“He asked for their eyes so they could not witness his misogyny.
And then he blamed them for it, calling them troubled and gullible fools.”
 
In my recent blog post, and the follow up, I have expressed my concerns about everything that is happening. My final comment is a worry about our blindness. Steadily, we are going to see book bans, the closure of not-for-profit organizations, censoring news outlets, and fear blinding and silencing people.
 
My hope is that this is temporary, and we will feel safe enough to open up dialogue once again.
Stay safe.
 
Malevolent Fairy: The Tale of Ania, A Troubled Soul
BB Clifford

“When it looks bad, they say, it is bad, and that badness could be contagious, so keep away. Unruly and dangerous, like an uprising that needs to be quashed.
All empires do this, especially when they start to fail. They blame their subjects for how they look, and they force them to work harder, condemning them as unclean and unsafe.”
 
As I wrote in the previous blog post, there is no greater horror than a true story. What we are witnessing is horrific but cling onto hope that we have seen cycles like this before; there is a boom-and-bust tendency about empires, and we will see change in the right direction, given time.
 
Rainbow Warrior: The Tale of Ares, The Battle-Lustful Son
BB Clifford

It seems we are slipping back, to a time of witchcraft and scapegoating.
Take note of who they try to 'other', and don't assume that you are next.
No greater horror than a true story.

"Men are rarely considered to be witches because they are not expected to caretake, to fawn, to smile, all of which I have failed to do. I come from a long line of witches who failed to appease the suburban beast and who were isolated and scapegoated, tarred and feathered, condemned as temptresses and accused of being histrionic. If the people of Mount Pelion Way could weigh me against a stack of Bibles and drown, hang, or burn me at the stake, they would."

Tangled Knot: The Tale of Eris of Suburbia
BB Clifford

Thank you, @bgsqd for adding Rainbow Warrior to your shelf.

As a queer author, I know how important it is to find inclusive literature that is supportive of the queer community.

BB Clifford (pen name)

​#rainbowwarrior #psychologicalhorror #QueerLit

What an incredible thing to wake up to this morning: Rainbow Warrior just hit the Top 3 for Psychological Literary Fiction. Amazing! (It is also ranked as 13 for Contemporary Literary Fiction and 18 for Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Literary Fiction.)

Don't forget to download your own ebook of this...and leave a review!

BB Clifford (pen name)

“Whatever they build will grow old and become stained by the exhaust fumes and the rampant invasive species that are brought here to wipe out anything else. The land will flood because of the choked-up waterways where people dump their trash, whole refrigerators and plastic bags left there to choke the young wildlife that roams there.”
 
Rainbow Warrior.
BB Clifford
 
#EcoHorror #QueerHorror #RainbowWarrior #BBClifford
 
Available now: https://www.bbclifford.com/rainbow-warrior.html
​

“They wear hoods so I can’t see their faces, but they still terrify me with their slow, deliberate movements. Usually they just stand before me, swaying in unison, but something has made them restless.”
 
Rainbow Warrior.
BB Clifford
 
Available now: https://www.bbclifford.com/rainbow-warrior.html
​

“They say the fortress site is rotten, evil even, and it should be avoided. Just look at how unsightly it is, how wildly the tufts of grass have grown as the ivy wraps around the broken window frames and bricks. Even the trees stoop with a bending back. When it looks bad, they say, it is bad, and that badness could be contagious, so keep away. Unruly and dangerous, like an uprising that needs to be quashed.”
 
Rainbow Warrior.
BB Clifford
 
Available now: https://www.bbclifford.com/rainbow-warrior.html
​

More than a year has passed since the fire. Something was released, a toxin perhaps, and it created something horrifying.

Can you feel it beneath your skin?

There is no escape, unless you can destroy it. But time is running out, and soon it will be clear that the fire was just the beginning.

Eco horror, Rainbow Warrior, is available now.

Delighted to see Rainbow Warrior listed in all the best bookshops. (Cue the little happy dance!) 

I can't wait for you to read my latest eco horror. 

Don't forget to leave a Goodreads review.

BB Clifford

Want to read the first page of each part of the Tangled Knot trilogy? Then look no further!

Tangled Knot: Available now.
Rainbow Warrior: Available now.
Malevolent FairyMalevolent Fairy: Coming soon.

BB Clifford
#EcoHorror #QueerHorror #PsychologicalHorror

A dark, harrowing tale of grief and greed that contaminates the literary Gothic with eco horror to haunt the modern-day queer experience.
 
More than a year has passed since the fire. The destruction of a home is bad enough, but the remaining members of Dylan’s family perished in the fire, so grief has followed Dylan in relentless pursuit.
 
Never one to pass up an opportunity, Max, Dylan’s first love, seized what he could from a grief-stricken Dylan. He would have taken everything, but the fire gave Dylan an inexplicable strength to escape, so they fled Rotherwell in search of a new life across the Atlantic. But Max doesn’t let his possessions slip through his fingers so easily. He is gaining on Dylan, and he intends to drag them back to Rotherwell to resolve their unfinished business.
 
Before they left Rotherwell, Dylan saw something scuttling about the charred bricks and broken window frames of their family home. They recognized the creature, and it was as familiar as the burning sensation deep beneath their skin. The creature revealed to Dylan that greed was causing the burning sensation, and it was this same greed that had driven Dylan’s father to commit so much violence. Terrified that Dylan’s father might inflict more horrors from beyond the grave, Dylan vowed never to return to Rotherwell.
 
Lost in the dismal grey of London, Dylan hopes that the incessant rain will cool the burning greed beneath their skin and keep them safe from Max. But an international border cannot contain horrors, just as one generation cannot contain trauma, genetic quirks, and contaminants. As time runs out for Dylan, they realize that the fire was just the beginning.
 
Twisted, powerful, and darkly liberating, Rainbow Warrior is a challenging work of queer horror that considers supernatural and real-world horrors that result from our greed and our manipulation of each other and the natural world.

​Rainbow Warrior is available now.

Two years have passed, and still, Eris searches for her daughter. And still, the grief holds her tightly, choking all reason from her so that the supernatural bleeds into the real world.
 
Tangled Know is available now.

What an adventure this book launch has been. I've been bowled over by the kind words expressed about my debut novel.

Here is the first page of Tangled Knot: The tale of Eris of suburbia. If you would like to get the whole book, it is available at all the great book retailers, including Bookshop.org. If you already have your hands on a copy, then luck you! Feel free to leave a review.

BB Clifford
Author

Eris is determined to avenge her daughter’s death. While a suburb of sycophants competes to be The Fairest of Them All, this goddess of discord and strife stirs concoctions of poison and revenge.

But what if Eris has been mistaken about the true dangers that threaten her?
​What good are locks and bolts when the dangers threaten you from within?

Tangled Knot: The tale of Eris of suburbia is out now.

BB Clifford

Do you want the same tale of isolation as We Have Always Lived In The Castle?

Do you want the same f*ck you attitude as Boy Parts?

Do you want the same twists and turns as Tell Me I'm Worthless?

Then read Tangled Knot, the debut novel by BB Clifford.

Wonderful news to see Tangled Knot in stock at Bookshop.org and Barnes & Noble.

​If you would like to read more about the debut novel by BB Clifford, read this update.

Like the whisperings of a ghost, Tangled Knot is a hellish tale of grief, isolation, and revenge. See how this family tree has become tangled and haunted by trauma, and learn whether anything can grow from this beyond poisoned fruit.
 
Eris once believed that she could keep herself safe from the suburban beast that slithered around the swampland of a small town on the US East Coast. She hid herself away behind latches and bolts and locks, making a fortress of her family home. They called this recluse a witch, and if she had lived in another age, this suburban misfit would have been hanged or burned at the stake.

Despite her fortress, the dangers still found Eris. As if myths and legends were true all along, her family was torn apart one snowy night when her teenage daughter was found dead. Ever since, Eris and her husband, Paris, remain tangled in a marriage knot riddled with grief. Every move Paris makes to free himself of this grief only tightens the knot like a hangman’s noose around Eris’s neck. For either of them to cut themselves free means they will fall into the unknown, which could mean a landing on softened soil ripe for regrowth, or a plunge into an abyss of hopelessness and despair.

Two years on since her nightmares became a reality, Eris thinks she has discovered the truth about her daughter’s death. She stirs concoctions of poison and vengeance, but will this kill off all hope, proving herself to be a witch who should be condemned to isolation in a fortress that is haunted by grief? She fears that such a fate might leave her exposed to horrors that still haunt her: What good are locks on a fortress if the greatest danger threatens her from within? Anything is possible since the unnatural occurred and the bond was broken between parent and child. All manner of natural things has become unnatural as her life has become an underworld.

Compelling, poignant, and deeply real, Tangled Knot is an account of grief, isolation, and revenge that grabs you by the throat from the outset and will not let you go until you resolve for yourself whether the greatest threat is from the haunted world outside or the dangers that lurk within your own family—or even within the tangled knots of your own mind.
​
BB Clifford

​Want to be the first to read #TangledKnot, the debut novel from BB Clifford?
 
We have a FREE copy for you if you join our dream launch team. Simply follow these steps:
 
1.     Email us at [email protected] with your name, email, and mailing address.
2.     We will send you a free copy of the ebook version of the workbook.
3.     When the workbook launches on 25 June 2024, leave an honest review on Goodreads or Amazon.
4.     Send us a screenshot of your review, and you will be entered into a free competition to receive a paperback copy of the workbook, signed by BB Clifford (this is for US postal addresses only).
 
Tangled Knot is available 25 June 2024 in paperback and ebook format.
 
#TangledKnot