Roxanne Rhoads's Blog, page 310

Guest Blog Eyes of Autumn by Cynthia Wise

Hello Everyone,
I am so thrilled to be guest posting.
I chose to write a little bit about myself so my fans can get to know me.
I have been writing ever since I was little. It’s always been a passion of mine! Writing can be a great hobby and it can be a great career!
People tend to ask me if I believe in the paranormal. My answer is yes. I absolutely do. It’s part of who I am, and as a matter of fact, if I wasn’t an author I would be a Reiki Master and hone my mediumistic gifts to help others. I love that I am able to mix my paranormal experiences with my writing.
I live in Marietta, Georgia with my husband, Cliff. If you don’t already know, my book series is centered here.
When I’m not writing, I enjoy playing with my two dogs, Jake and Sadie. I also love my cockatiel named Sam. I also love watching The Walking Dead and eating or cooking Italian food. Pasta is my favorite!
I love traveling, and someday I hope to go to Great Britain.
I look forward to hearing from all of my fans on what they think of my new book.
Love, Cynthia Wise

Eyes of Autumn The Marcel ExperienceBook ThreeCynthia Wise
Genre: Paranormal 
Publisher: BookLogix
Date of Publication: October 17, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-61005-677-9Number of pages: 432
Cover Artist: Aaron Davis 
Book Description: 
Recurring dreams have plagued Katie Hammond since childhood, forcing her to keep an open mind to the paranormal. But when Katie is compelled to follow a forest path during her trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains, she stumbles into a forgotten life – one she’s not sure she wants to remember – and an enthralling man who shouldn’t exist. 
At the end of the path is Marcus Hillyerd, a man with a secret and golden eyes. He comes face-to-face with the only woman he’s ever loved. The only problem – she doesn’t remember him. 
Then evil from Marcus’s past emerges and attempts to destroy everything he holds sacred. Needing reinforcement, Marcus calls upon Marcel Enterprises, his network of paranormal beings dedicated to helping victims of corruption. Together, they must risk their lives to keep Katie safe and protect the empire that took Marcus more than a century to build.  
Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/2YXjQmQo8co
Amazon    BookLogixExcerpt:
Marcus stood on the back of the veranda in the night shadows and listened. In the distance, he heard the faint squawk of radios, voices, and the purr of engines. He had time. Stepping into a sprint, he crossed the garden and was through its door in a matter of seconds. The forest beyond waited and his beast roared inside of him, wanting out. It was exhilarating running at top speed through the trees with night sounds and the scents of animals teasing him. At the edge of the forest, he stopped to observe and took a deep breath. The smell of rotting blood assaulted his nose.The cabin was shrouded in moonlit darkness. Yellow crime scene ribbon was stretched from post-to-post at the top of the porch steps and across the door. With a swipe of his hand, Marcus pulled them down and gave an experimental twist of the knob. One sharp push splintered the wood at the lock and the door swung open. The smell of lingering death was like a wall, coating Marcus’s nostrils and tongue, triggering his gag reflex. As he looked around the room, the first thing to draw his eye was a police outline of Angie’s body. His gaze moved on to the trail of blood leading to the loft ladder, and logic told him only one thing would have led Angie in that direction.
With a two-step running leap, Marcus touched a toe to the log wall and propelled himself up and over the railing, landing nimbly with barely a sound. Taking the suitcase with Katie’s scent. He cleared the railing with ease and was soon in the bedroom she’d been using. Within minutes, the closet and drawers were emptied. Leaving the scent of death behind, Marcus pulled the front door shut and broke into a run a she re-entered the forest.

About the Author:
Cynthia H. Wise first conceived the idea for The Marcel Experience years ago. At that time, she wrote stories for her own enjoyment. Inspired at an early age by the paranormal, Cynthia enjoyed having the ability to become someone else, travel to distant places, and experience new things as she wrote.  
During the long process of editing her first book, Portrait of Rage, an idea began to take root. Having begun another manuscript years before that she had entitled Eyes of Autumn, Cynthia realized how simple it would be to integrate the two worlds. She envisioned continuing the story and carrying characters from book to book as she continued to introduce new people, new conflicts, and new stories. She realized the list of paranormal subjects was endless. It would be simple to let the story flow from one inexplicable, exciting possibility to another. And voilà—The Marcel Experience was born.  
Cynthia H. Wise lives with her husband in Marietta, Georgia, where her series, The Marcel Experience, is centered. When she is not writing novels about the supernatural and the fantastic, Cynthia can be found with her husband, Cliff, their two dogs, Jake and Sadie, and their cockatiel, Sam.
http://www.cynthiahwisebooks.com
https://twitter.com/CynthiaHWise
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCynthiaH.Wise/
https://www.goodreads.com/series/190979-the-marcel-experience


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Interview with The Cast of Into The Shadows Book 1 by ClareMarie

Hello, everyone, I am ClareMarie and today I'll be interviewing characters from Into The Shadows, Book 1 (The Shadows Trilogy).

We are all gathered inside Ava and Kyran's condo with cups of tea's and coffee's and sandwiches courtesy of Ariana (Ava's mother).


Q1. CM: Ok guys, for those who don't know please introduce yourselves.

AJL: I'm Ava James Lewis, the heroine of the book.

KL: Kyran Lewis, Ava's husband, mate and hero of the story.

US: Una Smith. Ava's bestie.

RL: What's up ladies, the name's Riley Lewis, Kyran's twin but am the sexy half.

ML: Riley! Be a gentleman. Well, I'm his and Kyran's mother Mollie Lewis.

AL: Hey guys, Avery here and am Kyran and Riley's sister.

AJ: Aaliyah James, Ava's sister.

AAJ: Addison and August here, Ava's twin brothers. (Both speak in a freaky union. It always freaks Ava out.)

KJ: I'm Kai James, Ava's father.

AJ: Ariana James, Ava's mother.

GL: Gabriel Lewis. Kyran's father and pack Alpha.

AJ: bark, bark, (Axel, Ava's pet familiar introduced himself).


Q2. CM: Wow, big cast. Must be fun?

RL: Well you created us. So thanks for that.

AL: So fun, I made two new friends in Ava, Aaliyah, and Una. Super sweet and fun girls. Ava is the best sister in law.

AJL: Word. (Ava jokingly does the peace sign making everyone chuckle.)


Q3. CM: Would you describe yourselves as close?

AJL: Yes I would, not just because obviously, we are but because the bond we have. My family and I have grown closer since the secret came out and we've become close to Kyran's family too.

KL: We both gained new family members. We have new people to love and protect.

GL: Couldn't have said it better myself son.


Q4. CM: Are they a lot of scenes with everyone in the book?

KJ: Yes and no. My mate Ava at first didn't know any of us, me or my family. And was pretty pissed at her own family so she relied on Una a lot to help her through.

US: It was hard to watch your best friend get such a blow. I'm not trying to be dramatic and some would say I am but imagine believing one thing and then find out the truth is something else.

AJL: It was definitely tough and we're a big cast so was hard to spend time with everyone. I can't say too much without giving too much of my story away but I can, however, share something. Throughout the book, I have touching pivotal moments with each cast member.


Q5. CM: Ariana and Kai James, what was your reason for the secret?

AJ: This was a hard choice to make. Kai and I decided Ava was too young to understand the danger she was in and we wanted her to have as normal of a childhood as possible.

KJ: We hid Ava from herself essentially and the guilt Ariana and I felt every time we saw our daughter wasn't easy. I just kept reminding myself that we had to, to protect her.

AJ: We always planned on telling Ava on her eighteenth birthday. But the longer the lie, the harder it was to tell her.


Q6. CM: Ava, how did you feel?

AJL: (Ava draws in a deep breath) I felt betrayed by the people I trusted the most. It took awhile but I forgave them, well I thought I had but a later event showed me I hadn't completely forgiven them. Then something else took place which opened my eyes fully and in the book this scene is a touching moment.


Q7. CM: Ava, did you suspect the secret?.

AJL: Did I suspect the secret... (Ava gets a thoughtful look) hmm... I think so yes. I mean, I always felt different. Sensed there was something else without me who wanted to be heard which is weird right? You'll know what I mean by this when you read the book.


Q8. CM: Tell me about Paranormal Hunters.

GL: Paranormal Hunters are known as PHS, Paranormal Hunters Society.

KJ: We have.... an encounter with them in the book. That's all we'll say.


Q9. CM: What was it like growing up in a paranormal filled world?

AJL: To me, it's all I've ever known since I grew up in this society so it's normal to me.

KL: I agree with Ava. (Kyran pulls Ava in for a kiss)

RL: Same as. Now who can I pull in for a kiss? (Riley looks around the room and his eyes land on Aaliyah...)

AJ: Don't even think about it, Riley. I won't be kissing you. (There's laughter in the room from the cast and Riley pretends to sulk)

US: I was never a part of the paranormal world until Ava was so I never had any interaction with any of them so it didn't really affect me.

AL: It hasn't been easy, having two older twin brothers (Kyran and Riley) always on my heel is difficult enough for any teenager. But being a paranormal on top of that, always keeping yourself hidden from the public. Yes, the public knows of my status as a paranormal but we always try to hide as much of that as possible as not to draw too much attention.


Q10. CM: Is there you want to say to your readers before I leave?

GL: Welcome and hope you enjoy our lives. As the Alpha, I insist you buy the book and share. (Gabriel winks at you).

ML: As the Alpha's mate I back him up and since my son is one of the main stars you won't regret buying. Maybe I'm biased, though.

RL: Just buy the fucking book, we live in a fucked up world, who doesn't love to read that shit? (Ava tells him off for being rude as does Mollie). What? I'm just trying to be helpful.

AJ: And that is why Riley is annoying, stop plugging us, they'll buy if they want too. But on a serious note, I hope you enjoy our story

US: It's not only Ava's life that changed... that's all I'll say.

AJ: My daughter still has a lot to learn, our world has been waiting for her, she's prophesied for a reason.

AJL: Wait, what?

AJ: Next book my darling... (Ariana says to a now puzzled looking Ava and Kai appears nervous). Anything to say twins?

AJ: (Both Addison and August stop eating the sandwiches) Err not really, well except meet us in woodlands creek if your a babe.

AJL: (Ava mumbles) Again with the freakishly joint speech.

KJ: (Kai looks accusingly to Riley) My sons are spending too much time with you. And sons your too young to be talking like that.

AAJ: Dad we are wolves....

AL: They turning into little Riley's.

KL: This book has family bonds, friendships, love, supernatural powers, immortality, technology, a familiar pet, a personal betrayal to me and evil Government. Most importantly it has my wife and mate Ava James Lewis. So you know what's there not to love? (Ava's blushing and covering her face with her hands)

AJL: Into The Shadows is just the beginning of my journey and it would mean a lot if you joined me in taking it. We have a saying Once Unified Now In Shadows, it's a good indication of the story. I hope you enjoy this book even though it was hard living it and I hope you learn the same lesson I did.....


Love Always,

The Cast



Five Ava Facts
• All Ava's family are named with A names.

• Ava and her siblings are all born on the 21st.

• Ava has a pet familiar German Shepherd called Axel.

• Ava met Una when she was twelve at high school NYH, New York High.

• Ava calls her sister Aaliyah, Li. Her brother Addison, Addy. Brother August, Augy. She calls her familiar Axel, Ax.



Five Kyran Facts
• Kyran watched Ava for months before he first approached her.

• Kyran is the Pack's Beta.

• Kyran trains Ava to fight.

• Kyran's childhood friend betrays him.

• Kyran has the cutest dimples.



Five Una Facts

• Una and her family moved to New York from Galway Ireland when she was thirteen

• Una's parents were killed in a car accident when she was seventeen and brother Tobias who was twenty-one took on guardianship of Una.

• Her brother Tobias is in a band called The Legends.

• Una begins dating her brother's best friend Rick Dain. She always had a massive crush on him.

• Una hates pizza.


Into The Shadows The Shadows Trilogy Book 1ClareMarie
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Date of Publication: November 10, 2016
ISBN: 9781539508984 ASIN: B01MPZB5V0 
Number of pages: 456Word Count: 63,200
Cover Artist: Probook Premade Book Covers
Book Description:
Imagine living in a world where there are more than humans – a society where Paranormals co-exist with us, and a corrupt government kidnaps them so they can study their immortality and powers.
Where would you go?Imagine thinking you were human all your life, then find out you’re not, and if the government discovers you, you’ll become the most desired paranormal test subject to ever live.
Where would you hide?
In 2050, our world was divided into four species - Humans, Paranormals, Descendants, and Mutated Humans. Ava James thinks she's human, but finds out she's not… and in more danger, than she ever could have realized.
Her days just got a whole lot busier.
"You need to learn to protect yourself. You need to know the dangers of what you are, but also the strength of who you are."
All set in year 3000
Book Intro: https://youtu.be/VCeqeI3nKw8
Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/yBPHIakJ94k
Amazon Paperback     Amazon UK Paperback
Amazon Kindle    Amazon UK Kindle
iTunes     Nook     BN Paperback     Kobo     Smashwords




About the Author:
Paranormal and Contemporary Romance Author of The Shadows Trilogy and The Rockstar Alliance Series.
ClareMarie was born in England, but now lives in Galway Ireland. ClareMarie started songwriting at fourteen which grew into a passion for writing.
ClareMarie enjoys writing, music, reading lyrics to her favorite songs, books, audiobooks, movies and TV shows.
She published her debut Sci-fi/Fantasy novel on November 10th, 2016.
http://www.claremarieauthor.com/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15600490.ClareMarie
https://twitter.com/ClareMOfficial
https://www.facebook.com/ClareMarieAuthor/
https://www.youtube.com/user/ClareMarieOfficial
https://www.instagram.com/authorclaremarie/
https://www.pinterest.com/claremarieoffic/
https://plus.google.com/b/110443423091890897805/+ClareofficialBlogspotIe
http://claremarieauthor.blogspot.ie/



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Bewitching Holiday Extravaganza - The Heartbeat Thief by AJ Krafton

No matter which holiday you observe at year's end, they all share something in common: traditions. 

I grew up in the four seasons of northeast Pennsylvania, where Decembers were snowy and cheer-filled. We wore skiddoos and went sleigh-riding and came in the door pink-nose and snow-crusted. 

On Thanksgiving night, the borough would light the holiday street decorations for the first time. We'd sit at the front windows, cheeks against the glass, straining to see down the block to the main street, waiting for the moment the bells and candy canes would light up. 

Those lights meant one thing:  Christmas was almost here!

Some of my fondest memories are from our family Christmases, which were brimming full of special traditions. 

Many of them came from my Polish grandparents, involving the crèche and the special Christmas Eve dinner. I think that I will forever see Christmas through the lens of my dad's old 8mm camera, sounds of laughter and singing replaced by the whir of the projection reels and the occasional comment about our early-seventies fashion sense. 

Holidays have always held sentimental value, a sense of community and family and simple togetherness—not just for my Pennsylvania family in the plaid-stricken seventies, but for so many people and places, across the span of centuries.  

In my voracious research of the Victorian era (while writing my historical fantasy THE HEARTBEAT THIEF), I encountered an entirely new world of Yuletide traditions. 

Some are still widely celebrated (thanks to Doctor Who Christmas specials, my kids adopted a love for crackers) while some have largely fallen out of practice (such as a parlour game called Snapdragon, which seems like a good way to get a burned finger! Talk about dangerous drinking games…) 

One Victorian tradition that has always appealed to me is Wassail. A verb, to wassail means to go singing door to door, after which one is invited to drink punch from the family's Wassail bowl. 

A noun, wassail is the punch itself—and every family had their own recipe (kind of like Boilo recipes here in northeast PA). The punch was served in a wassailing bowl. A greeting, "wassail" was a wish for good health to those we cherish. 

Everyone would drink the hot spiced cider together, fostering a lovely sense of community and togetherness, which is the truest spirit of the holidays. Since immersing myself in the culture and traditions of THE HEARTBEAT THIEF, I wanted to find a recipe for my own family and promptly found about six million different versions (thanks, Google). 

They all seem to have a few elements in common, though: apples, spices, and warmth. Some contain ale or wine while others are more kid-friendly; some involve baking whole apples and placing them in the punch bowl; some even contain a whipped egg mixture (like this one from Alton Brown. Considering he is the Einstein of food, I would NEVER refute his wisdom.) 

I like this one the best, though—the tanginess of orange juice and the lemony zing of fresh ginger make my mouth water just thinking of it. 

Plus, the convenience of a slow cooker is a must with my crazy schedule…not to mention that it's like potpourri you can drink while warming your hands! All wonderful things, especially when the weather turns chilly and grown-ups are stuck in the house, too old to go sleigh-riding or playing outside in the snow. 

Recipe from A Spicy Perspective

Ingredients: 

• 1 gallon Musselman's Apple Cider

• 4 cups orange juice 

• 4 hibiscus tea bags 

• 10 cinnamon sticks 

• 1 tsp. whole cloves 

• 1 Tb. juniper berries 

• 1 1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger, cut into slices 

• 1 apple, sliced into rounds 

• 1 orange, sliced into rounds 

Directions: 

1. Place all the ingredients in a slow cooker and cover. 

2. Turn the slow cooker on high heat and cook for 3-4 hours, until the color has darkened and the fruit is soft. 

Remove the tea bags and serve hot. 

Maybe when my kids are older, I'll adjust the recipe to a more adult version. For now, I'd like to make something the whole family can enjoy. It's tradition, after all, and where's the fun in a tradition that excludes some of us? Happy holidays, everyone. Be sure to raise a glass to your loved ones!


Wassail...Drink Hale!


Learn more about wassailing!

My Victorian fantasy THE HEARTBEAT THIEF follows the journey of the Forever Girl, Senza Fyne. Terrified of death, of growing old, of being forced into an arranged marriage, she makes a deal with the mysterious Mr. Knell and learns the secret of eternal youth and beauty… I can picture Senza at a Christmas ball, in high London society, her hair upswept in a pile of curls the color of winter fire, her forever 18-year old figure trimmed out in a luscious gown of emerald silk and taffeta. 

She'd be the girl with whom every gentleman must dance, the one with whom everyone sought introduction. If you were lucky enough to speak with her, she might treat you a glimpse of her wit and wisdom, far beyond her years…to the sound of her charming laugh…and perhaps she'd touch your hand in a personal gesture.
 One touch, and your heart might skip a beat. An entire dance and you just may be left reeling, your senses spinning. Senza Fyne tends to have that effect on a person… 
Soon it would be time to gather around the wassail bowl, the spicy sweet scents of apple warming the air, reminding us all of the bounty of harvest and fortune, the cheer of friends gathered for Yuletide. 
You might be tempted to raise a glass to her in particular…but your wish for good health would be better spent on someone else. Senza Fyne had no need for wishes, not when her immortal youth, beauty, and perfection were secured by the strongest of magicks. 
 But you wouldn't know that because it's a secret she'd never tell. If she did, the heartbeat thief would be caught.
Seek out THE HEARTBEAT THIEF

Haunted by a crushing fear of death, a young Victorian woman discovers the secret of eternal youth—she must surrender her life to attain it, and steal heartbeats to keep it.


In 1860 Surrey, a young woman has only one occupation: to marry. Senza Fyne is beautiful, intelligent, and lacks neither wealth nor connections. Finding a husband shouldn’t be difficult, not when she has her entire life before her. But it’s not life that preoccupies her thoughts. It’s death—and that shadowy spectre haunts her every step.
So does Mr. Knell. Heart-thumpingly attractive, obviously eligible—he’d be her perfect match if only he wasn’t so macabre. All his talk about death, all that teasing about knowing how to avoid it…
When her mother arranges a courtship with another man, Senza is desperate for escape from a dull prescripted destiny. Impulsively, she takes Knell up on his offer. He casts a spell that frees her from the cruelty of time and the threat of death—but at a steep price. In order to maintain eternal youth, she must feed on the heartbeats of others.
It’s a little bit Jane Austen, a little bit Edgar Allan Poe, and a whole lot of stealing heartbeats in order to stay young and beautiful forever. From the posh London season to the back alleys of Whitechapel, across the Channel, across the Pond, across the seas of Time…
How far will Senza Fyne go to avoid Death?
Amazon US  | Amazon CA  | Amazon UK Kobo  | Smashwords |Barnes and Noble Google Play store | Apple   iBooks  


About the Author:
AJ (Ash) Krafton writes because if she doesn't, her kids will…and NOBODY wants that. A speculative fiction girl through and through, Ash writes paranormal romance and urban fantasy novels as well as poetry and short fiction. Her work has won a bunch of awards and was even nominated for a Pushcart Prize. When she's not writing, she's practicing Tai Chi, listening to loud rock and metal, or crushing on supervillains.
Most recently, she's re-released her urban fantasy trilogy THE BOOKS OF THE DEMIMONDE because she never really left the world of Sophie and her Demivamps.
Find out more when you visit www.ashkrafton.com
Blog: http://ash-krafton.blogspot.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/ashkrafton
Facebook: http://facebook.com/ashkraftonauthor
Goodreads: http://goodreads.com/Ash_Krafton
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/demimondeash
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/ash_krafton
Website: http://www.ashkrafton.com/
Newsletter: http://www.subscribepage.com/b1w9p1
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Why Review? How 5 Minutes of Your Time Can Change Someone Else's Outlook

It’s a fair question to ask. I’ve bought the record/ book/ movie ticket. I’ve enjoyed—or regret—my decision immensely. What’s done is done, on to the next adventure or mistake. I mean that’s how most people think; and at times I’m just as guilty of that logic. Especially in the Age of Instant Gratification and too-busy-for-everythingness. Indeed, and because of this fickleness of which we all suffer, where we will make snap judgments in moments, reviews matter more and more; particularly to the artist. Let’s take a deeper look at why.
The struggle is real. We (artists) aren’t all the J.K. Rowlings, Taylor Swifts, Spielbergs or Banksys of our respective crafts. Barring a fortuitous rise into public awareness, we’re nobodies for the first few years of our career. Such status persists until our presence, determination, and, ideally, quality art creeps its way into the public consciousness. (Note: J.K. actually lived this very struggle as I recall—though her mention as a successful artist in her field stands.)
I’ve alluded before as to how much I’ve invested of myself, my savings and my hopes into this venture, now, I’ll pull back the curtain on a less-nebulous figure: tens of thousands of dollars. More than 30 grand, less than 100—that’s about as precise as I’m willing to go when divulging my financial records online. That’s how much of my retirement (or non-retirement at this point) I’ve exhausted to produce four massive books that have undergone deep edits, formatting, had NetGalley listings, as well as associated marketing, PR, advertising, web-design and visual media. I haven’t been throwing money away, either, I’m trying to squeeze as much value out of these services as I can. That’s just how much it costs. Before anyone starts crunching numbers and readying retorts, keep in mind my manuscripts have a bevvy of characters and threads and are all two hundred and fifty thousand words and growing. The more words, the more money to edit such words. If you know an editor who will do a pass on a manuscript of that size and complexity for $1000, then I have a goldmine in Nigeria to sell you.
Have I seen a return on ½ of my investment? No. How about a third? After four years, yes, just about—praise the Lord. I’m not attempting to paint a woe-is-me image here. To write has been my choice, and with that comes all the strife and uncertainty inherent to independently creative or professional ventures. I’m just offering frank realities of what it costs for repeated rounds of substantive editing, proofreading, marketing and all of the other professional services that I’ve mentioned (and more that I haven’t).
My hope is that eventually, once more of my consumable media is out, the seesaw of cost vs. reward weighs in favor of the latter. My hope. That may never happen. I could just be digging myself deeper into a hole. Point is, though, you never know unless you try, and the only failure in life is not trying. So I’m trying. And it’s not easy, each and every day with pressures mounting and an often constant sense of treading water. Other artists who don’t have the nest-egg I’d saved in my twenties, or don’t have the kind of encouraging support from a partner as I do, are barely hanging on. We need validation. We need support beyond our small circles. A review can be the lifeline between going under and soldiering on—until artists have grown to the point where they have a legion of supporters, and enough positivity surrounding them to counter the bad.
For artists–even the successful ones–eternally battle negativity: from themselves, though often from external influences, too. There will always be someone who hates an artist’s work, and the more popular you become, the more hate that’s generated. Because of how we’re programmed—pain being a starker lesson than pleasure, and the need to validate that pain as we must validate many of the experiences in our lives—those negative voices will assuredly make themselves known.
An example. Despite my work clearly being labelled on the tin as “dark fantasy”, I had one reader throw down the book after fifty or so pages and declare that the violence in my novel (which is calculated, relatively sparse, and well, unsettling, as violence should be), was so horrific that they were essentially left rocking in a corner. Hyperbole? I hope so–quite sad otherwise. I also pray the poor dear never gets any Game of Thrones novels for Christmas. Likewise, I’ve had some amazing DNF (did not finish), and three star reviews. I like those reviews, because they speak to a level of level-headedness that says: “while this wasn’t the book for me, it wasn’t horrid.” I think those reviews paint a decent picture of what to expect for others, too, since they rationally illustrate flaws as well as strengths.
Feedback is crucial to an artist. Feedback is crucial to the conversation that art often tries to initiate. Artists need you to be involved in their conversations. It is through art that we connect. Sometimes it’s our only outlet. 
Also, when it comes to business and to promoting books, a lot of promotional companies (Bookbub, for example) won’t even bother with listing a novel until a book has X amount of highly rated, verified, legitimate reviews. Some people are so desperate to crack into success that they pay for sock-puppet ratings or hire Fiverr drones for accolades. 
Fellow artists, don’t do that,ever. Take the high road, always, and even though you’ll end up with blisters and a chip on your shoulder, you’ll probably end up happier, and more confident in a body of work that has withstood and garnered fair critique. But it’s hard work, climbing that hill, hoping to reach the sunny summit at the top. I believe we can all get there, some journeys simply take longer unless luck is on your side.
I think we’ve talked enough about the business, blood, sweat and tears behind art. Now let’s talk about what you can do to help your favorite struggling artists; and we’re all struggling, trust me, unless we’re living in golden palaces, riding emus, playing lawn cricket with Posh Spice, and have told you to get off our property before we release the hounds, you filthy peasants. (In that future, we’ve apparently become a major asshole, too–sometimes suffering is better for the soul!) Anyhoo, here’s how to do a (literary) review, which likely applies in a similar fashion to any site or aggregate for consumers of artistic media. 
Honestly, this may seem pedantic, but the first barrier between action and inaction is usually a fear of getting something wrong. Follow these steps and you won’t. 
Alternatively, skip all my blather you savvy internet maven and meet me beneath the tutorial.
• Decide where you’d like to place your review: Amazon or Goodreads. Or both!
• If you do not already have an account on either of these sites, you will need to follow a signup procedure for each, which includes: selecting a username, a valid email, a valid physical address (for Amazon). Amazon also requires that you must have purchased a product—any product—from the regional storefront (Canada, US, UK) in which you want to write your review, before you are able to post consumer feedback. Also worth noting is that Goodreads has a quick signup option by using your Facebook login (the services can be linked and it’s quite safe—I’ve done it myself).
• Once signed in, on the site on which you want to post a review, navigate to the “search” frame
• Type in the field the name of the book you’d like to review. Hit enter.
• A lot of information pops up now! Don’t panic! For Amazon, scroll down the page until you reach the right section then click: “add your own”. That should take you to a very simple page where you select a star rating, choose a title for your review (or not, and one will be automatically chosen from the first sentence of your review), and submit. For Goodreads, the process is even simpler, and right under the cover image of a book’s page, you will see a row of five blank stars. Simply click/ fill in however many stars you deem the book is worth, and afterward, you can add text to that rating if you choose.
• Still, the tricky part…what to say in a review? Well, a review doesn’t have to be wordy, it doesn’t have to be grand or have immaculate spelling. It can even just be a few stars, as mentioned above. It just has to be your opinion. It has to be real and from the heart. You’ll see plenty of examples of both long or short, funny or serious reviews just by scrolling through others.
• Again, if you’re really not interested or comfortable in writing something yourself, just assign a star rating on Goodreads, or, on Amazon, scroll through what reviews are already present and at the bottom of each you’ll find a “was this review helpful” button. Click “yes” (when signed in), to indicate that you found that review favorable, or no if you didn’t; all this without ever having to write anything yourself! Goodreads also has a similar feature with “liking” reviews—that button can be found just under the review’s block of text. You can also add comments under reviews on both sites, should you want to expand upon or defame another’s opinion (hopefully, the former, since we all need to be a little nicer). 
• Pat yourself on the back for making an artist’s life a little easier.
I hope that was informative. At the end of the day, being social, interconnected creatures, we are all at the mercy of another’s kindnesses and critiques. I’ll leave you now to rush, en masse, to do your Feast of Fates, Feast of Dreams and Feast of Chaos reviews! No, really, please do.
And if not writing a review for me, take five minutes of your time, spread a little universal kindness, and go do so for your favorite author, singer or performer. They’ll appreciate it, I guarantee.


Feast of ChaosFour Feasts till DarknessBook ThreeChristian A. Brown                 
Genre: Dark Fantasy/ Literary/ Romance
Publisher: Forsythia Press
Date of Publication: September 23rd, 2016
ISBN: 978-0994014429ASIN: B01M1ESQ3Y
Number of pages: 698Word Count: 250K
Cover Artist: Dane at Ebookcoverlaunch
Book Description:
Menos has been destroyed. No corner of the realm of Geadhain is safe from the Black Queen’s hunger. Zionae—or the Great Dreamer, as she has been called in ancient tongues—has a thirst that cannot be quenched until all of Geadhain burns and bleeds. She preys on the minds of weak men and exploits human folly for an unhuman end. She cannot be defeated in her current state, but the answer to her downfall may lie in the land of her past.
It is with this aim that a Daughter of Fate, Morigan, and her brave and true companions venture to the mysterious Pandemonia, the land of chaos itself. Ancient secrets and even older power lurk in its swamps and deserts. Life itself becomes uncertain, but the Hunters of Fate have no choice: Pandemonia must give up its secrets if they want to find the Black Queen’s weakness.
Elsewhere in the realm, alliances form and break. Dead men rise and heroes fall. Eod prepares for war. In hiding, Lila, the bearer of its destruction, will be given a chance to atone and answer for her sins. Will her actions save Eod, or has she damned it with her crimes?
Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/rURqUni_lco
Amazon

Excerpt: Heathsholme was quaint—Central Geadhain’s darling, as the locals proclaimed. Looking down upon it, passengers on skycarriages were often struck by the fact that the realm possessed the look of a joyfully made quilt. Red-leafed orchards, yellow fields of flax and corn, patches of blue brocade that were swimming pools and watering holes…all threaded with brown branching roads. Sweet winds blew down from the North year-round, bearing only cool and refreshing properties until winter rose to claim the throne of seasons. When the North wind came, it froze Heathsholme’s pools into skating circles and decorated the large trees with grand chandeliers of ice. In the depths of that season, the staunch apple trees finally died. Their fruits fell to the ground and were collected. Their blossoms broke from their branches and filled the air like flocks of migrating winter birds. During this season, families came from the West, South, and East to visit Heathsholme and enjoy great outdoor festivals of food, music, mulled cider, and wine—for which the region was also famed. Partly on account of the season’s coolness, these celebrations happened around great bonfires. At night, when the happily drunk howled at the moon, a primal spirit took hold, and effigies of nameless spirits were burned in the pyres. No one could remember why or how the Vallistheim tradition had been born, only that it was a remnant of the customs once imposed by Taroch. The ancient warlord had been fascinated by the Northmen’s rites, and had introduced many of them to Central Geadhain. Vallistheim—the winter festival—was believed to bring bounty and luck in the New Year. Over time, polite society had done away with many of the less pleasant sacrificial details to make the ritual friendlier to outsiders. Now only one cow from each of the barns and byres that rose on rings in the hilled highlands around the heart of the township was cooked in a great feast, without having been ritually slaughtered first. In the uncultivated grasses past the city proper and its farmlands, a dedicated explorer could find the remains of crumbled churches that had been built to honor the now vanished religion of Taroch’s fancies. Runes that the sages had translated into such names as Freyallah, Odric, and Helhayr were found chiseled in the mossy arches of these grounds. These sites of an ancient religion were thought by modern minds to be haunted or perhaps protected by the ancient spirits or warriors mentioned in the stones. It was the sort of refuge where a monster, fearful of being seen, could find sanctuary.



About the Author:
Bestselling author of the critically acclaimed Feast of Fates, Christian A. Brown received a Kirkus star in 2014 for the first novel in his genre-changing Four Feasts Till Darkness series. He has appeared on Newstalk 1010, AM640, Daytime Rogers, and Get Bold Today with LeGrande Green. He actively writes a blog about his mother’s journey with cancer and on gender issues in the media. A lover of the weird and wonderful, Brown considers himself an eccentric with a talent for cat-whispering.
www.christianadrianbrown.com
https://twitter.com/authorchrisab
https://www.facebook.com/ChristianAdrianBrown

https://www.instagram.com/authorchristianadrianbrown/

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Guest Blog and Giveaway Hot Shot by S.A. Stolinsky

What made me write about a gambling addict?  Well I was always interested in the stories of people who won millions of dollars at the touch of a slot machine and then said it was their last nickel before their flight home. Tyler West is just such a person.  He had total faith that he could lose and win money at the whim of a deck of cards. He believed in ESP and “a sixth sense,” and that luck comes in waves.  If you have bad luck, then good luck is right around the corner.  What he hadn’t bargained for was trusting people who handed him 1.5 million dollars and then expected him to win with it and split the profits.  Tyler was an innocent and he soon becomes sophisticated to the ways of the world. What did he think was going to happen when he lost?  Did he even think he could lose?  He knew he had the talent, but lady luck at the tables has a funny way of running out.  I thought that gave him a good background. He loves his mother, he knows about the foibles of his father and I wanted him to be well-equipped to overcome vulnerability.
I really loved Sam Allen, Tyler’s best friend.  Sam is the voice of reason when Tyler insists the trouble is coming from the outside.  He, Tyler, takes no responsibility for it at all.  He truly believes the gambling houses should warn would-be addicts that it’s dangerous to gamble.  “It’s all the casino’s fault.”  “Hey,” Sam says, “they’re in business to make money. They tell you to gamble responsibly but if  you can’t get help.”  Sam is strong and he gives Tyler advice all the time. They argue, but Sam is the one person Tyler will listen to, and these are very nice people. I write about good people who get stuck in bad situations often of their own making. Something happens which charges into their lives and they have to respond to it, and solve their own problem. That's the theme in many of my books and short stories.  I choose to write about people whose trouble comes from the inside, not the outside.

Hot ShotS.A. Stolinsky
Suspense
November 1, 2016

Fiery Seas Publishing

Book Description:
Payback is a powerful thing...
Actor and bartender, Tyler West experiences a sudden streak of luck -- winning poker games. Determined to change his life, he enters the World Series of Poker. His life is suddenly turned upside down when the Russian mafia fronts him 1.5 million dollars to play at the tables. And then...he loses…
Now on the ride of his life, deceit and deception are his key to uncovering the truth. He must recoup the money, but will it come at a price? Can he stay alive long enough or will his time run out?
Fiery Seas Publishing


Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/cc3b8xb7sl8






About the Author:
Stefanie Stolinsky, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist and forensic psychologist with a private practice in Beverly Hills, California. She  specializes  in trauma, adults sexually, physically and emotionally abused as children, and PTSD. She is an international speaker and has taught training seminars in overcoming the aftereffects of child abuse. She has also taught licensing examinations to candidates for both marriage, family and child counseling and for the psychology licenses. 
She began her career as an actress in motion pictures, television and stage and created a unique therapy combining acting exercises with psychodynamic psychotherapy to help survivors of all kinds of trauma overcome the aftereffects of abuse. The first edition of "ACT IT OUT" was a top seller for over nine years. A second edition of the popular book was launched in April of this year and is available on Praeclarus Press, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble. 
She is also the author of several award-winning short stories including her newest short story anthology, DATE NIGHT, and numerous comedy mystery. Dr. Stolinsky lives with her husband in Los Angeles.
https://www.facebook.com/stefanie.stolinsky
https://twitter.com/sastolinsky

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Cover Reveal Where On Earth? An Alaska Adventure By David H. Minton

Where On Earth? An Alaska AdventureBy David H. Minton
Fiery Seas Publishing
May 2017   
Romantic Adventure
Book Description:
Dan Richards, an Iraq war vet, is a surveyor for the mining company, looking to open a new silver mine. Scrambling to establish his helicopter charter business in the wilds of Alaska, while trying to stay connected to his teenage daughter, his world soon turns upside down when he rescues a woman and her dog sledding team after an avalanche.
Samantha Bettencourt, an environmental engineer, is eager to begin her first project with the university. A spokesperson for an environmentalist group intent on preserving the wilderness, she is on the path to saving the wild, but when Dan walks into her life things start to change.
Sparks fly between Dan and Samantha as they find themselves running for their lives—from the good guys as well as the bad guys out to ruin the things they long to protect. Will they be able to escape before it’s too late? Will they get a chance at love or will they lose everything. . . including their lives?

About the Author:

After graduating college, David spent two tours in United States Military Assistance Command Republic of Viet-Nam, before beginning his career as a nuclear engineer, then electronics engineer, tele-communications engineer, and software security engineer. He has previously published three non-fiction books, several poems, and many non-fiction technical and historical articles.  

Cover Reveal Luminous Dreams by Alexa Piper

Luminous DreamsAlexa Piper
Genre: Paranormal Erotica
Publisher: World Weaver Press
Date of Publication:  December 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-9977888-5-3ASIN: B01M7UBG0H
Number of pages: 140Word Count: 40,000
Book Description:
Relax, close your eyes . . . and dream. Nine tales, nine sensual dreams of enchantment, wanderlust and lovers’ longings, of searching and finding; these dreams tell of birds of fire, curses that lie like bridges between night and day, and hunger for sweet seduction.
Amazon     World Weaver Press
About the Author:
Alexa Piper enjoys writing, romance, and the paranormal. This said, becoming a paranormal romance writer seemed perfectly reasonable, but for Alexa, it is more than that; it's fun. Alexa’s work has appeared in the anthologies Demons, Imps, and Incubi and The Naughty List. Luminous Dreams is Alexa's first collection, and she hopes her readers will have as much fun reading it as she had writing it. Check out Alexa’s online home (alexapiper.com) for all things related to her writing and be sure to follow her on Twitter @prowlingpiper.
Website: http://www.alexapiper.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ProwlingPiper
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14017396.Alexa_Piper

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An Urban Fantasy Thanksgiving with DJ…and Then Comes Christmas

If you’ve been following my Sentinels of New Orleans urban fantasy series, you know that our intrepid wizard heroine, DJ, has had a rough time of it lately, as ELYSIAN FIELDS covered the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, and PIRATE’S ALLEY and the new book, BELLE CHASSE, take us through Christmas. 

Not to include spoilers as to how such things might have happened, but just before Thanksgiving, DJ’s house might have blown up at the hands of a murderous undead serial killer. Oh, don’t worry—she was okay. She was hauled out of the burning house by the sneaky elf who had tricked her into a lifelong bond. She couldn’t escape on her own because she also might accidentally have blown up her SUV, and her rental car died in the house explosion. 

So by Thanksgiving, she was persona non grata at any car rental place in New Orleans and had to rely on a cab to take her to the shell of her late father’s house in NOLA’s Lakeview community. The house had been stripped back to the studs after it was flooded following Hurricane Katrina.

But it wasn’t a bad Thanksgiving, really. Alex, her significant something-or-other (“boyfriend” sounds too young, right?) had gotten the fireplace working and brought in a rug and a sofa to put on the plywood flooring, so it was kind of cozy and sexy and calm.

This is DJ we’re talking about, however, the wizard that Alex calls a “chaos magnet.” (Well, okay, I think my editor might have come up with that term first.) So the lovely, quiet Thanksgiving she shared with Alex had, by the middle of December, turned into a tempest.

New Orleans was in the middle of a series of blizzards of suspicious origins, the undead-sexy French pirate Jean Lafitte was hell-bent on revenge against a certain vampire, the elven bondmate was acting VERY badly even for him, and he’s dicey on a good day, and a certain faery had taken it upon himself to impersonate Justin Bieber. And let’s not forget the undead Truman Capote had decided to visit his old childhood hometown of New Orleans.

DJ might have blown up a few buildings and defied an order by her Congress of Elders, so by the time we get to BELLE CHASSE and Christmas, let’s just say she’s now persona non grata in New Orleans—the whole city. She’s hiding out in the preternatural world, the Beyond, when Christmas finally rolls around.

It’s not all bad news for the holidays, though. She’s with the sexy pirate and her Cajun merman buddy Rene and her pregnant friend Eugenie. So it’s only the elves and faeries and wizards trying to kill her at the moment.

Oh, and the vampire mercenaries. 

But I digress. DJ’s shopping opportunities have been few since she’s in the 1815 version of the swamplands south of New Orleans without a mall in sight. She could plunder Jean Lafitte’s house, but he’d probably recognize anything she stole from him as a gift. So she’ll settle for a fine meal of turtle soup cooked by an undead pirate cook, although she has been assured that the turtle is dead and not undead. There will be crusty bread and fine wine and brandy. The conversation will be animated as the wizard, the pirate, the merman, two werewolves, and a pregnant, freaked-out human gather around the table laid with ornate silver. 

I seriously doubt there will be caroling, however, and most assuredly no football. How will your holidays stack up? Want to trade places with DJ? 

Belle Chasse Sentinels of New OrleansBook 5Suzanne Johnson
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: TOR Books
Date of Publication: November 8, 2016
ISBN: 978-0765376992ASIN: B01E3PFTCQ
Number of pages: 336Word Count: approx. 93,000
Cover Artist: Cliff Nielsen
Book Description:
Suzanne Johnson's "strong and intriguing" (Publishers Weekly) urban fantasy series continues with Belle Chasse. The Sentinels of New Orleans series has earned starred reviews from Library Journal ("a resourceful heroine who relies on her magical ingenuity") and PW ("vivid...a lively tale jam-packed with action, magic, and intriguing plot twists").
With the wizard-elven treaty on the verge of collapse, the preternatural world stands on the brink of war. Unless former wizard sentinel DJ Jaco manages to keep the elven leader, Quince Randolph, focused on peace and not personal matters.
With no one on the throne, Faerie is in chaos, with rival princes battling for power. The still-undead pirate, Jean Lafitte, is building his own army of misfits, and DJ stripped of her job and hiding in the Beyond to avoid the death sentence handed down by the wizard Council of Elders can’t get anywhere near her beloved New Orleans or her significant something-or-other, Alex.
It's time to choose sides. Friends will become enemies, enemies will become allies, and not everyone will survive. DJ and her friends will learn a hard lesson: sometimes, even the ultimate sacrifice isn’t enough.
Amazon     BN     Book Depository     Books-a-Million     Indie Bound


Excerpt:
I expected Christof to start a snowstorm above Rand’s head. What I didn’t expect was for the prince to lower his head and charge Rand like a raging bull, head-butting him in the midsection. They hit the ground, and I saw my chance at the same time Eugenie spotted me.            I motioned her toward the woods where the transport lay. To hell with the Blue Congress wizards. We were going to make a run for it while Christof kept Rand too busy to notice.             She set off for the woods, and I met her halfway. “My family thinks I’m crazy!” she wailed, loud enough to draw the attention of the tall, skinny Blue Congress wizard with the rooster haircut.            “Hey, stop!”            Holy crap. I whipped out the elven staff, paused long enough to aim just to the right of the wizards. They already had their hands up and were doing some of their nifty Blue Congress magic when I released my fire and blew up the tombstone next to them, sending a rain of marble and playing cards onto their heads. Around us, evidence of their magic appeared as tombstones began moving to block our escape route.            I grabbed Eugenie’s arm and pulled her around a marble stag the size of a small SUV. It had lowered its head and pawed the ground as if to charge. Blue Congress magic was so damned cool— create and re-create.            “Stop, DJ!” Eugenie grabbed my arm as I tried to race past her. “A sinkhole!”            I looked stupidly at the ground in front of us, which had opened a gulf big enough to drive a Greyhound bus into. “Go around and run fast,” I shouted, sending another shot of the staff toward the Blue Congress wizards and blowing up a ginormous marble eagle perched atop a nearby tomb.            We didn’t stop to see if the stag was chasing us, but ran for all we were worth. Finally, at the edge of the tree line, I hazarded a look back at Christof and Rand. The faery stood watching us; the elf had crumpled on the ground. Not dead, though, because in my head, far behind my protective barriers, I heard him yelling my name.            Christof grinned and motioned for us to move along. He didn’t have to motion twice, because the wizards were chasing us, still chanting and doing their finger dance. The stag was getting way too close.            I raised the staff and blew a hole in the earth in front of the advancing stag, forcing him to change direction. Luck was on our side for a change— the stag began charging toward the wizards instead, who had to stop pursuing us in order to protect themselves from being trampled beneath marble hooves.            “Let’s run to the transport before those idiot wizards can get out from under the stag.” I grabbed Eugenie’s hand and we ran to the clearing. “Help me roll this werewolf out of the transport.”            To her credit, she didn’t ask a single question. We tipped the werewolf onto his side and rolled him outside the interlocking circle and triangle, leaving him at an awkward angle with hisfeet in the air. Oh well.            I touched the staff to the edge of the transport and said, “Winter Palace, Faery” just before the Blue Congress wizards reached the edge of the clearing. I waved at them as the transport sucked the air out of my lungs. They were too late.            As soon as we materialized on the round floor of ice in the Winter Palace, Eugenie screamed. I figured she was getting her first look at the grisly remains of Faerie Princess Tamara until a blinding light knocked me off my feet and a big crack appeared in the ice between us.            “Where is my brother?”            I whirled to see Florian sitting on a block of ice behind us bundled in a heavy coat, a blanket spread beneath him, no doubt to protect his royal assets from getting cold and wet.
            “He’s in Shreveport, Louisiana, at Our Lady of Perpetual Help church, having a fi stfi ght with an elf,” I said, pretty confident that of all the things he might expect me to say, that wasn’t it.

About the Author:
Suzanne Johnson is the author of the award-winning Sentinels of New Orleans urban fantasy series but perhaps is best known for her romantic suspense and paranormal romance books written as Susannah Sandlin, including the Penton Vampire Legacy paranormal romance series, the Wilds of the Bayou suspense series, and The Collectors romantic thriller series. Her awards include two Holt Medallions in 2013 and 2015, a 2015 Booksellers Best Award in romantic suspense, and nominations in 2014 and 2015 for the RT Book Reviews Reviewers Choice Award. A displaced New Orleanian, she currently lives in Auburn, Alabama. Suzanne loves SEC football, fried gator on a stick, all things Cajun, and redneck reality TV.
Web: http://www.suzannejohnsonauthor.com
Blog: http://www.suzannejohnsonauthor.com/blog
Newsletter: http://www.suzannejohnsonauthor.com/newsletter
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorSuzanneJohnson
Twitter: @Suzanne_Johnson

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Holiday Poetry By Roxanna Cross

Candlelight Roxanna Cross
MesmerizedEyes caughtBy the dancing flameOf the giant sized candleBurning this Yule nightIts orange flame like a beaconIts bright blue pillar, a spear of hopeAnd the evergreens all around, sign of new beginningsBlessed it be to all under the Yule candle’s light

Geõla Tidings Geõla is thy nameOut of the darknessI am growingI am changingWaitingFor this season of cold and whiteTo come to its endFor the wheel to turnAnd bring back the lightBlessed Yule tidings
To all on this longest night



Wrecked in Love Book OneRoxanna Cross
Genre: BDSM, Erotic Romance, Mystery, Paranormal
Publisher: Extasy Books
Date of Publication: August 19, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4874-0795-7ASIN: B01KPPFGNK
Number of pages: 45Word Count: 12265
Cover Artist: Valerie Tibbs
Book Description: 
Josephine Herveaux is haunted with guilt over the death of her cousin. The traumatic event from her youth left an empty void she has tried to run from for the past twenty years.
Derek Owens has fought to come to terms with the love triangle from his youth. An OCD Dom, the only place he feels in control is in the safe room he has constructed to deal with his turbulent emotions. The slim thread is shattered when Josephine returns to town.
The past brings Josephine and Derek together once again, but the ghost of Josephine’s cousin refuses to remain quiet. Can Josephine and Derek come to terms with her cousin’s death, or will the ghostly voice in her head drive her to insanity?
A compelling story that will leave you craving more answers….
Extasy Books     Amazon    ARe

About the Author: 
Roxanna is a mother of three teenage girls, a wife and she juggles a full time career all the while living in two worlds. Being a writer, a dreamer, a drifter gives her an outlet to calm the voices in her head. Her quirky, sarcastic sense of humor and easygoing, non-judgmental temperament shines through on the page, a knack that until a few years ago she wouldn’t let herself claim. When an editor selected her short story “Belted In” for Best Bondage Erotica 2014, then it hit her like a ton of bricks—she’d done it. Earned the title she coveted for so long, author. And it’s one she cherishes.  
https://roxannacross.wordpress.com/
https://www.facebook.com/roxanna.cross.180
https://twitter.com/RoxxxannaC
http://roxxxannablog.tumblr.com/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7235811.Roxanna_Cross
https://www.pinterest.com/roxanna4856/

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Ghost Stories with Sharon Buchbinder

Ghost Stories
Paranormal events have played a role in my life since childhood. I have always accepted this alternate reality that many others do not experience or recognize. Their disbelief doesn’t dismiss my psychic experiences: dreams that come true, that I think of someone–and that person calls, and that I knew my sister was pregnant before she did. In the 1970’s while a psychology major at the University of Connecticut, I participated in telepathy/remote viewer experiments using the now famous J.B. Rhine Zener cards and other images. My “hit rate” as a receiver was statistically greater than chance occurrence.
Ghost hunters, like my friend Rosemary Ellen Guiley, will tell you the majority of hauntings are residual. Sort of like a video playing the same scene over and over, these phenomena are not interactive with living people. One of the most famous of these in America is Lincoln’s phantom train. Railroad workers saw the procession traveling nightly along the same route his funeral train took, long after Lincoln was buried. To this day, some people still report seeing it. Contrasted with these non-interactive phenomena, there are the highly interactive or even chatty ghosts that will do anything to get you to listen or see them. These spirits are unaware they are dead and will attempt to get the living’s attention because they have unfinished business, or simply don’t want to leave their last place of residence. I’ve experienced both types of hauntings, but the interactive spirits are the most interesting. Herewith are a few of my favorite ghost stories.
Treasures and Trash
My mother-in-law, Gertrude, may she rest in peace, was a New Yorker who traveled the world with her husband, The Doctor, collecting trinkets along the way. She was a real character, and I modeled a character after her in several of my books. Several years after she passed away at the age of 84, I decided it was time for me to clean out her battered Chinese jewelry box.
Going through the baubles and beads, I couldn’t help but marvel at the eclecticism of her tastes, ranging from the treasure of a delicate filigreed gold hamsa (hand) to the trash of necklaces made from two inch round white plastic globules strung together on fishing line.
A tattered sandwich bag containing orange beads came to hand and I extracted a broken necklace with care. The beads appeared to be plastic and were dirty and peeling in places.
“Trash,” I said out loud.
“Be careful with that, Sharon! It’s very valuable,” my long dead mother-in-law rasped in my ear.
I placed the beads in a new sandwich bag and took them to our jeweler for appraisal.
“Plastic,” she said, tapping a flaking bead on the glass counter.
“My mother-in-law told me they were valuable.”
“In your dreams. But, tell you what, I’ll take it in the back and look at it under a microscope.”
A few moments later, she returned with a bright red bauble in her hand, shaking her head.
“The beads are really dirty. They seem to be covered in layers and layers of hairspray. That’s the stuff that’s flakes off when you touch them. I’ve never seen anything like it and if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t believe it. These beads are red coral and must be worth at least $3000.”
That night, I thanked Gertrude. She was laughing.
Just Passing Through
Almost ten years ago, a very good friend (S) died unexpectedly. He’d had quadruple bypass surgery after chest pain and had been discharged, in good shape, to the care of his 70+ mother and girlfriend. Within a week of his discharge, at age 54, he was in a coma and dead.
My husband was devastated. He and S had been close buddies. We live in Maryland full time and have a second home in Florida. S had sold us our Florida house and had been in the process of working with us to build a new home. Hubby and S had much in common: football, good food, wine, an eye for pretty women. So when he passed over, it was a major loss in our lives. His girlfriend never told us when the memorial service was, so we never had an opportunity to pay our last respects.
The week after he died, per my usual I went to the kitchen at six in the morning to get coffee. As soon as I entered the kitchen, the lights flickered madly and the alarm on my husband’s sports car went off. I played with the light switches and they stopped flickering. Then I ran outside to turn off the car alarm.
This scenario was repeated for a week.
The third time it happened, I said, “S, we miss you, too. Thanks for coming by.” I told my husband S had come through, and he asked if I thought he would be with us for a while. I said, “I think until he wants to say good-bye, because we never had a chance to do it in person.”
We haven’t heard from in quite a while, but every time we go to Florida, we wonder if we’ll “see” him.
Haunted Duplex
When I was in college, I shared a duplex with four other women. The day I moved into my attic room, as I unpacked my boxes, I heard my roommate shout, “Sharon!” I ran downstairs, only to find Cindy in the shower. When she came out, I asked if there had been a problem.
She smiled. “Oh, I forgot to tell you. We have a ghost.” This ghost moved things around, knocked things off shelves and mimicked other roommates’ and even boyfriends’ voices to get attention. She also paced a hallway that ran from the kitchen to the bedroom on the main floor.
One night I pulled an all nighter for an Organic Chemistry exam (not my best subject!). I had a little dachshund, named Bisou, who went everywhere with me. That night I studied in the kitchen, drinking gallons of coffee, memorizing benzene rings. I decided to take a little nap. I cuddled on the couch with Bisou and closed my eyes. The doxie started shaking and whining and I heard the footsteps. They came closer and the dog became more agitated. The ghost was standing right next to the couch and the dog was in a frenzy.
“Please,” I said, “I need to get some rest, this exam is really important to me. And you’re making my dog crazy. Could you please go away?”
The ghost’s footsteps receded from the side of the couch, down the hall and then stopped. I aced the exam (a miracle).
After I had been living in the haunted duplex in for a few months, I invited my sister-in-law and brother over for dinner to meet my new boyfriend, my roommates, and see the place. My room was in the attic, and at $25 a month for rent (5 women, $125 total!) I wasn’t complaining about my space. I was very happy to be there and grateful to have such a bargain. The ghost was almost an added value at that point.
We had appetizers, did not really get to dinner, when my brother, a Vietnam vet and Green Beret who to this day keeps in touch with buddies from the 82nd Airborne, said, “Why don’t you show us the place?”
My then boyfriend had already been repeating all the strange events (with embellishments) that I had told him about and was making Twilight Zone music.
As I led my brother and sister-in-law up the stairs to my room in the attic, the now very annoying boyfriend said, “Ooooooo! Can yooooou feeeeeel the spiriiiiit?”
“Yes, I can,” my brother said. “She’s right next to me, has shoulder length brown hair, and is wearing a brown print dress. She’s very lonely.”
My brother turned on his heel without even reaching the attic and raced down the stairs. At the bottom of the stairwell he said, “I have to go! She’s all over me. It’s like she’s so happy I can see her, she’s trying to get under my skin.”
My brother and astonished sister-in-law ran out the door. The dinner party was over and so was my relationship with that idiot boyfriend.
PostScript: Ever since that night, my brother literally “sees dead people.” I always thought it was interesting that I heard them. It’s as if each of us got one part of the psychic abilities, but not the whole package!



The Haunting of Hotel LaBelle        Sharon Buchbinder
Genre: Contemporary, Paranormal, Fantasy
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Date of Publication: November 16, 2016
Print ISBN 978-1-5092-1153-1Digital ISBN 978-1-5092-1154-8
Number of pages: 198Word Count: 48,000
Cover Artist: Rae Monet
Tagline: The past meets the present when a curse turn-of-the-century man meets a feisty modern day woman.
Book Description:
When hotel inspector, Tallulah Thompson, is called in along with her pug, Franny, to investigate renovation delays, she meets an extremely annoyed and dapper turn-of-the-century innkeeper. The only problem is he’s in limbo, neither dead nor alive, and Tallulah and the pug are the first to see him in a hundred years.
Cursed by a medicine woman, “Love ‘em and Leave ‘em Lucius” Stewart is stuck between worlds until he finds his true love and gives her his heart. When he first sees Tallulah, he doesn’t know what he’s feeling. Yet, her stunning beauty, and feisty attitude pull him in.
With the fate of Hotel LaBelle on the line, Tallulah with the help of a powerful medicine woman turns Lucius back into a flesh and blood man. She and Lucius team up to save the hotel, but Tallulah can't help but wonder if he will ever let go of his past love and learn to love again.
Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/OB-RseyCWyM
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Short Intro:
This short novel gives readers insights into Homeland Security Anomaly Defense Director Bert Blackfeather’s Native American heritage. An in-between book in the Jinni Hunter Series, this is a lighter paranormal tale than the others. Take one Montana innkeeper from an era when men were men and women were glad of it, one sassy hotel inspector with a pug on patrol, and stir in a generous dollop of humor and sexual tension—and you have The Haunting of Hotel LaBelle. Come along to Big Sky Country and enjoy the ride with Tallulah, Lucius, Bert, and his sister, Emma as they join forces to rescue the people and the hotel they love.

Excerpt:
A book flew at his head—and sailed through him, bouncing off the wall and landing on the floor.            Mouth agape, the woman stared from him to the book and back to him again. “You’re a ghost.”            “Not exactly. Shall we start over?” He leaned against the wall and folded his arms across his chest. “After a hundred years of being invisible to everyone except you, I’d like to know who you are and what you’re doing here.”            “Of course. Why not? Could today get any weirder?” She sank into the desk chair, shook her head, and sighed. “My name is Tallulah Thompson. I’m a hotel inspector, hired by the current owner as a consultant to find out why the renovations are delayed and what he needs to do to fix it. He’s teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.”            “What tribe are you?”            She jerked her head up and those doggone lapis lazuli eyes of hers sparked as if she’d strike him with lightning and kill him with one look. “No one asks that. It’s not politically correct.”            “Well, I guess you haven’t been talking to the right people. And I don’t know what you mean by that last part. I’ve never been involved in politics.”            “Nowadays, it’s considered rude to ask about another person’s national origins.” She threw her hands up. “Why am I giving a ghost an etiquette lesson? What am I thinking?”



About the Author:
Sharon Buchbinder has been writing fiction since middle school and has the rejection slips to prove it. An RN, she provided health care delivery, became a researcher, association executive, and obtained a PhD in Public Health. When not teaching or writing, she can be found fishing, walking her dogs, or breaking bread and laughing with family and friends in Baltimore, MD and Punta Gorda, FL.
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