Turning the page to 2023

As usual, 2022 ended with busy holiday revelry and fun family time. In the past, transitions to a new year hadn’t phased me beyond having to remember what date to write on my checks. But welcoming 2023 felt different.

This is the year I turn 50. The number doesn’t scare me, but it does offer an opportunity for reflection on the past decade — as it was the decade author JD Spero came to be!

I published my first book, Catcher’s Keeper, at 41. Self-pubbed through much trial and error at a time when self-publishing was still new and shrouded in skepticism. It’s one of my proudest achievements. Soon after, I signed Forte (2015) and then Concerto (2017). Then, I felt I finally “made it,” signing with Immortal Works Press to publish my long love, small town mystery Boy on Hold (2019) and then Boy Released (2021).

Last year, I signed with Darkstroke Books to release The Secret Cure the day after my 49th birthday, which became an Amazon bestseller and logged its 100th review on New Year’s Eve.

I’m thrilled to distract from my ominous half-century birthday with TWO new releases in 2023! In March, you will see The Muse Next Door hit the proverbial shelves. It’s a feel-good, small town, enemies-to-lovers romance with a bit of a twist. Perfect to take on your next vacation, tucked into your beach bag. Stay tuned, cover reveal is coming soooooooon! (I’ve seen a few iterations and it’s gorgeous!) This is brought to you by Winding Road Stories, a new publisher I’m excited to work with.

My “mood board” for MUSE I used to pitch the story idea…

And then in August comes Hack Ware, a fast paced cyber thriller that will zoom you into a dystopian New York City where half the human population are droids and a computer virus threatens to obliterate them. This is one of a two-part series and is another gem from Immortal Works Press. For this, we’re already deep in the editing process and it’s coming along great. Buckle your seatbelts for this one. It is a thrill!

Mood board for HACK WARE

People often ask if I’m writing another book. The answer is YES! My favorite part of the writing process is creating something from nothing and I always try to have a fresh story going at all times. My current WIP is an erotic romantic suspense based on a sweetheart scam with an unexpected twist. You’ll have to wait to hear details, but hopefully that will release sometime in 2024!

Thank you to all my readers. Having books published means nothing if no one reads them…

The Secret Cure LAUNCH!

Today is the day! After years of work, The Secret Cure is out in the world. Preorders have manifested in Kindle libraries, like magic! Ebooks can be downloaded and read! If you buy now, you can start reading in seconds. I’m SO EXCITED to share this story with you!

A gripping psychological thriller with a twist.

She’s getting better. He has no clue. That’s exactly the way she wants it. 

To pull off the perfect revenge, her cure has to remain a secret…

The official blurb (below) will tell you what the story is about. But not only is the concept fascinating, there are a handful of fun facts that make this read unique. Here are a few:

• The ending changed 4 times before the final version. (Bah!) Endings can be tricky, especially for thrillers. For this one, I was reluctant to literally “kill my darlings.”
• The MC’s temporary paralysis is a real condition–though an extreme case–called Guillain-Barre Syndrome.
• Another character has a synesthesia-like PTSD from her time as a medic in the Iraq War. Synesthesia is a fascinating condition that mixes up the the senses. Think colors for feelings, etc. A brilliant treatment of this is in The Color of Bee Larkham’s Murder by Sarah J. Harris.
• The book is international, for many reasons. One of which is the fact that the publisher, Darkstroke Books, is based in Paris.
• A major character (the mistress) is Russian. I studied abroad in Russia in the 90s just after the Cold War, and ended up majoring in Russian language. Hence, Russian culture references and phonetically spelled Russian words are sprinkled throughout.
• Because I got the idea for the story while at a resort in Sicily, part of the book is set there. And Mount Etna is featured. Hence, the antagonist (the cheating husband) is Sicilian. Italian phrases are sprinkled in, too!

Official Blurb

In her mid-30s, Rosalie Giordano is in the prime of her life. Long saved from the manipulative hands of her mother, she’s been married to her fairy tale hero for ten blissful years. Vincent is sweet and strong, and stunning as hell—and completely enamored of her.

Just as they begin to plan for a family, Rosalie is diagnosed with a mysterious virus that renders her temporarily paralyzed. As days stretch to weeks, then months, she learns not only is her condition chronic, but the love of her life is having an affair.

As her health improves, a slow burn of vengeance simmers in her heart. With the help of her homecare nurse, she regains full mobility. While hiding the truth from her husband, she uncovers the extent of his betrayal…and learns he is not at all who he seems. Their planned anniversary trip overseas gives her the perfect occasion for revenge.

But at the fancy Sicilian resort, Rosalie is not the only one with a score to settle with Vincent. And in the end, she’s not the only one with blood on her hands…

Preorder The Secret Cure

I’m thrilled to announce the cover reveal for THE SECRET CURE — now available for preorder!

She’s getting better. He has no clue. That’s exactly the way she wants it. 

To pull off the perfect revenge, her cure has to remain a secret…

Isn’t it just gorgeous! Every time I see it, I get chills. Squeeeeeeee!!

Here’s the official blurb:

In her mid-30s, Rosalie Giordano is in the prime of her life. Long saved from the manipulative hands of her mother, she’s been married to her fairy tale hero for ten blissful years. Vincent is sweet and strong, and stunning as hell—and completely enamored of her.

Just as they begin to plan for a family, Rosalie is diagnosed with a mysterious virus that renders her temporarily paralyzed. As days stretch to weeks, then months, she learns not only is her condition chronic, but the love of her life is having an affair.

As her health improves, a slow burn of vengeance simmers in her heart. With the help of her homecare nurse, she regains full mobility. While hiding the truth from her husband, she uncovers the extent of his betrayal…and learns he is not at all who he seems. Their planned anniversary trip overseas gives her the perfect occasion for revenge.

But at the fancy Sicilian resort, Rosalie is not the only one with a score to settle with Vincent. And in the end, she’s not the only one with blood on her hands…

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Set to release May 17, 2022 through Darkstroke Books, it’s been a whirlwind journey to publication. Each publisher I’ve been blessed to work with has its own editing/publishing process, with varying approaches to promotion as well.

Located in France, Darkstroke publishes exclusively with Amazon — focusing equally on the 13 sites that cater to different countries around the world. I’m ashamed to say that I’ve previously been a bit too US-focused in my writing career.

It’s no secret that Amazon is King when it comes to ebook sales and distribution, and I’m no stranger to the KDP Select program that allows authors exclusive benefits in promotional opportunities. But my 5 other books are not in the program, so it will be interesting to see how this strategy compares.

When I say “whirlwind journey,” I’m not exaggerating. I signed with Darkstroke February 2, 2022 and by early April, the book was edited, cover designed, endorsement obtained…all loaded to Amazon for preorder. Crazy fast. Incredible.

Signing with Darkstroke Books February 2, 2022

Since the story idea came to me in 2017 while at a resort in Sicily with my husband, I’ve been so eager to share this story with the world. I hope you preorder today, and have a surprise in your Kindle come May…and enjoy the story so much you share it with your friends around the globe.

Launch Day!

The highly anticipated follow up to award-winning Boy on Hold, BOY RELEASED, is finally available for purchase at your favorite online bookstore!

Already, it’s getting rave reviews. 9 out of 10 ARC reviewers have given FIVE STAR reviews on Goodreads. The best part? It can absolutely be enjoyed as a standalone if you haven’t gotten to Boy on Hold yet!

Some Q&A about launch day

What happens on launch day?

Basically, on launch day, the book is available for purchase on Amazon or wherever you buy your books. The date is set by my awesome publisher, Immortal Works. And although the book has been ready for a few months now, gearing up for launch day includes plans for marketing and publicity to help make a splash at launch.

There may also be live launch events where you can meet the author and get your book signed. This is usually a separate date from the official launch day.

Are there any launch events planned for BOY RELEASED?

Yes! Mark your calendars:

August 12 8pm – virtual launch party – sign up via FB

August 14 3pm – launch party at The Book Cabin in Lake George on the Bolton Road

August 26 5pm – book reading and signing at Mountain Gallery in downtown Glens Falls

How to best buy your book?

The other day, my friend asked me, “Where should I buy your book so that it benefits you MOST?”

This is such a good question! The answer? Buy the book TODAY on release day. Ideally, the Kindle version from Amazon. If the book takes off with a good sales rank on the first day, Amazon will continue to push the product.

Is there anything else we readers could do to help?

Why, yes! Posting a review helps an author more than you could ever know. Reviews are GOLD. And it doesn’t have to be a five-star. It’s the amount of reviews that matter. For instance, a book with 30+ reviews within a month or so of launch will continue to be pushed by Amazon.

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I’m so excited to continue the Trout family saga with you — ten years after tragedy uprooted their lives. And the setting? Right smack in the village of Lake George, where I went to school and worked my first job and spent every weekend of my teenage life.

I promise it will not disappoint. Here’s a bit about the story:

Official blurb

In a popular resort town in the Adirondacks, the busy summer season has just begun when an unwelcome visitor arrives at Marcella Trout’s new venture—Blue Palms Motel.

Tyler alone witnesses her brutal attack. Soon, he becomes the only suspect. As the investigation tries to unlock the secrets tangled in Tyler’s troubled mind, the Trouts must confront the disturbing reality of his mental illness. Is Tyler once again a criminal, or will he become a hero?

In this thrilling follow up to award-winning Boy on Hold, ten years have passed since the horrific murder of Sally Hubbard. Tyler is released from psychiatric rehab and Hen, now seventeen, will soon inherit the wealthy Hubbard estate. But just as the Trouts look toward a brighter future, tragedy knocks on their door…

Spirit Animal GIVEAWAY!

What’s your spirit animal?

Do you feel a strong connection to a certain animal? Do you feel that a type of animal represents your unique essence?

I’m not sure I have a spirit animal, although hedgehogs will always have a soft spot in my heart.

This little prickly critter helped inspire BOY ON HOLD, after all. Did you know, I’m also an illustrator? Here’s my super-realistic hedgehog drawing that appears on the back cover of BOH and also at every chapter heading.

In honor of my birthday this year, I’m hosting a HEDGEHOG GIVEAWAY!

No, not an actual, live hedgehog, silly. I’m talking SOCKS! Adorable, hedgehog socks!

Here’s how to play:

• Post a selfie with BOY ON HOLD on any social media platform (kindle or phone image ok!)

• Tag me and one other hedgehog-loving friend who’d want a chance to win.

• On May 16–my bday—my kids will randomly pick 4 lucky winners!

Post as many times as you’d like to increase your chances! (Now thru 5/16!.US & Canada only…)

Gold Key

Poetry is finally getting some limelight, thanks to National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman and her inspirational inaugural poem. We have some news that’s closer to home yet equally inspiring. Our 13 y/o son Adam is also a poet. Yesterday, he won a GOLD KEY from the 2021 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards!

Adam’s been writing poetry since second grade. Some have been school assignments but most he writes on his own, following moments of inspiration. Some are funny, like the Suess-like MONKEYGIRAFFE or the romantic parody CACTUS AND BALLOON. Others are poignant and heartbreaking, like THE WOLF. His most recent, a horror titled GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN, gave us chills.

One night two years ago, we had a fire going in the living room, and Adam (at age 11) was inspired to write FIRE SNAKES. Here’s the opening:

A simple log fire is like

A hundred writhing snakes

Hissing and sputtering

Flickering their fiery tongues

Later that spring after he turned 12, I noticed him lying under the big tree in our front yard for a long while. Later that night, he shared his poem BY THE TREE. Here are a few lines:

I’m still, as I lay

 Like a simple, unblown leaf

 Un-touched by the wind,

 Nature’s ever sweeping thief

Adam keeps his poems in a Google doc he continually updates, which he’s shared with us. But we are so blown away by his poetry, we’ve been eager to share them on a bigger scale. Only this year in seventh grade, he’s been eligible to enter competitions.

This fall, we entered a collection of three poems to the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. Yesterday, an email came in from Adam’s ELA teacher with the subject line WHOOOOOOO! HOOOOOOOO!

Adam won a GOLD KEY for his poetry collection titled NATURE’S PEAK, including the poems Snake Island, Song of the Creek, and By the Tree. As the Congrats letter states, Adam’s in good company.

Since 1923 the Scholastic Awards have recognized some of America’s most celebrated artists when they were teenagers, including Andy Warhol, Stephen King, Joyce Carol Oates…

All Gold Key winners receive a gold key pin and are automatically entered into the national level! So stay tuned, we’ll find out mid-March whether Adam has won any national medals. Regardless, we are immensely proud of our boy.

For nostalgia’s sake, here is the first poem Adam ever wrote at age 8. He even illustrated it.

Doves are soaring.

A sea of roses.

The wind is blowing, the flowers away.

Past that, a storm of petals.

But I love you more.

No, Adam. We love YOU more. And we are so proud.

Signed the sequel!

I’m thrilled to announce, this week I signed a publishing contract for BOY RELEASED, the thrilling follow up to Boy on Hold.

What’s it about? Well, no spoilers allowed. But here is a teaser.

Ten years after the horrific murder of Sally Hubbard, Tyler Trout is released from psychiatric rehab and Hen, now seventeen, will soon inherit the wealthy Hubbard estate. But all the money in the world won’t fix the Trout family problems. As Marcella continues to fight blindly for her children, Bernie has to calm his own inner demons in order to accept Tyler into his home.

While Tyler struggles to reintegrate into the community, he becomes entangled in another violent crime—this one hitting closer to home. Marcella seems to be the target and, although initial evidence points to Tyler, the true culprit is exposed in the most astonishing way.

Aren’t you dying to know what happens?

Boy on Hold was meant to be a stand-alone book. A complete story in itself, I never thought it could have a part two. Yet, on Christmas Eve 2019, nearly five months after its release, an idea came to me in the middle of the night for a sequel. It hit like a bolt of lightning!

Knowing the next morning would be chock-full of merry-making with the family, I hopped out of bed at 3am and furiously sketched out a rough outline in my journal. A few weeks later, I reached out to Immortal Works to feel out whether they liked the concept. After getting an enthusiastic thumbs up, I put aside my current WIP and started writing on January 20, 2020.

I completed the first draft at the end of April. (Yes, in only 3 months. And yes, quarantine helped my writing productivity.)

After two months of revision, I sent it off to Immortal Works and crossed my fingers they’d like it. Not only did they like it, they “adored” it. And thought it was “beautiful.”

I’m SO excited. In some ways, the sequel is even better than the first. I can’t wait to share it with you all.

Look for it in 2021!

IPPY Gold Winner!

In May, I got word that Boy on Hold won IPPY Gold for Best Mystery/Thriller ebook!

A rare and prestigious honor, IPPY typically holds a gala in NYC for their award-winners. But alas, with all other public events in the spring of 2020, it went virtual. And though I planned to do a red carpet vlog in heels with my husband popping champagne by my side, summer came and the sunshine ate up all my grand plans. Now, with July in full swing and with it all my boys’ birthdays, I wanted to post before too much time passed.

An at-home celebration in lieu of the NYC gala. Still an honor!

Press Release from IPPY

(May 13, 2020 – Traverse City, MI)  – Jenkins Group and IndependentPublisher.com are proud to announce the medalists in the 24th Annual Independent Publisher Book Awards. Conducted each year to honor the year’s best independently published books, the “IPPY” Awards recognize excellence in a broad range of styles and subjects. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the gala award ceremony in New York is cancelled. Winners will instead use #IPPY2020 to post acceptance speeches and related award content.

From last year’s IPPY gala in NYC. Sad it had to be cancelled in 2020.

All 419 of this year’s IPPY Award gold, silver and bronze medal-winning books have something to offer readers. This year’s contest drew 4,750 entries, and medals will go to independent authors and publishers from 44 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia and Guam, 7 Canadian provinces, and 15 countries overseas.

“A book is a lifeline that can help us through all kinds of difficulties,” says Jim Barnes, director of the Awards. “These medal-winning books epitomize how we humans share our stories and help each other solve problems. Each new book you open offers the promise of a new day with new possibilities.”

Congratulations to all this year’s IPPY Award medalists for their independent spirit and dedication to making the world a better place! See the official award listing here.

A bit about IPPY

The Independent Publisher Book Awards were conceived in 1996 as a broad-based, unaffiliated awards program open to all members of the independent publishing industry. The awards are intended to bring increased recognition to the thousands of exemplary independent, university, and self-published titles produced each year, and reward those who exhibit the courage, innovation, and creativity to bring about change in the world of publishing.

Audiobook released!

I’m thrilled to announce that Boy on Hold is now available on Audible!

Might be a good time to share a bit about VOICE.

By definition, voice in literature is the distinctive style in which the author writes — conveying a tone and feel. Kind of like the “personality” of a book.

BOH is written in multiple POVs — a troubled teen struggling with mental illness, a single mom trying to figure it out, and most prominently, a sweet and precocious young boy.

The story was inspired by my middle son who — at the age of 6 — was obsessed with nocturnal animals and pleaded to go out at night to catch one for a pet. I channeled my son’s voice to write those scenes, though he was 12 by the time the book published. He’s been a guest reader on multiple launch events, reading the powerful opening scene.

Roy Bullard, the California-based voice actor who narrates Boy on Hold, is both talented and kind — but was first a fan! After his chapter-one audition, he downloaded & read the book on his own. He then reached out to me directly, praising the story and asking if he could be considered for the job. How cool is that!?

It’s imperative that the narrator “gets” the author’s voice — or in my case, voices. Throughout the process, Roy and I traded lots of emails. He asked in-depth questions about the characters — even minor ones. He sent me audio samples to approve, etc. The process was a first for me, and I’m thrilled with the outcome. He nailed it — on point with all the different voices — male and female, young and old. Not an easy feat!

But part of me wishes the world could hear my boy reading Hen’s voice. Well, maybe there is a way…

 

Intel of Magic – !

I’m happy to introduce a newly minted book by my friend, MK Wiseman, titled MAGICAL INTELLIGENCE. I was lucky enough to be a beta reader for this gem many moons ago, and I’m thrilled to see it finally out in the world. And here’s this, the MC is an empath. And if there’s anything we need more in the world today, it’s empathy. Let’s see how it plays out in a magical realm…

Here’s the blurb

When you are a member of Britain’s first team of wizard spies, every mission might be your last. But as the dawning of the 20^th century draws ever nearer, magic grows weak. Violectric Dampening, the clash of man-made electricity with the Gifts of magekind, threatens M.I.’s existence. And if that isn’t enough, they’ve now been discharged from their own government. Obsolete. Distrusted.

And now hunted by one of their own.

Myra Wetherby has always feared her so-called fits, strange visions of people and places that she cannot explain. It is the emotional manipulation, however, a strange empathic connection to those around her, which threatens her very sanity. A danger to her family, Myra runs away, falling straight into the hands of the newly ousted Magical Intelligence team. Who just so happen to need an ability like hers.

Which makes Myra one of them . . . whether she likes it or not.

How to buy & review!

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51234826-magical-intelligence

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B085PZ9WZP

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/magical-intelligence-m-k-wiseman/1136625272

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/magical-intelligence

 

About the author

M. K. Wiseman has degrees in animation/video and library science – both from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Today, her office is a clutter of storyboards and half-catalogued collections of too, too many books. (But, really, is there such a thing as too many books?) When she’s not mucking about with stories, she’s off playing brač or lying in a hammock in the backyard of her Wisconsin home that she shares with her endlessly patient husband.