by Megan Starks
She didn’t notice anything unusual with her hands while completing her nightly routine, other than the slight tremor running through them as she washed her face and brushed her teeth. And the raw skin and mangled nails, of course. Maybe she’d just zapped the paramedic and Ezra with a little static discharge, like the other paramedic had said. But she hadn’t been wearing a sweater and it was such a humid night.
Oh God, she’d just touched Mae with that hand. What had she been thinking?
But she’d touched Ezra with it too, and his hot touch almost burned her. What the hell? Static electricity didn’t travel back and forth like a normal current. Since when had she turned into a battery?
She touched one tentative fingertip to the metal faucet fixture, bracing for a jolt.
Nothing.
Feeling foolish, she touched the brass-plated hoop that held her hand towel, her metal tweezers, and her scissors. Wet or dry, she felt nothing other than cold metal, which should have been a better conductor than flesh.
Vivian shook her head. Maybe things would look a little clearer in the morning.
“Go figure,” she muttered, looking at her bottle of sleeping pills. She hadn’t even realized she’d pulled them out of the cabinet, though it came as no surprise. Seemed her earlier brush with death had killed the mood.
She put them back with a little hesitation.
After all, they’d still be there tomorrow.
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The road to hell begins when the reaper darkens her door.
A chance encounter with a dying stranger opens an empathic connection between down-on-her-luck caregiver Vivian Bedford and the world of spirits. The supernatural seek her at every turn, and the cost of protection isn’t worth the price. When guardian spirits make an offer to help as long as she works on their side of afterlife management, she soon learns these guardians are no angels.
With her ability to channel energy from the living, she has only one bargaining chip left to play. And becoming a soul broker might cost her more than she’s willing to pay, even if the grim reaper comes in a seductive package. Will Vivian’s power be enough to save her soul and her disabled sister, Mae, from a fate worse than death?
Only death knows.
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Author’s Note
When I was a kid, I always dreamed I’d grow up to be a novelist. Back then I envisioned it as living in a cottage adjoining some meadow-slash-orchard-slash-beachfront and churning out books on a typewriter—an electric one like my grandmother had and let me play on when I’d visit her. I didn’t even imagine anyone reading these novels, just that somehow it was the way in which I’d be able to live my adult life.
I went to school for creative writing and bullheadedly fought my way through a Masters in fiction (probably to the dismay of my more literary and talented classmates).
But when I started this book in May of 2015, I no longer considered myself a writer.
Because a writer writes.
And for four years after I graduated school…I didn’t. I moved 2,500 miles from home, threw myself into a career in video games (which I absolutely love), but generally felt more and more blocked, questioning my sense of self-identity the longer I went without creating any new stories that were 100 percent my own.
Then I turned 29. I’d always told myself I’d write a novel by the time I was 30.
I was rapidly running out of time.
So, I sat down and I started. What came out was unwieldy and completely self-indulgent…and so incredibly enjoyable to make. It eventually became this novel.
All of that is to say…
If you’re feeling blocked for weeks or months or years, if you’re questioning whether or not you’re even a “writer” anymore, I just want to say—you can do it. You’re a writer if you like to write. If you ever liked to write. If you think one day you might like to write. It doesn’t matter how often or how much. Only that you enjoy it.
Good luck on achieving your goals. I’ll be rooting for you. Anything is doable in small, regular chunks of work. Just be persistent and have fun.
A lot of people encouraged me along the road to publication (many of whom I met along the way) and even more helped me spit-shine my fledgling novel into a real-live book that maybe someone would enjoy reading.
That has always been my biggest goal—for my stories to bring a little joy into someone else’s life. Thank you for reading and joining me on this journey.
I hope you’ll stick with me for many more books to come.
Cheers,
Megan
P.S. – If you enjoyed Shade and Gigi’s (and Beast’s) story, please consider dropping me a quick 5-star review on your favorite site. It helps readers discover the book which let’s me keep writing more in the series. Thank you so much! <3 <3 <3
P.P.S. – If you’re interested in a free story, updates, deleted scenes and more, you can sign up for my newsletter here: http://www.fictivate.com/books
Acknowledgments
First and foremost, thank you-thank you-thank you to my editor Heather McCorkle, and the ladies of City Owl Press, Tina Moss and Yelena Casale, for publishing House of Ash & Brimstone! The way you champion and support your authors is incredibly inspiring and means the world to me.
Thank you to my agent, Eva Scalzo with Alice Speilburg Literary for nabbing this MS out of the slush pile and stalwartly believing in it while on submission. You are an extremely passionate, communicative agent that anyone would be blessed to have.
A very relieved thanks to Emily Kidman with Social Butterfly PR for helping this book find its readership.
I owe my eternal gratitude to Emily Colin, my 2017 Pitch Wars mentor and the author of The Dream Keeper’s Daughter, who was the very first person to see the potential in my messy, ridiculous manuscript. Without you, I don’t think this book would have ever found its path to traditional publication.
Thank you to my husband, Scott, and my family—Mom, Dad, Holly, and Justin—for tirelessly encouraging me. Also, to my first and longest reader, Angela Ku—who became my amazing cover artist!! Having someone read my chapters hot-off-the-press as I cobbled the book together really boosted me to keep going and to go faster-faster-faster.
Many thanks to my invaluable critique partners: Janet, Jes, Gia, Nicole, Carolyne, Wendy, and Gina. To my Beta readers Julia, Samantha, Jessica, Alexia, Lindsay, Amy, and Kerri. To the Subversive crew, the Tips—Lana, Luna, and Summer, the Golden Network, Amy Patrick (Hidden Deep), and my Golden Heart Persisters, UNCW’s creative writing department and my thesis advisor Philip Gerard, Obsidian’s narrative designers, Team Eva, and All the Kissing and the Pitch Wars communities—especially any Pitch Warriors who swapped manuscripts with me. <3
A special thank you to Haley Stone (Make Me No Grave), Catherine Cerveny (Game of Luck), and Carrie Pulkinen (Werewolves Only). You ladies all wrote amazing SFF novels, and I can’t believe you agreed to blurb my book.
To anyone else who reviews or blurbs my book or recommends it to friends, thank you times infinity! Word of mouth helps authors so much, especially ones just starting out like me. <3 Also, to anyone I’ve forgotten who should have been included in this acknowledgements page (I’ll remember just as soon as I’ve submitted this to the publisher), I’m sorry, my brain is like Swiss cheese these days, but please know I appreciat
e you and everything you’ve done to encourage me or support my story and these crazy, lovable-but-exasperating characters.
And, of course, the greatest THANK YOU of all goes to YOU, wonderful reader. I hope you enjoyed this labor of love. It took me years of daydreaming, laughter, tears, coffee, frustrations, friendships, and fears. But it was well worth it.
About the Author
Megan Starks is a video game writer and the award-winning author of the Gatewalkers urban fantasy series. An RWA Golden Heart® finalist, Writers Guild of America nominee, and Pitch Wars alumna with an MFA in fiction, Megan enjoys reading, writing, video games, and all things fantasy + romance.
Look for Night of Sunder & Sorrow, the sequel to House of Ash & Brimstone, coming to Amazon via City Owl Press in Spring 2020.
Get a free prequel to House of Ash & Brimstone by joining my mailing list at: www.fictivate.com/books
Crave more #Gatewalkers? For updates and to chat about writing, video games, coffee, and cute kitty-cats, come hang out with me on any of these sites:
About the Publisher
City Owl Press is a cutting edge indie publishing company, bringing the world of romance and speculative fiction to discerning readers.
www.cityowlpress.com
Additional Titles
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GODS AND DEMONS
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CODE BLACK
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FREYJA’S DAUGHTER
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When tragedy strikes home and a friend’s life hangs in the balance, Alice must face a powerful adversary.
HEART OF ICE
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When tragedy strikes home and a friend’s life hangs in the balance, Alice must face a powerful adversary.
HEART OF STONE
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Alice Isn’t Running Anymore.
MAD GOD WALKING
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A stranger on earth and a refugee from a twisted Sideways world, can Damon save his friends before he turns into the Mad God the Inquisition believes him to be?
MIDNIGHT DESIRE
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Danger and desire collide to form an unlikely alliance between a witch with a sordid past and a special agent who might be her future.
PURGATORY’S ANGEL
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We all have a dark side where inner demons roam. When devils of our nightmares murder in their sleep, only she can stop them.
RESURRECTION’S ANGEL
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Resurrecting your soul from hell isn’t for the weak of heart.
SOUL OF THE UNBORN
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Can you call yourself human if supernatural forces control your every breath, every emotion, every desire?
TIDES OF TIME
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A witchy good girl hiding secrets from her family…
A reformed bad boy who doesn’t know his family’s hidden secrets…
TRUTHSIGHT
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WINTER’S MAGE
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WAKING THE DEAD
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RAISING THE DEAD
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Afterlife management is a tricky business, especially for a living soul broker.
