Eden Royce's Blog, page 2

September 4, 2017

Emily Knight I Am… – A Review

I don’t know if I’ve ever reviewed a YA novel for this blog before. Not that I’ve specifically excluded them, but …


*shrugs*


Well, now I am. And it’s a wonderful one to start with: Emily Knight I Am… by A. Bello.


I met her in September of last year at the Triskele Literary Festival in London. She was fun and energetic, and her work was so impressive. She was also a finalist for the Great British Entrepreneurship Award in 2016. For more on that and the press she’s started, you can read my interview with her on the Graveyard Shift Sisters website.


When she asked if I would review Emily Knight, I was flattered. Her book has a brand-new cover, more vibrant than the last in my humble opinion.


[image error]


 


Emily Knight is a troubled thirteen year-old girl, who takes her frustration out on the world around her. She fights, she steals, and is unrepentant when caught. She doesn’t need to steal, she’s from one of the wealthiest, most well-known families around. The paparazzi have captured many of her thefts on camera.


But Emily is crying out for attention. Her father hasn’t been home in years, instead he’s searching the planet for her long-lost brother, Lox. Both Emily’s father and brother are famous fighters, with the ability to fly, breathe underwater, command fire. While Emily is struggling to control her power. Surrounded by wealth and privilege, she’s still unhappy.


When Emily gets the chance to go to the Osaki Training School, where her father and brother attended, she’s nervous. She wants to learn, but is worried the other students (and teachers) will expect more from her and she won’t be able to deliver. She’s Thomas Knight’s daughter, after all.


Soon, what everyone else thinks doesn’t matter as an evil older than she is resurfaces, and Emily will have to use her intelligence and cunning to protect everything and everyone she loves.


Emily Knight I Am… is a page-turner, full of magic and dojo-style fights, perfect for any reader that loves to watch an imperfect character grow into a hero.


It’s rare for me to read about a character of color from a wealthy, famous family who is tested and challenged to become something more than she started to be. The teachers as well as the students in the Osaki Training School are of diverse backgrounds, both racially and socio-economically, which makes it feel like a real specialist school. The lessons are fascinating, and I was amazed to find out that there is real danger of injury and pain for the students.


The second book in the series Emily Knight I Am…Awakened will be launched here in the UK on September 28th at Waterstone’s Islington 6:30-8:00pm. If you can’t make it, grab a copy of Bello’s Emily Knight I Am… on Amazon US or Amazon UK.


[image error]


 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on September 04, 2017 01:36

August 31, 2017

Graveyard Shift Sister: L.C. Cruell

Talking to artists gets me inspired.


No matter the medium — books, film, paint, digital — speaking with these artists and hearing what keeps them doing what they do drives me forward.


One person whose drive always impresses is L.C. Cruell. (I can’t imagine how she gets it all done.) I’ve had the pleasure of working with Cruell on her 7 Magpies project, a horror film anthology written and directed by Black women, feating a slew of talented authors and directors. It’s still in progress, but I wanted to talk more with her about her ideas, her motivation, and her experience.


You can read the entire interview this amazing filmmaker on Graveyard Shift Sisters.


[image error]


 


While you’re at it, check out some of the trailers for her films:


31 the web series – www.youtube.com/31theseries


I Need You Trailer – https://vimeo.com/97681128.


Cemetery Tales Trailer – https://vimeo.com/158551687


 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on August 31, 2017 09:09

August 29, 2017

And Her Smile Will Untether the Universe: A Review

I love short stories.


I love beautiful, touching horror.


So it stands to reason that I love Gwendolyn Kiste’s work.


I’ve been reading her short stories in various publications for a while now, and I always get this little thrum of anticipation when I see her name as byline. Now, JournalStone has published a full collection of her stories and it is what you need to escape. To delve into another world and lose yourself… just for a while.


One of the things I enjoy about the collection is that it’s horror that’s decidedly pro-woman and girl. In these stories, we have voices and take action — we drive the story forward in these dark and lingering tales.


Head on over to The Horror Review to read the full review of And Her Smile Will Untether the Universe.


[image error]


 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on August 29, 2017 23:39

Graveyard Shift Sister: Rebecca R. Pierce

I’ve noticed a trend with my recent posts: there haven’t been many.


Usually, I’m pretty consistent with posting to this blog, but lately, I’ve been focusing on writing. Which is a good thing in the long run, but my contact with the outside world is suffering.


Time to catch up. I’ll be making a flurry of posts to bring the blog back up to date, then going forward…


Well, I’d better not make that promise.


I’ll just leave you with the link to my review and interview with the wonderful Rebecca R. Pierce on Graveyard Shift Sisters. While GSS’s tag line is: Purging the Black female horror fan from the margins, we celebrate the work of all women of color who love horror.


[image error]


 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on August 29, 2017 22:30

July 23, 2017

The Missing Girl: Pre-Release

Coming from BLACK LAWRENCE PRESS in September 2017, is THE MISSING GIRL, a flash fiction chapbook by Jacqueline Doyle.


In Doyle’s collection of flash fiction tales, The Missing Girl, the voicelessness of the missing is palpable, the girls’ stories whispered into a vacuum or recounted from the point of view of a predator, murderer, or voyeur. Violence lurks below the surface here, haunts the back pages of newspapers, takes up residence in your dreams.


You know a missing girl.


BLURB:


A driver lures a young girl into his car. A woman recalls a not-so-innocent childhood game. A man reveals much more than he’ll ever tell the police. After a high school girl is murdered, everyone has an opinion. A girl wakes beside a dumpster to find slut scrawled on her body. A girl speaks up after a crime—but is she telling the truth? And could you blame her if she’s not?


The Missing Girl is available for pre-order at a discount ($6.95—$2 off the list price) on the Black Lawrence Press website.


[image error]


 


Advance praise:


“In these dark and edgy stories, Jacqueline Doyle has made a dispassionate study of the degradation of girls and the twisted hearts of those who harm them. Most chilling is the ease with which these characters fall prey to violence and how quickly depravity finds its way past the surface of ordinary situations. Prepare to be very disturbed.”


–Elizabeth McKenzie, author of The Portable Veblen (National Book Award Finalist 2016)


“Full of sex, lies, and vivid insights into the human compulsion to do the wrong thing, these stories go down easy but hit hard. A powerful and provocative collection.”


–Frances Lefkowitz, author of To Have Not


 


AUTHOR BIO: 


Jacqueline Doyle has published creative nonfiction and fiction in numerous literary journals and anthologies. Her flash has appeared in magazines such as Quarter After Eight, [PANK], Monkeybicycle, Sweet, The Café Irreal, Post Road, The Pinch, and the anthology Nothing to Declare: A Guide to the Flash Sequence. She lives with her husband and son in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she teaches at Cal State East Bay.


Find her online at her website, on Facebook, and on Twitter.


 


 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on July 23, 2017 07:23

July 5, 2017

Crickets Sing for Naomi: A Release

O.


M.


G.


OMG. I’m so excited to announce that my Southern Gothic fantasy short story “Crickets Sing for Naomi” is up on PodCastle!


I’ve been listening to EscapeArtists Inc.’s podcasts (PodCastle for fantasy, Escape Pod for sci-fi, PseudoPod for horror, and most recently Cast of Wonders for YA.), for ages now and it’s such and honor to have one of my stories accepted there.


The story is read by the golden-voiced Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali, one of the editors for the podcast. She’s done a wonderful job with the voices and the nuances of tone and enunciation. Which isn’t easy when all three speaking characters are women.


[image error]


 


The idea for “Crickets Sing for Naomi” was born when I lived in an apartment in Northern Virginia. For some reason, crickets were everywhere–the sidewalks, the stairs–and they followed me around. At least they seemed to. So much so that one of my friends started calling me a cricket shaman.


As for the title of the story, it’s based on the song “Crickets Sing for Anamaria”, the English-language version of “Os Grilos” (“The Crickets”), written by Brazilian musicians Marcos Valle and Paulo Sérgio Valle.


Head on over to PodCastle and listen to the story for free. While you’re there, have a little nose around at their other stories. I’m sure you’ll find a lot to enjoy.


[image error]


 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on July 05, 2017 06:18

June 20, 2017

Truancy: A Release

With yesterday being Juneteeth,–yes, I’m late– it was a perfect day for Truancy Mag to release the latest issue of their small, indie and not-for-profit literary microzine. Its theme is #ownvoices, folktales and traditional stories from the African continent and diaspora.


Behold the gorgeous cover by Salim Busuru, an artist from Kenya, who is passionate about Africa and it’s progress. He also lets his studies of Africa inspire the comic and gaming projects he is pursuing with Avandu studios, where he is Creative Director.


[image error]Image from ‘Mrembo wa kwetu’ (Swahili for: Our Beautiful Girl From Home)

 


Inside this issue you’ll find an editorial by editors Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali and Troy L. Wiggins, along with fiction and non-fiction by V. H. Galloway, Mame Bougouma Diene, R.S.A. Garcia, Zina Hutton, and me!  Best of all, it’s free to read online!


The release of this issue  is bittersweet for me.


I found out it will be Truancy’s last issue. Nin HarrisEditor-in-Chief and Founder/Creator of the Delinquent’s Spice & Truancy Creative Projects, is passing on the baton of featuring the stories of marginalized people. From her commentary on Twitter about the subject, when she started Delinquent Spice around 2010, there were almost no venues for the stories of marginalized people..


Nin goes on to say that she feels she can end the Truancy/Delinquent Spice project in peace as there are venues to take up the mantle of getting these stories told. Among the places she recommends are: FIYAH Literary Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction, Anathema Magazine (work by queer POC/Indigenous/Aboriginals), Arsenika, Rambutan Literary (work by Southeast Asians from all over the world), and Mithila Review.


So get your stories out there!


But first, read Truancy Issue 4. And check out the back issues of Truancy and Delinquent Spice free online.


 


 


 


 


 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on June 20, 2017 00:32

May 18, 2017

The Food of Writing

I’ve decided to challenge myself to write more short fiction. Flash fiction to be exact.


If you’re not familiar with it, flash fiction means super brief stories–shorter than short stories, even. Flash can be as short as 140 character tales posted on Twitter, also known as twitterature.


The maximum length of flash fiction is highly debated among publishers and writers, some say it’s 750 words, others say it can be as long as 1,500 words in length. That decision is up to who’s publishing it, but flash fiction is a unique experience until itself–for the reader and the writer.


Author and voice actor Jack Wallen invited me to participate in his flash fiction challenge If Music Be the Food of Write where he provides a song (and it’s lyrics) as inspiration for the participants’ writing.


The first song was “Rotten” by The Naked and The Famous, which prompted me to write “Better or Worse” last week. Listen to the song and read the fiction.


This week is my story, “The Second Oldest Profession,” inspired by Broods’ song “Freak of Nature.”


Check out the links and read some free flash fiction written by me and some great authors who are also challenging themselves to let music feed them.


 


 


 


 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on May 18, 2017 08:29

April 7, 2017

13 Dark: A Fiction & Art Project

Are you ready for a journey into the dark? 


I’ve been asked to be a part of an amazing project.


13Dark (stylized to †3Dark) is a unique project that will showcase both written and visual artwork of some of speculative fiction’s greatest creatives.


[image error]


All of the work will explore the sacred and profane, the holy and damned, the beatific and the demonic. Think of the kind of subtle supernaturalism and religiosity of something like True Detective, or Craig Clevenger’s story “Act of Contrition” from The New Black.


 


Who are the writers?  Established names including Richard Thomas, Moira Katson, Veronica Magenta Nero, and Christa Wojciechowski as well as newer voices such as Matthew Blackwell, Andy Cashmore, Samuel Parr, Tomek Dzido, Anthony Self, Ross Jeffery, Jamie Parry-Bruce and Tice Cin. And myself, of course.


[image error]


The aim is to release 13 unique short stories monthly, in digital and paperback form, accompanied by custom artwork from Shawn Langley, and with cover artwork by grandfailure. These editions will be beautifully produced, melding the visual and written elements, offering unique insight into our world, and the darkness it holds.


Each story will be edited and have a foreword written by editor Joseph Sale. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be part of something colossal. Joseph has put together a YouTube video for 13 Dark, where he talks about the project and why he quit his job to bring his vision to fruition.


Here’s the Kickstarter link. Check out the amazing rewards, including magazine subscriptions from Gamut and Storgy, custom designed artwork, and professional editing for your novel or novella! Then share, and donate if you can. Talk about the project on your social media channels.






Keep up with new releases, artwork, and how we’re doing on Facebook and Twitter.


Oh, are you wondering what my story is about? (It’s scheduled for release in January 2018.) I have some ideas, but it isn’t written yet, so feel free to leave me a comment if you want to throw out a suggestion.


 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on April 07, 2017 01:00

April 1, 2017

FIYAH Lit Mag: A Publication

It’s here!


Yes, the date is April first, but this is no Fool’s joke. I have a story published in FIYAH, magazine of Black Speculative Fiction!


(Excuse me while I do the Running Man. *Cough* Thank you.)


I did a review on this blog of the first issue: Rebirth, and you can read that here. Not sure if I should review an issue in which one of my own stories appears, but you’ll get my thoughts on the issue soon enough…


Issue Two is themed Spilling Tea. We’re talking literal beverages and we’re talking figurative “T”– you know: telling the truth, no matter how challenging that might be.


First of all, let’s get into this cover:


[image error]


Gorgeous, isn’t it? And the authors in this issue are no joke, either.


Maurice Broaddus


Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali


Russell Nichols


Christopher Caldwell


Wole Talabi


Barbara L.W. Myers


Eden Royce


I’m so honored to be included in this issue alongside such phenomenal authors. Grab yourself a copy of FIYAH’s second issue, Spilling Tea. Also, check out the Spotify playlist that goes along with the issue. And their indie author spotlight featuring Constance Burris.


Oh, you want to know what my story’s about? Well, FIYAH’s editors, Justine Ireland and Troy L. Wiggins, came up with the perfect way to summarize “Graverobbing Negress Seeks Employment” in all its Southern Gothic glory:


Wanted: one negress to find a certain lost cargo. Welcome to a Charleston of the past filled with a very necessary magic.


And that is what FIYAH is bringing to you with this magazine — necessary magic, necessary stories, and a time when the sound of our voices is very necessary.


 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on April 01, 2017 08:38