No, they’re not mine, but they are by people I know and adore.

Two of my friends have recently written books that are now available for preorder.  Because I love both them and their books I thought I would share them with you guys!

First is Mary Feliz‘ Address to Die For.  (The first link is her website, the second is where you can preorder her book from Barnes and Noble, my preferred book source.)

Mary was the very first Sisters in Crime and Guppies (Great Unpublished) member I ever met.  When I first went to the Writer’s Police Academy I was extremely shy and uncertain since I didn’t know anyone or, really, anything.  I spent the first ten minutes after checking in and dumping my stuff standing awkwardly in the lobby, wondering what I should do.  After I finally worked up the courage to go sit on the couch, the woman in the next chair over turned to me and said “Hi, I’m Mary.”  And thus I made my entry into writing society.  Mary is one of the nicest people I know, so I was extremely stoked when she announced that she got a book deal.

Address to Die For is the first in Mary’s cozy series about Maggie McDonald, a professional organizer in Silicon Valley.  It has organizational tips and adorable animals and really, what else could you want?  Oh, and a tidy murder, of course.

The second book comes from a guy I’ve known since middle school, Zack Budryk.  He’s been working on Judith for ages and ages, so I’ve read a few different drafts.  When he’s not writing excellent, well thought out books, he writes for the Mary Sue and something called Fierce Healthcare, which I do not pretend to know anything about.  He also write for our hometown’s newspaper even back in middle school, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, which was pretty cool.

Judith follows a few different people in the quest to solve a series of brutal murders, but I think the capital-p Protagonist is Katherine Kinneavy, the unapologetically fat and grumpy police detective.  Zack’s really invested in things like feminism, fat politics, and social progression in general, and all of that reflects in in writing.  Part of why I like Judith is because it’s as close to a non-problematic fav as I’ve been in a while.  You know how in most books, if you read with a critical eye, you’ll eventually come across a point where you realize author clearly has a racist or sexist view they’re not even aware they have and you have to put it aside so you can continue to enjoy your book?  Well, I have yet to find that in Zack’s writing, so Judith, aside from the violence and swearing, is pretty much guilt free.

Does anyone out there have a friend they’re obscenely proud of?  (I have a bunch, but today we’re keeping it strictly to publishing.)  Tell me about them so I can be proud too!

P.S.  My manuscript is at 60,478 words!