This whimsical short novel is a story about choices, about what happens (for better or worse) when people step off the beaten path. Joshua Mansfield and Sheri Zod journey through a fantastic, allegorical American Southwest accompanied—or led—by totem animals or spirit guides. At first they both seem to be finally escaping the life of an older “career” student, but the apparently chance finding of a discarded letter initiates a quest to find out what happened to a pair of lovers, Joan and Karl, thirty years earlier—a story which increasingly resonates with Joshua and Sheri.

Along the way they meet ghosts, sad machines, baffling art, mirages, mysterious figures in a literally petrified forest, a hostel for lost souls, and a cafe for lost dreams as they search for what happened to Joan who ventured off the beaten path a generation earlier. Instead of a travel journal, Joshua writes stories in his notebook, creating interrelated allegories which are as real as the strange world they travel through. It is a journey both inward and outward as Joshua and Sheri are both in their own way “lost souls” navigating the shifting sands between odd cities in a world which is magical, futuristic, and anachronistic, but recognizable because there is an underlying truth to it. In flashbacks we see that being adrift is for both of them uniquely tied to their drive. What—if anything—can finally anchor them?

As mysterious encounters and the discovery of clues, artifacts and magical objects increase it begins to look like the universe is trying to tell them something…or perhaps Joan is…

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Our special promotion of Ainy Rainwater’s other novels in conjunction with Smashwords has ended.

A list of Idiolith books available from Smashwords is available here. Prices are listed as full price. This is a Smashwords exclusive coupon promotion. The coupon code for qualifying ebooks is listed on the page for each book and the discount will be applied when you apply the coupon to items in your cart.

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As you may know Border’s bookstores has filed for bankruptcy. It was not unexpected and the future of the store—if it has a future at all—is uncertain. Our ebook distributors are among those who have not been shipping ebooks to the Borders online store. While it is never a good thing to lose a market, it was far from certain that authors would ever see a penny of money from sales since publishers and distributors have had trouble collecting the millions of dollars they are owed. If at some point the situation becomes more stable—and our distributors once again ship to Borders, we will post a notice here.

Additionally, problems have surfaced with the Kobo store (which supplies ebooks to Borders). It has failed to “shelve” The Malice Plant by Ainy Rainwater since its publication last fall. No explanation has been given, but I can assure you that it is not due to offensive content. Kobo has fallen far behind in “shelving” ebooks and cannot keep up with “shelving” ebooks publishers and distributors send to its store. We’ve been told to expect even more delays and sporadic “shelving” from Kobo in the near future. What this means is that Kobo will be among the last online stores to stock a title after it’s released. Kobo expects this lag to be temporary, but we do not yet know when distribution will again be reliably fast. Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Smashwords and Apple are the fastest to “shelve” ebooks they receive. You can expect new releases to show up there within a day of the announced release date.

The Malice Plant

After Ivy Willowby dies in her garden with a Malice Plant in her hand, Rosemary Wilde is stunned to find she’s the beneficiary of Ivy’s will—if she outlives the survivorship clause. With potential heirs buzzing around like angry bees, burglaries, and unexpected liaisons, the Cedar Lake Garden club isn’t lacking either dirt or manure. But who—or what—killed Ivy? When Rosemary decides to test the “curse” of the Malice Plant, she finds there’s more than enough malice to go around.

The horror novel will go well with Gymshoes’ Halloween Soundscape album available from iTunes, Rhapsody, Amazon mp3, Napster and MySpace Music. The CD is available from Gymshoes’  CafePress shop.

Miasma

Lisa Lightner fled social work for the relative quiet of a bookstore. A safe haven from violence. But the publication of a horror novel which unleashes an Evil on the world threatens not only her peace of mind, but society itself. When her glamorous sister announces that she’s been hired to write the screenplay, and her best friend joins the Christian Resistance to destroy Miasma, Lisa is caught between fanatical extremes, trying to survive an apocalypse with her humanity intact.

The books should be available in at least two online store on those dates, though we cannot guarantee immediate availability everywhere at that time. Our distribution partners have varying times for processing, distribution and “shelving” which range from two hours to two months. In an effort to compensate for the lag we will try to get the books into the distribution pipeline as soon as possible. This means that some books will be available prior to the announced date, and some after the announced date. We hope as online stores become better adapted to ebook distribution that we’ll be able to have firm dates with simultaneous releases in all stores, but that is not an option at this time.

Look for additional details on these upcoming releases in the near future.

The availability of In The Hands Of Time on Amazon.com has brought our free pre-release offering to an end. We were very gratified by the  interest generated in our first ebook offering. There’s more to come!

When Jason Chenault lands at the remote spaceport of Zan, his only concern is finding a replacement crewman for his two-person ship and getting his next mapping assignment. But his quiet, lonely life is about to change. A religious fanatic from Earth has been killed. If that news were not disquieting enough, Jason’s new crew, Sien, is a visionary who spends too much time in disturbing visions. They’re ill-suited companions on a very small ship—and the ship becomes even smaller when they pick up the McGraths, a family from Earth. Do Sien’s violent visions hold the key to what’s happening on Zan? Or are they connected to the overbearing McGraths and their enigmatic daughter, Claire? How much power do they all have to change the universe around them—or the landscape of their own lives?  What Jason and Sien discover on the anything-but-routine mapping assignment, they—and their uneasy allies on Zan—must piece together before time runs out.

IN THE HANDS OF TIME is the story of a clash between cultures and human values, between age and youth, between business and humanity. In the end, what is each person’s responsibility to another?

When Jason Chenault lands at the remote spaceport of Zan, his only concern is finding a replacement crewman for his two-person ship and getting his next mapping assignment. But his quiet, lonely life is about to change. A religious fanatic from Earth has been killed. If that news were not disquieting enough, Jason’s new crew, Sien, is a visionary who spends too much time in disturbing visions. They’re ill-suited companions on a very small ship—and the ship becomes even smaller when they pick up the McGraths, a family from Earth. Do Sien’s violent visions hold the key to what’s happening on Zan? Or are they connected to the overbearing McGraths and their enigmatic daughter, Claire? How much power do they all have to change the universe around them—or the landscape of their own lives?  What Jason and Sien discover on the anything-but-routine mapping assignment, they—and their uneasy allies on Zan—must piece together before time runs out.

IN THE HANDS OF TIME is the story of a clash between cultures and human values, between age and youth, between business and humanity. In the end, what is each person’s responsibility to another?

A new Gymshoes EP, Sand In My Shoes, will also be released within the next month or so.

With the entry into ebook publishing with musician/authors, Idiolith hopes to eventually forge connections between the music and books as technology and material permit.

DAVE RECOMMENDS THIS FOR HALLOWEEN…And so would the rest of the [band] if they had a clue to what I’m writing about:

If you LOVE Halloween and need some REAL mood music, if your brain is about to squish through your eyes from hearing the CLASSIC “Monster Mash,” just one more time, if you want something that’s going to scare the hell out of you AND anyone who arrives unsolicited at your front door, then look no further!

Our one and only Gymshoes, curator of [our] always-up-to-date and wildly detailed [Run Devil Run] fansite has created some of THE Best Halloween music my aficionado ears have ever heard. I’ve browsed endlessly through dozens of internet radio stations only to be disappointed by kitschy, crappy versions of songs I didn’t want to hear in the first place. If you want the TRULY EERIE (and you should), then Gymshoes’…site is where you want to go NOW for that perfect Halloween atmosphere-setting music you need. Throwing a party this weekend? Hope to scare the bratty neighbor kids next Wednesday? Just want some COOL All Hallow’s Eve ear candy that you’re not likely to find anywhere else? The demonic aural musings from the nether regions of Gymshoes twisted mind is what you’ve been hoping for.

Check out “Halloween Soundscape” here…and if you dig what you’re hearing, download the whole thing for just a few measly bones.
Head over there now before I send the Grim Reaper after ya’; you’ll be damn glad ya’ did.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Dave

Halloween Soundcape can be downloaded (either individual tracks or the whole album) from the store interface here or purchase the CD from Gymshoes shop.

1. Graveyard Ghosts
2. The Witching Time
3. A Disquieting Darkness
4. Journey To Castle Dracula
5. Loup-Garou
6. The Monster Lives
7. The Martian Invasion

You can download either the individual tracks or the whole album from the store interface here or purchase the CD. Tracks on the CD are mixed so that the tracks flow seamlessly into one another (with the exception of the final track, “The Martian Invasion” which is separated from the others by a few seconds). Most of the album can be previewed during the month of October on Gymshoes myspace page.