It's launch day! #middlegrade #historicalfiction #musichistory FRANNI AND THE DUKE

Hello! I'm thrilled to share launch day with you. 

Franni and the Duke is here! This is a historical mystery novel about a 12-year-old girl in the court of Vincenzo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua. It takes place in 1608, while famed composer Claudio Monteverdi is rehearsing his new opera, Arianna.

The missing duke of a neighboring town may be hiding out in Mantua as an opera singer. Franni thinks she knows the truth, but she dare not tell...

Buy Franni and the Duke on Amazon, Barnes&Noble, or directly from the publisher, Sunbury Press.

Cover reveal now! FRANNI AND THE DUKE middle grade historical novel from @SunburyPress

In May of 1608, the Duke of Mantua will throw the most spectacular wedding extravaganza in history. But it will all be ruined unless twelve-year-old Franni can keep a very big secret.

Franni and the Duke, coming soon from Sunbury Press, takes place during rehearsals for Arianna, an opera by the great composer Claudio Monteverdi. When Franni and her older sister Alli run away to Mantua, they both find work in Monteverdi's company. 

A messenger from the north announces that the next duke of the town of Bergamo is missing, and he may well be in Mantua. Alli notices that Luca, a singer she's in love with, fits the missing Duke's description. 

Although Franni thinks Luca is a pompous idiot, she promises for Alli's sake to keep Luca's secret safe and protect him from bounty hunters and Bergamo's rival family. She does this with the help of the company's set designer, a worldly wise and world-weary dwarf named Edgardo, who is not exactly what he seems. 

Here's a look at the beautiful cover of Franni and the Duke:

One for Every Taste: My Three Novels Coming Out in 2016

The year 2015 saw a lot of short publications by Anne E. Johnson, but nothing longer than five thousand words. And not for lack of trying. The fact is, when you deal with small publishers, you learn to expect various things not to go as planned.

Giving details would be gauche, so suffice it to say that I lived through a bookless 2015 and now look forward to the 2016 release of three novels, in three genres, from three different publishers. To wit:


WINTER 2016

SPACE SURFERS (Alban Lake Publishing) 
This YA far-future science fiction adventure takes place on a planet called Soranen and features a pair of twins whose ancestry is a mixture of the Ellarisor and Human species. The teens' secret, illegal jet flights above the planet's atmosphere uncover a great mystery that inspires them to figure out the origins of their Human blood.

SPRING 2016

FRANNI AND THE DUKE (Sunbury Press) 
Going back to my roots as a musicologist, I wrote this middle-grade historical novel as a celebration of one of my favorite composers, Claudio Monteverdi. It's May of 1608 when a 12-year-old girl named Franni and her older sister enter the glorious city of Mantua. Soon they find themselves working on Monteverdi's new opera in the Duke's impossibly glamorous Palazzo. But when the Duke of a nearby town goes missing and Franni's sister also seems to be in danger, Franni must piece together a puzzle even more complicated than the maestro's music.

FALL 2016

RED SPAWN DELIVERY (Book 3 of the Webrid Chronicles; Candlemark & Gleam) 
Webrid is back, and it's chaos as usual in the Raralt Planetary Circle. The every-alien who just wants to be left alone to belch beer is once again forced into an adventure. This time a whole litter of babies get stolen from under their mother's nose. And just because the mom went to college with Webrid's friend Zatell, Webrid has to help find the blasted things.