by Travis Luedke, C.N. Lesley, Danielle DeVor, Maer Wilson, Steven Ramirez, Jody A. Kessler, Louann Carroll, Ross G. Homer, M. Joseph Murphy, Robert P. Wills, Karenne Griffin, and Allan B. Anderson
Genre: Horror, Science Fiction
Release Date: December 2, 2015
***SPECIAL NOTE: SAVE A LIFE, BUY A BOOK***
This fund-raising anthology of Horror and Sci-Fi short stories was created to benefit Altoine Scarborough, a man in desperate need of a heart transplant. The stories, cover art, formatting, editing and compilation were all donated. Every penny of the royalties we receive will go to Al’s GOFUNDME project. (MW)
Vampires to ghosts to monsters—and futures we won’t want to see come true—fill this collection of dark stories that are sure to give you chills. This stellar, fan-favorite group, which includes award-winning and best-selling authors, brings a unique voice to some familiar and not-so-familiar creatures. Join Travis Luedke, C.N. Lesley, Danielle DeVor, Maer Wilson, Steven Ramirez, Jody A. Kessler, Louann Carroll, Ross G, Homer, M. Joseph Murphy, Robert P. Wills, Karenne Griffin, and Allan B. Anderson for a trip into the Darkness.
BROWN THE RECLUSE by Steven Ramirez – Ted Brown is a man slipping away from reality. Long estranged from his family and living in Seattle, he works at a job he no longer values and lately appears to be losing his memory. But when he discovers a spider in his apartment, that’s when things get really interesting.
THE RAID by Maer Wilson – Gamers are often loyal to their teammates. When Aelan and her friends tackle an evil dragon, that loyalty goes far beyond what anyone expects.
THE BONES by Danielle DeVor – Sometimes, things leave a residue, like the smell left behind when toast is burned. When a medical student brings a skeleton home to study, her child’s life will never be the same.
THE WHISPERING by Karenne Griffin – The small village of Gorland is horrified as their children kill themselves in what appear to be suicide pacts. But there is much more going on and only one child has the key.
THE DIARY OF A MADMAN by Robert P. Wills – Just because others don’t see the ghosts, doesn’t mean they aren’t real.
THE CALL: AN ANGEL FALLS NOVELLA by Jody A. Kessler – Professional shaman and cranky, anti-social ghost hunter, Chris Abeyta, finds spirits and helps them cross over to the afterlife. In his latest case, he and Juliana Crowson find the ghost of a girl trapped by time and a heart-wrenching tale of a camping trip gone terribly wrong.
THE FOUNDLINGS: JENNY’S TALE by Louann Carroll – Technology meets morality when Jenny loses her only friend. Terrified and alone she must choose between reentering the world or living the rest of her life in the dark.
MUMANS by Ross G. Homer – He found love in the most unlikely place. But could he keep the love he found?
A TALE OF TWO QUEENS AND A FROZEN HEART by Allan B. Anderson – Reily, an experienced troubleshooter, is hired to find two teams who have gone missing in a frozen wasteland. But even his skills may not be enough to survive what he discovers.
THE VAMPIRE AND THE VALIANT WARRIOR by M. Joseph Murphy – A noble thief in search of ancient treasure stumbles upon the den of a sadistic vampire.
HELL IS NEVER FULL by C.N. Lesley – When the seed of hate is sown it puts forth shoots of malice that bear flowers of evil. Time has no meaning for revenge.
DREAMS OF NIGHTLIFE LAS VEGAS by Travis Luedke – An author has an unexpected encounter with one of his most dangerous – and sexy – creations.
For more information about Al’s situation or to donate directly to his GoFundMe project, please check out these links below:
Today is Friday and I usually bring you new books and guest authors. Today, the wonderful Sally Ember, Ed. D, whom most of you will know from her series of interviews with authors called Changes (I’ve been one of her guests and I can only recommend the experience) has published the third book in the Science-Fiction series The Spanners. So, what better reason than that to bring you a bit of information about her, and also about her series. Here she is.
Sally Ember Ed. D.
Sally Ember, Ed.D., has been passionate about writing since she was nine years old. She’s won prizes for her poetry, stories, songs and plays. She began meditation in her teens. Now, Sally delights fans of paranormal and romance by blurring the lines between fact and fiction in a multiverse of multiple timelines, often including exciting elements of utopian science fiction and Buddhism. Her sci-fi /romance/ speculative fiction/ paranormal/ multiverse/ utopian ebooks for New Adult/adult/YA audiences, “The Spanners Series,” are getting great reviews. Vol I, “This Changes Everything,” is now FREE everywhere since Vol II, “This Changes My Family and My Life Forever,” released April, 2014. Look for Vol III, “This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change,” in November, 2015, and Vol IV – X soon after that.
Born Jewish on the cusp of Leo and Virgo, Sally’s life has been infused with change. Currently, she meditates, writes, swims, reads and hosts her Google+ Hangout On Air (HOA) *CHANGES*, LIVE conversations with authors, almost every Wednesday, 10 – 11 AM Eastern USA.
In her “other” professional life, Sally has worked as an educator and upper-level, nonprofit manager in colleges, universities and private nonprofitsin many parts of the USA before returning to live in St. Louis, MO, in August, 2014. Sally has a BA in Elementary Education, a Master’s (M.Ed.) and a doctorate in education (Ed.D.).
Sally blogs regularly on wide-ranging topics and includes reviews, interviews, guest blog posts, and excerpts from her ebooks. Visit and comment, follow, “like,” and share! http://www.sallyember.com/blog
Cover art and logo by Aidana Willowraven: http://www.willowraven-illustration.blogspot.com/by Sally Ember, Ed.D.
This Changes Everything. The Spanners Volume I. By Sally Ember Ed. D.
This Changes Everything, Volume I, The Spanners Series, Permafree
Dr. Clara Ackerman Branon, 58, begins having secret visits from holographic representations of beings from the Many Worlds Collective, a consortium of planet and star systems in the multiverse. When Earth is invited to join the consortium, the secret visits are made public. Now Earthers must adjust their beliefs and ideas about life, religion, culture, identity and everything they think and are.
Clara is selected to be the liaison between Earth and the Many Worlds Collective and she chooses Esperanza Enlaces to be the Media Contact. They team up to provide information to stave off riots and uncertainty. The Many Worlds Collective holos train Clara and the Psi-Warriors for the Psi Wars with the rebelling Psi-Defiers, communicate effectively with many species on Earth and off-planet, eliminate ordinary, elected governments and political boundaries, convene a new group of Global Leaders, and deal with family’s and friends’ reactions.
In what multiple timelines of the ever-expanding multiverse do Clara and her long-time love, Epifanio Dang, get to be together and which leave Clara alone and lonely as the leader of Earth?
This Changes Everything spans the 30-year story of Clara’s term as Earth’s first Chief Communicator, continuing in nine more Volumes of The Spanners Series.
This Changes My Family and My Life Forever. The Spanners Volume II by Sally Ember Ed. D.
This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, Volume II, The Spanners Series, @$3.99
Intrigued by multiple timelines, aliens, psi skills, romance and planetary change? Clara and the alien “Band” are back.
Now as Chief Communicator, Clara leads the way for interspecies communication on- and off-planet. Fighting these changes are the Psi-Defiers, led by one of the oldest friends of the Chief of the Psi-Warriors, its reluctant leader, Rabbi Moran Ackerman. Stories from younger Spanners about the first five years of The Transition fill Volume II.
This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change, Volume III, The Spanners Series by Sally Ember, Ed. D.
This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change, Volume III, The Spanners Series, pre-orders @$1.99, 11/1/15 – 12/7/15; release 12/8/15 @$3.99.
Clara, Moran, Espe, Epifanio and the alien Band of holos are back in Volume III of science-fiction/ romance/ multiverse/ psi/ utopian ebooks (soon also to be in print) of The Spanners Series. Psi-Defiers launch increasingly violent protests during this five-year Transition, attempting to block Earth’s membership into the Many Worlds Collective. Earth’s nations and borders must dissolve and Psi-Warriors must strengthen in their battle against the rebels.
Clara, as Earth’s first Chief Communicator, also juggles family conflicts and danger while creating psi skills training Campuses to help Earth through the Psi Wars. Clara timults alternate versions of their futures as the leaders’ duties and consciences force them to make difficult choices across multiple timelines, continuing to train and fight.
Will the Psi-Warriors’ and other leaders’ increasing psi skills, interspecies collaborations and budding alien alliances be enough for Earth to make it through The Transition intact? If there is no clear path for Clara’s and Epifanio’s love, does she partner with Steve or go it alone?
Thanks to Sally Ember for sharing her news and her series, thanks to all of you for reading, and if you’ve enjoyed, please remember to like, share, comment and CLICK!
As usual on Fridays I have a guest author. I’ve met Brian Larson in one of the groups of authors I frequent, always enthusiastic, encouraging others, and an example to follow for all of those who think that dyslexia or specific learning difficulties makes a career as a writer impossible. I also thought bringing him here would be a treat for all science-fiction lovers, and also people who love series and the arch of development of characters and stories it allows.
First, a little bit about Brian:
Author Brian Larson
I was born in June of 1959 in Seattle, Washington and lived in the town of Mount Lake Terrace. I grew up with two siblings, a brother and a sister. In school, I didn’t do very well and never excelled at much of anything, except my imagination and my love for reading. I was given the title “bookworm” in school because I always had my nose in a book.
They defend Ackturra from the Rune, but the threat moves closer, seeking to invade the Ackturrians using the Zelininte War machine as her personal pawns.
The Evil Runic Queen will do anything to obtain an Ackturrian power crystal of her own. With it, she could rule the galaxy.
Will Roth’stavous’ desendants find the power within themselves to defeat the deadly Rune that threatens to destroy the Crystal Forge of Ackturra?
Colonel Tucker Petersen, retired five years from the military, is suddenly recalled to active duty and is put in charge of the Salvage-5 mining/recovery mission.
Four previous civilian salvage missions have gone missing from the Kirkwood Gap. Colonel Tucker, with his crew, set out to discover what went wrong with the Self-contained mining dredge, the Euna-1, at Asteroid 15 Eunomia…
…but what they find on their mission will change their lives forever.
Find out what discoveries are waiting for the crew of Salvage-5.
Thank you so much to Brian for visiting, to all of you for reading and if you’ve enjoyed it, you know the drill, like, share, comment, and of course, pleased CLICK!
I came across this novel in Goodreads. I followed with interest the author’s reviews of other works and his blog and I must admit I loved the title. It had been on my `to read’ list for a while, and I’m pleased to say that I finally found the time to read it and I’m very pleased I did. Lost Angeles reads like a memoir, but not your standard memoir (if there is such a thing). The book follows the protagonist, Doug, a young and articulate man from Belfast, and his travels/adventures in Los Angeles. Doug is not in Los Angeles to see the sights, although the does see many sights (some that none of us would wish to see). From the beginning you realise that he’s there with a mission. You don’t come to realise quite how determined he is to self-destruct until much later in the book. He drinks, takes drugs, engages in casual sex, and drifts from cheap accommodation to even cheaper digs (including the `Lost Angeles’ of the title that used to be a place for sex for sale) all the time meeting real people. Some idiots, some nice but misguided, some lost and looking, some also drifters.
The reasons for Doug’s trip are slowly revealed through interspersed chapters about his life back home (I’m a bit reluctant to call them flashbacks. They’re memories, but too long, detailed and elaborate to be what’s more generally understood as flashback). You quickly realise that he’s mourning the end of what seems to have been his most significant relationship, but later you realise that there is more to it than that, and come to care and empathise with Doug even more. Because if there’s something notable about the novel is that despite behaviour that many of us would neither approve of, not adhere to, we like Doug. He might drive us insane if we met him but…whilst embarked on his self-destructive path he tries his hardest to help others and to do no harm. By the end you’re rooting for him and hope that against all odds things will work out for him.
A very personal novel, I truly enjoyed Lost Angeles. This is a novel for adults and I’d recommend it to anybody who wants to read about real people coping with life, as best they can. I look forward to many more books by Mr Louden.
In the Reign of the Ilev by Mary Meddlemore. A dystopia that resonates.
I have had the pleasure of reading two of Mary Meddlemore’s works before. Mary Meddlemore is a character in Forever After. A Dimensional Love Story, one of the novels I have read and loved and has also adopted the writing credits for In the Reign of the Ilev and The Seventh Sheep, a collection of four of the most whimsical and magical short stories I’ve ever read. My previous experiences meant that I was really looking forward to Ilev and it did not disappoint, although it is a very different read.
Ilev is classified under the category of Young Adult Science-Fiction, although it would appeal to readers of any age. It is the story of Nina, and 18 y old girl how is one of the Chosen Four who have been the successful ones in going through a selection process from between 40 promising youths in the City. Now the Four had to go through the Final Test and only one will be the Champion. All the champions become rulers of the City and are in charge of the Master Computer. You’ll tell me ‘not another one of these stories of youths fighting amongst themselves to survive’. Well, not really. The test consists in their being dropped some distance from the City and returning to it. Whoever is the first, will be the new Champion. Nina is very confident, egotistical, and only interested in fame, success, material things and power. She does not tolerate weaknesses or flaws and even notices that the previous champions all seem defective in some way. She goes through a number of strange experiences that make her question her identity (children do not live with their families but are all brought up together) and her perception of reality (is she hallucinating or it is really happening? Does she have feelings for Daniel, one of the other Chosen ones, or is somebody interfering with her brain?). She discovers wonderful places and beings but also horrific happenings. All the things that she thought she knew and were certain are not, and that makes her question herself and become more human.
It’s difficult to empathise with Nina at the beginning of the novel, although from her description it seems that she is a product of the society where she grew up. By the end she becomes a true heroine, confronting the terrible truth destroying and deadening civilisation, and she brings forth a new order. There is a price to pay for the changes that take place, but there is hope for new beginnings.
How does Ilev compare to other dystopian novels of the genre? There is action; there are interesting characters, fantastic situations, a love (?) interest…and much more. Nina is an interesting narrator, not knowingly unreliable (she does not care enough about other people’s opinions to lie) although she becomes confused as to the nature of reality at points. She grows and changes throughout the novel and comes to appreciate the value of cooperation, of stories, of history, and of freedom. Winning is no longer the main goal and total power becomes clearly identified with evil. The City in Ilev is a terrible creation but not so far away from our daily lives and experiences. You can’t help but compare your life with that of the inhabitants of the City and wonder if it’s time to become a Chosen one and destroy the order that’s keeping people from really experiencing life and the universe. Given a chance, would you be a Nina?
This novel could be read as a straight adventure sci-fi novel (although somewhat more challenging that many), but it has a message, learning points and reflections that would satisfy more sophisticated readers. I can only say that I hope Mary Meddlemore (and the writer behind her) keeps writing. I’ll keep reading her. I hope you do too.
Just Olga 