Category Archives: News

I finished a trilogy!

Posted on May 13, 2022 by Gabriella West

There is an especially good feeling about writing the third book in a trilogy. Confession: I’ve only done it once before, with my Elsie Street series. But a few days ago, I finished up the third book in the Knight’s … Continue reading →

Posted in LGBT, News, Self-publishing, Writing | Tagged 13th century England, A Knight's Tale, Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, bisexuality, Eleanor de Montfort, fate, Google play, historical romance, homecoming, Kobo, medieval romance, The Knight Returns, trilogy, Windsor Castle | Leave a comment

Ukraine in Crisis—Time’s Running Out

Posted on February 25, 2022 by Gabriella West

I have been riveted and appalled by the invasion of Ukraine by its neighbor Russia. What’s more, I actually know someone reporting on the ground over there, a reporter for the Christian Science Monitor… The bravery of the people and … Continue reading →

Posted in News | Tagged crisis, Czechoslovakia, Eastern Europe, Iron Curtain, Kyiv, nightingale, Putin, refugees, solidarity, Ukraine | Leave a comment

A New Indie Juggernaut?

Posted on February 8, 2022 by Gabriella West

Just got the news today that Smashwords is being acquired by Draft 2 Digital. This is really earth-shaking news for anyone who has been a part of the “wide” independent author scene. For those people who don’t publish direct to … Continue reading →

Posted in News, Self-publishing | Tagged D2D, Distribution, indie publishing, Mark Coker, merger, once you are mine, Smashwords, Year of the Tiger | Leave a comment

Smashwords End of Year Sale Expands!

Posted on December 16, 2021 by Gabriella West

The 5th Annual Smashwords End of Year Sale is longer this year: it runs December 17-January 1. I decided to keep it simple this time. The first two books in my medieval Knight’s Tale series will be on sale for … Continue reading →

Posted in LGBT, News, Self-publishing, Writing | Tagged A Knight's Tale: Kenilworth, ebooks, Happy Holidays, LGBT historical romance, medieval romance, once you are mine, pre-order, Smashwords, Smashwords End of Year Sale | Leave a comment

Fall Bargains and Musings

Posted on October 10, 2021 by Gabriella West

I wanted to let folks know that a couple of my books are on sale now at Smashwords. You can get Once You Are Mine for 25% off; The Pull of Yesterday, book 2 in the Elsie Street trilogy is … Continue reading →

Posted in Health, LGBT, News, Personal, Self-publishing, Writing | Tagged Bookbub, cancer, Colin Powell, Covid, death, Elsie Street, Free, hearts, mortality, once you are mine, Radish, Smashwords, The Pull of Yesterday | Leave a comment

The Letters of Shirley Jackson—a Preview!

Posted on August 23, 2021 by Gabriella West

I’ve been busy reading the delightful, yet somewhat vexing Letters of Shirley Jackson (Random House, 672 pp., $14.99 on Kindle) and writing a long review of it! Finding a home (irony alert, as Shirley was always focused on the physical … Continue reading →

Posted in creativity and its discontents, News, Reviews, Writing | Tagged 1950s, cruelty, dysfunctional relationships, female breadwinners, feminism, husbands, marriage, mental health, Morris Minors, Shirley Jackson, The Internet Review of Books, The Letters of Shirley Jackson, Vermont, women writers, women's lives | Leave a comment

Summer Odds n’ Ends

Posted on June 26, 2021 by Gabriella West

Summer’s a good time for bargains, and here are a few! First of all, the audiobook of Connecting the Dots: My Midlife Journey with Adult ADHD is on sale for just $1.99 thru the end of June over at BN‘s … Continue reading →

Posted in LGBT, News, Writing | Tagged ADHD, app, connecting the dots, LGBTQ, Own Voices, Radish, sale, Smashwords, summer, Summer/Winter sale, time of grace | Leave a comment

A Final Word on Blake Bailey

Posted on May 29, 2021 by Gabriella West

You can’t keep a bad man down. That’s what sprang to mind when I read on Twitter yesterday that Blake Bailey’s infamous biography of Philip Roth, unpublished by Norton, had been picked up by Skyhorse Publishing and will be rushed … Continue reading →

Posted in creativity and its discontents, News, Personal, Writing | Tagged academics, alcoholism, biography, bisexuality, Blake Bailey, decline and fall, double lives, Eve Crawford Peyton, fathers, Lusher, Philip Roth, publishing, Rape, Scandal, Skyhorse Publishing, sons, The Splendid Things We Planned, Valentina Rice, W.W. Norton | Leave a comment

A Note on Overdrive for Library Users

Posted on May 11, 2021 by Gabriella West

I was thrilled to see on Smashwords that three of my ebooks had sold to the Sacramento Public Library via OverDrive. OverDrive has been around since at least 2014 and is a distributor for libraries to purchase ebooks. As far … Continue reading →

Posted in News, Self-publishing | Tagged ADHD, Audible, audiobooks, Bookbub, Bookmate, borrow, connecting the dots, ebooks, libraries, mobile apps, overdrive, Sacramento Public Library, San Francisco Public Library, time of grace | Leave a comment

Coronavirus Dispatch #4: No More Heroes

Posted on February 20, 2021 by Gabriella West

The big news is that we have passed 500,000 Covid deaths in the U.S. The shocking thing is that I have not written about Covid since sometime last March. But that’s not too surprising. While the disease has not carried … Continue reading →