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Featuring Heat and Ice by Serena Mossgraves
Currently I only have the link for Kobo I will share more as I have them.
The Reaper’s Child
By Serena Mossgraves
The world seems to be a place where myths are taken for granted. Everyone knows the Myth of the pilot of the River Styx. The Ferryman who ferries souls over to the afterlife for a cost. They all have it wrong though. The Reaper doesn’t want coin. They are an immortal being. Such creatures have no need for money. The ferry driver instead takes the best story each soul has to tell. Sometimes just the telling of the story is too much for a soul to bear. Words carry weight. They are the most painful things in existence. They can also be the most gratifying things that life has to offer.
The ferryman has so many names, and most of them are just the myths coming to signify the way the mortal beings see them. For me, they are my creator. I guess you could call me the reaper’s child. It is not exactly correct, but it is the closest term for what I am. I am a story that became too much for even an immortal mind to bear. So, I grew sentience. Now I search the world for the others like myself, dark stories and memories that weigh heavy on mortality. Stories of killers, and crime, heartache, and such twisted thoughts that they are relegated to impossible fiction. That is the sort of thing that I collect. Like the ferryman I take these weights from the ones who cannot bear them any longer. I think of it as saving those souls who would break under such terrible weights.
I save each story in a notebook, lovingly hand written. My creator kept the stories told to them in perfect memory…I am not quite that blessed. Instead I will keep my notebooks…Stacked full of nightmares. The only story I have been able to remember without writing it down is the one that caused my creation. Perhaps someday I will meet the snowman…I would love to collect all of Frosty’s stories. I can only imagine what notebooks I could fill with that.
I have collected the tale of a vampire that would use it’s victims for the creation of art.
And the tale of the ghost who used to be a mercenary in a rainforest expedition that went badly. He was a wealth of stories. He gave me my own nightmares for weeks after taking his stories.
I collected the story of the nun who was cursed with immortality. It drove her mad. She spoke of becoming a killer, and how it was a kindness to save the women from the hands of the priests.
Each tale has it’s own power to describe a different aspect of life, a different aspect of death.
The story of the woman who went back after she died to steal away the child that her husband loved more than he loved her…She sang it sweet lullabies as she took it to the edge of the River Styx.
I could easily entertain so many with my tales. Which story should I share? Perhaps about the creature named Harvey? The flesh-eater that enjoyed driving it’s meals mad first?
I have considered passing myself off as a horror writer. Telling my tales as if they were fiction to see if anyone would recognize. It is not as if I do not have thousands of dark and dismal tales.
There is the one about the three ghosts who tried to get a rich man to change his ways before it was too late.
or the one about the Witch who gave five teens their wish…but at what cost?
My notebooks are a treasure. I do not write the story whilst the teller yet lives. I make sure to leave them a tale to pay the ferry with. I can at least be that kind. Though I have considered what would happen in this world if there where not enough stories left to pay the ferry. Would all of the storytellers end up stuck here? And if they did would that just create more interesting tales?
I don’t dare allow myself to consider it too closely. I might just decide that I want all of the stories.
Okay….1. That is the first flash Fiction in Stacked Nightmares. 2. How many of Serena’s Stories can you see a nod to in that? I will say that one of the stories she refers to is not Serena’s to tell. It belongs to Malachi Nocturm. However, He is very uncertain about how good his writing is…so I don’t know if I can talk him into finishing it and then allowing me to publish it. So I used a small nod because I love the idea. This is the first thing I have been able to write (Other than Poetry) in 2 weeks. It has a word count of 680. So I had to share it.
Also Serena’s Story Heat & Ice was Accepted by Fractured Mind Publishing for their A Monster I Love Anthology. I will post more as I have details.
Okay I have been trying to figure out what to do with my stuff that gets accepted to anthologies and the like. Serena has a volume she was putting things in… but I was not sure if it was even a thing I needed.
You see I rarely send my stuff out. If I do submit, it is usually to my own publishing company. Not as a guarantee of publishing but instead as a decorative element for the Anthologies I am putting together. I don’t think that I have the energy to send my work to be judged.
I may feel inclined to send in to one or two projects… but I don’t see it being a big deal. So I think that I want to keep a open volume… much like Anthology Alumni and then release it when I feel like it is ready.
The next volume like that is going to be Jotted Memories.
I posted recently about evolution of poetry volumes.
I started Echoes into the void Yesterday(For me this is Sunday.)
And already the inspiration has been leaning towards a singular topic. That does not mean it will be the end theme…but that is often how it starts. I am amused by this.
And in Announcements – I have been approved to do the Poetry Marathon Half Marathon! I did it before in 2017. It is 12 poems in 12 hours. One an hour based on prompts given. I usually enjoy this sort of writing challenge. I will be posting the poems here as well. It is in September. (I have to look up the exact date again…So I will clarify more information closer to.)
Both are on the desk for Layout and publishing. They are both written. I will do a post with the link when I get it.
That being said…
Which one of the options here do you think I should go with next?
The Schedule for 2022 is fairly busy. There are 3 indie Author books currently on the schedule., not including mine and Serena’s books. There are currently 3 Anthologies planned. I have at least one poetry volume and at least one Kid’s book releasing this year. Serena has a poetry volume releasing this year. That is on top of everything else we might do. I will be posting a better calendar on the Fae Corps blog. This is my personal blog, so Why do I post it here? Well, because I am excited about the options. Fae Corps will be posting a PAD challenge for April, as usual. And I will be giving a live interview(link upcoming when I get it.)
There are two Anthologies that will be coming out at the end of March, and Ashira Datya’s Second book will release at the beginning of March. Raz T Slasher is about to release book 2 in his series on 4/20. In May I will be releasing the next Pip Book. I am hoping to have another book by Serena done in time for release this year. Her poetry volume will release in November. I am not certain when I will be releasing Gathering Teardrops. It is half done. I am hoping for a June release, but we will have to see.
We already have an author on the schedule for 2023. Fae Corps is rocking this, and I am learning so much in the doing of it.
Last year was incredibly hard. It happens, and I am not going to sit and weep over it. However, it brought changes to both my personal and professional lives. I refuse to do a resolution because I often get distracted and lose sight of the objective with that. Instead, I do a yearly word. It helps me set the tone for the upcoming year. This year is Effort. Now that doesn’t mean I plan to put in more, just that I become Mindful of the effort I am putting in and the effort of others. (Sometimes we fail to see the effort others are putting in. Either because it doesn’t meet up to the expectations, or because we are too busy to notice.) This Year I want to be mindful. I want to adjust my life to appreciate the effort in it. Including my own. I am too hard on myself so I think that I will struggle some with this.
Fae Corps has had some changes. My partner is stepping down to concentrate on her writing. So I am now the main person in charge. That is both scary and wonderful. I have always dreamed of doing exactly what I am doing. But being in charge means I have to hold myself to a higher standard. It also means that I am the only one I can blame if it goes pear-shaped,
There is a lot planned for the upcoming year. Poetry volumes, Another Pip adventure, The release of several Anthologies….and Fae Corps will be releasing more books. I have announcements that I will be posting here during the next week, and I am hoping to be more mindful of the effort it takes to do a proper blog.
Until then and the time I post again, I wish all of you the blessings of the new year, and hope it is a great one for us all.
Hello my lovely readers. Today I have a nice cold green tea, how about you? I hope this finds you all keeping cool in this heat.
I have very few announcements but I figured I would update you all as I could.
One, we are diligently working at Fae Corps to get the Into the Glen anthologies out. Those should be out in August, As well as the Poetry book by the Lovely Beulah Vega, A Saga For the Unrequited. I am quite busy trying to get both together and will post links as soon as I have them.
I am supposed to be in Indie Blu(e)’s upcoming anthology But You Don’t Look Sick with a bit of Poetry…again links upcoming.
My resin art is for sale on my Facebook page. I am taking commissions. If you are interested in what I can make I have posted a album full of the molds I own on my personal Facebook. It is public, as not much is.
I have added a new thing for Fridays to try to bring more fun to my blog. I will start it tomorrow. Let me know what you think.
I have been adding my art to Deviant art (the link is on the side). I have also been trying to do recordings to make mine and Serena’s Books into Audiobooks. So the occasional poetry reading is going up on YouTube in the meantime.
So, that is all of mine…what are you doing for the summer? Any fun plans?
PRE-ORDER NOW!!
Coffee House Writers is releasing two anthologies this winter! With nearly three dozen writers and over one hundred pieces total, there is something for everyone in these collections.
Paperbacks of both will be available internationally on the two release days as well!
Volume 1: Poetry & Nonfiction releases December 8. Pre-order here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08N2Y4ZHD
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55877282-coffee-house-writers-2020-anthology
Volume 2: Fiction releases December 15. Pre-order here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08N3C92P7
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55877286-coffee-house-writers-2020-anthology
Shhhhh! 😘 my poetry is in volume 1!
Hello Friends. Serena Here. I know that Miss Mouse is busy…so I am taking over long enough to make a exciting announcement. About a month ago, During the whole push for Nightmare Whispers… I saw this….
I was terribly inspired. I couldn’t help but try to get in. And I succeeded. I plan on popping on here as I get information and sharing the tidbits with you. This story was so fun, the rest of the anthology can’t help but be fun as well. Stay tuned!
Pattimouse 