Roxanne Rhoads's Blog, page 422

Guest Blog and Giveaway: Wounded A Rylee Adamson Novel by Shannon Mayer

My name is Rylee. I don’t like it when people use my last name, it reminds me of where I’m from and the people who turned on me. I was adopted as a baby into a family where they couldn’t have children naturally. But when I was ten, my parents got a surprise. A miracle baby, a little girl with golden hair and bright blue eyes.
When I was sixteen, I was accused of killing her; our parents believed the police. But I don’t really want to talk about that as it was over ten years ago. I’m trying to let it go.I’m a Tracker, a supernatural who can trace anyone’s life threads finding them regardless of whether they’re dead or alive. I prefer alive, dead is messy, but so often that is the case. I’m also an Immune, magic slides off me as if I don’t exist. That is handy.
Gods, I’m sweating here trying not to swear. Are you sure I can’t use at least one four letter word? No, of course not.
I never Track adults. They can bloody well take care of themselves. I only ever Track kids. Probably I’m trying to make up for not saving my sister. But I’ll leave that up to the psychologists out there to decipher my motives.
Alex is my buddy, a werewolf trapped between forms; half man, half wolf. Submissive, goofy and loyal to the bone he is the one spot of bright light in my life. I think you’d like him the best of the two of us. I know I can be a hard ass, I can’t seem to help it. But Alex has never met someone he couldn’t win over with a floppy wave of his oversized paws. He might not be the best back-up, but he makes me smile and in my world, that is enough.
Someone once asked me what it was like to Track kids for parents who had no one else to turn to, for parents who’d lost hope that their child would ever be returned to them. This was my answer: It’s a weight and a responsibility that sits on me, I took an oath that I would never stop Tracking lost children. That I would put my life on the line for those who can’t save themselves, and that I would fight to my last breath to keep a child alive.
And I wouldn’t have it any other way.



Wounded A Rylee Adamson NovelBook 8Shannon Mayer
Publisher: HiJinks Ink Publishing, Ltd.
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Book Description:
"My name is Rylee and I am a Tracker."
When children go missing, and the Humans have no leads, I'm the one they call. I am their last hope in bringing home the lost ones. I salvage what they cannot.
The clock is ticking and I can feel the weight of the final battle with the demon hordes looming over my head. The puzzle pieces are becoming clearer, but the casualty list is growing. And with each name that is added to those we've lost, my confidence cracks a little more.
Yet there is hope.
A child saved.
A life lost.
A prophecy fulfilled.
Book Trailer: http://youtu.be/7qkt8R0_R-U
Available at Amazon   BN   iTunes   Kobo  Smashwords


Excerpt from Wounded:
“You don’t think that all of the disasters that humanity has faced were all natural, do you? The bubonic plague is a good example. It was blamed on a number of things. Rats, the Jewish people, punishment from God. It all led to a cleansing of anything unusual. Mostly supernaturals, who were trying to blend in, and in that process the humans wiped out many of their best defenders against the demon population, which then went on to spread the plague across the world. But that is just one example.”“What was the point though, wouldn’t the demons have wanted people to be alive so they could possess them?” Liam asked. Erik gave a ruthful smile. “Yes and no. The bubonic plague wasn’t so much about killing people off, as it was infecting them. Making them weak and easier to possess. The plague compromised their immune systems, allowing them to be taken over. Especially the young.”Something about what Erik said sent a twang through my brain. I struggled to put the pieces together that floated just out of reach. Damn it. Liam touched my arm. “What?”I closed my eyes and pressed my palms into them, blocking out any light. “Just let me think for a minute.”The feel of the night air and the sound of the fountain filled my ears as I looked at the pieces one by one. Demons escaped in London who bred fast.Minor supernaturals were being possessed by lesser demons and evil spirits.Packs of Orion’s demons were free to cause chaos.The only thing we were missing was a plague and then Orion would have access to all the young people he wanted. The urge to vomit swelled up through my stomach and burned the back of my throat. “Children are normally hard to possess, aren’t they?” That was why it had taken a full pentagram when the black coven was trying to have India possessed so many months ago. At least, that was what I understood. Bert bobbed his head. “Yes, it can be very difficult to possess a child. There is a natural protection over the young when it comes to demons, something the elementals put into play.” He grimaced as he said ‘elemental’ and again I wondered at these particular supernaturals that I’d only just been hearing about. “But when the small humans are ill, that protection goes into keeping them alive, rather than keeping them from being possessed.”Feeling like a bully, but not really caring, I leaned in to Bert. “How did the bubonic plague really start?”An interesting thing happened. Bert paled and shook his head. “I can’t tell you.”My eyebrows shot up and I glanced at Erik. “You want to make him talk, or do you want me to make him talk?”Erik shrugged. “Either way is fine. I haven’t interrogated a demon in years. I’ve missed it.”Bert paled even more and his lower lip trembled. “I can’t tell you. I can’t. Tracker, Slayer both of you have to trust me. Please.”“Begging will get you nowhere, little demon.” Erik growled. He had a short, serrated knife in his hand that he’d pulled from somewhere within his robes. It was curved, like a skinning knife, and if it hadn’t been for the rough edges that’s what I would have called it.“Track demons and evil spirits.” Bert blurted out as he fell to his knees. “Proof I am on your side. Track them; you’ll see it isn’t me fooling you.”Erik paused and looked over at me. “Up to you. Personally, I’d just as soon dice him up.”“Fuck, why not, Tracking will take me two seconds.” I grumbled. I send out a thread to Track demons as a whole, paired with a thread for evil spirits, just to satisfy—Holy. Fucking. Hell.I swayed on my feet and went to one knee, the overwhelming wash of pings I got back seriously making me re-think getting out of bed the day before. We were surrounded by Orion’s minions. Hundreds of them.
About the Author:
Shannon Mayer lives in the southwestern tip of Canada with her husband, dog, cats, horse, and cows. When not writing she spends her time staring at immense amounts of rain, herding old people (similar to herding cats) and attempting to stay out of trouble. Especially that last is difficult for her.
She is the author of the The Rylee Adamson Novels, The Nevermore Trilogy, A Celtic Legacy series and several contemporary romances. 
Please visit her website at http://www.shannonmayer.com  for more information on her novels.
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/ShannonMayerAuthor
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/TheShannonMayer
Blog:  http://www.shannonmayer.com
Amazon Author Page:  http://www.amazon.com/Shannon-Mayer/e/B005L43124/

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Spotlight and Giveaway Through His Touch by Deborah Camp

Through His TouchA Mind’s Eye NovelBook TwoDeborah Camp
Genre: Romantic Suspense/Paranormal
Number of pages: 321 pagesWord Count:  87,862
Cover Artist: Cover to Cover Designs
Book Description:
Psychic Trudy Tucker would love . . .
 . . . to breach Levi Wolfe’s defenses and show him that his heart has nothing to fear from her.
Psychic Levi Wolf would love . . .
 . . . to protect Trudy’s gentle heart by keeping her away from his dark, treacherous past.
But is love enough when someone with a heart full of hate has chosen Trudy as the next one to die?
Through His Touch
Will his touch claim her or kill her?

Book Trailer  http://youtu.be/fy4YeGpmC9Q 



About the Author:
Author of more than 40 novels, Deborah lives in Oklahoma. She has been a full-time writer since she graduated from the University of Tulsa. Her background as a reporter for newspapers helped her to write fast and enjoy research. After she sold her first few books, she quit newspaper work to become a freelance writer and novelist.
Deborah's first novel was published in the late 1970s and her books have been published by Jove, New American Library, Harlequin, Silhouette, and Avon. She has been inducted into the Oklahoma Authors Hall of Fame and she is a charter member of the Romance Writers of America. She is also a member of the Author's Guild. She was the first recipient of the Janet Dailey Award.
Through His Eyes (April, 2014) is her first romantic suspense book. It has paranormal elements and is erotic. It’s the first book in the Mind’s Eye series.Through His Touch (September, 2014) is the second book in the Mind’s Eye series featuring psychic detectives Trudy Tucker and Levi Wolfe.
Lover of the west and the people who tried to tame it, Deborah likes to write about strong, independent women and the men who are their equals. She grew up on a diet of TV westerns which have served her well. Living in Oklahoma has also been a godsend. Since she appreciates men with devilish twinkles in their eyes, she likes to mix laughter in with the love scenes in her books.
Also widely published in non-fiction, she and writes and edits for a magazine focused on small businesses. Deborah taught fiction writing for more than 10 years at a community college. She has been a guest speaker at numerous writers’ conferences, including Romance Writers of America (RWA), Writers, Inc., and the Oklahoma Writers Federation, Inc. She has served as a judge in numerous writing contests throughout the United States and has judged manuscripts in RWA’s Golden Heart Awards and RITA Awards. She is currently working on her next historical romance set in the wild, wonderful west.
In 2012 her books were re-issued on Amazon for Kindle Direct and have attracted tens of thousands of new fans. Her books have made the Amazon bestseller list and “Too Tough To Tame” hit the #1 historical romance spot for Kindle Readers.
Website: www.deborah-camp.com
Blog: www.deborahcampwritersdesk.blogspot.com
Pinteret: http://www.pinterest.com/debbycamp44/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DeboKabaski
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/officialdeborahcamp
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/198990.Deborah_Camp



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Blitz for Silent Partner by Stan Schatt

Writing by the Numbers and Playing by the Rules

Every genre has its own rules. Try writing a fairy tale without beginning with “Once upon a Time” and see what your audience’s reaction will be. Try writing a love story in which you change the formula from “boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl” to  “boy meets girl and they hate each other and never meet again.” Your readers will boo you out of the library. Similarly, try writing a modern mystery in which you use some of the gimmicks found in the old Perry Mason TV show. Have someone no one ever suspected as the killer suddenly jump up in court and confess.
Readers today have certain expectations. When they sit down to read a mystery, they expect the writer to follow certain rules. They want to follow detectives as they try to solve a crime, look over their shoulders, and guess right along with them.. They don’t mind being led astray by a few red herrings, but they expect to see the detectives solve their cases by using logical deductions and modern police procedures. Readers don’t want an entirely new character to appear in the last chapter and confess. That’s cheating! If a couple of very suspicious characters turn out to be good citizens, that’s okay because all of us misjudge people on occasion.
So, you can understand my dilemma when I sat down to write a police procedural mystery with a paranormal component. I couldn’t have the ghost perform any tricks to help solve the crimes. I couldn’t have the ghost whisper to Josh Harrell that Mr. Jones is the killer. What kind of experience would that be for my readers? Instead, I had to make absolutely sure that Detective Frankie Ryan solves the case logically so readers can guess along with her and feel they haven’t been cheated.
What I wound up doing in Silent Partner was to have a two-pronged search for a killer. Frankie uses modern police procedures while Josh gets occasional hints from his spiritual guide. As long as they both wind up at the same place at around the same time, the process works.
Having said that, I want to point out a number of other elements of my novel that fit neatly into the modern police procedure mystery; I’m talking specifically about the detective-hero, the protagonist in so many modern mysteries. Think of Harry Bosch in the Michael Connelly novels as an example. The detective is generally a loner, even if he or she works with a partner. The detective often is at odds with departmental chiefs because they are more concerned with protecting their jobs than in solving cases. Similarly, the detective often disregards departmental rules for the greater good.
Most detectives have personal problems; they tend to be a lonely group that drinks heavily. They are very moral, though, and incapable of selling out. They are fearless and relentless when it comes to solving a case, even if that means putting themselves in danger.
Often detectives relate best to the “little people” within the department, the hardworking CSI technicians who aren’t political. Detectives are very bad at politics. They don’t have the heart to kiss up to those above them. They frequently are in danger of being fired or demoted; other officers don’t understand their passion for their “mission” and think of them as a bit deranged.
So, even though I did add a paranormal element to my novel, I followed the rules for the most part when it came to my detective. She’s a female version of a long line of detective-heroes leading up and including Harry Bosch. In fact, my intention in writing Silent Partner was to create a female Harry Bosch.
I hope you enjoy reading Silent Partner and following the clues strewn throughout the book. I’ve certainly seeded the trail with plenty of hints. See if you can discover the killer before Detective Frankie Ryan or reporter Josh Harrell do.

Silent PartnerStan Schatt
Genre:  Paranormal MysteryPublisher:  Pen-L Publishing
ISBN:   978-1-940222-45-4
Number of pages: 239Word Count: 60,000
Cover Artist: Kelsey Rice
Book Trailer:  None
Book Description:
Detective “Frankie” Ryan tracks a sadistic killer while the press attacks her as a feminist vigilante who takes the law into her own hands. The only one who can help her is a tabloid reporter who can’t decide if he’s a psychic who sees ghosts or is just going insane.
As they search for the killer in a sunny seacoast city’s seamy S&M underside, they begin to question everything they know about sexual identity. How can they find the killer before he strikes again when he defies any description?
Silent Partner is a paranormal mystery, a police procedure novel with a female detective that will remind you of Harry Bosch, a ghost story that suggests what lies beyond death, and a comic look at a tabloid where the “truth” is whatever sells.


Excerpt:
Frankie glared at Landry. His neck turned red, but he didn’t say anything. “How could I live without her? I was addicted to her. Once you had her in your system, you never wanted her to leave. When I was away from her, I thought of her constantly. It wasn’t just the sex. She was the smartest, wittiest woman I’ve ever known. She was the most interesting and exciting woman I’ve ever met. She was also the most manipulative woman I’ve ever met. I hated myself for not throwing her out, but I just couldn’t. Love is a horrible thing, and not the wonderful thingspoets say.”“Did she leave a note?” Frankie was trying to develop a timeline.“I came home around five-thirty, and she didn’t leave a note. I never believed her notes anyway. You have to understand something about Lorna. She never admitted she was wrong about anything, and she never apologized. She could convince herself in a minute that anything she said was true. Lorna once left me a note that she was going shopping with a girl friend. That friend called later and didn’t know anything about the shopping. I told my wife I knew she lied to me, and she became furious that I didn’t believe her. I’m sure she totally believed that she was right and I was wrong. I think the shrinks call someone like that a sociopath.” “We’ll  need  your  statement.  Does  your  wife  have  any  enemies?”Frankie said.Marco looked up. His eyes glistened from his tears. “It’s probably a long list. As I told you, Detective, she didn’t play by the same rules as everyone else.”“Let’s start with the names of people you know had reason to dislike her,” Frankie said.


About the Author:
Stan Schatt grew up in Phoenix, Arizona and now resides in Carlsbad, California. He has written thirty-five books on a wide variety of subjects ranging from fiction to technology.  He is co-author of Journey to a Different Dimension, an Amazon bestseller. He also authored Egypt Rising, a YA novel focusing on a teen’s experience in Egypt at the time of the Egyptian revolution of 2011. This novel contains paranormal elements including a secret buried under the Sphinx. The paranormal mystery Silent Partner is Schatt’s latest novel.
He has led several careers including futurist and executive for many of the world’s leading technology market research firms, police department administrator, autopsy assistant, software trainer, Telecommunications Department Chairman, and English professor. He taught at Tokyo University as a Fulbright exchange professor. His non-fiction includes books on such diverse topics as strategies for changing careers for a green industry job, studies of Michael Connelly and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., network and data communications technology, telecommunications, computer programming.
www.stanschatt.com
http://www.pen-l.com/SilentPartner.html
@stanschatt





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Spotlight and Giveaway Elven Obsession by Decadent Kane

Elven ObsessionTrouble with Elves SeriesDecadent Kane
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Breathless PressDate of Publication: August 29, 2014
Cover Artist: Fiona Jayde
Book Description:
Something elven this way comes...
5 books from the Trouble with Elves series by Decadent Kane
Book 1~ Ribbon of Darkness
An old family secret draws Ribbon into an Elven world while Draven is forced to find a way to drag her back home to save Christmas magic.
Book 2~ Tempting Clover
Breaking a goblin's curse is more difficult than Clover thought. Especially when love and nightshade are crucial ingredients.
Book 3~ Steele Your Soul
Stolen souls, an evil drow elf, a dark eyed beauty named Pepper, and a king who doesn't take kindly to the loss of his goods...Captain Joren Steele has his hands full.
Book 4~ A Hint of Cayenne
Two bounty hunting elves must put aside their attraction to each other when a malevolent fairy comes up for grabs. Cayenne and Hawthorne both need the twenty gold reward, but only one can walk away with it.
Book 5~ A Whisper of RueWhen a package magically shows up in Rue's home, she'll have two choices. Either do as Gage demands, or standby as an elf is tortured.

Join the elf side...
About the Author:
An elfess in human form, Decadent enjoys dipping her fingers into the human realm where she took pen to paper and began the tales of the trouble with elves. Her obsessions include reading, Dean Winchester, and honey.
She will devour your soul with glimpses of the feral ridden drow elves, with their dark skin and soul consuming. She'll sneak morsels of naughty thoughts to you via goblins, and seduce you into stepping inside the elven realm where females disappear when lust takes over among other elfish troubles.
Beware the sprites.
Follow the wisps.
But never look a drow elf king in the eyes...
Authorgraph: https://www.authorgraph.com/authors/DecadentKane
FB : https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008217340227
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DecadentKane
Blog: http://decadentkane.blogspot.com/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/23398789-decadent-kane
Newsletter: https://www.facebook.com/DecadentKane/app_100265896690345
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Spotlight and Giveaway Guardians: The Girl Guardians by Lola StVil

Guardians: The GirlGuardiansBook OneLola StVil   
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal Romance
ASIN: B006VRXR42
Cover Artist: Renu Sharma
Book Description:
The prophecy says I will fall in love with team leader and Angel, Marcus Cane. The prophecy also says that our love will cause his mission to fail and end the world.
Whatever.
This human is not worried. Why?
Because I do not intend to fall in love with Marcus.
The truth is I hate him. I hate his warm brown eyes with flecks of gold, his chiseled face and broad shoulders.
I hate how over protective he is just because a few thousand demons are after me.In fact, I couldn't care less about Marcus or his perfect telekinetic girlfriend.And when I see him holding her, I don’t die a little inside…
Book Trailer: http://youtu.be/7rWxyAvm_gk

 Available at Amazon   BN   Kobo  Amazon UK   iTunes

Excerpt:
Sitting there in the car, a part of me bitterly resented what she was doing to me. I knew it wasn’t her fault.
But does she have to be so... alluring?
I need to focus on something else besides the spot between her earlobe and neck. It looked so soft.
Her lips were slightly parted as she looked out the window. I wanted to part them further with mine. I put both my hands on the steering wheel. I could not allow myself to let go until she was out of the car.
Suddenly she leaned in and kissed me. It was far better than I could even begin to explain to you. I've fought and died a slow and painful death on earth.
And nothing, NOTHING can compare to how hard it was for me to pull away from her lips. I don't think any angel could to do it twice in a lifetime...




About the Author:
Lola StVil is a Haitian born writer and actress.
She lives in Hollywood, CA and welcomes online interaction with readers. Lola was seven when she first came to this country from Port-au-Prince, Haiti. She attended Columbia College in Chicago, where her main focus was creative writing. In addition to plays, she also writes screenplays and short stories.
She has been commissioned to write for ABC, CBS and Princeton University. She won the NAACP award for her play "The Bones of Lesser Men". In addition to being nominated for LA Weekly awards. Her work has also received positive reviews from The LA Times, Variety and LA Weekly. This is her first novel.
http://www.lolastvil.com/
https://www.facebook.com/guardiansgirl
Twitter @guardiansgirl
Instagram @authorlolastvil
Newsletter http://eepurl.com/W-scP

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Release Day Blitz The Blue Effect by Rose Shababy

Join the release day party on facebook https://www.facebook.com/events/851073488255363/




The Blue EffectRenegade HeroesBook OneRose Shababy
Genre: Adult Urban Sci-fi/Fantasy
Date of Publication: September 8th, 2014
Cover Artist: Regina Wamba
Book Description:
Blue Brennan is jaded and bitter despite her pinup girl looks and quick wit. Night after night, she scours the Seattle club scene looking for someone or something to fill the emptiness inside.
When she meets the mysterious Kasey, her world stops… literally. He claims she has the ability to control time and stuns her even further when he reveals his own gifts.
Blue is inexplicably drawn to Kasey and reluctantly enters his world filled with a new breed of humanity. They’re misfits like her, blessed or cursed with powerful abilities, struggling to hide their differences from the rest of society.
Then the group discovers a nameless, faceless sociopath with nightmarish powers; and he’s coming for Blue. She’s left reeling when they discover her gifts are the key to defeating his terrible evil and saving them all.
Now she must race against the clock to harness her own powers and save her new friends. Can she be more than a renegade? Can she be a hero too?
Available at BN  Kobo   iTunes  Amazon

Excerpt Three
Clearly the time had come for the two of us to have it out. “I may have thought you were hot when we first met, and you got to listen to the nasty thoughts in my head, but every time we meet I find it harder to like you. In fact, every time you open your mouth, you get uglier and uglier. I don’t know if Val was right, and you really are jealous, but let me make this crystal clear for you. There is no part of me that wants you.”His eyes narrowed for a moment, and then, before I could do anything, his hands shot out and grabbed my shoulders again. He yanked me close to him and I the heat from his chest burned through my t-shirt. His face was so close to mine I could feel his hot breath blazing against my cheek when he spoke. “You’re a little liar,” he hissed. “There is a part of you that likes this,” he shook me a little and I flushed with rage… and something else. “And goddamn me, there’s a part of me that likes it too.” He hovered with his face still close to mine and for a moment I thought he was going to kiss me. My head fell back slightly and my lips parted involuntarily as I anticipated his invasion. Then he released me, almost flinging me away from him. I pressed my back against the wall as I watched him and tried to catch my breath as my traitorous heart beat so hard I thought it might burst out of my chest.“Let me make this crystal clear for you,” he mimicked. “Kasey is like a brother to me and if you hurt him, you’ll wish you never met me.”
 “I already do,” I whispered with sincerity.

About the Author:
Rose Shababy and her family reside in eastern Washington State. Rose grew up in the Northwest but swears she’s going to move to warmer climates someday. She’s claimed this for over 20 years, however, and has yet to move more than 75 miles away from her mother.
Rose has a deep love of all things Star Trek and yearns to travel the heavens, as well as an intense desire to be bitten by a radioactive spider.
Unfortunately she sucks at science and math so she hasn’t been able bring her dreams to life, instead living vicariously through books, comics, television and film. She hopes to someday make a million dollars so she can afford to buy her way to the international space station, but she’d settle for being able to fly around the world and leap tall buildings in a single bound.
Rose also loves to cook and worked for years in a gourmet Italian grocery and deli where she learned to hone her skills. She prepares culinary masterpieces for her family, but fervently wishes the dishes would wash themselves. Especially now that her dishwashers/children are nearly grown and only one still lives at home.Rose likes to use her free time wisely. For instance, she likes to daydream, will often read for hours until she falls asleep on the couch with an electric blanket and a warm tabby cat curled up on her hip, as well as spending cozy weekend days watching Syfy movies like Sharknado and Mega Piranha with her husband.
If Rose were a cartoon animal, she’d prefer to be a wise old owl or a sleek and sexy jaguar, but in reality she’d probably be a myopic mole with coke-bottle glasses.
http://roseshababy.com/
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Wickedly Dangerous Guest Blog and Giveaway with Deborah Blake

Books can spring from a multitude of different places; the love of a particular genre, a brainstorming session with an agent, or even the distant memory of a childhood tale, told by a grandfather on a Saturday night. My debut novel, Wickedly Dangerous, came in part from all of these things, but it also was directly influenced by two of my favorite books by other authors, people whose writing made me think: I want to write that!
Interestingly, although these two books were written by authors whose body of work I already adored, both of them were departures from their usual books. And the books were very different from each other, but they had a few important features in common; features which I eventually incorporated into my own book (and hopefully did half as well as they did).
The Magical Emporium, by Tanya Huff, is now on my top ten list of favorite books ever, and I’ve probably reread it a half a dozen times. Huff, who is best known for her Blood books (made into the short-lived but wonderful TV series, Blood Ties) has written everything from science fiction to vampires, but her Gale Girls series, of which The Magical Emporium was the first, are set in a realistic world that just happens to have magic in it.
That’s also true of Patricia McKillip’s Solstice Wood. McKillip is best known for her lyrically beautiful fantasy books, and I absolutely worship her for the way she can paint pictures with words. I tried to do a little of that in my own series, although with nothing approaching her skill.
So what do these two novels have in common that inspired me to write a book that in some ways followed in their footsteps? They are both set in our normal world, with true magic hidden just below the surface. And they are both filled with interesting, quirky characters who are still realistic and familiar. Characters that you would want to meet, if you could. Magic you would love to see for yourself.
Wickedly Dangerous, as well as its prequel novella Wickedly Magical and the second book in the series, Wickedly Wonderful, features a woman plucked out of Russian fairy tales and mythology: the Baba Yaga. I’ve updated her for the modern world, changing her hut on chicken legs to an Airstream trailer, and her flying mortar and pestle to a classic BMW motorcycle. She is still accompanied by her faithful(ish) dragon companion, Chudo-Yudo, but these days he is disguised as a giant white pit bull. And much like in the old stories, the Baba Yaga has “sisters,” other magical women like her who are charged with guarding the doorway to the Otherworld and keeping the balance of nature. Each book features a different Baba, all of them very different from each other.
I hope you’ll come meet Baba Yaga, and tell me what you think of what I’ve done with all this inspiration.
Question One: Do you prefer fantasy or paranormal novels that are set in a completely different world, or magic that is hidden in our own?

Question Two: What qualities do YOU look for in a book? Interesting characters? Detailed descriptions? A satisfying love story? Humor? A plot that will keep you on the edge of your seat?

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Interview and Giveaway with Chris Podhola

Can you tell readers a little bit about yourself and what inspired to write in this particular genre?
The story itself decided the genre.  In general I am a supernatural, paranormal lover, so it is natural for me to write things along these lines.  This story, however, is more specifically suited for a younger audience, and that decision is based on the character ages and the story line, which wasn’t a conscious decision.  It’s just the way it worked out during the writing of it.
What is it about the paranormal, in particular vampires, that fascinates you so much?
Well this story has no vampires, but what does lure me into vampire stories, are the ones that focus on the lure that vampires have.  I think the reality of vampire stories is that they are not the ‘good guys’ (sorry Twilight fans), but are the ones who want to drink our blood, seeing us as food, and forgetting that they were once as vulnerable as we are.  I do, however, like vampire stories with a romantic interest between the vampire and the victim.
What inspired you to write this book?
The twins themselves were the inspiration.  I wanted to write a story about a pair of twins who were originally born in another dimension and were sent to ours, by being born here, forgetting their mission, and having to rediscover their true path.
Please tell us about your latest release.
As mentioned in the previous question it is about a pair of twins (Whitney and Tommy Leighton) who were originally born in another dimension and reborn in ours to complete a mission.  In the other world they are both warriors, neither of them completely human, both of them having different abilities, and each of them with varying personalities.  They are sent to Earth to recover a fugitive but, being reborn on our planet, have no idea of their past.  Whitney can only see and hear when she is piggybacking with Tommy, slipping her consciousness into his, is the only way she can see or hear, and she lives her life in the passenger seat of Tommy’s mind.  (Their only clue of this other world being the dreams of Tommy).  In those dreams he sees his sister differently than he knows her.  In his dreams she is still blind and deaf, but she is also an impressive warrior.  She has tattoos of the infinity symbol wrapped around her eyes, scars on her face and neck and swings a pair of swords like nobody he’s ever seen before, but in the end of his most recent dreams she is killed by one of her enemies.  Some of his dreams are set in another world, but not all of them are.  Some of the alien creatures in his dreams end up in our world and he knows that Whitney must learn to become more like the girl he sees in his dreams, otherwise she is doomed to perish young.  The only problem is that simply telling her of his dreams will only prompt a scoffing laugh from 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? 
For me character’s names usually end up coming by inspiration, much like the character themselves do.  I usually don’t manipulate character names and try to allow one character to name the other.
Was one of your characters more challenging to write than another?
Any antagonist character is usually difficult for me.  I find it difficult to write scenes in which one character does something awful to another.
Is there a character that you enjoyed writing more than any of the others?
I truly enjoyed exploring Whitney’s character.  She is by far the most unique character I have ever written.
Do you have a formula for developing characters? Like do you create a character sketch or list of attributes before you start writing or do you just let the character develop as you write?
I try to get into my character’s head when I write.  My best writing comes when I accomplish this successfully.  It’s not always easy, but when I do get it right I don’t have to guess what the character would thing or do, because I already know.
What is your favorite scene from the book? Could you share a little bit of it, without spoilers of course?
[In this scene Tommy and Whitney have arrived at Camp Tumbling Waters.  Not long before this Whitney has decided not to attend the camp with her brother.  Her argument being that, being blind and deaf, she can’t really enjoy the camp the way that the other teens can, and she will only serve to hinder Tommy from enjoying his week there.  So she decided not to go.  As this cut from the scene begins the rest of the family is standing in front of the Camp Master, Mr. Margraves who is thankful to receive the news.  Their Aunt and Uncle, Blake and Carol Anne, are speaking with him, and Tommy is with them.  Whitney has her consciousness slipped into Tommy’s and she is also listening in.]
“I don’t see her out here so I hope that this means that your daughter has changed her mind and isn’t tagging along,” he said without returning the handshake that Blake was offering.  Blake retracted his offer.  The camp-master had barely moved his lips as he spoke, which gave the impression that he was a practicing ventriloquist, but it also looked like he needed a lot more practice.  His Hitler style mustache sat perched below his nose and Tommy had to hold himself back from giggling.Tagging along? Whitney thought to Tommy.  What a jerk!“I think she may have changed her mind,” Blake answered.“Well that’s the best news I’ve heard all day, to be quite honest with you.  I have been a little more than worried about this whole situation.  I’ll have you know that I fought tooth and nail against this preposterous notion of having a girl that is both blind and deaf attending this camp, but it seems that your generous contribution to the camp carried more weight than my opinion,” he said.  “I mean to think … a blind and deaf girl … here!  Silliest thing I’ve ever heard of … no offense, but I’m very relieved.”Silly? Whitney repeated in Tommy’s head.Tommy looked over to Blake.  Blake’s nostrils were flaring and he was taking in deep and even breaths.  Carol Anne’s hand went to his shoulder and began to gently stroke him.  She was trying to prevent him from blowing his lid right then and there.“You don’t think she could handle it?” Blake asked through gritted teeth.“Tah!” he spat.  “What would she really be able to accomplish here?  How would she spend her days?  Sitting in the cabin?  Walking the trails with her brother holding her hand?  Nope!  She would accomplish nothing but keeping her brother from enjoying himself.  Better to just let him enjoy what the camp has to offer and leave her at home where she is safe and can be attended to properly, to be totally honest with you.”HOLDING MY FRIGGING HAND?! She questioned to Tommy.  Who does this guy think he is?  I don’t need to be ‘attended to properly!’What Whit! Tommy thought back to her.  He’s essentially just saying what you said earlier.Oh, shut up!It was almost as if the man thought that saying things like “to be honest with you” or “quite frankly” softened the blow of his harsh words.  Did he not realize that the things he was saying were not being taken very kindly?“She is a very capable young lady you know,” Carol inputted.“Oh I’m sure she is,” he returned quickly.  “I’m sure she is very capable under the circumstances, but this camp is for exceptional … I’m afraid we don’t have much room for capable here.”That’s it.  I’ve had it!The door to the S.U.V. opened.  It drew the attention of everyone standing at the gate and they all watched as one of Whitney’s legs dropped down below the door of the truck.  It was quickly followed by the other which was then followed by the sound of the door being slammed shut.  She had her “seeing” cane in her hand and she pushed the button on the side of it.  The end of it shot out and she began hopping it from side to side in front of her as she walked toward the group.“I have a feeling that someone may have just changed their mind again,” Blake said.  Pride was swelling in his voice as he said it.  “I’ll go get her bags.”  He left the group and headed to the back of the vehicle.  Tommy couldn’t help but notice that the camp-master’s right eye twitch every time Whitney’s cane tapped against the ground as she approached.  It really didn’t look like the guy was enjoying the sight of her walking up to them.  Glad you could join us! Tommy thought to her.I’m not happy about this, but NO WAY am I gonna let this prick tell me what I can and can’t do!The camp-master stood before them, dumbfounded by the recent change of events, and not sure what to do about it.  A moment before he was getting his way and suddenly he wasn’t.  His entire face went from tan to turnip red.  His eyes danced in his head, and he kept looking back and forth from Carol Anne to Blake, who was at the back of the truck pulling out Whitney’s luggage, as if he expected them to suddenly take his side and demand that Whitney just go ahead and change her mind back to not going.Blake came back, sat Whitney’s things down next to Tommy’s, and took up residence next to Whitney.  He put one proud arm around her and grinned at the camp-master who was still desperately thinking of a way to change the tides back to his favor.
Did you find anything really interesting while researching this or another book?
In order to get the ‘Cherokee Indian’ parts correct I had to do research on that.  During that research I discovered the ‘Trail of Tears’ and was fascinated by it.  Parts of that, along with some of their language and beliefs, made it into the novel.
Can you tell readers a little bit about the world building in the book/series? How does this world differ from our normal world? 
Volume 1 is set in modern day Missouri, but Volume 2 will go from there to Messolina and the Black City.  That world is much different.  Everything surrounding Messolina is different and there are many dangerous beings living in that world.  If you are not a warrior, trained to fight from birth, you will not survive long.
With the book being part of a series, are there any character or story arcs, that readers jumping in somewhere other than the first book, need to be aware of? Can these books be read as stand alones?
So far I’ve only written the first book.  I am just now beginning work on the second.  I do have short stories along the same story line, and many readers have jumped in at different places within the shorts without complaint.
Do any of your characters have similar characteristics of yourself in them and what are they?
Tommy and I both have a love for sci-fi movies, books and the like.
Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? How do you deal with it?
When I get something wrong in a story.  When that happens the ideas just quit coming and I have to go back and figure out where I went off track.  Once have that figured out I can usually pick it back up.
Do you have any weird writing quirks or rituals?
The weirdest thing that I do that may be different from other writers is to write the antagonist scenes dead last.
Do you write in different genres? Yes.  This is an urban fantasy, but the next story I plan to write will have fangs in it, and I think that there are definitely sci-fi stories tucked away somewhere in my brain.
Do you find it difficult to write in multiple genres?  Sometimes.  I usually only try to write the stories that I’m feeling inspiration for.  That inspiration helps a lot.
When did you consider yourself a writer?
I knew that I wanted to write from a very young age but, unfortunately, I went about it the wrong way in the beginning.  My first attempt at writing came at about the age of thirteen and it was horrible.  I was trying to, and expecting to, write like a pro.  When I read what I had written and saw that it wasn’t that great, I thought that I didn’t have what it took and I didn’t write another word until I was an adult.  But the desire to write never died.  That flame continued to burn within me.  I made more attempts at different times in my life and each time I went back to it, my writing seemed a little better to me.  I didn’t consider myself to be a writer, however, until about four or five years ago.  By that time I was occasionally letting someone else see what I had written, watching their facial expressions with my breath buried deep in my lungs, and relieved when I would catch a glimpse of a smile, or a nodding of their head as they read along.  That’s when I knew that I might just be able to pull it off.
What are your guilty pleasures in life?
Craft beers.  I don’t drink often, but when I do I like something quality.  I like different tastes, something strong, heavy and bold.  I’ve been known to spend as much as twenty dollars on one single bottle of beer.
What was the last amazing book you read?
I just finally got to reading Hunger Games.  I had avoided reading it because I had read a very unfavorable critique of it.  Then I read another critique that tore it to shreds and I got to thinking, if it’s that bad, then why is it selling so good.  I read it myself to find out, finished all three novels in three days, and realized that critiques aren’t always what they are cut out to be.  I loved all three novels.
Where is your favorite place to read? Do you have a cozy corner or special reading spot?
Anywhere quiet.  It doesn’t matter where because, as long as it’s quiet, I end up somewhere else entirely anyway.
What can readers expect next from you? 
Volume 2 of the Twinfinity series.
Twinfinity: NethermoreVolume 1Chris Podhola
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal,Urban Fantasy
Date of Publication: May 26, 2014
ISBN: 978-1499625035ASIN: B00KGZ41CM
Number of pages: 411Word Count: 107,000
Cover Artist: Llpix.com
Book Description:
Whitney Leighton has a secret.  She is both blind and deaf but that’s not what she’s trying to keep hidden.  Her secret is that she can both see and hear through her twin brother Tommy.  They call it piggybacking because she can shift her consciousness into her brother’s mind.
Whitney’s not the only one with a secret; Tommy has one too and it’s Whitney that he’s keeping it from.  His secret is that Whitney isn’t who she’s supposed to be.  He has dreams of her, but in his dreams she has tattoos, battle-scars on her face, and a formidable look of determination.  If Tommy’s dreams come true then Whitney is in serious trouble and so is everyone else.  The simple Whitney that is, doesn’t stand a chance against the evil that exists in his sleep, and the world will be thrust into chaos.
The teen twins end up at Camp Tumbling Waters and Lake Amicolola where something is waiting for them.  Something as dark as Whitney’s vision and as insane as Tommy’s dreams and IT needs Whitney to escape the prison that IT calls … Nethermore.
Book Trailer: http://youtu.be/nfmpW8Kn4wM
Available at Amazon

Excerpt:
This excerpt is from Chapter 10 of Twinfinity: Nethermore.  In it the main character, the blind and deaf Whitney Leighton, is preparing to make a physical statement to her summer camp peers.  They are all gathered at the obstacle course located in Camp Tumbling Waters and the group is divided.  Half of the campers blame her for the recent troubles in the camp, and the other half believe that she is the solution to those problems.  Whitney knows that she needs to prove a point to all of them in order to unite them.

Whitney had been a little surprised by how clearly her course could be directed through her imagination and memory.  Every step, and every move had been based on what she remembered from when she was piggy-backed with Kat, but she had been able to lay everything out in her mind with near perfect clarity.She had been sitting on the bench brooding over her conversation with Kat.  She was mad all right, but little Mike had changed her mood.  She couldn’t see the fear in his face, and she couldn’t hear if he had said anything, but she had seen his shadow approach the wall and she had waited with anticipation for his shadow to ascend into the air.  She might not be able to see it with her eyes, but she would have still felt pride for him as he succeeded.  She could see that climbing it was important to him, and Kat had insinuated that it was so important that he had spent a year trying to get himself ready for it.  His body appeared to be weak and frail and Whitney had searched Kat’s mind for an explanation for that. He had an accident when he was younger--a tragic accident that had broken many bones and left him in a wheel chair for years.  He was just getting to the point that he could walk again.  And, according to Kat’s memories on the subject, climbing that wall was his motivation—his driving force.  It was the thing that he talked about last year that inspired him to work so hard in his recovery.  He wanted to do it, but he was afraid.Like she was afraid. He backed off and someone else was approaching the wall in his place.  She didn’t want to sense someone else climbing the wall.  She wanted to sense him doing it, and she didn’t think it was right for everyone else to just shrug it off.When she first got up from the bench and started walking toward the group her intention was to find a way to convince Mike to make his climb.  She was only vaguely aware of the clarity with which she could visualize her course.  She could see every clump of dirt, every stone that could make her stumble, and she could even remember seeing a Twix candy bar wrapper as she walked by it.Her mind was more focused on how to convince Mike to make his climb.  By the time she got there she had figured it out.  She would lead by example.It was after Kam had put the safety harness onto her and attached the safety line onto the clip on the back when she knew she had to take it off.  It was doing its job.  It was making her feel safe.  There was no danger.  The spotters were trained to make sure that she wouldn’t be injured if she slipped.  It was crazy, but she didn’t want to feel safe.  She wanted every handhold and every foothold to be risky and she wanted to feel the danger of it.  Most of all she wanted to rely on others to catch her if she did fall.She had been playing it safe all of her life and for once she wanted to leave safety behind her.  She had never let herself rely on anyone but Tommy—who she depended on vigorously for help in almost everything and she was done with that too.She had chosen the members of her net the way she did because she wanted to show everyone that she trusted them even if they didn’t really trust her.  She didn’t just want to convince Mike to make the climb.  She also wanted to find a way to bring the group back together again.  She had divided everyone, and so she’d have to be the one to link them back together again.She was a couple of levels off of the ground when the idea of the teambuilding element began to form in her mind.  The concept was simple enough.  You had to trust in the members of the team to catch you if you fell backward into them.  That teambuilding element was about a three foot drop into the arms of your team.  What if someone did it from the top of the climbing wall?  It was a scary idea, but if that didn’t make an impact on the crowd than nothing would.Whitney ascended the wall.  Despite her nearly perfect memory of every hand and foothold her fear was a very tangible and real thing.  Slipping off and falling was still extremely dangerous even with the group below her because she might not be able to control how she landed and a broken leg or arm or even both was a probability.She reached up and grabbed the next handhold, brought her leg up, and hauled herself up another level.  She had made it halfway up and she could feel her nervousness increase with her height.  She was about fifteen feet off of the ground, and her limbs began to betray her.  She was getting tired and her muscles were beginning to tremble despite her desire to remain steady and calm.  She was no athlete and it was beginning to show.This was stupid she thought to herself.If she fell from that distance and they didn’t catch her she may or may not break a limb.Just do it now her mind begged. And she knew she could.  She could steady herself, lean back, and fall into the arms of her safety net.  She could do that safely and no harm would come to her.  Her point would even be made pretty clearly.But wasn’t Erik’s speech, as corny and predictable as it was, about just that?  Wasn’t it about pushing past your fears even though they sometimes seemed like an impenetrable wall?She could make her leap from that point but if she did wasn’t she still relatively safe?  If so then was she really making her point?  Wasn’t her point to go beyond safety and to leap when the outcome wasn’t predictable?She reached up for the next grip-hold and brought herself up to it.  Her nerves began to betray her even more.  She had never been this tired before in her life.  She had already exerted herself beyond exhaustion and she knew, from that very moment, that she needed to start training her body for more endurance.  She was never again going to let herself tire out this easily.  So much for being lazy, because she knew that those days had to be over.She was three quarters of the way up but her muscles were aching and she was losing her breath.  On top of that she wasn’t sure if making it to the top was even going to be possible.  No matter how bad she wanted to get there.She sucked in a deep breath, gathered her determination, and made two more handholds in quick succession.  Her fingers began to throb and go numb.  Her leg muscles were screaming at her to stop and her arms felt like rubber bands stretched out to their maximum.The only good thing was that she only had three levels to go.


About the Author:
The author is a 43 year-old United States Air Force veteran of the first Iraq War.  This is his debut novel in the Twinfinity urban fantasy series.  He was born and raised in south-eastern Michigan and served his country in California, Germany, and Turkey. 
http://twinfinitynethermore-novel.com/
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008110578089
http://www.amazon.com/Chris-Podhola/e/B00LZDKIEO/
https://plus.google.com/108904941895775375335/about
http://www.wattpad.com/user/Christopher_Robert

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Release Day Blitz Memory War by Paul Anthony Shortt

Meet Athamar
“Threats are for people without the balls to get the job done.”
A hero is only as worthy as the villain they’re up against. When creating Athamar, I knew I wanted him to be Nathan Shepherd’s opposite in a variety of ways. Where Nathan was more hawkish and quick, Athamar would have a lantern jaw, broad shoulders, and “shovels” for hands. He would be the stereotypical alpha male, contrasting Nathan, who in Locked Within, found much of his strength from embracing the qualities of a previous incarnation as a woman. Where Nathan’s power comes from uniting all aspects of himself, both masculine and feminine, Athamar is a rejection of anything kind and sensitive. He is entirely built from hate, lies, and raw brutality. Even his name was created as a variation on the word “anathema”, as his goals and motivations are all violations of the natural order upheld by the reborn.
((Spoiler Alert!)) We first met Athamar in Locked Within, where he was Nathan’s best friend, Ben Hunt. His memories had been sealed away by Nathan in their previous lifetimes, in the hopes it would prevent his enemy from returning again. However, Morrigan released all of his past memories at once, driving him insane. Unable to control what memories he experiences, Athamar is trapped in a cycle of experiencing all his most painful and most wonderful memories. He has become numbed to pleasures, and tormented by suffering. But with this comes a powerful advantage. While the reborn are able to draw strength from their past lives, it takes concentration and willpower to do so effectively. Athamar has all the strength of his past incarnations to call on, all at once. This makes him a particularly dangerous opponent, one who Nathan has never been able to defeat once and for all.
In Memory War, readers will learn more of Athamar's history, and his reasons for hunting Nathan and Elena across their lifetimes. His alliance with Morrigan brings with it a war that will leave New York in flames, its citizens in fear, and Nathan's every strength stripped away, piece by piece.
How do you stop an enemy who keeps coming back to fight again?
Memory WarThe Memory Wars TrilogyBook 3Paul Anthony Shortt
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: WiDo Publishing LLCDate of Publication: September 2nd, 2014
ISBN: 978-1937178550ASIN: 1937178552
Number of pages: 330Word Count: 104,500Cover Artist: Steven Novak
Book Description:
War is coming to New York. Nathan Shepherd's growing band of followers is dedicated to protecting the city, but they now face their greatest threat.
Athamar returns, plunging the city into chaos. Uniting the forces of darkness against Nathan and his allies, Athamar strives to discover a secret hidden for thousands of years. A secret lost to Nathan's memories. Something so dangerous, even the gods themselves fear it.
Nathan and Elena were once the greatest of heroes, champions against evil. Now, haunted by Nathan's past-life betrayal, they must work together and brave the pain of long-buried lifetimes. Somewhere, locked within their former incarnations, lies the key to stopping Athamar, an enemy who has hunted them from one incarnation to the next.
As the city burns and innocents suffer, as heroes fall and hope dies, Nathan and Elena face their final battle, a battle where legends will be reborn.
Available at Amazon

Excerpt Chapter One
Tuxedos were the worst. At least in the Roman Empire, the Middle Ages, even during the Renaissance, clothing, men’s especially, was designed to allow enough freedom of movement to fight or defend oneself. The 21st century had long seen the end of that. Nathan Shepherd’s feet blistered in polished shoes. He was sure they were too small, despite what the man in the rental store had said, and found himself longing for a practical form of battle dress which would also go with black tie events.
He scanned the ballroom as he descended the marble steps. The scent of expensive perfume drifted across the air, accompanied by the gentle sway of a string quartet on the stage. Tugging at his collar, Nathan walked to the buffet table and plucked a glass of champagne.
“Status?” Cynthia Keller’s voice crackled in his earpiece.
“Champagne’s not bad,” he said, softly. “Not sure about the caviar though.”
“You’re supposed to be watching the mayor.”
“I’m getting into character.”
“Well listen, 007, we’ve got four people who just went in through the kitchen door and one of them looks a lot like Lucius.”
Lucius was a vampire, one of the top-ranking enforcers for the Council of Chains. He’d been seen on the street a lot since Dorian went missing last year.
“Were they armed?” Nathan asked, sipping the champagne.
“Couldn’t see,” Cynthia replied. “Nothing big, at least. No heavy bags or boxes that could conceal large amounts of weaponry.”
“How are they going to do this?”
“Poison?” Cynthia said. “That’s how they got the chief of police.”
“Difficult,” Nathan said. So many people were taking hors d’oeuvres and drinks from tables and passing servers that it would be impossible to predict what the mayor would take. “Unless they poison something other than the food,” Nathan said. He frowned. It was something to watch for.“What else is there?” Cynthia asked. “This is too big for a bomb or a shooter.”
“Keep me posted on anything suspicious entering or leaving the building,” Nathan said, sipping his drink and wandering along the dance floor. The crowd on the dance floor parted and he saw the mayor speaking to a group seated at a table.
“I have him,” Nathan said. “Tommy, what’s your status?” This was Tommy’s first time in the field, and he was doing everything he could not to seem nervous.
“Uh, restroom,” his voice came back through Nathan’s earpiece.
“You’re supposed to be by the stage.”
“Sorry boss,” Tommy said. “Must have been the crab meat crackers.”
“I’ve got Green,” Nathan said. “I need your eyes out here.”
“I’ll do my…” The sound of Tommy’s voice was replaced by retching and the splash of liquid hitting liquid. Nathan’s stomach turned a little.
“Just give me a minute,” Tommy said, coughing.
Movement caught Nathan’s eye. Four men moving through the crowd, shoulders set back and arms loose. They were ready to pounce. “I don’t have a minute.” Where was Lucius?
One of them nodded across the ballroom. Nathan turned to follow the gaze and spotted Lucius emerging from a staff door. Nathan set his glass down and started across the dance floor.Then he saw her, flowing across the floor in a backless scarlet dress, split along the sides to reveal her sculpted calves and thighs. Three ebony hairpins held her long black hair in a coiled bun, leaving only a few tantalising locks framing her face. She turned and narrowed her eyes. He wondered how many other people would have been able to spot the marks on her arms and back where she’d used make-up to cover her scars. Marks earned in battle. Nathan’s gaze drifted of its own accord, up each curve from her hips to her neck, settling for a moment on her blood red lips and wide, practiced smile. Her sea green eyes fixed him and she advanced, sweeping toward him and locking her arms around his shoulders.
“Elena,” he said. “What are you doing here?”
“Making sure you get out alive,” she said. Her smile never faltered. She pulled Nathan into the crowd as the musicians started up a new piece.
“I don’t have time to dance.” He tried to pull away, but Elena held him firm. Nathan placed his hands on her hips and pushed, but she pressed herself against him. He shivered and inhaled her perfume.
“You have four behind you,” she said, “and another four coming from the staff entrance.”
“I know,” he said, leading her across the floor in time to the music. “Lucius is leading them. It’s a Council hit.” He glanced to the side. “Two more on your left, dancing.” They moved apart, keeping their steps in perfect rhythm.
Elena flicked her eyes around. “Three by the stairs. Just you?”
Nathan shook his head as they closed in together again. “Tommy’s inside. Cynthia and Cadence are watching from the next building. Sue’s got the truck waiting.”
“Sam?”
“Watching the bar.”
“You should have Cadence in here,” she said.
“I can handle this,” he said.
“You need help.”
Nathan smirked and dipped Elena, gazing down at her.
“That’s the wrong step,” she said.
Nathan felt the energy in the crowd shift. A forgotten sense most mortals possessed, but which only those regularly exposed to the supernatural were aware of, allowed the detection of emotional energy and even the presence of supernatural creatures and magical effects. The crowd was nervous. Eyes moved to Nathan and Elena. People backed away. One of the men approaching from behind Elena flashed a grin, showing a pair of long fangs.
“It’s time to change the tempo,” Nathan said. “Allegro, perhaps?”
Elena nodded and reached for one of her hair pins. Nathan pulled her back up and she threw the pin. It flew straight into the heart of one of the Council agents. Nathan ignored the scream and delivered a side-kick to the sternum of the vampire behind Elena.
“Tommy,” Nathan yelled into his radio. “Where are you?”
Nathan spotted him pushing his way through the crowd as two more vampires moved in on him and Elena. They fought back to back. Elena kicked off her shoes and used another hair pin as a close-range stabbing weapon. Nathan blocked a wild punch and twisted the vampire’s arm, breaking it at the elbow joint. The vampire yelled and Nathan spun, hurling him against the buffet table.
A female vampire leaped onto Nathan’s back. Her hiss closed in on his ear as she reached for his throat. Nathan reached around to grab her, but another vampire kicked him in the stomach.Tommy tried to push onto the dance floor, but the crowd was too thick and panicked.
“Cadence,” Nathan said, struggling to breathe as the woman on his back tried to strangle him. “Now.”
A window smashed inward as a rolled-up black wrap flew through the air. It landed close to Nathan and fell open, revealing the hilt of his sword.
“Elena!”
The woman on Nathan’s back seized and shrieked. Her grip loosened. Nathan spun his hips and threw her off. One of Elena’s pins stuck out of her back. These vampires weren’t dying immediately upon wood piercing their hearts. That meant they were older; more powerful than the average street vampires. They’d need their heads cut off or their bodies burned to finish them off for good.
Nathan dove for his sword, snatching it and slashing the next vampire’s leg. He rolled to his feet and swung down as the vampire’s fingernails grew into long black claws. Its hands fell away and the vampire shrieked, running from Nathan.
Elena reached for the roll of weapons and took two small curved axes. Five vampires surrounded them. Nathan pointed for Tommy to get to the mayor and he nodded, running to the stage. The vampires pounced.

Nathan and Elena reacted as one, fighting off their attackers with precision and unity honed over a hundred lifetimes. Dark blood splattered the dance floor as they cut down the vampires one by one. With every heartbeat, Nathan felt Elena’s soul pulsing and his own respond in kind. They breathed in unison, feeling what the other felt, seeing what the other saw. It was in this, the work of performing death, that their last true bond remained. Nathan was almost used to the regret. It urged him on, giving him power, bringing forth memories of past-life battles to fuel his strength and speed. He reached into those memories now, plucking one from the chaos and taking his past-self’s adrenaline to keep his mind focused on the task at hand. There was no room for mistakes here.
About the Author:
A child at heart who turned to writing and roleplaying games when there simply weren't enough action figures to play out the stories he wanted, Paul Anthony Shortt has been writing all his life.
Growing up surrounded by music, film and theatre gave him a deep love of all forms of storytelling, each teaching him something new he could use. When not playing with the people in his head, he enjoys cooking and regular meet-ups with his gaming group.
He lives in Ireland with his wife Jen and their dogs, Pepper and Jasper. Their first child, Conor William Henry Shortt, was born on July 11th, 2011. He passed away three days later, but brought love and joy into their lives and those of their friends.
The following year, Jen gave birth to twins, Amy and Erica. Their fourth child, Olivia, was born in January, 2014.
http://paulanthonyshortt.blogspot.com
https://www.facebook.com/pashortt
https://twitter.com/PAShortt
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6476977.Paul_Anthony_Shortt

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Review- The Beautiful Ashes by Jeaniene Frost

My Fang-tastic Review:
4.5 Fangs for The Beautiful Ashes by Jeaniene Frost
Jeaniene Frost never disappoints me. From the very first Cat and Bones book through all her spin off books and series...
I grip each book tightly, flipping pages with enthusiasm while simultaneously wanting to reach the conclusion yet never wanting it to end.
This debut of the new series Broken Destiny was no different. I devoured it. Another amazing book to add to Frost's stack of magic tomes.
Good versus evil, angels versus demons, questionable family lineage, and a heroine that quickly learns how to kick ass and battle whatever comes her way...this book has all the elements urban fantasy fans will love...with a healthy dose of sexy romance possibilities thrown in-meaning there is a gorgeous man that could be Ivy's salvation or damnation and if she doesn't figure out which the entire fate of the human race could be doomed.
This first book, The Beautiful Ashes, expertly sets up the entire series and world and maps out the possibilities of what is to come, while closing the first book on a satisfying note...not leaving us hanging too much but with enough open ended questions and quests ahead that readers are going to want more...a lot more.
Bravo, I can't wait to read more in this exciting new series.
The Beautiful AshesJeaniene Frost
Book Description:

In a world of shadows, anything is possible. Except escaping your fate. 

Ever since she was a child, Ivy has been gripped by visions of strange realms just beyond her own. But when her sister goes missing, Ivy discovers the truth is far worse—her hallucinations are real, and her sister is trapped in a parallel realm. And the one person who believes her is the dangerously attractive guy who's bound by an ancient legacy to betray her. 

Adrian might have turned his back on those who raised him, but that doesn't mean he can change his fate…no matter how strong a pull he feels toward Ivy. Together they search for the powerful relic that can save her sister, but Adrian knows what Ivy doesn't: that every step brings Ivy closer to the truth about her own destiny, and a war that could doom the world. Sooner or later, it will be Ivy on one side and Adrian on the other. And nothing but ashes in between…



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About Jeaniene Frost: 

Jeaniene Frost is the New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author of the Night Huntress series, the Night Prince series, and the upcoming Broken Destiny series.

To date, foreign rights for her novels have sold to twenty different countries. Jeaniene lives in North Carolina with her husband Matthew, who long ago accepted that she rarely cooks and always sleeps in on the weekends. 

Aside from writing, Jeaniene enjoys reading, poetry, watching movies with her husband, exploring old cemeteries, spelunking and traveling – by car. Airplanes, children, and cook books frighten her. 

 For information on Jeaniene's books, reading the first 20% of each book free, book trailers, deleted scenes, creature mythology, and more, please visit: www.jeanienefrost.com


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Excerpt:
 “What is that?”
Adrian’s voice startled me. For a second, I was disoriented, the dream clinging to me as it always did. Yes, I was in a car, but I wasn’t the unknown woman driving away from her baby. That wasn’t real. The glare Adrian leveled at my chest was, though.

“Is that a mirror?” He sounded horrified.

I looked down. My locket was open, the mirrored side facing me. At some point while I was sleeping, I must’ve opened it. Adrian’s hand shot out, but this time, I was too fast for him.

“Don’t you dare,” I snapped, holding it out of his reach. “It’s the only picture I have of my sister after you left everything I own back at that hotel in Bennington!”

He lunged again, actually letting go of the steering wheel to reach the side of the car where I held it. With a sharp yank, he wrested the locket from my hands. I tried to snatch it back, but he shoved me into my seat with one hand, finally grabbing the steering wheel with the other.

“Are you crazy?” I shrieked. “You could’ve gotten us killed!” If this hadn’t been a lonely stretch of desert road, our careening into the next lane might’ve had permanent consequences.

“You’re going to get yourself killed,” was his chilling response. Then, still pinning me to my chair with that single hand, he held my locket up.

I gasped. Something dark poked out of the small mirror, like a snake made of blackest smoke. It disappeared when Adrian smashed the mirror against the steering wheel, but an eerie wind whistled through the car, ruffling my hair and stinging my nostrils with its acrid scent.

Adrian muttered a word in that unknown language, and I didn’t need a translator to tell me it was a curse.

“What was that?” My voice was hoarse.

He threw me a pitying glance, which frightened me even more. If he wasn’t angry, we must really be screwed.

His next words proved that. “Brace yourself, Ivy. You’re about to meet a demon.”

I didn’t consider myself religious. My parents used to take Jasmine and me to church on Christmas, but it was more a social event than a pious one. Hearing we were about to be attacked by a demon, however, made me pray like I’d never done before. I just wished I knew if anyone was listening.

Adrian wasn’t praying. He was cursing up a storm, if I correctly translated the spate of words coming from his mouth. He’d also lost that pitying expression, because the looks he shot me now were distinctly grim. It wasn’t the right time, but I couldn’t stop myself from asking the obvious.

“How did it find us?”

Adrian stomped on the accelerator, and the muscle car shot forward like it had rockets in the engine.

“Through the mirror,” he said shortly. “For stronger demons, mirrors act as portals, and you’ve been number one on their Most Wanted list since you escaped them in Bennington.”

I gaped at him. “Maybe you should have told me that?”

“You think I smash every mirror near you because I don’t want you to get conceited?” Then his tone softened. “You’re barely holding it together with what you do know, Ivy. I’m not about to tell you what you can’t handle yet.”
Anger flared, which felt better than the fear that made my blood seem like it had been replaced by ice water.

“No, I wasn’t ready to know that demons used mirrors as portals. I also wasn’t ready to know demons existed, or had kidnapped my sister, or that my parents were dead, or any of the horrible things I’ve dealt with in the past two weeks. But that didn’t stop them from happening, so quit protecting me from the truth, Adrian! It doesn’t help a damn bit!”

Adrian glanced at me, a gauntlet of emotions flitting across his features.

“You’re right. If we survive, I’ll apologize.”

My laughter was bleak. “You, say you’re sorry? Now I really want to live.”

To my surprise, he laughed as well, though it was colored with dark expectancy.

“Hold that thought. You’ll need it.”

Before I could respond, something filled the road in front of us. I would’ve said it was storm clouds, except clouds don’t sweep along the ground like a heavy fog rolling in.

“Shut your vents,” Adrian said, flipping the tiny levers on his side. I did the same, more apprehension filling me as he turned the entire air conditioning system off. No, those weren’t low-hanging clouds. They were something far more ominous.

“Turn around,” I said, my voice suddenly breathy.

“It wouldn’t matter” was Adrian’s chilling reply. “He’d only follow us. I need you to find hallowed ground, Ivy.”
I couldn’t take my eyes away from the billowing clouds in front of us. They were so dark, they seemed to devour the beams that came from Adrian’s headlights.
“All right,” I mumbled. “Give me your phone, I’ll look up the nearest church or cemetery.”

“It’s too late for that,” he said, stunning me. “You need to find it yourself.”
“How?” I burst out. We were almost at the line of black clouds. The temperature in the car plummeted, making my skin feel like it had turned to ice.

“It’s in your bloodline,” Adrian said, swinging off the road so sharply that the back end began to fishtail. “You can sense hallowed ground, so find some, Ivy. Now.”

“I don’t know how,” I shouted.

The car shuddered over the uneven terrain, bouncing so much I almost hit my head on the roof, but I didn’t tell Adrian to slow down. That wall of darkness filled up the rear window of the Challenger until I couldn’t see the glow of our tail lights anymore.

“Yes, you do.” A growl that sounded comforting compared to the horrible hissing noises coming from outside the car.

“I don’t!” What was that flash of white on my side of the car? Or that new, ripping sound? Oh God, were those teeth scraping away at the metal on my door?

“It’s getting in, it’s getting in!”

“He can’t get in the car.”

Adrian’s strong voice broke through my panic. I stared at him, my eyes starting to burn from the acrid stench that crept in through parts of the car we hadn’t been able to seal.

“I warded it against demons a long time ago,” he went on.

I felt better about that for three seconds, which was how long it took before the car lifted up on one side like a gargantuan hand had swatted it. For a paralyzing moment, I wasn’t sure if we were going to flip completely over. Then we crashed down hard enough to make the windows shatter, and I tasted blood from my jaw snapping shut on my tongue.

“’Course, that doesn’t mean he can’t tear the car apart around us,” Adrian said, stomping on the gas as soon as all four wheels were on the ground. “We’re running out of time. Where’s the hallowed ground?”

“I. Don’t. Know,” I screamed. My heart was pounding out of my chest from terror. If I knew a way out of this, I’d take it.

“Yes, you do,” he insisted, those sapphire eyes searing me when he glanced over. “Tell me which direction you want to run. That’s the right way, I promise.”

Which way did I want to run? In whatever direction this living nightmare wasn’t! The car lifted again, and everything in me braced for another impact. That awful hissing noise grew into a roar, and Adrian’s gaze met mine. In those darkly beautiful depths, I realized these would be the last moments of our lives, if I didn’t use an ability I’d never heard of before.

In the seconds before the car came crashing down, I closed my eyes. 

Concentrated on which direction I wanted to flee to, and tried to ignore the pain as flying glass pelted me from all sides. My instincts were screaming at me to run from the horrible thing outside these crumbling metal walls, and I let those instincts consume me, filling me until I couldn’t focus on anything else. I needed to get out of here. I needed to leave right now and go…there.

“That way,” I said hoarsely, opening my eyes and pointing.

Adrian’s hand closed over mine, his grip strong and sure. Then the car crashed down hard enough to make my vision go black and my whole body ache, but he didn’t hesitate. As soon as the worst of the impact was over, he grabbed his coat, yanked me into his arms, and then flung us out of the car.

His body took the brunt of the impact, but it still felt like I hit the ground with almost the same force as the car crashing down. My yelp was swallowed up by a tremendous boom! as Adrian threw something at the fog that rushed us. White flashed, more bright and brilliant than a lightning bolt. Those hideous clouds recoiled with a scream as though they were in pain.

Adrian leaped up, still holding me in his arms. Then he began to run in the direction I’d pointed, leaving that ugly, writhing darkness behind us.

Even without the nightmarish clouds surrounding us, I could barely see. 

Nothing but desert stretched out in front of us, and the headlights from Adrian’s car were now too far away to do any good. That strange flash of light was gone, too. Even the moon seemed to hide, but Adrian’s incredible strides never wavered. It was as if his eyes had night-vision technology built into them.

His speed had startled me when I was only an observer of it. Now that I was locked in his arms, hurtling through the night like I’d been strapped to the front of a bullet train, it filled me with terrified awe. His heart pounded next to my cheek, but he couldn’t be human. No mere mortal could move this way. 

Hell, some hybrid cars couldn’t go this fast.

“Where is it, Ivy?” he yelled, the wind snatching away his words almost before I could hear them.

I wasn’t sure anymore. All the darkness had disoriented me, and it’s not like there was a neon sign that said “Hallowed Ground This Way.” I didn’t say that, though. What I saw when I glanced over his shoulder froze the words in my throat.

That roiling mass of evil was right behind us. I shouldn’t have been able to see it against the midnight-soaked desert, but I could. The shadows forming it were filled with such seething malevolence that their darkness gleamed. Then something like a huge mouth gaped open, teeth long and razor sharp.

“Adrian!” I screamed, tightening my arms around him.

He didn’t look back, though his grip on me turned bruising. “Tell me where to go, Ivy!”

I forced myself to look away from the appalling sight, but I couldn’t look ahead. Sand-filled wind stung my eyes from how fast Adrian ran. I couldn’t see, but maybe I didn’t have to.

I closed my eyes like I had back in the car. Concentrated on my need to be as far away from the formless death monster as I could. My concentration broke when something sharp lashed my legs before digging in as though trying to claw its way up my body. I screamed again, and Adrian snarled, somehow increasing his incredible speed. With a final slice, the claws left my body, but something hot and wet ran down my legs.

I choked back my next scream, my heart pounding as fast as the booming beneath my cheek. Then I concentrated again, pain and panic finding the switch in my mind that I hadn’t realized was there.

“That way,” I said, pointing without opening my eyes.

Adrian changed direction, the hard pumping of his legs shooting pain into me from the endless impacts, but I didn’t care. Another roar sounded behind us, growing closer, until I could almost feel its icy breath on my cheek. My legs throbbed, anticipating more claws slicing through my skin, and though I knew I shouldn’t, I opened my eyes.




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