Indies Supporting Indies Featuring:

Malaprop’s Bookstore and Cafe

(one of the coolest places ever)

Malaprop’s first opened it’s doors in Asheville, North Carolina in 1982. This indie bookseller has been a downtown staple for nearly 38 years! I remember visiting Malaprop’s as a child when my mom or grandmother would do a ‘big trip into town.’ I would lose track of time sitting on the floor in the kids section flipping through books and escaping to different worlds.

As an adult I would frequent this bookseller whenever I wanted a unique book, card, or gift–but I especially loved Malaprop’s at the holidays.

When I worked at the salon full time, on my last day of work for the holiday season–which was usually December 24th–I would park downtown on my way home from work and go to Malaprop’s for all of my family’s gifts and also get them wrapped! For a busy professional like me it was amazingly convenient and I loved that I was shopping local.

Enter 2020: The Destroyer of Worlds

Like so many businesses in Asheville and across the United States, Malaprop’s has had to pivot and find new ways of doing business this year. This includes focusing more on online sales and shipping books to customers instead of an in-store, person-facing shopping experience.

20% of independent bookstores across America are in danger of closing

Malaprop’s has implemented new and innovative ways for shoppers to safely visit their store–including scheduled browsing appointment, where a shopper has the store practically to themselves to browse, purchase, and even partake in Malaprop’s complementary gift wrapping! Schedule your browsing appointment for the holiday ASAP.

There is also curbside pick-up and online ordering, as well as pre-ordering. Gift wrap is available for all purchases made online as well!

I did a virtual interview with Malaprop’s current owner Gretchen, to see how Asheville’s oldest indiebookseller is doing and how the community can support indie this holiday season and beyond.

Thanks for agreeing to this interview, I know this is a particularly busy time for booksellers! How have you and the Malaprop’s team been dealing with 2020?

Since late March, we’ve been down 70% in sales (!!!) but are surviving because of the strong support our community has shown us. Each online transactions takes three times as long as an in-person transaction, so while sales have been down, we are keeping busy. With reduced customer interaction, and reduced staff (many felt uncomfortable with public interaction- for good reason) we’ve become a tighter-knit family. We take turns buying coffee for each other, bring in home baked goodies, and sometimes do a simple breakfast run-biscuits! We all have a sense of humor-which is a survival necessity-and share the latest pet pictures with each other.

I know that you can pre-order, ship, and do curbside pick-up at Malaprop’s, and there is also free gift wrap available for books purchased at Malaprops.com, and I know that Covid has changed how Malaprop’s does business. If a shopper would like to browse the store and get their purchase gift wrapped is that available?

We are still doing free gift wrapping! Customers have a few wrapping options online-such as winter holiday, birthday, child’s birthday and our signature brown kraft paper.

If someone is in store browsing, we will definitely wrap their books for them! It might take us a minute longer, as we only have a few people working up front, but we definitely still offer the service. We still offer our bookmarks as well!

To keep everyone as safe as possible, we have a limited capacity for browsers-which in turn lends to a very special shopping experience- no jostling people out of the way! We are also not accepting cash at this time, but will still take checks if you are credit card wary.

And what if someone wants to support Malaprop’s but doesn’t have a gift or book in mind? Is there a way to donate or do a gift card?

If someone wants to support us without buying a specific thing, they can always buy a gift card for later use (they never expire) or they can make a donation-online or via snail mail. 

We’ve received quite a few donations over the last 8 months, which helps with all of the shipping supplies we are now using! 

The fact that we are still hanging on is amazing and due to the wonderful customers that have shopped with us over the last 38 years. Shout out to all of you all!

And that’s a wrap! Check out Malaprops.com if you are still shopping for gifts (Books Make Great Gifts!) and yes The Anchor of Time IS available on Malaprops.com for purchase — support two indies in one this holiday!

Indies Supporting Indies Featuring

K.M. Fahy

Indie Author, Professional Musician, Lover of All Things Creative

When K.M. Fahy isn’t working on her doctorate in Clarinet Performance, teaching in a private woodwind studio, performing the clarinet professionally, or painting via acrylic on canvas for an upcoming art show–she is writing.

Fahy grew up in Southern Illinois but now lives in CO and loves hiking, and backpacking in the Rocky Mountains with her Border Collie/Labrador Xena. Her hikes in the mountains inspire her stories, as well as her childhood riding horses and shooting her bow in the woods of Southern Illinois.

Due to the pandemic, the woodwind studio and professional performances are on hold, but Fahy has used that time and opportunity to delve into her more ‘socially distanced’ creative endeavors–including the publication of her first book The Lightning’s Claim.

Fahy caught my eye on Instagram as a fellow writer of sci-fi/fantasy with an upcoming release, but after completing this virtual interview I know that we have art and painting in common too! I have noticed a trend with all the creatives that I interview for Indies Supporting Indies–that most creatives have many different fields and mediums of expression. Fahy is no exception, read below to find out more about this excellent human.

The Lightning’s Claim is now available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle format. Happy Release! I’ve read that The Lightning’s Claim is a stand alone book, as is your second book Dragon Hacker. Can you give me a little insight into your approach on world building these two separate stand alone novels?

Fahy: Thank you! It was a super exciting release, for sure! The world-building for these two books has been MASSIVELY different! The Lightning’s Claim started with the concept of a dangerous world—I knew I wanted some kind of “naturally” occurring disaster around which to base the plot. When I finally landed on lightning, BAM. The plot, the characters, the Gadgets, the gods… everything was born. 

 The Dragon Hacker has been a very different experience for me. It’s a post-apocalyptic science fantasy based in this world set about fifty years after a nuclear World War III, so the world-building took on a whole new set of rules. I had full maps of the United States pulled up, looking for the perfect location to serve the plot, and did all kinds of research on the different mountain ranges and such. I ended up finding the perfect setting right in my home region of southern Illinois, so I’m thrilled to write that! Once I had location and history of the war laid out, the plot and the factions all sprang to life. I’m really excited for this novel!

What is your writing practice like? Are you a planner, planster, or pantser?

Fahy: I have to call myself a plantser, honestly. I love to plan and plot, and I do need a certain amount of that in the early stages of a book, but I am growing more and more fond of flying by the seat of my pants. I fell in love with discovery writing in The Lightning’s Claim, which was significantly less plotted than Dragon Hacker to start. I had to rewrite 75% of the book, of course, but I can’t bring myself to regret that first telling of the story to myself. It made LC what it is today, even though an insane amount of plot changed in the rewrite. I’m just not sure it would have matured the same way without that 100% pantsed first version. DH has a more solid foundation starting out, but I’ve left plenty of room for growth, rest assured!

I’ve seen mentions on your IG of a series in the works. Care to tease us with any details?

Fahy: I do have an epic fantasy trilogy in the works—my passion project, actually. It’s called the Dragon Rings Trilogy, and has been a part of my life since I was thirteen years old. It started as a short story about dragons in a pink notebook, and grew up with me through so many different stages. Book One has been written and rewritten several times, and will need another major overhaul before it ever sees the light of day, but I am so excited to share this trilogy with the world. Its split POV mostly follows Talyn, a young, disabled dragon; and Rhavaniel, a warrior elf from the secluded southern region. It explores a full world of fantasy lands and creatures, and is full of darkness, humor, adventure, revenge, and romance

To purchase Fahy’s debut novel visit Amazon Here

If you’d like to WIN A SIGNED PAPERBACK of Lightening’s Claim AND The Anchor of Time, sign up for Bella’s Cosmic Newsletter and follow me on Instagram for a chance this Monday December 7th for an opportunity to WIN BOTH paperbacks in a Holiday IndieBook Giveaway featuring two debut indie novels! What a present!

To check out more about K.M. Fahy her author website is: https://www.kmfahyauthor.com

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kmfahyauthor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/k.m.fahy_author/

The Anchor Of Time Is Now Available

Tina Capricorn

Indie Author, Arist, Raconteuse.

December 1st, 2020

Publishing day.

It’s finally here!

The Anchor of Time paperback is available for purchase on Amazon, IndieBound, Barnes & Noble

Ebook is also available

“Mark her return by the wolf, and the warrior-“

Friends, I have had a life long love of stories and books. I remember in fourth grade reading to other classes a small chapter book I had created, written carefully on wide ruled notebook paper in my Lisa Frank Trapper-Keeper…

I reflect on where I started–after all, this is the moment most writers think of when they are sitting alone in front of their keyboard or notebooks. The day when someone else will get to read this story, see this world. To get to the point of publishing, not just finishing a novel, means you must care quite a lot about the story, the characters–and have quite a thick skin in regards to critique and critical evaluation of the story you care so much about.

“And a mortal’s reoccuring dream.”

I began this novel is 2014 when I was still living with my roommates from college, that’s where we started. Where we are, well–I am living with my husband of several years and my two step-sons (we are MALT house).

This book is a journey of my growth as a writer. I wrote 30 pages the first time I sat down, just trying to get the one character through the mirror and out of the salon into the adventure I knew waited for her but for what reasons I couldn’t say.

This book was by the seat of my pants the first several drafts, and then I took classes, and read books on craft, and self-edited it and actually submitted it, and then put my manuscript down for six months to buy a house and get married. I was rejected, but given fantastic notes. I still left it alone for almost a year. When I came back to it after the most amazing, and exhausting year of my life I reread the manuscript and decided I HATED the ending. The last 2/3rds honestly and so– I did a massive rewrite. And then sent that to an editor I hired. And got… good news. My book was good. Readable. Loveable. Binge-able…?

And while 2020 and Covid delayed the release (along with totally changing my reality, career, life routine, income) this novel feels more like a miracle than the product of hours of hard work. I feel like Renata would point out that it can be both.

“Ever Binding, and ever Bound…“

I learned how to write a novel on The Anchor of Time. This book was written on lunch breaks, edited while a client’s color and highlights were processing. I would break out my computer in the back room, any spare moment I had. I brought my laptop to work every day until March 2020 of course, intending to spend time on my book if I ever had a moment to spare.

This book was also written in the early mornings–before work, and on late nights, after dinner, while my family watched TV, I would sit numbly at my laptop. (Otherwise I think I could pass as a fun step-mom…) I wrote this book on weekends, on holidays, on good days and bad.

The intricate world of Aeor-Eterna, the Cerulean Dimension, Peaches and Aldric, what Renata is and what Vincent means to her, have all evolved over the years from constantly, insanely, persistently believing in this story. Persistence and not taking things personally are the two most important things a writer needs to get a novel complete. 93% of writers never finish their first novel. It’s hard to do, but deeply satisfying in a way I cannot explain, only feel.

“They will Anchor Time at the turn of the tide, on the shores of the Obsidian Sea.”

I invite you to visit Aeor-Eterna, the Cerulean Dimension–to travel via book (which Sagan aptly said “Break the shackles of time–“) and visit for a few hours, and see a different world. 

Thank you so much to my ARC Team and Launch Team, my husband, my mom, my Warren Wilson family and friends, all my shop-wives from my cosmetology days, Bella the adventure chihuahua for all your support, cheer leading, interest and love. The Anchor of Time wouldn’t be here without you. Xoxo

The stars depicted in the blog banner was taken by JP Astrophotography It is NGC6960, taken over 8 hours 51 minutes on 10/1-10/3, 540mm, full moon.

Night Shift With An Astrophotographer

Astrophotography in Green Mountain, NC

On any given week, Jeff is photographing as much as possible of the night sky–depending on the weather and the moon of course.

I did a virtual interview, to find out more about these amazing cosmic images Jeff and Katie capture from their porch in Green Mountain, NC.

Is it a pretty smooth process to capture these images? The telescope looks impressive–

Jeff: No. Timing is everything when it comes to astrophotography. Atmospheric conditions, moon cycles, and curious wildlife need to all be in sync in order to have a successful photoshoot. When they are, the results are stunning. 

Katie Anne: Smooth is not exactly how I’d describe it. Jeff makes it as smooth as possible, but as always with multi-layered technology, there are some hiccups. In early September we did a series of Instagram posts (@jpastrophoto) where we talked in depth about the process and all of the conditions that need to be just right in order to have a successful shoot. Check it out.

Love that was written in the stars

“I have fond memories of stargazing growing up in rural Maryland. When I was a baby, my dad would take me out every night to look at the moon, and according to him, ‘moon’ was actually my first word.”

Katie Anne of JP Astrophotography

Jeff has been photographing the night sky for two years, starting out with a patch of sky about the size of a postage stamp in a light polluted neighborhood of West Asheville before moving his telescope (and home) permanently to a remote hollow in dark sky-certified Yancey County.

Katie Anne and Jeff both had an affection for looking up at the night sky, before they even met.

“The skies out here are just about as dark as I’ve ever seen in my lifetime. Not every astrophotographer gets this kind of nighttime view from their own yard. And the community here is supportive of dark skies. The Bare Dark Sky Observatory (and soon-to-come Arthur Planetarium) is close by and does a lot of community education and outreach to introduce people to the stars and inspire them to minimize light pollution. It’s a great place to practice this hobby.”

Jeff of JP Astrophotography

Pleiades Cluster or the Forgotten Queen’s constellation

The Pleiades cluster–also known as the “Seven Sisters” or Messier45–is visible from pretty much every part of the globe. Described as “a tiny misty dipper of stars”, this open star cluster is considered to be ‘middle-aged’– but not to worry, they are still HOT (sorry, I couldn’t help myself). With an estimated age of around 100 million years, these are B-type stars (spectral type B, also they are blue which also indicates heat) and can be found in the north-west constellation of Taurus. 

“This is the Forgotten Queen’s constellation, and the stars are the Seven Maidens of Time,” Vincent began. “The legend goes that there is an eighth star, or eighth maiden—the Dark star. She is the Queen of the Dark, the Aeor, the Origin from which all they all emerged.”

 —  The Anchor of Time

To locate the Pleiades cluster (you can do this without the aide of a telescope!) simply find Orion’s belt–which is three big stars all in a row. Next to Orion is a the V-shaped pattern of stars with a bright star in its middle. The V-shaped pattern is the Face of Taurus the Bull. The bright star in the V – called Aldebaran – depicts the Bull’s Eye. A bit past Aldebaran, you’ll see the Pleiades cluster, which marks the Bull’s Shoulder and looks kind of like an upside-down question mark.

The legend of the Pleiades cluster is based on the Greek myth of the seven divine daughters of Pleine. This star cluster inspired the cover of The Anchor of Time, from hours spent gazing at photos from the Hubble Legacy Archive, in conjunction with Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI).

The poet Lord Tennyson mentions the Pleiades in his poem Locksley Hall

Many a night I saw the Pleiads, rising through the mellow shade,
Glitter like a swarm of fire-flies tangled in a silver braid.

How to purchase a JP Astro Print

Check out the JP Astro website (jpastrophoto.com), and you too can have an interstellar image on your wall. These images make a great one of a kind gifts for the holidays and you will be supporting a local business owner–as well as showing your interest and love for the cosmos! Triple win! 

Interested in on-site astrophotography and live in WNC or a surrounding area in the southeast? JP Astro is now offering custom deep sky astro images or Milky Way images shot from your own back yard or meaningful location of your choice. 

Contact JP Astro for more info on any on-site astrophotography, and visit their website to purchase your very own image of the cosmos!

Sign up for Bella’s Cosmic Newsletter for monthly features on cool astronomy topics, along with a featured photo from JP Astro Photography!

Pre-order your Ebook of The Anchor of Time!

That’s right, pre-order is here and your chance to get your downloadable ebook of The Anchor of Time is only a click away.

Pre-Order EBook Here

As far as the printed copy and getting a signed copy–stay tuned! There will be links added to my web page and emailed directly to your inbox if you’re a Cosmic Newsletter Subscriber.

Want to buy it from an independent bookseller (please, please, please do!) stay tuned, I am trying to make that happen too! 

Also, later this week details on my virtual Launch Party, as well as ways to score a FREE signed paperback copy of The Anchor of Time! Sign up for Bella’s Cosmic Newsletter to stay in the time loop on all Tina Capricorn publishing announcements.

Indies Supporting Indies Featuring

Santana Saunders

Indie Author. Super Mom. DIY Enthusiast.

One thing I love about engaging with other writers online is the tremendous indie community, and #writingcommunity that supports each other and their work–it really is one of the magical things about the internet! 

Santana Saunders is just such a writer, and I have gotten to know her through Instagram and doing some writing #FollowLoops as well as we are both participating in #NaNoWriMo2020 and using it as a vehicle to get a draft for our sequel books going!

I did a virtual interview with Santana to get more info on her debut novel The Pearl in the Darkness which launches November 10th!

Tell me a little about your book? I’ve seen that it’s a dystopian fantasy. Is it YA or NA?

Due to some graphic detail, this one is for an adult audience. 

Leora Smith, a witty, thirty-year-old medical transcriptionist, lives a quiet life due to a debilitating disorder and unwavering faith that must be kept hidden.  Her world is turned upside down when a celestial being informs her of the forthcoming apocalypse and assigns her to recruit experts imperative to the subsistence of the society that will remain when the dust settles.

Each recruit has a story that can only be seen behind closed doors.  Leora’s childhood friend and numerous enlightened allies band together in an effort to persuade the best and brightest.  

As nature bends in accordance to the plan, Leora’s preconceived notions of everything good and evil are about to be tested.

What’s your writing process like? How long did it take you to finish The Pearl in the Darkness?

I am an early morning writer.  I like to get up at 5:30am and write for a couple hours each day before my husband starts work and I go into mom mode. I like to put together a brief outline, but most of my prep work is done in character development before I start pounding the keys. It took me about 10 months to finish the first draft of The Pearl in the Darkness. 

Any news on Book 2?

Yes, I have 8 chapters of book 2 written and I plan to release in the Summer of 2021!

What are you up to when you’re not writing?

I am reading or spending time with my family and friends. In 2019, my family and I relocated to Florida from rural North Dakota. We like to go the beach a lot!

Check out Santana’s website and watch for her debut novel The Pearl in the Darkness launching on November 10th!

In the meantime vote for her cover in this Allauthor contest!

To see more blog posts featuring Indie writers and artists sign up for Bella’s Cosmic Newsletter!