September Book News

“The habit of reading is the only enjoyment I know in which there is no alloy. It lasts when all other pleasures fade. It will be there to support you when all other resources are gone. It will be present to you when the energies of your body have fallen away from you. It will last you until your death. It will make your hours pleasant to you as long as you live.” — Anthony Trollope

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Footprints in History Kindle Cover jpg

New Release Footprints in History combines imagination and

my kingdom

Janice McCaffrey, Author

historic events during America’s Early Colonial Period, to tell of the author’s seventh great-grandfather, blacksmith and indentured servant, James Fitchett. James stands up for his convictions and influences early education on Staten Island, New York. While Thomas Gordon, an attorney representing his brother, one of the twenty-four Scottish investors, known as proprietors, strives for an honest government in the new colonial province of New Jersey. Their wives build a bond of friendship as they experience their new worlds where not all settlers share the same hopes and beliefs.

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Feel free to wander to Jana Felt’s Bakery and Bar in Bigfork Sunday Sept 6th for an authors event. Join Deb Burke, Christine Carbo and myself for a social and an open read. We’d love to see you there. 
Get out, get social and talk about books and writing.
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NEW! Pandemic Anthology features 40 writers from around the worldBe strong

STOP THE WORLD: Snapshots from a Pandemic, published in August 2020, features essays, poems, and short fiction from a diverse cast of writers, all attempting to process this year of the pandemic.

The brainchild of Montana mystery writer Lise McClendon, the anthology, STOP THE WORLD: Snapshots from a Pandemic, sprang from the depths of lockdown, with help from co-editors Gary Phillips, Kate Flora, and Taffy Cannon, on a bleak spring day in this infamous year. Over 40 writers from ten countries contributed short fiction, personal essays, and poetry to help us understand the struggles, isolation, sacrifice, and heartache of this strange time in our lives.

Some writers chose to mine their own psyches and experiences, whether the challenges of life in lockdown or their struggles with productivity and focus. Others felt called to wry, dark fiction or poetry. Across the globe the reactions portray a similar anger, pain, and struggle from writers from the US, Canada, Scotland, Ireland, France, Germany, Northern Ireland, Spain, Italy, and Romania.

Covid-19illustrationSeveral Montana writers contributed to the anthology: Tami Haaland, former Montana poet laureate, Craig Lancaster, Billings novelist, Tim Cahill, acclaimed travel writer, and Allen Morris Jones of Bozeman, who wrote two pandemic poems for the book. Lise McClendon also wrote a personal essay.

The anthology was published August 4 by Thalia Press. It is available in e-book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, and KOBO, and in paperback from Amazon and Bookshop.org.

Read a roundtable discussion with four contributors, Dan Fesperman, Tatjana Kruse, Matt Coyle, and Sarah M. Chen, moderated by Lise McClendon at CrimeReads.com

Thank you for your generous support. All profits go to charity.

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October Book News

Harvest Moon

2017 the Harvest Moon will occur October 5th.

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Lise McClendon here… from the far southwest tip of Montana. Not the end of the world but you can see it from here! I’m still letting people know about my new women’s fiction/suspense novel set in France, the fifth in the Bennett Sisters Mysteries. It’s called The Frenchman, a title so bland it’s been used a million times. Hence, here is the link: THE FRENCHMAN. If you haven’t had a chance to read any of the novels, start with Blackbird Fly.

October brings an anthology of riffs on conspiracy theories that roiled through the Obama years, edited by the talented Gary Phillips. I have a short story in The Obama Inheritance: Fifteen Stories of Conspiracy Noir, set in a fictional Montana town called Forked Tongue. It is, needless to say, about Russian trolls and fake news (maybe not so fictional… 🙄) Walter Mosley is the big name in here but there are lots of fascinating takes on aliens, ninjas, and Michelle. Something for everyone, for sure. And, yes, Obama is blue on the cover!

From the publisher: “In an era where the outlandish and fantastic has permeated our media 24/7, where mind-bending conspiracy theories shape our views, THE OBAMA INHERITANCE writers riff on the numerous fictions spun about the 44th president of the U.S. Although Obama himself does not appear in most of these stories, contributors spin deliberately outlandish and fantastic twists on many of the dozens of screwball, bizarro conspiracy theories floated about the president during his years in office and turn them on their heads.”

It’s available for pre-order now. It goes live in ebook and paperback on October 10, and will be in Montana bookstores (or by special order.) Have a lovely, leafy autumn 🍂🍃🍁

Leslie Budewitz: Congratulations, Lise!

Christine Carbo and I just returned from the Montana Book Festival in Missoula, where we were part of a conversation about the contemporary mystery set in the west. In mid October, we’ll both be attending Bouchercon, the annual world mystery convention, being held this year in Toronto! And I’ll be leaving the board of Sisters in Crime, the international writers’ organization focused on the recognition, advancement, and professional development of women crime writers. It’s been an honor to serve — writing is a solo activity, but every opportunity I’ve had, and many of the joys, have come to me because of a group.

Wishing you the pleasures and joys of this sweet season!