Here is the breathtaking new cover art by British artist Ben Baldwin. Isn't it gorgeous? I don't know how he did it, but the images look very much the way Kit and Nick looked in my imagination. Look closely and you can see theatre curtains and the cobbled streets of London. See more of Ben's unique artwork at http://www.benbaldwin.co.uk. I would like to insert a personal request here: if you intend to buy The Phoenix please buy the new edition published by Lethe Press. The original, which was self-published, is still offered for sale against my express instructions by the company which printed it and which still controls the remaining inventory. I prefer that they not be supported in this unethical effort. The new edition has a lot of small revisions and some additional text. If you've read the original, don't despair-the story didn't change, only some of the words. So why did I revise something that was already doing rather well? After all, the original has almost sold out, the reviews have been overwhelmingly good-to-fabulous, readers are asking for a sequel, and there are 54 (almost all great; only one real stinker) customer reviews on Amazon. So you may be scratching your head wondering if I'm crazy for revising it. (Well, I'm a novelist. It's a given that we're fairly crazy.)

If you're curious about the reason, here goes. If you don't care, then skip this part. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to fix several things I discovered after the first book was published. Most important were the Americanisms that I was unaware of until British readers kindly and gently pointed out. I didn't have British beta readers then; now I do. Wonderful ones. So with their help my British characters got off the railroad train and into railway carriages. I changed other relatively minor things, such as making Lizbet and Xavier brother and sister instead of cousins, and adding a little new information I learned about treatment of the insane in the late 1890's, and even miscellaneous new information... for instance, did you know they hold baby pigs upside down by their back legs when they castrate them? Did you even care? Of course not. Only the pigs and PETA care. But it's one more touch of authenticity. I enjoyed the revising. It was fun to revisit characters I love so much.

See the updated video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENrHbkn-CAs and on my website. The creator of the video is Brenda Adcock, the multi-talented author of Pipeline, Reiko's Garden, and Redress of Grievances.

And speaking of the website, don't you love the new look? Big thanks and kudos to designer Tina Pavlik of Psyche Designs! At last I have a webmaster and can have the site updated when needed.

"... a symphony in words." - Michael Halfhill, author (Bought and Paid For; Scimitar; Sons.)

"It was amazing. I cried in several places." - "Jem" Reviewer

"If ever there has been a book that I can see as a richly inspired film, this is it." - Andrew Barriger, author (Finding Hope; Finding Faith; Finding Peace)

"... a luscious, sensuous Victorian world of music and male love with overtones reminiscent of the works of Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and George DuMaurier." -- Tyler Tichelaar

It's an eclectic collection. New and old, controversial novels and even picture books, nonfiction, fiction, fantasy, anything that strikes my fancy. You won't find bad reviews here; not because I like everything (I don't!) but because if I don't like it, or find it of interest, I won't review it.

Two of the most recent reviews are "Witch's Boy"-a truly marvelous book by Alex Beecroft, "A Face Without a Heart" by Rick R. Reed-a modern telling of Picture of Dorian Gray, and "Angel Land" by Victor J. Banis, reviewed by both myself and author Craig Burke.

My short story TOM: or, An Improbable Tail has appeared in two print anthologies as well as an e-zine A gay lawyer finds a beautiful, naked young man in his apartment... or does he? Now Lethe Press has made it available as a FREE READ on AllRomanceEbooks.com. It won't cost you a thing and it will give you a few chuckles. And it might make you take a second look at that stray cat in the back yard... No stray cat? Well, there's always the animal shelter. You just never know.

Thank you!

Copyright © Ruth Sims 2009

Update subscription
Unsubscribe