MVmedia, Atlanta, GA (2025)

09/04/2025

What kind of lunatic brings Count Dracula, aka Vlad Tepes, aka He Who Conquers aka Father of All Vampires…to a murder mystery dinner on Halloween?
Me. I’m the lunatic. My name is Cassandra Moody. Nice to meet you.
You see, the Count and I have a uniquely weird sort of friendship. It has to be, considering he’s the world’s oldest vampire and I’m the daughter of the original Wolfman. He met my parents a few centuries ago and they’ve been dear friends ever since, meaning I got an introduction. I didn’t really get to know him until a few years ago when he came to visit us in Atlanta and I took him out for a night on the town that ended in a brawl with rival werewolves…and us making out. Just a little. I’m a classy girl, after all—I don’t just make out with any old vampire, no, I had to go and choose the Father of All Vampires. Go big or go home.
Ever since, he and I have had little…visits. That’s the nicest way to put it, really. He comes to the states every few months to hang out with our wolf pack, see my parents, and…well…the man’s title is He Who Conquers. I’m sure you can put together what we get up to each time he visits. A lady doesn’t kiss and tell.
This year, however, the Count had enough time to stop in for Halloween, which is actually a big deal in the supernatural community. Most of us get to cut loose on Halloween since the march of technology is now so advanced that many supernatural creatures can walk around as themselves and most normies write it off as elaborate costumes or special effects. Since this would be the first Halloween we’d be spending in each other’s company, I decided to make it an occasion. I’d gotten invited to a murder mystery dinner thrown by a friend of a friend, so Vlad decided to tag along for a night of thrills.
And trust me, vampires and werewolves hanging out is always a night of thrills.
- Things That Go Bump in the Night by Kyoko M. From Terminus 3. Preorder your book today! Official release date: September 13, 2025. Link in the comments.

09/04/2025

The Terminus 3 eBook is available for preorder for Kindle! Link in the comments!
The ATLiens are back! Twenty-one speculative fiction stories from some of Metro Atlanta's best Black Speculative Fiction authors. You'll never see the ATL the same way again!
With stories by Jessica Cage, Gerald L. Coleman, Ashleigh Davenport, Alana Davis, Milton J. Davis, L. Renee James-Griffin, M. Haynes, Marcellus S. Jackson, Nadira Jamerson, Tiara Jante', Robert Jeffrey II, Alan Jones, W. Alexander Lawson, Kyoko M, Violette Meier, Balogun Ojetade, Glenn Parris, Alvin Jordan Richardson, Bernette Sherman, Aziza Sphinx, and Kortney Watkins.

Praise for the Terminus Anthology Series
‘Terminus is a one of a kind, powerful, and engaging look into the hidden wonders of Atlanta, GA. Known the world over as "HOTlanta," the site of the 1996 Olympics, and the home of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Terminus takes its readers on a journey underneath and in between these historic identifiers. Upon reading this anthology, we are riveted by the possibility that monsters, magical powers, and African folklore inhabit the streets of Atlanta as we see the city through the expansive imaginations of this volume's talented authors. Terminus is an ambitious book filled with narrative twists and turns that leaves you wanting more!’
- Clint Fluker, PhD Senior Director of Culture, Community, and Partner Engagement for Emory University Libraries and the Michael C. Carlos Museum

09/03/2025

The Night of Lights Celebration began at sundown in Summerhill and Synthia was almost ready. She checked her makeup one last time then ran her hand over her bald scalp. Stubble scratched her palms; she would need to shave soon. She summoned her holoscreen to confirm her sources were fully charged. Satisfied, she waved away the screen, exited her twenty-first-floor condo and strode to the lift. Her palm pressed the control and moments later she was greeted by the friendly faces of other celebrants from the floors above her, all dressed in the traditional black robe with high collars radiating bright colors bordering their exuberant faces. No words were shared; no one wanted to spoil the energy with words.
The lift door opened, and they spilled into the condo lobby then out into the lighted streets. The crisp air chilled her brown skin and she grinned. Fall was her favorite time of year. Bradford Pear trees and sugar maples blazed autumn orange, adding to the festive atmosphere. Synthia blinked and her eyes turned yellow, matching the hue emitted by the inside of her robe. The others around her did the same, surrounding her with reds, blues, greens, and almost all the colors of the spectrum. While the others paired off, Synthia strolled the leaf littered Summerhill streets alone. She was new to the neigh-borhood and had yet to make friends. It was just a matter of time. There were only so many of them in Atlanta, and there was safety in numbers.
“Synthia?”
She turned and her eyebrows rose. Bryan, her brother, forced a smile to his face as he approached.
“I thought that was you,” he said. “You’ve changed . . .”
“Everything,” she finished for him. “What are you doing here? I thought you hated synths.”
“I do . . . I mean I don’t, at least not you. You’re not a synth.”
“I am, Bryan.”
“No, you’re not!” Bryan blurted. “Not inside.”
Synthia placed her hand on her younger brother’s shoulder then smiled when he flinched.
“Who sent you?” she asked. “I know you didn’t come on your own. And who told you how to find me? Mama?”
“Yeah. But nobody sent me. I came on my own.”
“So why are you here?”
Bryan’s eyes glistened. “It’s daddy. He’s dying. He asked for you. But . . .”
“But what?”
Synthia waited for Bryan to answer.
“I don’t think he’ll want to see you like this.”
“Is that what daddy thinks, or you?”
“I’m just the messenger,” Bryan said. “Do what you want.”
“I’ll think about it.”
Bryan turned then marched away. “Don’t think too long. He doesn’t have much time. Not all of us choose to live forever.”
Synthia watched him walk away. She should just let him go and be done with it, but she couldn’t. He said he came on his own, but Synthia knew better. Mama didn’t send him to Aytee-El for them to fight. She could have texted.
“Bryan, wait.”
She trotted up to him then grabbed his arm.
“How did you get here?” she asked.
“I took the bullet from Valdosta,” he replied without turning.
“You must be hungry. Tired, too.”
Bryan turned his head just enough for her to see the side of his face.
“I am. Hungry, that is.”
“Come with me,” she said as she tugged his arm.
“Where are you taking me?”
“To my favorite restaurant.”
He turned to face her.
“You still eat food? Real food?”
Synthia laughed at his ignorant question.
“Yes, I do. Now come on.”
- Homecoming by Yours Truly. From Terminus 3. Preorder your book today! Official release date: September 13, 2025. Link in the comments.

09/02/2025

On a quiet street off River Road, near two schools sharing the name Cedar Grove, be a house that was once red, white, and blue, with a haunting tale I might share with you. The house unobtrusively sits painted now with its colors demure and its non-sneering mouth. But I know all its secrets those hidden about behind shuttered windows and door facing south.
A shudder still consumes me whether walking or driving past, I know it still watches behind the masked window glass.
“Shh don’t tell. I leave the ones here be.”
“Then why are you still taunting and ever haunting me?”
“You should have returned when the sign first called.”
Yet self-preservation overrode my downfall. “What is it that you feel I must always see.”
“Ask yourself that. You’re here visiting me.”
The house was right as it tended to be.
Why am I here. Why do I care as I exit my car and turn to stare. The music still plays though the records are old. The jukebox cord now sits in a roll. No plug for power or electricity but from the be-yond came energy.
“I know you hear it. You’ll never forget.”
Dang-it its right. That’s what I get. Shut it out. Go on your way. It isn’t my visitor on this sunny day.
“You cannot ignore me. I’ll always be here. The music will continue; a worm in your ear.”
I ignore the taunting and go on my way; I refuse to allow the past to ruin my day. My visit is pleasant my old neighbors are well. Not much has changed though my memory swells.
The night rushes back to the dark in the garage where the board speaks to others and ignites the bard. The crash of an object we’re all now on guard and youngling take off running their breath coming hard.
A joke of the olders. Or dismissed as so. Except the creep of an-other power slithers across my toes. The game packed away their night coming to a close they retreat into the house as if no one knows.
I slip from my spot and creep to the door for the silence is broken with music once more. “Make it stop! Just go away!”
Not even my pleading will keep it at bay.
The radio. The song. Just change the tune. Hop in the car lest ye meet your doom. Speeding away eases the hell, the further the distance, the weaker the spell.
“You’ll never escape. You can be sure of that. Till you know why I’m here and what I want back.”

- River Ghost by Aziza Sphinx. From Terminus 3. Preorder you book today! Official release date: September 13, 2025. Link in the comments.

08/30/2025

Lizzie looked back outside, watching a lunar rover shuttle a group of settlers to an awaiting transport. The Jemison class vessel had become the standard ferry to their new home on planet Kamaal. The ship was cylindrical in shape, sleek in overall aesthetic, with FTL engines jutting from the end of the vessel. Convoys of the Kamaal bound travelers had slowed as of late, as ion storms on Earth had increased over the past few months preventing Seeker operations.
“I keep thinking, “When’s our turn”? Lizzie asked.
“When the job’s done,” Taliyah replied. This conversation had been a constant and showed no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
“Taliyah, you say that every time they push our launch date back. There’s always another mission,” Lizzie said, frustration mounting.
Taliyah gave her a look, the “the serious stare”.
“What’d I tell you when you joined up?” Taliyah said.
“Taliyah…”
“Nope. Like Grandma used to say, you want to have grown folks’ conversations, let’s do it. What did I tell you?”
Lizzie looked at the spectral image her sister’s tablet was projecting, as if to escape from the escalating argument. Miniature holo-graphic clouds rolled across the vast part of North America. The area was a wasteland, where ion storms appeared with extreme frequency and above ground living was fast becoming no longer possible. As a consequence of The Fall, the world had become almost uninhabitable, most of the planet now a scorched wasteland. Oceans had become charged glowing pools where sea life no longer existed. Cityscapes stood as burned and hallowed out testaments to the destruction wrought by the ion storms, constantly getting struck by the electrical tempests.
Back on the blighted Earth, Lizzie could hold her own with the other Seekers. She was one of the best Tech operatives the program had produced. Retrieval missions, search and rescue, and Scavyr strikes. She’d done it all on Earth. But confrontations with her sister: she hated them. She wasn’t scared of Taliyah. In fact, she loved her sibling fiercely. Arguments with Taliyah though had become tedious over the years at the Tycho Alpha colony. And she did everything she could to avoid them. She’d often find ways to lose herself in the constant engineering work on base, avoiding Taliyah and showdowns any way she could.
And why? Taliyah was all the family she had left. Their entire world had gone to hell and swallowed everyone up in it. She couldn’t afford to lose her.
Still looking at the hologram, she whispered, “The colony comes first. We come second.”
“Exactly. So, if the Collective decides to push our settlement orders back again, we don’t question it. I’m tired of having to repeat myself. Maybe it’s a military thing. Momma and Daddy would’ve understood, us all being Army.”
Lizzie’s head je**ed up. “No. You don’t get to do that. I know Momma and Daddy would never back down from helping people who needed it. So don’t throw that in my face like I don’t give a damn about responsibility. That’s some passive aggressive s**t, and low coming from you.”
Taliyah realized maybe she’d crossed a line. “Lizzie…”
“What’s the mission?” Lizzie said, ending any further conversation.
The older sister took the hint and typed a few new commands on the tablet. Zooming further into the image, Taliyah brought up the Southeast region of the former United States of America. More zooming. Georgia. More zooming. The metro Atlanta area. More zooming.
Lizzie’s breath caught in her throat.
“Taliyah, tell me this is a joke.”
Taliyah looked up at her sister, the blue of the hologram illuminating the concern etched on her face.
“It’s not,” Taliyah replied.
Lizzie stood up, walking around the table, as if seeing the light construct from different angles might make it more real. In front of her, the bombed out husk of Stone Mountain stood in front of her. As if hollowed out by a frustrated deity, the top of the mountain had been ripped off, creating a hollow chasm which led to God knew where.
“Hell,” was all Lizzie could muster.
- Monsters on the Mount' by Robert Jeffrey II. From Terminus 3. Preorder your book today! Official release date: September 13, 2025. Link in the comments.

08/29/2025

“You really have a type. You know that?” Zenobia asked as she tossed a fried shrimp into her highly glossed mouth and tossed the tail onto the edge of her dinner plate. She wiped her mouth; brown foundation and glittery lip gloss covered the napkin like sparkling mud thick with mica.
“My type is my business,” Daphine retorted, leaning back in her chair, and allowing her eyes to take note of every older gentleman in the room.
“I’m not trying to get in your business but you’re forty-nine years old, still piping hot, well-to-do, and cool as hell. Why do you date geriatric white men? By looks, your last date was at least eighty! Atlanta is full of fine men of every color. I’m not saying that you have to date a brother, but old Jim Crow looking men are not the move. A matter of fact, even when we were young you were picking up men twenty to thirty years our senior. Why them? Didn’t yo’ mama tell you that old men will give you worms?” Zenobia asked before taking a long sip of a turquoise blue cocktail with a rainbow umbrella leaning off the rim.
“Again, my business,” Daphine snapped. She crossed her long yellow legs and let her high heel swing on the tip of her toes.
“I told you that my husband Van’s business partner Christavius is crazy about you,” Zenobia said. “He’s your age, handsome, spir-itual, financially stable, straight, and kind. His ex-girlfriend used to work with me. She told everyone that he’s the reason why she’s bow-legged,” Zenobia laughed aloud. “He’s a catch girl. If I were single, I would date him or at least take his stick shift for a test drive!”
“How can he be crazy about me? He doesn’t even know me,” Daphine chuckled, still scoping the bar for men.
“He met you last year at the Christmas party at my house. Ya’ll danced together all night long. He even made your evil behind smile,” Zenobia jested.
Daphine laughed too. She remembered him. She liked him, but he was not who she was looking for.
“I think you should give the man a chance. There’s no reason to be alone for the rest of your life. The last time you were really happy was when you were seven,” Zenobia said, the mirth sucked from her voice like a syringe. “That was forty-two years ago Daphine. Let the past go. We ain’t getting any younger. The time for fun is now.”
Daphine’s eyes went dark. Forty-two years ago was the last time she had seen her twin brother, Davante’ alive. A tightness in her chest made her gasp and exhale slowly trying to banish the emotion-al pain that throbbed within her.
“Bingo,” Daphine whispered and sat up, quickly pushing away all thoughts of her twin brother. She pulled her shoe onto her heel and stood up.
“That’s him,” a voice whispered.
“I’ll pay for your food. You can leave when you’re done. I’ll not be leaving alone tonight,” Daphine said confidently, adjusting her dress. “Talk to you later Zenobia. Love you lots!” Daphine kissed her friend on the cheek and left the table taking slow sensual steps to-wards a liver spotted old man sitting at the bar.
- Daphine by Violette L. Meier. From Terminus 3. Preorder your book today! Release date: September 13, 2025. Link in the comments.

08/28/2025

Um, if you're planning on ordering Going Knowhere, you might want to speed things up. They're going fast. 🙂 And if you use the code DRAGONCON when you order, you'll get 10% off. Link in the comments.

08/28/2025

Ace’s freshman experience at Morehouse College didn’t distinguish itself academically or athletically. He made the pitching squad, but he didn’t make the cut as a starter. He put in hours in the bullpen. Chip Nobles played catcher. The two bonded, getting better as the year went on.
By the beginning of sophomore year, Coach tried ACE out as a reliever. Good. Not Great. One save, three losses after the starter led by one run by the seventh inning.
The coach sat back in the stands talking to a man ACE and Chip hadn’t seen before.
Chip said, “I can’t hear the conversation, but I’d bet my only nut the guy's a scout.”
In the stands, Coach Roberts ran down ACE’s profile. “Andrew Christopher Estrada-Stryker, ACE. Kid loves the game of baseball. His Dominican mother wants him to be a priest, but his blue-collar father is a baseball addict. The boy comes by his love of the game honestly.
ACE Stryker. Got a legendary name for a pitcher. Just wish he had the talent to go with it.”
The quiet man said, “Let me talk to him for a minute.”
The coach called ACE over.
“Hello, son. My name’s Drake Ho**er. I’m an independent scout. I’m team agnostic.” He chuckled, “Strange introduction to a kid at a divinity school, I guess. I place a lot of second-string positions for a variety of teams that need urgent, last-minute players.”
ACE whipped off his cap and scrunched it in his hands, almost begging, “Sir, if you could get me something, anything, I’d be forever in your debt.”
Ho**er smiled a sympathetic closed-lip smile and laid a gentle hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Every ball player dreams of being a major league pitcher. They learn the basic skills, maybe master a couple of pitches but when they come up against some of the best prospects out there, they find their hopes evaporating every time. I hate to raise false optimism for anyone not willing to do what it takes to succeed.”
ACE beseeched him. “Please, sir. I’ll do ANYTHING for a shot at a major league mound.”
“I hear that all the time,” Ho**er’s eyes dipped in sorrow, “but when the going gets tough, young men falter. They see a line that they can’t cross.”
“I’ve worked for this all my life. There is NO line I won’t cross. Not for this, sir.”
“Yeah, everyone says that until the pint of blood and pound of flesh comes due,” Ho**er said, his eyes rising towards ACE’s.
“Give me a chance, sir. I won’t let you down. I swear on my mother’s soul.” ACE stuck out his hand to shake. Ho**er left him hanging.
“A handshake? Really. It’s going to take much more than that to get my help. We’re talking about a gift that will change your life. I need more commitment than that.” Ho**er stared deep into ACE’s eyes.
“Just tell me what you need, and I’ll give it, Mr. Ho**er.”
- Bat out of Hell by Glenn Parris. From Terminus 3. Preorder your book today! Official release date: September 13, 2025. Link in the comments.

08/27/2025

In stock now!
Six soldiers—once slaves, now brothers in arms. Bound by their uniforms, forged in battle, and held together by a bond stronger than blood. Their mission: es**rt a prisoner to the remote town of Knowhere. But what they carry isn’t just a man—it’s something far more sinister. Something that thrives in the dark.
And it’s hungry.

"GOING KNOWHERE is horror storytelling elevated to new, thrilling levels . . . its terror, rooted in Black American history and frightening European mythology, is rendered in masterful art and brilliant writing. Loved every chilling page!"
-Stephen Mack Jones, Author, the August Snow thriller novels

"As a fan of Westerns, Horror Lit and Bass Reeves, this was a treat! Fun story and the artwork is superb. Can't wait to see the rest."
- Steven Van Patten, ward-winning author of the Brookwater's Curse series.

"Perfect blend of horror and Westerns while also incorporating the black perspective. A must-add to any collection."
- Marcus H. Roberts, Second Sight Publishing

"Going Knowhere is everything I love in weird westerns. It has supernatural elements, historical context, and suspense. It also has one thing that enhances my love for even more—the artwork and the story . . . If you love weird westerns or if you are new to weird westerns, get this story."
- Nicole Given Kurtz, Mocha Memoirs Press, LLC, author of Sisters of the Wild Sage
Link in the comments.

08/26/2025

Every moment, there is a sacrifice. In pursuit of others, some options are yanked up from the root and tossed aside, so that only the shallow holes of unused possibility remain. Eventually, the wind comes, carrying away and rustling together the disturbed foundation, and even the holes are disappeared.
For her lunch at Jen Chan’s, Zu easily decided on the familiar curry shrimp with fried rice, sacrificing the possibility of finally trying the General Tso’s tofu. Instead of going up Boulevard and down Memorial on her walk back home, she quickly chose to cut through Oakland Cemetery. The heavy choices Zu was still pondering as she walked, however, were much more difficult to decide.
Maybe that’s why she’d picked the cemetery route. During her two years of living in Atlanta’s Grant Park, it had become one of her favored neighborhood fixtures. Named after its array of Oak trees, this cemetery was not dreary from the shadowy stories of frightful hauntings like most were. Established in 1850, the 48-acre stretch was home to greenhouses, detailed sculptures, and Victorian architecture. Gardens full of dark green lilyturf, white magnolias, and purple summer heliotrope hugged the burial plots during the warmer months. Atlanta’s first Black mayor, Maynard Holbrook Jackson, Jr., was laid to rest there. It was a frequent wedding venue, art gallery, and classroom. For many who visited, Oakland Cemetery took death beyond tragedy and into a reminder to honor history and celebrate the present.
Yes, it was fitting that Zu’s feet would carry her to this comforting marker of that which had been lost and remade when she was feeling crushed between the crossroads of “Should I stay or should I go?” Even the long stretch of black asphalt surrounded on all sides by the vibrant colors of plant life that led from the back of the ceme-tery to its tall, red-bricked front gate seemed reflective of her inner thoughts.
Zu’s mind also walked, through all of the tears, separations, and blood that had pushed her to flee to a city she knew nothing of, except that it was different, those three years ago.
- When Carnage is No Longer Enough by Nadira Jamerson. From Terminus 3. Preorder your book today! Official release date: September 13, 2025. Link in the comments.

08/25/2025

MVmedia Weekly Special: Changa and the Jade Obelisk Issue #1! Based on the Changa's Safari novella, The Jade Obelisk by Milton J. Davis, Changa and the Jade Obelisk Issue #1 is the beginning of the exciting comic adventure series. On their way to establish a new trading opportunity, Changa and his crew rescue a Yemeni prince carrying a valuable object from mysterious pursuers. With an engaging story adaptation by Robert Jeffery, II and outstanding illustrations by Matteo Illuminati, Changa and the Jade Obelisk Issue #1 is a visual feast. Winner of the 2021 ECBACC Glyph Award for Best Story. Link in the comments.

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