monsters | CW Hawes

Still More Suggested Reads

This is my fourth list of suggested books and authors with which you can while away those lazy summer days, or hunker down and wait out inclement winter weather if you’re south of the equator.

Banana Sandwich by Steve Bargdill

Actually anything by Mr Bargdill is well worth your money and your time. For example, here is a story that is a superb example of show, don’t tell: http://www.tingemagazine.org/left-with-the-moon/

In Banana Sandwich, Carol is mentally ill. After a stint of being off her meds, she decides to start taking them again and get better. And then the world goes crazy on her.

This is a masterful novel. It’s funny. It’s sad. It’s dark. One of the best works of contemporary literary fiction out there.

Don’t miss this one. I own all of Bargdill’s published work. He is one awesome writer. Incredibly awesome.

Hotel Obscure by Lisette Brodey

This book is billed as a collection of short stories. Nix that. I mean they are, technically speaking, short stories. However, Ms Brodey has written the stories around a theme and they are to be read in the order they appear in the book. So to my way of thinking, Hotel Obscure is something of an episodic novel rather than just a short story collection.

Having worked in public assistance, I could easily relate to the characters in this book, because only the down and out go to the Hotel Obscure.

The book, however, lives on a much grander scale. Because it is about people, and living, and dying, and the meaning of life.

Hotel Obscure is a fabulous book. I highly recommend it.

Pierce Mostyn Paranormal Investigations by CW Hawes

Hey! Wait a minute! I know that guy! Okay, maybe I’m cheating, but this is my blog and I want to do a little promo for the Pierce Mostyn series and the new Mostyn adventure that is coming out at the end of this month.

I’ve been very pleased with the good things that have been said about the Pierce Mostyn books.

Here’s an excerpt from a review of Nightmare in Agate Bay:

CW Hawes, author of the fantastic “Rocheport Saga”, has done it again putting together a well-crafted story that slowly builds in tension. Trust me, you won’t want to put it down! Hawes has managed to capture that Lovecraftian atmosphere that so many get wrong, superbly managing to weave a contemporary thread to the shadowed tapestry of the past. Bravo indeed!

Now if comments like that don’t warm an author’s heart, nothing will.

I serialized the working draft of The Medusa Ritual, the fifth book in the Pierce Mostyn Paranormal Investigations series, on this blog and if you read the blog installments, thank you!

If you decided to wait for the book to come out, good for you. Because good things come to those who wait.

I got good feedback on the book and all those improvements will be in the book version. So even if you read the serial — the book will be even better.

Keep your eyes peeled. Watch this blog, my Facebook page, and my Twitter account for the publication announcement.

Or better yet, sign up for my VIP Readers list. You’ll be the first to know, get exclusive offers, and you’ll get “The Feeder” which is a Pierce Mostyn novelette exclusively for my VIP Readers.

Here is another review excerpt, this one for Terror in the Shadows:

Terror in the Shadows, the third book in the adventures of Pierce Mostyn and the Office of Unidentified Phenomena, picks up where Stairway to Hell left off. …to investigate strange sightings and attacks in a rural countryside. The investigation leads Mostyn’s team to an abandoned mansion, where things quickly go from bad to worse as a certain family history turns out to have gone downhill… if not down the gene pool.

Terror returns to territory Hawes traveled with Nightmare in Agate Bay, where he explores HP Lovecraft stories in a more modern setting. In this case, Hawes plays homage to Lovecraft’s “The Lurking Fear” (there’s a brief reference to the title in the first chapter – don’t miss it!). The idea of “regression” is well explored in the storyline, and is well explained in contrast to evolution. The climax of the story is especially exciting, like a strange cross between Lovecraft’s original narrative and the climax of the original Assault on Precinct 13.

If you haven’t read the Pierce Mostyn series, you can check it out on Amazon. But remember: there be monsters here!

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

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Pierce Mostyn – Paranormal Investigator

Pierce Mostyn fighting inter-dimensional beings. Photo from a secret OUP file.

The other week I ran across a magazine called The Occult Detective Quarterly. Since the occult detective is a relatively new interest of mine, I loaded a couple issues onto my iPad for a read.

I’m about halfway through the first issue and I can honestly give the zine a big thumbs up! I hope they get the money they need to publish issues 5 and 6.

The occult detective has a long and venerable history. I outlined a bit of that history in a previous post. I also noted that it was Seabury Quinn’s occult detective, Jules de Grandin, that saved Weird Tales magazine from going under very early in its history.

Today I’d like to focus attention on my own occult, or paranormal, investigator creation: Pierce Mostyn and the Office of Unidentified Phenomena.

I’m a fan of the Cthulhu Mythos, vampires, werewolves, re-animated corpses (whether they be creations of Dr Frankenstein, Herbert West, mummies, or old-fashioned zombies and zuvembies), and, of course, ghosts. Pretty much anything supernatural gets my vote, and even a few things that aren’t exactly supernatural but can be classed as weird.

Pierce Mostyn, paranormal investigator extraordinaire, and the Office of Unidentified Phenomena, led by uber-mysterious Dr Rafe Bardon, are America’s ultra-secret fighters whose mission is to stop and destroy those things it is best for us not to know they exist.

In Nightmare in Agate Bay, Mostyn and his team meet an off-shoot of the Esoteric Order of Dagon in backwater Agate Bay, Minnesota. Which Order was the same mysterious cult that plagued poor Innsmouth. We meet fish people and a shoggoth. Some of our favorite paranormals.

Mostyn’s next adventure, Stairway to Hell, takes him and his team to the subterranean world of K’n-yan. Where we find a super-race of fickle and sadistic beings, who just so happen to be worshippers of Cthulhu and his buddies.

In K’n-yan, while trying to find a way to escape, Mostyn encounters the beautiful and seductive H’tha-dub, who gives him a Faustian choice that could save his team and at the same time destroy his budding romance with team member Dotty Kemper. Duty or love, that is Mostyn’s choice. The choice should be easy. But is it?

We all know that while Cthulhu is a pretty gargantuan bad guy, he isn’t the only monster on the block. In Terror in the Shadows, Mostyn and his team encounter a family that has degenerated beyond the classification of human. A family that has undergone reverse evolution. The classic term for such a being is abhuman. And Mostyn encounters lots of them in the hills of Appalachia. For their part, the abhumans recognize a good protein source when they see one.

And if the monsters of natural degeneration aren’t enough, there’s Van Dyne’s Vampires — the product of modern science and the laboratory. Mostyn and team must face hordes of these lab-cultured demons who’d just as soon chomp your liver as suck your blood.

Evil never rests. After all, if it did, what would we paranormal writers write about? Which brings me to the upcoming Pierce Mostyn paranormal investigation: The Medusa Ritual. As an experiment, I intend to serialize the working draft of this short novel here on the website prior to its publication in book form this summer. But more on the serialized novel and The Medusa Ritual in the next couple weeks.

The first Pierce Mostyn investigation went public a year ago. And in the 12 months since I’ve had great fun getting to know the central gang: Mostyn himself, Dr Dotty Kemper, Willie Lee Baker, DC Jones, Helene Dubreuil, Dr Rafe Bardon, and the newest addition, Kymbra NicAskill.

I encourage you to take a look at my interpretation of the occult detective. You’ll find everything you love about the paranormal and good stories in the Pierce Mostyn Paranormal Investigations. There be monsters here!

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

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Tony Price: Confidential

Good Books You Probably Never Heard Of – Part 11

Tony Price: Confidential by Richard Schwindt

https://www.amazon.com/Tony-Price-Confidential-Richard-Schwindt-ebook/dp/B01MSYGO6F

Richard Schwindt is a phenomenally innovative and creative writer. His storytelling is nonpareil. His characters are amazingly realistic and his word paintings put you on location with them.

Tony Price is one of Schwindt’s wonderfully delightful characters. He’s a chain smoking, vodka drinking, burnt out social worker with a knack for finding and fighting monsters. Yep, you read that right. A monster fighting social worker. Right out of Paranormal Land. Only Schwindt makes it all seem as real and ordinary as crossing a street.

Tony Price: Confidential is the collection of all three Tony Price novellas. Below is a brief synopsis of each tale.

Scarborough: Confidential takes place in 1987. To Tony’s dismay, his clients are being brutally murdered one by one. Who or what is doing this? To find the answer, Tony ends up not only scouring the dark corners of Scarborough, but winds up traveling to the Venezuelan back country. And there he finds that only he can defeat the evil killing his clients.

Sioux Lookout: Confidential sees Tony taking a vacation at the urging of his girlfriend. What was supposed to be a time of fishing, drinking, smoking, and relaxing, suddenly vanishes when something evil comes to the little town of Sioux Lookout. And it is upon Tony to send the monster back to the hell it came from.

Kingston: Confidential finds our hero forced into retirement all because he was being a good Samaritan and rescued a woman and her child from a notorious hardcore druggie who was armed and threatening their lives.

So he and wife Brenda move to Kingston to be closer to their twins who are attending college there. As often happens to those forced into retirement, Tony is bored. He has too much time on his hands. That is until a monster comes to town.

This time Tony is aided in his battle with the homicidal maniac ravaging Kingston by his daughter, Ashley, who’s inherited her father’s gift and much of his personality.

Schwindt’s books are filled with humor, horror, fascinating people, and scary monsters. If you’re into the paranormal or urban fantasy, Tony Price: Confidential is for you.

Very Highly Recommended!!

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Ben Willoughby

Good Books You Probably Never Heard Of – Part 7

I’m back with Good Books You Probably Never Heard Of. And today we’re not looking at one book. We’re looking at one remarkable author.

Ben Willoughby and I met on Twitter, and I’m glad we did. His horror books have provided hours of scary, spooky, and at times hilarious entertainment.

He is also the very talented artist who is responsible for the awesome book covers of my Pierce Mostyn series.

In addition to writing horror, Ben has written a high fantasy novel, Gods on the Mountain, and is working on The Zeppelin Lords dieselpunk trilogy.

It is his horror tales, however, I want to highlight in this post, for they are the books I’ve read and thoroughly enjoyed. So without further ado, let’s take a look at Ben Willoughby’s Reign of Terror.

Mannegishi is based on a Cree Indian legend. The small people, the Mannegishi, play pranks on people. They’re tricksters. And at first Jonathan Banks wonders if perhaps he hasn’t had the misfortune of drawing the attention of the Little People. But then things start taking an ugly turn, and so does the story. Highly recommended.

Daddy’s Girl is a ghost story you won’t easily forget. Alex never knew her father. He died when she was very young. However, through the stories about him, she learned he was a warm and loving person, and was a devoted father who loved her very much. When she goes off to college she discovers what a father’s love truly means. And woe to those who threaten Daddy’s Girl. You don’t want to miss this story.

The House That Homed is a hilarious dark comedy. And Willoughby handles the comedy and terror with equal aplomb. You just might never want to be home alone again. Thoroughly entertaining.

Raw Head is another tale based on Native American legend. A serial killer is brutally murdering children. And events cause Susie to fear that the child she is carrying may be the next victim. Can the killer be stopped? What if the killer isn’t human? An emotionally powerful tale.

Deadly Whispers is a dark comedy that takes a whole new look at Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, or ASMR. And let me tell you, that look is both chilling, and funny. Very funny, in fact. There’s also a love story. Horror, humor, and love. A combination guaranteed to creep you out and warm your heart at the same time. And the ending? Well, I never saw that one coming! Very highly recommended.

If you are looking for horror tales that are well-written and come from a very fertile imagination, look no further than Willoughby’s books. They’re superb.

If you are a writer in need of a book cover, I highly recommend Ben Willoughby. He understands book covers. You can get in touch with him on Twitter.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

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The Paranormal

I’m taking a bit of a break in our series Good Books You Probably Never Heard Of to talk about the Paranormal. Mostly because later this month I’ll be publishing the fourth Pierce Mostyn Paranormal Investigation. And I want to share with you some thoughts regarding this category.

Back in the dark ages when I was growing up, we didn’t use the word “paranormal” all that often. We used “supernatural” and “occult”. I’m still inclined to use those words rather than “paranormal”. But I also want to sell books. And if the “in” word is paranormal – then, so be it.

Hence the series is about Pierce Mostyn’s Paranormal Investigations and not his Occult or Supernatural Investigations.

The times move on and language with them.

Today, we have paranormal everything. Just key the word paranormal into the Amazon search box. You’ll get paranormal romance, paranormal mystery, paranormal dating agency, paranormal cozy mystery, paranormal police department, paranormal PIs, paranormal reverse harem (what????), and all those shifter romances.

The paranormal, with or without magic, is hot. One of the reasons I started thinking about writing my own paranormal series last year.

A writer basically has two options when it comes to deciding what to write. Either write about what you love. Or learn to love what you write about.

I tried the latter approach a few decades ago with romance novels. What I learned was I was not going to learn to love writing about love. In fact, I hated it! And subsequently gave up on the idea.

Today, I write what I like or love to read. And that works for me.

I enjoy writing. And I make some sales and get some KU page reads along the way. Which is also nice.

I probably won’t get rich from writing because what I like to read isn’t what is hot. I’ve accepted that. But I haven’t yet thrown in the towel on the idea that I can make some kind of livable income from writing. Which for me is basically a nice supplement to my retirement income. After all there are lots of writers who aren’t on the bestseller lists who make some decent money from their pens.

The idea for Pierce Mostyn came about while I was watching the first season of The X-Files on Netflix. The thought came to me what if there was an uber-secret government agency whose mission was to save us from… From what? I like the Cthulhu Mythos, so why not those bad guys?

The more I thought about it, the more I decided the concept worked for me. And thus Pierce Mostyn and the Office of Unidentified Phenomena was born.

My first inclination was to call the investigations “occult”. Then I told myself, No, they have to be “Paranormal” if you want a chance to make some coin. And so the series became the Pierce Mostyn Paranormal Investigations.

Occult and supernatural literature – or paranormal in today’s parlance – has been popular from the beginning. Stories of monsters, demons, and ghosts. And we are still telling these stories today.

It’s great fun working in an ancient storytelling tradition with a modern twist.

If you haven’t read the Pierce Mostyn series, I urge you to give them a try. I’m quite proud of the books. As one reviewer noted, they’re, “…entertaining and action packed.” And if you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited, you don’t have to pay a cent. Such a deal!

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

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Some Very Good Reads

Last week I talked about being a reader. I love reading and can’t talk enough about the joy of books. They truly are fab friends.

This week, I thought I’d talk a bit about some of the great books and stories I’ve been reading of late. I’m an advocate for the underdog. For those writers who are good and just can’t seem to get any traction for their books. I like to promote those writers whenever possible.

Two of my recent reads I mentioned last week: Mark Carnelley’s The Omega Chronicles and RH Hale’s Church Mouse: Memoir of a vampire’s servant. So let’s take a look at what else I’ve been reading over the past couple months.

Entangled by J. Evan Stuart

This one I’ve started re-reading: Entangled by J. Evan Stuart. The book is part police procedural mystery, part coming of age novel, and partly a YA/NA read.

The novel is Stuart’s debut work and it is a real winner. Exceptionally well-written, with characters you’ll fall in love with (well, there are one or two you won’t; but then you aren’t supposed to), and mucho suspense. I’m very much surprised this one isn’t jumping off the charts. But it isn’t. It’s in Amazon’s sub-basement. Which is too bad.

And Stuart has seemingly disappeared as well, which is also too bad. I hope he returns to bring us more Detective Sonya Reisler adventures. And who knows? Maybe a few sales and reviews would do the trick. I hope so.

Don’t pass this one up. It’s a keeper and exclusive to Amazon, so KU folks read for free.

The Stone Seekers by Jack Tyler

I just finished Tyler’s foray into epic fantasy. And it is amazing. Tyler is normally a steampunk writer, which makes this work a surprise — and a very pleasant one.

There is no hint of Tolkien in The Stone Seekers. And I like that. This work is plowing fresh territory. The Tolkien pastiches put me off of epic fantasy. Tyler, if he writes more, could bring me back.

This one is only 99¢ at Amazon. Snarf it up today!

Off Grid by Simon Osborne

A fabulous post-apocalyptic novel that made me sit up and take notice was Off Grid by Simon Osborne. It’s a great survival story. And aside from the aliens, is very realistic. Harry Lennard survives the initial invasion and now he has to survive day to day. A well-written adventure. Part Earth Abides and part Day of the Triffids.

Given the rising prices of indie authored books, this one is a steal at $2.99 on Amazon. Get it today!

The Anuvi Incident by James Vincett

James Vincett is another writer who’s seemingly disappeared — and that’s too bad for us. Nevertheless, his The Anuvi Incident is excellent. If you like military sci-fi, you don’t want to miss this. And if you don’t, that’s okay because The Anuvi Incident is also about what it means to be human. A fast-paced sci-fi war story that is also a little philosophy. A dynamite combo.

Give The Anuvi Incident a try. Vincett has created a fabulous universe.

Tales of Horror: Macabre Monsters of Michigan by Bryan C Laesch

I like horror. Not the blood and guts, hack and slash, splatter punk kind, but the slow burn psychological kind.

Bryan C Laesch’s Tales of Horror: Macabre Monsters of Michigan is a collection of three stories that are a bit slow burn and a bit on the violent side. But there is no gratuitous violence for the sake of violence. Which for me is good storytelling.

Laesch has succeeded in giving us monster stories (and who doesn’t like monster stories?) that are a touch out of the ordinary, perhaps even a touch unique. There is no reason his book should be gracing Amazon’s sub-basement. It is too good for that.

So do yourself and the author a favor and pick up a copy.

The Argolicus Mystery Series by Zara Altair

Argolicus, that Roman public servant living in Ostrogoth Italy, was a delightful find. Sometime ago I asked in a Facebook group for books to read that were not in the top 300,000 on Amazon. Zara Altair stepped forward and volunteered her mysteries — and I’m glad she did.

If you like mysteries, good ol’ Whodunits and not these repetitively boring thrillers, and you like history — than Argolicus is for you.

The stories are set in Ostrogoth Italy 20 years after the fall of Rome, which is a period of time rather neglected by historians. Argolicus has retired and finds himself involved in solving murder after murder — in a time when murder wasn’t a crime!

These are well-written and interesting books. Take a look at Zara’s Amazon page. All are good. Pick one. Any one! You won’t be disappointed.

Next week I’m going to take a look at the man who saved Weird Tales magazine and what that means for us readers today.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

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Terror in the Shadows-Sneak Peek 2

Yesterday, Terror in the Shadows (Pierce Mostyn Paranormal Investigations, Book 3) went live. Pick up a copy or read for free if you’re a Kindle Unlimited subscriber.

I have mixed feelings about having most of my books exclusive on Amazon. But the one thing that is difficult to argue against is making more money. All of my books except for The Rocheport Saga are exclusive to Amazon. Hopefully one day soon I’ll be able to figure out how to make as much money going wide as I do now being exclusive to Amazon. But until that day, exclusive it is.

If you have an iPad, you can get the Kindle app to augment iBooks. That’s what I’ve done. There are also ways to read Kindle books on Nook and Kobo devices. A little Internet research will show you how to do that.

Last week I gave you a sneak peek from chapter 1 of Terror in the Shadows. This week’s peek is from Chapter 6. Enjoy!

***

When the big black SUV pulled into the lot, Mostyn and Kemper saw a big old Pontiac a short distance away, not far from the tree line. The car was bouncing, the squeak of the springs just barely audible.

“Looks like someone’s going for a ride,” Mostyn said.

“Idiots.”

“What? You never did that, Kemper?”

“A car? You’ve got to be kidding?”

“Nope.”

“Forget it. Now what?”

Mostyn put the SUV in park and shut off the engine. “Let’s go for a walk.”

They exited the vehicle, flashlights in hand. The old Pontiac stopped bouncing.

“I guess he scored,” Kemper said.

“Hope they don’t regret it.”

“Now who’s the cynic.”

“Just saying. Babies you know.”

“Gotta point there, Mostyn.”

“This way, Kemper.”

Mostyn cut across the lot on a path that would give the occupants of the Pontiac their space. Kemper was next to him. Their flashlight beams illuminated the asphalt, and when the asphalt ended, the short strip of grass before the woods.

Just before the trees, Kemper hesitated. “Awfully dark in there.”

“That it is. And there may or may not be a bogeyman in there.”

“Yeah, right.”

Mostyn and Kemper carefully picked their way into the woods. Behind them, in the east, a golden moon began coming up over the treetops. They heard the Pontiac start and drive out of the lot.

“Bet they’re wondering whose SUV that is,” Mostyn said.

“Probably scared shitless someone was spying on them and will tell their parents.”

Mostyn chuckled. “Probably.”

Out of the darkness a rock knocked Kemper’s flashlight out of her hand. Mostyn turned his off and they dropped to the ground. All around them they heard grunting and feral sounds. Neither one said a word. Whatever was making the sounds, and there had to be several of them, they were obviously looking for Mostyn and Kemper.

Mostyn touched his pistol to Kemper’s hand and then touched her hand with one finger, followed by a second, and then a third.

Kemper wrote “OK” with her finger on Mostyn’s hand and pulled her pistol out of the fanny pack.

Mostyn tapped Kemper’s hand once, twice, three times. They jumped up, and fired into the darkness.

Several rocks came flying in their direction and Mostyn grunted when one connected with his thigh. And then all was quiet.

Mostyn turned on his flashlight and panned the light and his pistol in a circle around them. Nothing. There was nothing but trees and darkness beyond the flashlight beam.

He squatted down and played the beam of light around until he found Kemper’s flashlight. He picked it up and tried the switch.

“Must’ve broken the bulb.”

He heard Kemper say, “Let’s go.”

He stood and they made their way out of the woods. In the middle of the parking lot, Kemper suddenly stopped.

“What is it, Dot?”

“You know those sounds they were making?”

“A lot of grunts.

“Some were. But most of them…?” She paused, her voice tinged with fear, and turned to face Mostyn.

“Go on.”

“They followed the pattern of speech.”

***

I hope you enjoyed the snippet. Comments are always welcome! And, until next time, happy reading!

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