#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway #40: StokerCon Librarians' Day Featured Author Nicole Givens Kurtz

It's #HorrorForLibraries Giveaway day, but it is also a special mini-series within the larger giveaway series. From now until May 21st, I will be giving away books by authors who are appearing at StokerCon Librarians' Day. Plus I have a special multi-book giveaway set for LIVE during Librarians' Day [courtesy of Nightfire]. So you are going to want to enter now.

Click here for all of the details about this event. It is only $75 and you get to go to the entire StokerCon for that price, not just Librarians' Day.

Details on this week's giveaway below but first...

Here is a refresher on the basic rules to enter:

1. You need to be affiliated with an American public library. My rationale behind that is that I will be encouraging you to read these books and share them with patrons. While many of them are advanced reader copies that you cannot add to your collections, if you get the chance to read them, my hope is that you will consider ordering a copy for your library and give away the ARC away as a prize or pass it on to a fellow staff member.
2. If you are interested in being included in any giveaway at any time, you must email me at zombiegrl75 [at] gmail [dot] com with the subject line "#HorrorForLibraries." In the body of the email all you have to say is that you want to be entered and the name of your library.
3. Each entry will be considered for EVERY giveaway. I will randomly draw a winner on Fridays sometime after 5pm central. But only entries received by 5pm each week will be considered for that  week. I use Random.org and have a member of my family witness the "draw"based off your number in the Google Sheet.
4. If you win, you are ineligible to win again for 4 weeks; you will have to re-enter after that time to be considered [I have a list of who has won, when, and what title]. However, if you do not win, you carry over into the next week. There is NO NEED to reenter.

Click here to see giveaway #39. Our winner was Elizabeth from Los Alamos County [NM] Library

Today I ave a 2 book giveaway courtesy of ME [I bought these books to share with all of you] with an emerging voice in Horror who I am so excited to share with all of you-- both her books and herself as part of Librarians' Day-- Nicole Given Kurtz. See below for more about the 2 books I am giving away today, finished copies that you can add to your collections immediately:  Slay: Stories of the Vampire Noire and Sisters of the Wild Sage: A Weird Western Collection.

I first became aware of Kurtz in the Fall of 2020 with the release of the anthology she edited, Slay: Stories of the Vampire Noire. This anthology is dedicated to L.A. Banks, an author who was extremely popular in libraries before her death. With that knowledge it should come as no surprise that this anthology specifically addresses Vampires across the African Diaspora-- a themed anthology that was much needed and will be very popular. The anthology is organized with "Western" Black Vampires in the first section-- US and UK, then African Vampires second, and finally, Vampires set in the future. 

The stories are not only excellent, but they also introduce readers to many new, talented voices. Readers of the Vampire trope today tend to appreciate a wider view of the creature both in terms of how their dark powers are manifested and where they reside. Slay definitely satisfies that appeal. 

Just as I was hearing more about this anthology and Kurtz herself, the HWA Diversity Grant committee came back with this announcement of the recipients here, and wouldn't you know, Nicole Givens Kurtz was on that list.

I got even more excited about Kurtz and her work after this announcement, so in February, I invited her to appear on the Horror Writers' Association Females of Fright panel I was moderating for Women in Horror Month. You can watch that and get to hear from her directly here. 

That panel was when I learned about the second book I am giving away today: Sisters of the Wild Sage: A Weird Western Collection. 

My excitement increased again and I ordered both books for myself the next day. As readers of the general blog probably know, I LOVE Weird Westerns-- a combination of the Western with speculative genres-- and I am not alone. There is quite a resurgence in Western readership among a new generation because of this Weird Western trend. I wrote rote about why in more detail here.

Sisters of the Wild Sage gave me a chance to see Kurtz as a writer and this collection did not disappoint. The stories all feature black women, while the frame, range of scare level, and speculative devices are varied. We have traditional Western settings with magic infused, but also stories set in the future, and some tales are slightly askew while others are outright terrifying, with everything in between. The collection serves as an excellent introduction to the subgenre itself, which is great, but it is also a very fun read.

Enter to win both books, sign up for Librarians' Day so you can watch Kurtz as part of the "Meet the Diversity Grant Recipients" panel, and most importantly, order  these titles for your collections [Amazon or special order from your local book store]. 

Vampires and Weird Westerns are among the most popular Horror subgenres for a library audience, and Kurtz is a talented writer and editor, so I promise you these are worth adding to your collections right now. These are titles that your patrons will enjoy AND as you can see, they have awesome covers for displays. This is a no lose proposition.

Good luck and back next week with an ARC of another author appearing as part of Librarians' Day:  The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix.