Diabolical: Three Tales of Vengeance and the Sorcerer Jack Thurston is Free Today

Diabolical
The new cover for Diabolical as of October 2020.

Today, Diabolical: Three Tales of Vengeance and the Sorcerer Jack Thurston is free. Follow this link to get your Kindle ebook edition.

Jack Thurston is a retired professor of medieval literature and history. He is also a widower and father and a retired sorcerer who has returned to the black arts to exact revenge for the death of his wife, daughter, and brother. He has an intriguing position in the universe at a focal point of life, the afterlife, logic and reason, anger and hatred, the ancient and the modern worlds, grief and his attempts to escape grief through self-destruction. Though he wants to have the peace he once found with his wife, Agatha, he is pulled in many directions by circumstance and by his powerful negative emotions.

I am a fan of the old school horror practiced by such authors as H.P. Lovecraft, Poe, Edward Lucas White, and Arthur Machen.  I endeavor to make a story as terrifying and suspenseful for the reader as possible without resorting to gratuitous blood and gore for a simple shock or quick feeling of disgust.

Reader Edward Z says about these three tales:

“Three of the stories feature a sorcerer named Jack Thurston, who is a really well done evil sort of character and the best of the bunch in my opinion. The author methodically goes through his rather complicated and gross preparations for the spells and it adds a bit more weight to them then usually found in these kinds of stories.”

Reader Tabs says about this collection of three tales:

“I very much enjoyed this short read. It was interesting and allowed for me to develop great imagery. Will recommend to friends.”

This collection of three short tales is perfect for those who have only a few short breaks to escape into the hidden world of horror, black magic, sorcery, and anger-fueled revenge. They are included in the collection A Tale of Hell and Other Works of Horror.

You can find this and other works at my Amazon author’s page:  www.amazon.com/author/philslattery.

 If you enjoy horror, check out my collection of horror short stories A Tale of Hell and Other Works of Horror: Stories of wizards, werewolves, serial killers, alien worlds, and the damnedwhich includes these stories.

Show your appreciation for these stories by leaving a review on amazon.com/author/philslattery or Goodreads or any other social media.

Don’t forget to like, comment, and follow.

The Scent and Other Stories: the Dark Side of Love is Free Today on Amazon Kindle

Cover for The Scent and Other Stories as of Oct 2020
The new cover for “The Scent and Other Stories” as of October 2020

In this collection of short stories, I explore the dark, sometimes violent, sometimes twisted, sometimes touching side of love, the side kept not only from public view, but sometimes from our mates. Set in the modern era, these stories range from regretting losing a lover to forbidden interracial love in the hills of 1970’s Kentucky to a mother’s deathbed confession in present-day New Mexico to debating pursuing a hateful man’s wife to the callous manipulation of a lover in Texas. 

To order your free Kindle edition, visit my webpage for the Kindle version of The Scent and Other Stories.

Follow this link to purchase The Scent and Other Stories in paperback (although that edition is not currently free).

To view my other works, visit my Amazon author’s page at: www.amazon.com/author/philslattery.

Comments on stories contained in The Scent and Other Stories include:

The Scent

“This story has a lovely dreamy quality whilst being unsettling too. It lingers on half processed emotional experiences and leaves the reader asking ‘what if’ and ‘if only’ – feelings that are familiar for so many people.”

“You wrote about something we can all relate to – how, out of the blue, the scent of something evokes a memory of something long past; and the emotions we felt at the time! A clever story …”

“This descriptive piece about remembrance, the thought of what might have been, is a common sad thread that will resonate with those have experienced the pain of that one love lost. Slattery’s use of scent was exquisite as we feel Quinn’s pain and hope that he finds his peace, at last.”

Decision

“Fantastic writing – I held my breath for most of the story. The descriptions of the countryside and the people were beautiful and the tension compelling. This could possibly be the start of a novel or a suite of stories. Thank you very much and good luck with your writing in the future”

“Suspenseful and engaging. The dialogue and descriptions kept pace with the action. Well done.”

A Good Man

“Lots of detail examining an old question of how do you judge a person’s life. It left me wondering.”

“Great job capturing the social climate of the sixties. Good choice for how to present the story – deathbed “confession” by the mother. I enjoyed it.”

The Slightest of Indiscretions

“Excellent writing brings this poignant story to life and makes the reader work to understand more of what might be. Very many thanks for a satisfying, emotionally intelligent read…”

If you enjoy poems about love, check out my poetry collection Nocturne: Poems of Love, Distance, and the Night, a callous and disinterested lover, which is available in both Kindle and paperback.

Diabolical: Three Tales of Vengeance and the Sorcerer Jack Thurston is Free Today

Diabolical
The new cover for Diabolical as of October 2020.

 

Today, Diabolical: Three Tales of Vengeance and the Sorcerer Jack Thurston is free. Follow this link to get your Kindle ebook edition.

Jack Thurston is a retired professor of medieval literature and history. He is also a widower and father and a retired sorcerer who has returned to the black arts to exact revenge for the death of his wife, daughter, and brother. He has an intriguing position in the universe at a focal point of life, the afterlife, logic and reason, anger and hatred, the ancient and the modern worlds, grief and his attempts to escape grief through self-destruction. Though he wants to have the peace he once found with his wife, Agatha, he is pulled in many directions by circumstance and by his powerful negative emotions.

I am a fan of the old school horror practiced by such authors as H.P. Lovecraft, Poe, Edward Lucas White, and Arthur Machen.  I endeavor to make a story as terrifying and suspenseful for the reader as possible without resorting to gratuitous blood and gore for a simple shock or quick feeling of disgust.

Reader Edward Z says about these three tales:

“Three of the stories feature a sorcerer named Jack Thurston, who is a really well done evil sort of character and the best of the bunch in my opinion. The author methodically goes through his rather complicated and gross preparations for the spells and it adds a bit more weight to them then usually found in these kinds of stories.”

Reader Tabs says about this collection of three tales:

“I very much enjoyed this short read. It was interesting and allowed for me to develop great imagery. Will recommend to friends.”

This collection of three short tales is perfect for those who have only a few short breaks to escape into the hidden world of horror, black magic, sorcery, and anger-fueled revenge. They are included in the collection A Tale of Hell and Other Works of Horror.

You can find this and other works at my Amazon author’s page:  www.amazon.com/author/philslattery.

 If you enjoy horror, check out my collection of horror short stories A Tale of Hell and Other Works of Horror: Stories of wizards, werewolves, serial killers, alien worlds, and the damnedwhich includes these stories.

Show your appreciation for these stories by leaving a review on amazon.com/author/philslattery or Goodreads or any other social media.

Don’t forget to like, comment, and follow.

The Scent and Other Stories: the Dark Side of Love is Free Today on Amazon Kindle

Cover for The Scent and Other Stories as of Oct 2020
The new cover for “The Scent and Other Stories” as of October 2020

In this collection of short stories, I explore the dark, sometimes violent, sometimes twisted, sometimes touching side of love, the side kept not only from public view, but sometimes from our mates. Set in the modern era, these stories range from regretting losing a lover to forbidden interracial love in the hills of 1970’s Kentucky to a mother’s deathbed confession in present-day New Mexico to debating pursuing a hateful man’s wife to the callous manipulation of a lover in Texas. 

To order your free Kindle edition, visit my webpage for the Kindle version of The Scent and Other Stories.

Follow this link to purchase The Scent and Other Stories in paperback (although that edition is not currently free).

To view my other works, visit my Amazon author’s page at: www.amazon.com/author/philslattery.

Comments on stories contained in The Scent and Other Stories include:

The Scent

“This story has a lovely dreamy quality whilst being unsettling too. It lingers on half processed emotional experiences and leaves the reader asking ‘what if’ and ‘if only’ – feelings that are familiar for so many people.”

“You wrote about something we can all relate to – how, out of the blue, the scent of something evokes a memory of something long past; and the emotions we felt at the time! A clever story …”

“This descriptive piece about remembrance, the thought of what might have been, is a common sad thread that will resonate with those have experienced the pain of that one love lost. Slattery’s use of scent was exquisite as we feel Quinn’s pain and hope that he finds his peace, at last.”

Decision

“Fantastic writing – I held my breath for most of the story. The descriptions of the countryside and the people were beautiful and the tension compelling. This could possibly be the start of a novel or a suite of stories. Thank you very much and good luck with your writing in the future”

“Suspenseful and engaging. The dialogue and descriptions kept pace with the action. Well done.”

A Good Man

“Lots of detail examining an old question of how do you judge a person’s life. It left me wondering.”

“Great job capturing the social climate of the sixties. Good choice for how to present the story – deathbed “confession” by the mother. I enjoyed it.”

The Slightest of Indiscretions

“Excellent writing brings this poignant story to life and makes the reader work to understand more of what might be. Very many thanks for a satisfying, emotionally intelligent read…”

If you enjoy poems about love, check out my poetry collection Nocturne: Poems of Love, Distance, and the Night, a callous and disinterested lover, which is available in both Kindle and paperback.

New Edition of A Tale of Hell and Other Works of Horror to be Out Soon

As I may have mentioned, sometime back I decided to publish a print edition of A Tale of Hell and Other Works of Horror on Ingram Spark as well as with Amazon. I have been working diligently toward that goal over the last few weeks. As I get ready to go to publication, there are a few things I would like to point out:

As I may have mentioned, sometime back I decided to publish a print edition of A Tale of Hell and Other Works of Horror on Ingram Spark as well as with Amazon. I have been working diligently toward that goal over the last few weeks. As I get ready to go to publication, there are a few things I would like to point out:

This new edition will be a glossy paperback 5″x8″ in size and 238 pages. The cover design is below. I am still working out the price (somewhere around $15-$20 maybe), but I am keeping it as low as I reasonably can and still make a reasonable amount off each book sold.

I am finding out that shipping costs make the biggest part of a book’s price.

I am enjoying working with Ingram Spark much more than I did with Amazon. Amazon’s process is faster, much simpler, and easier, but I don’t think the product is as good as Ingram Spark’s will be. Ingram Spark gives you much more control over the final product. They also give you much better advice on how to maximize sales.

Although Amazon supposedly uses the same distribution network as Ingram Spark, I suspect/hope that I will have much better print sales. Amazon requires an author to price his/her print book at least 20% more than the Kindle version. Apparently, they are pushing their ebooks over print because they are cheaper to produce and probably much easier to distribute. I suspect they may be doing the same in distribution.

After A Tale of Hell and Other Works of Horror comes out on Ingram Spark, I plan to publish Nocturne: Poems of Love, Distance, and the Night, a callous and disinterested lover with them as well. That may be in about a month more or less.

I am going to experiment with advertising on Pinterest by promoting the cover design for A Tale of Hell… on there. I am also considering just developing a spectacular but subtle ad and seeing how that does.

Let me know what you think.

Hasta luego.

New Cover for My Novelette “Click”

Behold the new cover for Click!

Sometime back I was toying around with developing new covers for my works and I developed the one show for Click. Today I decided “What the hell” and put up the new cover. Let me know what you think. Click is available on my Amazon author’s page for $2.99. The new look should be up within 24-48 hours. The old cover now on my author’s page may take a while to update though.

Titles Available Now in my Amazon Store

The following works are now available at my Amazon page: amazon.com/author/philslattery.

The new cover for A Tale of Hell and Other Works of Horror as of November 15, 2019.
Available on Kindle. A revamped print edition is coming soon.

 

The Blonde cover fo The Scent and Other Stories
Available on Kindle and in Print

 

Available on Kindle and in Print

 

 

The new cover for Click as of November 15, 2019.
Available on Kindle and in Print

 

Available on Kindle and in Print. Note this story is included in A Tale of Hell and Other Works of Horror.

 

Available on Kindle and in Print. Note: These stories are included in A Tale of Hell and Other Works of Horror.

 

Shadows and Stars is my first, full-fledged novel. It is a science-fiction tale about a scientist who invents a portal and transports to an alien world where he becomes caught up in a revolution. I am finishing the first draft. The final draft will probably not require many changes. At approximately 135,000 words, it will be about 300 pages in 6 x9 format. This is how I visualize the cover currently.

 

Shadows and Stars cover 2
Coming hopefully soon.

 

Photo of man wearing a coronavirus mask
Prevent the spread of Coronavirus/COVID-19 for the sake of yourself, your friends, and your family.

Update of September 15, 2020: Follow up on “A Semblance of Normalcy”

Just a quick note. I finished “A Semblance of Normalcy” tonight and submitted it to Nightmare Magazine. I should hear back from them in anywhere from a few days to two weeks.

After I submitted it, of course I thought of a way I could improve it. I should have added more descriptors to make the senses come alive when reading it, things that would reflect what the characters are experiencing. what they are hearing, touching, seeing, smelling, and tasting (if i can work that in somehow) while being concise. If it’s rejected, I may add those to it before submitting it to the next publisher. One principle I try to live by with my writing is that when one story is rejected I send it out to another publisher the day I receive the rejection.

I am going to try a new tactic and find a photo that captures the spirit of “A Semblance of Normalcy”, format it for Twitter, and post it below. Then, when this article appears on Twitter, it will have a simple banner to help promote it.  Let me know what you think.

 

A Semblance of Normalcy
Read the short story by Phil Slattery

Titles Available Now in my Amazon Store

The following works are now available at my Amazon page: amazon.com/author/philslattery.

The new cover for A Tale of Hell and Other Works of Horror as of November 15, 2019.
Available on Kindle. A revamped print edition is coming soon.

 

The Blonde cover fo The Scent and Other Stories
Available on Kindle and in Print

 

Available on Kindle and in Print

 

 

The new cover for Click as of November 15, 2019.
Available on Kindle and in Print

 

Available on Kindle and in Print. Note this story is included in A Tale of Hell and Other Works of Horror.

 

Available on Kindle and in Print. Note: These stories are included in A Tale of Hell and Other Works of Horror.

 

Shadows and Stars is my first, full-fledged novel. It is a science-fiction tale about a scientist who invents a portal and transports to an alien world where he becomes caught up in a revolution. I am finishing the first draft. The final draft will probably not require many changes. At approximately 135,000 words, it will be about 300 pages in 6 x9 format. This is how I visualize the cover currently.

 

Shadows and Stars cover 2
Coming hopefully soon.

 

Photo of man wearing a coronavirus mask
Prevent the spread of Coronavirus/COVID-19 for the sake of yourself, your friends, and your family.

Titles Available Now in my Amazon Store

The following works are now available at my Amazon page: amazon.com/author/philslattery.

The new cover for A Tale of Hell and Other Works of Horror as of November 15, 2019.
Available on Kindle. A revamped print edition is coming soon.

 

The Blonde cover fo The Scent and Other Stories
Available on Kindle and in Print

 

Available on Kindle and in Print

 

 

The new cover for Click as of November 15, 2019.
Available on Kindle and in Print

 

Available on Kindle and in Print. Note this story is included in A Tale of Hell and Other Works of Horror.

 

Available on Kindle and in Print. Note: These stories are included in A Tale of Hell and Other Works of Horror.

 

Shadows and Stars is my first, full-fledged novel. It is a science-fiction tale about a scientist who invents a portal and transports to an alien world where he becomes caught up in a revolution. I am finishing the first draft. The final draft will probably not require many changes. At approximately 135,000 words, it will be about 300 pages in 6 x9 format. This is how I visualize the cover currently.

 

Shadows and Stars cover 2
Coming hopefully soon.

 

Photo of man wearing a coronavirus mask
Prevent the spread of Coronavirus/COVID-19 for the sake of yourself, your friends, and your family.

Update of September 12, 2020: My Short Story “A Semblance of Normalcy”

Eating at an Italian Restaurant in Midland, TX
Eating at Ray’s Italian Bistro in Midland, TX, 2019. Photo by Francene Kilgore-Slattery

I managed to come up with an idea as to how to fill a gap in the story and wrote a synopsis in the spot where it should go, but I have to flesh it out today. Hopefully, the finished story will be about 2,500-3,000 words long. This is horror.

The original title, as I conceived of the story a few years back when I started the first draft, was “Apocalypse”. When I took it up again recently, I changed the title to “The Final State of the Union”. “A Semblance of Normalcy” is the latest title an I will probably stick with that one, because of the irony between it and the plot of the story on completion.

The story is about a US president who delivers what will be his final State of the Union address after a nuclear war and a pandemic have devastated the world. The catch is that everyone in the audience and in the White House are dead, just decaying cadavers, which he talks to as if they were alive. He continues to deliver the State of the Union (which was held in the White House during the war vs. before a joint session of Congress), because he wants to present a “semblance of normalcy” to the world. However, not all is at it seems and there is a wicked twist at the end.

I will let you know when and where I will have it published.

Don’t forget to like, comment, and follow.

Hasta luego.

President McMillan
President McMillan in “A Semblance of Normalcy” (based on a photo of JFK)

 

Phil Slattery’s Novelette “Click” is Free Today on Amazon Kindle

The new cover for Click as of November 15, 2019.
The new cover for Click as of November 15, 2019.

My novelette, Click, is available free today on Amazon Kindle.

For it or the paperback version, go to my Amazon author’s page:  Amazon.com/author/philslattery. If you like Click, you will probably enjoy my other works available on Amazon as well.

You can also order the paperback Click through many bookstores as it is print on demand. Ask your local bookstore to order it or to carry it.

Frank Martinez, a policeman with the Corpus Christi Police Department, has unintentionally shot and killed an unarmed man when called to intercede in a domestic violence case. To recover from the guilt while the incident is under investigation by the CCPD, Frank’s fiancée arranges for him to stay on a secluded island owned by her father’s former law partner. While dozing one night on a lounge chair in the yard, he awakes to find two hitmen slipping onto the island and breaking into the cabin. Are they after him? Are they after the cabin’s owner? Most importantly, how is he going to reach his pistol in his luggage in the bedroom?

Reader Charles Stacey gave “Click” five stars on Amazon and commented:

“Author has a wonderful ability to develop the characters using few words. Great foreshadowing to build suspense. And then a really outstanding twist at the end that left me smiling.”

Joe Leonardi gave Click five stars on Amazon commenting: “An interesting story with a double twist ending that left this reader wanting more….” while he also reviewed Click on his website, ShortStoryScribe.com, saying:

Author Phil Slattery takes us on an interesting ride. He gives a twist ending to the story, that once revealed, you realize he peppered the story with clues. The second twist ending hits out of left field, and left this reader wanting for more.

The motivation is as old as storytelling, but that doesn’t make it bad.  Slattery’s words make us care for the main character and seeing his view of his marriage leave us, in the end, feeling sad for him in his moment of triumph.

Edward Z gave Click five stars on Amazon and commented:

A policeman on leave on a secluded island after shooting an unarmed man with a toy gun finds himself under siege by two criminals looking to use the place themselves…

A lot of detail goes into both the psychological aspects of the story as well as the action. This one is packed with every character’s motives, inner dialogue, and very well thought out. When it gets to the action it keeps this up as well as adding a lot of excitement.

Smart, fast-paced, and full of action. The characters are well done and don’t suffer from the usual boring tropes too much, and the two criminals are interesting as the author knows how to do ‘bad guys’ rather well.

An Amazon customer gave Click five stars and commented:

“This novelette is a quick and very entertaining read. It opened with a grabber (“Tell me again whey we have to kill this guy…”) and kept pulling me in from there. Frank Martinez is a cop trying to recover from a shooting incident in solitude on an island off the Texas gulf coast. T.J. and Benny are the bad guys. Their hunt and chase on the small island kept me in suspense. It ends with a surprise twist. Slattery proves here he is a good storyteller.”

While on my author’s page, check out my other works.

Don’t forget to leave your own review on Amazon, Goodreads, or other social media.