One idea, four stories… Four amazing journeys.
Last year, three friends and I discussed collaborating on an idea together. We’d decide on one or two common elements and write our own stories about it. We chose to write about a corn maze with a portal in it.
Y’all know about Eternity’s Gamble. I’ve been talking about it so much lately, you’re probably sick of hearing about it.
However, I haven’t mentioned my co-conspirators, or much about their stories.
Here are the stories they came up with…
Born for This (Maizemerized Book 1)
by Maggie Blackbird
Title: Born for This
Series: Maizemerized, Book One
Author: Maggie Blackbird
Genre(s): Historical, Time Travel, Paranormal, Contemporary, First Nations romance
Heat Rating: 3 flames
Length: 57,922 words, 195 pages
Publisher: eXtasy Books
Publication Date: October 29, 2021
She’s always been obsessed with her ancestors, and now he’s offering her a chance to live with them…forever.
Blurb: Second-year university student Edie Whitecrow gobbles up each course on Indigenous studies. If only she could experience the lives of her Anishinaabe ancestors instead of reading about them. On her way to a Halloween party decked out as a historical Ojibway maiden, she spies a corn maze in a spot known to be barren.
A scarecrow figure beckons Edie to enter with the enticing offer of making her biggest wish come true. She jumps at the chance and finds herself in the past, face to face with the man who haunts her dreams—the handsome brave Thunder Bear. He claims he’s spent twelve years waiting for Gitchi Manidoo to send her to him.
Life in the eighteenth century isn’t what Edie romanticized about, though. When her conscience is tested, she must choose between the modern day or the world of her descendants—where the man she was born for resides.
Purchase at eXtasy Books
Excerpt:
Edie squeezed her eyes shut, thrust out her hands, and shuffled into the mirage of rippling flames. Nothing scorched her skin. Only warmth surrounded her. Something feather-liked seemed to stroke every inch of her flesh.
She kept walking, arms out and palms facing whatever awaited on the other side. The scent of spruce was present, even buttercups, and the fresh taste of water. Her feet trampled grass and leaves. A bird chirped. Maybe a chickadee by its sad song. The little black-capped critters usually sang this tune in the early morning or evening.
Maybe she’d walked out of the maze.
Very slowly, she peeled open her lids to nature—everywhere. Spruce towered high above her. Underbrush shot up from the earth. Wild flowers were aplenty. Why, she could’ve been in the northwest of Ontario. The sun shone bright, its rays beating down on her. The heaviness of the doeskin dress was a tad hot on her skin.
“It is as my vision spoke. She will walk through the flames to join me…”
A man’s voice whirled into Edie’s thoughts. No, not her thoughts. His rich tone lovelier than a song had penetrated her eardrums. Nor had he spoken English, but Ojibway, and not the Anishinaabemowin she studied in class. Koko had called the language Great-Grandpa had interpreted for the courts the old language. Even stranger, she understood him.
“Ishkode-kwe,” he whispered.
Edie blinked. He’d called her Fire Woman.
About the Author:
An Ojibway from Northwestern Ontario, Maggie resides in the country with her husband and their fur babies, two beautiful Alaskan Malamutes. When she’s not writing, she can be found pulling weeds in the flower beds, mowing the huge lawn, walking the Mals deep in the bush, teeing up a ball at the golf course, fishing in the boat for walleye, or sitting on the deck at her sister’s house, making more wonderful memories with the people she loves most.
Find Maggie: Web Site | Facebook Page | Twitter | Goodreads | BookBub | Linked In | Amazon Author Page | eXtasy Books Author Page | Newsletter Sign-Up
Nine for a Kiss
by D.S. Dehel
Series: A Maizemerized Tale
Author: D.S. Dehel
Sub-Genre: Shifter, Time Travel
Book Length: 106 pages, 31,330 words
Release Date: October 29, 2021
Publisher: eXtasy Books
Tagline: Just one perfect day.
Blurb: Nothing has gone right in Sadie Lyons’s life since the accident, but she’s trying her best to get back to normal. She’s just not sure if the trip to the old apple orchard was the best decision, and the creepy corn maze run by the even creepier owner confirms her fears. Inside, the maze is even worse, and she’s soon lost in a never-ending labyrinth that twists and turns but goes nowhere.
When a raven joins her as a guide, she feels better, but like the maze, the raven is not what he seems, and the news he brings her changes everything.
Love and loss intertwine in this tale of the endings and beginnings we all face.
Excerpt:
Curious, she followed him to the outer edge of the grove, where two palms stood apart from the others, their roots clawing deep into the sand at the very edge of the water. Between them swayed a double hammock. Unlike the cloth ones elsewhere in the grove, this one consisted of blue and yellow striped fabric hanging between rope edges that kept the hammock from curling as much.
“Oh.” She glanced at him. “Um, I can share. I mean, you’re not that obnoxious.”
“That’s good.” He bit his lip and flashed her a look from under the dark fringe of lashes. “I’d hate to turn you off.”
“I don’t see that happening.” She kept her tone light, trying to ignore the heat ricocheting through her body. To forestall any other conversation, she grabbed the edge of the hammock. “I’ll hold it, and you climb in. That way, you don’t flip it over.”
“I’m trusting you.” He went to the opposite side, took a deep breath, and sat down, letting out a small gasp as the fabric shifted under him, sinking toward the sand.
“It’s supposed to do that. Now lie back.” She gestured with her head.
“Ooh. You used that correctly.” He shifted the pillow under his head. “Good grammar is so sexy.” He flashed her another of those melting looks.
“Espresso.” She lowered her voice into a husky range. “Couldn’t care less. For all intents and purposes.”
“Oh.” He gave a half-sigh, half-moan, all tease. “Say more, baby.”
She angled her way onto the hammock and stretched out against him, leaning in to whisper in his ear. “I know the difference between less and fewer. Know how to use between and among.”
“So hot.” There was tease in his voice…and something else, an undercurrent of seriousness.
“Mischievous.” She said this without the phantom second i, mis-chiv-ous.
“Too much.” He studied her face with a seriousness belied by his words. “You better stop before I take you here on this benighted bed.”
“Hmm.” She tapped her chin in consideration. “That’s so tempting.”
Corbin’s eyes widened just a hint, easy to miss if she hadn’t been watching.
He’s surprised, but would he walk his talk. How far do I push?
“Specifically.” She stretched the word out, emphasizing each syllable with her lips and tongue, leaning slightly toward him.
“So sexy.” His gaze locked on her mouth as he said the words. There was a moment that stood on a knife-edge as he appeared to be weighing his decision.
Kiss me. For a brief moment, she contemplated saying it aloud. Instead, she murmured, “To whom.”
A smile bloomed across his face, so sensual it made her heart stop. He reached up and cupped the back of her head, tangling his fingers in her wet hair, and pulled her down to him. His lips were cool and salty and very real. A part of her had feared she wouldn’t be able to feel him. His tongue brushed her lips, and she parted hers willingly.
Contact:
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Love Spells, Full Moons and Silver Bullets
by Cameron Allie
Get it on Amazon: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B09F2DX2QN/
Coming March 2022
What do you do when your ex’s werewolf boss wants to feast on the mortal you’ve sworn to protect?
Quinn was unaware of the love potion her meddling cat dumped into her tea, so when Ian Hannigan ends up injured on her property, she thinks she’s dealing with another mortal, not the man who can help mend her heart. Her life becomes a balancing act as she attempts to keep him safe, while hiding secrets better left buried with the dead.
In a realm filled with things that go bump in the night, Ian didn’t expect to find security and happiness in the arms of a green skinned witch, yet for the first time since his parents tragic car crash, he’s found some measure of peace. The rumors he hears in Clayridge aren’t pleasant, but Ian knows there’s more to Quinn than what people would have him believe. If he’s placed his trust in the wrong hands he’ll be paying with more than just his heart. He’ll pay with his life.
Eternity’s Gamble
by V.J. Allison
Series: N/A
Author: V.J. Allison
Sub-Genre: Horror, Science Fiction, Paranormal Romance
Book Length: 42,000 words, 111 pages
Release Date: October 1, 2021
Publisher: Decadent Publishing
Can love beat the odds, or will the dice decide their fate?
Expecting the usual entertainment at the local Nova Scotia exhibition, Charles Hazard is less than impressed by the secluded corn maze his long-time friend and secret crush, Tiffany, drags him to. The repulsive state of decay, and the creepy dummy guarding the entrance of the maze have Charles anxious to leave, but his sense of self-preservation wars with his desire to make Tiffany happy.
Tiffany Morrow doesn’t think much of the tarot card reading she had only days before the annual exhibition, and has all but forgotten the prophet’s words and how she drew the Death Card when she comes across a spooky looking corn maze. There’s only one person she wants to explore the stalks with. She’s been in love with her best friend, Charles, for as long as she can remember. His level head, introverted tendencies, and unique ginger sexiness call to the most intimate parts of her.
Their fun quickly takes a dark turn when the maze morphs into a game of life or death. From a quiet sunflower field, to a treacherous walk across a volcano’s cone, to an encounter with a creature out of horror legend, each roll of the dice forces them to work as a team or perish in a way they most fear.
Amidst the danger-filled labyrinth, they delight in small, stolen moments and find the soul mate they have been searching for. However, as with most games of chance performed at a devil’s will, there is more to this sport than there appears. Could they really be the only ones within the walls of their confines, or are other creatures lurking?
In a terrifying twist of fate, their chances at forever could be ripped away from them by a single roll of the die…
Victory may linger out of reach, and a curse of eternal agony and loneliness could be their fate. Or just once the die might roll in their favour. But what are the odds of that?
Eternity’s Gamble is a friends to lovers paranormal horror romance.
Word Processor, Romance, Cats, Kids and Creed the Second 