Éric is turning 42 next week and Jen turned 40 so we decided to celebrate our birthday with a book release party. There will be food, coffee, and cake; along with our whole catalogue of twelve (what?) books.
When
July 19th (1pm-3pm)
Where
9 Rossland Avenue Ottawa, ON
Cost
FREE (But you’re welcome to buy some books and get them signed)
We’re thrilled to invite you to our launch event happening at 9 Rossland Ave on July 19th from 1:00-3:00pm (EST). Come enjoy an author discussion moderated by FADHILI SAMBA. Readings, refreshments, and a giveaway to follow.
Enter the giveaway!
Enter to win a $250 gift certificate to Yuk Yuk’s Comedy Club, courtesy of Dylan Black. Valid for a table for 10.
Each book purchased at the event grants two entries into the draw.
Each book signed at the event grants one entry into the draw.
Only books authored by Jen and/or Éric are valid for entry.
There are big changes coming to JenEric Designs and I’m both excited and worried. I’m decent at HTML but wordpress rarely let’s me use pure HTML and even if I did I’m only decent.
The big change will be in separating the blog into four pieces: JenEric Authors, The Travelling TARDIS, Educational, and Movie Reviews.
I’m hoping to figure out how to give each section their own colour scheme and menus. The main page will still have everything for those that are looking for that.
Here’s a sneak peek at the theme for JenEric Authors. Created by the amazing Morgan Dunbar.
Look for those changes to happen slowly over the next few months, or maybe quickly if I break the site completely.
Only today and tomorrow to get the ebooks of Parasomnia or Everdome for only $0.99 until the 17th of June! They’re available at all major ebook stores.
Parasomnia
At the Aux-Anges institute, nestled in the woods outside of North Bay, they study and treat parasomnias, or sleep disorders. Ashley suffers from night terrors, Terrance sleepwalks, Kiri sleep-eats, and Paul sets fires; they are there for treatment. Adelaide took the job as a counselor to discover why she still has an imaginary friend. When they discover the secret hideout of an old club called the Dreamers, they are shocked to find that the five of them are connected through more than just the Institute.
Everdome
Will YOU be Everdome’s next hero?
S.M. Ardwur’s epic ten novel series and the world’s biggest MMORPG is a world fractured by a magical disaster and saved from destruction by a brave king and mad wizard. It is now formed of twelve floating continents with magical domes protecting them.
For thirteen lucky contestants, when a man dressed as a knight offers them the opportunity to visit their favourite fantasy world as an immersive reality show, there’s only one answer they can give: YES!
The level of impressiveness is beyond anything they can believe and some of them start to wonder why. Abigail, James, Krista, Nicole, Richard, and Megan have to learn how to play the game and win; the fate of Everdome depends on it.
I’m so excited that these two books are out. You’re going to love them!
Winging It by Jen Desmarais
A wedding and a summer camp that Tommy and Carter are never going to forget.
Tommy discovers magic exists, his boyfriend is a rock giant, and his sister is marrying one of the leaders of a supernatural community called Aetherborn.
Carter learns to navigate an in-person relationship, introducing Tommy to the magical world, and being involved in his Ariki’s wedding.
Both boys need to build their confidence in each other, themselves, and their relationship. The Door Tech summer camp seems to be the perfect way to do that, until they get magically transported to the not-so-fictional world of Everdome. In this realm of Domed continents floating in space, winged beasts, and new cultures, the boys will have to overcome challenges beyond anything they’ve seen before.
The only way they, and their relationship, can survive is if they start Winging It!
The Copper Tarnish by Éric Desmarais
Until last summer, I was the most popular girl in school. Then I was accused of killing my boyfriend when he disappeared. Luckily, he didn’t die, but he wasn’t the same when he came back. Murder accusations are nothing compared to the rumours that I kissed said boyfriend’s sister. That rumour proved to be the real killer for my popularity.
Now everyone hates me except the gorgeous new girl who seems determined to ruin any chances of being popular by hanging out with me. There’s also a cute soldier hanging around my mom’s diner and freaky sounds in the woods.
Autumn definitely won’t be dull. All I need to do is graduate…and stay alive.
The books are coming out, the books are coming out! Just in time for your Pride Month reading too.
Winging It by Jen Desmarais
A wedding and a summer camp that Tommy and Carter are never going to forget.
Tommy discovers magic exists, his boyfriend is a rock giant, and his sister is marrying one of the leaders of a supernatural community called Aetherborn.
Carter learns to navigate an in-person relationship, introducing Tommy to the magical world, and being involved in his Ariki’s wedding.
Both boys need to build their confidence in each other, themselves, and their relationship. The Door Tech summer camp seems to be the perfect way to do that, until they get magically transported to the not-so-fictional world of Everdome. In this realm of Domed continents floating in space, winged beasts, and new cultures, the boys will have to overcome challenges beyond anything they’ve seen before.
The only way they, and their relationship, can survive is if they start Winging It!
The Copper Tarnish by Éric Desmarais
Until last summer, I was the most popular girl in school. Then I was accused of killing my boyfriend when he disappeared. Luckily, he didn’t die, but he wasn’t the same when he came back. Murder accusations are nothing compared to the rumours that I kissed said boyfriend’s sister. That rumour proved to be the real killer for my popularity.
Now everyone hates me except the gorgeous new girl who seems determined to ruin any chances of being popular by hanging out with me. There’s also a cute soldier hanging around my mom’s diner and freaky sounds in the woods.
Autumn definitely won’t be dull. All I need to do is graduate…and stay alive.
eBook
Paperback
Hardcover
What are you waiting for? Go pre-order them now!!!
The Aurora Awards, which are for Canadian science fiction and fantasy writers and artists, are open for nominations for the 2024 works! (Nominations are open March 2 – April 5) This means the LONG lists of eligible works are being narrowed down to 5-6 per category.
Once they have a list of nominated works, every single person who signed up and paid the $10 membership fee gets ALL the nominated works as downloads. That’s all the adult novels, YA novels, novellas, short stories, graphic novels, and related works (usually anthologies), so about 36 works, for just $10 CAD, which is a great deal.
Getting nominated for an Aurora Award is a BIG DEAL in the speculative fiction writing community. You get a nomination pin (only once, so I’m terrified I’ll lose mine!), and you’re part of an elite group of people. This would be Adrien’s first nomination, so my fingers are crossed!
Not only do Éric and I have quite the list of eligible works, but Pegasus (for his work last year in his kindergarten homeschooling, and the short story he wrote and illustrated) and Dragon (for the short story she wrote and illustrated) are eligible as well! By the way, nomination forms are not ranked.
It would mean a lot to all of us if you’re willing to nominate us! (Categories are in alphabetical order by work)
Eligibility Category 1 – Best Novel
Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests by Jen and Éric Desmarais
Eligibility Category 3 – Best Novelette/Novella
Red Day, Ere the Sun Rises: A Sun Speaker Story by Éric Desmarais
Eligibility Category 4 – Best Short Story
A Concert Tail by Jen Desmarais
Costume Magic by Éric Desmarais
Escaped by Pegasus Desmarais (age 4)
Funky Looking Chickens by Éric Desmarais
O Tannen-bomb by Jen and Éric Desmarais
The Hole in the Playground by Dragon Desmarais (age 7)
What Scares Pre-teen Monsters? by Jen Desmarais
Eligibility Category 6 – Best Poem/Song
Shadows Live for the Light by Jen Desmarais, found in Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests by Jen and Éric Desmarais
Eligibility Category 8 – Best Cover Art/Interior Illustration
Escaped by Pegasus Desmarais (age 4)
The Hole in the Playground by Dragon Desmarais (age 7)
Eligibility Category 9 – Best Fan Writing/Publication
JenEric Movie Reviews by Éric Desmarais
Pegasus Flight School: Kindergarten education through genre media (second semester) by Jen and Pegasus (age 4) Desmarais
The Travelling TARDIS by Jen Desmarais
In case you’re wondering why Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests is not included in the best cover art category, it’s because our cover artist is Vietnamese! Only Canadian creators are eligible, unfortunately.
Thank you so much for your time, attention, and support. If any of the above does make it through the nomination round, which ends April 5, I’ll be making another post for the voting round, which will be taking place starting in June 2025.
If you saw me in person at Geeked Out on December 1, or at The Book’s Better Bookshop in Smith’s Falls on December 14, you would have seen a sneak peek of Jen’s next cover.
Or if you were part of our newsletter, you got to see sketches and the background. (Incidentally, sign up for our newsletter here!)
There was a cover reveal party this past Saturday, which means:
I have been sitting on this cover since September and I can finally show it to you!
Renaissance Press has organized an Instagram hop to find pieces of the cover (art by @pinkpiggy93) for the queer YA urban/portal fantasy novel “Winging It”, the second book in the Lucky in Love series by @JenDesmaraisAuthor, published by @RenaissanceBookPress.
Starting Jan 6 and continuing through Jan 10, when you find a piece of the cover (12 in total) somewhere on social media, share it to your story and tag @renaissancebookpress for a chance to win an e-book of “Winging It”!
The virtual cover reveal party is happening NEXT Saturday, January 11 at 1pm EST at youtube.com/live/he3Zpkgu07Q, where the full cover will be revealed, alongside other spring books from Renaissance. Tune in for fun stuff, prizes, and more! (Note that you can go to the link, click “notify me” and it will send you a message when it’s about to go live!)
