Thursday, February 6, 2025

Blue Dasher Press: February Update

As we welcome the month of February, we at Blue Dasher Press would like to take a moment to wish all of our readers a Happy Valentine’s Day! Whether you’re spending the day with a special someone, enjoying time with friends, or embracing the joy of self-love, we hope it’s filled with warmth, kindness, and a great book.

From the world premiere of
I Bet She Has a Party to Go To
February is also Black History Month, a time to honor the rich history, culture, and contributions of Black individuals past and present. At Blue Dasher Press, we are deeply committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and belonging. We are proud to publish stage plays that celebrate Black voices and Black lives, including False Hopes, I Bet She Has a Party to Go To, A Rum Cake for Rita, Sky Lines, and Tagged. These works continue to inspire, challenge, and illuminate the many facets of the Black experience.

This month, we’ve had some exciting new releases! Our latest offerings include:

  • Just Forget the World (Short Story) – Grieving over the loss of loved ones, Naomi and Dominic find a deep connection while spending time together in a cemetery.

  • Homecomings (Short Play) – In a small-town laundromat, two former high school rivals come face-to-face for the first time in over forty years.

  • Love in the Shadows (Novel) – Quintin Pearson, an American magazine staff writer in London, finds himself entangled in a web of intrigue after an ambassador’s assassination. In the darkness, he meets Luca, a mysterious Italian spy, and the two form an undeniable connection as they work to uncover the truth.

We’re also thrilled to announce that our short play I Bet She Has a Party to Go To has been selected for inclusion in The Best 10-Minute Plays of 2025, published by Smith & Kraus and edited by Debbie Lamedman. This powerful play follows three women who, after watching a beautiful, free-spirited woman roller skate through a city park, confront their own resentment and assumptions about her seemingly carefree life.

Looking ahead, we are excited about the upcoming release of the supernatural young adult novel Wonder Land. Following the loss of her mother, fifteen-year-old Destiny Moore moves to Avalon Cove, a mysterious island in South Carolina. There, she forms close bonds with two fellow outsiders and is drawn to the enigmatic world of Wonder Land, a former boarding house with secrets waiting to be uncovered. A story of love, loss, and discovery, Wonder Land will be available exclusively on Kindle Unlimited beginning February 18.

As always, we are grateful for our readers, writers, and the entire Blue Dasher Press community. Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to sharing more incredible stories with you in the months ahead!

Happy reading!

The Blue Dasher Press Team

Welcome


Hello. Thank you for stopping by. We're happy you're here

We are Blue Dasher Press. We are a small, indie press based in Sacramento. We publish stage plays, novels, short stories, and collections of poetry exclusively by writer Wren Valentino, who co-founded the company with us in July of 2017. 

To date, we have published more than seventy of Wren's plays. Five of these scripts have been adapted into films. 

All of our stage plays are available to purchase at a pay-what-you-want rate in our digital store.  

If you're an actor, we encourage you to check out the Monologues section, especially if you're looking for a contemporary audition piece.

Interested in performing one of our plays? Visit the Producing Our Plays section where you will find more information about the simple three-step process for requesting free production rights. 

All of our plays can be produced royalty-free. There is never a cost to produce one of our scripts. We believe theatre is for everyone.

To learn more about our novels and short stories, the Fiction section includes information about them.

Similarly, the Poetry section is devoted to our collections of poetry. 

Don't forget to check out our Giveaways page where you can find information on when the Kindle Unlimited editions of our books and short stories are available free every month. 

You can find us on Facebook and on Instagram at bluedasherpress.

Please reach out to us at anytime with questions via our contact form. We will be happy to help you. 

Again, thank you for being here!

Tuesday, February 4, 2025

Blue Dasher Press Announces the Release of Love in the Shadows by Wren Valentino

Bestselling author Wren Valentino returns with a thrilling new novel, Love in the Shadows, a story of passion, espionage, and deadly intrigue. Set against the backdrop of London high society and a shadowy European underworld, this novel is a pulse-pounding journey into the unexpected.

Quintin Pearson, an American journalist living in London, has spent the past two years trying to mend his broken heart. But when he accepts an invitation to an exclusive party hosted by Regina Bremington, the U.S. ambassador’s enigmatic wife, his life is forever changed. A shocking assassination plunges the evening into chaos, and in the cover of darkness, Quintin finds himself drawn to a stranger he cannot see—Luca, an Italian spy with secrets of his own. Their undeniable connection sparks a clandestine affair that leads them to a secluded seaside town in Belgium, where Luca reveals his true identity and persuades Quintin to help him track down the ambassador’s killer. As the danger intensifies, so does their passion, but can their growing trust survive the perilous mission ahead?

Reflecting on the novel, Valentino shares:

“I wanted to explore the ways in which love and danger intertwine, especially when trust is a matter of life and death. Quintin and Luca’s journey is one of desire, risk, and redemption, set against the moody elegance of Europe’s grand cities and hidden corners. Writing this novel was an exhilarating experience, and I hope readers are swept away by the intrigue as much as I was.”

With its intoxicating mix of mystery, romance, and international espionage, Love in the Shadows is a must-read for those who love high-stakes adventure and unexpected love stories. Get your copy today and step into the shadows—where passion and peril collide.