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I'm Going To Anthocon!

I'm going to be at Anthocon in Portsmouth, NH November 8 - 10. My husband is coming with me. I hope to snag a reading. I'd like to participate in panels, but I doubt I can at this late date. I hope to read from my horror short stories "The Oily", "Trailer Trash Zombies", and "We're All Mad Here". I may also read from my WIP thriller/family saga "Secrets and Lies" if I have time.

Anyone reading going to Anthocon who wants to meet for coffee or a meal or something? I'm meeting with Charles Day of Evil Jester Press for some chit-chat, since he'll be there. This looks to be much fun!

Crickets...

I really need to update here more often.

Coming soon - great reviews for "Zippered Flesh 2". That book is selling very well even a couple of months after its release. It's also free for the next few days, so pick up your copy if you haven't already. Full name of the book is "Zippered Flesh 2: More Tales Of Body Enhancements Gone Bad".  My story "We're All Mad Here" appears in that book. It's about plastic surgery and a Crazy Cat Lady. Meow!

Today's radio show with Marsha Casper Cook went very well. I read from "The Oily", which is my favorite of all my dark fiction stories. To read an excerpt, go to the top of this site and click on the title in the bar. There are also a blurb and buy links in case you want more.

Welcome Blog Hoppers! Let's Talk Vampires!

It's time to talk about vampires. In addition to writing dark fiction, fantasy, and horror, I also write erotica and romance.

Vampires in horror are much different from vampires in erotica. Here are some differences:

Romance: vampires sparkle

Horror: vampires stink of the grave

Romance: vampires are damaged anti-heroes who can be saved if the right woman came along

Horror: vampires turn women into their personal slaves, and not in a good way

Romance: vampires are glamorous

Horror: vampires are terrifying

Romance: Edward Cullen

Horror: Max Schreck

Romance: vampire is redeemed by a good woman

Horror: vampire is killed in creative ways such as sunlight, impaling on a crucifix, drowning, and disease of the blood.

Although I write erotic romances, and I've written one with a female vampire as a character, I much prefer the classic horrific Universal and Hammer Horror styled vampire. The classic tale of the Vampire of Croglin Grange is what I consider a true vampire. And it doesn't sparkle. Here's the Vampire of Croglin Grange legend, from the Mysterious Britain and Ireland web site:

Legend tells that Croglin Grange was in the hands of the Fisher Family for many centuries. In the Early 19th Century the Fishers moved from the property into larger dwellings and put the property up to let. All during the cold long winter the house was empty, who knows what ancient stirrings were aroused in its period of dereliction. As the winter passed into spring the grange was finally let to 2 brothers and a sister called the Cranswells. It seems that they enjoyed life to the full and soon settled in to village routine and socialised with the local people. They were well liked within the village and loved their new home very much.

One summers evening as the shadows drew long around the Grange, and the Churchyard hollow took on the blackness of night. Miss Cranswell took her leave to her bed chamber, she paused to look out of the window in the direction of the darkened churchyard at the bottom of their long lawn, and noticed something peculiar in the vicinity of the churchyard. It seemed that above the darker blackness of the gravestones, she could see two points of light moving. In time they moved from the graveyard over the shadows of the wall, moving closer on to the bottom of the lawn where they played around the churchyard wall. By this time Miss Cranswells curiosity had given way to a deep feeling of unease, she shut the window tight bolted the door and laid down in her bed to try and get some sleep.

After a short while she checked herself for her foolish superstition and slowly drifted to slumber. On the verge of sleep she was suddenly jolted awake by a low rustling from outside the window. She twisted in bed and sat bolt upright, outside the window burning like coals in the night were two points of light, which she now recognised as the demon eyes of some humanoid creature who was grasping at the window pane. She tried to scream but terror froze the sound in her throat.

The sound of rustling gave way to picking and she realised that the creatures brutish hands were unpicking the lead from the triangular panes. First one, then another of the small glass panels gave way and fell to the floor. A grey cadaver like hand reached in and pulled the latch. The window swung inwards in one slow motion and the figure climbed through the gap with a cat like ease. Miss Cranswell could now hardly breathe let alone scream for before her stood the towering figure of a man, pale, almost translucent with bright burning eyes and blood red lips. He stepped to the bed and in one movement grasped her hair with gnarled hands, and pulled her head back as if to deliver a kiss.

The brothers, sleeping in separate rooms were aroused by a loud high pitched scream that seemed to shake the very walls of the Grange. In a moment they were before their sisters door. The door was locked so they smashed through with a poker, eventually breaking through into a devastating scene. There was a stench of mouldy decay in the air and upon the bed lay their sister, blood pumping from arterial gashes in her neck. One of the brothers rushed to the open window and just caught sight of a shadow flitting across the bottom of the lawn near the churchyard. They managed to stop the blood flow and revive Miss Cranswell, the next few hours were spent in the attempt to save her life.

Miss Cranswell survived the attack and when she was strong enough to travel they took her to Switzerland to recuperate in the fresh mountain air. When the full story was in the open the brothers swore revenge on the creature, at whose nature they could only guess. When Miss Cranswell had recovered fully and heard of her brothers plans to hunt out her assailant, she persuaded her brothers to let her act as bait, and would not be dissuaded by her brothers concerns.

So it came to be that the Cranswells returned to Croglin one dark winters day. Miss Cranswell took her place in the room overlooking the churchyard, and as the moon rose a pair of bright lights shone in the shadows of the churchyard. Once more the figure of a man appeared at the window and picked the leaded glass to gain entry to the bed chamber. This time the two brothers were lying in wait in the shadows, as the figure came to step into the room they both loosed shots at the creature. There was a low howl and the creature sped off at in the direction from whence it came. Not wishing to follow such a night creature into its domain the two brothers waited for daybreak.

First thing in the morning they took Miss Cranswell to safety and gathered all the residents of the grange around them to carry out their gruesome task. The men searched the graveyard for any signs of disturbance on finding none turned their attention to the church. All was quiet but they noticed that the crypt door was slightly ajar. Pushing into the crypt they were met with a horrific scene. All around the crypt were the scattered remains of broken coffins and gnawed human bones. One coffin stood alone in the corner and seemed to have been left untouched by the chaos. The villagers wrenched off the coffin lid, inside wrapped in mouldy clothes was what they assumed to be a vampire. Its eyes were cold and lifeless in the daylight but a fresh pistol wound was gaping from one of the creatures legs. The villagers dragged the coffin and its demonic contents out into the churchyard and burned the lot to ashes.

Nobody seemed to know where this strange creature came from, or why it had remained dormant in the centuries of peace when the Fishers lived in the property. One can only surmise that during the period of dereliction, an age old horror was reawakened and would not return to rest after the house was reoccupied.

Enjoy the Vampire Bite Blog Hop!

A Roach For Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is right around the corner. Why do something mundane on Valentine's Day like honor your sweetie with gifts of flowers, boxed chocolates, a fancy dinner, champagne, sex toys, and a little roll between the sheets to top off the night? Do something different!

Name a Madagascar hissing cockroach after your true love!

You've seen these things in zoos. They're big. They hiss. They make the Zanti misfits look like fruit flies.

Roaches have real character. They are resilient. Tenacious. Creative. Prolific! Resourceful and loyal. Those are great qualities in any mate. You can now tell your honey bunny he or she is as sexy as a roach!

So now instead of greeting each individual roach with a "WTF IS THAT?" you can call it Tootsie Wootsie or Sugar Bear. All you need to do is give a $10 donation to the Bronx Zoo and you get to name a really cool Madagascar hissing cockroach after your soulmate. You'll even get a certificate of honor. How cool is that? According to the Bronx Zoo web site, "Your $10 donation helps WCS conserve species big and small, beautiful and damned. With your support, we'll continue to do our work saving wildlife in the forests of Madagascar and throughout the world's most majestic wild places."

Forget the chocolates and roses. Name one of these bugs after your true love, help support the Bronx Zoo, and buy some dark and horrific books to end the night on a high note. Try my horror novels and short stories. You may find links to pages about each one at the top of this web site. Choose "The Oily" (Stupefying Stories), "Shattering The Meat Tunnel" (Mirages), "We're All Mad Here" (Zippered Flesh 2), "Back Beyond The Hedge Row" (Kizuna), or "Alicia", which is a dark fantasy romance story. Perfect for Valentine's Day! Enjoy a good read, and Happy Valentine's Day!

Note: "We're All Mad Here" is so new it's not on this web site yet. It appears in the horror anthology "Zippered Flesh 2: More Tales Of Body Enhancements Gone Bad!" You may buy the book at Amazon.

Zippered Flesh 2 - paperback

Zippered Flesh 2 - ebook

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

NOW AVAILABLE: Zippered Flesh 2: More Tales Of Body Enhancements Gone Bad!

Now available in print form! Kindle edition coming soon. Zippered Flesh 2: More Tales Of Body Enhancements Gone Bad! My story "We're All Mad Here" appears in this anthology. It's my Crazy Cat Lady story. :) The book is edited by Weldon Burge for Smart Rhino Publications.

Here are all the authors. I'm in some very good company.

“The Modern Adonis” by Bryan Hall

“Taut” by Shaun Meeks

“The Hunger Artist” by Lisa Mannetti

“Skin Deep” by Carson Buckingham

“The Sun-Snake” by Christine Morgan

“Knowledge” by Kate Monroe

“Prosthetics” by Daniel I. Russell

“After Darque” by M.L. Roos

“The Affair of the Jade Dragon” by Rick Hudson

“The Future of Flesh” by J.M. Reinbold

“We’re All Mad Here” by E.A. Black

“Seeds” by L.L. Soares

“Perfection” by Doug Blakeslee

“Underneath” by Kealan Patrick Burke

“The Perfect Size” by A.P. Sessler

“Piper at the Gates of Dawn” by David Benton & W.D. Gagliani

“BabyDaddy” by Jonathan Templar

“The Little Things” by Christian A. Larsen

“Clockwork” by Shaun Jeffrey

“Luscious” by Jezzy Wolfe

“Rapture” by Charles Colyott

“Primal Tongue” by Michael Bailey

Pick up your copy of the book today!