Kendall Grey's Blog, page 2

FOOLED Cover Reveal

This is the moment I’ve been waiting for. FOOLED, the fourth and final book in the Asgard Awakening series, is almost here!

WANTED: Alpha Readers

Last week, I wrapped up my first draft of FOOLED, the fourth and final book in my Asgard Awakening urban fantasy comedy series*. It’s been a bittersweet process, knowing I’m ending one of my favorite series I’ve ever written. Loki has taught me a lot about life in the time we’ve spent together. But all good things must come to an end. That’s where you come in.

I’m on the hunt for a handful of seriously amazing alpha readers who are willing to share their honest feedback about FOOLED and help me make it the best book it can possibly be.

Requirements:

You must have read and enjoyed RUNED , GILDED , and DRAGGED . Amazon reviews are not required, but they’re definitely appreciated. Haven’t read the series yet? You can read them for free on Amazon if you’re a Kindle Unlimited subscriber or email me at kendall at kendallgrey dot com to request an ebook or audiobook review copy (limit one book per reader at a time).
You must be willing to read FOOLED and send your feedback no later than Sunday, October 4, 2020. Feedback will consist of completing a questionnaire I will provide. I encourage you to send any additional thoughts about the book that the questionnaire doesn’t cover too. My goal is to get concrete, executable suggestions that will help make the book better.
You must agree NOT to post a review of the alpha reader version of FOOLED. This is not the final draft or even the second-to-last draft. It’s a living, evolving document, nowhere near ready for publication. Major plot points can change during the revision process. It would be unfair to review the book while it’s sitting in its sweaty, stained PJs with greasy hair and unbrushed teeth. Give me time to clean it up before you review!

What do you get out of it?

Everyone who reads FOOLED and completes the alpha reader feedback form will be included in the acknowledgments for the book. I’ll also send you a signed (if you want) paperback of FOOLED as a small token of my appreciation for your help.

Ready to alpha read FOOLED? Email me at kendall at kendallgrey dot com to get your copy today!

* As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Clicking links in this post may result in me receiving payment from Amazon. Clicking a link on this site does not affect the price of the linked content for the consumer in any way.

iPad, Anyone?

I, along with thirteen other urban fantasy/mythology authors, give you an iPad giveaway. Click the graphic to enter, and be sure to check out these books. Great stuff!

If you’re not interested in entering the giveaway, you can find the books on Amazon*:

Claimed by Gods by Eva Chase

Daughter of Time by Tamar Sloan

Daughter of Persephone by Helen Scott

Out Like a Goddess by April Canavan

Favor of the Gods by Ali Winters

Valkyrie’s Harem by Angel Justice

Magic for Dummies by Lacey Carter Andersen and May Dawson

Night Visions by Elena Gray

Runed by Kendall Grey

Medusa: The Wronged by JJ King

Stone Cold by Kate Nova

Apollo Is Mine by Mila Young

Seraphim Academy by Elizabeth Briggs

Medusa’s Destiny by Lacey Carter Andersen

*These links include affiliate codes.

Help the Navajo Nation

The Navajo Nation is suffering under the grip of COVID-19. Below I’ve copied and pasted this post author Sami Valentine made on Facebook. Please consider donating to this important cause if you’re able. Every little bit helps!

Help the Navajo Nation!

Fandoms have always given back to the world from the Buffy fans raising money for literacy to Lost fans donating to fight cancer. Let’s turn that big-hearted attention to another cause- helping the Navajo Nation fight Covid-19.

Many people in the Navajo Nation do not have access to running water and can be very isolated. Covid has ripped through their communities. I am an Arizona girl so this is a subject close to home. Thank you again for reading this call to action and opening your heart to it.

Welcome to Baccala Bluff!

Take a gander at this video I made about my latest project. If you’d like to listen to episode 1 of Baccala Bluff, shoot me an email at kendall at kendallgrey dot com, and I’ll send you the information. Thanks in advance!

Looking for some fresh reads?

Check out these books. I haven’t read them all, but I’ve enjoyed the ones I have finished. You can read my reviews of those here. Hope you find something great to get your mind off the shitshow that is COVID-19. Let me know what you think!

Loki: Quarantine, Day 4

“I’m bored,” I whine as the members of the Rune Protectorate lounge around the living room and surrounding environs of Freddie’s New York brownstone.

Freddie is sprawled over the couch–and Alex by default–with a WeedPop sticking out of his mouth. Alex sits beside him doing Jedi mind tricks, which are actual tricks. I can tell because the gems embedded in his top hat glow. Darryl Donovan assembles a hydroponic rig for growing fresh vegetables in the kitchen. Huginn tests out the new wheels Freddie installed on his battle armor, zooming around the hall parquet, cackling as he goes. Wiggles and Sparky are passed out on Freddie’s chest and legs, respectively, both sporting catnip hangovers. (I gave them the ‘nip to get them off Huginn’s back. Those cats can be vicious!) And a sweat-slicked Gunnar Magnusson is trying to kill me with those infernal push-ups he always does. I still maintain he’s humping the floor, but whatevs. Humping the floor or tightening the abs makes no difference to me, as long as he keeps doing it.

SLURP!

“Yeah. We know,” Darryl Donovan pitches over his shoulder as he twists a screwdriver to tighten a bolt. “You’ve only said you’re bored 625 times today. So far.”

“My mind is active, Darryl Donovan. Without proper stimulation, I might die,” I say, throwing an arm dramatically across my eyes. On thinking about that last word, I quickly check my phone for the date. Wednesday. Whew! I didn’t even notice yesterday was Tuesday. Thank the Norns for small favors. #LiveEveryDayLikeItsTuesday

Gunnar Magnusson hits pause on the hump routine and sits up, flipping his sweaty blond locks out of his face. How he does those pushups a hundred times a pop, twice a day, every day, I have no idea. Color me impressed. And thirsty as Hel.

He dusts his hands off. “You should try exercise. It does wonders for your mental and physical health.”

“I second that,” Darryl Donovan chimes in.

“I’ve got some exercise I’d like to do,” Sannleikur, my cursed truth rune stave, forces me to say.

Gunnar Magnusson’s cheeks redden. I love making him blush, even when it’s unintentional.

“Get after it, already,” Freddie says.

“For real, though,” Wiggles adds.

“Stick it to her, Gunnar!” Sparky says groggily.

I ignore them. “I wish I could trade bodies with Huginn. Look at him, wheeling around the place, evading the cats–well, if the cats were coherent, he’d be evading them. That has to be good exercise, right?”

“Roller skates,” Alex muses, shaking three glowing spheres from his sleeve. He tosses them into the air and juggles.

“What is ‘roller skates’?” I ask, fascinated by the balls as they defy gravity, each producing different hang time in the air, thanks to Alex’s magic.

“Yes! Brilliant!” Freddie says, bolting up from the couch. He lifts his index finger. “Be right back.”

“You’re going to love this, Loki,” Gunnar Magnusson says with a grin.

Freddie trots off and returns a few minutes later, his arms laden with shoes. Wait. Not exactly shoes, but shoes with … wheels? He distributes the wheeled footwear to everyone. “Not sure I have everyone’s size, but try them on. I used to host skating raves on the patio and accumulated a collection of skates.”

I snatch the smallest pair and wiggle my toes into the weird boots. “What is the thing at the top?”

“That’s your brake,” Freddie says as he plops on the sofa to don his pair, which are covered in silver sequins. I pout. I want silver sequins. My skate shoes are dingly white and ugly and scuffed. I’m definitely blinging these bitches up.

Freddie unlocks his phone and activates his ’80s playlist. A Duran Duran song pumps through the speakers hanging from the ceiling.

I follow the boys’ leads as they wind and tie their laces. Freddie walks awkwardly across the carpet until he reaches the kitchen, where he rolls onto the hard floor and twirls in a perfectly executed spin. My eyes widen, and I get up to follow. Unused to the weight of wheels on my shoes, I promptly trip and splatter. Thankfully, the carpet cushions some of the blow. Darryl Donovan laughs at my peril. I (wisely) keep my smart-arse retort to myself as Gunnar Magnusson offers me a hand up.

Alex and Darryl Donovan follow Freddie into the kitchen, and soon, our eating place has become a haven for shaking butts and wheeled stunts.

“I want to do that.” I point to Freddie, who’s skating backward around the island, working his feet with ease as he evades our friends.

“You have to take it slow,” Gunnar Magnusson warns. “There’s a learning curve to this. Follow me.”

He scoots off toward the others, dodging Huginn, who leaves a trail of feathers in his wake. Gunnar Magnusson’s butt has my full attention, so it’s not much of a surprise when I wipe out again, this time lurching into his back, pushing him forward, and falling on top of him. My nose presses into the butt I was ogling seconds before. It twitches as laughter takes hold of him. I was right about how tight it is.

“I’m not sorry,” Sannleikur says on my behalf into his butt crack.

Maybe I’m a pervert, but that crash was totally worth it.

I LOVE SKATING!

Interview with Amanda Fleet

Today, I have a special guest. Amanda Fleet is an urban fantasy author with several published titles. Below is my interview with her. Be sure to check out her books and give her a follow or three on your favorite social media sites.

Which of your books do you wish more people would read? What’s special about it?

I wish people would read all of my books more, but I suppose of all of them, I’d like people to read The Wrong Kind of Clouds*. It was the first book I got published, and it features Malawi – a country that is very dear to my heart – in one of the strands. It also features someone with synaesthesia, who sees emotions as colours. She’s trying to find out why someone has abducted her ex, and in doing so, uncovers a lot of things about him that she’d never known. It was the first book that got released into the wild, though I’d written two books before it (not currently published).

Tell us about your latest book and why you wrote it.

The very latest book is “War” which is the final part of an urban fantasy trilogy. It perhaps makes more sense to say why I wrote the trilogy, rather than just why I finished it.

Loki: Quarantine, Day 3

Loki

Quarantine, Day 3

“Loki ate all the peanut butter,” Freddie seethes. He throws the empty container in the sink and slathers me with stink-eye. His tiara tilts left. “I hate you.”

I swallow hard, but the thick paste formerly known as peanuts coats my throat, making me cough.

“Cover your damn mouth,” Darryl Donovan snarls. “There’s a deadly virus flyin’ around up in here, and I ain’t interested in playing host today.”

“And wash your hands,” Freddie piles on. “Your hygiene leaves a lot to be desired, Trickster.”

All I wanted was a herd of goats. Even a small herd could’ve held me over for a few days, but the boys wouldn’t have it. So, I resorted to the next closest thing to filling protein. How was I supposed to know Freddie considered the substance his own personal power source?

Gunnar Magnusson ambles in from his run on Freddie’s treadmill, all wet and gooey and yummy. “Why are you pouting?”

“Freddie yelled at me.”

He pumps an eyebrow. “Did you deserve it?”

I look at Freddie, whose hands are hitched to his hips, the tips of his fingers glittering with rainbow paint. His mustache twitches.

“Maybe,” I say, wiping a blob of peanut butter from the corner of my mouth with my wrist.

Gunnar Magnusson’s gaze drops to my lips and settles there for three seconds. My pulse thunders in my ears. His tongue passes slowly over his lips. He gestures to the slimy smear on my arm. “You should get some jelly for that.”

“J-jelly?” I stutter.

“You don’t know what jelly is?”

I shake my head.

“Oh my god!” Freddie shouts. His condescension mocks me. “I can’t believe you’ve never had jelly.”

“What kind of god doesn’t know the magnificent, exuberant opalescence of jelly?” Alex asks with a tsk.

“Is it … good?” I ask. What am I missing out on this time?

“Is it good?” Darryl Donovan’s amber eyes widen behind his round spectacles. He guffaws, glances at Freddie, and points at me. “You believe this shit?”

Freddie shakes his head. The smugness is officially oozing from his pores.

I turn to Gunnar Magnusson for support. “What is this jelly?”

He grabs my arm, pulls my wrist to his mouth, and licks the streak of peanut butter. The hairs on my arm spring a million erections at once as his blue eyes meet mine. “You would LOVE jelly.” He licks his lips again, and I spring a leak. “Too bad we don’t have any.”

I whimper.

Must. Find. Jelly.

Loki: Quarantine, Day 2

Loki

Quarantine

Day 2

“You’re cheating!” Darryl Donovan shouts. He throws his cards on the table with the kind of fury I’d expect from Thor.

I’m all about Gunnar Magnusson, but I can’t deny Darryl Donovan’s hotness as he leaps out of his chair, his boxer briefs stretching tightly over his firmly toned thighs. He turns before I can get a gander at his front package. Not that the back view is a bad. Damn, his butt cheeks are aces high as his brown skin ripples under the white fabric. I won’t even comment on those abs. Or biceps. Or deltoids. Or—

“I agree,” Alex chimes in. He’s still wearing his shirt, but not for long if my hand holds.

I smile over the tops of my fanned cards. “Now how would I possibly cheat? You know I can’t lie.”

“Cheating isn’t exactly lying, though, is it?” Gunnar Magnusson asks.

It’s all I can do not to stare at his chest. Or the fair hair dusting it. Or the long blond waves caressing the pecs that twitch every time he moves. I slurp at the drool leaking from the side of my mouth and refocus on my cards.

“I find it both curious and amusing that Loki hasn’t lost a stitch of clothing in all of this,” Freddie comments with a swirl of his WeedPop across his tongue, which seems to be permanently dyed red.

I shrug. “I guess I’m a good card player.”

“Yeah. Right,” Freddie says. He went straight for the loincloth (don’t ask) and underwear when he lost the first two hands. He hasn’t lost any since, nor has he gotten up from the table. I plan on giggling hysterically when he does, regardless of what he’s packing.

He’s still mad at me for that … thing.

“I learned from the best.” I blow Freddie a kiss. He catches it with slow-reaching fingers and gobbles it up. Maybe he’s not as mad at me as I thought.

His rage comes and goes.

“Something tells me there’s more to her winning than just poker training,” Gunnar Magnusson says and tosses his cards face down on the table. “Fold.”

I pout. “Damn, I was hoping you’d stay in so I could see what you’re sporting under those jeans,” I tease.

“Bluff,” Alex says under his breath.

I wiggle my shoulders. Just a little. “Call and find out.”

Darryl Donovan returns to the table in a huff and points at me. “She does do that shoulder thing every time she bluffs. Take her out, Alex. I want to see Loki destroyed.”

I shiver at the underlying threat. Being mortal in the presence of utter badasses—even mostly naked ones—can make a former god like me a little twitchy.

Alex considers his hand. Quirks his head. Seems to think some more. Finally, he lays his cards face down. “I think you’re full of shit, but I value my clothing too much for this. I’m out.”

Freddie straightens, a gently curled brown lock falling into his eyes. He tosses a wad of fake money into the pot and nods to my chest. “Call. I want the shirt.”

He spreads his cards on the table: two, three, four, five, and six of clubs. 

Alex whistles. Darryl Donovan grins. Gunnar Magnusson quirks an eyebrow and skims his gaze down my front.

I don a defeated expression and sigh. “Freddie, you’re the king.” I start to pull my shirt up. Then I pause, rearrange my cards, and plop them down one at a time in order: Ace of spades, ace of hearts, seven of clubs, seven of spades, and seven of diamonds. “The king of losers!” I cackle.

My friends groan in unison and fall back into their chairs with disgust.

“She totally cheated,” Alex says.

“No way she’s that lucky,” Darryl Donovan complains.

“The player has been played,” Freddie says as he tugs his shirt over his head and throws it into the pile on the floor. He gets up, buck naked except for a pair of knee-high sports socks with pink rings around the top, and declares, “Loki wins the universe. Let’s celebrate with a sausage party.”

Amid hoots of laughter, I barely notice Freddie’s dangly bits. Because Gunnar Magnusson is wriggling out of his jeans.

Oh my gods, Freddie’s right. I did win the universe. And Gunnar Magnusson is the raisin at the end of my sausage.