Spark off this Independence Day with spectacular anthologies from WordCrafter Press at discounted prices, July 1 – 4. Click on the links above to purchase the anthology of your choice. Choose from three sparkling anthologies:
Visions
An author’s visions are revealed through their stories. Many authors have strange and unusual stories, indeed. Within these pages, you will find the stories of eighteen different authors, each unique and thought provoking. These are the fantasy, science fiction, paranormal, and horror stories that will keep you awake long into the night.
What happens when:
An inexplicable monster plagues a town for generations, taking people… and souvenirs?
A post-apocalyptic band of travelers finds their salvation in an archaic machine?
JThe prey turns out to be the predator for a band of human traffickers?
Someone chooses to be happy in a world where emotions are regulated and controlled?
A village girl is chosen to be the spider queen?
Grab your copy today and find out. Let authors such as W.T. Paterson, Joseph Carabis, Kaye Lynne Booth, Michaele Jordan, Stephanie Kraner, and others, including the author of the winning story in the WordCrafter 2022 Short Fiction Contest, Roberta Eaton Cheadle, tantalize your thoughts and share their
Visions
Once Upon an Ever After: Modern Fairy Tales & Folklore
This unique and imaginative collection of eleven thought provoking fantasy stories will delight readers who enjoy stories of wishes gone awry.
What happens when…
A woman desires to carry on her family’s legacy, uncovering a long-buried curse?
A not so perfect witch casts a spell to defy age and preserve her relationship with her handsome shapeshifting familiar?
A time traveler longs to be the savior of knowledge lost?
An incompetent delivery boy becomes an unlikely savior of forgotten artifacts?
A magic mirror yearns for a different question?
A tiny story witch desires to share her stories with the world?
Spells are cast, unlikely alliances made, and wishes granted, sometimes with surprising outcomes. You’ll love this anthology of modern myths, lore, and fairy tales. Once you read these twisted tales, you’ll be careful what you wish for….
Refracted Reflections: Twisted Tales of Duality & Deception
Refractions and Reflections…
A reflection can be revealing or deceptive. What stares back at you when you glance into the mirror?
A prison, designed to trap you and take away all that is dear to you?
A portal to another dimension? Another time?
An evil twin, luring you to the other side?
Your loved ones with a fond farewell?
A distorted version of yourself? A person you no longer even recognize?
A protective savior?
Do you dare to gaze into the looking glass?
Will what you see save you…, or haunt you forever?
“Horror fans will find plenty to love” (AudioFile) in “this masterly collection of tales” (Library Journal). The genre’s most important writers — including Jonathan Maberry, Neal Shusterman, Chuck Wendig, Mira Grant, and more — revisit the classic 1968 film to provide 19 chilling, gruesome stories that will have you listening with the lights on… Performed by a talented cast of narrators!
If you’re in the mood for a good zombie-fest, Nights of the Living Dead, edited by Jonathan Maberry and Oscar Romero might just be the audio anthology for you. Zombies are having feeding frenzies in all their ghoulish glory, and it’s open season on the walking dead. Edited by the godfather of zombie madness, George A. Romero and the ring master of classic horror, Jonathan Maberry, this is short fiction collection that just keeps coming with flesh eating terror that refuses to die.
I listened to the audio book version, and multiple narrators were used to bring each story in this anthology to life, making each one not just readings, but true performances. There is something to please every lover of zombie stories everywhere in this collection, but the ones which stood out for me were:
A Dead Girl Named Sue, by Craig E. Engler, where small town grudges turn into a macabre plan for vengeance.
In that Quiet Earth, by Mike Carey, is a zombie love story not soon forgotten.
Dead Man’s Curve, by Joe R. Landsdale, where a girl is just as tough as the guys, maybe tougher, and she can drive better, too.
Orbital Decay, by David Wellington, is the ultimate space zombie story.
Jimmy J. Baxter’s Last Best Day on Earth, by John Skipp, where a bigoted fool gets his just desserts.
Lone Soldier, by Jonathan Maberry, where a soldier, left for dead, learns to survive by putting his combat skills to good use.
Live and On the Scene, by Keith de Candido, where a reporter covers the apocalypse a little too closely.
You Can Stay All Day, by Mira Grant, where a day at the zoo takes on a whole new meaning.
Deadliner, by Neil and Brandon Shusterman, takes you to a real live, or at least undead, zombie circus.
If you can’t get enough of the zombie apocalypse, then settle in as the masters of horror and speculative fiction who contributed here, take you to the land of the undead, again and again. Featuring stories by Romero and Maberry, in addition to horror greats such as Kieth R.A. DeCandido, Carrie Ryan, John A. Russo, Brian Keene, Chuck Wendigo to name a few. It’s open season on the undead, and these zombie hunters are pulling out all the stops, with blood, guts and brains galore.
Zombie fans everywhere will want to be sure and catch this classic tradition collection of zombie fiction. I give the audio edition of Nights of the Living Dead five quills.
___________________________
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 here.
The Winners of the WordCrafter Small Wonders Book Blog Tour Giveaway
We had a great tour last week for my debut poetry collection, Small Wonders. A full week of guest posts and poetry readings, DL Mullan interviewed me, and even a couple of reviews. Now it’s time to announce the winners of the WordCrafter Small Wonders Book Blog Tour giveaway.
And the winners are….
Drumroll Please
dg kaye
Beetly Pete
Brenda Marie Fluharty
New Release from WordCrafter Press
This is How We Grow: Reflections for Perspective Shaping, compiled and edited by Yvette Prior will be released on July 18, 2023.
About This Is How We Grow
The way we think and behave is impacted by mental filters. Understanding how people experience the world can lead to positive outcomes.
This is How We Grow brings you into the world of diverse authors to help expand outlook, cultivate empathy, and explore components of concious experience and mental filters. The way we see the world is impacted by many variables.
This book aims to increase the reader’s ability to take the perspective of others through essay, story, and poetry. Cognitive empathy is a crucial component of social problem solving and conflict avoidance.
The WordCrafter This is How We Grow Book Blog Tour
The WordCrafter This is How We Grow Book Blog Tour will run July 17-21, 2023. We will have guest posts from contributors, audio excerpts, an author/editor interview, reviews and a great giveaway. It is a wonderful book and it’s going to be a fabulous tour, so I hope you will join us.
Michael Andrews and Gail Sommers have finally found the love that had eluded them for so long.
But their romance has uncovered an ancient evil curse neither of them could have anticipated. It does more than bring down a plague on their houses – it unleashes something far more sinister that can destroy humanity.
Now they must choose: battle the evil forces out to destroy them, or continue to meet in secret while the rest of the world burns.
If you like thrilling action, paranormal adventure, and quirky humor, you’ll love Hex and the City. Read it today!
Though this is book six in a series, it can be enjoyed as a stand alone novel. A “the story so far” summary is available for readers.
Hex in the City, by Mark Leslie and Julie Straus, is Book 6 in Mark Leslie’s Canadian Werewolf series. Admittedly, I have read all of the novels which came before this one in the series, so I had a pretty good idea of what to expect, but Leslie and Straus never fail to fill their pages with supernatural surprises.
After listening to the audio version of the first book Leslie co-authored with Straus, Lover’s Moon, they became the voices of Michael Andrews and Gail Sommers for me. As I read the digital version of Hex in the City, I could hear the authors’ voices in my head, I swear, and that made the story ever so much more real for me. In book 6, Gail and Michael have found each other once more and are determined to be happy together. But, once again, forces beyond their control just seem to get in the way.
But in this book, more is revealed about two of the supporting characters, who have been there, but taken a back seat, all along, Gail’s BFF, Isabeau, and her brother, Ben. And in learning more aboutn these two, many of the missing pieces of Gail’s past fall into place. And we also learn a thing or two about Michael’s mysterious traveling friend, Buddy, who always seems to show up in the right place, at the right time. After reading this book, I have more of the pieces to the puzzle, I still hae the feeling that there is so much more to this story.
Enjoyably entertaining, as are all the books in this series. It’s so much fun to watch the story unfold between the two main characters, who by book 6, are starting to feel like good friends. I give Hex in the City five quills.
I’m pleased to announce the release of my debut poetry collection, Small Wonders: Reflective Poems, which will be June 20, and is available for pre-order at the purchase link below. A lifetime of poetry, for better or worse, I’m throwing them out there for all to see.
About Small Wonders: Reflective Poems
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.
The WordCrafter Small Wonders Book Blog Tour is scheduled for June 19 – 23.
Join us to learn more about this unique poetry collection and its author, Kaye Lynne Booth. I will be sharing here on Writing to be Read, and visiting the lovely blogs of Robbie’s Inspiration, Un dawnted, and Carla Loves to Read, with guest posts and poetry readings, an interview with DL Mullan, and reviews of my debut poetry collection. And I’ll be giving away three digital copies of Small Wonders, and all you have to do for a chance to win, is show up and comment at any of the stops. There’s one chance possible at each stop if you follow the tour.
Midnight Roost Winning Story & Cover Reveal
The 2023 WordCrafter anthology, Midnight Roost: Weird and Creepy Stories, will be scheduled for an October release. This year we did the anthology like last year’s Visions anthology, with some of the stories coming from the annual short fiction contest and others that came by invitation and were not subject to the competition. Invitational stories include tales by Mario Acevedo, Paul Kane, Chris Barili, Roberta Eaton Cheadle, Christa Planko, Julie Jones, Rebecca M. Senese, Keith J. Hoskins, Michaele Jordan, Joseph Carrabis, DL Mullan, and Patty Fletcher.
There will be some new author names added to the list from the entries that were judged: Robert Kostanczuk, Denise Aparo, Sonia Pipkin, and MJ Mallon. And now…
The Winning Story
I am pleased to announce that the winning story in the 2023 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest is…
Drumroll please.
“Red Door House”, by Isabel Grey.
The Cover Reveal
And before I go on to the next June news item, I would also like to call your attention to our awesome new and original cover, courtesy of DL Mullan of Sonoran Dawn Studios, below. I had a cover planned for this anthology, but when Dawn offered up this one, I just couldn’t say no. I really like it, and I hope you do, too.
WIP Update: The Rock Star & The Outlaw
In June, I plan to finish up The Rock Star & The Outlaw and gear up for a Kickstarter campaign in July & August. I’ll be setting up the Kickstarter with some awesome reward teirs and creating content to fill those tiers, so you know I will be hard at work. If all goes as planned, I will be wrapping up the final edits and setting it up for a September release by the end of the month. I’m excited to able to share this western time-travel romance adventure novel with all of you, so be watching for it soon.
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.
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.
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.
A paranormal women’s fiction (PWF) that’ll have you walking on air!
Luella Campbell is having the weirdest day ever. Getting fired from her job at the sunscreen factory for no good reason is bad enough, but when a mysterious dog brings a tempest into her former workplace, Luella’s life is completely upended by the sudden gift of wild and windy magical powers.
With the help of her ride-or-die best friends, her motorcycle-riding mother, and a romantic blast from the past, Luella must find a way to make ends meet while unlocking the mysteries of her newfound magic…and the secrets hidden in the picturesque town of Sparkle Beach.
Sometimes, an empty nest means it’s your turn to fly.
I listened to the audio book, Silver Spells, by Kate Moseman and narrated by Xe Sands. The soft, pleasant lilt of Sands’ voice made this story easy listening, and the characters weren’t too varied, but remained distinguishable. Moseman’s tale is well crafted. Although some events may seem to occur a bit too conviently, in the end, everything falls into place nicely.
After many years of loyal service to Sun Tan Queen, Luella Campbell is fired with no reason, she dumps her boyfriend, and her life is changing in some really big ways. Among the normal changes, like a new place to live, new friends and a new boyfriend are some a little less normal, like flying dogs which are invisible to all but a select few, the acquisition of a new pair of wings, and friends who develop mysterious powers… Her world has been turned upside down. Why these things are happening, she doesn’t know, but she’s determined to get to the bottom of it.
A fun and entertaining read. I give Silver Spells five quills.
______________________
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 here.
THERE’S NO ESCAPING THE EVIL THAT RISES WITHIN OUR OWN HEARTS.
On a work trip to Los Angeles, Michael Andrews stumbles upon the rising underground movement of the Proud Fighters for America, a white-supremacist group hell-bent not only on vanquishing any outside their predefined definitions of the one pure race, but also on leveraging long-buried paranormal experiments conducted by Nazi Germany to create an army of super soldiers.
But this group isn’t confined to the west coast. Their numbers have also spread to New York, Michael’s home stomping grounds.
Michael has to determine if a mysterious woman he is falling in love with who has ties to the PFA and a unique paranormal ability of her own can be trusted, and if the two of them, along with another supernatural creature and an occult scholar, are enough to take down the growing legion of evil.
FEARS AND FRIGHTS combines the complete texts of the two-book story arc that unrolls in the novels FEAR AND LONGING IN LOS ANGELES and FRIGHT NIGHTS, BIG CITY into a single digital bundle.
I listened to the audio book, Bundle of Fears and Frights, by Mark Leslie, and narrated by Scott Overton. As he has through the whole series, Scott Overton does a smashing job of bringing Leslie’s characters to life.
This is a two book bundle which includes Fear and Longing in Los Angeles and Fright Nights, Big City, which are, I believe, books 2 & 3 in Lefebvre’s Canadian Werewolf series. Together, they make nine hours of audio book entertainment, and characters which you can’t help but invest into.
My first thoughts when learning about book 1, Canadian Werewolf in New York, was that it might be similar to the movie, American Werewolf in London, which I enjoyed enough to watch two or three times. My second thought was that the werewolf thing has been soooo overdone, as have vampires, and zombies. As it turned out, Lefebvre’s werewolf different from that movie in several ways. And his character, Michael Andrews is not like any other werewolf that I’ve heard of. I mean, how can you not like a werewolf superhero? Not a role you’d expect to see a werewolf in, right? No, I find Lefebvre’s werewolf to be fresh and original, and I’ve never regretted picking up that first audio book, which was also narrated by Scott Overton. You can read my review of that book here.
Bundle of Fear and Frights takes Lefebvre’s werewolf to Las Angeles and back to New York, in his human form as Michael Andrews, of course, to battle a white supremacists domestic terrorist group. As a human, Michael is vulnerable like the rest of us, and he’s trying to come to terms with the loss of his true love, Gail, and move on to a new chapter in his life.
In Fear and Longing in Las Angeles, Michael finds a new love interest, Lex, but his supernaturally enhanced wolf senses and strengths offer advantages, and he can never walk away from someone in need. He just can’t seem to help himself. Before he knows it, he also finds himself battling the PFA, a domestic terrorist group involved in the occult, which has supernatural powers to rival his own wolf senses and strength. All, while trying to navigate his love life and his writing career. To make matters worse, strange things are happening with his wolf senses, which he doesn’t fully understand, but he grasps at the chance to once again have a normal life with Lex.
In Fright Nights, Big City, he’s back in New York with Lex, but trouble follows them, or at least, the PFA does. In L.A., Michael had decided to walk away and let the professionals deal with them, but now, in New York, it looks like they have no choice but to try and stop them from carrying out their evil plot to take over the city. Together with Lex, his new girl, and Gail, the girl he can’t seem to get over, they battle occult forces of evil to save the city, and themselves.
Mark Leslie’s Michael Andrews is one of the most likeable werewolves I’ve ever met. I love that he weilds his enhanced powers like a superhero, because of his compassion for others, which is a very human trait. I give a Bundle of Fears and Frights five quills.
Blood Tingling Tales, by Steve Hudgins are anything but blood tingling. Although some of these stories had the potential to be truly creepy, there was way too much telling and not nearly enough showing. These tales remind me of the ones we used to tell around the campfires or on sleepovers as kids, with not enough detail to be truly frightening or freaky.
While entertaining enough, the stories included in Blood Tingling Tales we’re not very scary. I give them three quills.
Submissions are open for the 2023 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest, but the deadline of April 30th is fast approaching. This year I’m looking for the scariest story. So, send me your monsters, your zombies, your ghosts and your ghouls. Make me sweat. Keep me awake at night. Make me tremble in fear. And most importantly, make me think about your story long after I’ve put it down. The winner gets a $25 Amazon gift card and a guaranteed spot in WordCrafter’s annual anthology. You can find thefull submission guidelines here.
April Release: Poetry Treasures 3: Passions
Each year WordCrafter Press puts out a poetry anthology, featuring the works of the previous year’s “Treasuring Poetry” blog series with Robbie Cheadle, which features poet/author guests from all around the globe. We release the anthology in the Poetry Treasures series in April each year, as a nod to National Poetry Month here in the U.S. This year’s anthology features the poetry of Robbie Cheadle, Smitha Vishwanath, Abbie Taylor, Chris Hall, Yvette M. Calleiro, Willow Willars, Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, Patty Fletcher, Yvette Prior, Judy Mastrangelo, Penny Wilson, Colleen M. Chesebro and D. Wallace Peach. If you follow the blog series, I know you’ll agree that this line-up of poets comprises an all star cast of contributors.
Poetry Treasures 3: Passions will be released in April, in celebration of National Poetry Month, here in the U.S. Watch for updates on the release here,on Writing to be Read.
Delilah Tour Giveaway Winners
We had a great tour to celebrate the release of Delilah with most of your favorite distributors last week. You all gave it a great send off. I want to give a big round of applause for the hosts on this one; Robbie Cheadle, Miriam Hurdle and our brand new host, Kay Castenada, who did a fabulous debut tour stop. Also thanks so much to all those who participated and followed the tour. And now, the part of the tour where I get to give back a little. For this tour, we are giving away two digital copies and one signed print copy of Delilah.
So, without further ado…
The winners of the WordCrafter Delilah Book Blog Tour Giveaway are
The two digital copies go to Mae Clair and Jennie.
Jacqui Murray will recieve a signed print copy of Delilah.
All winners need to contact me at kayebooth@yahoo.com to claim their prize.
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.
Delilah releases through book dostributors on March 21, but there’s still time to pre-order your copy of Delilah here:
The later half of March will be busy, with the release of Delilah and a five day WordCrafter Book Blog Tour to get the word out, March 20 – 24.
The tour will include a fun interview where author Sara Wesley McBride chats with my character, Delilah, excerpts from the book, and posts about the historic female figures who will appear in each book in the Women in the West adventure series, and character profiles for the two characters which top-level Kickstarter backers Tim Ward and Carol Fowler have earned the privilage of naming in book 2 of the series, Sarah.
Kickstarter Progress Update
Until then, I will be busy signing and shipping the print copies of Delilah to mid- and top-level Kickstarter backers. I should be ready to continue working on Sarah in May, and I hope to have it ready to publish by the beginning of 2024. I also plan to work with a professional cover designer to smooth and improve my book covers. I want to thank everyone who supported me in this project, not only financially, but through sharing and networking it as well. All support was greatly appreciated. I couldn’t have done it without you.
Poetry Treasures 3: Passions
I’m also excited as the compilation of Poetry Treasures 3: Passions gets under way. We had some fabulous guests on “Treasuring Poetry” in 2022 and I’m looking forward to including their works in this very special collection. In addition to works by the series host, Robbie Cheadle, works by the following author/poets may be included: Penny Wilson, Judy Mastrangelo, Yvette Prior, Patty Fletcher, Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, Willow, Yvette M. Calliero, Chris Hall, Abbie Taylor, and Smitha Vishwanath. I can’t wait to dig in to the poetry submitted for inclusion by these wonderful poets. Robbie and I are not very far into the process. In fact, I think we might still be waiting for all the submissions to get in. We had two previous anthologies, which both turned out quite well, and I’ve no doubt that this one will rival those.
You can still get a copy of these two wonderful anthologies from your favorite book distributors.
Submissions have begun to come in for the 2023 Short Fiction Contest, as well as stories submitted by invitation for the anthology. It’s much too soon to talk about the contest entries, but I can tell you that we have invitational submissions from Chris Barili, Joseph Carrabis, Michaele Jordan, D.L. Mullan and Stevie Turner, with promises from many others. It’s still very early in the process.
You can find submission guidelines and enter the 2023 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contesthere.
You can get copies of last year’s WordCrafter Press anthologies: Once Upon an Ever After: Modern Myths & Fairy Tales; Refracted Reflections: Twisted Tales of Duality & Deception; and Visions. Available through your favorite book distributors.
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. 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.