The 2023 Bram Stoker Awards Winners have been announced and we are thrilled to share that DMLA authors Tananarive Due and Sadie Hartmann have been named winners!
Superior Achievement in Long Nonfiction
Hartmann, Sadie – 101 Horror Books to Read Before You’re Murdered (Page Street Publishing)
Superior Achievement in a Novel
Due, Tananarive – The Reformatory (Simon & Schuster/Saga Press/Titan)
Audio rights to Sharon Lee’s SEA WRACK AND CHANGEWIND, a collection of short fiction from her Archers Beach setting, to Kim Budnick at Tantor Media, by Michael Curry for Jennifer Jackson.
Audio rights to Jo Miles’s The Gifted of Brennex series, to Kim Budnick at Tantor, in an exclusive submission, in a three-book deal, by Katie Shea Boutillier for Anne Tibbets.
Audio rights to Jo Ann Ferguson’s A RATHER NECESSARY END, GRAVE INTENTIONS, and FAIRE GAME, the first three books in the Priscilla Flanders series, to Megan Frampton at Everand, by Michael Curry for Jennifer Jackson.
1999: The night of their senior picnic, Scarlett Russo and her best friend Pepper were involved in a car accident that left two of their classmates dead. Afterward, they lied to the police, protecting each other from the consequences. Then Pepper left town and Scarlett never heard from her again…
Now: Twenty-two years later, Scarlett has buried that deadly incident deep in her mind and built a comfortable life for herself, working in a hotel on the west coast of Florida and raising her teenage son with her husband Vince. Her peace is disrupted, however, when Pepper’s daughter shows up with news of Pepper’s death. Zoey is twenty-one and studying to be an investigative journalist. She has a cryptic letter from Pepper addressed to Scarlett that alludes to the events of that fateful night and Pepper’s initial intentions to get an abortion. Now Zoey wants answers about her mother’s past. Who is Zoey’s father? And what really happened after the senior picnic? As Zoey continues to dig into the past, all of Scarlett’s buried secrets threaten to rise to the surface.
Jaime Lynn Hendricks, “the queen of the page-turner” (Ashley Winstead), will have you questioning who you can trust in this intricately twisted thriller.
The 2024 Locus Awards finalists have been announced and we’re excited to see so many DMLA authors on this list!
Ada Palmer and Jo Walton’s TRACE ELEMENTS: Conversations on the Project of Science Fiction and Fantasy, from two of the most acclaimed writers in the field today, a groundbreaking look at understanding of how SF and fantasy work, to Brian Sweany at Recorded Books, by Katie Shea Boutillier, for Cameron McClure.
Emily Blackwood’s WINGS SO WICKED and BLOOD SO BRUTAL, Books 1 and 2 of Golden City duology, to Julie Constantine at Podium Audio, in an exclusive submission, by Katie Shea Boutillier (North American).
Jonathan French’s THE EXILED HEIR and THE ERRANTRY OF BANTAM FLYN, books one and two of the Autumn’s Fall series, to Kim Budnick at Tantor Media, at auction, by Katie Shea Boutillier, for Cameron McClure (world English).
WA Simpson’s TINDERBOX, to Kerri Buckley at Dreamscape Media, to Katie Shea Boutillier, on behalf of Anne Tibbets (world English).
AstroLit is a cosmic voyage through the lives and works of literary giants from the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries. Renowned literary history scholars McCormick Templeman and Rachel Feder bring the twelve signs of the zodiac to glimmering life by analyzing the astrological influence of over fifty illustrious writers’ sun signs on the shape and depth of their work.
Each of the twelve sections focuses on a particular zodiac sign, featuring profiles of three celebrated authors, analyzing their works and lives through the prism of their astrological sign. You’ll uncover connections between writers’ signs and their realms of creative influence, including the Capricornian ambition of Edgar Allan Poe and Zora Neale Hurston, the Sagittarian influence on William Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, and the Taurean gothiness evident in Mary Wollstonecraft’s work. Each chapter also includes writing advice and reading recommendations for readers, no matter your sign.
A delight for both astrology and book lovers, AstroLit is a gratifying exploration of classic literature and a playful way for readers and astrology lovers to learn something new about their favorite authors.
Victoria Tate has had enough of her controlling, incompetent husband Warren. But planning the perfect murder is more difficult than she expected. When the social event of the year, an over-the-top costume ball, is rescheduled for the date she has selected for her crime, Victoria has to scramble to make sure she will still be able to follow through. But even hours of listening to crime podcasts cannot prepare her for the next wrench that is thrown into her plans: Warren turns up dead by someone else’s hand.
Now Victoria finds herself at the center of a murder investigation in which she is actually innocent. The real killer taunts her, making it clear that they knew what she was planning all along. With the police closing in and her neighbors turning on her, Victoria stands to lose everything she had hoped to gain from Warren’s death, unless she can figure out who wanted her husband dead—and why. It turns out that Warren was better at keeping secrets than she ever could have guessed. But which secret is the one that led to his death? And even if she can find the answers, does Victoria have what it takes to confront a real murderer?
In this twisty thriller from the author of Chloe Cates Is Missing, danger comes from both the monsters among us and the monsters that lurk inside us.
Booklist: McHugh’s dark, disturbing, and twisty sophomore thriller (after Chloe Cates Is Missing, 2022) features rich and privileged characters that readers will love to hate. When Victoria Tate’s husband, Warren, steals her family’s company out from under her and begins to control her life, she decides she is done with him. This time, he has gone too far, and she will not be told what to do. Victoria plans the perfect murder, but someone knows her intentions and beats her to it. After Warren’s gruesome death, Victoria becomes the focus of an investigation into a crime of which she is innocent. Taunted by cryptic texts from someone named X, Victoria must figure out who set her up before she loses everything. As a true-crime aficionado, she relies on her vast knowledge and attempts to solve the mystery herself. McHugh’s biting sarcasm and witty humor take center stage in this fast-paced domestic-suspense story full of secrets, lies, and betrayals.
Author of TINDERBOX and TAROTMANCER, WA Simpson’s THE HATTER’S DAUGHTER, the third in the Riven Isles Series, which follows a magical woman as she teams up with the Prince of Hearts in Wonderland against the infamous Rot, to Don D’Auria at Flame Tree Press, by Anne Tibbets. (world English)
Sisters Lexie and Amber used to share everything, including their dream of getting out of their small town. Born only ten months apart, they once thought they couldn’t be closer.
They were wrong.
Fifteen years ago, Amber was brutally murdered in the woods, and Lexie’s high-school boyfriend was sentenced to death for her killing. Lexie is still stuck in the town she dreamed she’d leave, and everyone thinks she knew more about the night of the killing than she told.
Problem is, they’re right.
Now the execution is just days away, and the town has breathed a sigh of relief. But old secrets are finally being uncovered, and it’s clear not everyone wants the truth to be told.
And time is rapidly running out…