FOR LOVE THE BELL TOLLS
A Gothic Romance Short Story Anthology
Stars and Stone Books
Featuring: Cara McKinnon, Sheri Queen, Read Gallo, Serena Jayne, Kylie Weisenborn, and Heather Sheldon.
Buy Now:
Kindle | iBooks | Nook | Kobo | Google Play
Cara McKinnon - “The Doors Between”
Can love overcome an otherworldly evil?
Sheri Queen - “The Circus Train”
Finding love isn’t easy, especially when someone wants your blood.
Read Gallo – “Blood and Petals”
How much would you change to get what you want?
Serena Jayne – “Kiss Me Dead”
With only the light of their love, Simon and Lila attempt to conquer darkness and death.
Kylie Weisenborn – “Undead Men”
When the dead become unburied, so does the truth.
Heather Sheldon – “Lost Love Found”
A haunted gift flips Mandy’s world on end, and her handsome new neighbor might be her only salvation.
CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT OUR AUTHORS
STARS AND STONE BOOKS: http://starsandstonebooks.com/
GOODREADS: http://bit.ly/2Emfv2B
FACEBOOK RELEASE PARTY 10/30/18: http://bit.ly/2CN0Ig1
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/starsstonebooks
ANTHOLOGY WEBSITE: http://starsandstonebooks.com/for-love-the-bell-tolls
Dark Paranormal and Theme
Gothic romance is sometimes called dark paranormal romance. We asked the authors what paranormal elements they included in their stories and why. We also asked about the theme of their stories. Did they choose the theme on purpose, or did it just come out of the writing process?
Read Gallo – “Blood and Petals”
The paranormal element is faeries, the darkest paranormal creatures of all. Lol. Since I was dealing with pregnancy and there’s myths about faeries stealing children and granting wishes I thought it would be fun to use that particular monster.
It’s a very feminist story, from the frightened woman finding her fight and claiming her right to her child and her body to the trans character earning his/her transformation. I knew I was going to be writing a story about lesbians in an older time, so I knew I was going to be dealing with queer issues from the get go. I was surprised at the layers I was able to get to, especially with Mrs. Bespatikos. She kind of lives as an evil villain and as a fairy godmother at the same time, and it was interesting to explore the role of this kind of mythic creature functioning with a modern feminist message.
Serena Jayne – “Kiss Me Dead”
Tarot cards and elements from Greek afterlife mythology make up the world. I plotted this story in a phenomenal Tarot for Writers course taught by Devon Ellington. I drew the death card for my protagonist and the other cards formed the story structure. For me the theme is love conquers all. It might be fun to take the same cards and create a tale in another genre.
Cara McKinnon – “The Doors Between”
I can’t seem to write many stories without magic or something supernatural, so I had a blast throwing the kitchen sink of gothic tropes at this story. My heroine is a witch, whose particular area of study involves spirits and helping them move on. Her big challenge in the story is to banish a demon, although it isn’t really a demon in the sense of heaven and hell. It’s a being from another universe that is trying to push through into our world. The house where she grew up is isolated on an island, and has long been inhabited more thickly by ghosts than the living, thanks to a family curse.
The theme of my story is that a house is not a home. Home is the people we love, and who love us. I definitely did not choose that theme. The story ended up there.
Sheri Queen – “The Circus Train”
Voodoo curses and rituals, a loup-garu who falls in love with the one person he could possibly pass the curse to, and ghosts that follow Lily wherever she goes. The mix of these paranormal beings were fun to write about. The main theme is something that just came out as I wrote and it’s about fighting for love, even if it might kill you.
Heather Sheldon – “Lost Love Found”
I incorporated ghosts/a supernatural book/and dream travel. These subjects have always interested me. My theme would be that you can’t do it alone. People need people.
Kylie Weisenborn – “Undead Men”
My first thought was to include zombies or some other paranormal creature, however, then I thought that might be what a lot of people would choose to do. So instead, I thought about how horrified people back then would be if they thought people really were rising from the dead. It’s not your typical zombie story.
Theme is a hard one. I would say the theme is something related to unearthing the truth (sometimes literally). The truth and justice are important, and taking justice into your own hands is a slippery slope.
The anthology authors will be answering more questions on this blog tour! To check out all of the stops, visit: https://www.starsandstonebooks.com/blog-tour.
A Gothic Romance Short Story Anthology
Stars and Stone Books
Featuring: Cara McKinnon, Sheri Queen, Read Gallo, Serena Jayne, Kylie Weisenborn, and Heather Sheldon.
Buy Now:
Kindle | iBooks | Nook | Kobo | Google Play
Cara McKinnon - “The Doors Between”
Can love overcome an otherworldly evil?
Sheri Queen - “The Circus Train”
Finding love isn’t easy, especially when someone wants your blood.
Read Gallo – “Blood and Petals”
How much would you change to get what you want?
Serena Jayne – “Kiss Me Dead”
With only the light of their love, Simon and Lila attempt to conquer darkness and death.
Kylie Weisenborn – “Undead Men”
When the dead become unburied, so does the truth.
Heather Sheldon – “Lost Love Found”
A haunted gift flips Mandy’s world on end, and her handsome new neighbor might be her only salvation.
CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT OUR AUTHORS
STARS AND STONE BOOKS: http://starsandstonebooks.com/
GOODREADS: http://bit.ly/2Emfv2B
FACEBOOK RELEASE PARTY 10/30/18: http://bit.ly/2CN0Ig1
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/starsstonebooks
ANTHOLOGY WEBSITE: http://starsandstonebooks.com/for-love-the-bell-tolls
Dark Paranormal and Theme
Gothic romance is sometimes called dark paranormal romance. We asked the authors what paranormal elements they included in their stories and why. We also asked about the theme of their stories. Did they choose the theme on purpose, or did it just come out of the writing process?
Read Gallo – “Blood and Petals”
The paranormal element is faeries, the darkest paranormal creatures of all. Lol. Since I was dealing with pregnancy and there’s myths about faeries stealing children and granting wishes I thought it would be fun to use that particular monster.
It’s a very feminist story, from the frightened woman finding her fight and claiming her right to her child and her body to the trans character earning his/her transformation. I knew I was going to be writing a story about lesbians in an older time, so I knew I was going to be dealing with queer issues from the get go. I was surprised at the layers I was able to get to, especially with Mrs. Bespatikos. She kind of lives as an evil villain and as a fairy godmother at the same time, and it was interesting to explore the role of this kind of mythic creature functioning with a modern feminist message.
Serena Jayne – “Kiss Me Dead”
Tarot cards and elements from Greek afterlife mythology make up the world. I plotted this story in a phenomenal Tarot for Writers course taught by Devon Ellington. I drew the death card for my protagonist and the other cards formed the story structure. For me the theme is love conquers all. It might be fun to take the same cards and create a tale in another genre.
Cara McKinnon – “The Doors Between”
I can’t seem to write many stories without magic or something supernatural, so I had a blast throwing the kitchen sink of gothic tropes at this story. My heroine is a witch, whose particular area of study involves spirits and helping them move on. Her big challenge in the story is to banish a demon, although it isn’t really a demon in the sense of heaven and hell. It’s a being from another universe that is trying to push through into our world. The house where she grew up is isolated on an island, and has long been inhabited more thickly by ghosts than the living, thanks to a family curse.
The theme of my story is that a house is not a home. Home is the people we love, and who love us. I definitely did not choose that theme. The story ended up there.
Sheri Queen – “The Circus Train”
Voodoo curses and rituals, a loup-garu who falls in love with the one person he could possibly pass the curse to, and ghosts that follow Lily wherever she goes. The mix of these paranormal beings were fun to write about. The main theme is something that just came out as I wrote and it’s about fighting for love, even if it might kill you.
Heather Sheldon – “Lost Love Found”
I incorporated ghosts/a supernatural book/and dream travel. These subjects have always interested me. My theme would be that you can’t do it alone. People need people.
Kylie Weisenborn – “Undead Men”
My first thought was to include zombies or some other paranormal creature, however, then I thought that might be what a lot of people would choose to do. So instead, I thought about how horrified people back then would be if they thought people really were rising from the dead. It’s not your typical zombie story.
Theme is a hard one. I would say the theme is something related to unearthing the truth (sometimes literally). The truth and justice are important, and taking justice into your own hands is a slippery slope.
The anthology authors will be answering more questions on this blog tour! To check out all of the stops, visit: https://www.starsandstonebooks.com/blog-tour.
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