It lives!

Happy release day to Piece of Me!

This is my third novel and (holy hell!) 6th release this year! What the heck!

Piece of Me is a love story. Set within the backdrop of an epic-fantasy/horror landscape, we follow our main character Kari as she struggles to survive and ultimately searches for her husband and son.

Early reviews have been kind and I absolutely love this story. I really hope you all do as well.

Featuring another stunning cover by Mason McDonald, adapted by a photo my father-in-law Peter took, we return to the same land that my short stories ‘For Balder Walks,’ and ‘Poppa?’ are set in.

The ebook is only $0.99 until middle February! Paperback is live, so snag it and enjoy!

As a bonus, this comes with the short stories ‘For Balder Walks,’ ‘Poppa?’ and ‘Krampus Comes Calling.’ The third story actually drops today as well, Friday the 13th on Kendall Reviews.

You can find it right here;

{Christmas Feature/Exclusive Fiction} Krampus Comes Calling: Steve Stred

All three are related to ‘Piece of Me’ but can be enjoyed on their own. I figured it would be neat for you readers to have them all together in one place!

 

Now, I mentioned I had a heavy release year.

This year saw the arrivals of ‘The Girl Who Hid in the Trees,’ ‘The Stranger,’ ‘Ritual,’ ‘The Night Crawls In,’ and ‘The One That Knows No Fear.’

‘Ritual’ and ‘The One That Knows No Fear’ are both available as $0.99 ebooks as well!

In other writing news from this year;

• I had drabbles accepted in 100 Word Horrors Volume 3 and 4. Volume 3 is already out, Volume 4 will be coming shortly.
• I had drabbles accepted in Forest of Fear and 100 Word Zombie Bites.
• I had a short story accepted into Aphotic Realms Halloween Issue
• I have a drabble accepted for release early next year in an Insignia release for Japanese Fantasy Drabbles.
• I’ve also had three short story acceptances in three soon to be announced projects!

It’s been a very productive year!

For links to those, please check it out in my menu!

Alright – year in review stuff.

Books: as of typing this up, I’ve read 212 books. I’m hoping to finish at 225, but we’ll see.

I’ll have a full ‘Best Of 2019’ list over on Kendall Reviews at the start of January, but my favourite book of the year;

The Homecoming – Andrew Pyper

I mean, come on. My favourite author firing perfectly on all cylinders? Pacific North West Mansion with a crazy stipulation. Just outstanding.

Check out my full review here;

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2615577642?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

Snag a copy here;

 

Best Album;

Misery Index – Rituals of Power

From start to finish, this album rips. Crushing, melodic, emotional and savage. Everything I love about heavy music.

 

Best Movie;

No clue. I’ve pretty much stopped watching movies and TV shows. I just don’t have the time and they don’t engage me like they used to do.

Best Moment;

The return of The Ghost Inside. What this band has been through. Jesus. But seeing their return and knowing they’re still fighting – unbelievable.

 

Alright. Well, it’s been a blast. I hope 2019 has treated you well and I hope you keep crushing it in 2020.

As for me – what’s next?

I’ll be focusing on getting ‘The Boy Whose Room Was Outside’ done and ready for my first release of 2020. So keep watching for that.

This is my last blog post until probably January 3rd. That may stretch out until the 10th, we’ll see how hectic things are.

So, until then – have a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Years, and all the best to you and your families and loved ones!

See you in 2020.

Steve

Happy Friday!

First off – I just want to thank everyone who liked, shared or messaged about the Black Friday Roundup Post! I have heard a few of the authors that were in there had some great numbers – which means more readers! How awesome is that!

Secondly – thank you to everyone for showing ‘The One That Knows No Fear’ some love on its release day! I’ve so honoured to be included in the Demain Publishing Family and really love this quick tale! If you haven’t snagged it – the ebook is only $0.99US!

Lastly – in the horror world stuff – two quick things;

1 – ‘Ritual’ is still seeing some love! Thanks to those folks grabbing this – remember the ebook will always be $0.99US! In the horror world there is are revered awards every year named after a famous author who wrote a book about a vampire, and somehow ‘Ritual’ has ended up on a list of books for folks involved with that to be read!!! What the heck!!! I don’t want to offend anyone involved (there are strict protocols) which is why this is vague-ish, but that brought a smile to my face.

2 – ‘Piece of Me.’ It is done. I have to re-read my afterword one last time, then I’ll be loading it to Amazon. Official release date – Friday the 13th. Ebook price for the first two months will be $0.99. It will include the short stories ‘For Balder Walks,’ ‘Poppa?’ and a short story that will be featured on Kendall Reviews also on the 13th – all set in the same world.  There will be a short pre-order for this I would suspect, just the way I do it so that the paperback will be live at the same time as the ebook. So keep an eye out!

OK – now for the bread and butter.

Kids Books!

Did you know I have three kids books out already? I don’t usually pump them much or share them much – because I want absolutely no confusion between the horror stuff and the kid friendly releases. The covers are pretty self explanatory. I attempted to release them under a pen name – SD Sky, but Amazon blocked that, so I just kept them as is.

Here are the three;

Book 1:

‘Gabe & the A Word’ was written specifically for my nephew Gabe. Gabe has high-functioning autism. I wrote this action story to show him that autism is just a word, just a diagnosis and that he can be whatever he wants to be! This one also includes ‘Auryn Meets the Dragon,’ which was is short story number 1 in a planned collection for my son.

I licensed the cover art from a website, but it really does encapsulate the feeling!

Ebook is $0.99 and also available in paperback!

Book 2:

‘Layne Meets Lefty & Knuckles,’ is my second kids release. I wrote this for Gabe’s younger brother Layne. I didn’t want him to feel left out, so I made him into a superhero! This one also features the story ‘Gabe and Layne : The Battle to Save the Playground,’ where the brother’s unite to vanquish an enemy!

Cover art is done by the fantastic Terri Ann Ewing McDaniel!

Ebook is $0.99 and also available in paperback!

Book 3:

‘Ayrielle and Willow Band Together!’ is the third release in the kids series. This one is written for my nieces Ayrielle and Willow and follows them as they need to save the world twice! I wrote this as a girl-power book for them, showing that they can accomplish anything!

Since this has come out – my sister Melina has had another girl – so I’ll be needing to write a 4th book in the kids series!

Cover art was once again handled by Terri Ann Ewing McDaniel!

Ebook is only $0.99 and as of writing this – the paperback is currently 50% off on Amazon US!

I have already discussed this but in 2020 – my first release will be ‘The Boy Whose Room Was Outside.’

This is being released specifically as a bridge release – for those who want to read my work but find my normal stuff scary or too horrific. It is the flipside to ‘The Girl Who Hid in the Trees.’

It will feature artwork from all of my nieces, nephews and my son and also has some gorgeous artwork from Sandra and Miranda!

Mason McDonald delivered a great cover!

Watch for full release details coming up!

Next week – the 13th, will be my final blog post of the year. It will be a release day post for ‘Piece of Me,’ as well as quick year in review.

Thank you all for being a part of this 2019 ride!

Cheers

Steve