M.R. Graham's Blog, page 2

Tuesday Teaser

The Van Helsing Legacy: Dark & Hungry Graves

I woke to the sight of scarlet eyes mere inches from my own.

A heavy fog still clung to my thoughts, making it difficult to be properly afraid, but I tried.

Those eyes were as much temptation as terror, though. A howling abyss yawned just beyond them, and I struggled in the grip of a giddy desire to jump. L’appel du vide. The call of the void. To jump would be the end of me, but in my last few seconds, I would know what it felt like to fly.

Tuesday Teaser

The Van Helsing Legacy: Dark & Hungry Graves

Her throat moved, and her lips parted in a little breath as she let her glasses fall back into place. She plunked a couple of coins down on the table and rose.

Then, to my horror, she turned, and our gazes met. She saw me staring and blinked. I smiled to hide the fact that I was dying inside.

After a long, uncertain beat, she smiled back, showing off straight, dazzling teeth.

And I knew her.

I knew that smile—the real version of it, anyway, not the hollow lie that stretched that woman’s face. On different lips, I loved that smile. Now, it chilled my blood.

Tuesday Teaser

Dark & Hungry Graves – The Van Helsing Legacy #2

Professor Sanderson stood there in my doorway, just as dead as you please.

‘Miss Stuyvesant,’ he said gravely, a bit of grave-mould falling from his beard, ‘we really must discuss the paper you submitted. This work is no ways up to your usual standards.’ He was brandishing a sheaf of typescript, and for a terrible moment, I thought the paper was drenched in blood. But no, the streaks of red were ink, lines and lines of corrections in his miniscule, seismic handwriting.

(You can get a head start reading Dark & Hungry Graves on Patreon.)

Tuesday Teaser

Super-secret project I have mentioned:

The first book coming out will be part of an anthology set and will will be a stand-alone prequel novella. The series title is Strange Aeons.

We’re hosting a giveaway in celebration. Click the image below to enter to win a $100 Amazon giftcard, and while you’re there, sign up to make sure you don’t miss this release!

Tuesday Teaser

Dark & Hungry Graves – The Van Helsing Legacy #2

The research pile

(You can get a head start reading Dark & Hungry Graves on Patreon.)

Tuesday Teaser

The Martyr: Liminality #4

“Right,” Kim muttered. “I guess it’s time to start playing with ghost tunnels.”

(You can get a head start reading The Martyr on Patreon.)

Resuming the Tuesday Teasers!

I’d been quiet for a very long time, and then I moved the website and prettied it all up, and then it sat around, lonely. So I’m resuming the Tuesday Teasers.

Here you get a taste of a super-secret project I’ve had back-burnered for years, which will begin creeping slowly out into the open, this year:

Aurelia stepped forward, the light of her torch brushing the smooth surface of an enormous crystalline sphere. It must have been twice her height – more, with its iron stand, cushioned by a thick ring of gum rubber. It was filled with a milky, opaque liquid that glimmered and undulated like pearl dust. But there was something… There. Was that a shape in the depths? There was something in there.

That low moan came again, louder, this time, rising to a rumble, a roar. A shriek. The liquid swirled faster, flickers of blue-green light appearing in the heart of the sphere. The door to the chamber exploded inward, and a blast of icy wind extinguished the torch. Blackness crashed in.

Aurelia hurled the useless torch aside and drew her shotel from its scabbard, immediately putting her back against the wall as she tried to force her eyes to adjust. The wind passed through, howling down the tunnel, and then there was silence. No footfalls, only her own harsh breath.

The sphere was growing brighter, the flickers coming faster, sparks becoming arcs, arcs branching into tiny, turquoise bolts of lightning. She could begin to hear the crackle, feel the tingle against her skin, like a coming storm.

She jumped. There, against the glass. A handprint, glowing violet amid the lights.

And she knew what she had found, there in the deep dark, amid the crypts.

A womb.

First post!

I mean, not entirely. You can see that I’ve  brought many of the old posts with me from the old website, though I did clean those out, since there was a lot of old news and vague, unfocused rambling from the days when it was just a blog and not even really about anything. But this is the first post on the new, shiny website, and the first post at all in over a year.

Fitting, because I’m ramping up my career, this year, as evidenced by the shiny, new website. I’ll have contributions in three anthology box sets – THREE! Two will contain all-new material, one of which, Strange Magic, is available now. You can find The Van Helsing Legacy: We Shall Not Sleep in that volume, as well as a score of amazing urban fantasy and paranormal romance tales by some of the best authors I know. (And as a gentle reminder, you can enjoy The Van Helsing Legacy: Dark and Hungry Graves on my Patreon the moment you finish Book 1. Continue the story months before anyone else, and help me survive as I slog through year two of earning my PhD. Your support would really help with that ramping-up-of-the-career and the eating-of-things-other-than-ramen.)

 

The other two anthologies remain, for the moment, a secret.

In other good news, after a hiatus last year, AggieCon is back, and I will be there in the dealers’ room with a tremendous pile of books and vampire-slaying paraphernalia. If you’re near College Station, TX during the fourth weekend of March, you ought to drop by. An all-weekend badge is $40 or $25 for students, and a one-day is $20. (Sunday is a short day, so that’s $15.)

Guests and panelists will include:

Christopher Wehkamp (MHA: Eraserhead, Tokyo Ghoul: Kisho Arima and Tatara, Fairy Tail: Ren Akatsuki)

Harris O’Malley (Also known as: Dr. Nerdlove)

Charlayne Denney – Author (Lilly’s Angel, Marcus’s Vampire, Vampire rEvolution)

Ashe Thurman (My Time at Portia: Nora, Paranormal Files The Tall Man: Julie, Imre’s Curse Prologue: Aenaris)

Aaron Desmuke (Fullmetal Alchemist: Alphonse Elric, Fairy Tail: Hibiki Laytis, Danganronpa 3: Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu)

Kathryn Friesen – Author (The Prophesied, The Apostasy)

Mastermind Comics – Comic Publisher (Grayson Stokes, To the Ends of the Earth, Last Confession)

If you can’t come visit me in person, I’ve also set up a Facebook group. It’s mostly nerdy memes and links and pictures of my sweet cat, who came home with me early in January. Some book rambling and some research rants. That’ll be the best place to just chat with me online.

There are a few other nefarious plots for 2019, but as they’re still in the works, I’m keeping them under wraps for now. There will be updates when they come to fruition. But most importantly, there will be updates. I’m making an effort to return to the blog and hopefully avoid another year-long silence.

Until next time, dear reader.

Diversity – with Carmen Fox

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Carmen Fox
REPRESENTATION MATTERS – Fiction without boundaries

I’m white, have no major disability to speak of, I don’t belong to any religion, and I’m as straight as a ruler. What do I know about diversity, right? I have never been stopped for driving while being black, haven’t had the indignity of being gawked at for wearing a hijab, and have been lucky not to have had a strain placed on my education by ADHD, dyslexia, or “learning while being transgender.” You’d think I’m the last person to have authority to speak on these issues.

But I do have a condition that I share with my non-white, disabled, religious and/or LGBT friends—we call it the human condition. Not only do I have the authority to speak, I have the moral obligation to do so. My family occasionally uses terms that make me cringe. They complain about the immigrant issue at home in Germany. My mother is fine with homosexuals “as long as they leave the kids alone.” My nan once tried to cure my depression with a heartfelt “buck up.” Many times we have argued about these matters, and just as many times did I stay silent only to preserve the peace. Every time I keep quiet, I feel crummy.

However, and without making excuses for their insensitive language, they have never treated anyone differently because of what they are. My uncle is gay and a welcome guest at home, my nan used to be very friendly with a Turkish lady, and a couple of years ago, my parents attended their first Muslim wedding.

Think Big

Rhetoric is important, and supporting representation of the whole spectrum on Facebook and in blogs is wonderful, but our words must be followed by action.

Sadly, I’m not much of campaigner. Who is nowadays? Just getting from my bed to my sofa takes days and a backpack full of provisions. But action doesn’t have to mean chaining yourself to police stations. Treat people fairly. If you don’t know something about being transgender or if you keep getting your terms mixed up, ask or hit the search engine. Teach your children kindness to all men, women and those you aren’t sure about. Expand your horizons every day of your life.

As for me, I’m a writer, and I express my wishes and hopes by way of the worlds I create. It doesn’t bother me that most of my main characters are white and straight. White and straight is what I know. But just as my reality is composed of more than just me, so are my worlds populated by more than carbon copies of myself. Most recently, I made the Grim Reaper black, gave his daughter her own novella, and have teamed up a wheelchair-bound woman with an alpha werewolf who loves to run.

So when, earlier this year, I was presented with the opportunity to take part in a box set to celebrate diversity, I immediately thought of Ali, an Indonesian-American gay werewolf I first conceived of more than ten years ago when I wrote Guarded. I’ve been itching to give him his own spotlight, not because he has proven such an electrifying character so far, but because I suspected a lot of confusion, humor and spunk under his tight, accountant-type demeanor.

Many more authors, including USA Today bestselling and award-winning authors, have bravely stepped up to the plate, and Sigils and Spells is the product of our efforts. These 24 stories are just as riveting as you should expect from such an illustrious ensemble of talent, and the characters as quirky, inspiring and exciting as you’d hope. Their journeys will have you at the edge of your seat and their issues will resonate with you, no matter what you are—because in the end, it’s about who you are.

You can pre-order SIGILS AND SPELLS now from the retailer of your choice. It’s only $0.99 (or equivalent). Disneyland wouldn’t give you a cold cup of coffee for that price, while SIGILS AND SPELLS offers you 24 thrilling adventure rides you can’t find anywhere else. One word of warning before the adrenaline kicks in: this is a limited edition boxed set, so buy now before you miss your chance.

ABOUT CARMEN

Carmen lives in the south of England with her beloved tea maker and a stuffed sheep called Fergus. An avid reader since childhood, she caught the writing bug when her Nana asked her to write a story. She also has a law degree, studied physics for a few years, dabbled in marketing and human resources, and speaks native-level German and fluent Geek. Her preferred niches of geekdom are tabletop games, comics, sci-fi and fantasy.

She writes about smart women with sassitude, about pretty cool guys too, and will chase that plot twist, no matter how elusive.

Expect to be kept guessing.

Find her online: Facebook | Twitter | Website

A dangerously beautiful vision of unique worlds that’s sure to leave its mark.

Cross through the looking glass into Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, and Dystopian realms where you’ll meet valiant heroes, kick-ass heroines, and dangerous creatures waiting to unveil the hidden corners of the universe.

SIGILS & SPELLS includes more than twenty exclusive novels that roam the sands of Egypt, slip into the shadows of 1940s Los Angeles, voyage to the mystical land of Mabi, and dare to traverse the stars.

From the deserts of Africa to the streets of San Antonio, mythological adventurers strike out to discover brand new worlds and unravel the mysteries of Earth in a limited edition boxed set offering the diversity and originality you haven’t been able to find before now.

Including stories from…

Lori Titus

Kris Austen Radcliffe

USA Today bestselling authors Heather Marie Adkins and Alex Owens

Paul C Middleton and Lee Hayton

Rita Stradling

Eva Pohler

Lily Luchesi & Faith Marlow

M.R. Graham

Award-Winning author Carmen Fox

Tina Glasneck

Sedona Venez

J.N. Colon

Cheri Winters

USA Today bestselling author Katalina Leon

RJ Blain

USA Today bestselling author Cate Farren

Amy Evans

Catherine Banks

Award-Winning author V.A. Dold

Dylan Keefer

Award-Winning author Ali Cross

Michel Prince

Danny Bell

Tiana Laveen

Dare to enter forbidden realms of unexpected beauty and peril? Secure your copy of SIGILS & SPELLS today – before it disappears forever!

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Babel – a poem

I have lost the gift of tongues,

or perhaps I never knew how to speak at all.

In dreams, I have seen the tower crumbling

and felt my throat closed against my fellow humans,

my voice crumbling, too,

never to be heard again.