NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE: June 2022-Feb. 2023
We are moving our newsletter service from Mailchimp over to Substack beginning with our March 2023 newsletter, which you should have received.
This post will serve as our newsletter archive from June 2022 through February 2023, in case anyone has need of referencing a previous newsletter. We’ve decided to make it an all-in-one post rather than bomb your e-mail inbox with nine more e-mails.
They are posted in reverse order, beginning with Feb. 2023:
Welcome to the February 2023 edition of Books By The Bay Newsletter.
Brought to you by Tuscany Bay Books.
Release February 21, 2023
Congratulations
Declan Finn
on the release of
Gathering Storm
A Space Opera
Book 4 of the White Ops series.
https://www.amazon.com/Gathering-Storm-White-Ops-Book-ebook/dp/B0BHKJM2CV
FOLLOW YOUR FAVORITE AUTHORS' SHENANIGANS HERE
Declan Finn's Finn's Firebrands
Richard Paolinelli's Dispatches From A SciFi Scribe
There is no need to sign up for Substack.com, your email will automatically move over.
FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESK NO. 8
Is it just me or is 2023 flying by? I was just watching the Jan. 1st bowl games on TV yesterday it seems and here we are in mid-February already.
Speaking of flying by, we’re a few days from the release of Declan Finn’s fourth White Ops book, Gathering Storm, and I’m almost done editing and formatting the fifth book, Eye of the Storm, for a May 2023 release.
We’ve got Lori Janeski’s follow-up book in The Carter Files series, Raven, coming out in April and I’ve even gotten back in the writing swing of things with Firstborn’s Curse coming out soon. And there’s a lot more coming up which we’ll be telling you about in the weeks to come.
Yep, 2023 has been going by a lot quicker than 2022, and it doesn’t look like it’ll slow down anytime soon. And that’s a good problem to have.
Catch you next month and in the meantime, happy reading.
Richard Paolinelli
Publisher
www.tuscanybaybooks.com
IN CLOSING
We will be moving to Substack.com for our next and subsequent newsletters.
Expect a simplified format. Look for interesting content coming your way.
Again, there is nothing you need to do to keep up with Tuscany Bay Books. When you open the newsletter, your email will automatically transfer painlessly.
Welcome to the January 2023 edition of Books By The Bay Newsletter.
Brought to you by Tuscany Bay Books.
Awards
Congratulations go out to
Declan Finn and Roy M. Griffis
Helicon Awards 2023
Best Space Opera
Declan Finn
White Ops
https://www.amazon.com/White-Ops-Declan-Finn-ebook/dp/B09LJ2762Q
Best Horror
Roy M. Griffis
The Breakroom of a Thousand Nightmares
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BBZ1PZ91
AUTHOR OF THE MONTH
Lori Janeski
About
Lori Janeski
A proud citizen of the Lone Star State, Lori Janeski wonders why the rest of the country can’t be more Texan, why the rest of the world isn’t more Polish, and what planet Yankees originally came from. A graduate of Christendom College, she has strong views on the liturgy, movies, Texan sports teams, the Final Fantasy franchise, and the proper way to cook pierogi.
In addition to blogging about those and other topics, she spends her time playing the organ, writing about space detectives, minding her husband, her Munchkin, and her Rascal, and searching for the perfect salsa.
Her first novel, Phoenix, the opening act of The Carter Files series, is a science fiction police procedural that earned her a finalist nod in the 2021 Realm Makers Debut Novel category. It will be re-released by Tuscany Bay Books soon and we will be publishing the rest of her series as well.
Get Phoenix here: https://www.amazon.com/Phoenix-Carter-Files-Book-1-ebook/dp/B0BN9WFSN9
UPCOMING RELEASES
2023
2/21/23 Gathering Storm - White Ops, Book #4 - Declan Finn
Stay tuned. We have several new releases scheduled for later in 2023.
FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESK NO. 5
I think a lot of us would agree that the first three years of the 2020s (2020-22) left a lot to be desired.
The good news is we’re about a month into 2023 and it's already looking a lot better around here. Tuscany Bay Books got off to a great start with the re-release of Lori Janeski’s, Phoenix, with the second book of The Carter Files series due out later this year.
We collected a pair of Helicon Awards – Best Space Opera (White Ops/Declan Finn) and Best Horror (The Breakroom of a Thousand Nightmares/Roy M. Griffis) and added to our list of best sellers with Griffis’ The Thing From HR going to #1 or #2 in Horror and Epic Fantasy in several countries, including here in the U.S.
You can check out all of our award-winners and best-sellers, at our website: www.tuscanybaybooks.com
The fourth book of Declan Finn’s White Ops series, Gathering Storm, comes out next month. Roy is grinding away on the fourth book of his Cthulhu Amalgamated series. And, in addition to the three projects I’m working on for this year – Firstborn’s Curse, Seadragon, and Galen’s Heart, the third book of the Starquest 4th Age series, I’m adapting Escaping Infinity into a screenplay as well.
Given how the last three years have played out, I’ll take this kind of a start to the new year as a very good sign. I hope you’re off to as good a start as we are too.
Richard Paolinelli
Publisher
www.tuscanybaybooks.com
JUST IN
#1 Horror
The Amazon Free eBook Campaign
The Thing From HR
By Roy M. Griffis - Storyteller
https://books2read.com/u/3kYWKg
The Blaine Pardoe Show interview with Roy M. Griffis featuring
The Thing From HR, a Cthulhu Amalgamated series novel, Book 1.
See the interview and review here:
https://www.thenexgenusa.com/2022/12/22/the-blaine-pardoe-show-12-22-2022/?fbclid=IwAR32EhCyWEELb19y_8PEUA2z4YdKcvSnW2GOR1J80IQyCcfGMDT3arlLoJ4
IN CLOSING
Hawkings Austin is looking for ARC readers to leave reviews
on Amazon for his novel Castle Brave.
If you are interested, please contact me, Susan Catt,
at oraclebookart@yahoo.com and I will get you in touch with him.
HAPPY NEW YEAR
This FLASH FLYER is brought to you by Tuscany Bay Books.
IN THE NEWS!
Roy M. Griffis' Cthulhu Amalgamated Series Novel, book 1
The Thing From HR
is
HOT HOT HOT
More details below.
The Thing From HR is racing up the charts!
If you collect bestselling authors and bestselling books, or just want to sit down to a hilarious comedic sci-fi horror, here's your chance.
FREE FREE FREE in the Kindle Store NOW!
Currently, ranking in the top 100 bestsellers in two categories
Epic Fantasy and Horror.
This book is only a few rankings away from hitting #1 in all categories!
The Thing From HR
By Roy M. Griffis - Storyteller
Get it here: https://books2read.com/u/3kYWKg
JAW-DROPPING REVIEW
by
Blaine Lee Pardoe
Quotes from The Blaine Pardoe Show interview with Roy M. Griffis featuring The Thing From HR a Cthulhu Amalgamated series novel Book 1.
“This is now my favorite Cthulhu book ever written…”
“What my guest, Roy Griffis, has done is a completely new and a completely fresh perspective in regard to Cthulhu Mythos.”
“It is witty, it is daring, and it is worth your time.”
“It’s a whole package and incredibly well done”
See the interview here:
https://www.thenexgenusa.com/2022/12/22/the-blaine-pardoe-show-12-22-2022/?fbclid=IwAR32EhCyWEELb19y_8PEUA2z4YdKcvSnW2GOR1J80IQyCcfGMDT3arlLoJ4
UNTIL NEXT TIME
We apologize for missing the December mailing.
The holidays were full of activity here at Tuscany Bay Books.
Stay tuned!
Our next regular newsletter will go out as usual on January 21.
Here's to a prosperous New Year.
CHEERS!
Welcome to the November edition of Books By The Bay Newsletter.
Brought to you by Tuscany Bay Books.
Reservations
Richard Paolinelli's debut novel has been optioned for a motion picture.
More details below.
The past year has been nothing short of a wild rollercoaster ride for Richard Paolinelli and Tuscany Bay Books. Recently the track decided to take one of the weirdest twists imaginable.
Back in 2015, his debut novel, Reservations, was traditionally published. After two years, Richard decided to go Indie and republished it under his own imprint, Tuscany Bay Books.
But, apparently, that wasn't the end of the story for the debut novel. A little over two years ago, an agent who specialized in repping novels for film adaptation took up Reservations.
A little over a week ago, her efforts paid off.
Reservations has been optioned and is in development for a motion picture. The project has its own IMDB page: https://yahoo.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=393842f48971b39f5c15f6c87&id=05f7f81181&e=61e54eca3a and even Richard has his own page there as the author "I wrote the screenplay that was shopped around."
https://yahoo.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=393842f48971b39f5c15f6c87&id=5ff677c324&e=61e54eca3a (https://yahoo.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=393842f48971b39f5c15f6c87&id=cacc318019&e=61e54eca3a)
There's still a lot of work yet to do to get the film funded and greenlit to go into production. "But as you can imagine, I'm thrilled we're at this point." Richard assures us that he will keep us posted on what's to come as soon as he hears any news.
"Now, not that I'm jumping the gun here, but whatever shall I wear to the premiere?" He joked with the Tuscany Bay Books newsletter editor.
"The irony is that Reservations was actually the second book of the series that I wrote, but because it was the introductory story for the main character, I released it first. And Betrayals, Book #2 in the series but the first book I wrote, was originally a screenplay I wrote back in 1998 titled: Inauguration Day.
What a strange, crazy journey this series has taken to get here."
Make sure you give Reservations a read: https://yahoo.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=393842f48971b39f5c15f6c87&id=bd7dfb50ed&e=61e54eca3a and check out the rest of the Del Rio mystery-thriller series as well.
AUTHOR OF THE MONTH
James Edward Webb
About
James Edward Webb
James E. Webb was born into a ranching family in California. Growing up on ranches in California and Arizona fostered a love for the history of the American frontier. He joined the United States Army, where he met his wife, whom he married in 2001, and with whom they have 3 wonderful children. He spent a tour in Iraq in 2003. Between his childhood on ranches combined with his love of the west, mixed with his military service was the recipe of
“Tom’s Revenge.”
When James is not writing, you will find him with his family or in the kitchen. Aside from writing, he also finds solace in art, cooking, reading, and studying. James lives with his wife and children in Sanford, Michigan.
His debut novel, Tom’s Revenge, can be purchased on Amazon and Books2Read. Paperback and hardcover editions are also available.
UPCOMING RELEASES
2023
1/3/23 Phoenix - The Carter Files - Lori Janeski
2/21/23 Gathering Storm - White Ops, Book #4 - Declan Finn
FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESK NO. 5
So, remember how I said last month that something big was coming and we were going to need a bigger boat if it happened?
Oh yeah, we’re gonna need a bigger boat and a bigger dock, for that matter.
Reservations, the first mystery-thriller published by Tuscany Bay Books, was optioned for adaptation into film and is currently in development. There’s an IMDB page for the project, and I even have my own IMDB page as the writer of the screenplay adaptation.
Check them out here: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23112720/
and here: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14185795/ .
The next milestone will be when the project is fully funded and greenlit to go into production. Then will come casting and what I am sure will be a few rewrites of the script.
On the book front, we’ve signed John C. Wright to publish his 12-book, Starquest 12th Age series. We’re looking at a late 2023 release date for the first book and likely a once-a-month release schedule for the following 11 books.
In case you were wondering, John’s books are connected to my Starquest 4th Age series (with the third book due out in 2023, along with the first book of my Starquest Pre-Migration series) as part of the greater Starquest universe that John created.
We’ll be building a special webpage for the Starquest Universe soon.
As I said, it's been an incredible month, with much more coming on the horizon. Maybe we should look into building a bigger port here at Tuscany Bay?
Richard Paolinelli
Publisher
JUST IN
LET'S WELCOME ANOTHER AUTHOR TO THE BOOKS BY BAY FAMILY.
John C Wright
Born October 22, 1961, Jon C Wright is an American writer of science fiction and fantasy novels. He was a Nebula Award finalist for his fantasy novel Orphans of Chaos. Publishers Weekly said he "may be this fledgling century's most important new SF talent" when reviewing his debut novel, The Golden Age.
Tuscany Bay Books is pleased to offer John's 12-book, Starquest 12th Age series in 2023.
IN CLOSING
Some good news: Tuscany Bay Books authors Richard Paolinelli and Declan Finn will participate in Hans Shantz's annual Black Friday Sale. Declan's first three books in the St. Tommy's series will be a part of it, as well as Richard's Reservations and Galen's Way. For the period of Nov. 23-28th all of those books will be just $0.99 on Kindle.
Check out the BLACK FRIDAY SALE here:
UNTIL NEXT TIME
Welcome to the October edition of Books By the Bay Newsletter.
Brought to you by Tuscany Bay Books.
TUSCANY BAY BOOKS
IS PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THAT
OUR LIBRARY IS COMING TO
BAEN BOOKS.
With a large readership, we are thrilled to offer our authors the
opportunity to be listed with Baen Books.
AUTHOR OF THE MONTH
Freddy Cruz
About
Freddy Cruz
The Greater Houston area has heard Freddy’s voice for more than seventeen thousand hours across three decades. When he’s not in the lab writing or creating auditory satisfaction, you can find him nose deep in a book, snuggling with his dog Sparrow, or jogging on the trail (trying not to sound like a horror movie villain).
Learn more about Freddy at thefreddycruz.com. And follow him on TikTok (@thefreddycruz) and Instagram (@thefreddycruz).
Freddy's next release...
Allow Me to Ruin Your Christmas
Releasing on November 8th, 2022
Just in time for Christmas.
Think gifts for everyone in the family!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B5Y9GWN6
#mystery #thriller
Blurb:
He just discovered why his dad died. Now ‘tis the season for a rampage of revenge…
Beckett needs his eyes bleached. Catching his mom and his favorite podcaster doing things that will get them on Santa’s naked and naughty list is enough to turn his stomach. And after he agrees to officially meet the new boyfriend, his slightly nauseous Yuletide cheer devolves into rage when he learns the guy was involved in his father’s death.
Driven by the need for vengeance, the incensed son sets out to stuff the home-wrecking grinch’s stocking with burning coal—by going after the loser’s wife and daughter. But as Beckett's gore-trimmed plan descends into chaos, another ghastly secret could send him into murderous overdrive.
Is he about to unwrap a no-holds-barred retribution spree?
Allow Me to Ruin Your Christmas is a perfectly gruesome revenge thriller. If you like characters pushed over the edge, dark acts, and family drama, then you’ll love Freddy Cruz’s bloodstained holiday treat.
Buy Allow Me to Ruin Your Christmas to put the “x” in X-mas today!
UPCOMING RELEASES
2022
11/8/22 Allow Me To Ruin Your Christmas - Freddy Cruz
2023
2/21/23 Gathering Storm - White Ops, Book #4 - Declan Finn
FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESK NO. 4
Has it been a month already?
It has been a touch…frenetic in port these last four weeks at Tuscany Bay Books. But in a good way. We’ve partnered with Baen Books to get the majority of our library listed in their online store. So, if you are a non-Amazon e-book reader and need a book in the EPUB format, many of our books will be available to you in the coming weeks. We’ll be sure to drop you a line when they go live on Baen’s store.
We’ve also partnered with Dragon Award-winning author Kevin J. Anderson to include two of our books – Declan Finn’s White Ops and Richard Paolinelli’s Galen’s Way – in a limited-time Locked and Loaded Military Sci-Fi bundle.
The bundle can be found here: https://storybundle.com/blog/lockedandloadedmilitarysfbundle/ and runs from Oct. 20th thru early November. Here are the books included:
We’ve also been getting some incredible submissions, and we have accepted Lori Janeski’s Phoenix, the award-winning first book of The Carter Files series. While this will be a second edition re-release, Tuscany Bay Books
will be publishing the subsequent brand-new books in the series.
And we’ve signed on a debut author, Ann Marie Nicholas, and her thriller:
Happily Ever After: Death of a Hitman.
I’m sure you’ll enjoy this book, a lot.
And I’ll wrap up with this tease. I’m hoping that sometime in our next newsletter or two, I’m going to be able to include some very big news for Tuscany Bay Books. I can’t really say more, but if it happens, we just may have to if I can borrow a line from the late Roy Scheider, “get a bigger boat!”
Until next month.
Richard Paolinelli
Publisher
JUST IN
LET'S WELCOME OUR NEW AUTHOR TO THE BOOKS BY BAY FAMILY.
Ann Marie Nichols
Born in North Dakota, Ann Marie makes her debut as an author with Tuscany Bay Books with her thriller, Happily Ever After: Death Of A Hitman. The novel is slated for a late 2023 release and is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat, or awake in bed all night.
Her story follows “The Ghost”, a hitman for an organized crime family who sometimes carries out his assignments (on criminals) and sometimes helps his target simply disappear, never to be heard from again. To the authorities he is a name without a face.
But time is running out for “The Ghost” as a new generation of leadership wants him gone. As in very dead. Now he must use all of his cunning to stay alive as his former colleagues, the police, and the FBI start closing in.
Welcome to the September edition of Books By the Bay Newsletter.
Brought to you by Tuscany Bay Books.
TUSCANY BAY BOOKS
IS PROUD TO CARRY JIM CHRISTINA'S COLLECTION OF HISTORICAL FICTION STORIES.
For the discriminating western novel enthusiast, in the next weeks, Jim Christina's collection of Historical Fiction Novels will be republished under Tuscany Bay Books.
NEW FROM TUSCANY BAY BOOKS
The Thing From HR
by: Roy M. Griffis
Released on September 20, 2022
This title was re-released under Tuscany Bay Books
We are very happy Roy M. Griffis joined us as one of our latest published authors.
Welcome to the fold, Griff!
Blurb:
What's a nice Shoggoth like him doing in a dump like this?
Narg was content working as a Damnation Services-10 in HR. Sure, he was related to one of the Elder Gods, but a little nepotism never hurt any Thing. His life was just wailing and gibbering, right up until his Uncle needed a small favor from his nephew.
All Narg had to do was go down among the humans...and pretend to be one of them.
PUBLISHED WIDE AT THESE RETAILERS
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BBYNVG4C
UPCOMING RELEASES
The List Is Growing
With promising new manuscripts sitting on our Chief Editor's desk, we are excited about the future. Here are a few new titles from three of our existing authors coming to you soon.
2022
10/4/22 The Auditors of Doom - Cthulhu Amalgamated, Book #2 - Roy M. Griffis
10/11/22 Blue Saint - St. Tommy NYPD #12, Series Finale - Declan Finn
10/25/22 The Breakroom of a Thousand Nightmares - Cthulhu Amalgamated, Book #3 - Roy M. Griffis
11/8/22 Allow Me To Ruin Your Christmas - Freddy Cruz
2023
2/21/23 Gathering Storm - White Ops, Book #4 - Declan Finn
FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESK NO. 3
Hello everyone. It continues to be a busy month here at Tuscany Bay Books. The first book of Roy Griffis’ Cthulhu Amalgamated series has been released, with the next two coming out in October. I look forward to the fourth book in the series (hint, hint, nudge, nudge, Roy!), no, we don’t do subtle around here.
A project that has taken up a majority of my time is the release of an eight-book special edition series of the complete works of Jim Christina. All eight books have a similar faux leather cover and contain two standalone novels, Jonah Blue and Jefferson’s Chance, a four-volume set that contains eleven of Jim’s The Hunter stories, Legends of the American West – which are his two historical fiction stories, Contraband Cowboys, and Bugles In The Sun – and the eight book being Tales Of The Songwriter, which contains his two works of non-fiction, That’s All You Get, and As I See It.
His estate needed to close out his bank accounts, which also meant closing out his Amazon account, where all of his books were published. Fortunately, we have been allowed to move all of his stories over to our account, and we decided to re-release them with these special new covers. If you enjoy tales of the Old West, these are books you will want to add to your collection.
We’ve also been getting some wonderful submissions in and I think we’ve found a few fantastic books to add to our growing catalog. More about that next time.
Until next month, readers keep reading, and writers keep writing these wonderful adventures.
Richard Paolinelli
Publisher
JUST IN!
Declan Finn has done it again!
And this just in... Blue Saint has surpassed Dark Web in pre-order sales. Blue Saint is now the #1 Pre-Order sales leader at Tuscany Bay Books. Way to go, Declan!
This title is on preorder. Get yours now!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09ZRQ347C
A BRIGHT NEW FUTURE
IS ON THE HORIZON
We're leading the way!
Good day to you all this fine day. Let me introduce myself. I am Susan Catt of Oracle BookArt & PA Services, coming to you from Tuscany Bay Books (TUSCANY BAY BOOKS – SET SAIL ON YOUR NEXT GREAT ADVENTURE). I've joined the team to bring you new and exciting news about our authors, new releases, fun facts, events and interesting tidbits. Stay tuned.
TO KICK THINGS OFF
LET'S LOOK AT A FEW RELEASES
RECENTLY RELEASED
If you have been waiting, tapping toe, Declan Finn's new
NYPD St. Tommy NYPD #10, LIGHTBRINGER, released July 19, 2022, and is available now!
Blurb:
When a director’s daughter overdoses, that’s one thing. When she comes back as a zombie, that’s a mission for NYPD Lt. Tommy Nolan and his new Joint Supernatural Taskforce. But when he comes up against a conspiracy that goes back centuries, Tommy will need an army of light to fight off the darkness.
Universal Book Link (This book will be wide on every platform, B&N, Apple, Kobo, etc.)
Amazon E-Book Series Link
Amazon Print Book Link
AUGUST RELEASES
Coming August 16th, 2022, keep your eyes peeled for
Hawkings Austin's new release of CASTLE BRAVE
Blurb:
The Vani Army’s Special Forces Forward Division has one job. They get behind enemy lines and do unto them First and Hardest. The SSFD are the lurking monsters that make enemy soldiers fear the dark. Infiltrate, Assassinate, Extract. They never deal with civilians. This mission, they’ve got a civilian target and a civilian advisor. They aren’t behind enemy lines and planning has been rushed. As the screwups mount, it looks like they should turn around and head back to base. But, there is a greater purpose. Somehow, the future has been changed. The Vanir were winning this war. Now the psychics are seeing Dragons in the sky, armies buried by ancient weapons, and cities burning. This time, the SSFD can’t be the shadows in the dark, they’ll have to be the heroes.
Amazon Print link (after Aug. 16th): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B5PTHXH8
Universal e-book link: https://books2read.com/u/4ELY0e
And Declan's next release
St. Tommy N.Y.P.D. #11, DARK WEB is on August 30th, 2022
Blurb:
When a Christian internet celebrity is kidnapped, Tommy Nolan must team up with a ghost from his past in order to battle the horrors lurking in the Dark Web, including a drug dealer peddling supernatural powders, Chinese nationals wielding supernatural weapons, and a Private Military Contractor staffed with witches.
No worries, just another day in the life of a living Saint.
Universal Link
Amazon Print Book Link
AND IF THESE RELEASES AREN'T EXCITING ENOUGH,
LET'S CHECK OUT A REVIEW OR TWO.
Hell Spawn by Declan Finn.
Amazon review in the United States on October 3, 2021 - TJ Maquis
5.0 out of 5 stars Tense and creepy supernatural thriller
You don’t hang around in the indie circles I do without hearing often how good Declan Finn’s Saint Tommy books are. Catholic Urban Fantasy Horror is new to me, but it was a wild and legitimately disturbing ride, and a brilliant take on the superpowered detective!
Character:
Most importantly, Tommy Nolan is likeable, heroic, relatable and aspirational all at once. He’s the perfect picture of the good cop and model citizen, doing what’s right because it’s right (and he wants to serve Christ). He’s not trying to be a Saint, and is only aware of his destiny because of the traditional Saintly supernatural powers that are beginning to manifest in his life. Finn does an excellent job framing Tommy as both hard-boiled and a do-gooder, with none of the smarmy fluff you might expect from a Christian fiction hero. It’s pleasing to see a loving, functional family. Tommy’s wife makes for an amusing supporting character as a gun-toting mama bear. The other characters are distinct and efficient in their support of Tommy, and everyone brings a little flavor, including a few that I was sorry to see fall prey to the villain.
Plot:
The plot is a crime/mystery jam with the pleasant addition of curveballs thrown by the titular hell spawn. You never know what direction the case is going to take, because the demonic entity doesn’t have to follow the rules of nature. This makes for an ever-present sense of foreboding, as we know that almost any horrible thing can happen at any time. The story wraps up in spectacular fashion, with loss and mourning but the promise of ultimate spiritual victory in the end.
Craft and Critique:
The prose is well-written and snappy, with humor where it belongs and pointed use of violence and gore. The structure feels good and I never got bored in the midst of this page-turner. This being outside my usual genres (I don’t do much detective stuff), I found it hard to come up with anything to actually critique. It’s a great mystery and the spiritual elements add just enough strangeness to scratch my itch for fantasy. (I must note that I do not consider the source material for these Saintly exploits fantasy). If you’re in the mood for a creepy thriller with heart, look no further and get your copy of Hell Spawn now!
Galen’s Way by Richard Paolinelli
5.0 out of 5 stars Political Intrigue among the Stars - Frank Luke
Amazon review in the United States on April 21, 2021
I know John Wright’s STAR QUEST setting is purposefully set up as a space opera, and this book hits all the marks.
There’s a beautiful space princess (Rhiannon), the science fiction is soft (let’s not worry about explaining why we move faster than light, we just do), the stakes can’t get any higher (if they fail, the faltering republic becomes an empire).
I’m sure others will give plot summaries, so I will focus on the other aspects. I’ve read some of the author’s political intrigue before and been impressed. This one builds from that skill and goes up. Every time you turn around, there’s another twist to the plot. Galen D, our hero, doesn’t know what to believe any more than we do. However, he knows to expect a certain amount of dishonesty and that some characters require confirmation of any statements.
Some of the Things I Liked:
• Galen’s character arc from a man taking a job to a man embracing his destiny. This is huge. He started as a decent man in a job no sane man would want to a man determined to ensure peace for billions who will never know.
• Lir, Galen’s mentor who dreams of seeing the old knighthood reborn
• Rhiannon, the beautiful space princess at the center of a plot to control the alliance
• Harmool, whose side is he on? Is he the mastermind of the plot, a victim himself, or an aide
• Cassie, Galen’s wisecracking AI who can never understand the command “shut up”
• The ancient tech. The Armageddon Sphere and Batavan sabers were awesome to see in play
• The stakes keeping getting higher. What starts as a rescue mission of one becomes of four then the stakes become prevent a civil war, then finally, prevent the collapse of the alliance
• Ioducus. This man was just pure sleaze and it worked to make a great villain. He had just the right amount of screen time. Too much more and some surprises about him might have been given away early.
• The story unfolds logically. Each step and each raising of the stakes feels natural.
FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESK NO. 1
The tagline on our website reads: “Set Sail On Your Next Great Adventure” and this past month has certainly been an adventure here at Tuscany Bay Books.
Adapting to change during stormy seas is part of any great adventure and we’ve certainly been charting a new course amidst many changes. Whether the seas ahead will remain unsettled or calm, sitting here at the helm I see nothing but wonderful possibilities and “adventures” ahead.
Tuscany Bay Books will be opening submissions in science fiction and fantasy, as well as mysteries and thrillers, on August 1st. I am anticipating sorting through a great many wonderful queries looking to see which will be added to our growing library.
We have four books still scheduled to be released in 2022 – Hawkings Austin’s Castle Brave (Aug. 16th), Freddy Cruz’s Allow Me To Ruin Your Christmas (Nov. 7th), and the final two books of Declan Finn’s St. Tommy N.Y.P.D. series: Dark Web (Aug. 30th) and Blue Saint (Oct. 11th). And we have three books slated for a 2023 release already, with the actual dates still to be determined.
So much for our readers to look forward to. I hope you share in the anticipation I’m feeling about the months and years that lay ahead of Tuscany Bay Books’ adventure.
Richard Paolinelli
Publisher
JUST IN!
Declan Finn's latest release just hit #1 in religious science fiction and fantasy!
This book was released on July 19, 2022!
Great job, Declan!
IN CLOSING
I kept to a simple format for this newsletter, but in the future, you may see some changes as more content is added. Don't forget to visit the links above and get your preorder in for Declan's and Hawkings' upcoming releases.
ANNOUNCING
TUSCANY BAY BOOKS
NOW ACCEPTS WESTERN GENRE
MANUSCRIPTS.
Welcome to the August edition of Books By the Bay Newsletter.
Brought to you by Tuscany Bay Books.
We are delighted to share with you, our readers, that we are now looking at
WESTERN genre manuscripts for possible inclusion into the
Tuscany Bay Books family.
LET'S LOOK AT OUR NEXT RELEASE
The Dark Web
by: Declan Finn
St. Tommy N.Y.P.D. #11, DARK WEB
Releasing on August 30th, 2022
Blurb:
When a Christian internet celebrity is kidnapped, Tommy Nolan must team up with a ghost from his past in order to battle the horrors lurking in the Dark Web, including a drug dealer peddling supernatural powders, Chinese nationals wielding supernatural weapons, and a Private Military Contractor staffed with witches.
No worries, just another day in the life of a living Saint.
Universal Link
Amazon Print Book Link
HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED JUST WHAT GOES INTO THE BOOK
YOU ARE CURRENTLY READING?
The Craft of Authoring a Book
How it’s done.
By: Susan Catt
"So, you're an author, and you've just typed the words - The End - on your manuscript.
Congrats. Now comes the hard part."
Have you ever wondered just what it takes to be an author? What kinds of things an author has to do to have a manuscript developed to a point where a publisher would give it a good look-see?
Well, we’re here to share just how it’s done.
Steps to publishing your work.
Firstly, have a topic to write about that interests you. Being interested in the premise of your story gives birth to passion, and passion makes good books. Secondly, you need to sit down with a pen and paper, a laptop, or even your phone and write, type, or dictate your thoughts.
When entering the world where your story exists, let the juices flow freely. There are no die-hard rules as to how to begin or what style comes naturally to you. One style may be to throw your thoughts onto a blank page in a big messy pile of words. Later you will begin to sculpt out the essence of each chapter. Another way may be to create an outline and write teasers for each chapter as jumping-off points creating a neat, orderly approach to putting down words. Like as many authors as there are in the world, there are as many approaches to writing a book, and all of them are valid.
Once you have the story completed and you have gone through it for obvious mistakes and grammar, a good practice is to have an ALPHA reader handy to give you insights into the rough draft. Not all authors use alpha readers. Many find them invaluable. The next step is to run the manuscript through another personal edit and format it for a BETA reader or professional editor. The beta reader looks deeper into the work for flow, consistency, tense, and other issues. Each beta reader comes with their own set of things they look at, so researching what they offer before enlisting them is an important step.
If you have taken advantage of the Alpha and Beta readers, you will have a smoother document to send to the editor.
Next, you need to decide whether you want to self-publish or traditionally publish. And if you traditionally publish, do you want to go with a Big 5, or Indie publisher? Don’t worry, we’ll share what the differences are.
Self-publishing is where you 'pay a professional' for final edits, either learn how or use a formatting app. You will need to either have a book cover made or, if you are handy enough, make your own. There are hard rules about formatting and cover dimensions you must learn and adhere to. A majority of authors self-publish with Amazon. Once you’ve been through the process with one book, it becomes easier and, truthfully, is fairly painless.
Traditional publishing is where you hire a publisher to do the final edits and deal with the platforms where your book will be published and distributed. These take a percentage of your earnings and send you the remaining, aka royalties. For many authors being with a traditional publisher lends credibility to their work and is worth not having to deal with the critical aspects.
The difference between a Big 5 and Indie publisher is the Big 5 include publishing houses like Penguin, Simon and Shuster, Harlequin, etc. Getting your work accepted in one of these publishing houses is an exercise in futility for many authors, and if you get in, you probably have produced a quality product.
Indie publishers also require quality, but they cater to new authors or independently published authors. Because they deal with new authors, many Indies can be easier to get into as you learn the craft.
For some making these decisions is difficult, and turn to a publicist to aid them in traveling the right path for them. Hiring a publicist can be spendy.
Okay, so you have a publisher, or you are doing it yourself. Now you need to market your work. A large misconception is that the publisher markets your book for you. Well, yes, they do. Or better yet, some do. Most still require that you actively get behind your product and push it to the masses. This is another area where a publicist or personal/virtual assistant comes into play. You hire them, so you have time to write your next work. Your publicist or the publicist with the publisher you went with will set up a street team, a launch team, arc readings, book signings, podcasts, and much more, all of which you will be required to participate in.
So you see, you wrote a book. Great. Most authors will tell you that they struggle with focus, writer's block, or incentive, along with a myriad of other obstacles, to finish their stories. Some find themselves with no sleep as they struggle to meet deadlines or deal with their real jobs and families. I know of one author who wrote their first book in the middle of the night over a period of six months. It was over 100,000 words, and they used their thumbs on their phone to craft the entire book. That book took three years to edit well enough to be a published work and turned quite successful for that author.
The moral of this article is: When you picked up a book, many hands were on it before it became available for you to read. The author slaved over many aspects of authoring it for you, and some did all of it themselves. It may have cost as much as 100 times more to produce than you paid. Some books take years to produce, and others are spit out every other month or so. All of them take a tribe, and you become that tribe’s newest member. Consider going to where you purchased the book to leave a review. It not only helps the author sell their books for pennies back on a much larger investment, but it also helps them learn what readers like and want.
"So, you're an author, and you've just typed the words - The End - on your manuscript.
Congrats. Now comes the hard part."
FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESK NO. 1
Another month in the books? Where does the time go?
It has been quite busy here, especially with the opening up of submissions. We’ve already got one project in that has caught our attention and we’re looking forward to reading the rest of the story. And it looks like we’ll be taking on a wonderfully insane horror series that could have only been created if Lovecraft, Doug Adams, and Harry Harrison met in a pub on a stormy night and decided to collaborate on a book. It really is that good.
Of course, right now, we are busy promoting Hawkings Austin’s Castle Brave, as well as the upcoming release this month of Declan Finn’s Dark Web, Book #11 of his St. Tommy’s series.
By this time next month, we should also be re-releasing the works of our late co-founder, Jim Christina. His estate has shut down his KDP account and unpublished his books so that we can re-release them under the Tuscany Bay Books banner, as was his wish. Once they have cleared Amazon’s database, we can start moving them back into publication.
The book he and I co-wrote, The Last Lonely Trail, is already up. What should follow soon is Jonah Blue and Jefferson’s Chance, both with their original covers. The remaining five novels and two non-fiction books will be getting new covers. Also, four of the novels will be a four-volume set of his series of stories about The Hunter and Stryker. If you are a fan of authentic western stories, you will find more than your fill with Jim’s wonderfully crafted stories.
We hope to have them all back up by late August/early September, and we also hope to have some really big news to share with you next month as well.
Until then, thanks for reading!
Richard Paolinelli
Publisher
JUST IN!
Declan Finn has done it again!
This book was released on May 31, 2022!
Great job, Declan!
IN CLOSING
Calling all authors who would like to become published to submit their work.
Accepting genres: Fantasy, Scifi, Thriller, Mystery, Western
Until next month, enjoy the journey.
Susan Catt
Editor
Some sad news to share...
Normally we'd be telling you about a book we'd like to feature or some news of upcoming title releases.
But this week has begun with some very sad news.
It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of our founding partner, James Christina, on Sunday, June 19, 2022. Jim had been battling respiratory issues related to his time in service during the Vietnam War in the 1970s and finally succumbed to those injuries.
He was a great writer, a savvy businessman, a musician, and, more importantly, an incredible friend. We extend our condolences to his wife, his family, and all of his friends who have been hit with this terrible news. There will not be a single day that passes without us missing you terribly, Jim.
Please check out Jim's Amazon page and find some incredible stories that Jim has written. Every penny of royalties from any sales of his book will go directly to his wife: https://www.amazon.com/Jim-Christina/e/B00J0P7UH2
As for Tuscany Bay Books, we will continue on, as Jim would want us to. Our hearts will be heavy, but we will carry on with his legacy for as long as we are able.
In the meantime, make sure you spend some extra time with those closest to you. Cherish every precious moment you can.