THE CHAOS STORIES by Charles O\’Keefe

THE CHAOS STORIES
by Charles O\’Keefe

Here you\’ll find nine new short-stories, some which have been from my life, or things that could have happened. One is inspired from the many games of Dungeons and Dragons I\’ve played over twenty years while another is from the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game. Some are even some from other authors, who kindly contributed to my collection.

As a treat for fans of my series, I have included six deleted chapters, two from each of the three Newfoundland Vampire novels, which have been all cleaned up and have been made better than ever for your reading pleasure.

I have also included not one, but two chapters from the upcoming fourth book in the Newfoundland Vampire series, War of the Fangs. I\’ve filled this collection with tales that will make you laugh, or will scare you, and will hopefully make you think a little about the world around us and the people in it.

EXCERPT
\”I\’m not leaving you behind, no man gets left behind, GET MOVING!\” Marlon screamed the last part at the top of his lungs and they bolted forward. It wasn\’t easy with all the roots and holes in the ground. Larry fell once as did Marlon, painfully twisting his ankle so that now Larry had to help him but they moved on, spotting one mark on a tree and chalk on another. The mist had started to rise, it was at their ankles now.

\”Mar I can\’t feel my feet, it feels as if I\’m running on blocks of ice. We need to get out!\” Marlon looked about frantically, the trees were still thick, he couldn\’t see the tall grass from where they had started this morning. Everything felt tight, his chest felt like it was going to explode, his heart felt like it would leap out through his throat at any second. The trees seems to be closing in on them, he felt like he was back in France, just waiting for the first bullet to split the air.

Marlon looked down for a second, legs are numb up to my knees but somehow I\’m moving, I don\’t feel the pain in my ankle. \”We\’ll get out, you are the best woodsman I\’ve ever seen. I know you can do it.\” Larry nodded and Marlon was glad to see a small smile creep onto one side of his face, he pointed with his right arm to a mark, an arrow pointing to the east, the way they were going. You better be, he thought, I\’ll be damned if I die in a forest by some mist, I made it out of the war, I\’ll make it out of here!

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–Amazon
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–B&N

AN INTERVIEW WITH CHARLES
-What inspired you to become a writer?

First off, thanks so much for having me on your blog and being a part of the tour, it\’s a pleasure to be here!

I get this questions a lot (not being critical, it\’s a good one!) and I think it was a combination of things. I have always loved reading or being read to. I have also always loved attention and recognition (I think most writers do). Combine those things with the fact that my friend had a book published in 2006 (and I was mentioned as I helped him edit it) and I knew I had to do more. I knew that I didn\’t want to just see my name in print, I wanted my name on the cover. I hope this doesn\’t make me sound vain, another big part of it was that I realized I had a head full of ideas, I had something to say to the world and I knew I had to get it out there. So yes in part my friend Shannon but also everything that had been building inside me and the traits I have all were a part of my inspiration.

-If you could visit your book’s world for a day, what one thing would you do?

Excellent question! My latest book takes place in many different worlds, so it\’s a tough choice. The world I made where my Dad was still alive (he passed away this summer from cancer), I would spend more time with him and tell him more about how much I loved him and how much everything he did meant to me. On a serious note I\’d tell anyone who still has both their parents alive, do yourself a favor and spend more time with them, you never know when things could change.

-Give us a fun or interesting fact you learned researching this book.

I learned that ravens can actually learn to mimic human speech. They are very intelligent birds and people have trained them to speak. So it is completely possible (in fact it\’s true as I watched numerous videos) that a raven really can say \”nevermore\”.

-Which of your characters would you go out for drinks with?

Another good one! I can\’t say my Dad again (as he\’s certainly not a character I created in any case). I would have to say Cassandra, one of the main characters from my vampire series. As a 224 year old vampire I know she would have plenty of amazing stories to tell. While she is based on a real historical person (Catherine Mandeville Snow), I changed her a lot (made her into my dream woman) and did my best to make her a realistic person (as far as possible with a supernatural creature of course). She\’s fun, smart, mysterious, loving, strong-willed, sexy and of course if she turned me into a vampire that night, well that would be a hell of a bonus!

-You’re in a tavern, and a dwarf challenges you to a duel. What do you do?

Ahh a D&D question, I love it! I used to be pretty good with a sword (trained with one in martial arts), so I accept! Of course I would be careful to set the terms of the duel, only until first blood (even a scratch, I don\’t want to lose any fingers or toes!) and even if I\’m older, slower and not as good as I used to be, it would be one hell of a story!

-Is there a genre you could never write? Which and why?

I could never do Young Adult. I don\’t have children (and won\’t have any) and I\’ve never believed in toning down writing to make it more acceptable to a younger audience. Yes I know there\’s nothing wrong with YA and I\’m sure someone could write a masterful story in that genre, but I couldn\’t. The few YA books I have read always gave the impression to me that they were holding back, that there was this artificial line whether it was sex, violence, language or just some mature topic that could never quite crossed. I also feel that romance (and in particular the whole love-triangle notion) has been done way too much in YA. I love the freedom that adult sci-fi, horror, fantasy, paranormal and fiction give me. People curse in real life, bad things happen, people die, family members get sick and of course have sex, this happens to virtually everyone and when you take that out of a story (or even the possibility of it) you lose a fundamental part of human existence. Yes I\’m sure there are some YA books which are amazing and aren\’t affected by any of these restrictions but I just don\’t have the ability or drive to write one.

ABOUT CHARLES

Charles O’Keefe lives in the beautiful province of Newfoundland, Canada, with his wife and two feline ‘children,’ Jude and Eleanor. He is a part-owner of a beauty wholesale business. He enjoys many hobbies and activities that include reading, gaming, poker, Pilates, Dungeons and Dragons, and of course, fantasizing about vampires. Charles is the author of three books in the Newfoundland Vampire series, but this is his first collection of short-stories. Look for the fourth Newfoundland Vampire book sometime in the near future.

Find him online:

–website
–Twitter
–Facebook

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GIVEAWAY

Charles O\’Keefe will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.