2008 will be a big year with Angel Venom and Caul, Shroud and Veil, from Double Dragon.

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Etien changes the day he faces the White Death. His body is broken, but his spirit awakes. When his family's curse manifests inside him, he leaves his birthright for the ice-encrusted mountains where he both fears and hopes to meet the mythical icemen, the Barbegazi.

A halfling has been hiding in the snow outside the Barbegazi village for days. Ethgel can feel his fear, though the others choose to ignore him. But Ethgel is tired of traditions that seclude her people in the remote reaches of the mountains. She longs to reach out to the frightened halfling but will he embrace the ways of the Barbegazi or will his human failings, his unending rage and fear, come between them?

Excerpt: Etien was Fabian. At seventeen, he had gone to war at his father’s side, and learned what this really meant. Men died for that name. They died willingly. The name brought respect from some and fear from others. Etien could recite all the heroic deeds of his ancestors. They watched him from portraits hung on the castle walls. They whispered to him on the winds that blew down from the mountains. Their bodies rotted in Fabian ground, becoming part of the beauty that never dulled in his eyes. They were all around him in these mountains. They were the snow under his feet, the . . .

Those spirits rumbled, with sudden ferocity. Etien looked up, unbelieving. Thunder? No, the sky was still clear.

Avalanche. The White Death.

Behind him, the mountain peak blurred in a silent cloud of snow. The noise followed like an afterthought, like a stampede of gods. Etien jumped over the cliff, heedless of the jagged rocks and ice. He landed on a ledge of soft snow with only seconds to regain his balance. The mountain shook icicles off itself, like a sacrificial bull shaking flowers from its mane. Etien pulled his feet together and tucked. His skis cut deep into the virgin snow, slowing him. He dared a look behind and wished he hadn’t. A white wall, a wave of snow, ice and debris, bore down on him.

Barbegazi, A Coffee Break Short available from Eternal Press, June 7th 2008, for $2.50. Read a background article on the Barbegazi in the Archives.

Twisted Tails III

Pure Fear

Print: $15.99

Ebook: 5.99

ISBN-10: 1-55404-567-3

ISBN-13: 978-1-55404-567-9

Genre: Fantasy/SF - Suspense/Thriller

eBook Length: 249 Pages

Published: April 2008

Imprint: Double Dragon Publishing

Those who have read other books in the Twisted Tails series already know that genre is not the driving force behind them. There is a general theme, sure, but no specific limits to where a story can take off from or a destination to which it should travel. We thrive on surprise and that is what makes the Twisted Tails books unique. Each story ends in the unexpected. Sometimes that’s a little subtle, but most of the time the reader is cautioned to be careful of his/her footing. The authors of these little whiplash generators are masters at providing the required back-wrenching twist, so do be mindful of your step and we bid you welcome.

In this book, Twisted Tails III, we are dredging up fear and wallowing in it as if it were something to be played with, cuddled and fingers lovingly run through its fur like a cherished pet. What we’re doing here is tinkering with terror of the primal kind. You know what I mean, the sort of fright that lies coiled and ready to spring from the dark corners of the mind with no warning. It awaits all, lurking in the deeper shadows of consciousness. No one is immune and, frequently, there is no cure, you just sink into its roiling depths and are no more. If you do manage to escape, life will no longer be what it was before and you will find yourself glancing nervously over your shoulder whenever you hear something strange in the darkness or see a shadow move in the night…or day. Enjoy….

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOREWORD

1. SCHOOL DAYZED by Biff Mitchell

2. THE GHOST OF KORRIM McKARTHY by Brandon Berntson

3. THE BEAST IN THE BASEMENT by J. Richard Jacobs

4. DAY OF THE DEAD by Marilyn Peake

5. THE RAFT by Kim McDougal

6. DIVINE MESSENGER by K.L. Nappier

7. TRAPPED by Christopher Hoare

8. ALONE AND AFRAID by A. J. Chaboya

9. THREE ON A MATCH by John Klawitter

10. LUNCH WAS NOT ENOUGH by Kim McDougal

11. POST APOCALYPSE by Ann Dulhanty

12. ARACHNOTAIL by Biff Mitchell

13. THE ADVENTURES OF JACK CHEESE by John Klawitter

14. BACKSLIDE by K.L. Nappier

15. ABANDONED by Geoff Nelder

16. COMING ALIVE by John Klawitter

17. HANDYMAN by J. Richard Jacobs

18. A COMMUNICATION FROM THE DEAD by Ginny Davis