I'm doing an author spotlight and a panel at CrimeFest in Bristol (UK) this weekend.

My second nonfiction book launched last month! A Quiet Strength - Inspirational Stories of Older American Women contains 15 stories of over 80 age women, relating their life experiences as they lived through the Great Depression and WWII, loves and losses. They also shared personal photos with me. Through the end of May, the book is available for only $10 by calling PublishAmerica, 240 285 9356. Now I'm in marketing phase. This is hard, too, but I'm excited about this book!

My short story "Cobra God" is in The Louisville Review, a national literary magazine. Spring 2013/ Issue 73. My first published fiction. I'm pretty excited. Here's the pitch: 

A professional killer retreats to her childhood home in East African wilderness known as the "cradle of life" to contemplate her career choice after committing her most heinous murder.

If you get the chance to read it, I'd love your feedback.

http://www2.spalding.edu/louisvillereview/73.html

I'm expecting review copies of my upcoming author-published novel, A Wilder Rose: Rose Wilder Lane, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Their Little Houses in a couple of weeks. If you're a regular book blogger and might be interested in reviewing this book or hosting a guest post/Q&A, please email me at susan@susanalbert.com. The book is scheduled for October 1.

I am proud to announce the publication of my first chapbook of poetry, Under the Influence:  Musings on Poems and Paintings just out from Finishing Line Press.  I am living proof that there is book publication after 50!  So believe!  This collection is mostly ekphrastic poems inspired by works of art and some poems inspired by and in the style of other poems, including one by Mary Oliver.  You can see more about me and the book on my website:  www.kimbakerpoet.com.  And if you are a poet, I have an online poetry journal called Word Soup End Hunger.  100% of the submissions fees are donated to a food bank.  Working to end hunger one poem at a time.  Let's feed some people!

INVITATION TO DIE by Helen Smith will be published by Thomas & Mercer, Tuesday 14th May.

Twenty-six-year-old Emily Castles teams up with eccentric philosophy professor Dr. Muriel to investigate a murder at a romance writers’ conference in this entertaining British mystery.

Helen Smith is a novelist and playwright who lives in London. She is a member of the Crime Writers Association, Sisters in Crime and the Writers' Guild of Great Britain. She will be appearing on a panel at CrimeFest, Bristol (UK) to discuss crimefighting duos on Saturday 1st June. She will be the subject of an author spotlight on Friday 31st May.

Some of you may already know this, but "The Other Side: Melinda's Story" was released on April 9, 2013. I've been book touring and am starting to settle back down to begin on "The Other Side: Trent's Story." Here's a snippet about "The Other Side: Melinda's Story:"

If I tell you the story, will you believe it?

Her father begins to warn Melinda James from the ‘Other Side’ about terrifying and unbelievable upcoming events. His death was no accident, like everyone assumed. But Melinda doesn’t take her father’s words to heart. Soon, her family members and friends begin to disappear, and all she’s left with is a ‘crazy’ story that none of the psychiatrists will believe.

As she journeys from one dangerous incident to the next, her dead best friend and family members try to help from the ‘Other Side.’ Will it be enough? Can dead people protect the living?

Does this ‘Other Side’ even exist? Will Melinda get her new doctor, Alex Leever, to finally believe her so she can be freed from the asylum? As portals open and close and a new ‘friend’ arrives on the scene, Melinda must find a way to understand that the voices speaking are sending a dire warning: that the killers from the past still exist and are beginning to get far too close for comfort. 

My home invasion -- immortalized in print! My personal essay "Rules of Engagement" has been published at Superstition Review. It's my first creative nonfiction publication, and it tells the story of a home invasion I experienced several years ago.