December News

Hello, friends! Here's the December 2018 round-up. Eight publications and some positive feedback on one of my stories-- not a bad way to close out the year!

My poem, "Bypass," is on Herstry online magazine.

I had two poems appear in separate posts on Duane's PoeTree blog: "Elemental" and "Out of Order." Big thanks to Duane Vorhees for continuing to give my wayward poems a home.

Six poems appeared in Heliopause magazine: "Dervish," "Seed," "The End," "Saffron," "Deep Creek" and "Dear Abuela." The poems are available to read online here.

Or, you can purchase a print copy here.

When these were accepted, the editors included this very nice comment: "Our editors very much enjoyed the strong voice in each individual poem along with your strong imagery of people, nature, and everything in-between." Always great to hear!

My poem, "The Ledger," appeared in Thimble Literary Magazine.

My poem, "Hunting Island," appeared in the first print edition of new magazine Io Literary Journal.

Two poems appeared in Conclusion Magazine, "Acacia" and "Prodigal." Fitting, since this prodigal has returned home.

In addition to publications, I got a nice Tweet about my vampire novella, Our Miss Engel. Thank you, Maggie May!

ICYMI, Necropolis, (The Order of the Four Sons, Book V), is now available as an ebook and in paperback. Find the excerpt and links to purchase here.

Thirty-five publications this year, plus a book. And, on a personal note, my husband and I have moved back to Kansas City and we couldn't be happier. I've already got quite a few publications lined up for 2019. Not too bad at all!

Thank you, as always, for reading. I wish you all a joyous New Year!

My 2018 Reading Retrospective

Happy Holidays everyone, and welcome to my sixth annual Reading Retrospective! Every year, I compile a list of stand-out reads. They weren't necessarily published in 2018, this is just the year I happened to read them. 

I read a bit of everything, so my lists have a tendency to feel pretty random, skipping back and forth between genres and themes. Usually, on any given year, I tend to gravitate to something in particular. This year, I found myself craving a lot of fantasy and tales about the afterlife. 

Like all writers, I have to choose between making time to read and making time to write, so this year, I managed to get in 63 new reads, which is pretty average for me.

Of them, my favorites were:

The Ghost’s Child by Sonya Hartnett - This was the deceptively simple tale of an old woman who comes home to find a mysterious young boy waiting for her, and she begins to tell him the story of her life. I am not usually a crier, but the ending gutted me.

Uprooted by Naomi Novik - A fantasy-adventure about a young girl who is offered as tribute to a scary old wizard known as “the Dragon.” To her surprise, she becomes his apprentice, and ends up fighting against the threat of magical beings threatening their kingdom. This book kept me riveted from start to finish. I’ve said before that it’s the mark of a good book when I follow my friends and family around, reading passages aloud to them. This fits the bill.

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly - A young boy living in England during World War II is dealing with the death of his mother and his father’s subsequent remarriage. He wanders into a strange, fairy-tale world called Elsewhere. A thrilling, beautifully-written coming-of-age story. Another one I couldn’t put down.

Nightwoods by Charles Frazier - The story of a young woman  named Luce living rough in North Carolina mountain country in the 1960s. When Luce's sister dies, Luce finds herself trying to raise her orphaned niece and nephew. Haunting and beautifully written. (Frazier also wrote Cold Mountain, another favorite of mine.)

Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain - I had intended to read this book for years, but with Bourdain’s passing in June, I ran out and got a copy. In addition to being a lifelong foodie, I spent a few years in the food service industry, but even if I had not, Bourdain speaks of it in a way that manages to be both brutally matter-of-fact and oddly poetic. You’ll never look at line cooks the same way again.

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward - This is simply an outstanding book. I feel like summarizing this book sort of cheapens it, but here goes: a family living in Mississippi deals with race issues, the prison system, death, and the sins of the past. I devoured it in a single afternoon and I knew as soon as I’d finished that this one was a life-changer.

Everlost by Neal Shusterman - A wildly original tale about dead kids and the afterlife they inhabit, filled with memorable characters, and an ingenious use of historical elements like the World Trade Center Towers and the Hindenburg.

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver - Don’t let the girly cover or the YA label fool you. This is some heavy stuff. It’s the story of a teenage girl who dies on Valentine’s Day and gets to relive the last day of her life seven times—gets to? Maybe it’s a punishment, or maybe it’s a shot at redemption. Oliver perfectly captures the dynamics of the high school hierarchy, especially among teenage girls, whether they're friends, enemies or frenemies. 

Twist Me by Anna Zaires - Real talk: I’ve already read this book three or four times. It’s that good. The transgressive love story of a rich, handsome, but dangerous man who kidnaps a young woman, holds her hostage on a deserted island, and makes her both love and desire him. Written in prose so clean and precise it practically snaps on the page. It’s the first of a trilogy, and I checked out the second book but couldn’t get into it. I ain't even mad. I will just keep on revisiting the beginnings of Julian and Nora's dark and, yes, twisted connection over and over to my heart’s (and, er, other parts’) content.

Thank you for reading! I hope you find something here that piques your interest. Please feel free to leave a comment below. 

If you like this post, check out my previous Reading Retrospectives: 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013.

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November News

Hello, friends! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Is there any better time to curl up with a good book than late fall/early winter? I think not.

Here are some new places you can read my work this month:

My poems "Morels" and "The Call Box" appeared in The Rockvale Review.

Three poems, "Hirsute Woman," "High Water Lines," and "Varanasi" appeared in Voice of Eve.

I just want to say thank you to everyone who has purchased a copy of Necropolis. It means a lot to me to know that people have stuck with the O4S series so far. If you've read it, I hope you'll consider leaving a review. They're very important to indie authors like me.

And finally, I would like to say that, with the holidays coming up, please check out my Christmas stories, The Ice Dragon and The Winter Prince. What are the holidays without a little magic?

Thank you again for reading! I am grateful for each and every one of you.

October News

Hello, friends! I just have a couple of things to share with you this month.

The first is, Necropolis, (The Order of the Four Sons, Book V), is now available in paperback, $12.99 on Amazon. The transition from Createspace to Amazon's new print-on-demand platform wasn't nearly as painful as I thought it was going to be. Now you tactile-types can have a book you can actually hold in your hands!

Purchase here. 

Read the synopsis and excerpts here. 

The second thing is an ICYMI: I posted a new horror short for Halloween called "Last Suppers." It's the tale of a sin-eater living in the 1980s Midwest. Read it here.

Thank you, as always, for reading. Wishing you all a Happy Halloween, a joyous Samhain, and feliz Dias de los Muertos!

September News

Happy Autumn, readers! Here are some new places you can check out my work:

Whale Road Review published my poem, "Without," about the refugee crisis. Editor Katie Manning called it both powerful and timely. Read it here.

trampset published my poem, "Requiem for a Robot Dog," which they called "a strangely beautiful poem." Read it here.

Peinate: Hair Battles Between Latina Mothers & Daughters, a new anthology by La Pluma y La Tinta, included my poems, "Abuela" and "Piojos." It's a subject very near and dear to my heart, and I'm thrilled to be included. Copies are available for purchase here.

And last but certainly not least, if you've been watching this blog, then you know that Necropolis, The Order of the Four Sons, Book V released this month. It's available on Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, and other retailers. If you're an O4S fan, I hope you've already got your copy. As always, reviews are welcome and appreciated. If you have yet to discover the O4S universe, what are you waiting for? There's a helluva good universe next door. Let's go.

Next month, I will have-- well, not a horror story, exactly. A supernatural tale that doesn't fit neatly into any genre category. I hope you enjoy it.

Thanks, as always, for reading. Till next month!

Book V is here!

Friends, I am pleased to share that Necropolis: The Order of the Four Sons, Book V, is now available as an ebook.

Kindle users can download it on Amazon.

It is also available on Smashwords, which offers a variety of formats for different devices.

It will be available soon on Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple, and other ebook retailers.

Here's the synopsis for Book V:

“Kill the old gods, and become a god yourself.”

In the wake of their defeat, Starry Wisdom has retreated to their home world of Cerulean, a seemingly idyllic society they have engineered for their own dark purposes. There, Joan Metz; her son, General Michael Anglicus; and the rest of Starry Wisdom proceed with their plans to assemble the Staff of Solomon, even as they prepare for the inevitable reprisal from the Order and Corbenic. Already plagued by doubts and in-fighting, further conflict arises when Countess Elizabeth Bathory is brought into their inner circle, with Nathan DePriest as her apprentice.

The surviving members of the Order, along with a team of Corbenese soldiers and geomancers, have succeeded in infiltrating Cerulean. As they launch a series of attacks, they, too, struggle to overcome their differences.

Meanwhile, in Cerulean’s central city, Bill Welsh is posing as a citizen. Still in thrall to the creature Akhenaton, he wages a fight for his very soul.

Already, heavy losses have been sustained on all sides, driving everyone to increasingly desperate actions. Despite Cerulean’s modern exterior, ghosts, spirits, fearsome beasts and demons still lurk. Worlds hang in the balance as enemies clash. With the end game fast-approaching, anything is possible, and no one is safe. 

Read an excerpt here. 

Thank you all for waiting so patiently for this installment. Five books down, only one left. I'll keep you posted on its progress.

Enjoy, and please let us know what you think of Necropolis.

August News

Hey, folks! Here are the places you can check out my latest work:

"Large-Breasted Woman" and "Day of the Dead" appear in the Flint Hills Review.

"Rootstock" and "Cicada" appear in the BLOOM edition of Brenda Magazine. You can also read "The Tattoo Artist" on their website here.

O4S update: I finalized the manuscript for Book V this morning and have started formatting. Cover art is in the works. Check out an excerpt here.

Thank you for reading! I'm always thrilled to hear from you, so don't hesitate to leave comments, feedback or reviews.

July News

Hey there, friends! I have new publications I wanted to share with you:

"The Tattoo Artist" was published in Brenda Magazine online as a preview for their upcoming BLOOM edition. It was inspired by a tattoo artist who inks beautiful botanical designs for women who have had mastectomies. Read it here.

"Papaya" appeared in the latest issue of Gambling the Aisle. I wrote this one because some dear friends of mine were expecting, and they referred to their little baby bump as "the papaya," which I thought was the most adorable thing I'd ever heard. The editors remarked that the poem "embodies the risk-taking spirit that our magazine treasures." Read it here.

"Achilles' Fetish," which could be considered either a flash fiction piece or a prose-poem, appeared in Io Literary Journal online, in their Refraction section. It's the testimony of a prostitute who serviced Achilles during the Trojan War. Read it here.

Three poems appeared in the Warriors with Wings, "I Dreamt James Baldwin Was My Father," "The Peanut Festival," and "Unused." This anthology was edited by imminent poets Michael Lee Johnson and Ken Allan Dronsfield, and I am thrilled to be included. It's available on Amazon here.

Finally, I just want to share with everyone that it looks like I'm track to release Necropolis, (The Order of the Four Sons, Book V) in September. I am working with artist Erin Kelso on the cover design. As usual, I can't wait to see what she comes up with. In case you missed it, there's an excerpt available here.

Thank you for reading!

New O4S Cover Art!

I'm pleased to share with everyone that Necropolis (The Order of the Four Sons, Book V) is on schedule to release in either August or September.

A new book calls for a new look, right? Check out the new cover art for the series. I will share the Book V cover as we get closer to the release date. All four books are available on Amazon and in paperback.

June News

Happy Summer everyone!

Two poems, "Fondant" and "Sidekick" appeared in Sheila-Na-Gig's summer edition. "Fondant" is about my mother's old cake-baking side business. "Sidekick" is a poem I wrote after someone once said to me that I could never be the hot girl in a movie, but only the sidekick. At the time, it really hurt my feelings, but I think there's something to be said for the Willow Rosenbergs of the world, yeah?

You can read both poems here.

I also wanted to share that I got a lovely review on Our Miss Engel, my vampire novella:

Thanks, Debra! I'm always thrilled to get feedback of any kind. Our Miss Engel is very near and dear to my heart, and I still toy with the idea of writing a sequel to it. With the impending conclusion of the O4S series, who knows?

As always, thanks to all of you for reading! Stay cool out there.

The Sacred Heart Soundtrack

It’s been almost two years since I posted the Book III soundtrack. Man, how time flies. I had promised that I would do Book IV’s sometime after it was published. (Technically, I have held to that.) But then I thought I’d wait until after Book V was done. That took longer than anticipated.

But we’re here now—Book V is basically done! Which means cover art in the works! And The Sacred Heart soundtrack. Hooray!

This part of the story is even more character-driven than the previous entries. As such, I didn’t really focus on soundtracking individual scenes as much as I did assigning the various characters a song.

Without further ado… THAR BE SPOILERS! Proceed with caution.

**10/12/21, Edited to add, I used to have YouTube videos embedded in this post, but videos have a way of getting yanked. So I've created Spotify playlists for all the books. The Spotify lists actually have more songs than what I included in these posts, so, I hope you enjoy the bonus tunes. 

Spotify Lists:

The Order of the Four Sons

Carcosa

Where Flap the Tatters of the King

The Sacred Heart

Necropolis

Going Forth by Day

If you want my commentary on the songs, here are the other soundtrack blog posts:

The Order of the Four Sons

Carcosa, Part 1

Carcosa, Part 2

Where Flap the Tatters of the King

Necropolis

Going Forth by Day

The Sacred Heart Soundtrack 

1. Christophe - Non, je ne regrette rien, Edith Piaf

Christophe is probably our favorite character in the whole series. Among his many virtues, he lives life at full throttle. Even as an eight-year-old kid, he says of his exploits, “No regrets.” I can’t think of anything more Christophe than that.

2. Madeline– Lady Marmalade, Patti LaBelle

Murphy and Bill jokingly refer to Christophe as “Lady Marmalade,” but the song itself is more fitting for Christophe's lady love, Madeline, an ex-courtesan who has managed to emerge from her poor start in life to become a woman of refinement, grace, courage and wisdom.

3. Jack – I Will Possess Your Heart, Deathcab for Cutie

“You gotta spend some time, love
You gotta spend some time with me
And I know that you'll find love
I will possess your heart.”

This song is actually really creepy, which means it is totally Jack. He is determined to possess hearts… and other organs.

4. Janus – Bad Businessman, Squirrel Nut Zippers

“…every time he deals a round 
It's just a bad hand 
What a bad man. 
Beware of what he sells 
Surely go straight to hell. 
T' ain't no bottom in that wishing well

Bad businessman…”

Janus is one of those characters that we feel very sorry for—he was born to two people trapped in a loveless marriage, and it pretty much goes downhill from there. We hope reincarnation exists for his sake because he has the potential to be a very fine human being. But not in this timeline.

5. Nicole – Missing, Evanescence

“Please, please forgive me,
But I won't be home again.
Maybe someday you'll have woke up,
And, barely conscious, you'll say to no one:
‘Isn't something missing?’”

Janus’ misery spills over and drowns his poor wife, Nicole. She’s not a major character, but the ripples caused by her life and death factor heavily into the story’s events.

6. Leto – Off to the Races, Lana del Rey

“My old man is a bad man
But I can't deny the way he holds my hand
And he grabs me, he has me by my heart
He doesn't mind I have a Las Vegas past
He doesn't mind I have a L.A. crass way about me
He loves me with every beat of his cocaine heart…”

Let’s just say, Leto’s dad is the grossest. Thank God she takes after her mother.

7. The Blue Room– Black Black Heart, David Usher

Oh God, this song. This scene. Leo and Alyssa bonding the way they do best: over sex and trauma.

8. Dreamfast – Goodnight, Irene

Kate finds out who she is. It’s a lot to unpack. Homegirl’s gonna need some time, is what I’m sayin’.

9. Riots/Mauvais Sang – Get Free, Whissell

I’m cheating a bit here. I didn’t hear this song until about a year ago, well after Book IV was done. But the minute I heard it, it took me right to Lady Lamprise sitting astride her horse. The gals all get tossed in the slammer. And of course, the whole damn planet is under occupation, so there's that too.  

10. The Proposal - Time is Running Out, Muse

Leo proposes with predictable results.

11. Liberation – Club Foot, Kasabian

This is one of those songs where it’s not so much about the lyrics for me, but the way the song sounds. It’s a frantic song, and an uprising is definitely a frantic time.

12. The King – Follow the Sun, Xavier Rudd

I mean, it was either this or “Here Comes the Sun.” 

13. 1,000 – Trigger-Happy Jack, Poe

Jack again, playing his dirtiest trick of all.

14. The Funeral - The Sisters of Mercy, Leonard Cohen

There’s nothing to say here but *sniff.*

15. Exeunt - There’s No Home for You Here, The White Stripes

Parting is such sweet sorrow.

Goodbye, Corbenic. Hello, Cerulean. Our last stop in the O4S-verse. 

May News

Hello, hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend! May has been another terrifically busy month.

Over on Poets.Media, Laura DiNovis reviewed my poetry collection, West Side Girl & Other Poems: “West Side Girl is Lauren Scharhag's only book of poems as of yet, but lovers of new and exciting poetry will find themselves hoping that she will feel compelled to assemble another collection, one that is filled with equally visceral language that will continue to send chills down their spines.” 

On Amazon, I also received a new five-star review on The Winter Prince. "Outrageous fun... Within this one magical tale, I reflected on other magical tales that I’d read as a child: Little Red Riding Hood with the woodcutter, Rip Van Winkle, the Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Like these old tales, this one is lovely and fresh, magical and deep."

Big thanks to both these reviewers! I am always so humbled to know someone out there is reading and enjoying my work.

In case you missed it, I have completed a first draft of Necropolis (The Order of the Four Sons, Book V). I am hoping for an August or September release. I have posted a new excerpt for your delectation here. 

And last, but certainly not least, my work appeared in a few more publications this month:

My poem, "eDreams" was on Duane's PoeTree Blog, which marks my third appearance on his site. I'm pleased to be a regular. 

My Lovecraftian short story, “The Seven Wives of Richard Copeland," was released in Schlock's Quarterly anthology, a compendium of the prior months' best work. It's available for purchase on Lulu here. Or you can read it on their webzine archives here.

And finally, my poem, "Whale Songs at 52 Hertz," appeared on Dying Dahlia Review. This poem was inspired by an article I read about the world's loneliest whale. 

Thank you to all the lovely editors and reviewers out there who believe in me. As some writer or other has said, there's no money in writing, and even when there is, there's not much money, so I find so much joy in all of these little victories. Thank you for letting me share them with you.