Books
WINNER! 2009 Golden Crown Literary Society (Goldie) in the category “Best Lesbian Mystery”
Book 1 in the New Mexico series.
K.C. Fontero left Albuquerque for Texas in the wake of a bitter break-up, headed for a teaching and research post-doc at the University of Texas, Austin. With a doctorate in sociology and expertise in American white supremacist groups, she’s well on her way to an established academic life. But the past has a way of catching up with you and as K.C. spends a summer helping her grandfather on his central Texas farm, her past shows up in the form of her ex, Melissa Crown, an Albuquerque lawyer who left K.C. for another woman three years earlier. Melissa’s younger sister Megan has gone missing-she’s hooked up with a man Melissa suspects is part of an underground white supremacist group and Melissa needs K.C.’s help to find her and hopefully bring her out of the movement. K.C. knows she has the knowledge and contacts to track the group. She knows that in the interests of public service, she’d be helping law enforcement, as well. What she doesn’t know is how far into her past she’ll have to go in order to find not only Megan, but herself as well. Working to locate the group without alerting members’ suspicions, K.C. finds herself drawn to Megan’s friend and neighbor, Sage Crandall, a photographer who challenges K.C.’s attempts to keep her heart ensconced in the safety of research and analysis. Confronted with her growing feelings for Sage while unraveling her complicated past with Melissa, K.C. delves into the racist and apocalyptic beliefs of the mysterious group, but the deeper she goes, the greater the danger she faces.
This book chosen as one of the top 5 mysteries of 2008 by the Lesbian Fiction Readers’ Choice Awards!
Published in July, 2008. Want a print version? Bella Books can hook you up. Want the ebook? CLICK HERE.
Kindle edition available here.
If you want a taste, read Chapter One here.
Other places you can buy it: powells.com, indiebound.org, barnesandnoble.com, Book Depository (UK/Europe) Fantastic Fiction (UK), and amazon.com (US) And if you’d like your local bookstore to carry it, let them know and drop me a line so I can send them a copy!
In Seattle? You can get a copy at the Seattle Mystery Bookshop. In Minneapolis? Try True Colors Bookstore.
REVIEWED: Just About Write (August 2008) and Rainbow Reviews (December 2009) plus what readers are saying on Amazon.
Book 2 in the New Mexico series.
Albuquerque Police Detective Chris Gutierrez is not having a “Thank God It’s Friday” kind of day. Not only is she on the scene of a murdered young man, buried near the Rio Grande, but she also has to put up with the other detective assigned to the case, the homophobic and sexist Dale Harper. As if things weren’t uncomfortable enough between the two detectives, they soon find out that the young victim was gay, and the trail leads Chris and Harper to another unsolved murder whose victim was also a gay youth. Soon, their suspect is a popular minister at a local mega-church who has spent years working with ex-gay groups. Enlisting the research skills, networks, and expertise of sociologist and long-time best friend K.C. Fontero, Chris works to build the case against Mumford, all too aware what mistakes in such a potentially explosive and high-profile investigation could cost her and the police department. As Chris strives to prove the case and make an arrest before anyone else dies, she must also face her growing feelings for attorney Dayna Carson. The dangerous nature of police work and Chris’s own reticence about romantic relationships are destined to collide. Struggling with her attraction to Dayna and the complexity of a difficult case, Chris is drawn into an ominous and potentially deadly game of cat-and-mouse with a man who harbors dark secrets and who will kill to protect them. Will Chris outsmart a diabolical murderer – or become another victim?
Published in December, 2008.
Want a taste? Read Chapter One here.
Purchase a copy at Bella Books, powells.com, indiebound.org, barnesandnoble.com, Book Depository (UK/Europe), and amazon.com (US). Want a bookstore? Seattle Mystery Bookshop.
REVIEWED: Just About Write (March 2009). See what people are saying on Amazon.
State of Denial ebook available. Click here to go to Booklocker.com.
Book 3 in the New Mexico series.
This book chosen as one of the top 5 mysteries and one of the top 5 general fiction reads of 2009 by the Lesbian Fiction Readers’ Choice Awards!
When the Albuquerque Journal reports that a white man was found dead along a remote stretch of road on the Navajo Reservation in northwestern New Mexico, UNM sociology professor K.C. Fontero thinks she might be able to use the case as an example of culture and jurisdiction in one of her classes. But it’s soon apparent that this dead man has something to do with a mysterious letter that River Crandall, brother of K.C.’s partner Sage, recently received from the siblings’ estranged father, Bill. What does the letter and Bill Crandall’s link to a natural gas drilling company have to do with the dead man? And why would Bill try to contact his son and daughter now, after a decade of silence? From the streets of Albuquerque to the gas fields of northwestern New Mexico and the vast expanse of the Navajo Reservation, K.C. and Sage try to unravel the secrets of a dead man while Sage confronts a past she thought she’d left behind. But someone or something wants to keep those secrets buried, and as K.C. soon discovers, sometimes beliefs of one culture jump the boundaries of another, and challenge her logical and analytical mindset, threatening to drive a wedge into the relationship she’s building with Sage.
Joined by K.C.’s younger sister Kara and Sage’s brother River and aided by best friend and police detective Chris Gutierrez and Chris’s partner Dayna Carson, K.C. and Sage are drawn into the life of a dead man, the embittered past of an estranged father, and dark, inexplicable forces whose origins are rooted in Navajo culture and traditions. Whatever happened out there along that road is inextricably linked to Sage and River, and K.C. knows that in order to help them, she has to change her very way of thinking or she could lose the woman who’s come to mean the most in her life.
Published November, 2009. Cover design: Mari SanGiovanni. Thanks, Mari!
And here’s a review in Just About Write (scroll down). You can purchase this book through Bella Books, amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and more as they become available. In Seattle? Try the Seattle Mystery Bookshop. In Minneapolis? Try True Colors Bookstore.
BIG shout-out and major thank yous to Mari SanGiovanni, who did the awesome cover designs for Land, State, and Ties! THANKS, MARI!
Book 1 in the Far Seek Chronicles.
Torri Rendego buried her Academy past and military training when the Empire collapsed and the hated Coalition came to power. She’s been making a pretty good living since she went underground. She and her crew run shipments of whatever products her clients want–most often, illegal. The latest contract brings her and the crew of the Far Seek to the mining colony of Newburg on Old Earth, where she somehow has to acquire a shipment of highly prized black opals for a client who may or may not be Coalition, beneath the scrutiny of increased Coalition security. But somebody’s messing with the markets, which puts Torri and her crew in a dangerous position and in the seething streets of Newburg, where everyone’s on the take, knowing who to trust is often a matter of life and death. Torri’s good at what she does, and she enjoys outsmarting the Coalition every chance she has, but she certainly doesn’t count on Kai Tinsdale, her closest Academy colleague, being assigned to Newburg as part of the elite teams breaking up smuggling rings. Kai and Torri share a bond forged years earlier during their Academy days but as the Coalition rose to power, Kai chose to remain in the military, and thus under Coalition directive. In spite of the political gulf between them, Torri and Kai have managed to maintain a connection, but that fragile truce will be put to another test in the mean streets of Newburg and in the hot, dark mines beneath.
To read an excerpt, CLICK HERE! WOOOO! Currently available at barnesandnoble.com, indiebound.org, powells.com, Book Depository (UK/Europe), and amazon.com (US). And get your ebook here! Sweet!
Many, many thanks to Beck McCoy for the cover illustration. Girl, you freakin’ ROCK!
And now for some PIRATES! Bedazzled Ink Publishing!
Want to hear an interview between me, R. G., and Lara Zielinsky, who hosted us on her blogtalkradio program? Click here for a direct listen, and click here to download the mp3.
Here’s my first foray into edited anthologies, friends, working in concert with my awesome co-editor, R. G. Emanuelle (who is busy putting up a website as we speak!). Skulls and Crossbones: Tales of Women Pirates is available. R. G. and I put together a collection of stories that we hope will represent a wide array of pirating, from traditional sea pirates to contemporary to space banditry. We’ve got some steampunk pirating, Viking, and post-apocalyptic. From dark to light, humorous to macabre, we think you’ll find something good in here.
Life as a pirate was and is violent and dangerous–even moreso for women who make a choice to become pirates or who are drawn into it through the circumstances of their lives. The stories in this collection present women as strong and courageous, yes, but also as multifaceted–brutal and brave enough to stand their ground amidst men, smart enough to lead them, and confident enough to reach their goals without them.
“Ladgarda” by Christine Rains, “The Gallows” by Jove Belle, “Valkyry” by Rakelle Valencia, “Lost Treasure” by R. G. Emanuelle, “The Hangman’s Dance” by Jane Fletcher, “The Furies” by Rajan Khanna, “Devil’s Bargain” by Andi Marquette, “Fifty Octaves Deep” by Alice Godwin, “HMS Nefarious,” by Rod Santos, “Pirate Wannabe” by Aubrie Dionne, “Road Pirate Wanted” by Victoria Oldham, “The Brahmapur Buccaneer” by Matthew Fryer, “The Kindness of Strangers” Vicki Stevenson, “Resolution 1838” by David Brookes, “The After” by Carrie Vaccaro Nelkin, “Captain, Hook, and Mr. Shrike” by Cat Conley, “A Perfect Life” by Elaine Burnes, “Stardance” by Trace Miller, “The Passenger” by Megan Magill, “Pipettes for the Pirate” by Holly Ellingwood
Keep yer eye on the horizon, mateys! It’s HERE, in both print and ebook formats. And in Kindle!