E.J. Stevens's Blog, page 91

Human Blend Giveaway Winners

Congratulations to Daniela and Lucy winners of our Human Blend International Giveaway !  Each winner receive an autographed copy of Human Blend by Lori Pescatore.

Thank you to all who entered!

**All winners selected using Random.org**

Cover Crush: Spirit Storm

I have a special treat for my readers.  From the Shadows is the very first place to see the cover of my upcoming release Spirit Storm (Spirit Guide #2).  (Click picture to enlarge)

Is it normal to crush on the cover for my own book?  I loved the cover for She Smells the Dead, the first book in the Spirit Guide series, but the cover for Spirit Storm takes my breath away.  Is it just me, or is this cover AMAZING?

Spirit Storm (Spirit Guide #2) by E.J. Stevens is due to release early 2011 and can be added to your tbr list on Goodreads here.  For more information about the Spirit Guide series with links to reviews, giveaways, and more visit the official Spirit Guide Series website.

"Let the spirits guide you, but never let them take you."

Spirits of the Dead are coming...

Yuki is about to face an army of lost souls on Samhain, the night of Halloween, when the spirits of the dead roam free. Yuki will need all the help she can get from her friends, but will Calvin be there for her when she needs him the most?

The Bite Before Christmas: Holidays Are Hell Giveaway

We are giving away a copy of Holidays Are Hell, a paranormal holiday anthology, to one lucky winner!

This holiday, spend quality time with family and loved ones—living and dead... There's no place like home for the horrordays—unless you'd prefer a romantic midnight walk through a ghost-infested graveyard... or a haunted house candlelight dinner with the sexy vampire of your dreams. The (black) magical season is here—and whether it's a solstice séance gone demonically wrong with the incomparable Kim Harrison, a grossly misshapen Christmas with the remarkable Lynsay Sands, a blood-chilling-and-spilling New Year's with the wonderful Marjorie M. Liu, or a super-powered Thanksgiving with the phenomenal Vicki Pettersson, one thing is for certain: in the able hands of these exceptional dark side explorers, the holidays are going to be deliciously hellish!

To enter, please leave a comment on this post including your email address (so we may contact you if you win).  You do not have to be a follower to enter (though I always appreciate a follow!).  This giveaway is International (to anywhere the Book Depository ships).  Giveaway ends December 31st midnight EST.

Guest Author Interview: T. Lynne Tolles

Please welcome today's guest author T. Lynne Tolles!  T. Lynne is the author of  Blood of a Werewolf, Blood Moon, Blood Lust, Bloodstone Heart and Somber Island.

EJ:  When did you begin writing?

T. Lynne:   I began writing in the summer of 2009.  I had been reading tons of books that spring and burned myself out a bit on reading.  One of the author's I had been reading had said on her website that she got an idea and just started writing. I had been thinking about it myself, but it was she that pushed me to try. (If you are wondering it was Ellen Schreiber of Vampire Kisses)

EJ:  What brought you to the paranormal genre?

T. Lynne:  I've been reading about witches, vampires and werewolves for as long as I can remember. My addiction became an addiction to others around me - my mom, my stepmother, etc.
Maybe it has to do with all those late night Creature Features I used to watch on Friday night when I was a kid.

EJ:  If you could be any paranormal or have any one supernatural talent, what would it be? Why?

T. Lynne:  I think I would have to say I would like to be born vampire from my book series.  They have all of the cool things vampires have, without being horrific killers.  They don't have the insatiable lust for blood and they can blend in.

Why? No diseases, colds or ailments and the always looking like you did when you were younger has it's perks too.

EJ:  Tell us why readers will enjoy your new release.

T. Lynne:  I kind of released all my books at once except for book 4 in the series, so that is a little tough to say about all books, but to sum up the books in a whole, I would say that the stories are plausible, the dialog is fun,  humorous at times and the characters are very loveable.  For a while I had a crush on Devon, one of the characters in my book, which was hard to explain to say - my husband... All the books have a good story to back them up and when you like the characters, it becomes an easy read.

EJ:  If your book(s) were being made into a movie, who would you cast for the leading roles? Why?

T.Lynne:  That's way too easy, but rather embarrassing. I base my characters on movie/tv stars so I can go right down the line of the cast and tell you who they are.

Darby O'Rielly - a shorter Blake Lively
Rowan O'Rielly - Amanda Seyfried
Devon Bloomington - Orlando Bloom
Blake Bloomington - Jared Padalecki
Dean Wolfe - Matthew Fox
Dominic Larsen - Tom Selleck
Sally Keaton - Kristen Kreuk
Anton Larsen - Chris Evans
Libby Larsen - Katherine Heigl (long haired version)
That will get you through the first 3 books, you want more?...contact me on my website.



Somber Island by T. Lynne Tolles.

Phoebe MacIntire, who is a servant to her father and sisters in her own house in Scotland in 1855, is an ordinary girl, with no big dreams for the future. She's perfectly happy in her humble life, with her cot in the basement and her little garden in the backyard. But when her father up and sends her to Newfoundland to be the lifelong servant to Lord Jacobs, she finds her life gets turned upside down.  Her journey across the Atlantic to her new home is long, scary and very unpleasant. When she arrives at the manor on a small island, she finds the beautiful place abandoned and only a note waits for her explaining her duties, the strange dietary requirements, and sleeping habits of her new master.  The very first night in her new home she's haunted in her dreams by a woman who clearly does not want her there and a strange blue-eyed man-wolf creature that follows the woman. Her dreams become more and more violent and mysteries start to be uncovered about a woman who was killed in a fire on the island, a creature that preys on anyone that comes to the island and a love story gone wrong that dates back over a hundred and twenty two years. 

Join Phoebe as she explores the past, delving into witchcraft, and vampirism to help a brother save another from a life of sadness and misconception, making some amazing and surprising friends along the way.


Thank you T. Lynne for joining us here today at From the Shadows !

To learn more about T. Lynne Tolles and her books, please visit her website.

The Bite Before Christmas: Black Friday Giveaway

Here at From the Shadows we are celebrating the holidays with a month of amazing author interviews, character interviews, guest blogs, and giveaways.

The Bite Before Christmas: Black Friday Giveaway

Enter to win your choice of $10 Amazon Gift Card or a book from The Book Depository (up to $10).

To enter, please leave a comment on this post including your email address (so we may contact you if you win).  You do not have to be a follower to enter (though I always appreciate a follow!).  This giveaway is international (to everywhere The Book Depository ships).  Giveaway ends December 22nd midnight EST.

Bonus entries:
+1 follow From the Shadows
+1 subscribe by email

**Please check out our giveaway policy on our contact page for more details.**

Tyger Treasure Giveaway

One lucky winner is going to win this gorgeous Tyger Tyger necklace!

Tyger Treasure:  Kersten Hamilton is giving away twenty hand-made necklaces in November and December to celebrate her new book Tyger Tyger! The pendants were created by book blogger Melissa at Books and Things and each necklace is beautiful and unique.  Enter here to win this necklace, and have fun hunting for the rest!

To enter, please leave a comment on this post including your email address (so I may contact you if you win).  You do not have to be a follower to enter (though I always appreciate a follow!).  This giveaway is International!  Giveaway ends December 15th midnight EST.






















Tyger Tyger is one of my favorite books of 2010.  Click here to read my review.

**Stay tuned for more fabulous The Bite Before Christmas giveaways at From the Shadows!**

Guest Author Interview: Mari Mancusi

Please welcome today's guest author Mari Mancusi!  Mari is the author of the Blood Coven series including Boys that Bite, Stake That!, Girls that Growl, Bad Blood, and Night School.

EJ:  When did you begin writing?

Mari:  I've always loved to tell stories. When I was too young to pick up a pen, I would draw pictures and have my mother transcribe my words onto paper. All through school I wrote short stories and in high school I graduated to longer, serial pieces--usually romances starring my friends and the rock stars who loved them. (If only David Bowie knew what he's done in my books!) When I got to my twenties, I realized if I wanted to get serious and get published, I'd need to dedicate myself to writing one full novel. My first novel or two ended up under the bed, but my third full length book, "A Connecticut Fashionista in King Arthur's Court" scored me an agent and eventually a publishing deal at Dorchester.

EJ:  What brought you to the paranormal genre?
 
Mari:  I've always loved the dark and spooky. As a goth girl I listened to dark music and watched dark films. Vampires became an obsession after reading Anne Rice and seeing films like The Hunger. Later, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Sherrilyn Kenyon novels solidified the desire to create my own fanged world, which I did with The Blood Coven Vampire series.

EJ:  If you could be any paranormal or have any one supernatural talent, what would it be? Why?

Mari:  Invisibility because then I could be a fly on the wall. I'm nosy like that and I love observing people. I believe this would make me a better writer, as well, studying people as characters without them knowing.

EJ:  Tell us why readers will enjoy your new release.

Mari:  In January, readers will be able to pick up Book 5 of The Blood Coven Vampire series, called Night School. It's a young adult series, but has a lot of appeal for adults as well, especially those who are Buffy fans. My books always have a mixture of dark angst, romance and humor. After all, if we can't find something to laugh about in the darkness, then we are truly doomed.

While I try to make all the books understandable if a reader were to pick them up out of order, I hope people will check out the first four books in the series, which are available now in bookstores or online in print or ebook formats.

EJ:  If your book(s) were being made into a movie, who would you cast for the leading roles? Why?

Mari:  I just saw Easy A in theaters and I think Emma Stone would be amazing as my heroines. (They're twins so she'd have to play both parts.) She's cool and tough, but pretty at the same time and I think she could easily encompass both the good and bad girl roles. For the boys, Magnus, the Blood Coven Master is supposed to be like a Pirates of the Caribbean Orlando Bloom type, with long brown hair. And I think the guy who plays Jasper in the Twilight saga could be my Jareth, Rayne's vampire boyfriend.























 Night School (Blood Coven, book 5) by Mari Mancusi.

Vampires, Slayers and…FAIRIES? Sunny and Rayne McDonald are about to get SCHOOLED. 

After their parents' shocking revelation about their fae heritage and an attack on their lives, the McDonald twins find themselves on the run—forced to hide out at Riverdale Academy , a boarding school for vampire slayers, deep in the Swiss Alps. With no cells, no internet, and no way to contact their vampire boyfriends—the twins are on their own.  Being a vampire stuck in a school full of slayers isn't easy. Especially with no blood substitute stocked on campus. Soon Rayne finds herself succumbing to her bloodlust and losing control—especially around the arrogant, but devastatingly handsome Corbin Billingsworth the Third—who isn't sure whether he wants to kiss her…or kill her.  But when Sunny starts acting strange, Rayne realizes Riverdale Academy may be hiding some deadly secrets of its own—leading to a showdown in Fairyland that may cost the twins their lives.


Thank you Mari for joining us here today at From the Shadows !

To learn more about Mari Mancusi's and her books, please visit her website.

The Dead Path Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to Alejandra D.L.F. winner of The Dead Path international giveaway!  Alejandra will receive a hardcover copy of The Dead Path by Stephen M. Irwin.

Read my interview with author Stephen M. Irwin here and my review of The Dead Path here.

**All giveaway winners are drawn using Random.org.  Winner will be notified by email.  For more information regarding our giveaway policy, please visit our contact page.**

Guest Author Interview: Raven Corinn Carluck

Please welcome today's guest author Raven Corinn Carluk!  Raven is the author of All Hallows Blood and Stories with Bite o,.,o.

EJ:  When did you begin writing?

Raven:   I technically started writing when I five.  I wrote a little story about finding dinosaur bones in my backyard.  It was horrible, and was exactly like you'd expect from a kid.  I've been writing off and on ever since, but really started taking it seriously about three years ago.  Not long after that, I started All Hallows Blood.

EJ:  What brought you to the paranormal genre?

Raven:  My love of the paranormal and bizarre and spooky is what brought me to the genre.  I've always been aware of ghosts, and have brushed up against psychic vampires, so it wasn't a stretch for me to start weaving tales about it.  I've always loved vampires, and really feel for them when I read Interview with the Vampire.  I'd say the darkness, and the predation, and all the broad shadowed horizons are my reasons for being here.

EJ:  If you could be any paranormal or have any one supernatural talent, what would it be? Why?

Raven:  Ooooh, good question.  Because picking just one thing is very hard.  I mean, vampires are good, necromancers are good, psychics are good.  So many wonderful creatures to pick from.

I think I'd be a dragon.  One of the sentient, shape-changing kind.  Flying, breathing fire, eating raw meat...those all sound great to me.  Then I could also let out my aggressions, and people wouldn't be surprised.  And I could fly.  Flying is a long held dream of mine.

EJ:  Tell us why readers will enjoy your new release.

Raven:  Readers will enjoy stories with bite o,.,o or All Hallows Blood because I'm a damn good storyteller.  *grins and laughs*

stories with bite o,.,o is my latest release.  It's a collection of short stories, mostly vampires and dark fantasy.  It's little snippets of my visions, just enough to get a taste, then move on to the next scene.  Perfect for when you don't have time to sit down and read all the way to the end.

All Hallows Blood is fast paced, with a good adventure, steamy sex, and a vampire that stays with you.  Varick doesn't sparkle, and he still hunts, and he's the kind of vampire I want in my life.  Keila grows, and shows the strength we all have inside.  There's fighting, and love, and ghosts, and chapters that just won't let you go.

EJ:  If your book(s) were being made into a movie, who would you cast for the leading roles? Why?

Raven:   Well, Varick from All Hallows Blood (there's also a short story with him and Keila in stories with bite o,.,o) has to be Heiko Wittek.  It wasn't planned when I was writing the book, but he looks pretty much dead on for my vampire.  A little tall, eyes not dark enough, but good enough.  Especially when the model is in one of his intense moments.

Keila is hard to cast.  I haven't seen any woman that really looks like her.  Michelle Forbes, if young, would be pretty close.  Just not enough tough tomboys with great Irish features out in the world.

The only other person that I've got a really good image in my head is Alexander in the short story Necro.  He was completely based on Alexander Skarsgard after an episode of True Blood.  I really started crushing on the way he growls, and had to have him in a story.
























 All Hallows Blood by Raven Corinn Carluk.

Mourning her mother on Halloween,Keila O'Broin,m psychic warrior and last of her line,isn't prepared for dead teenagers to ask her to avenge them.Compelled by her family creed,Keila combats the vampiric serial killer, despite her atrophied powers. But defeating one killer is only the start of her adventure. Into her life walks Varick Eitenhauer, centuries old undead master of Portland.The vampire tells her she will now help him defeat his rivals in a battle to control the city, and he will accept no refusals. Surrounded by her desire and danger, the only way to succeed is to rise from her past like a phoenix from its ashes. 


Thank you Raven for joining us here today at From the Shadows !

To learn more about Raven Corinn Carluk and her books, please visit her website.

Book Review: White Cat

White Cat (Curse Workers, book 1) by Holly Black.

Cassel comes from a family of curse workers -- people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they're all mobsters, or con artists. Except for Cassel. He hasn't got the magic touch, so he's an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. You just have to ignore one small detail -- he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.  Ever since, Cassel has carefully built up a façade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his façade starts crumbling when he starts sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat that wants to tell him something. He's noticing other disturbing things, too, including the strange behavior of his two brothers. They are keeping secrets from him, caught up in a mysterious plot. As Cassel begins to suspect he's part of a huge con game, he also wonders what really happened to Lila. Could she still be alive? To find that out, Cassel will have to out-con the conmen.


Just one touch...   White Cat is a fantastic work of urban fantasy reminiscent of the thought provoking science fiction novels of masters such as Philip K. Dick.  Holly Black has created an intriguing world that is frightening and utterly believable.  Those born with the power to work a curse can alter a person's life with the touch of their hand, which is why the government has banned worker activity and citizens wear gloves in public.  The government ban on working curses has created a large and powerful criminal underground of black market worker activity.  Cassel is born into a worker family with crime family connections and grew up learning the art of the con.  His attempts to live a normal life are continually undermined by his family and the ever present discrimination against those with worker ties.  When Cassel realizes that something is terribly wrong, who will he turn to?  Who can he trust?  A fabulous beginning to the Curse Workers urban fantasy series.  One of the most suspenseful, thought provoking books of 2010.

I highly recommend White Cat (Curse Workers, book 1) to readers of  paranormal suspense, science fiction, mystery, crime drama, and especially to fans of urban fantasy.  Though the main character is young, the gritty realism of this book may not be suitable for some readers of young adult fiction.

Source: This book was purchased by me for review.


White Cat on Amazon.
White Cat on Goodreads.