Change Isn’t Always Scary

Sometimes, it’s a lot of fun and involves supervillains who aren’t nearly as gone as certain part-time superheroes thought.

Why, yes, I’m talking about Change, the ninth book in the Arca superhero urban fantasy series, which just came out today, October 25, 2024! Book Cover of Arca Book 9, Change, by Karen Diem

What’s this one about?

Well, people keep telling Zita Garcia to go to Hell. This time, she’s actually taking their advice. Alone and working against the clock, the sometime superhero raids the Greek Underworld to stop a massacre, save her best friends, and maybe even salvage that relationship she’s been screwing up.

Maybe. This is Zita, after all.

For the first week, Change will be $2.99 USD (or equiv) and will go up to $3.99 after that. Embrace Change and grab a copy from your retailer of choice!

Still bracing yourself to handle Change? Try reading the first chapter to ease yourself in.

Enjoy! I’ll be starting work on book 10 for release next year.

OBLIGATORY NOTE: I am an Amazon affiliate, and if you buy from links on this site, I may someday receive compensation for making the links available. I’d like that.

Sea What I Did There?

Sometimes, being a superhero means ruining Christmas. When Atlantis wants to give the gift of a destroyed Baltimore, can Arca and her perky nemesis stop them in time?

This is that story. The eighth book in the Arca superhero urban fantasy series, Sea, surfaced today and is available at most ebook retailers for $3.99 USD (or equiv). It has all the characteristics of a fun Christmas story: superheroes, Atlanteans with nuclear weapons, and serious shenanigans, all with holiday music playing in the background.

Minor spoiler: No one gets tossed out of Nakatomi Tower, but people definitely get thrown.

Buy it here.

Still unsure if Sea is the buddy comedy-action adventure-superhero-urban fantasy melange you’ve been hoping for? Dive into Chapter One to check it out.

For any of you washed away by all of the puns and ready to give me shell about them, I’m shore Book 9 won’t allow me to use as many.

Running With Sharp Objects

… and by that, I mean the seventh book in the Arca superhero urban fantasy series, Sharp! It has all the things you’d hope to find in an account of a Halloween visit to mom’s cozy small town. Pumpkins. Apple cider donuts. Murder. Fiberglass aliens. Theme supervillains. Guilt. Mystery. Car crashes. Random monsters. Possibly explosive pumpkins. You know, the usual.

Sharp releases October 26, 2022. Grab a copy now for $2.99 USD or equivalent! The price will go up to $3.99 USD in a few weeks. Paperbacks will hopefully be available in time for Christmas. Buy it here.

If you’re still not certain if it’s for you, read the all the other books first. If you’ve already done that and are afraid that it just won’t live up to the cheesy innuendo, bad decisions, and exciting action adventure of the rest of the series, check out Chapter One for a taste of the nutty goodness.

Someone Order More Pizza For This Party!

The sixth in the Arca superhero urban fantasy series, Party, is now in full swing! It has food! Dancing! Cheesy jokes! A government conspiracy! A nefarious supervillain! All the stuff you love at a festive gathering without the actual people or awkward silences!

Not as many exclamation points, though, as I used them all up here.

Grab a copy now for $2.99 USD or equivalent! The price will go up to $3.99 USD after August 12, 2021. Paperbacks should be available starting September of 2021.

Buy: Amazon Kobo iTunes Barnes & Noble Smashwords Other Stores

If you’re not certain if the lame jokes, questionable decisions, and heart-stopping action adventure will go with your party shoes, give the Chapter One a quick read.

Keep Your Toga On!

Toga! Toga! Toga!

Toga - Arca Book 5 - By Karen Diem As of May 5, 2020, Toga is loose and running free, throwing laurel wreaths and available for purchase at every major retailer. Don’t myth this one! The ebook is $3.99 USD or the equivalent, and most major ebook retailers should be more than happy to sell it to you.

Paperback versions will follow in a few weeks, but the 6×9″ books will be bursting with historical inaccuracies, lame jokes, and all the Arca you expect and then some. I’ll comment below when that happens. In the meantime, you can get a quick glimpse of the first chapter here.

And yes, this notice is late. It’s one of many things running sideways right now. Hope your Cinco de Mayo was a happy one!

For Your Free Viewing Pleasure

Bored? Stuck at home obsessing over that thing you meant to do that didn’t turn out quite right or perhaps never got started?

Let me help you procrastinate.

I’ve started attending and serving on panels at (virtual) cons. It’s great. I get to show off my invisibility superpower and be that mysterious voice that comes in from offscreen with the awesome jokes and everyone else gets to practice making faces at said comments.

Anyway, on April 28, 2020, I was on the Superheroes panel of QuaranCon 2020. We talked about superheroes we’ve known and loved (from afar, well outside of restraining order boundaries, I swear!), as well as small bits here and there about our own writing. The other panels at the convention were also entertaining; I particularly enjoyed the one on fight scenes.

This week, I’ll be attending the Superhero-Fiction Con and speaking on TWO panels, despite the con organizers having been with me on the QuaranCon 2020 panel. That con will have one panel every weekday from May 18 to May 22 at 6PM EST. I’ll be speaking on the Tuesday (May 19) panel on creating the powers behind the heroes, and on the Friday (May 22) panel on superhero origins.

After that, I’ve got no more virtual conventions planned for the moment. That’s subject to change if and when I get asked to do a sufficiently interesting one again. If they’d like to PAY me, that’d be even better. Cash dollars, Paypal, or homemade chocolate chip cookies only.

Hunt Down Monster!

Monster is on the loose! The fourth book in the Arca superhero urban fantasy series released today, May 5, 2019. What happens in this one? Here’s a quick description: Monster by Karen Diem

When the authorities abandon the search for a serial killer targeting Zita Garcia’s family, the sometime superhero will do whatever it takes to find him. If finding him means fighting literal monsters, wrangling glitter-obsessed vampires, or going to nightclubs, she’s in, even if the undead and line dances make her skin crawl. She needs to solve this fast—before things go from bad to hearse.

Here’s where you can find Monster:

Paperback versions will follow in a few weeks, but I can tell you that the 6×9″ books will have 322 pages filled with adventure, lame jokes, and all the Arca you expect. I’ll comment below when that happens.

To celebrate the release and readers who’ve stuck around for the past three books, I’m releasing the ebook at $2.99. After a week or so, the price will go up to $3.99 USD (or equivalent). I have no current plans to put it on sale again this year, though that decision is subject to change.

Need more info? Check out the full description or the first chapter!

AND… Super will be on sale for 99 cents USD (or equivalent) in all stores until May 15 for readers who like to start from the origin story and work their way up to the latest adventure. See the Books page for the store links.

NOTE: I am an Amazon affiliate, which means if you purchase an item at Amazon following a link on one of my pages, I may someday receive a few pennies from them.

Dead Tree Doorstops

The other day, I noticed that my readers were missing something important… Doorstops!

So of course I leapt into action to help solve this terrible problem! (In actuality, it may have been more of a frantic typing and mousing action, but I digress.)

As a result, both Super and Human are now available in paperback format.
Super and Human paperbacks These are good-sized 6X9″ paperbacks, light enough to read through comfortably, yet hefty enough to hold open a small, but feisty, door. They’re made with the finest standard paper and are just as huggable and readable as you would expect. Both should be available for order at most major bookstores. Sadly, those bookstores aren’t stocking their physical shelves with my books yet, but one can hope that someday, J.K. Rowling will cede some shelf space in the Fantasy/Science Fiction section to me. For now, the books are $12.99 USD.

You can find them at most major book retailers, including:

Amazon Super | Human
Barnes & Noble Super | Human
Book Depository Super | Human
Books A Million Super | Human

Power and other full-length novels in the Arca series will also be available in paperback format around their respective release dates.

NOTE: The Amazon links are affiliate links. I might get a few cents eventually if you purchase something.

Human Beta: Progress for People Who Don’t Stare at Newsletters

For those of you who don’t subscribe to my monthly newsletter (because you hate sneak peeks, chatty status updates, and the occasional freebie), Human beta readers have the second Arca book in their hands now.

What’s that mean?

The first draft of Human is done. Beta readers are the stalwart souls who brave the chaos of an early draft and let the writer know what needs mending. While Human’s away, the author will play… Or work writing more short stories and Arca Book 3, tentatively titled Power.

Then what?

Once it comes back from the beta readers, I’ll edit it and update it based on their comments and anything I catch in the interim. After that, it goes to the professional editors, depending on their schedules. Once they’re done battling my comma clone army, it will be final formatting and release time!

So…

Barring any major delays, Human is on schedule for an early May release. Said date might be one that I’ve used before, which also commemorates Mexican underdogs and excessive margarita consumption.

Seriously, people reading my newsletter knew all this and got a copy of the first chapter already.

Halloween’s Over, But This eBook Sale is Monster!

As a treat before the holiday madness begins in earnest, how about a massive ebook sale?

All books — over 180 of them — are 99 cents at all of the major retailers, not just Amazon, for the weekend. Genres include science fiction, fantasy, horror, dystopian, science fiction/fantasy romance, and post-apocalyptic books, separated by retailer and genre. As an added bonus, the same 99 cent price applies to multiple anthologies and box sets.

Super is one of the books on sale, so if you haven’t picked up your copy, go for it! If you have, books also make excellent holiday gifts. 😉

Science Fiction and Fantasy 99 cent eBook Sale - November 5-6, 2016 — Monster eBook Sale. Rawr. Click image to view books.

Super – Free First Chapter Announcement

This is the official free first chapter announcement for Super. In case you’ve forgotten what that is, here’s the blurb again. For your reading delectation, read the first chapter here!

What’s in the sample?

This sample is the complete, almost-final version of the first chapter of Super, and weighs in at approximately 4,700 words. Should any typos or grammatical problems occur between now and the release date (May 5, I’m looking at you!), those will be fixed in the final version posted at online retailers.

Simply, it introduces Zita Garcia, a bit about her world, and a touch of trouble to start things off right.

How long is Super anyway?

The novel itself is approximately 110,000 words. Samples at online retailers may be longer than this one.

Why the free first chapter announcement hubbub?

I’m excitable that way. Plus, how would you know about it if I didn’t tell you?

What goes well with chocolate bunnies and jelly beans?

Main character Zita Garcia would say “pretty much anything.” If you guessed the first chapter of Super, you’re right! Happy Easter to everyone who celebrates it. If you don’t celebrate it, you can still enjoy the sample.

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