The Witches of Deliver Us

Another outstanding illustration by Daniel Johnson, this depiction of the witches of Deliver Us delivers all the salient details of our three main villains. Pictured left to right is Picana, Mya, and Tomana. Picana uses lightning to torture her victims. Insane Mya’s go to method is poison. Tomana is the […]

Review of Tales from the Forest

Full disclosure that I have a story in this anthology. I will only be reviewing the rest of the stories. All remarks below exclude my own story, including the count—twelve stories exist in this anthology. The fairy tale of Red Riding Hood is a cautionary tale in the category of […]

Seeing Red: A Reflection

Looking at my last name and the last name of the author of Seeing Red, you’ll understand why this isn’t a review. My brother is author T. M. Doran. As such, this posting is not a proper review of this novel, it won’t receive a rating, and it won’t be […]

Review Dead of Winter

I read Dead Leaves by Kealan Patrick Burke and added Dead of Winter immediately to the list. Dead Leaves is a great novel to read at Halloween and during autumn. Dead of Winter, which targets Christmas and wintertime, is not quite at the level as its cousin collection. A sample […]

It’s the Writing

If I asked “what are the elements that make up a story,” how would you respond? Characters, plot, theme, mood. All correct answers—full points. But most people forget the one element of writing that distinguishes some writers from others. It’s the writing itself. Many, if not all, writers are readers. […]

Review of Sweet Remembrance

Sweet Remembrance by Emily Anne Putzke is a hidden treasure and one of the best retellings or interpretations I’ve read of any fairytale. This is a tall claim, but I’ll stick by it. “The Little Match Girl” by Hans Christian Andersen is a short story meant to both challenge and […]

Queen Little Match Girl

In my Kingdom series, I’ve taken the main character of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Match Girl” and put her into a fantasy epic as a queen. If you’ve read “The Little Match Girl,” this may seem like an odd choice. Yet, Andersen’s short story is a fairy tale, and […]

Review of Might of the Divided City

Might of the Divided City by Jeremy Gordon Grinnell accomplished a rare feat while I was reading it. I planned to review it, I planned to take notes on it, but suddenly, I was so wrapped up in the plot and characters, I was just reading it with the abandon […]

Review Winters’ Resonance

Jenifer Lynn’s Winters’ Resonance (A Series of Echoes Book 1) is a horror novel that scares us with the most frightening monster of all—teenagers. Seriously, it’s a chilling story of killer humanoids that appear as teens from out of the night to wreak destruction. In the prologue, a family on […]