Category: Writing

A stellar sci-fi book turns 4 today (Plus: a thrilling announcement!)

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Wow! Today is the 4th birthday of my epic sci-fi novel Steel City, Veiled Kingdom! (Better known round these parts by its nickname, SCVK.) Hoo, BOY that went fast. Seems like I just released it yesterday!

This is one of my most popular books. If you like your sci-fi novels heavy on the wonder with a little horror stirred in and peppered with humor, you might like it, too! Click the cover to find out more.

Cover for STEEL CITY, VEILED KINGDOM: THE COMPLETE EDITION - A man in a labcoat holding a rabbit on a strange device, with a monster in the background.

Find out more about SCVK

But what’s even MORE exciting is that this book’s little brother is on the way! That’s right, SCVK’s sequel is launching soon! It’s a stormy sci-fi drama called The Guests of Crooked Neck. It’ll be releasing first to Kickstarter in 2024. Check out the cover!

Cover for THE GUESTS OF CROOKED NECK

The Guests Of Crooked Neck is a moving science fantasy about grief, pride, and being seen. This standalone novel set in the Worlds of Everlush universe takes place soon after the events of Steel City, Veiled Kingdom–but you can read it as a standalone novel just fine.

As a story, Crooked Neck is the inverse of SCVK: where SCVK was an epic adventure spanning a few in-story years, exploring all corners of the galaxy through the eyes of a single character, Crooked Neck is an intimate drama switching between three main characters that stays put in one small town for a single weekend. But both books contain colorful characters and engrossing worlds.

If that sounds like it’s up your alley, I hope you’ll click the button below and join me on the journey of launching the second Worlds of Everlush novel!

Click here to be notified when The Guests of Crooked Neck launches!

New dragon art for a smokin’ book birthday!

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Book birthday image - a stack of books topped by a party hat. Photo generously provided by by massonstock.myportfolio.com

Happy book birthday to DEBUTS AND DRAGONS (2019), a fun underdog story about a drab dragon! Here’s some art I’m working on of one of the characters, Pinnacle Smokebelcher:

 

Digitally colored sketch of a lantern-jawed red dragon with blue spikes. Work in progress.

He’s not a major character or anything, but with that name I couldn’t resist doodling him! Read DEBUTS AND DRAGONS today and see a ton more weird dragon names!

Get DEBUTS AND DRAGONS

HGTV fans who read horror fiction will love my new release!

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After a wildly successful Kickstarter (over 200% funded), I’m happy to announce that BONA OSSUARIA: A HOME RENOVATION HORROR STORY is now available to the general public AND available for the first time in PAPERBACK! Just in time for spooky season! 🎃

Cover for Bona Ossuaria: A Home Renovation Horror Story. Two smiling women stand back to back, superimposed above a red house and a disturbingly off-colored sky. The tagline reads Good bones. Gone bad.

They thought they were making changes to the house. But the house was making changes to them.

When their construction team discovers a hidden shaft while renovating a clients’ home, mother-daughter design duo Evelyn and Erika Ellsworth need an idea, quick.

But to Erika’s dismay, her flighty mom doesn’t just turn the shaft into her pet project: she refuses to let anyone else in on what she’s doing.

This isn’t the first time her mom’s gotten obsessive over a reno. And clients always love what she comes up with. So Erika decides to humor her.

That decision will prove fatal.

BONA OSSUARIA is a slow-burning morsel of surreal, psychological horror.

* * *

I got the idea for Bona Ossuaria after a watching a certain HGTV program for a few seasons. The show has a fun and wholesome vibe–and I still love it–but my writer brain couldn’t help but see things going…let’s say, darkly wrong with the hosts.

After reading it, my proofreader said she was never able to watch that program the same way ever again. Which delights me to no end!

The Kickstarter for this story funded in under a week, so that was also really cool (and educational, as my first–but definitely not my last–Kickstarter). I got to design some darkly funny printable posters for the Kickstarter that are now available for sale, go check them out.

Buy ebook direct from me!

Buy ebook everywhere else!

Buy paperback from Amazon!

Download printable wall art inspired by the story!

One day, 2 POLAR OPPOSITE book birthdays

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Today we celebrate 2 book birthdays. Yes, somehow I wound up publishing two stories on the same day (but different years). They’re also entirely different in tone.

From 2017, we have THE BUREAUCRAT, which is like something Kafka would have written if he had ever had the nasty misfortune of encountering a phone tree. It’s had two covers so far and I’m thinking it needs a third. Here’s the original cover (by me, when I was first learning how to photobash things) and the most recent cover (art by Christian Bunyan)

The Bureaucrat (Cover)
Cover to THE BUREAUCRAT - A creepy office worker stands grinning with blank eyes in front of a wall of spooky blank eyes.

Get your copy of THE BUREAUCRAT

Next, we have THE CAPRAMANCER NEXT DOOR, from 2020. This one’s become one of my favorites–I think it’s because it has a lot of things I like in it (adventure, magic, talking animals, male and female co-leads, an optimistic ending). Also, people keep sending me smiling photos of themselves with the cover, which makes me happy, and not just because I illustrated he cover myself. 🙂

I hope to revisit these characters someday in a Christmas adventure! Ah, so much to write, so little time!

Cover for THE CAPRAMANCER NEXT DOOR: A laughing woman wields a glowing shepherd's crook while a goat leaps through a portal overhead

Celebrate with your own copy of THE CAPRAMANCER NEXT DOOR.

 

Horror fiction fans who watch HGTV will love my new Kickstarter project!

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BONA OSSUARIA, my new home renovation horror story, launched Tuesday on Kickstarter and (to my delight) is now fully funded!

BONA is a slow-burning morsel of surreal, psychological horror. Here’s the cover:

Cover for Bona Ossuaria: A Home Renovation Horror Story. Two smiling women stand back to back, superimposed above a red house and a disturbingly off-colored sky. The tagline reads Good bones. Gone bad.

If you back now, you’ll get the ebook early and at a discount, plus some classy-yet-sassy kitchen decor printables! Paperbacks will be available during the general release in October.

You can find out more about the story and pledge levels here:

Visit the BONA OSSUARIA Kickstarter page

 If you could pledge, I would love that (just $2 to get those printables!).

And it’d be FANTASTIC! if you could share the link to social media–that’d help me reach more potential readers, which is currently my biggest career challenge.

 

As heard on the NoSleep Podcast: BAD TIDINGS FROM QUEEN SOPHIE, now in ebook and paperback!

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I CAN’T WAIT for fall treats and temperatures! But it’s still 90-degrees plus outside (where I live, anyway), so I’m kicking off Spooky Season as usual by reading scary stories and games (well, Luigi’s Mansion 3. Close enough!).

If you like doing the same, check out my latest short story, Bad Tidings from Queen Sophie. It was made into an audio production back in December 2021 by the NoSleep Podcast (Season 17, episode 6), but this is its first release in paperback and ebook!

Cover for BAD TIDINGS FROM QUEEN SOPHIE: An eerie cat's face emerges from the dark below the title text.Here’s the deets:

When her beloved kitty Queen Sophie starts acting odd, Cass turns to a mysterious app to bridge the communication gap.

But she soon discovers that no mews is good news…

BAD TIDINGS FROM QUEEN SOPHIE is a quick fright perfect for any animal lover who’s ever wondered what their pet is trying to tell them.

* * *

If you’re looking for scares that unnerve instead of nauseate, look no further. Horror stories from Danielle Williams lean towards slow-burn scares and the unsettling. If you take your creeps with a PG-13 sensibility—think THE SIXTH SENSE, THE OUTER LIMITS, or classic TWILIGHT ZONE—this is a story for you.

Buy direct and bypass Big Tech

OR

Buy it everywhere else!

The Pixelvania Publishing Proclamation o’ Progress, August 2022 Edition

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The Pixelvania Publishing Proclamation o’ Progress is a semiannual post detailing what’s going on around here, and what might show up in the future. It also includes reviews of shows, books, games, products, etc. you may also like. It’s only posted twice a year so as not to clog up your valuable, beautiful brain space.

Cute kitty photos at the end.

Recap

Here’s what’s been published since last post:

Coming Soon

Bad Tidings From Queen Sophie

This kitty-with-talking-buttons horror story (previously heard on the NoSleep Podcast) will be released very soon! Dig this minimalist cover!: Read More …

The Pixelvania Publishing Proclamation of Progress, February 2022 Edition

Posted on

The Pixelvania Publishing Proclamation o’ Progress is a semiannual post detailing what’s going on around here, and what might show up in the future. It also includes reviews of shows, books, games, products, etc. you may also like. It’s only posted twice a year so as not to clog up your valuable, beautiful brain space.

Cute kitty photo at the end.

Recap

Here’s what’s been published since the last post:

  • Chrystine’s Sleep Solution, an eerie midlength horror story inspired by ASMR videos and sleep ambience apps.
  • Bad Tidings from Queen Sophie became my first short story sale…but instead of being printed in a magazine or posted blog, it got made into an AUDIO DRAMA over at the NoSleep Podcast! Way cool! Queen Sophie is a (kinda funny) horror story featuring a kitty “talking” with buttons, a la Billi the cat or Bunny the dog.

Listen to my new kitty horror story FREE on the NoSleep Podcast!

My story starts around 25 minutes.

Prefer to read it? Jump on my new releases newsletter if you wanna be notified when it comes out in ebook and paperback!

Sign up and I’ll email you when QUEEN SOPHIE is released in written form.

Coming Soon

Read More …