An Introduction to Month9Books + Two and Twenty Dark Tales

Today I'm extremely excited to be a part of the blog tour that's introducing Month9Books to the world! I additionally have the pleasure of sharing with you a couple of excerpts from one of their upcoming releases, Two and Twenty Dark Tales: Dark Retellings of Mother Goose Rhymes. Ummmm. Dark retellings? YES PLEASE! I can't tell you how excited I am for this book, and just wait until you read below and see all the amazing authors contributing to this anthology, it will rocket to the top of your to-be-read list!

Before we get to the excerpts, here's a little information about Month9Books:

Month9Books is a speculative fiction young adult and middle grade imprint.

Speculative fiction is an umbrella term that encompasses the following genres:
•             Science Fiction
•             Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, and Urban Fantasy
•             Horror
•             Supernatural
•             Paranormal
•             Super-Hero, Villain, and Anti-Hero
•             Utopian and Dystopian
•             Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic
•             Alternate History

Month9Books will also publish Steampunk, Cyberpunk, Techno-thriller, and Action-Adventure-Fantasy.

Formed in 2011 by speculative fiction writer Georgia McBride (also founder of YALITCHAT.ORG and #yalitchat on twitter), each year, a portion of the proceeds from our anthologies will be donated to a charity we admire. We are however, NOT a charity publisher.

Our first anthology is scheduled for publication in October 2012 and features: Michelle Zink, Lisa Mantchev, Sarwat Chadda, Nina Berry, Leigh Fallon, Suzanne Young, C. Lee McKenzie, Angie Frazier, Georgia McBride, Jessie Harrell, Francisco X. Stork, Gretchen McNeil, KM Walton, Heidi R. Kling, Nancy Holder, Sayantani DasGupta, Karen Mahoney, Leah Cypess, Suzanne Lazear, Pamela van Hylckama Vlieg and Shannon Delany with Max Scialdone.

In addition to our charity anthologies, we seek to publish 9-11 additional titles annually.

We are distributed by Small Press United, a division of IPG.

TWO AND TWENTY DARK TALES: DARK RETELLINGS OF MOTHER GOOSE RHYMES

Releases October 16, 2012 from Month9books

In this anthology, 20 authors explore the dark and hidden meanings behind some of the most beloved Mother Goose nursery rhymes through short story retellings. The dark twists on classic tales range from exploring whether Jack truly fell or if Jill pushed him instead to why Humpty Dumpty, fragile and alone, sat atop so high of a wall. 

Authors include: Michelle Zink, Lisa Mantchev, Sarwat Chadda, Nina Berry, Leigh Fallon, Suzanne Young, C. Lee McKenzie, Angie Frazier, Jessie Harrell, Gretchen McNeil, KM Walton, Heidi R. Kling, Nancy Holder, Karen Mahoney, Suzanne Lazear, Pamela van Hylckama Vlieg, Shannon Delany with Max Scialdone, Leah Cypess, Sayantani DasGupta, Georgia McBride, and Francisco X. Stork.

PLEASE NOTE: The eBook and print galley versions of the anthology DO NOT CONTAIN extras like a Humpty Dumpty poem by Georgia McBride, The Lion and the Unicorn: Part the Second by Nancy Holder, or the extended version of Sea of Dew by C. Lee McKenzie! These will be available in the final print copy. 

THE LION AND THE UNICORN: PART THE FIRST 

by Nancy Holder based on the Mother Goose Rhyme: The Lion and The Unicorn

London, 1603

Susana trembled in the darkness, one hand gripping the flickering torch, the other balancing a goblet of wine and a single slice of plain brown bread on a silver tray.  She was to take it to the King, to break his fast.  He would partake only after his ghastly work was done.

Screams rose from below the winding staircase, echoing against the stone, and pummeled Susana’s heart, and her soul.  She would have given a year of her life for permission to refuse her task.

She was sixteen, nearly a woman grown, but she was dressed to pass as a page in trousers and fine hose, and a brown velvet doublet so rich that whenever her hand brushed against it, she caught her breath.  She wore a jeweled dagger on her belt, a warning that she would cut any man down who would dare to attack her master.

She jerked as another scream shot up from the hell beneath her feet, spilling wine on the stair.  In the firelight it looked like blood.

Above her, thunder rumbled.  The air was sodden. Like a wet woolen cloak draped about her shoulders, her duty weighed heavy and hard to bear.  Not for the world did she wish to go down to that hellish place.

Six months before, King James I, the Unicorn, had come to London town.  Susana had thought he would bring happy fortune to his united kingdoms.  But it seemed that in the never-ending battle against the Devil, war had been declared upon England.

Queen Elizabeth—Good Queen Bess, the cub of Henry VIII, the Lion of England—was dead but half a year.  She had reigned for forty-four years, good years.  But the last months of her reign had been troubled. Her Majesty’s ailing mind had not been clear—her orders bewildering, her commands impossible to fulfill.  Plots and schemes grew like fungus as rivals vied for her throne.  There was talk of civil war.

Then God had roused her from her confusion long enough to name her nephew, King James of Scotland—as her successor.  England was saved from violence and strife.

In haste, the royal coat of arms—two English lions—had been redesigned so that the English Lion and the Scottish Unicorn together reared proudly. King James’s new arms had been carried before him on a beautiful July day as he had entered London town for the first time.  Rising on tiptoe in a cacophony of drumbeats, trumpets, and cheers, Susana had hoped to glimpse his royal presence as he headed for the church to be crowned. Surrounded by a glittering retinue of courtiers and soldiers, the king himself had ridden a fantastic warhorse, and his armor had gleamed as if it were made of gold. Sunbeams had poured down on his head, making a circle that shimmered like a halo.  And so the people said, “God’s blessings are upon James.”

ONE FOR SORROW

by Karen Mahoney based on the Mother Goose Rhyme: One for Sorrow

The first night the crow raps on my window with its hard beak, I have only just climbed into bed.

Tap-tap-tap.

Three times and then it waits, politely, staring in at me with hooded eyes.

Blink. Tap-tap-tap.

I don’t open the window that first night, but it returns the next. And then again the next.

On the third night, I relent.

I slide open the window, just enough for the crow to slip beneath, and it hops inside. The cold air freezes my breath into ghosts as I struggle to close the window again, while my visitor watches from the cracked wooden sill beside me.

Claws click as it shuffles to the edge and scans my room with those beady eyes.

Shivering, I jump back into bed and pull the comforter right up to my chin. The crow spreads its inky wings and flutters onto one of the carved bedposts by my feet.

We regard each other, the crow and I.

What does it want? If this was a dream it would be able to speak, and I could find out why it was here. We could have a conversation, and maybe it would even teach me the language of crows.

But the crow is just a bird and it doesn’t speak. It doesn’t even squawk. It only perches at the end of my bed, blinking occasionally, watching me until I fall asleep.

Who's excited? *raises hand* Be sure and check out the rest of the tour to see what other great books Month9Books has in store for us!

July 23- Bookalicous.org

July 24- Mundie Moms

July 25- Girls in the Stacks AND Supernatural Snark

July 26- Reading Teen AND Once Upon A Twilight

July 27- Hypable.com 

More information on Month9Books can be found here:

Website

Goodreads

Facebook

Twitter

Two and Twenty Dark Tales on Amazon

Two and Twenty Dark Tales on Barnes and Noble