Well, it’s finally out! Darkly Never After is now available in paperback and ebook formats, and I couldn’t be happier with it. My paperback copy showed up a couple of days ago, and the print quality is really nice. It’s a thick book, nearly 400 pages, and it’s chock-full of all kinds of dark fairy tales, fables, and modern dark fiction. I’m also excited because it is the first time that N J and I have been published together. Patti L. Geesey, one of the contributors, really did a great job with the editing. The anthology’s website is forthcoming, so for now, feel free to visit Amazon or CreateSpace to order a copy (CreateSpace is recommended if you can, since we’ll get double the royalties to send to St. Jude’s for children across the globe).
As you can read from the back cover, Darkly Never After is an anthology that holds the elements of the stories we loved as children, matured to be enjoyed by our minds as they are now. As well, the anthology is a charity work, donating all royalties to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. I have been very honored to work on the project, and was delighted that the anthology’s coordinator decided to use my book design service, Country Mouse Design, to format the book. This is an excerpt of my story, “The Lady Koi”. I hope you enjoy it!
Ariel Hudnall 
19 responses to “The Lady Koi – An Excerpt”
Just put this one on my Wish List on Amazon.. because I’m too tired to do anything else with it right now.. but will be getting it very soon and will be posting a review. I’ve got several on my reading stack right now, which is a good thing.
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Thanks so much, Glenn. That’s very nice of you!! I hope you enjoy the stories. I have a lot of favorites in there. 🙂
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[…] The Lady Koi – An Excerpt. […]
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Congratulations, Alex! The edition looks beautiful, and I very much enjoyed the excerpt of your story. Is that you reading? If so, you have a lovely reading voice, my friend.
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Yeah, that was me, haha. Though the audio progressively got quieter and quieter because my mic kept moving. Lesson learned! One take next time! 🙂
Thanks for having a listen Miranda. I’m glad it was interesting for you! ^_^
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I kept meaning to listen to this and finally came back to do so. I agree that you have a great voice!! Just added this collection to my Christmas wish list (and I’ll be buying it myself if it doesn’t show up under the tree on its own hehe).
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Thank you so much, Lissa! How nice of you. I really hope you enjoy the book. There are a lot of wonderful stories in there. 🙂
(Also, WP is telling me I’m somehow not following you, but I was sure I was! Sorry! Maybe I hit the Follow button instead of the ‘Like’ one time. 😦 They really are too close.
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Congratulations! I’ll have to pop over and put it on my wishlist to get.
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Thanks a bunch, Lynn! I hope you enjoy it. 🙂
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Congratulations, Alex, for a massive achievement–and kudos to NJ too. I think it’s marvelous that St. Jude’s will be benefiting from the work. A wholly worthy charity, indeed.
And marvelous work on reading the excerpt. The pictures are rich and I’m trying to envision what a jiki ninky (?) looks like, but I’m thinking I might know one or two of them currently. I’ve got some pretty wonky relatives who may or may not be part of the undead.
Regardless, the story is fetching and enticing. Now you’ve got me rather hooked. 🙂
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Traditionally, they look sort of like this fellow: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fseHZVwmags/TGDVT-VJxzI/AAAAAAAAK3M/RkCfP27BZCA/s1600/hungryghost1.jpg
I’m glad you enjoyed the excerpt! I’m really proud to be in this anthology, and think there are a lot of really cool stories in there. 🙂
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Seriously. That’s exactly what I see in the mirror first thing in the morning. Ugh.
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Hahaha, I can only imagine that now.
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Love your reading! Looking forward to sitting down and reading the whole thing. Great reading and super woodblocks.
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Thank you, Katherine! I’m afraid to listen to the excerpt again and find myself cringing, but I’ll take your word for it, haha. And yes, these woodblocks are what inspired the story. My favorite style of Japanese art.
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[…] You can read more about her contribution, “The Lady Koi”, on this blog post. […]
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Reblogged this on Alex Hurst and commented:
I’m reblogging this old post, as Darkly Never After is now a limited edition book — the anthology will be going out of print in 2016, and for what it’s worth, I think it’s both the most beautiful book I’ve ever designed, and also containing one of my better short stories. At the moment, I have no plans to republish “The Lady Koi,” so now’s your chance to get it, and help a charity in the process!
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Reblogged this on Thoughts by Mello-Elo.
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Will put this on my Christmas wish list. What spectacular illustrations!
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