How do you like your whiskey? Dash of coke, a few ice cubes? Some blood?
One of my favourite vampire films is Blade. To this day, I still get a buzz on the rare occasion I hear the song, “Confusion” by New Order or “Operation Blade” by Public Domain – played during the early club scene in the film, a club filled by vampires raving away and about to be covered in human blood dispensed from the sprinklers above. I loved the quick flashes we got of Deacon Frost (played moodily by Stephen Dorff) as he moved through the club. I wondered what would happen if a couple of human girls were to walk through those club doors, and if one of those girls caught the club owner’s eye.
That’s where Dark Whiskey came in. The cover below was designed by Clarissa at Book Cover Art. Check out her gorgeous artwork if you get the chance.
Jesse senses something off about the nightclub. She wants to leave, but her best friend, Tasha, is determined to have a night to remember. There’s no way she’s turning down an invite to the VIP section.
Against Jesse’s better judgement, she follows Tasha up the ivory staircase to the mysterious room above. The whiskey and champagne are flowing, and pretty soon the blood will be too.
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Instead of finishing the editing on a novella I should have released last month, I veered off in favour of writing a couple more short stories. Is there much of an audience these days for pieces of short fiction? Or do most readers like to sink their teeth into long novels? Any whiskey drinkers in the house?
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Emma's Ramblings on Supernatural Fiction 
Love the premise, Emma! And the cover art is great – Clarissa’s work is amazing! 😀
Thanks a mill, Mel. Your covers aren’t so bad either. 🙂 I may be calling on you in the future.
Love the cover, Emma!!! Sounds awesome!
Thank you, L.J. I had a lot of fun writing this one.
Gorgeous cover. I love the colors and simplicity. I just finished the book and am working on my review. Another excellent short story, Emma. ^_^
Cheers, Sherry. You and Laura read so fast – thanks to both of you, as usual!
Oooh, very cool, Emma. Off to snatch up my copy from Amazon now. While I generally like a longer novel, I still a good short now and again, especially when they give me goosebumps. Love the cover, and the title rocks!
Thanks, Mae. I love stories that give you goosebumps and that shiver running down your spine moment. Hope you will enjoy Dark Whiskey. I wrote it in first person, something I don’t think I’ve ever done before.
Love the cover. It’s simple, yet conveys a feeling. I popped over and bought this immediately. 🙂
I hope it gives off a moody, cold tone – just like the club in the story. Thanks, Lauralynn!
Oh my goodness! Very cool cover Emma and congrats! I cannot wait to have Dark Whiskey on my blog Thursday!:O)
Looking forward to it, Michelle. Thanks so much for helping me out with your blog.
Anytime:)
Oooh loving the cover art and congrats on publishing again! As a general rule I don’t read short fiction or novella’s, I was always convinced that they wouldn’t have enough time to develop the story and character; I guess I was always biased about them. In the last year or so though I have tried some short stories for several reasons and enjoyed most of them much more than I thought I would. Just shows you really shouldn’t knock it until you try it!
My creative writing teacher was always telling me last year there isn’t much of an audience for short stories these days, but I think that’s just because people don’t bother to try them, but when they do, they realise how great they are. 🙂
Thank you very much, Becky. I’ve read anthologies going back years, but now with ebooks I’m seeing lots of novellas coming out, especially in the supernatural genre – my favourite. I find them nice to fit in around a busy schedule or maybe when you want to take a breather from a long novel you might be reading.
Your creative writing teacher probably has a point, I’m afraid to say. Looking forward to reading your work, Becky!
Definitely! I think with ebooks we could see a bigger shift with short stories as they are easier to publish!
Thanks Emma. 🙂
LOVE the cover! And the story! I can’t wait to check this out!
Thanks, Tiffany.
Sounds like a blast to read…and I happen to be a whiskey drinker. 😉
Cheers, Kitt. Yay – another whiskey drinker. 😉
I like whiskey sours…and Wild Turkey Honey in a shot glass, so I guess that makes me a whiskey drinker 🙂
Awesome cover and great title, too. I wish you lots of sales!
I haven’t tried Wild Turkey Honey, but for the name alone, I’m going to see if I can find it. Thanks, Amanda.
Love the cover art. Just loaded it on my kindle. If the kids allow me to read while I wait for them at the doctors, I’ll read it shortly. We will see. Fingers crossed.
Thanks, Debra – hope you like it. Enjoy the summer holidays with your kids. Hopefully you will get a moment here and there for yourself. 🙂
I did like it! I kind of wanted to read what came next. I don’t want to post any spoilers so I must be careful what I write. It was the perfect read to fill the time while I waited for the kids’ appointments. I loved the way you weaved whiskey all the way through the story. That’s my drink, by the way. 🙂
Another whiskey drinker. Good stuff!
A nice alluring cover. And yes I’m a whiskey drinker, I’m looking forward to nice honey whiskey when I get home, but no ice, I like my whiskey straight. I’m also looking forward to your short story when I get home. I love short stories, I’m reading a collection of them by a favourite author of mine right now. I find them difficult to write though, they always feel like a begining to me, like they could be so much more.
Congrats on putting this little morsel out there for us.
I knew you were – I remember telling me about adding honey. I’m a Jack Daniels and Coke girl, though not much of late. Maybe I’m becoming more sensible in my old age. You wrote a great short story about the Bloody Mary legend – publish that. What have you to lose?
Looks interesting Emma! Going to download now.
Cheers, Trish. Hope the writing’s going well for you.
I take mine with just a couple of ice cubes. We are talking whiskey right? lol
I can’t wait to read what everybody writes about Dark Whiskey!
Yep, whiskey, though if some take it with blood – who am I to judge! 🙂
I love the cover! I’ve got chills from just those few lines. What a cool premise. I like my whiskey with a dash (okay a cup) of coke. Otherwise, it’s like lighter fluid for me. You’ve shown me another cool book I need to read. Thanks, Emma!
Aw, thanks, Tameri. Yeah, I’d need a cup of Coke or 7up too, for the first one anyway, and as I go on, the amount of Coke I need lessens. 😉
Great cover, and I really loved this story! I’ve only ever read Stephen King’s collections (other than yours) as I prefer to sink my teeth into something bigger. But keep it up—you’re becoming a master of short stories! Congrats on the new release!
Thanks, Jen and cheers for reading and giving me feedback. I’m looking forward to starting your book next week – I’m off work from Monday onwards, so I will finally have time to sit down with it.
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Emma – I always shyed away from what I used to think of the darker side of fiction until I started reading shorter lengths – and that includes short stories or even magazine feature length. If I’m coming away from reading three or four literary reads or even a few compex women fiction reads, I want something else to shake up brain cells before I dive back into reading my regular genre. As for the whisky–that’s an item from my past. However, back in the day, give me three fingers over ice.
I’ve always loved the darker side of fiction, though thinking about it really, the paranormal and supernatural stories I read aren’t always that dark.
Well done for committing whiskey to your past – I hope to do the same someday. 🙂
You really keep spinning these, don’t you, Emma? I’m impressed, I don’t know how you do it, but keep it up 😀
Thanks, Margaret. I have trouble completing novels. I tend to get bored half way through and want to rush in to a new story. I’m working on that!
I feel you. Novels take a lot of dedication. That’s why I spend a lot of time debating what story to take up next because I know I’m in for a long haul lol. It’s kind of like…how sure are you that you want to have that baby?