Friday Five for October 30, 2015

1. Big excitement this week as Mayhem in the Air is now available. It's a marvelous collection of short stories from the talented authors of Untethered Realms. My horror sci-fi, "The Silent Wind" is included in the anthology. Next week, we'll start a two week tour with exclusive excerpts and a giveaway where you could win a $40 gift card! The collection is only 99 cents. A steal with all the awesome stories in it!

2. Oh, more fantastic short stories! I received word yesterday that 9Tales Told in the Dark #7 is available for pre-order and will be released November 23rd. My horror story, "All I Want For Christmas" is one of the nine scary tales. This makes up for the rejection I received earlier this week.

3. I've had a good writing week even with my son having a couple of early dismissal days from school. I finished the first novella in a new series for my publisher. The series is called The Sasquatch Susies. I'll leave it to your imagination what that's about for now.

4. My mom will be visiting next week. We do all our Christmas shopping, so we don't have to freak out at the last minute. It's nice to have it all done before December, but it's difficult to find places to store gifts in our little house! Not just store them, but keep them out of sight of my little guy.

5. One day until Halloween! I love this time of year. We had a fun time last weekend at the Trick or Treat Trail, and we went trick or treating at the university on Wednesday. Tomorrow I get to see all the costumes as the kids come to our door. My little guy, er, puppy is super excited.

(My son and his buddy at the Trick or Treat Trail.)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Wicked Wednesday - giving your readers the creepy-crawlies

Giving your readers the chills is a tough thing to do. There's only one Stephen King. As for the rest of us, we have to use all the tricks at our disposal.

- When I think creepy atmosphere, I think setting. Graveyards, haunted houses, empty streets. Just placing your characters in an ill-lit room will help immensely. Yet it doesn't have to be a horror stereotype. If you're good, you can make any setting spooky. The reader is going to expect something out of the ordinary even if you place the scene in the ladies' restroom or a wig shop.

- It's in the details. Don't over do it with lavish descriptions of dusty cobwebs, the wind blowing the drapes, and something lurking in the shadows. Drop a chilly detail here and there. Something that might be normal but isn't quite. Something that will make the reader wonder. A writer's best tool in creating a spooky scene is the reader's imagination. The reader will always imagine something horrible and help to give themselves goosebumps.

- Part of the creepiness of a story is in creating suspense and tension. You want the reader on the edge of their seat. An effective way of doing this is through the characters' reactions. Don't let your text be filled with too much thinking. Describe what they're seeing, hearing, smelling. Use all the senses. Write their physical reactions. Spooky stories are about showing rather than telling.

- Even with paranormal tales where things are out of the ordinary, try to keep things as realistic as possible. What scares people the most is if they start thinking something like that is possible. Hit on the things that frighten people the most and use them to help build up the tension.

What tricks do you use for creating a spooky atmosphere in your stories?

(Note: I've been a little busy lately. So these tips are reposted from a post I did in 2011. I've been doing Wicked Wednesdays that long? Wow.)

Click on over to the spooky Untethered Realms and find yourself an enchanted drink. We have the recipes! Even one from Jezebel.

Review for Don't Forget To Breathe

Blurb:

Sixteen-year-old Leocadia arrives home from school to find her mom’s bloody body. Unaware that the killer still lingers, she rushes to her mother’s side, only to be grabbed from behind and then everything fades to black.

After a year of retrograde amnesia and battling personal demons, Leo’s dreams are getting worse—she’s starting to remember. More bodies are discovered and they seem to be oddly linked to her mom’s unsolved homicide.

When Leo allows her friend, Henry to drag her into the haunted Lucien Mansion, misty ghosts appear, ghosts that just might lead to her mother’s murderer.

Will Leo let her memories threaten her into a relapse or, will she fight to find her mother’s killer – only to become his next victim? 

My review:

The unsolved mystery of her mother's murder has weighed heavily upon Leocadia. She's had a rough year and is trying to find some answers, but things take a dark turn as the anniversary of that terrible night approaches. Leo can't remember what happened after finding her mom's body, but little bits are coming back in dreams and through strange supernatural happenings. Everyone is a suspect, even Leo herself. Yet she must unravel this mystery before it consumes her and she becomes the next victim.

This story had me suspicious of everyone, including the narrator herself, Leo. I do love trying to figure out who's the villain and what exactly happened. There are lots of shadows cast over the characters and tons of red herrings. I did guess who did it, but the bigger mystery was why. It was a lot of fun pulling back layer after layer to get to the big ending.

Leo's a teenage girl who's not just grieving for the loss of her mother, but being the one who found her murdered and possibly knowing who the killer is. Yet she has amnesia, and because of that, her biggest obstacle is herself. Her friend Henry is a loose cannon and she has the hots for a jock with the reputation of a player. To add on top of it all, her father has taken to drinking to drown his own pain.

A fantastic YA thriller with a touch of the supernatural.

Buy the book here.

Add it to read on Goodreads.

Stalk Cathrina Constantine here.

* * * * *

And check out Cathrina's newest release! Gorgeous.

How far would you go to protect your family?

A peculiar metamorphosis has taken shape since the final days. And the planet is in the throes of healing.

Fulvio McTullan leads his family and a band of misfits to form a new settlement, far from Tallas and it’s nefarious Elites. Their journey takes them into uncharted territories where strange creatures are lurking. It’s a battle of survival, not only from the creatures, but the mutated earth as well.

Meanwhile, Pomfrey Addler, an oppressive Elite squashes the insurrection in Tallas. Suddenly, citizens begin to vanish in the middle of the night and his daughter, Paniess is hell bent on revenge.

Fraught with mishaps, Fulvio finally locates the perfect place to settle. They begin to rebuild until they receive a call. A call which will lure them back into the clutches of Tallas.

Amazon Buy Link: One Click: smarturl.it/snowoncinders

Special post: Kyra Lennon's giving away free books on her birthday!

Happy birthday, Kyra!

For today and tomorrow only, you can get Kyra's awesome contemporary romance ebooks for free!

Game On

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008LVCKI0

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008LVCKI0

Blindsided 

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00A510VDU

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A510VDU

Sidelined

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00JCTZSJI

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JCTZSJI

 

Nobody Knows

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00MYN4R14

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MYN4R14

 

 

Author Bio: 

Kyra Lennon was born on the South coast of England, and to this day, still lives by the sea. Fiction writing has always been her passion, but she also has numerous articles on a variety of topics published on prolific websites.

Author links:
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

 

Poltergeist's Pleasure is here!

The Paramours - ghost hunting with a kiss.

Claire McKinney has a theory that poltergeists aren't evil spirits or negative energy. When she locates a powerful vortex at the center of a haunting, she discovers a gorgeous man trapped inside. Zendal cannot escape on his own, but if Claire can create enough sexual energy with him, he will be able to break free. Intense as their passion is, it does not release him from the vortex. Claire finds herself caught not only by the ominous portal, but by Zendal's carnal zeal as well. Can she extricate them from the trap or will they forever be its prisoners?

Buy links: Ellora's Cave * Amazon * Kobo

Add it to read on Goodreads.

I always believed poltergeists weren't just noisy nuisances. But what could they be? I don't know if they're gorgeous men trapped in vortexes, but it's a fun thought to play around with.

Wicked Wednesday - tips for multi-tasking manuscripts

That's how I look when I try to do more than one thing at a time. I'm one of those writers who focus on one project and finish it before diving into a new one. Most of the time, I'm highly efficient. So does that make me crazy to want to attempt to work on two projects at once?

I see other writers who are brilliant at multi-tasking projects. I am in awe. But I know all of us are different. What works for one person might not for another. We don't know until we try, though.

Two projects. Yikes. I'm taking a deep breath here. I'm collecting advice from other authors who are successful multi-taskers.

- Create a schedule and stick with it. Sounds easy, but what if you're on a roll? Too bad. Stop and continue again tomorrow. Be firm with yourself.

- It helps if your projects are vastly different from one another. That way, you won't get tired of too much of the same thing.

- Keep writing. Don't edit as you go. Leave that for the revision stage.

- Don't neglect other aspects of your life. Make sure you have time to spend with family and friends, exercise, and sleep. You will be a happier writer for it.

- Finally, finish what you start. If you find your focus is off because you have too much on your plate, drop one project. 

Do you have any tips to share about multi-tasking projects?

Review for Dorianna

Blurb:

Internet followers, beauty, power. It all sounded good.

Until it transformed into a terrifying reality Dorianna couldn’t stop.

When her father is jailed, her mother ships lonely, plain Dorianna to her aunt’s. There, Dorianna yearns to build a new identity, but the popular Lacey bullies her—mostly for getting attention from her ex, Ander.

Ander takes Dorianna to Coney Island where Wilson, a videographer, creates a stunning compilation of her. She dreams of being an online sensation, as she’s never even had a birthday party, and vows she’d give anything to go viral. Wilson claims he’s the Prince of Darkness and warns her the pledge has downsides.

Dorianna thinks he’s joking. She has no idea of how dire the consequences might be.

 

My review:

This is Dorianna's second chance. She's the new girl at school, and this time, no one will tease or ignore her. When the mysterious Wilson tells her to pledge her soul for beauty and popularity, Dorianna doesn't think he's serious when she does so. She becomes Sungirl and acquires a huge internet following. People adore her, she has a cute boyfriend, and it's everything she hoped it would be. Until her videos grow dark and twisted. Nothing she can do stops them. Her vow to Wilson was more than a joke. And it is far more than she bargained for.

DORIANNA is a YA horror that puts a modern twist on "A Picture of Dorian Gray." I do love the way the author did so with the internet and videos. The descriptions of Dorianna's videos made me feel as though I was watching them. I was shocked and yet reveled in it with how they evolved as her soul darkened.

Dorianna was a girl I liked and hated at various times, but I think that was the intention. She was so caught up in wanting to be beautiful and popular that I couldn't root for her, and even though that could be frustrating, the twist at the end made the read worthwhile. Wilson was an awesome bad boy. Odd, charming, and artistic, he was the perfect dark lure for Dorianna. My favorite character was Bailey, the artsy best friend who was cool without being fake. Lacey as a frenemy worked well, and I think I respected Lacey a little by the end.

This is a fantastic read for YA lovers who love the trouble that comes with high school cliques, popularity contests, and parties that get out of hand all with a supernatural edge.

 

Buy links: Amazon * B&N * Evernight Teen

 

Add it to read on Goodreads.

 

Stalk Catherine Stine here.