Wynne Channing's Blog, page 8
October 29, 2012
Everyone starts somewhere: My first novel (E.T. meets Freddy)
Publishing my first novel has made me think of the first novel I wrote. I was about 12-years-old and the story, entitled Sweet Dreams, was about aliens. It was 183 pages.
Here’s an excerpt from the first chapter:
The doorbell rang. Darlene Devries ran downstairs. “I’ll get it,” she called. Darlene finished buttoning up her red silk shirt. She straightened out her wrinkled black suede skirt and opened the door. There stood Joey Wellington, the most popular guy in school.
Later, Joey takes Darlene to the MC Hammer concert in his pink convertible. (Joey apparently has borrowed Barbie’s car.) A whole bunch of people die. Joey gets torn between three beautiful girls (well, he IS the most popular guy in school). He rescues them from aliens who attack them in their dreams (like extra-terrestrial Freddy Kruegers, I guess). And then wakes up like Dorothy wondering if it was all some crazy nightmare.
That’s right. Bestseller.
Well, all writers started somewhere… What was your first story about?
October 27, 2012
A beautiful world of terrifying things: Treason (Grimoire Trilogy #2) by S. M. Boyce is out!
I’ve been talking it up on the blog for a while and today, Treason (Grimoire Trilogy #2) releases. Treason, the sequel to Lichgates, is part of the Grimoire Trilogy by S. M. Boyce. The paranormal fantasy series features a bit of romance and a lot of action, all set in Ourea: a beautiful world full of terrifying things. Check out Lichgates today and get hooked on this trilogy.
Boyce is also starting a blog tour today. She’s kicking it off with a day-long tweetchat party, so head over there if you want some freebies and want to meet the author. You can also check out her blog tour calendar to join in the fun (it lasts until Dec 31 — how’s that for stamina!?!), as well as the grand prize giveaway. You can enter the giveaway daily, so make sure you bookmark it to get extra entries.
Here’s a bit more about Boyce and her series. Enjoy!
Lichgates
Grimoire Trilogy #1
The Grimoire turns its own pages and can answer any question asked of it…and Kara Magari is its next target.
Kara has no idea what she’s getting herself into when she stumbles across the old book while hiking along a hidden trail. Once she opens it, she’s thrown into Ourea: a beautiful world full of terrifying beings that all want the Grimoire’s secrets. Everyone in this new world is trying to find her, but most just want to control the new-found power the Grimoire bestows upon her.
Braeden Drakonin grew up in Ourea, and all he’s ever known in life is lying. The Grimoire is his one chance at redemption, and it lands in his lap when Kara Magari comes into his life. He has one question to ask the book—one question that can fix everything in his broken world—and he’s not letting Kara out of his sight until he gets an answer.
There’s no escaping Ourea.
Grab Your Copy:
Amazon: USA | UK | Germany | France | Spain | Italy
Bonus Features
Goodreads | Book Trailer | VIP List
Win a guest appearance in Heritage (The Grimoire Trilogy #3)
The Grimoire Store
Real Grimoire Pendant | Blank Grimoire Journals
Treason
Grimoire Trilogy #2
Ourea has always been a deadly place. The lichgates tying the hidden world to Earth keep its creatures at bay—for now.
Kara Magari ignited a war when she stumbled into Ourea and found the Grimoire: a powerful artifact filled with secrets. To protect the one person she has left, she strikes a deal that goes against everything she believes in. But things don’t go as planned.
Braeden Drakonin can no longer run from who—and what—he is. He has to face the facts. He’s a prince. He’s a murderer. He’s a wanted man. And after a betrayal that leaves him heartbroken, he’s out for blood.
To survive, both Kara and Braeden must become the evil each has grown to hate.
Grab Your Copy:
Amazon: USA | UK | Germany | France | Spain | Italy
Barnes & Noble | Smashwords | Buy the Paperback
Bonus Features
Win a guest appearance in Heritage (The Grimoire Trilogy #3)
The Grimoire Store
Real Grimoire Pendant | Blank Grimoire Journals
About S. M. Boyce
Boyce writes fantasy and paranormal fiction with a splash of humor. She’s a sarcastic twit, but she still has friends because some people seem to like that. Her B.A. in Creative Writing qualifies her to serve you french fries. Feel free to connect with her online or check out more about writing on her blog.
Connect with Boyce
Website | Blog | Advice for Writers
Facebook | Twitter | Google + | Pinterest | Youtube
October 23, 2012
Rachel McClellan trades “supernatural girlie books” for real life
I love the title to Rachel McClellan’s upcoming memoir. It’s self explanatory — Confessions of a Cereal Mother: True Stories to Let Every Mother Know She’s Not Alone in the Craziness. In it, she promises to relay stories from raising four kids in Rhode Island, including tales of “chunky chunder,” and band-aids being chewed as gum. The book will be released in March 2013 and is available for pre-order on Amazon. In the meantime, McClellan was kind enough to answer a few questions about her book.
After penning your wonderful supernatural novels, why write about your life?
I had just had my fourth child. He was a terrible baby, the kind that cried ALL of the time. It was a good thing I loved him. For some reason adding him to our family increased my stress ten-fold. I couldn’t go anywhere without some catastrophe happening.
On one particular trip with my children to the community swimming pool, I came back so frazzled by the event that the only way I knew to de-stress was to write it down. Turns out that short story earned me the Vardis Fisher award in 2011. It was then that my husband said to stop writing my “supernatural girlie book” and write about my real life. That’s exactly what I did and turns out the editor at the publisher I work with “peed her pants” while reading it. Her words not mine.
That sounds like the one time peeing in your pants would be awesome. Do you journal? How did you decide what anecdotes to include?
I have had the same journal since 1991, so, no, I don’t journal much. Maybe a couple of times a year. As for choosing which adventures to include, I had several but chose to keep the ones mothers could relate to the most. I want them to know they’re not alone in the madness and there’s no such thing as a perfect mom.
So of the stories that made it into your memoir, was there one that you considered at first “too personal” to include?
For sure. I really debated on whether or not to include the last chapter in the book about my daughter. We discovered she had a tumor at the base of her spine. This chapter is very personal to me, but I felt I had to share it because even though life can be crazy, stressful as a mom, when one of our children gets seriously sick, everything changes. We no longer care about the spilled milk on our carpet, the mounds of laundry, the dishes in the sink…life slows down and all we want is to find a way to take away our child’s suffering, even if that meant we suffer for them.
Which story would embarrass one of your children the most?
Each chapter has embarrassing moments for all of them, but I think they embarrass me the most. I feel like I’m always apologizing for my kids, especially at the grocery store. “Oops! Sorry my child just smacked you with those spaghetti sticks.” Or “Put that lobster back! Sorry, grocery man.” Things like that.
Which is easier, writing fiction or non-fiction? Why?
Fiction. Hands down. I can create my own setting, my own characters, say what I want, kill who I want, resurrect the hottie, whatever. Writing this memoir was difficult because it was reliving the horror all over again. Although it’s funny now, I wasn’t laughing then.
Well, I look forward to the laughing. Thank you so much for stopping by the blog!
About Rachel: Rachel McClellan was born and raised in Idaho, a place secretly known for its supernatural creatures. When she’s not in her writing lair, she’s partying with her husband and four crazy, yet lovable, children. Rachel’s love for storytelling began as a child when the moon first possessed the night. For when the lights went out, her imagination painted a whole new world. And what a scary world it was…
Buy the book!
Amazon | Goodreads | Barnes and Noble
Connect with Rachel
Blog | Website | Fan Facebook Page | Personal Facebook
October 21, 2012
Monsters reinvented again! Thomas Winship is back with another bloody tale.
People. Hold your guts in. Thomas Winship is back with another bloody tale: vampires reinvented yet again! Vaempires: Zombie Rising is out Oct. 22 so what are you waiting for? The gore won’t come to you!
About the book: The tale of the Evolutionary War resumes in Væmpires: Zombie Rising. Væmpires have taken control of twelve major cities. Their leader, Vielyn, seeks the atomic weapons that will bring the rest of the world to its knees.
Vampire forces are reeling. As Linq and Ray race to the royal estate to rendezvous with Cassandra and Daniel, the princess is captured and Daniel falls.
With the fate of world shifting to their teenage shoulders, Linq and Ray must deal with tremendous losses while battling a most unexpected—and undeadly—new foe.
Excerpt
Ray battled a bruiser whose arms sported a multitude of colorful tattoos, as Linq squared off against the sandy-haired businessman, whose neck perforations had long since healed.
They circled each other, seeking an opening. Linq waved his claws. “Are you sure you want to test your luck again?”
The businessman scowled. “You and your friend might’ve taken down the lot of us, but it’s nothing compared to how many of you we put down.” He spit on the ground at Linq’s feet. “Or how many more we’ll put down.”
The væmpire’s words struck home. Images and feelings crowded at the edge of Linq’s perceptions, a tsunami of them—all of them related to the horrific events of the last twenty-four hours, all of them clamoring and vying for attention. He held them at bay, because distraction meant death, but their intrusion caused his body to relax and his claws to retract.
Sensing an opening, the væmpire attacked, coming straight at Linq in a full-frontal assault.
Standing his ground, Linq swept the væmpire’s claws to the side with his left hand. With his right, he clubbed the vaempire on the side of the head, a thunderous shot that drove the businessman back three steps.
Linq moved in to follow it up with a decisive blow, his senses already searching for new threats. Claws stained black from spilling so much blood extended on impulse and flashed toward the væmpire’s neck.
They slashed nothing but air as the sandy-haired man dropped into a forward roll.
Linq let him roll by, and turned with a sigh. It was almost too easy. The man had obviously received no instruction in hand-to-hand fighting, or else he’d know that you never turn your back on an opponent.
The væmpire came out of his roll and jumped to his feet. He realized his mistake—he had rolled past Linq, but was facing the wrong direction—in time to flinch as Linq’s claws separated his head from his neck.
Crimson blood spurted as the body and head fell in opposite directions. Hot væmpire blood that smelled like rancid meat hit the sidewalk in uneven splatters, reminding Linq of a drunken man urinating in a back alley.
Then two things happened at once: he sensed a væmpire—yet another new arrival—drop in, while Ray yelled, “Watch out!”
Before he could react, Linq was grabbed from behind. Strong arms encircled him—hot, sweaty væmpire arms that felt like steel pincers. Linq’s own arms were pinned to his sides as his adversary squeezed him like a vise.
The pressure was tremendous and Linq panicked, throwing his head back in an attempt to crush the væmpire’s nose. He knew it was a mistake as he did it, but his reaction was quicker than his thoughts.
The væmpire dodged the blow, and then did the unthinkable: his head flashed forward and he sunk his fangs into Linq’s exposed neck.
Every cell in Linq’s body erupted in unmitigated pain. Nothing in his training, nothing in his imagination—in his nightmares, perhaps, but not his imagination—nothing in his experience or education had prepared him for such pain.
His eyes rolled back in his head and his jaw snapped shut, his fangs slicing deep into his tongue. He didn’t even notice.
Then the væmpire drank.
About the Author
Thomas Winship lives in New York. He holds an MBA in Management from St. Thomas Aquinas College, where he serves as MBA Director and adjunct professor of courses in English Composition, Communications, and Business. He also spent fifteen years working for a global pharmaceutical company, specializing in organizational development, talent management, and training.
Tom writes in his spare time. His first novel, Temporary Insanity, was a 2008 finalist in a national contest but failed to garner industry attention. Væmpires: Revolution, his second novel (first in the Væmpires series) was published in October and Væmpires: White Christmas followed in December.
He is an avid collector of books, comic books, music, and movies. His interests are diverse: on any given day, Tom is likely to be found watching a horror movie, attending a hard rock concert, or enjoying a Broadway show.
He is currently working on the next installment of the Væmpires series, which is scheduled for a 2013 release.
Connect with Thomas
Website I Facebook I Twitter I Pinterest I YouTube
Goodreads I Shelfari I Amazon Author Page
October 17, 2012
How about some post-apocalyptic drama for the holidays? After the Fear is out in December!
I wish I had Christmas holidays again so I could just sit around and read all of these great new releases coming out in December! I’m looking forward to After the Fear by Rosanne Rivers, out December 2012. Love the cover, the title, and the blurb.About the book: You have not attended a Demonstration this month.
In Sola’s city, everyone obeys the rules. Stay away from the trigger cameras and regularly update your Debtbook, and you just might survive. But having to watch the way criminals are dealt with—murdered by Demonstrators in the Stadium—is a law Sola tries to avoid. When a charming Demonstrator kisses her at a party, however, she’s thrust into the Stadium and forced into the very role she despises.
Armed with only natural resourcefulness and a caring nature, Sola narrowly survives her first bout. Her small success means she’s whisked off to a training camp, where she discovers a world beyond the trigger cameras and monitoring—a world where falling in love with a killer doesn’t seem so terrible.
Yet life as a Demonstrator has no peace. Sola must train her way through twenty-five more Demonstrations before she can return home to her father. At the end of each battle, only one survivor remains.
Sola could face anyone in the Stadium . . . even a loved one.
About the author: Rosanne lives in Birmingham, UK and considers it one of her favourite cities, second only to Rome. She delights in writing for children and young adults and hopes to bring readers to an unfamiliar yet alluring setting. Rosanne was inspired to write when she read the Harry Potter books, and at age fourteen, she wrote romance fanfiction on just about every pairing you could dream up from the HP series. She currently lives with her partner and two bunny rabbits and is working on a post-apocalyptic adventure book for middle grade readers.
October 14, 2012
How winter makes trick-or-treating better (and a giveaway to win one of 40 prizes!)
This looks warm.
Trick-or-treating in winter weather is well, tricky. You’re never just a princess or a ninja. You’re a girl in a snowsuit with a pink cone hat or a ninja in a parka. So growing up in a Canadian city with blizzards, eight-foot-tall snowbanks and -30 C temperatures, forces you to approach Halloween differently.
First, all of my costumes accommodated winter gear. I mostly wore capes. I was a bat. I was a vampire. I was a witch.
Second, you have to keep warm on the streets. If you keep moving, you can work up a sweat. And this also facilitates optimal candy collecting. The faster and more efficiently you hit houses, the heavier your pillowcase will be — and the more you will sweat.
Lastly, it’s too cold for antics. The less fooling around you do — toilet-papering trees and what not — the more you can focus on that sweet haul.
I’ve never had the experience of going out for Halloween in the heat. Can someone tell me what that’s like?
Now it’s time to Trick-or-Tweet! Enter to win one of 40 prizes donated by ten awesome authors! Trick-or-Tweet your way to a signed print book or e-book! Some mail-out prizes even include candy and swag! Winners are chosen on Halloween with the announcement made at noon on Kayla Curry’s blog Paranormal Lounge. E-mails will be sent to the winners and prizes will be given on a first come-first-serve basis. Remember to tweet every day to up your chances of winning! In the meantime, go door-to-door and ring the bells on these blogs to read fun Halloween posts.
CLICK HERE: A Rafflecopter giveaway to enter!!!
Now check out our amazing list of participating authors:
S. M. Boyce
Kayla Curry
Rebecca Hamilton
Nikki Jefford
Rachel McClellan
Jen McConnel
Christie Rich
A. D. Trosper
Thomas Winship
October 9, 2012
Cover reveal: Noree Cosper’s A Prescription for Delirium
Noree Cosper’s novel, A Prescription for Delirium, will be released on Dec. 1, 2012!
About the book: Ninety years ago, Gabriella di Luca promised to protect the family of her dying lover. She failed to keep that promise. She was too far away to stop the devil that murdered the eldest Van Helsing son. Years later, Gabby learns the devil has resurfaced. She arrives in Hampton, TX, determined to stop the devil before it can lay a bloody hand on the remaining three brothers.
However, madness is spreading through Hampton. She suspects the devil is using this madness to test a drug which has a side effect of demonic possession. Gabby rushes to end the source of the madness only to fall victim to it. For a woman cursed with eternal life, dying is no threat. However, Gabby must stop the devil’s plot or risk losing her most precious possession: her mind.
About the author: Noree Cosper loves writing about magic in the modern world. While growing up in Texas she constantly searched for mystical elements in the mundane. She buried her nose in both fiction and books about Wicca, Religion, and Mythology. Everyday became an adventure as she joined a group of role-players, acting out her fantasies of vampires, demons, and monsters living in the world.
She embraced her nerdom wholeheartedly.
Noree grew, but never left her love for fantasy and horror. Her dreams pushed her and her hand itched to write the visions she saw. So, with her fingers on the keys, she did what her heart had been telling her to do since childhood. She wrote.
Noree can be found stalking people on Twitter and Facebook. So stalk her back.
Be sure to check out her website for news on her works and tidbits of information.
She also likes to ramble about things magical and supernatural on her blog Trip the Eclipse.
October 4, 2012
Artist profile: Liliana Sanches Davis on remembering the details of her nightmares
Liliana Sanches Davis designed the amazing cover of What Kills Me. The talented 29-year-old artist from Lisbon, Portugal talked to me about how her nightmares inspire her work.Tell us a little about yourself.
I’m quite obsessed about the things that I feel passionate about, I’m very introverted, as I dread social relationships, and often run to my inner world where I am a lot more comfortable.
For your art, where do you get your inspiration?
Music definitely drives me, and helps me give shape to my work, but as my art has been evolving, my fears have been playing the main role as my inspiration. When I have dreams/nightmares I also remember every tiny detail so that also helps me express myself in a more surreal way as well.
What kinds of things freak you out?
I hate admitting it but I have a severe case of nyctophobia (phobia of the dark). I can’t be left alone at home at night. It’s excruciating for me, I have no words to describe it. I’ve tried everything a person can to cure it. Therapy, confrontation, research, understanding. It never changes.
Can you give me an example of a dream that you turned into art?
The fading girl idea first came to me in a nightmare. I was very young but i still remember it clearly. I used it for quite a while in my artwork (girl fading into nothing from the waist down). Some people actually thought it was because I couldn’t blend two photos together in Photoshop, haha!
“Room III :: Schizophrenia” is the one that is the closest to being transferred directly from my dreams though.
What did you want to be growing up?
I recall being into arts since I was very young. Not necessarily just visual arts, but also theatre and music. When it was time to make a decision to choose a college degree, I chose Graphic Design and Psychology, in this order. I got an answer from Design Graphic school first so I did it. I still wonder how I’m doing as a Psychologist in a parallel universe!
What kinds of books do you read?
Apart from the books I read that are art related, I love Paulo Coelho’s books. By The River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept is my favorite by him. He writes stories and teaches lessons that stay with you for a lifetime, and really makes you consider the way you are living. I also love Dan Brown, Daniel Sampaio, José Saramago.
For the cover of What Kills Me, what elements were important for you to convey?
At first I confess I was a little lost because I was too stuck to a previous idea I had for a different artwork; but then the author told me more about the story and the main character’s turmoil of emotions, and that’s when I understood. The idea is very similar to the Romantic era in the 19th century, where nature was a reflection of what was happening inside the painter or the main character. In this case, it was the aggressive waves crashing on the girl, and the stormy sky about to open in a violent storm.
For more of Liliana’s work and how to contact her, visit her site on Deviantart.
October 1, 2012
New release: Lichgates is here! Again!
It’s here! Boyce has re-released Lichgates, the bestselling first book in the Grimoire Trilogy, with Immortal Ink Publishing. This new edition has a great cover, re-edited narrative, and fun bonus content hosted on the series’ bonus site—The Grimoire Online. Go grab your copy now!
Lichgates
The Grimoire turns its own pages and can answer any question asked of it…and Kara Magari is its next target.
Kara has no idea what she’s getting herself into when she stumbles across the old book while hiking along a hidden trail. Once she opens it, she’s thrown into Ourea: a beautiful world full of terrifying beings that all want the Grimoire’s secrets. Everyone in this new world is trying to find her, but most just want to control the new-found power the Grimoire bestows upon her.
Braeden Drakonin grew up in Ourea, and all he’s ever known in life is lying. The Grimoire is his one chance at redemption, and it lands in his lap when Kara Magari comes into his life. He has one question to ask the book—one question that can fix everything in his broken world—and he’s not letting Kara out of his sight until he gets an answer.
Kara cannot escape her new life in Ourea. There’s no going back now.
Re-Release Bonus Content
This re-release is exciting because Boyce is offering deleted chapters that never made the final edition. You can read more about key moments Like Kara’s training and Braeden’s sparring match with Gavin, all for free. Just head to the Grimoire Online—the series’ official bonus site. You can also read encyclopedia entries and see sketches from the Grimoire while you’re there!
Grab Your Copy of Lichgates
Lichgates Extras
Lichgates’ on Goodreads | Book Trailer | The Grimoire Trilogy Encyclopedia
About the Author
S. M. Boyce writes fantasy and paranormal fiction. Boyce is a sarcastic twit, but she still has friends because some people seem to like that. Her Creative Writing degree qualifies her to sever you french fries.
She’s currently working on the YA epic fantasy series the Grimoire Trilogy. Lichgates, the first in the series, is already available. Treason (book 2) releases October 27. Feel free to connect with her online or check out her blog.
Connect with Boyce
Blog | Website | Store | Events
Google+ | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Youtube
Amazon Author Page | Goodreads Page
September 26, 2012
There are no such things as bad guys…well, except for Hannibal and Pennywise and…
Note: This topic comes up in the What Kills Me book club section on my blog; so I wanted to chat a bit about it:
I love villains. Villains make or break stories for me. (For example, Heath Ledger and Jack Nicholson’s The Joker elevated their respective Batman films. By contrast, Ryan Reynold’s film, Green Lantern, was ruined because the villain looked like a swirling mass of world-eating poop.)
I like to wonder what baddies were like when they were young. Before they murdered, or ate human flesh. You know, when they were adorable babies. How did they get so twisted?
We cast real people as villains too. One day, someone is a family man. A successful member of society. Then the next, they are a “monster.” When I was the crime reporter at my paper, I wrote about some terrible crimes. The public was so horrified by what some of these human beings had done that the accused were immediately deemed “evil.”
And maybe some of the criminals were evil. Unfeeling. Cruel. But maybe it’s easier for us to brand them as demons, as “unlike us,” because we don’t understand it and we are afraid of it in our midst.
I like to think that the characters in What Kills Me are neither good nor bad. It’s just that sometimes people or monsters find themselves on opposing sides. Aside from Paolo, who is so obviously psycho, the Empress is only trying to protect her people (which unfortunately means killing Zee) and her loyal General is only doing his duty.
The Empress has been around forever, ensuring the successful existence of her nation. Sure, she’s a dictator. She has absolute control. But she believes that she maintains order and life. If some random girl came along, fell into my sacred well, and threatened to kill everyone and everything I hold dear, yeah, I would choose me and mine.
What do you think? Name a villain that you really empathize with.
