Thursday, May 22, 2014

Dreaming of the Sea is Now Available!


ABOUT Dreaming of the Sea:

Years ago when her mother traded her to the Sea Witch for a love potion, she became the witch’s apprentice. Now Gia Chantal must find her own apprentice. If she doesn’t, the Devil won’t take her soul when she dies, and she’ll spend eternity tormented for every spiritual crime she’s ever committed. However, it’s the 21st century, and Gia doesn’t know where to begin when it comes to finding her replacement. She’ll turn to social media mastermind Cole—an exiled mer prince—to help her.

Ten-year-old, Miriam, an orphan with visionary tendencies, sought refuge in a convent to escape a life on the streets. Now a young woman, the walls and rules that have kept her safe for over a decade feel constricting. When she comes across the ad to be the wealthy Gia’s caretaker, she’s never wanted anything more in her life… until she meets Cole.

Dreaming of the Sea is a retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid. In the original tale, after falling in love with a human prince, the little mermaid yearns to win his love—and gain an immortal soul—thus her bargain with the sea witch…

In this contemporary retelling, after refusing to heed a merman's warnings, a young woman will make a different kind of bargain with the Sea Witch...

~ EXCERPT ~

She was seven years old when the first mermaid came to their lair—a devastating encounter never to be forgotten. Gertrude had never fathomed herself as hideous, until she gawked at the mermaid’s silky hair, smooth complexion, and glimmering fins. In a blink, happy oblivion deserted the sea witch’s apprentice.

After the young girl took the potion that would transform her fins into human legs, Gertrude was full of questions for Beulah.

“Why are we so ugly?” she asked.

“Witches must be fierce creatures.” Beulah nodded towards the graceful form of the retreating mermaid. “Who would be afraid of something like that?”

She had a point, but Gertrude had already decided the mermaid’s beauty was another kind of spell. Everything and everyone stopped to stare at her. Certainly, the power to garner such attention was no small thing. Gertrude began to wonder: If her hair was smooth and flowing, not snake-like, and her complexion was fair, not pocked and scarred; if her form was comely, not in the shape of a blob with crooked hands and teeth protruding… perhaps her mother wouldn’t have traded her in the first place.

It set Gertrude to dreaming.

Beulah, who’d been enticed into her apprenticeship by promises of power when she was a young, impoverished girl whacked Gertrude on the side of the head. “Be grateful for what you’ve got.” She smashed a handful of fried sea beetles into her mouth. “There’s lots of girls who’d be glad to take your place. Your mother did you a favor bringing you to me early on. You’ve got lots of time to study and develop your cunning. By the time I’m gone, you’ll be one of the most powerful sea witches there ever was.”

Gertrude wished the thought made her more happy. “Why did the mermaid want to trade her shining fins for a pair of legs?” she asked. “I could understand it better, if she had a black snake tail like you and me.”

Beulah cuffed her again. “Nothing’s wrong with our tails, girl.”

By now, the back of Gertrude’s head and her jaw smarted. “But why did she want legs?”

“She’s fallen in love with some human. Folks fall in love, they’re willing to sacrifice everything.” Beulah let out a belch. It came out as a yellow-green gaseous cloud that hung in the water between her and Gertrude. “If you ask me, the mermaid wanted to make the trade because she’s stupid.”

“But she gave you her beautiful voice. What are you going to do with it?”

“The day will come when its best use will become clear to me. Until then—” Beulah ran her finger over a pile of bottles filled with rays of fluorescent gold, blue, green, and pink. “I’ll just be hoarding it, because I don’t like to let go of anything. You never know when it might come in handy.”

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

A is for Apocalypse: Cover Reveal + Giveaway

 Welcome to the cover reveal for A is for Apocalypse, an anthology edited by Rhonda Parrish.

Often bleak, sometimes hopeful, always thoughtful, if A is for Apocalypse is as prescient as it is entertaining, we're in for quite a ride.” - Amanda C. Davis, author of The Lair of the Twelve Princesses
What do you get when you take twenty-six amazing writers, randomly assign them a letter of the alphabet and give them complete artistic freedom within a theme?
A is for Apocalypse
A is for Apocalypse contains twenty-six apocalyptic stories written by both well-known and up-and-coming writers. Monsters, meteors, floods, war–the causes of the apocalypses in these tales are as varied as the stories themselves.
This volume contains work by Ennis Drake, Beth Cato, Kenneth Schneyer, Damien Angelica Walters, K. L. Young, Marge Simon, Milo James Fowler, Simon Kewin, C.S. MacCath, Steve Bornstein and more!
A is for Apocalypse
Edited by Rhonda Parrish
Poise and Pen Publishing
ISBN-13: 978-0993699016
ISBN-10: 0993699014
Cover Designed by Jonathan Parrish

To celebrate we have a Q&A for you with some of the contributors!
In choosing a theme for this, the first of a series of anthologies, I considered and rejected a great many "A" words. Tell us about your favourite word that begins with the letter A.

Alexis A. Hunter - As an author -- 'acceptance' has a beautiful ring to it. As a sci-fi writer -- 'apex' is particularly engaging. In general -- 'angel' is one of my favorite words, because they're one of my favorite 'creature types' to play with in stories. Plus I have a thing for wings and feathers.

Michael Kellar - My "A" word would be arachnid. I'm a spider person. (You could consider this when you get to "S is for...")

Damien Angelica Walters - My favourite word that begins with the letter A is anathema. It rolls off the tongue like a whisper, hiding its dark meaning in pretty syllables.

Marge Simon - Alliteration because it’s a beautiful word. Sorry if it doesn't connote anything bad, like assassin. ;)

Simon Kewin - My favourite A word is (possibly) Archaeopteryx. I love the shape of the word. It's exotic and fantastical and ungainly all at the same time - a little like the creature itself. It derives from the Greek archaeo (ancient) and pterux (wing). So, "Ancient Wing". Archaeopteryx is a lovely illustration of the forces of evolution in progress; it's a snapshot of a species in the process of changing from dinosaur ancestor to modern avian descendent. Here was a creature with a bony tail and teeth and feathers. And claws on its wings. I'd love to have seen one... 

 Sara Cleto - My favorite A word is amethyst, a purple-violet quartz often used in jewelry (particularly at Renaissance Faires!) As a little girl, I was obsessed with the color purple, and my mom's amethyst jewelry was the subject of much fascination- I was sure the stones had some sort of magical property, and I seem to recall trying to do spells with them... And now, in my old age, I'm deeply amused by their purported ability to prevent excessive intoxication.

Beth Cato - Tricky question since my absolute favorite word begins with B. For A words, I have to say I like "anaphylactic." It's morbid, I know, since the meaning is a severe allergic reaction, but I like the word because it has a cool poetic rhythm.

Suzanne van Rooyen - This is really tough to answer! There are so many great words starting with A like analogy, allegory and awesome! But I think my favourite is actually a name.

Atreyu. Atreyu - the character from The Never Ending Story - was my first major crush as a kid and that film was such a huge part of my childhood. If I ever have a son one day, his name is going to be Atreyu.
Blurbs:
“Editor Rhonda Parrish gives us apocalyptic fiction at its finest. There's not a whimper to be heard amongst these twenty-six End of the World stories. A wonderful collection.” -Deborah Walker, Nature Futures author.
Editor Bio:
“Rhonda Parrish is a shapeshifter with talents to match her every incarnation- magpie tenacity for picking the shiniest submissions, nightingale notes for crafting tales, and bright, feline eyes for seeking out her photographic subjects. She balances on the knife-edge of darkness and light, a sorceress of both realms.” - Sara Cleto
Giveaway:
Three ARC copies of  A is for ApocalypseThese are physical copies but I am willing to ship them to anywhere in the world. The Rafflecopter draw will run from May 12th to May 19th. On May 20th I will choose three winners and email them in order to get their shipping address. Anyone who doesn’t respond by May 27th will forfeit their prize and I will choose a new winner to receive it.
Fill out the rafflecopter to enter.

This event was organized by CBB Book Promotions.