New this week
The latest additions to The Library's collection
If you have a complete or in-progress work you’d like added to The Library or an indie-published book to include in the Buy Indie section, follow this guide, and we’ll help spread the word.
And thanks again to everyone for helping us support indie authors!
In the stacks
Nonfiction
Synchronosophy: a Rough Guide to the Feral Side of Life | Veronika Bond | Nonfiction (B) (I) (F)
Synchronosophy is a creative path to self-knowledge and healing from unidentified trauma. In terms of a creative writing project, this was an ‘unplanned baby’. It was born as an innovative map for individual human Consciousness, which I called ‘the Noctarine’. In 1999, during my daily writing practice, I received this map of the inner world by inspiration in the form of a mental download. It arrived in response to the questions: “What are good reasons for negative experiences?” and “How can we heal suffering through understanding?” The Noctarine shows human Consciousness as a living organism with 8 vital organs (aka Faculties). Each Faculty governs their own territory, produces inner populations, has distinct functions, speaks their own ‘Inner Language’ and communicates with all other Faculties, as well as with us ~ the hosts of human Consciousness. Chapters published on substack offer a guided tour through the life and experiences of the author leading to the discovery of the Noctarine, followed by the unfolding of the discipline of Synchronosophy, and feeding into the practice of Kairotrophy (the practice of nurturing the Faculties at opportune moments).
Poetry Collection
Penny Wagers: The Crafty Huntsman | James Hart | Poetry Collection; Serialized long-form poem (P) (I) (F)
A young boy moves to the city to seek his fortune, but a chance encounter changes his trajectory. This is a verse adaptation of the original publication of the Grimm brothers' "The Skillful Huntsman."
Speculative
Science Fiction
Magnitude | Victor Jimenez | Science Fiction; Near-future First Contact Thriller (N) (I) (F)
On the shortest night of the year, 137 stars appear in the outline of eyes staring down from the heavens. All the astronomers race to study them except David who accidentally records something that sets off a chase by a mysterious, all powerful entity determined to stop him from getting the data out. Follow David and crew as they race to an apocalyptic conclusion.
Superhero
Hydropower | Rhiannon D'Averc | Superhero (N) (I) (F)→($)
First 3 chapters free, following chapters published free then behind paywall after 60 days
Hydropower follows a group of people from all walks of life, united only by the fact that they were all given powers during a freak storm. Expect snark, drama, a diverse cast, and a twist to the superhero genre that you won't expect. For fans of Buffy, Misfits, Umbrella Academy, The Boys, Extraordinary.
Thriller & Mystery
Dreadful Penny | Jamie Dibs | Thriller (N) (I) (F)
Who is Penny Lee? Half Chinese and half German, raised in the US, she has six passports of different names and nationalities, because she’s an industrial spy and professional honey trap. While on assignment in Dubai, seducing a Kazakh oil tycoon, the tables are turned: now she is the one being targeted—for death, by a Russian mobster named Viktor who bears an old grudge. She’s now on the run, with a mission to protect her long-lost sister, the last link to the life she had before she became Penny Lee. Viktor has discovered her deepest secrets and knows how to inflict the worst revenge against her. But when Viktor crosses a line, Penny can run no longer.
Are you publishing a book, comic, or story/poetry collection on Substack that you’d like to add to The Library? Send it our way!
Buy Indie
Speculative
Beyond the Water's Edge | Janine Eaby | Speculative; Fantasy (N)
Upcoming giveaway on The Storygrid between Feb 19-March 18
What you don’t know can’t hurt you—at least that’s what people say. Those people have never harbored a secret others would kill for. Alaira Hughes is preparing to graduate high school, but her once-clear future is changing. After she makes a magical discovery in the woods that seems too good to be true, she’s reluctant to tell her friends. Plagued by realistic nightmares and a cascade of seemingly impossible events, doubts begin to seep in. When she meets an intriguing traveler who holds the answers to her mounting questions, a new world opens before her. If she walks away, she may never get the answers she seeks, but this land of light holds sinister secrets lost to time. In this world where knowledge is power, she must fight to learn the truth. And the truth can be deadly.
The Water Between Us | Janine Eaby | Speculative; Fantasy (N)
Alaira Hughes is a stranger in a strange land, lost in the sense of timelessness that plagues this world. She has left friends and family behind to keep them safe—so why can’t she shake the nagging feeling that something new has gone terribly wrong? Haunted by shifting memories, Alaira struggles to focus on the monumental task of finding the Stone of Esiron and restoring Ruynia. She’s learned the painful truth that not everything—or everyone—is as it seems. Betrayal and lies have carved a sweeping chasm, and she must bridge the divide between her two worlds or risk losing those closest to her. Kyla Brooks is struggling with the disappearance of her closest friend and reeling in the aftermath of a long-guarded secret her mother has entrusted her with. When her carefully tucked-away past emerges one fateful night, she finds herself face-to-face with a consuming darkness—one that threatens the existence of both worlds. She is playing a dangerous game with the most feared man Ruynia has ever known, where one wrong move could upend the balance of power. There’s always a choice, but making the right one might cost Kyla her very life.
Can readers buy your indie book from your author's website or favorite online bookseller? Provide us a link and some details about your book, and we’ll help get the word out!
Advance Review Copy (ARC)
Calling all book reviewers, bloggers, and literary enthusiasts!
Anticipating the release of an upcoming indie book? Have an Advance Review Copy (ARC) ready to share with readers and reviewers? Connect with passionate book lovers and create buzz before the big release! Learn More
From the Stacks
Featuring a different, randomly-selected book every week.
Graphic Novel & Comic Book
Gherkin Boy and the Dollar of Destiny | Russell Nohelty | Science Fiction, Comedy | (GN) (C) ($)
An absurdist comedy graphic novel about a pickle that falls into a black hole and has to travel across the universe to get back home.
Yay for The Library!
https://russellcsmith.substack.com/