The Unmoving Sky eBook is FREE ALL SUMMER LONG.

Just head on over to Smashwords and use the coupon 9QHA5 

Or use this direct link!

There is Nothing Darker Than The Woods.

Jackson and his brother Artie are lost. Night creeps in and the rains come fast.

They seek refuge in a cave and find someone else already there.

Written with empathy, compassion and clarity, The Unmoving Sky seizes the reader and pulls him at will along bends and turns, into ravines and out again: in the deep woods at night and in the human psyche. The emotional journey is at times the most terrifying of all, both to the characters involved and to the reader. Bravo.

Kindle Unlimited ~ Speculative Short Fiction!

Originally published in 2018 in the Anthology Alien Dimensions, THE RETURN, a 45-minute read is now available on Kindle Unlimited.  

Earth: 22X. The last of the dreamers have been brought back from death, but only those who can hold onto memories will create a new future for a dying species.

Book Review: Gilded Cage by Vic James. (Dark Gifts #1)

(A repost of my review from the Kidliterati blog)


Gilded Cage by Vic James
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

One family is torn apart by Equals, aristocrats with mysterious powers, and held captive.

Luke Hadley, sixteen-years-old, is ripped away from his family and sent to Millmoor, the dusty, grimy low down, work camp everyone spends ten years, to fulfill societal obligations. While his two sisters and parents are sent to work for none other than Lord Jardine, ruler of the most powerful family in Great Britain. Thanks to his sister Abi’s smarts, the rest of his family works underfoot, serving their time, and his ten-year-old sister is in charge of caring for Heir Jardin’s illegitimate new baby.

ID chipped, and living in Millmore, the country’s oldest slave town. Luke meets a few unusual suspects and joins in the plans for a revolution.

Back at the Royal Family’s in Kyneston, Abi is falling for Jenner, Lord Jardine’s polite, and handsome (UnSkilled) son, while working together to organize the offices.
Baby Libby’s father is Gavar Jardine, heir of Jardine, and his anger is explosive at best. Ten-year-old, Daisy, has come to trust him, against the family’s best interests. And there’s the Young Master, Silyen Jardine, whose “gift” makes Abi’s uncomfortable, if not downright ill, the way he enters her head and sees everything.

Lords and Ladies, torment, and secrets and possible revolution, a dystopian world that feels familiar but oh, so different, and the likelihood of it being feasible are quite frightening. Gilded Cage, is told in multiple POVs, which kept the pace flowing and the tension tight. I was hooked from the start, the pace, and the author’s imagination is extraordinary, the end (chill bumps!) leaves you wanting more.

A magical, YA fantasy. I hope this book becomes series, for years and years to come. Outstanding YA debut for all ages.

Expected publication: February 14th, 2017 by Del Rey Books

*There’s a Goodreads Giveaway for this book until mid-December.


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Reading Old Diaries And Preparing For #NaNoWriMo

I finally spent time this weekend cracking open and reading a few of my old journals. They sat in a vintage suitcase, deep in my closet. After 20 years, I first opened the suitcase in June, took a photo and ran away. Yesterday, gearing up for my #NaNaWriMo draft I began reading the first journal. 

Asking the oracle why I feel so poopy. Ha! Good question.

1988, my first year in New York City, when I was twenty-one, the year I lost my virginity and became pregnant. It was emotional. I knew it would be. Inside the suitcase, I found old Tarot readings I read for friends, which helped me learn the cards, found old poems and unfinished short stories, (very kind) class notes from my poetry teacher, at the New School. One journal left me hanging with an unwritten year! I couldn’t believe the suspense.

I’d forgotten most of that life and found it funny how I kept talking to future me:

“I just have to write through this pain so I can learn from it later".

 -- Oh, how I wish I could talk to young Karen. You FOOL! Poor kid. J I laughed and laughed. The voice alone was worth the read. It felt like time travel and such a head-trip. I recommend each of you, writer or not, keep a journal.

I’m sorry I’ve given up the habit. Writing novels and short stories has taken most of my writing mojo. I’ve tried and purchased a journal only to lose the motivation. I’m going to try again, inspired by what I’ve learned reading about the way I saw the world then. My memory alone wouldn’t have been accurate. 

I thought about posting an excerpt from a poem I wrote then but I’ll save that for another post.

What's My Next Step?

Today I have a film crew swarming around me. It’s a little hard to focus on my regularly scheduled writing work, so here I am on my blog. I do love when the film crews come, there’s always someone to talk plots and TV shows with.

It’s the second time this crew has been at my family club, the ZINC BAR, filming parts of the GYPSY television series with Naomi Watts. I haven’t seen her. My husband stays for the shoot into the evening.

With NaNoWriMo around the corner, (I love me some NaNoWriMo sprint-race-writing. Messy drafts are all the rage!) and a project ready to draft, writing notes on index cards and Scrivener, gathering resources, and using KM Weiland's incredibly helpful plot and writing tips. Helping Writers Become Authors >> Check out her blog!  Thank me later. 

And I have a YA historical project ready to query that could use more eyes on it. However, I'm concerned with taking too many opinions to heart. I’ve done this before. Destroyed a beloved project through several online workshops and contests. I like to learn the hard way, apparently.

I’ve also come to an impasse. My cancelled MG book has not hooked an agent after 76 query passes, and 59 no responses, for the grand total: 135. What’s my next step? Do I shut GLITCH out—(That name is changing, btw. My life has been rife with glitches) put it in a drawer with its drafted option book? (that I LOVE) Or do I begin searching for another book publisher? I’m just not completely sure. Being creative you see SO MANY OPTIONS. They all sound pretty good. After the year’s worth of editing for GLITCH, it’s hard to think about rewriting at this point—though I do have ideas. Ideas are everywhere.  

In other news: THE UNMOVING SKY, my young adult, contemporary, thriller, will have an audiobook soon! Stay tuned for more details. And--my good friend, Sheriff Bob, is busy mixing an MP3 of a song I wrote and sing from Brianna's POV. She's Jackson's girlfriend. It’s her story now. I DON’T BLAME YOU is coming soon!! Can't wait to hear it myself.  

Are you doing NaNoWriMo 2016 this November 1st?  I'll be on the sidelines because I already have five chapters drafted, but I'll be rooting for you!  #WritersRock  

Find me on Twitter and say hello! And if you're in the Village, stop in at Zinc Bar/Cafe during November, and I'll buy all NaNoWriMo writers a coffee. 

Book Review: It Started With Goodbye by Christina June

It Started With Goodbye by Christina June
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A reblog from Kidliterati. 

I received this ARC for an honest review.

Christina June’s young adult book IT STARTED WITH GOODBYE, charmed me from the start, and I found myself sitting comfortably in the author’s beautiful writing, like an old friend sharing a story. Familiar, and relatable, this was a fun contemporary take on the Cinderella story, which explores finding your place in life, even when it feels everyone’s against you.

Falsely accused of a crime, sixteen-year-old, Tatum Elsea (TLC) winds up under house arrest. Her father leaves town, leaving Tatum with her step-monster, Belen, and perfect stepsister, Matilda, who won’t even look at her, much less speak. Her best friend, Ashlyn, has been sent to a boarding school since the criminal charge and isn’t writing back. Tatum tried reaching out to her. It wasn’t Tatum’s fault. Ashlyn’s questionable new boyfriend, Chase, got them into serious trouble, and now they face grand larceny charges.

“In terms of life events, my getting arrested was either pretty horrible timing or pretty perfect, depending on who you were talking to.”

Sentenced to probation and community service, Tatum’s thankful it’s the end of the school year, and wouldn’t have to listen to the rumor mill blow everything out of proportion for long. Maybe it would help her focus on the budding graphic design business, new friend Abby suggested, after the great work Tatum did on her blog.

Abby encourages Tatum to find more clients. Tatum’s inspired. When her stepsister, Matilda, the ballet dancer has a recital, she takes the opportunity to leave the new business cards at the school that didn’t accept her art portfolio. She literally bumps into a mysterious and keen-witted boy, and the two have an inspired conversation while critiquing the art on the walls. Tatum flees before either catches the other’s name. A student from her stepsister’s school, she wouldn’t dare tell either, wanting to stay anonymous. She also wants to keep her budding graphic design business under wraps for now.

Waiting for her best friend Ashlyn to write back, and with her stepmother watching every move and calculating her car’s mileage, the boy at the gala fades into the background. Tatum begins corresponding with SK, her latest client. Leaving her business cards at Matilda’s school proved fruitful. He plays cello and she begins work on creating the perfect promotional flyer for him.

But Belen, the stepmother, pulls the reigns in tighter, and the only recourse Tatum has, is her step-grandmother, Blanche, who came to stay and help Belen keep tabs on her. She has wise words to share, compliments of The Golden Girls. A breath of air in Tatum’s otherwise suffocating life. Blanche lessens the blow of her daughter, Belen’s unreadable demeanor. Tatum soon discovers she’s not the only one in the house, keeping secrets. A wonderful young adult debut for all ages, and I look forward to the author’s next work.

Expected publication: May 9th, 2017 by Blink/HarperCollins






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Book Review: WAIT FOR ME by Caroline Leech.

Wait for Me by Caroline Leech
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received an ARC of Caroline Leech’s historical romance WAIT FOR ME, for an honest review.   

WAIT FOR ME was such a visual and emotional treat, with the intimacy of a historical memoir, and details that felt like an accurate account of two ill-fated lovers near the end of World War II.

Eighteen-year-old, Lorna Anderson’s life is spent on her father’s Scottish farm, milking cows, and lambing sheep. Lorna thinks she’ll stay to help her father after she’s finished school. Her brothers are away fighting in the British Army. And Nellie, the twenty-year-old from London, sent from the Women’s Land Army to help around the farm, has some wilding ways, but her infectious charm makes the daily routines of rationing and chores more fun—if not a touch dangerous. Lorna’s best friend, Iris, is seeing the preacher’s son, and she doesn’t like the way he talks to her or the way Iris isn’t acting like herself around him.

When the German POW trucks roll into Criagelaw Farm in Aberlady. The POWs stay in the camp on the Anderson’s farm, where they’ll work for their keep. Lorna is introduced to Paul Vogel, the new farmhand. He startles her, his steel gray eyes are hard, one side of his face burned, is he angry? Sneering? It’s difficult to read his expression. Lorna is doubly fascinated and somewhat terrified.

Everyone’s lost someone in the War. Miss Murphy, Lorna’s teacher, waits for her son’s return, along with Lorna, waiting for her brothers. Miss Murphy suggests Lorna keep her options open as far as life after school, maybe attend university. But Lorna insists that her father needs her on the farm.

The POW, Paul Vogel and Lorna become more acquainted, spending more and more time together with the endless chores around Criagelaw. Lorna learns more about the boy’s life in Germany and the mother and young sister he’s left behind. She begins to feel differently about many things and begins to fall for Paul. But he’s the enemy. Loving him could mean losing her family, and the only life she’s known on the farm. Lorna may have to stand on her own to defend him, against the gossip and naysayers of the town, even from those she once trusted.

A great YA read! I was thoroughly hypnotized by author’s prose, elegant with enough detail to set you right inside a fully visualized world, rich in setting and sense of time. The world the author’s created still lives with me. The character’s hearts beat and the suspense made mine, beat faster. An epic debut from Caroline Leech, expected publication: January 31st, 2017 (HarperTeen)





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The 9th Anniversary for Long and Short Reviews

                                   "Reviewing Fiction One Happy Ever After at a Time"

The Unmoving Sky is a featured book.  

You can win a boatload of prizes including a $100 Amazon/B&N gift card.

Check out the YA page for Long and Short Reviews on Facebook

or the YA page on their website. 

   

The Unmoving Sky is available on
Nook,  Kindle,  iTunes, and Smashwords   for $1.99 

But you'll want to enter the contest!  Go!    ;) 

Happy Friday!

Just something I made on Canva today, playing around. I paid $1.00 for this image. Not a bad deal. It's a great tool for promotion. I've only just begun, but I think I'm going to enjoy myself too much with the images and possibilities of creation.  Here's a link to Canva.

Do you have other go-to sites for designing your promotions?  Let me know. I'm gathering resources.  Thanks!  

My Book News!

You guys!!! 

My Young Adult Thriller is making some moves!  And I'm so excited. 

***** Now Available for ‪#‎PreOrder‬ *****

The Unmoving Sky by K. L. Hallam - a chilling ‪#‎YA‬ ‪#‎Thriller‬ from Leap Books: SHINE.

There is nothing darker than the woods until you meet your worst fear.

Jackson Bower has a lot on his mind lately. His younger brother hasn’t been the same since his mother’s death. His father’s drinking is out of control. Then there’s Jackson’s girlfriend and the grief that ties them together even as it threatens to drive them apart.

He distances himself, hoping for a little perspective at the family lodge. But when their father gets drunk and dangerous, he and his brother escape into the woods.

Night creeps in, and the rains come fast. Artie slips down a ravine. He’s wounded and the brothers seek shelter in a cave, only to find someone else already taking refuge there.

A desperate man with plans to destroy their town.

Jackson must get him and his wounded brother out of the cave and over the mountain to warn everyone in time. Without getting them both killed first.

Pre-Order on Amazon!     At the fancy price of $1.99