Christine Rains's Blog, page 32

Witch of the Cards Blog Blitz with Giveaway!

Genre: paranormal historical suspensePublisher: Konjur Road PressISBN 13: 978-0-9848282-6-5 ISBN 13: 978-0-9848282-7-2 Number of pages: 265Cover Artist: Mae I Designs


Book Description:Fiera was born a sea witch with no inkling of her power. And now it might be too late. Witch of the Cards is historical, supernatural romantic suspense set in 1932 on the Jersey shore. Twenty-two year-old Fiera has recently left the Brooklyn orphanage where she was raised, and works in Manhattan as a nanny. She gets a lucky break when her boss pays for her short vacation in Asbury Park. One evening, Fiera and her new friend Dulcie wander down the boardwalk and into Peter Dune’s Tarot & Séance, where they attend a card reading. Fiera has always had an unsettling ability to know things before they happen and sense people’s hidden agendas. She longs to either find out the origin of her powers or else banish them because as is, they make her feel crazy. When, during the reading, her energies somehow bond with Peter Dune’s and form an undeniable ethereal force, a chain of revelations and dangerous events begin to unspool. For one, Fiera finds out she is a witch from a powerful sea clan, but that someone is out to stop her blossoming power forever. And though she is falling in love with Peter, he also has a secret side. He’s no card reader, but a private detective working to expose mediums. Despite this terrible betrayal, Fiera must make the choice to save Peter from a tragic Morro Cruise boat fire, or let him perish with his fellow investigators. Told in alternating viewpoints, we hear Fiera and Peter each struggle against their deep attraction. Secrets, lies, even murder, lace this dark fantasy.

BUY LINKS: Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01COACFVUAmazon UK: http://tinyurl.com/hze9ekhiBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1091149257Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebo...B&N/Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/witch...Inktera: http://www.inktera.com/store/title/f9bcdfce-e947-4cc0-a5e7-d19d681acb49Amazon CA:https://www.amazon.ca/Witch-Cards-Cat...Amazon AU:http://www.amazon.com.au/Witch-Cards-...
Mini Excerpt:“Have you always had a talent for the unseen?” Peter asked me.“Whatever do you mean? It was you who saw things that weren’t there.” I had to right myself because I was swooning and swaying so much I nearly fell into his lap. “But it was you who eked it out of me.”“Little old me?” I giggled.
About the Author:Catherine Stine’s novels span the range from futuristic to supernatural to contemporary. Her YA sci-fi thrillers Fireseed One and Ruby’s Fire are Amazon bestsellers and indie award winners. Her YA, Dorianna won Best Horror Book in the Kindle Hub Awards. Heart in a Box, her contemporary YA was an Amazon Hot New Release in Teen and Alternative Family for over eight weeks. She also writes romance as Kitsy Clare. Her Art of Love series includes Model Position and Private Internship. Book three, Girl and the Gamer, launches this summer. She suspects her love of dark fantasy came from her father reading Edgar Allen Poe to her as a child, and her love of contemporary fiction comes from being a jubilant realist. To unwind she loves to watch “bad” reality TV and travel to offbeat places.Catherine’s website: http://catherinestine.com/wp/ Newsletter: http://goo.gl/V7QltB Blog: http://catherinestine.blogspot.com/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/kitsy84557/ Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1018139.Catherine_Stine Catherine on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorcatherinestine Twitter: https://twitter.com/crossoverwriter
Tour giveaway One $40 gift card, two hand-painted heart-boxes (by Catherine) with secret treasure inside, one signed paperback of Dorianna by Catherine Stine, one signed paperback of Witch of the Cards by Catherine Stine, one brand new collector Tarot deck along with an envelope full of special swag!
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Cloaked in Secrecy Blog Blitz

Cloaked in Secrecy
T.F. Walsh
(The Wulfkin Legacy #2)
Published by: Crimson Romance
Publication date: March 14th 2016
Genres: Adult, Paranormal

What better way for a pack of wulfkin shifters to remain in seclusion than to hide in plain sight?
Death has followed Alena Novac’s circus family for years, but when the police arrest her brother for murder, she must rescue him before he transforms behind prison walls. With less than a week to execute her plan, a member from the Varlac family who murdered her mother reappears. Now, Alena has to decide whether to make good on her promise to avenge her mother’s death or risk rescuing her brother.
Enre Ulf has one mission – prevent Alena’s father from claiming his territory and slaughtering his wulfkin pack in Transylvania. Enre may have turned his back on his Varlac heritage, but that doesn’t mean he won’t impersonate one to infiltrate the circus clan and take out their alpha. Knowing that his secrets will lead to his demise, Enre takes the risk in order to save his home. What he never planned on was his wolf claiming Alena as his mate.
Now with the police closing in, and the real Varlac threatening them, Alena and Enre must overcome their pasts to save their packs’ futures.
Cloaked in Secrecy is the book 2 in the Wulfkin Legacy series, but can be read a stand-alone-book.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iTunes / Kobo / Googleplay
EXCERPT:ALENA
“Girl, you going to stand there all day?” Sonia’s voice turned loud as she snapped me back to the here and now.She sat at the table, both hands clasped around at least a dozen twigs, each about half a foot long. Balancing the ends on the center of the table, she let the twigs fall and studied the way the pieces of wood collapsed on top of each other. The majority crisscrossed each other, others rolled away from the pile.
Sonia’s dark-blonde curls were pulled off her face with a headband. She wore no makeup or her usual fake gypsy jewelry reserved for the circus customers.
“Have a seat.” She spoke without taking her eyes from the pile of sticks in front of her, her head tilting from side to side.
Taking a chair at the table and kicking aside a boot, I reconsidered telling her about my dream with Enre. The more I replayed the vision in my mind, the more I was convinced it was me lusting over him. Heat radiated down my neck at the thought of telling Sonia that I’d turned into some horny nymph.
“What do you see?” No matter how many times Sonia read my future, my insides still fluttered.
“He’s at the circus for you.”
“The Varlac?” I slouched into the chair, arms folded across my chest, fire scaling my cheeks. “I doubt it.” Not the first time the twigs would have been misinterpreted.
“You’ll bring a change out in him. How exciting.” She flashed me a cheerful smile.
A thousand possibilities swirled in my head, but none of them made any sense, except the one where I hated being paired with Enre. “What does that even mean?”
Sonia inched closer. “The universe has a sick sense of humor. It shows us only snippets of events. You know that.” She twisted in her seat and retrieved a pack of tarot cards from the bookshelf behind her. The top card had a brightly colored parrot painted on it. She sighed, stashed it back on the shelf, and continued to fumble through her numerous other decks.
“That’s for the tourists.” She spoke with her attention still on the bookshelf. “Anyway, what about you? Had any dreams lately?”
I licked my lips, deciding not to share the memory of what Enre had intended to do to me in the dream. “Not much.”
“So you dreamt about him? The shake of your head says no, but your tone tells a different story.” She giggled, a piercing laugh, as she retrieved another pack of cards, the backs printed with a kaleidoscope of colors in a diamond patchwork design. “Weeks ago, I told you a visitor was coming.” Sonia settled in her seat to face me.

Author Bio:
T.F. Walsh emigrated from Romania to Australia at the age of eight and now lives in a regional city south of Sydney with her husband. Growing up hearing dark fairytales, she's always had a passion for reading and writing horror, paranormal romance, urban fantasy and young adult stories. She balances all the dark with light fluffy stuff like baking and traveling.
Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest

GIVEAWAY!
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Friday Five for March 11, 2016

1. Today is my final guest post with The Really Real Housewives. It's been such a fun week with those awesome ladies. I've been talking about geek parenting on a budget. Today we discuss SCIENCE!
2. I'm working on book #4 of my Totem series, and it's sounding more like a contemporary romance than a paranormal one. Where's all the creepy stuff? My protagonist is fighting hard to make it all about her. Sure, the theme is discovering her true self, but still, I need to drop more supernatural scares in there.
3. The final edits are done for the second book in my Sasquatch Susies series, Big Longing. The release date is April 1st. No joke! The third book in the series is my favorite, so I'm eager for my editor to delve in to that one.
4. Next week is my son's spring break. The first of two weeks. Yup. Wouldn't you have loved two weeks off as a kid? Since we haven't had many snow days, the kids have two weeks off. I'm making playdates and writing a list of things to do. This means I won't be around as much. So please forgive me if I get behind in visiting everyone.
5. Finally a big thank you to everyone who participated in the MEME Blog Hop. It was so much fun! And you made it difficult to judge. Plus a huge thanks to my amazing co-hosts Tara Tyler and C. Lee McKenzie. Here are the winners:
2 Grand Prize Winners of $20 Gift Cards
M Pepper Langlinaisand
Yvonne Ventresca J. Lenni's

We also chose J Lenni Dorner (Broken Branch Falls by Tara Tyler & Double Negative by C. Lee McKenzie) and Juneta Key (Sudden Secrets by C. Lee McKenzie & Of Blood and Sorrow by Christine Rains) as 2nd runners up, winning two ebooks each!

Juneta's
And here's the rest of our winners, each receiving an ebook:
Michelle Wallace - Jolissa by Tara Tyler
Tamara Narayan - Pop Travel by Tara Tyler
Jess Haight/Fairday Morrow - (still deciding)
Have a fantastic weekend!

Find me at The Really Real Housewives Blog

I'm having so much fun over at The Really Real Housewives blog. Love my hosts. Aren't they a fabulous bunch?
Join me for another post about geek parenting on a budget.
My family always comes first. I love spending time with them. Here are a few pictures of things we've done together recently.
Here's my little guy and his buddy walking along a boardwalk in a wetlands preserve not too far from where we live. There are tons of birds nesting in this area including bald eagles and Indiana owls. All this fun and adventure was free!

 This is the Louisville Arcade Expo. It's difficult to tell in the picture, but that is a conference center ballroom filled with retro arcade games, pinball machines, and consoles. Children ten and under are free. You can pay one flat fee and play all day long. (Tip: it was less crowded in the morning. Saturday afternoon got packed!)



After the expo, we stopped for dinner at Steak 'n Shake. One of our favorite places to eat out. Kids eat free on the weekends when you dine in. Most meals on the menu are $4, and not only do I love that price, but I like that they don't heap stuff on your plate. You get normal portions, so you aren't stuffing yourself. Thus leaving room for milkshakes!

Juggling - guest post by Tara Tyler

Happy Monday, folks! This week I'm excited to be a guest blogger at The Really Real Housewives. I love that blog! I'll be doing three posts about geek parenting on a budget. Even if you don't have kids, it's fun geeky stuff!
Today I'm excited to have the fabulous Tara Tyler as my guest. One lucky commenter will win a free ecopy of her newest awesome tale, Jolissa. Take it away, Tara!
* * * * *
Juggling
I cannot juggle. Juggling takes skill, balance, practice, and perseverance - you're going to drop a lot of balls before you get good!

Here's my definition:
juggling - there's something up in the air at all times

And here is my point:
Juggling life is just as difficult.
We all struggle with finding a good balance between family and work and free time. (I heard that chuckle when I said free time!)

But when all the pieces fall into place, there is peace.


The things we want to do the most, we seem to have the least time for! We work to pay bills so we can enjoy time with our families and our free time. If we don't get enough sleep, we are cranky. If we don't work enough, we fall behind on bills. If we don't keep up with our family and chores, the house falls apart. But don't sacrifice your free time to get the other stuff done!

Putting off to tomorrow things I couldn't get done today is NOT procrastination. It's underestimation of time needed.

NEVER FEEL GUILTY FOR ENJOYING YOUR FREE TIME!  We must have our time - our time to do what we enjoy plus sleep re-energizes us so we can go back to work.

And there is the circle of life, a continuous juggling of time management, trying to keep it all balanced.

Inevitably, life throws an extra ball into the mix, so we adjust. It takes a little work, but it's okay to drop the ball sometimes. And make sure you ask for help - you're not alone! Plenty of clowns trying to juggle their own balls.

Thanks for having me over Christine!



Tara's latest publication is Jolissa - An Anti-Princess Story, a novella with an on-going Youtube storybook.

A trouble-making maiden, a clumsy out-of-work squire, a loyal puppy, and a talking goat go on a quest - What could go wrong?



Tara Tyler has had a hand in everything from waitressing to rocket engineering. After moving all over, she now writes and teaches math in Ohio with her three active boys and Coach Husband. Currently, she has two series, Pop Travel (techno-thriller detective capers) and Broken Branch Falls (fantasy adventures). She's a commended blogger, contributed to several anthologies, and to get all these projects in, she economizes her time, aka the Lazy Housewife. Make every day an adventure!


How to find:
http://taratylertalks.blogspot.com
twitter - @taratylertalks
facebook – Tara Tyler - Author
Really Real Housewives of America

Last Day of the MEME Blog Hop and Great New Releases

What a super fun week of hilarious and inspiring memes! You guys are awesome. There's still one more day. Let's have some more!

I am hosting this blog hop with the marvelous C. Lee McKenzie and Tara Tyler.
Click here to see the list of participants and check out their memes!
Your awesome hostesses will hop around and ooo and ahh and choose one entry each to win an ebook. AND two lucky random participants will win a $20 gift card.
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Now that I'm finished the first draft of the third novella in my Totem series, I'm eager to get some reading done. Check these fantastic new releases out!

Jolissa is a contrary maiden who thinks an adventure will make her life better, until she's forced to go on one...

Buy Jolissa: An Anti-Princess Story today! 
The ever clever Tara Tyler also has the first two chapters of Jolissa up on YouTube. You don't want to miss out on this amazing tale told by Tara herself!Chapter OneChapter Two

Galactic Empires
Eight Novels of Deep Space Adventure
Eight full-length novels of adventure, war, intrigue and survival in the far reaches of space.
The Backworlds by M. Pax 
A man struggles to survive in the harsh world of humanity's outer settlements and prove his father wrong.
Ambassador 1: Seeing Red by Patty Jansen 
To look an alien superior in the eye is a deadly offense. To accuse him of a political murder…
Alien Hunters by Daniel Arenson
A scruffy alien pest controller faces an alien threat the likes of which the universe has never seen.
Hard Duty by Mark E. Cooper
Hostile aliens nearly eradicated humanity. Will the next encounter finish the job?
Bypass Gemini by Joseph Lallo
A disgraced racer pilot gets mixed up with a mega-corporation. Now he has to stop them.
Sky Hunter by Chris Reher
Sent to a human outpost to investigate sabotage, a pilot finds more trouble than she bargained for.
The Galapagos Incident by Felix Savage
A genocidal AI attacks the solar system, and a Space Corps agent has one chance of saving a bunch of asteroid squatters she was sent to evict.
First Conquest by David VanDyke
To Conquest must fight to seize a new star system.

Buy Links: Amazon  /  iBook  /  B&N  /  Kobo  /  Googleplay  /  AmazonUK  /   AmazonCA  /  AmazonAU  /  AmazonDE  / AmazonFR  /   AmazonIT  / AmazonES

#IWSG for March 2016

The Insecure Writer's Support Group (IWSG) is the brilliant idea of Alex J. Cavanaugh. The purpose of the group is to share doubts and insecurities and to encourage one another. Please visit the other participants and share your support. A kind word goes a long way.

I'm excited to be co-hosting this month, and oh what wonderful company I'm in. Please pop in and say thanks to my fellow co-hosts Lauren Hennessy, Lisa Buie-Collard, Lidy, and Mary Aalgaard!

It's been a rough start to the year for a lot of folks. The last two months went by in a blur for me. Snow days, sickness, rejections. And I ran out of cookies! I hope you didn't, but if you did, what you need is a pep talk.

You are a...

All those rejections shouldn't stop you. 
Remember,

Never give up on your dreams.You can do it! 

Any post with Nathan Fillion and a cute cat makes me feel better! How has 2016 been treating you?

Laugh, Encourage, Inspire! The MEME Blog Hop

Not only does winter keep poking us, but today is Monday! I can't wait for some funny, encouraging, and inspiring memes!

I am hosting this blog hop with the marvelous C. Lee McKenzie and Tara Tyler. You can post any day this week. Just sign up by clicking on the link below.

SIGN UP HERE!

Easy Peasy "rules":1) Post a MEME during the week (use your own pic or an easy meme maker app) - and if you can't think of anything, pass on encouraging words from one of your reviews, or an inspiring quote! 2) Visit others. (I apologize for not being able to get the link to work and show the participants on my blog. I have no idea why the code isn't working. You can click on the sign up link and see all the participants there.)

That's it! Then your awesome hostesses will hop around and ooo and ahh and choose one entry each to win an ebook. AND two lucky random participants will win a $20 gift card.

I want to share some adorable cat laughs. Here is my amazing cat Thunder in his MEME debut!

 

Friday Five for February 26, 2016

1. Big week next week! First off, it's the MEME Blog Hop. I'm hosting with the wonderful C. Lee McKenzie and Tara Tyler. Help us chase away the winter blues. Be it funny, encouraging, or inspiring, we want to see your memes. Join us through February 29th - March 4th. There will be prizes and a giveaway for participants!Sign up HERE!
2. I'm excited to be co-hosting the IWSG on Wednesday. This will be my second time, and I think I'm less nervous than the first time.

3. Thanks to everyone who gave a shout-out for the release of Big Yearning . I didn't have too much time to prepare for the release, but with your help, it went wonderfully.
4. I'm so close to finishing Totem #3. I'm writing the final battle. It's hard to stop when my little guy gets home from school. If I give it that old NaNoWriMo push, maybe I can finish it by tonight.
5. Depending on the weird weather, we might go to my son's school's movie night tonight. They're playing The Good Dinosaur. But that's all the plans we have for the weekend other than getting out to enjoy the warm afternoons if we get them. (Sidenote: I have watched so many hours of the Weather Channel this winter!) Have a great weekend!

Wicked Wednesday - do the yucky things

In case you're wondering, yes, those are real lungs in the picture. A local college brought them to the recent Math & Science Night at my son's school. No one got sick or ran off screaming. The children thought it was awesome.

Did I touch the lungs too? You betcha!

We often hear the more we live, the better writers we will be. I completely agree. But it isn't all about doing exciting, clean things. We should experience the stuff that grosses us out too.

Change a baby's stinky diaper, make a bug pie, or walk through the mud with bare feet. And if you're brave, you can go to the next level. I've walked through a swamp and sewage, sat in the back of a garbage truck, and been in the back of a funeral home.

We writers do have spectacular imaginations, but experiencing something will make our writing better. Will I ever write about a character touching lungs? I don't know, but I know how they feel now, and it's not what you would expect.

Go out there and do something yucky!

What is the yuckiest thing you've ever experienced?

* * * * *
Only five days until the MEME Blog Hop!

I'm hosting this awesome blog hop with the wonderful C. Lee McKenzie and Tara Tyler. Be it funny, encouraging, or inspiring, we want to see them. Join us the week of February 29th - March 4th. There will be prizes and a giveaway for participants!
 Sign up HERE!