Summer of Haight ’67 by Diane Sager – Guest post and giveaway

February 24, 2015 By 8 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Diane will be awarding a $15 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

A bit about me
Firstly I want to thank you for taking the time to read this and letting me ramble on about my passion.

I am Diane Sager, although I also use the nom de plume of D.S. Sager when I write under my horror/zombie/vampire genre. For all but my toddler years, I have lived and worked in the San Francisco Bay Area. I reside with Russ my husband, three dogs, two cats and a parrot – not necessarily in that order!. I have an insane knowledge of all things macabre. Serial killers, witchcraft, world religions, zombies, vampires and the occult. I also read Tarot cards! But amidst all this horror we like to have fun, drink beer and watch our TV shows. Right now it’s all about The Walking Dead and Shameless but we have many others. We both have Harley Davidson motor cycles so we are waiting for the weather to warm up a bit……

Up until about five years ago, I was a high school special education teacher. I loved my job and some of my students are still in touch to this day, many years after they graduated. I think I helped to shape their lives and I know they helped to shape mine. I consider some of them part of my family and if any of them are reading this – you know who I mean.

Here’s something a bit strange for your readers. I have worn a POW bracelet since the beginning of the Iraq war and I vowed to keep it on until all our troops are withdrawn from Afghanistan. It bears the name William H Searfus who was tragically killed in Vietnam in 1967 and on MY birth date, November 25th.

All my published books have a character in them named Searfus as a tribute to this man and all the other brave souls who have paid the ultimate price for our freedom. This gentleman has son living in Southern California named Stanley Searfus. I hope to make contact with him some day and pay my respects. I have tried.

A bit about my book
Summer of Haight ’67 took me 15 months to complete, and research was a way of life during that time. It’s the most intense and yet the most rewarding research I have ever done. I think of it as one huge history lesson. Thank the Gods for Google and YouTube!

It’s a BIG book – consider it two books in one. There’s no way I could break up sure an epic year in history. It’s a supernatural time-travel book of sorts which involves a 66 year old KATHERINE RHODES getting into a tragic accident that hurls her back in time to 1967. She wakes up back in her 20 year old hippie body in the Haight/Ashbury district of San Francisco. As many of you know, 1967 in the Haight/Ashbury became known around the world as “The Summer of Love” She gets to re-live this era of hippies, free love, drugs, music, politics and protests, with a wealth of knowledge and the opportunity to right some wrongs.

It’s all fiction but I wanted the setting to be 100% authentic. I immersed myself in the 60’s hippie culture and spent hours and hours on research. The book is factually correct. I listened to music from the late 60’s constantly, particularly the psychedelic era. Russ even bought me a record player (remember those?) I got my old LP’s out and bought even more from eBay…….. Grateful Dead, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Jimi Hendrix, The Charlatans, Country Joe & the Fish, to name but a few. There are Hells Angels, Black Panthers, political unrest and the horrific war in Vietnam. I researched constantly during the 15 months it took me to complete it. I wore hippie clothes and I even found myself saying 60’s words. I stopped at the drug scene though. It’s just not my bag baby!

I also have some first-hand experience to back up my research. As a very small child my parents drove me through the Haight district to look at the “freaks” as my Dad called them. I saw them dance around adorned with flowers and beads, obviously high as a kite but I didn’t know that at the time!

Janis Joplin is in my book a lot and I watched as much video footage of her and her band as I could find. There is some awesome footage on YouTube of her singing at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. My husband and I even visited the fairgrounds in Monterey to get the feel of the place. I read every book I could find on Janis and even Peter Coyote’s “Sleeping Where I Fall” based on the same time period. Peter helped found “The Diggers” who fed the homeless hordes of hippie drop-outs in San Francisco in 1967.

I’m also lucky enough to still live less than an hour away from San Francisco, so my husband and I would go there and see where Janis Joplin or Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead lived. We drank in the Dogpatch saloon near the Hells Angels HQ. On another occasion my daughter and I rode the bus from the top of Haight Street to the Hells Angels house, all in the cause of authenticity. KATIE and her friends FROG and MOONBEAM travel this route in my book to attend a Hells Angels party.

I wanted to take my readers back nearly 50 years and be sure it was authentic, especially those that are too young to have been there. Even the weather is accurate in the book – I checked.

There’s a saying, “if you can remember the 60’s you weren’t really there” I think it was quoted by Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airplane. I take my readers back to the real deal so they WILL remember it.

Soooooooooo, it was fun to research, fun to write and I will be honored if you read it. Peace !!!!

KATHERINE RHODES has a tragic accident which sends her back in time. She wakes up as the 20 year old hippie she was back in 1967 in the Haight/Ashbury district of San Francisco. This was the period known globally as the “Summer of Love”. It’s all here, Hippies, Hells Angels, Black Panthers and the abhorrent war in Vietnam. “KATIE gets the chance to re-live this era with her friends FROG and MOONBEAM. This time she knows what to expect and tries to change things……….. Can she?

Enjoy an excerpt:

Feeling dizzy, she shut her eyes and rubbed her temples for several minutes, running through the accident in her mind. She remembered going down the embankment and hitting the tree. She knew she had been in an ambulance and she remembered a slew of doctors surrounding her. Yet here she was sitting on a couch…somewhere familiar, a place she knew but couldn’t recall.

A brown chenille bedspread covered the couch. There was a basic wooden coffee table, several antique lamps, one in the corner and another on an old table by a beveled window. The hardwood floor of the room was covered by an imitation Persian carpet.

The walls and even the ceilings were filled with posters; old bands like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Big Brother and the Holding Company, the Yardbirds, and even the Monkees. Some were drug related, promoting marijuana, mushrooms and LSD. Others were political, protesting the Vietnam War, even including a caricature of Lyndon B. Johnson dressed as John Wayne.

On the ceiling directly above her was a poster of Clint Eastwood draped in a poncho, cigar resting on his lip. A pose from For a Few Dollars More. She knew the film well. Beside it were several blacklight posters, psychedelic peace symbols, a hookah smoking caterpillar, and an assortment of twirling colorful designs.

The television, an old tube model from yesteryear, was in a wooden cabinet covered by stickers: STP; two local radio stations, KLIV and KFRC; Champion spark plugs; bare feet and peace symbols of various colors. Beside that was a flower painted guitar case that leaned against the wall. Everything in the room was familiar. She knew this house. She had been here many, many times, so why couldn’t she remember whose house she was in?

About the Author:

Author Diane Sager was raised and resides in the San Francisco Bay Area with her awesome husband Russ, three dogs, two cats and an African grey parrot named Storm. She holds a fascination for all things macabre and has developed a deep knowledge of serial killers, vampires, zombies, the Tarot, world religions, witchcraft, horror and the occult.

However, her latest indie release, SUMMER OF HAIGHT ‘67 is none of the above albeit a little supernatural……..This story is nestled between her zombie series “EVIL VEIN” published by Permuted Press and penned under her “apocalyptic” name of D.S.Sager.

A former high school teacher of emotionally disturbed and high-risk youth, Diane is now dedicated to full time writing.

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Steady Burn by Nichelle Rae – Excerpt and Giveaway

February 17, 2015 By 16 Comments



This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Nichelle will be awarding $30 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Steady Burn is the 3rd book in the epic white warrior series.

Hathum has left Azrel for dead. Seemingly a long way from recovery after his attack, Azrel suddenly gets a vision of Yarin, the true leader of the Gleo’gwyns. He is being held prisoner in a decrepit dungeon and being mercilessly tortured by a Shadow solider.

Azrel realizes in that fearful instant that the world would share Yarin’s fate if Hathum and the Shadow Gods defeat her.

Enjoy this exclusive excerpt:

I stayed in that garden for hours. It had to have been nearly dawn by the time I realized my lonely brooding was giving me no relief or comfort. With effort I got to my feet and headed back toward the throne room of Faythjen. It was completely empty and dark, save for the silvery moonlight pouring in through the windows.

My footsteps, soft as they were, echoed loudly throughout the room. I flinched with each step, as they intensified the feeling of my smallness right now. The sound seemed to reverberate back to me and sit heavily around my neck and shoulders, weighing me down. I felt heavy. I paused in the middle of the throne room and analyzed just how small I actually was compared to the circumstances I had to face.

But then I found myself looking around the throne room as if it were fully crowded with the faces of people in the world. They were almost like ghosts floating around the room, and I was turning fully around watching all of them. I thought about them all and realized they were depending on me to save them from the brutal slavery of the Shadow Gods, and they weren’t even aware of their peril, or of my existence.

I took a breath and, for the first time, didn’t shrink back from the monumental situation I faced. As I watched their faces, I let the weight settle around my shoulders and sit there, but I kept my back straight. I would hold this weight. Why? Because no one else could. Because I was the only one strong enough to hold it. I had to be. I would be. I’d spent the last ten years fighting this burden and trying to shake it off because the weight felt too heavy. The weight was heavy, but no one else in the world could carry it.

I found myself taking solace and comfort in the fact that my father had faced more impossible circumstances then I ever had. Shadow had already won the day when my father came onto the scene. At least I had the chance to fight it off. My father had to dig the world out of the mire of the Shadow Gods rule, whereas I could stop them from even ruling again.

I would stop them.

About the Author:

Nichelle Rae, fantasy’s newest author, was born and raised in Massachusetts. Her love for writing began when she was 14 years old and she wrote short stories about meeting her favorite music group. She received so much praise and complements on her writing ability that it quickly became a passion of hers. Throughout the years she has gotten much praise from peers, professors, and professional author’s she’s had a chance to work with about her writing and ability to put emotions into text.

The White Warrior Series is her debut fantasy series she’s publishing as an independent author which will consist of seven books total. Nichelle already has begun three more fantasy series that she hopes to publish in the future after The White Warrior Series.


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Sudetenland by George T. Chronis – Spotlight and Giveaway

January 5, 2015 By 14 Comments


This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. George T. Chronis will be awarding $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Sudetenland© is the premiere novel by author George T. Chronis. The book delivers suspenseful and sweeping historical fiction set against Central European intrigue during the late 1930s leading up to 1938′s Munich Conference. The characters are the smart and sometimes wise-cracking men and women of this era – the foreign correspondents, intelligence officers, diplomats and career military – who are on the front lines of that decade’s most dangerous political crisis. With three million ethnic Germans in Bohemia at stake, Adolph Hitler’s unshakeable will demands that the Sudetenland be ripped from Czechoslovakia and joined with Germany. The novel takes readers behind the scenes into the deliberations and high drama taking place within the major capitals of Europe as the continent hurtles toward the crucible of a shooting war.

Enjoy an excerpt:

“The Germans are very keen to have news of the conference broadcast live across the world. They are very confident of the outcome. Godesberg is a great victory for them,” Shirer felt a tad uncomfortable at helping them promote their success.

“Yeah, that’s what I have been reading in the local rags,” Endicott found the towing of the government’s pitch lines to be remarkably uniform.

“Don’t be too hard on us, my friend,” an overly cheery German broke into the conversation to sit down at the table without waiting for an invitation. “Godesberg is one of those rare occasions where everything we print is actually true.”

Shirer laughed and slapped the tabletop. “Eavesdropping again, Manfred?”

“Of course! And so do you. I am just better at snooping than you are,” the German boasted, although he ranked Shirer’s attention to detail as amazingly high.

“Charles,” Shirer turned to Endicott. “Meet Herr Culemann, one of Germany’s leading editors.”

“Pleased to meet you. Charles Endicott, Hearst International News Service,” Endicott reached over the table to offer his hand.

“I just read your story. Great work there: Kidnapped By the Sudeten Freikorps. I am glad you survived unscathed. Many of their number are severely undisciplined,” Culemann was sincerely pleased no harm had come to the American.

“Thanks on both counts. Sometimes I get lucky,” Endicott hoped the roll lasted for a while longer. “Say, you look like a man in the know. When does Herr Hitler arrive?”

“Oh, the chancellor is already in Godesberg… upstairs as we speak,” Culemann informed them.

“Now you’re talking,” Endicott perked up. “When do you think we will get a chance to see him?”

“Any time really. One never knows. He could stroll through the lobby in five minutes on the way to his river yacht. The vessel is tied up at the water’s edge,” Culemann located the vessel through the window and showed them.

“Somehow I expected something more formal,” Endicott sounded let down.

“Do not despair, the Teppichfresser will not disappoint,” Culemann lowered his voice as he teased the Americans.

“The what?” Endicott did not understand the term.

“Carpet eater?” Shirer’s translation did little to ease his own confusion.

“You two have obviously not been paying attention to the discussion at the next table,” Culemann nodded in the direction of two party hacks nearby.

“I imagine not,” Shirer had been ignoring their boorish neighbors on purpose.

“Perhaps you have heard… the chancellor often has strong reactions to bad news,” Culemann continued in a whisper. “Chamberlain promised him that he could deliver the Sudetenland on a platter and all of the news from Prague says Beneš is obstinately refusing to go along. Those two over there were just mentioning how this continued stubbornness by the Czech president has brought on one of Hitler’s rages causing the leader of the great German Empire to fling himself on the floor where he chews on the edge of the carpet.”

“You have to be kidding,” Endicott found such a tale difficult to believe.

“Trust me, on such matters, I never kid,” Culemann wagged his forefinger at the Americans.

About the Author:

After years as a journalist and magazine editor, George T. Chronis decided to return to his lifelong passion, storytelling. A lover of both 1930s cinema and world history, Chronis is now devoted to bringing life to the mid-20th Century fictional narratives that have been in his thoughts for years. Sudetenland© is his first novel. Taking place during turbulent times in Central Europe during the 1930s, the book took eight years to research and write. The author is already hard at work on his second novel.

Chronis is married with two daughters, and lives with his wife in a Southern California mountain community.

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Plight and Terror of Claire Sanchez from THE UNHOLY by Paul DeBlassie III – Guest Blog and Giveaway

December 19, 2014 By 19 Comments


This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes & Noble GC to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Plight and Terror of Claire Sanchez from THE UNHOLY

I want to shed a little more light on the plight and terror of Claire Sanchez, curandera, medicine woman, protagonist in The Unholy. As a young child, she witnessed her mother’s brutal murder in the nighttime forest of Aztlan at the hands of a black-robed man. Hiding behind the tress, Claire, a five-year-old girl, was powerless to help. This nightmare haunted her waking life and dreams for twenty-five years. Day and night, she feared fulfilling her destiny as a medicine woman. Her mother died because of who she was. Terrible fright dominated her life. The black-robed man could find her and do what he had done to her mother. Death lurked around every corner of Aztlan. Religion, she came to discover, cloaked many a sordid deed and foul personage. There was no way she could continue to run. What she most feared came her way, discovered her whereabouts, what her life was about and was to become, and who she loved. The time came for her to decide. Decisions of life-long consequence are painful, agonizing.

Nevertheless, she, I feel, did not regret the decision she made. She had to face the ghost of her past or forever be haunted by nightmares of what might come and what she could have done differently. She was not one to be indecisive.

It was all a matter of timing. Yes, it was violent. Yes, the world of the supernatural and natural collided and forever changed the lives of so many people; but, she would not have it any other way. She needed to be true to her life, destiny, to herself as a woman who could run no longer. She could no longer cling to old ways and crippling terrors that needed to be confronted. She did what she had to do and for that she was satisfied and complete. To all who read, she would send courage as you confront the dark side of religion and a woman’s quest to discover self, destiny, and whether, because of the scarring of her past, she could ever love again.

A young curandera, a medicine woman, intent on uncovering the secrets of her past is forced into a life-and-death battle against an evil Archbishop. Set in the mystic land of Aztlan, The Unholy is a novel of destiny as healer and slayer. Native lore of dreams and visions, shape changing, and natural magic work to spin a neo-gothic web in which sadness and mystery lure the unsuspecting into a twilight realm of discovery and decision.

Enjoy an excerpt:

“Help me? Help yourself! Face what is yours to face,” Elizabeth hissed. She yanked the door open then forced it to slam behind her.

Claire stood still for a moment, feeling as if a tornado had swept through the room. Elizabeth’s demand had left her shaken. She drew a deep breath, then went to her desk and picked up her tea, noticing her trembling hands.

Turning toward the window, Claire saw a muscular orderly accompanying Elizabeth to the locked ward at the far end of the hospital compound. A flock of crows circled high overhead, seeming to follow the two receding figures. As they arrived at the outer doors of the locked unit, the orderly reached for his keys. The crows circled while the two crossed the threshold of the unit, Elizabeth suddenly pausing, turning, and looking outside, her gaze riveted on the flock of birds.

All but two flew off, disappearing into the piñon-covered hills. The two that remained came to rest on the red brick wall adjacent to the locked unit, their black eyes boring into Elizabeth. She looked panicked then enraged and, shaking a finger at the creatures, yelled something. Her frantic gestures told Claire that she was screeching curses to ward off evil.

Claire took a step back from the window, from the impact of Elizabeth’s rage.

The orderly grabbed Elizabeth roughly by the arm and pulled her inside.

The crows waited, watched, then flew away.

About the Author:

Paul DeBlassie III, Ph.D., is a psychologist and writer living in Albuquerque who has treated survivors of the dark side of religion for more than 30 years. His professional consultation practice — SoulCare — is devoted to the tending of the soul. Dr. DeBlassie writes fiction with a healing emphasis. He has been deeply influenced by the mestizo myth of Aztlan, its surreal beauty and natural magic. He is a member of the Depth Psychology Alliance, the Transpersonal Psychology Association and the International Association for Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy.

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Paul-DeBlassie-III/e/B00E5TBJXY/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1
Website: http://www.pauldeblassieiii.com/
Blog: http://pauldeblassieiii.blogspot.com/

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What is the Hardest Part about Writing? by Sean DeLauder – Guest Blog and Giveaway

December 18, 2014 By 19 Comments

12_18 VBT The Least Envied Tour Banner

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Sean DeLauder will be awarding $25 Amazon or BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

What is the Hardest Part about Writing?

The hardest part about writing? Finding time to do it. No contest.

Ideas are never an issue. They come readily, rapidly. The problem is, I am limited by my mortality from exploring them all. So I have to be selective. That’s a minor aspect of the limitations of time. The biggest obstacle time creates is the lack of availability.

However, if you love writing, as with anything you love, you will make time for it. Anyone afflicted with a compulsion, be it pyromania, kleptomania, or writeaholism will, for good or ill, find a way to do it. Fortunately, the urge to write is a psychological disorder that is magnitudes lower in destructive capacity than most.

We all divide our time into segments, big chunks called days, in which we have a series of events we repeat every day. For me, the largest tend to be Work and Family. These are two categories to which I contribute gladly. It’s not difficult to make time for family and a job. There’s time for each. In fact, just enough time for each, just as the globe is separated into north and south hemispheres, coming into contact, prevented from overlapping, but encompassing the entirety of the Earth between the two of them. Adding a career as a writer is like trying to include a third hemisphere on a planet that is already completely occupied. It’s going to prove challenging and, invariably, take away from one or the other. Unless you’re able to sacrifice something else.

The most obvious way to make this time would be to add hours to the day. A 30-hour day would allow me, and probably anyone, to accomplish everything they’d like to in a single rotation of the planet. This would undoubtedly have corollary benefits, such as the obliteration of daylight savings time, which does little more than sabotage the function of my biological clock. Unfortunately, I lack the engineering prowess to successfully adjust the rotation of the Earth to make this happen. So time for writing has to come from the same 24 hours everyone else has.

I can’t miss time at work and I won’t miss time with my family, so the only time I have to sacrifice is sleep. I’ve done that. And it works. For a while. Then the lack of sleep begins to manifest in subtle ways, usually in my inability to remain awake in the middle of the day, while driving or having conversations. Surprisingly, this gets noticed quickly. When I become incapable of performing normal tasks, such as going to get the mail, without needing to take a 2-hour nap, I know that my writing schedule is not effective and an alternative is necessary.

The other option, also explored, is to write during the opportunities afforded in breaks during the day. Scribbling on napkins, on receipts, on my hand, on whatever happens to be available when I have a chance or an idea strikes me. This approach is not the best way to write a book any more than believing you can get all the sleep you need by resting during eyeblinks through the course of the day (you just can’t seem to get enough and deep REM sleep never has a chance to take hold).

So what options remain? Alienate your family? Quit your job? Descend into psychosis? Or, perhaps, stop writing.

Heavens no.

If you’re a true addict the way I am, you need to have a means to let the words out or they’ll come out anyway in a melodramatic, life-ending volcano through the top of your skull, leaving the coroner to clean up the mess (and collect your scattered ideas). You’re going to suffer either way. Why not make it worthwhile?

When you finish your book or chapter or sentence in a way that satisfies you, your sense of gratification and vindication will overpower your need to sleep or work or use the restroom. You’ll have the momentary strength to continue writing a bit longer, like the strength of the Grinch having found the true meaning of Christmas.

Besides, what writer wants sleep when they could be writing?

12_18 Cover_The Least EnviedCast back in time to a perilous wasteland, Andrew is tasked with recording the fate of an individual history has chosen to ignore. Threatened by knee-high creatures called Wogs, an enigmatic beast known as the Forest Monster, and the man orchestrating the slow annihilation of the world, Andrew discovers all hope for salvation and survival rests with a boy without a history.

Enjoy an excerpt:

“That statue,” said Andrew. He gave the stonework a quick look, then looked back to Hobert. “It’s a hero?”

Maybe the statue represented a hero who came before this era of desperation and despair.

Hobert cast a somber gaze into the street and nodded.

“A hero. Yes,” he answered. “He’s very tall.”

Andrew found himself suddenly interested. This was the story he wanted to write. A story about a hero, the obstacles he faced on his path to heroism, his guides, his arch enemy, the ultimate goal of being a hero, and, of course, whether the story continued or had an end.

“What made him a hero?”

Hobert shrugged, removed the pipe, and gestured toward the statue with the stem before poking it back into the corner of his mouth.

“He’s very tall,” he repeated.

Andrew paused, waiting for Hobert to continue, but that was all.

“Tall… and what else?”

Hobert’s smile faded and he faced Andrew, somewhat irritated. Two gray trails of pipe smoke jetted from his nostrils.

“What else what?”

“Beside being tall,” Andrew clarified. “To be a hero.”

Hobert fixed Andrew with a hard, querulous stare, then shook his head as though the question didn’t make sense.

“Being tall is being a hero,” he answered.

Andrew grimaced.

“What?”

“What what?” Hobert replied. “What don’t you understand?”

Andrew spread his arms.

“Everything.”

“Oh,” the fellow replied. He leaned back in his chair and pulled his hat down over his eyes. “Then you’re hopeless.”

About the Author: 12_18 AuthorPic_The Least EnviedThis author has held several positions in recent years, including Content Writer, Grant Writer, Obituary Clerk, and Staff Writer, and is under the false impression that these experiences have added to his character since they have not contributed much to his finances. He was awarded a BFA in Creative Writing and Journalism and a BA in Technical Communication by Bowling Green State University because they are giving and eager to make friends. He has a few scattered publications with The Circle magazine, Wild Violet, Toasted Cheese, and Lovable Losers Literary Revue, and resides in the drab, northeastern region of Ohio because it makes everything else seem fascinating, exotic, and beautiful.

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Wicked Intentions by JoAnne Myers – Interview and Giveaway

December 9, 2014 By Leave a Comment

Long and Short Reviews welcomes JoAnne Myers, who is giving away the winner’s choice of one of the following paperback books:
Murder Most Foul, Wicked Intentions, Twisted Love, The Crime of the Century, Flagitious, Loves, Myths, and Monsters, or Poems About Life, Love, and Everything in Between.

JoAnne has always had an artistic flare, even as child. Writing and painting comes easily to her. She’s currently in the process of turning her detective/mystery story, Murder Most Foul, into a screenplay. She first thought of herself as an author when this book was published by Melange Books. She currently has seven books published by three publishing houses.

“Which is your favorite?” I wondered.

“My true crime The Crime of the Century because this 1982 heinous double homicide happened in my hometown of Logan, Ohio, population at the time of the crime was 5,300. The current population: 7,400. Down here we have the famous Hocking Hills and Old Man’s Cave, a group of natural caves and rock formations, and a big tourist attraction.”

When she’s not writing, she enjoys painting on canvas, promoting her book, spending time with her relatives and her dog Jasmine, watching television, or doing volunteer work in her community. She also belongs to several organizations.

I wondered how she did her research for her books.

“If the book is a true crime I search court documents, newspaper clippings, police and witness statements,” she told me. “If it is a fictional book, I scour the Internet for location information, clothing from that time period, any medications or poisons mentioned in the book, and popular names for my characters.”

I asked her, “How do you keep your writing different from all the others that write in your genre?”

“I research time periods, including what weapons were used, what foods were grown, clothing worn, language spoke. For my fantasy book, Loves, Myths, and Monsters, my monsters, even if they are the same species, such as werewolves, each have their own special gift, such as turning into a wolf, running at warp speed, or able to walk on ceilings. With werewolves and vampires, the sky is the limit with what physical abilities they might have. If I wrote a vampire book, not all the vampires would be able to turn into a bat and fly away. Some might just turn into mist to avoid capture, or transform into another being or creature.”

The hardest part of writing for JoAnne is knowing when to end the book. It is easy for her to find adventures for her characters and to keep the book going, but she admitted, “Everything must have an ending.”

She likes writing fantasy because with fantasy, everything is possible.

“A fantasy story is like the universe, the possibilities are endless,” she explained.

“We often talk about SFF – Science Fiction/Fantasy,” I said. “What do you see as the differences and similarities between the two?”

“I look at Science Fiction as being about aliens, spaceships, the universe. Fantasy to me is about monsters, talking animals and plants, or rocks. Bringing life into an inanimate object. The similarities would be that both SF and fantasy are two genres that supply endless possibilities to discover. Like the universe.”

wicked intentions new version7 bone chilling tales filled with danger, suspense, intrigue, and romance

Blood Ties
Audra Roper has disturbing visions about her twin sister’s disappearance, suspecting her brother-in-law Doug of Lisa’s death.
Police officer Tyler Pettit tries to help, but when the law fails, Audra assumes Lisa’s identity, plays amateur detective and discovers a bloody scene. All isn’t what it seems as her life becomes a roller coaster of danger, heartbreak and intrigue.

Dark Visions
When Carrie Reynolds starts having nightmares on her twenty-sixth birthday, she believes her “dark visions” can solve the twenty-year disappearance of her father.

The Apartment
When young newlyweds Bill and Gayle move into their new apartment, their lives are plagued with sightings of evil ghosts that threaten their marriage and lives.

The Legend of Lake Manor
For psychic Cassandra Lopez, coming to haunted Lake Manor was like a mission. The Manor and its employees needed her help in ridding the home of specters, most trying to kill and one willing to stay for love’s sake.

Summer Wind
When twenty-nine year-old Ginger Duncan discovers the old mansion Summer Wind, she is mysteriously drawn to it. Immediately the hauntings have a negative and profound effect on the family.

The Haunting of Barb Marie
Even as a child, Barb Marie saw dead people which terrified her parents. With no one to talk to about her gift/curse, Barb keeps the secret to herself. This takes an unhealthy toll on her childhood and two marriages. Who are these people that haunt her home now?

The Truth Behind the Lies-Laying the Norfolk Ghost to Rest
Solving the brutal murder of American born Ruthie Geil becomes a gauntlet of attacks and more murders for Federal Police Inspector Ian Christian. Between the victim’s family, ex-lovers and ghostly occurrences on Norfolk Island, the killer is closer than anyone realizes.

About the Author:12_9 joanne myers my photo apr 2011JoAnne lives in Ohio, and works at a local nursing home. The author of 7 books, JoAnne also canvas paints. JoAnne enjoys time with relatives, her dog Jasmine, and volunteers her time within the community. JoAnne believes in family values and following your dreams. Her original canvas paintings, can be found at: http://www.booksandpaintingsbyjoanne.com.

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Filed Under: Guest Blogs, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy

Ruptured by Maggie Mae Gallagher – Spotlight and Giveaway

December 4, 2014 By 7 Comments

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This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Maggie Mae will be awarding a $15 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

12_4 ruptured Cover_RupturedIt has been eighty-three years since the walls between Earth and Infernus fell, and now our world stands upon the razor’s edge of extinction. Demon platoons are marching upon us. My home, one of humanity’s last bastions of existence, is under siege.

My name is Alana Devereaux. I am the resident demon detector of Cantati Forces and Platoon Commander. My job is to hunt down the vermin unleashed upon my world, and I love it. I live for the day I can kick every last demon’s ass out of this world. Except as enemy forces reign down terror upon us, the Densare Council sentences me to a fate worse than death.

Enjoy an excerpt:

“Breeder.”

That word. The one thing I had attempted to escape my whole life. The dull gray walls of the Densare Council rang with impunity. I glanced around at the thirteen members, each sitting rigidly upon a stone chair that looked more like a small throne with intricately carved Celtic symbols paying tribute to a bygone era. They always reminded me of Celtic tombs.

The Densare Council ruled our world with an iron fist of justice created in the fiery destruction of the Mutari. When the Mutari hit Earth eighty-three years ago, mankind had been caught with their pants down around their knees. Drystan, Lord of Infernus, unleashed his demon armies upon the globe in a worldwide campaign to annihilate the human race. He almost succeeded.

The Densare Council, forged under an alliance of nations, sat in confident repose encased in their long white robes, their faces devoid of any remorse at my sentence. They governed and the people obeyed their orders without question.

I was never one for minding orders.

“But…my platoon. I’m the only one qualified to lead them.” Surely there were other Cantati women they could convert into Breeders. Our numbers were not that horrible. In fact, we had made a comeback from last year’s dismal head count. The human population stood at more than thirty thousand by our last estimates. My expertise was needed in the field, not the bed chamber. What was the point of making a child if you could not protect him or her? Maybe if the Densare Council left the safe confines of the Compound once in a while they would see what their rulings mitigated.

About the Author: 12_4 ruptured AuthorPic_RupturedBestselling Author Maggie Mae Gallagher doesn’t remember a time when she wasn’t writing. When she was a kid she acted out her favorite scenes, only better, with her brother and cousin. As a teenager, she wrote reams of poetry, but realized her true love lay with creating characters and stories. A former music and history major, Maggie is a total geek at her core. When she is not writing, she adores attending the latest comic con or spending time with her family. She lives in St. Louis, Missouri, with her two furry felines.

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The Missing Planets by Hawk MacKinney – Spotlight and Giveaway

December 3, 2014 By 11 Comments

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This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Hawk will be awarding a $25 Amazon GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

12_3 MISSING BookCover_TheMissingPlanetsPlanet Terato has become a member of the assembly of the Confederated League of Allied Star Systems. The Murian Outpost Terato once commanded by His Imperial Majesty’s Lord High Chamberlain Herklo Korvo XXXIV is now Teratoan staffed and under the command of Teratoan Eklam a’Qoc.

From the uncharted reaches between galaxies, attacks of extraordinary weaponry come against Terato and the Myr worlds of the Murians. Terminus Terato’s expanded link-portals and converter power modules are virtually useless. Power loss, defenses, communications and travel are totally disrupted. High Chamberlain Korvo’s unexpected return to Terminus on a mission for His Imperial Majesty leaves him stranded on Terato. Attacks grow more massive, more unpredictable; spread across the worlds of the League, as an isolated Terminus struggles among the shattered rubble and whispering remains of an ancient Polity of star-walkers.

Family and friends are lost, empires and civilizations in disarray, Terminus and Planet Terato almost defenseless. Desperate for answers, their worlds being overwhelmed by this remorseless aggressor, Eklam and Korvo reach across unexplored space in a despairing gamble and the last reserves of converter star-substrate, seeking one insignificant star system of gas giants and rocky inner planets for possible relics of the elusive Lantaraan Polity.

Enjoy an excerpt:

The portal hummed with a pulsating drone; grew louder. Korvo recognized the cascade effects of a portal overload. “Converter intermix-portal lock!” he yelled. Shoved Martin hard, “Get away!”

Magnetic loops of plasma streamed out; superheated beyond a Sol corona; mixed with hydrogen substrate; sucked into the white-hot rim of the portal frame. Converter commands useless. Arnov and Drov jumped away from their smoking consoles. A belch of uncontained hydrogen-plasma sublimated a cloud through the camp. Vidscreens sizzled; acrid smoke drifted up to curl toward the inanimate beast consuming the portal. Cermet footings fused; a console imploded. Arnov, tossed against one of the supports; green blood oozed along his shoulder. Drok’s head bumped against cermet supports. The pounding drone of the portal growled like a wounded Murian swamp dragon. Bundles of raw stellar core screamed through Jupiterr’s turgid atmospheres, tearing at the planet. Colossus Jupiterr magnus rolled with disruptions. Agitated plasma entangled with antimatter; churned methane storms into frenzies, giant arcs exploding through the clouds; snaked around their camp. The white-hot remains of the portal a bubbling melted puddle.

Ek shielded his eyes from the scorching brightness; helped Arnov up. Through the shredded side of the shelter, glimpsed Korvo scramble from under a scorched field stand, its collapsed bracing ripped away. Martin pushed himself up. The air inside their camp ionized; darken to oranges and yellows and purple-blue charged photon auras. Converters still pumping, sucking substrate, at the same time sagging in seared taffy-puddles, their shell alloys disassociating in sputtering kaleidoscope rainbows and blistering caustic nose-stinging swirls.

About the Author: 12_3 MISSING AuthorPhoto_HawkMacKinneyWith postgraduate degrees and faculty appointments in several medical universities, Hawk MacKinney has taught graduate courses in both the United States and Jerusalem. In addition to professional articles and texts on chordate neuroembryology, Hawk has authored several works of fiction.

Hawk began writing mysteries for his school newspaper. His works of fiction, historical love stories, science fiction and mystery-thrillers are not genre-centered, but plot-character driven, and reflect his southwest upbringing in Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma. Moccasin Trace, a historical novel nominated for the prestigious Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction and the Writers Notes Book Award, details the family bloodlines of his serial protagonist in the Craige Ingram Mystery Series. Vault of Secrets, the first book in the Ingram series, was followed by Nymrod Resurrection, Blood and Gold, and The Lady of Corpsewood Manor. All have received national attention. Walking the Pet is Hawk’s latest release in the Ingram series. The first book in another mystery-thriller series is scheduled for release in 2015. The Bleikovat Event, the first volume in The Cairns of Sainctuarie science fiction series, was released in 2012. Its sequel, The Missing Planets, has just been released.

Website ~ Sage Word Publishing ~ Arche Books
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Camouflaged Encounters by David Englund – Spotlight and Giveaway

December 1, 2014 By 2 Comments

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This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. David will be awarding a digital copy of Camouflaged Encounters to 6 randomly drawn winners via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

MediaKit_BookCover_CamouflagedEncountersForget what you think you know. How well do you really know your neighbors or fellow workers? Do you trust your boss? What about politicians? The fabric of our society is under attack. Our way of life, our livelihood, our very existence is under full assault. No one even realizes that it’s happening. Disguised as horrible natural disasters on the news, the world is caught unsuspecting as events draw us ever nearer to extinction. As “natural disasters” escalate and tensions between nations mount, one man hears a whisper. It has begun . . .

Enjoy an excerpt:

Two people sat in large cushioned chairs facing each other. An attractive woman in her thirties with dark hair and a conservative dress initiated the interview.

“So doctor, you’re saying that the birth rate in this country is declining? What makes that such an alarming story? If it’s true, wouldn’t that be a good thing? Especially if the food shortages were to become a long-term problem?”

The fiftyish dark-skinned, handsome man with salt and pepper hair, looked official in his dress shirt and tie, wearing a white lab coat. “It would certainly be a good thing, especially in the long run. If it was planned.”

She looked up from her note cards. “You’re now saying . . . wait, what exactly are you saying?”

“I’m not saying that people aren’t getting pregnant. Pregnancies are actually at an all-time high. I’m saying babies are simply not being born alive. Couples are experiencing stillbirths on an unprecedented, unexplainable scale. In fact, ahem, nationwide there has not been one single birth in the last two days.”

“No!” The reporter paused. “That can’t be so.”

“I’m afraid it is. That is why I asked to come on your show.”

She put her cards down and went off-script. “I-I find that difficult to believe.”

The doctor took a confident, condescending tone. “Check out the facts for yourself. Do a little digging into the story. Ask your colleagues in the media to join you. I cannot find any records of any births anywhere in the country since the day before yesterday and there were precious few births that day. I hope you can prove me wrong. Please do. This is something I don’t want to be right about, but the facts do not lie.”

About the Author:12_1 AuthorPhoto_DavidEnglundDavid Englund is a storyteller (science fiction author) and teaches economics at North Dakota State University. His first three titles, Upsetting the Tides, UNSEASONAL WAR, and Camouflaged Encounters are available on Amazon. Camouflaged Mischief is in progress.

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Light a Candle for the Beast by Echo Shea – Exclusive Excerpt and Giveaway

November 27, 2014 By 2 Comments

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Congratulations to Echo Shea on the release of Light a Candle for the Beast. This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by the publisher. One randomly drawn winner will receive a $10 Amazon Gift Card and ecopy of Light a Candle for the Beast. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

11_27 echo LightaCandle_CoverIf you’ve ever been caught in a riptide, pulled down into the water, then you know me. Or, more accurately, what I’m like when I’m angry.

Delia was beautiful, smart, and kind. He wasn’t. He said he loved her, but he didn’t know what love was. He was manipulative and cruel — more than a thief. A beast.

All she wanted was a rose…

These are the words on my sister’s grave. Her sadness, her obsession, forever a reminder I didn’t–couldn’t save her.

I’m not vindictive or cruel. I’m simply as the river–my memory is winding and my reach is long. I watched him steal her beauty, her essence. Watched him become a beast. He thought he’d get away with it, thought he’d go free.

I lay a rose upon my sister’s grave.

Light a candle for the beast.

Enjoy an exclusive excerpt:

Silence casts a pall over the graveyard in the late twilight of evening as I glance down at the graves of row upon row of my ancestors. I’ve only known a few of them, my mother, father, and both of my sisters.

Errol, the crow that follows me day and night, and holds me to the land, preens its feathers as it sits atop my sister’s headstone.

“Delia Belle Adjour 1654-1734 All she wanted was a rose.”

I stare at it for a moment before laying the cut long-stem rose on her grave. I’ve thought so many times, I should use white roses for purity, for the childlike state she lived in during the time she was on this earth, but I can’t do it. Red is vibrant, dark, and passionate.

“I’ve always liked red,” she says from where she stands behind me.

At any other time, I might’ve jumped and screamed, clutched at her, begging her not to go again. But, not this time. I know she’s nothing more than the ghost of herself when she was at her best, before the incident that left her scarred and broken.

About the Author:Echo Shea is an Urban Fantasy writer. Known for fast-paced and sometimes chilling prose, she hunkers down at her desk with characters that not only enchant, but excite her. There’s something so freeing about writing beyond what seems possible.

Who says there’s not something more hiding in these Maryland woods?

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