For the first stop for Day 2 of the WordCrafter Curses Book Blog Tour, we’re over at Robbie’s Inspiration, where Robbie Cheadle introduces contributing author, Joseph Carrabis with readings from his stories, and allows me to present a post on the inspiration for my story “Caverna Del Oro (Cave of Gold)”. Join us in sending off Curses: Chronicles of Darkness. Don’t forget to comment for a chance at a free digital copy of the anthology and visit Stop 2 over at Undawnted.
Welcome to the opening day of the WordCrafter Curses Book Blog Tour. I want to thank each of you for joining us in the send-off for this themed dark fiction anthology, Curses: Chronicles of Darkness. All contributors have worked hard on this to bring you eleven quality stories about… well… curses.
We have a great tour planned, featuring guest posts, readings and/or interviews from six of our contributing authors. On this tour, you will have the opportunity to meet and learn more about Denise Aparo, Joseph Carrabis, Paul Kane, Robert White, Danaeka Scrimshaw, and Molly Ertel and their stories. And, of course, we’ll have a giveaway for 5 digital copies of the anthology, one for each day of the tour. You can follow the tour through the links at the bottom of this post.
Giveaway
We’re giving away 5 digital copies of Curses: Chronicles of Darkness.
All you have to do to enter is
follow the tour and leave a comment each day.
The Authors of Curses: Chronicles of Darkness
WordCrafter Short
Curses: Chronicles of Darkness releases tomorrow, September 30, but it is available for pre-order now. We have a great group of authors, including myself, who contributed to this anthology. I’m pleased to be able to bring them to you via this blog tour. Like live tours, blog tours bring readers closer to authors, and we will be introducing you to at least one or two authors each day on this double-stop tour.
Each day will feature one stop along the blog tour route where you will be introduced to at least one of our contributing authors and we’ll share a little about each story, then a second stop over at the Undawnted blog, where DL Mullan will interview one of the authors featured that day. Undawnted does not support comments, but you can leave them on the other host sites, or here, on Writing to be Read. And you’ll want to be sure and do that, because your comments are what enters you in the giveaway, and we will be drawing one winner per day. (Authors may also be available to respond to those comments to create a more personal experience.)
Curses that last throughout time. Curses which can’t be broken. Curses which are brought upon ourselves. Curses that will kill you and those that will only make you wish you were dead.
Eleven tantalizing tales of curses and the cursed. Includes stories by Kaye Lynne Booth, Molly Ertel, C.R. Johansson, Robert White, Joseph Carrabis, Paul Kane, Danaeka Scrimshaw, Abe Margel, and Denise Aparo.
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.
About “The Death Clock”
My story, “The Death Clock“, is about a curse placed on an Ormulu clock in the sixteenth century, placed on it by its maker. I got the inspiration for this story, after the call for submissions for Curses went out, from an episode of Pawn Stars, where Rick explains why they call these clocks death clocks. After watching this, I thought Boy, if anything would be cursed, one of those clocks would be.
Ormulu clocks are gilded gold clocks which were commissioned with the most skilled clockmakers by members of the aristocracy as symbols of prestige. (In my story, the clock was commissioned by Napolean, himself.) During the gilding process, the gold is gilded to the bronze clock housing, by covering the housing with mercury and then, pressing the gold into it by hand. Then, the piece was fired to burn the mercury off, leaving the gilded gold. Many of these clock makers then suffered from insanity or death as a result of their labors. Hence the name “Death Clock”.
“The Death Clock” takes place in present day and is about one woman’s efforts to break the curse when she accidentally inherits an Ormulu clock with the house she and her husband just purchased.
Meet Denise Aparo
Denise Aparo is an author with four published short stories in the horror/supernatural genre in the WordCrafter Midnight Anthologies. All of her stories are written under Denise Aparo and are edited by Kaye Lynne 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 Bachelor of Arts 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 and the third and last of the Midnight Series will be released on September 30, 2025.
You can learn more about Denise and her story, by visiting the second stop on today’s tour, over at Undawnted, in Denise’s interview with DL Mullan. Remember to leave your comments or questions here for both of today’s stops.
Denise Aparo’s story in Curses is “The Mohawk Montser: The Curse of the Herkimer Diamond”. A tale of an ancient Indian curse which stands over a diamond mine in New York and the surrounding land, including the diamonds in the mine.
Inspiration for “The Mohawk Monster: The Curse of the Herkimer Diamond”
The Curses: Chronicles of Darkness story prompt was a curse(s). My short story, “The Mohawk Monster: The Curse of the Herkimer Diamond,” is a brief prequel to my recently completed novel, Crossbows, which I plan to publish soon. My novel actually began with an untold curse by a New England, Native American Goddess.
I thought it would be a great way to tell the story about her curse on a New York Community, Herkimer County, which is near the New England setting in my novel. The Goddess Komorkis was deeply saddened by the murders of the band of warriors she kept watch over. The sacred warriors, The Shadow Wolves, protected an ancient Tome, The Tome of Life with a sigil. The tome and the Sigillum Dei Sigil, has miraculous power over all creatures. This short story takes place at the Herkimer Diamond Mine in New York.
The why the story came about was because of my childhood memories of my dad. My father was a rock collector, who traveled to many mines and quarries, collecting rare and semiprecious rocks and stones. One of his favorite places to hunt was at the Herkimer Diamond Mine. He had collected many Herkimer Diamonds throughout his life.
Because I write historical fiction about New England, I am always researching unusual places, people, and things. The Mohawk Valley Mineral Mining is a unique Herkimer Diamond mining location set in a dense forest within the remote farm town of Sprakers, NY. I remembered how the place has many rare and unusual crystals. One of the largest known crystals is the Herkimer Diamond, called The Mohawk Monster. It was labeled this due to its large size and found in that mine, which is located in the Mohawk Valley.
Since the name of the diamond has the word “monster” in it, it prompted me to write a story about it for the Curses Anthology!
You can learn more about Denise and her story, by visiting the second stop on today’s tour, over at Undawnted, where you can catch Denise’s interview with DL Mullan.
Don’t forget to leave your comments and questions for both tour stops here for a chance to win in today’s giveaway drawing for a copy of Curses: Chronicles of Darkness.
Tour Schedule
Day 1
Stop 1 – Writing to be Read – About the Curses Anthology & Meet Denise Aparo
I’m excited to announce the coming release of the Curses anthology from WordCrafter Press on September 30. Naturally we’ll be launching this collection of stories featuring curses: cursed places, cursed objects, cursed people with a WordCrafter Book Blog Tour September 29 – October 5, where you can meet a different contributing author and learn more about them and their story through guest posts, readings and interviews. I do hope you’ll all join us as we celebrate with the authors and promote the anthology’s success.
Curses that last throughout time. Curses which can’t be broken. Curses which we bring upon ourselves. Curses that will kill you and those that will only make you wish you were dead.
Ten tantalizing tales of curses and the cursed. Includes stories by Kaye Lynne Booth, Molly Ertel, C.R. Johansson, Robert White, Joseph Carrabis, Paul Kane, Danaeka Scrimshaw, Abe Margel, and Denise Aparo.
On The Home Front
September is always a hard month for me because it is in September that my son, Michael died. I try to keep it a pretty quiet month, with not a lot of deadlines or other obligations to meet. It’s also the month that he was born and needless to say, I usually spend a lot of time thinking about him during September.
He’s been gone now for sixteen years. That’s a long time. So, for me, the month of September is kind of a month of mourning, but it’s also a month-long celebration of his life, even after all these years. I drag out all my old photos and think a lot about the memories they represent. I talk to Michael all the time, but during September, we have one-way chats at least daily, and sometime, even more.
But Michael was my biggest fan when he was alive, and although you may not hear a lot from me on social media in September, the wheels of production will go on, because he would have wanted it that way. He was always interested in what I was writing and even wrote short stories and poetry of his own.
The end of the month will see the release of the Curses anthology, so I’ll be working on blog tour preparations. And looking forward, I’ll also be editing and compiling the stories for Midnight Oil, the third book in the Midnight anthology series, which will include my story with the working title of “Elephant Zombie”, and will be released in October. Lastly, I’ll be preparing Smothered, a paranormal romance by B.T. Clearwater, which will also be released in October.
Wow! Now that I put it all down here, I guess I may be pretty busy in September after all.
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,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. 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 all WordCrafter Press books, will be available as part of a promotion on Smashwords, starting December 12 through January 1 as part of their 2024 End of Year Sale! This is a chance to get WordCrafter Press books at half off, along with books from many other great authors at a discount, so you can get right to reading.
Please share this promo with friends and family. You can even forward this email to the avid readers in your life!
Thank you for your help and support!
Happy reading!
Books You Can Get at 50% Off With This Sale
The Rock Star & The Outlaw, by Kaye Lynne Booth
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.
In 1887, 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.
The Women in the West Adventure Series, by Kaye Lynne Booth
Delilah & Sarah – (Marta coming in 2025)
Delilah is a woman haunted by her past.
Her homecoming from prison quickly turns into a quest for vengeance when she is brutally raped and left for dead, and her fourteen-year-old ward is abducted. Sheer will and determination take this tough and gritty heroine up against wild beasts of the forest, Indians and outlaws to Leadville.
Can the colorful inhabitants of the Colorado mining town work their way into Delilah’s heart, offering a chance for a future she thought she’d lost along with her innocence?
If you like strong and capable female protagonists, you’ll love Delilah.
Sarah is a young girl trying to make a place for herself in the world.
Sarah is not the young girl stolen away from Delilah anymore. Now she is Hair of Fire, mate of Three Hawks, even as she blossoms into a young woman and tries to make a place for herself among the Ute tribe.
When she is stolen away from the life she’s made, she struggles to survive in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. A streak of stubbornness and determination take this tough, feisty heroine up against wild beasts of the forest and the rugged mountain landscape to Glenwood Springs, Colorado, where she receives a less than welcoming reception by some.
Will this young woman find her way back to the Ute tribe, which she’s come to think of as family, or will she discover a place among the colorful inhabitants of the Colorado hot springs and mining town?
Follow along on her journey to learn who she truly is and where she belongs in this rough, and often hostile frontier.
If you like strong and capable female protagonists, you’ll love Sarah.
The D.I.Y. Author, by Kaye Lynne Booth
Being an author today is more than just writing the book. Authors in this digital age have more opportunities than ever before. Whether you pursue independent or traditional publishing models, or a combination of the two but being an author involves not only writing, but often, the publishing and marketing of the book.
In this writer’s reference guide, multi-genre author and independent publisher, Kaye Lynne Booth shares her knowledge and experiences and the tools, books, references and sites to help you learn the business of being an author.
Topics Include:
Becoming Prolific
Writing Tools
Outlining
Making Quality a Priority
Publishing Models & Trends
Marketing Your Book
Book Covers & Blurbs
Book Events—In Person & Virtual
And more…
Other Books by Kaye Lynne Booth
Hidden Secrets paranormal mystery novella
Last Call & Other Short Fiction
Small Wonders poetry collection
WordCrafter Press Anthologies
The Midnight Anthology Series
Midnight Roost: Weird & Creepy Stories & Midnight Garden: Where Dark Tales Grow
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.
17 authors bring you 21 magnificent dark tales. Stories of magic, monsters and mayhem. Tales of murder and madness which will make your skin crawl. These are the tales that explore your darkest fears. Read them in the Midnight Garden… if you dare.
Contributing authors include Paul Kane, Ell Rodman, DL Mullan, Joseph Carrabis, Roberta Eaton Cheadle, Denise Aparo, Jon Shannon, Zack Ellafy, Danaeka Scrimshaw, Robb T. White, Abe Margel, Julie Jones, Molly Ertel, Peter McKay, Kaye Lynne Booth, Paul Martz, and M.J. Mallon.
Tales From the Hanging Tree
There exists a tree that is timeless, spanning across all dimensions, which absorbs every life as those who are hanged as they die… and it remembers every one. The stories within are a select few of the Tales From the Hanging Tree.
Stories by Kaye Lynne Booth, Paul Kane, DL Mullan, C.R. Johannson, Joseph Carrabis, Sylva Fae, and Matt Usher.
Other WordCrafter Press Anthology Available at 50% Off
Visions
Refracted Reflections: Twisted Tales of Duality & Deception
Once Upon an Ever After: Modern Fairy Tales & Folklore
Whispers of the Past: Narrating the Paranormal series book 1
Spirits of the West: Narrating the Paranormal series book 2
Where Spirits Linger: Narrating the Paranormal series book 3
Lingering Spirit Whispers: Narrating the Paranormal books 1,2,& 3
This is the final stop on the WordCrafter Midnight Garden Book Blog Tour and we’re wrapping up with a guest post by contributing author Joseph Carrabis about the inspiration of his story, “The Tomb” and a reading of his story “The Exchange”, which are both featured in this deliciously dark anthology, Midnight Garden: Where Dark Tales Grow.
About Midnight Garden: Where Dark Tales Grow
17 authors bring you 21 magnificent dark tales. Stories of magic, monsters and mayhem. Tales of murder and madness which will make your skin crawl. These are the tales that explore your darkest Midnight Garden… if you dare.
The Tomb was originally written in the late 1970s. and no one was interested in it. What you read is the last major edit, circa 2011. The original version – and much of what’s in the published version – came from a dream.
The story is personal to me as I was blind – technically “limited eyesight” and legally blind – until about four years ago. I was considered for some experimental surgeries back in the late 1970s and one thing or another dropped me from consideration. Finally, in 2020 – yep, the year of Covid – Technology caught up to what I needed it to be and several operations later, I can see.
In case you’re curious, going from an auditory landscape to a visual one is not easy. Susan (wife/partner/Princess) got a chuckle out of my staring at something while I matched what it looked like to the sound it made (and which I recognized).
The story itself deals with the fact that “seeing” means seeing everything, some of which isn’t pretty, and some, which others might consider ugly or horrid, is beautiful simply because it can be seen.
About Author 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. You can learn more about him at https://josephcarrabis.com.
Excerpt From “The Puppet Men”
Excerpt From “Self-Mutiny”, by Zack Ellafy
Giveaway
Three lucky winners will receive a digital copy of Midnight Garden in a random drawing following the tour. All you have to do to enter is follow the tour and leave a comment at each stop that you visit. If you missed a stop, you can go back and visit through the links in the schedule below.
Schedule
Monday – October 7 – M.J. Mallon: Interview & Reading from “The Seagull Man” – Writing to be Read
Tuesday – October 8 – Danaeka Scrimshaw: Inspiration for “The Fae Game”) & Denise Aparo: Reading from “Jack Moon & the Vanishing Book” – Roberta Writes
Wednesday – October 9 – Joseph Carrabis: Reading of “The Last Drop” & Inspiration for “Striders” – Paul Martz
Thursday – October 10 – Paul Martz: Reading & Inspiration for “The Blackest Ink” – Writing to be Read
Friday – October 11 – Molly Ertel: Inspiration for “Antipenultimate” & Abe Margel: Inspiration for “My Balance” – Kyrosmagica
Saturday – October 12 – Paul Kane: Inspiration for “Drip Feed” & Joseph Carrabis: Reading of “Grande Ture” – Undawnted
Sunday – October 13 – DL Mullan: Reading from “Kurst” & Ell Rodman: Inspiration for “The Drummer” –BookPlaces
Monday – October 14 – Joseph Carrabis: Reading of “The Exchange” & Inspiration for “The Tomb” – Writing to be Read
Today we’re over at the Paul Martz blog site for Day 3 of the Midnight Garden Book Blog Tour with contributing author, Joseph Carrabis, sharing his inspiration for “Striders” and a reading of “The Last Drop”. Join us to get a small sampling of the deliciously dark stories featured in Midnight Garden: Where Dark Tales Grow and a chance to win a free digital copy.
It’s day 1 of the WordCrafter Midnight Garden Book Blog Tour, and we’ve got a great tour scheduled with with guest posts and readings from contributing authors at every stop, and a fantastic giveaway, so stick with us.
Midnight Garden: Where Dark Tales Grow is the annual WordCrafter anthology, and book 2 of the Midnight dark fiction anthology series. This year’s winning story is “The Seagull Man”, by M.J. Mallon. Also featured are stories by contributing authors Paul Kane, Ell Rodman, DL Mullan, Joseph Carrabis, Roberta Eaton Cheadle, Paul Martz, Denise Aparo, Jon Shannon, Julie Jones, Abe Margel, Robb T. White, Molly Ertel, Zack Elafy, Danaeka Scrimshaw, Kaye Lynne Booth, and Alex Constance.
About Midnight Garden: Where Dark Tales Grow
17 authors bring you 21 magnificent dark tales. Stories of magic, monsters and mayhem. Tales of murder and madness which will make your skin crawl. These are the tales that explore your darkest Midnight Garden… if you dare.
Three lucky winners will receive a digital copy of Midnight Garden in a random drawing following the tour. All you have to do to enter is follow the tour and leave a comment at each stop that you visit.
If you miss a stop, you can go back and visit through the links in the schedule below. (Links won’t work until the stop goes live).
Schedule
Monday – October 7 – M.J. Mallon: Interview & Reading from “The Seagull Man” – Writing to be Read
Tuesday – October 8 – Danaeka Scrimshaw: Inspiration for “The Fae Game” & Denise Aparo: Reading from “Jack Moon & the Vanishing Book” – Roberta Writes
Wednesday – October 9 – Joseph Carrabis: Reading of “The Last Drop” & Inspiration for “Striders” – Paul Martz
Thursday – October 10 – Paul Martz: Reading & Inspiration for “The Blackest Ink” – Writing to be Read
Friday – October 11 – Molly Ertel: Inspiration Reading from “Antipenultimate” & Abe Margel: Inspiration for “My Balance” – Kyrosmagica
Saturday – October 12 – Paul Kane: Inspiration for “Drip Feed” & Joseph Carrabis: Reading of “Grande Ture” – Undawnted
Sunday – October 13 – DL Mullan: Reading from “Kurst” & Ell Rodman: Inspiration for “The Drummer” – BookPlaces
Monday – October 14 – Joseph Carrabis: Reading of “The Exchange” & Inspiration for “The Tomb”) – Writing to be Read
Today’s stop features an interview with the author of the winning story, M.J. Mallon, and an excerpt reading from “The Seagull Man”.
Interview
M.J.: Thank you so much Kaye for such wonderful questions and for featuring me.
Kaye: What inspired you to enter the WordCrafter 2024 Short Fiction Contest?
I enjoy being part of anthologies especially around Halloween time when I can flex my dark fiction tendencies. And the bonus of winning, which this time I did, is so inspiring!
Kaye: What inspired your story entry, “The Seagull Man”?
M.J.: Bird and people watching! I’ve witnessed four curious bird episodes, three with seagulls, either acting strange or amusing and one more recently with a large swan and pigeons being fed by a curious-looking man. Getting back to the seagull story that inspired me, I saw a man surrounded by seagulls who appeared to be dressed like them. They flocked around him, obsessively, camouflaging him, and then followed him when he drove off on his bike. He disappeared with them, as if he was one of them, dressed in seagull colours of white and grey.
Kaye: Where were you when you received the news that your story had been chosen as the winner?
M.J.: I was in Tavira, Portugal, enjoying the June sunshine. Imagine my delight to hear that I was the winner. An excuse for some celebratory wine, some vinho verde!
Kaye: You’re a YA author. In your opinion, what is the biggest difference between YA and adult fiction? Why do you choose to write for young adults?
M.J.: With YA fiction, you must have the right mindset, a youthful one. And be mindful of the audience you are writing for. So, I include mental health, etc, trigger warnings, (mild ones, albeit.) I am currently writing book three in the series and there is one creepy scene, (which I’ve had some concerns about. How far is it okay to go?) How much do I include for a younger readership? What is acceptable? Whereas, if you write for adults, there are fewer restrictions in that way. I write YA because I have a young mindset, and I like to keep as youthful in mind and body as I can.
Kaye: What is the biggest reward you get from your writing?
M.J.: The readership, when you get feedback that your writing means different things to different people. No one has the same opinion. And when someone truly gets your story and relates to what you are trying to portray that is the biggest reward.
Kaye: How does your love of crystals play a role in your writing?
M.J.: I collect crystals have done for years. My first was a malachite, which is a green crystal and a stone of transformation! Crystals are a crucial part of the Curse of Time series, Bloodstone and Golden Healer, and will also be in the third book, still to be named. Crystals are magical! The main protagonist, Amelina, learns about her magical ancestry and how to wield magic to protect her family and her friend Esme, the vulnerable mental health protagonist, the mirror girl, from harm.
Kaye: Books 1 & 2 of your Curse of Time series are Bloodstone and Golden Healer, respectively. Would you like to tell about this series?
M.J.: The story setting is Cambridge, England, where I used to live.
It is inspired by:
The Corpus Christi Chronophage clock on King’s parade and its three creatures: the grasshopper, the mythological midsummer fly, and the dragon, (invented by Dr. John C. Taylor, OBE who I had the pleasure of meeting!)
Juniper Artland’s sculptural park, crystal grotto, (crafted by artist Anya Gallaccio,) in Wilkieston, near Edinburgh, Scotland.
It is a light (crystal magic,) and dark tale of a girl’s transformation, her discovery of who she is, who she can trust and how to cure her father of a debilitating aging curse. As the series continues, the storyline of all the characters evolves. In this process, we learn more about the antagonist, Ryder, who is a dark demon, a shadow sorcerer, with a creepy panther. And book three has the extraordinary dragon clock timepiece! A dragon like one you have never met before!
Kaye: In addition to your novels, you’ve had stories published in several short fiction anthologies, including Nightmareland, in which I also have a story featured. (I didn’t realize that until I visited your author page on Amazon.) What is your preference: writing fiction in short or long form? Why?
M.J.: Yes, I began writing short fiction horror/dark fiction through the training ground of Nightmareland!
My preference… long form is so rewarding when I write that final chapter. I always feel such a sense of accomplishment. But it is so difficult in its production, because of its size, the sheer volume of the project. And a series is even harder.
Short form is easier to get to the nugget of the story. I love that about short form. Both are wonderful. I’m not sure which I prefer… I love them both, but for different reasons!
Kaye: If you could meet and talk with one literary figure, dead or alive, who would it be? Why?
M.J.: Ah, just one? Oscar Wilde, as I’d love to ask him about his portrayal of Dorian Grey, in the Picture of Dorian Gray. The antagonist, Ryder, in the Curse of time series was based on him. Dorian’s narcissistic vanity, his longing for beauty, for youth, his charm, and his excesses that is Ryder.
Reading from “The Seagull Man” by M.J. Mallon
Midnight Garden Book Trailer
Excerpt From “The Peddler”, by Alex Constance
Excerpt From “Fire Sale at the Burdock Family Business”, by Robb T. White
Robbie Cheadle started the “Growing Bookworms” blog series back in 2019. It was the first series that she brought to Writing to be Read, and is the longest running blog series to date on Writing to be Read. It has been a wonderful series, which originated with her Sir Chocolate series characters, and all the creative ways in which she encouraged her own sons to read and enjoy the world of literature. It has now grown into a discussion of children’s books and literature as the series progresses. Now, after six years, Robbie’s bookworms are grown and she is ready to move on with a new series, which I’ll tell you a little about below. But first, let’s celebrate the series by spotlighting all the fabulous banners Robbie has created for the “Growing Bookworms” series over the years with her darling fondant art as we bid “Growing Bookworms” farewell.
Growing Bookworms
(The fondant village is the latest banner. Click to the right for a trip back through time to the first banner with Sir Chocolate and Silly Willy back in 2019.)
Welcome “Robbie Reads and Cooks”
In her new blog series, “Read and Cook”, Robbie plans to share posts containing a book review paired with a recipe. I hope you will join us in welcoming this new and creative blog series for Robbie. I think it will be interesting to see what Robbie’s literary tastes cook up.
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October Release: Midnight Garden
17 authors bring you 21 magnificent dark tales. Stories of magic, monsters and mayhem. Tales of murder and madness which will make your skin crawl. These are the tales that explore your darkest fears. Read them in the Midnight Garden… if you dare.
Contributing authors include Paul Kane, Ell Rodman, DL Mullan, Joseph Carrabis, Roberta Eaton Cheadle, Denise Aparo, Jon Shannon, Zack Elafy, Paul Martz, Robb T. White, Abe Margel, Julie Jones, Molly Ertel, Peter McKay, Kaye Lynne Booth, Danaeka Scrimshaw, and M.J. Mallon, author of the winning story in the 2024 WordCrafter Dark Fiction Contest.
Scheduled for release on October 8th. Don’t miss the WordCrafter Midnight Garden Book Blog Tour October 7 – 14, with guest posts and audio/video readings by contributing authors, and a great giveaway. So be sure to join us in sending this dark fiction anthology off right.
Tales From the Hanging Tree News
There exists a tree that is timeless, spanning across all dimensions, which absorbs every life as those who are hanged as they die… and it remembers every one. The stories within are a select few of the Tales From the Hanging Tree.
September saw the release of Tales From the Hanging Tree: Imprints of Tragedy. We launched it with a great blog tour featuring guest posts or excerpt readings from contributing authors. If you missed it, you can access each stop through the links in the tour schedule below. You can get your copy at your favorite retailer through Books2Read: https://books2read.com/Hanging-Tree
Tour Schedule
Monday Sept. 9 –Writing to be Read– Reading Excerpt by Joseph Carrabis & Guest Sylva Fae
Friday Sept. 13 – Writing to be Read– Reading Excerpt by DL Mullan & Guest Matt Usher
We also had a cool giveaway during the tour. The winners received a free digital copy of Tales From the Hanging Tree: Imprints of Tragedy.
And the winners are…
T.W. Dittmer
Merril D. Smith
C.E. Robinson
We also had promotional posts appear on the Joseph Carrabis blog site, so if you’d like to learn more about the anthology, click on the links below to see those posts.
Friday Sept. 13 – Writing to be Read – Reading Excerpt by Dl Mullan & Guest Matt Usher
The Giveaway
Follow the tour and leave a comment at each stop you visit to let us know you were there and earn an entry in the giveaway for a free digital copy of Tales From the Hanging Tree.
About Tales From the Hanging Tree
Tales from the Hanging Tree is a wonderfully dark, themed anthology which revolves around an ephemeral and timeless hanging tree that absorbs the memories of all hanging victims. This WordCrafter Press anthology was created by invitation only and includes stories from authors Kaye Lynne Booth, Paul Kane, DL Mullan, C.R. Johansson, Joseph Carrabis, Sylva Fae, and Matt Usher.
Book Trailer
Inspiration for Death for Sale, by Matt Usher
Hanging is harder than it looks. In media, you’re more likely to find your average strangulation hanging. This belies a long history of hanging development. Strangulation is more of an amateur, homespun kind of hanging. Many works in this collection consider this to great effect. Others prefer the cleaner solutions. They both have their appeal.
The history of hanging, dating back to at least Homer, converges in different nations to a common point of development. An odd form of mercy: you see, there’s the short drop, the medium drop, and the long drop of the famed “long drop, short stop”. This is because the merciful version of the art of hanging causes death by cervical fracture long before the patient can enjoy asphyxia. Cleaner that way. No risk of having to watch the hanged make a drama out of the proceedings.
The body’s weight does all the work, leaving the executioner to the simple task of pulling a lever. The English, masters of execution that they were, with a long, long history of hanging innocents, had it down to an exact science. The solution is to make a table that compares the soon to be departed’s height and weight to an array of possible drop distances. This was, of course, to avoid the chances of decapitation with a too-long drop, or a drawn-out death by a too-short one. Jolly humanism at its finest. Wouldn’t want to cause a mess. Unless you happen to fall athwart the long history of botched hangings. But hey, you can’t get it right all the time.
You’ll find plenty to learn about the history and morbid dynamics of hanging in this collection. In my own contribution that takes place in the near future, despite everything I’ve said, I’ve opted for a traditional death by strangulation. It just has that particular frisson. Makes your skin crawl. Others have plumped for the quick and painless style. Why be shy about it when you’re spoiled for choice? So much for the how of hanging; this anthology explores why. Even the Hanging Tree has its reasons.
About Matt Usher
Matt Usher is an agender creature in the big city. Before this, they had no other fiction publications. They write as a critic at Compulsive Reader. They cherish a love of the music of language and a polycule who are the dearest people in their life.
They are the strange sort of being that makes spreadsheets for fun. This is often in service of automatic calculations and data storage for traditional roleplaying games, their most important hobby. Collaborative creativity is one of their most valued things.
They play bass and trumpet, like pro wrestling, and write extremely nerdy poetry. They are immensely neurodivergent and rather queer.
Excerpt from “12 Angry Dead”, by DL Mullan
About 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 an award-winning poet.
Be sure to subscribe to her newsletters and follow her on social media. For further information, visit her at http://www.undawnted.com.
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That wraps up this stop and the WordCrafter Tales From the Hanging Tree Book Blog Tour. Thank you all for hanging around with us, and thanks to the contributors of the anthology for all their promotional efforts for this tour. Be sure to use the schedule above to go back and visit any stops that you missed, and don’t forget to comment so I know you were there and can enter you in the drawing for the giveaway. I’ll leave this open through the weekend and announce the winners in this month’s “WordCrafter News” on Monday, the 30th, so be watching for that. After all, you might be a winner!
