There's safety in silence...Fifteen-year-old Cora Snow has a secret only her "Daddy" and her journal know about. Aside from Daddy, the only people Cora talks to are her teachers and imaginary friends. She obeys all of Daddy's commands, like calling him "Daddy," to keep him happy, and herself alive. Besides, it's the only normal she's ever known.She's content in her bubble until one day her journal goes missing at school. In order to keep her secret, Cora is forced to befriend the students most likely behind the theft. Since she's never been friends with humans before, it makes acting naturally with them that much harder.Soon, threats appear--blackmailing things like test answers and money in exchange for the journal. Cora has to break all the rules she's lived to keep her and Daddy's secret safe. His stormy moods add to the difficulty of meeting the blackmailer's demands, often getting her sent to timeout, aka a locked basement.If Cora can't track down the blackmailer and destroy the journal, Daddy will get sent to jail, and if he has time, send Cora six feet under.
Now and then, you'll meet a budding writer who fearfully admits they love to write creepy books. "What is wrong with you?" they worry people will say. "I expected you to wear a long, black trench coat and thick eyeliner."
As a writer of macabre fiction, Mary's also your stereotypical "good girl." So how does she balance both aspects of her life? In this brief nonfiction booklet, Mary discusses a psychological and scriptural basis for tackling darker books, some of her favorite techniques for mastering the craft, and how to show the strength of God's light.
The season isn't what it seems.
While some are nestled cozy in their traditions, others are lost in darkness. An unkindness of ravens lurks like a warning above them while they try to escape their inner demons and fight the dragons they've been trying to avoid. There's no enjoying fatal amounts of pie because their minds are slipping, slipping into a twisted delusion. They are the murderers, the disturbed, the unfortunate, and the misunderstood. These outliers are imprisoned by their circumstances until they slowly fade into the icy landscape, smothered by the forged façade of a perfect Christmas.
In this unsettling collection of stories, authors Katie Coughran, Vanessa K. Eccles, Mary Gray, and Cammie Larsen explore the darkened corners of paranormal, horror, and fantasy to create a gothic and somewhat macabre Christmas read.
Are you a secular writer who also strives to incorporate messages of hope or faith? I'm one of those writers, and I've fought for years to learn how to balance both aspects successfully. in this short nonfiction book, I'll share the method I've learned to subtly incorporate faith-based messages in secular stories. I'll discuss: How to fill your spiritual well & know what to add without getting preachy? Know where and how to add these precious gems of knowledge via the sneaky art of subplotting? How to stay resilient against the adversary while considering marketability?I'd love to help you get your stories to the next level of hope and faith, so click to sample or buy now.
Bodice rippers are some of the most lucrative books in the industry. So what if you write romance that isn't as steamy? I don't know about you, but I love reading and writing kissing scenes. And I don't write explicit scenes with sex.If you're the same way, then you've happened upon the right book. In this brief nonfiction work, I'll cover how to write clean yet scintillating romance in ways you may not have considered. I'll share: The best piece of editorial advice I ever received (when my first publisher bought my first book from my first agent) A method I like to call action versus reaction How to escalate a kissing scene How to use rhetorical devices and setting to heighten heatAre you ready? Grab your pens and pencils, jot down your notes in your favorite apps, or simply allow the juicy material to soak in.
