Established in 2011, Northampton House Press, Overdue Books, and Polyhymnia Audio publish selected historical fiction, romance, thrillers, science fiction, and fantasy, as well as nonfiction, poetry, middle grade and YA literature, and audiobooks.
This online catalog describes our list by genre. Our editions are available from all major online outlets. Or, trade paper and hardcovers may be ordered through any chain or independent bookstore.
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Our newest titles are shown below. But there are many more great books on our other pages. Happy reading!
New June 2023: WRITING IN THE AGE OF AI: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TO SURVIVE AND THRIVE
“Worried about AI and what it means for the writer? In Writing in the Age of AI, David Poyer’s easy style and able marksmanship pins all the key issues and a lot more.” – Kevin Doyle, Chair, Irish Writers Union; author, A River Of Bodies
“A remarkable book that balances wit, seriousness, technical information and a writerly expression of hope and creativity.” – Rashidah Ismaili, Host, Salon d’Afrique, Harlem; author, Autobiography of the Lower East Side
“So much food for thought, from a master craftsman who definitely knows what he’s talking about. Every writer needs to read this one.” – NYT Bestseller Steve Berry, author, The Ninth Man
“Poyer highlights every writer’s advantages against the current fad for AI-generated text: imagination, individual voice, and the talent to create life through words.” – George Witte, editor in chief, St. Martin’s Press
“The book I wish I’d had early in my writing career.” – Janet Peery, National Book Award Finalist for The River Beyond the World
Creative writing is in a state of rapid evolution. Drawing on David Poyer’s five decades of writing, publishing, and teaching, Writing in the Age of AI updates experienced writers and introduces beginners to the effect new digital tools will have on the mechanics and economics of writing novels, short stories, nonfiction works, plays, and memoirs. It also answers such questions as, Where do ideas come from? How can an author plan a novel or nonfiction book? What’s the best way to avoid writer’s block? How does the editing process work? What sales tools will help one get published? Finally, it addresses the best ways forward for a career as an author, teacher, or editor. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just starting out, Writing in the Age of AI is essential for anyone who wants to succeed. On Sale in Paperback and ebook from all major outlets starting June 1.
New for Spring 2023: Coyote Weather by Amanda Cockrell
“Amanda Cockrell is a master magician.”—George Garrett, author of Death of the Fox, The Succession, Entered from the Sun
“Coyote Weather is a spectacular re-creation of a lost but essential time in our history—California, the ‘60s, Viet Nam—nobody has ever captured it more accurately or written it with more understanding—from several different perspectives. A must read. Bravo!” – Lee Smith, author of Guests on Earth
Coyote weather is the feral, hungry season in California, when everything is drought-stricken and ready to catch fire. It’s 1967 and the American culture is violently remaking itself while the country is forcing its young men to fight in a deeply unpopular war. Jerry has stubbornly made no plans for the future because he believes that, in the shadow of Vietnam, the Cold War and atomic bomb drills, there won’t be one. Ellen’s determined to have a plan, because nothing else can keep the world from tilting. And the Ghost just wants to go home to a place that won’t let him in: the small California town where they all grew up.
Amanda Cockrell directed the MFA program in children’s and adolescent literature at Hollins University. Her novels include The Wall at the Edge of the World (2020) and The Border Wolves (Spring 2021), as well as the young adult What We Keep Is Not Always What Will Stay; Pomegranate Seed; and The Deer Dancers and The Horse Catchers. Webpage and blog: http://www.amandacockrell.com.
Official pub date April 4. Trade paperback $19.95 US. Ebook $8.99 US. Available now from all major sales venues!
Heroes of Annapolis by David Poyer – New Expanded Edition
“Heroes of Annapolis is an inspiration from cover to cover.” – Quarterdeck Magazine
The United States Naval Academy has no monopoly on heroes. But over the last ten years, the most popular living author of American sea fiction has spent thousands of hours researching its graduates for Shipmate, the U.S. Naval Academy’s magazine. The extraordinary personal stories of adventure and courage he’s collected span American history from the Mexican War to the War on Terror.
HEROES OF ANNAPOLIS shines light into corners of history that still affect us today. Our huge prison population can be traced to Richmond P. Hobson, “The Most Kissed Man in America.” Merian C. Cooper was a fighter pilot and director whose iconic KING KONG has been remade over and over. Philo McGiffin became a high-ranking officer in the Imperial Chinese Navy and surveyed many of the islands China is claiming today. Other graduates held bridges under fire, sacrificed their lives to save shipmates, shot down snipers with pistols, rescued fellow aviators on enemy territory, advised presidents against Vietnam, led Iraqi militias in Baghdad . . . and much more.
Poyer tries not to engage in hero worship. Still, for at least one shining moment, each of the men and women profiled made the difficult choice: To risk it all, for flag, country, honor, and those they led into battle.
Available now. Amazon Trade Paper, $19.95 US. Ebook, $7.99 US.
MY UNEXPECTED LIFE by Martina Clark – Now Available in Audiobook!
“I’ve read several HIV/AIDS-related memoirs over the years, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen an inside day-to-day account of an activist’s work –– with the UN, no less! It’s a terrific read.” –– Hank Trout, Senior Editor, A&U: America’s AIDS Magazine
“What’s not to like about a book that features a wooden penis and a silicone vagina?” – Patricia Marx, staff writer, THE NEW YORKER
At age 28, the doctors told Martina Clark she had HIV and five years to live. With a sense of nothing to lose, she dove into activism. Then, fell into an international career, starting as the first openly HIV-positive person to work for UNAIDS in 1996. A mix of personal memoir, travel, humor and an up-close look at the squishy underbelly of the United Nations, My Unexpected Life follows her personal journey—emotional and physical—interwoven with her professional path. From diagnosis to starting treatment, surviving an abusive marriage and fostering a teenage daughter, Martina’s memoir adds an insider’s view to the history of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, particularly as pertains to women. Throughout, she draws parallels to the COVID pandemic–including her own long-haul bout with COVID–reflecting on her experiences as she journeys through life with an incurable illness, a well-stamped passport, and a stubborn determination that keeps her alive to bear witness to the human condition in My Unexpected Life.
Audiobook @19.95 US. Order here from Audible.com.
Trade Paper Edition, $19.95 US. Ebook edition, $6.99 US. Order below:
AMERICAN BOURBON by Jennifer Jenkins
“Jennifer Jenkins’s AMERICAN BOURBON is a compelling and potent family saga filled with evocative characters as strong and flinty as the Appalachia hills from whence they come, set against a smooth plot that goes down with an easy, supple, clean finish.” –Tony Ray Morris, author of DEEP RIVER BLUES
When an illegal moonshine still explodes deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains, the McKinsey family’s world-famous (and legal) whiskey, Bourbon Sweet Tea, is threatened. Government agents swarm the area, eager to implicate Sweet Tea founder Caleb McKinsey, who was a notorious bootlegger before going legit. Finding out he is dying, McKinsey’s ready to hand on his legacy. But none of his children are on speaking terms. His daughter Brigit is determined to remake the company against her father’s will, while his sons want nothing to do with their abusive father. When Caleb dangles a lucrative inheritance if all his children return, Brigit and her older brother Mack grudgingly call a truce to find missing brother Kieran. They journey to New York City, where Kieran fled after his girlfriend disappeared. As crimes from Caleb’s past promise to destroy Bourbon Sweet Tea, the only way to save their company is for Brigit to convince her brothers to embrace the family legends, and live as outlaws once again.
Trade Paper Edition, $17.95 US. Ebook edition, $5.99 US. Order here:
THE NIGHT BAZAAR: VENICE Edited by Lenore Hart
“Hart invites readers to return to the delightfully inventive setting of the Night Bizarre with this second anthology of fantastical short stories featuring a magical traveling market that visits any given city only once . . . Together the tales form a sumptuous carnival, offering a tantalizing glimpse into the mystical underworld of plague-ridden Europe. These dark flights of fancy delight.” – Publishers Weekly
The Night Bazaar is a secret marketplace of the rare, strange, occult, and dangerous. Its curious vendors specialize in services or objects which simply cannot be had elsewhere, for any price. This forbidden market has operated throughout history at various locales. It cannot be stumbled upon; you must be Invited. But how did it begin? This collection of thirteen eerie, fantastic, and magical works by various authors recounts the origin story of the Bazaar’s first appearance, in St. Mark’s Square, Venice, in the plague year of 1348. Some take place in those medieval days of fear, witchcraft, pandemic, and murder. Other, more contemporary tales center on objects from that first bazaar – inherited, found, purchased, or stolen during the dark centuries since by the unsuspecting, foolish, and greedy (though seldom the completely innocent). Together the linked stories take readers on a fantastical journey into astonishment, dread, and dark delight.
Trade Paper Edition, $17.95 US:
Ebook edition, $5.99 US:
Amazon Barnes & Noble/Nook Kobo/Walmart
DEEP RIVER BLUES by Tony Ray Morris
“With the perception of a poet and the knack of a novelist, Tony Ray Morris joins the ranks of some of the finest crime fiction writers. In turn, part James Lee Burke, Tennessee Williams, and William Faulkner, Deep River Blues will pull you under and have you gasping for breath.” — Craig Johnson, author of the Walt Longmire Mysteries, basis for the Netflix drama Longmire
When the body of a young girl washes up on the shores of the French Broad River, Cord McRae, newly elected sheriff of Acre County, Tennessee, suspects her death might be connected to the Glad Earth Farm, a commune just outside the small town of Falston. Guru/leader Levon Gladson and a group of a hundred and twenty-five followers have moved into an old farm that butts up to the Smokies, and Cord suspects they may be growing something more profitable than sorghum cane up in the hills. The mystery’s complicated by Cord’s investigation into a second recent murder, of an Afghan vet; the growing power of a local “hillbilly” mafia operated by the wily Thorn Reevers; and Cord’s own marriage, which is teetering on the edge of divorce over past violence and his on-again, off-again love affair with liquor. With echoes of WINTER’S BONE and the novels of James Lee Burke, DEEP RIVER BLUES will be a worthwhile addition to the regional crime thriller genre.
On sale now! Available in bookstores and online.
Hardcover Edition, $27.95 US:
Amazon Barnes & Noble Indiebound
Ebook edition, $7.99 US:
SPECIAL DEAL! EBOOK REDUCED TO $4.99 US FOR LIMITED TIME ONLY!
Amazon Barnes & Noble/Nook Kobo/Walmart
Waterwoman by Lenore Hart, read by Julie Yelen
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“Pure as the waters of the pre-industrial Chesapeake … utterly convincing and beautifully sensual. You feel the shell cuts, the pull of the nets.” — Baltimore Sun
“Hart reaches surprising emotional depths with her exploration of sibling rivalry, familial commitment, and social taboos.” — Publisher’s Weekly
“A gripping story with an admirable, complex heroine … The love and rivalry between the sisters will strike a chord with teens.” — Booklist
“… Hart creates a believable world where tragedy does not always equal hopelessness, a place where you don’t always get what you want, but if you’re strong, you find reasons to go on living anyway.” — Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
Even as a child, plain, boyish Annie Revels had everyone’s role figured out. Everyone’s, that is, except her own. Her sickly mother needed to be taken care of. Her little sister Rebecca was beautiful, where Annie was not. Her father was a waterman, a free-looking life Annie envied and could’ve had, if only she’d been born a son.
Tiny, remote Revels Island, a barrier island off the Eastern Shore, knows nothing of the partying, gin-soaked Roaring Twenties, which grip the rest of the country. The family depends on the coastal waters to make a living, and tragedy is always only a bad storm away. As Annie notes, “In order to live on the Shore, you need to understand that good weather always follows bad.”
But when her father dies, suddenly it falls to Annie to take his place aboard the oyster boat and support what’s left of the family. Out there, she finds the only life she could ever really fit into: being a waterman. Until one day, she meets Nathan…
Available in bookstores and online.
Ebook Edition, $4.99 U.S. Trade Paper Edition, $12.95 US.
Now available as an audiobook! Six entrancing hours for a very reasonable price! Order it here.
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