Spread Some Literary Love This Valentine's Day: Kids ♥ Authors Day
Sunday, February 8, 2009
February 14 is Kids ♥ Authors Day in New England
Over 40 independent bookstores and 170 authors and illustrators share Valentine’s Day events with kids and families throughout the region
Andover, MA, January 18, 2009: Shower your pint-sized (or teen-sized) valentines with literary love. On Valentine’s Day, Saturday, February 14, 2009, from 10 a.m. to noon, independent booksellers throughout New England will host illustrators and authors of books for kids and teens, kicking off a new tradition of signed literary valentines for families.
Over 170 authors and illustrators and more than 40 independent booksellers in Maine, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island, and New York are participating in Kids ♥ Authors Day. Bookstores will provide bunches of books, and authors and illustrators will personalize them, talk about why they do what they do, and answer any and all questions about writing and drawing. Whether it’s an illustrator demonstrating his technique to a group of fascinated onlookers or a teen author chatting with excited fans about her characters, Kids ♥ Authors Day promises something for book lovers of all ages.
How did Kids ♥ Authors Day get started?
It began with a 140-character Twitter message on December 7, 2008 from Newton, MA resident and author Mitali Perkins, whose new novel for teens, Secret Keeper, is just out from Delacorte/Random House. “IDEA,” she tweeted. “Indies partner with authors for a ‘give a signed book’ day, all Kid/YA authors in area show up at stores to sign one afternoon.” Strong response from Perkins’ Twitter followers gave way to discussions with the New England Children’s Booksellers Association (NECBA) and New England Independent Booksellers Association (NEIBA), and Kids ♥ Authors Day was born.
It’s for the Community and the Kids
“There's nothing like enjoying a warm fire, family, friends, and great stories on a February day in New England,” says Perkins. “On Kids ♥ Authors Day, it's like each bookstore is inviting their community to gather around a hearth with a loved one or two to meet some of our region's storytellers."
"One nice thing about hard economic times is that it makes people reflect upon the importance of community, and this event is an appropriate and meaningful vehicle for strengthening our community of New England authors and independent booksellers,” says Kenny Brechner, NECBA co-chair, of Devaney Doak & Garrett Booksellers, Maine.
Show your support for local business and head to an independent bookstore on Saturday, February 14th. To find out who’s going where and read 100-plus reasons why we need independent bookstores, visit www.kidsheartauthors.com.
Extend the literary love with free bookmarks created by participating bookseller Jennifer Hopkins at the Woodknot Bookshop in Newport, VT. T-shirts, sweatshirts, mugs, and pins designed by author Laya Steinberg are available from the Kids ♥ Authors Day Cafe Press Store, with proceeds going to Reach Out And Read, a Boston-based national non-profit that gives books to children in pediatric exam rooms across the nation.
Posted byRuth @ Bookish Ruth at 11:20 AM 1 comments
Tags: children's books, kids, Valentines Day
The Gargoyle
Thursday, February 5, 2009
The Gargoyle
From the dust jacket:
An extraordinary debut novel of love that survives the fires of hell and transcends the boundaries of time.
The narrator of The Gargoyle
A beautiful and compelling, but clearly unhinged, sculptress of gargoyles by the name of Marianne Engel appears at the foot of his bed and insists that they were once lovers in medieval Germany. In her telling, he was a badly injured mercenary and she was a nun and scribe in the famed monastery of Engelthal who nursed him back to health. As she spins their tale in Scheherazade fashion and relates equally mesmerizing stories of deathless love in Japan, Iceland, Italy, and England, he finds himself drawn back to life—and, finally, in love. He is released into Marianne's care and takes up residence in her huge stone house. But all is not well. For one thing, the pull of his past sins becomes ever more powerful as the morphine he is prescribed becomes ever more addictive. For another, Marianne receives word from God that she has only twenty-seven sculptures left to complete -- and her time on earth will be finished.
Already an international literary sensation, The Gargoyle is an Inferno for our time. It will have you believing in the impossible.
Read the hardcover novel or check out the 16 CD unabridged recording, read by Lincoln Hoppe.
On caveat -- in the beginning of the novel, the narrator is involved in an auto accident where he is horribly burned. The accident and the torturous recovery are told in vivid detail. For many people it is the hardest part of the book to read and many quit.
My advice is don't quit.
This is a man's personal Hell on Earth (and if he is made up, remember thousands of burn victims suffer the same recovery as the narrator did). Read it -- in small doses if you have to -- read it and honor the suffering, for beyond it is one of the most beautiful stories of recovery -- of the body, of the spirit, of love -- that I've ever read.
It's a love story -- seven hundred years long.
Posted byThe Undead Rat at 7:35 AM 0 comments
Tags: books, fantasy, historical fiction, Romance, Valentines Day
Proudly Independent
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
After a taste of independent bookstores here at the Books for the Holidays blog, do you desire more? Well, pop on by to IndieBound... the online community for independent bookstores.
My favourite feature is the Indie Store Finder, where you can search your local area for independent bookstores AND other independently-owned stores!
Posted bymonnibo at 8:43 PM 0 comments
Tags: independent booktores, websites
My Harlequin Valentine
Friday, January 30, 2009
February is almost upon us. Love is in the air and presidents are on the news . . . it must be time for Valentine Day and President's Day!
And what do those two holidays have in common? They're great gift giving holidays.
Let me start the ball rolling with a gift I'm planning to give my wife. We were married on February 14 so Valentine's Day is also my anniversary. That means I have to pick up two cards and two gifts.
One of those gifts will be a copy of Harlequin Valentine
Harlequin Valentine
In this modern retelling of a classic commedia dell' arte legend of tomfoolery and hopeless, fawning love, creators Neil Gaiman and John Bolton update the relation of Harlequin and Columbine.
A buffoon burdened with a brimming heart, Harlequin chases his sensible, oblivious Columbine around the streets of a city, having given his heart freely. Consumed with love, the impulsive clown sees his heart dragged about town, with a charming surprise to bend the tale in a modern direction.
Gaiman's writing is poetic and as loopy as the subject matter. Bolton's art, a combination of digitally enhanced photo-realism and dynamic painting provides sensational depth with bright characters over fittingly muted backgrounds. 
Those who have spent Valentine's Day alone know that the cold February holiday can be hard to swallow. Gaiman and Bolton want you to know that all it takes is a steak knife, a fork, and a bottle of quality ketchup.
Harlequin Valentine
Now if I can just think of the perfect anniversary gift . . .
Posted byThe Undead Rat at 7:08 AM 0 comments
Tags: fantasy, graphic novels, Valentines Day
Apex Spotlight: Brandy Leah Schwan
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Apex Publications, a wonderful small press publishing horror, dark fantasy, science fiction and very weird stories is in trouble and we can help. as I mentioned in the last post, the owner Jason Sizemore needs to sell books and if you spend over $25.00 in the Apex bookstore you get free shipping.
This is a way we can directly help save a book published and get some great birthday gifts for that Horror/SF/Fantasy reader in the process. Below are a couple of Apex books, click on the book cover to go to the Apex store if you find yourself interested in making a purchase. Many books are under $10.00. 
Grim Trixter
Author: Schwan, Brandy
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Poetry Collection
Page Count: 76pp.
Pub. Date: August 8, 2006
Publisher: Apex Publications
Links: Grim Trixter: The Official Website of Poet Brandy Leah Schwan
Links: The Grim Trixter's MySpace
Schwan's unique writing style, mixed with dark and evocative imagery, has helped gain her many fans, including such noted horror authors such as Kealan Patrick Burke, Weston Ochse, Michael Laimo, and Brian Knight.
With cover art from noted illustrator Gary Yap (The Simpsons, King of the Hill) and an introduction from the multiple Stoker nominated novelist Michael Laimo, Grim Trixter is a collection you don't want to miss.
Brandy Leah Schwan is the Grim Trixter. He grew up on a kibbutz in Israel and lived in South Africa, the UK, the South Pacific, and in South East Asia. 
Catacombs and Photographs
Author: Schwan, Brandy
Format: Chapbook
Type: Poetry Collection
Page Count: 52pp.
Pub. Date: April 30, 2007
Publisher: Apex Publications
Links: Grim Trixter: The Official Website of Poet Brandy Leah Schwan
Links: Interview: Brandy Schwan and Lizzie Borden
The Grim Trixter is back, this time with a limited edition chapbook collection of more than 30 hauntingly evocative poems that explore everything from nursery rhymes to modern serial killers.
Print run is limited 100 copies, signed by the author and featuring cover art by Lindsay Archer.
Stay Tuned . . .
Posted byThe Undead Rat at 7:28 PM 0 comments
Apex Spotlight: Lavie and Steven
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Apex Publications, a wonderful small press publishing horror, dark fantasy, science fiction and very weird stories is in trouble and we can help. as I mentioned in the last post, the owner Jason Sizemore needs to sell books and if you spend over $25.00 in the Apex bookstore you get free shipping.
This is a way we can directly help save a book published and get some great birthday gifts for that Horror/SF/Fantasy reader in the process. Below are a couple of Apex books, click on the book cover to go to the Apex store if you find yourself interested in making a purchase. Many books are under $10.00. 
HebrewPunk
Author: Tidhar, Lavie
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Short Story Collection
Page Count: 156pp.
Pub. Date: August 30, 2007
Publisher: Apex Publications
Links: Watching Tomatoes Grow: A Website by Lavie Tidhar
Links: cybermonklives
Popular short fiction writer Lavie Tidhar gathers some of his best work in one collection. Stories that are infused with centuries of tradition and painted with Hebrew mythology.
We meet the Tzaddik as he faces off against a vengeful angel intent on sending the Fallen to hell. The shapeshifting Rat fights lycanthropic Nazis. The Rabbi takes us on a thoughtful and amusing journey into the possibilities of a Jewish state in the heart of Africa. Finally, all three protagonists appear in an old-fashioned caper story that will leave you breathless.
Introduction by Laura Anne Gilman.
Lavie Tidhar Lavie Tidhar writes weird fiction. He grew up on a kibbutz in Israel and lived in South Africa, the UK, the South Pacific, and in South East Asia.
Table of Contents:
- The Heist
- Transylvania Mission
- Uganda
- The Dope Fiend
Temple: Incarnations
Author: Savile, Steven
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Novella
Page Count: 112pp.
Pub. Date: April 30, 2007
Publisher: Apex Publications
Links: Steven Savile Official Website
Links: An Interview with Steven Savile
A man awakens in a filthy bedroom with no recollection of who he is or how he got there. Seeing an old Gideon bible on a nightstand, he finds a name to call his own -- Temple.
This is the story of Temple's quest for identity and purpose in a dying, decaying world. By turns heartbreaking, enlightening, and surreal, British fantasist Steven Savile has created a story that T.M. Wright describes as "a story about Death written by a man who has clearly consorted with devils."
This novella comprises the four part Temple series published in Apex Digest issues five through eight, with a special introduction from T.M. Wright and an afterword from the author.
Steven Savile is a fantasy, science fiction and horror author and editor who is quietly working on becoming an overnight success.
More soon . . .
Posted byThe Undead Rat at 6:55 PM 0 comments
Tags: book publishers, books, fantasy
Apex Spotlight: Maurice, Wrath and Alethea
Monday, January 5, 2009
Apex Publications, a wonderful small press publishing horror, dark fantasy, science fiction and very weird stories is in trouble and we can help. as I mentioned in the last post, the owner Jason Sizemore needs to sell books and if you spend over $25.00 in the Apex bookstore you get free shipping.
This is a way we can directly help save a book published and get some great birthday gifts for that Horror/SF/Fantasy reader in the process. Below are a couple of Apex books, click on the book cover to go to the Apex store if you find yourself interested in making a purchase. 
Orgy of Souls
Author: White, Wrath James and Broaddus, Maurice
Format: Hardcover and Trade Paperback
Type: Novel
Page Count: 144pp.
Pub. Date: June 13, 2008
Publisher: Apex Publications
Links: Words of Wrath
Links: The Pontifications of Maurice Broaddus
Twenty for one.
Twenty souls for his brother's life is a price that seductively beautiful Samson is willing to pay. Twenty souls drenched in blood, powdered with cocaine and more than one kind of ecstasy. A fair trade for the life of a brother. A fair trade for the life of a priest. And everyone he meets seems so willing to give theirs away.
Samuel's faith often wavers. Diagnosed with HIV and in rapid decline, he hides his disillusionment in the rituals of the priesthood. But when Samson brings him the first blood-signed contract for a young woman's immortal soul, the steamy world of high fashion male models and the quiet decay of a sickly priest begin to writhe against the realities of life, death, and otherworldly power.
Brotherly love is a deadly seduction, beauty a dangerous game. Come worship in the brutal temple of Orgy of Souls. Your faith will never be the same again.
Wrath James White is a former professional fighter, trainer and writer. He is also an atheist.
Maurice Broaddus is a horror writer and a minister (called the Sinister Minister). 
Beauty and Dynamite
Author: Kontis, Alethea
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Memoir, essay and poetry
Page Count: 280pp.
Pub. Date: Jun 13, 2008
Publisher: Apex Publications
Links: Aletheakontis.com
Links: Alethea Kontis's MySpace
Once upon a time, a young girl walked into a world of wonder and delight. But that's not where this story starts.
The young woman she became published a nationally recognized children's book and edited a star-filled collection of stories to benefit the tsunami relief effort. But that's not where this story ends.
Meet Alethea Kontis, a self-proclaimed Genre Chick whose life is an adventure that tears through these pages like a hurricane. Carrot-a-day cancer cures and Murphy as a guardian angel (yes, that Murphy, the guy with all those irritating laws) are just a part of the daily routine for the Incredible Whirlwind of Beauty and Dynamite, the force of nature masquerading in human form.
Through essays, poetry, and commentary from family, friends, and famous authors alike, a world of Blood Oaths and road trips, broken hearts and mended cars, comes alive with the strength of one woman's conviction that the world is there to be befriended.
You have now been introduced. Let your adventure begin.
Alethea Kontis is a buyer for Ingram Book Company, a contributing editor for Apex Science Fiction and Horror Digest, and a freelance editor for Solaris Books. She also writes books.
More soon . . .
Posted byThe Undead Rat at 2:23 PM 1 comments
Tags: book publishers, books, horror, memoirs
