Book Birthday – Page 2

The Price of Cookies is Out Into the World! A Novella in Flash by Finnian Burnett

I first came upon Finnian Burnett in the CBC CANADA WRITES Facebook group. Soon after I joined, Finnian was presenting an online workshop called Queering Your Writing: Creating Queer Characters with Authenticity. Clearly I was meant to take that course.

Finnian Burnett – author of THE PRICE OF COOKIES (Author photo courtesy Finnian Burnett)

Since I took that course, Finnian has had a novella published by Off Topic Publishing. My copy arrived this past Friday! After a hectic weekend that included the musical WICKED, and the incredible Mexican restaurant El Catrin in Toronto’s Distillery District, I finally sat down and read the first short in this collection of flash shorts.

After reading the two and a half page title story, The Price of Cookies, it’s clear to me that I’m going to love this book. All the emotions were evoked in those two and a half pages. If I didn’t hate the phrase so much, I might say, “I was shook!” Such a powerful opening! Wow.

All this to say, you should pick up The Price of Cookies! Finnian is an incredible writer. They captured me in the first page of this short collection.

I just read the second short, The Cookies Adam Can’t Eat. So powerful! I choked up…

You can order THE PRICE OF COOKIES NOW!

-Directly from OFF TOPIC PUBLISHING

-From a selection of retailers HERE

Just read The Taste of Grief, story number three. These are so intricately woven together. Flawless! Flash fiction allows such dexterity one wouldn’t necessarily get in a novel. The ping-ponging of viewpoints is captivating…how the thread of happenstance pulses through one life to another! What a ride!

Prior to its release, I had the pleasure of inflicting my Proustian Questionnaire onto Finnian. With grace, charm and wit, they agreed to answer my questions…

You can read A Proust(ish) Questionnaire with Finnian Burnett, Author of the Upcoming THE PRICE OF COOKIES by clicking here.

And now I just finished In the Principal’s Office. The way one moment of tragedy moves through a timeline and touches one person after another…loving this read! If I don’t slow down, I’ll soon be finished.

Take my word for it! You need THE PRICE OF COOKIES in your life. With only four shorts down, I have no idea if we ever discover the price of cookies…but I also know it’s a hefty life-changing price tag. Pick it up today, you won’t be disappointed.

Don’t forget to leave a rating and review on GOODREADS.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to read flash story number five…Mrs. Stanley’s Smile. I am HOOKED!

The Camino Club ARC Anniversary!

So, two years ago today something magical came in the mail! The Advance Reader Copies ARCs of The Camino Club! It was such an exciting day for me! Though my 7th novel, it’s the first one with a bigger publisher and, therefore, ARCs. And what gorgeous ARCs they were!

From the cover design to the interior, I am still madly in love with what my publisher (CB MESSER, of Interlude Press/Duet Books) did with The Camino Club. Such lovely details. I felt like I was losing my mind with excitement as I flipped through the pages.

I can’t begin to explain how much I love every little thing about the design. It’s still perfect, after two years. What surprises me is that I didn’t keep any of the ARCs for myself. I do have one final copy of the book at home, though.

On this 2nd anniversary of THE CAMINO CLUB ARC arrival, I just know that my next book is soon to arrive. It went out to the printer a while ago and it’s only a matter of time! Book of Dreams is almost here!

Releasing to the world on September 13th, Book of Dreams is destined to arrive on my doorstep any time now. I have such amazing news about this book and I have been sitting on it for so long that it’s burning a hole in my soul! The very second I get the okay to share this news, I will be screaming it from the rooftops.

Have you pre-ordered your copy of BOOK OF DREAMS yet? If you are local to the GTA, you may want to wait for an as yet announced author signing to take place sometime in September. This will be after my return from walking the Camino de Santiago from Porto, Portugal to Santiago de Compostela, Spain. I am out of country from Sept 7th to Sept 23rd. Yes, that’s right…I’ll be walking the Portuguese Camino on the day my book releases! This was NOT planned. The original release was May, 2022. The Camino was booked long ago and when the release date changed, my plans were already carved in stone. So look for a book signing sometime late in September or early in October.

You can PRE-ORDER BOOK OF DREAMS wherever books are sold. Here’s some links:

Here’s the description for BOOK OF DREAMS:

BOOK OF DREAMS (Duet Books/Chicago Review Press, SEPTEMBER 13th, 2022) EBOOK NOW AVAILABLE FOR PREORDER!

Gaige’s curiosity gets the better of him when he discovers a bookstore on an abandoned street where no bookstore should be. He steps inside and is immediately enthralled by its antiquarian sights and smells. But one book in particular calls to him. It isn’t long before he gets a bad feeling about it, but it’s already too late. The store’s aged bookseller gives him no alternative: once he touches the book, it’s his—whether he wants it or not. It’s bought and paid for and there are no returns. The book leads Gaige on a horrific descent into the unknown. As he falls into the depths of its pages, he loses blocks of time, and his friends become trapped inside ancient cellars with seemingly no means of escape. Gaige soon learns that the ancient bookseller is a notorious serial killer from a previous century, and fears that he has fallen into a predicament from which he may not escape. When all seems lost, he finds the one person he can turn to for help—Mael, a sweet teen also trapped inside the book who didn’t fall for the bookseller’s tricks. Together, they race against time to protect Gaige from joining a long string of boys who vanished without a trace inside the Book of Dreams.

Although I won’t share the cool interior design of BOOK OF DREAMS just yet, I will share the EPIGRAPH and the DEDICATION. Here they are…

The Camino Club Book Birthday! Places in the book…

It’s book release day! It’s a day filled with excitement and anxiety! My baby is in the world! Will they like my baby? Will my baby be okay? MY. BABY. IS. IN. THE. WORLD!!!

THE CAMINO CLUB lands TODAY!

Thanks from the bottom of my heart to CB MESSER, ANNIE HARPER, and CANDYSSE MILLER—the fabulous team at INTERLUDE PRESS/DUET BOOKS! CB made the best cover in all the world when they created the cover for The Camino Club. I get weepy just thinking about it. It’s the aura colours of the Camino itself. Exceptional! And Annie was incredible to work with as an editor! They made my little novel BETTER. And Candysse does ALL THE THINGS all at once! Amazing! I’m so thrilled with this team behind me and the little book of my heart!

Once book day arrives, there really isn’t much left to do (especially during a pandemic!), so I thought I would share some pics of places you’ll find in the book…places that made it from the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage path in Spain to the pages of The Camino Club.