New sci-fi dramedy release! THE GUESTS OF CROOKED NECK out now!

Posted on05/11/202431/10/2024Leave a comment

After a successful Kickstarter (funded in under a week!), I’m happy to announce that my stormy sci-fi novel THE GUESTS OF CROOKED NECK is now available to the general public in both ebook and paperback!

Cover illustration by Danielle

BUY DIRECT from Danielle

Buy everywhere else

TROUBLE’S IN PARADISE.

In the small town of Crooked Neck, the townsfolk eagerly await the arrival of the galaxy’s two most notorious war criminals.

All except one.

Months ago, the town’s celebrated host, Keonaona Hoʻokano, accepted the duty of housing the dangerous pair.

But things have changed. Now that the day is here, Keonaona wants nothing to do with them.

As the deadly couple approaches his darkened estate, Keonaona spies from the shadows. His next move will set off a chain of events whose repercussions extend far beyond his doorstep.

They will turn the eyes of the galaxy to his hometown.

And they just might push Keonaona past his breaking point…

THE GUESTS OF CROOKED NECK is a moving science fantasy about grief, pride, and being seen. This standalone novel set in the Worlds of Everlush universe takes place soon after the events of STEEL CITY, VEILED KINGDOM.

* * *

Say hello to one of my most atmospheric books yet! Crooked Neck is the sequel to my flagship novel Steel City, Veiled Kingdom, but you don’t need to have read that book to understand Crooked Neck. I wrote it so anyone could enjoy it.

If you want a story that will transport you, then I think you’ll really like it.

Or if you’re one of the following, you will probably enjoy The Guests of Crooked Neck:

A sci-fi/fantasy fan looking for a matureish sci-fi drama full of vivid characters, intriguing culture clashes, and occasional humor in the vein of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
A sci-fi/fantasy fan who wants to visit a richly imagined setting inspired by upcountry Hawai’i.
A sci-fi/fantasy fan hungry for a substantial read: Crooked Neck is about the same length as Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
A sci-fi/fantasy fan who likes your stories grounded and heartfelt, but not soppy.
A reader who enjoys books with multiple viewpoint characters. Crooked Neck switches between three main viewpoint characters for most chapters.

Sound good? Then click the green button. 👇️

Support an indie author and BUY DIRECT from Danielle

Buy everywhere else

The Pixelvania Publishing Proclamation o’ Progress, September 2024 Edition

Posted on29/08/202428/08/20241 Comment

The Pixelvania Publishing Proclamation o’ Progress is a semiannual post detailing what’s going on around here, and what might show up in the future.

Cute kitty photo at the end.

Recap

CROOKED NECK’S EARLY-RELEASE KICKSTARTER

Earlier this year, I ran a successful early-release Kickstarter for The Guests of Crooked Neck, the reasonably-sized sequel to science-fantasy epic Steel City, Veiled Kingdom (SCVK). What was REALLY exciting this go-round is that I was able to offer paperbacks to backers, which seemed pretty popular!

Here’s some quick facts:

Crooked Neck funded in under a week!
By the end, it raised 127% of its goal, thanks to 25 wonderful backers.
22 ebook copies of Crooked Neck were emailed to backers (and some reward tiers got SCVK, too, for a nice discount).
7 paperback copies of Crooked Neck were shipped to backers!

If you missed the Kickstarter, good news! The Guests of Crooked Neck will be released to everybody in early November. Jump on my newsletter to get notified!

FINAL FRIDAY 5 FAVORITES POSTS

Earlier this year, I began posting my latest entertainment/household/food/whatever recommendations on the final Friday of each month. They’ve been pretty fun to do, so I think I’ll keep that up! Here’s what I’ve recommended so far.

Currently in Production

FASHION FRENCHIES BOOK 2

I finished writing and typing up the manuscript for family-friendly fantasy comedy Fashion Frenchies 2: Salute a Pooch! a few weeks ago. Also, SURPRISE! I renamed it. Now, instead of Salute a Pooch! it’s called The Pooch Salute!, which sounds punchier to my ear.

I’m currently hunting for a dog-loving Friendly Reader to check for typos so it can continue to the next stage of production.

(If you want to know when it’ll be released, sign up for my newsletter.)

FASHION FRENCHIES BOOK COVERS AND INTERIORS

In the meantime, I’m also working on revamping the cover for the ENTIRE Fashion Frenchies series. While I’m at it, I’ll also be turning the first book, one of the first I ever published, into a paperback. Anyway, here are some initial drawings:

Ink sketch of an elderly Asian woman. She wears like, a pirate coat and all kinds of bangly jewelry. She has huge glasses like Iris Apfel.

Vivian Feng

Pencil sketch of a toony French bulldog.

Marty the French Bulldog

I have three books in mind for this series, and I really hope a fourth will present itself because it feels like this series should be a quartet. Possibly a Christmas story?

Speaking of Christmas…how do you feel about some sci-fi Christmas?

GIFTS OF THE GORGON

I’m in the middle of writing (what I hope will be) a short story set in the Worlds of Everlush universe, taking place soon after The Guests of Crooked Neck. In my head it’s a Christmas story, but, being set on a sci-fi world, it’s obviously NOT Christmas, but it’s a gift-giving holiday so niener. I’ve had the idea in my head for some time, and it’s turning out to be funnier than I expected, which I like!

Future Plans, Plotting, and Scheming

Once the FASHION FRENCHIES work is off my plate, I think I’ll start another project or two concurrently with GIFTS. Here are the top contenders:

A Capramancer Christmas sequel (“Christmas with the Capramancer”? “The Capramancer Christmas Caper”? Anyway, I’m JAZZED about this idea LIKE WHOA. Lot of fun stuff could be had!)
Fashion Frenchies 3: The Bald and the Beautiful. (It will be a comedic Halloween story where the Fengs foster a hairless or near-hairless cat. I’ve had the base idea for AGES. Kind of a horror-comedy, heavy HEAVY on the comedy!!, less horror, more spoopy.)
For serious, actually step on the Nosferatu Novel train and ride it to the end. (This is intimidating because part one, unfinished–PART ONE!! UNFINISHED!!–is over 86,000 words. Part Two has 12,000 words completed and Part Three just under a thousand words. So I think it’s gonna be BEEG. It’s also been years since I’ve looked at it. Very intimidating but I gotta do it! And painting the covers will be a bear, too, I think.)
To be honest, another project that’s been weighing on me is getting The Purrfect Christmas out into paperback. It could be out in paperback quite quickly, but I’ve been putting it off because I think it should have illustrations. Except I haven’t found the energy to make the illustrations. Help me out here–would you rather have it out in paperback this year sans illustrations, or wait for a full revamp (including a nice shiny new cover)?
I still have 2 cat horror stories rolling around in my head
And ancient novel, the Gardeners of Palomar, is still lurking…

That ends my news, plotting, and scheming!

The Aforepromised Kitties

Here is your reward of a CAT PHOTO

Inside a room, a grey and white cat lurks on top of a tropical-patterned lawn chair. Below him in a cardboard bowl-bed, an orange and white cat lounges.

Intern Barnaby Jones lurking above his boss, Pixel J. Cat, lounging in a cardboard bowl-bed-box. They are surrounded by kitty treasures and toys.

Until next release, I wish you good health and happy reading! – Danielle

Science fantasy fans craving compelling characters will love my new Kickstarter project!

Posted on07/03/2024

Cover painted by the author

THE GUESTS OF CROOKED NECK, my latest novel and sequel to Steel City, Veiled Kingdom, launched Tuesday on Kickstarter!!

Meet a struggling holdout, a fearsome hivemind, and a SUPREMELY PUNCHABLE hustler in this imaginative dramedy set on a tropical world.

Back it now to read the ebook early, at a discount, PLUS get a bunch of digital goodies.

Not into sci-fi/fantasy? There are also cool add-ons, like tropical productivity printables, tutorials for aspiring artists and authors, and digital wildlife art featuring adorable jungle animals so you can still support the project and get something useful.

You can find out more about those add-ons, the story, and pledge levels over at Kickstarter.

Visit CROOKED NECK’S Kickstarter page

If you could pledge, I would love that (just $2 to get those printables!).

And it’d be FANTASTIC! if you could share the link to social media–that’d help me reach more potential readers, which is currently my biggest career challenge.

The Pixelvania Publishing Proclamation o’ Progress, February 2024 Edition

Posted on26/02/202424/02/2024

The Pixelvania Publishing Proclamation o’ Progress is a semiannual post detailing what’s going on around here, and what might show up in the future.

Cute kitty photos at the end.

Recap

Whoa, it’s been a minute, hasn’t it? When it came to posting these updates, 2023 got away from me, but I still manage to publish things!

…Seems they were all horror short stories!

Cover for BAD TIDINGS FROM QUEEN SOPHIE: An eerie cat's face emerges from the dark below the title text.

I love how this cover turned out.

The Accuser (cover) - A shadowy monster has its hands on a tough looking man in tattoos, seated in front of a bed. A cat sits besides the man.

Cover by GetCovers.com. The kitty’s name is Dozer.

Cover for Bona Ossuaria: A Home Renovation Horror Story. Two smiling women stand back to back, superimposed above a red house and a disturbingly off-colored sky. The tagline reads Good bones. Gone bad.

Cover by GetCovers.com They really captured the colors I wanted!

Looking back, I realize this batch of stories is full of firsts!

Queen Sophie was my first-ever short story sale. The amazing people over at the NoSleep Podcast turned it into an audio drama! Which is a big first I never imagined happening. Afterwards, I put it into print and ebook.

The Accuser: A Christian Horror Short Story is my first R-rated story. It contains some cussin’ and sexual themes/discussion, yet it’s ultimately an edifying Christian tale. So niener. (And it has a great cat!!!)

Finally, Bona Ossuaria: A Home Renovation Horror Story became my first Kickstarter project–and a very successful one, at that!

Horror fans got to enjoy this creepy tale before the general public, got discounts on some of my other horror ebooks, and received some free very classy-yet-sassy kitchen printables featuring vegetables that die (which are still for sale here on my shop).

Bona funded in under one week on Kickstarter, and people seemed pretty happy with their experience. It gave me the confidence I needed to finish my next Kickstarter project. Next slide!

Currently in Production

The Kickstarter for stormy science-fantasy novel The Guests of Crooked Neck is right around the corner!

The entire book is already completed in ebook and paperback format. If the funding goal is met before the deadline, Crooked Neck will release early to Kickstarter backers. Depending on your pledge level, you can also pick up some cool extra goodies, such as:

Tropical wildlife digital wallpapers
Beautiful tropical-themed productivity printables
Discounts on the previous stories in the series

I hope you’ll sign up below so you can get updates. I just got the proof copies back the other day and I was shocked by what a heckkin’ chonker of a book it is. So if you’re a sci-fi/fantasy fan who likes a meaty read, keep your eye out!

Remind me about the launch!

While I’ve been working on that, I’ve been doggedly writing the sequel to Fashion Frenchies #1: Love Potion Commotion! It’s called Salute a Pooch! and it’s already longer than the first book. But it’s not done yet. If you’re a dog lover, you won’t want to miss it!

I’ve also been testing out covers for it (and have plans to revamp Love Potion Commotion’s cover at the same time), but I haven’t settled on anything yet. Stay tuned!

Future Plans, Plotting, and Scheming

Every year this list gets bigger.

The Crooked Neck Kickstarter’s been monopolizing my brainspace, but once it’s over, I have plans for:

A Worlds of Everlush Christmas-type story
A third book in the Fashion Frenchies series (with a cat!)
Christmas with the Capramancer (’nuff said)
Plus I need to hop back on the Nosferatu Novel train…
Redo a couple covers that have been bugging me
Make paperbacks of a couple of my earliest published stories
Finish this one really old novel I have started around here.
Another 2 cat horror stories(!)

If you’ve been following along, you’ll know a few of these have been hanging onto this list for dear life. They’re all popcorn kittens, clamoring for my attention. I want to get to them all eventually!

That ends the news. Thanks for reading! Your reward is:

Kitty Photos!

Our mascot, Pixel J. Cat, on his favorite striped blankie. He just turned 17 this year!

Pixel’s intern, Barnaby Jones, chillaxin’ against the lavender-scented litter.

Until next release, I wish you good health and happy reading! – Danielle

A stellar sci-fi book turns 4 today (Plus: a thrilling announcement!)

Posted on11/01/202411/01/2024

Wow! Today is the 4th birthday of my epic sci-fi novel Steel City, Veiled Kingdom! (Better known round these parts by its nickname, SCVK.) Hoo, BOY that went fast. Seems like I just released it yesterday!

This is one of my most popular books. If you like your sci-fi novels heavy on the wonder with a little horror stirred in and peppered with humor, you might like it, too! Click the cover to find out more.

Find out more about SCVK

But what’s even MORE exciting is that this book’s little brother is on the way! That’s right, SCVK’s sequel is launching soon! It’s a stormy sci-fi drama called The Guests of Crooked Neck. It’ll be releasing first to Kickstarter in 2024. Check out the cover!

The Guests Of Crooked Neck is a moving science fantasy about grief, pride, and being seen. This standalone novel set in the Worlds of Everlush universe takes place soon after the events of Steel City, Veiled Kingdom–but you can read it as a standalone novel just fine.

As a story, Crooked Neck is the inverse of SCVK: where SCVK was an epic adventure spanning a few in-story years, exploring all corners of the galaxy through the eyes of a single character, Crooked Neck is an intimate drama switching between three main characters that stays put in one small town for a single weekend. But both books contain colorful characters and engrossing worlds.

If that sounds like it’s up your alley, I hope you’ll click the button below and join me on the journey of launching the second Worlds of Everlush novel!

Click here to be notified when The Guests of Crooked Neck launches!

The Pixelvania Publishing Proclamation o’ Progress, August 2022 Edition

Posted on12/08/2022

The Pixelvania Publishing Proclamation o’ Progress is a semiannual post detailing what’s going on around here, and what might show up in the future. It also includes reviews of shows, books, games, products, etc. you may also like. It’s only posted twice a year so as not to clog up your valuable, beautiful brain space.

Cute kitty photos at the end.

Recap

Here’s what’s been published since last post:

Women of Wonder: A Pixelvania Publishing Value Collection. A compilation of three of my favorite fantasies featuring fancy females!

Coming Soon

Bad Tidings From Queen Sophie

This kitty-with-talking-buttons horror story (previously heard on the NoSleep Podcast) will be released very soon! Dig this minimalist cover!: Read More …

The Pixelvania Publishing Proclamation of Progress, February 2022 Edition

Posted on24/02/2022

Cute kitty photo at the end.

Recap

Here’s what’s been published since the last post:

Chrystine’s Sleep Solution, an eerie midlength horror story inspired by ASMR videos and sleep ambience apps.
Bad Tidings from Queen Sophie became my first short story sale…but instead of being printed in a magazine or posted blog, it got made into an AUDIO DRAMA over at the NoSleep Podcast! Way cool! Queen Sophie is a (kinda funny) horror story featuring a kitty “talking” with buttons, a la Billi the cat or Bunny the dog.

Listen to my new kitty horror story FREE on the NoSleep Podcast!

My story starts around 25 minutes.

Prefer to read it? Jump on my new releases newsletter if you wanna be notified when it comes out in ebook and paperback!

Coming Soon

The Pixelvania Proclamation of Progress, February 2021 Edition

Posted on22/02/202119/02/2021

The Pixelvania Proclamation o’ Progress is a semiannual post detailing what’s going on around here, and what might show up in the future. It also includes reviews of shows, books, games, products, etc. you may also like. It’s only posted twice a year so as not to clog up your valuable, beautiful brain space.

Cute kitty photo at the end.

Recap/Cover Makeover

Here’s what’s been published since the last post:

Nothing! Whoa! But I do have one thing to show off: thanks to artist Christian Bunyan, THE BUREAUCRAT’s got a new cover that ups the creep factor by ten! Here’s the before and after, in case you missed it: