Winter’s Last Chance

Posted on February 21, 2018 by J.M. Ney-Grimm

The Winter Warmer bundle comes off store shelves March 1. After that, it’s gone forever. That’s the nature of bundles.

ETA: The bundle is now gone, but all the stories that were in it are available solo. I urge you check them out, especially “Phoenix,” “Nutball Season,” Nobody’s Child, “Desperate Housewitches,” and my own Winter Glory.

Winter, a time of festivity, of hardship, and cold. Perhaps it remains the most superstitious of seasons and for many the most beloved. Snow, feasting, gifts, religious significance, family and getting together. A time for storytelling!

Thirteen tales about, or set in, the harshest of seasons. From witches to icy realms and faery kings, to holiday nutballs who might be less nutty than they seem. From detectives up against wintery crimes and mysteries to Christmas romance and second chances, there’s something for everyone in this winter warmer.

“Sanctuary” by Leslie Claire Walker
“Snowman’s Chance in Hell” by Robert Jeschonek
Tollard’s Peak by Michael Kingswood
“Phoenix” by Leslie Claire Walker
The Tuxedoed Man by Marcelle Dube
“Nutball Season” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
The Dreamweaver’s Journey by Diana L. Wicker
Dark Dancer by Jaleta Clegg
“Coconutty Christmas” by Ann Omasta
Nobody’s Child by Janet Dawson
Freak Sanctuary by Ann Stratton
“Desperate Housewitches” by Dayle A. Dermatis
Winter Glory by J.M. Ney-Grimm

For more about the stories and novels in the Winter Warmer bundle, see:
Winter Warmer: Phoenix
Winter Warmer: Nutball Season
Winter Warmer: Winter Glory
Winter Warmer: Nobody’s Child
Winter Warmer: Desperate Housewitches

Winter Warmer: Winter Glory

Posted on December 29, 2017 by J.M. Ney-Grimm

I’ve been writing mini reviews of my favorite stories in the Winter Warmer bundle to give you a taste of what the bundle contains.

This will be my last blog post about the bundle, but I want to remind you that my own novella, Winter Glory, is one of the 13 stories collected in it.

(There’s a mix of lengths: 6 shorts, 2 novellas, and 5 novels: ).

Obviously I cannot review my own work, but Winter Glory happens to have accumulated a bunch of reviews on Amazon. So I’m going to share a few excerpts with you.

The story moves along quickly. The descriptive language is nothing short of gorgeous without being repetitive or taking away from the plot. The characters are interesting, well-written… I love that the protagonists are older—I think the unconventional (read: not young and gorgeous and physically flawless) characters are relatable, and they stuck with me long after I had finished reading. —Mary Anne

The writing is lucid, elegant, smooth. Ney-Grimm creates a fantasy world of Norse legends, but with real people… the settings are gorgeous, sketched with quick perfect strokes. The culture she writes is realized in great detail in few words. I felt as if I had dropped in. —Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt

A little atmospheric gem of a novella…puts you into the lead character’s shoes beautifully, and that’s a treat because the protagonist, and his society, is so alien. It’s interesting, beautifully written, and worth re-reading. —Rich S.

An excellent fantasy—well written and absorbing, with a lot of depth in both background and characters. It would be worth reading just for the fascinating details of life and different cultures in this cold landscape, but the characters are people you can care about. —Paul T.

I have been drawn to this writer’s work by her vivid use of language. This story is no exception in how it showcases her skills on that front, but what really makes it magical is that this is a story with a strong heart. In the starkly beautiful Northlands—a place that Ney-Grimm conveys so clearly it’s like watching a movie on the inside of your skull—two people who once knew and loved each other meet up again. This is their story… —Laura M.

Thank you so much to those of you who have taken the time and made the effort to review my stories. I love hearing what my readers think, and when your words are words of praise, I feel great!

Here’s the blurb for Winter Glory:

In the cold, forested North-lands—redolent with the aroma of pine, shrouded in snow, and prowled by ice tigers and trolls—Ivvar seeks only to meet his newborn great granddaughter.

Someone else has the same plan.

Traversing the wilderness toward the infant’s home camp, Ivvar must face the woman he once cherished and an ancient scourge of the chilly woodlands in a complicated dance of love and death.

Ivvar’s second chance at happiness—and his life—hang in the balance.

Bundles remain available for a short time only, usually about 6 weeks, sometimes a bit longer.

The Winter Warmer bundle is now gone, but the stories that were in it remain available separately. A few are so good that each was worth the price of the bundle all on its own.

I urge you to check out the individual titles with an eye to purchasing the ones that particularly appeal to you.

Winter Glory is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iTunes and Smashwords.

For more about the stories and novels from the Winter Warmer bundle, see:
Winter Warmer: Phoenix
Winter Warmer: Nutball Season
Winter Warmer: Nobody’s Child
Winter Warmer: Desperate Housewitches

Winter Warmer: Desperate Housewitches

Posted on December 22, 2017 by J.M. Ney-Grimm

Kimberly reigns as the witchy Martha Stewart of her neighborhood coven…until Philippa moves in across the street, with her snooty English pagan heritage and her magical one-upmanship. When the annual Winter Solstice ritual goes horribly wrong, can Kim and Philippa put their differences aside and avert disaster?

In preparation for writing this blog post, I re-read “Desperate Housewitches” by Dayle A. Dermatis.

I intended to peruse only the first few paragraphs to refresh my memory, but the story is so good it beguiled me onward for “one page more” all the way until I reached the end. I found it just as delightful, charming, and fun as I did the first time through.

The real heart of the tale is change and jealousy and making new friends, but the window dressing of witch’s hat fascinators, patchwork gift bags, peppermint fudge, and other housewifey projects adds a sparkle that makes the whole story sing.

Kimberly, who was always “the one with the best decorations, the best food at potlucks, the best parties, the best poison garden (for show only, of course),” feels threatened by newcomer Philippa, who uses magic to do her work, instead of doing the work to fuel her magic.

Their rivalry starts at Halloween (or Samhain, as the witches term it) and escalates as the year progresses to its close.

I loved Kimberly’s verve, the inventive world building of the coven and its neighborhood, the clever intertwining of the personal with the ritual, and how the whole desperate situation worsens and comes to a head.

“Desperate Housewitches” is altogether a gem of a short story. I’ll definitely be reading more by Dayle A. Dermatis.

Bundles remain available for a short time only, usually about 6 weeks, sometimes a bit longer.

The Winter Warmer bundle is now gone, but the stories that were in it remain available separately. A few are so good that each was worth the price of the bundle all on its own.

I urge you to check out the individual titles with an eye to purchasing the ones that particularly appeal to you.

“Desperate Housewitches” by Dayle A. Dermatis is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and iTunes.

For more about the stories and novels from the Winter Warmer bundle, see:
Winter Warmer: Phoenix
Winter Warmer: Nutball Season
Winter Warmer: Nobody’s Child
Winter Warmer: Winter Glory

Winter Warmer: Nobody’s Child

Posted on December 15, 2017 by J.M. Ney-Grimm

“Jeri combines V.I.’s social conscience with Kinsey’s bad-ass attitude and a snappy narrative voice… Dawson manages to blend her social criticism into a rich plum pudding sprinkled throughout with memorable characters.”

Those were the words of Maureen Corrigan in the Washington Post Book World, and they sum up the novel Nobody’s Child by Janet Dawson excellently.

Nobody’s Child is one of thirteen titles in the Winter Warmer bundle. I read it several weeks ago and enjoyed the book very much.

Its private investigator protagonist, Jeri Howard, felt utterly human and real. I especially liked that she was a well-grounded, middle-aged woman struggling with the normal issues that confront women in their thirties and forties, trying to discern the way she wants her life to be and how to make it so. I sympathized with her, liked her, and wanted her to succeed.

Amidst her own struggles, she pursues a missing person case that lands in her lap.

Unlike so many detective novels, this one features neither the highly dramatic neuroses of a dysfunctional detective (such as an alcoholic), who can’t relate healthily to those around him, nor the entirely carefree quilter or cook who solves mysteries on the side and seems to have no substantive problems at all.

Jeri Howard has problems, but they are honest ones, and she tackles them with honesty and good sense, just as she brings those qualities to bear on her missing person investigation.

In the course of Jeri Howard’s search for Maureen Smith and her toddler daughter, Nobody’s Child thoroughly explores all the issues surrounding the plight of the homeless. It avoids falling into either extreme pathos and melancholy or melodrama, steering flawlessly and informatively through the reality in way that educates the reader without browbeating him or reducing a complex situation to simple solutions and a political agenda.

Because the topic is dark, Nobody’s Child is a dark book. It could easily have proved too dark for me, but the protagonist, and her normal and healthy relationships with family and friends, balanced the sadness of the homeless so well that the story did not plunge me into gloom.

Additionally, the plot of the story was well constructed, and the pace of events and revelations moved along at a good clip, keeping me intrigued and interested throughout.

Here’s the official blurb:

It’s a cold rainy winter. Oakland PI Jeri Howard is having a tough time getting into the Christmas spirit—and dealing with a prickly client. Naomi Smith’s daughter Maureen ran away three years ago. At various times Maureen was homeless. Now she’s probably dead and her two-year-old daughter is missing. It’s dangerous out on the mean streets of Berkeley, for an adult let alone a child.

Can Jeri find the little lost toddler before time runs out?

Bundles remain available for a short time only, usually about 6 weeks, sometimes a bit longer.

The Winter Warmer bundle is now gone, but the stories that were in it remain available separately. A few are so good that each was worth the price of the bundle all on its own.

I urge you to check out the individual titles with an eye to purchasing the ones that particularly appeal to you.

Nobody’s Child by Janet Dawson is available as an ebook and in paperback on Amazon and in paperback on Barnes & Noble.

For more about the stories and novels from the Winter Warmer bundle, see:
Winter Warmer: Phoenix
Winter Warmer: Nutball Season
Winter Warmer: Desperate Housewitches
Winter Warmer: Winter Glory

Winter Warmer: Nutball Season

Posted on December 8, 2017 by J.M. Ney-Grimm

I love Christmas stories, from the original about the babe in a manger through Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol to Connie Willis’ Miracle and Other Christmas Stories and more by other contemporary authors.

As I was reading through the Winter Warmer bundle (in which my novella Winter Glory appears), I encountered a new Christmas story to love: “Nutball Season” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.

I’ll share the official blurb and then talk about a few of the elements that charmed me. Here’s the blurb:

According to Officer Nick Mantino, Nutball Season runs from Halloween to Christmas. This Christmas season, he sees more than his usual number of nutballs.

First, there’s the geezer who thinks he’s been cast in Miracle on 34th Street. Then there’s Mrs. Billings, who has told everyone she’ll shoot Santa if he lands on her roof.

Mrs. Billings has scared the local children, and Nick Mantino must investigate. What he finds in Prudence Billings’ house scares him too—and makes him wonder if he hasn’t just joined the lists of candidates for Nutball of the Year.

So why do I love this story?

The biggest reason is Officer Nick Mantino, who’s lonely and longing for family, but making the best of it, doing his job and dealing with the crazies brought out by the holiday season. He’s an experienced cop, a realist, and doesn’t suffer fools gladly. Yet he finds his pragmatism conflicting with his basic decency and niceness, causing him to treat a Santa impersonator with kindness.

I loved Nick and found myself believing in him, rooting for him, and liking him. He’s very human and very much the heart of the story. But the plot of “Nutball Season” is clever and fun, and the happy ending is completely in the spirit of the season, encompassing healing and new beginnings.

I won’t say more, because I don’t want to give away all the good stuff. Get it, read it, and enjoy it!

“Nutball Season” is available solo, but I urge you to pick up your copy via the Winter Warmer bundle, because then you’ll obtain several other stories with it that are equally good.

Bundles remain available for a short time only, usually about 6 weeks, sometimes a bit longer.

The Winter Warmer bundle is now gone, but the stories that were in it remain available separately. A few are so good that each was worth the price of the bundle all on its own.

I urge you to check out the individual titles with an eye to purchasing the ones that particularly appeal to you.

“Nutball Season” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and iTunes.

For more about the stories and novels from the Winter Warmer bundle, see:
Winter Warmer: Phoenix
Winter Warmer: Nobody’s Child
Winter Warmer: Desperate Housewitches
Winter Warmer: Winter Glory

Winter Warmer: Phoenix

Posted on December 1, 2017 by J.M. Ney-Grimm

“My blood seethed with power.
       “The ones who didn’t fear me wanted something from me.
       “I was the Serpent. The original tempter. The one who convinced humanity that the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge belonged to them, too. People assumed I was evil because their books told them so. They blamed me for everything wrong in their lives, including their own crappy decisions. They ought to have thanked me instead. Wasn’t for me, they’d still be walking around naked in a paradise that was more like a prison. Wasn’t for me, they wouldn’t have two brain cells to rub together.
       “Evil? No. Bringer of knowledge? Yes.”

—“Blood to Blood,” Leslie Claire Walker

I first encountered Leslie Claire Walker and her short story “Blood to Blood” in a book bundle containing The Uncollected Anthology: Magical Motorcycles. I knew within the first few pages of the tale that I would want to read more by her.

Walker presents a world in which the serpent of Eden has become Malek, a tattoo artist who speaks only in sign language and who inks magical and deadly tattoos with his own poisonous blood. Old gods with new names stalk the night—The Mayor, Gator, and other monstrous powers—while the Fae cross the deadly In-Between to emerge from Faery and meddle in the affairs of men.

“Phoenix,” another short story by Walker, tells the tale of Stacy, a human witch who steals one of three most precious possessions from a princess of Faery. Something more precious than blood, safety, or home.

I loved both “Blood to Blood” and “Phoenix.” When I encountered “Silver Dust,” which continues where “Phoenix” left off, I loved it as well.

Malek appears in all three stories; he is the protagonist in the first, while the young witch Stacy takes that role in the second, and the Faery princess Silver in the third. Each of them engaged my partiality and pulled at my heartstrings.

I found it fascinating how each installment felt fully complete and satisfying in itself and yet also filled in different segments of a larger saga, approaching the whole from different angles and using different themes.

I’m eager to read more of Walker’s works.

So, why am I telling you about Leslie Claire Walker and her stories? Well, first off, she’s good and her stories are excellent. Check them out!

But, secondly…I have another of my own titles in a book bundle along with Walker’s “Phoenix” and a number of other stories by authors that are well worth reading. Let me tell you a little about the Winter Warmer bundle. 😀

Available for 3 months only — December, January, and February.

And here’s the official blurb for “Phoenix” by Leslie Claire Walker:

A mystery girl appears in the midst of a winter thunderstorm, seeking a witch to break a terrible curse: the girl has accidentally destroyed the Realm of Faery.

Seventeen-year-old Stacy, young to the Craft but growing in power and reputation thanks to her hand in thwarting the last apocalypse, might be able to save both Faery and the girl.

If Stacy refuses to help, both the realm and the girl will die. But helping the girl can only lead to heartbreak—and a choice that will change them both forever.

An impossible problem. A heroine with the courage and heart to take on the challenge against all odds. To enter the magic, read “Phoenix.”

Bundles remain available for a short time only, usually about 6 weeks, sometimes a bit longer.

The Winter Warmer bundle is now gone, but the stories that were in it remain available separately. A few are so good that each was worth the price of the bundle all on its own.

I urge you to check out the individual titles with an eye to purchasing the ones that particularly appeal to you.

“Phoenix” by Leslie Claire Walker is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and iTunes.

For more about the stories and novels from the Winter Warmer bundle, see:
Winter Warmer: Nutball Season
Winter Warmer: Nobody’s Child
Winter Warmer: Desperate Housewitches
Winter Warmer: Winter Glory

For more about other bundles, see:
Here Be Dragons
Spring Surprise
Immortals
Remembering Warriors
Mythic Tales
More than Human