"A powerful page-turner-enigmatic, surprising, and completely engaging . . . a wild ride over dangerous and previously uncharted terrain." - JAMES HULBERT, author of A Kiss Before You Leave Me. "A startling story that captures the reader from the first page, with strong character development and a robust vocabulary. Cappa's characters are the kind the reader remembers long after the story has ended." - JUDITH REVEAL, author of The Brownstone. Night Sea Journey is a tale of the supernatural, a quiet horror novel with paranormal apparitions, plenty of romance, psychological twists-and murder. Kip Livingston lives alone in Abasteron House on Horn Island and is a talented painter with an inspired imagination. But she is haunted by a dark nocturnal visitor. Each night while Kip sleeps, a winged creature with greedy teeth invades her dreams and drags her to the bottom of a ghost-grey sea. For help, she turns to exiled priest Raymond Kera, who falls for her seductive charms. Can Raymond save her from this dream demon? Or will Kip have to save herself? From the author of The Dazzling Darkness, this supernatural thriller is a gripping, mystical, exquisite story, a dreamy tale that delves deep into uncharted waters and will keep your mind racing. Paula Cappa is also the author of The Dazzling Darkness, winner of a Gothic Readers Book Club Award for Outstanding Fiction, and her short stories have appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies. She lives in Pound Ridge, New York.

BRONZE MEDAL WINNER, Readers' Favorite International Book Award, 2014.GOTHIC READERS BOOK CLUB CHOICE AWARD WINNER, 2013.A cemetery. A lost child. An ancient secret. Do you believe in ghosts? In Old Willow Cemetery, Elias Hatch protects the secret power buried inside his cemetery, and he knows five-year-old Henry Brooke has managed to get inside the locked gates. Who let him inside? Where is he now? Antonia Brooke and her husband Adam frantically search the woods and all of Concord to find their little boy. Not until Detective Mike Balducci discovers the crystal sculpture buried in Old Willow, not until he discovers the apparitions hiding within the woods, not until he discovers the dazzling faces inside the darkened air, does he find the clues to what happened to Henry Brooke in Concord, Massachusetts. This is a supernatural mystery about a family who confronts long-buried secrets of the dead. Do you believe in haunted cemeteries? Come into the dazzling darkness.Midwest Book Review: "Paula Cappa is a master of the metaphysical mystery genre...an extraordinary and original storyteller of the first rank. Very highly recommended." 5-StarsSatin Paperbacks: "A supernatural adventure ... steeped in fulsome imagination, twists and turns. Gripping and absorbing, this is worth your time."Paula Cappa is the recipient of a Chanticleer Book Award for Greylock, the prestigious Eric HofferBook Award, the Readers' Favorite International Bronze Medal for Supernatural Suspense,and a Gothic Readers Book Club Award Winner in Outstanding Fiction.

IF YOU'RE TIRED OF REJECTION, THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU.Whether you are a novice writer or a veteran who has already had your work published, rejection is often a frustrating reality. Literary agents and editors receive and reject hundreds of manuscripts each month. While it's the job of these publishing professionals to be discriminating, it's the job of the writer to produce a manuscript that immediately stands out among the vast competition. And those outstanding qualities, says New York literary agent Noah Lukeman, have to be apparent from the first five pages.The First Five Pages reveals the necessary elements of good writing, whether it be fiction, nonfiction, journalism, or poetry, and points out errors to be avoided, such as* A weak opening hook* Overuse of adjectives and adverbs* Flat or forced metaphors or similes* Melodramatic, commonplace or confusing dialogue* Undeveloped characterizations and lifeless settings* Uneven pacing and lack of progressionWith exercises at the end of each chapter, this invaluable reference will allow novelists, journalists, poets and screenwriters alike to improve their technique as they learn to eliminate even the most subtle mistakes that are cause for rejection. The First Five Pages will help writers at every stage take their art to a higher -- and more successful -- level.

Do you wish you had a published writer's secrets at your fingertips, ready to help you achieve your goals of publication, success, and the chance to be the next great teen writer? In Seize the Story: A Handbook for Teens Who Like to Write, Victoria Hanley, award-winning author of young adult fiction, spills the secrets for bringing action, adventure, humor, and drama to stories. All of the elements of fiction, from creating believable dialogue to exciting plots, are laid out clearly and illustrated with examples taken straight from story excerpts by excellent writers. The book is packed with writing exercises designed to encourage teens to tell the stories that are theirs alone. In addition, other published authors of young adult literature share their insights about the writing life. Teens can gain firsthand advice from accomplished writers T. A. Barron, Joan Bauer, Hilari Bell, Chris Crutcher, David Lubar, Lauren Myracle, Todd Mitchell, Nancy Garden, and many more.

Get Your Readers' Attention—And Keep It—From the First World to the Final PageTranslating that initial flash of inspiration into a complete story requires careful crafting. So how do you keep your story from beginning slowly, floundering midway, and trailing off at the end? Nancy Kress shows you effective solutions for potential problems at each stage of your story—essential lessons for strong start-to-finish storytelling.• Hook readers, agents, and editors in the first three paragraphs.• Make and keep your story's implicit promise to the reader.• Build drama and credibility by controlling your prose.• Consider the price a writer pays for flashbacks.• Reveal character effectively throughout your story.Get the tools you need to get your story off to an engaging start, keep the middle tight and compelling, and make your conclusion high impact. You'll also find dozens of exercises to help strengthen your short story or novel. Let this resource be your guide to successful stories—from the first word to the last.

Do you want to be a more relaxed author? There are plenty of books and tips on writing faster, learning more marketing tactics and strategies, trying to maximize your ranking, hitting the top of the charts, juicing the algorithms, and hacking different ad platforms. While these are all important things - which the authors themselves regularly write and talk about - it's also important to recognize that your author journey is a marathon, and not a sprint. Joanna Penn and Mark Leslie Lefebvre have been in the business long enough to see authors burning out and leaving the writing life because they turned what they love into a hamster wheel of ever more production and marketing tasks they hate. It doesn't have to be this way. This book is a collection of tips on how to be a more relaxed author - and return to the love that brought you to writing in the first place. You will discover: Why the 'relaxed' author? You are not alone. Why authors are not relaxed. Part 1: Relaxed Writing Write what you love Write at your own pace Write in a series (if you want to) Schedule time to fill the creative well and for rest and relaxation Improve your writing process - but only if it fits with your lifestyle Part 2: Relaxed Publishing Make empowered publishing choices Understand persistence, patience, and partnership Value your work. You create intellectual property assets. Publish at your own pace Publish wide (or don't) Sell direct to your audience Don't let piracy and plagiarism derail you Deal with cancel culture, bad reviews, and haters Find a community who support your publishing choices Part 3: Relaxed Marketing Focus on the basics first Simplify your author brand and website Simplify and automate your email Find one form of marketing you enjoy and can sustain for the long term Put book 1 in a series free or permafree Choose social media that suits you - or don't use it at all Advertise in campaigns Outsource when you can Embrace who you are. Double down on being human. Think global, digital, long-term marketing Part 4: Relaxed Business  Do you really want to run an author business? Create multiple streams of income Eliminate tasks. Say 'no' more. Organize and improve your processes Use tools Find voices you trust and tune out the rest Learn about money Look after your physical and mental health Keep a long-term mindset

Engage Your Readers with Emotion While writers might disagree over showing versus telling or plotting versus pantsing, none would argue this: If you want to write strong fiction, you must make your readers feel. The reader's experience must be an emotional journey of its own, one as involving as your characters' struggles, discoveries, and triumphs are for you. That's where The Emotional Craft of Fiction comes in. Veteran literary agent and expert fiction instructor Donald Maass shows you how to use story to provoke a visceral and emotional experience in readers. Topics covered include: • emotional modes of writing • beyond showing versus telling • your story's emotional world • moral stakes • connecting the inner and outer journeys • plot as emotional opportunities • invoking higher emotions, symbols, and emotional language • cascading change • story as emotional mirror • positive spirit and magnanimous writing • the hidden current that makes stories moveReaders can simply read a novel...or they can experience it. The Emotional Craft of Fiction shows you how to make that happen.