Jamieson Wolf
Number-one bestselling author
Renaissance Press Massive Book Launch!
Hey Everyone!
Check this out! My book Life and Lemonade is being launched this coming weekend! Sunday, May 27th from 5pm to 7pm at the Red Lion Pub!
Here are all the details you will need! I hope to see you all there if you’re in the Ottawa area!
MONDAY, MAY 21st, 2018: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE by Renaissance Press
Local publisher celebrates fifth anniversary with mega book launch and Frankenthology
Four books by Ottawa authors to be launched on Sunday May 27th at 5 p.m. at the Red Lion (47 Clarence Street, Ottawa)
Renaissance — a local publisher of diverse Canadian voices — is celebrating its fifth anniversary!
Since its inception in May 2013, Renaissance has signed a total of 19 Canadian authors; built a team of 13 editors, designers, and artists; published twenty novels and three games; and are planning ten more releases, including one game and one anthology, by the end of 2019. What started as a love affair for local authors (and stories that don’t fit neatly in a genre, niche, or demographic) grew into a passion for Canadian books by and about marginalized people.
Entrance is FREE, and you’ll be able to buy new books and get them signed by our authors! There will also be door prizes, author readings, and a literary character’s costume contest (costumes are optional).
Last, but not least, Frankenstein lovers, you’re in luck! As part of their fifth birthday celebration, Renaissance is also launching an anthology to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the release of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. It is currently on Kickstarter, funded in just under a week! — and all backers of the Kickstarter project will enjoy an additional 10% off any Renaissance purchase they make at the launch!
Titles being launched:
Life After Redby by Kaitlin Caul (Horror)
Die. Become a zombie. Get needled. Do it all over again. Caught in the endless cycle of death, zombification, and resurrection, Cass became scarred inside and out. Now, her skills are needed again. ISBN: 978-1-987963-29-8
Life and Lemonade by Jamieson Wolf (LGBTQIAPP2+)
All’s fair in love and war . . . but sometimes life gets in the way. ISBN: 978-1-987963-36-6 – Available now!
The Sign of Faust (Baker City Mysteries, Elizabeth book 2) by Éric Desmarais (YA Supernatural suspense)
Can Elizabeth find out who’s trying to kill her — and discover the source of everyone’s luck — while navigating dating, concerts, school, and competing in the science Olympics? ISBN: 978-1-987963-33-5 – Available now!
To Pluck a Crow by Sue Taylor-Davidson (Historical mystery)
Could Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets have been written by more than one person? As Janek and Sarah investigate, they get tangled up in another mystery. ISBN: 978-1-987963-30-4 – Available now!
EVENT TIME AND LOCATION: Sunday May 27th at 5 p.m. at the Red Lion, 47 Clarence Street, Ottawa
CONTACT: Nathan Fréchette, 819-230-8968, info@renaissancebookpress.com
For more information, including full menu and accessibility notes: https://renaissancebookpress.com/2018/05/20/fifth-anniversary/
A Mirror Full of Stars – A Flash Fiction Story
She has been glancing into the mirror a lot lately,
Part of her wonders if her reflection sees the difference inside of her, the flame that was snuffed out long ago but has only recently been lit again? Even though her reflection is essentially her, there are some that said that a reflection was your soul looking back at you. Did her soul see her as she really was?
She had spoken to her daughter and it hadn’t gone well. There had been a lot of yelling and accusations, of trying to steal her fire, of taking away her flame. She hadn’t risen to the bait, knowing that if she stayed true to herself, her own flame would grow brighter.
Lately, though, her flame had started to splutter and she could feel it flickering inside of her, struggling to stay alive, to stay awake so that it could light up all the shadows around her. She placed a hand on her lower abdomen. It was where she could feel it most, a fluttering wind of want and need.
Standing in front of her mirror, Cindy placed her hand on her lower abdomen and breathed deep. She could feel the flame growing stronger if she focused, but if she gave into the thoughts that the shadows offered her, the flame would grow smaller. It had been like this for weeks since she had met Michelle.
Cindy tried not to turn inward, tried not to let the shadows win. She was surprised, therefore, when her reflection winked at her. *Hello Lovely* it said.
“How can you be talking to me?” Cindy asked.
Her mirror self raised her eyebrows. *How can you be talking to me?*
Cindy nodded. “Fair point.”
*So what’s been bothering you? You might as well say it out loud as I can hear it inside of you loud and clear.*
“That’s what I get for letting you know me so well.”
*Yeah, and so what? What’s up, Lovely?*
Cindy thought about it for a moment. “I’m afraid. “
*Of what?*
“Of what others will think. Of what they will say. Of what society will think of me.”
Her reflection gave her a knowing look. *Does any of that really matter?*
“Of course it does.”
*No, I’m asking you to think about it. Does any of that matter? Wouldn’t you rather focus on how Michelle makes you feel?*
Cindy shook her head. “I don’t know how other people do it. How can they be so open with who they are? How can they be so fearless?”
Her reflection put a finger to her lips in thought. *Maybe they’ve spent so long being afraid of who they are that the chance to finally be themselves breaks down all the walls they have built. They are tired of hiding who they are and would rather shine brightly*
Sighing, Cindy reached out to touch the mirror softly with a fingertip; the gesture sent ripples along the mirror’s surface. When the ripples cleared, the mirror was empty. She turned and saw a woman standing there. She had white hair and wise eyes that seemed to sparkle with the stars themselves.
“You are so wise, child.” The woman said. “Why do you deny who you are?”
Cindy shook her head. “Fear. Of myself, of what others will think.”
“Who cares about others. Why are you holding back?”
“I’m afraid.”
“Of being yourself? Or being happy?”
A tear streaked Cindy’s face, making it look as if her skin were covered in glass. “Both. “
The woman took her hands. “Never be afraid of being who you are and who you are meant to be. You have a light inside you, here.”
The woman placed a hand on Cindy’s lower abdomen. “You need it to reach here.” She placed her hand on Cindy’s heart. “Can you do that?”
“I’ve forgotten how.”
“No you haven’t. Don’t let fear stop you from doing you, dear heart. Now do you feel that light?”
Cindy could feel the small flame fluttering inside her. It was so weak, it was almost gone, almost a thing of the wind. “I feel it.”
“Then sing to it.”
Raising her eyebrows, Cindy said “Sing to it?”
“Sing, chant, pray, do whatever you have to do. You need to shine like the Star that you are and you can’t do that when you’re blocking your own light. It’s just not right!” The older woman looked affronted.
“I don’t know how.”
“Pish. That’s the other people speaking. I want you to do something for me. I want you to think of Michelle and just picture her in your mind, will you do that for me?”
Cindy nodded and closed her eyes. She placed one hand on her lower abdomen and one hand on her heart. Inside herself, she wandered in the garden of her mind. She came upon the centre of the garden and saw that someone had built a lifelike statue there. It was Michelle. She was beautiful, yet, but more than anything else, Cindy saw Michelle’s kindness, her sense of humour, her strength of spirit. She seemed to glow and pulse in time to her heartbeat.
“I want you to open your eyes.” The woman said. Cindy wondered if this woman was her soul.
When she opened her eyes, she saw that the room was filled with a bright, shining light. She looked around for the source of the light and the woman motioned for her to look down. Cindy let out a gasp when she saw that it was her that shone as brightly as a star.
“Never be afraid to be who you are.” The woman said. “Look at what you can accomplish when this is so.”
The light, and the old woman, began to fade. “But what about other people? What if they object?”
“Fuck them.” The woman said. “You only have one life, you need to get busy living it.”
When the woman disappeared, the glow faded from Cindy’s skin but the light stayed lit within her.
Henry and Violet by Michelle Zink – A Book Review
Violet is worried about her father.
Since coming to Storybrooke after they left Camelot, he has been lost within himself. Sir Morgan had been an inventor and now, in Storybrooke, he has lost his way. When Violet sees her father’s old notebook from hundreds of years ago on a web site selling antiques and curiosities, Violet is determined to get it for her father, hoping that it will ignite his spirit once more.
Henry and Violet have the plan worked out. They are going on a trip to New York with the rest of their school. The antique store where the notebook is located is in New York. It feels like fate to Violet and to her, that notebook equals her father’s happiness.
When Henry and Violet arrive in New York, almost nothing goes according to plan. They aren’t able to sneak away from the group right away as they had planned, then they get lost on the subway. Violet begins to wonder if she just lets Henry tell her what to do and decide her path because he was the one to save her when she came to Storybrooke. Friends first and now in love, Henry wants the best for her, right?
As things begin to fall apart and all their plans to find her father’s notebook start to unravel, things become rather stilted and difficult between Violet and Henry. She feels alive in New York whereas he just wants to hold on to her all the tighter and have things stay just as they are.
Violet is beginning to wonder what comes after a happily ever after. Henry and Violet will have to learn that the future is unknown and all they have to do is turn to a blank page…
I was thrilled to read this book. I everything Michelle Zink has written, and I love the show Once Upon a Time. Who doesn’t love a modern fairy tale? I did wonder if Zink would be constrained by writing for a Disney show. I needn’t have worried.
What Michelle Zink has done is give us a modern twist on the fairy tale. I love how nothing is as you think it is and the path from point A to point B isn’t linear. At the same time, it has characters you will know and love from Once Upon a Time. If you’ve seen the show, you’ll know that usually nothing goes as expected.
Zink stays true to this, but throws her own spin on the modern day fairy tale. Told in alternating chapters between Henry and Violet, we’re taken into their relationship as they begin to find their way through a world that is changing around them. Zink covers young love, college, the ties of family and a city-wide search together into something that is absolutely magical.
I was so emotionally involved in Henry and Violet. I was surprised. I figured that writing characters that weren’t her own would leave the book lacking in someway. However, one of Zink’s strengths has always been characters so real that you know them by the end of the book. It’s no different with Henry and Violet.
By the time, we reach the end of the tale, Henry and Violet’s journey, both internal and external, has been our own. I loved everything about this book. Michelle Zink has created something wholly different: she has written a novel that stays true to its source material and, at the same time, makes it better. Zink is a true weaver of tales and is capable of some magic of her own. I can’t wait to fall in love with Henry and Violet all over again.
The Color of Love: Starboy Book One AVAILABLE NOW!
Check it out! My new book, The Color of Love: Starboy Book One, is available now! How awesome is that?
Here’s a bit about the story:
Alexander had one job: watch for the fires and report them. He was alone at the top of the fire watch tower and he yearned for companionship. That arrives in the form of the beautiful Troy, who left once, but who has now returned to claim Alexander as his once more.
However, things are not what they seem. When they kiss, a fire erupts around them, but doesn’t burn. Alexander realizes that the fires he has been reporting are really the emotions of others…
The book is available now from Cobblestone Press. You can get your copy here:
http://www.cobblestone-press.com/catalog/books/thecoloroflove.htm
Even better? It’s available for only 0.99!
This will be the first in five tales that make up the whole story. I hope you enjoy it and that it inspires you to find your own color of love…
The Light Within – A Flash Fiction Story
When he flew low enough, he could see the clouds.
Or what was left of them at any rate. The planet below him was covered in red fog that seemed to pulse along with a light that sat within it. It looked as if the planet had a living heart which he supposed it did. If the pulse followed a specific beat, it was unknown to him. There was a crackle of static in his left ear.
“Commander, have you got a visual of the red planet?”
Cindy’s voice was crisp and authoritarian. He knew her voice got like this when she was nervous. “Affirmative.” He said.
“What can you see? Is it like the others?”
He shook his head no and wondered how to phrase his reply. The planets had appeared in the solar system only recently: a blue one filled with nothing but water; a green one that was covered in grass and trees. A yellow one that covered in nothing but light brighter than the sun. A purple one that was filled with pearly white beings that looked like an alien race. It was as if the Earth as they had known it had decided to split into fragments of itself and the planets were the result.
Sullivan and his crew had been away from Earth for a month, touring the cosmos for signs of intelligent life. They had wanted to see what was out there, what was beyond the pale. When they had returned to where Earth should have been, there were only the five planets, stretched across the cosmos.
The green planet was the only one that was inhabitable, but being that there was just grass and trees, a person wouldn’t survive there for long. Sullivan doubted whether a person could inhabit a world filled with water. They couldn’t even get close to the yellow planet, the shields began to shut down and small fires broke out in the control rom. McKenzie, his navigator, was trying to find out all he could about the purple planet; Sullivan wanted to know what those opalescent beings were before they approached further.
“I think so, yes.” Sullivan said, answering her question.
“So, in other words, we’re fucked. We can’t stay on a space station forever, you know. There’s only so much oxygen here to begin with. We were lucky to find it, but we have no idea how long it’s been here.”
“You don’t have to remind me.” He growled. “I’m flying back now.”
He clicked off with another burst of static and set his course for the space station. It was even higher above the clouds and it was only thanks to McKenzie that they had found it. As Sullivan was about to turn his ship around, he felt a deep pulse come from the planet. It reverberated through the blackness and the stars.
The pulse passed through the hull of the ship and through Sullivan. He could actually feel the wave of the pulse, could almost see it move the air around him. He heard a click in his headset and what sounded like the shrill hissing of a dog whistle. It seemed to go on forever and he thought he would go deaf from it until it stopped, and he heard something else entirely.
“…you hear…”
“Repeat base.” Sullivan said. “Say again.”
“Can…you…hear…me?”
The voice didn’t belong to anyone on his crew. “Say again.” He said. “How did you get on this channel?”
“You…can…hear…me.” It wasn’t a question this time. It sounded like whoever was speaking was trying to find his way around the English language.
“What do you want?” Sullivan didn’t know what to say. “Who are you?”
“You felt my light. You felt my heartbeat. I beat for you.”
Sullivan was about to turn off the headset when he looked at the switch and saw that it was already off. Then he thought about what the voice had just said. “You felt my heartbeat.”
He thought about the pulse that had moved through the ship. That had moved through him, that still pulsed within him. “Who are you?” Sullivan asked.
“I am but a…heart. I am the molten heart that binds the rest. The world is broken and you must find the key.”
Sullivan wondered what this could mean. He wondered who was speaking to him, whether it was a friend or foe. “Who are you?” He asked.
“I thought you…knew. Let me show you.”
The ship shook as another pulse passed though it and though him. He heard the shrill hiss of dog whistle and he shook his head to clear the sound. “What does this prove?” Sullivan yelled.
“You do not believe.” The voice said. “Let me…show you again.”
As the ship rattled and shook, he saw something outside of the ships windows that took his breath away. He watched as each of the five planets flashed, a rainbow of colour in the dark night sky. All of the planets pulsed in time to the beat that was flowing through him even now.
The shrill sound of the whistle was starting to sound like the wind. In that sound, he could hear the planets true voice, speaking in words that he could never understand. The red planet below him was the heart of it all. “What do you want me to do?” He asked.
The shaking of the ship lessened. On the ship window, he saw a light as a hologram took shape. He watched as the five planets slipped back into each other, becoming a whole planet once more. Sullivan watched the hologram again and then a third time before he understood. The five planets had been Earth as a whole; now the pieces that had made their planet were separate.
“The world is broken and you must find the key…” The red planet said again.
Sullivan looked at the darkness of night and wondered where he would begin.
Buy Little Yellow Magnet from Amazon and Kobo!
Jamieson Wolf has written a compelling story about navigating multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy. His story will touch your heart, make you cry, then laugh, and inspire you. A touching memoir with a bit of magic…and tarot! ~ Theresa Reed, author of The Tarot Coloring Book
Jamieson Wolf 