Roxanne Rhoads's Blog, page 339

Interview with Author Jeffrey Stagg- A Campfire Nightmare

Can you tell readers a little bit about yourself and what inspired to write in this particular genre?
-       Well, my home has been Utah my entire life, but I spent weeks and months each year traveling through Idaho and Montana. Lots of time to kill on the road as a kid, so I started reading. I was really into fantasy novels. So, I began imagining on my trips mysterious things happening, like monster attacks or finding something magical. I got into Urban Fantasy because I always was in my own world of imagination trying to think of what modern weapons could do against different creatures or how society would react if they found out monsters were real. Honestly, how cool would it be watching someone fight a werewolf or a vampire with a machine gun? But, Urban Fantasy also allows me to blend old world fantasy with new world technology; two things that are contrary to one another.
What is it about the paranormal, in particular vampires, that fascinates you so much?
-       This is a little bit of a spoiler, but my vampire doesn’t appear until the very end of my book. In A Campfire Nightmare I mostly use monsters known as “warwolves”, like a werewolf, but with subtle differences. But, I will admit, in book two, which I hope to release soon enough, I have a pair of vampires, one of which I have never seen the likes of; I draw him from a real, old legend, from an ancient people. He is going to be fun and that’s all I’ll say about him. I like using these monsters because they are an amazing representation of corruption. I only use that in a general term, but the corruption of the human soul and becoming like the darkness humanity fears is incredible and terrifying. They are just fun to write about!
What inspired you to write this book?
-       I started this book more than four years ago as I worked full-time in a cheese factory, went to school full-time and tried to juggle a social life. I would daydream at the cheese factory I worked in, thinking about my favorite place on earth, Flathead Lake, Montana. Finally, I decided I should start writing it down. Whenever I found time in-between classes, or even during some classes, I would write. I came up with odd ideas, wanted to create something new in the world of fantasy, and I realized that my little story was becoming more than just a short story. I accidentally wrote a book. I literally wrote a book on accident, but I loved it.
Please tell us about your latest release.
-        So, my latest, and only so far, release is ACampfire Nightmare . It’s an Urban Fantasy aimed to draw new readers into my world. It is described as a YA since my main characters are around 16 years old, but it really was written for people of anyone older than fourteen to enjoy. So, let me tell you a little about it:
James “Jimmy” Downs is your typical sixteen year old boy. He wants to be popular, have a lot of friends and just be happy. But, there is one problem for Jimmy, his family is on the low end of the income scale. Apparently, money is everything to the kids at his school.
Jimmy and his best friend, Michael, believe they hit the jackpot when both of them are accepted into the most prestigious music camp in the world; Colman’s Amateur Music Program, also known as C.A.M.P. The camp is located on the shores of a glacier fed lake in western Montana. What the two boys don’t realize is that their families’ economic statuses will put them on the low end of the food chain in C.A.M.P. as well.
The two boys believe that bullies would be the worst thing at C.A.M.P., but the land on which the camp is situated has a deep, dark secret. At night, monsters haunt the forest, trying to get to the campers and the only thing stopping these beasts are two guardians. One little mistake and the balance of the guardians are tipped against them. Jimmy and Michael find that their dream camp, is really a nightmare.
Is there a character that you enjoyed writing more than any of the others?-       My favorite character to write about is Michael. All my other characters are awesome, but Michael is my comic relief. He is the perfect tension breaker. So many times in this series I get to have him make jokes at inappropriate moments and odd comments. I can always rely on Michael to, not only do the right thing, but to make jokes about it as he goes. His humor will never change.
Do any of your characters have similar characteristics of yourself in them and what are they?
-       Once more, Michael, but also Jimmy. I have a strange sense of humor and I make inappropriate jokes at the worst moments. Plus, Michael and I don’t really know when to shut our mouths sometimes. That’s why he is one of my favorite characters, but these are also the reasons why he isn’t my main character. Jimmy and I both have serious natures at times. He and I are the same that we need to think some things through. When my Michael personality is gone, it is Jimmy’s thoughtfulness that appears.
What is your favorite scene from the book? Could you share a little bit of it, without spoilers of course?
-        My favorite scene in the book is definitely the legend of the Flathead people. Here is just a tiny piece directly from the chapter, no spoiler in it!
Like now,” Rox said, pointing toward the mountains across the lake, the sun dipping behind the mountain, but strangely, it gave a little light from its hiding place, “the sun withdrew its protection from the people and unleashed the hounds from their hiding places. “Their howls could be heard from miles away, and by this point, the poor Flathead people knew what that meant. It was time to go to war. Women and children ran to hide in their tepees, as if the weather-proven deer hide could really hold back the shredding power of the warwolves’ claws. The men, young and old, prepared for a night of chaos and death.
“Horsemen sat astride their mounts with massive, stone-tipped lances, and archers were scattered through the woods, some in trees and others crouched on the ground. All had been anointed by their families and the medicine man with war paint, giving them a ghastly visage. Hatchets and knives had been prepared for this moment, a war that would never be known about in the outside world.” A scream in the crowd drew everyone’s attention toward Stephanie, Janie, and Peter, but the three of them were looking elsewhere, behind Jimmy, Michael, and Kylee, into the forest. As soon as everyone realized the direction of what had frightened Peter and the two girls, the massive group shifted to stare into the woods. Some of the people gasped immediately, but it took a few moments for some of their night vision to sharpen enough to see the men lining the woods. Ten massive men stood in the shadows of the trees, all staring at the campers. None of them made any type of movement. They were dressed in deer chaps, headbands, and moccasins, and one had a massive headdress of feathers sitting atop his head like a crown. Each held weapons: hatchets, bows with arrows notched but not drawn, and knives, and a couple held large lances adorned with eagle or osprey feathers. It was clear that they were native Flathead Indians by the way their foreheads slanted up sharply. The paint they wore gave them an intimidating look. All were muscular men between the ages of nineteen and thirty, and they had the steely look of soldiers on their countenances. “Don’t move!” William shouted as campers began to get up. “They are only echoes; they cannot hurt you.” As the group calmed, the director spoke softly, with reverence in his voice. “Look at them. They represent what the idea of honor and human determination really is. They are heroes and deserve nothing but respect.”
-        I hope that caught a little interest!
Did you find anything really interesting while researching this or another book?
-       While I was writing this book, I looked into several different legends of monsters and found incredible links between tons of countries and their versions of vampires and werewolves. A few of which I am hoping to use.
Something super interesting I get to do for my next few books is learn about cultures not just long dead, but some in which little is known about them. One particular place I have found is supposedly somewhere near Russia, and is a harsh, cruel land. Now, what do you think could come from there? Something super tough and scary. How cool is that? Add their legends into it and you have a crazy Molotov cocktail.
Can you tell readers a little bit about the world building in the book/series? How does this world differ from our normal world?-       I love this question because my world isn’t really any different. I mean, sure, there are monsters and a couple secret societies, but, for the most part, these are normal kids. I created creatures that only come out during the night. Mankind as a whole is scared of the dark; not because of the lack of light, but that there is something there that they can’t handle. Monsters that lurk in the dark is our greatest fear and I just played that up.
The differences, I can’t give any real details because that’ll spoil bits about book one and two. They may be subtle in the first book, but they hit you like a freight train in book two.
Do you have any weird writing quirks or rituals?
-       Before I write, I have to find music that will set the mood for a scene. If I am writing for my villains, I need dark creepy music, for my fights, I need crazy rock, you know, for a good ass kicking theme song. Whenever I write something sad, I choose mostly slow violin music, it really helps break my heart.
Also, some of my best writing comes around 10:30 p.m. until about 1:30 a.m. when I shut off all the lights, so all I can see is the screen of my computer. Nothing will distract me at that moment. Plus, I am generally dressed in a hoodie with the hood up and headphones on. I rock out in the dark like your typical shut in. If I don’t have my surroundings like that, I can’t focus and have a hard time writing even a single page.
Other than writing, what are some of your interests, hobbies or passions in life?-        One of my favorite interests, besides writing, is nature photography. Too long do I spend inside, writing as fast as possible or working. I like to get outside and hike through nature, taking photos as I go. I have seen some amazing things. I have photographed eagles around lakes, quail scurrying across paths, ducks landing on water, moose with their young and so many other animals as well as all four seasons, waterfalls, mountains and fires. It’s amazing what you can find as long as you leave the road behind you.Another interest of mine is working with my puppy. I have a Liver-Spotted Brittany Spaniel. She is amazing! I got her when she was just a little puppy and we are hard to separate. She is smart and learns quickly and we enjoy hiking everywhere together.
What can readers expect next from you?-        Honestly, great and new ideas when it comes to Urban Fantasy. I am working to release two more books this year (2016). I have so many more in mind, and I plan to even delve into other genres as I go. A Campfire Nightmare is the start of, what I hope to be, a long and creative career as an author. I hope that my followers will enjoy watching my characters grow and reach their potential, going from picked-on kids to legends.
Where can readers find you on the web?
-        You can find me on Facebook as Jeffrey Stagg, Stagg Literature, LLCo   Or you can visit my website: www.staggliterature.com

Interview with Amber Darke- The Oracle's Dilemma

Can you tell readers a little bit about yourself and what inspired to write in this particular genre?
I'm a British author who's lived in Wales and Nottingham but now lives in London. I love all kinds of fantasy and paranormal stories – I always loved fairy tales growing up, and I was addicted to Buffy the Vampire Slayer when I was a teenager. I've always wanted to write stories about magic, adventure and romance, and I also really wanted to write something with an urban fantasy vibe that was set in the UK, in the magical landscape I grew up in.
Please tell us about your latest release.
My new book is called The Oracle's Dilemma, and it's the second book in the Oracle Saga. The main character, Livya, is an Oracle – she has the power to see the future, but that's about all the power she has. Because her visions are so prized, the Prince who controls the magical court where she lives keeps a very close watch on her, and she's barely allowed a life of her own. In the first book, The Oracle's Secret, she runs away and meets someone special – a man called Tarian with a connection to her past. In the second book, she's back at court, and she has to deal with the fallout of her attempt to escape and the events of the previous book, all while an enemy spy is on the loose at court, and the Prince's charming nephew is trying to get closer to her.
Do you have a special formula for creating characters' names? Do you try to match a name with a certain meaning to attributes of the character or do you search for names popular in certain time periods or regions?
With the names for this series, I want them to sound unusual to mark the fact that the characters consider themselves partly separate from modern society – the magical world has its own naming trends that don't necessarily match the ones in the mundane world.I chose Tarian's name because it means “shield” in Welsh – I wanted something that expressed his strength, and also the way he can be mysterious, like he's hiding behind something. In this second book, another guy is interested in Livya – an aristocrat named Hawk. For him, I wanted a name that showed his intelligence and perceptiveness, as well as the fact that he comes from a family that prizes an almost predatory ruthlessness.
Is there a character that you enjoyed writing more than any of the others?
I really love writing Livya's best friend Cherry. She's down-to-earth and sweet and has a sense of humour, which makes her really fun to write. While most of Livya's other relationships are in some way fraught and complicated, her friendship with Cherry is (so far!) a haven of acceptance and understanding, and her scenes are soothing to work on after all the drama!
Can you tell readers a little bit about the world building in the book/series? How does this world differ from our normal world?
The Oracle Saga is set in the hidden magical community of modern Britain – the magic users in the Southern Court use the internet and eat Pop Tarts, but they still live in the deeply hierarchical structure that has defined their world for centuries, hidden from the eyes of non-magical humans. It's almost feudal – everyone answers to the Prince, and nobody dares to cross him, or even criticise him.
He's the ruler of the Southern Territory, one of the major magical communities in Britain. The Northern Territory have been their rivals for centuries, and as the series begins, tensions between the two are rising.
Everyone in the Southern Territory has some kind of magical power, but everyone's talents are different. Livya can see the future. Her best friend Cherry is a teleporter. Tarian can find things that have been hidden. Magical talents run in families, and some skills are more prestigious than others.
Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? How do you deal with it?
Now and then I do, and the way I deal with it is by breaking it down to really small goals. Sometimes I get to the point where I dread even opening the document, so I'll set myself a goal of only doing that, then take a break, then set another goal to read the last chapter I wrote, then another break, then write, say, a sentence. Getting something down is more important than what or how much.
What are your guilty pleasures in life?
I always say life's too short to be guilty about things you enjoy, but when I want to treat myself I go for chocolate, or shippy fan videos for my favourite shows on YouTube!
What was the last amazing book you read?
I really enjoyed The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh. It's a retelling of the Scheherazade story with a supernatural twist, and it's gorgeously told and incredibly romantic, with a badass heroine who's not afraid to fight for what's right.
Where can readers find you on the web?
The best and easiest place to find me and keep up with my news is on my Twitter feed - @amberdarkebooks
Would you like to leave readers with a little teaser or excerpt from the book?
I'd love to! Here's a segment from near the beginning, when Livya doesn't know how to deal with the secrets Tarian shared at the end of the last book:
Tarian’s walking towards me. My heart beats faster. I can’t decide what to do – run away? Hide? Leap into his arms? Slap him? I stand there frozen, unable to make myself move another step.
Tarian freezes too, but only for a moment, and then he keeps walking towards me. When he’s close he stops again, as if I’m an animal that he doesn’t want to spook.
‘Hello, Livya,’ he says.
‘Hello,’ I manage.
I’m trembling, and I can’t even tell whether it’s from anger or desire for him. My mouth is full of insults to scream at him – liar, betrayer – but I know that if he just kissed me, those words would fly out of my head and I’d be his again. But I’m not sure I want that. Having someone to blame for everything that’s happened to me is almost intoxicating. I guard my anger, I don’t want anyone to take it away from me. It belongs to me.
‘Look,’ he says, ‘the Prince has asked me to stay at court for a while. I’m not sure how long I’ll be here, but while I am, perhaps we can find a way to deal with this that doesn’t involve you flinching every time you see me?’
‘I don’t know,’ I say. ‘Perhaps you can find a way to just stay away from me?’
He tilts his head in acknowledgement. ‘I can certainly try.’
My stomach flip-flops at the kindness in his golden-brown eyes. This is what drew me to him, this is what made me feel the way I felt. Who am I kidding – the way I still feel. I want to throw myself into his arms right now, but it’s too complicated. The only way I can protect myself is by hating him. So I try. I harden my heart against him.
‘Yes,’ I say. ‘That would be best for me. Don’t speak to me. Don’t look at me if you don’t have to. Don’t talk to my friends or my family either. Just do your best to stay out of my life. You’ve already caused enough trouble.’

Spotlight and Giveaway Beneath the Surface by M.A. Church

Beneath the SurfaceM.A. Church
Genre: MM, Shifter        
Publisher: All Romance eBooks Date of Publication: April 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-943576-67-8ASIN:
Number of pages: 154Word Count: 37k
Cover Artist: Erin Dameron Hill                    Book Description:
A whole different world exists beneath the surface.
The last thing Nisha expects while patrolling his territory is to find his mate, but his instincts tell him the handsome human diving into the surf is the one meant for him. Two bites and Kannon will be joined to him forever. But when Kannon’s father disrupts the mating process, Nisha releases his claim, hoping beyond hope his mate will one day return.
While free diving with his father, Kannon is bitten by a seductive merman. Although he swore to never go near the ocean again, the pull to return to the water and his mystery man remains strong. Finally, after fifteen years away, an impromptu wedding brings Kannon back to the Seychelles, and his destiny.
Kannon only plans to stay on the island for a week, but this time Nisha won’t let his mate go without a fight. Merfolk and human culture collide as the embers of Nisha and Kannon’s mate bond ignite, and Nisha must complete the mating before it’s too late. 
ARe    Amazon    iTunes    KoboExcerpt:
A whole different world existed under the sea—lighting, sounds, even the feeling of otherworldliness. No matter how clear the water, it still played tricks, even on experienced divers. The colorful tropical fish, artifacts, and the remnants of history buried beneath the waves—along with a mysterious landscape mostly untouched by humans—always gave Kannon a thrill. Parts of the reef weren’t very deep, so he had no trouble freediving. This year for vacation, Kannon and his dad rented a boat and guide to take them to the reefs around the Seychelles. This was by no means the first time he’d gone snorkeling. Growing up along the California coast guaranteed Kannon was comfortable in the water. The guide had warned them to stay together, but Kannon had other ideas. Besides, he wasn’t going that far off. After investigating the colorful reef fish and interesting coral formations—and seeing his dad was distracted—Kannon slowly but steadily wandered off on his own. An outcrop of rocks covered in algae caught his eye, and he went to investigate. Many of the multihued native fish swam past him, curious as to what he was. It was funny how they circled him. Kannon held his hand out. A few braver fish darted in, nibbled at his fingers, and then swam off. God, what a rush it was. Nothing was better than this. He drew closer to the outcrop, surprised it was much deeper than he’d first thought. Huh, not an outcrop, but the mouth of an underwater cave. Cool. From a distance it appeared to be nothing more than oddly shaped rocks. Peering inside, he was unable to see past the murky blackness within. Curious, he reached his hand out, stretching toward the mouth of the cave. His scalp prickled. A tingle washed through him. The water around him caressed his body as he hung weightlessly, staring at the cave entrance as his dick swelled in his trunks. What the…?It wasn’t as if he made a habit of getting horny while diving, so what the hell? Torn between desire and unease, he hovered in the tropical water. Chills chased up his spine, and goose bumps broke out over his body. His heart rate sped up—not a good thing underwater—and the feeling of being watched crept across his nerves. Something was in there, and his mind screamed at him to get away even as the urge to reach inside nearly overwhelmed him. Kannon’s body swayed dangerously closer. His nipples ached as the water flowed past, and he had to force himself not to whimper as need struck him. He jerked back. There’s something waiting for me, just waiting for me to reach in so it can... what? So it can do what? Jesus, he needed to get a serious grip on his imagination, and crap, he had to surface too. Lack of oxygen made the decision for him. All this panicking on his part had used up his air—stupid of him. He surfaced and shook the hair out of his eyes. Wow, is that our boat way over there? Oh man, Dad’s going to kill me. Worried about the fit his dad was going to have, he was totally unprepared for the strange guy who popped up next to him, although “guy” might have been overly nice. Kannon yelped, but the dude across from him just smiled. The androgynous, fey face wasn’t quite human. The long pointed ears were a good indication, as was the glimpse of sharp little teeth. Oh, and the gills at its neck. Azure blue hair floated in the water around shapely shoulders and cobalt blue eyes stared back at him. It was a visage that was hauntingly beautiful, otherworldly, and a tad disconcerting. The creature smiled slightly as if he agreed. It—whatever it was—scared the bejesus out of him. Then it reached out and dragged Kannon under the water. Oh. My. God. Terror struck, and Kannon fought, kicking furiously as he tried to twist away, but it did no good. The creature was too strong, and its hands were everywhere. Kannon fought to hold his breath. He needed to get to the surface and… he froze—just stopped fighting as something thrashed behind the other guy, churning up the water. No way. He stared in shock at the, the... its upper part looked like a regular human torso, but the bottom—a tail? That’s a... a... no way! The unbelievable sight of a tail—a long, shimmery tail with iridescent scales—was attached to the guy in front of him. It glistened in the sunlight that filtered through the water. There was only one human-like sea creature he knew of with a tail—and that was mermaids. Or mermen. Merfolk? Whatever. Those were make-believe.And this make-believe creature was trying to kill him. Then it kissed him full on the lips, and thoughts of his murder flew out of his head along with every other rational thought. Before he could react, it stopped the kiss and twirled him around so they were chest to back. Well now, if he had any doubt it was male, he had his answer now.
There was no mistaking the hard cock poking him. The merman held him securely as they floated in the water. That marvelous fluked tail slowly flipping back and forth caused their lower bodies to rock together. It was kind of nice and… then the merman sank his teeth into the fleshy area between Kannon’s neck and shoulder. Oh fuck! What the what?
About the Author:
M.A. Church is a true Southern belle who spent many years in the elementary education sector. Now she spends her days lost in fantasy worlds, arguing with hardheaded aliens on far-off planets, herding her numerous shifters, or trying to tempt her country boys away from their fishing poles. It’s a full time job, but hey, someone’s gotta do it!
When not writing, she’s exploring the latest M/M novel to hit the market, watching her beloved Steelers, or sitting glued to HGTV. That’s if she’s not on the back porch tending to the demanding wildlife around the pond in the backyard. The ducks are very outspoken. She’s married to her high school sweetheart, and they have two children. She was a finalist in the Rainbow awards for 2013.
For more information on other books by M.A., visit her official website: www.machurch00.blogspot.com
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5141393.M_A_Church
https://twitter.com/nomoretears00
https://www.facebook.com/ma.church3
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Cover Reveal Beyond Your Touch by Pat Esden

Beyond Your TouchDark Heart SeriesBook TwoPat Esden
Genre: new adult paranormal
Publisher: Kensington
Date of Publication: August 30, 2016           ASIN:  B0190HGU52ISBN: 9781496700070ISBN-10: 1496700074
Number of pages: 320Word Count: 85k
Book Description:
She wants more than he can promise.
His desires could lead to betrayal.
But without each other, neither can survive the dangers ahead.
Annie Freemont knows this isn’t the right time to get involved with a man like Chase. After years of distrust, she’s finally drawing close to her estranged family, and he’s an employee on their estate in Maine. Though she never intended to stay on the estate for long, her father’s illness and the mysteries surrounding her family made leaving impossible. And now with the newfound hope of rescuing her long-missing mother, Annie’s determined to be involved with the family’s plans one way or another.
If only she could keep her mind off Chase and focus on the impending rescue. But there’s something about the enigmatic Chase that she can’t resist. And she’s not the only woman. Annie fears a seductive stranger who is key to safely freeing her mother is also obsessed with him. As plans transform into action and time for a treacherous journey into a strange world draws near, every move Annie makes will test the one bond she’s trusted with her secrets, her desires—and her heart.
Amazon     BN     BAM     Indiebound
Target    Hudson Booksellers
About the Author:
PAT ESDEN is an antique-dealing florist by trade. She’s also a member of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Romance Writers of America, and the League of Vermont Writers. Her short stories have appeared in a number of publications, including Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show, the Mythopoeic Society’s Mythic Circle literary magazine, and George H. Scither’s anthology Cat Tales.
Her new adult paranormal novel, A HOLD ON ME (book #1 in the Dark Heart series) is available from Kensington Books. BEYOND YOUR TOUCH (book #2 Dark Heart series) will be released August 30th.
Website: http://patesden.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28109696-beyond-your-touch
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PatEsdenAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/patesden   
Blog: http://patesden.blogspot.com

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/patesden/

Spotlight and Giveaway Captive Creature by Angelique Voisen

Captive CreatureAngelique Voisen
Genre: MM, Werewolf, BDSM
Publisher: All Romance eBooks
Date of Publication: April 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-943576-74-6
Word Count: 18k
Cover Artist: Erin Dameron Hill
Book Description:
I thought I had nothing left to lose.
Betrayed and abandoned by those I love, and captured by the enemy, I learned death is a privilege, not a right. Nursing my vengeance and honing my hate is all I can do. Then he appears, turning my black and white world upside down.
Scar Greyback is Alpha to the largest werewolf clan in the region. Scar’s dominance frightens me, excites me. One touch and I know I’m his. His to possess and control, maybe even to love, but I can’t yield. I’ve been bred and trained all my life as a soldier to hunt his kind. Accepting his mating call will doom us both, but once I start on this road to hell, I can’t stop.

ARe    Amazon    iTunes    Kobo

Excerpt:
Hanging naked with nothing but blood, grime, and sweat clinging to my skin, and chains lashing my limbs to the rusty eyebolt on the ceiling, I recalled my beautiful mother’s words. God gives only gives us what we can take. My mother whispered those words when she tucked me in bed, along with other poisonous ones. Grow strong, Gabriel. Be my avenging angel. Think of your father, your uncle, your brother. Every one of the fallen needs our prayers, she said. Harden your body and heart, because our enemies will show you no mercy. It’s the first time I felt true despair, but not my last. Two other bolts lie close to mine, empty of captives, but even my human nose caught the tell-tale scent of copper, spilled blood.To remain sane, I thought of other matters, anything to distract myself from my inevitable death. Death has no favorites, the master of arms back at the citadel always said. Still, the previous two occupants on either side of me must have wished their demise didn’t come too soon. Are they still alive, screams gagged by the endless rock walls and passages of Santa Olivia, the underground home of the city’s most prominent animal groups?“Fuck this.” Hearing the sound of my voice startled me. I hardly recognized myself. Had I always sounded so weak? I twisted in my chains, but it was futile. These chains are built to hold supernatural captives, but I’m only human. There’s no longer any fight in me. The fire in me has gone out, since the moment my friends and allies betrayed me to the hands of the enemy.I whispered their names to the darkness, not as a prayer seeking salvation, but as a curse. “Rafael. Michael. Pedro. Abraham.” Every member of the Soldier of God is christened with the name of an angel or saint. Don’t ask me why. What we’re doing is for the good of humanity, our elders often liked to say, but the truth? Few of the soldiers believed in noble deeds. Most hunted the supernatural down not to cleanse the city of abominations, but because killing is all we’re good at. What we’d been bred for. Die a noble death, a worthy one, some of my brothers and sisters would say, but it was no longer funny once real fear kicked in. The sound of the heavy bolt to the holding cell shifting made me still. “Calm the fuck down,” I hissed, but my body refused to obey.
My heart quickened and my breaths came short. I’m Gabriel. Twenty-one-year-old Soldier of God and today’s the day I die.
About the Author:
Angelique Voisen is a bisexual, twenty-something, type-2 diabetic and multi-pubbed writer who favors LGBT and menage pairings. She likes experimenting with different sub-genres and her stories may include cogs, fangs, space battles, kinky magic systems and happily-ever-afters. When Angel’s not writing, she’s gaming, watching B-rate action movies, or enjoying teatime with friends while enviously eyeing their cake.
For more information on other books by Angelique, visit her website: www.angelvoisen.blogspot.com
https://www.facebook.com/angelvoisen
http://twitter.com/frances_ac
http://www.pinterest.com/angelvoisen/

http://angelvoisen.blogspot.com/

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Eye of Saturn by Idalita Wright Raso

Eye of SaturnThe Daughters of SaturnBook OneIdalita Wright Raso
Genre: Vampire/Horror/Romance
Publisher: Solstice Publishing
Date of Publication: 02/23/2016
ISBN: 978-1-62526-334-6ASIN: B01BX1G8L4
Number of pages: 371Word Count: 93,774
Cover Artist: Idalita Wright Raso
Book Description:
Blood is the seat of the soul...
 Step inside the world’s oldest and darkest religions—Saturn worship, filled with blood rituals, human sacrifices, she-demons, and black magick. 
Set in medieval Spain. Felipe de Hayos, the son of a wealthy statesman is forced to marry a mysterious Moorish woman named, Lilith Al-Salameh. But Lilith is hiding a dark secret. She is actually Saturn's Immortal High Priestess, and plans to transform Felipe into an immortal, like herself. 
However, Lilith’s plans are dashed when a family friend and her daughter, Zaybeth Castile arrive at the de Hayos estate. It is love at first sight for Felipe and Zaybeth. Learning of her husband’s betrayal, Lilith plots the lover’s destruction and calls upon the Daughters of Saturn to open the Eye of Saturn—cursing Felipe into a vampire for five-hundred-and-fifty years and Zaybeth into the only one who can destroy him.
Book Trailer:  https://youtu.be/hUN63_EXIWU
Amazon    Createspace     Solstice Publishing
Excerpt
After HIS long slumber, Saturn, the Great Father, awoke and opened HIS all-seeing Eye. Staring out into the black cosmic abyss, the god spoke in a thunderous voice.“Sapirla ne’kab vitoar zop’kab shael!” (Blood is the seat of the soul!) Saturn’s words had awakened the void and breathed life into the universe, thus marking the beginning of time. Saturn then waved HIS golden scythe, sending powerful lightning bolts streaking across the vast universe. Dust particles swooshed and swirled while elements joined together, until they formed an infinite number of luminous stars, nebulae, and planets. Saturn made HIS planet sixth—HIS sacred number, HIS seal. Everything in the cosmos bore Saturn’s seal. In some galaxies HIS seal was symbolized by a six-pointed star. In other realms the sacred number was depicted as a hexagram or a black cube. It was a number—six hundred and sixty-six. This sacred number was the very fabric upon which the universe was built. It was a powerful, magickal mathematical equation and the perfect construct for an invisible, inescapable matrix—that placed all beings great and small, rich and poor, free and slave under HIS control.To oversee the countless worlds in the universe, Saturn created a legion of gods in HIS image. They resided within the rings around HIS planet, forming the Council of Gods. Saturn selected forty-two principal gods to act as overlords, among them was Apollyon, whom the Great Father affectionately called, Pluto.Saturn extended HIS hand and a glorious band of light flooded the cosmos. Out of the wondrous light, a winged figure emerged. The majestic white wings of this magnificent being opened up like a blossoming flower—it was a woman. Her skin was a translucent, icy, blue. She wore a loosely draped, sheer white sheath that barely covered her flawless, round breasts. A halo adorned her head as her long white hair cascaded over her shoulders. Upon her neck she wore a gold six-pointed star.“You are my daughter, and I shall name you, Isis.”“Salzol ShBThAI! Salzol ShBThAI! Salzol ShBThAI!” (Hail Saturn! Hail Saturn! Hail Saturn!) Isis said in Solsatihel, the language of her Father, Saturn—the first language of the gods and of the universe. Saturn stretched forth HIS hand and this time two winged, translucent, icy, blue figures emerged—Asira and Dusana. Asira, a raven-haired beauty and the taller of Isis’ two sisters, held on tightly to Dusana’s hand. The ethereal specters bowed before the Great Father and embraced their sister. “Daughters, I empower you with the gift of immortality, the power to heal, create, destroy, and the ability to travel through time and space. As my daughters, you are my messengers—my angels.” Saturn’s scythe began emitting beams of electrical energy. The rays of energy bathed the sisters in a blue light.“Go forth and transcribe my laws, sacred ceremonies, prayers, and spells into sixty Sacred Scrolls. So that every being in the cosmos may know that I am their god and how to exalt me, and keep my laws. You three shall become the guardians of the scrolls.” Saturn held out HIS hand to Isis. Sa’hal!” (Come!) Isis placed her hand in her father’s and then vanished, arriving on Rhea, the planet Saturn’s second largest moon. “Isis, being my eldest daughter, I bestowed upon you all wisdom so that you may intercede on my behalf. I am entrusting you with all of my magickal knowledge,” the Great Father decreed.Isis listened carefully to her father’s words, meticulously recording HIS every magickal secret. She fashioned them into the Six Forbidden Scrolls. Raising her arms upward, Isis summoned the magick of the universe. Sorcery bound the scrolls and funneled them inside six solid gold cylinders. Sparks flew as an invisible hand engraved the cylinders with Saturn’s insignia—a scythe inside a six pointed star resting on a flat, black, onyx stone. Isis knew the Forbidden Scrolls had to be protected. Anyone armed with the scrolls’ magick could open Saturn’s all-seeing Eye and create or destroy an entire universe, transform beings, unleash the Judgment Seat to punish anyone who opposed them—or far worse! They would have the power to send Saturn into an eternal sleep and, ultimately, control the universe. Isis hid the scrolls in the last place anyone would go looking for them—deep inside Pan, the oddly-shaped, innermost of the planet Saturn’s moons. Although Saturn had created an infinite number of planets, there was one planet, in particular, the Great Father favored more than the others—Earth. It was HIS grandest creation. Saturn generously filled the planet with animals of every kind, beast, and fowl. HE gave the lands life-sustaining water and lush vegetation, but something was still missing—a caretaker. Crafted in the image of HIS daughters—beautiful and beguiling—Saturn created woman and made her Earth’s mother. HE gave woman HIS sacred number—six, and vested her with a special gift, the power of creation. In time, woman gave birth to man, and like woman, man’s number was also six. Their off-spring was also given Saturn’s sacred number. Thus, the human covenant with Saturn, like all beings of the universe, was six hundred and sixty-six. The number of man’s Third Eye, his spirituality—his direct connection to the creator. Now man was a part of Saturn’s matrix. Isis, Asira, and Dusana obeyed their father’s commandment and taught man the importance of keeping Saturday, Saturn’s Sabbath Day, Holy and Saturn’s sacred rituals, which often required human sacrifices and the drinking of blood. “Sapirla ne’kab vitoar zop’kab shael!” (Blood is the seat of the soul!) Saturn was so pleased with Earth and man, HE spent the first millennium residing on the planet as a man-god, making HIS home at the summit of the world axis—the North Pole. The time Saturn spent on Earth was known as the Golden Age. During this period, there were no wars, famine or disease. Mankind lived peacefully in lush fertile lands of flowing milk and honey.

About the Author:
Idalita Wright Raso grew up in Ohio. She is an established news reporter/photojournalist and has worked for the Lake County Gazette in Jefferson, Ohio. Currently Idalita is contracted with Solstice Publishing. Eye of Saturn: The Daughters of Saturn Book One is her debut novel.
Idalita has a deep interest in astronomy, mythology, science fiction, the occult, and horror. Her love for writing came after reading Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher.” Her love for vampires came the moment she read Bram Stoker’s “Dracula.” 
The Eye of Saturn is a four part series. Currently Idalita is working on book two, which she hopes to release spring 2018.
Connect with Idalita on line:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Idalita-Wright-Raso
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Idalita-Wright-Raso-367131636790097
Twitter: http://twitter.com/idaraso  
Website: http://idalitaraso.webs.com
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Improbables by Jonathan Charles Bruce

            Hello, all you fine fans of this blog! Jonathan Charles Bruce here to do a guest post and provide you with literal minutes of entertainment!* I’d like to talk about one of the main drives behind creating one of the protagonists in Improbables: Marley Bennetts the vampire.
            When I started working on the novel, it was important to me to play with the expectations of the genre. Typically in paranormal fiction (as you no doubt know already), the supernatural whatsits that populate the work tend to be surly loners who must keep their friends and loved ones at arms’ length. If they live long enough, they’re these weird artifacts of a different time, living anachronisms that somehow managed to cross their arms and hold their breath when confronted with the passage of time.
            It was that last bit that really made me want to rework the character. I have training as a historian, and one of the most baffling things to me is when a long-lived character remains static. I’m 32 now, and I’m not the same person I was five years ago. How could a character live one or two or three hundred years and refuse to budge in their understanding of the way the world works? That’s not romantic, that’s outright unrealistic.
            Said the man talking about vampires.
            In the prologue, Marley is presented in the moments leading up to her transformation. She is from a peasant family in the French hinterlands and is saved from death by another vampire. Early life restricted by illness, her newfound vitality gives her the opportunity to experience things she never thought open to her. That joie de vivre infuses her character and is the most reliable aspect of her personality. In order to fit into society through the centuries, she has had to learn a multitude of languages, slip into different roles, and learn the ins and outs of various cultures.
            Living forever with what amounts to super powers is not without cost, and Marley has seen much loss throughout her life. However, her extroverted nature sees her pulled toward others. The majority of her relationships with people are relatively surface-level, reserving the most effort and dedication to other improbables. This is very much a survival tactic—she knows that she will outlive all of her human companions, so she minimizes her investment in them. When she feels like she’s getting too close, she abandons them and, in some cases, her entire identity as well, picking up a new name and life where her whims take her.
            Marley, then, rebukes some of the more traditional expectations of the supernatural in these novels. She isn’t caught in a time warp, nor is she perpetually angsty. Moreover, she is well aware of the fact that popular culture has given vampires a public relations makeover, placing her less as “tool of darkness” and more “sexy superhero”. While she can be abrasive and set in her ways, she embraces what makes her human to every extent.

            *Minutes of entertainment not guaranteed; if minimum entertainment threshold is not reached, please consult your nearest book dealer.
ImprobablesJonathan Charles Bruce
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Booktrope
Date of Publication: February 22, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5137-0653-5ASIN: B01BH86AWU
Number of pages: 334Word Count: 107,360
Cover Artist: Ashley Ruggirello
Book Description:
Abigail Wren’s new life fresh out of college is dull, even with her (almost) dream job at the local newspaper. The only real excitement she can get is found between the pages of an endless stream of paranormal romance novels she can’t help but love.
Then, on a snowy night in December, Abigail catches a glimpse of what could only be described as a werewolf. Enamored with the possibility, her investigation leads her to discover a paranormal population—improbables—harmoniously living in the midst of humanity. Between making eyes at a perpetually grumpy werewolf and hanging out with a vampire with a lust for life (and liquor), Abigail’s life takes a shaky step out of the ordinary and into the fantastic.
Just outside of the sleepy town of Whitewater, however, a force of rage is building. Born of hate and delusion, a living cataclysm threatens to devour everyone in its path—human or improbable.
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Excerpt from Chapter Three:
          The trip back to the office was short and uneventful. Parking her car was also characteristically nondescript. On her way to the front doors, Abigail realized that the entire car ride had been on autopilot. Along with that realization came the panic associated with losing a chunk of one’s precious life to monotony. And along with that came a sudden worry that she might have flattened a child without realizing it.          No. Surely that would have been memorable—right?          Right in the middle of a panicked mental recap of the events from picking up her book to arriving in the parking lot, she slammed face-first into a surprisingly warm wall of a person. She rebounded, only now taking in the red-and-black flannel shirt she had plowed into. Her hands shot out in an attempt to keep balance. A moment later, she felt someone’s hands on her forearms.          “Easy there,” came a gruff voice. Pulling herself out of her daze, Abigail looked up at the person she had run into, who was now also, kindly enough, keeping her upright. He was scruffy, a mop of brown hair bleeding into a full (if short) beard worried with the occasional silver strands. His eyes were an intense green, which, coupled with the red in his shirt, gave his appearance an unintentionally festive look. He was pale, but that was nothing out of the ordinary, considering Abigail had forgotten what the sun looked like in the weeks she’d been calling the Pacific Northwest home.          He was cute. In a ruggedly handsome way. Like a grizzled lumberjack.          Perhaps cute was not the word for it.          Abigail giggled, suddenly overtaken with the silliness of what just happened. “Thank you,” she said, certain she was coming across like an idiot. “You can let go now.” She smiled. The man obliged, returning a tight-lipped smile that seemed to err on the side of suffering-the-eccentric.           “Sorry. Didn’t mean to…” he began before clearing his throat, “exist where you wanted to exist at the same time.” He looked every bit as awkward as she felt, which made her own discomfort slightly less overbearing.           She swallowed sheepishly. “It happens.” She suddenly felt the need to clarify what she meant, so she gestured back and forth between the two of them. “Existing at the same time and all.” She realized that the gesture didn’t seem to quite work in the situation, so she let her hand fall at her side as she averted her gaze.          “Try as we might!” he said with an exaggerated shrug. They exchanged unconvincing laughs before silence filled the void, mutated into a pause, then sat long enough to be uncomfortable. While the quiet was maliciously evolving, Abigail couldn’t help but trace her eyes up the man’s exposed and muscular forearms. When she caught what she was doing, she wondered where her unintentional partner’s eyes were glued—no doubt, here was another person in Whitewater who would take any opportunity to drink in the sight of the newest and blackest resident.          Instead, she was a little shocked—and pleased—to see he was staring at the ground. He was legitimately embarrassed for slamming into her. In the city, if someone ran into you it was either a pickpocketing or just a nonstandard and jostly hello. In her hometown, it had been met with an impertinent huff and followed by a subpar apology. Here… well, if this was the first, being bumped into was hardly the worst way to get to know someone.          Hey, mountain man Joe, why don’t we walk into each other in front of a coffee shop some time? she thought. This Whitewater-only pickup line seemed dopey enough to be charming enough to work—and she couldn’t help snickering at the thought.          “What’s so funny?” he asked. She looked up at his eyes which had made a momentary migration to her face.          The smile from her laughter remained unbroken, but grew a touch larger. “Nothing, just, uh…” She gestured to her temple. “I’m hilarious up here, trust me.”          He tilted his head back, enough to give her a full look at what she assumed was post-embarrassment face-saving stoniness. He nodded. “Sorry again.” And with that, he brushed aside her, carrying some intense body heat with him, and walked away. She looked over her shoulder at the man, watching him for a few seconds. Something registered as odd, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.          Regardless of what it was that presently pricked at her brain, she shook it off. She had spent weeks feeling exasperated when people felt they were privileged enough to stare at her like a lab specimen; she wasn’t too keen on forcing that behavior on someone else.          No matter how green his stupid sexy eyes were.          She turned around to the glass doors and jolted at the sight of Lacy Renault, the woman in charge of business coverage. A tiny woman in her fifties with short-cropped silver hair, she watched Abigail come in with icy blue eyes and a gotcha-smile. She wore an immaculately tailored red business suit, giving her the appearance of a circa 2008 female presidential candidate.          Abigail stepped into the vestibule, grateful for the limited respite it provided from the elements. “Were you watching that the whole time?” she asked, trying not to look too confused by Lacy’s grin. The expression was becoming a bit too knowing for her tastes.          “You running into Collins?” She asked. She opened her eyes widely, teasingly, and nodded. “Oh, my, yes!”          Abigail shrugged. “Something I should know?”          Lacy gave an embellished frown. “No, no. Just, uh…” She trailed off in the way people do when overstressing a manufactured difficulty with words. “Glad to see you’re taking in the sights.”          Well, this conversation immediately failed the Bechdel Test, Abigail thought icily.



About the Author:
Jonathan Bruce began writing what amounted to terrible Star Trek: The Next Generation fan fiction when he was four… provided that you accept that “forcing other people to write what he said” is the same thing as “writing”. Although the original manuscripts are lost (or perhaps destroyed), we can rest assured that his prose has improved significantly since then. After high school, he began writing and directing plays which gradually improved depending on whom you ask. He discovered his love of a good fight scene after writing a Dracula knock-off which took a 19th century classic and made it less about Victorian yearning and 300% more about stabbing things in the jugular.
He has a Master’s Degree in History, thanks largely to his thesis focusing on MUSIC, a Milwaukee-based school desegregation campaign during the 1960’s. He also enjoys discussing/making fun of pop culture of the 20th century and reading books of a non-historical nature. In his off moments, you can catch him writing for fun or making inane movies about nothing in particular.
www.jonathancharlesbruce.com
https://www.facebook.com/jonathancharlesbruce/
https://twitter.com/JonathanCBruce

Interview-Fight by HG Lynch

What inspired your story? 
The whole Caged Trilogy was inspired by two songs: Hungry Like The Wolf by Duran Duran, and Come Away To The Water by Maroon 5 in the Hunger Games Soundtrack.
Is the setting to your story important? 
In so far as it’s set in a forest, it’s important to atmosphere and believability – I mean, I couldn’t just have werewolves running the streets of Manhattan or something. 
Did you always want to be a writer? If not what did you want to be? 
As a kid, I wanted to be a veterinary nurse. It wasn’t until I realized that I could never pass Chemistry class to get the qualifications I needed that I started to think about doing something else – and then writing just kind of fell in my lap. I started writing fanfiction, and then my own novels, and voila! 
When did you first consider yourself a “writer”? 
After about my third published novel. It took a while to feel real.
How long did it take to get your first book published? 
About a year from the first time I submitted the manuscript to a publisher. 
What were your goals as an author and have any of them come true? 
My main goal – or dream maybe – is to be on the New York Times Bestseller list which hasn’t happened yet but I live in hope. Aside from that, just being published is a dream come true!
What have you learned about the publishing industry since you’ve signed that first contract?
It’s hard. It’s so hard to just get your book accepted, to get it out there into readers’ hands, to keep sales going. 
Now that you have a feel for the publishing world, would you do anything different if you had to do it all over again? 
I’d edit my first manuscript a hundred more times before ever submitting it. Great editing is absolutely crucial if you want your book to be accepted by a publisher.
What genres do you normally write in? 
Mostly Young Adult Paranormal Romance, but I do have a couple of New Adult and Erotic novels. 
Is there a genre you haven’t written in that one day you’d like to tackle? 
Science fiction, or maybe steampunk. 
What was the first book you ever published? 
Born Dark, the first book in my Young Adult vampire series, Unfortunate Blood. The series has three books so far and I’m working on the fourth. After that, it was Insane which is a Young Adult Horror Romance. Then I had a bunch of books released within a couple months! Radioactive (a Young adult Dystopian with zombies) and Save Yourself (New Adult, strictly 18+) were released within a few weeks of each other. 
What was the craziest thing you’ve ever done when it came to a storyline in your book? 
Hmm. The ending of Insane got pretty crazy – no pun intended. A lot of people still tell me how shocked they were at that ending. 


FightCaged TrilogyBook TwoH.G. Lynch
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Vamptasy Publishing
Date of Publication: March 16, 2016
Word Count: approx. 125,000
Cover Artist: H.G. Lynch
Book Description:
Tilly and Dominic are prisoners of the witches, and Spencer will do anything to rescue them, even as his dreaded wedding day gets nearer. What he doesn't know is there's a traitor in their midst, and she's determined to make him hers.
With her eighteenth birthday approaching, Tilly is in serious danger of becoming host to a demon, while Dominic suffers every time she leaves his side.
Time is running out for all of them, and the only way any of them will make it is if they fight.
Amazon Excerpt:When sleep finally, blissfully claimed me that night, I was delighted to find myself dreaming of Spencer standing by the sparkling stream, sunlight sliding buttery fingers over his bare chest and catching in his tousled ebony hair. I smiled at him, my heart fluttering in my chest at the sight of him, and stumbled out of the shade of the trees toward him. He looked up at my arrival, and his blue eyes lit up with almost unbearable happiness.“Tilly,” he breathed, staring at me in disbelief. PlanningI grinned and practically threw myself into his arms. He caught me and crushed me close against his chest, resting his cheek on the top of my head.“God, you have no idea how worried I’ve been about you,” he murmured, pulling back to cup my face in his hands.His blue eyes burned into mine, and my breath caught as the searing intensity of his gaze pierced me all the way to my toes. “You have no idea how good it is to see you,” I returned quietly, and before he could reply, I leaned into him and kissed him.
I felt the thrill sink into my bones, and I locked my arms around his neck. His lips pressed softly on mine, but I wanted more.
About the Author:
H.G. Lynch is a Paranormal Romance author from Scotland. She is an avid reader, and cat-lover. She spends most of her days writing, while wrestling her cat off her laptop. She loves horse-riding, Star Trek, and snow.Her books are dark paranormal romances.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/authorhglynch
Website: www.hglynch.weebly.com

Release Day Blitz Journey Man by Victoria Danann

Journey ManKnights of Black SwanBook NineVictoria Danann
Genre: paranormal romance
Publisher: 7th House, Imprint of Andromeda LLC
Date of Publication: 04/07/16
ISBN: 978-1-933320-57-1 ASIN: B01CWHK0K8
Number of pages: 310Word Count: 75k
Cover Artist: Victoria Danann
Book Description:
For five years, Glendennon Catch had knocked around the globe as a floater, filling in wherever a team of vampire hunters was down a member. He’d buried six good knights and watched the life take its toll on countless others. He’d drunk his share of whiskey and bedded so many women he would hate to hear the count, but he’d never gotten over his first love. And, if he had a chance for a do-over, he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t have chosen Rosie Storm over The Order. 
Elora Rose Storm had spent five years nursing a heavy heart, while on a cross-dimensional mission to make the world a better place, especially wherever she found human/animal hybrids being mistreated. She’d seen horrors, righted wrongs where she could, and matured into a powerful witch/demon with altruistic leanings. 
After all that time, unbeknownst to each other, both were headed home. To Jefferson Unit
Amazon     Amazon UK      iBooks     BN    Kobo
Excerpt:
There was a soft knock on the open door. Glen turned to see Rosie standing there, looking unbelievably beautiful and uncertain. He pinned Monq with a look that should have caused him to explode into millions of tiny bits. “You. Did. Not,” he said slowly and distinctly, each word dripping with outrage.“I did,” Monq said casually as he rose from his chair. Looking at Rosie, he said, “Come in, my dear. We’re having sea bass with pasta primavera and Alfredo sauce.” He gestured toward the table, but Rosie didn’t move. She looked at Glen and said, “I saw you a few nights ago. In the Hub. You walked right by, but I guess you didn’t see me.”Glen’s dark eyes flashed as he sneered. “I saw you.”“Oh,” she said in a quiet voice. She searched his face and couldn’t find anything of the boy who had loved her. In addition to the physical changes, he had a hard edge that broadcasted bitterness. Monq decided he’d better establish himself as an arbiter or things were going to deteriorate quickly. “I understand you two used to know each other.”Glen smirked and looked away, shaking his head. “No. Not really. I thought I knew her. Turned out not.”Rosie was beginning to understand the depth of the hurt she’d delivered to her first love. She’d been too selfish, too immature, and too shortsighted to grasp the consequences of her rash behavior. Now that she’d come face to face with the results, it looked like it was far too late to do anything about it. The damage wasn’t just done. It had clearly reinfected itself again and again and festered past the point of repair.She stood there staring at Glen, wondering if an apology would help or make things worse. Looking at the way he was clenching his jaw, she decided things couldn’t get any worse. “I’m sorry,” she said.Glen’s gaze jerked up to her eyes. He could see she was sincere and, if anything, it made him hate her more. At least it made him angrier.“Oh, good. Dinner is here,” Monq exclaimed cheerfully.All the while dinner was being set out Glen and Rosie continued to look at each other, but nothing changed. He was resolute in his rage. She was genuine in her contrition.When the waiter was gone, Monq persuaded them to sit down at the table set for three.“I don’t know how you see this playing out, old man.” said Glen to Monq.“There’s no reason to be disrespectful to Mr. Monq,” Rosie chastised.“Dr. Monq.” Monq corrected.Clearly Glen didn’t like being chastised about manners, especially by Rosie. “I don’t know how you see this playing out, Dr. Monq, but no good can come from it.”By that time Rosie was beginning to feel a little less sorry. “Oh? And why is that?” she asked. “Because, wunderkind, you can’t change the past with a couple of words like ‘sorry’.”“I know that, Glen. But apologizing is a start.”“Really?” He bit out the word. “A start toward what?”“It’s a start toward forgiveness and maybe, eventually, being friends again.”He startled both Monq and Rosie by laughing out loud. “FRIENDS!?! Friends don’t give each other ultimatums and then disppear. FOR YEARS!”Rosie sighed. “You’re right. That was dumb. And thoughtless. And if I could take it back…”“Well, you can’t.” Glen fumed as he shoved a huge forkful of pasta into his mouth.“Rosie, why don’t you tell us what you’ve been doing since you last saw Glen.”“I’m not particularly interested in what she’s been doing,” Glen said, looking anywhere but at Rosie.“Well,” she said to Monq, “I can tell you what he’s been doing. He’s been mastering the art of being an ass. You’ve changed, Glen.”“I…” Monq started.Glen cut him off. “You know what your problem is, Elora Rose? You haven’t changed. You’re still the same self-involved brat who thinks all she needs to do is prance back in here… Oh, look at me, I’m practically royalty. Black Swan’s precious little princess is sorry she made a mess.”“You’re making this harder than it needs to be.”“Yeah? And who gets to decide that? You? You get to decide everything, don’t you?”“I made a mistake, Glen. A big one. But what you’ve made is a gigantic fucking mess of yourself.”“You don’t know anything about me, little girl.”Rosie stood up and threw her napkin down. “I know you’re the one releasing the hogs of war.”Glen sat back and crossed his arms then gave her a smile that broke her and tugged at her heart strings at the same time. “That’s dogs of war,” he said with a smugness that made her want to smush his smarmy face.“Forget what I said about being sorry. All I really want from you is to stay away from me.” As punctuation, on the way out of the room, she grabbed a pillow from Monq’s settee and threw it at Glen, who simply caught it and laughed.“Fine by me.”“Loser. Do you even have any friends?” She said it as a parting shot, but decided to add one last thing on her way out the door. “AND I DON’T PRANCE!”That last question about having friends had hit a nerve with Glen. His taunting laughter melted into a seething anger that had him breathing hard. “Bitch,” he fired back, but she was gone.Monq said, “Well, that went better than I expected.”Glen stood, glowering at Monq, then raised his dinner plate to shoulder height. Monq managed to say, “Please! Not the fireplace again!”Glen huffed. “How’s this?” He raised one bent leg and broke the plate over his own thigh. As he stormed out of the room Monq said, “Dinner at seven tomorrow night. Don’t be late.” Glen gave him the finger without turning around.Monq sighed and looked at the broken plate and ruined food on the new carpet. He was thinking he was glad he’d opted for Alfredo sauce instead of marinara.

 
About the Author:
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of eleven romances. Victoria's Knights of Black Swan series won BEST PARANORMAL ROMANCE SERIES TWO YEARS IN A ROW. Reviewers Choice Awards, The Paranormal Romance Guild.
Her paranormal romances come with uniquely fresh perspectives on "imaginary" creatures, characters, and themes. She adds a dash of scifi, a flourish of fantasy, enough humor to make you laugh out loud, and enough steam to make you squirm in your chair. Her heroines are independent femmes with flaws and minds of their own whether they are aliens, witches, demonologists, psychics, past life therapists. Her heroes are hot and hunky, but they also have brains, character, and good manners. **Usually.
Victoria lives in The Woodlands, Texas with her husband and a very smart, mostly black German Shepherd dog.

WEBSITE: http://www.VictoriaDanann.com  
MAIL LIST: http://bit.ly/1IfByBg  
FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/VictoriaDanannBooks   TWITTER: http://www.twitter.com/vdanann
PINTEREST: http://www.pinterest.com/vdanann
GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5822912.Victoria_Danann

Tour Giveaway
$25 Amazon Gift Card.
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Guest Blog with LM Pruitt

SunnylandMost older cities have at least one haunted building that really puts them on the map, at least in a paranormal way. Being in the south, you would think my city’s claim to fame would be an antebellum home or maybe a story involving a co-ed (since we’re in a college town). No—our most haunted and, quite frankly, terrifying space was a former tuberculosis hospital and insane asylum.
Sunland was first opened as a tuberculosis hospital around the turn of the century, although hospital is something of an overstatement. Sunland really acted as more of a hospice, since there was no cure for tuberculosis. Numbers of patients died there, including children. So, despite the name, not really a happy, sunny place. After a cure for the disease was discovered, the hospital shuttered its doors until the late 1960s, when it was reopened as an asylum for the mentally ill and handicapped.
Almost from the beginning, there were reports of abuse and mistreatment of patients. Sunland was actually the first hospital in Florida to use electroshock therapy. There were rumors of a hole—much like an obielette—where disruptive patients would be sent until they became cooperative. More than one person died in the hospital’s walls. When the hospital finally closed in 1983, all the patients were transferred to other instiutions or group homes.
Well—all the living ones.
The building fell in to disrepair and by the time I was a teenager, it was a favorite stomping ground for rebellious or adventurous kids. Since I was neither, I never went inside. I was perfectly content to take pictures from a distance, partially because I didn’t want to be arrested for trespassing or develop health problems from the asbestos but also because I had no desire to come face to face with any of the spirits roaming the halls.
One of the most often reported experiences was of hearing children laughing and playing—usually with toys that visitors brought them. Rubber balls, windup toys, action figures—if you were willing to risk the crumbling stairs and lethal mold, you could watch dark, disembodied shapes play with them. You could hear them laugh, a sound which was probably an oddity in the hospital when it was in use.
But if the children stopped playing, stopped laughing, it was time to leave—because the “bad ones” were coming.
It’s not surprising there would be angry spirits in a place where there was so much death and abuse. Still, I don’t remember a single person thinking it was cool to have a gurney thrown at them—which happened to at least two different people who I knew but who didn’t know each other. And if you made the mistake of venturing outside the children’s ward and in to parts of the hospital where the more violent patients would have been housed… well. Things went from not great to downright horrible.
Sunland/Sunnyland (which is how the locals always referred to it) was finally torn down in 2006. Where it used to stand is a very nice, very expensive apartment complex. I’m not saying those apartments are haunted—but I wouldn’t be surprised if they were.

SilkL.M. Pruitt
Release Date: April 19, 2016
Genre: Horror
Book Description:
They called it the murder tree.
In 1995, twenty kids went in to the woods. Only three came back.
There are monsters in the woods.
Twenty years later, what happened is still a mystery.
The monsters are back.
Now, the town of Silk faces its greatest threat in over two hundred years. No one is safe.
Not even the monsters.


Available for Pre-Order at Amazon

Excerpt
November 1995
They called it the murder tree.The kids did, anyway. To the adults, those people who no longer believed in ghost stories and things that went bump in the night, it was known as the old Litz tree. The last living monument to the family who founded the town before Georgia was even a state, giving their money and lives in the process.The adults liked to gloss over that particular part of the story when discussing the history of Mulberry.The kids preferred to linger on it.Most of them knew the story of the night the Litz family lost their lives before they were even able to read the decades old textbooks grudgingly provided by the Department of Education. By the time they graduated to junior high, all the kids—the cool ones, at least, the ones you wanted at your party or it wasn’t really a party—had camped out next to the murder tree. More than one high school girl had allowed her boyfriend to “comfort” her in the shadow of the ancient mulberry after listening to the story of the Litz family yet again.You weren’t a part of Mulberry until you had spent your time at the murder tree.It was the only reason Elias Crenshaw could think of for why he was freezing his balls off on what was shaping up to be the coldest night of the year.That and the fact Mandy Jones had promised him she’d be there. The way she’d told him, with just the tiniest smile of her bubblegum pink lips and a flutter of lashes, was enough to keep him warm.But only for another hour. After that, he was going home. The guys could rag him all they wanted on Monday morning. They’d be the one with bug bites and frozen fingers and all the other stupid things that happened when you spent the night in the frickin’ woods. He’d be warm and rested and all studied up for the big biology exam in sixth period.Man, if he didn’t get at least a C his parents were going to flip. They’d already been on the fence about letting him camp out the Friday before a test. If he failed, they wouldn’t let him out of the house again until the end of the school year. He’d be the only kid not allowed to go the eighth grade prom.Mandy Jones would never go out with him if he was the loser kid who didn’t go to the prom.“Your face is going to freeze like that.”Elias snorted. “No, it won’t.”“Yeah, it will.” Shephard Jackson widened her already big brown eyes—bug eyes, Mandy called them—and nodded solemnly. “Cross my heart and hope to die.”“Probably the wrong thing to say when we’re next to the murder tree.” Elias tilted toward her, leaning in with his whole body before hunching his shoulders and shivering. “What are you doing here? I thought you weren’t allowed in the woods after dark.”“I’m not.” She huffed out a breath, the puff of frosty air doing nothing to dislodge the white blonde hair seemingly glued to her forehead. She’d bleached it the week before on a dare, just like she’d pierced her nose last month and broken in to the library the month before that. “But that’s Kelly’s stupid rule. She keeps trying to act like she’s my mom or something.”“Well, she married your dad.” Elias winced when she reached over and smacked him on the back of his head. “Jesus, Shep.”“You’re not supposed to take her side. You’re supposed to take mine.” She sniffled and swiped her hand under her nose. “That’s what best friends do.”“Fine, whatever.” When Shep sighed, Elias rolled his eyes. “It’s a stupid rule and she’s a bitch and she should stop trying to act like she’s your mom.”“Thank you.” The pseudo sniffling immediately stopped and she leaned in to him, her slight frame weighing next to nothing. After a moment, she said, “What are you doing here?”“Rite of passage.” He nodded at the small group clustered around the carefully constructed fire. Albert had insisted they follow all the safety rules for lighting a fire in the woods, reminding everyone of Smokey the Bear’s immortal saying. “Supposed to be more people coming. Real party.”“Oh, please.” She scoffed, the harsh exhalation shaking her entire body. “You’re here because Mandy Jones said she was going to be here. Her and her little group. They’re so… ugh.” She shook her head before turning to scowl at him. “You couldn’t fall in love with some girl who can actually have a conversation for longer than five minutes without mentioning cheerleading or makeup?”“First, I’m not in love with her.” Elias returned her scowl, narrowing his eyes to slits. “We barely know each other.” Truth, even though he’d spent countless hours imagining what it would be like to kiss her. “Second, just because she’s not fighting the power or whatever you do when you’re not pissing off your stepmom doesn’t make her stupid. She’s really smart.”“Eli, she said it was ridiculous to have the term ‘african-american’ because if you were born in America you obviously couldn’t be from Africa.”“Well.” He paused, racking his brain for an explanation even as he winced. “You know, there are a lot of adults who feel the same way. Like we should all just embrace our current culture and let of our heritage.”“Right.” Shep snorted and rolled her eyes. “Whatever.” She jerked her chin at the fire. “Let’s go. Story time.”“Oh, come on.” He groaned, digging in his heels half-heartedly when she tried to drag him toward the group. They both knew it would be impossible for her to move him unless he helped. She was a hundred pounds soaking wet, barely topping five feet while he’d gained twenty pounds since school started. The only reason he wasn’t as fat as a turkey was the corresponding growth spurt, the new six inches putting him dangerously close to six feet. “Not again. We’ve heard this thing a million times.”“So this will be a million and one. Come on.” She yanked his arm harder, grumbling something under her breath about ogres. “It’s tradition to tell the story at every campout. Besides….” She trailed off, smiling up at him and batting her lashes. “I’m pretty sure Mandy finally arrived.”“Well, in that case.” He laughed when she gasped, using her moment of feigned shock to scoop her up and toss her over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold. “You know what’s really great about having you as a best friend? You’re easy to pick up when we’re fighting.”“You’re such a troglodyte.” Shep pounded on his back with her fists, biting back a scream when he took a step forward. “If anybody sees me, I swear—on my mom’s grave—I will make your life miserable for the rest of the year.”He paused, not at the threat, but the oath. After a minute, he dropped her back to her feet, brushing a speck of something off the shoulder of her jacket. They stared at each other, the awkwardness of the silence nearly tangible. Finally, he said, “Sorry, Shep.”“Whatever.” Spinning on her heels, she stomped toward the far side of the group, the laces of her combat boots slithering over the dead leaves like a snake. She slid between Albert and Jacob, sneering at something one of them said. Elias watched for another minute before shoving his hands in his pockets and trudging over to join the growing group.“Hey, Elias.” Mandy half walked, half skipped up to him as he neared the fire, linking her arm with his. “I thought you were going to spend all night talking to that weirdo.”“She’s not a weirdo.” The defense was as automatic as breathing. “Her mom died, remember? Like, right in front of her. She’s just, you know, grieving.”“Right.” Mandy sighed, the sort of huge, exaggerated sigh Elias knew meant annoyance at his supposed ignorance. His older sister made the same noise every time he asked her a question. “Whatever. I didn’t come out to these stupid woods to talk about her.” She smiled at him, the fire casting shadows over her normally light and bright face. “I came to hang out with you.”“Dude, we’re waiting.” Isiah Graves, Elias’s second best friend—but number one guy best friend, as Isiah was quick to point out—raised his voice to an almost shout. Since he’d been the one to propose the campout, he’d insisted he get to tell the story of the murder tree. Elias didn’t bother reminding him it was a hollow honor. “Story and then party. Rules are rules, man.”“Nobody cares except for you.” Jacob Wesson had the honor of being the oldest person in the group by a month and the first to have a voice which didn’t crack at random moments. “Just get this boring ass shit over with before I die of fucking boredom.”“Okay, okay.” Isiah hunched his shoulders and shuffled his feet, shooting a glare around the group at large before straightening to his full height. “The year was 1748. The town of Mulberry was struggling, just as it had been since the Litz family arrived from Germany with a dream of producing silk and other luxury goods.”“He sounds like a really dorky version of Mr. Young.” Mandy’s breathy whisper smelled like cinnamon and Elias closed his eyes for a split second, inhaling deeply. When he opened them again, she was watching him with a knowing look.“Everybody else in the town wanted to use the land for rice, something they could use and sell. But the Litz’s refused to give up their dream.” Isiah paused, drawing out the attempt at suspense. “Finally, the people of Mulberry decided enough was enough.”Even though everybody knew how the story went, how it ended, every last one of them inched closer. The next part of the tale was always told in a voice barely above a whisper, as if the long dead participants would hear and interrupt to correct the teller on some minute point. Tonight was no exception.“The entire town, everybody except the children, marched out to the Litz homestead. Josiah Litz tried to talk them down, make them see reason, but he failed.” Isiah stepped back and pointed up at a thick limb jutting out from the trunk in a crooked line. “They strung him up here but the fall didn’t break his neck. So he watched while the town slaughtered his entire family.”He paused again, the group holding its collective breath. The leaves, long dead but stubbornly clinging to their branches, shivered as a faint wind blew through the forest. Mandy moved closer to Elias and he put his arm around her, ignoring Shep’s eye roll.Isiah waited a beat longer. “Or rather—almost his entire family.“They forgot the oldest son was returning from New York. Franz Litz had been gone so long, it was possible the town had forgotten he even existed.” Isiah rapped his knuckles on the tree trunk, nodding solemnly. “But Josiah hadn’t. And while he slowly suffocated to death under the weight of his own body, he swore his family would have their revenge. And they did.“While the town burned the house and the trees and buried the bodies of the Litz family, Franz, who’d witnessed everything from the safety of the woods, rode in to Mulberry.” Isiah stepped back in to the circle, his low voice forcing everybody to move closer in order to hear. “And hung every last child.”The wind gusted through the woods again, stronger this time, the trees rattling their limbs in protest. Somewhere in the distance, some animal let out a single short cry, quickly cut off by the crunching of something larger and more dangerous. Elias glanced around the circle, surprised at the number of pale faces and large eyes, even as he reminded himself it was only a story.“The townspeople caught him right after he hung his last victim, a baby barely a month old. They hauled him, kicking and screaming, back to the murder tree.” As one, they turned to look at the ancient mulberry. “Even as they put the rope around his neck, he fought. His last words before the noose broke his neck were ‘A cursed ground bears only poisonous fruit’.”“Or so they say.” Jacob snorted and shook his head. “Whatever, dude. Stupid story about a whole bunch of dead people.” He nudged Shep with his shoulder and laughed. “Fuck’em. Let’s party.”The circle broke up in to smaller groups, twos and threes and fours, each cluster wandering away from the murder tree. Mandy gripped Elias’s arm tighter and shivered. “That was so scary, right?”“Right.” He wasn’t sure if she was being sarcastic or not and the smell of her floral perfume was too distracting for him to try and figure it out one way or the other. “So, uh, did you want to go for a walk or something?”“A walk?” She laughed and shook her head. “Uh, no.” Still laughing, she slipped away from him, reaching up and pushing her shiny lemon-yellow hair behind her shoulders. “I actually need to go talk to Shanna about the routine for the game tomorrow.”“Right.” Elias nodded dumbly. “Uh, right. Good luck with that. I’ll just… go… talk to Isiah.”Elias hunched his shoulders, stalking over to the base of the murder tree. Isiah studied his face, rocking on his heels before sucking air through his teeth. “Man, that was an epic crash and burn. Epic.”“Shut up.” Elias punched him, pulling back at the last second. Isiah was nearly as skinny as Shep but more fragile looking, as if a good solid blow would break him in two. “She had to go do cheerleading stuff.”“Cheerleading stuff.” Isiah snorted. “She’s such a fucking tease.”“Dude, stop.” Elias looked up as another gust of wind shook the branches, a handful of leaves falling down around them like confetti. “Did you have to pick the coldest night ever to do this thing?”“Nah, that was just luck.” The other boy grinned and attempted to wiggle his eyebrows. “Pretty spooky, right?”“Whatever.” Elias nudged him with his elbow. “You bring any good snacks or what?”


About the Author:
L.M. Pruitt has been reading and writing for as long as she can remember. A native of Florida with a love of New Orleans, she has the uncanny ability to find humor in most things and would probably kill a plastic plant. She knows this because she's killed bamboo. Twice.  She is the author of the Winged series, the Plaisir Coupable series, Jude Magdalyn series, the Moon Rising series, and Taken: A Frankie Post Novel.
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http://www.amazon.com/L.M.-Pruitt/e/B00427WOW4/
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