J is for . . . #atozchallenge

For the A to Z Challenge, I will be featuring up to three authors per letter (via their last name). Some of the authors responded to my request for authors to promote. Others, I found. Please check them out and their books. Thank you!

Our "J" Authors

Janel, Selah

Selah Janel has been blessed with a giant imagination since she was little when she wondered if fairies lived in the nearby state park and worried that vampires hid in the old barns outside of town. Her appreciation for a good story was enhanced by a love of reading, the many talented storytellers that surrounded her, and a healthy curiosity for everything. A talent for warping everything she learned didn’t hurt, either.

She gravitates to writing fantasy and horror but has a deep love of children’s and YA literature and can be convinced to pursue any genre if the idea is good enough. Often her stories feature the unknown creeping into the “real” world and she loves to find the magical in the mundane.  Her first e-book, Mooner, was recently released by No Boundaries Press and she will have stories in upcoming issues of The MacGuffin, The Realm Beyond, Stories for Children Magazine, and the 2012 Wicked East Press Anthology Bedtime Stories for Girls. She also writes a column for Fandom Scene exploring the presence and portrayal of women in genre fiction and film.

Links: Blog   Fandom Scene Blog   Twitter: @SelahJanel   Facebook Author Page  

Juba, Stacy

Although Stacy Juba specializes in writing adult novels, she has also authored books for children and young adults – she pursues whatever story ideas won’t leave her alone. Stacy’s titles include the mystery/romantic suspense novels Twenty-Five Years Ago Today and Sink or Swim, the mystery short story Laundry Day, the children’s picture books The Flag Keeper, Victoria Rose and the Big Bad Noise, and the Teddy Bear Town Children’s E-Book Bundle (Three Complete Picture Books), and the young adult novels Face-Off and Dark Before Dawn. She is a former journalist with more than a dozen writing awards to her credit and is currently working on a contemporary fiction/romantic comedy novel, as well as a new mystery novel.

Links: Website  Blog  Amazon page Twitter @stacyjuba  Facebook  Goodreads

 

Now, if you like fantasy flash fiction, please visit my other blog participating in the challenge: Cherie Reich - Author. To find the other participants, click here.

Book Review: MOONER by Selah Janel

Title: Mooner

Author: Selah Janel

Publisher: No Boundaries Press (January 23, 2012)

Format: PDF Short Story

Source: Author

Genre: Historical Horror

Goodreads 

Description: Like many young men at the end of the 1800s Bill has signed on to work in a logging camp to earn a fast paycheck to start his life. Unfortunately his role model is Big John, the camp’s golden boy known for blowing his pay as fast as he makes it. On a cold Saturday night they enter Red’s Saloon to forget the work that takes the sweat and the lives of so many. Red may have plans for their whiskey money, but something else lurks in the shadows, something that badly wants a drink that has nothing to do with alcohol. Can Bill make it back out the shabby door or does someone have their own plans for his future?

Review: Selah Janel’s Mooner drops the reader into a historical saloon where the whiskey isn’t the only drink in town.

Bill has his life planned out: earn a fast paycheck in logging, get out of town, and settle down with a new wife. Big John, however, has other plans for his friend. When the two enter Red’s Saloon, everything changes. A mysterious recluse has a proposition for the two men. Bill must figure out how to satiate the recluse’s strong thirst, or he might lose everything he’s worked for.

Mooner builds the tension to a surprise ending. Janel does a brilliant job making readers feel like they’re in this late 19^th century saloon in a cold logging town. The dialogue felt realistic. A few of the characters were a bit clichéd, such as Big John, but I enjoyed how the story progressed. The creepiness seeps into the pages. The mention of the Mooners is brilliantly placed, and the creation of this vampire-like creature is fascinating. For me, some of the details slowed the pace at the beginning, but it picked right up to the very end.

Mooner by Selah Janel creates a tense horror leaning toward the psychological and building up to a gory ending. It’s a quick and fun read.

Three Bookworms = I liked it!

Teaser Tuesdays: MOONER by Selah Janel

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

 

Mooner by Selah Janel

Page 8 of PDF copy

"Boy, a knife couldn't even do that. Catcher's ax, maybe."

Do you have a teaser? If so, leave it or the link to one in the comments.