Mangled Cover Reveal

From the creative mind that gave readers: The Reality Hackers, comes a tale unlike any other written this century... 

With that said, the story needed an equally mystifying cover art. It took some time to find that perfect balance, but the universe of possibilities came together. Now, Undawnted is revealing the new book cover for the novelette version of the story, publishing in April of next year.

This creative write infuses the horror and science fiction genres and takes them into a futurist cascade of events that will leave the reader asking themselves what they would do in a similar position. 

New technologies like algorithms, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality are only the beginning of the changes to be seen in the world. 

 

But are these changes friend or foe? Mangled contemplates some of the questions surrounding humanity's future. 

Mangled follows a military Specialist named, Sarah Mitchell: 

To see the full cover, visit Mangle's dedicated page on Undawnted. 

The short story publishing in WordCrafter's Midnight Roost horror anthology, Mangled, on October 17, 2023, will also be published as a novelette in April 2024 through Sonoran Dawn Studios. 

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A writer at heart, Undawnted's own creative spark, DL Mullan, began writing short stories and poetry before adolescence. Over the years, Ms. Mullan has showcased her literary talents by self-publishing several collections of her poetry. She also writes novels, designs apparel, and creates digital art. Ms. Mullan‘s creative writing is available in digital and print collections, from academia to commercial anthologies. As an independent publisher, she produces her own book cover designs as well as maintains her own websites. She is an award-winning digital artist and poet. 

 DL Mullan is sharing her knowledge via A Novelist Idea Newsletter. If you too want to become a Fearless Phile, then subscribe to her newsletter on Substack.

Her innovative style teaches writers how to reach their creative potential, and write more effectively.

Learn. Grow. Master… with Undawnted.

The Jonah Collector is Set for June 2023 Release

As an homage to the Rime of the Ancient Mariner, The Jonah Collector is a lyrical prose, seafaring narrative set in the 1700s. 

Captain Christopher Houston is a seafaring man. He lives on the sea. He is the best ship captain in the world. He is also deceased. 

In this epic tale, we discover that in his youth, Captain Houston committed a heinous crime. He lied about his age to get onboard a ship because his father had died. The young man wanted to support his mother by earning a wage. Unfortunately, he was too inexperienced. He found himself labeled a Jonah, the weakest link, and forced to walk the plank. 

As his ship sailed away, the ocean took him down to the Locker. In the Depths, a beautiful mermaid made him a deal. Captain Houston did not understand the contract that saved his life, and was later able to nullify the mermaid's evil intent because he was not of age to consent to such an agreement. 

Years had passed since his encounter. Something inside of him stirred. He knew that his youthful mistake was about to catch up with his present. 

Unbeknownst to him, the mermaid, Aetheshella, devised a scheme to lure Christopher back to her through fate. She went after his son. Now, Captain Houston has a choice: save his son or himself. 

Will he be the next victim of The Jonah Collector? 

This short story will be released on June 23, 2023.

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A Novelist Idea Newsletter will be having a release party with prizes and trivia, plus Subscribers receive Early Access to purchase the e-Book. Be sure you are a Subscriber, because this is a Member's Only event.

This year's program is the: Hint of the Divine, in which participants learn the archetypes found in human culture, and storytelling.

Bring depth to your writing.

Join our Creative Tribe. 

Learn. Grow. Master... with Undawnted.

 

 

 

Press Release: The Jonah Collector has been Submitted to an Anthology

After writing this Rime of the Ancient Mariner/dark mermaid inspired short story for a writing prompt, The Jonah Collector was edited for a future release. 

Undawnted was set to publish this lyrical prose piece this summer until a publisher's call for submissions asked for a seafaring narrative. After formatting the document, the story was read through to see if further editing was necessary. Since the creative write received no corrections, it was deemed ready for another life.

Therefore, The Jonah Collector was removed from rotation and submitted to this new anthology. We wanted to update our readership about this change, especially for those readers who were excited about this imaginative piece. In the coming weeks, DL Mullan will be notified if The Jonah Collector was accepted, and Undawnted will let our audience know the future of this tale.

We hope no matter if The Jonah Collector is published by an anthology or by Ms. Mullan that Fearless Philes will share in our excitement.

Team Undawnted

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The Jonah Collector has been published by Sonoran Dawn Studios. 

Check out the dedicate page for details.

 

WordCrafter Blog Tour: Joseph Carrabis's Marianne for Visions Anthology

Summary

This short story is about the final stages of life. It's not a coming of age story; it's a coming to the end story.

How do you envision your last days? Marianne answers this question by how her mind starts to slip into fantasies. Marianne tries to balance her mental decline, her other medical issues, and her daughter's concerns with an analytical perspective, sarcasm, and defensiveness. All modes to deflect and shield her from others imposing their will upon her as she withers away.

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Review

The short story Marianne by Joseph Carrabis addresses the fears that each human endures as they draw closer to the end of their lives. The elderly Marianne is confined to a wheelchair, knowing that her prognosis is grim, yet her mind is sharp. She sharpens her wit by foiling the plans of her daughter, Rose, and when that is not enough to satiate her suspicions, she antagonizes the younger woman with airplane tickets to euthanasia-friendly Oregon... to visit her sister, of course.

What Marianne does not see is the perspective of Rose. Her daughter is witnessing her mother's mental decline and is helpless to do anything about it. She is pushed away and treated like a gold digger.

In converse, the daughter is more wrapped up in her stress of being a caretaker than to enjoy the last days with her mother. Rose’s relationship is complicated by her mother’s disgruntled attitude, finances, medical and legal appointments. Rose appears to have little power and is reminded of her insignificance, to the point where Rose visits her mother only once per day.

The narrative asks the reader: which view of the situation is correct? Each character sees the other as a hostile combatant, instead of as family. A true-to-life situation as the older and the younger women become at odds, both afraid to address the real issues of their relationship and what Marianne’s death would mean to them both. As these circumstances often yield two struggling individuals, who are unable to communicate with each other, because their emotions are dominated by ego instead of compassion.  

The story, Marianne, shows how a situation can lead people down the path of ungratefulness. Ungrateful to have a caring daughter who takes care of Marianne. Ungrateful for the time Rose has left with her mother.

The reader is not only taken on a journey of this complicated relationship, but also navigates its audience through the collapsing mind of Marianne herself. A good read that asks many hard questions. In the end, the reader is to decide what it all meant. If being at odds with a failing loved one has meaning at all.

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Purchase 

To read, Marianne, purchase Visions anthology here: https://books2read.com/u/49Lk28.

 

Giveaway 

Five digital copies will be given away in a random drawing at the end of the tour. Each stop visited earns an entry. Let me know you were there by leaving a comment.     

To Enter the Giveaway... go to Writing to be Read and leave a Comment.

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Joseph Carrabis told stories to anyone who would listen, starting in childhood, wrote his first stories in grade school and started getting paid for his writing in 1978. He's been everything from a long-haul trucker to a Chief Research Scientist and holds patents covering mathematics, anthropology, neuroscience, and linguistics. After patenting a technology which he created in his basement and creating an international company, he retired from corporate life and now he spends his time writing fiction based on his experiences. His work appears regularly in several anthologies and his own published novels. You can learn more about him at https://josephcarrabis.com and find much of his work at http://nlb.pub/amazon.