Margo Bond Collins's Blog, page 123
April 29, 2014
Can you Survive The Harvesting’s Cover-to-Cover Blog Hop?
Author Melanie Karsak drops by today to celebrate her cover-to-cover event for her dark fantasy/zombie novel The Harvesting and to challenge you to survive the zombie apocalypse! Could you survive the z-poc? Ready to play? To celebrate the release of the second edition of The Harvesting, join us in a zombie survival event!
How to play?
1. You need to visit the following blogs in order to collect your supplies. Make all 6 STOPS to collect what you need to survive the zombie apocalypse.
2. Be sure you HOP in order to experience the complete story.
3. Once you reach HOP 6, Melanie Karsak’s blog, you will post your survival list in the comments section.
Melanie has two great prizes up for grabs! One winner will be drawn from the hop-wide rafflecopter. The second winner will be drawn from those who post a complete z-day survival list on Melanie’s blog. As you make all 6 HOP stops (hop in order for the complete adventure), you will collect supplies. At HOP 6, you will report your full list to be entered to win!
Run! Zombies are coming!
(Hop in order for the complete story–the first stop is Contagious Reads!)
Hop 1: Contagious Reads
Hop 2: My Book Addiction
Hop 3: Twisted Book Junkie
Hop 4: Fabulous and Fun
Hop 5: Melanie Karsak’s Chasing Steampunk
What You Can Win
Prize 1:
Hop-Wide Rafflecopter Giveaway Prize
1) A lovely pocket knife necklace (it’s actually really sharp so giveaway had to be 18+, sorry)
2) A signed paperback of the second edition of The Harvesting (INT)
I Survived The Harvesting Cover-to-Cover Event Prize (Supply List Post on Melanie’s Blog):
Prize 2:
1) $15 Amazon Gift Card (INT)
2) Ebook of The Harvesting, Second Edition (INT)
Run! Zombies are coming!
The Witch, The Wolf, & The Vampire #2, by A.K. Michaels
Title: The Witch, The Wolf , & The Vampire #2
Author: A.K. Michaels
Series: WWV (#2)
Genre: Paranormal/Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: April 16 2014
Editions/Formats Available In: eBook & Print
Blurb/Synopsis:
Peri has finally stopped running and found safety with Gabe and Josef … her Wolf and her Vampire. Now she is getting strong, physically and magically, and she is ecstatic with her two mates. She is not about to let anyone take that away and she surprises even herself with her power.
However, a psycho sect has been hunting her for over six years, and they are closing in. Her own father is the leader of this sect, but she is more than willing to do whatever she can to take him down. Destroy him for everything he is, everything he does, before he does to others what he did to her.
With an ancient Vampire and a powerful Wolf by her side she just can’t fail … can she?
This Book Contains Adult Content!!!!
A K Michaels was born in Scotland quite a number of years ago! She was married at a young age and is a mother to three much loved children. After the birth of her last child she went back to higher education and studied for a year before gaining employment in the banking industry. She worked in that role for a number of years before leaving, both the job and the country.
She lived abroad for a few years before returning to Scotland and finally taking up her dream – writing.
She is the author of the Defender’s Blood series of books and two other series, The Witch, The Wolf and the Vampire and also Sabrina’s Vampire, together with a Wolf Erotica Novella, Lori’s Wolf. Her books fall into the Paranormal/Urban Fantasy genre and she loves writing those particular kinds of stories where she can let her imagination run wild!
She now spends her time reading – everything from Sci Fi to Crime, Erotica to Fantasy, Thrillers to Paranormal Romance. She loves spending time with her family and, of course, writing!
She has Twitter, Facebook Page and a Website.
Places to find A.K. Michaels
Blog
Page
Website
Places to find The Witch, The
Wolf , & The Vampire #2
Amazon
US
Amazon
UK
Barnes
and Noble
Spotlight On: Deadly Revelations by Andrea Johnson Beck
Deadly Revelation – PROMO Blitz
By Andrea Johnson Beck
Psychological Romantic Suspense
Date Published: April 8, 2014
Love.
Dr. Anne Montgomery’s heart and soul belongs to Adam Whitney but her tyrannical husband, Carter Montgomery, continues his ruthless reign by punishing Anne with another murder. Will Carter succeed and take away everyone Anne has ever cared about?
Family.
Something Anne has craved since childhood. Dr. Casey Adler has been the only one Anne considered a sister, until Claire Monroe enters her life. Can her newfound sister be trusted?
Betrayal.
Someone close to Anne is helping Carter and everyone is a suspect. As revenge consumes her, she slips further away from Adam but will unexpected news thrust her into the darkness, or will Anne battle the demons and take her life back?
EXCERPT
If Anne had ever felt Montgomery blood course through her veins it was in that moment. Every cell boiled beneath her skin. Murder was the only thought in her mind—severe, merciless murder. The kind that would tantalize viewers to gawk at their television screens as helicopters flew over the grotesque scene as a dismembered body was rolled into the back of a black windowless van. The headline would read, “Wife attacked psychotic drug-addicted husband.” And won.
Anne’s emotion paralyzed as did her muscles. She knew fear. Experienced loss, anger, and hatred, tasted betrayal and revenge. What skimmed along her reasoning was new. Darker than anything she had ever felt before. The smell of death burned her nostrils and blood seeped into the floor like crimson polish.
In the early morning hours, as Anne slept in Adam’s arms, Carter had invaded the house, cut out another piece of her sanity and then vanished into the night. Carter was the phantom in children’s bedtime stories. The monster that could slip through the shadows, steal souls and taint dreams. Carter was not only Anne’s husband, but also her nightmare.
Bites pricked her heart the longer she stared at Robert’s executed body. Anne’s vision blurred and moved and at times tricked her mind into seeing movement from him but he was dead. Robert was dead. Carter had invaded Michael’s home to make a statement. He would never let Anne go.
Book #1
Dr. Anne Jamison, a brilliant neuropsychiatrist, is living the concrete jungle life in Minneapolis with her fiancé, prominent attorney Adam Whitney. But the mysterious death of Carter Leeds, her beloved former boyfriend, still haunts her…
After three years of unanswered questions, a mysterious package finds its way to Anne. The note inside reveals the possibility that Carter may, in fact, be alive. Even more shocking, her very own fiancé may have had a hand in his attempted demise. Anne doesn’t know what—or who—to believe, and the deeper she digs, the more she is overcome by a dangerous game of cat and mouse. But will Anne’s trust be restored—or will she be the one left plotting revenge?
Buy it From Amazon
About the Author: Andrea Johnson Beck
Andrea was born a Midwestern girl, grew up in Iowa and South Dakota. She came out of the womb writing, her parents have recorded evidence of Andrea’s whimsical imagination. She has had many poems and short stories published over the years, even did free verse sessions at a local coffee shop but there aren’t any recorded evidence of that. Andrea is thankful for the lack of technology in the 90′s.After twenty-nine trips around the sun, she decided it was time to sit down and write her first book. And, she did. Two weeks before her 30th birthday, Andrea completed, Deadly Deception. Sadly, it sat in her laptop for two years before she decided to self-publish in November 2012.
Montlake Romance loved Deadly Deception and Deadly Redemption so much, they wanted them and their author. Andrea and Montlake Romance decided to interweave the two stories into one novel. The “new” Deadly Deception released October 8th, 2013. The 2nd book in the series, Deadly Revelation, released April 8th, 2014.
Andrea resides in North Carolina with her quirky family, where she homeschools her son and writes about the craziness that pours from her mind. Her son, Logan, has caught the writing bug. He talks about being on the Autism Spectrum and homeschooling at his very own blog, The Quirky Mustache. Logan has touched many lives and is her hero.
Authors Links
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Blog
Giveaway
1 ebook of Deadly Deception and 1 ebook of Deadly Revelation
April 28, 2014
LOVE FINDS A WAY boxed set
Love Finds A Way
Boxed Set
(Margaret Ethridge ~ Karen Booth ~Kare Stivali ~ Holly Gilliatt)
ach with sequels
from Turquoise Morning Press
Limited time offer… $ .99
(Special Promotional Price)
~
BRING ME BACK by Karen Booth
Claire
Abby was a starry-eyed teenager when she fantasized that British rock star
Christopher Penman was her boyfriend. More than twenty years later, she’s about
to fall in love with him for real.
“Fast-paced, sexy and altogether irresistible. A flat-out
fabulous read!”–New York Times Bestselling author Celia Rivenbark
“Ms. Booth has hit a home run with this riveting story
that’s full of life, trials and tribulations, joy, but most of all, love.” –5
stars and a recommended read, BlackRaven’s Reviews
“If you are a fan of drama, humor and heart with a wonderful
blend of bittersweet and delicious sensuality, then you need to read Bring
Me Back. I’ve added it to my absolute favorites, the ones I curl up with when
I’m down and need to remember to love and laugh and believe in magic.”–5
Stars, The Book Tart
Included on the Top Ten Romances of All Time list by Patience Bloom from
Harlequin. An All-Romance bestseller.
Karen Booth is a Midwestern girl transplanted in
the South, raised on 80s music, Judy Blume, and the films of John Hughes. A
former music industry exec, she loves to write about the world of backstage
passes and band dynamics.
~
CONTENTMENT by Margaret Ethridge
Fifteen
years after saying “I do”, Tracy Sullivan feels lost in a tangle of marriage,
family, home, and career. Poised on the verge of losing it all, she embarks on
a quest to redefine her life. With the help of a few good friends and the
enduring love of her husband, she discovers that while happiness fleeting, contentment
can last a lifetime.
“The story is honest, well told, and so sweet. I loved it.”
–5 stars, Amazon bestselling author Jennifer Johnson
“You’ll want that Hollywood ending that never happens in real life. What you
will get a story that is so true to real life that it’ll make your stomach
twist and your heart hammer.” –5 stars, Another Look Book Reviews
“This is story-telling at its best.” –5 stars, Amazon
customer review
“Have you not read Margaret Ethridge? Hop to it! Although she is a new author,
her work is consistently intriguing, even while writing different romantic
genres.” –Booking It
Margaret
Ethridge is the Amazon bestselling author whose stories of life and
love have made her a fan favorite and a Booksellers Best finalist.
~
MEANT TO BE by Karen Stivali
Sometimes
you’re already committed to the wrong person when fate finally brings you the
right one. Daniel and Marienne’s friendship has helped them weather every
hardship—now they’re both secretly wondering if it can survive a first kiss.
Best Books of 2012 –Literati Literature Lovers (Meant To Be and its sequel Holding On)
Books That Rocked My World 2012 –Guilty Pleasures Book
Reviews
“Meant To Be is simply an amazing
story that is heartwarming and genuine, it is one that will make you believe in
soul mates.” –5 stars, Jersey Girl Book Reviews
“If you’re looking for engaging, soulful characters, enough drama to take you
through a myriad of emotions that entail everything from laughter to anger to
crying, and enough passion to make you sizzle in all the right places,
then Meant To Be is the book to
read.” –5 stars and a Recommended Read, BlackRaven’s Book Reviews
Karen
Stivali is a multiple award winning author of contemporary and erotic
romance. She writes novels about love…like real life, only hotter.
~
′TIL ST. PATRICK’S DAY by Holly Gilliatt
Over
the course of one winter, three best friends encounter what happens
when love doesn’t go
according
to plan.
“With the author’s ease of putting words on paper, the story
flows through your mind, connecting on a deep emotional level. You will find
yourself hoping, gasping, shedding a tear or two and smiling with happiness
as the story unfolds.”
–Literati Book Reviews
“Gilliatt creates characters who you connect with… The reader is placed in the
middle of these three women’s lives; you experience their ups, their downs
and their own journey of self-discovery.” –BestChickLit.com
“The main theme of this novel was friendship, but it’s followed very closely by
love—and not just romantic love. …It’s fantastic.” –5 stars, Pink Fluffy
Hearts
Holly Gilliatt writes funny, heartwarming tales of
love and friendship. She is the author of two published novels with a
third due out in July.
Release Date:
April 29, 2014
Category: Mainstream Fiction > Women’s Fiction > Romantic Elements
Length: Four full-length novels, Boxed Set
Publisher: Turquoise Morning Press
ISBN: 978-1-62237-291-1
Ebook Price:
$0.99
(Special
Promotional Price)
AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | KOBO | IBOOKS | SMASHWORDS |
ALL ROMANCE EBOOKS | PUBLISHER
~
Giveaway:
These 4 great authors are giving away a $25 gift card to Turquoise Morning Press!
Buy LOVE FINDS A WAY:
AMAZON http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00K0MBEWG
ALL ROMANCE EBOOKS http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00K0MBEWG
KOBO http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/love-finds-a-way-boxed-set
SMASHWORDS https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/430641
Pimpin’ Ain’t Easy! 4k Like Giveaway
Welcome to the Pimpin’ Ain’t Easy 4k Like Giveaway!
Check out the Rafflecopter, enter to win, and peruse all the authors and artists available on the site.
Here’s the Rafflecopter link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/61050a14/
Here’s the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/559739890732073/
Check out all the artists’ pages as you go through the entry form!
Impulsion
Author: Jamie Magee
Reveal Host:
BLURB
With a glance Wyatt Doran stole Harley Tatum’s heart. With each summer that passed, touch by touch, they robbed each other’s innocence, birthing a love that was so deep that it scorched within. Without warning, they were ripped from the clutches of each other, placed in lives that were worlds apart. Only to cross paths after a freak accident where Harley’s horse rig was flipped. An accident that Wyatt Doran, from fire station 32, responded.
The tension was immediate, the emotions were raw. One breath told them they were not the same as before, one touch…changed their world.
Boring one….Jamie Magee has always believed that each of us have a defining gift that sets us apart from the rest of the world, she has always envied those who have known from their first breath what their gift was. Not knowing hers, she began a career in the fast paced world of business. Raising a young family, and competing to rise higher in that field would drive some to the point of insanity, but she always found a moment of escape in a passing daydream. Her imagination would take her to places she’d never been, introduce her to people she’s never known. Insight, her debuting novel, is a result of that powerful imagination. Today, she is grateful that not knowing what defined her, led her on a path of discovery that would always be a part of her.
Author Links:Buy Links:
https://itunes.apple.com/nz/book/impulsion/id864146391?mt=11
“The sight of you brought it all back, past and present colliding with a magnitude that is so great…that I have no choice but to stop and realize that the only thing holding us back this go ‘round is us.”All at once, they both moved forward, their lips connecting as if they were molded from one source, a well-practiced dance of flesh, the perfect rhythm, teasing brushes of tongues that knew just when to fall into a deeper kiss, a kiss that was so devouring that all thought, all reason vanished. The impulse of the heart, that deep passion that lies dormant within erupted to a euphoria that made it impossible to fathom life outside of that very instant.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Finding Her Dream, by Jennah Scott
This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Jennah will be awarding a $10 Gift card (to the winner’s choice of e-book retailer) to a randomly drawn commenter via the Rafflecopter at the end of this post. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour. Remember, the more stops you visit, the more chances you earn to win.
It wasn’t until she watched her best friend find the man of her dreams that RayAnne Hill realized there was a part of her missing. She knows the empty space can only be filled by finding her own true love, complete with kids and the white picket fence. Fear of letting someone in stops her cold, and it’s much bigger than just finding Mr. Right.
James Shaw moved away from Kentucky and the family business to chase his own goals, settling in the small town of Kimmswick, Missouri. His business is succeeding, now he’s ready to complete his life with a wife and kids. One night, one look and he’s found her. RayAnne is everything he’s been searching for.
As hard as James has fallen for RayAnne, can he be enough to help her overcome her worst nightmare? Or will he decide he can’t wait forever, and walk away to find happiness?
Now enjoy an excerpt:
“I’m sorry, Ray.”
What? She whipped around to face him. “Why?” she squeaked.
“For that night. For being late. For letting you down. All of it. I hated not getting to spend some time with you.” James clasped his hands in front of him. Her gaze lingered a little below his belt. He cleared his throat and she jerked her head up. At seeing his smirk Ray’s cheeks warmed. She’d been caught.
“I should be apologizing to you, James. It was wrong of me to ignore you. I was being selfish, too worried about myself and how much I wanted to have dinner with you. Everything ended up okay, right? I mean I know it’s been a while, but…” she trailed off. Rambling would get her nowhere.
James grinned. The cooling fire inside ignited once again. “Yeah, sugar. Everything’s good. Shadow was perfect and her foal, Levee, is a beauty.”
“Levee? That’s an odd name for a horse isn’t it?”
“Maybe. I don’t care. She’s named after the Levee Apple Pie at the Owl.”
“Why would you name your horse after an apple pie?” Ray didn’t know much about horses, but she figured an odd name like that had to have a story.
“It’s not the apple pie. Once upon a time I met this girl and I screwed up. So this was my way of reminding myself what can happen if I don’t pay attention.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Born and raised in Texas, Jennah is a transplant to Missouri long enough ago she should probably consider that her hometown. But she will forever be a Texan. She loves to write any story that will make a reader smile, laugh, and maybe even cry (although you won’t ever hear her admit that she cries). Whether the next story she writes is contemporary, urban fantasy, LGBT, or whatever other crazy idea she comes up with, there will always be love and romance in the midst of trials and turmoil.
When she’s not writing you can find her on Twitter, with her family, or buried in a book trying to escape reality for just a minute.
Website: http://www.jennahscott.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jennah_scott
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorjennahscott?ref=hl
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6820280.Jennah_Scott
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/jennahscott/
Buy Links:
All Romance: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-findingherdream-1461203-147.html
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/finding-her-dream-jennah-scott/1119020767?ean=2940149369669
April 27, 2014
Sneak Peek Sunday: More LEGALLY UNDEAD!
Legally Undead
Coming May 2014 from World Weaver Press!
A reluctant vampire hunter, stalking New York City as only a scorned bride can.
Elle Dupree has her life all figured out: first a wedding, then her Ph.D., then swank faculty parties where she’ll serve wine and cheese and introduce people to her husband the lawyer.
But those plans disintegrate when she walks in on a vampire sucking the blood from her fiancé Greg. Horrified, she screams and runs–not away from the vampire, but toward it, brandishing a wooden letter opener.
As she slams the improvised stake into the vampire’s heart, a team of black-clad men bursts into the apartment. Turning around to face them, Elle discovers that Greg’s body is gone—and her perfect life falls apart.
__________________
Excerpt
April 25, 2014
All About the Magic ~ A Guest Post by L. Jagi Lamplighter
Welcome today to the inimitable L. Jagi Lamplighter, one of my favorite writers (I love, love, LOVE her Prospero’s Daughter trilogy!) and an all-around amazing person. Today, she’s here discussing magic in a guest post she has generously allowed me to republish from Magical Words. Check out her thoughts on magic, geese, and unicorn poop below, then take a look at her latest book, The Unexpected Enlightenment of Rachel Griffin before you go!
All About The Magic: Or the Gosling of the Golden Creek Vs. The Unicorn Pooper-Scoopers
Beside the road leading to my street, there is a small pond. This pond is the favorite nesting place of a flock of Canadian geese who like to walk out in the street.
The other day, I found myself sitting and waiting for the geese to depart, so I could drive home without running over them. As I watched the birds waddle by, I thought of people I knew who had expressed hatred for these creatures that stop traffic and leave goose droppings all over the sidewalk and golf courses. Their hatred added to my impatience.
After all, I wanted to get home. I had things to do, man!
But then I remembered something.
As a child, I had loved these birds. Why? Because at the gateway to the local county park was a river. Canadian geese used to nest on the river bank. If one was lucky, if one came at just the right time, one might catch a glimpse the tiny goslings paddling behind their august parents.
These adorable creatures were the only baby wild animals visible to us as children. Seeing these little beige and yellow bundles of fluff lit our hearts. It was as wondrous as magic!
When had I lost the magic?
Was it familiarity that had bred such contempt? I saw them all the time, now, so the magic had fled? This thought led me to the following question:
If flocks of unicorns roamed my hometown, would the magic go away with them, too? Would I be sitting here wishing the herd of unicorns would just get off the road?
And then it struck me.
The difference between my current thought about unicorns and my childhood memory was like the difference between urban fantasy and stories of wonder. In a story of wonder, ordinary creatures, such as Canadian geese goslings, became objects of awe and magic. In an Urban Fantasy, people argue about who was responsible for scooping up the unicorn poop.
Before I go on, I should clarify: I am a big fan of urban fantasy. This insight is in no way meant to detract from the delight of reading about a tarnished pixy with tattered wings, a base-playing goblin, or an elf in a fedora asking questions and taking names.
However, there are much better writers, here at Magical Words, than I for giving advice about writing good urban fantasy. So, I will concentrate on the subject of how to bring that childhood sense of wonder back to our stories.
If Urban Fantasy is about the magical in a mundane setting, Stories of Wonder are about mundane things in a magical setting. The first drags fairytales, folk lore, and mythology into our world, kicking and screaming. The second lifts us out of our ordinary daily life and into the extraordinary.
So, how does one capture this magic when writing? How do we portray pixies up close without tarnishing their wings? How do we become familiar with unicorns and yet not grumble about how irksome it is that they have been eating our flowers? How do we turn the geese holding up traffic back into creatures of enchantment?
The key is to look around and imagine what the world would be like if it were alive…and it loved us.
The marvelous world in stories of wonder is not always friendly. It can be grumpy, or angry, or tricky. It can be dangerous, sometimes terrible. But, underneath, there is a sense of something wonderful, something precious, something that makes you catch your breath from joy.
If that is lacking, it is not a Story of Wonder.
So, how is it done? By looking around and imagining what the things we see would be like—if they just happened to fall into fairyland.
The small stone pump house on the corner becomes a home for tiny folk who peek their little whiskered snouts around the edge of the door and peer at us with very large black eyes.
Little doors into the crawl spaces of an attic become gates that transform those who pass through, so that they can fly, or turn invisible, or talk to fish.
Misshapen tree trunks, with a horizontal section low to the ground, become riding trees that can pull up their roots and run though the forest during the mysterious cusp of twilight.
Go ahead, try it. Pick a perfectly normal object in your environment and think about what it might be if you suddenly discovered it was a friendly visitor from the Court of Oberon. (Feel free to note your discoveries in the comments section.)
The next question one might ask is: Who does this well? Whose writing can we look to as an example? In my humble opinion, I believe the mistress of writing wonder is British author, Barbara Sleigh. (Who is that, you ask? If you missed her in your childhood, I am so very sorry! I will introduce you now, as I first met her.)
Once, in the long ago dream time, I attended an old elementary school that had a marvelous library. This library was not as libraries are today—filled with new books all shiny with bright picture on their dustcovers, all published in the last twenty to thirty years. This library was filled with old books.
I wouldn’t be surprised if a book bogie* had lived there as well.
One day, while peering into the shadows of the dimly lit stacks, I found a slim volume I don’t think anyone else had ever checked out. It was KINGDOM OF CARBONEL by Barbara Sleigh. It would be years before I met anyone else who had read this book. And more years before a friend traveling to England finally brought back the first book, CARBONEL, for me. But these two slim volumes, in their own quiet way, remain among the most magical I have read.
(I may not be the only author who has felt this way. These books were written in England in the 1950s. The villain is referred to as You-Know-Who, and there are characters with names like Tonks and Pettigrew. So it is possible that another author, far better known than I, once fell under their spell a well.)
The fantasy in the books is low key. The children need to deal with mundane issues such as chores, being home in time for supper, and finding enough money to cross town by bus. Yet the magic, when it comes, seems all the more wondrous for its unexpectedness. There is a talking prince of cats, a flying rocking chair, and a cantankerous witch who is losing her powers.
Yet, there is so much more. Only a step away from the roofs of mundane England is the Country of Cats, another land that the children glimpse but briefly. And when they need magic to speak with animals, they are given a prescription that causes the clerk to scratch his head and then climb up on a ladder to draw liquid from the large red bottle propped as a display in the window of the chemist’s shop. (There is even an amusing sub-plot for the poor clerk, who accidentally licks his finger after pouring out the liquid and believes himself to be going mad when he begins to understand the speech of worms and bugs.)
In this bestowing of magic to ordinary things—roofs, rocking chairs, and window display bottles—there is the curious wonder that comes from peeking into another world not meant for human kind, a world to which the children can only be temporary visitors—and yet when they leave, we know that they have been changed forever and will never again be quite as other people are, that they will always be something more.
And isn’t that, really, why we read? So we, the reader, can enter a magical kingdom that gives us a glimpse of something beyond the ordinary, beyond the world we know, in the hope that we, too, will emerge from the book changed, having been made better by the experience, so that we, too, will never again be quite as mundane as we were before?
So that, while others sit in the road grumbling about being held up by “rats with wings”, we alone will behold the majesty of the graceful dancers of the sky, who once were the goslings of Golden Creek.
* — creature said to haunt libraries and help children find the perfect book.
Who is your favorite weaver of Stories of Wonder?
What ordinary objects would you like to see woken to fairy life by the breath of enchantment?
_________________
Rachel Griffin wants to know everything. As a freshman at Roanoke Academy for the Sorcerous Arts, she has been granted to opportunity to study both mundane and magical subjects.
But even her perfect recollection of every book she has ever read does not help her when she finds a strange statue in the forest—a statue of a woman with wings. Nowhere—neither in the arcane tomes of the Wise, nor in the dictionary and encyclopedia of the non-magic-using Unwary—can she find mention of such a creature.
What could it be? And why are the statue’s wings missing when she returns?
When someone tries to kill a fellow student, Rachel soon realizes that, in the same way her World of the Wise hides from mundane folk, there is another, more secret world hiding from everyone—which her perfect recall allows her to remember. Her need to know everything drives her to investigate.
Rushing forward where others fear to tread, Rachel finds herself beset by wraiths, magical pranks, homework, a Raven said to bring the doom of worlds, love’s first blush, and at least one fire-breathing teacher.
Curiosity might kill a cat, but nothing stops Rachel Griffin!
_________________
About the Author
L. Jagi Lamplighter is the author of The Unexpected Enlightenment of Rachel Griffin, as well as the Prospero’s Daughter Trilogy (Prospero Lost, Prospero In Hell, and Prospero Regained).She has also written a number of short stories, articles on anime, and is an author/assistant editor in the BaddAss Faeries series.
She is a graduate of the St. John’s College in Annapolis, MD. When not writing, she switches to her secret identity as a stay-home mom in Centreville, VA, where she lives in fairytale happiness with her husband, author John C. Wright, and their four darling children, Orville, Ping-Ping, Roland Wilbur, and Justinian Oberon.
Visit her website: http://www.ljagilamplighter.com/
_________________
Cover Reveal: Our Dried Voices by Greg Hickey
Title: Our Dried Voices
Author: Greg Hickey
Genre: Science Fiction
In 2153, cancer was cured. In 2189, AIDS. And in 2235, the last members of the human race traveled to a far distant planet called Pearl to begin the next chapter of humanity.
Several hundred years after their arrival, the remainder of humans live in a utopian colony in which every need is satisfied automatically, and there is no need for human labor, struggle or thought. But when the machines that regulate the colony begin to malfunction, the colonists are faced with a test for the first time in their existence.
With the lives of the colonists at stake, it is left to a young man named Samuel to repair these breakdowns and save the colony. Aided by his friend Penny, Samuel rises to meet each challenge. But he soon discovers a mysterious group of people behind each of these problems, and he must somehow find and defeat these saboteurs in order to rescue his colony.
