L.M. Nelson's Blog, page 16
March 24, 2018
Free Radio Promo!
Hi veryone!
I would like to let you know about a radio show that promotes authors for free. There are two shows, one for Texas Authors (DEAR Texas Radio) and one for authors around the world (Indie Beacon Radio). These are great ways to help spread the word about you and your books!
[image error]
Plus, for a limited time, they are giving away opportunities for you to win a commercial spot on their radio show heard around the world. Here is the link to check out the contest and enter: https://txauthors.com/index.php/pages/radio-contest
I hope you enter so you can get signed up for a radio show or win a commercial spot. Don’t forget to mention me (L.M. Nelson) as the referral.
Good luck.
Author Spotlight – Forest Wells
Author Spotlight
This week’s spotlight is on Forest Wells. Forest Wells is an author with a deep passion for[image error] all things wild canine. He has authored a short story, as well as several poems, all published in the Wolf Warriors anthologies since 2015. He currently lives in his home town of Thermal, California.
Here are links to the Wolf Warriors anthologies.
Wolf Warriors 2 – The Line
Binlit, an old war hero, marches into battle against a group of bullies. When he gets there, he finds a werewolf as their target, and a situation that becomes far more complicated than he expected.
Wolf Warriors 3, Winter Wolves – Winters Dance
Wolf Warriors 4, Wolves of Light and Darkness – Light and Shadow Within
Forest is currently putting together the final touches on a YA novel is called Luna, The Lone Wolf. Here’s the synopsis:
Luna was destined to be alpha once he became an adult, but before he got the chance, his own brother, Rajor, framed him for a crime no one committed, leading to Luna being banished from the pack. Declared a lone wolf, never to know the company of another wolf, Luna turns bitter as he learns to accept his new fate. Yet even as he does, other wolves, strange two-legged creatures, and one mockingbird, force themselves into his life, driving him through a gauntlet of trials where he must reconnect with the wolf he once was, or turn away from it forever – assuming he even survives.
Let’s take a look inside.
I returned to my den to find Estrella sniffing around it. I tilted my head, trying to understand why. When she saw me, she ruffed amusement and looked at the rock pile.
“Not too bad,” she said. “Although I somehow expected better. Seems like you could manage more than a cave inside a rock pile.”
My eyes rolled. Here we go again. “It keeps me warm and safe. I need little more from a den.”
“What about yourself? How little have you allowed there?”
“How little have I allowed? I’ve had to fight for every scrap I can find, alone. I’d hardly say I’ve allowed or not allowed anything.”
“Yet you continue to live alone. Don’t you get lonely out here?”
A great sigh was followed by a greater growl. What a stupid question. Of course I was lonely, that’s the whole point of being a lone wolf. No pack, no family, no anyone. Just you, your fangs, your kills, and there is no way to change, or overcome it.
The pain of that fact kept me from looking at her, as did my failing hold on my temper. Both mixed to make it near impossible to find anything to say in response. I searched the dimming sky for the moon, hoping, praying there’d be enough to brighten my hackles tonight. After the day I’d had, I needed something to relax me.
Estrella stepped up to my side, and gave me a short nuzzle. “That bad huh? I understand. You’ve been alone for three years. It’s natural to feel lonely. It hurts when you’re thrust from every one you love.”
“Silence!” I snapped, reaching my limit. “You think you know me? You think you understand what I’ve been through? My own father drove me away when I was just a pup. My pack has disowned me. Every pack in sprinting distance knows who I am, and shuns me for it. You don’t know me. You never can.”
Estrella started to growl, then she swallowed it, although she couldn’t stop her ears from coming forward, matching my challenge. “Because you won’t let me. I don’t care what others think. I’m here for you.”
“I don’t want you! I don’t want anyone. I’ve lived well on my own, and I intend to stay that way. It hurts a lot less.”
When Estrella tried to growl again, I didn’t let it take root. I pinned her to the ground with a snarl until she wined surrender. I remained over her still growling, making sure she knew not to speak again.
“Go home, Estrella. Go back to that whelp. Go back to a pack that still cares for you.”
After I stepped off, Estrella remained on her side, pleading with her eyes. “Luna. Don’t be like this. Don’t push me away.”
For a second, I considered it. I thought about giving her another chance. I couldn’t make it feel right. I’d made my choice. “You made a promise. I now ask that you honor it. Get moving. Don’t let me catch you in my territory again.”
I walked away, not bothering to look back. I knew I’d find pain there, not just hers either. I went all the way inside my den, refusing to see anything. I laid inside, staring at the empty entrance, and the anger melted away.
I’d done it again. I had driven away another wolf. I didn’t need to see her to know Estrella was crying. Perhaps she felt as alone as I did. Part of me didn’t care. The rest wished I didn’t feel at all.
But I did. I could feel the void of where she’d been. The joy of where the hunt had been, now replaced by the usual pain. I was alone again, as I knew I’d always be. As the pain churned in my chest, my head lifted in a long, low howl, as if I might somehow expend it through my voice. The deep tone echoed among the rocks, ringing in my ears, and piercing into my heart. The expression helped, but it also reminded me of that which drove it.
(artwork by https://chickenbusiness.deviantart.com/)
For more information about Forest, visit forestwells.com or connect with him on Twitter and Facebook.
March 22, 2018
How To Create Tension In Stories
[image error]
March 20, 2018
Spring is in the Air
Spring is my favorite season, mainly because I love flowers and gardening. I grow vegetables, herbs, and have many kinds of flowers in my yard. In Texas, the wildflowers start to bloom.
[image error]
[image error]
The Mountain Laurel’s purple blossoms and the Texas Redbud’s pretty pink buds decorate the landscape.
[image error]
[image error]
My own garden flourishes with roses, irises, daisies, marigolds, and other colorful flowers.
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
Gladiolus, tulips, daffodils, and lillies start to pop out of the ground, and my vegetables begin to sprout. Bushes bud, fragrant herbs grow, and the grass turns green. Crepe Myrtles sprout leaves and begin to flower. Spring is a beautiful time of year when nature comes back to life.
Happy spring, everyone! 
March 19, 2018
March 18, 2018
Author Spotlight – TJ Green
Author Spotlight
Welcome back to another episode of Author Spotlight. Today, I’d like to introduce you to TJ Green.
TJ Green was born in England, but moved to New Zealand 10 years ago. She currently lives near Wellington with her partner and her cats, Sacha and Leia. When not writing, she does lots of reading, gardening and yoga.
In a previous life she’s been a singer in a band, and has done some acting with a theatre company – both of which were lots of fun. On occasions she and a few friends make short films, which begs the question, where are the book trailers? Thinking on it …
Tom’s Inheritance is T J Green’s first book in the series Tom’s Arthurian Legacy, the sequel Twice Born was released in February 2017. Galatine’s Curse, book 3, will be released in March 2018. She is also working on a few short stories which further expand the world of Tom in the Other.
Other projects include a book set in the real world – whatever that is – but there will be unusual things happening.
Let’s take a look at her book, Galatine’s Curse – Book 3 in Tom’s Arthurian Legacy series.
Galatine’s Curse is a YA Arthurian Fantasy set for release March 20th, 2018[image error]
Here’s the blurb:
An ancient sword. A dark secret. A new enemy.
Tom and Arthur are living at New Camelot, and Arthur is hosting a tournament. Eager to test his new sword-fighting skills, Tom is competing, but while the games are being played, someone attacks their friends. Before anyone else gets hurt, Tom needs to find them.
Tom’s sword, Galatine, seems to be the focus of these attacks. Their investigations uncover Galatine’s dark history, and a family secret that reaches into the present. Tom has to act quickly if he is to prevent another tragedy.
Galatine’s Curse is the exciting third book in the series Tom’s Arthurian Legacy – stories about Tom’s adventures with King Arthur. If you enjoy magic, mystery, dragons, mythical creatures and ancient gods, you’ll love TJ Green’s re-imagining of the Arthurian legend.
Excerpt:
Deep in the tangled centre of Inglewood, Tom eased his horse to a stop. In the silence that followed he listened for movement – the crack of a branch, the rustle of leaves, the skitter of footfall. Thick mist oozed around him, muffling sight and sound, and he admitted to himself he’d lost the hunt.
And now something was following him.
Tom heard the low throaty growl of the wolf moments before it leapt at him. He pulled Galatine free of its scabbard and lashed out, knowing he had only seconds before the wolf ripped his throat out. He felt its hot breath and thick matted fur, saw a flash of its wild yellow eyes, before feeling the sword cut deep into its side. It fell back into the trees, yelping.
Midnight bolted, and Tom grabbed the reins and held on, trying to calm her down. As they pounded through the wood, a branch whipped across his chest, knocking him to the ground. Midnight disappeared into the mist. Winded, Tom lay on the damp forest floor, wincing as he felt his ribs aching. He hoped Midnight hadn’t gone far. Enisled was a long walk away.
He rolled to his feet and immediately froze as he again heard the low cunning rumble of the wolf, followed by a spine-tingling howl, repeated again and again as the pack arrived.
He was surrounded.
Pre-order available now on Amazon.
TJ is also hosting a giveaway at Rafflecopter.
[image error]
You can connect with TJ through her Website, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Goodreads, her Amazon Author Page, or email her at tjgreennz@gmail.com
March 17, 2018
Author Spotlight – Jet Lupin
Author Spotlight
Welcome to another week of Author Spotlight! Today’s spotlight is on Jet Lupin.
[image error]
Stories longing to have words put to them were in Jet’s heart from an early age. Jet enjoys exploring the connections and similarities between people, whether they be shifters, vampires, or aliens, rendering the unknowable very knowable indeed.
Jet’s days are spent toiling away at a keyboard, slumped over a pen and paper hunting for those words, or playing around on Twitter with a partner and two rambunctious cats for company in the temperamental North East of the US.
Let’s take a look at his book, Nasu
Go to work. Come home. Repeat. Simple, uncomplicated, boring, but it was Phil’s love, [image error]and he liked it that way. So what if he sometimes woke up with an ache in his chest that wouldn’t go away because his ex broke up with him over cereal? He was a big boy. He moved on because he had to. But nosey friends and fate won’t let him be.
One night, when he’s forced to have fun, he meets Shige, who’s far too enigmatic to really be interested in him. There must be some catch…
50 years have passed outside while Shige’s kept himself locked away, tired of the worlds of humans and vampires. He just wanted to be left alone to collect dust. But all that changed when he ventured out on a whim and meets Phil, setting them on an arduous path that will change them both.
This love won’t be easy for either of them, rife with distrust and danger from without and within, but if they survive, they might be stronger for it
Here’s a peek inside:
He dispatched every man he came across, leaving them dead or gravely injured in his wake. He took out everyone outside before he found a way inside the house itself.
Shige lost track of how many of Pampa’s men he’d cut down before they subdued him. They broke his arm in the take down, but not before he’d disabled another man. He would heal, but not in time to be useful to Pampa in the coming hours.
They dragged him into a room filled with the overpowering odors of blood and sex. Shige’s hatred dampened the allure of such a place, but didn’t kill it completely. The number of times he’d hated what he was could be counted on one hand; most of them had happened in the last month.
The largest of Pampa’s units, a man about Phil’s height and build, forced him to his knees before a gilded chair, cartoonish in its idea of finery, where Pampa sat. He narrowed his eyes, looking down at Shige.
“You should have come to the door like a civilized person. You should have come here as a guest.”
“I’m not here for games.”
“You used to like my games.” Pampa beckoned one of his men closer. “How many of you did he take out?”
“Seven dead. Four wounded, sinchi.”
“And how many were sent after him?”
“Fifteen.”
“Fifteen of you, and he took out more than half. Disgraceful.” He turned his gaze back on Shige. “My resources were limited as it is, and you do this.”
“I did not come here to have you bore me to death.” Shige clenched his teeth. He wanted to tear Pampa’s throat out, but if he did that, he’d never see Phil again. He needed to cool his head.
“No. You came because I took something of yours.” Pampa nodded to one of his men who disappeared. “I was afraid you’d grown toothless in your old age. The Shige I knew was something to be feared. After the way you shredded those fools, I’m glad to see you’ve still got your fangs.”
Shige bit down on his anger. He wouldn’t give Pampa the satisfaction of a response.
“You can’t tell me you don’t miss it. The power, the veneration? We were gods. Why would you want to go back to being like them?”
Pampa had never let go of those days. The ruins of it were all around them, the cavernous corpse of some great beast he hoped to one day resurrect. The humans in his territory had been terrified, preyed upon by an unseen force without knowing why. He’d do the same to Shige’s territory too if he wasn’t stopped. Shige should have killed him when he had the chance.
He continued to give Pampa nothing, keeping his thoughts his own. No sense in encouraging him to monologue when Shige already guessed his thoughts.
The door opened and several more of Pampa’s men filed in. Phil was between them.
Shige tried to rise and go to Phil, but the man holding him twisted his arms, renewing the break. He gritted through the pain. His injuries weren’t important.
Phil looked unhurt where they made him sit at Pampa’s feet. His eyes were wide and a fine tremble moved through him.
“Shige! Your arm…”
“Are you alright? Has he hurt you?”
Pampa chuckled, watching them with a broad, false smile. “This is all very touching.”
“You have me here. Let him go.”
“I will when I’m done with him.”
What more did he want? Shige was here; Pampa had won.
“What do you want?”
“To talk. Why did you abandon your nature? Why did you leave?” Then, Pampa’s dark eyes lit up as if he’d found the answer on his own.
“It’s because of the boy, isn’t it?”
Hate and surprised roared to life in Shige’s gut. He tried to keep his face impassive, but something slipped through.
A greasy grin slit Pampa’s face ear to ear. He passed his fingers into Phil’s hair with a familiarity he hadn’t earned. Phil looked ill from the unfamiliar touch. “Let me tell you a story about our mutual friend here.”
“A long time ago, he was just like me. We were comrades. He accepted his place was at the top of the food chain, and he reveled in it. For years, we took what we wanted, made sure humans, like you, knew their purpose. Then one day, he was gone. Poof. No explanation. Nothing. What happened was he came to understand his own greatness as a force of nature, and it scared him.
“You see, we had a party some years ago, as we always did. Shige woke up the next day to a number of bodies in his room, which wasn’t unusual. But among those discards was a child. A boy.” Pampa shrugged. “I sent him as a gift. A delicacy. Apparently, Shige didn’t appreciate it.”
Shige’s stomach constricted as he listened, his gaze locked on Pampa. He was too afraid to look at Phil, too afraid of finally being seen for what he was. That had been Shige once, drunk on his own power, leaving crimson footprints wherever he went with no regard for the lives he ended. He was chaos. An avatar of Amatsu-Mikaboshi. Had he kept the company of Pampa and those like him, he still would be. There was no point in trying to explain how he’d been so drunk that he hadn’t known. Only then did he realize he was out of control, that that wasn’t who he wanted to be. Pampa wouldn’t understand and Phil… Shige never meant for him to know this.
Phil slid away from Pampa’s hand, though, the guards made sure he didn’t get far. He tucked his hands under his arms, holding himself out of Pampa’s reach.
“He’s nothing like you.”
His conviction took Shige’s breath. Did he realize what he was saying?
Pampa laughed so loud and hard his belly shook. “You’re right. We’re nothing alike. I’m not a wolf masquerading as a sheep. I take what I want. I know what I deserve.” He snapped his fingers, and Phil was made to kneel the same way Shige was. Pampa rose from his throne and embraced Phil from behind. The nurse went rigid as Pampa’s thick fingers tugged at the neck of his shirt.
Shige thrashed against his jailer, his arm singing with pain. “Let him go, Pampa.”
“It’s sad, that you’ve forgotten yourself—your truest self. But I‘ll remind you.” Pampa’s men held Phil’s arms out at his sides, keeping him from struggling. Shige couldn’t bear to answer the question in his eyes. His heart hammered in his chest, full and aching.
“Don’t do it, Pampa.” He knew that if that had been an option, Pampa would have offered it. No, the sack of shit had worse things in mind. Shige knew it, but he didn’t want it to be true.
Shige groped about for the words to make this easier though he knew very well there was way this could ever be easy or right. He tried to hold Phil’s gaze with his. “It’s OK.” Not once in his life had he endeavored to comfort another. This was all far from OK, but he had nothing else he could give Phil. “You can get through this. You’re strong. Just keep your eyes on me.”
Pampa ate all this up. Enmity turned Shige’s insides to cinders. He cursed Pampa. He cursed his own inability to stop this from happening. That burned him most of all.
Pampa held Shige’s gaze as he grabbed Phil’s jaw, wrenching his head to the side. Watching this all felt revoltingly pornographic, but Shige didn’t dare look away. This was the result of his error, his sin.
Nasu is available on Amazon: ebook and paperback
You can connect with Jet though his website, Facebook, Twitter, or Goodreads.
March 15, 2018
12 Habits of Highly Productive Writers
[image error]
March 14, 2018
Writing Is An Exploration
[image error]
March 12, 2018
The Weird Side of Writers
Sometimes, it’s more than just the outstanding works of famous writers that make us talk about them. It’s also their strange habits that capture people’s attention.
Infographic courtesy of custom-writing.org.
[image error]
