• About the Author
  • About the Author
  • Book Trailers
  • City of Lights: The Trials and Triumphs of Ilyse Charpentier
  • Contact
  • Corcitura
  • Deadmarsh Fey
  • Reviews & Critical Praise: City of Lights
  • Vocal Performance

Books In My Belfry

~ A Writer's Life For Me

Books In My Belfry

Category Archives: Excerpts

10 Quotes From Deadmarsh Fey

Featured

Posted by Melika Dannese Hick in Book Spotlight, Deadmarsh Fey, Excerpts, Fun Stuff, Missives, News, Updates

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

100, 13, 15, 18, 1888, 1890s, 1894, 1975, 19th century, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2014, 2018, 2019, 24601, 30th anniversary, 40, 700, 8, a book addict's bookshelves, a fragment of life, a host of ills, a keeper's tale, a lot, a warden's purpose, a wizard should know better, a wizard's forge, a woodley, a. m. justice, a. m. rycroft, a. z. anthony, aaron c. cross, aaron hodge, aaron-michael hall, ache, adam watson, adaptations, added bonus, aderyn, aderyn wood, aesop, afresh, Agatha Christie, age, aidan r walsh, Air Jaws, aldrea alien, alexa grave, alexander grant, alice in wonderland, alice sabo, all we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us, alliance, allies, alveric, amaze, amazed, amazing, Amazon, Amazon UK, amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, amreading, amy mcnulty, ancient evils, and I enjoyed answering these questions so much. Many, andrea domanski, anduril, andy peloquin, angel, angels, anglo-saxon, anne rice, annihilation, Anniversary, anorffen, answer the call, antestheria, applause, aragorn, architect, ariadne's thread, arianrhod, arthur, arthur machen, arwen, as Laura phrased it, ashley capes, assumption, asunder, august, Augustin Boroi, aunt betsy, australia, australian, australian shark chorus, authentic, author, Authors, autonomy, autumn, awestruck, back from the dead, baggins, bagheera, bait, barber of seville, base motives, battlecry, beach, bear, beautiful, beginning, bellows, belong, beloved, below, bent, beowulf, best friend, best wishes, betrayal, better angels, beyond, beyond the forest, bide, big, big boys, bill shakes, bird and baby, birth certificate, birthday, bite, black, black cats, black winged beast, blade and rose, blank wall, blazing, blind, blog, Blog Tour, blogger, bloggers, bloglovin, blogs, blood, blood and ashes, blood suckers, blood wood, blood-soaked, bloodshed, bloom, blue prometheus, blue water, blue water white death, boarding school, boat, book, book addict, book feature, book nerd, book of mormon, booknerd, books, Books In My Belfry, booksinmybelfry.com, boom, boris kos, born vampire, Bottomless, boxer, brainstorming, bram stoker, brandon, bravo, brian o'sullivan, bride, brilliant, British, broke, brother, brothers, brothers and sisters, brothers grimm, bruce, bubbly, business, bust, c. d. gallant-king, c. l. schneider, C. S. Lewis, cable tv, cage, calling, canon, carnifex, caroling, carpet diem, carte blanche, Carver, cat, catharine glen, catholic, cats, caverns, cede, celebration, celts, chance, chaos, character classes, characters, Charles Dickens, charpentier, chesterton, childhood, children, children of light, children of vampires, chilled, chivalry, chocolate, chocolate chip, choppy, chris fallowes, chris fallows, chris weston, christened, christians, christina ochs, Christmas, christmas carols, christmas in august, christmas in july, christopher percy, chucked, chumming, church, cianien bloodstone, City of Lights, City of Lights by melika lux, city of lights: the trials and triumphs of ilyse charpentier, classic, classical, clicking, clues, cnn, coalition, Coffyn, collapse, comedic fantasy, Comedy, comic, comic book, composed, conceal, concentration, conquest, conservation, constant source of inspiration, Constantinos, constructive criticism, contemporary fantasy, contest, conventional wisdom, conversation, cooked, copies, copyright, coquette, corcitura, Corcitura feature, corpses, corruption, corruption of honor, cottage, count, count orlok, Count Rakmanovich, Count Sergei Rakmanovich, courtly love, coven queen, Cover, cozy, crackbrained, craig a price jr., craig aird, creative fiction, creepy, cries blood, crime and punishment, cross fire, cruelty, CS Lewis, curiosity, curse, cut, cutting his teeth, cutwater, cutwater island, d. h. dunn, d. p. prior, d. p. wolliscroft, daft, damned souls, dance hall, dance of romance, dancing in the dust, danger, dangerous, dannese, dark, dark ages, dark fantasy, dark lord, dark oak, dark of winter, dark one's mistress, dark side, dark tide, dark wreaker, darkblade assassin, darkling, darkness, dashing, daughter of atlas, David Copperfield, david gowey, david mullin, david oliver, david p macpherson, dawn of darkness, days of endless night, dead bride, dead shrimps, deadliest, Deadmarsh, Deadmarsh Fey, deadmarshes, deal, dean rencraft, death, death merchants, death of worlds, debbie taylor, deborah kerr, december, decision, deep, deeper, defeat, demand, demon, demon-haunted, demonic, demons, demons of the deep, denial, depth, depths, desire to weave stories, destiny, destruction, details, devastatingly brilliant, devil, devin madson, devour, devourer of the world, dialogue, dianne bylo, die, dimensioner's revenge, diminish, Discovery Channel, disover, disposable, ditty, diva of the paris stage, diver's suit, divine, dk girl, dnf, dogs, don't look back, donald trump, doom, dorothy dreyer, Dostoevsky, double blinds, Dracula, draculaesque, Dragon, dragon eye, dragon fate, dragon school, dragon shade, dragona rise of the wyverns, dragons, dramatis personae, drandeur, dread, dread grandeur, dream, dream-sagas, dreamlike, dreams, driving force, drowning, druids, dude, dunedain, dungeoneers, dungeons and dragons, dunsany, duology, dwellers, dwellers of darkness, dwellers of darkness children of light, dyrk ashton, e. j. taylor, eagle and child, earth, Eastern Europe, ecstatically, ego, Eiffel Tower, elessar, elevator pitch, elmo, elvish, email, embellishments, emblematic, emerald dodge, emma stone, emotional, encourage, end song, enemies, enemy, engand, England, englishman, enlightened, enraptured, enveloped, envoys, epic, epic fantasy, epistolary, Eric Bradburry, erlkonig, erudite, eternal night, Europe, European, evangeline, everl'aria, everyone, evidence, evie, evil, Excerpt, exile, experience, exploitation, exploring, extraordinary, eye of arianrhod, eyes, Facebook, faces in the mist, fade, faeries, fairy cakes, fairy tales, faith, fall, fallen, fallen age, fallen empire, fallen kingdom, false bay, family, fangs and fins, fantastic, fantastical, fantasy, fantasy hive, fantasy is escapist, fantasy novels, farewell and adieu, fascinated, fast typist, fate, Fated, fated to die, father, fathomless, Faust, favorite, fearies, feast, feast in the forest, feature, featured, feedback, feel, female author, female vampires, female werewolves, female writers, fey, fiction, Film, filming locations, films, Fin de siècle, Find Me, finding dory, finding home, finding nemo, fire's song, fireplace, firing, first novel, flesh, flickering, flow, flowers, flying sharks, Folies Bergère, food network, foodtv, foot, forest, forever, forfeit, forged in flames, forgotten relics, forsaken kingdom, foundation, four novel, fox news, fragile nights, France, Franz Schubert, free, free reign, free will, freebie, freedom, freeing air, French, french flag, French wine, friday, friends, Friendship, frodo, frodo baggins, frustrating, fudge, full circle, fun, Fuseli, gabriel michaelson, gaja j. kos, game of thrones, Gandalf, gandalf the grey, gardener, gargantuan, geist, genres, george r. r. martin, german, german lieder, Germany, ghast, ghost electricity, ghosts, giganitc, giveaway, gk chesterton, glamour of evil, glimpse, gloomy, glories, glorious, glory, gnomic, God, godforsaken, goethe, gollum, good and evil, good gad, good vs evil, gooderads, goodread, Goodreads, Google, goose, goose is cooked, gothic, gothic novel, governess, grabs, Grand Tour, great book, great god pan, great white, great white shark, Greece, greenery, Gretchen am Spinnrade, grey beard, grey wolves, Greydanus, groaza, gryffyn, guardians, guides, guillermo del toro, Guinness, gustav mahler, guv, guy fieri, gwendolyn pendraig, h p lovecraft, h. g. wells, hallmark, hallmark channel, halloween, hamilton, hamlet, hammer, hand-write, hannah sullivan, hansel and gretel, harsh, hasty, hate, haunted, haunting of hill house, havelock, hazard, he who fights, heart, heartbeat, heaven, heaven and earth, hell comes to hogtown, help, henry corbin, henry fuseli, henry james, here be dragons, here there be dragons, hermit, hermitlife, hero, hero forged, heroes, heroism, high barrens, high fantasy, high school, higher self, higher selves, highland, hinterland, historical fiction, historical romance, hobbit, hobbit size, hobbiton, hollow, home, home is behind, hope, hopes, hopes and dreams, horrifying, horror, horror herald, hosted, hosting, hot, Hotmail, house, hues, huge, hugh jackman, hugo vickers, hugo weaving, human beings, Humor, Hunger Games, hungers of life and all that matters, hunter, hybrid, hybrid vampires, I shout, ian gregoire, Ian McCarthy, ian mckellen, iceland, iconic, idea, ill tiding, illegal, illegible, ilyse, Ilyse Charpentier, imagination, imbued, impact, impacted, in which a dashing Englishman woos mademoiselle Charpentier, in-depth, incendiu, incorporate, indecisive, Indie, infected, infinity, infused, inkling, inklings, insights, inspiration, inspirations, inspired, instill, insurmountable, integrity, intense, interjections, Interview, invite, iron fey, iron reveals, irv, isobel, isobel vickers, Italian, Italy, itinerant writing, j. a. alexsoo, j. d. hallowell, j. e. mueller, j. elizabeth vincent, J. R. R. Tolkien, j. r. rasmussen, j. zachary pike, ja andrews, jack, Jack the Ripper, jacob sannox, jagged, jagged ones, JAWS, jawsome, jawsomeness, jc kang, jean, jean booknerd, jean valjean, jeffrey l kohanek, jeffrey russell, jennifer ellison, jeramy goble, jess watkins, jesse teller, jingle bells, jingle sharks, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, john william waterhouse, jon, jordan c robinson, joseph sheridan le fanu, josh erikson, jot, joy, JRR Tolkien, Jurassic Park, just keep swimming, justin lee anderson, k bird lincoln, k l ling, k m alexander, kascher's quartet, katniss, kayleigh nicol, keith mcardle, kevin wright, kind, Kindle, kindle giveaway, king arthur, kingshold, Kip, Kipling, kirsten m corby, Knightley, knowing thine enemy, knut hamsun, kurintor nyusi, l. l. mcneil, la la land, La Perle de Paris, la petite coquette, lad, landed, languages, laptop, latest, laura, laura m hughes, lava, leave, lee conley, legend, legendarium, legends, legends of elera voices, Leonora, Leonora Bianchetti, lepers, leroy nichols, les miserables, lesser, lethal, letter, liath luacra, library, lie, lieder eines fahrenden gesellen, lies, life, light, light dawning, likeminded, lin manuel miranda, lineup, link, Links, lips, lirazel, list, little dream, lives, Lockie, loggerheads, logistical, London, longing, longing for home, longings, lord byron, lord dunsany, lord of the rings, lords of asylum, lorri moulton, LOTR, Louisa May Alcott, Louvre, Love, love in one act, love of reading, Luc, luck, lunch, lux, Lux Aeterna, lynn's books, lyrics, m. s. olney, mabinogion, mabus, machen, mad skillz, maddie, Madelaine Bradburry, madness, magic, magic's betrayal, magnificent, mahler, main character, majestic, malazan, malevolence, manipulation, Manon Larue, manor, many thanks to the fabulous (and sharktastic!) Laura M. Hughes for giving me this opportunity. I hope you will all enjoy reading about, marble, marianne ratcliffe, marilyn peake, marilyn vix, marine biologist, mark lawrence, marked, mashup, master, master coffyn, masterclass, matt heppe, matt larkin, matthew thompson, maul, Maurice Charpentier, maxim, meagan hurst, meager, meanings, meant to be, media, meg cowley, megan mackie, melancholy, melika, Melika Dannese Lux, Melika Lux, melokai, membrane, mental angels, merlin, method, michael baker, michael r baker, michael sliter, middle-earth, mike morris, miles and flora, mimicked, mind, mind behind the mind, mind palace, miranda, miranda honfleur, mirror writing, mirroring, moartea, moarteans, modern times, monikers, monocle, moon, moonlight roses and murder, moonstone, more things in heaven and earth, moria, moroda, moss, most wonderful time of the year, mother, mountain, Movies, mr. micawber, mr. murdstone, mug, Music, musical, my calling, my dream, my life, my love, myth, mythology, myths, names, narnia, nature, nature of evil, nazri noor, nebulous, ned marcus, nerd, net galley, netflix, netgalley, never looked back, new, new interview, new release, New York, new zealand, news, nia rae, nicholas kotar, nicholas malebranche, night, nightmare, ninny, no sparkling, norse, norse mythology, north york moors, northleach, norway, Nosferatu, notebook, notes, novel, novelist, novels, now, now face-to-fey, oblivion, obsessed, ocean, odds, of darkness, off his nut, offshore, oil slick, old salt, older, ominous, on borrowed luck, on location, one i love, opaque, opera, orange, orconomics, original, orion, orlok, other worlds, otherness, otherworld, out of nowhere, overwhelming, Oxford, pages, pale, palming the ace, pan, panic, Paperback, paranoia, paranoid, Paranormal, parc monceau, parents, Paris, Parisian, path, patrick leclerc, pdf, Penny Dreadful, penny dreadfuls, pepe the prawn, peppy, perfect day, performance, perilous, perilous realms, personal, perspective, perspicacious, peter jackson, peter quint, petrik leo, pews, phil parker, phil williams, philosopher, phoenix, phoenix descending, phrased, pianist, pict, piece, pilgrimage, pilgrimages, pirates of the caribbean, pistachio, pit, place of slaughter, plausible deniability, play, plethora, plots, plowed, plumbing, pointy hat, Polidori, pool, pop culture, portraits, post, powers of music, prayer, pre-raphaelites, precious, preferably, premiered, press, prime time, primetime, professor fertig, project, projects, promo, promotion, prophecy, pseudonym, psychological, publication, publicity, publishing, puckie, pumpkin, pun, pure magic, questions, quick-fire, quickfire, Quint, quites, quote, quotes, r. m. mulder, ragna, ranger, rapture, rapturous, rath, raucous, ravan thrall, raymond st. elmo, readers, reading, real, real name, realm of mindweavers, realms, reaper, recent reads, red sister, reddit, reflection, reflection of yourself, regret, reign, renaissance, research, respect, reveal, revenge, Review, reviews, reward, rex, richard lucas, richard writhen, rivalry, riveting novels of psychological suspense, roaring fire, robert shaw, robocopter ski patrol, rocks, roger, Roger Knightley, rohirrim, roiling emotions, role playing, romance, romance novels set in historic France, Romania, Romanian, romantic fantasy, room, rosalyn kelly, rosina, rossini, rotsby, round pegs, rove, rudyard kipling, ruination, ruled, rural, rural england, russell cullison, Russia, russian, ryan gosling, s. a. corey, s. c. flynn, s. k. randloph, sacrifice, sacrirfice, saga, sagas, sale, salt, samir, samwise gamgee, sanderson, sangue de vita, Sangue di Vita, sarah k. l. wilson, sauron, sausage, sausage sandwich, savagery, scarper, scary, scary vampires, scene, scenes, schadenfreude, schubert, science-fantasy, scotland, scream, scribd, scrubland, scythe, sea, Sea World, seal, seal island, sean astin, sean cunningham, searing beauty, seasonal, seasonal reads, secret doorways, secrets, seized, selection, self publishing fantasy blog off, self-published fantasy blog off, semicolon, serenaded, Sergei, Sergei Rakmanovich, series, servant of rage, seven hundred years, sez, sez who, shadow magic, shadows, sham, shaq, shaquille o'neal, shark, shark attack, shark bite, shark chorus, shark elevator pitch, Shark Week, sharkbait oo-ha-HA!, sharking, sharkland, sharkland forever, Sharks, sharktastic, sheltering, shield of kings, shifts, shire, shirley jackson, siblings, silence, silver-tongued devil, singer, singing, sir frank dicksee, sister, sisters, site, sixteen, skill, skillz, skye, sneaky, snippet, snuffbox, snug, social media, solace lost, soldier, song, songs of insurrection, songs of the wayfarer, sonya m black, soprano, sorcerer's isle, sorcerous rivalry, Sorina Boroi, soul, soul render, soul-restoring, souls, South Africa, space time continuum, special meaning, specials, spfbo, spfbo2018, spill, spinning silk, spiritual, spoiler, Spooky, spring, spring-heeled jack, square holes, squirrel, st. elmo's fire, standchen, startle, states, status quo, steal of a deal, steampunk, Stefan, Stefan Belododia, Stefan Ratliff, stephen spielberg, stephenie meyer, steve thomas, steven erikson, steven mckinnon, steven spielberg, stone, storm wielder, story, story arcs, story reading, storytelling, storyweaving, stratosphere, struggle, stumbling block, stunning, sub-genres, success, summer, sunday, supernatural, supernatural thriller, superstition, surf, surfer, surfer dude, susan hill, Suspense, suzanne rogerson, sviddheim, swathing, sweeney todd, sweet, swimmers, swimming, sydney, Sylvi, symphony of the wind, t j muir, T-Rex, t. cook, t. l. branson, Tags#AmWriting, Taken, taking care of, talk, talking animals, talking cat, talking cats, tall tales, TAPS, techniques, teeth, ten, terrifying, terror, that's what I'm tolkien about, the apples of idunn, the bastard from fairyland, the crown of stones, the crushed peak, the darkness within, the dead sagas, the end begins, the exercise of vital powers, the expanse, the fantasy hive, The Fellowship of the Ring, the finder of the lucky devil, the first fear, the forbidden city, the game bird, the great hearts, the great restoration, the greatest showman, the hidden face, the hidden ones, the innocents, the ivy cottage, the king of elfland's daughter, the knight's order, the last whisperer, The Lord of the Rings, the lost sentinel, the manhunters song, The Marriage of Figaro, the most wonderful time of the year, the power of music, the red hourglass, the rose crown, the sangrook saga, the seeds of dissolution, the song of the siren, the stars were right, the tainted crown, the tempest guild, the thousand scars, The Trials and Triumphs of Ilyse Charpentier, the turn of the screw, the very beginning, the white people and other weird stories, theophany, these vampires don't sparkle, thorny, thousand scar, threatening, threats of sky and sea, three decades, three tons, three tons of him, thrilled, Thriller, throat, through a glass darkly, thunder the shadows are stirring, tibu, tidings, tiger lilly, time machine, timothy c doyle, tiny tim, Tolkien, tollers, Tollers and Jack, tom-tom, tome tender, topics, toppled, total fantasy, Toulouse Lautrec, Tour Eiffel, tradition, tragedy, trahaearn, train, trainwreck, traumatic, travel, travers, tricksy, trilogy, triumph, triumphant, true, true bliss, true love, truest sense, truly belong, truth, truth or darkness, tsked, Turn of the Screw, TV, Twilight, Twitter, two tons, TY Arthur, type, typing, typist, Tyrian purple, UK, una voce poco fa, uncle silas, undead, under everest, under ordshaw, underbelly, unfolded, uninspiring, unique, universal, universal studios, universes, unstoppable, untangled, unusual, up for grabs, updates, urban fantasy, uriah heep, USA, valet, vampire fiction, Vampire Hunter, vampire mythology, vampire mythos, vampires, vampiresses, vampiric, vampiric equality, vampiric transformation, vampirism, vamps, vampyre, varney, varney the vampire, varney the vampyre, Vasily Markolovick, verge, verin empire, vickers, victoria, Victorian, victorian age, villains, violinist, virgil, vitriol, vivid, Vladec, Vladec Salei, vocal coach, vocation, voice, vortigern, Vrykolakas, Wales, wanderer, wandering, war, wards and wonders, warmth, warnings and visitations, water's surface, we ride the storm, weak-minded, weapon, web site, website, weighing, welsh, welsh mythology, Werewolf, werewolf transformation, when the kingdom falls, whiskey and dragon fire, white death, white shark, Whitechapel, widget, wilder, Wilkie Collins, william c tracy, william ray, william shakespeare, wine, winners, winter, wip, wisdom, witch, witch spelling, wizard, wolf, woman in white, womb, wonderful, Wood, woods, worldview, worst enemy, worth fighting for, wraxhall, wreaker, write what you dream, writer, writer's block, Writers, writing, writing life, writing method, writing process, years, yo ho yo ho a writer's life for me, york, Yorkshire, Young Adult, young author, young female author, young love, Young Protagonists, young writer, your home, ziroonderel

Hi Everyone,

This selection of quotes will appear in a very personal interview on Friday, featured at Jean the Book Nerd’s great site, but as that interview is quite extensive, I thought it would be a good idea to share them with you today in a separate post. I hope you enjoy this little glimpse into Deadmarsh Fey.

Best wishes,

~Melika

“This beast, like the greater evil we faced later on, went by many names. When he invaded Everl’aria, the Moarteans christened him Groaza. Others called him The Devourer of the World. And to those on Sviddheim, he was The Bottomless, for his savagery had no end.”

“I’ve seen its other side. I know what lives here, what’s been slumbering for so long.”
      A hollow pit opened up where Roger’s heart was supposed to be. “How would you know that?”
     “I woke it up.”

He blinked in surprise and was even more startled when the dragon mimicked the action, but did so sideways. A clear membrane coated its eye, then drew back to reveal hues infinitely more searing than before—so vibrant it was painful for Roger to look into them. Orange pulsating like a lava flow, yellow glistening brighter than a city made of gold, green flashing like St. Elmo’s fire. All these colors danced not a foot in front of Roger’s face, flickering within that gigantic orb…

“Why should I not know what he’s really called?”
“Tell a man your name and he will have power over you forever,” Carver muttered.

“I don’t know how else to explain this, but I could feel her age, almost as if the weight of her years were pressing against me like a great mountain of corpses that would collapse onto me if I so much as looked at her the wrong way.”

Gryffyn looked as though he were about to have some sort of fit. “It’s far too dark in here for you to be taking this so calmly. Anything could be creeping up on us at this very moment, and we’d be none the wiser till it had us by the throat! We can’t see a foot in front of our faces, not one foot! Why are you not afraid?”
     “Because I am the monster lurking in the shadows,” Incendiu snarled.

“They were all children, yes, as were the fiends who allowed themselves to be Hosted.”
      “But that happened in a wilder age, a less enlightened time,” Roger argued.
     “Do not make the mistake of thinking present society is so highly advanced that they have forgotten their baser instincts, Roger Knightley. Evil is evil no matter the century, or the world.” 

“There are more things in Heaven and earth…” Uncle Gryffyn muttered.
“Now ain’t the time to be quotin’ old Bill Shakes, guv,” Bellows shot in.

“You’re not allowed in church!”
The Jagged One squinted at him. “Sez who?”
“Says God!”
Carver tsked. “I thought you Christians welcomed everyone.”
“We make exceptions for demons like you.”

“Will you not bid me welcome, Brother?” the beast mocked. The dragon’s voice paralyzed Roger where he stood. Hearing it sapped his strength, stole his will, made him feel as though his mind had been crushed between slabs of stone. There was chaos in it, and destruction—a voice crafted of darkness and the death of worlds.” 

Flesh and bone and hearts unknown, lead to the rath and your fate will be shown…

cover

Deadmarsh. The name struck terror into the hearts of all who heard it. But to Roger Knightley, neither Deadmarsh the house, nor Deadmarsh the family, had ever been anything to fear. Nearly each summer of his young life had been spent in that manor on the moors, having wild adventures with his cousin, Lockie, the Deadmarsh heir. This year should have been no different, but when Roger arrives, he finds everything, and everyone, changed. The grounds are unkempt, the servants long gone. Kip, the family cat, has inexplicably grown and glares at Roger as if he is trying to read the boy’s mind. Roger’s eldest cousin, Travers, always treated as a servant, now dresses like a duchess and wears round her neck a strange moonstone given to her by someone known as Master Coffyn, who has taken over the teaching of Lockie at a school in Wales called Nethermarrow.

And soon after he crosses the threshold of Deadmarsh, Roger discovers that Coffyn has overtaken Lockie. The boy is deceitful, riddled with fear, and has returned bearing tales of creatures called Jagged Ones that claim to be of the Fey and can somehow conceal themselves while standing in the full light of the moon. What they want with Lockie, Roger cannot fathom, until the horror within his cousin lashes out, and it becomes savagely clear that these Jagged Ones and the Dark Wreaker they serve are not only after Lockie and Travers, but Roger, too.

Joining forces with an ally whose true nature remains hidden, Roger seeks to unravel the tapestry of lies woven round his family’s connection to the death-haunted world of Everl’aria—and the Dark Wreaker who calls it home. The deeper Roger delves into the past, the more he begins to suspect that the tales of dark deeds done in the forest behind Deadmarsh, deeds in which village children made sacrifice to an otherworldly beast and were never seen or heard from again, are true. And if there is truth in these outlandish stories, what of the rumor that it was not an earthquake which rocked the moors surrounding Deadmarsh sixteen years ago, but a winged nightmare attempting to break free of its underground prison? Enlisting the aid of a monster equipped with enough inborn firepower to blast his enemies into oblivion might be as suicidal as Roger’s friends insist, yet the boy knows he needs all the help he can get if there is to be any hope of defeating not only the Dark Wreaker and his servants, but an unholy trinity known as the Bear, the Wolf, and the Curse That Walks The Earth.

And then there is the foe named Blood Wood, who might be the deadliest of them all.

Racing against time, Roger must find a way to end the battle being waged across worlds before the night of Lockie’s eleventh birthday—two days hence. If he fails, blood will drown the earth. And Roger and his entire family will fulfill the prophecy of fey’s older, more lethal meaning…

Fated to die.

 

US Customers:

Buy Deadmarsh Fey (Kindle) (Paperback) on Amazon

UK Customers: 

Buy Deadmarsh Fey (Kindle) (Paperback) on Amazon UK

 

Advertisement

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Pinterest
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • Pocket
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

New Deadmarsh Fey Excerpt @ The Fantasy Hive

Featured

Posted by Melika Dannese Hick in Book Spotlight, Deadmarsh Fey, Excerpts, Fun Stuff, Missives, News, Updates

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

100, 13, 15, 18, 1888, 1890s, 1894, 1975, 19th century, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2014, 2018, 2019, 24601, 30th anniversary, 40, 700, 8, a book addict's bookshelves, a fragment of life, a host of ills, a keeper's tale, a warden's purpose, a wizard should know better, a wizard's forge, a woodley, a. m. justice, a. m. rycroft, a. z. anthony, aaron c. cross, aaron hodge, aaron-michael hall, ache, adam watson, adaptations, added bonus, aderyn, aderyn wood, aesop, afresh, Agatha Christie, age, aidan r walsh, Air Jaws, aldrea alien, alexa grave, alexander grant, alice in wonderland, alice sabo, all we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us, alliance, allies, alveric, amaze, amazed, amazing, Amazon, Amazon UK, amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, amreading, amy mcnulty, ancient evils, and I enjoyed answering these questions so much. Many, andrea domanski, anduril, andy peloquin, anglo-saxon, anne rice, annihilation, Anniversary, anorffen, answer the call, antestheria, applause, aragorn, architect, arianrhod, arthur, arthur machen, arwen, as Laura phrased it, ashley capes, assumption, asunder, august, Augustin Boroi, australia, australian, australian shark chorus, authentic, author, Authors, autonomy, autumn, awestruck, back from the dead, baggins, bait, barber of seville, base motives, battlecry, beach, bear, beautiful, beginning, bellows, belong, below, bent, beowulf, best friend, best wishes, betrayal, better angels, beyond, beyond the forest, bide, big, big boys, birthday, bite, black cats, black winged beast, blade and rose, blank wall, blog, Blog Tour, blogger, bloggers, bloglovin, blogs, blood, blood and ashes, blood suckers, blood wood, blood-soaked, bloodshed, bloom, blue prometheus, blue water, blue water white death, boat, book, book addict, book feature, book of mormon, books, Books In My Belfry, booksinmybelfry.com, boris kos, born vampire, boxer, brainstorming, bram stoker, brandon, bravo, brian o'sullivan, bride, brilliant, British, broke, brother, brothers, brothers and sisters, brothers grimm, bruce, bubbly, business, bust, c. d. gallant-king, c. l. schneider, C. S. Lewis, cable tv, cage, calling, canon, carnifex, caroling, carpet diem, carte blanche, Carver, cat, catharine glen, catholic, cats, caverns, cede, celebration, celts, chance, character classes, characters, charpentier, chesterton, children, children of light, children of vampires, chilled, chivalry, chocolate, chocolate chip, choppy, chris fallowes, chris fallows, chris weston, christened, christina ochs, Christmas, christmas carols, christmas in august, christmas in july, christopher percy, chucked, chumming, church, cianien bloodstone, City of Lights, City of Lights by melika lux, city of lights: the trials and triumphs of ilyse charpentier, classic, classical, clicking, cnn, coalition, Coffyn, comedic fantasy, Comedy, comic, composed, conceal, conquest, conservation, constant source of inspiration, Constantinos, constructive criticism, contemporary fantasy, contest, conversation, cooked, copies, copyright, coquette, corcitura, Corcitura feature, corruption, corruption of honor, count, count orlok, Count Rakmanovich, Count Sergei Rakmanovich, courtly love, coven queen, Cover, crackbrained, craig a price jr., craig aird, creative fiction, creepy, cries blood, crime and punishment, cross fire, cruelty, CS Lewis, curiosity, curse, cut, cutwater, cutwater island, d. h. dunn, d. p. prior, d. p. wolliscroft, daft, damned souls, dance hall, dance of romance, dancing in the dust, danger, dangerous, dannese, dark, dark fantasy, dark lord, dark oak, dark of winter, dark one's mistress, dark side, dark tide, dark wreaker, darkblade assassin, darkness, dashing, daughter of atlas, david gowey, david mullin, david oliver, david p macpherson, dawn of darkness, days of endless night, dead bride, dead shrimps, deadliest, Deadmarsh, Deadmarsh Fey, deadmarshes, deal, dean rencraft, death, death merchants, debbie taylor, december, decision, deep, deeper, defeat, demon, demon-haunted, demons, demons of the deep, denial, depth, depths, desire to weave stories, details, devastatingly brilliant, devil, devin madson, dialogue, die, dimensioner's revenge, Discovery Channel, disover, disposable, ditty, diva of the paris stage, diver's suit, dk girl, dogs, don't look back, donald trump, doom, dorothy dreyer, Dostoevsky, double blinds, Dracula, draculaesque, dragon fate, dragon school, dragon shade, dragona rise of the wyverns, dragons, dramatis personae, drandeur, dread, dread grandeur, dream, dreamlike, dreams, driving force, drowning, druids, dude, dunedain, dungeoneers, dungeons and dragons, dunsany, duology, dwellers, dwellers of darkness, dwellers of darkness children of light, dyrk ashton, eagle and child, earth, Eastern Europe, Eiffel Tower, elessar, elevator pitch, elvish, email, embellishments, emblematic, emerald dodge, emma stone, emotional, encourage, end song, enemies, engand, England, englishman, enraptured, envoys, epic, epic fantasy, epistolary, Eric Bradburry, erlkonig, eternal night, Europe, European, evangeline, everl'aria, everyone, evidence, evie, evil, Excerpt, experience, exploitation, exploring, extraordinary, eye of arianrhod, eyes, Facebook, faces in the mist, fade, faeries, fairy cakes, fairy tales, faith, fall, fallen, fallen age, fallen empire, fallen kingdom, false bay, family, fangs and fins, fantasy, fantasy hive, fantasy is escapist, fantasy novels, farewell and adieu, fascinated, fast typist, fate, Fated, fated to die, father, fathomless, Faust, favorite, fearies, feast, feast in the forest, feature, featured, feedback, feel, female author, female vampires, female werewolves, female writers, fey, fiction, Film, filming locations, films, Fin de siècle, Find Me, finding dory, finding home, finding nemo, fire's song, fireplace, firing, first novel, flowers, flying sharks, Folies Bergère, food network, foodtv, foot, forest, forfeit, forged in flames, forgotten relics, forsaken kingdom, foundation, four novel, fox news, fragile nights, France, Franz Schubert, free, free reign, free will, freebie, freedom, freeing air, French, french flag, French wine, friday, friends, Friendship, frodo, frodo baggins, frustrating, fudge, full circle, fun, Fuseli, gabriel michaelson, gaja j. kos, Gandalf, gandalf the grey, gardener, geist, genres, german, german lieder, Germany, ghast, ghost electricity, ghosts, giveaway, gk chesterton, glamour of evil, glimpse, gloomy, glories, glorious, glory, godforsaken, goethe, good and evil, good vs evil, gooderads, goodread, Goodreads, goose, goose is cooked, gothic, gothic novel, grabs, Grand Tour, great book, great god pan, great white, great white shark, Greece, greenery, Gretchen am Spinnrade, grey beard, grey wolves, Greydanus, groaza, guardians, guides, guillermo del toro, Guinness, gustav mahler, guy fieri, gwendolyn pendraig, h p lovecraft, h. g. wells, hallmark, hallmark channel, hamilton, hammer, hand-write, hannah sullivan, hansel and gretel, harsh, hasty, hate, haunted, haunting of hill house, havelock, hazard, he who fights, heart, heartbeat, heaven, hell comes to hogtown, help, henry fuseli, henry james, here be dragons, here there be dragons, hermit, hermitlife, hero, hero forged, heroes, heroism, high barrens, high fantasy, high school, higher selves, highland, hinterland, historical fiction, historical romance, hobbit, hobbit size, hobbiton, hollow, home, home is behind, hope, hopes, hopes and dreams, horrifying, horror, horror herald, hosting, Hotmail, house, huge, hugh jackman, hugo vickers, hugo weaving, human beings, Humor, Hunger Games, hungers of life and all that matters, hunter, hybrid, hybrid vampires, I shout, ian gregoire, Ian McCarthy, ian mckellen, iconic, idea, ill tiding, illegal, illegible, ilyse, Ilyse Charpentier, imagination, imbued, impact, impacted, in which a dashing Englishman woos mademoiselle Charpentier, in-depth, incendiu, incorporate, indecisive, Indie, infected, infused, inkling, inklings, insights, inspiration, inspirations, inspired, instill, intense, interjections, Interview, iron reveals, irv, isobel, isobel vickers, Italy, itinerant writing, j. a. alexsoo, j. d. hallowell, j. e. mueller, j. elizabeth vincent, J. R. R. Tolkien, j. r. rasmussen, j. zachary pike, ja andrews, jack, Jack the Ripper, jacob sannox, jagged, jagged ones, JAWS, jawsome, jawsomeness, jc kang, jean valjean, jeffrey l kohanek, jeffrey russell, jennifer ellison, jeramy goble, jess watkins, jesse teller, jingle bells, jingle sharks, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, john william waterhouse, jon, jordan c robinson, joseph sheridan le fanu, josh erikson, jot, joy, JRR Tolkien, Jurassic Park, just keep swimming, justin lee anderson, k bird lincoln, k l ling, k m alexander, kascher's quartet, katniss, kayleigh nicol, keith mcardle, kevin wright, kind, Kindle, kindle giveaway, kingshold, Kip, Kipling, kirsten m corby, Knightley, knowing thine enemy, knut hamsun, kurintor nyusi, l. l. mcneil, la la land, La Perle de Paris, la petite coquette, lad, languages, laptop, laura, laura m hughes, leave, lee conley, legend, legendarium, legends, legends of elera voices, Leonora, Leonora Bianchetti, lepers, leroy nichols, les miserables, lesser, lethal, letter, liath luacra, library, lie, lieder eines fahrenden gesellen, lies, life, light, light dawning, likeminded, lin manuel miranda, lineup, link, Links, lips, lirazel, list, little dream, Lockie, loggerheads, logistical, London, longing, longing for home, longings, lord byron, lord dunsany, lord of the rings, lords of asylum, lorri moulton, LOTR, Louisa May Alcott, Louvre, Love, love in one act, love of reading, Luc, luck, lunch, lux, Lux Aeterna, lynn's books, lyrics, m. s. olney, mabus, machen, mad skillz, maddie, Madelaine Bradburry, madness, magic, magic's betrayal, magnificent, mahler, majestic, malazan, malevolence, manipulation, Manon Larue, manor, many thanks to the fabulous (and sharktastic!) Laura M. Hughes for giving me this opportunity. I hope you will all enjoy reading about, marble, marianne ratcliffe, marilyn peake, marilyn vix, marine biologist, mark lawrence, marked, mashup, master, masterclass, matt heppe, matt larkin, matthew thompson, maul, Maurice Charpentier, meagan hurst, meager, meanings, meant to be, media, meg cowley, megan mackie, melancholy, melika, Melika Dannese Lux, Melika Lux, melokai, mental angels, method, michael baker, michael r baker, michael sliter, middle-earth, mike morris, mind, mind behind the mind, mind palace, miranda, miranda honfleur, mirror writing, mirroring, moartea, modern times, monikers, monocle, moon, moonlight roses and murder, moonstone, moria, moroda, moss, most wonderful time of the year, mother, Movies, Music, musical, my calling, my dream, my life, my love, myth, myths, names, narnia, nature, nature of evil, nazri noor, nebulous, ned marcus, net galley, netflix, netgalley, never looked back, new, new interview, new release, New York, new zealand, news, nia rae, nicholas kotar, night, nightmare, ninny, no sparkling, norse, norse mythology, north york moors, northleach, norway, Nosferatu, notebook, notes, novel, novelist, novels, now, now face-to-fey, oblivion, ocean, of darkness, off his nut, offshore, oil slick, old salt, older, ominous, on borrowed luck, on location, one i love, opaque, opera, orange, orconomics, original, orion, orlok, other worlds, otherness, out of nowhere, overwhelming, Oxford, pages, pale, palming the ace, pan, panic, Paperback, paranoid, Paranormal, parc monceau, parents, Paris, Parisian, path, patrick leclerc, pdf, Penny Dreadful, penny dreadfuls, pepe the prawn, peppy, perfect day, performance, perilous, perilous realms, perspective, perspicacious, peter jackson, petrik leo, pews, phil parker, phil williams, phoenix descending, phrased, pianist, pict, piece, pirates of the caribbean, pistachio, place of slaughter, plausible deniability, play, plethora, plots, plowed, plumbing, pointy hat, Polidori, pop culture, portraits, post, powers of music, pre-raphaelites, precious, preferably, premiered, press, prime time, primetime, professor fertig, project, projects, promo, promotion, prophecy, psychological, publication, publicity, publishing, puckie, pumpkin, pun, pure magic, questions, quick-fire, quickfire, Quint, quites, quote, quotes, r. m. mulder, ranger, rapture, rath, raucous, ravan thrall, raymond st. elmo, readers, reading, real, realm of mindweavers, realms, reaper, recent reads, red sister, reddit, reflection, reflection of yourself, regret, reign, renaissance, research, reveal, revenge, Review, reward, rex, richard lucas, richard writhen, rivalry, riveting novels of psychological suspense, robert shaw, robocopter ski patrol, rocks, roger, Roger Knightley, rohirrim, roiling emotions, role playing, romance, romance novels set in historic France, Romania, Romanian, romantic fantasy, room, rosalyn kelly, rosina, rossini, rotsby, round pegs, rove, rudyard kipling, ruination, ruled, rural, rural england, russell cullison, Russia, russian, ryan gosling, s. a. corey, s. c. flynn, s. k. randloph, sacrifice, sacrirfice, saga, sale, salt, samir, samwise gamgee, sanderson, sangue de vita, Sangue di Vita, sarah k. l. wilson, sauron, sausage, sausage sandwich, scary, scary vampires, scene, scenes, schadenfreude, schubert, science-fantasy, scotland, scribd, scrubland, scythe, sea, Sea World, seal, seal island, sean astin, sean cunningham, searing beauty, seasonal, secret doorways, seized, self publishing fantasy blog off, self-published fantasy blog off, semicolon, serenaded, Sergei, Sergei Rakmanovich, series, servant of rage, seven hundred years, shadow magic, sham, shaq, shaquille o'neal, shark, shark attack, shark bite, shark chorus, shark elevator pitch, Shark Week, sharkbait oo-ha-HA!, sharking, sharkland, sharkland forever, Sharks, sharktastic, shield of kings, shifts, shire, shirley jackson, siblings, silence, silver-tongued devil, singer, singing, sir frank dicksee, sister, site, skill, skillz, skye, snippet, snuffbox, social media, solace lost, soldier, song, songs of insurrection, songs of the wayfarer, soprano, sorcerer's isle, sorcerous rivalry, Sorina Boroi, soul, soul render, soul-restoring, souls, South Africa, space time continuum, special meaning, specials, spfbo, spfbo2018, spill, spinning silk, spoiler, Spooky, spring, spring-heeled jack, square holes, squirrel, standchen, startle, states, status quo, steal of a deal, steampunk, Stefan, Stefan Belododia, Stefan Ratliff, stephen spielberg, stephenie meyer, steve thomas, steven erikson, steven mckinnon, steven spielberg, storm wielder, story arcs, story reading, storytelling, storyweaving, stratosphere, struggle, stumbling block, stunning, sub-genres, success, summer, sunday, supernatural, supernatural thriller, superstition, surf, surfer, surfer dude, susan hill, Suspense, suzanne rogerson, swathing, sweeney todd, sweet, swimmers, swimming, sydney, symphony of the wind, t j muir, T-Rex, t. cook, t. l. branson, Tags#AmWriting, Taken, talk, talking animals, talking cat, talking cats, tall tales, TAPS, techniques, teeth, ten, terrifying, terror, that's what I'm tolkien about, the apples of idunn, the bastard from fairyland, the crown of stones, the crushed peak, the darkness within, the dead sagas, the end begins, the exercise of vital powers, the expanse, the fantasy hive, The Fellowship of the Ring, the finder of the lucky devil, the first fear, the forbidden city, the game bird, the great hearts, the great restoration, the greatest showman, the hidden face, the hidden ones, the king of elfland's daughter, the knight's order, the last whisperer, The Lord of the Rings, the lost sentinel, the manhunters song, The Marriage of Figaro, the most wonderful time of the year, the power of music, the red hourglass, the rose crown, the sangrook saga, the seeds of dissolution, the song of the siren, the stars were right, the tainted crown, the tempest guild, the thousand scars, The Trials and Triumphs of Ilyse Charpentier, the very beginning, the white people and other weird stories, these vampires don't sparkle, thorny, thousand scar, threatening, threats of sky and sea, three decades, three tons, three tons of him, thrilled, Thriller, throat, through a glass darkly, thunder the shadows are stirring, tibu, tidings, tiger lilly, time machine, timothy c doyle, tiny tim, Tolkien, tollers, Tollers and Jack, tom-tom, topics, total fantasy, Toulouse Lautrec, Tour Eiffel, tradition, tragedy, trahaearn, train, trainwreck, traumatic, travel, travers, tricksy, trilogy, triumph, triumphant, true, true bliss, true love, truest sense, truly belong, truth, truth or darkness, Turn of the Screw, TV, Twilight, Twitter, two tons, TY Arthur, type, typing, typist, Tyrian purple, UK, una voce poco fa, uncle silas, undead, under everest, under ordshaw, underbelly, unfolded, uninspiring, universal, universal studios, universes, unstoppable, untangled, unusual, up for grabs, updates, urban fantasy, USA, valet, vampire fiction, Vampire Hunter, vampire mythology, vampire mythos, vampires, vampiresses, vampiric, vampiric equality, vampiric transformation, vampirism, vamps, vampyre, varney, varney the vampire, varney the vampyre, Vasily Markolovick, verge, verin empire, vickers, victoria, Victorian, victorian age, villains, violinist, virgil, vivid, Vladec, Vladec Salei, vocal coach, vocation, voice, Vrykolakas, Wales, wanderer, wandering, wards and wonders, warnings and visitations, water's surface, we ride the storm, weak-minded, weapon, web site, website, weighing, welsh, welsh mythology, Werewolf, werewolf transformation, when the kingdom falls, whiskey and dragon fire, white death, white shark, Whitechapel, widget, Wilkie Collins, william c tracy, william ray, wine, winners, winter, wip, wisdom, witch, witch spelling, wizard, wolf, woman in white, wonderful, Wood, worldview, worth fighting for, wreaker, write what you dream, writer, writer's block, Writers, writing, writing life, writing method, writing process, years, yo ho yo ho a writer's life for me, york, Yorkshire, Young Adult, young author, young female author, young love, Young Protagonists, young writer, your home, ziroonderel, ziroonderel Hi Everyone! I am beyond thrilled to share with you today my featured interview for the Fantasy Hive! It’s a fun and wonderful site

Hi Everyone,

I’m so happy to be back at The Fantasy Hive this week, but instead of an interview, one of my most favorite excerpts from Deadmarsh Fey is being featured! Thanks once again go to Laura and the great people at this fantastic site for allowing me to showcase my work.

I hope this excerpt will intrigue and unsettle you, and make you insatiably curious to find out what happens to Roger next!

Best wishes,

Melika

Flesh and bone and hearts unknown, lead to the rath and your fate will be shown…

When wandering through a forest, one expects to see many things. Trees, squirrels, maybe even a bear…

A feast laid out solely for you in the middle of a clearing…

That last one shouldn’t have made the list, you say? Try telling that to Roger Knightley, then, for it is exactly what he stumbled upon while sojourning in the woods behind Deadmarsh.

Here, on this whimsical table, were found treats stuffed to bursting with enough luscious flavors to satisfy the cravings of a boy possessed of a sweet tooth the size of the North York Moors. How could he resist such a temptation?  I feel safe in saying most anyone would find it difficult to do so…assuming you could actually seewhat had been set out to entice you. Forgot to mention that small detail. The feast is invisible, unless you look at it through a glass darkly, which, for Roger, means peering through the two halves of a cracked, milky blue moonstone known as The Eye of Arianrhod. Without this, there’d be no hope of piercing the glamour that hangs over such a fey place. But is it a glamour of enchantment?

Or of evil?

I invite you to read on and discover for yourself…

The Feast in the Forest, excerpted from Deadmarsh Fey

View this document on Scribd

cover

Amazon US Purchase Links

Paperback
Kindle

Amazon UK Purchase Links

Paperback
Kindle

Author Social Media Links

Website
Goodreads
Twitter

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Pinterest
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • Pocket
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

Warnings from Cutwater Island…

Featured

Posted by Melika Dannese Hick in Book Spotlight, Deadmarsh Fey, Excerpts, Fun Stuff, Missives, News, Updates

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

#AmWriting, 100, 13, 15, 18, 1888, 1890s, 1894, 1975, 19th century, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2014, 2018, 2019, 24601, 30th anniversary, 40, 700, 8, a book addict's bookshelves, a fragment of life, a wizard should know better, ache, Agatha Christie, age, all we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us, alliance, allies, Amazon, amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, ancient evils, anne rice, annihilation, Anniversary, answer the call, antestheria, aragorn, arianrhod, arthur, arthur machen, assumption, asunder, august, Augustin Boroi, australia, australian, authentic, author, Authors, autonomy, autumn, awestruck, bait, barber of seville, base motives, bear, beginning, bellows, belong, below, best friend, best wishes, betrayal, better angels, bide, birthday, black cats, black winged beast, blog, Blog Tour, blogger, bloggers, bloglovin, blogs, blood, blood wood, blood-soaked, bloodshed, blue water, blue water white death, book, book addict, book feature, book of mormon, books, Books In My Belfry, booksinmybelfry.com, born vampire, brainstorming, bram stoker, brandon, bride, British, brother, brothers, brothers and sisters, bruce, bubbly, business, bust, C. S. Lewis, cable tv, calling, canon, caroling, carte blanche, Carver, cat, catholic, cats, celts, characters, charpentier, chesterton, children, children of light, children of vampires, chocolate, chocolate chip, christened, christmas carols, christmas in july, chucked, chumming, church, City of Lights, City of Lights by melika lux, city of lights: the trials and triumphs of ilyse charpentier, classic, classical, cnn, coalition, Coffyn, Comedy, composed, conservation, constant source of inspiration, Constantinos, cooked, copies, copyright, coquette, corcitura, Corcitura feature, corruption, count, count orlok, Count Rakmanovich, Count Sergei Rakmanovich, Cover, creative fiction, creepy, cries blood, crime and punishment, curiosity, curse, cut, cutwater, cutwater island, daft, dance hall, dance of romance, danger, dangerous, dannese, dark, dark fantasy, dark lord, dark side, dark wreaker, darkness, dashing, dead bride, deadliest, Deadmarsh, Deadmarsh Fey, deadmarshes, deal, death, december, deeper, defeat, demon-haunted, demons, demons of the deep, denial, desire to weave stories, details, devil, dialogue, die, Discovery Channel, ditty, diva of the paris stage, dogs, donald trump, doom, Dostoevsky, double blinds, Dracula, draculaesque, dragons, dramatis personae, drandeur, dread grandeur, dream, dreams, driving force, drowning, druids, dude, duology, dwellers, dwellers of darkness, dwellers of darkness children of light, earth, Eastern Europe, Eiffel Tower, email, embellishments, emblematic, emma stone, emotional, England, englishman, enraptured, envoys, epic, epistolary, Eric Bradburry, erlkonig, Europe, European, evangeline, everl'aria, everyone, evidence, evie, evil, Excerpt, experience, exploitation, extraordinary, Facebook, faeries, fairy tales, fall, fallen kingdom, false bay, family, fantasy, fantasy is escapist, fascinated, fate, Fated, fated to die, father, fathomless, Faust, fearies, feature, feedback, feel, female author, female vampires, female werewolves, female writers, fey, fiction, Film, films, Fin de siècle, finding home, fireplace, first novel, Folies Bergère, food network, foodtv, foot, foundation, fox news, France, Franz Schubert, free, free reign, freebie, freedom, French, french flag, French wine, friday, friends, Friendship, frodo, frodo baggins, full circle, fun, Fuseli, Gandalf, gandalf the grey, german, german lieder, Germany, ghosts, giveaway, gk chesterton, glamour of evil, gloomy, glories, glorious, glory, godforsaken, goethe, good and evil, good vs evil, gooderads, goodread, Goodreads, goose, goose is cooked, gothic, gothic novel, grabs, Grand Tour, great god pan, great white, great white shark, Greece, Gretchen am Spinnrade, grey beard, grey wolves, Greydanus, guardians, guides, guillermo del toro, Guinness, gustav mahler, guy fieri, h p lovecraft, hallmark, hallmark channel, hamilton, hammer, hate, haunted, haunting of hill house, havelock, hazard, heart, henry fuseli, henry james, here there be dragons, hermit, hermitlife, hero, heroes, heroism, high school, higher selves, highland, hinterland, historical fiction, historical romance, hollow, home, hope, hopes, hopes and dreams, horrifying, horror, horror herald, hosting, Hotmail, house, hugh jackman, hugo vickers, hugo weaving, Humor, Hunger Games, hybrid, hybrid vampires, I shout, Ian McCarthy, ian mckellen, iconic, idea, ill tiding, ilyse, Ilyse Charpentier, imagination, impact, in which a dashing Englishman woos mademoiselle Charpentier, in-depth, incendiu, Indie, inkling, inklings, insights, inspiration, inspirations, instill, Interview, iron reveals, irv, isobel, isobel vickers, Italy, J. R. R. Tolkien, jack, Jack the Ripper, jagged, jagged ones, JAWS, jawsome, jawsomeness, jean valjean, jess watkins, jingle bells, jingle sharks, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, john william waterhouse, jon, joseph sheridan le fanu, joy, JRR Tolkien, Jurassic Park, just keep swimming, katniss, kind, Kindle, kindle giveaway, Kip, Kipling, Knightley, knowing thine enemy, la la land, La Perle de Paris, la petite coquette, lad, languages, laptop, leave, legend, legendarium, legends, Leonora, Leonora Bianchetti, lepers, les miserables, letter, library, lie, lieder eines fahrenden gesellen, lies, life, light, lin manuel miranda, lineup, Links, lips, list, Lockie, loggerheads, logistical, London, longing, longing for home, longings, lord byron, lord of the rings, LOTR, Louisa May Alcott, Louvre, Love, love of reading, Luc, luck, lunch, lux, lynn's books, lyrics, machen, maddie, Madelaine Bradburry, madness, mahler, malevolence, manipulation, Manon Larue, manor, marble, marine biologist, mark lawrence, marked, mashup, master, masterclass, Maurice Charpentier, meanings, meant to be, media, melika, Melika Dannese Lux, Melika Lux, michael baker, miranda, modern times, monikers, mother, Movies, Music, musical, my calling, my dream, myth, names, nature of evil, nebulous, net galley, netflix, netgalley, new, new interview, new release, New York, news, night, nightmare, ninny, no sparkling, norse, norse mythology, norway, Nosferatu, novel, novelist, novels, now, now face-to-fey, oblivion, ocean, of darkness, off his nut, oil slick, older, ominous, opera, orange, original, orlok, overwhelming, Oxford, pages, pale, palming the ace, pan, panic, Paperback, paranoid, Paranormal, parc monceau, parents, Paris, Parisian, Penny Dreadful, penny dreadfuls, peppy, performance, perspective, pews, pianist, pict, piece, plausible deniability, play, plots, pointy hat, Polidori, pop culture, post, pre-raphaelites, press, prime time, primetime, professor fertig, promotion, prophecy, publication, publicity, publishing, puckie, pumpkin, pun, pure magic, questions, quick-fire, Quint, quites, quote, quotes, rapture, raucous, readers, reading, real, realms, reaper, reddit, renaissance, research, revenge, Review, rex, rivalry, riveting novels of psychological suspense, robert shaw, rocks, roger, Roger Knightley, romance novels set in historic France, Romania, Romanian, rosina, rossini, rudyard kipling, ruination, rural, rural england, Russia, russian, ryan gosling, sacrifice, saga, samwise gamgee, sanderson, sangue de vita, Sangue di Vita, sauron, scary, scary vampires, scene, scenes, schadenfreude, schubert, scotland, scrubland, scythe, sea, seal, seal island, sean astin, seasonal, seized, self-published fantasy blog off, Sergei, Sergei Rakmanovich, series, seven hundred years, sham, shaq, shaquille o'neal, shark attack, shark chorus, Shark Week, sharking, Sharks, shirley jackson, siblings, silver-tongued devil, singer, singing, sir frank dicksee, sister, skye, snippet, social media, soldier, song, songs of the wayfarer, soprano, Sorina Boroi, soul, souls, spfbo, spill, spoiler, Spooky, spring, spring-heeled jack, standchen, startle, states, status quo, steal of a deal, Stefan, Stefan Belododia, Stefan Ratliff, stephen spielberg, stephenie meyer, story arcs, storytelling, storyweaving, stratosphere, stunning, success, summer, sunday, supernatural, supernatural thriller, superstition, surfer dude, Suspense, swathing, sweeney todd, swimming, sydney, T-Rex, Taken, talking animals, talking cats, tall tales, techniques, teeth, ten, terrifying, terror, the darkness within, The Fellowship of the Ring, the greatest showman, The Lord of the Rings, The Marriage of Figaro, the most wonderful time of the year, The Trials and Triumphs of Ilyse Charpentier, the very beginning, the white people and other weird stories, these vampires don't sparkle, thousand scar, three decades, three tons of him, Thriller, throat, tibu, tidings, tiny tim, Tolkien, Tollers and Jack, topics, Toulouse Lautrec, Tour Eiffel, tradition, tragedy, trahaearn, train, travel, travers, tricksy, trilogy, triumph, triumphant, true, true love, truth, Turn of the Screw, TV, Twilight, Twitter, Tyrian purple, UK, una voce poco fa, uncle silas, undead, underbelly, up for grabs, updates, USA, vampire fiction, Vampire Hunter, vampire mythology, vampire mythos, vampires, vampiresses, vampiric, vampiric equality, vampiric transformation, vampirism, vamps, vampyre, varney, varney the vampire, varney the vampyre, Vasily Markolovick, vickers, Victorian, victorian age, villains, violinist, Vladec, Vladec Salei, vocal coach, vocation, voice, Vrykolakas, Wales, warnings and visitations, water's surface, weak-minded, website, welsh, welsh mythology, Werewolf, werewolf transformation, white death, white shark, Whitechapel, widget, Wilkie Collins, wine, winners, winter, wizard, wolf, woman in white, Wood, worth fighting for, wreaker, writer, writer's block, Writers, writing, writing life, writing process, years, Young Adult, young author, young female author, young love, Young Protagonists, young writer

Excerpted from Deadmarsh Fey, Chapter 20, Warnings and Visitations

 

Oh, wait, I tell a lie! There was something in there. It was…

“Was what?!” Roger demanded of the paper. But the writing had stopped. He grabbed the next page and noticed that Iso had inked yet another date into the top of it. The twenty-second of May. She was catching up.

Here I am, finally coming back to this letter. I had started to tell you what was in that chest when I was called away. We finally made the move, Rog. I’ll give you the details later, but let me first finish up what I was going to say. In that chest was a curiosity that Evie immediately claimed for her own. I’m sure you’re dying to hear what it is, and since you are not around to say, “Get on with it, Iso! Spill!” I’ll take your silence as a yes and tell you. It’s the most astounding thing—the bust of a lady with a veil covering her face, but it’s all made of marble! Even the sheer-looking veil! Extraordinary, right? I’ve no idea how the carver managed it. The first time I saw this thing, I wanted to throw the veil back to see what color the lady’s eyes were. I really thought I could do it, too, but, of course, when I tried, it stayed firmly in place, and that’s when I realized what a ninny I was to have thought I could do so, even…

“Drat it, Iso!” Roger cried. “Why can’t you sit still long enough to finish a letter?!” His rage fizzled out when he saw what he’d been too angry to notice before. The sentence had been broken off with a wild streak of Iso’s pen. She’d pressed down so hard, the nib had almost pierced through the paper. What had happened to startle her so badly? Or had she been more than startled?

What if she’d been attacked?

Roger’s eyes flitted to the next section of the letter and he read a few lines, unnerved by the change in Iso’s tone. In the space of a few sentences, she’d gone from bubbly to sounding darn near paranoid.

I hate that statue. Evie somehow managed to smuggle it here without any of us knowing. If Father had discovered it up in Skye, he would have chucked it into the sea, which is what I’ve half a mind to do. I’ll never walk by that statue at night. I can’t even stand to go near it during the day. I swear that woman is looking at me through her veil. I don’t know how to explain it, but I can feel her eyes following me. And I’m not the only one who thinks something’s off with that statue. Jon said he’s felt the same way, but not Evie. Oh, no, never Evie. She dotes on the creepy thing. I even caught her talking to it once. Have you ever heard of anything so daft? 

Roger paused to consider everything that had happened to him within the last day, then nodded. He had done more than hear of anything so daft. He had seen it with his own eyes. He went on reading.

I’ve carried this letter halfway around the world with me, Rog. It’s high time I send it off to you, but I’ve just not had the will to finish it. It’s rather hard to muster up excitement for anything when you’re stuck in the house with nothing but books for company.          

Roger sat bolt upright. Was she sick? Was she in trouble? Why should she have to stay inside the house? He felt uneasy, but what worried him most was that he was running out of pages—out of space for Iso to tell him what was really going on.

I’ve learned something rather disturbing from Father. It seems that Mother had a near-fatal accident when she was pregnant with Evie. For some reason, Father blames the Deadmarshes for Mother almost dying. I’m not really sure why. He was rather vague on that point. But I tell you, Rog, it’s a good thing he didn’t hold a grudge against the children of that family, otherwise I never would have known Travers. And you’d have probably been deemed tarnished by the accident of sharing the same blood. How dreadful would that have been? After my brother and sister, you’re the closest friend I’ve got. True friends don’t keep secrets from each other, which is why I’m telling you this one, even if it makes you think Father’s gone off his nut. Here goes… He said the sins of the Deadmarshes had brought doom upon us all, that they are the real reason we find ourselves stuck on this rock in the middle of a demon-haunted sea. I still don’t understand why he blames your family, but he does. Nothing can make him change his mind about that. And he’s blaming them not only for our current circs., but for Mother almost drowning in Wales, too.

Roger upended the wastebasket next to his chair as he shot up from his seat. Wales?! Why Wales?! What had Iso’s mother been doing there?!

Ignoring the mess he’d made on the floor, he sank down on the chair and managed to calm himself enough to resume reading.

I would have preferred to live in Wales, you know. Anywhere would’ve been better than Cutwater Island. Ever heard of it? No? Neither had I. It’s an awful place. All jagged rocks and scrubland. And the people…we might as well be lepers. Not one of them has come to welcome us, and they avoid us whenever we show our faces in what passes for a village in this place. And at church, well… Come Sunday, we kids are the only ones in the pews. I don’t think we’ll be leaving this godforsaken rock any time soon, though. At least not till the thing circling the island leaves. He’s like a reaper, Roger. Three in the last week alone have been taken before they could even cry out. They were dragged under by the beast with the tail shaped like a scythe and skin that shines like an oil slick on the water’s surface. And yet he’s known as White Death. It must be because of the underbelly. Either that or the teeth. Rog…what do you know of sharks?

cover

Copyright © 2017, 2018 by Melika Dannese Lux

 

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Pinterest
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • Pocket
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

The Darkness Within–Excerpt

Featured

Posted by Melika Dannese Hick in Book Spotlight, Deadmarsh Fey, Excerpts, Fun Stuff, Missives, News, Updates

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

#AmWriting, 18, 1888, 1894, 19th century, 2018, a book addict's bookshelves, a wizard should know better, ache, all we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us, Amazon, amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, anne rice, antestheria, aragorn, arthur, Augustin Boroi, author, Authors, autumn, bear, best friend, betrayal, birthday, black cats, black winged beast, blog, blogger, bloggers, blood, blood wood, book, book addict, book feature, books, Books In My Belfry, British, brothers, brothers and sisters, business, calling, carte blanche, Carver, cats, celts, charpentier, children, children of light, children of vampires, chocolate, chocolate chip, City of Lights, City of Lights by melika lux, city of lights: the trials and triumphs of ilyse charpentier, classic, Coffyn, Constantinos, coquette, corcitura, Corcitura feature, count, Count Rakmanovich, Count Sergei Rakmanovich, Cover, crime and punishment, curse, cut, cutwater, cutwater island, dance hall, dance of romance, dannese, dark, dark wreaker, darkness, dashing, deadliest, Deadmarsh, Deadmarsh Fey, deal, death, demons, devil, dialogue, die, diva of the paris stage, dogs, Dostoevsky, Dracula, draculaesque, dragons, dreams, druids, dwellers, dwellers of darkness, earth, Eastern Europe, Eiffel Tower, email, England, englishman, Eric Bradburry, Europe, Excerpt, fall, fallen kingdom, family, fantasy, fantasy is escapist, fascinated, fate, Fated, fated to die, father, female author, female vampires, female werewolves, female writers, fey, fiction, Fin de siècle, finding home, first novel, Folies Bergère, France, free, freebie, freedom, French, french flag, French wine, friends, Friendship, frodo, full circle, Gandalf, Germany, giveaway, glory, good and evil, good vs evil, Goodreads, gothic, gothic novel, Grand Tour, Greece, grey wolves, guillermo del toro, Guinness, hammer, havelock, here there be dragons, hermit, hermitlife, high school, historical fiction, historical romance, home, hope, hopes, horror, hybrid, hybrid vampires, Ian McCarthy, ian mckellen, iconic, ilyse, Ilyse Charpentier, in which a dashing Englishman woos mademoiselle Charpentier, in-depth, incendiu, Indie, inspiration, Interview, isobel vickers, J. R. R. Tolkien, Jack the Ripper, jagged ones, jess watkins, joy, Jurassic Park, Kindle, kindle giveaway, Kip, Kipling, Knightley, La Perle de Paris, la petite coquette, languages, laptop, legend, legends, Leonora, Leonora Bianchetti, lies, life, light, lips, Lockie, loggerheads, London, lord of the rings, LOTR, Love, love of reading, Luc, lux, machen, maddie, Madelaine Bradburry, malevolence, Manon Larue, marine biologist, marked, Maurice Charpentier, meanings, meant to be, melika, Melika Dannese Lux, Melika Lux, mother, Music, my calling, my dream, myth, names, new, new release, news, night, norse, novel, novelist, novels, oblivion, of darkness, opera, orange, original, pale, Paperback, Paranormal, parc monceau, parents, Paris, Parisian, pianist, pict, play, post, professor fertig, promotion, prophecy, publication, publicity, publishing, puckie, pumpkin, pun, pure magic, questions, quick-fire, quites, quote, reading, Review, rex, roger, Roger Knightley, romance novels set in historic France, Romania, Romanian, Russia, russian, scary, scary vampires, seasonal, seized, Sergei, Sergei Rakmanovich, series, sham, Sharks, siblings, silver-tongued devil, singer, singing, snippet, soprano, Sorina Boroi, Spooky, steal of a deal, Stefan, Stefan Belododia, Stefan Ratliff, story arcs, storytelling, storyweaving, summer, supernatural, supernatural thriller, Suspense, T-Rex, talking animals, tall tales, terror, the darkness within, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings, these vampires don't sparkle, Thriller, Tolkien, Tollers and Jack, Toulouse Lautrec, Tour Eiffel, tragedy, trahaearn, train, travel, triumph, triumphant, true love, truth, TV, Twilight, Twitter, Tyrian purple, UK, updates, USA, vampire fiction, Vampire Hunter, vampire mythology, vampire mythos, vampires, vampiresses, vampiric, vampiric equality, vampiric transformation, vampirism, vamps, varney, Vasily Markolovick, violinist, Vladec, Vladec Salei, vocation, Vrykolakas, Wales, Werewolf, werewolf transformation, Whitechapel, wine, winter, wizard, Wood, wreaker, writer, writer's block, Writers, writing, Young Adult, young author, young female author, young love, Young Protagonists, young writer, Zigmund, Zigmund Fertig

Taken from Deadmarsh Fey, Chapter 2

 

“What happened?” Lockie whispered, as shakily as if he didn’t trust his own voice.

“You tell me,” said Roger. He kept his arms wrapped around himself, afraid he’d fall apart if he broke his hold.

“What did I say?”

It wasn’t so much what you said as what you did, Roger thought, but didn’t have the courage to speak this aloud to Lockie. “I haven’t the foggiest,” he said instead. Let’s get that ironed out first, and then we can talk about the other person inside of you. “It was gibberish. Something about hearts and bone and someone called Blood Wood. Where’d you get all that, Lockie? What have you been filling your head with?”

“Must have been a nightmare.”

“When you’re awake?”

“It’s happened before.”

That was troubling. And it made Roger’s mind up for him. This was life and death now. He knew what had to be done, and he didn’t give a fig if Coffyn had an aneurism when he found out. “That’s it. I don’t care what your parents say, or anyone else, for that matter. That place is poison, and I’m getting you out of it. You’re being ruined in more ways than one, and if those nightmares began back there…”

“This didn’t start at Nethermarrow.”

Roger’s arms uncrossed and fell to his sides. “Then where did it start? Not…here?”

“I knew you wouldn’t understand. You’re too in love with this place to see its flaws.”

“Flaws? Deadmarsh? Rubbish.”

“Not flaws,” Lockie said, his brows furrowing so dramatically that they almost formed a solid, pale line across his forehead. “That’s the wrong word.” He was silent for a moment, eyes narrowing to slits. “Malevolence.”

“Don’t tell me you’re going to trot out the old ‘this house was built on an ancient burial ground’ sham again, are you? Which evil is it this time? Celts? Druids? Take your Pict.” Roger’s lips ticked up slightly at the edges. He’d used that dreadful pun before, but it was folly to expect his cousin to laugh at it now.

Lockie turned on him a look that froze Roger’s blood. “I’ve seen its other side. I know what lives here, what’s been slumbering for so long.”

A hollow pit opened up where Roger’s heart was supposed to be. “How would you know that?”

“I woke it up.”

cover

 

 

(C) 2017, 2018 Melika Dannese Lux

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Pinterest
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • Pocket
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

Was it Jack the Ripper…or Vampires?

Featured

Posted by Melika Dannese Hick in Book Spotlight, Corcitura Feature, Excerpts, Fun Stuff, Missives

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

1888, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2018, Americans, article, atrocities, August 1888, ax, barbed tongue, barbed wire, belfry, best friends, blog, blogger, Books In My Belfry, bradburry, city, corcitura, Corcitura feature, Daily Telegraph, David and Marishka Ratliff, dead, Deadmarsh, death, Devil’s Rope, Dracula, draculaesque, Eastern Europe, England, Eric, Eric Bradburry, Europe, European, Excerpt, fake, female vampires, female werewolves, Fin de siècle, Found Dead, Friendship, fun stuff, Gaslight, gaslit, Goodreads, gothic, gothic novel, Grand Tour, grief, headline, historical fiction, horror, hybrid vampires, hypocricy, in memoriam, Jack the Ripper, killer, Kindle, Leonora Bianchetti, London, marishka, Martha Tabram, melika, Melika Dannese Lux, Melika Lux, memoriam, memory, Millionaire, millionaires, murder, murdered, Mystery, myths, news, novels, original, orphans, page, parents, Philanthropists, photograph, post, ratliff, ripped open, Ripper, Romania, Romanian, savage, savagely ripped open, Scotland Yard, sensationalism, shock, snatched, sorely missed, stab wounds, Stefan, Stefan Belododia, Stefan Ratliff, story, teaser, telegraph, the Ratliff Horror, vampires, vampirism, victim, Victorian, Vladec Salei, Vrykolakas, werewolf transformation, werewolves, westminster, Whitechapel, writer, writing, young, Zigmund Fertig

Taken from Corcitura, Chapter 10, The Ratliff Horror

Millionaire Philanthropists Found Dead

I snatched the paper off the tray and held it before my eyes, foolishly hoping the millionaire philanthropists of the headline were not the same ones I had been acquainted with since the days of my childhood. The headline danced before me, blurring in and out as I read over the words again and again, too scared to look at the report and have all my fears confirmed. Finally, I looked away from the headline and forced myself to read the article below.

London, Monday, 13 August 1888—Late last evening, David and Marishka Ratliff were found brutally murdered in their home in Westminster. Scotland Yard inspectors immediately questioned Mr. and Mrs. Ratliff’s servants and neighbors, but all were cleared of any involvement in the crime. The inspectors have noted that the modus operandi matches that employed in the murder of a woman, Martha Tabram, who was found stabbed to death in Whitechapel nearly one week ago. Although the authorities had ruled that the Tabram murder was an isolated incident, this new crime has made them reconsider. Do we have a killer in our midst? The authorities seem to think so. As with the former victim, the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Ratliff were covered in stab wounds, but in this case, the killer has added an additional weapon to his murderous arsenal: slashing throats in a particularly savage fashion with what the Americans call Devil’s Rope. Upon further inspection, it was determined that Mr. and Mrs. Ratliff’s throats had been savagely ripped open by a piece of barbed wire. Authorities had thought the killer to be from Whitechapel, but in light of this recent crime in Westminster, it is feared that the murderer has taken up residence in this district and will begin to perpetuate more atrocities in this part of the city. They caution against widespread panic, but one cannot help wondering when the next ax, or piece of barbed wire, as we now have it, will fall.

I ignored the last line for the sensationalism it was and turned the page. A photograph of David and Marishka with Stefan as a child took up half the page and underneath it ran the following:

Mr. and Mrs. Ratliff were well-known throughout Europe for their care of and generosity toward Romanian orphans, many of whom they brought to London to be educated. They are survived by their son, Stefan, who was not home when the murders were committed and is not a suspect in his parents’ deaths. Mr. and Mrs. Ratliff’s only son and heir, who was overcome with grief when given the horrible news, has asked that we print the following in memory of his beloved parents:

In Memoriam

As they were loved in life, so they shall be loved in death. They will be sorely missed.

“Sorely missed by everyone but you, that is,” I grunted, my teeth clenched in anger, my heart appalled by such blatant hypocrisy.

©2010, 2018 Melika Dannese Lux and Books In My Belfry®. Unauthorized use or reproduction of this excerpt without the author’s permission is strictly prohibited.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Pinterest
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • Pocket
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

Redaction, & Jagged Ones, & Bears—oh, my!

Featured

Posted by Melika Dannese Hick in Book Spotlight, Excerpts, Fun Stuff, News, Updates

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

afoot, apaw, atrocities, Authors, autumn, believer, bellows, bigger, black cats, blog, blogger, bloodcurdling, boarding school, book series, books, Books In My Belfry, born, burial ground, by your leave, cat, cats, celts, City of Lights, claws, Coffyn, committed, corcitura, creatures, curses, dark, dark fantasy, darkness, deadly, demon, demonic, demons, devoured, dragons, druids, dwellers, earth, editing, eerie, England, epic, Eric Bradburry, evil, exciting, faeries, fall, fall release, fantasy, female author, fey, ghosts, Goodreads, greater than iron, grown, guardians, guys, halloween, hollow, horror, Humor, hunting, Ilyse Charpentier, iron, jagged, jagged ones, joke, Kindle, knew, Knightley, light, light bearer, lightning, Lockie, lux, malevolence, May, Melika Dannese Lux, men, mere, monsters, moors, Mystery, Nethermarrow, new books, news, night, novel, novelist, novels, ones. Bear, otherworld, paws, Penny Dreadful, pict, publication, publishing, pun, rain, redaction, return, roger, Roger Knightley, scary, school, secrets, series, shadowplay, shapeshifting, sharp, silver, slumbering, snippet, soul ties, spies, spring, spycraft, staff, stash, storm, subterfuge, summer, Suspense, tease, teaser, the game is afoot, the return, Thriller, thunder, transformation, travers, Tuesday, updates, valet, wagner, Wales, werebear, Werewolf, what, wild boars, winter, within, woke, woman, woods, years, Yorkshire, young

Well, it’s that time again! I’m only going to be posting a few more teasers from the new book after this snippet, which happens to be one of my favorites. Chapter 9 is quite eventful, and due to the sensitivity of its title, and the identity of a chief character within it, I had to engage in a bit of spycraft and redact said character’s name. Humor me, guys. If I give away all my secrets, there’ll be no reason for you to read the book!

Third Teaser Tuesday post--8-28-17

I bet you’re now consumed with curiosity about the Bear and what exactly those Jagged Ones are, right?  😉

Hope you enjoyed this sneak peek!

All the best,

~Melika

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Pinterest
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • Pocket
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

The Darkness Within—Tuesday Teaser

Featured

Posted by Melika Dannese Hick in Book Spotlight, Excerpts, Fun Stuff, News, Updates

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

afoot, apaw, Authors, autumn, bellows, bigger, black cats, blog, blogger, boarding school, book series, books, Books In My Belfry, burial ground, by your leave, cats, celts, child, City of Lights, claws, Coffyn, corcitura, creatures, curses, dark, dark fantasy, darkness, deadly, demons, dragons, druids, dwellers, editing, eerie, England, epic, Eric Bradburry, evil, exciting, faeries, fall, fall release, fantasy, female author, fey, ghosts, Goodreads, grown, guardians, halloween, hollow, horror, hunting, Ilyse Charpentier, inspiration, iron, Kindle, Knightley, light, light bearer, lightning, Lockie, lux, malevolence, May, Melika Dannese Lux, monsters, moors, Mystery, Nethermarrow, new books, news, night, novelist, novels, otherworld, paws, pict, publication, publishing, pun, rain, return, roger, Roger Knightley, scary, school, secrets, series, sharp, silver, slumbering, snippet, son, soul ties, staff, storm, Suspense, tease, teaser, the game is afoot, the return, Thriller, thunder, transformation, travers, updates, valet, Wales, wild boars, within, woke, woods, Yorkshire, young

Hi Guys!

Well, here it is, the second Tuesday Teaser from my new book. This excerpt was taken from Chapter 2, The Darkness Within.

Second Teaser Tuesday Post--8-21-17

Oooo! What did he wake up, I wonder?  😉

Look for another snippet next week. I hope you are enjoying these!

All the best,

~Melika

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Pinterest
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • Pocket
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

Teaser Tuesday—The Return

Featured

Posted by Melika Dannese Hick in Book Spotlight, Excerpts, Fun Stuff, News, Updates

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

2017, afoot, apaw, Authors, autumn, bellows, best, bigger, black cats, blog, blogger, books, Books In My Belfry, by your leave, cat's paw, cats, City of Lights, claws, corcitura, curses, dark, dark fantasy, darkness, deadly, demons, dwarf, dwellers, editing, eerie, England, epic, Eric Bradburry, everyone, exciting, faeries, fall, fall release, fantasy, female author, fey, ghosts, Goodreads, grown, guardians, halloween, hunting, Ilyse Charpentier, Kindle, Kip, large, light, light bearer, lightning, lux, May, melika, Melika Dannese Lux, moors, mouser, Mystery, new, new books, news, next, night, novelist, novels, paws, posting, publication, publishing, rain, return, roger, Roger Knightley, secrets, series, sharp, silver, since, soul ties, staff, storm, Suspense, tease, teaser, the game is afoot, the return, Thriller, thunder, tips, transformation, travers, undergone, updates, valet, velvet, week, wild boars, woods, Yorkshire

Hi Everyone!

First, a little update. I finished writing my third novel in May and have spent the last few months editing and taking the necessary steps toward publication, which will FINALLY happen this Fall. But in the meantime, how about a little teaser from the new book? This novel does have a title, I promise. I’m just attempting to draw out the suspense as long as I can.  😉

And now, without further ado, here is a sneak peek taken from Chapter 1, The Return.

(2) First Teaser Tuesday Post--8-14-17

As you can see, things are definitely afoot. Or, rather, apaw.

I’ll be posting another teaser next week. Hope you enjoyed this one!

All the best,

~Melika

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Pinterest
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • Pocket
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

A Tavern in Venice

01 Wednesday Mar 2017

Posted by Melika Dannese Hick in Excerpts, Fun Stuff, Missives, News, Updates

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

1888, Authors, beast, beginning, best friend, betrayal, black beast, black winged beast, blood, blood drinkers, books, chronology, classic, classic novel, classic style, corcitura, dark fantasy, darkness, demon, demons, devils, Dracula, draculaesque, drainer of life, Eastern Europe, Eric Bradburry, euphemism, female author, female vampires, female werewolves, female writers, Friendship, give in, Goodreads, gothic, gothic novel, Grand Tour, Greece, hellish, historical, historical fiction, hybrid, hybrid vampires, imagination, Italian, Italy, life, living death, London, lux, melika, Melika Dannese Lux, Melika Lux, months, news, nightmare, nightmares, novel, old world, original, Paranormal, Paris, phrasing, plague, plague carrier, Romania, Romanian, Russia, russian vampires, russians, silver tongue, silver-tongued devil, social media, Stefan, Stefan Belododia, Stefan Ratliff, tavern, The Haunter of Darkness, Twitter, uninitiated, Upyr, vampires, Venice, Vladec Salei, Vrykolakas, Werewolf, werewolf transformation, werewolves, writer, writing, young author

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

I’ve been getting a lot of reader interest in Corcitura lately (Thank you!), and thought it was time to share a short excerpt. This scene comes from one of my favorite chapters in the whole book, and was actually one of the first scenes I wrote before being a good little author and writing the book in order from the beginning. Working chronologically…what a novel concept, eh? 😉

I hope you enjoy it!

Cheers,

~Melika

Short Excerpt

Taken from Corcitura, Chapter 8, A Tavern in Venice

    “A toast to you, my brother,” he said, lifting his glass. “May your eyes be opened on this night, and may you see as you have never seen before. Knowledge is a very powerful thing. Drink and be free.”
    Red light shot through the glass, red light reflected from the candle guttering in its holder above my head. My eyes darted up toward the ceiling. First impressions are tricky things, and mine had been wrong—horribly wrong. There were no angels in these panels. What had I been thinking before?
    Demons cavorted in a pit of rocks and shattered skulls. Fire licked their hellish bodies as they danced through one torture scene after another. In the center panel, a huge, black-winged beast devoured something that was still kicking as it was being forced down the devil’s gullet.
    How could it still be kicking? Or, more importantly, how could I see it kicking?
    The figures in the panel were moving.
    Their movements were slow, tortured, dreamlike, but real—undeniably real. I watched, entranced, unable to turn away, as one poor soul after another was raked across hot coals or had its ashen flesh stripped by one of the devil’s overseers.
    I put my hand to my mouth, but still my eyes remained riveted to the ceiling. The other panels did nothing to cure my nausea. Eleven horned beasts—looking like crosses between satyrs and devils—formed a circle around a giant creature, half dragon, half man, that held a severed head aloft in its clawed hands. Blood dripped from the stump, falling into the waiting mouths of some of the beasts, as the others caught the liquid in black chalices.
    The fresco was blatantly hellish, but its living replica was even worse.
    I had lied to myself from the very beginning, deceived myself into believing that I was being fanciful and overly imaginative. Surely such monstrosities only existed in nightmares? Yet I had lived through a nightmare these past months, and that was no dream at all.
    I was still fighting against the awful truth, not wanting to give in, searching my mind for a logical explanation—but there was none. And the most horrible realization of all was that I had known, somewhere deep inside, ever since the day I first set eyes on that silver-tongued devil in Paris.
    Plague carrier.
    Living death.
    Drainer of life.
    The phrasing did not matter. No euphemism could strike fear into the hearts of men the way that single word could.
    Vampire.
    And for me, the uninitiated, that single word meant death.

(c) 2010, 2012, 2017 by Melika Dannese Lux

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Pinterest
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • Pocket
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

Corcitura visits Because Reading is Better Than Real Life!

03 Tuesday Dec 2013

Posted by Melika Dannese Hick in Author Spotlight, Book Spotlight, Corcitura Feature, Excerpts, Fun Stuff, News

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

1888, 1894, 2013, ashes, author spotlight, backstage, balmy, barbed tongue, because reading is better than real life, beg to differ, belfry, bellowed, Belododia, best friends, blog, blog feature, Blog Tour, bloggers, book, book feature, book spotlight, books, Books In My Belfry, browish-grey wolves, brutal, cabaret, Carmilla, Cecil B DeMille, City of Lights, city of lights: the trials and triumphs of ilyse charpentier, conversation with death, corcitura, creepy, crumble, damned soul, devil, diva, diva in the wings, diva of the paris stage, Dostoevsky, Dracula, draculaesque, drugged, Eastern Europe, England, Eric, Eric Bradburry, Erin Al-Mehairi, Excerpt, exclusive, eyes of a wolf, fall, fall reads, familiar, family conflict, family saga, fathers and sons, feature, female vampires, filmy residue, Fin de siècle, first person present tense, forest, France, francophile, Friendship, Gandalf, gaslit, Giverne, glowing, gone, good hunting, Goodreads, gothic, gothic novel, Grand Tour, Greece, green, grey wolves, Greydanus, halloween, Halloween reads, hand, historical fiction, historical romance, horror, husband, hybrid vampires, Ian McCarthy, if you love scary vampires, Ilyse Charpentier, impressionism, impressionist, impressionists, Kindle, kindle copy giveaway, kindle giveaway, King of Kings, La Perle de Paris, Le Fanu, leaves, Leonora, Leonora Bianchetti, London, lord of the rings, Love, Luc, maddie, Madelaine Bradburry, Madelaine Dennison, Manon Larue, Maurice Charpentier, Melika Dannese Lux, michelle parsons, Moulin Rouge, my son, mythology, news, novels, November feature, november reads, october 2013, october reads, Oh for the hook of a book, painters, Paris, Polidori, pov, Prague, professor fertig, rafflecopter, rafflecopter giveaway, rivalry, Romania, russian, scary vampires, Sergei, Sergei Rakmanovich, siblings, singers, Spooky, spout, staked, Stefan Ratliff, terrifying, Toulouse Lautrec, true love, Tyrian purple, updates, Upyr, vampire genre, vampire mythos, vampires, vamps, Vasily Markolovick, Venice, Vladec Salei, Vrykolakas, werewolf mythology, werewolf transformation, werewolves, wolf, wolf infestation, wolves, woman, woods, writing, YA, YA Lit, ya novel, Young Adult, young author, young female author, young love, young writer, Zigmund, Zigmund Fertig

Corcitura feature @ Because Reading is Better Than Real Life 12-2-13

Huge hugs and a big thank you to Michelle for having me back on her blog to chat about the origins of Corcitura! Think the vampire genre should have been staked long ago? Well, I beg to differ, and if you head on over to Michelle’s blog, you can read an article about how I wove werewolf & vampire mythology together to create an entirely new species of undead. And while you’re there, don’t forget to read a spooky teaser excerpt from the POV of Corcitura’s only female narrator!

Enjoy! 😀

All the best,

Me Sig!

 

 

 

 

Twitter

Goodreads

Pinterest

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Pinterest
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • Pocket
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...
← Older posts

City of Lights is an IBD Award Winner!!

Buy Deadmarsh Fey from Amazon.com (Click Image)

Buy Corcitura from Amazon.com (click image)

Buy City of Lights from Amazon.com (click image)

Like what you’ve read so far? Then make sure to click below, so that you can get the latest news, updates, and fun delivered straight to your inbox!

Join 248 other subscribers

Recent Posts

  • Meet the Author
  • Deadmarsh Fey Critical Praise: 5 Star Review from Tome Tender
  • About the Author
  • A Very Personal Interview + Book Giveaway
  • 10 Quotes From Deadmarsh Fey

Archives

  • June 2019
  • February 2019
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • January 2018
  • November 2017
  • August 2017
  • May 2017
  • March 2017
  • August 2016
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • August 2012
  • April 2012

Categories

  • Articles
  • Author Spotlight
  • Book Spotlight
  • Corcitura Feature
  • Deadmarsh Fey
  • Excerpts
  • Fun Stuff
  • Giveaway Announcement
  • Missives
  • News
  • Updates
February 2023
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728  
« Jun    

© Melika Dannese Lux and Books In My Belfry®, LLC, 2011-2018. Unauthorized use and/or reproduction of this blog’s content without the author’s permission is strictly prohibited.

Blog Stats

  • 7,973 hits
Map

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Books In My Belfry
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Books In My Belfry
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: