NEWS: Anthology Kickstarter

 

Tales of Monstrosity: Monsters, Myths, and Miscreants

An anthology of urban fantasy and horror stories about lesser known monsters of lore told with a creative twist.

I have a story in this upcoming anthology from Cabbit Crossing Publishing, and the Kickstarter is now LIVE! Check it out! There's even a reward where I'll edit one of your short stories (up to 5,000 words). 

The Kickstarter will be live until November 23rd. Help us reach our goal and get this book out into the world!

 

 

Recent Short Story Releases

Two short stories of mine have been recently released in anthologies. Read more about them below, and click the cover pictures to buy!  

 

Eighteen award-winning, veteran, and emerging authors bring you seventeen unique dragon tales that defy tradition. Winged serpents as large as continents, as well as those tiny enough to perch on the fingertip of a young girl. Dragons who inhabit the Wild West, Victorian London, Brooklyn, and a post-apocalyptic Earth. Scaly beasts who fight in the boxing ring, celebrate Christmas, and conquer the vast void of outer space. There are rockstars who meddle with dragon magic, clever and conniving shapeshifters, and powerfully exotic hybrids. Science fiction, urban fantasy, mystery, western, epic fantasy, YA fantasy...no matter the setting or the genre--here be dragons!

My story is called "Witherwillow." In a city divided between humans and dragonfolk, P.I. Iris Kane takes a simple case and ends up with more than she bargained for. 

Available in e-book or paperback.

 

They executed Alvard Lestrange for treason.

A necromancer.

A wielder of Death Magic.

This is the story of his victims, trapped in mundane objects for three centuries.

This is the story of the lives they will, unwittingly or maliciously, destroy.

12 authors. 12 stories. 12 souls, all caught in Lestrange's web.

My story is called "The Lengths We Go" and follows a warrior-for-hire whose latest job tests her very integrity.

Available in e-book or paperback.

NEW RELEASE: "Soldier and Servant"

 

It's release day for Reign: A Dark Fantasy Anthology, a collection of 500-word stories. Mine is called "Soldier and Servant." It's available in e-book and as a paperback on Amazon. Click here or the picture to get a copy!

UPCOMING RELEASE: Like Sunshine After Rain

 

I'm happy to say I have story called "The Witch and the Sunflower" in the upcoming charity anthology Like Sunshine After Rain, coming this summer from Raw Dog Screaming Press. Here's a bit about the anthology:

Raw Dog Screaming Press and international award-winning editor Heidi Ruby Miller are taking pre-orders for the charity anthology LIKE SUNSHINE AFTER RAIN. Proceeds benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The beautiful cover is by Brad Sharp. Interior illustrations by Sharon A. Ruby.

This limited edition anthology is available in lettered hardcover and numbered paperback editions. It hosts short stories, poems, and essays from 82 authors.

Find out more and pre-order your copy at the Raw Dog Screaming Press website. It's a limited edition, so get it before it sells out! And stay tuned for the launch event later this summer.

RELEASE: New Anthology

I'm pleased to announce that the anthology I've been working on with my classmates, The Secrets of Harrowgate Valley, is finally available! Though the eight stories can be read independently, they all take place at Harrowgate Valley University, which houses many secrets. We had a great time creating this world and working with each other, and we're eager for people to read what we came up with.

As editor, I read all the stories. One of the fun parts of that is I got to see first-hand how we took this concept and made it our own. Here's the blurb for my story, "The Mystery of J. L. Ward." 

Grad student Sophie finds a Prohibition-era journal and embarks upon a mystery that has far-reaching implications for Newtown,its history, and her own graduate thesis.

Find some of my fellow authors at their websites: 

Traci Douglass

Hieronymus Hawkes

Sheri Queen

K.W. Taylor

Click here to get The Secrets of Harrowgate Valley in e-book.

It's also available from Amazon in paperback. 

Upcoming Short Story

I have an story called "The Tower of Ithadir" in the upcoming anthology Reign of Queens from Dragon Soul Press. The anthology will be released on May 30th. 

If you haven't already, you can pre-order the Kindle version.

Short Story Round-Up

In late December, an anthology called Fall Into Fantasy 2018 came out from Cloaked Press. It collects 13 fantasy stories, including "Steeping Spells," which is mine! Check it out on Amazon in paperback and e-book.

I have another story, "Lonesome," coming out in an anthology called Gunsmoke & Dragonfire, a collection of fantasy westerns. Here's the blurb for my story: 

An elven veteran is called back to face her demons when a little girl is snatched to serve the army that destroyed her…

Although the anthology doesn't come out until March, it's available for pre-order on Kindle for just 99 cents for the month of January! Then, the price will increase in increments until it reaches full price upon the release in March.

Pre-order it HERE.

Writing Update, June

Toward the beginning of June, I "finished" a draft of book two in my epic fantasy series. It's not quite done because there are some missing pieces and still some details I haven't decided on, like if I should add certain characters to certain scenes. But it's getting there! I was able to send it to a couple beta readers, and hopefully, they'll have some productive feedback for me relatively soon.

I have a few projects that I need to pick up again--a science fiction novel about sisters, a YA apocalypse novel, and some manuscripts that are in the very beginning stages. But I decided to go in a different direction. I took a screenwriting class in college, and every once in a while, I try to stretch those muscles. So, to do that and to cleanse my writing palate, I'm working on a screenplay for a fantasy movie. I have no idea if I'll finish it or even if it'll be any good, but I'm having fun doing it, and I might even be able to turn it into a novel one day.

I also finished and submitted a short story to an anthology. We'll see what happens with it.

Short Story Round-Up

In March, my flash piece "The Offerings" was released by Freeze Frame Fiction. You can check it out here. The other stories in the issue very cool, each has its own art piece by Luke Spooner, and it's all flash fiction, so they only take a few minutes to read.

Whispers in the Dark, an anthology from SEZ Publishing, dropped this week. That includes my story "How You Find It." It's available on Amazon. Right now, I believe it's only available in paperback. I think an e-book is planned.

Happy reading!

Writing Update, February

February's been . . . interesting. Every once in a while, I hit a wall creatively. I think it's because I don't like to take breaks. So, I finished the draft of book two in mid-December, and by the middle of January, I'd added 30,000 words to a romance manuscript to finish it. Even though I did a lot of reading at the beginning of February to help cleanse my palate, I tried to jump straight into other projects instead of giving myself a breather, and it didn't work out that well.

My main goal was to write four short stories to submit to anthologies before March 1st. I wrote and submitted two. 50% isn't bad, but I'm a little disappointed. I also had the goal of increasing my science-fiction manuscript from 9,000 words to 30,000. I increased it to 10,000 words. At least that's some forward momentum, even if it's slow.

One thing I'm going to try to do is outline the sci-fi novel more deeply. Right now, the outline is a page long and just major story beats. It'll help to flesh that out, figure out more about the characters, and do some world-building before I really dive into the manuscript.

I've also decided to indulge myself in my pet project, which is an epic fantasy with a cast that's almost entirely female just 'cause that's what I wanna write. From the outline, it's going to be a long, long book, so the number-one rule is that I can't get consumed in it. I'm only going to write a bit here and there when I need help getting into the flow. And I'm giving myself permission for the first draft to be terrible. Because it will be, and I don't want to scare myself away from writing it because I want it to come out perfectly the first time.

So, there are my new goals! Stay tuned for whatever progress I end up making. And an extra bit of good news: I sold a short story today. It's supposed to come out tomorrow, so I'll keep you updated!

BOOK REVIEW: Hath No Fury

edited by Melanie Meadors

Anthologies are always tough to rate. No matter how many writers or stories you have, there are always going to be some that stand out above the rest. Unfortunately, in this particular anthology, the number of stories I loved was far smaller than I had hoped. This is particularly disappointing because I love female protagonists, especially angry female protagonists. I think my main problem with short stories is there’s just not enough time to delve into the nuances of female anger. As a result, a lot of the stories feel surface-level.

The stand-out stories:

“The Scion,” by S.R. Cambridge. This was masterful.  In a very short time, Cambridge made me care about the main character and her sister. It was interesting, surprising, and poignant. I don’t want to say much more because it’s very easy to spoil a short story, but reading this was a pleasure.

“Casting On,” by Philippa Ballantine. I liked that this one was unexpected. The protagonists were older women whose main focus was knitting. Not only did Ballantine show that women don’t have to be young to be badass, but she also successfully made their weapon knitting, something that’s very female-coded.

Of course, I’m not saying that the other stories were bad. They simply weren’t to my tastes or, if they were, they felt too short and underdeveloped.

One odd thing was that the anthology includes short biographies of admirable women. In theory, I like the idea, but the biographies are short and blandly written. They break up the flow of stories and ultimately take more away from the collection than they contribute, almost like they’re fillers to pack the table of contents. However, I did like the inclusion of non-fiction essays even if, again, most of them were too short to pack much of a punch. It was an interesting attempt to merge what we read in fiction to how we relate to those stories and help bring them to life, both as writers and readers.

I’m sure anthologies, because of their nature, are hit-or-miss for most readers. If the subject matter interests you or you’re a fan of any of these writers, I’d say give it a shot. I think it’s a book best read in small doses, though, rather than straight through.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ragnarok Publications for an e-copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

Holiday Sale

Happy Thanksgiving! 

For the next week, all my e-books on Amazon Kindle will be available for 99 cents! Each book comes with a link to a free short story. Find them HERE.

I've also started selling paperbacks at a small discount directly through this site. They come directly from me, which means I can sign and personalize them if you want, and come with free shipping. Perfect holiday gifts for readers in on your list! Go to the Shop HERE or use the link in the navbar.

Exclusive Bonus Content

I'm trying out something new! 

At the end of each of my e-books, I've put a password that will unlock a bonus, unrelated short story. For now, I'm hosting them on a WordPress sister site. You can find one for The Dying of the Golden Day, The Stroke of Thirteen, and "Where You Can See the Stars."

For those who have previously purchased the e-books, tweet/email/send me a picture of the book on your device, and I'll message you with the password!

Hope you enjoy!