Book News - Two Stories Now Available in Print

 Two of my not-so-traditional “traditional” Regency romances have just been released in print. Deceptive Behavior is my updated version of a popular 18th Century farce.  When the hero comes to meet his intended bride, he mistakenly falls in love with a maid instead. But the maid turns out to be the woman he was supposed to marry, so everything’s okay –or is it? In my version of the story we go beyond the mistaken identity mishap to find out what comes next. 

My most recent story release, the Regency novella “Change of Address,” is now available in print as part of the Cotillion Christmas Surprises anthology. Though the story is set in December, the holiday season during the early 19th Century was not anything like it is today and I find Regency Christmas stories satisfying to read all winter long. Maybe that’s because, as a reviewer said, the setting for “Change of Address” was “so vivid I could feel the damp chill of the new home.” This is just a long-winded way of saying I think you’ll enjoy these stories (and the one below) at other times of the year, too.

You can learn more about Deceptive Behavior and “Change of Address” and read samples on the books page.

And Now for Something Completely Different…

I recently finished two new stories that are pretty unlike anything I’ve published before. “What You Think is Irrelevant” is a science fiction “novelette” about a guy mistakenly pulled off a cruise ship by government bureaucrats from the future. The second project is a collaboration with science fiction author Catherine Asaro and it’s a new genre tentatively called “Deco Punk” featuring futuristic tech from the 1920s. As the title “Corn Fed Blues” indicates, however, the focus of the story is more on the characters than the tech. Publication details will be forthcoming.

 My First Ghost Story

“Bride of Belznickel,” my first ghost story, is Christmas story only in the sense that it is the Christmas holidays that forces the  heroine to come stay with her obnoxious cousins. She decides to try to frighten them with tales of the Christmas demon, der Belznickel. But then her stories start to come to life and of course everyone thinks she’s responsible.

There’s more about this on the “books” page, too.

Mysteries in Ebook

The Karen Maxwell mysteries are out in ebook as part of the Spyglass Lane Mysteries series for only 99¢! Artist Henry thor Straten has created new covers for the books, and will also design a new cover for Restitution, which I hope to release in ebook sometime soon.

Worth its Weight in Old has its new cover for some time but George Washington Stepped Here just recently got the new look. Since the storefront looked so good on the Worth It cover, I asked Henry to basically throw away everything he’d already done for George and make that one a “building” cover, too.  He was good enough to oblige!

Most of the time, authors have little or no say in the covers of their books, so it’s been very gratifying to go through the cover art process with these stories. As more authors publish their own work, either through agents, as is the case with the Spyglass books, or entirely on their own, they have the opportunity to control more of the output themselves, including editing, cover art, and promotional descriptions. It’s more work, of course, but in the end I think will be more satisfying for authors and readers alike.

To see the original covers and read descriptions of the books, look here. And to see more of Henry’s artwork (most of which is very different than this and truly out-of-this-world) I urge you to visit his website at HenrythorStraten.com.

More Love and Lunacy

Helen now finally has her own story. “Dinners with Mr. Danville” takes place a number of years later, after Helen has learned to temper her eccentric behavior. But her keen scientific mind is more active than ever and ready to analyze the strange sensations of love and attraction. Just what do the treatises of the Royal Society have to do with romance? Find out by reading Helen’s story. You can learn more on the books page.

Toto’s Tale

Find out what really happened in Oz.

Everyone knows how Dorothy and Toto save Oz from the Wicked Witch of West…or do they?  How will Dorothy survive in a land filled with haunted bags of straw, hollow metal men and giant smelly cats?

How will she fight off killer bees, mad wolves and really annoying monkeys?  And how will Dorothy ever find the way home?

The simple truth is that she won’t, at least not alone. Of course, she’s not alone – she has Toto, her best friend.  But in Oz, Dorothy spends more time talking to a cat than to her…

Find out more on the Books by K.D. Hays page.