Wrapping Up the WordCrafter “The Ones Who Stayed With Me” Book Blog Tour
Posted: January 16, 2026 Filed under: Author Interview, Blog Tour, Book Review, Books, Memoir, Nonfiction, Review, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours, WordCrafter Press | Tags: Book trailer, Giveway, Interview, Nurse Sammy, The Ones Who Stayed With Me, WordCrafer Press, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours 7 Comments
It’s the final stop on the WordCrafter “The Ones Who Stayed With Me” Book Blog Tour.
Giveaway
Leave a comment for a chance to win a free digital copy of
The Ones Who Stayed With Me
By Nurse Sammy
One entry per stop.
Winners are chosen in a random drawing.
Sponsored by WordCrafter Press.
About The Ones Who Stayed With Me
Chronicles of the journey into the medical field as a young nurse and beyond, told with raw sensitivity and compassion. The Ones Who Stayed with Me offers small glimpses into the world of an L.P.N. put in difficult, often touching or humorous, situations—and Nurse Sammy’s courage, vulnerability, and insight are a gift to us all. In these pages, Nurse Sammy tells her story and that of those she met along the way.
Purchase Link: https://books2read.com/OnesWhoStayed
Short Trailer
About Nurse Sammy
Nurse Sammy has spent her life walking the quiet edges of human suffering and human grace. Long before she ever wore scrubs, she learned how to read a room by the way someone breathed and how to steady a shaking hand. How to listen to the stories people only tell when they think it might be their last night to say them. Nursing wasn’t a career she chose; it was the language her heart was already speaking.
She has worked in places where life is beginning, and in places where life is ending; in rooms lit by hope, and in rooms where grief hangs heavy in the doorway. Rehab centers, memory care halls, pediatric units, assisted living, private homes, wherever someone needed gentleness, she went. She became the one who held vigil, the one who noticed the quiet details, the one who stayed.
Her personal life has carried its own ache, abuse survived, love lost, a marriage that bruised the soul, another built from healing, and a grief that still hums beneath her ribs. She writes from the tender, broken places, from the nights she rebuilt herself alone, from the mornings she rose anyway. Her words are shaped by both the wounds and the resilience that followed.
The Ones Who Stayed With Me is her first published work, a collection of truths disguised as stories, honoring the people who left fingerprints on her life in ways they never saw. Her writing is soft but unflinching, honest but merciful, threaded with the belief that even in darkness, someone is always holding a light.
Nurse Sammy lives in the Pacific Northwest, where she continues to care, to witness, to learn, and to turn the hardest parts of her journey into something that might help someone else breathe a little easier.
My Interview with Nurse Sammy
Kaye: The book tells a lot about your journey as a nurse. Would you tell us a little about your author journey? What inspired you to write The Ones Who Stayed With Me?
Sammy: My first year of nursing was very adventurous. I knew these stories would be written in a book one day. There was just something in me. I kept record of these stories. It took me a few years to work up the courage to write, but in the summer of 2025, I took the time to finally start. I started a new sticky note on my phone and wrote down the stories I wanted to write. I started a rough draft in word and would work on it before or after work. I spent lunch on my phone writing titles and brainstorming ideas. I was enjoying the process of writing so much that it was consuming my life, I could not stop. The emotions of writing helped me process what I had experienced and what others did too. I wanted to teach people what really happens behind the curtain.
Kaye: What are some of the challenges in writing this book for you?
Sammy: Writing was never my strong suit in school. I am a horrible speller, and grammar is not my forte. I was nervous that my stories would be unreadable and hard to digest. As I wrote, things got easier. I was stressed that this wouldn’t work out. I had to take a step back and remember that I was writing this for me first. No one had to see it if I chose that. I got more confident and showed some friends. It became easier.
Kaye: What is the most gratifying part of this book for you?
Sammy: Being able to share the stories with others. I wanted to educate and teach people what healthcare professionals go through. These are common stories in healthcare. A lot of us have had similar shifts. I wanted patients to understand that they are not alone either.
Kaye: What has been the biggest obstacle for you, as an author?
Sammy: Believing in myself. Having faith in myself to follow through on something. To start something and finish it. This was a big project for me. I was proud of what I was doing, that it kept me on track. I had to persuade myself once to keep going, I was determined.
Kaye: What author (dead or alive) would you most like to have lunch with?
Sammy: Judy Blume. She wrote childhood classics. Some of my favorite days in school were 4th and 5th grade. Judy Blume’s books were the books chosen for those two years. We read them out loud together. Did book reports on them. And had quizzes over them. I fell in love with them. They are simple cute books. But they were my childhood. Even as an adult, I read her books.
Kaye: What is the best piece of writing advice that you have ever received?
Sammy: Start. Just start writing. Everything will flow out as long as you start. Let the emotions out and write for yourself first and others second.
Kaye: Are there more books in the works, or is this just a one-and-done thing?
Sammy: I have started brainstorming and have a sticky note in my phone for my second book. There are many stories that still haven’t been written. The more years I work, the crazier things have gotten. Especially after Covid. I am excited to keep writing and hope I can educate more and more people.
Kaye: Where do you hope to see yourself as a writer, and as a nurse, in ten years?
Sammy: I hope to have a few more books written. I really enjoyed this process and hope to continue it. As a nurse, I dream of having my doctorate in nursing. I hope to go back to school soon to work towards a higher degree in nursing. I plan to one day be a Nurse Practitioner for pediatrics or geriatrics, only time will tell.
Kaye: What advice do you have for aspiring authors?
Sammy: Believe in yourself, even if no one else does. That spark in you wants to grow, let it. Even if you just write a sentence a day. Understand you are allowed to learn and grow as you write. You don’t have to be perfect.
Kaye: Where can readers learn more about you and your books?
Sammy: I am currently working on social media accounts as an author. I will have profiles on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Stay tuned.
Denise Aparo’s Review of The Ones Who Stayed With Me
The Ones Who Stayed With Me by Nurse Sammy
Book Review by Denise Aparo
The Ones Who Stayed With Me by Nurse Sammy is a powerful debut collection of true stories that leaves a lasting impression on both the heart and mind. These narratives are raw, honest, and emotionally intense—sometimes humorous, always compassionate—and reveal how grace can be found in the merciful field of nursing through care, service, and human connection.
Written in a memoir-style, journalistic format, Nurse Sammy chronicles eight years of her life working as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA). She guides readers through her journey from the very beginning, presenting her experiences through a series of chronological snapshots. The book may be read cover to cover or opened at random, as each chapter stands on its own while contributing to a larger, meaningful whole. The stories explore life’s beginnings, endings, and everything in between, taking place in rehab centers, memory care halls, pediatric units, assisted living facilities, private homes, and wherever compassionate care is needed most.
Interwoven throughout the book are deeply personal reflections on heartache, surviving abuse, profound grief, a lost marriage, and ultimately, healing and rediscovered love. The opening chapter, This Job Will Break Your Heart, immediately grounds the reader in the emotional reality of nursing, while also emphasizing resilience, strength, and the wisdom gained through hardship.
Each chapter offers a gripping short story filled with Nurse Sammy’s experiences, emotions, and adventures in the field. Not every story has a happy ending—some have no ending at all—but each carries a moral and a life lesson, delivered with sincerity, empathy, and at times, gentle humor. For readers considering a career in caregiving or nursing, this book provides invaluable insight into both the emotional demands and the profound rewards of the profession.
Ultimately, The Ones Who Stayed With Me serves as a moving reminder that angels often appear in our darkest hours—sometimes wearing scrubs.
Lindsey Martin-Bowen’s Review of The Ones Who Stayed With Me
The Ones Who Stayed with Me—Raw Stories from the Bedside (WordCrafter Press 2026)
Whew! Even though I am not a member of this collection’s target audience, indeed its true stories hooked me. (I admit, with a mother who was an RN from the late 1940s and returned to the profession after raising seven children, and a sister who works as a Nurse Anesthetist with a daughter whose first year of being a nurse was during the COVID epidemic, a story collection penned by an author named Nurse Sammy aroused my curiosity.)
Yes, once reading these episodes, I was snared. Nurse Sammy penned these true stories about her experiences serving in an array of positions in the nursing profession, (which she entered when she was 18), as a guide for those entering that field. By age 20, she served as a night shift Charge Nurse for a huge retirement community enclosed in a “sprawling” building linked to “elegant corridors easy to get lost in.” There, she “oversaw 190 residents, six Med Aides, and fourteen CNAs until 10 pm.” After that hour, she reminisced, she and six CNAs served that retirement home.
Afterwards, in a section entitled Finding My Groove: Rehab #3, Vancouver, WA, she describes where she believes she “finally received real training, two weeks across all shifts.” There, in that place which “felt like family,” she worked as a Floor Nurse from Monday through Friday, 2 p-10 pm.
“Nurses handled all meds and treatments,” she recalled. “It was intense, but I thrived. My usual shift included seventeen patients.”
And she remained there when “COVID-19 hit,” and she “volunteered for he new Covid wing. Sixteen rooms, one nurse, two CNAs, twelve-hour shifts, five days a week. I did it for five months. No one died on my watch.”
About halfway through this collection, she included another episode about the Covid experience, “2020 The Year the World Shut Down,” occurring when she was “twenty-two years old and two years into my nursing career.” There the residents were “people who already could not breathe on their own, long before COVID was a headline.”
When the facility received its “first positive [COVID] case” . . .[w]e all knew it was over,”
she wrote, then described how ill-prepared that institution was for the pandemic: “We stored our masks in paper bags, labeled with our names, praying they would still be ‘clean’ the next day. Some of us used the same face shield for weeks, wiping it down between patients, cracked forming in the corners. We all knew it was not enough.”
And here, she included the heart-breaking story of a 55-year-old patient she dubbed “Jane,” who’d been a resident for years.
“She had a trach and was on a vent, but she was vibrant, She had a laugh that filled the whole house, even with the voice that comes through a speaking valve. Every morning, she wanted her hair brushed, red lipstick on and her gospel music playing. She was not supposed to die, not yet.”
Nevertheless, Jane tested positive, and “she knew. She looked at me with wide, terrified eyes I wanted to believe. ‘No Jane. You are strong. You will beat that.” I could not. We both knew what this virus did to the lungs. Especially lungs relying on machines.”
Her body’s oxygen needs “skyrocketed” a day later, and by the third day, she could no longer laugh. Nurse Sammy sat by her bed in sweat-soaked gown, held Jane’s hand in
“double-gloved fingers, and whispered “Your are safe. You are not alone.”
Jane died the next day. Nurse Sammy added, We did no even have time to mourn her,” and added, “I did not sleep. I barely ate. I cried on the bathroom between med passes. Still, I came back the next day, and the one after that. Who else would sit with them? Who else would make sure they did not die afraid?”
Later, in the sections, Better Than Textbooks and Jane the Bitch, set in the second and fourth assisted living centers where she served as a memory care nurse, Nurse Sammy shares the experience with “John.” a senior citizen raised during the Great Depression, who shared stories about his family using “flour sacks for curtains” and “talked about sneaking sis of bootleg gin during Prohibition. “John lit up when I sat beside him. His eyes usually dull and half-lidded would brighten.”
Similarly, her short about “Jane the Bitch” revealed how that resident, a retired nurse, who “had worked nights for decades,” was sharp, sarcastic, condescending and downright mean,” was tamed when Nurse Nanny watched how she liked to take her meds “with ice cold milk” and “liked the lights dimmed,” and stared serving her milk “in a chilled glass,” turned down the lights and “picked up on her other quirks.”
“ . . .surviving Jane meant learning her code. Once I cracked it, something unexpected happened. She started talking. Not in her usual bark, but in something softer. Once night, she told me about her first years as a nurse. How she worked in the E.R., sometimes twelve days in a row. How she buried her stress in sarcasm and bourbon, How she lost her husband, and how pain had followed her for years before it ever settled in her bones.”
Especially in those two pieces, Nurse Nancy revealed how a nurse may connect with elderly persons who must live the rest of their lives in assisted living centers.
She added that after she and Jane connected that night, she caught Jane “watching me from her recliner while I quietly filled the med cup.”
“She said, ‘You are good. You pay attention.’ That was the closest U ever got to a compliment fro Jane. Weirdly, it meant more than the thank yous I had gotten that week. . . I learned that even the most difficult people need connection. Even bitches deserve consistency. Sometimes the person who fights you the hardest is the one who needs you the most. . . Jane was the bitch I never saw coming, and one who never left me.”
(Note—Nurse Nancy refers to all the male patients as “John” and all the female patients as “Jane,” to preserve their identities.”
A Pacific Northwest writer, Nurse Sammy continues to serve the medical community as an LPN. This collection of stories is her first published book, which she wrote to “honor the
people who left fingerprints on her life in ways they never saw.” And by doing so, she created a collection well-worth reading—even for us non-nurses.
—Lindsey Martin-Bowen
Cashing Checks with Jim Morrison (redbat books 2024)
Wrap Up
That wraps things up for today’s stop and for the tour. Thank you all for joining us, and don’t forget to leave a comment to show your support, and for an entry in the giveaway for a free digital copy. If you missed a stop, you can still visit each one through the links in the schedule below.
Tour Schedule
Mon. 12 – Poetry by Mich, Hotel by Masticadores & Masticadores Phillipines – “The Backbone of Healthcare: The C.N.A.” Reading by Nurse Sammy –
Poetry by Mich: https://michnavs.wordpress.com/2026/01/12/the-ones-who-stayed-with-me-tour-stop-1/
Hotel By Masticadores: https://hotelmasticadoreshouse.wordpress.com/2026/01/12/the-ones-who-stayed-with-me-tour-stop-1/
Masticadores Philippines: https://masticadoresphilippines.wordpress.com/2026/01/12/the-ones-who-stayed-with-me-tour-stop-1/
Tues. 13 – Roberta Writes – “Better Than Textbooks” Reading by Nurse Sammy – https://roberta-writes.com/2026/01/13/roberta-writes-guest-post-the-ones-who-stayed-with-me-wordcrafter-book-blog-tour/
Wed. 14 – Undawnted – “Is it B.M. or Chocolate Pudding?” Reading by Nurse Sammy & Review by DL Mullan
Thurs. 15 – Book Places – “The Year I Ate $2 Hotdogs” Reading by Nurse Sammy – https://bookplaces.blog/the-ones-who-stayed-with-me-day-4-word-crafter-book-blog-tours/
Fri. 16 – Writing to be Read – Interview, Review by Denise Aparo & Review by Lindsey Martin-Bowen
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Day 4 of the WordCrafter “The Ones Who Stayed With Me” Book Blog Tour
Posted: January 15, 2026 Filed under: Audio Excerpt, Blog Tour, Books, Fiction, Giveaways, Memoir, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours, WordCrafter Press | Tags: Excerpt Reading, Memoir, Nurse Sammy, The Ones Who Stayed With Me, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours 3 CommentsYou can join us over at Book Places for Day 4 of the WordCrafter The Ones Who Stayed With Me Book Blog Tour, where Nurse Sammy offers one last chapter excerpt reading. (Then tomorrow, we’ll wrap up with an interview and a couple reviews, right here on Writing to be Read.) I do hope you’ll join us.
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Day 3 of the WordCrafter “The Ones Who Stayed With Me” Book Blog Tour
Posted: January 14, 2026 Filed under: Audio Excerpt, Blog Tour, Book Review, Books, Giveaways, Memoir, Review, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours | Tags: Excerpt, Giveaway, Memoir, Nurse Sammy, Nursing, The Ones Who Stayed With Me, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours 6 CommentsFor Day 3 of the WordCrafter The Ones Who Stayed With Me Book Blog Tour, we’re over at Undawnted where Nurse Sammy offers another chapter excerpt and host DL Mullan shares her review of this lovely memoir. Join us in sending off The Ones Who Stayed With Me and get in on the giveaway. Undawnted doesn’t take comments, but you can comment on this stop here.
http://www.undawnted.com/2026/01/OnesWho.StayedWithMe.TourStop3.Undawnted.html
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Day 2 of the WordCrafter “The Ones Who Stayed With Me” Book Blog Tour
Posted: January 13, 2026 Filed under: Audio Excerpt, Books, essays, Fiction, Giveaways, Memoir, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours, WordCrafter Press | Tags: Chapter Reading, Giveaway, Memoir, Nurse Sammy, The Ones Who Stayed With Me, WordCrafer Press, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours 6 CommentsToday’s tour stop is over at Roberta Writes on the WordCrafter The Ones Who Stayed With Me Book Blog Tour with another chapter excerpt reading by the author, Nurse Sammy. Please join us in sending off this unique collection of stories that will open your eyes and touch your heart.
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Book Review: “In the Name of Blood Vampires are Relative”
Posted: January 9, 2026 Filed under: Book Review, Books, Dark fiction, Fiction, Review, Speculative Fiction | Tags: Book Review, DL Mullan, In The NAme of Blood Vampires are Relative, Speculative Fiction, Vampire fiction, Writing to be Read Leave a comment
About In the Name of Blood Vampires are Relative
Riley Austin believes life is predictable. That is, until she helps her friend, Tony, catch the kidnapper of three little boys. While using her sixth sense to find the missing kids, she and Tony are attacked and Riley is taken by Julian, a vampire, who wishes to use her gift for his own purposes.
When he asks for her assistance, Riley discovers a kindred spirit in Julian. Moreover, she discovers that an insane, power-hungry vampire, called Wilhelm, is at the center of many disappearances. A bond grows between Julian and Riley and is strengthened when she saves his life. For her own protection, Julian returns her to the safety of the mortal realm.
What Julian does not realize is that Riley was never going to remain safe…
My Review of In the Name of Blood Vampires are Relative
I received a digital copy of In the Name of Blood Vampires are Relative from author DL Mullan in exchange for an honest review. All opinions stated here are my own.
Lured into a conflict between two vampires, one a viciously insane vampiric killer who thrives on torturing her, Riley is determined to see Wilhelm stopped at any cost. The other vampire, Julian, is after the same prey, placing them both on the same side, and he is equally determined to keep Riley from harm’s way because they are related. This is book one in Mullan’s Legacy Universe series, and I got the distinct impression that Riley will play an important role in something much bigger in future books.
Mullan doesn’t use dialog tags, which makes it difficult to know who is speaking at times, but probably reads aloud smoother. Perhaps she plans to do audiobook versions in the future. Her characters are larger than life, and you can almost feel Riley’s pain from Mullan’s vivid descriptions. I’m not sure I buy into vampires with governing bodies, as these seem to, but I can accept it for what it is and immerse myself in the world for a time.
An interesting take on the vampiric universe. I give In the Name of Blood Vampires are Relative four quills.
About Kaye Lynne Booth
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; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and book 1 in her Time-Travel Adventure series, The Rock Star & The Outlaw, as well as her poetry collection, Small Wonders and The D.I.Y. Author writing resource.
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, where she edits and publishes two short fiction anthologies and one poetry anthology every year amidst her many writing projects. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.
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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARC digital copies, (she also accepts print copies). Have a book you’d like reviewed? You can request a review on the Book Review tab above.
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Book Review: “Shadows of Deceit” & “The Gift”
Posted: December 26, 2025 Filed under: Book Review, Books, Dark fiction, Fiction, Mystery, Review | Tags: Book Review, Kaye Lynne Booth, Shadows of Deceit, Stephanie M. Matthews, The Gift, Timothy R. Baldwin, Writing to be Read Leave a commentAbout Shadows of Deceit
A rookie PI. A city full of secrets. One deadly game she may not survive.
When rookie private investigator Cassie Maddox takes on her first big case in the gritty streets of Lenape City, she stumbles into a web of corruption, betrayal, and murder.
What begins as a simple job spirals into a dangerous cat-and-mouse chase with the city’s most powerful figures.
Haunted by her father’s legacy as a decorated detective, Cassie is determined to prove herself—even if it means uncovering secrets that cut too close to home.
To find the truth, she must risk everything: her independence, her family, and maybe even her life.
Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FG3B7LFB
My Review of Shadows of Deceit
I received a digital review copy of Shadows of Deceit, by Timothy R. Baldwin through Sandra’s Book Club in exchange for an honest book review. All opinions stated here are my own.
Young Cassie is overwhelmed by a need to prove herself as she avoids following in her father’s footsteps. So, when her first case as a P.I. turns into more than just a cheating husband, she is determined to solve it on her own. But her bulldog determination causes her to make mistakes, miscalculations and misjudgements until she finds herself over her head in web of corruption and deception, and playing a very dangerous game.
A typical hard crime novel, but the stakes aren’t high enough. Although we’re told that Cassie is swimming in dangerous waters, we don’t really see it past her friends being kidnapped and knocked around. But we don’t see that, just the after effects. It doesn’t feel so dangerous. I never really felt the peril. Even when the case is solved, I’m not sure what the real scam was, or who was doing what.
While it could be a good detective story, Shadows of Deceit fell short of the mark for me. I give it three quills.
About The Gift
“The Gift” will change Christmas forever.
The breakout thriller novel of Canadian author Stephanie M. Matthews, “The Gift” will leave you breathless in this story about a darkness that haunts a little Belgium village, and the lengths it will take to save a young woman from being lost to it forever. This is a vividly haunting Christmas story that will not be easily forgotten.
The darkness begins here.
Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/Gift-Stephanie-M-Matthews/dp/0995313202
My Review of The Gift
I received a digital review copy of The Gift, by Stephanie M. Matthews, through Sandra’s Book Club, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions stated here are my own. The author, Stephanie M. Matthews has done a smashing job of weaving religious and philosophical symbolism in to make the storyline work in this fantastical tale.
The Gift is a dark Christmas tale with an undercurrent theme of the age-old struggle between good and evil. Fae goes to the village of her heritage at her grandmother’s request. It is her grandmother’s wish Fae receive a very special gift, and Fae can’t imagine what it might be. The village closes down to the outside world on Christmas eve, allowing no one in or out on account of a strange event when the village was saved from a Nazi invasion which no one is willing to talk about. In order to receive her gift, she must spend the night in the village, but the villagers are less than welcoming, strongly urging her to leave before Christmas eve begins.
The more she learns about the village residents and their strange customs, the more mystery that shrouds her anticipated present, the more determined she becomes to collect it. But everything comes with a price, and the price of Fae’s gift may be higher than she ever imagined.
The Gift is everything that a Christmas tale shouldn’t be: dark and scary, with Christmas horror, rather than Christmas cheer. I give it four quills.
About Kaye Lynne Booth
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; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and book 1 in her Time-Travel Adventure series, The Rock Star & The Outlaw, as well as her poetry collection, Small Wonders and The D.I.Y. Author writing resource.
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, where she edits and publishes two short fiction anthologies and one poetry anthology every year amidst her many writing projects. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.
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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? You can request a review on the Book Review tab above.
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Book Review: “Final Notice”
Posted: December 12, 2025 Filed under: Action/Adventure, Book Review, Books, cozy mystery, Crime, Fiction, Humor, Mystery, Review, Thriller | Tags: Book Reveiw, Crime Fiction, Final Notice, Humor, Jennifer Hart, mystery, Writing to be Read Leave a commentAbout Final Notice
Fester Gomez is three months behind on his rent for his pricey South Beach condo and Damaged Goods is on the job. Either they convince the tenant to pay up or he’ll face eviction. The simple task turns deadly when the team discovers Gomez missing and a Jane Doe slowly decomposing in his bathtub. Serving a killer up to justice, wrestling family secrets—it’s just another day on the job for Damaged Goods.
My Review of Final Notice
I purchased Final Notice, by Jennifer L. Hart from a KindofBook deal and I am providing an honest review. All opinions stated here are my own.
Final Notice, by Jennifer L. Hart is Book 1 in the Damaged Goods Mystery series. Damaged Goods is the name Jackie Parker chooses for their property management business when her husband, Luke, and brother-in-law, Logan, invite her to join their team as a certified process server. As one might guess from the business name, this tale contains quite a bit of humor, as Jackie is determined to find out who the dead girl in the bathtub at their first gig is, and find their missing tenant, and our trio finds themselves in some very unexpected situations. Jackie goes through outfits like someone with halitosis goes through breath mints, as she pokes her nose where someone doesn’t think it belongs.
Throw into the mix, a close encounter with Logan before she met Luke, which Luke doesn’t know about, that keeps things plenty uncomfortable among our new business partners, a mother-in-law who renews her vows every year with Jackie in the wedding party, a very needy mother of her own, and an unquenchable need to solve a mystery, and you’ve got the makings for a thoroughly entertaining cozy that won’t let you down.
I recommend Ms. Hart expend more on editing, as there were enough typos to be distracting from the story, but I had so much fun following along as Jackie tries to evict some very unusual tenants, and interact with the story’s other quirky characters, that I was willing to struggle past them and continue reading.
Comical and witty, as well as adventurous. If you can ignore the many typos, you’ll be well entertained by this cozy mystery. I give Final Notice four quills.
About Kaye Lynne Booth
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; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and book 1 in her Time-Travel Adventure series, The Rock Star & The Outlaw, as well as her poetry collection, Small Wonders and The D.I.Y. Author writing resource.
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, where she edits and publishes two short fiction anthologies and one poetry anthology every year amidst her many writing projects. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.
______________________________________
Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? You can request a review on the Book Review tab above.
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The Gift of Poetry Sale
Posted: December 11, 2025 Filed under: Anthology, Book Promotion, Book Sales, Books, Collection, Poetry | Tags: Behind Closed Doors, Feral Tenderness, Poetry Treasures, Poetry Treasures 2: Relationships, Poetry Treasures 3: Passions, Poetry Treasures 4: In Touch with Nature, Poetry Treasures 5: Simple Pleasures, Poetry Treasures Series, Small Wonders, The Gift of Poetry Sale, WordCrafter Press 4 Comments
Starting Black Friday, November 28th and running clear through December 25th, for those last-minute gifts.
Click on the book title to go to the landing page. Then, select the distributor of your choice.
The Poetry Treasures Series
Open the cover
and you will discover
Poetry Treasures
from the guests on Robbie Cheadle’s “Treasuring Poetry” blog series on Writing to be Read.
Poetry Treasures – $2.99 – Open the book and discover the poetry treasures of Sue Vincent, Geoff Le Pard, Frank Prem, Victoria (Tori) Zigler, Colleen M. Chesebro, K. Morris, Annette Rochelle Aben, Jude Kitya Itakali, and Roberta Eaton Cheadle.
Poetry Treasures 2: Relationships – $2.99 – Relationships are golden and each of Arthur Rosch, Elizabeth Merry, D Avery, Robbie Cheadle, Harmony Kent, Lauren Scott, Jules Paige, Leon Stevens, Colleen M. Chesebro, Miriam Hurdle, Marjorie Mallon, and Lynda McKinney Lambert pay poetic tribute to their most intense personal moments.
Poetry Treasures 3: Passions – $2.99 – Passion treasures within. Included are treasures from: Patty Fletcher, D. Wallace Peach, Yvette Prior, Penny Wilson, Colleen M. Chesebro, Abbie Taylor, Yvette Calliero, , Smitha Vishwanath, Chris Hall, Willow Willers, Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, and Robbie Cheadle.
Poetry Treasures 4: In Touch with Nature – $ 2.99 – Included are poetic gems from: Andrew McDowell, Robbie Cheadle, Patricia Furstenberg, Marcia Meara, Luanne Castle, D.L. Finn, Emily Gmitter, Kaye Lynne Booth, Selma Martin, Merril D. Smith, Frank Prem, and Colleen Chesebro.
Poetry Treasures 5: Small Pleasures – $2.99 – Join poets DL Mullan, Barbara Harris Leonhard, Jude Itakali, Ivor Steven, Robbie Cheadle, Michelle Ayon Navajas, Gwen M. Plano, Elizabeth Gauffreau, David Bogomolny, Dawn Pasturino, Maggie Watson, and Colleen Chesebro share their own small pleasures in poetic verse.
Individual Poetry Collections
Small Wonders: Reflective Poems, by Kaye Lynne Booth – $1.99 – The world is filled with amazing things, if we will just stop a moment and take notice. In this vast universe, we are but tiny individuals, filled with awe and amazement. From reflections on first love, to reflections on growing old. The poems within these pages express a lifetime of unique reflections in Small Wonders.
Behind Closed Doors: A Collection of Unusual Poems, by Robbie Cheadle – $2.99 – What goes on behind closed doors: in the boardroom, after death, in the home, during lockdown, and in nature? This collection of poems, ranging from rhyming verse to twisted nursery rhymes, captures the emotions and thoughts people hide behind the masks they present to the world.
What thoughts are hidden
Behind her immobile face
Quite expressionless
Eyes cold and indifferent
Scrutinising me – hawk like
This book includes some of Robbie Cheadle’s spectacular fondant art and cakes.
Feral Tenderness: Poetry & Photography, by Arthur Rosch – $2.99 – A lifetime of poetry and photography gives a unique view of life, nature, the world, and the universe.
November 28th – December 25th, 2025
Get your copies today!
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WordCrafter Holiday Book Bash
Posted: December 8, 2025 Filed under: Book Promotion, Book Sales, Books, Dark Fantasy, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Paranormal, Science Fiction, Short Fiction, Stories, Time travel, Western, Women's Fiction, WordCrafter Press | Tags: Baiting the Hook, Chris Barili, Danari Lai series, Delilah, Hidden Secrets, Kaye Lynne Booth, Sarah, Shadow Blade, The Rock Star & the Outlaw, Time Travel Adventure Series, Women in the West adventure series, WordCrafter Holiday Book Bash, WordCrafter Press 3 CommentsStarting Black Friday, November 28th and running clear through December 25th, for those last-minute gifts.
Click on the book title to go to the landing page. Then, select the distributor of your choice.
WordCrafter Novels
Women in the West Adventure Series, by Kaye Lynne Booth
•Strong Female Protagonists
•Fictionalized Historical Characters
•The Western Frontier Brought to Life
Delilah – $1.99 – Delilah is a woman haunted by her past.
Her homecoming from prison quickly turns into a quest for vengeance when she is brutally raped and left for dead, and her fourteen-year-old ward is abducted. Sheer will and determination take this tough and gritty heroine up against wild beasts of the forest, Indians and outlaws to Leadville.
Can the colorful inhabitants of the Colorado mining town work their way into Delilah’s heart, offering a chance for a future she thought she’d lost along with her innocence?
If you like strong and capable female protagonists, you’ll love Delilah.
Sarah – $2.99 – Sarah is a young girl trying to make a place for herself in the world.
Sarah is not the young girl stolen away from Delilah anymore. Now she is Hair of Fire, mate of Three Hawks, even as she blossoms into a young woman and tries to make a place for herself among the Ute tribe.
When she is stolen away from the life she’s made, she struggles to survive in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. A streak of stubbornness and determination take this tough, feisty heroine up against wild beasts of the forest and the rugged mountain landscape to Glenwood Springs, Colorado, where she receives a less than welcoming reception by some.
Will this young woman find her way back to the Ute tribe, which she’s come to think of as family, or will she discover a place among the colorful inhabitants of the Colorado hot springs and mining town?
Follow along on her journey to learn who she truly is and where she belongs in this rough, and often hostile frontier.
If you like strong and capable female protagonists, you’ll love Sarah.
Marta – Coming in 2026
Time Travel Adventure Series, by Kaye Lynne Booth
The Rock Star & The Outlaw – $2.99 – 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.
In 1887, 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.
The Rock Star & The Outlaw 2: Double Visions – Coming in 2026
Shadow Blade, by Chris Barili
Shadow Blade – $5.99 –
The Denari Lai: An order of religious zealots who control their assassins through an addiction to magic.They haven’t failed in over one hundred years.
Ashai Larish: An unstoppable Denari Lai assassin sent covertly to kill the Pushtani king and his daughter. But he falls in love with the princess and finds himself, despite struggling withdrawal symptoms from his magic, as they flee from a second assassin and the King’s guard.
Makari: A beautiful and unconventional princess seeking to change the laws of her father’s kingdom when she learns Ashai’s true identity.
Pachat: A Pushtani slave who unknowingly sparks a slave rebellion all along the border between their nations.
Will Pachat gain the revenge he so lustily seeks?
Can Ashai kill the second assassin, win back Makari’s love and return her to the throne that is rightfully hers?
Short Fiction Singles
Baiting the Hook – Free! – On the ice-polished rooftops and the otherwise dark allies now choked with snow, Tabe Ge Nishi, the past pursues the future, old chases young. The Chargh Lai—leader of the brutal assassin’s guild, the Denari Lai—searches for the perfect leader to take over the order when he passes on. But the boy has other suitors and wishes only to be left alone. Betrayals have made Ashai cautious, and just as he rebuffs the advances of a street gang, he also rejects the Chargh Lai’s offer of constant brotherhood. But “no” is not an answer the Chargh Lai is used to hearing. And he pressures Ashai to join him. And meanwhile, another assassin hunts them both.
What will Ashai choose? The camaraderie of the Denari Lai, or freezing alone on the streets? The final battle will determine the fate of both men, and an entire nation.
Hidden Secrets – $.99 – Cassie wants nothing to do with the legacy her grandmother wants to hand down to her.
She doesn’t believe in all those Native American legends anyway.
She and Tony are to be married and start a family. They’re returning to her ancestral lands now to tell her grandmother to pass the tribal legacy on to someone else, along with the cursed gold that goes with it.
When she forces herself to go out on the lake where her parents drowned, she discovers the cave which holds the tribal treasure and the lake takes another life. Now Cassie must rethink all that she believes. If the treasure is real, could the curse be real, too?
Can Cassie find a way to stop it before Tony becomes the next victim?
November 28th – December 25th, 2025
Get your copies today!
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LINDSEY’S WRITING PRACTICE: Book Review – “Midnight Roost: Weird & Creepy Stories”
Posted: December 3, 2025 Filed under: Anthology, Book Review, Books, Dark fiction, Lindsey's Writing Practice, Paranormal, Review | Tags: Book Review, Linda Griffin, Lindsey Martin-Bowen, Lindsey's Writing Practice, Midnight Roost: Weird & Creepy Stories, Writing to be Read 1 Comment
Warning: These Stories May Disturb Your Sleep
Review: Midnight Roost (Volume 1 of the Midnight Anthology series)
By Lindsey Martin-Bowen
I confess it: My preferred reading choices have leaned toward the “rom-coms,” both traditional literary and contemporary, i.e., Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, and so forth: Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights and Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, James Joyce’s “Ulysses,” and his short stories, especially “Araby.” Likewise, early 20th century novelist Daphne Du Maurier thrilled me by combining romance and suspense in Rebecca and Fisherman’s Cove. Plus, a more recent plethora of novels, (especially The Accidental Tourist and Pultizer-prize winning Breathing Lessons) by Anne Tyler, and Toni Morrison’s Beloved have enticed me to donate my hours (and cash) many times, as did Joan Didion’s Play It as It Lays.
Further, even if Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart,” Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” and Franz Kafka’s “Metamorphosis” intrigued me, they didn’t match my love for the romances.
Yet after reading Midnight Roost, comprising 23 not only chilling, but well-wrought tales, I declare Move over, Poe, Wilde, Kafka, Steven King—here’s a fiction collection that matches your scary stories. And as alluring as the Twilight Zone stories may be, they’ve “got nuthin” over the mastery of the fictional elements (detailed sensual descriptions, rhythmic,flowing sentences, and strong tension buildup—interlaced wth imaginative, sometimes bizzare settings and outcomes) than these 23 tales reveal. In short, this masterfully-written collection mesmerized me. And here’s why:
The first two tension-filled stories play with the “haunted house” archetype, even though the reader can’t be sure it’s the house that’s haunted, especially in Zack Ellafy’s “House on the Plains” which opens with a sad story— after her marriage ended, Madison attempts to set up a new household—yes, on the Plains. Not only does her initial move into the house create tension, when her husband follows her to her new home, he adds to the stress by threatning her life.
The setting plays a huge role in the themes and outcome in the second tale, too. Chris Barili opens “Shaken” with a baby crying. Neither of the parents, Misty and George can make their son stop, and when nothing will stop his tears, the couple slowly realizes their child isn’t crying because of colic. And the world beyond the earth may well have caused the babe’s screams.
In contrast to the two opening stories, Joseph Carrabis’s “The Beach” occurs outdoors (on a real beach), which the protagonist “hadn’t seen in forty years,” when “[m]oss and ivy grew over the gate’ s red brick pillars, once clearly visible.” Throughout most of this tale, Carrabis’s detailed imagery engaged me up to the tense ending.
This collection includes two more Carrabis pieces combining strong imagery and symbolism, “Blood Magic,” uses the Genesis “apple” imagery intertwined with witches whose arms are tree limbs and who present humans with apples to resolve their problems. Again, his detailed imagery captures the reader. Set in a “copse of ancient, dark boled trees,” this story builds even more tension than “The Beach” and “Binky.” And Carrabis indeed knows how to twist a tale, enhance its drama by turning it upside-down, especially toward the ending, where it zaps the reader.
Then toward the end of the anthology, Carrabis’s futuristic “Binky” explores genetic markers and abortion advocates with with this frightning tale that entices readers to question today’s sociological values.
D.L. Mullan set “Mangled” in an opposite setting from the previous landscapes. In fact, it opens within what appears to be a hospital inside a space ship. Told in the first person point-of-view by a wounded female soldier, now a patient sharing visions now appearing in her heads “images splashed in my mind’s eye. My twentieth birthday party. Then a picture of my graduation from boot camp. The darkness of a moonless night, where millions of stars shone in their galaxies above filled me with apprehension . . . ” Despite all the trauma, the narrator takes the reader into an unexpected dimension hinting at hope. Insightful multi-levels of meaning exist here.
“The Easterville Glass Ghost” by Christa Planko is indeed a ghost story, and the main character Taryn studies a history of the town’s glassworks, which includes an “other-worldly” event with a likely “friendly spirit” that “she believed wanted to look out for her well-being. A foreman, maybe. Taryn could feel the spirit smile when that thought entered her mind.” Clever writing here made reading this story a delight.
Award-winning and best-selling author of more than 100 books and master at character development, Paul Kane penned a contemporary piece about an old legend, “The White Lady,” set in a blizzard that changes life dramatically for Harry Sharpe, publicist for Binge TV Productions, a man who “always believed you made your own luck.” After Sharpe gave up driving his car, he trudged through snow till he found his way to a nearby inn, entitled The White Lady. There, he encountered hints of his fate from the barman, an expert on “The White Lady” legends worldwide, who explained,
“Like so many variations going back centuries, she is said to have no
visible face.” He shrugged. “I did a bit of research when I knew it was
going to be important. You do, don’t you?”
Harry shrugged himself now; he couldn’t give a flying shit. Ex-
except he found himself saying, “And your version?”
The man smiled. “The original spirit of vengeance, ours is.”
Harry couldn’t help grinning too. “I’ve seen that one as well, only
it was Nicolas Cage riding a motorcycle.”
“Vengeance for the wronged, vengeance against—”
Harry flapped his hand, cutting the man off in mid-flow. “Urban
legends. I don’t blame you for pushing the marketing side of things,
I t’s what I’d do. Play to the tourists, the audience, right? But you can
save the spiel as far as I’m concerned.”
That conversation hooked me—and I quickly read the 23-page story. It’s now one of my favorite “thriller” stories ever.
A new addition to WordCrafter Press authors, Colorado’s Sonia Pipkin displays Disney-like appeal in “Once Upon a Time.” Not only does her tale with that phrase, but it draws readers into “a magical forest, [where] woodland creatures lived in peaceful co-existence, and not one human was the wiser.” Layering this opening with crisp descriptions of a sky “the perfect shade of aazure blue, trees with full leafy crowns,” she enforced the peaceful setting by adding, “not one drop of blood had ever been spolt on the soil in the enchanted land until that day.”
After building tension among the creatures with their response to events that transpire that day,, she recounts the “Goldilocks” tale—but with a twist—from the bears’ point-of-view.
And trust me, this story’s depth and word choices allow readers to see this is no mere “fairy tale” today. Just ask any deer who may roam in your neighborhood, as they do in mine.
Another tale, C.R. Johansson’s “She Shed Galleria,” reveals the author’s talent for developing intriguing, even odd-ball characters that can snare a reader’s heart, even if those characters are quite ornery. Such is Uluna, a portrait artist who owns the She She Galleria, dresses in mink, and likes to paint men performing work that excites them. Auto mechanic Bob describe her when she waltzed into a bar where he nursed a beer:
Having grown up surrounded by hunters, he recognized the expensive mink fur that lined the collar of the woman’s long, thick coat which swallowed her body like a giant bear. Even without the coat, he knew she was rich by the way she shook her head in contempt while she surveyed the room, as if the bar and the people were vermin.
After Bob became one of her subjects, this story twists into one that could easily find a home in The Twilight Zone among such tales with a comparable “oddball” sense of humor. I loved it. (But note, this is one for the “over-21” crowd.)
Another of my favorites, South African author Roberta Eaton Cheadle’s “The Behemoth’s Rage” exhibits flowing, descriptive language emulating sounds of the sea, which it personifies with detailed imagery. For example, the saga opens with,
The sun breached the horizon, spilling brilliant light across both sky and ocean. The water, an expanse of silver satin encrusted with clusters of glittering diamonds, paid homage, gracefully rising and dropping into curtseys.”
The light unveiled the dark grey behemoth, seated on the shore. It illuminated her edges, turning them into a froth of lighter grey lace. Shards of brilliance splashed across her sombre mourning dress. The aging face of the immobile matriarch disappeared into thick, golden edged clouds, leaving a headless hulk.
Especially significant in this tale is the word, “Behemoth,” (also known as Leviathan) alluding to the huge creature in Job 40:15-24, wherein God humbles Job by presenting the behemoth to him. With a parallel theme, Cheadle’s piece retells an old sea legend, but describes the creature as a female and adds a twist at the end—one that isn’t in Job 40.
Patty L. Fletcher’s “Casualties of War” opens with the lines,
DERRICK SAT AMONG the drunken Clear Bloods, allowing
their teasing to wash over him. He hated this role, but what choice
did he have? If he didn’t learn what plans were being set against
the Blended Lives Federation, all which he’d fought for would be
for nothing.
Ah ha! From this intro, I interpreted this story about “war casualties” was set in the Old West during the struggles between the settlers and Native American tribes. I wondered if it would entail time-travel or if it would reflect actual historical events in our nation’s early decades, which it would symbolically connect to the our nation’s contemporary situation.
Then,after a few pages, I realized my misinterpretation: Yes, the story contains aspects that apply to our nation—but dear readers, it was a tale quite opposite from what I anticipated. I won’t spoil the ending—or any possible interpretations: Both are surprises you won’t forget.
In contrast, Keith J. Hoskins’s tale, “Teddy,” centering around Quarterback Brad Jarrett, “is based on a true story,” according to its narrator. And it opens with Jarrett throwing a pigskin to the runner who scored the winning touchdown. When his team members hosted him to their shoulders, Jarrett “relished the splendor of the moment and bathed in the praise,” thinking “Could life get any better.”
Surely Hoskins expanded that story into a different dimension by making Jarrett’s stuffed Teddy bear come alive—but only to the quarterback. The ensuing battle between the two makes this surreal story a delight.
Another story that would serve well as a Twilight Zone episode, Denise Aparro’s “The Pines” leaves the reader in a strange space with female protagonist Orna Douglas, who happens to be both a nurse and a mystery writer. Opening with “The ping of brass.” auditory and visual descriptions, and quick dialogue, this story captures a reader and moves quickly. Bravo!
Likewise, Julie Jones’s “Night of Terror” opens opens with a description and rapid movement that also makes it another excellent Twilight Zone candidate:
THE FIRST SPACESHIP showed up around two o’clock in the afternoon. Doug and
Billy ran in from the sandbox to tell use about it, too worked up to notice Miss Clara
hollering about tracking up the clean floors. Their alarm cinvinced us something was ]
going on, though a UFO seemed far-fetched. We went outside to look at the sky—to
appease the upset boys, if nothing else—and there it was, just like they said.
Dear readers, his story hooked me immediately—and engaged me till its ending.
Another quick-moving tale with lush imagery and humor, Isabel Grey’s “Rabbits Cannot See Pink Fireworks,” written from a rabbit’s point-of-view, hooked me into reading it through the wee hours. The ninth-year rabbit storyteller not only provides a unique perspective, but adds nuances of social comment on a still controversial subject in our current society.
One more possible Twilight-Zone nomination, Robera M. Senese’s“Take Two” focuses upon a daughter-mother relationship. It opens showing the daughter, Sondra, revealing her perfectionism
in her profession:
“SONDRA STOOPED TO PEER through the camera focus. The camera rested
on a tripod set up in front of her usual recording location in the corner of her bedroon.
Yes, perfect. The lighting on the stool in front was just right, making the red leather
look lush. Beside her was her makeup table, styish and shining with black lacquer.
Once, she had noted in oneofher videos that the table was a little too shiny. A lovely
charcoal grey table runner took care of that problem and also stopped the various
makeup bottlesand boxes from sliding on the smooth surface.
After Sondra decides to help her aging mother, Florence “freshen” her looks, the tale
becomes more intriguing with what may be a surprise ending. Likely, many readers may
find that ending justified, too.
“Immediate Intervention” by Mario Acevedo takes on a more somber tome in this futuristic piece that may become closer to reality within a few years. Along with bringing in AI and algorithms, the story creates a frightening reality wherein The System rules human outcomes.
In contrast, Kaye Lynne Booth’s “Melina” leads the reader into the magical world of a mermaid (Melina) and her encounter with humans. Thestory opens with a delightful scene of Melina flipping her tail “playfully at her little siser, Elsbeth, who gives a mental titter and swims off . . .” Being a mermaid, Melina is able to sit with her sister by sending thought waves to her.
This allows Elsbeth (who swam too far away) to contact her sister when she becomes caught in
a fisherman’s net. In her attempt to help thr young mermaid, Melina becomes captured by humans
and begins to morph legs. Great tension here—but no spoilers. Part of this tale’s charm is its intensity.
Michacele Jordan’s “Afterwards” is a psycho-drama about Brad, riddled with nightmares after he’d suffered a car crash, an accident that killed a young woman, who re-appeared in his subsequent constant nightmares. This sent Brad to a psychiatrist, Dr. Rosenberg, whose “traffic light green” eyes haunted him while she attempts o help him regain his mental health. Albeit grounded in “reality,” this
one’s another suspenseful tale.
And speaking of suspense, Robert Kostanczuk’s “A Visitant Comes to the Window” evokes shades of imagery from Franz Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” wherein the main character, Gregor transforms “into a gigantic insect.” This tale just may be more frightening.
Indeed, the last two stories in this collection definitely raised the hairs on the back of my neck. M.J. Mallon’s “The Cull” reflects some ideas similar to those in Oscar Wilde’s “The Painting of Dorian Gray,” but this tale is far more gastly—and heartbreaking.
And finally, Isabel Grey’s award-winning (WordCrafter’s Short Fiction Award 2023) “Red Door House” sent the proverbial chills down my spine (all the way to my toes). At first, the story brought to mind Toni Morrison’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Beloved, wherein House 124 is haunted by the ghost of the character Sethe’s murdered daughter..
Yet that haunting is mild compared to the Red Door House—a house that narrates this wild tale.
Indeed, those who love thrillers will likely enjoy this one. Yes, the story is indeed well-written, especially the way it builds suspense. But the ending overwhelmed me, perhaps because my 1906 historic house may be haunted, I don’t know. Nevertheless, it was a tad too thrilling for my sensitivities—and kept me up till 4 AM., shivering. Sigh.
About Lindsey Martin-Bowen
On Halloween 2023, redbat books released Lindsey Martin-Bowen’s 7th poetry collection, CASHING CHECKS with Jim Morrison. Her 4 th collection, Where Water Meets the Rock, was nominated for a Pulitzer; her 3rd, CROSSING KANSAS with Jim Morrison was a finalist in the QuillsEdge Press 2015-2016 Contest. In 2017, it won the Kansas Writers Assn award, “Looks Like a Million.” Writer’s Digest gave her “Vegetable Linguistics” an Honorable Mention in its 85th Annual (2017) Contest. Her Inside Virgil’s Garage (Chatter House Press 2013) was a runner-up in the 2015 Nelson Poetry Book Award. McClatchy Newspapers named her Standing on the Edge of the World (Woodley Press/Washburn University) was one of the Ten Top Poetry Books of 2008. It was nominated for a Pen Award.
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This segment of “Lindsey’s Writing Practice” is sponsored by the Midnight Anthology Series & WordCrafter Press.
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. https://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Roost-Kaye-Lynne-Booth-ebook/dp/B0CL6FPLVJ
Midnight Garden: Where Dark Tales Grow: 17 authors bring you 21 magnificent dark tales. Stories of magic, monsters and mayhem. Tales of murder and madness which will make your skin crawl. These are the tales that explore your darkest fears. Read them in the Midnight Garden… if you dare. https://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Garden-Where-Tales-Anthology-ebook/dp/B0DJNDQJD3
Midnight Oil: Stories to Fuel Your Nightmares: 14 authors bring you 16 dark tales that explore your deepest fears. These are the stories which nightmares are made of. Tales of monsters, mayhem, and madness which will make you shiver in the dark. Read them while you burn the Midnight Oil… if you dare. https://books2read.com/Midnight-Oil
