Wrapping Up the WordCrafter “Legends” Book Blog Tour

Welcome to the final day of the WordCrafter Legends Book Blog Tour. Today I’m pleased to bring you a guest post from contributing author, Sara W. McBride, who wrote the wonderful story, “My Pumpkin Ate My Wife”, and an excerpt reading from my story, “The Last Stage Coach”.

It’s been a great tour, but it’s also the last day to get in on two different giveaways we have going. There’s still time to get your Mustang photos in for Chris Barili’s “Trooper 666” giveaway for a free print copy of Legends: Monsters that go Bump in the Night. Send your photos to Chris at stealthcb@gmail.com and to me at KLBWordCrafter@gmail.com. You can find the full guideslines for this giveaway at one of the Day 1 Tour Stops, by clicking on the link in the tour schedule at the end of today’s stop. I’ll be announcing the winners in a special winners post on Sunday, so get those photos in now.

Also, this is the last chance to collect your puzzle pieces for the digital giveaway, by placing the legend for each story in the comments. (We made it really easy for you. Each story post tells you what legend it is from.) Today’s puzzle pieces are 9 and 10, but you can collect any you’ve missed by going back to the individual stops through the links on the tour schedule, too. The winner for this giveaway will also be announced in that Sunday post, so get your answers in while you still can.

The Giveaway

We made a puzzle out of the Legends cover.

Follow the tour to find the clues hidden in the guest posts, readings and promos.

Name the Legend each story is based upon as you go through the tour.

Place your answers in the comments.

For each correct answer, you earn one of ten puzzle pieces.

At the end of the tour, the three people who have collected the most puzzle pieces

will win a free digital copy of

Legends: Monsters that go Bump in the Night

The Authors of Legends

What Makes a Legend?, by Sara W. McBride

What do scientists, authors, and monsters have in common? They all desire to be legends. I could claim there is a shared egotistical drive to be immortal, and let’s face it, that might be true of many people regardless of occupation, but instead I’ll claim the shared love of the unexpected discovery.

Why are Newton, Einstein, Galileo, Copernicus, and poor Mike Brown, all legends? They discovered something unexpected: gravity, relativity, other planets, and that Earth wasn’t the center of the Universe. Mike Brown? What about him? He’d dreamed of discovering a planet his entire life, then he thought he had. He thought he found something in our solar system that was bigger than Pluto. But he didn’t. So why is he a legend? He spurred on the debate that redefined the parameters of a planet and got Pluto demoted to a dwarf planet. So yes, Mike Brown is now legendary as the man who killed Pluto. Poor guy still receives hate mail from ten year olds who learned the solar system from Grandpa’s planetary model in the attic.**

Becoming a Legend is not usually something one can strive for. It just happens. In this anthology, none of the authors are legends. But many of us are scientists, of some sort, and we often use writing as an excuse to do research. So we researched legends!

The Jack-O’Lanterns, Wendigo, Succubus, and Pheonix were all researched. And others were legends from our youth, like the grim reaper or the famous babysitter nightmare; a creepy phone call from a person watching you, which turns out to be from inside the house. Cue the delighted screams from around the campfire. There are more specific area legends, like the girl ghost of Cleveland, Gilgul, and Trooper 666.

But personally, if I, me, myself, was going to become a legend, I’d like an international following. Or at least a few countries, like the Jack O’Lantern. I mean, who wants to be the slimy legend of Des Moines? I say, Go Big! There’s an Angel of Death in every culture and country.

Because unlike Pluto, a legend never dies.

**I worked at Caltech for a decade and spoke with Mike Brown a few times. He’s an inspiring, generous astronomy professor. He didn’t mean to kill Pluto. Please send him some fan mail.

“My Pumpkin Ate My Wife” is based on the traditional Jack O’Lantern legend. 

Tell us in the comments which legend this story is associated with to claim puzzle piece 9.

About Sara W. McBride

Sara Wesley McBride enjoyed a nerdy childhood sneaking onto hotel rooftops to write plays and stories. As a grown-up child, many of her adult party conversations end with a comical defense of why her first degree in theater from UCLA, and her second degree in molecular and cellular biology from SDSU, are completely related. Between her degrees, she spent two years pranking the mafia in New York City architecture; also completely related. 

All parts of her life have led her down a streamlined path toward noveling because nothing else maintains her sanity. Daily, like many modern-day biological researchers, she invents new swear words to sling at million-dollar machines while locked in a dark hole of a decaying academic hall. This has caused her to witness ghosts and create a romantic fantasy life within her head, which she now puts down on very non-technological paper with her favorite Jane Austen style quill pen. 

Her first novel in the Alexis Lynn series, Will Write for Wine, and the companion short story collection, Stories I Stole from Lord Byron’s Bastard, both set in Venice, Italy, were recently released by Puck Publishing. She’s hard at work on the second Alexis Lynn novel, a Regency mystery series, and a haunted play. She strongly feels the world needs more haunted plays.   

When not researching biological stuff, reading history, or writing in random, elegant hotel lobbies—much warmer than rooftops—Sara is hiking the San Diego shorelines, parks, and trails with her husband and their tiny, bouncy dog named Wombat. 

About Legends: Monsters that go Bump in the Night

Legends take many forms, but most carry a warning within. For instance, stories of monsters such as the Chupacabra, Snallygasters, and Windigos were told to warn children to behave themselves. The tale of the ghost girl who haunts buildings in Cleveland, is a warning to daredevils, who would chance their lives and safety in old derelict buildings. And Trooper 666 is a deterrent against drunk and dangerous driving. The angel of death and gilgul offers lessons to be learned about our spiritual lives. And any one of the monsters found between these pages could decide to follow you home.

These diverse shiver-inducing tales introduce readers to ghosts and monstrous creatures, which each hold a certain sense of justice. Introduced by multi-genre author Kaye Lynne Booth, these stories are a celebration of legends of old, and some new ones, too, but there are no happy endings.

Featuring stories by Kaye Lynne Booth, Abe Margel, Chris Barili, Sara W. McBride, C.R. Johansson, Rebecca M. Senese, Danaeka Scrimshaw, Robb T. White, DL Mullan and Joseph Carrabis.

Purchase Link: https://books2read.com/LegendsMonsters

“The Last Stagecoach”, by Kaye Lynne Booth

“The Last Stagecoach” is based on the legend of the Chupacabra.

Tell us in the comments which legend this story is associated with to claim puzzle piece 10.

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.

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.

Wrap Up

That’s it for today’s tour stop. We hope you enjoyed DL Mullan’s guest post and her reading, and Rebecca M. Senese’s Promo. Don’t forget to pick out the legend each was based on and put your answers in the comments. Each correct answer earns a piece to the puzzle, and the more pieces you have, the better your chances of winning a free copy of Legends.

Also, don’t forget to get those Mustang pictures in to try and match the car in Chris Barili’s “The Legend of Trooper 666” story for a chance to win a signed print copy of the book. (Available to U.S. residents only due to the expense of International shipping.)

Winners will be announced in a special post on Sunday, on Writing to be Read.

Tour Schedule

Mon. 8/17 – Chris Barili – reading/contest & C.R. Johansson Promo & Trailer – Michelle Ayon Navajas –

Poetry by Mich: https://michnavs.wordpress.com/2026/08/17/day-1-legends-tour/

Hotel by Masticadores: https://hotelmasticadoreshouse.wordpress.com/2026/08/17/day-1-legends-tour/

Masticadores Phillipines: https://masticadoresphilippines.wordpress.com/2026/08/17/day-1-legends-tour/

Tues. 8/18 – DL Mullan – guest post & Rebecca M. Senese Promo – Kaye Lynne Booth –Writing to be Read: https://writingtoberead.com/?p=72488

Wed. 8/19 – Danaeka Scrimshaw – guest post & Joseph Carrabis – Video post & reading – Carla Johnson-Hicks – Carla Loves to Read: https://wp.me/p6H3KI-kJa

Thurs. 8/20 – Robb T. White – guest post – Abe Margel Promo – DL Mullan – Undawnted: http://www.undawnted.com/2026/08/undawnted-presents-legends-day-4.html

Fri. 8/21 – Sara W. McBride– guest post about authors & Kaye Lynne Booth – audio reading – Kaye Lynne Booth – Writing to be Read: https://writingtoberead.com/?p=72831

Sun. 8/23 – Contest Winners post – Writing to be Read

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