Familiar Spirits
 

Says Galaxy's Edge: Gathered in this book are a number of really excellent ghost stories. This is not a book full of friendly or gentle ghosts. The “bump in the night” for most stories is really a solid smash. The collection begins with Sarah Hans’s tale of revenge by an abused and murdered woman and ends with Jean Rabe’s highly original story giving a ghost dog’s eye view of a murder set in one of the most fascinating locales ever, the Coon Dog graveyard in Tuscumbia, Alabama. Not a collection for the younger reader, Familiar Spirits will appeal to you with its darkness.

Says Anton Cancre on CemeteryDanceOnline concerning Wren Roberts tale: I made the mistake of reading this one while walking the dog and ended up weeping right there on the sidewalk.

Includes stories from Sarah Hans, Dolores Whitt Becker, William Pack, Lynne Handy, Wren Roberts, Kate Johnson, Cathy Kern, Ric Waters, TS Rhodes, Melanie Waghorne, and Jean Rabe.

What makes ghost stories give readers shivers more than any other stories? After all, vampire and werewolf and monster tales can be plenty creepy, too. Perhaps it's because we always know, deep in the back of our subconscious, that vampires and werewolves and monsters aren't real. They're fiction. But, the same isn't true for ghost stories. Almost every culture believes in ghosts and has myths and tales about them. Almost everyone has had, or personally knows someone who has had, a ghostly or supernatural experience. We believe in ghosts, so we believe in ghost stories. And that makes it so much harder to go to sleep after we've read what those familiar spirits may be up to in the midst of deepest night in the woods, down the street, and in our own homes.

Join with these authors to bring Familiar Spirits to life ... or, perhaps, unholy afterlife from beyond the grave. Death is only the beginning for a familiar spirit, but it may be the end for those it seeks out on the mortal plane.

Try out the first book in a series.

Upcoming Appearances for Donald J. Bingle

September 10: Join authors Donald J. Bingle, Diane Lincoln, Richard Holinger, and Michael Jorgenson on Sunday, September 10th, for the first Water Street Writers event of the seas

Doors open at 5pm, show starts at 5:30pm at Batavia's own gorgeous, Water Street Studios, 160 S. Water Street, Batavia IL. They have graciously donated their gallery to us, all that they ask is that we respect the art and their space. In return, as they are a nonprofit, we ask you to consider becoming members to support their unique programming.

Suggested donation is $5. All proceeds pay our authors, so let’s give them a good night! In addition to fine literary entertainment, you may purchase signed copies of our authors’ books. Refreshments will be available from Water Street Studios’s bar.

More on Water Street Writers can be found at https://rolreadlocal.com/water-street-writers/.

October 28: The Chicago Chapter of the Horror Writers Association will be hosted an event on the evening of Saturday, October 28, 2023 at the Barnes & Noble bookstore at Algonquin Commons, 1802 S Randall Road, Algonquin, IL 60102. Readings, book sales and signings, and panel discussions featuring a wide variety of local horror authors. Follow my social media @donaldjbingle for more details as we get closer to this fun, scary event.

Plus, click here for a bonus fantasy, thriller, mystery promo.

Star Trek Theme Song Lyrics

You may recall that in my last newsletter I talked about the recent Subspace Rhapsody edpisode of Star Trek Strange New Worlds. Another cool thing that could have been done is to record and play the original Star Trek theme with the lyrics written by Gene Roddenberry for it. Supposedly, Gene wrote lyrics (never intending for them to be sung) in order to claim half the royalties Alexander Courage would get for each use of the Star Trek theme song. (Theme song royalties are a big deal. I suspect that's why Kelsey Grammar did the goofy and nonsensical theme song for Frasier.) In any case, sing along to the lyrics below every time you watch Star Trek:

Beyond the rim of the star-light

My love is wand'ring in star-flight

I know he'll find in star-clustered reaches

Love, strange love a star woman teaches.

I know his journey ends never

His star trek will go on forever.

But tell him

While he wanders his starry sea

Remember, remember me.

Morse Code Mysteries and Missives

Morse Code Mysteries and Missives includes three stories, each one of which is first presented in printed Morse Code, then audio links are given to listen to the Morse Code, then the stories are repeated in clear English text at the back of the book. The purpose of this book is not to teach Morse Code; it is to let those who have basic coding skills and experience with Morse Code practice decoding on something more interesting than short phrases, kid’s books, and dry practice manuals. It can also be great fun for fans of puzzles and cryptography. Note that the software by which many listen to the audio dots and dashes may allow the speed of transmission to be adjusted, generally in increments from half to twice the default wpm transmission rate. This makes it a great book for CW and ham radio enthusiasts, puzzle and cryptography fans, and current and former members of the military (including the Signal Corps and Radio Operators of the Coast Guard, Navy, Air Force, Army, and Marines) and crew from the merchant marine.

The materials include two stories by Donald J. Bingle (Stress Fracture and Dashed Hopes), as well as a relevant piece of non-fiction of historical interest. Available as an ebook or triple-spaced print copy.

THE JON STEADMAN THRILLER SERIES

THREE-BOOK BOX SET BY NELLIE NEEMAN:

SPREE
Jon Steadman is desperate for closure. After the love of his life dies in a campus bombing, his relentless quest for answers reveals bizarre violent incidents involving other unsuspecting students. When copycat blasts add to the tragic body count, he’s certain he’s stumbled on a lethal conspiracy.
Teaming up with his best friend and pursuing a theory connecting the genetic dots, Steadman finds every avenue blocked by powerful people ready to kill to protect their secrets. As his hunt takes him across the globe, he exposes a sinister terrorist plot known only as The Event.
Can one ordinary man step up and stop ruthless killers from executing a devastating catastrophe?

RESURRECTION
Rookie FBI Agent Jon Steadman is butting heads with his insufferable boss and battling his personal demons, when he is called upon to investigate a radical U.S. congressman. Jon is partnered with Ivy-educated, single mother Agent Carrie Santiago and brilliant Israeli geneticist Dr. Terry Lavi, a woman he prefers to avoid. But, when the FBI, CIA and Mossad combine forces, conflicting allegiances and old resentments begin to flare.

As the mystery unfolds, their pursuit uncovers a decades-old plot, exploiting the far edges of science, aimed at bringing America to its knees. The mission takes them across the globe and face-to-face with an untold evil that will threaten their very survival.

VENGEANCE
Agent Jon Steadman is clashing with his no-nonsense boss, and skating on thin ice with his on-again, off-again girlfriend when things only get worse. Jon’s friend is brutally attacked while investigating a slew of frightening cases with no common thread. Committed to finding the assailant, Jon picks up the trail in search of answers. With the help of an alluring goth-loving journalist, he begins to put the pieces together, but not fast enough.

People are turning up dead.

Meanwhile, Israeli geneticist Dr. Terry Lavi is planning her marriage to the love of her life. When she’s recruited to identify an elusive dealer of classified government documents, she’s soon torn between devotion to her fiancé and duty to her country.

A shaky alliance develops when Terry and Jon’s missions cross paths. Each is forced to navigate a maze of guile and manipulation. One is tasked with preventing the world’s most sensitive intelligence from landing in nefarious hands, the other with stopping a ruthless hacker before innocent victims pay the ultimate price.

GRAB THESE FAST-PACED, HEART-POUNDING THRILLERS TODAY!

Donald J. Bingle is the author of seven books and more than sixty shorter works in the horror, thriller, science fiction, mystery, fantasy, steampunk, romance, comedy, and memoir genres. His books include Forced Conversion (near future military scifi), GREENSWORD (darkly comedic eco-thriller), Frame Shop (murder in a suburban writers' group), and the Dick Thornby spy thriller series (Net Impact, Wet Work, and Flash Drive). He also co-authored (with Jean Rabe) The Love-Haight Case Files series (a three-time Silver Falchion winning paranormal urban fantasy about two lawyers who represent the legal rights of supernatural creatures in a magic-filled San Francisco; Book 2 just came out). Don also edited Familiar Spirits (an anthology of ghost stories). He also put out the oddest book you've ever seen. Morse Code Mysteries and Missives has three tales (two stories by Don and a relevant piece of non-fiction) presented in Morse Code text, then via links in audio dots and dasher, then in plain English.

Many of Don's shorter works can be found in his Writer on Demand TM collections.

Get the audiobook version of Net Impact at Audible.com, Amazon, and iTunes and the audiobook version of Wet Work at Audible.com, Amazon, and iTunes.

Full disclosure: Various links in my newsletter or on my website may include Amazon Affiliate coding, which gets me a small referral fee (at no cost to you) if you purchase after clicking through.