Announcements – Page 2 – The Literary Underworld

Coming soon: a new anthology featuring Elizabeth Donald

Gently he pushed her onto the bed and tucked the blankets around her. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I don’t like to go, but we grownups have to do that sometime.”

“Okay Daddy.” She rubbed her eyes, which was the universal signal for sleepy child, thank God. “The shiny people will keep me company.”

“Shiny people?” That was a new one. “Who are the shiny people?”

Rowen’s eyes were drifting shut even as she spoke. In her sleepiness, her voice sounded more like Debbie on the cold meds. “The shiny people in my room.”

“Okay, you have fun with that,” he said, smiling. He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. “Dream pretty pictures.”

He stood up, his knees popping a little more than he liked. He walked to the door and reached for the knob. Then he caught sight of himself in the large mirror over Rowen’s dresser. “Oops,” he laughed quietly. He was still wearing the silly crown.

He stepped over in front of the dresser and removed the crown, wincing as its plastic curlicues caught in his hair and pulled a couple of strands free. I need to keep the hair I’ve got, thanks, he thought ruefully.

He laid the crown on the dresser. In the mirror, he caught movement behind him.

“Sleep, little lady,” he ordered, turning around.

Rowen was asleep. She lay perfectly still in her toddler bed, the blankets he’d tucked around her undisturbed.

Then who was moving behind him?

Coming soon from Crone Girls Press: Coppice and Brake, an anthology of dark fiction edited by Rachel Brune. This anthology includes an original short story by Literary Underworld founder Elizabeth Donald, who will also see two short stories appear in River Bluff Review this month!

“Shiny People” is a short story inspired by a tale told at a convention last year, and Elizabeth is delighted that it has found a home at Crone Girls Press. River Bluff Review will include two other original stories: “Dear Katrina” and “Sergeant Curious.”

Elizabeth Donald is a dark fiction writer fond of things that go chomp in the night. She is a three-time winner of the Darrell Award for speculative fiction and author of the Nocturne vampire mystery series and Blackfire zombie series, as well as other novels and short stories in the horror, science fiction and fantasy genres. She is the founder of the Literary Underworld author cooperative; an award-winning journalist and instructor; a nature and art photographer; freelance editor and writing coach. She is married to author Jim Gillentine, and their family lives in a haunted house in Illinois. In her spare time, she… has no spare time.

You can preorder a print copy of Coppice and Brake from Literary Underworld for $10! Preorders for the ebook edition are coming soon from Crone Girls Press, and we will have print copies available at conventions throughout the rest of the year.

Happy holidays!

We are extending our Cyber Week Sale! Use the code CYBER19 to get 10 PERCENT OFF on your order in time for the holidays, or use HOLIDAZE25 to get 25 percent off one item!

Here’s some ideas for the readers on your list:

Hey look, it’s another Cyber Week Sale!

Okay, you were deluged with Black Friday emails. And then it’s Small Business Saturday, and Giving Sunday… or is it Giving Tuesday? We lose track, too.

And then there’s Cyber Monday, so named because it’s the point where we all go back to work and don’t feel like it, so we sneak some holiday shopping online when the boss isn’t looking. Which turns into Cyber Week, because really, no one is in the mood for work.

Here at LitUnd Towers, we decided to give you a break from the deluge on Black Friday. Besides, we had pie.

But we do have some awesome gift ideas for you, and a code to get you a discount on your holiday shopping. Use CYBER19 at your checkout and get 10 percent off all your holiday gifts!

Keep in mind: Quite often Literary Underworld is cheaper than Amazon. Some of our books are out of print, and deeply discounted as low as $5. Some of our small-press books are half price, and others have been discounted by the author below Amazon list price. Add in the discount code, and you’re getting the best deal on the internet.

Remember: when you shop Literary Underworld, you’re buying directly from the authors and publishers who created these works. You’re supporting creators with the largest possible percentage of the sale. That’s the reason LitUnd exists, folks.

So here are a few ideas for the book fans on your list, with many more in our store!

We hope you’ll choose to do some holiday shopping with us at Literary Underworld. Remember that you can have your purchase shipped directly to the recipient and get it gift-wrapped, if you so choose! In some cases, signed copies are available at no extra cost – just ask.

Remember that all shipping is $8 flat rate no matter how many books you buy! And if you live in the St. Louis area, you can pick up your purchase directly from us without having to pay extra for shipping. Once or twice a month, we set up for an afternoon at a local coffeehouse and patrons can come by to pick up their books. If you’d like to do that, please select “local pickup” for your shipping option and we will be in touch with details.

Thank you for shopping at Literary Underworld, and happy holidays!

Imadjinn award for J.L. Mulvihill!

J. L. Mulvihill, author of the Steel Roots series and The Elsie Lind Chronicles, has now added screenplay writing to her many other accomplishments.

At the recent Imaginarium Convention and Film Festival in Louisville, Ky., Mulvihill claimed the Imadjinn 2019 Best Screenplay Short Format award. Mulvihill’s screenplay, Sand Mermaids, came in the running with a long list of highly seasoned screenplay writers and independent film producers.

Mulvihill was certainly surprised by the award, but extremely grateful for the opportunity and the acknowledgment.

Sand Mermaids is a screenplay based off of Mulvihill’s own short story and is now a potential short film. It is about a young boy dealing with the death of his mother and holding a grudge against the world. When the boy focuses his pent-up grief and anger into creating mermaids at a beach on a small island in Maine, an enigma occurs, bringing the mermaids to life.

This fantastic tale, pun intended, is a cross between The Shape of Water and Tom’s Midnight Garden, giving it a paranormal fantasy feel.

J. L. Mulvihill is now looking forward to writing more screenplays and possibly even creating her own independent short film, similar to Sand Mermaids but just a bit darker. This achievement has given her a
super boost in the creative soul, which every writer needs from time to time.

Mulvihill has a lot on her plate already, writing two YA series and working on a science fiction novel as well. However, there is a plethora of story ideas kept in a multitude of files under the desk that can easily be made into film. The possibilities are endless.

Find J.L. Mulvihill’s latest work under Young Adult and Steampunk in the Literary Underworld!

Imaginarium shenanigans!

Many thanks to all those we saw at Imaginarium! If you’re a writer, filmmaker or other creative, Imaginarium is definitely the place to be – we all tend to think of it like a writing workshop and networking event rather than a traditional con.

That didn’t stop us from bringing out the bar, of course!

It was great to meet up with several of the Underlords, as well – J.L. Mulvihill and Steven L. Shrewsbury were on hand, and off-color jokes were the rule of the day. (Any connection between those facts is, of course, entirely coincidental.)

Thanks to Underlord and Imaginarium co-founder Stephen Zimmer and his crew for a fantastic event yet again!

(And once again, multiple members of the Literary Underworld were in the same place and no one took a group picture. Who’s running this outfit anyway?)

However, there was one thing we managed to photograph. J.L. Mulvihill won the Imadjinn Award for best screenplay – “Sand Mermaids,” the first screenplay she’s ever written! Congratulations to Jen for her terrific achievement!

Click here for a complete list of winners from the Imadjinn Awards. Congratulations to all the winners!

New anthology for preorder!

We are happy to announce a reprint of one of Underlord Elizabeth Donald’s favorite short stories will appear in an upcoming anthology from Crone Girls Press.

Now, we know we’re not supposed to have “favorite” short stories, because they’re all our babies. But let’s face it – some stories are just more fun than others. “In Memoriam” features the return of Cat Suarez, the photographer who sees dead people. Apart from her debut novel, Cat shows up in a couple of short stories in Donald’s Moonlight Sonata, which is still in print and available in ebook too (hint hint).

Stories We Tell After Midnight is edited by the indomitable Rachel Brune, and includes stories from Jane Hawley, Adam N. Leonard, Christy Mann and several others.

A changeling binds a young girl to a mirror and takes her place…

A salesman pursues closing a deal until it costs him everything…

An ancient Duchess graciously invites you on a tour of her orangerie…

This is the world of Crone Girls Press. Here, the shadows keep their secrets and the moon hides from deeds cast in her glow. In these pages, the Fae walk as human, the dead burn with their anger at the living, the creatures that live in the dark places of the wrong zip code creep out of the shadows and into the kitchen. Stories We Tell After Midnight is a collection of short horror fiction from established names in the genre as well as a number of debut authors.

So, how can you get your hands on this awesome collection? You can preorder the ebook from Amazon for 99c right now! After release on Oct. 21, the ebook will cost you $4.99, so preorders are definitely in your best interest.

The print edition is not yet up on Amazon, but you can preorder that as well from Literary Underworld! Ordering from LitUnd means you can opt to have it signed if you wish. You can also order it as a gift with optional gift wrap.

Will you be at Archon or Imaginarium in the next couple of weeks? So will we… and you’ll be able to preorder Stories We Tell After Midnight at those events as well. Look for it to release on Oct. 21!

It’s a book birthday!

A Wolf to Watch Over Me turns four years old today!

I remember writing it, then being so ecstatic that I’d finally finished something after my hiatus of almost five years to take care of my family. My friends at Romance Divas challenged us to write short stories for a charity anthology, and I thought, “I can do that!” When I couldn’t even think about a novel, or even a novella, I knew I could write a short.

So I did! Just writing the words “The End” on something flipped a switch for me, and I started looking around for other projects.

Little did I know…

One of the friends who’d been in the anthology with me emailed to ask if I’d think of writing something else for a Viking anthology. And, by the way, it would be great if it was part of a series.

I think I typed Yes before I finished reading the email.

Sure! I had a series! (Not.) But then I thought about Hakon sidUlfr and how the world I built for him was based on Norse traditions and mythology, and it turned out I did have a story for his friend, Ule: A Most Wanted Wolf.

Then a different friend said she wanted to put out a group release of “seasoned romances,” which are romances with older characters, rather than the typical, nubile 20-somethings that populate the genre. And I thought, “Hey, Ule’s mother from Book 2 could use her own story.” The project didn’t work out quite the way we’d planned, but I still had this wonderful romance with amazing characters, so there was the third book: Silver Wolf Rising.

The folks who’d wanted the second book were going to put out a final Viking anthology, and by then, I knew it was time to wrap up my storyline with the hero I’d been waiting for. Where all the other stories stand pretty much entirely on their own, this one had to pull together all the threads I’d laid out before. And by now, I was feeling a lot more like a “real” writer again, with deadlines to meet and a sense that people were waiting. They wanted this story. It’s a thrill I’ll never get used to.

Writing Hakon’s brother in The Wolf Who Came In From the Cold was almost as freeing an experience as writing that first short. And I always think that the people who read the whole series are fellow travelers on my journey.

Come along for the ride!

Sela Carsen is an award-winning author of paranormal and sci-fi romance — with or without sex and dead bodies. Your pick. She maintains a permanent nerd-on for fairytales and mythology, and openly hoards reference books about obscure folklore. Born a wanderer, she and her family have finally settled in the Midwest. Until they move again, at least. Website.

Linkage:

A Wolf to Watch Over Me: Literary Underworld – only $3!

A Most Wanted Wolf: Literary Underworld or other fine booksellers

Silver Wolf Rising: Literary Underworld or other fine booksellers

The Wolf Who Came In From the Cold: Literary Underworld or other fine booksellers

Wolves of Fenrir: Literary Underworld – $15 for the whole set!

Seventh Star to launch web TV pilot

Rayden Valkyrie: Saga of a Lionheart will launch worldwide on July 28 through Seventh Star Press’s YouTube channel! Underlord Stephen Zimmer and the crew at Seventh Star Studios have been working for a long time on Rayden, which had its world premiere in September.

Please subscribe to the Seventh Star Press YouTube channel in advance of the July 28 streaming premiere! You’ll also catch a lot of the great content Seventh Star offers, including the Creative Cauldron vidcast, book trailers, interviews and more.

Pardon our dust!

The Literary Underworld has just launched a brand new site! We figured the dark, cobwebby dungeon of our old site was getting a little stale.

Never fear: all the awesome work by the Underlords is still available on our webstore, and we’ll be adding in the interviews, essays, roundtables and other great content from our old site bit by bit. Just stick with us, and watch this shiny new site as it evolves!

And of course, Yorick the Skull stays. We couldn’t do without him!

In the meantime: Take 10 percent off your purchase this week with the code you received in our direct email. What, you didn’t get it? Sign up here!

Sand Mermaids: a new story from J.L. Mulvihill

A mythological creature helps a young boy come to terms with his mother’s death in an unexpected way.

Justin looked out across the water watching the sun rays dance across the tops of the waves. To him the ocean appeared both mysterious and frightening. The mystery came from the intrigue of not knowing what lies beneath. There were thousands of miles of uncharted lands beneath the oceans of the world and unimaginable depths of endless dark waters containing countless life forms. Yet the Ocean frightened Justin, for he knew it could be unforgiving and unkind…

Available now for FREE on Kindle Unlimited or 99c to buy!

A California native born in Hollywood, California, J.L. MULVIHILL wanted to be a rock star. After several years of modeling, acting, and singing, she decided to marry, have a family, and moved to a quieter life in Mississippi where she has lived for the past twenty years. Finding she has a gift for story telling she began to write young adult books, including the Steel Roots series and The Lost Daughter of Easa. She is very active in the writing community, a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Gulf Coast Writers Association, Imagicopter, the Mississippi Writers Guild and Clinton Ink-slingers Writing Group. She continues to write fantasy, steampunk, poetry and essays inspired by her life in the South.