Next!!

We told you we had a lot lined up for 2014 right? Right?

Having just released the marvelous White Rabbit by K.A Laity and the first Young Adult novel, the excellent ‘Warrior Stone : Underland’ By R.B  Harkess we are not slowing down. Next up we have the two volumes of ‘The Girl at the End of the World’, ‘Missing Monarchs’, the part prose part poetry novella ‘The Velocity of Constant’ and what we are calling ‘the summer of the wolf’, because we have two werewolf novels coming up. ‘Heart of Fire’ by J.Damask and 25 Ways to Kill a Werewolf’ by Jo Thomas.

We’ve already show you the other covers, so here is Jo’s wraparound to keep you on the edge of your seat.

25 Ways Wrap 72ppi

 

Sign up to our newsletter for more information and a free sampler of forthcoming poetry chapbook ‘And the Fox Crows’ by V.C. Linde

It’s none stop in the Fox Den to bring you fantastic fiction.

Wicked Women

Wicked Women 72ppi Front

Wicked Women Edited by Jan Edwards and Jenny Barber
Cover by Sarah Anne Langton

From thieves and tyrants to witches and warriors, here are twelve tales of women who gleefully write their own rules, who’ll bend or break the social norms, who’ll skate along the edge of the law and generally aim to misbehave.

Contents:

A. R. Aston –  No Place of Honour
Stephanie Burgis – Red Ribbons
Zen Cho – The First Witch of Damansara
Jaine Fenn – Down at the Lake
Juliet E. McKenna – Win Some, Lose Some
Christine Morgan – The Shabti-Maker
Tom Johnstone – Kravolitz
Gaie Sebold – A Change of Heart
Sam Stone – The Book of the Gods
Adrian Tchaikovsky – The Blessed Union
Jonathan Ward – A Change in Leadership
Chloë Yates – How to be the Perfect Housewife

Buy this book

Opening paragraphs of Wicked Women

Win Some, Lose Some by Juliet E. McKenna
The Martagon is one of those taverns which, while not a brothel, always has enough lasses idling about in low cut bodices to catch a man’s eye through its hospitably open door. And there are always plenty of men passing the door, given it’s in the middle of a street of rooming houses that cater to country folk on some long anticipated visit to this splendid city of Selerima. Such folk always include plough boys desperate to quench their youthful ardour without the risks of sowing their seed in some local furrow. And then there are the older men whose marriage bed has long since staled. They can often be tempted into a slice from a fresh cut loaf.
‘Livak, there’s a man asking for you.’ One of the lasses sauntered over, hips swinging, hem of her pink gown hiked up to show the golden lace on her petticoats and fine white stockings above her soft yellow slippers.
I swept up the rune bones I’d been casually rolling on the table in front of me. ‘Send him for a walk down the Andelane. He’ll find what he’s looking for there.’
Even dressed in a man’s breeches and boots with shirt and jerkin loose enough to disguise my curves, getting the occasional offer is one of the prices of setting up in an inn like the Martagon. Some mistake me for a lad in the candlelight, half blinded by guilt or anticipation or both. Others just see my red hair and green eyes and remember all the whispered stable yard tales about the insatiable appetites of Forest women. Such whispers had mortified my respectable housekeeper mother once I’d reached girlhood, just when she’d thought the gossip about her ill-starred dalliance with the Forest minstrel who was my father had finally faded.
‘Tell him she’s with me.’ Halice was

Reviews

Felicity Keane on Amazon : Witches, vampires, queens, thieves and warriors. Wicked Women is an anthology of stories about women who are pushed over the edge and we the readers who watch and follow their misadventures.

Though the stories vary in length, they each manage to condense enough information so we know who these women are and what pushed them to the brink, making us want to see how their tales pan out and, more importantly, make us want to see them win.

N.R on Amazon : Fox Spirit’s “Wicked Women” anthology is yet another standard bearer for independent women and publishing and well-worth perusing!

Buy Wicked Women on Amazon

Wicked Women on Goodreads

wicked women1

Drag Noir: Creamy Contents, No Filling!

Photo via Dangerous Minds (click to see original article)
Photo via Dangerous Minds (click to see original article)

While the order of stories may be subject to change, here’s the stories you’ll be reading when Drag Noir pops out in a couple months from now with a faboo cover from S. L. Johnson:

The Meaning of Skin – Richard Godwin

Wheel Man – Tess Makovesky

No. 21: Gabriella Merlo – Ben Solomon

Geezer Dyke – Becky Thacker

Lucky in Cards – Jack Bates

Trespassing – Michael S. Chong

Chianti – Selene MacLeod

The Changeling – Tracy Fahey

Straight Baby – Redfern Jon Barrett

Kiki Le Shade – Chloe Yates

Protect Her – Walter Conley

King Bitch – James Bennett

A Bit of a Pickle – Paul D. Brazill

Stainless Steel – Amelia Mangan

The Itch of the Iron, The Pull of the Moon – Carol Borden

 

We’ve got a whole lot of interesting takes on the theme from folks around the world. I hope you will enjoy — I know I did as I sweated the choices. I was afraid I might not have enough submissions; instead, I had to make tough choices among some fine stories but the ones that made the final selection brought surprises and delights as well as that elusive noir spirit.

Doll yourself up and get ready for this one.

Bushy Tales

The bushy tales series was how it all began. If I were looking to buy a pub in 2012 Leicestershire would now be the proud home of The Nun & Dragon Pub, but instead it’s the home of Fox Spirit Books and our first anthology ‘Tales of the Nun & Dragon’.

Come, rest your weary bones, draw a flagon and hark to the tales of Nuns & Dragons, of bravery and steadfastness in the face of mighty and implacable foes. Settle down and indulge yourself in wild flights of fancy brought to life by your fellow travellers.”

The Nun & Dragon is a local like no other – share in the wild and wonderful tellings of a gifted panoply of authors, tales replete with wonder, a liberal coating of mysticism, the odd splash of darkness and a sprinkling of grim humour.

nun and dragon - ebook cover (2)

With stories by: Sarah Cawkwell, Mhairi Simpson, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Jasper Bark, Mark West, Joan De La Haye, Simon Bestwick, Colin F Barnes, Andrew Reid, Ren Warom, Pat Kelleher, Cat Connor, Peter Ray Allison, S.J.Caunt, Wayne Simmons, Geraldine Clark Hellery,  V.C.Linde, Catherine Rogers,  Jay Faulkner,  Sammy H K Smith,  Francesca Terminiello,  K.A. Laity,  Karen Davies

The second book in the series ‘Tales of the Fox and Fae’ is also out.

Deep in the woods where wild things lurk you’ll find foxes and rarer creatures, the fae. Join us for tales of faeries at the bottom of the garden, foxes falling foul of their own nature, battles fought in the night where human lives hang in the balance. Not all faeries are good, not all foxes are hunted. Welcome to our Tales of the Fox & Fae.

fox-and-fae front-cover-1

With stories by:  Andrew Reid,  Margret Helgadottir,  James Bennett, Chloe Yates, Alec McQuay, Haralambi Markov, Peter Ray Allison, Jasper Bark (writer) & Soussherpa (artist) & Bolt-01 (letterer), Geraldine Clark Hellery, Jay Faulkner,  T.F.Grant,  Cat Connor

The final ‘Bushy Tales’ book, ‘Tales of the Mouse and Minotaur’ is coming later this year.

Tales of the Mouse and Minotaur explores the adventure of mice (and rats) and twists on greek mythology. It also sees the return of Gilrain.

All three books feature cover art by Vincent Holland-Keen and internal art by Kieran Walsh. In Mouse and Minotaur Kieran will be collaborating with Joe Kolessides on the internal art. I’m excited to see the images for that!

Tales of the Fox & Fae… going live.

The long awaited (sorry about that) Tales of the Fox and Fae is going live this weekend in paperback via amazon.

fox-and-fae front-cover-1

Deep in the woods where wild things lurk you’ll find foxes and rarer creatures, the fae. Join us for tales of faeries at the bottom of the garden, foxes falling foul of their own nature, battles fought in the night where human lives hang in the balance. Not all faeries are good, not all foxes are hunted. Welcome to our Tales of the Fox & Fae.

The ebooks will follow in the near future. Ebooks, because the Outfoxed comic strip will be made available separately for free in ebook version rather than being included in the main ebook for formatting reasons.

 

The FS Books of Monsters

They lurk and crawl and fly in the shadows of our mind. We know them from ancient legends and tales whispered by the  campfire. They hide under the dark bridge, in the deep woods or out on the great plains, in the drizzling rain forest or out on the foggy moor, beneath the surface, under your bed. They don’t sparkle or have any interest in us except to tear us apart. They are the monsters! Forgotten, unknown,  misunderstood, overused, watered down. We adore them still. We want to give them a renaissance, to reestablish their dark reputation, to give them a comeback, let the world know of their real terror.


Welcome to  ‘The Fox Spirit Books of Monsters’. A book series with dark fiction and art about monsters from around the world. Fox Spirit Books will take you from continent to continent, bringing you art and dark fiction about monsters based on local folklore, myths and legends from around the world.

The FS Books of Monsters will run as follows: V1 European, V2 African, V3 Asian, V4 Pacific, V5 Amerincan Pt1, V6 American Pt2 and V7 Eurasian completing the series in 2020. Some of the writers also supply blog posts to accompany the books, which are available on the individual book pages. 

European Monsters

A visit to Europe to explore monsters old and new in their natural habitats. Here be Monsters!They lurk and crawl ...

African Monsters

For African Monsters we have tried to work with writers and artists from or with a strong connection to Africa ...

Asian Monsters

Once again the editor went out of her way to find authors and artists from Asian countries to contribute to ...

Pacific Monsters

The fourth title in the FS Books of Monsters series. Edited by Margret Helgadottir Cover by Daniele Serra Here be ...

American Monsters Part. 1

American Monsters Part 1, volume 5 of the series overall, covers southern and central America and American territories and includes ...

Author Blog Series
Some of the authors provided blog posts to examine their monsters and the origins of the stories.

European Monsters

Unsympathetic Werewolves by Hannah Kate
Shadows under Bridges by James Bennett
We Can Still be Wolves by Anne Michaud
For the Love of Blackbirds by Nerine Dorman
Making Moments by Krista Walsh
Bringing the Cursed One to life by Icy Sedgwick
The Exmoor Beast by Aliya Whitely
Mermaid and the Deep by Peter Damien
The Editors Interview Each Other

African Monsters

The Tokoloshe by Nick Wood
A Mirror to a Tenebrous Sun by Su Opperman
Not just a vagina by Chikodili Emelumadu
Sunlight, Shadow and Ichitapa by Jayne Bauling
At River’s Edge by Nerine Dorman
Monsters by Dilman Dila
Behind ‘Sacrament of Tears’ by Toby Bennett
Behind the Scenes by Dave De Burgh
The Editors

Asian Monsters

Margret Helgadottir, on Asian Monsters
Eliza Chan, on the monster who breaks the ice
Eve Shi, in which doors make a great analogy
Yukimi Ogawa, on folklore monsters 

Pacific Monsters

Kirstie Olley, The Dark Canvas of the Imagination 
AJ Fitzwater, Spine of the Dragon 
Bryan Kamaoli Kuwada, All My Relations : Shark Stories 
Michael Lujan Bevacqua, The Taotaomo’na of Guam 
Octavia Cade, Wishful Monsters 
Rue Karney, Finding the Words 
Tihema Baker, My Identity 

The Girl at the End of the World

Cover 1 Book 1
Cover 1 Book 1

The Girl at the End of the World edited by Adele Wearing
Cover art by Dave Johnson

It’s the end of days. The sky is falling, the seas are burning and your neighbour is a zombie. It’s brutal out there. It’s every man for himself and these heels are going to have to go; you simply can’t run in them!

Across two volumes, The Girl at the End of the World offers forty-one striking visions of the apocalypse and the women and girls dealing with it. From gods to zombies, from epic to deeply personal, from the moment of impact to a future where life is long forgotten; bestselling authors and exciting new writers deliver tales you’ll still remember when holed up in a fallout shelter with one remaining bullet and a best friend with a suspicious bite mark on their neck.

Cover 1 Book 2
Cover 1 Book 2

 

Book 1 CONTENTS:
Part 1
Antichristine – James Bennett, Coming Back – Tracy Fahey, The Borrowed Man – James S. Dorr, Change of Address – R. B. Harkess, Skin – James Oswald,
The Ending Plague – Andrew Reid, The End of the Garden – Catherine Hill
Part 2
Little Daughter – Dayna Ingram, Blueprint for Red Wings – R.J. Booth, The Last Rushani – Jonathan Ward, The Glacier’s Stone, the Mammoth’s Ivory –  Alexander Danner, Demon Runner – Dash Cooray, A Sailor Girl Goes Ashore – Margrét Helgadóttir, Rolling in the Deep – Cat Connor, Sophie And The Gate To Hell – Carol Borden
Part 3
All Things Fall – Chloë Yates, A Pilgrimage for Saint Salima – Alex Helm, Only So Far – A. Rodenberger, Somebody to Play With – G. Clark Hellery, The Beast Within – Christian D’Amico, In the Absence – J. M. Perkins, “ZomPoc in Nashville” – Scribe Unknown, Sleep Sweet Children – Nathan Lunt

Buy this book

Covers 2 Book 1
Covers 2 Book 1

Book 2 CONTENTS:
Part 1
The Weed Wife –  C. Allegra Hawksmoor, The Girls from Humaji – Adrian Tchaikovsky, Dawn of Demons – Eric Scott, The Sharks of Market Street – Michael Ezell, Shirtless in Antarctica – Justin Brooks, Under the Green Witch – Colin Sinclair
Part 2
Girls Day Out – Bruce Lee Bond, The Winter After – Mikey Nayak, The Thirteenth Hour – Michael Trimmer, Hope Street – Dylan Fox, I Was Here – Anne Michaud, Savage Times – Paul Starkey
Part 3
Spring Semester at Halcyon High, 2123 – G.R Delamere, Bunker Buster – Alec McQuay, The Unbroken Line – K. Bannerman, Vanquish – N.O.A. Rawle,  The Eternal Quest Of The Girl With The Corkscrew Hair – David Turnbull, Were Stars To Burn – Kara Lee, The Dragon’s Maw – Cheryl Morgan, Sleep Sweet Children – Nathan Lunt

Buy this book

Covers 2 Book 2
Covers 2 Book 2

 

Opening paragraphs of Girl V1

Antichristine by James Bennett
1.
Faith is the new girl. She shuffles into Mr Jaworski’s science class and stands at the front before all the desks and the sea of eyes. She stands under the wooden cross and the clock, next to the teacher’s desk. Already the other kids are judging her. Already they’re laughing. They don’t like her stripy stockings. They don’t like her black dress or her hair that looks attacked by crows. The stockings, dress and hair mean she is different and therefore weird. Weird isn’t good in the 8th Grade. Faith is the new girl and will never be like them.
‘This is Faith, the new girl,’ Mr Jaworski says. He goes to pat her shoulder, thinks better of it. ‘I trust you will all make her welcome. Faith, please say hello.’
Faith doesn’t say hello. Some girls sat up front snigger. One of them, a skinny blonde in a pink tee shirt and non-existent skirt, pops some bubble gum and says,‘She’s the new girl? I thought she was here for dissection.’
Everybody laughs.
Mr Jaworski doesn’t laugh.
Faith doesn’t laugh.
Mr Jaworski says, ‘Christine Collins, the class comedian. One more peep out of you and it’s detention.”
‘Yes, sir. Sorry sir.’ The girl, Christine, doesn’t look sorry. She crosses her supermodel legs. A smile hangs under her nose job. A lot of money went into her teeth. They’re too white. Too perfect. Almost as perfect as the hate that Faith feels looking at her. Looking at her and imagining her head bursting into flames, her hair crisping, her eyes melting, her smile becoming a sealed line of dripping, liquefied skin.

Buy Girl at the End of the World Vol 1 (city cover)
Buy The Girl at the End of the World Book 2 (city cover)

 Reviews

If You Like Books Book 1 : There are infinite ways to get there, but the result is strong women making the decisions they need to make to survive. Some care only about their own survival, and others are more protective. No matter, they are all alone when they make their choices.
If you think the Bechdel Test shouldn’t be hard to pass, read The Girl at the End of the World: Book 1.

Tony Lane on Book 2 : The book was broken down in to three sections. Each had a different feel. Moving from fantasy through urban apocalypse and science fiction to the finale at the end of time this book had a flow and a rhythm that somehow managed to tie such diverse stories in to an almost seamless narrative.

Tony Lane on Book 1 : I think I’ve read all of the Fox Spirit collections and there is a certain feel to them. A darkness tinged with some acerbic humour.  This collection is darker and more serious until you get to the very end. There is a sudden release of tension as you near the end.

And The Future Fire gave a balanced and positive review of Girl at the End of the World Vol 1 here. : The very cool small press Fox Spirit Books have brought out an anthology of apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic stories with women protagonists in two volumes. Edited by Adele Wearing, the generally high-quality The Girl at the End of the World (or at least the first volume, which is all that I have read—a review of volume two will follow from another reviewer) covers several different areas beneath the umbrella of apocalypse, from the personal to the world-shattering, from the absurd to the terrifying.

Buy Girl at the End of the World Vol 1 (city cover) on Amazon
Buy The Girl at the End of the World Book 2 (city cover on Amazon

Volume 1 on Goodreads

Girl at the End of the World – Vol 2

and here are the covers and listings for volume 2.

I am crazy excited about these books and can’t wait to see the finished covers!

TGATEOTW_1b

TGATEOTW_2a_3

 

2,1 Dawn of Demons Eric Scott
2,1 Shirtless in Antarctica Justin Brooks
2,1 The Girls from Humanji Adrian Tchaikovsky
2,1 The Sharks of Market Street Michael Ezell
2,1 The Weed Wife C Allegra Hawksmoor
2,1 Under the Green Witch Colin Sinclair

2,2 The Winter After Michael Nayak
2,2 Girls Day Out Bruce Lee Bond
2,2 Hope Street Dylan Fox
2,2 I was Here Anne Michaud
2,2 Savage Times Paul Starkey
2,2 The Thirteenth Hour Michael Trimmer

2,3 Bunker Buster Alec McQuay
2,3 Halcyon High Gita Ralleigh
2,3 The Dragons Maw Cheryl Morgan
2,3 The eternal quest of the girl with the corkscrew hair David Turnbull
2,3 The Unbroken Line Kim Bannerman
2,3 Were Stars to Burn Kara Lee
2,3 Vanquish N.O.A Rawle