Friday, October 7, 2016

BLOODWALKER

I am thrilled to introduce L. X. Cain's New Release!



BLOODWALKER 
by L.X. Cain

Blurb:

Lightning flashes. Another child disappears…

When Zorka Circus performs, its big top roars with laughter and cheers, but when it moves on, there are fewer children in the European towns it leaves behind.

Circus Security Chief Rurik suspects a killer hides among the international performers, but they close ranks—they’ve always viewed lightning-scarred Rurik as the monster. Nevertheless, he's determined to find the culprit and stop them before anyone else dies and the only place he can call home is ripped apart by the murders.

Into Zorka Circus comes the Skomori clan, despised as gravediggers and ghoulish bloodwalkers. A one-day truce allows bloodwalker Sylvie to marry. Instead, she finds a body. Alerting others will defy her clan’s strict rules, break the truce, and leave her an outcast.

When more bodies turn up, the killer's trail becomes impossible to ignore. Rurik and Sylvie must follow the clues—even if they lead to something unimaginable.

“YA horror novelist Cain (Soul Cutter) steps right up to the center ring in this captivating shocker of children disappearing after the circus comes to town.” ~ Publishers Weekly

BUY LINKS:

Kobo 



L.X. Cain was born in the U.S. but now lives on the Red Sea and busily taps away at a laptop, coming up with stories to thrill and entertain readers.

Contact L.X. Cain at:
Blog 



How do you like your clowns?

Were the recent sightings of menacing but disappearing clowns just a publicity stunt?

If so, good one Lexa! :)




Wednesday, October 5, 2016

IWSG - FINISHED?




Brought to you by Alex J. Cavanaugh

October's Question: 

When do you know your story is 

ready?


When you first type "The End," you think it's over. 

You're thrilled beyond reason because you've accomplished the desired goal. You walk away, celebrate and then you send it out to betas and editors. 

You begin planning the tour, the marketing.

Then the critics of your masterpiece arrive in your inbox.

Guess what?

You're not finished.

That's when the rewriting begins along with more questioning, and uncertainty. Suddenly you fear that none of your hard work will ever see the light of day.

But guess what?

You work through it.

Whether it's significant rewriting or minor, you work through it. You realize all those suggestions from the beta readers and editors make perfect sense, have added to your story, and now, finally, it is perfect. 

Well, almost.

When you finally hand it off to the publisher, you're sure it's ready, but then, there's, even more, editing and rewriting. But you get through that too, it's what writers do.

Hitting the send button on that Final Finished Edited Copy that now looks nothing like the original, is when you know it's finished! At least that's the prayer.


 *****


*****

Have you decided which 
WEP Challenge you'll tackle?


and or


What ever your choice

be sure to sign up now!







Thursday, September 8, 2016

BABY MOO'S DEBUT!

I'm truly thrilled to help Julie Flanders announce the release of her latest book:



Blurb:

Baby Moo has a dream. He wants to travel the world and sing on the stage of the Sydney Opera House! While he loves his home at Sunrise Sanctuary, it hasn’t been the same since a piglet named Nathan showed up and stole all the attention away from Moo. Jealous of the new baby, Moo decides now is the time to make his escape and pursue his dream.

But the world outside the sanctuary gates is not quite the fun and exciting place Moo imagined, and he quickly finds himself in big trouble. Moo's friends Missy the dog and Ruthie the cat rush to help him, and land in some trouble of their own.

Lost and frightened, Moo and his friends must rely on each other to find their way back home. Will they ever see Sunrise again?


Release date: September 8, 2016 from Native Ink Press

Links:

Buy on AMAZON



Julie Flanders will donate $1 to Sunrise Sanctuary, home to Baby Moo and numerous other rescued animals, for each copy sold in September.


Help Julie spread the word!

Please Tweet:


Baby Moo's Great Escape by @JulesFlanders is here! $1 will be donated to @sunrise_ohio for each copy sold in Sept.  http://tinyurl.com/gpuomwm




Have you ever written or considered writing a children's book? 




Wednesday, September 7, 2016

#IWSG - CHANGE



First, I want to apologize for being absent. Many life changes have occurred and more are on the way! As things settle, I'll get back to a routine that will allow me to read and comment again.

That being said, welcome to another posting for the Insecure Writer's Support Group. The one post I don't want to miss.

They’re revving up IWSG Day to make it more fun and interactive! 

Every month, they'll announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG Day post.

Today's Question:

How do you find the time to write in your busy day?


The question is so apropos, at least for me right now. With numerous things occurring at one time, you know all the usual stuff that life throws at you all at once. The truth is for several months I've found it difficult to find time to write, but at the same time, I have managed to cut out a few hours here and there to finish my Murderous Imaginings story Sheila's Murderous Mind. The final story will post on September 19th.


While life goes through many changes, I've found that more than ever I NEED to write. Writing is a haven when all else is upside down.


Next month my post will be written and posted from the beach! A chance for a writer's escape and the opportunity to get back to both of my WIP's. Heaven for sure!


What about you? 


Is writing your haven or more like the monkey on your back?
*****


Be sure to share thanks with the



Find us on Twitter @TheIWSG and hashtag #IWSG


****

I hope you're all looking forward to the next WEP Challenge.



This time, it's all about CONSTELLATIONS!

Despite being in October we're not pushing the Halloween side of the challenge, there are so many other flash fiction challenges for the ghost stories, but if you wish to go there for the WEP, please do!

It's an opportunity for many genres - science fiction, romance, non-fiction, fantasy, etc. So get that imagination working!


Sign up October 1st
Post your story October 19 through the 21st
Prizes awarded!

See you there!



Tuesday, August 16, 2016

WEP - A STONE GARDEN

This is my entry for the WEP Gardens Flash Fiction Challenge. Please be warned the story took a dark turn. It wasn't meant to, but when I write I go where the prompt takes me. I've been working on my WIP The Snowman, and I'm afraid the antagonist took over this project. 
This picture was my inspiration, especially when I envisioned it in a winter setting. 


Gardens always mean something else, 
man absolutely uses one thing to say another.

~Robert Harbison, Eccentric Spaces, 1977


A STONE GARDEN

Janelle finally arrived home. The day had been exhausting, and the drive seemed to have taken hours, when in truth, it had barely been one. Fresh snow always slowed traffic to a crawl. She almost wished she'd rented a place in town, but when a childhood friend had offered his fabulous home at no cost, well, it was perfect. Too good to be true, but that was before the harassment started. Now she dreaded coming home.
John Hughes's elegant house was located on a ridge over Cheat Lake just minutes from the University of Morgantown. The police had suggested she update the security system, but she was house sitting and needed his permission first. John immediately agreed and gave her the number of a security firm. The police and the company she'd contracted had suggested cameras. Janelle vetoed the idea—at least inside the house. The last thing she wanted was to be a YouTube sensation.
Threats originally came in the form of letters addressed to the bitch in residence. At first, Janelle thought it was a joke. She was new in town, a professor at the university with John as the only other person she knew well. John suggested that maybe his former girlfriend was the target, but the letters became personal when they included pictures of her. Her stalker had taken them as she went about her day at the university and around town.
After contacting the police, Janelle learned that several women had received the same threatening letters. The police assured her the man was harmless. They suggested that he was just trying to create terror on a broad spectrum but would never follow through. She prayed they were right, but soon after her visit to police headquarters, the phone calls started. The messages were grotesque and sexual in nature, the voice mechanical.
Janelle almost packed her bags after Detective Malaren informed her she was the only one receiving the threatening calls. Fear gripped her fully, but she found her courage and made getting the security system updated, her principal goal. Detective Malaren also suggested a roommate or bodyguard. She agreed.
Tomorrow the installation would happen and tonight she would play host to her first personal bodyguard, all on her tab. Until this creep was behind bars, Janelle didn't want to be alone in a large home several miles from town. 
Before unlocking the door and switching on the lights, she checked the road leading to the house and wondered where the bodyguard was. The security firm assured her he'd meet her at the house, would probably be waiting when she arrived. He wasn't. Janelle blamed the snowstorm.
All she wanted was a soft chair and a glass of wine, but instead, started a pot of coffee, and searched the refrigerator for staples to begin dinner, wondering if she should make enough for two. She noticed that the house was unusually cold, verified via the thermostat. Worried that the furnace was on the blink, she went to the den to build a fire. The air was more frigid than usual. French doors leading out to the deck were standing open. Snow had drifted inside. Had she forgotten to latch them? The wind on that side of the house sometimes popped them open if left unlocked. She wondered if the new security installation would fix the problem.
Turning on the exterior lights, she stepped onto the deck. During the darkness of winter, the owner, John, wanted to see his beautifully landscaped yard. Spotlights highlighted the bridge across the small creek, and a new layer of snow covered evergreens, Japanese maples, and massive boulders. 
Statues of angels graced the area, each one featured in a heavenly glow. The recent snowfall made it a winter wonderland. Most mornings would find Janelle seemingly mesmerized by the beauty of the garden while she nursed a cup of coffee and contemplated life. The panorama brought her joy, and no matter the season, the changing beauty filled her with peace.
Tonight, at this moment, the cherished Vista froze her to the spot. The beautiful winter paradise was now her nightmare come tangible.
Someone had shattered the angels and splattered them with blood. Most of the spotlights now glowed red. On the frozen creek laid the torsos of three women. Their naked bodies staged grotesquely. Their heads hung from the ornate bridge, tied in place by their hair. A trail of blood flowed from each body. Beheaded on the icy creek and immediately strung up on the bridge. Their grisly end caught in deaths final scream.
Janelle recognized the other women tormented with the beast's haunting letters. The sight sent her reeling backward. The sound of her screams dragged her into a living nightmare where there was no escape.
Someone stood in her way. Janelle fainted. He caught her. Held her inert body and looked beyond her to the scene in the snow, a smile splayed across his face.
Written in blood above the bodies - a crude message -Welcome Home, Lover.

The police found Janelle's body on a pedestal in the garden. Sitting in the lotus position with an elaborate pair of feathered wings crudely sewn into her back and a pentagram cut into her chest. The only other wounds were the deep cuts on her wrists. She'd bled out in place. Paralyzed by drugs, Janelle had been unable to move while the horror played out. The other women had suffered the same fate. They'd been aware of the torture, the beheading, and their assailant.
The security firm insisted the owner, John Hughes, had canceled the bodyguard that Janelle had hired because he was on his way home. When they reached John, he was still in Europe and would be for the next six months.
***
Stone downloaded the pictures to his computer and masturbated as he relived each delicious moment of the night before. Several loud knocks on the ceiling startled him from his pleasuring.
"Stowie, breakfast!"
         "Coming, Mommy."


***
997 Words / FCA
Yolanda Renee © 2016

Enjoy more entries from the WEP Gardens Challenge from the list below!