eSPEC EXCERPTS – MISTY MASSEY – GREASE MONKEYS

We are at it again! Kicking off the year with a brand-new campaign: Full Steam Ahead!

Yes, we are funding more books. Yes, we would love if you would check them out, maybe show your support. But don’t think you have to do it blind. Here is a taste of Grease Monkeys: The Heart and Soul of Dieselpunk, an anthology that takes a look at the mechanics that keep the tech running and even mod it out beyond its original capabilities, striving for efficiency and peak performance or just keeping things going.

The other two books funding through the campaign are Grimm Machinations – the sequel to Gaslight & Grimm, bringing you even more steampunk faerie tales; and A Cast of Crows, a Poe-inspired steampunk collection created in conjunction with the Tell-Tale Steampunk Festival, but more on those later.

Over the course of the campaign, we will be sharing these excerpts so you can get to know our authors’s style.

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My Mechanical Girl
Misty Massey

Billie glided onto the stage to the applause of the audience, positioned herself under the lights on her mark, and struck a pose. Her music swelled. “It’s the loveliest of days when I’m near you,” she sang, “Robins chase the clouds out of the sky…”

Billie’s the headliner at La Fantaisie. Me, I’m her mechanic. I polish her steel face until she glows warm under the electric lights, lubricate her joints, and spend the dough to dress her in glam. I didn’t create the valve system that lets her sing in a voice like warm molasses spilling down the back of a velvet chair nor the hydraulics that allow her to spin and dance, but I know how they work, and I can build off what the old inventor did. My grimy fingers carry permanent stains from years in a factory. My nails are bit back to the quick and I cut my own hair. At any time, there might be a streak of ash or oil on my face where I scratched an itch without bothering to wipe my hands first. The powerful gentlemen who frequent the Fant expect to see people like me fixing their cars, not standing in the club watching them drink brandy. It’s okay, though. I stay out of sight, watching from the wings while my girl entertains the room. It’s best that way, considering how I make the lion’s share of my money.

La Fantaisie has always been popular with the higher-ups in the military, thanks to it being so close to the capitol building. Colonels and congressmen spend their evenings drinking expensive liquor and talking important talk while my Billie sings. I’ve installed nearly a dozen songs into her voice system, all the ones I like best. In between sets, she roams around the room on a magnetic track I built into the floor, stopping at every table to say something flirty. She knows eight different phrases, and I’m working on three new ones.

She’s a toy. Metal arms and legs. A complicated hydraulic on the inside to keep her moving. A series of delicate valves connected to a circuit board that serve as her voice box. She’s a mechanical girl. But I love her like she’s real.

George Dupree, owner of the Fant, used to hire human women to sing in his nightclub, pretty ones with white-blonde curls who sang and danced and sometimes slid the necks of their dresses down to show off their bare shoulders. Between that Hitler guy and his Nazi thugs in the newsrags and women being found burnt to crisps in alleys, the military brass ordered their bigwigs to stay away from ordinary singers and dancers. Might have been for fear of them spilling secrets over pillow talk, or maybe the burnt-up women were the results of some experiment gone wrong and the generals wanted to put distance between their scientists and the victims. Who can guess? George was left without dames for his customers to ogle, and business dropped off. He was on the verge of closing down until he met my Billie.

Billie finished singing, took a bow, and the music for her next song began. “It’s always summer when you smile at me…” she sang. Suddenly her chin jerked, and she stuttered, like a record player needle skipping. The music continued on, but instead of singing, her jaw fell open with a click, and words poured out, words I didn’t understand. “Eian saprue prace sius ceva iot…”

The audience stared at my girl, as confused as I was. This gibberish was not one of the phrases she could say. After a few seconds, someone at a table said, “Is that German?” Silence fell again, until another said, “Sounds like a numbers station.” Like a dam breaking, the whole room burst into chatter, and some of the officers rose to their feet.

I ran out onto the stage, grabbed Billie’s arm, and drew her with me into the wings. “Sorry, folks,” I called out. “Show’s over for tonight.” George met us backstage, his face redder than his cummerbund.

“Why the ever-loving hell did you teach her German?” he hissed. “You’re going to get me shut down!”

It hadn’t sounded like German to me. But George wasn’t wrong. These days, the whole country seemed to be on a witch hunt, and Germany was the devil. It was time to hit the road before the bigwigs out front found their way backstage. “This ain’t my doing. It’s likely radio interference,” I said, turning my girl toward the street door. Her full-length coat hung on a hook next to it, so I slipped it over her shoulders and buttoned it at the neck, sliding the hood up to shadow her face. She’d stopped talking at last, thank goodness. The noise out on the main floor rose, and I heard snatches of unpleasant comments. Things like “spy network” and “treason” and “federal custody.” “I’ll recalibrate her vocal valves. Something’s just gone out of whack.”

“Send me a message tomorrow,” he said, pushing his shoulders back and straightening his tuxedo jacket. “It’s apology time, and I don’t want her anywhere near here if she’s spouting more of that kraut nonsense.”

Thudding footsteps echoed from the direction of the stage. Time to make tracks. Billie has wheels set in the soles of her feet, so she rolls instead of walking. Tonight I was glad of it.

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Misty Massey is the author of the Mad Kestrel series of rollicking fantasy adventures on the high seas. She is an editor for several small presses, and an instructor for the Speculative Fiction Academy. When she’s not writing or editing, Misty appears on the Authors & Dragons podcast sister show, Calamity Janes, as the cheerful, sundrenched cleric, Malibu. She’s a sucker for ginger snaps, African coffee, and anything sparkly. You can keep up with Misty at mistymassey.com and on Facebook and Twitter.

Learn more about Misty Massey here:

Website  *  GoodReads  * Amazon Author Page

Follow Misty Massey on social media: 

Facebook  *  Twitter

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eSPEC EXCERPTS – JOHN L. FRENCH – GREASE MONKEYS

We are at it again! Kicking off the year with a brand-new campaign: Full Steam Ahead!

Yes, we are funding more books. Yes, we would love if you would check them out, maybe show your support. But don’t think you have to do it blind. Here is a taste of Grease Monkeys: The Heart and Soul of Dieselpunk, an anthology that takes a look at the mechanics that keep the tech running and even mod it out beyond its original capabilities, striving for efficiency and peak performance or just keeping things going.

The other two books funding through the campaign are Grimm Machinations – the sequel to Gaslight & Grimm, bringing you even more steampunk faerie tales; and A Cast of Crows, a Poe-inspired steampunk collection created in conjunction with the Tell-Tale Steampunk Festival, but more on those later.

Over the course of the campaign, we will be sharing these excerpts so you can get to know our authors’s style.

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No Man’s Land
John L. French

He’s in the trenches, one of thousands, maybe tens of thousands. He looks to his left, an endless row of men. To his right, there is another endless row. All are like him, soldiers with tin pots on their heads and rifles in their hands. The dead are piled behind, and in front. They have long since run out of sandbags and now their comrades protect them one last time. Across the killing field, a trumpet blows. Drums beat. Men march slowly and steadily toward them.

The order is given. As one, they take aim through the gaps in their dead. On command, they open fire. The front row of the enemy goes down. The second row returns fire, guided by the muzzle flashes in the night. Men on either side of him fall. Some moan in pain, others lie silently and await their deaths.

Those still standing continue to fire. Those approaching shoot back. Men on both sides go down.

He takes a quick break, looks left then right. He thinks he can see the ends of each row. He turns back to the gap in the dead, sees the enemy still advancing. They march and shoot, march and shoot. With each volley, more of his comrades fall.

They should be on top of us by now, he thinks but somehow, they are not. He fires into their midst, over and over and over. He has fired his rifle maybe more than a hundred times. He does not remember reloading.

The number of men on either side of him is lesser and lesser. The number of the enemy is seemingly endless. Until they are not.

He stops firing and looks through the gap. No man’s land is filled with the enemy. None are standing. A ragged cheer runs through the trench, as if they had won a great victory. Well, they survived another night, which is victory enough.

Then the cheers turn to cries of horror. He looks out on the field. Through the fog of night and the mist of blood, he sees the bodies of the enemy rise. The endless number that has fallen stands up. After a minute, their lines reform and they resume their march.

He again starts firing, knowing what he does is pointless. You can’t kill what is already dead. Having fallen once, they will never go down.

Again, he looks to either side. There is no one left, no one but him. Still, he fires and fires and fires, and the dead come closer and closer and closer.

***

In the early morning just before sunrise, Victor wakes up screaming. His cries disturb the sleep of some of the patients on the ward. Others find them a relief, for his shouts have woken them from their own nightmares. The sisters go from bed to bed, doing what they can to ease their pain and calm their terror. There are too few to quickly attend to them all but still they try, and their very presence is a comfort.

In the distance comes the thunder of long-range guns. Even as Victor consoles himself with the thought, It was just a nightmare and for now, it’s over, the thunder reminds him that for the men on the line, the nightmare continues.

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JOHN L. FRENCH is a retired crime scene supervisor with forty years’ experience. He has seen more than his share of murders, shootings, and serious assaults. As a break from the realities of his job, he started writing science fiction, pulp, horror, fantasy, and, of course, crime fiction.

John’s first story “Past Sins” was published in Hardboiled Magazine and was cited as one of the best Hardboiled stories of 1993. More crime fiction followed, appearing in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, the Fading Shadows magazines and in collections by Barnes and Noble. Association with writers like James Chambers and the late, great C.J. Henderson led him to try horror fiction and to a still growing fascination with zombies and other undead things. His first horror story “The Right Solution” appeared in Marietta Publishing’s Lin Carter’s Anton Zarnak. Other horror stories followed in anthologies such as The Dead Walk and Dark Furies, both published by Die Monster Die books. It was in Dark Furies that his character Bianca Jones made her literary debut in “21 Doors,” a story based on an old Baltimore legend and a creepy game his daughter used to play with her friends.

John’s first book was The Devil of Harbor City, a novel done in the old pulp style. Past Sins and Here There Be Monsters followed. John was also consulting editor for Chelsea House’s Criminal Investigation series. His other books include The Assassins’ Ball (written with Patrick Thomas), Souls on Fire, The Nightmare Strikes, Monsters Among Us, The Last Redhead, the Magic of Simon Tombs, and The Santa Heist (written with Patrick Thomas). John is the editor of To Hell in a Fast Car, Mermaids 13, C. J. Henderson’s Challenge of the Unknown, Camelot 13 (with Patrick Thomas), and (with Greg Schauer) With Great Power …

John’s Amazon Author Page  *  John’s Facebook Page

eSPEC EXCERPTS – KEN SCHRADER – GREASE MONKEYS

We are at it again! Kicking off the year with a brand-new campaign: Full Steam Ahead!

Yes, we are funding more books. Yes, we would love if you would check them out, maybe show your support. But don’t think you have to do it blind. Here is a taste of Grease Monkeys: The Heart and Soul of Dieselpunk, an anthology that takes a look at the mechanics that keep the tech running and even mod it out beyond its original capabilities, striving for efficiency and peak performance or just keeping things going.

The other two books funding through the campaign are Grimm Machinations – the sequel to Gaslight & Grimm, bringing you even more steampunk faerie tales; and A Cast of Crows, a Poe-inspired steampunk collection created in conjunction with the Tell-Tale Steampunk Festival, but more on those later.

Over the course of the campaign, we will be sharing these excerpts so you can get to know our authors’s style.

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Stormspike
Ken Schrader

Rosamund Thorpe stood on the flight deck of His Majesty, King George VI’s flying fortress: Arc Royal, scowling into the night over the North Sea. Wind tugged at her shoulder-length brown hair. Its chill fingers snatched each plume of breath as it left her lips.

Stars glittered overhead, and a half-moon gave just enough light to see the fighter planes tethered to the flight deck around her. Two meters from the edge, strips of blue lights ran the perimeter of the deck. They weren’t bright enough to make the ship a target. They were a safety precaution.

And they were out.

The blackouts started a few days ago. They hadn’t lasted long, but on a ship like the Royal, they were as disruptive as a fishhook in the finger.

Worse, Rosamund and her crew hadn’t been able to find the cause. Which made the whole mess officially her fault.

It made no sense. Not even a blown fuse, but here she was, out on the deck, warding the edges because the bloody safety lights were out.

As if sensing her thoughts, the thin strips glowed to life.

“You could have had someone else ward the—what the hell?” A voice spoke from behind her.

Abigail Shaul, her second, stood hunched against the cold, her fists shoved deep into the pockets of her jacket. She stared at the safeties, head cocked, her brown hair whipping about her head.

“You look surprised,” Rosamund said.

“I am surprised,” Abigail said. “I came out here to give you a status update. We hadn’t started on the safeties.”

Rosamund frowned at the lights. “What did you find?”

“Not a bloody thing,” Abigail said.

“That can’t be right.”

“It is,” Abigail said. “Power has been restored, and we’ve been from one end of the outage to the other. Nothing.”

Rosamund glared at the lights. Her breath exploded in a cloud of gray. “The deck safeties are on their own backup circuit. Why did they go down?”

“We hadn’t made it there yet,” Abigail said. “The crew’ll look into it, but I have a feeling that they’ll find the same amount of nothing.”

“It can’t be nothing,” Rosamund said. “This is contested territory. If we run into the Germans during an outage…”

“We’ll figure it out.” Abigail turned up the collar of her jacket. “But we can only play what’s in front of us, and everything appears to be working now.”

A chill blast flowed across the deck, and Rosamund turned into it. The cold hitched her breath in her chest. She took it in and released it in a long plume. She hated not knowing. It got under her skin like a splinter.

A wall of clouds gathered at the horizon. A storm, probably—if the wind didn’t change.

She turned to Abigail. “Is everyone accounted for?”

“Aye. At least the night shift.” Abigail frowned. “What are you thinking?”

A sour feeling coiled in Rosamund’s stomach. She didn’t want to give voice to the thought. Tensions were already frayed among the crew.

A shiver rattled Abigail from head to foot. “Why are we still out here?”

“We’ve still got to brief the captain.” A wry grin quirked Rosamund’s lips. “Tell him we don’t have any idea what’s going on.”

“Ah.” Abigail’s blue eyes glittered. “I suppose I’ll get used to the cold eventually.”

***

Her wristwatch chimed at an ear-splitting pitch, and it took every ounce of self-restraint to keep Rosamund from smashing it against the bulkhead.

She sat up, stretched, and her right shoulder popped. She’d gotten too little sleep over the past few days. So had the rest of her crew, and she wasn’t going to ask them to do anything she wasn’t willing to do herself.

As expected, Captain Ethan Bywater hadn’t liked hearing that his chief engineer didn’t know what was going on with the power aboard his ship. Of course, with the power back on, all Rosamund had was her assurances that she’d get to the bottom of it.

It wasn’t his way to shout. Instead, he’d told her that he had every faith in her skill, while the look on his face was that of a disappointed parent.

She wished he’d shouted.

She stood, shivering as her bare feet hit metal. The chill of the deck meshed with a flash of frustration as she replayed their discussion in her head. She showered, dressed, and left her bunk wanting to dismantle some machinery—or the one responsible.

The first rays of dawn had yet to crest the edge of the world. Rosamund stepped onto the flight deck, her boots crunching a sheet of ice. The wind bit into her, coating the back of her throat with a pleasant arctic tang.

The weather soothed her, and she strode with quiet calm toward the forward weapon embankment the crew called the Fist of England.

The Arc Royal commanded a pair of Fists. One forward and one aft. Massive Tesla cannons, they were capable of throwing arcs of devastating electrical energy well over twenty-five kilometers.

Rosamund tested them every week, but recent events had convinced her to step up her schedule. There had been no outages for the last forty-eight hours, but that hadn’t kept her crew from working overtime, testing and retesting.

She blew out a frosty breath and climbed the ladder to the gunnery station. At the door, she paused, turning to look out over the sea.

The storm drew closer. It would overtake them, probably by the end of the day, unless the captain decided to outrun it.

Rosamund stepped into the room and threw the switch. A pair of caged incandescents snapped to life, filling the space with a warm, yellow light. She removed a radio from its charging station on the wall, inserted the earpiece, and switched it on. A staticky pop sounded in her ear, then the hum of an empty channel.

“Abigail, are you there?” Rosamund asked.

“Bright and early, chief.”

“Good.” Rosamund stepped clear of the room, adjusting her volume and baffles against the wind. “I want this test to go as smooth as a sheet of ice, but don’t hesitate to pull the plug if anything seems even slightly out of the ordinary.”

“Understood,” Abigail said. “Then it’s a leisurely afternoon spent pouring over diagnostics.” A trace of weariness entered her voice. “That should be fun. I’ll make sure the coffee is in your quarters before we get there.”

“Good woman,” Rosamund said. Footsteps on the deck signaled the arrival of the first of her crew. She glanced over her shoulder into the smiling face of Engineer First-Class Sam Holmes.

“Morning, Sam,” she said.

“Morning, chief,” he said. “I thought I was early. Did you sleep out here?”

“You know I don’t sleep.”

Sam chuckled. “Must be a requirement for promotion.” He pulled the edges of his jacket tighter. “Along with an immunity to the cold.”

“I grew up in this,” Rosamund said. “I’ll let you know when it starts getting cold.” Holmes snorted as he turned to the controls.

Rosamund repeated her instructions to Sam. She handed him her radio, clapped him on the shoulder, then climbed down to the deck.

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Ken Schrader writes Science Fiction, Fantasy, Weird Westerns, and anything else he can get away with. He’s a shameless Geek, a fan of the Oxford comma, and he makes housing decisions based upon the space available for bookshelves.

He sings out loud when there’s no one around, enjoys a good grilling session, and loves a powerful drum beat. He can also procrastinate so well you’d think it was a superpower.

He lives in Michigan, and despite the seasonal allergies, he always enjoys mowing the lawn.

Learn more about Ken Schrader here:

Website  *  GoodReads  * Amazon Author Page

Follow Ken Schrader s on social media: 

Facebook  *  Twitter

THE eSPEC BOOKS AUTHOR READING SERIES – 9/7/20

This week’s offering is three videos of classic fantasy reads. We hope you’ll enjoy them all. If you are interested in the books, they can be purchased via the links provided.

If you are an author and would like to participate in one of these series, please visit the eSpec Books Author Reading Series Facebook page for details.

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The eSpec Books Author Reading Series

Misty Massey reading an excerpt from her story “Faerie Wrangler” from The Weird Wild West, edited by Misty Massey, Emily Lavin Leverett, and Margaret S. McGraw.

The untamed frontier is a challenge, a test of character, a proving ground for the soul. It’s a place where pioneers rewrite their future, or end their days…for better or worse. In the spirit of Bret Maverick, Cat Ballou, Kwai Chang Caine, and James West, The Weird Wild West blends western grit with the magical and mysterious unknown that waits beyond the next horizon.

With thrilling stories by Jonathan Maberry, Gail Z. Martin and Larry N. Martin, John G. Hartness, RS Belcher, Diana Pharaoh Francis, Misty Massey, James R. Tuck, Robert E. Waters, David Sherman, Tonia Brown, Liz Colter, Scott Hungerford, Frances Rowat, Ken Schrader, Bryan C.P. Steele, Wendy N. Wagner, and a bonus story by New York Times bestselling-author Faith Hunter, you’ve hit the Mother Lode!

About the Author

Misty Massey is the author of Mad Kestrel, a rollicking adventure of magic on the high seas, and the long-awaited sequel, Kestrel’s Dance. She is an acquisitions editor for LoreSeekers Press, co-editor of The Weird Wild West and Lawless Lands: Tales of the Weird Frontier, and she’s working on a series of Shadow Council novellas for Falstaff Press featuring the famous gunslinger Doc Holliday.

When she’s not writing, Misty studies and performs Middle Eastern dance. She’s a sucker for good sushi, African coffee, and the darkest rum she can find. You can keep up with Misty at mistymassey.com, and on Facebook and Twitter.

The eSpec Guest Author Reading Series

Gordon Linzner reads an excerpt of his classic short story Malison on 35th Street, from the anthology Violent Legends, edited by Joey Froelich.

Jess Barry reading “Guardian Angel” from The Angel Cat Collection, edited by Jess Barry.

The Angel Cat Collection features all kinds of felines: magical, space-faring, piratical–even one with two tails. Ferociously loyal and protective, these most regal fur-fluffs reign supreme and never fail to look out for their families. The only thing they do better is wreak havoc, and make mischief and mayhem.

About the Author

Novelist and short-story writer Jess Barry loves old architecture, live theater (especially musicals), and astronomy and aerospace news. She studied journalism and German and worked as a technical translator. Her mystery/romance novel Masquerade plays out against a musical theater background. She co-wrote the Viking-era historical The Last Abbot of Linn Duachaill and is currently working on the sequel. The Angel Cat Collection she edited includes her stories “Guardian Angel”, “Ninja Angel”, and “Mischievous Angel.” She wrote two Civil War-era tales “The Crafty Corsair” and “The Rescue” in the Lady Pirates series. For updates on upcoming works please visit http://www.BluetrixBooks.com

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All purchase links in these posts are Amazon Associate links
and we do receive a token commission if you should purchase via these links.

THE eSPEC BOOKS AUTHOR READING SERIES – 5/27/20

Good morning, my lovelies!

We’ve posted a few videos, so it is time for an update on our two reading series.  Below are links to the recent offerings. Now that the channel has been built up a bit we are spreading out the posts every three days, instead of every two days. We hope you enjoy them. If you are interested in the books, we have provided purchase link with each video. 

If you are an author and would like to participate in one of these series, please visit the eSpec Books Author Reading Series Facebook page for details.

The eSpec Books Author Reading Series

Featuring eSpec authors reading works published by eSpec Books.

Keith R.A. DeCandido reading an excerpt from his novel Mermaid Precinct.

Brenda Cooper reading Chapter One from her near-future dystopian novel POST. 

Gail Z. Martin reading her story “Ruin Creek” (co-written with Larry N. Martin) from The Weird Wild West, edited by Misty Massey, Emily Lavin Leverett, and Margaret S. McGraw.

The eSpec Books Guest Author Reading Series

Featuring eSpec and outside authors reading works published by other publishers.

CJ Henderson reading his short story “Seller’s Market” from But Seriously, Folks. (Posted with the permission of the Henderson estate.)

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All purchase links in these posts are Amazon Associate links
and we do receive a token commission if you should purchase via these links.

FROM THE PUBLISHER – 2018 BESTSELLERS

Just out of curiosity, we looked over our sales for the year and are delighted to share with you the following bestsellers to date for 2018. You can click on the image to check out the book.

eBook Best Sellers – from left to right

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Print Book Best Sellers – from left to right

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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eSPEC BOOKS WEEK IN REVIEWS

This one seems to be aimed at teens and older elementary (and grandfathers) and it was a fun read. – 5 Stars, F. David Porter, Amazon

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Generally a very entertaining read, with several superlative stories – 4 Stars, ggibson, Amazon

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Brenda Cooper is always a good bet for an entertaining and thought provoking read. – 5 Stars, Mickey Elam, Amazon

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This collection does more than entertain. It enthralled me.

I don’t remember the last time I read a collection of stories, single author or otherwise, where I found each story to be so good. – 5 Stars, Frank Luke, Amazon

FROM THE PUBLISHER – MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

We are doing something different this year. Instead of trying to grab everyone’s attention during this gift-giving season, we are having a sale AFTER the holiday.  From January 1 through January 7, all ebooks will be a mere 99 cents. So, if you’ve gotten some e-gift cards, or are just looking to treat yourself, here is your chance to score our amazing books for a steal! 

You can access the titles on Amazon by clicking on the below images. We’ll repost this when the sale goes live.

Anthologies

       

Solo Collections

   

Short Stories

    

    

Novels

eSPEC BOOKS WEEK IN REVIEWS

On the whole it was worth reading for at least the Faith Hunter, Gail Z Martin, Ken Schrader, Scott Hungerford stories, to name a few of my favorites. – Barbara Elness, Amazon

Another winner from eSpec Books. I enjoyed every single one of the stories. A couple of them were spooky, but all of them were well written. – L. Pierce, Amazon

eSPEC BOOKS WEEK IN REVIEWS

It’s been a busy week for eSpec on the review front. Here are our favorites. Click on the links to view the full review:

“The stories were imaginative, well-written, and included characters who evoked emotional responses, both good and bad. I can’t identify a single story that I’d not recommend.” 5 Stars, V. Hartman DiSanto, Amazon

“Throughout Gaslight and Grimm, the stories are illustrated with the delicate woodcuts of Dustin Blottenberger which add a further folkloric feeling to the collection of super, sinister and delightful tales.

If you love the grimness of Grimm and the weird whimsy of Steampunk them this anthology will be a most pleasurable experience. Should you love Grimm but have yet to venture into the weird realms of Steampunk then here is enlightenment!”
4 Stars, N.O.A. Nawle: Reviews

“I’m definitely interested in this genre as a whole and will be keeping an eye out for more books in this vein.” 3 Stars, Cara, Goodreads

“This is such a wonderful book of short stories with a western twist. Space cowboys and aliens..who doesn’t love that? Very original stories, the authors take you to their worlds with vivid descriptions and highly lovable characters.” 5 Stars, Jami Riegel, Amazon

LAUNCH PARTY UPDATE – THE PRIZES #8

For those who missed our earlier posts, Gaslight & Grimm will be launching at Balticon 50 this year, along with our other three anthologies: The Side of Good/The Side of Evil, The Weird Wild West, and Dogs of War – Reissue.

The convention has moved back to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, at the Renaissance Hotel, over Memorial Day Weekend. The launch party will be the Sunday of the convention.

• Where: MD Salon B (The New Garden Room)
• When: Sunday, May 29th
• Time: 7pm to 9pm

Our Final Batch of Featured Prizes

These are some of our contributor prizes. The books are donated by their respective authors: Kelly A. Harmon (Gaslight and Grimm) Jean Marie Ward (Gaslight and Grimm) and James Chambers (The Side of Good/The Side of Evil, and Gaslight and Grimm); the Fairy Catmother tote bag (x2) is donated by Gaslight and Grimm editor and contributor Diana Bastine; and  the amazing steampunk snowman is both created and donated by Dogs of War contributor Judi Fleming of Fleming Gourds. 

I expect there will be other prizes I haven’t cataloged, but hey…you get the idea 😉

So remember, it’s all fun and games…until someone else wins the prize! Don’t let that happen to you. Join us at the launch for your chances to win!

How it Works

Just a note on how you can win said prizes. At any event where we are holding a launch party we have a standing practice that whoever buys one of the books launching gets a free raffle ticket for each one. Once you have a free ticket, if you wish you can purchase additional tickets for $1 each, all the way up until the drawing. Once you arrive at the party you can peruse the prize table and see if any of them interest you. At that point you take your two-part raffle ticket and separate the perforated sides. You put one half of the ticket in the bin in front of the prize you want to win, the other half you put back in your pocket until it is time for the drawing. No need to put your name on either half of the ticket because you–or someone representing you–must be present at the time of the drawing to collect your prize.

LAUNCH PARTY UPDATE – THE MENU #4

For those who missed our earlier posts, Gaslight & Grimm will be launching at Balticon 50 this year, along with our other three anthologies: The Side of Good/The Side of Evil, The Weird Wild West, and Dogs of War – Reissue.

The convention has moved back to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, at the Renaissance Hotel, over Memorial Day Weekend. The launch party will be the Sunday of the convention.

• Where: MD Salon B (The New Garden Room)
• When: Sunday, May 29th
• Time: 7pm to 9pm

As a part of our updates leading toward the grand event, here is another peek at what we’ll be serving.

What?! You didn’t think we’d forget the sweets, did you? I don’t go for sheet cakes or anything…I found that much of the time the cake went to waste because we had so many other yummy things to eat first. Instead we go for other bite-sized yummies you can eat along with your savory items. This year I delegated so I only had to make one batch of cookies…my famous Limoncello Coconut cookies with Candied Ginger. These come with the CJ Henderson Seal of Approval. It is mostly the only cookie I make anymore because I just can’t beat it with anything else. (If you ask REAL nice I might give you the recipe 🙂 )

Trust me, a photo doesn’t do them justice, but here they are 🙂 I took them to a party today and was surprised to hear someone say the cookies were a mistake…then they went on to say they’d already had FOUR. I’ll also be making rice krispy treats, but not until closer to the event

Now…about that delegating I mentioned. We have four other industrious bakers slaving over a hot oven to ensure there are tasty treats for everyone on May 29th.

Gaslight & Grimm contributor Jean Marie Ward will be serving up molasses cookies and snowballs with pecans, The Weird Wild West contributor Robert E. Waters will be bringing his wife’s famous peanut butter brownies, and my wonderful sister Barbara Miller will be making yummy, crispy chocolate chip cookies! (Disclaimer: the below photographs are for demonstration only and do not represent the actual baked goods my minions are working on, which may or may not have already been baked.)

In addition to these home-baked goods, we generally supplement with my favorite cream puffs and other commercially obtained treats. Will it be enough? Who knows! Will we endeavor to have no con-goer go hungry? You bet!

Have we tormented you enough? Because, you know…the party at this point is just four days away! Oh, and…don’t fight over the canapes, please!

LAUNCH PARTY UPDATE – PRIZES #7

For those who missed our earlier posts, Gaslight & Grimm will be launching at Balticon 50 this year, along with our other three anthologies: The Side of Good/The Side of Evil, The Weird Wild West, and Dogs of War – Reissue.

The convention has moved back to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, at the Renaissance Hotel, over Memorial Day Weekend. The launch party will be the Sunday of the convention.

• Where: MD Salon B (The New Garden Room)
• When: Sunday, May 29th
• Time: 7pm to 9pm

Today’s Featured Prizes

These are our miscellaneous prizes. The top image is a superman pendant donated by S. Iserman and a pair of Side of Good/Side of Evil magnets donated by eSpec Books. The middle image is a limited edition print, #1 of 500, by Grendel’s Den. The final image is a Sharper Image motion-sensor candy dispenser donated by a local construction firm. 

Now, the prizes we’ve featured in these posts are not our only prizes, but they are the only ones we have available to photograph. To see what other cool items are up for grabs you’ll have to join us at the launch party and help us celebrate. We certainly hope you will!

How it Works

Just a note on how you can win said prizes. At any event where we are holding a launch party we have a standing practice that whoever buys one of the books launching gets a free raffle ticket for each one. Once you have a free ticket, if you wish you can purchase additional tickets for $1 each, all the way up until the drawing. Once you arrive at the party you can peruse the prize table and see if any of them interest you. At that point you take your two-part raffle ticket and separate the perforated sides. You put one half of the ticket in the bin in front of the prize you want to win, the other half you put back in your pocket until it is time for the drawing. No need to put your name on either half of the ticket because you–or someone representing you–must be present at the time of the drawing to collect your prize.

LAUNCH PARTY UPDATE – PRIZES #6

For those who missed our earlier posts, Gaslight & Grimm will be launching at Balticon 50 this year, along with our other three anthologies: The Side of Good/The Side of Evil, The Weird Wild West, and Dogs of War – Reissue.

The convention has moved back to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, at the Renaissance Hotel, over Memorial Day Weekend. The launch party will be the Sunday of the convention.

• Where: MD Salon B (The New Garden Room)
• When: Sunday, May 29th
• Time: 7pm to 9pm

Today’s Featured Prizes

This is our Robert E. Waters library prize. The first book is Fantastic Futures 13, published by Padwolf Publishing, with stories by both Robert E. Waters and Danielle Ackley-McPhail, the second books is Hides the Dark Tower, edited by G&G contributor Kelly A. Harmon and includes a story by Robert E. Waters, and the final book is Wild West Exodus, with a story by Robert E. Waters. And, you’ve guessed it, this bundle has been donated by Robert E. Waters. 

How it Works

Just a note on how you can win said prizes. At any event where we are holding a launch party we have a standing practice that whoever buys one of the books launching gets a free raffle ticket for each one. Once you have a free ticket, if you wish you can purchase additional tickets for $1 each, all the way up until the drawing. Once you arrive at the party you can peruse the prize table and see if any of them interest you. At that point you take your two-part raffle ticket and separate the perforated sides. You put one half of the ticket in the bin in front of the prize you want to win, the other half you put back in your pocket until it is time for the drawing. No need to put your name on either half of the ticket because you–or someone representing you–must be present at the time of the drawing to collect your prize.

LAUNCH PARTY UPDATES – PRIZES #5

For those who missed our earlier posts, Gaslight & Grimm will be launching at Balticon 50 this year, along with our other three anthologies: The Side of Good/The Side of Evil, The Weird Wild West, and Dogs of War – Reissue.

The convention has moved back to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, at the Renaissance Hotel, over Memorial Day Weekend. The launch party will be the Sunday of the convention.

• Where: MD Salon B (The New Garden Room)
• When: Sunday, May 29th
• Time: 7pm to 9pm

Today’s Featured Prizes

These are our book bundle prizes. The top image is autographed copies of Diana Bastine’s three novels, donated by the author. The middle image is issue #1 of Grimm’s Faerie Tales graphic novel donated by the Philcon freebie table. The last image is the eSpec Books book bundle, donated by the publisher.  

How it Works

Just a note on how you can win said prizes. At any event where we are holding a launch party we have a standing practice that whoever buys one of the books launching gets a free raffle ticket for each one. Once you have a free ticket, if you wish you can purchase additional tickets for $1 each, all the way up until the drawing. Once you arrive at the party you can peruse the prize table and see if any of them interest you. At that point you take your two-part raffle ticket and separate the perforated sides. You put one half of the ticket in the bin in front of the prize you want to win, the other half you put back in your pocket until it is time for the drawing. No need to put your name on either half of the ticket because you–or someone representing you–must be present at the time of the drawing to collect your prize.