LAUNCH! SACRIFICE from Duskbound Books is OUT!
and other news from Duskbound Books
SACRIFICE, a Duskbound Anthology is OUT! Congratulations to the participating authors in having their short stories included in this year's anthology!
EVERY GOOD STORY HAS A SACRIFICE.
From poignant sacrifices made for love and family to heroic ones in the face of adversity, explore the complicated choices we make that define our humanity. Traverse realms of fantasy, science fiction, romance, and suspense through the eyes of 12 talented authors weaving tales of courage, redemption, and loss.
How far will you go? What will you give? Who will you become?
Your sacrifice awaits.
All profits from this anthology will be donated to The Little Free Library charity.
Participating authors include Elizabeth Davis, Evan Graham, Aly Welch, Jason Pomerance, Steffen Kønsen, Peter L. Harmon, Susan K. Hamilton, Kaytalin Platt, Nicola Caroli, Ed Dubiel, David Lee, and TCC Edwards.
Elizabeth Davis
Elizabeth Davis is a second generation writer living in Dayton, Ohio. They live there with their spouse and two cats—neither of which have been lost to ravenous corn mazes or sleeping serpent gods. They can be found at deadfishbooks.com when they aren't busy creating beautiful nightmares and bizarre adventures. Their work can be found at The Initialization of Briar Rose, Eternally Haunted Summer, and Necro-Romantic Dark Edition
In Elizabeth's Nefertiti, a discovery in the attic leads our protagonist down a mystery of their own childhood memories and Ancient Egyptian Cosmology.
Evan Graham
Evan Graham is an Ohio native who consistently refuses to seek help for his lifelong sci-fi addiction. Since there are not enough stories currently in existence to satisfy him, he had no choice but to start writing his own. Tantalus Depths is his debut novel, and introduces his Calling Void series, an anthology of stories celebrating the wonder and terror of the Unknown.
In Evan's Basilisk Whispers, when a computer scientist earns a prestigious position on a team researching a piece of technology built by a godlike AI, it seems to be the opportunity of a lifetime. Yet the closer he gets to understanding the impossible technology he studies, the farther he drifts from his partner, his humanity, and his own sanity.
Aly Welch
Aly Welch lives in Western New York with her husband, author Mike X Welch, and their twin sons. Welch is the author of one short story collection and three novels: Silly Little Monsters: Collected Stories (2020), A Better Me (2022) and Drama Queen (2023), Girl Next Door (2024). Welch’s work has also appeared in the Deception, Family and Passageways: Mythos anthologies.
When she isn’t writing, Aly Welch enjoys acting, karate, and yoga. She also loves exploring the woods, and still hopes to find magic behind every tree and under every rock. Visit www.alywelch.com
In Aly's Before Dawn, a grieving widow tries to rebuild a life with her surviving son after the death of her husband and his older brother. As she crumbles under the weight of the real world, her son introduces her to a fantasy realm where anything is possible.
Jason Pomerance
Jason Pomerance is the author of the novels Women Like Us and Celia At 39, as well as several pieces of short fiction. A proud member of the WGA, he has also written movie and TV projects for numerous studios and production companies. He lives in California with his partner and their beagle, and he's currently working on a Queer YA time travel romance. Let's hope he finishes!
In Jason's Room 917, a man meeting a long-time friend-with-benefits at a hotel room in New York finds a surprise when he walks into the room.
Steffen Kønsen
Steffen Kønsen is a literal shadow of a man; a nom de guerre. He is a frustrated idealist, which has made him a grouchy misanthrope anti-natalist. It's sad, really. Investigating the uglier aspects of human behavior through fiction is dirty work that leads to depictions one might find distasteful. In a society where righteous indignation is a national pastime, a layer of insulation seems to make a modicum of sense.
Depicting in a made-up setting things that do occur in real life is not necessarily an endorsement of those things. Of course, it could be, but it could just as easily be a critique thereof without the heavy-handedness of preaching about it. Humans are ugly, stupid, disgusting, hypocritical creatures, but we also have the potential—sometimes realized—to be beautiful, compelling, and consistent.
Critical self-analysis is a crucial part of this, yet how many of us challenge ourselves to consider: "Why do I act this way?" or "How could things be different?" We live in a rotten society that breeds dysfunction and abuse, and yet we focus upon individual behavior as if it were an outlier, rather than indicting the systems that train us to be so dysfunctional. It's much easier to ostracize another person than to confront the monster within ourselves.
It would be lovely to live in a world of free thought and inquiry. Not a world without consequence—because for every action there is an equal and opposite one—but a world where we have the discernment to separate fact from fiction, and to turn indignation into action. And, perhaps—just maybe—we might cease being our own and each other's worst enemies.
In Steffen's Elegy for a Goon, enforcers are the professional hockey players who use their fists to protect the superstars. They pay a punishing physical, emotional and cognitive price for it and, when they outlive their usefulness, they are discarded and often forgotten... but what becomes of them?
Peter L. Harmon
Peter L. Harmon's primary role day-to-day is taking care of a rambunctious pug. When he's not doing that he produces TV shows, writes screenplays, co-hosts a podcast, and avoids working on his latest novel by submitting short stories to cool anthologies.
He is trying to quit social media, but you can usually find out what he's up to by following @HighDivePublishing on Instagram or listening to the aforementioned podcast The VamPetey Diaries, which is a The Vampire Diaries rewatch podcast.
He has not yet achieved Elite Status.
In Peter's Elite Status, a gym rat with a mantra will do anything to reach Elite Status at his expensive boutique gym.
Susan K. Hamilton
Susan K. Hamilton is an award-winning, multi-genre author whose books include Darkstar Rising, Shadow King, The Devil Inside, and Stone Heart. She's been fortunate to have several short stories featured in the Writing Bloc/Duskbound Books series of themed anthologies: Escape, Deception, Family, and Sacrifice.
Horse-crazy since she was a little girl, she pretty much adores every furry creature on the planet (except spiders). She also loves comfy jeans, pizza, and great stand-up comedy. Susan lives near Boston with her husband and after a short hiatus is noodling through some new novel ideas.
In Susan's Heart of the Matter, a detective and recovering black magic addict is running out of time. With less than an hour to save his sister's life and prevent a dark mage from unleashing a hoard of supernatural creatures on an unsuspecting city, he may have to become the very thing he hunts.
Kaytalin Platt
Kaytalin Platt is the author of the genre-bending fantasy series, The Equitas, which follows a powerful time mage trapped in a recurring war with a creature bent on destroying the universe—and who stole her husband as his host. She is also the author of the spicy dark fantasy romance novel, Of Silver and Sin, and several short stories appearing in Writing Bloc and Duskbound anthologies. Born in Deer Park, Alabama, Platt now resides just outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with her husband, child, and neurotic rescue dog, Mr. Bones.
In Kaytalin's The Twelfth Daughter of Erstwhile Garden, a young woman is tricked into marrying the God of Eternal Rest by his betrothed—her twin sister—after eating a poisoned apple, forever changing the course of her life as Tender of Erstwhile Garden.
TCC Edwards
T.C.C. Edwards, or just Chris, comes from Waterloo, Ontario, and has been enjoying the life of an expat teacher at a university in Busan in South Korea. He lives just outside Busan with his wife and two sons, and enjoys going on long hikes around the hills and mountains of Korea.
His first novel is the sci-fi adventure Far Flung, published through Duskbound Books. He also contributed short stories to the anthologies Passageways: Mythos, Family, and Deception. Before that, he edited and wrote short stories for anthologies published by the Busan Writing Group. He remains an active member of several writing and arts groups in Ulsan and Busan.
He can be reached through his Substack page at tccedwards.substack.com, or on his Facebook author page, facebook.com/tcceauthor.
In TCC's The Starlady of Taleros, an ambassador travels to an alien world to meet a human woman who has lived among the locals for many years. When she finds out how and why the woman has stayed so long, it becomes clear that the castaway's difficult journey is far from over.
David Lee
David Lee is a retired school counselor who worked in public and private schools for forty years. He has been married since 1978 to Jackie, the love of his life, is the proud father of five amazing children, and is “Papa” to seven extraordinary grandkids. He was born and raised in El Paso, Texas, attended the University of San Francisco, and lived in the Riverside area of Southern California before moving to Reno..
Mr. Lee is the author of “Hummingbird” and “A Subtraction,” short stories found in Writing Bloc anthologies. He has also had numerous articles published in Reno’s “The Good Life” magazine. If you really want to know what he is thinking, check out “Musing on the Mayhem,” (davidrlee.blogspot.com) a blog he has been keeping since 2007.
In David's What Your Heart is Saying, Michael always thought the key to life was deciding what one wanted—weighing the pros and cons, figuring out how to get it, and then making the choice. But the decision he and his wife face could unalterably change their lives forever.
Nicola Caroli
In Nicola's The Art of Eating Cherries, Anna's worst fears become true when she accidentally swallows a cherry pit.