This week is Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week, an entire week dedicated to appreciating self-published authors! This special week is taking place between July 21st to July 27th and was started by Jodie over at the Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub blog. You can find out more about SPAAW on Jodie’s blog, as well as ways to take part.
Naturally, at Read Indie Fantasy, we’re big fans of self-published authors and so we couldn’t help but get involved! Every day this week, Nils and Trudie will be making a spotlight post (like this one!) to highlight a classic self-published author’s book as well as a new author or book we think needs the spotlight across SFF genres and book types.
Want to take part? You can support self-published authors by leaving a book review or shouting about your favourite self-published books on social media. Don’t forget these hashtags: SPAAW #SelfPublishedAuthorsAppreciationWeek
Here are Tru’s picks for today’s themed spotlight on novellas:
A Classic Book Spotlight for… Shattered Spirits: The Fall of Ishcairn
Legends say a dead god is buried under the stone city of Ishcairn, protecting its inhabitants by dashing enemy fleets into the jagged coast of Craeburn. Adjunct professor Corrie Ecksley doesn’t believe any of that, but she knows from her work excavating nearby burial sites that the ancient Craeburn people believed it enough to name the city after their dead god, Ish.
When the ripples of a great war finally reach Craeburn’s shores, a terrifying new weapon is unleashed on the city that not even Ish can deter. A bomb that tears souls from bodies, driving anyone who witnessed the blast insane. But it is not the living that Corrie fears. Displaced spirits are hungry for a body, and care not if it already plays host to a soul.
No bullets can stop them, no walls are thick enough to keep them out.
No help is coming.
No one left but Corrie to stop the carnage, if she even can.
Shattered Spirits by Cal Black is a gaslamp horror novella and runner-up in the first SFINCS novella contest. If you like strong willed women and eldritch horrors, this is for you!
About the Author
Cal Black is a Canadian writer who enjoys telling stories about messy people who try to improve their situation, for better or worse. Cal has a short story published in the Advent of Winter anthology, was runner-up in the 2023 SFINCS novella competition, and is the author of the Legends & Legacies series, a gaslamp and western fantasy series full of adventure.
- Website: BearBerryStudio.com
- Facebook: Cal-Black-Author
- Instagram: thatcalamity
- Bluesky: thatcalamity.bsky.social
A New Book Spotlight for… Parasitic Omens
In the world of the occult, new is never good.
As one of Copperton’s hardworking investigators, Lawrence Reed has seen it all: vampires, werewolves, warlocks and witches.
When a monstrous creature crawls from the corpse of a mutilated girl, Law is determined to find answers—with or without payment.
Ignoring advice to leave the mystery alone, he sets out to uncover the details of the girl’s death. But the deeper he digs, the more questions he unearths.
Can Law bring peace to the dead girl’s family? Or will his investigation open the door to far darker discoveries?
Only one certainty remains: monsters aren’t the only evil stalking the streets of Copperton.
Parasitic Omens is a gaslamp fantasy horror, perfect for fans of TV’s Supernatural and From Software’s cult classic video game, Bloodborne.
Parasitic Omens by Jessica A. McMinn is a new gaslamp horror novella that released earlier this year by the author of The Ruptured Sky.
About the Author
Jessica A. McMinn is an author of queer speculative fiction based in regional NSW, Australia, with a passion for dark fantasy, dark coffee and cats (which, let’s face it, are all dark inside).
Since graduating from the University of Wollongong with Distinction in BCA (Creative Writing) and BA (Japanese), Jessica spent five years in Japan teaching English while refining her writing craft.
When she is not writing (which is more often than you’d think), Jessica can be found raising her two beautiful children or immersed in an audiobook while drawing, crafting or playing video games.
Her debut novel, The Ruptured Sky, is the first installment in the gritty dark fantasy quartet, Gardens of War & Wasteland, and is perfect for fans of Robin Hobb, Anna Stephens and R F Kuang.
- Website: JessicaAMcMinn.com
- Facebook: jessicaamcminn
- Instagram: jessicaamcminn
- TikTok: @jessicaamcminn
