PARALLELS IS HERE!

TODAY IS BOOK RELEASE DAY!

But first
Winners of the Parallels
A to Z Drawing are:

Won via L. G. Keltner's posts - Nilanjana  @ Madly-in-Verse

Won via Yolanda Renée's posts - Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor

Won via Sandra Cox's posts -    J. Lenni @ J Lenni Dorner Blog

Won via Crystal Collier's posts – Michelle @ Writer in Transit

Won via Melanie Schulz's posts – Gina @ Life & Being Lost

Won via Tamara Narayan's posts – Bish @ Random Thoughts

Won via Cherie Reich's posts - Kathleen @ Kathleen's Blog

Won via Sylvia Ney's posts - Lynn @ Lynn Proctor

Won via Hart Johnson's posts – Heather @ HMGardner

Won via Michael Abayomi's posts - Michele @AnAnimalChaplain

PARALLELS: FELIX WAS HERE!

Enter the realm of parallel universes!

What if the government tried to create the perfect utopia? Could a society linked to a supercomputer survive on its own? Do our reflections control secret lives on the other side of the mirror? Can one moment split a person’s world forever?

Exploring the fantastic, ten authors offer incredible visions and captivating tales of diverse reality. Featuring the talents of L.G. Keltner, Crystal Collier, Hart Johnson, Cherie Reich, Sandra Cox, Yolanda Renée, Melanie Schulz, Sylvia Ney, Michael Abayomi, and Tamara Narayan.

Hand-picked by a panel of agents and authors, these ten tales will expand your imagination and twist the tropes of science fiction. Step through the portal and enter another dimension!

Print

Amazon

 Barnes & Noble

Ebook

ITunes

Amazon

 Barnes & Noble

 Kobo

 Goodreads

Release date: May 3, 2016

$14.95 USA, 6x9 Trade paperback, 218 pages, Freedom Fox Press

Science Fiction/General ( FIC028000) and Fiction/Alternative History (FIC040000)

Print ISBN 978-1-939844-19-4 eBook ISBN 978-1-939844-20-0

Order through Ingram, Follett Library Resources, or from the publisher

$4.99 EBook available in all formats

“Pensive and manifold views into parallel earth not without a glimmer of hope.”

- Edi’s Book Lighthouse

Founded by author Alex J. Cavanaugh, the Insecure Writer’s Support Group offers support for writers and authors alike. It provides an online database, articles and tips, a monthly blog posting, two Facebook groups, and a monthly newsletter.

 

Freedom Fox PressA division of Dancing Lemur Press, L.L.C.

P.O. Box 383, Pikeville, NC 27863-0383

inquiries@dancinglemurpressllc.com

www.dancinglemurpress.comwww.dancinglemurpress.com

Z=Zenith

Here we are at the end of the A to Z Challenge.  We started this month with the hope of launching the IWSG anthology Parallels: Felix Was Here into the stratosphere, and only time will tell if we succeeded.  Who knows where the anthology will be when it reaches its zenith?  We, the ten authors who’ve contributed to this book, can only hope that those who do read it find an enjoyable and thought provoking experience within its pages.

Dive into worlds where memories may be sacrificed for the sake of utopia, where drug trials are unregulated, where cures for diseases may bring about even worse consequences, and people are sorted into groups, inevitably leaving a few who don’t fit nicely within any one box to fend for themselves.  Experience the horrors of looking into the eyes of a serial killer every day and exploring the memories of the dead.  See a society where all but a few people are interconnected by a worldwide network, or another where the internet can be explored through a virtual reality interface.  Experience the magic of creatures folded from paper coming to life and the unsettling feeling of being haunted by that which never was.

There’s a wide variety of stories to read, and odds are that you’ll find something that will entice and intrigue you.

The release date is fast approaching!  May 3^rd is just around the corner.  It's this coming Tuesday, in fact!  Are you excited?  I know we are!

Don’t forget!

Every comment gives you a chance to win one of ten copies of Parallels: Felix Was Here!

Y is for . . .

Image Source: Wikipedia. Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, The Heavy Basket, 1892. From the Thirty-six Ghosts series. 9.25" x 14.25". The print depicts a number of monsters attacking an old woman. 

Yūrei, or figures in Japanese folklore analogous to Western ghosts. After death, the soul, or reikon, leaves the body and enters purgatory while the proper funeral rites are observed. If all goes well, the reikon becomes a protector of the living and returns each August to receive thanks at the Obon Festival.

If the person dies in a sudden or violent way such as murder or suicide, the reikon can transform into a yūrei, which will return to the physical world. (Wikipedia)

Successful horror films based on yūrei include Ju-On (The Grudge), Ringu (The Ring), Pulse, and Dark Water.

I’ve only seen The Ring. How about you?

X is for . . .

X-Files! This is one of the most successful speculative fiction, or science fiction, TV and movie franchises ever.

The X-Files debuted on September 10, 1993 and would run for nine seasons, spawn two major motion pictures, and make a comeback to television in 2016 with a six-episode season.

Created by Chris Carter, the show starred David Duchovny as true believer Agent Fox Mulder, a man haunted by the abduction of his sister under extremely odd circumstances. He’s relegated to the bowels of the FBI, investigating cases involving paranormal phenomena.

But Mulder’s plain brilliant, so the powers that be send in no-nonsense, skeptic and M.D. holding, Dana Scully, played by Gillian Anderson, to debunk Mulder’s nonsense and get him back to “real” cases.

Despite being quite attractive, the pair somehow manages to make it through several seasons before becoming romantically involved. Good thing because love between a show's stars can destroy a series quicker than an alien ray gun. (Anyone remember Moonlighting?)

The X-Files kept audiences coming back for more with a continuing conspiracy involving an alien takeover of Earth and the evil Smoking Man in addition to stand-alone Monster-of-the-Week episodes.

One such episode, Season Four’s Home, was so disturbing that the FOX Network did not rerun it. Ever.

Are you an X-Files fan? Have a favorite Monster-of-the-Week Episode?

If you'd like to learn about the science behind The X-Files, please visit my other blog: www.tamaranarayan.com.

W = War

War has served as a major plot device in several works of alternative history. As the catalyst behind the branch into alternative timelines in many of those works, it has driven some of our most interesting takes on our past, present and future

Ground Zero is set roughly 30 years after a Third World War. In it the Cold War between the US and USSR had escalated into a brief but deadly exchange of nuclear firearms. The soviet nation was all but obliterated as a result, while the city of New York was destroyed by a salted bomb that also transformed much of the American east coast into an irradiated wasteland.

The story explores the aftermath of the war, and how it had shaped the lives of the survivors living just outside Ground Zero. Theirs is a world that must be explored through the safety of hazmat suits, but it is ultimately one that is quite familiar, although hauntingly so.

Ground Zero is just one of the 10 stories featured in the IWSG Anthology, and I sincerely hope you enjoy reading them all, when the anthology launches next week.

V = Victory

Victories should be included in every tale. Don't get me wrong, I'm not implying you must have a happy ending, but if the main character never succeeds at anything, never accomplishes anything, then the story will become stale and fall flat.

Sometimes victory comes at great cost. These victories are a great way to add tension to your story.

In "WIN", my main character sees first hand what victories can accomplish, and cost, people.

All ten tales in our anthology show great examples of victories, some of them small ones, some of them larger, and some of them still being struggled towards.

What are some of your favorite examples of victory in stories?

U is for Unknown

U is for Unknown

Hello everyone, Mel here.

In Speculative Fiction, as with most genres, the unknown is the driving force of the story. It is the most effective weapon in the writer’s arsenal. If used rightly, the reader is left with no choice but to turn pages at a frantic pace until, finally, they get to that last page when all mysteries are solved, all questions answered, all unknowns known— unless, of course, there’s a sequel.  J

My contribution to this work, Haunted, uses this tool more than any other story I’ve written. The mystery remains until the last line of the last page.  Sorry, no spoilers here—I want you to enjoy the unknown.