Cate Masters's Blog, page 8

D.L. Jackson brings sweet treats to the party

Cate: D.L. Jackson’s here today for my special Halloween celebration. D.L., please tell us a little bit about yourself. D.L.: I’m an Army vet, which influences a lot of my romances. I write military, contemporary, paranormal, dystopian and science fiction romance and erotic romance. I’ve been writing for about ten years and published my first story about nine years ago.
Cate: Very cool. What do you love most about Halloween? D.L.: The costumes, the trick-or-treaters and the spooky factor. Love the scary shows this time of year.
Cate: So fun, isn't it? Do you have a favorite memory of a Halloween past? D.L.: My mother used to always make our costumes, would spend hours sewing them. We had the coolest costumes, so when I had children of my own, I did the same. My favorites were the tin man and scare crow from the Wizard of Oz and a gold lame dragon.
Cate: Wow, that's amazing. Have you ever had an unusual experience you couldn’t explain? D.L.: Unusual, yes. Unexplained? No. I believe in ghosts and spirits so to me they’re not a mystery.
Cate: What frightens you the most? D.L.: Sociopaths. The fact that in your lifetime, an average of 680k murders will take place in the United States, even more scary, you will more than likely walk past at least one of these killers, or worse, have an encounter with one.
Cate: Ever gone on a ghost tour? Or ghost hunting on your own? D.L.: Yes. My brother has the creepy hobby of photographing haunted sites and likes to drag me along when I’m home. Some of the images we’ve downloaded from the camera after visiting, are downright chilling. Not there when we snapped them.
Cate: Oh, I'd love to see those! :) Now for the real goodies! Please tell us about your latest release, and where readers can find it online. D.L.: My latest release is called Waking Beauty, a F/F 1Night Stand story. Best place to get it is Amazon, but you can also pick it up at any major retailer or eBooks.
Cate: Care to share a blurb or excerpt? D.L.: Here you go.
Blurb: Once upon a time, a beautiful combat helicopter pilot crashed to the earth. For weeks she lies sleeping, waiting for her princess to wake her from her slumber. Chris Carlson, her heroine and a shy school teacher, comes to her rescue, by contacting Madame Eve to make all her dreams come true. Little does she know, the one magical kiss that wakes beauty will also start a snowball reaction, one which will change her life forever. Sometimes, life’s greatest challenges also bring the biggest blessings, and when you walk through fire, it makes you appreciate what you fought for so much more. Chris is about to step into an inferno.
Cate: What inspired you to write about the theme? D.L.: I think love stories come in all shapes and sizes, and from different backgrounds, including the military tales. I really wanted to tell the story of two women, who beat the odds to discover true love was waiting at the end of their trials.
Cate: Love it. Anything else you’d like to share? D.L.: Thank you for having me.
Cate: Oo, readers, D.L. has a treat for you! D.L.: To celebrate, I’ll give away a $10.00 Gift Certificate to Amazon to one lucky commenter on this post. I will draw a winner on Halloween and announce on the post. Be sure to leave an email so I can contact you if I should pull your name from the hat.

Scott Pixello's funny-serious YA stories

Cate: Please welcome Scott Pixello to my special Halloween celebration. Scott, please tell us a little bit about yourself. Scott: I’m a writer of (mostly) YA novels, 12 published to date. I’m British but I live in Germany and I write an unusual blend of funny and serious - designed to make you think and smile. Maybe even both.
Cate: Awesome. What do you love most about Halloween? Scott: It only happens once a year.
Cate: Have you ever had an unusual experience you couldn’t explain? Scott: Getting published - that’s a bit inexplicable.
Cate: I'm sure your publisher and readers feel otherwise! What frightens you the most? Scott: The possibility that Chris de Burgh might make another record. That’s a perpetual nightmare. All my books have a character who hates Chris de Burgh, even those set in Roman-occupied Britain, which was a bit of a challenge.
Cate: lol Ever gone on a ghost tour? Or ghost hunting on your own? Scott: Nope. I’ve seen Scooby Doo. I was one of those meddling kids.
Cate: Weren't we all, at some point? Any favorite Halloween recipes you’d care to share? Scott: Take one portion of screaming kids, add copious amounts of chocolate, stir in nervous elderly neighbours and leave to simmer until the Police arrive.
Cate: Now that is scary, lol. Tell us about your latest release, and where readers can find it online. Author: What Love Can Do is a rom-com about an exchange visit between England and Germany. It’s set in Berlin and Brighton.
Cate: Cool cover. Care to share a blurb? Scott: This is midway between a summary and a blurb - a blurbary, if you will. 17-year-old Graham Stanley doesn’t believe in love at first sight. At school, he’s had to read Romeo and Juliet and even watch the Di Caprio film. Then Graham meets Katya, a German foreign exchange student and his life is turned upside-down. What does he do? Should he copy Leo? Should he get a fish tank? These and other, less pressing questions are explored in a rom-com that straddles Europe like…well, like a Colossus. Over the course of a year, split between Brighton and Berlin and set against the backdrop of a referendum on EU membership, Graham too must decide where his future lies and more importantly, with whom. Graham and Katya are about to find out…what love can do. This is a romance like Graham’s rubber duck- it’s clean but not squeaky.
Cate: What inspired you to write about the theme? Scott: There are a lot of knee-jerk reactions floating around about immigration and I wanted to explore that dramatically and encourage people to think about it a bit more deeply. There’s also a lot of comic potential in putting characters in culturally-unfamiliar situations. 
Cate: Interesting! Anything else you’d like to share? Scott: I’m currently eating some chips (fries to you guys) but I don’t share, unless distribution rights have been clearly negotiated beforehand.
What Love Can Do is available NOW right here: http://www.amazon.com/What-Love-Can-Scott-Pixello-ebook/dp/B015T0EY1Q/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1443192516&sr=1-4&keywords=scott+pixello
Further links for all things Pixello:
General: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=scott+pixello www.facebook.com/scott.pixello http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7114466.Scott_Pixello
Cate: Thanks for joining the party, Scott! Happy Halloween

The 7 Gates of Hell - in York, Pa

It’s not one of the things I’d love Pennsylvania to be recognized for! But it made the list of top 13 places around the world that contain portals to Hell.


If you do a little digging, you’ll find conflicting stories. HauntedUSA says:  “It is a story of death. It is story of despair. It is a story about attempting to breach the very boundries of hell itself. It is the story of Toad Road.” 


Many would argue that it’s just a story. Period. But who knows? I’m certainly not going to find out. York is about an hour from my home. That’s not nearly far enough from a portal to Hell!


Wikipedia allows for two separate tales about the Seven Gates, the second sounding more likely but every bit as tragic – a man murdering his family in the 1950s. And no, it’s not called Hellam Township because it’s a portal to Hell – that’s an urban legend.




But it doesn’t stop Hellam Township from including the story on their web site. Not to drum up tourism, though – the land is privately owned, and trespassers aren’t welcome. Especially satanic cults, though they’ve reportedly used the site for rituals *shudders*


I know I won’t be going anywhere near there on October 31st. And I hope they keep those gates locked tight!
Or is the real gate to Hell in Turkey?





I'm hoping for the latter, as today, as it happens, I'm headed to York.

I'm one of many authors, bookstores and other vendors who'll be at the York Book Expo - waiting for you!

Don't be afraid, you'll be perfectly safe. No one's ever disappeared from the York Fairgrounds. :)

If you're in the area, I hope you'll stop by.

Spooky Pennsylvania!

Some sites evoke a chill of terror with just their names. Pennsylvania's known for its Ghosts of Gettysburg, and you can hardly walk a few feet without encountering some tale of a haunting, but other places are far more frightening.

Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia is one such place. The inmates there endured unspeakable horrors during their incarceration, and aren't about to let the rest of us forget about it. People who go inside say shadowy figures appear, laughter echoes through the hallways, and sometimes spirits even reach out and grab people.

If you have five hours to kill (mwahahaha) here's a video that will either make you want to visit the old prison, or to run as far in the other direction as fast as you can.



Really brave souls can spend some time wandering the halls with Terror Behind the Walls.

Philadelphia's history is as deep and rich as Gettysburg's, so it's no wonder that there are plenty of haunted sites in the City of Brotherly Love. Some are haunted by the Founding Fathers themselves. At Library Hall, Ben Franklin is said to appear, sometimes carrying books, sometimes even dancing a jig. One woman claimed he pinched her rear. Old Ben's libido apparently lives!

The Oliver Family Mansion was abandoned long ago, but no one dares to live there. It was listed as one of America's Most Haunted Houses. The Oliver family virtually vanished one day, but supposedly their faces appear in the windows of the home.

If you're up for a ghost tour of Philly, try Spirits of '76. I'd like to do this someday. What about you?

Kathleen Ann Gallagher brings some Night Magic!

Cate: Please welcome Kathleen Ann Gallagher to my special Halloween celebration. Kathleen, please tell us a little bit about yourself. Kathleen: I’m thrilled to be part of Cate’s Halloween Bash again this year. I write contemporary and paranormal romance. I live in New Jersey with my wonderful husband and our furry kids, Luc and Chaz.
Cate: They're adorable. I love when you share their pics. What do you love most about Halloween? Kathleen: Besides the chocolate candy, I enjoy dressing up for the kids. It’s such a magical time of year, and coming up with a fun costume and greeting the callers as they trot up your walkway makes me smile. You’re never too old to have fun on Halloween. 
Cate: I agree! Do you have a favorite memory of a Halloween past? Kathleen: One of my most memorable Halloween’s was when I attended a costume party. At the time, I was eight months pregnant with my youngest son Jake. I couldn’t find a costume that fit, so I put on a pair of pink thermal pajamas, a pair of bunny ears, I painted my cheeks rosy, added whiskers, and I was a pregnant bunny. The best time ever!
Cate: Cute! Ever gone on a ghost tour? Or ghost hunting on your own? Kathleen: I never went on an actual ghost tour, but I did have an eerie experience with a few night visitors.  When I was about ten years old, I woke up to find a woman and two men floating out of an old antique armoire in my bedroom. They were dressed in old fashioned clothing.  I had a sense they weren’t there to harm me, but I screamed anyway, and they disappeared. In fact, I recall how a sense of peace came over me. The next day my parents put the armoire out on the curb. Maybe they knew something that I didn’t. I never forgot the visit from the three friendly ghosts.
Cate: I don't blame you for screaming! Yikes. So now for the real goodies - tell us about your latest release, and where readers can find it online. Kathleen: I’ve been working on a contemporary romance, entitled Love’s Encore. I don’t have a release date yet.
Cate: Care to share a blurb or excerpt? Kathleen: I’d love to. Here’s the blurb.
Love's Encoreis a tale about finding love amidst life's changing tides. Sadie Layne, a vibrant thirty year old cancer survivor is on a celebratory trip to LA with her best friends. She is determined to enjoy life after getting a second chance. Sadie thought she tucked away her regrets over her decision to give up a career in the theater, to teach drama long ago. Or has she?
Sadie she runs into Vince De Carlo, an old friend and an actor she worked with in a theater group in the lobby at the hotel. Their meeting disrupts her plans and reminds her of the life she’d left behind. She had a secret crush on him back then, but at the time she put her career goals at the top of her list, instead of dating. To her surprise, the handsome and sexy actor sparks her desires once again. 
Vince is in LA to promote a television pilot and his old attraction to Sadie is stronger than ever. He never forgot her, even though a trusted friendship and a scripted kiss was all they'd shared.
The reunited pair give in to temptation, but reality collides with lust, and both have strong doubts about the blossoming romance. Sadie dreads facing her defeat as an actress, and Vince fears that a struggling actor like himself, won’t be able to give an accomplished member of the high school education department what she deserves.   Will this small town couple find a way to keep the burning fire alive and build a future where dreams do come true? Or will self-doubt take the lead role and smother the flames? 
Kathleen: More news!
I also have two upcoming re-releases. The Moonlight and Jasmine Series is coming soon to Beau Coup Publishing. I don’t have the new covers yet, but I’ll share the blurbs.
Book 1, Night Magic Blurb The beautiful but lonely owner of a bath and body shop, Krista Winters is in need of legal counsel. Her past is about to catch up with her.  She was forced to flee from her life as a teacher in New Jersey after being shunned for being a witch. Life is not the same for Jon Bartolo. He’s a dedicated lawyer, living in the town of Conway, New Hampshire. His days are spent helping his clients with their struggles and his nights are spent in agony, lost in a world between life and death. His mother, who died three years ago, lurks in his house, suffering from a curse for eternity, without a final resting place. A smoldering fire between Jon and Krista ignites almost immediately, however, he’s sure his secret would frighten a woman away. An afternoon escape brings them closer, but doubts linger between the love-struck couple. How will Jon’s mother find eternal rest so he can move on with his life? Or is he bound to a life of hell on earth? Will Krista fit into his world when he learns about her past? How is it possible for them to open their hearts to love? Could a touch of Night Magic be just what this couple needs?
Book 2, A Summer’s Enchantment Blurb Cassandra Wales, an independent and determined registered nurse finds her plans for the future shattered when her boyfriend dumps her. Her witchcraft made him squirm and she wasn’t changing for him. The move into her new home keeps her distracted, but she’ll be sure to keep an eye out for red flags next time. An elderly woman shows up at her doorstep and makes an odd request. To her surprise, the woman’s hot and sexy grandson. Jake is waiting outside of her house. Bad timing for sure. Will she be able to trust a man who has women begging for his attention? Jake Hill is an ambitious, up and coming lead singer in a rock band. When his grandmother asks him to drive her over to her first home, he doesn’t question her motives. Instead, he meets the woman of his dreams, but will she stick around while he climbs the ladder in the exciting world of rock and roll. How will Jake find the time to nurture a relationship when his music takes top billing? Can the passion between them be enough to lead the way, or will fear of failure take control of their destiny? Keep an eye out for my announcements on the release dates for Love’s Encore and The Moonlight & Jasmine Series.
I hope you enjoyed my interview. Thank you to the marvelous and talented Cate Masters for inviting me to join in on the fun. Happy Halloween!
Here’s where you can find me. I love to hear from my readers. http://kathleensplacetoreflect.blogspot.com/?zx=a7245435c3267ac9 http://www.amazon.com/Kathleen-Ann-Gallagher/e/B00J7NQF9Q https://www.facebook.com/kathleen.a.gallagher http://kathleenanngallagher.weebly.com/ https://twitter.com/Kathleenwrites https://plus.google.com/u/0/117606070036565136137/posts
Cate: Thanks for bringing some holiday magic to the party, Kathleen! Happy Halloween

Sabine Priestley shares some chilling tales!

Cate: Please welcome Sabine Priestley to my special Halloween celebration. Sabine, please tell us a little bit about yourself.
Sabine: Hello and thanks for having me! Today especially as it’s my book birthday! I write Science Fiction Romance and a mash of Urban Fantasy and Paranormal. I love Halloween for the myths and mystery that surround it. I also love going crazy with decorating. Skeletons, skulls, rats, carved pumpkins and giant spider webs. I can’t get enough.


Cate: Happy book birthday! So, in keeping with the spirit of the season, have you ever had an unusual experience you couldn’t explain?
Sabine: Quite a few, in fact. One of my favorites has to do with possible aliens (of course.)  I was maybe ten or eleven and attending Colvig Silver Camps in Colorado for the summer. We were the oldest campers in a cluster of old west themed cabins up on the hill. One night the counselors left us in charge while they had a meeting in the main house down the road. We were gathered in one of the cabins when one of the younger girls saw “a face” peering in the window. She freaked out. Said it wasn’t human and went into shock. Scared the shit out of everyone. We somehow selected two girls to run down to the main house and get help. (Probably should have had an emergency phone in that cabin.) I have to admit I was glad I wasn’t one of the volunteers. They took that poor girl to the hospital but she was ok. The next day when we went down to the outdoor breakfast area on the edge of a field we found (you can guess, right?) a perfect ring maybe six or eight feet in diameter (the ring itself was probably a foot wide) burned into the field not far from our tables.  If it was a hoax, someone did an extraordinary job on that ring.


Cate: Wow, that’s *very* spooky! How about a ghost tour, ever gone on one? Or ghost hunting on your own?
Sabine: Not really. We did do a rock and roll tour in London one rainy night. Lots of dead musicians were discussed. That counts, right?


Cate: Oh, I’m so envious! What fun that must have been.
Tell us about your latest release, and where readers can find it online.
Sabine: My latest, Rebellion, releases today! It’s book two in my Alien Attachments series. You can find it here: Amazon


Cate: Care to share a blurb or excerpt?
Sabine: Sure. One of my favorite bits of tech in this world are the sim rooms used for training. Here’s a taste of what they’re like. 


It was she and Dani’s turn to hold their base. Ian and Armond flushed the surrounding area. Ian was ahead in kills, but so far, she and Dani were ahead on team saves. So as usual, the women were keeping them alive, and the guys were shooting things.
Ria wiped the sweat from her eyes. “We need to pick a desert next time. This humidity sucks.”
“You get used to it,” Dani said.
The bushes to their left rustled, and both women swung their lasers in the ready.
Ian stepped out, and Ria sparked with envy when he grabbed Dani and planted a kiss on her before he disappeared back into the foliage.
“Seriously?” Ria said. “You can’t go an hour without locking lips?”
Ian’s laughter rippled through the trees.
Ria rolled her eyes.
Another rustle, and a four-legged creature with razor sharp teeth launched itself at Ria’s chest. “Morits!” Ria called out as she sliced the critter in half.
The sound of Ian and Armond battling away let her know they’d found the nasty critters as well. Six more made it past the men. Dani made easy work of the two that had targeted her. Ria nearly made it unscathed but when four hit her at once from all sides, one managed to latch onto her lower arm. Those jaws had some serious force, and her hand popped off, dropping the creature to the ground with it.
“Aw, come on. Not fair. There were four of them.” Ria lifted up her wrist and studied the bloody stump. “Halt sim.”
Ian and Armond approached from opposite ends of the clearing, equally covered in sweat.
Dani came to her side and inspected her handless arm. “It would almost be easier if they were bigger. It’s hard to keep track of them when they’re so small.”
“Perhaps your relative height to the ground also contributed to your demise,” Armond said.
Ria glared at him. “Are you seriously going there?”
“I’m simply stating that you were closer to them than Dani.”
“Whatever,” Ria said. “Little shits. Reset sim,” she called out.
Morit bodies and Ria’s hand evaporated. The illusion of a bloody stump did, as well, and her own hand reappeared as they all caught their breath. The jungle around them melted into the floor, and they soon stood in the metal gray of the sim room.


Cate: Love it. Especially the line, “the women were keeping them alive, and the guys were shooting things.” Ha! What inspired you to write about the theme?
Sabine: I love action and underdogs. Throw in some steamy romance and it’s a perfect combination.


Cate: Sounds perfect to me! Anything else you’d like to share?
Sabine: The third book, Liberation releases December 1st and I’m going to need a short break after all this!


Cate: Those whirlwind releases can take it out of you. Very exciting, though – triple congrats! And readers, Sabine has a treat for you!
Sabine: I’m giving away ebooks of both Alien Attachments and Rebellion.


Thanks for having me and I hope you have a great Halloween!
Thanks for visiting! Hope you have a spooktacular Halloween, Sabine. 

Alleigh Burrows brings pixies to the party!

Cate: Please welcome Alleigh Burrows to my special Halloween celebration. Alleigh, please tell us a little bit about yourself.
Alleigh: Thanks for inviting me. My name’s Alleigh Burrows and I’m a romance writer. I have one book published, “Dare to Love,” a regency romance, and a contemporary novella in the works.
My birthday is early November, so Halloween has always felt like “my” holiday. I love being able to assume a whole different personality for a day. That’s probably why I enjoy being a writer—you get to experience the lives of others through your characters. Naturally, I’m excited to be joining your Halloween blog, where I can combine the two!

Cate: Very cool! Happy birthday to you. :) What else do you love about Halloween?
Alleigh: Everything! There’s chocolate, you get to dress up, kids are happy, pumpkins glow, it’s the final, colorful burst of fall…I love it all.

Cate: Me too. :) Have you ever had an unusual experience you couldn’t explain?
Alleigh: I’ve always been open to the idea of ghosts, but accepted it might just be wishful thinking of a fanciful imagination. Then two years ago, I woke up in the middle of the night and saw an indistinguishable, ethereal figure at the foot of my bed, sort of staring at my husband. I tried to focus on her, but she just faded away. Maybe just a weird moonbeam or the remnants of a dream, but it didn’t feel like it.
Cate: Yikes! I'd never sleep again, lol. What frightens you the most?
Alleigh: “Spiders, coach. I hate spiders.” (Sorry, that’s a line from a Keanu Reeves movie, “The Replacements”) I’m not afraid of things, like bugs or snakes or ghosts. I’m more afraid of Bad Things happening- hitting a tree while skiing, my kids getting in a car accident, physical and emotional pain.

Cate: Any favorite Halloween recipes you’d care to share?
Alleigh: Pumpkin seeds. I love salt and carving pumpkins, so that’s just another Halloween perk. Soak the seeds in salt water, pull off all the gunk, lay them out on a greased cookie sheet, sprinkle with more salt and cook low and long until crispy.  Easy and delicious.

Cate: Tell us about your latest release, and where readers can find it online.
Alleigh: I’ve written a novella called “Catching a Pixie” and am waiting to hear back from publishers. Keep your fingers crossed for me.
The hero, Matt, pulls Lindsay over for speeding. She is getting her master’s degree at Roselle University, where he went to school. He thought she was so cute, he goes to Roselle’s  homecoming hoping to see her again. They meet up and sparks fly. He has always had a thing for pixies, and with Lindsay’s short black hair, big blue eyes and turned up nose, he’s a goner.
Like me, Lindsay loves Halloween. She and Matt share a very hot evening when she dons a sexy pixie costume for him.

Cate: Care to share a blurb or excerpt?
Alleigh: I thought you’d never ask. So, Catching a Pixie is written in first person. Lindsay has invited Matt to go out drinking on Halloween night with her girlfriends, but he has to work. I grabbed my wand and headed toward the bar. I started to worm my way to the front of the line when someone grabbed me from behind, enveloping me in an embarrassingly intimate hug. I let out a squeak of surprise. Damn drunken fools.
“Don’t crush my wings,” I exclaimed and tried to break free. Until I heard his voice.
“God, you look hot.”
“Matt?”
“Mmm hmm,” he hummed into my ear.
“What are you doing here?” His hug was so fierce, I was hardly able to squeeze the words out.
He loosened his grip, allowing me to turn around. “I decided I couldn’t miss this. Best decision I have ever made.”
“So you enjoy my costume?”
He nodded, giving me a long slow once over from head to toe, then growled, “You ready to go?”
His lustful expression made me giggle. “But you just got here. Why don’t you hang out a minute? Have a drink, maybe?”
He glanced up, almost surprised to find himself hemmed in by a horde of people, and sighed. “Yeah, all right. I guess I can do that.”
I decided it would be one, very quick drink. Because, damn, the man was pretty drool-worthy in his own right.
He was dressed like a handyman, wearing Duluth work pants and a toolbelt. The sleeves of his white thermal shirt were pushed up, giving me a tantalizing view of his muscular forearms. And a stubble of beard emphasized his strong jaw. Oh yeah, here was a handyman who could work on me Any. Day. Of. The. Week.
And twice on Sunday.
Unable to hold back my excitement, I shouted, “So, what are you doing here? I thought you had to work.”
“I couldn’t get you out of my mind. Especially picturing you as a pixie. So I told Jason he’d have to find someone else to cover.” He ran his eyes down my legs and back up to my glittery cleavage.  Turns out you look even better than I imagined.” 
 I leaned into his chest. “I can’t believe you drove four hours for me.”
“Hell, I’d drive to Texas to see this.” 

I have more excerpts and extras for Catching a Pixie on my website...http://alleighburrows.com/behind-the-pages/excerpt-and-extras/catching-a-pixie/


Cate: What inspired you to write about the theme?
Alleigh: Funny story…so I’m driving up the New York Thruway and get pulled over for speeding. That’s never happened before and I’m super nervous. The state trooper was a young guy and was very nice to me. After knocking my ticket down to a minor violation, he told me he went to college in the town where I live. I thought how funny it would be if I were 20 years younger and subsequently ran into him back on campus. Voila! 
Most of the book’s settings are based on places in my town. It was fun to immortalize my favorite college haunts (ha ha. Halloween reference)

Cate: How fun! Anything else you’d like to share?
Alleigh: Thanks so much for letting me participate in your Halloween blog. I hope everyone else had as much fun as I did.

If there are any editors out there interested in publishing Catching a Pixie, contact me through www.alleighburrows.comor Twitter @alleighburrows. I promise, we can make boo-tiful books together. :)

Cate: lol Best of luck, Alleigh! And thanks so much for joining the party. Happy Halloween!

Tales from around the globe with Christa Maurice

Cate: Please welcome Christa Maurice to my special Halloween celebration. Christa, please tell us a little bit about yourself.
Christa: I am currently rehabbing a house so I spend a lot of time on Homedepot.com looking at tile and lampshades.

Cate: Equal parts fun and frustration, I bet! What do you love most about Halloween?
Christa: Candy

Cate: lol YES.  Do you have a favorite memory of a Halloween past?
Christa: One year I was teaching kindergarten in South Korea and had to come up with a costume out of my own closet. I ended up making myself a crown out of felt and glitter glue so I could be a princess. I was working at the face painting and when my class came to have their faces painted they all started clapping and waving because they were so happy to see me. None of them wanted anyone else to paint their faces.

Cate: So cute! Have you ever had an unusual experience you couldn’t explain?
Christa: Many. When I turned 21, I was driving a mail truck. On my birthday I was listening to the Riverdogs album in the truck when I heard this horrific crash. I stopped the truck, turned off the music and looked in all directions. There wasn’t a single car on the road. Later that night, I was headed out to meet friends to break in my newly legal status. Driving along a road that was being prepped for paving I somehow lost control. The car spun 360 degrees and I landed in the ditch inches from a mailbox. I did not drink that night.

Cate: Yikes! Very scary. What frightens you the most?
Christa:  I used to say getting lost, but I’ve been horribly lost and found my way home (once in Italy.) I used to say losing everything too, but I’ve done that too. Now I guess my biggest fear would be being abandoned. That and camel spiders. Look them up! Camel spiders are terrifying!

Cate: I wouldn't mind getting lost in Italy! Ever gone on a ghost tour? Or ghost hunting on your own?
Christa: No. I tried to talk my friend into doing one in Prague, but I couldn’t convince her and I wasn’t brave enough to go by myself.

Cate: I bet there are tons of ghosts in Prague (and now I'm jealous!) lol Any favorite Halloween recipes you’d care to share?
Christa: You take a one-pound bag of M&Ms. Pour them into a nice crystal bowl. Pour a big glass of milk and turn on a scary movie.

Cate: Perfect! Tell us about your latest release, and where readers can find it online.
Christa: My most recent release is A Gift To Be Simple, book 3 in the Rock And Roll State Of Mind series. Gian, who has caused a lot of trouble in the first two books, meets a woman who really lights his fire, mostly because she is totally disinterested in him. Rachel grew up Amish, but left it behind because it was too restrictive and she wanted more out of life. Gian gives it to her and it might be too much for her. It’s available on Amazon, Barnes & Nobel and iTunes.

Cate: Care to share a blurb or excerpt?
Christa: Gian caught up with Harvick at the elevator. "Coming for Rachel's brother?"
"Yeah. This schmuck better be good." Harvick crammed his hands in his pockets.
"If he's anything like Rachel he'll be great. I promise." Hopefully, the kid was just like Rachel on the work ethic department or he was going to be looking at five months of shit from Harvick. "Rachel said he once built flapping angel wings for some kind of church thing."
"As long as he can keep his wiring straight and do what he's told, fine." The elevator opened and they stepped in. "This kid is the wardrobe woman's brother?"
"Yeah."

"How old is he?"

"Rachel said he just turned eighteen." Which was why he was on his rum springer, whatever that was. What kind of a weird, backwater upbringing did Rachel have with ten siblings in a family out in the sticks?
"And he's a trained electrician at that age?"
"He said something about wiring mobile homes for a living if he had stayed home."
Harvick grunted.
The elevator doors opened on Rachel's floor so Gian lead the way to her room. He shouldn’t have gotten involved. He should have just stepped back and let what was going to happen, happen. Then he wouldn't have Harvick's fury hanging over his head. But if the kid worked out, Rachel might be very grateful. He knocked at her door.
She was scowling when she answered. "You are here."

"Both of us. Rachel, this is Harvick. He's going to be your brother's boss."
Harvick grunted.
The boy crowded around Rachel in the narrow hall into the room to shake Harvick's hand. "It's very nice to meet you, sir. My name is Aaron."
Harvick shook his hand and grunted again. He glanced at Gian and straightened up. "Harvick. You know how to do electrical work? We put everything together and tear it all apart again every day on tour."
"I can do that." He stood stiff and straight as an oak. Must run in the family.
"You're going to be working eighteen hours a day sometimes."

"I don't mind. At harvest we used to work sun up to sundown all the time."
"And you're gonna wake up in a different city almost every morning where you don't know anybody but the guys on the traveling crew."

"I am not afraid of hard work."

Harvick pursed his lips. "All right. Let's go grab a bite and see if we can stand each other."
"Yes, sir."
Gian caught Aaron's bright grin as he walked out of the room. The kid was wearing brand new blue jeans, a plain black t-shirt and blindingly white sneakers. Rachel watched her brother walk down the hall, still frowning. Then she walked back inside the room. Gian followed, closing the door behind him.
"I wish you hadn't done that," she said.
"Done what?"

"Gotten him a job."

"Why?"
"Because I wanted him to have to go home." She turned around, tears welling in her eyes. "If he hadn't been able to find a job, he would have had to go back home."
"I was just trying to help." What was she so afraid of? There were guys who made their whole living going from tour to tour. If Aaron was eighteen, this was the perfect time for him to try it out, especially if he had a made-to-order expertise like electrical. Good looking kid like that would be neck deep in all the girls he could service with money and enough freedom to really enjoy himself. Rachel was probably jealous that she couldn't do something like her brother was.
"Well, don't. Aaron is..." She paused rubbing her forehead with her fingertips. "Aaron is gullible. He is very clever, but he isn't very bright. He doesn't belong out here."
Gian crossed the room, tempted to reach out to her, but she was holding her elbows out like spikes. "What do you mean 'out here'?"

"I mean out here. Away from home." She squeezed her eyes closed. Her tears had never fallen. "Never mind. He will be fine. You have a clean tour."
"Clean?"
"No drugs."
Gian pinched his lips together. The band was drug free. The crew, not so much. Aaron didn't have to get involved with that stuff if he didn't want to. He was a big boy. He could make his own decisions. Harvick kept a pretty tight ship too. Nothing got so out of control that it interfered with the tour. "He'll be fine. And you'll be around to look out for him. It could be worse. What if he'd found a job here? You're going to be gone most of the time."
"Yes, I suppose you're right."
Gian leaned down. Did she look pale or was it the light? And she kept rubbing her forehead and frowning. "Are you alright?"
"I have a headache."
He put his arm around her shoulders. "If you're that worried about it I can tell Harvick to not hire him."
"It's not that. I'm hungry. I haven't eaten today."
"Let's go get lunch then." He guided her toward the door. "Why didn't you eat breakfast?"
"Aaron felt his clothes were not sufficient and I had to buy him new ones. We had little time so we didn’t stop at the hotel breakfast. When we got back, he ate all the food I had in the room."
"Honey, if you are broke I can give you some money."
She pulled away at the door and for a second he thought she was going to slam it in his face. "I don't want your money."
Gian took her hand, tugging her through the door with him. If she was that hungry, they should just hit the hotel restaurant. "You can't starve until you get paid. Call it a loan if you want."
She sighed and let him lead her down the hall. In the elevator, she let him put his arm around her shoulders and leaned her head on his chest. Much better. He'd been hoping for slightly more enthusiastic gratitude, but this would do for now.

Cate: What inspired you to write about the theme?
Christa: Aside from being obsessed with rock stars, I’m also interested in addiction. I live less than two blocks from the home of one of the founders of AA. Several years ago I watched a documentary about addiction in the Amish community and it really depressed me. I grew up around a lot of Amish people and never saw that side of them.

Cate: Anything else you’d like to share?
Christa: Nope, I’m pretty sure there’s something here that needs to be painted or cleaned or scraped so I better get back to work.

Cate: Thanks for being part of the Halloween fun, Christa! 

One week from today...

... is the first annual York Book Expo!

It promises to be an amazing day for kids and adults alike. NYT bestselling author David Rosenfelt will be giving the keynote address, and there'll be tons of other authors ready to sign books for you! Including me. ;)

I hope you can make it. Mark your calendar for next Saturday, Oct. 17. The Expo runs from 1:00 to 5:00 at the York Fairgrounds in York, Pa.

If you need more information about the event, check their Facebook page or contact Demi Stevens, event coordinator at demi@yotbpress.com

Today, I'm away at the Push to Publish conference in Philly. I'm really looking forward to the sessions, and to a speed date with an agent (nerve-wracking though it may be!). 

Tomorrow, it's back to the Halloween event, so be sure to visit again.

Carmen Stefanescu visits from Romania!

Cate: Please welcome Carmen Stefanescu to my special Halloween celebration. Carmen, please tell us a little bit about yourself. Carmen: I live in Romania, the native country of the infamous vampire Count Dracula, but where, for about 50 years of communist dictatorship, just speaking about God, faith, reincarnation or paranormal phenomena could have led someone to great trouble - the psychiatric hospital if not to prison. Teacher of English and German in my native country and mother of two daughters, I survived the grim years of oppression, by escaping in a parallel world, that of the books. I’ve dreamed all my life to become a writer, but many of the things I wrote during those years remained just drawer projects. The fall of the Ceausescu’s regime in 1989, and the opening of the country to the world, especially the Internet, meant a new beginning for me. I started publishing. Poems first, and then prose. Both in English.
Cate: How fascinating. What do you love most about Halloween? Carmen: In my country we have no Halloween. I mean, we have a tradition, celebrated one month later than your Halloween, on 29thNovember night, called St. Andrew’s night. St. Andrew’s night is, in some ways, the equivalent of Halloween. It has a lot of traditions and superstitions. Ghosts come out in the human world, wolves speak the human language and people protect themselves against evil with garlic and spells.  I’ve always been attracted and fascinated by everything paranormal, odd.  So both your Halloween traditions as well as ours have a certain appeal to me.
Cate: Very cool. I'd never heard of St. Andrew's Night. Have you ever had an unusual experience you couldn’t explain? Carmen: I had a kind of foreboding before my beloved grandmother died. Or, as a student at University, I dreamed, twice my maternal grandfather. He was dead at that time, and he told me in my dream the grade I was going to get at my next day exam. And it was exactly that very grade! (I was very close to my maternal grandparents.)
Cate: I love when family crosses over to visit in dreams. :) What frightens you the most? Carmen: Storms and snakes.
Cate: Ever gone on a ghost tour? Or ghost hunting on your own? Carmen: Never and I don’t think I’ll ever do it. I’m not so brave.
Cate: Any favorite Halloween recipes you’d care to share? Carmen: Yes, I have a tasty one. It includes garlic, which is a universal remedy against evil.  It’s nothing complicated even for inexperienced housewives: Mayonnaise mixed with crushed garlic (4 – 5 cloves of garlic), 1 teaspoon of vinegar and 2 – 3 tablespoons of tomato paste or ketchup. Mix all the ingredients and you get an excellent dressing for any kind of roast – fish, pork, chicken.
Cate: Love it. :) Tell us about your latest release, and where readers can find it online. Carmen: It’s a paranormal/ light romance/light horror Shadows of the Past, released by Wild Child Publishing, USA.
Cate: Care to share a blurb or excerpt? Carmen: Anne's relationship with her boyfriend Neil has disintegrated. After a two-year separation, they pack for a week vacation in hopes of reconciling. But fate has other plans for them. The discovery of a bejeweled cross and ancient human bones opens a door to a new and frightening world--one where the ghost of a medieval nun named Genevieve will not let Anne rest. This new world threatens not only to ruin Anne and Neil's vacation but to end all hopes of reconciliation as Anne feels compelled to help free Genevieve's soul from its torment. Can Anne save her relationship and help Genevieve find her eternal rest? A touching, compelling story of tragedy, loss and the power of endless love and good magic. The twists and turns in this paranormal tale keep the reader guessing up to the end and weave themselves together into a quest to rekindle love.
Buy Link: Wild Child Publishinghttp://www.wildchildpublishing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=84&products_id=410
 Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Shadows-of-the-Past-ebook/dp/B00AK2D9I8/ref=sr_1_15?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1354874514&sr=1-15&keywords=shadows+of+the+past
All Romancehttps://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-shadowsofthepast-1013184-140.html
 Buy Link: Barnes & Noble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/shadows-of-the-past-carmen-stefanescu/1113910162?ean=2940015715026

Cate: What inspired you to write about the theme? Carmen: I read a small article in a Romanian newspaper about a haunted mountain in Britain. The souls of 2 sinners, a nun and a priest who broke their vows and eloped but were caught and killed, couldn’t find eternal rest. At first I wrote a ballad, and then I thought it wasn’t enough and so the novel came to life.
Cate: Anything else you’d like to share? Carmen: As a native of Dracula’s country I couldn’t resist the temptation and wrote a novel based on the historical character Vlad the Impaler. It’s called, guess how? Well, you guessed it right: Dracula’s Mistress. Hopefully it will be released until the end of 2015. I signed the contract with the same publisher. To while away the time until its release, read Shadows of the Past. If not, you don’t know what you’re missing.


Cate: Congrats, Carmen! Readers, you’re in for a treat – Carmen has a giveaway for you! Carmen: I offer a free copy of Shadows of the Past to everyone who  leaves a comment here and, important, also joins my blog by Google Friend Connect on my blog page. http://shadowspastmystery.blogspot.ro/ Please, leave your email in the comment.
Thank you Cate for hosting me today! I really appreciate it!
Cate: Thanks so much for joining the party, Carmen!Readers, be sure to check out Carmen's links:
http://shadowspastmystery.blogspot.ro/ https://twitter.com/Carmen_Books http://www.pinterest.com/carmens007/ http://www.facebook.com/pages/Carmen-Stefanescu-Books/499245716760283 http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6624397.Carmen_Stefanescu https://plus.google.com/117216040843648957646/posts http://www.amazon.com/Carmen-Stefanescu/e/B00APVDGAA/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1