I was also delighted to learn that the second book of the series will be free to download from Amazon for one day only - Friday, August 25th! Grab yourself a copy as soon as possible.
Meet Connie Corcoran Wilson
Connie (Corcoran) Wilson taught composition at 6 IA/IL colleges and wrote for 5 newspapers. She currently writes for 6 blogs, was named 2008 Content Producer of the Year by Associated Content (2009), Midwestern Writing Center Writer of the Year (March 30, 2010), received the Illinois Women's Press Association Silver Feather Award on June 6, 2012, and has received numerous E-Lit Gold Medal awards for her works, including the first book in The Color of Evil series. She currently is a Featured Contributor for Yahoo, reviewing movies, television, entertainment and politics.
A graduate of the University of Iowa, Berkeley, Western Illinois University, Northern Illinois University and the University of Chicago, she was film and book critic for the Quad City Times during the 70’s and 80’s. Her (Jan., 2011) nonfiction release It Came from the ‘70s: From The Godfather to Apocalypse Now consists of 50 reviews written during the seventies, with 76 photos, major cast and interactive trivia.
Connie’s continuing short story collection, Hellfire and Damnation, stories focused on the 9 Circles of Hell described in Dante's Inferno will soon have a third installment. Her screenplay based on her novel Out of Time was a winner in the 2007 Writer’s Digest competition.
In addition to interviewing Kurt Vonnegut, William F. Nolan, David Morrell, Joe Hill, Frederik Pohl, Jon Land, John Irving and Anne Perry for print and online publications, Connie taught for 33 years, founded and was CEO of 2 businesses (Sylvan Learning Center #3301 and Prometric Testing Center #3301), has a son (Scott) and a daughter (Stacey) born 19 years apart, is married 45 years to husband, Craig. Her twin granddaughters, Ava and Elise, who appear on the cover of her humorous book of essays, Laughing Through Life, turned four on January 11, 2013.
Length: 124 pages
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Hellfire and Damnation Blurb:
Hellfire and Damnation II by Connie Corcoran Wilson (2012)
Hellfire and Damnation is a series of short stories (some based on true stories) organized around Dante's Inferno and the 9 circles of Hell. As William F. Nolan (Logan's Run, Nightworlds) put it, "Her frame for this collection is unique: stories built around Dante's 9 circles of hell, a unifying concept that is classically fresh. Many of these hellish tales are based on truth, amplified into fiction. Her 4 stories set along Route 66 from Missouri through California are all true ghost stories. The final statements of convicted prisoners on Death Row, as they await execution in Georgia, provide the dialogue for the story that takes us through the Gates of Hell, "Hotter than Hell."
Scott Edelman (Sci Fi Weekly) put it this way "Connie (Corcoran) Wilson puts her characters through Hell in Hellfire and Damnation, and with her horrific stories, takes me along to places I did not want to go." Gary Braunbeck (Coffin County, Far Dark Fields) said, Hellfire and Damnation marks her not so much as a writer to watch, but one to watch out for. Exploring the 9 levels of Dante's Inferno via contemporary settings and sensibilities, and the sins punished therein, this collection veers from sinister noir (Going Through Hell) to the bizarrely whimsical (Amazing Andy, the Wonder Chicken) to the outright, no-holds-barred horrific. Never have the 9 Circles of Hell been so much fun. I had a blast following Wilson on her tour of the Inferno, and you will, as well."
M. J. Turner of Dark Scribe Magazine said, "A unique concept binds the tales in Connie Corcoran Wilson's short story collection Hellfire and Damnation. Unified by the theme of Dante's Inferno and its 9 Circles of Hell, each story corresponds to the sin represented by the circle in which it appears and each takes readers deeper into the bowels of Hell...Subjects of many of the tales in the collection seem ripped straight from the headlines, and Wilson's cool and matter-of-fact style serves only to make the stories more disturbing."
Scott Edelman (Sci Fi Weekly) put it this way "Connie (Corcoran) Wilson puts her characters through Hell in Hellfire and Damnation, and with her horrific stories, takes me along to places I did not want to go." Gary Braunbeck (Coffin County, Far Dark Fields) said, Hellfire and Damnation marks her not so much as a writer to watch, but one to watch out for. Exploring the 9 levels of Dante's Inferno via contemporary settings and sensibilities, and the sins punished therein, this collection veers from sinister noir (Going Through Hell) to the bizarrely whimsical (Amazing Andy, the Wonder Chicken) to the outright, no-holds-barred horrific. Never have the 9 Circles of Hell been so much fun. I had a blast following Wilson on her tour of the Inferno, and you will, as well."
M. J. Turner of Dark Scribe Magazine said, "A unique concept binds the tales in Connie Corcoran Wilson's short story collection Hellfire and Damnation. Unified by the theme of Dante's Inferno and its 9 Circles of Hell, each story corresponds to the sin represented by the circle in which it appears and each takes readers deeper into the bowels of Hell...Subjects of many of the tales in the collection seem ripped straight from the headlines, and Wilson's cool and matter-of-fact style serves only to make the stories more disturbing."
Length: 170 pages
Purchase your copy from Amazon!
Hellfire and Damnation II Blurb:
Hellfire and Damnation II by Connie (Corcoran) Wilson is another tour of the 9 Circles of Hell described in Dante's Inferno. It picks up where the first collection of short stories (2011, www.HellfireandDamnationTheBook.com) left off, using the framing device of the sins punished at each of the 9 Circles of Hell in Dante's Inferno.
Winner of the (IWPA) Silver Feather award, sequel to the E-Lit Gold Medal award winner Hellfire and Damnation, Hellfire and Damnation II as a tour of Dante's Inferno doesn't require that you have read the first collection of short stories, which also illustrated the sins punished at each of the 9 Circles of Hell. There are no recurring characters, but there are 11 short stories, accompanying illustrations and a "From the Author" section explaining the inspiration or each story.
As 5-time Stoker winner Gary Braunbeck said: "I really don't know how she managed to do it, but Wilson surpasses her previous Hellfire and Damnation collection with its sequel. Her writing is stronger, streamlined, and often lyrical, despite the nastiness her words describe. This is another impressive collection of tales from a writer I could very well learn to hate if she gets much better. Seriously, Connie, can't you write just one stinker so the rest of us will feel a little bit better?"
New York Times best-selling author Jon Land, the author of the Caitlin Strong series says: "Connie (Corcoran) Wilson's Hellfire and Damnation II is a remarkable collection of somber, noirish, flat-out scary and altogether satisfying stories that seek to find hope in a dark world that defies it. Her subtle irony and penchant for finding terror in the least expected places will generate comparisons to Stephen King and Ray Bradbury, with just a hint of Philip K. Dick thrown in. But don't be fooled: Wilson has a wondrous voice in her own right and her tight, twisty tales establish her as a force to be reckoned with."
Nate Kenyon, award-winning author of Diablo: The Order and Day One said: "Take a twisted ride through Hell and back with Connie (Corcoran) Wilson's Hellfire and Damnation II.....Frozen corpses, homicidal authors and sociopathic presidential candidates just scratch the surface of this inspired collection. Don't miss it!"
Terrie Leigh Relf, author of The Waters of Nyr and co-author, with Henry Lewis Sanders, of Blood Journey and The Ancient One said, "Whether Connie (Corcoran) Wilson has been visited by Dante's spirit or eavesdropping by Hell's confessionals, Hellfire and Damnation II definitely delivers on its title. There is a fine line between good and evil within these pages. A very fine line. Be careful that you don't teeter into the abyss. From a Norwegian army deserter trapped in Limbo within the Colorado ice to parents pondering the sale of their organs to fund their college-bound son, these stories abound with life's - and death's - ironies."
Brian Pinkerton, author of Rough Cut: "Connie Wilson's new short story collection Hellfire and Damnation II sends the reader spiraling down Dante's 9 Circles of Hell with devilish twists and turns of time and place, across eleven superb short stories."
If you enjoy scary short stories that will linger long after you've finished reading them, this is the book for you.
Hellfire and Damnation III by Connie Corcoran Wilson (2015)
Length: 120 pages
Purchase your copy from Amazon!
Hellfire and Damnation III Blurb:
Hellfire and Damnation III is a third tour of the 9 Circles of Hell described in Dante’s Inferno. Each of the 9 stories illustrate one of the crimes or seven deadly sins punished at that level of Hell.
This third installment in the award-winning series has a large number of stories substantially based on true life events - 7 out of 9. This adds a sense of authenticity to their engrossing plots. Whether the tale centers on a new species of spider or a crazed Satanist urging a mentally challenged young man to commit murder, readers will experience stories of Limbo, lust, gluttony, avarice and prodigality, wrath and sullenness, heresy, the violent, the fraudulent and treachery.
Settings range from New Zealand to Washington state to the Midwest. Each story contains an illustration that helps anchor the setting in the reader’s mind. Cover art for this freaky horror collection is by World Famous Artist Vincent Chong.
May you read well and often
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