Three Time Travelers Walk Into…

How many people could you kill to guarantee your happiness?

Would you follow a stranger into a broom closet at a Grateful Dead concert?

How many times could you watch your own suicide?

What would cause you to give away a wish-granting genie?

Those are just a few of the questions eighteen incredible authors answered in response to the call to take three historical figures, throw them together in some situation, and tell us the story that ensues. You’ll be fascinated by those stories featuring Julia Child, Jesus Christ, Michael Jackson, and Vlad the Impaler (well… not all in one story), plus dozens of others.

These marvelous tales of time-traveling adventure flow from the imaginations of Eric Avedissian, Adam-Troy Castro, Peter David, Keith R.A. DeCandido, Gregory Frost, David Gerrold, Henry Herz, Jonathan Maberry, Gail Z. Martin, Heather McKinney, James A. Moore, Jody Lynn Nye, L. Penelope, Louise Piper, Hildy Silverman, S.W. Sondheimer, Allen Steele, and Lawrence Watt-Evans.

THREE TIME TRAVELERS WALK INTO… is edited by Pocono Liars Club founder Michael A. Ventrella and is published by Fantastic Books. It is available as a paperback, hard cover, or ebook.

Details about each story and which characters are in each story can be found here on Michael’s blog.

Forever Friends

Love is in the air!
—along with anxiety, obstruction, and uncertainty.

Irwin Abernathy is a walking, breathing, emotional wreck, and his chosen family isn’t faring much better. Harper and Christopher’s wedding is only days away, and the wedding gift Irwin tried to finagle falls through. His late friend’s house next door now has new mystery owners, and even Bones, Irwin’s insufferable cat, is acting like a lovesick jerk. It’s a mess.

Irwin wants to feel happy for Harper and Christopher, but what will their marriage ultimately mean for him?

Will the young, madly in-love couple move far away?
Will Harper’s parents, Irwin’s dear friends, soon follow?
Can Irwin prevent Harper and her mother from killing each other?
And will the family Irwin worked so hard to create now disappear?

Irwin is on a quest, not only to keep his wacky family together, but together in one piece—so he begins scheming. However, time is running out, and he has one last chance to make his ludicrous plan work or risk spending the rest of his interminable, grumpy life alone.

FOREVER FRIENDS, by Pocono Liar Sahar Abdulaziz, is the heartwarming finale in The Abernathy & Crane Series. It is a story about the unending pursuit of love, the power of friendship, and the amount of trust and selflessness needed when giving everything might mean having nothing left.

Jonathan Maberry on writing fantasy novels

New York Times Bestselling Author Jonathan Maberry will be talking about writing fantasy novels in our next zoom chat, scheduled for Wednesday, April 27th at 8pm EST.

Jonathan’s latest novel is Kagen the Damned, which will be released in early May. Jonathan will discuss what goes into creating a good fantasy story and answer questions.

Jonathan is a New York Times bestselling author, 5-time Bram Stoker Award-winner, 3-time Scribe Award winner, Inkpot Award winner, and comic book writer. His vampire apocalypse book series, V-WARS, was a Netflix original series. He writes in multiple genres including suspense, thriller, horror, science fiction, fantasy, and action; for adults, teens and middle grade. His novels include the Joe Ledger thriller series, Bewilderness, Ink, Glimpse, the Pine Deep Trilogy, the Rot & Ruin series, the Dead of Night series, Mars One, Ghostwalkers: A Deadlands Novel, and many others, including his first epic fantasy, Kagen the Damned. He is the editor many anthologies including The X-Files, Aliens: Bug Hunt, Don’t Turn Out the Lights, Aliens vs Predator: Ultimate Prey, Hardboiled Horror, Nights of the Living Dead (co-edited with George A. Romero), and others. His comics include Black Panther: DoomWar, Captain America, Pandemica, Highway to Hell, The Punisher and Bad Blood. He is the president of the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers, and the editor of Weird Tales Magazine. Visit him online at www.jonathanmaberry.com

Before moving to sunny California, Jonathan was the founder of the Philadelphia Liars Club — which led to the creation of our own Pocono Liars Club with his permission. With Pocono Liars Club founder Michael A. Ventrella, he edited two short story anthologies (Baker Street Irregulars and The Game is Afoot!) and he also has a story in Michael’s next anthology Three Time Travelers Walk Into… which is due to be released in late June.

Jonathan will be traveling back to Pennsylvania in May to promote the book, so you can meet him at the Doylestown Book Store on May 10th!

The zoom link for the chat is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89053743505?pwd=MlA3OUJyU3Q5dEpJYmx0ZzhYUG4rZz09

Worldbuilding with Lawrence Watt-Evans

On Wednesday, March 23rd at 8 pm EST, noted author Lawrence Watt-Evans will be discussing worldbuilding with the Pocono Liars Club and answering your questions.

Lawrence Watt-Evans is the author of fifty or so books, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, and nonfiction about popular culture. He is best known for two fantasy series, the Legends of Ethshar and the Obsidian Chronicles, and won the Hugo award for his short story “Why I Left Harry’s All-Night Hamburgers.” 

This will be done through Go to Meetings. You can join meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone: https://meet.goto.com/878768989

You can also dial in using your phone: United States: +1 (646) 749-3122

Access Code: 878-768-989

Get the app now and be ready when the meeting starts: https://meet.goto.com/install

EDIT: If you missed it, you can watch it on our “expert advice” page.

The Axes of Evil

One barbarian tribe has a prophecy saying the legendary hero Bishortu will unite the three warring tribes. Another has a prophecy that directly contradicts this, and they want Bishortu dead. And a third, which may or may not be comprised of werewolves, refuses to let anyone know what their prophecy says. Meanwhile, the Duke on whose land the barbarians live wants them all gone.

In the middle of all of this is squire Terin Ostler, who has been mistakenly identified as the great Bishortu. Under the Duke’s orders to get rid of the barbarians, he heads to their lands without the slightest idea of what to do.

Along the way, he has to avoid assassins, werewolves, lovesick barbarian princesses, and confused goblins, while attempting to figure out the meaning of the magical and mysterious Wretched Axes.

Nobody said being a hero would be easy.

Pocono Liar Michael A. Ventrella‘s third novel in his “Terin Ostler” series is now available in paperback and ebook formats.

“Here Michael A. Ventrella takes up the mantle of Christopher Stasheff. Terin’s exploits are as entertaining as those of Rod Gallowglass, and fans of The Warlock in Spite of Himself will hugely enjoy The Axes of Evil.” – Gregory Frost, author of Shadowbridge and Lord Tophet

“The Axes of Evil is a taut nail-biter of a thriller. Edgy, funny and dark.” – Jonathan Maberry, multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning author of V-Wars and Rot & Ruin

“Humor, danger and a twisted tangle of unlikely prophecies make for a page-turning adventure.” – Gail Z. Martin, author ofThe Chronicles of the Necromancerseries

Pocono Liars Book Signing Event!

The Case of the Bogus Beatle

Cincinnati, August 1966 – After an eventful Beatles concert at Crosley Field, threatening (and badly-spelled) ransom notes begin appearing from unknown persons claiming to have kidnapped George Harrison. But the Beatles’ lead guitarist is not missing. The puzzled police, including Sergeant Malcolm Mitchell, at first dismiss the messages as a bizarre hoax.

Enter Malcolm’s irrepressible wife, Professor Augusta McKee—music teacher, singer, and amateur sleuth—who begins connecting the dots to identify the actual kidnapping victim, and even points the police to the possible perpetrators.

As always, Augusta is all in, dealing with bumbling but dangerous mobsters, disguises, guns, and even a heart-stopping car chase—in a race against the clock to keep what started as a bungled kidnapping from turning into a vicious murder.

THE CASE OF THE BOGUS BEATLE is Pocono Liars Club member Susan Moore Jordan‘s eighth novel in her Augusta McKee series, and is available now in paperback or on kindle!

The Case of the Carousel Killer

Augusta McKee, amateur sleuth, professor of music, and former opera singer, is invited to perform in the musical Carousel at the Pocono Playhouse in Northeastern Pennsylvania. With the encouragement of her husband, Cincinnati P.D. Homicide Detective Malcolm Mitchell, she accepts this chance to be on a stage again,

Two nights after the show opens, a woman’s body is found in the theater’s parking lot. An old beau of Augusta’s, Evan Llewellyn, who plays the male lead in the show, is the prime—in fact, the only—suspect in the murder.

Because the victim was from Cincinnati, Malcolm becomes involved in the case and joins Augusta in the Poconos. Their search for clues reveals Llewellyn’s past as the child of coal miners in the nearby Anthracite Region of Pennsylvania may be an essential element in the case.

As the puzzle pieces of the case fall into place, Augusta finds herself in a harrowing, life-threatening confrontation with the killer—at a remote, long-abandoned coal mine.

THE CASE OF THE ‘CAROUSEL’ KILLER is the latest novel in Pocono Liars Club member Susan Moore Jordan‘s Augusta McKee’s mystery series.

You can order your copy here!

The Case of the Missing Monarch

If you haven’t walked the old golf cart trails at the Cherry Valley National Wildlife Refuge (CVNWR), you need to get out to a safe environment to enjoy some fresh air and natural beauty. As the name implies, it’s also a haven for local animals and plants. With the imminent arrival of spring migrating birds, the place will soon be filled with bird song, and is already croaking with the clamor of spring peepers and bull frogs. 

Support the Refuge and admire an array of Pocono wildlife by purchasing a copy of an e-book, The Case of the Missing Monarch by Pocono Liar M. A. Moore and Friends, a Fundraiser for the Friends of CVNWR. Not only will you get a detective story set in the Pocono Mountains, the tale weaves around the seventy images donated by seven local nature photographers. All proceeds from the sales stay local, and will enable this citizen-based group in their efforts to support activities at the refuge. Just go to amazon.com and put in the title of the book! A free sample is available for download, and Kindle offers a free reader for any device. The pictures are so engaging, that you’ll want to see them on a devise larger than a cell phone. 

Here’s the direct link: www.amzn.com/dp/B091D882QH

Shelter Me

Life is hectic for new co-directors Camille and Willa and they must balance their home and work lives – which isn’t always easy. Camille struggles with marriage and teenager issues while Willa battles bad work colleagues and juggles her love and family life.

JC tries to work well with his bullheaded business partner and struggles to navigate the slow-moving foster care and adoption system. Sammi pushes to move her and Trevor’s relationship forward but hits some major roadblocks in her pursuit.

The dogs and cats at Ocean Pals are put in jeopardy when a new leader infiltrates the shelter’s board of directors. Adoption, surrender, protection, sickness, and sadness weave their way through the story and squeezes at our hearts.

Join in on the journey and get ready to fall in love with all the adoptable animals who come through Ocean Pals’ doors.

SHELTER ME is the second book in Pocono Liar Jamie Mitchell’s “Ocean Pals” series and is available through her web page and from Amazon.