Category: Books

1920s, Books, fantasy, fiction, mystery, publishing, writing

Death by Disguise, MLA Winner

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I am honored and delighted to be able to share that Death by Disguise won the 2023 Maine Literary Award for Speculative Fiction. I was not expecting that at all! I was honored enough to be named as a finalist; actually winning the award was not on my radar at all.

The ceremony was held at Bates College (a very nice touch–I think I managed to work a joke about that into my acceptance speech, though I was so dazed I can’t really remember much that I said), and was absolutely lovely. I was pleased to be able to meet and cheer for so many wonderful Maine writers in every category. Our family settled in Maine just as the pandemic was starting to shut everything down in the state–not a good time to try to build or join a preexisting writing community! I joined the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance anyway, and spent a lot of time hoping that eventually they’d move back to doing in-person events rather than Zoom (which gives me a migraine if I use it for long). Now that they have, I am looking forward to participating in more events and workshops, and hope to get better acquainted with my fellow Maine writers. This award has certainly helped me feel more like I belong here!

This award has also helped push me into a project I’d been contemplating for some time but hadn’t gotten around to yet: rebranding Magic Most Deadly so that its cover matches the style and feel of the others in the series. When I wrote and published MMD (ten years ago this September!) I didn’t really know much about branding or how to choose a cover design. While I loved, and still love, the cover that my designer and I eventually came up with, it doesn’t really give off quite the right vibe for the “cozy fantasy-mystery” genre this series has, nor does it carry the Whitney & Davies logo that we developed by the time Glamours and Gunshots was published, and which has been on every subsequent book in the series.

My goal is to have the new edition available by the end of September, to celebrate the ten-year anniversary of MMD’s publication. We’ll see if I make it! I am also making some substantial edits to the story, as that was my first published book and honestly, it shows. I won’t be changing anything about the heart of the story or the characters, but I will be tightening it up, eliminating some unnecessary bits, bringing the characters into better focus, all that sort of thing. Using the skills I’ve learned through writing 3 more novels, many short stories, and four novellas in the ten years since publishing MMD to make it the story it was always meant to be!

I’m also going to be switching over print distribution for the Whitney & Davies novels from Amazon to IngramSpark over the course of the summer, so if you are a bookseller and have been wanting to carry these books but have been unable to due to the difficulties of buying wholesale through Amazon–good news! It will soon be much easier for you.

And hey, if you haven’t read the award-winning Death by Disguise yet, you can click here to buy. (You can buy the other books, too, but I might recommend waiting for Magic Most Deadly until the new edition comes out–unless you’d like to own both and compare them, in which case, have at it!)

1920s, Books, fantasy, fiction, writing

Death by Disguise 2023 Maine Literary Awards Finalist

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I’m so pleased to be able to announce that DEATH BY DISGUISE has been chosen as a finalist for the 2023 Maine Literary Awards!

https://www.mainewriters.org/events/2023-finalists

The Maine Literary Awards are sponsored by the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance. They are open to all writers who call Maine home and who have published a book in the most recent calendar year. For Death by Disguise to have made it to the final three in the Speculative Fiction category is a tremendous honor! The winners in each category will be announced May 18 at an awards ceremony. I am looking forward to attending that and getting a chance to meet some of my fellow Maine authors! (And yes, one of my first thoughts after sending in my RSVP was, “Ooh, what am I going to wear?”)

For newcomers to this blog, or in case you have forgotten about Whitney and Davies in the excitement of the recent Pauline Gray omnibus, a brief synopsis:

Whitney and Davies: the series

Death by Disguise is the third novel in the WHITNEY AND DAVIES fantasy-detective series set in 1920s England, a world where magic lies beneath the surface of everyday life and mysteries and intrigue lurk around every corner. In an England still recovering from the trauma of WWI, hidden magicians work to rebuild their world and make it a better place. Enter Maia Whitney and Len Davies, two magicians who team up to use their magic and their wits to bring justice to those who cannot find it for themselves. If you have a mystery that no one else can or will solve, you can call on Whitney & Davies to come to your aid, and they will bring all their formidable abilities to bring you justice, peace, and hope.

Death by Disguise: the book

In DEATH BY DISGUISE, Maia and Len travel to Cambridge to search for a missing secretary at the magical college of Saint Dorothea’s hidden inside Cambridge University. What begins as a simple missing person investigation soon turns grimmer when murder strikes at the college. Maia and Len are in a race against time to catch the murderer and find the missing secretary before she too is killed. In the midst of all this, their friendship faces new challenges as differences in values and perspectives come to light and cause strain between them. Will they be able to solve the mystery and maintain their partnership, or will this mark the end of Whitney & Davies … for good?

Pick up your copy of DEATH BY DISGUISE today and find out the answer for yourself!

(We here at StarDance Press highly recommend drinking a fine cup of tea along with reading the book. Daffodils are optional.)

Books, fiction, mystery, publishing, writing

Announcing Pauline Gray Investigates

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Death Comes to the North Country


Welcome to Canton, NY, a small farming town nestled in the northern foothills of the Adirondack mountains. It’s the 1930s, and to an outsider’s eye, this looks like an idyllic village mostly untouched by the Great Depression that is ravaging so much of the nation. But even the most idyllic towns and villages have their dark sides. When trouble comes to Canton, the folk there rely on each other to help out. And that includes one young woman in particular …


Meet Pauline Gray. A graduate of the prestigious St. Lawrence University in Canton, she fell in love with the town while in college and has never left. A journalist by day and a secret novelist by night, Pauline’s compassion and drive for justice pull her into mysteries that are too small or too peculiar for the police. She would really prefer a quieter life, but when people need her help, she can’t turn them away, no matter what the danger to herself might be.

Announcing … Pauline Gray Investigates, a collection of the three Pauline Gray novellas into one beautiful book! This omnibus contains Candles in the Dark, Diamonds to Dust, and Secrets of the Past, previously published separately and now conveniently gathered into one edition.

This book is available to purchase in ebook or paperback here, but even better than buying it online would be asking your local bookstore to order it for you. The heart and soul of the Pauline Gray stories is the importance of communities, and in that spirit I would love to see this book in as many local bookstores as possible, celebrating the importance of place.

If you do purchase this at your local bookstore, send me an email at stardancepress@gmail.com and include a photo so that I can see just how many bookstores Pauline has made it into! I’d love to feature your photos and your local bookstores in my next newsletter. (Which, by the way, you can sign up for here):

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Enjoy this beautiful omnibus, my friends! I certainly am.

Books, fiction, heroines, mystery, writing

All the News That’s Fit to … Type

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This blog has been pretty silent for a while, but that’s mostly been because there hasn’t been much to say. (Admittedly, it’s also been because the little there has been to say has gone in the newsletter rather than on here. Have you signed up for the newsletter yet? It goes out once a month generally, more frequently if there’s exciting book news or sales to announce.)

(Also, would you mind letting me know if the signup form is showing up properly for you? It’s either not showing up at all on one browser or telling me the link has expired on the other browser, and I’m not sure if that’s just me of if it’s misbehaving for all you readers as well. Sigh … technology is great, until it isn’t.)

Anyway, the news. It’s exciting! But I can’t tell you what it is yet. Argh. I know, I know! Suffice to say, I thought I was finished with Pauline Gray, but something new may—just may—be in the works after all.

If you are new here, Pauline Gray is my non-fantasy mystery series consisting of three novellas (I suppose that’s more of a trilogy than a series, but each book stands alone, so it feels more like a series to me … sigh. Classifying things is hard. Thus says the librarian-in-training.)

The series description on my book page goes thus:

Welcome to Canton, NY, a small farming town nestled in the northern foothills of the Adirondack mountains. It’s the 1930s, and to an outsider’s eye, this looks like an idyllic village mostly untouched by the Great Depression that is ravaging so much of the nation. But even the most idyllic towns and villages have their dark sides. When trouble comes to Canton, the folk there rely on each other to help out. And that includes one young woman in particular …

Meet Pauline Gray. A graduate of the prestigious St. Lawrence University, she fell in love with the town while in college and has never left. A journalist by day and a secret novelist by night, Pauline’s compassion and drive for justice pull her into mysteries that are too small or too peculiar for the police. She would really prefer a quieter life, but when people need her help, she can’t turn them away.

I grew to be very fond of Pauline, and the community of friends and neighbors that grew around her as her stories progressed, but by the time I came to the third novella, the strain of trying to keep up three series (Whitney & Davies, Pauline Gray, and From the Shadows—yes, that book is getting a sequel if I ever manage to finish writing the first draft), got to be too much for me. The third novella was a good stopping place, and so I bid farewell to Pauline and her friends.

Or did I?

Well, as I said, I can’t share anything specific yet, but stay tuned—news should be coming very soon!

Books, fiction, publishing

Paperback Book Options (Besides Amazon)

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I know many of us prefer not to shop for books on Amazon, so I wanted to offer an online option that some readers might not be aware of. Bookshop.org not only distributes all the StarDance Press paperbacks (the Whitney & Davies series, From the Shadows, the Pauline Gray novellas), they also give a portion of the price to the independent bookstore of your choosing.

Nothing quite beats going into a physical bookstore and browsing through their physical books, but that can be more and more challenging these days–there are fewer local indie bookstores in general, and most of them can’t afford to give shelf space to all the authors they might wish they could. It’s especially challenging for independent authors like myself, who are not supported by a marketing team from one of the “Big Five” traditional publishers (e.g. Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Hatchette Livre, and Macmillan).

So I am thankful for options such as bookshop.org, who are able to support local independent bookstores, small independent authors, and the reading community, all at the same time!

Books, fantasy, fiction, reading list, stories

Christmas Eve Book Flood Shopping

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https://books2read.com/u/4D6jae

I suspect many people by now have heard of “Jolabokaflod,” or “Christmas Book Flood.” It’s the Icelandic tradition of giving books on Christmas Eve and spending the evening reading. Whether you have an Icelandic heritage or not, this is a lovely tradition, and one I suspect many families would enjoy implementing as part of their own holiday practices! In our family, we’ve always given books as part of the main Christmas event (we do Christmas Eve gifts, but those are always either special Christmassy pajamas or a new ornament for the tree), and I’m not sure my crew would welcome a change now, but there is something so cozy about the idea of spending the night before Christmas curled up with a good book.

https://books2read.com/b/4ApPrq

And luckily for fans of StarDance Press, we have two separate series to choose from for books to give–or keep!–for reading on Christmas Eve, or any time during the holidays.

In Whitney and Davies, we have magic, mystery, the Roaring Twenties, Britain, friendship and witty banter, and a slow-burn romance that has been building through three books and one novella (and a couple of short stories!). Maia Whitney and Len Davies use their wits and their magical abilities to solve mysteries as they gradually learn to rely on each other and build a relationship on a foundation of trust and friendship. Fans have likened this series to “Agatha Christie with magic,” “Downton Abbey, The Dresden Files, and Right Ho, Jeeves,” and a blend of Dorothy L Sayers and Patricia C Wrede.

Not a fan of magic? Prefer a shorter read or a completed series? Try Pauline Gray, a collection of three mystery novellas set in the 1930s in the small town of Canton, NY, in the foothills of the Adirondacks. Pauline is a young career woman whose sense of justice keeps drawing her reluctantly into solving mysteries and becoming more tightly interwoven into the small town community as she does so. Fans say, “Recommended for fans of Patricia Wentworth novels, Jimmy Stewart movies, and fans of 1930s Americana.”

https://books2read.com/b/bzggJD

Rather not commit to any series at all, preferring a stand-alone work? A fan of Star Wars, Star Trek, or other sci-fi that focuses on the human condition? From the Shadows is perfect for you! This gentle sci-fi story follows Riss Waldron on a journey through space and time, yes, but also through the struggles of her own heart and sense of self-worth. Fans have related it to Jane Austen, LM Montgomery, or the Mitford series (in space!).

So whatever your taste in books, StarDance Press has something to offer. All our books are available in ebook and paperback format, and you can access them through any of the links in this post.

So what are you waiting for? The only trouble now might be waiting to give them (and read them!) until Christmas Eve!

Oh, and don’t forget one very special book–

https://books2read.com/b/4A5eMe

Part of the Whitney and Davies series, but able to be read and enjoyed all on its own without any knowledge of the rest of the books, While Shepherds Watch is a delightfully lighthearted Christmas mystery. A crumbling Yorkshire manor, rumors of a ghost wandering the halls, a young girl with a deep secret, and a cad who needs to be taught a lesson. Only Maia and Len can smooth out these tangles to make a Happy Christmas for all! If you like your Christmas books to be, well, Christmassy, than this is definitely the book for you!

1920s, Books, publishing, writing

Available Now: Death by Disguise, Whitney & Davies Book 3

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Purchase your copy here

“The walls of Saint Dorothea’s College in Cambridge hide more secrets than simply the existence of magic …

Lennox Davies couldn’t be happier when the detective agency of Whitney and Davies receives a summons to investigate a missing secretary at the magical college of Saint Dorothea’s in Cambridge.  He envisions a charming locked room puzzle, to be followed by strolling the streets of the ancient and beautiful university city with his friend and partner in detection Maia Whitney. What could be better?

But delight soon turns to dismay when a man is murdered. Not only that, the missing secretary seems to have vanished into the morning mists off the River Cam. Will Maia and Len be able to catch the killer before the secretary’s dead body turns up as well? Or is it already too late? Before long even the bond between partners is strained as Len and Maia find themselves at odds over their values.

What began as a clever exercise in deduction turns into their most challenging mystery yet, and one that could result in the end of Whitney and Davies … forever.”

Be swept away by the world of Whitney and Davies … England in 1926, with magic lurking just beneath the surface of everyday life, and secrets hidden around every corner. Let your imagination carry you to the university city of Cambridge and unravel the puzzle of the missing secretary alongside Maia and Len. Can you spot the culprit before they do? The only way to find out is by reading!

If you prefer the tactile experience of a paperback book, click here.

If you enjoy the convenience and immediacy of an e-book, click here.

Whichever way you choose to read, you are sure to fall in love with Maia and Len and their world!

(And if you’re interested in discovering more of their world, this page has links to purchase the rest of the books in the series.)

1920s, Books, publishing, writing

Looking Back … While Shepherds Watch

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I started writing While Shepherds Watch Thanksgiving weekend 2020. It had been a tumultuous year–for the entire world, obviously, with the pandemic, but also for our family, with moving back to the States from England earlier than originally planned, a major shift in our plans and dreams, buying a house (in the midst of a lockdown!), starting our kids in public school after years of homeschooling … it was a lot. Like with Magic Most Deadly, I found myself wanting and needing to write something fun and light-hearted–and I also found I could not work on the third novel in the Whitney and Davies series, because it made me homesick for Cambridge every time I opened the document.

I began this story in my mother-in-law’s quiet living room after the Thanksgiving festivities while everyone else was outside finding a Christmas tree to cut down and bring inside, and finished it not long after. It did so much to restore my joy and hope in writing. I published it the next year in time for Christmas, and it has quickly become a favorite in the series for fans as well as for myself.

I also found that after writing it I was able to return to the third novel with fresh eyes and enough distance that writing a story set in Cambridge became a loving tribute to my time there rather than a painful reminder of where I no longer was. While Shepherds Watch also helped remind me to keep a light touch with Maia and Len, even as their journeys became more difficult and the choices before them more challenging. I am certain that writing this story is a huge factor in my being able to say that Death by Disguise is the best story I’ve written yet.

And on that note … Death by Disguise comes out TOMORROW! But there’s even more exciting news than that:

While the ebook doesn’t release until tomorrow, you can order the paperback edition NOW. Click here to purchase it from your preferred retail site!

1920s, Books, writing

Looking Back … Glamours and Gunshots

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Purchase Glamours and Gunshots here.

This book was such a challenge for me to write. I made several false starts, even had one entire draft written and scrapped it, and finally set it aside to work on other projects for a time. After writing the four short stories of Magic & Mayhem, I was able to sit down and figure out the story that wanted to be told in this book, and it all flowed from there.

One of the key changes between the first attempts and the final story was moving it ahead three years in time from the end of Magic Most Deadly, rather than having it be set immediately afterward. Having Maia at the end of her apprenticeship rather than the beginning was the key to getting the rest of the character developments to work.

The other key change from earlier drafts was the inclusion of the character of Helen Radcliffe. Initially I simply wanted Maia to have a female magician friend, but Helen quickly came to life with her own history, goals, and dreams. I keep telling myself that one of these days I’m going to write a short story featuring Helen so that she gets the spotlight rather than having to share it with anyone, but so far the right story hasn’t come along. I hope it does soon!

The side characters have always been as much of a delight to write as Maia and Len themselves. In Magic Most Deadly, it was Ellie and Merry, Maia’s sisters, and Julia and Dan, Maia and Len’s mutual friends, who were the highlights–although Aunt Amelia stole the limelight whenever she was on stage as well. In Glamours and Gunshots it was Helen, and Len’s valet Becket came more into his own as well. Glamours and Gunshots also introduced the character of Gwen, who becomes much more of a vital character in Death by Disguise … but you can find that out for yourself on Tuesday, Nov 8!

1920s, Books, fantasy, writing

Looking Back … Magic and Mayhem

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Purchase Magic & Mayhem here

After publishing Magic Most Deadly, I struggled considerably with writing the sequel. I struggled so much, in fact, that I ended up writing an entirely different book, my sci-fi novel From the Shadows! But I knew I wanted to get back to Maia and Len eventually, and so finally I hit on the idea of a collection of short stories to ease me back into that world. I ended up with four stories, one of which featured Maia, one Len, and two with unrelated characters (although fan favorite Aunt Amelia did make a cameo appearance in one!). It was a fun exercise that allowed to me to explore the world I had created a little bit more, and did give me the impetus I needed to finally break through my block and write Glamours and Gunshots … but that’s tomorrow’s post.

I especially enjoyed playing around with different styles in these short stories. The Third Thief has a bit of a Margery Allingham flavor to it; Passion and Practicality is very much a homage to Jane Austen; Masks and the Magician was meant to evoke a Dorothy L Sayers feel. Many Magical Returns, well, that one was all me. I enjoyed writing all of them, though I think I snickered to myself the most through Passion and Practicality. I tend to struggle a bit with short stories in general, as I always initially attempt to shove more plot in than can nicely fit in under 10,000 words, so this was a good growing experience for me as a writer as well as helping me to re-orient myself in the Whitney and Davies world. It also gave me a chance to tease out a bit more of the way magic works in this world, and to figure out some of the implications of principles and facts I had stated in the first book.

It was also helpful for me to realize that as much as I enjoyed writing individual stories for Maia and Len, I love writing them the most when they’re working together, which was, as stated above, tremendously helpful for when I was finally able to work through my creative block and make something good of Book 2 … of which you shall hear more tomorrow!