WordCrafter News: Giveaway Winners, A Halloween Book Event, NaNoWriMo and a New Blog Series
Posted: October 30, 2023 Filed under: Anthology, Blog Tour, Book Event, Books, Dark Fantasy, Dark Humor, Fiction, Ghost Stories, Giveaways, Horror, NaNoWriMo, Paranormal, Science Fiction, Short Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Stories, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours, WordCrafter News, WordCrafter Press | Tags: Black Cauldron Book Event, Giveaway Winners, Midnight Roost, NaNoWriMo, Sarah, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours, WordCrafter News, WordCrafter Press 8 Comments
Wrapping up the WordCrafter Midnight Roost Book Blog Tour
We had a great tour for Midnight Roost and many of you visited one or more tour stops and commented, for a chance to win a free digital copy of Midnight Roost. We were giving away three copies for this tour, and all that’s left to do now is to give you the winners. So, without further ado…
(Drumroll please.)
And the winners are…
- BeetleyPete
- Vera Day
- Lauren Scott
If your name appears on the above list, please contact me at KLBWordCrafter@gmail.com to claim your free digital copy of Midnight Roost: Weird and Creepy Stories.
In Case You Missed the Tour
Midnight Roost is a truly creepy anthology from 20 talented authors that you won’t want to miss. But, if you missed the tour, you can still get a copy here: https://books2read.com/u/318L0l
About Midnight Roost
20 authors bring your nightmares to life in 23 stories of ghosts, paranormal phenomenon, and the horror from the dark crevasses of their minds. Stories of stalkers, both human and supernatural, possession and occult rituals, alien visitations of the strange kind, and ghostly tales that will give you goosebumps. These are the tales that will make you fear the dark. Read them at the Midnight Roost… if you dare.
Halloween Book Event
Tomorrow is Halloween. My favorite holiday. To celebrate, WordCrafter is cohosting the author takeover during Sonoran Dawn’s Black Cauldron All Hallow’s Eve Book Event all Halloween day. Join us for promos, games, and giveaways, Halloween music and a whole lot more. Sign up and join in at the link below.
https://www.facebook.com/events/876710947358939/
Author takeover spots are available. If interested in promoting your books, artwork, or other creative projects, contact me at KLBWordCrafter@gmail.com and put Author Takeover in the subject line.
November NaNoWriMo
I’m so excited about participating in National Novel Writing Month this year because I’m itching to delve into Sarah. I’m still not prolific enough to think I’ll write the whole novel in a month, but I know from last year, with The Rock Star & The Outlaw, that participating in NaNoWriMo can offer one heck of a start.
For those who don’t know, Sarah is book 2 in the Women in the West Adventure series. Last January I ran a Kickstarter campaign for book 1, Delilah. I plan to run another Kickstarter campaign for Sarah this coming January, so it is time to write the book. In preparation, I’ve done my research and have a working outline ready. I’ve already had a lot of fun fleshing out the two supporting characters that backers got to name from Delilah’s campaign, Lillian Alura Bennett, and Owoz Crebo. One historical female character which will make an appearance in Sarah, which is a trademark of the series, is Kate Elder, a.k.a. Big Nose Kate, Doc Holiday’s infamous companion. So, I have everything I need at the starting gate, and I’m just waiting for the starting gate to open on November 1st.
New Blog Series Starting in November
I’m so pleased to be able to make this particular announcement. The first Wednesday in November, Jeff Bowles will be returning to the blog with a new blog series about pop culture, “Pop with Jeff Bowles”. He’ll be talking about the many areas of pop culture: comics and comic hero movies, video games, television, music, and more. Drop by Writing to be Read the first Wednesday of each month and check it out.
Note: Also in November and December, you may notice some extra reviews coming out on Saturdays as I try and get in all of my 2023 reads, so I can start fresh in 2024. For requested reviews, I like to post in a timely manner, and I don’t want to wait into the new year to post, as I’ve probably already passed their release date due to my back log. So, if you have requested a review and sent me an ARC copy this year, be watching, because they all should be coming up.
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Final Stop on the Wordcrafter “Midnight Roost” Book Blog Tour
Posted: October 23, 2023 Filed under: Anthology, Audio Excerpt, Blog Tour, Book Promotion, Book Release, Books, Dark Fantasy, Dark Humor, Fiction, Ghost Stories, Giveaways, Horror, Paranormal, Science Fiction, Short Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Stories, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours, WordCrafter Press | Tags: Anthology, C.R. Johansson, Dark fiction, Denise Aparo, Kaye Lynne Booth, Midnight Roost, Rebecca M. Senese, Robert Kostanczuk, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours, WordCrafter Press, Zack Ellafy 9 Comments
It’s the final stop on the WordCrafter Midnight Roost Book Blog Tour and today we’re going to wrap things up with a reading by contributing author Denise Aparo from her haunting story, “The Pines”,and some excerpts from stories from authors who weren’t able to participate in the tour. So, kick back and enjoy the reading and peruse the excerpts, meet the authors and join in the discussion by leaving a comment and earn a chance at a free digital copy of Midnight Roost.
Meet Author Denise Aparo
Denise Aparo is a new WordCrafter Press author, so I’m just getting to know a little ab out her, too. Her story, “The Pines” wasn’t the winning story in the short fiction contest, but I still felt that its dark parnormal feel would fit into the anthology. Now that the book is compiled and I can see the finished product, I think I made the right decision. It is a perfect addition to the Midnight Roost collection. Listen to the reading below and see if you don’t agree.
Reading from “The Pines”
About Denise Aparo
Denise Aparo is a New England native, born and raised in the clockmaking city of Bristol, Connecticut. She lives with her husband, Joe, and they have five grandchildren. She is also a freelance writer who spends her time working on her novel and writing short stories. She also spends her time gardening, crafting, and crocheting.
Denise likes to write Paranormal Fiction, genre of Historical Fantasy. She recently completed her first novel, Crossbows. She has a Masters of Arts in English and a Fine Arts/Creative Writing with concentration in Fiction from Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) and a member of Sigma Tau Delta, International English Honor Society, and The National Society of Leadership and Success, Sigma Alpha Pi, with SNHU.
She is a member of the Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association (CAPA) and the author of a new WordPress writing blog, The Write Voice, The Write Voice | The write voice at the write time, a blog that boasts, “Like multiple genres, there are many cultures – each with an individual voice.” Denise is a new addition to the WordCrafter Press authors.
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Excerpt from “Melina” by Kaye Lynne Booth
Excerpt from “She Shed Galleria” by C.R. Johansson
Excerpt from “House on the Plains” by Zack Ellafy
Excerpt from “Take Two” by Rebecca M. Senese
Excerpt from “A Visitor Comes to the Window” by Robert Kostanczuk
That wraps up today’s stop, and the whole tour. I hope you enjoyed meeting Denise and the excerpts from the other stories. Be sure to visit any stops you missed through the links in the schedule below for more chances to win a free digital copy of Midnight Roost. I will announce the winners in next Monday’s “WordCrafter News” post, here on “Writing to be Read”
Giveaway
A chance to win a free digital copy of Midnight Roost at every stop. Just leave a comment to show your support for the tour, the anthology, and all of the fantastic authors.
Tour Schedule
Monday – October 16 – Opening Day –Isabele Grey (Interview & Reading) & Joseph Carrabis (Reading) – Writing to be Read
Tuesday – October 17 – M J Mallon (Reading) & Christa Planko (Interview & Guest Post)– Undawnted
Wednesday – October 18 – Chris Barili (Guest Post) & Paul Kane (Guest Post) – Patty’s Worlds
Thursday – October 19 – Julie Jones (Reading) & Keith Hoskins (Guest Post) – Robbie’s Inspiration
Friday – October 20 – Michaele Jordan (Reading) & Mario Acevedo (Guest Post) – Writing to be Read
Saturday – October 21 – Patty Fletcher (Guest Post) & DL Mullen (Guest Post & Video) – Roberta Writes
Sunday – October 22 – Sonia Pipkin (Guest Post) & Roberta Eaton Cheadle (Reading) – Kyrosmagica Publishing
Monday – October 23 – Closing Post –Denise Aparo (Reading) & excerpts from other stories – Writing to be Read
About Midnight Roost: Weird and Creepy Stories
20 authors bring your nightmares to life in 23 stories of ghosts, paranormal phenomenon, and the horror from the dark crevasses of their minds. Stories of stalkers, both human and supernatural, possession and occult rituals, alien visitations of the strange kind, and ghostly tales that will give you goosebumps. These are the tales that will make you fear the dark. Read them at the Midnight Roost… if you dare.
Purchase Link: https://books2read.com/u/318L0l
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Book your WordCrafter Book Blog Tour today!
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Day 7 of the WordCrafter “Midnight Roost” Book Blog Tour
Posted: October 22, 2023 Filed under: Anthology, Audio Excerpt, Blog Tour, Book Promotion, Book Release, Books, Dark Fantasy, Dark Humor, Fairy Tales, Fiction, Ghost Stories, Giveaways, Guest Post, Horror, Paranormal, Science Fiction, Short Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Stories, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours, WordCrafter Press | Tags: Anthology, Dark fiction, Fairy Tales, Midnight Roost, Myths and Legends, Roberta Eaton Cheadle, Sonia Pipkin, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours, WordCrafter Press 1 CommentDay 7 of the WordCrafter Midnight Roost Book Blog Tour brings us to Marje Mallon’s Kyrosmagica blog with a guest post from Sonia Pipkin about her dark fairy tale, “Once Upon a Time”, and a reading from Roberta Eaton Cheadle from her story, “The Behemoth”. Click on the link to join us and comment to enter the giveaway for a free digital copy of Midnight Roost: Weird and Creepy Stories.
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Day 6 of the WordCrafter “Midnight Roost” Book Blog Tour
Posted: October 21, 2023 Filed under: Anthology, Blog Tour, Book Release, Books, Dark Fantasy, Dark Humor, Fiction, Ghost Stories, Giveaways, Guest Post, Horror, Science Fiction, Short Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Stories, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours, WordCrafter Press | Tags: Anthology, Dark fiction, DL Mullan, Midnight Roost, Patty Fletcher, Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours 2 CommentsFor Day 6 of the WordCrafter Midnight Roost Book Blog Tour, we’re over at Roberta Writes with contributing authors Patty Fletcher and DL Mullan. They each share a guest post about their stories, “Casualties of War” and “Mangled” respectively, and I think they may have a couple surprises for you. Join us for the fun, and don’t forget to leave a comment for a chance to win a free digital copy of Midnight Roost.
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Day 5 of the WordCrafter “Midnight Roost” Book Blog Tour
Posted: October 20, 2023 Filed under: Anthology, Audio Excerpt, Blog Tour, Book Promotion, Book Release, Books, Fiction, Giveaways, Guest Post, Horror, Science Fiction, Short Fiction, Stories, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours | Tags: Anthology, Dark fiction, Ghost Stories, Mario Acevedo, Michaele Jordan, Midnight Roost, Paranormal, Science Fiction, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours, WordCrafter Press 3 CommentsWelcome to Day 5 of the WordCrafter Midnight Roost Book Blog Tour. It’s been a great tour so far. We’ve met contributing authors Isabel Grey, M J Mallon, Christa Planko, Chris Barili, Paul Kane, Julie Jones, and Keith Hoskins. Each has shared their inspirations for their stories, or readings from them, or both. Check the schedule below to see who’s still coming up, or to go back and visit any stops you’ve missed for more chances to win one of three free digital copies of Midnight Roost.
Today we’ll be meeting contributing authors, Michaele Jordan and Mario Acevedo. Michaele shares a reading from her story, “Afterwards” and Mario talks about the inspiration behind his story, “Immediate Intervention”.
Tour Schedule
Monday – October 16 – Opening Day –Isabele Grey (Interview & Reading) & Joseph Carrabis (Reading) – Writing to be Read
Tuesday – October 17 – M J Mallon (Reading) & Christa Planko (Interview & Guest Post)– Undawnted
Wednesday – October 18 – Chris Barili (Guest Post) & Paul Kane (Guest Post) – Patty’s Worlds
Thursday – October 19 – Julie Jones (Reading) & Keith Hoskins (Guest Post) – Robbie’s Inspiration
Friday – October 20 – Michaele Jordan (Reading) & Mario Acevedo (Guest Post) – Writing to be Read
Saturday – October 21 – Patty Fletcher (Guest Post) & DL Mullen (Guest Post & Video) – Roberta Writes
Sunday – October 22 – Sonia Pipkin (Guest Post) & Roberta Eaton Cheadle (Reading) – Kyrosmagica Publishing
Monday – October 23 – Closing Post –Denise Aparo (Reading) & excerpts from other stories – Writing to be Read
Giveaway
A chance to win a free digital copy of Midnight Roost at every stop. Just leave a comment to show your support for the tour, the anthology, and all of the fantastic authors.
Meet Author Michaele Jordan
Michaele Jordan’s contribution came by invitation, and I was pleased to include her story, “Afterward” in Midnight Roost: Weird and Creepy Stories. Last year, I worked with Michaele with the Visions anthology and I’m tickled to be working with her again. Her story is a paranormal tale which speaks on the human psyche. I’ll let you judge for yourself with the reading below, but I hope you’ll enjoy her story just as much as I did.
Reading from “Afterwards”
About Michaele Jordan
Michaele Jordan was born in LA, educated in New York, and lives in Cincinnati. She’s worked at a kennel, a Hebrew School and AT&T. Now she writes, supervised by a long-suffering husband and two domineering cats.
Her first novel, Blade Light, was serialized in Jim Baen’s Universe, followed by her occult thriller, Mirror Maze.
Her work has appeared in the “Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction,” “Abyss & Apex,” and “Buzzy Mag”. Horror fans will enjoy her ‘Blossom’ series, from The Crimson Pact series.
Her website, www.michaelejordan.com, is undergoing reconstruction, but just grab a hard hat, and come on in.
Michaele’s story, “Farewell, My Miko” is featured in the 2022 Visions anthology from WordCrafter Press.
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Meet Author Mario Acevedo
I first came across Mario Acevedo back when I was the Southern Colorado Literature Examiner and I reviewed one of his graphic novels. Since then, he has served as a presenter and panelist at WordCrafter virtual writing events, and participated in the Ask the Authors 2022 writing reference anthology. He writes urban fantasy and speculative fiction, so I invited him to submit to this dark themed anthology, which turned out to be Midnight Roost. His story, “Immediate Intervention” is a futuristic science fiction tale which offers a quirky take on the regulation of population growth.
Excerpt from “Immediate Intervention”
Inspiration for “Immediate Intervention”
NASA recently announced that a capsule from the Osiris-Rex spacecraft had landed in Utah. The capsule contained debris collected from the asteroid Bennu.
For us science-fiction nerds, the scenario is all too reminiscent of the plot from Michael Crichton’s The Andromeda Strain. Our government assures us that precautions against contamination are in place. Which begs the question, precautions against what? If we don’t know what we protecting ourselves against, how would we know our protections are effective?
Certainly, there is much to be gained from an analysis of the asteroid’s material, but is it worth the risk? Why not study that extraterrestrial material in space?
Just because we can, doesn’t mean we should.
It’s a saying that’s become more significant with our ever increasing technical and industrial capabilities. Several examples come to mind: The creation of the atomic bomb. Gain-of-function research. News articles that raise the hairs on the back of your neck, i.e., stories involving reanimating dead flesh. Gee, what could go wrong? It’s as if the scientists involved have ignored the warnings of every zombie movie ever filmed. Then comes a story about the Chinese growing human tissue inside pig uteruses. Hello, Island of Dr. Moreau calling.
When Kaye Booth asked me to contribute a story to this horror anthology, I had the perfect concept to explore “Just because we can, doesn’t mean we should,” as in human inception and gestation in artificial wombs, to incubate what are known as “bag babies.” The so-called benefits of this development include “freeing women from the tyranny of pregnancy,” allowing parents to customize the genes of their baby, and giving the government the opportunity to control demographics to enact state policies. With bag babies, the government can control population growth without the pesky need for humans getting it on. Two examples warning us about the dangers of industrial-scale human incubation came to mind: Brave New World, and The Matrix.
In my story I saw the opportunity to discuss several themes addressing bag babies. The first is that human development is very complicated and nuanced. We know about the importance of an emotional connection between a mother and the infant while in the womb. When the baby is born, its prefrontal cortex is undeveloped and the brain is a blank slate. As the baby matures, what becomes evident is the empathetic connection between the infant and mother, then infant and father, then infant and others. This connection depends on environmental influences upon the baby in the womb, things like the mother’s heartbeat, her warmth, her emotional state, the projection of good vibes from mother to child. Some of this may sound esoteric but we know that babies born in emotionally toxic environments will become emotionally toxic people.
How then to replicate a nurturing environment for the baby in an artificial womb? Certainly, a fetus incubator could replicate heart beats and use soothing stimuli to mimic a human host mother. But would that be enough? Wouldn’t such a loss of the child-mother bond bring the risk of babies not developing a sense of empathy?
What would be the fallout of that?
In my story, this lack of empathy results in an inability to establish meaningful emotional connections, which in turn would lead to isolation, a sense of chronic loneliness, then depression. And from that, a proclivity to suicide.
The other theme would be one of, who am I? What am I? Who are my real parents? The DNA donors? Or the mother—the incubator? Would there be a sense of spiritual estrangement, that rather than feel part of the human continuum stretching back through prehistory, you see yourself as a fleshy widget, a product of commerce, another cog in the government’s machinery?
This leads to the question, who do you belong to? Presently, as a child, you belong to your parents until the age of emancipation. What happens if the state has sole responsibility over you and you’re seen as a replaceable component of the system? If the state had the authority to conceive you, could they not have the sole authority to terminate you?
With this, the elements for a good horror story fell into place. That the mother who bore you is the same monster who will devour you.
Just because we can, doesn’t mean we should.
About Mario Acevedo
Mario Acevedo is the author-artist of Cats In Quarantine: A Cartoon Memoir of the COVID-19 Pandemic. He is an award-winning cartoonist and artist who served as a soldier-artist for the US Army during Operation Desert Storm. Mario is the author of the national bestselling Felix Gomez detective-vampire series, The Nymphos of Rocky Flats and most recently Steampunk Banditos: Sex Slaves of Shark Island; the graphic novel from IDW, Killing the Cobra; and the YA humor thriller, University of Doom. He co-authored the Western novel, Luther, Wyoming. His work has won an International Latino Book Award, a Colorado Book Award, and has appeared in numerous anthologies to include Denver Noir; ¡El Porvenir, Ya!; Shadow Atlas: Dark Landscapes of the America;, A Fistful of Dinosaurs; Straight Outta Deadwood; Psi-Wars; and It Came From The Multiplex. Mario was a faculty member of the Regis University Mile-High MFA program and Lighthouse Writers Workshops.
Mario has also been a presenter and panel member for both the 2020 Stay in Place Virtual Writing Conference, and the 2021 New Beginnings Virtual Writing Conference. He is also a contributor to the Ask the Authors 2022: Writing Reference Anthology from WordCrafter Press.
About Midnight Roost: Weird and Creepy Stories
20 authors bring your nightmares to life in 23 stories of ghosts, paranormal phenomenon, and the horror from the dark crevasses of their minds. Stories of stalkers, both human and supernatural, possession and occult rituals, alien visitations of the strange kind, and ghostly tales that will give you goosebumps. These are the tales that will make you fear the dark. Read them at the Midnight Roost… if you dare.
Purchase Link: https://books2read.com/u/318L0l
That’s it for today’s stop. I hope you enjoyed meeting contributing authors Michaele Jordan and Mario Acevedo and learning about their stories. You can use the links in the schedule above to go back and visit earlier stops on the tour, but the links for future stops won’t be live until their scheduled day. Don’t forget to comment to show your support for all of the talented authors that contributed to Midnight Roost, and get more chances to win the giveaway.
Join us tomorrow, on Roberta Writes, where Robbie Cheadle hosts contributing authors Patty Fletcher and DL Mullan, who share lots of interesting things about their stories, “Casualties of War” and “Mangled”, respectively.
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Book your WordCrafter Book Blog Tour today!
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Day 3 of the WordCrafter “Midnight Roost” Book Blog Tour on Patty’s Worlds
Posted: October 19, 2023 Filed under: Anthology, Blog Tour, Book Promotion, Book Release, Books, Dark Fantasy, Dark Humor, Fiction, Ghost Stories, Giveaways, Guest Post, Horror, Paranormal, Science Fiction, Short Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Stories, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours, WordCrafter Press | Tags: "Shaken", "The White Lady", Anthology, Chris Barili, Dark fiction, Ghost Stories, Midnight Roost, Paranormal, Paul Kane, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours Leave a commentFor Day 3 of the WordCrafter Midnight Roost Book Blog Tour we’re over at Patty’s Worlds where contributing authors Chris Barili and Paul Kane share the inspirations for their stories, “Shaken” and “The White Lady” respectively.
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Day 2 of the WordCrafter “Midnight Roost” Book Blog Tour is over at Undawnted
Posted: October 17, 2023 Filed under: Anthology, Audio Excerpt, Author Interview, Blog Tour, Books, Dark Fantasy, Fiction, Ghost Stories, Giveaways, Guest Post, Horror, Interview, Paranormal, Review, Science Fiction, Short Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Stories, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours, WordCrafter Press | Tags: Author Interview, Christa Planko, Giveaway, M J Mallon, Midnight Roost, Reading, Review, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours, WordCrafter Press 7 CommentsJoin us over at Undawnted for Day 2 of the WordCrafter Midnight Roost Book Blog Tour with a guest post and an interview with contributing author Christa Planko and a reading from MJ Mallon. Drop by and join in on the fun while learning more about Midnight Roost: Weird and Creepy Stories. And if you leave a comment
http://www.undawnted.com/2023/10/wordcrafter-blog-tour-for-midnight.html
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Welcome to the WordCrafter “Midnight Roost” Book Blog Tour
Posted: October 16, 2023 Filed under: Anthology, Audio Excerpt, Author Interview, Blog Tour, Book Promotion, Book Release, Books, Dark Fantasy, Giveaways, Paranormal, Short Fiction, Stories, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours | Tags: Anthology, Dark fiction, Ghost Stories, horror, Isabel Grey, Kaye Lynne Booth, Midnight Roost, Paranormal, Short Fiction, WordCrafter Press 9 CommentsWelcome to the WordCrafter Midnight Roost Book Blog Tour! We’ve got a great tour planned for an outstanding anthology Midnight Roost: Weird and Creepy Stories. Below, you will find the tour schedule and information about how you can get chances to win a free digital copy of Midnight Roost. The great thing about this tour is that you will get to meet, not one, but two contributing authors at each stop and learn about their stories.
Today, I’ll tell you a little about this weird and creepy anthology and then we’ll meet the author of the winning story in the 2023 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest, Isabel Grey, and learn more about her story, “Red Door House”. Get ready to dig into a probing interview with Ms. Grey and she also shares a reading of her story.
About Midnight Roost
20 authors bring your nightmares to life in 23 stories of ghosts, paranormal phenomenon, and the horror from the dark crevasses of their minds. Stories of stalkers, both human and supernatural, possession and occult rituals, alien visitations of the strange kind, and ghostly tales that will give you goosebumps. These are the tales that will make you fear the dark. Read them at the Midnight Roost… if you dare.
Purchase Link: https://books2read.com/u/318L0l
Book Trailer for Midnight Roost
Tour Schedule
Monday – October 16 – Opening Day –Isabele Grey (Interview & Reading) & Joseph Carrabis (Reading) – Writing to be Read
Tuesday – October 17 – M J Mallon (Reading) & Christa Planko (Interview & Guest Post)– Undawnted
Wednesday – October 18 – Chris Barili (Guest Post) & Paul Kane (Guest Post) – Patty’s Worlds
Thursday – October 19 – Julie Jones (Reading) & Keith Hoskins (Guest Post) – Robbie’s Inspiration
Friday – October 20 – Michaele Jordan (Reading) & Mario Acevedo (Guest Post) – Writing to be Read
Saturday – October 21 – Patty Fletcher (Guest Post) & DL Mullen (Guest Post & Video) – Roberta Writes
Sunday – October 22 – Sonia Pipkin (Guest Post) & Roberta Eaton Cheadle (Reading) – Kyrosmagica Publishing
Monday – October 23 – Closing Post –Denise Aparo (Reading) & excerpts from other stories – Writing to be Read
Giveaway
A chance to win a free digital copy of Midnight Roost at every stop.
Just leave a comment to show your support for the tour, the anthology, and all of the fantastic authors.
Meet Author Isabel Grey
I’m delighted to bring you this interview with a budding young author, Isabel Grey. Her occult horror story, “Red Door House” was the winning story in the 2023 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest, and I am so pleased to be able to introduce you to her here. She was previously unknown to me, so I learned some cool things about her, too. And I have to say that I am proud to have not one, but two of her stories featured in Midnight Roost. Her other story is “Rabbits Can’t See Pink Firework”, offering a rabbit’s eye view of human nature during a disastrous gender reveal party.
Kaye: I always like to start by learning something about the author’s writing journey, so can you tell us about yours?
Isabel: I was an avid reader from a young age, mostly choosing fiction but eventually finding a love for poetry. I’m currently receiving my second MFA in Poetry after I completed my first in Genre Fiction at Western Colorado University. I’m an emerging writer who primarily focuses on fiction and verse though I do dabble in essays.
Kaye: What’s something most readers would never guess about you?
Isabel: When I tell people I write horror, they always seem surprised. Someone told me I don’t look like a horror writer, though I’m still not entirely sure what she meant by it.
Kaye: What prompted you to enter the 2023 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest?
Isabel: WCU had an advertisement in their newsletter for the contest. I happened to be in my Short Forms course at the same time and had a few pieces I was happy with. I figured, why not?
Kaye: You entered two stories to WordCrafter Press: “Rabbits Can’t See Pink Firework” and “Red Door House”. Only one can win, and I’ll ask you about the one that won, “Red Door House” a little further into the interview. But for now, can you share a little about the story that didn’t win, “Rabbits Can’t See Pink Fireworks”? What inspired you to write that story?
Isabel: I explore gender identity in my writing, “Rabbits” being a prime example. There was a horrible wildfire in California as a result of festivities at a gender reveal party not long before I wrote this, so the story is something of a response to that tragedy. I chose to write from a rabbit’s perspective to speculate the concept of a gender reveal party and gender roles in general.
Kaye: Were you surprised to learn that “Red Door House” won the contest?
Isabel: Yes! This was the first fiction contest I ever entered so it was a delightful surprise to hear the news.
Kaye: Can you share a little bit with our readers about the winning story?
Isabel: “Red Door House” is a supernatural horror about a brother and sister in a small town where a cult is carrying out insidious acts for a sentient house. There is mystery, dark magic, and dreamlike sequences that make the reader question what is going on under the surface of Staiwhile town’s suburban veneer until the final and unnatural third act.
Kaye: What inspired you to write “Red Door House?”
Isabel: “Red Door House” was very loosely inspired by a several-decades-old cold case I fell upon randomly during my studies. Of course, I took many liberties and added fantastical elements to make “Red Door House” its own story.
Kaye: Which author, dead or alive, would you love to have lunch with?
Isabel: There are so many, but for the purpose of this interview, I will say Shirley Jackson. She is my main inspiration for horror, especially when making the mundane macabre. A trope I’m obsessed with is that of the haunted house. Using the house as a symbol of the psyche is something I return to again and again, both in my writing and reading. I would love to talk houses and witchcraft with Jackson, perhaps at a meal to match her famous dinner parties.
Kaye: What is the biggest challenge of being a writer for you so far?
Isabel: Making time for writing. I’m a full-time student with a part-time job, and if it weren’t for the fact that much of my school assignments had to do with my writing, I would have a far more difficult attempt at time management. It’s been reassuring knowing I can juggle so many things, which is always the case in life as a writer, but budgeting the hours I can snatch for my writing is something I’m still working on.
Kaye: Do you also write longer, book length fiction? Which do you find easier? Why?
Isabel: Right now, I’m querying my first novel, a Gothic historical set in 1927 California. I find novel writing easier than writing short stories because there is far more space for suspense and build-up in a longer-length book. With a short story, there is much precision that doesn’t come as naturally to me. Part of the trouble is that I tend to read more novels than short stories, something I’m making a conscious effort to change.
Kaye: What is your favorite genre to write in? Why?
Isabel: Horror, usually in historical settings. In the new movie, A Haunting in Venice, Tina Fey’s character, Ariadne Oliver says “Scary stories make the world less scary.” The world at large has always scared me and a way that I cope with that is by trying to scare it back with my writing.
Kaye: What is the one thing in your writing career that is the most unusual or unique thing you’ve done so far?
Isabel: I bought a roll of several thousand Zoltar cards that served as “research” for a short story. I don’t regret it only because I used them to decoupage a piece of furniture later on.
Kaye: What goals do you set for yourself in your writing?
Isabel: Find representation for my novel and continue working on my second which I started earlier this year. I returned to poetry writing after taking a break while studying fiction. Recently, I’ve published a few poems in smaller presses and would like to continue to have material for a poetry collection.
Kaye: I always like to make interview posts informative. What is the best piece of writing advice you ever received?
Isabel: The fabulous writer, who was also one of my professors in grad school, Fran Wilde, told me “First drafts are allowed to suck.” While studying fiction, I realized my process for writing worked best by “running through the graveyard at night”, in other words, getting down the story as quickly as possible without tripping up on my technical imagination early in the process. The first draft of anything is scary, and it’s important to allow your creative imagination to flow when you start something new.
Also, never stop reading.
Reading from “Red Door House” by Isabel Grey
About Isabel Grey
Isabel Grey is a Colorado resident. She is currently receiving her MFA at Western Colorado University in Genre Fiction and Poetry. Her work has been published in Ample Remains, The Gay & Lesbian Review, and The Chamber Magazine. Grey writes fiction, poetry, and essays. You can find her on Instagram- @greyauthor222.
Isabel is a new addition to the WordCrafter Press authors. Her story, “Red Door House” was the winning story in the 2023 WordCrafter Short Fiction contest.
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Meet Author Joseph Carrabis
Joseph is a contributor by invitation, which is to say, he was not a contestant in the short fiction contest, but received an invitation to submit from me. He submitted three stories, and I accepted all three because they were outstanding, and I am pleased to have his writing featured in this year’s anthology. So Joseph has contributed three stories featured in Midnight Roost: Weird and Creepy Stories, and they are weird and creepy indeed. “Blood Magic”, a dark fairytale in which a young girl’s foolishness brings down a witch’s curse upon her betrothed and the price to make things right is high. “Binky”, a social commentary on birth defects and lingering spirits. And “The Beach”, which will speak for itself in the reading below.
Inspiration for “The Beach”
The Beach is based on actual beach I discovered my first time through college. Pretty much everything in the story is based on what really happened…except killing. The killing is specific to the story. Aside from that, riding my bike, discovering the cove, seeing the mansions, even returning after successes in business (although just to see if the beach still existed, not to develop the property) are all based on actual events from my life.
Reading from “The Beach “
About Joseph Carrabis
Joseph Carrabis told stories to anyone who would listen starting in childhood, wrote his first stories in grade school, and started getting paid for his writing in 1978. He’s been everything from a long-haul trucker to a Chief Research Scientist and holds patents covering mathematics, anthropology, neuroscience, and linguistics. After patenting a technology which he created in his basement and creating an international company, he retired from corporate life and now he spends his time writing fiction based on his experiences. His work appears regularly in several anthologies and his own published novels.
Joseph’s story, “Maryanne”, is featured in the 2022 Visions anthology from WordCrafter Press.
You can learn more about him at https://josephcarrabis.com.
That wraps up the first stop on the WordCrafter Midnight Roost Book Blog Tour. I hope you enjoyed learning about Isabel Grey and her winning story. I hope you’ll join us tomorrow on Undawnted, where DL Mullan interviews contributing author, Christa Planko and we’ll learn about the inspiration for her story, “The Easterville Glass Ghost”. And we’ll meet author M J Mallon with a reading from her story, “The Cull”.
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Final Stop on the WordCrafter “The Rock Star & The Outlaw” Book Blog Tour
Posted: September 22, 2023 Filed under: Action/Adventure, Adventure, Blog Tour, Book Release, Books, Fiction, Giveaways, Time travel, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours, WordCrafter Press | Tags: Blog Tour, BookTour, Kaye Lynne Booth, The Rock Star & the Outlaw, Time-travel adventure, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours, WordCrafter Press 2 Comments
It’s the final day of the WordCrafter The Rock Star & The Outlaw Book Blog Tour, and we’re finishing off with an introduction to the villan in my story, Juan Montoya. Over the coarse of the week, we met the two protagonists, Amaryllis Sanchez and LeRoy McAllister, and three of the supporting characters, the time-traveler from 2025, Nick; the shaman woman from 2025, Monique; and the saloon keeper from 1887, Maggie. Don’t worry if you missed a stop or two along the way. I’m posting the Tour Schedule with links for each stop at the end of the post. And don’t forget to leave a comment to enter the Giveaway at each one.
The Giveaway
Leave a comment below to enter the giveaway
for a chance at one of five digital copies of
The Rock Star & The Outlaw.
Writing the Villian
Writing the villian is difficult for me, because I strive so hard to create characters that are likeable, that creating a character I want people to hate seems to go against my natural grain. I think it’s hard for me to write from my shadow side and unveil the things that are hidden away there, because I was taught that those were things we didn’t talk about. But a villian has to be dark, and mean, and well… bad. Readers aren’t supposed to like the villian. I have trouble writing characters that I don’t like, and even now, I can’t say I truly succeeded with Juan. I still want to like him, just a little.
You really can’t have a character that is all bad. No one is pure evil, any more than anyone is pure goodness.People are naturally double sided, so just as a protagonist must have flaws to make them a well rounded character, every villian must have at least one or two likeable traits to balance things out. In Juan, I think I was successful in this respect. Sure, he’s a pompous ass who expects to get his way in all things, but he is angered by the mistreatment of Amaryllis by his men, so he can’t be all bad. Right?
The character of Juan Montoya
Juan Montoya started out the story as Wade Slade, a proud southern man with a hot southern temper. He sported long, wavey hair, and a handlebar mustache and goatee, which he kept waxed to sharp points. He had the peculiar habit of twisting the tips of the mustache, especially when he was angered. However, when doing my first run of editing, which I do aloud, there was something about the character that just didn’t feel right. I thought perhaps rhyming the first and last names might be the problem, so I changed his first name to Buck. It was easy to do un MS Word, with the find and replace feature. But, as I continued to read through it Buck Slade was missing the mark, as well. Buck didn’t sound like a southern name, for one thing. And the character didn’t seem very threatening for another. Something had to be done.
The story needed a bad dude, a mean bandito to lead a gang of outlaws on robbing and pillaging. A bandit up from the border in Nevada country in 1887 seemed like a good possibility. It needed to be someone you didn’t want to cross, and so Buck Slade became Juan Montoya. I went back in with ‘Find and Replace’ and replaced all the Bucks and all the Slades to Juans and Montoyas. You can imagine my surprise, when doing the next pass of edits, as I tried to figure out what a Juanle and a Juanet were. When I hit ‘Replace All’, I didn’t think about the possibility of having used words that had Buck in them like bucket and buckle. Gotta watch that.
Of course, changing a character is more than just changing a name. Juan lost the southern charm of Wade and Buck, and his features are much darker. He kept the hair, the mustache, and the goatee, as well as the annoying habit of twisting the mustache. In fact, I made the hair his best feature, although it gives him an effiminate look, but he’s so bad no one would dare to say that to his face. I changed some scenes to illustrate his temper better, and sacrificed a minor character to do so. The result is the Juan Montoya who appears in the final story.
About the Book
A time-traveler oversteps his boundaries in 1887. Things get out of hand quickly, and he is hanged, setting in motion a series of events from which there’s no turning back.
LeRoy McAllister is a reluctant outlaw running from a posse with nowhere to go except to the future.
In 2025, Amaryllis Sanchez is a thrill-seeking rock star on the fast track, who killed her dealing boyfriend to save herself. Now, she’s running from the law and his drug stealing flunkies, and nowhere is safe.
LeRoy falls hard for the rock star, thinking he can save her by taking her back with him. But when they arrive in 1887, things turn crazy fast, and soon they’re running from both the outlaws and the posse, in peril once more.
They can’t go back to the future, so it looks like they’re stuck in the past. But either when, they must face forces that would either lock them up or see them dead.
About the Author
For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; and book 1 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.
That wraps up the WordCrafter The Rock Star & The Outlaw Book Blog TourThanks to all of you for joining me. I hope you enjoyed my posts, and maybe even learned something from them. I am pleased to have all of you here to help launch this book right. This story came from my heart and I a truly excited about it. Be sure and leave a comment at each stop for additional entries in the giveaway. Links are below if you miss one.
Tour Schedule
The Rock Star & The Outlaw, by Kaye Lynne Booth – September 18 – 22
Monday – Sept. 18 – Opening Day – “Amaryllis & The Pretty Reckless” – Writing to be Read
Tuesday – Sept. 19 –“Writing with music and LeRoy McAllister & Review” – Carla Loves to Read
Wednesday – Sept. 20 – “The characters of Nick and Monique” – Writing to be Read
Thursday – Sept.21 – “Prostitution in the American West and the character of Maggie” – Roberta Writes
Friday – Sept. 22 – Closing Post – “Writing the Villian & Juan Montoya” – Writing to be Read
That wraps up today’s stop and the tour. I want to thank you all for coming along on the ride, and I hope you’ll give the ride with Amaryllis and Leroy a go. It’s been a fun ride, from putting all the pieces together in my mind as the idea began to shape itself into a story in my mind, to writing each individual chapter and partnering it with a song, to running a successful Kickstarter to give the book a boost, to the publishing process and seeing the book listed through distributors, to sharing my characters with all of you on this tour. I know you will have a fun ride if you chose to read it, too.
If you missed a stop, you’ll find the links in the Tour Schedule above. Leave a comment at each stop for additional chances in the giveaway. I won’t get out the random drawing hat until tomorrow night, so there’s still time. I’m giving away five digital copies of The Rock Star & The Outlaw, and I will announce the winners in Monday’s “WordCrafter News”, here on Writing to be Read. Thanks for joining us.
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Day 3 of the WordCrafter “The Rock Star & The Outlaw” Book Blog Tour
Posted: September 20, 2023 Filed under: Action/Adventure, Adventure, Blog Tour, Book Release, Books, Character Development, Fiction, Giveaways, Time travel, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours, WordCrafter Press | Tags: Kaye Lynne Booth, The Rock Star & the Outlaw, Time-travel adventure, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours, WordCrafter Press 5 CommentsTour Schedule
The Rock Star & The Outlaw, by Kaye Lynne Booth – September 18 – 22
Monday – Sept. 18 – Opening Day – “Amaryllis & The Pretty Reckless” – Writing to be Read
Tuesday – Sept. 19 –“Writing with music and LeRoy McAllister & Review” – Carla Loves to Read
Wednesday – Sept. 20 – “The characters of Nick and Monique” – Writing to be Read
Thursday – Sept.21 – “Prostitution in the American West and the character of Maggie” – Roberta Writes
Friday – Sept. 22 – Closing Post – “Writing the Villian & Juan Montoya” – Writing to be Read
Day 3 of The Rock Star & The Outlaw Book Blog Tour
Welcome to Writing to be Read and the WordCrafter The Rock Star & The Outlaw Book Blog Tour. On this stop, I’ll introduce you to two of the supporting characters, the overzealous time-traveler, Nick Umbridge, and Amaryllis’ BFF, Monique. These are two supporting characters, but they play roles which are vital to the story.
Nick & the Time-Travel Device
Nick’s character developed from the main idea for the story – a time-travel device that fits in the palm of the hand, and a custom saddle pommel which it can slip into, to take horse and rider to the period of their choice. That’s how the story began in my head, and I wrote that first chapter, which ended up being the prolog, long before the rest of the story had developed fully. I needed a time-traveling cowboy and Nick was him.
Part of the idea for his character came from the movie Time Cop with Jean-Claude Van Damme. He works for a regulatory agency that develops time-travel gadgetry and Nick’s job is to test the prototypes. Another part of his character came from a character in a different time-travel movie, Time Stalkers, where William Devane plays a college professor who is obsessed with the old west. Nick has a similar obsession which drives him to pick 1887 as his time destination. Unfortunately, the call to blend and take in some of the local atmosphere is too much for him, and he sets a time-loop into motion that sends Leroy on the wildest ride of his life, before he is strung up by a lynch mob.
When LeRoy returns with Amaryllis, a paradox or two are created and Nick makes another appearance, trying to set things right. Although he means well, he wants to take Amaryllis back to her own time, in 2025; a move that would mean facing the forces she’s running from, so Nick becomes an antagonist for our time-traveling duo.
Monique & Werner Syndrome
Monique is Amaryllis’ best friend. She came about in a college assignment back in 2012 to write a shaman scene; a scene where the protagonist consults the wisdom of the medicine man, witch or shaman for guidance. Monique is my shaman, with the ability of looking into the future having been handed down from her grandmother. Although the character of Amaryllis was actually in this scene, too, but I think my focus was on developing the character of Monique.
I wanted her to be an interesting and unique character, so I gave her a bold, self-confident personality, and I gave her Werner Syndrome, a rare birth defect caused by the mutation of the WRN gene, which cause old age to set in prematurely. Those with Werner Syndrome take on the physical characteristics of an old person at an early age, including short stature from childhood, and other attributes such as wrinkled skin, baldness, muscular atrophy and cateracts (https://www.cancer.net/cancer-types/werner-syndrome). So even though Monique is 26, like Amaryllis, and they grew up together, Monique is small, and hunched and shriveled, looking more like a woman of 60, fitting the role of an old croon perfectly.
Monique is a rock in Amaryllis’ life. She’s who our heroine turns to for advice, the woman who thinks of everything, and Amaryllis knows she can count on her. That original scene, where Amaryllis asks her friend to throw the bones and gets a strange reading thaat neither woman understands, has undergone a lot of changes, but it ends up as the third chapter in the book, “Witches Burn”.
About the Book
A time-traveler oversteps his boundaries in 1887. Things get out of hand quickly, and he is hanged, setting in motion a series of events from which there’s no turning back.
LeRoy McAllister is a reluctant outlaw running from a posse with nowhere to go except to the future.
In 2025, Amaryllis Sanchez is a thrill-seeking rock star on the fast track, who killed her dealing boyfriend to save herself. Now, she’s running from the law and his drug stealing flunkies, and nowhere is safe.
LeRoy falls hard for the rock star, thinking he can save her by taking her back with him. But when they arrive in 1887, things turn crazy fast, and soon they’re running from both the outlaws and the posse, in peril once more.
They can’t go back to the future, so it looks like they’re stuck in the past. But either when, they must face forces that would either lock them up or see them dead.
That wraps up Day 3 of the WordCrafter The Rock Star & The Outlaw Book Blog Tour. Links are in the schedule above, if you missed days 1 & 2. I hope you have enjoyed meeting Nick and Monique. Be sure to visit those first two stops to meet the two protagonists and learn more about the creation of this wild time-travel adventure. Tomorrow will find us over at Robbie’s Inspiration/Roberta Writes, where I will introduce you to the character of Maggie and share some facts about prostitution in the American west. And don’t forget to leave a comment at each stop for a chance to win one of five digital copies of The Rock Star & The Outlaw, which I’ll be giving away in a random drawing at the end of the tour. I do hope you will join us.
About the Author
For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; and book 1 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.
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