4/11/22
Here’s the setup: Fifteen-year-old Jacob Kelly would love to go back to simpler times. Before his parents’ divorce and the onset of his older brother’s schizophrenia. But when he returns to his hometown, things feel off. After a series of strange occurrences in his new house, Jacob fears the house is haunted, or even worse, he is losing his mind.
And now for the excerpt from The Stars Forgot Us, Chapter 2:
THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT
“My eyes snapped open as three words surfaced in my sleepy brain. You’re not alone. A cold settled into my flesh, making the fine hairs on my arm stand up. I sat up in bed, sucking in a deep breath, and stared into the darkness, unsure what had woken me. My lights were off. It was pitch black. Then the distinct pitter-patter of footsteps sounded down the hall.
“Mom?” When I got no answer, I jumped out of bed and scrambled for the light switch. The overhead fluorescent light blinked on, and I immediately noticed the closet door was partway opened again. I was sure I’d closed it this time, so I started off with slow, measured steps to investigate. I yanked the door open the rest of the way and hit the closet light. I scoured the walls to discover more writing. The single word, HELP, was written in the same marker on the wall. My pulse skyrocketed. It freaked me out.
I crept over to the bed and grabbed the blanket, swinging it around my shoulders like a cape, settling down on the drafty hardwood floor. With a shiver of anticipation, I kept my eyes pinned to the door, straining to hear the slightest noise. It was eerily quiet. Even the wind had died down.
Unexpectedly, I heard a girl’s voice, so soft it was hardly audible, as it drifted up from the floor. It was only the word, “I’m.”
I scooted over to the vent and whispered, “Um…hello?” There was no reply. It could have been a ringing or humming in my ear. Yeah, I’d only imagined it was a voice. Yet, I hadn’t imagined the writing on the wall. I mean, what the hell? I got up and decided to have a look around. If someone was in the house, I had to know. I exited my room and began my search.
I stood face to face with a long and quiet hallway—doors on the left and right.”
I hope you check out The Stars Forgot Us!
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In case you missed it this happened! The Stars Forgot Us now has a cover! Preorder now! Amazon
2/5/2022
My new book, The Stars Forgot Us, is now available for preorder on Amazon !!
Early readers say, “With mounting suspense, The Stars Forgot was a page-turner. A contemporary suspense novel at the start, which brilliantly fans out into the paranormal and even horror.” “The Stars Forgot Us is bone-chillingly beautiful! It delivered an emotional and unexpected punch, ” and “a thrilling and addictive novel.”
1/15/2022
The Stars Forgot is on Goodreads! And will have a cover February 22!
Sometimes missing chlidren become the night.
Fifteen-year-old Jacob Kelly would love to go back to simpler times. Before his parents’ divorce and the onset of his older brother’s Schizophrenia. But when he returns to his hometown, things feel off. After a series of strange occurrences in his new house, Jacob fears the house is haunted, or even worse, he is losing his mind.
To his surprise, Jacob discovers a mysterious teenage runaway, Sanctuary Daniels, living in the house. She reveals she has been kept by a figure known only as Mother, in a place where downstairs children are languishing prisoners, and upstairs children do Mother’s bidding.
Jacob’s investigation into Sanctuary’s allegations, along with their budding romance, are cut short when she is reclaimed by evil beings. Beings who unleash terror upon Jacob and his family. Now he must journey to a real haunted house to save his first love and fight for his life.
6/4/20
I’m reminded of a line from my first book, Nocturnal Meetings, “You know the world can hold the weight of all things, but notice it is trembling.”
It has to stop.
4/7/20
I loved participating in the YA Scavenger hunt! To Check out my post at the bestselling author of Dorothy Must Die, Danielle Paige’s website, PLEASE Click Here
The winners for the have been announced! Congratulations Megan
3/30/20
YA Scavenger Hunt
During this difficult time, I’m happy to tell you about the YA Scavenger Hunt. This is a bi-annual event organized by author Colleen Houck. I’m elated to be participating for the first time! This provides readers with an opportunity to gain bonus material from their favorite authors while learning about new and emerging authors too. It also gives you the chance to win some awesome prizes.
On this hunt, you also collect and add up the secret numbers to enter–one lucky winner will receive one book from each author on the hunt in my team! But play fast: this contest (and all the exclusive bonus material) will only be online for 120 hours!
Entry Form: Once you’ve added up all the numbers, make sure you fill out the form here to officially qualify for the grand prize. Only entries that have the correct number qualify to win.
Rules: Opens internationally on March 31st to anyone below the age of 18 should have a parent or guardian’s permission to enter. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit the completed entry form by APRIL 5th, at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct number or contact information will not be considered.
Make sure you don’t forget to enter the contest for a chance to win so many books! This is the perfect time to read them:
Yes, I’m fangirling a little!! Check out all the great books on the Red Team!
To enter, you need to know that my favorite number is 5. Add up all the favorite numbers of the authors on the red team and you’ll have all the secret code to enter for the grand prize!
To CONTINUE YOUR HUNT:
Go To http://madelinedyer.co.uk/category/blog/
There’s even more. I am excited to be hosting bestselling author Kristin Jacques!
Kristin Jacques writes primarily speculative fiction, dabbling with dark adventures, monsters, mayhem, and the occasional sarcastic zombie.
When not at her computer spinning tales she is generally herding cats or snuggling with her gremlins.
Marrow Charm (Gate Cycle #1)
Character Perspective: Oswin Brixby
Ochre dust stained the tips of his fingers as he worked, a vibrant splash of color against his dark skin and the worn stone table top. Always working, must always keep one’s hands busy as one’s mind churned. That is what the alchemical master taught him, along with all the secret names of long forgotten herbs, their potency, and their uses. He paused. How had he gotten here? Where was here?
Brixby looked up, his gaze roving the familiar layout of his workshop in the deep recesses of the Heap, a tallow lamp providing him a shallow illumination against the ever creeping night. Light was a habit he no longer needed for his work, memorizing the texture and scent of each ingredient he used. He could tell the differences between various crushed herbs by how coarse or fine the powder. A necessary skill born of a life underground. Still, he kept the tallow burning for his sleeping wards above. A smile played on his lips as he worked, wondering when Azzy would wander down to see him…
It wasn’t a sound or a scent that alerted him. She gave off no odor, and she sat in stillness, unmoving as the dead.
Which she was.
“Lia,” he whispered and the name felt like sacrilege on his lips. He knew then this was a dream, before he turned his gaze to look at her, because only a dream would torment him so. The mother of his wards, his oldest and dearest friend. She sat, pretty as a nightmare, her skin cracked, glowing from the fire within, her red hair burnt to gray ash. She tapped her blackened fingertips on the worn stone table, at contrast with his own. When she spoke, he could hear the crackle of flame in her words.
2/25/2020
Welcome to this leg of the Filles Vertes Publishing MASKS blog hop!
If you somehow landed on this page and haven’t heard about the blog hop, click: here
If you haven’t already, add MASKS to your Goodreads: TBR
Also, pre-orders are available at FVPub.com, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, or your favorite bookseller:
FVP
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Book Depository
Enjoy glimpses of intriguing stories awaiting you in MASKS.
My story, The Axeman Among Us is inspired by true events: In 1918, two young teen boys encounter the deadliest serial killer of their time, The Axeman of New Orleans. Fearing he will return to kill them; the boys implore the service of a voodoo priestess.
The cries dwindled to nothing by the time we set foot on the Romano’s yard. Then I saw something: someone exiting from the Romano’s back door. My heart pounded furiously as I better contemplated the figure dressed in dark clothes, wearing a slouch hat and clenching an axe. Heat spread across my chest and Mikey’s mouth fell open like a trap door. We froze like two idiot deer in the path of an oncoming locomotive. Mikey muttered a “What the…?” I wanted to run but still stood there. The man drew closer; the bloody axe gleamed in the moonlight, and a chill ran down my spine. I shuddered but remained rooted in my spot.
The man dropped the axe to the ground and lifted his index finger to his mouth, and I swear a smile flitted across his lips. We watched as he ran away, jumping a white picket fence in a seamless bound.
“What just happened, Vincent?” Mikey shakily asked.
“I think he killed them,” I replied. The rapid beating of my heart hurt my chest. “He got away.” For a second, I thought we should have chased after him.
“Did you see? Oh, God. He had an axe.”
Both our eyes shot down to the bloody weapon on the lawn, which had nauseating hairs and pulpy matter along its edge. “Of course, he had an axe. He’s the fucking Axeman.”
I hope you check it out <Because> (keyword) truth is stranger than fiction.
Now hop to the Next Blog
The Lovely Awful Thing
2/21/20
I thought I’d post about depression in case someone who stumbles on it needs to hear it.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer once revealed a great truth. The truth is the hardest thing to do in this world is to live in it. Buffy had to battle vampires, demons and prevent apocalypse on a regular basis. What almost destroyed Buffy was depression.
What is depression? It can be a lack of serotonin to the brain, which can now be treated with an antidepressant and that’s okay. It can be situational, including but not limited to regular teenage angst, like a break-up or the feeling you don’t belong.
Years ago, I even wrote a poem about my depression:
THE LOVELY AWFUL THING
AT FIRST, I FOUND IT MOST ATTRACTIVE, LIKE A FAMILY PET.
IT UNDERSTOOD ME
AND LICKED MY WOUNDS
WITH ACID SPIT.
MY MOM ONLY SAID,
“YOU’RE LOOKING TOO THIN LATELY.
EAT YOUR PEAS.”
THE LOVELY AWFUL THING TOLD ME
NOT TO TELL A SOUL AND WHISPERED, “YOU’RE USELESS AND ALONE.”
BUT ONE DAY I DECIDED
TO SEND THE LOVELY, AWFUL THING AWAY.
I GATHERED AND COLLECTED
ALL THE WORDS AND GARBAGE IT GAVE
AND DECIDED TO JUNK THEM.
Depression doesn’t have a type. It can happen to you if you’re pretty, young or old. Although there is no blood test to diagnose depression, it attacks us from within like a disease. It can be fatal. There are well-established symptoms. If you’re depressed, you know you’re depressed. Tell someone. You won’t want to, but make yourself. You’re worth it.
“Everything will be okay in the end.
If it’s not okay, it’s not the end.”
Wallflowers
2/18/2020
She moved with the ease of a person who knew their place in the world. She joined all the clubs. She even started a few new clubs. Almost everybody liked her. Okay, that girl is cool, too, but she’s definitely not a wallflower.
What is a wallflower? A wallflower can be male or female. They are thinkers and have a lot more figured out than many of their peers. They don’t have the confidence to announce it over the PA system. They stay back and prefer to blend in. They only have one photo in the yearbook. They aren’t big on social media but might have an interesting, anonymous blog. A wallflower is a type of loner but may have one, or two close friends. They are never the bullies and are even interesting if you take the time to get to know them. They possess the trait of being good listeners which is very rare among the masses of high school kids.
If you are a wallflower you probably write poetry, or maybe haikus, hardly anyone ever reads. He might be the boy who sits in the back of the room in your visual art class and never says a word and wears the same hoody every day. He doesn’t really do anything to his hair, but it remains perfectly tousled. She may be the girl with the shy smile, you pass in the hall. For Charlie Brown, she was the little red-headed girl. The conception of a wallflower has a little mystery, angst, and allure to it. Do you know a wallflower? Are you a wallflower?
11/5/2019
Dear blog and blog readers, The Call of Death is now available! I am so nervous and happy that people are going to finally read my little story. I woke up to see the orange banner, which as a writer from a small press is a really cool thing!
9/20/2019
Thought I'd post all bookish news on my blog. I'm so excited that The Call of Death has a cover!
Author of YA suspense 