Wishing Shelf Finalist!

I am pleased to announce that Five Fathoms Beneath was chosen as a 2018 finalist in “Adult Fiction” for the Wishing Shelf Book Award! A lot of book awards feel like they exist to take the author’s money. Not all of them by any means, but it’s very hard to separate out the legit. I did a lot…

Author Interview

I had the delightful opportunity to participate in another author interview, this time with Esther Rabbit, who blogs at her website, From Words to Spellbinding Novels. In the coming week or two, I’ll have an interview with Esther here talking about her upcoming novel, Lost in Amber, so please check back soon.

Brutus

One neat thing about being a novelist is even if you’re writing in the “real world” (versus creating an entire world as fantasy and sci-fi writers do), you get to play “God” and modify your characters to your heart’s content. And you even get to give them things — like pets. I gave Alec a…

Five Star Review – Readers' Favorite

Five Fathoms Beneath earned a five-star rating from Readers’ Favorite, an indie book publishing site.  Excerpt from the review: J.R. Alcyone writes with fluid prose and serious heart in recounting this tale of medical drama, family obligations and dealing with the darker side of life and death. … Five Fathoms Beneath gives just a dash of supernatural…

Utopian Fiction

Gizmodo posted an excellent article on Why We Need Utopian Fiction. I wouldn’t call “Five Fathoms Beneath” utopian fiction, but it does have a very positive and un-cynical ending, and for that reason this line in the article about utopian fiction really resonated with me: As children, we are told to dream for better futures;…

Author Interview

My cover designer, Tim Barber, was kind enough to interview me about my novel, Five Fathoms Beneath. You can read the interview on Tim’s website by clicking here. If you’re looking for a cover designer, Tim does exceptional work and I recommend him without reservations.