Cora Buhlert's Blog, page 112

Photos: Enchanted November Woodlands

We had a lovely sunny and mild late November weekend, so I took the opportunity to go hiking in my favourite local hiking spot, the Westermark forest near the town of Syke, which has been featured in these pages before.

And since I took my camera along, here are some photos:

The main path through the woods.

Another look down the main path with beautifully coloured foliage. Because the fall was mild, there are still a lot of leaves on the trees.

A golden-leaved beech tree stands among a bunch of firs.

This little rest hut stands in the middle of the woods.

A bench under a barren tree.

A look up at the canopies of the trees. Note the falling leaves, stirred up by a gust of wind.

A look into the woods. The ground is completely covered in dead leaves. Note the numbers sprayed onto some of the trunks as signs for the lumberjacks.

The lumberjacks have been busy of late and so the trunks of cut down trees lined many of the paths.

More lumber. Note the sprayed words: “E. Frei”, which I suppose is the name of the owner of these particular trunks.

An aged beech tree that almost looks like a sculpture.

The field at the center of the forest is lit by the afternoon sun.

A particularly beautiful example of a tree with autumn coloured leaves.

This path goes along the edge of the woods.

A mix of light – the gilded beech tree – and dark – the firs on the other side of the path.

Close-up of the clovers that cover parts of the ground in the forest.

A close-up of a fern leaf.

This photo was not taken in the Westermark woods, but in the nearby village of Steinforth. Note the stunning fall colours.

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New German spy story available – Neue Spionagegeschichte auf Deutsch erhältlich: Auf der anderen Seite des Vorhangs

I have a new release in German, namely the German language version of The Other Side of the Curtain.

I initially planned to announce the new release on November 9 to tie in with the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the inner German border. But then I got ill, several vendors were rather slow to update (I’m still missing a couple of smaller Tolino stores) and besides, the usual jerks decided to pollute what should’ve been a joyful anniversary with their personal political agenda.

So I decided to postpone the announcement until the book was actually available everywhere and instead celebrate on November 9 what I’ve always celebrated on that day, namely the 95th birthday of my late grandmother.

***

Ich habe mal wieder ein deutsches e-Book anzukündigen, nämlich die deutsche Fassung der Spionagegeschichte The Other Side of the Curtain.

Ursprünglich wollte ich die Geschichte am 9. November pünktlich zum 25jährigem Jubiläum des Mauerfalls ankündigen. Aber dann wurde ich krank und einige der Händler waren doch sehr langsam darin, das Buch hochzuladen und außerdem haben die üblichen Verdächtigen sich daran gemacht, ein eigentlich freudiges Jubiläum mit ihrer persönlichen politischen Agenda zu verpsten.

Also entschloss ich mich, die Ankündigung zurückzustellen, bis das Buch tatsächlich auch überall erhältlich ist (na ja, einiger der kleineren Tolino Partner fehlen noch), und stattdessen den 9. November als das zu feiern, was er in erster Linie immer für mich war, nämlich der 95. Geburtstag meiner leider inzwischen verstorbenen Oma.

Und jetzt das Buch:

Auf der anderen Seite des Vorhangs

Leipzig, 1966. Major Werner Gottwald hat sein Leben dem Dienst am Vaterland gewidmet und beobachtet als Stasi Agent westliche Besucher in der DDR. Sein neuester Auftrag ist der amerikanische Millionär Zane Smith und dessen Geliebte, die schöne Shoushan Kariyan.

Auf den ersten Blick scheint es ein Auftrag wie jeder andere zu sein. Aber an Zane Smith ist mehr dran, als es auf den ersten Blick scheint, und so steckt Gottwald bald schon bis zum Hals in Schwierigkeiten. Denn es stellt sich heraus, dass Gottwald die Verschlagenheit der kommunistischen Brüder vom KGB unterschätzt hat. Und er hat definitiv Shoushan Kariyan unterschätzt…

Mehr Informationen.

Länge: 9000 Worte

Preis: 2,99 EUR, USD oder GBP

Erhältlich bei Amazon Deutschland, Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Amazon Niederlande, Amazon Frankreich, Amazon Italien, Amazon Spanien, Amazon Canada, Amazon Australien, Amazon Brasilien, Amazon Mexico, Amazon Japan, Amazon Indien, Kobo, Apple iTunes, Thalia, Weltbild, Hugendubel, Der Club, BOL, Otto-Media, Donauland, buecher.de, buch.de, eBook.de, Barnes & Noble, Scribd, txtr, Inktera, Smashwords, Casa del Libro, Flipkart, e-Sentral und XinXii.

Dieses Buch gibt es auch auf Englisch.

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Two posts on the German publishing world

I know that many of you are not regular readers of the Pegasus Pulp blog, which is more focussed on publishing related subjects. So I’d like to point you to two recent posts about the German publishing world over on the Pegasus Pulp blog.

The first post talks about the German e-book market and the recent news that the market share of Tolino, an e-reader developed and marketed by an alliance of several German booksellers, has surpassed that of Amazon’s Kindle.

The second post tackles the very German publishing phenomenon of the “Romanheft”, novella-length stories published in standalone digest-sized pulp magazines, and draws some parallels to e-book indie publishing. I’ve also included a couple of links discussing the digital strategies of “Romanheft” publishers.

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Flowers in the Attic and some surprising parallels to Game of Thrones

Tonight I chanced to watch the 2014 adaptation of V.C. Andrews’ cult classic Flowers in the Attic, starring Ellen Burstyn, Heather Graham and Kiernan Shipka (Sally Draper in Mad Men).

I was actually surprised how negative many of the reviews on IMDB were (and how many of them defended the 1987 adaptation, which I’ve only ever heard described as bad), since I felt that the 2014 Flowers in the Attic was a surprisingly good and accurate adaptation of a novel that is not exactly easy to adapt.

Spoilers for both book and movie in the following:

Now it’s been almost twenty-five years since I’ve read the books. Like most teen girls who devoured those books in the 1980s, I was given them (well, the first book at any rate) by another teen girl, in this case my cousin, and later bought – or rather persuaded my parents to buy – my own set. It’s quite fascinating how the V.C. Andrews books spread virally from teen girl to teen girl via word of mouth with zero promotion (at least, I never saw any promotion) and completely under the radar of adults. I did my part in spreading the word as well and recommended the books to several friends at school. Indeed, if you talk to women who were teens in the 1980s, most of them will have read either Flowers in the Attic and sequels or Clan of the Cave Bear and sequels or both, while men of the same age as well as people who are a few years older or younger usually have no idea what you’re talking about.

Coincidentally, I watched the film version with my Mom who had no knowledge of the story whatsoever and didn’t remember buying the books for me (because I’d asked for them for my birthday) either. She did like the movie, though. “How did you even find those books?”, she asked me. “Silke gave me the first one”, I said, “And then I got you to buy me the rest.”

Watching the movie, I was struck with how well I still remembered the details of the story some twenty-five years and hundreds of other books after I first read it. Flowers in the Attic may not have been a good book (and I’m not even tempted to reread it, because I know I’ll only be disappointed), but by hell, it sure was a memorable one.

The TV movie sticks very closely to the novel, though it seems rushed in places, which is probably due to the short run time of 86 minutes. The episode of Chris feeding the twins with his own blood, when the grandmother didn’t bring them food for a week, is missing altogether and the arsenic poisoning plot towards the end feels rushed. We only see the kids eating doughnuts once and Cory falls ill very rapidly rather than slowly wasting away. Chris and Cathy only look ill in the last few scenes, while Carrie never really looks sick at all.

On the other hand, it seems to me that there is more emphasis placed on the incest subplot than in the novel, but then I might be misremembering things, because unlike most other readers of the books, I never found the incest particularly thrilling. I merely viewed it as “the sort of thing that happens if kids grow up in such unnatural circumstances”. The actual incest happens off-screen – we only see the aftermath, probably because both Kiernan Shipka and Mason Dye, the actors who played Cathy and Chris, were underage when the film was made. The first sexual encounter between Chris and Cathy is also portrayed as consensual in the movie, whereas it was pretty much rape in the novel, but I’m not going to argue with that change, because I always found the rape distasteful and not really in character for Chris either. But then, the novel was published in the late 1970s, when sex scene often meant rape scene.

I like the decision to turn Flowers in the Attic into a period piece and keep the setting in the 1950s, because the story wouldn’t work in a contemporary setting at all. And while I don’t recall if the novel ever explicitly specifies when the story is set, it was always obvious to me that neither the Dollanganger series nor the Casteel series (Heaven and sequels) nor My Sweet Audrina were set in the present (i.e. the 1980s), because the stories just didn’t feel contemporary even back then.

Coincidentally, Kiernan Shipka seems stuck in period settings, since most of us associate the actress with the role of Sally Draper in Mad Men, which is set a little later. She also has the tendency to play the daughter of horrible mothers, though Corinne has even Betty Draper beat in the horribleness department.

Talking of which, I liked Kiernan Shipka’s performance as Cathy a lot, but then everybody who’s watched Mad Men knows she can act. I have never seen the 1987 version, so I cannot compare them. But Kristy Swanson, who played Cathy in the 1987 version, has never impressed me in anything. Plus, at 18 she was too old for the part, whereas Kiernan Shipka was just right at 14.

Mason Dye was okay as Chris. He nailed the protectiveness of Chris towards his younger siblings well, though he did seem a bit too naive. At any rate, I don’t recall Chris in the books being quite as naive as movie Chris. Mason Dye does seem a bit tall and muscular for Chris (well, the actor is on the cast of Teen Wolf), particularly for the early scenes, when he’s supposed to be fourteen. But then it is difficult to portray two years of physical development in a movie that’s shot in a few months. They could have messed his hair a bit more, though, since it’s unlikely Cathy would have cut it that well. The kids who plays the twins are physically spot on, though they don’t have very much to do.

Ellen Burstyn is fabulous as Olivia Foxworth, but then she is an Academy Award winner and was nominated for an Emmy for this role, though she lost to Kathy Bates. A lot of people praise Louise Fletcher’s performance in the 1987 movie and of course, Louise Fletcher is a fabulous actress, particularly in villainous roles. But I’ve never seen the 1987 movie and was very impressed with Ellen Burstyn’s performance. I particularly liked the rare glimpses of humanity in the harsh facade of Olivia, glimpses that readers of the books don’t get until Garden of Shadows which is narrated from Olivia’s POV.

Heather Graham, who is not normally an actress known for dramatic parts, got a lot of flak for her performance as Corinne Foxworth. She certainly does have the right look for the part and captures the superficiality and coldness of Corinne quite well. Nonetheless, she wouldn’t have been my first choice for the role. In fact, I kept comparing her to January Jones, the other Barbie-doll-pretty blonde actress who played Kiernan Shipka’s icily superficial mother (though Betty never served arsenic laced doughnuts to anyone). If given the choice, I would have preferred January Jones as Corinne, though Heather Graham was perfectly adequate.

So in short, I enjoyed the movie (so did my Mom, who never read the books) and am a bit baffled by the many negative reviews. I guess they’re partly due to the fact that the movie was broadcast on the Lifetime channel, which has a bad reputation in the US. Plus, I suspect that many of those who devoured the books already had an image of the Dollangangers and Foxworth Hall in their heads. The actors in the movie match my personal image quite well (though Foxworth Hall should have been grander), but that doesn’t necessarily mean they match other people’s image. I am a bit baffled by how many people claim to prefer the 1987 movie, since I’ve never heard anything good about it. But I guess it still holds a fond place in many people’s hearts, particularly since it came out at the height of the books’ popularity.

Finally, here is something disturbing I realised while watching the movie. The Dollangangers/Foxworths are a perfectly blonde family with dark secrets, a horrible head of the family, a case of brother/sister incest that begins during adolescence and continues into adulthood and a younger sibling with stunted growth. Now does that remind you of anybody?

Exactly, of everybody’s favourite dysfunctional blonde family, the Lannisters of Casterly Rock. Indeed, halfway through watching Flowers in the Attic it hit me: The Dollangangers are an alternate reality version of the Lannisters or vice versa.

Now I have no idea if George R.R. Martin ever read Flowers in the Attic or whether he was aware of it via cultural osmosis, but the parallels are striking. What is more, the infamous Red Wedding also bears striking parallels to the Moldavian wedding massacre on the 1980s soap Dynasty. Together, this makes me wonder whether A Song of Ice and Fire does not just liberally borrow from history (which it clearly does), but was also influenced by the melodramatic media of the 1980s.

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An interview, a new vendor and some awards geekery

First of all, I’ve been interviewed at Book Goodies, so check it out.

And if you’re a reader in the Netherlands, you can now buy my books at the newly established Amazon NL without having to pay Amazon’s international surcharge.

Last but not least, the 2014 World Fantasy Awards have been given out.

Sofia Samatar’s A Stranger in Olondria won in the best novel category, Wakulla Springs by Andy Duncan and Ellen Klages in the best novella category (this story was also my favourite novella on the Hugo shortlist, though it lost to Charles Stross), The Prayer of Ninety Cats by Caitlín R. Kiernan won in the best short story category (Kiernan also won best collection), the George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois edited anthology Dangerous Women won in the anthology category. Some very good choices all in all, though I haven’t read the Caitlín Kiernan story.

Sofia Samatar has shared the approximate contents of her acceptance speech at her blog. She also addressed the problem that the World Fantasy Award statuette is a bust of H.P. Lovecraft, who was not just a pioneering dark fantasy writer but also a vicious racist, which makes accepting the award awkward for writers of colour.

Plus, once again the majority of the prizes in the fiction categories went to women writers, including a woman of colour, while the best anthology, though edited by two men, focusses on stories with female protagonists. All in all, very encouraging.

Cheryl Morgan says it best in her post on the awards:

You know what this means, don’t you, folks?

OMG! The FemiNazis Have Destroyed Fantasy!!!

Eat cooties, dudebros.

Indeed, this year’s World Fantasy Award winners should annoy a certain fraction of SFF writers and fans quite a bit. But then, those people don’t usually care much about the World Fantasy Awards, probably because they’re juried and have always tended towards more literary fantasy.

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Familienkutsche featured at Kobo Next and other news

Familienkutsche, the German version of my crime short Family Car, is a featured selection at Kobo Next, Kobo’s own promo site, this week, along with a whole lot of other good books such as When the Music’s Over by German SF writer Myra Çakan.

If you’re waiting for more German language books, I have a new one in publishing right now and hope to announce it in time for the anniversary tomorrow, e-book vendor gods willing.

In the meantime, I’ve got a profile on the new social network tsu (where you can get a sneak peak at the new German book), so drop by, if you’re there. What is tsu? Here is an explanation.

Finally, Heidi Garrett, Jessica Rydill and myself keep posting all sorts of interesting content at the Speculative Fiction Showcase, so check it out, if you haven’t already.

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Constantine or when the imitators eclipse the original

We’re living in a strange age where every American comic you ever read, no matter how obscure, is probably going to be a movie or a TV show sooner or later. Want proof? Look at Marvel’s massive line-up of upcoming movies, including a bunch of characters I for one would never have expected to see on the big screen. But hey, we’re living in superhero comic movie utopia these days and I for one like it.

Regarding to Marvel’s competitor DC, I finally got around to watching the pilot episode of Constantine a few days late. Here is a recap from Tor.com and one from iO9.

Like Gotham, Constantine was a comic related TV show I was planning to skip. But then I saw the trailer and it looked pretty good. So I decided to give it a try.

So what is the verdict? Middling. I’ll probably give the show another try (after all, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. needed ten episodes or so to become really, really cracking good), but so far I’m not at all convinced. And I’m not sure if it’s the fault of the show itself or just bad timing.

Let’s start with the good: Welsh actor , who was previously best known for his role as the sniper dude in the forgettable Criminal Minds spin-off Suspect Behaviour, and also had a part in the Torchwood season 2 episode “Meat” (a.k.a. the one with people eating space whales a.k.a. the last Torchwood episode I ever watched, because I realised the show I had once enjoyed had turned to crap), really makes an excellent John Constantine. He looks as if he’d stepped right out of the comics (and talking of which, it’s bloody depressing that John Constantine of all characters is now played by a guy who’s younger than me). The dialogue is also perfect. Constantine sounds just as cynical and foul-mouthed as he did in the comics and still manages to be likeable. I also liked the fact that he was allowed to keep his accent, a rarity for US genre TV.

Unfortunately, the closest we come to seeing Constantine smoking in the TV show is seeing him playing with a lighter and sitting next to a smaking ashtray. Given that Constantine was one of those character famous for smoking, this is a bit disappointing, but that’s 21st century US morality for you. Besides, John Constantine is not the only comic book smoker who has been put on forced nicotine withdrawal. Wolverine hasn’t been seen smoking in the comics for a while nor is he seen smoking in the latter X-Men films, though we do see him with a cigar in the earlier ones. Nick Fury, another famous cigar chomper, hasn’t been seen smoking since he turned into Samuel L. Jackson. I haven’t seen the Thing smoking in a while either – not sure what’s up with Gambit these days.

So in short, nothing but kudos for Matt Ryan. Unfortunately, the rest of the cast and the pilot episode in general is not nearly as good. The female lead Liv, played by Lucy Griffith, is apparently supposed to be the audience identification character who is by now standard in many speculative TV show, usually portrayed as a young woman. Skye from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Gwen from Torchwood and every Doctor Who companion ever are other examples of this character. However, unlike the various Doctor Who companions or Skye or even Gwen, Liv didn’t work for me at all. Her hair and make-up were just too perfect, her reactions didn’t ring quite true and somehow she never convinced me that she was anything other than an actress playing a part. After having seen her in action, I’m not surprised that the production team wrote her out in favour of another female character who also has the advantage of being a character from the comics.

Harold Perrineau, best known for his role in Lost, plays an angel called Manny who tries to persuade Constantine to do his dirty work for him. Now I like Harold Perrineau, plus he adds a much needed shot of colour to what is otherwise a very white show in spite of being set in Atlanta (Why? Constantine works best when set in Britain. So why not London or Liverpool or Newcastle?). Nonetheless, his character – who doesn’t exist in the comics as far as I know – immediately rubbed me the wrong way. At first, I thought it was because Manny was too similar to Castiel from Supernatural (who was ironically modelled after John Constantine), another angel character I have never liked, even though he’s a fan favourite.

Then I thought the reason was that I don’t like angels, particularly of the macho sort, in general. Indeed, one thought I had throughout the pilot episode, whenever John Constantine or any of the other characters went on about angels and demons and heaven and hell and damned souls suffering for all eternity, was, “Damn! Was the comic always this religious and I just never noticed it?”

Now a few explanations are in order: First of all, I happily read the Hellblazer comics for several years during the Warren Ellis and Brian Azarello runs and even own a John Constantine action figure, who is sitting on my bookshelf, checking out the arse of Jakita Wagner from Planetary. However, even though I know I read the comic and can instantly recognise the cover art and even some interior art, I remember next to nothing of the plot. Which is unusual, since I can recount X-Men or Spider-Man plots (or Preacher or Transmetropolitan for other Vertigo series) from the same era in great detail. Hellblazer, however, is just one big blank.

Secondly, I’m not religious at all. I did manage to be religious long enough to go through my confirmation (and I was convinced at the time or I would never have gone through with the ceremony, because I was never the type to do it just for the money), but I gave up on religion not long thereafter. However, the brand of Christianity I grew up with was a very rational blend of Lutheranism. I was taught that hell was just a metaphor used to scare people rather than a place, that there was no such thing as eternal damnation, that demons didn’t exist and that angels were something only superstitious people believed in. And those people only believed in guardian angels – violent angels with the flaming swords just plain didn’t exist outside certain parts of the Bible (and those were metaphors as well).

Hence, my reaction to any sort of speculative fiction that draws heavily on hell, demons, damnation and angels is one of extreme alienation. If anything, the alienation is stronger than with speculative fiction that merely uses mythological tropes that are unfamiliar to me, because angels, demons, hell and eternal damnation are things I have been told from very early on are backwards and superstitious. I can tolerate demons for some reason – it’s angels that usually get me. I have no interest in reading about/watching macho jerk angels (and they’re always macho jerk angels). Ditto for eternal damnation, the religious apocalypse and all that jazz. Indeed, too much focus on Christian religious concepts that are superstitious or just plain weird to me is one of my biggest dealbreakers for supernatural/occult/dark fantasy properties. This is what killed Supernatural for me post season 4 and what killed Sleepy Hollow for me in spite of really liking the characters.

So watching a John Constantine pilot filled with a lot of stuff about angels and demons and hell and damnation triggered a reaction of “Crap, was the comic always this full of religious stuff?” reaction in me. Followed by, “But Hellblazer is a British comic, predominantly written by Brits. And Catholic or Anglican*, aren’t Brits supposed to be rational about Christianity?**” Though considering how much Christian religious content or outright grappling with religious issues there is in British SFF, I suspect I was wrong about that.

Of course, it’s quite possible that the Warren Ellis and Brian Azarello Hellblazer runs I read way back when were lower on the outright religious content than other issues of the comic, let alone a TV series made by Americans. On the other hand, I barely remember the plots, so maybe I just ignored the religious stuff. After all, I happily and eagerly read Preacher around the same time. I was a lot younger when I read those comics and more easily able to simply blank out stuff that annoyed me than today.

However, while watching the Constantine pilot and ranting that it was just like Supernatural, where those bloody angels ruined everything once they showed up, something else occurred to me. Even though I have very few memories of the Hellblazer comic, something about the show seemed painfully familiar to me, as if I were watching a story I had seen told a hundred times before. But how could that be, if other comic book movies and shows retelling the same old familiar story didn’t bother me in the slightest. Besides, I barely remembered the Hellblazer comic anyway.

But then it hit me: I had seen and read this story told a thousand times before. Every single element seemed familiar to me, because it was. Not necessarily from the Hellblazer comics themselves, but from the many urban fantasy novels and supernatural noir TV shows inspired by them.

As someone with an academic interest in the urban fantasy genre, I was always aware that comics in general and Hellblazer in particular had been an influence on the genre. But until I watched the Constantine pilot I hadn’t been consciously aware how massive that influence truly was. Because let’s face it, every male urban fantasy character, particularly if he is a mage or supernatural detective, is at least a little bit influenced by John Constantine.

The trenchcoat, the cynism, the bleached hair, the punk affinities, the bad childhood, the tough guy facade coupled with sheer panic inside, the tendency towards hanging out in dodgy bars, the hard-boiled/noir influenced narration, the substance abuse – these elements show up in varying degrees in every single urban fantasy or supernatural noir franchise with a male lead. Harry Dresden from Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series, John Taylor from Simon R. Green’s Nightside series, Jack Winter from Caitlin Kittredge’s Black London series (probably the most Constantine like of all the Constantine imitators), Atticus O’Sullivan from Kevin Hearne’s Iron Druid Chronicles, Connor Grey from Mark del Franco’s eponymous series, Simon Canderous from Anton Strout’s eponymous series, Sam and Dean Winchester from Supernatural, Cal and Niko Leandros from Rob Thurman’s Leandros Brothers series, all of these characters are the spiritual descendants of John Constantine.

As a result, watching Constantine felt like watching a mash-up of Supernatural and the abortive Dresden Files TV series as well as TV adaptations that never were of the Nightside series or the Black London series or the Leandros Brothers series. And while I was noticing the many parallels, I couldn’t help but thinking that I’d rather be watching/reading any of the series listed above than the show I was actually watching.

Now I haven’t read any Hellblazer comics in a decade or so. And like I said before, I barely remember those comics that I did read. It’s probably telling that the one Hellblazer plot I can remember with complete clarity isn’t a Hellblazer story at all, but Warren Ellis’ Hellblazer pastiche from Planetary (There is a reason my John Constantine action figure is checking out Jakita Wagner’s arse).

However, in the decade or so since I gave up on Hellblazer, I have been eagerly watching Supernatural (at least until those bloody angels showed up) and have been devouring the literary adventures of Harry Dresden and John Taylor and Jack Winter and the Leandros brothers and Atticus O’Sullivan and Simon Canderous and Connor Grey. And I find those characters a lot more interesting these days, because they have actual conflicts, relationships, families, romances, siblings, children (in some cases), while John Constantine is a British dude who smokes a lot, drinks a lot, curses a lot, used to be in a punk band and does magic. Compared to his more interesting successors, John Constantine simply comes across as bland, which is probably why I have completely erased his adventures from my memory, even though I know I read them for several years.

I’ll give Constantine another try to see if the show grows on me. After all, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. needed almost half a season to go from “decent, but nothing special” to “really good television” and from there into the stratosphere.

Nonetheless, I wonder whether the perfect time for a Constantine TV series (or a Constantine movie that actually remained faithful to the source material, unlike the travesty that we got) isn’t past by now. John Constantine has spread his wild oats around and by now his legacy is all over the airwaves and urban fantasy shelves. Which paradoxically makes the original stand out less, not more, and indeed seem like just another urban fantasy/supernatural noir series with a cynical male lead.

*Lutherans, at least the brand I grew up with, view Anglicans as a sort of spiritual brethren once removed. They are a tad wary, but tolerant about reformed/Calvanist influenced churches. Catholics are viewed as superstitious and any other Protestant denomination such as Baptists, Methodists, Pentecostals, etc… are viewed as “some kind of weird cult”. Sorry, but that’s how it is.

**And Alan Moore, creator of John Constantine, hasn’t been Christian in a while now, if he ever was in the first place.

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Two new Helen Shepherd Mysteries available: Bank Job and Open Season

I’m still sick, but I’ve still got two new stories in the Helen Shepherd Mysteries series to announce. That is, actually I’ve been meaning to announce them this weekend, but I was feeling too sick and even updating the websites and writing the blog posts took spoons I didn’t have at the time.

If you want to read all the Helen Shepherd Mysteries, there is also a discounted series bundle available exclusively at DriveThruFiction.

And if you want to know a bit more about how the Helen Shepherd Mysteries were written, check out this post over at Pegasus Pulp.

Bank Job

At first glance, the robbery in a small bank branch doesn’t seem overly mysterious. After all, the CCTV footage clearly shows a masked robber threatening bank clerk Jim Carling with a gun before disabling the cameras.

However, the robber knew a bit too much about the inner workings of the bank, so Detective Inspector Helen Shepherd quickly suspects that the robber had inside help. But who of the five bank employees is the insider? And what happened to Jim Carling after the robber took him hostage?

 

 

For more information, visit the Bank Job page.

Buy it for the low price of 2.99 USD, EUR or GBP at Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Germany, Amazon France, Amazon Spain, Amazon Italy, Amazon Canada, Amazon Australia, Amazon Brazil, Amazon Japan, Amazon India, Amazon Mexico, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Apple iTunes, Scribd, Smashwords, Inktera, txtr, Thalia, Weltbild, Hugendubel, Der Club, Libiro, Nook UK, DriveThruFiction, OmniLit/AllRomance e-books, Casa del Libro, Flipkart, e-Sentral, You Heart Books and XinXii.

Open Season

Absolutely no one is sorry when the infamous Ruislip Wood Ripper, a serial killer who has already raped and murdered three women, ends up dead in the forest, shot by a hunter while on the cusp of attacking his fourth victim.

But there are just a few coincidences too many in this case for the taste of Detective Inspector Helen Shepherd. Was it really just pure luck that hunter Reginald Hargreaves just happened to be in the right place at the right time? And why did no one warn French tourist Anne Marie Sauvage that there was a killer on the loose in Ruislip Woods?

 

For more information, visit the Open Season page.

Buy it for the low price of 0.99 USD, EUR or GBP at Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Germany, Amazon France, Amazon Spain, Amazon Italy, Amazon Canada, Amazon Australia, Amazon Brazil, Amazon Japan, Amazon India, Amazon Mexico, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Apple iTunes, Scribd, Smashwords, Inktera, txtr, Thalia, Weltbild, Hugendubel, Der Club, Libiro, Nook UK, DriveThruFiction, OmniLit/AllRomance e-books, Casa del Libro, Flipkart, e-Sentral, You Heart Books and XinXii.

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Toadstools in the meadow

I caught a nasty cold just in time for Halloween, hence the light blogging in recent days.

I even had to ask my parents to hand out candy to any trick or treaters who might show up, because opening the door looking and feeling like an extra from The Walking Dead really wouldn’t have been appropriate. We actually got trick or treaters, too, ten of them in fact, which is quite a lot, considering Halloween hasn’t been celebrated in Germany all that long. But kids quickly take to such traditions (and all trick or treaters were under ten, a few were toddlers) very quickly, especially if they involve dressing up and getting free candy.

Meanwhile, we are experiencing an extremely warm autumn this year and had up to 20 degrees Celsius in North Germany this weekend. Autumn is also traditionally mushroom time. And since the area where I live is still semi-rural, I came across these two beauties on the meadow across the road.

A toadstool grows among dead leaves on the meadow across the road.

A baby toadstool found on the same meadow.

Apparently, the proper English name for those mushrooms is fly agaric (thanks to Ann Somerville for the hint). In Germany, we call them “Fliegenpilz” (fly mushroom).

They’re very pretty, poisonous and hallucinogenic. They were once used in witches’ brews, served as an early pesticide and are also a traditional good luck symbol in Germany.

According to a pre-Christian legend, toadstools grow where one of Odin’s entourage has fallen from their horse during their wild ride across the sky during the winter solstice. Personally, I wouldn’t mind Thor falling onto the meadow across the road. Or Loki, provided he’s not in full-on Avengers villain mode.

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Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month for October 2014

It’s that time of the month again, time for “Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month”, this time with a special Halloween edition or rather one that just happens to be published at Halloween.

So what is “Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month”? It’s a round-up of speculative fiction by indie authors newly published this month, though some September books I missed the last time around snuck in as well. The books are arranged in alphabetical order by author. So far, most links only go to Amazon.com, though I may add other retailers for future editions.

Once again, we have a broad spectrum of titles, featuring science fiction, space opera, horror, dystopian fiction, post-apocalyptic fiction, steampunk, cyberpunk, biopunk, epic fantasy, urban fantasy, historical fantasy, Asian fantasy, YA fantasy, weird western, space western, paranormal romance, gothic romance, demons, werewolves, superheroes, psychic powers, GLBT characters, fairy tale retellings and much more.

Don’t forget that Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month is also crossposted to the Speculative Fiction Showcase, a group blog run by Heidi Garrett, Jessica Rydill and myself, which features new release spotlights, guest posts, interviews and link round-ups regarding all things speculative fiction several times per week.

As always, I know the authors at least vaguely, but I haven’t read all of the books, so Caveat emptor.

And now on to the books without further ado:

Pack of Lies by Annie Bellet

Let sleeping dogs lie. Wolves, on the other hand…

Recovering from a broken heart and coming to terms with her family history, all sorceress Jade Crow wants is to resume running her comic book store and gaming with her friends. With a town full of strange wolf shifters, a hundred-and-fifty-year-old peace accord hanging in the balance, and the Justice who broke her heart back in her life, Jade’s plans go out the proverbial window.

Wolves are killing wolves, innocent human lives are caught in the crossfire, and not everyone in town is who they appear to be. As the bodies stack up and the doubts build, Jade and her friends race to find the true killer.

And then Jade’s evil ex-lover makes another move…

Pack of Lies is the third book in The Twenty-Sided Sorceress urban fantasy series, following Justice Calling and Murder of Crows.

Wave Links by Randall Boleyn

They feared how the truth might alter Llad Fleck. No one told him about his talented ancestors, their extraordinary heritage, or how they died. He never learned that a powerful research institute in London considered him a lethal threat. Other than the need to move on to the safety of a different city every few months, the only thing Llad knew for sure was that the men he played ball against said he had “mad skills not suitable for a fifteen-year-old.”

When Llad meets an eccentric parapsychologist, Dr. Jemma Rask, she explains that she has waited decades just to teach him how to expand his mind and utilize the unique traits which she believes he has inherited. Even though Dr. Rask and her stories come across as way too weird for Llad, he begins studying her techniques. He quickly realizes that just because the link might be there, it doesn’t mean he actually has the talent or the patience to develop his abilities.

After multiple killings shatter Llad’s life, he still doesn’t know who is behind the brutal murders or why he’s involved. But he knows now that he’s fighting for his life against a fanatical enemy. He must discover more about his family tree and learn how to control his psychic gifts?if he has any. Alone with his grief, Llad searches for clues about his cryptic lineage while being haunted by reoccurring dreams of a mysterious girl trying to help him master the bizarre talents he will need to survive.

Once Upon a Time at the End of the World by S. Elliot Brandis

Meet the android with no name. Seventy years ago, he was freed: his permission chip was removed and a gun placed in his hand. He was sent to fight for his country.

It was the war that ended the world.

Now, America is a wasteland. Wild towns have emerged across the frontier, lawless places filled with drunks and opportunists. The android rides from town to town, collecting warrants and seeking justice. Life is violent and meaningless—full of blood, whiskey, and dust.

When he meets Sierra—a fiery southerner with a chip on her shoulder—they embark on an unlikely journey, a dangerous search for vengeance.

Heart of Fire by J. Damask

Jan Xu, wolf and pack leader, faces more dangers when she saves a foreign male wolf in love with one of her ancient enemies, a jiang shi, a Chinese vampire. Throw in a love-struck drake—and Jan finds her situation suddenly precarious, with her reputation and health at stake. How much is a wolf going to take when everything is out of control again and her world thrown into disarray? How is she going to navigate the complexities of Myriad politics while keeping her pack and family intact without losing her mind? The third book of the Jan Xu Adventures will see Jan Xu’s continual fight as pack leader, her clan’s Eye (seer) and mother of three young children. Her mettle, courage and love for her family will be tested to her utmost limits.

This is the sequel to Wolf at the Door.

Blades of Illusion by Terah Edun

Sara Fairchild, duelist and combatant, is out for vengeance. Her father was betrayed. Her mother is dead. All she has left is her desire for revenge and a quest for answers.

Now a member of the Mercenary Guilds’ elite guard, she fights on the front lines of her empire’s first civil war. But Sara’s priority isn’t winning the war for the crown or empire. It’s finding out the true circumstances of her family’s downfall while keeping one mild-mannered curator alive.

As emotionally detached as she is from everyone around her, Sara can’t seem to shake the stubborn affection of her one friend. When she stumbles upon the secrets of not one but two Kade mages, she soon finds out that neither of their lives is worth anything to either side.

As she fights to outmaneuver a group of fiendish imperial assassins and win a war that grows more complicated by the day, Sara Fairchild knows that no matter what, the empire will never be the same.

This is book 2 of the Crown Services series, following Blades of Magic

Wizard of Ends by Vanessa Finaughty

When Lashlor Leaflin offers to escort Queen Narraki Dragonsbane to the Jeltar Woods, he’s unwittingly caught up in a magical adventure of the type he would rather not have.

The sorceress Assassa believes the Land of Ends to be rightfully hers, but King Lanaran refuses to hand over his crown. In retaliation, the sorceress conjures creatures of darkness to hunt the queen and end her life. Lashlor helps where he can, but it isn’t easy when the Guards of Ends who protect the queen believe him to be false.

A confrontation with Assassa will be the death of him, Lashlor is certain. However, the king insists on his help and it soon becomes apparent that he may have no choice.

King Ruin by Michael John Gist

“The twists & drama of this roller coaster ride are wild from the start.” – Bethany.

The Arctic ice is gone, blasted apart in decades-long resource wars, and global tsunamis have scoured the world into ruin. Survivors hide in utopian cities behind vast flood-walls, or on lawless floating slums on the open ocean, living in fear of the next big wave.

Ex-Arctic marine Ritry Goligh isn’t afraid. His enemy Mr. Ruins is dead, crushed by a tsunami at the edge of the slums, and Ritry’s long nightmare is finally over. Then comes an explosion that makes no sound, but blows all his thoughts to shreds. In an instant Ritry is prey again, hunted by a power so vast he can’t even comprehend it.

This is King Ruin, and before him all Rit can do is run, so far and so fast he starts to forget who and what he is. Soon half of his mind is gone, the King is closing in, and the souls of billions are at stake. Because King Ruin wants the Bridge, a direct path into the minds of every living thing, and only the lost and broken Ritry Goligh can stand in his way.

This is book 2 in the Ruins Sonata series, following Mr. Ruins.

After the Winter by Mark R. Healy

The Earth is in ruins. Cities and nations destroyed. Those who survive the onslaught succumb to the cold blackness of winter. A handful of machines finally emerge into the light, lost and directionless. They are the last remnants of civilisation.

Brant is a synthetic – a machine who has the appearance and emotions of the humans who made him. He is hunted across the wasteland by cruel scavengers known as Marauders who are intent on cannibalising his body to prolong their own lives.

Brant carries a great burden as he tries to return home: a secret that can change the world. Against the unforgiving desert, the twisted denizens of this new world and his own dark past he needs to find a way back at any cost.

Consumption by Michael Patrick Hicks

You Are

Reclusive chef Heinrich Schauer has invited six guests to a blind twelve-course tasting menu.

What You Eat

While snow blankets the isolated Swiss valley surrounding his estate, the guests feast eagerly, challenging one another to guess at the secret tastes plated before them.

Meat Is Murder

As they eat, each guest is overtaken by carnal appetites, unaware of their host’s savage plans…or of the creature lurking below.

One thing is clear: There is more on the menu than any of them have bargained for.

Consumption is a 12,000 word (approx.) short story. It contains graphic depictions of sex and violence, and is intended for mature audiences.

Sol Shall Rise by G.P. Hudson

The Sol System was conquered and humans lived as slaves for 500 long years.

Now, after years of brutal warfare, humanity has been liberated. Liberation, however, comes at a cost. And the Sol System has become nothing more than a puppet state for a vast galactic empire.

For Jon Pike, a war hero who has lost everything, there is no substitute for freedom. And he blames the aliens for humanity’s troubles, especially the one living inside him.

But when he is sent on a top secret mission into unexplored regions of the galaxy he discovers that humanity’s troubles are just getting started.

Can he find freedom for himself and humanity?

Diabolical Taste by Ros Jackson

Kenssie just wants her fellow demons to respect her. A little hero worship now and then wouldn’t go amiss either. But as the lowly thrall of Rak, an embarrassment demon, she’ll take whatever crumbs she’s offered.

When the demon council turns against her master, Rak and Kenssie are forced to relocate to the countryside. It seems Rak has been holding out against his thrall and keeping a secret that will shake her trust in him forever.

When someone from Rak’s past returns to claim him, Kenssie has to fight for much more than his attention. The lives of innocents and not-so-innocents are on the line. How much of herself is she willing to sacrifice for someone else’s happiness?

The Registry’s Secret by Jana Janeaway

“I feel lost in the middle of a weird dream I can’t wake up from. Where everything is upside down, and all the rules have changed.”

Jessica Mitchell didn’t know just how true that statement would turn out to be.

Living the carefully constructed life that the Registry dictated, under their firm thumb and watchful eye, was starting to feel more and more like a prison sentence. The stifling existence had only one redeeming factor, amid the endless restrictions and constant scrutiny; Craddock Daniels, Jessica’s husband for all intents and purposes.

Even as discontentment spurs despair, they continue to find solace in each other, clinging to the hope that their imagined future together might still be possible.

But they soon learn that not everything is as it seems. It is much, much worse.

On the run again, joined by old and new friends, Jessica and Craddock try to reclaim their lives… by taking on the Mengliad community’s most powerful agency.

THE REGISTRY’S SECRETS is book two of THE MENGLIAD SERIES, following The Mengliad.

The Idiot King by Patty Jansen

Johanna, Roald, Nellie and Loesie have come to Florisheim finding many of their kinsmen there. The survivors from the burning of Saardam who have come here are the nobles who were never great supporters the old king, and it is likely that they won’t support his son either, even if he was normal. They support his marriage to Johanna even less and Johanna’s position as the new king’s wife would be improved immensely if she produced an heir, but so far that’s not happening.

Florisheim is alive with evil magic, and that magic is starting to affect the Saarlanders who are unused to it. They suffer apparitions of ghosts, people driven to injure themselves, or taken prisoner to work in a mysterious hole in the ground. Johanna knows that they have to get out of that evil place, but where can they go when the violence covers the entire known world?

This is part 3 of the series For Queen and Country, following Innocence Lost and Willow Witch.

Mission: Lights of Langrenus by V.A. Jeffrey

Something is rotten in Langrenus.

Or technically, north of the city.

Bob has settled down into work and family life but beneath the surface things have changed. He’s a secret agent now, building a budding network of people searching for the alien shadow groups on Earth and working to stop the coming alien invasion from beyond the solar system. But for now, all of that is far away.

The Boss, the mysterious head of Vartan, Inc. sends Bob to the moon city of Langrenus to investigate the Transient Lunar Phenomenon, which has changed pattern and intensity over recent years. No one knows why. At first, Bob suspects he’s been sent on a fluff mission. But the more he investigates, the more questions are raised in his mind as to what is really going on. The heart of the problem lies within the lunar mining communities and the increased frequency of the beautiful lunar lights are the result of something far more sinister than Bob ever imagined.

This is the sequel to Mission: Flight to Mars.

Hellcat’s Bounty by Renae Jones

Lesbian romance meets adventure in the first Rosewood Space Western.

The hellcat of Rosewood station is the best of the best. Anelace Rios is a good old-fashioned troublemaker, fiercely independent, and best of all, a steady hand with a flamethrower. Carnivorous amoeba are slowly taking over the half-abandoned mining port, and the freelance exterminator rakes in big bounties killing them off—then she spends those bounties in a grand way. Work hard, play hard.

Meidani Sintlere’s reputation is exactly the opposite of her wild friend. She’s the station’s hardworking black market doctor. She’s shy. She’s nice. She’s got a weakness for imported chocolate and pastel dresses. And she gets mad as a sani-vacced cat when Anelace shows up missing chunks of skin.

The hellcat never lacks for a willing partner. Even so, Meidani’s got notions to cut to the front of the line and stay there. She upends everything Anelace knows about good girls and the bad girls who don’t deserve them, and in a blisteringly hot night they go from friends to lovers.

But their new closeness forces the kind of reckoning even tough Anelace can’t escape unscathed. She thrives on her job, relishes the payoff, but now she’s endangering more than her own adrenaline-junkie hide—every run risks Meidani’s happiness. For the first time, Anelace is risking her shot at love.

Praying for the Surgeon by Frank D. Lawrence

“Praying For The Surgeon” is a fast-paced novel with lots of twists and turns that keep smashing its reader’s head against the wall… It is full of action, drama, and suspense – all set in a future where genetic engineering and total data control is running rampant. It combines cyberpunk, 80s retro style and the modern genre of biopunk into a thrilling ride of a book!

Witness what happens when Philip K. Dick meets Mickey Spillane… Deckard and Mike Hammer are about to have a little baby – and it is nasty!

Orientation and Contamination by Al K. Line

Nobody noticed as it swept around the globe – until billions began to die. Then it got a name: The Lethargy. Everyone just gave up, all interest in life relentlessly gnawed away. 15 generations later humanity is on the brink of extinction.

The only safe refuge is the fabled Commorancy, where Marcus Wolfe, tyrant, oligarch and absolute ruler offers those lucky enough to pass Orientation one of the seven Rooms, where life extension, knowledge of The Noise and more is there for the taking. But running such a home is not without its consequences – Marcus is institutionalized and has to fight daily with a madness that threatens his very reality.

As The Commorancy comes under attack young Letje finds herself out of her depth amongst a group of strangers with a millennium of experience between them. Haughty goats, an almost mythical man obsessed with changing his clothes at every available opportunity, and doors that go whoosh don’t help her situation as the very future of mankind hangs in the balance.

Now Marcus has to protect not only The Commorancy and his guests, but try to hold on to his sanity as well.

Moons of Solisticia by K.A. Madison

Ten years ago, humans created machines so powerful that they became aware of the world around them. The bots improved themselves until their intelligence far surpassed all of humanity’s. They used this intellect to take over everything. Their awakening ushered in a time of darkness for all mankind.

Now, Aiden is determined to find a way to help the resistance infiltrate the bots’ network. Working with his soul mate, Kyra, he must find a way to harness the unimaginable power of the Nether for his fight against the machines.

The fate of two worlds hangs on their shoulders. They must not only face an unbeatable foe on Earth, but race to find a traitor on Solisticia that will stop at nothing to do the unthinkable.

This is book 2 in the Nether Chronicles, following The Awakening.

Chase the Dark by Annette Marie

Piper Griffiths wants one thing in life: To become a Consul, a keeper of the peace between humans and daemons. There are precisely three obstacles in her way.

The first is Lyre. Incubus. Hotter than hell and with a wicked streak to match. His greatest mission in life is to get Piper into bed and otherwise annoy the crap out of her. The second is Ash. Draconian. Powerful. Dangerous. He knows too much and reveals nothing. Also, disturbingly attractive — and scary. Did she mention scary?

The third is the Sahar Stone. Top secret magical weapon of mass destruction. Previously hidden in her Consulate until thieves broke in, went on a murder spree, and disappeared with the weapon.

And they left Piper to take the fall for their crimes.

Now she’s on the run, her dreams of becoming a Consul shattered and every daemon in the city gunning to kill her. She’s dead on her own, but there’s no one she can trust — no one except two entirely untrustworthy daemons . . . See problems one and two.

CHASE THE DARK is the first book in the Steel & Stone series. BIND THE SOUL, Steel & Stone Book 2, is now available for pre-order.

The Final Solution: A Half Way Home Story by R.M. Marshall

They started with five hundred, but their numbers are decreasing every day. Exponentially.

Science Officer Brent and Medical Officer Kelley are tasked with discovering who – or what – is picking off colonists from their expeditionary settlement on the seeming Eden of this alien planet.

But science and logic are no match for their rapacious nemesis, as they race to find a solution before their colony becomes unviable and the unthinkable becomes reality.

“The Final Solution” was a finalist in the Hugh Howey / Booktrack fanfic short story competition, and is set in a new colony in the “Half Way Home” universe, with Hugh’s kind permission.

Mirrorfell by Grace McDermott

Magnolia Hammond encounters Solstice, Blue Earth, and even a god whilst the mirror is falling – and a poison that slows Agent Taylor enough to take him out of the field, and away from combat.

This is a short companion story to Mirrorfall.

 

 

 

Island of Glass by Ruth Nestvold

Seventeen-year-old Chiara Dragoni is a master glassmaker of Venice, a position that is both a privilege — and a trap. For the glassmakers of Murano are forbidden to ever leave the islands of the Venetian lagoon.

When Chiara’s uncle is caught on the mainland and thrown into the dungeon of the Doge’s Palace, she must use all her talents, including magic, to help free him. But the gift she creates for the prince of Venice has unintended consequences, and now Chiara must decide whether to give up everything — and everyone — she knows and loves in order to save her dream.

Set in an alternate historical Venice with alchemists, witches and magic, the story uses familiar motifs from the beloved fairy tale “Cinderella” to tell a tale with a very different message.

A Call to Arms by Shiriluna Nott and SaJa H.

War is brewing on the eastern border of Arden. The shaky truce between Arden and the neighboring realm of Shiraz has all but dissolved, and both sides are building their forces for battle. But in the quiet farming community of Willowdale, the rumors of war are the least of young Gibben Nemesio’s concerns. With both parents dead and two younger brothers to care for, Gib doesn’t have time to focus on anything besides keeping food on the table. Everything changes the day he receives a conscription notice and must report to Arden’s capital.

In Silver City, Gib is forced to leave his life as a farmer behind when he enters the legendary Academy of Arden as a sentinel trainee. If called to war, he will have no choice but to go, for the Sentinels of Arden are the realm’s first line of defense against the evils beyond the border.

A newcomer to this breathtaking city of stone, Gibben finds himself thrown into a world of cutthroat politics and scandals that run deeper than he ever imagined. Caught between the responsibilities to his family and to his country, Gib struggles to find balance. When he unwittingly overhears a sinister plot–that if seen to fruition will bear dire consequences for all of Arden–the young sentinel trainee must find a way to warn those in power before it is too late.

Talking with the Dead by K.L. Phelps

Having recently come to terms with her psychic gift of communicating with the comatose, all Kat Parker wanted was a bit of relaxation and to replace her broken cell phone. But her uncle’s death reveals a new and potentially dangerous wrinkle to her abilities — she can see and talk with the dead.

Phoneless, fed up, and worried for her sanity, Kat is still determined to help her uncle. Discovering he had more than a few secrets, she embarks on a treasure hunt for the one object she believes will help him rest in peace. Standing in her way is the CIA, a Mexican drug cartel kill squad, a group of mask-wearing gang members, and a wild alligator determined to eat her pet turtle.

As things spiral out of control, the absurdity of it all has Kat wondering if she hasn’t already gone insane, if she’ll be forever saddled with babysitting her uncle’s spirit, and if she should even bother to replace her phone.

This is book 2 of the Kat Parker series, following Mind If I Come In.

Sympathetic Magic by Christine Pope

Some guys have all the luck….

Warlock “Lucky” Lucas Wilcox has a gift that ensures his success in all things, but his magic fails him completely when it comes to sexy Margot Emory, the vibrant “elder” of the McAllister witch clan.

Margot’s own magical gifts weren’t enough to protect her from a terrible romantic betrayal, and she’s wary of repeating past mistakes—especially with a Wilcox—even if it means she’s destined to live her life alone.

When Lucas sets his sights on the one woman he wants but can’t have, it may take a bit of sympathetic magic for the couple to have the happy ending they deserve.

This is book 4 in the Witches of Cleopatra Hill series, following Darkangel, Darknight and Darkmoon.

First Daughter by Susan Kaye Quinn

With the war begun, Aniri, Third Daughter of the Queen, has to battle not only a prince with a deadly skyship, but her own sister, the First Daughter, who finally sees her chance to become Queen. With their mother gravely ill and the Second Daughter kidnapped along with Aniri’s husband-to-be, Aniri embarks on a desperate mission to save the people she loves from a war that will tear all three countries apart.

First Daughter is the third book in the The Dharian Affairs Trilogy following Third Daughter and Second Daughter. This steampunk-goes-to-Bollywood (Bollypunk!) romance that takes place in an east-Indian-flavored alternate world filled with skyships, saber duels, and lots of royal intrigue. And, of course, kissing.

The Body Electric by Beth Revis

The future world is at peace.

Ella Shepherd has dedicated her life to using her unique gift–the ability to enter people’s dreams and memories using technology developed by her mother–to help others relive their happy memories.

But not all is at it seems.

Ella starts seeing impossible things–images of her dead father, warnings of who she cannot trust. Her government recruits her to spy on a rebel group, using her ability to experience–and influence–the memories of traitors. But the leader of the rebels claims they used to be in love–even though Ella’s never met him before in her life. Which can only mean one thing…

Someone’s altered her memory.

Ella’s gift is enough to overthrow a corrupt government or crush a growing rebel group. She is the key to stopping a war she didn’t even know was happening. But if someone else has been inside Ella’s head, she cannot trust her own memories, thoughts, or feelings.

So who can she trust?

Dirt Magic by Hollis Shiloh

Trey has dirt magic. It’s messy and not very fun. But some miners in his old hometown are trapped underground, and he feels duty-bound to see if he can help. He doesn’t expect to meet a nerdy, weird gay romance writer who just might have a talent or two of his own. But Leo has a way of growing on Trey—and together, they might just have what the situation requires. Not to mention each other…

A quirky gay paranormal romance

Length: 18,000 words

Heat level: low

Naked Moon by Brian Spangler

An unexpected storm.

A sudden distraction.

For one traveler, the sight of a naked moon might just mean the difference between life and death.

Excerpt

I DIED THIS morning on a winding road in the Ohio Amish Country. Rainy daylight spilled around me while heaping clouds piled high into the sky. In the distant west, the sky bore a giant bruise, sending a curtain of stormy green and black over my head. When the winds became sudden, a howling gale blew leaves and twigs across the road like a child throwing a tantrum. That is when I should have slowed down. That is when I should have eased into the turns and the sharp curves. But I never let up on the gas and marched forward without giving it a second thought.

The weather fronts played together in thundery efficacy while sunlight peered in through a closing blue window, hinting that the storm might soon pass. A torrent of rain and hail came then, pelting the road and ticking off of my windshield and roof. The hollow sound bounced in my car and rang in my ears like an old mechanical phone…

Mists of Seacliffe by Rosselyn Sparks

Amanda Shorr, 32, lands a job as the private teacher to the children of action movie star Jace Jencks. When she arrives at his coastal California estate, it seems the ideal job: sunny California with a view of the ocean, on-site swimming pool and gym, and a talented private chef.

But the sun is often hidden behind the mists, the star’s son has emotional problems, and Amanda begins to have bad dreams–about a young woman, her French lover, and her cruel industrialist husband. As her dreams grow stranger and begin to invade her waking hours, her lifelong skepticism about ghosts crumbles.

Then comes a series of accidents, ones that she suspects are not accidental at all. Is someone is out to scare her? Is it the star himself, his son, the gray-haired housekeeper, the chef, the handsome estate manager, or the bodyguard? Is she being haunted? Or is it just possible that Amanda is losing her mind?

Gifted by H.S. Stone

In a kingdom where the Gifteds are captured and thrown into fights to the death, Voima is fortunate that she is just a Regular. However, her brother, Vendd, isn’t so lucky. Since his Power started manifesting itself, the siblings have lived a life on the run, barely escaping the king’s soldiers.

Just as Voima and Vendd have settled into a new home, a fleeing Gifted enters their lives, begging for help but bringing soldiers after him. Despite the siblings’ efforts, the soldiers discover Vendd’s Power. Now Voima, an outmatched Regular girl, must find a way to defeat the kingdom’s most dangerous Gifteds in order to save her brother from certain death.

Frost by J.E. Thummel

Ember Frost kills demons. It’s what she knows, and she’s damned good at it. Lately, though, the job isn’t doing it for her like it used to, and after a quick fling begins to look more serious, she’s flirting with the idea of finally getting a life outside of work. Unfortunately, there are a couple of catches.

First: a slight misunderstanding at work just might have landed her on top of her employer’s hit list

and…

Second: a Black Hood named Lazarus. He’s made a pact with a powerful demon and is looking to tear down the Rule of God. But first he’s coming after Ember, and he’s willing to destroy everything she cares about to get to her.

Trying to survive life, work, and keep the faith can be a real bitch. But then again, so can Ember.

Kill Me, Red by Kelsey Warren-Bryant

Red Riding Hood: A Tale of Horror

Red is determined to find her best friend who was dragged into the woods by a giant wolf. She doesn’t know the source of the mysterious growling outside her window every night. She doesn’t know why all evidence of the wolf seems to vanish into thin air.

She doesn’t know if she’s being hunted.

 

The Very Last Days of Mr Grey by Jack Worr

When Mason signs up for an experimental drug to treat his insomnia, he hopes he’ll finally be able to fall asleep when he goes to bed that night.

Instead, he falls into another dimension.

Now he must battle super-powered government agents and risk his sanity to unravel the mystery of why they are after him. His only guidance comes from a fair-weather ghost who speaks in riddles and appears only at peak inconvenience, and a mysterious woman who seems intent on killing him.

The Very Last Days of Mr Grey is a fast-paced science fiction thriller about reality, the mysteries of our world, and why some things are better left unknown.

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