Beyond the Wail Blog Tour: A.F. Stewart

What is it about fear and the unknown that pulls so passionately at the human heart? Perhaps we are drawn not to the darkness itself, but to the resolution, the overcoming of what we most deeply dread. After all, the more terrible the struggle, the greater the victory when it comes at last. Presented in this anthology are twelve remarkable stories of the darkness that overshadows us, and the resolution that may be found beyond them. They are stories of fear and oppression, but ultimately stories of hope, stories that will take you BEYOND THE WAIL.

The Xchyler Publishing Blog Tour continues today with author A.F. Stewart. A.F. Stewart was born and raised in Nova Scotia, Canada, and still calls it home. The youngest in a family of seven children, she has always had an overly creative mind and an active imagination. She is fond of good books (especially science ficton/fantasy), action movies, sword collecting, and oil painting. Ms. Stewart is an indie author with several published novellas and short story collections in the dark fantasy and horror genres, with a few side trips into poetry and non-fiction. She has a great interest in history and mythology, often working themes into her books and stories.


Her story is "The Weeping Lady". Eva Douglas must face her mother issues, past and present, when the disappearance of her sister forces a confrontation with a terrifying ghost. Not to give too much away here, but Stewart makes use of her love of history and mythology when she uses a familiar ghost story in folklore to build this unique story. I really enjoyed it, and you will too!


Here are some questions for the author:

1. How did you come up with the concept of your story?

I’ve always loved ghost stories, so that’s what I decided on when I went to write my paranormal tale. And since the submission theme of the Beyond the Wail anthology was “Losers Weepers”, the the La Llorona, or “The Weeping Woman” ghost story seemed an ideal place to start. I also threw in some inspiration from the eerie tales of the “White Lady”, an oft repeated ghost phenomenon. I tweaked a few details of the original tale, added some family drama, and I had a story.

2. How did you come up with the title?

The title was simple, I combined the names of the two ghost legends. I put “Weeping Woman” and “White Lady” together, and viola, I had The Weeping Lady.

3. What is your preferred writing genre?

I love writing fantasy, preferably darker tales bordering on horror. The Weeping Lady is actually tamer and slightly more upbeat than much of what I write. Although, it is still rather dark.

4. Who is your favorite author? Who has most influenced your work?

I have two favourite authors, Neil Gaiman and Guy Gavriel Kay. They are both exquisite writers and masters of storytelling. I adore their work and refuse to choose just one.

My biggest influence, though, is Ray Bradbury. His short stories warped my little child brain and imprinted the love of the written word on my grey cells forever.

5. What's up next for you?

I have several stories in the submission process for anthologies, including one for the charity anthology, Christmas Lites V. Plus, I have two novels in various stages of creation, a steampunk adventure book, called Racing the Hellfire Club, and a fantasy novel, The Prophecy of Seven. And there’s always a chance of another poetry book showing up in the near future.

Just for fun nerd list:

Star Wars or Star Trek?

Both. And yes, you can love both.

Hunger Games or Divergent?

Neither. Not a big YA fan.

James Bond or Jack Ryan?

Jack Ryan, definitely. I’m a big Tom Clancy fan.

Sherlock: Robert Downey, Jr. or Benedict Cumberbatch?

As much as I adore Robert Downey, Jr., Benedict Cumberbatch has the edge in the Sherlock department.

Spock: Leonard Nimoy or Zachary Quinto?

Leonard Nimoy. Part of me still sees Zachary Quinto as Sylar from Heroes

X-Men or Avengers?

Probably the Avengers, but it’s a tight race.

Aliens or Predators?

Not big on either.  

Minions or Penguins?

I love them both, although Pinky and the Brain have top spot in my heart.  

Batman or Superman?

Batman, always and forever.

Harry Potter or Pirates of the Caribbean?

Pirates, of course. Pass the rum, boys.

Beatles or Rolling Stones?

Neither. I’d rather listen to The Doors.

Peter Jackson or James Cameron?

Peter Jackson. I was a fan before LOTR.

Steven Spielberg or George Lucas?

Lucas, but that’s just because of the original Star Wars trilogy.

Vampires or Werewolves?

Probably Vampires, but I like them both.

LARP or MORPG?

Neither really, but I’ve always wanted to LARP.

Find out more about A.F. Stewart at both of her blogs: http://afallon.bravesites.com/

and http://afstewartblog.blogspot.ca/. You can also find her on Twitter and Facebook

VERY important, make sure you enter our rafflecopter contest!  Each one of these prizes is specific to the stories, and there are some pretty cool ones.  We're also giving away free books!  Don't miss out!  

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Check out the other upcoming spots on our blog tour, and visit past tour stops:  

Book Release Blog Tour

Featured Author: Danielle E. Shipley
	Saturday, October 10, 2015 Are you Afraid of the Dark? John's Writing
Featured Author: Alex McGilvery
	Sunday, October 11, 2015 Ash Krafton: Emotion Between the Lines Scott E. Tarbet, Author Writer's Law of Motion
Featured Author: T.N. PAYNE
	Monday, October 12, 2015 Author Sarah Hunter Hyatt Notes from Author Ginger C. Mann
Featured Author: Ginger C. Mann
	Tuesday, October 13, 2015 L.K. McIntosh J S Brown Fairies & Pirates
Featured Author: L.K. McIntosh
	Wednesday, October 14, 2015 Rampant Games Scotty Watty Doodle All The Day Terra Luft — View From the Crystal Ball
Featured Author: Jay Barnson
	Thursday, October 15, 2015 A Storyteller's Journey Creativity from Chaos Christine Haggerty
Featured Author: A. F. Stewart
	Friday, October 16, 2015 Tales by Julie Perpetual Chaos of a Wandering Mind Alas, Earwax
Featured Author: Amanda Banker
	Saturday, October 17, 2015 Sebastian Bendix Alex Campbell Semi Short chic
Featured Author: Julie Barnson
	Sunday, October 18, 2015 The Ink Caster The Road to Nowhere
Featured Author: Sebastian Bendix
	Monday, October 19, 2015 The J. Aurel Guay Archive :DandiFluff... OriginiquEquanimity
Featured Author: Tirzah Duncan
	Tuesday, October 20, 2015 Alex McGilvery's World A.M.Harte In The Spotlight
Featured Author: F.M. Longo
	Wednesday, October 21, 2015 Ever On Word The Cult of Me Cobblestone Scribe

Beyond the Wail

I am thrilled to announce the release of my very first published story!  I am featured in the paranormal anthology Beyond the Wail along with my husband, Jay and ten other writers!  This was a contest hosted by Xchyler Publishing and I decided to write something- since ghost stories are my thing!  To my amazement, they liked my story, and it has been amazing working with writers and editors.  I have learned so much, and it has been a lot of fun!

My story is called Go Gentle. It's the story of a young musician who uses a magic violin to stop a string of fatal accidents on a lonely mountain road.   I did a lot of research for this to weave in folklore on violins.  It's a ghost story that talks about love and letting go.

SO!  Check it out, buy the book, read the book, PLEASE review the book!

You can buy the book at Amazon right here:  Beyond The Wail


There's going to be an AMAZING blog tour involved with this release!  Check the schedule and visit the blogs of all the authors.  There will be a new giveaway every day, and you can win some pretty cool prizes- including my ghost story cd!

Time to get your spooky on!


Here's the blog tour schedule.  Make sure you enter the contest to win today's prize!

Book Release Blog Tour

Featured Author: Danielle E. Shipley
	Saturday, October 10, 2015   Are you Afraid of the Dark? John's Writing Spreading the Writer's Word
Featured Author: Alex McGilvery
	Sunday, October 11, 2015   Ash Krafton: Emotion Between the Lines Scott E. Tarbet, Author Writer's Law of Motion
Featured Author: T.N. PAYNE
	Monday, October 12, 2015   Melissa McShane, Author Sarah's Secret Stash Notes from Author Ginger C. Mann
Featured Author: Ginger C. Mann
	Tuesday, October 13, 2015   L.K. McIntosh J S Brown Fairies & Pirates
Featured Author: L.K. McIntosh
	Wednesday, October 14, 2015   Rampant Games Scotty Watty Doodle All The Day Terra Luft — View From the Crystal Ball
Featured Author: Jay Barnson
	Thursday, October 15, 2015   A Storyteller's Journey Creativity from Chaos Christine Haggerty
Featured Author: A. F. Stewart
	Friday, October 16, 2015   Tales by Julie Perpetual Chaos of a Wandering Mind Anna Winter
Featured Author: Amanda Banker
	Saturday, October 17, 2015   Sebastian Bendix Alex Campbell Semi Short chic
Featured Author: Julie Barnson
	Sunday, October 18, 2015   The Ink Caster The Road to Nowhere
Featured Author: Sebastian Bendix
	Monday, October 19, 2015   The J. Aurel Guay Archive :DandiFluff...
Featured Author: Tirzah Duncan
	Tuesday, October 20, 2015   Alex McGilvery's World A.M.Harte
Featured Author: F.M. Longo
	Wednesday, October 21, 2015   Ever On Word The Cult of Me

Ghost Stories in the Gloaming

On October first, I got dressed up in my favorite gothic black costume, and joined my husband in a drive up the canyon to the first Halloween event of the season:  Ghost Stories in the Gloaming.  

This was an event planned by Alan Macfarlane, who loves ghost stories with a passion, so much, in fact, that he decided to form a facebook group and plan an annual event where people could come and just share ghost stories.  

It was held at a very nice outdoor pavilion which was decorated with electric candles, black ribbons and feathers, skeletons, and baby doll heads.  It was both elegant and creepy in my favorite kind of way.  Food was set out for snacking- bags of popcorn and candy, and beautifully decorated donuts on platters.  Other guests brought things to add to the pile.  There was water and hot chocolate served in black cups.  

As twilight or the “gloaming” descended, the stories began.  There was a lovely set up with light sources and sound systems.  Stories were read or told.  Two stories were original pieces, read aloud.  They were good choices. One storyteller told an Irish tale about Stingy Jack, the origin of the jack-o-lantern stories.   Some of my favorite classics were shared, The Cremation of Sam McGee, and H.P. Lovecraft’s The Outsider.  

I was the final performer, which was quite the honor.  I told the “Room in the Tower” by E.F. Benson.  It’s a vampire story with a lovely creepy moment at the end.  By this time it was really dark, and everybody had spent the last couple of hours absorbing ghost story after ghost story.  They were ready for a good shiver to send them home.  I think I succeeded.  

The hosts of the event were so kind. They prepared well, and threw a classy party.  This is exactly my favorite thing for Halloween.  To get together and tell scary stories.   It beats out the horror movies, the haunted houses, the parties with games and music, all of it.  Just a quiet time where we can all get together and tell stories that make us look over our shoulders as we walk to the car in the darkness.  Maybe check the back seat of the car very carefully to make sure that nothing is lurking behind us.  There’s nothing better.     

I’m looking forward to next year!  

For more information, join the Ghost Story Group on Facebook.

This is Brian telling the story of Stingy Jack- complete with Jack-o-lantern carved turnip!