Everybody loves a hero. Sometimes they are in short supply, but if we look closely, we’ll always find one, somewhere. Or of course you could simply read this wonderful collection of stories from Pride Publishing, including stories from some well known authors.
Catherine Curzon – The Angel on the Northern Line
When I sat down to write The Angel on the Northern Line, I was lucky enough to experience something of an epiphany. I woke up in the middle of the night with a head full of angels and heroes, and an image of a gentle snowfall over 1950s London. It was an impression of a world where heroes had long since ceased to make headlines. I wanted to write a story about a man who had seen it all and then some and who, far from feeling blessed by superpowers, just wanted to forget they existed. Yet how would a retired superhero like Christian Winter fare when faced with a life or death decision? Even more tantalising was just what might happen in grey London when a Scottish angel with a streak of wildness came bursting into Christian’s ordered, mundane life. The Angel on the Northern Line answers those questions. It brings 1850s England back to life and takes readers on a journey from a rush-hour tube train to an iconic building and a very famous last indeed. It is a tale of second chances and Scottish angels, of tweed-clad superheroes and the unguessable nature of fate.
Elizabeth Coldwell – Behind the Mask
When I started planning Behind The Mask, I immediately knew the setting I wanted for the story. It had to be a fictional city in the United States. The one I’m most familiar with in a superhero context is Gotham City, where Batman dishes out his unique blend of justice. Gotham, of course, is heavily inspired by New York, particularly the lower part of Manhattan where the buildings have a unique look, with pointed spires and ornate facades.
New York was originally founded by the Dutch when they colonised America, and in those days, it was known as New Amsterdam. So, as Gotham is the nickname for New York, I decided to borrow the nickname the residents of Amsterdam have for their own city – Mokum, which is a word of Jewish origin meaning “home”. So the events of Behind The Mask are played out in Mokum City, where the corrupt mayor, Felix Van der Sloot, has banished superheroes because he sees them as a threat to his administration. But not everyone is happy with that state of affairs – in particular, Christopher Chase, who has grown up with superpowers he has never been allowed to use. It will only take one event to change that situation, and when it does, Christopher will finally be able to do what is right both for the memory of his dead superhero father and for the people of Mokum City.
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Helena Maeve – Riptide
Sometimes, all that matters is being in the right place at the right time. Rami knows the storm should have killed him. Very much alive, though slightly waterlogged, he can’t shake the feeling that he didn’t survive on his own merits. He had help. When a person of interest in the legal matter he’s been hired to untangle reveals a strong resemblance to the man who may have saved his life, venturing into uncharted waters becomes the least of Rami’s problems. A loner living in the shadow of a once-great house, Malcolm is a hard man to pin down. His seemingly impossible feats of heroism have certainly saved lives, but the people of Envern, Maine, are only too eager to allege he had something to do with his employer’s death. Leading a secretive existence under a cloud of suspicion should scupper Malcolm’s appeal, but Rami has secrets of his own and his relationship with danger has always been complicated.
Jambrea Jo Jones – Saving the Day
One of the questions that gets tossed around a lot is, what super power would you want if you were a superhero. I usually have a hard time deciding. You know, like it would really happen if I said which power I wanted. Usually I say flying or being able to read someone’s mind. Oh! Or teleportation. You know, never pay for a plane ticket again! I never really read comics, but I do love me a good superhero movie. The battle of good against evil. When a call went out for a superhero story, I really had to think about what powers my guys would have. See, I wanted to write about twins with powers. Did I want them to have the same power or something different? Should they be related in what they had? The call was for everyday heroes. Not like the ones you see on the big screen. Just an everyday Joe who wanted to help people. In the end, I picked two different powers. And with powers come consequences. It isn’t all sunny and happy. You have to take the good with the bad. The main guy in my story had a super powerful gift. He doesn’t see it as a gift because of the consequences. What type of hero would you be? How would you deal with the consequences?
Sarah Masters – Flying with the Stars
My story for the superhero anthology started off as one about witches! It sat in a file for a long time because I felt it was going nowhere. Then the call came in for superhero tales, and I remembered the witch manuscript sitting there gathering dust. Suddenly, what I had written became the basis for Flying with the Stars. Turned out it just needed a new direction for it to gain wings. I was glad—I’d been sad at potentially losing around 10K of words. With some serious tinkering, some deletion, and a lot of addition, my story finally became something that resembled a rounded piece. I hadn’t considered writing about superheroes before, but now that I have, I’d love to do so again. There’s something about thinking of what special trait a superhero can have that stretches the imagination to the limit. It was a fun experience—light-hearted, something I don’t write much as Sarah Masters, who is usually dark and murderous. So not only did I veer from my usual characters and write about a superhero, I also veered from my go-to genre and style. Refreshing yet rewarding. I hope you enjoy Flying with the Stars as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Lucy Felthouse – Unseen
The fabulous folks at the London Transport Museum have a venture called Hidden London, which enables members of the public to go on guided tours to explore cool places they wouldn’t normally get to see. Since they launched, I’ve visited an abandoned Tube station, and a deep-level shelter built to keep people safe during air raids in WWII. Later in the year I’m going to see the disused Tube station at Highgate. Naturally, I’ve been fascinated by the two tours I’ve done so far, and am very much looking forward to the next one. What I wasn’t expecting, however, when I visited the deep-level shelter, was for it to inspire a story. Although I visited the shelter at Clapham South, there are several more—eight, to be precise, with two that were started but never finished—dotted throughout London, and they now have lots of different uses. One, of course, being open to the public. The others are being used as secure archives and even as farms for salad crops (yes, really!). That led my brain to wonder what else—in fiction—they could possibly be used for. My brain provided the following answer: a secret underground laboratory. An unrelated visit to the Chancery Lane area—which also happens to have one of the shelters in the vicinity—provided the backdrop to my story. What followed was a writing process which involved me using my experience in the deep-level shelter, my exploration of the area, Google, Google Maps, TripAdvisor and high-end estate agents’ websites to create a somewhat bonkers story about a medical scientist who accidentally discovers the formula for invisibility. I don’t want to say too much about what follows and give the game away, but let’s just say I had a lot of fun writing the story, and what makes it even more special to me is the fact I never expected my underground adventure to find its way into my writing!
I hope you’ll check out the anthology!
Happy Reading.
https://www.pride-publishing.com/book/i-need-a-hero
Anthology Authors
Catherine Curzon
Catherine a royal historian who writes on all matters 18th century at www.madamegilflurt.com. Her work has been featured on HistoryExtra.com, the official website of BBC History Magazine and in publications such as Explore History, All About History, History of Royals and Jane Austen’s Regency World. She has provided additional research for An Evening with Jane Austen at the V&A and spoken at venues including the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, Lichfield Guildhall, he National Maritime Museum and Dr Johnson’s House. Catherine holds a Master’s degree in Film and when not dodging the furies of the guillotine, she lives in Yorkshire atop a ludicrously steep hill. She is the author of multiple works of fiction and non-fiction. Her books, Life in the Georgian Court, Kings of Georgian Britain, The Mistress of Blackstairs, The Star of Versailles, and The Crown Spire, are available now.
Find Catherine here:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Madame-Gilflurt/583720364984695?ref=br_rs
https://twitter.com/madamegilflurt
https://plus.google.com/+MadameGilflurt
https://uk.pinterest.com/madamegilflurt/
https://www.instagram.com/catherinecurzon/
Elizabeth Coldwell
Elizabeth is a multi-published author and editor whose stories have appeared in a number of best-selling anthologies. She has written novels in a variety of different genres, from paranormal to BDSM and contemporary romance. She is the former editor of the UK edition of Forum magazine and the proud winner of an International Leather Award. When she is not busy writing, she is an avid supporter of Rotherham United Football Club and can be regularly found on the terraces at weekends, cheering her boys to victory (hopefully!).
Find Elizabeth here:
http://elizabethcoldwell.wordpress.com
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2896146.Elizabeth_Coldwell
Helena Maeve
Helena Maeve has always been a globe trotter with a fondness for adventure, but only recently has she started putting to paper the many stories she’s collected in her excursions. When she isn’t writing erotic romance novels, she can usually be found in an airport or on a plane, furiously penning in her trusty little notebook.
Find Helena here: https://twitter.com/helenamaeve
Jambrea Jo Jones
Jambrea wanted to be the youngest romance author published, but life impeded the dreams. She put her writing aside and went to college briefly, then enlisted in the Air Force. After serving in the military, she returned home to Indiana to start her family. A few years later, she discovered yahoo groups and book reviews. There was no turning back. She was bit by the writing bug. She enjoys spending time with her son when not writing and loves to receive reader feedback. She’s addicted to the internet so feel free to email her anytime.
Find Jambrea here:
https://www.facebook.com/JambreaJoJones
https://www.facebook.com/groups/565548900226323/
Sarah Masters
Sarah is a multi-published author in three pen names writing several genres. She lives with her husband, youngest daughter, and a cat in England. She writes at weekends and is a cover artist/head of art in her day job. In another life she was an editor. Her other pen names are Natalie Dae and Geraldine O’Hara. Sarah also co-authors with Jaime Samms, and as Natalie Dae she co-authors with Lily Harlem under the name Harlem Dae.
Find Sarah here:
https://www.pride-publishing.com/index.php?route=product/author/info&author_id=221
Lucy Felthouse
Lucy is the award-winning author of erotic romance novels Stately Pleasures (named in the top 5 of Cliterati.co.uk’s 100 Modern Erotic Classics That You’ve Never Heard Of, and an Amazon bestseller), Eyes Wide Open (winner of the Love Romances Café’s Best Ménage Book 2015 award, and an Amazon bestseller) and The Persecution of the Wolves. Including novels, short stories and novellas, she has over 160 publications to her name. She owns Erotica For All, and is one eighth of The Brit Babes. Find out more about her writing at http://lucyfelthouse.co.uk, or on Twitter or Facebook. Sign up for automatic updates on Amazon or BookBub. Subscribe to her newsletter and get a free eBook: http://www.subscribepage.com/lfnewsletter
Find Lucy here:
http://lucyfelthouse.co.uk/published-works/i-need-a-hero/
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34887552-i-need-a-hero
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