We’ve often heard the phrase, “Life is a journey, not a destination.” While I do believe there is a final resting place, I also know that the road leading there can be rocky and smooth, curvy and straight, treacherous and safe. No two paths are the same, even if we share the road from time to time with others.
It’s sometimes too easy to look at someone else and think their path is smoother or rougher than it really is. And even if we share the journey for a few miles, the way we view the terrain is filtered through our experiences.
These last few months I’ve shared a journey with ten amazing writers for an anthology inspired and led by my former critique partner Edie Ramer and her pal Misty Evans. The cover art and formatting were also donated by Laura Morrigan and Lori Devoti. Stacia Kane wrote the forward.
It’s not simply the quality of the stories that make it stand out, but the spirit in which the stories were written.
I don’t know what the political or religious leanings are of the other authors in the anthology, and I honestly don’t want to know. I’m sure we are all over the spectrum from right to left, devout to non-believing. But we all agree that helping others is something we can rally behind, and we all agree that cancer is an insidious disease that needs more time and resources to stop.
All proceeds from the digital-released ENTANGLED will be donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. http://www.bcrfcure.org/ What makes this amazing is that we are united; we all donated our time and talent to benefit a cause we believe in. No one tossed out a story thinking it didn’t matter because it was for charity; every author took the time to craft a tale to please their readers, as well as new readers.
The women involved are truly amazing in their generosity and enthusiasm for this project. We all know women who have had this dreadful disease. We all know women who have survived. We all know women who haven’t.
ENTANGLED is a paranormal romance/urban fantasy anthology of 11 short stories that aims to give what we can to fight this disease and hopefully save someone’s mother, sister, daughter. That person could be someone we know. It could be us.
I especially want to single out Stacia Kane for her poignant forward. In part:
“What we can do, though, is hope. We can hope that one day our children or our grandchildren will be able to think of breast cancer the way we think of illnesses like typhoid fever, that once killed thousands but are now essentially eradicated and/or curable. There are doctors and scientists and really scarily smart people out there working hard to try to make that so, to re-write our world so “breast cancer” becomes maybe a little more serious than a cold, but with the same prognosis: Yeah, you might feel kind of tired for a couple of days, but you’re totally going to be fine after that.”
Here’s the summary of the anthology:
HALLOWEEN FROST by USA Today bestselling author Jennifer Estep (author of the Mythos Academy, Elemental Assassin, and Bigtime series) — It’s Halloween at Mythos Academy, but Gwen Frost and her friends are in for more tricks than treats when they run into a mythological monster intent on killing them.
THE FAT CAT by Edie Ramer (author of Cattitude, Galaxy Girls) — In a battle for the souls of seven women, a wizard has the god of war on his side; all the witch has is a fat, black cat.
MEDIUM RARE by Nancy Haddock (author of the Oldest City Vampire trilogy) —What’s spooking the spirits of St. Augustine? As the witching hour of Halloween approaches, ghost seer Colleen Cotton must team with a by-the-book paranormal investigator to locate the one ghost who can save the city’s specters. If she fails, her own great grandfather’s spirit may be lost forever.
SWEET DEMON by Misty Evans (author of the Witches Anonymous series) —When Chicago’s vampire king insists Kali Sweet join his empire, the vengeance demon must rely on her ex – the half-human, half-chaos demon who left her at the altar three hundred years ago – in order to escape the vamp’s clutches.
SIAN’S SOLUTION by Dale Mayer (author of the Psychic Visions series) — When a vampire discovers the human man she loves has been captured and hung in a blood farm, she goes against her own kind and risks everything to save him.
A BIT OF BITE by Cynthia Eden (author of NEVER CRY WOLF and ANGEL OF DARKNESS) — A killer is stalking the streets of Crossroads, Mississippi, and it’s up to Sheriff Ava Dushaine to stop him. But when suspicion falls on werewolf alpha Julian Kasey—Ava’s ex-lover and the man who still haunts her dreams—Ava knows that she’ll either have to prove his innocence…or watch the whole town go up in flames.
SINFULLY SWEET by Michelle Miles (author of the Coffee House series) — When Chloe bakes a little magic into her pastries, she attracts the attention of Edward, the sexy half-demon, half-witch, who’s come to warn her those who murdered her sister are now after her.
A NIGHT OF FOREVER by Lori Brighton (author of A Night of Secrets and To Seduce an Earl) — Who is Aidan Callaghan? Mary Ellen James is intent on uncovering the truth about the mysterious man, but as she soon finds out, some things are best left buried in the past.
FEEL THE MAGIC by Liz Kreger (author of the Part of Tomorrow series) — Jenna Carmichael’s magical attempt to rectify Jessica Manfield’s birth identity takes an unexpected turn when the past comes back to haunt her.
BREAKING OUT by Michelle Diener (author of the Tudor-set historical suspense novel In A Treacherous Court) — Imprisoned in a secret facility, powerful telekinetic Kelli Barrack and two other ‘special’ inmates grab a chance to escape, only to confront their worst nightmares on the outside.
GHOSTLY JUSTICE, an all-new Seven Deadly Sins novella by New York Times bestselling author Allison Brennan (author of the Seven Deadly Sins series) — Demon hunters Moira O’Donnell and Rafe Cooper are dragged into the dangerous world of nocturnal predators to find “Ghostly Justice” for a virgin sacrificed to an ancient blood demon.
If you like paranormal romance or urban fantasy, you can’t go wrong with ENTANGLED. I’m giving away a digital copy of ENTANGLED to one lucky commenter. If you’d like to check it out, you can buy it for your e-reader or computer at Amazon, BN.com, or Smashwords.
Tell us about the one charity you are passionate about, that you’d donate your time, treasure and talent to support.