Scared to Death: New anthology for young readers offers spine-tingling stories of ghosts, vampires, zombies – and more!

 

Shortly after I had a couple of books accepted by PsychoToxin Press, I was brought onboard as Marketing Manager. Then I was invited to submit a short story for an anthology the then YA Editor, Brandon Wills, was putting together for the YA imprint. I was thrilled because I actually had a short story to submit.

 

What was even better is that this particular anthology was a tribute to R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps™ series! I am a huge fan of the series – yes, even as an adult! I just love reading spooky stories meant for all ages. Also, the story I had to submit was inspired by the Goosebumps™ books! (No book in particular; I just got the idea for the story after spending days reading several of the books.) I submitted my short story, “My New (Dead) Best Friend,” and it was accepted. Yay!

 

Then, sometime later, I was informed that Brandon resigned. I was asked if I would take his post as YA Editor and I said yes. (Later, I resigned from my post as Marketing Manager, because it was not possible to juggle the two roles very effectively.) Now I read both YA and middle grade (MG) submissions for PsychoToxin Press.

 

So now not only was I in the anthology (as Dawn Colclasure), but now I was co-editor for it (as Dawn Wilson).

 

Brandon had already edited my story, and thankfully, he took some time to go over my revised story after I revised it per his suggestions. He also worked with me on ideas for a cover for the book. Both he and PsychoToxin founder, Christopher Pelton, helped out to make sure everything was provided so that we could work as a team in getting this anthology filled and edited. Once edits were complete, I sent the stories to each contributor for approval. Some of them requested changes and additions and these were done. Once I had final approval on all stories, it was time to work on the cover!

 

I worked with the cover designer Ruth Anna Evans and she came up with something so amazing that I was super excited to buy copies of this book in the near future just so I could show off such awesomeness.

 

Then I sent the files to Cat Voleur, who was in charge of formatting everything for publication. Cat was up late working on it and emails, as well as messages on Twitter, were sent back and forth. Finally, the formatting work was done. I’m so grateful to Cat for her hard work and time spent on it!

 

The book, Scared to Death, was scheduled for a March 7 release but, unfortunately, there were delays. Today, however, the book is now available! Woo-hoo!

 

Thank you, Christopher Pelton, for entrusting me with this book. Thank you, Brandon Wills, for creating this project and helping me out after stepping down as YA Editor. Thank you, Ruth Anna Evans, for an awesome cover. And thank you, Cat Voleur, for the time you spent on the formatting! It was a pleasure working with you all.

 

Here is the book’s blurb:

 

Vampires! Ghosts! Zombies! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!! Within the pages of this anthology lurk stories guaranteed to make the hair on the back of your neck stand up! From a cursed game that turns its players into monsters … a ghost cat on a quest for revenge … and killer snowmen on a rampage, these ten terrifying tales will have you sleeping with the lights on! Read these stories, if you dare!

 

This book includes stories from the following contributors:

 

R. Jeanie Burroughs ● Dawn Colclasure ● Marcus Damanda ●William F. Gray ● Michelle John ● Cyan LeBlanc ● Eric McMillion ●Caitlyn Pace ● Sharon Wagner ● Brandon Wills

 

Buy link

 

Check it out on Goodreads

A new ebook from Gypsy Shadow Publishing, Operation Catwalk

As part of Read an E-Book Week, I’ll be featuring ebooks here on this blog. Three of them will be my own ebooks, but I’ll be sure to include a couple of others. The books featured here are only available as ebooks and not in print format as well. It’s my way of staying true to promoting actual ebooks during Read an E-Book Week!



The fourth ebook I’d like to promote for Read an E-Book Week is Operation Catwalk: The High Life by Anne Petzer. It is the third installment in her series, Zvonek 08 Feline Intelligence Czech Republic.

Operation Catwalk: The High Life
Book Three in the series Zvonek 08 Feline Intelligence Czech Republic
By Anne Petzer
Gypsy Shadow Publishing, 2013
Ebook, 68 ppg.
Buy link



Synopsis:

Operation Catwalk—At last the most prestigious event of the year is being held in Prague. The Miss Feline CZ. Zvonek and Honza are looking forward to attending. The five finalists are chosen and The Mau is gearing up for the grand finale. Everything is on schedule when an alert on Vladimir's desk reveals strange happenings around the finalists that could sabotage the competition. Will Zvonek discover who is behind the attacks in time, or will the show just have to go on?

The High Life—Metaxa is suspicious of an elegant tom who arrives in Prague. When she meets him at a dinner with Zvonek and Honza he is witty, rich and appears to like her. Will she be taken in by his charm and wealth, or listen to her inner voice? What is his real connection to the strays and is he connected to Zvonek's latest mission?

Excerpt:

“The Spring Miss Feline Contest is in Prague this year,” Honza read aloud from The Daily Meow home page on the internet. The annual beauty competition traveled to different cities of the Czech Republic. Last year it had been in Brno.

He and Zvonek were in the computer room catching up on some reading. Honza had invited Zvonek to the hostel for lunch—some tom time away from Metaxa. Afterward they had gone to check the latest news.

“Zvoni, did you hear me?”

“Sorry, what did you say?”

“Prague is—what are you reading?” Honza leaned over to see what held Zvonek’s interest.

“It’s a piece on cat shelters. Mister Lidé has reopened the shelter he used to run with his wife.”

“Really?”

“Yes, it’s all here.” Zvonek pointed to the screen. “Along with the story of her tragic death while trying to save two felines.”

“Hmm . . . nothing of his Christmas fiasco, I see.”

Zvonek smiled. “So what were you saying about Prague?”

“The Miss Feline Contest is to be held here this year.”

“Where?”

“At The Mau.”

“Great stuff! I’ve always wanted to go. We should get tickets early to go to the finale. I bet it will be full. When does the voting open?”

“The finalists arrived yesterday and the voting opened this morning. We only have twenty-four hours to vote. Their photos and profiles are here on the competition’s home page.”

The finalists had been selected from the original twenty queens chosen to participate. From the original twenty, through votes, it had been whittled down to ten. These, then, traveled to Prague. Another five had been eliminated by computer vote and the judge’s decision, based on various questions and tasks. Everyone in the entire feline population was allowed to vote on one of those five. The finalists went through a series of tests and were given marks by the panel of judges. The last test required parading the catwalk to stand on stage and answer questions fired at them by the judges. There were strict rules to enter the competition. The entrants had to be born on Czech soil and also to have had no kittens, to give them the freedom to move around. The year-long reign took them to all four corners of the country, doing charitable work and serving their fellow felines.

The two toms looked through the profile photos.

“Wow, they’re all so pretty!”

“That’s why they were chosen, Honza.” Zvonek smiled.

It was a difficult decision, the rules stated only one vote per cat.

“Miss Prague is a Ragamuffin this year. Very nice.” Honza purred appreciatively.

“I’m not sure who to vote for, although I agree she is very pretty.” Zvonek looked at her profile photo. She was white and smoky grey with lovely blue eyes. He liked blue eyes. She looked very gentle and kind.

“What about Miss Karlovy Vary?” Miss Karlovy Vary was an ebony silver Oriental Longhair with golden eyes, very elegant looking. Honza was scrolling through the photos. He enjoyed competitions of any kind and even more so when pretty felines were involved.

After spending time going through all five of them, both toms decided Miss Prague should get their vote. She was the softest looking, Zvonek decided. As there was no entry from his home town of Litomerice, Miss Prague was the logical choice for him.

It felt strange wandering around with nothing to do. It had been a quiet winter work-wise. In one way, it was a good thing everything was peaceful. There had been a few domestic spats, but nothing really big since Bobina’s capture. Security had been tightened with a more vigilant eye kept on the rats. Even Rodent, in his cell, seemed to be behaving himself.

Zvonek was getting restless. He needed to have something to focus on, other than watching out for Metaxa. That job came down as orders from the top. He offered to get the tickets from the office which had been set up at The Mau.