Kimberly Kinrade's Blog, page 7
November 10, 2013
The WeeKKend Recap
Another week has come and gone. And what a week it’s been! Let’s go over all the awesomeness this week contained (and a few things that it didn’t) in our inaugural WeeKKend Recap!
Kiss Me in Paris is now When The Heart Falls
We gave our hit contemporary new adult romance, Kiss Me in Paris, a HUGE makeover: title, cover, and content. Kiss Me in Paris is now When The Heart Falls! Check out the new cover–isn’t it gorgeous?
And check out what we did with the content: The e-book version of When the Heart Falls has a bonus feature that includes your choice of WARM or HOT editions in the same file! If you prefer your books with the love scenes behind closed doors, choose WARM. If you like it a little steamier, choose HOT. Both versions are included in the e-book file, and you can choose which you’d like to read (or read both!). Isn’t that awesome? It’s the future of e-books! Please note, both editions include mature themes.
[Get When the Heart Falls on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, and Kobo.]
When The Heart Loves is coming, too!
For those who love Winter and Cade (and everyone should!), their sequel is the works. This week, we also revealed the cover for When The Heart Loves, follow-up to When The Heart Falls (formerly Kiss Me in Paris)!
[image error]
Seduced by Darkness is heading your way!
Ready to get Seduced? Not only are we working on the third installment of Seduced by Lies, we’re also working on a whole new series, Seduced by Darkness, featuring Demon Blake! The first installment of this new series, The Devil Within, will be coming in December. If you’re a fan of The Vampire Diaries, this is like The Originals (in the spin-off kind of way) but deals with demons and witches. And ADULT content. This is an urban fantasy with romance, sex and adult themes and content. DEMONS, people!
Want to know more about this new series? Join our Facebook Street Team–become a minion! We give our minions exclusive access and lots of previews!
Keep up with the Seduced Saga on Facebook.
We’ve got a Fan of the Week!
We’re saying thanks to our fans! With giftcards and eternal fame! Wanna get in on the action and potentially win a $5 Amazon giftcard? All you gotta do is participate and be a fan on our Facebook fan page! Comment on, like, and share ANY of the posts on the page–every comment, like, and share will automatically enter you to win a $5 Amazon giftcard and be our Fan of the Week! It’s our way of saying THANKS for being AWESOME! We announce a new Fan of the Week every Sunday evening.
Come on and join the fun!
We reached 4,000 likes!
We celebrated a huge milestone this week–4,000 fans on our Facebook page! To celebrate, we’re having a huge, swaggalicious giveaway!
Stop on by the page tomorrow to find out what we’re giving away and how to enter!
Our SHOWDOWN! took on your favorite holiday
Are you a turkey fan or a Christmas tree aficionado? Our showdown this week pitted Thanksgiving versus Christmas–and we ended up at a dead heat! Which one is your favorite?
We have a new SHOWDOWN! every week on Monday (or Tuesday, if we have a big announcement on Monday), so swing by our Facebook page and cast your vote! We’re going to be having a very vampiresque few weeks coming up.
This week’s favorite KK product
We’re not expecting a baby, but we can’t help but smile fondly at this absolutely adorable KK mini-minion onesie (available at our CafePress store). Isn’t it darling?!
What you missed on the blog…
When the Heart Falls cover reveal and giveaway!
Allegories of the Tarot: A Must READ!
In Defense of Profanity: Why Words Aren’t Bad
Phew! What a week! Here’s to another awesome week coming up–make it a great one!
We hope you enjoyed this blog post. Want more from Karpov Kinrade? Check out our Amazon page here. New to our work? Get Seduced by Innocence FREE everywhere ebooks are sold, and find out why the Seduced Saga is a bestselling fan favorite!
November 5, 2013
In Defense of Profanity: Why Words Aren’t Bad
See? These people understand that one MUST horseback ride in Nova Scotia. It’s LAW.
I LOVE words. Seriously, they are some of my favorite things in the universe. If I was singing a ‘favorite things’ song, words would be right there under my family and dearest friends and totally above even chocolate. Probably. On most days.
I spent my childhood reading dictionaries and encyclopedias (which is how I fell in love with Nova Scotia as an 11-year-old, because I got to the Ns and saw the pictures and read about it and though I still have not been, I retain a lifelong fantasy of living in a cottage and riding a horse in Nova Scotia because that’s what YOU DO there, obviously.)
So I have to wonder about this rather bizarre social contract we’ve all made that says some words are inherently ‘bad.’ It’s like we’re all living in the Matrix, and the creator of our world TRIED to give us the perfect world where all words were good and beautiful and we REJECTED it and DEMANDED that some words be bad. We need, apparently, the dichotomy of good vs. evil so much, that we’ve even taken that game to our own language.
I get it, sort of. It’s one way of seeing things. But how about we start to evolve past this? Because words aren’t actually bad. At all. They are amoral. They are each a combination of the 27 letters in the English alphabet (for English words, obviously. Other languages have their own rules, their own alphabets and their own designations for ‘bad’ and ‘good’ words. But since I’m primarily an English speaker, and my other languages are rusty at best, we’re going to focus on English today.)
On Halloween I posted “An Open Letter to the woman handing out ‘fat letters’ to trick-or-treaters” in which I used a fair amount of profanity to inspire an emotional reaction in my readers. While everyone who commented on the article cheered me on, one woman in a Facebook stream about my article (not on my FB page) criticized me for using profanity, saying
”her points are negated by her vulgar crude language. There was simply no need for that, I know people will rage on my comment but think about it. how is she any better than the woman who gave out the original letter other than having a smaller vocabulary? both are wrong for what and how they said what they did.”
Her response made me think about the use of language and the role it plays in evoking emotion. I’d like to share my response to her here, and then talk about why I think we need to get over ourselves when it comes to moralizing language.
MY RESPONSE
I’d love to challenge you to play devil’s advocate to yourself and answer your own question about how I might be different from the woman I wrote about on my blog, but in the spirit of friendly exchange of ideas, I’ll offer a few thoughts of my own.
1: You made a choice to click on a link to come to MY blog and read a post I wrote which warned that there would be profanity. You could have stopped reading at that point, but you chose to continue. I did not hand this letter to your child last night. So right there, that’s a big difference between us.
2. To argue that the use of profanity negates someone’s valid points or arguments is a sadly narrow way of viewing language and the role it plays in shaping our intellectual and emotional response to a topic. Also, to suggest that my vocabulary is small because I chose to use profanity is an extreme prejudice that simply isn’t true. My vocabulary is quite extensive, and I chose each word in that post with extreme care in order to evoke a very particular kind of emotional and visceral response in the reader. I used language the way it’s meant to be used, with care and consideration for my message and the intended impact (which I’ll talk more about in point 3.) But first, I’d like to encourage you to read this post by another well-known author, Maggie Stiefvater, on the use of profanity, as it perfectly articulates my own thoughts on it.
3. As I mentioned, I chose the words I used carefully. I could have written the entire post using $10 words, but it would NOT have had the same emotional, visceral effect on the readers, and THAT is what I wanted. To suggest that I am no different than this woman is not only a ludicrous oversimplification, but entirely negates the greater social injustice at play here.
Fat-shaming and discrimination of those who are not the size and/or shape others think they should be is one of the last socially approved discrimination in our culture. That’s not to say other discriminations don’t still exist, but the pressure on those who engage in those discriminations is higher. There are more laws and social rules in place to protect them.
Not so with those who are deemed overweight. It’s still okay to fat-shame, and many feel morally justified in doing so. We HAVE to get angry, have to feel this issue DEEPLY in our guts and bones, in order to change this injustice. A heady intellectual discussion would not have incited people to FEEL and GET ANGRY, and it is only when enough people feel it and get angry and start demanding a change in the prevalent social norm of fat-shaming that things will start to change.
And this woman targeted children, which makes her dangerous choices even more reprehensible. If she had chosen to give this kind of letter to a specific race or gender, the entire country would be in uproar and likely she would have been stopped. (And I don’t actually know if she followed through on her plan, if it was a hoax etc, but I know enough people supported her in her intended action that serious changes need to happen!)
So, given the context, and the weight certain profanity has to evoke the kind of emotion I WANTED to evoke in my readers, and given that I gave a clear warning at the beginning of the post for those who did not wish to read a post with profanity, and given that I’m getting angry and calling for a response to a serious injustice targeted AT CHILDREN, I fail to see how I am anything like the woman I wrote about.
So, that was my response, which sums up why I used profanity in that post, and why I still stand by that decision. Now, before we move on, let’s address some questions critics might throw at me.
1. It’s fine for you to say that, but how would you feel if your child started using those words?
We don’t allow our 7,9 and 11 year old to use profanity, and THIS IS WHY. Because it offends you. Because too many people have decided those words are bad. Because it’s important for them to understand social contracts and social cues and to develop the ability to ascertain whether it is appropriate in any given situation to use said words. We make very clear that these words are NOT BAD, just not appropriate for them to use at this time. These words, by social majority, carry a certain weight, cut in a certain way, and just like we are careful with the kinds of knives and tools they use, we are careful with their language development, lest they hurt someone unintentionally. We occasionally swear around them and we don’t shield them from books that have language in them (because, words!) but we talk it through with them regularly so they understand the nature and power of language.
And guess what? Our girls are incredibly articulate and well-read. They have immense vocabularies and they do not, in fact, run around sounding like drunk sailors.
2. Words really are bad. These words mean bad things and shouldn’t be used in polite company.
[image error]Well, first, I’m not actually sure what ‘polite company’ means. Second, let’s look at some ‘bad’ words.
SHIT — meaning to poop. Poop is not a bad word. Shit is. WHY?
FUCK — meaning to have sex. Sex isn’t a bad word. Fuck is. WHY? For that matter, rape isn’t a bad word, but IT IS A VERY BAD THING, whereas sex is what brings life.
PUSSY — another word for vagina. Vagina, well, maybe congress thinks it’s a bad word, but it’s actually not. And many women prefer pussy to vagina as it’s hard to make the word vagina sound sexy.
BITCH — a female dog. If STUD isn’t a bad word, why is bitch?
HELL -- the place sinners go, based on certain mythologies. I’m not sure what to say about this one? “Ah, hell.” and “Ah, heck.” Seem remarkably similar to me in intent and usage.
ASS (or Asshole)– Something you shit from. Or butt, something you poop from. Still not seeing it.
DICK (or COCK)– another word for penis, which is decidedly NOT a bad word, not even in congress. Probably because of all the dicks there. (Sorry, had to throw that one in. COULD NOT RESIST).
I’m sure there are more, but let’s look at these. Most of these (all of these?) either refer to a part of our human body or a bodily function of one kind or another. In other words, ALL OF THESE are totally natural things, and have benign synonyms that are not offensive to most people. (Since some people hate kittens, I’m sure some people are also offended by the medically correct word for their own anatomy as well, but what can you do?)
And yet, things that are TRULY CRIMES– rape, murder, hate, abuse– these words are freely wielded in our society without any problems.
Now, I’m not suggesting we ban words because the meaning of them is ‘bad’. NOT AT ALL. I’m suggesting we stop banning words altogether. That we allow for the fact that words are amoral, and as such, only have the power we give them. That ALL words have their place and can be used in useful and creative ways to communicate different levels of emotional and intellectual ideas.
These words that are ‘bad’ are really quite useful and sometimes have a whole shitload of ways in which they can be used. (See what I did there?)
To close, I’d like to look at my favorite of these words: FUCK.
It’s incredible the ways in which you can use this word! It’s the most versatile word in the English language, and this hilarious videos shows us why. (Warning: the word FUCK is used in this video. You’re welcome.)
We hope you enjoyed this blog post. Want more from Karpov Kinrade? Check out our Amazon page here. New to our work? Get Seduced by Innocence FREE everywhere ebooks are sold, and find out why the Seduced Saga is a bestselling fan favorite!
November 4, 2013
Allegories of the Tarot: A Must READ!
Get the Allegories of the Tarot Anthology in on Amazon and Smashwords.
Add the Allegories of the Tarot Anthology to your Goodreads to-read shelf!
Swing by the Allegories of the Tarot Facebook page and enter the release-day giveaway of a custom Tarot box–complete with Tarot deck!
Who hasn’t been fascinated by the mysterious Tarot, writer and reader alike? For centuries, fortune-telling by the Tarot has caught many an imagination, but nothing like what will be presented here.
22 cards… each an individual splinter of the human psyche.
22 writers… honing each splinter into a story of triumph and decay, arrogance and humility.
Stories of the brightest lights and the darkest corners of the weirdest minds.
22 cross-genre worlds.
22 portals into the Universal.
Only one way to get there.
Come with us. Cross the portals. The Universal awaits.
About the book
Once upon a time, there was an editor with a fascination for the Tarot.†She was struck one day by a crazy idea. “Hey,” she said. “What if twenty-two writers each wrote a story about the twenty-two cards of the Major Arcana of the Tarot and were fashioned into an anthology?”
The idea would not leave her alone.
And thus, the Allegories of the Tarot was born.
Crowdfunded by a campaign on Indiegogo with the help and support of an amazing group of writers, twenty-two stories were crafted around the mysteries of the Tarot. The group includes a Pushcart Prize nominee, a Pulp Ark nominee, a former Bigfoot researcher, a journalist, an award-winning YA author, and a Rhysling Award winner. Professional writers, new talent, and a range of genres boggling the mind:†Horror, Speculative Fiction, Bizarro Fiction, Erotica, Mystery, Humor, Paranormal, Epic Fantasy, Literary, Romance, and Historical Fantasy.
What has emerged is an outstanding collection of fiction, unique and mysterious. Stories that will make you cry, make you laugh, and make you think. Stories that make you feel the touch of the Universe.
Dare to step through the portal to shadowy realms and emotional journeys.
Early readers have fallen in love with the†Allegories of the Tarot
“Allegories of the Tarot Anthology is a magical book. Magic that will keep you turning the pages. There are muses, demons, †psychics,†evil,and more! I shivered, I laughed and I even cried. Magic, I tell you. Magic.” -Julie Affleck
“Reviewing an anthology is slightly more difficult than discussing a book or comic because the tone varies from author to author. However, Allegories somehow flowed together as a well-matched whole. The project ended up feeling like several beads strung together to form a beautiful necklace that were more amazing for being paired together.” -Jodi Scaife
“All twenty-two stories in this volume are, in a word,†superb. I found myself scouring the Internet as I read it; every story made me want to go find more work by its author.†The ultimate compliment I can give†Allegories†is to say that when I finished it, I thought how I envy those who havenít read it yet.” -Lisa Millraney
Get the book!
Allegories of the Tarot is available in e-book and paperback format on Amazon, and in multiple e-book formats on Smashwords.
Don’t forget to add†Allegories of the Tarot†to your to-read shelf on Goodreads.
Connect with the†Allegories of the Tarot†Anthology on its†website,†Facebook, and†Twitter.
We hope you enjoyed this blog post. Want more from Karpov Kinrade? Check out our Amazon page here. New to our work? Get Seduced by Innocence FREE everywhere ebooks are sold, and find out why the Seduced Saga is a bestselling fan favorite!
November 3, 2013
When the Heart Falls cover reveal and giveaway!
See the Tour stops at the bottom
Best-Selling Author Team Karpov Kinrade has changed the face of their books as well as their readers experience
When the Heart Falls (Formerly Kiss Me In Paris), is changing the face of ebooks! The author team of Karpov Kinrade has included a new user function that gives the readers the choice of how hot they want their love scenes. The ebook version of When the Heart Falls has a bonus feature that includes your choice of WARM or HOT edition. If you prefer your books with the love scenes behind closed doors, choose the WARM (and your book will start around the 50% mark and end at the end.) If you like it a little steamier, choose the HOT (and your book will start at the beginning and end around the 50% mark.)
Both editions include mature themes.
Available in paperback and eBook. Get your copy today.
ABOUT Karpov Kinrade
Karpov Kinrade is the pen name for the husband and wife writing duo of bestselling, award-winning authors Kimberly Kinrade and Dmytry Karpov. Together, they write fantasy, paranormal, mystery, contemporary and romance and hook readers into new and exciting worlds that will leave you laughing your ass off, crying your heart out and falling in love. They live with three little girls who think they’re ninja princesses with super powers and who are also showing a propensity for telling tall tales and using the written word to weave stories of wonder and magic.
WEBSITE / FACEBOOK / TWITTER / AMAZON / NOOK / GOODREADS
GRANDPRIZE GIVEAWAY
PRIZES:
GRAND PRIZE: $10 GC, 1 signed copy of the original Kiss Me in Paris, 1 signed copy of When the Heart Falls (when available), custom charmed bookmark with original cover, KMIP refrigerator magnet (US ONLY)
INTERNATIONAL: $20 Amazon GC, free ecopy of When the Heart Falls
ABOUT When the Heart Falls
Winter Deveaux knows pain. She knows fear. She knows heartache. What she doesn’t know is love. Which is a real problem for someone trying to write a romance novel. When a chance to spend a summer in Paris promises her a cure to her writer’s block, she packs her bags, never suspecting that the source of her darkest secret will follow her across the world. Cade Savage is a man torn between two worlds. As son to the wealthiest ranching family in Texas, being a cowboy is in his blood, but his heart is set on architecture. He has one shot to decide his fate: a summer course in Paris. Winter and Cade leave everything they know behind to follow their dreams to the city of lights, but they soon learn you can’t run from the demons that haunt you. In a story of heartbreak, humor, forgiveness and finding love, these two lost souls must face their darkest fears before they can claim their heart’s desires. But summer love can’t last forever, and soon they must choose between their future and their past. Between their dreams and their love. Between their secrets, and forgiveness. Can they forgive the unforgivable in order to find happiness? Or are some people beyond forgiveness? AND NOW WITH A ENTIRELY NEW READING EXPERIENCE … how HOT do you like your romance? Now YOU can choose!
Available in paperback and eBook. Get your copy today.
B&N, Kobo, iBooks
Praise For When The Heart Falls
…you’ll love this book…I would recommend When the Heart Falls. – San Francisco Book Review
Passionate and emotional… a read to be savored. Highly recommended, especially for connoisseurs of romance. – Midwest Book Review
The Next Book in the Series Has A New Look Too!
Tour Stops:
NOV. 04
Forget the Housework, I’m Reading….
Nov.05
Indie Authors, Books, and More
Nov.06
Bookmarks, Spoilers and Happily EverAfter
Nov.07
Nov.08
We hope you enjoyed this blog post. Want more from Karpov Kinrade? Check out our Amazon page here. New to our work? Get Seduced by Innocence FREE everywhere ebooks are sold, and find out why the Seduced Saga is a bestselling fan favorite!
November 2, 2013
Kraken: The Last Day of A Gathering of Horror 5 FREE short scary stories
It’s Day 5, the final day of A Gathering of Horror and Dmytry Karpov has a short story for you today, Kraken. Read, comment and enjoy the free stories this week.
Don’t forget to check back here each day for a new FREE short story.
PLUS! We’re doing a giveaway. Leave a comment on these short stories and you’ll be automatically entered to win a signed copy of Seduced: Rose’s Story, the book the Man Candy Radio Show named its ‘spooky, sexy’ book pick for Halloween!
Kraken
By Dmytry Karpov
[image error]“You ever seen a kraken, boy?” asked Bill, sitting on a barrel, dried up hands caressing the tobacco pipe at his mouth. He pulled it away, and his cracked lips shot smoke at me like a cannon. “Ever heard its roar?”
I turned away, the smoke like poison. “I heard about it,” I said, sitting on my own barrel—one of many on the ship.
Bill stared at me with his one good eye like a hungry fish. His other was covered with a black eye patch—a souvenir from his last kraken hunt.
The air grew thick with smoke as he nursed his pipe. “We all hear about it,” he said, his eye drifting away to the ship’s deck. “I had a friend who heard about it so much he couldn’t wait to go on a hunt.”
I brushed back my black hair—slippery like an eel—waiting for Bill to go on. But he just kept staring at the deck as if he were peering at the ocean below it. The wind sent cold waves at us, but Bill sat still like sails with no wind. I kept myself steady like wood. I mean, I tried keeping myself steady like wood.
“So, did your friend go on a hunt?” I asked. My breath turned into smoke like the pipe’s only paler.
“He did,” said Bill. “Him and I.” He chuckled and adjusted his red hat. “Those stories, they don’t tell you everything.”
“I hope they leave out more of the good than the bad.” I wrapped my arms around myself. Other crew ran around keeping the ship heading north. I should have been below deck in this cold, but Bill always stayed on top. He had hunted more krakens than anyone. I was hunting my first. I could use his help.
“How’d that hunt go?” I asked.
Bill frowned. “My friend, he was never strong. The weak…” he waved his hand like slapping something, “get wiped out.”
“I see.” I swallowed, moving the barrel under me. I managed to drag it closer to Bill; I wasn’t the strongest myself. “Did you kill that beast?”
“Yes,” Bill finally looked back at me, smiling. “We knew when it was coming. We killed it nice and fast.”
“But your friend still…”
“The kraken’s quicker than falling water, boy.” Bill titled his head at a barrel overflowing with dead fish. “And it don’t play with its food.”
The fish smelled like the vomit being forced up my throat. I shivered and breathed through my mouth. “I guess that’s why the pay is good,” I said. “This job is like going to hell, trying to get back, and killing the Devil along the way.”
“The pay is good cause the kraken corpse sells for lots.” Bill stood up, his back cracking. “But that’s not why I hunt it, boy.” He walked starboard.
I followed. “Why? The glory?” I passed the dead fish barrel, and then another. My hands shook, my stomach twisted like a fish on land. I held bile back as I reached the side of the ship.
“Glory?” Bill scowled, his red coat like blood smudged on the deck. “You ever lost anything at sea, boy?”
I nodded. “My father and I went fishing once. There was a storm that threw him overboard.” I was stuck at sea not knowing what to do. Fish we had caught all around me, rotting for days. Rotting like me. Except I was saved a few days later.
“There be nothing glorious about that,” said Bill. “Do you know when you can tell you’ve found a kraken, boy?”
“No.”
“The smell, boy. The smell.”
“What’s it like?”
Bill looked at the dark water, sniffing. “Like death.”
I closed my nose shut with an unsteady hand, the wind bringing the rotten fish smell at me. “Do you know if we’re near then?”
“I know.” Bill turned to face the crew. “Boys,” he yelled. “It’s time. Bring out the plank!”
“What you use that for?” I asked.
“We need bait for the kraken,” said Bill, as sailors set up the plank. “And we need it out away from the ship.”
I pointed at the barrels. “The fish?”
Biil walked up to me and put a hand on my shoulder. “No, it likes us men more. I’m sorry, boy. The beast needs fresh meat. We always give it the weakest.” He looked at the deck. “Always.”
“NO!” I yelled, trying to scramble away, trying to run to the middle of the ship.
“There be no use,” said Bill, grabbing me with both arms and pushing me to my knees. “The beast is already here, boy. Can’t you smell it?”
I smelled only rotten fish. But that was only…
Bill smiled. “You do, don’t you?”
My stomach turned hard. My body shook.
The kraken was here.
It smelled like death.
***
Want short stories from us regularly? For a few dollars a year, you could get short stories emailed to you before anyone else gets access. Check out The Gathering of Tales for more information!
Get caught up. Read all the scary stories from A Gathering of Horror this week!
***
We hope you enjoyed this blog post. Want more from Karpov Kinrade? Check out our Amazon page here. New to our work? Get Seduced by Innocence FREE everywhere ebooks are sold, and find out why the Seduced Saga is a bestselling fan favorite!
November 1, 2013
The Nothing: A week of FREE short scary stories
It’s Day 4 of A Gathering of Horror and Kimberly Kinrade has a short story for you from her collection, Bits of You & Pieces of Me. This is a haunting tale of how one can lose themselves in cyberspace. Enjoy! (And don’t eat too much candy all at once.)
Read, comment and enjoy the free stories this week.
Don’t forget to check back here each day for a new FREE short story.
PLUS! We’re doing a giveaway. Leave a comment on these short stories and you’ll be automatically entered to win a signed copy of Seduced: Rose’s Story, the book the Man Candy Radio Show named its ‘spooky, sexy’ book pick for Halloween!
The Nothing
by Kimberly Kinrade
~~~
[image error]I existed once.
In form and thought.
I had a Name.
And a sensory experience of the physical world.
Until He came.
You know of whom I speak. The god of virtual formlessness. A lesser deity to be sure, but one gaining in strength and power by the day. Feeding on the lives and souls of lost wanderers of cyberspace.
He rules the ethers of unreality. We give him our form, our name, our lives. And he converts them into the currency of his domain.
Fleshless words. Ideas of no substance. One dimensional nothings.
Caricatures of what we once were.
You flirt with him now, thinking him harmless with his glittering temptations
But you are wrong. He is not harmless.
And we all were wrong. It is not death that is to be feared. But the Nothing.
Ceasing to be is a fate far worse than any death could ever be.
You lose yourself in the usernames and avatars He gives you.
Thinking yourself safe.
You learn to walk and talk and live in this flat world of 0’s and 1’s, feeding on the desperation of others like yourself. Driven by the need to be seen without eyes of flesh.
Safe sex. Sex without touch. Without mess. Without disease. But viruses pervade. You cannot escape the illusion of the nightmare we call reality.
Our dreams cannibalize us. Consume us as food as we feed on the sex of others.
You will see.
And you will wish you had stayed blind.
Your form will fade.
Not all at once, so as to alarm. But slowly. Gradually and without notice.
With each moment lost to reality, you are consumed by the Nothing.
With each photograph you send, a piece of you is sacrificed on the communal altar of demented and unsatiated desires of non-flesh.
With each black letter typed on the screen, your breath is stolen by the invoked unreal passion of another user of this drug.
You give yourself to the nameless nobodies floating in this unreality. And they take you. And they feed on you. Even as they dissipate into Nothingness themselves.
Until one day, you will have ceased to be. Not dead. Not alive. Not anything.
And you will never even know you’ve disappeared.
But I will.
I existed once.
In form and thought.
Sapphire eyes, and ruby lips. Alabaster skin. Full breasts.
You coveted me. They all did. I was their dream lover. Their perfect form. Their fantasy realized without time and space.
They owned me for a time. Stripping me to nothing. Eating my life force. All to feed this god of the never-ending hunger.
I was your private mental porn. Until I disappeared.
But it mattered not. For every one of us that ceases, there are a hundred more to take our place.
And they existed once too.
Until they didn’t.
***
Want short stories from us regularly? For a few dollars a year, you could get short stories emailed to you before anyone else gets access. Check out The Gathering of Tales for more information!
Get caught up. Read all the scary stories from A Gathering of Horror this week!
***
We hope you enjoyed this blog post. Want more from Karpov Kinrade? Check out our Amazon page here. New to our work? Get Seduced by Innocence FREE everywhere ebooks are sold, and find out why the Seduced Saga is a bestselling fan favorite!
October 31, 2013
An Open Letter to the woman handing out ‘fat letters’ to trick-or-treaters
Dear Cheryl,
[image error]That’s your name, according to this article, though you refuse to give your last name. I don’t blame you. If I was going to do such a douchebag thing as give out fat-shaming, emotionally damaging letters to innocent kids, I’d hide my identity too. The thing is, I consider myself to be an intelligent, even-tempered person of reason. I respond thoughtfully and reflectively to triggering topics such as the debate between Bella and Katniss, or the recent controversy about the “What’s Your Excuse?” meme, but I cannot even begin to understand or justify what you plan on doing tonight.
Instead, I’m going to point out why what you’re doing is an absolute asshole move, how it will have a NEGATIVE impact on the cause you claim to care about, and what you could do, and should do, that could actually make a positive, life-affirming difference for all the children who come ringing your doorbell tonight. (And I’m going to swear a lot while doing it. I don’t normally swear much on these blogs, but I’m making an exception for this, because FUCK YOU.)
Let me first start by saying that I would actually love if people stopped giving out candy on Halloween. We try to be really healthy at our house. Our kids are healthy and likely wouldn’t be targeted by your fat shaming bullshit. But we don’t want them having enough candy to feed a small country for a year. However, they love trick-or-treating, so we have worked out a deal with them. They get to trick-or-treat, and they get to eat a few pieces of their candy, then they ‘donate’ the rest to the Sugar Fairy (a little game we play), and in exchange, they get a fun book they’ll really enjoy. That way, they get to dress up and enjoy the night of going door to door, without a week’s worth of stomach aches and sugar highs.
Since one of our daughters has a lot of food allergies, this is also an issue for her, as she can’t eat a lot of what she gets anyways.
Let me also say that we don’t give out candy. We bought a bulk bag of fun treat-sized Halloween toys at an online store for cheap, and we’ll be handing those out to ALL the kids who come to our door, not because any of them are ‘moderately obese’ or because we have the right to judge any child’s health by looking at them, but because we know how hard it is to work with food allergies and diet restrictions, and we want all the kids who come to our house to get something they can enjoy on this fun holiday.
So, first, let’s talk about how your plan is an EPIC FAIL.
1. You’re not telling them anything they don’t already know.
I can guarantee you that the kids who get your fucked up, bitchy, bullying letter already know they have a weight issue. They don’t need your nosy ass telling them. So, you’re not really doing them any favors with this one.
2. This will scar them for LIFE.
These kids will NEVER FORGET the bitch who gave them that letter that made them cry ALL NIGHT LONG and ruined their Halloween. They will carry it with them forever, and that kind of shame doesn’t usually motivate people toward healthier choices. In point of fact, it often has the opposite effect. Likely, your letter will inspire more binge candy eating from depressed kids, than if you had just given them a candy bar and a smile and called it a night.
3. You can’t judge a person’s health by their size.
You’re making a fucking big and WRONG assumption that kids who look ‘moderately obese’ (and I’m sure you’re trained to determine this and have all the tools handy to test them before punishing them with your letter?) are going to be the most unhealthy or most adversely affected by a sugar high. Not so. Those kids could be healthier than their thinner counterparts for a variety of reasons, and giving candy to the kids you deem thin enough won’t do them any favors either. Sugar is bad for all of us, regardless of size.
4. Studies show that positive messages are more powerful and effective than negative messages.
What you claim to want to happen won’t actually happen this way. As noted above, you’re creating the opposite impact.
What you SHOULD be doing instead.
Now that we’ve talked about your epic failures as a human being, let’s talk about what you could be doing instead.
[image error]
Give the gift of an apple.
1. Offer healthy alternatives to ALL kids
Want to promote healthier eating habits? You think it takes a village to keep the village children healthy? Then offer healthy treats to EVERYONE! Get boxes of raisins or nuts or little baggies of carrots and hand those out instead. You can even include a note that says “Here’s to a healthy, happy Halloween.” See there? You did something positive and healthy without SCARRING THE PSYCHES OF INNOCENT CHILDREN.
2. Go non-food with your treats
Don’t want to deal with food? Try non-food treats. Mini toothbrushes and toothpaste, if you want to win the hearts of local dentists. Or do what we did and stock up on little Halloween toys. They weren’t more expensive than candy and work great for trick-or-treating. Again, include a POSITIVE note if you want to, but keep it friendly and targeted to ALL CHILDREN coming to your door.
3. Incapable of playing nice? Turn off your fucking lights and don’t give out anything.
This is a valid alternative. If you can’t play nice, then don’t play at all. Make a statement by not saying a word. GO AWAY. Nobody wants your self-righteous fat shaming for their kids. The parents you claim you want to send a message to are NOT GOING TO APPRECIATE your letter at all. Seriously, woman, have you ever MET A PARENT of a child? If I got this letter, firstly, it likely wouldn’t be the first time I’d noticed my child had some potential health issues, so again, you wouldn’t be telling me anything I didn’t already know. But I can guarantee you that if you shamed my child this way, there would be HELL TO PAY.
4. If you ARE going to send a note to trick-or-treaters, make sure it’s spelled correctly and has correct grammar.
This is shameful. How could you subject our children to this mess of a note? Do you NOT CARE about their literary health? About literacy in general? Do we want to raise STUPID children, even if they are all thin because of your valiant efforts to single-handedly stop obesity? (Because I’m sure that one candy bar that little Tommy DOESN’T get from you will be the VERY THING to make him the ‘perfect weight.’)
From a quick glance at your letters, you are missing several critical commas, you abused a semi-colon in a shameful way, and you used an incorrect word in one instance. It was so bad, in fact, that all the news outlets reporting on this story had to add a (sic) to your quote, so readers would know THEY didn’t fuck up the spelling, that it was all you. If you’re going to be a bitch, at least get the spelling right, okay?
NOTE TO SUPPORTERS OF THIS BULLSHIT
And I’d like to add a note here to those who think what you’re doing is swell and dandy and just what this country needs to get rid of all those fat kids. To you people, FUCK OFF. Firstly, obesity and weight issues are complex. It is NOT just a matter of eating right and exercise for most people. Genetics, disease, food allergies and a million other things plays a HUGE part in it. Two kids can eat and play exactly the same and one can have weight issues and the other not. Stop making moral judgments on people because of their size. You have no right. NONE WHATSOEVER. Being overweight is not a moral failing. It does NOT make a person bad, or lazy, or stupid or anything else. That is a cultural judgement that is absolutely RIDICULOUS!
I’m not saying we shouldn’t safeguard the health of our children or ourselves. We obviously take the health of our children very seriously and work hard to nourish them appropriately, but there are a lot of factors at play in someone’s body that make it impossible for you to make instant judgments about them based on how they look.
So again I will say FUCK OFF. Mind your own damn business and let these parents raise their children as they see fit.
There are a lot of things we can do to make eating healthier and handling health issues easier for parents. Shaming kids on Halloween is NOT ONE OF THEM.
*rant over*
NOTE TO MY READERS
You know me, most of you anyways. You know I am usually positive and even-tempered. You know I care about people, especially kids, and give people the benefit of the doubt. But this letter, this woman’s mission, is so dangerous, that I had to speak out in a way I normally do not. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts in the comments below. And by the way, we judge NO ONE for giving candy to their child. Because of our unique health situations, we’ve chosen to minimize this particular tradition, but that is our choice for our family and not something we judge others for. Celebrate in whatever way brings you most joy, love and happiness (and spooky scares!) this Halloween.
We hope you enjoyed this blog post. Want more from Karpov Kinrade? Check out our Amazon page here. New to our work? Get Seduced by Innocence FREE everywhere ebooks are sold, and find out why the Seduced Saga is a bestselling fan favorite!
October 30, 2013
Twins Forever: A week of FREE short stories!
It’s Day 3 of A Gathering of Horror and it’s Halloween! HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 
Today we have an extra special treat for you. Our oldest daughter turned 11 today, and she and her friend teamed up to write you this awesome short story!
You might know Madelynne from Maddie World, where she and her sisters ended a Fairy War! Or The Three Lost Kids & The Death of the Sugar Fairy, where she and her sisters saved Halloween, and the Sugar Fairy! Now she’s penning her own tales and has a flare for fear! (Watch out Stephen King, you might have some competition soon.)
Read, comment and enjoy the free stories this week.
Don’t forget to check back here each day for a new FREE short story.
PLUS! We’re doing a giveaway. Leave a comment on these short stories and you’ll be automatically entered to win a signed copy of Seduced: Rose’s Story, the book the Man Candy Radio Show named its ‘spooky, sexy’ book pick for Halloween!
Twins Forever
By: Madelynne Karpov-Kinrade & I.C. (her school friend)
[image error] Part 1- An Introduction
A terrifying tale unraveled on Halloween Night when a normal girl named Emily Frost had her life turned around when her twin sister, Denise, died at the age 13.
It was the night of Halloween, their birthday, when Denise refused to go trick-or-treating with her parents because she thought they were treating her like a baby, so she snuck out and went on her own.
Part 2- How It All Happened
I was putting on my vampire make-up for Halloween, when I heard my dad call for me to come down in his stern voice. I told him I would be down in a minute, because I wasn’t done with my costume. “It’s important,” my dad yelled. I guess that meant I had to come NOW.
I went down-stairs with my make-up only half way done.
* DUN-DUN-DUN, such a dramatic ending. *
Part 3- The Drama
When I went down-stairs, I saw Dory, my six year old sister and my mom with their heads on the table…….sobbing? Why isn’t Denise here? “Denise!” I called. I waited, but I didn’t hear a sound, it was silent
My mom and sister’s sobbing grew louder, then the awkward silence was broken by my dad. “Don’t bother,” he finally said.
Part 4- The Big Bad News
“She is missing!” my mom muttered through her wails.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Is this some kind of a joke?” I said, ” OK Denise, it’s not funny, come down here!” I paused, expecting Denise to come bounding down the stairs laughing, but she didn’t come. I couldn’t even hear her soft snickering. Panic started to rise in my chest. I can’t believe she is missing!
Part 5- The Chase
I dashed outside, how could I let this happen? I’m so naïve! It was obvious! I should have known this would happen! I should have been more careful. I ran around the block, searching for the familiar witch costume, tears streaming down my face, smearing my make-up.
Part 6- Vampires?
Then I heard it, a faint moaning coming from the alley. I decided to take a peek. At first glance I knew I had found my sister. She was gasping for air, squeezing her arm.
“What happened Denise? Who did this to you?”
“A man….darkness……vervain……stake! Get…it…out,” she stuttered. “I feel weak.” She could barely whisper.
“What can I do to help?” I asked.
“Closer, come closer!”
I reluctantly leaned forward, not knowing what she would do.
Part 7- The Bite
She BIT me! “AAAHHH!” I screamed in pain. Blood was all over her face and my neck. “This can’t be… ” I [image error]couldn’t finish my sentence. I felt like I just got wacked on top of the head. I toppled over, not yet unconscious. What is happening to me? I thought. From the corner of my eye, a dark figure emerged from the shadows.
Part 8- Relative?
The man knelt down and tapped my arm lightly. “Follow me,” he said, not loud enough to wake my sister, but loud enough for me to hear. I immediately got up and trudged after him, despite my pain.
We headed toward the dense forest that the town sat next to. We walked a couple of miles, the pain in my legs and mouth increasing.
Part 9- Interesting
Finally, we walked into a clearing with flowers and deer. At the edge of the clearing was a small, dark blue shack. We walked for about five minutes of what seemed forever. The shack was decorated with flowers and animal hides. When we silently walked up the steps and closed the door, the mysterious man was gone, and in a flash, was back with Denise in his strong arms.
He set her down on the soft couch and gestured me to sit, too. I did what I was told. We sat in silence for a few seconds.
“You do not have any idea who I am, yet I seem familiar, do I not? I will explain,” he said. “My name is Robert Frost, your great great grandfather”
Part 10- Young, but Not
I stared at him in shock. ” That’s not possible!” I felt like I was gonna hurl up my early dinner.
“I think you know it is,” he replied calmly.
Well, Denise has been acting strange… “No, I wont believe it, vampires are only a myth.” I looked him right in the eye, and told a vampire (possibly) that he doesn’t exist. I must have dropped my fear back in the forest. I was considering going back for it.
Part 11- Denise? No Way!
Denise started groaning and clutching her stomach. We looked at her. She was wiggling like she was dancing while laying down. I shook her gently until she woke up with a drunk look in her eyes. I filled her in on what this man claimed to be, who he was, and what that had to mean.
She looked at me like I was crazy.
Robert cleared his throat. “Your sister is not insane,” he said in a queer voice, like he just sucked up a bunch of helium. “I am a real vampire, and so are you, Denise, and soon, your sister will be too.”
I froze, dumbstruck. I realized that he was telling the truth. She bit me, and if he wasn’t a vampire, then how is he so young, and how could he run that fast?
Part 12- We Embrace
Denise excused herself to the bathroom. I think we all knew what she wanted to see.
A scream pierced the little space in the small shack. Robert and I shot up in our seats and raced toward the scream.
In the bathroom, Denise was staring at her reflection, or, what was supposed to be her reflection. And then Robert started to… laugh.
He explained that a vampire can’t see their reflection.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because people say that a mirror shows peoples’ souls, but vampires don’t have souls, so there is no reflection.”
“That’s gonna make it hard to put on make-up,” Denise murmured
Part 13- EWWW!!!!!
A question popped in my head. “Don’t vampires drink blood?”
He nodded.
“I DON’T WANT TO DRINK BLOOD!” Denise shrieked.
“Do you think I drink blood?” He looked offended.
“N-n-no,” We stuttered.
” I drink animal blood, or I get blood from the blood bank, and that’s what you can do, too Denise,” He said.
“Oh, wait, you don’t eat, like, puppies, right?” Denise looked horrified.
“No,” he said simply.
“What about me?” I asked. “You said I would become a vampire, too.”
“You have to drink human blood or… “
“Or what!?” I asked.
“Or you die.”
“Ok,” I sighed. “Where are some of your blood bags?”
Part 14- I become a Vampire
I sucked it dry. Why would I do that? I asked myself.
“It’s because of the urges,” he said, reading my thoughts. Must be a vampire thing.
We went for a walk, and he told us stories of what happened in the past decades.
“When I was turned, I was disoriented. I didn’t know who I was, where I was, nothing. Then I learned what was right, and what was not.” We waited for him to continue. “In the past centuries, I have seen my loved ones pass away. You see, a vampire only turns someone for love, or from boredom.”
I thought about that carefully. “How do you walk in the sunlight?”
“That is a myth made up by humans to scare themselves,” he said. “Quite foolish actually.”
Part 15- We live forever
We got used to feeding on animals, and we figured out that if we wanted to, we could change what age we appeared, so people did not get suspicious. We moved to Paris, and I took a job as a tour guide with the Louvre, the home of the Mona Lisa. We lived happily ever after.
Not! We lived in fear because whoever had originally stabbed Denise was looking for all of us…
To Be Continued
***
Photograph by Kris Radcliffe
ABOUT THE AUTHOR WE HAVE LEGAL CLAIM TO
Madelynne Karpov-Kinrade is a story-teller, artist and all around awesome kid who inspired Maddie World and The Three Lost Kids & The Death of the Sugar Fairy in the Three Lost Kids adventures. She lives with her super awesome writer parents who love her more than anything, and her two younger sisters, who also love her.
She’s also a HUGE fan of Neil Gaiman and loves All Hallow’s Read, where she gets more scary stories for Halloween.
Want short stories from us regularly? For a few dollars a year, you could get short stories emailed to you before anyone else gets access. Check out The Gathering of Tales for more information!
We hope you enjoyed this blog post. Want more from Karpov Kinrade? Check out our Amazon page here. New to our work? Get Seduced by Innocence FREE everywhere ebooks are sold, and find out why the Seduced Saga is a bestselling fan favorite!
‘Til Death Do Us Part: A week of FREE scary stories!
Day two of A Gathering of Horror continues, this time with a short story from Kimberly Kinrade, written a few years ago. It originally appeared in Bits of You & Pieces of Me. It may sound like a romance, folks, but remember what week it is!
Each day this week check back here for a new FREE short story. On Halloween, our daughter who turns 11 that day will have a special treat for you with her own short story!
PLUS! We’re doing a giveaway. Leave a comment on these short stories and you’ll be automatically entered to win a signed copy of Seduced: Rose’s Story, the book the Man Candy Radio Show named its ‘spooky, sexy’ book pick for Halloween!
And now, without further ado…
‘Til Death Do Us Part
by Kimberly Kinrade
[image error]Laura surveyed the table one last time. Candles were lit and placed in antique silver candle holders. A crystal vase held freshly cut blood-red roses in the center.
On two red placemats sat her very best white china holding the meal she had slaved over: chicken Marcela served with creamy parmesan fettuccine, Italian green beans, garlic and herb dinner rolls and a green leafy side salad with homemade dressing.
Wine glasses were filled with a light Cabernet. For dessert she had made his favorite cheesecake with three different toppings: strawberry, blueberry and apple.
She looked in the mirror and vowed it would be the last time she fiddled with her outfit and hair. After all, she was only wearing a black teddy that barely covered anything. Her light brown hair hung past her shoulders in waves. Red lips. Green eyes outlined with black liner to make them pop. Even she could admit she looked hot.
This was their first Valentine’s Day together as a married couple. Their first ever, actually, and she wanted it to be perfect. Everything did, in fact, look perfect, except for one minor problem. He was late. Again.
She paced the room in her black heals, trying not to break her ankle in the process.
Honestly, either a man made these shoes, or else a very sick woman, she thought as she struggled against the pain already forming in her feet. She much preferred sandals, or bare feet. But the black leather devices of torture looked sexy, and sexy was the real main course for tonight.
They had been married six months as of today.
Everyone had told her that the first year of marriage was the hardest. She hadn’t believed them. After all, they were perfect together. And the chemistry…wow! Just thinking about it made her flush with desire.
John was smart, if not formally educated. Gorgeous. Talented. Funny. She was educated and smart, and had done well for herself in the world.
Pausing in her thoughts, she broke her own promise and looked in the mirror again, fluffing her hair.
And not bad looking, she thought. Not bad at all.
She just hadn’t been prepared for the fights. For the drinking. For any of it. No one warned her about that. But even if they had, would she have listened? Probably not.
As it was, in the few months they had been married, they’d hardly had a meal together. He always had to “work late.” Funny how working late always left him drunk.
He’d lie, say he wasn’t drinking, but she wasn’t stupid. She could see the difference in his eyes, the way he talked, the way he carried himself. Even one beer left its mark on her beloved.
Her impatience grew as the clock ticked the minutes away.
***
Three hours later she was sitting on their hand-me-down couch with her bare feet curled under her, wearing an old blue terry cloth robe. The candles had melted down. Dinner sat on the table looking as cold and unappealing as she felt.
Her carefully applied mascara stained her cheeks with black tarry tears. Her eyes were red and swollen. She knew from experience that she would have a hard time even opening them tomorrow. She had too much experience with this in the last few months.
Did all newlyweds go through this? Was this normal? She wondered how any marriage lasted if it was. And yet, she was still here, determined to make it work. But she was so tired. And heartbroken.
Anxiety formed a knot in her gut. Again, a familiar pain. One that hadn’t really left since the first time he came home drunk a week after they said “I do.”
The framed wedding photo sitting on her bookshelf mocked her. The couple in that picture looked so happy and in love. They smiled and their eyes shined. They were beautiful. And she didn’t recognize herself in that picture at all.
When John came stumbling in at 1 a.m, Laura jerked awake from her troubled sleep. Every car that passed their house, every cat’s meow had made her jump. At least he was home.
She rose to meet him, accusing him with her eyes.
“Hey baby. Sorry I didn’t get home in time. Had to work late. You know how it is.” His words came out slightly slurred, with the deliberate effort the drunk often make not to sound drunk. Over-enunciating even as they slurred. The effect would have been comical if she wasn’t so pissed.
“It’s Valentine’s Day John. You promised. And you have not been working, unless you’re now getting paid to drink.”
“Look, Daryl brought beers for the guys and so after we finished the foundation on the house we all had a few. It would have been rude to say no, and we both know I need this job.”
“You don’t need it that bad.” Her blood pressure rose even as she fought to keep her voice under control. It was a fight she was destined to lose.
“It’s been a long day and I just want to go to bed. I don’t need this shit, ok?” His face took on that cold, cruel look he got when he was shutting her out. She hated being shut out.
“No, not ok. I worked really hard to prepare a nice evening for us. You could have made an effort to be on time.” She was starting to sound whiny, and she knew it and hated herself for it, but she couldn’t seem to stop.
He pushed past her, knocking her against the wall as he headed to their bedroom. It was a tiny apartment, so he didn’t have far to walk. She followed him in and slammed the door.
“I’m tired of you treating me this way, damn it. What the hell is wrong with you? You need to stop drinking. You’re a serious asshole when you drink, you know that?”
“No, I’m not an asshole; you’re just a demanding bitch who can’t seem to handle being alone once in awhile. I’m not going to be told what to do by you just because we’re married. I’ll do what I want, when I want, and with anyone I want,” he said in a voice hard with rage.
“Then why did you ask me to marry you in the first place? Why not stay single? I can tell you why. Because you were miserable. It wasn’t as much fun as you seem to remember. And I’m perfectly fine being alone. I like being alone. But I don’t like being stood up and treated like shit by my husband.” She was screaming now, she couldn’t help it.
She was tired of being ignored. She needed her voice to be heard. But he wasn’t listening. He didn’t want to hear. He never wanted to hear.
He grabbed the coat he’d just thrown on their bed. “I’m outa here. I don’t need this shit.” She blocked the bedroom door. “Get out of my way Laura.”
“No. I will not. You’re drunk and I’m not letting you leave this house and drive. You could kill yourself, or someone else. No.” Her palms were slick with sweat. She shook with fear but stood her ground, guarding the door.
He grabbed her and swung her around, placing his arm around her throat. Throwing her to the ground he began to choke her. She tried to scream, but nothing came out. She tried to kick or punch him, but he was using his body to keep hers from moving. Tears stuck in her throat.
“You shouldn’t have tried to stop me, Laura. You need to learn, everything we do has consequences,” he said as he choked her.
She couldn’t believe this was her husband, the man who had made her feel like the most beautiful woman in the world when they were dating. The man who hung on her every word and gave her the best sex she had ever known. The man who had promised her the world.
She was about to pass out when he threw her down and fled the house, keys in hand. The car started and peeled out as she lay there crying and clutching her throat, trying to breathe.
Her body shook as she lay, stunned, trying not to swallow for fear of more pain.
She stayed on the floor the rest of the night, too shocked to move.
He still hadn’t come home the next day and didn’t answer her repeated cell phone calls. She sat in their apartment wondering what to do.
She had called in sick from work, knowing there was no way she could greet clients at the insurance agency where she worked while looking and feeling like this.
Unfortunately, she’d been calling in sick a lot lately. And all because of fights with John. She knew her boss suspected something. But she was strong and independent, so people chose to ignore their suspicions.
Though last night was definitely the worst, it was by no means the first.
She tried to remember the life they had been planning. Children, one boy and one girl. David and Darleen. They’d be close in age with the hopes that they would be the best of friends.
They’d buy a house on some property somewhere. She’d cook fabulous meals. They’d have the best dinner parties in town. All their friends would want to spend time with them.
As their kids grew older their house would be ‘the’ house. With a way-cool mom who made them yummy snacks, and a fun dad who played basketball with them and built them playhouses and tree houses.
Then the vision in her mind turned dark. He would keep drinking. She would spend years cleaning up his messes. He would destroy their credit, wipe out and overdraw their accounts, and probably get arrested a few times for drunk driving. Maybe he’d go to rehab, but he’d be back at it soon enough.
The violence would escalate. He would choke her, hit her, belittle her. He would depend on her to keep their home running, to keep the kids happy and healthy, while he did ‘what he wanted, when he wanted and with anyone he wanted.’
She would become an indentured servant, catering to his whim, scared of what he might do or say if she didn’t keep him happy. Her health would deteriorate from the constant stress. She would give up her dreams in order to support him, and her kids would see this.
David would think this is how men are supposed to treat women, and he would repeat the cycle. Darleen would either end up in an abusive relationship herself or hate her mother for being weak.
And Laura would hate herself for allowing a man to treat her this way, for allowing her kids to be raised this way.
She rubbed at the bruise on her neck. It still hurt like hell.
As the pain of that abuse spoke of her future, she knew her mind. This wasn’t how she was going to live. No way.
Laura rose from the couch and paced their small apartment. Anger building in her. Hatred for that life she was being forced to live.
She saw their wedding picture from the corner of her eye and winced at the naivety of that foolish girl staring back at her.
Something inside her snapped, and she knew what she had to do. Taking the picture, she threw it across the room and watched the glass shatter.
***
John came home the next day, having indeed wiped out their bank account in order to indulge in his drinking binge. When he got home, the house was clean and Laura was dressed in tight jeans and a white tank-top. The smell of pot-roast greeted him. His favorite.
“Look honey, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what got into me. I love you more than anything in the world. Isn’t that enough?” His tone was soft and seductive.
She used to love when he spoke to her like this. Now it left her cold and angry. They needed to talk.
He walked over to her and put his strong arms around her. Arms that used to give her so much pleasure. Kissing her deeply, he slipped her tank-top off and began palming her breasts as he nibbled on her neck. She moaned reluctantly.
Within minutes they were both naked and he was exploring her body with all the passion and talent that had originally made them so good together. She decided to enjoy their last ‘roll in the hay.’
Once they were both fully satisfied, he held her in his arms, lightly running his fingers down her body. She felt tears forming in her eyes for what she was about to do, but she couldn’t go back. She couldn’t endure the life she knew was coming.
“Why don’t we eat? I’m starved,” she said, slipping on a robe and leading him to the table.
“That sounds perfect,” he said, stealing one more kiss as he took his seat. She served him a generous portion, took her own plate and sat down.
“I can’t do this, John,” she said sadly as he ate.
“Do what?” he asked between bites.
“Us. I can’t do us. What happened last night…it wasn’t ok. Not at all.”
He sighed and put down his fork for a moment. “I already apologized for that. What more do you want? I swear it won’t happen again. I’ve just been under a lot of stress with work and stuff.”
“That’s just it, if this is causing you stress, then how are you going to feel when we have a mortgage and two kids to support? This will happen again, and I can’t accept that,” her words sounded unsure, even to herself.
But she was sure.
“That will be different. I will be different. Look, babe, I’ll do whatever you want. You want to go to counseling, we’ll go to counseling. Whatever. Let’s just eat and enjoy our night. Let’s not fight.” He went back to eating.
She sighed. “Fine. Whatever. We’ll talk later.”
Looking pleased, he finished off the entire dinner and even had seconds.
He put his fork down and looked at her with an odd expression. His face was deathly white.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, concerned. She went over to him and felt his head. It was cold and clammy.
“I don’t know. I feel sick. My stomach hurts and I feel like…oh shit…” he ran to the bathroom but didn’t make it. Vomit flew everywhere.
Laura had to hold her breath to keep from vomiting herself. “Oh, John, my God. Are you ok?”
She got a cold rag and held it to the back of his neck.
“I don’t know. I’ve never felt this sick before. I’m…having…a hard time…breathing.” His words stopped. Oxygen was in short supply it seemed.
Laura was scared. “What do you want me to do?”
He couldn’t answer as he pointed to the phone.
She nodded and went over to it. Then stopped. Tears streamed down her face.
“John, I can’t call 911. You’re dying. Arsenic. It shouldn’t take long.”
He looked at her with pure shock on his face. Horrible, but she couldn’t back out now.
She didn’t realize it would be so hard to watch someone die. But she shouldn’t have been surprised. After all, she did love him.
But she couldn’t let him live. He was an abuser and a user. If she left him, he’d just do it to someone else. No. Men like him didn’t deserve to live.
John continued to choke and spasm for several minutes. She wanted to go to him. To hold his hand in the end, but she was scared. She stood, watching her future die with each tortured breath.
Then everything went quiet. Laura went over to him and felt his pulse. Nothing.
It was done.
She put her head on his chest and sobbed.
She saw their unlived future as she held him. The house. The garden. David and Darleen. All dead. He had killed them with his drinking. With his abuse. And so she had killed him.
After all, he needed to learn that everything we do has consequences.
***
Want short stories from us regularly? For a few dollars a year, you could get short stories emailed to you before anyone else gets access. Check out The Gathering of Tales for more information!
We hope you enjoyed this blog post. Want more from Karpov Kinrade? Check out our Amazon page here. New to our work? Get Seduced by Innocence FREE everywhere ebooks are sold, and find out why the Seduced Saga is a bestselling fan favorite!
October 29, 2013
The Pumpkin Man: A week of FREE short scary stories!
It’s Halloween week and that means SCARY TALES and one of our favorite Halloween traditions started by Neil Gaiman, All Hallow’s Read, where you give the gift of a scary story for Halloween. Since we can’t mail you each a scary book for Halloween (can you IMAGINE the postage?) we will instead give you a scary story each day this week to tantalize and terrify!
And on Halloween day, watch for a very special guest post from our nearly 11 year old daughter, Maddie, who will share her own short horror story. (She turns 11 on Halloween!)
PLUS! We’re doing a giveaway. Leave a comment on these short stories and you’ll be automatically entered to win a signed copy of Seduced: Rose’s Story, the book the Man Candy Radio Show named its ‘spooky, sexy’ book pick for Halloween!
So, to kick things off, here’s a super short flash fiction that Dmytry Karpov wrote a few years ago, but still gives me goosebumps.
The Pumpkin Man
By Dmytry Karpov
[image error]Remember when we used to go trick or treating?” I asked Tim, who sat beside me on the bench, his dark brown coat matching the leaf covered ground.
“Yeah, sure,” said Tim. “It feels like a lifetime ago.” He smiled at a girl, a witch, as she passed by. Probably sixteen, seventeen. She looked Tim’s age. My age.
I smirked as two kids in ghost costumes knocked on the door across the street. Pumpkins lined that front yard, like orange soldiers with fiery eyes.
“Do you remember the stories?” I asked.
Tim checked his watch and sighed. “Of… what?”
“The Pumpkin Man?”
“Of course I know him.” Tim tapped his foot against the rough sidewalk. He checked his watch again as if minutes had gone by.
“But the stories?” I asked.
“Yeah, I remember them,” said Tim. “Stories.” He chuckled. “Every Halloween the Pumpkin Man claims a new soul. On midnight, he comes for you.”
“He, or his ghosts?”
Tim frowned, flexing his pale fingers. “Yeah, there were many versions.”
The wind howled, twisting pumpkin eyes like tornadoes. Their carved up faces, anxious–hungry even.
The shadows were messing with me again. They were everywhere, even at night.
“It’s funny,” I said. “You grow up believing in these stories. Believing in these…” I pointed at a chubby miniature batman counting his candy, “…traditions. But always, you outgrow these things. You know what I mean?”
Tim nodded. “Everything gets old.”
“Exactly. Before, I might have minded what we’re doing, but not anymore. The feelings… they’ve dried up.”
Tim laughed. “Like candy.”
“Right. Like an old rotten candy. So bad it could kill you, but it has no choice. You’re the one eating it.”
“Yeah.” Tim checked his watch and stood up. “It’s time.”
I got up too. “Who we doing this year?”
Tim walked down the street, cars not slowing down, not seeing him. “The Pumpkin said he wants the Witch.”
I followed. “The girl that walked by?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I wouldn’t mind having someone new to talk to.” I reached into my coat and pulled out a knife. Cold steel chilled my hand. “I’ll do it this year.”
“Yeah,” said Tim. “Got to do what the Pumpkin wants.”
“Yeah,” I said. “No choice.”
Tim and I waited until the girl went down an alleyway. We cornered her. The wind picked up.
And the pumpkin faces curved into smiles.
***
Want short stories from us regularly? For a few dollars a year, you could get short stories emailed to you before anyone else gets access. Check out The Gathering of Tales for more information!
We hope you enjoyed this blog post. Want more from Karpov Kinrade? Check out our Amazon page here. New to our work? Get Seduced by Innocence FREE everywhere ebooks are sold, and find out why the Seduced Saga is a bestselling fan favorite!
![[image error]](http://www.KarpovKinrade.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/nova-scotia.jpg){kind=link}
![[image error]](http://www.KarpovKinrade.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/A-Gathering-of-Horror-FB-banner.jpg){kind=link}
![[image error]](http://www.KarpovKinrade.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Kraken_Cover_1-Final.jpg){kind=link}
![[image error]](http://www.KarpovKinrade.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/shutterstock_101596678.jpg){kind=link}
![[image error]](http://www.KarpovKinrade.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/13678266-large.jpg){kind=link}
![[image error]](http://www.KarpovKinrade.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/shutterstock_141166528.jpg){kind=link}
![[image error]](http://www.KarpovKinrade.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/shutterstock_144224743.jpg){kind=link}
![[image error]](http://www.KarpovKinrade.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/shutterstock_110674121.jpg){kind=link}
![[image error]](http://www.KarpovKinrade.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/shutterstock_108848726.jpg){kind=link}
![[image error]](http://www.KarpovKinrade.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/shutterstock_114015847.jpg){kind=link}