Melody Writes

On October 5, I announced my upcoming debut, Thin Slices, a collection of flash fiction horror. Today I'm excited to reveal the cover for Thin Slices.       I love this cover. I think it's unnerving and perfect for my collection. I had been building this collection for a while but did not have a title. Then, I was browsing some pre-made covers by Ruth Anna Evans , and this one jumped out at me. As soon as I saw it, my title popped into my head.   I first met Ruth Anna Evans on Twitter/X. From there, I came to know her art and writing. I even interviewed her for The Horror Tree for the 2023 Women in Horror series. Ruth Anna Evans is a kind, friendly, talented person. She was very quick with the cover and, knowing I was a newbie, even pointed out a few things I was missing. Covers are only one of her talents. She is also a horror writer with many titles out. Her writing style is much more graphic than mine, so be prepared if you read her work! Why a Pre-Made Cover? I am self-pu

  For years, I have been writing, submitting, and publishing my flash fiction all over the place. I am thrilled to announce that I have compiled all of my dark flash fiction written to date into my debut collection, Thin Slices. Thin Slices, launching January 12, 2025, contains 92 dark tales, all less than 1000 words apiece, 15 of which are exclusive to this collection.    Want a Sneak Peek? You can read some of my stories in my (now defunct) Monthly Microfiction section of my blog, but if you sign up for my newsletter (link below), you will receive a free story in the welcome email as well as one more story each month (end of October, November, December) until the launch date. With each story, I'll also offer behind-the-scenes information. The sneak peeks are exclusive to my free newsletter, but stay tuned to this space for various updates including a cover reveal coming later this month.   Calling all Reviewers! ARCs are now available in both pdf and epub format for anyone wil

Original review written Oct. 25, 2014 on Goodreads Original review (with updated comments) I picked up this little anthology at ConBravo this past summer as a way to support several authors and get a taste of their writing without breaking my bank account. As the title, "Spirits of Suburbia" suggests, the stories deal with fantasy in an urban setting and how that affects the characters. Some gain a new understanding of the world, while find an unlikely answer to some of their own problems. My favourite story in the book is "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished" by Tecuma Macintyre. A young lady invites her witch friend to cleanse her bookstore of evil spirits. The author does an excellent job of teasing out the back story of both these women in a way that intrigues the reader, but still feels like a complete tale. When Abby, the witch, is going through the cleansing ritual, I was actually a little scared. There is a lot of depth to this world, and I would be int

Original Review Published: July 26, 2016 on Goodreads . As the title reveals, the stories in this volume are meant to be chilling. Several of them are horror tales, such as "The Coldest Girl in Coldtown" and the eponymous "Poison Eaters", but others are more about "strange happenings" like "Paper Cuts Scissors" which is about a library where characters from novels come to life and intermingle. That one was probably my favourite because what long time reader doesn't wonder about meeting beloved fictional characters? On a less positive note, I feel like the stories could have been arranged better and a few of them cut from the book. For instance, "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" and "A Reversal of Fortune" have a different tone than the other stories. The Wolf one is short and painfully predictable in its tiny plot. The one about fortune I think is trying to be humorous as it scares and that doesn't really work for me. Scattered

Original Review written in September 2016 on Goodreads . The Review: It sounds like a simple wish - to be remembered when you die. That is Shari Cooper's wish, but when she falls to her death from a balcony at the age of 18, she didn't have a chance to make her mark. Remember Me is the story of Shari's quest to find her murderer and make some sort of posthumous mark on the world. This, like Until the End, is one of Christopher Pike's trilogies republished as one omnibus. Also like Until the End, it might have been better as one book. The first of the three - also called Remember Me - is the best part. It's a simple teen murder mystery with a supernatural element. The tension is solid and I enjoyed figuring out who might have killed Shari. I had read this book years ago, but had forgotten who the killer was. What I also enjoyed about the story was its emotion. Sometimes Pike got a little silly when Shari was looking into people's dreams, but there we

Review originally written in 2015 on Goodreads .   The Review: Before Stephen King eclipsed all other authors in my heart, there was another. One I think of as my "pre-Stephen-King" and that was Christopher Pike. I devoured all of his books I could get a hold of in high school. The other big horror writer of the day was R. L. Stine and I don't remember what it was that I preferred in Christopher Pike. I think I liked how some of his stories were less "evil dead cheerleader" and more "bizarro sci-fi murder mystery". With time travel. And lizard people evolving into humans. Recently, I've noticed Pike's been making something of a comeback, so I thought it might be interesting to revisit some of the YA out when I was a teen (dating myself I know). I began this trip with one of Pike's most popular series, the Final Friends trilogy, now republished as one book, Until the End . I should note that this isn't my first return to Pike

Title: Nothing But the Willows Author: J. D. Buffington   This is my second time reading and reviewing J. D. Buffington's work. Previously, I read and enjoyed his take on the Medusa myth: Come Hither, No Malice ( Review here ). So, when he was looking for people to review his short story collection, I happily volunteered, and was not disappointed. Buffington's stories are unique and varied. Many are told in first person narrative, but he also experiments with screenplay format and second-person. I would classify the stories generally under horror, but many have strong elements of sci-fi, fantasy, drama, and inspire more emotions than fear. Buffington's author bio states, "He seamlessly weaves vivid nightmares and haunting anxiety together to immerse readers into a state of fright and wonder," and I believe that this collection demonstrates that. The best stories in the collection offer up a sense of wonder along with the fears. A few of my favourites that best