Given the old blog a bit of a make-over as you can see. Apologies for the pages at the top, which are all currently under construction, but as soon as I can, I'll fill these up with awesome things. Expect lots more changes soon, as I'm determined to fix that sidebar! Again, I'm really sorry that it's still a bit of a mess, you'll have to bear with me for the time being.
Catch you all soon.
Lotsaluv, Em
Saturday, 30 April 2011
Friday, 29 April 2011
VAMPIRE BUNNY REVIEW: "Adaptation" by Chris Allinotte
"Adaptation" by Chris Allinotte. Appearing in Creepy Things: An Anthology of the Creepy-Crawly, Spooky & Silly. Edited by Chris Bartholomew, published in Static Movement. Pages 217-219.
4 Vampire Bunnies out of 5.
SYNOPSIS: After a successful invasion and colonisation of Mars, two scientiests explore the land, only to make a shocking dicovery.
Taken from a book of insect-themed horror, Allinotte's story fits exactly that theme but does it with style. This is a short but sweet piece, the kind I like. I must admit, I'm a bit of a lazy reader when it comes to anthologies: I read all the flash first then work my way up the the longest stories. So this tale is precisely what I would have gone for first. The build up to Allinotte's story gives the reader all the back story they need - humans obliterated the Martians after destroying their own planet. Not an uncommon plot, but this tale gives the reader a fresher outcome than the movie-equivalents they may have come across.
WARNIING...HERE BE SPOILERS...WARNING...STOP READING NOW IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW THE ENDING...WARNING.
Sorry, that was kind of overkill. I want to talk about the insect aspect the most but it's kind of a spoiler alert. Last chance to look away...Good, those of you who kept reading are in for a treat. Allinotte's bugs are not the black shelled beetles or the winged green-fly but living precious gems. The descriptions of them are wonderful and worth reading the story for in itself. I absolutely loved this part of the tale. I won't reveal what kind of antics they get up to but it's beautifully written and certainly made me glad I'd flicked to those pages where the story was hiding.
With this being such a short story there isn't much more I can say about it except that it is certainly one of the strongest pieces in this beastly collection.
THOUGHTS FROM THE RABBIT HOLE: A perfect example of flash fiction with a beatifully descriptive twist. It'll make you afraid of your jewellery and healing crystals for good!
Visit the writer at: http://chrisallinotte.blogspot.com/.
Lotsaluv, Em
4 Vampire Bunnies out of 5.
SYNOPSIS: After a successful invasion and colonisation of Mars, two scientiests explore the land, only to make a shocking dicovery.
Taken from a book of insect-themed horror, Allinotte's story fits exactly that theme but does it with style. This is a short but sweet piece, the kind I like. I must admit, I'm a bit of a lazy reader when it comes to anthologies: I read all the flash first then work my way up the the longest stories. So this tale is precisely what I would have gone for first. The build up to Allinotte's story gives the reader all the back story they need - humans obliterated the Martians after destroying their own planet. Not an uncommon plot, but this tale gives the reader a fresher outcome than the movie-equivalents they may have come across.
WARNIING...HERE BE SPOILERS...WARNING...STOP READING NOW IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW THE ENDING...WARNING.
Sorry, that was kind of overkill. I want to talk about the insect aspect the most but it's kind of a spoiler alert. Last chance to look away...Good, those of you who kept reading are in for a treat. Allinotte's bugs are not the black shelled beetles or the winged green-fly but living precious gems. The descriptions of them are wonderful and worth reading the story for in itself. I absolutely loved this part of the tale. I won't reveal what kind of antics they get up to but it's beautifully written and certainly made me glad I'd flicked to those pages where the story was hiding.
With this being such a short story there isn't much more I can say about it except that it is certainly one of the strongest pieces in this beastly collection.
THOUGHTS FROM THE RABBIT HOLE: A perfect example of flash fiction with a beatifully descriptive twist. It'll make you afraid of your jewellery and healing crystals for good!
Visit the writer at: http://chrisallinotte.blogspot.com/.
Lotsaluv, Em
Saturday, 23 April 2011
The Shadow People Update
Say What?!?!?!? Is that Emma's novella in a book and on sale on Amazon now? Indeedy it is! The Shadow People is now available on Amazon. AAAAAAH!!! Excited! Even more exciting is the product description, which reads:
She turns her hands over. Once. Twice. On the third time she still can't see anything wrong with them. What had she done? She'd made the shadow disappear, for one thing. It's rather a relief to know that she can make them go away. But what had she done to make it go? What the hell was that stuff coming out of her hands? This is weird, even for Sarah. -excerpt from Glitter and Trauma by Emma Kathryn
I'm so over the moon with this. This is going to be freakin' awesome. As soon as the book hits Amazon.co.uk I'm throwing a Glasgow launch party for all my chums and co-horts. Complete with Millie's cookie cake and all. By then I'll do a full promotional blog about out, complete with an exclusive extract and soundtrack listing (I always write my stories to a soundtrack which I put together during the writing process). This post will also include the posters that my mate Adam - of Ferocious Bloodaxe fame - is doing for me. The stuff he's done for Bloodaxe has been ubercool so I'm extremely excited to see what he's going to come up with.
Anyway, I'm going to scoot now. I'm far too excited!!!! Eeeep! Hope you're all ordering your copies right now!
Lotsaluv, Em
She turns her hands over. Once. Twice. On the third time she still can't see anything wrong with them. What had she done? She'd made the shadow disappear, for one thing. It's rather a relief to know that she can make them go away. But what had she done to make it go? What the hell was that stuff coming out of her hands? This is weird, even for Sarah. -excerpt from Glitter and Trauma by Emma Kathryn
I'm so over the moon with this. This is going to be freakin' awesome. As soon as the book hits Amazon.co.uk I'm throwing a Glasgow launch party for all my chums and co-horts. Complete with Millie's cookie cake and all. By then I'll do a full promotional blog about out, complete with an exclusive extract and soundtrack listing (I always write my stories to a soundtrack which I put together during the writing process). This post will also include the posters that my mate Adam - of Ferocious Bloodaxe fame - is doing for me. The stuff he's done for Bloodaxe has been ubercool so I'm extremely excited to see what he's going to come up with.
Anyway, I'm going to scoot now. I'm far too excited!!!! Eeeep! Hope you're all ordering your copies right now!
Lotsaluv, Em
VAMPIREBUNNY REVIEW: "Agony of Being" by Tommy B. Smith
"Agony of Being" by Tommy B. Smith. Appearing in Caught by Darkness: An Anthology of Dark Tales
. Edited by Chris Bartholomew, published by Static Movement. Pages 99-111.
4 Vampire Bunnies out of 5.
SYNOPSIS: Jack Redmond is shot in the head whilst defending a convenience store clerk. During recovery, Jack begins to experience strange visions, nightmares and thoughts. Meanwhile, a cop is going through his own kind of deja vu. And Jack's wife, Julia, just wants her husband. to get better. It's only a matter of time before the fates of these 3 characters collide.
The theme of Bartholomew's Caught by Darkness anthology is exactly what it says on the tin: dark events and dark characters caught up in them. Smith's tale is precisely that. It depicts a seemingly normal man, who only wanted some aspirin for a headache, being warped from the kind of hero who would take a bullet for a stranger into something dark and unrecognisable. The characterisation is clever, with Julia in particular being a character whom the reader can come to genuinely care about. I found a particular fondness for Julia and I think she shone in the end scene, which I won't spoil (I'll just tell you that it was my favourite bit!). Similarly, the character of Robert Brennan is an interesting parallel to Jack's inner torment. Overall, an intriguing tale which Smith described to me as a mix between psychological horror and cosmic horror and I can't find any better way of describing it myself. The cosmic horror aspect of it does take a bit of thinking about and the philosophical elements aren't what I usually go for in a horror (I'm a trash and pulp gal), but this gives the story a literary angle which is often missing in more scare-hungry horror fiction. What I particularly liked about the story was the structure. It's set out in 3 clear sections, breaking up the longer-piece into 3 distinct chapters. Each section focuses on a different character: Jack; Brennan; Julia. This is what interested me the most. The shift in focus kept the story fresh and meant that it didn't drag at all, which is something it could have done with it being a 12 page story amongst a collection of much shorter fiction (most of the stories in the collection are between about 3 and 7 pages with a few longer ones interspersed).
THOUGHTS FROM THE RABBIT HOLE: A fast paced yet thought-provoking tale with a unique format. A stand out piece in a dark and frightful collection.
Visit the writer online at http://www.tommybsmith.com/
Upcoming reviews: Sean Monaghan in The Shadow People and Dorothy Davies in Oil. As soon as I get hold of those anthos I'll get these reviews up.
If you want your story to go through the above Bunny-critique drop me a line at emma_kathryn@etherealtales.co.uk with VAMPIREBUNNYREVIEW in the subject line.
Thank you to Tommy B. Smith for letting me read and review his fantastic story.
Lotsaluv, Em
. Edited by Chris Bartholomew, published by Static Movement. Pages 99-111.4 Vampire Bunnies out of 5.
SYNOPSIS: Jack Redmond is shot in the head whilst defending a convenience store clerk. During recovery, Jack begins to experience strange visions, nightmares and thoughts. Meanwhile, a cop is going through his own kind of deja vu. And Jack's wife, Julia, just wants her husband. to get better. It's only a matter of time before the fates of these 3 characters collide.
The theme of Bartholomew's Caught by Darkness anthology is exactly what it says on the tin: dark events and dark characters caught up in them. Smith's tale is precisely that. It depicts a seemingly normal man, who only wanted some aspirin for a headache, being warped from the kind of hero who would take a bullet for a stranger into something dark and unrecognisable. The characterisation is clever, with Julia in particular being a character whom the reader can come to genuinely care about. I found a particular fondness for Julia and I think she shone in the end scene, which I won't spoil (I'll just tell you that it was my favourite bit!). Similarly, the character of Robert Brennan is an interesting parallel to Jack's inner torment. Overall, an intriguing tale which Smith described to me as a mix between psychological horror and cosmic horror and I can't find any better way of describing it myself. The cosmic horror aspect of it does take a bit of thinking about and the philosophical elements aren't what I usually go for in a horror (I'm a trash and pulp gal), but this gives the story a literary angle which is often missing in more scare-hungry horror fiction. What I particularly liked about the story was the structure. It's set out in 3 clear sections, breaking up the longer-piece into 3 distinct chapters. Each section focuses on a different character: Jack; Brennan; Julia. This is what interested me the most. The shift in focus kept the story fresh and meant that it didn't drag at all, which is something it could have done with it being a 12 page story amongst a collection of much shorter fiction (most of the stories in the collection are between about 3 and 7 pages with a few longer ones interspersed).
THOUGHTS FROM THE RABBIT HOLE: A fast paced yet thought-provoking tale with a unique format. A stand out piece in a dark and frightful collection.
Visit the writer online at http://www.tommybsmith.com/
Upcoming reviews: Sean Monaghan in The Shadow People and Dorothy Davies in Oil. As soon as I get hold of those anthos I'll get these reviews up.
If you want your story to go through the above Bunny-critique drop me a line at emma_kathryn@etherealtales.co.uk with VAMPIREBUNNYREVIEW in the subject line.
Thank you to Tommy B. Smith for letting me read and review his fantastic story.
Lotsaluv, Em
Sunday, 17 April 2011
Short Story Reviews
Since I'm blogging to the max tonight, I thought I'd announce my new programme. I'm going to do a short story review a week on here. The first few I'll pick at random from various Static Movement anthologies (mostly the ones I've got a story in myself since those are the most I've got). However, I'm also going to be taking requests. So if you've got a story in a SM book and would like me to give you a solo review, drop me a line at:
Stick VAMPIREBUNNY REVIEW in the subject line and in the email, be sure to tell me what book your story appeared in, what it's called and your pen name and I'll do my best to get it read and write a review as soon as I can. Feel free to also give me a link to your blog or website too!!!
Looking forward to this. I'll post this on the publisher's forums, too, so you better get in fast!
Remember to put VAMPIREBUNNY REVIEW in the subject line or I WILL delete your email!!! Can't wait folks! Hope to hear from you all soon.
Lotsaluv, Em
Bunnies in your Inbox!
UPDATE!!!!!
You can now get updates sent straight to your email! Just jam your email in the box to the left and get an email update everytime I blog. This is run by blogger, not me so I promise you will never get nonsensical crap from me. Cross my heart and hope to die.
Have fun with that. Make sure and sign up today!!!!! Especially with my novella coming out soon. You'll get the info first!!!
Lotsaluv, Em
You can now get updates sent straight to your email! Just jam your email in the box to the left and get an email update everytime I blog. This is run by blogger, not me so I promise you will never get nonsensical crap from me. Cross my heart and hope to die.
Have fun with that. Make sure and sign up today!!!!! Especially with my novella coming out soon. You'll get the info first!!!
Lotsaluv, Em
Author Central Sales Figures
Just been on my authorcentral account on Amazon.com and seems the kindle editions are selling pretty well! Apparantly, Pandora's Nightmare: Horror Unleashed (An Anthology)
went up 101,188 ranks today, meaning that it is now #86,835 in the Amazon kindle store, which is actually pretty damn good if you remember that there's like 800,000 kindle books listed on there. I'm really proud of this considering that this was the first anthology that I ever held in my hand which had one of my stories in it. Dark Things also does pretty well these days, with a copy sold last week XD So looks like my stories "Death and the Maiden" and "Watching Shadows" seem to be my most read stories at the moment. The kindle editions seem to be the way to go. It's a shame because I love a real book, but more kindle editions seem to sell than paperbacks.
Ah well, I ain't complainin'!
Just thought I'd share my excitement!
Lotsaluv, Em
went up 101,188 ranks today, meaning that it is now #86,835 in the Amazon kindle store, which is actually pretty damn good if you remember that there's like 800,000 kindle books listed on there. I'm really proud of this considering that this was the first anthology that I ever held in my hand which had one of my stories in it. Dark Things also does pretty well these days, with a copy sold last week XD So looks like my stories "Death and the Maiden" and "Watching Shadows" seem to be my most read stories at the moment. The kindle editions seem to be the way to go. It's a shame because I love a real book, but more kindle editions seem to sell than paperbacks.Ah well, I ain't complainin'!
Just thought I'd share my excitement!
Lotsaluv, Em
Thursday, 7 April 2011
StoryFest
Ello bunnies. Even more updates. Another 2 stories were accepted by Dorothy Davies today. "The Captain and the Hourglass" into Tales of Salt and Sorrow and "Lighting the Way (Between the Shadows)" into Grim Fairy Tales. Awesome still - "Second Hand Faith" has been accepted into Wicked Witchery, a Static Movement anthology edited by Naomi Clark. Really pleased about this lot. "Second Hand Faith" is a Vahro tale, based around the characters in my Heart of the Dragon novel, which I will one day finish. Love the character of Aemaea and this story will see her publishing debut.
Apologies for the lack of covers on this post, but I'm working from K Bargie's PC so can't fill his hard drive with pretty pictures (oh that will change when we move in together!).
When I get home over the weekend, I'll upload to the max and send off my contracts to all these lovely editors.
Still ridiculously excited about the novella acceptance. Will do a post all about it one day next week.
Lotsaluv, Em
Apologies for the lack of covers on this post, but I'm working from K Bargie's PC so can't fill his hard drive with pretty pictures (oh that will change when we move in together!).
When I get home over the weekend, I'll upload to the max and send off my contracts to all these lovely editors.
Still ridiculously excited about the novella acceptance. Will do a post all about it one day next week.
Lotsaluv, Em
Wednesday, 6 April 2011
Exciting News
Alright, I know I'm not as frequent a blogger as I used to be but today there's some rather juicy news.
First of all, my story "Syrup" has been accepted into Static Movement's Carnival anthology, which is being edited by Dorothy Davies. Wrote this story kind of on the hop at work over the weekend so it was great to find it a home so quickly! Going to be a very creepy book, methinks.
Cover above *points up*. As I said, going to be very creepy.
However, the BIG news is about my novella, "Glitter and Trauma", which I'm sure you all remember me toiling over last summer/autumn. Well, it will be making its debut in Static Movement's anthology The Shadow People! Eeeeeek!!! So pleased with this. It's one of those projects that I'm really proud of so I'm so chuffed to see it get into a book. Chris Bartholomew is editing this one and she's such a gem to look at the novella in the first place so I'm extremely grateful for this acceptance.
Awesome cover. Love it. The story, in case I haven't told you before, is about a woman who fights shadow creatures and is trying to find a partner to help her, but when she does find one, she isn't what she expected. Will update more on this as the book progresses, but I'm so excited. Eeeek!!!!!
Smiley faces all round for a change!
Lotsaluv, Em
First of all, my story "Syrup" has been accepted into Static Movement's Carnival anthology, which is being edited by Dorothy Davies. Wrote this story kind of on the hop at work over the weekend so it was great to find it a home so quickly! Going to be a very creepy book, methinks.
Cover above *points up*. As I said, going to be very creepy.
However, the BIG news is about my novella, "Glitter and Trauma", which I'm sure you all remember me toiling over last summer/autumn. Well, it will be making its debut in Static Movement's anthology The Shadow People! Eeeeeek!!! So pleased with this. It's one of those projects that I'm really proud of so I'm so chuffed to see it get into a book. Chris Bartholomew is editing this one and she's such a gem to look at the novella in the first place so I'm extremely grateful for this acceptance.
Awesome cover. Love it. The story, in case I haven't told you before, is about a woman who fights shadow creatures and is trying to find a partner to help her, but when she does find one, she isn't what she expected. Will update more on this as the book progresses, but I'm so excited. Eeeek!!!!!
Smiley faces all round for a change!
Lotsaluv, Em
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