And right on time to bring an extra chill to the air on gloomy autumn evenings: Girls & Ghosts. Five ghosts, five girls, and five tales that explore what it truly means to be haunted. Another stellar cover by Daniele Serra in this amazing collaboration with Fox Spirit Books 🙂
And no waiting for this one – get it on every Amazon imaginable and the Fox Spirit site!!
Enjoy, and stay spooky my friends:)
Well, well, well, what have we here? Before Halloween!? You’ll thank me later.
Now you might have spotted Girls & Monsters before, but thanks to Fox Spirit Books my stories has found a new life with a complete revision and this amazing cover by Daniele Serra…
Five short stories, five monsters, five girls. These heroines aren’t afraid of the dark, and whoever lurks within… coming out soon!!!
As for those who want to grab Girls & Aliens, links below.
Stay spooky, lovelies 🙂
Amazing news: Fox Spirit Books are publishing my trilogy of short stories collections this summer and early fall!! I’m so proud that such a caring team is helping me bring my stories to life…and look at the unbelievable Girls & Aliens cover for by Daniele Serra.
Yeah, I know. Pretty and creepy and perfect for my darkness. I’ve been a fan of Dani’s work for years, so to have him actually make covers for my collections is quite fantastic! He can be found here.
So, about Girls & Aliens: 5 Girls, 5 Aliens. Five Tales of courage and outer space. In this collection by Anne Michaud the lesson is clear, never underestimate the power and resolve of ordinary women in extraordinary circumstances.
My Girls are strong, unapologetic, and clearly no wall-flowers. They fight and won’t back down against robots, invaders, snakes, aliens, and fear of becoming something they’re not. They came to me through dreams, memories, and bits of scary imaginings.
And you can meet them August 14th 2019:)
So, yeah. After self-publishing the crazy 5-book series in one year scheme — and suffering one great loss — I needed a year off writing. Things happened far from all good in 2015, and it was time to deal with stuff they don’t teach you at school. “Death is part of life… we all go through that cycle… they’re still with us…” When it happens, you’re still not prepared. Even if you convince yourself that you are, that you knew it was coming, it’s still a shock that never really wears off. Hurt lessens with time, but doesn’t truly goes away. It’s still there, somewhere I try to forget/hide/push.
Then, The Cure announced a massive world tour. Of course they did, since the universe needs to balance itself out. Whenever they’re around, things happen. Good things. Impossible things. And this time was no exception: what happened to me (personally, not in any case globally) in 2016 can only be described as magical, surrealist, and fucking awesome. Life changing, as the impact of The Cure’s concerts.
1996: The Swing Tour. My plans to live in the UK for the first time finalized the same week as The Cure performed in Montreal. The shittiest tickets I’ve ever got to watch a band live – and this is MY BAND – but they were there, breathing the same air, performing in front of me for the first time, so I got over it eventually. Wait. Actually, I still resent sitting at the far end. They were so small on the stage, I needed to squint and even then I could hardly make them out. Seriously bad seats.
2000: The Dream Tour. Two days after seeing them super-close in Toronto (thank you, Lady Karma), I received the course selection to a 5% acceptation rate film school. Faith was sang on a stage drenched in red, I cried at From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea (as I always do), I hummed Another Journey by Train on the way home, and the pattern was set: The Cure brings me luck. Or more likely, the key plot twists of my life are connected to their vicinity.
Notice my fingers clutching to his shoulder. Me, touching him. Yep, it happened. I. Met. Him.
2004: Curiosa. I met them. I. met. THEM. Thanks to my friend’s DD cleavage (and a very dumb bouncer) we passed through the security check points and VIPs, to land in the presence of Robert Smith and Simon Gallup. I. Met. Them. It’s been more than a decade and I’m still not over it. And to think that I got a phone call that day telling me I was accepted in my Master’s program in the UK…and I was witness to Forever live. Both moments equally unforgettable.
Sweet Jesus, right next to me. And I look demented. But still, I. Met. Him.
2008: 4Tour. Sometimes it’s looking back that one realizes small changes snowball to a huge impact. That night, as we ordered the second bottle of wine that made us late for the concert (and I subsequently missed A Strange Day: it still hurts), I told my friend I was switching from filmmaking to writing. Big deal, since I was leaving life-long dreams of directing… and an eight-year education, huge student loans, and the tiny dent I hoped so much to leave behind.
2016: First row, center. Best. Concert. Ever. Like good wine, they only get better with age. They announced the tour less than a week before I bought my first car, and I went to the concert two weeks before getting the keys to my first house. I get how the law of attraction works and when we’re happy good things happen…but come on. The Cure did this, yes they did. They are magical beings sent to make my life better – as they have since I first heard Close to Me in 1987. A simple thank you seems so trivial after being the soundtrack of my life.
***
So yeah, I needed time to do other things than write for a while. I needed a breather, some space to let my mind wander to new projects and other horizons. And believe me, it has. A novel is in the works after finishing off a short story collection. The year off was a good thing, it brought me where I was always meant to be: home. My beautiful house filled with antiques and pets, where The Cure plays loud and proud every day, filling me with such gratitude for their existence in this dark, dark world.
Happy 2017, everyone. May it bring health, books, love…and pleasepleaseplease another Cure tour:)
I have great news for all your wonderful people!! Since Whispered Echoes got to #1 not only in the Coming of Age category but also in Ghosts and Urban Fantasy on Amazon, I decided to spread the love and do a Goodreads giveaway for the first book of the series — you may enter here.
Now, to your agendas. On November 21st, I’ll be participating to my first ever Facebook launching party, hosted by the amazing fantasy author and fellow Canadian buddy Krista Walsh. Swing by and say hi, I should be around noon to give away the COMPLETE WHISPERED ECHOES SERIES in ebook format! There’s a bunch of splendid authors spending the day there, so come to hang out and win some prizes — it begins at 10 am, and it’s in your pyjamas!! The link is here:)
Cue to tragic cellos and heartbreaking violins. As you may know, reviews are fragile creatures. It’s a constant struggle for authors to gather enough and see their books reach a bigger audience. If you have already read Whispered Echoes, please think of leaving one here; but if not, I have a special offer just for you. I’ll send you the first book of the series in ebook format in exchange of an honest review. Just fill in the form below with specifications about the format: pdf or mobi.
So that’s it for me, folks. I’m heading to my writing cave to work on The Melancholy Trilogy and hope to see you all at the launch on Saturday!!
Stay spooked, my friends:)
Sadly, Halloween has come and gone… but you guys still get one handsome treat in the gift of reading the first book of the Whispered Echoes series for free!! It got spooks and ghosts, action-packed scenes and heartbreaking ones – and some major twists in the mayhem that is the life of Alyx.
As an appetizer, an exclusive excerpt…
The first thing I notice is my bound wrists, impossible to move from my sides. Actually, my entire body seems to be trapped on a gurney, my boots squeaking against the bars to keep me in. They brought me back to the hospital, the aseptic smell of rubbing alcohol and forgotten urine stains hard to mistake for anywhere else. Still, my eyes won’t open. They refuse to cooperate.
“Where did you put the rubber block for her mouth?” asks Nurse Ruth, her voice tight with stress. She moves fast, creating wind hitting my face and hair with every movement. Can’t even flinch from it. “We need to treat her now!”
My heart beats faster, the monitor close to my head peaks higher with each beep, but it’s like no one cares whether I’m conscious or not to receive the electric shocks into my brain. Because that’s what the block is for, to prevent my teeth from biting my tongue off. I have to get out of here. I have to find a way off this operating table. My fingers trace the leather straps around my arm, but they’re too tight; their embrace won’t let me move out of them. Someone forces the block against my teeth. It tastes foul, like old dentures.
“What are you waiting for, Ruth?” Oh, here she is, the master of this asylum, the one everyone fears: Docteur Lise, towering over everybody like a scarecrow. Her soft smiles never fooled me. And that accent that everyone finds charming grates on my nerves every time she opens her mouth. “I thought you wanted to be done with her before the night shift comes in.”
“We’ve encountered many roadblocks, Doctor.” Nurse Ruth always sounds different when that one is around. Less aggressive, but not quite close to polite. “Give me two minutes and she’ll be prepped for you to begin treatment.”
Not if I have my say in this. Docteur Lise leaves, taking her Chanel No. 5 intoxication with her, which might be the only time to make my move. If I have one, which I’m not sure. Twitching my wrists into their sockets hurts, but it’s better than letting them fry me brain dead.
“She’s awake.” The quiet whisper is not too far from me, obviously. Another nurse, the one they keep on the treatments floor. She stares at me. I feel her eyes detailing my face. “She can hear us, and she moves, too.”
“Then make sure she doesn’t,” snaps back Nurse Ruth, obviously losing her patience with the other nurse. “Where’s the drip bag? I told you to plug her in two minutes ago. Do I have to do everything myself? Move out of my way, idiot.”
Rough hands tap at the vein on my arm, and the pinprick is about to go in, its needle scratching at my skin. I’m about to scream when the beeping of my heart stops and the unknown nearby machines quiet down.
“What is this now?” Nurse Ruth sounds about to have a heart attack. She shuffles her huge torso close to my head, and whiffs of sweat and coffee breath brush my hair. “Could you check with the guards, please? Might be the ice storm messing with Hydro outside. Ask them to plug the generator right away for a quick emergency, all righty?”
“What is going on here?” Docteur Lise asks, her voice so impatient that her accent comes out in blocks. She moves around me, but it’s not quite enough to push out the drugs they gave me earlier. My eyes remain closed, unwillingly. “What have you—”
An explosion hits the room. A bright light booms, turning my eyelids burning red. Lightning electrifies the air into a ball of light and zaps everyone with a shock. Someone gasps, another one yelps, but everyone in the room thumps in one heap on the floor. Then, nothing but silence.
Well, #OctoberFrights came and went, but we have WINNERS for my giveaway: Angela Addams for the paperback copy of Whispered Echoes and Rob Bennett for the entire series in ebook format!! Congrats, gifts are in the mail:)
ps- I’ve decided to give the first of the Whispered Echoes series to these lovely people who also brought in the scares with their terrific ghost stories: Fiona Padmore, Elaine Breault, Barbara Custer, Michelle Willms, Katie M. John, A.F. Stewart, Mary Preston and Kristia:)
Thanks for participating, everybody!!
The best time of the year is upon us with ghouls and ghosts dancing under tragic skies, gusts of brisk air ruffling the dead leaves on the cemetery grounds… AND A HALLOWEEN BLOG HOP WITH DISCOVERIES AND TREASURES!!
![Halloween blog hop BAT](http://www.inlinkz.com/img/wp/wpImg.png"></a> <!-- end InLinkz script -->)
From October 1 through 10th, visit 45+ wonderful paranormal and horror authors where spooks and prizes await!! To see the list, click on the bat on the banner up there:)
As for my giveaway: WIN THE FIRST OF THE WHISPERED ECHOES SERIES IN PAPERBACK OR WIN THE ENTIRE WHISPERED ECHOES SERIES IN EBOOK!! The TWO lucky winners will be drawn on October the 10th at midnight.
It’s super easy to participate: just fill in the form and tell me your SCARIEST ghostly encounter!!
Good luck, and stay spooked:)
Pile of skulls, one of them with a clowns nose
WIN a softcover copy!
Anne Michaud 