Marketing...argh!

This is a pamphlet for local distribution...what do you think?

Must keep plugging........

Review Of Vampires, Zombies and GHOSTS, oh, My!

VAMPIRES, Zombies and GHOSTS, Oh My!
(and Other Creatures of the Night STORIES) – Anthology Edited by Eve Paludon

Published by http://notreebooks.com/

Recently I have rediscovered the short story after a long hiatus. Generally I prefer a lengthy read, but I find the punchiness of a tale told in a few pages to have huge impact, particularly so when each is kind of off-the-wall, from the dark dungeons of the imagination.

Halloween is over for another year! All ghouls have receded into the woodwork of deadness...or have they? Vampires and zombies, ghosts and other creatures that go bump in the night don't give a whit for one night in a few hundred, oh NO! You may pack away your crazy costume, but you may not ignore a really good read.

From Heidi Mannan’s intriguing tale of a vampire trapped in weakness through JR Rain’s short but potent finale (wonderful imagery), you will be captured.

My favourite is The Bone Flute Maker by Carol J La Valley, a tale of humanity and its delusion after an alien race is rescued to become like gods. Her weaving of music throughout is quite brilliant.

And I simply must mention Eve’s tale, the lady with an imagination who put this anthology together. Pandora’s Boxes is a sweet story of love lost and two women who are receptive enough to deal with ghosts...and Pandora’s actual boxes sound like the kind of thing this reader would love to own!

Here are 16 tales bound to get your attention: an adrenaline rush, a sigh and a gasp, even a smile. To tell you of every tale will make for a too lengthy review, and I’d rather that you discover them yourself. If you enjoy a quick burst of strangeness, this is definitely for you.

Available for purchase on Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/27972

Elaina J Davidson
November 2010

The Willows' Song

There is a place I pass on my way home every day, but, for whatever reason- no place to pull over, I am not the one driving- I have never stopped...until the other day. This place is nothing special in the grand design of nature and yet I find myself preparing to really look every time I approach, and do. I wish I had followed an initial instinct to begin a photographic record- to capture the moods and seasons day by day...ah, well.
I stopped because of floodwaters and snapped one single photo. Being too close, I only managed to capture a tiny section. Allow me to describe it to you. Image a terraced fold between two hills, the kind of place protected from the elements where sheep and goats sometimes graze, shaded in spring and summer by massive willow trees. When the waters come a gurgling stream meanders in the folds to overflow into the gully alongside the road as a lovely little waterfall. In winter it is wild, the trees bare...and so green it defies an artist’s pallet. As I said, nothing special in the grand design, a small nook between hills...and it calls to me.
The act of looking and knowing, however, is what makes it special. Those few sweet moments as I pass by inspire me. Perhaps I’ll stop another day and sit under the willow trees and be one with placid sheep and playful goats. Perhaps it is the call that counts and I’ll keep driving...and round the next bend with a smile.

First Four

Covers for the first four Tales from the Path of Shades. They may change again, but meanwhile I had fun playing with them!

I'm busy updating....

Have been very busy with edits (and therefore a bit M.I.A. for a while!). Busy with the updates to reflect said edits:

New Pages
Shuffling current pages
New book covers
New titles
New prologues...

My internet connection is scratchy and it will take a while (days) to organise the changes. The Gathering of Rain and House of Valla pages are updated so far...

Darkroom's Book Cover from Wild Wolf Publishing

Pretty cool, isn't it, when it happens?

Dreamtime

I find the legends passed word of mouth by the Aborigines of Australia absolutely fascinating. The concept 'dreamtime' alone is enough to send this writer into raptures.

Review of DARKROOM by Poppet

DARKROOM by Poppet

An edgy, erotic thriller/horror with supernatural undertones suitable for adult readers

Coming soon from Wild Wolf Publishing http://www.wildwolfpublishing.com/

ISBN: 978-1-907954-02-3

‘You think beauty gives you rite of passage. Charm, a reason to take. Sex, a reason to lay waste, like a vampire.’ The angel Vengeance has spoken and we are terrified.

Shauna is stolen from her life and held in a darkroom, both figuratively and literally, trapped by a manic creature who believes he is an angel called Vengeance. Clad in leather armour, he captures her humiliation in digital and Polaroid snaps, the whirr of the shutter heightening Shauna’s terror. He must expunge her of sinful ways; train her to become the perfect vessel. This is a darkroom of fanaticism, a tribute to the fire and brimstone of the Old Testament, the kind that doesn’t allow light and reason. Shauna is subsequently trapped in dark room of fear very difficult to escape from...until she meets Victor, who swiftly takes on the guise of saviour.

Poppet delves into the psyche of a madman as well as his victim’s absolute fear with rare insight. The result is highly believable, this despite what is an extraordinary situation. Most of us haven’t experienced anything like to the events in this book and yet the reading takes us into a dark room with an immediacy that is almost visceral. Her descriptions are fresh and also create images like to a digital snap in time: Petrified like wood, frozen like a bug captured in amber...

DARKROOM is an apt title; intuitive and fitting references to photography are used to effect throughout and further the analogy. Because it is written in first person, the reader is immediately there, part of an intricate plot, and feels along with Shauna, Victor and Vengeance. Quotes from the Old Testament are simply hair-raising, employed as they are to underscore Vengeance’s behaviour. The narrative therefore has both a biblical feel and is gut-wrenchingly present.

On a lighter note: as a South African now living abroad, I find Shauna’s ‘interrogation’ by two South African policemen, who are clearly not comfortable with the English language, quite the farce...and highly amusing. ‘You is a loner with no alibi...do you have childhood issues with mans...?’ and more; I’m smiling as I write this, can’t help it...

I have to admit DARKROOM took me outside of my comfort zone...and I enjoyed the ride! This is a book very hard to put down; every chapter takes the reader further in. Be warned: you will feel the need to read it start to finish...perhaps you won’t even break for a cup of coffee...

DARKROOM grabs you by the gut and yanks you into a netherworld of emotion and reaction.
Let me leave you with this: ‘She is no longer the sinner, I am.’ Is this Vengeance?

Grab a copy!

Review by Elaina J Davidson
September 2010

ART for our WRITING world

I'm fortunate to know really amazing artists and every time I see their work, not only am I blown away by talent and colour and fantastic works, but also see it gracing book covers. The writer in me ever has a gleam in her eye when she sees images like to the ones on display here!

These are a small selection of a really good friend's work. Everything Shaune paints has absolute atmosphere and I'm sure you can SEE it on a book cover...go on, close your eyes and SEE it!

Here's the link for Shaune's blog: stop by and browse more of her work. Details to contact her for contracting for art for your book can be found there, or pop me an email quoting the title of this post. http://shaunesartgallery.blogspot.com

We paint with words...but, boy, sometimes art really is worth a thousand words and more!

From me to you

You know how it is. You have this to do and that to remember...and somehow you overlook something really important. To say thank you.

So this is for you: THANK YOU.

Thank you for stopping by to read. Thank you for all the great comments on my Facebook page (and support!). Thank you to those who have read my work and offered invaluable advice. Thank you to every reader on Authonomy that supported me and left wonderful comments. And thank you to everyone I am again overlooking because this saturated brain of mine can't remember!

Without you, none of this would feel quite the same. Smile, you know who you are!

Another favourite from Robert Frost

I have wished a bird would fly away,
And not sing by my house all day;

Have clapped my hands at him from the door
When it seemed as if I could bear no more.

The fault must partly have been in me.
The bird was not to blame for his key.

And of course there must be something wrong
In wanting to silence any song.

(this one always gets to me...cannot understand how anyone cannot appreciate this kind of beauty)

Amazing!

Four days of enforced NO INTERNET and it was amazing! Now, I always say I'd just die without a connection to the world out there, but I must tell you I suddenly had so much time on hand. Spent days writing without interruption, LOVED it!

And now, back on air...and quite happy, too. Quite the conundrum, isn't it?