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In the fog-shrouded streets of San Francisco, the fates draw together River, a gifted baker whose treats can heal broken hearts, and Pamela, a mysterious waitress harboring an impossible secret.
When she vanishes, River’s quest to find her leads him to discover an underground network of immortal beings, ancient Gods, and native ghosts, lurking just beneath the city’s surface.
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metastellar serialization
By E. E. King
Weekly serialization ● Coming soon in print and ebook from from all major retailers.
Interviews with author E.E. King
MetaStellar editor Sophie Gorjance sat down for a chat with author E.E. King about her new novel “Gods and Monsters,” which we are serializing online.
King penned much of this supernatural tale while living in a tiny Mexican town practically overflowing with magic and signs from the universe.
Part history lesson, part fantasy, part mythology – King loves to drop in real locations and historical figures for added flavor.
The fusion of literary fiction and magical realism explores destiny and the human psyche. Does fate control our future? Do our beliefs shape reality? Unravel the mystery one installment at a time … coming February 27, 2024.
Praise for E.E. King
“Impish and delightful, a hilarious Zagat’s guide to heaven!”
— Ray Bradbury on Dirk Quigby’s Guide to the Afterlife
“I’ve been going at it in chunks and fangfuls, finding it more than acceptable. Anyone who takes on Scientologists is okay by me, kid.”
— Harlan Ellison on Dirk Quigby’s Guide to the Afterlife
“A fantastical, profound, hilarious and rollicking good ride through the heavens and hells of the Afterlife! A wonderful book.”
— Margaret Cho on Dirk Quigby’s Guide to the Afterlife
“This is the most delightful book this reviewer has read in a while…”
— The New York Journal of Books on Dirk Quigby’s Guide to the Afterlife
“E.E. King is a unique talent whose glittering gems of fiction pack a lot into a small space. Her work combines the O. Henry twist with the poetry and mystery of Ray Bradbury.”
— Connie Martinson Talks Books on Real Conversations with Imaginary Friends
”Deliciously funny and heart-wrenching ..”
— LA Weekly on Real Conversations with Imaginary Friends
All installments
Gods and Monsters Installment 1: Wherein we meet the three Fates
My love affairs ever end thus. I always long for them to turn out differently. It’s so disheartening. If only I didn’t fall in love so often with these warm-blooded vessels of…
Gods and Monsters Installment 2: Beginnings of River and Gabriel
Gabriel is much more unusual than a virgin birth. Granted, human virgin birth is miraculous, but in many species of fish, lizards, insects, and sharks, virgin birth is the norm. It is…
Gods and Monsters Installment 3: Music and Moths
At eighteen, when Gabriel leaves the orphanage, the sisters breathe a sigh of relief. He has never been any trouble. Never talked back; indeed, rarely talked at all. He is obedient, clean,…
Gods and Monsters Installment 4: Club Vamp
Gabriel arrives in San Francisco at dusk. He’s dropped off in the Tenderloin by a man desperate to be rid of him. Gabriel’s presence in his car is like the scent of…
Gods and Monsters Installment 5: Hotel Tail Gate
A week after Gabriel moves in, Kristjan leaps from the window. He hangs in the air, twisting for a moment like an autumn leaf, before falling thirteen floors to the hard, hard…
Gods and Monsters Installment 6: Wild Animals in the Halls of Learning
River is strong, nimble and has the element of surprise. Brian and Tom lie back on damp earth, as if sleeping. River kicks Chip’s face. All of his rage and disappointment, all…
Gods and Monsters Installment 7: Heaven Can Wait
Chip, Tom, and Brian are never found, or at least not most of them. There are only remnants: a stray finger, a discarded shoe with a foot still inside… Only one entire…
Gods and Monsters Installment 8: Sweet Dreams are Made of These
He has found a gift. The kitchen, which at home smelled of disappointment and lost hope, is now a place of amelioration. But when the full moon rises, he hears the night…
Gods and Monsters Installment 9: Jo-Jo’s
From his booth inside the club, Gabriel sees her spinning on the dance floor, beautiful as a fallen star, deadly as the arsenic hidden inside the seed of a perfect apple.
Gods and Monsters Installment 10: Bucket Orchid
“It sounds,” River says, “like the orchid is smarter than the bee.” He considers. “I’d still rather be a bee though; I’d like to be able to fly.”
Gods and Monsters Installment 11: Cool Grey City of Love
San Francisco has a wealth of vampires. The city calls to them. Perhaps it is the early morning fog that keeps the sun from their flesh a bit longer than most places….
Gods and Monsters Installment 12: The Mystic Eye
When he leaves Bert’s in the wee hours before first light, River feels extremely foolish, but warmer and happier than he can remember. Huck lands on his shoulder, squawking loudly. He complains…
Gods and Monsters Installment 13: Consequences
At 2:00 am, there are no children about. The police still on duty are sleeping in their cars or hunching over coffee in all-night dives. Even the homeless are asleep, huddled in…
Gods and Monsters Installment 14: Queer Beer
Suddenly, something hard and strong strikes his back, knocking the wind from him, propelling him onto the ground. He thrashes wildly. Two needle sharp spikes pierce his neck. A warm, sensuous peace…
Gods and Monsters Installment 15: The Dog Star
Sometimes, from my prison cell, when the time of year was right and the night was clear, I could see Sirius, the brightest star in the sky. Many ancient cultures thought of…
Gods and Monsters Installment 16: Red
Gabriel awakes to his monotone world. The white sun is reaching fingers through the twisted roots of orchids. As Gabriel looks toward the light, he sees that a flower’s throat is freckled…
Gods and Monsters Installment 17: Moirai Mechanics
“Where did you get the gun, River?” Jackson asks. River looks down. His right hand is wrapped around a cold black gun.
Gods and Monsters Installment 18: We Are The Stuff That Genes Are Made Of
He awoke at dawn, sore and scratched. His mouth, clothes, and limbs were covered with gore. His clothes were in tatters. He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, trying to…
Gods and Monsters Installment 19: Lonely Journeys
I drove that ancient pick-up all the way out into the Catskill Mountains. Even after that trek, that good old Ford was running strong. Still is. I rented a place out in the…
Gods and Monsters Installment 20: The Love Song of the Mole Cricket
Mr. Jones appears to have been mauled by a wild animal. His body shows evidence of teeth marks and claw marks. The wounds are uncommon.
Gods and Monsters Installment 21: Out of Dust – The Lenni Lenape
Out of the earth, up through the floor, dust rises. It clings together, forming a translucent woman. She is brown as earth. Her face is worn. Her eyes are shadows in the…
Gods and Monsters Installment 22: Delicate Dust
In the mornings, if he wakes beside the dust of a beautiful stranger, he knows he’s drained the world of a bit of color, a bit of beauty, however deadly.
Gods and Monsters Installment 23: History Lies
In the night shadows of trees, shunning the moonlight, a man waits. It is Kristjan, taller than Jim remembers. He is nearly naked, covered only by a wolf skin. In the night,…
Gods and Monsters Installment 24: Wastelands of the Wild
Dust fur falls like rain, feathering into the plumes of a dove. The dove’s wings become sleeves. Amimi is shining like a hologram in the glooming.
Gods and Monsters Installment 25: In the Time of Many Pigeons
It is the first time Gabriel has heard birdsong. Usually, birds drop lifeless at his feet. Hearing the song, Gabriel is warmed by an invincible summer. He stretches his arms toward the…
Gods and Monsters Installment 26: Scent Memory
Glistening like a frozen tear, delicate as a kiss, the crystal necklace lies on wine velvet cloth. Jim has never seen anything so lovely and flawless. His breath catches in his throat….
Gods and Monsters Installment 27: The Crossing
Jim is standing on the rocky shore of a dark underground river. The only sound is the constant thrum of pebbles which gently lapping waves draw back and fling up the high…
Gods and Monsters Installment 28: Journey’s End
That night, Jackson does not come to Bert’s.
Gods and Monsters Installment 29: Beautiful and Strange
Pamela stands in the doorway. River stops stirring and opens his arms. Pamela doesn’t even need to cross the room. She melts into him, soft as butter into flour. She is cold,…
Gods and Monsters Installment 30: The Morgue
The door is heavy, about four inches thick. A long narrow staircase leads down into darkness. He is in total darkness. Feeling his way slowly along the wall, carefully tapping his feet…
Gods and Monsters Installment 31: Small Time Gods
Ever since he found Gabriel in the field, River has been cut off and alone. Separated from humanity by a knowledge that he didn’t even realize he possessed, a perception deep within…
Gods and Monsters Installment 32: Time Before Time
Thanatos never kills. He’s just the messenger.
Gods and Monsters Installment 33: Pamela
Vampires followed the deluge of fluid and fear, tracking the lonely, homeless, and lost to the city, drawn by the need for belief, as well as blood.
Gods and Monsters Installment 34: The Fault Line Within
Now, after the advent of dreams and the appearance of color, when Gabriel reads of a killing, something inside him screams. When he looks upon a charcoal figure that so recently possessed…
Gods and Monsters Installment 35: Gods and Circuses
When Hephaestus emerged clubfooted and malformed, Hera tossed him off Mount Olympus. He fell for nine days and nine nights, landing in the sea with a splash so big it caused a…
Gods and Monsters Installment 36: Stained Glass Soul
Mike grabs Ashley from her quilted comfort. Her head droops back like a wilted flower. Her neck shows white in the night. Mike’s canines grow long with desire and need.
Gods and Monsters Installment 37: Love & Death
When Margareta is not working, and if Pamela has been very, very good, Sarah lets her model the lacey cap. When Pam puts on the cap, she becomes an enchanted princess. The…
Gods and Monsters Installment 38: A Little Night Music
“If you follow a life,” says Ryo, “one strand leads to another. You take me to Pamela, and Pamela guides me to Jeremy. It is impossible to understand her without him. Jeremy…
Gods and Monsters Installment 39: Beethoven’s Salt Sonatas
As River’s eyes grow accustomed to the night, he sees a cat emerge from around a corner and disappear down a narrow alleyway. Another follows, and another. Surely, River thinks, there must be…
Gods and Monsters Installment 40: The Fabric of the Universe
It’s twilight. Jeremy has finished his eight hours of practice and is out walking through golden fields. Smoke weaves the smell of burning wood and sugar through the air. At the end…
Gods and Monsters Installment 41: The Color of Empathy
Beethoven does not merely drain his victims, he eviscerates them. When there are no more cats, he moves on to dogs and babies, climbing the food chain with grisly effect.
Gods and Monsters Installment 42: Death and Memory
River wants to forget her, yet he knows that if he does, a part of him will die. Though he feels betrayed, he cannot keep away. He hangs the chain around his…
Gods and Monsters Installment 43: Predator and Prey
River enters Bert’s. In spite of himself, his heart leaps at the sight of Pam. He wants his heart to be stone. He wants never to have met her. But wishes are…
Gods and Monsters Installment 44: Premonitions of Endings
“Tarantulas are loners, like you,” says Ryo, resting a weightless hand on Gabriel’s shoulder. “I was a loner too. Perhaps if I had it to do over… But that’s foolish talk. I…
Gods and Monsters Installment 45: Love Without Compromise
He will miss the fog and the light on the Bay. But he hungers for the solace of the Redwoods’ towering shadows. He needs to hear waves break endlessly on wild rocky…
book cover art Time lapse
E.E. King isn’t just an author — she is also an award-winning painter whose art has been collected internationally. She’s painted murals in California, Mexico, Spain, and Italy, and shown paintings at the LA Contemporary Museum of Art.
She painted the artwork that was used for the cover of Gods and Monsters.
Watch all installments here
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A Vampire Novel Like No Other: E.E. King on Mixing History and Dark Fantasy
A Weekly Dose of Gods and Monsters: Interview with author E.E. King
Gods and Monsters cover art painting time lapse
Gods and Monsters Installment 1: Wherein we meet the three Fates
Gods and Monsters Installment 2: Beginnings of River and Gabriel
Gods and Monsters Installment 3: Music and Moths
Gods and Monsters Installment 4: Club Vamp
Gods and Monsters Installment 5: Hotel Tail Gate
Gods and Monsters Installment 6: Wild Animals in the Halls of Learning
Gods and Monsters Installment 7: Heaven Can Wait
Gods and Monsters Installment 8: Sweet Dreams are Made of These
Gods and Monsters Installment 9: JoJo’s
Gods and Monsters Installment 10: Bucket Orchid
Gods and Monsters Installment 11: Cool Grey City of Love
Gods and Monsters Installment 12: The Mystic Eye
Gods and Monsters Installment 13: Consequences
Gods and Monsters Installment 14: Queer Beer
Gods and Monsters Installment 15: The Dog Star
Gods and Monsters Installment 16: Red
Gods and Monsters Installment 17: Moirai Mechanics
Gods and Monsters Installment 18: We Are The Stuff That Genes Are Made Of
Gods and Monsters Installment 19: Lonely Journey
Gods and Monsters Installment 20: The Love Song of the Mole Cricket
Gods and Monsters Installment 21: Out of Dust – The Lenni Lenape
Gods and Monsters Installment 22: Delicate Dust
Gods and Monsters Installment 23: History Lies
Gods and Monsters Installment 24: Wastelands of the Wild
Gods and Monsters Installment 25: In the Time of Many Pigeons
Gods and Monsters Installment 26: Scent Memory
Gods and Monsters Installment 27: The Crossing
Gods and Monsters Installment 28: Journey's End
Gods and Monsters Installment 29: Beautiful and Strange
Gods and Monsters Installment 30: The Morgue
Gods and Monsters Installment 31: Small Time Gods
Gods and Monsters Installment 32: Time Before Time
Gods and Monsters Installment 33: Pamela
Gods and Monsters Installment 34: Faultline Within
Gods and Monsters Installment 35: Gods and Circuses
Gods and Monsters Installment 36: Stained Glass Soul
Gods and Monsters Installment 37: Love & Death
Gods and Monsters Installment 38: A Little Night Music
Gods and Monsters Installment 39: Beethoven's Salt Sonatas
Gods and Monsters Installment 40: The Fabric of the Universe
Gods and Monsters Installment 41: The Color of Empathy
Gods and Monsters Installment 42: Death and Memory
Gods and Monsters Installment 43: Predator and Prey
Gods and Monsters Installment 44: Premonitions of Endings
Gods and Monsters Installment 45: Love Without Compromise
The End Is Nigh: Gods and Monsters in Retrospect with author E.E. King
other works by E. E. King
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