Another Free Story (limited offer)

The Vision

The Vision, A Dark Romance
Ebook By April Grey
$0.00 Rating:
(4.50 based on 2 reviews)
Published: Dec. 25, 2011
Category: Fiction » Romance » Gothic
Words: 4481 (approximate)
Language: English

Extended Description
It was only a children's game, put the chestnut beneath your pillow and dream of your future husband. However, in her dream she saw a monsterous visage, so deformed and hideous that she awoke with a start and was certain that this would be her fate.

Then she met Jack. Could their love save her?

Set in Napoleonic times, The Vision is a dark romance of love, fear and fate.

Making Lemonade is up! My piece about writing from the hurt

In 2004 my life was a roller coaster...

FREE STORY

My zombie love story, "I'll Love Ya Forever, But.." is up over at Eric's Hysterics. Go on over and have a laugh, it's good for the health, ya know.

Guest Blogging at Ginger Simpson's Blog

I'll be writing a little about the Austrian folkloric character, The Krampus, and explaining how it came to be featured in Chasing The Trickster. Please join me.

My First Review for Trickster (at Amazon.com)

5.0 out of 5 stars Very original, great characters, excellent story..., November 25, 2011
By RSP SciFi-er (Staten Island) - See all my reviews This review is from: Chasing The Trickster (Paperback)
Instead of recycling old tropes (vampires, werewolves, witches, et al), Chasing the Trickster is a very original interpretation of horror/fantasy using two largely unexplored mythologies: those of the Southwestern United States and Central Europe. So, the first part of the good news is that, as you read, there is absolutely none of that feeling of, "Wait... didn't I read this before?" No, as your gobble this up (I found this book very difficult to put down), you won't harken back to a previous read and say to your yourself, "Oh yeah, this is like that OTHER book!"

The really good news is that the characters are extremely well drawn and executed. Throw in an unorthodox approach to treating time and plot, some really nice plot twists and genuine surprises, as well as an ending with epilogue that ties everything up into an excellent and satisfying conclusion and you have one of the best books I've read all year. No real bad news! Great job, Ms. Grey!

Heading out to Philcon & Trailer

Hi All, Philcon! It's my first time there and my first time on panels. I'm really looking forward to it and to meeting more Broads from Broad Universe along with Philly SF&F fans. And, Ta-Da! The trailer for Chasing the Trickster.

My first trailer!

Today is the Day! Trickster Released

Chasing the Trickster is now available at Eternal Press.

http://www.eternalpress.biz/book.php?isbn=9781615725328

One Man, Two Women, Two Gods…who will survive the Trickster’s snare?

Just released from Eternal Press, Chasing the Trickster is a sexy and witty paranormal romance with a dark underside. Taking place in New York City and Santa Fe, Trickster is a tale of love lost and regained, dashed hopes and redemption.

Excerpt from Chasing the Trickster:
She stalked about then stopped in front of one particular photograph. There was a problem with it, but with today being the deadline she hadn’t had the time to risk airbrushing the imperfection out. Some sort of flaw in the film stock or her supplies had created a ghostlike image in the sky of her desert landscape. She pouted in annoyance.
The quality of light was unusual in this one: a combination of a storm blowing in and the setting sun gave the landscape a surreal translucent glow. There was a interesting spray of cactus in the foreground, which drew the eye and balanced the gathering clouds in the sky.
She looked at it again and silently swore. The pin light on it now needed to be repositioned where a moment ago it was just fine. She found a ladder in the hallway supply closet and headed up, balancing precariously on the top step. Refocusing the light on her photo, she noticed something. From where she was, the imperfection had changed into the image of a vehicle and it was on fire. She could see the superheated air wavering up off of the flames. There was a crackling sound of a blaze and she lifted a hand to guard her face against the heat she felt. It was going to explode. She was quite sure of it. Then she was falling backwards.

It's Here- My story in Ephemera

My short story, "Todd Nathaniel's Last Case" is now available in Ephemera.

It's available at B&N, Amazon and from Elektrik Milk Bath Press

Whoo-Hoo!

Busy, Busy, Busy at NY Comic Con

Last weekend was the NY Comic Con. We went all four days. Highlights were running into Hildy Silverstein, Editor of Space and Time Magazine. Wow. I know her from Lunacon and the Steampunk World's Fair. She's a really lovely person. At my first Lunacon she was kind enough to critique my short story, "I'll Love Ya Forever." At the time it was up to the final cut at a well know magazine. It didn't get picked up, but I sold it just a few months ago. I forgot to tell her.

I also met fellow Broad Universe member, Jennifer Allis Provost, and her sister who had driven all the way from MA to attend.

I enjoyed the Steampunk documentary preview and there was also a preview of a documentary on the history of comic books. The panel on the new Dark Shadows movie was a little disappointing. Not enough about the movie and a lot about the two actresses having written books about Dark Shadows, figures since it was their publishers who set up the panel.

I also attended a panel on "The Steampunk Zombie Invasion" with various writers. Sadly, the Sat. panel "Zombies, Fallen Angels and other Paranormals give new meaning to Undying Love" was either rescheduled or cancelled. Sunday I attended another great panel, "We're No Angels: Leading Ladies of SF/F".

I collected 26 free books from the big publishing houses and look forward to reading them all in the months to come!

A Very Good Week

I made two sales this week:

"I'll Love Ya Forever, But" to Eric's Hysterics

and

"Todd Nathaniel's Last Case" to Ephemera

That brings up my total sales this year to five!

Now I have to write some more stories to send out...

A Beautiful Cover for my novel

I am so delighted with the work Amanda Kelsey has done on the Chasing the Trickster cover. Whoo-Hoo!

The End of the World as I know it (and I feel fine)

In the past year our local Barnes and Noble closed, leaving us to retreat to Borders. Then Borders went out of business. And then The NYC Opera left Lincoln Center.I already miss our local (within walking distance) bookstores, and NYC Opera; it's a shame but DH and I can still walk to the Met.

And I also decided to go with an e-publisher for my novel. That's the only change which I feel good about. I'd thought long and hard about this, not wanting to have my books get maybe three weeks time in a bookstore before being returned to the warehouse, or wind up somewhere coverless and forlorn. I love books, the feel of them, the smell, bookmarks, everything. But I do most of my reading on the computer. I even have Kindle for the PC. I'm a traitor to the big brick and mortar bookstores.

I have bought from Amazon for years now, usually just out of print books, though. Most of the time I did buy my hard copies from B&N or Borders. But my bookcases are out of space, so it feels right to download what I want to read. Saves paper, saves physical space.

Yet, I keep wondering what will happen after an apocalypse? If we don't forget how to read, will we be able to gain access to information stored on computers? If the upcoming destruction of the world is really bad, will there be anyone left to read at all?

Not to be all gloom and doom, but I really like the idea of having a few hard copies around, just in case we wind up back in the dark ages again.

Sure, this probably won't happen in my time. But I still like to imagine there's some huge vault somewhere where all the great books will be kept safe for future generations.

Just in case.

What a Weekend!

Here in Hell's Kitchen we have a yearly arts festival and studio tour called "Artists in the Kitchen." As I did last year, I participated in the activities by giving a reading from my works.

Yesterday and today, I read the first chapter from Chasing the Trickster to a small, but appreciative audience at the Oasis Community Garden. It felt great. I love reading from this novel.

Also, my collection of short stories, "The Fairy Cake Bake Shoppe and 13 Other Weird Tales" is now available from Smashwords.

For readers of this blog I have a discount coupon code:PJ45N - good until July 7th.

Please head over and download your copy. And please let me know what you think.

If you are in Manhattan this Sat.

I'll be giving a reading from my novel, Chasing The Trickster this Sat.@ Artists in the Kitchen Studio Tour

Location: Oasis Community Garden, 52nd St. and Tenth Avenue.

Time: 12:00PM Saturday, June 25th.

I'm set to read first. I might also give a second reading on Sunday.

Come on by!

Wonderful Weekend!

I was at the Stoker Weekend, given by the Horror Writers Association.

It was great meeting many fellow horror writers, and the panels and workshops were very informative.

The Smashwords manual also took up much of my time this weekend. In honor of my selling Chasing the Trickster to Eternal Press, I'm going to release my previously published short stories in a collection: "The Fairy Cake Bake Shoppe and 13 Other Weird Tales."

I totally love the artwork produced by Dirk Strangely and am very grateful to have his talent for my cover.

The Fairy Cake Bake Shoppe and 13 Other Weird Tales

More good news!

I'm going to be releasing a collection of my short stories on Smashwords in honor of this terrific news.

Exciting News

I just signed a contract with Eternal Press for my first novel, Chasing The Trickster. I'll keep you updated with new information as it comes to me.

Steampunk World's Fair

It's coming up too soon to be believed. We had such a good time last year and I feel so guilty writing about it here because I don't really use it much for networking, more for enjoying myself and taking a little break.

Then again, my flash fiction "Lace, Lavender and Revenants" was steampunk, and the story I've been working on for the past two years is also steampunk.

And I did get some very good advice from fellow writers there last year. So, yeah, I will consider it fair game.

Not much else to report. Wrote my second grant of the year. Keeping fingers crossed.

Wish me luck.

World Horror Con 2011

Woot! Friday was a wonderful day.

On Friday we had our Broad Universe Rapid Fire Readings. As organizer for the event I had put together flyers. I didn't realize that WHC is a much more intimate event than Lunacon. I printed way too many flyers. But other than that all went in a very smooth manner.
I loved meeting my fellow broads: Camille Alexa, Leadie Flowers, Stima Leicht and Jessica Reisman. Kudos to the Broads for their impressive readings.

I was also doing a pitch to a well respected publisher that day and I'll be sending off a package as soon as I get home.

I went to launch parties for Edge and Chizine at the hotel and was fortunate enough to be on a bat cruise given by Dark Continents. Austin at night seen from the river was spectacular.

I have met many, many wonderful people not just writers and publishers but family members as well. And the con is very well organized. The person I worked with to set up the Rapid Fire Reading, Martel, was great as was the person in charge of arranging pitches, Rhodi. Thank you so much to all the people who have created this con with such loving attention to detail!

Today will be less hectic, just one more pitch and I look forward to relaxing at some readings and panels.

World Horror Con

I can't believe it's just a few weeks before World Horror Con. I'm in charge of the Rapid Fire Reading for Broad Universe and have been hard at it to keep communication open with the person in charge of scheduling and the Broads who will be reading. I'm doing a flyer and I'm so glad I have plenty of time to get this done.

There will be novel pitching at the Con, and I'm trying to prep myself mentally for the event. Time just seems to be moving so quickly.

I'll update as we get closer to the big event.

Lunacon cont.

One of the best things about going to Lunacon is the Rapid Fire Reading in which members of Broad Universe come together to read their work. The past couple of years I've been reading with the same group of talented writers: Gail Z. Martin (The Chronicles of the Necromancer series and The Fallen Kings Cycle), Danielle Ackley-McPhail (Yesterday's Dreams, Tomorrow's Memories and The Halfing's Court), Sarah Avery (the Rogosa Coven series), Roberta Rogow (The Root of the Matter and many more). I so enjoy listening to my fellow Broads read and catching up on what is happening in their careers.

There were a lot of familiar faces on the panels. I was pleased to be in various panel audiences listening to Lawrence M. Schoen (Guest of Honor), Neil Clarke, Michael D'Ambrosio, Neal Levin, Joshua Palmatier (also know him from Online Writers Workshop), Darrell Schweitzer, Hildy Silverman, David Sklar, Ian Randal Strock, Patrick Thomas, Gorden Van Gelder, and Michael A. Ventrella.

I had fun at the party for the release of the anthology After Hours: Tales from the Ur-Bar, editors Joshua Palmatier and Patricia Bray. Didn't have a chance to swim or use the hot tub. The panels were just so good and informative that I had almost no down time. I loved hanging out with other writers and learning so much about the business and craft of writing.

Thank you everyone who made this such a great weekend!

Lunacon!

Lunacon this year was fantastic. So many panels about SF, Fantasy and Horror. But also just about the craft of writing. I saw a lot of old friends and was so pleased to be there. The scheduling was terrific, very little overlap. But saying that, the Rapid Fire Readings for Broad Universe was a bit of a challenge with three of our readers booked for other events/panels.

I want to go into detail about the con, but it's a bit late. I'll get back onto this tomorrow.

"Mother Mine" up at Dark Valentine

My short story, "Mother Mine," is now up at Dark Valentine. Enjoy your day!

Last Year and Looking Forward

Last year I went to quite a few conventions: Lunacon, The Steampunk World's Fair, NYC Comicon, and Connecticon.

This year I'll be at those PLUS I'm heading down to Austin, TX for the World Horror Convention.

I'm please to say that I joined the Horror Writer's Association last year.

Finally, my short story, "At the End of Day" came out in Demonmind's Halloween Anthology. It's a lovely book and I'm very pleased to be a part of it.

New Year's Resolution is to keep writing and keep submitting!