Dayna Ingram writes fantasy, science fiction, and horror. Check out his books available for purchase below! If you are unable to purchase your own copy, please consider requesting one from your local library.
THE GOLDEN DAUGHTER
Empire of Flesh and Gold, Book One
Is the Golden Daughter a monster created by vile magic? A fabled assassin whose many victims are turned to gilded statues? Perhaps Liddy Vanya is both.
The king’s daughter is his greatest weapon against his political enemies: her touch transforms flesh into pure gold. But her service to the crown is entirely forced, as Liddy’s young life has been one marked by cruelty and abuse. Until the moment she decides to murder her father.
But when you are the most infamous and feared killer in all the land, even the most satisfying of assassinations can be a perilous endeavor, especially when a former lover is hunting you down.
Filled with intrigue and passion, The Golden Daughter is an exciting tale similar in vein to the works of Jane Fletcher or Audrey Coulthurst.
REVIEWS
“Ingram (All Good Children) remixes the legend of King Midas with the gritty realism and moral ambiguity of A Song of Ice and Fire and a dash of wistful queer romance into a fantasy adventure….”
“An auspicious series starter…”
“… the well-shaded characters and surprising plot make this a series opener worth checking out.”
— Publishers Weekly
“All told, a solid take on some fantasy standards…”
— Booklist
“A wild ride of unexpected twists and turns…”
— Lesbos Library
ALL GOOD CHILDREN
2017 Lambda Literary Award Finalist || 2016 Best Book Selection by Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews Indie
Everyone tells 14-year-old Jordan Fontaine not to worry about the summer camp that isn’t really a summer camp, not to worry about the survival statistics she’s been calculating since elementary school, or about the quickly averted eyes and frowning mouths of her peers when she tells them her Liaison is coming to visit she and her brothers. She does not dare to tell anyone that her pulse quickens when she looks at the beautiful Liason. But the Liaison, whose role is to supply their inhuman masters with bodies, is being manipulated by another. And Jordan will be drawn into a dangerous coup that she is unaware of, This is a world where women are bred like cattle, ensuring the continuation of the human race—or, as they are known to the malevolent Over, sustenance. Perhaps some children need to be seen and heard.
REVIEWS
“The atmosphere of adolescentangst develops around fraught conversations, from Jordan’s anguished exchangeswith her parents to her sullen mouthing off in group therapy; the result feelslike a mashup of The Hunger Games,”The Lottery,” Girl, Interrupted, and Auschwitz, with malevolentbuzzards thrown in. …Ingram gives her story a realism and emotional depth that makethe reader care about her protagonist’s fate.”
– Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Ingram has invigorated the apocalyptic genre with a tightly woven storybrimming with atmosphere; the world the Fontaines live in is equal parts familiar and surreal. There is a quiet depth and intensity to Jordanthat makes it easy for readers to invest in her personal struggles.Ingram’s supporting cast is also well-rounded, and the action movesalong at a fast clip. This novel is at once refreshing and thoughtful,and a great addition to the genre.”
– Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Dayna Ingram has a gift for imagining rich and disturbing worlds.Although The Over are fantastical, the rest of the world seems brutallyrealistic. I was hooked from the first fire-and-brimstone chapter, andwas kept clinging on until the very last page. Eat Your Heart Out is one of my favourite books (who can resist lesbians and zombies?), and All Good Children definitely lives up to those expectations.”
– The Lesbrary
PURCHASE
EAT YOUR HEART OUT
Finalist for the 2012 Golden Crown Literary Society Award
A breakneck tale of kick-ass, wise-ass, sexy-ass lesbians and ZOMBIES, Eat Your Heart Out opens on what promises to be another tediously annoying day at Ashbee’s Furniture Outlet. Then the strip-mall calm of Nowhere, Ohio, is shattered by the sudden, simultaneous appearance of Renni Ramirez – hyper-competent star of the beloved Rising Evil B-movie franchise – and actual ZOMBIES, leaving Ashbee’s hapless staff and Renni trapped behind an automatic door they can’t lock. Can failed creative-writing student/apprentice store manager/eagle-eyed markswoman Devin escape the besieged furniture store to rescue her girlfriend? Will Renni’s experience slaughtering motion-captured CGI monsters save the day before the army bombs the town? Once bitten, how many zombies can a person expect to take out before succumbing to infection? Who is the mysterious Deus Ex Machina, and what is he doing with that bone saw? All of these questions and more whisper behind the scream of the single most important thing Devin needs to know in order to survive: is Renni a top or a bottom?
REVIEWS
“Sex, violence, and horror combine in a ridiculously entertaining novella of lesbians and zombies… [ Eat Your Heart Out is a] no-holds-barred action-packed romp, filled with rich descriptions, detailed sensory input, sexy flirting, and zombie fighting in the best cult tradition. Ingram has a keen ear for dialogue and believable characters, and this punchy, raunchy story would make a great grindhouse film.”
– Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“…if you fancy a rip roaring zombie action story where the girl gets the girl, written by an author who has a sense of humour and knows how to play the tropes of this subgenre with a virtuoso skill and invention, then Eat Your Heart Out is the book for you.”
– Peter Tennant, Black Static
“A clever character study splattered with recognizable horror tropes, in which the heroine confronts not merely zombies but herself, resulting in a tightly paced, humorous tale about the perils of being emotionally repressed and menaced by the undead.”
– James K. Moran, Rue Morgue
“You’re going to love Devin. You’ll lust after Renni Ramirez, too. Hey, even I did as a gay man. Let Ingram take you on a wild zombie adventure . You’ll come to appreciate just why zombies have popped up on the popularity chart of late.”
– Damian Serbu, Lambda Literary Review
PURCHASE
SLEEP LIKE THIS
Ingram’s undergraduate final project; self-published 2010
Regina Scott, a freshman at a small town college, has many problems, all of which begin (and end) with the dead girl lying in the bed ten feet away. To deal, Regina’s psyche breaks into two people – the first being zombie-led through the fire-rings of local police trying to squeeze out a confession; the second traveling back through her memories to trace the incidents that have landed her with blood on her hands and cuffs on her wrists.
Meanwhile, forensic pathologist Julia Breigan is called to assist Sheriff Davies in proving Regina’s guilt. Breigan would be delighted to help out, except Davies happens to be her stepsister and the catalyst for her hasty departure thirteen years ago.
Having abandoned hope for finding resolution in her own life, all Julia Breigan wants is to help Regina find the truth in hers. All Sheriff Davies wants is an open-shut case. And Regina Scott, well, she just wants to wake up.
REVIEWS
“Dayna Ingram is one of the first writers I’ve encountered to truly capture the emotion and difficulty of transitioning from teenager to young adult. Her first novel Sleep Like This follows the events surrounding the murder of Charlotte Chase at a small college in the Midwest. However, the highlight of Ingram’s work can be found in the blossoming relationship between Chase and her room mate Regina Scott. The reader will inevitably fall in love with Scott, despite the sometimes childish anger and bitterness she displays regarding people’s reaction to Chase’s demise. These feelings contain a depth and an honesty not found in most works in the mystery genre and are all the more powerful for it.
Just when you start to get aggravated with Scott’s moping and self-indulgent grieving, Ingram pulls you into the point of view of Julia Biergan, who truly sympathizes with Scott in a way that makes you recognize how much this 18 year-old child is really suffering. This is a singular work in the way that it covers not only transitioning through an already traumatic period in most people’s lives, but in how grieving can affect the behavior and thoughts of young adults in this situation. This is not as strong a work as it can be, but there is so much worthwhile material contained within the pages that I have great hope for Ms. Ingram’s future works as she matures as a writer and a wonderful person.”
– Amy Campbell of A Librarian’s Life in Books
PURCHASE
Dayna Ingram 