Ten Things You Probably Don’t Know About Elaine Cantrell – Guest Blog and Giveaway

March 10, 2014 by 29 Comments

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This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Elaine will be awarding a free ecopy of Return Engagement to a randomly drawn commenter at every stop and a Grand prize of a $50 gift certificate for Amazon or B&N to one commenter. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Ten Things You Probably Don’t Know About Me
1. My dog tries to root me off the bed every night.
2. I think chocolate is one of the major food groups.
3. After going ten years without drinking soft drinks, I recently caved in and had one. (Bad author. Bad.)
4. I don’t care if I have a cell phone or not because sometimes I don’t want to talk to anyone.
5. I’m looking forward to Christmas because my family has divided into teams to see who can create the best Christmas wreath. I should be able to come up with something in a year’s time.
6. My husband surprised me with a ruby ring for our anniversary.
7. I remodeled my bathroom in a retro style, and I love it. Everyone who sees it does.
8. I like to watch Love It Or List It on HGTV.
9. When I went to Alaska, my cousin and I went on a short cruise in the Pacific. We went upstairs to the top deck, and the wind blew so hard we almost couldn’t make it back inside the boat.
10. I love junk, er, antique stores.

About the Author: 3_10 AuthorPicElaine Cantrell was born and raised in South Carolina where she obtained a master’s degree in personnel services from Clemson University. She is a member of Alpha Delta Kappa, an international honorary society for women educators, Romance Writers of America, and EPIC authors. Her first novel, A New Leaf, was the 2003 winner of the Timeless Love Contest. When she’s not writing or teaching, she enjoys movies, quilting, reading, and collecting vintage Christmas ornaments.

Website ~ Blog ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Pinterest ~ Goodreads

3_10 Cover_Blue52“First Lady Kills President Lovinggood”
December 29, 2018

Thirty years later Hank Lovinggood embarks on a quest to prove his mother’s innocence and punish the killers who took his family from him. Together Hank and lovely physicist Kathryn Sinclair confront an implacable, twisted, merciless enemy who’ll do whatever it takes to hide the truth forever.

Buy the book at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Whiskey Creek Press, or Smashwords.

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Filed Under: Guest Blogs, Mainstream Fiction, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , ,

Guest Blog: Ashland Menshouse

March 4, 2014 by 1 Comment

When considering what words to bring from mind to page, two threads of my terrestrial stretch reverberate the loudest: my forage for meaning through faith and my organization of understanding in science. Both somewhat appease my ‘knowledge gnaw’, but by adhering to rigid structures of orthodoxy, they awkwardly ignore abyssal gaps of mystery, or cover them up with sleights of logic.

Both partaken of human establishments, neither science nor faith are perfect, and at times, drape darkness in illusion and pin the unknown to a tapestry of fear. So the search for answers lies not in what we already know, and not in what we may ultimately know, but in what cannot be known. To question and hypothesize about the ludicrous, the fanciful and the bereft on both sides of the inquisitors’ aisle fuel my imagination’s pen. Hunting for truth through fiction is my fundamental purpose in writing.

In my current series, a group of emotionally tattered and indulgently intrusive teenagers confront the elite of the paranormal in a mounting struggle between the commanding and distraught forces of defeated good and hidden evil. The first of the series, “The Last Seer and the Tomb of Enoch”, introduces the first five adolescents whose minds have been opened to a set of double-edged abilities. Known as divinoi, twelve supernatural abilities in total sprout and grow throughout children in the small Appalachian town of Lake Julian over the course of the series’ nine novels.

In my second novel, “The Last Guardian and the Keeper of the Magi”, several teenagers have developed a sophomoric understanding of their divinoi, but their exploits have drawn the notice of the aged and powerful Magi. What the main characters consider to be chupacabras are, in actuality, a harvested pack of ethereal wardens, chosen to protect the ancient engineers of the universe. A master of the divinoi has created a motley duplicate of these ‘keepers’, which she manipulates in an attempt to destroy the divinoi-gifted children and prove to the remaining evil guard her aptitude as General, as the time for the final offensive against Creation’s Author is approaching.

Through subsequent titles, the battle between metaphysical opponents escalates as more children, blessed with divinoi, discover the oldest war of all being waged around them.

“The Last Nazirite and the Shadowlight” is nearly complete, and outlining for the fourth novel, “The Last Watcher and the Lost Tribe of Fair”, is in progress. The series finale and the ninth of the ennealogy, entitled “The Last Rebellion”, has also been mostly written.

Part science fiction, more spiritual and urban fantasy, my works have no specific genre to call home, just as science and faith have few strongholds that embrace them both. My reviews have been good and bad. My books are not for everyone. Regardless, if someone has thought about our world a little differently after reading what I write, than that is success. All that I can ask for is a few hours of your life to hurdle down my wild ride. I hope you enjoy.

About the Author:3_4 AshlandMenshouseAshland Menshouse grew up in northeastern Kentucky, raising tadpoles to frogs and climbing trees. His parents and grandmother fostered his proclivity for science, while instilling a faith compass which has provided both consternation and direction throughout his life. While pursuing his academic passions, he spent much of his spare time writing poetry and newspaper articles in secondary school and college, many of which have been previously published. But the outdoors never left him. Ashland received his Eagle Scout Award in February of 1993.

After receiving a Bachelor’s degree from Georgetown College in Georgetown, Kentucky, Ashland obtained an M.D. from the University of Kentucky and completed post-doctoral studies at Emory University. He currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia, where he spends most of his time working with ill and injured children. His debut novel, The Last Seer and the Tomb of Enoch was a finalist in USA Book News’ ‘Best New Fiction’ category for 2012. The sequel, entitled The Last Guardian and the Keeper of the Magi, was released from Tate Publishing in December. along with a revised version of his first novel. Menshouse plans to complete the third of the series novel, The Last Nazirite and the Shadowlight, by the beginning of 2014. The prequel to the series, The Last Seer and the Tomb of Enoch, will be released April 1.

3_4 GuardiancoverThe Watchers’ Tomb is sealed and buried. The Bigfoot are at rest. And yet, for six months, Lake Julian has only enjoyed a restless peace.

Most say the rumors of ghosts and suspicious shadows are the figments of childish conjecture or the product of juvenile delinquency. Some disagree.

Aubrey Taylor’s list of enemies and critics is quickly surpassing the number in his tiny band of compatriots. Maximillian Miller has recently been elected to the head of the city council. Agenda number one — making sure Aubrey and his friends pay for the destruction they have brought to their quiet town.

In addition, more than local eyes have noticed Aubrey’s unearthly aptitude, and ancient threats loom from near and far. But Aubrey’s fight has a more urgent front. An army of chupacabra have descended upon Lake Julian, afflicting its residents with an inexplicable plague, and only Aubrey and his friends, both old and new, with their unique array of supernatural faculties, can save their town and prove that they are not at the heart of this new menace.

Filed Under: Guest Blogs, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With:

Cover Reveal and Giveaway: Children of Lubrochius by Matthew Ryan

March 3, 2014 by 5 Comments

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This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Matthew will award a miniature of a demon from the Reaper Fantasy Miniatures to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour (US ONLY). Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

3_3 Cover_ChildrenLubrochiusThe vampire, Lucian val Drasmyr, has been defeated, but not destroyed: Now he serves another evil: Korina Bolaris, a young and gifted sorceress bent on subverting the power structure of Drisdak. Only Coragan of Esperia can hope to stop them. But is even he prepared to face the dark cult who claims her as their own: the Children of Lubrochius?

Enjoy an excerpt:

“We have gone a bit off topic, I think,” Korina said.

“You asked about magic,” Lucian said with an arrogant sneer. “I told you what I know.”

Korina frowned. He had not told her much. Barely a smattering. Instead, they had detoured into a lecture on philosophy. “Tell me about the Sceptre of Morgulan,” she said. She knew much already: the sceptre was a weapon of tremendous power wielded by Morgulan during the course of many wars and battles fought over a thousand years ago. It had mysteriously disappeared immediately after Morgulan’s demise.

Lucian sighed as if surrendering to the inevitable. “The Sceptre of Morgulan?” The vampire locked his gaze with her, and smiled. “The wizard Arcalian was also interested in the sceptre. That interest got him killed. As you may or may not know, I have a history with wizards. Generally speaking … I win.”

The arrogant monster! He had lost to Regecon and the guild.

“I’m not interested in your boasts, vampire. I’m interested in the sceptre. Tell me what I wish to know.” A part of her doubted if she was ready for the knowledge the vampire might give her. The sceptre, after all, was an artifact of legend. It had destroyed armies. She longed for its power, but she knew that she must match its power with her own else it would come to rule her. An untrained peasant with a sword was as much a danger to himself as he was to others.

Lucian folded his arms beneath his breast and looked askance at the wall. “Ask your questions, then,” he said.

About the Author: 3_3 AuthorPicMatthew D. Ryan is a published author living in upstate New York on the shores of Lake Champlain. Mr. Ryan has a background in philosophy, mathematics, and computer science. He has a black belt in the martial arts and studies yoga. He has been deeply involved in the fantasy genre for most of his life as a reader, writer, and game designer. He is the operator of the web-site matthewdryan.com which features his blog, “A Toast to Dragons,” a blog dedicated to fantasy literature, and, to a lesser extent, sci-fi. Mr. Ryan says he receives his inspiration from his many years as an avid role-player and fantasy book reader. He has spent many long hours devising adventures and story-lines for games, so it was a natural shift moving into fantasy writing.

Mr. Ryan is the author of the exciting dark fantasy novel, Drasmyr,, its sequel, The Children of Lubrochius, and a growing number of short stories. His first novel, Drasmyr, has consistently earned reviews in the four and five star range and serves as the prequel to his upcoming series: From the Ashes of Ruin. In addition to Drasmyr and The Children of Lubrochius, Mr. Ryan has published several short stories on-line, including: “Haladryn and the Minotaur,” “The River’s Eye,” and “Escape.”

Website ~ Smashwords ~ Facebook ~ Amazon ~ Goodreads

Filed Under: Guest Blogs, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , ,

Character Interview and Giveaway by Nick Hayden, author of The Unremarkable Squire

February 6, 2014 by 10 Comments

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This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Nick will be awarding a Winner’s choice of a $10 Starbucks card or a 4-piece box of Moonstruck truffles to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour. In addition, anyone who is interested can go to their website (Barking Rain Press) and get a free 4-chapter sample of the book, plus a coupon for 35% off the price of the print or ebook version of the book.

I thought it would be timely to interview the title character from The Unremarkable Squire, as the book is of some interest (apparently) on certain blogs this week. What follows is my rather fruitless attempt at picking the brain of Obed Kainos, the so-called unremarkable squire.

~~
Nick: Hello, folks! I’m happy to be visiting this fine blog today. For your reading pleasure, I have invited the title character of The Unremarkable Squire to join me. Hello, Obed!

Obed: Hello.

Nick: Oh, and I see Violet’s decided to drop by as well. That’s nice.

Violet: Do not waste our time with bland pleasantries. Get on with your questions, if you will.

Nick: Yes, of course. We’ll start with the basics, Obed. If you’re so unremarkable, as the book claims, how’d you get a book written about you?

Obed: The historians were bored. They needed something to write about. Somehow, I was the best they managed.

Violet: (glaring at Obed) Do not act like you had nothing to do with it. (To Nick) The boy is quite infuriating. This “unremarkable” nonsense is a paper-thin stratagem by some know-it-all with a printer who thinks it will rouse the public’s curiosity, that’s all.

Obed: I am unremarkable. I only did what anyone would do, given the circumstances.

Violet: Really? Do you say that with a straight face? Anyone would risk his life in the Thieves’ Den? Twice? Anyone would let that fool of a man, Lance Valentino, harangue him and still do what the man says? Anyone would rescue a beautiful damsel in distress such as myself?

Obed: Not if he knew better.

Violet: I am much too refined to rise to that insult.

Obed: At least while Nick’s here.

Violet: (to Nick) He is a stubborn, recalcitrant, obnoxious boy, is he not?

Nick: Moving on…. So, Obed, you’re a squire. Where’s your knight? What’s he up to?

Violet: I’ll tell you where that grinning, puffed-up–

Obed: Sir Lance Valentino does not always tell me where he is going.

[Enter Bulwin]

Bulwin: Gutsy! There you are! Thickwit whispered I’d be findin’ you doing a talk-and-teeth jibber-jabber over here. (to Nick) Name’s Bulwin, as sure as my papa lost his right eye when I was five. Gutsy here’s quite the trifle, let me tell you.

Nick: Yes, I’ve been told. If you’d let me ask a few more questions, we could let everyone hear of his exploits and his feats of courage.

Obed: I didn’t really do anything special. I was just doing my job.

Bulwin: You need to be stuffin’ your ears, Nick! Don’t go listenin’ to a word of it. I’m honest–Gutsy here’s a real storybook, a fable-man, a minstrel’s paycheck, if you catch what I’m sayin’.

Violet: No one “catches” what you are saying, Bulwin. They merely suffer it.

Bulwin: Hips here is jealous ‘cause Gutsy and I are tight as blood. Aren’t we, Gutsy?

[Enter the Hamlet Guard - Leader, Emmitt, Mouse, and Farmboy.]

Violet: Oh, for goodness’ sakes, why are you here?

Leader: [flustered] We were just…it’s our job…and she…

Farmboy: Lanna’s escaped again.

Emmitt: [to Leader] I don’t think she’s here, sir.

Leader: No, no, it doesn’t seem like it. We should probably be off.

Violet: Yes, I daresay you should be.

Farmboy: Lanna twitched his chin hairs yesterday. He’s scared of her.

Leader: No! I’m not scared. Not exactly. Cautious. Yes, just cautious. As any respectable man should be. She has that spear. And that look in her eyes….

Mouse: He’s scared stiff.

Obed: (to Nick) It’s not my fault.

Nick: What isn’t?

Obed: Lanna wanting to kill me.

Nick: Kill you? Why? I’m so confused.

Emmitt: That’s pretty normal around here.

Leader: Come on, men! We’re the Guard of Hamlet! We’re the law. We’ve no reason to be afraid. None whatsoever. Absolutely not.

Obed: I’ll come with you.

Nick: Wait! The interview! I hardly know anything about you or your adventures!

Obed: Adventures? I–Once, I would have called it duty, but that’s not quite right. Duty’s what led me to the Fall…. I don’t like to talk about it.

Violet: He will not even tell me about that particular incident.

Obed: But I’ve seen dragons and mages and thieves and knights, things hidden in darkness and things in holy light. It may interest a few people, I suppose.

Bulwin: Gutsy’s the most laid-low, honest-to-goodness, shy-eyes a man’ll ever meet. Ain’t he, Hips?

Violet: Rather too modest for his own good, if you ask me.

Obed: But you asked why I was so unremarkable. Look around–do you see all these people? Around them, who wouldn’t be unremarkable? [He heads for the door.] Come on, Leader, we’ll find her.
[Obed exits, followed by everyone but Violet and Nick.]

Violet: Perhaps you would like to interview a beautiful lady who has been on many of the same adventures?

Nick: Are you in the title?

Violet: Not as such but–

Nick: Then no.

~~
And that, dear readers, is all I managed to discover. I suspect going straight to the source is the surest way to make heads or tails of the whole disastrous interview. Unless, of course, you want to wrangle with such a band of misfits. Just leave me out of it.

About the Author: Nick Hayden is the author of the fantasy novels Trouble on the Horizon and The Remnant of Dreams. He has penned a number of short story collections, including Dreams & Visions, and the novella “The Isle of Gold”. Hayden co-hosts a story-telling podcast, Derailed Trains of Thought, about once a month and also helps run the Children of the Wells web serial. Nick describes himself as a mild-mannered bookkeeper by day, a mild-mannered (albeit tortured) writer by night, a writing teacher three times a week, a youth leader on weekends, and a podcaster every month or so. He has a wife and two kids, who do a fine job of putting up with him.


Website ~ Link to Story Page ~ Author Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter: @nick_hayden

A squire’s oath is to be of service… but to whom?

In the kingdom of Basileon, an unremarkable and emotionally detached young man named Obed Kainos is about to stumble into adventure—quite against his will. When the knights of the realm gather in a quest to search for the lost Armor of Arkelon, Obed is chosen at random to replace the recently deceased squire of Sir Lance Valentino. While trying to perform his menial tasks faithfully, the young squire becomes entangled in the plots of mages, thieves, and kings.

And that’s just his first week on the job.

Unfortunately for Obed, his indifference cannot save him from his new oath. For despite his enigmatic personality (or perhaps because of it), he manages to attract a band of misfits to his cause— the ugly, the arrogant, the clumsy, and the cowardly—putting the legendary armor within the grasp of one who never wanted anything at all.

What people are saying:

“A remarkable tour de force set in a medieval world where magic is as common as muck, misunderstandings are ten a penny, and everyone but the hero has a remarkably good opinion of themselves. Nick Hayden mixes humor with fantasy to delight the inner eye and ear of the reader.”
— Adele Abbot, author, Postponing Armageddon

“Dazzling damsels in distress, a magical suit of armor, mayhem and danger at every turn, a host of unique characters and plenty of laughs make this novel worth reading. Mr. Hayden tells a worthy tale well!”
—Phillip Tomasso, author, Sounds of Silence

Buy the book at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

Filed Under: Guest Blogs, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , ,

A Day in the Life of Lesley Young – guest blog and giveaway

February 5, 2014 by 8 Comments

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This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Lesley will be awarding print copies of “Sky’s End” to ten randomly drawn winners, and a grand prize of one $50 Amazon gift card to a randomly drawn winner during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

A day behind the scenes with Lesley Young, author of Sky’s End: Book One in the Cassiel Winters Series

 (some time around) 7 am. . .eyes open, fantasy world breathes life. Mind shifts to current scene, replays dialogue or action, and next scenes unfurl, spinning and gathering like a tornado until adrenaline is pumping, and restlessness—need to write—propels body out of bed.

7:31 am . . .grind coffee beans, turn on kettle.

7:33 am . . .open up laptop, check the beautiful forest outside my office window, open up latest Word file and read over previous 1,000 words or so.

7:35 am. . . make coffee.

7:36 am . . .get lost in another world far, far in the future

10 am. . . emerge from intense fiction writing experience up to 2,000 words, to discover; still in PJs and husband has left for work.

10:01 am . . .jump in the shower, replay scene just written over and over, relishing the anticipation and excitement of said same scene, maybe struck by a new bit of dialogue that improves on it.

10:30 am. . .breakfast in front of computer, reworking what I just wrote.

10:30 am -4 pm . . . turn off fiction world, begin research and writing a magazine article or a corporate business assignment, interview a few experts.

(Frequently throughout day) . . . research science ideas, brood over plot, answer emails from readers, chat with friends, write a Facebook post for Cassiel Winters Series, paint nails, do a load of laundry, empty dishwasher, check Amazon ranking, write blog posts such as this one, stretch back on floor to stave off premature cripple-dom.

4 pm. . .after great internal motivation battle, drive to gym, letting mind wander to characters and scenes inspired by blasting radio.

4:30 to 5:30 pm. . . trainer takes no mercy.

5:30 pm . . .fall onto sofa or on chaise outside, have glass of wine, wait for husband to come home, debating writing some more, agonize over lack of energy, wish I was younger so I could write longer and more.

6 pm to 10 pm . . .husband time.

10 pm. . .watch television; favorite TV program, or search for action movie, any action movie, for entertainment but also to examine and study plot creation and bank helpful ploys for my own writing (when desperate may watch Discovery network science show) or international rugby.

10:30 pm . . . read in bed, strictly for pleasure, or listen to music thinking through plot and scenes.

11:30 pm fall asleep — oddly, disappointed knowing I never dream about the characters in Sky’s End. I think I’m too obsessed in the day!

About the Author:2_5 Author PicJournalist Lesley Young never thought she would delve into the world of writing fiction, but when she sat down for the first time to put pen to paper, ideas for what would become her first novel just poured out naturally. Young’s first book, “Sky’s End,” is a multi-genre tale that showcases her unique style of weaving romance, action and wit into one page-burning story.

Young was born in Edmonton, Alberta in Canada. She holds an arts degree from the University of Alberta and a journalism degree from the University of Victoria.

Young now lives in Loretto, Ontario where she works as a journalist, freelance writer and editor for health, décor and business magazines. Since 2008, Young has written more than 300 articles for print and online media including Profit, Toronto Life, MSN Green, and Elle Canada among others. She is a regular contributor to Reader’s Digest, Best Health, Canadian Living and House and Home Magazine.

Young has won three gold honors for feature stories from the National Business Magazine Awards and another top media award from the Canadian Dermatology Association.

Soul Mate Publishing released “Sky’s End” on July 15 in paperback and e-book and since its launch, it has remained an Amazon Best Seller. The novel is Young’s first installment in a series about Cassiel Winters, a futuristic heroine, and her outer space escapades.

LesleyYoungBooks.com ~ Facebook ~ @LesleyYoungBks

perf5.000x8.000.inddA secret she must never share. A secret that two warring species are determined to control. A universe’s future at stake.

Twenty-year-old Cassiel Winters joins Earth’s new space academy in hopes of finding her brother, one of Command’s top pilots and her only family, who’s been reported MIA. But she quickly realizes she may not be cut out for life in space, where female cadets are outnumbered, competition’s fierce, and she’s already failed her hand-to-hand combat test once.

When Cassiel’s manipulated into a perilous mission, she encounters a warrior species bred to protect the universe from an even greater threat. And she learns that her secret visions are at the heart of it all. Now Cassiel must fight to control her own destiny and race to save her brother—even if it means pretending to be the pawn of Prime Or’ic, the cold-as-steel Thell’eon leader. Even if it means risking her life, facing hard truths, and making the ultimate sacrifice.

Buy the book at Amazon.

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Dangerous Waters by C.M. Michaels – Spotlight and Giveaway

January 29, 2014 by 20 Comments

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This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will award a $50 Amazon or BN GC to a randomly drawn commenter. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

1_29 Cover_Dangerous WatersFor Emily Waters, a nature-loving, small-town girl with an overprotective father, heading off to Boston University to study conservation biology is a dream come true—until a chance encounter catapults her into a mythical world she’d do anything to escape.

The latest victim in a rash of abductions near campus, Emily is brutally attacked before being rescued by a powerful new friend. She survives the ordeal, only to find herself held captive and presented with an impossible choice.

While preparing for the unimaginable life she must now embrace clues soon emerge that Emily may not be entirely human, and her physical transformation awakens goddess-like powers that her new family cannot begin to explain.

Dealing with her human first love, the not-so-platonic relationship with her coven “sister,” and her new vampire sort-of-boyfriend further complicates matters, not to mention being secretly hunted by the psychopaths who attacked her. And as the only known offspring of a once all-powerful race, the climactic battle is only the beginning of her journey.

Enjoy an excerpt from the prologue:

“All rise!” the bailiff bellowed out through the hall. “This court is now in session. The honorable global court inquisitor O’Callaghan presiding.”

An imposing figure with short, golden locks entered from behind the bailiff, motioning for people to take their seats. He gathered his floor-length white and purple robes in his left hand, made his way over to the furthest prisoner and yanked the hood from her head.

“So this is the all-powerful Sienna,” the inquisitor mocked, squeezing the bound woman’s cheeks with his hand. “How disappointing.”

Her once beautiful face was disfigured by several charred-black electrical burns. Blood and pus oozed out of the open wounds. The pungent salve packed into her broken nose made her eyes tear up and prevented her from smelling anything.

“Do you have anything you wish to say in your defense before I render my verdict?” the inquisitor asked, deactivating the device around her throat so she could speak.

“This will never work—she knows her life is far more important than mine.”

“It’s possible she’d let you die,” he acknowledged. “But both of her parents, her mate and her best friend? No, I think that’s far too much to expect her to endure. Sooner or later she’ll come, and the world will celebrate her execution.”

Sienna snapped to attention, her green eyes widening in horror at the news of who else had been captured. “You have no idea what you’ve done—everyone in this building’s going to die.”

The crowd erupted at her outburst, and the inquisitor held up his hand to silence them. “And how exactly is your precious queen going to manage that? She’ll be welcomed to our fair city by twenty thousand volts from the first alarm she trips. Not enough to kill your kind, but plenty to leave her unconscious until—”

“Sir, a perimeter alarm’s been triggered just outside the north gate,” a soldier interrupted from the gallery.

He wheeled on the man in a fit of anger. “Interrupt me again, and I’ll disembowel you! People have been jumping the fence all day—contact the guards at the gate and have them check it out.”

“We tried sir. Calls have been placed to the guard desk, the three closest perimeter sweep teams and the north tactical unit—they’re not responding.”

“Who’s not responding, you imbecile!”

“Any of them.”

“It’s too late,” Sienna said, gazing at his panic-stricken face. “She’s here.”

About the Author:1_29 CM MichaelsC.M Michaels grew up in a small town in northern Michigan as the youngest child of a close-knit family of seven. He met his wife, Teresa, while attending Saginaw Valley State University. Together they’ve provided a loving home for several four-legged “kids”, including Sophie, their eternally young at heart, hopelessly spoiled Spaniel.

He has always enjoyed writing, and still has fond memories of reading his first book, a children’s novella, to local grade schools when he was 14. Dangerous Waters, the first book in the Sisters in Blood series, is being published by Freya’s Bower on September 5th, 2013. C.M. is currently working on the second book in the Sisters in Blood series along with a Fantasy romance.

When he’s not writing, C.M. can be found curled up with a good book, watching movies or hitting the hiking trails with his wife. An avid reader since discovering Jim Kjelgaard novels in early childhood, his favorite authors include Kelley Armstrong, Peter V. Brett, Richelle Mead, Rachel Caine, Cassandra Claire, J.R. Ward, Laini Taylor and Tessa Dawn.

C.M. currently resides in Louisville, Kentucky.

Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Blog ~ Website ~ YouTube ~ Book trailer.

Buy the book at Freya’s Bower, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, All Romance eBooks, or Kobo.

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A Guest Blog from Claire Fullerton

December 30, 2013 by Leave a Comment

I love reading novels that start with an extraordinary premise wherein the characters possess something we don’t consider common place amongst everyday people leading normal lives by today’s standards. Take a character with a heightened sense of intuition for example. Perhaps a certain character knows she has dependable intuition and relies on it in her own way, yet doesn’t completely understand how it works because the world around her rarely supports the theory that intuition is reliable in the first place.
I have always been fascinated in the subject of the paranormal because I have personally rubbed shoulders with seemingly strange events that are real enough to me to get my curiosity piqued and my imagination going. I am certain I am not alone and I’ll go further to say this is common among us “sensitive” people.

When I devised the premise for my novel “A Portal in Time,” I knew I wanted to write the book that would describe what I personally feel to be true: we are all intuitive; it just depends on whether or not we recognize it and go about the business of developing our abilities!

The beginnings of my novel, “A Portal in Time” came to me as my husband and I checked into an historic hotel in the coastal area of California’s Monterey Peninsula called Carmel-by-the-Sea. It’s a little Tudor village nestled among pine trees and cypress groves with a wonderful mist that hangs in the air from the crashing Pacific and it feels a little like Scotland or Ireland. As I stood looking around the hotel’s lobby, I did what I always tend to do when in a new environment: I started thinking, “What if I lived here; what if this was my house and there was an entire back story to the events that brought me here?”

I think novelists bring much of themselves to the task of writing. They fearlessly create entire realities spawned from who they are and what they know, partially revealing themselves to readers beneath the safe shroud of fiction.

In writing “A Portal in Time,” I ask readers to suspend disbelief and consider a possibility by creating characters whose story begs a question. It is my hope “A Portal in Time” hands the reader an experience that leads them to a life-enhancing answer.

12_30 APortalinTime 500x750Rich in history, mystique and foreshadow, “A Portal in Time” is an intertwined story of two linear romances that are steeped in the language and social mores of two different time periods. The words and actions of the vibrant characters fit seamlessly together and bridge the time frames like pieces of a puzzle.

That which draws two people into the arms of love is often times eerily familiar and that which resounds in the depth of our memory can sometimes spring from a portal in time.

About the Author:12_30 unnamedClaire Fullerton is an award winning essayist who has been published as a poet, short-story writer, newspaper columnist and contributing editor to numerous magazines. Her work can be found in multiple editions of the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” international anthologies.

“A Portal in Time” is Claire’s first novel. She is currently at work turning her award winning essay from the 2013 San Francisco Writers Conferences’ contest into a novel entitled “Mourning Dove.”

www.ClaireFullerton.com
A Portal in Time on FaceBook

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Ten Things You Might Not Know About J.P. Lantern – Guest Blog and Giveaway

December 18, 2013 by 8 Comments

VBT Dust Bowl Banner copy

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. J.P. will be awarding a grand prize of a $25 Amazon gift card to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour, and one commenter on each stop will receive a digital download of a backlist book. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour–remember, the more you comment, the better your chances!

Ten Things You Might Not Know About J.P. Lantern

One – I am from Texas

I think my bio has parts of me living “metaphorically” in Texas, and so that is a reference to my Texan heritage. Texas is a weird place. I grew up in the suburbs, but those were right across from the poorer part of town, and I have this Uncle that loved going hunting and fishing and so I constantly had these impromptu road trips out to the middle of the country or to like the opposite end of the state to go to an amusement part, things like that. So, I don’t know if got the best of all possible worlds, but I certainly got see a lot of all possible worlds.

Two – I was a Boy Scout

Lots and lots of my writing is focused on survival and process, and both of those things are critical to being a Boy Scout. I was always really bad at being a Boy Scout—I was terrible about getting along with others as a kid and never quite fit in. But, I really enjoyed their approach to getting stuff done.

The main character from Dust Bowl, Ward, has to live off the land for a long while, so I drew from stuff I learned about in Boy Scouts. And I love to write about process—building things or completing tasks bit-by-bit—and so that shows up a lot in my writing as well. Ward’s thought process is very procedural, which I always found kind of darkly funny in this dystopian wasteland he’s walking in.

Three – I write every day

I think that it’s incredibly important to always be doing something for your writing career. Reading helps, and doing social media helps, and doing research helps. But nothing beats writing.

Four – I steal from other writers

I would love to borrow things from other writers—because that would mean being able to sit down with all of these incredibly talented and interesting people and learning from them, and then asking permission. But I don’t know how to do that—so I just take elements that I think work well and recraft them for myself. There are a lot of aspects in Dust Bowl that are picked up from Octavia Butler’s Parable series—I think the kind of societal decay she describes in California is largely what inspired the kind I used in the Southwest—but because it’s in a different geographic location, it ends up being much different. So, that’s the kind of stealing I mean.

Five – I never stop thinking

Even since starting this blog tour, I’ve thought of a dozen ways to change my novel. I sometimes hear about people who turn their brain off with no problem, and I am awfully jealous of them.

Six – I am married, but coffee is my mistress

Don’t worry, my wife is cool with it. But yes, I drink coffee constantly. Is three pots a day too much?

Seven – I am actually not all that pessimistic

I really am not. I think that it’s easy to read the sort of thing that I write—detailing morally questionable people doing morally questionable things in a morally questionable world—and think that I hate humanity or am just greedily licking my chops when something in the world goes terribly wrong, but I consider myself a situational optimist and more of an overarching pessimist.

Eight – I love Transformers

If there was some mysterious way in which Amazon could deliver me payment via Masterpiece Transformers, I would absolutely take it, much to the detriment of my bank account.

Or, I don’t know, actually, Masterpiece Transformers are pretty expensive, and I buy them anyway. Maybe it would save me money.

Nine – I have no good explanation for my fascination with violence

I’m not really sure what to do about this. Common sense tells us that people who can’t stop writing about how crazy and weird violence is have had some real experience with violence at some point in their lives. But I really don’t.

I blame the media.

Ten – I love listening to people talk

I think dialogue is probably one of the more important kinds of writing that authors do. The transcribing of thoughts is important, but the way that we choose to present ourselves to others with our own transcription of our thought presents so much information about us—from word choice to sentence structure to logic structure—it’s all vastly telling. I think good dialogue draws people into a story more than anything else.

About the Author: MEDIA KIT jp lantern author photo 3 copy smallerJ.P. Lantern lives in the Midwestern US, though his heart and probably some essential parts of his liver and pancreas and whatnot live metaphorically in Texas. He writes speculative science fiction short stories, novellas, and novels which he has deemed “rugged,” though he would also be fine with “roughhewn” because that is a terrific and wonderfully apt word.

Full of adventure and discovery, these stories examine complex people in situations fraught with conflict as they search for truth in increasingly violent and complicated worlds.

Website ~ Facebook ~ Amazon Author Page

MEDIA KIT dustbowl 13With the world ending around him, Ward flounders for purpose and survival. Resources are gone, disease is rampant, and governments have all but dissolved. The only way off the broken planet is with the Order. Obsessed with technology, the Order is a cult that has developed the means for faster-than-light travel. They claim they can populate the galaxy and save humanity.

Ward joins the Order, inspired by sudden and irrational love for a mysterious beauty named Kansas who saves his life. But quickly, he finds out Kansas and the Order want him to kill adults and kidnap children from across the country. With impressionable youth filling their starships, the Order hopes for their tenets to be spread to all future generations of humanity.

The Order is Ward’s only chance for survival in the wreck the earth has become. Worse than that, those in the Order come to accept him and value his skills for their nightmarish quest across the dystopian landscape of America. But, somewhere inside of him, still, is the strength to strike out on his own and protect whatever good he can find left in the world.

Buy the book at Amazon.

Filed Under: Guest Blogs, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , ,

How to Harmonize with the Rejection Blues by Elyse Douglas

December 16, 2013 by Leave a Comment

How to Harmonize with the Rejection Blues

Can you really sing harmony with the rejection blues? Let’s face it: No. Who really likes rejection? Does it really feel good when the girl or guy shoots you down? Or when your cat, the one you feed, love and play with—even when you’re bone tired—goes strutting off to his back closet lair, just when you need him the most?

If you’re a writer and you’ve spent a year or two of your life on a book, you naturally want to sell it, or at least have someone look it over and perhaps even smile or nod approval. You’re excited and hopeful. You’re ready to be a recognized writer.

Then what happens? Nada. Nobody wants it. “Not for us,” the rejection letter says. “The author burned the house down. That didn’t ring true to me,” says an editor. “No room on our list for this worthy novel.” “I couldn’t relate to this. I didn’t like the dog.” “This novel crossed genres. Mustn’t do that.”

As a writer, I have had hundreds of rejections over the years. None have ever been pleasant. I have had a screenplay teetering on the edge of production, and then one line producer shot it down. I’ve had agents send novels to many publishing houses. One book had two editors interested in it. Then the stock market collapsed and those editors lost their jobs. The next people in charge, who were not editors but accountants, shot the book down. “Don’t have the funds,” they said.

Was I able to harmonize with the rejection blues? No. At least not at first. Then I listened to other writers’ stories of rejection and struggle. They all, every one of them, had been rejected many times. Some shrugged. Some stopped writing. Others, amazingly, were unfazed.

Nearly every writer knows about Stephen King’s many rejections for his first novel, Carrie; he kept them spiked under a timber in his bedroom. There were about 30 of them.

After John le Carré submitted his first novel, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, one publisher sent it to a colleague, and this was the message: You’re welcome to le Carré – he hasn’t got any future.

Tony Hillerman, now famous for his Navajo Tribal Police mystery novels, was initially told by publishers to Get rid of all that Indian stuff.

John Steinbeck said, I have written a great many stories and I still don’t know how to go about it except to write it and take my chances.

Edgar Rich Burroughs said, If you write one story, it may be bad; if you write a hundred, you have the odds in your favor.

So I say it’s okay, in the privacy of your room, to get mad, swear and yell when you get a rejection. Then go out and have a beer or a cappuccino with a good friend. Don’t talk about writing. Talk about politics or movies or the good deal you just found on eBay.

Then go home, take two aspirin or whatever, and go to bed. The next morning, get up and go to your desk. Sit down and write. You’re a writer. So write and remember what Somerset Maugham once said. There are three rules for writing. Unfortunately, no one can agree what they are.

Finally, many writers do sell books. Some after months of rejection, some after years. So write, have fun and learn to harmonize with the rejection blues until that stupendous day comes and your book is sold or published. And then you can look forward to your first reviews! But that’s an article for another day.

Copyright © 2013 Elyse Douglas

CHRISTMAS TOWNThe Christmas Town, by Elyse Douglas, is a new time travel, mystery, romance novel that was released on October 5, 2013.

While traveling home for Christmas, Jackie and Megan, two young women in their 20s, encounter a huge snowstorm. After crossing a covered bridge, they suddenly find themselves stuck in the past in a small picturesque Vermont town in 1943. While struggling to return to their time, they fall in love with two handsome soldiers. As Christmas approaches, Megan and Jackie are torn between their new lovers and their desire to return to their time. At the last moment, they must make the difficult decision and, because it is Christmas, a miracle happens.

The Christmas Town is a thrilling adventurous novel interspersed with humor and romance. It’s a great read any time of the year, but it’s an especially cozy read during the winter months around Christmas.

The Christmas Town is available in both paperback ($8.79) and kindle ($4.99) on Amazon.

About the Author: CHRISTMAS TOWN AUTHORElyse Douglas is the pen name for the husband and wife writing team of Elyse Parmentier and Douglas Pennington. Elyse began writing poems and short stories at an early age, and graduated from Columbia University with a Master’s Degree in English Literature. Douglas grew up in a family of musicians, astrologers and avid readers. Some of Elyse Douglas’ novels include: “The Astrologer’s Daughter,” “Wanting Rita,” “The Christmas Diary” and “The Christmas Town.” They currently reside in New York City.

Twitter ~ Website ~ GoodReads

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

A Day in the Life of Jonathan Lister –guest blog and giveaway

November 26, 2013 by Leave a Comment

A Day in the life of Urban Fantasy Writer Jonathan Lister

The day begins with a dog.

I hear the jovial panting first, followed by two massive front paws that change the weight distribution on the bed. A furred head the size of a toddler takes up residence underneath my chin. He bucks upward in one clear jerking motion. I’m upright before the slot machines in my eye sockets stop their spinning. The dog, sitting on all fours in the center of the bed, barks once and grins. Waylon wants to go outside.

We do this every morning.

Literally this dog.

lister dog

The eighty-pound lab gets his way and I’m off into the grey chill with pajamas passing for running pants and tennis shoes that lack socks. By the time we finish the run and the big guy is fed, I need a shower and something resembling hot coffee. It’s 8:30 in the morning, and I’m right on time to make it into the office. I might be a published author, but I still need that day job until the dump trucks filled with cash show up. Any day now, if I’m practicing my voodoo correctly.

As a freelance writer (or an outdoor cat as I like to refer to it), I prospected my own clients, wrote articles for a variety of different publications, and even managed a couple books. There was a two-month stretch where I only played video games – and someone paid me. Times were good, but as any independent contractor will tell you, the income is unpredictable. Then, a swanky firm brought me indoors to develop content for them, and that gig grew into full-time management of a marketing department. No day is really the same.

[Musical interlude while Jon races through the workday]

Waiting for inspiration. Notice the blank expression.

lister man

My writing happens at night, after Waylon is fed again and reasonably petted. I must tithe a sufficient number of head pats, lest the beast demand I throw the ball some more. Emails from freelance clients, hand-written charts with character sheets and plot points greet me at my desk. A couple blog posts to research and submit before digging through my notes. I still write story arcs and character sketches in spiral-bound notebooks, a habit from when I was fifteen and bored during the summer. I have a persistent fear that my laptop will give up the ghost in one violent explosion and all my manuscripts will go up with them, so I write key points and ideas with pen and paper.

The goal is 1,000 creative words per evening, and I can go solid until about midnight. Music is integral to the process and I tend to assign different characters varying soundtracks to help me get into their headspaces. Death Cab fades into Bring me the Horizon, which crashes into LIGHTS who morphs into Frank Turner and The 1975. My neighbors probably believe they live underneath a crazy person, and they’re not far off. Character creation and story craft is a kind of alchemy. Part of my heart relishes the mad scientist.

Fortunately, there’s someone here to tap my shoulder and remind me to pick my head up from the keyboard.
The night doesn’t end until she says so.

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About the Author: Jonathan Lister is a full-time writer with work appearing in outlets of USA Today, The Houston Chronicle and many others. A graduate of the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University, he’s waited an unspeakable amount of tables en route to having the career he wants, and the ability to the tell stories he loves. Crossroads: a Demos City Novel is Jonathan’s first book-length work of fiction. He currently lives in the Philadelphia area and continues to drink too much coffee.

Author Social Links: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Welcome-to-Demos/210152159060755
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5382439.Jonathan_Lister
Twitter: @realjonlister Blog: ijonathanlister.wordpress.com

Werewolf. Bar bouncer. Dad. Standard traits for any self-respecting, reformed criminal, living under the radar in Demos City. For Leon Gray, normal is what he wants — for himself and his not-yet-changed teenage daughter.

Playing bodyguard to crusading reporter David Hastings would totally ruin Leon’s peace, especially since Hastings has hired killers on his trail, pros who know how he takes his espresso in the morning, and where Leon lives.

The payoff, though, would fill up Shauna’s empty college fund, and in a battle between opportunity and ordinary, money wins. He just has to keep Hastings alive long enough to cash the check.

If only he didn’t have to save his daughter, too.

As a budding wolf, she’s piqued the interest of a local pack Alpha — one Leon knows will steal Shauna right out from under him the first chance he gets.

Leon isn’t about to give up on his daughter or Hastings, and will fight for both longer than it took Demos City to see werewolves as equals to humans.

He can only hope it doesn’t take a thousand years.

Buy the book at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

Filed Under: Guest Blogs, Science Fiction/Fantasy
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