From My Own Pen: The Day After

Here's another self-published book I contributed to this year. It just became available to the public this month.

The Day After is a short story collection with a broad focus spanning several genres: spy comedy, science fiction, zombie horror, and gothic horror. Essentially, each story has something to do with "the day after." In this particular collection, two of the stories are fairly dark in theme, one is dark but told more comedically, and one is pure lighthearted fun. The latter is mine, a spy comedy that stretched my storytelling skills beyond my comfort zone in some ways but was totally me in other ways, and when I say "totally me," I mean that if you took out the spy and hotel job parts, you'd basically have my life.

This book is a promotional tool for me, my husband Nick, and our friends: Nathan Marchand and Keith Osmun. It's a sampler of our work, and it's meant to draw an audience to our various websites and projects. The print version is available for $6.99 at www.lulu.com, and the ebook is just $1.99 on www.smashwords.com.

And now, the back cover copy, to whet your appetite:

Natalya is an American mom and wife with a Russian name working as a spy for the Brazilian government in a Midwest American town. Balancing dual identities is dangerous–and sometimes comical–especially when her husband hasn’t a clue.

Morana is on a suicide mission to transmit a bestial virus to her enemies when she encounters a smalltown family with the potential to break through her boundaries of hatred. But in the end, will it make a difference, or is it too late for redemption?

Peter, a photojournalist, returns home late to meet his newborn son…but just in time to rescue his family from a national zombie infestation. As they travel toward safer ground, trying to maintain a modicum of normalcy, Peter has the urge to document the disaster, but at what price?

Jacob is trapped in an endless maze of a house that appears to have no exits to the outside world except for a noose in his bedroom. He meets a mysterious stranger in the darkness and discovers pieces of letters he doesn’t remember writing. Who knows how long he’s been there? The noose is tightening.

Four stories, four writers, four genres…one connecting thread. What happens when the main focus of your life is stripped away and all that’s left is the day after?

From My Own Pen: Destroyer

Although this blog is mainly a review site for books and movies that are new to me, it's only fair to myself that I include published pieces I have written or, in the case of Destroyer, co-written. My friend Nathan Marchand self-published a novella he co-wrote with Timothy Deal and me. It's a monster story, and here's the gist of it straight off the back cover:



The American Alliance Army recruits scientists Dr. Steiner and his daughter Eva to build a superweapon to end the long war with the Russo-Chinese Coalition. The towering cyborg they create possesses the image of a dragon, the brain tissue of a once-living T-Rex, and the weaponry of an entire army.


Dubbed “Rex-1,” the cyborg’s mission is to destroy military targets in Moscow. Closely followed by its creators and military commanders and controlled by telepathic technology, Rex-1 wreaks havoc on the Russians, smiting them like a demonic god.


Then the unthinkable happens. Rex-1 goes berserk, defying all orders, and attacks the ship transporting the Americans.


Crashing behind enemy lines in the heart of Moscow, Dr. Steiner and his group are caught in the middle of Rex-1′s rampage. Now with distrust and madness tearing his fellow survivors apart, Dr. Steiner has only one goal:


Destroy Rex-1!

There it is. I don't typically read monster stories, so it was a stretch of my skills to help write one. Nevertheless, I used my strengths to help create the sort of in-depth characters I love to write. I can hardly review my own work, so I'll leave it at that.

You can buy this book in print from www.lulu.com for $6.99 or as an ebook from www.smashwords.com for only $1.99. If monster stories appeal to you, please check this one out!