teen + comics
Teen Victorian fairy fight club! As the illegitimate daughter of a Naval Captain, Artemesia has never fit in with her fatherfs family, nor the high class world to which they belong. However, when she is targeted by the Faerie Queen and pulled into another realm, she has no choice but to try and save the world that has always hated her. Writer Delilah S. Dawson (Ladycastle, Star Wars: Forces of Destiny) and artist Matias Basla (The Claw and Fang) present a beautiful, gripping tale perfect for fans of Labyrinth and Princeless. Covers by Miguel Mercado. Alt cover by Stephanie Hans. Letters by Jim Campbell.
Rose and her sister Paige go on an adventure, written by me!
Buy it from your local comics shop or from IDW Publishing.
The biggest new character from The Last Jedi, Rose Tico, makes her Star Wars Adventures debut in this special one-shot story! Rose prefers to solve problems from behind the scenes, but the threat of the First Order has put her front and center…
I wrote the lead story, Rose Knows!
But it from your local comics shop or from IDW Publishing.
Featuring my story The Best Pet, aka D LOVES PORGS!
Buy it at your local comics shop or from IDW Publishing.
When King Mancastle and his mighty vassals ride off on crusade, the women left behind are not at all put out-that's a lot less armor polishing for them to do. Of course, when the men get themselves eaten by a dragon and leave a curse that attracts monsters to the castle...well, the women take umbrage with that. Now the blacksmith's wife Merinor is King, Princess Aeve is the Captain, and the only remaining (and least capable) knight Sir Riddick is tasked with teaching the ladies of the castle how to fight, defend, build, and do all manner of noisy things the men had been doing while the women assumed they were just drunk.
Issues # 1 - 4, starting January 25, 2017
Buy the full series at BOOM! Studios.
Buy individual issues at TFAW.
You can also go to your local comic book shop and ask them to create a pull list just for you, which is basically a special order.
From the author of the “gritty near-future dystopian tale” (Booklist) Hit comes the thrilling sequel about an indentured assassin fighting to survive in a world of anarchy.
The hit list was just the beginning.
Time to strike back.
After faking her own death to escape her term as an indentured assassin for Valor Savings Bank, Patsy is on the run with her boyfriend, Wyatt. All she wants to do is go home, but that’s never going to happen—not as long as Valor’s out to get her and the people she loves.
Left with no good choices, Patsy’s only option is to meet with a mysterious group that calls itself the Citizens for Freedom.
Led by the charismatic Leon Crane, the CFF seem like just what Patsy has been looking for. Leon promises that if she joins, she’ll finally get revenge on Valor for everything they’ve done to her—and for everything they’ve made her do.
But Patsy knows the CFF has a few secrets of their own. One thing is certain: they’ll do absolutely anything to complete their mission, no matter who’s standing in their way. Even if it’s Patsy herself.
Delilah S. Dawson brings anarchy and high-octane drama to the next explosive level in this sequel to the “practically movie-ready” (Kirkus Reviews) novel, Hit.
Out April 12, 2016.
NO ONE READS THE FINE PRINT.
The good news is that the USA is finally out of debt. The bad news is that we were bought out by Valor National Bank, and debtors are the new big game, thanks to a tricky little clause hidden deep in the fine print of a credit card application. Now, after a swift and silent takeover that leaves 9-1-1 calls going through to Valor voicemail, they’re unleashing a wave of anarchy across the country.
Patsy didn’t have much of a choice. When the suits showed up at her house threatening to kill her mother then and there for outstanding debt unless Patsy agreed to be an indentured assassin, what was she supposed to do? Let her own mother die?
Patsy is forced to take on a five-day mission to complete a hit list of ten names. Each name on Patsy's list has only three choices: pay the debt on the spot, agree to work as a bounty hunter, or die. And Patsy has to kill them personally, or else her mom takes a bullet of her own.
Since yarn bombing is the only rebellion in Patsy's past, she’s horrified and overwhelmed, especially as she realizes that most of the ten people on her list aren't strangers. Things get even more complicated when a moment of mercy lands her with a sidekick: a hot rich kid named Wyatt whose brother is the last name on Patsy's list. The two share an intense chemistry even as every tick of the clock draws them closer to an impossible choice.
Out now in hardcover, e-book, and audiobook.
Order a signed hardcover at FoxTale Book Shoppe.
In a one-of-a-kind collaboration, seventeen of the most recognizable YA writers—including Shaun David Hutchinson, Neal and Brendan Shusterman, and Beth Revis—come together to share the viewpoints of a group of students affected by a school shooting.
It took only twenty-two minutes for Kirby Matheson to exit his car, march onto the school grounds, enter the gymnasium, and open fire, killing six and injuring five others.
But this isn’t a story about the shooting itself. This isn’t about recounting that one unforgettable day.
This is about Kirby and how one boy—who had friends, enjoyed reading, playing saxophone in the band, and had never been in trouble before—became a monster capable of entering his school with a loaded gun and firing on his classmates.
Each chapter is told from a different victim’s viewpoint, giving insight into who Kirby was and who he’d become. Some are sweet, some are dark; some are seemingly unrelated, about fights or first kisses or late-night parties. This is a book of perspectives—with one character and one event drawing them all together—from the minds of some of YA’s most recognizable names.
Out September 1, 2015.
Click here for pre-order links!
Available 11/24/2015 in e-book and audiobook!
Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens with this exclusive ebook short story set shortly before the events of the film, featuring a quick-witted mercenary who takes big risks for bigger rewards—and now faces the challenge that will take her to the edge.
Dovey learns that demons lurk in places other than the dark corners of her mind in this southern gothic fantasy from the author of the Blud series.
A year ago, Hurricane Josephine swept through Savannah, Georgia, leaving behind nothing but death and destruction—and taking the life of Dovey’s best friend, Carly. Since that night, Dovey has been in a medicated haze, numb to everything around her.
But recently she’s started to believe she’s seeing things that can’t be real…including Carly at their favorite café. Determined to learn the truth, Dovey stops taking her pills. And the world that opens up to her is unlike anything she could have imagined.
As Dovey slips deeper into the shadowy corners of Savannah—where the dark and horrifying secrets lurk—she learns that the storm that destroyed her city and stole her friend was much more than a force of nature. And now the sinister beings truly responsible are out to finish what they started.
Order a signed copy from my local indie, Foxtale Book Shoppe in Woodstock, GA.
Add it to your Goodreads queue.
adult
The climactic conclusion to the award-winning fantasy series New York Timesbestselling author Kevin Hearne calls “thrilling, delightfully written, and important.”
Rhett Walker is looking for peace, the memories of all he’s lost haunting his dreams.
But with the lawless Rangers on his heels and monster attacks surging, Rhett is surrounded on all sides. When his friends and allies are suddenly ambushed, Rhett must answer the Shadow’s call and ride into one last, fateful battle.
Out July 2018!
In an irreverent new series in the tradition of Terry Pratchett novels and The Princess Bride, the New York Times bestselling authors of the Iron Druid Chronicles and Star Wars: Phasma reinvent fantasy, fairy tales, and floridly overwritten feast scenes.
Once upon a time, in a faraway kingdom, a hero, the Chosen One, was born . . . and so begins every fairy tale ever told.
This is not that fairy tale.
There is a Chosen One, but he is unlike any One who has ever been Chosened.
And there is a faraway kingdom, but you have never been to a magical world quite like the land of Pell.
There, a plucky farm boy will find more than he’s bargained for on his quest to awaken the sleeping princess in her cursed tower. First there’s the Dark Lord, who wishes for the boy’s untimely death . . . and also very fine cheese. Then there’s a bard without a song in her heart but with a very adorable and fuzzy tail, an assassin who fears not the night but is terrified of chickens, and a mighty fighter more frightened of her sword than of her chain-mail bikini. This journey will lead to sinister umlauts, a trash-talking goat, the Dread Necromancer Steve, and a strange and wondrous journey to the most peculiar “happily ever after” that ever once-upon-a-timed.
The sequel to Conspiracy of Ravens and third novel in Lila Bowen's widely-acclaimed Shadow series.
The Ranger known as Rhett has shut down a terrible enterprise running on the blood of magical folk, but failed to catch the dark alchemist behind it. And now the Shadow refuses to let him rest.
Rhett must make the ultimate transformation if he has any hope of stopping the alchemist or fulfilling his destiny; he must become the leader of a new Rangers outpost.
To save his friends, and the lives of countless others, he'll first have to lead them on a mission more dangerous than anything they've ever faced.
Out October 31, 2017.
The sequel to Wake of Vultures, where a rich, secret world is hiding beneath the surface.
Nettie Lonesome made a leap -- not knowing what she'd become. But now her destiny as the Shadow is calling.
A powerful alchemist is leaving a trail of dead across the prairie. And Nettie must face the ultimate challenge: side with her friends and the badge on her chest or take off alone on a dangerous mission that is pulling her inexorably toward the fight of her life.
When it comes to monsters and men, the world isn't black and white. What good are two wings and a gun when your enemy can command a conspiracy of ravens?
Available October 11, 2016.
![A rich, dark fantasy of destiny, death, and the supernatural world hiding beneath the surface. Nettie Lonesome lives in a land of hard people and hard ground dusted with sand. She's a half-breed who dresses like a boy, raised by folks who don't call her a slave but use her like one. She knows of nothing else. That is, until the day a stranger attacks her. When nothing, not even a sickle to the eye can stop him, Nettie stabs him through the heart with a chunk of wood, and he turns into black sand. And just like that, Nettie can see . But her newfound sight is a blessing and a curse. Even if she doesn't understand what's under her own skin, she can sense what everyone else is hiding -- at least physically. The world is full of evil, and now she knows the source of all the sand in the desert. Haunted by the spirits, Nettie has no choice but to set out on a quest that might lead to her true kin... if the monsters along the way don't kill her first. "Bowen has created a fascinating, textured Wild West world...Readers will love this absorbing fantasy adventure [and] its strong, dynamic heroine."― Kirkus (starred review) " Wake of Vultures is, quite simply, brilliant. A mind-bending mix of history, fantasy and folklore, it's a wild bronco of a read that'll leave you breathless for more."― Rachel Caine "Nettie Lonesome is a complex, tough, all-around wonderful protagonist. And Lila Bowen is equally wonderful for bringing us Nettie's story, set in a magical old west full of harpies and monster-hunters and stolen children and more. I look forward to more of Nettie's journey."― Jim C. Hines "I don't care what else you've seen in the bookstore today. Buy this book because it's the thrilling, delightfully written, and important one you've always wanted to read."― Kevin Hearne "Wake of Vultures doesn't just fly -- it soars. Lila Bowen brings in a wild fantasy quite unlike anything I've ever read, with a voice that's weird and wonderful. Bowen is truly a talent to watch. Hot damn, is this book good."― Chuck Wendig "Sharp as a silver Bowie and unsentimental as a stray bullet, Lila Bowen's Nettie Lonesome earns a place among the legends of the Weird West."― Matthew Stover " Wake of Vultures is a ferocious, fascinating take on the magical Old West - creatively and unsentimentally grim, yet rich with hope and heart."― Cherie Priest "Nettie Lonesome kicks major ass. There is something strange and wonderful going on in Lila Bowen's head. It's the weird west fantasy that I never knew I've always wanted to read. Now I need more!"― Wesley Chu Now available from Orbit Books. Paperback out September 20, 2016! Order at Amazon. Order at Barnes and Noble. Order at iTunes. Add it to your Goodreads queue. Find it at Indiebound.](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/53013f50e4b04574853b05a3/5303af26e4b0484cf758b9b1/5591ca9ce4b0fc90d5bcf67d/1539723928302/Bowen_WakeofVultures-TP.jpg.jpeg)
A rich, dark fantasy of destiny, death, and the supernatural world hiding beneath the surface.
Nettie Lonesome lives in a land of hard people and hard ground dusted with sand. She's a half-breed who dresses like a boy, raised by folks who don't call her a slave but use her like one. She knows of nothing else. That is, until the day a stranger attacks her. When nothing, not even a sickle to the eye can stop him, Nettie stabs him through the heart with a chunk of wood, and he turns into black sand.
And just like that, Nettie can see.
But her newfound sight is a blessing and a curse. Even if she doesn't understand what's under her own skin, she can sense what everyone else is hiding -- at least physically. The world is full of evil, and now she knows the source of all the sand in the desert. Haunted by the spirits, Nettie has no choice but to set out on a quest that might lead to her true kin... if the monsters along the way don't kill her first.
"Bowen has created a fascinating, textured Wild West world...Readers will love this absorbing fantasy adventure [and] its strong, dynamic heroine."―Kirkus (starred review)
"Wake of Vultures is, quite simply, brilliant. A mind-bending mix of history, fantasy and folklore, it's a wild bronco of a read that'll leave you breathless for more."―Rachel Caine
"Nettie Lonesome is a complex, tough, all-around wonderful protagonist. And Lila Bowen is equally wonderful for bringing us Nettie's story, set in a magical old west full of harpies and monster-hunters and stolen children and more. I look forward to more of Nettie's journey."―Jim C. Hines
"I don't care what else you've seen in the bookstore today. Buy this book because it's the thrilling, delightfully written, and important one you've always wanted to read."―Kevin Hearne
"Wake of Vultures doesn't just fly -- it soars. Lila Bowen brings in a wild fantasy quite unlike anything I've ever read, with a voice that's weird and wonderful. Bowen is truly a talent to watch. Hot damn, is this book good."―Chuck Wendig
"Sharp as a silver Bowie and unsentimental as a stray bullet, Lila Bowen's Nettie Lonesome earns a place among the legends of the Weird West."―Matthew Stover
"Wake of Vultures is a ferocious, fascinating take on the magical Old West - creatively and unsentimentally grim, yet rich with hope and heart."―Cherie Priest
"Nettie Lonesome kicks major ass. There is something strange and wonderful going on in Lila Bowen's head. It's the weird west fantasy that I never knew I've always wanted to read. Now I need more!"―Wesley Chu
Now available from Orbit Books.
Paperback out September 20, 2016!
An electrifying paranormal romance . . . with a twist!
Only rebellious Demi Ward could be bored with her life as a contortionist in Criminy Stain’s magical traveling circus. But being a cabaret star in the City of Light is dangerous . . . especially for an audacious Bludman.
After Demi’s best friend, Cherie, is brutally kidnapped en route to Paris by a roving band of masked slavers, passionate highwayman Vale Hildebrand shows up to save the day. But—unlike the Paris that Demi read about in college on Earth—the Paris of Sang is full of depraved pleasures and deadly surprises. . . .
Get a signed copy at Foxtale Book Shoppe.
The sensitive and well-detailed erotic interplay leading to a full-throated symphonic crescendo sets this slim volume head and shoulders above the norm. The combination of intriguing setting and erotic charge make this carnie-punk tale set in the Blud universe a stunner that presages great things to come. -Library Journal starred review
In this sizzling new e-novella from the author of Wicked As They Come, a knife-thrower meets a lady journalist determined to uncover his dark and dangerous past.
Bad boy knife-thrower Marco Taresque is the hottest and most dangerous performer in the caravan. He keeps to himself until a pesky female journalist arrives, anxious to interview him about his checkered past--his last assistant disappeared under mysterious and bloody circumstances, earning him the nickname "The Deadly Daggerman."
Unsinkable journalist and adventurer Jacinda Harville doesn't take no for an answer, and she's determined to wear down Marco no matter how threatening--or incredibly desirable--he might appear.
As secrets are unraveled and passions take hold, Jacinda realizes her hard heart has melted. But will it be too late to save Marco--and herself--from the daggerman's dangerous past?
Winner of the RT Book Reviews Seal of Excellence for May 2013!
The second book in the darkly tempting Blud series, featuring a vampire princess who embarks upon a dangerous journey to claim what is rightfully hers.
When Blud princess Ahnastasia wakes up, drained and starving in a suitcase, she’s not sure which calls to her more: the sound of music or the scent of blood. The source of both sensations is a handsome and mysterious man named Casper Sterling. Once the most celebrated musician in London, Sangland, he’s fallen on hard times. Now, much to Ahna’s frustration, the debauched and reckless human is her only ticket back home to the snow-rimmed and magical land of Freesia.
Together with Casper’s prickly charge, a scrappy orphan named Keen, they seek passage to Ahna’s homeland, where a power-hungry sorceress named Ravenna holds the royal family in thrall. Traveling from the back alleys of London to the sparkling minarets of Muscovy, Ahna discovers that Freesia holds new perils and dangerous foes. Back in her country, she is forced to choose between the heart she never knew she had and the land that she was born to rule. But with Casper’s help, Ahna may find a way to have it all….
Order a signed copy from FoxTale Book Shoppe.
A lady with a penchant for pets meets a sexy fireman in this magical and saucy steampunk eNovella from the author of Wicked as They Come.
In a world ruled by blood, live pets are rare and kindness rarer still. London pet shop owner Frannie Pleasance has a mysterious way with animals and keeps her charges (and heart) locked in a veritable Eden. She thinks Casper Sterling is just another stray...until she takes in the troublesome lodger (and unwelcome suitor) and becomes the victim of a series of strange and dangerous occurrences.
When an unexplained fire threatens to destroy Frannie's carefully guarded world, firefighter Thom Maccallan is there to extinguish the blaze and help gather the lost creatures. The heat between Frannie and Thom begins to burn,but someone's still after the lady. Could it be Casper himself, or is Frannie’s new lodger just another victim of fate? Will they be able to figure out who's pursuing Frannie—and stop them—before she loses everything?
Taking place after Wicked as They Come, this original eBook features a mysterious lady and a reclusive mechanical genius who find love and danger in a traveling circus.
An elusive woman arrives at Criminy’s doorstep with a steamer trunk, begging for a position in the caravan to perform her unique new act. She opens her trunk to reveal a menagerie of brilliantly colored butterflies. The woman, who calls herself Madam Morpho, is on the run from a dark past in London, where she was forced to leave her equipment behind and abscond with only her tiny performers. Playing a hunch, Criminy hires Madam Morpho on the spot. Taking her down to meet Mr. Murdoch, the reclusive talented engineer who keeps the carnival’s clockworks running, Criminy instructs them to work together to design and build a groundbreaking new circus for the butterflies. Amid the magical ambiance of the circus and the hint of danger from Madam Morpho’s pursuers, she and Mr. Murdoch soon find that their scientific collaboration has produced chemistry of a more romantic kind.
First in a steampunk-tinged paranormal romance series in which a woman is transported to a world filled with vampires and magic.
When nurse Tish Everett forced open the pesky but lovely locket she found at an estate sale, she had no idea she was answering the call of Criminy Stain, from the far off land of Sang. He’d cast a spell for her, but when she’s transported right to him, she’s not so sure she’s ready to be under the spell of another man. (It didn’t go so well last time with controlling, abusive, domineering Jeff.) If only Criminy wasn’t so deliciously rakish….
Half the inhabitants of Sang are Pinkies—human—and the other half are Bludmen, who in Tish’s world would be called vampires. But they don’t mess with any of the bat/coffin/no sunlight nonsense. They’re rather like you and me, just more fabulous, long living, and mostly indestructible. (They're also very good kissers.) But when the evil Mayor of Manchester (formerly Bludchester) redoubles his efforts to rid Sang of the Bludmen once and for all, stealing Tish’s locket in hopes of traveling back to her world himself for reinforcements, Criminy and Tish must battle ghosts, sea monsters, wayward submarines, a secret cabal, and thundering Bludmares to get the locket back and allow Tish to return home…but has she found love with Criminy? Could she stay in Sang forever?
Buy a signed copy from Foxtale Book Shoppe.
Come one, come all! The Carniepunk Midway promises you every thrill and chill a traveling carnival can provide. But fear not! Urban fantasy’s biggest stars are here to guide you through this strange and dangerous world. . . .
RACHEL CAINE’s vampires aren’t child’s play, as a naïve teen discovers when her heart leads her far, far astray in “The Cold Girl.” With “Parlor Tricks,” JENNIFER ESTEP pits Gin Blanco, the Elemental Assassin, against the Wheel of Death and some dangerously creepy clowns. SEANAN McGUIRE narrates a poignant, ethereal tale of a mysterious carnival that returns to a dangerous town after twenty years in “Daughter of the Midway, the Mermaid, and the Open, Lonely Sea.” KEVIN HEARNE’s Iron Druid and his wisecracking Irish wolfhound discover in “The Demon Barker of Wheat Street” that the impossibly wholesome sounding Kansas Wheat Festival is actually not a healthy place to hang out. With an eerie, unpredictable twist, ROB THURMAN reveals the fate of a psychopath stalking two young carnies in “Painted Love.”
My story, THE THREE LIVES OF LYDIA, brings a troubled young girl to Criminy's Clockwork Caravan, where she meets a lonely puppeteer who knows what it's like to be strange...
IP + short stories
Coming September 1, 2017!
A New York Times Bestseller!
Discover Captain Phasma’s mysterious history in this “Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi” novel.
Paperback is out April 24!
Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens with this exclusive ebook short story set shortly before the events of the film, featuring a quick-witted mercenary who takes big risks for bigger rewards—and now faces the challenge that will take her to the edge.
Delilah S. Dawson’s award-winning Blud series comes full circle as Tish and Criminy, stars of Wicked as They Come, embark on a sexy and harrowing final adventure in a world RT Book Reviews called “delightfully edgy with hidden charms.”
Ever since landing in the magical world of Sang and falling in love with dashing ringmaster Criminy Stain, Tish has been waiting for the axe to fall. Until her dying grandmother’s last breath on Earth, Tish can’t bring herself to give up her all-too human frailty and commit to life on Sang as a youthful, long-lived Bludman like her handsome husband. But when a peculiar twist of fate delivers Tish’s grandmother to Sang, an unexpected chain of events forces Tish and Criminy to embark on one last wild adventure. From old friends to new and into the lair of terrifying enemies, the couple’s love and longevity will be pushed to the brink by each harrowing encounter. Is blud thicker than blood, and can Tish and Crim find their wicked ever after?
Not My Circus, Not My Monkeys
An e-novella by Delilah S. Dawson in the Three Slices Anthology
The number one rule of the circus? Don't kill your volunteers, even accidentally. That's how young magician Criminy Stain ends up on the run in a forest, where he meets a beautiful woman holding a bucket of blood. But is Merissa the answer to his prayers-- or the orchestrator of his ruin?
(The audio is read by Alex Wyndham, and it is PERFECT.)
In a one-of-a-kind collaboration, seventeen of the most recognizable YA writers—including Shaun David Hutchinson, Neal and Brendan Shusterman, and Beth Revis—come together to share the viewpoints of a group of students affected by a school shooting.
It took only twenty-two minutes for Kirby Matheson to exit his car, march onto the school grounds, enter the gymnasium, and open fire, killing six and injuring five others.
But this isn’t a story about the shooting itself. This isn’t about recounting that one unforgettable day.
This is about Kirby and how one boy—who had friends, enjoyed reading, playing saxophone in the band, and had never been in trouble before—became a monster capable of entering his school with a loaded gun and firing on his classmates.
Each chapter is told from a different victim’s viewpoint, giving insight into who Kirby was and who he’d become. Some are sweet, some are dark; some are seemingly unrelated, about fights or first kisses or late-night parties. This is a book of perspectives—with one character and one event drawing them all together—from the minds of some of YA’s most recognizable names.
Caught in Atlanta's Snowjam 2014, self-confessed geek Tara is rear-ended by the hottest guy she's ever met. Ryon is a beer brewer and restauranteur who fits the bill of what Tara and her friends call a "lumberfox": sartorial lumbersexual style, cultivated facial hair, tattoos, and specialized tastes. When he invites Tara to spend the snowstorm in his nearby condo, she takes a gamble and slogs through the Hothlike blizzard, where she learns that a man who takes that much time with his facial hair knows exactly what to do with his mouth.
Buy on Amazon - only $0.99!
(Remember, kids: Lumbersexual erotica makes a great gift!)
GEEKROTICA LEVEL 2
Wonder Woman look-alike Melissa Martin will do anything to hit a deadline, even if it means sending her team home to their families and facing the Atlanta Snowpocalypse alone in her marketing office. The last thing she expects is to find the office maverick, photographer Mark Ranger, haunting the art department to catch up on some work of his own. What starts as an innocent sledding escapade turns into an unexpected kiss hot enough to melt the snow, not to mention a strategically used ice cube Mark finds in the break room. As the blizzard rages outside, Lissa finds out what a half-Thor, half-Loki geek god wears under his kilt, while Mark discovers that under Lissa's intimidating facade, a passionate goddess awaits. When you're tied up with the Lasso of Truth, you can't deny your fantasies.
Come one, come all! The Carniepunk Midway promises you every thrill and chill a traveling carnival can provide. But fear not! Urban fantasy’s biggest stars are here to guide you through this strange and dangerous world. . . .
RACHEL CAINE’s vampires aren’t child’s play, as a naïve teen discovers when her heart leads her far, far astray in “The Cold Girl.” With “Parlor Tricks,” JENNIFER ESTEP pits Gin Blanco, the Elemental Assassin, against the Wheel of Death and some dangerously creepy clowns. SEANAN McGUIRE narrates a poignant, ethereal tale of a mysterious carnival that returns to a dangerous town after twenty years in “Daughter of the Midway, the Mermaid, and the Open, Lonely Sea.” KEVIN HEARNE’s Iron Druid and his wisecracking Irish wolfhound discover in “The Demon Barker of Wheat Street” that the impossibly wholesome sounding Kansas Wheat Festival is actually not a healthy place to hang out. With an eerie, unpredictable twist, ROB THURMAN reveals the fate of a psychopath stalking two young carnies in “Painted Love.”
My story, THE THREE LIVES OF LYDIA, brings a troubled young girl to Criminy's Clockwork Caravan, where she meets a lonely puppeteer who knows what it's like to be strange...
Available in Fireside Magazine Issue 4.
This short story set in the Blud world finally reveals the secret life of Eblick the Lizard Boy.
Cover art by Galen Dara
This 80-page e-novella was commissioned by Amazon's Kindle Worlds program for Valiant Entertainment and is a novelization of the Shadowman comic. Less romance, more horror, plenty of whimsydark!
An old street woman gives Alyssa Myles, Jack Boniface’s friend (and Shadowman’s abettor!) a vial of perfume called Follow Me Boy. Alyssa brings the mysterious potion with her to the museum for dinner with Jack. Opening the vial she falls into a trance-like state and is drawn by an uncontrollable force to a plantation sunk in the steamy, fetid swamps outside New Orleans. Jack has no choice but to do as the perfume orders, following Alyssa into a nightmare world complete with powerful Voodoo curses and itchy-fingered Brethren gunmen. While chasing Alyssa down, Jack calls Dox, who warns him not to get into any trouble until night falls and he can become Shadowman. But it’s too late for that now and an entirely human and vulnerable Jack Boniface must face his darkest hour alone, before dragging Alyssa into the Deadside where Shadowman and his stricken friend are forced to confront and conquer their greatest fear—the dark, turbulent seas of their mysterious, unresolved past.
Delilah S. Dawson’s Follow Me Boy is another harrowing installment inspired by the acclaimed Shadowman series.
In Boo! #3 from Monkeybrain Comics.
Illustrated by Nathan Massengill.
When does obsession veer into the horrific? You'll never look at carousels the same way again.
In Ministry Protocol: Thrilling Tales of the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences
From the Creators of the award-winning steampunk Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series ( Phoenix Rising and the Janus Affair) comes a collection of new adventures from around the world.
The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences investigates the bizarre and unusual, and protects the citizens of the Empire from forces of darkness. Every agent knows that thrusting themselves into danger is part of the job, and may demand of them the ultimate sacrifice. They call on their own inner strength, wits, intellect, and innovations of science and technology.
But is it enough to face the unknown and the unexplainable?
This is Ministry Protocol: Thrilling Tales of the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences, a collection of short stories featuring the derring-do of secret agents cut from a different cloth. These original short stories feature the imagination and voices of…
Leanna Rennee Hieber
The League of S.T.E.A.M.’s Glenn Freund
Delilah S. Dawson
Jared Axelrod
Tiffany Trent
Karina Cooper
…and many more!
Our Lady of Monsters features a middle-aged Parisian baker who's thrilled to be activated as a Ministry agent after a lifetime of waiting. But is her apelike partner who he really seems? And why are British men leaping to their death from Notre Dame? Pastries + clockworks + murder = Bienvenue to Paris!
No One Suspects the Tailor
a Spring Carnival flash fiction story of the hidden secret of Antonin Scabrous on Paranormal Haven
Ravenna and the Huntsman
a flash fiction Snow White/Wicked as She Wants mashup on Dark Faerie Tales
The Belated Anniversary
a flash fiction story of Lady Letitia the fortuneteller on Little Read Riding Hood
My Bluddy Valentine
a flash fiction story of how Criminy and Lady Letitia celebrate Valentine's Day on Fools for Luv
