Circa24's Blog

Fiction provides powerful frameworks to explore and understand the experiences and viewpoints of others in a way not possible in our daily lives. Although it does not provide factual knowledge, it immerses us in the minds and lives of characters, including ones you’d never encounter in reality. Thomas Harris’ Hannibal series, for example, dives into the mind of Hannibal Lecter. This character, who would terrify us in life, becomes someone we can understand as we see the world through his eyes, and in a macabre way, we empathize with him. Throughout Fiddler on the Roof, we watch Reb Tevya grapple with a changing world as he bends his cultural and moral compass, wondering when he will reach his breaking point and refuse that one last compromise.

Horror, like Predator, and dystopian novels, like The Handmaid’s Tale, provide a means of confronting our fears. Through them, we imagine and rehearse scenarios. Although exaggerated beyond anything we are likely to encounter, a well-written horror story lets us wonder about how we might react, not just in extreme situations but in the more moderate challenges that could confront us in our daily lives. The dark threat over our horizon may not be an invisible monster but a domineering boss or that unknown car that seems to follow us on the highway.

Books that explore humanity’s dark side let us experience the world from the perspectives of both the victims and oppressors. Some, such as Uncle Tom’s Cabin, have had the power to help change the world. The profound appeals of Charles Dickens and Victor Hugo tugged on the conscience of 19th-century society as they pled for social reforms.

Sad stories also provide an emotional release. They let us explore sadness and depression in a controlled, distant, selective, time-limited environment free from the ongoing repercussions of actual events. We can experience a catharsis and resolution, emerging unharmed and enriched by the experience. When we engage in the pain and sorrow of a heart-breaking novel, our lives brighten through the comparison. We realize that given a chance to trade places with characters, we would choose our own realities over theirs. Tragedies can also deepen our connections to our own pasts, sending our minds back to those difficult times that, in retrospect, were often the most fulfilling periods of our lives.

Someone asked me if I've got any new books in the pipeline. Not yet. I am working on a novel, but the characters and I are at war. They seem to want to do one thing, and I want them to do something else. Usually, they win, but I think we may be nearing a truce. I've had to go back and scrap part of my outline, but in the end, I think the detent will be worth it.

My First Audiobook has Launched!

Exciting news! Audible approved Circa24’s book of short stories, Thomas Hardy was an Optimist: A Collection of Short Stories from the Plague Years. The expressive voice of Carrie Gibson brings to life this collection of short stories set in the 1990s through the early 2000s.

If you enjoyed the written book or prefer your books on audio, you can preorder a copy on Audible.

Want to indulge? I’m offering a reduced pre-order price.

Please use the following links:

US Market: https://www.audible.com/pd/B0CZV4DSCL…

Canadian Market: https://www.audible.ca/pd/B0CZTZGQMD/…

Australian Market: https://www.audible.com.au/pd/B0CZV4L…

UK Market:https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/B0CZV5LJ…

German Market: https://www.audible.de/pd/B0CZVKY6HL/…

French Market: https://www.audible.fr/pd/B0CZV53QP4/…

Exciting news! Audible approved my book of short stories, Thomas Hardy was an Optimist: A Collection of Short Stories from the Plague Years. The expressive voice of Carrie Gibson brings to life this collection of short stories set in the 1990s through the early 2000s.

If you enjoyed the written book or prefer your books on audio, you can now preorder a copy on Audible.

Want to indulge? I'm offering a reduced pre-order price.

Please use the following links:

US Market: https://www.audible.com/pd/B0CZV4DSCL...

Canadian Market: https://www.audible.ca/pd/B0CZTZGQMD/...

Australian Market: https://www.audible.com.au/pd/B0CZV4L...

UK Market:https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/B0CZV5LJ...


German Market: https://www.audible.de/pd/B0CZVKY6HL/...

French Market: https://www.audible.fr/pd/B0CZV53QP4/...

Someone suggested I start a page on StoryOrigin. So far, it's even more confusing than starting a page on GoodReads. However, I'm starting with the basics and hoping to get better at it. (I'm technologically challenged, and think the last good invention was the wedge. After the wheel, society began going down hill.)

Here are my first links:
An Encounter with Cows:
https://storyoriginapp.com/universalb...

Silent Consent:
https://storyoriginapp.com/universalb...
Endured by the Gods:
https://storyoriginapp.com/universalb...

and Thomas Hardy Was an Optimist: A Collection of Short Stories From The Plague Years

I want to reach out and thank everyone who participated in my three March Giveaways! My most recent addition to the Silent Consent universe, Endured by The Gods, had 597 entrants, and 221 have shelved it as a "want to read." --And Silent Consent garnered 1021 requests!

I am very excited about my book of short stories, Thomas Hardy Was an Optimist: A Collection of Short Stories From the Plague Years , which had 687 entrants, and 364 people shelved it as "want to read."

I am grateful for all your support, and will soon have an announcement about a new format for this last one!

For those of you who are celebrating this weekend, Happy Easter!

Our Goodreads Book Giveaways Endure until Mid-March, with end dates between March 13 and March 21, 2024

Silent Consent by Circa 24

This Giveaway ends on March 13, 2024,

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Thomas Hardy Was an Optimist:

This giveaway ends on March 15, 2024

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Endured by the Gods

This Giveaway ends on March 15, 2024

See the Giveaway details at Goodreads

An Encounter with Cows (The Newest Book by Circa24)

This giveaway ends on March 21, 2024

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

To celebrate the release of my most recent book, An Encounter With Cows, I am offering giveaways of that book along with both books in my Silent Consent series, Silent Consent and Endured by The Gods. Once I posted those two, I thought, why not run one more for my book of short stories, Thomas Hardy Was an Optimist?

Silent Consent

 
Endured by the Gods


And here is my book of short stories:
Thomas Hardy was an Optimist



And Finally, introducing my newest offering:

An Encounter with Cows



 

Today, I launched my newest book An Encounter With Cows, and I am celebrating with Giveaways of both these and another round of my Silent Consent series, all ending in mid-March, just in time for the typical spring break.

This stand-alone has nothing to do with my Silent Consent universe, and it has its own set of characters to love and hate.


Dr. Kayla Eastman receives word that her wife has died in a tragic accident while on a dino dig. Both worked for a bullying department chair, Nick Tenhune, at Cando University (fictional), who treats the faculty like dirt. Following the funeral, he requires Kayla, still in a state of shock and grief, to travel west to Falcon, ND, to retrieve University property and return immediately. Once there, she questions the circumstances around her wife’s death. Without tenure, Kayla must choose between continued employment and uncovering the truth about her wife’s demise and face the consequences of her decision.


I set the novel in one of my favorite places, rural North Dakota. I have spent many summers in Rollete and Towner Counties and have wanted to use them as a setting for some time. Many of the local landmarks are real, like the Giant Turtle statue in Dunseith, ND (made out of over 2000 tire rims) and the colossal sandhill crane statue in Steele. I've gone rock-hounding in the agate pits of Souris, MB, and scampered over the Badlands in the west on dino digs. Cando is the county seat of Towner, but sadly, there is no Cando U.