Sharon Lipman's Blog, page 2
July 4, 2016
New Paranormal Romance release - St Matthew's House by C.P. Murphy
We've got a great new paranormal romance for you to check out, plus a spine-tingling excerpt. What more could you want to help you get through a Tuesday morning?
St. Matthew’s House
Sophia Demitri moved to Greenville to escape her obsessive ex-boyfriend. After renting a house she found through an online classified, she learns that her new home used to be a church.
Frankie Everhart lives his life carelessly until visions of his deceased bride, and a mysterious engagement ring, sends Sophia straight into his arms.
Things are going bump-in-the-night in the St. Matthew's House and Sophia thinks she's going insane. Her and Frankie are falling in love....but the St. Matthew's House has a mind of its own.
Exclusive excerpt
Frankie woke in a sweat. He sat straight up and noticed the brunette sleeping next to him. Naked. He wanted to wake her. She needed to get out of his house, but what was her name? She told him once, but Frankie couldn’t remember. Tracey. Tina. Tammy. He was sure it started with a T, maybe not. “Hey,” he nudged her, “wake up.”
The girl moaned and smiled at him while her eyes remained closed. “You want more?” She teased.
“No. I want you to get out.”
That woke her up. She protested and tried her hardest to seduce him but Frankie wasn’t interested. Not anymore. Not since he dreamed of his bride.
Why now? He prayed years ago to see her face. He lost his faith the day he lost her and the unanswered prayers assured him that God wasn’t what he grew up believing. The last day he prayed was the last day he saw TaShena. Now, after 15 years, her sweet face appeared before him.
The dream scared Frankie. He didn’t understand why. Visions of TaShena were good. Her voice was sweet. This was a dream, he told himself. Then why did it feel like such a nightmare?
He waited until he was confident that the brunette left. Then Frankie closed his eyes and tried his best to remember everything in his dream…
She stood before him and whispered his name. Frankie couldn’t speak. He tried but his throat was dry. Her sapphire eyes sparkled when he looked into them. He smelled the sweet scent of her perfume too. It was like nothing had changed. It was her, it was TaShena. At last she stood before him.
“She’s here now, Frankie.”
He didn’t know what she meant. Who was there? Still, words could not form from his mouth.
“She’s the one. She’s different, Frankie. You must treat her better than the others. Respect this one.”
“Who?” He finally said.
“I’ll send her to you. She’s the one.”
About the author
First and foremost: I hate writing the dreaded bio! I'm a writer, I'm somewhat of an introvert...so why would I want to talk about myself? Anyway, here I am.
When I was in elementary school, I had to write a story for homework. I waited until the last minute to write it but yet my teacher liked it so much that she had me read it to the whole class. The rest is history.
I've written poetry, though I admit I think I'm a horrible poet, children stories, which are buried in my closet somewhere, and short stories. My father was a story teller and I grew to be just like him. I find myself making a story out of anything, from hikes in the woods, to letters in the mailbox. My imagination is always working. I often see an object and wonder were its been, who owned it, and try to create from it.
Sometimes I want to give up writing. It's not easy to be a social butterfly and yet still make time to write. But then, my head explodes from characters who remind me that they're still lingering. They always win. I look forward to the day when I can write as often as I want.
For employment I worked many years in the restaurant business, and many more years in retail. I'm currently working in correctional healthcare, yes that means I work with inmates and you know my imagination runs wild.
I love my readers and always enjoy hearing from you! Please feel free to follow me as I grow as an author.
Random Things About Me:
*I don't eat bread much, it gives me hiccups
*I love country music
*I meditate and practice the Law of Attraction
*I was born on Valentine's Day
*I love coffee
*My favorite author is Jane Austen
*My favorite book is Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
How I ended up with nearly 700 downloads of my book
The weekend just passed was a bit of a whirlwind in the Indie Author world. July 1st heralded #IndiePrideDay and authors of all genres from all over the globe took to social media to promote the Indie Author movement. There were events, competitions, giveaways and special offers galore. This is the first year I've been able to celebrate #IndiePrideDay as a published author so I decided to offer my debut novel, a paranormal romance entitled Bound to Blackwood for free, all weekend.
To help spread the word, I created a HeadTalker campaign, paid for a small budget Facebook advert, hosted three takeovers on various platforms, and recruited a team of fellow authors and bloggers to give me a spotlight on their blog at some point over the weekend.
The campaign went live via KDP on Friday 1st July and ended on Sunday 3rd July.
Bound to Blackwood
was downloaded
679 times!
As I mentioned at the top of the story, I used several methods to get my message out there. Some of the analytics for the platforms I've used are a little more basic than I would have hoped, so I cannot disseminate the results from what I have called "other activity" - events, blog tour, tweets, shares etc. (Lesson learnt for future campaigns - look into a different universal link system for my Amazon addresses so I can get more in-depth results as to where these magical clicks came from). I can lay it out in the most basic of terms, however.
For anyone who doesn't know about HeadTalker, it's a way to have your message be echoed throughout social media, at a time of your choosing. Check it out here.
I decided to try for 100 supporters for a message that would hit social media on July 1st. I actually garnered 115 supporters with a social reach of nearly 2,000,000. The post that went out looked like this. All anyone had to do was click and they'd be taken straight to Amazon to download their free ebook.
From the analytics available, I've discerned that this HeadTalker campaign led to 296 clicks through to the Amazon page. One has to assume that most, if not all, of those clicks resulted in a download.
I paid for a Facebook Advert. I used targeting to aim the ad at the newsfeeds of people I felt would be interested in Bound to Blackwood. This included key words and phrases to narrow down users' interest - Vampires, Paranormal Romance etc - and I also targeted users who liked other paranormal romance authors. This is what appeared in users' newsfeeds. Again, one click and users were taken straight to Amazon to download the ebook.
I paid €10 ($11 or £8) for my campaign over 2 days, starting on Friday 1st July. The results of which are here: (special shout out to the one man who downloaded!!)
As you can see, although I "reached" 1309 people, only 45 of them actually clicked the link. (I'm going to assume they also downloaded). So each click cost me €0.22On the face of it, this is a little disappointing since its the only PAID service I used during the campaign and I would hope for slightly better results. However, on the positive side, more people at least saw the book, it might stay in their mind, they might recognise it if they saw it again. It's difficult to put any kind of value on those kind of social media "impressions," but the general consensus seems to be that this is not a bad thing.
Through various writing groups and online cooperatives I belong to, I recruited ten other authors to help me with a mini blog tour. By my own admission, this was a bit f an after thought on my part and I only gave myself just under a fortnight to recruit everyone. Those that did take up the call are amazing writers in their own rights, and I am eternally grateful to them.
I wrote a "media pack" for everyone, which was essentially an intro, the book blurb, a choice of two excerpts (one racy and one more PG), my author bio, all my social media links and most importantly, the buy link. I also provided them with graphics, and a lovely shot of me. With the exception of one blog (who was already booked but still willing to help) all the blogs went out on July 1st the start of #IndiePrideDay. These blogs were also tweeted and shared to Facebook via author pages and other groups.
Social Media Take Overs
I took part in 3 takeovers on July 1st. First up was a last minute slot on the main #IndiePrideDay event on Facebook. I was one of the first people on and things were a little slow - I suspect that this was because it was 8am in the USA.
The second 2 take overs were in the Paranormal and then Romance sections of the Brains to Books Takeover on Goodreads. Although Brains to Books are VERY experienced at takeovers, this was the first time they'd ever tried using Goodreads for a takeover. GR isn't as user friendly as Facebook and hosts needed to be able to use a little HTML to be able to include pictures and links. On the day, event organiser, author, Angela Chrysler sent a message out that she was copying all posts to her blog as she'd had an enormous amount of visitors. The count was up to 3000 by the time I even got the message, so one can assume that there were a lot more after that! (She predicted 5000).
Events are a great way to interact with readers - old and new alike. There's the opportunity to promote books, talk about your writing and things you're working on, play games, run competitions. Of course for me, it was an opportunity to promote that all important link to my Amazon page.
Whilst Goodreads is an excellent place for readers to hangout, it lacks some of the inter-activeness that Facebook allows. It's just not as user friendly, and despite sending links to everyone I knew, and some I don't (!), I know from feedback I've received that some people struggled to find the event, let alone join in.
Facebook posts
In addition to the blog tour, I posted the same spotlight piece on my own blog and shared that to my author page on Facebook. I then shared that out to a few groups I belong to. I made sure that almost everything I shared over the weekend originated from my author page.
Scheduled Tweets
I use Tweetdeck to schedule tweets - I utilised that over the IndiePride weekend, scheduling about 10 tweets at various intervals. I used the hashtags #FREE, #IndiePrideDay, #paranormalromance, #IARTG, #IBBS in combinations and each tweet had a different teaser picture. As you can see, I also gained 10 new followers and gained 7,758 impressions. Now, not all of those impressions were for tweets about my book - I also shared tweets about other authors and other amazing deals to be had over the weekend, but it all helps with my profile visibility.
So what do my results look like? Well... this!
All that "other" activity accounts for 50% of my downloads over the weekend. So while I was feeling a tad lonely at sometimes during those takeovers, they, along with my last minute decision to do a blog tour, were WELL worth the effort. All the info I posted stayed live over the weekend. I know a few people commented long after I'd left the event to say thank you and to let me know they'd downloaded the book. I assume others just snapped up the opportunity for a free eBook, and that's fine by me.
Well, all Indie Authors know, the struggle to gain visibility is very real. Getting the message out there was part of what #IndiePrideDay was all about. I decided to give my book away because I want more people to see it, I want more people to read it, I want more people to fall in love with the world I created, and most importantly, I want more people to review it!
Over the weekend, my rankings on Amazon went from practically nowhere to this: (They went a little higher, but I forgot to get a screenshot - doh!)
According to my Amazon author page, my overall sales ranking has also shot up over 80,000 places.
Now, I know Amazon employ some voodoo algorithms and these figures won't stay for long, but they're there for a little while, all helping to increase my visibility to the lovely, book-buying public!
I use a Booklinker.net link for my book. It essentially means I don't have to post a gazillion links to Amazon when talking about my book. The short link it creates will direct the user to the Amazon country page most relevant to them. This is fantastic and a great timesaver.
The downside to this particular service is that there are virtually no analytics available, save to tell me how many clicks I've had from each country... ever. I can't even filter by date to give myself any more insight in to what happened over this particular weekend.
Next time, I think I will look at other services that offer more in the way of analytics. For this campaign, I would love to have disseminated all that "other activity" data. I'm desperate to know where those clicks came from so I can replicate it all again- were they from specific blogs? Did they originate from Facebook, Twitter, even Goodreads? I have contacted support, but alas, it seems I'm destined never to know.
Final Thoughts
I'm a writer, we're all a bit weird. On Friday and Saturday, I was so excited about all the downloads, friends were kinda getting bored of me harping on about it. I was all like "hooooooray, people are gonna read my stuff!"
Then, on Sunday morning, another thought hit me..... "oh my God, people are gonna read my stuff!" I know I'm not alone in this thought.
I do know one thing - I don't think I would have been even half as successful if it wasn't for the #IndieBooksBeSeen and #IndiePrideDay trends and the enormous amount of support I received from other authors.
If you have any thoughts, I'd love to hear them. Please leave a comment!
Thrilling erotic romance for only 99c!
Amanda Kaitlyn's debut novel is on sale from 04/07 - 10.07. You can pick up this thrilling erotic romance for only $0.99!
We've got all the details, plus an excerpt to share too!
"This is a beautiful story about love at first sight. Fighting again all odds and overcoming our pasts. It's hot and passionate from the start. Love conquers all and heals you from the past. A protective alpha male who will do anything to protect his love and proves over and over how great his love is. Even when all seems against them they overcome it and show how beautiful life can be."
A love that couldn't be ignored. A man who is driven to protect her, no matter the cost. Gavin The moment I saw her, I knew she would be mine. I saw the shadows in her emerald eyes. I felt her need for me the first time we touched. And I fell. Aria I was drawn to him from the first moment our eyes met. He was electric. He was undeniably attractive. But the worst of all? He wanted me. I knew I was in trouble. But somehow, I trusted him. Good things had never lasted for me. The man I had thought was the one for me became my worst nightmare and even after escaping from his presence, the demons of my past followed me. “Breathe, Aria. Christ, please just breathe for me” Gavin came into my life like a hurricane, turning my world on it’s head. I didn’t want to fall for him, it was inevitable. From the very first moment we met, he had claimed my heart. I knew he would do no matter what it took to protect it. When the shadows I have fought so hard to escape from threaten to tear us apart, can the love we've found be enough to persevere? Or will our fight be lost? "I'm going to give you the world, Beautiful. This is only the beginning" Finding Beautiful is the first full length romance in a series set in the bustling city of wind. Each novel can be read as a standalone where a new couple will be featured.
An Excerpt from Finding Beautiful
“A larger-than-life smile spreads my lips, lifts my cheeks, and makes my eyes burn with the need to keep them open as I take in the number of people avidly applauding and celebrating.
This is my world and my love. All I need, I realize. With the grief and the sadness of the last four months, I’m at peace when I’m dancing. The pain, the heartbreak, and the fear I felt when I woke up in the hospital weeks ago just disappears.
I’m caught in a pair of skinny, but muscular, arms as soon as I’m within reach and I giggle as Eli lifts me off my feet and laughs in my ear. He squeezes me gently as he hangs on a little longer to our hug.
“You, my mistress, are back.”
I meet his gaze and nod, knowing I truly am back. Eli lets me go as I see my sister Kaelyn standing by the locker rooms. Hastily running to reach her, she hugs me so tightly.”
originally post on Amanda Kaitlyn's blog December 2015
About the author
Amanda Kaitlyn is the debut author of the romantic suspense, Finding Beautiful, the first book in a series featuring strong, passionate women and the protective men who fall in love with them. When Amanda isn't writing, reading or planning for her next steamy book, you can find her with family and friends. Some hobbies of hers include hiking, indulging in crime shows and sappy movies.
June 30, 2016
Incredible Indies interview with Jeffrey Cook!
What better way to celebrate #IndiePrideDay than with an interview with a fantastic Indie Author. Jeffrey Cook talks to us about his writing and what he's got planned next.
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Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written
I'm a full-time author living near Seattle, WA. I'm also 'dad' to three large rescue dogs, and a passionate advocate for a local rescue - to the point of heading up a series of charity anthologies to help support them.
I have 10 books and 2 novellas out, with #11 and #3 respectively coming soon. I've written across multiple genres, starting with steampunk and YA sci fi, and moving, with the recent series, to yA fantasy and a non-YA urban fantasy series, plus one non-fiction targeted at authors.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?My most recent book is A Fair Fight, book 3 of my Celtic-mythology based YA Fantasy series. The series started out with a waking dream about the lead character and one of the supporting cast, a Seattle-area teen with ADHD who discovers she's half sidhe (Irish fae), and a pixie with tattered wings who rides a crow, acting as the lead's guide. It grew from there.
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Foul is Fair (Fair Folk Chronicles Book 1)
Lots of girls play Fairy Princess when they're little. Megan O'Reilly had no idea the real thing was like playing chess, guitar, and hockey all at once. Megan had known for a long time that she wasn't an entirely typical girl. But living with ADHD—and her mother's obsessions—was a very different thing from finding out she wasn't entirely human. Somewhere out there, in a completely different world, her father needs help. There's a conflict, revolving around Faerie seasonal rituals, that could have consequences for humanity—and if Megan's getting the terminology straight, it sounds like her family aren't even supposed to be the good guys. As she's further and further swept up in trying to save her father, Megan may be getting too good at not being human.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I've been a voracious reader since an early age. Biggest influences include the Chronicles of Narnia, Frankenstein, Lord of the Rings, Clavell's Shogun, and Terry Pratchett in general.
'm working on the final rewrites for book 4, the finale of the Fair Folk Chronicles, and a science-fiction novella about genetically engineered dragons.
After that, I'm taking this Summer to mostly focus on promotion and a cross-country promotion tour to a few conventions in August.
This Fall, I'll be starting on a YA Dark Fantasy called Unchosen, playing with the 'chosen one' trope of fantasy. Subverting it, really.
When new ideas come up, do small outlines, get the basic ideas down on the page, then put them away in a folder for later.
When that's over, I'll have one more local event, then we go on the road to do Gencon in Indianapolis, Malcon in Denver, and Worldcon in Kansas City in 3 consecutive weeks on the road....
And then home for 3 more conventions in a row.
Then starting Unchosen, and back to work-as-usual.
Every writer has tons of ideas. It's important to learn not to shift to the shiny new thing. Finish what you're working on.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
"The most important thing you can be is someone you can live with."
This Summer is going to be exciting. My business partner and I (with Clockwork Dragon books) will be doing several local fairs and conventions, filling almost every weekend. In July, we're putting on our own indie book fair/networking event, with about 60 Northwest Authors in attendance.
Paranormal Romance Giveaway!
July 1st 2016 marks #IndiePrideDay, a day when the Indie Authors of the world unite to to offer a real alternative for readers and lovers of books by offering special discounts on their books. There is a huge Indie Author community out there and they're determined to take indie books mainstream. What does this mean for you? Well I'm offering my paranormal romance novel, Bound to Blackwood for free this weekend! Yes, that's right, a great book, totally free. Plus, I've got an exclusive excerpt for you to whet your appetite. A proud indie author myself, I'll be supporting the movement on July 1st, and you can too. Download your copy of Bound to Blackwood now and follow the #IndiePrideDay trend on twitter for some more amazing indie books and discover some new-to-you authors. You won't regret it!
Would you surrender your soul for the love of the King?
Lena, a vampire and a Guardian of the Order, has been honour-bound to protect human souls all her life. Acting first and thinking second is what's saved her skin time and again in the war against the Fallen, but her disregard for orders soon catches up with her when her boss is seriously injured. Forced to take responsibility for her actions, Lena is thrust into the path of her very own kryptonite; Thorn. The raw power of his soul calls to her and his mere presence lights a fire within her that she cannot contain.
With Vampire magic waning and the race in crisis, can either of them afford to ignore Nature's call? If they do, the future of the race is in jeopardy. If they don't, they will both lose the most precious part of themselves. Their souls.
Exclusive Excerpt
Small, delicate hands butterflied across his chest as she leant forward to nuzzle his neck. His hips arched towards her and one of her hands dipped lower. His cock jumped as she ran her nails over his crotch, his jeans doing little to dull the sensation. It was all he could do not to come there and then. And they still had most of their clothes on. That needed to change. Right now.
As if reading his mind, Lena reached for his belt, then his fly. She lifted herself off him to pull his jeans down his long legs. She damn near broke his ankles when she wrenched his boots off and threw them halfway across the room. But the look of pure hunger on her face as she raked her eyes up his body was its own reward. If it meant he got to see that look again, he'd let her break every fucking bone in his body.
She stood, staring at him, wearing just her tight combat trousers. And those boots. Gods, he loved those boots.
She bent down to start tackling the umpteen buckles stretching from her ankles to her knees.
"Uh uh. Those stay on."
Lena's head snapped up. "What did you say?"
Thorn's eyes sparkled as he stared at her. "I said, the boots stay on."
More of an order than a statement, it sent a tantalising shudder through her, making her clench her thighs at the promise of what was to come.
"The boots stay on?" she asked, in case she'd misheard. She didn't know Thorn could be so playful. It excited her.
There was one small problem. "Haven't you forgotten about these?" she asked, tugging at her combats. She'd like to know how she was supposed to get them off and keep the boots on.
Thorn came up off the bed. Towering above her, he grabbed the front of her trousers and gave one hard yank. Lena wobbled forward but gasped as the fabric split at the seams. One more pull and what was left of her uniform and her underwear fell to the floor in tatters.
She stood there watching Thorn as he drank her in with hungry, golden eyes. His gaze went up her body from her boots to her lithe legs and lingered at the top of her thighs. I can be playful too, she thought as she widened her stance, a coy grin pulling her mouth.
Thorn's white-hot gaze shot to her face, his eyes boring into her. Such heat, such hunger.
Lena couldn't stand it any longer. She reached into his dark hair and pulled him in for a kiss. The kiss was hard, both their fangs fully extended, both needing, each starving for the other.
A huge fan of the paranormal romance genre, Sharon Lipman started writing in her teens. It wasn't until she was in her thirties that she found a story she was desperate to share. House Blackwood was born and Bound to Blackwood is her debut novel.
She was born in west London and grew up in leafy Surrey in south-east England. A lover of all things British, except the weather, she now lives in Almeria, southern Spain with her husband and an ever growing collection of dogs.
Check out Rain Grey's latest vampire romance and WIN a $10 Amazon gift card!
Rain Grey has a fantastic vampire romance to share with us. We've got a sneak-peak at chapter one of Vampire Creed as well as the opportunity to win a $10 Amazon gift card! Don't forget, commenting on this post will earn you extra entries! So what are you waiting for? Take a look at Vampire Creed and enter the giveaway at the end of the post!
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Vampire Creed
Barnaby Blaine Rice was a Vampire born in the depression with a very special power to see who people truly were. After a long, empty existence of witnessing the darkest points of humanity, Blaine happens to encounter a beautiful married woman named Mary Slate. Unable to handle his love for the beautiful human, Blaine accidentally kills another Vampire over her and is put under a serious debt with the Vampire Council.
Blaine reluctantly forces himself to forget the woman and allows her to live her life without his intervention. It wasn’t until 50-years-later that the distant memories of the captivating Mary are brought back to the surface. Blaine has the pleasure to encounter the young Wendy Slate, granddaughter of Mary Slate after a criminal vampire keeps her hostage. Blaine got there in time to stop the criminal, but not to stop the beginning of Wendy’s transition into Vampirism.
As he was forced to sire her into this new world, he discovers that Wendy is the most amazing person he’d ever met. Wendy has to make a life-altering decision as Blaine has to deal with his blooming feelings for a woman who was identical to his first love. This modern love story introduces the most influential turning point of these lover’s lives.
CHAPTER 1
There was nothing quite like walking along the salt withered boardwalk of Oceanside Wharf. The unsteady sea roared to my left. The waves were nothing but a dark blur on the horizon that eventually licked the corners of the sandy beach. The lack of seagulls, the cloudy sky, and the stillness in the air told me one thing; there was a storm coming. Usually, these walks by myself were the only way that I could relax after a long day, but tonight was different. Despite the buzzing, yellow streetlamps that hovered over my head, everything about the atmosphere just seemed so much darker than normal.
Everything was ordinary that night, but it seemed too ordinary. Something about the way that my feet padded against the wood seemed to sound too familiar. Something about the way the salty air smelled seemed too perfect as if it were manufactured in a perfume bottle. I ached to see the stars through the cloud cover, but something told me that those wouldn’t look right either. The cold air whipped my long hair around my face, causing me to wrap my arms even tighter around my torso. This made me feel a tiny bit more secure, but I couldn’t deny the way my heart pounded in my chest.
I walked this route every day after my night classes; it was my daily routine. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something didn’t seem right. My skin broke out in a layer goosebumps that I couldn’t get rid of, no matter how hard I rubbed my arms. The hair on the back of my neck stood up on end. My eyes were peeled for some type of disturbance in the normality of my walk, but I couldn’t find anything. I found myself peeking over my shoulder every so often, but I found nothing but an empty, dimly lit street and a growing distance from the brightly lit university.
These walks had grown more and more intimidating since I first met him. He came to the roller skating rink one night while I was working at the concession stand. We were pretty slow considering that the rink was rented out for a few child’s birthday parties. Every so often, a kid would ask for some candy, but I mostly spent the night leaning against the counter, blankly staring into the rink. That was when I first saw him, standing on the other side of the rink. He was wearing sunglasses inside, which I thought was extremely weird considering that the sun went down at least an hour before he arrived. He didn’t skate and he didn’t talk to anyone. I assumed he was there to watch the kids, but his sunglasses made it hard to gauge what exactly he was staring at. He was so still as if he were able to lock his muscles in position. It made me uncomfortable, but then again, a lot of things made me uncomfortable.
It didn’t become an issue until two women approached me at the stand.
“Excuse me?” The smaller one pulled me away from my thoughts.
“Hello ladies,” I put on my best customer service smile.
They both smiled politely before the plump one spoke, “We have a problem.”
“Yes?”
Giveaway Time!
Don't forget to enter the giveaway to be in with the chance of winning a $10 Amazon gift card. Commenting on this blog will earn you extra entries!
Stay in touch with Rain
June 29, 2016
Guest blog from award winning author, Ann Gimpel - being an Indie Author
You all know we love paranormal romance here at House Blackwood. We're also keen advocates of the Indie Author movement. What would be better than to combine the two with a great guest post and a look at a brand new release?
To celebrate her latest release in her Wolf Clan Shifters series, Sophie's Shifters, award winning Indie Author, Ann Gimpel dropped by to talk about the challenges and rewards of being an Indie Author. Plus we've got details of that latest release and exclusive excerpt for you to enjoy! Happy days!
Thank so much for inviting me to guest post on your blog! It’s a pleasure to be here. I’ve been thinking about all the bits and pieces that make up being an Indie author here of late, so that’s what I’m going to write about today.
During the years I wrote for various publishers, I mostly wrote and edited. I did some marketing. Probably would’ve done more, but like everything else in this crazy business, enhancing my discoverability as an author has been a journey as opposed to an event I can put my finger on.
Outside of reworking all the books I got my rights back to and writing new ones to build up various series, I’ve made a real push to teach myself how to market better these last few months. Toward that end, I’ve built up my newsletter, and I’m still fine-tuning FB ads. One of the very cool plusses about my growing newsletter has been one on one contact with readers. I encourage them to email me, and I’ve made bunches of new friends. Friends who also happen to enjoy my books.
During April and May, we took our motorhome on a cross-country jaunt. One of the lovely, but totally unintended, consequences was I ended up in many parts of the U.S. where some of my readers live. I think they got a kick out of sharing their little piece of the country with me. And I got lots of grist for the mill for my books.
I tend to be visual, so if I’ve seen something, I can write about it.
Circling back to the Wolf Clan Shifter books. An earlier version of Alice’s Alphas was originally published by Liquid Silver Books. I did a whole lot of rewriting there, wincing all the while about “issues” no one had picked up—least of all me. Megan’s Mates was also a Liquid Silver Book offering under the title, Noreen’s Choice. That one required reworking as well, but not nearly as much as Alice. Sophie’s Shifters is brand new. That’s what I meant by my statement above when I alluded to new ones to build up various series.
It’s been fun to revisit my books and my worlds. I have a historical steampunk romance series set in the Old West coming later this summer. The first one was a “rights back” book, but the second two are brand new. And so it goes.
The writer’s life certainly has its challenges, but so does any profession.
Thanks again for hosting me.
Ann Gimpel
Late 1930s, California.
The winds of change are blowing hard as shifters gather deep in the Sierra Nevada Mountains for a war powwow. Tempers run high as they argue their next move.
An unexpected attack from more Hunters than they’ve ever seen forces their hand, and Blake, alpha for the coyote clan, fights alongside his brothers. He’s grimly pleased when every single one of their enemies is finally dead, the bodies chucked into glacial crevasses.
Sophie Laughing Wolf tracked her hated brother into the mountains. Gifted with foreseeing, she wants to make certain he ends up just as dead as he was in her vision. When the large group of men he’s with are set upon by shifters, mythical dual-natured beings who can take animal forms, she hides, calling on earth power to shield her.
It doesn’t work. Two shifters, back in their men’s bodies, haul her from her hiding place once the battle ends and drag her before their chief. He spares her life—for now—but she senses the animosity the others have for her. They see her as a threat, a witness to multiple murders.
When the mate bond strikes, she fights its pull. So does Blake. He can’t believe the gods would be so cruel as to bind him and his lieutenants to a woman with blood ties to Hunters—their ancient enemy. She runs from her fate. So does he, but the bond burns bright, transcending everything.
Excerpt from Sophie’s Shifters
Jed slipped and slid down the glacier, grateful his mate Alice wasn’t there to read him the riot act. An accomplished mountaineer, she’d have laughed herself sick after the second time he fell on his ass and slid twenty feet.
“Goddammit!” Terin screeched from behind him and went flying past on his stomach. He shifted mid-slide and dug his claws into the icy surface to stop his suicidal descent. Once he’d stopped on the uphill side of a boulder, he shifted back.
Jed drew to a halt next to him. “Good thing you didn’t bother getting dressed. Your clothes would be strewn over the last fifty feet of ice in shreds.”
“Yes and no,” Terin muttered, glancing pointedly at Jed’s shoes. “My boot soles would have helped—a lot. Jesus but I’m glad Alice isn’t here to see this.”
“Keir’s doing okay in bare feet,” Bron noted, catching them up. “And I’m not doing that bad, but the soles of my feet hurt like hell—and I miss my claws.”
Jed eyed the edge of the glacier. Patches of rocks and dirt, interspersed with ice, began a couple hundred feet below them. Walking would get much easier then. He grabbed one of Terin’s arms. Bron seized the other one, and together they lurched over the remaining rock-studded ice.
“We have a problem,” he said without preamble.
“Tell me something I don’t know,” Bron muttered.
“We have to get home and make sure Alice is okay,” Terin added.
Jed winced. He’d wanted to leave someone home with the women, but neither Alice, nor Megan—Les and Karl’s mate—would have any part of that. He reached for Alice through the mate bond, but she was too far away for him to sense anything.
“Which particular problem were you alluding to?” Bron asked. “Somehow it seems like more than getting out of these mountains with our hides intact.”
“It is,” Jed said tersely. “Les and Karl found a woman. They’re holding her back in the cave.”
Terin stopped dead. “What? Is she a climber like Alice, who got stranded up here?”
“Somehow, I don’t think that’s it,” Jed muttered.
“We’ll find out soon enough,” Bron broke in. “Shit! If she came with the Hunters, we’ll have to kill her.”
“That already occurred to me.” Jed shot a pointed look at his lieutenant. “Keir said the same. He was standing close enough to hear when Les gave me the bad news.”
“Damned shame.” Terin shook loose from them. “I’m good. I don’t need you two to nursemaid me anymore.”
They covered the remaining half mile to the cave in silence. Terin and Bron went to collect their clothes, and Jed strode briskly to a back corner where he sensed Les and Karl. Crouched behind them in a quivering mass was a woman with her head buried in her crossed arms. Long black hair shot with thick silver streaks spilled around her onto the dirt floor. She was swathed in dark colored wool and flinched away when Jed hunkered next to her.
He probed her mind and found terror so gripping, it obliterated everything else. He started to tell her not to be afraid, but the words died on his tongue. He couldn’t give her any guarantees, and he wouldn’t lie to her.
“Who are you?” he asked, keeping his voice gentle.
“We tried that, boss,” Les said.
“At first, all she did was moan,” Karl added. “She got quieter after a while, but she hasn’t answered any of our questions.”
“Where’d you find her?” Jed asked.
“After we lifted the last of the bodies in our sector out of the moraine, so others could move them up the mountain, Les and I sensed something living. It wasn’t a Hunter, but it was human, so we dug a little.”
“Didn’t have to go far,” Les cut in, “before we found her hiding between a huge piece of deadfall and a big rock.” He shrugged. “Without our wolf senses, we’d never have discovered her.”
A low whimper escaped from the woman, and Jed laid a hand on her arm. “What’s your name?” he repeated.
“Just get it over with.” Her low, musical voice was strained. Hysteria trod near the surface.
“Get what over with?” Jed probed. Maybe if he could get her talking, he could learn something.
The woman lifted her head from her crossed arms and Jed’s eyes widened. She was absolutely stunning with huge midnight blue eyes. Pronounced bone structure and copper skin suggested Native American blood flowed through her veins. Sharp cheekbones, a hawk-bridged nose, and a squared-off chin lent her an exotic cast.
She tilted her chin at a defiant angle. “You have to kill me. I know too much. Get it over with. The others—” she cast a spurious glance Les and Karl’s way “—they were waiting for you to make the decision.” Her mouth worked as if she’d tasted something bitter. “Anyway, get it over with. I took my chances when I tracked my brother today. If he’d known, he’d have forbidden me to come.”
Jed frowned. “One of the Hunters was your brother?”
The woman nodded mutely. “Yeah, that’s what I just said, isn’t it? Get it over with, white man. If you’re going to kill me, do it. If not, let me go.”
Bron and Terin had joined them once they’d dressed. Bron passed a hand over the woman’s head, and Jed felt him probing with shifter magic. “You have white man’s blood too,” Bron murmured.
The woman shot him a scathing look. “Not much. What of it?”
“Where we come from in Canada,” Les said, “Indians are friends to those like us.”
She curled her upper lip in withering scorn. “We have enough problems without associating with shifters. You’re nothing but trouble. Bad enough we got stuffed onto reservations, land no one else wanted.”
Jed tried a different tack. “Why’d you track your brother today?”
She buried her head in her arms again, refusing to look at him.
“Please.” He gentled his voice. “Give us something to work with. Les and Karl, my brothers who found you, didn’t harm you.”
“Only because they were waiting for you, their chief.” Her voice was muffled.
“Goddammit!” Les squatted in front of her and yanked her head upward. “Karl and I could’ve killed you. We didn’t. We were not waiting for Jed to make that call. Tell us why you were tracking your brother.”
Jed heard compulsion flow beneath the other shifter’s words.
The woman drew back. She tried to combat Les’ spell, but the contest was laughable. “To stop him,” she said. The words were clearly dredged from her, but they held the ring of truth.
“Good. He needed to be stopped,” Les said. “Why’d you think he’d listen to you?”
The woman’s face crumpled and she started to cry, big noisy gulping sobs that ripped through her. “It’s not what you think. I didn’t try to make him listen to me,” she managed between ragged breaths. “I have the gift of prophecy—farseeing—and I knew things would go to hell for all of them today.”
“Do your visions always come true?” Jed probed. Despite the problems the woman presented, her story fascinated him.
She nodded, but didn’t say anything further.
“Did your brother know you followed the Hunter group?” Jed asked.
She shook her head. “No. He doesn’t share my gift. His magic came mostly from the goddamned white man’s Church.”
“Odd none of the rest of them sensed you behind them,” Karl muttered.
“Not odd at all,” she shot back, choking a little on snot running down her face. “I can blend my energy into the rocks, the dirt.”
“We found you,” Karl pointed out.
“Because you were in your natural form, and wolves sense such things far more acutely than men.”
Jed waved Karl to silence. This was going nowhere fast. Returning his attention to the woman, he said, “So you came along, but didn’t talk with him. Didn’t try to warn him. Help me understand why.” Jed hoped things might get clearer, but so far they were just becoming more confusing.
“Let me get this straight.” Bron hunkered next to Les and caught the woman’s gaze with his dark one. “You saw in a vision that your brother would die, and you came along anyway but didn’t try to warn him. Did you want to make certain he was dead?”
Jed silently offered his lieutenant credit for shrewdness. If the woman knew today would end in a bloodbath because she’d seen it—and she made no attempt to warn her brother—what other reason would she have had for trailing after him.
The woman’s sobbing escalated. She tried to jerk her chin out of Les’ grip, but he held fast. “Yes,” she gasped out. “Yes. I hated that bastard. He…used me, hurt me the way men hurt women, when I was only ten years old and never stopped until I ran away when I was sixteen. No one believed me. No one c-cared.” Her last words were almost obliterated by sobs.
Suddenly her phrase to stop him took on a whole new meaning. Jed just stared at her. “So it’s not that you didn’t say anything today. You never told him anything.”
She did yank her chin away then and spat on the dirt floor. “Hell no. I haven’t spoken to him in ten years, but he’s blood and he shows up in my visions.”
Running on instincts that had rarely failed him, Jed glanced at the four wolf shifters ranged around him. They didn’t need to talk. After hundreds of years of working together, they understood one another.
“Stand up.” Jed told the woman.
“Why?”
“Did you see your own death in your vision?”
An odd look washed over her face before she shook her head and pushed herself upright. Standing she was of a height with Jed, and her hair reached past her ass. She squared slender shoulders. “Is that a backhanded way of saying I can leave?”
Jed shook his head and hurried to add words before she sank into a puddle of terror again. “You’re right that we can’t allow you to return to your life. We have no idea who you are, who you’d tell. We could wipe your memory of us, but you’d still recall the death that happened in this canyon.”
“What are you going to do with me?” Her voice shrilled and she jerked her chin upward. “If you think you’re going to abuse me like my brother, think again, white man. I’d rather be dead.”
“We don’t do that to women.” Terin pushed into her line of vision so she had to look at him.
“Not what I’ve heard,” she retorted. “My brother said he learned it from you.”
“Bull crap!” Jed said succinctly. “I’ve never known a shifter to take a woman against her will. Not on my watch, and not in my clan.”
“You planning to bring her home with us?” Bron quirked a dark brow.
Jed nodded. “The only question—” he focused on the woman “—is whether you come willingly, or we knock you out and carry you down the mountain.”
“Home as in staying under the same roof with five men?” Her face twisted into a grimace. “No. Not happening. Just kill me here and get it over with.”
“We’re mated,” Karl informed her. “Les and I have a mate. Her name is Megan. And Jed, Bron, and Terin are mated to Alice.”
The woman tossed her head. “Fine. Just because you located some sluts who—”
Jed snaked out a hand and slapped her hard across the face. He grabbed her head between his hands and forced her to look at him. “Never say one bad word about my mate. I love her. So do Bron and Terin. Don’t disparage what you don’t understand.”
A shocked look blossomed on her face and she muttered, “Sorry,” before looking at her feet.
“Let go of her, boss.” Bron pulled Jed’s hands away. “She only understands what she’s lived. And it hasn’t been pretty.”…
About the Author
I'm basically a mountaineer at heart. I remember many hours at my desk where my body may have been stuck inside four walls, but my soul was planning yet one more trip to the backcountry.
Around the turn of the last century (that would be 2000, not 1900!), I finagled a move to the Eastern Sierra, a mecca for those in love with the mountains. Stories always ran around in my head on backcountry trips, sometimes as a hedge against abject terror when challenging conditions made me fear for my life, sometimes for company.
Eventually, the inevitable happened. I returned from a trip and sat down at the computer. Three months later, a five hundred page novel emerged. It wasn’t very good, but it was a beginning. I learned a lot between writing that novel and its sequel, and I've been writing ever since.
In addition to turning out books, I enjoy wilderness photography. A standing joke is that over ten percent of my pack weight is camera gear, which means my very tolerant husband has to carry the food -- and everything else too.
June 23, 2016
Gearing up for #IndiePrideDay 2016
Those who follow my Facebook and Twitter accounts will no doubt have seen the #IndiePrideDay trend popping up with more regularlity recently. You will have seen it, but you might not know what it's all about, or why it's so important.
#IndieBookBeSeen is a movement that works tirelessly throughout the year to bring Indie Authors to the forefront of readers' minds, to support Indie Authors in their endeavours and to take the Indie industry mainstream. #IndiePrideDay is a culmination of all that.
Indie Fans and Indie Authors from around the world, will raid social media with pic’s holding up INDIE books using the hashtag #IndiePrideDay
Last year #IndiePrideDay was a trending topic on Twitter. This year we not only want it to trend but to also offer a real alternative for readers and lovers of books by offering special discounts on the day.
I spent the morning researching statistics. The results vary (due in no small part to Amazon's reluctance to share data), but what I did see was hugely encouraging and may well surprise some people. There were upwards of 700,000 titles self published last year, and what's more, the market share for Indie Authors is growing. Approximately 42% of all eBook sales go to Indie Authors and that trend is set to continue.
If the figures are to be believed, then this means that readers realise that the “validation” that comes with being a traditionally published author doesn't hold as much weight as it once did. The Big 5 publishing houses have seen a decrease in their market share year on year as more authors go it alone. With your continued support, we can help take the Indie industry mainstream.
Indie Authors across every genre you can think of will be taking to social media to spread the Indie message. Readers can follow the trend on Twitter by searching #IndiePrideDay. There are a host of fantastic offer to grab – from huge discounts and freebies to competitions and giveaways. It's going to be a lot of fun!
Of course! I'll be hosting a takeover on Goodreads and joining the #IndiePrideDay Facebook event and you can too.
Added Bonus!
Bound to Blackwood will also be free, yes that's right FREE, all weekend. If you haven't already got your copy, then you can get it from Amazon from July 1st to July 3rd. If you have already got a copy (thank you), then you can help spread the word to other fans of paranormal romance. Click to support this HeadTalker campaign and help me get the word out there!
June 20, 2016
C.A. Bell's new paranormal erotic romance plus Sex, Lies and Sinful Wives giveaway!
We're celebrating C.A. Bell's release of Nancy's Curse - The Complete Trilogy. We've got a shiver-inducing excerpt plus the chance to win one of three digital copies of erotic short story collection, Sex Lies and Sinful Wives. If that doesn't wake you up on a Monday morning, we don't know what will!
Sometimes white magic can turn dark. Even with the best intentions.
When Angelica, a white witch, placed a protective curse over her granddaughter, Nancy, in a bid to keep her safe from society and her own powers until she was old enough to understand, she had no idea of the consequences.
On the 31st of October, a grown up Nancy holds her annual Halloween party. Only this year she strays away from her traditional festivities that include her famous Halloween punch, and dancing to the Monster Mash, and opts for a spookier night. With the help of her friends, Nancy will be holding a séance with her new Ouija board. But little does she know that the protective curse her grandmother secretly cast over twenty-seven years ago is lifted that very night.
A spirit is summoned and Nancy begins a journey of sexual desire and love that she will never forget.
Was this summoning pure coincidence, magic, or something else? Only time will tell.
Lies, secrets, covens, dark forces, and nightmares lie just around the corner for Nancy. But at the end of it all, will she be able to help the man she has fallen for and fulfill his wish of putting his wandering soul to rest? And will there be a price?
Will true love conquer or be taken?
Nancy is about to find out.
Available in eBook
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Available in Paperback
Amazon UK Amazon US CreateSpace
Exclusive Excerpt~~~~~~~~~
Once her guests have settled, Nancy begins.
“First things first, I would like to thank you all for coming to my party! Next, before we get started with this, I would like to allocate some special roles.”
She puts a nervous-looking Sophie out of her misery first. “Sophie – you, Declan and James are all the energisers.”
It doesn’t seem to reassure Sophie, so Nancy goes on, “Don’t worry, all you have to do is sit here and let the rest of us look like fools.” Nancy smiles in her direction to reassure her, prompting a tiny smile back.
Reassured, she continues, “Okay, Eve, you are interpreter. Hence the pen and paper. Your job is to write down any answers, numbers or letters we get from the board.”
Eve grins. “Gotcha.”
Then, staring her straight in the eye, Nancy declares Lucy the designated ‘screamer’.
“What the hell’s a screamer, Nance?”
She chuckles. “Basically, a screamer is the person who you think will wet themselves before anyone else and run home crying.”
Lucy gives her a knowing look, “Well I think that title should belong to you, Nance. Don’t you?”
“Maybe, but I am the leader since it’s my party and my Ouija.”
Lucy looks away and takes a sip of her drink. No-one else seems to have a problem with their position, so leader Nancy decides that it’s time to play. She turns the music down to a whisper.
Pressing her fingers down on both bottom corners of the board, she drags it along the table towards her. “Now. To start we all must concentrate and have no negative thoughts, or this won’t work. Alright?”
Everybody nods, and Nancy places one finger from each hand on the planchette. Trying not to giggle, she asks the first question of the night.
“Is anyone there?”
The room is deadly silent; only the drone of the bass-driven music can be heard. She tries to make eye contact with her guests, but they’re all staring down at the board, waiting for her fingers to move. Jeez, they really are taking this seriously.
Nothing happens, so she asks again.
“Is there anyone there who wishes to make contact with us?”
They all stare; mesmerized by the piece of wood and the hope that something might just happen. The kitchen door creaks and then pushes open. Lucy screams. Everybody, including the men, jump up off their chairs and head sharpish for the other end of the room.
With every hair on her body stood to panicked attention, Nancy tries to open the lounge door with her trembling hands... until she realises what’s happened when she notices her cat strolling in like he owns the place.
It prompts the gang to burst out into laughter, breaking the onset of tension. Eventually, they manage to compose themselves, all admitting out loud that this Ouija lark is actually quite fun and, hey, they should try to really contact someone. This time with the doors closed, so no cats can further impede.
Making their way back to the table, Nancy scoops up Salem. Bending over and shooing her little friend off out the door, Nancy feels inappropriate eyes burning holes through her dress.
Twisting her head to see who is looking, she’s surprised that not a single one of them is peeking her way. And yet... the feeling of being watched still lingers. Straightening her chair back up from the panic before, she notices that the scent of the air has changed; it smells unfamiliar, musky, and manly. The flames of the candles are flickering more aggressively, as if there were a window open. Putting it down to James’s aftershave and the fact that they all just ran across the room, she takes her seat back at the head of the table and they start again.
“Is there anyone there?” Nancy asks, her fingers back on the wooden heart. They’re left hanging again, so she dashes to the kitchen to get the instruction booklet. Opening the cutlery drawer, that being watched feeling appears again and a cold breeze strokes the back of her bare neck. It sends shivers through her entire body. Snatching up the booklet, she darts back to the safety of her friends.
With the right passage at the ready and a number of sentences to choose from, she returns her fingers to the planchette and says, “Spirit, please come forward and give us guidance.”
Still, nothing. Not so much as a blown-out flame. She chooses another calling. “Spirit, do you have a message for one of us?”
Again they’re left hanging. So Nancy decides to make up her own chant, if only to get a reaction out of her friends. “Spirit, are there any hot, tall, dark, handsome men out there who are good in bed?”
Everyone giggles. In the midst of the laughter, Nancy’s ear suddenly turns icy. And then she hears a whisper.
Yes...
Her body freezes in fear.
~~~~~~~~~~~
About the Author
C.A.Bell was born and raised on the outskirts of London, England, but for the past three years has resided in a much more rural town of Shropshire, where she married and made a home.
She is author to numerous erotic fiction stories, including, The Architect, Sex, Lies, and Sinful Wives, The Shame Train, and many more.
As well as putting together her own collections of erotic shorts and naughty poetry, she is also a contributor to many anthologies and online magazines.
Currently she is working on a number of projects which include a novel she started some time ago, book two of The Architect, and running her new website dedicated to erotica readers and writers, Bell, Book and Erotica.
Giveaway Time!
C.A. Bell is offering three lucky readers the chance to win a digital copy of her collection of erotic short stories, Sex Lies and Sinful Wives. To take part in the giveaway, just enter the Rafflecopter below. As always, commenting on this post will earn you an extra entry!
Good Luck!
June 15, 2016
Bumper paranormal romance giveaway from Lyrical Press
We've got four fantastic new releases to share today, plus there's a chance to win a digital copy of all four of them! Yes, that's right, one lucky winner will win a copy of all four of these fabulous looking books. Check them out and then enter the Raffelcopter giveaway at the end of the post. Don't forget, commenting on this post will earn you an extra entry too!
Ever Boundby Odessa Gillespie Black
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1879, Tennessee. A farmhand on the vast Rollins estate, handsome young Colby Kinsley makes the mistake of his life when he becomes briefly entangled with conniving Grace Rollins, the plantation owner's beautiful but unstable daughter. Yet matters become even more complicated when he finds himself falling truly in love with Grace's clever younger sister, Annabeth...
Intent on escaping her darkly troubled father and her melancholy home, Annabeth is also determined to avoid Colby. Yet she is still drawn to his quick wit and many talents. And when he performs an act of astounding courage, she can no longer deny her true feelings for him…just as her sister cannot hide her jealous rage. Grace will do anything to destroy the blossoming romance—even invoke dark, powerful supernatural forces. And as her dangerous machinations begin, the passions of all three are set on a tragic course—with a conclusion that will echo across lifetimes…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After Mama made a supper fit for kings and queens, I walked out the back door of our cottage full and happy. It wasn’t dark yet, so maybe I could get some fishing in. A small rut worn in the middle of a long path led down to a pond set far away from the main house.
“Colby? What’s your middle name?” a girl asked from behind me.
Not again.
For three long years, since the day we arrived at the Rollins Plantation, I’d dealt with Grace Rollins’ tiresome advances. No matter how many times I rejected her, she became more insistent. I could never have a moment’s peace without her searching me out. Other than her sister, Annabeth, who was buried in her studies and the arts, we were the only young people. That left me with no one to become acquainted with. Which was just as well. Time to myself had become scarce, since lately, I could never find any.
“Well?” She eyed me with the gaze of an interested mountain lion.
“Kendall. Colby Kendall Kinsley.”
“Hmm. It’ll do.” She twirled a black tendril of hair about her finger as her gaze intensified. “Colby Kendall Kinsley, have you ever kissed a girl?”
I spit into the pond. “I beg your pardon?”
“Have you ever kissed a girl? It’s a simple question with a simple answer.” She examined her fingernails the way a cat would before she clawed your face. She tapped her chin, then pointed at me. “You’re scared of me.”
I put my pole and worms beside the water’s edge. There was no sense in bothering to fish. She’d scare them all off with her incessant rambling. But I would figure out a way to run her off before dark. Just before the sun set over the tall trees south of the property, they really started biting.
“You keep darting away from me when I try to kiss you. You haven’t kissed a girl before.”
“I kiss my mom all the time. She’s plenty enough female in my life.” I took out a medium-sized hook and ran the line through it. “I don’t think this is an appropriate subject.”
She giggled and stood. “You know by now that ‘proper’ isn’t exactly a concern of mine.”
“Don’t you have lessons to attend or some knitting to do?”
Pressing her dress down, she walked toward me. “I’m a big girl. I do what I want, when I want.”
“I’m going to have to insist you bring along a chaperone if we are to be in each other’s company.” I jabbed a hook right through the biggest, juiciest night crawler I had, hoping to send her retching.
“If you’re asking for a chaperone, that makes me believe you would like to call on me in the near future.” She slinked closer.
I almost tripped on my bowl of worms and took a tumble into the pond. “I used to wonder why you came out here with all the bugs and frogs and slimy creatures, but it’s quiet. I might accompany you while you fish more often. It would get me away from Annabeth and all her goody-goody college talk. I swear, she’ll never find a decent husband.”
Just as I gained my balance and looked up, Grace was nose to nose with me. I slid out of her clutches before she could lean in to put her lips on my face.
“Colby,” Mama called from the back of our house.
Relieved, I slipped around her and scooped up my fishing supplies. “I have to go.” “We’ll meet tomorrow night.” Her demand followed me as I fled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Odessa Gillespie Black lives in the beautiful North Carolina foothills with her husband, four children, Chihuahuas Little Bit and Rico, and rescued Lab and Pit mix, Mo. When not chasing dogs around the backyard and tackling the daily duties of mother-and-wife-hood, she enjoys watching horror movies, and reading and writing paranormal romance. Readers can visit Odessa’s website: odessablack.wordpress.com, and find her on Facebook.
http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/author...
https://odessablack.wordpress.com/
https://www.facebook.com/OdessaGilles...
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Never Been Bittenby Erica Ridley
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Amid the lore of 19th century England, even a woman of science isn’t immune to the charms of a wickedly handsome, dangerously sexy vampire…
The devilishly seductive, irresistibly rakish Mr. Macane is ravishing all the ladies of the ton—despite the fact that he is penniless, untitled—and believed to be a vampire. Hired to disprove such an absurd claim, the skeptical Miss Elspeth Ramsay does not expect to tremble in his presence—until the graze of his teeth on her neck ignites an appetite of her own, and she finds herself biting him back! Surely this sudden bloodlust can only mean danger for her family and her heart—or a love for eternity...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A slow smile curved his lips, gapping just long enough to flash a sliver of white teeth. Not fangs, Ellie told herself. Just teeth. As normal as hers. She took a deep breath and shivered as she inhaled the scent of cologne and clean linen.
Everything had an explanation. Macane was an accomplished rake, not a vampire. He happened to be brilliant at the art of illusion. With his absent cravat and his close-lipped smiles, he lent just the right touch of mystery and illicit adventure to woo the golden flock. Genius, actually. If she’d thought of it first, perhaps she’d be the celebrated Original of the ton, rather than the spinster who investigated frivolous claims for the rich.
She glanced up at him again. His mouth was no longer curved in a smile, but it was still wide and firm. The swooning ladies could keep their macabre fantasies. She’d much rather have that sensual mouth kissing her than biting her. If there weren’t such a crush of people . . .
As if they shared one mind, his next artful spin took them from the sparkling dance floor to a spot behind a hand-painted Chinese folding screen—which hid the entrance to the gardens. Before she could object (presuming she would have objected) Ellie was out the door and beneath the moonlit sky, still cradled in Macane’s arms.
A frisson of trepidation caused her to catch her breath. She stared up at him in a panic. Might he actually kiss her? As far as she could remember, no one had ever tried. No gentleman had ever noticed her long enough to think of it. And now—what if she did it wrong? What if she did it right? What would be expected of her then?
“You’re beautiful,” he murmured. “You dazzled me even as you tried to hide.”
Well, that was laying it on a bit thick. Ellie wasn’t ugly, but nor were artists dueling for the honor of painting her portrait. She was plain. Worse than plain: She was nondescript. Wracking her brain for an appropriate setdown to such ridiculous flattery, she narrowed her eyes at him . . . and nearly swooned at his expression.
He was sincere. Or if not, he gave a bloody good impression of it.
His eyes were rapt on her face, as if he had been searching for her all his life. His gaze had softened, making his features less harsh and more open. His arms cradled her gently, his hands splayed at the curve between waist and hips. He was being far more familiar than anyone of her acquaintance—far more familiar than any right-minded young lady should allow—but Ellie was so enamored by the idea of having entranced him that she couldn’t bring herself to pull away.
His lips parted. Hers did too, mostly because she was having trouble remembering to breathe. Her lips suddenly felt too dry. She edged out the tip of her tongue to lick them and gasped when his hold tightened painfully. She felt strangely powerful, as if she truly were beautiful.
He lowered his face to hers. His eyes were no longer the crystal green of the sea, but rather a shimmering black. Rather than try to process the transformation, Ellie cleared her mind and let her own eyes flutter closed. She was going to be kissed for the first time. And she was going to enjoy it. Her brow creased when the delicious pressure of his parted lips brushed the base of her throat rather than her waiting mouth. The sharp edge of bared teeth grazed the tender skin at the curve of her neck. He wasn’t going to kiss her—he was going to bite her! Instinct forced her to react at lightning speed. But instead of shoving him away as she could’ve sworn she had instructed her limbs to do, Ellie returned the favor and sank her own teeth into his cravat-free neck.
Mutual shock held them immobile for an interminable moment. Realizing the ignominy of what she’d just done, Ellie pulled away in horror before he could thrust her from him bodily. To label him thunderstruck would be the understatement of the century.
He touched his neck with the tip of a finger. The pad of his white glove came away pink with blood.
“Good Lord,” he growled, his expression fierce. “Did you just bite me?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New York Times bestselling author Erica Ridley learned to read when she was four, which was about the same time she decided to be a writer when she grew up. Now, Erica writes Regency-set historical romances. Since becoming active in the writing community, all of her manuscripts have finaled in or won various RWA chapter contests. Erica is also the webmistress of her local writing chapter. When not reading or writing romances, Erica can be found riding camels in Africa, zip-lining through rainforests in Costa Rica, or getting hopelessly lost in the middle of Budapest. Readers can visit her website at ericaridley.com.
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Wicked Burn
by Rebecca Zanetti
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Simone Brightston knows she can beat the rap her enemies are pinning on her. An Irish witch is nobody's fool, and she didn't get to her position on the high council without serious power. But her cousins want her to hide out—and they somehow convinced her arch nemesis to play getaway driver.
Of all the men she's known, Nikolaj Veis is the hardest to intimidate. With his demon-dark eyes and his inscrutable beauty, he's as desirable as he is dangerous. And he knows better than to underestimate Simone. So when he pulls up on a roaring bike and tells her to climb on or fight it out, she grabs a handful of jacket and holds on tight. Running from the law may not be the smartest plan. But when it comes to Nick, hot pursuit and a blazing fast ride are exactly what Simone's looking for .
The helicopter maneuvered gracefully through the buildings, keeping above him, tracking easily.
Honking cars and screeching brakes pierced the day behind him as the SUVs kept pace.
“Pull over,” Simone hissed into his ear. “We can’t outrun them.” No, but perhaps they could get to safety of a sort. Even the Guard wouldn’t risk a full immortal fight with human witnesses. So he kept driving, avoiding a wreck, knowing full well the risk he took. The skyscrapers turned to three-story buildings. Then homes. Finally, trees began lining both sides of the road and filling the air with the scent of pine.
“Where are you going?” Simone whispered against his ear, her breath hot.
A shiver wound through his body to his groin. Jesus. He was about to take on a cadre of witches, and his cock wanted to play? Simone Brightston had always destroyed his system. It was a relief to know that she still could. In his darkest moments, he’d wondered whether he’d ever find his way back to warmth. “I have a cabin prepared for you.” At least then, they’d have a chance. The roar of pipes echoed through the trees, and within seconds, men on careening Harleys and dirt bikes surrounded them. Nick hunched over the bike. “Hold on,” he yelled.
Her thighs tightened on his, and she slipped both arms around his waist to hug tight.
Two men moved in on either side of them, and he smelled shifter. What the hell? Turning, he eyed the closest threat. Lucas Bryant? A grizzly bear lieutenant? What the fuck?
Lucas narrowed his dark eyes and jerked his head toward the rider on the other side.
Nick glanced the other way to see another man draw a gun from his jeans. The shifter smiled.
Nick shook his head.
The shifter lowered the gun toward Nick’s front tire. Damn it. Nick leaned to the left and kicked out with his right leg, hitting the guy in the ribs. The male’s eyes widened, and he flew off his bike with an animalistic bellow, his bike dropping and spinning around in his wake.
Nick yanked to the side, swerved to avoid the shifter’s head, and drove straight into the forest.
Simone screamed and tucked her face against his neck, her hold tightening until his ribs protested.
Branches whipped into them, and the bike skidded on wet pine needles. Instinct guided him as much as his enhanced senses, but he didn’t know these woods. The bear shifters careening through the trees in his wake certainly did.
His only hope was to outrun them and find shelter. The Guard’s helicopter was visible through the treetops, but at least he’d lost the SUVs.
The bike hit a patch of tree roots and shot up in the air. He held tight and corrected when they came down, jerking the handlebars before opening the throttle again. The trees thickened, providing cover but less visibility.
“Where are you going?” Simone yelled into his neck.
There were more weapons at his cabin, if he could just outrun the shifters. He turned right, barely missing a sapling, and then snapped around another tree. Branches scraped his cheek, and his left eye watered, so he used his right.
Lucas Bryant flew out of a bunch of cottonwoods, his bike in the air and his gun already firing.
Nick tried to jerk away, but a bullet sliced into his front tire. The explosion was deafening.
Panic swept him. They pitched into the air. He turned, enfolded Simone, and wrapped himself around her as much as possible, protecting her head with his arms. They flew through the forest, hitting trees and branches.
Pain exploded through his back.
His head impacted with a tree, and stars flashed behind his closed lids.
Something shattered in his shoulder a second before agony ripped through his neck. Simone’s screams echoed in his head, gravity took over, and his skull cracked.
Unconsciousness took him before he felt the ground.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Rebecca Zanetti has worked as an art curator, Senate aide, lawyer, college professor, and a hearing examiner - only to culminate it all in stories about Alpha males and the women who claim them. She writes contemporary romances, dark paranormal romances, and romantic suspense novels.
Growing up amid the glorious backdrops and winter wonderlands of the Pacific Northwest has given Rebecca fantastic scenery and adventures to weave into her stories. She resides in the wild north with her husband, children, and extended family who inspire her every day—or at the very least give her plenty of characters to write about.
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Reckoning
by Sonya Weiss
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Great Extinction, the prophesied war between the humans and the Supernaturals, has begun.
Born a Supernatural, Juliet Sawyer has the ability to save the world from disaster. But after barely escaping the underground, power-sucking prison known as the Void, she finds herself on the brink of death and in the middle of a vengeful war. To survive, she’ll have to make a deal with her human captors. But the stakes are raised when she learns the government is holding her sister hostage. To rescue her, Juliet must become a weapon for humanity, fighting against her own kind—including Riley West, the boy she fell deeply in love with—and by whom she was abandoned.
Forced to desert Juliet, Riley is on a mission to capture the human’s president and bring her to the Supernatural’s king. But if he fails, there will be no stopping the Night of Grief, which will unleash horrors capable of destroying humans and Supernaturals alike. With battle lines drawn, amid a flurry of secrets and betrayals, can Juliet and Riley rescue their love as well as all life on Earth? Or will someone get caught in the crossfire?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’d forgotten the execution of revenge always brings a reckoning. Revenge was the reason for my predicament. I’d told myself I was following my destiny to save the humans, but that was a lie. In truth, I’d wanted to get even with the leaders of our world for murdering my father.
I choked back a sob as I fought the despair threatening to overwhelm me. I needed to save my little sister, Maisy, but I was trapped, unable to get to her. She and the other mixed-blood children with her depended on me to protect them from the humans and the Supernaturals and instead I was deep in the bowels of the Void. It was a triple D place to be. Dark. Dank. Dangerous.
The cold, dark, stone walls of this Supernatural prison were designed to absorb our power. Robbed of our abilities, we were as weak as the humans.
Careful to avoid the loose rocks dotting the ground all around me, I struggled to my feet, worry over my sister’s safety driving me to move my aching body. Shut down the fear. Shut down the pain. Do whatever it takes to get out.
A noise to the left caught my ear.
Riley moved haltingly toward me. Even in blue jeans and a T-shirt, his royal bearing was unmistakable. He drew his arm tight against his body as he favored his ribs. Failure and guilt struck again, smacking me in the face. He’d had to save me and I hated that. Hated leaning on him when I knew what I would be called on to do to him. Falling in love with Riley wasn’t logical, but when does the heart ever listen to logic? It simply looks into the eyes of the other person, into their soul, and falls. The idea that once he knew my secret he might not ever forgive me, much less love me back, chilled me to the bone. Could I handle seeing the love disappear from his eyes?
The tip of his black Converse caught on a rock and he pitched forward, throwing his hands out to catch himself. The muscles in his arms flexed and he rested his forehead against the wall for a second, shaking his head as if dazed, which I didn’t doubt he was. The fall into the opening from the castle above us was a neck breaker. We’d been lucky to live through it.
Riley had risked his life and given up his freedom for me. By jumping into the Void with me in his arms, he’d found a way to stop my own power from killing me.
I made a sound that was half laugh, half sob as a conversation with my late father popped into my thoughts. Use your power for good. Remember your purpose, Juliet.
Sure, Dad, but what good is having power when it comes with a nasty side effect like death? I didn’t have an autonomic fail-safe to govern the temperature of my power like all the other Supernaturals did. Every time I used my power, I risked being barbecued from the inside out. When my last manmade fail-safe blew, I’d almost died and Riley had saved me then too.
I blinked back tears and smiled when Riley reached me. Putting my hand on his side, I checked the area he’d favored, and my hand trembled as I remembered the intimacies we’d shared.
“I’m okay,” he said. I knew the words for the lie they were. He was far from okay physically and emotionally. His handsome face was covered in bruises, his skin scraped raw in places. Wounds caused when his own father had tried to kill him. Riley reached for my hand, faking a smile. Even in his battered state, he was still incredibly hold-my-breath hot, making me forget everything I wanted to say at that moment.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sonya Weiss is a freelance writer, ghostwriter, and author, including the Stealing the Heart series with Entangled Publishing. She's addicted to great books, good movies, and Italian chocolates. She's passionate about causes that support abused animals and children. Her parents always supported her bringing stray animals home, although the Great Dane rescue was a surprise. Visit her site at sonyaweiss.com, find her on Facebook at facebook.com/AuthorSonyaWeiss and follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/sonyaweiss.
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