Welcome to Day 5 of the WordCrafter Midnight Roost Book Blog Tour. It’s been a great tour so far. We’ve met contributing authors Isabel Grey, M J Mallon, Christa Planko, Chris Barili, Paul Kane, Julie Jones, and Keith Hoskins. Each has shared their inspirations for their stories, or readings from them, or both. Check the schedule below to see who’s still coming up, or to go back and visit any stops you’ve missed for more chances to win one of three free digital copies of Midnight Roost.
Today we’ll be meeting contributing authors, Michaele Jordan and Mario Acevedo. Michaele shares a reading from her story, “Afterwards” and Mario talks about the inspiration behind his story, “Immediate Intervention”.
Tour Schedule
Monday – October 16 – Opening Day –Isabele Grey (Interview & Reading) & Joseph Carrabis (Reading) –Writing to be Read
Tuesday – October 17 – M J Mallon (Reading) & Christa Planko (Interview & Guest Post)– Undawnted
Wednesday – October 18 – Chris Barili (Guest Post) & Paul Kane (Guest Post) – Patty’s Worlds
Thursday – October 19 – Julie Jones (Reading) & Keith Hoskins (Guest Post) – Robbie’s Inspiration
Friday – October 20 – Michaele Jordan (Reading) & Mario Acevedo (Guest Post) – Writing to be Read
Saturday – October 21 – Patty Fletcher (Guest Post) & DL Mullen (Guest Post & Video) – Roberta Writes
Sunday – October 22 – Sonia Pipkin (Guest Post) & Roberta Eaton Cheadle (Reading) – Kyrosmagica Publishing
Monday – October 23 – Closing Post –Denise Aparo (Reading) & excerpts from other stories – Writing to be Read
Giveaway
A chance to win a free digital copy of Midnight Roost at every stop. Just leave a comment to show your support for the tour, the anthology, and all of the fantastic authors.
Meet Author Michaele Jordan
Michaele Jordan’s contribution came by invitation, and I was pleased to include her story, “Afterward” in Midnight Roost: Weird and Creepy Stories. Last year, I worked with Michaele with the Visions anthology and I’m tickled to be working with her again. Her story is a paranormal tale which speaks on the human psyche. I’ll let you judge for yourself with the reading below, but I hope you’ll enjoy her story just as much as I did.
Reading from “Afterwards”
About Michaele Jordan
Michaele Jordan was born in LA, educated in New York, and lives in Cincinnati. She’s worked at a kennel, a Hebrew School and AT&T. Now she writes, supervised by a long-suffering husband and two domineering cats.
Her first novel, Blade Light, was serialized in Jim Baen’s Universe, followed by her occult thriller, Mirror Maze.
Her work has appeared in the “Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction,” “Abyss & Apex,” and “Buzzy Mag”. Horror fans will enjoy her ‘Blossom’ series, from The Crimson Pact series.
Her website, www.michaelejordan.com, is undergoing reconstruction, but just grab a hard hat, and come on in.
Michaele’s story, “Farewell, My Miko” is featured in the 2022 Visions anthology from WordCrafter Press.
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Meet Author Mario Acevedo
I first came across Mario Acevedo back when I was the Southern Colorado Literature Examiner and I reviewed one of his graphic novels. Since then, he has served as a presenter and panelist at WordCrafter virtual writing events, and participated in the Ask the Authors 2022 writing reference anthology. He writes urban fantasy and speculative fiction, so I invited him to submit to this dark themed anthology, which turned out to be Midnight Roost. His story, “Immediate Intervention” is a futuristic science fiction tale which offers a quirky take on the regulation of population growth.
Excerpt from “Immediate Intervention”
Inspiration for “Immediate Intervention”
NASA recently announced that a capsule from the Osiris-Rex spacecraft had landed in Utah. The capsule contained debris collected from the asteroid Bennu.
For us science-fiction nerds, the scenario is all too reminiscent of the plot from Michael Crichton’s The Andromeda Strain. Our government assures us that precautions against contamination are in place. Which begs the question, precautions against what? If we don’t know what we protecting ourselves against, how would we know our protections are effective?
Certainly, there is much to be gained from an analysis of the asteroid’s material, but is it worth the risk? Why not study that extraterrestrial material in space?
Just because we can, doesn’t mean we should.
It’s a saying that’s become more significant with our ever increasing technical and industrial capabilities. Several examples come to mind: The creation of the atomic bomb. Gain-of-function research. News articles that raise the hairs on the back of your neck, i.e., stories involving reanimating dead flesh. Gee, what could go wrong? It’s as if the scientists involved have ignored the warnings of every zombie movie ever filmed. Then comes a story about the Chinese growing human tissue inside pig uteruses. Hello, Island of Dr. Moreau calling.
When Kaye Booth asked me to contribute a story to this horror anthology, I had the perfect concept to explore “Just because we can, doesn’t mean we should,” as in human inception and gestation in artificial wombs, to incubate what are known as “bag babies.” The so-called benefits of this development include “freeing women from the tyranny of pregnancy,” allowing parents to customize the genes of their baby, and giving the government the opportunity to control demographics to enact state policies. With bag babies, the government can control population growth without the pesky need for humans getting it on. Two examples warning us about the dangers of industrial-scale human incubation came to mind: Brave New World, and The Matrix.
In my story I saw the opportunity to discuss several themes addressing bag babies. The first is that human development is very complicated and nuanced. We know about the importance of an emotional connection between a mother and the infant while in the womb. When the baby is born, its prefrontal cortex is undeveloped and the brain is a blank slate. As the baby matures, what becomes evident is the empathetic connection between the infant and mother, then infant and father, then infant and others. This connection depends on environmental influences upon the baby in the womb, things like the mother’s heartbeat, her warmth, her emotional state, the projection of good vibes from mother to child. Some of this may sound esoteric but we know that babies born in emotionally toxic environments will become emotionally toxic people.
How then to replicate a nurturing environment for the baby in an artificial womb? Certainly, a fetus incubator could replicate heart beats and use soothing stimuli to mimic a human host mother. But would that be enough? Wouldn’t such a loss of the child-mother bond bring the risk of babies not developing a sense of empathy?
What would be the fallout of that?
In my story, this lack of empathy results in an inability to establish meaningful emotional connections, which in turn would lead to isolation, a sense of chronic loneliness, then depression. And from that, a proclivity to suicide.
The other theme would be one of, who am I? What am I? Who are my real parents? The DNA donors? Or the mother—the incubator? Would there be a sense of spiritual estrangement, that rather than feel part of the human continuum stretching back through prehistory, you see yourself as a fleshy widget, a product of commerce, another cog in the government’s machinery?
This leads to the question, who do you belong to? Presently, as a child, you belong to your parents until the age of emancipation. What happens if the state has sole responsibility over you and you’re seen as a replaceable component of the system? If the state had the authority to conceive you, could they not have the sole authority to terminate you?
With this, the elements for a good horror story fell into place. That the mother who bore you is the same monster who will devour you.
Just because we can, doesn’t mean we should.
About Mario Acevedo
Mario Acevedo is the author-artist of Cats In Quarantine: A Cartoon Memoir of the COVID-19 Pandemic. He is an award-winning cartoonist and artist who served as a soldier-artist for the US Army during Operation Desert Storm. Mario is the author of the national bestselling Felix Gomez detective-vampire series, The Nymphos of Rocky Flats and most recently Steampunk Banditos: Sex Slaves of Shark Island; the graphic novel from IDW, Killing the Cobra; and the YA humor thriller, University of Doom. He co-authored the Western novel, Luther, Wyoming. His work has won an International Latino Book Award, a Colorado Book Award, and has appeared in numerous anthologies to include Denver Noir; ¡El Porvenir, Ya!; Shadow Atlas: Dark Landscapes of the America;, A Fistful of Dinosaurs; Straight Outta Deadwood; Psi-Wars; and It Came From The Multiplex. Mario was a faculty member of the Regis University Mile-High MFA program and Lighthouse Writers Workshops.
Mario has also been a presenter and panel member for both the 2020 Stay in Place Virtual Writing Conference, and the 2021 New Beginnings Virtual Writing Conference. He is also a contributor to the Ask the Authors 2022: Writing Reference Anthology from WordCrafter Press.
About Midnight Roost: Weird and Creepy Stories
20 authors bring your nightmares to life in 23 stories of ghosts, paranormal phenomenon, and the horror from the dark crevasses of their minds. Stories of stalkers, both human and supernatural, possession and occult rituals, alien visitations of the strange kind, and ghostly tales that will give you goosebumps. These are the tales that will make you fear the dark. Read them at the Midnight Roost… if you dare.
That’s it for today’s stop. I hope you enjoyed meeting contributing authors Michaele Jordan and Mario Acevedo and learning about their stories. You can use the links in the schedule above to go back and visit earlier stops on the tour, but the links for future stops won’t be live until their scheduled day. Don’t forget to comment to show your support for all of the talented authors that contributed to Midnight Roost, and get more chances to win the giveaway.
Join us tomorrow, on Roberta Writes, where Robbie Cheadle hosts contributing authors Patty Fletcher and DL Mullan, who share lots of interesting things about their stories, “Casualties of War” and “Mangled”, respectively.
For Day 3 of the WordCrafter Midnight Roost Book Blog Tour we’re over at Patty’s Worlds where contributing authors Chris Barili and Paul Kane share the inspirations for their stories, “Shaken” and “The White Lady” respectively.
Welcome to the WordCrafter Midnight Roost Book Blog Tour! We’ve got a great tour planned for an outstanding anthology Midnight Roost: Weird and Creepy Stories. Below, you will find the tour schedule and information about how you can get chances to win a free digital copy of Midnight Roost. The great thing about this tour is that you will get to meet, not one, but two contributing authors at each stop and learn about their stories.
Today, I’ll tell you a little about this weird and creepy anthology and then we’ll meet the author of the winning story in the 2023 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest, Isabel Grey, and learn more about her story, “Red Door House”. Get ready to dig into a probing interview with Ms. Grey and she also shares a reading of her story.
About Midnight Roost
20 authors bring your nightmares to life in 23 stories of ghosts, paranormal phenomenon, and the horror from the dark crevasses of their minds. Stories of stalkers, both human and supernatural, possession and occult rituals, alien visitations of the strange kind, and ghostly tales that will give you goosebumps. These are the tales that will make you fear the dark. Read them at the Midnight Roost… if you dare.
Monday – October 16 – Opening Day –Isabele Grey (Interview & Reading) & Joseph Carrabis (Reading) – Writing to be Read
Tuesday – October 17 – M J Mallon (Reading) & Christa Planko (Interview & Guest Post)– Undawnted
Wednesday – October 18 – Chris Barili (Guest Post) & Paul Kane (Guest Post) – Patty’s Worlds
Thursday – October 19 – Julie Jones (Reading) & Keith Hoskins (Guest Post) – Robbie’s Inspiration
Friday – October 20 – Michaele Jordan (Reading) & Mario Acevedo (Guest Post) – Writing to be Read
Saturday – October 21 – Patty Fletcher (Guest Post) & DL Mullen (Guest Post & Video) – Roberta Writes
Sunday – October 22 – Sonia Pipkin (Guest Post) & Roberta Eaton Cheadle (Reading) – Kyrosmagica Publishing
Monday – October 23 – Closing Post –Denise Aparo (Reading) & excerpts from other stories – Writing to be Read
Giveaway
A chance to win a free digital copy of Midnight Roost at every stop.
Just leave a comment to show your support for the tour, the anthology, and all of the fantastic authors.
Meet Author Isabel Grey
I’m delighted to bring you this interview with a budding young author, Isabel Grey. Her occult horror story, “Red Door House” was the winning story in the 2023 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest, and I am so pleased to be able to introduce you to her here. She was previously unknown to me, so I learned some cool things about her, too. And I have to say that I am proud to have not one, but two of her stories featured in Midnight Roost. Her other story is “Rabbits Can’t See Pink Firework”, offering a rabbit’s eye view of human nature during a disastrous gender reveal party.
Kaye: I always like to start by learning something about the author’s writing journey, so can you tell us about yours?
Isabel: I was an avid reader from a young age, mostly choosing fiction but eventually finding a love for poetry. I’m currently receiving my second MFA in Poetry after I completed my first in Genre Fiction at Western Colorado University. I’m an emerging writer who primarily focuses on fiction and verse though I do dabble in essays.
Kaye: What’s something most readers would never guess about you?
Isabel: When I tell people I write horror, they always seem surprised. Someone told me I don’t look like a horror writer, though I’m still not entirely sure what she meant by it.
Kaye: What prompted you to enter the 2023 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest?
Isabel: WCU had an advertisement in their newsletter for the contest. I happened to be in my Short Forms course at the same time and had a few pieces I was happy with. I figured, why not?
Kaye: You entered two stories to WordCrafter Press: “Rabbits Can’t See Pink Firework” and “Red Door House”. Only one can win, and I’ll ask you about the one that won, “Red Door House” a little further into the interview. But for now, can you share a little about the story that didn’t win, “Rabbits Can’t See Pink Fireworks”? What inspired you to write that story?
Isabel: I explore gender identity in my writing, “Rabbits” being a prime example. There was a horrible wildfire in California as a result of festivities at a gender reveal party not long before I wrote this, so the story is something of a response to that tragedy. I chose to write from a rabbit’s perspective to speculate the concept of a gender reveal party and gender roles in general.
Kaye: Were you surprised to learn that “Red Door House” won the contest?
Isabel: Yes! This was the first fiction contest I ever entered so it was a delightful surprise to hear the news.
Kaye: Can you share a little bit with our readers about the winning story?
Isabel: “Red Door House” is a supernatural horror about a brother and sister in a small town where a cult is carrying out insidious acts for a sentient house. There is mystery, dark magic, and dreamlike sequences that make the reader question what is going on under the surface of Staiwhile town’s suburban veneer until the final and unnatural third act.
Kaye: What inspired you to write “Red Door House?”
Isabel: “Red Door House” was very loosely inspired by a several-decades-old cold case I fell upon randomly during my studies. Of course, I took many liberties and added fantastical elements to make “Red Door House” its own story.
Kaye: Which author, dead or alive, would you love to have lunch with?
Isabel: There are so many, but for the purpose of this interview, I will say Shirley Jackson. She is my main inspiration for horror, especially when making the mundane macabre. A trope I’m obsessed with is that of the haunted house. Using the house as a symbol of the psyche is something I return to again and again, both in my writing and reading. I would love to talk houses and witchcraft with Jackson, perhaps at a meal to match her famous dinner parties.
Kaye: What is the biggest challenge of being a writer for you so far?
Isabel: Making time for writing. I’m a full-time student with a part-time job, and if it weren’t for the fact that much of my school assignments had to do with my writing, I would have a far more difficult attempt at time management. It’s been reassuring knowing I can juggle so many things, which is always the case in life as a writer, but budgeting the hours I can snatch for my writing is something I’m still working on.
Kaye: Do you also write longer, book length fiction? Which do you find easier? Why?
Isabel: Right now, I’m querying my first novel, a Gothic historical set in 1927 California. I find novel writing easier than writing short stories because there is far more space for suspense and build-up in a longer-length book. With a short story, there is much precision that doesn’t come as naturally to me. Part of the trouble is that I tend to read more novels than short stories, something I’m making a conscious effort to change.
Kaye: What is your favorite genre to write in? Why?
Isabel: Horror, usually in historical settings. In the new movie, A Haunting in Venice, Tina Fey’s character, Ariadne Oliver says “Scary stories make the world less scary.” The world at large has always scared me and a way that I cope with that is by trying to scare it back with my writing.
Kaye: What is the one thing in your writing career that is the most unusual or unique thing you’ve done so far?
Isabel: I bought a roll of several thousand Zoltar cards that served as “research” for a short story. I don’t regret it only because I used them to decoupage a piece of furniture later on.
Kaye: What goals do you set for yourself in your writing?
Isabel: Find representation for my novel and continue working on my second which I started earlier this year. I returned to poetry writing after taking a break while studying fiction. Recently, I’ve published a few poems in smaller presses and would like to continue to have material for a poetry collection.
Kaye: I always like to make interview posts informative. What is the best piece of writing advice you ever received?
Isabel: The fabulous writer, who was also one of my professors in grad school, Fran Wilde, told me “First drafts are allowed to suck.” While studying fiction, I realized my process for writing worked best by “running through the graveyard at night”, in other words, getting down the story as quickly as possible without tripping up on my technical imagination early in the process. The first draft of anything is scary, and it’s important to allow your creative imagination to flow when you start something new.
Also, never stop reading.
Reading from “Red Door House” by Isabel Grey
Reading from “Red Door House” by Isabel Grey
About Isabel Grey
Isabel Grey is a Colorado resident. She is currently receiving her MFA at Western Colorado University in Genre Fiction and Poetry. Her work has been published in Ample Remains, The Gay & Lesbian Review, and The Chamber Magazine. Grey writes fiction, poetry, and essays. You can find her on Instagram- @greyauthor222.
Isabel is a new addition to the WordCrafter Press authors. Her story, “Red Door House” was the winning story in the 2023 WordCrafter Short Fiction contest.
Joseph is a contributor by invitation, which is to say, he was not a contestant in the short fiction contest, but received an invitation to submit from me. He submitted three stories, and I accepted all three because they were outstanding, and I am pleased to have his writing featured in this year’s anthology. So Joseph has contributed three stories featured in MidnightRoost: Weird and Creepy Stories, and they are weird and creepy indeed. “Blood Magic”, a dark fairytale in which a young girl’s foolishness brings down a witch’s curse upon her betrothed and the price to make things right is high. “Binky”, a social commentary on birth defects and lingering spirits. And “The Beach”, which will speak for itself in the reading below.
Inspiration for “The Beach”
The Beach is based on actual beach I discovered my first time through college. Pretty much everything in the story is based on what really happened…except killing. The killing is specific to the story. Aside from that, riding my bike, discovering the cove, seeing the mansions, even returning after successes in business (although just to see if the beach still existed, not to develop the property) are all based on actual events from my life.
Reading from “The Beach “
Reading from “The Beach” by Joseph Carrabis
About Joseph Carrabis
Joseph Carrabis told stories to anyone who would listen starting in childhood, wrote his first stories in grade school, and started getting paid for his writing in 1978. He’s been everything from a long-haul trucker to a Chief Research Scientist and holds patents covering mathematics, anthropology, neuroscience, and linguistics. After patenting a technology which he created in his basement and creating an international company, he retired from corporate life and now he spends his time writing fiction based on his experiences. His work appears regularly in several anthologies and his own published novels.
Joseph’s story, “Maryanne”, is featured in the 2022 Visions anthology from WordCrafter Press.
That wraps up the first stop on the WordCrafter Midnight Roost Book Blog Tour. I hope you enjoyed learning about Isabel Grey and her winning story. I hope you’ll join us tomorrow on Undawnted, where DL Mullan interviews contributing author, Christa Planko and we’ll learn about the inspiration for her story, “The Easterville Glass Ghost”. And we’ll meet author M J Mallon with a reading from her story, “The Cull”.
It’s coming! Midnight Roost: Weird and Creepy Stories to be released October 17, 2023 and is available for pre-order now!
About the Midnight Roost
20 authors bring your nightmares to life in 23 stories of ghosts, paranormal phenomenon, and the horror from the dark crevasses of their minds. Stories of stalkers, both human and supernatural, possession and occult rituals, alien visitations of the strange kind, and ghostly tales that will give you goosebumps. These are the tales that will make you fear the dark. Read them at the Midnight Roost… if you dare.
Joseph Carrabis – “The Beach”, “Blood Magic”, and “Binky”
DL Mullan – “Mangled”
Christa Planko – “The Easterville Glass Ghost”
Paul Kane – “The White Lady”
Sonia Pipkin – “Once Upon a Time”
C.R. Johansson – “She Shed Galleria”
Roberta Eaton Cheadle – “The Behemoth”
Patty Fletcher – “Casualties of War”
Keith J. Hoskins – “Teddy”
Denise Aparo – “The Pines”
Julie Jones – “Night of Terror”
Isabel Grey – “Rabbits Can’t See Pink Firework” and “Red Door House” (Winning story in 2023 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest
Rebecca M. Senese – “Take Two”
Mario Acevedo – “Immediate Intervention”
Kaye Lynne Booth – “Melina”
Michaele Jordan – “Afterward”
Robert Kostanczuk – “A Visitor Comes to the Window”
M J Mallon – “The Cull”
Upcoming Book Blog Tour
To celebrate the release of this wonderfully weird and creepy anthology, join us for the WordCrafter Midnight Roost Book Blog Tour October 16-23, starting right here on Writing to be Read. Meet the contributing authors, find out about the inspirations behind the stories, read excerpts, meet the characters, listen to readings from the stories, and get chances to win a free digital copy of Midnight Roost at each stop.
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Want exclusive content? Join Kaye Lynne Booth & WordCrafter Press Readers’ Group for WordCrafter Press book & event news, including the awesome releases of author Kaye Lynne Booth. She won’t flood your inbox, she NEVER sells her list, and you might get a freebie occasionally. Get a free digital copy of her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction, just for joining.
Welcome to the WordCrafter The Rock Star & The Outlaw Book Blog Tour! We have a great tour planned this week and I hope you’ll visit each stop to learn more about what went into this exciting time-travel adventure. We have a great give-away, too, offering 5 digital copies of The Rock Star & The Outlaw. And you get an entry just for leaving a comment at each stop to let me know you were there. You’ll find the Tour Schedule below, so let’s get started!
Tour Schedule
The Rock Star & The Outlaw, by Kaye Lynne Booth – September 18 – 22
Monday – Sept. 18 – Opening Day – “Amaryllis & The Pretty Reckless” – Writing to be Read
Tuesday – Sept. 19 –“Writing with music and LeRoy McAllister & Review” – Carla Loves to Read
Wednesday – Sept. 20 – “The characters of Nick and Monique” – Writing to be Read
Thursday – Sept.21 – “Prostitution in the American West and the character of Maggie” – Roberta Writes
Friday – Sept. 22 – Closing Post – “Writing the Villian & Juan Montoya” – Writing to be Read
Amaryllis & The Pretty Reckless
Amaryllis Maria Sanchez is a composite character. She’s a cross between Sharon Stone’s character in Basic Instinct and Taylor Momsen of The Pretty Reckless. She’s an adrenaline junkie, who likes to tempt death and lives life to the extremes. She’s a rock star who is at the top of her game when she’s on stage. After she kills her drug dealing, domineering boyfriend to save herself from his wrath, she figures she’s already damned herself, she figures she might as well ride out the storm that’s headed her way. But, when she crosses paths with a time-traveling cowboy who offers a way to stay ahead of the game and a place to run to where she won’t ever be found, she sees the potential for a whole new life of adventures.
Amaryllis began as a character like Sharon Stones character in Basic Instincts – a daring woman who plays a deadly game. I like Sharon Stone in just about anything, but I admired the way she played this character in particular. I challenged myself to create a character with that same adventuresome nature, and that self-confident, ‘on top of the world’ attitude.
The idea for her method for killing Claude came from an actual murder case I heard about on the news. I thought it was unique, and I knew I wanted to use it in a story.
My son introduced me to the music of The Pretty Reckless, and I fell in love with the voice of Taylor Momsen. Ibought their CDs and played them on my commute to work, and a story about a female rock singer began to form in my head, and the Sharon Stone-like character somehow merged in my mind with the woman who emerged in my mind from their music. That woman was a lot like my image of Taylor Momsen. And so, Amaryllis Maria Sanchez emerged on the page. Their music inspired me and I’d like to share some of it with you. The video is an official music video for “You”, by The Pretty Reckless.
“You”, by The Pretty Reckless
About the Book
A time-traveler oversteps his boundaries in 1887. Things get out of hand quickly, and he is hanged, setting in motion a series of events from which there’s no turning back.
LeRoy McAllister is a reluctant outlaw running from a posse with nowhere to go except to the future.
In 2025, Amaryllis Sanchez is a thrill-seeking rock star on the fast track, who killed her dealing boyfriend to save herself. Now, she’s running from the law and his drug stealing flunkies, and nowhere is safe.
LeRoy falls hard for the rock star, thinking he can save her by taking her back with him. But when they arrive in 1887, things turn crazy fast, and soon they’re running from both the outlaws and the posse, in peril once more.
They can’t go back to the future, so it looks like they’re stuck in the past. But either when, they must face forces that would either lock them up or see them dead.
Book Trailer
Video Trailer for The Rock Star & The Outlaw
About the Author
For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; and book 1 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.
The Giveaway
Leave a comment below to enter the giveaway
for a chance at one of five digital copies of
The Rock Star & The Outlaw.
That wraps up the tour for today. Join us tomorrow on Carla Loves to Read for a guest post about the character of LeRoy McAllister and a review of the book.
The Rock Star & The Outlaw Kickstarter campaign ending soon
There are just a few days left for you to join in on our campaign! The more we raise, the more rewards we can offer. With the campaign ending soon, it’s almost the last chance to show support for author and project. The deadline is 8/31/23, so don’t miss out on the opportunity to get an early digital copy of the book, a signed print copy, an interview with the author, posters and so much more, available exclusively through the campaign.
The Rock Star & The Outlaw won’t release through distributors until September 18, so it is only available through my Kickstarter at this time. So click on the Kickstarter to learn more about this rocking time-travel adventure.
The Rock Star and The Outlaw is a story from my heart, inspired by the music of The Pretty Reckless, which is my favorite band. It’s a time-travel adventure. Amaryllis Sanchez is a rock Star in 2025. LeRoy McAllister is an outlaw from 1887. They’re both running from the law and other outlaws in their respective times and when they meet, it’s a non-stop adventure through time.
Check out the book trailer video on the Kickstarter page to learn more.
The Rock Star & The Outlaw Book Trailer
More About the Book
A time-traveler oversteps his boundaries in 1887. Things get out of hand quickly, and he is hanged, setting in motion a series of events from which there’s no turning back.
LeRoy McAllister is a reluctant outlaw running from a posse with nowhere to go except to the future.
In 2025, Amaryllis Sanchez is a thrill-seeking rock star on the fast track, who killed her dealing boyfriend to save herself. Now, she’s running from the law and his drug stealing flunkies, and nowhere is safe.
LeRoy falls hard for the rock star, thinking he can save her by taking her back with him. But when they arrive in 1887, things turn crazy fast, and soon they’re running from both the outlaws and the posse, in peril once more.
They can’t go back to the future, so it looks like they’re stuck in the past. But either when, they must face forces that would either lock them up or see them dead.
About the Author
For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is her passion. It is a very strange time indeed when Kaye Lynne does not have at least three WIPs, in addition to her other writings, teaching and other life activities. Kaye Lynne lives, works and plays in the beautiful mountains of Colorado.
Visit her author’s blog and website, “Writing to be Read” to learn more about Kaye Lynne Booth and her writing. https://kayelynnebooth.wordpress.com/
Release through distributors & book blog tour
If you miss the Kickstarter, The Rock Star & The Outlaw will release through distributors on September 19, 2023, and to celebrate, well be running a WordCrafter Book Blog Tour September 18-22.
Coming Soon: Midnight Roost
The 2023 WordCrafter Anthology, Midnight Roost will be scheduled for release October 17, 2023. This anthology of weird and creepy stories features works by talented authors including Zack Ellafy, Chris Barili, Joseph Carrabis, DL Mullan, Christa Planko, Paul Kane, Sonia Pipkin, C.R. Johansson, Roberta Eaton Cheadle, Patty Fletcher, Keith J. Hoskins, Denise Aparo, Julie Jones, Rebecca M. Senese, Mario Acevedo, Kaye Lynne Booth, Michaele Jordan, Robert Kostaczuk. Midnight Roost also features the winning story from the 2023 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest, “Red Door House”, by Isabel Grey. More to come in next month’s “WordCrafter News”.
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Want exclusive content? Join Kaye Lynne Booth & Readers’ Group for WordCrafter Press book & event news, including the awesome releases of author Kaye Lynne Booth. She won’t flood your inbox, she NEVER sells her list, and you might get a freebie occasionally. Get a free digital copy of her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction, just for joining.
I’ve been so excited to share news about The Rock Star & The Outlaw you, which will be released through distributors in September. It’s been a long time in coming, and I’m so thrilled to offer my supporters this opportuniy to show your support for my work, all while getting some pretty cool rewards throughmy Kickstarter campaign, which launched yesterday and runs through the end of August.
Kickstarter Campaign
I’ve put together a great Kickstarter campaign for you all. You can drop by and back this project for as little as $5, and earn some very cool rewards in the process. You can get an early digital copy of The Rock Star & The Outlaw long before the September release through distributors, or perhaps you’d prefer a signed print copy, which is not available anywhere else. You can also get a The Rock Star & The Outlaw poster, or goodie bag, or any of my other WordCrafter Press works are available at less than they are offered through distributors. My funding goal is $500, which will be used for promotion of the book upon release. If you don’t know how a Kickstarter campaign works, it is all or nothing. Backers are only obligated if I reach the funding goal.
About the Book
A time-traveler oversteps his boundaries in 1887. Things get out of hand quickly, and he is hanged, setting in motion a series of events from which there’s no turning back.
LeRoy McAllister is a reluctant outlaw running from a posse with nowhere to go except to the future.
In 2025, Amaryllis Sanchez is a thrill-seeking rock star on the fast track, who killed her dealing boyfriend to save herself. Now, she’s running from the law and his drug stealing flunkies, and nowhere is safe.
LeRoy falls hard for the rock star, thinking he can save her by taking her back with him. But when they arrive in 1887, things turn crazy fast, and soon they’re running from both the outlaws and the posse, in peril once more.
They can’t go back to the future, so it looks like they’re stuck in the past. But either when, they must face forces that would either lock them up or see them dead.
Asking for Your Support
I’m asking all my readers and followers to click on the link for the Kickstarter campaign and offer your support for this fabulous story which I’ve poured so much hard work into. I need you all to help me reach my goal. It only takes a moment. Won’t you please back my campaign?
About the Author
For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; and book 1 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.
Want exclusive content? Join Kaye Lynne Booth & WordCrafter Press Readers’ Group for WordCrafter Press book & event news, including the awesome releases of author Kaye Lynne Booth. She won’t flood your inbox, she NEVER sells her list, and you might get a freebie occasionally. Get a free digital copy of her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction, just for joining.
I’m so excited! The Rock Star & The Outlaw is finally ready to make its debut, and it will be making its first appearance in an August Kickstarter campaign from August 1 to August 30, 2023. It will be released through distributors on Septmber 19, 2023, as well, but the Kickstarter campaign is an opportunity to get in on the ground floor, so to speak, and a chance to get early digital copies or signed print copies, that you won’t be able to get through distributors, as well as some really cool reward teirs and add-ons.
About the Book
A time-traveler oversteps his boundaries in 1887. Things get out of hand quickly, and he is hanged, setting in motion a series of events from which there’s no turning back.
LeRoy McAllister is a reluctant outlaw running from a posse with nowhere to go except to the future.
In 2025, Amaryllis Sanchez is a thrill-seeking rock star on the fast track, who killed her dealing boyfriend to save herself. Now, she’s running from the law and his drug stealing flunkies, and nowhere is safe.
LeRoy falls hard for the rock star, thinking he can save her by taking her back with him. But when they arrive in 1887, things turn crazy fast, and soon they’re running from both the outlaws and the posse, in peril once more.
They can’t go back to the future, so it looks like they’re stuck in the past. But either when, they must face forces that would either lock them up or see them dead.
What Else is Happening
While I impatiently await my Kickstarter campaign to fund in August, I will be working on the compilation of Midnight Roost: Weird and Creepy Stories, the 2023 WordCrafter anthology that we are all anxiously waiting for. This anthology will be an October release, just in time for Halloween, my favorite holiday, and it will have contributions from 15 fantastic authors, including the author of the winning story in the 2023 WordCrafter short fiction contest, Isabelle Grey. Some of the contributors are long time WordCrafter authors who have been featured in past anthologies, but we have a few new names in there, too.
When I was a kid, my mom and my grandmother would pile into the car, and we’d drive to the mall, and we’d spend the afternoon going from one store to the next, carefully making our shopping selections. I remember how my mother would pick up items and carefully examine the packaging to be sure she had the correct item that she wanted or needed, before making the final purchase.
A lot has changed since then. The rise of the internet turned the whole shopping experience upside-down with the birth of online shopping. And then, COVID came along and even those resistant rebels, who enjoyed holding possible purchases in their hands and analyzing the packaging to determine whether or not to buy it were forced to shop online, or go without.
The Cover is the Packaging
As authors, we are faced with similar dilimmas. We write books, and the covers are the packaging. The cover is the first thing a potential reader sees, and if it doesn’t immediately grab their attention, there is a whole slew of other books out there to choose from, and they’re gone. Many readers still enjoy the feel of a physical book in their hands, that will never change, but digital readers judge books by their covers, too, because an image of the cover is the first thing any of us see, whether online or in a brick-and-mortar stores. And just like those in person, physical shoppers who hold and feel the product, read the label, and check out the packaging, readers look over the cover, read the blurb and back cover copy, maybe even take a quick peek inside, before deciding whether or not this book is for them.
When I was listening to the 6 Figure Author podcast with Lindsay Buroker, Joe Lollal, and Andrea Pearson, there was one piece of advice which I heard over and over consistently. If your book isn’t selling look at the cover and the back cover copy first. That is probably where you will find the problem. And they’re right.
We don’t have the space here to talk about the back cover copy. That subject is deserving of a post of its own. In fact, I did last year. If you want to start exploring back cover copy, see my “Review in Practice” here.
What Makes a Good Cover?
More advice given by the 6 Figure Author crew: Go onto Amazon and take a look at the top selling books in your genre. This will give you an idea of what kind of covers are expected in the genre. This is good advice, but what it means, is that a good cover for one genre will not be good for another. As a multi-genre author, this was important to know.
I think a cover should be representative of the story it represents, not only the genre on which the story falls. While a good cover needs to meet genre representation and follow the laws of good cover design, a good cover also contains elements of the story itself in its composition. I’ve developed this belief over time from my own experiences, as I’ve learned to design my own covers. Here is where I add my disclaimer that I am not a professional cover designer. (Of course, when you see my covers, you could probably guess that.) Everything I’ve learned about cover design, I’ve picked up on my own. I’ve had no formal training.
To show you what I mean, let’s take a look at the early covers for Delilah.
Cover 1
This is the cover my publisher wanted to give Delilah. The text is stiff and rigid, but my story is a western adventure with action and movement. I was hoping for something a little more fluid.
Anyone who has read the book would take one look and know that isn’t Delilah. This is a contemporary cowgirl. Note the modern jean jacket and hoop earings.
As covers go, the design isn’t bad, but it does not represent the story inside. As a first time author, I knew I didn’t want to publish my book with this cover, so I hustled to come up with a cover at the last minute.
Cover 2
A friend offered to come up with a cover for me on the fly. What did I want it to look like? I had no idea what I wanted. What should a western cover look like? I gave her some vague instructions. Unsure of what I needed myself. This is the cover she produced for me.
The title is much more fluid and I liked that. It offered a feminine touch that said female protagonist, yet was still bold and active, sort of like my character.
The cover image was vague, possibly due to the vague instructions my friend had been given, and I had several people see it and claim they couldn’t tell what it was. I thought it was obviously a horse, representative of the western genre, and perhaps of Delilah’s horse, which becomes sort of a supporting character in the story.
So, this cover was kind of representative of the story, I liked the text better, and it would do in a pinch. I felt the publisher’s cover to be very misleading, and as a reader I would have been surprised when I found that it didn’t match the story, or more likely, I would never even pick it up because the cover does not represent a historic western, and I don’t read a lot of contemporary.
Cover 3
Eventually, I tried my hand at creating my own cover. This was my first attempt. This cover was representative of the story and it had elements which were actually part of the story. It has both prison gates and a hangman’s noose in the background.
But the text isn’t large enough. Both the title and the author’s name should stand out more. Something I learned from Allyson Langueira of WMG Publishing was that you should be able to read the title and author name in a thumbnail. It’s got to look good small. So my text definitely needed to be bigger.
The sillohuette stood out too much in the black & white version, so I added that putrid yellow, thinking of sunlight, just to give it some color. And my sillohuette isn’t doing much of anything. Better, but not great.
I will say my publisher was pretty gracious about switching covers for me. This was the third cover switch for this book, but it wasn’t selling, and the cover was the only thing I had control over that might help. This cover was better than the covers Delilah had had so far, but I had to admit it was not the ideal cover for the book.
We were coming to the end of my five year contract with the publisher, and Delilah had not done well in the sales department. I decided not to renew my contract, as I felt I could do better with it myself. Although the publisher claimed to have done promos, I never saw them. If Delilah was going to do well, I was going to have to promote it myself.
Final Cover
Almost a year later, a revised Delilah, closer to the original I had intended, was released as a part of the Women in the West adventure series. This is the cover I designed for the re-released edition.
The fluidity of the text and the illusion of a moving horse indicate movement. This Delilah is not stagnant, but on the move. She busting out of those prison gates and moving away from that noose fast. In this way, the cover almost tells a summary of the story for me.
The bars have been faded back in this version, so the cover doesn’t look too busy. The woman looks a little bit like a contemporary cowgirl, but not as much as the publisher’s cover did.
Was it the Cover?
In January, I ran a Kickstarter campaign for Delilah and the Women in the West adventure series, which funded, so apparently, I do have a few die hard fans and/or friends out there. During that thirty-day campaign, I sold more copies of Delilah than my publisher managed to do over the period of my five year contract. That doesn’t count copies that sold after the release through distributors, as a result of the book blog tour and other promotinal efforts. It’s not like Delilah became an overnight bestseller, but I do find it curious that in only a few months, this edition of the book has outsold what all of the others did across a five year period. There are other things that could have been the cause of these results, like the new back cover copy, or my extended promotional efforts. So, was it the cover? What do you think?
Covers for the Series
At the time when the Kickstarter ran, I had been playing with the cover for Sarah a little bit, but I had to throw together a cover for the third book, Marta; a story for which I only had a vague concept for, so I only had a very rough draft of a cover to display for the Kickstarter campaign.
I said that part of the money raised in the Kickstarter, would go to redesign the covers for the series. I had two different cover designers, who both stepped down due to personal issues, but I found a cover designer friend who was willing to offer some pointers, so I ended up redesigning them myself. Here is the final result. I think you’ll agree that these covers are much better and I feel that they feel like they go together, and each seems to represent the series brand.
A Word of Thanks
The timing for this post is syncronistic, for as it posts Delilah has been nominated in the 2023 Connections eMagazine’s Reader’s Choice Awards! It looks like Delilah has finished in the top 10 with 85 votes. Considering the contest began on July 25th, and I didn’t find out Delilah had been nominated until the 29th to try and rally support, I think that’s pretty good. I want to thank all of you who did your part and voted for Delilah, some of you several times, since you clould cast your vote once a day. I also want to thank whoever it was that nominated my book. This was the first time I’d ever been involved in such a contest, and it was very exciting, so my thanks for this are huge. I don’t know who you are, but I love you.
For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; and book 1 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.
Want exclusive content? Join Kaye Lynne Booth & WordCrafter Press Readers’ Group for WordCrafter Press book & event news, including the awesome releases of author Kaye Lynne Booth. She won’t flood your inbox, she NEVER sells her list, and you might get a freebie occasionally. Get a free digital copy of her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction, just for joining.
