Halloween Hauntings Sale at WordCrafter Press

I Love Halloween!

I may have mentioned that a few times before, but I really do love this time of year. October is such a fun month with scarecrows and jack-o-lanterns, creepy/crawlies, witches and warlocks, ghosts and demons, and all things of the scary variety. When my son, Michael, was little, maybe four or five, and approaching his first Halloween trick-or-treating with his older brothers and sisters, we talked through what he could expect. Our mantra became, “It will be scary, but it will be fun.” And it was. And for the rest of his short life, Halloween was always his favorite holiday, because he could dress up and pretend to be anyone or anything he wanted, at least for a short time.

2025 Dark Fiction Anthologies

So, when this time of year comes around, I always try to do special things to honor his memory. But, I’m a little old to dress in costume, so nowadays most of the fun stuff I do are things like putting out dark fiction anthologies, as I’ve done this year with Curses and Midnight Oil. But those are just two, the most recent in a whole slew of deliciously dark anthologies which have been published by WordCrafter Press. This year’s anthologies both turned out wonderfully. Curses: Chronicles of Darkness will be released Tuesday, September 29, and we’ll be running the WordCrafter Curses Book Blog Tour all this week, starting here, tomorrow, through October 3. Midnight Oil will be released October 28, just in time for Halloween, with a tour running all that week. I hope you’ll come celebrate both of these original anthologies with us this year

Other Halloween Hauntings from WordCrafter Press

During the month of October, all Halloween Hauntings (or dark fiction anthologies from WordCrafter Press), are on sale for our Halloween Hauntings Sale, October 1 – 31, 2025.

Midnight Dark Fiction Anthology Series

Midnight Roost and Midnight Garden, volumes 1 & 2 in the Midnight Dark Fiction Anthology series are both half price at $3.50 each through the links below.

Midnight Roost: Weird and Creepy Stories: https://books2read.com/MidnightRoost

Midnight Garden: Where Dark Tales Grow: https://books2read.com/MidnightGardenAnthology

Narrating The Paranormal Series

All three volumes in the Narrating the Paranormal Series are only .99 cents each through the links below.

Whispers of the Past: https://books2read.com/WhispersPast

Spirits of the West: https://books2read.com/SpiritsoftheWest

Where Spirits Linger: https://books2read.com/WhereSpiritsLinger1

Or you can get all three books in our trilogy volume, Lingering Spirit Whispers for only $2.99.

Lingering Spirit Whispers: https://books2read.com/LingeringSpiritWhispers

Themed Anthologies

You can get Tales From the Hanging Tree for only $2.99 through the link below.

Tales From the Hanging Tree: Imprint of Tragedy: https://books2read.com/Hanging-Tree

Once Upon an Ever After is only $2.99 through the link below.

Once Upon an Ever After: Modern Fairy Tales & Folklore: https://books2read.com/OnceUponanEverAfter

You can get Refracted Reflections for only $2.99.

Refracted Reflections: Twisted Tales of Duality & Deception: https://books2read.com/RefractedReflections


Merry Christmas from WordCrafter Press & Writing to be Read

We’ve had a great year here at WordCrafter Press & Writing to be Read, and it’s all because of you, our fabulous readers!

2024 Publications from WordCrafter Press

The D.I.Y. Author: Writer’s Resource

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…

Purchase Link: https://books2read.com/The-DIY-Author

Sarah: Book 2 of the Women in the West Adventure Series

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.

Purchase Link: https://books2read.com/Sarah-Women-in-the-West

The My Backyard Friends Kid’s Book Series

Feild of colorful flowers and butterflies in background. Digital copies of "Heather Hummingbird Makes a New Friend, Timothy Turtle Discovers Jellybeans, and Charlie Chickadee Gets a New Home in foreground. Text: My Backyard Friends Kid's Book Series

The My Backyard Friends kid’s book series is inspired by the birds and animals that visit the author Kaye Lynne Booth’s mountain home. Beautiful illustrations by children’s author, poet, and illustrator, Robbie Cheadle, bring the unique voices of the animal characters to life.

Purchase Links:

Heather Hummingbird Makes a New Friend (Ages 3-5): https://books2read.com/MBF-HeatherHummingbird

Timothy Turtle Discovers Jellybeans (Ages 3-5): https://books2read.com/MBF-TimothyTurtle

Charlie Chickadee Gets a New Home (Ages 6-8): https://books2read.com/MBF-CharlieChickadee

Tales From the Hanging Tree: Imprints of Tragedy Anthology

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.

Purchase Link: https://books2read.com/Hanging-Tree

Midnight Garden: Where Dark Tales Grow Anthology – Book 2 in the Midnight Anthology Series

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.

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

Reminder: ALL WordCrafter Press Books 50% off through January 1 on Smashwords

That’s right. You can get those WordCrafter Press books that have been sitting on your wishlist at 50% of during the Smashwords 2024 End of Year Sale. But you must act before January 1st, when the sale ends and these great discounts go away. And don’t forget that WordCrafter Press books make great holiday gifts, too. Get your copies today.

Shop the Smashwords 2024 End of Year Sale here: https://www.smashwords.com/shelves/promos/

2024 Highlights on Writing to be Read

On Writing to be Read, we’ve had several new monthly blog series debut. I introduced a new Monday blog series, “Everyone is a Critic”, where you can find out what I think about movies or television series I’ve watched. I brought back “Chatting with the Pros” on the second Saturday of each month, along with the debut of its sister series on the fourth Saturday, “Chatting with New Blood”, where I interview professional authors who are making it work, and rising authors about their books and lessons learned, respectively, and post my reviews of their books.

And Robbie Cheadle said goodbye to “Growing Bookworms” and introduced her new monthly series, “Read and Cook”, where each month, she reviews a book and provides a complimentary recipe with delectable photos. I believe this series will be quite popular, or at least, it has been so far. Robbie’s series appear on Wednesdays, and “Read and Cook” appears the second Wednesday of the month. The third and forth Wednesdays see her “Treasuring Poetry” series, featuring interviews with poets and reviews of their books, and “In Touch with Nature” featuring facts about African wildlife and Robbie’s brillant wildlife photography, videos and artwork.

2024 also saw a new addition to the Writing to be Read blog team, DL Mullan, with her new series “Undawntech”, where she explores the pros and cons of AI and other technology in our rapidly changing world.

And in honor of the season that is upon us, I’d like to call special attention to DL’s and Robbie’s holiday posts: “Undawntech: An A.I. Yuletide Carol” and “Read and Cook with Robbie Cheadle – Letters From Father Christmas, by J.R.R. Tolkien and a recipe for Christmas Cake“. Both are delightful, and just the thing to put you in a holiday mood.

In addition, Arthur Rosch’s monthly contribution, “Mind Fields”, brings poetry and essays with Art’s unique outlook on life, appears randomly, where there is space for it, often a fifth Wednesday or Friday, if there is one, or sometimes on the first Wednesday, as that’s an open spot, as well.

If you want to be sure to not to miss any of this great content, you can subscribe to Writing to be Read and receive notification of all new content right in your inbox. We’ve got a great new year ahead of us, so don’t miss a post.

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Note From the Author

That’s a recap of this past year for WordCrafter Press and Writing to be Read. I’m thankful for all that’s been accomplished and excited about the year to come. To find out what is in store, watch for this month’s “WordCrafter News” on the 30th.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from WordCrafter Press and the Writing to be Read blog team

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About author 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 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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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.

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This post is sponsored by The Rock Star & The Outlaw and WordCrafter Press.

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 drug 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.

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


Reviews Coming in for Midnight Garden

A great review for Midnight Garden: Where Dark Tales Grow on Carla Reads.


“Midnight Garden” Book Blog Tour Giveaway Winners!

We had a great tour for the release of Midnight Garden: Where Dark Tales Grow and now it’s time to announce who the lucky winners of the giveaway are.

And the winners are…

(Drum roll please)

  • Chris Hall
  • Annette Rochelle Aben
  • Gwen M. Plano

Congratulations ladies, and thank you for following the WordCrafter Midnight Garden Book Blog Tour. Your support is appreciated and I know you will enjoy this dark story collection. Happy reading!


Midnight Garden stories now on Joseph Carrabis: “Grand Ture”


Midnight Garden stories now on Joseph Carrabis: “The Tomb”


Final Day on the WordCrafter “Midnight Garden” Book Blog Tour

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.

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

Reading of “The Exchange” by Joseph Carrabis

Inspiration for “The Tomb”, by Joseph Carrabis

The Tomb

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

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

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Book your WordCrafter Book Blog Tour today!


Midnight Garden stories now on Joseph Carrabis: “The Exchange”


Day 7 of the WordCrafter “Midnight Garden” Book Blog Tour

Join us over at BookPlaces for Day 7 of the Wordcrafter Midnight Garden Book Blog Tour where cobtributing authors DL Mullan and Ell Rodman share their inspiration for their stories, “Kurst” and “The Drummer”, and another chance to win a free digital copy of Midnight Garden: Where Dark Tales Grow.


Midnight Garden stories now on Joseph Carrabis: “Striders”