Christmas in July SALE! All holiday titles are 0.99!

July is our birthday month, but we're giving gifts! In fact, it's Christmas in JULY!!

We've reduced all of our holiday stories to 0.99. If you missed these heart-warming stories of romance, we invite you to get them today!

They're all fantastic shots of fiction for your Kindle (R), Nook (R), or tablets.

After losing her job and her boyfriend, Holly returns to her parents’ farm. Embarrassed and hopeless, she doesn’t expect to bump into a forgotten childhood friend that wasn’t supposed to exist. Ivy is not only a dryad, but she lives in the pine trees Holly’s family grows to sell at Christmas. As the old friends reconnect, Ivy not only shares her strong opinions, but gives Holly a charm that will change both their lives. As days melt into weeks and the seasons change, Holly’s life magically turns around. Christmas not only brings surprises, but a choice for the human woman. What’s more important: stability, success, and love, or keeping a promise to an old friend?

Purchase link: http://mochamemoirspress.com/holly-and-ivy/
Price: .99

Dear Santa,
My family is insane and I’ve been more than naughty this year.
It was totally worth it.

If you could please, leave some turkey and dressing and other REAL Christmas food under the tree, I’ll promise to work on that “nice thing this year.

Oh and don’t worry about stocking stuffers, I’ve already picked that out for myself . He is 6ft plus of hippie latin goodness and he stuff the very best stocking in the world.

Simone!
Purchase link: http://mochamemoirspress.com/under-the-christmas-tree/
Price: 0.99

Military widow Rhea Blackmon is forced by her late husband’s best friend Sebastian to attend Fort Mitchell’s Christmas party, much against her will. All she wants is to go home and be alone but Sebastian has other plans. He has a present for her; one that she will not soon forget.

Purchase link: http://mochamemoirspress.com/under-the-mistletoe/
Price: 0.99










They're more titles that are less than a $1.00 USD. Stop by our website to find more!
 

First Impressions

What's the most exciting thing for a new author? Having your first short story accepted by a professional publishing agency. To say I couldn't stop smiling for thirty minutes straight is not exaggeration. I'm unbelievably excited to be one of the authors in Mocha Memoir's upcoming Toil, Trouble, and Temptation series, and thought I would introduce myself a bit and talk about my story, how I came up with it, and what it was like to write.

One of my best friends told me I have an overactive imagination. He was more right that he knew. I'm the kind of author who will literally come up with ideas out of the blue. I once came up with an idea walking to Walmart, listening to music, and thinking two words sounded cool put together. I write best when I let the ideas flow like this, naturally and without effort. Once I know what sort of idea I want to explore, I can't let go until it's a completed piece of work.

As soon as I saw the submission guidelines, I knew I wanted to participate. At first I was forcing out ideas, trying to think of something to write and coming up with half-hearted, unoriginal ideas. Nothing I knew I could have fun with or experiment with or test myself with. So I took a step back, and just didn't think about it. Two days later, that little lightbulb in my head flicked on, and this is what shone through:

A necromancer summons an assassin for the mob. Here's a more detailed description:

Tessa Sterling is a necromancer having a bad night. She's kidnapped and confronted by the most powerful gangster in Boston, then ordered to resurrect his most ruthless contract killer. When those she cares about are threatened, Tessa has no choice but to comply.

But the spirit she raises quickly uncovers the truth about his death, and his rage is insatiable. Hell is about to break loose, and Tessa is the only one who can put the spirit back in his grave, if he doesn't put her in one first...

What could be more dangerous than an undead assassin with anger management problems? The trickiest part for me was the setting. For some reason, all the gangsters I pictured were dressed like they'd just walked off the set of the Godfather. The first idea was that Tessa would be a poor girl from that era and dragged unwillingly into the crime life, finding out that her mother had been murdered by the very people she was working for. I liked that idea and really tried to make it work, but I wasn't as in love with the concept as I originally thought. So I changed things around, went with a more modern setting, and it flowed a lot better. I was writing so hard I thought my fingers would fall off.

The funnest part for me was deciding on how Tessa's gift work, what she needed to do physically and spiritually to summon a spirit from the grave. I think I came up with a really unique concept, and maybe that was part of the reason Call From The Grave was selected for the Toil, Trouble, and Temptation series by Mocha Memoirs Press.

I had a great time writing this little story. The more I think about it, the more proud I am, and I can't wait to see how the final product is received. Hope you all enjoy it, and have a terrific Fourth of July weekend!

Amy

Gotta get a move on it.

The Mocha Memoirs Press sale is going to start winding down pretty quickly and as I've done my due diligence to promo I realized I really need to get a move on starting my second collection of horror shorts. Second you say! Why yes, the first collection of 31 Horror short stories called Into the Realm of Mystery and Night is currently on sale. I loved writing this collection because if you haven't noticed, I'm pretty eclectic as a writer and even when I have the best of intentions I can be a bit macabre. I can't help it, I have quite the dark sense of humor. I also love all things that go bump in the night.

So revisiting my collection to promo it made me realize just how behind I am. Yes it's barely August but it takes quite a bit of brain power to dredge out all the things I find unsettling, creepy, and just plain weird and craft them into coherent stories. I like to make sure I have some that are deliciously wicked and some that are darkly sad. 31 days worth because at the end of the day, this is my homage to the highest of high holy days, Halloween.

The good news is, I have about three stories outlined. Only 29 more to go...sigh.

Here's an excerpt from the book (Day 21 to be precise) to give you an idea of just what I'm talking about and what you should be anticipating.

Enjoy!

Janet

Into the Realm of Mystery and Night

Day 21

It’s just a dream.

Lark sat up suddenly in her bed, heart racing and breathing heavily. She could feel sweat cooling and becoming sticky on her skin. She’d had that dream again, and it left her feeling empty and frightened. Her eyes were still clasped tightly, for fear that the residual effects of the dream would cause her to see things that didn’t exist in the shadows of her darkened room. If she didn’t find a way to get a handle on what her brain projected while she was asleep, she was going to go insane. Tears prickled at the corners of her eyes, and she knew she was going to lose it if she didn’t get up and out of her bed.

Flinging her damp covers off, she reached blindly in the dark for the lamp by her bed. Lark thought she’d left the blinds open when she went to sleep, but they were closed and the room was pitch black. The cool ceramic of her lamp under her fingers eased some of her anxiety, and she turned the switch, hoping to flood the room with blessed light. The soft click of the knob echoed through the room, but there was no light to answer its call. Frowning, she figured that the bulb would go out just when she needed it most.

She knew that sitting in the dark room wasn’t going to make anything better and stumbled through her bedroom to the door. Fear hadn’t quite abandoned her as she’d woken from the dream, and she could feel it lurking just at her shoulder as she navigated her dark hallway. Her fingers found the switch for the hall light, and she sobbed with frustration when the room stayed cloaked in darkness as she flipped it frantically. Why would the power have to be out now? she thought as she headed toward her bathroom. Unfortunately, that room didn’t provide her with a reprieve, and she fumbled toward the sink.

The cool feel of water being splashed on her face eased some of her worry, but now that panic had nestled back inside of her, making itself cozy and comfy, she couldn’t shake the sense that something was wrong. Breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth, she tried to center herself and will away the gloom of worry that was hanging over her head. Splashing more cold water on her face, she looked into the mirror and let out a little shriek when the lights suddenly came on. Her reflection was worn and tired, and she could see the toll her nightmares were starting to take on her. She tried to force a wobbly smile to her face, but her reflection wasn’t cooperating and instead stared back at her with a grimace of worry and concern.

Lark didn’t know how long she stared at herself, but that feeling, the one that haunted her when she needed blessed sleep, rose up and sunk its teeth into every nerve in her body. It, that thing that stalked her, was in her house, and she knew if she turned from looking in her mirror it would be there waiting for her. She watched as tears rolled down her face that was a mask of fear, and just when she was ready to turn away, accept defeat, her reflection said, “You’re still dreaming.”

Lark lay in her bed, hearing the sounds of night and the low moan of her house trying to settle itself, and tried to scream but nothing came out. Her body was frozen but her mind was yelling that she needed to get up, she needed to protect herself because whatever was stalking her was there, just outside her room, and if she wasn’t ready it would get her. She could feel her heart beating rapidly and tears rolled down her face, and as she listened to “it” get closer, she prayed that she was still dreaming.