Cantering into Equidona

On May 1, 2022, my first fantasy novel was published. Persephone's Mare, revisits the setting of my Small Town Series, but 50 years in the future! 

This is the novel in which I use all of my knowledge of and experience with horses to tell an exciting story of a girl who is displaced in time and space.  Unknown to 17-year-old Persephone Gwilt, he mother was a witch. Not only that, she was born in a land that is invisible to everyone in the small town of Pine Oak, Florida. 

It seems that Persephone's mother had a rare gift--one that made the bad elements of her home world, Equidona, want her dead. And Persephone has inherited the this odd gene. Transported to Equidona by the odd twins Cleopatra and Ana Delorier, Persephone, under a false name, is soon immersed in the daily life of a horse training facility. She even begins dating a Uaine girl named Bon, who can speak to plants. 

But the Rogue Wizards are tracking her down. And they're getting closer and closer. 

This book took several years to write. For accuracy, I have confirmed my knowledge of the horse world by consulting several expert riders and trainers as subject experts and beta readers. And indeed, I have tried to make horses equal characters in the magical world of Equidona--a land that had not yet discovered technology but is sliding into ruin by using magic as a substitute for creativity. 

Please join Persephone and her friends--both old and new--as she rides across Equidona searching for ways to defeat the Rogue Wizards in their attempt to subjugate the land with their Dark Magic. 

As with a n umber of my other books, this should interest LGBTQ readers--especially lesbians and girls questioning their sexual identity--of all ages. 

And as an added bonus, Persephone's Mare puts a period to the story of Pine Oak, which I invented a decade ago and which didn't want to go without a good fight. 

For the other books featuring Pine Oak, check the titles below. None of these feature Persephone, who was yet to be born with the stories took place. Yet characters from that early Small Town Series still manage to influence Persephone's Mare. 

The News in Small Towns

Madness in Small Towns

Secrets in Small Towns

Mysteries in Small Towns. 

Falling Down, London Town

For the new year, three new Izzy titles have been released. One, Desert Girl, is the fourth installment in my Elodie Fontaine series. Another, 3 Elodie Fontaine Mysteries,  is a compilation of the first three books in the series—at a whopping savings—so here's a chance to get them all now.

The the third book,, London, Falling, is the one I want to discuss here because it is one that I have been thinking about for a very long time and am very proud of. And it is very different from my other books.

First of all, it is historical in that it takes place 50 years ago, in the hippie era. Second, it takes place in London, with brief stops in Paris and Venice. And third, it is not a mystery. No characters from any of my other books appear in London, Falling.

It is the story of Dawn Blackwell, daughter of the British Home Secretary, who wanders into the dark dens of the hippie scene, trying to find--well, she doesn't know quite what. In a London coffeehouse called The Rat's Nest she meets characters like Syd the Bass Player, Reefer John, The Skunk, Mr. Dark, Tristan the Jamaican, and various other waifs and tatterdemalions who live primarily on the street. But Dawn soon becomes obsessed with a mysterious young woman called Callie, who seems as much out of place at The Rat's Nest as is Dawn herself.

And like Dawn, Callie is a member of the so-called ruling class. Callie's desire to integrate herself into the hippie culture while trying to educate its members into finding purposes for their dire lives both puzzles and infuriates Dawn. Yet her attraction for the woman grows.

Remember that during this time the Vietnam War was raging and protests were flaring up in France, followed closely by the Kent State killings and other university protests in the U.S. Young people like Dawn were rebelling, not necessarily because they wanted to or because they had anything real to believe in, but because society was pushing them that way.

The 1960s shaped much of the way we live today. In fact, without that era, we would still be trapped in a world that despised homosexuals, paid women half of what men made, and discriminated fiercely against people of color.

Since that time, and especially in the last 3 years, society has split; half of us wants to go forward into universal acceptance, the other half wants to ban the existence of most people that do not think--or look--like them. It was interesting for me to delve into this world and find out--partially at least--where we came from.

Remember that all of my books except the "boxed sets" are available in both ebook and paperback. The ebooks can be read for free if you are a member of Kindle Unlimited.

Izzy's World

Almost a decade ago, I began my fictional writing career on a whim and with a scene I had been carrying around in my head for years. The novel that resulted, The News in Small Towns, spawned three sequels. I found that, in fact, I had been carrying multiple scenes in my head and, with one exception, they all took place in the same world--Izzy's World.

Looking back, I can see that there is an intererconnectedness in my books. Characters from one book sometimes pop up in another.  They all take place in the same geographical area and within a single lifespan; in other words, the same reality. Except for the fantasy element--dragons and witches and such--my own literary world is little different from Terry Pratchett's Discworld, for instance, or from C.S. Lewis' Narnia. Another major difference is that the protagonists of all of my novels are lesbians.

My first four books--The Small Town Series--take place in Pine Oak, a fictional town in North Florida. In them, Suee-Ann McKeown, after quitting her high-profile job as a war correspondentr in Iraq, returns to Pine Oak in Jasper County to work in a small bi-weekly newspaper. Her experience as an nvestigative reporter stands her in good stead to solve various and sundry small-town crimes. The first three books, The News in Small Towns, Madness in Small Towns, and Secrets in Small Towns, are complete novels in which there is usually a main mystery and a fedw smaller ones as well. The fourth and last book, Mysteries in Small Towns, is a number of  shotr stories that tie up the series.

My next book, The XYZ Mysteries,  also consists of a series of interconnected mystery stories. These features three sisters--Xande, Yolande, and Zoe (who seems to have disappeared)--who run a private detective agency in Miami. It not onlyshowcases the problem-solving abilities of the siters, but chronicles their lives and loves over several decades.  As it takes place 500 miles from Jasper County, it seems at first blush to be a one-off, but it isn't. One of the sisters plays a large part iin my next novel, while another retires to, you guessed it, Jasper County.

The closest large city to Pine Oak is Tallahassee, which is the setting of my next book, the literary mystery The 5. In it, five young women are invited to be part of a special university clas--about themselves. But when the professor doesn't show up for their first meeting, these five very different women are forced to work together to not only investigate her disappearance, but their own very existence. As I mentioned above, one of the XYZ sisters, Zoe Calhoun, shows up to help.

The two main charactersof The 5, Sandra Croft and Carmah Williams, return in supporting roles in my next series, The Elodie Fontaine Mysteries. Unlike The 5, though, The Elodie mysteries are for young adults, new adults, and girls who are questining their sexual identity. This is an ongoing series, with 4 novels already published and as many to come as I have imagination for. Although I love each of my books dearly, I think that my Elodie mysteries are the most important because they speak to the LGBTQ community in a way that Nancy Drew spoke to straight girls.

I like the fact that, in scratching my writing itch, I have come away with womething that seems more than just a series of books, but my own little micrososmos.

As I mentioned, I plan to write several more Elodie Fontaine mysteries. In addition, I am working on a real fantasy novel, Persephone's Mare, that begins in my original setting, Pine Oak, Florida, and that features at least one character from my Small Town Series. And last, a protege of mine is considering expanding Izzy's World with a series of romantic thrillers about the two main characters of The 5, so look for The Carmah and Sandy Adventures sometime in the future.

The Elodie Fontaine Mystery Series

The Elodie Fontaine Mysteries

The first Elodie Fontaine trilogy is now out in both paperback and ebook. Follow the teen sleuth's adventures as she fights off Asian thugs determined to steal her mother's secret papers (Tank Baby), decodes a century-old musical riddle (Ghost in the Piano), and investigates sabotage at a local horse riding facility (Horses Wild). She's a new kind of Nancy Drew for a new century and a new readership. Check them out as soon as you can.

The Elodie Fontaine Mystery Series is now.

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted, so I have a lot to announce. My new Young Adult mystery series--the Elodie Fontaine Mysteries, was launched on January 1 in paperback and ebook. It is called Tank Baby and is about a 17-year-old high school senior with a penchant for solving odd puzzles affecting herself, her friends, and her family.

The series is reminiscent of girls' series books of the 1950s, but Elodie is a young lesbian. So although these books can and should be read by all shapes and sizes of people, it is targeted at LGBTQ youth. As of this writing, the first two books are available--Tank Baby by purchase and Ghost in the Piano by pre-order.  The third book will follow in short order. Buy them or borrow them on Amazon's Kindle Unlimited. Spread the word.

A bit of the future and . . .

Hi everybody, just a word or two or three about the present and the future of Iza.

The present: On August 22, I published the penultimate Small Town short story. It is entitled "Archer's Paradox," and contains the only murder mystery in the entire Small Town Saga. Today,I uploaded the final story, "Ghosts." It ends the saga, hopefully on a positive note. I have enjoyed working with Sue-Ann, Gina, Clarence, The Creeper, Krista, Smokey, Dilly Dollar, and all the rest of the characters that populate Pine Oak,Florida. I hope you have enjoyed them too.

Today I also published the three novels in the Small Town Series as a boxed set. Get The News in Small Towns, Madness in Small Towns, and Secrets in Small Towns for the low price of $9.99 at all the major e-book retailers. If I could choose, though, I would ask you to buy from Smashwords.com. They care about their authors and don't take every penny like some other retailers I could mention. At over a quarter of a million words, this set will keep you reading for a while. It may be only the second boxed set to be published in the Lesbian Mystery Category.

The future: In early 2015 the last volume of the Small Town Saga will be published in e-book and paperback. It is a book of stories and novellas called Mysteries in 'small Towns. It includes the two stories mentioned above along with six others. At over 82.000 words, it will be well worth the price of admission. Presently, all the stories are available separately at most of the on-line retailers, but they will disappear when the volume is published. As a side note, there is only one other book of lesbian mystery short stories featuring the same protagonist.  It is Barbara Wilson's The Death of a Much-Traveled Woman. I feel like I am in good company.

What then?: Life after Small Towns? Well, what about mysteries in large towns?. I have almost completed writing a set of completely different mystery stories set in Miami in 1974. This will feature XYZ Investigations, made up of the sisters Xande, Yolande, and Zoe Calhoun. Xande is a hippie with blonde dreadlocks whose one passion is thwarting crime. Yolande is a law-student  who cares more about finding a girlfriend than unraveling crimes. Zoe is so mysterious it is difficult to even describe her. Unlike The Small Town Series, which rarely touches on murder, The XYZ Mysteries is full of murder. Here' the publication schedule:
January, 2015: "Brothers and Sisters and Brothers"
March, 2015: "There Was an Old Woman"
May, 2015: "The Case of the Headless Heir"
July, 2015: "Queen's Honor"
September, 2015: "Xmas"
November, 2015: "Z"
Then, in January, 2016, these stories will be published as the volume The XYZ Mysteries in e-book and paperback. I can't wait.

Awards: As you probably already know, The News in Small Towns was a top-5 finalist in the 2013 Next Generation Indie Book Awards in the categories of Mystery and Regional Fiction. The next book in the series, Madness in Small Towns, was also a top-5 finalist in the Mystery category. Secrets in Small Towns has been nominated for awards in four different contests in five categories. It would sure be nice to win one. And with Mysteries in Small Towns and The XYZ Mysteries I have at least two more chances after this year.

Anyone interested should check out the Goodreads Reading Group called Lesbian Mysteries. I'm one of the topics on their Individual Aurhor list, but there are about 300 other authors listed. Imagine that.

I guess that's all the news that's fit to write. Read everything and tell your friends. I'll be back next time I have something to say. If you are interested in buying my books in paperback, remember that the major on-line retailers give the author virtually no royalties. Do me and my publisher, Black Bay Books, a favor by purchasing them directly from Black Bay Books. 

On Target

On August 22 the second-to-last story in my Small Town series will be published in virtually all major e-book markets. It is called "Archer's Paradox" and it involves Sue-Ann in the only murder mystery in the entire series. This will be followed in December by the last story, "Ghosts," which not only ends the series, but has plenty of sex. Yum!

Archery has been a motif throughout the Small Town books. In the first novel, The News in Small Towns, we learn that Sue-Ann was once a former National Archery Champion. The second novel, Madness in Small Towns, features Sue-Ann doing horseback archery. She even gets to put an arrow through a bad guy. The third novel, Secrets in Small Towns, has Sue-Ann practicing clout archery--kind of like golf but played with a bow and arrow rather than clubs and a ball. She practices Japanese archery as well. But I always wanted to write about another, little -known, facet of the sport: 3-D Archery, which is shooting at lifelike animal targets in a wooded, but enclosed area. "Archer's Paradox" is that story.

The germ of "Archer's Paradox" came into being on a school bus many years ago. I heard a whisper about one of the teenage girls who, like me, lived outside of town. It was said that one of her neighbors let her ride his horses if she would give him sexual favors. Who knows if it was true. If so, with "Archer's Paradox," I hope that she is revenged.

As I have probably mentioned many times, "Archer's Paradox" will be one of 8 stories that will make up the volume Mysteries in Small Towns, due out in February, 2015 in both e-book and paperback. Look also for a boxed set of all three Small Town Novels in e-book form.

Hey. Although I mentioned that these e-books are available pretty much everywhere, I suggest that you purchase them through Indie-friendly Smashwords.com. In fact, ""Archer's Paradox" is available on preorder from them right now. Paperbacks of all my novels can be ordered directly from the publisher. It helps them and it helps me.

More news soon. I mean, really exciting news!