Tag Archives: Published

Earth: Giants, Published

Earth: Giants, Golems and Gargoyles Release Day :)

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It’s release day!

Earth: Giants, Golems and Gargoyles is the second book in my Elemental Anthologies series and today is the day I get to send it out into the world. Yay!

We come from dust, and to dust we return…

Earth is steady. Solid. Reliable. It is the source of life and the thing which sustains it. But it’s not always serene and peaceful. It takes a lot to stir the earth but when it does, things get dramatic. Quakes swallow cities. Oceans rise. Mountains crumble. Earth is not weak, and it knows no pity.

Learn the strength of Earth and its creations in these eighteen stories, including: rusting dragons; mysterious summer jobs; magical inheritances; and dryads engaged in a bitter war.

Featuring: Jane Yolen; Chadwick Ginther; Kevin Cockle; Damascus Mincemeyer; Laura VanArendonk Baugh; Catherine Macleod; Mara Malins; Steve Toase; Suzanne J. Willis; Blake Jessop; Buzz Dixon; David L. Craddock; Rose Strickman; Gregory L. Norris; Tamsin Showbrook; Sarah Van Goethem; Tim Ford; and V.F. LeSann. 

This book is awesome. It has grave golems and rusting dragons, vampires and WWII. Druids and dryads and giant penises — oh my! I honestly struggle every time I’m asked to describe it, and I even had to take a couple runs at my Introduction to get it right because, as one reviewer said:

“It’s a challenging undertaking; ‘earth’ being not only one of the four cardinal elements, but also the planet on which we live, the soil which grows and nourishes all life, and the raw material of human construction (bricks, pottery, mined minerals, etc.) It’s pretty difficult to encapsulate al that in a few short stories…” — Melanie S., Goodreads Reviewer (full review here)

But even though I have a tough time boiling this collection down to one sentence (or maybe even because of it?), I can say unequivocally that it is an awesome collection. You know how sometimes the first book in a series is amazing and then you feel like the second one is phoned in a bit? This anthology is not phoned in. Not even a bit of it. In fact, I would say that Earth is even stronger than Fire — and not just in an elemental sense — and they’ll look amazing sitting side-by-side on your shelf.

I’m not going to slip into full-on commercial mode here, but I hope you’ll give Earth a shot.

Get Your Copy Here:

Amazon

Kobo

B&N

E is for Evil, Published

E is for Evil

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E is for Evil is out today!

I love this anthology series, and this might be my favourite of them all so far. I mean, usually the newest book is my favourite, but I think this one would be my favourite even if it wasn’t the newest one? Maybe. It’s tough to say, I suppose. But other people have liked it too!

“E is for Evil is a fun, quirky, and thoroughly entertaining anthology which is sure to have something for every type of reader. It is absolutely worth the time for anyone who enjoys imaginative and thought-provoking literature.”

-Brad OH Inc.

“No two stories are the same. If you love horror… or you want to experience horror on a level that is beyond guts and gore (though it has some of that too) I highly recommend trying this anthology.”

-Melodie, Goodreads reviewer

 

Get your copy now!

Ebooks:

US — https://amzn.to/2Kc5nIP
Canada — https://amzn.to/2HWFqvT
UK — https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07B4QPDQ1

Paperback:

Amazon — https://amzn.to/2L1fmBf

Free on Kindle Unlimited

Books, Published, Sirens

Sirens!

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Sixteen siren songs that will both exemplify and defy your expectations.

 

SIRENS -- cover by Jonathan C. Parrish

I have been talking about this anthology for months and months but it’s finally here so for today I’m going to shut up and just let it speak for itself 🙂

Sirens are beautiful, dangerous, and musical, whether they come from the sea or the sky. Greek sirens were described as part-bird, part-woman, and Roman sirens more like mermaids, but both had a voice that could captivate and destroy the strongest man. The pages of this book contain the stories of the Sirens of old, but also allow for modern re-imaginings, plucking the sirens out of their natural elements and placing them at a high school football game, or in wartime London, or even into outer space.

Featuring stories by Kelly Sandoval, Amanda Kespohl, L.S. Johnson, Pat Flewwelling, Gabriel F. Cuellar, Randall G. Arnold, Michael Leonberger, V. F. LeSann, Tamsin Showbrook, Simon Kewin, Cat McDonald, Sandra Wickham, K.T. Ivanrest, Adam L. Bealby, Eliza Chan, and Tabitha Lord.

 

Get It Now!

Direct from World Weaver Press

Amazon

Kobo

B & N

 

AmberEScott-Blurb

 

Also, check this out! One of the Sirens contributors, Cat McDonald has put together an amazing thing we’re calling the launchcast. It’s an amazing recording that features several Sirens authors reading excerpts of their stories alongside a couple author interviews. Cat is the amazing host and I the fairly competent co-host, and we hope you’ll enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed recording it.

 

or

The Sound of Sirens on Dropbox

 

Books, Corvidae, Published

Corvidae!

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“A creepy, crazy kaleidoscope of corvids, Corvidae is what happens when you bring together ingenious writers and sagacious subjects. It’s nothing short of a thrill ride when this anthology takes flight.”
—Susan G. Friedman, Ph. D., Utah State University; behaviorworks.org

Cover for CORVIDAE. Design by Eileen Wiedbrauk

It’s here! It’s here! Release day for Corvidae is here!

I am so freaking stoked.

Over the next days and weeks you’ll hear plenty from myself and contributors about this anthology, so I’m not going to spend a lot of time today with a big long post, I’m just going to say, it’s here.

You should pick up a copy.

Fer realz.

Then once you’ve read it you should take a peek at Magnus E. Magpie’s cawmentaries, consider leaving a review at the usual suspects (Amazon, Goodreads, etc.), and get ready to read Scarecrow because it’s coming soon too.

No really.

You should.

You won’t regret it 🙂

Available Direct from the Publisher:
World Weaver Press

Or Find it Online:
Amazon
Goodreads
Kobo

Thank you so much for your continued support of Rhonda Parrish’s Magical Menageries. I love creating these anthologies and I wouldn’t be able to do it without readers like you!

Uncategorized

The Clockwork Crown

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My dear friend, Beth Cato, has a new novel out today! The Clockwork Crown is the sequel to The Clockwork Dagger. I had the honour and pleasure of reading the nearly-final version The Clockwork Crown and I can tell you, if you liked The Clockwork Dagger you will love its sequel. Guaranteed.

ClockworkCrown_331x500

Narrowly surviving assassination and capture, Octavia Leander, a powerful magical healer, is on the run with handsome Alonzo Garrett, the Clockwork Dagger who forfeited his career with the Queen’s secret society of spies and killers—and possibly his life—to save her. Now, they are on a dangerous quest to find safety and answers: Why is Octavia so powerful? Why does she seem to be undergoing a transformation unlike any witnessed for hundreds of years?

The truth may rest with the source of her mysterious healing power—the Lady’s Tree. But the tree lies somewhere in a rough, inhospitable territory known as the Waste. Eons ago, this land was made barren and uninhabitable by an evil spell, until a few hardy souls dared to return over the last century. For years, the Waste has waged a bloody battle against the royal court to win its independence—and they need Octavia’s powers to succeed.

Joined by unlikely allies, including a menagerie of gremlin companions, she must evade killers and Clockwork Daggers on a dangerous journey through a world on the brink of deadly civil war.

Available now!

Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Kobo
Books-A-Million

B is for Broken, Published

B is for Broken

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Cover design by Jonathan C. Parrish, original artwork by Tory Hoke

Broken people, broken promises, broken dreams and broken objects are just some of the ways these 26 fantastic stories interpret the theme of ‘Broken’. From science fiction to fantasy, horror to superheroes the stories within these pages cover a vast swath of the genres under the speculative fiction umbrella.

Featuring original fiction by:

~ Brittany Warman ~ Milo James Fowler ~ C.S. MacCath ~ Sara Cleto ~ Samantha Kymmell-Harvey ~ Megan Arkenberg ~ Gary B. Phillips ~ Alexandra Seidel ~ Jonathan C. Parrish ~ Simon Kewin ~ Beth Cato ~ Cory Cone ~ Cindy James ~ Alexis A. Hunter ~ Michael M. Jones ~ Steve Bornstein ~ BD Wilson ~ Michael Kellar ~ Damien Angelica Walters ~ Marge Simon ~ Michael Fosburg ~ Suzanne van Rooyen ~ L.S. Johnson ~ Pete Aldin ~ Gabrielle Harbowy ~ Lilah Wild ~ KV Taylor ~

Available now at:
Smashwords
Kobo
Amazon
Barnes and Noble

And add it to your shelves at Goodreads

After months of hard work I’m incredibly excited to announce that B is for Broken is live and available for purchase! This anthology is the second in the Alphabet Anthologies series and because the theme was broader than the first (A is for Apocalypse) the stories are even more diverse in regard to genre, style, voice and theme than before. We’ve got retold fairy tales, robots and spaceships, superheros, minotaurs, second world fantasy and so, so, SO much more. The story length ranges from flash fiction to an incredible fantasy novelette from C.S. MacCath (trust me, you don’t want to miss this one).

Over the coming weeks I’ll be sharing contributor interviews, excerpts and even (once it’s complete) a ‘Broken Story‘ to try and tempt you into picking up a copy but if you enjoy speculative fiction I don’t think you can go wrong with this anthology. I’m biased but it really is packed full of awesome.

“This collection is a massive and magnificent assortment of truly enjoyable stories. There is simply no way to read this book  and not find a story you can connect with or love. This is the book to have in your travel bag. In it you are sure to find a tale to fit any mood. Each time you open it, a new adventure begins.”

— Anita Allen, Assistant Publisher/Editor, Mythic Delirium Books

Also? We’re holding a Facebook party to celebrate the release and you’re invited 🙂

Published, Writing

Published: Coming Storm

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Shroud Issue #16 -- Spring 2015
I LOVE it when my name is on the cover!

One of my favourite stories ever (that I’ve written, anyway) was published this weekend in the latest issue of Shroud magazine. I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am that Coming Storm has not only found a great home (just look at that cover!) but is now available for me to share with the world. When I showed this story to my favourite critic (my husband) he said, “Rhonda, this might be the best story you’ve ever written.” and since he doesn’t give unwarranted praise, that made my heart soar.

Annnnd then on Shroud’s Facebook page they said:

“Rhonda Parrish’s story “Coming Storm” is a particularly powerful piece of writing in Shroud 16. It addresses a number of important issues under a thin but riveting veneer of dark fantasy.”

*squee*

One more cool thing? If you check out this issue’s Amazon listing and use the ‘Look Inside’ feature you can read the first couple pages of it for free. Because #winning.

Proud writer is proud.

🙂

 

Published, Writing

Published: The Witch

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Issue 15 Cover PreviewIssue #15 of Plasma Frequency Magazine is out, and it includes my short story, The Witch.

Go. Read the story and then come back to finish this blog post. Seriously. I’ll wait.

*waits*

*waits some more*

*waits a wee bit more*

Ya know, I can tell you haven’t gone to read the story. It’s short. Humor me. I’m about to talk about it and you’ll get more from the discussion if you’ve read the story.

*waits*

Right.

So.

Some stories are trickier to sell than others and The Witch was a tricky story to sell. It gathered 21 rejections including a fair number of ‘close but not quite’ personal rejections and several times it got rejected for the same reason. The editors would say (I’m paraphrasing of course), “I know what’s going on in this story, but I don’t know if my readers would.”

Which could be legit but every time I considered making the story more obvious I’d send it to a friend and be like, ‘Do you know what’s going on here?’ and they’d be like, ‘Yes?’ and I’d be like, ‘Damn it!’ which was a bit confusing for them but if everyone who read it ‘got it’… well then the problem was one of perception, not storytelling. So how do I fix a problem that exists outside of the story?

The answer, it turned out, was Plasma Frequency Magazine. Which just goes to show that it’s all about finding the right market for the right story. My point (which most of us know but occasionally need a reminder of anyway) is, the home for your work is out there, the trick is not giving up before you find it.

Related, but not, my current record for number of rejections before a sale is 23, and that eventual sale is one of the ones I’m most proud of thus far in my career. What’s your record so far? Can you beat mine? LOL

 

This issue of Plasma Frequency is available at:

Amazon:
Print or Kindle

Createspace:
Print

Weightless Books:
Kindle, ePub, or PDF

Poetry, Published

Published: A Chance to be Heard / In The Valley

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Page and Spine

I’m going to briefly interrupt the holiday-themed posts to share the fact two of my poems were published at Page and Spine last week. The two pieces are really very different from one another, so it tickles me to see them right beside each other on the page. The first, A Chance to be Heard, is a sci-fi poem inspired by robocaller/dialers and the second, In the Valley, is nature-tastic.