Cover Reveal!

Posted on May 16, 2014 by J.M. Ney-Grimm

Some of you may remember that last December I teamed up with fellow writer D.J. Gelner to create an anthology with the theme of ZOO. I blogged about it here.

That was 5 months ago, and the creative stew pot has been cooking!

We received a bunch of stellar stories. We put them through a rigorous editorial process. The writers delivered top-notch revision drafts. Now we’re getting close to release!

Here’s a preview of the anthology cover. 😀

I’m thrilled! What do you think?

Quantum Zoo Amazon.com I Amazon UK I Amazon DE I Amazon ES

To read excerpts from Quantum Zoo:
Serpent’s Foe
Demon Rising
Skipdrive
Echoes of Earth
A King in Exile

For a list of the 12 stories in Quantum Zoo, click here.

Goodreads Giveaway: A Knot of Trolls

Posted on April 28, 2014 by J.M. Ney-Grimm

Update: This Goodreads giveaway has now come to a close. Thank you to everyone who participated and congratulations to the lucky winners!

When one of my longer books is released as a trade paperback, I arrange a giveaway for it on Goodreads. This helps make readers aware of the new release and generates some excitement about it.

I’ll be giving away 10 copies of A Knot of Trolls, the winners to be decided in mid-May. Interested? The sign-up link is below.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

A Knot of Trolls

by J.M. Ney-Grimm

Giveaway ends May 10, 2014.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

About A Knot of Trolls

North-lands spellcasters who reach too boldly for power transform into trolls – grotesque villains wielding a potent magic and destined for madness.

Spanning the North-lands history, from ancient times to the pastoral present, A Knot of Trolls features seven such evildoers. Seven trolls and the ordinary youths called by chance or by destiny to take a stand.

“The Troll’s Belt” stars motherless Brys Arnsson, challenged as much by his own deceit as by his troll foe. “Crossing the Naiad” presents shepherd girl Kimmer with a dangerous tragedy from the distant past.

“Skies of Navarys” follows two friends with a vehement difference, their contested decision to decide the fate of thousands. In “Resonant Bronze” Paitra and his brother struggle to claim appropriate guilt – neither too much nor too little – and thereby defeat a troll warlord.

A Knot of Trolls, Goodreads Giveaway “Rainbow’s Lodestone” offers the spirit of the rainbow a chance to learn that the smallest places birth freedom. “Star-drake” stalks a pitiless troll-herald to defeat – or is it victory? – utterly unforeseen.

And in “Perilous Chance” young Clary needs a miracle. But her miracle – when it comes – sports razor-sharp talons, world-shaking power, and a troll-witch to guard its sleep.

Seven tales of magic balance death and destruction against destiny and hope.

Praise for the Stories in A Knot of Trolls

“I loved this story! It is lively, perky and interesting. While the author notes it is “a re-casting of Hansel & Gretel with a Norse twist,” I found the storyline to be much more creative and original. I am looking forward to reading more from J.M. Ney-Grimm!” – Amazon review of The Troll’s Belt

“A quick, refreshing piece of literature. Like a cool sip of water after a grueling endurance marathon . . . It’s swift and concise, but the prose is eloquent and deft, to the point, yet gracefully articulate . . . again I am enthralled with the completeness of the picture the author is painting. The world comes to life . . .” – Goodreads review of Crossing the Naiad

“. . . an imaginative science-fiction fantasy . . . well-written and interesting . . . The characters are realistic thirteen years old with all their curiosity, doubts, amiability and daring in the face of adversity.” – Goodreads review of Skies of Navarys

“. . . a wonderful (longer) short story with Ney-Grimm’s characteristic voice. It flows like a fairy tale and has an airy, almost fanciful feel to it . . .This ephemeral tone is what sets her work apart from anything else I’ve read – it’s absolutely unique, and absolutely engaging. Perilous Chance is no exception, and it’s my favourite story of Ney-Grimm’s so far.” – Speaking to the Eyes review of Perilous Chance

If you’d prefer not to wait, here are the shopping links for right-now readers: 😀

A Knot of Trolls, trade paperback
Amazon.com I Amazon UK I B&N I CreateSpace

A Knot of Trolls, ebook
Amazon.com I Amazon UK I Amazon DE I Amazon ES
B&N I iTunes I Kobo I Smashwords

The Troll’s Belt in Paperback!

Posted on March 31, 2014 by J.M. Ney-Grimm

Another paper release to announce: The Troll’s Belt is now available as a trade paperback. I’m thrilled!

Portrait of Brys in front of Ryndal's hillcot

Young Brys Arnsson digs himself into trouble.

Bad trouble.

Tricked by a troll in J.M. Ney-Grimm’s richly imagined North-lands, Brys must dig himself and his best friend back out of danger. But that requires courage . . . and self-honesty. Traits Brys lacks at depth.

A twist on a classic, The Troll’s Belt builds from humor-threaded conflict to white-knuckle suspense.

The Troll’s Belt as a trade paperback:
5″x 8″ trim size • 102 pages
ISBN-10: 0615896294
ISBN-13: 978-0615896298
Amazon.com I Amazon UK I Amazon DE I Amazon ES I B&N I CreateSpace

The Troll’s Belt continues to be available as an ebook:
Amazon.com I Amazon UK I Amazon DE I Amazon ES
B&N I iTunes I Kobo I Smashwords

The following review has been on Goodreads for quite a while, but it’s so glowing I can’t resist excerpting it here. 😀

“The writing style is fantastic. It’s somehow youthful (as it’s through the eyes of a twelve year old) and mature at the same time. Normally, it would be a challenge to discuss…responsibility, loyalty and forgiveness with such a young “voice,” but Ney-Grimm does so easily. The result is a thought provoking tale… Heartily recommended, and it’s made me look forward to reading more of her work!”

Crossing the Naiad in Paperback!

Posted on March 29, 2014 by J.M. Ney-Grimm

Designing the front covers for my paperbacks is easy. I want them to match the ebook editions, so a little adjustment to allow for the difference in size – thumbnail ebook versus X” by Y” trade paperback – and it’s good.

Front cover images of a naiad underwater

Designing the back cover is fun! It’s like an art puzzle. How do I take the visual theme of the front cover and continue it on the back in a way that will work? Satisfying to work on the puzzle. Even more satisfying to solve it.

Designing the interiors involves similar pleasures of visual ingenuity and creativity.

All the design work is play for me.

Then comes the hard part!

I upload the files to CreateSpace. I look at the digital proof online. It looks good. I order the physical proof. The margins on the cover are different than those I’ve specified in my files. I make a guess as to what CreateSpace will do at their end.

(They’re not organized in such a way that I can talk with the technician who actually does the work of converting my files for the print-on-demand printing machine.)

I upload the files again. This time, the margins are correct, but the title on the spine has slipped and is lopsided. I make more guesses about the best adjustments to make. I upload the file again and order yet another proof.

The cover is perfect! Yay! But as I flip through the interior – the interior that has been proofread umpteen million times – I spot a typo. It’s in the copyright statement about fair use. I grit my teeth and decide to live with it. Then I spot another typo. Grr! This one is in the body of the story. No, I can’t live with it. I correct the files again. This time, the proof copy is perfect.

I click the approve button at CreateSpace.

And three days later, my book is available for purchase on Amazon! As several more weeks go by, my book makes its way into the extended distribution system. Eventually it will appear in such bookstores as Powell’s in Portland, Oregon and Fishpond in Australia!

Now, that makes it all worthwhile. But you can see why I’m pretty thrilled when I make it all the way through the gauntlet of CreateSpace.

Recently, a spate of my books has passed through that treacherous channel. Today I’m pleased to announce the release of Crossing the Naiad in paper.

Front and back book covers depicting a naiad underwater

Its truth forgotten in the mists of time, the old bridge harbors a lethal secret. Neither marble statues awakened for battle nor an ancient roadbed grown hungry, something darker and more primal haunts the stones and the wild river below.

Kimmer knows the stories, but she doesn’t know why the crumbling span feels so fraught with menace. Her way home lies across the ruin. Dare she take it? Or will horror from the lost past rise up to claim her, when she does?

Crossing the Naiad as a trade paperback:
5″x 8″ trim size • 46 pages
ISBN-10: 061589058X
ISBN-13: 978-0615890586
Amazon.com I Amazon UK I Amazon DE I Amazon ES I CreateSpace

Crossing the Naiad continues to be available as an ebook:
Amazon.com I Amazon UK I Amazon DE I Amazon ES
B&N I iTunes I Kobo I Smashwords

Just a few weeks ago, Crossing the Naiad received a very positive review on Goodreads!

Livli’s Gift in Paperback!

Posted on March 25, 2014 by J.M. Ney-Grimm

After printing umpteen million proof copies – okay, I’m exaggerating! it just seemed like that many – CreateSpace has finally disgorged an edition that looks the way I want it to! Livli’s Gift is now available in paperback. I’m thrilled!

Livli paperback photo 3853

Livli heals challenging injuries among the pilgrims to Kaunis-spa. Its magical hot spring gives her an edge, but Livli achieves spectacular cures mainly because she refuses to fail.

A pioneer, she hopes to match her new ways for banishing hurt with new ways of living.

But the sisters of Kaunis-lodge fear rapid change. What precious things might they lose while tossing old inconveniences?

Livli pushes forward the new, and one influential foe pushes back. Kaunis-home will keep its revered traditions, even if Livli loses almost everything.

Everything . . . and the one thing she absolutely cannot lose.

Livli seeks an answer in the oldest lore of her people, something so ancient, it′s new. But mere resolve against failure meets an immovable counter force this time. Victory requires more.

Must surrender spell defeat? Or could letting go harness real power?

Livli’s Gift as a trade paperback:
6″x 9″ trim size • 212 pages
ISBN-10: 0615743080
ISBN-13: 978-0615743080
Amazon.com I Amazon UK I B&N I CreateSpace

Livli’s Gift continues to be available as an ebook:
Amazon.com I Amazon UK I Amazon DE I Amazon ES
B&N I Diesel I iTunes I Kobo I Smashwords

Update: A lovely review appeared on Goodreads over the weekend, so lovely that I can’t resist sharing it!

“I have never read a novel that made me feel so good. Mrs Ney-Grimm, you absolutely BLEW MY MIND! . . . It was so unique, so original . . . Usually I blast through the pages of a book that I love, but Livli’s Gift made me want to go as slow as possible, absorbing every moment of bliss.” – Goodreads review

New Home Page

Posted on January 16, 2014 by J.M. Ney-Grimm

J.M. Ney-Grimm in 2007 I just reviewed my notes from a workshop I attended in 2012.

And there in the section on visibility – making it easy for my readers to find me and my work online – was a poser.

For heaven’s sake, don’t put your blog on the landing page of your website!

Erm. Yes. Precisely.

:: squirms a bit ::

So…my blog is, in fact, the landing page for this website.

:: squirms some more ::

After the squirming, I thought about this particular advice, given by a writer with decades of experience in publishing. A writer who is also in the forefront of the new indie publishing world.

Here’s the thing.

The vast majority of the people who search “J.M. Ney-Grimm” online – or who search Troll-magic online 😀 – have no interest in me, the author.

They just want to know if my newest book has released yet.

Or, maybe, what some of my older titles are, because they discovered my newest work and now want more.

For these folk…landing on my blog is a nuisance, a distraction, even a bore. Yikes!

Thank you, all of you, who like reading my blog. I appreciate every single one of you very much!

But what of the folk who feel that Shakespeare was right. “The Play’s the Thing…”

Luckily, there’s a simple solution: create a new landing page.

That is what I’m going to do.

So why am I telling you all about it? Why not just get the job done and go quietly forward?

Because I am not a tech whizz! And I’m concerned that those of you who have my blog bookmarked or those of you using an RSS feed for reading my blog may have your arrangements disturbed.

My hope is that nothing will be disturbed. Your bookmark will bring you here as usual. Your RSS feed will carry my weekly post as normal.

But if that is not the case…if your bookmark lands you on my new landing page…if your RSS feed suddenly displays only my new landing page…

My blog is still here. You’ll see the word Blog in the navigation bar. Click on it and then update your bookmark (or your RSS feed), and the status quo will return.

I do apologize for any inconvenience. I’m hoping there won’t be any, but…we shall see next week, when I make the change!

Update: I’ve made the switch! The moment I clicked the “publish” button was nerve-wracking. What had I done? Ack!

Once I examined what I had wrought, I felt better. The RSS feed seems not to have been disrupted. My blog appears on my Amazon author page and on my Goodreads author page via my RSS feed. And it’s still there! Yay!

The blog URL has changed. It used to be JMNey-Grimm.com. Now it is JMNey-Grimm.com/blog/. So, those of you with bookmarks…please update them! I appreciate you very much, and hope you’ll continue to visit here frequently!

For more about blogging:
Copyright Statement for My Website
Why Create a Site Map?
Slow Blogging and Other Variations
SPAM Deluge

New Release! Devouring Light

Posted on January 15, 2014 by J.M. Ney-Grimm

I started this story with the idea it would go into an anthology of short stories – all with roots in a zoo theme.

In my mind, I labeled this story Star Circus, so it was a little off from the theme. But I was longing to tell it, so I figured: “Close enough!”

As I wrote, Star Circus veered further off course and got long, too long for the anthology.

Since I’d dreamed up another idea for my “zoo” story, which I was also aching to tell, I let this one, Devouring Light, have its way with me. All the way to its glorious conclusion.

And now it’s ready for you to enjoy! Devouring Light, in a bookseller near you! 😉

* * *

Can one small good deed offset ultimate destruction?

A goddess of ancient times under a volcanic sun Mercurio stands watch over the first planet, guiding it through the perils of the void. Part messenger, part prankster, he cocks an eye for danger, but not from afar. Close to home lurks the real risk that his festival for Sol’s 25th anniversary will be a bust.

Failed negotiations with constellations and his fellow guardians send him to the brink of complete frustration…when a beautiful celestial wanderer fetches up at his domicile, seeking refuge.

Her form beguiles. Her mystery intrigues. And Mercurio’s fascination with his visitor poses yet another threat to Sol’s celebration.

Will Mercurio recognize his role as cat’s paw soon enough? Or will a looming menace – more lethal than any of the guardians imagine – threaten the solar system’s very existence?

Devouring Light is available as an ebook in electronic bookstores.
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Calling All Indies

Posted on December 1, 2013 by J.M. Ney-Grimm

Are you an Indie author?

Do you write science fiction or fantasy?

Do you want to expand your audience of readers?

D.J. Gelner and I are creating an anthology of science fiction and fantasy stories for release this spring.

The idea is that some of his readers will become my readers. And some of my readers will become his readers.

And some of our readers will become your readers!

D.J. writes powerful, dramatic stories with “gotcha” kickers at the end. I write epic fantasy in which the stakes are high and my protag’s personal world is reshaped whether victory or defeat transpires.

I know my fellow Indies create some pretty amazing stuff, too!

Here’s a summary of our anthology project:

Genre: science fiction and fantasy

Theme: zoo

Use this as a writing prompt – your story doesn’t have to be set in a zoo or even to have to do with animals. Think of “zoo” as a springboard to get you started, not as a rigid limit. We welcome extremely creative submissions!

Number of Stories: We’re shooting for 10-15, but we are flexible. We will not omit a story, if we think it fits – if your story doesn’t, we encourage you to indie publish it!

Word Count: up to 9,000 words per story

Submission Deadline: January 31, 2014

Interested?

I’m really excited about this project, and I hope you will be, too!

Email us at zooSFFanthology (at) gmail (dot) com for more information.

D.J. and I look forward to hearing from you!

Update: January 31 has come and gone, and D.J. and I have received an in-box full of great stories! As I write this note, we’re reading and enjoying. Soon we’ll begin chosing exactly which stories to include in the anthology. I’ll keep you posted – with more updates – as we make progress. 😀

Update 2: Quantum Zoo released June 14, 2014 with a great splash! Many, many readers bought it and the positive reviews started pouring in. A common theme in those reviews: “I don’t usually like short story collections, but this one is great!” The anthology continues to sell steadily, carrying the names of the contributing writers to ever more readers. It’s done better than I believed was possible. After all, this whole project was an experiment. I’m calling it a success.

For more about Quantum Zoo:
Pin Board for Quantum Zoo
Quantum Zoo: “A King in Exile”
Launch Day: Quantum Zoo
Quantum Zoo: “Skipdrive”
Quantum Zoo Party!
Quantum Zoo: “Demon Rising”
Quantum Zoo in Paperback!

Skies of Navarys in Paper!

Posted on November 11, 2013 by J.M. Ney-Grimm

Get it, because you like full bookshelves. Get it, because you enjoy a stylish book on your coffee table. Get it to read. Get it to give as a gift. (Grin!) The trade paperback edition of Skies of Navarys is here!

Navarys paperback photo 3844

Two friends. Two ways of approaching life. One dilemma.

Liliyah studies energea as all thirteen-year-olds in Navarys do, devoting her mornings to mastering the music that controls her magic. Afternoons, she hobnobs with the artisan crafters and shopkeepers who built the island city-state into the trade capital of the world.

Her friend Mago faces struggles unsuspected by carefree Liliyah. His father, a renowned inventor, succombs to irrational flashes of rage. His mother holds a lethal secret close.

When a royal geomancer announces that the goddess Evaia shrugs, every citizen on the island springs to action. Disaster waits on no one’s leisure! Amidst the uproar, the aeromancer Palujon steals Mago’s father’s latest invention: unique lodestones with the potential to revolutionize life as the Navareans know it.

Mago discovers the theft and vows to make good his father’s loss. But Liliyah questions Palujon’s motives. Why would a man of his stature break the law? Is he truly a rogue?

Two friends. Two answers. Life and death hang on their choices.

Here are the “stats” for the trade paperback:

5″x 8″ trim size • 116 pages
ISBN-10: 0615880320
ISBN-13: 978-0615880327
Amazon.com I Amazon UK I B&N I CreateSpace

Skies of Navarys is also available as an ebook in electronic bookstores.
Amazon.com I Amazon UK
B&N I Diesel I iTunes I Kobo I Smashwords I Sony

New Release! Resonant Bronze

Posted on October 22, 2013 by J.M. Ney-Grimm

It usually takes several weeks for a new release to go live on all the different e-tailer sites. I tend to get impatient, waiting and waiting for the new book to appear!

I’ve been especially eager for Resonant Bronze to debut. You see, Skies of Navarys is the first story in my Lodestone Tales, while Rainbow’s Lodestone and Star-drake are the third and fourth. What about the second? How can you have a proper sequence when number two is missing?

Well, it’s missing no longer. Resonant Bronze is here!

Resonant Bronze The warriors of Torbellai brought back a prize in the night, and young Paitra wants to see it. Even hidden away in the armory, the artifact changed the whole mood of their mountain citadel from dread foreboding to hope. And Paitra’s people need hope to turn the tide in their long war against the troll horde. Might this small triumph presage a mightier victory?

But the warlord hid the fighters’ plunder for good reason. Forged by trolls and radiating magic, it presents grave risk to the soul and spirit of any who approach it. Sneaking past the weapon smiths into the armory with his brother, Paitra still believes his home a safe place for boy’s mischief. But bronze hammered by trolls is anything but safe. Opportunity cloaked within its lethal enchantment awaits the right unlocking key. Could Paitra wield that key? And will he survive his curiosity?

Through death into magic and sound, Paitra confronts . . . resonant bronze.

Resonant Bronze is available in electronic bookstores.
Amazon.com I Amazon UK I Amazon DE I Amazon ES
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