C.A. Milson's Blog, page 203
November 9, 2015
Book Promo – “The Soul Thief”
About the Book
Title: The Soul Thief (Angel of Death Series #1)
Author: Majanka Verstraete
Genre: YA Fantasy / Paranormal
When sixteen-year-old Riley is injured in a car crash and sees a girl stealing a boy’s soul, she’s convinced she’s hallucinating. But when she sees the same girl at the hospital later, she knows she wasn’t dreaming. That’s when Riley learns her secret heritage and who she really is: a halfling Angel of Death.
Riley must come to terms with her new reality and supernatural abilities, but before she can do this, girls her age start dying in mysterious circumstances. It’s up to Riley to figure out why, what the innocent victims have in common, and what she can do to stop them from dying.
Author Bio
Majanka Verstraete begged her Mom to teach her how to read while she was still in kindergarten. By the time she finished fifth grade, she had read through the entire children’s section of her hometown library. She wrote her first story when she was seven years old, and hasn’t stopped writing since. With an imagination that never sleeps, and hundreds of possible book characters screaming for her attention, writing is more than a passion for her. She writes about all things supernatural for children of all ages. She’s tried to write contemporary novels before, but something paranormal always manages to crawl in. Majanka is currently studying for her Master of Laws degree, and hopes one day to be able to combine her passions for law and writing. When she’s not writing, reading or studying, she likes watching “The Vampire Diaries” and “Game of Thrones,” spending time with her friends, or playing “World of Warcraft.”
You can find her on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/iheartreads
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Majanka-Verstraete-398570476832115/
Get The Soul Thief for FREE on Amazon
Filed under: Guest Authors Tagged: #iheartreads, Enchanted book promotions, Majanka Verstraete, The Soul Thief
November 8, 2015
Interview With … Piers Platt
We’re thrilled to be hosting Piers Platt’s RATH’S DECEPTION blog tour today!
Title: Rath’s Deception
Author: Piers Platt
Publisher: Piers Platt
Pages: 350
Genre: Sci Fi/Thriller
On the cut-throat streets of Tarkis, orphaned teens like Rath end up jailed … or dead. So when the shadowy Janus Group offers Rath a chance to earn riches beyond his wildest dreams, he seizes it. But the Janus Group is as ruthless as the elite assassins it controls. Rath will have to survive their grueling, off-world training, and fulfill all fifty kills in his contract before a single cent comes his way. And ending so many lives comes with a price Rath can’t anticipate. It’ll certainly cost him what’s left of his innocence. It may well cost him his life.
For More Information
Rath’s Deception is available at Amazon.
Discuss this book at PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads.
Book Excerpt:
A light flickered on the edge of Rath’s peripheral vision: his internal heads-up display had an incoming message.
Rath felt a bead of sweat form at his brow. He smiled at another group of guests and offered them his tray of canapés, simultaneously advancing through screens in his heads-up display to find a photo of Sorgens in order to identify him.
Okay, got it.
“We’re all done, thanks,” one of the guests told him.
“Of course,” Rath said. “Sorry.”
Guess I lingered a little longer than a normal server would have. He stepped away from the group, spinning slowly in place as if planning which group he would approach next. There’s Sorgens – far side of the room.
Rath stopped at three other groups of party-goers, working his way around the outside of the room in a looping curve, careful to avoid heading directly for the Deputy Ambassador. As he left the third group, he rearranged the napkins on his tray, as if straightening them, and surreptitiously jabbed one of the canapés with a tiny hypodermic needle, before slipping the needle back into his sleeve. Then he turned and headed for the Deputy Ambassador, but a security guard cut in front of him. Rath changed direction smoothly and headed for a different group, but he kept Sorgens in his line of sight. The security guard was leaning in close to Sorgens, covering his mouth to whisper in his ear. Rath dialed up his audio implants.
“… credible threat. Intelligence is rated ‘High Reliability,’ so we’re taking it very seriously,” Rath heard the man say. The Deputy Ambassador blanched, his face turning nearly as white as his tuxedo shirt. “I’d like to get you out of here right now, sir.”
Sorgens turned to the other guests, and made his apologies. “I’m sorry – I’m afraid duty calls, there’s an urgent message that needs my attention.” He headed toward the room’s exit, closely followed by the guard.
Want a snack before you go? Rath thought, chagrined. He broke away from the group he was serving and walked briskly toward the kitchen, which was in the same direction Sorgens was headed.
Let’s hope the kitchen has another exit close to wherever Sorgens is headed.
Rath ducked inside – to his relief, he saw an exit at the far side of the crowded room. He dumped his tray into the first trash can he saw and elbowed through the servers and cooks, heading for the door.
“Hey, watch it, asshole!” a busboy protested, spilling several plates onto a steel countertop.
Rath ignored him and continued toward the back of the room, pushing through the swinging door. Sorgens was just disappearing through a side door halfway down the corridor, while the guard positioned himself outside the door. That looks like a restroom. Rath walked toward the guard, who was watching his approach closely, hands behind his back.
Probably got a pistol in a belt holster back there, Rath decided. So much for the frontal assault.
Instead he took a sharp right turn down a side corridor, disappearing from the guard’s view. Mechanical plates implanted within his face shifted, obeying Rath’s commands, while his hair greyed, and his skin tone lightened. In the space of three seconds, he looked exactly like his original target. He turned on his heel, and stepped back out into the main corridor, looking both ways before appearing to notice the guard.
“You,” Rath pointed at the man, “have you seen my deputy around here?”
“Sir?” the guard asked, confused. “Oh, yes, Mr. Ambassador: Deputy Ambassador Sorgens is right in here.”
“Ah, excellent,” Rath said, walking up. He was at least two inches shorter and thirty pounds lighter than the real ambassador, but people were slow to notice body type differences – if the face and hair matched, such discrepancies were usually dismissed. Rath’s voice matched the Ambassador’s as well. As ever, hearing another man’s computer-generated voice from his own lips made Rath’s skin crawl. “Let me just have a word, and then you can get him out of here,” Rath told the guard.
“Of course, sir,” the guard said, holding the door open for him.
Rath let the door close behind him, then strode over toward Sorgens, who was standing at a urinal along the wall. Sorgens looked up and saw Rath.
“You heard about the threat?” Sorgens asked.
“I did,” Rath replied. “Glad to see you’re on your way out of here.” He called up the targeting module in his heads-up display, and slipped a pen out of his pocket. The implement was known as a ballistic pen, built out of reinforced titanium for use as a close-quarters weapon, and modified by Rath to include a nerve toxin coating, for a faster kill. As Sorgens zipped himself up, Rath’s eye implant overlaid an anatomical model on his image, matching it to fit his size and body orientation relative to Rath, highlighting his bone structure and major organs. Sorgens turned away from the wall, and Rath stepped forward, putting his full body momentum behind the thrust. The pen punched between two ribs, directly into the highlighted outline of Sorgens’ heart, while Rath covered Sorgens’ mouth with his other hand, stifling his shocked gasp of pain. Rath left the pen embedded to minimize the bleeding, and, still covering Sorgens’ mouth, he grabbed him under the arm and dragged him silently across the room into one of the toilet stalls. He propped the dying man on top of the toilet, pulled the door shut behind him, and walked over to the sink, where the ambassador’s reflection stared back at him.
Need to wash this blood off my hands. But my guess is that guard is supposed to escort Sorgens out of the building, so it’ll be an easier exit if I pose as him.
“Everything okay, sir?” The security guard was pushing open the door.
Rath reacted instinctively, and bent over the sink, splashing his face with water as he shifted his hair and face to match Sorgens’. He stood up and reached blindly for the paper towels, and dabbed at his face as he completed the transformation. When he opened his eyes, the guard was eying him in the mirror.
“Ready to go, sir?” the man asked.
“Yes – let’s get going,” Rath told him. The guard glanced at the closed stall door and Rath tensed himself in readiness, but the man simply turned and walked back out into the hall, checking in both directions before motioning for Rath to follow. That was close, Rath thought, falling into step as they headed off down the hallway. He’s going to be pissed when he finds out he personally escorted the killer out of the building.
About the Author
Piers Platt is the New York Times bestselling author of “Combat and Other Shenanigans,” a memoir of his year-long deployment to Iraq as a tank and scout platoon leader. Piers grew up in Boston, but spent most of his childhood in various boarding schools, including getting trained as a classical singer at a choir school for boys. He joined the Army in 2002, and spent four years on active duty.
When he’s not writing or spending time with his lovely wife and daughter, Piers works as a strategy consultant in New York city.
His latest book is the sci fi/thriller, Rath’s Deception.
For More Information
Visit Piers Platt’s website.
Connect with Piers on Facebook and Twitter.
Find out more about Piers at Goodreads.
INTERVIEW
Thanks for being here today. Tell us about you
I’m kind of tricky to pigeonhole. I was a boy chorister – the red robes, daily church services, the whole thing. But I’m also a combat veteran, who led tank and scout platoons in Iraq. I love to scuba dive with my wife, and spend time with my 4-year-old daughter. And I write!
What inspires you to get out of bed each day?
The goal of being a full-time writer. After serving in Iraq for a year, I’m just happy to be home in one piece, and with a wonderful family and a decent job to boot. But the dream is to write full time, so that’s what I’m focused on.
If you could hang out with one famous person for one day, who would it be and why?
Hugh Howey. I’d bore the crap out of him with questions about his path to success. And he just bought a jaw-droppingly beautiful yacht, and I love to sail. Hugh: contact info below, hit me up.
What’s the story behind your latest book?
Rath’s Deception is based on a short story called Last Pursuit [available for free wherever ebooks are sold, here’s the Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Last-Pursuit-Piers-Platt-ebook/dp/B00JFXTW84/] that I wrote some time ago – Last Pursuit is the same concept / setting, it just focuses on a single mission for one assassin. Readers really enjoyed the story, but many said they wished it was longer…so I expanded it into a full book…and then a trilogy!
Tell us your writing process
I outline at a high level – definitely know the beginning and ending (I like twists and big climaxes), but I like to let my imagination fill in the details along the way. So I know the plot, but I let the characters develop organically. I have a 90 minute commute each morning and evening, so that’s when I write.
When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?
Age ten. Yeah, pretty early on! I was at summer camp, and I got bored canoeing around the lake, and had finished all of the books I brought with me to read. So I sat down under a tree and wrote a horror story about an alien that crash-landed in the lake and slowly picked off my fellow campers, one by one. I would finish a chapter, and give it to my friends to read…and by the end of the week, I had people begging me to kill them off next. That’s when I knew.
Tell us about your main character:
Rath is a street-smart kid who’s just trying to stay one step ahead of the cops. He’s fairly cynical, and can be quite impulsive…and he’s definitely a wise-ass. When the book begins, he’s just trying to scrape by, so when the Janus Group offers him a contract to be an assassin and possibly earn millions of dollars, they get his full attention. He also has a special talent that has nothing to do with killing, but I won’t spoil that for you…
What are you working on next?
Books 2 and 3! Actually, they’re already written – just doing final edits and getting them ready for publication later this year. I thought it was important to have the entire story arc completed before I released Book 1, so readers aren’t waiting around too long to see how it ends.
Do you have any special/extraordinary talents?
Singing. I wish I had time to sing nowadays, I really miss it. But back in the day, we were trained and sang at the professional level, and we used to learn 400 new pieces of music every year, so I’m a pretty good sight-reader – meaning I can generally sing anything I see on a sheet of music, without hearing it first.
Who are your favorite authors?
Orson Scott Card, Tom Clancy, Terry Pratchett, Piers Anthony, Robert Heinlein, Richard K. Morgan…I should probably stop, or I’ll just keep going!
What do you like to do with your free time?
What is this “free time” you speak of?! I spend as much time as I can with my daughter. We love to play wooden trains together, and read.
Tell us about your plans for upcoming books.
I’m toying around with Book 4 in the Janus Group series. I have some ideas, but I need to be sure there’s a compelling story to tell about Rath and his friends. Book 3 wraps things up rather nicely, so I’d have to “upset the apple cart” a bit to make it interesting.
Where can people find you on the web?
www.piersplatt.com – and go to http://www.piersplatt.com/newsletter to get a free copy of Combat and Other Shenanigans, my NY Times bestselling Iraq War memoir.
I’m also on Twitter: www.twitter.com/piersplatt
And Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Piers-Platts-Books/260070717516391?fref=ts
Any final thoughts?
Thanks for having me!
Filed under: Guest Authors Tagged: @piersplatt, author interview, Piers Platt, Pump Up Your Book, Rath's Deception, virtual book tour
November 5, 2015
Sacrifice Cover Reveal!
Title: Sacrifice
Author: Brigid Kemmerer
Publisher: Kensington Teen
Genre: YA Fantasy
Format: Ebook/Paperback
One misstep and they lose it all. For the last time.
Michael Merrick is used to pressure.
He’s the only parent his three brothers have had for years. His power to control Earth could kill someone if he miscalculates. Now an Elemental Guide has it out for his family, and he’s all that stands in the way.
His girlfriend, Hannah, gets that. She’s got a kid of her own, and a job as a firefighter that could end her life without a moment’s notice.
But there are people who have had enough of Michael’s defiance, his family’s “bad luck.” Before he knows it, Michael’s enemies have turned into the Merricks’ enemies, and they’re armed for war.
They’re not interested in surrender. But Michael isn’t the white flag type anyway. There will be blood on the ground tonight…
ORDER INFORMATION
Sacrifice is available for order at
Amazon
B&N
Kobo
GooglePlay
Add to Goodreads
About The Author
Brigid Kemmerer was born in Omaha, Nebraska, though her parents quickly moved her all over the United States, from the desert in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to the lakeside in Cleveland, Ohio, and several stops in between, eventually settling near Annapolis, Maryland. Brigid started writing in high school, and her first real “novel” was about four vampire brothers causing a ruckus in the suburbs. Those four brothers are the same boys living in the pages of The Elemental Series, so Brigid likes to say she’s had four teenage boys taking up space in her head for the last seventeen years. (Though sometimes that just makes her sound nuts.)
Brigid writes anywhere she can find a place to sit down (and she’s embarrassed to say a great many pages of The Elemental Series were written while sitting on the floor in the basement of a hotel while she was attending a writers’ conference). Most writers enjoy peace and quiet while writing, but Brigid prefers pandemonium. A good thing, considering she has three boys in the house, ranging in age from an infant to a teenager.
While writing STORM, it’s ironic to note that Brigid’s personal life was plagued by water problems: her basement flooded three times, her roof leaked, her kitchen faucet broke, causing the cabinet underneath to be destroyed by water, the wall in her son’s room had to be torn down because water had crept into the wall, and her bedroom wall recently developed a minor leak. Considering SPARK, book 2 in the series, is about the brother who controls fire, Brigid is currently making sure all the smoke detectors in her house have batteries.
Brigid loves hearing from people, and she probably won’t refer to herself in the third person like this if you actually correspond with her. She has a smartphone surgically attached to her person nearby at all times, and email is the best way to reach her. Her email address is brigidmary@gmail.com
Visit her at http://www.brigidkemmerer.com/
Brigid is giving away advanced and finished copies of the Elemental series, and original artwork!
Filed under: Guest Authors Tagged: @BrigidKemmerer, Brigid Kemmerer, Pump Up Your Book, Sacrifice
Book Tour – Murder At Redwood Cove
Title: Murder at Redwood Cove
Author: Janet Finsilver
Release Date: October 13, 2015
Publisher: Lyrical Underground
Genre: Mystery/Suspense
Format: Ebook/Paperback
Bed, breakfast…and a body!
If it weren’t for the fact that she’s replacing a dead man, Kelly Jackson would love her new job managing the Redwood Cove Bed and Breakfast on the coast of Northern California. But Bob Phillips did plunge off the cliff to his death…and Kelly’s starting to think it may not have been an accident. Bob’s retired friends—The “Silver Sentinels”—are also on the case, especially when Kelly is attacked…and another body turns up. Kelly has her hands full with overseeing the B&B’s annual Taste of Chocolate and Wine Festival, but she’s also closing in on the killer…who’s ready to send Kelly on her own permanent vacation…
ORDER INFORMATION
Murder at Redwood Cove is available for order at
Janet Finsilver and her husband reside in the San Francisco Bay Area. She worked in education for many years as a teacher, a program administrator, and a workshop presenter. Janet loves animals and has two dogs—Kylie and Ellie. She’s been involved in many activities during her life. Janet has ridden western style since she was a child and was a member of the National Ski Patrol. She’s traveled extensively. One of the highlights of her life was touching whales in the San Ignacio Lagoon. She enjoys cooking, and a recent attempt to reduce the number of cookbooks in the cupboard wasn’t very successful. She’s an avid reader—of course!
She’s currently working on the next book in her series scheduled for release in June 2016.
For More Information
Visit Janet’s website.
Filed under: Guest Authors Tagged: Janet Finsilver, Murder at Redwood Cove, Pump Up Your Book, PUYB
November 3, 2015
Book Tour – Lies Ripped Open
Lies Ripped Open
by Steve McHugh
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Over a hundred years have passed since a group of violent killers went on the rampage, murdering innocent victims for fun. But even back then, sorcerer Nate Garrett, aka Hellequin, knew there was more to it than simple savage pleasure—souls were being stolen.
Nate’s discovery of the souls’ use, and of those supporting the group’s plan, made him question everything he believed.
Now the group Nate thought long dead is back. Violent, angry, and hell-bent on revenge, they have Hellequin firmly in their sights. And if he won’t come willingly, they’ll take those closest to him first.
The battle begins again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Book Excerpt:
I walked over to the second agent, whose back was toward me as he stood a little further into the park, and placed my hand on his shoulder. “That’s enough,” I repeated, but he spun around and all of the breath left my body at once, followed immediately by pain as it exploded across my torso. I glanced down as a shimmering blade of ice was pulled free from my chest. It was covered in my blood. I dropped to my knees and watched as the magical weapon vanished from view. The pain forced me to abandon my night vision, and the darkness once again took control.
The overwhelming thought that bounced around my head was that neither of the SOA agents had been sorcerers. My attacker crouched beside me. “They interrupted me and my prey got away,” his accent was from East London, but sounded slightly different from many of those living in the city. As if he’d been away from here for a long time, and had not quite remembered how the accent was meant to sound.
I glanced up at him, still unable to breathe; the blade had punctured a lung. It wouldn’t kill me, but it would be a few hours until I was back to normal, and without my night vision I could have been staring into Merlin’s own face and I’d never have known.
The man got back to his feet and kicked me onto my back. “I should make sure you remember your time here, but I’m sure your comrades over there will be able to do that better than I could.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR BIO:
Steve’s been writing from an early age, his first completed story was done in an English lesson. Unfortunately, after the teacher read it, he had to have a chat with the head of the year about the violent content and bad language. The follow up ‘One boy and his frog’ was less concerning to his teachers and got him an A.
It wasn’t for another decade that he would start work on a full-length novel that was publishable, the results of which was the action-packed Urban Fantasy, Crimes Against Magic.
Steve McHugh lives in Southampton on the south coast of England with his wife and three young daughters. When not writing or spending time with his kids, he enjoys watching movies, reading books and comics, and playing video games.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hellequinchronicles
Twitter: https://twitter.com/StevejMchugh
Website: http://stevejmchugh.wordpress.com/
BUY LINKS: http://www.amazon.com/Lies-Ripped-Open-Hellequin-Chronicles/dp/1503946401/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1438180555&sr=8-1&keywords=Steve+McHugh
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lies-ripped-open-steve-mchugh/1121648543?ean=9781503946408
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY
Steve McHugh will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Enter to win a $25 Amazon/BN GC – a Rafflecopter giveaway
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author Interview
Steve, thanks for being here today. Tell us about you
I was born in 1979 in a town in South Yorkshire by the name of Mexborough, near Doncaster. My family and I moved down to Southampton when I was about 6ish and I’ve lived here ever since. Fast forward a lot of years and I’m married and we have three young daughters. Oh and a bearded dragon, can’t forget him.
What inspires you to get out of bed each day?
As I have 3 young children, I don’t really get a say in whether I want to get out of bed. They’re my alarm clock. Even if that clock is 2 hours before I’d like to get up.
Once I’m actually up though, I just love writing. I love creating stories, and having people read them. There’s nothing quite like it.
If you could hang out with one famous person for one day, who would it be and why?
I have no idea. Probably someone like Jackie Chan, simply because he’s done so much with his life he must have loads of interesting stories to tell. And I bet he’s great fun too.
What’s the story behind your latest book?
The story is that the main character, Nate Garrett, is forced to go back to the city of Camelot after some people try to kill him. Unfortunately, Camelot is where a lot of other people who want to kill him are. It’s the first time we really see what living in Camelot is like. It’s also the first time we see Merlin, and learn about exactly what happened between the two of them that caused such a massive rift.
Tell us your writing process
I usually think about the book for a few weeks before I even start writing, during which time I’m making notes about story arcs or characters. After a few weeks, I start to really make a lot of notes about the book, writing out story arcs, and fleshing out the story. About a month after I’ve started, I’ll sit down and start writing.
That’s not always the way, sometimes I think of something and it takes 6 months to ferment in my mind, sometimes only a week. But I always give it time to breathe before I start writing.
What advice can you give other authors on promoting their work?
There’s an awful lot of promoting that goes on, what works for those people who have already discovered you is Facebook and Twitter. It’s great for people to be able to contact you and say hi, or tell you how much they enjoyed the book.
For getting new people onboard, blog tours work well, but nothing comes close to word of mouth. The very best thing you can get is someone who likes your work and tells others about it. If you can harness that, let me know, because that would be great.
When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?
I always enjoyed writing, even as a very young boy. But when I was about 12 or 13 my English teacher at school advised me to read books from various genres that I didn’t normally read, so I went to the local library and picked up David Gemmell, Terry Pratchett and Stephen King. Once I finished them, I knew I wanted to do it myself.
Tell us about your main character:
Nate Garrett is a 1600 year old sorcerer, who used to work for Merlin and the shadowy organization known as Avalon. Just over a hundred years ago, he left and the books are about his life in the modern day as he begins to realize that some people are out there who want to take more of Avalon’s power for themselves.
What are you working on next?
I’m currently writing book 6, and then I’ve got an Epic Fantasy book I’d like to work on.
Do you have any special/extraordinary talents?
Writing books is pretty much my special talent. I’m good at videogames, and I’m a half-decent cook. Oh, and I have 3 daughters so I probably know more about My Little Pony than is strictly necessary.
Who are your favorite authors?
Robin Hobb, John Connolly, Terry Pratchett, Stephen King, David Gemmell, Warren Ellis, and far too many more to mention.
What do you like to do with your free time?
I spend time with my family, read, play videogames, and watch movies. I tend to like to do stuff that I find relaxing. Although spending time with the family can be anything but that.
Tell us about your plans for upcoming books.
Well, Lies Ripped Open came out on 25th August, and there’s nothing else upcoming just yet. I’ve got books to write before I have any idea what’s next.
Any final thoughts?
Thanks for having me, and if anyone decided to have a read of my book, I hope they enjoy it.
Filed under: Guest Authors Tagged: @StevejMchugh, author interview, book promo tips, Goddess Fish Promotions, Lies Ripped Open
November 2, 2015
Book Tour – Lawful Deception by Pamela Samuels Young
Title: Lawful Deception
Author: Pamela Samuels Young
Publisher: Goldman House Publishing
Pages: 400
Genre: Legal Thriller
Format: Kindle/Paperback/Hardcover
Once again, award-winning author Pamela Samuels Young delivers another captivating legal thriller full of unexpected twists and jaw-dropping moments you never see coming. The beautiful Bliss Fenton won’t be winning any awards for Mother of the Year. Truth is, motherhood isn’t nearly as important to Bliss as the cottage industry she’s created: extorting wealthy men for the hefty child support she can collect. But Bliss’ greed goes too far when she takes on Fletcher McClain. The handsome music industry mogul refuses to accept her conniving conduct lying down. He retains high-profile attorney Vernetta Henderson to sue Bliss for fraud, and in no time, the case turns from merely contentious to downright deadly.
Order from:
Amazon
Add to Goodreads.
About The Author
When attorney and author Pamela Samuels Young isn’t practicing law, you can usually find her penning her next legal thriller. Described by one reviewer as “John Grisham with a sister’s twist,” Pamela is an award-winning author of six legal thrillers.
The prolific writer has always abided by the philosophy that you create the change you want to see. Fed up with never seeing women or people of color depicted as savvy, hotshot attorneys in the legal thrillers she read, Pamela decided to create her own characters. Despite the demands of a busy legal career, the Compton, California native accomplished her ambitious goal by ising at 4 a.m. to write before work, dedicating her weekends to writing and even spending her vacation time glued to her laptop for ten or more hours a day. In the process, she discovered her passion.
Pamela’s sixth novel, Anybody’s Daughter (2013), which tackles the horrific world ofchild sex trafficking, was the recipient of the 2014 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Fiction. Her debut novel, Every Reasonable Doubt (2006), won the Black Expressions magazine’s Fiction Writing Contest, received an honorable mention in the SEAK Legal Fiction Writing Competition and was a finalist for USA Book News’ Best Books of 2006 award in the mystery, suspense and thriller category. Her second novel, In Firm Pursuit (2007), was honored by Romantic Times magazine as a finalist for Best African-American Novel of 2007. Murder on the Down Low (2008), Pamela’s third release, was an “Editor’s Pick” by Black Expressions magazine and a finalist for the 2009 African-American Literary Awards in the fiction category. The Black Caucus of the American Library Association honored Pamela’s next novel, Buying Time (2009), with its 2010 Fiction Award, calling the book “a captivating, suspenseful thriller.” Attorney-Client Privilege (2012) was a finalist for USA Book News’ Best Books of 2014 award in the multi-cultural fiction category. Her seventh legal thriller, Lawful Deception, goes on sale in October 2015.
Her writing repertoire also includes the short stories Unlawful Greed, featured in the anthology The Funeral (2013), Easy Money, featured in the anthology Scoundrels: Tales of Greed, Murder and Financial Crimes (2012) and The Setup, featured in the Sisters in Crime anthology, Landmarked for Murder (2006). She also has an essay in the anthology, A Letter for My Mother (2013).
Pamela has achieved a successful writing career while working as Managing Counsel for Labor and Employment Law for Toyota in Southern California, specializing in employment law and social media law. Prior to that, she served as Employment Law Counsel for Raytheon Company and spent several years as an associate with the law firm of O’Melveny & Myers, LLP, in Los Angeles. A former journalist, Pamela began her broadcasting career at WXYZ-TV in Detroit and later worked as a news writer and associate producer at KCBS-TV in Los Angeles.
A graduate of UC Berkeley’s School of Law, Pamela has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from USC and a master’s degree in broadcasting from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. She formerly served on the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles chapter of Mystery Writers of America and is a diehard member of Sisters in Crime-L.A., an organization dedicated to the advancement of women mystery writers.
A frequent speaker on the topics of sex trafficking, fiction writing and pursuing your passion, Pamela lives in the Los Angeles area and attends Hope in Christ Community Church in Compton.
For More Information
Visit Pamela’s website.
Connect with Pamela on Facebook and Twitter.
Filed under: Guest Authors Tagged: @pamsamuelsyoung, Lawful Deception, Pamela Samuels Young, Pump Up Your Book, PUYB
October 29, 2015
Book Tour – Gnomon
Title: Gnomon
Author: Luchia Dertien
Release Date: September 1, 2015
Publisher: DSP Publications
Genre: Mystery/Suspense
Format: Ebook/Paperback
Emile Delaurier is a beautiful militant revolutionary, a living beacon of righteous justice for the world. For Renaire, an artist in a constant battle against the demons in the bottle, it was obsession at first sight. His devotion led to two years of homicidal partnership as Renaire followed Delaurier in his ruthless quest for equality through the death of the corrupt, like a murderous Robin Hood.
Then Delaurier breaks his pattern, leading Renaire into Russia to kill a reporter with no immoral background, and gives no explanation for his actions.
When Interpol contacts Renaire, he already has enough problems―keeping Delaurier alive, dealing with the shift in their relationship, and surviving the broken past that still haunts him. But when he learns what Interpol wants from him, Renaire must face the truth about Delaurier: that a noble man isn’t always a good one. He’s left with a choice no man should ever have to make―to follow his heart or his morals.
ORDER INFORMATION
Gnomon is available for order at
Luchia Dertien is a 27-year-old white cis female living in the United States. She desperately wants to be petting a dog right now. Writing genuinely is her passion, which she has been doing since the age of 3. Her first written work is titled “Castle Castle” and is generally considered to be the greatest piece of literature she’s ever produced. In middle school, she wrote a story called “Death By Mud,” which is her second best piece of literature. “Gnomon” is usually ranked somewhere near 13th.
For More Information
Visit Luchian’s website.
Filed under: Guest Authors Tagged: Gnomon, Luchia Dertien, Pump Up Your Book, PUYB
October 23, 2015
Book Tour – The Drago Tree
The Drago Tree
All over the world, anywhere of historical interest or natural beauty that lends itself to development, has been given over to tourism. The setting for The Drago Tree, Lanzarote, a Canary Island off the coast of Morocco, is no exception. Tourism is a major theme in the story as protagonist, Ann, struggles to come to terms with the impact of tourism on the island. She sets herself apart, and longs for a place far from thrill seekers.
Often tourism decimates local cultures and environments: traditional land given over to golf courses, rivers and lakes to swimming pools. Farmers cash in and open a restaurant. Local businesspeople and governments sign lucrative property deals. Soon hotels are everywhere, and whatever there was of ‘local’ is subsumed and struggles to survive.
On Lanzarote, tourism has spawned a new wave of colonisation, that of ex-pats, as (mainly) the British seek a place in the sun. It’s an odd situation, in that Lanzarote’s economy has boomed. Further, many of the ex-pats feel as strongly as Ann about the island. And as strongly as some notable artists, such as César Manrique, who developed sites of natural beauty and turned them into works of sculpture. His legacy means there are strong restrictions on all development and much of the island has been preserved in its natural state, or prevented from decay. Forts have become museums. There’s an ever growing and universal sense of civic pride. Still, Ann doesn’t know all this. Her view is throughout the book staunchly anti-tourist.
As with every story, parts are culled, for no other reason than a lack of fit, or something similar has already been said and to say more would be overdoing it.
Here’s an extract that didn’t make the final draft, but it gives a good indication of the tone of The Drago Tree and Ann’s feelings about tourism.
‘This island, set to become as trodden over as Bali and Benidorm, was for Ann an idyll of igneous rock. Ann, the geologist, ought to know. Tourists only ever see the surface, only what they are told to see, look here, look there, taking it all in with the limited understanding of the pocket-book guide. Here on Lanzarote, humankind can view the earth’s subcutaneous layer smeared upon its skin. It baffled Ann that tourists should want to come here. Perhaps, like her, they hankered to be as far from the pastures back home as the moon.’
The Drago Tree
Haunted by demons past and present, geologist Ann Salter seeks sanctuary on the exotic island of Lanzarote. There she meets charismatic author Richard Parry and indigenous potter Domingo and together they explore the island.
Ann’s encounters with the island’s hidden treasures becomes a journey deep inside herself as she struggles to understand who she was, who she is, and who she wants to be.
Set against a panoramic backdrop of dramatic island landscapes and Spanish colonial history, The Drago Tree is an intriguing tale of betrayal, conquest and love in all its forms.
“This beautifully constructed novel reveals the complexity we invite into our lives when we open our hearts to passion.” Robert Hillman, The Honey Thief
Isobel Blackthorn was born in London and has lived in Spain, Lanzarote, (Canary Islands), and Australia. She’s been a teacher, market trader, project manager and PA to a literary agent. Isobel received her PhD in Social Ecology in 2006. She now lives in rural New South Wales where she follows her passions for social justice, philosophy, current affairs, books and art.
Isobel is the author of a collection of short stories, All Because of You (Ginninderra Press), and the novel, Asylum (Odyssey Books). Her writing has appeared in e-journals in Australia and the US. Her second novel, The Drago Tree, was released by Odyssey books on 1 October 2015.
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Lovesick.Isobel.Blackthorn
Twitter https://twitter.com/IBlackthorn
Website http://isobelblackthorn.com/the-drago-tree/
Publisher http://odysseybooks.com.au/
Filed under: Guest Authors Tagged: @IBlackthorn, All Because of You, Asylum, Isobel Blackthorn, The Drago Tree
October 21, 2015
Book Tour – Wind – Drachengott Book 1
Wind – Drachengott Book 1
by KJ Taylor
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GENRE: Fantasy
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BLURB:
Wendland is a land of dragons, and of magic. The mysterious Drachengott grants magic to his worshippers – but is he truly a god? Rutger von Gothendorf is only a simple furrier, but he has become his village’s local eccentric, thanks to his obsession with the murder of his brother by the Drachengott’s servants. He holds onto the vague hope that he will one day have the chance to fight back against them – until one day a mysterious and beautiful woman named Swanhild comes into his life. Rutger is instantly smitten – but Swanhild knows more than she says, and a web of lies and deceit threatens to sour the love beginning to grow between them.
And all the while, the Drachengott waits …
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EXCERPT
The wind whistled through the darkness, shaking the branches all about and putting a chill into the air. It carried a scent with it, straight to Rutger’s nose. He took it in and immediately tensed.
‘Did you smell that, Horst?’ he hissed, snatching his older brother by the arm.
Horst shook him off. ‘Not now, Rut — we’re in enough trouble without worrying about funny smells.’
‘But it smells like rotting meat!’ Rutger insisted. He paused, ignoring Horst’s impatient look, and breathed in deeply. The smell hit him again — worse, this time. He retched slightly. ‘Can’t you smell it?’
Horst, big and muscular, turned his head in the gloom and sniffed. A moment later, he grimaced. ‘You’re right: something’s dead out there. Come on, let’s move on before we find out what.’
He strode off, Rutger hurrying after him. ‘You don’t think it’s spiders, do you?’
‘Could be,’ Horst said shortly. ‘Keep your eyes open.’
Rutger swallowed and put a hand on the hilt of the long dagger looped through his belt. He had never seen a giant spider before, and he wanted to keep it that way. Silently, he wished he had never asked to come out here into the forest with Horst. But it had all seemed so harmless — just a quick stroll through the forest to check Horst’s mink traps. But then they hadn’t been able to find the last trap, and now they were lost.
I really am the unlucky seventh son, he thought glumly.
If Horst was as worried as his brother, he didn’t show it. He walked slightly ahead, dead mink swinging from his belt. A big old woodaxe hung on his back, brought along for protection. Night was falling now, and the sooner they got out of here the better.
The forest all around was dense and looked threatening, its spiky pine needles sighing in the relentless wind. Night always seemed to come early here. But at least the putrid smell had gone away.
‘How close do you think we are now?’ Rutger asked in a low voice.
Horst shook his head. ‘Not sure — I think there’s a clearing up ahead, though.’
Rutger came to his brother’s side, and the two of them climbed a small rise into the clearing. The instant Rutger left the shelter of the trees, it hit him again: the hideous stench of rotting meat slamming into his nose, so powerfully that his eyes watered. Beside him, Horst had stopped. Rutger heard him swear softly. He looked up, intending to tell his brother that they should go — and then he saw it.
Ahead, in the clearing, a faint light began to glow. It shone on the dark, lumpy shapes which hung from the trees at the far side. Some could have been animal corpses, but the rest . . .
Horst wrenched the axe down off his back. ‘Get behind me, Rut,’ he said sharply. ‘Get out of here. Now.’
‘What—?’ Rutger started to say — but too late.
As the light brightened, two of the hanging shapes dropped to the ground and stepped forward. They wore rough leather tunics with hoods which covered their heads, but on each of their chests was a pair of red gemstones, set into an amulet. They glowed faintly in the light, making a halo over each of the two men, like a pair of glowering eyes.
‘Jüngen!’ Rutger heard himself say.
One of the pair pointed accusingly at them. ‘How dare you enter this sacred grove?’
Horst started to back away, axe raised.
The two Jüngen joined hands, and the light around them intensified as their linked hands rose. An instant later, a great flash blinded Rutger. He cried out as he fell back, but his voice was drowned out by a screeching roar from above.
A pitch-black dragon was hovering over the Jüngen’s heads, its eyes glowing red. Light crackled over its wings, and it roared again.
The Jüngen let go of each other, and the second of the two spoke to the dragon. His words were a short, cold command.
‘Kill them.’
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AUTHOR BIO
K.J.Taylor was born in Australia in 1986 and plans to stay alive for as long as possible. She went to Radford College and achieved a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications at the University of Canberra, where she is currently studying for a Master’s Degree in Information Studies.
She published her first work, The Land of Bad Fantasy through Scholastic when she was just 18, and went on to publish The Dark Griffin in Australia and New Zealand five years later. The Griffin’s Flight and The Griffin’s War followed in the same year, and were released in America and Canada in 2011. At the moment, she is working on the third set of books in the series, while publishing the second.
K.J.Taylor’s real first name is Katie, but not many people know what the J stands for. She collects movie soundtracks and keeps pet rats, and isn’t quite as angst-ridden as her books might suggest.
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GIVEAWAY
KJ will be awarding an eCopy of Wind to 3 randomly drawn winners via rafflecopter during the tour, and choice of 5 digital books from the Impulse line to a randomly drawn host.
Enter to win a copy of the book – a Rafflecopter giveaway
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INTERVIEW
KJ, Thanks for being my guest today. Tell us about you.
I’m currently 29 years old, and signed my first publishing contract when I was 18 (I didn’t tell the publisher I was just a kid – they had no idea until well after the contract was signed, and boy were they surprised). I live in a yurt with my pet rats and two canaries, and when I’m not writing I have a job as an archivist. I also collect movie soundtracks, and love video games. And I designed every one of my tattoos myself!
What inspires you to get out of bed each day?
Sometimes just the fact that I need to get to work on time! But on writing days I get up because I know it’s time to head off and work on another book! I can keep writing all day without taking a break, and I love it.
If you could hang out with one famous person for one day, who would it be and why?
I’d like to hang out with a movie director while they were on set, and watch them at work. Movie making has always fascinated me, and seeing it in action would be awesome! I’m not sure which director I’d pick – one of the nicer, more patient ones, probably! Or Tarantino, because he’s just awesome.
What’s the story behind your latest book?
I wanted to write a story where the main character is the mysterious seer – and I also wanted to do something with an old idea I’d had about a dragon the size of a mountaintop. So I put the two of them together. I decided to make the setting Germanic partly because I was taking German classes at the time, and thought it would be a change from the more British kinds of settings I usually go with. The German words used in the series are all real, and I got my tutor to check my grammar for me!
Tell us your writing process
It’s pretty straightforward. I don’t write out a plan beforehand, unlike some; that approach has never worked for me. But I do have the basic shape of the story in my head when I start out. When I’m ready with a new idea I sit down and write it. Sometimes I have to stop partway through because I hit a point where I realise I’m not ready to continue, and when that happens I go off and work on something else until I’m ready to return. With the Drachengott series, I left the fourth and final book unfinished – thinking “oh, I’ll finish it if the series gets picked up”. It was, and I had to hurry back and write the last half of the book ASAP!
Do you have any tips for other authors who want to get the word out about their work?
These days it’s pretty much mandatory to use social media. I joined Facebook purely because I realised it was the best way to connect with readers – which turned out to be correct – and I got a Twitter account for the same reason. Personal websites are more useful for providing people with links to buy your books, extra material about your series, and things like that. If you can get yourself a spot as a guest at a convention like Supanova, that’s a great way to get your name out there. And you should ask your publisher to have some promotional posters and leaflets made up which you can hand out or leave at libraries, etc.
Finally, it’s a good idea to create an author profile for yourself on Amazon – it makes you and your books a lot easier to find.
When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?
I was a big reader as a kid (other kids called me “bookworm” all the time), and first started writing short stories and poems when I was in primary school. When I was about thirteen I began trying to write full-length novels, and shortly after that I decided I wanted to get published more than anything else. So I threw myself into it headfirst, and eventually succeeded. It’s been more than ten years since I signed that first contract, but I can still remember how happy and excited I was!
Tell us about your main character:
The protagonist of the first book, Wind, was originally going to be Syn the dragon. But in the end, Rutger von Gothendorf was a better fit. I quickly took a liking to him while I was writing. He’s a young man who works as the village furrier – he traps mink and other animals, tans the hides and makes them into clothes and other things. He’s lived under the threat of dragon attack all his life, and when he was a boy his brother was killed by one, right in front of him. He never got over that and eventually got the local blacksmith to make a sword for him, with a handle made from the dragon’s broken horn.
What made Rutger particularly likeable for me was the fact that other people laugh at him. He has some vague notion of one day using his sword to fight dragons and the Jüngen who summon them, and he secretly practises with it every day. But everyone else knows about it, and he’s viewed as the local eccentric – a poor dope who thinks he’s a great warrior in the making.
Later on it also interested me to see how his hatred of dragons and Jüngen is actually a tad on the irrational side – he unknowningly tells a dragon that “the only good dragon is a dead dragon”, and is puzzled when she takes offence. In his mind, wiping out an entire species is absolutely fine – even though he knows full-well that the dragons are being controlled by their summoners, and the Drachengott himself. (Note: “Drachengott” is German for “Dragon God”)
What are you working on next?
I’ve already written a fifth Drachengott book, and made a start on a sixth. At this particular moment, however, I’m preparing to get back to work on a new book. Its working title is Roost, and it’s about a couple in love who are forced to become enemies. It promises to be one of the most tragic – and brutal – things I’ve ever written.
Do you have any special/extraordinary talents?
I once wrote an entire 150 page novel in four days. Afterwards I was so burned out that I barely recognised my own father. But still – four days!
I also design and sew stuffed toys as a hobby (and make them on commission for other people from time to time). And I have a pretty decent singing voice.
Who are your favorite authors?
Rather unusually for a fantasy author, I don’t actually read a lot of fantasy. My favourite authors include Clive Barker, China Mieville, Brian Masters and William Horwood.
What do you like to do with your free time?
I like going to the movies, and I enjoy long walks and making little craft items. I also like drawing – I draw my characters just for fun, and I draw maps for each new series, partly because it’s very useful to have one handy as a guide while writing, but also because fans want to see it in the book later on!
Tell us about your plans for upcoming books.
I currently have a new trilogy called The Rebel Lion, which my agents are looking at. I also plan to write more Drachengott books, and am currently in the process of publishing a series called the Cymrian Saga (the first six books are currently published – the first of them is called The Dark Griffin – and a companion book called Tales of Cymria has just been released). And I have a couple of standalone books currently looking for a place, and a YA series being looked at by publishers. So as you can see I’m pretty busy!
Where can people find you on the web?
My author page on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/kjtaylorauthor
The official Drachengott page – https://www.facebook.com/drachengottseries
My personal website – www.kjtaylor.com
My YouTube Channel – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCv1GtMMiCUlHbu289PwcjuQ
My Twitter handle is @WorldStitcher
Any final thoughts?
Professional writing is a tough business – very tough, sometimes. But it’s worth it. It really is. If you write because you love it, then that should be enough. Never let it be about the fame or the money. Do it for love. That’s why I do it, and it makes me happy. It makes my life worth living.
Filed under: Guest Authors Tagged: @WorldStitcher, author interview, Drachengott, Free Ebook, GoddessFishPromotions, KJ Taylor, The Dark Griffin, The Griffin’s Flight, The Griffin’s War, The Land of Bad Fantasy, Wind – Drachengott Book 1 
October 20, 2015
Book Blast Tour – The Diamond Grenade
The Diamond Grenade
by Daniel Juliane
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GENRE: Literary Fiction
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BLURB:
The Diamond Grenade is the story of a family line and a revolution told in five novellas – a complex tale told simply.
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EXCERPT
Book I: A Father’s Fate
At one point, on the banks of a confluence where two rivers ran together like closing thighs, there was a certain boatman. This boatman, name of Gur, had a fine long pole (not too bendy, not too strong) with which to move his long wide boat upon the water. Gur slept with his pole, lest it go missing. Then one evening while he was ferrying a few paying passengers from one put-in to the next, Gur’s pole got stuck in thick river-bottom mud and muck and he lost his grip and the pole sank out of sight. Cursing, Gur leapt into the water and dove for the pole. Long minutes passed and Gur’s nubile daughter Guri, at the prow of the boat, began to wail. Gur did not come back up. They found him later downstream. This is how the girl Guri became a very young boatman with a shoddy pole.
The thing about Guri is that she knew everybody. All the fares on her boat. They didn’t necessarily know each other all too often, but everybody knew Guri. And somehow she knew everybody back. She just had a mind for it. Who went with whom and how the families fell out. Names. All the names Guri knew. But only one name made her sing: Tuc. Tuc drank and threw dice, but early in their acquaintance he’d made bold to say that Guri would make a good mother. This observation of Tuc’s about Guri had won her over, so she sang his name in the dark. One syllable songs are short, but carry on the water.
Guri’s favorite disgruntlement was that there was no word for girl boatman. It was poling-upriver hard to get more than a grunt out of half her older passengers, because they didn’t see clear to it being right for her to be doing a man’s job. Tuc suggested ‘boatwoman’, but Guri allowed as how that was more the busty mascot off the bow of a ship than a person who poled for a living. Tuc took to riding with Guri quite frequently. Then one night, he brought her a new pole, and it was a good pole.
Not long after the new pole, Tuc convinced Guri to elope with him a ways downriver to a town where he had prospects. When they got there, they traded the boat and pole for two goats. Guri was better with people than with animals, so Tuc tended the herd while she met and memorized every person she could find. Soon she had so much work taken in to do for folks that what with going to the big, clean houses to perform services inbetweentimes, and attending in good turn to the day’s worth of all the waiting piecemeal work filling their modest house, Guri was too busy to make a baby.
Guri got fed up with being too busy to make a baby and made a baby. Tuc split. Guri’s popularity made her fatherless child the ward of the town. Everybody parented him. That’s why he grew up angry. His name was Gur, after his grandfather. Boy did he have a chip on his shoulder about being told what to do. Everybody told him when and where to jump. Only Guri could make him ask how high. Usually his answer would be jump why? The thing about having a whole village full of parents is that they are going to contradict each other and some of them are bound to be weird people.
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AUTHOR BIO:
As in medical school, praxis then practicum: I saw one, did one, taught one… now I do one after the other. One novella after another I mean. And they’re good. I saw novellas while acquiring my Bachelor’s Degree in English Language and Literature/Letters with a minor in Psych at Indiana University in the mid-nineties, I taught and did novellas a few years later while pursuing a Master’s of Arts in Lit. at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and I have done a fancy set of five well here now (as I pursue an AAS in Accounting at a community college, btw). For more about me, check out http://dcjulian.wix.com/diamondgrenade
Try not to evict me from my little party of self-congratulations about this piece.
A set of five good serial novellas. Hope you find the time to enjoy them.
Please help spread the word.
Find texts through:
http://blurbraffle.weebly.com/blurbs
The book is free and can be downloaded here: http://blurbraffle.weebly.com/store/p1/The_Diamond_Grenade.html
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GIVEAWAY
Daniel will be awarding a $15 Amazon or B/N GC to five randomly drawn winners via rafflecopter during the tour.
Enter to win one of five $15 Amazon GCs – a Rafflecopter giveaway
Filed under: Guest Authors Tagged: Daniel Julian, Free Ebook, Giveaway, Goddess Fish Promotions, The Diamond Grenade
