Straight Chatting from the Library: Shelly Campbell

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

READ THE INTERVIEW

What is the favorite book you remember as a child?

My favorite book as a child was Morgan and Yew from the Serendipity series by Stephen Cosgrove. The illustrations were gorgeous, and the story was the sweetest. I still have it.

Tell us about your current book in 10 words.

Interdimensional sci-fi/horror with Stranger Things and Doctor Who vibes.

What are you reading right now?

Right now, I’m reading The Fall Is All There Is by C.M. Caplin. It’s a cool fantasy/sci-fi mash up with an autistic MC and ghosts that can be breathed in like vapors, so folks wear respiratory protection while outdoors to avoid being possessed. And it’s got loads of tension and sibling rivalry amongst royal quadruplets. It’s been a really fun read so far.

Do you have any bad book habits?

I can’t stop buying them. I’m yet to be convinced that this is a bad habit.

E-Reader or print? and why?

I enjoy both. I don’t have the shelf space to buy many print books and my phone goes everywhere with me so it’s easy to fit in a bit of e-reading here and there, but if I find a book that I adore, I’ve got to have it in print. There is just something about holding a book in your hands. It’s art.

Favorite book you've read this year?

The whole Red Rising series. I consumed it via audiobook and Tim Gerard Reynolds is such an incredible narrator. His voice acting just blew me away. Absolutely took the books to another level.

When do you do most of your reading?

Most of my reading these days is via audiobook during my commute to and from work. It’s a long drive, so it’s nice to fill that time with books, and it’s a great way to decompress when you’re stuck in traffic.

Favorite genre?

I’ve been leaning toward sci-fi lately. The creative world building. The science. Examining how societies change, react, and adapt in different situations. I’m not a strong sci-fi writer, so I’ve got mad respect for people who get complex sci-fi right.

Re-reader or not?

Definitely, a re-reader. Books that stick with me, I like to revisit, partly because I’m dissecting them to see what made them work well, but also because I like comfort rereads too.

What would make you not finish a book?

Books are like food. I have different moods for different days. Many things can contribute to me not finish a book, but chiefly among them is I’m just not in the mood for that read on that particular day. Sometimes I come back to them and sometimes I don’t. I’ve already supported the author by buying the book, and luckily books don’t expire, so I can return to them and try again any time I like. Life is too short to slog through books you aren’t enjoying.

READ THE BLURB

When we were children, they told us monsters weren't real. They were dead wrong.

It’s just a closet door with a skeleton key, but when David opens it, he unlocks a gateway to a sinister world that’s bent on destroying everything and everyone he loves. Some doors are better left closed.

Embark on a thrilling journey with the Dark Walker Series, and be transported into an interdimensional tale of monsters, lies and self-discovery. Where the terror of darkness is real and the line between ally and enemy is as thin as a blade.

"Equal parts coming of age story and otherworldly horror, Gulf probes the depths of loneliness, loss of identity and childhood trauma. It is a true treat for fans of the genre and had me clutched in its razor-clawed hands from the first word to the last.” -C.M. Forest author of Infested

*****

Seventeen-year-old David is fading from his world, like a Polaroid picture in reverse. He longs to feel connected to something bigger.

When his brothers discover the new extension at the rental cottage comes with a locked door, David finds the key first. Expecting to claim a bedroom, he opens a dimensional gateway instead, exploring abandoned versions of his world in different timelines, 1960s muscle cars alternating with crumbling cottages.

Except now the dimensional bridge won’t close, and something hungry claws the door at night. David scours for clues to break the bridge, but each trip to the other side makes him fade more on his. Even if he succeeds, he risks severing his connection to his own world, and dying on the wrong side, forgotten.

*****

There are doors that open to other worlds, but it’s no fairytale on the other side.

I thought otherworldly monsters bent on devouring my whole world starting with my family trumped everything. Turns out, I was wrong. My world's only one of thousands facing annihilation from the maneaters that tried to eat me alive. Charlie saved me, rolled into my life on a motorcycle, and rescued me.

Problem is, I’m the Embassy’s property now. They’re the interdimensional agency tasked with stemming the flow of ravenous aliens into our universe, but they seem more interested in studying me. I crashed a gateway in a way they’ve never seen. The Embassy wants to replicate that. I think they want to use me as a war weapon.

If I don’t convince Charlie to help me escape, I’ll be an Embassy science experiment for the rest of my short life, or worse, eternally trapped in the dark hell that fills the spaces between worlds.

READ AN EXCERPT FROM GULF

“James?” I try again. “Wake up, James. It’s back.”

I need someone else to feel it, to experience the icy breath of air from under the door and see if it’s as foreboding to them as it is to me, or if they can sense it at all.

Maybe it’s just messed up circuitry in my mind.

James doesn’t wake up, just shuffles around in the loft like a slow-motion pinball. Eventually, I climb the ladder and pull the beanbag across the gap in the railing. He’ll break his neck one of these nights. When my feet hit the main floor, the draft washes over them and makes me flinch. I lick my lips and ignore the soft rattle of the five-panel door in its frame.

MEET THE AUTHOR

At a young age, Shelly Campbell wanted to be an air show pilot or a pirate, possibly a dragon and definitely a writer and artist. She’s piloted a Cessna 172 through spins and stalls, and sailed up the east coast on a tall ship barque—mostly without projectile vomiting. In the end, Shelly found writing and drawing dragons to be so much easier on the stomach. Shelly writes speculative fiction ranging from grimdark fantasy, to sci-fi and horror. She’d love to hear from you.

Website: http://www.shellycampbellauthorandart.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShellyCFineArt
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shellycampbellfineart
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shellycampbellauthorandart
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@shellycampbellauthor

Gulf on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Gulf-Gripping-Otherworldly-Coming-Age-ebook/dp/B0BBCYV55J/ref=sr_1_1
Breach on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0D8WSDN7C

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