New series coming to DSP
DSP is always coming up with something new for readers. The next great project is one that I’m honored to be working on, an epic saga of Texas from the viewpoint of a family that settles there shortly after it becomes a republic.
Life of a Texan: A Family Story will follow a family thar moves from Missouri from generation to generation and is sure to please veteran western fans and newcomers alike. The first books will be published in April 2024. Copies of the covers are shown below.
Share this:
Charles Ray Meets Demand For New Westerns With “Badge For Hire”
January 17, 2024|Authors, DSP Articles
For many authors, one series is enough and keeps them extremely busy each month. For Charles Ray, four or five series at one time is no sweat at all. Each month Charles turns out a new book for each of his Western series—and today we will see the release of “Badge For Hire,” the latest book in his “Adventures of Deputy U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves.” Tomorrow, perhaps, we will see the release of a new book in his “Caleb Johnson: Mountain Man” series. It’s all go in the world of Charles Ray, from managing many of the authors involved in the “Gone To Texas” series through to co-writing a horror series. He’s just a one-man band of achievement, and after reading “Badge For Hire” you will see that he doesn’t just produce—he produces the best quality material. That’s why he consistently ranks within the top one hundred bestselling Western novels—usually towards the top of the list too. What can we say? He’s one of the most talented and you’ll love “Badge For Hire.”
What Is “Badge For Hire” About?
Bass is given a stack of warrants for fugitives to capture, but this time there’s a difference. One of the fugitives is a deputy marshal suspected of accepting bribes to look the other way for an outlaw gang. Bass, a strong believer in following the law, feels that lawmen should be held to an even higher standard than everyone else, and even though there’s no reward for bringing in the crooked deputy, he’s happy to take the case. The law might not be perfect, he thinks, but it’s a lot better than no law at all, and when those charged with enforcing the law fail to respect it, it’s getting too close to there being no law.
Along with his friend, Henry Lone Tree, Bass and his posse roam Indian Territory from the Creek Nation to Fort Sill and the Comanche/Kiowa Nation, rounding up those who would walk on the wrong side of the law.
Where Can I Get My Copy?
“Badge For Hire” is available now from Amazon!
Share this:
Banned Chinese-born author Geling Yan publishes again in Chinese – outside China
June 27, 2023, Berlin, Germany
Chinese-born author Geling Yan 嚴歌苓 has suffered under an informal ban on her work by the Chinese government since March 2020, when she wrote and promulgated an essay criticizing the Chinese government’s initial actions after the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic:
English：
https://paper-republic.org/pubs/read/hide-hide-hide/
Chinese：
https://www.chinesepen.org/blog/archives/145708
Her credit from a major motion picture by Zhang Yimou, One Second, the leitmotiv of which was based on her novel The Criminal Lu Yanshi, was even ordered removed by the Chinese government:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/23/movies/zhang-yimou-movie.html
https://www.chinesepen.org/blog/archives/188075
Chinese Independent PEN stood in solidarity with her:
https://www.chinesepen.org/english/she-is-not-alone-a-joint-statement#more-8754
…and awarded her its “Freedom Prize for Writing” for 2022:
https://www.chinesepen.org/blog/archives/188421
https://www.chinesepen.org/blog/archives/188465
Since her ban, Ms. Yan has continued to write and create, but she has had no outlet for her publication or film projects in China. As a result, she and her husband, Lawrence A. Walker 王樂仁，have set up a publishing and film production company in Berlin, Germany, where they reside: New Song Media GmbH.
The company’s mission is stated here: https://www.newsongmedia.de/about
The company has just published Ms. Yan’s first novel in Chinese outside Greater China: Milati 米拉帝。It is now available as a print book and an e-book on online booksellers’ websites and will soon be available in Chinese-language bookstores.
Amazon.com:
Amazon Kindle:
https://www.amazon.com/Milati-Traditional-Chinese-Geling-Yan-ebook/dp/B0C8GYT988?ref_=ast_author_dp
Barnes and Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/milati-geling-yan/1143650968?ean=9783910769014
Multiple print and e-book booksellers:
https://books2read.com/u/b5WD81
The book, also available in a deluxe collectors’ edition co-published with World Chinese Weekly Publishing Company Inc.（世界华人周刊出版集团） will be launched at an event in Vancouver, B.C., Canada on July 9, also including the launch of works by the poet Yang Lian 楊煉 and his wife, the novelist and painter Yoyo 友友：
The event will be held in Chinese, so the information about it is mostly in Chinese:
严歌苓、杨炼、友友温哥华首场读者见面会
- 时间：2023年7月9日下午13:30–17:45
- 地点：Norman Rothstein Theater.
- 地址：950 West 41st Avenue, Vancouver BC，Canada V5Z 2N7
- 门票：50加元
- 订票电话：604-762-2572，13910272918（可加此微信或支付宝账号付款）
CIBC bank e-transfer：1065780000@qq.com
多一点信息在这里
Ms. Yan will also have a solo event at the Central Library of the Vancouver Public Library on 13 July:
Public speaking event with Yan Geling at Vancouver Public Library, Central Library,
350 West Georgia St., Vancouver V6B 6B1
Thursday, 13 Julyfrom 5 to 6:30 pm.
More information here
https://vpl.bibliocommons.com/events/648b9520023dc43e0086a9cb
We welcome media inquiries, coverage, attendance, and questions.
Contact person: Lawrence A. Walker
Share this:
DS Productions Top Selling Authors
Ace publicist Nick Wale commissioned a painting of the six top selling western authors at DS Productions, and I was astonished to be included in that number. I’m the buckaroo on the left in the purple shirt. All I can say is Yee-haw!
Share this:
I Believe I Can Touch the Sky: From Poverty to Prosperity in Stories
I was born in rural Shelby County, in East Texas, in the 1940s, a time of rigid segregation. Parking in my hometown of 715 people was segregated by race and I went to a separate school where books and desks were hand-me-downs from the town’s white school. The first new textbook I ever laid hands on was a physics textbook in high school when the school district included physics for the first time and had to buy a sufficient quantity for both schools.
After graduating from high school in 1962, too poor to attend college and refusing to accept the employment available to black people in East Texas at the time, I joined the United States Army to see the world that I’d been introduced to through crinkled pages of old National Geographic magazines.
In the ensuing fifty-plus years, I rose from the poverty of a small farming town to prosperity, from tending the pigs on our small farm to meeting with kings in their palaces and presidents in their state houses.
Thanks to the urging of my daughter, Denise Ray-Wickersham, I have finally put down stories from my life in written form—stories that I bored her and her brother with when they were growing up and her children with during the past few years.
I Believe I Can Touch the Sky: Stories From My Life is not your usual memoir. The focus is not really on me, but on the incidents and events that impacted on me in my life. Short and to the point, much like the novelettes I write, it is a series of stories that stretch back over seven decades. Stories about the famous and infamous, the well-known and the unknown. It is a story of the persistence and patience of a young boy who refused to accept that the pine-covered clay hills were all there was to the world, or that he was limited to what other people said he could do because of the color of his skin.
Available in hardcover, paperback, and Kindle version on Amazon. Get your copy today:
Hardcover: $15.99 https://www.amazon.com/Believe-Can-Touch-Sky-Stories/dp/B0B2J26KVD/
Paperback: #$7.99 https://www.amazon.com/Believe-Can-Touch-Sky-Stories/dp/B0B2HQ7KLC/
Kindle version: $0.99 https://www.amazon.com/Believe-Can-Touch-Sky-Stories-ebook/dp/B0B2QV1BW1/
Share this:
Virtual Book Signing Event Nov. 18
Review of ‘The Water’s Fine
Excerpt From The Water’s Fine
“Polo likes to tell stories about the Sea of Cortez. His favorite is about El Lavadero, Las Animas. Las Animas is named after the church bells which ring to summon the lost souls, and El Lavadero means the washing machine. The dive site is often referred to as the washing machine of lost souls.Before we dove at El Lavadero one morning, I overheard Polo telling Bertie that the thousands of silver jacks schooling in the water are the lost souls. She twisted her ring and looked spooked while our group waited its turn to descend at the site. I thought maybe she wouldn’t come, but she did. Afterwards, she told me that when she saw the mass of circling jacks and thought of them as lost souls, she felt more sad than scared. I knew what she meant. I always say a prayer when I see the swirling fish, the sun glinting on their silver scales.”
Water’s Fine: Suspense Novel by Janice Coy
Publisher: Independently Published (April 22, 2019)
Category: Suspense, Family Fiction, Women’s Fiction
Tour dates: January/February, 2020
ISBN: 9781795669047
Available in Print and ebook, 312 pages
Description Water’s Fine: Suspense Novel by Janice Coy
Bertie Clark is excited for a week-long scuba trip with her husband exploring the underwater wonders of an ocean teeming with life – the Sea of Cortez.
But a tragedy on their dive boat sends both women into uncharted territory, questioning what they’ve always thought to be true, and fostering an unlikely friendship. Will either trust the invitation to “come on in, the water’s fine” again?
Praise Water’s Fine: Suspense Novel by Janice Coy
“I just finished The Water’s Fine by Janice Coy which means I am must bid farewell to the characters I have become attached to and I must close the cover on a plot that kept a firm grasp on my attention and continued to surprise. The act of reading this book can cause laundry to pile up, dust to gather and dirty dishes to dry crusty because one cannot stop reading from chapter to chapter – – from scuba action, to mystery, heartache, friendship, suspense and self discovery.
The author is artfully descriptive in all areas of scene and character development which draws you in and holds you! In fact, I would like to invite you to do a little scuba diving and not get wet? Slip on those fins, adjust your mask, get your regulator set and start reading The Water’s Fine.”- Kjans, Amazon
“Oh wow, what a well written book! Being someone who thinks that scuba diving is too scary to try I was drawn in by the author’s imagery. It captured all the anxiety of “breathing underwater”, the suspense of what dangerous creatures you could encounter as well as the absolute beauty and serenity you could feel while exploring the deep blue sea. I fell in love with her characters and was sucked into the mystery and suspense and enjoyed joining them on their journeys of self discovery, life and loss. I really enjoyed this book.”-Amazon Customer
Praise Smallest of Waves by Janice Coy
“Thanks to Coy’s descriptive, immersive world, the waves of Agave Beach leave a distinct impact in The Smallest of Waves. – Indie Reader
“A seaside mystery with an appealing heroine…Coy uses her beachside setting well, contrasting Agave Beach’s innocent sand castles and clueless tourists with the mysterious ocean – so foreign with its dark depths, sharks, kelp forests, and sea caves.” Kirkus Reviews
2017 Finalist San Diego Book Awards Association
About Janice Coy
Award winning Janice Coy is the author of five suspense novels. Her work is also published in four anthologies. She was a finalist at the San Diego Book Awards Association annual contest. She’s received the IndieReader Seal of Approval. A former journalist, Ms. Coy has received several awards for her reporting including a national award for best feature story in a community newspaper.
Ms. Coy is an advanced certified scuba diver; she’s run five half-marathons and summited Mt. Kilimanjaro. She lives in Southern California with her husband.
Website: http://janicecoy.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Janice-Coy-182435188445057/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janicecoyauthor/
Buy Water’s Fine: Suspense Novel by Janice Coy
Giveaway Water’s Fine: Suspense Novel by Janice Coy
This giveaway is for the winner’s choice of one print or ebook copy of the book. Print is open to Canada and the U.S. only and ebook is available
Follow Water’s Fine: Suspense Novel by Janice Coy
Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus Jan 6 Kickoff & Interview
Catherine Cuzinlogic Jan 8 Guest review & Excerpt
Katy Goodreads Jan 9 Review
Lu Ann Rockin’ Book Reviews Jan 10 Review & Guest Post
Charles Ray’s Ramblings Jan 13 Review & Excerpt
Michael Amazon Jan 14 Review
Becky What U Talking Bout Willis Jan 15 Review & Excerpt
Dee Donadee’s Corner Jan 16 Review
Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus Jan 17 Review
Ruth Amazon Jan 20 Review
Lisa’s Writopia Jan 21 Review
Lisa’s Writopia Jan 21 Guest Post
Avonna Loves Genres Jan 22 Review & Interview
Dawn Bound 4 Escape Feb 6 Guest Review
Jas International Book Reviews Feb 11 Review
Kathleen Celticlady’s Reviews Feb 14 Review
DTChantel Amazon Feb 21 Review
Infantina Periodical Gazette Feb 26 Review
My Review of ‘The Water’s Fine
Catalina Rodriguez and Bertie Clark have nothing in common but a love of scuba diving when they meet on the Calypso for a diving trip in the Sea of Cortez, but a tragedy during the trip, when another member of the party, Gordon Baker, on the trip with his wife and two daughters, dies during their last dive. As the dive master, Catalina feels responsible for his death, even though she learns later that he was suffering from a terminal disease, and chose to die. A certified rescue diver, Bertie also feels a sense of guilt for not doing something to prevent the tragedy. The two women have bonded during the trip, and even after Catalina gives up diving and returns to her home in San Diego, they stay in touch by phone.
Shortly after returning home, Catalina begins to suffer a string of seemingly unrelated catastrophes, but attributes them at first to stress as she tries to cope with the Calypso incident. But Bertie thinks otherwise, and is determined to help her get to the bottom of what’s going on.
The Water’s Fine by Janice Coy is a subtle, but intriguing story that defies neat categorization. The author moves readers slowly through a chain of events that become more deadly with each occurrence, weaving a deft mystery that will keep the reader guessing until the startling climax. I was put off at first by the switch from first person point of view (Catalina) to second person (Bertie), but as I continued to read, I discovered that this only heightened the tension, as I tried to solve the mystery ahead of the author’s disclosure. I failed, and the author succeeded. The answer to Catalina’s problems came as a surprise—a delightful, and skillfully-done surprise.
I received an advance review copy of this book, and I recommend it highly, even if you’re not a mystery fan. A true page-turner, it will grab your attention and hold it until the end.
I give Coy four stars for an entertaining read.
Share this:
Jacob Blade Vigilante series gets a face lift in 2020
Fans of the half-breed vigilante Jacob Blade are in for a treat in 2020. Thanks to the creative ingenuity of renown publicist Nick Wale and the fantastic art of Kevin Diamond, the entire series is being reissued this year with a new and exciting cover that’s sure to appeal to fans of the ‘shoot ‘em up’ western genre.
Jacob Blade was a simple farm boy living with his mother and father in Indian Territory until he came home from a trip to local markets one day and found his parents slaughtered by a group of itinerant outlaws. With his dying breath, Jacob’s father asked him to avenge their deaths, a task that he took on with relish. In the course of his quest, he discovered that there was a lot of evil infecting the western frontier, evil that he determined to help eliminate, one dead outlaw at a time.
This is just one of several series that I currently write, and is second only to the Deputy U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves in the joy it gives me to write.
The new covers give a sense of continuity to the series, and, in my humble opinion, illustrates the protagonist most effectively. I sincerely hope that readers will find them as attractive—and seductive—as I do, and welcome any comments. In the meantime, I’m currently working on another Jacob Blade adventure, with Jacob coming to the rescue of a small community of settlers in Nebraska who are being tormented by a greed rancher who wants to take their land. Keep an eye out for Sins of the Father, coming soon to Amazon.
Share this:
Toby Giles series gets eye-catching new theme cover
Unless you’re independently publishing and overseeing every aspect of your book’s launch, you probably don’t give a lot of thought to the cover. I do both, independent, and through small publishing imprints, and until recently paid little attention to the covers the publishers chose to affix to what I’ve submitted to them.
I did not book, Toby Giles: Tarnished Badge, the story of a runaway slave who is appointed sheriff of the all-white town of Jericho, Ohio, at the suggestion of publicist Nick Wales, which was published with the cover below:
Not a bad cover actually, and I had no complaints. But I so enjoyed the story, and based on sales, so did a large number of readers, I decided to do a sequel, Toby Giles: The Walls of Jericho. Here’s the cover chosen, and, in my opinion, it is perfect for the subject matter of the book.
The publisher thought so as well, because shortly after the release of this one, book one was reissued with a new cover:
Now, the two covers are identical except for the book title, but they’re clearly related to even the most casual shopper, and adorned with covers that are guaranteed to catch the eye.—don’t you think?
Kudos to DS Publications and Nick Wale for bringing a whole lot of cheer to one author’s life this holiday season.
