Change Isn’t Always Scary

Sometimes, it’s a lot of fun and involves supervillains who aren’t nearly as gone as certain part-time superheroes thought.

Why, yes, I’m talking about Change, the ninth book in the Arca superhero urban fantasy series, which just came out today, October 25, 2024! Book Cover of Arca Book 9, Change, by Karen Diem

What’s this one about?

Well, people keep telling Zita Garcia to go to Hell. This time, she’s actually taking their advice. Alone and working against the clock, the sometime superhero raids the Greek Underworld to stop a massacre, save her best friends, and maybe even salvage that relationship she’s been screwing up.

Maybe. This is Zita, after all.

For the first week, Change will be $2.99 USD (or equiv) and will go up to $3.99 after that. Embrace Change and grab a copy from your retailer of choice!

Still bracing yourself to handle Change? Try reading the first chapter to ease yourself in.

Enjoy! I’ll be starting work on book 10 for release next year.

OBLIGATORY NOTE: I am an Amazon affiliate, and if you buy from links on this site, I may someday receive compensation for making the links available. I’d like that.

Sea What I Did There?

Sometimes, being a superhero means ruining Christmas. When Atlantis wants to give the gift of a destroyed Baltimore, can Arca and her perky nemesis stop them in time?

This is that story. The eighth book in the Arca superhero urban fantasy series, Sea, surfaced today and is available at most ebook retailers for $3.99 USD (or equiv). It has all the characteristics of a fun Christmas story: superheroes, Atlanteans with nuclear weapons, and serious shenanigans, all with holiday music playing in the background.

Minor spoiler: No one gets tossed out of Nakatomi Tower, but people definitely get thrown.

Buy it here.

Still unsure if Sea is the buddy comedy-action adventure-superhero-urban fantasy melange you’ve been hoping for? Dive into Chapter One to check it out.

For any of you washed away by all of the puns and ready to give me shell about them, I’m shore Book 9 won’t allow me to use as many.

Running With Sharp Objects

… and by that, I mean the seventh book in the Arca superhero urban fantasy series, Sharp! It has all the things you’d hope to find in an account of a Halloween visit to mom’s cozy small town. Pumpkins. Apple cider donuts. Murder. Fiberglass aliens. Theme supervillains. Guilt. Mystery. Car crashes. Random monsters. Possibly explosive pumpkins. You know, the usual.

Sharp releases October 26, 2022. Grab a copy now for $2.99 USD or equivalent! The price will go up to $3.99 USD in a few weeks. Paperbacks will hopefully be available in time for Christmas. Buy it here.

If you’re still not certain if it’s for you, read the all the other books first. If you’ve already done that and are afraid that it just won’t live up to the cheesy innuendo, bad decisions, and exciting action adventure of the rest of the series, check out Chapter One for a taste of the nutty goodness.

Someone Order More Pizza For This Party!

The sixth in the Arca superhero urban fantasy series, Party, is now in full swing! It has food! Dancing! Cheesy jokes! A government conspiracy! A nefarious supervillain! All the stuff you love at a festive gathering without the actual people or awkward silences!

Not as many exclamation points, though, as I used them all up here.

Grab a copy now for $2.99 USD or equivalent! The price will go up to $3.99 USD after August 12, 2021. Paperbacks should be available starting September of 2021.

Buy: Amazon Kobo iTunes Barnes & Noble Smashwords Other Stores

If you’re not certain if the lame jokes, questionable decisions, and heart-stopping action adventure will go with your party shoes, give the Chapter One a quick read.

Keep Your Toga On!

Toga! Toga! Toga!

Toga - Arca Book 5 - By Karen Diem As of May 5, 2020, Toga is loose and running free, throwing laurel wreaths and available for purchase at every major retailer. Don’t myth this one! The ebook is $3.99 USD or the equivalent, and most major ebook retailers should be more than happy to sell it to you.

Paperback versions will follow in a few weeks, but the 6×9″ books will be bursting with historical inaccuracies, lame jokes, and all the Arca you expect and then some. I’ll comment below when that happens. In the meantime, you can get a quick glimpse of the first chapter here.

And yes, this notice is late. It’s one of many things running sideways right now. Hope your Cinco de Mayo was a happy one!

For Your Free Viewing Pleasure

Bored? Stuck at home obsessing over that thing you meant to do that didn’t turn out quite right or perhaps never got started?

Let me help you procrastinate.

I’ve started attending and serving on panels at (virtual) cons. It’s great. I get to show off my invisibility superpower and be that mysterious voice that comes in from offscreen with the awesome jokes and everyone else gets to practice making faces at said comments.

Anyway, on April 28, 2020, I was on the Superheroes panel of QuaranCon 2020. We talked about superheroes we’ve known and loved (from afar, well outside of restraining order boundaries, I swear!), as well as small bits here and there about our own writing. The other panels at the convention were also entertaining; I particularly enjoyed the one on fight scenes.

This week, I’ll be attending the Superhero-Fiction Con and speaking on TWO panels, despite the con organizers having been with me on the QuaranCon 2020 panel. That con will have one panel every weekday from May 18 to May 22 at 6PM EST. I’ll be speaking on the Tuesday (May 19) panel on creating the powers behind the heroes, and on the Friday (May 22) panel on superhero origins.

After that, I’ve got no more virtual conventions planned for the moment. That’s subject to change if and when I get asked to do a sufficiently interesting one again. If they’d like to PAY me, that’d be even better. Cash dollars, Paypal, or homemade chocolate chip cookies only.

Hunt Down Monster!

Monster is on the loose! The fourth book in the Arca superhero urban fantasy series released today, May 5, 2019. What happens in this one? Here’s a quick description: Monster by Karen Diem

When the authorities abandon the search for a serial killer targeting Zita Garcia’s family, the sometime superhero will do whatever it takes to find him. If finding him means fighting literal monsters, wrangling glitter-obsessed vampires, or going to nightclubs, she’s in, even if the undead and line dances make her skin crawl. She needs to solve this fast—before things go from bad to hearse.

Here’s where you can find Monster:

Paperback versions will follow in a few weeks, but I can tell you that the 6×9″ books will have 322 pages filled with adventure, lame jokes, and all the Arca you expect. I’ll comment below when that happens.

To celebrate the release and readers who’ve stuck around for the past three books, I’m releasing the ebook at $2.99. After a week or so, the price will go up to $3.99 USD (or equivalent). I have no current plans to put it on sale again this year, though that decision is subject to change.

Need more info? Check out the full description or the first chapter!

AND… Super will be on sale for 99 cents USD (or equivalent) in all stores until May 15 for readers who like to start from the origin story and work their way up to the latest adventure. See the Books page for the store links.

NOTE: I am an Amazon affiliate, which means if you purchase an item at Amazon following a link on one of my pages, I may someday receive a few pennies from them.

Human Release! ¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

What’s the best way to celebrate the famous win of Mexican underdogs against overwhelming forces? For me, it’s to run around like a crazy woman announcing the Human release! In your case, have some awesome Mexican food, relax, and pick up a copy of Human to enjoy while you munch.

For those contemplating following me on Twitter, I generally don’t tweet links to buy my books other than on a release or sale date. On May 6, I should return to my usual tweet habits.

About Human

Death? Acceptable risk. Taxes? No problem. Ancient magical cutlery of mass destruction? Bad, very bad.

Following a brief foray into the world of superpowered vigilantism, extreme sports enthusiast and halfhearted tax preparer, Zita Garcia, wants her old life, her shiny new abilities, and none of the consequences. She’s even willing to hide her powers since the alternative means endangering her family and living life as a literal lab rat.

Unfortunately, villains are searching for the pieces of a decrepit magic dagger, hurting innocents and fueling nasty anti-super protests. Her close friends, who helped before, are barely speaking to her, and one of them stands in the path of the violent hunt for the knife.

Zita better dig out her mask—fast.

Human is the second in the Arca superhero urban fantasy series, and as a movie would be rated “R” for immoderate language, lame sexual innuendo, and comic book violence. While Human can be read as a standalone, it contains minor spoilers for the first book in the series.

Human Release Availability

Human is currently available on Amazon, Kobo, iTunes, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords and most major book retailers in both ebook and paperback format. To avoid boring people to tears, I’ve only listed the most popular places. If you’d prefer, you can read the first chapter before purchasing.

NOTE: I am an Amazon affiliate. If you make a purchase from an Amazon link on my site, someday I may earn a few cents from it.

What Happens in Vegas… Tourists

On December 2, 2016, I released the new Arca short story, Tourists. It’s approximately 10,500 words long, and, as usual, includes immoderate language and comic book violence. The events within occur after Human (scheduled for release May 2017), but do not provide major spoilers.

Description

Tourists - An Arca Short Story - Karen Diem Las Vegas welcomes and flamboyantly entertains millions of tourists annually. It’s famous for it. However, the latest visitors may be more than even Sin City can handle.

To avoid endangering others or revealing their real identities, Zita Garcia and her friends, Andy and Wyn, planned to practice their respective superpowers in an abandoned section of the desert. Visit Las Vegas, a crowded city filled with people with cameras? No way, no matter what Zita’s heard about the buffets.

But when possible aliens invade the infamous Las Vegas Strip, what can Zita and her friends do but rescue the city (and all that food)?

No Elvis impersonators were harmed in the writing of this story.

Availability

This free short story is only available to newsletter subscribers, both new and existing. December 2016 subscribers also receive the other newsletter-exclusive short story, Washout.

Super Release! Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

Super by Karen Diem - Arca Book 1 In case you missed the obnoxious shilling on Twitter, the Facebook post, or the newsletter announcement, today we celebrate the Super release as well as the famous win of Mexican underdogs against overwhelming forces. For those contemplating following me on Twitter, on May 6 I will return to my usual tweet habits.

About Super

Adrenaline junkie and almost-respectable accountant Zita Garcia wouldn’t know a superhero from some dude in his pajamas. As a result, the second-to-last thing she expected was to wake from a spontaneous coma, quarantined, and with super powers she has to hide from everyone, including her family. Now Zita must master her new abilities while dodging kidnappers, evading government inquiries, and finding her missing brother.

The only thing weirder would have been if the blind date preceding the coma had gone well.

Super is the first in the Arca superhero urban fantasy series, and as a movie, would be rated “R” for immoderate language, lame sexual innuendo, and comic book violence. It is approximately 110,700 words, which comes out to about 450 pages in a standard paperback book.

Super Release Availability

Super is currently available on Amazon, Kobo, iTunes, and Barnes & Noble. Other retailers carrying ebooks may have them too in the next few days. To avoid boring people to tears, I’ve only listed the most popular places. If you’d prefer, you can read the first chapter before purchasing.

Sidebar

Archives