Flicker by Anya Monroe: Speculative Fiction Worth Reading

Anya Monroe's Flicker is a surprising and gripping tale of survival.

From the Amazon page blurb:

Lucy longs for freedom, far from the Hazmat-suit-latex-gloved existence she knows.
When supplies cease to exist, sixteen-year-old Lucy and her Mom leave on a mission to find The Light.

The Light is led by the Nobleman; born their prophet, he’s always carried that weight alone. Until he discovers Lucy’s secret ability to hold light in her hand.

Lucy's connection with the Nobleman bares The Light's dark motives, forcing her to decide between love and freedom.

Jeff's thoughts:

A virus has swept the globe, killing most of the human populace. Any form of government has ceased to exist. Lucy, who was born on the night the lights went out, has spent her entire 16 years in a sealed house/bunker. When the food finally gives out, everyone but Lucy and her mother makes a terrible choice. Lucy's mother believes she and her daughter can find hope and safety with The Light, a religious community with refuges on islands near Seattle. What they find is far from safe and Lucy concludes that they have traded one prison for another. The only bright spot is the Nobleman, a kind of human battery who emits energy and light, the power to run the refuges. He and Lucy develop a relationship, but is the healing flicker on her palm and his energy enough to change the cruel practices of the men who control the refuges?

How much freedom should you give up for safety? And how many will be sacrificed to change a corrupt system? Flicker delivers suspense and family drama in a unique post-apocalyptic setting. I'm looking forward to continuing The Shine On adventure in books two and three. Highly recommended for fans of post-apocalyptic stories.

Purchase Links:
Amazon US / Amazon UK / Audible
Add it on Goodreads

To learn more about Anya Monroe and her writing, visit her website.

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

Enchanted Halloween Drink recipes!

Boo to our fellow fiends and miscreants!

Most fantasy, horror and sci-fi authors and readers love the Halloween season, and also like to entertain. But what spooktastic drinks can we serve that are uniquely gross and wonderful?

Untethered Realms brings you enchanted drink recipes! When we're done, tell us some of your favorites.






From M. Pax - Blood Apple

Cider (not the hard stuff - can be regular or spiced)
vodka (plain, unflavored vodka)
grenadine syrup

Pour a shot of vodka in a tall glass. Fill with chilled cider. Add a spoonful of grenadine to turn it bloody... or red. Red sounds more appetizing. Enjoy!

(other kinds of juice can be used in place of apple - pineapple is really good. Hard cider doesn't work. Yes, I tried it. Can also add a bit of vanilla syrup with the grenadine. Yeah, I've tried that too. If you don't care to be bewitched, leave out the vodka.)

From Christine Rains - Dead Man's Treat

2 oz Red Velvet vodka
3 oz cranberry juice
1/2 oz club soda

Mix liquids. Add a dead man's hand.

(For a kid friendly drink, leave out the alcohol and use cherry or strawberry Kool-Aid instead of cranberry juice. Add in a few red Jolly Ranchers and red Twizzlers as a straws. They look frighteningly similar in a glass. So don't get them confused!)

Cathrina's Witches Brew Cocktail

• 1(6 ounce) package lime gelatin
• 2 cups  boiling water
• 3 cups chilled pineapple juice
• 1(2 liter) bottle-chilled lemon-lime flavored soda or 1 (2 liter) bottle ginger ale
• 2 cups chilled vodka (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Pour the gelatin mix into a large bowl. Slowly stir in the boiling water. Stir at least 2 minutes, until the gelatin is completely dissolved.
2. Stir in the pineapple juice, the entire 2 liter of soda and the vodka. Let cool to room temperature.

From Cherie Reich - Swamp Sip

A healthy-ish drink for the Swamp Thing inside you. To make it nonalcoholic, leave out the tequila.

Add either green juice from the grocery store or make your own by juicing your favorite fruits and veggies: spinach, kale, pineapple, lime, etc.

Add a touch of tequila and a dash of lime to taste.

For the green mold, use file powder, a Creole seasoning, or green tea powder.

Add a small bit of dry ice to turn your Swamp Sip into a Misty Swamp.

1. **HAVE A WICKED GOOD EVENING**

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From Catherine Stine - 

Witch’s Spiderleg Spritzer

In a punch bowl mix:

3 to 4 cups of cranberry juice

2 cups ginger ale

Generous splashes of lime

Pomegranate juice to taste

Garnish with organic "spider leg" licorice (and limes)

Make skulls from marshmallows and mount with shish-kebab sticks

***Hand drawn label taped over a bottle optional!

***Red candles effective for spooky mood enhancement

(Add vodka if you like alcohol)

From Julie Flanders - Witch's Brew with a Tasty Bloody Hand

Mix 1 10 oz package of frozen raspberries & 2 1/2 cups cranberry juice

Pour mixture into saucepan & sprinkle with unflavored gelatin - heat until gelatin dissolves

Pour mixture into inside-out rubber glove, securely tie top, & place in freezer for a few days 

Cut glove away from frozen hand, place palm up in punch bowl

Pour 2 liters ginger ale & 2 liters sparkling apple cider in bowl

Garnish with gummy worms 

Yum!

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From River Fairchild (and Jezebel) - Winged Beast Punch

This punch recipe is from Jezebel, so proceed at your own risk.

2 cups cranberry juice

1 liter ginger ale

1 liter apple cider

½ cup torbid weed *

A pinch of dried loreberry flour *

*Ingredients only found at the Demon Marketplace in the Underworld

Jezebel says if you mix the ingredients during the waning moon, you’re guaranteed to sprout wings – at least temporarily. Uh… enjoy!

* * *

From Ellie Garratt - The Devil's Bloody Nightcap

The preferred drink for fans of Lovecraft, Poe, and King. 

1/2 glass chilled cranberry juice

1/4 glass of vodka (add soda for non-alcoholic)

One set of edible dentures

Witche's fingers to garnish

Drinking before bed is guaranteed to induce nightmares!

From Gwen Gardner - Eye Spyder Brew

Note: Handle with care. Can be volatile when consumed rapidly. And, uh, don't let the arachnid matriarch see you playing with her babies--that could be equally volatile. 

1 oz green toad blood

1 oz yellow newt whizz

2 oz dragon spittle

2 dragon eyes (1 red, 1 brown, bloodshot is best)

1 bat tendon

Black hoodoo salt for the glass rim

2 baby black widows

Sometimes the ingredients can be hard to find unless you have access to Diagon Alley. If you can't find some of the ingredients, below are substitutes you can use:

1 oz sour green apple schnapps

1 oz apple juice

2 oz jalapeno vodka

2 gummy eyes

1 black licorice, ends bitten off to make a straw

Sprinkles or green apple

Plastic spiders

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More Woo Than Boo!

The dark shadow in the corner. The misty figure in the cemetery. The puff of warm breath on the back of your neck when you're alone in the room.

Those things might cause some to run away screaming, but there are those of us who are fascinated by the supernatural. It's the allure of the unknown. How your heart beats faster, how your senses seem more sensitive, how every little thing has the possibility of being something extraordinary. It makes you feel more alive.

I'm a big fan of ghost hunting shows. A lot of the time, things are explained by simple reasoning, but then there are those moments when you can't explain something. The strange voice on a recorder or the shimmering image on the video footage. It's like a treasure hunt to find solid proof of the supernatural.

Fear still tickles at the back of my mind, but my curiosity has me more in love with experiencing something paranormal than it does telling me to run away. And I'm certain many other people feel the same way. We want to know and those bumps in the night won't scare us away. They will only woo us further.

Are you fascinated by the supernatural or would you rather have nothing to do with it?

* * * * *

Check out The Paramours who are more in love with ghosts than I am!

Blurb: 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.

 

Buy links: Ellora's Cave * Amazon * Kobo

 

Add it to read on Goodreads.

Releasing this Friday:

Blurb: The Paramours - ghost hunting with a kiss.

Claire McKinney has a theory that poltergeists aren't evil spirits or negative energy. When she locates a powerful vortex at the center of a haunting, she discovers a gorgeous man trapped inside. Zendal cannot escape on his own, but if Claire can create enough sexual energy with him, he will be able to break free. Intense as their passion is, it does not release him from the vortex. Claire finds herself caught not only by the ominous portal, but by Zendal's carnal zeal as well. Can she extricate them from the trap or will they forever be its prisoners?

 

Add it to read on Goodreads.

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 /

TWIXT by Diane J Reed, a Refreshing Mashup of Magical Genres

Twixt by Diane J Reed is the first in her Enchanted Outlaws series. It's also the first novel rife with faeries I’ve read, which I was not only able to get through, but read eagerly without stopping. That was due to Reed’s strong characters and the refreshing jump from old Ireland to a modern Idaho setting, specifically a fabled Ophir Creek mountain area, once a site for gold panning.

Rose and her new age-y friend Amy, who babbles about so-called transmigration therapy and psychic repair spruce up Rose’s father’s miners’ outpost. Calling it The Rainbow’s End, they turn it into a warm sanctuary for hardscrabble speculators. Reed sets up vivid relationships fraught with tension: between Rose and her cold, all-business sister Laurel, between Rose and bad-boy Vincent, who has just rolled into town and set up The Magpie Saloon, a tavern across the street from The Rainbow’s End.

Rose is broke and weary. Fiercely protective of Crystal, her little daughter from a disastrous relationship, Rose worries Crystal is irrevocably damaged from a near-drowning. Crystal is mute, and seems trapped in her own distant world, where she spins and rocks. While Rose has set out exercises and learning charts for Crystal, she balks at her sister’s dogged attempt to send Crystal away to a special school. Will Crystal ever get better? If so, how? And what exactly is she suffering from anyway?

The other aspect that really deepens this story is that Reed is dealing with elements of rebirth and reincarnation. On a more philosophical level, that we all embody strong elements of those who came before us—both the upsides and downsides, the talents and so-called curses.  She also introduces the possibility of a “twixt” world between this and the world of dreams where one can spin a practical, healing magic. Whatever your views, these are intriguing concepts, which Reed weaves throughout quite deftly.

I won’t post spoilers so I hesitate to say much more, except there’s also great romantic suspense. Vincent, the new owner of the Magpie Saloon is dashing yet sketchy in a way Rose can’t put her finger on. And Chance, another handsome, yet eccentric stranger has a very different pull on her. The question is who should she trust her heart with?

Twixt is highly recommended for those who like unusual mashups of genres (paranormal romance, myth, fairytale, dark fantasy) in their helping of speculative fiction. Oh, and the cover? Fabulous! By the talented Najla Qamber.

Get Twixt on Amazon, B&N
See Diane's other novels here!

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