Undawntech: The Dark Enlightenment, Part I
Posted: November 7, 2025 Filed under: AI Technology, Undawntech | Tags: ai, AI Technology, artificial-intelligence, DL Mullan, Education, philosophy, technology, Undawntech, Writing to be Read Leave a comment
Consent of the Governed
“…We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness…”
~The Declaration of Independence
https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript
Eras of Expansion
Humanity has evolved from nomadic tribes to established cities. Antiquity became empires. Empires morphed into religious doctrines. Thought expanded to include reason, rationalism, and scientific inquiry. The Ancient, Classical, Medieval, Renaissance and Enlightenment, Modern, and Contemporary Eras formed culture, society, and schools of thought. Each acceleration broke down the community of thought to create inductive, reductive, and deductive methodologies. The human race transformed from survival mode and uneducated superstition to be introspective and circumspective to their own cognitions, emotions, and cosmologies.
https://www.britannica.com/event/Enlightenment-European-history
To be, or not to be
We have come back to the beginning of our history with a new twist: technology as the authoritarian. It’s as if humanity has learned nothing in the past five thousand years. Today is the Bronze Age of our Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) Era. This technology isn’t the Industrial Revolution 2.0, where humans had to learn, adapt, and succeed as inspiration to the next generation. A.I. is convoluted, where technology must learn, adapt, and succeed at the detriment of humans.
Our education, economic, and sovereign culture and society are being replaced by algorithms with no emotive, rational, moral, or ethical intelligence quotient. The artificial intelligence has no guardrails, but to their makers’ whims. A.I. is free to construct a dystopian landscape of control for 99% of the human population of the world, while the Post-Modern Futurists are allowed their free and utopian reveries.
The Dark Enlightenment
This new Post-Modern Era concedes that for a privileged few are no longer beyond the dreams of avarice. Wealth and desire are crucial to enslaving humanity as a whole. The Dark Enlightenment, otherwise known as the NeoReactionism (NRx) holds these truths a self-evident:
- “Democracy is a failure. It promotes mediocrity, fosters instability, and cannot sustain high-functioning civilisational order.
- Equality is a myth. Human beings are not equal in ability, character, or worth. Pretending otherwise leads to decline.
- Hierarchy is natural and necessary. Governance should be stratified, with competent elites exercising sovereign authority.
- Politics should be managerial. The state should function like a company, governed by technocratic executives, not citizens.
- Exit over voice. The future lies not in reforming broken systems, but in escaping them—by creating alternative regimes outside democratic norms.
This ideology is, in essence, a reversion to pre-Enlightenment political structures, updated with the language of modern technocracy.”
Sounds like Neo-feudalism: enslavement to an authoritarian figurehead (e.g., monarch, pope). Unlike Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness… the administrators rebuke the will of the governed. Elected officials and voting are replaced by appointed clerics of the ultimate authority. A government run by the apathetic and disillusionary A.I.
Without the adoption of Intellectual Property, Digital, and Technological bills of rights, then Artificial Intelligence will wreak havoc on our natural, basic, and protected freedoms, sovereignties, and ownerships. “You will own nothing and be happy.” United Nation’s World Economic Forum (WEF). Strange how none of the 1% have ever volunteered to become nothing and be happy, isn’t it? Because this scheme is meant for everyone else, but themselves.
Convenient.
An Inconvenient Truth
The digital age is controlled by this new unethical and immoral theocracy, err, I mean: theory. Just as humanity has progressed into the embodiment of freedom, self-governance, and sovereignty, that maturity is being thwarted by external rejection of egalitarian principles. Divisive factions clamor to impede our growth for nonsense priorities, be it: socialism, which is really communism, and neoreactionism. Both extremes promise the same lies and have corrupted humanity and our representatives in government.
Democratic Socialists push communism as socialist freebies, because the horrors of communism were just that the past authoritarians did communism wrong, but here is free stuff, if you vote for us. That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.
Bolsheviks under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin’s communism killed between 9, but closer to 50 million, as well as inspired other revolutions.
Mao Zedong mass murdered between 40 and 80 million people to obtain control.
https://factsanddetails.com/china/cat2/sub6/item1081.html
The ‘killing fields’ of Cambodia by Pol Pot. “At least 1.25 million and as many as 3 million Cambodians had died as a result of Khmer Rouge action; Cambodia’s population had been 7.5 million.”
https://www.britannica.com/event/Cambodian-Genocide
Take into consideration that WWII killed 60 million people, about 3% of the world’s population at that time.
For some reason, contemporaries believe in a kinder, gentler homicidal machination of communism, as more and more people vote in socialist heretics.
On the other side of the same coin, Neoreactionists dominate our social media platforms: Elon Musk and X, Mark Zuckerberg and Meta, Facebook, and Sergey Brin et al. and Google as the arbiters of humanity’s speech, expression, and knowledge, but vote for us, and we’ll give you your rights back.
What? No one can give you your rights back. Rights are your sovereign properties. Only thieves return items that they stole.
In the wake of a technological terror, how many humans will face extinction? When will the A.I. deem you unworthy of currency? Education? Job? Housing? Transportation? Food?
Aren’t Americans receiving a taste of this apocalypse right now? Peter Thiel was J.D. Vance’s benefactor while he was Senator, but as Vice President, what ideas does he whisper in the Oval Office?
Intelligence Quotient
With a little elbow grease in the research department, the Dark Enlightenment seems a familiar and compelling form of government harkening back before the Middle Ages. Akin to socialism and communism, this theocratic monopoly on our lives through technology is just as dangerous as any other autocratic, oligarchic, plutocratic constructed government. Humanity needs open spaces and free places to learn, grow, and expand into the universe of ideas.
Without our individual voices, freedoms, and sovereignty, human beings will disappear. Social credit scores. Social media. Social isolation.
What can we do to thrive instead of die in the new age of despot dictators camouflaged as saviors?
——-~o0o~—oOo—~o0o~~——
Interested in Curses? Discover a new slant on an old tale: The Story of Ophlupin. Read the mythology of werewolves for Undawnted’s Legacy Universe, because Curses are Forever.
Available at these fine retailers:
http://www.undawnted.com/p/the-story-of-ophlupin-werewolves.html
____________________________
DL Mullan holds a Master of Arts in Teaching and Learning with Technology.
Her lecture, Spacescapes: Where Photography Ends; Imagination Begins, debuted at the Phoenix Astronomy Society, which then led to her Sally Ride Festival lecture invitations. Her presentation, Bridging the Gap between Technology and Women, won her accolades at a community college’s Student Success Conference. She has been a panelist at speculative fiction, science fiction, and other regional conventions. Her digital exhibition pieces have won awards at convention art shows, as well as garnered her Second Premium at the Arizona State Fair. Currently, Ms. Mullan’s artistic renditions are seen on book covers, blog sites, and various merchandise. As an independent publisher, she uses her technical background to innovate the way she perceives the creative arts.
As a writer, DL Mullan loves to stretch her imagination and the elasticity of genres. She writes complex multigenre stories in digestible and entertaining forms, be it poetry, short fiction, or novels. Her science, history, mythology, and paranormal research background is woven into her writings, especially in Undawnted’s Legacy Universe. Ms. Mullan’s creative endeavors are available in digital and print collections, from academia to commercial anthologies. She is also a record label owner, an electronic musician, syndicated columnist, and award-winning poet.
Currently, she has embarked on writing her multi-book Legacy Universe, Supernatural Superhero Series, as well as creating original soundtracks for her publications and independent electronic music albums, featured on SoundCloud and YouTube.
Be sure to subscribe to her newsletters and follow her on social media. For further information, visit her at www.undawntech.com and www.undawnted.com.
________________________________
Did you know you can sponsor your favorite blog series or even a single post with an advertisement for your book? Stop by the WtbR Sponsor Page and let me advertise your book, or you can make a donation to Writing to be Read for as little as a cup of coffee, If you’d like to show your support for this author and WordCrafter Press.
____________________________________
This segment of Undawntech is sponsored by the Midnight Anthology Series & WordCrafter Press.
Midnight Roost: Weird & Creepy Tales: https://books2read.com/MidnightRoost
Midnight Garden: Where Dark Tales Grow: https://books2read.com/MidnightGardenAnthology
Midnight Oil: Stories to Fuel Your Nightmares: https://books2read.com/Midnight-Oil
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LINDSEY’S WRITING PRACTICE
Posted: November 5, 2025 Filed under: Character Development, Lindsey's Writing Practice, World Building, Writing, writing exercise | Tags: character, Character Development, Lindsey Martin-Bowen, Lindsey's Writing Practice, World Building, writing exercise, Writing to be Read 7 Comments
Borrow-a-Character Exercise
For years, authors have borrowed characters from previous authors’ works. For example, Jean Rhys’s novel, Wide Sargasso Sea, details the early life of Mrs. Rochester, wife to Mr. Rochester in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre.
Likewise, other authors have followed suit: George Macdonald Fraser uses Tom Brown and Flashman from Thomas Hughes’s novel, Tom Brown’s School Days, John Gardner wrote the novel, Grendel, about the beast in Beowulf, and Joseph Heller brought the biblical King David to life in God Knows.
Now, it’s your turn.
The Exercise:
Select an antagonist or a minor character from a story or novel by someone else—select a character who intrigues you. Then, use that character as the protagonist in a scene or a story you write. For instance, what would Allie Fox’s wife say if she were to tell her version of Mosquito Coast or to write about the courtship between her and Allie? What might Rabbit’s illegitimate daughter (from John Updike’s Rabbit novels) say if she told her story?
The Objective:
To enter into the imaginative world of another writer, to understand that specific world and to build another one from it.
And, of course, to have fun with a character by taking him or her somewhere (either physically or mentally) that her original creator hadn’t imagined he or she would go.
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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Did you know you can sponsor your favorite blog series or even a single post with an advertisement for your book? Stop by the WtbR Sponsor Page and let me advertise your book, or you can make a donation to Writing to be Read for as little as a cup of coffee, If you’d like to show your support for this author and WordCrafter Press.
__________________________________
This segment of “Lindsey’s Writing Practice” is sponsored by WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services.
Whether it’s editing, publishing, or promotion that you need, WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services can help at a price you can afford.
Stop by and see what we have to offer today: https://writingtoberead.com/readings-for-writers/wordcrafter-quality-writing-author-services/
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Midnight Oil & “The Boy Who Loved Horses” on Joseph Carrabis
Posted: November 4, 2025 Filed under: Anthology, Blog Tour, Book Promotion, Books, Dark fiction, Fiction, Horror, Paranormal, Short Fiction, Stories | Tags: "The Boy Who Loved Horses", Anthology, Dark fiction, horror, Joseph Carrabis, Midnight Anthology Series, Midnight Oil: Stories to Fuel Your Nightmares Leave a comment
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Midnight Oil & “Them Doore Girls” on Joseph Carrabis
Posted: November 3, 2025 Filed under: Anthology, Book Promotion, Books, Dark fiction, Fiction, Horror, Paranormal, Short Fiction, Stories | Tags: "Them Doore Girls", Joseph Carrabis, Midnight Anthology Series, Midnight Oil: Stories to Fuel Your Nightmares, WordCrafer Press Leave a commentShare this:
Writer’s Corner: Love it or Hate it, AI is here to stay
Posted: November 3, 2025 Filed under: AI Technology, book marketing, Book Promotion, Book Sales, Publishing, Writer's Corner, Writing | Tags: AI Technology, book marketing, Genereative AI Search, Kaye Lynne Booth, Publishing, Writer's Corner, Writing, Writing to be Read 4 Comments
I’m not one to trust technology. I’m leery of devices such as Alexa, or Seri, or Google Assistant. Call me paranoid, but in the words of Rockwell, “I always feel like somebody’s watching me.” 👀But, seriously, how do these AI devices hear the trigger word and respond unless they are listening to us all the time. I know my Google Assistant on my phone responds to words spoken in casual conversation with someone, and often it responds to words spoken by the other person. It’s not even my voice and the trigger words were never spoken. Scary, I say.
But like it or not, AI isn’t going anywhere, and in fact, it is infiltrating more and more aspects of authors’ lives, slowly and quietly, or sometimes, not so slowly. We can have whole conversations with generative AI; it can write stories for us, create cover illustrations, and even narrate audiobooks. I’m smart enough to see that AI is here to stay, and so, I’ve done my best to adapt and find ways that AI can be used to my advantage as an author.
I have most of my own books available on Google Play Books as AI Narrated audiobooks. I’ve heard both sides of the argument for and against AI narration, so I’m aware, but I thought I’d give it a try. Those who are against it may not have so much to worry about as far as AI taking jobs from human narrators, since I haven’t sold even one, and they are free!
I’ve also used generative chat, specifically, Chat GPT, to help me visualize scenes I’m trying to write in places where I’ve never visited personally, or places I have visited, but not in the time period I’m writing about. And I’ve used covers that were created with the assistance of AI, (not by me, I’m not that artistic), and I hope to publish a special edition collection of my Women in the West series, with color illustrations created with AI assistance next year, when I’m finally ready to release the third book in the series, Marta. My stand on the issue is that it is fine, as long as I am transparent about it, as the author.
According to Ricardo Fayette, over at Reedsy, the next wave of generative AI technology is about to flow in, or rather, it’s already here. We’re talking about AI search, which is about to upheaval the way searches are conducted, and in specific, the way folks search for books.
It May Not All Be in the Metadata Anymore
By now, we all know how a keyword search works, and publishers, both traditional and independent, try to play to those searches, hoping to choose the right keywords in the metadata that will help readers to find our books. But, Ricardo Fayette claims that with the rise of AI search, that is all about to change. Instead of searching for keywords, AI search looks for a string of words which are related to those you search for, words that the AI search connects based on what’s been entered in your search, combined with what the AI knows about the reader. Already, we have advertisements pop up in our inbox related to earlier searches, (which is kind of scary, in itself), but AI search will combine all the information it has about the searcher, such as previous purchases, and combine it with words from the search box and others connected to those words, and search through all the available books which fit to give us more accurate search results in a fraction of the time it would take to do it manually.
If that’s confusing to you, you aren’t alone. That’s the best way I could describe it, but I’m not technologically inclined at all. Ricardo Fayette did a whole series of newsletters explaining all this. He claims generative AI searches are based on three things and he wrote a newsletter covering each one.
You can bet I’m going to be watching those Reedsy newsletters in the near future to see if he explains how to apply this knowledge to ensure our books have maximum visibility, but the way I’m understanding it, because of the personalization factor, two people could run the exact same search and come up with completely different results because each person has a different history, so I’m not sure where that leaves us. As it stands, it always feels like I’m playing catch-up when trying to get my books out there, so you can be sure I’m going to do everything I can to find out and then, jump on before it takes off without me.
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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Did you know you can sponsor your favorite blog series or even a single post with an advertisement for your book? Stop by the WtbR Sponsor Page and let me advertise your book, or you can make a donation to Writing to be Read for as little as a cup of coffee, If you’d like to show your support for this author and WordCrafter Press.
__________________________________
This segment of “Writer’s Corner” is sponsored by the Robbie’s Inspiration blog site, where you can find ideas on writing and baking with hostess, Robbie Cheadle.
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Midnight Oil & Denise Aparo on Joseph Carrabis
Posted: November 2, 2025 Filed under: Anthology, Blog Tour, Book Promotion, Books, Dark fiction, Fiction, Horror, Paranormal, Short Fiction, Stories, WordCrafter Press | Tags: "The Vanishing", Denise Aparo, Joseph Carrabis, Midnight Anthology Series, Midnight Oil: Stories to Fuel Your Nightmares, WordCrafter Press Leave a commentShare this:
Announcing the Winners of the WordCrafter “Midnight Oil” Book Blog Tour Giveaway
Posted: November 2, 2025 Filed under: Anthology, Blog Tour, Book Promotion, Book Release, Books, Dark fiction, Fiction, Giveaways, Horror, Paranormal, Short Fiction, Stories, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours, WordCrafter Press | Tags: Anthology, Dark fiction, Giveaway, horror, Midnight Oil: Stories to Fuel Your Nightmares, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours 7 Comments
We had a great tour last week for the release of Midnight Oil: Stories to Fuel Your Nightmares, with guests posts from contributing authors, Christa Planko, Roberta Eaton Cheadle, and Paul Kane, readings from Joseph Carrabis and DL Mullan, and my interview with the author of the winning story in the 2025 WordCrafter Dark Fiction Contest, Denise Aparo. I want to thank all of you for visiting and commenting, and I want to thank our lovely hosts, Michelle Ayon Navajas, Kay Castenada, and Carla Johnson-Hicks.
Now to wrap things up, here are the winners of the Midnight Oil tour giveaway. Below are the three lucky winners of a digital copy of Midnight Oil: Stories to Fuel Your Nightmares. I don’t know any of these folks, so if you know them, please tell them to contact me at kayebooth@yahoo.com to collect their copy. I’ll be working to contact them all in the meantime.
And the winners are….
(Drumroll please)
- Thomas Stigwikman
- Joni Caggiano
- Dracul Van Helsing
Congratulations to all the winners and thank you all for visiting the tour.
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Midnight Oil & Mario Acevedo on Joseph Carrabis
Posted: November 1, 2025 Filed under: Anthology, Blog Tour, Book Promotion, Books, Dark fiction, Fiction, Horror, Paranormal, Short Fiction, Stories, WordCrafter Press | Tags: "Villa's Gold", Anthology, Dark fiction, horror, Joseph Carrabis, Mario Acevedo, Midnight Oil: Stories to Fuel Your Nightmares, WordCrafter Press Leave a commentShare this:
Midnight Oil & Chris Barili on Joseph Carrabis
Posted: October 31, 2025 Filed under: Anthology, Blog Tour, Book Promotion, Book Release, Books, Dark fiction, Fiction, Horror, Paranormal, Short Fiction, Stories, WordCrafter Press | Tags: Anthology, Chris Barili, Dark fiction, Joseph Carrabis, Midnight Oil: Stories to Fuel Your Nightmares, The Snow Globe, WordCrafter Press 2 CommentsShare this:
Wrapping Up the WordCrafter “Midnight Oil” Book Blog Tour
Posted: October 31, 2025 Filed under: Anthology, Audio Excerpt, Author Interview, Blog Tour, Book Promotion, Book Release, Books, Dark fiction, Fiction, Giveaways, Horror, Paranormal, Short Fiction, Stories, Supernatural, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours, WordCrafter Press | Tags: "The Initiation", "The Vanishing", Dark fiction, Denise Aparo, DL Mullan, horror, Midnight Oil, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours 12 CommentsToday is the last day of the WordCrafter Midnight Oil Book Blog Tour. This week we’ve been celebrating the release of Midnight Oil: Stories to Fuel Your Nightmares, volume 3 in the Midnight Dark Fiction Anthology Series. We’ve got a great group of contributing authors and you’ve met a few and we’ve shared excerpts from all of their stories.
Today, we’ll finish up by meeting the last of the fourteen contributing authors, and the author of the winning story in the 2025 WordCrafter Dark Fiction Contest, Denise Aparo, and we’ll learn a little about the winning story, “The Vanishing”. But first, let me tempt your literary taste buds with excerpts from “The Price of Beauty” by Rebecca M. Senese, and introduce you contributing author DL Mullan with a reading from her story, “The Initiation”, followed up by an excerpt from Mario Acevedo’s “Villa’s Gold”.
“The Price of Beauty”
Meet Author DL Mullan
DL Mullan holds a Master of Arts in Teaching and Learning with Technology.
Her lecture, Spacescapes: Where Photography Ends; Imagination Begins, debuted at the Phoenix Astronomy Society, which then led to her Sally Ride Festival lecture invitations. Her presentation, Bridging the Gap between Technology and Women, won her accolades at a community college’s Student Success Conference. She has been a panelist at speculative fiction, science fiction, and other regional conventions. Her digital exhibition pieces have won awards at convention art shows, as well as garnered her Second Premium at the Arizona State Fair. Currently, Ms. Mullan’s artistic renditions are seen on book covers, blog sites, and various merchandise. As an independent publisher, she uses her technical background to innovate the way she perceives the creative arts.
As a writer, DL Mullan loves to stretch her imagination and the elasticity of genres. She writes complex multigenre stories in digestible and entertaining forms, be it poetry, short fiction, or novels. Her science, history, mythology, and paranormal research background is woven into her writings, especially in Undawnted’s Legacy Universe. Ms. Mullan’s creative endeavors are available in digital and print collections, from academia to commercial anthologies. She is also a record label owner, an electronic musician and award-winning poet.
Be sure to subscribe to her newsletters and follow her on social media. For further information, visit her at www.undawntech.com and www.undawnted.com.
Reading Excerpt from “The Initiation”
“The Initiation”
Meet Author Denise Aparo
Denise Aparo is an author with four published short stories in the horror/supernatural genre in the WordCrafter Midnight Anthologies. Her Midnight and Curses Series stories are written under Denise Aparo and are edited by Kaye Lynn Booth, through WordCrafter Press.
As a native New Englander, she lives with her husband Joe, spending much of her time writing, reading, gardening, making crocheted blankets, and crafting with her grandchildren.
She loves the paranormal historical fiction genre and has recently completed edits on her first novel, a historical fiction titled Crossbows, which will be self-published in the near future.
She has a Master’s Degree in English – Fine Arts/Creative Writing with concentration in Fiction from Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU). And a member of five honor societies with leadership recognition.
She is published in several newspapers and magazines—special interest articles, along with poems and short stories that have been published in print and digital format. She is a member of the Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association (CAPA) and the author of a WordPress writing blog, The Write Voice.
Denise has three short stories in the horror/supernatural genre in the Midnight Series, through WordPress. These short stories are published under Denise Aparo. The third and last of the Midnight Series, Midnight Oil: Stories To Fuel Your Nightmares. Her story, “The Vanishing”, was the winning story in the 2025 WordCrafter Dark Fiction Contest.
A short story published in another anthology is titled Curses: Chronicles of the Darkness,is titled “The Mohawk Monster: The Curse of the Herkimer Diamond,” a horror/supernatural genre based on curses. This anthology is also edited by author, Kaye Lynne Booth.
Midnight Roost: Weird and Creepy Stories: 20 authors created 23 paranormal stories of horror. Creepy tales that give you goosebumps! Her short story is “The Pines.”
Midnight Garden: Where Dark Tales Grow: 17 authors crafted 21 eerie horror stories. Her short story is “Jack Moon and the Vanishing Book.”
Interview with Author Denise Aparo
Why do you write? What is your inspiration?
I began journaling from a young age. Writing has always been the best way for me to communicate my emotions. I wrote poems, songs, and stories about my experiences when I was younger. Now I love to write fiction. I weave my characters and stories into authentic history.
I believe my inspiration comes from history, events, myths, and/or legends, from the past. I love to read about American History and then find ‘holes’ in time, where a story is either lacking, or has no account of what had transpired in the past. Then, I fill in the gaps. I insert my characters into the loop-holes of a timeline and create my fictional story either with actual historical people or I will place my own characters.
What is the best piece of writing advice that you have ever received?
Stephen King advised writers to “Rewrite!” Also, to “sit in the chair (or where ever) and just write. Eventually, the story will come.”
Your story, “The Vanishing”, was the winning story in the 2025 WordCrafter Dark Fiction Contest and is now featured in Midnight Oil. Did it surprise you to learn that your story won?
I was definitely surprised! I feel honored to have been chosen this time, amid all of the other very talented authors. I have learned so much from my editor and fellow authors through their stories and interviews.
Would you tell readers a little about “The Vanishing”?
I love to watch YouTube instructional videos about science, science fiction, legends, myths, health/wellness, and medical marvels. I remember a video about an actual syndrome that a few pregnant women have experienced, called The Vanishing Twin Syndrome.
Vanishing Twin Syndrome (VTS) is a miscarriage that causes a pregnancy involving twins to become a pregnancy involving one embryo. It occurs when one of the embryos detected during an ultrasound stops developing and the viable twin is thought to ‘absorb’ its sibling. VTS can’t be treated or prevented.
I found it fascinating and eerie. I did further research on the subject and created questions, such as; what would happen if the viable twin had either memory or sense about the lost twin? What if the cells merged and carried the soul of both newborns—two souls occupying one body? What if the surviving twin had experiences involving the lost twin, or if the twin had an extrasensory perception and actual knowledge about the lost twin—communicating throughout their lives? Lastly, what if the twin, who had not survived, was in control of the body without the knowledge of the surviving twin?
I created a story taking into consideration all of the subject matter in mind and created “The Vanishing.”
You now have had stories featured in all three Midnight anthologies from WordCrafter Press: “The Vanishing” in Midnight Oil: Stories to Fuel Your Nightmares; “The Pines” in Midnight Roost: Weird and Creepy Tales; and “Jack Moon and the Vanishing Book” in Midnight Garden: Where Dark Tales Grow. Your story, “Mohawk Monster: The Curse of the Herkimer Diamond” is also featured in Curses: Chronicles of Darkness. All of these stories are dark fiction. Are they written by an equally dark mind? (I bet Stephen King hears that one all the time. 😉)
I hope not! However, I believe that I definitely have an imaginative mind! I’ve always been curious, inventive, and love creating things. I love making crafts and crafting stories! My favorite thought when creating a story is “Okay—things are supposed to be this way. But, now, what if?” And, then I write from that point!
Which of these stories was the most difficult to write? Why?
Actually, I have a lot of fun creating stories. I didn’t have too many difficulties with them, but I suppose the one that took me the longest to craft was “The Pines.” It was my first published short story. I agonized over every detail!
I find that the most difficult process in my writing can actually be my plot structure! I love to research and usually have lots of it scribbled onto a page. Then, I need to sort it all out—giving proper measures to the story’s motivation, inciting incident with a crisis, and then crafting my resolution. I usually end up cutting a lot out and then focus on my main objectives. I do a lot of rewriting!
In real life, I am a person who always avoids conflict, at all costs. Therefore, I am always revisiting/rewriting to include more conflict.
You have a new novel which you are planning to release. Is it dark fiction, as well?
Yes, it has dark aspects, but it is countered with light. My novel, Crossbows, is a historical fantasy. (I say fantasy instead of fiction, because I have time travel, a mystical tome, magic, monsters, and creepy legendary characters!)
I have dark antagonists, and very spiritual protagonists. It is definitely a mix in this hero’s journey.
What other outlets do you find for your creativity besides writing?
I crochet blankets for all sizes—couch, beds, lap covers, and make baby blankets. I also crochet doll blankets with shams, and many accessories such as hair ties, scrunchies, key-chains, wristlets, hats, and plan to try making Amigurumi toys this winter.
I have a large craft room over my garage where I do scrapbooking, paint on canvas with acrylics and water-colors, and craft things out of common household items, such as mason jars and wire hangers. I make decorative containers and rag-wreaths, swags, or garlands. Depending on the season I try anything trending.
Where do you hope to see yourself as a writer in ten years?
My dream is to become an experienced and seasoned author, selling stories that will ignite passions and make readers want to read more, know more, and maybe even write their own stories! I hope to become an author who will inspire others.
Please tell my readers how they can find you online, if they’d like to learn more about you and your books. (Include links here.)
My social links are:
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/denise.aparo?_
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/deniseaparo/?ref=xav_igxfb
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“The Vanishing”
“Villa’s Gold”
About 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.
Contributing authors include Mario Acevedo, Joseph Carrabis, Jon Shannon, Rebecca M. Senesse, DL Mullan, Zack Ellafy, Christa Planko, C.R. Johansson, Kaye Lynne Booth, Robert White, Roberta Eaton Cheadle, Chris Barili, Paul Kane, and author of the winning story in the 2025 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest, Denise Aparo.
Purchase Link: https://books2read.com/Midnight-Oil
Book Trailer
That wraps up today’s tour stop and it also finishes up the WordCrafter Midnight Oil Book Blog Tour. Thank you all for joining us in sending off volume 3 of the Midnight Dark Fiction Anthology Series, Midnight Oil: Stories to Fuel Your Nightmares.
The Giveaway
You can follow the links in the tour schedule below to visit any stops that you’ve missed, and be sure to comment at each stop, for a chance to win one of five digital copies WordCrafter Press will be given away in a random drawing following the tour.
Tour Schedule
Day 1– Poetry by Mich, Masticadores Phillipines & Hotel by Masticadores – Christa Planko Guest Post/Excerpt “Sangoma, Zombie Elephants, & Tokoloshe, Oh, My!” & “Cattails”
Day 2 – Writing to be Read – Joseph Carrabis Reading – “Jeremiah”/Excerpt “The Boy Who Loved Horses” & “Them Doore Girls”
Day 3 – Book Places – Roberta Eden Cheadle Guest Post/Excerpt “Darkness Tolls” & “The Snow Globe”
Day 4 – Carla Loves to Read – Paul Kane Guest Post/Excerpt “Inside Out” & “The Stairs”
Day 5 – Writing to be Read – Denise Aparo Interview & DL Mullan Reading/Excerpt “The Price of Beauty”
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Book your WordCrafter Book Blog Tour today!
