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New Mendenhall Short Mystery

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Crime and Mystery coverMy latest Mendenhall Short Mystery, “Home Run,” will be published in Flame Tree Publishing’s 2016 Gothic Fantasy Crime and Mystery anthology. Publication date is in August, but the book can be pre-ordered on Amazon. The anthology will be published in hardcover and as an ebook.

I’m also tickled to be in the same table of contents as Tony Pi, fellow Canadian and excellent writer.

Crime & Mystery Table of Contents:

The Cost of Security by Tara Campbell

Skitter and Click by Jennifer Dornan-Fish

Paperboxing Art by James Dorr

Home Run by Marcelle Dubé

Suggestive Thoughts by H.L. Fullerton

I Am Nightmare by Jennifer Gifford

Three Words by Nathan Hystad

The Marionettist by John A. Karr

Mechanical Love by Kin S. Law

iMurder by Josh Pachter

Creature of the Thaumatrope by Tony Pi

The Whipping Boy by Conor Powers-Smith

The Man Wore Motley by Stephen D. Rogers

The House by Steve Shrott

Catzized by Annette Siketa

Ghosts, Bigfoot and Free Lunches by Dan Stout

Blood and Silver Beneath the Many Moons by Brian Trent

Murder on the Cogsworthy Express by Cameron Trost

Chains of Command by Sylvia Spruck Wrigley and Ruth Nestvold

Update on The Not Only Humans Bundle

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The promotion for The Not Only Humans Bundle at Bundle Rabbit ends on June 15.

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There’s still time to get a great deal on five science fiction or fantasy titles for $4.99 or up to 12 novels (including my first A’lle novel, Backli’s Ford) for $9.99.

As of June 15, the bundle goes live in the following places:

 

Don’t forget to sign up for Bundle Rabbit’s newsletter to find out what great bundles are coming up!

 

The Not Only Humans Bundle

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My first bundle!

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My first A’lle novel, Backli’s Ford, is part of the Not Only Humans bundle from Bundle Rabbit, along with some pretty fabulous writers: Eric Kent Edstrom, J. Daniel Sawyer, Kim Antieau, Carl S. Plumer, Douglas Smith, Dean Wesley Smith, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Anthea Sharp, Mindy Klasky, Leah Cutter and Blaze Ward.

The bundle is up at BundleRabbit for one week only: June 8 to 15, after which it becomes available at Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, from June 15 to July 20. Minimum cost: $4.99 for five titles but for $9.99 you can get all 12!

Here’s the information on the books:

12 THRILLING SUMMER READS

From galaxy-spanning alien cultures to the discovery of Bigfoot, these page-turning novels feature gripping stories where humans and non-humans work together, fight each other, and even fall in love.

Name your own price and save. List price if bought individually is over $70!

A dozen amazing fantasy and science fiction novels.

Donate 10% of your purchase to First Book and help transform the lives of children.

This bundle is jam-packed with stories …

… For every reader’s taste.

… Filled with robots and faeries. Demons and trolls and vampires. And aliens, aliens, and more aliens.

… Of unparalleled quality. Bestselling and award winning authors.

The dozen novels included are:

The Changeling Troll by Leah Cutter. Christine loves escaping into the make-believe world of her books. But when she meets her doppelganger she discovers there’s also magic in the real world.

From Aurora Award winning Douglas Smith, The Wolf at the End of the World. A shapeshifter hero battles ancient spirits, a covert government agency, and his own dark past in a race to solve a murder that could mean the end of the world.

In Imposters by Blaze Ward aliens masquerade as humans to protect the human race, but when a protector goes rogue he must be stopped while keeping the alien’s terrible secret from becoming known.

Queendom: Feast of the Saints by Kim Antieau is a seductive tale of love and betrayal. Aided by soothsayer androids, Queen Reina, monarch and CEO of Queendom, struggles against court intrigue and emotional confrontations to save her country.

In Fright Court by USA Today bestselling author Mindy Klasky, Sarah lands her dream job as court clerk for the District of Columbia Night Court. But after she’s attacked by a vampire defendant, Sarah wonders if she can ever bring order to the supernatural court!

Set in 2035, Demon Days by Carl S. Plumer is a darkly humorous look at a future filled with helpful robots but plagued by demons from outer space.

Winner of the 2015 Book Buyer’s Best Award, Royal by USA Today bestselling author Anthea Sharp. Faerie Brea Cairgead is forced to masquerade as a human in a mortal high school to carry out her mission for the Dark Queen. But when Brea falls in love with Royal Lassiter, a flawed human boy, her heart – and the future of the mortal world – are put in grave danger.

Set in 1911, Backli’s Ford by Marcelle Dubé follows Constance, the first A’lle investigator for Lower Canada, as she faces danger inside and outside her constabulary and uncovers a terrible secret that risks destroying the delicate balance that has endured for two centuries between the alien A’lle and the humans.

Undermountain by Eric Kent Edstrom is perfect for fans of YA adventure and science fiction. When a group of teens are backpacking deep in the Canadian Rockies they meet Bigfoot. And it speaks to them! Soon they’re caught up in a war between two alien races where the fate of the Earth hangs in balance.

Silent Victor: A Clarke Lantham Mystery by J. Daniel Sawyer. When a commando team of Gray aliens steals a Mars rock with microbial alien life in full view of the cameras, the victim turns to Clarke Lantham to solve the crime.

Arthur C. Clark Award Finalist Alien Influences by Hugo Award winning Kristine Kathryn Rusch. On the sun-scorched planet Bountiful, human colonists live peacefully alongside natives known as Dancers until an unspeakable disaster devastates the colony.

Star Rain: A Seeders Universe Novel by USA Today bestselling author Dean Wesley Smith. The fight against the genetically engineered aliens seems impossible. Benny and Gina, both Seeders, stand on the bridge of their massive mother ship knowing they need a miracle to win.

This bundle is available ONLY FOR A LIMITED TIME

Get your copy today, before it’s gone.

Ghosts and the rational woman

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boldtcastle_rotundaroomWhen I was little, I had a recurring dream. I was inside a huge, sunlit room that was crowded with furniture. As I threaded my way across the room, long, scaly green arms with clawed hands reached out from under the furniture to grab at me. I eventually outgrew the dreams. And the monster under the bed, and the one in my closet. Not to mention the one in the basement.

I am now a Rational Woman. Despite this, I am willing to admit that not everything in life can be explained rationally. But since childhood, I haven’t encountered any situations that couldn’t be.

Then last spring I stayed at a hotel where I’ve stayed many times before: a funky older hotel with tons of character and charm.

And ghosts, apparently.

In all the times I had stayed there, I’d seen no evidence of ghosts or felt anything “weird.” The possibility of ghosts never even occurred to me. This last spring, however, another guest casually mentioned that the hotel was haunted. I had a good laugh (at the person’s expense, I might add) and carried on. Then that evening, I repeated the story to someone who is familiar with the hotel and for whom I have a lot of respect.

She told me it was true. She told me that she seen the ghosts, too. And she had been with someone else at the time, someone whom I also respect. They’d both seen the ghosts.

I must have gone a little pale because she assured me that the ghosts were absolutely harmless, even when they appeared at the foot of your bed.

I didn’t sleep much that night. Or the whole time I was there.

There I was, a grown woman, intelligent, mature, experienced—freaked out at the thought of ghosts in my room. And I never even saw one! I didn’t need to. I actually wanted to change hotels, but I wasn’t about to admit to anyone why, so I stayed. Even after I got home, I still felt creeped out by the whole situation, waking up in the middle of the night and wondering if there was someone—or something—in my room…

The only reason I admit to this now is because I finally got over the irrational fear. I decided to face it in the only way I, as a writer, know how. I wrote a ghost story.

The novel’s almost finished. It started out as modern gothic, but now, I’m not too sure what it is. It doesn’t matter. Somewhere along the way, after scaring myself silly with some of the scenes, I got over my irrational fear.

I’m going back to the hotel in the fall. I am myself again, a modern woman with a (mostly) logical mind and an appreciation for the rational.

And if I sometimes feel someone watching me when no one’s around…? Well, that can be our little secret…

Originally published at Not Your Usual Suspects on March 23, 2016.

Good Grief

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I have a confession: I am not a superhero fan. It’s not that I dislike them—not at all. But after a brief flirtation with the genre when I was a teen, I haven’t really given superheroes much thought. Oh, I knew they were around, of course, and I’ve even caught the odd Superman and Batman movie (and enjoyed them), but I wouldn’t know Deadpool from Deadman.

So, you can understand my bemused delight at ending up in Superhero Universe: Tesseracts Nineteen.

Superhero UniverseI’ve enjoyed working with Claude Lalumière before, so when I saw the call for submissions for one of his anthologies, with Mark Shainblum, I wanted to submit something. But what?

Have I mentioned that I’m not steeped in the superhero genre…? I knew I didn’t want my superhero to have a mega superpower… that’s just not me. But I’ve always been fascinated by the sense of smell. I know some people who will only know the milk has spoiled by drinking it. Others will know the moment they walk into the kitchen. So, what happens when someone’s sense of smell is so developed it becomes debilitating?

And what if this new power developed in an ordinary guy just coming out of World War II who is forever changed by unusual circumstances? It’s not something he wanted—nobody would want that kind of superpower—but he has it and now he has to figure out what he’s going to do with it.

To be honest, I wondered if Bloodhound was “superhero-y” enough. After all, he can’t fly, or climb walls. He doesn’t have any of the other conventional superhero powers. Really, he’s just a quiet guy, who’d rather be left alone.

So, after all this, I still don’t know a whole lot about superheroes. But maybe Bloodhound is more like the ones I know than I had thought. He just wants to be left alone, but he can’t sit idly by when he sees something wrong. In the end, he really is rather extraordinary.

If you want to learn more about the stories in Superhero Universe, I invite you to visit Corey Redekop, one of the authors in the anthology. In collaboration with Edge Publishing, Corey has been posting a series of interviews with the authors. Cool stuff.

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