May 2026 Newsletter
April was a wild pendulum, and May is full speed ahead...
What an April! I had two book releases in one month, a first for me: The Vale of Seven Dragons, my fantasy debut, and Dungeon Crawl at the Haunted Mall, my Choose Your Own Adventure brand book (a middle grade debut as well as game writing debut)!
More about THE VALE OF SEVEN DRAGONS, and links to buy:
Finding DUNGEON CRAWL AT THE HAUNTED MALL in the Wild
Because Dungeon Crawl at the Haunted Mall takes place AT an abandoned 80s mall, I did the next best thing to visiting one of those, and went to an actual modern mall to celebrate.
Watch this video, with a dash of Madonna:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DXamcatDEqQ/
Some still pics:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DXas7nqlM84/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
I also dropped by Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena to sign their stock of DUNGEON CRAWL AT THE HAUNTED MALL, and at Comic Cellar in Alhambra to sign theirs!
Number Two in New Release Witches & Wizards Fantasy!
So, this happened:
Amazing stuff. Thank you, readers!!
Purchasing links:
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The LA Times Festival of Books
I also attended the LA Times Festival of Books, which broke a record in attendance! Here I am at the Horror Writers Association booth. I was also at the Sisters In Crime Association booth and the Romance Writers of America booth. It was lovely to see many friends, and to make new ones. Thank you to everyone who bought my books! I had a great time.
Tons more pics here:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DXSmA15gV82/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Moon Joy
I can't talk about April 2026 without mentioning just how special it was to witness the Artemis II mission and the wonderful team (I call them the Fantastic Four) of astronauts (Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, and Jeremy Hansen) who traveled farther than anyone has before, witnessing many wonders and sharing them all with us. That mission came just when I needed it most. (Also, they're all GenX, like me! Yay!)
I made sure to have some Nutella cookies and some maple cookies, in solidarity with the crew, while they were on their way back to Earth. What a dream! (Also, apparently Nutella caught wind of this, and they're sending me something??)
And Now, May!
So, April had many volatile ups and downs. Some MAJOR ups, some BIG downs... it was relentless. May will be very busy, and I have to be quite disciplined. I am on a true book tour AND I am attending a literary festival as a panelist, AND publishing an anthology while preparing other Stars and Sabers books, AND writing my own new books. So let's dig in...
Book Tour
Here we go. Whew! Starting this weekend and extending into June, I'll be at different bookstores in LA, the OC, and San Diego County. This is all chiefly for DUNGEON CRAWL AT THE HAUNTED MALL, as it's my biggest book, but two events should also have THE VALE OF SEVEN DRAGONS on hand.
Many of these are linked here (and how surreal, and what a full circle journey, to see this!):
Bay Area Book Festival
Smack in the middle of the tour, I'm headed to the San Francisco Bay Area for the Bay Area Book Festival! I'm part of a truly INCREDIBLE panel, for which I'm excited and grateful. I'll be talking about my thriller (with horror & sci-fi elements), ATACAMA.
Secrets fester in isolated communities. Corporations conceal monstrous truths. Grief curdles into vengeance. In this high-stakes thriller panel, Sarah Gailey, Jendia Gammon, Luke Goebel, and Paddy Hirsch explore conspiracy as both engine and mirror, reflecting our deepest anxieties about belonging, power, and truth.
More info:
Omniboz: Tales from the Land of Oz Anthology!
On May 15, the Oz anthology I've made releases! I co-edited it with Ernie Chiara, literary agent and writer. I'll be posting links for the preorders probably next week (for May 15 release!). For now, we are down to the final few days of crowd-funding and could use a boost! It's a dream come true, as a lifelong Oz fan, to make this great book. Soon, I'll be packing up these lovely books to ship to the backers. Link to back the campaign:
https://www.indiegogo.com/en/projects/jendiagammon/omniboz-tales-from-the-land-of-oz
Writers include: Adrian Tchaikovsky, Eric Shanower, Helen Glynn Jones, Patrick Barb, Ernie Chiara, Dennis K. Crosby, J.R. Dawson, Jendia Gammon (hey, that's me!), Nicole Field, Vincent V. Cava, and Jeannie Warner.
This is not a children's book.
Writing News
In a few short weeks, you'll see the cover reveal for THE DAWN OF DUSK AND TWILIGHT, the final book in my multi award-nominated Amethyst Lantern trilogy (writing as J. Dianne Dotson). This last book is truly gorgeous, and is an adult prequel starting in our era, spanning centuries to meet up with the future Lunarpunk adventures in the young adult books, THE INN AT THE AMETHYST LANTERN and THE SECRET OF THE SAPPHIRE SENTINEL.
You might want to start the journey for this hopeful, immersive series...
Finishing the edits for the book this week was so bittersweet. I love this universe I've made. I think you'll find the prequel quite evocative and lovely, and even romantic. It's got a little bit of everything. The cover reveal should coincide with preorders. THE DAWN OF DUSK AND TWILIGHT releases in October this year.
In other book news, I'm shifting gears in May to write an entirely new book that I've already begun, and which a literary agent is waiting to read. If I can pull off this ambitious novel, I think it'll be quite something. I'll give the hint that it's dipping into gothic horror mixed with dark fantasy, set in the past. I also have, waiting in the wings, a modern-day supernatural fantasy romance that this agent is interested in seeing as well, and while it's not finished, it's fairly far along. Both books have very different vibes, but both are atmospheric and fantastical. I'm excited! I also have two strong thriller pitches that have captured publishing interest as well. These two are much more commercial, the sort of "airport thriller" type of books I've always enjoyed. ATACAMA was my first foray into thrillers, and it won't be the last. (I am glad to see it and DOOMFLOWER both getting more love lately; and I should have audiobook info for THAT book in the near future!)
Other projects are sort of hush-hush as I wait to hear back. I'm hopeful for one in particular, because it would catapult my career instantly. But often, the nature of publishing is such that there's a whole lot of waiting and wondering before things take off. If they do at all! Many things die on the vine (it's similar with the film, TV, and music industries). You just have to stay consistent with your work.
I am still looking for science writing work, since I am missing that reliable, regular income in between the feast and famine of the book world. But I do have other freelance opportunities I hope to delve more into; another art commission, for example.
This was a big update, and I no doubt missed something. June will be big also, with another Stars and Sabers anthology publishing while I begin edits on a third for the year, and so on. More book and story info to come for June!
For now, I wish you all a lovely May.
Ad astra,
Jendia
