It's Release Day!

That's right!

Today's the day! ☺️🎉

My myth & monsters horror novel about a dysfunctional family with a lot of dark secrets, of mythological proportions, is now available:

 

Snakes and stones may break her spirit, but the truth can never hurt her.

Peg's twin sister vanished months ago and her mother has checked out. She's a mess and barely leaves her room. But Peg never gave up hope and expects Chrysa to return at any moment.

One night, after months of living a lonely life with only her cards and best friend to keep her company, Peg discovers a hidden room in their barn. An impossible place that shouldn't exist but leads her to an unfathomable discovery.

This revelation sets off a chain of events that will force Peg to confront the reality of who her mother really is, and what Peg will have to do to survive the ancient family legacy. But she can't do it alone. Not again...

If you're interested, you can purchase an eBook or print copy from these stores:

AMAZON | B&N

ANUCI PRESS WEBSITE

You can also...

ADD IT TO GOODREADS

I'd like to thank Tony Anuci for giving my book a wonderful home, Adrian Medina for the fantastic cover, and Katarina Yerger for editing.

SO EXCITING!

😁

Stories, Stories, Everywhere!

Hey! How are you today? Hope March is treating you well because it's almost over. One more week to go! 😬

I'm looking forward to the four-day weekend. I always look forward to time off with my husband.

So, the last two weeks have been super busy for me. I've been working on edits, and they're pretty intense. Not to mention my short story collection. Yep, that's right. I'm finally putting together a short story collection.

Well, um, not exactly one...

Okay, let's start from the beginning.

Last year (in December) I started going through my short story files and made a list of the ones that I wanted to include in my first short story collection. I didn't put any pressure on myself, or set a date to have this done by, I just wanted to get an idea of how many I actually have... and ended up adding about twenty-three stories to a new Word doc. 

That's a lot, right? 😳 

Anyway, I didn't touch the doc until the beginning of this month, when I decided it was time to assess what I had. The only way to do that was to start revising these tales.

I spent that whole week revising, rewriting, and moving stories around. But there were still too many. The collection was just under 80k words, and I wanted it to be much shorter than that. So, what did I do? I decided to split it up into two volumes! 

Yep, that's right. Why not give myself more work? 😅

So, I transferred a bunch of these shorties to another new document, and added several more to even out the two volumes. Then spent another week revising the rest of the stories.

It was a lot of work but I really enjoyed the process. Revisiting these tales was also very cool. I got the chance to rewrite a bunch of them, and added new elements to enhance what was already there. Some of these stories were old, but I managed to revive quite a few, made them a lot better. Stronger than they were to begin with. I even renamed quite a few.

So, all of this means that I now have TWO SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS: 17 stories in each, just over 50k words. Yay!!

Last night, I finished revising the last story and added both volumes to my Paperwhite for one final proofread. I'll put them aside for a bit so I can get some distance, as well as put all my focus on the edit I'm currently working on.

Well, that's it for now. I'm all out of words, but wanted to post an update. I mean, it's been a bit quiet around here. I haven't even had time to read and post reviews for the last few weeks! 😫

Have an awesome week!!

IN EXCESS OF DARK by Red Lagoe

In Excess of Dark by Red Lagoe
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've been looking forward to reading this novella for a while, and thanks to Red I got a chance to experience the darkness that is this brilliant story.

Karina is still dealing with the death of her father when she heads to the mountains for some family fun with her husband and teenage son. But life has a way of making her most dreaded thoughts a reality...

Wow. This is an intense story. It's also very sad and quite unsettling. The vivid, macabre imagery is as disturbing as the psychological situations Karina finds herself in. A lot of what happens is presented in a way that makes the reader question if everything she's seeing and experiencing is actually really happening. Or is everything just the delusions of a grieving woman who blames herself for all the awful things in her life?

I found this novella to be very emotional. A fever dream that you don't wake up from because things never stop coming. Karina deals with a lot, and that ending is... Yikes!

Yeah, this is an awesome and quite gruesome story. Loved it!

 

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A Bit of an Update

Hey! How are you today? Long time no see. Well, I've been posting book reviews, but not much else. Why? After an extensive novel revision (Jan) followed by an extensive novel edit (Jan/Feb), my husband took a two-week break and we had an awesome time! ☺️

When he went back to work, I was initially planning to take another week off to catch up on some reading, and figure out what to work on next. Except, there were three ideas that wouldn't leave me alone. And no matter how much I tried, I just couldn't decide which one to work on next.

So, after some thinking and talking to my husband (who always helps me sort out my chaotic thoughts when they run riot) I decided to temporarily shift my focus away from these pesky ideas. Instead, I'm going to concentrate on revising my short story collection!

That's right. Late last year I went through my short stories and picked out the ones I'd like to include. So far, the collection is 76k words. This might be a bit long, or it might be perfect. I'll decide while/after completing the revision. I just need to come up with a name...

I'm actually very excited about finally tackling this. Plus, it will give me time to keep brainstorming the pesky novella ideas.

It feels great to have some direction again. And a new goal for March.

Oh, there's another thing that I wanted to mention. If you follow me on Twitter or IG then you know that one of my 'publishers' has decided to ghost me. Aesthetic Press hasn't contacted me in over eight months and has been ignoring my emails for two. It's a shitty situation, one that has given me quite a bit of stress because I feel like my Horrormance slasher is been held ransom.

But as far as I'm concerned this person has obviously walked away from their 'company' and has breached her own contract several times. No communication. No editing. No response. Disappeared from the face of the Earth. WTH is that about?! 😡 But you know what made me feel better? Picking a new name for my novel and updating all the relevant files. It's strange but doing something this simple helped me let go of some of the disappointment and anger I've been feeling about this shitty situation.

It's the little things that make a difference.

Anyway, that's about it. I just wanted to post a little something.

Have a great weekend!

THE CRANE HUSBAND by Kelly Barnhill

The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was in the mood for another novella and decided to get stuck into this one because I love stories featuring birds in some way.

When the mother of a fifteen-year-old girl brings home a crane that's as tall as a man, their way of life changes instantly. Her mother starts neglecting both of her children, and looks more beaten down every day. But this teenager isn't about to give up or give in...

Well, this is one dark and very surreal story that deals with some pretty heavy stuff. Child neglect. Domestic violence. Corporations taking over the farming industry. Denial.

It's like a fever dream that pulls the reader deep into the depths of desperation.

We never find out the narrator's actual name, although she uses the name Bruce for business purposes. Her tenacity to keep the family together and protect her little brother drives most of her motivation to keep the house functioning even when her mother sabotages everything for her new 'man'.

This is a sombre and very bleak fairy tale with some disturbing imagery that leads to quite an unsettling conclusion.

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BARREN COVE by Ariel S. Winter

Barren Cove by Ariel S. Winter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I remember picking this up during one of our many thrift store adventures several years ago because it sounded very interesting. I mean, it's about robots and I LOVE robot stories. Always have.

Mr. Sapien is an old robot who wants to get away from the city for a while. He wants to figure things out, repair himself. So, he rents a cabana at Barren Cove, and instead of finding peace, he gets wrapped up in the bizarre lives of the Asimov 3000 family...

Wow. I REALLY enjoyed this story! A lot.

It's hard to believe but, at its core, this is a gothic tale. Everything about this family, location, weather, and circumstances is the epitome of this genre. But instead of people, it's robots who are living their isolated, messed-up lives inside a Victorian mansion full of secrets that sits on a cliff and overlooks the ocean.

And what a twisted bunch they are.

There's even a story within a story, in true Wuthering Heights fashion. As well as unethical Frankenstein-esque creations. Even a little of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? And it all comes together beautifully.

One of my favourite things about this book is how all the characters are introduced as if we're supposed to already know them, and their individual stories all start to take shape as Dean, the house computer fills in the blanks for Sapien. Only for him to find out that things aren't as they seem and he might not discover what he wants to know from Mr. Beachstone.

Ah, Beachstone. The only human who grows from child to man in a home of robots. Asimov 3000 was obsessed with humans. His daughter Mary is kind but is suffering damsel syndrome. His son Kent is cruel and angry, curious. Then there's Clarke, a bit of a psycho with a small amount of empathy. And Philip. Poor sweet and innocent Phil. I can't forget about Sapien. The mysterious narrator who is damaged and lost, searching for something even though he's not sure what it is.

Yeah, this is a fantastic piece of SF fiction that puts robots in the shoes usually worn by humans. This family is full of drama, tragedy, and the familiar existential crisis of creation.

Loved it!

 

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PIRANESI by Susanna Clarke

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

Well, I didn't expect to be DNFing this book, so I'm really disappointed. 😧

Piranesi sounded intriguing and the cover is lovely. Hell, I even bought the hardback. And tonight, I finally decided it was time to get stuck into it.

The story started off slow, but that's fine because I like a slow burn. Then the main character won't stop talking about the same thing over and over again. Still, I hung on until page 51. That's when I had to admit that it's not a slow burn, it's just downright boring. And SO repetitive.

Still, I skimmed ahead because I heard it's worth the payoff. Unfortunately, I don't agree. Even skimming, I was bored. Started getting a headache.

Anyway, I'm putting it down at 131 pages because I can't take it anymore. I don't even care about the ending. Ugh.

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BLEEDING INTO NEW WORLDS by Sarah Jane Huntington

Bleeding Into New Worlds by Sarah Jane Huntington
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm a huge fan of Sarah Jane Huntington's work, so I love getting stuck into her stories.

Anna doesn't belong anywhere. She's all alone in the world and searching for a purpose, when she meets a group of people who welcome her into their lives and make astral travel sound easy. But nothing is easy in this world...

Yikes. This turned out to be quite an intriguing and totally fascinating trip down the darkest rabbit hole. The layers of reality are peeled back to reveal some wondrous and terrifying places that are so vivid, the imagery and gruesome worldbuilding will stay with me for a long while.

Anna's a lost soul whose vulnerability shines through every page. My sympathy for her never wavered. Not even through the most violent parts because her personal story is as horrifying as it is amazing.

There's a bit of Hellraiser within this very macabre cosmic tale about betrayal and self-discovery. About how important self-acceptance is in its many forms.

I loved this novella. It's another beautifully-written gem.

 

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