Shades by A.L. Hawke

 

Release date: February 27, 2023

Subgenre: Paranormal romance

 

About Shades:

 

They hunt angels on the highway.

Amanda’s road trip across the USA is a reward for graduating from college—and an opportunity to record her traveler podcast. On her drive, she gets the adventure she’s seeking after nearly being knocked off the highway. There she has a chance encounter with a shadowy man wearing shades.

Danger follows. A devil named Lilith directs her motorcycle gang to crash into Amanda’s car. The stranger in shades saves her. He calls her an angel, destined for ascension to heaven. That doesn’t sound so bad, until he explains that it means she’s going to die on this trip if she stays on the road.

Well, Amanda won’t disappoint her podcast fans. And as she drives in search of adventure, the devils won’t stop pursuing her. Not before they steer her into even more danger. There’s more trouble in store for her, all set as a trap to bring the man she’s falling in love with closer to damnation.

Content warning: This novel contains sexual scenes, adult situations, and profanity.

 

Excerpt:

 

John felt the rumble of his engine and the slow drift of his car, almost hypnotic, as he sped across the desert. Multicolored light rushed past the edges of his windshield, splashing like colored raindrops and sparks. A mountain rose on the horizon. It left him behind as fast as it had appeared. Every inch his steering wheel turned was a sharp turn. He tracked the road following the lines lit by his headlights, cars passing over the deserted highway every few seconds, though they were miles apart. When he had first driven the car years ago, he had gripped the wheel tightly with the realization that an impact with anyone on the highway at this speed would be fatal—not for him but for anyone he collided with. Now, seasoned and worn, having wandered for years, he passed cars as if they were hills and valleys.

He pressed harder on the gas. The hills and horizon bent before his eyes. At this speed, every mile was a turn. This fast, the car itself aided him in impossible turns beyond his senses. He’d be invisible to the human eye now, visible only to, perhaps, spirits and specters of the dead stuck in this cesspool of a world, like him.

He felt desolation. Blessed loneliness. So he headed for his sanctuary.

Less than ten minutes from Arizona, he found himself in another desert. In Denver the temperature had been in the eighties during the day. Here in the Mojave Desert in the middle of the night, it was a nice seventy outside.

He slowed down as he approached his favorite spot. The drops of light stopped bouncing off the glass. The colors faded. Then he was in darkness in a canyon. But even if the sun were out, it’d be completely barren.

He turned on a dirt road only he knew about. In another moment, he was there.

Before him was a vast field of sand and salt. He shut off his headlights, and it was pitch black except the bright stars above. He got out of the car, and his black boots crackled along dry, caked dirt. Then he put his hands in his pockets and walked away from his car.

That’s when the images came. Usually he turned from them. Not after seeing Amanda. The images always came to him more clearly when he was in the dark. He never slept because of them. Now he longed for them while awake. Now he could sift through them to try to make sense of the new mark. Amanda. To see if she really was who he thought she was. Perhaps he had only imagined the resemblance?

In a short time, a picture came to his mind as vivid as the stars.

He was on the beach in Southern California. It was afternoon. But just as now, he had his thumbs in the pockets of his jeans, was wearing shades, and was staring out at the sea.

 

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About A.L. Hawke:

A.L. Hawke is the author of the internationally bestselling Hawthorne University Witch series. The author lives in Southern California torching the midnight candle over lovers against a backdrop of machines, nymphs, magic, spice and mayhem. A.L. Hawke writes fantasy and romance spanning four thousand years, from pre-civilization to contemporary and beyond.
 

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Interview with Chris H. Stevenson, author of Screamcatcher: Sa’be Most Monstrous (Book 4 in the Screamcatcher Series)

Today it gives the Speculative Fiction Showcase great pleasure to interview Chris H. Stevenson, author of Screamcatcher: Sa’be Most Monstrous.

Hi Chris, welcome back to the Speculative Fiction Showcase. We’re here to talk about your latest release, Screamcatcher: Sa’be Most Monstrous, which was published in August this year. This is the fourth instalment in your Screamcatcher series. What can you tell us about the series and the title? 

The main title is derived from the words Scream Catcher, which is the plot gimmick used throughout the books. In one mention or another.  The kids actually enter the world of an overloaded scream catcher and have to find and battle their way out of its weblike geography, all the while fighting off monstrous nightmares that have been stored within. As the series progressed, I turned the kids into a well-qualified paranormal investigation team, putting themselves up for hire, and taking on different assignments.

In this latest instalment, a man in a remote region of California is abducted by mysterious intruders and the Sheriff’s department seem unable to help - or unwilling.  How do Jory Pike and the Badlands Paranormal Society get involved? 

They get involved through a frantic phone call from a despondent woman (since they openly list their services to the public now). Since my lead MC is a half-blood Ojibwe Native, it seemed appropriate for her and her grandfather to involve themselves with such a creature of lore and solve the mystery.

Tell us about Jory Pike and her friends. Who are they and how did they come to set up the Badlands Paranormal Society? 

Each one of Jory’s team members have been Jory’s friends for years, and it is by sheer luck and happenstance that they became involved in the first incident/investigation. Jory is the MC who is 17 years-old, has Ojibwe ancestry and is the leader of the group. Her boyfriend, Choice, is the keen-sighted, innovative type with boundless energy. Darcy is the slightly unfit member, but the youngest who ranks as a genius. They refer to her as a walking database. Darcy’s boyfriend, Lander, is a bit slow witted, an expert mechanic, and the most recklessly courageous of the bunch. All of their skills and motivations compliment each other’s attributes.   

Jory and friends quickly find they’re out of their depth despite their skills. What goes wrong? 

The team is really unequipped by underestimating the natural skills and stealth that the Bigfoot presents. It seems it outthinks them or anticipates every move they make, confusing their mission plan and turning the tables on them. This opposition makes the hunt much more unpredictable and dangerous, to the point where Jory’s 91 year-old grandfather must intercede and take over most of the important decisions. He is astutely more aware of the “Sa’be” legend than the others. 

The story is set in the Mt. Shasta region in Northern California. What is the significance of the setting? 

Mt Shasta in Northern California is the perfect place for the setting since the majority of Bigfoot reports have come out of this region. Bluff Creek is the famous location of the Patterson Giblin film. Mt. Rainier, Shasta, Helens and other peaks are famous sighting spots.

 

What part is played by Jory’s grandfather, a 91-year-old full blood Ojibwe, who has a suspicion he knows what’s at stake? 

Albert White Feather Pike is steeped in his tribe’s cultural legends. He has hinted that he has had his face-to-face encounters with the legendary beast. He has certainly grown up with all the authentic tales told by his ancestors and even the tales from other tribes. His wisdom is needed and has a profound effect on the outcome of the journey.  

Your tagline for the book is: The Legend of Boggy Creek meets Supernatural. Tell us more...

The Legend of Boggy Creek was one of the first oldest accounts of an interaction between a rogue Bigfoot and a family, who live out in the forested landscape. It represents only a general interaction in this story, being that my creatures do not consistently invade or kill humans. The Supernatural TV series represents the plot where a team of investigators are used to solve paranormal and myth-related mysteries. 

You dedicate the book to Jeff Meldrum, Professor of Anatomy & Anthropology at Idaho State University. Who is Jeff and what is his area of interest? 

Jeff is a well-known professor who studies early bi-pedal walking advancement and structure in early man. He is perhaps the owner of the largest foot cast collection of Bigfoot in the United States. He is unafraid in expressing his view that Bigfoot/Sasquatch is a living, breathing creator, one that has its ancient roots in Giganthropithicus, the great ape of the Pleistocene period.  

Talk us through your interest in cryptids and Bigfoot in particular. How did you become interested?

I became interested in reading one of the first articles about the report of the creature being filmed by Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin, in Northern California. I was in a barber shop at the time. Since then, I’ve been on several field trips and consumed all the literature and books that I could read. I’ve had two experiences, one audio and one visual. My involvement in the love of cryptozoology blossomed soon after, delving into subjects like UFOs, ghosts, crypto creatures: lake monsters, sea monsters, Dogman, Mothman, Yeti, living dinosaurs, mega sharks and other such mystery animals. “Cryptozoology” means the hunt for hidden animals. 

How important is Native American lore as well as contemporary research to this legend? 

It’s extremely important. Over 130 Native North American tribes have these creatures recorded in their history as wild tribal men of the forest. Their reverence and tales go back hundreds, if not thousands of years. Their witness testimony is absolutely consistent and non-waving as to the testimony brought forth by all the witnessing members. Sasquatch, they insist, is a living breathing magical being of the forest and ranks very high in their zoological system. They believe that Sasquatch has several spiritual capabilities that can confuse and trick humans.   

The Screamcatcher series has received numerous awards and nominations. Tell us about those and what they mean to you. 

I knew very well that I had a unique plot on my hands when I introduced the inside nightmare world of a dreamcatcher. I knew that it hadn’t been done before, and being surprized at this, I jumped right on it. The trick was, how would I do it? I know I had one chance, so I gave it my best shot. It must have worked out very well (I rather knew it would), because I received about six awards fairly quickly, from grand prize winner, super five star, a bronze medal, finalist, best YA book of the year, and so on. I had great characters, sure, but I think it was the plot and dream catcher gimmick that impressed the readers, editors and publishers.  

You have had an interesting and varied life: your occupations have included newspaper editor/reporter, astronomer, federal police officer, housecleaner and part time surfer. How did you become a full-time writer and how much do you draw on your own experience? 

I became a writer in earnest in 1986, got published in 1987 in pro slick magazines with some short stories, gained membership in the Science Fiction Writers of America, and procured a brand name agent, all in a timeframe of one year. This all came about because I read a short story in Twilight Magazine that really bowled me over. I've been writing every since then. 

Screamcatcher is a YA series, but you write in other genres. Do you have a favourite? 

YA is my favorite category because I find it so easy to write it. I’ve gotten in trouble with adult books with love scenes and romance, so I shy away from that or leave it out completely. However, I won’t stop writing adult-themed books entirely. My success has come from the YA books, I think because I click with their mind-thought. 

You were born in California but now live in Alabama. How well do you know the Shasta forest? 

I’ve been there once, just to know my way around, but not for any long, extended stay. I’m pretty much used to that type of foliage, only not so rocky, with very tall pine trees. Alabama is filled with more, smaller tree varieties with very thick scrub undergrowth, which makes traveling progressively difficult. 

What will you do next? 

Seriously, I’m really trying to get motivated and come up with a very unique plot for book number 5 in the Screamcatcher series. It’s very hard to decide on what type of work or incident or monster/s to decide on, without repeating a lot of similar narrative and ideas. It has to be a standalone as well, which makes it easy for the newcomer to understand the characters and their mission motives. 

Amazon

About Chris H. Stevenson:

Chris H. Stevenson, (pen name, Christy J. Breedlove) originally born in California, moved to Sylvania, Alabama in 2009. His occupations have included newspaper editor/reporter, astronomer, federal police officer, housecleaner and part time surfer. He has been writing off and on for 36 years, having officially published books beginning in 1988. Today he writes in his favorite genre, Young Adult, but has published in multiple genres and categories. He was a finalist in the L. Ron. Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest and took the first place grand prize in the Entranced writing contest for The Girl They Sold to the Moon. Other awards include YA Book of the Year in the N.N. Light Novel Writing Contest, and bronze medal for YA horror in the Reader’s Favorite International Book Awards Contest, with the Finalist award for Screamcatcher: Dream Chasers, in the Horror category with International Book Awards Contest.

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Orphans of Canland by Daniel Vitale

 

Release date: November 15, 2022

Subgenre: Dystopian, Climate fiction

About Orphans of Canland:

 

It's 2088, and the dust has settled on America, decades after an environmental collapse. The eco-totalitarian organization, WORLD, has reconfigured society with the intention of restoring nature. Twelve-year-old eternal optimist Tristan Weekes lives in what he believes must be paradise: Canland, an agrarian California desert-greening project. However, Tristan's life-defining medical condition, analgesia, prevents him from feeling physical pain, leaving his brain's stress centers unresponsive to everything from ego-blows to heatwaves.
 
Well-intended, curious, and wielding a stunning vocabulary, Tristan loves to listen to the subversive theories spouted by his older brother, Dylan, a drug-addicted satellite hacker. He also wants to prove his independence to his mother, Helena, a powerful population control-extremist. Meanwhile, all around him, the survivors of the environmental collapse are just working toward a better tomorrow. But when a slew of violent acts befalls Canland, Tristan must confront certain truths about the community he loves-including his family's secrets, his own involvement in the horrors enacted by WORLD, and the debts that are owed to the orphans of Canland.
 
In this work of literary fiction, set against the backdrop of a frighteningly plausible dystopia, Daniel Vitale explores the fate of our planet, the nature of family, and the duty of science, as Orphans of Canland asks: What does it mean to belong on Earth?

Excerpt:

 

On the blanket we’ve laid out, we eat tomato sandwiches as we listen to three nearby musicians, on guitar, violin, and wood flute, play a major tune that lifts and lilts with strange cadences, like the spider in my mind, gluing up the rungs of its web with the pluck of a leg. Helena and I don’t speak as we watch and listen to them play. I focus on my chewing, trying not to think of any specific person’s face as this rare accompaniment delights a small audience with song. When it’s time to go, she says, “Ready, Tristan?” We fold the blanket up together and I mount the back seat of her bicycle, which is painted red and chipped a little here and there, with tires twice as wide as Dylan’s. She pedals half as fast as him and never swerves or rides the fringe or catches air. We pass the hillock, but I don’t look.

“Did you notice the costumes?” Helena says.

“No.” 

“The band—they were dressed like elves.”

“Oh, then yes.” 

“You thought they normally dressed like that?”

“I don’t know.” 

Helena yelps with laughter, and she keeps on laughing, and that makes me happy. We ride west, under vine tents, through the black stone heat-absorption fields, past the succulent fields with millions of glowing cactus needles . . . past the Crafts Contribution Compound, where Helena contributes, with its smithy and kilns and the woodshop and the lens cutter, the roofed lean-tos in which the gear contributors sit while they stitch and thread and reinforce . . . take the straight wide road past the wildflowers and juniper, the migrating clouds of bees, the young saplings that will one day be a forest, home to chipmunks and foxes and birds and more trees . . . beside the riparian sagebrush lining the shallow arroyo that feeds a trickle of water to all of Canland . . . and finally arrive at the three largest buildings in the whole Part, each one austere, constructed or renovated with recycled materials, and aesthetically unique. One, small and plain, is devoted to housing and recreation; another, larger and seeming as if pulled together by a magnetic force that attracted all the nearest metals, is devoted to offices, classrooms, and supply storage; the third, devoted to energy manufacturing, scientific research, and greenhouses, is the largest and newest-looking, though it is actually the longest-standing—a refurbished warehouse that used to store goods for one of the largest capitalist organizations on Earth, before the Evanescence.

 

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About Daniel Vitale:

DANIEL VITALE is a Jewish-American writer and a graduate of Amherst College. Originally from New York, he now lives in Los Angeles, where he spent his first year working in TV before writing fiction; he has also written screenplays, poetry, and songs. Former goalie of his college hockey team, Daniel now owns a hockey goalie coaching business and works with players of all ages and skill levels. His experience coaching children with autism has been particularly influential in the writing of his first novel Orphans of Canland, as has his interest in the relationship between climate change and the development of the American west. He is currently working on his second novel.

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