Day 4 of the WordCrafter “Lingering Spirit Whispers” Book Blog Tour: Interview with author Roberta Eaton Cheadle

Lingering Spirit Whispers Book Blog Tour

Welcome to Day #4 of the WordCrafter Lingering Spirit Whispers Book Blog Tour, where we’re celebrating the release of the Lingering Spirit Whispers paranormal anthology set. This unique paranormal set combines three paranormal anthologies into a single set for ghosties galore, and you can get your copy here.

Lingering Spirit Whispers

Today we’re over at Un dawnted, where D.L. Mullen interviews contributing author, Roberta Eaton Cheadle, the only author beside myself to contribute stories to all three anthologies.

Roberta Eaton Cheadle is writer of young adult and adult fiction in the supernatural fantasy, historical horror, and historical supernatural genres.To date, Roberta has published two novels, Through the Nethergate and A Ghost and His Gold, and several short stories in various anthologies including Whispers of the Past and Spirits of the West, and Where Spirits Linger edited and compiled by Kaye Lynne Booth, and Spellbound, compiled by Dan Alatorre.Roberta has a historical supernatural novel set during the Second Anglo Boer War in South Africa coming out in early 2021.When she is not writing, Roberta enjoys working in the garden and creating fondant and cake artworks.

Her stories of chilling encounters, “The Last of the Lavender” and “Missed Signs”, were featured in Whispers of the Past.

Cheadle also has two stories of paranormal encounters on treks through the South African bush are featured in Spirits of the West – “The Thirstyland Journey” and “The Ghost in the Mound”.

And her tale of the completion of business left unfinished, “Listen to Instructions” is featured in Where Spirits Linger.

You can join in on DL Mullen’s interview with Roberta over at Un dawnted here: http://www.undawnted.com/2021/12/wordcrafter-lingering-spirit-whispers_2.html

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Book your WordCrafter Book Blog Tour today!


Day 3 of the WordCrafter “Lingering Spirit Whispers” Book Blog Tour: Interview with author Jeff Bowles

Lingering Spirit Whispers Book Blog Tour

Welcome to Day #3 of the WordCrafter Linger Spirits Whisper Book Blog Tour, where we’re celebrating the release of Linger Spirits Whisper paranormal anthology set. Connoisseurs of ghost stories will want to add this unique paranormal set to their collections. The release is today and you can get your copy here.

Lingering Spirit Whispers

Today we’re over at Un dawnted, where D.L. Mullen is interviewing contributing author Jeff Bowles, who has stories in two of the three anthologies included in this set.

Jeff Bowles is a science fiction and horror writer from the mountains of Colorado. The best of his outrageous and imaginative work can be found in God’s Body: Book One – The Fall, Godling and Other Paint Stories, Fear and Loathing in Las Cruces, and Brave New Multiverse. He has published work in magazines and anthologies like PodCastle, Tales from the Canyons of the Brave New Multiverse. He has published work in magazines and anthologies like PodCastle, Tales from the Canyons of the Damned, the Threepenny Review, and Dark Moon Digest. Jeff earned his Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing at Western State Colorado University. He currently lives in the high-altitude Pikes Peak region, where he dreams strange dreams and spends far too much time under the stars. Jeff’s new novel, Love/Madness/Demon, is available on Amazon now!

His story “A Peaceful Life I’ve Never Known” was the winning story in the 2019 WordCrafter Paranormal Short Fiction Contest and is featured in Whispers of the Past.

And his story “Wenekia” is featured in Spirits of the West.

I hope that you will join us and follow the rest of the tour to learn more about the stories included in this set and their authors. Undawnted does not have commenting abilities, but feel free to leave any comments you have on the interview here: http://www.undawnted.com/2021/12/wordcrafter-lingering-spirit-whispers.html

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Book your WordCrafter Book Blog Tour today!


Day 2 of the WordCrafter “Lingering Spirit Whispers” Book Blog Tour: Interview with author Kaye Lynne Booth

Lingering Spirit Whispers Book Blog Tour

Welcome to Day #2 of the WordCrafter Lingering Spirit Whispers Book Blog Tour, where we are celebrating the December 1st release of the Lingering Spirit Whispers paranormal anthology set. This unique collection of ghosties galore is a must read for all lovers of paranormal fiction. Available for pre-order now.

Lingering Spirit Whispers

We’re hanging out over at Un dawnted, where D.L. Mullen is interviewing contributing authors from the anthologies included in this set, and today’s author guest is… um… me! Kaye Lynne Booth. I have one story featured in each anthology. Un dawnted has no commenting capabilities, so please leave any comments you might have about the interview here, on Writing to be Read.

Kaye Lynne Booth lives, works, and plays in the mountains of Colorado. With a dual emphasis M.F.A. in Creative Writing, writing is more than a passion. It’s a way of life. She’s a multi-genre author, who finds inspiration from the nature around her, and her love of the old west, and other odd and quirky things which might surprise you.

She has short stories featured in the following anthologies: The Collapsar Directive (“If You’re Happy and You Know It”); Relationship Add Vice (“The Devil Made Her Do It”); Nightmareland (“The Haunting in Carol’s Woods”); Whispers of the Past (“The Woman in the Water”); Spirits of the West (“Don’t Eat the Pickled Eggs”) and Where Spirits Linger (“The People Upstairs”). Her western, Delilah, her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets, and her short story collection, Last Call, are all available in both digital and print editions.

In her spare time, she keeps up her author’s blog, Writing to be Read, where she posts reflections on her own writing, author interviews and book reviews, along with writing tips and inspirational posts from fellow writers. She’s also the founder of WordCrafter Enterprises. In addition to creating her own imprint in WordCrafter Press, she offers quality author services, such as editing, social media & book promotion.

In Whispers of the Past, my story is “The Woman in the Water”.

In Spirits of the West, my story is “Don’t Eat the Pickled Eggs”.

In Where Spirits Linger, my story is “The People Upstairs”.

You can pop over and join us for my interview with D.L. Mullen here: http://www.undawnted.com/2021/11/wordcrafter-lingering-spirit-whispers_30.html

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Book your WordCrafter Book Blog Tour today!


Halloween Special: 3 Days Only

Covid 19 brought changes to the way we do many things, including how we celebrate Halloween. Many folks may not be comfortable being exposed to children in costume coming to their door. Many parents may not be comfortable letting their children go door-to-door this year. I know of neighborhood residents who have gotten together to allow trick-or-treating only within a close-knit group, where everyone knows everyone else and they are all vacinated, and I’ve seen more haunted houses this year than ever before.

One thing that hasn’t changed though, is the love of a good ghost story or two on Halloween night. That’s why this weekend only, you can get a digital copy of Where Spirits Linger, this year’s WordCrafter paranormal anthology, to draw your ghost stories from. You’ll be captivated with the lingering spirits in these short stories, including the winning story from the 2021 WordCrafter Paranormal Short Fiction Contest, “Olde-Tyme Village”, by Christa Planko. Work from other authors which is also included in this short fiction collection: Roberta Eaton Cheadle’s ghost with an agenda in “Listen to Instructions”, my own ghosts who want to care and be cared for in “The People Upstairs”, S.L. Kretsmer’s ghost who wants to be remembered in a positive light in “The Final Portrait”, Stevie Turner’s ghost who wants revenge in “David’s Revenge”, and you’re sure to get a chuckle from Enid Holden’s ghosts in “The Chosen Few”.

Don’t miss out on these great ghost stories this Halloween. Only .99 cents starting today through Halloween. Celebrate your Halloween Where Spirits Linger. Click the link below to have your digital copy delivered right to your reading device of choice.

Where Spirits Linger

https://books2read.com/u/mYGyNG

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Like this post? Let me know in the comments. You can be sure not to miss any of Writing to be Read’s great content by subscribing to e-mail or following on WordPress. If you found this content helpful or entertaining, please share.


Anthology Release, Winner Announcement and Pre-Call for Short Fiction Submissions

Last week saw the release of the 2021 WordCrafter paranormal anthology, Where Spirits Linger. I was pleased with he stories that are featured in this anthology. I had worked with three of the contributing authors in past anthologies, but two were new to me, including the winner of the 2021 Short Fiction Contest, Christa Planko, who sent in a wonderfully eerie piece of flash fiction, “Olde-Tyme Village”, which gives me goosebumps.

For the release, we ran a book blog tour and giveaway, which I feel was a success, resulting in a few more book sales. The winner of the WordCrafter “Where Spirits Linger” Book Blog Tour giveaway was Cindy Georgakas, who commented on Miriam Hurdle’s blog stop The Many Showers of Blessings. Cindy, if you will contact me at KLBWordCrafter@gmail.com to let me know your format preference, (epub, mobi, or pdf), I’ll be pleased to send you your free digital copy of Where Spirits Linger. Congratulations!

If you didn’t win this time, I hope you’ll drop in on our next WordCrafter Book Blog Tour. For now, you can purchase your copy of this original anthology here:

https://www.amazon.com/Where-Spirits-Linger-Lynne-Booth-ebook/dp/B09GNZJVJ5

I want your Visions

Now that Where Spirits Linger has been released, it’s time to gear up for next year’s contest. There were only six contributing authors in this year’s anthology, but next year I’m hoping to be able to include more, so I am planning to broaden the scope of the theme for 2022. In the past, WordCrafter anthologies have had paranormal themes because I’m a sucker for a good ghost story, but for 2022, I plan to broaden that out to include the fantasy, science fiction and horror genres. For Visions, your story can still have a ghost if you like, but it won’t be required. I’m announcing this ahead of time because I want you to have time to limber up your fingers and your minds, and send me your very best stories. What I’m looking for in the 2022 WordCrafter anthology are thought provoking stories that will stay with readers long after they close the book.

WordCrafter will be open for submissions beginning on January 1 through the submission deadline of May 31, 2022. The winner will receive a $25.00 Amazon gift card and their story will be featured in Visions. All finalists will also receive an invitation to be included in the anthology, which offers a small royalty share for your story contribution. My submission guidelines are pretty simple, but they are different from last year, so be sure to read and follow them carefully. Submit your story with a cover letter to KLBWordCrafter@gmail.com with “Submission: [Your Title] in the subject line and pay the $5 entry fee in the PayPal box on the submissions page, which will go up January 1st, 2022, when submissions open.

Visions: Submission Guidelines

Submission Dates: January 1st, 2022 to May 31st, 2022

Genres: Paranormal, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror

Word Count: up to 10,000 words

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. 

Multiple Submissions: Yes

Simultaneous Submissions: No

Submit: MS Word doc or RTF file

If you don’t know what standard manuscript format is, review, for example, https://www.shunn.net/format/classic/

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Like this post? Let me know in the comments. You can be sure not to miss any of Writing to be Read’s great content by subscribing to e-mail or following on WordPress. If you found this content helpful or entertaining, please share.


Day 6 of the WordCrafter “Where Spirits Linger” Book Blog Tour

Where Spirits Linger Book Blog Tour

To wrap-up the WordCrafter Where Spirits Linger Book Blog Tour, we have a guest post by contributing author, S.L. Kretschmer about the inspiration behind her story, “The Final Portrait”. I hope you all have enjoyed following this tour with us. Don’t forget to leave a comment. Every comment at each stop earns an entry into a random drawing for a free digital copy of Where Spirits Linger.

Guest post by S.L. Kretschmer, author of The Final Portrait

The Final Portrait evolved from prompts I received in round 1 of the 2020 NYC Midnight Short Story Competition – Ghost story, a monument, deodorant. My mind immediately flew to the Western Front of World War I and the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme in Northern France. I was fortunate to have visited the memorial in 2011, boarding a bus in the French town of Lille, and travelling south towards the battlefields. Little could prepare me for the emotion I felt on the trip. The scars across the landscape, now lush and green, could be easily identified, and it was not difficult to imagine the horrific scenes of trench warfare.

Thiepval Memorial

I began to research World War I paintings and came across a particularly moving one by the Irish artist William Orpen. Orpen was an official World War I Artist, and his depiction of a soldier, bloodied and lying in an alien landscape, devoid of nature and pitted with craters and pools of fetid water, was confronting. Orpen struggled with the brutality and grisly sights he documented for those back home and claimed to have been struck by a phantom force while painting in an abandoned field.

William Orpen

These nuggets of information were gelling into a thought. What would those painted in death have thought of the depiction? Of family and friends who might recognize their loved one? Of who they were, compared to how they are remembered in this final rendering? The Final Portrait.

The Final Portrait, by S.L. Kretschmer

S. L. Kretschmer is a born and bred South Australian, recently embracing both a tree change and becoming an empty nester in the beautiful wine region of the Barossa Valley. She has a BA in Creative Writing, and Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies. Her stories have been featured in the anthologies A Flash of Brilliance and Tales from the Upper Room, and have also been published by Haunted Waters Press, Two Sisters Publishing, 101 Words, Beyond Words Literary Magazine, Bluing the Blade and inScribe Literary Journal.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Where Spirits Linger

Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/Where-Spirits-Linger-Lynne-Booth-ebook/dp/B09GNZJVJ5

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Thanks for joining us today! And if you missed any of the blog stops along the way, you can find them at the links below. Drop by and catch the ones you missed, and leave a comment to let us know you were there and get a chance for the free didgital copy of Where Spirits Linger.

Sept. 20 – Intro./Enid’s promo – Writing to be Read/Review – Undawnted

https://writingtoberead.com/2021/09/20/welcome-to-the-wordcrafter-where-spirits-linger-book-blog-tour/

Sept. 21 – Guest Post – Roberta Eaton Cheadle/Review – The Showers of Blessings

Sept. 22 – Guest Post – Kaye Lynne Booth – Patty’s World

Sept. 23 – Interview with Christa – Roberta Writes

Sept. 24 – Guest Post – Stevie Turner/ Review – Zigler’s News

https://ziglernews.blogspot.com/2021/09/where-spirits-linger-wordcrafter-book.html

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Book your WordCrafter Book Blog Tour today!


Updates & Reminders

Where Spirits Linger

Update – Where Spirits Linger

The 2021 WordCrafter paranormal anthology Where Spirits Linger is scheduled for release on September 20th, and is now available for pre-order. Featuring original paranormal tales by Kaye Lynne Booth, Roberta Eaton Cheadle, Stevie Turner, Enid Holden S.L. Kretschmer, and Christa Planko, author of the winning story in the 2021 WordCrafter Paranormal Short Fiction Contest. It will be available in both print and digital formats, so be sure and order your copy today.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Reminder – Open for Submissions

Submissions open today for the WordFire Press Mirror, Mirror anthology. This is a paid writing gig, so be sure to get your story in for consideration. For those of you who missed the submission call, you can learn more and read submission guidelines in my oroginal post.

To increase the chance of being accepted, I recommend reading the newly released, Slushpile Memories: How NOT to Get Rejected, by Kevin J. Anderson. It is written as a guide for authors submitting their work to publishers in the hopes that their work will be accepted and published, offering tips and advice to avoid the fateful rejection slip. The major points that came through were to me from this helpful guide were to be professional at all times, and to READ AND FOLLOW THE SUBMISSION GUIDELINES. I know from the preparation that I’ve been given for being a slushpile reader that these can and will be crucial factors in submitting a story that will make the final cut, so take heed as you prepare your submission.

Submissions will be open through October, so there is plenty of time to write and polish your submission. Click on the link to the submission guidelines above and read them over. It’s a theme that you can have a lot of fun with. Send us your best stuff.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Like this post? Let me know in the comments. You can be sure not to miss any of Writing to be Read’s great content by subscribing to e-mail or following on WordPress. If you found this content helpful or entertaining, please share.


See the WordCrafter New Beginnings Character Development Panel Discussion.

The 2021 Wordcrafter New Beginnings Virtual Writing Conference did not turn out as well as I had hoped, by any means. This year, we had a two-day event with a pre-event promotional and social day on Facebook to launch it. If you happened to attend any part of the event, I want to thank you for your support. For those of you who did not attend, and that is probably most of you as attendence was way down from the 2020 conference. I’m sure the pandemic had a lot to do with both last year’s and this year’s turn-outs.

Whatever the reason for the poor turn-out in 2021, I think we all still had fun just getting together and talking about the craft. We had a great group of authors, who jumped in and carried on without me when I experienced an internet outage, causing me to miss one full day of the conference. Let me tell you, as the host, that was really frustrating, because I didn’t know if things had continued on without me, or simply fallen apart, and I had no way to find out until I moved to another location where I knew I would have internet access for Day 2. But most of this great group of authors just picked up the ball and ran with it, even without their host to guide them. I guess it’s true that the show must go on.

It would be a shame to let all the hard work that myself and all of the wonderful authors who were kind enough to volunteer their time to present this conference go to waste. So, I made the keynote address by horror author, Paul Kane, available from the Conference Page, here on Writing to be Read or on WordCrafter’s YouTube page, immediately following the conference, and although the editing of the conference recordings has been slow, they will all eventually be released, as well.

The first of these has recently been posted to YouTube and can be accessed both there and on the Conference Page, as well as through the link below. It is the Character Development Panel Discussion, with authors Jim Nesbitt, Ellie Raine, Paul Kane, Chris Barili, and Mario Acevedo. It’s an interesting discussion, one that you’ll want to be sure and sit in on. You can even weigh in with your own thoughts on character development in the comments. And the best part is, it’s free!

Character Development Panel Discussion

________________________________________________________________________________

Like this post? Let me know in the comments. You can be sure not to miss any of Writing to be Read’s great content by subscribing to e-mail or following on WordPress. If you found this content helpful or entertaining, please share.


Announcing the winner of the 2021 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest

Where Spirits Linger

The winner of this contest was supposed to be announced by the end of May, but as I explained in my last post of the month, all contest submissions were asked to make some revisions and I couldn’t determine a winner until that was done, so I’d have the revised stories to choose from. However now, that has happened. I have all the stories back with revisions and the time has come to reveal the winner.

And the winner is…

I’m happy to announce that the winner of this year’s contest is Christa Planko for her story “Olde-Tyme Village“. The winning story will be featured in this year’s paranormal anthology, Where Spirits Linger and Christa will receive a $25 Amazon gift card.


And The Winner Is….

For the 2021 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest – You’ll have to wait and see

Where Spirits Linger

One of my biggest pet peeves is being fully immersed in a short story, only to have it end abruptly, like a slap in the face, leaving me scratching my head and saying, “Is that it?”. I am sure you know what I mean if you’re an avid reader, as most authors are. I think this is a problem found mostly in short fiction. Maybe the author cuts it short in order to meet a word count limit, or maybe they just aren’t sure how to wrap things up, so they jump right to ‘THE END’. No matter what the reason, the result is disappointment on the part of the reader, so it is worth the extra effort on the authors’ part, to take the time and effort to come up with the perfect ending for every story they write.

That’s why I’m postponing announcing the winner of the WordCrafter 2021 Short Fiction Contest, which I had planned to do before the end of May. I only had three entries for the contest this year. Each entry offered an excellent paranormal tale meeting the submission guidelines, but at the end of each one I found myself feeling disappointed, as if there should have been more to the story.

So, I’ve requested each author to revisit their endings and resubmit their stories before I make a decision on the winner. I’ve already received one story back with revisions and I’m waiting on the other two. When all three revised stories have been received, I’ll decide and announce the winner. These stories were all well written and I anticipate them being even better with the author revisions, so the decision won’t be easy.

Accepting Submissions: I want your ghost stories!

However, three submissions do not an anthology make, so I’m calling out for more submissions to fill the pages of Where Spirits Linger. Doesn’t every author have a ghost story hidden away somewhere? Contest guidelines asked for a paranormal tale with place being central element in the story. These new submissions won’t be eligible for the contest, so they will no entry fee attached. If you have a story that fits the theme, send it to me at kayebooth@yahoo.com, for a chance to have it included in the WordCrafter Press 2021 anthology, Where Spirits Linger.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

For the WordCrafter “Poetry Treasures” Book Blog Contest – That one I can tell you.

Poetry Treasures Book Blog Tour

For the Poetry Treasures Book Blog Tour, which ran May 24 – 30, we did a giveaway and three readers who followed the tour and commented will receive a free digital copy (.mobi, .epub, or .pdf) of Poetry Treasures! The three lucky winners are: Jules, Jill Weatherbolt, and Priscilla Bettis. If you are a winner, please contact me at KLBWordCrafter@gmail.com and tell me which format you prefer to receive your copy. (If you have already purchased a copy of Poetry Treasures, you may choose another WordCrafter Press book instead.)

Poetry Treasures had a great seven day tour with a guest post about the poetic inspiration behind a poem by a different contributing poet at each bIog stop. The anthology and the tour were amazing collaborative efforts among nine poet/authors and myself to create a unique and moving collection of poetry. Also many thanks to Miriam Hurdle, Ritu Bhathal and Teagan Geneviene for hosting tour stops to support the poets and the tour. Without their participation, this tour would not have been possible.

If you missed this wonderful tour or maybe only missed a few of the stops, you can visit them at the links below:

Day 1 – Writing to be Read – Guest post by Jude Kirya Italaki

https://writingtoberead.com/2021/05/24/welcome-to-the-wordcrafters-poetry-treasures-book-blog-tour/

Day 2 – Robbie’s Inspiration – Guest post by Victoria Zigler

https://robbiesinspiration.wordpress.com/2021/05/25/wordcrafter-poetry-treasures-blog-tour-day-2-featuring-victoria-zigler/

Day 3 – But I smile anyway – Guest post by Goeff Le Pard

https://butismileanyway.com/2021/05/26/poetry-treasures-blogtour-featuring-geofflepard-bakeandwrite/

Day 4 – Teagan’s Books – Guest post by Frank Prem, plus a review by Teagan Genevienne

https://teagansbooks.com/2021/05/27/poetry-treasures-anthology-from-roberta-eaton-cheadle-kaye-lynne-booth/

Day 5 – Zigler’s News – Guest post by Kevin Morris, plus a review by Victoria Zigler

http://ziglernews.blogspot.com/2021/05/day-5-of-wordcrafter-poetry-treasures.html

Day 6 – Roberta Writes – Guest post by Annette Rochelle Aben

https://robertawrites235681907.wordpress.com/2021/05/29/day-6-of-the-wordcrafter-poetry-treasures-blog-tour-annette-rochelle-aben/

Day 7 – The Showers of Blessings – Guest post by Colleen M. Chesebro

https://theshowersofblessings.com/2021/05/29/poetry-treasure-blog-tour-featuring-colleen-chesebro/

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Like this post? Let me know in the comments. You can be sure not to miss any of Writing to be Read’s great content by subscribing to e-mail or following on WordPress. If you found this content helpful or entertaining, please share.