Welcome to the Exclusive Cover Reveal of the Devil Take Me anthology, coming soon from DSP Publications! And be sure to check out the giveaway details below!

The Blurbs

Devil Take Me (Whole Book):

Temptation lurks around every corner in worlds sometimes dark, sometimes lurid. Giving in is both dangerous and satisfying, though never in the ways one expects. While these enticements offer a vast range of benefits and boons, the cost is a soul and the devil expects his due. Sometimes suave and charming or calculating and cruel, these devils have schemes and desires of their own. They can be creatures to run away from… or toward.

Join the most unique and celebrated authors of LGBT urban fantasy and paranormal fiction for a fast-paced and unpredictable ride from a city on the other side of reality, to a world suspended in dusk, to a twisted version of the 1960s and 70s.

Meet devils and in top hats and waistcoats, a defrocked motorcycle-riding priest, and a genderfluid antihero—among many more. Full of humor, romance, horror, action, intrigue, and magic, these stories have one common element….

They’re one hell of a good time.

11:59 by C.S. Poe

Asuka Kawashima is a man without dreams. Nightmares plague humanity and cross into the waking world—chasing after their dreamers and transforming them into hideous monsters that haunt New York City at night. When Asuka is faced with the choice between dying or selling his soul to the Devil, he offers it in exchange for the chance to continue protecting people. But the Devil is sly, and while he takes Asuka’s ability to dream, making him immune to nightmares, it also removed Asuka’s abstract sense of dreaming. Now life is gray, hopeless, and without wishes.

A chance meeting five years later leads Asuka to Merrick Grace, a man who, despite the dismal world around them, still believes there will be a day when monsters cease to exist. When the Devil reappears, asking for a favor in return for his soul, Asuka must make another difficult decision.

If the chance to dream again—to share a life with Merrick, full of hope and happiness—is worth the risk of almost certain death.

Collared by TA Moore

When ex-priest Jack finds a dead man nailed to his bed, he knows it’s going to be a bad night. He just has no idea how bad. Now he’s been recruited by his own personal demon to find the thieves who killed a man, kidnapped his family, and stole something of indescribable value from the demonic Math. To find answers he has to delve deep into the infernal underbelly of his town and face his own past. Jack’s been promised his soul back if he succeeds. As local cop Ben Ambrose risks his own soul by following too closely in Jack’s footsteps, and with a child’s life on the line, Jack has to decide if it’s a deal he’s willing to make.

Dark Favors by Jordan Castillo Price

Most folks in the crumbling metropolis of Calvary are ignorant sheep, but not Johnny Lockheart. He’s Chosen. Half a lifetime ago, when he was young and stupid, he sold his soul to the Devil… and he’s been regretting that choice ever since.

Now the Devil is back with a new and improved offer. Kill a major TV personality and walk free with his soul. It should be simple, if not for the star’s bodyguard. Adam is Chosen too, and he has no compunctions about using his powers. When the two of them rub up against each other, their raw chemistry ignites—but there’s no way he’d let Johnny go through with the murder. The only way out is to cut off the power at its source. Is their connection enough to rid Calvary of the Devil’s influence for good?

Infernal Affairs by Jordan Hawk

Ralgath wants nothing more than to work as a crossroads demon. Too bad he botched his first assignment when a very sexy mortal turned the tables on him. Now he has one chance to get his job back: find two demons who vanished in the human realm.

Unfortunately, doing so means teaming up with Chess—the very mortal who cost Ralgath his job in the first place. Chess has spent the last three years using their infernally granted powers to do good. But now Ralgath has a new offer for them: help him find the missing demons, and he’ll return Chess’s soul.

After their last encounter, Chess is the last person Ralgath should be interested in. But the passion that initially drew them together still burns hotter than the flames of the Underworld. Chess claims they never meant to hurt Ralgath, but can Ralgath afford to trust them? Because while Ralgath may have Chess’s soul, he’s increasingly certain Chess owns his heart.

The Counterfeit Viscount by Ginn Hale

When Prodigal devils begin disappearing, Archie Fallmont, Viscount of Granville, finds himself in the unenviable position of being required to investigate. He has after all sold his soul to the handsome devil—and flashy dresser—Nimble Hobbs. Now Archie must join Nimble, sleuthing out the knotty secrets of noble families and an infamously exclusive club.

But as bullets fly and top hats fall, Archie begins to fears he and Nimble are up against much worse than just dreadful poetry recitals. Not only is there a murderer on the loose but Archie is growing disturbingly fond of having a devil around.

Wonderland City by Rhys Ford

When Xander Spade went through the Looking Glass, he wasn’t looking for salvation. He’d been running from the devil who took his soul, only fall prey to the greatest monster in Wonderland City, the Queen of Hearts. Years later, the Queen is dead and Xander has a chance to go through the Looking Glass and back home where he belongs.

Xander’s devil wants him to find a little girl who escaped into Wonderland City before her presence brings down an apocalypse of uncontrollable chaos to the already mad world. Along with Jean Michel, the former Knave of Hearts, Xander now is in a race against time to find the missing child before all Hell breaks loose and he loses his chance to go home.

Pre-order Devil Take Me from DSP Publications

This title will also be on a preorder sale for 40% off through Friday, June 22

A Word from the Authors

Rhys Ford

Like most great stories, this anthology was conceived in a hotel room in Las Vegas. Sadly, it was the middle of the afternoon and we weren’t three sheets to the wind but sometimes you don’t need to have whiskey in your blood to realize something is a really good fucking thing to do. The idea behind the anthology was the devil willing to trade back a sold soul in exchange for something he couldn’t do himself. It’s been a story I’d wanted to write for quite a few years but the time was never right and too many things were in the way. Until one October, in Las Vegas, everything came together in a matter of a few hours really. I knew who I wanted with me. The authors had to be spectacular and masters of their craft. They had to write with a kind of crunchiness and had to be fearless with their words. Most of all, they had to be storytellers who remembered stories could be fun, scary, exciting, heart pounding, romantic, and terrifyingly beautiful. I knew exactly who I wanted to stand next to and I am so very honored to know these giants in our industry.

So I reached out, and asked, hoping everyone would have time and an enthusiasm for the project. They not only jumped in with both feet but delivered incredible tales. I couldn’t imagine this anthology with any other authors than TA Moore, Jordan L Hawk, Jordan Castillo Price, Ginn Hale and CS Poe. I think every one of them has such a unique voice and brings such a vibrancy to their tapestry of words. I can’t wait for you to see what they’ve up with and I am in awe of their craftsmanship. So, thank you all for saying yes and going with me on this crazy, wild ride. I know all of you are going to blow everyone’s minds.

Jordan Hawk

I agreed to participate in the Devil Take Me anthology because Rhys Ford has mind control powers and can talk even the most over-extended writer into squeezing another 20,000 words into their schedule. (I’m definitely wearing a tin foil hat next time I see her.) Problem was, besides no time, I also had no Ideas as to what to write about. I thought up and discarded several, but nothing captured my imagination until I realized I had to write my story from the demon’s point of view…and that he wasn’t very good at his job.

Infernal Affairs is probably the goofiest thing I’ve ever written, and I had a blast discovering the story of Ralgath, the Underworld’s worst crossroads demon, and Chess, the bad ass nonbinary monster hunter. And let’s not forget Fluffpaw the hellhound, whose biggest talents are drooling, napping, and chewing on the landscape.

So thanks, Rhys; I shouldn’t have doubted. Now where is that tin foil hat…

Jordan Castillo Price

I love a good contrast. In Dark Favors, the characters are both among the devil’s Chosen, so they’re no saints. But other than that, they couldn’t be more different.

The story’s antihero, Johnny, sold his soul to the devil when he was too young and stupid to comprehend what he’d done. Now he’s the washed-up owner of a lousy dive bar with nothing to look forward to and nothing to prove. And he likes it that way.

If Johnny is the past, Adam is the cusp of the 80’s future: pagers and shoulder pads and MTV. Even though they cross paths when Johnny’s on a mission from the devil that can’t possibly end well, chemistry sparks between the two of them like wildfire.

TA Moore

How did I find out about the Devil Take Me anthology?

I was naked and afraid in the dark. Well, half-naked (bottom, top could have gone to Church) and confused*. Rhys Ford and CS Poe had just called me from Vegas, where it wasn’t midnight, and told me we were doing an Urban Fantasy anthology for Dreamspinner and it was all arranged.

“It’s midnight,” I said.

No one cared. I stared at them, in Vegas where it wasn’t midnight, and remembered I was wearing my new bite guard.

“We’re launching it next year at GRL!” they told me. “We’re going to have some great authors and we can write whatever we want.”

“No really, it’s midnight,” I said. I showed them my watch. “Is this a nightmare?”*

I exaggerate for effect. Not really, though. It was midnight and I looked like I’d been mauled by a badger. I am honestly not entirely sure what I agreed to, so at some point CS Poe could come back and be all ‘remember you said I could have a kidney?’ and I’ll be all ‘no! it’s the only organ my rubbish genetics haven’t ruined!’…but I digress!

Once I went back to bed, woke up, and checked I hadn’t dreamed a late night video call I realised this was actually a real thing that was going to happen. That’s when I got excited and piddled on the Elves for my story, only to end up writing something totally different!

*Consulted with Rhys Ford for accuracy. Apparently I am completely inaccurate, but I did tell them I was wearing no pants and then just agreed to write a story without asking what it was supposed to be about. CS Poe was scandalised. A lesson to you all, if you want me to agree to something get Rhys to wake me up at midnight!

*I want my gravestone to read –  ‘Half-naked, confused, and wearing a bite guard’. That’ll confuse the alien archeologists!

C.S. Poe

My contribution to the Devil Take Me anthology is called 11:59. It follows Asuka Kawashima, a man who sold his soul to the Devil out of sheer necessity, and now finds himself a reluctant hero. New York City is plagued by nightmares that are transforming humanity into hideous monsters while they sleep, and Asuka is the only man with the inability to dream and is therefore immune.

11:59 is definitely one of the darker and more bleak stories I’ve written, and it’s a change from the first-person POV full of wit and sarcasm that readers have come to expect from me! But the prompt for this anthology provided not only a chance for me as a writer to experiment a bit, it allowed for a real challenge. I wanted to tell a story that walked a tightrope of keeping the reader just this much removed, mimicking the sense of isolation and hopelessness Asuka feels throughout the book, but to also pack the most emotional punch I could in as little narration as possible. It was an incredible experience, one I hope readers are happy with. And it was an honor to be included in this project, among names in the genre I so deeply respect!

For as gritty and somber as 11:59 may sound, it’s not a C.S. Poe story without some love. And Asuka meets a man named Merrick Grace….

Ginn Hale

Making of The Counterfeit Viscount

When Rhys asked me to contribute a story to the anthology she was organizing I said, “Yes!” Only someone who has no time for fun and adventure says no to Rhys.

 And, of course, I’m so glad that I joined her, because this project gave me an opportunity to at last return to the world of Wicked Gentlemen. The setting of Crowncross City—where the descendants of redeemed devils live trapped existences in an underworld beneath the feet of ‘natural’ men and women—roils with political dissent, secrets and very dangerous bargains.

Archie Fallmont, Viscount of Granville, is intent upon forging one of those infamous pacts in order to avenge the death of his brother. He turns to Nimble Hobbs, a Prodigal war veteran with a reputation for solving intractable problems and trading in souls. Nimble, of course, harbors his own motive for sealing their bargain.

But when Prodigals begin disappearing from a gentlemen’s club, both Archie and Nimble find themselves caught up in a web of lies, illusions and murder….

Yep, murder, devils, lost souls, an underground city, terrible poetry, flashy waistcoats—fun and adventure! All thanks to Rhys.

About the Authors

Jordan L. Hawk

Jordan L. Hawk is a nonbinary queer author from North Carolina. Childhood tales of mountain ghosts and mysterious creatures gave them a lifelong love of things that go bump in the night. When they aren’t writing, they brew their own beer and try to keep the cats from destroying the house.

TA Moore

TA Moore is a Northern Irish writer who thinks adding ‘in space’ to something makes it at least 40% cooler. She aspires to cynicism and sarcasm, but is held back by a generally sunny disposition.

Ginn Hale

Ginn Hale resides in the Pacific Northwest with her lovely wife and wayward cats. She is an award-winning author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an avid coffee-drinker.

C.S. Poe

C.S. Poe is a Lambda Literary and EPIC award finalist author of gay mystery, romance, and paranormal books.

She is an avid fan of coffee, reading, and cats.

C.S. is a member of the International Thriller Writers organization.

Rhys Ford

Rhys Ford is an award-winning author with several long-running LGBT+ mystery, thriller, paranormal, and urban fantasy series and was a 2016 LAMBDA finalist with her novel, Murder and Mayhem and a 2017 Gold and Silver Medal winner in the Florida Authors and Publishers President’s Book Awards. She is published by Dreamspinner Press and DSP Publications.

Jordan Castillo Price

Author and artist Jordan Castillo Price writes paranormal sci-fi thrillers colored by her time in the Midwest, from inner-city Chicago to various cities across southern Wisconsin. She’s recently settled in a 1910 Cape Cod near Lake Michigan with tons of character and a plethora of bizarre spiders. Her influences include Ouija boards, Return of the Living Dead, “light as a feather, stiff as a board,” girls with tattoos and boys in eyeliner.

The Giveaway

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