Black Rose Writing – Wayne Turmel

Midwest Auto Racing and a Ripping Read with Marlis Manley

Like any historical fiction fan, I have my favorite periods to read about. I also have those about which I couldn’t care less (Civil War 1.0. Regency…) What I really enjoy, though, is reading about subjects I don’t know much about. Of course I’m less thrilled to find out some of those “historical” periods were around the time I was born. Ahem.

Fellow Black Rose Writing author Marles Manley Broadhead has written an engaging, entertaining and it turns out, deeply personal tale of auto racing in the middle of the 20th Century. Trophy Girl is a fun coming-of-age tale. I’ll let her tell you about it.

Okay lady. Who are you, and what’s your deal with auto racing?

I was 17, finishing my first semester at Wichita State University, when a family friend asked what I planned to do with my life. I said, “I want to be a writer.” My stepfather, who overheard, turned to us and said, “You can’t be a writer,” as if I couldn’t be serious. And I got it—no one was beating down the door of a white bread, midwestern teenage girl with a midnight curfew for thoughts on the human condition. But I’d written my first book at 10 (a school assignment) and developed an irreverent enough sense of humor to become the family’s funny-poems-for-occasions go-to gal. So I kept taking classes, and eventually I enrolled in their MFA program.

Not long after I started publishing poems and then short stories, my stepdad laughed self-consciously and said, “I guess you’ve proved me wrong.” But I wasn’t feeling it yet. As Vivian in the movie Pretty Woman says, “The Bad Things Are Easier To Believe. You Ever Noticed That? It was 32 years after starting my debut novel, Trophy Girl, I got brave enough to send it to a small but rapidly growing publisher, Black Rose Writing. The story inspired by none other than my step-father’ decades-long dirt-track racing career, and received the William Faulkner Second Award for Novels.

I remember as a kid going to dirt-track stock car races in Canada and having a blast. What’s Trophy Girl about?

It’s summer 1957, and when

fourteen-year-old orphan Sandy Turner goes missing—along with one of her late mother’s hidden scrapbooks—Aunt Maggie can think of only one place the girl might have gone. Frank Haggard, the race-car driver in those yellowing news clippings, assumes the girl claiming to be his daughter is a fan acting on a dare—until Aunt Maggie tracks them down. Memories of his annulled marriage to Maggie’s sister flood over him, and the timing couldn’t be worse. With the first-ever National Championship for stock cars a week away, the last thing he needs is a child-custody battle with Maggie—as determined as she is beautiful. When the car he’s planned to pilot is turned over to a younger driver, Frank and Maggie make the riskiest deal of their lives—her savings for a race car, but if Frank wins, he gives up any claim to his daughter.

FunFact: My step father won that first national in 1957, and again in 1958 and 1968. Trophy Girl launched at the 64^th running of the Grand Nationals at the Fairgrounds in Hutchinson, Kansas. There’s a photo in the back of the book of him standing beside the famous Blue No. 55 with the trophy sitting on the hood.

Another FunFact: My father, stepfather, and uncle were all race car drivers named Frank and knew each other. My father Frank Manley raced with Sports Car Club of America, my stepfather Frank Lies raced stock cars and super-modified, and my uncle Frank Dickerson raced midgets. I spent hundreds of weekends in grandstands eating track dust while glued to the action on the tracks and straining to hear the “grown-up” conversations my mother carried on with other wives and girlfriends. Those memories and a long shelf of scrapbooks took care of my research, plus I relied on subject-matter experts for particulars. These were men who had raced with my stepfather and whose incredibly extensive knowledge and memories made it possible for me to write even more authentically about those races, cars, and men who were local and regional heroes.

Totally unfair question, but it’s my blog and I can do what I want. What’s your favorite scene?

While I loved working out the coming of age, conflicts, and romantic elements of the novel, I have to say writing the descriptions of the six races along the circuit to the national was some sort of total immersion experience. I love hearing from drivers who say the action and emotions in those scenes are exactly how they remember it—the taste of grit, smell of hot oil on a track that gets harder and slicker as the night wears on, the sparks of metal skidding along a concrete wall, vibrations as cars “trade paint” until one pulls ahead or one or both spin out of control. And yet, the scene that made a guy friend of mine cry was the quietest moment, when near the end of the book, after all the subterfuge, confusion, and legal difficulties, with nothing yet resolved, Frank walks up into the grandstand just before the grand national races begin and fastens a chain with a small gold cross around Sandy’s neck—the only thing left behind when her mother’s family kidnapped her away from him and ended the marriage.

How can people find you and learn more?

Like most authors today, I’m wafting about in the ether (see links below to your favorite satellites), with my home base my website: https://marlisbroadhead.com. There you can check out reviews of Trophy Girl as well as my nonfiction book Is that Your Mother Calling? Advice that Echoes Down Through the Ages (based on hundreds of poignant, hilarious, and even wacky responses to a survey I sent out while teaching written communication at Iowa State University.) There are also samples of my poetry, some novel excerpts, and a link to my blog, https://heartlandstoriesandpoems.blogspot.com

And of course you can sign up for my newsletter, Musings & Mirth, and visit my Book Shop where you will also find my poetry chapbook, The Mendocino Poems, began when I taught on the coast and started the Mendocino Coast Writers Conference (https://mcwc.org). This will be its 35^th year, July 31^st through August 2^nd, and while I feel fortunate to be writing fulltime now on a modest horse ranch in Kansas, I’m always eager to return to the redwoods and incredibly beautiful Mendocino coast.

https://linktr.ee/marlismanley

https://www.facebook.com/marlismbroadhead

Tweets by MarlisBroadhead

heartlandstoriesandpoems.blogspot.com

https://www.instagram.com/marlismanleybroadhead_author

Whether your tastes run to historical fiction or award-winning urban fantasy, check out all my work on my Amazon Author Page, and don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter.

Real Actors as Sleuths, Histfic from Mary Ann Noe

I love that as the new novel is closer to done, I’m reestablishing connections with those in the historical fiction community. It’s a very different group from the Urban Fantasy nerds, but just as interesting.

Today we are talking to Mary Ann Noe, who is on her second novel about the famous 20th-Centry theater actors, Lunt and Fontanne. The first book was Deserving of Murder, and it’s now joined by Glass Flowers & Diamond Stickpins.

I love the idea of using a famous real life couple as your heroes, especially someone as legendary (to those of us over a certain age) as Lunt and Fontanne. Tell us about yourself and we’ll get right down to business.

William Shakespeare and I share a birthday. No, darling, he’s older than I am. So, it was inevitable I should become a writer. (Although my early stuff should probably line birdcages.) I got better. By the time I had thirty years teaching English, I was good enough to publish poetry and short stories. After I retired, I went for the big guns and, surprising even myself and my workshop buddies, had my first novel in my hands at age 73. Thank you, Black Rose Writing, my publisher in Texas. The best part? I can write in multiple genres, and my readers like all of them. Already out are family sagas, middle-grade fantasy, murder mystery, historical fiction…and there are more coming. My goal is to live long enough to get all of my manuscripts published!

Tell us about the new book.

My latest, Glass Flowers & Diamond Stickpins, is a second historical fiction starring Lynn Fontanne and Alfred Lunt, real-life globally famous stage actors of the 20^th century. The first Lynn & Alfred Tale, Deserving of Murder, is a closed-room murder mystery. Glass Flowers & Diamond Stickpins puts the couple in 1939 Paris, attempting to help Jaroslav, a Czech glass artist, get his family’s fortune out of Europe. As these three lives come closer and closer together, they are all pulled into Hitler’s maelstrom, encountering a multitude of terrors and horrors. Moving from Czechoslovakia, Germany, France, England, New York City, and, ultimately, to Ten Chimneys, the Lunts’ Wisconsin home, Lynn and Alfred must face the final showdown with Hitler’s henchmen, struggling to survive while hoping against hope Jaroslav has been able to do the same.

Where did such a unique story come from?

I am lucky enough to be a docent at the real Ten Chimneys, Lynn and Alfred’s summer home, so I know a great deal about this fascinating couple. In the books, I try to adhere to facts as much as possible. The Lunts’ lives are a treasure-trove of challenges and excitement, so stretching the truth like taffy is easy. For Glass Flowers, I wanted to work in the real glass flowers that form a garland around Lynn’s dressing table mirror. I finally hit on creating a glass artist who could use his work to somehow smuggle out his fortune. Lynn’s sister was the real artist who created the flowers. That’s one of the joys of writing fiction: the freedom to create a new “reality.” However, I feel a responsibility to others interested in the World War II era to stick close to the history of the times. Sometimes, I spend more time researching than I do writing in order to get it right!

Where can we learn more about your work?

FOR MY BOOKS:

https://www.blackrosewriting.com/search?q=mary%20ann%20noe Click on cover/title to order.

For audible books: https://www.audible.com Search Mary Ann Noe to find all books. Audible also available through Amazon.

Amazon, Kindle, BookBub, Goodreads. I’m on Facebook as well.

Whether your tastes run to historical fiction or award-winning urban fantasy, check out all my work on my Amazon Author Page, and don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter.

An Enigmatic Book From the Enigmatic KJ Fieler

In working with a publisher who puts out a lot of books (Shout out to Reagan and the team at Black Rose Writing) you cross trails with a lot of people. Some of them stick with you and you form a small society of cool people you like interacting with. Enter KJ Fieler. She’s interviewed me in the past and pretends to enjoy my work. Her newest book, Shadow Runner is out now. I’ll let her tell you about it.

So what’s your deal, lady?

By all accounts, I’m an adult, a suburbanite, and a writer. I agree with that last bit. As for the first two, I’ve never claimed to be either and can’t imagine how such a rumor started. Okay, maybe the fact that I do own a home is misleading. I submit to suburbia but view a house as just something to clean, and I need it to come with interchangeable backyards. Turns out, that’s entirely possible. Toward that end, Ric and I bought an Airstream, hired someone to mow the lawn, and spent six months one year, eight the next, wandering around state and national parks. I was never so gloriously happy as when there was a bison scratching his behind on our truck.

There’s a visual, to be sure. What’s the new book about and does it involve buffalo hindquarters?

In a nutshell: what happens to a person who’s forced to embrace the darkness to survive?

Shadow Runner is the tale of Ada, a young aristocrat who’s kidnapped and raised by a secret society. As she comes of age, she must target the very people she once called kin or attempt a daring escape. But if she leaves, she risks the lives of the ones most dear: her adopted sister and her enigmatic captor. Moreover, in a world of moral ambiguity, she must find her humanity. It’s a cross-genre blend of historical fantasy, steampunk, and young adult fiction.

What is it about the story that appealed to you? Where did it come from?

My favorite stories are all some version of the Heroine or Hero’s Journey. Ada’s life mirrors my own, except that her circumstances are placeholders for less glamorous—and slightly less traumatic—real-life events. I was never abducted by criminals… unless you count the time my rather seedy college roommates once told me we were going to the beach and failed to mention the part about having to scale a fence marked “no trespassing.” But I digress. Like most people, I’ve experienced my share of adversity. Among other things, I’m a breast cancer survivor, which years you’d think I would want to erase from my life. I don’t. I consider those trials a blessing. They forced me to find my mettle and stop sailing through life as if the days ahead are endless. They also caused me to stop being afraid… of anything other than air travel and palmetto bugs.

Ada is a better version of the me who feeds the cat and does the laundry. She’s brave, smart, precocious. She knows just what to say to bullies, she stands firm when monsters come her way, and she always knows her way home.

Who are the authors you read?

Oh, I’d have given vital organs to meet Douglas Adams. Hitchiker’s Guide was great, but he also wrote Last Chance to See: a magical book. He went all the places—some I’m not entirely sure he didn’t make up—and wrote about them in his wickedly comedic voice.

I’d donate a kidney to meet Neil Gaiman… in case anyone needs a kidney and is in good with him. I grew up on Asimov and Clark; spent my junior high school days learning to write in Elvish, thanks to Tolkien; found myself in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance which sparked my fascination with psychology and travel.

These days I’m a devotee of Barbara Kingsolver, Jess Kid, Wayne Turmel (EDITORS NOTE-SUCKING UP WON’T HELP), Cam Torrens, Del Blackwater, Deb Heim, Kim Conrey, Alex Hugi and… well, let’s just say I’m a big fan of digital books because they travel well.

And they’re cheap! Don’t forget that. Where can we learn more about you?

https://www.kjfieler.com

https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/29624050-kjfieler

https://www.bookbub.com/profile/k-j-fieler

https://www.facebook.com/kat.fieler

If you hate starting series that aren’t complete, consider starting the Johnny Lycan: Werewolf PI series. The grand finale, Johnny Lycan & the Last Witchfinder is available now on Amazon and from Black Rose Writing.

“I’ve been a fan of this series since the beginning, and while I’m slightly devastated that this is the end of it, I LOVED The Last Witchfinder.” S G Tasz

This final installment in Johnny’s saga is perhaps the weirdest, most baffling of all… Author Jill Hand

The Mysterious and Generous MT Hart

When you’re in full-blown book launch frenzy, you tend to steamroll through your social media contacts in a hurry. One person who constantly shows up on my Twitter/X/Elon’s Vanity Project feed is MT Hart. Besides being a prolific author he’s constantly helping others promote their work. I figured the least I could do is return the favor.

He (and I originally thought he was female, my bad) is so mysterious, in fact, he won’t give me a picture of his smiling face. This meme should pretty much tell you what she’s about, though.

So, that aside, what should we know about you?

Hello, My name is MT Hart and I am a horror and erotica author. That’s really about it. I write, I promote myself, and I write again. You can find me anywhere under #nobubblegumvampiresallowed. I am not a fan of the Twilight-style vampires, hence the hashtag.

My third book, The Formal, is about a game of reverse Russian Roullete. Contestants stand in a circle and point a revolver at the person in front of them and pull the trigger when instructed. This game is surrounded by the wealthy and elite who bet ridiculous amounts of money on the outcome of every round. My next novel, entitled “Blood Contract” takes us back to the game with different characters and stories.

I’ve read some of your early work. Can you explain the “MT Hart-verse” to newbies?

My books all take place in the same vampire universe, with my main character being Lydia Hansen. Lydia started out as a mortal vampire, in other words, she was just like me or you, but she liked blood. As the books move on she became much much more! Then the books branched out into other stories and characters each with their own tale!

You’re a little focused on bloodsuckers. What’s that about?

Vampires are my thing. All of my books, stories etc are about the characters I have created in different circumstances, but of course the same vampire world.

Who was your gateway drug?

Anne Rice (RIP) is and always will be my favorite. Her books captivated me from the start with “The Vampire Lestat”. I really started out with Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and others. I remember reading The Exorcist at a very young age. Classic horror movies also played a big role in influencing my writing. But Anne rice remains in my heart.

You’re not hard to find on Socials. Where can people find you?

twitter.com/MTHart12 Twitter

instagram.com/mthart13/ Instagram

facebook.com/MThart13/ FB Profile

facebook.com/groups/coffinsofhorror Hart’s Coffins of Horror

amazon.com/~/e/B08LSBK9V3 Amazon Author Page

“I’ve been a fan of this series since the beginning, and while I’m slightly devastated that this is the end of it, I LOVED The Last Witchfinder.” S G Tasz

This final installment in Johnny’s saga is perhaps the weirdest, most baffling of all… Author Jill Hand

Thursday, May 2 is Launch Day for Johnny Lycan & the Last Witchfinder. Join me on Facebook Live.

Thursday, May 2, is the end of the road for Johnny Lycan and his friends. To celebrate, we’re having a Facebook Live Event from 5 PM to 6 Pacific Time. You can join from anywhere in the world by clicking here https://fb.me/e/5g9U9R5Lt

The book is available for Preorder from Black Rose Writing or on Amazon in Kindle and Paperback. The Audiobook is coming soon!

If you can’t make it Thursday evening (and what the @#$%$ is wrong with you?) pop by Copper Cat Books in Henderson, NV on Saturday, May 4 from 12-3 for books, prizes and fun stuff.

A Really Good Werewolf Series by Richard Parry

There are a lot of takes on the werewolf legend these days. I asked, “What if a noir detective type was a werewolf?” Et voila, Johnny Lycan. Well Richard Parry has a terrific series of stories about a sad alcoholic who gets bitten and… well, I’ll let him explain.

Okay, Richard. What’s your deal?

Greetings, fellow organics. And the machine overlords scraping this page, of course: you guys are great. Please don’t kill me when you take over.

My hero’s journey started like many others: I was born. This was hard for everyone involved. Most people never believe this, and that’s possibly because I’m a professional liar, but I was born in the Philippines before migrating to the US. The family moved to New Zealand when I was young enough to know true hate for how much higher the cost of living is over here.

Like any Gen Xer, I didn’t study hard enough, partied too hard, and disappointed my parents. I never actually thought I’d be a writer; my first story was 100% a rip of Knight Rider, and after a … robust round of feedback I thought I should move on from that. But my parents didn’t raise no quitter: as a teenager I was gifted with an extraordinarily indulgent English teacher, who praised my hokey works (here’s an example).

Becoming an author is actually my brother’s fault; he shoved me head-first into a creative writing course, so you should all blame him when you’re coming up with those 1-star reviews. Because I suck at thinking I’m good at anything, I passed on the writing thing until he force-fed it to me. I’d sifted through an IT/tech career and got kinda good at it. It allowed me to salt away a few coins, so I took a couple of years off and wrote … like, 20 books?

I’m now bouncing between tech contracting, while writing and narrating.

Also, I’m a huge liar, so any and all of the above might be a total fabrication.

Duly noted. Grains of salt are standing by. What’s this series about?

Night’s Favor, and the Night’s Champion series, is a story about an alcoholic who’s bitten by a werewolf, then saves the world, all while falling for the girl he doesn’t think he’s good enough for. It’s part police procedural, part supernatural thriller, with a lot of action and humour. You might call it an urban fantasy, and that wouldn’t be wrong either.

The Big Deal™ about the book is that while Val (the hero) is a werewolf, all the other people on Team Angry are just normal humans like you and me. The story is about how good we can be, when things are really bad, and what it means to have a Pack (or a found family).

Did I mention the werewolves? There are … three of those in there, mixed among the paramilitary soldiers, bar staff, fitness instructors, Big Pharma, and at least one insane megalomaniac. Because who doesn’t love a good overlord?

They’re sick of hearing Johnny’s origin story. What’s the root of your story and why werewolves?

I’ve read a lot of fantasy in my time, whether it’s epic/dark, or urban. I guess the thing that got to me was how formulaic most of it was. It took Mark Lawrence to get me back into fantasy for real, and before that I was taking a break from things fantastical.

The same was true for werewolves, vampires, and the rest. I always liked the idea of supernatural creatures, whether they were villains or heroes, but I was a little tired of the tropes. I really wanted to explore a non-typical origin story and wondered a lot about the dual nature of lycanthrope. In some stories, the werewolf / person is self-aware of both states of being, and they seem to be the most popular.

So, what would happen if you weren’t self-aware of the other half of you? But let’s also say you were an alcoholic (…Val is an alcoholic) who got black-out drunk. What would the world look like if you woke up the next day, and the news said 16 people were murdered in a bar? You might or might not have been there – can’t remember, right? – and I thought that was such an interesting idea to play with.

Also, I definitely went for werewolves because they’re cool, man.

Preach, brother. Who did this to you? Who are the authors you enjoy?

I love these questions. There are so many people who’ve told the stories that stuffed my imagination I want to give ‘em all credit.

Let’s start with my fave: Richard K. Morgan. He’s the author I want to be when I grow up. He’s amazingly talented, able to switch between sci-fi and fantasy, but what makes him my best is that he dares us to love monsters. Each of his heroes is a tarnished coin, but sticks the landing (…eventually). He’s good at dialogue and action in equal measure. Love his stuff.

I’ve given a shout-out to Mark Lawrence above, and no dark/epic fantasy shelf should be without his Ancestor trilogy, or Jay Kristoff’s Nevernight Chronicles. Both of these guys kick ass for the Lord.

Earlier on I was raised on Eddings and Feist. I loved me some Niven and Barnes (Dream Park is superb, although the sequels IMO get progressively more average). At the moment I have a bit of a fan crush on Martha Wells, not just because of Murderbot (which I was into before it was cool), but her Witch King is excellent.

Dan Simmons. Jerry Pournelle. Adrian Tchaikovsky. John Scalzi. Lev Grossman. Alistair Reynolds. Cassandra Clare. Naomi Novik. I’d better stop, we’ll run out of ink.

Pixels are cheap, but I get your point. Where can we learn more about you and your work?

If you want more all my works, my site’s a good launchpad: https://www.parrydox.com/

If you want to get right to the werewolves, you can check out Night’s Favor here: https://www.books2read.com/NightsFavor

The socials? Threads and Bluesky are probably best.

Join in the Johnny Lycan 3 Book Launch Week!

“Like methadone for Dresden fans. You’ll love this series.”
Indie Horror Review

Thursday, May 2 is the official launch of the conclusion of the Werewolf PI Series: Johnny Lycan & the Last Witchfinder. No matter where you are in the world, you’ll be able to do something fun to celebrate.

Wednesday, May 1: (Online event) Join me for a Facebook Live book launch event. I will read, answer questions, and have prizes for those who drop by.

https://fb.me/e/1mwZh0gT3 Join us at 5 PM Pacific time. https://fb.me/e/1mwZh0gT3

UPDATE Thursday, May 9 (In-person event) I will be reading at the Sin City Writers, “Do-it at Brew-it Event,” 6 PM 601 E Bridger Ave, Las Vegas, NV 89101

Saturday, May 4, 12-3 PM (In-person event) The Copper Cat Bookstore, 1570 W Horizon Ridge Pkwy STE 170, Henderson, NV 89012

Sunday, May 5 (online event) 2PM Pacific Time. I’ll be reading and answering questions with other writers at the Henderson Writer’s Group Dime Grinds event.

Meanwhile, the book is now available for pre-order in paperback or Kindle on Amazon or at Black Rose Writing

Are you an Audiobook fan? Johnny Lycan & the Anubis Disk is here for your listening pleasure!

Lately, people have been asking if any of my books are available in audiobook format. I don’t listen to Audiobooks myself, but at long last the first book in the Werewolf PI series, Johnny Lycan and the Anubis Disk is available on Audible.

Thanks to the team at my publisher, Black Rose Writing, The book is now available. Book 2, Johnny Lycan & the Vegas Berserker is in production, just in time to welcome book 3 in May.

Sure, the Long Distance Leader, Teammate, and Team books are available and have been for a while. I’m proud of my work for the day job, but to hear one of my stories…

Thanks to the talented Michael T Bradley for taking on the task.

If you review audio books, I have a very limited number of promo codes available. If you’d like to take a listen, drop me a line.

Vengeance and Alien Bugs with Kurt D Springs

Full transparency, I’m not much of a pure Sci-fi fan. But give me a young man out to kill the giant insects that took out his parents? Sign me up.

Kurt D Springs has a new series, The Dreamscape Warriors, out with my publisher Black Rose Writing. The first book in that series, Price of Vengeance, debuts February 1.

Okay, Kurt. What should we know about you?The author bio on my book tells you I have advanced degrees in anthropology and archaeology, and I teach as an adjunct at local colleges in New Hampshire. I’ve enjoyed science fiction and fantasy since I was a kid, starting with Robert A. Heinlein’s Starship Troopers. In college, I became entranced with Andre Norton’s Forerunner series. Andre Norton includes ESP powers in much of her science fiction. She inspired mainly the paranormal end of my stories. While I’ve read many military science fiction books, the HALO video games inspired the military end of my writing. I like to tell people that the Dreamscape Warriors series results from Andre Norton’s Forerunner and HALO breeding. (Author note: not a pretty visual, but I digress.) I live in New Hampshire and take care of my elderly mother. Family is something else I find important in my writing.What’s the story about?

At the core of the story sits the topic of “paying the price of vengeance.” Liam becomes an orphan at the age of two when giant insects kill his parents. High Councilor Marcus and his wife take him in and raise him alongside their son, Randolf. As an adult, he becomes a soldier charged with defending the defensive outposts of New Olympia, the last remaining city on the planet Etrusci.

When a sabotaged weapon leaves Liam injured and cut off from the city, he learns that an alien intelligence controls the insects and realizes he must learn to use the powers he’s only scratched the surface of. Upon entering the overrun city, Liam discovers that the traitor responsible for his parents’ deaths had his foster parents murdered. The quest for revenge takes Liam down a dark path.

I’m not a real sci-fi kind of guy but a good story’s a good story, and this book is compelling. What are the roots of Price of Vengeance?

I always find action-adventure stories exciting. As I said, I am a huge fan of the late Andre Norton. I thought I could combine the action-adventure element of military science fiction and the ESP of Andre Norton’s works and, perhaps, get the best of both words.

I first conceived of the story on a walk from the National University of Ireland in Galway to my flat in the sub-townland of Mincloon on the city of Galway’s outskirts. At the time, I wasn’t sure if it would be fantasy or science fiction.

Who are the authors you really enjoy (especially some we might not know)?

Obviously, my favorite author is Andre Norton. I am also a fan of J. R. R. Tolkien. I a enjoy Mark Bordner’s Mighty First series. There is also a British author, by the name of Phillip Richards, who writes the Union series. That’s military science fiction from a British point of view.

Where can we learn more about you and your work?

I’m at Goodreads, Amazon and Twitter

Did George RR Martin scar you forever and make you afraid to buy a series of books until they’re done? Guess what?

The third (and final) book in the Werewolf PI Series is now available for Pre-Order. Buy it from my publisher and get a 15% discount. Just use the promo code PREORDER2023. You can also order the whole Werewolf PI series on Amazon. Use the form on the left side to get on my newsletter and learn more.

COVER REVEAL- Johnny Lycan & the Last Witchfinder

For me, The Last Witchfinder was the most entertaining and compelling installment of the Johnny Lycan franchise, which is why I’m all the more sad that it’s going away. Maybe a revival or a spin-off down the road? If it happens, I’d be there for it.
SG Tasz

The time has come. The third and final (probably. Mostly. I’m pretty sure) installment of the Johnny Lycan: Werewolf PI series is almost ready for the world. The official date is May 2, but since it’s available for preorder it’s time for the big cover reveal:

TA DA!!!

This time our boy is facing a cult leader claiming to be a 400-year-old witchfinder and has it out for Chicago’s occult community. Not only that, but his boss has been kidnapped, and- oh yeah- an obnoxious blogger is threatening to reveal Johnny’s big, hairy secret.

“Turmel’s latest is full of the punchy, fast paced prose I’ve come to expect from him. It’s delightfully gritty from beginning to end, and Johnny Lycan is that sort of old school of PI Urban Fantasy hero that’s grown increasingly rare these days. My only complaint is that this book wraps up the trilogy, meaning I’ll just have to reread them to get more Johnny.”
– Bob McGough author of the Jubal County Saga

If George RR Martin has scarred you for life and you are no longer buying any series until it’s finished, good news. You can order the whole set of ebooks on Amazon, or get the paperback directly from Black Rose Writing for a 15% discount. Just use the Promo code PREORDER2023.