Meet the Authors of Dark Matter: Artificial

Greetings all! I'm excited to be taking over as blog coordinator from Louise (Fundy Blue), who did a fabulous job last year as coordinator for the Insecure Writer's Support Group anthology, Voyagers: The Third Ghost, available on Amazon and more!

We're starting off the new year and new IWSG anthology buzz with some brief introductions of the authors featured in Dark Matter: Artificial. Come meet the 10 authors showcasing their talents through young adult to adult science fiction stories on topics ranging from artificial intelligence and deep space to alternative realities and dark matter secrets.

Stephanie Espinoza Villamor - Artificial

Stephanie is a librarian writer mom who lives with her husband and young son just outside Las Vegas. As a child she wrote her own books on dot matrix printer paper, and now works as a college eLearning Librarian. She writes stories inspired by her supportive family and Hispanic heritage, especially for middle grade and young adult readers.

 

C.D. Gallant-King - Space Folds and Broomsticks 

C.D. Gallant-King wrote his first story when he was five years old. He had to make his babysitter look up how to spell "extra-terrestrial." He now writes stories about un-heroic people doing generally hilarious things in horrifying worlds. He's a loving husband and proud father of two wonderful kids. He was born and raised in Newfoundland and currently resides in Ottawa, Ontario.

Kim Mannix - Rift 

Kim Mannix is a fiction writer, poet and journalist currently residing on Treaty 6 territory in Sherwood Park, Alberta. She has been published in several journals and anthologies in Canada and the U.S. and is a contributing editor of Watch Your Head, a climate crisis anthology. You can find her on Twitter, usually posting about kids, cats, music and creepy things.

 

Steph Wolmarans - The Utten Mission

Steph Wolmarans is an educator, mother, wife, gardener, beekeeper, and speculative fiction author. Steph has been creating galaxies since she visited Arrakis as a child. Now she envisions worlds, discovers new beings, and spends a lot of time exploring planet Earth with her husband and two small children.

 

Tara Tyler - Sentient

Tara Tyler has done everything from waitressing to rocket engineering. After moving all over the US, she now writes and teaches math in Ohio with her husband and one boy left in the nest. She has two novel series, Pop Travel (sci-fi detective thrillers) and Beast World (fantasy adventures), plus UnPrincess, a novella series where maidens save themselves.

Deniz Bevan - One to Another

Deniz Bevan has lived in Turkey, and her non-fiction work appeared in the trilingual newspaper Bizim Anadolu. Her short story was shortlisted for the Surrey (Canada) International Writers' Conference Storyteller's Award in 2013. Her contemporary romance, Summer Fire is out now with Carina Press.

 Charles Kowalski - Resident Alien

Charles Kowalski's contemporary thrillers, Mind Virus and The Devil's Son, have won prizes and nominations including the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers' Colorado Gold Award, the Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award, and the Adventure Writers Grandmaster Award. He is also the author of the Japan-themed historical fantasy Simon Grey and the March of a Hundred Ghosts (Tokyo: Excalibur Books, 2019). When not writing, he teaches at the International Education Center at Tokai University, near Tokyo.

 

Olga Goldim - Nano Pursuit

Olga Godim is a writer and journalist from Vancouver, Canada. Both her children have already flown the nest. As a journalist, Olga focuses on the local arts and culture scene. As a fiction writer, she prefers speculative fiction. In the past few years, her fantasy and science fiction short stories have been published in magazines and anthologies. Her book SQUIRREL OF MAGIC is a collection of urban fantasy short stories. In 2015, her fantasy novel EAGLE EN GARDE won EPIC eBook Award.

 

Elizabeth Mueller - Resurgence

Award-winning author Elizabeth Mueller lives deep in the heart Texas surrounded by everyone she loves—including the characters who don’t stop talking in her head. While she enjoys homeschooling her kidlets, she thrives as a full-time writer of any genre that captures her heart.

 

Mark Alpert - Vera’s Last Voyage

Mark Alpert is a bestselling author of 10 sci-fi novels. He first heard of dark matter studying astrophysics at Princeton University, and learned more working at Scientific American. His first novel, FINAL THEORY (Simon & Schuster, 2008), was published in 24 languages and optioned for film. His YA novel, THE SIX (Sourcebooks, 2015), was nominated for several awards. His latest novel is SAINT JOAN OF NEW YORK: A NOVEL ABOUT GOD AND STRING THEORY.

You can learn even more about each of us, and how to reach or follow us online, through the blog's author page for Dark Matter: Artificial.

Coming on Wednesday,  January 20, 2021 . . .

Each of the authors in Dark Matter: Artificial will be posting over the coming weeks about how their anthology stories came to be.

I'm excited to be the one to kick off this series! I'm author Stephanie Espinoza Villamor, and I couldn't be more honored to have my story, "Artificial," chosen for the anthology's title and cover as winner of the 2020 Annual IWSG Anthology Contest. I can't wait to preview it for you all!

Yvonne Ventresca's Compelling Young Adult Novel "Pandemic," a Great Read for This Trying Time

Today our blog showcases Yvonne Ventresca, the author whose short story 

"The Third Ghost" won the top honor in the Voyagers anthology, giving the book its title and cover.  Yvonne is sharing the backstory to her award-winning young adult novel Pandemic.

Winner of the Crystal Kite Award

given by The Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators

 

Behind the Scenes:  Researching Pandemic Before the Current Pandemic

By Yvonne Ventresca

My young adult novel, Pandemic, is a contemporary story about a teenager struggling to survive a deadly flu outbreak. Although it was set in present-day New Jersey (before the current pandemic), I spent time researching the Spanish Flu of 1918 and used that disease as a model for the fictional one in my book.

Here are a few things I learned while researching Pandemic:

• The influenza pandemic of 1918 is commonly called the Spanish Flu, but it didn’t originate in Spain. In March of that year, known cases occurred among soldiers in Kansas. But in June, Spain informed the world of a new disease in Madrid, and the Spanish Flu was belatedly named as it spread worldwide. It killed more Americans than all of World War I. 

• The Spanish flu had a different mortality pattern than previous flu outbreaks, with the highest death rates occurring in adults between the ages of twenty and fifty. The reasons for that pattern are still not entirely understood, but according to the US websiteFlu.gov, the 1918 virus “evolved directly from a bird flu into a human flu.”

• In 1918, sanitation measures included wearing face masks, blow-torching water fountains, hosing down streets, and locking public phone booths. 

• In a time before technology, colored ribbons were placed on doorways to indicate a flu death in the household. The color of the ribbon indicated the age range of the dead. White, for example, was used for children.

• Katherine Anne Porter’s short novel, Pale Horse, Pale Rider, is set during the 1918 Influenza. It’s a work of fiction (published in 1939), but was no doubt influenced by Porter’s memories of the pandemic and her own illness. The tragic story provides a sense of the war, the disease, and the desperation of that time.

Beds with patients in an emergency hospital in Camp Funston, Kansas.

The flu struck while America was at war, 

and was transported across the Atlantic on troop ships. 

Date: circa 1918 

Wikimedia

Excerpt from PANDEMIC:

At this point in Pandemic, there have been local cases of the Blue Flu, including one death. Lil visits her best friend, Megs, who is getting dressed to meet a boy she has only corresponded with online. This scene is a snapshot of both the mundane aspects and the very deepness of their friendship.

—

I found Megs surrounded by a dozen shirts heaped on her bedroom floor.

“What should I wear?” she asked. “I need something to go with my favorite jeans.” She plopped on her bed, face flushed.

I hesitated, torn between worrying about her safety and wanting to support her romantic longings. “You’re sure you want to go through with this?”

She nodded.

“Then don’t worry, we’ll find something. You have great clothes.” I glanced at her alarm clock. It was 6:15.

She followed my eyes. “I’ll be fashionably late.”

I pulled out a turquoise blouse that had fabric cutouts in the back.

“I need to look good from the front, not when I leave,” she said.

“Right.” I told her about Ethan while I searched her closet for something better.

“Are you sure you want to start with him again?” she asked.

“I don’t know. He made it sound like, how could I not give us one more chance?” My phone pinged. “Ugh.”

“What’s the matter?”

“Ethan’s already texting me.” I sighed. “He’s looking forward to tonight.”

“Ah, it’s nice to see he hasn’t lost that stalker-ish quality.”

I glared at her.

“Lil, you know I’m right. If your heart’s not in it, don’t go.”

“I miss my old life before . . . everything.” I kept flipping through her closet.

“But dating Ethan again won’t magically turn back time. It won’t make the other stuff vanish.”

“I guess you’re right,” I said.

“Hmm . . . at least we both have dates tonight.”

“It’s not a date. I’m going over to his house.”

“I’m sure we’ll have a lot to talk about tomorrow,” she said. “I can’t believe I’m finally meeting him.”

Near the back of the closet, a black top with three-quarter sleeves was lodged between two camis. I didn’t even take it all the way out before Megs shook her head. Her face was shiny and I realized she was sweating. “Are you nervous?”

“A little. I’m not feeling great. I think it’s all the excitement.”

“You shouldn’t go if you don’t feel well.”

She scowled at me. “I have to go. I can’t explain it. It feels like part of something bigger, like destiny.”

I pursed my lips together to keep from spouting my opinion. After pulling out a pale blue shirt, I held it against her. “This will look good with— ”

My fingers brushed against her arm. She was burning hot. I put the back of my hand against her forehead the way Mom always did to me. “You feel feverish.”

“I’m fine.” She swayed as she tried to stand.

“Megs, you’re sick.” Fear made my voice quiver.

“You can’t go. This is crazy.”

“It’s too late to cancel.” She sank onto her bed, coughing. “Can you get me a glass of water while I change?”

“Sure.” I hurried to the kitchen. Mrs. Salerno sat at the counter, a newspaper spread in front of her.

I had to tell her about Megs. She’d forgive me for missing her date, eventually. “Mrs. Salerno, I . . .”

She looked at me, waiting.

Then we both heard it: the crashing sound from Megs’s room.

We raced up the stairs. Megs lay sprawled on the floor next to her toppled bedside table.

“I felt dizzy, and then . . .”

Mrs. Salerno scooped her up and laid her on the bed. “Let me get the thermometer.”

After her mom left the room, Megs looked at me, pleading. “I need you to do me a favor.”

I knew what she was about to ask. “No way.”

“Please? You don’t have to talk to him. It’ll be crowded, so he won’t notice you. Look for the guy carrying a book, something that would have meaning to me. Then I’ll tell him later how sick I was, that I couldn’t make it.”

“I’m supposed to meet Ethan soon. And a crowded shop mean germs.”

“Could you tell him you’re running late? It wouldn’t take much time. If you walked in and out, it’s like two minutes of exposure.” She widened her eyes, pleading.

This was important to her, no matter how much I disapproved. I considered it. For my best friend, I could probably handle a few moments in a public place.

More about Pandemic:

In Pandemic, only a few people know what caused Lilianna Snyder's sudden change from a model student to a withdrawn pessimist who worries about all kinds of disasters. When people begin coming down with a quick-spreading illness that doctors are unable to treat, Lil’s worst fears are realized. With her parents called away on business before the contagious outbreak, Lil’s town is hit by what soon becomes a widespread fatal illness. With friends and neighbors dying around her, Lil must find a way to survive not only the outbreak and its real-life consequences, but also her own personal demons.

To connect with Yvonne: Website | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter 

To buy Pandemic: Indiebound | Amazon 

More about Yvonne:

Yvonne Ventresca is an award-winning author dedicated to writing suspenseful stories that readers can’t put down. Her Crystal-Kite-winning YA debut, Pandemic, continues to be a timely read about surviving a widespread deadly virus. Her second novel, Black Flowers, White Lies, explores toxic relationships and won a Gold “IPPY” for best YA fiction. Her latest short story, “The Third Ghost,” is now featured in the latest IWSG anthology, Voyagers: The Third Ghost, a collection for nine to twelve-year-old readers. For more information, and for free resources for writers, visit her website at YvonneVentresca.com.

A 2017 Independent Publisher Book Award Gold Medal Winner!

A Last Word:

Over the past two nights I was up very late devouring Yvonne's book Pandemic.  

It was a strange feeling to be reading about a pandemic while in a pandemic.  

What I kept thinking over and over was how eerily prescient the novel is.  

Yvonne's portrayal of an epidemic is vividly real, and I liked the juxtaposition 

of Lilianna's story with the objective quotes of officials on the Blue Flu 

pandemic at the beginning of each chapter.  Lil's voice is authentic.  Her 

experiences put me right back into the angst of being in high school, the 

rollercoaster ride of young love, and the drama of close friendships.  I'll join 

Booklist, School Library Journal, and Kirkus Reviews in recommending this 

fast-paced apocalyptic novel.  It touched me deeply, and I will not forget it.      

I'll be back on October 28th with another post.   

Till next time ~
Fundy Blue 

* * * * * * * * * *

If you haven't read Yvonne's short story "The Third Ghost" 

in VOYAGERS:  The Third Ghost, you can find it here.

You can order a copy of
VOYAGERS: The Third Ghost 

at the links below.

Print 9781939844729 $13.95

EBook 9781939844736 $4.99

Juvenile Fiction - Historical / Action & Adventure /
Fantasy & Magic

Amazon - Print https://www.amazon.com/dp/193984472X/  - Kindle https://www.amazon.com/Voyagers-Third-Ghost-Yvonne-Ventresca-ebook/dp/B083C4WPR5/

Barnes & Noble - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/voyagers-yvonne-ventresca/1135912991?ean=2940163430857

ITunes - https://books.apple.com/ca/book/voyagers-the-third-ghost/id1493413956

Kobo - https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/voyagers-the-third-ghost

Masquerade: Oddly Suited is Available Now!

The time has finally arrived! The latest IWSG Anthology Masquerade: Oddly Suited made its debut yesterday. All of the authors are excited to share their stories with you!

Masquerade: Oddly Suited

An Insecure Writer’s Support Group Anthology
Release date – April 30, 2019
Young Adult Fiction: Romance - General/Paranormal/ContemporaryPrint ISBN 9781939844644  $14.95
EBook ISBN 9781939844651  $4.99

Find love at the ball…

Can a fake dating game show lead to love? Will a missing key free a clock-bound prince? Can a softball pitcher and a baseball catcher work together? Is there a vampire living in Paradise, Newfoundland? What’s more important—a virtual companion or a date to the ball?

Ten authors explore young love in all its facets, from heartbreak to budding passion. Featuring the talents of L.G. Keltner, Jennifer Lane, C.D. Gallant-King, Elizabeth Mueller, Angela Brown, Myles Christensen, Deborah Solice, Carrie-Anne Brownian, Anstice Brown, and Chelsea Marie Ballard.

Hand-picked by a panel of agents and authors, these ten tales will mystify and surprise even as they touch your heart. Don your mask and join the party…

Founded by author Alex J. Cavanaugh, the Insecure Writer’s Support Group offers support for writers and authors alike. It provides an online database; articles; monthly blog posting; Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram groups; #IWSGPit, and a newsletter.

Links:

Barnes & Noble - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1130407099?ean=2940155956860

Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07N893HPT

iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/masquerade-oddly-suited/id1451605312?mt=11

Kobo - https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/masquerade-oddly-suited

Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43785750-masquerade


Please feel free to share this tweet and help us get the word out!

10 romances: Masquerade: Oddly Suited @TheIWSG @cecerumba @ALBrownwrites @JenLanebooks @Anyechka @inventor_myles @CDGallantKing @LGKeltner @DebSolice @ElizbethMueller @AnsticeBrown Amazon-https://tinyurl.com/y4y7ktzz B&N-https://tinyurl.com/y28cvkox iTunes-https://tinyurl.com/y4ohsttu

Also, don't forget that we still have a live Author Q & A happening on Saturday, May 11th! Follow this link to take part!

You're Invited to a Masquerade Ball

It's hard to believe that Masquerade: Oddly Suited is being released on Tuesday. That's right! Release day is less than a week away!

About the Anthology

Title: Masquerade: Oddly Suited
Release date: April 30th, 2019
Publisher: Dancing Lemur Press
Genres: Young Adult Fiction: Romance – General / Paranormal / Contemporary
Print ISBN: 9781939844644
EBook ISBN: 9781939844651

Synopsis

Find love at the ball…

Can a fake dating game show lead to love? Will a missing key free a clock-bound prince? Can a softball pitcher and a baseball catcher work together? Is there a vampire living in Paradise, Newfoundland? What’s more important—a virtual Traveler or a virtual date to the ball?

Ten authors explore young love in all its facets, from heartbreak to budding passion. Featuring the talents of L.G. Keltner, Jennifer Lane, C.D. Gallant-King, Elizabeth Mueller, Angela Brown, Myles Christensen, Deborah Solice, Carrie-Anne Brownian, Anstice Brown, and Chelsea Marie Ballard.

Hand-picked by a panel of agents and authors, these ten tales will mystify and surprise even as they touch your heart. Don your mask and join the party…

Links

Pre-order eBook: http://books2read.com/masqueradeoddlysuited

Pre-order Paperback: http://mybook.to/MasqueradeOddlySuited

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43785750-masquerade

Blog: https://iwsganthologies.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/masqueradeoddlysuited/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/hashtag/masqueradeoddlysuited

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/dustingthesoul/masquerade-oddly-suited/

The ten authors of this anthology are currently participating in the Masquerade Ball Bloghop. Each post features an anonymous author, a piece of fan art with a masked story character, and a teaser scene related to the story that is not included in the publication. On release day, everyone will unmask their character. If that sounds fun, feel free to stop by and read everyone's posts!

SCHEDULE

Thur. April 18th: L.G. Keltner https://lgkeltner.blogspot.com/

Fri. April 19th: Jennifer Lane http://jenniferlanebooks.blogspot.com

Sat. April 20th: Deborah Solice https://thefabulistdotblog.wordpress.com/

Mon. April 22nd: CD Gallant-King http://www.cdgallantking.ca/

Tues. April 23rd: Elizabeth Mueller https://elizabethmueller.blogspot.com/

Wed. April 24th: Chelsea Marie Ballard https://www.facebook.com/masqueradeoddlysuited

Thurs. April 25th: Carrie-Ann Brownian http://carrieannebrownian.wordpress.com

Fri. April 26th: Myles Christensen www.myleschristensen.com

Sat. April 27th: Anstice Brown https://dustingthesoul.com

Mon. April 29th: Angela Brown http://publishness.blogspot.com/

Tues. Apr 30th: Book Release and The Unmasking (Just follow links above)!

The blog tour is also still underway. This blog tour also includes a fantastic giveaway! One person will win a $50 Amazon gift card! Who wouldn't want that? To check out the tour posts and enter for your chance to win, follow the links here!

• Mon 18th March: Spotlight @ The Story of a Writer
• Fri 22nd March: Guest post by Anstice Brown @ Nicki Elson’s Not-So-Deep Thoughts
• Sun 24th March: Interview with Jennifer Lane @ Nancee Cain, Romance with a Serrated Edge
• Tues 26th March: Guest post by Angela Brown @ Blog of Author J Lenni Dorner
• Wed 27th March: Debut author spotlight @ Operation Awesome
• Fri 29th March: Spotlight @ April Blogging from A-Z Challenge
• Mon 1st April: Interview with Deborah Solice @ Dusting the Soul
• Thurs 4th April: Spotlight @ Elements of Emaginette
• Fri 5th April: Guest post by C.D Gallant-King @ Writer’s Gambit
• Mon 8th April: Interview with Elizabeth Mueller @ Just Jemi
• Fri 12th April: Guest post by Carrie-Anne Brownian @ Jennifer Lane Books
• Mon 15th April: Guest post by Chelsea Marie Ballard @ My Pet Blog
• Tues 16th April: Guest post by Myles Christensen @ Quiet Fury Books
• Mon 22nd April: Interview with all the authors @ Alex J. Cavanaugh
• Sat 4th May: Interview with L.G Keltner @ The Cynical Sailor & His Salty Sidekick

The various guest posts by the Masquerade authors will undoubtedly answer a lot of questions you might have about the book and its creators. However, if you have any burning questions that you'd like to ask, you'll get your chance! We're having a live author Q & A on Saturday, May 11th! Follow this link to join in!

Do you plan to get your own copy of Masquerade: Oddly Suited?

Story Spotlight #10: Angela Brown's A Diver's Ball

Here it is. The final story spotlight. Angela Brown is here to tell you about how her story "A Diver's Ball" came to be.

*     *     *

My contribution to this year's IWSG Anthology almost didn't exist. I sat on the story idea - inspired by Ready Player One - until about nine days to the deadline. While work demanded too much of my time and my daughter deserved way more of my time, I carved moments in between those two important forces in my life to write, revise, and haphazardly edit my short story, sliding it in on the day of deadline.

Yeah, I cut it close.

And I'm so glad I shared this story. Being a part of this anthology is such an honor. Sharing the tale of a young girl's brush with love in the online world of Cumulus is timely. We can be anything and anyone we want to be in the masquerade this is the online world, from keyboard smacktalkers to word vixens with an extra-sassy-sauce-twist. With role play games (RPG) and virtural reality (VR) diving growing more fantastic, who knows if a real life Cumulus will evolve into being, where daily life, and love, are all characters of the masquerade.

Here's a little about my story, A Diver's Ball:

What’s a gamer girl to do when her first chance at love collides with a once in a lifetime quest?

You can be anything you want in the online world of Cumulus. A human. An elf. A powerful beast mutation from your wildest imagination. But can you be in love?

Sixteen-year-old Alyssa hopes so.

Alyssa is stoked she's finally of age to attend the granddaddy of online parties: the Diver's Ball. And wonder of all wonders, her online gamer crush - erm - bud, Irv, asked her to go with him...as his date!

Before her avatar can don the perfect corset and dress in honor of the ball's Steampunk theme, a once-in-a-lifetime quest barges in on her plans. Then the sudden onset of parental controls threaten to ruin everything.

Faced with these dilemmas, Alyssa makes a decision that impacts not just her online, but her real world life as well.

And oh the consequences...

Here's a short blurb:

After the greeting, the black screen behind Alyssa’s avatar transformed into a three-dimensional blue sky. Fluffy clouds moved gingerly above, below, and around her, as if she stood in the sky itself. Had she donned her full-body haptic suit, the gentle breeze spurring the clouds along would cool her skin with a grazing kiss and sweep through the locks of her hair. Only her haptic gloves were allowed for this dive. She held her hands toward a cloud, giggling at the cool, wet sensation that lingered on her fingers.

“This never gets old,” she said aloud.

“You have returned. So glad you are back.” This voice differed, understandably more purr to the words. Alyssa designed her simulated assistant, or SA, as a lithe black cat with piercing green eyes. It hopped from one cloud to the next until landing on her shoulder. Every Cumulus user had a SA assigned as a method of making interaction with the system more personable. She’d always loved things that went unloved or misunderstood. A black cat fit her.

“Yes, Baxter. You know what day it is?” Alyssa all but sang the last few words. She could finally attend the Diver’s Ball, the granddaddy of all online parties. This year’s theme: Steampunk Masquerade.

“Of course, I do.” He licked his paw and groomed his whiskers. “You are of age now and can go to the Yudarian-verse for the Selection. Finally, a winged Traveler all your own.”

“That’s right. I’ve got my corset and…wait, what? Oh no. The Selection? Today? No, no, no. Baxter, home.”

And make sure you go out and order your copy of Masquerade: Oddly Suited today!

Haunt us @

Facebook | Pinterest |Anthology author page

Purchase your anthology @ one of these universal links:

Ebook or Paperback 

Find love at the ball…

Can a fake dating game show lead to love? Will a missing key free a clock-bound prince? Can a softball pitcher and a baseball catcher work together? Is there a vampire living in Paradise, Newfoundland? What’s more important—a virtual Traveler or a virtual date to the ball?

Ten authors explore young love in all its facets, from heartbreak to budding passion. Featuring the talents of L.G. Keltner, Jennifer Lane, C.D. Gallant-King, Elizabeth Mueller, Angela Brown, Myles Christensen, Deborah Solice, Carrie-Anne Brownian, Anstice Brown, and Chelsea Marie Ballard.

Hand-picked by a panel of agents and authors, these ten tales will mystify and surprise even as they touch your heart. Don your mask and join the party…

Angela is a gladiator-in-business-casual battling giants in the world of IT by day and mom to a teen and a tiny fur baby 24/7. A devourer of books, chocolate, and Hot Tamales, Angela uses words to build bridges for readers to escape, to feel, to explore, and to know they are not alone. In the Masquerade: Oddly Suited IWSG Anthology, she is the author of A Diver's Ball.

Haunt her here: Blog | Twitter | Instagram 

*     *     *

And now, before you leave, I'd like to let everyone know that the Masquerade Ball Bloghop kicks off tomorrow!

Each day leading up to release day, excluding Sundays, each of the ten authors featured in Masquerade: Oddly Suited will host a masked guest. This guest is a character from one of the stories in the anthology, though you will not know which one. You will also be treated to a small scene that relates to but does not appear in the story. Remember, the mystery is part of the fun! It is a masquerade, after all.

Return to each post on April 30th (release day) to learn who each character is and where they come from!

SCHEDULE

Thur. April 18th: L.G. Keltner https://lgkeltner.blogspot.com/

Fri. April 19th: Jennifer Lane http://jenniferlanebooks.blogspot.com

Sat. April 20th: Deborah Solice https://thefabulistdotblog.wordpress.com/

Mon. April 22nd: CD Gallant-King http://www.cdgallantking.ca/

Tues. April 23rd: Elizabeth Mueller https://elizabethmueller.blogspot.com/

Wed. April 24th: Chelsea Marie Ballard https://www.facebook.com/masqueradeoddlysuited

Thurs. April 25th: Carrie-Ann Brownian http://carrieannebrownian.wordpress.com

Fri. April 26th: Myles Christensen www.myleschristensen.com

Sat. April 27th: Anstice Brown https://dustingthesoul.com

Mon. April 29th: Angela Brown http://publishness.blogspot.com/

Tues. Apr 30th: Book Release and The Unmasking (Just follow links above)!