*****NEW RELEASE*****
Title: Fatal Distractions
Author: Virginia Wallace, Loren A. Douglas, Catalyst Jost and Chris Taylor
Genre: Horror, Dark
Publisher: Self Published: Virginia Wallace
Release Date: January 14, 2023
Blurb:
Welcome to an off-kilter, dark, and often humorous world.
It’s a world that reminds us much of our own, but not quite.
These eight literary offerings are the stuff of dreams—or nightmares. But even nightmares can provide a much-needed distraction, pulling us away from our cares for just a little while …
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Virginia Wallace Bio:
Virginia Wallace is a native of the Chesapeake Bay region, on the Southeast coast of the United States. Nomadic by nature, Virginia has lived all over, from the mountains of New England to the rolling hills of the American Heartland.
She began her creative career during her late teens and early twenties, working as a freelance portrait and commercial artist. She slowly transitioned into writing, eventually self-publishing three novels for the ‘indie’ book market.
As a writer, Virginia Wallace has always worked at meshing modern stories with a lush style reminiscent of 19th-Century American and European literature. Her novel ‘When the White Knight Falls’ marks her debut into the mainstream book market.
Excerpts from Fatal Distractions
Excerpt #1 ( 83 Words) – Borrowed Time
Nineteen-year-old, newly-married Elinor Winthrop stared down at her dead body.
It was strange, she thought, that she felt more curiosity than horror. Death was supposed to be a frightening thing, wasn’t it? Instead, she’d felt only a sudden pain in her head, and then … nothing. It was as if she was a candle, one that had simply—and rather matter-of-factly —been snuffed out.
She knelt over her fallen body, eyeing it as though it was someone else’s corpse, and not her own.
Excerpt #2 ( 130 Words) – The Budsem Affair
“MOM!!!” gasped Holly. “What’s this?”
“Don’t donate that,” said Mom, sounding alarmed. “That’s important to me!”
“Why?” demanded Holly. “Is it from your wedding night?!”
“Not exactly,” said Mom, blushing. “You always asked me how your father and I met?”
“Yes …” “Maybe it’s time you knew,” said Mom. “And please, don’t donate that corset! It’s part of the story.”
Holly eyed her mother with a raised eyebrow. Her mother had always just been … Mom, and her father a sweet—if occasionally clueless, and always honest—man. A leather corset certainly did not jive with her impression of her parents!
“Go on …” prodded Holly, perhaps against her better judgment.
“It was a sunny afternoon,” said Mom, “in 1972, in San Francisco. I was twenty at the time …”
Excerpt #3 (69 words) – The Protocals
FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS, THE PLUTONIANS HAVE BEEN monitoring the earth from afar.
At first it was just satellite data, readings taken from across the galaxy. But eventually a starship crew was trained to speak the language of one of earth’s dominant cultures, and sent to orbit the planet.
Now, it was time to examine the earth up close and personal. Soon it would be time to infiltrate it.
Excerpt #4 (192 words) – Five Candles
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”
“Leave me alone, Mom!” snapped Jake, still brandishing his Glock. “These things are possessed!!!”
His mother was dressed in a flannel gown, and her gray hair was wrapped tightly in curlers. “Are you doing them again, the drugs?” she demanded.
“Why are you shooting my candles?!” “BECAUSE THEY CAME ON ALL BY THEM‐ SELVES!!!” shouted Jake. “One at a time, like some goddamn ghost turned ‘em on!”
Maria DeCarlo walked toward the makeshift shooting range, ignoring her son’s brandished weapon. She picked up what was left of one of the candles, and held it up for inspection.
“They didn’t come on all by themselves, the candles,” she said calmly. “You hold the switch in the middle, and the timer sets itself. They came on one at a time because I set them one at a time. I set them for early morning because that’s when I say the rosary. I like them when I pray to the Virgin.”
Jake held his gun behind his back, ashamed. “So they’re not possessed?” “How messed up are you?!”demanded Maria bluntly
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