First, I have to brag, the fifth book in my Viola Valentine paranormal mystery series, “Give Up the Ghost,” hit online bookshelves Oct. 13. I will be discussing this book and “Ghost Trippin’,” the fourth book in the series, at the Louisiana Book Festival on Nov. 2 in Baton Rouge. But you can find my ebooks at all online stores and paperbacks at Amazon.
The University of Louisiana Press and the Center for Louisiana Studies have just released “O Malheureuse: French Writing by Louisiana Women,” edited by Ashlee Wilson Michot and featuring the work of 50 contributing female authors writing in Louisiana French, two of which I have had the pleasure of knowing. It's a gorgeous book honoring French-Louisiana women.
Deanna Chase’s “A Witch for Mr. Holiday,” a story in set in Christmas Grove, where holiday magic and matchmaking is in the air, will be out in time for the holidays. You can read her “Power of the Witch” now, book seven in the “Wtiches of Keating Hollow” series.
Bayou Diversity blogger and multi-published author Kelby Ouchley has published “Natural Words: A Dictionary for Naturalists,” a guide for nature lovers with an interest in learning the terminology used to relate to the natural world.
My cousin Waights Taylor turns to young adults in his latest book, “Henry Tuttle: The Boy who Ran to Glory” where a teenager must overcome bullies, a troubled friend, a courtroom trial, an attempted murder, and a forest fire to achieve his dream. The book is available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle.
Louisiana artist Jax Frey has published her a humorous debut novel “The Gumbeaux Sistahs,” set in Covington and New Orleans. The story involves five Southern women who wage a war against the ageism problems of one of their sisters using their improbable friendships, oh-so-numerous cocktails and a shared passion for good gumbo.
Norman German just launched his new murder-mystery novel “Cripple Bayou Two-Step,” a fast-paced journey through the dark side of the back waters of Lake Charles with a politically incorrect one-armed PI named Shreve West. It was a finalist in St. Martin’s Private Eye Writers of American first novel contest. German is also the author of “A Savage Wisdom,” a fictional take on the first and only woman to be executed in Louisiana's electric chair in 1942.
Louisiana author Liz Talley is having a great year, with a Christmas book out now titled “A Down Home Christmas” by Hallmark and “Room to Breathe” by Montlake hitting bookstore shelves on Nov. 1, an Amazon First Reads book.
Louisiana children’s author Shevelle Ford pens a tale of a young girl named Liesa and her daily walks with her mother in “The Dog that Would Not Bark.” As the two travel the neighborhood, Liesa takes in all the sights and sounds of the city and has a special love for the local animals. She’s very curious about one particular pup who does not bark like the rest of the neighborhood dogs.
“Essence of the Witch” by Deanna Chase will be released Dec. 2 and features cursed Miranda Moon who suffers one bad date after another. After lighting a man’s hair on fire and ending up on a blind date with her cousin, she’s ready to lose herself in the books she writes and live her life as a spinster… until Gideon Alexander, the one man she’s always wanted, walks back into her life.