New Release Announcement: Murmurs in the Dark is Here!

Okay, so you’re probably thinking, “Hey, Marissa—didn’t you just release a new book a few weeks ago?” Well, yes, I did. Still, here we are: I am delighted to announce the release of Murmurs in the Dark: Thirteen Ghostly Tales from Book View Café, edited by me and my fellow Book View Café author, Shannon Page.

Book View Café is a small publishing cooperative founded in 2008 by a group of science fiction and fantasy authors, including the late Ursula K. LeGuin. BVC’s focus is mainly genre fiction—fantasy, mystery, romance, science fiction—though we’ve also brought out other works, including children’s books and non-fiction. We’ve published several anthologies of our authors’ short pieces in science fiction, fantasy, steampunk, romance, and more…but we had never ventured into horror. It was time we did, and here is the result.

Not that Murmurs in the Dark is particularly horror-ible. Shannon and I asked our members to contribute ghost stories of any persuasion, and what came in covers just about every flavor of that sub-genre. There are spooky stories, indeed…but there are also  humorous stories, melancholy stories, stories told from the ghost’s point of view, historical stories (yes, my contribution would be in that category--how did you guess?)—in short, a marvelous spectrum of tales:

“The Summer House: a Fable” by Chaz Brenchley

“With Stars in her Eyes” by Alma Alexander

“Love in the Company of Ghosts” by Steven Popkes

“House is Where the Heart Is” by Marissa Doyle

 “La Dame Blanche” by Brenda W. Clough

“Given to the Sunrise” by Dave Smeds

“Lideric” by Jennifer Stevenson

“Violence Begets…” by Paul Piper

“The Nature of Things” by Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

“Golden Spider Beetles” by Shannon Page

“Borrowed Places” by K.E. Kimbriel

“The Waking of Angantyr” by Marie Brennan

“It All Ends With a Game of Croquet” by Jill Zeller

Murmurs in the Dark is available directly from Book View Cafe in both EPUB and MOBI formats, as well as from Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and Apple Books) as well as in print from Amazon. I hope you'll give it a try in this spooky season.

Taking in the View

Today, Coraline Baxter begins her historic climb! Yes, A View Most Glorious, the third book in my American Wonders Collection, launches in ebook, trade paperback, hardcover, and audiobook, from Revell.

Reluctant socialite Coraline Baxter longs to live a life of significance and leave her mark on the world. When her local suffragette group asks her to climb Mount Rainier to raise awareness of their cause, she jumps at the chance, even though she has absolutely no climbing experience. If she can do it, any woman can do it. And after her mother issues an ultimatum—that Cora marry the man of her mother’s choosing if she is not successful—Cora must do it. But she can’t do it alone.

Noted mountain guide Nathan Hardee initially refuses to help Cora but has a change of heart when he sees what is at stake. He knows enough about the man Cora’s mother has chosen to know that the headstrong young woman should have nothing to do with him, much less marry him.

Climbing Rainier will require all of Cora’s fortitude and will lead her and Nathan to rediscover their faith in God and humanity. These two loners make unlikely partners in righting a wrong and may just discover that only together is the view most glorious.

“Unputdownable! A View Most Glorious is historical romance at its best.” Amanda Cabot, bestselling author 

“A View Most Glorious is, indeed, glorious! This adventure-filled tale with its wonderful characters will have you holding your breath as Coraline faces more opposition than what the mountain can throw at her.” Kit Morgan, USA Today bestselling author

You can find the book at fine online retailers and physical bookstores nationwide:

Baker Book House (30% off release and free shipping) 

Baker Publishing Group 

Amazon (affiliate link)

Apple Books 

Barnes and Noble 

Books-A-Million 

Christian Book 

Indie Bound (an independent bookstore near you) 

Kobo 

The Book Depository, free shipping worldwide 

Audio

Kobo 

Audiobooks

iTunes 

Such Language! Part 30

More fun with 19^th century slang and cant, courtesy of that compendium of all bygone bad language, the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.*

Enjoy!

Snoach: To speak through the nose; to snuffle. (I do wish Uncle Mortimer would not insist on reading aloud to us after dinner when he is having an attack of catarrh; his snoaching sometimes has devastating effects on the text.)

Caw-handed: Awkward, not dexterous, ready, or nimble. (Miss Hurlingame is an indefatigable walker and a fearless rider to hounds, but when it comes to embroidery, she’s positively caw-handed.)

Done to a cow’s thumb: Done exactly. (Her younger sister Prudence, on the other hand, just finished embroidering an exquisite whitework waistcoat for her papa that is done to a cow’s thumb.)

Squeeze-wax: a good-natured foolish fellow. (Sir Henry may be the veriest squeeze-wax and the worst whist player in London, but he always asks the wallflowers to dance at every ball he attends.)

School butter: Cobbing, whipping. (My obstreperous little brother has received so many helpings of school butter that it’s a wonder he still knows how to use a chair.)

Peepy: Drowsy. (After attending three balls every evening for the last sennight, is there any wonder that I’m too peepy to go to the opera tonight?)

Pelt: A heat, chafe, or passion. (Young Lord Limpnoodle’s in an absolute pelt to be the best blindfolded juggler in London, which is why his mother will no longer allow him in her drawing room.)

*That’s a link to a PDF of the book on Project Gutenburg, which you can download for free and have your own fun browsing through all the imaginative, amusing, and occasionally scurrilous entries.

 

A View (or Two) from Regina Scott

Did I mention how excited I am to be writing about the history in my own backyard? As I type this, it’s two weeks until A View Most Glorious launches, and I can hardly wait. I can’t fly to England every time I write a book set there (worse luck!), but I can walk and drive to many of the places in this third book of my American Wonders series.

So, I did. And I’m going to take you with me. 😊

I’ll be doing a series of videos about some of the places that inspired scenes from the book. The book opens along the waterfront, where Coraline Baxter, my heroine, and her stepfather come seeking a guide to help them reach the top of Mt. Rainier. This video was shot less than 2 miles from where Shem’s Dockside Saloon might have been.

Nathan Hardee, my hero, reluctantly agrees to consider guiding Cora up the mountain, but he wants to make sure she has what it takes to reach the top. Taking an inexperienced climber into the heights is a hazard in and of itself. So, he sets her to climbing one of the highest hills in Tacoma, in 10 minutes or less. I had to try it myself. Here’s the results.

You can read the first chapter of A View Most Glorious on my website. Look for more peeks behind the scenes soon!

It’s Release Day for What Lies Beneath!

 

I’m delighted to present my new young adult historical fantasy novel, What Lies Beneath, out today from Book View Café!

War. Spies. Gossip and lies. Mythical Creatures. Falling in love. And it’s still only July.

It’s 1917, and everyone is doing their bit now that America has entered the Great War—everyone except 17-year-old Emma Verlaine. Her overprotective dad won’t let her go to nursing school while he’s off doing war work; instead, she’s been sent to stay for the summer with her Gran on an island off Cape Cod, and the most she’ll be able to do for the war effort is knit socks. Socks!

As it happens, island life isn’t so bad. There are the seals that seem even more fascinated by her than she is by them. There’s the new Navy Air Station that guards the coast from German U-boats where she’s determined to get a job. But most of all there’s Malcolm, whose family owns a resort hotel on the island and who gives her swimming lessons and delicious kisses.

But danger lurks in the waters off the island. Only Emma can save her new home—if she accepts that everything she thought she knew about her life is a lie, and that the seals are following her for a very good reason…

 

“Malcolm and Emma are appealing characters, and their sea-crossed romance keeps readers turning pages.... Engaging and fun.” –Kirkus Reviews

 

I’ve already talked about how different it was to write a story set firmly in the 20th century… and in a place that I know and love. That second part was especially important—to be able to use home in a story is both a delight and a challenge for any author, I think. There’s the desire to show what is beautiful and compelling about one’s home tainted by the fear that we won’t be able to communicate it to our satisfaction. I hope that I’ve done justice to my home world in What Lies Beneath.

And of course, selkies. You already know they’re my favorite mythical creature; it was exciting and challenging to dive a little deeper into their world and speculate about what might have happened if selkies lived near Cape Cod and how their world might intersect with the human world.

“What Lies Beneath beautifully knits patriotism, self-discovery, and bravery galore into a mystical pattern of young love and legendary lore!” –5 stars, InD'tale Magazine

 

What Lies Beneath is available in ebook direct from Book View Café as well as from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Apple, Google Books, and Smashwords, and in both paperback and hardcover from your favorite bookstore and from Barnes and Noble and Amazon. You can also read a sample on my website.

I hope you'll enjoy it!

It’s a Celebration!

Cue the music and the confetti cannons! We are celebrating here at Nineteen Teen. 

Why?

First, we have surpassed 1 million views! That is pretty amazing for a lil ole blog devoted to the nineteenth century and books. Thank you all for your support!

Second, this month marks our 14th anniversary for blogging and the beginning of our 15^th year. We didn’t know what to expect when we started, but we’ve had the privilege to guest host or interview wonderful authors like Julie Klassen, Nancy Sanders, Charlotte Henry and her alter ego Shelley Adina, YS Lee, and Patrice Kindl; try a book club and movie watch parties; and dig into everything from fashion to fitness in early Georgian into Victorian times. What a ride!

As we usually do at our blog birthday, we are asking for you input. 

What do you want more of? 

What else shall we try?

Finally, on a personal note, I’m delighted to report two recent developments in the publication side. Always Kiss at Christmas, the prequel novella to my Fortune’s Brides series, is now available as an audio book, once again voiced by the marvelous Jannie Meisberger. Mary Rose has one goal for her mother’s Christmas Eve party: convince her friend Julian Mayes to marry her. Julian is ready to make his mark in London. As the danger to Mary’s future becomes clear, will one kiss prove to him how far he will go to protect her? You can find it at fine online retailers such as Amazon, Audible, and Apple.

And I cannot wait for the publication in October of the finale of my American Wonders Collection, A View Most Glorious. To celebrate, my publisher has put the first two ebooks in the series on sale for September. A Distance Too Grand is only 99cents, and Nothing Short of Wondrous is only $1.99. Grab them while you can!

If you are eager for the third book, you can preorder now. Headstrong beauty Coraline Baxter must rely on rough mountain guide Nathan Hardee to help her reach the top of Mt. Rainier so she can bring attention to a woman’s right to vote and avoid marrying the man her mother has chosen for her. But her mountain man has hidden potential—and so, she discovers, does their future together. 

Baker Book House (40% off preorder, 30% off release and free shipping) 

Baker Publishing Group 

Amazon 

Apple Books 

Barnes and Noble 

Books-A-Million 

Christian Book 

Indie Bound (an independent bookstore near you) 

Kobo 

The Book Depository, free shipping worldwide 

Stay tuned for more tidbits about the mountain and the fun I had writing this book in coming weeks.