Blog Archives
Animals
![Animals by [J. E. Lynch]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/517RP5+33dL.jpg)
All was rosy for the Burnhams till they went on a year-long holiday. Three family members returned with a nightmare that would plague them for the rest of their lives, while little Eleanor never made it back at all. She simply vanished on a nice sunny day on the beach, only to appear in a cave far away from her family. That marked the start of a life-changing experience that saw her raised by unusual animals. Her training in the wild molded her into a ruthless young predator, not unlike her tutors. She soon found out that she was now an assassin created to carry out the will of her vengeful animal captors. Ellie embraced her new life, but her mind kept pulling up images of her old life that featured a happy family. Would she chase the freedom she once had, or would she stay a killing machine?
J.E Lynch’s Animals brings a startling folktale to life. The book’s intriguing plot piques curiosity early on and sustains it all through the story. It features animals running a covert recruitment program and feels like a metaphor reflecting our nature and actions as humans, like George Orwell’s allegorical novella Animal Farm. Even though Lynch tries to present truths in an unusual way, he doesn’t leave you scratching your head. His themes are clear, thought-provoking, and fascinating.
Lynch is great at stimulating the senses with very descriptive sentences, relying more on simple words than flowery language. I love how the author approaches the main character’s evolution. He leaves just enough clues to show there was a chance she could change course without making you feel it was inevitable. The animals also had distinctive personalities that resonated with me. I found myself rooting for some and scoffing at others, a sign that I was heavily invested in the characters.
I breezed through all 300 pages of this book. I’m not sure I’ve finished a book of that size in such a short time. I definitely have the story’s pace and intrigue to thank for that. And to top it off, the story ends with a smashing cliff-hanger. Good thing the sequel is out already. So, I don’t have to wait to get my paws on it.
Animals is a thought-provoking young adult novel that is daring, creative, and immensely entertaining.
Pages: 303 | ASIN: B07NQK2HXN
To See Shades of Gray
Into Oblivion follows a woman who follows a traveling circus but finds that the circus harbors dark secrets. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
I was inspired by a series I read when I was younger about a traveling freak show. I wanted to put my own spin on the story of a traveling performing troupe. I finally came up with the idea of Roadside Paradise when I thought about the unsavory image most traveling circuses have in the modern day and thought decided to create a traveling circus dedicated to righting wrongs.
Athena is an interesting and well developed character. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?
I wanted to be sure that Athena was very no-nonsense and set in her beliefs about the world because I wanted her to struggle with the magical aspects she comes across in Roadside Paradise. I think her struggle to see shades of gray in what she sees as a very black and white world is one of the main points of the series.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
The most important theme I wanted to explore was justice. Roadside Paradise and V in particular punish wrongs the patrons of the circus commit. But he cannot do anything more or less than the crime he is punishing. This meant I had to take a hard look at what punishment would be considered too much for the crime.
This is book one in your Roadside Paradise series. What can readers expect in book two?
Books 2-5 are already available for purchase. Book 6 will be released in Fall 2021.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website
Athena Alexander never thought her savior would come in the form of a traveling circus, let alone one that she suspected to harbor illegal activities.
While trying to fix the mess of her life, Athena ends up hitching a ride with the Roadside Paradise troupe. However, it is no ordinary traveling circus. Along with the normal circuit, the troupe performs privately for anyone with enough money to pay their fees. They have a reputation for being the best, and the young, charismatic owner, V, is sure to maintain that reputation.
Athena’s instincts as a former police officer tell her that there is something amiss. Among the flashing lights and delighted screams, certain people who visit Roadside Paradise find their own version of hell. V’s hypnotic power draws people in, but if they hold dark secrets, they soon find themselves trapped. But V’s targets are never innocent.
Karma is in town.
Literary Titan Book Awards April 2021
The Literary Titan Book Awards are awarded to books that have astounded and amazed us with unique writing styles, vivid worlds, complex characters, and original ideas. These books deserve extraordinary praise and we are proud to acknowledge the hard work, dedication, and imagination of these talented authors.
Gold Award Winners
Silver Award Winners
Visit the Literary Titan Book Awards page to see award information.
Riddled with Violence
Deification follows a gang leader on a bloody quest to restore her dark saviors powers in the end times. What were some sources that informed this novels development?
I have always been interested in Christianity and Catholicism as theological fields of study, so much of my research material was the Christian Bible.
I love the concept of angels and what they can and cannot do, their connections to humans, and even their punishments for taking humans as spouses. I enjoy the Book of Enoch even though it isn’t widely accepted as part of the canonical Bible, and in it are descriptions and stories that are beyond fascinating to me.
But what I really wanted to discuss through Torrence and her devotion to this dark savior was the idea of idolization. I often wonder why we spend so much time praising others and so little time praising ourselves. Torrence’s past was already riddled with violence; Why then was she so quick to worship Conrad for his?
What draws you to the horror genre and inspires you to write?
Though this is my sixth published work, it is my first horror story. I’m always inspired to write as a vehicle to explore greater concepts, innately human ones. The theme I wanted to consider here was idolization and hero-worship, and placing a character on a mission to complete someone else’s divinity instead of attempting to deify themselves as the god of their own life seemed a theme best explored by the darker elements of that type of admiration. How far will someone go for the person they view as their God?
The book has some fantastically unforgettable scenes. What was the funnest scene for you to write?
Thank you for saying so! It’s hard to pick one. I had a lot of fun with so many of the scenes. The end was certainly fun to write but for the sake of spoilers I won’t explain why. Honestly, though, I think I enjoyed War’s sections the most. It was nice to take a step back from the darkness and remember that there is room even in the worst of us for something purer, even if it’s just our feelings for another person.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
I am working on a sequel to Deification, but I’m not even to the halfway point of its completion. I’d hope at the very latest I’ll have it completed and ready to release by the summer. Hopefully much sooner, though!
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website
A Fairly Straight-forward Haunting
The Covenant of Wickersham Hollow follows a group of teens that go into the Wickersham house and awaken a malevolence that has lain dormant for centuries. What was the inspiration for the setup to your thrilling story?
Wickersham Hollow actually started under the name Witch Hill and was intended originally to be a fairly straight-forward haunting. But as the characters developed, so did the story. The further I went, the more I realized it had to be told in both the past and present…each leading in circles to the other.
The story is told from the viewpoint of different interesting characters. Who was your favorite character to write for?
I think my favorite character to write and develop was Mother Cassandra. Getting the reader to hear her Jamaican dialect as they read, without pulling them out of the story by having to struggle with it, was a challenge – one I hope to (and have seemed to, so far) met.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
I think the most important theme was relationships. It’s the ties between people, be they best friends or relatives, that drive any meaning into the telling of a story. Without relationships, without connections, characters become flat and one dimensional. I think that’s pretty true in life as well.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
I’m nearing completion on the first book of a new series. The title of the book is The Bones of Sarah Golescue. The series is based around two characters from a previous novel, Blood Tracks. I see it as a kind of “Supernatural” meets The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
If all goes well, I plan to have it up for pre-sale by the end of March (2021)
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website
300 years ago…
…an evil was born of lust.
Now it’s awake … and hungers.
When seven teenagers go into the old Wickersham place in search of a Halloween thrill, they get more than they bargained for when they awaken a malevolence that has lain dormant for centuries. Barely escaping with their lives, they learn that the past never dies.
For … in a house that hungers…
…no soul is safe.
When a young couple set about restoring the old place, the evil resurfaces. And those who faced it once before just might be the couples’ only hope.
Will they find the courage to reunite…
…and face a terror they’ve tried to forget?
And if so…
Will anyone survive?
You’ll love this old school horror tale, because some things that go bump in the night are real. Don’t forget your night light.
Get it now.
Deification
Deification by Brooklyn Dean is a violent, sexy, supernatural whirlwind of a story that follows Torrence, a young woman that has survived the opening; tearing of the sky that indicates the end times. Angels and demons now roam the earth, carrying out their personal and spiritual plans. Torrence is on a deadly, seemingly Satanic, mission to capture and murder seven virtuous people, a set of communion rituals assigned to her by Conrad, an individual that may or may not be a demon. The path she cuts through this new world is grim, edgy and immensely entertaining.
This book does a great job of turning on its head the common theme of the seven deadly sins being defeated by a hero on their path to righteousness. Instead, this book deals with dark themes, flawed characters, and it does it all as the main character seeks to invite those deadly sins into her body by murdering individuals that represent the virtues that oppose them.
I’ve seen other authors try to delve into these kinds of topics get caught up with too much sexual content, too much violence, or other issues that make other stories feel off-balanced and immature. Author Brooklynn Dean though has truly struck a masterful balance in this dark supernatural thriller, all while leaving the reader to wonder if the main character is truly on the path she believes, or if those holding the cards are keeping secrets.
If there is a weakness in the story, it comes down to flashback scenes that are perhaps a little too numerous and stretch out just a bit too long. It’s not major, and I’m sure many readers will actually enjoy these scene changes that round out the secondary characters.
I am absolutely enthralled by this story, and I hope there is a follow-up installment coming soon. Deification is a horror novel that takes evangelical themes to some uniquely sinister extents in riveting style.
Pages: 137 | ASIN: B08TGS2D1Y
In This Strange Universe
Into the Macrocosm is a collection of dark and bizarre stories that follows a character that observes 22 unique deaths. Did you write these stories specifically for this collection, or did you write them over time?
I wrote these stories over time. In 2018, after the launch of my thriller novel, YEGman, a friend of mine suggested writing shorter fiction – lower investment and a chance to explore new writing styles. The short stories have lived on the blog as a monthly release for my existing readers and to entice new ones. Over time, enough of them accumulated to make a collection.
A few additional short stories snuck their way into this book, like Inspirer, Crusaders, and Mr. Super. The stories were revised before being brought into the collection, allowing me to clean them up and improve the ideas and styles.
The overarching storyline with Malpherities was added specifically for this collection to support the growing Macrocosm that encompasses all my stories. This storyline was written in the second person with the Nameless One as a tribute to my readers over the years, letting them – in a way – be in this strange universe. Malpherities also plays a crucial role in my dark fantasy series Mental Damnation, so it was fun to bring him back for this book.
This collection fits within the universe you’ve created with your other novels. What are some moments fans can look forward to in this collection that connect directly to your other novels?
Malpherities, the ghoul, has the most prominent appearance within Into the Macrocosm. He has always been inspired by the Cheshire Cat and is quite versatile from a writing perspective.
We also get a new look into The Kingdom of Zingalg, where Mental Damnation takes place. Malpherities comments on the mystical land as humanity shifts into the modern world, leaving the fantastic things lost in history.
A fun cameo is Allen Oil Site Solutions, which makes appearances in my horror novel, Seed Me, and my upcoming horror, Rave. The company has been in the background for a long time, but I’ve got sinister plans for it in the future.
I really enjoyed the different ideas explored throughout this collection. What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Death is a common theme in all of my writing. We’re alive for a tiny blip in the universe’s history and its future, which makes life such a precious gift. I ponder what defines being alive a lot, which unintentionally led to many of the shorts having characters either dying, contemplating death, transcending, or barely surviving it.
The overarching plot with Malpherities and the Nameless One was written about a year ago when the pandemic started. Our world entered a weird state of limbo with the lockdown in Canada. Naturally, I started to dive further into philosophical ideas, spiritual concepts, and where humanity is going in the long run – as we see with the SciFi shorts Harvesters and Scrappers.
The most essential theme in the book is living life. I hope readers feel a resurgence to live it and enjoy this short gift. Hence the “observer” concept with witnessing others’ lives. We’re too often passive with technology integrated into our day-to-day activities, and we forget to pause and be here now.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?
My next book is a horror novel titled Rave. It will be out in the spring of this year, most likely in June. Here’s a one-liner summary:
Seth, cursed by his cousin’s crime, love, and desire, has no sweet release at the Rave after he and his friends carelessly get their DNA on an unexplainable murder; the RCMP will believe that these drugged-out kids saw a horned man-beast decapitating people – right?
I am also continuing the monthly short stories. They have migrated from the blog and onto my new Patreon that launched in February 2021. Like on the blog, they are short stories found within the Macrocosm. The shorts include audio versions I narrate and high-rez downloadable covers for smartphone backgrounds.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website | Patreon
Enter an obscure universe through the lives of 22 souls as the Nameless One and their ghoulish companion attempt to unlock the mysterious past of how they died. Yet, danger lurks even in the post-death realm, the Midway, and it is not keen on mortal visitors.
Award-winning author Konn Lavery’s short story collection explores his expanding macrocosm, sharing the same universe as his previous works such as the horror novel Seed Me, thriller YEGman, and the dark fantasy series Mental Damnation. These interconnected tales bring everything under one, strange, unsettling, cosmos.
Literary Titan Book Awards March 2021
The Literary Titan Book Awards are awarded to books that have astounded and amazed us with unique writing styles, vivid worlds, complex characters, and original ideas. These books deserve extraordinary praise and we are proud to acknowledge the hard work, dedication, and imagination of these talented authors.
Gold Award Winners
Silver Award Winners
Trust vs Lust… a biography by Ian D. Niall
Intrepid Spirit by David Tunno
Visit the Literary Titan Book Awards page to see award information.
