Jillian Jacobs's Blog, page 8

Must Remember Cover Reveal

Nineteen-year-old Elizabeth ‘Beta’ Camden is a survivor.

When the E’mani—those pale alien freaks—destroy Earth with a plague of madness and scoop up the remains, Beta is one of the ‘lucky’ ones. For years, she endures their tortures, experiments and games. Then one day, she manages to escape their ship with her life, and no memory of her time with them.
Stranded on their world, Beta wanders the mountains, looking for a way home. She stumbles onto the Fost—the E’mani’s ancient enemy.  Their war with the E’mani is old and rooted in magic that the Fost once had and the E’mani crave. Magic Beta soon discovers she’s developing along with strange tattoos and disturbing glimpses of her past. The Fost take her in and train her in their ways. As she spends more time with them, she falls in love with their culture and with Marin—he of the hot hands and slit eyes.
But the E’mani took her for a reason and they want her back—dead or alive. If Beta doesn’t remember that reason soon, they’re all going to die.
EXCERPT:


Oy. No more weekday frat parties for me, no matter how

noble the cause, especially when I have a test the next day. What was

I thinking? And last minute cramming with a headache was not a

good idea either. Forget it. My eyes drifted to the clock.

And now I was late. Damn it. With a sigh, I threw down my

pencil and scrambled up, my head throbbing. I traded my Eeyore

jammies for skinny jeans and a fitted white t-shirt. Shoes, where

were my shoes? Gah. I ducked and rooted around in the deep, dark

spaces under my bed. Hmm, the green dress I borrowed from Sarah.

Mental note: I need to return that. English book, various dust

bunnies of uncertain lineage…there.

Sketchers on, I grabbed my backpack, turned up my iPod,

and ran out the door. No time to primp.

Good thing the campus I lived on was small. There was a big

central courtyard—the quad—filled with towering oak trees and

wide-open spaces surrounded by squat school buildings and

classrooms. If I hurried, I’d make it…

I raced into the quad out of breath and slowed, turning in a

complete circle.

Huh.

No one around. Unease skittered through me on soft paws.

The courtyard was always busy. I pulled my headphones out of my

ears. Was there some sort of event I didn’t know about going on?

The unnatural silence pressed in on me for a second as the

echoes of my steps faded.

Then screams—men’s and women’s—poured from Main

Street. I broke into a run and shot between the buildings toward the

sound.

Cars littered the intersection. Some guy rear-ended someone

else, causing a chain reaction down the road. A horn blared nearby

and a faint breeze blew the smell of gasoline, smoke, and copper my

way. Clusters of people stood among the wreckage.

Colleen S. Myers plays many roles. Not only is she a veteran, a mother, and a practicing physician, but she is a writer of science fiction and contemporary romances. Colleen’s dreams include surviving her son’s teenage years, exploring every continent on this planet, except Antartica, cause that’s way too cold, and winning the Nobel peace prize. Dream BIG! Currently she is getting ready to publish her first novel, MUST REMEMBER in November of this year (cover reveal soon.)  Until then look for her at Three Rivers Romance Writers, at Facebook  Colleen Myers, and at @ColleenSMyers.

Ashley Hampton Cover Reveal - Breeze

Dr. Hannah Walker is starting her first year as a Visiting Professor at Thurston University. A graduate of Thurston, she's familiar with the town, has friends, and is waiting on her perfect job to open at Wilmington College. She's run from every serious relationship she's had in pursuit of her career goals.

Igor Finley recently moved back to his hometown after his last military deployment and discharge because of his PTSD. He's returning to Thurston University for his degree, so he can provide for his two young children.

There were fireworks when the two met, but will they be able to keep them out of the classroom? Will Hannah stay in Thurston once she realizes her feelings, or will she be carried away like a Breeze towards her career goals?
Ashley Hampton works as a Licensed Psychologist in private practice during the day. When she leaves work, she puts on her writer and photographer hats and enjoys living in the worlds created in her mind. She lives near her hometown of Birmingham, Alabama with her cat, Gemma. Ashley wanted to find a creative way to meld her love for music and psychology with writing, and the Southern Rock Lyrics series was born.  With other series planned, Ashley wants to write in the romance, erotica, and psychological thriller genres.

Goodreads TBR: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25909709-breeze?from_search=true&search_version=service

Ashley is a Writers On The River signing author, as well!!

House of the Rising Son by Trevann Rogers

House of the Rising Son
Series: Living After Midnight, Book 1

Bio: Trevann Rogers writes urban fantasy and LGBT paranormal romances. Her stories incorporate an unquenchable addition to music and her love for vampires, Weres, incubi and rock stars. Like these elusive creatures, Trevann learned long ago that sometimes being yourself means Living After Midnight.

·      One trait you share with your hero/heroine in this book?

Cheyenne is the hero of our book. We like to think we share with him a strange sense of humor. He isn't snarky. He just likes to laugh and thinks the world is full of funny people and entertaining situations.

·      One thing you have learned as a writer this year?

Although writing can be a lonely activity, we've learned that writers by nature are kind, thoughtful, and generous with their time and talents. We wouldn't be where we are without the help of the authors who have gone before us and were willing to share their expertise and experiences. We hope to be able to pay it forward too, and give freely what was shared with us.

·      One writer, you'd LOVE to have lunch with?

We'd love to break bread with Tanya Huff. She has written so many amazing fantasy stories, with memorable characters you can't help but cherish. We also appreciate her treatment of gay characters simply as real people who live their lives like the rest of us, grabbing hold of joy where we find it.

·      As writers we tend to be sedentary, what do you do to keep yourself healthy? Still trying to figure this one out. What helps us most is planning our meals and snacks ahead of time. If we plan the entire week before we go shopping, we save money, time, AND we eat much healthier.

Blurb:

Living After Midnight, Book 1

Sex. Rebellion. Rock and roll.

Cheyenne is a half-human incubus whose star is on the rise in the Unakite City rock scene. His father, the leader of the supernatural races, would prefer he keep a “low profile”, but screw that. Cheyenne has as much music in his veins as royal incubi blood.

Alexander's future is all set—finish law school, join the family firm, and marry someone who'd be good for business. Not that he has a say in any of it. He's barely met the woman his father expects him to marry.

As Cheyenne's musical career takes off, his carefully constructed life begins to unravel, exacerbated by an ex-lover who can't let go, a crotchety barkeeper with a dirty mind and a pure heart, a drag queen who moonlights as a nanny, and Alexander—who's not sure if he's falling for the incubus or the rocker.

Cheyenne denies who he is, while Alexander hides what he wants. Together, they learn that getting what they truly want means being who they truly are.

Excerpt:
Copyright © 2015 Trevann Rogers

All rights reserved — a Samhain Publishing, Ltd. publication

Cheyenne set the bottles on the end table and watched Alexander peel off his ripped shirt in sections. The fabric stuck to the blood drying in four deep gouges on his ribcage. “Here, let me help you with that.”

He paused, waiting for Alexander’s protest, but none came. He helped his friend out of the ruined shirt, and applied antiseptic to the wounds.

“Ow!” Alexander flinched as the cool, stinging liquid did its job. “Man. What the hell was that? Like an animal, but more like something out of a freaking horror movie. I mean, did you see how it just picked me up like I was nothing?” He looked up at Cheyenne. “Are you all right? I mean, how could you be? Those things were trying to kill you. You must have gotten away before—”

“They weren’t going to kill me. Maybe they thought they were scaring me, but they just pissed me off. I’m betting they thought they killed you. I shouldn’t have let you get involved.” Cheyenne picked up his water, changed his mind and took a swig of Alexander’s beer. “Blech. Don’t you drink anything that tastes good?”

Alexander snatched the bottle out of his hands and drained it. “Are you telling me you knew those…those…?”

“Weres. A tiger and a couple of lions. Yeah, I know them.”

Alexander stared at Cheyenne. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“I’m about to tell you some stuff that you are not going to believe. But you can’t tell anyone.”

“Whatever. It can’t be any weirder than seeing a monster movie play out in an alley.”

He dropped onto the sofa next to Alexander. “Like I said, those were Weres. My father’s henchmen. Stupid as hell, but so far, loyal enforcers. And usually deadly.” He studied Alexander’s face. “You really haven’t noticed that I’m different from other people?”

Alexander shrugged. “I don’t care that you’re a…that you like guys. But what’s that got to—”

“I’m not gay. Not exactly. I’m an incubus.” He looked for some indication of recognition in Alexander’s eyes. “A supernatural being?” Not a shred of comprehension. “A sexual demon?”

“A demon?” Alexander started to get up. “You are out of your mind.”

Cheyenne’s hand on his arm stilled him. “Not the ‘burn in the ever-after for all eternity, hellfire and brimstone, steal your soul’ sort of demon. A sexual demon. The crowd at Eddies? I feed on that energy. And you know how Prudence is sort of turned on by me but really, and I mean really, hates me? That feeds me too, all that emotion—”

“Prudence doesn’t—”

“Not the point. And let’s not forget the Weres. Hello? Paranormal. As in not normal—for humans.”

Alexander stood and crossed the sunken living room to the kitchen. He opened another Corona and made his way back to the couch. “Is that why you aren’t hurt?”

“Yeah. The thing is, my father is, like, the head guy. He sent those jerks after me. He doesn’t want me to play music or do anything else he thinks will draw attention to us.”

“Us?”

“The Incubi Nation. We’ve been here, living in your world, for centuries. Us, the Weres, the mages, and a lot of other races. I’ll explain all that later. Your world is ours too. And my father thinks if humans found out about us, it would be the beginning of the end. Of the incubi for sure, but maybe everything.”

“Maybe your father’s right. My head is about to explode.”

“Zander, please listen. He wants me to stop playing music. I can’t do that. And there’s something else.”

“Of course there is. Vampires lurking in the darkness waiting to eat my still pulsing heart?”

Cheyenne frowned. “Now you are being ridiculous. Vampires don’t eat flesh.”

“Are you kidding me? Vampires are real? Do I have a concussion? Or am I in the middle of a major heroin overdose?”

Cheyenne laid his head on the back of the sofa and sighed. “Never mind. You’re right. You’re just suffering from a concussion and when you wake in the morning it will all be as in a dream.”

Alexander joined Cheyenne against the sofa’s back and closed his eyes. “No,

okay. Tell me. Your father is head of the incubi, but how does he get to send those things after you? What do the others—whatever they are—think about humans?”

“It’s complicated. But, well…” Cheyenne considered how he could best explain. “The Were-cats are my father’s personal guards. But all supernatural races are governed by him. It’s sort of like the United States. Each state has its own leader, the governor, but they come together under a president. Each species has its own leaders but my father is in charge of all of them.  Except what he says goes. No voting.”

“Let’s assume I believe any of this. What else?”

“My kids. The truth is, they are really mine. I have to pretend they’re not because my father doesn’t know about them, can’t know about them. If he did, he’d take Jade away from me.”

“Take as in keep? That doesn’t make any sense.”

“It makes sense to him. He needs to keep her to breed her.”

“She’s just a kid. And that is all sorts of illegal.”

Cheyenne ingested Alexander’s rising anger, and quelled it. “Our rules aren’t the same as yours. And anyway, my father is desperate. Our race is dying. There’ve been no live female births for decades. And there are very few males born. We even tried to breed with the Weres. Total disaster. Don’t ask.”

He chugged the rest of his water and stood. He grabbed his left shoulder and

twisted, and then his right, until his vertebrae popped and released the tension

that had been building since the conversation began. He continued, “They thought the vampires would have worked, but the in vitro experiments never resulted in a child. We had the most luck with human couplings.”

“So there were children?”

“You’re looking at one. My mother was human.”

“What do you mean, ‘was human’?”

“She passed away ten years ago.”

“Sorry for your loss.”

“Yeah, thanks.” Cheyenne brushed his nose. “I still can’t believe she’s gone. My whole world turned upside down when she got sick. Humans are so fragile.”

“I guess we are.”

“Anyway, boys were born, most without any trace of incubus Power.” An ironic laugh fluttered to his lips. “I suppose I’m the exception. Not that anyone knows it.”

“So you’re an incubus no one knows has…powers?”

“Right. But that isn’t important. The main problem is there were no succubae—females—conceived. So no way for us to breed true.”

“Until Jade.” He sat back down. “She’s a succubus, Zander. I’ve seen her Power. That’s why she’d be important to him. And why he can’t have her.”

“Seems to me that you have the upper hand. Not that Jade is a bargaining chip. But since she’s your child and your people need her, he should be cutting you some slack about your music.”

“You don’t know my father. He’s the richest hotel proprietor in the northern hemisphere and the leader of the Incubi Nation. He doesn’t give a damn about me. He wouldn’t care that I, his half-breed son, might have spawned the literal savior of our race. His only concern would be that she exists, and that she belongs to him. Both of my children deserve more than that. That’s why he can’t know about them.”

“Why didn’t you leave? If you were across the country you’d be harder to find.”

Cheyenne rubbed the back of his neck. He’d thought a million times about doing just that, but he couldn’t make it work. “I could never get up enough money. Seemed safer to stay here out of his line of sight.”

Several minutes of silence passed between them. Alexander spoke first. “Can I ask you a question? You’re an incubus. Is that why I…” Questions streamed across his face. “What I feel, it’s because of your powers, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. Some of it. I can’t help that. It’s what makes me an incubus. But it’s not like I roofie people. The first time I tried to seduce you, you told me to quit and I did. I never intentionally made you feel anything. Not supernaturally, anyway.”

“Then what are you doing to me?”

“Nothing you don’t want me to.”

Buy links:
Barnes and Noble http://bit.ly/1QUk3cg

Samhain Publishing http://bit.ly/1NIEyKC

Amazon http://amzn.to/1V6mkSf

Social Media Links:

www.trevannrogers.com

www.facebook.com/trevannr

www.pinterest.com/trevannr

https://www.goodreads.com/Trevann_Rogers

@TrevannRogers

Whispered Beginnings 99 CENTS

Whispered Beginnings is a Romance Sampler put together by a few of my very dear author friends: Donya Lynne, Tia Catalina, and A.D.Ellis.
ONLY 99 CENTS!!
http://amzn.to/1Lm9QoG

Cover Reveal and Sale

Ember's Center Book #1
On Sale 99Cents
http://bit.ly/EmbersCenteriBooks
http://bit.ly/EmbersCenterARE
http://bit.ly/EmbersCenterAMZ
http://bit.ly/EmbersCenterBNNook

Preorder Rachel's Guard Book #2
http://bit.ly/AMZRGOLine
Available October 10th, 2015

Cover Reveal

Rachel's Guard cover reveal coming September 2nd, 2015.

Calories are like commas. Who knows how they work?

Defining a calorie.

For years, my husband and I have debated the best way to lose weight. He is a chemist so he looks at dieting from a scientific perspective. And when Mr. Jeremy starts rattling off words like thermo-dynamics, my eyes tend to glass over.
Mr. Smarty-pants has always postulated that a calorie is a calorie no matter the source, and the best way to lose weight is to drop those little suckers like a bad habit.

I’ve always said, well a calorie may be a calorie but isn’t an apple calorie better than a cookie calorie, to which his answer would be, not necessarily. Can I smack him now?

I recently read a story about a man who ate Twinkies as calories, and he lost weight. So, what is the answer? What is the golden rule to losing weight?

I decided to go to the library and find some good diet/healthy living books. But there were way too many books. How to choose? And which one is the right one for me? I left with a romance book, that always gets my blood pumping. :)

Scientifically the answer is simple. Cut calories. But that is really hard when a calorie is defined as this:

A unit of food energy. The word calorie is ordinarily used instead of the more precise, scientific term kilocalorie. A kilocalorie represents the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of a liter of water 1' centigrade at sea level. Technically, a kilocalorie represents 1,000 true calories of energy.

Who can decipher that meaning? No wonder I struggle so much.

But since May 27th, I have lost 9 pounds.

How have I done it? I’ve cut my calories and exercised. That’s it.

I still have a long way to go, but I’m chopping calories with a very heavy hatchet.

As I am not a doctor, please know that any advice I give is not backed by an MD at the end of my name. I do suggest speaking to your primary care physician to discover the best healthy living route for you. 

The journey continues on July 27th. We'll see how far I get then, how far did you get this month??

What I learned at UtopYA con 2015

UtopYa Con 2015 Takeaways

I have no idea what Whispersync is??

Audio books- Here are a couple things that never occurred to little ole me:

1.     Vision impaired persons use audio books per Librarian 

2.     Many people use while driving because they don’t have time to sit down and read. Busy moms!!

Use Travel guides for research purposes

Nathanbransford.com

Techcrunch.com

Audio narrators can be Reviewed on Amazon- some listeners buy books based on the voice they prefer

Send press kit to bookstores to see if they will carry your books.

Overdrive.com

Don’t over-stuff your swag table. Play games with attendees. Make swag relevant to your series. And be engaging. Make sure all swag has relevant author info

I need to get on Tumblr, Insta-gram, Kik, Snapchat like yesterday. Help me, Jake!

Be genuine in all social media posts. Be relevant to your brand, as well

Xpressobooktours.com

Rockstar Romance

Enticing Book journey

Net Galley

Scribd

Ask people to sign up for newsletter in back matter

Club Indie – FB group

Make my author name bigger on my covers

Indie-Visible.com

Whatcha' reading?

I just wrapped up LaNora Mangano's Love Encounters. She's an author pal. This was her first dive into the paranormal genre, and she did a great job.
Other titles on my TBR June list:
A Match for Marcus Cynster by Stephanie Laurens
Cowboy Heaven by Cheryl Brooks
Against the Tide by Kat Martin
I'll likely read Grey when it comes out later this month.

I'm also going to give Dean Koontz a try. I need some suspense in order to be in the right mind frame for Rachel's Guard, my next Contemporary. In the meantime, give Ember's Center a read. I'll have the next in series, ready for the football season. I'm thinking October. Cross your fingers for me. 

What's in the mist with Nancy Corrigan?

Meet the hero of Mist Revealed—Rune

Rune is a two thousand year old immortal. He’s a child of the mist and plays an essential role in the death and rebirth of the world known in Norse mythology as Ragnorak. The other essential elemental beings are the eldjötnar, the fire demons.

After a battle with the eldjötnar that results in the near annihilation of his kind, Rune made the decision that they would imprison their enemies and sleep the centuries away. It seemed a far kinder fate for his brethren who still mourned the loss of their women and children.

Now awake in a world that’s hovering on the brink of a catastrophe, he regrets many of his past choices, including the one involving his long-dead consort Malin, the human female who died days before their mating. Honor is an important quality to him and the other children of the mist. They strive to adjust to new any challenges and accept the consequences of their mistakes. So when he was ordered to mate Malin because of a mistake he made, he accepted the punishment as his duty and viewed her as little more than an obligation and someone to protect. Love never factored into his relationship with her. In fact, when she died, he never shed a tear.

His brethren labeled him ‘the cold one’ because of his lack of remorse. He never minded the title applied to him. It was true, and he often wondered if he was capable of any softer emotion. In his opinion, romantic love was weakness anyway. Breeders couldn’t take up the sword and fight. He would’ve rather remained unmated and cold than be responsible for another fragile female’s life.

At least he thought he would rather live out his days alone until a woman with raven hair and teal eyes warms his frozen heart. He’s left wondering if he can be the man he was always meant to be, and if can make the transformation in time to earn her love.

Mist Revealed

By Nancy Corrigan

Elemental Desire, Book 1

A woman seeking answers…

Cat, a renowned scientist, embarks on a quest to uncover the source of the unknown deadly virus that claimed her sister’s life. What she finds is a man shrouded in mystery who manages the impossible—swaying her devotion from logic to passion. But Rune isn’t simply a lover. He’s a weapon, one that has the potential to save her or destroy her.

A man searching for treasure…

Rune, a child of the mist, awakens into a world hovering on the verge of destruction. Ragnarok is coming. His enemies have been released from their prison. And he’s discovered the one woman who can thaw his frozen heart. But the race to stop the final battle isn’t the time to fall in love. Or is it?

A discovery that will change everything…

Life evolves, and what was lost can be recovered. But the truth revealed isn’t the one Cat or Rune expects. The impossible has become reality. And two lovers must make a choice—adapt or die.

Author’s note: Mist Revealed was previously released as Mist Unveiled and has been reedited.

Excerpt (PG)

“The cursed ones have returned!” A wrinkly woman with cataracts wobbled forward on the arm of the teenage boy Rune had seen at the hotel.

Francis jumped to his feet, a lithe move for a male of his advanced years. “Irene, hush now, before you frighten Miss Saunders.”

The creases by Irene’s eyes deepened. “Frighten? Well, she should be. You all should be.” Her steady, accusing gaze skimmed the crowd before settling on Francis. “I told you they’d awoken. You did not believe. Now, do you believe? We are doomed!”

Rune squinted to bring her blurry image into focus. The effort it took to keep the dying male’s mind quiet sucked precious energy from him. “What are you talking about, woman?”

The crowd’s cries turned to whispers as if they too waited on her answer.

She clicked her tongue. “They call it global warming.” Her nose wrinkled. “It’s not. I’ve tried to tell them.” She waved a gnarled hand at the crowd. “Ragnarok is coming.”

Gasps and curses drifted from the bystanders. A few people blessed themselves and hurried away. Others shook their heads.

Rune swallowed hard. “What makes you think that?”

The woman yanked the boy’s arm. He led her closer. “My father passed on the stories of the bringers of Doomsday. Eldjötnar, he called them. Fire-wielding blood drinkers who would kill the old gods once and for all so they could shape the new world. I didn’t believe him, not until the staff washed up on shore.”

Rune sucked in a breath, a response he couldn’t stop.

The older female chuckled. “You know of the old gods then too? Their hoarded treasure has been found.”

His heart raced. “Where? Where is it?”

More cackling laughter. “Gone. All gone.”

 

Get the book at…

Amazon

ARe

KOBO

B&N

For more purchase links, visit my website.

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A little about Nancy…

A true romantic at heart, Nancy Corrigan is convinced there’s a knight in shining armor for every woman (or man), but you won’t find damsels in distress in her stories. She adores pairing alpha heroes with women strong enough to match them and bring them to their knees. She also enjoys flipping the traditional roles in romances because her motto is—love and people should never be forced to conform to anyone’s norm.

She holds a degree in chemistry and has worked in research but now focuses on ensuring quality. She considers it the perfect outlet for her as she’s the first to admit she has some OCD tendencies. It carries over into her writing life too. While engrossed in a novel, she has a habit of forgetting to eat and sleep. Fortunately, she’s married to her own knight in shining armor who understands her oddities and loves her anyway. They reside in Pennsylvania with their three children, dog, snake and guinea pigs. Her other interests include tattoos, animals, classic cars and all things spooky and sexy.