Since I was eighteen years old, I wanted to put a book into the world. Just a few years have passed (cough, cough), but I’m delighted to say it’s happening on November 5, 2023! Go ahead, judge my book by this exceptional, dare I say gorgeous, cover designed by Creative Paramita.

Spiked has been described as “a genre-bending, off-recipe thriller…with enough plot twists and turns to give you whiplash.” Who doesn’t love a little literary roller coaster?

For those of you who can’t read the minuscule print on the image, here’s the back page blurb:

Beer chemist Rory Harper loves his job and has the beer belly to prove it. He also has a problem. Named Arthur. With an endless barrage of fat jokes and obnoxious pranks, Arthur turns Telluric Lake Brew Works into Rory’s personal hell. Revenge fantasies are all Rory has to soothe his battered ego and during a company party, he decides to carry out the “perfect,” anonymous payback.

But something goes wrong. Arthur, who should be home afflicted with explosive diarrhea, shows up the next day unscathed, and Rory’s seventy-year-old boss is dead in the taproom. The coroner rules it a heart attack, but Rory’s not convinced. Some careful digging confirms Arthur switched the beers. But is the spiked beer what caused the boss’s heart attack? Did Arthur know it was spiked? 

To uncover the truth about the night the boss died, Rory and Arthur play a clandestine game of cat and mouse. The more information that comes to light, the more certain it becomes that the only solution to Rory’s bully problem is another anonymous payback. This time, he’ll get it right. This time it won’t be an accident when someone dies.

For anyone who’s been bullied and dreamt of revenge…

For anyone who’s taken revenge and had it go all wrong…

For anyone who’s had it go all right…

SPIKED

Now that I’ve got your attention, feel free and welcome to head on over to Amazon and pre-order an electronic copy of Spiked. Or, for you paperback lovers, you can pre-order from Barnes and Noble. I’m a paper girl. Can I tell you how amazing it was to hold my book in my hands for the first time?! You guys know I work in a library, right? I get paid to touch books. I make up stories while shelving other people’s stories.

I’ve been cultivating an email group where I share what I’m reading and watching and NOW… what I’m writing (yay!!). Consider joining me by signing up HERE. I promise not to share your information or spam you. You can expect an email every three weeks or so, and I randomly draw names from my email subscribers for free Made-to-Order Horror stories. If you want an example of an MTO, check out this, this, or this. Basically, I ask for a fact about your life and use it to create something scary that you’ll be glad is fiction. Mwah hah hah…

For some of you, we’ve been blog buddies. I’ve “known” you for years, and you’ve listened to me dream about getting my stories out into the world. Thank you! You are my joy and encouragement. Between now and when the book releases, I’ll share some author-underbelly stories about the process: where I get my ideas and how I turn them into a book like Spiked.

Till then, here’s to revenge. I mean, here’s to you. Here’s to us. Here’s to the crazy ones.

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.” – Steve Jobs

I’ve had a handful of advance readers tell me: Rory is a crazy one. I can’t wait to share his story with you.

Kelly, writing as KL Griffiths