Tag: short stories

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Don’t Forget the Crazy – Lucy Kaufman

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Her lists are life or death.
“If it’s on the list, I have to do it.”

Milli Morgan lives by her lists. Groceries, goals, organising her boss – nothing escapes being ticked off her ever-growing to-do lists. Order brings her comfort; control keeps the chaos at bay. Everyone can rely on Milli. 

Until the day new items start appearing on her list in red ink.

At first, she blames stress. A prank. Someone playing mind-games. But one instruction on the list refuses to be erased and demands to be completed.

A command so terrible she would have to be crazy to tick it off.

Don’t Forget the Crazy is a dark psychological suspense short story about obsession, perfection, and the dangerous pressure of always being “the good girl.” Fans of Gillian Flynn, Lisa Jewell, Patricia Highsmith, and Shirley Jackson will devour this chilling portrait of order unravelling into darkness. 

Giveaway

Subscribe to Lucy Kaufman’s newsletter at www.sepiaink.co.uk by 24th December 2025 to win an Audrey’s solid milk chocolate Scaredy Cat (UK entrants only).

Lucy Kaufman is an award-winning author, playwright, audio dramatist and poet. 40 of her plays have been performed professionally around the UK and Australia, to critical acclaim. She has lectured in Playwriting and Screenwriting for Pen to Print and Canterbury Christ Church University and is a mentor at The Writing Coach. Originally from London, she now lives by the sea with her husband, sons, dogs and cats. 

Insta: kaufmanlucy

Insta: sepiainkpublishing

www.sepiaink.co.uk

My thoughts: This short story depicts a descent into madness and mayhem for a tightly wound writer of lists. I like lists too, but not as much as Milli, who has so many, they’ve taken over her life. Daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, she’s completely reliant on them to get things done and now they want her to do something terrible.

The work Christmas Secret Santa is always riddled with risk – what if you don’t like your Santee, what if you get it totally wrong? But when someone gets Milli a “Crazy Cat Lady Starter Kit”, she starts to spiral. She doesn’t even have a cat.

And after that…well… you’ll have to read it to find out!

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Where the Daybreak Ends – Brennan LaFaro

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Alone in the desert and covered in blood, Josiah Dennis comes across an abandoned town, and two unlikely storytellers burdened with sharing its history—past, present, and future.
Rogue gangs of vampires, young witches, flayed cadavers, giant lizards, and men with dark hearts dwell in these pages, looming over Buzzard’s Edge, a town full of people struggling to survive in an unforgiving Arizona frontier.
So, sit down a spell, and settle where the daybreak ends.

Goodreads Purchase


Brennan LaFaro is a music teacher by day, horror writer by night, living in southeastern Massachusetts with his wife, two sons, and his hounds. He is the author of the Slattery Falls trilogy, the Buzzard’s Edge Saga, as well as Illusions of Isolation and Last Stay. You can read his short fiction in various anthologies and find him on Twitter at @brennanlafaro or at
http://www.brennanlafaro.com

Twitter Instagram Website 

My thoughts: a series of short stories featuring the residents of the terrifying frontier town of Buzzard’s Edge, related to a lost traveller by Coyote and Vulture as they lead him across the desert.

Each story features horrifying creatures, some of them in human form. There are murders, creatures that literally appear out of the ground, vampires, and other nasties, all terrorising the brave (foolish?) inhabitants of this desert town.

I don’t know the other Buzzard’s Edge books, and it might be helpful to read them first, but not essential. I read this as a standalone collection and was quite happy with it as that. Although I now want to read the other stories, I especially want to know more about Alice.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

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Blog Tour: The Lavender Fields – Derek Mola

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Welcome to the tour for The Lavender Fields, a collection of eerie tales by Derek Mola!



The Lavender Fields


Publication Date: October 19, 2024


Genre: Horror Anthology/ Short Stories


In the heart of the cosmos lies a dimension unlike any other—a realm of shimmering lavender fields where every possible universe is visible in the tapestry of existence. When an astronaut accidentally teleports to this mysterious plane, he finds himself in a front-row seat to the bizarre and terrifying narratives of alternate realities.

The Lavender Fields invites readers to journey as the astronaut recounts six chilling and fantastical stories from the multiverse. From eldritch cults that worship ancient deities to a drug that can freeze time itself, each tale plunges into the cosmic and supernatural horrors lurking at the edges of reality. Witness a meteor that incites unbridled rage, a shapeshifting prostitute who blurs the line between pleasure and peril, possessed pigs with unfinished business, and a witch mother whose dark magic has evil plans for her daughter.

Prepare for a mind-bending adventure through worlds where the unimaginable becomes real, and the only certainty is that fear transcends dimensions.

AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

IG: @mola.derek @rrbooktours
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Blog Tour: Newport Writers Anthology Two

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We are a diverse group from south Wales with over 20 members, covering a broad age range and a variety of styles within the sphere of writing. We include poets, novelists, writers of flash fiction and short stories, plays and film scripts.

We published an anthology in February 2020 entitled Newport Writers – An anthology of poetry and prose. Available from Amazon in paperback and for Kindle.

We met on Zoom during the pandemic, but have now found a venue in central Newport where we can get together with plenty of space for social distancing.

We hold an Open Mic night once a month at popular Newport coffee shop Horton’s, and in the summer of 2021 we participated in several spoken word events.

Some members of our group are available to read and offer critique, and we have a proofreader among our membership.

Email us at newportwritersgroup@gmail.com

Facebook: Newportwritersgroup

Twitter: @NewportWriters

My thoughts: the Newport Writers return with their second anthology of poetry and short fiction. There’s a really interesting selection of work on display here, ranging from science fiction and fantasy to contemporary pieces.

I really enjoyed reading the group’s work – there’s some very talented writers here, some very deserving of more eyeballs (attention agents and publishers!)

If you’d like to see what I’m talking about, check them out on social media and on Amazon.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

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Blog Tour: Let Them Float – Katy Wimhurst

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In these short stories, Katy Wimhurst creates off-kilter worlds that illuminate our own. 

Apocalyptic rabbits invade a town. 

People overwhelmed by their lives float above an urban park. 

A woman turns transparent after a virus. 

The playful lens of magical realism is used to explore physical and mental illness and our fragile environment. Thought-provoking fiction with a good dose of whimsy.

Goodreads – Buy Links

Katy Wimhurst’s first collection of short stories was Snapshots of the Apocalypse (Fly on the Wall Press, 2022) and her second collection Let Them Float will be published in December 2023 (Alien Buddha Press). 

Her fiction has been published in numerous magazines and anthologies, including The Guardian, Writers’ Forum, Cafe Irreal, Kaleidotrope, To Hull and Back, and ShooterLit. Her first book of visual poems, Fifty-One Trillion Bits, was published by Trickhouse Press (2023). She sometimes interviews writers for 3AM Magazine. 

She is housebound with the illness M.E.

Instagram Twitter Website

My thoughts: as someone who lives with chronic illness I did recognise some of the kinds of feelings present in these short stories. Most of them are gentle and moving, although the giant rabbits were a bit sinister. The longest story, the title one, was deeply intriguing. It certainly spoke to me about mental illness and the desire sometimes to just disconnect from life around you for a while.

It’s an interesting collection and full of light and darkness, some are very tiny snippets of people’s lives and others a bit more detailed. Easy to read but should be savoured as each has layers to it.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

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Book Blitz: Spread; Tales of Deadly Flora – edited by R.A. Clarke

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Green thumbs beware. Plants are beautiful, peaceful, abundant, and life-sustaining. But what if something sinister took root in the soil, awakening to unleash slashing thorns, squeezing vines, or haunting greenery that lured you in? Perhaps blooms on distant planets could claim your heart, hitch a ride to Earth on a meteor, or simply poison you with their essence. Imagine a world where scientists produced our own demise in a lab, set spores free to infect, even bred ferns to be our friends only to witness the privilege perverted. When faced with botanical terror, will humanity fight to survive, or will they curl and wither like leaves in the fall? Read ten speculative tales ripe with
dangerous flora to find out.
Purchase

Editor R.A. Clarke

Website Facebook
Instagram & Twitter: @pageturnpress

An excerpt from Spread: Tales of Deadly Flora (Page Turn Press).
Black Thumb by Alyssa Beatty.

When a woman encounters a mysterious plant on an alien planet that can make all of her pain go away, she must decide whether to let it.


Lexa’s dirty secret: for a botanist, she had a shockingly black thumb. She could identify and classify like nobody’s business but give her an actual houseplant, and she’d kill it within a month, despite knowing its preferred soil pH level, sunlight, and watering requirements. So, it
was a bit of a surprise to see a mutated version of Nepenthes Distillatoria, a pitcher plant, sitting in the arc of her windowsill, with a red bow on it.
She tiptoed toward it. The flora on this planet was more aggressive than the plants on Earth. The ice-shard leaves of the towering trees had a nasty habit of detaching and plunging to the ground, right through the skull of an unsuspecting settler below. Then the trunk sent out
winding tendrils that drank the blood up with a truly unsettling slurping sound. On the other hand, the little purple-leaved plants near the beach sang when you stroked them, a lilting melody that Ciara, Lexa’s boss, swore was an Irish lullaby.
The plant sat placidly in its pot. It didn’t hiss or try to bite. Smaller pitchers surrounded a large central one, all facing it like children sitting around a teacher at story time. Their lids were delicate blue, a rare colour in this red-tinged world. Lexa bent to the largest pitcher to smell the
phytotelmata, the reserve of nectar resting in the bottom of the trap. It smelled like real rain on real soil. She heard the tapping of raindrops on green leaves. She bent closer, then stepped back.
“Nice try,” she told the plant.
The lid snapped down over the pitcher. A little petulantly, Lexa thought.
She fingered the bow on the pot. The thought skittered across her mind, briefly, that maybe this was some sort of peace offering from Gary. He knew her affinity for carnivorous plants. Or at least the affinity she used to have. On this planet, where every other plant harboured
a murderous urge, the bloom was off the rose for her and Dionaea Muscipula. And anyway, it was unlikely Gary was in a peace offering mood.
And there it was, that pressure in her chest again, like some unseen hand squeezing the life out of her heart. She closed her eyes and breathed. It was probably her imagination, but when she opened her eyes, she swore the little plant looked repentant.
“It’s okay, ” she told it. “It’s nothing to do with you. You’re lovely, whatever you are. This is human stuff.”
The stems straightened, and the pitchers opened, releasing the sweet scent of rain into the pod.
“Thanks,” Lexa mumbled. Then felt like an idiot. She talked to plants all the time; they
were good listeners. But this was the first time she’d thanked one.
She shut off the lights and curled into the bed, which was just large enough for one body.
She scootched until her back met the curve of the wall. It was almost like being held.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Pass The Cyanide – Karmen Špiljak

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A deadly feast, a mobster restaurant and a family get-together with fatal results.
Savour the spicy tang of dark and twisted tales in Pass the Cyanide, a follow-up to the award-winning collection of culinary mysteries, Add Cyanide to Taste.
From an old friend hiding a deadly secret to a ravenous house with an appetite for friends, Špiljak masterfully blends the allure of food and the thrill of mystery. Each story is a rich and satisfying
serving of crime, with a twist that will leave you wanting more.
A must-read for fans of culinary noir and foodies who love a pinch of danger with their suspense. All recipes included are cyanide-free.
Purchase


Karmen Špiljak is a Slovenian-Belgian writer of suspense, horror and speculative fiction.Her short fiction has been awarded and anthologised. Her short story collection, Add Cyanide to Taste, won the
2022 IndieReader Discovery award for best short stories/Fiction. She lives in Belgrade with her husband, two mischievous cats and an undefined number of literary characters.Find out more – Website

Instagram TikTok Goodreads

My thoughts: a series of food related darkly comic short stories, ranging from a chef whose sous chef has had enough, to one that uses a secret ingredient no one must find out about, a mobster who wants only good reviews and a mother who drugs the PTA. Each one is amusing and entertaining, I like when supposedly ordinary people snap and do terrible things. There are also recipes for some of the dishes included but all thankfully poison free!

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

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Blog Tour: Bad Realities – Andrew Schrader

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Welcome to the tour for Andrew Schrader’s creeptastic collection, Bad Realities. Read on for more details!

Cover V3

Bad Realities: Stories of Shock and Suspense

Expected Publication Date: Spring 2023

Genre: Speculative Fiction/ Horror/ Suspense/ Sci-Fi

To avoid the apocalypse, a boy must cannibalize the dead in . . . THE IMPORTANCE OF EATING ERNEST

A Tarkagen barbarian returning home to retrieve an ancient elixir faces his own worst fears in . . . HONDO RANE AND THE CITY OF ILLUSION

After World War IV, a giant, radioactive floating brain haunts the wastelands. Can a psychic girl harness her powers long enough to stop it? . . . in THE FLOATING BRAIN.

Join these poor souls and many others as they struggle to survive in worlds gone wrong. Can you handle the shock? Or will their stories leave you in a crumpled heap, screaming in vain to escape.

Now Available on Amazon and Free for KU!

About the Author

andrewtattoopic

Andrew Schrader is a Los Angeles-based author and film director known for his fascination with the stranger sides of human nature. He’s directed two feature films, music videos for bands Osees, Moon-Drenched, and White Reaper, and was a script consultant on “Afterlife,” a horror series for Crypt TV.

His three-book series, What Goes On In The Walls at Night, was featured on the Reddit No Sleep podcast and twice won the Red City Review Book of the Year for fantasy and horror. He also wrote several episodes of the animated show Tig n’ Seek. Bad Realities is his fourth book of short stories.

Yes, of course he loves cats.

Andrew J. Schrader

Book Tour Schedule

May 29th

http://rrbooktours.com – Kick-Off

http://www.ismellsheep.com/ – Feature

https://christinebialczak.com/ – Feature

http://www.thefaeriereview.com – Review

May 30th

https://instagram.com/jemreader?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== – Review

https://bookwormbunnyreviews.blogspot.com/ – Review

http://readsandreels.com – Feature

May 31st

https://www.instagram.com/brandikaedesigns/ – Feature

https://lshadowlynauthor.com/ – Feature

https://www.instagram.com/countrymamaswithkids/ – Review

June 1st

https://cherylsbooknook.blogspot.com/ – Review

https://www.instagram.com/toomuchcoffeemd/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D – Review

http://ramblingmads.com – Feature

June 2nd

https://www.instagram.com/ameliaveganreader/ – Review

https://www.instagram.com/punkybookbabe/ – Review

https://www.instagram.com/read.em.if.you.got.em/ – Feature

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Blog Tour: The Broken Darkness – Theresa Braun

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TheBrokenDarkness copy

Welcome to The Broken Darkness book tour! Read on for more info about this gorgeous collection and visit one of our instagram hosts for a chance to win a paperback copy of your own!

The-Broken-Darkness-eBook

The Broken Darkness

Publication Date: January 26th, 2023

Genre: Dark Fiction/ Spec Fiction/ Short Story Collection

Publisher: Gorgon Blood Press

In her debut collection, Theresa Braun explores the inner workings of the human heart and what it is we most desire—forgiveness, acceptance, love, fame, or merely to escape who we really are. Whether we are battling ghosts, demons, mythical monsters, the past, or other dimensions, we are really facing the deepest parts of ourselves. These thirteen tales of horror and dark fantasy may appear to be a matter of good versus evil, but they are all a reflection of the hidden corners of the soul that are often shades of broken darkness. The characters in these stories must face their inner and outer terrors, or else suffer the consequences.

Available on Amazon

About the Author

author pic 2

Theresa Braun has a Master’s degree in English literature and lives in South Florida where she has taught literature and writing for over 20 years. Traveling, ghost hunting, and all things dark are her passions. In 2018 Unnerving released her horror novel Fountain Dead, a coming of age ghost story. Her short works have appeared in The Horror Zine, Sirens Call, Hardened Hearts, and Best Indie Speculative Fiction: November 2018, Double Barrel Horror (Volume 3) and Emporium of Superstition.

Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

My thoughts: these short stories are sinister and creepy, dark and compelling. From ghosts who keep reliving the moments of their deaths, to haunted places, things that go bump in the night, vampires and other sinister goings on, there’s something for every horror fan here. And of course, there’s exactly 13 tales, fitting perfectly into the theme of the book as a whole. Satisfying chilling.

Book Tour Schedule

February 13th

R&R Book Tours (Kick-Off) http://rrbooktours.com

@amber.bunch_author (Review) https://www.instagram.com/amber.bunch_author/

@read_dog_reviews (Review) https://www.instagram.com/read_dog_reviews/

@happily_undignified (Review) https://www.instagram.com/happily_undignified/

@r.c.thomson (Review) https://www.instagram.com/r.c.thomson

@plungeintobooks (Spotlight) https://www.instagram.com/plungeintobooks/

February 14th

@gabriellariverawrites (Review) https://www.instagram.com/gabriellariverawrites/

@reading_to_the_last_page (Review) https://www.instagram.com/reading_to_the_last_page/

Rambling Mads (Review) http://ramblingmads.com

I Smell Sheep (Spotlight) http://www.ismellsheep.com/

@read.em.if.you.got.em (Spotlight) https://www.instagram.com/read.em.if.you.got.em/

February 15th

@word.addict914 (Review) https://www.instagram.com/word.addict914/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y%3D

@margiebythebookcase (Review) https://www.instagram.com/margiebythebookcase/

@dreaminginpages (Review) https://www.instagram.com/margiebythebookcase/

Book Reviews by Taylor (Review) https://www.bookreviewsbytaylor.com/

@better_0ff_read (Spotlight) https://www.instagram.com/better_0ff_read/

@itsabookthing2021 (Spotlight) https://www.instagram.com/itsabookthing2021/

@mels_booksandhooks (Spotlight) https://www.instagram.com/mels_booksandhooks/

February 16th

@ashe_and_ink (Review) https://www.instagram.com/ashe_and_ink/

@ofbooksandromance (Review) https://www.instagram.com/ofbooksandromance/

@what.kerry.reads (Review) https://www.instagram.com/what.kerry.reads/

@takealookatmybookshelf (Review) https://www.instagram.com/takealookatmybookshelf/

@vinamkent_author (Review) https://www.instagram.com/vinamkent_author/

Breakeven Books (Spotlight) https://breakevenbooks.com

Freelance Writer, Janny C (Spotlight) https://freelancewriterjannyc.com/

February 17th

The Scary Reviews (Review) https://thescaryreviews.com

@creepylilbookworm (Review) https://www.instagram.com/creepylilbookworm/

@thrillersandcoffee (Review) https://www.instagram.com/thrillersandcoffee/

@fathomsamidstthelines (Review) https://www.instagram.com/fathomsamidstthelines/

@honeybee.reads (Review) https://www.instagram.com/honeybee.reads/

@itputs.the.book.upon.the.shelf (Review) https://www.instagram.com/itputs.the.book.upon.the.shelf/

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*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

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Blog Tour: And I Was Like November – Rachael Biggs

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AndIwaslikeNov copy

Welcome to the book tour for And I Was Like November, a “beautifully writtern bummer” by Rachael Biggs. Read on for more info!

And-I-Was-Like-November-RCB-Front-EBOOK-COVER

And I Was Like November

Expected Publication Date: January 31, 2023

Genre: Womens Fiction/ Black Humor/ Short Stories

20 October 2022… In a world where hyper-positivity and woke culture abounds, Rachael Biggs’ And I Was Like November offers a glimpse of the other side, while navigating themes of isolation and longing.

These are stories of what happens to the women that didn’t get their happy ending—the ones who don’t believe the cliches about family being everything and who know that live-laugh-love isn’t the cure all. Taboo topics that embrace a gritty reality include transactional sex, romantic obsession, maternal disdain and teenaged drug dealing are linked by the need to survive in the midst of questionable sanity and deep loneliness.

“This is what happens when things don’t work out and the consequences and feelings we have in private as a result. They’re stories about women whose lives aren’t glossy, filtered, and Instagram ready, and the contrast of their brushed-under-the-rug realities is maybe more interesting and relatable. In a world where we’re bombarded with shiny fallacies, this is the beautiful side of ugly,” said Rachael.

Available on Amazon starting January 31st!

About the Author

Rachael Biggs is an author, screenwriter, copywriter and journalist. She studied creative writing at UBC, UCLA, and with masters of the craft Syd Field and Robert McKee. In 2016 she earned a screenwriting diploma from Vancouver Film School with a focus on television.

Her memoir Yearning for Nothings and Nobodies debuted to critical acclaim and was adapted for the screen as Behind the Eight Ball.

She is a frequent contributor to print and on-line publications and her short fiction appears regularly in literary magazines including Door is a Jar, Angel City Review and Charge Magazine.

She divides her time between Vancouver and Los Angeles.

Rachael Biggs

Book Tour Schedule

January 30th

R&R Book Tours (Kick-Off) http://rrbooktours.com

Stine Writing (Spotlight) https://christinebialczak.com/

@read_dog_reviews (Spotlight) https://www.instagram.com/read_dog_reviews/

Riss Reviews (Review) https://rissreviewsx.wixsite.com/website

January 31st

Breakeven Books (Spotlight) https://breakevenbooks.com

Timeless Romance Blog (Spotlight) https://aubreywynne.com/

Heidi Lynn’s Book Reviews (Spotlight) https://heidilynnsbookreviews.blogspot.com/

February 1st

@wolves_perception (Spotlight) https://www.instagram.com/wolves_perception/

@vinamkent_author (Spotlight) https://www.instagram.com/vinamkent_author/

The Faerie Review (Review) http://www.thefaeriereview.com

February 2nd

Rambling Mads (Spotlight) http://ramblingmads.com

@evelovesbooks_travel_art (Review) https://www.instagram.com/evelovesbooks_travel_art/

@ofbooksandromance (Review) https://www.instagram.com/ofbooksandromance/

@latishaslowkeylife (Spotlight) https://www.instagram.com/latishaslowkeylife/

February 3rd

@booknerd_jen22 (Spotlight) https://www.instagram.com/booknerd_jen22/

Liliyana Shadowlyn (Spotlight) https://lshadowlynauthor.com/

@the.brooke.library (Review) https://www.instagram.com/the.brooke.library/

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