Blimey, there’s a lot of creativity going on out there, so let’s slam out a mid-week medley of hot-off-the-press independent press projects. Today we spotlight author and publisher Nicole Givens Kurtz and her new supernatural private investigator mystery, a debut sword and soul fantasy novel from Sarah Macklin, and a new Mapp and Lucia book by Hugh Ashton. And we also have news of a big dark humour initiative from Crystal Lake Publishing – Coffee Beans and Conquest – in which that ancient reprobate John Linwood Grant himself is involved…
KILL THREE BIRDS
Nicole Givens Kurtz is an experienced American writer with many short stories and novels behind her, and she has a new book coming out on 20 July 2020, called Kill Three Birds.
“Sent to investigate a string of murders in a quiet remote egg, can Hawk Tasifa find the killer before she becomes the next target? Prentice Tasifa is an investigative hawk whose been deployed from The Order to the small egg of Gould, a mountain village. A missing girl had been found dead. Hawks investigate strange and difficult situations throughout the Kingdom of Aves. They can “see the unseen,” by accessing a unique ability to activate hawk-like vision, a trait they carry through their bloodlines. “When Prentice arrives in Gould, she soon discovers that there isn’t just one bird dead, but three. There’s a serial killer operating in Gould, and she has to find the person before she ends up next.”
And if you want to get a feel for what Nicole writes, you can read the first chapter of Kill Three Birds online simply by following this link:
https://midwestbsfa.com/2020/06/08/excerpt-of-nicole-givens-kurtzs-kill-three-birds/
“You wanna see what a killer looks like? Look in the reflecting glass,” Prentice Tasifa said over her shoulder. Her voice rose above the evening’s insects chittering. Not getting a reply, she stood up and looked over to Dove Baltazar. “Anyone is capable of killing.”
“Those that are with the goddess and follow along her path, don’t slaughter others.” Dove Baltazar said, with a sweeping arm across the bloodied body between him and Prentice. The white, gold-trimmed sleeves of his cloak just missed the carnage. “Hawk Prentice, try to remember how this woman lived. Holy. Pure.”
“She’s a teenager.”
Prentice pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. Baltazar, like most in the rural egg, was about to discover the true nature of human beings. Anyone was capable of great violence when dumped in the right situation. Doves like him only saw goodness in people. That was their role.
You check out the full range of Nicole’s writing through her Amazon author pages:
https://www.amazon.com/Nicole-Givens-Kurtz/e/B0057XEF0G?ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vu00_tkin_p1_i0
Regular listeners will know that we are always keen to support good small and independent presses, so we must mention that Nicole is also owner of Mocha Memoirs Press.
Mocha publish “engaging stories that amplify diverse experiences with vivid storytelling, robust protagonists, and fearless voices.”
And they do produce all sorts of fascinating books. We’ve been aware of them for a while because they have also published in another of our favourite areas, Holmesian pastiche and related fiction, such as with An Improbable Truth: The Paranormal Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, which came out in 2015.
You should definitely go check out their site and full catalogue:
https://mochamemoirspress.com/
THE ROYAL HERETIC
Now, another new book from an independent press, this time from Milton Davis’s MVMedia. MV have a great range as well, but have been especially noted for their work on Sword and Soul. This fantasy/historical sub-genre brings Black fantasy characters to the fore and offers every reader a chance to go somewhere different. It abandons the pseudo-medieval European settings of most fantasy books, and takes us to rich new cultures, the perils of the open savannah, and Afrikan ports full of intrigue.
Sword and Soul not only gives Black readers real involvement in the action, but at the same time it’s a shot in the arm for the Fantasy genre as a whole (we’d recommend something like MVMedia’s Griots collection of short stories as an introduction to the fun — and fear). 
This week MVMedia have published Sarah Macklin’s debut novel (we’ve already nabbed a copy to see what she’s come up with). The Royal Heretic is out right now.
“Bakari is the netkoleh, ruler of the Ega empire and the living embodiment of the gods. When his eldest son and heir falls ill and dies, Bakari drowns in despair. He decides that the gods are nonexistent and bans the empire’s religion. He expects the people to rejoice at being “liberated” but talk of rebellion soon begins instead.
“In the north, in a long ago conquered kingdom, the second queen of the empire is sent to deliver the news. Her father, the king, wants to bargain with the netkoleh but she and her siblings know the man can’t be reasoned with. Their religion was the last bit of dignity th Ega had left their people. To defy this decree will bring the wrath of the netkoleh down on their lands and hopefully the path to freedom.”
“Macklin has created a vibrant world with a conflict that is simultaneously deeply personal and epic in scope. Do not miss this one!”
Rodney Turner, Microphones of Madness
The Royal Heretic is available in print and epub directly from MVMedia and on Amazon (all three links below)
https://www.mvmediaatl.com/product-page/the-royal-heretic
https://www.mvmediaatl.com/product-page/the-royal-heretic-epub
MAPP’S RETURN
Also on our ‘Must Read’ pile is Hugh Ashton’s sequel to his recent (and delightftul) short novel in the style of E F Benson, Mapp at 50. Faithful to Benson’s original Mapp and Lucia stories, we are once again drawn into a delightfully wry, very English world of village intrigues, posturing and general cattiness, with the new Mapp’s Return, from j-views Publishing. A beautiful cover again, as well.
“Since the disaster that was her fiftieth birthday party, Elizabeth Mapp-Flint has been avoiding Tilling society. But just as she decides to re-enter the round of bridge parties and dainty teas, an unexpected visitor to Mallards throws her plans for a triumphant return as the social leader of Tilling into confusion. Lucia and Georgie, Diva, the Padre and Evie, the Wyses, and quaint Irene (and of course, Major Benjy and Mapp herself) all come alive again in this tale of genteel snobbery and social climbing.”
We covered Hugh’s Mapp at 50 here a few weeks ago: http://greydogtales.com/blog/past-and-future-dreams/
COFFEE BEANS AND CONQUEST
Finally, dear merciful gods, we have to mention another Brand New Thing, this time from Joe Mynhardt‘s independent press Crystal Lake Publishing. We say ‘have to’, because we’ve been contributing to it. Here comes the spiel…
COFFEE BEANS & CONQUEST IS LIVE!! But don’t celebrate just yet, dear friendo, cuz you’ll have to JOIN US to survive.
Sent to Earth to prepare the world for the coming of the elder-gods, the Preditor is here to save you from being harvested when the world is ultimately invaded and destroyed. Only those wise enough to subscribe to this newspaper (and partake in the Preditor’s Guatemalan Butt-Blend coffee bean side hustle) will be saved.
Our crack team of interdimensional journalists include:
- Jasper Bark
- John Linwood Grant
- Jessica McHugh
- Patrick Freivald
- Justin Coates
and a group of informants that can’t be named (for their own safety), with special guests including visitors from the past, beings from alternate dimensions and timelines, characters from popular as well as estranged fiction, and of course the elder gods (Cthulhu fhtagn!).
On the rare lucky day that he’s taking a break from global domination, you might even be blessed with a visit from our Preditor-in-Chief with his Letters from the Preditor column. But don’t take my word for it. The Preditor breaks it all down here in a completely professional, non-eggyweggish milieu. (https://youtu.be/goIujws7VN4)
The $3 tier of Coffee Beans and Conquest gives you access to all the crazy text articles, reports, interviews, reviews, columns, and jokes. The $5 tier gives you full access to all articles, interviews, and jokes, including video, audio, and livestream news.
JOIN before the end of JULY to receive FOUR Dark Humor eBooks for FREE, including Jessica McHugh’s ridiculous (she says) collection of jokes and writing prompts, “Virtuoso at Masturbation & More McHughmorous Musings.”
https://www.patreon.com/ConquestBeans