Books and a Thank You!

I just want to say Thank You to everyone who came out to BrazCon on Saturday! It was a wonderful time, I got to meet some amazing young writers, and I can’t wait for next year!

I was fortunate to meet some awesome authors as well! Here is a glimpse of some of their books!

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D. Marie Prokop

D. Marie Prokop enjoys writing and reading stories with riveting adventures, spiritual insights, and enlightening cultural or social critiques. Her favorite authors include Madeline L’Engle, Pearl S. Buck, John Green, and C. S. Lewis.

A member of WriteSpace Houston and the Houston Writer’s Guild, D. Marie gains both education and comradery from her local writing community. She’s written and published YA, children’s fiction, science fiction, adventure, fantasy, and horror.

In 2011, D. Marie discovered the National Novel Writing Month challenge and became enamored with writing fiction. The challenge of NANOWRIMO helped D. Marie create her YA Sci-Fi trilogy, Days of the Guardian. The Days of the Guardian trilogy now includes The Red String, The Red Cloak, and The Red Knot.

D. Marie is also a singer-songwriter and avid fiber artist/knitter. Born and raised in Pennsylvania, the former Yankee now resides in Houston, Texas, along with her loving family, their feisty cats, a beloved ukulele, and much, much yarn.

Follow her literary exploits at Daysoftheguardian@wordpress.com

Check out her books:

Welcome to my non-young-adult collection of shorter things: poetry, flash fiction, and short stories that span various genres, including science fiction, fantasy, horror, and memoir. Every piece in this volume is under five thousand words. Sifting through my files, I gathered a collection of shorter pieces written over recent years that do not fit comfortably in the young adult genre. Some of these works were the result of writing workshop exercises, and some were prompted by specific challenges, for example, National Poetry Month and various literary magazine submission themes. Fair warning—though each piece is short, they are not all sweet.

It is the year 2053. Ainsling Reid is a spirited and happy 16-year-old. Though she suffers from debilitating seizures, she has hope in the one doctor who has promised to cure her. Li Griffin wishes his father would let him live his own life. He is angry and resentful that he has been forced to work at his Clinic. His feelings are harsher for the mother who abandoned him many years ago. Despite their differences, these two teens form an unexpected bond when their lives cross paths. In “The Red String,” Ainsling and Li will find themselves in need of a rescue. It’s a good thing that’s what the Guardian does best…

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Adam Holt

Adam Holt was raised in Friendswood, Texas near NASA’s Johnson Space Center, where his father worked for NASA in Mission Control during the Apollo missions. He was born into the space program and did not realize how special that was until he arrived at college. “Your dad put men on the Moon? No way!”

He attended Baylor University for his undergrad, SMU for his grad degree, and taught English at Greenhill School in Dallas for a decade; however, he left teaching to devote himself to his writing full time as well as sharing his love of human space exploration. He responds to fan tweets: @adamholtwrites.

He travels abroad when he has time and money, loves Victor Hugo and C.S. Lewis, respects Rick Riordan, and loves the crunchy boom of a rocket launch.

Check out his books:

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Martine Lewis

Martine Lewis is a forty something who was born and raised in the French speaking province of Quebec, Canada. She spent her childhood looking forward to her summer vacations at the farm, which were a nice escape from the suburbs where she lived.

Her first written endeavor was a 200-page handwritten Duran Duran bandfiction which she wrote when she was eleven years old. Of all her written work, this is the only one she no longer has.

All throughout high school, Martine wrote more bandfictions and some original work, then she went to write fanfictions in the Star Wars, Buffy and Harry Potter universes. Her fanficiton in the Potterverse are mostly centered on characters of her own creation and can be found on fanfiction.net.

Following her viewing of Roswell on Netflix in 2012, Martine wrote book two and three of the Gray Eyes Series, then went on to create the Gray Eyes Series universe in which she has been playing ever since. She writes contemporary coming-of-age romance fiction (young adult/new adult) with a twist.

Martine is an avid reader and rollerskater. She loves sushi, hot chocolate on a cold day, and the beach. But what she loves above all else is to curl on her chair with her computer and write more stories for her readers.

Martine currently lives in Houston TX with her two cats.

Check out her books:

High school student Malakai Thomas, star wide receiver of the varsity team, collides with band member Lily Morgan on his way to football practice. As days go by, Malakai cannot get the petite clarinetist out of his head. Lily Morgan can feel everyone’s emotions. She loses her ability to shield herself against them the day Malakai runs into her. Now she must try to maintain her sanity in the emotional jungle that is high school, as well as deal with her growing feelings for Malakai. Can Malakai get over the social stigma and his own internal struggle to be with Lily? Is Lily’s secret too big to accept, even for him?

A girl stuck in her father’s mold. Olivia Kendall looks forward to her senior year of high school. But her world is shaken when a new boy walks into school, a boy she cannot help but be drawn to. But her father’s ideas for her life don’t include Alex. A boy with a gift, desperate for a real home. Alex Parker begins his senior year in yet another school. The only person he looks forward to seeing again is Olivia Kendall, a girl he knew in second grade, a girl who never made fun of him. One touch, and he knows what he’s suspected all along: there is something unearthly about their connection. Can the two stay together despite Alex’s secret, despite a town that seems to conspire against them?

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Angélique Jamail

Angélique Jamail’s poetry and essays have appeared in over two dozen anthologies and journals, but she’s been writing fiction since childhood. The first time she ever read one of her short stories in front of an audience was fourth grade. The reaction to it was a character-building experience.

She teaches English and Creative Writing to high school students. She resides in the Houston area with her family and a cat which might be immortal. She has otherwise lived in her imagination pretty much her whole life.

Read more of her work, and find out about upcoming publications, on her blog Sappho’s Torque (www.SapphosTorque.com). Also find her in the realm of social media on Facebook and Twitter. She’s available for book club appearances in person or via Skype.

Check out her books:

Elsa’s family grows more unkind by the week. Her boss, a seven-foot-tall rage demon, has control of everything but his anger. And her cat wants to eat her. Things could be better.

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In a world where one’s Animal Affinity is a sign of maturity and worth, Elsa’s inability to demonstrate hers is becoming more than a disappointing nuisance; it’s becoming a danger. She has no confidence she’ll ever conquer her Plainness by “blossoming.” She also fears both the wolf packs that prowl her neighborhood and being stuck in a life plummeting rapidly from lackluster to perilous. Fortunately, she has a cousin and a co-worker who know her better than she knows herself and can see through to what society won’t.

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FINIS. is the magic realism of our time, a story of finding one’s way to the end of things, of persevering through the dregs of life to discover something more.

‘Mother’ is a word heavy with associations. Becoming a mother is surely one of the biggest changes and challenges in a woman’s life. It is at once an absolutely unique experience, and yet one which is so common that it is often overlooked. Motherhood is intense, relentless and absorbing, in all senses of the word. Popular culture seems to have a split personality when it comes to motherhood – at once holding it up as a sacred ideal, and yet being a little dismissive of women as mothers. A diverse international group of women have been brave enough to share their stories, poetry and artwork to encourage you to think and feel about this most influential of relationships in a new and enlightened way.

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And don’t forget that Innovation is still going until February 10, which is Saturday! Don’t miss out on a chance to get some great free books!

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