The Hunter herself 🪓

Introducing Reece O'Dell, my latest protagonist

In this newsletter…
🪓 Meet Reece O’Dell, mythborn Hunter!
🧟 A new zomedy short from me!
😸 Creature features for free!

---

Today, I’d like you to meet Reece O’Dell.

She’s the snarky protagonist of a new series I had the pleasure of collaborating on last year (well, my part was done last year)—Chaos Caretakers, an urban fantasy trilogy I co-created with Paige Andrews and Percival Constantine.

Illustration of Reece by Akar

Reece is an arrogant, 30-something type-A badass. She works for Hunters, Inc., a mercenary group specializing in tracking down mythborn—anything supernatural, magical, or mythical in origin. Despite her grandfather’s stark insistence she do anything else for a living, Reece has been in this role as long as she’s been age-eligible, carrying on his family tradition. (Maybe a little longer, but are you going to check her records?)

It’s impossible for Reece to keep a partner around (this is in the professional sense; forget dating!). In fact, she’s gone through six partners at Hunters, Inc., many of whom are no longer alive. Not because Reece did them in or anything… she’s just a magnet for trouble. The deadly kind.

She believes with every fiber of her being that caring about things makes her weak. This was initially her grandfather’s doing—he feared that if Reece loved anything too much, the cruel world would use it against her, so he denied her numerous kittens and puppies over the years he raised her. Reece, however, has stubbornly clung to this belief her entire adult life.

And so, of course, Reece’s co-creators and I plan to throw a lot of lovable companions at her in the course of her trilogy. 😈

Reece likes to keep her past in the past, so you’ll have to read Chaos Caretakers to find out more about her lineage, her unusual immunities, and her relationship with her grandfather. Oh, and how she feels about Aleister Meowly the cat… 🐈‍⬛

Who are your favorite urban fantasy heroines? Send me your recommendations! I especially enjoyed Mercy Thompson late last year…

---

And now, for something new of mine you can get your rotting hands on immediately…

I’m excited to announce that my new dark zomedy short I Dream of Zombie is included in Sterling & Stone’s new collection, Infinite Pieces Volume 2: Frenemy and Other Young Adult Stories! 🧟‍♀️🧟‍♂️

You’ll find a smorgasbord of angsty YA-themed short stories in Frenemy, including Just Another Dead Girl by Sean Platt, How to Train a Murder by Cameron Stone, and We’re Not Eating Sam by Skye Riley. Many of these stories are darkly humorous, with others touching on more sobering subjects, and they cross a range of sub-genres in addition to being young adult fiction.

Want to read this diverse collection of shorts for free? 👉 Get a review copy on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review! 👈 (Or just snag a free copy on your favorite online platform… soon. Looks like Amazon hasn’t price matched as of today…)

You can share Frenemy on social media with this image, if you’re feeling like sending new fans my way…

For more bite-sized horror, grab Infinite Pieces Volume I: The Devil’s Punchbowl and Other Horror Stories!

---

The Free-zer

It’s another installment of THE FREE-ZER—the section where you’ll find something that will cost you zero monies. (That’s no dollars, cents, pounds, pesos, Republic credits, Monopoly money, latinum, or dubloons.)

👉 If you’re seeking a new story but are open to just about any genre that might strike you, dive into the SPRING INTO A STORY bundle and grab a variety of free tales (including my novella SEEKER). Will you be Finding Vera? 🐺

👉 There’s time left to grab free stories from these exciting bundles:

• CREATURE FREE-ATURES—such as Lightning Hunter, The Witch and the Wish Demon, or All I Wanted Was a Cup of Tea! 🍄🧙‍♀️🐉

• SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY, AND EPIC STORIES—like Digital Dryad, Aquae et Ignis, or Balance of Shadows! 🍃🐙⚖️

Happy spring!
August