RIZE Press, Junkyard Rooster, & Trompe L’oeil Press
WHERE IMAGINATIONS RUN WILD
A few FAQS for Writers and Buyers from Running Wild founder, Lisa Kastner:
Take a look at Hadassah Magazine and their list of “New Jewish Novels and Novellas to Read This Spring”. Featuring books from Jean Trounstine and Talya Jankovits from Running Wild and RIZE Press.
Talya Jankovits at Secret World Books
Talya Jankovits (right) celebrated the launch of her debut novel, The Very Unremarkable Life of Mrs. Etty Bloom (Running Wild Press), with her former MFA mentor, author Gayle Brandeis (left), at Secret World Books in Highland Park, Ill., the bookstore Brandeis owns with her husband, Michael.
RIZE PRESS JUNE RELEASES
Autistic Ghost Stories and Other Chilling Situations is the possession of a mind, whose host summons an explorative seance.
An exorcism of thought, where misconceptions and misunderstandings are lured into metaphorical stories and investigated for the means of re-marrying the artistically lost and macabre expression of the neurotype.
Autism is a topic rarely explored through any artistic avenue, even when a creative venture has proven itself to be beneficial.
Topics of the macabre, tales laced with ghostly, gothic elements, are especially ignored when creatively positioned with autism; Autistic Ghost Stories and Other Chilling Situations is a fictional disruption.
This short story collection is made for others, interested in autistic and disabled pursuits that are written and explored through gothic themes.
Scary stories that speak to horror fans who love a spooky social investigation of our society.
For people who are interested in dynamically queer and ghostful relations.
For autistic adults who’ve survived or still navigate the macabre, decayed nature of ableism, and horrors relating to their everyday lives.
In the insulated Hasidic community of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, tradition and cultural norms are as sacred as religion.
Childhood friendships are cultivated to climb social ladders, matchmakers dictate futures, and young girls are primed for marriage and motherhood.
So, when Etty Greenberger, a headstrong redhead and the only child of Holocaust survivors, commits one ugly and thoughtless act, she believes she has sabotaged her opportunity to secure a desirable match.
Reluctantly, she agrees to marry Benji Bloom, a fishmonger’s son far below her marital aspirations, becoming Mrs.
Etty Bloom.
With each passing year, Etty grows further from the life she had hoped for, filled with disappointment and delusions of grandeur.
As she grapples with loss, grief, and the challenges of motherhood, she also discovers friendship, love, and joy in the most unexpected places.
It may take a lifetime, but Etty Bloom finally learns that an unremarkable life can be remarkable after all.
A queen in the mid-sixteenth century who has to save her lineage from the enemies, a naive seventeen-year-old, wedded to a middle-aged farmer who battles her intense attraction towards another woman, a lonely housewife in a failing marriage to an ambitious businessman who is haunted by memories of her affectionate lover– what do these women have in common?
The Betta is a fictitious mountain district in South India.
The people residing here are isolated.
What happens when a group of strangers find their way into the heart of the hills?
In these interconnected stories, each woman inherits a culture in crisis from those who came before her.
The voices of these women from five different centuries stand testament to the journey of one community.
As time progresses, the faç ade of the hills change and people are hauled into this cycle.
All the while the mountains stand witness to the metamorphosis, resistance, slander, tyranny and courage.
RUNNING WILD NEW RELEASES
Available in ebook through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other sites where books are sold.
Running Wild Press Short Story Anthology, Volume 9 edited by Benjamin White
Published by Running Wild Press, 5/26/26
Genre: Horror
Description:
It was a true delight to select these stories and compile an anthology of work from around the world.
Covering themes as wide as death to dancing, magic to mystery, nostalgia to neurosis, time travel to traveling through time, and science fiction to society, these stories venture outward and inward to form a permanent collection built by the temporary gathering of talent.
The authors came together, submitted these stories, and have separated back onto their respective paths.
What is left is a great collection of short stories to thrill, entertain, and just make readers think.
– Ben White, Editor of Running Wild Press Short Story Anthology, Vol.
About the Authors:
Arindam Kalita is a 26-year-old author from a remote and economically challenged village in India. Despite English being his third language, his unwavering passion for storytelling drives him to overcome any linguistic barriers. He is the recipient of an honorable mention from L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future Contest, and his works have previously been featured in publications such as ” CreepyPod,” ” The Afterpast Review,” and ” The Up and Coming.”
Gilbert Allen lives in upstate South Carolina, where he often writes about a gated community called Belladonna that you won’t find on any map. These stories have appeared in The Final Days of Great American Shopping (USC Press, 2016) and The Beasts of Belladonna (Slant Books, 2020). A new collection, The Beauties of Belladonna, will be forthcoming from Slant at the end of 2025.
In her work The Genesis of Death, Curtis layers the Biblical creation story with myth and legend, crafting a poignant retelling that reimagines death not as a fearsome specter but as a generous force embodying the value of life. By presenting Death as a daughter of God and a counterpart to Light, Curtis invites readers to reflect on the unseen yet ever-present forces that shape existence. Her writing encourages contemplation, urging readers to find balance within themselves– between light and darkness, life and death.
Jason A. Wyckoff is the author of two short story collections published by Tartarus Press, Black Horse and other Strange Stories (2012) and The Hidden Back Room (2016). His work has appeared in anthologies from Haverhill House, Plutonian Press, and Siren’s Call Publications, as well as the journals Nightscript, Weirdbook, and Turn to Ash, among others. His first novel, IXIXIKLIS, will be published by Grendel Press in 2025.
August Reynolds is a poet and short story writer whose work has appeared in Red Cedar Review, Philologia, The Scarlet Leaf Review, In Parentheses, Blue Unicorn, Full House Literary, Red Noise Collective, Wingless Dreamer, New Note, BreadBreak Magazine, Grain, and elsewhere. He’s the author of a book of poetry titled ” The Freedom of Lavenders” published by Atmosphere Press. He’s a co-editor of a poetry collection published by Pocahontas Press which features an original forward by Nikki Giovanni, a volunteer reader for Ariel Publishing, and was a co-editor for Philologia.
A first-generation, Latinx writer, Ernest Langston is the author of two novels, Born from Ashes and Beyond Everyday Secrets. His short fiction has appeared in Litro Magazine, The Plentitudes Journal, Oyster River Pages, and other publications. He holds a BA in English and a certificate in Professional and Technical Communications from San Jose State University, a certificate in Writing from the University of Washington, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College. For more information, please visit: ernestlangston.com; Instagram: Ernestlangstonmedia.
Jessica Berg is the principal literary agent at Rosecliff Literary, where she champions high-stakes narratives and immersive storytelling. An award-nominated writer with an MFA from Spalding University, Berg is a proud member of the AALA and EFA. Represented by Amy Collins of Talcott Notch, Berg’s work delves into themes of identity, resilience, and transformation. Her writing and developmental feedback have appeared in Writer’s Digest, The Louisville Review, Louisiana Literature, and elsewhere. Lauren Lang is a former broadcast journalist and current freelance photographer and videographer living in Denver, CO.
Available in ebook through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other sites where books are sold.
The Trail Cutter by Mike Robinson
Published by Running Wild Press, 5/19/26
Genre: Mystery, Popular Fiction, Literary Fiction
Description:
“The Trailcutter takes off and never lets go. Some authors grab you with a voice. Others are savvy storytellers who almost turn the pages for you. Mike Robinson does both.”
— Richard Dooling, National Book Award Finalist and author of White Man’s Grave
As a child, Leonard “Lee” Skay weathered the psychological fallout of his mother’s escape from a cult. Now entering middle age, he is a builder of hiking trails around Los Angeles County, though he hasn’t been hired in a while. His marriage to Dawn, a professional screenwriter, is one of increasing friction. So when a wealthy colleague of Dawn’s asks him about building a private trail in the canyon behind his Malibu home, Lee jumps at the opportunity–even with the mysterious, unsolved shootings in the region.
While out working, he encounters Daniel Williams Janus, a vibrant yet strange man who seems to have carved his own minimalist haven in the depths of the canyon. As Janus quietly helps Lee build the trail, the two form a unique bond, one unprecedented in Lee’s checkered social history.
Then, as the shootings continue, and some odd coincidences pop up between Janus and others in his life, Lee finds himself slipping further into the shadows of a potentially deadly situation.
About the Authors:
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Mike Robinson is an award-winning author, screenwriter and illustrator. His fiction has appeared in Clarkesworld, American Gothic Fantasy, Storyteller and more. He is also a manuscript editor. In between, he hikes (often with dogs), swims, bikes and tries to play the didgeridoo. www.mike-robinsonauthor.com
Available in ebook through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other sites where books are sold.
Sea Flame: The Key Spark by Catherine Brogdon
Published by Running Wild Press, 5/18/26
Genre: Fantasy
Description:
Fourteen-year-old Alma, a Nemunite living in the shadow of Agrimedan high society, yearns to explore the magic her grandmother refuses to acknowledge.
But when the royal family descends upon Blackwell’s Keep, the security of her peaceful life unravels.
Whispers of forbidden romance with a court musician swirl, while the enigmatic Prince Silas stirs a dangerous attraction.
As courtly intrigue escalates and a shocking betrayal threatens upend her entire life, Alma must choose between the stifling expectations of society and the exhilarating, terrifying power that lies within her.
About the Author:
Catherine Brogdon is the high fantasy pen name of a Rhysling Award nominated poet and author. Growing up under the scrub oaks of California’s Sierra Nevada foothills, her first passions were drawing and building elaborate worlds in her imagination. She currently works in a place that thankfully doesn’t interfere with her daydreams.
Available in ebook through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other sites where books are sold.
Sounds Like Trouble to Me by Jean Trounstine
Published by Running Wild Press, 5/12/26
Genre: Popular Fiction
Description:
Sounds Like Trouble to Me sheds light on what happens when a corrections officer kills her abusive husband and suddenly finds herself on the other side of the law.
Not only is she shocked with the systematic abuse against fellow female prisoners but confronted with the complicated history of her own abuse, she must struggle with her fragile memory to uncover what actually happened before she goes to trial.
It is the women she meets that change her, and in the end, she spurs on a MeToo movement behind bars.
About the Author:
Jean Trounstine is an activist, educator, and author of eight books, including Shakespeare Behind Bars: The Power of Drama in a Women’s Prison, based on her decade directing plays at Framingham Women’s Prison. She co-founded the women’s branch of Changing Lives Through Literature, an alternative sentencing program, and writes on prison and parole for outlets like Truthout and Boston Magazine. In 2018, she received Italy’s Gramsci International Award for Theatre in Prison. After her 2024 short story collection Motherlove, Sounds Like Trouble to Me is her debut novel.
Reviews
“A corrections officer finds herself on the other side of the law when she kills her abusive husband. Trounstine has spoken around the world about prison reform, and this book, her fictional debut, is extraordinary.” —Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Pictures of You and Days of Wonder
Available in ebook through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other sites where books are sold.
Running Wild Novella Anthology Vol. 9, Book 2 edited by Lisa Kastner
Published by Running Wild Press, 5/11/26
Genre: Fantasy
Description:
MIRROR, MIRROR follows the main character’s encounters with friends and ancestors both near and far in time, all of whom offer him reflections of himself, both positive and dark.
In his quest for self-realization he discovers that he is no more than the sum of everyone he’s met.
ERNIE AND THE GOLDEN EGG, The key to earthly paradise lies within the Golden Egg.
Now if the damn thing could only be found.
A MODEL FOR POST-HUMAN EVOLUTION, A view of the possible future of humankind and how we can get there in a short span of time, based on current theories of evolution.
NOT THE END OF THE WORLD, The two last remaining members of a secretive cult, James and Tracy suddenly find themselves adrift in a world they intended to escape.
Now, they search for meaning, and for themselves.
About the Authors:
Marc Dickerson is a writer and filmmaker from Philadelphia, PA. His work has appeared online and in literature publications such as Culture Cult and Thimble Literature Magazine, where he was nominated for a Pushcart Prize for prose. He lives in Bucks County, PA with his wife, son and daughter. You can find more at www.marcdickerson.com.
P. Oscar Cubillos was born in Chile; he came to USA to get his Ph.D. in Mathematics at the University of Iowa, in 1976. Oscar has worked as a university professor, software engineer, and Math Teacher. Although Dr. Cubillos is new as published writer, he has been interested in literature, both as an avid reader and writer; Oscar has been published in the Ariel Chart and The Muse Journal. Oscar’s other interests include classic music, chess, and history.
Mark Saba is the author of Two Novellas: A Luke of All Ages / Fire and Ice and Ghost Tracks: Stories of Pittsburgh Past, as well as poetry books Flowers in the Dark and Calling the Names. His work has appeared widely in literary magazines around the U.S. and abroad. He is also a painter, and recently retired from Yale University as a medical illustrator and graphic designer. Please see marksabawriter.com.
Scott Taylor hails from Raleigh, North Carolina. He is a writer and a musician, and an avid world traveler. His short stories and poetry have appeared in numerous print and online publications, and his debut novel ‘Chasing Your Tail’ has recently been released with Silver Bow Publishing. He graduated from Cornell University and was also a computer programmer in a past life.
Available in ebook through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other sites where books are sold.
Since You Weren’t There & Other Memories by Denise Thompson-Slaughter
Published by Running Wild Press, 5/4/26
Genre: Biography, Memoir, History
Description:
What was it really like to grow up in the 1950s and ’60s during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the assassinations of the Kennedys and Martin Luther King Jr., the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War protests, and the spread of drugs and easy birth control among white middle-class youth?
What was it like to attend Woodstock, explore the influence of New Age mysticism, and experience the changes among families and relationships as second-wave feminism began to percolate through society in the 1970s?
Thompson-Slaughter movingly and often humorously illustrates these topics and more in her collected memoir essays that chart one of the most explosive and rapidly changing periods of modern U.S. history.
About the Author:
Denise Thompson-Slaughter is a retired academic editor and a published author of nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. She lives in western New York with her husband Tom, dog Rose, and Manny the cat, who some call the mayor of the neighborhood. Denise is happy to report that she has maintained her friendship with ” Miri” and ” Jeri” for sixty years now, even though they all live in different states. Visit Denise’s website at www.denisethompson-slaughter.com to see descriptions of her other books and where they’re available.
Available in ebook through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other sites where books are sold.
Down Along Highway 90 by Benjamin B. White
Published by Running Wild Press, 4/28/26
Genre: Poetry
Description:
These three separate collections of poems – Conley Bottom: A Poemoir, Mill Springs, and Monticello – form a triadic reflection of events that highlight a relationship with South Central Kentucky.
Down Along Highway 90 goes back to Wayne County to gather the meaning of growing up in a transformative time when no one expected anyone to transform.
In Conley Bottom: A Poemoir, the reader is taken back on excursions to Lake Cumberland where locals gathered with styrofoam coolers and blow-up floatables to escape the summer heat, (but couldn’t escape Ohio vacationers!
Mill Springs examines the historical events of a place and links the residual impacts of the past to a present family’s lives – as the future waits.
And Monticello captures the progression of a town that never expected to grow, change, or lose its identity even though every town knows better.
These three collected collections take the reader on a trip through history, meaning, and insights into what it meant to grow up Down Along Highway 90.
About the Author:
When Ben White was serving his 22-year military career in the U.S. Army and the U.S. Coast Guard, and then again when he was earning his MFA from the University of Tampa, he thought he was a poet. Silly Ben – despite his books earning some recognition, he is not a poet. He is a witness. What he writes is testimony.
Available in ebook through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other sites where books are sold.
Too True to be Good by Joseph Bauer
Published by Running Wild Press, 4/01/26
Genre: Mystery
Description:
As a meticulous assassination plot begins to unfold with a series of murders in Washington, US President Del Winters and her father (Henry) are forced into lockdown at Camp David with Henry’s friend (Stanely Bigelow) and the friend’s aging German shepherd (Augie).
An aging DC homicide detective (Jack Renfro) and his proté gé (Audrey Sanderson) partner with the nation’s anti-terrorism chief, Admiral Tyler Brew and FBI agents to unravel the planned attack.
But little do they know how much influence the old dog will have in taking down an evil mastermind.
Too True to be Good is a story of friendship, courage and perseverance wrapped in a plot of high suspense.
About the Author:
Joseph Bauer lives and writes in Charleston, SC. In addition to Too True to be Good, his novels include Sailing for Grace; The Accidental Patriot; and The Patriot’s Angels. Reviewers have acclaimed the quality of all his novels for their character development (and unusual characters), readability, pace and research, combined with suspense and action.
Available in ebook through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other sites where books are sold.
Always One Mistake by Ace Boggess
Published by Running Wild Press, 3/17/26
Genre: Literary Fiction, Popular Fiction
Description:
A cow falls through the roof of a bar, landing on a criminal struggling with his bad choices.
A recovering gambler wins and wrecks a car on the same day.
A mysterious woman transforms toys and oddities into higher powers for newcomers at a twelve-step program.
In a fit of road rage, an angry driver mistakenly flips off a cop.
A broken man finds a curious companion while attending the reunion show of the favorite heavy-metal band from his youth.
These are the strange stories of the all-too-real world of Always One Mistake.
Here, author Ace Boggess shows humanity at its bleakest, but also its most hopeful.
These stories are explorations of what it means to live in modern times-times filled with addiction, crime, loss, and overcoming.
About the Author:
About the Author
Ace Boggess is the author of the novels States of Mercy and A Song Without a Melody, and six books of poetry, including The Prisoners, Escape Envy, Ultra Deep Field, and I Have Lost the Art of Dreaming It So. He earned his B.A. from Marshall University and his J.D. from West Virginia University. He serves as Senior Editor at The Adirondack Review and Associate Editor at The Evening Street Review. His writing has appeared in Michigan Quarterly Review, Indiana Review, Hanging Loose, Harvard Review, J Journal, North Dakota Quarterly, and many other journals. His awards include the Robert Bausch Fiction Award and a fellowship from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts. In addition, he was locked up for five years in the West Virginia prison system, an experience which has been the basis for much of his writing. He currently resides in Charleston, West Virginia. This is his first collection of short stories.
Available in ebook through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other sites where books are sold.
Bella Vista by Adam Strong
Published by Running Wild Press, 3/3/26
Genre: Historical Fiction, Popular Fiction
Description:
Bella Vista, in the end, is about fatherhood.
About fathers and sons.
It’s about one father, Frank Pershall, how he went from a dope smoking car aficionado to a businessman.
About how this businessman hatched a scheme to pry his son, Jay away from his Mom, who was developing a habit of drugs and staying out late, and generally being out of it most of the time, and how that father convinced his son to move down to Florida with him.
But as soon as they get there, all that high and mighty ” I’ll be a better father to you” breaks down because the first day they arrive at this house at this vision his father has for life known as Bella Vista, only then does he choose to turn the care of his son over to his Limo Driver, Cliff.
Yes, all of a sudden Dad has all of this money that he tells his son comes from venture capitalists and this new business he is starting.
Cliff drives people around for a living, and it is in this Limo Jay learns to carve out a life for himself away from his father, and to finally live life on his own terms.
About the Author:
Adam Strong is a high school Digital Arts Teacher and editor of the literary curiosity shop Backwards Trajectory. He is also the founder and presenter of the reading series SongbookPDX. He lives, loves, and writes in Portland, OR with his wife and children. Bella Vista is his first novel.
No Fucks Given by Nobody Fn Important
Published by Running Wild Press; Available January 19, 2026
Genre: YA History, Teens
Description:
No Fucks Given is about an anti-authority drug addict from Florida who ironically joins the Army after the September 11th attacks to help in the fight against the terrorist in Afghanistan only to find himself in a war that had nothing to do with 9-11 or terrorism.
About the Author:
Served in Iraq with the Army Reserves from 2003-2004. Made the rank of Sgt with the Army National Guard Infantry from 2007-2012. Graduated from the University of Florida with a BA in Journalism (2010.) Graduated with an MFA in creative writing from the University of Tampa. (2016)
Running Wild NovellaAnthology, Vol. IX, Book 1
Published by Running Wild Press; Available January 12, 2026
Genre: Popular Fiction, Science Fiction, Fantasy
Description:
EDGE – On parent-teacher conference day in a city plagued by kidnappings, a boy learns his estranged father wants to meet him secretly. Warned against this, he shares his fear with his teacher, who hides him in her classroom. When the father and principal arrive, tension unfolds.
THE KITE FLYER AT CHIMERA ISLAND – Two brothers, banished to a prison island, collect a mysterious substance called the Light. Memory, myth, and family bonds shape this dark yet touching tale of magical realism. THE NECROMANCER – Silver Nightbrace needs a date for Valentine’s dinner with her parents. Instead of finding one, she raises a suitor from the dead. What could go wrong?
TESTIMONIES AFTER THE FIRE – A town governed by ancient customs reels after a violent crime and its tragic aftermath. This haunting choral narration blurs the line between reality and fiction. THE SPIDER AND THE BIRDHOUSE – Written in a dreamlike state and rediscovered years later, this surreal tale reveals its meaning only with time.
THINGS UNRECKONED – A lost ice-mining ship, missing for decades, reappears. When a crew investigates, unnatural forces begin to warp reality itself.
About the Author:
Henry Whittlesey is a writer, translator and editor. He co-founded and edits perypatetik, an international aesthetic project dedicated to the potential of an alternative perspective based on process-oriented production in harmony with nature. His work has been published in journals, magazines and books such as Comparative Literature and Culture (at Purdue University), Two Lines World Writing in Translation (Vol. 17), Brooklyn Rail and many others. He is also the co-author of Peripatetic Alterity, the aesthetic ideology for the perypatetik project.
David Vonderheide is a writer and medical school student at the University of Pennsylvania whose work has been featured in Every Day Fiction and the Colored Lens.
Izaskun Gracia Quintana (Bilbao (Spain), 1977, studied Basque Philology and Graphic Design, among others. She works as a freelance translator, proofreader, editor and graphic designer and she writes articles as well as literary criticism for various media. She was editor and co-founder of the poetry publishing-house Masmé dula and she lives in Berlin (Germany) since 2011.
Krista Beucler is originally from Colorado and currently pursuing an MFA in creative writing from Drexel University. Krista is a winner of the Julia Peterkin award, and her creative work has been published in Kelp Journal, Mulberry Literary, and *South 85 Journal, * among others.
James Cato is an MFA candidate at the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, and his chapbook ” Becoming Roadkill” is now available from Red Bird Chapbooks. James and David have been writing together for years with work featured in Andromeda Spaceways and other venues and have known one another since the ages of three and four. Joel’s artistic and professional areas of interest are in neurological and phenomenological causes for the intersection of mysticism and existentialism within consciousness. Joel spends most weekends hiking and enjoying the outdoors with his wife and children. He is passionate about travel and exploring new cultures as well as new ways of being. Dedicated to his darling wife Emily, without whom nothing that he dreamed would be real, and nothing real would make him dream. Eric St. Pierre is an author, expressionist painter, and songwriter who lives and creates in New Orleans, LA.
Breakdown, Recovery and the Outdoors by Christopher G. Bremicker
Published by Running Wild Press; Available January 5, 2026
Genre: Popular Fiction, Literary Fiction
Description:
Inheriting a love of the outdoors from his parents turned into the way out of a schizo-affective disorder the Vietnam War put Mike Reynolds through.
The outdoors healed him as much as the therapy and medication his doctors at the veterans’ hospital ordered.
Without God’s earth, Mike stood a snowball’s chance in Hell of making it.
But he did make it with a fishing rod, shotgun, skis, and his girlfriend’s sobriety (helping him with his own).
Her newborn daughter helped, too.
About the Author:
Christopher G. Bremicker was born in Manhattan, moved to San Diego when his father was in the Korean War, and returned to St. Paul where he attended Central High School. He was a Green Beret medic stationed in Ft. Brag NC from 1968 to 1970. He is a grouse hunter, fisherman, and downhill skier. He has a BA in English and MBA, both from the University of Minnesota. His day jobs in customer service ended with a job at Walgreens, his forty sixth job since high school.
A Slight Curve by A. Molotkov
Published by Running Wild Press; Available October 21, 2025
Genre: Literary and Popular Fiction
Description:
Two women never meet, but their lives collide.
Ulrike is an East German immigrant and Stasi survivor who still struggles with the effects of the totalitarian regime on her psyche. Her husband Peter is one of the people who must pay the price.
Ruth is a California chemist with secrets in her family who just lost her father under mysterious circumstances and is witnessing her mother’s descent into alcoholism.
When Ulrike is gone, a hesitant friendship starts between Peter and Ruth. Or is it more than a friendship?
Follow these strong, opinionated women on their paths before and after a pivotal moment that bonds their lives forever, even beyond death.
About the Author:
A. Molotkov is an immigrant writer. His poetry collections are ” The Catalog of Broken Things,” ” Application of Shadows,” ” Synonyms for Silence” and ” Future Symptoms” . His novel ” A Bag Full of Stones” deals with hate crime in 2019 America. His collection of ten short stories, ” Interventions in Blood,” is part of Hawaii Review Issue 91; he co-edits The Inflectionist Review. He plays the Armenian duduk and takes photos with mirrors. Please visit him at AMolotkov.com.
Chance to Fade & Other Stories by Josh Rank
Published by Running Wild Press; Available October 14, 2025
Genre: Literary Fiction, Fantasy
Description:
This collection explores the lives of individuals pushed to the brink of what they think is possible, blending literary and magical realist styles. A man wins the lottery but becomes obsessed with the notion that hitting improbable odds could also work against him. An orphan found in a field screams for a month until the sky bursts into flames. Two strangers find themselves surrounded by disasters every time they meet. These characters find love, navigate grief, and fight against their impulses to avoid repeating past mistakes.
In Chance to Fade, a man struggles to distinguish hallucinations from his surroundings, while his young neighbor tries to convince her parents that reality might not be as rigid as they believe. Drawings come to life, snow falls in the middle of summer, and the dead refuse to stay dead.
About the Author:
Josh Rank is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee and lives in Appleton, WI with his wife and two dogs. His novel The Present Is Past was published by Unsolicited Press in 2023. He keeps himself busy putting together ugly woodworking projects, cooking for his wife, and wishing his dogs were better behaved. Find him online at www.joshrank.com.
Imaginary Boyfriends by Manuel Igrejas
Published by Running Wild Press; Available October 13, 2025
Genre: Literary Fiction
Description:
Hassan and Sylvia
A 38-year-old man who has just lost his partner and everything they had together takes his first steps back into the world and meets an exotic and mysterious couple, Hassan and Sylvia.
Egghead Payne
The friendship of two boys, one black, one white, is tested and torn on the increasingly dangerous streets of 1960s Newark.
The Little Trooper
Frank is a gay cop in suburban New Jersey who meets the handsome Ed, a gym teacher, at a bathhouse Christmas night, 1978. The story tracks the rise and fall of their relationship in the sexually charged time before AIDs, when there were few rules and fewer limits.
Lovey
A newly divorced man who is gay spends his days driving a recycling truck and his nights with a beautiful, bald mannequin, Lovey.
Inside Chateau Arbogast
A sequel to Lovey. A bartender at a glitzy catering hall throws himself into the parties he works to try to achieve oblivion and does the same with his hectic romantic life.
Madam Cluzet
An out of work actor takes a temp job with a financial magazine. His high-powered boss, Charlotte, lets it slip that she is married to a famous French actor. Or is she?
Tiago, My Love
Fifty-seven-year-old Joe Ianuzzi is the best restaurant supply salesman in New Jersey. He wins a trip to Lisbon and falls in love with his unhappily married tour guide, Tiago.
Inside The Show Business
Elijah grew up in the Baptist Church in Mississippi. A musical child prodigy, untimely visits from Satan make him questions his faith and his talent. He moves to NYC and finds fulfillment working behind the scenes “Inside the Show Business.
About the Author:
Manuel Igrejas has worked on the railroad, driven a recycling truck, sold restaurant supplies, been an actor, bartender, and waiter, among other jobs.. His poems have been published and anthologized as have two of his short stories. Several of his plays have been produced in New York and garnered good reviews and a couple of prizes. He was a theatrical publicist for many years. If you’ve heard of Blue Man Group, he did his job. Imaginary Boyfriends is his first book. Visit www.mannyigrejas.com for more details.
Incurable: Stories From the World of Cure
Published by Running Wild Press; Available October 13, 2025
Genre: Mysteries, Thrillers and Crime, Popular Fiction, Horror
Description:
In Bloodlines by Jerry Purdon, a sheriff becomes distraught, taking drastic action after learning of a betrayal beyond anything he had imagined.
In THE BULLET by Trevor Abbud, in the aftermath of a world ravaged by the mysterious virus known as “The Bullet,” Luke Hart grapples with the challenges of survival, navigating the feral transformation of his son Jacob and the haunting complexities of his wife’s infectation.
In Coyote by Benjamin B. White, born into a mixed breed with a culture of opposing ideologies – which wolves you run with are up to you or are they?
In Grey Wolf by Patrick Scott, when the world opens up, you often find there are things you never expected to find in the dark corners or the much wider world. Including those that are truly incurable.
In His Time of the Month by Keith Raymond, a werewolf is warned by her second husband, a wizard, that his kind are being hunted down by Templar Knights in Europe. They travel to Poland to take out the hunters.
In Kooshti Lollipop Sherbet Cunt by Katie Ness, Stef, a sardonic woman living in London, hates her life. She encounters a strange woman who offers her candied apples and upon taking a bite sets in motion a colourful and brutal metamorphosis.
In Skin in the Game by Deborah Sullivan Brennan, nineteen-year old Eve is a typical college student, and also a selkie, or seal shapeshifter, whose family history curses her to misfortune in love. After a bad date leaves Eve’s very survival in the hands of a lycanthrope tyrant, she faces a battle to save her skin.
In Stalk by Christopher Pender, a young man travels by train through the night. His destination? A new life. As he travels alone in his carriage through the eerily quiet European countryside he slowly begins to realise that he is not alone.
In The Summer of Slight Acquaintances by Neepa Sarkar, Akashi, a doctoral candidate at Harvard, boards a bus in India to reach her twin brother’s destination wedding. However, the bus meets with an unusual accident that makes her fall off the bus and be carried away by Jihan or Mrgam as he is called by his gang. Does Akashi manage to escape or is it all a dream?
In The Way of the Kaftar by Scott Chaddon, have you ever wondered what might happen when an American werewolf encounters a pack of native Iraqi shape shifters? Are they brethren under the fur, or will they be mortal enemies on sight?
In Wildcat by Cris Morris, lost at night in a foreign city, Peter will come face to face with the monster inside him.
But the Wicked Shall Parish by Catori Sarmiento
Published by Running Wild Press; Available October 7, 2025
Genre: Mysteries, Thrillers and Crime, Fantasy
Description:
But the Wicked Shall Perish follows Tziporah Curiel, a young Jewish woman, as she is brought back to life in 1920s Venice, Italy, and as she struggles to come to terms with her existence and to enact justice on her murderer. The novel incorporates Jewish mythology and beliefs into the first-person narrative through Tziporah Curiel’s perspective as she searches for the reason why she died and to bring the person responsible to justice. However, to continue her reborn life, she must absorb living souls, or she will cease to exist. Her decision to strive for justice leads her to accepting a perilous offer from the demon Azazel. With his help, Tziporah follows a path through the fraught political and societal landscape of 1920s Italy and Austria that leads to her discovering the meaning behind her death and justice for her murderer.
About the Author:
Catori Sarmiento is an author, artist, poet, and educator. She has written several books, including two award-winning titles, The Fortune Follies and Carnival Panic. Although she began writing at an early age, it was not until she began writing poetry during her time as a University of Maryland student that she decided to seriously pursue professional writing. She went on to study writing in a graduate program at National University of San Diego while also living in Tokyo, Japan. She now finds herself living in Idaho where she continues writing every day.
Introducing the Scarlet Scrapper by Leonard Apa
Published by Running Wild Press; Available September 23, 2025
Genre: Mysteries, Thrillers and Crime
Description:
Thomas Malloy has just witnessed the worst trauma a child can suffer.
With nowhere to turn he seeks out the only man he feels can help him, The Scarlet Scrapper!
The trouble is that Frank Hodge is no kind of hero, he just plays one on the radio.
Hodge, a veteran who drinks too much, is dealing with his own inner demons.
Now he must decide if he will continue down the disastrous path he has been on since returning from the war, or if he can become the hero Thomas needs him to be.
A story of action, adventure and heart, where hero and villain collide in a showdown for an innocent boy’s life.
About the Author:
Leonard Apa teaches high school English in New Jersey. His short fiction has been published in CAPED: An Anthology of Superhero Tales, Deadman’s Tome Campfire Tales Book One, the first issue of Creepy Campfire Quarterly, and The Good Fight 5: The Good Fight. He was also featured in the ” Reject a Hit” segment of Writer’s Digest. Introducing the Scarlet Scrapper is his first novel. He is currently hard at work on a new adventure of the Scarlet Scrapper.
Old Man Evil & Other Stories by Vincent Czyz
Published by Running Wild Press; Available September 23, 2025
Genre: Popular and Literary Fiction
Description:
Old Man Evil is a collection of 12 stories, six of which take place in contemporary America while the other five transpire abroad. The flagship story, in which a suburban refugee finds himself in a New Mexican shantytown among derelicts and eccentrics, examines the quiet damage inflicted by social conventions. Backlighting the action is the millennia-distant afterglow of Sodom and Gomorrah. Set to Rebetika music, “Pub Blues” is an exploration of marriage and middle age that takes place in urban New Jersey. “Chele Kula” dramatizes the struggle against imperialism during the Serbian uprising against the Ottoman Empire in 1809. “Straightsville” tests the depth of a suburban heterosexual’s acceptance of gay men. “Hamlet’s Ghost Sighted in Frontenac, KS,” in which a mixed-blood Hopi wonders whether his uncle killed his father, takes place in a single hallucinogenic night fueled by cocaine. “Tolstoy’s Kunak” revolves around the friendship that formed between the Russian author and a young Chechen during the Russo-Caucasian Wars. “Mengele’s Gypsy” is based on the documented relationship between Josef Mengele and a four-year-old Gypsy boy imprisoned in Auschwitz.
About the Author:
Vincent Czyz is the author of two short story collections, one of which won the 2016 Eric Hoffer Award for Best in Small Press, two novels, a novella, and an essay collection. He is the recipient of two fiction fellowships from the NJ Council on the Arts, the W. Faulkner-W. Wisdom Prize for Short Fiction, and the 2011 Capote Fellowship at Rutgers University. His stories have appeared in Shenandoah, AGNI, The Massachusetts Review, Tin House, Copper Nickel, and Southern Indiana Review, among other publications.
Narrowly by Arno Bohlmeijer
Published by Running Wild Press; Available September 23, 2025
Genre: Popular and Literary Fiction
Description:
After her baby’s cot death, single mother Anne is in radical denial, burying the secret, and in a psychotic reflex, she steals a baby to replace her boy, instinctive enough to dodge suspicion, keeping the new boy out of sight until his looks have changed, so the police and media actions are useless.
Nomi and Mark are normal, happy parents, when their baby Art goes missing, while 3-year old Dilli’s ravishing frankness counters their guilt and shame.
Anne loves the child immensely and looks after him very well indeed, continuing to work from home. Her breathtaking, natural genius and care avoid complications, but some people do get close to suspicion, drifting between being protective, naive, and anxious.
Ultimately both Moms may need to meet, while the readers’ judgments and loyalties are tested in groping and opposing ways.
About the Author:
Arno Bohlmeijer is a novelist and poet, writing in English and Dutch, the winner of a PEN America Grant 2021, featured in dozens of Journals and Reviews. At age 14, he was admitted to the Scapino School of Dance, but he chose to study languages, with jobs in Wales, France, and London, going on to write and be published in six countries. All his life as a very human being and writer, he’s been called ” different” . As a good thing?
The Death Knot by Carolyn Banks
Published by Running Wild Press; Available September 23, 2025
Genre: Mystery, Thrillers and Crime, Romance
Description:
Eleanor Armitage has isolated herself in the small town where she’s chosen to live. Her job selecting fabrics for a designer makes it possible for her to work and travel without much personal contact with others. She’s not unhappy; she’s just, by desire, totally disengaged from what we would consider “normal” life. But when Eleanor witnesses a particularly ugly crime, that event pulls at her and, as she follows various aspects of what she has seen, she’s released from her self-imposed prison and welcomes friendship and even romance.
About the Author:
Carolyn Banks has a long and continuous record of publication. Her first novel, Mr. Right, was hailed as ” hilarious and sexy at the same time.” Suspense novels followed, including Patchwork, The Girls on the Row and The Darkroom. Afterward, Banks wrote a five-book comic mystery series set in the equestrian world. These were Death by Dressage, Murder Well Bred, Death on the Diagonal, Groomed for Death and A Horse to Die For. The series was reprinted in 2023 by Sapere Books in England, In 2024, Banks’s farcical novel featuring Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Erica, appeared.
Champagne and Sour Grapes by Gary Buslik
Published by Running Wild Press; Available September 22, 2025
Genre: Popular and Literary Fiction
Description:
Marriage: bliss or blitz? Champagne and Sour Grapes is a collection of short stories sharing the lows and highs, sorrows and joys, sobs and guffaws of holy and holey matrimony. Sometimes poignant, often hilarious, Buslik’s tales hit close to home, spouse-wise. We’re sure to recognize something of our giddy selves or screaming-bloody-murder neighbors in these face-smooching and head-biting gems. So pour yourself a flute of Dom P. or paper cup of dimestore boxed wine, relax in your leather lounger or rickety chaise lounge in front of your fireplace or ice-fishing hole, and have a bubbly and briny time knowing you’re not alone.
About the Author:
In the third grade, Gary Buslik was voted the kid most likely to get the shit beaten out of him. For the first three-and-a-half years of college, he lied to his parents, telling them he was in pre-law. When he was finally exposed as an English major, his mother couldn’t stop sobbing, and his father stomped around the house, yelling, ” Big man! He knows the parts of speech!” In revenge, Gary earned an English Literature Ph.D. and made his dad call him ” Doctor.” He currently teaches Shakespeare at the University of Illinois Chicago. You can visit him at www.garybuslik.com.
The Bequest by Suzy Vitello
Published by Running Wild Press; Available September 9, 2025
Genre: Popular and Literary Fiction
Description:
Destitute after being conned by a recent beau, Nadine Bishop learns she’s been named in a will under the condition she monitor the sobriety of the dead man’s twenty-nine-year-old son, Remmington. The catch? The dead man was her first married lover. The caveat? If Remmington cannot remain sober and gainfully employed for the six months leading up to his thirtieth birthday, Nadine will inherit the sizeable estate.
Meanwhile, Remmington has no intention of allowing his inheritance to be scooped up by his late father’s mistress. Nor does he intend to succumb to the conditions of the bequest. When legal maneuvers fail, he turns to Caroline, a cartel-adjacent con artist from his past, along with a disgraced former high school teacher, Ed. With their help, he intends to thwart his late father’s meddling, and reclaim his birthright.
When a freak winter storm forces the unlikely foursome together, and Caroline’s felonious ex-husband further complicates things, Nadine and Remmington must come together, forging an unlikely unified front. Things turn violent, however, and when their newfound partnership is tested, they must overcome their biggest obstacles yet to redeem and rebuild their individual lives.
About the Author:
Suzy Vitello‘s award-winning short pieces have appeared in AARP, The Rumpus, The Southampton Review, Mississippi Review, anthologies and other literary journals, and has been a recipient of an Oregon Literary Arts fellowship. Her latest novel, BITTERROOT, was published by Sibylline Press in May, 2024 and has been called “an exceptional novel by a great talent,” by novelist Rene Denfeld; and she is also the author of FAULTLAND from Ooligan Press in March, 2021, a Powell’s Pick of the Month. Her YA novels include THE MOMENT BEFORE, THE EMPRESS CHRONICLES, and THE KEEPSAKE. She holds an MFA from Antioch Los Angeles, and works as a freelance developmental editor and book coach.
Sometimes Death Is A Blessing by CJ Grant
Published by Running Wild Press; Available September 8, 2025
Genre: Mystery, Thrillers and Crime
Description:
Raine Thompson is a rookie agent of Domestic Security Services, a secret agency doing the dirty jobs that other government agencies pass on to them.
Stationed in Washington D.C., Raine navigates the underworld of the Russian Mafia, motivated by vengeance. Her tenacity pays off when the chance to eliminate those responsible for her boyfriend’s death finally appears.
Her mission takes on a greater scope when it is revealed that one of the Russian cartels has stolen a deadly virus and plans to auction it off to the highest bidder. Teamed with a veteran analyst who is battling a brain tumor, Raine is tasked with recovering the vials at any cost. Raine must battle not only the enemy, but also her own inner fears and desires for vengeance to succeed. Failure means the deaths of millions.
About the Author:
After a career which included writing for technical manuals and marketing pieces, CJ Grant turned her attention to fiction. She began telling herself stories as a child to distract her mind from tinnitus as she fell asleep. She loves the freedom to write anything she wants and is fascinated with good people who do bad and bad people who do good. CJ lives in southcentral Pennsylvania, is a member of Pennwriters.org and enjoys working with teens, gardening, and of course, writing.
Running Wild Novella Anthology: Volume 8, Book II
Published by Running Wild Press; Available September 8, 2025
Genre: Popular and Literary Fiction
Description:
Stephen J Kimber is an Australian author and teacher. He has co-authored a number of educational texts in English, History and Geography for John Wiley & Sons (Jacaranda), Nelson Thomson (CEngage), and others. He’s the author of the YA novella, ‘Sex and Drugs and Rock N Roll — Or the cooling of Nathan Pearson’, three plays, many short stories, and non-fiction pieces on motorcycling, fishing and the craft of writing. His work has appeared in magazines such as Imago, Idiom 123, Carve, Social Alternatives, Australian Angler, Two Wheels and others. He grew up in New Guinea, and has lived and worked in the UK and Indonesia. He currently lives with his wife, Linda, in rural Queensland, Australia, and shares the house with a husky named Syah and a cat named by his daughter after Childish Gambino. There are also lots of chooks (chickens); not in the house, though.
Andrew MacQuarrie is a reader, a writer, a veteran, and (allegedly) a doctor. Originally from Nova Scotia, he now calls Los Angeles home after a couple dozen formative years in Tennessee, the District of Columbia, and a brief sojourn in the US Air Force. When he isn’t writing, Andrew can be found on hold with health insurance companies or filling out Prior Authorization paperwork. He has previously published short fiction in The Montreal Review, The Write Launch, Pennsylvania English, The Line Literary Review, and On the Premises, and has two different novel manuscripts in his back pocket ready to find a home if he ever makes time to sit down and edit them. Andrew can be followed on Twitter @haemo_goblin.
The Women of Wild Cove by J. Kelland Perry
Published by Running Wild Press; Available September 1, 2025
Genre: Fantasy, Science Fiction
Description:
After global collapse, the island of Newfoundland in the warming waters of the North Atlantic has survived under female rule. Children are raised by a network of caregivers, guided by the principles of “It Takes a Village.” But the civilization is threatened when its birth rate suddenly stagnates.
Eighteen-year-old Kat knows she needs to stay on the good side of her elders until her coveted job on the island’s livestock ranch becomes a reality. One morning, she stumbles upon a man in the woods—an injured mainlander named Marcus who has wrecked his boat on the shore. Kat knows he will lose his freedom under the matriarchy if discovered. When he pleads for help, she faces a choice: turn the rogue in, or listen to her heart and help him get home.
But Marcus is captured. Then Kat is shocked when the elders lower their breeding program’s enrolment age to include her, and if she declines, her dream job will not only be delayed but revoked. While she looks for a way out, Marcus confesses his dire mission. Torn between sympathy for him and loyalty to her people, Kat is moved to act. But is his urgency a ruse and part of a strategy that could threaten her village and ultimately, the future of the entire island?
THE WOMEN OF WILD COVE is a survival tale of divided loyalties, love and sacrifice, gender equality, and uneasy alliances in a climate-changed world.
About the Author:
Jennifer Kelland Perry is a Canadian blogger, writer, avid reader and animal lover. Born in St. John’ s, Newfoundland and Labrador, she left the city behind in 2010 to enjoy rural life beside the ocean with her husband and two spoiled cats. Jennifer is the author of Calmer Girls, a two-book coming-of-age series, and a proud member of WritersNL. Visit her writing and photography blog at: jenniferkellandperry.com