Wrapping Up 2022

Happy New Year!

Story Empire

Hey, SE Readers. We’ve come to the end of another year, and it’s been an exciting one for Story Empire. Comments are closed today, but on behalf of all the Story Empire authors, I’d like to wish you a Happy New Year and share a few highlights from 2022.

New Members

In January, we announced the addition of two new authors for Story Empire, D. Wallace Peach and Beem Weeks. We now have a total of eleven contributors to the site.

Our readership continues to grow and we are grateful for our loyal followers.

Blog Posts

Story Empire surpassed nine-hundred posts this year. It’s too cumbersome to list all of them, but this is a list of one of the most popular posts by each author.

• C. S. Boyack – Easter Eggs
• Mae Clair – Writing, Then and Now
• D. L. Finn – What Every Writer Should Know
• Joan…

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Smorgasbord Christmas Book Fair 2022 – #Shortstories Beem Weeks, #Mystery #Thriller Joy York, #Shortstories Simon Van Der Velde

Discover some grat reads curated by the discerning Sally Cronin!

Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

Welcome to the Smorgasbord Christmas Book Fair with a selection of books from personally recommended authors on my bookshelf I believe will make wonderful gifts for friends, family and for you.

The first author is Beem Weeks. I enjoyed reading his novel Jazz Baby in the summer and can highly recommend. Today I am featuring his short story collection Strange Highway.

About the collection

If you ever find yourself on the Strange Hwy—don’t turn around. Don’t panic. Just. Keep. Going. You never know what you’ll find.
You’ll see magic at the fingertips of an autistic young man,
•A teen girl’s afternoon, lifetime of loss.
•A winged man, an angel? Demon—?
•Mother’s recognition, peace to daughter.
•Danny’s death, stifled secrets.
•Black man’s music, guitar transforms boy.
•Dead brother, open confession.
•First love, supernatural?—family becomes whole!
You can exit the Strange Hwy, and come back any time you want.
See, now…

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Happy Holidays!

Ho ho ho!

Story Empire

Hi, SErs! Harmony here😊 It’s holiday time! Comments are closed today, but on behalf of all the Story Empire authors, I’d like to wish you Happy Holidays!

Image courtesy of Canva

Thank you to everyone for your support this year, and we look forward to sharing many more posts and good things together!

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12/28/22 ENCORE EPISODE with Mark Herndon and Leah Seawright

A fine episode with some fascinating country stars!

Voice of Indie Podcast

Legendary Country Music Hall of Fame drummer Mark Herndon yearned to fly jets as a military brat, then discovered the dream of playing drums, vowing to come back one day and perform at the very place where he once had to stand outside just to hear. Along the way, he loved and lost and made plenty of mistakes, persevering to achieve all that he imagined before having so much taken away. After decades with one of the most celebrated bands of all time, he still lives his dreams, playing, producing, flying, and now writing with keen observations about life and living in the spotlight.

AMAZON

WEBSITE

SHOW LINK

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Smorgasbord Christmas Book Fair – New Book on the Shelves – #Supernatural Adventure The Last Drive by John W. Howell

New John Howell, shared by Sally Cronin!

Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

Delighted to share the news of the latest release by John W. Howell the sequel to the excellent Eternal Road... another supernatural adventure…The Last Drive

About the book

In the sequel to Eternal Road – The final stop, Sam and James are reunited to look for two souls, Ryan and Eddie. Ryan was killed in Afghanistan, trying to avoid a schoolyard with his crippled plane. Eddie Rickenbacker, Ryan’s hero, is to guide Ryan to his Eternal Home, and now both are missing.

The higher-ups believe that there has been some interference in Ryan and Eddie’s journey by Lucifer, so Sam and James have the task of finding Ryan and Eddie to get them back on the road despite the evil interference. Unfortunately, the machinations designed to prevent Ryan and Eddy from completing their journey takes the pair to horrifying testing grounds. The places visited represent the best work…

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The Fortune Keeper

Discover Deborah Swift’s latest!

When Angels Fly

Book Title: The Fortune Keeper

Series: Italian Renaissance Series

Author: Deborah Swift

Publication Date: 24^th November 2022

Publisher: Quire Books

Page Length: 412 Pages

Genre: Historical Fiction

Twitter Handle: @swiftstory @maryanneyarde

Hashtags: #BlogTour #CoffeePotBookClub #FortuneKeeper #HistoricalFiction

Tour Schedule: https://maryanneyarde.blogspot.com/2022/08/blog-tour-her-castilian-heart-by-anna.html

Book Title and Author Name:

The Fortune Keeper

By Deborah Swift

Blurb:

Count your nights by stars, not shadows ~ Italian Proverb

Winter in Renaissance Venice

Mia Caiozzi is determined to discover her destiny by studying the science of astronomy. But her stepmother Giulia forbids her to engage in this occupation, fearing it will lead her into danger. The ideas of Galileo are banned by the Inquisition, so Mia must study in secret.

Giulia’s real name is Giulia Tofana, renowned for her poison Aqua Tofana, and she is in hiding from the Duke de Verdi’s family who are intent on revenge for the death of their brother. Giulia insists Mia…

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Son of Anger

Discover a new book by an excellent author! Thanks, Mary.

When Angels Fly

Media Kit

Book Title: Son of Anger

Series: Ormstunga Saga

Author: Donovan Cook

Publication Date: 12 Nov 2020

Publisher: Self-Published

Page Length: 347 pages

Genre: Viking Historical Fiction

Twitter Handle: @DonovanCook20 @maryanneyarde

Hashtags: #HistoricalFiction #BlogTour #CoffeePotBookClub

Tour Schedule: https://maryanneyarde.blogspot.com/2022/09/son-of-anger-ormstunga-saga-book-1-by.html

Blurb

Ulf is like a storm, slowly building up its power, he grows more dangerous with each passing moment. And like all storms, he will eventually break. When he does, he will destroy everything in his path.

Ulf is one of a long line of famous Norse warriors. His ancestor Tyr was no ordinary man, but the Norse God of War. Ulf, however, knows nothing about being a warrior.

Everything changes when a stranger arrives on Ulf’s small farm in Vikenfjord. The only family he’s ever known are slaughtered and the one reminder of his father is stolen — Ulf’s father’s sword, Ormstunga. Ulf’s destiny is decided.

Are the gods punishing…

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Smorgasbord Posts from my Archives – Previous Reviews from 2022 – Oh Baubles: A Christmas Romance Novella by Harmony Kent

Find your holiday spirit with some fine words by Harmony Kent! Thanks, Sally!

Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

Over the next few weeks I will be sharing my reviews for books I posted between January and June 2022.

I read two Christmas themed stories over the holiday period last year and here is the second from award winning Harmony Kent – Oh Baubles: A Christmas Romance Novella.

About Oh Baubles

After a tragic accident one Christmas, Charlene loses her husband and her leg.

Scarred and damaged, the losses leave her lost and reeling, and a long recovery lies ahead of her.

When John, a hot young physiotherapist, comes into her life with his ripped abs and good-god good-looks, she can’t imagine he’d give somebody like her a second glance.

Then she falls for him.

Can Charlene overcome all obstacles to gain back her life and find true love once more?

Find out in this fun-filled, clean Christmas romance novella from award-winning author Harmony Kent.

My review for the…

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How to use beats in crime fiction and thrillers – by Louise Harnby…

Thrillers must be paced to be effective. Let’s learm more about how. Thanks, Louise Harnsby

Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

Find out how to balance the scenes in a crime novel or thriller by using different types of beats that help readers understand the fictional world they’re immersed in. There’s a free sample scene analysis too!

What’s in this post?

• Emotion beats: for sensibility
• Action beats: for movement
• Inaction beats: for breathing space
• Description beats: for stability
• Dialogue beats: for expression
• Why mixing up beats makes scenes more interesting
• How to analyse a scene for beat balance
• Download a FREE sample analysis

Continue reading HERE

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Demons!

It’s past Halloween, but spooky never goes out of date. Enjoy this free short from Beem Weeks!

The Indie Spot!

Happy Halloween! Today, I am sharing a story I wrote some years ago. It originally appeared in a horror anthology entitled The Gates of Erebus. It has since been added it to my short story collection called Strange Hwy: Short Stories. 

Ghosts don’t exist. They simply are not real. When a person dies, they cease to be—unless you’re religious, then you have either heaven or hell. Dead people don’t wander around on planet Earth, hiding out in rundown old farm houses. They just don’t. My mother told me so a hundred times. So did my father.

Demons, well, they’re a different thing altogether.

I saw it at the bottom of the list. My name, Jessa Leaner, big and bold in the late summer sunlight, showing I’d be one of the fortunate ones. I’d be sitting in Mrs. Corner’s class for my fifth-grade year. That meant other kids, those…

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