Zack Ellafy and “At the Mountains, Majesty” in Visions
Posted: October 15, 2022 Filed under: Anthology, Book Promotion, Book Release, Books, Fiction, Post-Apocalyptic, Science Fiction, Short Fiction, Stories, WordCrafter Press | Tags: Anthology, Post-Apocalyptic, Science Fiction, Visions, WordCrafter Press, Zack Ellafy Leave a comment
https://josephcarrabis.com/2022/10/15/zack-ellafys-at-mountains-majesty-now-in-visions-anthology/
Thanks to contributing author Joseph Carrabis giving us a taste of the stories in the new Visions anthology from WordCrafter Press. Follow the link to learn more.
Preorder Now:https://books2read.com/u/49Lk28
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Into the Catskills
Posted: September 18, 2019 Filed under: Books, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical Inspiration, Post-Apocalyptic, Writing, Writing for a YA Audience, Young Adult | Tags: Bunker Boy, Historical Fiction, Historical Inspiration, Inspiration, Jordan Elizabeth, Post-Apocalyptic, Writing for a YA Audience, Writing to be Read Leave a comment
I’m a huge history lover, so anything old has always sparked my interest. I imagine that an old building can tell me the secrets of the past. If I walk through its ancient doors, I’ll be transported back in time. I’ll be able to experience everything that came before.
It hasn’t yet, but I’m still hoping.
One day I was bored, probably tired from work, and decided to look at abandoned buildings online. I was scrolling through Pinterest and voila, there was a beautiful, crumbling resort. The image showed an old pool. Vines crept up broken windows and ferns fought their way through cracked cement. It was beautiful and haunting. I clicked to learn more, and discovered it was a resort from the Catskills.
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
In their heyday (1920s through the 1960s), the Catskill Mountains were home to numerous fancy resorts. People came from all over to experience the thrill of the mountains. Many New Yorkers left the city to experience the calm of the country. The popular movie, Dirty Dancing, takes place at a resort in the Catskills.
Overtime, interest waned. From articles I read online, it seems that the readily people could travel on airplanes to distant wonderlands, the less they wanted to travel upstate. There are still some resorts left and I hope to vacation there someday. I must admit, though, the abandoned resorts fascinate me more than the ones still standing.
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
While looking at more pictures of those abandoned resorts, a story idea came to me. The world ends and the remains of civilization are holed up inside a crumbling hotel. Thus was born my post-apocalyptic novella, BUNKER BOY. If you decide to read it, let me know what you think! I’d love to know if it has inspired you, too, to check out the old memories of the Catskills.
Jordan Elizabeth is a young adult fantasy author. She is most likely gazing at something in awe, something she will soon include in one of her novels. You can connect with Jordan via her website, JordanElizabethBooks.com.
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“God’s Body”: A post-apocalyptic tale with a new kind of hero.
Posted: July 20, 2019 Filed under: Book Review, Books, Fantasy, Fiction, Illustrations, Post-Apocalyptic, Pulp Fiction, Super Hero | Tags: Book Review, Fantasy, God's Body, Illustrations, Jeff Bowels, Pat R. Steiner, Post-Apocalyptic, Pulp Fiction, Superheroes, Writing to be Read 3 Comments
God’s Body, by Jeff Bowles has one of the most masterfully crafted openings that I have read in a long time. By the beginning of the second paragraph, he had placed me in the setting, I knew this was like no other story I had ever read, and I was hooked, which is what a great opening should do. It impressed me so, that I asked the author’s permission to reprint it here.
“The toe was an ungodly mountain of flesh. As massive as it was inexplicable. It clung to the Earth like a bulbous pink tumor. Enormous, all-encompassing, the height of a skyscraper, the breadth of Niagara Falls. Rain water washed through its thick patchwork of crevasses and cracks. Long vertical rivers lapped at skin-cell canyon walls. There were flesh creeks and tidal waves. The toenail itself was the hanging shelf of the world.
Then Harold looked higher and saw the rest. Lord God Almighty…”
You just can’t read this and not want to know more. It’s obvious this isn’t going to be your average, everyday story, and you must read on in anticipation of what will come next. It’s clear this will be a story of epic proportions, and Bowels does not disappoint. God’s Body is an Armageddon story like no other; a post apocalyptic tale of good vs. evil in the best of pulp fantasy traditions, if such traditions existed. Bowles pulls out all the stops, using humor, irony and contemplation of the human condition to tell his tale with skill and craftsmanship. Everything about this story is of epic scale.
I’m not going to give you a rundown of this story line because the whole thing was such an entertaining read that I wouldn’t want to give out any spoilers, but what I will tell you is that in addition to the wonderful writing talent of Bowles, the artistic craftsmanship of Writer’s of the Future illustrator Pat R. Steiner accompanies this story with some truly awesome illustrations like the one seen here.
A truly original story that puts a new twist to an age-old theme. Written with skill and talent in a literary work of true craftsmanship, God’s Body is like nothing else you’ve ever read. I give it five epic quills.
Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? Contact Kaye at kayebooth(at)yahoo(dot)com.
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Songs of Earth: A Teller’s Tale
Posted: August 10, 2018 Filed under: Book Review, Books, Fiction, Post-Apocalyptic, Science Fiction, World Building | Tags: Book Review, Eugene W. Cundiff, Post-Apocalyptic, Science Fiction, Songs of the Earth Leave a comment
The title is Songs of Earth: A Teller’s Tale, and the author, Eugene W. Cundiff is a story teller in following with the best of the tradition. A well-crafted science fiction post-apocalyptic story, with excellent world building, this book keeps the pages turning. Cundiff captures the imagination and doesn’t let go. I didn’t want to put it down.
Songs of Earth is a tale of an abandoned civilization, left by the Mongers, those who came before them, to fend for themselves in a harsh environment as best they could. On Luna, Elisheva is a Teller’s apprentice until the terraforming technology that enables their existence quits and she is sent with a group of Miners, a Marshall and an Engineer, on a journey into the wastelands, from which no one ever returns, to attempt repairs. In thier quest to save thier people, they uncover the secrets the Mongers never intended them to discover and travel much farther than any of them ever imagined they would have to repair the damaged machinery. And they solve the mystery of what happened to those who went into the wasteland before them, including Elisheva’s brother, but they aren’t the answers Elisheva had hoped to find.
Songs of Earth follows story telling traditions in exquisite form. I give it five quills.
Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? Contact Kaye at kayebooth(at)yahoo(dot)com.
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