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Authors Jacob & H.P. Holo

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Authors Just Talk About Tea – Virtual Panel

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One panel’s barely finished, and we’re already on to the next! 😀

On Thursday, December 3rd @ 8pm EST, join H.P., Faith Hunter, Kimberly Richardson, and Lydia Sherrer as we chat about that most cultured and comforting of beverages – tea! ☕️

As always, the panel will be streamed on our Facebook page, but here’s the Zoom link as well for those who’d prefer to sign up there.

See you next month! 😀

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UPDATE: Here’s the YouTube archive! You can also watch it on Facebook if you prefer.

Also, panelist Kimberly owns a tea company, and you can check it out here! 😀

Authors Just Talk About Feel Good Stuff – Virtual Panel

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It’s almost time for the next Authors Just Talk About… panel!

During this crazy time of year, in this, the craziest year, sometimes you just need to chill and chat about feel good stuff. So that’s exactly what we’re doing! 😁

Join H.P., William Joseph Roberts, Lydia Sherrer, and Benjamin Tyler Smith this Thursday, November 19th @ 8pm EST as we chatter about our favorite feel good movies, books, and other fun comfort things!

Again, the event will be streamed on our Facebook page, but here’s the Zoom link for those who’d prefer watching there!

See you later this week! 😀

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UPDATE: Here’s the archived panel on YouTube! You can also find it on our Facebook page!

Adventures in Mystery Pikachus

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Y’ALL. There’s been a mystery brewing in our yard today. 😳

When I went to see Jacob off to work at The Real World Job, we spotted a weird item in our neighbor’s yard. We thought it was just a leaf bag, but checked it out anyway to find that it was a random Pikachu beanbag. Because of its placement, we figured it wasn’t intended as a decoration, but left it and didn’t think any more of it.

Anyway, Jacob goes to work. I go to the porch to write. When I get up for my break walk, THE PIKACHU HAS MOVED. 😳 And it’s right next to my water hose, right around the corner of my house, perfectly positioned where I can see it. 😳😳 Which is SUPER CREEPY. 😳😳😳

(But, like, still a Pikachu, so I’m not as creeped out as I should be. 🤣)

So I go to investigate this thing. Turns out that it’s not a beanbag, but a giant costume mask…that is light enough to be blown about by the wind. Which proceeds to blow it across my driveway. And is a lot less creepy than anything I was imagining. Thus, by the Rules of Yard Wind, I now have a new writing buddy! #mysterysolved ❤️

Actually I’m going to walk the neighborhood later to see if it blew out of anyone’s yard, ‘cause it’s a really well-crafted mask, and I’d hate for someone to put all that work into it only to lose it. If it doesn’t get claimed, though, IT MINE. 😁

UPDATE: Mystery solved again! It belonged to our neighbors across the street! 😃 Turns out they’d bought it for their son’s birthday party and had been looking for it all day.

Also, it’s not handmade, but rather purchased online for what they claimed was an embarrassing amount of money – which is a super cool thing to learn about my neighbors. As I return their Pikachu mask in my favorite Pikachu shirt. 😄

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Originally posted on H.P.’s Instagram.

David Weber and Jacob on the Baen Free Radio Hour!

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It’s time for another Valkyrie Protocol interview! 😀

This time, David and Jacob chat with Baen Books editor Tony Daniel over on the Baen Free Radio Hour. The YouTube link is embedded below, but if you’d like to listen to the podcast version, you can find it here (or wherever you download your favorite podcasts)! 😄

Authors Just Talk About Cooking – Virtual Panel

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H.P. had so much fun chattering about pets earlier this month that she decided to host another panel. 😁

Join her, Jonathan Brazee, Sarah K. Stephens, and Terry Maggert on Thursday, October 29th @ 8pm EST as they just talk about…cooking! 😋

Again, the event will be live-streamed on our Facebook page, but here’s the Zoom link for those who’d like to register to watch there!

See you next week! 😀

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UPDATE: Here’s the archived panel on YouTube (or, if you’d like to watch it on Facebook, here)!

Amusing Stuff H.P. Finds When Doing Ad Research

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When I’m not writing, my main responsibility is marketing our books, and a lot of that involves compiling Amazon Ad keywords – usually by researching books and authors that are similar to ours, and by seeing what kinds of books show up in our Also Boughts.

This often leads me down some interesting Kindle rabbit holes. For example, there was a period where, for some reason, a lot of the readers who bought mecha action-adventure Bane of the Dead were absolutely devouring … harem lit. 😳

That said, here’s a collection of some of the stranger books I’ve come across. 😀

I haven’t read any of these as of yet, but many are so weird that they’ll probably make their way onto my reading list at some point. 🤣 Enjoy!

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We’ve reached peak light novel, y’all.

Reborn as a Vending Machine, Now I Wander the Dungeon (Volume 1) by Hirukuma

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I don’t even care what this is about. I’m 100% reading for the dinosaur hands.

Rexus: Side Quest (Completionist Chronicles #3) by Dakota Krout

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I’m a huge fan of honest, straightforward, unashamed titles, and this is absolutely that.

Making Monster Girls: For Science! (Volume 1) by Eric Vall

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I can’t decide if science has gone too far…or not far enough.

Maid to Order: A Catgirl Harem Adventure (Build-a-Catgirl Book 1) by Simon Archer

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Bizarre light novel titles are my favorite thing in the world right now.

Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to A Starter Town (Volume 1) by Toshio Satou

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Ok, given how much I love animals and adorable things, I’d actually read the heck out of this.

Woof Woof Story: I Told You To Turn Me into a Pampered Pooch, not Fenrir (Volume 1) by Inumajin

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You know, given how much time I spend cooking and eating in games, I’d actually read the heck out of this, too.

Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill (Volume 1) by Ren Eguchi

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Have you read any of these little oddities? 😄 Tell me what you thought in the comments!

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Note: Holo Writing is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and, as such, may earn a small commission from any product purchased through an affiliate link on this blog.

Love, Lies, and Hocus Pocus: Beginnings – Book Review

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Um, bookish library wizards, snarky witch dudes, and talking cats? Sign me up!

Actually, the talking cat doesn’t show up until Book 2, but that’s all the more reason to read Book 1 – to get to Book 2 faster. Of course, there are plenty of other reasons, too. 😉

In Lydia Sherrer’s Love, Lies, and Hocus Pocus: Beginnings (The Lily Singer Adventures #1), Lily Singer is a no-nonsense wizard—yes, wizard—who would rather spend time in the secret magical library archives under Agnes Scott College than getting up to any actual adventures. Unfortunately for her, her friend Sebastian Blackwell is a witch—yes, witch—who is, if not all nonsense, at least nonsense enough to elicit frequent eye-rolls from Lily while still roping her into his latest magical misadventure.

Beginnings chronicles three such adventures which, though written like a collection of novellas more so than a singular novel, thread together to provide fun, fascinating looks at these two characters and their world. The plots are eclectic and often unpredictable—one an emotionally complicated ghost story, another a dangerous gang-related conflict (but still mostly clean enough to stay within the realm of a cozy read), and the last a heart-wrenching tale of mysterious time loops and dangerous family heirlooms.

Lily and Sebastian’s interactions, however, are the essential glue that holds the plots together. The two are polar opposite character types—Lily serious and pedantic to a fault, Sebastian the carefree, infuriating charmer—but their strengths and flaws balance each other out in such a way that they read like an inseparable pair that will probably end up married through the paradoxical unifying power of amused exasperation. Each character hides their own secrets and struggles, too, though. Lily is perpetually bothered by how much of her family’s wizard history was—and still is—hidden from her, and despite his relaxed, appealing demeanor, Sebastian is estranged from his magical family for reasons that aren’t immediately clear to Lily. The mysteries surrounding these characters alone are enough to make me curious to read more of the series.

The magic systems involved are equally intriguing, as Lily and Sebastian use two distinct forms of magic, and they complement each other in unexpected ways.

The magic that defines Lily’s wizardry is derived from a source known, pragmatically, as the Source, and isn’t cast so much as carefully wrangled through clever combinations of runes, artifacts, the user’s will, and a magical ancient language known as Enkinem. Wizard magic itself is likely one of the reasons why Lily is so strict and scholarly; it’s not magic that can be flung about carelessly. It’s magic that has to be studied and meticulously implemented, lest its effects go horribly wrong.

Sebastian’s witchery, meanwhile, derives from the fact that he can see and interact with fey and, more specifically, knows how to trade with them to earn their magical favor. It’s magic that requires charisma, which in turn is one of the reasons why he’s such a mischievous, charismatic character himself. His magical survival requires it. Additionally, when he comes to Lily for help, it’s not only to pester her (though that’s one reason); it’s because her particular type of magic is better suited to certain challenges than his, simply because of the structural differences between the two.

(The magic systems aren’t gendered, by the way, as the book emphasizes early on. Wizards study; witches make deals with the fey; and those are the only relevant separations.)

In short, the complexities of these magic systems are one of the coolest parts of the book, but ultimately it’s a book that hinges on the amusing interplay between its two leads and the surprising complexities of even its minor characters. If you’re looking for a for a cozy, sassy fantasy that puts the smart in smart aleck, Love, Lies, and Hocus Pocus: Beginnings is a good place to start. 😄

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Note: Holo Writing is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and, as such, may earn a small commission from any product purchased through an affiliate link on this blog.

David and Jacob chat the Gordian Division series at ROFCon!

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If you were at the first virtual ROFCon this weekend, you were treated to a whole bunch of sci-fi and fantasy authors doing what they do best (well, other than writing that is 😉) – including David and Jacob chatting about the Gordian Division series.

If not, it’s archived below for your viewing pleasure! 😄

And there’s plenty more where that came from! If you need to scratch that con itch, go check out the Ring of Fire Press channel on YouTube for a collection of panel videos from the con! 😀

Authors Just Talk About Pets – Virtual Panel

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H.P. got stir-crazy waiting for cons to start back up, so she made her own panel.

Join her, D.J. Butler, Lydia Sherrer, and Terry Maggert this Thursday, October 8th @ 8pm EST, wherein they’ll…just talk about pets! 😄

The event will be live-streamed on our Facebook Page, but if you’d rather watch through Zoom, you can register for that here.

We hope to see you there! 😀

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UPDATE: Here’s the archived video on YouTube! (Or, if you’d rather watch it on Facebook, click here!)

The Kidnap Plot – Book Review

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One of the benefits of having an overwhelmingly huge and ever-growing book pile is that sometimes, when you get bored, you can just dig to the bottom to see what’s been hiding there, and sometimes, you find little treasures you’d completely forgotten about.

This is one of those.

I happened upon Dave Butler’s The Kidnap Plot (The Extraordinary Journeys of Clockwork Charlie #1) several years ago after a particularly memorable LibertyCon panel which was supposed to be about The Best New YA Books…but, given that none of us had actually read any new YA books that year, ended up being about awesome YA in general (and also ended up being one of the most fun panels at that convention). This has nothing to do with the book, except that fellow panelist Butler was giving out copies at the end, and like heck am I gonna turn down any free steampunk reading, especially when the cover is as adorable as this:

Plus, in the con-less semi-apocalyptic landscape that is 2020, it’s nice to reflect on con memories, and that panel was one of my favorites.

The London of The Kidnap Plot is one soaked in steam and coated in grease, where airships dominate the sky and beneath them live overlapping cultures of humans, pixies, trolls, kobolds, shape-changers…and Charlie Pondicherry and his Bap. Charlie’s father runs Pondicherry’s Clockwork Invention and Repair, and never allows Charlie to venture far from it. But when his Bap is kidnapped by the aptly-named Sinister Man and his cronies, Charlie will have to venture further than he’s ever gone to rescue him–and in doing so, uncovers a plot that threatens Queen Victoria herself.

If you’re in the mood for a charming middle grade steampunk adventure with a whimsical storybook quality, The Kidnap Plot is it. Though some elements toward the end might seem overly familiar to anyone who consumes lots of steampunk, the characters that surround those elements are fun enough that I didn’t care (and frankly made me want to re-read/watch the stories it reminded me of, so win-win).

It’s the unfamiliar parts that make the book shine, anyway. Charlie’s is a setting where educated trolls can be lawyers, pixie duchesses-to-be can be their assistants, and kobolds help out in inventing shops. The aforementioned Grim Grumblesson, Natalie De Minimis, and Henry Clockswain join the ambitious chimney sweeps/potential aeronauts Oliver Chattelsworthy and Heaven-Bound Bob to shape the eclectic party that helps Charlie recover his dad. (Special second mention for Heaven-Bound Bob because I think his name is extra-fun to say.) It’s a large cast for such a comparatively simplistic rescue story, but the characters play off each other’s strengths and weaknesses with panache in such a way that much of the fun of the novel is not in seeing the characters succeed, but wondering what clever, audacious things they’ll have to do to get out of their absurd situations, which often have no obvious solution.

More than once, I actually started thinking of these twists and turns in terms of a Dungeons & Dragons campaign, since so many of their challenges are complicated by the fact that one of them is super tiny, one is a big ol’ troll, and other such race-specific details. I doubt that was the author’s intent, but frankly now that I think of it, I’m totally down for a Clockwork Charlie RPG.

All in all, rip-roaring adventure and fun characters make The Kidnap Plot a delightful, exciting read. If you like whimsical steampunk stories, give it a try!

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Note: Holo Writing is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and, as such, may earn a small commission from any product purchased through an affiliate link on this blog.

David Weber and Jacob are coming up on Publishers Weekly’s Books on Tap Live!

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Publisher's Weekly presents Books on Tap Live: An Author Event Series

Rejoice, Gordian Division fans, for there’s another live stream in your future! 😀

On Wednesday, October 7th @ 4pm EST, David and Jacob will chat The Valkyrie Protocol on Publishers Weekly‘s author event series Books on Tap Live! If you’re up for a chill evening hanging out with authors through the magic of the Internet, check it out on Facebook, YouTube, or the official Books on Tap Live page.

You can also enter to win a signed copy of The Valkyrie Protocol – and, while you’re at it, submit questions for Publishers Weekly to ask David and Jacob!

If that’s your style, click here or on the image below for more information. We hope to hear from you! 😊

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UPDATE: Here’s the archived video! 😀

David Weber and Jacob talk The Valkyrie Protocol on the Weberverse!

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Here’s even more from The Weberverse! This time, David and Jacob chat The Valkyrie Protocol together, from how the whole adventure started to the details of the writing process.