Shadow and Substance

The Moon Cried Blood series #5

by Sumiko Saulson

In Book Five of the serialized tale of "The Moon Cried Blood, "Shadow and Substance," things really start to heat up when the Lunae witches start to suffer from frightening dreams and visions, and a new threat, the Dark Luna. Who is she and why is she such a danger to all of the Lunae witches?Tisha and her mother get to know Joy's long lost birth family better. The history, inner workings and complexities of the Lunae power structure are more fully explained as one of the elders, Lucia, instructs her daughter Jessica on how to educate the Unawakened Luna Rita.. The various witches of three Luna lines begin to converge and the hidden fourth line is finally revealed. Shocking supernatural and family revelations abound in the wildest episode of the Moon Cried Blood series yet.

59 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 16, 2016

About the author

Sumiko Saulson (ze/hir) is a 2x Bram Stoker Nominated and Elgin Nominated poet, graphic novelist, zinemaker, and an award-winning author of Afrosurrealist and multicultural sci-fi and horror. Editor of the Black Magic Women, Scry of Lust, Scry of Lust 2, Black Celebration, and Wickedly Abled. Winner of the StokerCon Scholarship from Hell (2016), 2nd Place Carry the Light Awards (2016, 2017 and 2018) for short fiction, essays and blogging. Mixy Award (2017). BCC Voice Grand Prize Reframing the Other Essay Contest (2017), Afrosurrealist Writer Award (2018). Semifinalist: HorrorAddicts Next Great Horror Writer’s Contest, (2018). Horror Writers Association Diversity Grant (2020).

Member, Horror Writers Association.

AA in English from Berkeley City College. Staff writer, Search Magazine. Proofreader, Mocha Memoirs Press. Columnist (“Writing While Black”) for The San Francisco BayView. Host, Leather and LGBTQ Cultural District’s Erotic Storytelling Hour. Social Media Team, Horror Writers Association.

Novels: Solitude, The Moon Cried Blood, Warmth. Short fiction collections Things That Go Bump in My Head, The Void between Emotions, Spit and Pathos and Within Me Without Me

Short works in anthologies: Horror Addicts Guide to Cats (Horror Addicts Guide), Ashes and Coffee (Death’s Café), Enclosures (Tales from the Lake, Vol 3), Jacob’s Reunion (Forever Vacancy), Clockwork Valentine (Clockwork Wonderland) Sweetness (Beasts and Babes), Agrippa (Carry the Light, Vol 5), Character Flaws (Carry the Light, Vol 5), Under the Water (Horror Bites Next Great Horror Writer, Horror Addicts), Unheard Music in the Dank Underground (Tales from the Campfire), Shades of Domesticity (Horror Writers Association Poetry Showcase Volume VII), Asi’s Horror and Delight (Slay: Tales of the Vampire Noire)

Graphic novels: Agrippa, Dreamworlds, Living a Lie (illustrator), The Complete Mauskaveli.

An American author of African American and Ashkenazi Jewish heritage. Native Californian, living in Oakland, California. Pronouns: ze/hir or they/them. Find hir on social media at sumikoska (Twitter, Facebook, Tik-Tok), sumikosaulson (Instagram), skavibe (Twitch) and www.SumikoSaulson.com