by Kris Neri Did you receive all the gifts you wanted for whichever December holiday you celebrate?  If not, I can’t promise you the new car you wished for. As for the trip around the world you secretly pined for — well, it wouldn’t be safe to take it now anyway.  But if it’s exciting new reading material you yearn for, I can offer you a fabulous  book — free.   It’s STUNNING SHORT STORIES OF FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION: SUPERB COLLECTION OF SPECULATIVE FICTION, from the Borderland Writers Co-op of Southwestern New Mexico.  The four founders of the Borderland Wri ..read more

by guest blogger, EJ Randolph posted by Kris Neri of the Femmes Fatales -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today the Femmes welcome guest blogger science fiction writer, EJ Randolph. Read on to learn how you can get a free copy of her latest book, Spiders & Spice. Take it away, EJ. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Writers are advised to write what they know. In my case, my educational background is in history with a heavy emphasis upon diplomatic and military affairs. What should I do with this? I could write ..read more

but who can spell the next word? So let's leave it there. I've been blogging with Femmes Fatales for . . . checks notes. No really I just had to go and look up the file details of a photograph I used in one of my three first blogs, to find out the date I started. People, it was 2012. I've been blogging with Femmes Fatales for eight years. This was the picture, of a bit of Neil and all of Dennis, in the kitchen of the people we were baby-sitting for. Since then, I've blogged on favourite Oscar frocks (still Gemma Chan from 2019 - it had pockets!), gardening triumphs and disasters: This is far ..read more

by Laura Jensen Walker, guest blogger at the Femmes Fatales. Catriona writes: This is a funny old business and most certainly an unfunny old year, but there are still shining moments. Such as - when a brand-new cozy author brings out the first book in her series and it's everything we need right now: funny, warm, twisted and absolutely rooted in a real life. Femmes and friends, I give you . . . Laura Jensen Walker. C: This is your debut cozy but far from your debut book. Tell us a bit about your publishing history. L: I’m a former journalist—reporter at The Sacramento Bee—so the first books I ..read more

by Kris Neri, with the Femmes Fatales We’re all inhabitants of Zoomland now. It’s the only way we can gather together. Don’t get me wrong — I’m grateful the technology exists. I’m extra grateful that for shorter gatherings, the service is free. But there are downsides, too. Let’s face it — you’re going to look awful. The first time I attended a Zoom meeting, my first, most pressing thought wasn’t the serious subject being discussed. It was my appearance. Is that really how I look? I wondered. Now, I know my mirror lies to me, but in both good ways and bad. It magnifies every flaw a thousand ti ..read more

even if I have to use an electron microscope. An eight-spotted skimmer that will be relevant later I've been trying not to grumble too much most days, during this year of up-ended plans and cancelled events. Not because "there's always someone worse off than" me - don't you hate people who tell you that, when you're being open and human instead of stoic and perfect? No, it's because I'm so extremely fortunate, it would be a challenge to to find anyone with less to grumble about. I'm well, safe, and solvent. I'm holed up with someone else to chat to. I've got tons of outside space and mult ..read more

Posted by Kris Neri, with the Femmes Fatales Today the Femmes welcome science fiction author, Kate Rauner. Kate stopped by to chat with us about her new book,Titan Martyrs . Kate, let's chat... Q:Hi Kate and welcome to the Femme Fatales A:Good to be with you. Q:I understand the first book of your trilogy created some excitement. A:Yes, I was thrilled when Titanwas selected as a finalist in the 2019 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards in the ebook category. The story continued in Titan Insurgentsand now concludes with Titan Martyrs. Q:A new release is always exciting, especially when you're windin ..read more

by Donna Andrews of the Femmes Fatales. Tomorrow is publication day for The Falcon Always Wings Twice. Which is, to my astonishment, book 27 in my Meg Langslow series.  I have to admit: it’s probably not as exciting as having your first book out . . . but I’m still far from blasé about my pub dates. In the weeks leading up to a book’s pub date, we all wait anxiously for the reviews--by we, I mean my editor and the other staff at Minotaur who work on the book, my agent and her team, and me.  Especially me. To our collective delight, the reviews we’ve seen so far were very nice. Publis ..read more

by Kris Neri, with the Femmes Fatales When it comes to gardening, I’m one of those people who loves the outcome, but not the process. Flowers, not dirty fingers. Sadly, it usually requires some of the latter if you want the former. Wherever I’ve lived, I’ve always maintained I had lousy dirt. Not that I had any expertise in the dirt arena, but I complained about it nonetheless. I believed it was either too sandy or clayish.  Now I know that whether my soil was either too dry or too moist, it was always good dirt. How do I know? Because it grew whatever I put into it. That’s how you know ..read more

When Obama was elected, it was historic. Whether you were a Republican or a Democrat, conservative or progressive, political or oblivious, the election of a black man to president of the US was a moment. On the 8th of November 2016, I thought we were just about to witness another one: the election of the first woman. I dropped my parents off at the airport after their visit - they nearly paid $400 to stay an extra day so we could all witness history being made together - and, in my white dress, home I came to enjoy what was in store. I stopped off at a busy coffeeshop, the kind where you give ..read more