Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None meets The Gilded Age in this delicious, suspenseful murder mystery.
When Lady Emma Grace Hastings receives a much-coveted invitation to the most auspicious Christmas party of the season—one that comes with a 10,000 pound prize for the winner of a mysterious game—she cannot believe her good fortune.
But as the guests are assembled at Mistlewaithe Manor, the chilling intent of the game is revealed. Each guest has cause for alarm, because all of them have secrets, and to win the prize money, those secrets must be exposed.
Things take a sinister turn when Emma Grace finds herself caught between her old love and her soon-to-be betrothed. Suspicions abound, and old wounds are opened. The dead body in the study does not help. Nor does the raging winter storm that prevents escape from the manor. Emma Grace must battle her heart, use her wits, and put her sleuthing skills to the test to survive the weekend alive.
AJ Skelly is an author, reader, and lover of all things fantasy, history, and fairy-tale-romance. And werewolves. She has a serious soft spot for them. As an avid life-long reader and a former high school English teacher, she’s always been fascinated with the written word. She lives with her husband, children, and many imaginary friends who often find their way into her stories. They all drink copious amounts of tea together and stay up reading far later than they should.
One small step could ruin mankind’s greatest leap…
Leap
The Race In On Book 1
by OC Heaton
Genre: SciFi Techno Thriller
One small step could ruin mankind’s greatest leap…
November 2003. Brilliant scientist Uma Jakobsdóttir has figured out a way to solve global warming for good. Known as LEAP, the system is capable of providing Earth’s ultimate second chance…until it falls into the wrong hands.
When playboy CEO Samuel Reynolds III snatches LEAP out from under her nose, he adds insult to injury by attempting to destroy Uma. But this is no malicious whim. As the daughter of its creator, Uma enforces the LEAP Laws.
Because of its potentially devastating capabilities, LEAP users must not clone people, revive the dead, or merge minds and species. But in the race to recover her precious piece of tech, Uma is faced with sacrifices that push her resolve to breaking point.
From the frozen wastelands of Iceland, to the leafy suburbs of London and the mean streets of New York City, LEAP is a technothriller that will keep you questioning what it means to be human.
Ready to take the LEAP? Click ‘buy now’ to start reading today!
The doomed four-by-four plumed thick fountains of spray into the darkness as it crawled along the narrow highway to Keflavík International Airport, its bright beams illuminating a hypnotic kaleidoscope of churning rain. The sight made Sally Moltex nauseous. She tried the side window, but it was mirror black, reflecting the Jeep’s night-lit interior back at her. She closed her eyes, willing the vehicle to move faster as a thrill of excitement surged through her at the memory of what they’d seen that afternoon. Almost immediately, it was replaced by a prickle of fear. Everything screamed hoax: one second, they’d been stood inside the Department of Geothermal Studies, the next, they were in Ethan Rae’s London Town house. They’d gone outside onto a busy Camden Town street thick with traffic. Alone. Ethan had insisted on that. They’d walked to the tube station. Bought a newspaper. Again, Ethan had been insistent. They’d asked someone where they were. And a second person. The third had shouted abuse at Sally; accused her of being an ignorant Yank. Of not knowing that she was in London. James had eventually intervened in his charming British way, calmed the man down, and they’d returned to Ethan’s office. Twenty minutes later, they were back in Reykjavík. Heads spinning at what they’d seen. Hearts beating with what Ethan had given them.
‘Do you think LEAP’s fake?’ she asked her companion.
James Reagan didn’t reply straight away. Without taking his eyes off the road, he attempted another call to his producer at News 24/7 in London. Nothing. He was going to miss tomorrow’s deadline if he didn’t get through soon. Seven million Saturday viewers was no disaster, but it was well below his Friday average.
‘Nah,’ he said. ‘Ethan wouldn’t risk it. What would he gain by misleading us?’
‘That’s what I can’t work out,’ Sally said, tracing her fingers along the cold glass of the passenger window, trying to keep pace with the streaming water.
‘How do you fake what we just saw?’ James said. ‘Besides which, it will do him way more damage if he’s lying.’
Sally wasn’t so sure. She liked James. Had known him for twenty years, but he anchored a light entertainment show for a channel that needed content. Lots of content. She, on the other hand, unearthed stories. Real stories that took months to fact check before she allowed them to be broadcast. If they got this wrong, James could blame Ethan, an eccentric billionaire. She would be finished.
‘I need more time,’ Sally said.
‘Ethan is launching in ten days. With or without us.’
‘You’d broadcast on the strength of what he just showed us?’
‘As of midday tomorrow,’ he said. ‘That’s if we can take off to—’
He never finished his sentence. A loud crack from the rear of the Jeep veered it savagely left. James tried to counter by wrenching the steering hard right, but the small charge had done its job. The Jeep flipped, bleeding fuel from its shattered underbelly as it slithered off Route 41 and onto the lava below. The dead rock punctured the thin roof, ripping through plastic, metal and cables which sparked into life. Fumes met fire and a blinding explosion boiled into the sheeting rain, as long forgotten lava flows glowed red in approval.
I write what I love to read – big issue thrillers that are super well researched inside a complex plot full of twists and turns.
The result of the above is The Race Is On Series, an idea I had on a trip to Iceland. The first in the series is called LEAP, which tells the tale of a device which has the power to halt global warming. The ensuing race to control the power of this machine will continue throughout the sequel to LEAP which I’m well on my way to completing. It’s called Green Ray and will be published in May 2023.
Just like LEAP, the 2nd book weaves fact with fiction and encompasses events such as the 2009 global financial meltdown, Al Qaeda, a new US President and a cornered CIA; another delightful concoction around which I have constructed another tall, but hopefully credible, tale. Watch this space!
I live in Leeds, UK with the love of my life and our two daughters. It rains a lot in Leeds but that works out well for me – loads of time for research and of course writing!
for if you trouble Trouble, Trouble’s sure to trouble you.
Hidden in the Shadows
by A.D. Vancise
Genre: Thriller, Suspense, Mystery
“All I can ever think about is murdering her.” -C.B.
Twenty-three-year-old Evie Day never dreamt she’d be back in Woodsville Arkansas, a small town in the middle of nowhere, after having left five years earlier, but the death of her grandfather called for her return. After discovering a photo from 1933 of a mysterious woman standing next to a tiny wooden box, a strange vial of blood wrapped up in a handkerchief in the pocket of her grandfather’s overalls, and a key hidden in his desk drawer that belongs to a secret safety deposit box, Evie is unwittingly thrown into a world of evil where those closest to her are the ones to be the most feared and danger lurks around every corner.
Hidden in the Shadows by A.D. Vancise shines a light on the darkness and reveals the underlying players that have been hunting in plain sight.
IMPORTANT NOTICE
The survivors of satanic rituals and child trafficking inspired this book, along with a photo I found in my grandfather’s family photos of a mysterious woman standing beside a tiny box. My grandfather died with the real story of what happened. He was a police officer.
I knew I had to take this story down a dark path once I heard the victims’ stories and those who never believed them. The killer’s POV is based on true testimonials of survivors. These horrific acts happened and continue to happen to kids worldwide.
Having said that, I feel the importance of noting a trigger warning for intense graphic material such as child trafficking, sadism, occult rituals, sexual and physical abuse, violence, and murder. If reading this material evokes memories of or PTSD from abuse, please contact professionals or a safe person immediately. This novel is in no way meant to sensualize or exploit these serious events. It requires courage to read this story meant to bring awareness to these heinous acts and give a voice to the children who no longer have one. It’s to shed light on a darkness that has plagued this world for far too long. I am awed by all those who can receive this information and want to help the children. We all need to give them a voice. Thank you for being brave enough to read this story.
Sincerely,
A.D. Vancise
Reviews for Hidden In the Shadows
“Writing with crisp efficiency, mordant wit, and bursts of searing terror, Vancise whets the novel’s escalating puzzles and portents with an edge of queasy uncertainty.” -Editors Pick, Booklife.
“If you’re looking for a spine-tingling read that will leave you wondering who to trust, what dangers are lurking beneath the surface and when the next twist will come, then Hidden in the Shadows is the book for you.”-Booktrib.
“Hidden in the Shadows by A. D. Vancise is a thrilling mystery that keeps readers in suspense from the first clue until the end.” – Five Stars. Literary Titan.
“A.D. Vancise excels in crafting a dark, atmospheric story.” -D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
“If you are a reader who is tired of reading the same old books that are lackluster and forgettable, then take a chance with this one…you will not be disappointed.” -The Red-Headed Book Lover.
“The author vividly informs your mind’s eye.” – Five Stars. Readers’ Favorite.
“Dark, disturbing, and gripping.” -Five Stars. Bookview Review.
“A grim but exciting and compelling mystery even in its most disconcerting moments.” Kirkus Review.
A D Vancise lives in Canada. When she’s not writing, she’s taking care of her three dogs, her cat, two ducks and some chickens. Her daughter is her inspiration for all things wonderful in the world.
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.
A journey of tortured vampires, longing, heartbreak, passion, betrayal, and redemption awaits you in the IMMORTAL KISS series.
Once We Were Witches
Immortal Kiss Series Book 4
by Laura Daleo
Genre: Dark Urban Fantasy
The mysterious world of witchcraft, murder, and mystery thrusts Raven Sagestone into an adventure whose main goal is to unlock the secrets of her powers. To do this, she teams up with Brandon Cass, an outsider with knowledge of the supernatural world. Raven is introduced to Eve, a psychic who reads destinies. Despite this, Raven is protected by a strong magic barrier, preventing Eve from seeing her. Brandon and Raven search for the truth at Bloodthirst, a vampire club. Visiting The Council’s haven with Margarete and Caleb is Raven’s chance to find answers to the questions that have plagued her.
Brandon Cass is not your average teenager. He has a taste for blood—human blood. For sixteen years, he stumbled through life without a hitch until the enigmatic aroma of blood awakened something dark within him. Visions of a beautiful young woman with chocolate brown hair and ocean blue eyes haunt his mind, yet her identity is a puzzling mystery.
His hunger for blood strengthens, and the cravings become too powerful to control. No one is safe, not even his family. To safeguard all he once found dear, Brandon sets out on a quest for answers. In an unfamiliar city, he comes face-to-face with the beautiful young woman, confronts the dark force which controls him, and learns what he must endure to reclaim his soul.
Five years crawled by at a painfully slow pace for young vampire, Beth; each year more agonizing than the next. The powerful unyielding spell which masked Amon’s whereabouts showed no signs of weakening. Influenced by the binding ritual and Amon’s blood surging inside her, Beth will stop at nothing, and risk everything, to find him and turn the tables on Osiris, Isis, and Hathor. In foggy streets of London, lives are threatened by a new breed of hunter, and nothing is what it seemed. Beth once again finds herself surrounded by betrayal. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between Philippe and Amon – knowing that her decision will change one life forever. But whose?
Centuries ago ten powerful vampire gods first walked the earth; their blood thirst knew no boundaries. The destruction of mankind was inevitable. Recognizing their weakness, they selected twelve wise human beings to transform with their godly blood. These twelve, known as The Old Ones and The Council, govern The Ten. A blood lottery appeasing The Ten’s hunger was set forth into the human world and passed down every fifth generation, continuing into the present day.
All of Beth Ryan’s life a mysterious mist has watched over her; a mist she believed to be a vampire. On a cold winter night, Philippe Delon, a 700-year-old vampire walks into Beth’s life. She is drawn to him, certain he is the vampire behind the mist…but is he?
Beth and Philippe cannot deny their love for each other, nor do they try to fight it. Within days of their encounter, Beth accepts Philippe’s invitation to move into his mansion. The mansion unlocks the door to the vampire world and exposes secrets from Beth’s past. Within its walls, she learns the true identity of the mist, her link to the blood lottery, and betrayal of her loved ones. Surrounded by lies, Beth stands before The Council begging for resolution.
LAURA DALEO has been writing for over 20 years and has published 7 books. In addition to advocating for reading and writing, she is a strong supporter of the Indie author community. She is well known for her Immortal Kiss series which captures vampiric persuasion. The Egyptian pantheon, which gave rise to vampires, is explored in this series in an interesting way.
Laura has a passion for writing stories that explore the supernatural realm and bring her characters to life. Her published works include Immortal Kiss, Bound by Blood, The Vampire Within, Once We Were Witches, The Vow, The Soul Collector, and The Doll.
With her Facebook group, The BOOKLounge For Readers and Authors, she has created a community for readers and authors. It is home to over 65k active members. In addition, Laura is contributing to a short story anthology with four other authors from The BOOKLounge for Readers and Authors. The anthology is scheduled for release in October 2023.
A native of San Diego, California, Laura now lives in Tucson, Arizona with her two dogs, Rose and Cooper.
Eager young reporter Jimmie Rains is assigned to write an exposé on the treatment of elderly residents of Our Lady of Sorrows Nursing Home. He soon finds that all the residents speak in awe and hushed tones of the life led by legendary fellow resident Bill Valencourt.
As a teenager, Bill was sent to work for his cranky and demanding uncle who ran a bordello on the edge of the swamp. His girlfriend, Anne Marie, was less than happy with this arrangement. As the granddaughter of the famous swamp witch Marie Laveau, she believes her magic is strong enough to keep Bill from straying. She seduces him, believing the taking of his virginity will bind him to her for all time.
When his uncle is murdered by the wife of an angry patron, Bill’s destiny is irrevocably changed, leaving him the new owner of the cathouse and setting him on the path to both riches and ruin. When he falls in love with one of his girls—the beautiful and curvaceous Ariel—Anne Marie vows revenge.
Alan Lampe has been writing down tales and stories since the second grade. Over the years, his writing matured and was recognized by The National Library of Poetry. They published six of his poems in their anthologies in the late 1990s. Jotting down ideas and cranking out numerous short stories off and on throughout the first decade of the twenty-first century, he focused on his writing in 2011 instead of Super Bowl XLV.
Bill’s Cajun House of Pleasure is the brainchild of Alan and his former girlfriend. The first nuggets of this romp in the swamp were hatched eight years ago. Between workshops, critic groups, and conferences, he polished his prose in the following years. Wanting to leave no detail unchecked, he traveled to Louisiana to capture the essence of Cajun life.
The South’s wealthiest, most dysfunctional family is back,
with old scores to settle and a surprising houseguest
Red Pines
Trapnell Thriller Book 3
by Jill Hand
Genre: Thriller
“In this hilarious third installment, Jill Hand gives us the weirdest, funniest family saga yet.”
–Wayne Turmel, author of Johnny Lycan: The Werewolf PI series
The discovery of the bodies of two “honky-tonk hitmen” on land belonging to a former relative brings the Trapnell siblings, self-centered Aimee, indolent Trainor, and brilliant Marsh, back to White Oaks, their opulent ancestral home. FBI Special Agent Carson Burns is tasked with protecting them, something she finds increasingly difficult, as sinister events keep occurring which barely avoid being fatal.
Adding to the confusion is a deposed dictator who has eluded his Secret Service watchdogs and is pretending to be Marsh’s valet.
It becomes clear that someone intends to murder the Trapnells, but who? And why? A rapper called Baby Patty Cake insists the Illuminati are to blame, but that can’t be true, can it?
What readers are saying:
Author Jill Hand has crafted a thriller that offers the ideal balance of humor and suspense to create a delightfully entertaining experience filled with quirky characters and unexpected twists. The dysfunctional dynamics of the Trapnell family are an absolute joy and a great foil to play off during the biggest surprises of the plot, while the witty dialogue and eccentric scenarios provide plenty of laughs along the way. The clues unfold at a great pace to allow us to figure things out alongside Agent Burns, yet the reader is kept in a fair amount of suspense about the true motives behind the attempts on the Trapnells’ lives, leading to a satisfying and surprising conclusion. Overall, Red Pines is a captivating read that offers equal parts humor and suspense, making it a must-read for fans of comedic thrillers everywhere.
A mysterious cowboy is stalking the eccentric Trapnell siblings. Is he a supernatural entity or a hired killer? To complicate things, the will making them heirs to their billionaire father’s estate is missing and a relative has returned from a watery grave.
Last time, the Trapnells saved the world from destruction. This time they may not be able to save themselves. Black Willows is a darkly funny Southern-fried adventure, complete with Voodoo, arson, and alligators.
“An ingeniously dark comic thriller about greed, gluttony and murder that is destined for the big screen.” –Best Thrillers
Aimee Trapnell reluctantly leaves her apartment on Manhattan’s Central Park West to return to her childhood home in Georgia for her father’s ninetieth birthday. Also on hand are her two brothers, wily Marsh and ne’er-do-well Trainor. With a forty-billion-dollar inheritance at stake, they’re willing to do whatever it takes to make the old man happy.
To their shock they learn that what their father wants for his birthday is to kill someone. He doesn’t care who it is. He just wants to know what it’s like to commit murder.
Betrayal, double-dealing, and fast-paced action set the Trapnells on a collision course with an unexpected villain. Their journey takes them from the swamps of Georgia, to Italy’s glittering Amalfi coast, to rugged Yellowstone National Park.
Jill Hand is a member of International Thriller Writers. Her Southern Gothic novels, White Oaks, and Black Willows, are available on Amazon and from the publisher, Black Rose Writing.
Advance readers called White Oaks a fast-paced, hilarious account of three siblings who are competing for their father’s forty-billion-dollar fortune while trying to prevent the destruction of Planet Earth.
Diane Donovan, senior reviewer from Midwest Book Review praised White Oaks, calling it, “an unusually multifaceted tale that holds the ability to prompt laughter from thriller-style tension.”
A sequel to White Oaks, Black Willows, follows the adventures of the squabbling, dysfunctional Trapnell family. Red Pines, third in the series of Trapnell family thrillers, was just released in April 2024.
To escape the dysfunction of city life, Demi Fedora leaves behind everything she knows to move to her deceased grandfather’s derelict cabin in the wilds of Alaska. There she encounters true adversity that puts her life in danger more than once.
Irresistible Freedom
Land of the Free Book 1
by Mimi Barbour
Genre: Romantic Suspense, Adventure
Escape… a new beginning.
That’s what Demi Fedora yearns for. And so, she leaves everything and everyone she knows to move to her deceased grandfather’s derelict cabin in the wilds of Alaska, the one he left her in his will.
Meeting Whittaker Hart isn’t in her plans. Though the ruggedly handsome gold prospector does everything to win her over, she keeps her distance until her need to survive a life totally foreign to her nature overcomes her desire to do everything herself.
After rescuing a young drunk and taking on the tough life of a greenhorn, she realizes one thing. Between fixing up the place to make it livable for the coming winter and learning how to exist in a land filled with vicious storms and treacherous wildfires, she can’t cope alone.
No matter how much she yearns for independence, she needs help…. a lot of help.
Demi has been consistently warned that the northern winter would be perilous, yes. Yet nothing in her wildest imagination could prepare her for the reality. In book two, she will go through incredible and frightening adventures where the little bastard (as she calls her wild wolf pup) will be instrumental in not only driving her crazy but saving her life… more than once.
Her ongoing belief that Whit will survive being lost in the fire he and Glen went to fight becomes a huge conflict. She refuses to accept any other ending… but should she?
And Glen, the young native friend she saved in book #1, will be a challenge that can’t be ignored. Life isn’t easy by any means. Thankfully, the awe-inspiring land, many call God’s country, has a way of soothing those in need.
Conquering conflicts and battles, Demi and her Alaskan family face more unexpected adventures. Battling for her life is just the beginning. Before she has a chance to catch her breath, she’s deep in a fight for her best friend’s future.
Nothing comes easy in this wild country. Even with the support of the handsome gold prospector, her new brother, and her wolf, life in the North continues to challenge her every step of the way. If she fights with everything in her, will she finally find the peaceful existence she craves?
NYT & USA Today, best-selling, award-winning author, MIMI BARBOUR, has nine romance series to her credit. She also has a new Trilogy, many single titles and a huge number of box sets – her own and multi-author collections.
Mimi lives on the East coast of Vancouver Island with her small dog, Charli, and writes her various romances with tongue in cheek and a mad glint in her eye. She’s been known to say: “If I can steal a booklover’s attention away from their everyday grind, absorb them into a fantasy love story, and make them care about the ending, then I’ve done my job.”
“First rate sci-fi novels. Atrium’s worlds compel both in their alien detail—and what they reveal about our own world.” — BookLife
HOME RULE was named a finalist in the Book Excellence Awards announced in April 2024.
**All books are half price at $1.99 in celebration!**
The Bush Clinic
The Tribal Wars Book 1
by Stella Atrium
Genre: Science Fiction, Space Opera
A space colonization story about seeking independence and home rule in the face of corporate greed. Tribal women bind together in a war zone where they are discounted as not important enough to save or keep safe.
On Dolvia, Lt. Mike Shaw demands Dr. Greensboro’s doctoring skills at the hospital, forcing the closure of her bush clinic. She witnesses forced labor, forced migration, and the threat of an epidemic from bad water. She sees how tribal women–often wearing burkas–find solutions for saving the children in a conflict zone, and she commits to the their cause for Home Rule.
Brianna Miller is an isolated girl–a mixed-blood orphan–among the Dolviet tribes. With the lessons from Dr. Greensboro, the abuse from soldiers, the sisterhood among victims, Brianna prepares for a future she will choose for herself. But first she must travel offworld.
Brianna Miller returns to Dolvia where tribal women protest the oppressive rule of Rabbenu Ely by self-torchings in the Cylay Square. Brianna re-establishes her tribal schools and takes on assistant Kelly Osborn who is mixed blood and also a poet.
Kelly visits a neighboring planet Cicero where her aunt Carline Bryant takes over her education. While returning to Dolvia, Kelly meets the Australian adventurer Hershel Henry who has signed on for a tour of Dolvia as a photo-journalist. Henry takes an opportunity to interview the khalif on the opposing side of the tribal wars.
Brianna Miller and rebel leader Karlyhi emerge as leaders uniting the tribes against the offworld mining cartel. Reporter Hershel Henry opens a local newspaper to report a more honest version of events leading to regime change. But will bringing down Rabbenu Ely only stir more violence and unrest?
Unity starts at home. How can the tribes bind together as a nation-state after fighting among themselves for generations? Inspiring leaders are needed, and a flashpoint act that binds individuals to a single cause. When Henry witnesses (and broadcasts) the ninth death-by-fire, this one by respected teacher Kecouroo, all the tribes feel the outrage and call for Rabbenu Ely to step down.
From Paris, Jesse Hartley jumps back to Dolvia in the galaxy’s Westend. A bloodless coup on Stargate Junction interrupts her travel plans and sends her in a different direction. Hershel Henry is tasked with rescuing abandoned conscripts after the abusive Company withdraws from asteroid mining.
A change in leadership on Stargate Junction makes all characters question how the future will shape. How to survive the shifting loyalties among the city-states? Will my home even be there when I return?
While on a deep space rescue mission, Hershel Henry misses karsci on Dolvia the Abydian khalif steps down. Within the turmoil, will Henry connect with Jesse Hartley, or is that romance lost forever?
Stella Atrium presents planet stories about female protagonists of diverse ethnicities who encounter obstacles relatable to our lives today. How do women in a conflict zone gain voice in the public square using the few tools available to women?
THE BUSH CLINIC received an Editor’s Pick from BookLife, a 2022 Artisan Book Review Award, and a 2023 Independent Press Award for Science Fiction.
The second novel titled THE BODY POLITIC also received an Editor’s Pick from BookLife and a Artisan Book Review award.
HOME RULE debuted in the Top Ten Amazon rankings for the genre category in August 2023, securing an Editor’s Pick from BookLife, a Literary Titan medallion, and another coveted Artisan Book Review Award for Science Fiction.
TRIBAL LOGIC: Book IV of The Tribal Wars was released in January 2024.
Also be certain to pick up Atrium’s standalone novel SEVEN BEYOND that won a 2014 Reader’s Favorites Award in Science Fiction.
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.
