Seasonal Reads

Do you find yourself drawn to reread certain books during specific seasons? I certainly do. I never think about rereading The Hobbit until the approach of Thanksgiving in late November. I suspect I associate hobbits with rural life and Thanksgiving is kind of a harvest celebration. I can't imagine attempting another pass through Crime and Punishment except in the dead of winter. I associate Russia with winter, which is silly since Russia experiences all the seasons.

When October rolls around I immediately think of two books: Roger Zelazny's A Night In the Lonesome October and Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla.

A Night In the Lonesome October is Zelazny's last novel. Set in late Victorian England, the story tells of a "game," a competition between openers and closers, concerning a gate between this world and the realm of the Great Old Ones. The story draws heavily on Lovecraft's mythos as well as characters from Victorian gothic fiction. Frankenstein, Count Dracula, and Sherlock Holmes, among others, populate the tale. Each player in the game has a familiar. Snuff, the guard dog and familiar belonging to Jack, tells the story. It's fun to pick out all the references to other stories within the narrative. For better or worse, this novel inspired me to craft some fantasy tales with a cat as the protagonist.

The title comes from a line in the first stanza of Edgar Allan Poe's "Ulalume."

The skies they were ashen and sober;

    The leaves they were crisped and sere—

    The leaves they were withering and sere;

It was night in the lonesome October

    Of my most immemorial year;

Carmilla first appeared in the magazine The Dark Blue in serial form from December 1871 through March 1872 and later as part of Le Fanu's collection In a Glass Darkly (1872). Laura, the narrator and protagonist of Carmilla, lives with her father and two governesses in a schloss in Styria, an Austrian province near Hungary. Laura and her father are English expatriates. Her mother, a Styrian lady, died when Laura was an infant. Laura recalls that when she was six, she experienced a nightmare vision of a beautiful young woman in her bedchamber who lay beside her and bit her on the chest, although Laura's nurse found no wounds on her. Laura is nineteen when the events of her narrative take place and leads a lonely, isolated life in the Austrian countryside. 

Following a carriage accident a young girl named Carmilla is placed under Laura's father's care for three months. Laura recognizes Carmilla as the woman from her dream. Carmilla responds with a story of a similar dream involving Laura. Carmilla evinces many strange habits, including apparent sleepwalking, and complains of incessant languor. The pair become close friends despite Carmilla's occasional romantic advances towards Laura.

Yes, this is a vampire story so Laura's life is about to take a sharp turn for the very weird. A highly entertaining story.

Do any books call to you at a particular season? Let us know in the comments.

Parallel Universes - is there a flip side?

One of my favorite things to think about is if there are parallel universes and multiverses. After watching season 2 of Stranger Things, I spent too much time staring at the wall and wondering if I could reach through and touch myself in another universe. If I did indeed exist in that universe.

I googled movies on this topic and very few came up. I found a lot about time travel and how that makes alternative histories, presents, and futures. But not so many about parallel universes.

Yet some of my favorite books have taken on this theme: Coraline by Neil Gaiman, Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, and stories by H.P. Lovecraft. We step through a mirror or a wardrobe, and we've gone through a portal into a parallel world. Some more pleasant than others!

One of my favorite TV shows about multiverses was Sliders. Do you remember that show from the 1990s? They traveled from Earth to Earth trying to find their own. Some Earths were so similar to their home, they wondered if it was the right one, but then they'd find one little difference.

What am I like in parallel worlds? Did I have seven children like I wanted when I was a teenager? Did I become an archaeologist like Indiana Jones? Did I say yes to that doctor who asked me on a date in university? Do I have tentacles instead of arms and legs?

The possibilities are infinite. And great fuel for future stories!

What are your favorite books/movies/shows about parallel universes?

The Wallows, a Dark #Fantasy Part of Spirits in the Water #speculativefiction

The Wallows
by M. Pax

Spirits in the Water is coming! Get excited for some great stories inspired by the element of water. Here's a snippet from my story, "The Wallows," about a young woman not yet old enough to legally drink with a three-year-old daughter and a lot of stress. She wants nothing more than to escape her troubles. You know what they say... be careful what you wish for...

***

The weird lamppost continued to glow green, and it was the only one still lit. After unlocking her bike, Evernee Weems wheeled it to the lamppost. A small puddle lay under the streetlight, and a drip slowly tumbled from the bowl-shaped shade to the ground. The drop fell slower than normal. Ripples broke the surface of the puddle in perfect circles. After two heartbeats, the puddle settled into a sheen as serene as the cloudless sky.

Evernee studied the shallow depths and sighed. “It’d be cool if it was another world and I could go there.”

The puddle shimmered, and for a scant second she saw the faintest image of a man’s face. She bent over and peered closer. Her eyes blinked back. Two songbirds landed on the opposite side, thirstily pecking at the water. With the drought, how did a puddle form?

Shrugging, Evernee hopped on her bike. She rode to the other side of town to pick up her daughter and parked the bike a block away in a thick hedge. Her phone beeped, the alarm warning she was going to be late picking up Poppy. She jogged down the sidewalk and around the corner. A frowning Mrs. Drow stood at the gate holding Poppy’s hand. She was a tank of a woman with a lot of gray among the badly dyed auburn strands.

“You’ve got a better deal than most, Miss Weems. You know what time I close.”

Because the state paid for Poppy’s daycare, Mrs. Drow believed Evernee had something she didn’t deserve. Maybe she didn’t deserve anything, but Poppy did.

“Sorry, Mrs. Drow. I was at work. You know, earning a living.” She reached for her daughter.

Poppy clutched onto a bunny constructed from old socks and baby clothes. Evernee had sewn it herself. Poppy tore away from Mrs. Drow and, in doing so, ripped the arm off her rabbit. “You late, Mama.” Throwing the bits of bunny on the sidewalk, she marched down the street as if she was about to turn seventeen instead of four.

***

Have you ever wished to escape? Where did you imagine you might find a better world? When I drive into the wilds of Oregon, I still think it'd be grand to find another world hidden in the old forests.

Sometimes I find otherworldly places, but they're still very much in our world. It'd be neat if they weren't... maybe. Be careful what you wish for, right?

Frozen - a teaser from Spirits in the Water

I woke in a tomb. No, a cell. Or rather, what was more like a storage closet. A single light shone over my head and seemed to illuminate the throbbing pain engulfing my face.

Raising a hand, I gingerly inspected my nose. It was swollen, but I could breathe. Someone had tended to it and set it with a squirt of bio-gel. It was not something I expected from scavengers. But if they weren’t scavengers, who were they?

I sat slowly, fighting past the dizziness and smacking my dry mouth as I tried to wet it. How long had I been out? Hours? A day? Even more so, how long would it take for anyone to realize I had gone missing? The Planetary Marshals were scarce this far out in the solar system. They might not concern themselves with a missing necromancer. Not many folks would.

My helmet and a small bucket sat by my feet. Someone had fitted me into my space suit. Had we left the colony? Carrying me across Enceladus’ slippery surface to wherever they were hiding would be a lot of work. It meant they might have a hover vessel which would get them around on the surface much easier.

The door opened with a squeak, and my attacker stood in its place. His black hair was shorn short accentuating the shadows around his eyes. His face was like a storm that wouldn’t end, battered with age and angry.

“You better be worth the trouble, Silaluk. If you don’t cooperate, I have no qualms about tossing you off the ship.”

Ship? I gripped the material of suit as I reached out with my other senses. Nothing. Emptiness. People might claim to have haunted ships, but it was their space-addled minds making them see things. Spirits didn’t exist in vacuums. They needed earth to cling to and water to move through.

I squeezed my eyes shut. Not scavengers. Pirates.

“I see you understand your situation now.” The bastard sounded pleased with himself. “I’m Captain Schrader. Call me whatever you want, but do as I say, and you’ll live through this. In fact, you could earn enough to buy yourself a something bigger than a box to live in.”

“What do you want from me?” My voice wasn’t quite my own. Schrader’s friend had done quite the number on my nose. Or maybe it was my resignation.

“I need you to do two things for me.” Schrader held up one finger. “Find a map.” He flipped up a second digit. “And help me get the goods.”

Simple words, but I highly doubted it would be as easy as it sounded. If it were, he wouldn’t need me. “So why do you need me?”

Schrader’s smirk tightened his whole face. “Because only a dead man knows the whereabouts of the map.”

Add Spirits in the Water to read on Goodreads.

You Can't Go Home Again

I'm so excited about our upcoming Spirits in the Water anthology! It will be released in October, but I wanted to share a snippet of my story with you today. It's called, You Can't Go Home Again.

How many of us have wished to go back and change something from our past? I imagine all of us. It's human nature to want a do-over. Be careful what you wish for, though...

You Can't Go Home Again

an excerpt by River Fairchild

“Don’t look so glum, dear.” Clara leaned in closer, invading Alex’s space, and gave her a wink. “You have your whole future to look forward to. Wait till you’re my age for that sort of nonsense.”

She settled back into her own seat, soft gray curls bouncing with the gentle sway of the train as it negotiated a bend in the tracks. “Always look ahead, child. As my mother used to say, you can’t go back home again.”

“What?” The phrase struck Alex as odd, even sinister. “What does that mean?”

Clara put her knitting needles down in her lap and stared out at nothing with a dreamy smile on her face. “Mum had a saying for everything. It means you can’t go back and change the past. She used to say that nothing good ever came of worrying about what was already done and gone so you should only look forward and not repeat your mistakes.”

Changing the past…

Alex closed her eyes, ignoring the beauty of the countryside as her throat constricted. She’d give anything to undo the mistake she’d made five years ago—the mistake that allowed her younger sister to die. To stay with her that day at the lake—like she was supposed to—instead of getting into an argument and stalking off. If Alex had stayed, maybe she could have talked Liz out of sledding across the frozen lake on an overloaded sled.

Book Review: The Picture Frame: A Horror Novel by Iain Rob Wright

The past can be deadly.

Blake Price is the most celebrated mystery writer since Agatha Christie, but a violent tragedy has sent him and his family to a secluded cottage in the English countryside.

Trying to connect with his spirited ten-year old son and despondent wife is difficult, but Blake tries to hold the strands of his life together as best he can—but that becomes impossible when an old picture frame finds its way into his life. A picture frame that curses anybody unlucky enough to have their picture placed inside of it. Unfortunately, Blake’s wife thinks the frame is just perfect for a family photo...

Some memories should stay buried.

Jeff's Review:

One of the most disturbing covers I've seen in a long while. I don't want to look at it. The family portrait seriously creeps me out, but I feel drawn to look at it and delve into the text beneath. Yes, blood is dripping from the frame.

Blake Price's attempt at a bucolic life is shattered when he and his son dig up an old picture frame in the field beside their cottage. Blake is spending quality time with his son, messing about with a metal detector. The frame is wrapped in a burlap bag. Blake doesn't show his son the small bones rattling at the bottom of the bag. Chicken bones he thinks. Very odd.

Blake's son puts a photo of the family dog in the frame. A van on the highway puts an end to the dog. Blake's wife puts a family photo in the frame—the three of them and her mother. Grandma drops dead of a heart attack.

It appears whatever evil haunts the frame will not be satisfied until everyone inside is dead, but to what purpose? And the blasted thing is indestructible, impervious to hammer and car tires. Wright slowly tightens the screws on the family as Blake struggles to figure out the frame's curse. Although he cannot get the family portrait out, Blake's younger brother discovers he can replace part of the image with someone else's picture with deadly results. Wright puts Blake in a serious moral quandary. Should he murder others to save himself and his family? According to what Blake has learned, the only way to stop a curse is to make it work against itself.

The Picture Frame is a fast-paced read with some unexpected twists. I found a few more copy-editing errors than I like to see and Wright's treatment of a retired priest character is one-sided and shallow. Those qualms aside, The Picture Frame is an enjoyable horror experience. A welcome companion for a chilly autumn evening. 

Why I Write Short Stories

I could list several reasons why writing short stories are beneficial to writers. Practicing your craft, immediate gratification, and flexibility to name a few. And yes, all of those reasons are marvelous. I highly encourage authors to write short pieces.

But this is why I write short stories.

I want to escape into worlds I've never explored before. Some of them are awe-inspiring. The only science-fiction I've written has been in short form. I love strange planets, exotic aliens, and futuristic technology. I can play among the stars.

Some worlds are beautiful and happy. The perfect societies. What would life be like in a place where we had no environmental or political issues? What kind of problems would my protagonist have when all her family loves her? I love finding the flaws in what seems perfect and diving into hidden cracks.

Other worlds are horrifying. More than what goes bump in the night. What motivates that monster, if it really is a monster at all. Maybe it's fighting against something much more frightening. The tight suspense and hair raising terror. I love to scare myself.

I've written western, sci-fi, horror, steampunk, romance, sword & sorcery, mystery, and fairy tale retellings. I get to jump into these magnificent worlds and hop back out again. There's no limit on the places I can go in my stories, and through short stories, I can go to hundreds of them.

If you're an author, have you written any short stories? If you're a reader, do you read short stories?

Ghosts of Fire Sneak Peak! The Vagaries of Eloise Stanton by M. Pax #SpecFic

“The Vagaries of Eloise Stanton” by M. Pax. Lucy’s family disappeared when she was a child, lost in a world of mirror. No one believed her, yet the reflections of her family’s faces haunt her, plead with her for rescue. On the verge of at last being reunited, Lucy must battle the cruel woman, who isn’t quite human, standing as a barrier between the two realms.

If this experiment didn’t succeed, I would lose all trace of my sister. I’d never find my family again.

Electric purple flames, which didn’t burn when touched, framed the mirror in front of me and from it, a hand that shouldn’t be reached out and grabbed my wrist, squeezing it bloodless, pulling me to the glass. Missing for fifteen years, my little sister was finally in my grasp. My heart drummed, and my pulse sizzled.

“Jenny, come home.” My tears splashed onto fingers unchanged from the last time I had seen them—the nails decorated with little daisies and the knuckles pudgy with eternal youth. Caressing her palm with my cheek, I inhaled the familiar scents of sunshine, grass, and bubble gum.

“Is it really you?” I asked.

Her reflection mixed with mine. My image remained mum, and although she appeared exactly like me with the same mahogany waves, round cheeks, and gray eyes, she wasn’t me. The me in the mirror glanced behind her, licking her lips, movements I hadn’t made. Whispers tickled my ears and verged on clarity before ebbing away into a muddied hum—the same noise as when my family had vanished.

Fighting with Jenny’s unrelenting grip, I tugged at her over and over. She wouldn’t budge from the glass.

“Help me.” I bit my lower lip and knotted my brow. “Jenny, please.”

The murmurs spiked then stopped, replaced by a pocket of silence so hushed the universe certainly held its breath. The mirror me dissolved into a young girl with long, light hair and laughing eyes. Jenny.

I hadn’t laughed since the day I lost my family. Fifteen years of rain had fallen on Seattle since, yet my sister hadn’t aged. Her lips pouted so earnestly.


Ghosts of Fire is coming in October!

Mayhem in the Air Excerpt Tour & #Giveaway

Ten thrilling tales of sci-fi, horror, and the paranormal in this awesome anthology. Meet hot robots, hungry winds, and the goddess of chaos. Explore alien planets, purgatorial realms, and a shocking place where people bury the living with their dead. Mayhem in the Air is the second, long-awaited story collection from the talented authors of Untethered Realms.

Join us over the next two weeks for a fantastic tour with exclusive excerpts and a giveaway with the chance to win a $40 gift card.

Buy the collection now for only 99 cents!

Amazon * GooglePlay * iTunes * Nook * Kobo * Smashwords

Add it to read on Goodreads.

Blog tour stops:

November 2: BooksChatter
November 3: SolaFide Self-Publishing and Book Blog
November 3: Reviews by Crystal
November 4: Laurie's Paranormal Thoughts and Reviews
November 5: Christine Young
November 5: It's Raining Books
November 6: The Cerebral Writer
November 9: Dark Treasury
November 10: Queen of the Night Reviews
November 11: Long and Short Reviews
November 12: Mixed Book Bag
November 13: Kit 'N Kabookle

Cue the Horror Theme Music - Films and TV Programmes that Made You Scream

As a fan of the horror genre, I don't need much of an excuse to indulge in all things scary on the big and small screen. October, which culminates with Halloween, gives me that excuse. 

I love the chill creeping down my spine when the film music signals something horrific is about to happen, my heart pounding when the monstrous killer is finally revealed, and that I sometimes need to hide behind a pillow when the film or TV programme reaches the climatic moment. When it's finished, I love laughing at how stupid I was to be scared by something not real. 

Given the popularity of all things horror, I know I'm not alone. But how often has something you've seen literally made you scream out loud? Not a curse or jump. I'm talking a scream that probably made someone else jump out of their chair.

For me, the answer is twice.

The first time was during the final climatic scene of Misery. 

I was 18 years old at the time, and staying at a friend's house while her parents were away. My scream was enough to make my friend run from the room and the neighbours knock on the door to check we were okay. It gave us something to laugh about for a long time afterwards. 

The second time was while watching The Twilight Zone's Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, based on a short story by I Am Legend author Richard Matheson. 

The idea of a hideous unexplained creature running around on an areoplane's wing, which only William Shatner's character could see, was one of the scariest things I've ever watched. I'm not exactly sure why it scared me so much, though it might have something to do with my fear of flying. The second or third time he sees the creature, face squashed against the small window, resulted in a Jamie Lee Curtis worthy scream. Everyone else watching it laughed at me. 

I often wonder what it is we like about being scared. Perhaps it's because we are reminded of our own mortality or that evil can and will be defeated, or maybe it's just because afterwards we laugh with relief.

Why do you think we like horror stories so much? What films or TV programmes have literally made you scream out loud?

Halloween's a-coming!

This time of year is my favorite – and not only because of Halloween. That’s like icing on the cake. Autumn is the fading season. The time when shadows grow longer. The boards in the house creak. The wind sighs a mournful tune.

And monsters come out to play.

We like to be scared. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because we think we can control our own environment. Stay safe in our cozy little bubbles. Be terrified by stories but feel secure knowing it can’t happen to us... not really.

Never mind the strange noise you just heard. It’s only your imagination, after all.

Or maybe not.

In honor of the season, I’m proud to present Demon in the Basement. It’s on sale right now for only .99.

Thirty-two stories. Some long, some short. Some filled with irony, others with dark humor. More that will send you to hide under the covers, wondering if something’s coming for you next. I hope you enjoy them. I know I enjoyed writing them.

Oh, and one more thing before I forget… check the locks on your doors. You’ve been warned. Muhahahaha!

Thirty-two stories, including a novelette by the same title, to keep you awake at night.

A time-traveling Chevy, an ancient church of evil, a house possessed by black magic. Stories to fill you with dread, draw you into places you'd rather not go, smack you in the face with ironic possibilities.

Meet the monsters of myth, the creatures that lurk under your bed, the phantoms you thought didn't exist. Travel to the real Atlantis, strap in for the Bermuda Triangle. Terror lurks in the ocean, while an asteroid hides a secret.

Leave a nightlight on before you go to sleep. Something's coming for you.

Where to buy:

/ Amazon / Barnes&Noble / Smashwords / other links /

Huzzizzle of the Realm - September #horror #paranormal & #fantasy Reads

Books to keep you up reading at night!

The newest release from Christine Rains.
Currently top rated at Ellora's Cave!

Ghost Dancer (The Paramours #1)

The Paramours - ghost hunting with a kiss.

When Nina Azure’s talent as a ghost dancer doesn’t persuade a handsome phantom to talk, she entices him with sizzling sexual energy. Ben Moore’s spirit is tied to this world with guilt, but he breaks his self-imposed silence for the beautiful Nina. Lust makes him fully physical and she loses herself to desire. She must help him carry on to the afterlife, but her attraction to him is immensely powerful. She must push aside her own feelings and let him go—and perhaps find romance among the living.

Purchase links: Ellora's Cave & Kobo

Add it to read on Goodreads!

* * * * *

A New Release Coming From
Cathrina Constantine

Release Date: October 24, 2015
Published by: Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly
Genre: Science Fiction/Action Adventure
A Tallas Sequel

How far would you go to protect your family?

A peculiar metamorphosis has taken shape since the final days. And the planet is in the throes of healing.

Fulvio McTullan leads his family and a band of misfits to form a new settlement, far from Tallas and it’s nefarious Elites. Their journey takes them into uncharted territories where strange creatures are lurking. It’s a battle of survival, not only from the creatures, but the mutated earth as well.

Meanwhile, Pomfrey Addler, an oppressive Elite squashes the insurrection in Tallas. Suddenly, citizens begin to vanish in the middle of the night and his daughter, Paniess is hell bent on revenge.

Fraught with mishaps, Fulvio finally locates the perfect place to settle. They begin to rebuild until they receive a call. A call which will lure them back into the clutches of Tallas.

***

Catherine Stine will be signing copies of her dark fantasy Dorianna at the 2nd Belmar Book Convention on Sunday, October 11th, from 10 to 4 pm in Pyanoe Plaza. If you live in or near the New York, New Jersey area, come on over for a great day of books, beach, sun and more books! Then walk the Belmar Beach boardwalk and soak up some autumn sun.

Books Worth Reading: Check-Out Time by Mark Rigney

Back in April I had the good fortune to meet Mark Rigney at the Ohioana Book Festival. Mark was my table-mate, and I couldn't have asked for a better partner to help pass the time between book sales. I won't deny that there was quite a bit of time between book sales for me that day. ;)

It was great to meet a new friend and even better to discover that he is a super-talented author whose book I really enjoyed reading.

Check-Out Time features the characters of Reverend Renner and Dale Quist in their third adventure together. Renner is a fussy, peevish Unitarian minister and Quist is a gruff former linebacker and retired investigator. The narrative switches back and forth between the two characters and I honestly couldn't decide which one I liked better. Each time I would think Renner was my favorite, Quist would do something to change my mind. While they are an odd couple, they are both engaging and thoroughly enjoyable characters.

The story begins when Renner receives a spooky invitation to come to a long-demolished hotel in Columbus, Ohio. He can't resist going off in search of the sender. Despite the fact that the hotel no longer exists, Renner is able to enter it and soon encounters the ghosts of guests who stayed at the hotel during its luxurious heyday.

To Renner's dismay, the building is much harder to leave than it was to enter, and he finds himself trapped in a hotel that could give The Overlook a run for its money. Quist follows Renner to Columbus and works to save him, but the hotel has no intention of making that job easy.

In addition to loving the two main characters, I also loved the setting of Columbus. I went to college there and have fond memories of the place and an affection that continues to this day. I don't remember ever reading a book set in Columbus before so I enjoyed wandering the streets of the city with Quist as he tried to rescue Renner and bring him back to the physical world.

This is a creepy story that sent a shiver up my spine more than once, but it is also quite funny thanks to its two leads. I highly recommend it, and I look forward to reading the next Renner and Quist adventure.

5 Favorite Horror Heroes

Although people usually think of the villain/monster in horror stories first, the heroes are the ones who survive to tell their tales. I have my five favorite heroes/heroines listed here.

1. Dale “Barbie” Barbara from Stephen King’s Under the Dome – The mysterious stranger who came to Chester’s Mill at the wrong time for him, but the right time for the people he manages to save. I loved him in the book as well as the TV series.

2. Sidney Prescott from Scream – Sweet and tragic, Sidney finds her inner strength as she’s tormented by Ghostface.

3. Laurie Strode from Halloween – Laurie is sensible and responsible and she’ll do anything to survive Michael Myers’ attempts on her life.

4. Chief Martin Brody from Jaws – We’re gonna need a bigger boat. He tries to warn people, but to the mayor, the power of the dollar is worth more than someone’s life. Brody learns to be relentless in hunting down the killer shark.

5. Clarice Starling from The Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal – A young FBI agent makes a name for herself in hunting down serial killers. I really loved the chemistry between Clarice and Hannibal Lecter.

Who is your favorite hero/heroine in horror movies/books?

A monster hunts us. After hibernating for a decade, it’s ravenous. We long to stop this nightmare, but the end of the road is far. There is no waking up once a legend sets its sights on you.

Disappearances every ten or so years make little impact on the small town of New Haven, Virginia. Hikers get lost. Hunters lose the trail. Even when a body is discovered, the inhabitants’ memories last about as long as the newspaper articles.

No one connects the cases. No one notices the disappearances go back beyond Civil War times. No one believes a legendary monster roams the forests in Southwestern Virginia.

I don’t either until the truck breaks down on an old mountain trail. Cell phones won’t work in this neck of the woods. It’s amazing how much a person can see by starlight alone. So what if we can’t feel our fingers or toes as we hike toward the main road. How many more miles left to go?

Crrraaack!

Hear that noise?

Purchase Once upon a Nightmare: A Collection by Cherie Reich at Amazon. From June 22-28, the collection is only $0.99!

Huzzizzle of the Realm.Introducing June #SciFi #fantasy & #Horror Deals & Reads #amreading

Get your summer read on!

The 6th installment of the Backworlds series is here!

Available in ebook from: Amazon or Amazon.com / B&N / iBook or main iBook / Googleplay / Smashwords / Kobo / inktera / Scribd

In the far future, humanity settles the stars, bioengineering its descendants to survive in a harsh universe. This is the sixth book in the science fiction series, The Backworlds. A space opera adventure.

The Backworlds hang by a Quantum string, a thread about to snap. Annihilation is coming if Craze can’t stop it.

The genocidal alien he had trapped breaks free, destroying a ship belonging to the Backworlds’ oldest enemy, the Fo’wo’s. The murderous alien wants to overtake the galaxy. The Fo’wo’s want another war.

The Backworlds’ best chance to survive is to overcome a century of hate and forge an alliance with the Fo’wo’s. Because of his history with the alien, Craze is recruited to represent his people. Now he’s the most hated man in the galaxy.

The looming war will be a holocaust unless Craze can stop it, knowing salvation comes at a price.

* * * * *

Geeks are sexy.

The second book in the Dice & Debauchery series will be released on May 29th!

Amateur cosplayer Emily Solis is determined to win the costume contest and the heart of her biggest competition.

It isn't the first time Emily has shed her costume with the gorgeous Russell Morrison. Not even her best friend knows she's been having wild convention sex with him for over a year. It was supposed to remain physical, but Emily couldn't help falling for him and his kinky ways. In a moment of passion, she rolls the dice and tells Russell she loves him. He doesn't say it back. Can she convince him they're perfect together or will she roll another critical failure?

Buy the book:

Ellora's Cave * Amazon * B&N * Kobo

Add it to read on Goodreads.

Get Loose Corset, the first book in the Dice & Debauchery series:

Ellora's Cave * Amazon * B&N * Kobo

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Six Stories of Fantasy and Weirdness

"Blood and Beauty"

      satyr's tragic love for a dryad

"Sutter’s Well"

      Lovecraftian monster in Appalachia

"Morphine and Chocolate"

      weird rendition of Pearl

"The Facts in the Case of M. Hussman"

      Poe meets steampunk

"Shafts to Hell"

      gold miner gone mad

"Good King David"

      Hamlet meets Absalom in Biblical fantasy

Amazon US * Amazon UK * Goodreads

A to Z Challenge: Z is for DZubenko

We've reached the end of another A to Z Blogging Challenge! 

Congratulations and well done to all who participated. 

Here at Untethered Realms, we've been taking on the Challenge as a group. Each day, one of us has shared a teaser from one of our books. 

And now here we are at Z day!

Z is for DZubenko. 

(Yes, I cheated a little bit with this name. But the D is silent, I swear!) 

From Polar Day by Julie Flanders

Thanks to everyone who stopped by here and visited us during the Challenge. It's been a great April! 

A to Z Challenge: W is for Witchcraft

The A to Z Blogging Challenge is underway!

If you haven't heard of it, check out the A to Z blog and join in the fun.

Here at Untethered Realms, we're taking on the Challenge as a group. Each day, one of us will be sharing with you a teaser from one of our books.

Today is W day!

W is for Witchcraft...

From Polar Day by Julie Flanders