Welcome to the Inklings Podcast! Today's book is Waif by Samantha Kolsnik, a horror novella. Angela is in an abusive relationship and finally tells her husband what he'd have to look like in order for her to finally be attracted to him. Things go downhill from there.

Thank you for listening to today's episode and I would love feedback and tips for the next one. Bye!

This is a world in which the sun does not shine. There is no green grass, no flowers, no beautiful fall colors as the tree leaves change. There is only dim gray ash. The ash coats absolutely everything. The Lord Ruler holds this world in a firm, brutal grip from his gothic looking castle and has done so for hundreds of years. No one’s ever been able to stop him. The Survivor of Hathsin, with his ragtag team of thieves, plots to steal from the Lord Ruler, and, in turn, start a rebellion. The thievery comes first, of course.

A small town with a church on nearly every corner; incredibly similar to my own town. A man whose parents were murdered- and the killer went free. What happens when he gets asked to investigate a local preacher’s death? Why is it so mysterious; why does his daughter simply not care? What secrets is he about to uncover? 

988 - Suicide Hotline

741-741 -- Addiction and Recovery

https://warmline.org/ -- find your local warm line with your community supports

Know that people are here and ready/willing to help.

You’re going about your typical day, walking into your own house, and interrupt a current burglary. Everything that happens after that is a blur. You remember somehow freeing yourself and running away, but you’re told you’ve killed the man. Now there’s a dark patch always slipping right into view in the corner of your eye.

No one talks about the Grace Year. The girls are told they have the power to lure grown men from their beds, make boys lose their minds, and drive wives mad with jealousy. Girls skin emits a powerful aphrodisiac, the pure essence of youth. So, on their 16th year, the girls are sent into the forest to release their magic into the forest before they’ll be allowed to return to civilization. 

You’re 20 years old and serving as a nightlife guide for tourists in Japan. You meet this American man who is just weird and the more you spend time with him, the more you become convinced he is a killer that has recently been stalking the streets and killing the prostitutes of Japan. How are you meant to survive three whole nights with this man? 

You’ve heard of the traveling Carnival with the notorious and morally questionable magician, Legend. Seeing Caraval and Legend work their magic in person is your biggest dream. You write to him throughout your entire childhood, desperate and begging. You finally get a response and therefore a way off of the isolated and abusive island you call home. You take your sister and an infuriatingly handsome companion, only to learn that attending this carnival and playing its game might be a smidge more dangerous than you thought. But it’s only a game, right? What harm could possibly be done? 

Imagine. The man you love more than anything has invited you on a lovely get away in a lodge situated right smack in the middle of the Rocky Mountains. This isn’t really your thing, but how could you say no? This is the man that brought you back, who put some umph back into your life, the man who taught you how to trust in people again. How could you say no and not attend a trip that could prove to the both of you that you are worthy of his love? So of course you go, stuck on this bus with a few other people who are arguably a bit more excited than you are. But what happens when the bus unexpectedly gets stuck due to a fallen tree? I mean, that’s no big deal, right? Even the tour guide says so. “You guys go ahead and get some sight seeing done. I’ll try and get this tree out of the way, go ahead and go have a look around, just be back within the hour.” So of course your adventure loving boyfriend decides to drag you to the top of a cliff to show you one of his favorite sight seeing spots. And of course you follow along like the good girlfriend you are. But what happens when a snow storm comes out of no where and neither of you can find your way back? What happens when you think you’ve stepped on solid ground, only to plummet to what you expect to be your death? Your boyfriend tried to grab you, desperately tried to hold onto you. The only part of you left in his hand now is your glove and the strips of skin that were frozen to it. Now you’re stumbling through the snow, unable to see, lost, injured, freezing, and alone.