Full Length Works:
Blind Hunger, published in 2011 by Dark Moon Books, was my first full-length novel. It started as a National Novel Writing Month winner (NaNoWriMo) in 2007, and, after an extensive edit between 2007 and 2009, was accepted for publication by Dark Moon Books in 2010.
The story began with a concept: what would happen if all the adults became zombies and children had to survive the zombiegheddon?
In the small town of Greendale, some devoted scientists have been working hard to end world hunger by combining nanytes (microscopic robots) with friendly plant bacteria to prolong the fruit-stage of vegetable plants. The trouble is, their plan to save the world had unintended results, and now all the adults–all the parents, teachers, police officers, firefighters, and more–have transformed into black-eyed, screeching zombie monsters shambling after what is now their only source of food: the town’s children.
Join jock Bryan, senior Rachel, gothic Kiley, rebel Max, and child-genius Sage as they fight back against the horde of undead adults in an effort to survive a single day amidst the walking dead–many of whom were recently their parents.
Click here to purchase Blind Hunger from Amazon
Click here to purchase Blind Hunger from Barnes and Noble
“The Warehouse,” novella published 2012 by Dark Moon Books
“The Warehouse” is the much anticipated novella paraquel to Blind Hunger. Originally serialized in four successive issues of Dark Moon Digest, this story follows the story of Sage’s best friend, Amanda, as she makes her way to the grocery distribution warehouse with a band of unarmed children against the same flesh-eating zombie-adult throng as the cast of characters in the novel. As readers of Blind Hunger know, the survivors of that fateful day are making their way to the warehouse where Amanda and her crew are holed up–the question is, what will the gang find when they get there?
Unlike a prequel, which takes place just before another tale begins, or a sequel, which takes place after, a paraquel is a story that takes place during the same timeline as another story. Amanda’s story occurs during the same timeline as Blind Hunger, forcing this cast of resilient children toward their inevitable conclusion.
A novella is a shorter novel. This story is about a quarter the length of a full novel. It is available serialized in print in issues 6 through 9 of Dark Moon Digest, or as an exclusive ebook download to your Nook, Kindle, or other mobile device.
Write of the Living Dead, published 2012 by Dark Moon Books
Write of the Living Dead, coauthored by Araminta Star Matthews, Stan Swanson, and Rachel Lee, is a compendium of writing lessons for every genre written with an undead twist. Each chapter is devoted to a different genre of writing, from academic to business to fiction and poetry–like a “normal” writing textbook. But what makes Write of the Living Dead a rather special writing manual is the fact that each chapter is written from the perspective of a different undead character–a zombie, a milennias-old mummy, a necromancer, a witch doctor, and even a glittering vampire named Cedric Sullen.
These dark and macabre narrators tell their own unique horror stories, all while teaching valid and tested methods of writing well. Araminta Star Matthews has a terminal degree in creative writing and is a certified teacher, instructional designer, and former professor of college level writing courses. Dr. Rachel Lee, Ph. D. is a doctor of English with a significant history as a professor English, writing, and literature. Stan Swanson is an accomplished, Bram Stoker Award-nominated horror author and editor with experience as a writer, editor, and publisher of writing. Together, they created a collection of writing lessons fit for anyone, from middle school students to college students to horror fans to novice writers to flourishing authors!
Not only is this book “the bastard love child of George Romero and Strunk & White,” as acclaimed author Joe McKinney describes it, but it’s also an homage to the campy horror days of Hammer, full of sick humor and twisted tales.
Are you an educator looking for an examination copy? Are you a school or campus bookstore looking to purchase this textbook in bulk?
Shorter Works:
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“All Consuming Hunger of Love”
“All-Consuming Hunger of Love” is an homage to H.P. Lovecraft published in Dark Moon Digest, Volume 3.
This story follows Maggie Cron, the new widow of her beloved Robert, as she tries to come to grips with the untimely and violent death of her one and only true love. Shaken to the core by his death, she becomes single-minded in her mission to bring him back. She uses her disposable income to traverse the world, seeking the answer to her all-consuming question of resurrection in the only place she can imagine she will find it: the world’s oldest libraries.
Through a stroke of apparent luck, she stumbles into an abandoned library named Miskatonic and finds just the book she was looking for–but every prize has a price. Some pay the price with sweat, others with blood.
Click here to order this back issue of Dark Moon Digest
short story: “Every Time a Bell Rings”
Author, Araminta Star Matthews with Artist, Mike Mignola, Creator of Hellboy and cover-artist for Slices of Flesh
“Every Time a Bell Rings” tells the a story placed in one of the most fascinating and short-lived settings of pre-Victorian history: The Waiting Mortuary.
Waiting mortuaries were places where recently deceased persons were brought while funeral arrangements could be made. Their purpose was to provide the families a waiting period to ensure that their beloved family members were actually deceased–a place for them to “wait and see.” Bodies were equipped with strings attached to bells in case people awoke in the night while their waiting families were asleep.This flash fiction, in the charity-anthology Slices of Flesh with cover art by Mike Mignola (creator of Hellboy), tells the story of a woman wrongfully brought to a waiting mortuary and, through a series of mishaps, is trapped inside for more than a week with no food or water.
Slices of Flesh is a charity anthology. Proceeds go to support various literacy programs and the Horror Writers Association Hardship Fund.
short story: “Under My Skin”
“Under My Skin” is the first short story in this anthology of twisted zombie love tales. In this story, a young woman becomes obsessed with a woman she encounters in a bookstore. She stalks her for days and ultimately follows her to her home, ready to show her just how devoted is her undying love. Only, she lets the bookstore woman under her skin and things go very, very wrong.
Collected by Max Booth III, this collection of stories represents some of the darkest zombie stories on the market. “Under My Skin” is the story Araminta credits as her “darkest story yet.” You’ll just to read it to see for yourself. Unlike her novels, this story is definitely not for children.
“Change is Good”
“Change Is Good” is a nonfiction essay about a relationship with a female-to-male transgendered partner. The essay explores the complexities of relating to a person who, through no fault of his own, is deeply disconnected from his own body.
The anthology, Trans-Kin, is the winner of the ‘Gay and Lesbian: Non-Fiction’ category of the 2013 International Book Awards, and is a collection of stories from significant others, family members, friends and allies of transgender persons (SOFFAs). The essays in this book are powerful, enlightening, and eye-opening. Araminta is a member of the GLBTQ community and a firm advocate for trans-identified and GLBQ youth.
Click here to purchase a copy of Trans-Kin from Amazon.
Anthologies:
A collection of pulp fiction magazine horror tales circa 1890-1920, or before Weird Tales.