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Looking for some Spooky reads this Halloween?
The Paranormal Awards for Supernatural Fiction has a new look
We are delighted to have renamed the Paranormal Awards in honor of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, the mother of Science Fiction. While Frankenstein is her most famous work, that’s not all she wrote, and Shelley didn’t just write gothic horror! Her works include Romance, Historical Fiction, Apocalyptic/Dystopian, Travel, Children’s Stories, Biographies, Poetry, and Short Stories.
However, Frankenstein is the story that lives on the strongest, capturing hearts and minds every day.
The year is 1816. Also known as the Year without a Summer. During a storm, the group staying in Lord Byron’s rented villa proposed a ‘Ghost Story’ writing contest. Byron, Mary Shelley, her soon to be husband Percy Shelley, her sister Claire, and Byron’s doctor John Polidori (Who was also Dante Rossetti’s Uncle) all set to writing their spooky stories. Polidori later wrote The Vampyre based on Byron’s Fragment of a Novel written during this storm. Byron himself ended up the protagonist of more than one book, as he is the inspiration behind both Victor Frankenstein and Lord Ruthven in Polidoris The Vampyre.
Mary Shelley wasn’t the only writer in her family.
Both of her parents were writers. Her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Women, one of the founding works of Feminist Philosophy. And her father, William Godwin, wrote political philosophy and mystery novels, and one of the first modern advocates of Anarchism.
The Categories of the Shelley Awards are:
- Adventure/Mystery/Thriller
- Paranormal Romance
- Magical Beings and Creatures
- Strange and Unexplained
- Supernatural Powers
Whether your book is Werewolves, Ghosts, Witches, or other Unexplainable things, we want to see it! Submit to the Shelley Awards Today! If your just looking for a new book to read this Halloween season, then continue onward!
We are delighted to celebrate the 2023 Winners of the Paranormal Awards!
- Joe Lyon – The Molossus of Old Man Moyer: An Original Horror Novel
- Jo Deniau – Hologram
- Nola Nash – House of Mirrors
- Claire Fraise – They Stay
- Fionn Mac Meldrum – The Shadow of Banshee Hill
- James McKenna – An October’s Journey: Poe’s Final Gift
The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2023 PARANORMAL Awards is:
Becoming Crone
by Lydia M Hawke
We will have dedicated articles featuring both the First Place and Grand Prize Winners in the weeks to come! For now, here are some of the best spooky and spine-tingling reads that have come our way recently!
DREAMS And ILLUSIONS: Gabrielle Dorian Mysteries Book 1
By Rebecca Olmstead
Dreams and Illusions by Rebecca Olmstead is a delicate interplay of mysteries balanced on an emotional undercurrent, exploring the immutable ebb and flow of life to find resilience in the shadow of misfortunes.
In the bustling town of Whitman, Gabrielle co-owns the boutique Belle Femme with her best friend, Kate. Radiating the tranquil aura of an empowered business owner, Gabrielle is a caring woman, but burdened with a secret she hides from everyone. Gabrielle is blessed—or perhaps cursed—with prophetic dreams.
Almost as if they are a glimpse into the future, Gabrielle wrestles with dreams that foretell an ominous fate. Soon she is confronted with a series of distressing events that thrust her into a mystery.
SUMMER STORM: Magic at Myers Beach Book 2
By Alan B. Gibson
In Summer Storm, the second book of Alan B. Gibson’s Magic at Myers Beach series, local business owner Greta the Witch has a chance at fame, fortune, and fairytale love—if she can keep it all from being stolen first.
Picking up cleanly after Summer Thunder (Book 1 in the series), this story opens with Greta worrying about her social life. Her best friend Lily has left on an extended honeymoon with her husband Theos the King. Fortunately, her acquaintance, Julie, moves back to town, and while they soon develop a close friendship, things get awkward when she learns that Julia received a massive financial gift from Lily and Theos, and she was left with nothing.
Greta can at least focus on her business, the Witch’s Cauldron, and being the star of a reality show that’s planning to film her daily life. And when Greta meets a mysterious and charming man—Zsombor, or “Dos” to his friends—she finds herself rocketed to a level of stardom she couldn’t have imagined. She attends an opening gala for the renovated Fairy Kingdom tea house, and after a mixture of disastrous and fabulous public appearances she becomes Myers Beach’s rising influencer star.
ROLLING HOME, Ghosts Along the Oregon Trail Book 5
By David Fitz-Gerald
David Fitz-Gerald concludes the Ghosts Along the Oregon Trail series with a grand finale for an eclectic cast of characters, as the long wagon train is finally Rolling Home to their new lives in the wild west of Oregon.
With the end of the trail just out of reach, however, their hopes dwindle and their hunger rages. The rigor of the western environment continues to test their determination and threaten vows of heartfelt romance. These weary people ache and mourn losses, while seeking new ways to survive and pull each other forward in the face of impending winter.
This wagon train of travelers will also face venomous villains who have been lurking in the shadows, outlaws waiting for their best opportunity to pounce.
A CIRCLE Of STARS: Four Crowns Series Book 1
By Erin Lark Maples
If you’re looking for a beach read with supernatural intrigue, A Circle of Stars by Erin Lark Maples will draw you in from page one. Ember “EJ” James, a newly-arrived stranger in the strange land of Prescott, AZ, immediately begins navigating unfamiliar territory, both physically and metaphysically.
Forty-something EJ doesn’t know it yet, but when she agreed to take over her deceased uncle Hollis’s shop in Prescott, she stumbled into a world of magical realism. The plant shop, as it turns out, is more than just that—it hides secret access to other realms, which supernatural beings will go to great lengths to access. Much like the plants in the shop, this tale is dark, tangled, and intriguing beyond belief.
Anyone else may have felt helpless. But EJ remains upbeat, charmingly self-deprecating, and resourceful to the end. There’s a great joy in seeing how she works through her new surroundings, unfazed by (almost) everything they throw her way.
We loved reading these Paranormal books, and we can’t wait to see more!
Enter the Shelley Awards for Paranormal Fiction by the end of October!
This is the journey from beginning to end for the CIBAs Levels of Achievement is so worthwhile! Every list you make means more promotion for you and your work as each list is posted right here on our website, on our social media, and also out in our newsletter!
Your Book Deserves to be Discovered!
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