Monday, October 6, 2025

In the Kitchen with Floy Owens #InTheKitchen #Recipe #JägerschnitzelmitSpätzleundMöhrengemüse



gerschnitzel mit Spätzle und Möhrengemüse

When I step away from writing dark psychological thrillers, I love to cook something rich with tradition and flavor. My favorite meal to share is Jägerschnitzel mit Spätzle und Möhrengemüse. It is a classic German comfort food of crispy pork schnitzel with hunter-style mushroom gravy, tender egg noodles, and creamy carrots. Every bite feels warm and layered.

 

Ingredients (Serves 4)

Schnitzel

              4 boneless pork cutlets, pounded thin

              Salt and pepper

              1 cup flour

              2 eggs, lightly beaten

              1 cup fine breadcrumbs

              Neutral oil for frying

Jäger (Hunter) Gravy

              2 tablespoons butter

              8 ounces mushrooms, sliced

              1 tablespoon flour

              1 cup beef or veal stock

              2 tablespoons heavy cream

              Salt, pepper, and a pinch of paprika

Spätzle

              2 cups all-purpose flour

              ½ teaspoon salt

              2 large eggs

              ¾ cup milk or water

              Butter for finishing

Möhrengemüse

              1 pound carrots, sliced into coins

              1 cup vegetable or chicken broth

              2 tablespoons butter

              ½ cup heavy cream

              Salt, pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg

 

Method

Spätzle
Mix flour and salt in a bowl. Whisk in eggs and milk until smooth and thick. Let the batter rest for 15 minutes. Bring a large pot of salted water to a gentle boil. Press the batter through a spätzle maker or a colander with large holes. Cook until the noodles float, about two minutes. Drain and toss with butter.

Möhrengemüse
Simmer carrot coins in broth until tender. Drain, reserving a splash of liquid. Add butter, cream, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Cook gently until the sauce thickens and coats the carrots.

Jäger Gravy
Sauté mushrooms in butter until cooked thoroughly. Sprinkle in flour and cook briefly. Whisk in stock. Simmer until slightly thickened. Stir in cream and a pinch of paprika.

Schnitzel
Season cutlets with salt and pepper. Dredge in flour, dip in beaten egg, then coat with breadcrumbs. Fry in hot oil or clarified butter until golden brown on both sides, about three to four minutes per side. Drain on paper towels.

Serve
Place the schnitzel on warm plates and spoon the mushroom gravy over the top. Add generous servings of spätzle and Möhrengemüse. Garnish with fresh parsley if desired.

 


Shades of Night
Floy Owens 

Genre: Thriller
Date of Publication: 8/24/25
ISBN: 979-8262133963 
ASIN: B0FNN9D558
Number of pages: 222 
Word Count: 48,726 words
Cover Artist: Bryan Lauer 

Tagline: A Dark Psychological Serial Killer Thriller with Shocking Twists, Dark Secrets, and a Fearless Female Lead 

Book Description: 

When a successful bookstore owner is abducted by a meticulous serial killer, she finds herself in a sterile cage designed for torture. 

But as the captor attempts to break his victim, the roles of predator and prey begin to blur. 

In a deadly psychological game where survival means becoming the greater monster, she must confront her own dark history to not only escape, but to take everything from the man who trapped her.

Amazon

Excerpt:

The room is dim, shadows casting sinister shapes as Violet hangs suspended from the ceiling beam. The air is sharp, metallic. Her upper back is pierced by two thick, curved steel hooks, twisting cruelly into her flesh, skin stretched unnaturally taut. The thick rope threaded through the hooks connects her to the beam. Blood seeps in thin rivulets down her sides, creating jagged streaks that pool at her underwear’s waistband, before dropping to the cold concrete below.

Her legs are submerged in a steel basin, the stool beneath it unsteady. The water, tainted with rust and streaks of her blood, ripples faintly. Her arms dangle, hands still bound together. Her head tilts slightly forward, chin resting against her chest. She forces each breath to remain slow, even.

Erik crouches beside a car battery, his clean, collared flannel shirt tucked into dark jeans, sleeves rolled to the elbows. He tightens the clamps on the terminals, sparks leaping at the contact.

“You know, I’ve read every page of your life.” He lifts the jumper cables, taps them together, causing a spark to ignite. “Medical files, police reports, case manager notes. Every sad word.” He shakes his head, disgust feigned, setting the cables aside momentarily. “When you have money, nothing’s off limits, it’s sick really.” He moves to the basin, adjusting it beneath her feet. “I know exactly where you’ve been, what was done to you, who did it.” Leaning in, his voice drops, almost intimate. “Nothing about you is hidden from me.”

Violet’s lips curl in a half-smile, eyes sharp despite the pain. “Then you must know how all this will end.”

Erik holds her gaze for a beat, then lowers both jumper cables into the basin. Violet’s body seizes violently, legs kicking, sending ripples through the bloody water. The jolt rips through her, every nerve set on fire. Her jaw snaps shut, teeth grinding. There’s a rush of static in her ears, then nothing but blinding white. She bites her tongue to keep from crying out. In the haze, she thinks she hears Erik counting under his breath. Her back arches against the hooks, fresh blood weeping from the wounds. The water bubbles and hisses as the current surges.

As smoke fills the Cage and the pain recedes, Violet’s awareness drifts. For Erik, each session in the Cage is a key, unlocking a different memory he has constructed from her files. He pictures another house, another set of wounds, another day when everything was already broken.

He sees it as clearly as the files he read. She would have been younger then, thinner, eyes already trained on disaster. He pictures her entering a silent house, feeling the weight of what waits inside. It is not guesswork anymore. The details are always the same.

 

***

 

Twenty-One Years Ago

 

The house door creaks open. Violet steps inside, fifteen and all sharp angles, her backpack slipping from one shoulder. She doesn’t bother fixing it. The air inside is heavy with stillness, as if the house knew what it held and decided to stop breathing.

She does not call out. The house would not answer.

Dust drapes the furniture like snow. The living room is quiet, dark in places it never used to be. A coffee mug lies on its side beside the couch, cracked and forgotten. The blinds are crooked. No breeze. No motion.

Nothing waits to greet her.

Fifteen years old. She walks into a nightmare.

She steps further in, sneakers whispering across the worn floorboards. Her eyes scan the room like she’s been here before and expects what’s coming. Maybe she does. Girls like Violet don’t walk through life with surprises. They walk through patterns.

In the center of the room, her mother hangs.

The ceiling fan turns slowly, each rotation jerking her body just enough to keep the sound going.

Creak.

Creak.

Her legs are stiff, toes pointed downward. A bruise rings her throat, buried beneath the cord. Her dress has slipped from one shoulder. Her mouth is open.

The smell is subtle: sweet rot, sour perfume.

Her mother, tangled in her own mess.

Violet doesn’t cry. She doesn’t cover her mouth or run. She just watches the sway of the body. The way the fan keeps spinning, mechanical and obedient. Then, without a word, she walks past it. No glance back.

The kitchen has its own secrets.

Her father slouches in a chair by the table, neck limp, jaw slack. A bullet hole marks the center of his forehead like a forgotten dot on a test paper. The blood beneath him has dried into maroon shadows, seeping into the wood grain.

The table is chaos. A burned spoon. A twisted tourniquet. A cheap yellow lighter.

He never cleaned up. Never thought she’d come home early.

Her mother finally snapped. Maybe she couldn’t take the guilt anymore.

Violet crouches beside the body. She looks at his hands, still dirty beneath the nails. At the way one boot stayed on while the other sits overturned by the fridge. At the stubble that never grew evenly.

She doesn’t touch him.

Maybe Daddy spent too much money on junk.

She rises again.

Moves down the hall, light as breath, like she doesn’t want to wake whatever still lives in the walls. At the end of the hallway, she lowers herself to the floor. Her back presses against the floral wallpaper, now peeling. Knees drawn tight. Arms locked around them.

She doesn’t shake.

She doesn’t blink.

Or maybe she realized her main source of income was drying up.

The older the girl got, the less she was worth. Mommy shot Daddy dead, then strung herself up.

The house is still now, except for the soft tick of a clock and the distant, endless turn of the fan.

Violet breathes evenly. Her face is blank. Not numb. Blank. Numbness implies a feeling that once existed.

This is not grief. It is recognition.

A girl walks into a house and finds herself orphaned. And somewhere inside her, she knew it was coming.

Some part of her always knew.

 

 

 


About the Author:

Floy Owens writes stories about survival, obsession, and the ways people change when pushed past their limits. The debut novel, Shades of Night, is a dark psychological thriller that dives into the mind of both captor and captive. When not writing, Owens is usually plotting the next story, fueled by strong tea and a curiosity about what makes people tick.





Monday, September 15, 2025

Gail Z. Martin Playing with Yarn #Crafts #AuthorsandCrafts


People talk about storytelling as ‘telling a yarn’. Last Christmas, I began my adventure with the fuzzy type of yarn. I asked for easy crochet kits as a stress relief hobby. My family was happy to oblige. I ended up with an afghan kit and several Woobles. (Woobles are cute little crocheted animals designed to help beginners learn the fundamental stitches.)

My husband and co-author, Larry N. Martin, also took up crochet at the same time. When we do long trips in the car, he creates throws with very thick yarn. He’s made four so far. I’ve gotten one Wooble done and am working on the second. (Larry also graduated from Woobles to making amigurumi creatures.) 

Way back when I was a teenager, I had a couple of loom kits—one of them made pot holders and the other made scarves. 

I enjoyed creating things and found the repetition to be soothing. 

Since my chief achievement in Home Ec class was that I didn’t sew over my thumb with the machine, I figured knitting was a safer hobby. 

I don’t have a natural gift for this stuff, but I’m enjoying learning!



Times Change
Joe Mack Shadow Council Files 
Book Five
Gail Z. Martin and Larry N. Martin

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Falstaff Books
Date of Publication: July 23, 2025
ISBN: 979-8293995790
ASIN: B0DFDZ4S4T
Number of pages: 122
Word Count: 30,000

Cover Artist: GetCovers.com

Tagline: When you ask a god for favors, be careful what you wish for. You just might get it.

Book Description:

Joe Mack is back, solving cold cases that eluded Eliot Ness and kicking demon butt.

Josef Magarac was a brave man, a strong man, a hard-working immigrant who only wanted a better life for his family. Then he was murdered, and an ancient Slavic god brought him back to life, gave him new abilities, and a mission to protect those who can’t protect themselves. Now he's Joe Mack, immortal thanks to the Slavic god, and a champion against dark magic, demons, and things that go bump in the night.

Joe's previous collection of adventures spanned the Roaring Twenties and Prohibition. Now he's in the modern era, working with new partners and adjusting to a whole new century. But old cases have resurfaced, and demons never die. A supernatural serial killer has returned, and some of the evil Joe thought was done and dusted has returned to wreak havoc. It will take all of the supernatural abilities, wit, and will of Joe and his partners—past and present—to stop the dark forces once and for all. If they fail, it will unleash a wave of demonic vengeance, blood, and death unlike anything Cleveland has ever seen.

Times Change is a non-stop thrill ride full of paranormal action, found family, dark magic, and loyal friends.

Amazon     BN     Kobo       Apple

Excerpt 2:

She lit candles and seated herself across from me at a small table with a block-printed covering with protective sigils blind stitched into its complex pattern. The area was well-warded and protected with powerful magic. I’d learned a long time ago that Sicilian and Corsican witches had special talent, and I could feel the energy in the air as Mrs. Brandino settled into the chair and centered her magic.

“Take my hands.”

Delicate fingers closed around my meaty digits, feeling fragile in my grip. I noted the thin, crepey skin mottled with age spots that contrasted with my rough palms. I was far older, but she seemed ancient.

“Jack West and Sarah Grace McAllen Harringworth, your friend has come to speak with you.” She closed her eyes, and her features relaxed as she tranced to open the connection to the Beyond.

When she opened her eyes, I knew she had stepped to the back of her consciousness and allowed the spirit of Jack West to move to the forefront.

“Hiya, Joe. Been a while.” The voice was Mrs. Brandino’s, but the tone and inflection were pure Jack West.

“How’s life on the other side?”

She shrugged, capturing West’s mannerisms perfectly. “Still can’t play a harp for shit,” he joked. “What brings you here?”

“I finally finished the Moonville case—for good, this time.” I told him about the fight with the woman’s ghost and the railroad spirit and how I torched the tunnel and took the spike. “I think it’s finally done.”

“We thought that before,” West pointed out.

“I know. And for a while, things died down—I think it took a while for the spirits to power back up again. But this time, I really believe I broke what was holding them there.”

“Nice work,” West said. “Glad to know you’re still on the job. Those new partners working out okay?”

I had told him about Adrian and Jenna the last time I’d come to Mrs. Brandino, and while I knew West wouldn’t begrudge me mortal companionship, I think he hated to be excluded. While he’d never admit it or want me to join them in the hereafter, I think he missed our adventures.

Apparently in heaven there are no heists to bust.

“They’re not bad—for kids,” I admitted, even though I had figured out that my new partners were about the same age that West and Sarah Grace were when we worked together. “Pretty sharp, actually. But I miss hanging around like we used to.”

“Look at you, getting sentimental over Prohibition,” West teased. “You might miss us, but I bet you don’t miss the bathtub gin.”

He was right about that, and recalling the taste made me shudder.

“True. Is Sarah Grace floating around in the ether?”

“Tired of talking with me already?” West joked. “Yeah, she’s here. If you wrap up any more old cases, let us know. The afterlife is pretty boring.”

I felt the energy shift, and Sarah Grace’s presence moved to the forefront.

“Hello, Joe. Nice of you to drop by. What are you up to these days?” Damned if she didn’t sound just the same a hundred years after some of our best exploits.

“Still on the job, not lollygagging like you two. I’m cleaning up loose ends. Wrapped up the Moonville case—and I think the fix will stick.”

Her laugh was as infectious as I remembered. “Never a dull moment with you. Glad to hear it. How are you—really?”

Leave it to Sarah Grace to get to the heart of the matter. I shrugged, uncomfortable. “You know. Same old, same old.”

“Um-hum,” she replied, and even channeled through the medium I sensed her disapproval. In my mind’s eye, I imagined the tilt of her head and her skeptical expression. “Being immortal isn’t a free pass not to take care of yourself. You can have a purpose and still be happy sometimes.”

Even from beyond the grave, she had me dead to rights. Maybe that’s one of the reasons that West and Sarah Grace were so special to me. Our partnership morphed into deep friendship. While I had liked and respected all my partners over the years, some were closer to my heart than others. West and Sarah Grace would always be among my favorites.

“I’m happy when I solve cases.” I knew it was a weak comeback.

“Joe—you know what I mean,” she chided. “Even watchdogs chase a ball now and then.”

“Point taken. Fetch more, bark less?”

 

About the Authors: 

Gail Z. Martin
writes urban fantasy, epic fantasy, steampunk and more for Solaris Books, Orbit Books, Falstaff Books, SOL Publishing and Darkwind Press. Urban fantasy series include Deadly Curiosities and the Night Vigil (Sons of Darkness). Epic fantasy series include Darkhurst, the Chronicles Of The Necromancer, the Fallen Kings Cycle, the Ascendant Kingdoms Saga, and the Assassins of Landria. 

Together with Larry N. Martin, she is the co-author of Iron and Blood, Storm and Fury (both Steampunk/alternate history), the Spells Salt and Steel comedic horror series, the Roaring Twenties monster hunter Joe Mack Shadow Council series, and the Wasteland Marshals near-future post-apocalyptic series. As Morgan Brice, she writes urban fantasy MM paranormal romance, with the Witchbane, Badlands, Treasure Trail, Kings of the Mountain and Fox Hollow series. Gail is also a con-runner for ConTinual, the online, ongoing multi-genre convention that never ends.

Larry N. Martin
is the author of the new sci-fi adventure novel Salvage Rat, and the new portal fantasy series, The Splintered Crown, A Tankards and Heroes novel. He is the co-author (with Gail Z. Martin) of the Spells, Salt, and Steel: New Templar Knights series; the Steampunk series Iron and Blood; and a collection of short stories and novellas: The Storm and Fury Adventures set in the Iron and Blood universe. He is also the co-author (with Gail) of the Wasteland Marshals series and the Joe Mack - Shadow Council series from Falstaff Books.


Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dd5XLj    












Saturday, September 13, 2025

Free Read Armored Hours by Stephanie Hansen #Romantasy #MagicalRealism

Get it Free September 13- 17

Cable Girls meets Peaky Blinders meets Titanic



Armored Hours
Stephanie Hansen

The girls had forged a bond together like iron that could not be broken. Claudia, Kiersten, Lina, and Florian were on the brink of making history with their powerful feminist movement, but then they suddenly disappeared without a trace. Alexander was a desperate bootlegger who was willing to risk it all to search for them. 

Not only were they in cahoots with him to help smuggle feminist con-traband and forbidden booze, but Claudia had also unknowingly captivated his heart. He vowed to find them at any cost, but little did he know that their disappearance was part of a much bigger and sinister plot from the upper echelons of society. 

Set in 1920s Paris of the Plains, Armored Hours is a thrilling tale of love and mystery interwoven with hints of magical realism.

✨Light Romantasy set in the Prohibition Era
✨Strong Female Friendships
✨Magic Realism 
✨Mystery 
✨Found Family 


#Romantasy #MagicalRealism #FoundFamily #HistoricalFiction 
#ArmoredHours #FreeBook #FreeRead #KindleFreebie

Friday, September 12, 2025

Lakegrave School for Young Women by Lauren Carter #PoetryCorner


Nightmares
By Lauren Carter

(CW: child abuse)


You’re new here so let me help you.
Don’t bother hiding under your bed,
he will come no matter what you do.
Just try and keep one eye on the door
as the monster waits for the right moment.
It doesn’t matter if you say no more.
The monster won’t appear if you look
or maybe that’s just what we tell
ourselves. This is no story out of a book
for this monster wakes you and shakes you.

It doesn’t matter if you pretend to sleep-
playing make-believe is his favourite.
Just stay calm, don’t look and try to keep
still. Don’t scream as this won’t wake
her up and we cannot help you, no one can. 
Don’t squirm or fight or cry for crying makes
him laugh. Hold on tight to your teddy and pray
and plead he doesn’t hear you breathe heavy.
It doesn’t happen during the day,
so be patient and wait for tomorrow.

For then you will be safe.



Published in Songbirds and Sonnets


Lakegrave School for Young Women
Lauren Carter

Genre: Horror, Dark Academia, Historical Fiction
Date of Publication: 9th September 2025
ISBN: 9781739376444 
ASIN: B0F74BRMC3
Number of pages: 237
Word Count: 54k words
Cover Artist: Grim Poppy Designs

Tagline: Lakegrave is unlike any other school

Book Description: 

Here, we do not care where you are from or who you are. We care that you are women. And we care about your minds. 

Lakegrave is unlike any other school. Hidden in the mountains of Scotland, it only accepts one bright woman per specialist subject. With no teachers and no curriculum, the self-taught establishment offers its students the tools to expand their skillsets to then go onto being masters in their fields.

When Raven and her cousin Rowan are accepted, they are excited to refine their crafts and converse with fellow classmates.

That is until students go missing.

Some come back but they are not as they once were. Something is off about them. 
Something is misplaced.

So when fellow student Esme wants to investigate and invites Raven to join, they uncover that there’s much more to the school than they thought with chilling secrets kept tucked away in its history. But with ghosts stirring and the cohort decreasing, will any of them make it to graduation?

 

Excerpt:

There isn’t much known about Lakegrave School for Young Women due to its remote location and it being a new school, but it is the only school in the world known for its unique education style—it’s completely self-taught. There are no teachers, just one headmistress. The school only invites the best and brightest women from across the globe to study there for one year before being scouted to go on to their dream careers. This didn’t mean smart in absolutely everything but a genius in our own field.

That is the other unique thing—it also only invites one person per specialist subject.

That’s why Rowan and I were lucky enough to be accepted. Rowan is only just old enough to attend at one and twenty years of age; I, on the other hand, have two years on her. Luck was also on our side when we were encouraged to pursue different hobbies instead of the same, otherwise we wouldn’t have been accepted concurrently.

Leading up to the school, I can only make out the tops of the building as the hedge has overgrown so much. It’s as if the place has been neglected over the summer, if not over the years. Such an odd notion for a new educational establishment but, then again, it was something else before.

I reach the main gate and see a crest at the top. In the middle, there is a sprig of lavender and on each side of the shield are bees facing inward. This looks like it’s been cleaned recently.

Couldn’t say the same for the rest of the gate.

It looks like it once was black, but it is brown now due to the rust. I don’t want to touch it, so I nudge it open with my elbow and shut it again once I’m in.

It’s called a school, but it would be better off compared to a castle, just like every other boarding school that exists. The windows stretch tall and look like they are modelled after a church. Although it is a fairly new build, its appearance is like it has been designed as old-fashioned on purpose, fitting in with something from the 1600s rather than the 1800s. And it almost looks like it’s falling apart, the brickwork cracked and turning the walls into a darker colour rather than its usual sand. It is preposterously big for a school that doesn’t admit too many students. There is definitely some sort of beauty to the building but for some reason, even in the daytime, it appears a little ominous—as if the place is lifeless. It seems as though the garden has overtaken everything as greenery and moss is growing alongside the building. To the west of the school there are some greenhouses and to the east of the school is a church.

The ground crunches as I walk up to the building. There is a huge fountain which is bordered by the driveway on either side but appears not to work, and a huge statue coming out from the middle of it. I’m not that knowledgeable about Greek gods but I know it’s Aphrodite.

It seems fitting to have her standing guard over us.

I pause by the front door, already hearing voices coming from within, so I grip my violin case tighter and push the double doors inwards—letting them shut me away for the next year.


About the Author: 

Lauren (she/they) is a library assistant by day and writer by night. She is the author of WHEN THE DEMONS TAKE HOLD and YOUR DARLING DEATH. She has published several short stories including: ALIVE, JUST with The Horror Tree, THE CHILDREN OF OWL WILDS with Haunted Words Press, and THE SACRIFICES WE MAKE with Rooster Republic Press.