THE WOODCUTTER, by horror noveist, Stephanie Ellis

 

THE WOODCUTTER 

An examination into horror by critically acclaimed author, Stephanie Ellis 

Released and published by Brigids Gate Press

The novels are available worldwide in e-format

 

  

 A tragic accident, shrouded in mystery, leads to a family reunion in the hidden village of Little Hatchet, located in the smothering shadow of GodBeGone Wood, the home of the mythical Woodcutter and Grandma. Alec Eades rediscovers his bond with GodBeGone Wood and the future his father agreed to years ago as nefarious landowner Oliver Hayward schemes to raise money for the village by re-enacting part of the Woodcutter legend. Old wounds are re-opened and ties of blood and friendship are tested to the extreme when the Woodcutter is summoned and Grandma returns.

The Woodcutter eBook : Ellis, Stephanie, Leggett, Elizabeth, Allison-Rolling, Carrie: Amazon.ca: Kindle Store

  MORE FROM STEPHANIE ELLIS:

Return to the Weald, the world Stephanie Ellis introduced us to in The Five Turns of the Wheel.

Reborn is the story of Cernunnos, the Father of all, who has risen. Born of blood offerings, he travels to the Layerings—one of those places, like Umbra, which sit just beyond the human veil.

Reborn is the story of Tommy, Betty and Fiddler, the infamous troupe whose bloody rituals were halted by Megan, Tommy’s Daughter. Rendered weak by Megan’s refusal to allow them to hunt in the human world of the Weald, they seek their rebirth and forgiveness from the Mother and Cernunnos. 

With Reborn, Ellis delivers another powerful tale of folk horror that will captivate the reader from the first page until its final bloody climax.

Tyler Torrence has inherited his late grandfather's house, a home filled with bad memories and nightmares from his childhood. He returns hoping to learn the truth of his grandfather's secrets, especially the secret of the 'impossible bottles' and what lay beyond the black door. The door through which he was never allowed to enter as a child.

But returning to the house is a mistake. It doesn't take long for Tyler to realize the hold the house has over him, and that he is a prisoner of the ancestral curse that claimed his grandfather. Now he must fight to break the curse before it claims him and his son.

 ABOUT STEPHANIE:

Stephanie Ellis writes dark speculative prose and poetry and has been published in a variety of magazines and anthologies, the most recent being Scott J. Moses’ What One Wouldn’t Do, Demain Publishing’s A Silent Dystopia and Brigids Gate Press’ Were Tales. Her longer work includes the novel, The Five Turns of the Wheel and the novellas, Bottled and Paused. Her short stories can be found in the collections, The Reckoning, and As the Wheel Turns.

Her poetry has been published in the HWA Poetry Showcase Volumes VI, VII and VII, Black Spot Books Under Her Skin and online at Visual Verse. She has also co-written a collection of found poetry, Foundlings, with Cindy O’Quinn based on the work Alessandro Manzetti and Linda D. Addison. A gathering of her dark twists on traditional nursery rhymes can be found in the collection, One, Two, I See You.

She is co-editor of Trembling With Fear, HorrorTree.com's online magazine and also co-edited the Daughters of Darkness anthologies. She is an active member of the HWA and can be found at https://stephanieellis.org and on twitter at @el_stevie. 

To request additional review copies or an interview with Stephanie Ellis, please contact Mickey Mikkelson at Creative Edge Publicity: mickey.creativeedge@gmail.com | 403.464.6925.   

We look forward to the coverage!

RESTORE, Book 3 of the Reborn Marks Series by Jenna Greene

 

RESTORE

Book 3 of the Reborn Marks Series 

The Award-Winning Series Continues!!

 Alone, back in slavery, Lexil must figure out a way to survive...

Lexil is back in Anstetor where it all began. Back to who she once was. Not only has she been separated from everyone she knows, she is imprisoned by a group of rogue Retrievers who want to brutally punish runaway Reborns.

Though obstacles are placed in her path, she continues her quest to rid the land of prejudice and slavery. Will she achieve her goal? Will she change beyond recognition by the choices she is forced to make?

Aided by unlikely sources, Lexil forges deeper into Anstetor, revisiting familiar places and haunting memories. New truths are presented to her. Relationships are challenged. Her body, mind, and emotions are pushed to the limit. 

Amazon.com: Restore: A Young Adult Dystopian Novel (The Reborn Marks Book 3) eBook : Greene, Jenna: Kindle Store 

Restore: A Young Adult Dystopian Novel (The Reborn Marks Book 3) eBook : Greene, Jenna: Amazon.ca: Kindle Store

 

More Books in The Series:

Seven times marked. One way out...

From birth, Lexil is counted among the marked, souls who have lived before and must now serve those who are on their first lives. Which means she’s doomed to a life of slavery with its hard labors and brutal punishments. A life she’s learning to endure.

But when the marked child she’s befriended is faced with a fate worse than death, Lexil decides to fight back. No matter the risk, no matter the cost.

Her only hope is to flee to the Wastelands with the one person she trusts, Finn. As he leads them through the deadly lands, she realizes that there are only two classes of people in the dangerous wilds, the hunters and the hunted. And among them, those who carry the knowledge of what it truly means to be a Reborn.

But to get to that truth and escape the barren lands alive, Lexil must face challenges that will test everything she thought she knew--and everything she thought she was…

The 100 meets Hunger Games and Divergent in this stunning young adult Dystopian series. Scroll up and one-click now to find out if being a Reborn is a myth, a curse...or an incredible destiny.

Haunted by memories of those left behind, Lexil and Finn are forced to venture back into the Wastelands.

The Unclaimed Cities are not the idyllic setting Lexil, Finn, and Ceera thought it would be. This new land has challenges of its own – which they soon discover. When Lexil and Finn return to the Wastelands, they are accompanied by Kaylen, someone they can’t decide is a friend or foe. As they retrace their path, they meet up with old allies and enemies, and encounter other treachery embedded in the Wastelands. The trio are then forced to face their own assumptions, prejudices, and fears.

And in the end, to change her fate and alter the destiny of all other Reborns, Lexil must decide what she is willing to risk...

About Jenna: 

Jenna Greene is a writer and teacher, as well as a clumsy dancer, enthusiastic dragonboat paddler, and a semi-professional napper. 

Jenna is available for interviews, media appearances, speaking engagements, and/or book review requests - please contact mickey.creativeedge@gmail.com by email or by phone at 403.464.6925.

We look forward to the coverage!

Introducing Wine Witch on Fire by Canadian Wine Expert and Writer, Natalie MacLean

After reading Wine Witch on Fire by Natalie MacLean while on holidays, I just had to reach out and ask to share her book on my blog! Here's my own review posted on Goodreads and Amazon. Keep reading for many, many, many more!!

"When we name what's happening to us and how we feel about it, we often feel a release. That's why memoirs are so powerful. People feel seen and heard in someone else's experience, someone who has put it into words for them." (page 259 - which has a lot of great stuff!)

During my own coming-of-middle-age story, I discovered Wine Witch on Fire in a wine store in the Okanagan Valley after moving from Toronto. Coincidence? I don't believe in them! I can say that once I dug into this book, I couldn't put it down-much like a good glass of pinot grigio or semillon. This book is not only filled with Natalie's story of a horrific year that completely changed her life, but lots of great tidbits about wines, wineries, and witches. I found myself taking notes!

Whether you love wine or are just looking for a good memoir to read, Natalie's story deals with her entire world imploding after the end of her marriage as well as an online attack from people who envy her success. I highly recommend this book, which has several great insights and an easy to read style.

 

It also pairs well with a patio and something cold, light, and bubbly. But that's just my personal preference! ---  Diane

And now, here's Natalie!

 

Natalie MacLean was named the World's Best Drinks Writer at the World Food Media Awards, and has won four James Beard Foundation Journalism Awards. She is the only person to have won both the M.F.K. Fisher Distinguished Writing Award from the James Beard Foundation and the M.F.K. Fisher Award for Excellence in Culinary Writing from Les Dames d'Escoffier International. 

Her books — Red, White and Drunk All Over: A Wine-Soaked Journey from Grape to Glass and Unquenchable: A Tipsy Quest for the World's Best Bargain Wines — were both selected as one of Amazon's Best Books of the Year. Wine Witch on Fire: Rising from the Ashes of Divorce, Defamation, and Drinking Too Much is her debut memoir. 

Natalie is the host of Unreserved Wine Talk, named one of the seven best drinks podcasts by the New York Times and one of Apple's Best Listens of the Year. Her website attracts 3.2 million visitors a year and her team has a combined following of 550,000 followers on social media. She is the wine expert for CTV's The Social, CTV News, and Your Morning. 

Natalie studied the Romantic Poets at Oxford University with Jonathan Wordsworth and graduated with honors from the Master's of Business Administration at Western University. Before joining the wine world, she worked at Procter & Gamble in brand management (Pringles, Crisco, Duncan Hines), and then at the supercomputer company SGI in Mountainview, California, now the headquarters of Google. 

Instagram @nataliemacleanwine
Facebook @natdecants
Twitter @nataliemaclean
LinkedIn @nataliemaclean
TikTok @nataliemacleanwine
Goodreads @natalie_maclean
YouTube @nataliemaclean 

Wine Witch on Fire
Rising from the Ashes of Divorce, Defamation, and Drinking Too Much

A powerful memoir of how one woman resurrects her life and career in the glamorous but sexist wine industry.

Natalie MacLean, a bestselling wine writer, is shocked when her husband of twenty years, a high-powered CEO, demands a divorce. Then an online mob of rivals comes for her career.

Wavering between depression and determination, she must fight for her son, rebuild her career, and salvage her self-worth using her superpowers: heart, humour, and an uncanny ability to pair wine and food. 

Natalie confronts her insider role in the slick marketing encouraging women to drink too much while she battles the wine world’s veiled misogyny. Facing the worst vintage of her life, she reconnects with the vineyards that once brought her joy, the female friends who sustain her, and her own belief in second chances. 

This true coming-of-middle-age story is about transforming your life and finding love along the way. 

 

Advance Praise for Wine Witch on Fire 

Zesty, vibrant, meditative, edgy, structured, intense—these words Natalie MacLean might use to describe wines all apply to her Wine Witch on Fire. With clear-eyed honesty and needle-sharp probing, her memoir covers a time of personal and of professional crisis, much of which rose from the astonishing sexism of other wine writers. Dire, yes, but the book is funny and a page turner. MacLean appreciates the scope of the wine world, commenting that “You could create liberal arts degree with wine as the hub, connecting the spokes of all human endeavor.” Fast-paced prose nevertheless yields many moments to ponder: “Maybe a memoir is a hug for your past self when you needed one but were alone.” And: “While meeting Daniel helped, I realized that I was the one I’d been waiting for.” Anyone at a crux will be buoyed by this writer’s grit and grace. - Frances Mayes, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Under the Tuscan Sun and A Place in the World 

Courageous—that’s the first word that comes to mind while reading Natalie MacLean’s new memoir Wine Witch on Fire. MacLean is an accomplished wine writer, but this deeply personal book takes us behind the scenes, revealing one woman’s journey and extraordinary determination. - Karen MacNeil, best-selling author of The Wine Bible 

Rousing, funny, and insider-y, Natalie MacLean's soul-baring memoir paints an evocative and compelling picture of what it’s like to be a woman in wine. - Nell McShane Wulfhart, best-selling author of Off Menu and New York Times columnist 

This deeply personal memoir tells the inspiring story of a talented woman navigating the treacherous currents of the wine industry, finding her voice and regaining her power through a true connection to time and place, human terroir. - Chef Michael Smith, best-selling author of ten cookbooks, Food Network host, Order of Canada 

Filled with grit and vulnerability, MacLean examines the hardest parts of being a woman in a man’s world with honesty and poise. A read filled with healing and hope. - Victoria James, best-selling author of Wine Girl: The Obstacles, Humiliations, and Triumphs of America's Youngest Sommelier 

There’s a lot of underbelly in this memoir. Someone will inevitably say it’s about score-settling, but that’s less an opinion than a gaslighting. Natalie bent over backwards to be fair. This book is a significant gesture to push the wine industry toward greater inclusion of people who’ve been marginalized. While this memoir will be torn and shredded by many persons of ill will and with minds less acute than hers, I hope she stays resolute. I wish her strength and contentment. Natalie, you done good. - Terry Theise, bestselling author of Reading Between the Wines and What Makes A Wine Worth Drinking 

Natalie has crafted her experience into what could pass for an unputdownable thriller. It’s all the more jarring because it’s based on fact. I loved the tension and fast-paced writing. Any man who has a daughter, sister, or mother should read this book. Women with a little witch and fire within them will enjoy it too.- Steven Laine, bestselling author of Dragonvine 

With a voice full of humour and keen honesty, wine writer Natalie Maclean pairs the personal with the political in her new book, Wine Witch on Fire. In the process, she exposes the sexism of an industry while coming to understand her own hard-won strengths. A delightful read with or without a glass of wine. - Suzanne Evans, author of The Taste of Longing, winner of the Taste Canada Gold Award 

In Wine Witch on Fire, Natalie MacLean opens her heart with authenticity to the pain of love lost, the joy of discovering new love, and the endless questions of balancing parenting with being a working professional. Her love of language is a joyous counterpart to her love of viticulture. I learned so much from this fine memoir and I have a strong sense its appeal to the artist in all of us is limitless. - Ken Goldstein, best-selling author of Endless Encores and From Nothing 

MacLean is well known for her vast wine knowledge and for sharing that knowledge but with this work she shares a plethora of personal life crises with humour and compassion teaching that anyone who experiences similar troubles and mid-life crises can also transform their lives. Middle-aged men can learn a lot about how to support their female partner by encouraging her self-worth. It’s a must read for everyone over thirty years old. - John J. Mahoney, Ph.D., C.W.E., author of Every Bottle Has a Story, Wine for Intellectuals and Wine: The Source of Civilization 

Natalie Maclean has written a harrowing, heartfelt and often hilarious account of the backlash she endured breaching the largely male-dominated world of wine writing. This highly personal odyssey is an eyes-wide-open take on betrayal, the insidious lure of addiction, and the sheer mettle required to rise above those seeking to cast a poisonous spell. - Rosa Harris, best-selling author of Boomerville 

Wine wizard wordsmith, enchanting interviewer, battle-tested survivor, fierce mother, witty, wise—Natalie MacLean is the whole package. Sip a great wine while you savor her memoir. - Gus Clemens, nationally syndicated wine columnist, Gannett/USA Today 

Natalie MacLean offers readers a look into the magical world of wine, addressing head-on its problematic treatment of women throughout the industry. I came away from this book feeling less alone, as if I'd shared a great bottle with a friend and talked through the life problems we all experience at some point. - Rachel Signer, best-selling author of You Had Me at Pét-Nat

I'm encouraged by the support everyday wine lovers and readers are giving the book on Goodreads, the social media site for book lovers owned by Amazon:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62020400-wine-witch-on-fire 

Other Books By Natalie

                          

Introducing Phillip Hoffmann, philosopher, musician and author of My Left Thumb.

I'm thrilled to get to introduce a new friend and co-worker at BWL Publishing! Phil has a great new book out called "My Left Thumb" that I'm interested in checking out! 

 Phillip Hoffmann is a dual Australian-Canadian citizen who holds a PhD in philosophy from the University of Calgary, specializing in the philosophy of science. He is the author of three books including Nothing So Absurd: An Invitation to Philosophy (Broadview Press, 2003). In addition to conducting online philosophy tutorials and sitting on numerous volunteer organization boards, his interests include composing and recording acoustic fingerstyle guitar music, and collecting antique Persian rugs. He lives in Airdrie, Alberta.  

You can find him at:

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057390372022

https://bwlpublishing.ca/hoffmann-phillip/

How many hours a day to you write?

None, LOL! Unless I’m staring at a deadline for the occasional (usually unpaid!) freelance writing request, I have always written for pleasure only when the Muses visit, which makes me a truly terrible role model for any aspiring writer. For discipline, Hemingway is the guy.

What is your favorite childhood book?

"Der Struwwelpeter” (don’t try to pronounce it!). My background is German-Australian, and it’s a dystopian children's book that traumatized generations of German kids with stories about what would happen to them if they dared to be so disobedient as to do things like suck their thumbs! Later on, however, it became something of a cult classic among Germans of my generation. Go figure! 

What inspired you to write this book?

It was originally a COVID-era project that arose from a nagging desire I had at the time to gather together various philosophical papers, essays and talks I’d accumulated over the years into book form, so it wasn’t much of a stretch at the time, which was convenient because I’m basically lazy. For the second edition for BWL, I expanded it considerably by adding five new essays to the original 15.

Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer?

 I see myself lolling on a beach in Tahiti trying to figure out how to spend my royalty cheques. Kidding. I’ll be interested to find out the extent to which I’m prompted to modify or refine the positions I’ve worked out on topics such as free will, information, and above all the nature and importance of objective truth. I must say, the craziness of the last few years has left me feeling pretty vindicated about my position on truth.

How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?

None, except for a half-written co-write project with a physicist friend of mine in Australia that has been dormant for a few years. That said, I’m always keenly aware that it doesn’t take much for something to grab my attention and compel me to write at any time.

Was there a person who encouraged you to write?

Too many to mention, from encouraging teachers and inspiring professors to a long list of authors I’ve admired and venerated throughout my life, starting with Shakespeare. For essay writing, two authors who are heroes of mine are the late Lewis Thomas and Annie Dillard (for her pitch-perfect prose). Among novelists, Thomas Pynchon and George Eliot are two names that come to mind, and of philosophers, Plato, David Lewis and Daniel Dennett are three among very many who inspire me. 

My Left Thumb: Philosophical Essays (Second Edition)

This collection of philosophical essays reflects the author’s views and perspectives on a wide range of themes and topics, including the philosophy of science, metaphysics, language, truth, knowledge, free will, reality and meaning. Lively, accessible, breezy, thought-provoking and frequently entertaining, this expanded second edition represents two decades of Hoffmann’s progress in grappling with these fascinating issues, as well as his efforts to share his fascination with general audiences wanting to dip their toes into philosophy.

To Purchase:

https://books2read.com/My-Left-Thumb-Hoffmann

Nothing So Absurd: An Invitation to Philosophy

Written in clear, non-technical language, Nothing So Absurd is a succinct and accessible introduction to topics in the history of Western philosophy. In seven concise chapters, the author introduces the reader to the central topics within the discipline. In some cases (such as metaphysics and epistemology) he adopts a historical approach, while in others (such as ethics and philosophy of religion) the focus is as much on contemporary issues as it is on historical developments. In each area, he presents material of great intrinsic interest in a fashion that also provides a sense of the broad sweep of the discipline.

This book provides a fair-minded exposition of a wide-range of viewpoints throughout, and dwells, in its final chapter, on the virtues of philosophical realism, thus presenting the reader with the opportunity to engage with a direct philosophical argument. A guide to further reading will assist readers new to philosophy.