Sam Knight's Blog, page 2
March 7, 2023
Instinct: An Animal Rescuers Anthology is live!
After waiting for what seems like forever(!) Instinct: An Animal Rescuers Anthology is finally available! At least in ebook form. The paperback and hardback options should show up for purchase at anytime!
Book sale profits are donated to: Lifeline Puppy Rescue.” The authors agreed in advance that 50% of all profits would be donated. Yes, really. It was in the contract. On top of that, many of the authors donated some or all of their share as well, so around 70% is going to Lifeline Puppy Rescue.
And, at last estimate I know of, the ebook alone has sold just under 7,500 copies. Which means, by extrapolating from a different estimate I was given, it has already raised enough money to save over 700 puppies.
This anthology has consistently floated around #1 in Fantasy Anthologies & Short Stories (Kindle Store) on Amazon. Here is what it was this morning (3/7/2023):
Not that Amazon is the only place you can get it! Look for it at all your favorite online retailers.
Here is a Books2Read universal link you help you find it at your favorite outlet: https://books2read.com/u/3nD9D5
If you wanted to read more on the anthology, including my story in it, I posted more here originally: https://samknight.com/?p=3626
February 24, 2023
Instinct: An Animal Rescuers Anthology releases in 10 days!
Some of this post will be a rehash if you read the last one about this anthology.
Okay. A lot of it will be rehash. But it needs to be done! There are only 10 days left until it releases!
What does that mean? Well for starters, the eBook price goes up after pre-orders end, so if you want this nice low price, you should order it now. That said… “purchasing this book saves a puppy’s life! Book sale profits are donated to: Lifeline Puppy Rescue.” The authors agreed in advance that 50% of all profits would be donated. Yes, really. It was in the contract. On top of that, many of the authors donated some or all of their shares as well.
Why do I bring that up now? Well if you want to wait and order it when it goes live, you’ll be throwing a little extra cha-ching to the puppies. I’ve been in contact with LJ Hackmeister, my co-editor on this anthology (did I mention I was Associate Editor?) and sales are going along nicely already!
This anthology has consistently floated around #1 in Fantasy Anthologies & Short Stories (Kindle Store) on Amazon. Not that Amazon is the only place you can get it! Look for it at all your favorite eBook retailers. And the print book will be available very soon, if that’s your jam.
Here is a Books2Read universal link you help you find it at your favorite outlet: https://books2read.com/u/3nD9D5
If you wanted to read all the scoop on the anthology, including my story in it, I posted more here originally: https://samknight.com/?p=3626
February 2, 2023
Town Hall: Anthologies
On Feb 16, 2023, at 9pm EST, 7pm MST (where I am), I will be taking part in #goindienow’s Town Hall: Anthologies, an online chat about…Anthologies!
After Knight Writing Press put out 7 new anthologies last year, I know a bit more about them then I did before. Not all of it good. Not all of it bad. Some of it surprising.
Come join me and Madilynn Dale, Harriet Everend, Wile E. Young. Amanda Warne, Adam Gaffen, and J. D. Estrada, and ask questions or just soak it all in.
youtube.com/watch?v=GFLtKoSyQRc
November 18, 2022
Treat yourself Friday! (Or maybe gift shopping!)
Below are a list of books I found (that are somehow related to me!) that are, at least at the moment I am writing this, on sale on Amazon. These sales tend to be to move product off of shelves, so as soon as someone buys it, it’s gone and the price goes back up. This means if one of these catches your eye, and it is still on the sale price, don’t hesitate!
(I used my Amazon affiliate links, so I might get a couple cents if you use them too.)
Monsters, Movies & Mayhem (Hardcover)
Lights! Camera! Monsters?
Sometimes you go to the movies. And sometimes, the movies–and their monsters–come to you. At any moment, without notice, monsters once relegated to the screen become a reality. Aliens and demons, dragons and ghosts, werewolves, vampires, zombies, and seemingly ordinary people who are just plain evil.
Join award-winning authors Jonathan Maberry, Fran Wilde, David Gerrold, Rick Wilber and others for 23 all-new tales of haunted theaters, video gods, formidable demons, alien pizza, and delirious actors. Each story takes you to the silver screen with monstrous results.
Funny or grim, unsettling or cozy… You’ll laugh! You’ll sigh! You’ll scream!
Grab popcorn–and good running shoes–and enjoy the show
$13.61
List Price: $36.99
Save: $23.38 (63%)
Gilded Glass (Hardcover)
A mirror is far more than meets the eye. When you gaze into the gilded glass, what do you see-and what looks back at you?
A beautiful woman hiding an ugly secret?
A malevolent king who delivers a fate worse than death?
An urban legend who will become an unlikely ally?
An alien gladiator with reflective armor?
A monster to the rescue?
A goddess?
A distorted version of yourself?
Dare to gaze into these 24 original tales of sweet deceptions and cursed truths by Sherrilyn Kenyon, Jonathan Maberry, Alan Dean Foster, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Michaelbrent Collings, and more.
Edited by international bestseller Kevin J. Anderson and Allyson Longueira and their Publishing graduate students at Western Colorado University, Gilded Glass: Twisted Myths and Shattered Fairy Tales offers stories with diverse roots, characters, and cultures, from frightening to funny, from once upon a time to far-flung futures and back to the modern day.
Deals are made and wishes granted. Friendships forged and enemies vanquished. You’ll love this anthology of modern myths, lore, and fairy tales, because everyone enjoys a happily ever after…
…or do they?
Stare deep into the gilded glass.
What you find might haunt you.
$17.91
List Price: $34.99
Save: $17.08 (49%)
Blood From Your Own Pen: A Practical Guide on Self-Editing and Common Mistakes For Beginning Authors Who Intend to Survive to Publication (Paperback)
It’s more than just red ink in that editing pen, and you know it. You will never find anyone else in the writing world whose blood is less precious or expensive, or more invested, than your own.
From simple punctuation to Pro-Tips on writing, this guide is a compilation of tips and concepts for beginning authors to keep in mind when they sit down to self-edit.
2nd Edition updated with more of everything, including an all new section on self-publishing.
$15.19
List Price: $19.99
Save: $4.80 (24%)
The Best of Penny Dread Tales (Paperback)
Four years of Penny Dread Tales have revealed some fantastic talent. In this edition we’ve collected the cream of the crop. Herein lies the very Best of Penny Dread Tales: fourteen stories of boiler-splitting steampunk with a blend of sci-fi, paranormal, western, and horror. These stories will take you on a thrilling ride and you will love every minute of it! Including stories by: Cayleigh Hickey, Aaron Michael Ritchey, J.M. Franklin, Gerry Huntman, Laura Givens, Keith Good, Quincy J. Allen, David Boop, Vivian Caethe, Aaron Spriggs, David W. Landrum, Sam Knight, Mike Cervantes, and Jonathan D. Beer.
$12.05
List Price: $15.99
Save: $3.94 (25%)
Particular Passages 2: East Wing (Paperback)
15 Stories 15 Authors
Down another forgotten hallway lie more unexplored rooms.
Each room contains another world waiting to be discovered.
Some are wonderful and beautiful, others are dark and terrible.
You won’t know which until you step inside.
So take a deep breath, and open the door…
Particular Passages 2: East Wing
Featuring stories by:
Edward Ahern – John T. Biggs – Dave D’Alessio – CJ Erick – J.T. Evans – Eric Fritz – Katie Kent – Shannon Lawrence – Matt J. McGee – Peter E. Sartucci – Martin L. Shoemaker – Emily Martha Sorensen – Andrea L. Staum – Mike Wyant, Jr. – Jason A. Wyckoff
$13.93
List Price: $16.99
Save: $3.06 (18%)
From the Corner of Your Eye: A Cryptids Anthology (Paperback)
Just outside the limits of the human condition they lurk. Creatures of lore and legend, creatures of the cautionary tale, always at the ready to spring their trap upon men who would tread upon the dark recesses where those worlds intersect. Once revealed, they hack and slash into their prey of mankind leaving not a trace of where they came from or where they went. Those unlucky few who have faced them and lived bear the very real physical and emotional scars of their experience wrapped up in the sour realization that no one may ever believe them. Still, these men and women walk away with a gift, the ability to look into the darkness and see more than just swirling shadows, and to meet the gaze of the eyes that would look out from the abyss.
$4.50
List Price: $14.99
Save: $10.49 (70%)
Freakend Madness (Paperback)
Over one frenzied weekend, a group of up-and-coming dark fiction writers decided to write a short story or two. Together, they produced the tales of terror collected in this anthology in support of Asbury House, a women’s shelter in Fort Collins, Colorado. For some of the authors, this is their first-ever publication. We appreciate your support of new writers, authors who have been publishing for years, and especially your support of Asbury House.
$3.87
List Price: $6.99
Save: $3.12 (45%)
AND, only for another day or two, A Whiskey Jack in a Murder of Crows (ebook) is on sale for 99 cents everywhere!
Rainbow County California
Unrivaled sunsets, placid lakeside orchards, pleasant mountain vineyards, and a rural lifestyle.
The only thing stopping this place from being idyllic is the noise from the cars on the highway. And murder.
Left for dead, helpless as he watched the murder of his family, Jack is a broken man.
Six months later, Jack is attempting to recover, both in body and in soul, at a vineyard he inherited from his uncle.
California Wine Country seems like a good place to start over and escape the nightmares of his daughter’s dying cries.
Until the local barkeep confides Jack’s uncle was murdered.
https://books2read.com/u/b5MBK1
November 14, 2022
The Benefits, and Dangers, of Unicorn Poop.
I had a long conversation with a writer friend of mine last night, and I think there are a couple of points I made that I should pass on. Even if you are not a writer, I think you should consider this.
Everyone struggles. And you can’t compare yourself with what you see, or more accurately what you THINK you are seeing regarding how other people are doing. Especially in this day of social media.
Years ago, I learned the term: “Unicorn Poop.”
This, I was told, was a description of the magical BS people post online about how happy they are and how great their lives are and how wonderful everything is going. You know, the “staged” posts with everyone smiling and everything great all the time and the fantastic thing that just happened and the exciting thing they are getting ready to do…
As writers, most of us start out so damned enthused people can’t stand to be around us. Then, after nothing happens, or worse, Bad Things happen, we slump. Hard. A lot of us give up. Even those of us who were writing fan fiction for free because we love it. Because people can be poopy, can say poopy things, can do poopy things, can crush our dreams, our hopes, our loves, with a single, really nasty, and sometimes not so nasty, comment on social media. (Or maybe it was that snide, back-handed thing a family member said.)
Then, as writers, we can become so despondent that we/our work is not worthwhile, or that we are never going to “succeed” that we create a situation where other people can’t stand to be around us. We are too full of negativity. We become toxic to others trying to succeed.
Social Media has changed a lot of things. Attention spans not the least of them.
One of the things it has changed is we are constantly bombarded with Bad News. Things that, once upon a time, would take weeks for the world to find out are now posted on Twitter as they happen. They are broadcast live on CNN. They show up as alerts on the phone in our pocket. Instant Bad News.
As a result, I think, we, in general as a whole, don’t have much tolerance, and worse, don’t have much sympathy anymore. We just CANNOT take that emotional abuse all the time. But we do.
So, we relegate our responses, our emotions, our concerns.
Because of this, we respond to Unicorn Poop. (At least outside of politics—that’s a whole different beast, and, in general, I think, no matter what political reporting is being done, it is, as a whole, classified in most of our minds as Bad News.) We responded because we need little “yays!” in our lives, little happinesses, even if, deep down inside we know they are BS.
And, because we respond to Unicorn Poop, that’s what many people post. They post it about their families, their jobs, their vacations, the dinner they cooked. All the little wins they need to pay attention to in order to get through the day.
And that’s what many writers post. “Look at this great thing I did!” “Look at what I am doing!” “Look at what I am going to do!”
That’s what I do, too. “Look at this book release!” “Look at this anthology I’m in!” “Come see me at this convention!”
This leads to a lot of writers thinking all of the other writers are doing GREAT! And then they compare themselves to those writers and think “I am doing TERRIBLE!”
They don’t realize all of the terrible stuff, all the hardships, all the hard work, all the rejections, all the disappointments are not being posted. Because writers who do that lose fans. They lose followers. They lose opportunities that may have come up with other writers/publishers who don’t want to deal with a “complainer” or a self-professed failure.
And thus, a writer who does not believe in themselves (at least publicly) becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
That’s why I don’t post (publicly) about every short story rejection I receive, every marketing failure that cost more than a book earned, every famous author I met whom I didn’t get along with, every opportunity I thought I had a chance at that fell through. I save those for the small group of writer friends who are going through the same things, and we all vent to each other in safe spaces, in places we’ve designated for exactly that. Not publicly. Not at every social function I see them at. Not all the time.
I think this applies to everyone else too, not just writers. Friends begin to avoid friends who are Debby Downers. Co-workers don’t want to be associated with malcontents. Bosses don’t promote, and maybe actually work to remove, people who seem to promote problems. People avoid people who actively make them unhappy.
A lot of people, especially successful people, understand that, at least on some level.
And thus, Unicorn Poop gains traction and thrives. And we don’t publicly see all the things others endure on their road to success.
Now, I am not advocating Unicorn Poop. Were I doing so, I wouldn’t be explaining it this way, as a cautionary tale. But I don’t think it is a Bad Thing, either. I think it is just part of our modern-day social interactions in this world of instant communication and world-wide community.
And I am not telling you not to post about your trials and tribulations. That is not a Bad Thing either. We all need to see that others CAN survive these things. We all need to reach out for help sometimes. We all need support sometimes.
What I am trying to say is this: If you want to look at what people post and admire them and aspire to do the same, then good for you. We all need role models. We all need goals. I think this is a good thing.
But if you are going to look at what people post and think, “I am never going to be that good,” then shame on you for not being able to see through the BS and into the reality. Everyone struggles. Being human is hard.
Being you is hard.
I have met people who seemed to have had the world handed to them on a silver platter. The ones I got to know had a much harder time dealing with life than most people would ever imagine. But they hide it because no one has any sympathy for their “silly” problems. What could they possibly know about “hardship?”
I have heard stories of authors who became instantly, easily famous, but I have NEVER met one. The famous, successful authors I know have gone through some terrible struggles to get to where they are. To stay where they are. Most of them are STILL struggling with terrible things. Even the ones many others think had instant, easy success.
And honestly, I admire them all the more because of what they have gone through, what they are overcoming to continue on.
But they don’t (usually) make that stuff public.
People/fans don’t buy their stories because they heard these terrible things about what they’ve gone through. There is (virtually) no (lasting) path to success that way.
People buy their stories because they are excited about it. Because they saw how excited the author was about it. Because of the Unicorn Poop.
And the same is true for all the rest of us, for all the rest of life. You can’t compare yourself as a failure to someone you think accomplished something magically easy. Because you don’t really know how they accomplished it, even if you think you do. And you have no idea what they’ve gone through since.
Instead, compare yourself as someone with similar aspirations, as someone who wants to achieve that goal too. Realize they have overcome unknown obstacles and use that as inspiration to overcome your own obstacles.
You don’t have to post your own Unicorn Poop. You don’t have to believe your own Unicorn Poop if you do post it.
But if you can’t see it for what it is, people trying to put their best foot forward, or if you post the opposite of Unicorn Poop, (want to coin a term? Here’s your chance!) if you always tell everyone how terrible everything is, or worse how terrible you are, you create that reality for yourself.
And there are enough Bad Things in this world already. I don’t want that Bad Thing to happen to you.
It’s okay to feel bad about something. It’s okay to feel sorry for yourself. It’s okay to be upset, miserable, and maybe even a little despondent. But only for a little while. If you have to have your good cry, then do it, and get it out of your system, and then get up and go looking for Unicorn Poop to share with the rest of the world. When you find a particularly polished piece, then maybe, when you share it, share the story of the journey it took to find it. That way you can inspire others too.
November 11, 2022
New Short Story, New Novel both release in December!
And both from Castle Bridge Media!
“The Light at the End of the Tunnel” will be published in Castle of Horror Anthology Volume 9: YA to be released on December 6th. Preorder now up!
“The Castle of Horror Anthology returns with stories of the young– horrible, thrilling, terrible flamin’ youth at its most harrowing.
Featuring stories by David Bowles, Jennifer Brody, Julian Michael Carver, Debbie Daughetee, Carmen Gray, Ammar Habib, Jess Hagemann, Leanna Renee Hieber, Sam Knight, Alethea Kontis, Mike Owsley, Scott Pearson, S.N. Rodriguez, and Bryan Young.”
My story was originally written for a different anthology that never came to be. The theme of that one was, loosely, “Sparkly Cthulhu,” which was to poke fun at the idea of “sparkly vampires.” That means you can expect a little Eldritch Horror from “The Light at the End of the Tunnel,” but only a little… If madness can be measured as only a little, that is.
Then, on December 13th, Lost Angel: A Midlife Crisis Thriller releases! You can pre-order that now, too! (ebook anyway. Print will be up soon!)
The second book in the “Die Hard with a Dad Bod” series, but at Christmas! Just like this kind of story should be, I think.
I had a BLAST writing this and I can’t wait for you to meet Jeff and the other residents of Decanter, the Christmas Capital of Texas!
Oh, the Lights! The parade! The floats! The Ho-Ho-Horror of this cozy Christmastime thriller!
“Jeff McKenzie used to be young, good-looking, and married. Now his ex-wife’s new husband is all of those things, and Jeff is just doing the best he can to spend time with his teenage daughter. But when a body turns up in the park during the holiday festival and sets the town on edge, and then his ex-wife’s stepson vanishes right off Jeff’s float during the Christmas parade, accusations fly. His float, his fault, and maybe the two incidents are related. With the police breathing down his neck, accusing him of murder and kidnapping, even his own daughter starts doubting him, and Jeff knows he is running out of time to find the real kidnapper before it’s too late—for everyone.”
“Freaking awesome! Dive in with this divorced dad and his small-town woes, then get swept away by his deadly race to find a missing child—and maybe a new definition of family. Competitive Christmas floats? A body at the Reindeer Games? The holidays will never be the same! After this explosive introduction, I’m eagerly awaiting Knight’s next thriller.” — E. Chris Ambrose, author of the Bone Guard series
“Fast, yet smooth. Knight has a writing style that pulls you in, and a story that won’t let you go.” –Nick Thacker, USA Today Bestselling Author
“In this spellbinding story, Jeff McKenzie thought nothing could be worse than losing his wife to another man until his ex’s stepson goes missing and he becomes the prime suspect. With time running out and twists and turns coming at him from all angles, Jeff races to clear his name and hopefully find the missing boy. The likeable main character, Jeff McKenzie, makes you keep turning pages to see what happens next.” –Marta Sprout, award-winning author of ISLAND OF BONES.
October 15, 2022
“Read this book -> save a puppy!” Instinct: An Animal Rescuers Anthology
Within a day of going up for pre-orders on Kindle, this anthology hit #1 in Science Fiction Anthologies (Kindle Store), Science Fiction Adventure, and Fantasy Anthologies & Short Stories (Kindle Store) and broke into the top 100 on the Kindle Store. And that’s just the e-book. Print pre-orders aren’t available yet!
Needless to say, I am excited to be a part of this. If at least a couple of the names on the cover don’t jump out at you, you probably haven’t been reading much fantasy in the last few years. I may be a bit biased as, over the last ten years, I have met nearly everyone on that list. But that makes me all the more excited! It is an honor and a privilege to be sharing a table of contents with these incredible writers.
Not to mention, “purchasing this book saves a puppy’s life! Book sale profits are donated to: Lifeline Puppy Rescue.” The authors agreed in advance that 50% of all profits would be donated. Yes, really. It was in the contract. On top of that, many of the authors donated some or all of their shares as well.
LJ Hachmeister posted on her FB page on Oct 15th, “Sold 1000 copies of “Instinct” so far. I figure we need to sell 10,000 to save 1,000 puppies. I hope we can do it!”
I hope we can, too. (I bet if we ask her, she’ll keep a running tally…. So, go ask! https://www.facebook.com/LJHachmeisterAuthor)
Immediately after putting the anthology up for pre-sale, LJ got hit with a ton of requests about which “universe” the authors’ stories take place in, so she added it to the anthology description. (You can scroll down to see the list.) I want to address the “universe” my story takes place in, as it doesn’t officially exist anywhere—yet. Kind of an apt situation for a place called The Abandoned Lands, I guess.
From a Facebook Post I put up on October 6th, 2022:
I have a novel I’ve been actually working on for *checks file dates* 5 years. I really like it. I really like the idea. But things get in the way.Not just other *paying* writing projects, and life, but other things that maybe only other writers will understand. Things like every single idea I had for the cause of the situation of the world in the novel (kind-of, sort-of, not really dystopian, post-apocalyptical) came to pass within months of changing the manuscript to reflect the new idea. I mean, seriously. WTAF world? I went through about 7 ideas.Then, of course, there was the movie that stole my central idea. I mean, yeah, they couldn’t know I’d been working on that idea for 3 years, so they didn’t really steal it, but guess what everyone else in the world will think now when I release my book?Oh! And then the movie that came out this year that actually took about 50% of my idea for the whole story, not just the central idea played out in a different direction. Now I really will look like I “stole” the idea.Sigh. At what point do you give up a story and characters that you really love because everyone will say you copied someone else?I’ll tell you: NEVER. Yeah, it hurts. Yeah, it’s gonna be rough when others make the comparisons and say the nasty things. But then, the whole reason I was writing it was because it was the kind of story I love and wanted to see more of.Just because I got lucky enough that a couple of stories like it came out, and I got to see them, doesn’t mean I was so unlucky that I shouldn’t finish it. I mean, it would seem like the creators of those other stories would like to see more stories like that, too. Right?So. I’m not going to quit it. I’m going to finish it. I don’t know when, because, as it always seems to be, something else has come up. And just to make sure I don’t, I’m tossing it out there for you guys to see, to hold me accountable for it.So, first spark conceived of at Myths and Legends Con 2015, shortly after I met a young woman who went by the name “Xan,” whom I assured I loved her name so much it would be used in a book someday. As I have mentioned before, I like to use making art as inspiration for my writingMy first stab at creating my new world in art came in August 2016. First draft was started on in Nov 2017, and the first time I pitched it to an agent was at Pikes Peak Writer’s conference in 2018.Now… after sharing all of that, I expect you guys to be accepting that I didn’t steal these ideas, and I also expect you to hold me accountable to make sure these two very special characters actually make it out into the world for everyone to enjoy.Allow me to introduce Xan and Booger. A Girl and Her Velociraptor.You won’t see them, but you will be able to get your first peek into their world next year (March 2023) with a “prequal” story that will be in the animal charity anthology “Instinct” edited by L. J. Hachmeister – Author and myself.I hope to see you there.
As I said in the Facebook post, Xan and Booger won’t be in the Instinct Anthology, but they are where The Abandon Lands started. And when I told LJ I would give her a story of The Abandoned Lands, I expected A Girl and Her Velociraptor to be finished and maybe even published. But then things happened. One of them was COVID, which delayed the Instinct anthology for so long, it was almost a sure things that A Girl and Her Velociraptor would be out by the time Instinct was released. But, that didn’t happen.If you read my story in Instinct, Junkyard Rex, and you enjoy it, rest assured you will get the chance to visit The Abandoned Lands again. Send me an email and goad me into finishing it. If I get a virtual metric ton of requests, maybe I can goad a publisher into publishing it!Meanwhile, here is part of the pitch I used on an agent in 2018:A Girl and Her Velociraptor
Since her father went missing, Xan has taken care of both the farm and her mother, defending them both from the deadliest predators this planet has ever known: Men.
Occasionally she has to deal with those pesky dinosaurs, too. With her best friend, Booger, a proto-velociraptor, she’s got it all under control.
Sort of…
“Junkyard Rex” is a prequel of sorts, taking place about 30 years before Xan and Booger set out to change the world.Well…that’s not exactly what they set out to do, but, you know how these things go. Even the best plan doesn’t survive first contact with The Abandoned Lands.
Live for pre-orders on Kindle now, releasing on March 7th, 2023
Danger. Evil. Death. Heroes can face it all, but they cannot do it alone.
Throughout history, creatures both big and small have stood alongside heroes and helped them through trying times, whether on the battlefield or in their laps. In these brand-new stories, sixteen bestselling authors regale us with adventures of animal companions and how they often are the ones rescuing the rescuer.
New stories by / in the world of
Jim Butcher – from The Dresden Files
Faith Hunter – from Jane Yellowrock
Patricia Briggs – from Mercy Thompson
Seanan McGuire
L. E. Modesitt – from Archform: Beauty and Flash
Kelley Armstrong – from Cainsville
L. J. Hachmeister – from the Triorion Universe
Sam Knight – from The Abandoned Lands
Eliza Eveland
Hailey Edwards – from The Beginner’s Guide to Necromancy
D. J. Butler – from Abbott in Darkness
Lucienne Diver – from The Latter-Day Olympians
A. J. Hartley
Alex Erickson – from Furever Pets
John Hartness – from Quincy Harker, Demon Hunter
R.R. Virdi – from Tales of Tremaine
Purchasing this book saves a puppy’s life! Book sale profits are donated to: Lifeline Puppy Rescue.
August 4, 2022
What Mirrors Don’t Show Us: A Guest Post by Elise Stephens
I’d like to begin by making a claim:
Mirrors aren’t entirely honest.
That is, the information they reflect is incomplete. I’m not referring to inversion; experience teaches us that mirrors flip reality and send it back in a way that seems *almost* right until we try and fail to read the backward letters or follow the path in the maze. The dishonesty I’m talking about is the omitted details of psyche and personhood that a mirror can’t show and therefore can’t honestly report on.
A mirror’s reflection might show bags under the eyes, but it doesn’t tell how those bags were earned through a late-night conversation with a friend who needed a listening ear. The looking glass, to use a more archaic term, might reveal elegant cheekbones and a perfectly groomed five o’clock shadow, but leave out the cutthroat ambition lurking in the heart.
Magazines, billboards, advertisements, social media posts – all of these are choked with visuals. Just like a mirror’s reflection, they can’t tell the whole story. A mirror only delivers a flat report of my external appearance. It can’t express who I am or who I will become. It can’t reflect the state of my soul.
I’d like to think I have a fairly healthy self-image, and yet I check my mirror multiple times a day to ensure it’s still showing me and the world what I want to be shown.
If we were to somehow create or discover mirrors that showed what was writhing and trembling beneath the surface, I wonder if anyone would even want to stand in front of them anymore.
I imagine myself looking in one such mirror: I see my anxiety about my unfinished project and the gaping hole in my childcare routine, plus my worry about the persistent belly fat that might be the result of age or maybe not enough aerobic exercise or maybe it’s the antidepressants I started eighteen months ago.
Talk about being stripped proverbially naked in front of your hopes and fears.
If mirrors showed all of this, I think I’d probably take mine off the wall. Actually, I’d probably smash it. Superstition can jump in a lake.
This psychological type of mirror makes me think of the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (This is good, creepy fiction, by the way. Read it for free here). A magical portrait depicts the deteriorating character of a wayward man while the man himself remains dashingly handsome by all outward appearances. Dorian Gray cuts his way through society and hurts a great many lives and, all the while, his magical portrait turns uglier and more frightening as it shifts to reflect his inner state. You might call the portrait a painted mirror.
This idea of paintings as mirrors that reflect the inner thoughts of their creators has deeply fascinated me. If a painter could somehow infuse her feelings into the pigment in such a way as to imbue the artwork with her sentiment, she would be making not just a mirror of herself, but a living composition that someone else could experience when they looked at it.
The magical art of lumastration—a craft that I dreamed up in which the painter selects feelings to place into the paint and carefully creates a visual and emotional landscape—plays a major role in my current fantasy novel. In my short story “War Painting” (available now in Gilded Glass: Twisted Myths and Shattered Fairy Tales), a frustrated young artist joins the war effort in hopes of making a name for himself by lumastrating paintings that will be used to psychologically destroy the enemy. It’s a peek into the dark side of ambition and its cost.
As part of this guest post, I’ll be giving away an ebook of my YA urban fantasy Forecast. Make a comment to be entered in the drawing!
In the meantime, take care around the mirrors in your life…
Elise
Elise Stephens’ storytelling is influenced in large part by a lifelong love of theater and a childhood of globetrotting. Much of her work focuses on themes of family, memory, and finding hope after a devastating loss. She is a first-place winner of Writers of the Future (2019). Her fiction has appeared in Analog, Galaxy’s Edge, Escape Pod, Writers of the Future Vol 35, and FIYAH, among others. Elise lives in Seattle with her family in a house with huge windows to supply the vast quantities of light she requires to stay happy. She is currently seeking representation on her next science fiction novel. www.EliseStephens.com
July 1, 2022
Things on Sale!
July seems to be a great month to buy books! Here is a list of things that I wrote, or have stories in, that are on sale right now!
Here are some physical books I have stories in that are on sale at Amazon right now. (Note: a lot of times, Amazon does this to “clear the shelves,” so they may only have a couple of copies on sale and then it goes back to regular price. Also note, these are “affiliate links” so I may earn a couple extra pennies if you use them.)
Freakend Madness Save: $3.22 (46%) https://amzn.to/3y7psK0
Monsters, Movies & Mayhem (Hardback) Save: $19.17 (52%) https://amzn.to/3OY58RY
From the Corner of Your Eye: A Cryptids Anthology Save: $9.84 (66%) https://amzn.to/3y7pZeY
Six Guns Straight From Hell 3: Horror & Dark Fantasy From the Weird Weird West Save: $5.51 (35%) https://amzn.to/3yxKUJt
Particular Passages (Note, this one doesn’t say it is on sale, but the price has increased to $16.99, so this is $2 off.) https://amzn.to/3NAMrD3
Ghost Hunting Critters Save: $9.30 (58%) (Have I ever mentioned my story in this one is about Gasper the Ghost Hunting Goldfish?) https://amzn.to/3bDMxwm
The Devil’s Treasure Save: $2.52 (42%) https://amzn.to/3OS9vOH
Over at Smashwords, these eBooks are 50% off:Blood from Your Own Pen https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1146353Blazing Uncanny Trails https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/742195Blazing Uncanny Trails 2 https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1018218And these eBooks are 75% off:Into the Heart of Hell https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/812940Lucid Nightmares https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/695235A Whiskey Jack in a Murder of Crows https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/393356March 9, 2022
Gilded Glass: Twisted Myths and Shattered Fairy Tales
I am so excited to once again be a part of an anthology created by the Publishing graduate students at Western Colorado University!
The last time I appeared in one of their anthologies, MONSTERS, MOVIES & MAYHEM, my story was mentioned in a Publishers Weekly’s starred review of the anthology (https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-68057-107-3)and the anthology went on to win the Colorado Humanities & Center for the Book Colorado Book Award in the anthology category! (https://coloradohumanities.org/prog…/colorado-book-awards/)Needless to say, I am excited about what may happen next!
My story in this, “Jarjacha Engaño,” is a look at the dark side of a myth/legend in Peru. Don’t expect it to leave a smile on your face…
A mirror is far more than meets the eye. When you gaze into the gilded glass, what do you see—and what looks back at you?
A beautiful woman hiding an ugly secret?
A malevolent king who delivers a fate worse than death?
An urban legend who will becomes an unlikely ally?
An alien gladiator with reflective armor?
A monster to the rescue?
A goddess?
A distorted version of yourself?
Dare to gaze into these 24 original tales of sweet deceptions and cursed truths by Sherrilyn Kenyon, Jonathan Maberry, Alan Dean Foster, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Michaelbrent Collings, and more.
Edited by international bestseller Kevin J. Anderson and Allyson Longueira and their Publishing graduate students at Western Colorado University, Gilded Glass: Twisted Myths and Shattered Fairy Tales offers stories with diverse roots, characters, and cultures, from frightening to funny, from once upon a time to far-flung futures and back to the modern day.
Deals are made and wishes granted. Friendships forged and enemies vanquished. You’ll love this anthology of modern myths, lore, and fairy tales, because everyone enjoys a happily ever after…
…or do they?
Stare deep into the gilded glass.
What you find might haunt you.
The ebook is available for pre-order now. Print will be following soon!
Here is the Universal Book Link from Books2Read.
Or, here is an Amazon Affiliate link:
