Sunday Brunch interview with Leigh

I had the pleasure this week of being interviewed on Athena Elizabeth‘s “Sunday Brunch” blog, where we talked about my novel, Memoirs of a Synth: Gold Record, the SPSFC competition (where I took fourth place), my thoughts on writing, and a few other things! 😎

Check it out: Sunday Brunch Author Interview Series: Leigh Saunders

(And don’t you just love my “official author photo” by the wonderful digital artist, parrotdolphin? I saw this image in her DeviantArt gallery a few years ago, and she was gracious enough to allow me to use it. I think it’s amazing – and even looks a bit like me!)

 

SPSFC3 Award Announced!

I’m so excited to announce that out of over 200 entries, my space opera heist novel, “Memoirs of a Synth: Gold Record” took 4th place in the 2024 SPSFC Competition – and from what I’ve heard, the competition was fierce among all six finalists!

Tour Guide. Emissary. Diplomat. Thief.

On her 317th birthday, Brianna Rei hooks up with smuggler-thief Jerrold McKell to steal the legendary Voyager Gold Record. But their partnership doesn’t go exactly as planned…

Pursued across the Hundred Worlds by bounty hunters, and hiding the secret of her true identity as a Synth, Brianna finds herself having to make a series of increasingly difficult choices – choices that could put both of their lives in jeopardy.

If you’d like to read it, you can pick up a copy of the book in print or ebook from your favorite online retailers at:
https://books2read.com/SynthGoldRecord

 

Gold Record – SPSFC Finalist!

I’m so excited to announce that out of over 200 entries, my space opera heist novel, “Memoirs of a Synth: Gold Record” is one of the six finalists in the 2024 SPSFC Competition!

Tour Guide. Emissary. Diplomat. Thief.

On her 317th birthday, Brianna Rei hooks up with smuggler-thief Jerrold McKell to steal the legendary Voyager Gold Record. But their partnership doesn’t go exactly as planned…

Pursued across the Hundred Worlds by bounty hunters, and hiding the secret of her true identity as a Synth, Brianna finds herself having to make a series of increasingly difficult choices – choices that could put both of their lives in jeopardy.

 

If you’d like to read it, you can pick up a copy of the book in print or ebook from your favorite online retailers at:
https://books2read.com/SynthGoldRecord

tap-tap… Does this thing work?

While updating the site recently, I appear to have crossed a wire somewhere causing some links to go nowhere and most of the images to fail to load.

Thanks for your patience while we sort out these technical difficulties!

– Leigh

Daughters of the Wind is live!

Daughters of the Wind - coverBloodline Chronicles: Progenitors: Volume 2

Janek, Grand Vizir of Kushar, has done the unthinkable, kidnapping the last known weather witches – the twin daughters of the Gerlachi king – in an effort to claim the gift of their bloodline magic for the Kushari people.

But rumors of weather witches in Kushar are spreading, sending Zoya, spymaster of Tzigane, on a quest to learn if they are, in fact, her queen’s missing sisters.

At the same time, the twins, chafing at the gilded cage of their long confinement, have demands of their own – demands which may disrupt Janek’s carefully orchestrated plans, thwart Zoya’s rescue efforts, and shatter centuries of fragile peace between their three countries.

Daughters of the Wind – volume 2 of the Progenitors trilogy
Available in print and ebook
from your favorite online retailers:
https://books2read.com/DaughtersOfTheWind

 

Virtual Oracle in “Pulphouse #12”

I am extremely proud to announce the publication of my short story, Virtual Oracle in Pulphouse Fiction Magazine, Issue #12. There’s a touch of other-worldliness in this one that borders on magic realism/mysticism. I hope you enjoy it!

Elizabeth had no idea that crashing the cocktail party would ultimately send her entire world tumbling down around her.

 

Available in both print / ebook from your favorite online retailers:
https://books2read.com/u/4AOVMN

Queen of Sand and Stone

Queen of Sand and StoneBloodline Chronicles: Progenitors: Volume 1

For centuries, the weather witches have ruled Nizam, protecting the oasis city from the devastating sandstorms that threaten its existence.

But the aging queen is dying, and Yolara, the heir to the throne, does not possess the gift of weather magic found only in her family line. Hers is the power over stone, the ability to command the shifting sands – but not the winds that drive them across the desert.

Will those who question Yolara’s right to rule be proven correct? Or can Yolara find a way to defend the city that does not rely on weather magic? Time is short, for the storm season is upon them, and the next storm could reach the city any day…

Available in print and ebook
from your favorite online retailers.
https://books2read.com/QueenOfSandAndStone

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Silver Linings in “Obsessions”

ObsessionsWhen you start tossing ideas around, you never really know which ones are going to stick together in ways that make you tilt your head sideways, start to smile, and know you have to see where it takes you. So when the words the words “workaholic” and “ghost” stuck to my whiteboard, I knew I had to play with the idea.

I’m glad I did. Because while the ghost of Harold Oglethorpe never got that last in-flight cookie, his story, Silver Linings, did find a home in Mark Leslie’s wonderful anthology, Obsessions.

It’s a fun, quirky story, that I enjoyed writing. And, as editor Mark Leslie said in his introduction, “Like Mattie’s unfortunate workaholic colleague, I’m sure this tale will linger in the air long after you finish it.”

You can get your own copy of Obsessions from your favorite online retailer.

Burning Bright reprinted

Year of the Cat #4 - A Cat of Strange LandsIf you missed Burning Bright when it was first printed in Cat Ladies of the Apocalypse, here’s another place where you can find it. Year of the Cat #4 – A Cat of Strange Lands collects nine wonderful stories about cats in all sorts of different times and places.

From the book description:

Cats roam everywhere on the planet. Everywhere. Their breed names often betray their place of origin—or their strange origin story in some now-lost land.

This collection honors that feline diversity in odd ways as much as possible. And the strange lands that cats not only originate from, but find themselves in.

These cats prowl in a witch’s hut, an enchanted shop, post-apocalyptic cities such as Las Vegas and Seattle, as well as across an ancient land where they once ruled as gods.

You can pick up Year of the Cat #4 – A Cat of Strange Lands in print or ebook from your favorite online retailer.

Purr-fect!

The Door to Nowhere in Fiction River: Doorways to Enchantment

Fiction River: Doorways to EnchantmentIn another life, I had dreams of becoming an architect. So it would stand to reason that a trip to Southern California would naturally include a visit to the Winchester Mystery House. And, because it’s just the way I think, the first (and best) idea I had for the theme “Doorways to Enchantment” was of the mansion’s (in)famous “door to nowhere.”

From the editor’s introduction to the story:

The Winchester Mystery House is a gorgeous, weird, creepy, wonderful place. Heir to the Winchester rifle fortune, Sarah Winchester believed the only way to quiet the ghostly voices of the people killed by that rifle was to keep building on her house. To that end, there are doorways that lead nowhere, staircases that dead-end, and other disorienting features. It’s spectacular—if you’re ever in San Jose, California, go. You won’t be disappointed.
You won’t be disappointed by this story, either…

Combining my own architectural doodling, a review of the commonly-known history behind the house, and a magical story theme, led me through that otherwise unusable door and into Sarah Winchester’s secret life.

I hope you enjoy The Door to Nowhere, along with the many other wonderful stories in Fiction River: Doorways to Enchantment.