Welcome to the new Best of Indie site. We curate ebooks and indie films so you don’t have to.
This week South by Southwest kicks off its trio of conferences in Austin, Texas. SXSW is a celebration of independent musicians, filmmakers and folks working in interactive media — three separate gatherings with some overlap in attendees but a consistent theme and vibe: We need independent creatives to bring innovation and artistry to the worlds of music, movies and new media.
And while there isn’t a SXSW for authors, you’ll find plenty of writers, bloggers and fiction and nonfiction authors appearing on panels throughout the festival, ending on March 18. I was a speaker or guest panelist at four SXSW Interactive conferences over the past decade during my years working in new media and social media. But now I’m readying the launch of my debut thriller (more on that at a later date).
So today’s a fitting day to launch a new website dedicated to independent artistry. We’ll focus mostly on books (and mostly novels) with occasional posts to keep you up to speed on promising indie films that haven’t yet punctured the public’s consciousness.
Make sure you subscribe to our Best of Indie newsletter to receive a short “best of” email every Tuesday.
Indie book buzz
Click on a book cover to go to the book page on Amazon.
$1.99 Kindle price, Free with Kindle Unlimited, $10.97 paperback
I Am Watching You
By Teresa Driscoll
5,440 reviews, 4.5 star rating, #1 in the entire Kindle Store
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer, Amazon’s suspense imprint
A teenage girl has disappeared. What would you have done if you’d seen her on a train, harassed by a group of strange men just the day before?
Our take: A harrowing and suspenseful page-turner and masterful debut by a former BBC TV newscaster.
Top ebook deals of the week
99 cents on Kindle for a limited time
Amadea: One Spring in France
By Michelle Granas
Women’s fiction: A romance about a half-French, half-American young woman adrift in the Pyrenees.
Free on Kindle; $13 paperback
Snapped: An Agent Jade Monroe FBI Thriller Book 1
By C.M. Sutter
Crime fiction: A recent graduate of the FBI’s serial crimes unit is called to Houston to solve a series of gruesome murders.
Free on Kindle through March 31
Traveler in the Dark (Ex Situ Book 1)
By Deirdre Gould
Sci fi: Traveler is the story of Earth’s last best hope for a new beginning.
Click the book jackets to go to the Amazon page.
Indie film watch
I was hoping one of the year’s impressive crop of indie films – “Three Billboards in Ebbing, Missouri” or “Get Out” or “Lady Bird” – would snag the best picture Oscar on Sunday (“The Shape of Water” beat them out). Did you know all three were produced by independent filmmakers?
Fire up your Netflix! Here’s a list of the indie films that received at least one Oscar nomination and that won a 2018 Film Independent Spirit Award:
• “Lady Bird”
• “Three Billboards”
• “Get Out”
• “The Big Sick”
• “Call Me by Your Name”
• “The Florida Project”
• “A Fantastic Woman” (Chile)
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