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PUBLISHING NEWS
Mickey Mikkelson | |
| | THIS JUST IN!
Fugitive Rifts, the third novel from critically acclaimed author A-M Mawhiney has been named the Gold Winner in the prestigious Nautilus Awards 2026 in the Young Adult Fiction Category
Does everyone have secrets? |
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When four teens are invited to meet after school with a teacher, the butterfly effect of this one small event soon changes their dreams about their futures. Thrown together to form, of all things, a debate team, the four—Grace, a popular star basketball player, Drew, a privileged hotshot, Ollie, an artistic new student, and Dottie a shy, brilliant loner—seem to have nothing in common. And not one of them believes they have what it takes to be successful debaters.
Over time, the four teens start helping each other through tough times and begin to realize they are more alike than they thought.
Taking part in a public debate turns out to have unintended consequences that affect the four teens, each in different ways. Then the disappearance of one upends not only the lives of the four teens, but it also creates a ripple effect that shapes, over time, what happens to other people from their communities, their country—and even the world.
Fugitive Rifts is a compelling and empowering story of coming of age, resilience, and friendship, with emotional passages that are authentic, visceral, and bring the characters to life.
Fugitive Rifts eBook : Mawhiney, A-M : Amazon.ca: Books
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When four teens are invited to meet after school with a teacher, the butterfly effect of this one small event soon changes their dreams about their futures. Thrown together to form, of all things, a debate team, the four—Grace, a popular star basketball player, Drew, a privileged hotshot, Ollie, an artistic new student, and Dottie a shy, brilliant loner—seem to have nothing in common. And not one of them believes they have what it takes to be successful debaters.
Over time, the four teens start helping each other through tough times and begin to realize they are more alike than they thought.
Taking part in a public debate turns out to have unintended consequences that affect the four teens, each in different ways. Then the disappearance of one upends not only the lives of the four teens, but it also creates a ripple effect that shapes, over time, what happens to other people from their communities, their country—and even the world.
Fugitive Rifts is a compelling and empowering story of coming of age, resilience, and friendship, with emotional passages that are authentic, visceral, and bring the characters to life.
Fugitive Rifts eBook : Mawhiney, A-M : Amazon.ca: Books
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| About The Nautilus Book Awards: |  |
|  | About A-M Mawhiney
At age eight A-M Mawhiney announced she wanted to be an author. It only took sixty years. Her career, first as a social worker and then as a university professor and senior administrator, ended with her retirement in 2018. She began writing again during the first lockdown in 2020. To her surprise she found herself writing her first novel, Spindrifts. which was a finalist in the 8th annual Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writers’ Prize and shortlisted for the Whistler Independent Book Awards in 2022
Its sequel, Spelldrifts, was released in 2023, and her latest book, Fugitive Rifts, was published in July 2025. When she isn’t writing A-M enjoys reading, taking in local basketball games, time with family and friends, and travelling. She lives in Sudbury, Ontario with her partner Dave.
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| The Rose Queen
Book 1 of the Rose Trilogy
Fresh from the success of Alison McBain’s Authors VS AI initiative, we now revisit her debut critically acclaimed and award-winning novel.
Published by Fairfield Scribes, The Rose Queen is available in paperback and e-book worldwide | |
|  | The Rose Queen was a fantasy finalist for 2019 IAN Book of the Year, and also a finalist for the 2019 Literary Classics Book Award. In addition, it was named as one of the best books of 2018 by the reviewer website Bookshine and Readbows. What makes it so intriguing? Perhaps it's because the Beast doesn't always wait for Beauty. Sometimes, Beauty IS the Beast. Princess Mirabella is betrothed to a repulsive old man a year after her mother's death. She refuses the marriage, only to find out her betrothed is a sorcerer as well.
He takes his revenge by transforming her into a savage and frightening beast, giving her an ultimatum: she has three years to solve the mystery of her curse—or die. Exiled to her mother's estate to hide the scandal, Mirabella learns that the sorcerer was not alone in keeping secrets. Her grandfather was murdered before Mirabella was born, and her mother's death is looking less and less as if it came from natural causes. The only point in common to all their ruined lives: her father, the king. Faced with a conflict between saving her family and saving her own life, the choices Mirabella makes will change the future of the kingdom—and magic—forever.
https://bit.ly/4fPgit1
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| Author Versus AI
Alison McBain took on the influence of AI in the book industry
by meeting the technology head-on!!! | |
|  | Alison McBain is the author behind Author Versus AI. Starting on Global Book Day on April 23, 2024, she wrote a book a week for 34 weeks. Her mission was to show that one author can take on AI and create novels almost as fast but much, much better than AI programs. She answered the question now being posed by creators everywhere: Will AI replace me?
The answer is an emphatic NO.
Artificial intelligence (AI), in its broadest sense, is a field of research in computer science that develops and studies methods and software that enable machines to perceive their environment and use learning to maximize their chances of achieving defined goals. Currently, there are a number of programs using AI software to augment or replace human creativity.
**Alison McBain’s mission is to prove that writing can be done quickly, efficiently, and better with human instinct, emotion, and passion** |
| About Alison
Alison McBain’s human-created novels are the recipients of over 13 awards, including the Foreword INDIES. Her latest novella Dual took home 3rd place in the 3-Day Novel Contest. When not writing for herself, she’s a ghostwriter who has penned over two dozen books for clients, as well as an award-winning editor who has worked with both celebrity and NY Times-bestselling authors. In 2024, she pursued a project called “Author Versus AI,” where she wrote a book a week, using NO AI at all (34 books total). When not writing, Ms. McBain is the associate editor for the magazine ScribesMICRO and draws all over the walls of her house with the enthusiastic help of her kids. She lives in Alberta, Canada. |  |
| | CULTS
The House of Mystery Radio Show presents the interviews: Volume 9
The book and series are published by House of Mystery and is available worldwide in print and e-book format |
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Behind closed doors, loyalty is demanded.
Questioning is forbidden.
And the truth is often far more terrifying than the myth.
In The House of Mystery Presents: CULTS: The Interviews Volume 9, bestselling author and radio host Alan R. Warren offers a compelling look into the minds behind notorious cults through interviews with experts and cult survivors, revealing the psychology and dark human stories that drive their influence.
From the fiery end of David Koresh and the siege in Waco
To the chilling mass tragedy orchestrated by Jim Jones
To the secretive and disturbing world of The Family
This volume pulls back the curtain on manipulation, control, and the dangerous power of belief.
Through compelling, in-depth interviews, this book reveals the psychology behind cult leadership and the vulnerability that draws people in, sparking curiosity in the audience.
Disturbing. Insightful. Unforgettable. This collection of interviews is not just true crime—it’s a journey into the darkest corners of human influence, designed to fascinate and intrigue the reader.
https://bit.ly/3PWmzIR |  |
|  | About House of Mystery:
House of Mystery is an electrifying weekly radio program hosted by Canadian author and broadcaster Alan R. Warren, airing on the NBC News Talk Radio network and syndicated across the U.S. and Canada. Through insightful interviews with acclaimed authors, experts, and cultural figures. With a rich mix of fiction and non-fiction topics. |
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About Alan R. Warren:
Alan R. Warren is a Canadian bestselling true crime author, producer, and lead host of the internationally syndicated radio show and podcast House of Mystery. The show airs across North America on multiple stations, including Los Angeles, Riverside, Palm Springs, Salt Lake City, Seattle/Tacoma, and Phoenix, reaching a wide audience of mystery and true crime listeners.
A respected authority in true crime nonfiction, Warren has authored 38 books covering serial killers, cults, human trafficking, history, and memoir. His work is published by major true crime publishers including RJ Parker/Vronksy Publishing (Canada) and WildBlue Press (USA). He has been a contributor to True Case Files Magazine since 2013 and continues to write for Serial Killer Magazine.
Warren’s bestselling titles have been featured on major television networks, including CNN, Oxygen, Reelz, Vice TV, and Sundance Channel documentaries. Notable works include Beyond Suspicion: The True Story of Colonel Russell Williams, The Killing Game: Serial Killer Rodney Alcala, and Doomsday Cults: The Devil’s Hostages. In 2024, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Writing from Reader’s House in London, UK.
Alan R. Warren is frequently sought out by media outlets for expert commentary on true crime cases, serial killers, cult behaviour, and criminal psychology.
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| | Golem For Broke
A Magical Midlife Urban Fantasy
Mad Queens Inc. Book 1
Bestselling author Deborah Wilde kicks off a new series perfect for fans of magical mysteries, unique mythology, and witty slow-burn romance. It’s a gleeful ode to strong female friendships and smart empowered women over forty.
Surviving your forties requires coffee, good friends, and a morally flexible relationship with illegal magic. |
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Tovah Silver runs Mad Queens Inc., an unlicensed magical problem-solving agency with her three best friends. They've built their reputation on grit, loopholes, and unrepentant competence, ignoring those who think their perimenopausal magic tops out at party tricks.
They’re wrong but correcting them would be a felony. Every one of the Queens has a forbidden second magic buried deep—until an assassin golem forces Tovah to unleash hers.
She thinks she got away with it. Then Nikolai Azarov shows up.
Vancouver’s only golem-maker would call her story creative if he wasn’t too busy calling BS. Worse, once he figures out what she actually did to that golem, he doesn’t turn her in. He names his price.
Now Tovah must honour a dangerous bargain with a man who’s already insufferable without leverage, outmanoeuvre the magic cops circling her agency, and hunt down whoever left a hand-delivered clay effigy on her bed.
Middle age isn't a crisis. It's a weapon.
Published by Te Da Media Inc and available worldwide in e-book, paperback, and audiobook on October 12, 2026.
Purchase links:
Deborah Wilde Books:
https://www.deborahwildebooks.com/collections/mad-queens-inc
Other retailers: https://books2read.com/u/3GB9vL |  |
| | More urban fantasy from Deborah featuring an older heroine
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| Books Archive - Author Deborah Wilde
"It's not always easy to navigate a paranormal author's fictitious world. I've given up on many a novel that makes me feel like I'm wandering through a dense jungle without a map. Instead of leaving you to your own devices, Wilde hands you a smartphone, complete with a GPS tracker and hiking app. She orients you in the story and steers you where you need to go to understand the players and the conflict. And she does it in a way that prompts laugh-out-loud moments of pure giddy satisfaction." – BookTrib
"Her books are marvellous, filled with intricate plots, full of characters with fears and flaws and hangups, and you can’t wait to get to the end, but you don’t want them to finish.” - Yellow Bookworm
“I will buy any and all books written by Deborah Wilde. Guaranteed a good time reading: action-packed adventure, cool culture tidbits, and the humour is so, so fine.” – C. Vasiliu | |
|  | About Deborah:
Deborah Wilde is a global wanderer and hopeless romantic. After twelve years as a screenwriter, she was also a total cynic with a broken edit button, so, she jumped ship, started writing funny, sexy urban fantasy books and never looked back.
She loves writing smart, flawed, wisecracking women who can solve a mystery, kick supernatural butt, banter with hot men, and still make time for their best female friend, because those were the women she grew up around and admired. Granted, her grandmother never had a to kill a demon at her weekly friend lunches, but Deborah is pretty sure she could have.
Smart (ass) heroines. Epic magic. Red-hot romance.
**Pronounced Deb-O-rah. |
| Lovelock Ones
A dystopian science fiction series in a much different direction for critically acclaimed author, Tricia Copeland
The book and series is published by True Bird Publishing and is available worldwide in print and e-book format | |
|  | A naturally immune girl. A genetically modified boy. A search for a cure that may cost them everything…
Fifteen-year-old Jema Walker would do anything to protect her sibling. But she never imagined they’d be facing another global flu pandemic. Sent to a remote desert location for safety, Jema is horrified when her sister contracts the deadly virus.
Caught in a conflict of impossible choices, Jema teams up with a specially bred eighteen-year-old boy to find a remedy. But when they’re forced to go rogue and abandon their community, she fears the ruling adults only want them for their uniquely protected DNA.
Can the duo hunt down an antidote before they fall victim to ruthless experiments?
Lovelock Ones is the first book in the action-packed Lovelock YA dystopian science fiction series. If you like bold heroines, strong heroes, and post-apocalyptic settings, then you’ll love Tricia Copeland’s thrilling fight for survival.
Buy Lovelock Ones to battle an unforgiving authority today!
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| More in the Series:
They can save the human race. To do it, they must take down their own government…
Sixteen-year-old Jema is on the run. Branded a traitor for trying to share a DNA-based cure for a lethal contagion, she and her friends are hunted by forces loyal to her sinister uncle. And unless they force him to release the formula, she fears a worldwide war to claim the antigen.
Forced to fight like soldiers in the desolate desert, Jema learns there could be sympathizers who will support a coup. But with only scavenged food and fading hope, she and her small group of grimly determined teens face a deadly trek across dangerous territory.
Can Jema get the cure in the public domain before the planet descends into bloodshed and chaos?
Torch is the second book in the thrilling Lovelock YA dystopian science fiction series. If you like intense action, courage under pressure, and races against time, then you’ll love Tricia Copeland’s fast-paced novel.
Buy Torch to battle for humanity’s survival today! |  |
|  | About Tricia Copeland:
Tricia Copeland is the critically acclaimed and award-winning author of Kingdom of Embers, To be a Fae Queen, Lovelock Ones, and Azreya, Aztec Priestess, and dozens of other titles. She is the host of the Finding the Magic Book Podcast who weaves magical stories about love, courage, and finding your passion.
Find all her titles including contemporary romance, now penned under Maria Jane, young adult fantasy, and dystopian fiction at www.triciacopeland.com |
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