There have also been many changes since the last time I posted. The most significant is that I will be stepping down from the position of managing editor of HNS Indie Reviews in mid-November. I have been working hard at this job for the past three years, and I am exhausted. It is a labor-intensive and time-consuming position and I think editors get burned out after a few years. I will still be running this blog and reviewing Indie books-that won’t change. I love what I do here.

I will be taking on a position of reviews editor for a couple of mainstream presses for the HNS, such as Europa Books and Overlook Press. These smaller, independent presses are of interest to me because, much like Indie books, they reside outside of the big playing field-that of Harper Collins, Random House, and Simon and Schuster, for example-and seem to be freer to experiment with their acquisitions. Their selections are (to me at least) a little off the beaten path…which is right up my alley : )

In terms of review books for this blog, going forward, I must accept for review only those novels whose themes are congruent with my interests. I have taken on most types of books because I enjoy helping authors, but one person’s energy and enthusiasm can only go so far. I have a backlog of the following novels, which I will go through as quickly as I can. However, I can only accept one book here and there well into the New Year.

The next book up for review is The Cross and the Dragon by Kim Rendfeld (who kindly sent me a paper copy of this e-book to review)…and then in the following order:

The Concubine’s Gift by K. Ford K: a story of sexual awakening

Requiem by William Gordon (who kindly sent me a paper copy when he read that I will no longer be taking e-books- thank you for that!): Family saga set at the beginning of WW1

The Other Alexander by Andrew Levkoff: Roman history

The Possession of Sarah Winchester by Jim Duggins: nineteenth-century suspense

Blooomqvist by Michael Higgens: VIKINGS!!!

Unbidden by Jill Hughey: Romance set during  Charlemagne’s Empire

Chasing Sylvia Beach by Cynthia Morris: Romantic time-slip novel set in Paris

A Rip in the Veil by Anna Belfrage: Time-slip back to the seventeenth century

Celestine: The House on Rue du Maine by F.J. Wilson: Set in 1789 New Orleans, drama

The Promise by Kate Worth: Victorian romantic mystery (I believe)

and

Village Teacher by Neihtn: Story revolving around the French colonization of Vietnam, and Vietnamese transition to the new age