My e-book has a cover… AND a vampire!
The Muse would like to thank everyone who provided feedback on the cover dilemma for my author’s short story collection. Two strong favourites emerged, with the comment that they gave very different impressions of the contents:
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Romantic types were attracted to the heart, obviously, with the more romantic title “Rubies”. Others went for the pale sphinx, with the comment that the title was a bit morbid, though horror lovers liked the dark sphinx, and bring on the death...
In the end, since these stories are fantasy rather than all-out horror or full-on romance, I decided on the pale sphinx with the title “Death Singer”. I think it suggests the weird and strange, which fits these stories better than the more romantic heart cover.
The full collection is now available as an e-book for £1-71, and contains seven tales demonstrating the wide range of the fantasy genre, including one about vampires written long before the current craze started by “Twilight”… honest! Each story carries an introduction explaining when and why it was written, and how it got published. One story (Sunbird Rising) has never been in print and may become a novel one day, so the muse would love to know what you think of it.
Full contents:
Death Singer – the forerunner of my Branford Boase Award winning novel “Song Quest”
Rubies – a vampire with a taste for cats comes of age when she meets her first man.
The Last Maiden – a unicorn hunt requires a maiden as bait. (Muse: uh-oh, time I wasn’t here…!)
Under the Eyemoon – a girl resists a ceremony that involves sacrificing her eye to a pool.
Sunbird Rising – a prince facing execution must choose between a spirit weaver and the rings of death.
Mars Take Seed Make Man – a (slightly rude) science fiction story set on Mars.
Empire of the Hare – the story of Queen Boudicca’s daughters with a touch of magic.
You can read part of Death Singer by downloading a free sample from amazon here:
UK readers
US readers
And if you are curious to know why short stories are rarely published as paper books, see Katherine’s post today over at Kindle Authors UK
In the end, since these stories are fantasy rather than all-out horror or full-on romance, I decided on the pale sphinx with the title “Death Singer”. I think it suggests the weird and strange, which fits these stories better than the more romantic heart cover.
The full collection is now available as an e-book for £1-71, and contains seven tales demonstrating the wide range of the fantasy genre, including one about vampires written long before the current craze started by “Twilight”… honest! Each story carries an introduction explaining when and why it was written, and how it got published. One story (Sunbird Rising) has never been in print and may become a novel one day, so the muse would love to know what you think of it.
Full contents:
Death Singer – the forerunner of my Branford Boase Award winning novel “Song Quest”
Rubies – a vampire with a taste for cats comes of age when she meets her first man.
The Last Maiden – a unicorn hunt requires a maiden as bait. (Muse: uh-oh, time I wasn’t here…!)
Under the Eyemoon – a girl resists a ceremony that involves sacrificing her eye to a pool.
Sunbird Rising – a prince facing execution must choose between a spirit weaver and the rings of death.
Mars Take Seed Make Man – a (slightly rude) science fiction story set on Mars.
Empire of the Hare – the story of Queen Boudicca’s daughters with a touch of magic.
You can read part of Death Singer by downloading a free sample from amazon here:
UK readers
US readers
And if you are curious to know why short stories are rarely published as paper books, see Katherine’s post today over at Kindle Authors UK