Book Promo ~ Schoolbooks & Sorcery

An Anthology of Inclusive YA Urban Fantasy

In this enchanting collection of young adult tales, 20 authors explore the overlap of the mundane and the fantastical, with LGBTQ protagonists juggling the pressures of school and the wonder of magic in its many forms. From entrance tests to final exams, casting spells to breaking curses, these teens seek to claim their place in the world. In these pages, you’ll find gay and lesbian, bisexual and asexual, trans and nonbinary characters, all experiencing sexy, strange, wicked, wonderful, romantic adventures. They deal with bad roommates and bullies, first loves and new friends, all while crafting and inhabiting their ideal identities. Featuring authors such as Seanan McGuire, Cheryl Rainfield, Cecilia Tan, E.C. Myers, Rajan Khanna, and many more. Step inside and experience Schoolbooks & Sorcery…

“I snagged a few pinches of herbs from the apothecary cabinet in the kitchen and ground them into a paste. The bruised leaves let out their oils, and the air filled with a sweet, green, medicinal smell. Just a small magic, friend-to-bees magic, and it didn’t look like magic unless you knew.” ~ From “The Delicate Work of Bees” by Emily Horner

“What is the centaur philosophy of magic?”
Clementine cleared her throat, cheeks flushing pink, and said, “That if it were easy, everyone would do it, and that means it must be hard.” ~ From “Finals” by Seanan McGuire

“A big message to queer and trans youth in the 2000s was ‘it gets better,’ but in YA publishing there’s still a struggle for representation of LGBTQ protagonists–and a big-name author promoting transphobia certainly hasn’t helped,” said Circlet imprint editor Cecilia Tan. “Putting the ‘magic school’ trope together with queer teen angst was a natural: in fact it’s my catnip.”

The innovative publisher, Riverdale Avenue Books just published Schoolbooks & Sorcery: a New Anthology of Inclusive YA Urban Fantasy edited by Michael M. Jones.

About Michael M. Jones

Michael M. Jones lives in southwest Virginia with too many books, just enough cats, and a wife who’s been with him every step of the way. His stories have appeared in venues such as Hexagon, Metastellar, Mad Scientist Journal and Enchanted Conversation. He also edited Scheherazade’s Facade: Fantastical Tales of Gender Bending, Cross-Dressin, and Transformation. For more, visit him on Twitter at Oneminutemonkey  or at www.michaelmjones.com

Schoolbooks & Sorcery

Available from:
AMAZON
B&N NOOK
KOBO

Book Promo: The Binge Watcher’s Guide to The Black Mirror

Riverdale Avenue Books Publishes
“The Binge Watcher’s Guide to The Black Mirror”

Riverdale Avenue Books has published the fourth book in its binge watcher’s series focusing on the British science fiction anthology Black Mirror, which is regarded by many as the modern iteration of The Twilight Zone. Charlie Brooker is often seen as the Rod Sterling of his generation, as he has written all 22 of the shows’ episodes so far. The acclaimed British sci-fi anthology series focusing on the dark side of technology premiered in 2011 and has won eight Emmy Awards.

Pop culture and tech writer Marc W. Polite focuses The Binge Watcher’s Guide to The Black Mirror on the parallels drawn between what is in the show, and how our modern society is not too far off from what is depicted in the anthology series.  The reader will encounter a thoughtful recap and analysis of each episode from all five seasons, as well as the interactive Black Mirror movie-Bandersnatch. Embracing the meaning and the mayhem of this moment, The Binge Watcher’s Guide to Black Mirror is a spirited, fan-centered companion of the show.

“Having the opportunity to write this book meant a lot to me, to delve into the various themes of my favorite currently running show,” explained author Polite. “As a big fan of science fiction, I gravitated towards the themes explored by this anthology around technology, inspired by the episodes that touch on more than one topic. I have watched each episode way more than 2 or 3 times. However, when compelled to take a more critical eye in rewatching the series to write about it, I had the chance to really dig in deep. There were some moments where it felt as though I were doing a course on film criticism. In spite of the serious-sounding nature of what I just said, I had a lot of fun writing this book and I hope fans will feel the same.”

The next book in the series is The Binge Watcher’s Guide to Riverdale which pubs on April 1st, the first appearance of Veronica Lodge (1942), followed by The Binge Watcher’s Guide to The Twilight Zone, which is publishing on May 11th, National Twilight Zone Day.

Books and downloads are available on
Amazon,
Barnes & Nobles Nook,
Riverdale Avenue Books,
and Kobo.

About Marc. W. Polite
Born and raised in Harlem, New York, Marc W. Polite is a poet and essayist. He writes about social justice, labor issues, film, technology, and literature. His reviews and striking commentary appear in Poets & Writers, Black Star News, Madame Noire, The Amsterdam News, The Grio, TIME Magazine, The Atlanta Post, New England Informer, and Harlem’s own Harlem News Group and Harlem World Magazine. Mr. Polite is also the founder and editor-in-chief of the social and political commentary blog site, Polite On Society, recognized by the New York Association of Black Journalists [NYABJ] for “Best Blog Commentary” of 2014.

About Riverdale Avenue Books
Riverdale Avenue Books is an award winning, innovative hybrid publisher at the leading edge of the changes in the publishing industry.  We publish e-books and print titles under 13 imprints: Desire, an erotica/erotic romance imprint; Riverdale/Magnus the award-winning imprint of LGBT titles; Pop featuring pop culture titles; Afraid, a horror line; SFF, a science fiction fantasy line; Truth, an erotic memoir line; Dagger, a mystery thriller imprint; Sports and Gaming featuring sports and gaming titles; Verve featuring lifestyle titles; Hera featuring both the true and fictional lives and loves of women aged 35 and up; 120 Days an LGBT pulp fiction line and Circlet, an erotica/erotic romance imprint. Started in 2012 by industry veteran Lori Perkins, Riverdale is a full service publisher, with a subsidiary rights department.  Visit us at www.RiverdaleAveBooks.com

Book Promo: “Inside the Hollywood Closet: A Book of Quotes” by Boze Hadleigh

“Inside the Hollywood Closet: A Book of Quotes”
by Boze Hadleigh
Published by Riverdale Avenue Books

Riverdale Avenue Books has just published Boze Hadleigh’s new book Inside the Hollywood Closet: A Book of Quotes. The author is well-known for interviews with some of Hollywood’s heavy hitters and his classic works Hollywood Gays and Hollywood Lesbians.

Join legendary Hollywood scribe Boze Hadleigh in this journey back in time as he examines what it was like to be gay in Hollywood during Tinseltown’s heyday, as well as how things have changed and what the future of gay Hollywood looks like today.  Hadleigh examines both the obvious and hidden costs of being queer in Hollywood from both the inside looking out, and the outside looking in.

Hadleigh brings us quotes and statements from such stars as Rock Hudson, Truman Capote, Gary Grant, Neil Patrick Harris, k.d. lang, Ellen DeGeneres, Jodi Foster, Queen Latifah, Little Naz, Oscar Wilde, Sammy Davis Jr., Ellen Page, Rosie O’Donnell, Ian McKellan, Bea Arthur, Buttlerfy McQueen, Chaz Bono, Elton John, Remi Malik, Wanda Sykes, among others.

“This is a great book for the current generation of LGBTQ+  to read and see what queer life in America used to be like.  It’s also a great reminder of how far we have come, ” said Publisher Lori Perkins.

Books and downloads are available on Amazon, Barnes & Nobles Nook, iTunes, and Kobo.

visit Riverdale Avenue Books 

“The Binge Watchers Guide to the Harry Potter Films”

Riverdale Avenue Books Launches Kickstarter Campaign

for “The Binge Watchers Guide to the Harry Potter Films”

The Recent Campaign Has Been Selected as a Projects We Love by Kickstarter

 

For the second title in their new Binge Watcher’s Guide series, Riverdale Avenue Books has launched a Kickstarter campaign. The Binge Watchers Guide to the Harry Potter Films by Cecilia Tan, an unofficial guide, was kicked off on the author’s birthday. The campaign has already raised more than half of the initial funding within 48 hours and received Kickstarter’s coveted Projects We Love badge due to fans eager to experience this new look at their favorite universe.

Twenty years have passed since the Harry Potter films were first released for an entire generation of moviegoers. The films broke ground in every way: at the box office, in movie making art, and pulling off an unprecedented magic trick of keeping the main cast together for ten full years, as they grew from school kids to adults.

Readers who contribute to this campaign will be able to receive an ebook, paperbacks at a discounted price, ebooks and print books bundled with goodies like a Binge Watcher book bag, and some virtual experiences with the author such as a virtual tea or a one-on-one watch of one of the movies. The Kickstarter campaign starts now until May 8, 2020.

“Binging the Harry Potter movies is the perfect way to really see how the series holds together, as well as how the actors aged in real life along with their characters,” said Publisher Lori Perkins. “Cecilia Tan has been knee-deep in the fandom for two decades and is the perfect guide to take fans on this journey.”

“We know there’s a global pandemic going on. The first time I felt some relief from the unrelenting stress since my household started isolation in early March was when some friends suggested we should each make cocktails, pop in our DVDs of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and livetweet it together,” said Author Cecilia Tan. “What better time to be encouraging people to revisit these movies than now? ”

visit Riverdale Avenue Books

Game: The Resurrection Of Tim Tebow

Game: The Resurrection Of Tim Tebow by Marc Shapiro

Riverdale Avenue Books is pleased to announce the publication of Game: The Resurrection of Tim Tebow, which tells a different kind of sports story. The book, by New York Times-bestselling Author Marc Shapiro, does not focus on his virginity, his religious beliefs, his bigger than life ‘nice guy’ character and the millions of Tebow maniacs that live and breathe his every move and pronouncement. Game: The Resurrection of Tim Tebow is a hard and detailed look at the rise of a football player and the situations, cynicism and politics that can ultimately sidetrack, delay and ultimately destroy a career.

“At the end of the day all most football fans wanted to know was ‘could Tim Tebow play the game,” says Shapiro. “They could care less about who he’s dating, is he having sex and how much of a nice guy he is. They just want to know if he can play the damned game. And that’s the question I’ve attempted to answer. This is the ultimate gridiron dance. It’s what Tebow brings to the game and how the various levels of football have accepted or, as we have found out, rejected it. This is a facts and figures book, the kind of things the tabloids and TMZ won’t touch. But for the millions of hardcore fans who live and die by football, this is the reality.”

Game: The Resurrection Of Tim Tebow begins in his youth where a seemingly rigid and yes possibly corrupt education system conspired to keep Tebow out of the sport.  It focuses on how closed and immature a society regional high school football can be, especially when there’s a player in their midst who is so overwhelmingly good. There’s his triumphs in college ball, followed by his entry into the NFL where he truly performed miracles in Denver only to be shoved aside like yesterday’s news. Then he is picked up by The New York Jets whose indecisiveness ended with a wasted year and finally a shot in New England that ended this month when he was cut. The book also follows his interaction with future killer and teammate Aaron Hernandez.

“It’s not that Tebow is not at fault here,” declares Shapiro. “His pride and ego certainly got in the way. If he had not insisted on playing quarterback and considered another position, he might still be in the NFL. But he insisted that he could play the position in a way that the National Football League was not ready to consider, accept or knew how to deal with.”

Riverdale Avenue Books Publisher Lori Perkins commented, “It is such a thrill to be publishing a book about a football  legend as the story is just coming to a close, or its climax.”

About Riverdale Avenue Books:
Riverdale Avenue Books publishes e-books and audio books under seven imprints: Riverdale Pop a pop culture imprint; Riverdale/Magnus an award-winning publisher of LGBT titles; RAB HSF, a horror, science fiction and fantasy line; RAB Truth an erotic memoir line; RAB Desire an erotica and erotic romance imprint; and RAB Sports and RAB Gaming featuring sports and gaming titles.