Beth Caudill's Blog

I admit...I'm addicted to free ebooks. I search all the popular sites and download 90% of the ones offered.

But I hardly read them. I buy a few books from authors I know and read them (or plan to read them). But the free ones get archived with a maybe I'll read them when I'm bored.  Some are popular titles I've seen touted online.  Some are in genres I don't normally read but might like to try...some day.  But a lot are just offered for free and I never read them and I'm not sure I will.

But I always download more. It's an addiction.  I can't stop. And who knows, maybe I'll get to read one and discover a new author to gorge myself on.

What about you - are you a freebookaholic or can you resist the masses of free titles out there?
  

I'm on the Authors by Moonlight Blog talking about which type of story I prefer - Myths or Fairytales.

Please join the discussion.

Sometimes the stories inspired by a writer's muse aren't what we want.  Some of my first stories have haunted me. But I never completed them because they weren't romances.  I tried giving the stories a happy ending but the men who should have been the hero didn't survive or else they didn't have hero-like qualities.

These stories want to be told.  They are sexier and darker than my romances. Because there will not be happy endings in these stories, I needed to separate them from my established brand.  I decided to use the pen name Nicole Graysen to market these stories.

In March, I self-published my first short story under this pen name. Betrayed by the Incubus is the first book in the Harmonian Betrayal series. 

You must be 18 to read this 9500 word (~ 38 pages) erotic paranormal horror short story.
Contains voyeurism, an incubus masquerading as a woman's husband, and M/M sex.

In a move designed to consolidate its power, the Harmonian TriCouncil gave Miranda Nightengale to another and sent them away from Rhira. Enraged by the loss of his soul mate, Phillip Devlin Moreau left Harmonia and sacrificed his wings to absorb the soul of an immortal Incubus.


Intent on revenge against the TriCouncil, Phillip searched for a descendant of Miranda. After 700 years, his quest has come to an end. All he has to do is seduce Fiona Nightengale Richardson to create the instrument of his revenge - a child.

Excerpt

Chapter One

His prey drove away. Their headlights illuminated the desolate cliff side as night encroached, the sun setting in crimson fire. Assured they wouldn't return, Phillip Devlin Moreau banished the illusion of a silver Miata convertible parked in the driveway.

Gazing at the unfamiliar stars overhead, he remembered a time spent patrolling the skies of Rhira as a winged member of the Harmonian race. When the rapture of flight meant more than the gratification gained from sex. Before his wings were sacrificed in pursuit of revenge. Before he became a vessel for the Incubus's dark soul.

A seagull's cry brought his thoughts back to Earth. He released his grip on the front porch as his strength returned. Crafting the house and surrounding landscape from the threads of illusion siphoned away most of his power. He'd be vulnerable until Fiona Nightengale Richardson and her husband Lance moved in and he could feed.

Phillip descended the porch steps and strolled around the side of the house to the backyard. Memories cascaded in time with the crashing waves, as Fiona resembled Miranda enough for them to have been twin sisters. Seven hundred years he searched for the descendants of Miranda Nightengale. His love, his mate.

The woman who should have been his.

He lost her to the Harmonian TriCouncil's machinations. They'd panicked at the idea of a Nightengale-Moreau union. The council had convinced her to mate with another and leave their homeworld, Rhira. He'd abandoned his place within the golden palace and forfeited the air currents in order to pursue her.

Four hundred years ago he found her descendants. He waited another three hundred before a daughter with an incomplete mating-bond and enough power to mate with him came of age.

His plan for revenge began with the birth of a child from his and Miranda's bloodlines. A son could bring down the corrupt council and free the Harmonians from the council's tyranny. A daughter could be taught to rule from the bedroom.

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Find out more about Nicole from her website or join her newsletter.

A keyboard is never a lonely place for an author. There are always characters clamoring for attention, to have their stories put on the page. But when we are done, we want to release these darlings onto the world.  Today we are going to party with Kate Evangelista as she celebrates the release of her next story - Taste.


Blurb

At Barinkoff Academy, there's only one rule: no students on campus after curfew. Phoenix McKay soon finds out why when she is left behind at sunset. A group calling themselves night students threaten to taste her flesh until she is saved by a mysterious, alluring boy. With his pale skin, dark eyes, and mesmerizing voice, Demitri is both irresistible and impenetrable. He warns her to stay away from his dangerous world of flesh eaters. Unfortunately, the gorgeous and playful Luka has other plans.

When Phoenix is caught between her physical and her emotional attraction, she becomes the keeper of a deadly secret that will rock the foundations of an ancient civilization living beneath Barinkoff Academy. Phoenix doesn’t realize until it is too late that the closer she gets to both Demitri and Luka the more she is plunging them all into a centuries old feud.
 







Excerpt

I sat up and followed Calixta’s gaze upward. I rubbed my eyes. I didn’t know what I was seeing at first. A statue? ­My brain refused to snap together coherent thoughts.  I didn’t realize I’d fallen so close to one of the garden benches until I stared up at the boy that sat on one. He was strikingly beautiful. His tumble of blonde hair curled just above his sculpted cheekbones. He wore a silk shirt and a loosened cravat, like he’d become bored while dressing and decided to leave himself in disarray. His ivory skin and frozen position was what had me mistaking him for something carved from marble by Michelangelo. Then he sighed—a lonely, breathy proof of life. If I had to imagine what Lucifer looked like before he fell from heaven, the boy on the bench would certainly fulfill that image. My brain told me I had to look away, but I couldn’t. 
“Luka,” Calixta said again, her voice unsure, almost nervous. It no longer contained the steel and bite she had threatened me with, which made me wonder who the boy was.
He leaned on his hands and crossed his legs, all the while keeping his eyes fixed on the night sky. His movements spoke of elegance and control. I’d encountered many people with breeding before, but his took on the air of arrogance and self-assuredness of someone used to getting what he wanted when he wanted it.
I only realized I’d been holding my breath when my lungs protested. I exhaled. My heart sputtered and restarted with a vengeance. Luka tore his gaze away from the stars and settled it on me. I’d expected pitch-black irises, like the other Night Students, but blue ice stared back at me.
“Human,” he whispered.
He reached out, and with a finger, followed an invisible trail down my cheek. I stiffened. His touch, cooler than Demitri’s, caused warm sparks to blossom on my face. He lifted his finger to his lips and licked its tip. He might as well have licked me from the way my body shivered.
Luka’s curious gaze held mine. “Leave us,” he said, but not to me.
“But—” Calixta protested like a spoiled child.
He spoke in a language I hadn’t heard before, remaining calm yet firm. The words had a rolling cadence I couldn’t quite follow, like rumbling thunder in the distance. They contained a harsh sensuality. The consonants were hard and the vowels were long and lilting.
Footsteps retreated behind me.
Luka reached out again.
It took me a minute to realize he wanted to help me up. I hesitated. He smiled. I smiled back timidly and took his hand, completely dazzled. Even with my uniform soaked from melted snow, I didn’t feel cold—all my attention was on him and the way his callused hand felt on mine. Without moving much from his seated position, he helped me stand.
“What’s your name?” he asked. He had a voice like a familiar lullaby. It filled my heart to the brim with comfort.
I swallowed and tried to stop gawking. “Phoenix.”
“The bird that rose from the ashes.” Luka bent his head and kissed the back of my hand. “It’s a pleasure meeting you.”
My cheeks warmed. My head reeled, not knowing what to think. I couldn’t understand why I felt drawn to him. And the strange connection frightened me.
From behind, someone gripped my arms and yanked me away before I could sort out the feelings Luka inspired in me. I found myself behind a towering figure yet again. Recognizing the blue-black silk for hair tied at the nape, relief washed over me. Calixta hadn’t come back to finish me off.
Demitri’s large hand wrapped around my wrist. Unlike the night before, no calm existed in his demeanor. He trembled like a junky in need of a fix. The coiled power in his tense muscles vibrated into me.
“What are you doing here?” Demitri asked.
I didn’t know he’d spoken to me until I saw his expressionless profile. I sighed.
“Phoenix.”
I flinched. The ruthless way he said my name punched all the air out of me. “You owe me answers,” I said with as much bravado as I could muster.
“I owe you nothing.” He glared. “In fact, you owe me your life.”
“I don’t think so.”
Ignoring my indignation, he faced Luka, who’d remained seated on the bench during my exchange with Demitri. “Why is she with you, Luka?”
“I wasn’t going to taste her, if that’s what you’re implying,” Luka said. “Although, she is simply delicious. I wouldn’t mind if you left us alone.”
There it was again. Taste. The word that kept coming up between these Night Students and I was connected to it in an increasingly uncomfortable way. To taste meant to sample, but what? My flesh? They had to be joking because the alternative wasn’t funny.
“The sins of the father …” Demitri left his sentence unfinished.
Luka’s smile shifted into a snarl. “Obey my command.” His chin lifted. “Kneel.”
Demitri’s stance went rigid. His grip tightened around my wrist.
Okay, weird just got weirder. Why would Luka want Demitri to kneel before him? I thought back to Eli and the others bowing to Demitri when he questioned them, but they didn’t kneel. Seriously? Were they all living on a different planet or something?
“Kneel.” Luka’s detestable smirk made his features sinister rather than angelic. The real Lucifer: a fallen angel.
Without letting go of my wrist, Demitri knelt down on one knee and bowed his head, his free hand flat at the center of his chest. “Your command has been obeyed,” he said formally.
Luka nodded once.   Demitri stood up and pulled me toward the school without telling me where we were going. Not having the time to thank Luka for saving me from Calixta, I risked a glance back. Luka smiled at me. His smile spoke of whispers, secrets, and promises to be shared on a later date.

Buy - The Crescent Moon Press


About Kate Evangelista

When Kate Evangelista was told she had a knack for writing stories, she did the next best thing: entered medical school. After realizing she wasn't going to be the next Doogie Howser, M.D., Kate wandered into the Literature department of her university and never looked back. Today, she is in possession of a piece of paper that says to the world she owns a Literature degree. To make matters worse, she took Master's courses in creative writing. In the end, she realized to be a writer, none of what she had mattered. What really mattered? Writing. Plain and simple, honest to God, sitting in front of her computer, writing. Today, she has four completed Young Adult novels.

Where to Find Kate - Website - Twitter - Facebook



Congratulations on the new release Kate.  As a final party game, there is a link to an extra excerpt hidden within this post.  Happy Hunting.

Stop by Lila Munro's Realmantic Moments blog.  She is hosting an Excerpt Extravaganza all weekend long.  Three days of excerpts and authors.  Leave a comment and you can be entered to win a $25 Amazon Gift Card or other great prize.

Here's a quick excerpt of what I'm writing right now.  This is from my fantasy with romantic elements short story Assassin's Soul.


Shegasped as cold steel slid into her left side. Her magic dissipated as pain radiatedfrom the wound. Rhune wrapped an arm around her back, supporting her weight ashe guided her from the room; careful to shift his body so as not to putpressure against the hilt.


This is in my final chapter....the end is near.

Our home computer server suffered an electronic meltdown late last week. While hubby could retrieve some of the data, the biggest thing we lost was our calendar program.

Realistically it's not that bad a loss considering our banking stuff was on their too.  However, I've been trying to run my writing as a business and just lost 2 years of data.  So I'm looking for suggestions on a good Time Keeping Android application.  I've seen some suggestions...but like a bunch of stuff, they are Mac or iapp only.

What's your best suggestion for an Android application to track time spent on projects?

Yes, I joined the hundreds of other people and saw Hunger Games this past weekend. It was well done and had cool special effects with the holographic game manipulation.  So fun to see how they created the game disasters and monsters.

I wish I could create my own monsters and drop them on people.  ;)

The only downside is I wished I'd waited to read the book until after the movie.  I did this with Harry Potter and it worked pretty well.  But I read The Hunger Games two weeks ago.  It was still fresh in my mind and every missing detail lowered my enjoyment of the movie.  The particular thing I remember missing from the book was the chase to round up escapee's at the beginning of the book and then Katniss seeing her again during the lead up festivities to the Games.  For some reason, that part stuck with me.

I do plan to read the next two books in the series - Catching Fire and Mockingjay.  But I need to get some work done because I know once I start reading them, I won't want to put the books down.

Have you seen the movie? What did you think?  Read the books?  If you haven't, will the hype push you into it?

March takes on a strange meaning here in the South.  Every conversation, every sports channel is tuned to Basketball. I don't like basketball as a sport. I can never figure out the rules or how/when officials call fouls.  In West Virginia, growing up, football was the sport of choice.  And my husband and I love baseball.  We look forward to April because of spring training and the crack of a bat hitting a ball.

When I worked, March meant all the guys brought TVs into the office. Betting pools were started.  In some ways, I miss that.  Hey, I'm as competitive as the next guy. It's just not the same participating online.  There's no in your face time of 'So sorry your team got spanked last night.'

As I selected as college all those many years, sports was not something I considered.  It was an eye opening experience to see hoards of students camped out waiting for NC State vs. UNC basketball tickets to go on sale.  I could see camping out for football but basketball now way.  Although I did find myself camping out on year. The things we do for boyfriends.

This year NC State is playing in the NCAA Tournament.  It's been awhile.  I'll watch the game if nothing else to support my team.

How about you?  Is there a team your rooting for?  Do you like basketball?  How are your brackets shaping up? 

Lately life has been pretty stressful.  I've tried to stay away from the over-eating bug so when I needed to change something, I cut my hair.  Yes, this morning I chopped my hair off.  Okay, I went to the salon and paid someone...but lots of hair is gone.

Usually I get split ends cut off.  Maybe an inch or two.  This was more than that.   Piles of curls left on the floor.  But my head feels so much lighter.  And the best thing, when I came home hubby said he liked my hair cut short.

So here it is, my new look.  I didn't take a before picture, but my hair was past my shoulders.