Jane Austen! Demonic Castles! Time Travel! Dragons! This Black Friday Consider a Southard Novel…

Posted on November 28, 2013 by Scott D. Southard

When I sit down to write a book, my first goal is always to give my readers something new. So much of what you find on bookstore shelves can feel like a cookie-cutter recipe for a tale. Add a twist here, build to a love story here, sprinkle some comedy… That is not what you will find in one of my novels.

This Black Friday, and in your holiday shopping, consider one of my novels for your readers. You can find excerpts, reviews, interviews, and more information on each of the books via their pages on this site.

A JANE AUSTEN DAYDREAM
Available in print ($13.46) and eBook ($3.99) from Madison Street Publishing via Amazon.com here.

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.

Written in the style of Jane herself, this novel ponders the question faced by many devoted readers over the years–did she ever find love? Weaving fact with fiction, it 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.

“I consider this novel one of the best not only in regency era literature, but also in mainstream fiction.” -NovelTravelist.com

MAXIMILIAN STANDFORTH AND THE CASE OF THE DANGEROUS DARE
Available in print ($9.71) and as an eBook ($3.99) via Amazon.com here.

The cursed and foreboding McGregor Castle is the most terrifying and haunted location in all of the British Empire. Only a brave (or foolish) soul would consider visiting it, let alone staying within its walls for five days. In other words, a perfect dare for a man like Maximilian Standforth!

Maximilian Standforth, famed playboy aristocrat and private detective, is a genius with dangerous tastes. With Bob (his trusty carriage driver, biographer, and body guard) and Maggie Collins (actress, spy, and maid) by his side, Maximilian will experience horrors and madness unlike any seen before. For it is at McGregor Castle that the team will discover more than they ever could imagine in this very experimental and genre-breaking thriller.

“Playing with traditional style and plot ingredients but introducing enough surprises and originality this book was great fun to read.” -Christoph Fischer Books

MY PROBLEM WITH DOORS
Available in print ($15.38) on Amazon.com here and as an eBook via Google Play ($9.99) here.

Jacob’s life changed in a single moment when, as a toddler, he walked through his bedroom door only to find himself in the office of a British officer in Capetown, 1870. This would begin a thirty-year journey which would take him from ancient to future civilizations, and innumerable places and times in between. Through all of his travels, Jacob seeks for the purpose of his predicament, the significance of his life with all of its joys and suffering, loneliness and impermanence.

“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

MEGAN
Available in print ($15.51) on Amazon.com here and as an eBook via Google Play ($9.99) here.

Megan Wane is caught in a life of dull dreariness. She goes to work in a dead end job with a boss she can’t stand, and comes home to a silent apartment with only a standoffish cat for company. She can only get away through her imagination. And there, in her thoughts, there exists a fairy-tale kingdom with wizards and dragons. A place called Prosperity, where she is both a princess and a hero. On this day, both Megan’s external reality and her interior world will suffer tragedy that will turn her life upsidedown and shake her to the foundation. Can Megan turn disaster into deliverance?

“I am very impressed with how Mr. Southard has interwoven the two world’s of Megan. It is very artfully crafted with vivid descriptions. ” -S. M. Nystoriak, Writer’s Block

While You Wait…

Posted on February 7, 2013 by Scott D. Southard

I like to think of life as a theater sometimes. Mainly this is because I had so much experience growing up around the stage since my brother was a young actor and I was dragged along many evenings (sometimes even helping backstage with the crew).

Right now, I have two books waiting in the wings, being prepared for their performances (A Jane Austen Daydream and Maximilian Standforth and the Case of the Dangerous Dare). So while you wait for their appearances in a few months, why not check out some of the acts ready for the spotlight? I’m extremely proud of both of these books and I think you will enjoy them.

My Problem With Doors

Jacob is lost in time. He has been lost since as a toddler he first stepped through a door and ended up in a different land, in a different time. Over the course of the tale, Jacob tells of his struggles growing up in history. From the battlefields of WWI to an Afghanistan terrorist camp to the streets of Jack the Ripper to the estate of Lord Byron to a pirate ship, Jacob explores what it means to be human and if he, with his unique problem, has a purpose, a destiny. Romantic, surprising, and full of adventure, My Problem With Doors is filled with twists and turns.

You can find the book:

In print on amazon for $15.95 here.
It is available as an eBook (and will work on all devices) via Google Play (here) or on the publisher’s site (here).

You can read a sample from My Problem With Doors here.

Megan

Megan Wane lives in two worlds. In one she is a beloved princess and secret superhero fighting to save her dream-like kingdom of Prosperity from disaster with a magic sword firmly in her grasp; and in the other world Megan is an event planner living in a stale cubicle, lost in the drab of an uninspired 9-to-5 existence. Megan is a story about the line where dreams and tragedy meet and the repercussions of the choices we make in our precious lives.

You can find the book:

In print on amazon for $15.95 here.
It is available as an eBook (and will work on all devices) via Google Play (here) or on the publisher’s site (here).

You can read a sample from Megan here.

Mush: The Effects of Parenting on the Artistic Mind

Posted on November 14, 2012 by Scott D. Southard

My brain has turned to mush.

I can’t say exactly when it happened, but somewhere between the long sleepless nights with a newborn and the obsessions of a toddler (who is convinced he is a racecar, and tells everyone. I don’t even understand how Nascar is a sport!), this fine-tuned tool I have always been so fond of has become permanently muddled.

To know me before my son was to know a devout follower of classic literature. I could discuss the finer points of Finnegan’s Wake and Middlemarch and not drop a bead of sweat. I was a snobby individual, and proud of my snobbiness, wearing it as almost a badge. But now, I spend my days thinking:

Where did Piglet disappear to during the entire Piglet’s Big Movie?

Why does Elmo tell kids the best place to learn more is to watch a TV channel in every episode of Elmo’s Room? Does anyone else have a problem with that?