Happy Wednesday readers.
It's October and you know what that means. Ghost, goblins, and scary stories. And boy have I got a great one for you today, the newly released Mail Horror Bride by Crystal Rain Love, writing as
Raymond Lee..
So hold on to your seats, read through the interview and get your first terrifying glimpse of Mail Horror Bride, then be sure to follow the buy links and get a copy for yourself.
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Welcome Raymond, tell me three words that describe yourself starting with A, B, and C.
Artistic, Blessed, Creative
What are your three favorite things?
My 3 kids
Was there any particular inspiration for your characters or story?
The Walking Dead season finale happened and I just couldn’t bear to leave
that world so I created my own zombie apocalypse with characters who are all
extensions of different parts of my personality, or other people I know.
What is the ultimate goal you have for your career?
I don’t have to be rich but if I could make a comfortable, full-time living
by writing alone, could travel the USA, and have health insurance … I’d be
living the dream.
Excerpt
They came out of the water sputtering.
“Why’d you do that? You know I can’t
swim.”
“It was that or die,” Raven explained as
she hoisted Sky onto the tiled floor and climbed out of the pool behind her.
She’d just cleared the water when the
zombies fell from the balcony. One landed in the pool with a splash. The other
missed, landing on the tiled floor. Raven heard its bones break, which made it
all the more horrifying when it rose up on its elbows and started crawling
toward them, dragging its broken lower body along.
Sky opened her mouth, but Raven clamped
her hand over it, muffling the scream. “You can’t keep doing that,” she
whispered. “They hear it and they come to it. I don’t think they can see well
and they don’t move as fast as us. We’ll survive this if we’re quick and quiet,
got it?”
Sky nodded, her bottom lip quivering as
she fought to not cry.
“We’re gonna be fine, kid,” Raven assured
her sister, hugging the little girl tight before surveying the area around
them. “We have to find a safer place. This isn’t it.”
As if her statement needed any further
clarification, the zombie that had splashed into the pool stood and started
walking toward them through the water.
“Come on.” She grabbed Sky’s hand and
pulled her toward the doorway to the first floor hallway. “Be very quiet. We
don’t know how many are on this floor.”
Sky’s only response was a whimper.
Raven squeezed her hand and kept walking
down the hall, toward the front of the hotel. The lights flickered on and off,
intensifying the anxiety level. Raven wished they’d just go off. It was
daytime. There was plenty of natural light, and maybe darkness would help them.
It didn’t seem like the zombies could see very well to begin with.
“Do we have a plan?” Sky whispered.
“Yeah. Get the hell out of here,” Raven
whispered back.
“Out on the street? I thought we were
supposed to stay inside because it was safer.”
“It was until the undead cannibals got in
with us. We definitely aren’t safe here, not when the doors don’t even lock and
there are zombies creeping on multiple floors. We’ll find a safer building.”
“How are we supposed to get to a safer
building? We need a gun.”
The matter-of-fact way Sky made the
statement brought a smile to Raven’s mouth despite the circumstances. “You know
how to shoot a gun now?”
“No.”
“Then we don’t need one. We’ve already
got people-eating monsters chasing us. The last thing we need is for one of us
to shoot the other in the ass.”
“How do we stop them?”
“I don’t know that we can, but we can
definitely outrun them.”
They reached the lobby and found it
painted in blood. Raven barely managed to close her hand over Sky’s mouth before
the girl erupted into a screaming fit.
“Shhh, Sky. Be quiet, sis.” Raven
whispered, desperately trying to silence the screams she could only muffle with
her hand. She knew the girl was terrified. Hell, the sight in front of her had
her nearly pissing her own pants.
The man at the counter, the same man
who’d checked them in a week ago, was now draped over that counter with his
intestines scattered around him. The upper half of him, anyway. Judging by the
blood trail, the lower half had been dragged away.
Sky finally quit screaming, the shrill
cries turning into choked sobs as she struggled to breathe.
“That’s better. It’ll be alright,” Raven
soothed her. “We’ll find someplace safe.”
At that moment, the dead man growled,
rising up on his elbows. The sisters both gasped, too stunned to expel their
breath as the man reached out toward them, snarling. Determined to reach them,
he pushed himself forward, falling off the counter with a splat as what
remained of his mangled intestines fell out.
Sky bent at the waist and vomited the
Twinkies she’d had for breakfast.
A shuffling sound from around the corner
spurred Raven into action before she could follow suit. She grabbed Sky’s arm
and pulled her into the closest room.
“What are we doing?”
“Something’s moving out there,” Raven
explained, shutting the door behind them. They were in a small room with
cooking appliances and refrigerators. Pots and pans hung by hooks suspended
from the ceiling. “This must be where they prepare the breakfast foods. There
should be knives or something useful. Start searching, but do it
quietly.”
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Hi Raymond, Mail Horror Bride looks like a scary good read. Was there any time while writing this book that you found yourself scared of a scene you had just written?
ReplyDeleteNo. I'm a huge Walking Dead fan so I love zombies. I'm one of those people who would be like "Awesome!!!" if the zombie apocalypse ever happened. No going to work? No bills? All I gotta do is kill some zombies? Heck yeah!!! :)
ReplyDelete