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Story spotlight: “Hawthorn & Willow” by T. Thorn Coyle


 
An enchanting tale of what happens to an ordinary person when magic leaves and it turns out getting it back is part of your destiny.

But first, you have to leave your garden…
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“Hawthorn & Willow” is in The Faerie Summer collection. You can learn more on BundleRabbit, Goodreads, and the bundle’s Facebook page.
 

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A salty-tongued, tattooed mystic, Thorn is the author of the nine book Witches of Portland series, the alt-history urban fantasy series The Panther Chronicles, the novel Like Water, and two short story collections. The Witches of Portland series will be out in Spring, 2018. She has also written multiple non-fiction books including Sigil Magic for Writers, Artists & Other Creatives, Kissing the Limitless, and Crafting a Daily Practice. Thorn’s work appears in many anthologies, magazines, and collections.

She has taught magical practice in nine countries, on four continents, and in twenty-five states. Her other occupations have been numerous, and include working four years each on the Pacific Stock Options exchange (as a young Anarchist punk with a blue, flat-top Mohawk), in a woman-run peep show, and full time in the San Francisco soup kitchen she ended up volunteering at for twenty years. All of this, along with her activism, informs her fiction.

An interloper to the Pacific Northwest, Thorn joyfully stalks city streets, writes in cafes, and talks to crows, squirrels, and trees.

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Story spotlight: “Water Horses” by Lisa Silverthorne


 
 
Returning to her childhood home on San Juan Island…tough.

Mastering the ancient magic awakening inside her…worse.

Surviving senior year of high school as the new girl…impossible!
 
 
 
“Water Horses” is in the Beneath the Waves collection. You can learn more on BundleRabbit, Goodreads, and the collection’s Facebook page.
 

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Writing has been Lisa’s life-long passion. She’s been writing since she could hold a pen and have published two novels and over 70 short stories in the fantasy, science fiction, romance, horror, and mystery genres.

Lisa writes about the magic of ordinary things and about things that scare or anger her. Anything that moves her in some way is an inspiration for new work. That and the Pacific Northwest, which is a great inspiration to this Midwesterner. Much of her work is dark, and it often falls between the many cracks in between genres.

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Story spotlight: “Paulaleena” by Leah Cutter


Pauli, the most recent of the Paulaleena fairies, must creep out of the woods and renew the pact with the human mayor of the nearby city.

The pact that keeps the world safe from the Dark Ones.

The pact forged by blood.

When this human mayor insists on seeing the Dark Ones herself, they both get more than they bargained for.
 
 
“Paulaleena” is in The Faerie Summer collection. You can learn more on BundleRabbit, Goodreads, and the bundle’s Facebook page.
 

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Leah Cutter writes page-turning fiction in exotic locations, such as a magical New Orleans, the ancient Orient, Hungary, the Oregon coast, rural Kentucky, Seattle, Minneapolis, and many others.

She writes literary, fantasy, mystery, science fiction, and horror fiction. Her short fiction has been published in magazines like Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine and Talebones, anthologies like Fiction River, and on the web. Her long fiction has been published both by New York publishers as well as small presses.

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Story spotlight: “The Women of Whale Rock” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch


 
Whale Rock’s sheriff, Dan Retsler, considers himself a practical man. But he has no explanation for the horrible deaths that take place on his beach. Nor does he know why so many locals fear the sea. The answer lies in legends of mermaids—not the pretty kind, but the kind that lure sailors to their deaths. Retsler doesn’t believe in them, but nothing quite explains the women he sees, near the beach when he investigates a friend’s sudden and tragic death.
 
 
 
“The Women of Whale Rock” is in the Beneath the Waves collection. You can learn more on BundleRabbit, Goodreads, and the collection’s Facebook page.
 

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New York Times bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch writes in almost every genre. Generally, she uses her real name (Rusch) for most of her writing. Under that name, she publishes bestselling science fiction and fantasy, award-winning mysteries, acclaimed mainstream fiction, controversial nonfiction, and the occasional romance. Her novels have made bestseller lists around the world and her short fiction has appeared in eighteen best of the year collections. She has won more than twenty-five awards for her fiction, including the Hugo, Le Prix Imaginales, the Asimov’s Readers Choice award, and the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Readers Choice Award.

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Story spotlight: “Ondine” by Brenda Carre

Bernadine’s mother, Mama Ondine, is a diva—the premier diva of New York, and possibly the whole of the world. Her huge voice always seemed to reach to infinity, mesmerizing the entire audience, but especially rising up to Bernardine to rip out her heart.

Bernadine was just the opposite. Unattractive, awkward, and sickly – and she was especially sick right before Mama Ondine gave a big performance.

One day the province of British Columbia invited the diva to go to Victoria and sing for a Federal Gala. Three days on the far western coast of Canada. The pull of the ocean was irresistible to Bernadine and she talked Mama into the trip even though she had to lie to do so. Would it be a deadly choice for her or for Mama Ondine?
 
 
“Ondine” is in The Faerie Summer bundle. You can learn more on BundleRabbit, Goodreads, and the bundle’s Facebook page.
 

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Brenda Carre writes long and short fiction with a dark, mythic twist. Her short fiction has appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and Fiction River, to mention a few. Her indomitable character ‘Gret’ was the cover story in Pulp Literature Magazine’s issue 15. She is currently working on a big book mythic/epic fantasy series she calls: ‘Lara Croft meets a Wizard-of-Earthsea in the Pacific Northwest’. She also writes spicy romance under the name, Tess Cornwall. Brenda is a visual artist and educator, and teaches a workshop on mapping through story.

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Story spotlight: “Kelpie Christmas” by Steve Vernon


What brings Rhonda (full-time assassin for hire), Lady Macbeth (part-time assassin and full-time librarian), and a kelpie (mythical sea-beast) to a dark wintry city alley?

What secret is hiding inside of the Salvation Army cauldron?

All of these answers and more are waiting for you in this short paranormal romance shoot-em-up story—written for readers who HATE to read romance.
 
 
 
“Kelpie Christmas” is in the Beneath the Waves collection. You can learn more on BundleRabbit, Goodreads, and the collection’s Facebook page.
 

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Steve is a writer and an oral tradition storyteller; he learned the storytelling tradition from his grandfather, and regularly tells stories to in-person audiences ranging from 5 to 5,000 spectators. He writes horror, paranormal, dark fantasy, and ghost stories, and specializes in the fine old art of booga-booga.

Think of Steve as that old dude at the campfire spinning out ghost stories and weird adventures and the grand epic saga of how Thud the Second stepped out of his cave with nothing more than a rock in his fist and slew the saber-tooth tiger.

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Story spotlight: “Brown and the Hotel Colorado Haunts” by J. A. Campbell


Join Brown for some ghost hunting fun!

When she’s not busy herding sheep, she uses her border collie eye to keep wayward spirits in line.

As the guest of honor at a Halloween celebration at haunted Hotel Colorado, she’ll have plenty of ghosts to keep her busy, but she’s the dog for the job.
 
 
 
 
 
 
“Brown and the Hotel Colorado Haunts” is in the Haunted collection. You can learn more on BundleRabbit, Goodreads, and the bundle’s Facebook page.
 

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When Julie is not writing she’s often out riding horses, or working sheep with her dogs. She lives in Colorado with a handful of cats, some sheep, Kira and Bran her border collies, her Arabian endurance horses Triska and Cavalier, and her Irish Sailor. She is the author of many Vampire and Ghost-Hunting Dog stories the Tales of the Travelers series, and many other young adult books. her passions include horses, writing about horses, dogs and writing about dogs. She writes fantasy, sci fi, horror, and all related genres. She’s a member of the Horror Writers Association, Science Fiction Writers of America, and the Dog Writers of America Association and the editor for Story Emporium fiction magazine.

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Story spotlight: “Salt Water” by Deb Logan

Maris, a fifteen-year-old girl from Wichita, Kansas has never seen the ocean. Intentionally. Her parents have an unreasonable fear of the sea. When Dad allows Maris to accompany her best friend on a family vacation to Portland, Oregon, he has no idea that their ultimate destination will be Cannon Beach … and the wild waters of the Pacific Ocean. Maris is about to learn the truth behind the family taboo against salt water.
 
 
 

“Salt Water” is in the Beneath the Waves collection. You can learn more on BundleRabbit, Goodreads, and the collection’s Facebook page.
 

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A prolific copywriter by day, Deb Logan has been published in WMG Publishing’s Fiction River anthologies, Dreaming Robot Press’s Young Explorer’s Adventure Guide anthologies, Windrift Books’ Chronicle Worlds anthologies, and other markets. She has also released several short stories, short story collections, and novels for young readers, including the popular “Dani Erickson” series.

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The Faery’s Choice

Three faery boys—Nuár, Aodh, and Táinar—are spending their day pretending to be great hunters when they come across a human girl. Annie accidentally crossed from her world to the Land of Faerie, but doesn’t know how to return to her home.

Táinar tells Annie she can’t go back to her world, and offers to show her the wonders of Faerie. The children head off to visit a group of river naiads, and maybe even see a kelpie, but Nuár is troubled.

Why did Táinar tell Annie she can never return to her own world? And is he truly interested in showing the girl the magic of Faerie—or does Táinar have something else in mind?
 
 
“The Faery’s Choice” is in The Faerie Summer bundle. You can learn more on BundleRabbit, Goodreads, and the bundle’s Facebook page.
 

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Jamie focuses on getting into the minds and hearts of her characters, whether she’s writing about a saloon girl in the Old West, a man who discovers the barista he’s in love with is a naiad, or a ghost who haunts the house she was killed in – even though that house no longer exists. She’s curated a number of short story bundles and anthologies, and is working on several more, including a monster-themed anthology series she’s co-editing with DeAnna Knippling. Jamie lives in Colorado, and spends her free time in a futile quest to wear out her two border collies, since she hasn’t given in and gotten them their own herd of sheep…yet…

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Story spotlight: “And the Sea Shall Give Up its Dead” by P.D. Cacek


 
Mac, retired professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies, spends his time watching The Weather Channel and talking to George, the ghost Gerald invented so that he didn’t have to talk to himself.

When the bodies start washing up on beaches around the world, Mac has a lot more to say to George – and George has some things to say as well.
 
 
 
“And the Sea Shall Give Up its Dead” is in the Beneath the Waves collection. You can learn more on BundleRabbit, Goodreads, and the collection’s Facebook page.
 

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P.D. Cacek originally aspired to be an actress, but her dreams were dashed when, while playing Dinosaur Number 1 in her high school’s production of By the Skin of Our Teeth, she inadvertently crawled off the stage and landed in the orchestra pit. Dinosaur Number 1 died that night, but the experience put her on the significantly less perilous path of writing horror.

P.D. is the author of over 200 short stories, and has won both a World Fantasy Award and a Bram Stoker Award for her short fiction. She’s written five novels: Night Prayers, Canyons, Night Players, The Wind Caller, and The Selkie.

“Horror is an emotion, something that reaches past all the barriers and finds the one dark corner of our self-image that has not grown up. Horror doesn’t have to include dismemberments or gushing wounds or ancient demons dredged up by a new housing development. Anything, even a simple evening’s walk, can be horrific if you look at it the right way … and I do.”

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