Saturday, December 31, 2016

There Will Be Cookies...

Come meet—live and in person—authors Damon Alan and Jax Hunter at Hooked on Books, Saturday, January 7, 2017 from 11AM-3PM!

Damon Alan writes smart space opera for smart people. His fiction is fast paced, emotionally stirring, and his characters relatable in their struggles, particularly his main character who sacrifices all to save the rest of us.

Damon will be signing the just-released 4th book in his Dark Seas military science fiction series, Stennis. He will, of course, sign any books in the series, as well as his thriller, Serum. He may also talk science and share cookies with his fans. damonalan.com


Jax Hunter writes romance, historical fiction and heartwarming home-town stories. She also created and owns, Revolutionary-War-and-Beyond.com, a website about the Revolutionary War and the Founding Era.

Jax will be signing books from her True Heroes series, which follows the men of the 506th Rescue Squadron.

Did I mention there will be cookies?

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

They're Back!

It even says so on the package:


What the (insert your favorite word here) are Hydrox, anyway? Well, I'm glad you asked.

Hydrox cookies look like Oreos but somehow predate them, being introduced in 1908. I wonder how that works? They are a bit different than Oreos, being crispier with darker chocolate crackers and less sweetness overall (though they are still plenty sweet)—kind of like the difference between Coke and Pepsi.


How come you've never heard of them? I expect you're just way too young to have experienced the preeminent sandwich cookie. Leaf Brands, the company that made them, was bought in the 1990's. Hydrox was reformulated and the name changed in 1999. They disappeared completely by 2003. But now they're back, with the original name and formula.

Why am I telling you this? I just had to tell somebody! I grew up loving Hydrox (not that I've been around since 1908) and not the competition.

But here's the real question: Are they just as good as I remember? The answer: Is anything, really, as good as we remember? Don't get me wrong—they are still quite tasty and my personal choice over Oreos, but like lots of the memories of one's youth, the reality does not quite bear out.

Hydrox are not in every store, yet, but you know where you can find them:

Hydrox on Amazon

Friday, November 18, 2016

Knit On!

We wish to welcome author Deb Buckingham to our ever-expanding ranks! Deb has moved her two knitting books, Dishcloth Diva, and Dishcloth Diva Knits On!, from another publisher to Jmars Ink. Both are available in print, and—for the first time—Kindle versions.


Along with these two books, Deb also writes fiction, and we hope to have her new adult coloring book available after the first of the year.

To find out more about Deb and her books, please visit our Dishcloth Diva page, and our Dishcloth Diva Knits On! page.

Monday, October 17, 2016

Local Author Wrapup

Local authors have meeted and greeted, books were signed, and wine was liberated from bottles. Our largest book signing event to date, with 16 authors and more than 50 titles, is in the books. The Cottonwood Center for the Arts Gallery offered a fantastic setting for the festivities. And all of the authors were awesome! If nothing else, it was a good party. The pictures tell a little of the story.































And, finally, a portent of things to come...


Monday, September 5, 2016

Local Author Meet and Greet & Book Signing

Presented by Jmars Ink and Courtney Literary
in conjunction with Indie Author Day

Saturday, October 8, 2016, 11AM-2PM
The Gallery at Cottonwood Center for the Arts
427 E Colorado Ave., Colorado Springs CO 80903


Come mingle with Colorado authors in an art gallery! Admission is free and open to the public.

Visit with indie, traditionally published, and small press authors of fiction and non-fiction, representing Mystery, Thriller, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Horror, Memoir, Craft, Cooking, Coloring, and more.

Cottonwood Center for the Arts is conveniently located near downtown Colorado Springs with ample free parking.

See the facebook event.

In cooperation with:
http://indieauthorday.com/









Author bios:

Damon Alan is a full time author and stay at home dad. Retired, he spent his working life in space and aviation related fields. That expertise transfers directly into the hard science of his novels.

Fortunate to have a wife who would rather have an author than a rich man for a husband, Damon spends hours every day researching, writing, speculating, or conspiring to create the best novels he can. Find him at www.damonalan.com

The Dark Seas Series is set in a distant future where mankind’s darkest impulses have once again placed everyone in danger. Fighting a war against an inhuman but man-made enemy, Sarah Dayson’s life is documented from her early career to mankind’s salvation.

The Serum: A Political Thriller is a statement about corruption in our society. Dr. Charles Whittaker has the greatest breakthrough in medicine in human history, but the government isn’t amused. When his drug threatens 1/6th of the American economy, he is marked for death by a corrupt and overreaching CIA.

Slayer is about a man who loves his wife. His drug addled wife. He’s offered a way to save her and he leaps on the opportunity. Little does he know he’s now part of Satan’s drug delivery cartel.


Debbie Maxwell Allen works as a project manager for Good Catch Publishing, as a freelance editor, and a Scrivener coach. She graduated from Columbia International University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education. In her spare time, she writes young adult novels in the Rocky Mountains, alongside her husband, two cats, one dog, and whichever of her five children are home at the moment. Unlimited: Conquering On My Knees, a life-changing book of prayer and faith in Africa, was published in December 2015. Find it at amzn.to/1UEIRqG


Charles Barnitz is an accomplished author who has published stories in The Denver Quarterly and The Madison Review and had a chapter of his novel, Mummers, anthologized in the Signet Classic Book of Contemporary American Short Stories. His cult favorite, The Deepest Sea, has been released in a 20th Anniversary Edition from Blood And Thunder Press. Many of his stories follow Hring, an 8th-c. former monk, now serving as an assistant advocate in the gemót courts of the Mercian province of Elmet. Heis out to see balance restored, even if it takes a little creative interpretation of the law to bring the guilty men to the rope. Learn more about Charles at www.bloodandthunderpress.com


Ashley Hodges Bazer is the author of the epic sci-fi series, The Crown's Call, which explores the onset and aftermath of a religious holocaust in a space opera setting. She also dabbles in young adult fantasy, bringing chess pieces to life in Checkmate and mixing up fairy tales with fun twists in Once Upon a Heist. She lives in Colorado with her husband and three children. After earning her bachelor’s degree in theatrical stage management from Arizona State University, she went on to work for Disneyland in that capacity. Currently a producer for an international daily radio program, she’s balancing working, writing, and momming duties. And she's a real duchess! Find her at www.ashleybazer.com


Deborah L. Brewer writes, draws, crafts and gardens in Colorado, U.S.A., where she has also enjoyed working with residents of skilled nursing and memory care homes as an activity provider. Holding a B.A., in Liberal Studies, she completed a Professional Certificate in Gerontology in 2015. Debby created a bold-lined, historically inspired coloring book to delight and comfort older adults and their families. Her grandmother loves it!

For three summers (2010-2012), Debby, who enjoys history, and her mother, Pat Mays, a retired nurse, sold home baked dog treats and fresh organic greens from their gardens at a local farmers' market in southern Colorado. They became cookbook authors in an effort to answer their customers many questions about edible greens. “Gee, Mom, this spinach is great!”

Find Debby's books on her Amazon author page: www.amazon.com/Deborah-L-Brewer/e/B01ICHARWS


Deb Buckingham is the knitwear designer/author behind Dishcloth Diva and Dishcloth Diva Knits On. She enjoys knitting by the fire on cold days and nights, spending time with a good book, taking long walks, spending time with her honey, and knitting alongside her peeps as they sip on wine or coffee. She lives each day to its fullest and feels blessed to be called grandma.

Not being able to sit still for very long, Deb spent a year learning how to draw. Taking online classes and watching videos, she learned the ins and outs of what it takes to be an illustrator. An Artist. Deb plans to use her newfound skills in creating coloring books for adults, as well as commissioned work.

You can find out what she’s doing, and where she’s going by visiting her at inspiringacreativelife.com


William Burcher is a former police officer and current author of The GAIAD, a story of ancient secrets not quite forgotten and the positive power of global perspective. He lives and works in Colorado, USA. Find him at williamburcher.com

IN A SOCIETY increasingly buried under the weight of its own insularity, an ancient and shadowy group selfishly guards a secret with the power to change everything. Tonight, on a stage in front of thousands, one of their members commits a horrible, shocking act. In the audience is Detective Fleur Romano. Bitter and world-weary, she vows to uncover the reasons behind the horror she just witnessed. In the process, she’ll discover that she's led her lonely life ignorant a fundamental truth, a truth first discovered by a man who walked the earth millennia ago, a man mysteriously familiar.

In this powerful debut, William Burcher is willing to explore unique and fantastic themes with realism and grit. The GAIAD boldly poses big questions. What do we lose, as we separate ourselves from the earth and each other? What would the future hold, if suddenly something changed with that most fundamental of relationships—the one we have with our own planet?


Charles P. (Chuck) Cabell, Jr. is a 1958 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point. He holds an MS (Astronautics) Degree, an MS (Systems Management) and a Doctorate (Public Administration) in Public Administration. He retired from the Air Force as a Brigadier General after a thirty-year career (which included a flying tour in Vietnam), and then spent ten years as a consultant to industry and the government.

He took sporadic piano lessons as a child and sang with his high school choir. At West Point he was a member (and soloist) of the Glee Club and the cadet co-director of the Catholic Chapel Choir. While in the Air Force, he directed Catholic Choirs at several bases and composed and sang folk songs with guitar. After taking voice lessons, he sang with the Paul Hill Chorale, in Washington DC, the Colorado Springs Chorale, and the Colorado Springs Opera Chorus. He has also performed lieder and art songs in recital.

He is also past president of the Colorado Springs Choral Society and a past board member of the Opera Board and the Chamber Orchestra of the Springs. His musical composition, “That’s What Christmas Means to Me,” was performed by the Colorado Springs Chorale. An avid classical pianist, he co-founded Amateur Pianists International in 2000 and served as its president for fourteen years.

He now devotes his life to the arts as writer and publisher: www.impavidepublications.com


Catherine Dilts is the author of the Rock Shop Mystery series, while her short stories appear regularly in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. With a day job as an environmental regulatory technician, Catherine's stories often have environmental or factory-based themes. Others reflect her love of the Colorado mountains, fishing, and running. Her third novel, Stone Cold Blooded, is scheduled for release October 10. Learn more about Catherine at www.catherinedilts.com


DeAnna Knippling is a freelance writer, editor, and book designer living in Colorado. She started out as a farm girl in the middle of South Dakota, went to school in Vermillion, SD, then gravitated through Iowa to Colorado, where she lives with her husband and daughter. Some of her fondest childhood memories are of putting together haunted houses in the basement of her grandparents’ house with her cousins, and taking flying leaps off haystacks and silage piles in the middle of winter with her brother. She was in charge of coming up with the “let’s pretend” ideas when they were kids, at least in theory. But then no plan survives contact with the enemy.

She now writes science fiction, fantasy, horror, crime, and mystery for adults under her own name; adventurous and weird fiction for middle-grade (8-12 year old) kids under the pseudonym De Kenyon; and various thriller and suspense fiction for her ghostwriting clients under various and non-disclosable names.

Her latest book, Alice’s Adventures in Underland:  The Queen of Stilled Hearts, combines two of her favorite topics–zombies and Lewis Carroll.  It’s the story of a tame zombie who told a little girl named Alice a story that got them both in more trouble than they could handle.

Her short fiction has appeared in Black Static, Penumbra, Crossed Genres, Three-Lobed Burning Eye, and more. Find DeAnna at www.WonderlandPress.com


Shannon Lawrence is a fan of all things fantastical and frightening, and writes in her dungeon when her minions allow, often accompanied by her familiars. She writes primarily horror and fantasy. Her stories can be found in several anthologies and magazines, including Once Upon a Scream, Dark Moon Digest, and The Deep Dark Woods. When she's not writing, she's hiking through the wilds of Colorado and photographing her magnificent surroundings. Though she often misses the ocean, the majestic and rugged Rockies are a sight she could never part with. Besides, in Colorado there's always a place to hide a body or birth a monster. What more could she ask for? Find her at www.thewarriormuse.com


Chris Mandeville: After growing up in California and graduating from the University of California at Berkeley, Chris married a U.S. Air Force officer and moved from state to state, as well as to British Columbia, before settling in Colorado. She now lives in the woods of the Rocky Mountains with her husband, their sons, her service dog Finn, and an assortment of cats. Chris is proud to have served for more than ten years on Pikes Peak Writers’ Board of Directors, five of those years as president, and she remains an active volunteer in the nonprofit sector helping writers, military families, and service dogs. Chris is a writer of science fiction and fantasy, as well as nonfiction books for writers. She’s taught writing workshops to hundreds of writers, from beginners to advanced, on topics such as backstory, story planning, the “Sweet 16 First Lines” of a manuscript, name-storming, writer’s block, and more. Her published works include Seeds: a post-apocalyptic adventure and 52 Ways to Get Unstuck: Exercises to Break Through Writer’s Block. She’s currently writing the next in her 52 Ways series: 52 Ways to Name a Character. For information about her books, upcoming events, and tips for writers, visit www.chrismandeville.com


Steven LeRoy Nelson is an award-winning humorist whose short fiction has appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, The Leviathan, Fire and Ice, and numerous other publications. He lives in Colorado and, when not researching poisons and polishing his skull collection, is working on his 10th novel. Visit him at www.stevenleroynelson.com


Robert Spiller—besides being a master of time and space—is the author of the Bonnie Pinkwater mystery series, including The Witch of Agnesi, A Calculated Demise, Irrational Numbers, Radical Equations, and Napier's Bones. Bonnie uses mathematics and her knowledge of math history to solve murders in the small Colorado town of East Plains. Robert lives in Colorado Springs with his wife Barbara. Find him at www.rspillerwriter.com


Tena Stetler is a paranormal romance and cozy mystery author with an over-active imagination.  She wrote her first vampire romance as a tween, to the chagrin of her mother and the delight of her friends. With the Rocky Mountains outside her window, Tena sits at her computer surrounded by a wide array of paranormal creatures telling her their tales. Colorado is her home; shared with her husband of many moons, a brilliant Chow Chow, a spoiled parrot and a forty-year-old box turtle.  Any winter evening, you can find her curled up in front of a crackling fire with a good book, a mug of hot chocolate and a big bowl of popcorn.

She is the author of:
A Demon’s Witch first in the Demon’s Witch Series  amzn.com/1509203087
Charm Me–A Candy Hearts Romance (E-book only)  amzn.com/B018L2U904
A Witch’s Journey  amzn.com/B01F0LRJ7U
A Witch’s Holiday Wedding - release for 2016 Holidays

She loves to chat with anyone, readers and authors alike. You can find her at www.tenastetler.com


L. R. Wheeler, author of If I’m Making So Much Money…Where Is It?, draws on 46 years of knowledge gained as a principal and founder of several CPA firms, General Manager of a prime contractor to the government, Chief Financial Officer of a national manufacturer, member and/or advisor of the Board of Directors to numerous businesses, and thousands of consultations with business owners, to give insight into how to operate a successful business.

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Welcome Friends

A warm welcome is always appreciated. Our author, Deborah Brewer, has made her first foray into the world of coloring books conveying warm feelings with Welcome Friends, A Bold-Lined Coloring Book for Adults. Designed to not overwhelm older adults, it can be enjoyed by persons of any age. Its single-sided pages amuse with drawings of pets, relax with stained-glass, and inspire with reflective quotes.

http://www.jmarsink.com/p/welcome-friends.html

It is available now in print-only as you can't color on a Kindle at present. Ordering information and more can be found on the Welcome Friends page.

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Thespiana 2016


Our second foray into the world of theatre has come to a successful end. We were behind the scenes again this time, last time as assistant director for The Last Radio Show. This time we were honored to have a short play we had written chosen for production as part of Thespiana 2016.

Thespiana 2016 featured five plays by local playwrights, including Chuck Cabell, Warren Epstein, and Lauren and Mark Arnest. Warren Epstein and the fabulous Eve Tilley split the directing tasks. Opening night, Saturday, was sold out, with the Sunday matinee getting close to a full house. The audience seemed pleased with the plays, laughing and applauding more than politely. All in all, an outstanding weekend.

The theme of Thespiana 2016 was "gray comedies." The first half of the festival was consumed by Chuck Cabell's Diabolus ex Machina. After intermission, A Priest, a Rabbi, and a Horse..., also by Chuck Cabell, The Secret Origin of Race, by Warren Epstein, Back from the Dead (our work), and Good Ommin', by Mark and Lauren Arnest, were presented.

Each play was performed as a staged-reading; that is they were rehearsed in advance, and enacted from chairs whilst the actors read from scripts. This leads to a shorter production time, with the story being acted out primarily in the audience member's head. The plays chosen worked very well for this kind of presentation as not a lot of action or props were called for.

Outstanding local actors, Sue Bachman, Elizabeth Kahn, Roy Kieffer, Greg Lanning, Mike Miller, Desiree Myers, Robert Tiffany, and Sallie Walker, were chosen by the directors to perform the five works. George Preston and Todd Wallinger were tapped to perform as MCs/narrators.

We want to thank our director, Eve Tilley, and Sallie Walker and Mike Miller for their epic performances of our play.



Thursday, February 25, 2016

All or Nothing is Now Available!

The playing card game we helped develop, All or Nothing, is finally available!


All or Nothing is a fun, trick-taking card game for 3-6 players, or 3 or 4 teams of two players each. Rounds start with each players stating how many tricks they plan to take—either every trick or none of the tricks—hence the name: All or Nothing. It is fast-paced, with up to 10 rounds of play for each game.

We have done lots of game testing and refining with different numbers of players ranging in age from 8 to, let's just say, a lot older than 8, before releasing it on an unsuspecting public.

The game consists of a custom-designed deck of playing cards in a clear plastic storage box, along with quick-start instructions. In-depth instructions and printable score sheets are available on the All or Nothing web site.

To join the fun, or find out more, click the link below and order a deck or two.

Click here to order All or Nothing at Amazon.

Friday, January 15, 2016

The Last Radio Show is On The Air!


Todd Wallinger's latest farce, The Last Radio Show, premiered last night at the Black Box Theatre to an enthusiastic crowd. The play, about a foundering radio station, is a romp through a time before cable TV and the Internet, when serial radio shows reigned supreme.

We have happily been working behind the scenes during the production, to learn a little, as well as have a good time. And we have done both.

There is still time to catch the show, with three performances remaining. Tickets are available at Brown Paper Tickets. Come join the fun!