Kelly Stone Gamble's Blog

Ragtown You may have seen some of your favorite authors talking about their books available “exclusively on Kindle Vella” recently. And like many readers, you may have gone no further than “never heard of it” before going back to the book you are reading. So I thought I’d break it down for you, because no one wants to miss a good story. Right?

A New Way to Read: No really, but new for Kindle. If you are familiar with Wattpad or Radish, you know the drill. If not, stories on Vella are serialized, ...

Tornadoes are never funny. In fact, they are just the opposite—horrible acts of God that cause destruction and change lives in ways most of us can’t even imagine. Not funny. I grew up in Kansas and saw my share of them but was never personally affected by one. However, I have several friends that have been, especially after the devastating Joplin tornado in 2011 and the Baxter Springs, Kansas tornado in 2014.

So why would I choose to have a tornado make a grand appearance in my new book, CALL...

Tornadoes are never funny. In fact, they are just the opposite—horrible acts of God that cause destruction and change lives in ways most of can’t even imagine. Not funny. I grew up in Kansas and saw my share of them but was never personally affected by one. However, I have several friends that have been, especially after the devastating Joplin tornado in 2011 and the Baxter Springs, Kansas tornado in 2014.

So why would I choose to have a tornado make a grand appearance in my new book, CALL ME...

            My first suicide attempt was in 2004.  Yes, I said “first.”  Others followed.  I’m pretty forthright about my struggles with mental illness.  I fight my demons as best I can, and if I can cause some good to come of it by showing others that they are not alone and that mental illness is not something to be ashamed of, then yay me.

            My novel The Trees Beneath Us tells the story of a man suffering from grief, depression, and suicidal thoughts.  He seeks solace in nature and...

From author Brenda Vicars:

Can you tell when it’s love and not just a passing crush?
Polarity, the main character in my novel Polarity in Motion, is only 16, and she’s in love with Ethan. He’s the character who helps her figure out how her nude picture showed up on the Internet—a photo that she has no memory of posing for.
Sometimes when teenagers say they’re in love, we think it’s just a crush or hormones.  But Polarity says, nope, it’s not a passing teen thing.  She’s in love. 
When I want to...

by Kelley Kaye

“Those who can, do; those who can't, teach.”- George Bernard Shaw
 
My response to this has always been a resounding GRRRRRR!

From Ciara Ballintyne, author of The Seven Circles of Hell

Meet Alloran – the fantasy equivalent of a mad scientist, whose stock in trade is magic, not science.
I conceived of Alloran after reading The Accidental Sorcerer by K.E. Mills. The main character in that book has a friend, Monk Markham, who is a brilliant wizard constantly dabbling in things he shouldn’t—and getting away with it.

And I thought—but what if he didn’t? What if his hubris had consequences?

Poor Alloran has been plagued with...

You know that one toy that every kid just has to have? The one that the sadistic toymakers only produce in limited supply? Yes, that one.  Of course, it’s different every year, and when my kids were little, I was just like the rest of the monsters, I mean, mothers, out trying to score that one thing, that one toy that would make them dance around the tree and scream “Thank you, Santa Claus!” Right.  The only fat man involved was the one I kidney punched because he tried to grab my Cabbage Pa...

By Stacey Roberts
 
My mother was in a state of high dudgeon.

“SSSSo,” she hissed. (I learned early in life that she was deadly serious when her sibilants extended). “You’re a TOKEN.”

“A what?”

“A token! You wrote a story for a Christmas whatchamacallit—anthology. What kind of word IS that? Sounds Yiddish. Anyway, nineteen Christmas stories from the goyim and one Hanukkah story from you. You’re a token!”

“Come on, Ma. That isn’t even remotely true.”

“Really, smarty pants? All these other authors in...

In 1872, Victoria Woodhull made history by becoming the first woman to run for president of the United States. But four years earlier she was still struggling to overcome her shameful past and establish herself in New York’s high society. She has finally secured an entre into that glittering world by way of an invitation to Christmas Eve dinner at the home of railroad and shipping magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt. But when her uncouth family crashes the party and threatens to send her social stat...