A Jane Austen Daydream Giveaway! New Edition Available!

I am proud to announce that there is a new edition of my novel A Jane Austen Daydream. Published by Dream’s Edge Publishing, this book is my fictional rendering of the life of Jane if she was to live, laugh, and love in one of her own novels. Here is the book description from the publisher:

The new cover for A Jane Austen Daydream

All her heroines find love in the end – but is there love waiting for Jane?

Jane Austen spends her days writing and matchmaking in the small countryside village of Steventon, until a ball at Godmersham Park propels her into a new world where she yearns for a romance of her own. But whether her heart will settle on a young lawyer, a clever Reverend, a wealthy childhood friend, or a mysterious stranger is anyone’s guess.

The novel, A Jane Austen Daydream, created in the style of Austen herself, ponders the question faced by many devoted followers over the years – did she ever find love? Weaving fact with fiction, the book re-imagines her life, using her own stories to fill in the gaps left by history and showing that all of us – to a greater or lesser degree – are head over heels for Jane.

This is one of my favorite of my books. I am extremely proud of it and the literary surprises inside of it. What more can I say? Check it out! It can be found on Amazon here.

Wait! There is also a Goodreads giveaway! That is what more I can say! 7 readers will win an autographed copy of the new edition! You can enter below!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

A Jane Austen Daydream

by Scott D. Southard

Giveaway ends October 15, 2021.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/widget/332664

BOOK GIVEAWAY! Four readers will win a copy of In Jerry’s Corner, my latest novel.

From now until June 25th, there is a book giveaway for my latest novel In Jerry’s Corner on GoodReads. Four readers will win a copy of the signed novel. You can enter via the link below:

https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/325858-in-jerry-s-corner

In Jerry’s Corner! My latest novel is now available!

Published by Dream’s Edge Publishing, my latest work of fiction is now on the market!

In Jerry’s Corner is the story of a life under observation, and the mysterious person who is always with Jerry. Filled with humor, surprises and (frankly) humanity, In Jerry’s Corner is many things- magic realism, science fiction, post-modern, romance, comedy, family drama, etc. For me, it is at its heart my attempt to say through fiction what it means to be human and live a life here on this spinning planet.

Here is the back cover description:

Ever since Jerry Sleight was a baby, Bill was there. 

Bill is tall, quiet, unblinking and green. He is in the northwest corner of every room Jerry visits and only Jerry can see him.

It might sound strange, but Bill is an alien from a planet without a name and his task is to watch a human life from beginning to end. But why he is observing Jerry, and what does he hope to see? Only Bill knows the true answers to the mystery.

Filled with laughter and surprises, Jerry’s days with Bill will represent all of humanity and the impact a life can have, not just on others but on an entire world and universe.

In Jerry’s Corner is about the importance of a single life… and the amazing green individual watching it all take place.

In Jerry’s Corner can be found now on Amazon both in paperback and eBook format!

Here are the links for the new version: 

In Jerry’s Corner on Amazon USA

https://amzn.to/3bSctll

In Jerry’s Corner on Amazon UK

https://amzn.to/3ftTDBF

I hope you will check it out soon. Thanks for reading!

Ebook sale! MY PROBLEM WITH DOORS is only 99 cents for the Kindle

HEY! We have an ebook sale going on!

For the Kindle, my novel, MY PROBLEM WITH DOORS, is only 99 cents for a limited time! You can find it here- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08J89FFS7/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_x_2pOVFb75YS1V2

Here is the back cover description:

This is a plea for help.

If you have found this manuscript and think it to be only a novel or an ancient piece of fiction, it is not. This is the story of my life and I hope in your reading you will be able to help me…

Jacob is lost in time.

He has been lost ever since he walked through a door as a toddler and ended up in the office of a British officer in 1870. My Problem With Doors is the exciting story of Jacob’s life as a time traveler.

Adventure, humor, romance, and surprises, Jacob never knows where he is going to end up or who he will meet next in his 30-year search for a home and purpose. From pirates to poets to even Jack the Ripper, Jacob will experience all of the best and worst of humanity in his journeys. My Problem With Doors is a book like no other, filled with both literary and adventurous twists and turns.

“This is a most compelling book. It pulls you in to a fascinating concept from the beginning…. I give this book 5 stars.” –The Voracious Reader

Grab an ebook copy today! Tell a friend! Oh, and enjoy!

My novel MY PROBLEM WITH DOORS is back! Grab a copy today-

I am pleased to announce that my novel, My Problem With Doors is back!

Published by Dream’s Edge Publishing, Doors is an unpredictable time travel adventure including everything from Jack the Ripper to pirates to gladiators to even poets! Here is the cover description of the book.

This is a plea for help.

If you have found this manuscript and think it to be only a novel or an ancient piece of fiction, it is not. This is the story of my life and I hope in your reading you will be able to help me…

Jacob is lost in time.He has been lost ever since he walked through a door as a toddler and ended up in the office of a British officer in 1870. My Problem With Doors is the exciting story of Jacob’s life as a time traveler.Adventure, humor, romance, and surprises, Jacob never knows where he is going to end up or who he will meet next in his 30-year search for a home and purpose. From pirates to poets to even Jack the Ripper, Jacob will experience all of the best and worst of humanity in his journeys.

My Problem With Doors is a book like no other, filled with both literary and adventurous twists and turns.

“This is a most compelling book. It pulls you in to a fascinating concept from the beginning…. I give this book 5 stars.” –The Voracious Reader

You can currently find it on Amazon, available in both print and eBook format.

• For my US readers- https://amzn.to/3hzP4Vv 
• For my UK readers- https://amzn.to/3mvdDGY 

I hope you will check it out and grab a copy.

I’m very proud of the book and the twists and turns in it. It is truly very unique. I always like to think of it as the kind of book that I sometimes come across at a library that I have no idea what it is about, and it surprises me on every page. 

(Hey, by the way, if you are following my blog and my The Art of Being Alone novella, I know I have been lazy about putting up the latest post. It is done, it is just life is very busy right now. In other words- 2020.)

 

 

 

The Art of Being Alone- a novella (6th installment)

Inspired by the writing of Richard Brautigan and Kurt Vonnegut, The Art of Being Alone is a novella about a lost soul living on the Moon and what he found there. You can read the earlier installments here. Our narrator is a member of the 5%s, wealthy individuals that own a majority of all of the resources and economy on the Earth. The rest of the planet is in turmoil, with the environment and the poor (everyone else) struggling to live or fight back. It is under these conditions that our broken narrator moves as far away as a human possibly can… 

21- A Lawyer’s Bang

My grandfather used to complain about lawyers all the time. He would do it at the table during dinner, on the phone, in his sleep. It was strange to me, even as a young child, because he surrounded himself with so many of them. Why surround yourself with someone you can’t stand? And yet, wherever my grandfather went, a lawyer was soon to follow.

I had my own issues with lawyers, but I definitely annoyed them more than he did. He would just tell them what he wanted to do and they would make it work. I never considered having conversations that way.

The lawyers certainly had some questions for me when we began preparations for my Moon departure. Their questions were never about the trip, my plannings, or me, it was about my money and the estate; in other words, everything I was abandoning.

My money and estate? I explained that nothing happened to it. I wasn’t dying. I was just going up there (and I would point up).

The Art of Being Alone- a novella (5th installment)

Inspired by the writing of Richard Brautigan and Kurt Vonnegut, The Art of Being Alone is a novella about a lost soul living on the Moon and what he found there. You can read the earlier installments here. Our narrator is a member of the 5%s, wealthy individuals that own a majority of all of the resources and economy on the Earth. The rest of the planet is in turmoil, with the environment and the poor (everyone else) struggling to live or fight back. It is under these conditions that our broken narrator moves as far away as a human possibly can…

18- I Am THE Selenite

Jules Verne and his two books about traveling to the Moon (From the Earth to the Moon and Around the Moon) always seem to get misremembered. This is mainly because people confuse it with the black-and-white silent film that was loosely based on the series, Le Voyage dans la Lune by Georges Melies.

In the film, our heroes land on the Moon and meet some Selenites, which is the name for moon dwellers in most scifi (the name comes from the Goddess Selene). They have an escape and bring one of the poor creatures back to Earth to show to all of us humans, traumatizing that poor creature forever for science. Hurrah!

In the actual book, this is not really how it works out. Our heroes never even land on the Moon!

In typical American fashion, they decide to solve the trip to the Moon problem with a giant gun. For what in an American’s mind is better for solving a problem than a gun? It’s certainly solved the problem of my grandmother. (More on that country and guns later.)

So the heroes of the story, who by the way are obsessed with the military because of the Civil War, shoot themselves out of this giant gun at the moon. Bang! And in the sequel of the book, it is described how they make their way back, I believe it is by using the gravitational pull of the Moon to pretty much fling themselves to the Earth. So at no point does a Selenite make an appearance.

There is a dog in it though. It, of course, dies, starting our grand tradition of killing cute animals for the sake of space travel.

The Art of Being Alone- a novella (4th installment)

Inspired by the writing of Richard Brautigan and Kurt Vonnegut, The Art of Being Alone is a novella about a lost soul living on the Moon and what he found there. You can read the earlier installments here. Our narrator is a member of the 5%s, wealthy individuals that own a majority of all of the resources and economy on the Earth. The rest of the planet is in turmoil, with the environment and the poor (everyone else) struggling to live or fight back. It is under these conditions that our broken narrator moves as far away as a human possibly can…

14- Moon Arrival

Everything was done so well. I am a little surprised, honestly. If someone hated me this would have been a great opportunity to get rid of me with little complication or comeuppance. For example, a simple miscalculation in my landing and I would have died, but I didn’t. Or in the design of my suit or my habitat. I could go on and on. So many ways to kill me and yet, here I am.

I landed perfectly by my already created habitat. My robots were standing outside and off since their jobs were done. Everything was waiting for me, as I ordered.

The first steps on the moon were difficult.

I was light and I was not used to it. They tried to get me to take some tests in the suit and in different environments that recreate the experience but I always said no.

And you could not argue with my no.

The Art of Being Alone- a novella (3rd installment)

Inspired by the writing of Richard Brautigan, The Art of Being Alone is a novella that strangely fits very well with this time in the world. I began it over a year ago and through this website and installments, I hope to force my hand in finishing it. I will be sharing 5 or so pages of it, each week. The first two installments can be found here and here. I hope you enjoy it.–

10- Walking

I enjoy walking on the Moon. I enjoy the “bounce” in my step. I enjoy listening to my breathing in my suit. It is steady and strong, never over excited. It was during one of my walks that I began to see the flashes on the surface of the Earth. They are like the flickers of little lights.

When I lived on the planet there was always a concern about bombs and power. Now and then a leader would come to see me and ask for money. I would usually give it, just to get them to leave. They would then appear on the news saying I support them or a cause.

Blah. Blah. Whatever.

Now there are flashes on the gray surface of that old planet in the distance and I am happily bouncing on the Moon like a child in a giant inflatable castle.

The Art of Being Alone- a novella (2nd installment)

Inspired by the writing of Richard Brautigan, The Art of Being Alone is a novella that strangely fits very well with this time in the world. I began it over a year ago and through this website and installments, I hope to force my hand in finishing it. I will be sharing 5 or so pages of it, each week. The first installment can be found here. I hope you enjoy it.–

6- The Quiet

When you read and/or watch stories about people living alone, they… do things.

They maybe sing little songs. They talk to themselves about important matters. They might even have friends (maybe just in their corrupted minds) or memories that give us glimpses into their psyche.

I wonder if that is a sign of human weakness. The fact that we need “something.”

We just can’t be alone as people, even in a story. I wonder if we feel too much and that is why the isolation and the silence becomes overbearing. It makes us look inside and we don’t want that! Heaven forbid! We want bangs, flashes, shouting, sex! A person can’t simply “be” in a tale.

For me, I am simply being. I am this and nothing else. I will prove it.

I get up when I get up. I have no sense of time here, but I can say that when the sun begins to spread across the ground and I feel it coming through the plastic glass of my dome and reach my feet, I rise. I stretch one part of my body and then the next. Somewhere I can hear the electronic buzzing of the mechanics that make my home a reality. I couldn’t tell you how the things work, I have no need to know. I simply asked for it and people completed the needed task. Transaction complete.

I then walk in my weighted slippers to the dispenser which takes the food that is grown in the greenhouses and makes it into designated dishes. I eat whatever I want and then I sit, write in this journal and look at the regolith.

There is no noise, no talking, no music, no wind. Just silence.

It is glorious and that is all I need in my story.