Welcome to Hot Water Press, an independent publishing company dedicated to literature set in the American Southwest and inspired or influenced by the Anasazi and their contemporaries. New titles are listed here as they become available, about twice a month for short stories, and two or three times a year for novels.
Various titles are occasionally offered for free or otherwise discounted in different formats. Subscribe to the Hot Water Press Email Newsletter to receive notifications.
Arturo’s Brains: a short story
Buy on Smashwords for $0.99 free through March 15! (any e-format)
Despite his powerful heritage that linked him to the Aztecs of Central Mexico, even the Anasazi of ancient New Mexico, Arturo was a desperate man. He hadn’t had paying work in months.
When Erik approached him, Arturo saw the warning signs. An aura of violent colors around the man burned like the fires of Hell. Read the full description …
The One-Hundredth Goliath: a short story
Buy on Kindle for $0.99 (free to Amazon Prime Members until April 29, 2012)
Buy on Nook for $0.99 (coming in May, 2012)
What if Michelangelo carved Goliath instead of David? What would it look like?
In the rundown squalor of old industrial Albuquerque, New Mexico, the nephew of a modest sculptor awakens from a fifteen-year trance. He had witnessed a David-and-Goliath battle, only Goliath had won. Read the full description …
The Pump Jack Potion: a short story
Buy on Kindle for $0.99 (free to Amazon Prime members until April 11, 2012)
Buy on Nook for $0.99 (coming in April 2012)
What will petroleum be worth after we use up the easy reserves?
It’s the year 2349 and American society has remade itself to run off of sustainable energy. But they’ve also found that crude oil contains something so magical and useful it’s one of the most valuable substances on the planet. Read the full description …
Girl on a Rock: a short story
Buy on Kindle for $0.99 (free to Amazon Prime members until April 1, 2012)
Buy on Nook for $0.99 (coming in April 2012)
When Anasazi archaeologist Tucker Roth found a pretty girl in pink sitting on a rock in the wilderness north of Pagosa Springs, Colorado, he couldn’t help but worry. Such strange behavior sent a chill up his spine.
The girl, Marissa, said she wanted to hide. To sneak. To not be seen. When she finally climbed down and he saw her, he understood why. Read the full description …
Anasazi Runner: a novel of identity and speed
Buy on Kindle for $4.99 (free to Amazon Prime members until March 6, 2012)
Buy on Nook for $4.99 (coming in March 2012)
It’s a quirky romance. An athletic fantasy. A mystery of identity over the ages. A spine-tingling race to the finish.
Anasazi Runner: a novel of identity and speed is told from the perspective of Coach Jesse, a retired history teacher and reluctant running coach. Read the full description …
Less Than Nothing: A novel of Anasazi strife
Tuwa wants little more than to crush the man who killed his mother and grandfather and subjects his Anasazi Indian society to a form of terrorism that ultimately hastens its mysterious collapse four hundred years before Europeans arrived in North America. Read the full description …
The Witchery of Flutes: Forty-seven short dramas of Anasazi daily life
What was life like for the Anasazi Indians of the Four Corners area of the United States a thousand years ago? What took the attention of their daily lives? What forces compelled them to act?
Now you can walk in their yucca sandals as you read “The Witchery of Flutes” and forty-six other stories. Read the full description …
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Hi, Jeff. Thanks for reaching out. I’ll read Anasazi Runner for you and provide a review. I’m currently reading a manuscript for a new writer, but will read yours when I’m done. Congratulations on your new found freedom! I was just wondering what conference my husband was going to send me to next year. I really benefited from DFWcon this year.
Thanks very much, Daphine. I’ve sent you “Anasazi Runner” as a gift book through Amazon, so expect an email on how to download that soon. Good luck on your own writing, and I really appreciate your help!
Hey Jeff!
I like the approach. I will start with Anasazi Runner: a novel of identity and speed. Let me do that before I commit to reading more.
But I will tweet it out to my 27,000 folks and will also create a blog post about how you are going about this (which I like)
Let me know what else I can do to help support your efforts!
John
Thanks, John. I really appreciate it. Finding that initial burst of readers who post reviews is perhaps the first and most important hurdle for any startup indie author. As an author, you hope that the content of your stories will attract and engage people, but in reality people buy a book based on expectations before they’ve even read it (of course). Reviews in public places, perhaps most importantly Amazon these days, are what create those expectations (along with sales rank, which is an outcome of those early reviews). I truly appreciate your help, and if you want to know anything about my methodology, just ask. Meanwhile, I will soon send you a reviewer’s copy of “Anasazi Runner.” I hope you enjoy.
Just met you through John Panico. Looking forward to seeing how it all works out! Now for the content… Clan of the Cave Bears was one of my very favorite series…. Great to meet you!
Thanks, Carra. “Clan of the Cave Bears” as a comparison? Sure, I’ll take that. That book was, I admit, a small but not insignificant influence on my decision to try and recreate an ancient world as alien to me as the lives of early humans and late Neanderthals. I love digging through archaeological minutia and filling the gaps with my imagination. I also love writing contemporary fiction that ties back to the ancient world of the Anasazi. For decades, I knew I had a gift for writing and a desire, but I didn’t see a clear pathway. Then the Anasazi slipped into my consciousness and hijacked it to a powerful degree, leaving me on a trajectory I love. Thank you for your interest and support.
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