The Gage Project has been a success by any definition.  We made a boy smile.  We made his sister smile.  We made his parents smile.  We made a bunch of great people, who contributed to The Gage Project, smile.   People are buying the book, and we hope the book makes them smile.  And all of that made us smile.

Have you ever done a good deed just because you could?  Have you ever wanted to do good and couldn't?   Tell us about it in about 500 words.  We'll post it in a blog and invite people to vote.   Winners will receive some great Inknbeans goodies from our new swag shop, a Gift of Words, and many entries will be featured  here, on our update page, as well as our Facebook Page.  Send your essays to [email protected].  We'll be accepting submissions through May 15th, so help us keep smiling all month. 

We've got some great books coming this month.  Another wonderful entry from Vickie Johnstone in her Kiwi Series, more Sherlock Short Stories, another wonderfully Out of This World Tale, a sampler of short stories, poetry and other surprises from Susan Wells Bennett, and lots of other surprises. 

We even have some new Beans!  Look forward to great new books from Dawn Hood, Ey Wade and David Rowinski. 

No wonder we're all smiling.

Boss Bean

When things go wrong, when we hurt, when we're sad, it's good to know that we're not alone. It helps to know someone cares.

When Inknbeans Press learned Gage Bailey was going to undergo surgery, and endure a long and uncomfortable recover, with scars he would never be able to hide, we asked a few people to put together some funny stories and points for a little book.

We thought we'd get nine or ten.

We got more than forty. And people offered artwork, editing services, a book trailer, support and marketing. The profits from this endeavor will go to helping other children who are facing surgery or treatment which require a long recovery, primarily through Ronald McDonald House.

No one affiliated with this book is making any money from it. The only payment we're getting is to be able to tell a kid he's not alone.

People care.

And look what else is happening here at Inknbeans Press.

There's a new Bean on the Hill.  Ted E Beans is our new kid friendly site, with books that are juuuust right for bearns.  Pops Burkett, Vickie Johnstone, Dea Lenihan and others are moving in, getting comfortable and offering treats and surprises to their visitors.  All books are age rated, so you can feel comfortable letting your kids visit.  Stop in and look around, say hello and get to know Ted E's Beans.   Just give Ted E a tickle and he'll take you right over.

Speaking of Dea Lenihan, her Out of This World Tales are making the journey to the Hill o' Beans.  Just in time for Peeps and pastel eggs, Francine and the Super Pet Spy Bunny arrive to make all your secret Easter candy dreams come true.

If you prefer to keep your Kindle sugar-free all of your favorites are still here:  The Brass Monkey Series, The Deed Box of John H Watson MD, the Nick West Series, Mysteries From the Trail of Tears, romance,  humor, poetry, action...even vampires, it's all here. 

Boss

We've been busy beans the last few weeks, building a better Hill o'Beans, with surprises around every corner.  New books, new beans and new places to find both! 

Night Life, Susan Wells Bennett's third installment in the Brass Monkey Series, is now available for FREE at Amazon (until Sunday,  March 18th) so if you have enjoyed the first two in the series - and who hasn't? - or you'd like a chance to meet Milo. Claire, Sondra, Sax, and all their friends for free, now's your chance to come on in, get comfortable and order your favorite beverage and catch up on the gossip:  the talk of marriage, murder and monkeys. 

If you like Sherlock Holmes, Hugh Ashton has another lovingly prepared homage to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in More From the Deed Box of John H. Watson MD.   Or check out his author page to read The Bradfield Push, a Sherlock Short. 

And since it's March Madness, add this to your brackets:  Out of Touch, where high school basketball, Hoosier determination and a reluctant psychic collide to face tragedy and maybe, just once, change the future. 

Boss Bean

Yep, it's that time of the year when hundreds of thousands of books are made available at deep discounts or even free, just so our readers can enjoy discovering a new author, a new series, a new genre, and a whole new way to read.

If you don't own a Kindle, iPad, Nook, Kobo,  or any of the other dedicated ereaders, tablets and devices, sign on to Amazon and download their free software Kindle for PC or Mac, and then head over to Smashwords.com to explore the titles for some old favorites or new thrills. 

Check out what we're offering:

Nicole Storey's Grimsley Hollow:  The Chosen One  available free this week  Use code RE100 at check out.  This special REAEW edition has a special sneak peak at book two of the series, coming this fall!

Also available the first three books in Vickie Johnstone's charming Kiwi the Cat series:  Kiwi in Cat City, Kiwi and the Missing Magic, and Kiwi and the Living Nightmare.    All free this week.  Use code RE100 and get all three.

Emjae Edwards is offering her romantic suspense tale The Lady Must Decline for free this week.  Use code RE100 at check out. 

Perle Butcher Lyon has her historical romance The Wreck of the Sidonie Stone listed free, as well.  Use code RE100 at check out.

And if you've heard about the Brass Monkey Series, Susan Wells Bennett's quartet of cozy mysteries, here's your chance to meet Milo and Claire in the first book, Wild Life.  It's free this week.  Use code RE100 at check out.

JUST ADDED***Free  Jim Burkett's Declaration of Surrender, the first in the Nick West Series.  Use RE100 at check out.
JUST ADDED***Free  Kristina Jackson's The Fool's Journey  Use RE100 at check out.
JUST ADDED***Free  Vickie Johnstone's book of poetry, Kaleidoscope USE RE100 at check out.

Rusty Coats' spine tingling paranormal thriller Out of Touch is available half off this week.  Use code RE50 at check out.

Dorothy Legge's beautiful and inspiring Poems of Faith and Love is also half price.  Use code RE50 at check out.

And Hugh Ashton's hot selling Tales From the Deed Box of John H. Watson MD is available for half price.  Use code RE 50 at check out.

Check back later for even more great bargains.  We're here all week.

While you're there picking up these great books, check out the thousands of other authors who've made their books available at great prices this week. 

Well?  What are you sitting here for?  Go read.  Bring a friend.

Boss Bean

It's a good thing we're getting an extra day this year because we've been busy here at the Hill o'Beans.  Lots of new books and new beans and new places to explore coming up in March.  Here are few:

Hugh Ashton has been digging deeper in the deed box that originally belonged to Dr Watson, the friend and colleague of the celebrated detective Sherlock Holmes. He has unearthed three more tales referred to in the original books, but never before released to the public: Colonel Warburton's Madness; the Paradol Chamber; and the Giant Rat of Sumatra.  Coming March 5 to an ereader near you.

Also coming in March:  Book Three of the Brass Monkey Series, Night Life by Susan Wells Bennett takes another look at the friends and frenemies of Sun City, AZ, with old friends popping up everywhere and new mysteries to solve.  This is the Scooby gang on Social Security. 

Vickie Johnstone's Kiwi, the intrepid catizen, is back with another adventure in March:  Kiwi and the Missing Magic.  Kiwi, Furball and the human kittens are back to solve another mystery and find a few laughs along the way. 

The Boss Bean

It's that day when the chubby chap in the diaper is on the loose, assaulting unsuspecting folk with a bow and arrow.  Severe injuries have been reported:  damage to wallets at the florist, confectioner, sommelier and jewelers, bruises and bloodletting in stores as people crush together at the last moment to find something to say 'I Love You' because they forgot until 4:15 pm, and countless broken hearts because there were no flowers, no candy, no little velvet box. 

We challenge you to celebrate this day with a different gesture of love.  Listen.  Go visit that neighbor who lives alone.  Let them tell you about their youth, their first passion, the war, their grandchildren, their aches, their pains, their regrets, their achievements.  Buy a cup of coffee for that man on the corner with the cardboard sign.  Take a daisy to the lady who is spending twelve hours on her feet today filling chocolate boxes for people who don't even think about love the other 364 days a year.   Smile at the bus driver.  Tell the toll collector to have a nice day.  Go home and promise your partner that you will tell him/her that you love them every single day for a year - then do it.  Talk to your Higher Power and say thank you for the good things in your life.  Take your dog for a walk.  Let the kids stay up just fifteen more minutes to tell you about their soccer game, or the new boy in class.  Stand in front of the mirror and remind yourself that you are a creation - whether you believe in God or evolution, something amazing happened to bring you into existence, so go ahead...love yourself, too. 

_We've got two new titles available.  You can choose between poetry about the mysteries of life, or prose about a life of mysteries. 

_It's our first post of the new year, and we have a lot to share.  Let's get right to it.

If you're wondering about the adorable (and non coffee) illustration, it's the work of our honorary Bean, Nikki McBroom, for Vickie Johnstone's equally adorable Kiwi in Cat City which came out at the end of December.  While it's a great story for age 9 and up, we cannot emphasize the 'and up' part enough.  Let your inner child come out and play with Kiwi, the Cat, and her two human kittens, as they explore Cat City and solve the mystery of the missing catizens.  Kiwi's second, third and fourth adventures are coming soon.

We're very excited to welcome to the Hill o'Beans Hugh Ashton.  Hugh has been writing non-fiction for many years, as well as his fascinating alternative histories Beneath Gray Skies, At the Sharpe End and Red Wheels Turning.  He's bringing us a collection of Sherlock Holmes' undiscovered cases in Tales From the Deed Box of John Watson, MD.  If you're a fan of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, you're going to recognize and enjoy the authentic feel of each story, and appreciate Hugh's research and dedication, not only in recreating the style and mannerisms of the original author, but the speech and the mores of the era, as well.

Kitty Sutton has been collecting some great, and deserved, reviews for her debut novel, Wheezer & The Painted Frog.  Check out her author page to see what educators and reviewers are saying about this book.  If you've read this fascinating fiction set against the historical backdrop of the Trail of Tears, let us know what you thought.  We'd love to hear from you. 

We're looking forward to introducing you to another amazing book in the next few weeks.  Nicole Storey's Grimsley Hollow - the Chosen One violates our no vampires rule but, in this case, we don't mind.  This YA novel comes with a great message:  Special needs kids can be heroes, too. 

Susan Wells Bennett and Jim Burkett are elbows-deep in their respective sequels.  Susan's third entry into the Brass Monkey Series, Night Life,  should be out next month, and Jim will be right behind her with Nick West's Reprisal.  Emjae's 2011 NaNoWriMo entry, You'll Wake Up One Morning, will be out next month, so get ready to laugh, cry and hang on for dear life the next few weeks as we bring out another serving of Fresh Brewed Books.  In the meantime, check out our Menu for current selections.

The Boss Bean