August 2022
In this month’s newsletter, scroll down to find:
- Author Spotlight with Ash Bishop
- Travel Log: The Austen Pilgrimage
- Contest of Queens Review Corner
Grab your rebreathers and strap into your spaceships, today we’re blasting through space with Ash Bishop, author of his debut novel
Intergalactic Exterminators, Inc.
Welcome to my Book Nook! This month, I had the pleasure of interviewing Bishop about his upcoming novel (due to release, September 6th 2022).
Get ready to hear about all things alien, and the universal truths that tie us all together (not to mention how Big Bird can sneak into your books if you’re not careful!)
Finding work is easy.
Staying alive is a little bit harder.
When Russ Wesley finds an unusual artifact in his grandfather’s collection of rare antiquities, the last thing he expects is for it to draw the attention of a ferocious alien from a distant planet. Equally surprising is the adventurous team of intergalactic exterminators dispatched to deal with the alien threat. They’re a little wild, and a little reckless. Worse yet, they’re so impressed with Russ’s marksmanship that they insist he join their squad . . . whether he wants to or not.
“Bishop’s feel-good sci-fi debut kicks off when drifter Russ Wesley discovers a mysterious stone among his recently deceased grandfather’s collection of oddities . . . imbuing this romp with solid worldbuilding, a broad sense of adventure, and a sensitive emotional core. With gruesome alien battles, layered conflict, and a sprinkling of humor, this is sure to find an audience.”
—Publishers Weekly
Website: ash-bishop.com
Instagram: @ashlbishop
Twitter: @AshLBishop
Travel Log: The Austen Pilgrimage
As I mentioned last month, I have taken a sabbatical from my day job as a Speech Language Pathologist to live in the UK and finish the Frean Chronicles Trilogy!
- Contest of Queens: completed!
- Queen’s Catacombs: comes out next year!
- Mysteriously Titled Finale: in progress!
If you’re interested in following along on my travel journey, I recommend following me on Instagram: @jordanhbartlett
Last month, while touring England, I was able to do an Austen Pilgrimage! I visited her home in Hampshire where I saw her writing desk. I was blown away! It was so small and compact, and apparently she liked it like that- often hiding her writings from would-be interrupters.
To think that lines like:
- If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more.
- To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love.
- I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature.
were crafted on this little wooden hexagon is incredibly humbling.
Also, I visited Bath (a popular haunt of Austen’s) and walked the gravel path she and Anne Eliot were partial to strolling down, and had tea at the Jane Austen Regency Tea Room. You wouldn’t believe who I ran into!
Review Corner
Reviews are so helpful in getting word of Contest of Queens out there. If you have time, and if you’ve read the book, I would be eternally grateful if you could leave a star rating and/or a written review on Goodreads or Amazon.
Thank you to all the wonderful people who have left a star rating or review. This month is special because I got my first official “Holy Shit!”
Jordan H. Bartlett 