Cover Reveal for Charity Anthology: In the Beginning

Today Month9Books is revealing the cover and some excerpts for their Charity Anthology IN THE BEGINNING, which releases October 25, 2016. Check out the gorgeous cover and enter to be one of the first readers to receive an eGalley!

On to the reveal!

Title: IN THE BEGINNING: Dark Retellings of Biblical Tales

Editors: Laureen P. Cantwell and Georgia McBride

Author: Stephen Clements, Nicole Crucial, Mike Hays, Sharon Hughson, Marti Johnson, Elle O'Neill, Lora Palmer, & Christina Raus

Pub. Date: October 25, 2016

Publisher: Month9Books

Format: Paperback & eBook

Find it: Amazon | B&N |Goodreads

In the Beginning (Oct. 25, 2016) –Eight authors come together to build a powerful collection of dark young adult short stories inspired by the mysteries, faith, and darkness found within the Bible. Old Testament and New Testament, iconic and obscure figures alike are illuminated, explored, and re-envisioned throughout this charity anthology from Month9Books.

Daniel and the Dragon by Stephen Clements

A troubled orphan named Habakkuk dutifully follows his master, the prophet Daniel, into temples of blood-thirsty demon-gods, battles with unspeakable horrors, and bears witnesses to mind-breaking evil until his master's zealous defiance of the king's law seals their fate.

Babylon by Nicole Crucial

Far above the earth, in Second Eden, where moments and eternities all blur together, young Babylon befriends Sefer, the Book of Life. As Babylon awaits the moment she'll fulfill her destiny, she and Sefer try to understand the world in which they live.

Last Will and Testament by Mike Hays

A homeless young boy, Baz, bears the weight of humanity on his shoulders and upon his body. When dark forces test a new-found friendship, Baz’s willingness to bear the ugliness of their world will be shaken. 

The Demon Was Me by Sharon Hughson

Based on the story of the demon-possessed boy healed by Jesus, this tale provides a glimpse into a post-apocalyptic world where a teenage boy seeks to journey to a better land and yearns to discover the kind of man he's meant to be, only to be hijacked by an evil spirit intent upon chipping away at the hope, faith, and resilience of its host.

The Deluge by Marti Johnson

A non-believer shares the story of Noah’s ark-building and the deadly downpour that follows. Fear, faithlessness, and the fallibility of mankind collide in a community where second chances aren’t unlimited and a better-late-than-never attitude just might be your doom.

Condemned by Elle O'Neill

Just sixteen-years-old, Barabbas finds himself pulled out of Routlege Academy and into a reality show competition—against Jesus himself—where the reward for the winner is life.

First Wife by Lora Palmer

In a first-person retelling of the saga of Jacob, Rachel and Leah, themes of family, deception, guilt, and heartache emerge amidst the first days of Leah’s marriage to Jacob—a marriage mired in trickery a mere week before Jacob was to marry Leah's sister Rachel.

Emmaculate by Christina Raus

Based on the story of Mary's Immaculate Conception, we enter the troubled mind of Emma, who finds herself torn between her religious upbringing and the purity ring that binds her to her boyfriend and the pregnancy that results from her relationship with another boy.

 

Read on for excerpts of each...

Two for Thursday and Giveaway: 2 Awesome Anthologies! #T4T

Welcome to this week’s Two for Thursday! #T4T presented by Month9books/Tantrum Books!
Today, we will be showcasing two titles that will tickle your fancy, and we’ll share what readers have to say about these titles! You just might find your next read!

This week, #T4T presents to you:

Title: Two and Twenty Dark Tales: Dark Retellings of Mother Goose Rhymes

Author: Nina Berry, Sarwat Chadda, Shannon Delany, Max Scialdone, Karen Mahoney, Lisa Mantchev, Georgia McBride, C. Lee McKenzie, Gretchen McNeil, K.M. Walton, Suzanne Young, Michelle Zink, Leigh Fallon, Angie Frazier, Jessie Harrell, Nancy Holder, Heidi R. Kling, Suzanne Lazear, Pam van Hylckama Vlieg ,Leah Cypess. Forward by Francisco X. Stork.

Pub. Date: October 16, 2012

Publisher: Month9Books

Pages: 340

Formats: Paperback, eBook

Find it: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Goodreads

In this anthology, 20 authors explore the dark and hidden meanings behind some of the most beloved Mother Goose nursery rhymes through short story retellings. The dark twists on classic tales range from exploring whether Jack truly fell or if Jill pushed him instead to why Humpty Dumpty, fragile and alone, sat atop so high of a wall. The authors include Nina Berry, Sarwat Chadda, Leigh Fallon, Gretchen McNeil, and Suzanne Young.

WHAT READER’S ARE SAYING:

"As a whole this is an inspired and enjoyable nibbler for those days leading up to Halloween. If you love dark retellings, especially when they involve murderous fiends there's more than one here that will leave a wicked gleam in your eye."~ Rhi Reading

"Twenty-two authors. Twenty-two stories. Twenty-two rhymes. This is an anthology of twenty-two Mother Goose Rhymes that will have you shuddering in your reading nook, crying in public and looking over your shoulder during the day. These are not the silly rhymes that you used to sing as a child or watch on Barney. These are creepy tales with no happy endings (or bittersweet at the most). From fantasy to paranormal, twenty-two authors dive into the dark side of Mother Goose rhymes."~ Dark Faerie Tales

" The stories in this anthology are dark & sometimes twisted retellings of nursery rhymes we all remember from childhood. The stories are wonderful, not one leaves you bored. This is a book I will definitely purchase a physical copy of. It is perfect for the YA readers right now who crave worlds with a supernatural twist. The variety of this collection is great; each author takes a completely different approach in their re-telling.."~ Little Miss Trainwreck

Title: Very Superstitious: Myths, Legends and Tales of Superstition

Author: Shannon Delany, Pab Sungenis, Stephanie Kuehnert, Jennifer Knight, Mari Mancusi, Michelle E. Reed, Jackie Morse Kessler, Dianne K. Salerni. Edited by Georgia McBride.

Pub. Date: March 17, 2015

Publisher: Month9Books

Pages: 297

Formats: Hardcover, eBook

Find it: Amazon | Barnes & Noble |iBooks | Goodreads

Read this book free via Kindle Unlimited!

As told by some of today's most admired young adult authors—and a few newbies—this charity anthology boasts stories that will make readers scream, laugh, and tremble with fear, and all for a good cause! Proceeds from the sale of the first 5,000 copies will be donated to the SPCA International. Based on stories long-told by the campfire, superstitions passed down through the generations, creatures who exist in legend, literature, and film, and those myths that raise the hairs on the back of our necks, these tales are sure keep readers up late at night with lamps lit and covers over their heads. 

WHAT READER’S ARE SAYING:

"A collection of spook-licious tales that will taunt, and in a few cases, tickle the fear bone in any reader. "~ Author S.A Larsen

“VERY SUPERSTITIOUS is a fine anthology for fantasy readers looking for something slightly creepy for Halloween reading.” ~In Bed With Books

 

“A timely collection for a good cause, with some delightful surprises, full of myths and superstitions, and a vast array of stories that will make you laugh, cry and think.~  Books Bones & Buffy

Complete the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win!

Giveaway Details:

3 winners will receive an eBook of TWO AND TWENTY DARK TALES & VERY SUPERSTITIOUS. International!

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New Release Announcement and Review: A Fairy Extraordinary Christmas Story by A.J. York

A Fairy Extraordinary Christmas Story by A.J. York
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Description:
Upstairs in the Anderson’s attic there is chatter coming from the Christmas, Easter and Halloween boxes. Someone new has arrived. Tallulah the Christmas Fairy wakes to find herself attached to the top of a tree. She soon makes friends and has a magical first Christmas. Once the festivities are over, Tallulah finds herself in the attic with the other decorations from Easter and Halloween. Each year they watch the seasons change as they wait excitedly for their turn to go downstairs. Until one day new boxes appear and then the unthinkable happens. A Fairy Extraordinary Christmas Story is a magical and uplifting tale for the whole family.

What has been said about A.J. York’s other stories.

“Quick, lively and entertaining reading specifically written for children ages 8 to 12, A. J. York's fantasy trilogy is very highly recommended for family, middle school and community library collections.”

Midwest Book Review, Small Press Bookwatch, April 2015

My Review:
This is a lovely short story about a treetop fairy who wakes up one day to find herself the newest addition to a young family’s Christmas decorations. After all go to sleep, the other ornaments awaken and welcome Tallulah. But after Christmas, they go back to the attic, where ornaments from other seasons and holidays are eager to tell her stories and bring her into their world.

I was faintly reminded of Toy Story, though this story feels much more optimistic and hopeful. The ornaments and toys try to be still when the people are around, and most of their shenanigans are at night or when the family is out. As the young family’s children grow up, the ornaments and, later, the toys start noticing differences, but still, each year, they are welcomed downstairs for their turn at adorning the home.

I really liked this story. It’s short and sweet and perfect for reading to a child. There are some cute illustrations throughout, which showed up well even on my plain Kindle, though not all of the chapters have one. I turned the last page with a smile on my face.

I received a free copy of this ebook from the author in exchange for an honest review.


View all my reviews

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Intrigued?

Pick up a copy at Amazon, and then check out some of A.J.'s other fine short stories, all of which I've read and enjoyed. Don't forget to follow the author on Amazon to find out first when a new story is coming.

A.J. York-Amazon Author Page



Live in the UK? Here are some links:
A.J. York-Author Page
A Fairy Extraordinary Christmas Story

Childrens Picture Book Review: My Grandma's a Ninja by Todd Tarpley

My Grandma's a Ninja by Todd Tarpley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This kept me laughing the whole time. I actually have tears in my eyes.

Ok, first off, the cadence of this story is excellent. I think this would be a great bedtime story. It's quick and funny. The pictures are cute and the jokes are, too.

The illustrations are simple, but funny. I like how the grandma ninja still wears her necklace. The slow motion ninja moves are well done, too.

And the ending? Priceless.

I would say the only thing that could be done better is the font and text formatting used inside. It looks like it's Arial, which isn't a particularly interesting font. Plus, it seems rather small. I think a serif font, a bit bigger, would fit in with the illustrations a bit better. Also, the larger font would be easier to read during bedtime when lights might be dimmed a bit to get the youngsters in the mood for sleep. Another note on the text is that the paragraph indents seem weird. Sure, paragraphs tend to start with an indent, but in picture books, we're talking one or two liners. I think no indent would look better.

View all my reviews

Short Story Review: Feast (Feast, Stray, Love #1) by Kevin Anthony

I picked up this book during a free promo day on Amazon after the author requested a review for it.  As horror and m-m fiction, it's not in a genre I typically read, but sometimes a story will surprise me. As far as the theme goes, this one comes just in time for Halloween, but this story is meant for a mature audience.

Feast by Kevin Anthony
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A dish of humor served with a side of gore. Short, creepy, creative...

Feast is the first in the Feast, Stray, Love short story trilogy. The story begins with Damien being rescued by his teacher after passing out and causing a massive fire at the local college. Upon waking in the hospital, he learns he has a brain tumor, and his doctor performs the surgery to remove it. Unfortunately for Damien, his doctor is a bit of a quack and scrambles a few things up while working on him. Luckily, Damien's mother and boyfriend are there to support him through his recovery, but the extra job his boyfriend picks up to help cover expenses soon leads to unexpected complications in their relationship, and his doctor's shoddy operating techniques lead to complications of their own.

First off, I must say I don't frequently read stories specifically focused on men in romantic relationships with each other. That being said, I found the relationship believable and, for the most part, tastefully done. There are some sexual situations, but none are too explicit and the focus seems to be more on the emotional relationship, which is an approach I tend to like in a story. However, I would classify this book as horror, rather than romance.

The true focus of the plot is the doctor's mess of a job on Damien's brain and the creepy factory outside of town that subverts his boyfriend and later threatens his mom. People enter the factory, never to return. Those who land jobs there either disappear or leave their families to stay at the factory, and strange shipments arrive frequently. Besides that, the question is, what exactly does the factory do? The dodgy answers Damien gets from his boyfriend and later from a detective leave much to be discovered in later books in the series. Adding to the horror aspect of the story are the relationships. The author builds a highly admirable and likeable boyfriend, who the main character loves deeply, and then puts him in harm's way. He does the same with Damien's mother, building her up into someone the reader likes, and then showing her becoming a bit too enamored of an ironically named self-help book, "Feast, Stray, Love."

As for the vastly unqualified doctor in the story, I'm not certain the details or credentials surrounding him or his work on Damien are exactly believable, but his bedside manner is humorously atrocious, and his less than stellar operating skills are responsible for Damien's subtle transformation throughout the book. Again, is it believable? Not really, but it is entertaining. A good bit of the humor in the book stems from this crazy, irreverent doctor and the reactions of those around him.

Besides the romantic angle, the plot, and the crazy doctor, which I enjoyed and led me to like the story overall, there are a few things that kept me from loving it: one, grammatical issues, primarily the punctuation of the dialog; two, the frequent use of the F-word, not a surprise since it's also used in the book description; and three, various plot points for which I had to hit my "I believe" button. The dialog and other minor grammatical issues might detract from the story for those who find that sort of thing annoying, but could be fixed in a future edition. The F-word usage bugs me, but I think it fits into the story and the style of the writing, totally a personal preference type thing. The things that were vague could be due to the constraints of writing a short story, namely details are often cut to keep the story short. However, some of the details and situations presented are hard to imagine in a real setting, but are portrayed as being normal or realistic, which made some of the fictional aspects of the story less believable.

Overall, I liked Feast. It's a good, short book with a bit of humor and romance and a whole lot of mystery and creepiness factor, good for a horror story. The romantic relationship between Damien and his boyfriend isn't too explicit, focusing more on their relationship, but I would caution that it is aimed at mature readers. I'd recommend this story to those who like the horror genre, want a quick read, and either prefer or aren't bothered by books that feature a male-male romance.

I picked up a copy of this book from Amazon during a free promo day after the author requested a review.

View all my reviews

Short Story Review: The Story of Hennelie Hamster RUNNING WILD at Christmas Time on a Farm in Zimbabwe by Nikki Ziehl

And now for a little bit of inspiration.  Today's feature is a short story featuring the brave Hennelie Hamster.

For a short story, this one has quite a long title, but it lets you know what you're in for.  It tells you who the main character is, what she's doing, when she's doing it and where she is when she's doing it.  Plus, it fits together nicely on the cover, which makes me smile every time I see it.

I came across the link and intro to this story on the CreateSpace message boards near the end of last year before I really got into writing reviews.  In fact, when I looked at the review I had for this one, I decided it was way too skimpy: just two sentences and a corny thank you to the author.  So, here is my revamped review for The Story of Hennelie Hamster Running Wild at Christmas Time on a Farm in Zimbabwe.

Short Story Review: The Awful Tale of the Minnesota Diarrhea Ghost by Rish Outfield

The Awful Tale of the Minnesota Diarrhea Ghost by Rish Outfield
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Silly little story where grandpa tells his two grandsons all about the origins of the diarrhea ghost. I found it to be funny, and it left a smile on my face. Can you imagine? A ghost whose presence gives you diarrhea.

I bet the Ghost Hunters wouldn't want to take on that one.

:-)

Looks like it's perpetually free on Smashwords. Worth picking up for those who like an incredibly short, humorous read.

View all my reviews

Pick up your own copy at Smashwords.

Short Story Collection Review: Working for Heat by Donavan Sotam

Today's offering for this month's theme of short and shortish books is Working for Heat, a collection of three short stories set in the office.

When the author asked me to review his book, he mentioned it was a satire. I'd like to say I knew exactly what he meant, but instead I had only a vague sense of the word. To ensure I knew how to treat this review, I dusted off my memories from high school English class and then did a few searches on Google just to be sure. In case you're a bit rusty like I was, satire is poking fun at a human folly through wit, irony or derision.

As for the title, the author explains it as working to no purpose.

Short Story Collection Review: Tales from Arva: Volume 1 by Kevis Hendrickson

As part of my month long theme of short and shortish stories, todays' feature is Tales from Arva, a collection of poetry, parables, legends and myths set in the same fantasy world.  This common location was the only thing these stories shared.  Each one was completely unique.

The author offered me a free copy of this book in return for a review after seeing that I both like fantasy books and like writing reviews about them. 

After I wrote my review, I discovered that some of the stories contained in this collection are also available as individual short stories.  I ended up posting a bonus review of The Tale of Liril with that story because it was my favorite of the bunch.


Tales from Arva: Volume 1 by Kevis Hendrickson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Parables, legends and myths, both bittersweet and tragic...

I liked Tales of Arva, though I must say I enjoyed some of the tales more than others. Since each one is unique, I'll address each tale separately.

Short Story Collection Review: Shakespeare for Cats by DE James

Today, as part of my month long theme of short and shortish stories, I am featuring Shakespeare for Cats.  I came across this on Amazon when I was scouting for freebees and thought I could use a little sophistication on my book shelf.  Plus, the little cat on the cover looked cute.  This book surprised me because when I got it, I didn't realize it was a collection of short stories.  Besides that, I found the way the stories tied together to be an interesting approach.


Shakespeare for Cats by DE James
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Cute, quick, and amusing.

Shakespeare for Cats is made up of a bunch of short stories, featuring the furry, hoofed, feathered and even two legged denizens of an aging neighborhood.

The characters are each unique and well-developed, and though they may not try to be, they are humorous in their interactions and their life views. My favorite, and a great example, is Fav the opossum. He organizes a gang of house mice on raids, ambushes and intelligence missions, and even makes an attempt to bribe a guard parrot into looking the other way for a cut of the take.

Short Story Review: Hexes and Tooth Decay by Nancy Fulda

As part of my month long theme of short and shortish stories, I figured I'd start with one of the shortest ones I've read in recent memory, Hexes and Tooth Decay: A Short Story.  I came across this one for free on Amazon one day and it sat on my to be read shelf for several months before I finally said, "Hey, what's this!" 

I opened it up during a commercial break (because, of course, that's when I do my best reading), and by the time the break was over, I was done with it.  But, I must say, even though it has to have been the shortest ebook I've ever seen, I was not disappointed.  I was, however, concerned that my review would be longer than the story...


Hexes and Tooth Decay: A Short Story by Nancy Fulda

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Funny and worth a read.

This one literally took me about two minutes to read, but it had me laughing and smiling. It's a clever take on the origins of a certain mystical being much loved by elementary school children.

I can say that it is rare for me to rate a short story with five stars, but this one deserves it. The plot is well developed, the characters (three of them, it is a short after all) vivid and strange, and the parting shot at the end is fantastic.

A winner for adults and kids (I'd say middle-schoolers), though adults should read it first before passing it along.

View all my reviews

October Theme: Short and Shortish Books!

If you've been following my blog for long, you may have already guessed I tend towards the more massive offerings. This month I'll be doing something a bit different.  The focus will be entirely on short and shortish books: novellas, short stories, short story collections, etc.

For authors, short stories of various lengths provide a great way to practice writing, to get your work and your name out there, and to build a volume of work in a rather short period of time.  They're also great for getting recognized in competitions, such as those available on Writer's Digest.

For readers, short stories provide a glimpse into another world, a quick escape, and an introduction to an author's style.  They also make great bedtime stories, even for adults, and yes, some of the stories I'll feature this month are definitely not something you'd read to a kid.

To kick off my month of shorts, let's run through what makes a short story a short story.