West Virginia – Author Bryna Butler

Profile on Kayla Murphy

When I started writing Some Thing Calls from the Dark, I envisioned a girl that was nice to others but also a little self-conscious, a little fed up with her brother, and a little stubborn when it comes to holding onto a grudge.

Kayla Murphy is a seventh grader living near Flatwoods, West Virginia. Her house in the country is two stories, her bedroom on the second floor. From her bedroom window, she can see the big backyard and the bushes that separates the yard from the woods beyond.

She likes teasing her little brother, hanging with her best friend Gina, video games, and ooey gooey macaroni and cheese.

She loves her new cell phone.

It took Kayla months to get her parents talked into letting her have one. Vibrate mode is for suckers. She set all the calls, notifications, and alarms to her favorite ringtone and turned it up as loud as it would go!

Bing. Bong. Bing bing!

My favorite Kayla quote is a tie between…

or…

Most of her life, Kayla has been oblivious to the stories about the green monster that visits the woods. Now, she’s lived her own story.

Read more about Kayla Murphy and her hunt for the Flatwoods Monster in Some Thing Calls from the Dark (Spooky Rumors series). Now available for preorder at major online bookstores. Release date: September 20, 2023.

Mothman Mysteries

Early Mothman sighting in Clendenin surfaces

This week, an article posted on wvexplorer.com reports another 1966 sighting of our favorite winged cryptid.

According to the article, he was spotted soaring from Koontz Cemetery near Clendenin, W.Va., on November 12, 1966, three days before Scarberry’s famous encounter with the beast.

You can read the full article here: https://wvexplorer.com/2019/06/01/did-legendary-mothman-first-appear-at-clendenin-cemetery/

Mothman Mysteries, YA Storytellers

Late summer events for readers

A couple of big events are coming up that are sure to be fun for any reader.

First up is Once Upon an Author Signing at the Bavarian Inn in Frankenmuth, Michigan. There are panels for writers on Aug. 10 with an toga-themed awards banquet that evening. The author signing will be held the next day, Saturday, Aug. 11.

Over 70 authors will be in attendance including Quinn Loftis, Rue Volley, and yours truly. I’m probably most excited to see Christy Sloat. She was a member of The Society of YA Storytellers with me. One of the few that I’ve never met in person…yet!

The event is hosted by award winning novelist Stacey Rourke, author of the Legends Saga and Unfortunate Souls Chronicles among many other fantastic reads. Tickets are still available at the event site.

The other always awesomesauce event is Mothman Festival. It’s coming up the weekend of September 15-16. Always kooky and full of fun, the festival has everything a fan of paranormal could ask for. I’ll be onsite in Saturday signing books and people watching. Typically I’m under the white tents behind the Mothman Statue. Stop by and say hi.

MM Behind the Scenes, Mothman Mysteries

I Am Mothman.

The Mothman Festival in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, is this weekend. I love this event filled with cryptids, Men in Black, conspiracy theories, and everything Mothman.

And a great weekend to announce that this is now the home of IamMothman.com. We’ll have features, graphics, and tons of fun starring your favorite winged legend.

To get started, here’s the schedule for this weekend’s main event…the Mothman Festival. The small, river town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, is awakened this Saturday and Sunday. You’ll even find me there signing copies of the Mothman Mysteries and Midnight Guardian series books.

Mothman Mysteries

Kirkus Reviews Wrong Side of the Grave

WRONG SIDE OF THE GRAVE
Butler, Bryna
CreateSpace (264 pp.)
$11.99 paperback, $1.99 e-book
ISBN: 978-1507898079; February 21, 2015

BOOK REVIEW BY KIRKUS REVIEWS

An alien who feeds on vampires is stumped when the recently dead in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, are apparently no
longer dead in Butler’s (Book of the Lost, 2013, etc.) YA supernatural thriller.

Eric Jansen is just your typical teenager and drummer for a rock band. Except, when not in human form, he’s a red-eyed,
centuries-old alien who has spurred the local Mothman legend. His food source on Earth is vampires, allowing him to
work in cooperation with a secret government agency. But he becomes the men in black’s first suspect when bodies at
the funeral home start sitting up, walking, and talking. He and his human bestie, Bridget, initiate their own investigation,
while the city folk crowd the cemetery, convinced that subterranean loved ones will soon awaken. Eric, however, fears
that someone may be on to him when Bridget suddenly disappears. This entertaining novel navigates well-trod ground
with style. The vampires, for instance, seem like typical bloodsuckers but are actually aliens that Eric’s kind has
followed to Earth. Both Eric and Bridget are cynical but charmingly so, and endless alien-related puns never get old, like
Eric’s suggestion that “people who live in invisible spaceships shouldn’t throw stones.” Along with a grand plot and
vibrant characters, including the enigmatic Agent Hisato Ikeda whom Eric thinks might be an alien, Butler delivers a
notable mystery/thriller. Dramatic tension is wielded expertly; Eric and Bridget, for example, distrust a funeral director
and news reporter, who may have their own agendas. Butler dabbles into Eric’s background but doesn’t overdo the
flashbacks. The same is true for aliens in general; readers only glimpse the interior of Eric’s concealed spacecraft (and
hear what can only be presumed is alien profanity: “Slux!”). Romance between Eric and Bridget is wonderfully
understated, as everyone but the couple appears to recognize that they’re more than just friends. Limitless possibilities to
explore their relationship, as well as a lingering unconquered foe, give the next book of the proposed series a smashing
head start.

Butler revives the moribund with his fresh take on aliens, vampires, and the undead.

You can also check out the review on the Kirkus website, here.