Thursday, October 18, 2012

Guest Blogger M.A. Church


In keeping with the Halloween spirit, I've brought back my friend and fellow author M.A. Church. She's also a part of the new Bigger Briefs, appropriately titled, Haunted Hotel. In her story, she's brought back two guys  you might remember from the Reluctant Romance anthology, Zane and Neil. Why don't you get started on that, M.A., while I see what's in the pantry?






Haunted Hotel promo

DO YOU BELIEVE IN THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT?
Does your relationship have more cracks than a witch’s cauldron?
Want to put the magic back into the bedroom? It’s couple’s therapy weekend at hotel BJ, a vacation resort that’s so far South you can’t help but hear the banjos dueling! And it’s Halloween weekend…
Will more than damaged relationships be brought back from the dead? Anything’s possible on this magic night! Let the authors of the Haunted Hotel anthology show you how it’s done!
A Multi-author M/M anthology from the writers of Wednesday Briefs, who bring you prompt induced Flash fiction every Wednesday. Bigger Briefs is an anthology we began to showcase our slightly bigger briefs. Er, flash fiction. We invite you to take the journey with us!

Hey guys! Guess what’s out in time for Halloween? That’s right, the Bigger Brief anthology Haunted Hotel. And guess who’s returned this time too… Zane and Neil! Yay, my boys are back for another story.



https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-hauntedhotelmm-973748-140.html


A Ghostly Whisper
By M.A. Church

“Surely you’re not saying you think this place is haunted? There’s no such thing as—”

“Oh my God, don’t you dare say it!”

Neil shrugged as he walked back to the kitchen.

“All this can be explained, babe. The lights flickering from the wind, faulty wiring on the hot tub—and isn’t that a nice thought—plus this is Halloween weekend. Maybe the owners of this place thought it would be funny to rig up one of the cabins. Did you check those brochures to see if they planned any activities for the holiday? Maybe a haunted cabin type thing? Bet this is nothing more than that. It’s all for fun, a joke.”

“Do I look like I’m fucking laughing?”

“That’s not your happy face?” Neil held up a hand. “Sorry. How about we go back to the lobby and ask to be moved. Would that help?”

“I’m all for leaving.”

“Come on, babe. We’re on vacation. Let’s just ask for another cabin.”

“Fine. Whatever. I’m still not laughing.”

“So I see. And babe? There’s no such things as ghosts.

Before Zane could open his mouth the lights flickered in the cabin, flashed back on, then went out. Off in the woods something howled—a long mournful cry of loneliness that was answered by another call. Zane was across the room, flinging himself at Neil before the last wail ended. A soft laugh echoed through the cabin.

“Stop laughing at me!” Zane reared back to glare at Neil.

“Um, that wasn’t me—”

A sharp, low mournful cry echoed around them.

“Shit! Shit a brick! Fuck this, I’m out of here!” With a screech, Zane flung himself away from Neil. “Explain that! That was some sort of ghostly laugh!”

Neil grabbed at Zane’s wrist. “Would you just wait a minute? Dammit, Zane. You can string fishing line, strum it, and it’ll make that exact type of noise. Trust me, I pulled that stunt on my roomies in the past.

“I… am…. leaving.” Zane jerked his hand away from Neil. “Right fucking now. If you care for me at all you’ll get your ass in the truck.”

 “Damn.” Neil rubbed his hands over his face. “All right, babe. Let’s go upstairs and pack—”

“Only place I’m going is to the truck. Leave the damn clothes... They’re just clothes. We’ll buy more damn clothes, tons of clothes, but I’m out of here.” Zane glowered at Neil, then turned and left the cabin. The truck was close enough he could see Zane clearly in the moonlight as he opened the door and sat down.

“Well, alrighty then. Guess I’m doing the packing and then we’ll be leaving. And I didn’t even get to finish my sandwich.” Neil shook his head at how Zane had reacted. He spied a rechargeable flashlight hung nearby and clicked it on.

 “Ah well, as long as there’s a bed somewhere along the way we can still have a nice vacation.”

Neil turned back to the kitchen. He placed the flashlight by the sink and picked up their plates. He’d clean up then go upstairs to pack. He’d just finished dumping his food when the air temperature dropped suddenly. The air turned frigid—he could actually see his breath.

“What the hell?”

As he reached for the flashlight, the battery went dead.



Don't worry, M.A. will be back, I promise. I put her under contract lol  Just kidding! But all kidding aside, she and I are writing a story together, the first in a series. We're almost ready to sub the first one, which is titled, Be My Alien. Yup, it's what you think, an alien story. Now you know why I've been obsessed with aliens lately. Between that and helping her edit her story, The Harvest, I guess they're on my brain. We'll keep you posted with what's going on as we find out.

I made us some drinks, M.A. Here you go!  













Until next time, take care!

♥ Julie



1 comment:

  1. Why aliens? Cause aliens are hot! Not to mention, the sky really is the limit with aliens. They can look different, act different, talk different... it's all up to the author. Not to mention all the fun 'probing' can be! LOL
    I'm so glad that you, and M, have been having so much success publishing. You both deserve it.

    M's been one of my favorite authors for some time now, and while I'm newer to Julie's work, I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys creative, and HOT, fiction. So pick up Haunted Hotel peoples!!

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