Blue Dasher Press Announces the Publication of Home by Wren Valentino — A Poignant, Romantic Sequel to Northanger Abbey

Blue Dasher Press is delighted to announce the exclusive Kindle Unlimited release of Home, a brand-new short story by bestselling author Wren Valentino. A finalist in the international Jane Austen Writing Contest, Home is a moving, romantic imagining of what might come after Austen’s beloved Northanger Abbey.

In this atmospheric sequel, Valentino introduces us to Molly Hutchinson, a young woman descended from Catherine Morland, who embarks on a heartfelt journey from London to Bath and beyond. Drawn by the weight of her great-great-grandmother’s legacy and an unshakable desire for belonging, Molly sets out for the legendary Tilney estate—Northanger Abbey. Along the way, she meets Duke, a charming and enigmatic driver whose presence soon becomes entangled in her search for truth and connection. As the abbey's gothic silhouette appears on the horizon, Molly finds herself pulled into a deeply emotional experience where memory, identity, and romance converge.

Wren Valentino shares the inspiration behind the story:

“When I was a student years ago at Oglethorpe University, I took a class taught by the acclaimed poet Karen Head that focused on the literary canon of Jane Austen. That class was my gateway into Austen’s world—and her brilliance has stayed with me ever since. Northanger Abbey, in particular, spoke to me with its mix of satire, sincerity, and heart. Home is my love letter to Austen, to that class, and to the lasting power of stories that shape who we are.”

Home blends historical imagination with contemporary emotional depth, offering fans of Austen—and readers new to her legacy—a fresh yet faithful continuation of one of literature’s most quietly enchanting stories. Romantic, reflective, and steeped in literary tradition, Home is available now exclusively in a Kindle Unlimited edition.

Readers can begin their journey back to Northanger Abbey by downloading Home on Amazon.

Workshops with Wren — Kick Off Your Writing Journey!

We are thrilled to introduce Workshops with Wren — a new series of interactive and inspiring writing workshops designed to support writers at every stage of their creative journey.

Whether you're just getting started or ready to take your work to the next level, these sessions are designed to be a safe, encouraging space where your ideas can flourish. With over twenty-one novels, numerous short stories, more than seventy stage plays, and eight produced screenplays under his belt, Wren Valentino is excited to share the tools, insights, and real-world experience that have shaped his creative path — and help you shape yours.

🌟 First Up: A Free Introductory Workshop!

📅 June 21 | 🕙 10 AM Pacific | 📍 Zoom

Join Wren for a 45-minute free session that introduces the basics of storytelling in a welcoming, pressure-free environment. This introductory workshop is perfect for writers who are:

• Just starting out,

• Returning to writing after a break,

• Or simply curious about how Workshops with Wren can support your goals.

In this session, we’ll explore fundamental storytelling concepts and get you inspired to begin — or reignite — your writing journey.

👉 Reserve your spot today — space is limited!

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What Are Workshops with Wren?

Each workshop is designed to be more than a lecture — it’s a creative conversation. We’ll focus on practical techniques, develop your unique voice, and work together in a supportive, writer-focused environment. Whether you're working on a novel, a script, a play, or simply want to stretch your writing muscles, there’s something here for you.

Workshops are available in a variety of formats to suit your schedule and learning preferences:

• One-day sessions (great for focused learning)

• 3-week and 5-week immersive formats, meeting every two weeks

• Available virtually or in person

And yes — personalized feedback is a part of every workshop.

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Let’s bring your writing to the next level — together.

📍 Save the Date: June 21 at 10 AM Pacific
🎟️ Free to attend | Held via Zoom

We can't wait to see what you create!

Our Summer Themed Stage Plays

Summer is the perfect season for storytelling under the sun—or the stage lights—and at Blue Dasher Press, we’re thrilled to share a curated collection of our summer-themed stage plays! Whether you're looking for a quick 15-minute piece or a full-length production to anchor your summer lineup, we've got something for every stage and every audience. Each script is available as a printable PDF in our digital store, and best of all, every play can be produced royalty-free. That’s right—there’s never a cost to produce one of our scripts, because we believe theatre is for everyone.

15-MINUTES OR LESS

BRACELETS AND BOYFRIENDS

Story: Best friends since childhood, Judy and Olivia decide to return to a quaint seaside town that they once visited on family vacations during their early teen years. Reminded of love's lost, choices made, and the fading of their youth, Judy and Olivia reaffirm their friendship; a play about two women who must look back before they can move forward.

Highlight: Winner of the Carrie McCray Memorial Literary Award for Best Stage Play. 

Highlight: Adapted into the award-winning short film Bracelets.

Length: 15 Minutes

Cast: 2f; both characters are in their early 50's

Audience: Contains adult subject matter and adult language

Printable PDF

Produce This Play for Free

THE CLUTCH

Story: Moments after rejecting a marriage proposal, a woman is tempted by a somewhat obnoxious stranger she meets at a sidewalk café in Greece. 

Highlight: Official Selection, In the Works, One Night Stand Theater 

Highlight: Off-Off Broadway Production, The Producer's Club

Length: 10 Minutes

Cast: 1f, 1m; both characters are in their early 30's

Audience: Contains adult subject matter

Printable PDF

Produce This Play for Free

HELL WITH THE LID OFF

Story: On the hottest day of the year, five people suffering from different types of addiction each reach their breaking point while attending a healing retreat in the middle of nowhere. 

Length: 15 Minutes

Cast: 3f, 3m

Audience: Contains adult subject matter and adult language

Printable PDF 

Produce This Play for Free

HOT RATES TO OMAHA

Story: After his estranged father dies as a result of a drug addiction, Cooper is determined to carry out his father’s final wishes by embarking on a road trip to Omaha. Along for the ride is Shelley, who is aware that Cooper has been unfaithful and plans to end their relationship before they get home.

Length: 15 Minutes

Cast: 1f, 1m

Audience: Contains adult subject matter and adult language

Printable PDF 

Produce This Play for Free

I BET SHE HAS A PARTY TO GO TO

Story: After watching a beautiful, free-spirited woman roller skate through a city park, three women respond to the resentment they feel about her assumed carefree life. 

Highlight: Featured in The Best 10-Minute Plays

Length: 10 Minutes

Cast: 4f

Audience: Contains adult subject matter and adult language

Kindle Unlimited Edition

Printable PDF 

Produce This Play for Free

THE SEVENTH OF AUGUST

Story: Erica's relationship of ten years has ended without her knowing how or why. Lloyd's girlfriend has slept with all of his friends and two of his relatives. When Erica loses her parking ticket in the underground garage Lloyd is the new customer service manager of, their shattered lives and bruised hearts collide.

Length: 10 Minutes

Cast: 1f, 1m; both characters are in their early 30's

Audience: Contains adult subject matter and adult language

Printable PDF 

Produce This Play for Free

SHALLOW END

Story: Moments after she’s almost sexually assaulted by a classmate, high school student Vanessa Martin seeks solitude at the local swimming pool despite the late hour. There, a swim class instructor and fellow high school student named Zane Armstrong encourages Vanessa to face her fear of drowning but not before first sharing a scar and secrets of his own. 

Highlight: Named a Top 15 finalist for the Billy Roche International Short Play Award

Length: 10 Minutes

Cast: 1f, 1m; both characters are in high school; contains content related to sexual assault

Audience: Contains adult subject matter

Kindle Unlimited Edition

Printable PDF 

Produce This Play for Free

SHIMMER

Story: Questioning how happy she is with her life and marriage, suburban housewife Claudia Veramonte shares a flirtatious but meaningful conversation with Tito Benavides, the beautiful young man who cleans her swimming pool.

Highlight: Featured in The Best Women's Stage Monologues

Highlight: Featured in The Best Men's Stage Monologues

Length: 10 Minutes

Cast: 1f, 1m

Audience: Contains adult subject matter and adult language

Printable PDF 

Produce This Play for Free

STAY

Story: On the same day her boyfriend Jessie is released from a work camp, eighteen-year-old Alison Freeman receives a letter from her estranged mother who wants a second chance. Alison must decide whether to accept a marriage proposal from Jessie, continue living with her lonely Aunt Carla, or leave her small hometown to join her mother for a new life in New York. 

Length: 15 Minutes

Cast: 4f, 2M

Audience: Contains adult subject matter and adult language

Printable PDF 

Produce This Play for Free

FULL LENGTH

PENSACOLA

Story: Pensacola explores the lives of four Southern women. Trudy has been a single mother since her husband went to work one day and never came home. Since then, she has tried to find a cure for her loneliness while working as a cocktail waitress at The Tide Pool. Charlotte is married and has two daughters of her own. Recently, Charlotte suspects that her husband has been unfaithful and that their marriage is falling apart. Marie, a recent high school graduate, is having a difficult time deciding on the right career for herself and ponders over going to secretary school, competing for the title of Miss Florida, or becoming the U.S. Ambassador to Cuba. Always armed with the best gossip in town, Trudy’s best friend Berniece decides to end her affair with a younger man when a life-altering tragedy hits home. Pensacola is a powerful and heart-warming celebration of family, love and strength.

Highlight: Nominated for three Elly Awards by the Sacramento Area Regional Theatre Alliance

Length: Full Length (90 Minutes)

Cast: 4f, 2m

Audience: Contains adult subject matter; contains content related to violence

Kindle Unlimited Edition

Printable PDF 

Produce This Play for Free

New Release from Blue Dasher Press: Mind Fields by Wren Valentino

Blue Dasher Press is thrilled to announce the exclusive Kindle Unlimited release of Mind Fields, a gripping and sensual new M/M romance novel by bestselling author Wren Valentino. A paperback edition will be available soon.

Set against the seductive backdrop of wealth and power, Mind Fields follows struggling college student Adam Parsh as he takes a job tutoring for one of the world’s most influential families. What begins as a chance to make ends meet quickly spirals into a dangerous entanglement with Dario Vassalos—a magnetic Greek tycoon and his married employer. As Adam is pulled deeper into a world of luxury, lust, and manipulation, his heart begins to lean toward someone else entirely: his loyal best friend, Victor Maldonado.

Caught between temptation and true connection, Adam must navigate a storm of secrets, lies, and impossible choices. Sometimes love can blow you away—and sometimes it can save you.

In speaking about his creative process, Wren Valentino shared:

“Mind Fields explores the emotional minefield of what money, power, and greed can do to people—and what happens when someone who’s never had any of those things still manages to hold onto his goodness. Adam’s story is deeply personal to me. He knows grief, he knows loneliness, and yet he still chooses love over corruption. That’s the kind of hero I believe in.”

This is a must-read for fans of emotional tension, forbidden romance, and characters who refuse to lose themselves in the shadows of others.

Mind Fields is now available exclusively through Kindle Unlimited. Don’t miss your chance to experience this haunting, provocative novel from one of today’s most distinctive voices in LGBTQ+ romance.

Read the Kindle Unlimited edition now. 

Paperback coming soon.

New Release from Blue Dasher Press: Swimming to Chicago by Wren Valentino

Blue Dasher Press is thrilled to announce the release of the young adult novel Swimming to Chicago by bestselling author Wren Valentino. Now available in paperback and ebook formats, this powerful coming-of-age story explores grief, identity, and the kind of friendships that shape us forever.

About the Book:

Reeling from his mother’s suicide, seventeen-year-old Alex Bainbridge isolates himself from the world—often escaping to a secluded island behind his house. As an Armenian teen growing up in a small Southern town, Alex struggles to feel seen. His fierce friendship with the outspoken Jillian Dambro is his lifeline—until he meets Robby LaMont, a quiet new student who understands Alex in ways no one else ever has.

As their final year of high school unfolds and the adults in their lives spin out of control, Alex, Jillian, and Robby form an unbreakable bond. United by love and loyalty, the three make a bold decision to chart their own future—one that will test their courage and change their lives forever.

Author’s Inspiration:

In a note about his creative process, Wren Valentino shares:

“Swimming to Chicago was born out of music, memory, and emotion. I listened to a lot of Garbage and Metric while writing this book—those songs became a kind of emotional map for the characters. Their lyrics helped me tap into the rawness of Alex’s grief and the hope that emerges when you find people who truly see you. Both bands are mentioned in the book because their influence was so deeply felt during the writing process.”

Poignant, poetic, and ultimately hopeful, Swimming to Chicago is a must-read for fans of emotionally honest YA fiction.

Available Now:

Swimming to Chicago is now available in paperback and ebook through major retailers, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and indie bookstores.

For more news on upcoming releases and behind-the-scenes insights, stay connected with Blue Dasher Press.

Blue Dasher Press Announces the Release of The Jetsetters by Wren Valentino

Blue Dasher Press is thrilled to announce the release of The Jetsetters, a captivating m/m romance novel by bestselling author Wren Valentino. Available now in paperback and eBook formats, The Jetsetters tells the passionate and emotional story of two young men navigating the complexities of love, fame, and personal growth.

In The Jetsetters, Justin Holt is a lonely barista living in Chicago who spends his days attending college and his evenings working at Clouds, a cozy coffee shop owned by his lesbian boss and best friend, Starsky. His quiet life is turned upside down when Diego Delgado, the hot Latin guitarist for the rock band The Jetsetters, strolls in for a cup of coffee. From their first encounter, a powerful spark is ignited between them.

As The Jetsetters rocket from obscurity to superstardom, Justin and Diego’s budding romance is put to the test. Justin must fight to preserve their relationship despite the chaos surrounding Diego’s rise to fame. When unexpected tragedy threatens Diego’s career and emotional well-being, Justin faces a heart-wrenching decision that will alter the course of their lives.

Author Wren Valentino shared his thoughts about the creative process behind The Jetsetters:

“I wanted to explore the intensity of young love and how it collides with the pressures of instant fame. At its heart, The Jetsetters is about finding connection and hope, even when the world feels impossibly loud.”

Don’t miss out on this unforgettable romance from Wren Valentino! Grab your copy of The Jetsetters today in paperback or eBook format, available wherever books are sold.

Stay tuned for more updates from Blue Dasher Press, including upcoming releases, author interviews, and special events. Follow us on social media to stay in the loop!

Blue Dasher Press Announces the Publication of Wren Valentino’s New Horror Short Story, Make It 'til Dawn

Blue Dasher Press is thrilled to announce the release of Make It 'til Dawn, a new short horror story by bestselling author Wren Valentino. This unique tale seamlessly blends horror, comedy, and romance into a single thrilling plot, offering readers an unforgettable experience filled with chills, laughs, and heartwarming moments.

At the heart of Make It 'til Dawn is the growing romance between two college-aged men, an element rarely explored in the horror genre. When Andrew accepts a dare to spend the night in an abandoned house to prove his bravery, Charles, a handsome parapsychology student, joins him—both intrigued by the supernatural folklore surrounding the house and eager to finally ask Andrew out. However, as the night unfolds, the two young men realize they’re not alone. Paranormal forces within the house, known to locals as Ghost Toast, are determined to prevent them from seeing the morning light.

“I wanted to write a horror story that not only delivers spine-tingling moments but also challenges the genre’s conventions,” says Wren Valentino. “Horror and romance don’t have to be separate entities, and I thought it was time to showcase a love story between two young men in a setting where they are rarely seen. Make It 'til Dawn is as much about finding courage—both in the face of supernatural terror and in confessing one’s feelings—as it is about surviving the night.”

Available exclusively in Kindle Unlimited edition, Make It 'til Dawn is perfect for readers who love stories that break the mold while delivering all the thrills and heart-stopping moments of classic horror. If you’re looking for a fresh take on the genre with a dash of romance and humor, this is one you won’t want to miss.

Get your copy today and see if Andrew and Charles can make it ‘til dawn!