Sorchia's Universe

A witch–a PI–and plenty of noir! Read about the genesis of The Raven Tales by J. B. Dane in this week’s Novel Magic.  About Marked Raven–Book 2 of The Raven Tales by J. B. Dane As this is the second book in the series, let me fill in a few blanks. Way back in the late 1980s (you know, the Jurassic Age before home computers were common), a character walked into my muse’s office. It’s situated in my head, naturally. He said he was fictional and that he’d gotten yanked out of a book into the real world. My muse told him to take a seat. As I was deep into spinning romantic comedy and historical romance and still unpublished, he ended up sitting there for decades. Probably read all the magazines more than once from cover to cover. Then the 21 st century struck. I’d now been published for over a decade and had recently suffered through a bout of clinical depression where I couldn’t think my way out of a paper bag. The doctor told me that was because clinical depressio...

Novel magic features Rise of a Storm Warrior by M. Garnet. See Murial’s recent post– How to be an Author . Hey, and while you are browsing posts, check out my latest– Dialogue Tags from Hell in which I rant about a minor annoyance to the point of absurdity. Maybe it’s a sign of a return to a semblance of normality when I have time to gripe about editorial stuff instead of–you know–the Apocalypse and the End of Times. Below, you will find a Fantasy Freebie I like to call the WitchFest. A bunch of on sale or totally free witchy books–but snap it up because this offer ends on June 15. Did you want more–OK. Check out N.N. Lights May Giveaway–many, many books to win. This giveaway ends May 30. Rise of the Storm Warrior by M. Garnet One thing is always a fact about the rich world known as the Storm Planet, life is never boring. A new Warrior rises up to help a Royal Lady, stop a war, and save a small child. He is a lazy young man who is ...

I’m venting today about obtrusive dialogue tags. But first—a story: Back in the day when I taught the King’s English to the masses, I worked at a small school in deepest, darkest southern Missouri. The native language of the area is a combination of Scotch-Irish Appalachian, a little Elizabethan, and a smattering of modern slang and inventive metaphors and is known as the Ozarkian dialect. I grew up in the area but my folks were from ‘away’, so I speak two languages—English and Ozark. The two are not always interchangeable. If you want to talk to locals and get anything done, you better sound like they do.  If you want to get gainful employment outside of the area…well, there’s no accounting for people’s prejudices, but an Ozarks accent tends to give other people delusions of grandeur. For a Tale within a Tale, go HERE . Anyway, one of my favorite kids—a large, young man of the redneck persuasion—got suspended. I ran into him in the hallway and asked about the incident, hopin...

People have been reporting ghostly phenomena for centuries–millennia, even–but are these reports the results of bad digestion or good whisky? OR is there something out there? Author Randy Overbeck provides context for the debate along with info about his Haunted Shores Mystery series. Meet Randy and grab your own copies of his books–if you DARE. Don’t forget to enter the May Giveaway. Do You Believe? by Randy Overbeck “Do you really believe it ghosts?”             During my author talks and book signings for my new ghost story/mystery, BLOOD ON THE CHEASAPEAKE—at least, before the pandemic—this is the most common question I’d receive from participants, sometimes offered with an inflection that conveyed the speakers’ incredulity. It was almost as if the person were saying, “Only children and idiots believe in ghosts.”    The short answer to that question is yes, but I prefer Shakespeare’s elo...

We are off to Yorkshire with Helen Johannes, author of Novel Magic Featured book–Bloodstone. Follow Helen and her students as they encounter an unexpected guest in one of England’s most haunted cities. Then read a tempting excerpt from Bloodstone and grab a copy. Be sure to enter N.N. Light’s May Giveaway at the end. A Yorkshire Ghost Walk by Helen Johannes My heritage is Germanic, which I can trace back to the mid-1800s, but I strongly suspect it goes deeper into those Teutonic woods, back to those Druidic and Celtic types who sank their roots into European culture. I have a distinct affinity for broken down castles and ruined churches, especially those with Celtic crosses in the cemeteries, like Rock of Cashel in Ireland. Places like the ruined St. Mary’s Abbey in York, England, pictured at twilight on my blog site.  York, formerly Yorvik, before that Eboracum, is one of the most haunted places in England, a place I’ve visited several times with students in my ...

Ever hear of Ephraim the Giant Bear? Novel Magic heads out West with Marilyn Barr, author of Dance to a Wylder Beat .Read on to see how the Old West and paranormal romance melt together. Get a sneak peek at this upcoming release. Don’t forget to enter N.N. Light’s May Book Giveaway. Animal Shifters in the Old West by Marilyn Barr I love animal shifter legends and one that caught my attention when researching for “Dance to a Wylder Beat” was the legend of the Ephraim shifters. When Lewis and Clark began their exploration of the western United States, they were surprised to find it teeming with giant bears. It is estimated, in Lewis and Clark’s time, there were over 50,000 grizzly bears and many (now extinct) species of giant black bears in their path. ( Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee ) Any bear on his hind legs taller than a human man was given the name “Ephraim” and known as a danger to herds, crops, and humans. As towns sprung up along the east-west railway line, these ...

Novel Magic takes a look at the nuts and bolts of being an author with Muriel Yantiss. We all have our secrets and rituals. Mine include sandalwood incense, amethyst, a lucky writing bra, and the occasional blood sacrifice. Read on for a look at Muriel’s latest release Rise of the Storm Warrior and don’t forget the April Giveaway. Demons, Killers, Spaceships and Authors. Being an author is an interesting state of mind full of killers, spaceships, and childhood tales. As I give talks or meet people, I am asked the same questions. Where I get my ideas? How do I write a whole book? How did I get my books published? There are none who ask the important question.  What are the technicalities in writing a book?  WHAT A BORING QUESTION.    Being a published author, I can say with a big sigh that the whole process is a learning business, a learning business that never ends. Let’s start with the easier questions.  Where Do I Get My Ideas? I treat this as a serious questio...