I'm back with more news, info and the chance for you to win a cool new eReader, among other prizes! Let's jump right into it.
The Possessed eBook Is Now Available for Pre-Order!
Actually, it's been available for a while, but since it happened after that last newsletter, I wasn't able to tell you until now. You can now pre-order Possessed in several countries on many different websites. For the low, low price of $3.99 US (and whatever that translates to in many other currencies), you too can be sure the book will be delivered wirelessly to you the moment it's released.
Where are the Pre-Order Links?
Right here! Note that regardless of country, the book is in English. All of these editions are identical. Not sure where to pre-order? I hate to say it, but Amazon helps me the most by far.
- Amazon US
- Amazon CA
- Amazon UK
- Amazon AU
- Additional Amazon Countries Here – 90+% of my audience is in the four countries above, but if you want to buy in France, or India, or Brazil, and several other countries, you can, and I would love for you to do so!
- Barnes & Noble (US but I think you can buy eBooks there from other countries, too)
- Smashwords (Global)
- Apple Books (Global)
- Kobo (Global)
- Bookshop.org (US?)
- Books2Read (Global)
- Vivlio (France)
- Thalia.de (Germany)
Additionally, the print edition, a gorgeous 6"x9" trade paperback, will be available via Amazon, but they don't do pre-orders for print. I'll also be taking requests for signed copies soon. I'll let you know.
Why Pre-Order?
Good question! There are two main reasons, really. The first is so you don't forget to buy it when it comes out, but that's probably not going to happen since of course I'll send another newsletter when it's available. The second, and one that would really, really help me, is that Amazon counts all pre-orders as sales on the date of release, meaning that if a book's been pre-ordered a bunch, then it shoots up to the top of the sales charts on its release day. This can have a huge impact on additional sales, as curious people who've never heard of me before check out the book.
So if you've got the four bucks, and you want to help this book be a success, please consider pre-ordering Possessed right now!
Possessed Giveaway
Would you like a Kobo Libra Colour eReader, or $230 donated to your charity of choice if you already have an eReader you're happy with? How about some Amazon gift cards? What about a free signed copy of Possessed?
You can win all of those things! Just click the image (or the link) for more info! No purchase is necessary; you can earn entries into the giveaway by doing various social media activities. Important: one of the ways to enter is to subscribe to this newsletter. You can still do that! Just enter the same email you're already using. You'll get the points and you will not be double-emailed.
https://cwbwriting.com/posts/2026.05-possessed-giveaway/
Possessed - Meet the Characters: Shannon and Matthias
Last month we met the protagonist Amber and her demon friend(?) Jayuul. Next up, we're going to learn a little about her best friend and about the man who took over their goofy little group of anarchists and turned it into an actual cult.
Character portraits by the immensely talented Alexandria Neonakis.
Shannon in all her gothy gloryShannon met Amber just as the latter was finishing up high school, and was the first person Amber felt she could be halfway normal around in years. Shannon's main goals in life were finding ways to buy or steal new, cute goth outfits; getting high; and studiously avoiding any significant responsibility. Amber could get behind that, so she moved in with Shannon and Shannon's short-hair tabby, Clam Chowder.
Sweet, shy, unassuming, and maybe just a touch naive, Shannon's the kind of person who traps bugs and lets them go outside of the apartment. Everything except those gross hairy-looking centipedes; she calls Amber to handle those. Despite her love for goth fashion, she's not terribly fond of darkness and despair. She attends all the meetings and listens to everything Matthias has to say even though she finds him a little scary.
Of course, a little scary can also be a little sexy ...
Quotes & Scenes
A sudden, mildly horrifying thought occurred to Amber. “Where were you this morning?”
“Nowhere. Running errands.” Shannon was the worst liar Amber had ever met. Always had been. She looked like a four-year-old who’d been caught drawing on the walls and was insisting it had been a ghost.
“Are you fucking Matthias?” This was met by silence. “You are! You are fucking Matthias! Jesus, Shan, why didn’t you tell me?”
“I’m not … doing that with him.”
“You don’t have to be mean about it.” Shannon kept stirring the sangria, clearly not wanting to turn around. “I tried to tell him it’s your place too.”
But it wasn’t, and they both knew it. “It’s your place. You won’t let me pay rent and I sleep on the couch. There’s barely enough room as it is. It worked fine for a while but if you’re going to have a boyfriend, I should probably go.”
Now Shannon turned around. She was holding the wooden spoon, stained purple, up like a scepter.
“All hail Queen Sangria,” Jayuul said, and Amber had to fight back a moment of laughter.
“I don’t want you to go!” Shannon said. “That wasn’t … it wasn’t the point.”
“It’s okay, Shan!” Amber called. “Everything’s going to be fine.”
“That’s what everyone says when it’s no-o-o-t!” Shannon wailed, and Amber almost laughed. True dat.
Matthias looking relatively normal ... for MatthiasMatthias has been obsessed with demonology since his encounter with a possessed woman when he was in his twenties. He has spent three decades researching, studying, and searching for arcane knowledge. Though he hides it well, he has also become unstable, dangerous, and obsessed with punishing the people of Miami.
Older than he seems, and much scarier than Shannon realizes, Matthias has spent his entire life waiting for the opportunity to bond with a demon. When Amber accidentally takes that opportunity from him, he is crestfallen and enraged. Unsure what, exactly, prevented the thing he considers his birthright, and unwilling to admit to any of his devotees that the procedure didn't work, he buys time with other magic while attempting to suss out what went wrong.
As time drags on, and he grows more desperate, Matthias begins to consider other, more terrible actions to get what he wants.
He will bring Miami to its knees, and anyone who stands in his way had better have help.
Quotes & Scenes
“I used to be like you,” he said. “Or perhaps more like Dylan. I was young and stupid, and while I wanted to believe, I’d never been shown anything to believe in, so I mostly focused on getting drunk and getting laid. I was never in a group like our family, but off and on I met people who believed. Most of them were hopeless. All of them, until Cassandra. She believed, but that wasn’t all of it. She was also real in a way the others weren’t. It was like all the other people I’d met were fuzzy, indistinct shadows and she was the only person I’d ever known who was a full part of the world. She glowed.”
He paused and looked away, the expression on his face not what Amber had expected. There was no nostalgia there. In fact, he looked a little sick.
There were gasps as it happened, but before anyone could say anything, a single wide rope of fire launched itself along the table toward Matthias. It leapt the gap, even as he continued chanting, his voice now a roar, and hit him square in the chest. In the next instant, his entire body went up in flames.
Next to Amber, Shannon’s gasp turned into a cry of terror, and she stepped forward, as if there was anything she was going to be able to do for Matthias other than join him in burning to death. It was already way too late for stop, drop, and roll. The guy was a walking inferno. Amber pulled on Shannon’s shoulders and, when that didn’t work, Dylan reached out and grabbed her arms. Everyone else remained rooted to their spots.
“Let me go!” Shannon shouted, struggling against Dylan’s grip.
“Dude, not a fuckin’ chance,” Dylan said, and his voice was such an odd combination of baffled shock and common sense that Amber burst out laughing.
“Indis—what the hell are you talking about?!” Rivera stood up, knocking over the office chair with a clatter. She drew her gun and aimed it at Matthias. “Down on the floor, right now! Hands on top of your head!”
Matthias made a gesture at her, almost like the OK sign except using his middle finger instead of his index and not quite connecting it with his thumb. He said one guttural word—it sounded almost like kashkava—and blood burst forth from Rivera’s nose and hit the steel desk with such force it sounded like someone had whipped a loaded paintbrush at it. The officer’s eyes rolled back, and she fell to the floor.
That's about it for this month. The next time you hear from me, it will be because Possessed is officially released! I'm super excited to get the book into your hands, and I can't wait to hear what you think of it.
See you then!
-Chris
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