Book Spotlight: New Release Announcement

When I joined up with Crazy Ink Publishing, I was unaware of all the anthologies they had going on. (Have you ever looked? They have tons they’ve already released and tons more to come! It’s AMAZING!) When the call for inclusion came, I jumped on a chance to get some of my work within their books. This resulted in an unfinished story I had called Sister Valentine to get finished. This is my horror creeper about the nun with a fetish for praying hands. This is no plastic collection, either. How far will she go to complete her collection? You’ll have to pick up the book to find out.

And guess what? You’re in luck because the anthology releases TODAY!

Absolution: A Crazy Ink Anthology

#Occult #Multigenre #Horror #CrazyInk #Shortstories #anthology

Blurb:

Forgive us, Father, for we have sinned.
The Roman Catholic sacrament of confession has been around as long as the church. A sacred ritual believed to clear one’s soul of guilt and offer eternal forgiveness, believers flock to the confessional to admit their sins to priests in churches across the world every day.
But what are those sins?
Vowed to an oath of secrecy, priests listen to the darkest and sometimes smallest of misdeeds.
What do they hear?
What penance is paid?
Join us in the confessional, where authors take their best guess at the stories that are told in the confessional…

Featuring:
Mercy from the Dark – LJC Fynn
Father, May I? – Erin Lee
Confessional Crimes – Rita Delude
Forgive me, Father – ES McMillian
Righteous – Mary Duke
A Broken Hallelujah – Hope Sherrill
Vicarious – Krystle Able
Pray for Me – Stephanie Ayers
Betrayal of Flesh – Caitlin McCulloch
In a Father’s Eyes – Rena Marin & Skylar McKinzie
An Eye For an Eye – Lorah Jaiyn

Pray for Me by Stephanie Ayers

Some confessions are better left unsaid. Sister Ellis’ is a real doozy. Her sins weigh on her mind and it’s just a matter of time before she must clear her soul and fold those hands in prayer…

An Excerpt:

The knob on the basement door was old and loose but turned with ease. The door creaked softly as it opened. A spiral staircase led into the darkness below. She rushed down, still singing, skipping every other step in her haste. She swirled toward the overhead light and pulled the cord harshly, chasing away the darkness in a blaze of light. The walls were covered with wooden shelves, most of which were full of boxes and knick knacks covered with layers of dust and abandoned cobwebs. Sister Ellis ignored these shelves, heading instead for the shadowed ones that sat along the edge of the light, farthest from the staircase. Ten sets of hands, their waxy, soft flesh poised in prayer with delicate and beautiful rosaries dangling from them, stood silently erect along the shelf. She stopped dancing abruptly at the edge of the shelf.

“Oh my darlings, guess what? We’ve done it! All our hard work at prayer has paid off!” She went down the line, her fingers caressing over the beads lovingly. She marveled over their craftsmanship, their beauty, their unique one-of-a-kind design. She stopped in front of the seventh and largest pair, letting memory take over as her fingers pulled the rose-colored crystal beads from between the still fingers.

It was a clear summer morning, and pink edged the grey sky. Father Jessup had sent a handyman over to repair her broken furnace. This meant she had to let a stranger into her basement, and she just knew he would not understand. She tried placing a tarp over the hands, but it hurt her heart too much to see them covered. She removed it and held hope that the repairman was not an observant one. If he was, she would be forced to deal with him the only way she knew how to, and the delicate pattern she created would be disrupted.

The nun did what she could to make the area where her treasures rested as dark as possible. The doorbell buzzed, and she sighed. “That will have to do. Pray hard my lovelies. I will get rid of him as fast as I can.”

You’ll have to pick up the book to find out what happens next. You won’t regret it.