Uncaged Book Reviews

ISSUE 35 | JUNE 2019

note from the editor

O

ver the next few months, with Uncaged entering it’s fourth year, the magazine will be going through a design transition to celebrate. This page is a sneak peek on a new fun design that will carry throughout the magazine. Uncaged will still bring the great content you have come to expect with author features and book reviews. As the year progresses, there will be changes made both inside the magazine and to the overall progression of the magazine.

This issue is the last issue for the 2020 Raven Award eligible books. Starting in July, those books reviewed by Uncaged will automatically be entered into the following year if eligible. Voting for the Raven Awards will begin with semi-finals in July. Good luck to all the authors.

The Tier 2 review submissions will be closed for a few more months. With nice weather and summer coming upon us, it may take a bit longer to clear the Tier 2 review lists. Sorry for the inconvenience, but I do not have a timetable as to when they will reopen at this time. Tier 1 reviews are at a good turnaround time.

If you’d like to be a feature author, or to submit a book for review, please email me at Cyrene@ UncagedBooks.com and I’ll get back to you as

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I n J u ly , t h is w il l b E m a il me to e a new ad s reserv e your pace. s lo t .

soon as I can.

As many of you know, if you have friended me on social media, that I live on a farm. As of right now, we are working in our barn and our fencing to bring in a new horse. Right now we have 2 horses, but one of those horses has been “retired” to a pasture buddy status because of her arthritis. So the next horse coming in will be a 2nd riding horse, so my daughter and I can ride together. All these horses are adopted from a rescue. Animal rescue is a cause near and dear to me, and I encourage everyone to always consider giving homes to animals in need if you are looking to grow your pet family before you shop.

Have a great summer and enjoy the June issue of Uncaged Book Reviews!

X cyrene

contents 10

Rebecca Rivard shifter/paranormal

20

fantasy

24

dark humor/horror

FangFreakinTastic

60

Jojo Strange

humor/horror

Robert B. Warren

Craig W. Chenery

30

Robert Kearns

34

Amber Daulton

38

Peter Bridgford

44

Issue 35 | June 2019

mystery/suspense

contemporary romance

historical

Joseph Hirsch

catchup 16 Beth Carter

Catch Up wth Beth Carter and the release of the third book in the Coconut Series, Babies at Coconuts

promospecials 4 2019 Promotion Special 66 Reviewer Bonus upcomingconventions

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Find a convention near you and meet your favorite authors.

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Note from the Editor Contributors|Swaps Uncaged Reviews Fang-Freakin-Tastic Reviews Myra’s Horror Blog Reviews Amy’s Bookshelf Reviews

fantasy

48

M.J. Keeley

52

Hannah R. Goodman

scifi

young adult

Issue 35 | June 2019 |

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Contributors | Advertising Swaps

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If you’d like your banner here, please email me at UncagedBooks@gmail.com Issue 34 | May 2019 |

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upcomingconventions

BookCon June 1-2, 2019, New York, New York https://www.thebookcon.com/

Printers Row Lit Fest June 8-9, 2019, Chicago, IL http://printersrowlitfest.org/

Sexy and Sassy Signing July 11-14, 2019, Charlotte, NC https://sassigning.wordpress.com/

Writers on the River July 20, 2019, Peoria, IL https://writersontheriver.weebly.com/

Romance Writers of America July 24-27, 2019, New York, NY https://www.rwa.org/ The Atlanta Kick Back July 20, 2019 , Duluth, Georgia http://atlantakickback.com/

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feature authors

shifter | fantasy | horror/humor

Rebecca Rivard

Robert B. Warren

Craig W. Chenery

feature author USA Today bestselling author Rebecca Rivard read way too many romances as a teenager, little realizing she was actually preparing for a career. She now spends her days with dark shifters, sexy fae, and other magical

creatures.

Her Fada Shapeshifter Series was voted Best Shifter Series of 2018 in the Paranormal Romance Guild’s Reviewer’s Choice Awards, and her novel Saving Jace voted Best Shifter Novel. Saving Jace was also awarded the RONE silver medal for Long Paranormal. Her novella Ensnared: Star (Vampire Blood Courtesans) was a Night Owl Reviews Top Pick.

Stay Connected

Please welcome Rebecca Rivard Uncaged: Can you tell readers more about your books? What inspired to write in the paranormal/fantasy genres?

I write steamy paranormal romance about shifters, fae and vampires. If you like dark, seductive stories with all the feels, my books are for you.

Why paranormal? Because it’s just so fun to write about people with magical Gifts like shapeshifting or the ability to teleport. And magic men are hawt! I get to spend my days with dark shifters, sexy fae & alpha vampires—the best job ever.

Uncaged: What are you working on next that you can tell us about?

In Charming Marjani (#5, Fada Shapeshifters), readers got the story of Marjani, a troubled shifter assassin, and Fane, a tall, blond and charming envoy of the ice fae king.

rebeccarivard.com

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The story I’m working on now is the culmination of a slow-burning romance between Marjani’s alpha brother Adric, and Rosana, a river shifter and the youngest sister of one of Adric’s biggest rivals. Think Romeo and Juliet with a paranormal twist. These two have wanted each other for five books, and now they’ve finally got their chance, they’re steaming up the pages.

stories to share. And I’d love to pick her brain about world-building and other paranormal stuff.

Uncaged: What did you consider your best marketing that you did for your book? What was the least successful?

Uncaged: Who has been the easiest character for you write? Who has been the hardest?

For easiest, I’m going with Star in Ensnared: Star (Vampire Blood Courtesans). The struggling artist was easy for me to write, since I lived that myself. And I would’ve loved for a dark, sexy billionaire vampire to swoop in and rescue me from all that!

For hardest, I’ll go with Fane in Charming Marjani.

It was a challenge to write a man who is strong, but not an alpha. Fane is more likely to try to charm—or trick—his way out of a situation. I wasn’t sure if I could pull Fane off, but it helps that I’m married to a man like him. I just asked myself what my husband would do, lol.

And I loved it when Fane steps up for Marjani, facing off against the powerful ice fae king. He lets Marjani be her own strong self (she’s an assassin, after all!), but she always knows he has her back.

These days, my newsletter is my go-to marketing tool. I share teasers and anecdotes about the books, and photos that I take of the Fada Shapeshifters world or my Blood Courtesans settings, and people seem to like that. And being a part of the Wolf Pack authors co-op is also great—we have our own readers’ group (The Wolf Pack: For Readers Who Like a Good Howl), and we work together on shared worlds, joint promos and just to get the word out about each other’s work.

Least successful varies each year—as an author, you have to constantly evaluate what works and what doesn’t. These days, for example, I find paid advertising like Facebook ads does less for me than it used to. I mainly just run ads now when I have a book on sale.

Uncaged: What is one of the most unusual things that a reader has said to you about your books?

I’m surprised by how many readers think my books are shorter than they are. I’ve literally seen someone’s mouth drop when I say a certain book was 90K or 95K words. But that means I’ve done my job of enticing you into my world and keeping you turning the pages.

Uncaged: Past or present, which authors would you love to sit and have lunch with and why?

Uncaged: What do you like to do when you aren’t writing? Where is one of your favorite places on Earth?

Any author—I love to talk writing! But if I have to pick, I’ll go with Nalini Singh. I love all her series, especially the Psy-Changeling series. I was lucky enough to both hear Nalini speak in New York a few years ago, and then meet her briefly at the book signing. She comes across as warm, funny and brimming with good

I live in Maryland, and I love to hike, bike and kayak in and around the Susquehanna River and the Chesapeake Bay, the setting for my Fada Shapeshifter stories. And any day I can get to the ocean is a good day for me. That’s me in the photo reading one of my books in the woods near the Issue 35 | June 2019 |

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| FEATURE AUTHOR | Susquehanna River where I set the Rock Run Trilogy of my Fada Shapeshifter series.

Enjoy an excerpt from Charming Marjani

Uncaged: What can you tell us that is very unique about you?

Charming Marjani Rebecca Rivard Shifter Romance

In my other life I’m a yoga teacher. In my twenty years of teaching I’ve taught everyone from recovering addicts to soldiers.

He’s rich, sexy…and partfae. But she’s a shifter assassin on a mission.

She can’t let herself be charmed…

Uncaged: What would you like to say to fans, and where can they follow you?

Thanks so much for being a reader! You’re the reason I write. <3 Want to check out my writing? Subscribe to my newsletter and as a thank you I’ll gift you with “Lir’s Lady,” a steamy short story set in my award-winning Fada Shapeshifters world. http://www.subscribepage.com/i6x3j1

Marjani Savonett is the strong, silent second-incommand to her brother Adric, alpha of the Baltimore clan. She’s seen too much death, lived through too much darkness. Now her cat threatens to take over, leaving her a cougar in a human body. But before it does, she undertakes one last mission to Iceland.

Fane Morningstar holds a prestigious position as one of the ice fae king’s envoys. But the fae never let him forget he’s not a pureblood. Then he meets Marjani and everything he ever thought he wanted gets turned on its head. He’d sell his soul for a night with her.

Unfortunately, he just might have to...

Excerpt Marjani’s skin prickled. She sipped her ale and glanced around.

A tall, rangy man with shoulder-length blond hair slouched at a nearby table, drinking a beer. He met her eyes, not bothering to hide that he was checking her out.

Her breath snagged.

Holy singing crystals, he was beautiful, with slanted cheekbones and sky-blue eyes framed by dark eye-

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lashes. His straight nose had a small bump on the bridge, a tiny imperfection that only heightened his appeal, and his black ribbed sweater stretched across a hard chest.

His cheek creased in a smile—and fear wrapped icy fingers around her lungs.

She jerked her gaze back to her sandwich, her stomach tight, heart thudding in her ears.

Fuck, she hated this. A couple of years ago, she might have smiled back, seen where this led. But not anymore. No one touched her. She didn’t even let members of the clan get too close.

A shadow fell across the table.

She snarled, her cougar rising to meet the threat. She forced it down. Shifting in the middle of a human pub could be fatal. The fada and humans had treaties about those things. A fada shifting in a pub for no reason would be automatically targeted by the authorities as feral.

She could be shot on sight—or slapped in a cage.

And she’d have to admit Adric was right after all—she was too broken, too close to going feral, to be out on her own.

The tall blond smiled down at her. Spoke.

Still fighting the cougar, she had to concentrate to make sense of his words.

“I said, mind if I join you?” A surprisingly deep voice, gravel wrapped in silk.

She shook her head. “Yes.” He lifted a single dark brow. “No, you don’t mind, or yes, you do?”

“Yeah, I mind. I don’t want company.”

| REBECCA RIVARD | His gaze went to the slight lump her quartz made beneath her sweater. “Your accent is American, which means you’re from one of two clans.”

Fine hairs rose all over her body. He was correct; the only earth fada clans in North America were her own clan in Baltimore and the Navajo clan in Arizona.

But how the hell had he made her as an earth fada so fast?

Her nostrils flared, subtly testing the air. Human— he smelled of salt and iron—but with a trace of silver. The man had fae blood, although it might be so faint he didn’t know it himself. Overlaying it was a pleasant grassy scent, as if he spent a lot of time outdoors.

Her cat liked his smell, but the human part of her didn’t like that hint of fae. Not on top of the fact that he knew a little too much about earth fada.

She eased the switchblade from her pocket and released the catch with a quiet snick.

“You don’t want to use that.” He set his plate and glass on her table and took the chair across from her.

“No?” Leaning back in his chair, he rested an arm on the back as if she were an old friend instead of a pissed-off shifter with a sharp blade aimed at his privates. “Too messy. I’m guessing you don’t want to draw attention.”

“How did you know I’m an earth fada?” she asked, soft and dangerous. “Did Corban send you?”

“Who?” His surprise seemed genuine—and besides, her cousin would never ally himself with a human.

She shook her head. “Never mind.”

Issue 35 | June 2019 |

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| FEATURE AUTHOR | “Don’t worry.” His voice dropped as well. “No one else in here noticed—or if they did, they didn’t care. Icelanders are used to magical creatures.”

She narrowed her eyes. “That’s not an answer.”

“What was the question?”

Her breath hissed between her teeth. The man was maddening. “How,” she repeated, “did you know what I am?”

He grinned, a flash of white against tanned skin.

“It’s your walk.”

“My walk?”

“You didn’t walk in here, you flowed—like a dancer…or a cat. Every earth fada I’ve ever met walks like that.”

She made a mental note to clomp out of the pub like a freaking Clydesdale horse. “And that interests you—why?”

Another shrug. “It doesn’t. I just liked the look of you. If you want me to leave, I will.”

She relaxed fractionally. He was right, she didn’t want to draw attention. And his scent had the pureness of truth. He didn’t mean her harm.

In fact, all she scented was…interest, of the sexual kind. Was he flirting with her? ©2019 Rebecca Rivard

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Don’t miss these titles:

CatchUp

with

Beth Carter

Beth Carter stops by to talk about her new release, Babies at Coconuts.

Uncaged: You just released the third book in the Coconut series, Babies at Coconuts. For readers not familiar with this series, can you tell us more about it?

The main characters, Suzy, Alex, and Hope, have known one another since high school and are now in their late thirties. They are very different in personality and profession but always have each other’s back.

Suzy is a wedding planner with a grown son; Alex is a bank marketer with a touch of OCD; and Hope is a high school counselor who hates her hair, looks, and name. They are the best of friends and meet at Coconuts for Happy Hour regularly for their own form of friendapy to bolster one another throughout their chaotic lives. With each book in the series, I keep it fresh by adding new secondary characters.

Wealthy caterer Cheri Van Buren, a New Yorker, has been welcomed into their tightknit group. I also sprinkle in backstory, so each novel may be read as a standalone. There are also sexy bad-boy cops, hippies, neurotic brides, and now, an overbearing Italian mama and a chic French designer. What could go wrong?

Uncaged: I know as a writer, you probably have other stories you’d like to write, but will we see more of the Coconuts gang in the future?

Yes, I am contracted to write six novels in the series, so I have three more to go! I’m over half finished with #4! I love these characters, and happily, so do my readers. I know we’re all going to cry when I get to Book 6. But I do have more books vying for my attention—two novels in particular, 16 | UncagedBooks.com

some novellas, and three non-fiction books! I wish there were more hours in the day (and I also wish social media weren’t such a distraction!)

Uncaged: How much can you attribute building relationships with readers on social media as part of the success of the Coconut books?

I truly believe in nurturing readers, and I’m thrilled to report I have very loyal readers. They buy every book I write. I’d rather spend almost half of my marketing budget on reader giveaways, book signings, and conferences. I feel that strongly about it because, without readers, authors wouldn’t get very far! Writing is a solitary profession. Reader feedback is invaluable. I always say Facebook is my water cooler!

Uncaged: You started a Street Team, called Beth’s Book Babes. Are you still accepting members, and what does that entail? What are the benefits for those that may want to join?

I’m always accepting new Babes! We all love being called a babe, right?! My reader group/street team is a private page on Facebook. Readers can do a search for Beth’s Book Babes, and I’ll add them to my team. We have great fun. I give Babes the first peek of everything I write whether it’s a title or a book cover. I also ask for their input. I’ve written several taglines, for example, and will ask for their favorites. The same goes for my blurb. These are mainly readers (a few are authors), so their input is invaluable. I often have giveaways and contests. I’ve even had two in-person dinners for Beth’s Book Babes in Missouri and Florida. I’m also going to plan one in New York City this summer when I attend RWA. I even dedicated my newest release, BABIES AT COCONUTS to Beth’s Book Babes!

Uncaged: Two of your books will be semi-finalists in the Raven Awards. What does it mean to an author to win awards that are voted on by the readers?

They will?! That’s wonderful. Thank you. Reviews and awards are proof that I’m doing something right! It keeps me motivated and validates my work. To have

| BETH CARTER | readers (and fellow authors) vote for my novels, is icing on the proverbial cake.

Excerpt CHAPTER ONE

Enjoy an excerpt from Babies at Coconuts Babies at Coconuts Beth Carter Cont. RomCom For Fans of My Big Fat Greek Wedding (Italianstyle!)

Coordinating the most joyous day of her son’s life should be easy. After all, Suzy is a wedding planner. But a meddling future mother-in-law wasn’t on the checklist. A wacky rehearsal dinner, beach wedding, and a baby—not necessarily in that order—ensures bedlam among two head-butting moms.

Hope is adept at counseling students but has given up on dieting and having sleek hair. She has even gotten used to the fact that her adopted father no longer remembers her—until a newspaper article leaves her in shambles.

Sexy banker Alex conveys totally in control while ignoring the simmering boil of her disastrous relationship, not to mention a marketing nemesis who is gunning for her job.

Wealthy socialite Cheri Van Buren seems to have the perfect life, but life isn’t always as it appears. After competing in a cake-decorating contest, another chef leaves her speechless.

More than a Happy Hour haven, Coconuts is the unknowing guardian of shared secrets, bombshell revelations, a few tears, and joy. Will the best friends ever find happiness? It doesn’t look good.

NOTE: Even though this is Book 3 of my Coconuts series, it may be read as a standalone.

My son’s wedding will be perfect. It has to be perfect. I’m his wedding planner. Oh, God. What was I thinking? Rubbing her throbbing temples, Suzy stared out the kitchen window and noticed the first sign of daffodils sprouting against the half-brown, half-green ground. The perky, yellow flowers usually made her smile.

Taking deep yoga breaths to quell her butterflies, Suzy continually gave herself non-stop, muchneeded pep talks prior to the rehearsal dinner.

Tonight’s dinner will set the tone. Both families will either enjoy one another’s company—or everyone will count the hours until the whole blessed thing is over. I love weddings. That’s why I plan them but I never expected this much pressure. I want Jon to be thrilled with the results. Her mind swirled with possible worst-case scenarios.

Filling up her favorite “Best Mom” coffee mug for good luck, she drummed her fingers on the kitchen counter. Happily, the boys—they would always be boys to her even though they were young men— had agreed to pick up Fernando’s three brothers and mom at the airport.

She’d only spoken to Fernando’s mother once by phone and couldn’t get a word in. Not. One. Word.

She hoped it was due to wedding jitters and not an everyday diarrhea-of-the-mouth occurrence. Overly chatty people got on her last nerve.

Before they arrived, she decided to check her wedding notes yet again. Suzy placed notes in a file for every bride and groom—or in this case, two grooms. Normally, she drew the wedding theme on the outside of the folder for quick reference since she occasionally had more than one wedding going at once.

Shuffling to the breakfast table where she often worked, she spotted the manila sleeve. Starfish, waves, and palm trees were drawn on the exterior.

She smiled when she noticed Izzy had added a heart with Jon + Fernando scrawled in the middle. This is a good sign. Even my surly teen stepdaughter is excited about the wedding. She shook her head in Issue 35 | June 2019 |

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wonder. My son’s getting married. He’s going to be a husband. And a dad. A dad! I can hardly believe both events are happening so close together.

Her mind skittered to Fernando’s family. She had tried to encourage them into flying in a day earlier from Italy, fearing they’d have airplane issues and miss the rehearsal dinner. But Gia Russo had texted from New York City hours earlier saying they were on schedule. Still, timing was tight.

Suzy glanced back at her list. Food. Wine. Engraved champagne flutes. Check. Scanning her notes for the hundredth time, she smiled when she noted a star beside Fernando’s favorite color—orange. Suzy had asked the florist to tie orange ribbons on the chairs at the wedding for a pop of color. She chuckled. Her son, Jon, couldn’t care less about colors but had requested simple white rose petals to cover the aisle during the ceremony.

Sipping coffee, Suzy’s mouth watered as she studied Cheri Van Buren’s fabulous rehearsal dinner menu. Her New York caterer friend had come through from afar. The grooms had requested Indian food placing Suzy in unfamiliar territory.

Cheri had recommended Indian Summer, the best Indian restaurant in Crystal City, and assured Suzy she had spoken directly with Chef Raj. We’re in good shape. The rehearsal dinner will be an intimate gathering as Jon requested with Fernando’s family; Vanessa, Jon’s former high school sweetheart before he came out; her best friends Alex and Hope; husband, Ken; and stepdaughter Izzy. This should be easy. No drama before the big day.

Suzy took another quick peek at her watch. Nothing like cutting it close. Alex must be rubbing off on me; she was born late. Rubbing her arms from nervousness, her mind wandered. I hope there aren’t any airline issues. Jon is probably beside himself and pacing the length of the airport about now.

Izzy was still at school and Ken was at work.

Unusually anxious, Suzy wondered if she should drink a glass of wine before the dinner. She picked up her cell to call her husband, but his voicemail indicated he was in a meeting for another thirty minutes. Why is everyone busy until the last minute? I hope this means the ceremony will be flawless.

Deciding to take a quick shower, Suzy heard her phone vibrate as she turned off the water. Drip18 | UncagedBooks.com

ping all over the counter, she reached for her phone full of texts. One was from Alex who was running late.

No surprise. Hope wondered if her school attire would be dressy enough. Jon mentioned he was nervous, excited, and leaving the airport. Ken said he would meet her at the restaurant.

I don’t have time to reply to all of these messages. Suzy quickly responded to Hope that her clothes would be fine and retreated to her walk-in closet. With a plush, gray towel wrapped around her wet body, she studied her wardrobe.

Originally, she had planned to wear a sundress, but immediately changed her mind and donned a more formal dress. Glancing in the mirror, Suzy frowned. This doesn’t look tropical. They want a luau for a wedding.

My clothes should fit the theme.

Shedding her lacy dress and flinging it on the bed, Suzy studied her closet. Wearing only a bra and panties, the doorbell rang. She froze when she heard the door creak open.

“Mom, we’re here,” Jon said. “Er, everyone’s here.

We’re coming in, ready or not.”

After being a bank vice president and a hospital public relations director, Beth Carter shed her suits and heels to reinvent herself at a certain mid-life age.

While drinking copious amounts of coffee, she has penned: THURSDAYS AT COCONUTS, CHAOS AT COCONUTS, BABIES AT COCONUTS, SLEEPING WITH ELVIS, MIRACLE ON AISLE TWO, and SANTA BABY, a novelette.

Carter is a multi-award winning author of a 2015 RONE Award, named Best Debut Author in 2015, and a 2017 & 2018 RAVEN Award runner-up for Favorite Contemporary.

The author also writes children’s picture books including WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE?, SOUR POWER, THE MISSING KEY, and SANTA’S SECRET. Additionally, her work appears in four sixword memoir collections and numerous anthologies.

Splitting her time between Missouri and Florida, Beth Carter is often found writing at Starbucks—if she isn’t shopping at T.J. Maxx, boating, or watching deer in her backyard.

feature author Robert B. Warren has been writing stories ever since he could hold a pen.

Born in Tuscaloosa, AL, he holds a B.A. in English from the University of Alabama, and a master’s from the University of South Alabama. He is the author of Murder On Olympus and Olympus Confidential.

Besides writing, his hobbies include watching movies, gaming, martial arts, and performing karaoke-poorly.

Stay Connected

Uncaged welcomes Robert B. Warren Uncaged: Can you tell readers more about your latest book, Where the Children Play?

Where the Children Play is my first attempt at self-publishing a children’s horror novel. The book is about a young boy named Lex, who moves to a new town in rural Alabama. At first, everything seems normal. But after the disappearance of his mother, Lex soon learns that his new home holds a dark secret. The next thing he knows, he finds himself being pursued by horrors beyond him imagination. I had a really good time writing this one.

Uncaged: You also have a paranormal mystery series out, can you tell readers more about that series? Is this a series that you will continue?

My Plato Jones paranormal mystery series is about a wise-cracking private investigator living in a world ruled by the gods of Olympus.

Plato’s adventures bring him into contact with not only the pantheon, but mythical creatures as well—satyrs, minotaurs, gorgons, and everything in between.

Pretty wild stuff! So far, there are two books in the series, Murder on Olympus and Olympus Confidential. Readers frequently ask if I plan on doing a third novel. The answer is yes. I’ve been working on a third novel for some time now.

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Uncaged: What are you working on next that you can tell us about?

I’ve been working on the third Plato Jones novel. It’s been a long time coming, but I’m almost done. Promise!

Uncaged: Past or present, which authors would you love to sit and have lunch with and why?

I’d never pass up a lunch with Carolyn Haines. She’s a phenomenal writer and one of the best people I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. I’ve learned so much about writing from her, and it’s always nice to sit around a talk shop. I’d also like to have lunch with Janny Wurts and Stephen King. Their work has been a massive influence on me.

Uncaged: What did you consider your best marketing that you did for your book? What was the least successful?

For me, social media is the best marketing tool nowadays. Facebook, Twitter, etc. Its ability to reach countless people is unrivaled. Conversely, it can also be one of the least successful methods. It all depends on how it’s utilized. Unless you make your work stand out in the crowd, it might end up being overlooked.

Uncaged: What is one of the most unusual things that a reader has said to you about your books?

I always find it interesting when people discover philosophical themes and ideas in my work—ones that I didn’t even know were there. The notion that my work is thought-provoking makes me feel great as a writer.

Uncaged: What do you like to do when you aren’t writing? Where is one of your favorite places on Earth?

When I’m not writing I enjoy watching movies, stuffing my face with sushi, and performing some of the worst karaoke you’ll ever hear. As far as my favorite place on Earth, it’s a tie between my hometown of Tuscaloosa, AL and Mobile, AL. The locals are great and both cities have a strong sense of community. No one is a stranger.

Uncaged: What can you tell us that is very unique about you?

I’m pretty good at impressions. I do a mean Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Uncaged: What would you like to say to fans, and where can they follow you?

I just want to say thank you for all the support.

You’re the reason why I do what I do. I’ll try my best to keep you entertained for years to come.

Enjoy an excerpt from The Pale Wolf The Pale Wolf Robert B. Warren Fantasy Releases June 6 The Pale Wolf is a mythical fantasy about Asha, a child-soldier with albinism, who possesses the uncanny ability to wield light as a weapon, which she uses to protect her Issue 35 | June 2019 |

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| FEATURE AUTHOR | homeland--the fictional African country of Umaga--against an eccentric warlord known as the Dragon.

Excerpt Omar got on his radio. “This is Sergeant Mensah! My team and I are pinned down north of the square. Requesting immediate assistance!”

I reached out with my unbloodied hand and grabbed the radio. “Ignore that order!”

cloud cover. They converged upon a single point and coalesced into a shapeless mass of energy—gargantuan in scope. The gunfire ceased, supplanted by shrieks of horror.

Pouring sweat, I grappled the energy and, in an explosion of willpower, wrenched it downward. It transformed into a massive bolt that struck the earth with a deafening bang. The ground quaked. Dust rushed like an angry tide from the point of impact, propelled by a gust of superheated air.

“Ending this.” I returned the radio. “We’ve lost enough people today. No more.”

I swayed off balance, physically and mentally drained.

Again, Omar was there to catch me. The entire camp had gone silent. No gunfire could be heard here or in the distance. It was as if the world had been rendered speechless.

“Are you up for it?”

“Are they gone?” Micah whispered.

I didn’t answer. I supposed we’d find out. I braced my hand against the bricks and rose. The bullet shifted inside me. I whimpered as forgotten pain reasserted itself. My knees shook.

I leaned on Omar. Blood still flowed from my wound.

I felt much woozier than before, but as Omar led me into the open, I experienced an instant of terrible lucidity. Wind had fanned away the dust and ash obscuring the enemy position, revealing blackened earth by intersected by veins of molten glass. I felt a swell of remorse. Heavy, smothering, and amplified by encroaching delirium, it sapped what little strength I had left. “Hang on,” Omar said. “We’re getting you out of here.”

Micah draped my other arm over his shoulder, and the two men ushered me through the camp. My feet dragged the ground. My breathing slowed. I struggled to keep my eyes open, but my lids felt cast in iron.

As my consciousness faded to a glimmer, I thought I heard Mother calling my name. Then I heard nothing.

“What are you doing?” Omar asked.

Omar steadied me. “I’ve got you.”

I eased away from him after a second.

“What do you need from me?” Micah asked.

“Cover your head,” I said. “Both of you.”

I raised my hand skyward. The movement roused another stab of agony. The world grew dim as my strength rapidly diminished. I fought against passing out.

“You can do it,” Omar said.

I shook briskly shook my head. The disorientation cleared. It would only last a few precious seconds. That was all I needed. I refocused my mind. High above the enemy position, cords of light spider-webbed throughout the sky, buzzing and crackling, and burning pale blue behind the 22 | UncagedBooks.com

ded that a year had already passed since I left home.

An unwanted rush of memories flooded my mind, tightening my throat.

The overweight form of my boss and his skinny redhaired executive assistant snapped me back into the present. Mark Schnakenberg barreled down the

feature author Author and screenwriter Craig W. Chenery, is the award-winning writer of “Blood Splatter: A Guide to Cinematic Zombie Violence, Gore and Special Effects”. In 2014, he released “The Comicon and Convention Survival Guide”, drafted from his experiences guest-speaking at conventions. His debut novel “God Just Wanted To Play Golf”, a dark comedy/horror will be released in June, 2019. The second book in the trilogy “Lucifer Just Wanted to Eat Pancakes” is due in 2020.

Chenery is also a screenwriter, and his debut film “Dark Descent Presents: Dr. Saville’s Horror Show” is currently in production and due for release in late 2019.

Chenery’s writing has earned critical acclaim from numerous industry leaders such as Fangoria Magazine and Rue Morgue Magazine, and his fiction writing style has been compared to genre veterans as Christopher Moore and Neil Gaiman.

Stay Connected

craigwchenery.com 24 | UncagedBooks.com

Uncaged welcomes Craig W. Chenery Uncaged: Your book, God Just Wanted to Play Golf will release in June with Black Rose Writing. Can you tell readers more about the book?

“God Just Wanted To Play Golf” is a dark comedy/ horror and a new take on the zombie/undead genre. It focuses around the residents of a small town in northern Arizona called Oceanview, and their fight for survival after Heaven accidently unleashes an army of zombie demons on the town. Oceanview comprises a quirky ensemble of oddballs and they are joined

by Death, Lucifer and God himself as they fight of the undead hordes. My goal was to create in-depth characters who are simply more than zombie fodder.

I want readers to resonate with the characters before the situation snowballs.

Uncaged: On your Amazon page, you say that you are well versed in both cinematic and literary history of Star Wars. I personally read many of the post Star Wars fiction books and series, are you a fan of the books that have been written in the Star Wars universe by multiple authors?

I love the literary Star Wars universe. Star Wars was one of the first franchises that really encouraged others to play in their sandbox. We had the movies and toys and after a ten-year franchise hiatus, Timothy Zahn ripped the universe wide open for new stories and adventures. It allowed the franchise to take risks and explore areas of the galaxy we’ve never seen

before. One of my favorites is “Deathtroopers” which introduced the concept of zombies into the Star Wars universe. Despite its relocation to the “legends” umbrella And no longer being considered expanded universe, it remains one of my favorite Star Wars novels and I hope the franchise explores horror again in the future.

Uncaged: What are you working on next that you can tell us about?

I have a couple of projects I’m working on right now.

I am currently writing the sequel to “God Just Wanted To Play Golf”, tentatively titled “Lucifer Just Wanted Pet Kittens”. This chapter in the Oceanview trilogy takes the survivors from part one and moves them from the borders of Oceanview into a much larger world.

One of the scenes involves a road trip with Lucifer and Death is one of the funniest scenes I’ve written to date.

I am also a screenwriter, and I have a new horror film in production called “Dark Descent Presents: Dr. Saville’s Horror Show” which should be released by the end of the year.

Uncaged: Past or present, which authors would you love to sit and have lunch with and why?

I would love to chat with either J.R.R. Tolkien or H. P. Lovecraft. Their ability to world build is nothing short of astounding. Both left indelible marks on their genres and are an absolute inspiration to me.

Uncaged: What did you consider your best marketing that you did for your book? What was the least successful?

Prior to its release with Black Rose Writing, “God Just Wanted To Play Golf” was self-published and I hired a Jesus impersonator to record a promo video for the book. The video was a parody with Jesus reviewing the book and getting disgusted the more he reads. Its tongue in cheek nature fits with the religious satire aspects of the book. Due to the popularity of the video, I’m reworking it for my release with Black Rose Writing.

Uncaged: What is one of the most unusual things that a reader has said to you about your books?

One reader called it “Shaun of the Dead” meets “Dogma”. While not necessarily unusual, it was a wonderful comparison as Edgar Wright and Kevin Smith are two of my screenwriting idols and to be listed among them is extremely flattering.

Uncaged: What do you like to do when you aren’t writing? Where is one of your favorite places on Earth?

As cheesy as this sounds, I love Disneyland. It embodies everything about a man at his creative peak. Everything at the park has a purpose, the sights, the sounds, the smells. There is a massive underlayer of mechanics and science that makes Issue 35 | June 2019 |

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| FEATURE AUTHOR | the park work which I find fascinating. I have loads of amazing memories taking my daughter there over the past eight years.

Enjoy an excerpt from God Just Wanted to Play Golf God Just Wanted to Play Golf Craig W. Chenery Horror/Humor Releases June 13

Uncaged: What can you tell us that is very unique about you?

When writing dialogue, I always read it out loud to make sure the conversation feels organic.

Dialogue is a crucial part to any story, be it novel or screenplay, and it’s important for it to not feel wooden or forced. My wife will frequently walk in on me having conversations with myself.

I am also the creator of a pop culture art franchise called Comicones. Comicones is a stylized art project that contains characters from all aspects of pop culture with an emphasis on gender equality.

Uncaged: What would you like to say to fans, and where can they follow you?

Thanks for everyone’s support! I hope you enjoy the story as much as I enjoyed writing it. You can follow me at www.craigwchenery.com for up to date information on all of my writing.

God; omniscient creator, terrible golfer, and disgruntled CEO of Heaven wants nothing more than for his private elevator to be repaired, ten minutes of peace to eat Girl Scout cookies, and a round of golf with the recently deceased British Prime Minister. So when a broken database mistakenly sends The Grim Reaper a list of souls not ready for reaping, his peaceful life begins to unravel.

Furious with the problems the disruption is causing his daily routine, The Grim Reaper retaliates by skipping a reaping, causing an army of bloodthirsty zombie-demons to be unleashed on the town of Oceanview.

Facing the impending apocalypse, Heaven learns of the events occurring below and determines divine intervention is required. When the survivors mistakenly kill the angels sent down to help, Heaven calls in the big guns, and God himself is forced to visit Earth, making an already dire situation much worse.

Excerpt

craigwchenery.com

CHAPTER 5 God’s golf clubs had seen better days. He stared at the numerous bent and broken irons, putters, and woods scattered on the floor of his office and frowned. Each one a victim of his unsportsmanlike fury of not hitting under his handicap. His options were few as he casually picked through the stark remains of his caddy hoping to find a putter he could use to practice in his office. While he rarely visited the course as often as he planned, he liked to practice putting whenever pos-

26 | UncagedBooks.com

| CRAIG W. CHENERY | sible.

The last club standing was a lone wood and completely inappropriate for putting, but it needed to suffice.

Even this club was not completely free of scuffs and dents. He pulled it from the bag and walked over to his desk, swinging it as he walked.

“Sir?” Nancy’s timid voice crackled through the phone on his desk.

God pressed a button to answer the call and put her on speakerphone. “Yes, Nancy?”

Nancy’s voice filtered through the speaker. “Do you have a minute?”

“No, I really don’t right now. I’m kinda busy.”

“Oh. Well, I...”

Nancy stammered to complete her thought. She obviously needed to tell him something urgent that he was not going to like. He paused momentarily in the hopes of delaying the inevitable bad news. News he had no interest in hearing. Nancy cleared her throat with a soft cough.

God sighed. “What is it, Nancy?”

“I’ve checked today’s list, and something doesn’t seem right. Can you ask Gabriel to double—” She never finished the sentence.

“Nancy, can I putt with a driver?” God inspected the head of the club as he waited for a response.

Nancy’s took a moment to respond. “I’m sorry, I don’t know sir. Golf really isn’t my thing.”

God continued to stare at his driver. “Really? It’s not your thing? When I hired you, didn’t the job description say golfing knowledge required?”

“No.”

“Are you sure? I’m pretty certain it did. Did you lie on your application, Nancy? You know we frown on that kind of thing.”

“I never lied, sir, it just said Wordperfect experience required. It said nothing at all about golf. I wouldn’t have applied if it did.”

“Weird.” He put down the club on the desk next to him.

“I know,” Nancy agreed. “No one uses Wordperfect these days. I wish you’d switch to Word. Everyone else is using it.”

“Well, everyone else is wrong, Nancy. You don’t screw with the classics. Regardless, I’m going to need you to brush up on your golfing knowledge.”

“My golfing knowledge? I’m just a secretary.”

“Personal assistant, and I need you to assist me.”

“I wouldn’t know where to start.”

“Google it. The Google knows everything.”

“Can’t you Google it?”

“I’m busy.”

“Golfing?”

“Don’t judge me, Nancy.”

“Sir, I really need you to look at the lists. I think there is a problem.”

“Of course there’s a problem with the lists. They are preventing me from golfing.”

“But...”

“What’s the rule on work?”

“It’s okay as long as it doesn’t interrupt course Issue 35 | June 2019 |

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| FEATURE AUTHOR | time.”

“And is it interrupting course time?”

“Well, technically, you’re not at the course yet.”

“It’s called prep work. My handicap won’t lower itself. Just send the damn lists out, to the Grim Reaper.”

“He doesn’t like that name.”

“I don’t care, I’m sure everything is fine, it always is. We’ve done this long enough. Have faith in the system, Nancy.”

“But...”

“Faith in the system.” He hung up the call and walked over to the door, grabbing his caddy on the way out.

Nancy looked up as the door opened and God stepped out and crossed over to her. He sat on the edge of her desk.

“Nancy, did you move my balls?”

“You never gave me your balls.”

God shook his head. “No, I definitely gave you my balls. I remember seeing them in your hands.”

“Sir, I never touched your balls.”

Nancy shook her head. “No. I...” She let the thought hang. “I’m pretty sure this is considered sexual harassment.”

“It’s not sexual harassment if you’re smiling.”

Nancy turned to face her monitor and resumed her typing. “That’s not how it works, and I’m not smiling.”

“You will.” God grinned and turned towards the exit door.

Nancy stood, surprised at his sudden departure. “Wait, where are you going? You can’t leave.”

God held up his caddy and gestured towards the door.

“I’m off to the course, Nancy. I thought that was obvious. I’ll be back this afternoon.”

“You can’t go. You have an all-division meeting in fifteen minutes. The managers are already assembling in the conference room.”

“What?”

“You’re meeting with the managers. It’s the quarterly review. It’s been on your calendar for eleven months.

I sent out the meeting schedule at the beginning of the year like I do every year.”

“I never read my email.”

“I distinctly remember handing them to you.”

“Well now, that’s not my fault is it?

Nancy stood firm in her denial. She did not like being called a liar. “Your balls were never in my hands.”

“But I have my golf pants on,” whined God.

God started to smile as Nancy fell for the bait.

Nancy glowered at God and quickly sat down as she tried to resume her work. “You are so immature.”

God help up his caddy and grinned. “Yeah, I know. Would you rather hold my club instead?”

“Oh, now you smile.”

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Nancy grinned.

feature authors

suspense | contemporary | historical

Robert Kearns

Amber Daulton

Peter Bridgford

feature author Robert E. Kearns was born in Dublin in 1971. He worked in the Accounting and Finance Departments for several multi-national organizations both in Ireland and Texas, where he lived for nine years.

His world experiences and background are evident in the writing he employs, which conveys a maturity and discernment to the plot and characterizations.

Robert currently lives and writes in Dublin. Hy Brasil, Island of Eternity is his first novel

Stay Connected

Please welcome Robert Kearns Uncaged: Can you tell readers more about your debut novel, Hy Brasil, Island of Eternity Hy Brasil is a mythical island said to have existed off the west coast of Ireland. It is the inspiration for my fictional novel where a character living 2,000 years ago discovers impending catastrophe for his home and yearns to live on.

It’s set in ancient and modern times with the modern being told through the eyes of a narrator who is drawn to this special place.

Uncaged: What are you working on next that you can tell us about?

robertedkearns.wixsite.com

I’m writing a novel based in Texas and inspired by my own time living there. It’s a work of fiction, but many of the stories are truthful. I feel really good about this book and the beta feedback I’ve received has been wonderful.

Uncaged: What inspired you to become a writer? Are you a full-time or part-time writer?

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Writing is something I’ve always wanted to do. In recent years I’ve been given that opportunity and decided to run with it. There’s not much point in sitting on an ambition but never doing anything with it. Now that I’ve a published book to my name it’s inspired me to continue.

Uncaged: Past or present, which authors would you love to sit and have lunch with and why?

I’d love to chat with Ernest Hemingway and ask him about The Old Man and the Sea which I love as a beautiful novel with no wasted words.

I think I’d also like to have lunch with Dean Koontz.

He seems like such a great guy and would be amiable to speaking with fellow authors.

Uncaged: What did you consider your best marketing that you did for your book? What was the least successful?

Interviews are great. I joined ITW and they’ve been wonderful with their debut author program. That’s helped me a lot.

I did a Press Release, though it wasn’t targeted. I’ll know better the next time and do it different.

Uncaged: What is one of the most unusual things that a reader has said to you about your books?

That some of my sentences are long, which I thought strange because I try to make sure they are succinct. My writing is descriptive, so at times I need a bit of length to set the scene, though not always. I’ll take it as a positive that people are paying attention….:) Uncaged: What do you like to do when you aren’t writing? Where is one of your favorite places on Earth?

I like to walk and Ireland is great for that when the weather is conducive. I like the beach in Tramore which features in Hy Brasil. It’s long, beautiful and I have some great memories from there growing up.

Uncaged: What can you tell us that is very unique about you?

I’ve lived in both Ireland and Texas and bring the qualities of both to my writing. I would like to think I have a unique perspective on life as a result Issue 35 | June 2019 |

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| FEATURE AUTHOR | of spending part of my adulthood in two different countries.

Uncaged: What would you like to say to fans, and where can they follow you?

I’d love it if fans could follow my work as an author. Hy Brasil is a debut novel and my next book has been described as a story that needs to be told. It’ll be fun to come along for the ride.

Enjoy an excerpt from Hy Brasil Hy Brasil Robert Kearns Suspense Hy Brasil, the Island of Myth and Mystery gains new life in this Novel of Suspense with a twist of Celtic flavour.

A highly advanced society, Hy Brasil is faced with pending catastrophe and Olan is determined to live on. Archaeological discoveries throw light on a civilization previously confined to legend with grave consequences for a young couple caught up in this extraordinarily dynamic enigma.

Set in ancient and present times, this is a tale for readers who adore adventure, history and extraordinary epics. It embraces influences of the Gothic, Dickensian; so too, Literary, and then bonds them into a story which delivers a thrilling read that will captivate audiences from the start.

With its colourful descriptions, complex characters and a plot line as well as prose complete with symbolism and imagery, Hy Brasil is certain to entertain, spellbind and mesmerize the book lover for Eternity.

Excerpt 32 | UncagedBooks.com

Upon forwarding to her the drink, she greeted me with a southern thank you, which produced in me an all over tingle. To attend on Tiffanie’s speech with her tones of enchantment affected me to call for an imagined action replay so I might once more wallow in its delight. Her gilded locks shone in the dying sun; as well, it caused me to ponder a sky of orange dusk over the prairie; us both in silhouette on that horsedrawn surrey sheltered by its overhead fringe.

With this embodiment, I envisioned her in a pretty dress from a long-vanished era, relaying idioms such as “I was so tickled”, which, being one of her divinest expressions should affect the hardest of granite to melt. These mental pictures turned to fields and crops, further barns of painted red among stalks of intense yellow; prime for harvest. An iconic windmill of The Great Plains stood atop its derrick, the blades featured in gentle rotation through the near permanent breeze; a soothing whirr, plus the soft squeak of metal on metal to linger in perception on those prevailing winds.

Next to this emblem of the West; reared a timber framed house washed in a once brilliant white and set into it mounted sash windows with crooked fractures that exposed an artificial yellowish torch light from the interior. Out front erected the greyed out, so too, well-worn deck of a porch with stretched planks, complete with a cushioned chair to rock in. And there, off to the side, below the extended branches of a gnarled, too, weather-beaten and deciduous ancient oak, a pair of mongrel dogs sprawled in what remained of the shade to a now almost extinguished sunset.

My attention fled to another period, besides place, and had I transpired at home under the covers of my bed, I should have gotten lost beneath the moonlit and expansive prairie land of my dreams. I wished to share this tableau with the beautiful girl beside me; take her by the hand and then step on to the creaking timbers of our homely portico; there to sojourn, further, sip on an iced tea in a tall glass; the floating cubes clinking against the sides akin to chimes in the night; and then finished with a twig of mint balanced

| ROBERT KEARNS | precariously on those miniature bergs. The chatter, besides interposed laughter between those lasting friends from work continued as before, but I ceased to pay attention or contribute. I couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t help in its stead, but to glance to my side, entranced; and in that instant longed to lead Tiffanie out of this world and into the parallel alternate of my imaginings with its perfect homestead under the heavens.

Here, she donated a discreet and fleeting dart in return, with her crown tilted somewhat to my right, and then what lingered from those rays of an Irish sundown caught a share of her face and strands of gold, to leave all but a shaving of the opposite flank in contrast. Both of her eyes sparkled, but with the light shining directly into her left, it gave the appearance of a brilliant princess cut diamond. She smiled while turning only her eyes to look at me and then raised the glass with her left arm. Just below her dimpled chin she fashioned use from her right hand to guide the yellow straw to the exact centre of glistened and painted pink, also, faultless lips.

I evoked reveries of lemonade and icy cold bottled beer, too, the not so clever bugs of June descendent from those southern United States which in time to the music of mating amphibians, clattered into the casing of a dust obscured porch light. Punched, they collapse drunk and dazed onto the hard board flooring, there, to regain their feet and dance unsteadily with their oversized chums. All of this must have originated in a film of rich colour which captivated me some place and time in my childhood. These vividly graphic memories brought forth a Texas size aspiration to kiss this girl who grew up in its geographic neighbour, and to embrace her right there and then in the orchard of night time pleasure, with intensity and passion without giving a care for what anyone might think. I concluded at the tail end of this fancy that Oklahoma must have occupied a special patch in the otherwise random and scattered universe.

Issue 35 | June 2019 |

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feature author Amber Daulton is the author of the romanticsuspense series Arresting Onyx and several standalone novellas.

Her books are published through The Wild Rose Press and Books to Go Now, and are available in ebook, print on demand, audio, and foreign language formats.

Amber lives in North Carolina with her husband and four demanding cats.

Stay Connected

Welcome Amber Daulton Uncaged: Can you tell readers more about your books?

I have eleven stories currently published in these romantic sub-genres: historical, time travel, romantic-suspense, contemporary western, contemporary romance, erotic romance, and New Adult. My books range between sweet (no sex, sex behind closed doors, and mild petting) to spicy (hot scenes and explicit scenes with dirty language), so there’s something for everyone.

These books can be found on Amazon, B&N, iTunes, Smashwords, and Kobo.

Uncaged: What do you have coming up next that you can tell us about?

The second installment in the Arresting Onyx series should hopefully be out in early 2020. Arresting Jeremiah follows hardnosed parole officer Jim Borden and his obsession Calista Barlow as they stick their noses where they don’t belong and fall deep into the trouble with the criminal organization known as Onyx.

This sexy, dirty-talking romantic suspense series spans five books with a standalone HEA for each rough-andtumble hero and their spunky heroines. The first book is already published.

I’m editing a book in the House of Darkain series, an on-going set of unpublished vampire novels. I’m seeking representation for the series, and book one is now in the hands of agents and hopefully out of the slush pile.

Uncaged: Who has been the hardest character you had to write? Who was the easiest?

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I’m not sure on either count. I’ve written a lot of stories, and most of the time, the characters and all their quirks come to me pretty easily. The character I had the most fun developing, however, was Mason Harding, the hero from Arresting Mason. He’s all hard and rough on the outside, but kind and vulnerable on the in. I really connected with him.

Uncaged: Past or present, which authors would you love to sit and have lunch with and why?

Jane Austen. I would love to know her thoughts about feminism (how things have and have not changed from her time) and the differences between writing styles and grammar from her time and now.

I definitely admire her. A woman writing and becoming a published author back in the early 1800s was scandalous and almost unheard of.

Uncaged: What do you consider your best marketing that you did for your book? What was the least successful?

That’s a difficult question because the success of a marketing tool depends on my goals for that tool. I often write guest posts, answer interview questions, and offer giveaways to draw in readers and bloggers. Those promo opportunities are often successful in advertising my name and brand and gaining followers on my social media outlets, but they don’t usually result in a lot of book sales.

Sometimes, I promote my books in newsletters and on book sites. Sales typically increase for a limited time, but are never guaranteed.

Uncaged: What is one of the most unusual things that a reader has said to you about your books?

Research is very important to me. When my beta readers or I think something might be a little confusing, I always add in extra detail to clear things up. That said, I find it frustrating when someone claims I made a mistake when I haven’t, especially if that person didn’t double check the facts.

I won’t go into specifics about the incident I’m referencing, but a simple online search would’ve cleared up the misunderstanding.

Uncaged: What do you like to do when you aren’t writing? Where is one of your favorite places on Earth?

I love reading, gardening, and playing with my cats. I’m a homebody, so I enjoy exploring the acres of woods behind my house. My favorite vacation spot is the beach, but my hubby and I don’t have the chance to go there as often as I’d like.

Uncaged: What can you tell us that is very unique about you?

I’m from North Carolina, USA and have lived there all my life, but most people think I’m from England or even France when they first meet me (and yes, I’ve been asked to speak French, which I don’t know). I have an accent, which sounds proper and smooth; a far contrast to how most people sound in my area. I’ve been getting the “Where are you from?” question since I was in elementary Issue 35 | June 2019 |

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| FEATURE AUTHOR | school, and kids can be quite cruel. Luckily, I’ve never really been bothered by the questions and funny looks. In fact, I take sounding different as a matter of pride because I like standing out in a crowd.

Uncaged: What would you like to say to fans, and where can they follow you?

I love hearing from readers and fans, and I’m currently accepting new members on my street team. .

Enjoy an excerpt from Arresting Mason Arresting Mason Amber Daulton Contemporary Romance Once you’re in a prison gang, you’re in it for life.

That’s what Mason Harding thought until the boss accepted his resignation.

After the State releases him on parole, a sexy divorcée behind the wheel of a car almost ends his life quicker than a shank.

His chance encounter with Mia Eddison results in a night of passion, but her brother—his parole officer—catches them together and doesn’t approve.

Mia falls hard for the cocky ex-con, but not because of his chiseled body. She vows to break through his walls and discover his secrets, but never expects those secrets to threaten her life.

When members of an organized crime ring kidnap Mia to force Mason’s return to the gang, he goes up against an old friend to save the woman he loves. Will his sacrifice be enough or will everything fall apart in a blaze of gunfire?

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Excerpt Mason grabbed her hand and pulled her to a stop about a block from her store. She nearly tripped, but he wrapped his arms around her waist and steadied her.

People walked around them.

Mia tilted up her chin and almost dared him to lie some more.

Mason tightened his grip on her waist. “The Scorpion is a dangerous criminal involved with drugs. Several of my fellow inmates worked for him and spoke about him in hushed whispers. If Harper and Elray are on his payroll, I’m in trouble. The less you know, the better.”

“What kind of tattoo was on Harper’s arm? One like yours?”

“No, nothing. I don’t know why he said to look—” “I’m not an idiot, Mason. You have a beautiful circle tattoo with two snakes in the middle of it on the back of your neck. Someone spray painted similar O and X graffiti on the alley walls. If I go back there and look at Harper’s and Elray’s arms, I’m sure I’ll find a tattoo like yours.” She should’ve checked before she stormed out the alley. “It’s a gang symbol, isn’t it?”

He stepped back from her, his arms at his sides. “It’s not what you think.”

“Then tell me. What’s Sondokes? What the hell is Onyx?”

“Where did you hear those names?” He pinched his forehead with his fingers. “That’s what Borden told you. I knew it.”

She rubbed her hands over her cheeks. “He just told me the names, nothing else. Jim also gave me your state file, but I refused to read it. I want to hear the truth from you. All of it.”

“Are those the only names you know? Sondokes and Onyx?” He ran his hands through his hair as she nodded. “Good, that’s not too bad.” He grabbed her arm and they continued along the sidewalk.

She clenched her fists to stop herself from hitting him.

Mason wouldn’t look at her, and he walked so fast she had to lightly jog to keep up.

They reached her store and he stared at her car parked by the curb. “Harper doesn’t know where you live or anything about you. That means you’re safe for now, but he’ll probably search this area to find us. Stay cau-

| AMBER DAULTON | tious, okay? Drive your car from now on. Don’t walk anywhere.”

“Why are you avoiding my questions? You can tell me anything.”

“Not this. If you trust me, don’t ask those kinds of questions.” He tightened his fingers around her forearm as she tried to jerk free from his grip. “Listen to me, damn it. You mean a lot to me, but I can’t tell you this. At least not right now. That’s nothing against you. It’s all on me. I just need time to take care of this problem. Okay? I’m stressed, in a shitload of pain, and I don’t need you to hound my ass.” He dropped his hand from her arm and scowled as though he just noticed the dirt and blood on his knuckles. “I’d like to go upstairs to clean up before you take me home. I don’t want Alan to know what happened.”

Mia dug through her purse with shaky hands, so angry she didn’t trust herself to speak.

He took the keys from her before the little pieces of metal slipped between her fingers, and he hugged her despite the grime on his skin and clothes.

Tears clogged her throat. Her mind screamed at her to push away from him, but the strength in his arms enveloped her and stole her will. His heartbeat soothed hers, and she no longer cared about his lies or if filth caked him.

At least not at the moment.

“I never meant for this to happen, Mia. I will fix this.”

“I know, but at what cost?” She pried her face from his chest to stare up at him. “You’re nothing if not determined, but I’m scared and confused. You have answers to my questions, but I won’t hound you for them as you so eloquently stated. I just thought we got past this. I thought you knew I would never insult or condemn you for whatever it is you did.”

“And I thought you knew not to push me too hard.”

His deep voice sent shivers of unease down her spine.

“I have to keep certain parts of my past to myself.”

“Whatever.” Mia finally pushed against his chest for freedom and stomped to the stairwell door

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feature author Peter “Bridge” Bridgford lives on an island off the Maine coast with his wife, their two daughters, and two dogs named Twilight and Teddy.

When he’s not writing, he taking people out for charters on his lobsterboat. He is the author of Hauling Through, But I Digress, Sweating Through, Where Eagles Dare Not Perch, and A Perfect Confluence (coming out September 2019)

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peterbridgford.com

Uncaged welcomes Peter Bridgford Uncaged: Can you tell readers more about your Civil War historical book, Where Eagles Dare Not Perch?

What inspired you to tell this story?

Where Eagles Dare Not Perch follows three intertwined characters as they make their way through the horrors of the American Civil War. During his month-long furlough at home, Zachary Webster, a Maine sharpshooter, murders the man he believes has been attempting to steal his love interest. By doing so, he sets into motion the nightmarish adventures of those most impacted by his violent act. After he heads back to the war, his exgirlfriend and the brother of the murdered man pursue him – one in search of absolution, the other in search of vengeance. Along the way, these three individuals find themselves in a world turned upside down and made horrific by the war. Their newly tempered personalities are put to the test when they finally meet in the middle of the chaos of the Battle of the Wilderness, and as they look to regain enough of their humanity to venture toward their uncertain futures.

I wrote this book because I’ve become a little obsessed with the human aspect of the Civil War. Through my experiences with genealogy, teaching history to middle

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schoolers, and my involvement with the Fifth Maine Regimental Museum (https://www.fifthmainemuseum. org/), I’ve come to realize it’s the untold stories of the people of that conflict which need to be told and retold. Whereas it is important to know the generals, the sequence and dates of the battles, and the military strategy, I think we learn more by focusing on the individuals in the middle of it. The impact the war had on the civilians, soldiers, slaves, and the entire American culture is almost unfathomable. Today, we understand just how damaging warfare can be on soldiers and those who are involuntarily caught in it, but, after the Civil War, most of the participants and victims of the carnage were told to just go on with their lives as if nothing bad had happened. I wanted to write a book that shed some brutal and stark light on the consequences of this war.

Uncaged: What was the easiest book of yours to write? Which was the hardest?

All of my books have been hard for me to write. However, it usually goes best when I have a clear vision of the story. This is obvious, of course, but whenever I can put all the pieces together fluidly, the writing goes a bit easier. For me, Hauling Through and Sweating Through nearly wrote themselves because I was so sure of what was supposed to happen. On the flip side, Where Eagle

Dare Not Perch is a historical fiction, so it took a lot more fact-checking and research. For example, imagine my surprise when I learned that people during the Civil War didn’t just board a train in Maine and ride it all the way down to Washington, DC. Turns out, each railroad company had its own regional territory, so people were forced to change trains often, ride steamers, and even travel to different terminals along the way. Sometimes I got so fixated on these facts, I spent too much time researching them before I realized such a level of detail wasn’t always needed – that I was writing a novel, not a history book. Knowing when and where to put in such specifics was a difficult challenge.

Uncaged: What are you working on next that you can tell us about?

I am in the middle of a minor writing metamorphosis. As a reader/writer, I tend to like the serious topics. But it’s come to my attention that I usually write cleaner and clearer whenever I’m being humorous. My computer is full of semi-completed serious novel manuscripts, so I’ve begun to experiment with changing the tone of those into more comedic ventures. Although it may be difIssue 35 | June 2019 |

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| FEATURE AUTHOR | ficult to turn a serial killer story into a feel-good, yuck-yuck story, I want to master the management of the absurd. There is a real power that can come from this, and, without resorting to overt silliness, I’m learning how turning serious matters into something more amusing can be sort of like making a sweetly coated bitter pill.

Uncaged: Past or present, which authors would you love to sit and have lunch with and why?

While I am a huge fan of so many different writers, I’ve got to say I’d love to eat lunch with Kurt Vonnegut. From what I’ve read of his books and his personal letters, it seems like his sense of humor and biting commentary were nearly constant.

So, I cannot imagine a funnier or more poignant meal to share with someone. Of course, we’d have to be sitting outside so we could watch other people, but that’s a given.

Uncaged: What did you consider your best marketing that you did for your book? What was the least successful?

Truthfully, the best results came from my parents telling their friends about my books in their last Christmas letter. I know, this doesn’t sound like a blockbuster media blitz nor a high-powered way to break my books out of the circle of friends and family, per se, but my books enjoyed clearly elevated sales on Amazon as a direct result. Although I’m not sure I can ask them for another future recommendation this year, I know that many people who received their letter went online and bought a copy of one of my books. The analytics of other promotions I’ve undertaken are much harder to interpret.

The most unsuccessful marketing ploy I ever attempted was to sit at a table of other writers from my publisher at a town fair. As much as I know this is the bread and butter of how we writers get our faces and books in front of potential customers, I don’t have the sales person personality nor a 40 | UncagedBooks.com

bookselling appearance. I saw other authors hawking their books, some quite successfully, but I could not bring myself to do that. So I sat there and tried to look approachable, which didn’t work at all. In the end, I was miserable and I sold next to nothing.

Uncaged: What is one of the most unusual things that a reader has said to you about your books?

One of my friends was certain that a funny scene in my first book, Hauling Through, was being caused by the characters’ belief that a Russian satellite was over them, watching them. Truth is, I wrote the scene as a ridiculous moment without thinking about the satellite. But I began to question my own motives – maybe I did write it with that in mind. Now I’m not so sure.

The experience taught me a very valuable thing – the readers of our books, if they’re truly enjoying the story, are contributing their own takes and vantages on them in ways we never expected. That’s because writing/reading of books is a way more dynamic and fluid experience than we give it credit.

Uncaged: What do you like to do when you aren’t writing? Where is one of your favorite places on Earth?

I run a charter business in the summer on our 35ft lobsterboat, and I love being on the boat and having adventures on the water. My wife and I have started to offer some summer camps on the boat with island kids, and that is a lot of fun. We go to a different island of Casco Bay each day of the week and swim, hike, and explore.

While I think Maine is a very special place, I love to travel with my family because it allows us to see new incredible sights and learn about the local cultures.

I must say that Iceland really captured my attention on a recent trip. Very easy and affordable to get there from Boston, and the mix of an extremely beautiful landscape and an interesting people made it a place I’d like to check out again and again.

Uncaged: What can you tell us that is very unique

| PETER BRIDGFORD | about you?

When I was seven, I was diagnosed as having dyslexia. In fact, my parents were told that, while I might graduate from high school, I would never make it to college. Luckily, my parents not only didn’t accept this forecast, they told me all about it. As a result, I developed a chip on my shoulder that’s still there today. I did go to college and then graduate school, but I had to work very hard to do so. And, even though the process of writing is sometimes akin to me translating an alien language (Klingon, perhaps?) and somewhat frustrating, I am happiest when I am doing it. I’m more realistic these days – writing is a difficult, endless, and not always a very pretty process for me – but I love it. And I know I need it.

Uncaged: What would you like to say to fans, and where can they follow you?

I would say, if you read a book you really like, tell everyone. In a world that is oversaturated with new books, all it takes to elevate one above the rest is an honest review or compliment. So many of us authors are sitting alone hoping someone, anyone, will like our stuff, and so often all we hear is cricket-cricket.

So whenever I have people come up to me and praise my books, I’m always a little stunned to hear this. I ask them to not keep that information secret – to go out and tell others, write reviews (positive and negative), and even pass their copies onto other readers – books that are aren’t shared in one way or another are not getting to where they need to go.

Enjoy an excerpt from Where Eagles Dare Not Perch Where Eagles Dare Not Perch Peter Bridgford Historical/War Zachary Webster was an innocent Maine farm boy before becoming a sharpshooter, but the violence of the Civil War battlefields has turned him into a natural killer. While home on his unit’s month-long furlough, he murders the man he believes has stolen his beloved. In doing so, he sets into motion three intensely dark journeys—his own as a soldier returning to a brutal and hopeless war; his sweetheart’s as she seeks absolution; and the brother of the murdered man, whose quest for revenge propels him into the most violent of worlds. When the three find each other amid the chaos and brutality of the Battle of the Wilderness, they’re faced with figuring out if they are tempered enough from their own redemptive ordeals to face whatever uncertain future awaits them after the bloody fighting is over.

Excerpt With these crows now threatening to ruin another perfect situation, Webster felt the sharp pangs of nausea rising in his stomach again. Instead of getting angrier, however, he suddenly turned to shake his fist and stick his tongue out at them. The reenactment of Tilden’s silly gesture made him chuckle and refocused him. When he looked back through the scope again, he caught some movement in the small trees at the edge of the forest.

He carefully pulled the mitten tips back so that his fingers could work the second trigger to make the main one into a hair trigger. He didn’t need to do Issue 35 | June 2019 |

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| FEATURE AUTHOR | this, since the situation did not require that kind of quickness or precision, but he allowed his sharpshooting instincts to kick in without fighting them.

He slowly cocked the hammer and made sure the cap was dry and ready to go.

The moose was struggling in the deep snow. Webster could see the large bell on its throat and knew it was a young bull. Not that this detail really mattered—he was going to shoot the animal for his family to eat, regardless of its age or gender. Even at this distance he could see that the moose was very skinny, and he pursed his lips because he knew it wouldn’t provide too much meat. It was clearly starving, and if it survived the winter, it’d be much more fattened up by the fall. However, his family needed the food right now, and some moose meat was more than none.

As he watched the animal slog its way toward the opening, Webster cleared his mind. He could not think about Tilden and the crows anymore. He could not think about how his father’s body was currently in its coffin in the family barn waiting for the ground to thaw enough to dig his grave.

He could not think about his need to convince his younger brother, Elijah, not to enlist in the war.

He especially could not think about how strangely his beloved Catherine was acting toward him, nor the rumors swirling about her and Jonathan Stiller.

Even the fact that his month-long furlough would be over in three days and he would be headed back to the fighting could not distract him—he needed to think about the moose and the moose alone.

When the animal cleared the tree line, it stood still for a moment and pivoted its substantial ears around to listen for any threats. Webster exhaled and then inhaled a gradual and sustained breath to calm himself. The moose, convinced of the safety of its situation, snorted loudly like a racehorse before resuming its struggle through the snow. Webster let his breath flow out slowly and steadily as he pulled the trigger. The cap went off, the rifle kicked, and the moose went down on its knees.

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In one fluid motion, Webster stood up, slung his rifle, bounded over the wall, and began snowshoeing over to the wounded creature. As he neared it, he instinctively pulled his bowie knife from its sheath under his clothing and held it in his hand like a sabre. Once upon the now prone and helpless moose, he effortlessly slit its throat and then stood reverently as he watched the redness of its blood seep into the alabaster snow.

Now that his ears had stopped ringing from the percussion of the rifle, the subtle sounds of the winter woods came back to him with a renewed volume. He could hear the haunted whisper of the winds as they swayed the tops of the towering white pines, the eerie cracking and popping of the ice on the nearby frozen pond, and the sounds of his own rhythmic breathing as he caught his breath from the exertion of reaching the wounded moose.

He hoped that Elijah had also heard the shot and was on his way down with the horses and the sled. This moose, albeit a skinny one, was going to be a hefty amount of weight for the two of them to carry back to the house, and the sled would make the unpleasant job of getting the meat up there a lot easier. He also felt some urgency to cut the animal into pieces and get the meat stored quickly, since it was not currently moose-hunting season in Maine. He was pretty sure the moose warden, Mr. McArthur, was probably comfortable in front of his warm fireplace right now and would never know about the shooting of this animal, but he wanted to avoid detection nonetheless. When he couldn’t wait any longer, he bent down and began to eviscerate the moose with his knife.

feature authors

fantasy | scifi | young adult

Joseph Hirsch

M.J. Keeley

Hannah R. Goodman

feature author Joseph Hirsch is the author of several published novels, short stories, novellas, essays and articles. He holds an M.A. in German Studies and has also worked as a sports journalist, covering boxing matches around the globe. He lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, and can be found online at www. joeyhirsch.com

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joeyhirsch.com

Please welcome Joseph Hirsch Uncaged: Can you tell us more about the book, The Bastard’s Grimoire?

The Bastard’s Grimoire is a Hausmärchen and a picaresque, which is just a fancy way of saying it’s a fairytale mixed with a story about a fellow (or two fellows) who go from place to place having all kinds of encounters. I guess you could also classify it as fantasy.

Uncaged: What kind of research goes into a book like this one?

The best kind of research is the research you don’t categorize as such. For instance, I wrote a book about a boxer sometime back and when it came time to do research, I had to stop and remind myself that I loved boxing, and thus had unintentionally been doing research already for quite a long time. Same thing with The Bastard’s Grimoire; I had already been interested in the subject (sorcery, the Middle Ages, German history, especially seafaring history) so when it came time to do the research, I skipped that and dove right into the writing.

Uncaged: What are you working on next that you can tell us about?

I’m always working on something, but unfortunately I hew to the old superstition that it’s bad to talk about doing something, or talking about a work in progress.

It “lets the air out of the tires,” as I think David Lynch

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or Norman Mailer (or maybe both of them) said. I hate to be a diva, but the short answer is I’m working on several things but can’t talk about them.

Uncaged: What was the easiest character for you to write about? Which was the hardest?

The easiest and hardest for me are my alter-ego characters. I don’t do autobiography, but my stand-ins are easy to write because, being me, I don’t have to do much research. But, if one is honest in their writing, they will reveal not just the parts they want the world to see, but the warts and all, as well. So it’s easy to write about a character based on me but difficult to realize I’ve basically put some of my most private thoughts and experiences out there on bookshelves in bookstores and in libraries.

Uncaged: Past or present, which authors would you love to sit and have lunch with and why?

None. In the forward to John Fante’s Ask the Dust, the writer Charles Bukowski said that Fante was his favorite writer, and his God in a way, and that the Gods were not to be disturbed. I feel like the book or the work is the best part of the writer. I already have the books and would prefer to leave the authors in peace.

Uncaged: What did you consider your best marketing that you did for your book? What was the least successful?

The best marketing advice I received was in a newslet-

ter or bulletin from Glimmer Train some time ago.

The writer said words to the effect that, Writing a good book is the best promotion. You want to sell copies and I definitely feel an obligation to the publisher, but you’re not selling dictionaries doorto-door, so make sure that most of your energies go into writing, and rewriting, and editing, and then worry about promotion.

Make sure your promotion campaign is targeted, is what I would say. People who use a scattershot or random approach can annoy or alienate people who feel like they’re being randomly spammed. If you’ve just written a book about an axe murderer and notice that most of the people subscribing for giveaways at some service are reading romance novels where men’s abdominal muscles are featured on the covers, don’t waste your money. Use it elsewhere.

Uncaged: What is one of the most unusual things that a reader has said to you about your books?

I still get hate mail. Things like “You’re vile” or “I hate you.” The strangest thing was a publisher who accepted my book and said, “Good book, but I wish your protagonist had died.” It could be worse. The writer Charles Willeford received a copy of one of his hardbacks in the mail, the cover blown to pieces with bullets from a handgun, and a handwritten letter attached: “It should be a crime to publish a piece of shit like this.”

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| FEATURE AUTHOR | Uncaged: What do you like to do when you aren’t writing? Where is one of your favorite places on Earth?

I take Ray Bradbury’s advice: stay drunk on words. I read a lot, everything from history to biography to poetry. I practice my German and am trying to learn Spanish.

I’ve been all over the world (Germany, Iraq, Mexico) and honestly am a homebody. “All of man’s unhappiness stems from his inability to sit quietly in a room,” is I think what Pascal said, or words to that effect. I like to be home, with music playing and my dog on the bed behind me dozing.

I’ll do all my travel astral-projecting from hereon out, if it can be helped.

Uncaged: What can you tell us that is very unique about you?

I go days, sometimes weeks at a time without talking to anyone. I work, read, listen to music, and watch films, and don’t really miss conversation. When one has no one to talk to, that “echo chamber” in the head sort of swells and for some reason it makes it easier to write. When I want to talk I write.

Uncaged: What would you like to say to fans, and where can they follow you?

Each of my books are radically different from each other, so I don’t know that I have a consistent fanbase that follows me from book to book.

I probably lose and gain some fans each time.

But, assuming I have steady fans, thank you. My website is www.joeyhirsch.com I’ve been told the layout is horrible and my web design skills are nil, so in addition to thanking my fans I’d like to apologize to them for having to navigate that virtual tangle.

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Enjoy an excerpt from The Bastard Grimoire The Bastard Grimoire Joseph Hirsch Fantasy “Imagine a Terry Gilliam film, teeming with activity but rated NC-17 for sex, gore, and violence, and you’ll have some idea what The Bastard’s Grimoire is like. With utter vividness and a lot of humor, Joseph Hirsch brings his Middle Ages tale of wizards, demons, dwarves, clergy, and the strength of young love to life. Very impressive.”

-Scott Adlerberg, author of Graveyard Love.

Excerpt Chapter 1 Forkbeard had gathered his men around him and held his block of Icelandic spar toward the sun that was hidden behind the clouds. He grinned with a mouth empty of teeth. “Take note men, and remember the rhyme well.”

The other mutineers from the Vitalienbruder League crowded closer to Forkbeard, who smelled like a wine cask filled with sour egg yolk and turned fish. “Mares’ tails and mackerel scales make ships carry low sails.”

One of the pirates looked upward, struggling with the weight of the frogmouth jousting helmet that he had raided from the armory of the last town they took. “But brother,” he said, “the sails are high, and we are no longer under oar.”

Forkbeard grinned. “The square sails have been raised to put the fear of Odin into the hearts of the timid. When they see the sails, and if they be not fools, they will abandon their fortress.”

He walked past the men gathered around him on the deck of the ship, each of them clutching fal-

chion blades that tapered like cleavers. They gripped their weapons in sweating metal gauntlets by their cross and pommel handles, as if in prayer. Forkbeard walked until he was at the prow of the clinker ship.

Two of his underlings followed behind him, one with blade and the other with crossbow. From beneath the deck there came the thunderous sound of poor, cursed Nephil’s footsteps. The half-man, halfangelic beast had tired of torturing the prisoners below deck, and was ascending the steps.

Forkbeard gazed through the coat of fog drifting over the surface of the river. He saw the crenelated enceinte on the horizon. The curtain walls of the Zollschloss stood between them and Koln. It was a castle floating on the sea. Through the mist there came a small deep-berthed vessel drifting in the darkness.

Its hull was fitted with shields that bore the Hessian lion, each linked one to the other as close as chains fused in a mail shirt.

“Look!” Forkbeard shouted to the men behind him. “An emissary approaches.”

The pirates walked closer to their master, crowding nearer to the ship’s figurehead depicting a dragon. Its forked tongue was made of wood but appeared so lifelike that the rain falling on it looked like glistening blood in the half-light.

The oarsmen on the small vessel stopped paddling and came up short just beneath the open maw of the dragon whose carvings were as intricate as a misericord. The emissary in the ship was flanked by several archers with their bows trained on the marauding vessel. The man’s voice shook as he read from the whitevine parchment. “It is my duty to inform you that we are willing to pay Danegeld in the amount of onethousand guineas if you will turn your ship around at this time.”

That brought laughter from the ranks swelling behind Forkbeard. Those ranks had not so far swelled that Nephil was counted among their number. If he had been there, the poor wretch in the tiny vessel might be willing to up the bounty.

The men around Forkbeard wore leather tunics reinforced with metal. They sported hauberks and mail shirts, basinets and spiny metallic vambraces that shined despite the clouds covering the sun. Darts,

| JOSEPH HIRSCH | gads, and pointed spikes littered the deck along with shattered bits of the forecastle that collapsed to the deck the last time Forkbeard’s crew grappled with another ship and slaughtered most of their number. Forkbeard’s mind was made up on what he would do with this castle before he had even set sail downriver, but he asked, “What if we refuse your Danegeld? What if we take your little castle, and whatever treasure and women be therein? What if we dine on the tripe we slice from your stomachs and quench our thirst with your weak royal blood?”

The parchment fell from the boy’s hand, and landed in the cold black water. The bows trembled in the hands of the footmen gathered around him in the ship. Those who gripped the oars seemed ready to turn around. The boy managed to speak. “Then it is my duty to inform you that our keep is garrisoned by Hospitallers who are wellseasoned after a campaign against the Saracens in which they managed to secure a piece of the holy wood from the True Cross.”

That brought gales of laughter from the men behind Forkbeard. He choked his ravensbill polearm, and touched the dragon figurehead lightly on the nose. “Awaken!” The dragon went from wood to fleshy scales and its first exhale was a blast of rancid fire that turned all of the men in the small boat to scorched flesh in one quick burst of flame.

One of the poor souls shrieked and dived into the water in the hopes of extinguishing himself. He roasted like a pig turned slowly until charred on a spit, and then he bobbed lifelessly in the water.

One of the pirates behind Forkbeard reached his oar into the water and shoved the flaming ship filled with the meat of roasted men back in the direction of the castle. They would quickly deduce what Forkbeard thought of their petty bribe when the charred mass reached the shores.

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feature author Writing and reading have been life-long passions for Matthew.

He studied English Literature and Film & TV Studies at the University of Glasgow and is currently a fulltime secondary school English teacher.

He writes in various genres including speculative fiction, magic realism, literary fiction and non-fiction review writing. His main focus is novel-writing and his debut science-fiction novel, Turning the Hourglass, was released by Black Rose Writing in April 2019. He is currently seeking representation for his coming-of-age novel The Stone in My Pocket. He also enjoys short-story writing and has had work published in various anthologies and magazines. In addition, he is a contributing writer for online arts magazine The Wee Review.

He lives in Glasgow with his partner and four cats.

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Uncaged welcomes M.J. Keeley Uncaged: Can you tell readers more about your debut novel, Turning the Hourglass?

If you ever think you’ve seen a ghost, it might not have been the spirit of someone who’s died. Instead, it could be a visitor from the future; someone who hasn’t lived yet.

Turning the Hourglass is set in the post-nuclear war United Empire - a union of the UK and USA. As well as billions of lives being lost, many records of history, literature and academia have been completely wiped out. What has survived, though, is technology that allows historians to ‘visit’ the past and observe significant events throughout history. One of these historians, Dyrne Samson, realizes that when working on visits, he can influence what he’s seeing. He also realizes that this could be useful and plans to secretly visit a devastating event from his own past.

I think readers of Connie Willis and Hugh Howey will enjoy the book, as well as fans of time-travel TV shows like Doctor Who or Travelers.

Uncaged: You are also a full-time teacher. Do your students know about your writing? If so, how have they reacted to it?

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They’ve started to figure it out, yes, and have all been quite impressed! A copy of my novel is in the school

should really pick Shakespeare too. Maybe I could feed from his genius and possibly even get to the bottom of all those conspiracy theories surrounding his authorship!

Uncaged: What did you consider your best marketing that you did for your book? What was the least successful?

library so some of the older students have come to tell me they’ve been reading it. Just today a boy brought me a copy and asked me to sign it – his mum had bought him it for his birthday!

Uncaged: What are you working on next that you can tell us about?

I’ve actually completed a second novel and am in the middle of the submission process. It’s called The Stone in My Pocket and is a coming-of-age story about a teenage boy living in a little Scottish village. After hearing voices in the middle of the night and experiencing other inexplicable phenomena, he looks for answers from a medium who works in the local second-hand bookshop.

My book launch was definitely a success. I organized a venue in Glasgow and advertised it on social media (mostly Facebook) and through word-of-mouth.

Almost double the amount of people I anticipated turned up and I nearly sold out of books! I also dabble a little with art and so drew a fine pencil sketch of an hourglass to tie in with my novel. I had professional prints made and sold those at the launch too. The turned out to be a big hit!

I’m also in the very early stages of a third novel! No title yet, but it’s going to play with different narrative perspectives, centered on the life of a woman who discovers a family secret while also hiding strange behaviours of her own from everyone around her. As you can probably tell, secrecy is a big theme in my work!

The least successful might be a lengthy author interview I sent to a writing blog. It was only after spending hours typing answers in the online Q&A form and then submitting, that I spotted the site hadn’t been updated for about a year! Not sure the creator adds much to it anymore or draws any readers, unfortunately.

Uncaged: Past or present, which authors would you love to sit and have lunch with and why?

Uncaged: What is one of the most unusual things that a reader has said to you about your books?

I’d love to talk to Margaret Atwood. The Handmaid’s Tale is probably my favorite book ever. I’m in awe of Atwood’s skills. I’d also talk to Kazuo Ishiguro if I could. Never Let Me Go has had a big influence on my writing and I like how Ishiguro has complete ease in transitioning between different genres. I suppose I

A couple of readers have now mentioned how much they like the description of settings in Turning the Hourglass. It’s a nice compliment but I was still surprised considering how much superfluous description I’d edited out of the book! Maybe I’ve hit the perfect amount. Someone else said they Issue 35 | June 2019 |

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| FEATURE AUTHOR | could only read it in bursts since it was freaking them out too much!

Enjoy an excerpt from Turning the Hourglass

Uncaged: What do you like to do when you aren’t writing? Where is one of your favorite places on Earth?

I’m a huge film buff so going to the cinema is a weekly habit. I’m also obsessive about my cats (all four of them). My favorite place in the world is New York City. That might be a little clichéd but it makes me feel like I’m having a lucid dream whenever I’m there. I first visited when I was fifteen and I’ve been back around eight times since. I’ll be going again this October and I have two wonderful friends there who I can’t wait to see.

Uncaged: What can you tell us that is very unique about you?

Turning the Hourglass M.J. Keeley SciFi Historian Dyrne Samson doesn’t need to read about the past anymore. Now he can visit it. Abandoning university lecturing, he joins a classified organization hidden beneath the streets of New London.

Their time-distortion pods let him witness any event in history. Almost. Visiting his own timeline is forbidden — the only reason he can’t return to the day he’ll never forget.

Excerpt

I trained as a Reiki healer in my early twenties.

Uncaged: What would you like to say to fans, and where can they follow you?

Thanks so much for reading this interview and thank you even more if you’ve read Turning the Hourglass! You can follow me on Facebook (Matthew Keeley Author), Instagram (@MatthewJKeeley) or Twitter (@MatthewJKeeley).

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September, 2141 Worn books occupied the mahogany shelves in Mason’s office and the window tints had been turned on so that the glass was black. The single, heavy door was locked from inside. One lamp glowed mustard in the corner.

Mason shivered in his tall chair behind a desk that took up almost a third of the small room. His fingers slowly traced the Presidential seal imprinted on the leather inlay of the desktop. A transmitter whistled behind him and he twisted to listen, a twinge pulling at his neck. But nothing. No words. No updates on the bunkers. No news of the attacks. Nothing since the confirmation that South America was completely gone. The radio’s metal casing reflected his sallow eyes and wrinkles. He still wore a suit, but the commanding demeanour presented in news footage and holographs was long gone. In its place, an old man with shaking hands waited to find out if this room would be his sarcophagus. He glanced round at the histories and fictions filling the shelves and thought

| M.J. KEELEY | of them as treasures that might be carried with him to the afterlife. Only the ‘necessities’ would be catalogued and stored in the bunkers: books of medicine, technology, architecture, agriculture.

I mustn’t be a necessity. I’m still out here.

The transmitter whistled, snapping him to attention again. He leaned toward it, only to hear the signal return to its crinkling fuzz, withholding information, taunting him with static whispers.

The mustard light blinked. A dull thump in the corner. Books shifted on one shelf. Mason bolted up in the chair and scanned the tiny room. Reaching to his side, he pulled open a drawer and laid his hand on the gun. Another sound—not the transmitter. Distant footsteps? Knocking? Seconds passed before he realised it was the thud of his own heartbeat.

He waited again, commanding his breath and pulse to slow, as if they were soldiers who would obey. He rose from behind the desk and edged around it, moving toward the door, then pressed an ear against it and waited. Nothing but his thick pulse again. Easing back, he turned to the darkened window. He pressed the control in the frame, decreasing the tint by only a few degrees and peering out. A hard rattling distracted him and he glanced down at the gun tapping against the pane in his shaking hand. He sighed, lowering his arm, then looked outside again. The street beyond the metal gates at the end of the lawn was empty. And every other street, he knew. Looking back to the cold weapon, he wondered what the point would be in trying to fight an intruder now. Waiting for anything but fatal news from the transmitter was delusional.

He returned to the chair, curling over again, and dropped the gun back into the drawer on top of the red “Synthetic Repopulation Programme” disk. Another futile effort to make things better? Detailed versions of the programme were held in the bunkers, too. Since the server attacks and internet viruses, physical copies were all they could rely on now. He gazed at the disk for a while, letting his hand fall to his leg.

After his breath stopped shaking him, he lay back, rubbed his face and ran his fingers through his thin hair.

The radio squealed alive. He clamped his hands over his ears.

“ATTACK IMMIN-” Light burst through the blackened windows.

Rumbling thunder crashed into his eardrums.

Then only ringing. The room trembled. The blast barged him to the floor as the glass shattered, firing at him, cutting his hands and head.

The last thing Mason saw before the heat and the fire was the blurred shape of a man in the corner of the room. Watching him.

Don’t miss this title:

Issue 35 | June 2019 |

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feature author Often referred to as “the teenage whisperer”, Hannah R. Goodman’s twenty-year career working with teenagers includes the titles teacher, tutor, coach, and, more recently, mental health counselor. Hannah has written essays about mental health for various online publications. Her work has appeared on MindBodyGreen, OC87 Recovery Diaries, Zencare. co, and The Mighty. Though she has previously earned the title author with her first three books, those were all were self-published. This time around, publisher Black Rose Writing released her novel Till It Stops Beating in July, 2018.

DigiTerra (an imprint of Black Rose Writing) released the boxed set of the first three Maddie books (The Maddie Chronicles: Books 1-3) in December 2018.

Literary Titan’s review praised Till It Stops Beating for “tackling a difficult issue like anxiety and making a story that was funny and sweet without making light of the issue.” Hannah is a member of ARIA (Association of Rhode Island Authors) as well as a graduate of Pine Manor College’s Solstice Program in Creative Writing where she earned an MFA in Writing For Young People. She resides in Bristol, RI with her husband, two daughters, and two cats—Woody and Zoe.

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Uncaged welcomes Hannah R. Goodman Uncaged: You’ve worked with teenagers in many ways including as a mental health counselor. You’ve incorporated some of that experience into your young adult novels. Can you tell readers more about your books?

The Maddie Chronicles, which is available in an ebook boxed set, is the first three books in the series (My Sister’s Wedding, My Summer Vacation, and Fear of Falling) featuring self-help book junky Maddie Hickman. In these books, Maddie sets out on a quest for self-understanding as she makes her way through the first three years of high school. In the beginning of her journey, her alcoholic sister and Bad Boy ex-boyfriend break her heart. As she tries to put the pieces back together, she finds herself facing a terrible tragedy, torn friendships, and family secrets. Threaded through these books is her relationship with her grandmother (Bubbie), whose words of wisdom, along with her trusty journal and therapist Josephine, prove to be all the selfhelp she really needs.

Till It Stops Beating is available in both ebook and paperback. It is the fourth book in the series and features Maddie making her way through her final year of high school. Her senior year begins with the good (the reemergence of The One That Got Away), the bad (a

cancer diagnosis, not hers, but it might as well be) and the WTF (an anxiety attack that renders her writhing on the floor like an upside-down crab). Adding to her spiraling anxiety is Senior Project, in the form of I’ve Decided To Write A Book about The Other One That Got Away (And Crushed My Heart). Compounding it all is applying to college and keeping up with her friends.

The ever-mounting stress eventually rips her tight grip on all that she holds dear. Her break down leads to an unexpected road trip where she is forced to listen to her wildly beating heart. It is only in the back of a convertible with pop music blasting, that she discovers she must risk everything in order to really live.

Uncaged: What are you working on next that you can tell us about?

I have two more Maddie books in the series. The next one is about post-high school life when she puts college on hold because of her mental health struggles. The final book in the series is about her life as a writer…she gets a book deal very young (totally not inspired by my life, obviously!).

out) the ever-changing technology of cell phones and social media. My Maddie books were written prior to 2010 (though the most recent, Till It Stops Beating, came out last year) and so the technology featured is pre-social media and pre-smartphone.

The easiest is seeing things through the eyes of the teenage mind...because part of me is perpetually 15!

Uncaged: Past or present, which authors would you love to sit and have lunch with and why?

Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary because they influenced me as a writer and a reader.

Uncaged: What did you consider your best marketing that you did for your book? What was the least successful?

Uncaged: When it comes to young adult books, what’s the hardest thing to write about? What is the easiest?

Truthfully, I have no idea...I try to be on social media a few days a week and avoid clogging people’s feeds with repetitive and in-your-face marketing strategies. I’ve sold books through Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook...still trying to figure it all out!

The hardest thing for me is incorporating (or leaving

Uncaged: What is one of the most unusual Issue 35 | June 2019 |

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| FEATURE AUTHOR | things that a reader has said to you about your books?

This is a really good question! Someone said that my books are “too real” and “too intense” and other folks have said that they were surprised at how my work can portray such serious themes with humor.

Uncaged: What do you like to do when you aren’t writing? Where is one of your favorite places on Earth?

When I’m not writing, I’m with my family or working as a psychotherapist. I also love cycling and being outside in any way possible. My favorite place is the little beach near my house.

Uncaged: What can you tell us that is very unique about you?

I’ve been a self-help book junky since the age of 13...

Uncaged: What would you like to say to fans, and where can they follow you?

Please reach out if you have read my book!

Stay Connected

Enjoy an excerpt from Till It Stops Beating Till it Stops Beating Hannah R. Goodman Young Adult Contemporary Seventeen-year-old Maddie Hickman’s senior year begins with the good (the reemergence of The One That Got Away), the bad (a cancer diagnosis, not hers, but it might as well be) and the WTF (an anxiety attack that renders her writhing on the floor like an upside down crab).

Adding to her spiraling anxiety is Senior Project, in the form of I’ve Decided To Write A Book about The Other One That Got Away (And Crushed My Heart).

Compounding it all is applying to college and keeping up with her friends. The ever mounting stress eventually rips her tight grip on all that she holds dear.

Her break down leads to an unexpected road trip where she is forced to listen to her wildly beating heart. It is only in the back of a convertible with pop music blasting, that she discovers she must risk everything in order to really live.

Excerpt CHAPTER ONE JELLY DOUGHNUTS September 15th

hannahrgoodman.com

Three weeks ago, today… we were kissing underneath the giant oak tree in my back yard… five months and four days ago we were in my car, holding hands, reminiscing about sophomore year when we were together…One year and nine months ago we were breaking up on my front lawn— “Friends, seniors, texters...” Mrs. Dubois plops two boxes of doughnuts onto her desk.

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| HANNAH R. GOODMAN | I slam my journal shut while the rest of the class shoves their phones in their pockets. “...lend me your ears…”

Leaning on my hand, visions of Justin, his blue-grey eyes…and chocolate doughnuts dance in my head…

“I come not to burden you but to help you…” Mrs. Dubois puts her hands together. “…with your college application essay.”

Everyone groans while I mumble, to no one in particular, “Chocolate glazed?” Because if I can’t be left alone to daydream and write about Justin, I better get a chocolate glazed.

“Thou doth protest too much!” She snatches both boxes and clutches them to her slender body, “Shut thy traps or lose thy doughnuts!”

The class stifles further moans. No one wants to sabotage Doughnut Day, the highlight of AP English so far, this year—aside from the soliloquies performed

by Lady Dubois. The Lady opens the boxes, revealing a cornucopia of sugar-dusted and glazed delights.

“One doughnut each!” she bellows. “In return, I want a one- page, rough draft of your personal statement.”

The entire class bustles up to her desk, barking at each other over who gets the chocolate glazed. I don’t bother to follow. With eighteen other seventeen-yearolds to compete with, my chances of snagging the very best doughnut flavor are not even slim, they’re just none. Kind of like my chances of having a relationship with Justin again. None. So, I bend my head and scribble “My Personal Statement” and chew my pen cap while my fellow classmates settle into their seats and munch on sticky doughnuts, only mildly better for you than a pen cap, but certainly tastier. I scratch out: My Personal Statement Because I hear thy muse, and she speaks in my mind:

Ode to the Asshole Who Broke My Heart But he’s not an asshole anymore, so that’s not right. Ode to The Former Asshole Who Broke My Heart Better.

Ode to The Boy Who Continues to Break My Heart But Probably Doesn’t Mean to Yes! The muse continues to sing inside my head, inspiration coming in the form of Lady Dubois’s doughnuts: No doughnut or pastry can distract me. I think of Him, continuously.

Why oh why can’t I stop this miserable shit— that makes me write this horrible bit?

A reformed bad boy Who’s been at Military school Returning home occasionally Each time making me a fool No text or phone call in between I know it’s not because he’s mean.

My true love finally has stopped his shitty ways So why oh why can’t we be together even if it’s not every day?

All I do is replay that kiss unable to let go of Him that I miss I am clearly hexed— ‘cause all I do is write crappy shit poetry and think about my ex.

The muse stops singing, so I look up …and see a friggin’ jelly doughnut in front of me. I shoot a glare at my best guy friend Peter, whose busy stuffing—you guessed it—a chocolate glazed into his mouth. “That’s for bailing on us this weekend,” he says, his mouth full of chocolate.

“Does the punishment really fit the crime?” I ask, wrinkling my nose at the jelly mess in front of me.

“Yes.” He downs the rest of the doughnut in one bite.

“I’ll make up for it after school!” My other best Issue 35 | June 2019 |

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| FEATURE AUTHOR | friend Susan leans over my shoulder, her short, blonde hair brushing my face as she plants a kiss on my cheek. “Chocolate chip cookies. With organic chips!”

I turn and give Susan a weak smile then stare back at the hole-less pastry …aha!…The muse, she sings again…of the repulsive doughnut! “Thank you, Peter!” I say, and he gives me a weird look then shrugs, and I dip my head down again and write: Jelly doughnuts don’t fit the part And there is a huge whole in my stupid, broken heart Peter leans across the aisle to my desk, his floppy brown hair falling over his eyes. “Thank me for what?”

“Nothing—” I say, closing my notebook. If he knew I was writing another Ode To That Whom We Do Not Speak Of… “Wanna bite?” Susan, says thrusting a vanilla cruller at me, her signature bright pink lipstick lining the bitten into doughnut.

I wrinkle my nose at her. “You’re not mad at me?”

“No. But, you do have to set a time limit to this whole feeling sorry for yourself thing.” And before I can protest, she sticks out a gloppy, doughnut- covered tongue at me and when I roll my eyes, she adds, “You don’t know what you’re missing, Hickman.”

“I’m not feeling sorry for myself!” I say and play with the loose paper dangling out of my spiralbound notebook.

“Sure, you’re not. I’ll take that off your hands.”

Peter nods to the doughnut in front of me.

I push the jelly mess towards him.

Lady Dubois booms from behind her desk. “Back 56 | UncagedBooks.com

to work! Isn’t that your second doughnut, Mr. Shaw?”

Peter hangs his head in ass-kissing shame. “Yes, M’lady! Sorry!” Once Lady Dubois moves on to her next victim, he dives into doughnut number two.

Jelly plops out onto his napkin and my hand flies over my mouth. Gross.

I vaguely hear Mrs. Dubois say something to the kid at her desk about “safeties” and “reaches,” a.k.a. That Which I Have No Interest In. Not safety nor reach or anything in between.

I go back to my journal, far more useful to me right now than a personal statement.

Justin and I can’t happen. I’ve gone over this a thousand times. I glance at Peter licking his fingers and then back at Susan, but just get the top of her blonde head as she furiously writes in her curly handwriting.

A shadow darkens over my desk. I have no idea how long she’s been there, but suddenly Lady Dubois is standing next to me saying: “A college essay in verse can certainly give you that extra boost in the eyes of admissions officers.”

That doughnut I didn’t eat seems to be stuck in my throat.

She has my notebook in her hands and is scanning the page. I open my mouth, but only a weird croak comes out and, whoops! The bell rings.

Lady sighs and hands me back my notebook. “Keep at it. And don’t forget, end it with a sense of hope.

Colleges like that.” My face burning, I nod, shove my notebook into my bag, and dart out with Peter and Susan trailing behind me. A sense of hope? Then the only thing that poem is good for is “my stupid broken heart.” . . . . .

After school, I’m sunk deep into Susan’s plush couch in her TV room, holding a plate of fragrant chocolate chip cookies. Baked in honor of me because of the jelly doughnut fiasco last period.

“The scent of chocolate helps depression,” Dr. Susan tells me from where she is perched on the arm of an oversized, orange chair.

My ears perk up. Susan and Peter nod at me and the plate of goodies, so I take a giant inhale… and promptly begin to cough. This makes them crack up

| HANNAH R. GOODMAN | until my cough turns into a fit, that’s when Susan leaps up and starts whacking me on the back while Peter starts screaming about the Heimlich maneuver.

“Guys! Stop! I’m fine.”

They both freeze and mumble, “Jesus you scared us” and “Just looking out for you.” Then squish themselves back into the chair, together this time. Attached at the hip is putting it mildly. Attached at the shoulder, thigh, hip, knee.

After a few moments of silence where we all catch our breath, Peter offers, “Chocolate also releases the same endorphins as making out.”

This makes the two of them giggle like seventh graders, while all I can think of with the words make out is— “Justin.” Oh, no. I said his name out loud.

“Ha! I told you so!” Peter shouts and leaps up, bumping Susan off the chair.

She crashes to the floor. “Hey!” “Sorry.” He points a finger at me. “But I knew it! And your essay was about That Who We Aren’t Supposed to Speak Of.” “It was a poem.” I correct him not even attempting to deny it. Why bother. These two know me better than I know myself.

Susan stands up, her nose ring gleaming in the florescent basement light. She gives him a light push.

“Leave her alone, Petey. Of course, she’s still recovering from the Return and Departure of Lover Boy.” She walks over and rubs my head. “It’s okay.” She takes a cookie and crashes next to me. I clutch the plate as the remaining cookies bounce.

Peter crosses his arms. “Maybe she needs to actually try and get over you-know-who.”

Susan smirks at him. “Cause you’re an expert on Getting Over Him? Um, wait…aren’t you in your first serious relationship?”

“What about Tim?” Peter hugs his arms tightly around himself.

We all take a long moment of silence: Tim was a closeted piece-of-shit- jock who hooked up with Peter on the down-low and when there was an inkling it might get out, Football Hero Tim beat the shit out of our Peter.

“That was not a relationship. That was a disaster.”

By the tone of her voice, Susan is clearly trying to lighten the mood.

“True.” Peter uncrosses his arms. “Anyway, karma is a bigger bitch than any of us—now he’s at some homophobic, religious school.”

“Oh, snap!” Susan reaches out to high-five Peter who then high fives me.

Mood lightened.

“Hold on.” Peter adds to Susan. “What about us?”

“Us?” Susan raises an eyebrow. “Honey, in case you forgot, you dumped me and then you came out. You’re one boy I couldn’t have and then two is The Total-Package, Shamus.”

We all shake our heads.

Back in the spring, just days before they were supposed to get matching tattoos, Susan caught The Total Package kissing an ex-girlfriend who had the very same tattoo that Susan was supposed to get.

The “yin” symbol to his “yang.”

She continues, “So that makes me the expert in Boys You Want But Can’t Be With. Not you.”

“Amen!” I declare and thrust a piece of cookie under my nose, happy that my stupid broken heart is out of the spotlight.

Peter snatches the cookie and the plate from me.

“Enough with sniffing the friggin’ cookies. You’re gonna inhale one up your nose and then we’re going to have to do the Heimlich for real.” He puts the plate on the coffee table.

“To my nose?” I cock my head at him. “You know what I mean.”

“Why am I getting the abuse?” I frown.

“Sorry,” Peter says and clasps his hands together.

“I just want you to be happy. Trying some tough love…and failing.” He plops down next to me and throws an arm around my shoulders.

“I say we take a break from all of this sad sack shit,” Susan reaches for the remote. “Let’s get our Dawson on. It will make you feel better, Maddie.”

Click. On screen Joey—with her annoying, puppydog-pained expression—explains to Dawson why she kissed Pacey, even though she was supposed to Issue 35 | June 2019 |

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| FEATURE AUTHOR | now be with Dawson (and not Pacey).

Finger wagging at the TV, I say, “This stupid love triangle goes on for the entire Dawson series…”

“And it never gets old,” Susan throws a knowing glance at me.

“But these characters actually never change,” I protest. “Subtract the love triangle but add Boy I Can’t Get Over, and Welcome to Maddie’s Creek.” “Shhhh,” Peter whispers, squeezing my shoulder with his eyes still on the screen.

I lean into Peter and watch Dawson and Joey cry on the screen now. Most boys I know don’t cry, yet another reason this show annoys me…on top of the fact that Dawson and Joey never seem to get over their teeny bop love, even when they’re practically adults…Justin and I were together when we were freshmen and sophomores…I’m a senior for god sake, and he doesn’t even go to school here, and I’m still busy waiting and pining…hanging on to one stupid make out session…

How does Dawson eventually get over Joey? He dates another girl…My god what have I been doing for the past year and nine months? Not going out with guys…at least ones I like…of which there has been two, at most.

Which makes me realize something. “Guys!”

“Shhh!” Susan says. “This is the best part—” Susan mouths along with Dawson, “All that matters right now is what you want.”

“F- Dawson and his stupid creek! I’m having an epiphany!” “Can you just wait, like, two minutes?” Susan says.

“No!” I reach for the remote.

“Hells-to-the-no!” Susan snatches it back.

Peter and Susan (together as Dawson) recite, “You want him like I want you. You love him like I love you. Only the difference is, he loves you back the same way.”

A tear falls from Susan’s face. Peter sucks his breath in. “Are you guys kidding me?”

Peter turns away from the TV. “I just can’t watch the rest.”

“Good!” I pluck the remote from Susan’s hand.

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“’Cause it’s time for Maddie’s Creek, okay?”

Neither of them protests. I click off the TV. I stand and face them, pointing a finger. “Listen to me: I can’t keep doing the same thing—” I think so fast I almost miss it. “I’m gonna go out with a boy.

Not just any boy, either. Someone I like.”

“Really?” they ask together. “Today?” “Soon.”

“Okayyyy,” they say, slowly, I practically see the radar signals between them. “Who?” “I don’t know.” That cute guy who sits in front of me in Physics? Or maybe the other editor of the literary magazine, with the puppy eyes? Why can’t I remember anyone’s name?

“We’ll help you!” Peter says.

“Yes…mmmm.” I pace back and forth in front of them. “No. The one time I let you do that…”

“Oh, come on. Roy was sweet.” Susan pipes in.

I stop pacing and shake my head. “His breath smelled of moth balls and…he farted on the date. I mean, come on.”

“Valid point.” Peter taps his chin. “How about Charlie?” I make a who’s-that face.

“Come on, Maddie.” Susan reaches out and tugs at my arm. “Adorable Physics Charlie who always asks you for your mechanical pencil?”

“Maybe.” That’s his name!

I squat in front of them and they lean in close as I tell them, “Most of all…I’m gonna stop writing bad poetry about Justin…and stop replaying the make out session we had.” Our hands and mouths roaming all over each other, telling me that he still loved me.

They look at me funny but then burst into applause, and I leap up and take a bow, as Susan says with a smile, “You know, I think this year Maddie’s Creek is going to be a whole lot more interesting than Dawson’s!”

fang-FREAKIN-tastic reviews

feature author

welcomes

Jojo Strange

| FANG-FREAKIN-TASTIC FEATURE AUTHOR |

I was born January 6, 1968 in Wayne, Michigan. Just outside Detroit.

Doing the math, I realized I was conceived during the Summer Of Love, 1967. The high peak of Hippy history. I share birthdays with Norman Reedus AKA Daryl from The Walking Dead.

When I was about 4 or 5 my family moved to Palatka, Florida. The Bass Capitol of the South.

About halfway down the St. John’s River.

I lived in the Orlando-Tampa area most of my adult life. When I’m not on the road, I live in Morgantown, West Virginia. Homebase of the company I work for.

I played with writing since my 30s. I started seriously writing about 10 years and 4 laptops ago.

After a conversation with a close friend discussing movies, he encouraged me to write my stories down. I had a winter off and wrote one out, longhand in a spiral notebook. Then wrote 2 more over the next 3 months of off time.

Over the course of the next 4 or 5 years, I wrote 5 or 6 more screenplays. Only to find out I couldn’t sell any of them because I didn’t know how to properly write a screenplay.

I decided to write a book because there wasn’t a format like with screenplays. Books can be written more freely. I wrote my first book, ‘The Diary Of A Mad Zombie Killer’ in first person narrative.

I’ve always liked the style. You can write the way the character talks. Which means you can ignore 60 | UncagedBooks.com

some writing rules.

In between writing the ‘Diary’ books, I am rewriting the screenplays into books. My first Non-Zom story is called ‘Key Qwest’. Also available from Kindle. I describe it as ‘National Treasure’ and ‘The Da Vinci Code’ meet up ‘5 O’Clock Somewhere’.

I’m a self-professed music and movie geek. I love Star Wars and I’m a Southern Rock Junkie.

Why don’t you start with telling us a little about the ‘Diary Of A Mad Zombie Killer’?

It’s the story of Jojo Strange. Before the Zombie Apocalypse AKA the Zombilypse, Jojo was a semifamous B-List stand up comic who did magic and juggling. The story follows him as he navigates the wastelands of America in a stolen 1959 Cadillac convertible to meet other survivors. They find a shopping center in Nebraska and turn it into the Eastwood Settlement. They work to rebuild society in a revamped, better version of the old ways. All while dealing with zombies and rogue humans.

While we’re on the subject, why zombies?

I wanted to do a Post-Apoc story. I’ve always been intrigued with the idea. Steven King’s ‘The Stand’ being one of my favorite books on the subject. Along with ‘The Postman’ with Kevin Costner.

I worked out the different ways to end society.

Nuclear holocaust, economic collapse, super disease, etc. I just thought, ‘Zombies are so much fun’. Unlike the other ways, even after the initial disaster, zombies are a threat. With the nuclear deal, you just avoid the areas hit. A super disease would die out. Zombies can hide in places. Open a door and surprise! Zombie!

| JOJO STRANGE | interesting. I’ve never seen Graceland, the Grand Canyon or Mt. Rushmore, but, I have drove past the exits to them.

On a scale of ‘Walking Dead’ stumbling zombies and ‘World War Z’ ‘We’re all screwed’ zombies, where are your zombies? Give us a rundown on them.

If you had one line to sum up the feeling of the ‘Diary Of A Mad Zombie Killer’, what would it be?

I reckon about halfway. Somewhere on the scale close to ‘28 Days Later’.

The basis of the disease in my story is a scientifically altered disease using Mad Cow and Rabies. Rumor has it the disease was created by the government and accidently released.

The zombies, or Zedwords, have different qualities. Just like they had when they were human. Some being fast, but not smart. Some are strong, but, not so fast. Some are smart, but not strong. They seem to use predator tactics to hunt.

Just because it’s the end of the world doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world.

Any last words or shout outs?

You can contact me through my Facebook Author page, ‘I’m Jojo Strange and I’m a freakin’ Author’. Shout out to the Zombie Response Team page on Facebook.

What do you hope to achieve with your writing?

I want to say it’s to entertain people. I want to transport them to other worlds. Change the way you look at the human beings and all the usual writer ‘For The Art Form’ BS. That’s mostly true for me.

But, secretly, I want to make enough money so I can become self-supporting as a writer and quit working for The Man. I’m tired of working for a living. I’m tired and want to retire. I really didn’t think I was gonna live this long and didn’t plan ahead.

I want my biggest decision of the day to be ‘Should I wear pants or write in my underwear’.

Name one item on your Bucket List.

Great movie, BTW. I have drove all over the country for my work.

There is only about 9 or 10 states I have never been in. Hawaii and Alaska being 2, along with the far North-West and New England past New York or Massachusetts. I want to see, at least, all of the Lower 48.

I want to be able to take a year off and drive cross country. No schedule. No interstates. Make a run down old Route 66. Stop when I see something

Enjoy an excerpt from The Diary of a Mad Zombie Killer The Diary of a Mad Zombie Killer Jojo Strange Humorous/Horror From the curator of the Museum of Lost Pre-Zombie History, We have recently recovered a journal from an individual by the name of Jacob Jonah Strange. He told us it was handed down to him from his father, Lucas Micah Strange and his aunt, Leia Suzanne Strange.

The author is his grandfather. This journal starts in the first weeks of the Zombilypse that occurred back in the early 21st century. It is the memoirs Issue 35 | June 2019 |

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| FANG-FREAKIN-TASTIC FEATURE AUTHOR | of a self-proclaimed zombie killer, Joseph Jonah ‘Jojo’ Strange from the area known once as Tampa, Florida. We have edited and abridged it, excluding chapters that were just every day entries to keep the storyline cohesive.

I hope you can enjoy and learn from these historical stories.

Editor and Head Curator, Dr. Austin HammerSmythe, Harvard-Yale University, Phoenix, Ar. 125 A.Z. Excerpt In The Beginning Okay, let’s see...

My location is south of Pensacola, Fla. Pensacola Bay Bridge.

The date is somewhere between the last week of January and St. Valentine’s Day About a month after the outbreak.

I want to record my thoughts, observations, and theories. Keep track of things. I reckon I could call it a journal or trip log... Or maybe a diary. Yeah...

Diary. Diary sounds informal. Journal and trip log sound so... Official... So, diary it is. This is my Post-Apocalypse Diary.

Well, hell, how do I begin? A good story hinges on the first line.

Call me Ishmael... No, that’s been done...

It was a dark and stormy night... Sorry, Snoopy...

Well, as the Good Witch Glenda once said, ‘It’s always best to begin at the beginning’.

I’ll just start out informative and slowly descend into insanetive.

I have just invented a new word.

[Insanetive- Sounds like useful information, but, yet, totally isn’t.]

I left Tampa about a week and a half ago. It’s been about a month since the Outbreak. The info I could get off phone calls to out of state friends, cable TV and the Internet before it went out about 2 weeks ago is as follows...

Major disruptions in cities with large populations. Riots filled with scared and sick humans.

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Reports I find hard to believe involving sick humans attacking other humans to infect them.

From what I gather the outbreaks are a result of a human infected with Mad Cow Disease mixed with Rabies. Apparently, the Mad Cow infected bovine was bit by a rabid racoon. Then someone ate the cow.

Then human eats human. I don’t know if that’s the true true. I don’t know enough about diseases to even know if that’s possible. Should have read more Robin Cook, instead of Elmore Leonard, I reckon. My inner conspiracy theorist is screaming...

I think the Government finally lost control of one of their pet diseases and the Mad Cow/Rabies thing is the cover up.

What’s my story so far you might ask...? Let’s see...

Been on the road for about a week...

It’s been 6 days since I’ve seen a shower. 5 days since I’ve had a hot meal. 4 days since I’ve smoked a joint. 3 days since I saw a black man hanging from a rope in Gainesville. 2 days since a woman with a little girl offered me a BJ for a can of pork and beans.

[I just gave her 3 cans and rode away.]

It’s been 1 day since I had to kill someone that tried to kill me.

For the last 6 hours, I’ve thought about suicide.

It would be easy. No one to stop me from jumping off this bridge. At least a hundred foot drop. Just lean over too far and…

Wile E. Coyote.

I mean seriously... It’s the end of the world... I didn’t give a shit before it hit the fan. Why start now? Why should I have survived? When Jake didn’t. He’s the only anything in the world I cared about...

If anyone should ever see this, please don’t judge me for what I’m about to tell you. It’s hard enough to admit this. It plays nightly in my head. I feel the guilt, like a million years of bad acts… I killed Jake. My big brother.

Damn it, Jake. I love you, Bro. I hope you can forgive me.

He came home from the bar one night. Showed me a bite mark on his hand. It looked human! He told me he had a fight with some crazy homeless dude outside of a bar called Show Town. 2 nights later, around 1 AM or so, I came out of my house trailer in the back

| JOJO STRANGE | yard to find him standing in the moonlight. Jake was covered in blood. His eyes were empty. He looked at me like a rabid Doberman looking at a baby. Shirt covered in blood. Dripping from his chin. I keep telling myself, it’s a prank. You know Jake… That’s when I saw his girlfriend.

All I could think was...

‘Oh, my god, Jake, what have you done’?

I don’t remember her name. She hadn’t been around long enough for me to bother. I always gave his dates a numerical designation. Her I just called, Recepticle # 238. Jake laughed at that. Jake was a player. The Redneck Romeo.

[He had a lot of girlfriends, at one time or another.

He always seemed to meet his dates at the grocery store. He used to refer to a break up as, ‘Time to go shopping’.] #238 was hanging over the railing of the deck. At least, the top half was. The bottom half, Jake was pulling out of the pool. There was a severed finger tangled in his beard. I presumed it was hers. I must have bumped something, because he turned and growled at me. When Jake came at me, I reacted, reflexively, like a little brother. I dipped and dodged Jake.

Yelling at him.

“What are you doing, dude? Stop! Jake, don’t make me hurt you”!

He didn’t say a word. None of the usual jokes. He just growled at me.

He kept coming at me. No matter what I did to shake him off. I ended up hitting him with a shovel we kept by the fire pit. It took 3 shots to kill Jake. One last one to finish him. I just collapsed and cried.

My whole life, I never killed anything, except fish, skeeters, weed, and time.

I finally cleared my head a hour or so later. When I realized what I had done, I found my cell and, doing another thing I have never done in my life, called the cops. When I was connected, there was a message saying to please hold. Apparently, all lines were busy.

I spent 2 days waiting on hold with the phone on speaker. 5-0 never showed. Day 3, Jake was starting to stink. I threw some wood into the pit, then, I rolled him into it and piled a bunch of wood on top of him.

Poured on a mixture of gasoline and 5 bottles of that

nasty ass corner store vodka that Jake loved. After one last check in with 911 and no response, I tossed the phone in the pit. Then I lit the whole thing on fire. Sat upwind and said good bye to his spirit, while I added some weed smoke to it and drank from a bottle of 50 year old Jack Daniels that our Grandpa left us. We were saving it for a special occasion.

A viking funeral and an Irish wake, all in one sitting.

My trailer looked like a white trash Batcave. I had all 3 TVs going. One on CNN, #2 on regular channels, #3 playing every Apocalypse movie I own on the DVD player for inspiration. 2 computer monitors trolling Google, Youtube, Liveleak, and Facebook for the news they weren’t telling us on regular news outlets. 4 notebooks of research. By the time the Information Super Highway turned into the Information Dirt Road, I knew what was going on, but, didn’t want to say it out loud. Mainly, because even when I say it in my head I feel like an idiot. Screw it... I’ll say it... It’s the Apocalypse...

Armageddon... The End Of The World...

Or the Beginning of a new one.

After a day or 3 of wandering the area and finding nothing but half eaten bodies and some freaky neighborhood secrets, I got bored. I decided I had to head out. My truck ain’t running and it didn’t feel right taking Jake’s Lincoln, so I pulled out my trusty beach cruiser. I gave it a check up, packed a bag, and headed out with my vintage Ben Pearson compound bow strapped to the handlebars. Figured, worse comes to worst, I could always hunt some dog or cat. Doesn’t hurt the Chinese. Cracker got to eat, right?

Took me 2 days to get out of Hillsborough County. Got shook down by a rogue deputy sheriff on a horse, near the fairgrounds. He didn’t take much, a few cans of food and the last of my weed. Asshole! He did say something I had been thinking.

I have been hesitating to use the word, but, damn it, if it quacks like a duck… The most ludicrious thing I have ever thought of...

Zombie...

The zombie apocalypse...

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| FANG-FREAKIN-TASTIC FEATURE AUTHOR | The Zombilypse.

Who would have thunk it? All the stuff humans come up with to kill other humans…

Chemical waste, drugs, nuclear devices, guns, McDonald’s…

And the downfall of society was brought on by something absurd. Something out of the movies.

To a movie geek like me, it’s like saying super smart apes or aliens.

Fricking zombies?

After spending a goodly portion of the day on the bridge, not committing suicide, I decided I was hot, thirsty, and out of cigarettes. I trundled the bike to the end of the bridge and found an off ramp leading to a store. It was cleaned out. I managed to find some water in the coffee machine and drank it like it was sweet tea from Grandma Heaven.

Found a couple of candy bars that someone must have kicked under the lip of the shelf. The commercial was right. They do satisfy. Got a couple of packs of smokes and a billy club behind the counter. I walk out to the bike and standing nearby is a human. I think. It’s hard to tell from a distance.

I ‘Psssst’ in their direction. The person turns towards me and I see it...

Blood. All over his face and shirt.

No doubt about it… You’re a zombie bitch alright.

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Uncaged Reviews A Total Mismatch

Madelaine Grant Contemporary Romance

ice cream.

Fate brings polar opposites Samantha (Sam) Peabody and Jordan Hart together. Free spirit Sam is an artist, occasional belly dancer, and sloppy housekeeper while Jordan is a lawyer, fitness and neatness freak, and lover of

The one thing they have in common is their dislike of big, fussy weddings.

Uncaged Review: A fun romance book featuring Sam a shy insecure girl who does not know her right from left. But hides a hidden talent that will become public very soon. Just not for the right reasons. I thought Sam’s character was quirky and adorable. This was such a fun book to read.

Reviewed by Jennifer

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Junkyard Druid M.D. Massey Urban Fantasy Name’s Colin McCool. Folks call me the Junkyard Druid. I hate that name.

Despite my last name, I’m not “cool” like the other hunters in town. I don’t run an occult bookstore, I’ve never owned a Harley, and I didn’t inherit a family fortune passed down through generations of hunters before me.

And I kind of have this curse on me that’s messed up my life.

Uncaged Review: Colin McCool is trying to live his life and go to college. His years as a Hunter did not end well, with his partner dying, by his own hand.

Colin was cursed by an evil witch who is trying to get back on everyone in his bloodline. This is a well written story, although I didn’t get a good handle on Colin as I’d like with his powers and his angst was a little over the top at times but I enjoyed his snarky attitude even though he seemed too young at times. But I enjoyed the story well enough to keep reading the series, and I liked the 2nd half of the book as it really picked up from there. Reviewed by Cyrene

Shadowspell Academy: The Culling Trials Breene & Mayer Young Adult/Urban Fantasy You Don’t Choose The Academy. The Academy Chooses You. I had no idea how those words would change my life. Or how they’d changed my life already…

Until the day the most dangerous man I’ve ever met waltzed onto my farm and left us a death sentence.

In an invitation.

Uncaged Review: This first book in this promising new series starts out a tad slow for me, as I’m a heavy reader into this genre. Wild is tossed into a world she never knew existed, and so we are learning about this magical world as she does – and that was part of my own issues with the story. The reader is in the dark as long as Wild is. When the Assassins come for her younger brother Billy, Wild fakes it as a boy and takes his place, because her older brother Tommy died in the academy and she won’t risk her little brother. To get into the academy, everyone must go through The Culling Trials, one for each of the five houses. This book takes you through one of them.

Think of an extreme version of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire meets The Hunger Games.

I enjoyed the characters and I think this is a series that will get better and better. Wild is a strong lead, and her rag tag team that she bands with are well thought out and likeable. The action and the sequences were well done and I’m looking forward to the next book.

Reviewed by Cyrene

When a Laird Loves a Lady Julie Johnstone Medieval Historical Romance A need to belong drives her. A longing to forget compels him.

Fate may send them into each other’s arms, but only love can mend their hearts.

Uncaged Review: My first time reading a book from this author, and I am hooked. This book is a bit longer than most books these days, coming in a bit over 400 pages, but there was very little “fat” in this book. Everything mattered.

Our heroine of the story, Marion, tries to fake her own death to get away from her evil father trying to marry her off to a greedy man, just to gain him as an ally to try and other throw the King. When she is rescued by Iain, a big Scot, she learns that he was coming to marry her to by word from the King. Seeing no other option, Marion agrees.

This is a story of love, courage, danger, suspense and family. The author does a good job with keeping the reader turning the pages, from danger in Iain’s castle for Marion, to her cruel father and man who wants to capture her and bring her back to England.

My only negative to this book was Iain’s inability to let go of his dead wife’s memory, I think that aspect was taken on a bit too long, but overall, this was a good read and I look forward to the next in the series. Reviewed by Cyrene

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Uncaged Reviews Dark Awakening S.K. Ryder Paranormal

Only You Elizabeth St. Michel Historical Regency

Reality as he knows it is about to change--into a nightmare without end.

Nicholas, heir to the Duke of Rutland, has been kidnapped. Imprisoned aboard a Portuguese slaver, Nicholas learns that his family members have been either captured or slain—but a mysterious woman

A mysterious black mega yacht drops anchor off Saint Barthélemy’s idyllic Caribbean shores. The profound sense of unease the vessel stirs in resident Dominic Marchant turns out to be justified. When he accidentally kills a man while rescuing his sister from a brutal assault, he draws the sinister attention of the yacht’s ancient and powerful master Uncaged Review: I’ve read the entire Dark Destinies series and this prequel is going back and showing us how Dominic became a vampire, and the origins are dark, gritty, raw and horrible for Dominic. Like the rest of the series, this book is fast paced and after reading this prequel, I have even more love for the Dominic I came to know in the full series. A worthy prequel to the series.

For those who read this first before the series, this series gets better with each installment and will satisfy even the strongest of the vampire fans. Reviewed by Cyrene

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allays his despair Fellow prisoner Alexandra has overheard that his family is safe. But can he believe her? She claims to be a woman of status, but as she cannot prove her story, Nicholas assumes she is a thief. They are in the same predicament, however, and he and Alexandra form a friendship.

Uncaged Review: This story jumped out in the first chapter – and did a great job holding my attention though out the book. A timeless love story, but there is a lot going on. Suspense on several levels, danger on almost every turn – but there is also love, family and romance. When Nicholas and Alexandra are both captive on a ship that is hurled into a hurricane – they are washed up on a deserted island as the only survivors thanks to the genius of Alexandra. They will need each other to survive…and to fall in love.

I’m not giving anything away, but you have a cruel stepmother, a dashing heir to the Dukedom, and his wonderful family, a deserted island with its own secrets and it reminds me a lot of a mix of Cinderella meets Robinson Crusoe. The only negative to the story is the multiple grammatical errors, but it didn’t detract from the wonderful story. Reviewed by Cyrene

Rodeo Summer Jillian Neal

Western Romance Summer Sanchez has a plan…

Get full custody of her little boy from his good-for-nothing father and get as far away from the rodeo circuit as possible. Keeping her son safe is her only priority. She’ll figure out the rest later.

Until Austin Camden takes her to his bed…

Champion bull rider, Austin Camden, shows her just how much she’s been missing. His rugged good looks, whiskysmooth voice and very capable hands set her on fire. He has more bedroom skill than she ever believed could be housed in one man. If she isn’t careful, she may never recover.

Uncaged Review: A cocky cowboy and a down-onher-luck cowgirl. Western romance lovers will have no trouble falling for this book and the characters. I thought the romance was a little too fast, there wasn’t much tension to speak of, but the suspenseful elements and seeing the two people learn to trust each other was heartwarming. The author does a great job with the dialect. As a person that’s been in the horse world all my life, it was entertaining to hear some of the language in a book that I’ve heard in real life.

Real cowboys will say “Yes Ma’am” and hold doors open, but they can also make a sailor blush.

Undone by the Earl Elizabeth Rue Historical Regency

He didn’t want a wife...

But he needed one. Former hellraiser and infamous rogue Adrian Sinclair is ready to prove he’s a changed man. He vows to atone for his past by fulfilling his duties as the new Earl of Wareton--which includes choosing a wealthy, suitable wife. When he takes charge of his cousin’s home, his first priority is marrying off his cousin’s troublesome stepsister. However, the more time he spends with the unconventional beauty, the harder it is to deny the attraction he feels. While she’s anything but suitable, she’s everything he wants.

Uncaged Review: What a wonderful debut novel. My only gripe is that there wasn’t an epilogue, but I know the author is planning the second book with these wonderful characters so I’ll have to suck it up and wait. This book for me was spot on, it ensnared me from the first chapter all the way to the end. The author does a wonderful job with some twists and turns, especially at the end – and a little danger tossed in for good effect. Even though Adrian was too serious and stodgy a lot of the time, Edmund made up for it.

Well done, Ms. Rue. Reviewed by Cyrene

Don’t go thinking this is a sweet western romance, this is a “stand in front of the fan” sexy romance and it’s not going to be sitting on a table in a church or in your Grandmother’s book club. But if you like a nice romance with a bit of danger and suspense along with a HEA, than this book may just be what you’re looking for. Reviewed by Cyrene

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Uncaged Reviews Controlled Burn

Lynda J. Cox Western Historical A freak accident takes away every memory of Allison Adams’s life for the past decade. It also leaves her sightless. She isn’t sure of anything, not even who she has been for the past ten years, but when the man claiming to be her husband holds her, it feels familiar and right. How can she be certain this is where she belongs?

Uncaged Review: This is a page turner, despite me not reading heavily into this genre, the author grabs you right away and you are thrown into the old west.

The scenes and people leap off the pages as if you are there with them. The author breathes authenticity to the era – in a way that keeps us grounded in the fact that even though life was harsher back then, the power of love has never changed.

This is a story about second chances, and holding on to the strength of the love that both A.J. and Allison have for each other. They will need to overcome a lot of hurt and past issues along with their latest setbacks to fall in love again, and to get their HEA. If you normally don’t read this genre, this author may make you a fan. Reviewed by Cyrene

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An Angel’s Unintensional Entanglement Tena Stetler Paranormal Romance

Fallen warrior angel, Caden Silverwind, lives alone in Colorado’s rugged Rockies, healing from physical wounds as well as the mental anguish suffered during battles with dark demons.

Then he finds a woman barely clinging to life after a horrendous beating. He is not prepared for the entanglement she brings to his life, nor the feelings she awakens in him.

Uncaged Review: A really satisfying book that hits out of the gate at a good pace, and keeps the pace throughout the book. This is the 4th book in a series, but it reads very well as a standalone. The characters are easy to like – so you are rooting for them early on.

Fallen angel Caden, is trying to recuperate his soul from battling dark demons. Alone in the Rockies, he finds a woman, Mystic, beaten almost to death. As he heals her and starts to unwind who she is, and why she was attacked, then the book really starts humming along. Good suspense and action, and it will be hard to put this one down and leaves you with a satisfying ending. Reviewed by Cyrene

Dirty Laundry J.D. Monroe Fantasy Short

Charity Pierson is a southern-bred monster hunter, made of equal parts sugar, sass, and Southern Comfort.

Trouble has a way of finding her, even when she’s not looking. In this exciting prequel short story to the upcoming novel SWEET CHERRY PIE, Charity finds herself on the hunt for a family of ghouls terrorizing a small town in Alabama. However, Charity quickly learns that the locals may be more of a threat than the restless undead.

Uncaged Review: This short prequel introduces us to Charity, who is a monster hunter, and in this quick read, she dispatches a family of ghouls that are picnicking on people’s pets. It’s a quick read and you get a good sense of her personality and getting a pair of her favorite jeans blood-free.

What I didn’t get from the story, is what she does for a living. Does someone pay her to hunt monsters?

Does she have a regular job? So there are a few things that I had questions on, some that might have shed some light better on her, but it does give a good idea of where the author is going with this series. I do look forward to the first full length book in the series.

Reviewed by Cyrene

White Pawn

Ingrid Seymour Paranormal Bianca is a Trove. Her blood is so powerful it allows vampires to stroll in the sunlight.

She lives a socialite life of masquerades, governesses and flirting with eligible men like the handsome thief, Nyro Stonehelm, who openly defies the vampire King and Queen.

Uncaged Review: This is a very cleverly written book, with a very cool theme using the game of chess as the backstop. Bianca is a Trove, whose blood would enable a vampire to walk in the sun and is a highly desired prize to the vampires as blood slaves. The only way she’s been able to hide it is the fact that she is taking a plant called bloodshade, that hides her scent from vampires. When she loses everything to the Black King, she joins the Court of the White Queen, with revenge on her agenda. She will have to make it through the ranks to be able to fight the White Queen, take her place and destroy the Black King. But it’s going to be an uphill battle.

I liked the theme and the characters – the author does a real nice job with the pacing of the book.

This is not a romance, but maybe in the books to come? Great beginning to a good series.

Reviewed by Cyrene

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Uncaged Reviews Trial of a Warrior

Who the Marquess Dares to Desire

A warrior sentenced to die.

A man bent on revenge. A woman with a shadowed past. Together, they must face down a common foe.

Mary Morgan Fantasy Romance

On trial for breaking a supreme Fae law, Fenian Warrior, Liam MacGregor has no regrets. He is prepared to accept his sentence— even if it means his death. However, freedom comes in an unexpected manner, and brings with it certain dangers as he travels through the Veil of Ages.

A princess honor-bound to remain hidden.

Uncaged Review: As we jump back into the world of the Fenian Warriors, this time out we go with Liam on his tortured journey. And I was captivated.

I was yearning for Liam’s story, and this one doesn’t disappoint, it’s already my favorite of the series.

Past characters return, we meet and fall in love with Princess Abela and Liam, we learn some secrets that were unknown to this point, and the author weaves enough mystery and suspense that keeps the reader turning the pages. There are some heart wrenching moments – but it was the beautiful moments that had me grabbing my tissue box.

Clear your schedule, and get ready for a late night reading once you pick up this book – you won’t want to put it down. You can read it as a standalone, but to get the full effect of this wonderful world of Fenian Warriors, I recommend you start at the beginning.

Reviewed by Cyrene

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Tabetha Waite Historical Regency

Miss Clara Upton has always been different. Society shuns her for her mismatched eyes.

But when she is offered the chance at a proper London season, she isn’t about to waste a good opportunity. She knows the odds of ensnaring a husband for herself are rather slim, but she vows to do whatever is necessary to give her twin sister, Cora, a better life. So, when a shady figure from her childhood resurfaces, threatening her with blackmail, Clara has no choice but to comply with his demands or suffer the consequences.

Uncaged Review: This is my first read by this author, and I can honestly say, I hope it’s not my last.

The characters are well flushed out and likeable, the romance is allowed to brew and the storyline with the suspense is just enough to keep your interest. One part of the book that was a bit of a letdown was the danger element, it seemed to be solved too easily, but when a lot of the happy parts of an ending in a book is rushed, this author takes her time and gives the story a proper send off, and the epilogue sets up the next book nicely. Reviewed by Cyrene

Seductive Secrets

Elizabeth Rose Medieval Historical

Can a strong woman who is determined to catch a thief accomplish her task before a dashing knight steals her heart away?

Uncaged Review: For the second book in this series, we are following Willow’s story. Even though these are part of a series, this book does well as a standalone, but there are instances and characters mentioned from the first book that will enhance this story for you, so I really recommend you start at the beginning with Fia’s story to get all the background.

I can honestly say, I couldn’t stand Willow in the beginning of this book – but out of respect for the author, I hung in there and kept reading. She acted like a spoiled brat who thought of no one but herself.

But as I read, I saw the transformation take place and watched the growth of Willow. Blessed with the powers of persuasion, in the beginning she only used the ability to get what she wanted – but later on uses it to help catch a thief. There are some good twists and turns that did surprise me, and the author managed to change my feelings about Willow. So even if you don’t like Willow in the beginning, keep reading – it’s worth it in the end. Reviewed by Cyrene

Babies at Coconuts

Beth Carter Contemporary Romantic Comedy For Fans of My Big Fat Greek Wedding (Italian-style!)

A clash of cultures.

A chaotic wedding.

A surprise baby.

Just another day at Coconuts.

Coordinating the most joyous day of her son’s life should be easy. After all, Suzy is a wedding planner.

But a meddling future mother-in-law wasn’t on the checklist. A wacky rehearsal dinner, a beach wedding, and a baby—not necessarily in that order—ensures bedlam, if not hilarity, among the two head-butting moms. The show must go on, with or without the wedding party.

Uncaged Review: Getting tossed back into the Coconuts gang seems to hit my happy place.

The ladies are back, and this time out we have Suzy planning her son’s wedding - but she didn’t count on the mother-in-law from Italy – hijinks ensue. And when the very pregnant ex-girlfriend attends….it’s like a time bomb on a fast ticker at the wedding. There are quite a few laugh out loud moments – and some twists that I didn’t see coming and a fun surprise ending. Although these books can read as a standalone, my question is why would you? This is a fantastic series, and get the most you can out of these wonderful characters and read the first two books. Everyone should have friends like these ladies in their lives, the kind that will drop whatever their doing to have your back, and will make you laugh along the way. I can’t wait for the next book to drop, and since I stalk the author on social media, I know she is working hard on the next installment, so I can refrain from chaining her to her computer. :) Reviewed by Cyrene

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Fang-Freakin-Tastic Reviews Diary of a Mad Zombie Killer Jojo Strange Dark Humor/Horror 2 zombies are eating a standup comic...

One says to the other, ‘Does this taste funny to you’?

2 zombies walk into a bar.

The first one says, ‘Grr grumble grr grr”.

The second one says, “Shut up, Bob, yer drunk”.

How many zombies does it take to change a lightbulb?

All it takes is one bite.

My name is Jojo Strange, stand up comic, juggler, magician and shifty no-good lay about.

If you are reading this, I must be dead...

Fang-Freakin-Tastic Review: I can happily say, without a shadow of a doubt, this is one of my favorite zombie books I’ve ever read. Between the action, the humor, and the creativity, it has everything I needed to make this book not just enjoyable, but memorable as well.

One of the many great things about Diary of a Mad Zombie Killer is the main character, Jojo.

Jojo is the kind of person I would happily share a meal or a beer with. He’s the kind of guy I’d love to have as a neighbor or friend. He doesn’t beat around the bush and he can find the humor in most situations. He was a comedian before the SHTF (Shit Hit the Fan) and it shows. He’s a good guy, not just deep down, but also on the surface. He has the philosophy of “Think like a hippy, react like a hillbilly.” I honestly can’t think of a bad thing to say about him. He treats people how he wants to be treated and doesn’t put up with others being treated badly.

A few more of Jojo’s finer qualities: he has crea-

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tive terminology. Aside from the previously mentioned SHTF, I’ve learned you can Smink (Smoke and think), a good name for what is going on is The Zombilypse. These are just a couple examples, but there are plenty more. He also has great taste in music. One of my favorite things is when I’m reading a book and come across a Beastie Boys reference.

This book is about more than just the zombie apocalypse. It’s about the interpersonal relationships that develop during a catastrophe, the human evil that will come out when the opportunity presents itself and the rebuilding of society. If there were ever some kind of apocalypse, I would only hope to survive long enough to find a community like the one Jojo and his new-found friends establish. It has something of a utopian feel to it.

There is plenty of action in Diary of a Mad Zombie Killer. Plenty. Icy and Kelly Mac are two of the baddest chicks I’ve ever read about. I love that Jojo doesn’t let their age dissuade him from letting them participate in the things they are good at.

Unfortunately, there are some serious villains in this book. As with any situation where people are allowed to let their ugly have free reign, some show their of darkest hearts and should be dealt with accordingly. This plays into the action I mentioned above. I don’t want to give anything away though, so I can’t be more specific. I will say there are a few heartbreaking (for me) moments that made me want to jump into the book and kick some ass myself, but since that wasn’t an option, I just had to yell at my Kindle instead and trust in the characters as best they could.

Overall, this really is one of the best zombie stories I’ve read. It’s nice and long too, so it’s not the kind of book that gets you all worked up excited and then drops you. I most definitely recommend it to anyone who loves zombie books with humor.

Blood Lust Rhys A. Wilcox Paranormal Cameron Mortice has always taken the path of least resistance, which usually means he does nothing. So predictably, when he, his girlfriend and her friends get dragged into a full-scale vampire invasion he just goes with the flow and gets killed too.

Then things go from bad to worse for him. With an age-old vampire hunter, supposedly, helping them through it all, the youths have set their priorities to destroy the vampire menace and survive to see another day. Q: How can you fight against an army of super-strength, immortal beings with no morals and no compunction about ripping your head off and sucking on the open wound? A: High caliber, automatic weapons. Well, if you think about it, a bullet is just a very small metal stake. Blood Lust is a high energy, situation-comedy that takes every cliché in the vampire chronicles and gives it new life to produce a tongue-incheek, schlock horror, action adventure that just doesn’t know when to stop. Until it does.

The dynamics among Cameron’s group of friends is great. They are all pretty bad ass, which I didn’t necessarily expect from them. Danny’s sense of humor and ability to taunt in the face of danger is hilarious.

Essentially, Blood Lust is hilarious and exciting from start to finish. The action scenes are creative and well written and the comedy is top notch. I’m excited to read the other books in the series.

Fang-Freakin-Tastic Review: Blood Lust is one seriously action-packed vampire book. What it’s not, however, is your typical vampire book. Unique and exciting, I’m embarrassed at how long it took me to get around to reading this book.

The first chapter doesn’t have much action, but once it gets going, it’s like a runaway freight train. Cameron and his friends end up in an unexpected war with newly made vampires, fighting for their lives. They are college students, as most of the vampires are.

There are comedic bits in it as well, as the characters are pros at making bad jokes (which were amazing btw). Cameron’s death isn’t what you would expect, so be in for a twist on the old vampire myth.

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Fang-Freakin-Tastic Reviews Craven Manor Darcy Coates Horror/Ghosts Daniel is desperate for a job.

When someone slides a note under his door offering him the groundskeeper’s position at an old estate, it seems too good to be true.

Alarm bells start ringing when he arrives at Craven Manor. The mansion’s front door hangs open, and leaves and cobwebs coat the marble foyer. It’s clear no one has lived there in a long time.

But an envelope waits for him inside the doorway. It contains money, and promises more.

Fang-Freakin-Tastic Review: I wasn’t sure what to expect going into Craven Manor. I’d read a few other books by this author and was still on the fence as to whether or not I liked this author’s storytelling. I’m glad I took the chance on this one, as I found I really enjoyed it.

Daniel is really down on his luck and crazy close to being homeless again so when he gets a mysterious note offering him a job at an abandoned mansion nearby, he jumps at the chance. I understand his desperation, but everything about this “opportunity” is off the charts murdererish. He has no idea this place even existed, no clue where the note came from or how they found out about him, and just so many other things that scream NOPE. Even after he shows up at the house, things don’t get any less creepy. I’ll admit, I probably would have gone along with it for a minute myself bc of my fascination with old houses, but I feel like there has to be a limit on just how far I’d be willing to look the other way.

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The story about the house and its owners etc was, in my opinion, pretty sad. I was a little surprised at how things went, so that’s good but I just felt bad for everyone involved. I liked Bran’s character, then I wasn’t sure what to think for a while. I do wish Daniel had asked more questions throughout the story, but that’s just me.

Despite a few little weirdo problems, I really did like this book. So much so that I read another of this authors books right after and it fell flat for me in comparison lol. If you’re looking for a good ghost story with some interesting twists and turns, this might be a book for you.

Doll House John Hunt Horror Olivia is excited for university. She will be on her own, in a new place hopeful to meet new friends.

for me, but I didn’t love it. I enjoyed the twists in it. I appreciated the look inside the mind of a trauma survivor. I wasn’t super surprised by the ending, I had an idea of things, but nothing definite.

On the night she moves in, she is taken off the street by two masked men. She is placed in a room which is little more than a cell. A pink cell. A room made for a doll.

She is now part of their collection.

Fang-Freakin-Tastic Review: Doll House is definitely a disturbing book. If I rated it solely on how disturbing it is, I would give it 5 stars hands down.

Unfortunately, I can’t do that. I can say I’m glad I read it AFTER I sent my daughter off to college.

Olivia’s story of survival and the aftermath is heartbreaking. She’s definitely a strong woman. What she’s been through is horrific and her responses to things are horrific. I’m not sure I could have survived what she did. This story does a good job of giving the reader an idea of what a survivor can go through during something like this and after.

While I understand the author’s need to show how the trauma has affected everyone involved, there are parts of the story where I wanted to say, just get on with it.

That could be my own impatience, but I found a good portion of the book slow moving and, for lack of another way to say it, boring. But again, that is probably just my own impatience, so you should probably not take that into consideration if you are trying to decide to read it.

Overall, this wasn’t a bad book, maybe it just wasn’t

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Myra’s Horror Blog Reviews

Zombie Road V David A. Simpson Horror It’s getting more dangerous in the zombie filled world.

The budding relationship between The Disfigured Road Angel and the girl who was sent to kill him continues to develop. They are both damaged, young and bear a heavy burden for their age.

Both have powers beyond human capacity. Both are the children and heirs to their fathers legacy and empires and they should be mortal enemies, not kinda sorta like each other...

Myra’s Review: Jessie & Scarlett are getting closer and closer as they recover from deadly wounds. After they are up and about, they run across men from Scarlett’s Anubis religion. Jessie becomes suspicious of his companion. Will she turn on him and join them? After a disagreement, he realizes he does indeed trust Scarlett.

Somewhere along their trek, Jessie & Scarlett fall in love. They know the super soldier shot they received had DNA of some animals who mate for life; that’s how they feel, as one and never wanting to part. Their journey was fascinating. They did things that many people wished they could do, but couldn’t due to circumstances or money. They slept in mansions and stopped at every point of interest along the roads that Scarlett wanted to see.

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ahead of the raiders, but finally make it to Lakota.

Gunny quickly comes up with a new plan to get Casey. He and Griz will infiltrate the raiders’ ranks, spy out their operations, and if given a chance, kill Casey.

The outfits they dress themselves in are as gross as the real raiders, with such objects as zombie finger necklaces. Even their car is tricked out, complete with a fresh zombie strapped to the hood. (It reminded me of the spaceship in Serenity, all decked out in red paint and bones, when they slipped in among the Reavers.)

The most interesting story in the book for me was when the two teens ran across children who were friends with animals, those they’d fed and set free from a safari park. The menagerie included a panther, bear, wolves and foxes. The children walked with their beasts, clearly the animals were protecting the little ones. While this part of the story was fantasy sounding, I’m willing to suspend my belief because it was really cool.

Later, while scavenging, Scarlett is bitten by a zombie. Jessie didn’t realize they were immune and was ready to die with her - he was going to let her bite him after she turned. Very dramatic teenage thinking, but he may have gone through with it due to their “more than human” joining. Once he knew the truth, Jessie’s relief was immense. Still, Scarlett’s wound looked nasty and he wanted a doctor to check it out. An old friend they ran across on their trip suggested he take Scarlett to the Tower doctors; the best left in the U.S. Another action-packed book in the series, filled with surprises, love and angst. Highly recommended for zombie fans and those following David Simpson.

Frankenstein: The Dead Town Dean Koontz Horror The war against humanity is raging. As the small town of Rainbow Falls, Montana, comes under siege, scattered survivors come together to weather the onslaught of the creatures set loose upon the world. As they ready for battle against overwhelming odds, they will learn the full scope of Victor Frankenstein’s nihilistic plan to remake the future— and the terrifying reach of his shadowy, powerful supporters.

Now the good will make their last, best stand. In a climax that will shatter every expectation, their destinies and the fate of humanity hang in the balance.

Myra’s Review: The replicants are busy replacing people in town, but Deucalion is busy as well. When he spots one of the trucks that pick up humans for disposal, he takes out the driver and his assistant. He discovers information in the vehicle, that the next target is the radio station. Deucalion has a hard time convincing the men at the station what was happening in their town. But once they are, he helps them set up defenses and start broadcasting the real, awful news.

Meanwhile, Carson and Michael run across some of the motorcycle survivalists, who had set up a stronghold at a home. They also have trouble convincing the group of the truth, until Deucalion pops inside the house. One of the women, Dolly, known for her prophetic dreams, recognizes the giant. She’d dreamed of him several years before, and had shared with the other women. They accept Deucalion and his offer of assistance in transporting the children to safety.

In another part of town, Mr. Lyss and Nummy find a replicant of Mr. Boze in the original owner’s home. He has been sitting for hours, playing sad songs on the piano. When questioned, they realize the human Boze had died during information exchanged via the silver bead in his forehead.

The replicant had gotten a glimpse into the eternal life after this one; making him sad and wishing to die.

We catch up with Byrce as he takes Tracy to see his friend Sully, a retired man who’d live an adventuress, dangerous life and during his career, worked undercover for a secret government agency. Together, they set out to find Tracy’s mom, Grace. Miraculously, they discover her at the elementary school, where she’d been hiding in the pantry while builders consumed the staff.

While Grace had been shot with a silver bead, it had not “taken”. The group set the school on fire to eradicate the dozens of cocooned builders, then move on to the high school to do the same. One thing Sully hadn’t counted on was falling for the pretty, tough Grace.

Appropriately, Deucalion is the one who finally kills Victor, and once he is dead, all his remaining creations turn to ash. There are many different stories in the book which can’t be covered by this review; tales of bravery, terrific horror and hope.

The wrap up at the end was priceless, sharing what happened to each of the characters I came to love.

All the books in this series have been very interesting, but Book 5 was fascinating. Highly recommended for Dean Koontz fans and those following this exciting series.

Ericka’s home was chosen as one of the safe houses.

After she explains the uniqueness of the “child” Jouko, the children are fascinated by him. It didn’t take long before he leads a line of children through the house, playing, singing and dancing. This was one of my favorite parts of the story; Jouko is finally accepted and has new friends.

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Myra’s Horror Blog Reviews The End of Everything Christopher Artinian Dystopian Two sisters, one nightmare.

The last thing they wanted to do was spend time with each other. Now their very survival depends on it. Forced from their home and thrown into an apocalyptic horror neither could have imagined, they didn’t think things could get any worse. They were wrong. As they navigate the city to escape to safety, terror lurks for them on every corner. The reanimating virus has taken away everything they loved, but today, they’re going to start fighting back.Living or dead, everyone is a threat.

Myra’s Review: Two sisters, at opposite ends of the spectrum, try to survive a zombie apocalypse together. Wren, the younger at fifteen, is more ably equipped mentally and physically than her sister to survive. Seventeen year old Robyn is a typical teen, intent on boys and her friends, while Wren is an athlete, trained in different events. She is very good at throwing a javelin and the high jump, which come in handy in their near future.

When Wren suggests they go to their Grandad’s in Inverness, her sister thinks she’s nuts; it is 150 miles through zombies. But his home is in a much less populated area and should be safer. First they must stop at the HS for weapons; Wren wants javelins. They acquire two javelins but can’t sneak past the hordes of zombies in the area, and must return home. Wren quickly determines not even she is ready to fight the undead and that both must train before they head out again.

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Wren has a bad feeling. She never liked the Donovan’s, who drink and party too much. When Mr. Donovan and several men start confiscating extra food from each neighbor for a central panty, even Robyn doesn’t like it. Luckily, suspicious Wren had already hidden surplus supplies.

Things do go wrong as Wren predicted. The sisters flee as the “junk fence” catches on fire from one of the drunken Donovan’s tossing Molotov cocktails at the zombies. As the undead invade their neighborhood, Wren and Robyn make it back to the HS to pick up their loaded back packs. Unfortunately, they only had time to do a little training together before things went south, but Wren is hopeful they can figure it out as they go.

Spotting an isolated farm house, the sisters burst in after getting no response to their knock on the door.

They are met by a gun and a middle aged couple.

After they share their story, they are given food and shelter. The couple like the girls and offer them a small cottage on their property. They can stay as long as they wish, as long as they help with the work. The teens are grateful for a safe haven, but I think it is only temporary. At the end, two men had their sights on the family, and up to no good.

I can see the sisters becoming a dynamic duo; Amazonian warriors. It’ll take training and many life threatening experiences to obtain, but I see that in their future. Highly recommended for those who love zombie tales and Christopher Artinian fans.

Zombie Fallout 6 Mark Tufo Horror BT, Gary and Mrs. Deneaux race to the Talbot compound in a desperate bid to turn the tides of a lost war.

Is Michael dead? Is the question plaguing the Talbots as they prepare for the final showdown with a merciless enemy hell bent on their absolute destruction.

Myra’s Review: At the end of Book 5, Mike is surrounded by zombies and on fire. Gary and BT think he is dead, so they depart for Maine in deep sorrow.

Book 6 opens with Mike still alive – barely. He stumbles toward the nearest house, his melted flesh sloughing off at each step. Miraculously, the door is unlocked.

It is filled with weapons and ammunition. He also discovers a beautiful young woman handcuffed in the sleep area. Her name is Azile; strangely Eliza spelled backward. She is a self-proclaimed witch and has a history with the vampire queen. Her life mission is to kill Eliza.

Mike makes it back home and it is all-out war as the Talbot’s try to survive zombies, human mercenaries, and huge supped up zombies. Eliza is finally killed and Thomas seems to come “back to himself” a bit. The last chapter gives the story of Eliza’s life from a young age to being turned in a vampire. It is truly sad. We also discover why she hates Mike and the Talbot’s so deeply.

Another exciting book in the series. Recommended for zombie lovers and those following Mark Tufo’s work.

Inside, he discovers a world of strangeness. The interior is covered in tin foil and the man standing over him wears a tin hat. The home owner, John, has been a drug addict for years and his distorted verbal ramblings confuse Mike. In spite of his constant toking of Mary Jane, John manages to help Mike. He places a tin hat on our hero and Mike is shocked that there is silence; his mind is shielded from Eliza. Mike is shocked further when he looks down, seeing that his body is almost healed - courtesy of the vampire blood in his system.

Mike is determined to help John find his wife in Philly before making his way home. John’s assistance includes pulling Mike through an agonizingly small tunnel, situated under a cabin, when they seek shelter on the journey. The tunnel is the only way to escape the zombies surrounding them. Happily, Mike does reunite John with his wife, even though he often wondered if his love was a figment of John’s drug induced daily life.

On his way back home, Mike runs across a gathering of truckers, and he knows they are on their way to attack his family. Intent on slipping into the throng of truckers, Mike picks a truck to enter that is a godsend.

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Amy’s Bookshelf Reviews Ancient Script of Lovecontu Kaitlynzq Audiobook/Poetry The story within Ancient Script of Lovecontu contains words of caresses around as a cocoon of soft cashmere accompanied by sweet aroma allures to intimate nearness remains a velvet kiss

Fubar G.C. McKay Psychological Fiction Question!

What do we see behind the eyes of abuse and neglect?

Answer: Potential.

There’s a sickening truth behind sexual desire…

Multiple poems designed to connect to form a story like a heart’s breath, and available as a downloadable mp3 file.

Oh, it’s you again, is it?

Amy’s Review: Remarkable!

The Ancient Script of Lovecontu blends words with feeling and emotion. Listening to this audio poetry brings a lightness in my heart and overpowers the senses, with great flow and pace. I truly enjoyed sitting back and listening to the soft spoken yet powerful narration of the author. She tells a story with prose and light, such a brilliance in the power of words. Magnificent!

Amy’s Review: Edge-of-your-seat read!

Fubar by McKay is a page-turner, and it can’t get more simpler than that. I’ve read McKay’s work in the past, and I really enjoyed this unique thriller. This book can be crass and raw, but it’s a great story and that part of it, makes the story. Eric is a very bold character, and he has an interesting look at life, and how it is supposed to play out for him. The characters have depth, even the “conquests” of Eric have something behind them. Definitely not for the faint of heart, but the story is a great, no more like, remarkable read, and I still wonder why I enjoyed it so much, but I did. Riveting and raw, that brings the reader into the depths of the shadows that haunt Eric. I look forward to reading more by this author.

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My little watcher at the gate. My silent observer. My all-seeing shadow.

Lack of Candor Gerald W. Darnell Hard-Boiled Mystery

Marked for Revenge Jennifer S. Alderson Mystery/Crime Thriller

All Carson Reno Mystery Series Books are standalone novels. It is not necessary to read them in any particular order.

It’s spring 1962 and a Sergeant with the Memphis Police Department is found dead only hours before his scheduled testimony before a grand jury.

Was it suicide or was it murder? What was he going to testify about?

An adrenaline-fueled adventure set in the Netherlands, Croatia, Italy, Luxembourg, and Turkey about stolen art, the mafia, and a father’s vengeance.

When researcher Zelda Richardson begins working at a local museum, she doesn’t expect to get entangled with an art theft, knocked unconscious by a forger, threatened by the mob, or stalked by drug dealers.

Amy’s Review: An exciting Carson Story!

Yes, I love reading Darnell’s work. I also love, and I mean love, Carson Reno, and was very excited to read this one. First, what I like about any of Darnell’s Carson Reno’s books is the way that writes it so anyone can pick up any volume of his multitude of books and read it. But, once you read it, you end up wanting more. Lack of Candor was no different. Reno is on a new and interesting case, and nothing is as it seems.

I like how Carson tells his story and what happens, especially his thoughts about himself and the others around him. It makes for great storytelling. The story was thrilling, and though plot driven, the characters, were what makes for the remarkably and exciting story. I like that he introduces a cast of characters, so much that I’ve taken that idea from him with my own work. An edge-of-your-seat, savor-every-word, pageturner!

Amy’s Review: An adventure in art As a fan of Alderson’s, I was anxious to start reading Marked for Revenge: An Art Heist Thriller. First, I like how Alderson shows a story. Yes, she shows it with all the details and fluidity of her writing that brings the reader right smack in the middle of the thriller. Filled with suspense, twists and just magnificent writing, the reader gets a view of this journey as it unfolds. The pace of the story is perfect, and the story brings the reader in at the right moment, and after reading the first few pages, this reader couldn’t wait to read more.

What happens next and how does this matter to the story? Questions that are soon answered as I continued on. Yes, I love Alderson’s stories, and I love her Zelda, someone that is filled with zest and curiosity, and a lot of knowledge. Again, I was honored to read more of her stories, and as she writes, I will read. This one definitely kept me on the edge of my seat. Sometimes it’s just a few words that bring a reader in, and in this case, it was Luca saying, “I am listening.” And that’s all it took.

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Amy’s Bookshelf Reviews The Adventures of Bella & Emily Devon Michelle Holland Children The long awaited fourth book in the series about a young girl, her beloved pony and the adventures they experience together with their friends! This is week two of three, and Bella & Emily are once again assisting Aunty Pam at her rescue centre in Devon. There will be laughter, tears and a few surprises along the way.

Will another rescue mission be on the cards this week? Could Emily’s Mum make a surprise announcement?

Amy’s Review: Wonderful Story I have fallen in love with the Bella & Emily adventures. The stories are interesting, and quite fun to read. The stories may be geared toward younger readers, but I really enjoyed them. This one was no different. I feel like I know Emily.

She’s a young character, but I find her to be by far older than her years. She’s amazing, and so is her love and loyalty for her pony, Bella. This story is well-written and the author’s love for her characters and her cause (rescue of animals) is truly seen in every word. It’s a heartfelt and unpredictable story, and it brings a smile to this reader’s lips. I look forward to and hope there is a week 3 coming. This is the story you read from beginning to end in one sitting, just like I did.

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The Ancient Order JB Michaels Occult Horror A battle-hardened centurion is sent on a special mission to the wilds of Roman Britain to investigate the strange and ghastly murders of his brothersin-arms. With the help of a warrior Queen, Magnus will encounter deathly forces, battle rival clans, and transform, not only himself but an entire nation.

Amy’s Review: Hutchins is back!

I am a fan of Michaels’s work, and love Bud Hutchins. Each story is wonderfully complex and thrilling.

I never have any expectations when starting a book, but I was immediately pulled in. Yes, this was a definite page-turner, thrilling until the end. I like the way Michaels blends the supernatural and history in his stories, and this one, is ancient history. Magnificent story and Hutchins has this thing about him that brings life to the story. A fight of good versus evil in a twisted and tantalizing thrilling adventure. I love this story, and will always read what Michaels writes, especially when the lead is Hutchins.

The Boy with the Thorn in his Side - Part Four Chantelle Atkins Psychological Thriller Aged 17, Danny was sent to prison for committing a brutal and violent crime. Seven years later he is released, determined to put his disturbing past behind him.He wants to lead a normal, decent life with the friends who stuck by him and his teenage sweetheart Lucy.Danny knew life would be complicated on the outside, and he soon realises the past has not finished with him.

Amy’s Review: Remarkable sequel I read Atkins’s story The boy with a thorn in his side, before it was divided into parts and added on to.

Now, I’m reading each part, and loving each one as I continue to read. Danny is a very complex character, living a hard life, but desires to live a “normal” one.

As the story continues, the tension and depth of the plot gets more intense. I love the way Atkins puts her stories together, and I like that she continued and gives more to the story for her characters. I can’t wait to read part Five.

The Persistence of Memory Karen Janowsky Fantasy/Superhero When gods and superheroes fall in love, it takes gods and supervillains to keep them apart.

Powerful alliances from both Daniel and Nina’s pasts are about to rip apart the fabric of time. and their pasts are about to catch up with them.

History is about to end before it has begun Amy’s Review: Great continuation Janowsky writes a great series of stories, and this one is no exception. I read books 1 and 2 prior to this, and enjoyed the depth of characters, and growth of the superheroes. Book 3 is wonderful, and lends to more growth of characters, and more battles and struggles. I also like the title of this story, The Beginning of Always, and that definitely fits the story. Battles between good and evil, while dealing with struggles that lend for great storytelling. I’d like to say this is my favorite, and I think it’s because of the progression of the stories for Daniel and Nina, and how it’s written. A great story, look forward to more from Janowsky and about Daniel and Nina.

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