Valerie Storey, Author - Artist
I'm often asked about my literary influences: Who are my favorite authors? What are my favorite books? Answer: Too many to list! But if I had to give my top five, they are: Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys; Hunger's Brides, W. Paul Anderson; Spring Snow, Yukio Mishima; Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro; The Alexandria Quartet, Lawrence Durrell. (And yes . . . I know that last is four books in one!) My own writing includes the selected books below, available from Amazon and all other bookstores.
Check out my chapter, "Deep Motivation, Characters Have Feelings, Too" in
Now Write! Mysteries an anthology of how-to essays and exercises edited by
Sherry Ellis and Laurie Lamson,
Penguin/Tarcher, $14.95
Available from all bookstores plus Amazon.com.
Gothic Literary Fiction
Overtaken by Valerie Storey
Dava Books. ISBN 978-0-9643289-3-8
Trade paperback. 270 pp. $16.95
"Marry in haste, repent at leisure." Portrait painter Sara Elliott has never been afraid of risk. Moving to London, pawning her jewelry, taking difficult commissions, Sara lives life on the edge. But when she agrees to marry a stranger days before he is scheduled to leave the country, even Sara wonders if she has gone too far.
Over the coming months, alone and uncertain of her future, Sara drifts into an uneasy routine waiting for her husband, Miles, to return. When an unexpected letter suddenly threatens her plans for a settled existence, Sara is forced to question everything she thought she once knew about Miles, her present situation, and her own mysterious past.
Caught between her imagination and her desire for the truth, Sara worries she is losing her mind, or worse: has she been OVERTAKEN by a power beyond her control?
"A thoughtful and psychological novel. Overtaken is a strong addition to general fiction collections."
Helen Dumont, Reviewer for MBR Bookwatch
Buy Now! Overtaken
Better Than Perfect by Valerie Storey
Dava Books. ISBN: 978-0-9643289-2-1
Trade paperback. 228 pp. Young adult fiction. $14.95
Can anyone be "better than perfect"? That's the question lonely teenager Elizabeth Haddon struggles to answer when she is sent from England to live with relatives in Auckland, New Zealand. Arriving in the dead of winter, Elizabeth soon falls under the spell of her beautiful, but enigmatic cousin Ravenna who insists the most important thing in life is to "fit in." Elizabeth, who wants only to be accepted by her new family and their affluent social circle, does her best to comply until she starts to see the cracks; cracks that turn into virtual canyons when tragedy strikes. Set in a time before computers, e-mail, or cell phones, Better Than Perfect follows Elizabeth's journey to find her own true place in a world of isolation.
"The language of social climate makes this a story of search, not just the line of least resistance. Elizabeth's clear voice holds all the way through."
Gordon Marlow, author of Vincent's Revenge
Buy Now! Better Than Perfect
Young Adult Fiction Set in New Zealand
Paranormal Nonfiction
Unleashed, of Poltergeists and Murder, the Curious Story of Tina Resch by
William Roll, Ph.D. and Valerie Storey
Paraview Pocket Books. ISBN: 0743482948
Trade paperback. 320 pp.
When she was just fourteen years old, Tina Resch became the center of the best-documented case of poltergeist activity of the twentieth-century. During the spring of 1984, Tina's home in Ohio was thrown into chaos: appliances turned themselves on without electric current, objects flew through the air, furniture scooted across the floor. Censured endlessly by her adoptive family and thrust into the eye of a media twister thanks to one reporter's photographic evidence, Tina was propelled into a downward spiral that led to an abusive marriage, a divorce, and the birth of a child--all before her twentieth birthday. Three years later she was charged with that child's murder, a crime as controversial, mysterious, and complex as the accused herself--a crime she maintains she did not commit.
Praise for Unleashed:
"Unleashed is a gripping account of that strange, unguarded borderland between mind and matter, where thought and emotion explode onto the physical world in chaotic, unpredictable ways. Unleashed should come with a warning label: MAY FOREVER CHANGE YOUR WORLDVIEW."
Larry Dossey, MD, author of Healing Words
"This horror story encompasses every element in a Stephen King novel--a tragic teenage protagonist, who can cause objects to move with the force of her mind; an assortment of villains, seemingly intent on destroying her; a murdered child--and an ending that makes you want to leap up and scream. But this isn't fiction. I was mesmerized by this story."
Lois Duncan, author of I Know What You Did Last Summer
"From renowned parapsychologist William Roll and Valerie Storey, a most dramatic and well-documented, poltergeist story. Like a terrible fairy tale, an unhappy girl at odds with her harsh foster parents unleashes strange physical powers, and ends up in prison for the murder of her three-year-old child. A riveting account of a mystery gone tragically awry, this is a book readers will not want to put down."
Michael Grosso, Ph.D., author of Experiencing the Next World Now
Buy Now! Unleashed, of Poltergeists and Murder
Books
Mystery Fiction Set in Egypt for Young Readers
The Great Scarab Scam by Valerie Storey
Dava Books. ISBN 978-0-9643289-1-4
Trade Paperback, 210 pp. $12.95
Eleven-year-old Lydia Hartley has always dreamed of following in the footsteps of her archaeologist father. When he is called to Egypt to help track down the culprits responsible for the so-called "scarab scam," an operation dealing in forged antiquities, Lydia gets the chance of a lifetime to travel along with him.
However, once she's in Egypt, Lydia learns there is much more at stake for both her father and her Egyptian hosts than mere scarabs, especially for twelve-year-old Sima Malik--and only Lydia knows what to do.
"The Great Scarab Scam is a terrific story. The research is excellent. The characters are convincing. The plot is fast-paced and suspenseful. The conclusion is unexpected. Everything works!"
Barbara Williams, author of Mitzi and the Terrible Tyrannosaurus Rex
"A charming read for pre-teens. The Great Scarab Scam is highly recommended."
Midwest Book Review
Buy Now! The Great Scarab Scam