Julie Achteroff

When I was a little girl of five or six I went travelling with my family in our travel trailer all around the southwest, including an Indian reservation in Taos. It was in a trailer park where my younger sister and I met a slightly older boy whom we made friends with at the playground.

The boy’s name evades me now, but he ended up inviting us to his trailer to “see something neat.” We followed him to his trailer, which was empty. I don’t know where his parents were, but I remember wondering why a boy his age was alone.

We sat in his living area for a bit when he told us to come look at his bathroom. We followed him in, and saw a regular, small trailer bathroom with a roll of toilet paper on the back of the toilet and a bathtub, along with a sink. Everything looked pretty normal. Then he told us to go back in the other room, which we did.

Then he told us to come back and look in the bathroom again. We did as he said, following him back into the bathroom, wondering why in the world he wanted to show it to us again. Well, the truth of the matter became clear as soon a I turned the corner and peeked into the bathroom once more.

Where there had once been a plain old roll of toilet paper on the back of the toilet was now the disembodied head of a real live ghost! I could see the face and also right through it. And in the bathtub was a full-bodied ghost! They looked just like the ghostly apparitions you see at the Haunted House at Disneyland. I don’t remember if they moved or not, but I sure did. I and my sister ran back out to the living area of the boy’s trailer as fast as we could. I looked back to see if the boy was coming out, too. That’s when I heard a strange moaning sound. I was terrified. But I couldn’t leave when the boy was still in there.

Moments later he came running out with what looked like white cream of some kind all over his face, and finger trail marks in it. He ran screaming out of the bathroom and straight out of the trailer, never to be seen or heard of by me again. My sister and I ran out, too, all the way back to our own trailer.

I remember trying to tell my mother about what had happened. I was very young, so she didn’t take me seriously, just telling me there was no such thing as ghosts. This story has stayed with me throughout my life. Sometimes I think there really were ghosts in that boy’s trailer; other times I think maybe his parents worked for Disney and had this trick set up in their trailer. I guess I’ll never know.

Jaym Gates

Horror and erotica. Zombies and romance. Rigor Amortis.

Maybe a tender love story is your thing, a husband doting on his rotting wife’s corpse. Or perhaps a forbidden encounter in a secret cafe, serving up the latest in delectable zombie cuisine, or some dirt-y, dirty dancing in the old-time honky-tonk. Voodoo sex-slavs and vending machine body-parts?

You’ll find those here, too.

Whatever your flavor, these short tales of undead Romance, Revenge, Risk, and Raunch will leave you shambling, moaning, and clawing for more.

And come he slow, or come he fast, It is but Death who comes at last.

--Sir Walter Scott, “Marmion”, 1808

AUTHORS:

Pete “Patch” Alberti

Damon B

Renée Bennett

Xander Briggs

Jennifer Brozek

J. R. Campbell

Johann Carlisle

Nathan Crowder

Carrie Cuinn

R. Schuyler Devin

Annette Dupree

Michael Ellsworth

Jay Faulkner

Kaolin Imago Fire

M. G. Gillett

Sarah Goslee

Kay T. Holt

Calvin D. Jim

Alex Masterson

Edward Morris

Don Pizarro

Michael Phillips

John Nakamura Remy

V. R. Roadifer

Andrew Penn Romine

Armand Rosamilia

Jacob Ruby

Steven James Scearce

Lance Schonberg

Lucia Starkey

R. E. VanNewkirk

Wendy N. Wagner.

EDITORS:

Jaym Gates & Erika Holt

ARTISTS:

Robert “Nix” Nixon

Galen Dara

Miranda Jean.

PUBLISHER: Brian Hades, Absolute XPress

Brandon H Bell

- Keep an eye on M-Brane SF for the pending release of their first quarterly print edition. In promotion of the M-Brane Double, featuring novellas by Alex Jeffers and me, the quarterly features stories from each of us. Mine is a reprint first published in the now defunct Nossa Morte, and is my one straight zombie story. Well, a zombie-apocalypse extrapolation of King Lear featuring masks of flesh, dead birds, and Crick pamphlets. It's called Found Objects and I think it's a nice, creepy little tale.

- Along the right side of my blog, you will find a small audio player with a picture of snowmen. Click play, turn up your sound, lean back with something warm to drink, and venture out into a cold night where hearts eclipsed with the greatest loss imaginable risk the unknown so that one more tiny life might survive. Animate snowmen and darker things.

And for all the vampire lovers out there... and I don't mean these shiny-skinned eternal teenagers that come (a long way) after Anne Rice. No, I mean the readers who longs for a big, bad, mean vampire tale... Forget The Fall, Guillermo Del Toro & Chuck Hogan's follow-up to by-the-numbers but fun enough The Strain.

Whereas The Strain presented readers with a pretty nice setup in its first third, the remainder of the book fell back on some fairly standard Vamp genre cliches. Its biggest virtue proved the story that might follow in the remaining entries is this trilogy. The Strain arrived before Justin Cronin's The Passage, and hinted at a vampire apocalypse to follow in the subsequent volumes. Not original by any means, but a possibly a nice change of pace.

Too bad we get The Fall instead.

The Fall reads like an alternate history Blade 3: just not as good. I'm a big Del Toro fan... that is to say, I'm a big fan of his movies. I suspect the imaginings that led to this story will eventually make a decent vampire movie saga. It probably should have remained in that realm. One of my biggest criticisms is that the first fifty pages telegraphs all the important events of the first book and the character relationships. If a writer is going to do this, just info-dump it in a short 'here's what's happened so far' at the start ( I think King takes this approach in the later Dark Tower books), and then get to telling the tale. The story improves a bit once that first fifty pages is done, but just barely.

I don't do a lot of negative reviews, and it's pretty safe to bag on such a large property: The Fall will sell like hotcakes whatever I have to say. I love genre fiction, and a good vampire adventure tale like McCammon's They Thirst is like few other pleasures. I can't decide if The Fall is simply too cynical in its best-seller-ism delivery, or if it is the case of too much vision and not enough heart. Ohhh, wouldn't it be cool if we have a Luchador vampire hunter? What about a bunch of blind kid vampires?!

Oooooo, and lets have all the gang-bangers form an alliance to fight the vampires... because killing shit and being bad-ass is their blood, right? Writing this, it really should be cooler than it is.

In all fairness, I am over half-way through, and other books have won me over past this point. The Scar is one that didn't really click for me until Mieville's characters arrived at the island with the mosquito people. Now that was some bad-assery.

Justin Cronin, though doing quite well with The Passage has also received some slights to the effect of 'oh, a literary dude has decided to out-genre the genre guys and gals'. I have no clue how true that is and it doesn't matter to me either way. The Passage is a fine entry into the vampire/apocalyptic horror subgenres exemplified by I Am Legend, They Thirst/ Swan Song, Salem's Lot/ The Stand, and even Mieville's The Tain.

My next read is Stephen Chapman's The Troika. I can't take any more vampires. :)

BB

Meredith

Please take a moment to check out Meredith Holmes's contribution to the Halloween Reading Blog Tour:
It's not really Halloween without dressing up, pretend-time and a healthy dose of fantasy. This book isn't due out till January but it is available for pre-order in late October around Halloween! (See, another way this is related! ) and some of the authors have snippets available for reading on their own sites and blogs.
Steampowered is an anthology of lesbian stories from a variety of fantasyand sci-fi authors, including myself, that is being published by Torquere Press. The stories are not all erotica but several do have strong sexual themes and/or elements and they are all written featuring Lesbian characters.
One of my own stories, Love in the Time of Airships, is featured in this anthology and I'm thrilled to be part of such a great group of authors. Love is set during the Franco-Prussian War and features, well,
airships. It's a love story (gee, obviously!) but also an alternate history, like many of the stories in the anthology. In the spirit of the holidays, I'm posting a snippet of it at my website.
More information can be found at the editor's personal blog.

Colin

A number of active and emerging editors have started to cross-post in an interesting collaborative project called Blog Tours. One of their themes for October is -unsurprisingly- Hallowe'en. :)

So for the next few days, I'll be handing the reins to them, one after the other.

We've got a short Hallowe'en piece from Zanna Dobbs, editor Brandon H Bell talking about his new project The Aether Age, Jaym Gates on vampires, and more to come as well.

Meanwhile, my anthology Dark Spires is nearing readiness, just a fraction too late for Hallowe'en...but hey, let's stretch the point, shall we?

Dark Spires is subtitled Speculative Fiction From Hardy Country and contains short stories from Liz Williams, author of the Inspector Chen novels, award winning author Sarah Singleton, Jo Hall, author of the Hierath saga, Gareth L Powell, Eugene Byrne and many more.

We've got multi-dimensional predators that only one man can see, a dragon made of corpses, sea wolves invading a seaside town, mysterious appartions plaguing a town near Glastonbury, and bride locked in a magical power battle with her husband's mother near Avalon.

It's available as a paperback to order from the publishers's website, or you can buy as an e-book from Saturday November 6th. I'll be running extracts all next week on my website, so feel free to stop by and rifle through the pages!

We look forward to seeing you soon...

Halloween Blog tour1

A Haunting Ride
By
Zanna G. Dobbs

The night was dark and dreary. The moon hiding behind the clouds that completely covering the sky. Afternoon was slowly changing into evening when my car choked its last gasp of gas. At least I hoped it was only out of gas. Not being mechanicly inclined I could not be sure. The rain began shortly after my car broke down. At first it was a slow steady drizzle. I thought I could wait it out and still have time to walk into the nearest town before full dark. According to the last sign the town couldn't be more than 5 miles away. Although I could see no lights indicating a dwelling anywhere in sight. After hours waiting for the rain to let up it began falling harder and soon I could not even see the tree that I had tried to pull off the road under. I had missed by about 50 feet. A dark as deep as any I had ever seen before surrounded me. Leaving me wondering if there was anyone left alive.
Suddenly the darkness behind me was lessened. There were two spots of light coming towards me. I thought it might be a car but it was moving way too slow. The slight rise I was sitting on seemed to slow it down even more. Chills ran down my back as every ghost story I had ever heard ran through my mind. The lights crept closer and closer. Then as they were nearly on me I could see that it was a car inching along. I stained to see the driver. The car was empty. No one was driving. How could this be? I had just a moment to think about what I should do stay here or take a ride in the only car I had seen since I had pulled over. I opened my door and jumped into the haunted car. My breath sounded loud in my ears as I searched the car. It was only going as fast as I could walk but it I would be dry. If only I could keep my mind off of the fact that there was no one driving. I kept looking around inside the car and there really did not seem to be anyone there.
Just then the car topped the rise and the faint lights of the promised town came into view. The downhill slope began pulling the car towards the lights I hoped spelled safety and a way to get my own car back. Soon we were doing a nice clip and I spotted an all-night store off on the right. I counted down and jumped from the moving vehicle just as we almost passed the store. I ran inside then looked back to see if the car had disappeared like in all the ghost car stories I had heard over the years. There running after the car were four teenage boys. The mystery of the locomotive power of the car was solved. Before they saw me I ran into the bathroom where I used the hand blower to dry off. After hiding for a good 30 minutes I emerged to an empty store. Dry and safe I laughed at my imagination and the night somehow seemed not so dark and dreary after all.

We visited this book last week but this week we also get a little incite into one of the authors. Enjoy.

AETHER AGE ANTHOLOGY

A past remade…

Millennia ago, Greece, Egypt, and other civilizations experienced industrial revolutions beneath a sky that, in a blink of history, burgeoned into life and mystery…

With one intervention to human progress, technological civilizations arose. With one more fantastic change in Nature, humanity broke the bonds of Earth and ventured out into the aether…

Take flight on airships, balloons, and wooden rockets. Soar with winged hoplites, exiled princesses, explorers and philosophers. Witness the struggle for equality, freedom, and power like you never have before.

Aether Age Anthology: Interview with author Jaym Gates

I have to admit, when I first heard about the Aether Age project, I kind of wrote it off. Like so many other things, I’d heard about it on Twitter, when a couple of guys asked me if I would be involved. At the time, I was in California for a week, on vacation, and heading for some major deadlines.

I said I’d try. I wrote four different starts. My computer crashed, I was trying to put out a wildfire in the writing community I was administrating, I was running too tight on the deadlines as it was. On top of that, it’s been established that I don’t play well in other people’s worlds. I’m an unrepentant devotee of massive, detailed worlds, and had several failed collaborative attempts behind me.

A week before the deadline, I took my retired dinosaur of a computer and hammered out a first draft, a second draft, polished, sent it in 2 days before deadline…before the deadline was extended. The editors asked me if I’d be interested in writing another story. Ok, well, if you insist.

The world of Aether Age is difficult to write in, the first time through. Anything dealing with ancient Egypt or Greece is going to be problematic. The sheer level of detail is boggling, and the confusion. Was this ruler male, female, 1st Dynasty or 20th? Add a complex alternate history, and there are thousands of possibilities. It’s like trying to find the one special blueberry in a 5 pound box.

But, it does get a writer thinking. How would technologies change religion? How would airships change economy? How much horror would you get from mixing an unstable, unknown eternity of space with an endless pantheon of gods?

My stories explored the horror. What happens when criminals and monsters are abandoned on a rock, thousands of miles from anything they know, reliant on an atmosphere that goes away every now and then? What are those shadows in the dark? Where did the legends of Hades come from? What new gods would form in the endless depths of space, and how would they be worshiped?

Join me in the Aether, in the Age of Helios, this fall. It will be the adventure of a lifetime.

-Jaym Gates

Explore a history transformed and travel into the heavens to discover what awaits the civilizations of Humanity in…

The Aether Age: Helios

Book One of the Aether Age Codex

See the book at: http://www.Aether-Age.com

Watch the trailer at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdoYnhCqtp0&feature=player_embedded

The theme so far seems to be dead that don't want to rest. Come read more.


DEADFALL by Shaun Jeffrey


A team of mercenaries race to an abandoned mining village to rescue two children held hostage by rogue ex-soldiers. But the kidnappers are a ruse, the real threat more terrifying than any of them could imagine.

Aided by a couple of unsuspecting eco-warriors, mercenary team leader Amber Redgrave must fight to survive against foes that don’t sleep and don’t feel pain.

Now as the body count rises, so do the stakes, and when the dead won’t stay dead, there’s going to be hell to pay.

Question: What are some ways in which you promote your work? Do you find that these add to or detract from your writing time?

As a writer, promotion is one of the hardest things to do as you’re competing against thousands of other authors for a reader’s attention. To promote my work, I participate in things such as this blog tour. I post on message boards. I maintain a presence on Myspace, Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, Goodreads and other sites. I help by sending out review copies. I do interviews in magazines and online. But it all takes time and obviously detracts from the writing side of things. I don’t think it matters whether you’re published by a major publisher or a small press one, most authors need to help promote their work. Now readers are a major part of this, and I would ask that if anyone has read a book and enjoyed it, they show their appreciation and help by posting a short review on any of the book sites such as Amazon or Goodreads etc, as it goes a long way towards helping an author along what is a long and lonely road. It only takes a couple of minutes, but I’m sure the author concerned would be most grateful.

For more info on my work, please check out www.shaunjeffrey.com

This week is full of shivers and screams. The first read is,

REQUIEM by Heather S. Ingemar


Hattie Locke has a gift: when she sings, the dead dig themselves from their graves to listen. As a death-siren, her life has always been this way.

Then the dead begin to show up in numbers far beyond expected. With each song she sings, they grow pushy and demanding, rushing the stage to reach her. Trapped in a place where her dreams of music become her nightmares, Hattie is left with nowhere to turn.

But then she meets a boy, who promises freedom from her curse.

Now Hattie wonders: is ridding herself of her voice worth losing the music she’s lived to create?

Buying information: http://www.amazon.com/Requiem-ebook/dp/B003LBRJEK/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=books&qid=1277493791&sr=1-9

QUESTION: Tell us a bit about yourself and your novella, “Requiem”?

In some ways, Hattie reminds me of myself. I came from a musical family, and I delved right into all of it. By the time I was a sophomore in high school, I’d mastered seven different instruments, and it was pretty much thought a guarantee that I’d pursue Julliard, or Berkeley, or some other prestigious music school. Imagine everyone’s surprise when I decided to major in English lit!

Thankfully, I had a more-or-less understanding family who allowed me the space to pursue my words (they knew I wasn’t leaving music completely, and they were right; I still play now and then) – however, I faced extreme opposition from others. It was these experiences that I drew on in creating Hattie’s unusual situation. What if my family hadn’t let me do my own thing? What if they reacted like these vehement strangers and teachers and friends who all thought they knew best for me?

Combine that with my morbid streak (zombies! death! magic!), and “Requiem” was born.

————-
H e a t h e r S . I n g e m a r

Requiem voted Top Ten Young Adult Book for 2009! Learn more!
_______________________________________

Vacation Reads week 3
Posts for the weekend three are up, with more titles, more features, and more author interviews.

Check out these participating blogs:

http://blog.annakashina.com/2010/07/17/july-vacation-reads–weekend-3.aspx

http://apenandfire.com/?p=796

More links coming up!

Leave comments, share our posts on your blogs, and e-mail us the links to enter drawings for copies of our participating titles and other prizes!

This sounds like steampunk taken to a whole nother level. What if they had these technologies that long ago what road would they have taken. Come read with us and find out. Zanna



AETHER AGE ANTHOLOGY


A past remade…

Millennia ago, Greece, Egypt, and other civilizations experienced industrial revolutions beneath a sky that, in a blink of history, burgeoned into life and mystery…

With one intervention to human progress, technological civilizations arose. With one more fantastic change in Nature, humanity broke the bonds of Earth and ventured out into the aether…

Take flight on airships, balloons, and wooden rockets. Soar with winged hoplites, exiled princesses, explorers and philosophers. Witness the struggle for equality, freedom, and power like you never have before.

Explore a history transformed and travel into the heavens to discover what awaits the civilizations of Humanity in…

The Aether Age: Helios

Book One of the Aether Age Codex

See the book at: http://www.Aether-Age.com

Watch the trailer at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdoYnhCqtp0&feature=player_embedded

Who has never wondered what is going on in the lives of people they see. Alix takes us there in this book. Open the door and step in. Zanna


BASED UPON AVAILABILITY by Alix Strauss



“This sharp and brilliant novel shows that truth cannot be seen from the outside. You’ll absorb every anecdote’s last detail as real human connection resurfaces and these women take steps to become the people they’ve always dreamed they’d be.” – Elle

“Stellar….” – Publishers Weekly

“This is the classic read-it-in-one-big-gulp book. Or spend several days at the beach with it; compelling from first page to last – edgy, moving, human.” – Liz Smith.

“A mesmerizing novel. ….the characters in this moving novel are achingly sympathetic, their plights imminently relatable.” – Booklist (starred review)

“These New York stories will remind some readers of Parker—as in Dorothy, not Sarah Jessica.” Kirkus Review

Based Upon Availability delves into the lives of eight seemingly ordinary women, each who pass through Manhattan’s swanky Four Seasons Hotel. While offering sanctuary to some, solace to others, the hotel captures their darkest and twisted moments as they grapple with family, sex, power, love, and death. Trish, a gallery owner, obsesses over her best friend’s wedding and dramatic weight loss. Robin wants revenge after a lifetime of abuse at the hands of her older sister. Anne is single, lonely, and suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder. Drug-addicted rock star Louise needs to dry out. Southerner-turned-wannabe Manhattanite Franny is envious of her neighbors’ lives. Sheila wants to punish her boyfriend for returning to his wife. Ellen so desperately wants children, she’s willing to pretend to be pregnant. And Morgan, the hotel manager— haunted by the memory of her dead sister—is the thread that weaves these women’s lives together. In this an utterly original read, I try to ask and answer the age-old question; ‘what happens behind closed doors’ while examining the walls we put up as we attempt intimacy, and inspecting the ruins when they’re knocked down.

Alix Strauss, Journalist/Author www.alixstrauss.com

Paranormal is soooo... hot now days. I know I enjoy a good read in this venue. Zanna


DEADLY LUCIDITY by Julie Achterhoff


DEADLY LUCIDITY is a paranormal thriller. Julie Achterhoff’s other work includes the paranormal thrillers Native Vengeance and Quantum Earth. She grew up reading such
authors as Stephen King and Dean Koontz, which influenced her own writing. She
has been writing since childhood, scaring her teachers with her horror stories.
Reading has also been a great influence on her. Her books can be found on
amazon.com in regular form, and now on Kindle for $3.19 a piece. They can also
be purchased from the publisher at allthingsthatmatterpress.com. You can read
parts of her books on BookBuzzr.

Week 2

JULY VACATION READS — WEEKEND 2
Jul 9th, 2010
by Ania.
Don't forget to go to Vacationreads.com and leave a comment for prizes. Zanna

Hi, everyone,

Weekend 2 of July Vacation Reads features more great titles to be taken on vacation. Check these posts at our participating blogs:

http://blog.annakashina.com/2010/07/09/july-vacation-reads–weekend-2.aspx

http://nithska.blogspot.com/2010/07/weekend-2-of-vacation-reads.html

http://joelysueburkhart.com/?p=2870

http://meredithholmes.com/?p=168

http://apenandfire.com/?p=788

http://shaunjeffrey.blogspot.com/2010/07/vacation-reads-blog-tour-week-2.html

More links coming up!

And, don’t forget to leave comments to enter our drawing to win great prizes! Or, better yet — join our tour and feature our titles on your blogs!

ooops

I forgot the link to the vacation reads site. If you comment here and there you are eligable for free stuff. vacationreads.com

Anna has a way with words. Her Fairy Tales are real and delightful to read. These fairy tales are just right for adults to revel in. Zanna

Posted in: Fantasy.
IVAN AND MARYA by Anna Kashina — NEW RELEASE!!!
Jun 30th, 2010
by Ania.
1 comment



“…a pleasure to read. Uncluttered yet vivid with detail, Kashina’s writing promises to beautifully update Russian folklore for a worldwide audience. “ Tracy Falbe, The Fantasy Tavern.

“Kashina manages to capture all the elements that make fairytales such fun to read and adds a voice of her own to it as well.” Pearls Cast Before a McPig.

“Rich description, fascinating characters with dark motivations and even darker methods, and scenes that keep the story moving ever forward. Anna Kashina does not waste a single word.” Black Sun Reviews.

The Dark Essence of Russian Myth

Ivan-and-Marya is a dark fantasy with elements of romance, based on Russian folklore.

Marya, a shapeshifter and a powerful sorceress, helps her father rule the kingdom by sacrificing young virgins whose life force feeds her father’s soul. She wards off the enemies of her cult by luring them into a trap of her beauty, and destroying them. Marya never questions her duties, not knowing that the man she calls her father holds the dark secrets about her birth and the true source of her magic powers.

Ivan, a young man on a quest to put an end to the virgin sacrifice, walks straight into Marya’s trap and falls in love with her at first sight. At first his gentleness makes Marya believe he would be easy to defeat, but as she confronts him she finds him a tougher enemy than she imagined. Ivan’s hidden strength – and the forces that aid him – for the first time challenge not only her powers, but the very foundation of her beliefs. To face Ivan and achieve her ‘happily ever after’, Marya must first face her darkest fears — and survive it.

Find out more about Anna and her work at www.annakashina.com

Buy the book at Drollerie Press – special price in July!!!

Posted in: Fantasy.

Sounds like a book any fantasy writer needs. Zanna

Posted in: Fantasy.
COMPOSING MAGIC by Elizabeth Barrette
Jul 2nd, 2010
by Ania.
No comments yet

Composing Magic: How to Create Spells, Rituals, Blessings, Chants, and Prayers guides you through the exciting realm of magical and spiritual writing. Explore the process of writing, its tools and techniques, individual types of composition, and ways of sharing your work with other people. Each type of writing includes its history and uses, covering diverse traditions; plus step-by-step instructions, finished compositions, and exercises. Intended for alternative religions, but it can be generalized to others or used by fiction writers to create background tidbits.
LINKS:

“The Wordsmith’s Forge” blog by Elizabeth Barrette / Ysabetwordsmith
http://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com
Special post “So Your Story Needs a Prophecy” on adapting _Composing Magic_ to write cultural bits to put into fiction:
http://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com/1212401.html

Elizabeth Barrette’s personal Facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000506157220
FB Fan page for Elizabeth Barrette’s business, PenUltimate Productions Writing & Editing:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/PenUltimate-Productions-Writing-Editing/118404341520029?v=app_2347471856&ref=ts#!/pages/PenUltimate-Productions-Writing-Editing/118404341520029?v=wall&ref=ts

Elizabeth Barrette’s MyBlogLog profile:
http://www.mybloglog.com/buzz/members/ysabetwordsmith/

Composing Magic at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Composing-Magic-Magical-Rituals-Blessings/dp/1564149358

I love Meredith's writing. The imagery is wonderfully textured. Can not wait to read this. Zanna


Posted in: Fantasy.
UNSEELIE by Meredith Holmes
Jul 2nd, 2010
by Ania.
No comments yet

The darkness tasted like bitter bark and earth, sharp berries, and cold water. I could not feel it as it came over me but I could smell it, taste it, hear it . . .

When Alfhild was a little girl, her grandmother called her a fairy princess and told her all of her favorite tales.

She’d never imagined they were real.

Anxious to avoid the swarming reporters and ghoulish souvenir hunters who won’t leave her alone when her brother Gulliver is tried and acquitted for multiple murders he almost certainly committed, a grown up Alfhild changes her name to Lorelei and flees Louisiana to the sanctuary she inherited from her grandmother, the ancestral home in England.

All is well until she wakes one morning to find a naked man in her rosebush.

And the games begin . . .

Find out more information about Meredith and her projects at www.meredithholmes.com

This is the only one of the vacation reads I have already read. I really enjoyed this book. One thing that resounded with me was that the month before I read it I had gone to a murder mystery dinner. Before going we were given characters we would be. I was to be the chocolatier. I researched what a chocolatier was. When I got to the dinner it also turned out I was the murderer. Great fun. Cindy caught the essence of a chocolatier very well. Zanna

Posted in: Science Fantasy, Science Fiction.
THE CHOCOLATIER’S WIFE by Cindy Lynn Speer — NEW RELEASE!!!
Jul 2nd, 2010
by Ania.
No comments yet

Tasmin, William’s wife to be, was chosen by a spell, as all wives and husbands are chosen. It’s a nice, tidy way to find a reasonable mate for almost everyone. Unfortunately, Tasmin is from the North, a place of magic and strange ritual, and William is from the South, where people pride themselves on being above that kind of insanity.

William doesn’t seem in a hurry to send for Tasmin, for which none of his family blame him. After all, she’s a barbarian. She, on the other hand, would like to know what’s keeping him. When he’s framed for murdering his patron, Tasmin takes matters into her own hands. She’s gotten to know Wiliam from his letters. He’s not a murderer and she’s going to help him prove it.

Someone out there doesn’t like him and is beginning to dislike Tasmin almost as much, and that someone isn’t at all averse to making sure William and Tasmin aren’t around long enough to celebrate their wedding.

Read more at http://www.apenandfire.com

This sounds like a Science Fiction Horror to me. Not one I would read just before I go to bed but I will read it. Zanna


Posted in: Horror.
ALIEN DREAMS by John Rosenman
Jul 2nd, 2010
by Ania.
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Captain Eric Latimore leads a four-person crew to Lagos to investigate a previous team’s mysterious disappearance. Once there, he discovers that an ominous alien presence is invading their dreams. Each member of his crew has the same dream–huge, seductively beautiful “angels” speak to them telepathically.

The creatures strand his crew on the planet and only Latimore can free them–if he survives.

Link to purchase: http://drolleriepress.com/books/index.php?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=11

Personal Website: www.johnrosenman.com

REVIEWS:

“John B. Rosenman weaves an intricate plot and a most exciting tale with mind-stretching concepts that make us look at the universe in a new way. This book is classified as science fiction, but there is a lot more romance and intrigue than in your ordinary SF materials.” — Berry’s Reviews and The New Book Review

“With a strong science fiction setting, John B. Rosenman explores the importance of culture, compassion and love by pitting a race that has none of these qualities against a number of species.

Alien Dreams is, in my opinion, John Rosenman’s most substantial offering to date. One could say that he shows us what it is to be human by slowly tearing everything that means anything away from Captain Eric Latimore, all the while holding up the angels as examples of the horror of what he is to become.” — Clayton Bye, Book Reviews

I like the sound of this book. It sounds like it would keep you awake sitting on the beach reading it. Less chance of sunburn. Gets a thumbs up from me. Zanna




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THE KULT by Shaun Jeffrey
Jul 2nd, 2010
by Ania.
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People are predictable. That’s what makes them easy to kill.

Acting out of misguided loyalty to his friends, police officer Prosper Snow is goaded into helping them perform a copycat killing, but when the real killer comes after him, it’s not only his life on the line, but his family’s too. Now if he goes to his colleagues for help, he risks being arrested for murder. If he doesn’t, he risks being killed.

***

“With Kult, Shaun Jeffrey hits one out of the park with this creepy, character-driven thriller that starts with a jolt, stays in the fast lane, and plunges into the darkest territory of the human mind. It’s a bumpy ride through nightmare country.”
–Jonathan Maberry, multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning author of PATIENT ZERO and PUNISHER: NAKED KILL

“Jeffrey, one of horror’s rising young stars, has really hit his stride with THE KULT. Part mystery, part police procedural, part horror story, it’s one thrilling ride. Jeffrey had me guessing at the killer’s identity half a dozen times, and the reveal, when it finally came, knocked me over. You don’t want to miss this one!” –Nate Kenyon, author of THE REACH and THE BONE FACTORY

“The Kult is a creeping stalk through a shadowy labyrinth of thrills and terror. Shaun Jeffrey delivers a pulse-pounding novel of superb skill and unequivocal horror. Fans of many genres should be ready to embrace one of the brightest new talents on the scene today.” — Jon F. Merz author of PARALLAX and the Lawson Vampire novels.

Details of these and any other projects can be found on Shaun’s website: www.shaunjeffrey.com and sample chapters and his previously published short story collection ‘Voyeurs of Death’ can be read for free at http://www.scribd.com/document_collections/2519626

Collecting Dreams by Heather Ingemar

This looks and sounds like a really good read. I love the Grimm Fairy Tales as well they were so much more real than the Disney version.
Jul 2nd, 2010
by Ania.
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There are eyes in the darkness. Late one night, Isabele’s reality takes a wild and supernatural turn into the shadows and shimmering light of stolen dreams. Once lost, they aren’t easily reclaimed. And she’s been touched by the monster…. From the beginning with ‘Dream-Drinker’ (appeared in “StereoOpticon” from Drollerie Press), Isabele finds her way through two other tales. But what’s learned cannot be unlearned. What’s done cannot be undone. At the end of it all, Isabele may or may not be the same. What did you like most about writing this work, Heather? I loved how grim “Collecting Dreams” became, how it made me think of the old Grimm-style fairytales, where the monsters are very real and very vicious and the heroes and heroines don’t exactly get off scott-free, as it were. Prices need to be paid and sacrifices need to be made, and I think it makes a richer story all around. Life isn’t watered down like the Disney-esque versions of fairytales I grew up with – life takes real strength of character, and I think that’s what drew me into Isabele’s story. She’s a strong girl, and good at heart. She’s fierce. She’s not going to let the Dream-Drinker get the better of her, no matter what. I love that. Learn more about Heather S. Ingemar at her website: http://ingemarwrites.wordpress.com/ * * * Best, Heather Ingemar

5 silver

The first time I did word wars I wasn't sure what to expect so I decided to write on the prompt from ROF Forum (Realm of Fantasy) theis is what I came up with.

Five Silver and A Lock of Hair From Your Newborn Son
By
Zanna G. Dobbs



I walked into the shop just looking around Antique shops fascinate me and I don't know how I missed this one before. The smell of dust hangs in the air as I wander around the mostly junk filled room. Then over in the corner I spot a genuine Kerry Grandfather Clock just like the one that stood in my grandparents house when I was a kid. I haven't seen one in years and my families was lost in a flood. I moseyed on over and casually check it out. It looks exactly the same right down to the nicks and dings in the door from where I hit the one at my grandparents, when I accidently threw the baseball in the house. I absently rub my rear as I remember my grandfathers answer to my forgetting. How could it have the same dings? Suddenly I know that I must have this clock. There is no question. I look around for the shop keeper and when I spot her I am shocked. She is almost as old as her merchandise,and looks like a breeze would blow her over.
"Mam, can you tell me how much you want for the Kerry Grandfather Clock?"
She smiles and nods her head. For a minute I am afraid that her neck is not strong enough to get he head back in the upright position. But she manages and says. "Why that old thing I will have to look at it closer I don't want to gyp you or anything."
Slowly and painfully she walks over to where the clock is stuffed in a corner of the shop. For an instant I look at her face and she looks like she is surprised to find the clock there. Then a grin breaks out that seems to take over her entire face. "Ah yes, this is special clock. It only had one owner and holds many happy memories."
I caught myself nodding at her. Then I thought to myself why am I nodding? It looks like my grandparents clock but it can't actually be their clock. Suddenly I know I have to look inside the door. It's as though a giant hand smacked me on the side of my head and someone yelled in my ear. Check the inside of the door. I know that my grandfather bought it brand new for my grandmother for a wedding present and that they marked the height of each of their six children inside the door.
I reached for the door and the little old woman moved faster than I ever imagined she could to slap my hand "What do you think your doing?"
"I am just going to look at the inside I would not like to buy it and find out that the gears are jammed." I was pretty pleased with myself for coming up with that off the cuff.
She shook her head and open the door herself "No touching now you can look though."
To my speechless shock their were the marks that my grandparents had made all those years before.
Now I know I must have the clock."How much?"
"Well, I think that 5 silvers and a lock of hair from your newborn son aught to do it."
"What are you talking about what silvers? Do you mean dimes? And I am not even married so I don't have a newborn son."
She seemed to shake off a ton of dust from her shoulders. "Oh I forgot what year it was again, sorry. How about 500 dollars and a lock of hair from your son when he is born."
I think she is crazy but for some reason I really feel the urge to own this clock for my children. Wait I don't have children now the old biddy has me thinking crazy.
Then I realize that maybe this will work out after all I just have to pay her the 500 and never see her again.
She frowns as though she can sense what I am thinking. "Now don't you try to stiff me. The last person who did that ended up losing this clock and a whole lot more in a flood."
Now I look at her and shake my head. This can't be happening. She can't be talking about my grandfather. He never stiffed anyone in his life, and yet this was undoubtedly his clock. "I have a question before I agree to your terms. Why do you need my newborn sons hair?"
She just smiled and crooked her finger at me to follow her.then she lead me to a curtain at the back of her store. She shakily pulls it open, and there lined up in jars and zip lock bags are locks of hair. "It is how I keep track of where my stuff goes. And your family owes me one anyway for the years they held my clock."
I blink and stare. "How did my grandfather keep from giving you his newborn sons hair and keep the clock?" I am not sure what made me ask this question. In fact this whole afternoon was totally weird for me. My grandparents didn't have any sons only my mother and her 5 sisters.
She chuckles under her breath. "He was a sly one He told me that sons didn't run in his family and I would have to give him two generations to come up with a male heirs hair. I even let him talk me into not making it the first born male by a slip of the tongue as we bargained." She smiled and I grimaced at the gaps in her tooth line.
I don't remember exactly what happened next but when I got home that evening I had a grandfather clock sitting in the foyer and my wallet was 500 dollars lighter. Now I just have to wait until I have a son. I do have genes on my side though as grandfather is right. Our family only has sons about every 40 years. I am the first one after him this means one of those locks of hair on the wall should have been mine. I wonder what a difference that would have made in my life. Anyway this gives me a few years to try and figure out how to get out of giving that old hag a babies lock of hair. Maybe if I fulfill grandfathers bargain and send one of my locks of hair, no that would be too creepy knowing my hair is hanging on her wall. It is definitely a challenge, I need to think about. Absently I run my hands down the front of the clock and somewhere an old hag grins her gape-toothed grin. The game is on.

Anna Kashina and her newest book

Anna Kashina Trailer for Ivan-and-Marya:
http://www.annakashina.com/Ivan_and_Marya.html

RRCA

Last week I had a story come out in the Ruidoso Regional Council of the Arts Newletter. Here is a copy of the story.

Katie's Picture
By
Zanna G. Dobbs


Katie's red crayon jerked as she stabbed the paper. A bright red house with bits of red crayon all over it appeared there. She couldn't believe Jan had taken her bottle to school and broken it. Mom knew how much Grandpa's train-shaped bottle meant to her. How could she let Jan take it for show and tell?
Katie reached for an orange crayon. The next house took shape under it, big bright and angry. Katie sniffed as she looked at the broken bottle. She quickly turned back to her picture a deep purple crayon in hand. The purple house was small and dark. The sky a soft gray, a dark cloud formed right over the red house. Big blue rain drops surrounded the small purple house.
She turned burning eyes towards the doorway. There stood Jan, her voice shaking as she said. "I'm sorry."
Katie felt like the large orange house she had drawn, big and angry, until she saw the tears on Jan's cheek. Katie held out her arms to Jan and hugged Jan tight.
Katie's eyes were red from crying when she once more spotted the picture. Grandpa had loved her pictures, but Katie knew he wouldn't have liked his one. Katie opened her almost new box of 128 crayons and reached for the barely used green one. She had put these away when Grandpa died. Now she knew he would want her to use them. A green lawn took shape in front of the red house. A green shade tree by the orange house. Green, Grandpa's favorite color. The green color flew across the paper in an arc. Quickly the other colors surrounded the green until a rainbow brought a ray of hope to the angry house and sad sky. Grandpa would have liked that picture.

Who am I

I am a writer of all kinds of fiction and a little nonfiction as well. I am a mother of 7 children and have 3 grandchildren with another on the way in Sept. I work as a Deli manager in a grocery store in Ruidoso, New Mexico. Most ly I am going to blog about my writing.