It felt only appropriate to write my blog this week from a local restaurant called the Coven Café, where I enjoyed a Black Magick mocha and a pumpkin pastie. (Well, I enjoyed those before I wrote this blog because there is no magic spell that can get pastry crumbs out of a Mac laptop keyboard.)

And unlike in the world of Harry Potter, there is no magic spell to knit bones back together. Dean Wesley Smith could have used one of those spells last weekend after he shattered his shoulder in a fall during a race (read more on his blog here), but his orthopedic surgeon worked his own form of magic to fix Dean right up. He’s now on the mend, thank heavens.

This time of year, it feels like magic is all around us. From the darker magic of Halloween to the lighter magic of Christmas.

And this week is your last chance to grab a bounty of fabulous fiction appropriate for each of those holidays.

For Halloween fans, the 2023 Halloween StoryBundle, curated by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, ends this week. It features ten ebooks (including three offerings from WMG—Halloween Harvest, FantasyLife and Other Stories, and Three Sheets to the Wind—plus four StoryBundle exclusives). You can learn more about it here.

For Christmas and other winter holiday fans, the 2023 WMG Holiday Spectacular Kickstarter is in its final days, too. We’ve hit five stretch goals so far, which means in addition to the amazing Calendar of Stories featuring a story a day for 40 days from American Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day, all backers also get the following:

Stories:

BY THE CHIMNEY WITH CARE

STILLE NACHT

AND A CUP OF GOOD CHEER

THREE WISHES BEFORE A FIRE

LOSING DOLLY

Writing classes:

1… How to Write Cross-Genre Holiday Stories About Baking, Desserts, and Cookies

2… How to Write Cross-Genre Holiday Stories about Holiday Meals

3… How to Write Cross-Genre Holiday Stories About Holiday Decorations

4… How to Write Cross-Genre Holiday Stories About Family and Traditions

That’s a $600 combined value just for the workshops, and 45 total stories to read: 5 shortly after the Kickstarter ends and 40 throughout the holidays!

Plus, there’s beautiful holiday merchandise, Kickstarter-exclusive writing workshops that will be on every writer’s wish list, and so much more.

Click here to check out the Kickstarter. It runs through Nov. 2.

Being able to offer this much great fiction all at once? Now, that’s pure magic.

Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer, working mother, and brain tumor survivor.