Purchase the new release Forgotten Princess (Complete Duology) at Midnight Ledger

 

Hey all!

Forgotten Princess Releases tomorrow!

Midnight Ledger is the only retailer of my signed Hardcovers and Paperbacks. Nearly all of my current books are listed there. If you prefer ebooks, you can also purchase ebooks from the site. Take a peek.

Midnight Ledger also sells new and used books. Click the image below to shop!

Happy Reading!

Forgotten Princess Complete Duology available 3/22

 

Forgotten Princess is a sweet YA romance set in Europe. The heroine is a gypsy girl who catches the eye of a young prince. If you're looking for a feel-good story, this one is for you. Forgotten Princess Complete Duology eBook is available for preorder on all platforms (Kindle, iBooks, Nook, Borrow Box, Scribd, Vivlio, KOBO) Kindle Pre-order All other platforms Pre-order You can also borrow this book from your local library.

The Safest City on Earth

 I've been going through my backlist and sending out reminders of all the free ebooks I have listed. The Safest City on Earth is a piece of flash fiction that inspired the full length novel The Man Who Fell to Earth. Both are available on all eReader platforms.

All other platforms

Amazon

Happy New Year.

 

I don't think I sent out any newsletters in 2020 or posted many updates, so hopefully this will cover it all. It was an interesting year filled with panic, deep thought, and preparation for the future. I hope you all stayed healthy and are hanging in there. Writing was hard to do with the tension of the pandemic and political atmosphere. I can't say it didn't affect my writing. I watched a lot of TV and movies in 2020. My mom always said it would rot my brain but I think it just kept my brain from the fast toilet-flush swirling of everything going on around me. Any who, here we are. I am grateful if you are reading this amongst everything that's going on. Two of my short-stories have finally published (see below). I've been hanging on to both for years. One was meant for a collaboration that never came together, the other was written from a writing challenge and then I was never able to find a home for it-although I did garner some nice reviews from horror journals. Yes, I said horror. Nightmare is definitely the darkest prose I've ever written. Just to warn you all. In 2019 we opened a bookstore: Midnightledger.com. It's only online for now, until we find a storefront and better faith in the economy. Check us out if you want a break from the Zon. I've been reading but not nearly as much as I used to. In 2020 I reread The Border Keeper by Kerstin Hall about 7 times. It is just an amazing fantasy and dark lore read. I highly recommend this book if you love fantasy. The Ballard of Songbirds and Snakes was pretty good, it felt like home being back in Panem so many years after reading The Hunger Games Trilogy. Tor.com Short Fiction for each season was good in 2020. They've had stronger compilations but I always find 1-2 shorts in there that are just so creative. Right now I'm reading The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab, I'm about halfway through and loving it. I hope to keep reading and limit my distractions, especially since my husband loaded me up with lots of books for Christmas, including The Witcher series (woot woot).  If you follow me on Facebook, I'll be posting a lot of pictures of the stars. I'll also be doing my best to finish the novel I've been working on for the past few years.  Stay healthy and happy. I am grateful for you all. Happy Reading! Meredith (M. R. Pritchard)

Kale is a sixth generation Colony settler. While he’s evolved to survive the harsh landscape of his moon, everyone else has perished. Being alone for seventeen years can weigh heavy on the mind, and when strange things start happening, Kale is sure that he’s losing his. Get your copy here   Clark stands on the precipice of reality and dreams. Dragged from his sleep, is this a nightmare or something more? Get your copy here

Today's Authtoberfest featured author is Michaelbrent Collings!

1. It’s the zombie apocalypse and writers have got to stick together to survive. Pick 3 authors to be on your zombie apocalypse killing team and tell us why you’d choose them.

Michaelbrent says:

Stephen King, Larry Correia, George R.R. Martin.

Stephen King – come ON. The dude probably knows more about apocalyptic stuff than anyone else alive. I'm sure he'd be a valuable resource.

Larry Correia – Larry's the bestselling author of the Monster Hunter International series, which gives him automatic cred in all things monsters. Plus: he's HUGE. And always armed. Most authors are (less face it) less than imposing physically. This dude is bigger than Conan.

George R. R. Martin – not to put too fine a point on it, but I think I could outrun him. Always a good idea not to be the slowest guy on the team.

2. If Stephen King and J. K. Rowling were drowning in a river, who would you save first? And now you have to tell us why.

Michaelbrent says: J.K. Rowling. They are both huge contributors to popular culture, and I hear they're really nice. But Rowling is younger, and has younger kids. Also, she's a woman – and I know it may be sexist, but I was raised in a "women and children first" kind of home.

Plus, there's a greater chance that King is a witch. So he'd survive.

3. We authors are voracious readers. My TBR list is approximately 8 miles long. What are you currently reading?

Michaelbrent says: I'm currently reading 14 by Peter Clines, Abigail and John: Portrait of a Marriage by Edith Gelles, Swan Song by Robert McCammon, His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik, and Sammy the Shark by Bobby Bishop. The last one is what I read with my toddler, so don't judge. The others sit happily atop various toilet tanks in my house, since I have four kids and pretty much everything but bathroom time has turned into a team sport. In fact, I don't even call it a bathroom anymore. I call it "my tiny tiny office with a fairly comfy chair and a lock."

4. What is the one book that you could read a million times and never get bored with?

Michaelbrent says: Crap. Really? Crap. Uhhh… Ender's Game springs to mind. I read it as a kid and have returned to it a dozen or so times over the years. A million reads might be a bit much, but it's got at least a few more reads in it.

5. Last year my favorite read was The Martian by Andy Weir. What was your best read of 2014?

Michaelbrent says: Gah! Really? I can't do things like that. My favorite book is always any good book I'm reading now. Books are there to fit my mood and fit my life, and any time they do that, they are a treasure. Plus, if I'm being honest, I can't remember as far back as 2014. I'm a writer, which is French for "generally incompetent," so asking me to remember anything farther back than when I put my shoes on this morning (on the wrong feet) is pretty much a lost cause.

Though I do remember I read Sammy the Shark. A lot.

6. This year my favorite read has been The Dog Stars by Peter Heller. What’s the best book you’ve read so far in 2015?

Michaelbrent says: See above. Double gah.

7. You’re a writer by day and a superhero by night. (Take off those geeky glasses Superman) What’s your superpower?

Michaelbrent says: My superpower is to let others see themselves the way I do. I think one of the saddest things about human nature is that we so often seem determined to see ourselves in the worst possible light, then attempt to live down to that expectation. But people are mostly awesome, and the better they know that, the better they tend to treat those around them.

Meredith says: I love this.

8. I have writing spots all over my house: my desk, my couch, the patio, and my bed. Where’s your favorite spot to write?

Michaelbrent says: Honestly? Anyplace with wifi and a refillable soft drink. I work at restaurants, book stores, coffee shops. I tend to stay out of my house because I don't want to disrupt my wife's life too much – she's too good a woman to have me inflicted on her 24/7.

9.  We’re supposed to love all of our children equally, but there are some scenes I’ve written that really stick out in my mind. Tell us your favorite scene from your book.

Michaelbrent says: I think my favorite scene would probably be in my book This Darkness Light. It's an apocalyptic thriller where a hitman is told to kill a good person who may be holding a Doomsday virus. The hitman is a good person (he's a hitman with a heart of gold, and a priest to boot), and he starts to have reservations so a psychotic killer is sent with him to make sure he stays on target. During one scene the psycho threatens the hitman's loved ones, making it graphically clear he'd love to kill them – and worse. Then he starts singing showtunes and songs from Disney's Aladdin. Because psycho. Love that scene – chilling, thrilling, and strangely funny all in one.

10. Sometimes a little too much of myself slips into my characters. Which one of your characters most resembles you?

Michaelbrent says: Ken Strickland. He's the main character in The Colony Saga – a zombie apocalypse story with the most amped-up zombies you've ever seen – they're fast, they're evolving and learning as they go, and headshots just piss them off. Ken is an average guy who finds himself a survivor in the aftermath and just wants to stay one step ahead of the things that threaten him and his family. I'm not a teacher, but like Ken I'm just a normal guy – no superhuman powers that would give me an edge – I love my family and worry about them, and I think people are mostly good and would help each other in an Apocalypse. Also like Ken, I do karate. Kee-yah!

11. I’ve always got tunes rocking while I’m writing. Tell us five songs that are on your playlist.

Michaelbrent says:

Friday Night by Lilly Allen

Ants Marching by Dave Matthews Band

Walking on Air by Kerli

Find My Baby by Moby

Funhouse by Pink

12. If you could tell an aspiring author one tiny tidbit of information, what would you say?

Michaelbrent says: Wow – I assume by "aspiring writer" you mean "someone who'd like to do this for a living." To those people I say: it's a JOB. Don't go thinking you're going to puke up a masterwork on the first try, and that some agent will scoop it up in his/her magic barf bag and turn it into money. The average time for an author to "make it" ranges somewhere between five and sixteen thousand years. It's hard work, a second (or third) job for a long time before you make it. And even then, once you've made it you have to work your butt off doing marketing, PR appearances, and – oh, yeah – always writing your next book. Don't get me wrong, it's a cool job, and the best one I've ever had… but it's hard. Only those who give it their all – and then some – are going to stick around.

Connect with Michaelbrent Collings!

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Twitter

Website

Goodreads

Amazon Author Page

Michaelbrent Collings is one of the top indie horror writers in the US, one of Amazon's Most Popular Horror Writers (for three years and counting!), and an international bestseller in 40+ countries. He is also a produced screenwriter who works in Hollyweird, though he has never "done lunch" or engaged the services of a waxer.

His bestsellers include The Colony Saga, Strangers, Darkbound, Apparition, The Haunted, The Loon, and the YA fantasy series The Billy Saga.

He hopes someday to develop superpowers, and maybe get a cool robot arm.

Michaelbrent has a wife and several kids, all of whom are much better looking than he is (though he admits that's a low bar to set), and much MUCH cooler than he is (also a low bar).

He also has a Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/MichaelbrentCollings and can be followed on Twitter through his username @mbcollings.

Sign up at http://eepurl.com/VHuvX for advance notice of MbC's new releases, sales, and freebies. You will also be kept safe when the Glorious Revolution begins! MWA-hahahahaha!

Today's Authtoberfest featured author is JOHN GREGORY HANCOCK!

1. It’s Halloween, pick 3 of your favorite writers to paint the town red with and tell us why you chose them.
John says: I'm assuming living, right ? although, its Halloween, so dead is within the realm. Okay, Living: Stephen King, Zoe Sharp, Clive Barker. Dead: Kurt Vonnegut, Ray Bradbury, H.P. Lovecraft. And by "paint the town red" I mean "have a fantastic conversation with".



2. You’re ready to head out with your pillowcase to collect loads of confections on All Hallows’ Eve, what’s your costume and why did you choose it?
John says: George Clooney, because then my wife will love me. :)



3. Old Mrs. Robinson opens her door and you’re holding open your pillowcase patiently waiting. “Oh deary,” she says in her frail, little old-lady voice. “I forgot it was Halloween. Don’t know why you kids go begging anyways. Let me go find something to give you.” She shuffles off and finally returns three and a half minutes later with 5 pennies, 2 peppermint candies that look like they went through the dryer, and her deceased husbands dentures. “Take what you like,” she offers, squinting at you.
What do you choose and why.
John says: Dentures. always pick dentures. Unless you can be batman, then be batman picking dentures.



4. I really love reading Dean Koontz but some of his stuff scares the bejesus out of me. What’s the spookiest book you’ve ever read?
John says: Well, the book that most creeped me out the most was The Exorcist, because I read it when I was eleven, the only person in the house at night , during a crashing thunderstorm with no electricity and reading it with a flashlight. I should mention this was before the movie came out. My imagination was much, much worse than what Blatty came up with, trust me.



5. You’re a writer by day and supernatural creature by night. (Shed that human skin you sack of bones) What are you and why?
John says: Always be a werewolf. Howling at the moon has to be invigorating. Feasting on the blood of your enemies only more so.



6. Every author has a bookshelf filled with his or her favorite reads. Run on over to yours and tell us the scariest book you have.
John says: The 30 lb. leather covered oversized 150 year old bible with my ancestor's names scrawled in the front. If that isn't the beginning of a great horror story, I don't know what is.



7. We don’t all write horror but there comes a time when you’ve got to surprise your readers and make sure their hearts are still beating. How do you prepare yourself to get in the spooky writing mood?
John says: For my book crawlspace, there is a scene where Ethan is trapped inside an MRI that is too small for him. This happened to me. Writing this scene was reliving it, I was covered in clammy sweat when I finished writing it. I was not born claustrophobic, but since being trapped in a tube and dropping my panic button, unable to breathe, is why I am now.



8. Stephen King’s front porch light is on but there are no Halloween decorations.
Do you:
a) trick-or-treat and cross your fingers that he’s handing out the good stuff
b) run screaming
c) call your mom to bring your favorite King paperback and beg for an autograph
John says: D: break in a side window and start making pig noises.



9. Congratulations, you just won the literary lottery and sold a million books at full price! The royalty check clears on October 28th. What are you buying for the neighborhood kids?
a) an assortment of mini candybars
b) an assortment of cheap, hard candies
c) full size Hershey bars
John says: Nothing. Those neighbor kids didn't write the book for me. And they should get off of my lawn!



10. Your writer friend calls you with some frightening news. They’re giving up on writing, can’t take the pressure any longer. What do you tell them?
John says: If I'm truly a friend, I'll support them no matter what they decide. But if I'm a fellow writer in a horror story, I will tape them to a chair and make them use dictating software to write book 4, dammit because I've waited long enough.

Connect with John Gregory Hancock!

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Twitter

Website

Goodreads

Amazon Author Page

Illustration page

Author Bio:

John Gregory Hancock is a storyteller.
A graphic professional for many years (which is one way to tell a story), his graphic journalism garnered international awards, and was nominated for a Pulitzer. He incorporates his visual sense in his ability to spin compelling yarns.
Currently, he has seven books of his own, and has written for The Future Chronicles anthology series, whose titles have hit the overall Amazon Top 10 Bestsellers list. The Immortality Chronicles - a Top 5 SF Anthology and Hot New Release - featured his story 'The Antares Cigar Shoppe', which was also nominated for Best American Science Fiction.
His work has appeared in other anthologies, including; Prep For Doom, Bite-Sized Offerings: Tales & Legends of the Zombie Apocalypse, Flying Toasters - The DeadPixel Tales, and Off the Kuf.
Hancock is not tied to any one genre, but is comfortable in the science fiction/fantasy/horror realm. Even a dash of humor, at times. The foreword to his 'A Plague of Dreams' says it well:
"These stories, these lies, these Dreamwood Tales, are dipped in the heady ink of my fevered dreams. They travel unique and varied paths to arrive at your shuttered door. I entreat you to undo the latch and let them in to lie upon your hearth. They will not bite. Except for the ones that do."
He lives with his wife and soul mate (who puts up with him, beyond all logic) and a fantastically brilliant son (who thrashes him soundly in video games -- really, it's no contest). They are hopelessly landlocked in Midwest America, far from ocean or desert. Or glacier, come to that.
Like many of his characters, life has shaped and unshaped him.
His fingers itch to write and so far, luckily, people seem to enjoy the things he offers.

______________________

Other Titles by John Gregory Hancock:

The Antares Cigar Shoppe | Part of the Immortality Chronicles Anthology | Science Fiction
The Utopia Syndrome | Science Fiction dystopia
Crawlspace | Horror
ROOF | Dystopian Science Fiction
Three Magic Tales | Fantasy
Amber | Science Fiction
Splintered Dreams | Science Fiction, Horror, Fantasy anthology of stories
Plague of Dreams | Science Fiction, Horror, Fantasy anthology of stories


Upcoming:
The Mortuary Arts | Horror

Get them all for FREE this weekend

Get your eBooks today!

Book Review! "Monster in His Eyes"

Monster in His Eyes

by J.M. Darhower

 

So, I started this book, and while I was reading I did a lot of thinking, thinking about how I'm over reading stories about sassy poor little co-eds who find some hot rich dude to solve all of their problems, money wise, food wise, clothing wise, and sexing wise. I've never read 50 Shades but while I was reading this I kept thinking, "Is this 50 Shades?" I guess I just wanted more character development in the beginning. There's more to a relationship than money and fornication.
That being said, the second half of the book started to get pretty twisted and I couldn't stop reading. And then... holy hell, twisted isn't even the word for the last quarter of the book.
Also, the philosophy musings tie in quite well. However, this book was missing a teeny tiny bit of magical somethingness. Hopefully I can explain later after I've let the book stew in my head for a bit.

Fellow writer having a book sale! #FREE

Pressure & Time

As a writer, insecurity is an emotion that I battle on a daily basis. This chord was plucked yesterday and resulted in a night of tossing and turning and reading. This is why: when talking about book signings with a family friend, I was asked why I don't venture out of my tiny little town to the nearby suburbs and approach the only Barnes and Noble around about a book signing at the store.
And this is where I choke.
It was so hard to tell him that I don't feel good enough to step into a brick and mortar.

 Don't get me wrong, I'm not embarrassed or ashamed by my Indie success, I'm happy, I'm proud! But I find that when those strings of insecurity are tugged, it takes me days to weeks to get back into the flow of writing again. I don't know if I'm ready for Barnes and Noble, but I have had success at vendor fairs.

Then I read all of these blog posts from successful authors, who I've followed and their words have taught me most of what I know about the publishing industry today. And I read the words from Industry leaders, who I used to look up to. And I wish that those people who say things to me like, "maybe you'll get a real publisher," would read these articles and really see what's going on and understand my reasoning for not wanting a traditional publisher.

So what's a girl to do? Fill her editors Inbox throughout the night of course. (Thankfully, I have an understanding editor who puts up with my craziness and random middle-of-the-night messages.)

As we are talking, I tell her, "I just don't want to walk into a store and be judged by a bunch of book snobs who don't understand the industry."

This is where the voice of reason/Kristy steps in and simply responds with: "Who cares? Judgement is usually jealousy in disguise." (which I read with Morgan Freeman's voice)

The voice of reason.

And then this shows up: "In 1966, Andy Dufresne escaped from Shawshank prison. All they found of him was a muddy set of prison clothes, a bar of soap, and an old rock hammer, damn near worn down to the nub. I remember thinking it would take a man six hundred years to tunnel through the wall with it. Old Andy did it in less than twenty. Oh, Andy loved geology. I imagine it appealed to his meticulous nature. An ice age here, million years of mountain building there. Geology is the study of pressure and time. That's all it takes really, pressure, and time."
  

Can you see the traditional publishing walls crumbling?

Indie-publishing, the study of Pressure and Time.