Nocturne: A Collection of Dark Tales by H.B. Diaz

From the gothic to the gory, this ghostly collection will keep you awake long into the witching hours of night. Step into the twisted warren of a lunatic mind, face the angered spirits of a haunted mansion, or escape a cursed forest's ancient monster. Whichever story you choose, be sure to keep the lights on. Featuring short stories seen in publications from the likes of Flame Tree Press, ID Press, and Horror Tree, plus six brand new tales.

Nearly Ten Years Late by Katie Frey ✓ author

No one likes a highschool reunion. Ok, maybe some people do. Those who are born with the rare amalgamation of genes that allow for a Disney movie version of secondary school. It wasn’t the case for Jenny then, and it certainly wasn’t the case for her now. Ongoing fights with brain cancer left her with a permanent bad hair day for her teen years and the only thing worse than disinterest from an adolescent peer group is pity. Nothing sexy about that. Not then, not now. Luckily, most of the time, high school feels very far away. Ten years away. Except it’s not anymore. The reunion is looming, and Jenny has already RSVP’d with a plus one. Finally, a chance to show up looking decent, image vastly improved by the date on her arm. Or it would have been, had he not dumped her. She’d cancel, but she can’t. She’s got a job teaching in the same school as of January, so this Christmas party is a must. A holiday high school reunion? What could be worse? Maybe, it’s finding out the date her best friend pulls together last minute is actually her high school boyfriend. Back, and hotter than ever. This 102-page novella promises a lovely second chance romance & exciting bonus content.

Idle Hands by Cassondra Windwalker ✓ author

After making the courageous decision to leave her abusive husband, Perdie and her three young children start over and finally find the safety and love they deserve. But years later, when tragedy strikes, Perdie is left wondering if the choice she made to leave has led them to this moment. If she were given the opportunity to take it all back and stay, would she? In a frantic bid to protect her family, Perdie makes a deal to do just that. But in a world where the devil pulls the strings, can Perdie really change the past? Brimming with enlightened observations and brilliant voice, Idle Hands is a haunting examination of grief, resilience, and what we’d give to spend another moment with the ones we love.

tide tables and tea with god by Cassondra Windwalker ✓ author

What makes a person when the mind slips away? How do we retain our identity when our words, our thoughts, our desires go to war with us? Set against the unique backdrop of the Alaskan coast, its cultures and calendars, TIDE TABLES AND TEA WITH GOD explores how the issues of dementia and depression, mental illness and death, interact at the intersection of the carnal and the divine in each of us. This collection of poetry and black-and-white photography is a powerful representation of the sublime in the small, a navigation through the rocky landscape of human existence to the vantage points that will bring us face-to-face with ourselves, and ultimately, with one another.

The Almost-Children by Cassondra Windwalker ✓ author

A haunting exploration of the manifestations of loss and the mysterious alterations of absence, The Almost-Children reminds us that just as every life has a unique impact on this world, so too does every departure.

Preacher Sam by Cassondra Windwalker ✓ author

No one is more qualified to understand the blackest hearts than a disgraced, sex-addicted former preacher who is still in love with his estranged wife. Floundering for direction and beset by the needs of his well-meaning but aggravating atheist sister and her seven-year-old son, Sam Geisler is trying to put his past behind him when the murder of one of his former parishioners by another drags him back into the world he left behind. Sam may not be Broad Ripple’s favorite son, but his peculiar gift for listening has earned him the moniker murderer-whisperer, and the police need his help on what should be an open-and-shut case. Fighting for his marriage, fighting with his sister, and fighting against his own demons, Sam may be the only one who hears what the real murderer is all but shouting—but will it be enough to drive back his own darkness?

Under a Cat's Eye by David Reynolds ✓ author

Ron had this strange knack of knowing when his boss Serenity was about to get hurt. This time, he took the brunt of her fall, catching her before she smacked into the linoleum covered concrete floor only to get slapped by her for touching him. Ron's headaches, which seemed to happen whenever Serenity was about to get hurt, get much worse when a driver arrives at Ron's retail store with a semi loaded with barbecues and propane cannisters. Barely able to keep them alive, Ron finds himself stuck in the middle of a battle between his cat and Serenity's furious ex-husband. Or are they something else? Find out in Under a Cat's Eye, available now on Amazon.com.

Bury The Lead by Cassondra Windwalker ✓ author

Weekly newspaper editor Jeff Paine's mind is filled with the detritus of newspaper clippings, presidential tweets, crossword puzzles, and horoscopes. When his artist girlfriend Ada Grigori announces her intention to leave him, he becomes obsessed with finding—or manufacturing—connections between otherwise unrelated events. Driven by professional curiosity and unrelenting cynicism, Paine uses his newspaper to manipulate the people of his hometown of Brisby, Colorado into revealing the ugliness lurking beneath their placid exteriors. A series of gruesome dog mutilations already have the town on edge when Paine’s carefully worded and technically factual stories stir up vigilante justice against a harmless old homeless man. Spurred on by the unexpected ease of his success, Paine sets his sights on exploiting the town’s hidden prejudices for financial gain and his own amusement. Meanwhile, no-one but Paine notices that a young transient man has gone missing. Exasperated with the plasticity of public sentiment and consumed by his own search for truth, Paine creates a trail of evidence that will ultimately both convict him of murder and set him free on appeal. The public will never know the truth of what became of Ada or of the young transient Brett, but the reader will have all the answers…if she can decipher them. Bury The Lead draws readers into the mind of a brilliant but highly unreliable narrator, forcing them to question their own perceptions of objective truth and the existence of a free press in a world where an unsubstantiated tweet can carry more power than an investigative report.

The Patsy by David Reynolds ✓ author

All Richard Malachi wants to do is stop a co-worker from bawling her eyes out so he can get back to work. Offering to take her out for a drink, he finds that Lisa Jones is more than she appears, a lot more. He also discovers that Lisa has plans for Richard, plans that don't include a repeat romp in a hotel bed but do include letting him take the fall for her "activities." Find out what happens to Richard as he learns the definition of the term "patsy." The Patsy is available now on Amazon.com.

Mage in the Middle by David Reynolds ✓ author

Did Assistant psychology professor and judo coach Calvin Aguila just see a naked woman lying in a ditch, or was it something else? Unsure, and not willing to take chances, Cal slams on the brakes, stopping his car and helping the naked and scratched woman inside. Concerned about how she ended up there, and after having a trip to the hospital turned down, he reluctantly takes Bella Donna home. Bella Donna asks Cal out on a date as part of her investigation into a human trafficking ring, finding out that he is not only skilled in martial arts, but a practitioner of magic. The magic comes in handy later when Cal finds himself caught in a war between two werewolves and a monster version of the same. Find out what happens in Mage in the Middle, Book 2 of the One True King.

Only the Guilty Live by Robert Mammone ✓ author

A MADMAN PLUNGES AN EMPIRE INTO CIVIL WAR Captain Marduk has never played by the rules, but he has sacrificed everything for his Emperor to save the realm from total collapse in a long running civil war. A SOLDIER HAUNTED BY HIS BLOOD-SOAKED PAST Suffering from PTSD, Marduk is forced to go on one last mission to save a nobleman trapped inside a besieged city. Assembling a rag-tag team of misfits and monsters, Marduk brings together a colonist mourning his slaughtered family; a freed slave eager to drink the blood of her former masters; a vain sorcerer tied body and soul to an undead child possessed by a demon and a naïve young soldier who will soon learn the true costs of war. A BESIEGED CITY TEARS ITSELF APART The price of loyalty to a mad emperor will take Marduk and his team to the very edge of endurance...and beyond. Only the Guilty Live is an action-packed grimdark fantasy in the vein of Robert E. Howard, Michael Moorcock and David Gemmell. If you like bloody battles, foulest sorcery, and black humor, then you’ll love Robert Mammone's tale of loyalty betrayed.

Sunset Surfing by David Reynolds ✓ author

“I want a logo shot,” KSRF News Director Brenda Malone said in her authoritative no-nonsense voice to videographer Tim Abella. “Get me some surfers early for the 5 o’clock broadcast and some at sunset for 11 o’clock." Paying a visit to a Central Coast of California beach, Tim gets his shot of Cate Young, a marine mammal vet. Just before leaving, Tim gets a call from Brenda asking him to see why dolphins are suddenly beaching themselves at a popular tourist spot. Tim swims out and asks Cate to come with him, since her expertise might explain what's happening. When they arrive, though, the cause becomes evident: a juvenile great white shark. Tim has to race the shark before it feasts on a tasty morsel: a young child playing in the surf. Does the single father of a young girl get there in time to rescue the child? Does his jealous ex-wife try to ruin Tim's potential friendship with Cate? Find out by reading Sunset Surfing, available now on Amazon.com.

The Hotel at the End of Time by Michael James ✓ author

Vain is the only person to ever escape from the Hotel at the end of time. On her way out, she took their prized possession: A Padlock that grants immortality. They will do anything to get it back. The forces of the Hotel are aligned against her: mundane items turned into weapons; a group of multi-dimensional felons collectively named The Wyatts; and their leader, Trick, a mild-to-medium psychopath with a fondness for impractical jokes. Everything changes when Vain meets Emma, a timid grad student with impossible and terrifying powers. Together, they are propelled into an adventure that will see them battle the Wyatts, blow up several objects of significant value, and quite by accident, discover a way to stop the Hotel. Even with Emma, Vain has a lot of problems to deal with. She’s exhausted from being hunted. Stopping the Hotel might kill them. She has a hangnail. But Vain is resourceful. Vain is clever. And she always has a plan.

A Sure Thing by Craig W. Robinson ✓ author

The only thing better than having lots of money is having lots of money that you didn't have to work for. That has been Colin Scott's approach to life for as long as he can remember. Whether it is selling test results, counting cards in the local casinos, or even fixing basketball games, he has never met a scheme he didn't like. If it can keep him from having to earn an honest living, it is at least worth a look. Unfortunately, nothing in life comes easy. There is no such thing as a foolproof path to a life on easy street, and casinos don’t stay in business by making their customers rich. Or at least that was how things appeared until Colin encountered another gambler who could seemingly beat the casinos at will. Suddenly everything he thought he knew about how the world works is being challenged, and things that once seemed impossible are playing out before his very eyes. Could this person be the key he has been searching for to unlock that elusive guaranteed win? Suddenly the only thing he knows for sure is that he needs to find out.

May Your God Go With You by David Reynolds ✓ author

“And may your god go with you,” the audience replied in unison to the Rev. Jeremiah Brown's blessing. With that last comment, Russell Richman had his view of reality twisted, tilted, twirled and transformed into a tiny flaming ball before being drop-kicked screaming into a toilet and flushed. In that tiny interval between fully opening and closing his eyes, Russ saw small beings stand up next to their humans. Trying to figure what he was seeing, Russ suddenly did a face plant onto hard rust-red rock after being kicked in the shin by a bearded man wearing the smallest pair of hiking boots he had ever seen. Find May Your God Go With You on Amazon.com