CUPID
I’ve lost everyone I’ve ever loved
My first love put the last nail in the coffin
I’ll never express that emotion again
Then I minced words with the wrong waitress
I thought she would scurry off, but she stood her ground, cursed me out, and
demanded I thank her!
She’s the firecracker trying to spark that emotion I burned, cursed, and buried
deep within me.
She’s trouble.
I like a bit of trouble.
S Courtney is a romance author whose motto is “Love
Worth Dying For” There’s always a little (lot) of bloodshed for the
happily ever after/for now. Her love of writing began in middle school after
hours writing until bedtime letting her imagination run wild.
With that imagination she has created her paranormal series,
the Bound Series with strong but caring Alphas and independent women with big
ambitions and a little magic! And a look inside the tough job of reaping souls
to the Underworld in Sandman.
She also tapped into the dark world of motorcycle clubs and
the secret life of an mercenary with a curiosity.
She looks forward to writing into other tropes, such as even
darker romance, mafia, and sweet almost insta-love.
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Sim was a teacher in his old life. Now he’s the savior of orphans.
He isn’t their father. God knows he has already failed in that role. But he
is their guide. And the kids? They are his penance. His redemption.
For three years Sim has prepared his orphans for the hard realities of life
after the plague that wiped out most of the global population. Theirs is a
life without laws or creature comforts. He has trained them to forage and
grow their own food, to be vigilant, and to protect themselves and each
other by any means necessary. In building a fortress of brick and mortar,
they’ve become a fortress of flesh and blood.
These allegiances and ideals are put to the test when a man named Zagan,
who believes himself to be on a mission for the devil to bring about the
destruction of civilization’s remains, gathers hundreds of marauders and
confronts Sim and his orphans in a merciless siege.
Will the fortress hold… Or will it collapse under the pressure of
evil?
Interview
Introduce yourself and tell me about what you do.
Thomas Styles. I am a twelve year veteran of public school teaching and fifteen years ago created a childcare business, TSL Adventures, which offers dynamic daycare programs, summer camp programs, and before and after school programs for children ages infant through twelve years old. Serving 1000 kids a day. I am owner and CEO and it keeps me busy. I’m an indy writer, and world travler with two grown children.
Tell me more about your journey as an author, including the writing processes.
My joruney started at 13 when I penned (literally) my first book in a five subject notebook. I still have it to this day. I continued writing for many years after, and prior to starting my own childcare business and raising kids, I wrote a lot of middle grade and YA novels. Many of them I lost in moves and such, which was hearrbreaking. I published lots of articles in those days for local magazines and was really pushing to be published. Alas, TSL Adventures and raising two kids pushed writing to the back burner and only recently have I picked it back up where I left off, now writing adult fiction, typically centered around family drama and intermingled with a bit of fantasy. Ground adult fiction fantasy. I wrote the Fortress series and published it on Amazon and have another series, Shift, ready to launch. Two other drafts as well ready to go. I write prolifically. My goal is to publish several books a year and see my press, Transcendence, grow with all my books. My writing process involves turning my ideas into full length novels. I do not outline or plan ahead. My stories build on themselves as I write quite naturally and very rarely get stuck. I rely on beta readers and DE’s to see the stories evolve to the end point.
Tell me about your Book
The Fortress built on my love of being a kid in the eighties (Rambo, GIJoe, War) so created a book that involes kids going to war. I am a big fan of kids and have a large respect for their capabilities and resilience, especially under the leadership of a caring and loving adult. In this story a man with a broken past takes lost children of the apocalypse in and trains them to surive but also how to love and be a family. The heart of the story is the Fortress family, with lots of amazing kids. I worked with kids my whole life so I write them very well. I love to talk about the importance of the family values, the resilence of children, and the reality that kids now and espeically in the apocalypse do not always live fairy tale lives. They cry, bleed and die, and sometimes have a choice in that. Their are stories from Gavroche and Agu of Beasts of No Nation about children being trained soldiers so there is a little of this notion as well to speak of. When do we run and when do we stay and defend our honor and fight, even to the death. An adult or child can have a choice in this and in The Fortress, they certainly do.
About the Author
T.A. Styles earned his B.S. in Elementary Education and Mathematics and his M.S. in Developmental Reading. He taught in elementary and junior high schools for twelve years before launching his own childcare enterprise, TSL Kids Crew, which he has operated since 2009. He has had a passion for writing stories since he was a teenager, as it was a hobby and skill for which he realized at a young age he had a knack for and loved. He has two grown children and has traveled extensively including to Iceland, Australia, Greece, Italy, South America, and many other places nationally and
internationally.
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We’ll be back December 1st!
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When a 3,000-year-old demon grim reaper discovers someone’s killing
witches, he’ll do whatever it takes to stop them–but everyone knows
you can’t cheat Death.
3,000-year-old demon grim reaper, Aiden Finn has been in trouble with
Management before. Back in 79 A.D., he did some serious time in Hell for
disobeying the orders of his boss. He just wants to do his job and stay off
of Management’s radar, but all that’s about to change when he
tries to get his latest Charge, Carol, to board the ferry and cross the
River Styx after she becomes the latest victim of a serial killer targeting
witches.
When Carol refuses to go, Finn promises to find her beloved cat a new home
so she’ll cooperate. His plan to drop the cat off at a local shelter
takes an unexpected turn, however, when he arrives at her apartment and
meets Chloe, the stunning red-headed witch who lives across the hall. Hoping
to see her again, Finn decides to pet sit the cat instead.
As the number of murdered witches grows, Finn must figure out who is behind
the murders before Chloe becomes the next victim. He’ll do whatever it
takes to stop them, even if it means risking an exorcism by walking into a
church and sitting down for tea with a Catholic priest. Of course, if he
does find a way to stop the killer—even a grim reaper knows you
can’t cheat death.
About the Author
C.A. Kennedy is a fantasy romance and mystery author with a propensity for
quirky characters and good stories with a ‘gotcha’ twist.
Although she always considered herself a mystery writer, when a snarky demon
grim reaper kept bugging her to tell his story, she knew she couldn’t
refuse. When she isn’t writing or channeling her inner demon, you can
find her spending time outdoors with her Golden Retriever, Murphy, and
trying to stay in the good graces of her two cats, McGee and Tobias.
Transported to an ancient realm of magic and mystery, can a young
woman survive scheming royals, shifting alliances, and impending war?
The Discovery of Magic
The Intrigue of
Magic Book 1
by L.J. Evias
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Transported to an ancient realm of magic and mystery, can a young woman survive
scheming royals, shifting alliances, and impending war?
Alice Harper yearns to determine her own fate. Desperate to change her parents’ minds
about moving away from everything she knows, the gifted archer sets
out to win a coveted scholarship. But the seventeen-year-old feels
completely out of control when she and her friends stumble through a
strange portal to a mysterious world.
Separated from the others, the bold and reckless teen finds herself whisked away to an impossible palace where charming mages offer help. But as she becomes entwined
in the politics of the court, Alice grows suspicious of her new
allies, and she struggles to distinguish friend from foe…
As she’s pulled deeper into treacherous plots, can the heroic young adult rescue her peers and get everyone home?
The Discovery of Magic is the captivating first book in The Intrigue of Magic epic fantasy
series. If you like relatable characters, powerful enchantments, and
fast-paced action, then you’ll love L. J. Evias’s battle for
courage.
Buy The Discovery of Magic to begin the adventure today!
What inspired you to write this book?
I’ve always dreamed of going on grand adventures, but practical constraints like time and money have kept those dreams from fully materializing. However, a trip I took to Morocco in 2019, just before the pandemic, had a profound impact on me. I fell in love with the country’s rich culture and vibrant landscapes, which deeply influenced the setting and atmosphere of my book.
I also draw inspiration from fiction and those tantalizing ‘what if’ questions. For instance, why didn’t Rey accept Kylo Ren’s invitation to rule the galaxy in Star Wars? Or why didn’t Jafar, with all his powers in Aladdin, have more influence from the start? What if an entire society of mages schemed for power? How would the struggle for a throne change if magic were involved? These questions led me to create a world where power is split between mages and royalty, forming the dynamic and intriguing backdrop for my story
Do you have any “side stories” about the characters?
Yes! So many. It’s hard to stay focused on the main story when there are so many intriguing characters. Ademir’s coming-of-age tale, which is also the story of how he met Torvia, is already released as a free novelette called The Duty of Magic. As a noble warrior, his journey is quite different from everyone else’s. At fifty pages, it also serves as a concise introduction to my writing style and the world of The Intrigue of Magic.
I am currently working on the tale of how Torvia became a spy, which dives deeper into her complex past and the history of the two kingdoms. This shorter novel reveals how her talents sometimes led her into trouble. Otis features much more in this book, and his mischievous youth is a delight to write. I may create another story just for him. Another book delves into Kavir’s rise to power, a story that is both thrilling and heartbreaking.
L. J. Evias writes exclusively in the fantasy genre, infusing stories
with a dash of adventure and mystery. In Evias’s worlds, moral
absolutes do not exist, giving life to a diverse cast of intriguing
characters.
The Intrigue of Magic is Evias’s debut series, featuring accessible world-building,
intricate plots, and unforgettable heroes and villains. Released in
2024, The Discovery of Magic is the first book in this series.
When not immersed in the pages of a novel, Evias enjoys real-world adventures both in the UK and abroad. The enchanting settings of The Intrigue of Magic series draw
inspiration from personal travels, notably the unique architecture
and evocative landscapes of Morocco.
Bonus material and a sample short story are available from the author’s website.
The Button Collector M.M. Cochran Publication date: September 17th 2024 Genres: Adult, Psychological Thriller
When Chicago journalist Jessica Knight is linked to a string of odd murders happening across the country, her life takes a turn for the worse.
She is left wondering why her relatives are the ones dropping like flies under the signature mark of a serial killer . . . why she can’t stop thinking about Michael Bradley, the appealing detective assigned to protect her . . . and most of all, why, despite being the Button Collector’s prime target, she’s still alive at all. One thing she knows for certain: the killer is always watching. As the line between truth and deception begins to blur, Jessica crumbles under the dense web of lies she’s trying to keep straight–especially once the police start questioning more than just her sanity. With pressure mounting, Jessica must navigate being under the watchful eye of the police–and the killer–while risking it all in a dangerous game to make up for the mistakes of her past.
The first thing I feel when I step outside my apartment building is his eyes on me.
They burn. They haunt. They’re always there, somehow finding me almost every day since the first murder.
Long shadows stretch over the brown patch of grass before my building. They’re soft on my boots and heavy on the winter flowers that need sun. Rain pelts down the petals, but I’m too cold to get my fingers wet and shake the water off the weak flowers.
The thick weather clouds the feeling of his surveillance, but I still close my eyes to escape it.
Count backwards from ten.
Nine.
Eight.
Seven.
Okay, it’s gone.
Now open your eyes, I instruct myself.
It’s time to catch a cab. “Time to catch a cab,” I say.
Leave me alone. “Leave me alone,” I say.
The office buzzes with fluorescent lights over rickety desks made for half-hearted journalists. I slide between their narrow spaces and make my way to the associate editor’s desk. The editor in chief smokes in his office, and Della can tell me everything he knows, so I avoid him and his stench. It’s not something I can handle this morning, though on a good morning, I’d crave the smell of his cigarettes.
“Della, John wanted to see me? Why?” The tip of my umbrella taps the ground, sprinkling cold drops of leftover rain onto my pant leg.
She doesn’t even look at me, doesn’t even jump at the opportunity to comment on my red lipstick that’s too dark or my unshapely long coat. “He’s in his office.”
“But—”
“Jessica.”
The smoke in John’s office rolls onto me in waves of foggy white. My automatic response is to cough, clear my throat, but it would be nothing more than for show. He knows I’m used to it.
“Knight. Come here, I’ve got somethin’ for you.” He fingers me in and motions for me to take a seat. The dark leather on the chair does everything but absorb the moisture from my wet thighs.
He nudges a stack of papers in my direction. “Here’re some stories for the week that I came across over the weekend. Fire and Crime section looks like it’ll be good and full next issue, but I’d like you to start on this Button story. A profile about him to follow-up his murder we reported on last week. It’ll take some research, so I want your time and attention on this one. All week.” He taps the folder with his index and middle finger, keeping his cigarette in place between them. “Make it good. If you need me to get some intern on the other stuff, you just let me know, Knight. Let’s focus on this Button profile, and make sure to really center it around the freakshow killer more than the victims.”
John takes a long, focused drag off the cigarette. Blows it in a thin streak over his shoulder. Eyes me with a glare that’s crimped with sixty-year-old crow’s feet.
“You alright, Knight?”
“Fine. But why do you want me for this? I’m not investigative, just—”
“A hard crime reporter. I know. But you really proved yourself with investigative journalism skills after you covered that murder trial last month. I want to spread your wings a little more. Cover this Button story, Knight. It’s going to sell a lot of papers. Keep it up, and we’ll change your title to Investigative instead of just Crime Journalist.”
“Thanks, John, but I’m comfortable with my position.”
“I’ll give you a little raise, dear.” He wraps his lips around his cigarette and blows the smoke over his shoulder again. “And I’ll hire one of those interns to take over hard crime. Okay?”
“Alright. Thank you.”
“Well, we’ll see how this Button story goes.”
I nod.
“You sure you’re okay, Knight?”
“Yeah, fine.”
“Then shake that look off your face and get to work. I’d like to have that story by Thursday; I want the designers to arrange A1 layout around it. This’ll generate a lot of attention, you know. People are all over this Button Collector thing.”
“The word count?” I ask. I usually don’t have to talk word counts with him, but with big stories like this—like that trial—he always has some requirements to meet.
“Give me nine-hundred, no less.”
A knock on the door diverts his attention to behind me. “John,” the receptionist says, “a young lady would like to speak with you about advertisement.”
John pushes back his chair and stands, surrendering his cigarette to the dusty ash tray. “Stay here, Knight. I’ll be right back.”
My next breath is stifled by the smoke that folds into my face when he walks by. He leaves the door cracked behind him.
Author Bio:
As both a self-published and traditionally published author of YA fiction and a thriller, I know how vulnerable and scary handing your manuscript to an editor can be. . . But it is my job to take care of my clients and their stories, cherishing them as my own.
My novel, Between the Ocean the Stars, was ranked #2 at the worldwide distributors center upon publication and later named a finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards. My next novel, The Button Collector, releases in 2024.
Hi, everyone! I’m super excited to be in Ft. Smith, Arkansas today. Why? I’ll be at the Book Me Romance event tomorrow. It’s my first time in this area, and at this event, so I’m having a combination of excitement and nerves.
Flyboys are a group of men who thrive on adrenaline and a bunch of self-proclaimed misfits. This sweet romantic series is full of soaring emotions, sweeping intense moments, and loyal friendships that unite the most unlikely characters into an unforgettable saga.
Book 1
Dreamer, aviator, and certainly not the man she expected…
Harley Petersen knew falling for a man in uniform was a mistake. A relationship with a pilot would end in heartbreak, especially when it is her twin brother’s wingman. Stolen moments long ago only deepened the connection between them that she kept hidden away deep inside… until Jackson came crashing into her world once again.
A love he couldn’t forget…
Jackson Sloan knew his best friend’s sister was definitely off limits—despite their soaring feelings. When he broke Harley’s heart years ago, he knew nothing would ever be the same. Uncontrollable emotions had skyrocketed, surging upwards at a breakneck pace, resulting in a kiss that could be nothing more—or could it?
Now Fate has given this lucky Flyboy a second chance at love.
Ginny Sterling is an avid romance writer. She lives to tell sweet, inspirational, tender tales that tug at the heart, leaving the reader smiling, laughing, or crying. Her book series include many titles such as FLYBOYS, Healing Hearts, Flirt’s Battalion, Reserve Ranch, and more.
June 2024 will deliver three books
~ Forever Focused – Flyboys Second Generation Novella
~ A Gift for Her Festive Firefighter – Love in Sweet Bloom Series
~ In Love with A Ranger (Reserve Ranch and Rescue)
Each book written is sure to be an adventure, bringing laughter and love to your heart!
Tony Nesca’s free-flow writing draws the reader into a tragi-comedy of epic proportions.
Calabritto
by Tony Nesca
Genre: Literary Fiction
Calabritto is a novel about a mountain village in central Italy taking place in the early seventies and the eccentric characters that weave their stories in and around each other.
Written in Tony Nesca’s classic free-flow, stream of consciousness, the prose itself mesmerizes and captivates, drawing the reader into a tragi-comedy that unfolds an intricate tapestry of human experience.
About a girl is a short novel that begins with two strangers, a man and a woman, who meet at a bus-stop and go on an impromptu bar-crawl on a cool, winter day. Taking place in twelve hours it recounts the oddball, hardcore, characters they meet and their increasing emotional connection as they fall for each other almost immediately. Infused with sexual energy, pop-culture references, intellectual debate and literary allusions this is an unapologetic, uncensored look at our society through the eyes of the outsider.
It is written in a free-flow, spontaneous style with long unhindered sentences that enable the reader’s eye to glide down the page as the story flows and moves to an urban beat of strippers, punk rockers and nightlife happenings.
Searching for Rebellion: Two Indie Authors Form Edgy Publishing Company
Tony Nesca and Nicole I. Nesca have one question – where have all the fearless artists gone? Unable to find a mainstream publishing outfit that suited their taste for grittier writing, the Nescas formed their own – Screamin’ Skull Press.
For the Beat Generation, controversy was the norm, not the exception. Creators like Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs and Lucien Carr courted debate and made careers out of pushing the proverbial envelope with their poems, books, music and other creative expressions. Living on the fringes of society was considered to be more exciting and fulfilling than conforming to the mainstream.
Authors and married couple Tony and Nicole Nesca feel connected to that Generation through their own work, and their innate understanding of what it means to be artists whose work cannot be deemed ‘conventional’ by anyone’s standards.
Currently writing, editing and publishing their works through their self-publishing venture, Screamin’ Skull Press, Tony Nesca and Nicole Nesca have both cultivated individual styles but have the same mission.
“To be frank, we see too much pushed out into the world today that is bland and formulaic,” says Tony Nesca, whose unique, humorous and lyrical sixth novel, ‘Hobo’ is out now. “Every other book is a rip-off of another rip-off. The bookstores are packed with these endless vampire stories and dystopian fairy tales. Where is our Anais Nin? Our Hunter S. Thompson?” Our Virginia Woolf?
Screamin’ Skull Press exclusively publishes the worrk of the Nescas – raw, electric and with a free flowing mix of prose and poetry, their books are explorations of freedom, art, death, love, literary experimentation and living how one chooses.
“We knew that mainstream publishers wouldn’t have the courage to publish the kind of work that we want to create,” says Nicole Nesca. “It’s interesting – sometimes we wonder, could Henry Miller or Hemingway find success in today’s market?
It’s as if bravery is a dirty word in literature. Fearlessness, to me, is everything to a writer. Although we have our own styles, I think that’s one thing that Tony and I saw in each other when we met – that drive to find truth and peel back the layers in our own work.”
“I think we first fell in love with each other’s writing,” says Tony. “Which was a fitting beginning to our story.”
Tony Nesca and Nicole I. Nesca have published 19 distinct works through their Indie Press, and their journey toward a more rebellious future for literature continues.
Tony Nesca was born in Torino, Italy in 1965 and moved to Canada at the age of three. He was raised in Winnipeg but relocated back to Italy several times until finally settling in Winnipeg in 1980. He taught himself how to play guitar and formed an original rock band playing the local bars for several years. At the age of twenty-seven he traded his guitar for a Commodore 64 and started writing seriously. He has published six chapbooks of stories and poems (which he used to sell straight out of his knapsack at local dives and bookstores), seven novels, six books of poetry and stories, a spoken word album, a graphic novel co-written with Nicole Nesca, and has been an active contributor to the underground lit scene for 28 years, being published in innumerable magazines both online and in print.
Tony Nesca and his wife Nicole I. Nesca have one question – where have all the fearless artists gone? Unable to find a mainstream publishing outfit that suited their taste for grittier writing, the Nescas formed their own – Screamin’ Skull Press where they have published 19 distinct works through their Indie Press, and their journey toward a more rebellious future for literature continues.
Screamin’ Skull Press exclusively publishes the worrk of the Nescas – raw, electric and with a free flowing mix of prose and poetry, their books are explorations of freedom, art, death, love, literary experimentation and living how one chooses.
