Man, it’s hard to believe that summer is almost gone. NOOOO. When I was a kid, many moons ago, there was a song that came out in 1966 by The Happenings called See You In September. Even thought I’m not in school anymore, I always think of that song this time of year. If you’ve never heard it, check it out on YouTube. I just love the old songs. 😍❤️
ATOMICA – BETWEEN SEA AND SKY, is a compelling saga of love, duty, and sacrifice set against the stunning backdrop of a lush tropical island— where the line between hero and villain blurs in the shadows of a forgotten world.
Atomica – Between Sea and Sky
Atomica Book 1
by Heather McKenzie
Genre: YA SciFi Fantasy Romance
“Never judge based on appearances. Sometimes the most unassuming can be the deadliest.”
A compelling saga of love, duty, and sacrifice set against the stunning backdrop of a lush tropical island—where the line between hero and villain blurs in the shadows of a forgotten world…
In a land ravaged by ancient vendettas, nineteen-year-old Eva has vowed to protect Zoleya, a petite, blue-eyed girl with a powerful gift. But when a catastrophic shipwreck strands her on a mysterious tropical island and Zoleya disappears, Eva is forced to abandon her duty and form alliances with a group of castaways to survive. While facing the island’s perils and a corrupt band of Raiders intent on her capture, Eva fights to reclaim her title as Zoleya’s Guardian.
Kade Thorn, a hunter programmed to seek and destroy all remnants of forbidden technology, battles his opposing impulses. Bound by ancient markings etched into his skin that incite violence, he finds himself torn between blindly obeying his directive or pursuing a powerful attraction to Eva, knowing either choice will get him killed.
Forced to rely on each other, Eva and Kade seek refuge deep within the island’s jungle and become conflicted about where their loyalties lie. Will they find their way back to their predetermined paths or forge a new destiny together? The fate of Zoleya—the catalyst to either save the world or destroy it—hangs in the balance.
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I am Canadian, born and raised in Alberta on a lovely acreage just outside of Edmonton to musical parents. I began my arts career as a musician, leaving home at the age of fifteen to play in a rock band, then went on to become a singer/songwriter. I wrote songs and told stories with melodies, lucky enough to tour Canada and record four studio albums, as well as work as a studio musician. I spent years singing my heart out. However, when I discovered the limitless creativity of novel writing, I shifted my focus to a literary career. My extraordinary experiences as a musician continue to fuel my writing. I am deeply inspired by art and profoundly humbled by the creativity of others. Creating is a fundamental part of my life, and expressing myself through storytelling is incredibly important to me. I strive to transport readers to different places or provide them with a companion for three hundred pages, impacting them as my favorite writers and artists have impacted me.
I like to write about deeply flawed characters with relatable struggles and how they react in extraordinary circumstances. The Rocky Mountains and the wonders of nature greatly inspire me, and I love to explore the juxtaposition of these settings with urban landscapes. My novels are characterized by action, adventure, lots of romance, and unexpected twists. I like to put my characters in unique settings and fully explore their motivations while drawing heavily on my personal experiences.
I am honored to be represented by Elizabeth Winick Rubinstein of McIntosh and Otis, one of the USA’s longest-running literary agencies, representing remarkable authors such as the late John Steinbeck and Harper Lee. As a ‘hybrid’ author, Elizabeth represents my adult works, while I represent my young adult works. I am determined not to limit myself to one specific genre and hope to follow in the footsteps of authors who have achieved success this way, as I value the artistic freedom it affords.
At present, I have four published novels; Serenade, Nocturne and Rhapsody, all which have achieved bestseller status in digital sales. My newest novel, Atomica: Between Sea and Sky, was just released on August 27, 2024, and is the first book in a new young adult fantasy series.
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In the year 2040, a mysterious creature is unleashed at the world’s biggest music festival…
Pulse
Book One
by B.A. Bellec
Genre: Dystopian SciFi Horror
In the year 2040, a mysterious creature is unleashed at the world’s biggest music festival…
“Bellec’s descriptions are phenomenal, brutal, and heart-stopping. There were parts that made my skin crawl, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away. . . I needed more!”
– Jessica Scurlock, Author of the Pretty Lies Series & Pulse Beta Reader
Pulse is a plot-driven multi-POV dystopian sci-fi horror thriller set in 2040, centered around a corporation, a creature, and a music festival. Think Fyre Festival, Black Mirror, and X-Files combined. The story deals with themes of capitalism, consumerism, business, politics, pandemics, climate change, activism, and technology while bouncing between a diverse group of characters sure to entertain almost anyone. The book is already being praised for its fantastic use of horror, engaging world-building, and genre-bending approach utilizing some screenplay-like formatting. This is the first entry in a new series with the sequel well underway.
B.A. Bellec writes with a unique, modern, minimalistic voice. He is the author of Someone’s Story, his award-winning debut novel called a masterpiece by multiple reviewers. Never afraid of a challenge, Bellec switched genres to bring you this dark vision that simmered in his mind for years.
Awards:
IAN Book of the Year Finalist Horror (Nov 2022)
B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree (Apr 2022)
The Wishing Shelf Adult Fiction Finalist (Apr 2022)
Literary Titan Seal (Jan 2022)
Reader Views Seal (Dec 2021)
Readers’ Favorite Seal (Dec 2021)
**Check out the author’s music on Youtube that is either inspired or tied to his novels!**
Pulse
Book Two
by B.A. Bellec
Genre: Post-Apocalyptic SciFi Horror
The fate of humanity rests in the hands of a few.
Pulse: Book Two is the conclusion of B.A. Bellec’s dystopian sci-fi horror duology. This time around we are tapping into iconic stories like The Stand, Station Eleven, Cloud Atlas, Contact, and The Road to add elite and ambitious scale. Our chaotic journey picks up moments after the first book ends with action from the second you start turning the pages, but if you thought you knew where the story was going, leave your expectations at the door and ask yourself this one question: how would an autonomous droid defeat a monster?
Someone’s Story
by B.A. Bellec
Genre: YA Coming of Age
In his literary debut, B.A. Bellec writes an endearing coming-of-age tale about a group of weirdos that find and save each other from the dark depths of their minds. Someone’s Story is literally Someone’s story, as in a first-person narrative of a teenager that calls himself Someone. As he struggles to find a new footing in a new space, we encounter the many ups and downs of modern teenage life, the difficulties that adjusting to adult feelings brings, and a few tear-jerking surprises along the way.
Littered with music, mental health, friendship, loss, meditation, advice, pop culture, and even inspiring an EP, there is so much nostalgia, inspiration, and depth here it is hard to absorb it all. Cozy up somewhere warm and enjoy!
Awards:
Reader Views Reviewer’s Choice Young Adult Book of the Year (March 2021)
B.R.A.G Medallion Honoree (Apr 2022)
Readers’ Favorite Young Adult Book of the Year Finalist (Sep 2021)
Next Generation Indie Book Awards YA 17+ Finalist (May 2021)
Literary Titan Seal (April 2021)
The Wishing Shelf Red Ribbon (Feb 2021)
Shelf Unbound Notable Indie (Dec 2020)
Readers’ Favorite 5 Star Seal (July 2020)
Bryan “B.A.” Bellec’s debut novel,Someone’s Story, won the Reader Views Reviewer’s Choice Literary Award for Young Adult Book of the Year.Someone’s Story is a coming-of-age novel about teen mental health. One of the aspects that makes Bellec’s projects unique is he includes musicians in his novels and then he actually produces the songs as his book goes through the editing stages. You can find that music on his YouTube channel. His second novel,Pulse , was released in 2021 and has been receiving strong reviews. That novel is a genre flip with dark dystopian sci-fi horror peppering the pages. Pulse is the start of a new fictional universe Bellec will write in for years to come!
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I was sitting at my patio table, being encroached upon by my wildly growing flowers, when I remembered a nursery rhyme rom my childhood. Mary, Mary, quite contrary. How does your garden grow? I vaguely recalled the rest of it, so on to Google I went. And down a rabbit hole I fell. 😂🤣 Below is the modern version of the rhyme:
Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells, and cockle shells,
And pretty maids all in a row.
The oldest known version was first published in Tommy Thumb’s Pretty Song Book (1744) with the lyrics that are shown here:
Mistress Mary, Quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With Silver Bells, And Cockle Shells,
And so my garden grows.
So what does the rhyme actually mean? Well, that depends on who you ask of course. And how they break down each word and usage in the poem. From what I read, it could relate to Mary, the mother of Jesus, or Mary 1 of England, or Mary, Queen of Scots.
If it was written for Mary, Queen of Scots (Bloody Mary) this little ditty could be talking about the execution of Protestants’ under her rule. The “silver Bells” could be referring to torture devices. Yikes.
Then, there’s:
Ring-around the Rosie,
Pocket full of Posies,
Ashes, ashes,
We all fall down.
This is the American version I grew up with. But you know how we slaughter English language in the States. 😁 Here’s another version I found:
Ring-a-ring-a-roses,
A pocket full of posies,
A-tishoo! A-tishoo!
We all fall down.
Supposedly, this rhyme is about the Great Plague or Black Death that took place in England. This is what I knew it to mean. It’s apparently talking about the rash that developed from the Plague, and people carried posies in their pockets to cover the smell of death, and the latter part is just about people dying. Something cheery for kids to sing while dancing in a circle. 😅🤣
However, there are other people who say it’s conspiracy theorists that are attributing a darker element to the rhymes. That a lot of the events don’t match with the original versions of the poems being published and the people who are supposed to be the POV of the rhymes. Who knows? I kinda like the darker vibes, anyway.
Still, whether they have some darker meaning to them, or they are what they appear to be, just light-hearted playtime for children, nursery rhymes are beneficial for preschool development. Did you know that a 4-year old who has remembered at least 8 nursery rhymes will be a better reader and learner? Rhymes help with these developmental stages: Cognitive, Speech, Reading, Language, Creativity, History, Math, Physical, and Social and Emotional.
So, if you’re looking for some modern and fun nursery rhymes to share with your kiddies, with a Scottish flair, I highly recommend A Rhyme in Time by Simon Macdonald. They will put a smile on your children’s faces.
This is a fantastic group of 23 short stories that complement the novel Necrow—in that many of the tales occur in or around the town of Iron Shores! If you enjoy a short read—there’s 23 here for you to take in. Grab an Atomic Fireball and settle in for a read!
The town of Iron Shores lies hidden along the James River in the forgotten forests of northern Virginia.
In a place where inanimate objects come to life, where the past crosses with the present, and where things are not what they seem.
As the townsfolk stretch their fingers toward you with their twisted stories, only you can agree if they deserve to survive or suffer a horrible fate.
The world of Iron Shores is secret but will not be contained. Any of these nightmares could break free from the pages and come for you!
Are you ready?
Sink your teeth into six short stories about vampires, werewolves, goblins, and humans as they live and work together to keep the peace in Texas.
A woman follows a handsome man out of a nightclub, and her world changes forever.
The past gets in the way of a vampire who just wants to party with friends.
Galveston’s newest police detective meets residents who’ve lived on the island far too long.
A conversation not meant for humans changes a woman’s life. If only she could remember it.
Sometimes everybody’s bad day really is your fault.
A woman’s stuck in a house with a handsome man who ignores her and something else paying too much attention to her.
A rookie werewolf hunter who goes by the name ‘Hangman’ has just received his first solo mission to investigate a gruesome murder at a run-down motel. What seems like an open and shut case quickly turns into something far more sinister as he explores the sleepy little town. Guarded memories and emotions long discarded resurface as he befriends the quirky residents in his search for the culprit. The revelations that follow lead to a barrage of betrayals, false leads, and corpses, culminating in a bloody conflict against the monster. During the epic confrontation, he will be forced to make a choice, one that could very well determine the future of the entire world.
The Hangman’s Belief is a gory, action-packed mystery\thriller with a healthy splash of dark humor from debut author Christopher Harvard that will keep you on the edge of your seat the entire way through.
Baby-daddy drama goes to Hell
Air & Darkness
The Dae Diaries Book 2
by AK Nevermore
Genre: Urban Fantasy Romance
After nine months of relative peace and now fully dae, Envy is four days past her due date and beyond ready for the damned kid to move out and get a job.
But when the warden for the wild hunt shows up with an offer she can’t refuse—well, not without plunging the planet into chaos—her impending motherhood takes a back seat.
Then incriminating photos surface, throwing her baby daddy’s fidelity into question. In the midst of the ensuing drama, he disappears, forcing Envy to make a choice. Will she stand by him, or cozy back up to the man who held her heart way back in Biblical times?
Get ready, because when the truth comes out, even Hell will feel the fury of a goddess scorned.
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Flame & Shadow
The Dae Diaries Book 1
Half-daemon Envy Starr is destined to die on Midsummer’s Eve, still a virgin, on some crappy cult’s live-stream feed. With thirty days left to live, the chance to escape her fate and get some action compels her into her absentee father’s world of beautifully cultured cruelty.
Once there, she’s the object of a deadly game, slated to alter the Fae realm’s power structure. Worse, the rules keep changing, and everyone has an ulterior motive, including her dae-licious guide, Brennan. Under a geas he’s desperate to break, she can’t trust him, or herself.
Stupid Stockholm syndrome.
But unless she can come to terms with what lies in her heart, her unlikely survival will be a fate worse than death. For her, and the rest of Fae.
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AK Nevermore enjoys operating heavy machinery, freebases coffee, and gives up sarcasm for Lent every year. A Jane-of-all-trades, she’s a certified chef, restores antiques, and dabbles in beekeeping when she’s not reading voraciously or running down the dream in her beat-up camo Chucks.
Unable to ignore the voices in her head, and unwilling to become medicated, she writes Science Fiction and Fantasy full time.
She pays the bills editing, wielding a wicked hot pink pen and writing a column on SFF. She also belongs to the Authors Guild, is a chapter treasurer for the RWA, teaches creative writing, and on the rare occasion, sleeps.
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Sirens and Succubi and Cops…oh my.
Mistress of the Second Circle
Cursed Sands Book 1
by B.C. James
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Supernatural Thriller
Sirens and Succubi and Cops…oh my.
A Tinder date goes disastrously wrong, ending with a middle-aged man gruesomely murdered and mysteriously mummified in a seedy motel. This baffling case lands in the lap of Detective Kace McCrae, unaware that this crime is just the opening salvo in a demonic civil war.
Satan has vanished, leaving his throne empty and the demonic factions on the brink of war for control of Hell. The key to victory? An ancient ring that grants its bearer dominion over demons, now in the possession of former Marine and Las Vegas Police detective Kace McCrae.
As the battle for Hell’s crown intensifies, Kace finds himself at the heart of a supernatural conflict he never asked for. With the fate of the underworld hanging in the balance, he must navigate treacherous alliances and fend off relentless adversaries.
Mistress of the Second Circle is the thrilling follow-up to Cursed Sands, continuing the saga of Detective Kace McCrae and his near-accidental war with the demonic realm. Brace yourself for a ride through the depths of darkness where every choice could mean life or eternal damnation.
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Brian James grew up just out of bullet range of Detroit. He was raised on the work of Douglas Adams and Snorri Sturluson. Eventually he went on to college where he majored in history. A degree which now hangs in his bathroom. While he never realized his dream to become a heavier version of Indiana Jones, he did wind up writing for a number of magazines, newspapers, websites, and Fortune 500 companies. When not writing Brian enjoys autumn sunsets, long walks on the beach, the eventual conquest of Ohio by the Kalamazoo Jaycees, and wearing a top hat while playing old school Guitar Hero!
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Ravaged and reborn.
My life shattered when I was viciously attacked, left for dead.
The creature that attacked me extinguished my mortal flame and became the key to my twisted immortality as a cursed shifter.
Caught up in the Shifters’ prophecy foretelling an impending war, I join them to seek the guidance of the Oracle.
But along the way, I succumb to my weaknesses and betray them.
Emerging from the shadows of the prison where they abandoned me, my savior appeared.
With a heart now encompassed in darkness, he attempted to mend my shattered soul.
Our romance could redeem me or damn us both for eternity.
