Best indie authors that you might not know...

Happy holidays everyone! It is the season of giving and being thankful so today I wanted to switch up my blog post a bit and focus not on my own work (there are plenty of blogs previously posted for you to look at for that) but instead to highlight some work from indie authors that I've come to know and love. Perhaps you can't get their books for Christmas this year. But many of you have reading goals for 2025 and I highly recommend you consider these books. Also, search for these authors on social media. I can only choose a few but there are so, so many. Some of these authors have their own websites and will post about their upcoming work there or on their Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, etc. accounts. And lastly, always remember to rate and review. It is the only way people will know about these people. Happy reading!

Kimberly Wheelock is someone I had the pleasure of getting to know back when Isolation was first released. For the past two years or so, Kim and I have gotten to know each other well, and she is someone whose words I do not take lightly. Kim is a go-to voice for my writing, and I'd like to think I'm for hers as well. Below are her two novels, which I can't recommend enough.

Wonderland by Kimberly Wheelock:

As Peri finishes her hike of the Wonderland Trail, the ninety-three miles that explores the backcountry of Mount Rainier, she is confronted with the reality that she has survived a pandemic of an unknown scale. And she is not alone. Haunted by her own demons, Peri must learn to live in the rugged, and sometimes daunting, wilderness while facing other survivors and the limitations of her past.

Lester by Kimberly Wheelock:

Talia Michaels has lost everything that matters to her and is facing another dead end. Lester is a ghost town with a violent history and a dark secret. And the two are inextricably linked. When a paranormal research team on the verge of success asks for Talia's help to reach Lester, she reluctantly signs on. Together, they travel through the wilds of the Cascade Mountains to learn Lester's secrets and uncover a hidden horror beyond their understanding.

Laura Bilodeau is someone I connected with through social media and have had the pleasure of getting to know for some time now. Laura writes some pretty intense stuff, but man is it engaging. Laura and I have planned on connecting for author events in the past but have yet to be able to find the right connection. 2025 will change that, I'm sure. Some of you have read my blog regarding the story Cody. Laura's anthology is where you'll be able to find this work next year (among other places TBD).

Defeating the Moose by Laura Bilodeau:

It’s a story we’re all familiar with…Girl meets boy…Boy meets the streets. When drugs sink their poisons hooks into the love of her life, Arabella takes matters into her own hands. Armed with only her wits and feminine rage, she takes on an underworld of crime and drug lords. She hopes for a happy ending to her love story, but she will learn a hard lesson. When push comes to shove, how far can the bow bend before it breaks? There are no happy endings in the streets.

Dr. Grinsaw by Laura Bilodeau:

Crazed dentist, Dr. Ashley Grinsaw has struck again, but she’s ready to share her story before taking off into the sunset. Join therapist, Valorie Curtis, as Dr. Grinsaw shares her unhinged stories, and team up with a crew of detectives in way over their heads as they try to solve the mystery of who Dr. Grinsaw is, and how Valorie Curtis ended up dead in her office. Your next dental exam just got a whole lot more miserable. Say Cheese!

Punkin Head's Revenge by Laura Bilodeau:

After a young boy loses his life in a tragic Halloween accident, he spends 15 years homing in on his ghost abilities. Spooky season is back among us and Punkin Head has returned to get revenge on a family that never loved him. Armed with a pesky accomplice, Pumpkin Head is ready to make everyone's worst nightmares a reality.

Liz Sauco is an author that I had the pleasure of holding an event with in Massachusetts. Liz was one of my favorite authors there and her epic fantasy series is something you should jump all over if you're a fan of fantasy.

In Lyndiniam: A street thief attempts a heist far more ambitious than anything he has done before, but due to circumstances outside his control, finds himself locked up for crimes he both did and did not commit. A strange woman with abilities Jamirh does not understand breaks him out, and he finds himself on the run - fleeing to Romanii, a country he thought no longer existed. In Ni Fon: A shinobi is banished by the Empress for killing her daughter and his fiancée, Princess Hotaru. This is a ploy, however - Takeshi is still working for Ni Fon despite the murder, trying to learn information about a rebellion against the Rose Empire that Ni Fon will be able to leverage to regain their own freedom. Though thousands of miles apart, both Jamirh and Takeshi find themselves pulled into an ancient struggle between forces far beyond anything they have ever dreamed of, whether they want to be or not.

Brennan LaFaro is an author (if you can see a pattern developing here) that I met at an author event in Concord, NH this year. Brennan writes a genre that is near and dear to me, combining horror and westerns. You have to check him out!

It's been fifteen years since Noose Holcomb perpetrated the Buzzard's Edge Train Robbery of 1872, leaving Rory Daggett an orphan. Settled in with a new family and a second chance at life, Rory never quite sheds the thirst for revenge. When one of the gang members returns to Buzzard's Edge, Rory's life is violently upended once more. Capturing the rogue spurs on a furious chain of events that pits Rory against each member of Noose's gang, every one more twisted and terrifying than the last, in order to work his way to their leader. With the help of a fellow orphan whose life Noose turned upside down and the town's sheriff, Rory will stop at nothing to be the man who ends Noose's reign of terror, but can he do it without becoming the man he seeks to kill?

While there are so many other great authors that I've got a chance to meet this year (John Durgin, Jennifer Anne Gordon, Amanda Sinatra, and Michael Abatsis (who does comics if that's your jam) I could go on forever. Check out these names, check out their books, and give them honest ratings and reviews. It's the only way to allow these authors to make a living doing what they love. Bookstores are a dying breed, but with great authors like this, we can fight to keep them alive.

Happy holidays everyone!