Excerpts from fantasy and
horror stories.
horror stories.
Carnival Charlatan - urban fantasy
Carnival Charlatan
was one of Amazon's Editor's Favorite BEST BOOKS OF 2014
Available through: -contacting me
at [email protected]
(the publisher hasn't been paying royalties.)
In Carnival Charlatan, twenty-six year old Ariel Land can channel the earth’s energy into raw power, make doorways to other dimensions, has psychic insights, and can throw a spell as well as any witch, yet she hides her abilities under the guise of a carnival Tarot reader.
Magical beings have caused her family nothing but trouble.
Myths and legends come from somewhere. Ariel knows the place, and wants to avoid it.
Ariel’s plan to live a limited magic lifestyle is frustrated when the disappearance of a friend forces her into the same type of supernatural situation that killed her mother. She must choose between loyalty to her Carney friends or her sense of self-preservation.
If that weren’t enough, a serial killer determined to rid the world of witches is stalking her.
Carnival Charlatan
My first customer of the day was scrutinizing me as if I were a bug.
“I’d like a reading.” The mark said just above a whisper. His voice was toneless.
I gave him a professionally fake smile and said, “But of course,” using my best Gypsy accent.
He silently handed me a well-worn twenty, and sat rigidly on my padded customer’s chair. His arms crossed, his finger touched the dangling mole next to his nose. Deep, close set eyes and a receding hairline made his face look elongated. He’d have made a great movie alien. Once seated, he was absolutely still. I’d seen plants with more animation.
He didn’t even peek when I tucked his payment in my bra.
At the carnival, looking weird is the norm, so my neck hairs weren’t raising because of his appearance. A nervous twitch blurred my left eye.
The cardinal Carney rule is, never judge people paying cash, but I couldn’t help it. The man across the table just wasn’t right.
I took a chance and extended my psychic senses a tiny bit. I don’t usually make the effort. Any conscious magic could be dangerous. At least this time there was no mystical backlash. The images that flashed behind my eyes told me this creep was one of those people with just enough numinous ability to perceive a few uncanny things. It’s like strong intuition; just enough insight to encourage a little latent megalomania. No wonder the guy was sparking my senses.
Deciding to get his reading over as fast as possible, I did a quick shuffle. He kept his lizard blank eyes on me as one arm unfolded and he cut the cards. The arm returned to its exact starting position. I did a standard Celtic cross layout and flipped the first card without my usual preamble about the mystical capabilities of the Tarot.
“This card shows me you’ve had troubles in your past,” I said, keeping my accent thick. This was my standard opening for quiet customers. I studied him for a moment. I was getting nothing, no eyes widened with excitement, or narrowed in fear; things people usually project when they were getting their Tarot cards read. He was a blank slate, absolutely no reaction. In psychology, they call it a flat affect. If he didn’t give me something, I had no way to tailor my prognostications.
“What else?” he asked in a monotone. His pulse throbbed steadily in the big vein at his temple.
I turned another card. “You have recently made changes to your life.”
Outside a crow cawed insistently with a haunting rasp. The morning air was dead still.
Still no reaction, nothing to work with, not a twitch, I could barely see him breathe.
The next card was the High Priestess reversed. Falling this way it indicated delusion and paranoia. I wasn’t going to tell this freaky guy he was deluded, so I continued, “You have strong convictions stemming from your past.”
His right eye flickered in reaction. So, he was human after all. I was on the right track.
His future influence card was the Emperor. “Your strong force of will makes what you seek possible.” This time a disturbing smile touched the corners of his mouth. I fought my involuntary shiver and concentrated on the cards. If I believed the cards actually foretold anything, they were saying this guy was going to do something massively bad, and he would do it without sympathy or remorse. I’m glad I didn’t believe in the cards.
“This final card shows the likely outcome of your quest,” I told him. The card turned and the Devil grinned up at me… obsession, delusion, misfortune due to the consequence of choice.
The man jumped up before I could say anything. His heavy chair hit the ground with a thump. He stepped back from the table glaring as though the card were a snake. In his dead flat voice he said, “You know these occult practices are evil. You should renounce your wicked ways and bathe in the divine holy light of God.” He sounded like an evangelist on downers. He began to pace the small confines of the tent. His arms swung and his fists clenched.
My heart thumped painfully as adrenalin surged. I groped in my skirt pocket for my pepper spray. I thought, if he felt so strongly about what I was doing, why did he ask for a reading? “Sir, I have no control over the cards. I just interpret.” I dropped the accent. Sweat prickled out all over my body.
“The Bible can save you young woman. Allow yourself to be washed in the blood of Jesus, and your soul will be set free. Give up this vile witchcraft, renounce Satan,” he preached.
“I think you should leave now, sir.” Who talks like that? I thought.
He stopped, stood clenching and unclenching his fists. I held my spray ready at my side. If he took a step toward me, he was going to get a face full. On the carnival lot, a shout would bring help. But, I’m a big girl, a woman of the Land family. I can control earth magic, as well as a having nifty right hook. I handle my own problems.
“God’s wrath will find you. You cannot escape judgment.” He glared at me for a moment. Then, he whirled and left the tent, throwing the flap aside like a cape.
My hand was shaking, as I put the spray back in my pocket. What a start to the day. Here I thought I was lucky getting a customer before noon. At least he didn’t try to get his money back. Not like I’d have let him have it. ~
BROKEN GLASS - horror
The easiest item to find for the spell was the big glass mirror. It had been in the basement ever since he could remember. With all his supplies laid out, he started the spell’s incantation feeling a bit foolish. In the required sequence, he burned the various items he’d collected. The final steps would be the worst. He winced as he made a cut in his palm. The blood pooled in his hand. He used the blood to copy the symbols from the book to the mirror. He chanted the complex phrases, each time more clearly and with more confidence. Just as the book said, the blood symbols started to smoke. It was working! Still chanting he stuffed bay leaves in his nose and laid his hand on the mirror between the symbols. The mirror started to flow up his arm. As it flowed, his arm disappeared. He didn’t even feel it on his skin. The mirror covered him
completely except for the leaves in his nose. He pulled the leaves out and took a breath. He looked down. He didn’t see anything. ~
was one of Amazon's Editor's Favorite BEST BOOKS OF 2014
Available through: Amazon (print and kindle)
In Carnival Charlatan, twenty-six year old Ariel Land can channel the earth’s energy into raw power, make doorways to other dimensions, has psychic insights, and can throw a spell as well as any witch, yet she hides her abilities under the guise of a carnival Tarot reader.
Magical beings have caused her family nothing but trouble.
Myths and legends come from somewhere. Ariel knows the place, and wants to avoid it.
Ariel’s plan to live a limited magic lifestyle is frustrated when the disappearance of a friend forces her into the same type of supernatural situation that killed her mother. She must choose between loyalty to her Carney friends or her sense of self-preservation.
If that weren’t enough, a serial killer determined to rid the world of witches is stalking her.
See excerpts on my fantasy and horror page.
Look for my newest essay "Comfort of a King" in Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Very Good, Very Bad Cat Did it"
Chicken Soup for the Soul has also chosen my story "Comfort of a King" for their Motivational Monday podcast on June 20th.Carnival Charlatan
was one of Amazon's Editor's Favorite BEST BOOKS OF 2014
Available through: Amazon (print and kindle)
In Carnival Charlatan, twenty-six year old Ariel Land can channel the earth’s energy into raw power, make doorways to other dimensions, has psychic insights, and can throw a spell as well as any witch, yet she hides her abilities under the guise of a carnival Tarot reader.
Magical beings have caused her family nothing but trouble.
Myths and legends come from somewhere. Ariel knows the place, and wants to avoid it.
Ariel’s plan to live a limited magic lifestyle is frustrated when the disappearance of a friend forces her into the same type of supernatural situation that killed her mother. She must choose between loyalty to her Carney friends or her sense of self-preservation.
If that weren’t enough, a serial killer determined to rid the world of witches is stalking her.
See excerpts on my fantasy and horror page.
Look for my newest essay "Comfort of a King" in Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Very Good, Very Bad Cat Did it"
Chicken Soup for the Soul has also chosen my story "Comfort of a King" for their Motivational Monday podcast on June 20th.Carnival Charlatan
was one of Amazon's Editor's Favorite BEST BOOKS OF 2014
Available through: Amazon (print and kindle)
In Carnival Charlatan, twenty-six year old Ariel Land can channel the earth’s energy into raw power, make doorways to other dimensions, has psychic insights, and can throw a spell as well as any witch, yet she hides her abilities under the guise of a carnival Tarot reader.
Magical beings have caused her family nothing but trouble.
Myths and legends come from somewhere. Ariel knows the place, and wants to avoid it.
Ariel’s plan to live a limited magic lifestyle is frustrated when the disappearance of a friend forces her into the same type of supernatural situation that killed her mother. She must choose between loyalty to her Carney friends or her sense of self-preservation.
If that weren’t enough, a serial killer determined to rid the world of witches is stalking her.
See excerpts on my fantasy and horror page.
Look for my newest essay "Comfort of a King" in Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Very Good, Very Bad Cat Did it"
Chicken Soup for the Soul has also chosen my story "Comfort of a King" for their Motivational Monday podcast on June 20th.Carnival Charlatan
was one of Amazon's Editor's Favorite BEST BOOKS OF 2014
Available through: Amazon (print and kindle)
In Carnival Charlatan, twenty-six year old Ariel Land can channel the earth’s energy into raw power, make doorways to other dimensions, has psychic insights, and can throw a spell as well as any witch, yet she hides her abilities under the guise of a carnival Tarot reader.
Magical beings have caused her family nothing but trouble.
Myths and legends come from somewhere. Ariel knows the place, and wants to avoid it.
Ariel’s plan to live a limited magic lifestyle is frustrated when the disappearance of a friend forces her into the same type of supernatural situation that killed her mother. She must choose between loyalty to her Carney friends or her sense of self-preservation.
If that weren’t enough, a serial killer determined to rid the world of witches is stalking her.
See excerpts on my fantasy and horror page.
Look for my newest essay "Comfort of a King" in Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Very Good, Very Bad Cat Did it"
Chicken Soup for the Soul has also chosen my story "Comfort of a King" for their Motivational Monday podcast on June 20th.Carnival Charlatan
was one of Amazon's Editor's Favorite BEST BOOKS OF 2014
Available through: Amazon (print and kindle)
In Carnival Charlatan, twenty-six year old Ariel Land can channel the earth’s energy into raw power, make doorways to other dimensions, has psychic insights, and can throw a spell as well as any witch, yet she hides her abilities under the guise of a carnival Tarot reader.
Magical beings have caused her family nothing but trouble.
Myths and legends come from somewhere. Ariel knows the place, and wants to avoid it.
Ariel’s plan to live a limited magic lifestyle is frustrated when the disappearance of a friend forces her into the same type of supernatural situation that killed her mother. She must choose between loyalty to her Carney friends or her sense of self-preservation.
If that weren’t enough, a serial killer determined to rid the world of witches is stalking her.
See excerpts on my fantasy and horror page.
Look for my newest essay "Comfort of a King" in Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Very Good, Very Bad Cat Did it"
Chicken Soup for the Soul has also chosen my story "Comfort of a King" for their Motivational Monday podcast on June 20th.
Carnival Charlatan
was one of Amazon's Editor's Favorite BEST BOOKS OF 2014
Available through: -contacting me
at [email protected]
(the publisher hasn't been paying royalties.)
In Carnival Charlatan, twenty-six year old Ariel Land can channel the earth’s energy into raw power, make doorways to other dimensions, has psychic insights, and can throw a spell as well as any witch, yet she hides her abilities under the guise of a carnival Tarot reader.
Magical beings have caused her family nothing but trouble.
Myths and legends come from somewhere. Ariel knows the place, and wants to avoid it.
Ariel’s plan to live a limited magic lifestyle is frustrated when the disappearance of a friend forces her into the same type of supernatural situation that killed her mother. She must choose between loyalty to her Carney friends or her sense of self-preservation.
If that weren’t enough, a serial killer determined to rid the world of witches is stalking her.
Carnival Charlatan
My first customer of the day was scrutinizing me as if I were a bug.
“I’d like a reading.” The mark said just above a whisper. His voice was toneless.
I gave him a professionally fake smile and said, “But of course,” using my best Gypsy accent.
He silently handed me a well-worn twenty, and sat rigidly on my padded customer’s chair. His arms crossed, his finger touched the dangling mole next to his nose. Deep, close set eyes and a receding hairline made his face look elongated. He’d have made a great movie alien. Once seated, he was absolutely still. I’d seen plants with more animation.
He didn’t even peek when I tucked his payment in my bra.
At the carnival, looking weird is the norm, so my neck hairs weren’t raising because of his appearance. A nervous twitch blurred my left eye.
The cardinal Carney rule is, never judge people paying cash, but I couldn’t help it. The man across the table just wasn’t right.
I took a chance and extended my psychic senses a tiny bit. I don’t usually make the effort. Any conscious magic could be dangerous. At least this time there was no mystical backlash. The images that flashed behind my eyes told me this creep was one of those people with just enough numinous ability to perceive a few uncanny things. It’s like strong intuition; just enough insight to encourage a little latent megalomania. No wonder the guy was sparking my senses.
Deciding to get his reading over as fast as possible, I did a quick shuffle. He kept his lizard blank eyes on me as one arm unfolded and he cut the cards. The arm returned to its exact starting position. I did a standard Celtic cross layout and flipped the first card without my usual preamble about the mystical capabilities of the Tarot.
“This card shows me you’ve had troubles in your past,” I said, keeping my accent thick. This was my standard opening for quiet customers. I studied him for a moment. I was getting nothing, no eyes widened with excitement, or narrowed in fear; things people usually project when they were getting their Tarot cards read. He was a blank slate, absolutely no reaction. In psychology, they call it a flat affect. If he didn’t give me something, I had no way to tailor my prognostications.
“What else?” he asked in a monotone. His pulse throbbed steadily in the big vein at his temple.
I turned another card. “You have recently made changes to your life.”
Outside a crow cawed insistently with a haunting rasp. The morning air was dead still.
Still no reaction, nothing to work with, not a twitch, I could barely see him breathe.
The next card was the High Priestess reversed. Falling this way it indicated delusion and paranoia. I wasn’t going to tell this freaky guy he was deluded, so I continued, “You have strong convictions stemming from your past.”
His right eye flickered in reaction. So, he was human after all. I was on the right track.
His future influence card was the Emperor. “Your strong force of will makes what you seek possible.” This time a disturbing smile touched the corners of his mouth. I fought my involuntary shiver and concentrated on the cards. If I believed the cards actually foretold anything, they were saying this guy was going to do something massively bad, and he would do it without sympathy or remorse. I’m glad I didn’t believe in the cards.
“This final card shows the likely outcome of your quest,” I told him. The card turned and the Devil grinned up at me… obsession, delusion, misfortune due to the consequence of choice.
The man jumped up before I could say anything. His heavy chair hit the ground with a thump. He stepped back from the table glaring as though the card were a snake. In his dead flat voice he said, “You know these occult practices are evil. You should renounce your wicked ways and bathe in the divine holy light of God.” He sounded like an evangelist on downers. He began to pace the small confines of the tent. His arms swung and his fists clenched.
My heart thumped painfully as adrenalin surged. I groped in my skirt pocket for my pepper spray. I thought, if he felt so strongly about what I was doing, why did he ask for a reading? “Sir, I have no control over the cards. I just interpret.” I dropped the accent. Sweat prickled out all over my body.
“The Bible can save you young woman. Allow yourself to be washed in the blood of Jesus, and your soul will be set free. Give up this vile witchcraft, renounce Satan,” he preached.
“I think you should leave now, sir.” Who talks like that? I thought.
He stopped, stood clenching and unclenching his fists. I held my spray ready at my side. If he took a step toward me, he was going to get a face full. On the carnival lot, a shout would bring help. But, I’m a big girl, a woman of the Land family. I can control earth magic, as well as a having nifty right hook. I handle my own problems.
“God’s wrath will find you. You cannot escape judgment.” He glared at me for a moment. Then, he whirled and left the tent, throwing the flap aside like a cape.
My hand was shaking, as I put the spray back in my pocket. What a start to the day. Here I thought I was lucky getting a customer before noon. At least he didn’t try to get his money back. Not like I’d have let him have it. ~
BROKEN GLASS - horror
The easiest item to find for the spell was the big glass mirror. It had been in the basement ever since he could remember. With all his supplies laid out, he started the spell’s incantation feeling a bit foolish. In the required sequence, he burned the various items he’d collected. The final steps would be the worst. He winced as he made a cut in his palm. The blood pooled in his hand. He used the blood to copy the symbols from the book to the mirror. He chanted the complex phrases, each time more clearly and with more confidence. Just as the book said, the blood symbols started to smoke. It was working! Still chanting he stuffed bay leaves in his nose and laid his hand on the mirror between the symbols. The mirror started to flow up his arm. As it flowed, his arm disappeared. He didn’t even feel it on his skin. The mirror covered him
completely except for the leaves in his nose. He pulled the leaves out and took a breath. He looked down. He didn’t see anything. ~
was one of Amazon's Editor's Favorite BEST BOOKS OF 2014
Available through: Amazon (print and kindle)
In Carnival Charlatan, twenty-six year old Ariel Land can channel the earth’s energy into raw power, make doorways to other dimensions, has psychic insights, and can throw a spell as well as any witch, yet she hides her abilities under the guise of a carnival Tarot reader.
Magical beings have caused her family nothing but trouble.
Myths and legends come from somewhere. Ariel knows the place, and wants to avoid it.
Ariel’s plan to live a limited magic lifestyle is frustrated when the disappearance of a friend forces her into the same type of supernatural situation that killed her mother. She must choose between loyalty to her Carney friends or her sense of self-preservation.
If that weren’t enough, a serial killer determined to rid the world of witches is stalking her.
See excerpts on my fantasy and horror page.
Look for my newest essay "Comfort of a King" in Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Very Good, Very Bad Cat Did it"
Chicken Soup for the Soul has also chosen my story "Comfort of a King" for their Motivational Monday podcast on June 20th.Carnival Charlatan
was one of Amazon's Editor's Favorite BEST BOOKS OF 2014
Available through: Amazon (print and kindle)
In Carnival Charlatan, twenty-six year old Ariel Land can channel the earth’s energy into raw power, make doorways to other dimensions, has psychic insights, and can throw a spell as well as any witch, yet she hides her abilities under the guise of a carnival Tarot reader.
Magical beings have caused her family nothing but trouble.
Myths and legends come from somewhere. Ariel knows the place, and wants to avoid it.
Ariel’s plan to live a limited magic lifestyle is frustrated when the disappearance of a friend forces her into the same type of supernatural situation that killed her mother. She must choose between loyalty to her Carney friends or her sense of self-preservation.
If that weren’t enough, a serial killer determined to rid the world of witches is stalking her.
See excerpts on my fantasy and horror page.
Look for my newest essay "Comfort of a King" in Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Very Good, Very Bad Cat Did it"
Chicken Soup for the Soul has also chosen my story "Comfort of a King" for their Motivational Monday podcast on June 20th.Carnival Charlatan
was one of Amazon's Editor's Favorite BEST BOOKS OF 2014
Available through: Amazon (print and kindle)
In Carnival Charlatan, twenty-six year old Ariel Land can channel the earth’s energy into raw power, make doorways to other dimensions, has psychic insights, and can throw a spell as well as any witch, yet she hides her abilities under the guise of a carnival Tarot reader.
Magical beings have caused her family nothing but trouble.
Myths and legends come from somewhere. Ariel knows the place, and wants to avoid it.
Ariel’s plan to live a limited magic lifestyle is frustrated when the disappearance of a friend forces her into the same type of supernatural situation that killed her mother. She must choose between loyalty to her Carney friends or her sense of self-preservation.
If that weren’t enough, a serial killer determined to rid the world of witches is stalking her.
See excerpts on my fantasy and horror page.
Look for my newest essay "Comfort of a King" in Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Very Good, Very Bad Cat Did it"
Chicken Soup for the Soul has also chosen my story "Comfort of a King" for their Motivational Monday podcast on June 20th.Carnival Charlatan
was one of Amazon's Editor's Favorite BEST BOOKS OF 2014
Available through: Amazon (print and kindle)
In Carnival Charlatan, twenty-six year old Ariel Land can channel the earth’s energy into raw power, make doorways to other dimensions, has psychic insights, and can throw a spell as well as any witch, yet she hides her abilities under the guise of a carnival Tarot reader.
Magical beings have caused her family nothing but trouble.
Myths and legends come from somewhere. Ariel knows the place, and wants to avoid it.
Ariel’s plan to live a limited magic lifestyle is frustrated when the disappearance of a friend forces her into the same type of supernatural situation that killed her mother. She must choose between loyalty to her Carney friends or her sense of self-preservation.
If that weren’t enough, a serial killer determined to rid the world of witches is stalking her.
See excerpts on my fantasy and horror page.
Look for my newest essay "Comfort of a King" in Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Very Good, Very Bad Cat Did it"
Chicken Soup for the Soul has also chosen my story "Comfort of a King" for their Motivational Monday podcast on June 20th.Carnival Charlatan
was one of Amazon's Editor's Favorite BEST BOOKS OF 2014
Available through: Amazon (print and kindle)
In Carnival Charlatan, twenty-six year old Ariel Land can channel the earth’s energy into raw power, make doorways to other dimensions, has psychic insights, and can throw a spell as well as any witch, yet she hides her abilities under the guise of a carnival Tarot reader.
Magical beings have caused her family nothing but trouble.
Myths and legends come from somewhere. Ariel knows the place, and wants to avoid it.
Ariel’s plan to live a limited magic lifestyle is frustrated when the disappearance of a friend forces her into the same type of supernatural situation that killed her mother. She must choose between loyalty to her Carney friends or her sense of self-preservation.
If that weren’t enough, a serial killer determined to rid the world of witches is stalking her.
See excerpts on my fantasy and horror page.
Look for my newest essay "Comfort of a King" in Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Very Good, Very Bad Cat Did it"
Chicken Soup for the Soul has also chosen my story "Comfort of a King" for their Motivational Monday podcast on June 20th.