Roxanne Rhoads's Blog, page 17
October 17, 2024
Kiss of Blood and Sin by M Guida - Haunted Halloween Spooktacular
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In the shadows of night, where secrets lie, A vampire's tale unfolds under the sky. Dimitri Dragan, with a heart of stone, In a world of darkness, he walks alone.
A past so haunted, with echoes of pain, Women were fleeting, their memories wane. But then she appeared, like a beacon of light, Gianna Santi, a princess in the night.
Her beauty unmatched, her spirit so strong, Yet fate dealt her a hand so wrong.
Attacked by wolves, left scarred and frail, In Dimitri’s heart, a protective gale.
He vows revenge with a fire so fierce, To hunt the wolves, their hearts to pierce.
Her pain is his, her scars he bears, In his dark world, she’s the love he dares.
Her brother, the king, a ruler of might, In the vampire mafia’s eternal night.
Dimitri, forced to steal and betray, A pawn in the game, a price he must pay.
But for Gianna, he'd face any strife, To guard her, to shield her, he'd give his life.
He walks a line of shadow and blood, In a world of chaos, love begins to bud.
Her eyes, a mirror of sorrow and grace, In her presence, he finds his place. A love so forbidden, yet burning bright, Two hearts entwined in the depth of night.
In the French Quarter, where legends are born, Their love story is both blessed and torn. The wolves, they whisper, in the dark of the moon, But Dimitri's vengeance will strike them soon.
For Gianna, he'd embrace his darkest side, In his arms, she’ll never need to hide.
The Angel of Death, her protector, her knight, In the heart of darkness, he finds his light.
Dimitri Dragan, with a soul so cold, For her, a new story begins to unfold. No longer the monster, alone and grim, In Gianna's love, his salvation lies within.
Through blood and betrayal, they’ll carve their path, In the mafia’s world, they’ll face the wrath. But love like theirs, it knows no bounds, In the silent night, their heartbeat sounds.
In the labyrinth of power, deceit, and might, Their love shines as a beacon of light.
Dimitri, the protector, with vengeance in his eyes, Gianna, his queen, where his loyalty lies.
Together they stand, against the tide, In a world of shadows, where darkness hides. Their love, a force, both wild and free, In the vampire’s realm, their destiny.
So in New Orleans, where the nights are long, Their hearts beat together, fierce and strong. Dimitri and Gianna, a love so rare, In a world of darkness, they find their share.
For love can blossom, even in the night, And in each other, they find their light. Through trials and pain, their bond will grow, In the vampire’s world, their love will show.
Kiss of Blood and SinM Guida
Genre: Dark Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Buffalo Mountain Press Date of Publication: September 25, 2024Number of pages: 300Word Count: 80,776Cover Artist: Jacqueline Sweet
Book Description:
I never wanted to be a mafia princess. But I wasn't given that choice when my brother turned me.
Now he's the mafia king and his enemies want me dead. His magical mirrors shows my impending murder without revealing the assassin. It could be anyone, and I trust no one. Until I meet Dimitri Dragan.
My brother would never agree for me to claim a born vampire with a sketchy past. But I'll fight to make him mine. I didn't have a choice in becoming a vampire, but I have a choice in who I love.
Kindle Vella Amazon
About theAuthor:M Guida has always loved fantasy and romance, especially dragons. Growing up,she devoured fantasy books and all kinds of young adult books. And then shefound romance and a whole new world opened up to her.
Now as an adult, she fell in love with academy romance and has blended all ofher past loves into one compelling series. Dragons, vampires, elves, demons,and wolves all live in her world.
When she's not writing, she lives in the colorful Rocky Mountains with her furbaby, Raven, and enjoys taking her for walks.
Would you like to become a Legacy? Sign up for her mailing list and enter aworld of the supernatural at her website https://authormguida.com/
You can also join her private Facebook page–M Guida's LegacyAcademy. You'll become a Legacy and find out about your special power andmaybe even find some romance!
Website: https://authormguida.com/about/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mguida/
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Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20378775.M_Guida
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B08BW74WCM/about
A Bewitching Thursday
Ghosts of Sleepy Hollow by Sam Baltrusis - Haunted Halloween Spooktacular
https://creativelygreen.blogspot.com/...
Chains of Blood and Darkness by M Guida - Haunted Halloween Spooktacular
https://roxannesrealm.blogspot.com/20...
Wanderer of the Wastes by Kit Karlsson
https://www.lisasworldofbooks.net/202...
A Prophecy Awakened by Angie Barton
https://www.westveilpublishing.com/?p...
Living Green with Eliza Hampstead #bewitchingbooktours https://buff.ly/4f3eN70
How I Made Artful Tables from Salvaged Wood by Kit Karlsson #bewitchingbooktours https://buff.ly/3YnmVJT
How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse: Why a Pole Pruner is Your Secret Weapon by Eliza Hampstead #bewitchingbooktours https://buff.ly/4eHLeYW
Other Worlds by Kay Freeman - Haunted Halloween Spooktacular
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Author Sign Ups Are Open for the 2024 Deck the Halls with Books Holiday Extravaganza
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"This book was a joy to read and one I will reread over and over. I can not wait till the author publishes the second book. I really want to know what happens next and I will be buying the second book. I gave this book 5 stars. This author has a fan in me. I cannot recommend this book more! It will be on every enemies to lovers recommendation list I do from now on."
Review- Wanderer of the Wastes
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Kiss of Blood and Sin by M Guida – Haunted Halloween Spooktacular
https://www.lisasworldofbooks.net/202...
The Nephilim’s Fate by Eliza Hampstead Excerpt
https://dealsharingaunt.blogspot.com/...
Black Hills Wolves by Celia Breslin – Haunted Halloween Spooktacular
https://www.lisasworldofbooks.net/202...
Spooktacular Spotlight on #UrbanFantasy: Black in White by JC Andrijeski
https://celiabreslin.com/2024/10/17/s...
The Nephilim’s Fate War of the Nephilim Series by Eliza Hampstead
https://www.owenhabel.com/2024/10/the...
Black In White by JC Andrijeski
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The Nephilim’s Fate (War of the Nephilim Series) Eliza Hampstead ~ Fantasy Romance ~ #bewitchingbooktours @bewitchingbooktours
https://saphsbooks.blogspot.com/2024/...
If you like witches, werewolves, and murder, this is the book for you.
The Witch’s Debt by Edward Rollins
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October 16, 2024
A Bewitching Wednesday
Living Green with Eliza Hampstead #bewitchingbooktours https://buff.ly/4f3eN70
INTERVIEW WITH KIT KARLSSON (Wanderer of the Wastes) #bewitchingbooktours https://buff.ly/3Nple8N
A Prophecy Awakened by Angie Barton - Haunted Halloween Spooktacular #bewitchingbooktours https://buff.ly/4h8va3Z
CHAINS OF BLOOD (M. Guida) and BONUS SPOOKTACULAR RECIPE (Chosen Blood Bloody Mary) #bewitchingbooktours https://buff.ly/3NsXmAY
Diamond Moon by Celia Breslin
https://www.instagram.com/p/DBKx8VrvoEz/
Haunted Halloween Spooktacular ~ Luna Lord’s #Recipe for Healthy Carrot Muffins for Humans and Werewolves ~ Other Worlds by Kay Freeman ~ Gothic Romantasy ~ @KayFree78949595 #bewitchingbooktours @bewitchingbooktours ThereisAGive@way https://buff.ly/3Yr2aNy
How I Made Artful Tables from Salvaged Wood by Kit Karlsson #bewitchingbooktours https://buff.ly/3YnmVJT
How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse: Why a Pole Pruner is Your Secret Weapon by Eliza Hampstead #bewitchingbooktours https://buff.ly/4eHLeYW
The Nephilim’s Fate by Eliza Hampstead #bewitchingbooktours https://buff.ly/3Abtq9o
Black In White by JC Andrijeski - Haunted Halloween Spooktacular #bewitchingbooktours https://buff.ly/48dNbd5
Author Sign Ups Are Open for the 2024 Deck the Halls with Books Holiday Extravaganza
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BOOK TOUR: Immortal Wounds by Angie Barton #bewitchingbooktours https://buff.ly/48aOuK4
SPOOKTACULAR FEATURE: BLACK HILLS WOLVES by CELIA BRESLIN with bonus recipe Grandma Eddie's Caramels #bewitchingbooktours https://buff.ly/3Ybc5p0
The Nephilim’s Fate by Eliza Hampstead #bewitchingbooktours https://buff.ly/3Yp1S9Z
Ghosts of Sleepy Hollow by Sam Baltrusis - Haunted Halloween Spooktacular #bewitchingbooktours https://buff.ly/3NulH9E
KISS OF BLOOD AND SIN (by M. GUIDA) SPOOKTACULAR RECIPE (Dark Cherry Blood Pastries) #bewitchingbooktours https://buff.ly/3Y2nasC
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October 15, 2024
A Bewitching Tuesday
How I Made Artful Tables from Salvaged Wood by Kit Karlsson #bewitchingbooktours https://buff.ly/3YnmVJT
Black In White by JC Andrijeski - Haunted Halloween Spooktacular #bewitchingbooktours https://buff.ly/406653v
Kiss of Blood and Sin by M Guida Recipe & Giveaway #bewitchingbooktours https://buff.ly/3NnNKYp
The Witch’s Debt Coal Mountain by Edward Rollins #giveaway #countdowntohalloween2024
#bewitchingbooktours https://buff.ly/404T6z1
The Nephilim’s Fate by Eliza Hampstead #bewitchingbooktours https://buff.ly/3YpHm9p
How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse: Why a Pole Pruner is Your Secret Weapon by Eliza Hampstead #bewitchingbooktours https://buff.ly/4eHLeYW
The Nephilim’s Fate by Eliza Hampstead #bewitchingbooktours https://buff.ly/3Abtq9o
Author Sign Ups Are Open for the 2024 Deck the Halls with Books Holiday Extravaganza
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The Nephilim’s Fate Book Tour #bewitchingbooktours https://buff.ly/4dIxOdL
Other Worlds by Kay Freeman – Haunted Halloween Spooktacular #bewitchingbooktours https://buff.ly/48ci69F
Haunted Halloween Spooktacular: #Recipe ~ Vampire Punch ~ A Prophecy Awakened (Immortal Wounds Series, Book Two) by Angie Barton ~ Fantasy Fiction/Magical Realism ~ #bewitchingbooktours @bewitchingbooktours ~ ThereisAGive@way https://buff.ly/3U8n818
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The Nephilim’s Fate by Eliza Hampstead
The Nephilim’s FateWar of the Nephilim SeriesEliza Hampstead
Genre: Fantasy RomanceDate of Publication: 16. August 2022ISBN: 979-8837459108ASIN: B0B72G3H1TNumber of pages: 307Word Count: 87KCover Artist: Rio B Nugroho
Tagline: She will find a way, even if it leads to a war between Heaven and Hell.
Book Description:
In the heart of London, Alissia's ordinary life takes a thrilling turn when she is attacked by bloodthirsty vampires. When Nate, the man she dreamed about for years, swoops in to save her, her reality shatters as she discovers a shocking truth: she's a witch, and he's a Nephilim. But their love is cursed, forbidden by ancient laws that threaten to tear their world apart.
As old rivalries resurface and dark secrets come to light, Alissia and Nate must confront their deepest fears and fight for their love, even if it means igniting a war between Heaven and Hell.
With unforgettable characters, steamy romance, and gripping plot twists, this captivating new fantasy series by award-winning author Eliza Hampstead delves into a world of angels and demons, forbidden love, and the inexorable power of fate.
Amazon
Excerpt 2 Learningabout her mother:
My heart stopped for a moment before resuming its work atdouble speed. I gulped. Now was the time for the truth. Seraphina stood up andwalked to her desk; when she turned back, she held a photo in her hand. Myheart was beating frantically as Seraphina held out the picture. I nearlydidn’t take it. I suddenly wanted to live in ignorance, yet my body reactedbefore I could decide and took the photo. I looked at a woman who resembled mea great deal. She also had dark hair and green eyes, her nose was a bit longerthan mine, and her lips were thinner. However, it was clear that she was mykin.
“Her name was Keira Shepard. Your father is still unknown;the coven thinks he was a human and unimportant to her. She never told anybodyabout him.”
Keira Shepard. A beautiful name that fitted her. I wanted toknow everything about her, right now. “What do you know of her? Is her familyan old witch family? Did she leave anything behind?”
“She was from an old family. To our knowledge, it had diedwith her until now. Her belongings went to the coven after her mother—yourgrandmother—died ten years ago. Her file states she could glimpse into thefuture. She was much into the second sight. If you want to, I can ask for thewhole file, including the documentation about her going missing.”
“That would be splendid. Thank you.” I tried to say more, butmy thoughts were spinning. I had the name and face of my birth mother and athousand questions
About the Author:Award winning author Eliza Hampstead, a scientist by training, lives with her family in the UK. When she's not writing, she spends her time as a geek. Playing all sorts of games (board games, video games, RPGs) and being a big fan of medieval history are only a few of the many hobbies she has. Passionate about fantasy, she's always planning her next adventure.Sign up for Eliza’s newsletter to get exclusive updates on new releases, behind-the-scenes author news, and exciting extras like character interviews, maps, playlists, and bonus chapters that bring the books even more to life!
Newsletter: https://subscribepage.io/Jsj7Dt
https://www.pinterest.de/elizahampstead/
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https://www.amazon.com/Eliza-Hampstead/e/B0B7FJW2VQ/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22627172.Eliza_Hampstead
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October 14, 2024
A Bewitching Monday
How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse: Why a Pole Pruner is Your Secret Weapon by Eliza Hampstead #bewitchingbooktours https://buff.ly/4eHLeYW
HAUNTED HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR - FANTASY - THE WITCH'S DEBT (Coal Mountain, #1) by Edward Rollins #bewitchingbooktours https://buff.ly/402LrkM
SLEEPY HOLLOW’S HEADLESS HORSEMAN By Sam Baltrusis
https://fang-tasticbooks.blogspot.com...
INTERVIEW - ROMANTASY - THE NEPHILIM'S FATE (War of the Nephilim, #1) by Eliza Hampstead #bewtichingbooktours https://buff.ly/3Y82Hm8
Other Worlds by Kay Freeman - Haunted Halloween Spooktacular
#bewitchingbooktours https://buff.ly/3ZYCNUA
Author Sign Ups Are Open for the 2024 Deck the Halls with Books Holiday Extravaganza
Each participating author will receive:
* 3 week Holiday Theme Virtual Book Tour (retail value $125)
* Custom Tour Banner & Instagram Graphic
* Professional Media Kit
* TikTok/Reels Video
* Option to Offer Review Copies
* Group Giveaway for Cross Promo
The fee for this promotion is $75 per author per book
Sign up here
https://forms.gle/vjxpt3Z6WuMJXzuG7
Immortal Wounds by Angie Barton - Haunted Halloween Spooktacular
#bewitchingbooktours https://buff.ly/4h0ZBZV
The Nephilim’s Fate by Eliza Hampstead #bewitchingbooktours https://buff.ly/3NoU01T
Black In White by JC Andrijeski - Haunted Halloween Spooktacular
#bewitchingbooktours https://buff.ly/3Y43PqT
Chains of Blood and Darkness by M Guida Recipe & Giveaway
https://dealsharingaunt.blogspot.com/...
A Prophecy Awakened by Angie Barton - Haunted Halloween Spooktacular #bewitchingbooktours https://buff.ly/4h4hGWY
As an Amazon Influencer, I earn from qualifying purchases #Amazon #ad #CommissionsEarned
Ghosts of Sleepy Hollow by Sam Baltrusis - Haunted Halloween Spooktacular
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SLEEPYHOLLOW’S HEADLESS HORSEMAN
By Sam Baltrusis
For more than two centuries afterWashington Irving unleashed “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” the HeadlessHorseman is still very much alive in pop culture.
Elizabeth Bradley, a historian and author of Knickerbocker: The Myth Behind New York, rattled off a few of thevarious adaptations of the great American ghost story on the October 26, 2022edition of WNYC News.
“It has such legs and you can see that in all of the differentinterpretations,“ Bradley said during the radio interview. “There truly is aversion of ‘Sleepy Hollow’ for every generation.” It’s an impressive list thatincludes Disney’s animated classic from 1949 and Tim Burton’s supernaturalhorror flick starring Johnny Depp and Christina Ricci.
Of course, no one can eclipse the original which was initially publishedwith a collection of essays and stories for TheSketch-Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent in 1820.
“Irving's version of the Headless Horseman is set in the Hudson Valleyregion, and it pits an outsider, a Yankee, named Ichabod Crane against a veryinsular Dutch community,” Bradley said. “Throughout the course of the story,Ichabod pursues a local Dutch heiress in an effort to integrate himself intothis community and is ultimately run out of town by the apparition of theHeadless Horseman.”
Bradley told WNYC that she believes the famed short-story writer createdthe headless Hessian in an attempt to populate a young nation with its ownghosts and mythologies. “You have to remember that Irving was born the yearafter the American Revolution ended,” she said. “The war was in the rear-viewmirror of the people of Sleepy Hollow and a very new United States. It was anopportunity to create a whole regional culture. He really seized the moment andhad a lot of fun with it."
How did “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” become associated with AllHallows’ Eve? Bradley explained that the holiday wasn’t even on Irving’s radarwhen he fleshed out America’s first monster. “He doesn't mention Halloween oncein the story,” she said. “[The Headless Horseman] is often associated withhaving a pumpkin for a head,” she said, adding that the character’sjack-o’-lantern prop was added in Disney’s TheAdventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad and, over the years, the hauntingimagery then seared itself into pop culture. “Most people only knew the Disneyversion and that’s where the Halloween association really started to come intoplay,” Bradley added.
J.W. Ocker, author of The New YorkGrimpendium and creator of the OTIS:Odd Things I’ve Seen blog, is on board with the idea that the HeadlessHorseman has somehow become the unofficial ambassador of spooky season. “TheHeadless Horseman is the spirit of fall,” Ocker told me during a sit-downinterview at the Sleepy Hollow Hotel. “Every monster wants to be associatedwith autumn, but there’s something about him running through a forest with theleaves changing colors that makes him the patron monster of Halloween. Thebigger Halloween gets, the bigger he gets. Everytime you feed Halloween, youfeed him.”
Ocker agreed with Bradley that the animated version from the Disneymovie has ingrained itself into the American psyche. “Our generation grew upwith the Disney cartoon,” he said. “You can’t think of the Headless Horsemanwithout thinking of the purple-cloaked, cackling creature from the animatedversion. The imagery has almost become a part of the monster’s brand.”
The United States of Cryptidsauthor said he always thought the Headless Horseman had a jack-o’-lantern inone hand and a battle sword in another, but was shocked to learn that Irvingdidn’t include the macabre accessories in the short story. He was alsoconvinced that the Headless Horseman eventually caught up with Ichabod Crane ona covered bridge. Not true.
“People who visit Sleepy Hollow always want to see the covered bridge,but it doesn’t exist,” Ocker said. “If I could change one thing to the originalstory, I would make it a covered bridge. It just seems fitting.”
Despite being tweaked a bit in the modern adaptations of Irving’s story,Ocker said the Headless Horseman is still his all-time favorite gallopingghoul. “Irving gave us the first real American monster,” he told me. “I’m not avery patriotic guy, but as an American there’s something that speaks to meabout the horseman. It’s our monster. Frankenstein is from Germany and Draculais from Transylvania. Thanks to Irving, we have our own.”.
The secret to the short story’s success? Ocker believes the ambiguity ofIrving’s fearless phantom somehow amplifies its mystique. “All we know is hewas a Hessian soldier who lost his head during the American Revolution,” hetold me. “There’s not much of a backstory to him. He’s this vague creature thatpops up in the graveyard and runs around on his horse. He’s not jumping out ofyour closet. He has no face, He’s in essence an invisible man and there’ssomething unnerving about him as a monster.”
In Brian Haughton’s Lore of theGhost, he mentioned that Irving was living in Birmingham, England when hewrote “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and surmised that the celebrated Americanauthor “probably picked up on some of the elements he used in the story”overseas. “The headless ghost motif was known in German folklore at least asearly as 1505 when it was recorded in a sermon written by Geiler vonKaysersberg, who mentions headless spirits being part of the Wild Hunt,” henoted.
While Haughton wrote that Irving was strongly influenced by the storiestold by Dutch immigrants during his childhood in New York, he suggested thatit’s also likely that the writer was inspired by the recurring headless ghostmotifs from northern European folklore. “The tradition of the headless ghost isfound worldwide in many diverse cultures, and exhibits broadly the samecharacteristics connected with death and death warnings,” Haughton reported.“Popular tradition attributes such hauntings to the wandering spirits of thosewho died by beheading, either by execution or accident.”
Haughton is in agreement that Irving’s story continues to leave aprofound mark on popular culture. “Irving’s dark story of the headless Hessiansoldier who rides forth every night through the dark lanes of Sleepy Hollow,and the dénouement of the tale involving a supernatural wild chase through thewoods, has had a significant effect on the nature of American hauntings,”Haughton wrote in Lore of the Ghost. “Theinfluence of Irving’s tale on popular culture is evident.”
AlexMatsuo, author of Women of the Paranormal,told me that there may be an underlying reason why “The Legend of SleepyHollow” continues to strike a chord with American readers. “We don't thinkabout it often, but there are countless legends that were created to dehumanizea group,” Matsuo explained. “Instead of perceiving the Hessian as a realperson, granted a terrifying figure during the time of the Revolutionary War,he turned it into this story that is meant to remind people that the Hessianswere not meant to be trusted, even after the war was over.”
Even though Matsuo sees a deeper meaning to what could be viewed as acautionary tale, she said the Headless Horseman keeps luring her back to theHudson Valley area, “Between the story of the Hessian soldier who lost his headaround Halloween in 1776, and Ichabod Crane encountering him while trying toavoid him at all cost, there is a lesson to be learned there,” Matsuo said.“But I think the way that Disney commercialized ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,’plus the Tim Burton film, there is a romanticization of the spell-bound regionthat has cemented it into Halloween traditions.
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Ghosts of Sleepy Hollow: Haunts of the Headless HorsemanHaunted AmericaSam Baltrusis
Genre: Ghosts & HauntingsPublisher: History PressDate of Publication: September 23, 2024ISBN: 978-146715802Number of pages: 144Word Count: 32,500
Tagline: Chilling Tales of the Hudson Valley
Book Description:
Nestled on the banks of the Hudson River, Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown are steeped in history and ghost lore. Famous for Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” the storied Westchester region also has a dark history of witches, spies, and pirates.
Rumors of Headless Horseman sightings surge during spooky season while visitors flock to the Valley’s haunted hot spots like the Old Dutch Church and the famed writer’s Sunnyside home.
Join author and journalist Sam Baltrusis on a bone-chilling journey through the streets of Sleepy Hollow as he breathes new life into the legendary village’s long-departed souls.
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Excerpt:
SleepyHollow, New York is brimming with ghostly legends that have somehow taken on alife of their own.
Nestledon the banks of the Hudson River, the fabled region —which includes theadjoining Tarrytown— has become the go-to place during spooky season thanks tothe popularity of Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow."
Late-nightlantern tours in search of a decapitated soldier's galloping ghost? Yes,please.
Ifone spends enough time walking through the labyrinthine paths of the village'shistoric cemeteries, however, there's something sinister oozing beneath SleepyHollow's rustic, story-book facade.
It'sas if the entire hamlet is under some sort of enchantment. Or, as Irving pennedin 1820, it oddly feels like the locals are somehow bewitched and "aresubject to trances and visions."
Therevered writer referred to the area as the "spell-bound region," andrightfully so. According to several first-hand accounts, creepy music anddisembodied voices emerge out of thin air
Basedon Irving's mythical take on his later-in-life hometown, it should be nosurprise that the Headless Horseman isn't the Valley’s only fearsome phantomseeking postmortem revenge.
Theentire region seems to be teeming with paranormal activity. Severalpublications sensationally claim that both Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown togethermake the "most haunted places in the world."
But,is it?
Afterdigging beneath the surface, it's difficult to pinpoint what's actuallyparanormal activity versus a made-up ghost story that has been collectivelyconjured over a 200-year period.
AlexMatsuo, a Maryland-based author and paranormal investigator who has writtenabout the area’s alleged paranormal activity in her Spooky Stuff blog, believesthat the line between fact and fiction is somehow blurred in Sleepy Hollow.
“AfterWashington Irving's infamous tale plunged the area into fame, I wouldhypothesize that perhaps some of the paranormal activity could be attributed tothought-forms,” Matsuo told me. “There's also the case of self-fulfillingprophecies that people can accomplish without realizing it.”
Matsuocited the replica of the bridge in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery as a potentialhotspot for ghostly encounters that are freakishly fueled by the expectationsof thrill-seeking visitors.
“Justby knowing the tale and the true story behind it, they would already get a caseof the creeps,” she explained. “Then, with tensions rising, they hear a branchbreak or footsteps, and they get really spooked. They go home and tell theirfriends and family about the creepy experience, unknowing that there was ananimal nearby causing the ruckus.”
Also,there are what paranormal researchers call thought-forms or an outwardmanifestation of the heightened emotions of those who visit Sleepy Hollowduring spooky season. Matsuo believes that based on this concept, extreme fearcan somehow take a physical form within the spirit world.
“When you have a massive amount of peopleinvested in a story, even a fictional story based on real people, that energyhas to go somewhere,” she said. “In the case of Sleepy Hollow, it may havemanifested into paranormal occurrences. I would guess that most of that energyis more organized, but I wouldn't be surprised if some of that energy wasdisplaced, which could explain some of the random paranormal events that havehappened over the years.”
About the Author:Sam Baltrusis, author of Ghosts of Salem: Haunts of the Witch City and featured in The Curse of Lizzie Borden shock doc, has penned eighteen paranormal-themed books including Haunted Boston Harbor and Ghosts of the American Revolution. He has been featured on several national TV shows including the Travel Channel's A Haunting, Most Terrifying Places, Haunted Towns, and Fright Club (1 & 2). He also made a cameo in the documentary The House in Between 2 and on several additional television programs including The UnBelievable with Dan Aykroyd, History’s Most Haunted, Paranormal Nightshift, and Forbidden History. Baltrusis is a sought-after lecturer who speaks at libraries and paranormal-related events across the country. Visit SamBaltrusis.com for more information.
https://sambaltrusis.com/
https://twitter.com/SamBaltrusis
https://www.facebook.com/sam.baltrusis
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Black In White by JC Andrijeski - Haunted Halloween Spooktacular
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Halloween Fiction - The Chair
by JC Andrijeski
Devonfights…
She fights at first just to be there. Just to…
Keep her eyes open.
If she closes them…
Well, if she closes them for too long, she’ll die.
That should motivate you, Devon…
One of them doesn’t really open, though. Not anymore.
She can hear it.
A steady drip, drip, drip under the bolted down chair whereshe sits.
She’s…tied. Tied up…
Ankles handcuffed to the front legs. Wrists handcuffedbehind her, the chain wrapped through the metal back support of a heavy chairwith no padding. She hears the sound, like a light, tapping hammer against herskull.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Each drop hits more liquid.
More liquid every minute.
…a growing pool. It lays below her, mostly under her seatwhere it drips down from her sliced thigh and the larger gash in her abdomen.It’s already soaked through her blackpants. She doesn’tlook at the pool…
She doesn’tlook at it.
Her elbows touch behind her, trembling.
Well, shaking maybe.
Shock. She must be in shock. The body kind of shock. Somepart of her wants to fight or flight… at least until she collapses in front ofthe sliding glass doors of an emergency room.
They left her here.
Bastards just left. Didn’t even bother to finish her off.
Devon’s eyes drift up, to a metal shop lighthanging on a long, half-chewed wire from the ceiling. The ceiling lays highabove. Cross-beams with rivets, a broken catwalk. Corrugated tin roof withholes and sheet-metal walls. Cement floor. The expanse and size of it are clearto her suddenly, even in the dark… even with only one eye. It’s a modern-day cavern. An empty,rusted-out ruin.
Warehouse.
Jeez… cliché, much?
The smile doesn’t linger on her swollen lips.
Where, though? Where is she? Should she try yelling? Is itworth it, spending time and energy trying to get the gag off to yell?
She doesn’thave a lot of time. Has to choose wisely.
The warehouse is empty… vast.
She hears doves somewhere. Pigeons? They fuss and coo andrustle feathers against metal and more feathers. The sound comes from up high,echoing down to her. She imagines she sees them, huddled next to framed, dirty,dust-covered windows. Shafts of broken sunlight slant down, illuminatingdancing dust motes. None of that light touches her.
It’squiet. Really damned quiet.
No cars. No voices. No footsteps to echo.
Would anyone hear her, if she yelled?
Probably not, she decides.
Why would they have left her here, alive? She tries tothink about this, to make sense of it, then realizes the answer is simple. Shedoesn’tmatter. She is nothing to them. It amused him to leave her alive, so he did.
She’sprobably not in the city at all, not anymore.
Her mind finds and scuttles other possibilities. She wastesmore time, trying to remember the ride out here, in case she gets a chance toreport in. How many of them took her. What they looked like. She didn’t see shit on the drive here, or asthey dragged her inside. She tripped a few times. On metal edges, steps, maybe.She didn’tsee anything that could help her now.
She’dbeen terrified.
They whipped the bag off her face…
Nothing but the hanging light, those tools, rough hands…
Screaming.
It went on for a long time.
Questions. She won’t remember those, either.
…she tried to listen. Before that. She tried to…
She hadn’tbeen trained for this. No one told her this might happen.
First job. Big deal first job, working for the president.
Just a noob. A rook.
A red shirt.
She tries to make a report. To herself. A report on whathappened…
…three men forced a black bag over my head at approximately7:15 am. I ’ djust reached the edge of the perimeter on our secondary check, at the southeastcorner of the UN building on East 42nd and 1st. I was overpowered, drugged,then blindfolded with a bag before being marched down the emergency stairwell I ’ d been patrolling. They took outsidethe building through a lower access door, where I was almost immediately shovedin the back of an unmarked van…
Well. Her mind said “unmarkedvan.”
She remembers a sliding door, the grating sound before itslammed shut with a muffled bang and the snick of a lock. In the movies it’s always an unmarked van...but itcould have been some suburban minivan, for all Devon knew.
Maybe with a “My Kid is an Honor Roll Student”bumper sticker…
Distraction. She doesn’t have time for distraction.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
She doesn’tknow much about the human body, but she knows it needs blood.
Hers is running out. Too fast.
No one is coming.
They’dcut her…
Christ. How did this happened?
Wrong place, wrong time.
…but she can’tthink about that anymore, either.
Her one, good eye scours the space again.
Heavy wooden table. Dirty, covered in tools.
Devon doesn’twant to look at those tools, given that most are covered in her blood. Shemakes herself stare at them anyway. Some are sharp, sure...most are sharp,rusted, like a horror movie or something from the Tower of London. A fewblunter things. She can’tsay for sure, but doesn’tthink any of them would help her get out of the chair. Not with no hands. Notfast enough.
A spark ignites somewhere in her mind.
Keys.
He’dsnorted, staring at her with those hard, slate-like eyes.
He’dbeen finished. Worked up a sweat. Probably a calorie deficit day for him. Likegoing to the gym.
Orange-tinged blond hair sweated to his forehead and neck.Face, neck and upper body speckled with small and large red dots, largerpatches of the same fluid on the sleeves of his blue t-shirt and his hands. Hemade a show of wiping those thick, hairy hands on a dirty rag before he left.
She’dalready been counting down the minutes.
Maybe he had been, too.
Or maybe the clock had already stopped, from hisperspective.
He’dleft the keys.
Well… sort of.He’d thrown them across the emptywarehouse.
He did that casually, too, tossing them in a high arc, liketossing a bottle opener to a friend at a party.
They went far, though.
Devon heard them land. She hears it again now, a distantthunk in her head as she fights to remember. She hears them skitter across thecement a few feet...or maybe a few yards...like a distant replay.
That bastard grinned at her after he did it. Teeth yellowfrom smoking. Face broken with a darker scruff than that pale. Blond hair.Between that and his darker roots, he must have bleached his hair, come tothink of it.
Distraction.
He threw the keys… that was right before he left.
She thinks she remembers the direction. She thinks…
Devon bites down on her lip. Hard.
The pain forces her eyes (eye?) open once more.
It brings her mind briefly, sharply, back into focus.
You ’ renot going to just sit here and die, Devon.
You ’ renot going to play some stupid wait-and-see denial game… like some fatalisticass, waiting for angelic intervention…
That time, she doesn’t think.
She starts to rock the chair.
She starts to rock it for all she’s worth.
* * *
It’s difficult at first.
Side to side. Baby steps.
Then wider swings.
The legs teeter a few times, chunk down. Make her flinch.
It takes a few, good seconds to get her rhythm down...
Then it’sa little scary. The chair starts to sway for real. Those legs chunk downharder. Land less steadily.
Some part of her still winces back.
Some part of her doesn’t want more pain.
Death, Devon.
Death is worse than a little pain, damn it…
…she makes herself do it, anyway.
When that final rock tips her over the edge, she’s startled. Like some part of herstill doesn’tsee it coming.
Her body tries to catch it in reflex…
It can’t.
She lands, hard, exhales in a pain-filled grunt.
Moaning, she gasps. Winded. She lays on her side, panting,wasting oxygen, moaning, feeling like she just wants to die. She’s sure she’s broken her arm. It feels like shejust hit it with a hammer.
She did, more or less. On purpose.
It feels like an eternity of time she’s wasted.
She can see it now, though. She’s half-laying in it.
That pool of blood. It’s big.
Scary big.
It motivates her.
She starts to writhe inside the bindings of the chair. Shetried to pull the chair with her, across the cement floor.
On her side, she can move her body, like a snake. It hurtsher abdomen. It hurts enough to distract her from her throbbing leg, from herarm. She can even move the arm under her, but hit hurts like hell.
All of it hurts like… well, it hurts a heck of a lot.
More than anything she cares to remember.
She does it anyway.
She’sgoing to get across the floor. No matter what.
If they find her dead, she won’t just be sitting in a chair.
She won’tjust be sitting over a pool of her own blood.
* * *
Atfirst, she thinks she’snot getting anywhere.
It’sslow. Really slow.
She looks back though, when she has to rest. She sees asmear of blood, coming mostly off of that cut he made in her leg. A lotprobably off that hole in her abdomen, too.
She looks forward again, moving.
Writhing. Gasping.
Nothing ever hurt so much.
She’stired.
She doesn’twant to think about being tired.
She doesn’twant to think about what it might mean.
She’sreally damned tired, though.
She fights to see through the one eye. It’s fogged a bit now, not really workingright. She blinks, fighting to clear it. It works, but not really.
She can’tget tired.
She can’t...
The first time she snaps out, she realizes she’s been lying there. She doesn’t know how long. Dozing...
Time for a nap, Devon? Really?
…but it scares the shit out of her.
She’sfading. She has to hurry.
She writhes faster across the cement floor, groaning alittle from the wounds that have stiffened just enough to remind her she’s been lying there.
She makes it a few more feet.
A few more.
She’llstop, just for a second.
Needs to rest.
Needs to…
* * *
“Hey! Hey, lady!”
Devon’s head lolls on her neck.
The ground hurts. Something sharp there. Glass?
A nail.
Light in her face.
Really bright.
It’sdark in here. Really dark.
She’sstill tied to the chair.
“Whatcha doin’ down there, lady?”
The voice slurs, then laughs. The laugh echoes, a hollowpinging against the metal insides of the cavernous space.
Devon blinks up, unable to shield her eyes from that light.Her wrists are still cuffed to the back of the chair.
She’sstill tied to the chair.
Panic fills her.
A memory of that drip, drip, drip…
She fights to speak. “Help,” shewhispers.
“Lady, you’re bleeding a lot. Damn. A lot…that’sreally fucked up…”
“Help me…”she whispers. “Please…help me…”
She fights to move. Maybe to plead with him.
Maybe just to show him she can’t.
“Hey,” hesays. “Whatyou doing in here, lady? What happened to you?”
She has the absurd desire to laugh.
Then to scream at him.
He laughs again, maybe at the look on her face.
Devon feels sick, dizzy. Is this real? Is someone reallyhere? Is she dead? Dreaming on a gurney in some emergency room?
But no. The chair. The chair is still there.
She wouldn’tdream the chair.
He doesn’tseem right, either. High, maybe? Maybe he has a phone.
Then she sees it.
He’susing the phone to look at her. Using the light on the phone…
Hope turns into anxiety, clutching at her chest.
“Please,” shewhispers. She fights to make more noise, to speak. She clears her throat,swears she tastes more blood, then fights away the image. “Please,” shesays, a little louder. “Please…call someone… please…”
“Callsomeone?” That off-key laugh. “Who you want me to call? Who done thisto you, lady?”
She fights to see him through the bright light. She staresat the phone…
It is maddeningly out of reach.
“Please,” shewhispers. “Please…call someone. Please…”
Another voice startles her.
It is louder, deeper.
“What thehell?” it says. “Whoare you talking to…?” A longer pause. Then new voice gets close enough to seepast the light. “Jesus Christ… Rudy! What the fuck are you doing?Don’ttouchher!”
He sounds disgusted.Afraid.
“What are youdoing, man?” he says, angrier now. “Get awayfrom her. Seriously, man. That is gross…”
The first one crouches down, so that he’s closer to her.
Devon smells alcohol on his breath, smoke.
The face she sees is young, shockingly so. Younger thaneither of the voices she thought she heard. She sees rounded cheeks, large eyeswith dilated pupils. She can’tmake out many features.
He’slike a happy ghost. An apparition.
“Leave heralone, Rudy,” another voice says. “You don’t want to piss off whoever did this toher…”
“Fuck, man!”the first one says. “Chill,okay? She’sbleeding!”
“I know she’s bleeding,”the deeper, angrier-sounding voice says. “Just leaveher alone, okay? Leave her there… and don’t touch nothing.”
“We can’t just leave her,” the first voicesays. “Can we?”
Devon hears doubt in his voice.
That doubt scares her.
Terrifies her.
“Please,” shesays. She fights to make her voice louder. “Please… Ihave money. I can pay you…”
“Money?”A note of interest grows in the first voice. “How much?”
“A lot…”
“Here? Yougot it here, lady?”
“No.” She shakes her head. “No. In mybank. But I promise, I––”
“See?”the angry voice says. “Shedoesn’thave shit. She’llsay anything right now...you can’tbelieve her, man!”
“No,” Devonpleads. “No…I promise. It’s true…”
“Come on,”the angry voice says. “Iain’tcalling no cops. No way.”
“You can callafter you leave,” Devon says. “Secret. Won’t tell. Don’t tell them your name…”
“No!” the second one snaps.
He seems to be looking at her, but she can’t see him past that ring of brightlight. She can only feel the weight of his stare.
“I’m on parole, lady,” he says. “No offense,but you’realready dead. No one can help you now but God.”
“Keys!” Devon blurts. “Do you seekeys? On the ground? Anywhere?”
“Keys?”the first voice pipes, interested again.
Devon realized only then that he’d fallen silent.
“Yes.” Devon nods. She turns back towardshim, away from his angry friend, fighting to speak. “Yes. Please look. Please. I’ll say I found them. I promise I will.I won’ttell anyone about either of you…”
“On thefloor?”
“No!” the angry voice says. “Come on, Rudy. Let’s go. She’s giving me the creeps.”
“I can lookfor a minute, man. Chill.”
“She’s already dead.”
“One minute. Chill, man.”
Devon sees the first one, the one with the phone, wanderingaround the empty space. She cranes her head and her right eye towards theflickers of light and reflection on random metal surfaces as he shines hisphone screen around, aiming it at different spots on the cement floor.
A few seconds later, he lets out a jubilant laugh.
It echoes up to the metal rafters, bouncing against thewalls of Devon’shead.
“Hey! I see ‘em! I see your keys, lady!”
“Here,” shemanages. “Please…bring them here, Rudy… please…”
Angry guy mutters.
Clothes rustle somewhere over where she lays, like he’s folding his arms, or maybe shovinghis hands into his pockets. The material is light, noisy, like a windbreaker ormaybe a nylon jacket.
“Bitch knowsyour name, man,” he says.
“Whose faultis that?” Rudy says cheerfully.
Devon hears a jangling sound as he scoops up the keys. Likemusic.
She listens as he brings them over to her.
She hears footsteps…
Then his face is near hers again, grinning like he just wona prize.
“You want ‘em by your hand, lady?”
“Uncuff me.Please.”
“No, Rudy!”the second voice snaps. “Leavethe bitch her keys, and you did your good deed. Let’s get the hell out of here. Now.Before someone sees us and figures what you did.”
The first one leans down, placing the keys clumsily in herfingers behind her back. Devon reaches for the slick ring. Grasps hold of coldmetal with all of her might. She gasps, fighting tears, even as the kidwhispers in her ear.
“Sorry,lady,” he tells her. The smell of his breath still makes her wince. Pot smokeand cheap booze. “Sorry.I hope you get out of here okay…”
“Call,” shebegs him, whispering back. “Please, when you get out of here…just… call someone. Even with the keys, I won’t have time, Rudy. I won’t get out of here in time… please callsomeone for help…”
He grins at her again.
Devon only sees emptiness in those hazel eyes.
She never gets a good look at his face. All she sees arethose hazel irises blackened by too much pupil. Teeth that glow nearlyflorescent behind the blue-white panel of his smartphone.
“Please,Rudy,” she pleads, her voice a shadow now. “Please. Helpme. Don’tleave me here to die… please… I don’t know where I am…”
But it’sdark inside her cave again.
They’vealready gone.
* * *
Sheloops the key ring through two of her fingers.
Grips it there. Wills it to stay.
Using her free fingers, she feels over the surface of thecuff, looking for the hole. A notched opening, a tiny square merged with a tinyrectangle. She finds it on one cuff. Holds a finger there.
How much time does she have?
An hour? Maybe two?
When did they pick her up?
When did he ask the last question?
How long had it been since he stuck that knife in herthigh? He left it there, for awhile. It might have bled less then, with theknife in it. He left it sticking out of her, until he was ready to leave…
She gasped, gripping the key with all of her strength asshe fought it closer to that tiny, odd-shaped hole.
There are other keys on the loop of metal, though.
Three keys. One for each set of cuffs.
Is she holding the right one?
33.333% chance that she’s holding the right one.
She prays. Like a child, she prays it’s the right key. As if that will solveall of her problems. As if that’sgoing to end it.
She won’tdrop the keys.
That much she knows.
She won’tdrop them.
Adrenaline, feeding her blood. Maybe killing her faster.Maybe giving her just enough for a last try at life.
She positions that first key over the hole. It goes in. Shecould cry with relief. She grips it, though. She grips it tight. She twists.She twists it… carefully. It won’tunlock. It won’tmove.
Her hands are slick. Wet. Hot. She’s doing it wrong.
Wrong? Or is it the wrong key?
She fights with it. Wills it to open.
Wrong key.
Her mind screams it. It screams it in the dark, pointing ata ticking clock, at the drips of blood she can no longer hear coming out of herthigh and out of that wound in her belly.
Focus.
She bites her lip again, tasting more blood.
Next key.
66.66666% chance that this one is right.
Process of elimination. Odds keep getting better.
Better for one.
Worse for the other.
She’sout of time.
Time…
* * *
Itis the third key.
100% chance of being correct.
Even so, when the lock twists, she almost cries out indelirious relief.
She’dhalf-convinced herself it would be wrong. She’d half convinced herself it would bethe match that fell in the snow…
To Build a Fire.
…but it turned, and she felt the metal fall away, and letout that cry, waking the doves in their high rafters.
She felt the cuff fall open and then she could move herarms.
Not broken, after all. Just hurt a lot.
Still gripping the keys, she moved like a geriatric. Shedidn’tpull her arms. Even with her hurt abdomen, she pulled her body forward,dragging her arms after her.
She still held those damned keys.
She might never put them down. Ever.
No time to waste.
She dragged her arms forward, crying, in spite of herself.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
She leaned forward. Fumbling in the dark. Dark like nolight ever existed.
But that’snot quite true, either.
She can see an orange light… through those dirty windowsabove the sheet metal walls. She can smell the dirt on the cement floor, andpiss, and she can see that light.
She’snot dead yet.
Left leg first. Maybe because it feels urgent. It’s the leg that got stabbed. She has toget it free. Now. Right now.
She fumbles for the hole. Finds it.
She kept the key in the lock of the cuffs that had lockedher wrists to the back of the chair. It dangled from her wrist on the hand thatdidn’tlook for the keyhole that still held her to the metal chair.
66.6666% chance of being correct on the first try.
That time, it worked on the first try.
She freed that leg and groaned, holding onto the last key,key number three, the one that would finally free her from the chair. Shegripped it tightly in her fingers. She held it as she gripped her free ankle,tears running down her face.
Thinking. How to move her body. She fell apart from thechair strangely that time, still tied to it, but at a weird angle now.
She tries to think her way through where she is.
She tries to rewind her way back through the dark.
Wrists free. Fall forward.
Left leg free, fall to the side.
She wraps around herself, dragging the chair. It makes ahollow, scraping sound as it grates across the cement floor. The sound echoes.She pants, and that echoes, too. She feels a nail there, something she shouldn’t step on.
She’sstill gripping the key.
The last key. The final key. She holds it like the holygrail, gripping it with fear in her wet, hot, throbbing hand.
The answer to her final problem.
She may never let it go.
100% chance of being right.
Black In WhiteQuentin Black Mystery Book OneJC Andrijeski
Genre: Urban Fantasy Mystery RomancePublisher: White Sun PressDate of Publication: September 9, 2015ISBN: ISBN-13: 978-1545436714 ISBN-10: 1545436711ASIN: B01554ZHH6Number of pages: 268Word Count: 76,755
Cover Artist: Damonza
Tagline: Meet Quentin Black: Private Investigator. Psychic. Possible murderer.
Book Description:
Gifted with an uncanny sense about people, psychologist Miri Fox works as a profiler for the San Francisco police. When her best friend, homicide detective Nick Tanaka, thinks he's finally nailed the serial murderer known as the "Wedding Killer," she agrees to check him out, using her gift to discover the truth.
But the suspect, Quentin Black, isn't anything like Miri expects.
He claims to be hunting the killer too, and the longer Miri talks to him, the more determined she becomes to uncover his secrets.
When he confronts her about the nature of her peculiar "insight," Miri gets pulled into Black's bizarre world, and embroiled in a game of cat and mouse with a deadly killer--who might just be Black himself.
Worse, she finds herself irresistibly drawn to Black, a complication she doesn't need with a best friend who's a homicide cop and a boyfriend in intelligence.
Can Miriam see a way out or is her future covered in Black?
THE QUENTIN BLACK MYSTERY SERIES encompasses a number of dark, gritty paranormal mystery arcs with science fiction elements, starring brilliant and mysterious Quentin Black and forensic psychologist Miriam Fox. For fans of realistic paranormal mysteries with romantic elements, the series spans continents and dimensions as Black solves crimes, takes on other races and tries to keep his and Miri's true identities secret to keep them both alive.
Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/jcKdbAYADcY
Amazon
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Excerpt:
I tilted myhead, still smiling, but letting my puzzlement show.
“Why are youtalking to me at all?” I asked finally.
“Why shouldn’t Italk to you?” he said. “I’ve already told you that you’re the first person towalk in here that I thought might be worth my attempting to communicate.”
“Because I’mfemale?” I said.
“Because youseem to be less of a fool than the rest of them,” he corrected me at once.
“But you saidNick had a mind?”
“I said he had amind of sorts. Not the same thing at all. Although, given the nature of hisintellect, he has undoubtedly chosen the right profession for himself.”
I smiled again.“I’m sure that will be quite a relief for him.”
I heard laughterin the earpiece that time, right before Nick spoke up.
“See if he’lltell you his name,” he said to me.
“Certainly, ifyou really want to know,” the suspect said, before I could voice the questionaloud.
“My name isBlack. Quentin Black. Middle initial, R.”
I stared at him,still recovering from the fact that he’d seemingly heard Nick give me an instructionthrough the earpiece.
Clearly, hewanted me to know he’d heard it, too.
“You heardthat?” I said to him.
“Good ear, yes?”he said. Smiling, he gave me a more cryptic, yet borderline predatory look.
“Less good withyou, however. Significantly less good.”
He paused,studying my face with eyes full of meaning.
I almost got thesense he was waiting for me to reply—or maybe just to react.
When I didn’t,he leaned back in the chair, making another of those graceful, flowing gestureswith his hand.
“I find that…fascinating, doc. Quite intriguing. Perhaps that is crossing a boundary withyou again, however? To mention that?”
I paused on hiswords, then decided to dismiss them.
“Is that a realname?” I said. “Quentin Black. That doesn’t sound real. It sounds fake.”
“Real is allsubjective, is it not?”
“So it’s notreal, then?”
“Depends on whatyou mean.”
“Is it yourlegal name?”
“Again, dependson what you mean.”
“I mean, couldyou look it up in a database and actually get a hit somewhere?”
“How would Iknow that?” he said, making an innocent gesture with his hands, again withinthe limits of the metal cuffs.
Realizing Iwasn’t going to get any more from him on that line of questioning, I changeddirection. “What does the ‘R’ stand for?” I said.
“Rayne.”
“Quentin RayneBlack?” I repeated back to him, still not hiding my disbelief.
“Would youbelieve me if I said my parents had a sense of whimsy?” he asked me.
“No,” I said.
“Would youbelieve that I do, then?”
I snorted alaugh, in spite of myself. I heard it echoed through the earpiece, although Iheard a few curses coming from that direction, too.
I shook my headat the suspect himself, but less in a “no” that time.
“Yes,” Iconceded finally. “So it is a made-up name, then?”
The man callinghimself Quentin Black only returned my smile. His eyes once again lookedshrewd, less thoughtful and more openly calculating.
Even so, hisweird comment about “listening” came back to me.
Truthfully, hewas looking at me as if he were listening very hard.
The thought mademe slightly nervous.
About the Author:JC Andrijeski is a USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of gritty, character-driven, “real”-feeling paranormal mysteries and apocalyptic fiction. Her books have strong romance subplots, found families, and often a metaphysical bent. JC has a background in journalism, history and politics, and loves hiking, people watching, yoga, meditation, weird tourist destinations, the beach, coffee, birds, snails, and tacos. She grew up in the Bay Area of California, but travels extensively and has lived abroad in Europe, Australia, and Asia, and from coast to coast in the continental United States. She’s now living and writing full-time in Hollister, California.
Website: https://jcandrijeski.com
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October 13, 2024
Immortal Wounds by Angie Barton - Haunted Halloween Spooktacular
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On This Night
On this night of blood and batsOf howling wolves and pointed black hatsOf dreadful tales shared ‘round a fire’s glowOf cackling witches and their familiar crows
Suppressed within tall grass, it is hard to seeBut a haunted cemetery it is said to beA chill and an eeriness hangs within its gateAs sinister whispers promise ill fate
Their words come straight from hellYet mesmerized you fall under their spellFor on this night of sinful playThe buried you disturbed now hunt you like prey
Immortal WoundsImmortal Wounds SeriesBook OneAngie Barton
Genre: Fantasy/Historical Fiction/Magical RealismPublisher: Angie Barton Date of Publication: April 22, 2022ISBN: 979-8990647206ASIN: BOD9XTF25KNumber of pages: 392Word Count: 93,000Cover Artist: Donnell McKenzie
Tagline: Did Isobel make an error in landing in the wrong time, or was it part of her destiny?
Book Description:
After witnessing the brutal deaths of her mother and husband, Isobel overhears a confession from one of the murderers, a ruthless vampire who claims to be her father. For fear that she and her unborn daughter’s death could come next, Isobel uses the only magic she possesses and summons a portal to take her two hundred years in the past to revisit an ancestor in Scotland who she believes may know the truth of her parentage. However, in her haste, Isobel lands in the wrong century. Before she realizes her mistake, she stumbles upon a family: a ferocious Highland warrior and his two sisters.
Isobel could not have prepared herself for what she discovers during her stay: the vampire who claimed to be her father, alive three hundred years in the past! With the help of Meg, the youngest sister, and Mariam, both women’s ancestor, Isobel finds herself belonging in a world she never dreamed of—one entangled with vampires and webbed with revenge, curses, and a prophecy that has dictated all of their lives for the last four hundred years.
Did Isobel make an error landing in the wrong time, or was it part of her destiny?
Amazon
About the Author: Award winning author, Angie Barton, published her first novel, Immortal Wounds, in 2022. Angie’s love for writing centers around the fantasy genre, but she also enjoys writing thriller and romance. Her passion for reading, which led to her love of writing, began in elementary school with the Scholastic Book program. Her parents, who are life-long avid readers, have been a huge influence on her reading. Therefore anything and everything Angie could get her hands on she read.
Angie has been an early childhood educator since 1986 and hold a B.S. in Child Development. Her love for literacy has continued throughout her career, not only for herself, but also with the children she has cared for and taught. What Angie is most passionate about is helping others discover the excitement that reading brings. Her greatest desire in writing is to create and bring joy and entertainment to everyone she touches.
Currently, if Angie isn't reading at least three books at a time or working on a rough draft for her next book, she can be found outdoors gardening, woodworking, or relaxing by her pond. She shares that she's a Capricorn, tried and true, drinks way too much tea, and that her "to be read" pile of books can spike at any time.
www.authorangiebarton.com
https://www.facebook.com/author.AngieBarton
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/angie-barton
https://www.instagram.com/immortal_wounds/
https://www.goodreads.com/goodreadscomangie_barton
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October 11, 2024
A Bewitching Friday
A Prophecy Awakened by Angie Barton - Haunted Halloween Spooktacular
#bewitchingbooktours https://buff.ly/3BFGvZb
The Witch’s Debt by Edward Rollins - Haunted Halloween Spooktacular #bewitchingbooktours https://buff.ly/484MX8b
Wanderer of the Wastes by Kit Karlsson
https://www.instagram.com/p/DA_PHlXNdeN/
[Haunted Halloween Spooktacular & Giveaway] Chains of Blood and Darkness by M. Guida
https://triquetrareviews.blogspot.com...
Please Welcome Kay Freeman as She Tells Us About Her Gothic Romantasy, Other Worlds #bewitchingbooktours https://buff.ly/3Nk9PH8
Author Sign Ups Are Open for the 2024 Deck the Halls with Books Holiday Extravaganza
Each participating author will receive:
* 3 week Holiday Theme Virtual Book Tour (retail value $125)
* Custom Tour Banner & Instagram Graphic
* Professional Media Kit
* TikTok/Reels Video
* Option to Offer Review Copies
* Group Giveaway for Cross Promo
The fee for this promotion is $75 per author per book
Sign up here
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Immortal Wounds by Angie Barton - Haunted Halloween Spooktacular #bewitchingbooktours https://buff.ly/3BFhflH
Tonight - October 11 Flint ArtWalk at Shops on Saginaw https://www.facebook.com/events/87877...
This FREE event will be inside Shops on Saginaw from 6-9pm
Light refreshments, Halloween candy, and fun freebies
Copies of Haunted Hotels of Michigan, Ghosts and Legends of Genesee & Lapeer Counties, and Haunted Flint will be available for purchase.
Ghosts of Sleepy Hollow by Sam Baltrusis #bewitchingbooktours https://buff.ly/4eY5p4D
HAUNTED HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR - DARK PNR - KISS OF BLOOD AND SIN by M. Guida #bewitchingbooktours https://buff.ly/400WWt3
HAUNTED HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR - PNR - BLACK HILLS WOLVES by Celia Breslin #bewitchingbooktours https://buff.ly/3Nkl9Dl
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