Melody Writes

Today's feature is the second last one for the SSBA Finalists of 2025! I bought this book, forgetting it was an SSBA Finalist book based on the awesome title,  The Years Shall Run Like Rabbits , and I cannot wait to dive in! As usual, more information on the SSBA can be found here , and links to all of my other SSBA posts can be found here . Side note, nominations are open for the 2026 awards - so send them in ! On to the author spotlight!   Ben Berman Ghan - Author Biography Ben Berman Ghan is the author of The Years Shall Run Like Rabbits (Buckrider Books, 2024), as well as Behold the Dead (Anstruther Press, 2025), Visitation Seeds (845 Press, 2020) and What We See in the Smoke (Crowsnest Books, 2019). His prose, poetry and criticism have previously been published in Clarkesworld Magazine, Strange Horizons, The Ex-Puritan and Ancillary Review of Books, and have been reprinted in such anthologies as Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction and Year’s Best ...

Good afternoon! If you're like me, you've been mainlining the Olympics for the last two weeks. I love all Olympics and will watch any event enthusiastically. But... I suppose... there are other things in life, like wrapping up my SSBA Finalist posts. Today, it's Michael J. DeLuca's turn, finalist in the Fantasy category. As usual, more information on the SSBA can be found here , and links to all of my other SSBA posts can be found here . Side note, nominations are open for the 2026 awards - so send them in ! On to the author spotlight!    Michael J. DeLuca - Author Biography Where you can find Michael J. DeLuca:  I'm most active on BlueSky as @michaeljdeluca.bsky.social ; I'm also on Mastodon at @michaeljdeluca.climatejustice.social . If you look back on my website The Mossy Skull , there's some travel writing I did about Guatemala and the Maya. And I also publish a literary magazine which deals with a lot of the same themes as THE JAGUAR MASK:...

Good evening! I hope you are keeping well and staying warm. It's unusually cold here for my region, lately, although, I grew up in colder, so I'm used to it, just a bit out of practice. That just means a lot of staying inside, reading, cross-stitching, and watching Olympics. It also means it's time for another SSBA 2025 Finalist Featured Author. (nice segue!) Today's author is Alvar Theo and their book, Benothinged, a finalist in the horror category. As usual, more information on the SSBA can be found here , and links to all of my other SSBA posts can be found here . Side note, nominations are open for the 2026 awards - so send them in ! On to the author spotlight!    Alvar Theo - Author Biography Alvar Theo lives in Wolverhampton with one old cat and two young dogs, all of whom are colossal pains. They have been writing their entire life, a mixture of screenwriting and prose. Their work has been featured in podcast sketch shows and acting showcases. They have a d...

Hello again! Slight schedule change on the SSBA posts. Last time, I promised 1 every Sunday, but instead I got sick and missed one. The current plan is to post twice a week (Wednesdays and Sundays) until the posts are complete! Anyway, today's featured author is one of our returning semi-finalist interviewees , Carson Winter, author of A Spectre is Haunting Greentree . As usual, more information on the SSBA can be found here , and links to all of my other SSBA posts can be found here . Side note, nominations are open for the 2026 awards - so send them in ! On to the author spotlight!    Carson Winter - Author Biography Carson Winter is an award-winning author, punker, and raw nerve. His short fiction has appeared in over 20 publications, including Apex , Vastarien , and Chthonic Matter Quarterly. He is the author of Soft Targets , The Psychographist , and A Spectre is Haunting Greentree .  Where you can find Carson Winter:  You can find Carson Winter at carso...

Happy New Year - Hope you enjoyed your holidays! I had a hectic holiday season and am now back full swing at work, life, and writing! And as part of that writing, I'm kicking off with another SSBA featured finalist. This series will continue for the next five Sundays, after which, I'll start reviewing the winning books.   More information on the SSBA can be found here , and links to all of my other SSBA posts can be found here . Today, the author I am spotlighting is Michael Merriam, author of Terror at Tierra de Cobre, and previously included in my semi-finalist series.  Michael Merriam - Author Biography Michael Merriam is the award-winning author of the Weird West and Steampunk series Sixguns & Sorcery . Michael’s work has appeared with Carina Press , Queen of Swords Press , and Uncanny Magazine , among others. He has published fourteen novels, novellas, and collections, as well as over 100 short stories and poems. He is an award-winning playwright and screenw...

Hello and welcome to the first post in my SSBA Finalist Series. I will be highlighting a number of the finalists from the Small Spec Book Awards. The SSBA is all about promoting small press and indie speculative authors. More information on the awards can be found here . The first author I am spotlighting is Gabby Hutchinson Crouch, author of Cursed Under London, and previously included in my semi-finalist series.  Gabby Hutchinson Crouch - Author Biography Gabby Hutchinson Crouch  ( Horrible Histories ,  Newzoids ,  The News Quiz ,  The Now Show ) has a background in satire, and with the global political climate as it is, believes that now is an important time to explore themes of authoritarianism and intolerance in comedy and fiction. The Darkwood Series does so in a funny, engaging way that never loses the warmth of humanity, even as its villainous Huntsmen try to dehumanise their victims as well as anonymising and dehumanising themselves....