Kory M. Shrum's Blog, page 17

November 7, 2015

#amreading #1 in Dark Fantasy & Other #News #giveaway


For those of you who missed it the fourth novel in the Jesse Sullivan series, Dying Light, is now available on Amazon, iBooks, Barnes and Noble, Koboand pretty much everywhere else.

The book had a great first week with hundreds of preorders--and I have to thank all of you for that! 
Just after the release, my other titles climbed the charts as well. Dying for a Living went all the way up to #13 on the free book charts (and #1 in Dark Fantasy, though now it's down to #3). Dying by the Hour reached #52 and Dying for Her (#168) on the fantasy charts. (And #1 in LGBT all around).
From what I’ve heard so far, most of you are thrilled with the fourth book in the series, particularly with the return of Jesse’s snarky voice. It also seems like the teaser preview I put in the back of Worth Dying For Jesse #5 (coming May 2016), was just enough to torture you.
I can’t say I’m truly sorry about that *grin* but at least I have someone to suffer the wait with me now.
For those of you holding out for the audiobook, you'll be happy to know that is should be available for sale by the end of January.
And if you want your ecopy of Dying Light (or any of the Jesse Sullivan books) signed through Authorgraph, I can do that too! :)

Lastly, this is the week of giveaways. You'll find giveaways for Dying Light on Goodreads, LibraryThing, and Booklikes this week, but I also want to run one here on the blog. So please interact with the rafflecopter below for your chance to win. 

And many thanks for your continued support.

Kory
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Published on November 07, 2015 18:49

November 2, 2015

#New Release: Dying Light #amreading #fantasy

It's here, it's here!

The fourth novel in my Jesse Sullivan series is now available for purchase at all the major online retailers:

Amazon
Amazon Australia
Amazon Canada
Amazon DE
Amazon FR
Amazon UK
Barnes and Noble(Nook)
iBooks
Kobo
and more....


For those of you holding out for the audiobook, that should be available in January 2016. I hope you enjoy this fourth installment and look forward to hearing your thoughts on the latest developments for Jesse and the gang.

About Book #4:
Fans of contemporary and urban fantasy will enjoy this series. Don't be surprised to find dark humor, lots of snark, and a murder mystery, all wrapped up in a single thrilling, action-packed narrative.

Called "addictive" by New York Times Bestseller Darynda Jones, those interested in strong female protagonists are sure to take a shine to Jesse Sullivan, the reluctant anti-hero of the series.

Synopsis of Dying Light:
In the wake of her handler’s death, Jesse has never felt more alone. Her best friend is distracted by a new love. Her mentor Rachel is missing and her boyfriend Lane isn’t returning her calls. 

Worse, a Necronite with the ability to heal any wound wants to kill Jesse and absorb her power of pyrokinesis. 

With little to hold her to Nashville, Jesse agrees to work as a freelance agent for Jeremiah Tate, a pharmaceutical tycoon in Chicago. Together they plot revenge against Caldwell, the mastermind responsible for the genocide of over 100,000 Necronites worldwide. 

When Jeremiah fails to dominate Jesse and her pyrokinesis, tensions escalate, dividing her from her allies. 

Then Caldwell gives Jesse an ultimatum she cannot refuse.
There will be giveaways and whatnot soon and I'll post news as I receive it.

Happy reading!
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Published on November 02, 2015 01:12

October 30, 2015

#Read a #Poem #Friday #amreading

The Witches’ Spell

Act IV, Scene 1  Shakespeare's Macbeth
A dark Cave. In the middle, a Caldron boiling. Thunder.

Enter the three Witches.
1 WITCH. Thrice the brinded cat hath mew’d.
2 WITCH. Thrice and once, the hedge-pig whin’d.
3 WITCH. Harpier cries:—’tis time! ’tis time!
1 WITCH. Round about the caldron go;
In the poison’d entrails throw.—
Toad, that under cold stone,
Days and nights has thirty-one;
Swelter’d venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first i’ the charmed pot!
ALL. Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
2 WITCH. Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the caldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder’s fork, and blind-worm’s sting,
Lizard’s leg, and owlet’s wing,—
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
ALL. Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
3 WITCH. Scale of dragon; tooth of wolf;
Witches’ mummy; maw and gulf
Of the ravin’d salt-sea shark;
Root of hemlock digg’d i the dark;
Liver of blaspheming Jew;
Gall of goat, and slips of yew
Sliver’d in the moon’s eclipse;
Nose of Turk, and Tartar’s lips;
Finger of birth-strangled babe
Ditch-deliver’d by a drab,—
Make the gruel thick and slab:
Add thereto a tiger’s chaudron,
For the ingrediants of our caldron.
ALL. Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
2 WITCH. Cool it with a baboon’s blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.
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Published on October 30, 2015 03:00

October 27, 2015

October #Blog #FAIL

So this month, I tried to celebrate my love for October, by making an A to Z blog list of all the things I love about October. Unfortunately, I only made it to "G". FOR SHAME!

It isn't because I don't love October, of course. I'm about to provide a list of all the things I love about the month, but life simply got in in the way.

I'm teaching, writing, and publishing (Book 4- Dying Light comes out Monday!). I also am still putting the new house together. To top it off, I got ENGAGED! ;)

***LEVEL UP***

Anyway, so this is sort of my apology for my absence for the last two weeks, rolled up in a celebration.

So here are all the things I love about October:
1. Fall food: caramel corn, caramel apples, halloween candy, pumpkin treats (though NOT coffee), warm drinks, cider and hot cocoa. All the yummy things!
2. Witches and the magic in the air
3. Costumes--who doesn't like to dress up.
4. Demons and scary stuff
5. Scary movies
6. The Fall itself--it's my favorite season.
7. Cool weather and beautiful fall days
8. Ghosts
9. Ghouls and the cemeteries that wander
10. Halloween!
11. Carving Pumpkins
12. Beautiful leaves
13. The smell of hay
14. Monster Music
15. Dancing to Thriller
16. Pies (I guess this goes with number 1, but pie gets its own mention...right, Dean?)
17. Roasting marshmellows over the open fire
18. Scary stories and unsolved mysteries.
19. Trick 'r Treating
20. Vampires
21. Werewolves
22. And all the other things that go bump in the night
23. Longer, darker nights
24. The excuse to wear boots all the time
25. Zombies
26. Soft sweaters
27. Cute scarves
28. That my pug is extra cuddly this time of year
29. Hayrides
30. Haunted houses
31. warm blankets
32. Visiting the orchards here in Michigan
33. Going on long fall walks
34. That it'll come every year!

What's your favorite thing about Fall/October?
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Published on October 27, 2015 12:50

October 14, 2015

#Book #Review Death Wish by @Angela Roquet

Let's begin with the obvious:

Death Wish is the fifth book in the Lana Harvey series and a fantastic edition to the chronicle of Eternity. If you've read books 1-4 and enjoyed them, I think you'll definitely enjoy Book 5.

Less obvious:

I have had the pleasure of seeing Angela's work grow over time and I really enjoyed this latest edition. Her earliest books (starting with the FREE Graveyard Shift) received an A+++ for originality and cleverness, if nothing else. But as I finished the fifth book, I'm beginning to see real writer fangs. That is to say, Roquet has definitely cut her teeth and is producing well-written, quality verse befitting the full-time, professional writer that she is.

The plot is interesting, pacing good, characterizations deep and when I finished I was ready for more. And the fact that Roquet seems to get better with every book, I'm sure Book 6 will be worth the wait.

You can grab your copy of Death Wish on Kindle, Nook, iBooks, Kobo, and more. Or learn more about Angela Roquet on her website
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Published on October 14, 2015 19:43

October 10, 2015

#October AtoZ #Blog challenge: G is for Ghosts

Ghosts freak me the &^$% out. I watched Sixth Sense and many people argue it's not even a great ghost story, but I couldn't sleep for days. 



But since they are an ooky spooky part of Halloween, I've included a post to honor the ghosts out there. Here are my top 5 "ghost" picks by category:


Top 5 Ghost Books
The Shining by Stephen King
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
A Woman in Black by Susan Hill
A Christmas Carol by Dickens

Top 5 Ghost Movies
Ghostbusters
Poltergeist
Thirteen Ghosts
Nightmare Before Christmas
Casper


Top 5 Haunted Places
New Orleans!...

...which brings me to my very own ghost story. I haven't told many people this story, so sharing it here on the blog is sort of like "coming out" in a way. But here is my ghost story nonetheless. A few years ago, I went to New Orleans with some friends. We did the ghost tour, like many tourists do and saw the numerous haunted places around the French Quarter.

Near the end of our tour, we stopped in a bar for a bathroom break, but the tour guide warned us "be careful of the bathroom. The original owner used to live upstairs until one night he was clubbed in the head with a crowbar and died. Now he hides out in the ladies' bathroom and pinches all the pretty girls."

I wasn't impressed. But my attractiveness aside, I did go into the bathroom and I SWEAR ON MY PARTNER'S LIFE that I DID feel a pinch just before I was about to sit down and use the toilet. If I hadn't been struggling with my belt, I may not have noticed, but I was. And I felt the pinch on my right side and turned slowly, expecting to find a glory hole or something, where some partner in crime pinches people for added effect.

When I saw NO ONE, I burst from the bathroom stall, holding my pants up and shrieking, much to the confusion of my friends who were waiting in the bathroom for me.

Needless to say, I did not pee alone for the rest of the trip.


Do you have a favorite ghost story, movie or haunted place? I'd love to know it! :)

Kory
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Published on October 10, 2015 03:00

October 9, 2015

#Read a #poem #Friday

Continuing the October A to Z blog challenge, today we have F is for Fall. Fall is my favorite season. I love cool weather, wearing boots, pumpkins and the smell of hay. Apple cider, pies, and bread. All the seasonal root vegetables and the ooky spooky vibe of Halloween on the wind and longer, darker nights.

To combine Read a Poem Friday with the blog challenge, here is a list of poems about fall from some of the world's greatest poets.

Enjoy! :)

Autumn moonlight by Matsuo BashoSONNET OF AUTUMN by Charles BaudelaireAutumn Movement by Carl SandburgTo Autumn by William BlakeAutumn Fires by Robert Louis StevensonAutumn in the Garden by Henry Van DykeAutumn Song by Katherine MansfieldAutumn Perspective by Erica JongThree Pieces on the Smoke of Autumn by Carl SandburgAn Autumn Evening by Lucy Maud MontgomeryBy an Autumn Fire by Lucy Maud MontgomeryAutumn by William MorrisAutumn by Thomas HoodA Song of Autumn by Adam Lindsay GordonAutumnal Sonnet by William AllinghamLate Autumn by William AllinghamAutumn Song by Sarojini NaiduThe Autumn by Elizabeth Barrett BrowningAn Autumn Reverie by William Topaz McGonagallIn autumn moonlight, when the white air wan by Robert Seymour BridgesAutumn Birds by John ClareAs Summer into Autumn slips by Emily DickinsonAutumn Love by Li Ching ChaoThe name -- of it -- is "Autumn" -- by Emily DickinsonElegy IX: The Autumnal by John DonneAutumn -- overlooked my Knitting -- by Emily DickinsonBesides the Autumn poets sing by Emily DickinsonNo Autumn's intercepting Chill by Emily DickinsonAUTUMN FEELINGS. by Johann Wolfgang von GoetheAn Autumn Rain-Scene by Thomas HardyAutumn Begins In Martins Ferry, Ohio by James WrightA Song of an Autumn Night. by Wang WeiAutumn And Winter by Algernon Charles SwinburneAutumn by Stevie SmithAutumn: A Dirge by Percy Bysshe ShelleyTo Autumn by John KeatsOde To Autumn by John KeatsAutumn by Walter Savage LandorDolor of Autumn by David Herbert LawrenceMerry Autumn by Paul Laurence DunbarFlowering Eucalypt In Autumn by Les MurrayAutumn by P. K. PageAutumn River Song by Li PoAutumn Day by Rainer Maria RilkeAutumn by Siegfried SassoonUnderwater Autumn by Richard HugoAn Autumn Sunset by Edith WhartonI am the autumnal sun by Henry David ThoreauHornworm: Autumn Lamentation by Stanley KunitzLate Autumn In Venice by Delmore SchwartzWords For A Trumpet Chorale Celebrating The Autumn by Delmore SchwartzFrog Autumn by Sylvia PlathAutumn Valentine by Dorothy ParkerAUTUMN by Henry Wadsworth LongfellowAUTUMN by Henry Wadsworth LongfellowAutumn Within by Henry Wadsworth LongfellowNightmare: A Tale for an Autumn Evening by Amy LowellAutumn Daybreak by Edna St. Vincent MillayThe Death Of Autumn by Edna St. Vincent MillayAutumnal Diorama by Raymond A. FossWhen it was autumn in Eden by Ian EmbersonSmell of Autumn by Raymond A. Foss
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Published on October 09, 2015 03:00

October 8, 2015

#October AtoZ blog challenge: E is for Exorcism #Recipe

Piggy-backing off yesterday's post about demons, comes the inevitable exorcism. I must say, few things frighten me more than the idea of having to perform an exorcism on someone I love. Assuming possessions were possible, it would mean that someone I love was in the clutches of an evil force and if I couldn't free them, they would be lost forever. 

The word exorcism comes from the Greek ἐξορκισμός, exorkismos which means "binding by oath" and you can find beliefs regarding demons and the necessity of exorcism in all major religions, though Christian exorcisms are likely the most popular/well known, in America at least.

Famous people who have been on the receiving end (allegedly) of an exorcism include the artist Salvador Dali, Mother Teresa, and a boy named  Robbie Mannheim, who became the inspiration for the popular film The Exorcist.

And while I personally hope demon exorcisms are a thing of fiction, should I feel I might need one, I'll make this cocktail while waiting for John Constantine or the Winchesters to arrive.

Exorcist Cocktail Recipe

The measurements are per serving:
1 1/2 oz tequila
3/4 oz Blue Curacao liqueur
3/4 oz lime juice

Shake all ingredients in a cocktail shaker half-filled with ice cubes. Strain into a cocktail glass, and serve.

Read more: Exorcist Cocktail recipe http://www.drinksmixer.com/drink9138....
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Published on October 08, 2015 03:00

October 7, 2015

#October AtoZ challenge: D is for #Demons and #Dean

I love Dean Winchester.

Look at this face:


Don't you just want to squeeze his cheeks and kiss his nose? I sure do.

The fact that he hunts demons is just a bonus. 

In celebration of Dean of the Demons, here is a youtube playlist of some fun Supernatural moments.

Runner Up demonhunter:

John Constantine. Love his attitude, love his I-give-zero-f#%&s approach to the world and his style is interesting to say the least.



















Do you have a favorite demon or demonhunter? I must admit I found a serious lack of ladies who hunted demons--not to be confused with vampire slayers, etc, but purely demons. If you know of some ladies, let me know! 
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Published on October 07, 2015 03:00

October 6, 2015

Happy Release Day @AngelaRoquet! #amreading

Bum ba ba ba Bum

Dah Dah da dum!

*Trumpets*

Congratulations to Angela Roquet for the release of Death Wish, the fifth book in her Lana Harvey, Reapers, Inc. Series.


If you are unfamilar with this series, for shame! You can read Book 1 for free on Amazon, Nook, Kobo, ibooks and more.


Book 1, Graveyard Shift Book 5, Death Wish
For those of you with the program, Book 5 is available now on Amazon and coming soon to the other online retailers.

My review coming soon!

Kory
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Published on October 06, 2015 10:03