean we don’t demonstrate our love for each other in a whole lot of ways.
My husband doesn’t buy me roses, he grows them for me. We don’t go out for our anniversary, we spend time together at home (pandemic or no). And we don’t need Hallmark to express our love for each other, it’s obvious in all of the everyday gestures of love we extend to each other.
Romance can be a very personal choice. Sometimes we know exactly what we want. And sometimes, we need a little help.
Cats, it turns out, are more than happy to facilitate romance. Just ask the cats in our final volume of The Year of the Cat: A Cat of Romantic Soul, edited by Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith.
Here’s the synopsis:
The theory goes that if cats find love and encourage romance, especially with humans, then cats end up with homes. But does it really work that way?
Happily, more often than not, it does. At least in the romance stories gracing the pages of this final volume in the Year of the Cat series.
These eight stories make you smile, warm your heart, and give you hope for the future of both humankind and feline-kind.
Includes:
“A New Home for Christmas” by Annie Reed
“Dannie Finds a Home” by Dean Wesley Smith
“Crystal Blue Attraction” by Dean Wesley Smith
“The Inn, the Black Cat, and Two Halves of the Same Heart” by Kari Kilgore
“Fable’s Menagerie” by Lisa Silverthorne
“Mistress Bootsi” by Anthea Sharp
“Second Chance Dinner” by Bonnie Elizabeth
“Helmie” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
A Cat of Romantic Soul publishes tomorrow, and you will be able to find buy links here.
Next month, we’ll be publishing the omnibus volume with all 100 stories from the Year of the Cat series, so stay tuned for that.
And in case you missed the news last week, Smith’s Monthly #49 published last week, and it also has a feline romance story in it—“Cat in Love”—as well as a whole lot more fiction that, while definitely not romances, often contain some romantic elements.
Here’s that synopsis:
More than seventy-five thousand words of original fiction from USA Today bestselling writer Dean Wesley Smith. Including Bottom Pair, the new Cold Poker Gang novel and five new short stories in some of Dean’s most popular series.
This 49th volume of Smith’s Monthly also includes Stories from July, part 1, with five classic short stories from Dean’s groundbreaking project: writing a short story a day for one month, blogging about it, and designing a cover for each one. Crazy but fun!
You can start reading those stories right now! Find out how here.
With so many options, I know you’ll find plenty to love.
Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer, working mother, and brain tumor survivor.
Publisher’s Note: It’s All About Hope
As many of you know, two years ago I was diagnosed with a brain tumor. And as May is Brain Tumor Awareness Month, I wanted to share a bit of my journey again. And because it’s about awareness, I’ll share with you what I did wrong.
Most importantly, I waited too long to seek medical advice. Looking back, I started having symptoms more than a year before my diagnosis, possibly even a couple of years. But it was the six months leading up to the diagnosis that I’m going to focus on.
I started having what I now know were seizures six months before my diagnosis. They were partial seizures, which I didn’t know were even a thing. They affected by ability to speak first (I’d struggle to even make words at time), then my ability to write. I remember distinctly the day that I was trying to write an “r” but I couldn’t remember how. You’d think that would have driven me straight to the doc, but no, not yet. I was busy. I had responsibilities. I didn’t have time to have something wrong.
I was also having a second kind of partial seizure at this point, once where numbness started suddenly in my hand and spread slowly up my arm and into my body until it hit my midline and went away just as suddenly. Pinched nerve, I surmised. I’ve always had back issues.
And then there were the headaches. I’m a chronic migraine sufferer, so I wrote them off as that. But they weren’t migraines. They were much worse in the morning, when I woke up. They improved after I got up.
Guess what all these things are telltale signs of? Yep, brain tumor. The tumor, which was growing quickly and was 5cm when they found it, was pressing displacing my brain in various ways and causing inflammation in others that was causing pressure to build up in my skull.
By the time I finally saw a doctor (after months of urging by family and friends), she suspected brain tumor even though I had dismissed that as an option (you know, because of my advanced Google degree). She ordered an MRI.
The day before the MRI, I took a walk around the block with my husband. I could barely make it. My legs felt like I’d walked up 40 flights of stairs.
They took me straight from the MRI to the ER. The ER docs were shocked that I could still walk at all given what they were seeing on the scans. Four days later, I was in a neurosurgery OR.
Because I waited so long (relative to the growth of the tumor), I have permanent damage. Not a lot, but a reminder. I have permanent numbness in two of my fingers and memory recall is harder sometimes. But all-in-all, I was very lucky.
And I feel very blessed. I learned a lot from this experience. About myself, especially.
The National Brain Tumor Society says this about Brain Tumor Awareness Month:
The brain tumor experience is full of extraordinary darkness and extraordinary hope. The gray area that falls in between is what drives us, unrelentingly, toward our mission of conquering and curing brain tumors—once and for all. This #GrayMay, take action and raise awareness to make lasting change for the brain tumor community.
My journey has indeed been filled with extraordinary darkness and extraordinary hope. And I share this message with you in case you or someone you love is ignoring symptoms because they are too busy or feel like they just need to suck it up. Sometimes it’s truly nothing. But sometimes, it’s a brain tumor.
It’s always better to have answers. Answers offer hope.
That’s true in real life and in fiction. The quest for answers and the need for hope are driving forces in Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s award-winning Diving series.
I missed the first Kickstarter we launched related to that series when I was out recovering from the aforementioned brain surgery.
But I was fully recovered by the second one, and now I’m thrilled to announce that we’ll be launching a new one tomorrow.
This latest Diving Kickstarter launches Kris’ latest novel in the Diving series, The Chase. And it’s the book that Diving fans like me have been waiting for.
Here’s the synopsis for The Chase:
On the run.
After fleeing pursuers from two different missions, Boss and Coop reconvene at the Lost Souls Corporation headquarters. Both share exciting but troublesome news.
And a whole lot of questions.
But before they begin to even scratch the surface of the new information, they face threats from all quarters.
And when an old adversary of Coop’s gets involved, Boss questions who to trust to survive and find some long-awaited answers.
A nonstop new adventure, The Chase provides thrilling new details about Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s award-winning Diving series.
The Chase: A Diving Kickstarter offers supporters the new novel months ahead of its September release (in all formats, including signed limited hardcover), plus new Diving Pairs, special workshops and so much more.
You can check out the preview link here and ask Kickstarter to notify you as soon as it goes live. We’ll update this blog, too, when it goes live. You’ll want to read all about it, see Kris’ video, and check out all the fantastic rewards, stretch goals and more.
Trust me, you’ll want to get this book as soon as you can. It’s phenomenal. Don’t wait!
Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer, working mother, and brain tumor survivor.
Publisher’s Note: Come on Down to Cave Creek
In the fall of 2019, Dean Wesley Smith launched a one-of-a-kind online learning event on our Teachable platform called “Shared Worlds: What Are They, How to Do Them, and Why,” which teaches the ins and outs as well as the good and the bad of writing in someone’s shared world. The shared world for this event is called Cave Creek. The tagline: Where the Unexpected Meets the Real World. (You can still sign up on Teachable if you’re interested…click here.)
The shared world of Cave Creek proved so popular, in fact, that we launched a hugely successful Kickstarter in March 2020 to publish three anthologies in this world, edited by Dean, along with a novel written by Dean himself.
And tomorrow, those three anthologies—Bitter Mountain Moonlight, Open Ended Threat and Promise in the Gold—and Dean’s novel—Card Sharp Silver—will be available from all retail platforms.
If you missed the Kickstarter last year, here’s the description of the Cave Creek shared world:
A Mythical Town
Cave Creek, Nevada, where the unexpected meets the real world. It exists, but only in stories, written by some of the best fiction writers working today.
Cave Creek hides to the north of Las Vegas, on the California side of Highway 95, in a shallow hidden canyon. Various rock caves and a natural spring made the valley a perfect place for miners to explore. Gold and silver were found in 1900, causing a gold rush that caused the town to grow to over 8,000 residents.
One mine owner built a massive hotel and a rail line ran up to the town to get the ore out. A dozen saloons lined the main street filled with music and gamblers. But, right from the beginning, strange events happened to the residents. Unexplained things that often chased a resident down the valley and to safer locations. Finally, when the gold and silver played out, only a couple hundred hearty souls remained by 1910.
And for a time, Cave Creek was mostly a ghost town.
In the Depression things started to turn around. A couple mines were reopened, the hotel was remodeled and a dam was built a few miles below the town to form a lake. Rich movie stars and company presidents loved the scenic beauty of the valley and bought land in the 1950s and 1960s. Today the town and shallow valley around it boasts a population of over 10,000, two championship golf courses, and a lot of winter homes for sunbirds. And the lake is one of the most popular recreational lakes within fifty miles of Las Vegas.
But strange and unexpected things still happen with a frightening regularity. Think of Cave Creek as a place where The Twilight Zone kind of story still lives. In fact, if The Twilight Zone had a hometown, it would be Cave Creek.
Dean’s novel (Card Sharp Silver) introduces the world and some pretty awesome characters. The anthologies explore that world in its past (Bitter Mountain Moonlight), present (Open Ended Threat), and future (Promise in the Gold).
Here are the synopses:
Card Sharp Silver
Sheriff Blue West loves his pretend Sheriff job, tipping his hat to the tourists and reading all day. Fits him perfectly.
But when Annie “Silver” Stevens, a card sharp from 1900, appears in the modern Cave Creek, Nevada, claiming to be the real Annie Stevens, Cave Creek’s reputation for strange things happening strikes again.
Both Annie and Blue find themselves in very strange worlds and times that only the craziness of Cave Creek can explain.
The Twilight Zone needed a hometown. It found Cave Creek.
Bitter Mountain Moonlight
A mythical town nestled in a hidden canyon north of Las Vegas, Cave Creek attracts the strange, weird, and inexplicable.
Founded by a few settlers in the waning days of the 19th century, a gold rush in 1900 exploded Cave Creek into a boomtown with more than 8,000 residents.
But right from the beginning, strange events bedevil the residents. Unexplained things that often chase a resident down the valley to safer locations far, far away.
Finally, when the gold and silver play out, the weirdness continues.
The stories in Bitter Mountain Moonlight recount some of the strangest occurrences from the town’s past, and maybe even make you want to visit…
Includes:
“Threats and Kisses” by Deb Miller
“Stepping into the Light” by David H. Hendrickson
“The Room of Possibilities” by Robert J. McCarter
“Family Secrets” by R.W. Wallace
“Writing the Past” by Jason A. Adams
“With a Little Help” by Rebecca M. Senese
“Manna” by Edward J. Knight
“Rider Jones and the Portal” by Harvey Stanbrough
“Two Si’s for Sister Sally” by Jason A. Adams
Open Ended Threat
In present day Cave Creek, a powerful and dangerous current flows beneath the town’s peaceful and prosperous surface.
Strange, unexplained events long chased residents out of this former mining town nestled in a hidden canyon north of Las Vegas from the very beginning. The first anthology in this series, Bitter Mountain Moonlight, illustrated that.
But now, portals to other timelines appear and disappear in the desert and rocks around town. Sometimes the portals open only for seconds, other times long enough to threaten lives.
The stories in Open Ended Threat recount the stories of those who slip through from the future or the past and explain how the residents keep the town’s secrets.
Includes:
“Anniversary” by E.R. Paskey
“An Impossible Desert Flower” by Kari Kilgore
“Art of the Steal” by J.A. Bouma
“My Moment of Weird” by Robert J. McCarter
“Deep Cleaning” by Edward J. Knight
“Abandoned Mine”by Karen Fonville
“Moneyline Secrets” by R.W. Wallace
“Silver Mirage” by Kathryn Kaleigh
“The Run of her Life” by David H. Hendrickson
Promise in the Gold
Strange, unexplained events long plagued residents of Cave Creek, a former mining town nestled in a hidden canyon north of Las Vegas.
In two previous anthologies, Bitter Mountain Moonlight and Open Ended Threat, the stories recount the past and present of the mythical Cave Creek, where portals to other timelines open and then disappear in the desert and rocks around the town.
Promise in the Gold takes the reader into the future, where people who slip through the portals create new timelines—and past, present, and future cross paths in some very weird and sometimes scary ways.
Includes:
“Echoes” by Caleb Monroe
“A Mother’s Protection” by Deb Miller
“Raven’s Many Shadows” by Kate Pavelle
“In Search of Historical Truths” by Céline Malgen
“Searching for Dave” by Richard Freeborn
“Second Youth” by Rebecca M. Senese
“Finding Mercury” by Judy Lunsford
“Buster” by Teresa Gaskins
Click here to go to the Cave Creek series page to learn more.
With all these new reading options, I suspect Cave Creek will become your favorite place to visit.
Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer, working mother, and brain tumor survivor.