Tag: featured titles

It’s Pride!

This month Pride is being celebrated across the nation, and the Literary Underworld is delighted to share some of the work by and about LGBTQ people in our collection. We were proud to have been *technically* censored in Utah long before it was fashionable: when our new credit card processor discovered we had books with *gasp* gay people in them, they dropped us like a bad habit and labeled us pornography. (As the author told us, if it actually WAS pornography, it’d probably have sold more copies…)

Please enjoy these titles, by LGBTQ authors or about LGBTQ characters, and have a joyous Pride!

A Woman Unbecoming, ed. by Rachel Brune. A thwarted female defense attorney releases the baying of the hounds under a full moon, signaling the death of an era—and the birth of a new one under the Old Gods.

Most funerals are celebrations for the living—unless the guests decide to tempt fate and the guest of honor.

A bicycle ride becomes a contest of egos, but the male pursuers aren’t the only ones hungry for the race to end.

These women are going to cut the world and let it bleed.

Crone Girls Press presents A Woman Unbecoming, a charity anthology of horror and dark tales to benefit reproductive healthcare rights. Award-winning and up-and-coming authors share over two dozen stories and poems. If you like intense characters, powerful women, and twists you won’t see coming, then you’ll love this fierce anthology co-edited by Rachel A. Brune and Carol Gyzander.

Explore A Woman Unbecoming to revel in women’s rage, power, and agency—and support reproductive healthcare rights today.

Stories and Poems By:

Marc Abbott, Linda Addison, Alp Beck, Carina Bissett, Rachel Brune, Paige L. Christie, Ravyn Crescent, Elizabeth Davis, Angela Giddings, Nicole Givens Kurtz, Teel James Glenn, Carol Gyzander, CM Harris, Nicole Henning, Darin Kennedy, DeAnna Knippling, Tara Laskowski, Lee Murray, Bridgett Nelson, Jennifer Nestojko, Jessica Nettles, Christina Nordlander, Cindy O’Quinn & Patricia Gomes, Cristel Orrand, Jude Reid, Mike Robinson, Kathleen Scheiner, Jeff Strand, Anna Taborska, Steven Van Patten, Holly Lyn Walrath, Michael G. Williams, and Jeff Wood.

 

A Girl’s Gotta Eat by Elizabeth Lynn Blackson. What does a young woman do with the bucket of hate she carries around from her abusive childhood?

Lucy is about to find out. What does a man do when his faith in the security of his nation crumbles? FBI Special Agent Javier Torres is about to find out.

And when shape-shifting, man-eating daemons are revealed to exist, who does the succubus called “Vespid” feed on? The rich and poor alike find out, because sometimes a girl’s gotta eat.

Adventuresses by Angelia Sparrow. Take flight on an airship bound for ecstasy and California. Fall in love with a waitress. Or Medusa. Hold off the zombie invasion of Oklahoma or roll a rig through it in Kansas. Treasure hunt to save a feline lover. Enjoy a steampunk medical demonstration for curing nervous hysteria.

Ten tales of lesbian adventure take you to the far reaches of the galaxy, or the science fiction convention down the road, to Texas in our world or on a timeline when the Confederacy found a way to make radioactive bombs. Find your hat. Adjust your goggles. It’s time for Adventuresses.

Convent of the Pure by Sara M. Harvey. Secrets and illusions abound in a decaying convent wrapped in dark magic and scented with blood. Portia came to the convent with the ghost of Imogen, the lover she failed to protect in life. Now, the spell casting caste wants to make sure that neither she nor her spirit ever leave. Portia’s ignorance of her own power may be even more deadly than those who conspire against her as she fights to fulfill her sworn duty to protect humankind in a battle against dark illusions and painful realities.

Steeped in the legends of the Nephilim, The Convent of the Pure is now out of print, so snag your copy while supplies last!

West of Sunset by Dennis R. Upkins. For Brecken Everett, there’s never a dull moment. When he’s not dealing with a demanding course load and honing his magic as top student at Lightmage University, he’s working as a private investigator and using his skills to protect the innocent from the darkest fores. In two action-packed adventures, Breck demonstrates that outnumbered and outgunned is when he’s at his best. In Keepers, Brecken is enlisted to aid Jacob and Joshua Phoenix; twins, the last Pyrians, the last of an ancient race. The Brothers Phoenix are on a quest to uncover clues to their past. When they find a lost relic, a pair of demons claim it. With Brecken’s aid, the twins are determined to not only stop the threat, but have some fun in the process.

West of Sunset takes place a year after Keepers. All Brecken wants to do is get out of Atlanta. Heading to Los Angeles with his best friend, he plans a vacation of surf, sun, partying and relaxation… until the boys stumble upon a museum heist connected to a biker gang of vampires with plans to raise a most dark power. Matters get even more complicated with the involvement of a mysterious and powerful witch. Witches, museum heists, arising malevolent forces, vampire biker gangs, even Brecken’s vacations are just another day at the office.

The Night the Jack o’ Lantern Went Out by Alexander Brown. Halloween. A holiday that inspires memories, excitement, and a little bit of fear in everyone. A single day where all the ghosts and ghoulies come out to play and sometimes its hard to tell which of the creepy crawlies are human and which ones truly rise from beyond seeking unsuspecting souls.

Author Alexander S. Brown explores all the wonderfully terrifying possibilities Halloween has to offer in The Night the Jack o’ Lantern Went Out. Each month Brown delivers a new tale of terror laced with just enough nostalgia that makes us all hope Halloween comes sooner…and stays far enough away that the monsters don’t get us!

 

Glad Hands

Glad Hands by Angelia Sparrow and Gabriel Belthir. Chuck Hummingbird has a nice, safe run, from Pacifica to the Tribal Lands. Even in the fragmented United States, freight still moves between the resulting countries. When he’s tapped for a perilous run down past Heartland, the last thing he needs is a pretty blue-eyed drifter, but he can’t get Seven out of his head or his bunk.

When the Confederated States prove more dangerous than Chuck feared, they’re caught in a terrifying flight towards safety that will drive both of them and the love they’ve found to new limits. Or snag the whole Eight Thrones series for $40!

Opening Death’s Door

By Jim D. Gillentine

Back when I wrote my first horror/romance novel, The Beast Within, I had a very minor character in the story named KD. KD was brutally beaten to a pulp, then murdered, then thrown into the Wolf River.

This minor character was named after my friend, KD. It was done in light-heartedness just as a joke to rib my friend of eight-plus years at the time. But then he came to me, saying how many people thought I had done him so dirty. He actually seemed hurt.

So to make it up to him, I came up with the story of Death’s Door. In this story, I created the powerful vampire hunter character named KD. An ex-Green Beret badass through and through, I wanted to make it up to my friend by making him a hero. However, I have to say I still had fun kicking that character’s ass – in story, of course.

All jokes aside, A Night at Death’s Door is a fun action comedy that I wrote partially in response to the whole Twilight sparkle trend that was going on at that time. My vampires are uncaring, vicious creatures that view humans as a food source, and maybe a sexual source if you are that unlucky. They view humans as cattle, and are determined to dominate the world.

So who is going to stop them? My little band of one college girl, a guy out for revenge, and two former soldiers, that’s who.

I call my story an action comedy because I tried to put humor into the mix along with the flying bullets, throat ripping, and of course the “dusting,” as they called it on Buffy. I hope you’ll take the time to read A Night at Death’s Door. I think you will be entertained with the blood and laughs.

And always remember, don’t forget the garlic.

 

Janet left her simple life in Mississippi for the hustle and bustle of New York for college. At the insistence of her new roommate, Janet goes to Death’s Door, a mysterious and trendy nightclub, in reality the hidden domain of the evil vampire Jeanova. She is planning the Rising…a ritual that will give all vampires power to resist the sun, making them the rulers of the world.

In danger of being turned into a plaything for the Vampire and her brood, Janet is saved by a small group of vampire hunters determined to stop Jeanova at all cost. Thrust into a battle for her very soul, for the planet itself, Janet and allies she barely knows must fight their way through Death’s Door to stop the Rising…or humanity will fall.

JIM D. GILLENTINE grew up with a fondness for horror, science fiction and fantasy flavored with the southern tang of his native Memphis. His debut novella, Of Blood and the Moon, was published in 2009 and was runner-up for the Darrell Award. Other publications include stories in anthologies Cover of Darkness and When Darkness Sees the Light and a novella titled A Night at Death’s Door. His novel The Beast Within begins a bittersweet love story between a woman and a beast, which continued in Crossroads, published by Inkstained Succubus Press. The trilogy was completed with Heart of the Beast, published as a compendium by Pro Se Press. Jim holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature and philosophy at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. He is a member of the Literary Underworld and the Eville Writers, and is the biggest Godzilla fan in the western hemisphere. Find out more about him at www.jimmygillentine.com.

 

Welcome to the Disunited States

By Angelia Sparrow

In November of 2005, I won NaNoWriMo for the first time. The result was a novel that is now called Nikolai: Revenant.

It’s undergone a lot of revision and character changes since the initial draft. The world has expanded and shifted with each new projection of the future. Now, we are four books, a gaming manual, several short stories, and a couple of rough drafts into the series. My now-coauthor, Gabriel, went from my biggest fan to my loyal conspirator, and brought his own brand of creativity to the world.

The series is set at the end of the twenty-first century. America balkanized into eleven countries, with Hawaii and Alaska becoming independent. Some countries have moved forward from the DisUnification and others have chosen to move backward.

I started this as a reaction to a lot of trends I was seeing in the mid 2000s. It has aged eerily, as I’ve watched some of my predictions come to fruition in some ways, but it remains solid. My dystopia is not supposed to be more comforting than my reality, but it has become more so as the years go on.

Most of the series occurs in Memphis, with occasional excursions to Italy, Kansas, Pacifica and other places. The Confederated States are fascinating, and rather terrifying. Based on the trends in Christian Nationalism, including the Christian Exodus movement, the CS is a fascist theocracy with an absolutely free market. Church attendance is required by law, and the law enforces modesty codes. Education is limited to white boys, and only available through private schools. Racial segregation is law, and most crimes are capital ones.

Half of the titular Nikolai’s education is unlearning erroneous history from his three years of formal schooling. Nick Boyd is a Memphis street rat, who took the name Nikolai when he became a member of the Revenant gang. Smart, vicious, and self-assured, he caught the eye of James Ligatos, one of the Eight, the cabal that rules the world behind the scenes.

James turns promising young criminals into world leaders. In Anthony: Reprobate, we delve into the hyper-surveillanced and repressive Heartlands for another protege, Anthony Hatcher, who is stuck in a reeducation facility with an R tattooed on his hand. Reprobate is the lowest of the low, both Homosexual and Nymphomaniac, and every other “anti-social” marker. But with enough work and a little support, anyone can change the course of a country.

Glad Hands was my biggest seller, a side story set in the Tribal Lands about a trucker who finds a Heartlands boy with an H tattoo. They go on a mad dash ride into the CS on what should have been an average haul, and almost end in the Stoneyard for execution on live national television. This was written on many loading docks, in sleeper berths and rest areas when I was still driving a truck.

Master Anton is our newest installment, and it follows the training of our boys forward. Anthony is called to Rome, to the Eight’s center of operations. Their leader, Benta, the Spider at the top of the World, is a mysterious and seemingly eternal goddess in his eyes. His odd learning style makes for a difficult road, but not nearly as difficult as the rest of the Memphis team is experiencing. Betrayal, collapse, fanaticism, and ruin spin together in a web that can only end when it’s run its course. Anthony earns his title…and he will bring the rest of them along with him if it kills him…or them.

As mentioned, there is also a gaming sourcebook which Gabriel put together over the course of 3 years. He created the PIPA 12 system, and we codified the DisUnited States and much of the world. We’ve run one-shot games at conventions from Kentucky to Georgia, with great success. The opportunity to throw your hat in the ring of a collapsing but vibrant society seems to capture the imagination… especially when we kill someone in mid-game.

I could spend several books (and have) explaining to you all that I see in my world. I would invite you to ride the giant roller coasters in the Arcologies of the California Conglomerate. I would walk you through the Pleasure Clubs of Rome, where every debauchery is at your disposal as long as you know its cost. I would stroll with you through the City State of New Orleans, with its sky-high levees and floating strands of proud laughter and music. I would march with you alongside the fierce warriors of Azteca, their titanium mesh armor shining in the desert sun. I would invite you to lounge with James Ligatos in his boudoir, enjoying the most beautiful of things to fend off the tinges of madness around the edges. I would welcome you home.

But I must instead hope to see you in the pages of the book. It has been my vent and my hope for long over a decade, and there is more to come. Because no matter how dystopian, there is always someone ready to plant their feet and to say no, and inspire others to do the same.

The Eight Thrones Cycle is the story of how to save the world… while indulging your darkest fantasies.

 

Buy the whole series for $40 here!

The Eight Thrones books on sale at Amazon

Each book will be on sale for 99c for one week, Amazon only: Glad Hands on Sept. 15, Anthony Reprobate on Oct. 3, Nikolai Revenant on Oct. 10 and Master Anton on Oct. 15

 

Mortalus: The Eight Thrones Cycle Game is not currently available, though digital copies may be requested through the author if you’d like to try it out for your campaign. Gabriel is also seeking an artist to help him bring the next version into being.

Angelia Sparrow is a professional driver, part-time grandma and full time cat-servant. She lives quietly in the midsouth with two husbands and a wife, overseeing the legalities of an Emerging Religion. She runs Crossroad Treasures, a craft shop, and handles its subscription box at Patreon.

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Pride!

It is fashionable to drape rainbows across businesses in June, but the real hope is that business supports LGBTQ+ causes and art all year round. We’re a work in progress, but Literary Underworld has always striven to be allies, co-founded by LGBTQ+ writers – and we have been banned in Utah because of it! (It’s a long story.)

Here are some of our works that featured LGBTQ+ themes and characters and/or are written by LGBTQ+ authors. Check them out – in June and the rest of the year.

Glad Hands by Angelia Sparrow and Naomi Brooks

Chuck Hummingbird has a nice, safe run, from Pacifica to the Tribal Lands. Even in the fragmented United States, freight still moves between the resulting countries. When he’s tapped for a perilous run down past Heartland, the last thing he needs is a pretty blue-eyed drifter, but he can’t get Seven out of his head or his bunk. When the Confederated States prove more dangerous than Chuck feared, they’re caught in a terrifying flight towards safety that will drive both of them and the love they’ve found to new limits.

 

West of Sunset by Dennis R. Upkins

For Brecken Everett, there’s never a dull moment. When he’s not dealing with a demanding course load and honing his magic as top student at Lightmage University, he’s working as a private investigator and using his skills to protect the innocent from the darkest forces. In two action-packed adventures, Breck demonstrates that outnumbered and outgunned is when he’s at his best.

In Keepers, Brecken is enlisted to aid Jacob and Joshua Phoenix; twins, the last Pyrians, the last of an ancient race. The Brothers Phoenix are on a quest to uncover clues to their past. When they find a lost relic, a pair of demons claim it. With Brecken’s aid, the twins are determined to not only stop the threat, but have some fun in the process.

West of Sunset takes place a year after Keepers. All Brecken wants to do is get out of Atlanta. Heading to Los Angeles with his best friend, he plans a vacation of surf, sun, partying and relaxation… until the boys stumble upon a museum heist connected to a biker gang of vampires with plans to raise a most dark power. Matters get even more complicated with the involvement of a mysterious and powerful witch. Witches, museum heists, arising malevolent forces, vampire biker gangs, even Brecken’s vacations are just another day at the office.

 

Anthony Reprobate by Angelia Sparrow and Gabriel Belthir

James Ligatos is a man with an unusual hobby. He turns promising young criminals into world leaders.

Anthony Hatcher is not a criminal. He’s a Reprobate, rescued from the depths of a Heartland mental hospital, tortured and forgotten for daring to break every moral code.

So begins the most unusual training the Ligatos group has encountered. A rule-breaking, nonlinear learner may be more than all of them together can handle. He may also be their last hope to stop a war, for a growing evangelical movement in the Heartland is calling for a crusade to re-unify the ten countries that were once the United States of America.

It is up to Anthony to become everything he hates, a teetotalling revival preacher, to save the land and the man he loves. Worth it.

 

Methuseleh’s Legacy by T.W. Fendley

Lilith Davidson has nothing to lose. Diagnosed with terminal cancer, her only hope for survival rests in an experimental longevity serum she herself helped to develop using an intuitive-based protocol known as remote viewing. She never dreamed the treatment could be so wildly effective… nor did she expect its unusual side effect.

Now, as Lilith and the other eleven Methuselah Pioneers struggle to embrace the serum’s gift, powerful forces condemn their miracle cure as a violation of life’s natural order and threaten their lives. Will the treatment help humanity or tear society apart?

 

Adventuresses by Angelia Sparrow

Take flight on an airship bound for ecstasy and California.

Fall in love with a waitress. Or Medusa.

Hold off the zombie invasion of Oklahoma or roll a rig through it in Kansas.

Treasure hunt to save a feline lover.

Enjoy a steampunk medical demonstration for curing nervous hysteria.

Ten tales of lesbian adventure take you to the far reaches of the galaxy, or the science fiction convention down the road, to Texas in our world or on a timeline when the Confederacy found a way to make radioactive bombs.

Find your hat. Adjust your goggles. It’s time for Adventuresses.