Now Available: Charlatan Charade

A couple days ago, my third short story of the year was release on Kindle and Print, which is super exciting! My short story, Charlatan Charade, which is part of the Lost In The Witching Hour anthology from Breaking Fate Publishing is now out there for horror fans to enjoy!

I wasn't sure when the actual release date was going to be, but now that it's out there, I can give you a taste of what to expect, what I wrote, and what inspired me.

It's so cool to have my name on an anthology cover! Woo hoo!

Here's the synopsis of Charlatan Charade...

Professional specter hunters Ethan Decarmo and Nick Sharman aren't happy when they're called to deal with a ghost possession.

But as they begin to investigate, they start to understand that they may be dealing with something much more dangerous than an angry ghost, and even their unique abilities may not be strong enough to save them...

As a lot of readers might have guessed, I'm a huge Supernatural fan. The relationship between Sam and Dean Winchester has helped inspire a lot of my work and characters, including Derek and Liam from the Areios Brothers. One of my favorite episodes was "Ghostfacers", in which Sam and Dean have to deal with a bunch of nerds making a reality TV show. It was a fun, quirky episode, and as I was coming up with the idea for the submission, I thought of it for some reason.

Now, I didn't write fan fiction. Ethan and Nick aren't brothers, and unlike the Winchesters, they were gifted with special abilities. Ethan is a medium who can see and touch the dead, and Nick is an empath who can feel their emotions. The idea that they come to a haunted house to face a dangerous spirit is the only connection between my story and the episode, and trust me when I say that Hell breaks loose in an entirely different manner.

I won't lie– I wrote a pretty wild story. Lots of violence and gore, but that isn't all Charlatan Charade has to offer. One of my favorite scenes involves Ethan and Nick discussing the burdens of their powers, and how being the best doesn't mean you can walk away without mental and physical damage. I think I created interesting characters that grew in surprising ways, and was very attached to the story. This was the first one I had accepted this year, and I was very excited, despite my relative newness to the publication world.

This is also my first story to be printed in paper, and I'm super excited to receive my printed copy from the publisher. It's a great little gift and yes, I'm totally going to frame it. Why wouldn't I?

Charlatan Charade is short, brutal, and sharp, but I think it has the strength to stand up on its own in an anthology with many other talented writers. I hope you give it a chance, and that you take my advice and read it in the dark. Horror is most effective when you get in the right mindset, after all.

Amy