Jessica Bayliss Writes BLOG

Out Now: THE FIVE SENSES OF HORROR

6/21/2018

It's not every day that the editor of a small horror press randomly emails you and asks you to contribute to a nearly-complete anthology, but that's what happened to me. Eric Guignard, editor of Dark Moon Books, and author, was looking for a doctoral level psychologist who happens to write horror fiction. Could that have been any more perfect for me?

There's nothing I love more than when I get to mash up my two careers, and this was not only the most unexpected opportunity, but SO MUCH FUN! The book is called THE FIVE SENSES OF HORROR. First and foremost, let me talk about the other contributors. There are some horror hard hitters in this book. Fifteen stories, with three that represent one of the five senses. For a full list of titles and authors scroll down or click HERE. And the art. The art!!! Artist Nils Bross did hauntingly beautiful sketches throughout the book. This is not only a well thought out anthology, but it's so elegant with all those little touches I love--beautiful medallions at the start of each chapter, fancy fonts, and those sketches.

And I get to be IN it!

My part in it takes the form of six non-fictional essays on the psychobiology of horror. These include one general essay as a sort of intro to the book, followed by one shorter essay for each of the five sections, which are dedicated to each of the five senses. Researching and writing these was super fun, and I got to deepen my own knowledge of this topic too!

I can't wait for you to see the finished product, which will be available on July 9th, 2018. For more information on the book, click HERE.

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BROKEN CHORDS is now an award-winning book!

2/4/2018

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When I entered BROKEN CHORDS into this competition, I had zero expectations. Let's just say I've entered a couple book contests in my day. But, my book took an honorable mention! What a fabulous surprise! As this is a horror novella, I'm extra proud as genre fiction can sometimes get lost in the mix, and I love this book so much. (I know I'm a little biased.)

Get your copy of BROKEN CHORDS here (PAPERBACK and digital editions now available).

And don't forget, if you're in the Palm Beach, FL area on February 18th, come see me, four other debut authors, and the legendary R. L. Stine at Palm Beach Peril where we'll be doing a panel presentation followed by a book signing (my FIRST book signing! Squee!) I hope to see you there. Find out more about this event HERE.

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TEN AFTER CLOSING has a brand, shiny new cover (and I LOVE it!)

1/26/2018

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Sometimes, in the life of a book, the publisher decides to go back to the drawing board on the cover concept, even if the book hasn't been released yet. And that's what happened to my book, TEN AFTER CLOSING. I loved my old cover, but I LOVE my new cover. The artist is Kevin Tong, and he's FABULOUS!

So, here it is, the new cover for TEN AFTER CLOSING.

Pre-Order TEN AFTER CLOSING: http://bit.ly/TACBAYLS

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Come see me and R. L. Stine in Delray Beach FL on 2/18/18

1/22/2018

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Holy MOLY, I'm going to be on an author panel next month. And it's with R. L. Stine. I DEVOURED Fear Street books when I was a YA reader, and I still have a couple of my favorites on my shelf. I can't believe I'll get to meet one of the authors that inspired my writing and be part of a pane discussion with him and four other debut authors!

For more info, check out the Palm Beach Library Group page for the event. And I hope to see you there! I'll have swag, a special giveaway, and a TEASER for my upcoming release, TEN AFTER CLOSING.

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I've been promoted!

11/11/2017

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When author and founder of ALLEGORY Magazine, Ty Drago, invited me to be an associate editor, I never imagined how much I'd enjoy reading authors' work. The best part, though, is finding those fabulous stories and getting to share with an author that their story is being forwarded on to the next stage. It is almost as exciting typing those words to another writer as it is seeing those words written to me. And now, I've been promoted to Senior Editor. I look forward to many great issues of Allegory

So, if you've got short, speculative fiction (horror, sci-fi, fantasy) with compelling characters and strong narratives, we want them. For more information on our submission process and to read the latest issue, check us out at: http://www.allegoryezine.com/mainpage.htm.

And thanks to Ty for giving me this opportunity!

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Happy Book Birthday: BROKEN CHORDS, by me!

10/9/2017

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AHHH! BROKEN CHORDS is now out in the world! I can't even believe it. I started plotting the book two years ago, in preparation for NaNoWriMo in 2015. In fact, I specifically wrote it to meet requirements for a call from Leap Books. For a short time only, they'd take submissions from non-agented authors, but only for their Bloody Good Reads series. The books had to be stand-alone YA horror for Leap Books Shine, their novella line, so that's what I wrote. When I sent the story in, I was still a good month away from being accepted into the Pitch2Publication competition and around four months out from the day I signed with my fabulous agent. Needless to say, when editor, Judith Graves, send me an offer on this book, I was thrilled.

Buy BROKEN CHORDS

Amazon / Kobo / SmashWords

And here we are, literally two years after my brain first started churning around Lenny and Jeb's story, and BROKEN CHORDS is ready for readers. I am so excited for people to read this. I want to say a HUGE thank you to Judith and the other folks at Leap Books for making this such a beautiful book and such a wonderful experience.

Here's a little sneak peek for you.

Jeb’s voice ebbed and flowed, his fear growing and sending out seedlings of dread to take root in my own chest. He must have woken the entire camp by now. I fumbled open my tent flap, stumbled outside, and zipped it shut with trembling hands. When I turned around, I knew immediately why no one put a stop to Jeb’s calls.
He wasn’t in the normal world anymore.
Neither was I.
Despite not asking for it, something twisted and bitter in this universe had bestowed it anyway. We’d been transported to the astral plane. The world was bathed in dark beauty, like velvety gauze or some tranquil digital camera filter, making everything hazy and wavery with dim blue-white light. I could actually see the air – or matter or ether or whatever it was--that made up the world around me. When I waved my hand, contrails showed its swishing progress long after I’d ceased movement. Like, whatever I was made of in this form could interact with the very construction material holding this universe together. Or, maybe whatever I was made of in this form was the very construction material of this universe.
“Oh God,” I whispered.
That meant, behind me, within the tent I’d just fled, my body lay prone. Not in sleep, and not a trance. Not dead, but not really alive either.
An empty shell.
I stared at the dark green vinyl before finally getting up the nerve to look inside. My body lay on my air mattress, curled up as if I were merely sleeping. My chest rose and fell as my organs responded to signals from the most primitive part of my brain, which kept the basic functions of human life online even though the system user had abandoned the controls.
I breathed in time with my body. I wasn’t sure if I was really moving air around in my spectral form, but the reflex to carry out the action was strong, and it still felt soothing when I blew what might be nothing out of lungs that probably weren’t there anyway. I took another deep, fake breath and closed my eyes. My brain attempted to point out the ridiculousness of this – how I still felt normal even though I was nothing but a ghost now. A spasm of laughter escaped my throat, but I swallowed it down. If I let my mind think too hard about things like where? and what? and how?, I’d crack. Game over.
Instead, I chanted Jeb’s mantra: “Just go with it.” Then I turned to face the astral plane.

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I have TWO books available for pre-order (and TEN PAST CLOSING GETS A NEW NAME)

9/12/2017

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Today I found out that BOTH my upcoming books are available for pre-order. You can now purchase TEN AFTER CLOSING (notice the new name?) and BROKEN CHORDS. Click the images and see for yourself!

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Out Now: THE FIVE SENSES OF HORROR

BROKEN CHORDS is now an award-winning book!

Get your copy of BROKEN CHORDS here (PAPERBACK and digital editions now available).

TEN AFTER CLOSING has a brand, shiny new cover (and I LOVE it!)

Come see me and R. L. Stine in Delray Beach FL on 2/18/18

I've been promoted!

Happy Book Birthday: BROKEN CHORDS, by me!

Buy BROKEN CHORDS

Here's a little sneak peek for you.

I have TWO books available for pre-order (and TEN PAST CLOSING GETS A NEW NAME)

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