We're proud to present the new covers by Malgorzata Mika for the first three volumes of "The Black Beacon Books of Mystery". The covers have been updated for the Kindle versions and will be updated for the print versions in the next few days. The first two volumes are available now and the submissions window is currently open for the third volume.
Monday 29 April 2024
Tuesday 23 April 2024
Pirate Anthology: S.B. Watson
Hi S.B.,
Why pirates?
Have you ever found treasure?
Where can we find you online?
Sunday 21 April 2024
Cover Reveal: The Black Beacon Book of Ghosts
Time to reveal the spooky cover for The Black Beacon Book of Ghosts! The cover for this anthology is provided by Meg Wright of Red Wallflower. We're thrilled to have this original and eye-catching cover for what will be a ghost story anthology unlike any other.
This title will be released in the lead-up to Halloween, and as always, the Kindle pre-order deal will be available beforehand.
Effigy in Flagrante - Matthew R. Davis
The Spreading Rot - Leanbh Pearson
The Widow of Wood Forge - C. M. Saunders
The Ice Tigs - Rose Biggin
The Gospel of Abbott Wulfbald - Lawrence Harding
Red Dirt - Em Starr
The Yūrei of Old Stonybrook Lane - Michael Picco
Through a Looking Glass Darkly - Karen Keeley
Dead Angel Trail - Robert Allen Lupton
Where the Heart Is - Mike Adamson
Fiachra Conneally's Bargain - L. P. Ring
The Creeper - David Turnbull
Open Book - Cameron Trost
A Passage in Time - E. Michael Lewis
Wednesday 17 April 2024
Pirate Anthology: Michael Fountain
Pirates formed a counter-culture to the aristocracy of Europe and early corporations like the British East India Company. The letter-of-marque allowed sponsors to profit from piracy when it was convenient, and disavow their actions as needed. The War of Spanish Succession stranded thousands of privateers on the beach and it’s no surprise when they took to piracy. There are personalities who lived by constitutional articles of agreement, like Black Bartholomew Roberts or Ben Hornigold, as well as murderous psychopaths like Ned Low or Henry Every. Toss in Calico Jack, Anne Bonny, Edward Teach, or Henry Morgan blowing up his own ship while deep in drink, and you’ve got yourself a story.
Are there any pirate legends set where you live?
On the Great Lakes it’s mostly timber pirates and rum runners, wool caps and mackinaws, so any attempt at swashbuckling or bodice ripping is best committed indoors. Roaring Dan Seavey is the only man formally charged with piracy on the Great Lakes, by which I mean he’s the only one who got caught. Liked to set up false lights to lure ships into shallow waters, and if that didn’t work he had a cannon on board. Debauched the crew of the Nellie Johnson, threw them overboard, and sailed to Chicago. Stole loads of venison and booze, thus the primordial Yooper. King Strang of Beaver Island led a religious cult, stole from the locals, set fire to sawmills, and got himself elected to the Michigan legislature before someone shot him in the back. It’s telling that no one thought to warn him. Our most successful pirate was John Jacob Astor, who made his wealth with a monopoly on Great Lakes fur and drug running into China. Made a large enough fortune to be promoted from opium pirate to entrepreneur in the history books.
If you were a pirate, what’s the first thing you’d do?
Have you ever found treasure?
Anyone who would answer that question is not a professional.
What do you do when you’re not dreaming up tall tales?
Don’t know what they told you but it’s a damned lie.
Where can we find you online?
Get the scoop on Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Greek democracies at teacherspayteachers.com; Trojan War Confidential from Brooklyn Publishers; short pieces in anthologies like Uncommon Minds, with a couple of novels on the way.
Friday 12 April 2024
Pirate Anthology: Paulene Turner
The Black Beacon Book of Pirates is sure to shiver your timbers when it's published on Friday the 21st of June. The Kindle version is already available for pre-order at just $1.99 instead of $3.99 and you can add the anthology to your Goodreads "want to read" list today. In the meantime, to get you in the mood for a spot of swashbuckling, we’re interviewing the contributing authors.
Hi Paulene,
Why pirates?
A good question, me hearty. What is the lure of pirates? Be it the peg legs and eye patches? No. Be it the long boots and gold earrings? Maybe. Be it the freedom of a life on the sea, sailing wherever the wind takes you. Aye, aye, Captain, that be it!
Are there any pirate legends set where you live?I came across a legend recently (in my book, Black Tides, book 4 of The Time Travel Chronicles, set in the pirate era). Of Captain Morales, a Spanish pirate, who intercepted a ship belonging to a Mughal emperor. In its hold was the wealth of India, including a pink diamond, the size of a fist. As soon as he saw the shimmering pink stone, Morales fell under its spell. He wanted to possess it and not share it with his crew. So, one night, he called for the ship’s rum casks to be opened to celebrate and when all the men had passed out drunk, he rowed to a nearby beach and buried the stone, hastily making a map so he could return one day and reclaim it. At the first port, he gave the map to an illiterate man to keep until he passed by again. But his fear he’d never hold it again put him in a dark mood. He got into a fight with a man at a tavern was killed. The map and the illiterate man were never found. So the treasure is still out there, on a beach in the Caribbean, awaiting an adventurous child with a spade and a touch of pirate spirit to dig it up.
What’s the first thing you’d do if you were a pirate?
I’d put on one of those fantastic tricorn hats and say "Arrrrgh!"
Have you ever found a treasure?
I have found some beautiful shells on Sydney’s beaches, and a few deadly blue-ringed octopus. But no treasure…except my husband, who is a treasure to me! (Editors note: This calls for an "Awww!" rather than an "Arrrrgh!")
What do you do when you’re not dreaming up tales?
At the moment, I’m mid-way through releasing my six-book series The Time Travel Chronicles, about two Aussie teens who travel through history in a time machine. It took me over a decade to write, the characters visited five different historical settings (including one pirate setting) and telling the tale took over 500,000 words. I released three books in 2023 and the final three will come out in the second half of 2024! So I’m a very busy woman and spend my days editing, editing, editing. And making book promos on my favourite digital tool—Canva!
You can find Paulene Turner wreaking havoc in these waters:
https://pauleneturnerwrites.com/
https://twitter.com/PauleneTurner
Saturday 6 April 2024
Pirate Anthology: Lawrence Dagstine
I think pirate tales are some of the most fascinating when it comes to historical fiction. Even the early explorers, like Columbus and Magellan employed some pirates. Their expeditions, the buccaneers who swabbed the decks, handled the masts, sailed for armadas to deliver spices in exchange for raw materials or silks, those who steered for uncharted isles only to find treasure (or find an early demise). It could be said that the pirate is an adventurer unlike any other. So when you follow their voyage you are experiencing firsthand what they saw. You’re living what they lived, only out at sea. You’re going out on their adventure, no matter the genre.
Not that I am aware of. I find the Golden Age of Piracy particularly intriguing. Of course you have legends like Blackbeard. Everybody’s heard of him. The 1600s and 1700s are most interesting, I find.
Writing science fiction (with a dash of science fact). Faraway planets and other galaxies are terribly interesting to me. There’s so much out there among the stars, just waiting to be discovered. I like drawing. Occasionally relaxing to a nice fantasy or dark fantasy role-playing game. I even collect comic books. I am a man of many hobbies.