Enter the Apocalypse

by Gondolfi, Thomas

  Bruce Golden

  Bruce Golden’s short stories have been published more than a 150 times across 20 countries and a score of anthologies. Asimov’s Science Fiction described his second novel, “If Mickey Spillane had collaborated with both Frederik Pohl and Philip K. Dick, he might have produced Golden’s Better Than Chocolate”--and about his novel Evergreen, "If you can imagine Ursula Le Guin channeling H. Rider Haggard, you'll have the barest conception of this stirring book, which centers around a mysterious artifact and the people in its thrall." You can read more of Golden's stories in his new collection Tales of My Ancestors, which has been described as "The Twilight Zone meets Ancestry.com." http://goldentales.tripod.com

  Russel Hemmell

  Russell Hemmell is a statistician and social scientist from the U.K, passionate about astrophysics and speculative fiction. Recent stories in Not One of Us, PerihelionSF, SQ Mag, and elsewhere.

  Tom Jolly

  Tom Jolly is a retired astronautical / electrical engineer who now spends much of his time writing SF and fantasy, designing board games (such as Wiz-War, Drakon, and Manhattan Project: Energy Empire), and creating obnoxious puzzles. He lives with his wife Penny in Santa Maria, California, in a place where mountain lions and black bears still visit. You can find more of his stories at www.silcom.com/~tomjolly/tomjolly2.htm.

  Madison Keller

  When she was young, MADISON KELLER wanted to be one of the X-Men. While that dream never came true, her dream of writing did. Now she is the author of several epic fantasy novels and a plethora of short stories spanning multiple genres. When not writing she can often be found bicycling around the woods of the Pacific Northwest or at the dog park with the original Kerka, her adorable Chihuahua mix. More of Madison Keller's work can be found on her website, www.flowersfang.com

  Simon Kewin

  Simon Kewin is the author of over 100 published short stories. His works have appeared in Nature, Daily Science Fiction, Abyss & Apex and many more. He lives in England with his wife and their daughters. His cyberpunk novel The Genehunter and his Cloven Land fantasy trilogy were recently published. Find him at simonkewin.co.uk.

  E.E. King

  E.E. King is a performer, writer, biologist and painter. Ray Bradbury calls her stories “marvelously inventive, wildly funny and deeply thought provoking. I cannot recommend them highly enough.”

  Her books are; Dirk Quigby’s Guide to the Afterlife, Real Conversations with Imaginary Friends, and Another Happy Ending.

  She has won numerous awards and received grants in writing, painting and biology and has been published widely, most recently in Bram Stoker Nominee anthology, Darke Phantastique, Three Flatiron Anthologies, in Gemini as winner of the $1,000 Flash Fiction Award, “Now Write! (Science fiction)” (Tarcher/Penguin) and “Next Stop Hollywood” (St. Martin's Press).

  She has worked with children in Bosnia, crocodiles in Mexico, frogs in Puerto Rico, egrets in Bali, mushrooms in Montana, archaeologists in Spain, butterflies in South Central Los Angeles and lectured on island evolution and marine biology on cruise ships in the South Pacific and Caribbean.

  Her art has been collected internationally and she’s painted murals in Los Angeles and Spain.

  Check out paintings writing and musings at www.elizabetheveking.com

  Janice Law

  Janice Law is an Edgar nominated novelist who also writes short stories and award winning non-fiction. Her most recent novels are Nights in Berlin, the start of a new trilogy featuring the gay, alcoholic painter, Francis Bacon (mysteriouspress.com), and Homeward Dove (Wildside Press). Earlier work includes the Anna Peters novels from Houghton Mifflin, Walker and St. Martins, and several contemporary novels from Forge Books. She regularly publishes short mystery fiction in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and other mystery publications.

  She lives with her sportswriter husband, Jerry, in Eastern Connecticut.

  www.janicelaw.com

  Katrina Nicholson

  Katrina Nicholson has a degree in history, a diploma in writing for film and television, and a horrified obsession with infectious diseases. Two of her short films have been produced in Toronto and fourteen of her short stories have been published in anthologies such as Tesseracts Fifteen, Futuredaze, The Future Embodied, Kisses by Clockwork, and the upcoming Schoolbooks and Sorcery. She lives in Nova Scotia, but you can visit her online at www.katrinanicholson.com.

  Naomi Brett Rourke

  Naomi Brett Rourke is an author and teacher living near the beach in Los Angeles. When not writing, she can be found with a book in her hand, with horror, crime, and mystery being her favorites. Naomi is an up-and-coming writer with stories published in the anthologies Life on the Rez, Brewed Awakenings 2, and in magazines such as London's Morpheus Tales, The Mature Years, and the Young Adult Journal Refractions. Coming out in 2017 are stories in the anthologies 100 Voices, Volume 3, Tragedy Queens: Stories Inspired by Lana del Rey and Sylvia Plath, and Straight Outta Tombstone. You can see her work online at www.culturedvultures.com and www.triggerwarningshortfiction. com. Her novella Devil's Night will be published by Frith Books in Great Britain. She is a member of Horror Writers Association, Mystery Writers of America, and Sisters in Crime. Visit her on her website at www.naomibrettrourke.com, on her facebook page at www.facebook.com/naomibrettrourke, Instagram at naomibrettrourke or Twitter at @NaomiBRourke.

  Jacalyn Schnelle

  Jacalyn Schnelle is a 26-year-old queer writer living in Tucson, Az. Her horror is influenced by the desert she was raised in, her queerness, and her struggles with mood disorders, including anxiety. More of her work can be found at https://jacalynschnelle.tumblr.com/ and the webcomic Springs Falls.

  Jay Seate

  After Jay read a few stories to his parents, they booted him out of the house. Undaunted, he continues to write everything from humor to the erotic to the macabre, and is especially keen on transcending genre pigeonholing. His tales span the gulf from Horror Novel Review’s Best Short Fiction Award to Chicken Soup for the Soul. They may be told with hardcore realism or fantasy, bringing to life the most quirky of characters. See longer works at www.melange-books.com. Website: www.troyseateauthor.webs.com.

  T.M. Starnes

  T. M. Starnes has lived and traveled in the South Pacific, Hawaii, and Australia, discovering a deep love and respect for the people of the region and the varied cultures.

  T. M. has been writing since the fourth grade and single-finger typed his way through his first short story before the sixth grade. His half-century mark recently arrived and the quality of his work has greatly improved since then.

  He prefers writing in the horror, science fiction and, occasionally, romance genre.

  His favorite authors include Clive Barker, Patricia Briggs, Dean Koontz, and Edgar Rice Burroughs.

  Samples of his random writings can be found at TMStarnes2013.wordpress.com

  Aaron Vlek

  Aaron Vlek is a storyteller whose work focuses on the trickster mythos in its role as transformer, bringer of delight and proponent of disquieting humors. Some of her stories, involve the jinn, and of a universal imagining of the Native American character, Coyote. She indulges from time to time in the reimagining of classic themes of horror and the occult.

  Hark, the Herald! appeared on The Wicked Library Christmassacre on December 24, 2016. Pickman’s Daughter appears on Creeparoni YouTube channel December 2016. 13 appeared in The Wicked Library Live Halloween Special, October 31, 2016. The Accursed Lineage appears in the Alban Lake anthology Miskatonic Dreams, The Summer of the Amazing Mr. Fig appeared on Creeparoni YouTube Channel December 2016.

  John Walters

  John Walters is an American writer, a Clarion West graduate and member of Science Fiction Writers of America, who recently returned to the United States after living abroad for many years in India, Bangladesh, Italy, and Greece. He writes science fiction and fantasy, thrillers, mainstream fiction, and memoirs of his wanderings around the world. You can find his website/blog at:
www.johnwalterswriter.com.

  Filip Wiltgren

  Filip Wiltgren is a writer and tabletop game designer based in Sweden. A member of Codex and the Ubergroup, Filip has published in markets such as Daily SF, Grimdark and Nature Futures, as well as a number of anthologies and semi-pro markets. In his day life, he's worked as a journalist, copywriter and communications officer, and when he isn't writing, he spends time with his wife and kids. He can be found at: www.wiltgren.com

  Brigitte Winter

  Brigitte Winter is a storyteller, a jewelry-maker, a convener of artists and art lovers, and the executive director of Young Playwrights’ Theater (yptdc.org), a Washington, DC, nonprofit that inspires young people to realize the power of their voices through creative writing. In 2014, Brigitte and her partner Dustin Blottenberger co-founded No Discipline Arts Collective, an artist-led initiative committed to producing cross-disciplinary work that breaks down traditional boundaries between creators and consumers. No Discipline regularly hosts art-a-thons, artist socials, museum crawls, writing critiques, figure drawing classes, and pop-up shows benefiting charities. Hang out with Brigitte at brigittewinter.com, and stay tuned for her latest project: a pre-apocalyptic coming-of-age adventure novel.

  Other Works from TANSTAAFL Press

  Novels by Stephanie Weippert from TANSTAAFL Press

  Sweet Secrets

  At seven, Michael gets into trouble no more than any other boy his age, but he does have a sweet tooth. When the mailman brings a package from a candy company, he has to sneak just one. As he eats the chocolate, his home, stepfather, and everything he knows melts around him and disappears. Suddenly, he is in a dreamlike world. He is taken as an orphan, tested, and before he knows it, he’s a student in the premier magic school on the planet. His fellow students can make cookies that fly and chocolate turtles that actually walk. Michael is told he has more power than any of them.

  Brad, Michael’s stepdad, had been charged with watching his stepson for the first time. When the boy disappears before his eyes, Brad panics. Within hours he is on an adventure tracking his son alongside his neighbor, an enigmatic chef and former graduate of the magic school. Always one step behind his son, Brad soon finds that Michael is being used as a pawn between the two most powerful chefs on the crazy planet. Worse, he has to get Michael home before his mother finds out he’s gone or there is going to be hell to pay.

  Road to Chaos

  Robert Thompson is a vain, egotistical actor bent on making his mark on Hollywood. On his way to an important audition that may make his career, another car crashes into his. The other car is totaled but his land yacht is barely dented. The other driver, in a fit of lunacy, insists that they get in his car and drive away before the chaos mathamagic police find them. Robert scoffs. Magic is for rubes and what in this crazy man’s delusions does chaos or math have to do with it?

  Robert clings to his beliefs until he finds out that the other driver is his long-lost cousin, the magic police tries to kill them both, and his cousin Eric teleports them to Tibet. Robert finds himself bounced around the globe on a mixed attempt to both evade the brutal mathamagic goon squad and clear Eric’s name, all the while hoping that he can return to salvage his real life of movies.

  Novels by Tom Gondolfi from TANSTAAFL Press

  An Eighty Percent Solution – CorpGov Chronicles: Book One

  In a world where corporations suborn governments as a part of good business practice and unregistered humans can be killed without penalty, Tony Sammis, a midlevel corporate functionary, finds himself unwittingly a pawn in a guerilla war between a powerful cabal of business leaders and an elusive but deadly underground movement. His final solution to the biological terror unleashed mirrors Tony’s own twisted sense of justice.

  Thinking Outside the Box – CorpGov Chronicles: Book Two

  Winning one war doesn’t seem to be enough. Tony Sammis and the Green Action Militia are once again thrust into the center of a conflict that will change the lives of everyone in the solar system. This time they are allies with the fledgling CorpGov and even the United States government against the ravages of the corrupt Metropolitan Police force. The GAM and their allies are fighting a losing war with few soldiers and even fewer weapons. Behind the scenes, a humble and unsuspected power block lurks with its own axe to grind.

  Self-interest, romance, freedom, and a lust for power simmer together in this chaotic soup of tension, intrigue, assassination, and war.

  The Bleeding Edge – CorpGov Chronicles: Book Three

  Tony Sammis and Nanogate lead a patchwork alliance that includes the nascent CorpGov, Green Action Militia, the president of the United States, the Pacific Northwest Mob, most of the megacorps and the United Brotherhood of Bodyguards. The war the CorpGov alliance knows they can’t win has begun, but they are no longer fighting to win. Tony and Nanogate know they may not survive, but they intend to deliver the most grievous wounds they can. The most dangerous animal is one with no hope.

  Toy Wars

  Flung to a remote world, a semi-sentient group of robotic mining factories arrive with their programming hashed. They can only create animated toys instead of normal mining and fighting machines. One of these factories, pushed to the edge of extinction by the fratricidal conflict, attempts a desperate gamble. Infusing one of its toys with the power of sentience begins the quest of a 2-meter-tall purple teddy bear and his pink polka-dotted elephant companion. They must cross an alien world to find and enlist the aid of mortal enemies to end the genocide before Toy Wars claims their family—all while asking the immortal question, “Why am I?”

  Toy Reservations

  Isp, toyanity’s religious zealot, returns at the head of a massive new Army of the Humans. He openly announces his intent to replace President Quixote’s government with a theocracy. With most of his toys modified to peacetime purposes, Don Quixote must make a horrific decision for the very soul of his people.

  Novels by Bruce Graw from TANSTAAFL Press

  The Faerie of Central Park

  The last of her kind in New York City, Tillianita tends the land and beasts as best she can, reluctantly obeying her departed father's warning to avoid humans at all costs. A freak accident casts her out of the relative safety of Central Park. Lost and alone with a broken wing, she wonders if she'll ever see her home again.

  On his own for the first time in his life, college freshman Dave Thompson isn't sure he'll ever fit in. When he stumbles upon an extremely realistic fairy doll, he thinks perhaps it might make a good present for a future date until he discovers that it's not a doll at all. His find turns not only his life upside down but also expands his narrow view of the world.

  Lady Hornet

  Elizabeth Fontaine is a lonely, ordinary young woman in a world where superheroes struggle daily against evil. To fill the empty void within her soul, she becomes a hero fangirl, following every super’s event, subscribing to multiple fanzines, and never missing the daily superhero talk shows…until one day, fate grants her the opportunity to leave behind her boring, dreary life and become what she’s always dreamed of…a superheroine!

  Elizabeth learns the hard way the meaning of the phrase, “Caveat Emptor!” – let the buyer beware!

  Demon Holiday

  Torval, Demon Third Class, Layer Four Hundred Twelve of the Eighth Circle of Hell, has been in the business of chastising sinners longer than he can remember. Delivering punishment is the only job he’s ever known—the only job he’s ever wanted. After Torval witnesses something unexpected, his demonic Overseer demands that he take time off to resolve this personal crisis. And so, Torval, the demon, finds himself sent on vacation...to Earth, the proving ground of souls!

  Demon Ascendant

  Torval, Demon Third Class, Layer Four Hundred Twelve of the Eighth Circle of Hell, on vacation to Earth has managed to find another demon, dated a woman, and inadvertently explored some of the sins of humankind: greed, gluttony, and lust. Through all this, his biggest struggle involves deciding
if he wants his holiday to end or to continue forever.