Dark Short Fiction,
Dark Romantic Fiction,
Horror short & flash fiction stories,
And the occasional bottle of wine...
 WELCOME TO CURIOSITIES A MONTHLY FEATURE THAT SPOTLIGHTS A TRUE, UNEXPLAINED EXPERIENCE. TODAY'S GUEST IS MELISSA CRISPIN AUTHOR OF COLLIDE Melissa is a friend and member of my local writing group. To help her celebrate and promote her debut novel, COLLIDE, I invited her for a visit and lucky for us, she brought along a creepy tale...Before I get started, I want to thank Debbie for having me on her blog today. The Curiosities posts are so good. I hope my weird, inexplicable story can deliver. My husband and I moved into our first house with our beloved Siberian Husky named Bear. She was a sweet girl and well-behaved. Bear loved spending time in her crate, and could often be found lounging in it during the day with the door wide open. It was her place, and she never minded it. Not until we moved into this house, that is. Bear started flipping out when we would put her in the crate if we were leaving her home alone. It was strange, and we shrugged it off as her being uncomfortable in the new place. It got to the point where we just wouldn’t put her in it because it would upset her so much. Fast forward a few months…My husband was away for the weekend, and it was just me and Bear. We were in the middle of renovating our basement, and my husband had tiled the entire space. He asked me to go downstairs and wipe the tiles with a damp sponge to remove any haze still left on them. As I cleaned a section in the corner of the room, movement of some kind caught my attention. I turned toward it, thinking it was the dog, but quickly realized she was on the opposite side from where I was facing. I began to dismiss the whole thing as my imagination—until Bear started howling in that direction. Um, what the hell? I told myself it was a bizarre coincidence, but I had that feeling like I wasn’t alone, and apparently, the dog did, too. I thought about how Bear didn’t seem to like the house so much, and it made me wonder. I never said anything to my husband when he returned from his trip because he doesn’t believe in the supernatural and I knew he’d tease me relentlessly. After all, I wasn’t sure I believed in any of that stuff either. Shortly after the incident, my husband and I were chatting with a neighbor across the street. She had lived there all her life, even when she was a kid, and had known all the previous owners of our home. She mentioned how it was “a shame” what happened to the original owners and referenced some long conversation she had with my in-laws about it. It turned out that an older couple had lived in our house and at some point, the husband fell ill and passed away. Nothing scandalous there. The wife was close with her sister, and said sister moved in to keep her company. Her sister eventually became sick also. They were devout Quakers and always went to church every weekend. I’m not sure if church is the correct term, and I apologize to anyone that might be offended if I got that wrong. One day, the two women never showed up for church, so someone sent the police to go check on them. What did they discover? Oh, just a double suicide. That’s all. So a few things raced through my head as our very nice neighbor rehashed past events. First, they found WHAT in the house we just bought? Second, my in-laws knew about this and didn’t feel this was worth mentioning in casual conversation? Again, WHAT? And third, no wonder our dog hates this house. It’s probably freaking haunted! We asked our in-laws why they decided to skip telling us about what they learned from our neighbor. I mean, who wouldn’t, right? They explained that they didn’t want us to be worried about it, and since they didn’t know until after we bought it, it wouldn’t have mattered anyway. It made sense after they explained it. We lived in that house for about three years. When we moved to the next one, Bear was more at ease and never howled at anything in particular. There was definitely something odd about our first house, but I could never tell you exactly what.  BOOK BLURB: When the balance between Earth, Afterlife, and Heaven are threatened, the fate of the universe falls on a selfish girl who must sacrifice everything to save it. Kayla has a plan. She’s moving to the city after graduation and Luke’s coming with her. He’ll eventually become a doctor, she’ll be a ballerina—and they’ll live happily ever after. That’s what she thinks, until dark forces, led by a sister she never knew existed, start hunting her down for a power she never knew she had. When Kayla starts working with a boy named Alec to learn how to defend herself and to stop the evil from eliminating the worlds, she finds herself falling for him. Hard. Torn between two loves and struggling to do what’s right for Earth and Afterlife, Kayla must decide if she’s fighting to keep her life together, or letting it go to save everyone else’s. BUY LINKS: Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CZ2WPHQ Evernight Teen: http://www.evernightteen.com/collide-by-melissa-j-crispin  BIO: Melissa J. Crispin lives in Connecticut with her husband, two kids, and an adorable Siberian Husky. She spends her days in the corporate world, and pursues her passion for writing in the late nights and early mornings. From micro-fiction to novels, Melissa loves to write stories in varying lengths. But, no matter the story, it's almost always about the romance. Where to find Melissa: Website: http://melissajcrispin.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/MelissaJCrispin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melissajcrispinauthor Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melissajcrispin/ Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/MelissaJCrispin If you're an author with an unusual or strange story and you'd like to be a guest on CURIOSITIES please email me at debbie_christiana@yahoo.com. Please place CURIOSITIES in the subject line. Thank you.
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Welcome to beautiful cover reveal of BREAKWATER BEACH by Carole Ann Moleti hosted by Books 'N Pearls 
Breakwater Beach By Carole Ann Moleti Genre: Cape Cod Paranormal Romance Publisher: Soulmate Projected release date: April 13, 2016
BLURB:
Liz Levine is convinced her recently deceased husband is engineering the sequence of events that propels her into a new life. But it’s sea captain Edward Barrett, the husband that died over a century ago, who has returned to complete their unfinished business. Edward’s lingering presence complicates all her plans and jeopardizes a new relationship that reawakens her passion for life and love. What are Captain Barrett’s plans for his wife, and for the man who is the new object of her affections? EXCERPT: Liz opened the lid of a large trunk affixed with shipping labels dated from 1865 to 1875. Inside, neatly folded, were women’s clothes, hats, and shoes. She examined a night chemise that resembled a long slip with lace trim. “This is English linen, Irish lace though." Mae didn’t answer. Liz peeled away layers of yellowed paper. Silk and velvet dresses with coordinating hats and high button shoes were stored in their original boxes. Undergarments, corsets, garters, and hosiery were wrapped in linen bags. The aroma of lavender lingered in a sachet tucked in the corner. "You won’t be findin’ this clothin’ in the Sea Captain’s Thrift Shop,” Mae hung the dresses in the closet. They arranged the intimate garments in the antique dresser. Liz left the shoes and hats in the trunk and pushed it against the wall. “How could no one have noticed these for so many years?” said Liz. “It’s too damp up here to leave them out. I'll donate them to the Brewster Historical Society and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.” “Keep this nightgown, Miss Lizzy.” Mae hung it on a hanger over the closet door. “The sachet kept it fresh and the wrinkles will come out in time. A real lady lived here. The best of everything.” Liz watched the girls fluffing pillows and turning down covers on the four-poster bed. Another moment of déjà vu diffused through the room Find out more on Carole Ann Moleti's Website http://www.caroleannmoleti.com/the-unfinished-business-series/
Currently Available: Check out Book 2: The Widow's Walk
By Carole Ann Moleti Genre: Cape Cod Paranormal Romance Publisher: Soulmate 
Available in ebook and print:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Widows-Walk-Carole-Moleti-ebook/dp/B00PHYCLHY Blurb: Mike and Liz Keeny are newlyweds, new parents, and the proprietors of the Barrett Inn, an 1875 Victorian on Cape Cod, which just happens to be haunted. By their own ghosts. The Inn had become an annex of Purgatory, putting Mike, Liz, and their infant son in danger. Selling the historic seaside bed and breakfast was the only answer, one that Liz and her own tortured specter refused to consider. Were they doomed to follow the same path that led to disaster in their previous lives? Was getting out, getting away, enough? Excerpt: Silk rustled as she ran her hands over the dress. The lavender scent deepened as Elisabeth swirled around inside, Her mind went numb as the ghost took control. She slipped out of her clothes and stood naked in front of the mirror. She put up her hair, preening for her husband, before she stepped into the middle of the deep green skirts and pulled them up over her waist, slipped her arms into the sleeves, and twisted them behind her back to fasten the buttons. She used the buttonhook to do up the shoes, then peered out into the hallway. Liz bundled the sweat suit into her arms, along with the soap and paper goods, and hurried to the attic door. It wasn't until she placed her hand on the banister and started up the steep staircase to the roof that Elisabeth's needling eased. Like an addict in the throes of withdrawal, just the promise of being up there, her spirit communing with the long lost sea captain, offered relief. Number of books in the series: 3 The Widow's Walk is currently available in e book and print Breakwater Beach: Projected e-book release date April 13, 2016 Print: Fall 2016 Storm Watch: Planned release in 2017 Author Bio: Carole Ann Moleti lives and works as a nurse-midwife in New York City, thus explaining her fascination with all things paranormal, urban fantasy, and space opera. Her nonfiction focuses on health care, politics, and women's issues. But her first love is writing science fiction and fantasy because walking through walls is less painful than running into them. The first book in Carole's Cape Cod paranormal romance novel series, The Widow's Walk, was published by Soulmate and is now out as an e book and in print. The prequel, Breakwater Beach, will be released in April 2016. Urban fantasies set in the world of Carole's novels have been featured in Haunted: Ten Tales of Ghosts, Seers: Ten Tales of Clairvoyance, Beltane: Ten Tales of Witchcraft, and Bites: Ten Tales of Vampires. Carole also writes non fiction that ranges from sweet and sentimental in This Path and Thanksgiving to Christmas to edgy and irreverent in the Not Your Mother's Books: On Being a Mother and On Being a Parent. Why did Book 2 come out before Book 1? Check out her website or subscribe to her newsletter for a special gift (a PDF of Haunted: Ten Tales of Ghosts) and bonus content. http://www.caroleannmoleti.com/the-unfinished-business-series/ Newsletter subscription: http://eepurl.com/bfNver Where to follow: Amazon: http://amazon.com/author/carolemoleti Twitter: http://Twitter.com/Cmoleti Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/caroleannmoleti Google+: plus.google.com/103609323247390103301 Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/goodreadscomCmoleti Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/caroleannmoleti/ 
Tour giveaway: Three $5 Amazon Gift Card
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