Update for the WordCrafter My Backyard Friends Book Blog Tour
The WordCrafter My Backyard Friends Book Blog Tour was a lot of fun, but unfortunately, no one replied to the question posed at the last tour stop, on Writing to be Read, so there are no winners of the surprise giveaway to announce. And because we didn’t raise any money at the My Backyard Friends store for the print editions of the series, featuring Robbie Cheadle’s lovely illustrations, it looks like the books will only be available in ebook format for quite awhile, as I will not be printing them in black & white.
The My Backyard Friends store is gone, but you can still get digital copies of all three books from your favorite distributors at the following Books2Read purchase links.
*Note: Actively seeking reviewers for this series. If interested, please contact me at kayebooth@yahoo.com.
August Projects
August will be a lull for me with no new releases to peddle. But, I’ll be hard at work preparing the last two anthologies planned for release this year. Submissions have been read, edited and the last revisions are coming due. I will be compiling them for release in September and October.
Tales from the Hanging Tree – Release Date: September 10th, 2024
Tales from the Hanging Tree is an by invitation only, themed anthology which is based on the following premise:
You would think being a paranormal tree with a life spanning over eons since the beginning of time would be pretty boring, but I’m here to tell you, I am far from bored. I suppose if I was a normal tree, I would be, but you see, I am the hanging tree and I’ve absorbed the lives and memories of every hanging that has ever taken place throughout time. I see their lives, I share their joys, I feel their pain. It would be too much for a normal tree to absorb even one life, so I exist to absorb them all. And I have seen many.
I’ve seen those accused of being outlaws and witches, some guilty, some not. I’ve seen those hanged from pure hatred, due to the color of their skin or the lifestyle they chose. When lives are cut short by the hands of others, or by their own doing, there must be somewhere for their life memories to go. For hangings, that’s me.
A boring existence, no. An often painful one, yes. But here I stand in the plane between life and death, with no recourse but to experience the lives of all hanging victims over and over again. I can’t get away from them, so I thought perhaps they would be easier to bear if I shared them with you here.
Between these pages, you will find their tales, for better or for worse. Many different lives, many different stories, with one thing in common. None have a happy ending.
Featuring stories by Joseph Carrabis, Paul Kane, C.R. Johansson, Sylva Fae, DL Mullan, Robbie Cheadle, Matt Usher, and Kaye Lynne Booth.
2024 WordCrafter Dark Fiction Anthology – To Be Released in October
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How did this happen? I always have my posts scheduled ahead of time, but today’s post snuck past me. What to do? I guess I’ll have to wing it.
I can start by telling you that I once again have a day job, which is probably why this post got by me. I’ve been training for the past two weeks. You don’t know how relieved I am to know I’ll have steady money coming in once again. It’s rough trying to survive off just my books and my writing. Maybe this is why many authors still hold day jobs. I know trying to manage for the past year without one has been rough. Maybe now I can start putting my writing monies back into the WordCrafter business. So, that’s my big and exciting news.
While not employed elsewhere, I’ve been busy preparing for upcoming releases, including my kid’s book series, which releases the first three books July 16: Heather Hummingbird Makes a New Friend, Timothy Turtle Discovers Jellybeans, and Charlie Chickadee Gets a New Home. We’re launching with a book blog tour to send them off right, and to raise funds to publish each one in color print format, because black & white print won’t do for Robbie’s wonderful illustrations. I hope you’ll all join us for the tour to meet the My Backyard Friends characters and get a glimpse of those beautiful illustrations, and help support the color print publications.
I’ve also been combing through the submissions for two anthologies scheduled for this coming autumn. I announced the winner of the 2024 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest – M.J. Mallon and her story, “The Seagull Man”, and I’m geting ready to go through the by invitation submissions for the Dark Fiction anthology, that is as yet untitled. Once I’ve read them all and I have a better idea of the shape this short fiction collection, I’ll decide on the title. And I just finished editing the submissions for the Tales From the Hanging Tree anthology and sending them back to the authors for revisions. This is a themed anthology and it didn’t get a lot of submissions, so I’m writing a second story to be included to fill it out a bit.
Other than that, I’ve been getting my office set up, as best I can with what I’ve got, hanging out with my cat, Rowdy, taking morning walks and eating a lot of peanut butter, mayonaise and lettuce sandwiches. Maybe now that I’m working outside this little box I call an office, maybe I’ll be able to visit some of my favorite resturaunts and go visit some of my favorite places to camp this summer. There’s a book launch in Gunnison in July that I’d really like to attend and a few ideas floating around in my head for new projects. If I make it, I’ll tell you all about it. 😉
Rowdy the cat in his bed in my office.
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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; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and her Time-Travel Adventure novel, The Rock Star & The Outlaw. 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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Whether it’s editing, publishing, or promotion that you need, WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services can help at a price you can afford.
I’m excited to announce that the winner of the 2024 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest is M.J. Mallon, with her story, “The Seagull Man” – an exquistly dark short story. Runners-up have also been invited to be included in the anthology and a select few were asked to revise and submit for round two amd may be included, depending on how much room we have after all invitational submissions have been considered.
Runners-up included:
“The Fae Game”, by Danaeka Scrimshaw
“The Peddler”, by Peter McKay
“The Blackest Ink”, by Paul Martz
“Antepenultimate”, by Molly Ertel
We had a good number of submissions to the contest this year, and together with the stories submitted by invitation, we’re going to have a deliciously dark fiction anthology come October. I am going through the invitational submissions now.
Time is running out fast for you to get your submission on for the 2024 WordCrafter Short Fiction contest, and a chance to have your story featured in the 2024 Dark Fiction anthology by WordCrafter Press. The approching deadline is April 30, 2024. You can find the submission guidelines here: https://writingtoberead.com/2024/01/01/call-for-submissions/
Its the start of a new year and time to announce the call for submissions for the annual WordCrafter Press short fiction contest. For 2024, the theme will be dark fiction of any genre: Dark Fantasy, Science Fiction, Paranormal, Dark Humor, Horror, Noir… I’ll even accept romance, if the story is dark.
The submission deadline is April 30, and the as yet, untitled anthology will be released in October. All submissions will be considered for publication, and the winning story is guaranteed a spot in the anthology. Follow the submission guidelines below.
Submission Guidelines
WordCrafter Press is looking for original short stories with dark elements. Previously unpublished stories only.
Genres: Any genre as long as the story is dark.
Length: up to 5000 words
Submission Deadline: April 30, 2024
Pay: Royalty share
Rights: First Anthology Rights and audio rights as part of the anthology; rights revert to author one month after publication; publisher retains non-exclusive right to include in the anthology as a whole.
Open to submissions from January 1 through April 30, 2024.
Submit: A Microsoft Word or RTF file in standard manuscript format to KLBWordCrafter@gmail.com
