The Gift of Words: The Killing Holiday  – Kindra M. Austin

As you finish up your holiday shopping, the Editors recommend adding one (or more!) of our fabulous titles to your list.

Kindra M. Austin’s neo-noir novella, The Killing Holiday, is filled with sex, cigarettes, and whiskey, leaving the reader wanting more.

“Austin’s dark, disquieting ability to provoke unease, is the exact right tempo for an addictive noir novella. You’ll be looking over your shoulder for weeks afterward… think you know psychological thrillers? Think again.”

-Candice Louisa Daquin

“The Killing Holiday digs beneath the human psyche and begs the question, what will you do for love? Or better yet, what are you willing to do for revenge? The dark and honest truth comes out in Austin’s characters, who become more animalistic and primal as the story progresses. The reader is forced to confront their own despicable and basest aspect of humanity: we are all killers. Killers of the spirit, of the heart and of course, the body”

—Rhiannon Marie, author of SHIFT

“The Killing Holiday will have you hooked, unable to put it down until the whole story unravels itself. Like an epic poet of old, Austin plunges in media res straight to the heart of the tale. . . The Killing Holiday is a must-read masterfully told tale by a novelist with the soul of a poet, who leaves us wondering how much of herself was left in the ink on the page.”

—John Leys, author of Whispers of a One-Eyed Raven

“In The Killing Holiday, author Kindra M. Austin thrusts readers into a world that is sexy, dangerous, and full of deceit. This is not just a tale about betrayal; this is a book that, at its core, is about love, and “love is madness.”

In a cast of femme fatales, dames, and anti-heroes, Austin smashes readers’ expectations and brings classic noir into the modern age. Her characters are a direct reflection of our society that invoke feelings of empathy and disgust. What started as a slow burn quickly turned into a fast-paced ride.

Moreover, this neo-noir novella taught me that dark fiction cannot, and will not, wait for permission to be literary vehicles of change. I personally appreciated how this book explores transgressive themes, like sexuality, to create a space of introspection for readers.”

—Grace R. Reynolds, author of Lady of The House

The Killing Holiday is available for purchase at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, IndieBound, Waterstones, Book Depository, and from other major online retailers.

ISBN-13: 978-1951724122

About the Author

Kindra M. Austin is an author from Michigan, USA, and the co-founder of Indie Blu(e) Publishing. She is an advocate for mental health awareness, sexual trauma survivors, and for the LGBTQ+ community. Her debut novel was released in 2017; she has since written and published two other novels, as well as four poetry collections. A neo-noir novella, The Killing Holiday was released in October, 2021. Other written and editorial publications include contributions to We Will Not Be Silenced, SMITTEN, As the World Burns, Through the Looking Glass, and But You Don’t Look Sick. Austin has also written for The Mansfield Pride magazine, an annual periodical out of Ohio. You can find her books at Amazon, Barnes and Noble online, and other major online retailers.

The Gift of Words: Some Words Never Sleep – Zinia Mitra

As you finish up your holiday shopping, the Editors recommend adding one (or more!) of our fabulous titles to your list.

Some Words Never Sleep comes from the monsoon soul of Indian poet Zinia Mitra. A bilingual author and accomplished academic, Mitra pours her observations and insights into transformative poetry, evoking what it is to be a woman of India, a breathing soul in an ancient wondrous land. Mitra imbues her intense recollections, responses, and emotions in a myriad of carefully juxtaposed poems that fill the reader with a semblance of what it is to walk in her shoes. The gentle sway of her alacrity as a writer, her femininity and strength, the enduring quality of her life thus far, make for spellbinding reading.

Zinia Mitra places her finger on the pulse of modern Indian verse and finds worlds hitherto undiscovered, with a sumptuous range of evocative pieces that transport us into her universe. Artwork by gifted Indian artist Lakshmi Tara adds to this lush, sensuous journey. Some Words Never Sleep is a dream from which you will not wish to readily awaken from, as it unfolds in waves from the mandala of her mind.

“Zinia Mitra’s poems record each lived moment’s limitlessness where everything is, lives and breathes or just ceases to be unnoticed. For her, silences have their own modes of prayer. Time and again; asking is giving, Zinia responds to the very special intimacies including a sapling’s delayed growth through space and time.”

—Jaydeep Sarangi, a fellow contemporary poet and academic anchored in Kolkata/Jhargram.

“Zinia Mitra is a poet, feminist, honourable agent-provocatuer, and game-changer. Each poem in her new collection speaks to the challenges and opportunities of our times. Without denying difficulties, Mitra’s words give us hope. These poems signal the challenges, but also, the way forward. The language is precise, the imagery striking. This book echoes with presence and dreams towards better futures. It must be read.”

—Dr. Amelia Walker, published poet and lecturer in creative writing on Kaurna Land, aka the Adelaide Plains, at the University of South Australia.

Some Words Never Sleep is available for purchase at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, IndieBound, Waterstones, Book Depository, and from other major online retailers.

ISBN-13:‎ 978-1951724108

About the Author

Zinia Mitra is an Associate Professor and Director of Centre for Women’s Studies at the University of North Bengal.  Her poems have been published in National and International journals including Asian Signature, Contemporary Literary Review, Muse India, Ruminations, Kavya Bharati, East Lit. Indian Literature (Sahitya Akademi), Teesta Review, Setu, Poetry Potion, The Antonym, Erothanatos, and The Pangolin Review.

Her translations have been published in books and journals, including Indian Literature (Sahitya Akademi).

Her books include The Kali Project: Invoking the Goddess Within / Indian Women’s Voices, Indian Poetry in English: Critical Essays, Poetry of Jayanta Mahapatra: Imagery and Experiential Identity, The Concept of Motherhood in India: Myths, Theories and Realities, Fourth Wave Feminism, Social Media and (Sl)Activism.  She served as the co-editor for Twentieth Century British Literature: Reconstructing Literary Sensibility, and Interact. She recently was a part of a poetry project on duoethnography under the Australian Association of Writing Program published in TEXT journal. She is on the editorial board of Teesta Review– an international journal of poetry.

Zinia Mitra writes from Siliguri, Darjeeling.

The Gift of Words: The Kali Project: Invoking the Goddess Within / Indian Women’s Voices

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Kali represents the perfect metaphor of the great dissenter desperately needed in today’s times, to rise above subjugate society. Kali, a goddess of strength and destruction, represents energy in its purest and feral form. Goddess Kali is an embodiment of the unfettered, and uncontrolled energy, who like nature, can create and destroy with equal ease. She is the perfect feminist icon the world needs today.

“The Kali Project draws in the voices of women as women – teachers, mental health workers, writers, doctors, lawyers, bankers, social workers – adding a sharper understanding of the inner realities that patriarchal structures seek to silence, sanctified by society, religion, community, and class. With entries from children and teenagers, to poems by internationally well-known writers, the gamut of experiences is vast and reiterates the idea that art and poetry are the essential vehicles which carry the hurt and, in the process, also healing within them.”

-Charanjeet Kaur, Former Chief Editor and Features Editor of Muse India, currently Contributory Editor for Indian writing in English of MI. Consultant Editor of SPARROW (Sound & Picture Archives for Research On Women) Newsletter.

(The Kali Project) “brilliantly gathers the voices of silence and sadness, helplessness and fury of feminist thoughts in powerful, simple and heart-wrenching verse. The poems nestle up into the folds and hems of the mythical mother- goddess, Kali. The poems in this collection deal with an array of themes, ranging from female foeticide to kanyadaans, marital rapes, bride burning and dowry deaths. It screams against the patriarchal penchant to invade and claim the female body as if it were an instrument of pleasure to be used and discarded or a possession to be bidden, sold and burnt.

. . . The poems in this anthology appear equipped with ten heads, ten arms and ten legs like Goddess Kali carrying the pain and ravages of broken spirit and psyche. Each representative poem spits blood, bile and tears and is a soul-rending cry for equality and harmony. The angst one feels is both personal and universal.”

Pushpa R. Menon, Teacher, Academic, Writer, Poet

“The Kali Project is a unique piece of art. It stands testimony, bridging the gap between India and the rest of the world, informing the ignorant and aware alike, of the power and enduring talent of Indian women.

. . . I suspect all women can tap into Kali’s positive energies and relate to the value of her fierce, unrepentant feminine energy. I appreciated this the most, reading The Kali Project; the convergence of women pulling together, creating, birthing, speaking without repression. . . We are all Kali.”

Dr. Belinda Román, Economist/Researcher/Historian

The Kali Project: Invoking the Goddess Within / Indian Women’s Voices is available for purchase at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, IndieBound, Chapters/Indigo, Waterstones, Book Depository, and from other major online retailers.

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1951724061

The Gift of Words: A Sparrow Stirs its Wings – Rachel Finch

As you finish up your holiday shopping, the Editors recommend adding one (or more!) of our fabulous titles to your list.

Indie Blu(e) Publishing was honored to republish the Rachel Finch’s stunning debut book of poetry A Sparrow Stirs its Wings. Finch, the author of Conversations With My Higher Self, is the powerhouse behind the Bruised But Not Broken community on Facebook, which provides support and healing for trauma survivors. She is a symbol of hope and light throughout the world.

“Every now and then, when the world seems to be rocked in chaos and people are screaming without listening – vile words and cries for help climbing on top of and over each other – a single voice stands out, and that voice is pure in its truth and stunning in its wisdom. Rachel Finch, and her debut book, A Sparrow Stirs its Wings, is that voice right now. Turning her heartbreaking abuse into heart-wrenching prose, Finch writes her truth and gives her strength to every unnamed victim turned survivor.”

-Nicole Lyons, The Lithium Chronicle: Volume One and Two

“A mark of a great poet is the ability to make emotional connection with their audience, and Rachel Finch does exactly that.”

Faye K. Brown, Beautifully Damaged Things

A Sparrow Stirs its Wings is available for purchase at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, IndieBound, Chapters/Indigo, Waterstones, Book Depository, and from other major online retailers.

ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1732800069

About the Author

Rachel Finch is a UK-based writer who originally started using poetry as a way to accurately express herself after a number of traumatic experiences in her young life. She is the founder of the online community ‘Bruised But Not Broken’ which was started with the purpose to raise awareness of abuse and trauma as well as to provide a place of comfort and support throughout the healing process. She firmly believes that it was with the support of this community that she was able to recover from sexual abuse. Rachel is mother to four young children and dedicates her time to her family and to guiding others on their own healing journey.

Rachel’s other titles include Conversations With My Higher Self and I am Draped in Soul, It is a Nakedness.

You can connect with Rachel on Facebook, Instagram, and WordPress.

The Gift of Words: Dirty Words – Sarah Lilius

As you finish up your holiday shopping, the Editors recommend adding one (or more!) of our fabulous titles to your list.

The captivating poems in Dirty Words aren’t just a feminist journey through women’s issues. These essential poems represent women in the various mundane, necessary, and often unfortunate aspects of life throughout all the stages of a woman’s years, from young girl to mother. Poems about sexual violence, abortion, marriage, and motherhood are just some of the topics unearthed with passion and precision. Lilius brings together words that strike into our hearts and bodies through vivid imagination and eager images. The reader will see that feminism isn’t a dirty word after all, but rather a powerful and vital concept everyone should apply to the everyday, the universal.

“There are forgettable words, there are memorable words and then there are dirty words. By dirty, I have found Sarah Lilius knows every kind of word (and emotion) out there, and is a master articulator, capable of threading together intoxicating poetry like a string of prayer beads. There’s nothing sanitized in her intense soul, it’s unfiltered all the way. If there were a new language, I would expect Lilius to have invented it. Her uncanny wielding of the nature of existence might well be written in blood; it’s permanent, intoxicating, and shocking in its comprehension of us all. Dirty Words is as essential as eating, it doesn’t need to beg, it summons, and you devour.”

-Candice Louisa Daquin, Pinch the Lock

“Dirty Words: not just profanity slurred on the street, the phrases whispered under breaths, or inappropriate slang, but words that we pluck from the earth, words that we give power to and return these armored gems to our throats: they can be our mantra and protest, our resistance to a culture that wants to suppress our light.

Sarah Lilius writes about young girls, bears, bands, Barbie, boys in paneled wood basements, her poems like animals in the night: gritty, beautiful, lurking under the house long after they’ve murdered something small and soft and run into the forest. Lilius writes of a femininity that is strong and rakish, not afraid to murder but also pushing through to the end while trembling. . .

Lilius reminds us that we carve words out of stone every day. We surpass our comfort zones and fight back. We carry these rocks with us, for beauty, weaponry, to keep us grounded on the earth.”

-Jennifer McBain-Stephens, The Messenger Is Already Dead

“In Dirty Words, Sarah Lilius explores the female body in the world as animal, as object, as performance, as victim, as shame, as mother.  These powerful poems inhabit a landscape lush with sex and music and bears and blood. They give us a history of girls and women who are “tired as buttons/used over and over,” who are searching for “courage, an ashen/thing” anywhere it might hide: a forest, a circus, a hotel shower, a gravel road, a paneled basement, a kitchen with Hole blasting from the stereo, or on the edge of a cliff with Thelma and Louise.  Using both narrative blocks and lyric fragments that call on both pop culture and the natural world, Lilius gives us a speaker who is a survivor, “with nothing inside or everything inside,” arriving at last at the conclusion that “I’m the editor of my own heart.” “

-Donna Vorreyer, To Everything There Is

“The aptly titled Dirty Words is akin to the risqué magazine hidden under your mattress or the diary of the coolest, most badass girl in school, who just so happened to be your mother. That is not to say that this collection centers on youth; it doesn’t. Dirty Words follows its author through a rough and tumble life in which she vehemently questions the ongoing war between men and women while timidly asking you to dance. I found myself swooning with such standout lines as “I hear La Llorona with stars scraping over my head,” and the more whimsical “His beard full of snarls and dead leaves, I wonder if birds nest there.” Equipped with the descriptive powers of Allen Ginsberg, the rawness of Charles Bukowski, and the perspective of Dorothy Parker, Sarah Lilius is sure to enrapture and delight readers.”

-Georgia Park, Softly Glowing Exit Signs

Dirty Words is available for purchase at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, IndieBound, Waterstones, Book Depository, and from other major online retailers.

ISBN-13: ‎978-1951724092

About the Author

Sarah Lilius is the author of five chapbooks including GIRL (dancing girl press, 2017) and Traffic Girl (Ghost City Press, 2020). Her sixth chapbook, Song for PTSD, is forthcoming from Blanket Sea Press. Dirty Words is her first full-length poetry collection. Some of her past publication credits include the Denver Quarterly, Court Green, Fourteen Hills, Boulevard, and The Massachusetts Review. She has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and a Best of the Net Prize. She grew up in the Midwest but now lives in Virginia with her husband, two sons, and their cat, Ophelia.

Her website: sarahlilius.com