Sharon L. Clark, Author

Tag: holiday gifts

Giving Books is a Gift for the Reader AND the Writer

Picking gifts for the people in your life can be stressful and chaotic. Especially when you have a grab-bag or Secret Santa situation. How do you know what to choose?

Books. Gifting a book is almost always a winning choice.

I don’t know about you, but walking into a bookstore is both heaven and hell for me. I love all the possibilities, all the different genres and gorgeous covers promising to whisk me away to a magical land or into a whirlwind (imaginary) romance. But all the possibilities can be a bit overwhelming, too.

So. Many. Choices.

There are a ton of options out there and even looking through various best-seller lists or celebrity recommendations can be overwhelming. How on earth do you find something good by an author you’ve (likely) never heard of before? If you don’t want to freeze like a deer in the headlights – like I do almost every time – let me throw out some titles for you.

Following is a collection of books from different genres, written by people I personally know, who are self-published or published by small or indie presses that don’t have the marketing clout of one of the major publishing houses.

Take a look!

Stephanie R. Caffrey is one of my very favorite people and we have been on this publishing journey together for nigh on SIX YEARS (along with the next author on my list, Jamie Seitz.) Stephanie writes romantic suspense and does such a terrific job with witty banter and high-stakes danger that you’ll be on the edge of your seat, breathless with laughter, love, or fear. Her London Detective Agency duology was published earlier this year with outstanding reviews, and she’s working on an FBI-based series next, so be sure to follow her!

Jamie Seitz is another amazing, favorite human I’ve been writing with for years, and who has been through the writers’ wringer with Stephanie and me. She writes YA and Middle Grade books with so much heart, humor, and insight that you’ll want to devour everything she writes and still beg for more. Weight of Water was sent forth into the world just this fall and people are LOVING it. If you’re looking for Judy Blume-level coming-of-age stories, gardening tips and stories, or a glimpse into the humorous side of marriage, you need look no further than Jamie.

Janine Amesta and I met through the Writing Community on Twitter several years ago and she is one of my favorites. Not only is she a gifted teller of kissing stories, but she is also a funny and encouraging voice for me and the writing community. Her Love in El Dorado series is a delight – one of them an extremely timely Christmas love story – with great reviews, gorgeous settings, and spicy romance that will get your heart racing! (Seriously, keep a glass of ice water nearby when reading.)

Mary Lee Painter and I are lucky enough to have found the same amazing agent in Katie Salvo and Metamorphosis Literary Agancy, and now get to work with the same fabulous publishing house, Satin Romance. We live almost spitting distance (I know – ew, gross) from each other, but haven’t met – YET. The Other Fork in the Road had me laughing and cringing with the characters from the first page. I love a good “forced proximity/opposites attract” love story, and Mary Lee has written a GREAT one! Her next book is due to release in the spring of 2025, so keep an eye on this one.

I am lucky enough to know many other talented authors with terrific books available, even if I haven’t read them all yet. Inspirational romance, memoir, poetry: If you don’t see something listed here that tickles your fancy, comment below or send me an email with the genre or type of story you’re looking for and I will give you a suggestion* based on my own personal knowledge of the book and/or the author.

*If you’re local, check out Reading In Public in Des Moines, where they are offering to curate a selection of books perfect for that hard-to-buy-for reader on your shopping list! Fill out their online form with your budget, the number of books you’d like to gift, genres to include or topics to exclude, and let the staff do the rest!

Don’t forget that when you buy an indie author’s book, you are showing them love and giving them validation and encouragement. Most of us aren’t in it for the money (it doesn’t hurt, mind you) but because we love to write and want to share that love with all of you!

Support local and Indie authors this holiday season and every day!

Support Indie Authors This Holiday Season!

Black Friday is only a couple of days away and the holiday season is officially upon us! Are you struggling to find a gift for your coworker, neighbor, sister, nephew, random gift grab bag? Don’t panic!!

Give the gift of BOOKS and support your local and indie authors!

There are a ton of options out there and even looking through various best-seller lists or celebrity recommendations can be overwhelming. How on earth do you find something good by an author you’ve (likely) never heard of before?

You let me make some suggestions.

Following is a collection of books from different genres written by people I personally know who are self-published or independently published and don’t have the marketing clout of one of the major publishing houses. I have read almost all of the books listed – I haven’t finished all the series, unfortunately. Take a look!

Laura A. Barnes is a Des Moines area author I met by doing NaNoWriMo in 2017. (Turns out we were on the same United Nations trip when we were in high school but never met – small world, right?) Laura writes steamy period romances and currently has three series available for purchase. Whether you’re looking for pirates and spies, noble scoundrels, or matchmaking madness, Laura has got the goods to get your pulse racing.

Sarah Latchaw lives near me and is one of the most delightful people I know. Her Hydraulic Series is full of relatable characters, swoon-worthy romantic moments, humor, and a view of mental illness from a place of true love. Her writing style pulls you in and her characters are so real that you can’t help but laugh and cry right along with them. This trilogy isn’t the spicy type, but will get your heart racing.

I met Jethro Weyman through the writing platform Channillo and we became friends via the Twitter #WritingCommunity. I was struck by the amazing prose of his writing and the unique and wickedly clever ways he explores some dark and existential themesBang to Begin is a gorgeously written collection of stories that seem unconnected on the surface. Kind of mind-bendy deep stuff.

Taylor Hohulin is a local radio celebrity and all-around terrific human. the first time I read his writing, I was pulled in and have devoured pretty much everything of his since. I met him through NaNoWriMo, as well, and was lucky enough to get encouragement from him through a small critique group and I learned a lot from him.

  • The Marian Series follows a young man who gets unexpectedly transported to a pirate ship in another world where water is the ultimate prize. This trilogy is kind-of steampunk and has both human and supernatural dangers and lots of terrific science fiction gadgets.
  • TAR is probably my favorite, though. If you like cybernetic body modifications and a dangerous, living infection that ravages anyone it comes in contact with in horrific ways, set in a post-apocalyptic alternate future, you’ll dig this. It’s a tale of a traveling wizard with a shotgun but told through the exploits of a sometimes-likable survivor.
  • Your Best Apocalypse Now will have you chuckling almost immediately. In this humorous light fantasy novel, a struggling author jumps on the bandwagon of best-selling doomsday books, making it up as he goes along. Or so he thinks. When he correctly predicts the end of the world, a group of other-worldly beings take him on a journey that he could never have predicted.

Kelly Fumiko Weiss is another tremendous talent that I discovered through Channillo. I have read two of her books, from vastly different genres.

  • Her science-fiction-esque novel, The Cube, is set in an alternate near future where a mysterious cube has changed the way the world works. The main character and his best friend, Molly, start out on a fun treasure hunt for a series of mysterious symbols, but the fun turns to unexpected romance and danger for them and their friends.
  • Her other novel, The Stories We Choose Not to Tell, is a story of familial relationships and racial identity for a Japanese-American woman who learns about herself and the roots of her strained relationship with her mother by exploring the life story of her late Obachan (grandmother) who lived in a World War II Japanese internment camp on American soil. Well-written characters that had me crying along with them at the end of the book.

I am lucky enough to know many other talented authors with terrific books available, even if I haven’t read them all yet. Inspirational romance, memoir, poetry: If you don’t see something listed here that tickles your fancy, comment below or send me an email with the genre or type of story you’re looking for and I will give you a suggestion based on my own personal knowledge of the book and/or the author.

Do YOU have any recommendations of books written by indie-published or self-published authors? Share them below

Happy Holidays from my family to yours!