Black Fire Concerto:

The Red Empress is the only home Erzelle has known since the day her family was lured aboard and murdered, victims of a grisly ritual meant to make the elite immortal. Erzelle plays her harp for the diners inside this ghoul-infested riverboat, knowing her own death looms, escaping through the music that’s all she has left of her parents.

Her nightmare’s upended in the space of a day by the arrival of Olyssa, a fellow musician, but so much more.

Erzelle is swept up in Olyssa’s quest to find her ensorcelled sister Lilla, a journey across a mutated landscape that leads them to an enemy responsible for the deaths of millions. To stop the slaughter of countless more, the pair has no choice but to draw on the deadly magic that reshaped the world … a power that’s as dangerous to its wielders as it is to its foes, one that’s killing Erzelle even as she fights to control it.

“Some very black magic indeed… A prize for the multitude of fans who relish strong Grand Guignol with their sword and sorcery.”

Winter in the City:

Noisy, crowded, and ever in motion, the city can be more than a setting-it can be a character, as nuanced and as fickle as a human being, with as many traits and quirks as the best mapped-out characters. The city can be the ever-present and constant companion (or foe) to the protagonist and antagonist alike.

Winter in the City: A Collection of Dark Speculative Fiction is an anthology of dark speculative fiction tales set in 18 cities around the world during the bleak-sometimes harsh-season of winter.

About the authors:

Mike Allen wears many creative hats: As an author, editor, and publisher of science fiction, fantasy, and horror, he haswritten, edited, or co-edited thirty-nine books. Unseaming and Aftermath of an Industrial Accident, his first two volumes ofhorror tales, were both finalists for the Shirley Jackson Award for Best Story Collection, and his dark fable The Button Bin
was a nominee for the Nebula Award for Best Short Story. Hes also a three-time winner of the Rhysling Award for poetry.His six poetry collections include Strange Wisdoms of the Dead, a Philadelphia Inquirer Editors Choice selection, andHungry Constellations, a Suzette Haden Elgin Award nominee.

As an editor and publisher, Mike has been nominated twice for the World Fantasy Award: first, for his anthology Clockwork Phoenix 5, the culmination of the Clockwork Phoenix series showcasing tales of beauty and strangeness that defy genre classification; and then, for Mythic Delirium, the magazine of poetry and fiction he edited for twenty years.

Former technologist, entrepreneur, world traveler, and author/editor R. B. Wood is an MFA graduate fromEmerson Collegeand the founder of Ruadn Books. The newest publishing house continues to uplift and amplify marginalized voices. Its mission is to welcome new authors, inspire them, and tell unique stories from a worldwide perspective. As a dark speculative storyteller, Wood has had novels and short stories published online and traditionally. His thriller Bayou Whispers blends the horrors of everyday life with that of the supernatural. It tells the story of a strong female survivor, with plot twists, dark mystery, and voodoo magic. R.B. and his wife Tina adore animals and are self-professed crazy cat people.

RULES FOR ATTENDING:

• Advance online registration isstrongly recommended. Anyone not registered in an ongoing event may not be allowed in the event space to maintain capacity limits.
• Ticket price is an RSVP to save your seat, but also becomes store credit that can go toward the purchase of the book or other store merchandise
• No food will be allowed in our event space for the time being. Hydrating is allowed.