Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Introducing The Donor: The Full Novella by Nikki Rae!

I'm delighted to announce that the all three parts of The Donor by Nikki Rae - in one volume - has just been released today! The entire novella is now available to download from Amazon -  so grab your own copy today! To celebrate the release of The Donor: The Full Novella by Nikki Rae, on Thursday, October 30, 2014, Ms. Rae is hosting a Release Party on Facebook from Thursday, October 30th to Sunday, November 2nd, 2014.

As Nikki says: "Come hang out, talk books, win prizes, maybe a live show. Come and help me celebrate the release of my newest project so I'm not alone in my room drinking tea. Invite your friends and help spread the word!" - Hope to see you there!


The Donor: The Full Novella by Nikki Rae (2014)
Length: 108 pages
Purchase your copy from Amazon!

The Donor: The Full Novella Blurb:

Casey Williams and her family are poor. Her parents work non-stop and so does she, just so they can keep the trailer roof from leaking. They’re getting by fine enough when the headaches start. Then there’s the nosebleeds. And the inevitable doctor’s bills.

Fortunately for Casey, there’s MyTrueMatch.com: an exclusive, quick, and almost easy way to pay it all back before her parents even have to know.

All she has to do is give a man she’s never met whatever he wants from her body. Inside or out.


May you read well and often

I Just Became a Donor - So Can You - You Can Spread the Word About The Donor: The Full Novella by Nikki Rae!

I'm delighted to announce that that the full-length novella of Nikki Rae's The Donor will be released on Thursday, October 30, 2014! To celebrate that release, Ms. Rae tells me that she has created a project on Thunderclap and has named it "Become a Donor". All that is required is that the supporters of her project read The Donor: The Full Novella and then embed the following message on Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr: “Read The Donor Today!"

Ms. Rae hopes to get 100 supporters on board and joining her cause by the time that The Donor: The Full Novella is released on Thursday, October 30, 2014! I know that she will appreciate your support very much. So now, go forth and spread the word! :)


May you read well and often

Sunday, September 28, 2014

Introducing The Donor Part Three by Nikki Rae!

I'm delighted to announce that part three of Nikki Rae's The Donor Series has just been released today, and is now available to download from Amazon. Ms. Rae also tells me that The Donor: The Full Novella will be released on Thursday, October 30, 2014 - complete with newly redesigned cover art! The book itself - without said cover art - is currently available to pre-order from Amazon. Be sure to reserve your own copy today!

Meet Nikki Rae

Nikki Rae is a writer who lives in New Jersey. As an independent author, she has appeared numerously on Amazon Best Seller lists and she concentrates on making her imaginary characters as real as possible. Nikki writes mainly dark, scary, romantic tales, but she’ll try anything once. When she is not writing, reading, or thinking, you can find her spending time with animals, drawing in a quiet corner, or studying people. Closely.

Connect and Socialize with Nikki!

The Donor by Nikki Rae (2014)
Length: 31 pages
Purchase your copy from Amazon!

The Donor Blurb: 

Casey Williams and her family are poor. Her parents work non-stop and so does she, just so they can keep the trailer roof from leaking. 

They’re getting by fine enough when the headaches start. Then there’s the nosebleeds. And the inevitable doctor’s bills. 

Fortunately for Casey, there’s MyTrueMatch.com: an exclusive, quick, and almost easy way to pay it all back before her parents even have to know. 

All she has to do is give a man she’s never met whatever he wants from her body.
Inside or out.

[Disclaimer: This is a serial novella that will be told in parts about the length of a short story (20-30 pages).]


 The Donor Part Two by Nikki Rae (2014)
Length: 39 pages
Purchase your copy from Amazon!

The Donor Part Two Blurb:

When Casey joined MyTrueMatch.com, she never imagined she would meet a man who not only helps her pay the bills, but has been nothing but a gentleman.

As the nose bleeds make way for worse symptoms, Casey can’t help the feelings she has for Jonah, despite how he may never return them. And he’s been keeping things from her. Big things. How does he make his money, and who is that girl in the picture? With the clock ticking, can she find the answers she’s looking for?

[Disclaimer: This is a serial novella that will be told in parts about the length of a short story (20-30 pages).]


The Donor Part Three by Nikki Rae (2014)
Length: 48 pages
Purchase your copy from Amazon!

The Donor Part Three Blurb:

Casey may have not known what was in store for her when she met Jonah Black on MyTrueMatch.com, but now that she’s with him, life has become even more unexpected. She's discovered someone else in the picture and now she cannot figure out how she fits into the puzzle.

Convinced that he doesn’t need her, Casey is torn between giving up and doing whatever it takes to help her family. But Jonah, it turns out, needs her more than she knows.

Time is something neither of them have.
Can they hold each other together as the clock runs out?
 

[Disclaimer: This is a serial novella that will be told in parts about the length of a short story (20-30 pages).]

The Donor: The Full Novella by Nikki Rae (2014)
Length: 115 pages
Pre-order your copy from Amazon!

The Donor: The Full Novella Blurb:

Casey Williams and her family are poor. Her parents work non-stop and so does she, just so they can keep the trailer roof from leaking. They’re getting by fine enough when the headaches start. Then there’s the nosebleeds. And the inevitable doctor’s bills. 

Fortunately for Casey, there’s MyTrueMatch.com: an exclusive, quick, and almost easy way to pay it all back before her parents even have to know.
 
All she has to do is give a man she’s never met whatever he wants from her body. Inside or out. 

May you read well and often

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Christine Amsden - Stolen Dreams

49. Stolen Dreams by Christine Amsden (2014)
The Cassie Scot Series Book 4
Length: 261 pages
Genre: Paranormal Mystery
Started: 11 September 2014
Finished: 25 September 2014
Where did it come from? Many thanks to Christine Amsden for sending me a copy of this book to read.
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 26 August 2014
Why do I have it? I like paranormal mysteries and have read and enjoyed several books by this author in the past. I'm also completely hooked on The Cassie Scot Series as well, so I had to see how it all ended.

For nearly twenty-five years, the patriarchs of the Scot and Blackwood families - two of the most magically-powerful families in Eagle Rock - have despised each other. A quarter of a century has passed for both Edward Scot and Victor Blackwood, and for all that time they've managed to keep a thin veneer of polite civility in place and their simmering mutual hatred in check. But that hatred is about to explode.

Two months after returning home from her sojourn in Pennsylvania, Cassie Scot is shocked to discover that her family has apparently taken a hostage in her absence. Desperate to end the feud before someone dies, Cassie does something that at one time she wouldn't have believed possible - she seeks help from local seer Abigail Hastings, Evan Blackwood's grandmother. However, while Abigail remains remarkably vague and extremely tight-lipped about her visions, she assures Cassie of one inescapable constant, someone will most certainly die: Abigail herself. And when her death comes at the hands of Cassie's own father, Victor Blackwood kills Edward Scot in retaliation.

But even Abigail's visions of the future can be fickle, and certain things may not be precisely as they appear.

Victor's son Evan persuades Cassie to help him learn the truth, teaming them up once again in their darkest hour. Recent revelations about Evan and his family make it increasingly difficult for Cassie to maintain her shield of anger against him. But is it possible for Evan and Cassie to ease tensions between their families; especially when the feud has seemingly taken on a life of its own?

This is the conclusion to the Cassie Scot Series, and I was absolutely thrilled to read it. I loved the evolution of the story throughout the entire series and wanted to know how it all would end. I give Stolen Dreams an A+! and must say that I'm incredibly sorry to leave the town of Eagle Rock behind. I will definitely keep my eyes open for more from this author in the future!

A+! - (96-100%)

May you read well and often

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Introducing Before the End: A Time of Demons by Kathryn Meyer Griffith!

I'm delighted to announce that Kathryn Meyer Griffith's end-of-days novel Before the End: A Time of Demons is now in final production. In about a week or two, A Time of Demons will be released on Audible, Amazon and I-Tunes. I had the pleasure of reading this book back in July of 2010 and am delighted to hear that it is going to be released in ebook and audiobook form soon! If you'd agree to write a brief but honest review on whichever of Ms. Griffith's books you choose, she'll love you forever! :) You can contact her at rdgriff@htc.net.

Ms. Griffith herself is delighted with the release of this book, and in fact, she considers Before the End: A Time of Demons to be 'my masterpiece of all my 21 novels.' As I've said before, A Time of Demons is currently in final production, and its 18-hour audiobook (with the brilliant narrator Wendy Scott King) will be released very soon. So go and grab your own copy as soon as possible! 

  Meet Kathryn Meyer Griffith

Since childhood I’ve been an artist and worked as a graphic designer in the corporate world and for newspapers for twenty-three years before I quit to write full time. But I’d already begun writing novels at 21, over forty-two years ago now, and have had twenty (ten romantic horror, two horror novels, two romantic SF horror, one romantic suspense, one romantic time travel, one historical romance and three murder mysteries) previous novels, two novellas and twelve short stories published from Zebra Books, Leisure Books, Avalon Books, The Wild Rose Press, Damnation Books/Eternal Press; and I’ve self-published my last five novels with Amazon Kindle Direct and my dinosaur novels are my best-sellers.

I’ve been married to Russell for thirty-six years; have a son, James, and two grandchildren, Joshua and Caitlyn, and I live in a small quaint town in Illinois, which is right across the JB Bridge from St. Louis, Mo. We have three quirky cats, ghost cat Sasha and Cleo, and live cat Sasha (Too), and the five of us live happily in an old house in the heart of town. Though I’ve been an artist, and a folk singer in my youth with my brother Jim, writing has always been my greatest passion, my butterfly stage, and I’ll probably write stories until the day I die…or until my memory goes.

2012 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS *FINALIST* for my horror novel The Last Vampire - Revised Author’s Edition ~ 2014 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS *FINALIST* for my thriller novel Dinosaur Lake.

 Before the End: A Time of Demons by Kathryn Meyer Griffith (2010)
Length: 478 pages
Purchase your copy from Amazon, Audible and ITunes!

Before the End: A Time of Demons Blurb:

Since Cassandra Graystone was a child and her family perished in a fire she knows and sees things other people don’t…when someone will die or that a demon lurks beneath a human skin. She sees phantoms. Yet she craves a simple life singing out with her musician brother, Johnny, and caring for her elderly aunt and uncle; to be with her friends, Sarah, a psychic, and Walter, a clown in a carnival circuit. But when Sarah sees apocalyptic events in her tarot cards and demons are everywhere, Cassandra fears she’s going insane or something terrifying is happening in the world.

Rayner, an ancient blood demon, lodges next door. He becomes obsessed with her. Never having felt pity or affection for a human before he believes he loves her, would die to protect her. The demon realm gathers for the final confrontation between us, Rayner warns. The apocalypse comes. You and your friends must prepare.


Cassandra flees that knowledge until an angelic being, Manasseh, appears. Your powers will grow. You must fight for humanity’s survival after the first wave is taken. Seek out others like you. Persuade them to join the battle. Only these can see and challenge the demons until the end when all eyes see them. She doesn’t want her life to change; doesn’t want to be a nomad who battles demons. Doesn’t want to be anyone’s protector. 


Until a tornado flattens Sarah’s house. Johnny’s apartment. There are monsters maiming and killing everywhere. Demons persecute her and those she loves, burn down her home and force her family and friends onto the road, as everywhere cataclysmic weather and signs of the end days make things hellish for humans. Cassandra and her friends can no longer deny their destinies. They must fight…or see the remnants of humanity engulfed in flames.

May you read well and often

Blog Tour For Night Terror by Jeff Gunhus From October 6, 2014 to December 19, 2014 - Come Join Us!

Hello Everyone! I am extremely happy to announce that Jeff Gunhus will be touring the blogosphere to promote his Thriller/Horror novel, Night Terror - the sequel to his extremely popular Supernatural Thriller, Night Chill. This virtual book tour is being hosted by Pump up Your Book and will last from October 6, to December 19, 2014!

Night Terror Blog Tour Information:


Meet Jeff Gunhus

Jeff Gunhus is the author of both adult thrillers and the Middle Grade/YA series, The Templar Chronicles. The first book, Jack Templar Monster Hunter, was written in an effort to get his reluctant reader eleven-year old son excited about reading. It worked and a new series was born.

His book Reaching Your Reluctant Reader has helped hundreds of parents create avid readers. As a father of five, he and his wife lead an active lifestyle simply trying to keep up with their kids. In rare moments of quiet, he can be found in the back of the City Dock Cafe in Annapolis working on his next novel. His latest book is the thriller/horror novel, Night Terror.
  
 Connect and Socialize with Jeff!


About Night Terror:

Ten years after her abduction and near-sacrifice to the Source, Sarah Tremont struggles to be a normal teenager. As much as she’s tried to suppress the power inside of her, it’s grown dangerously strong and has drawn the attention of those who want to possess her power for themselves.

The nightmare that she thought was long over starts again as powerful forces descend upon Prescott City to seek her out. With her parents and Joseph Lonetree’s help, Sarah must stand up to an evil much more powerful than the one she faced in the caves a decade earlier. But in the end, she discovers the greatest danger might come from the power living inside of her.

Purchase Your Copy From Amazon

Night Terror Book Publicity Tour Schedule:


Monday, October 6 - Interview at PUYB Virtual Book Club
Tuesday, October 7 -
First Chapter Reveal at Pump Up Your Book
Wednesday, October 8 - Guest Blogging at The Story Behind the Book
Thursday, October 9 - Interview at Curling Up With a Good Book
Friday, October 10 -
First Chapter Reveal at Read My First Chapter
Monday, October 13 - Interview at The Writer’s Life
Tuesday, October 14 - Book Featured at Mom With a Kindle
Wednesday, October 15
- First Chapter Reveal at Review From Here
Thursday, October 16 - Guest Blogging at I Heart Reading
Monday, October 20 - First Chapter Reveal at The Dark Phantom
Tuesday, October 21 -
Book Featured at Jennifer Brinkmeyer
Wednesday, October 22 - Interview at Beyond the Books
Thursday, October 23 - Book Review at Not Everyone’s Mama
Monday, October 27
- Book Review and Interview at World of My Imagination
Tuesday, October 28 -
Character Guest Post at Sun Mountain Reviews
Wednesday, October 29 - Interview at Examiner
Thursday, October 30 - Book Featured at The Book Connection
Thursday, October 30 - Book Review at Fundinmental
Friday, October 31 - Character Guest Post at Sapphyria’s Book Reviews
Monday, November 3
- Guest Blogging at Lori’s Reading Corner
Tuesday, November 4 -
Book Review at Books, Reviews, ETC.
Wednesday, November 5 - Interview at CBY Book Club
Thursday, November 6 - Book Feature at Booklover Sue
Friday, November 7 - First Chapter Reveal at As the Pages Turn
Monday, November 10 - Character Interview at The Literary Nook
Tuesday, November 11 -
Book Review and Character Guest Post at Emeraldfire’s Bookmark
Wednesday, November 12 - Book Review at Deal Sharing Aunt
Thursday, November 13 - Interview at As the Page Turns
Monday, November 17 - First Chapter Reveal at The Book Rack
Tuesday, November 18 -
Character Guest Post at My Life, Loves and Passion
Wednesday, November 19 - Book Review at Sweet Southern Home
Thursday, November 20 -
Interview at Review From Here
Monday, November 24 -
Interview at Between the Covers
Tuesday, November 25 -
First Chapter Reveal at I’m Shelf-ish
Friday, November 28 - Character Interview at Pimp That Character
Saturday, November 29 -
Book Review and Interview at A Cup of Tea and a Big Book
Sunday, November 30 - Book Review at Nay’s Pink Bookshelf
Monday, December 1
- Guest Blogging at The Writer’s Life
Tuesday, December 2
- Interview at The Dark Phantom
Wednesday, December 3 - Interview at Blogcritics
Thursday, December 4 - Interview at Mythical Books
Monday, December 8 - Interview at I’m Shelf-ish
Tuesday, December 9
- Interview at The Book Rack
Wednesday, December 10 -
Interview at Literarily Speaking
Monday, December 15 - Book Review at Bound 4 Escape
Tuesday, December 16 - Interview at Book Marketing Buzz
Wednesday, December 17 - Book Review at Mary’s Cup of Tea
Thursday, December 18 -
Book Review at A Book Geek
Friday, December 19 - Book Tour Highlights at PUYB Virtual Book Club

May you read well and often

Friday, September 19, 2014

Introducing the Cover For The Donor Part Three by Nikki Rae!

Meet Nikki Rae

Nikki Rae is a writer who lives in New Jersey. As an independent author, she has appeared numerously on Amazon Best Seller lists and she concentrates on making her imaginary characters as real as possible. Nikki writes mainly dark, scary, romantic tales, but she’ll try anything once. When she is not writing, reading, or thinking, you can find her spending time with animals, drawing in a quiet corner, or studying people. Closely.

 
The Donor Part Three by Nikki Rae (2014)
Length: 48 pages
Purchase your copy from Amazon!

The Donor Part Three Blurb:

Casey may have not known what was in store for her when she met Jonah Black on MyTrueMatch.com, but now that she’s with him, life has become even more unexpected. She's discovered someone else in the picture and now she cannot figure out how she fits into the puzzle.

Convinced that he doesn’t need her, Casey is torn between giving up and doing whatever it takes to help her family. But Jonah, it turns out, needs her more than she knows.

Time is something neither of them have.
Can they hold each other together as the clock runs out?
 

The Donor Part Three Cover Reveal:


May you read well and often

Monday, September 15, 2014

Introducing Four Spooky Short Stories by Kathryn Meyer Griffith!

Hello Everyone! I was delighted to learn recently that Four Spooky Short Stories by Kathryn Meyer Griffith will be free to download from Amazon - at least for a short time! I had the pleasure of reading and reviewing Four Spooky Short Stories by Kathryn Meyer Griffith back in January of 2013, and I reposted my reviews in August of 2014.

Yes, from Thursday, October 16, 2014 until Monday, October 20, 2014, Kathryn Meyer Griffith's supernatural short story collection Four Spooky Short Stories will be available to download for free from Amazon. Four Spooky Short Stories is also available as an audio book from Audible, narrated by the absolutely fantastic Wendy Tremont King. So, you'll have to hurry and grab your own copy today!


Meet Kathryn Meyer Griffith

Since childhood I’ve been an artist and worked as a graphic designer in the corporate world and for newspapers for twenty-three years before I quit to write full time. But I’d already begun writing novels at 21, over forty-two years ago now, and have had twenty (ten romantic horror, two horror novels, two romantic SF horror, one romantic suspense, one romantic time travel, one historical romance and three murder mysteries) previous novels, two novellas and twelve short stories published from Zebra Books, Leisure Books, Avalon Books, The Wild Rose Press, Damnation Books/Eternal Press; and I’ve self-published my last five novels with Amazon Kindle Direct and my dinosaur novels are my best-sellers.

I’ve been married to Russell for thirty-six years; have a son, James, and two grandchildren, Joshua and Caitlyn, and I live in a small quaint town in Illinois, which is right across the JB Bridge from St. Louis, Mo. We have three quirky cats, ghost cat Sasha and Cleo, and live cat Sasha (Too), and the five of us live happily in an old house in the heart of town. Though I’ve been an artist, and a folk singer in my youth with my brother Jim, writing has always been my greatest passion, my butterfly stage, and I’ll probably write stories until the day I die…or until my memory goes.

2012 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS *FINALIST* for my horror novel The Last Vampire - Revised Author’s Edition ~ 2014 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS *FINALIST* for my thriller novel Dinosaur Lake.

Four Spooky Short Stories by Kathryn Meyer Griffith (2013)
Length: 103 pages
Purchase your copy from Amazon and Audible!

Four Spooky Short Stories Blurb:

Four contemporary spooky short stories:

Ghost Brother



So what happens after you die? Do you go to heaven, or hell? Or do you go to a special place fashioned just for you based on the life you’d lived in the real world? Based on how you treated people? What you did to them?

And do ghosts exist? Do they roam the earth and plague the living, persuade them to do things they shouldn’t do?

Two brothers and their tale follow; their journey through life and death.

Do you believe in ghosts? Some do.

Running with the Train


Sarah has always been lonely. Searching for a love she’s begun to believe will never come. Her family and friends depend, need her…but they can’t give her what she wants. True, eternal love. Like the wolves have.

So she goes on an adventure of a lifetime to the Grand Canyon; rides the train from Williams to the South Rim and sees these huge wolves running alongside in the evening twilight; scurrying unbelievably below on the Canyon’s ledges among the trees. She’s told there are no wolves but she hears their haunting cries. No one else sees or hears them. Just her.

Has her loneliness made her crazy?


The Banshee and the Witch


What would you do to live forever, stay young forever? To find true love again?

And if you were a white witch with the magical powers to make it happen…and the secret of how to do it, would you?

So when the banshee comes calling for you one rainy dark night you’ll do what you have to do to get what you desire the most. More time.

Too Close to the Edge


Artist Penelope had been looking forward to going with her husband, sister and brother-in-law to see the Grand Canyon…even though she was terrified of heights and, when she got there, couldn’t bear to get too close to the edge. She watched people balancing on one foot, acting foolish, taking photos, oblivious of the death waiting below them. It scared her.

Especially when a woman relates a story of a small child that fell into the Canyon the day before. Over the edge.

Then she sees a young girl go over the rim and no one will believe her.

For there was no child that had died - that day anyway.

Was she seeing things that weren’t there, or was there another explanation? 


The Banshee and the Witch Excerpt:

It was a misty spring morning with a chilly breeze whose affects the rising sun would partially warm away. The birdsong beckoned Cleona O’Grady from sleep and, after struggling into her robe, she found her way to the kitchen. Her old bones ached and the years sat heavy on her shoulders and the new day, the spring and rebirth, only served to remind her that her time on earth was short.

Her lips frowned. It’d been the third night in a row she’d had the dreams. Vague, plotless vignettes of frightening emotions and premonitions. The worse thing was she didn’t know what they meant and she usually did, yet these melted into her subconscious as soon as she awoke. They scared her and she opened her eyes each morning with a sense of impending doom. Her heart racing, her body quivering with the echoes of her forgotten terror.

All she remembered was there was a woman in them, one she’d never seen or met, who was young, hauntingly beautiful and who stalked her as she ran through her dream world. Fleeting glimpses of the lady, what she’d wanted and what she’d done, behind or around her, faded as the minutes and the dream did. By breakfast the memories would be practically gone, leaving but a faint impression of a white faced woman, with long tresses, blood red lips and eyes so full of sorrow they made Cleona want to weep - and the awareness that the woman would return. That she wanted something from her she couldn’t give.

But what?

She made a tray with her tea and toast smeared with homemade strawberry jam, and hobbled out to the back porch. She had a round table and two chairs under the shade of the overhang. Plunking down with a weary sigh, her eyes gazed over the still waters of the pond. It wasn’t much of one, no bigger than a baseball diamond, but it was deep and populated by forest birds, frogs, flying insects and all manner of wildlife that came in from the woods and the sky. There were water fowl floating in the center, calling softly to each other. The birds and the tranquil scene calmed her. They always did.

She took another bite and peered up into the dawn.

The sun was ascending over the trees, the rays sparkling on the leaves as they danced in the air above her; light gleamed on the water nearby, turning it golden, and the aroma of the lush foliage was a gift.

She sat there admiring the beauty of the morning and ate her meal. The tea was hot, honeyed, and revived her. Her teeth crunched into the toast and the sweetness of strawberries filled her mouth. She made sure she caught every crumb and sipped every drop of tea. She wasted nothing.

The older she got the more these mundane rituals reassured and comforted her.

Even in the winter when it snowed she’d bundle up in two of her sweaters topped off by a coat, linger on that porch and try to see the individual snowflakes. Never two alike, they said, though she wasn’t sure of that. A lot of them looked the same to her. Well, perhaps because her eyesight wasn’t what it used to be.

Truth was, many things weren’t what they used to be and her youth spells no longer seemed to be working.

Ah, yes, she was a witch, a white witch, which meant she rarely, if ever, knocked people off without a good reason or cast throw-up-pins-and-slug curses on them unless they’d really pissed her off. Though why people had to stereotype witches like that, good or bad, she’d never understood. A witch is a witch is a witch. Well, some did use their powers for good and some for not so good. But beneath it they were only people as she was only a woman. Hey, no matter what, she was as entitled to a good life as any other human on the planet whether she was a witch or not, right? Right.

According to her calculations, which couldn’t be absolutely counted on because her memory wasn’t what it had been either, October thirty-first she’d be over four hundred years old. So many springs, summers, falls and winters. A long, long life in anyone’s book.

Yesterday morning in town she’d overheard someone say the oldest man in the world had passed away at one hundred and fourteen. Ha, a baby. What would the mortals say if they knew how old she was? It made her smile.

Oh, the events and people she’d seen and known. The adventures, sorrowful and joyful, she’d had. She didn’t want to go. To die. Not yet. There were years of life left in her heart and mind. And, oh how, she wanted to live them.

She wasn’t ready to go. Nothing could make her, either. Death was a formidable adversary but she’d beaten her so far and was sure she’d continue to. All she had to do was be more cunning than the reaper and she’d prevail.

Oh, she could do that.


May you read well and often

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Book Blast Blog Tour For The Murders at Astaire Castle by Lauren Carr From October 6, 2014 to October 31, 2014 - Come Join Us!

Hello Everyone! I am delighted to announce that Lauren Carr will be touring the blogosphere to promote her Contemporary Mystery novel The Murders at Astaire Castle. This is Lauren's latest virtual book blast blog tour with Pump up Your Book! She will be coming to a blog near you from October 6, to October 31, 2014! Come join us for all the fun!

Ms. Carr is also doing an awesome giveaway - she is giving away one paperback copy, two ebook copies and three audiobooks of The Murders at Astaire Castle to six lucky winners at the end of her Book Blast Blog Tour. Be sure to fill out the Rafflecopter form below, and I wish you all the very best of good luck in taking part!

The Murders at Astaire Castle Book Blast Information:

Meet Lauren Carr

Lauren Carr is the best-selling author of the Mac Faraday Mysteries, which takes place in Deep Creek Lake, Maryland. Twelve to Murder is the seventh installment in the Mac Faraday Mystery series.

In addition to her series set on Deep Creek Lake, Lauren Carr has also written the Lovers in Crime Mysteries, which features prosecutor Joshua Thornton with homicide detective Cameron Gates, who were introduced in Shades of Murder, the third book in the Mac Faraday Mysteries. They also make an appearance in The Lady Who Cried Murder.

Lauren launched the Lovers in Crime (first introduced in Shades of Murder) mystery series in September 2012 with Dead on Ice.

The owner of Acorn Book Services, Lauren is also a publishing manager, consultant, editor, cover and layout designer, and marketing agent for independent authors. This year, several books, over a variety of genre, written by independent authors will be released through the management of Acorn Book Services, which is currently accepting submissions. Visit Acorn Book Services website for more information.

Lauren is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at conventions. She also passes on what she has learned in her years of writing and publishing by conducting workshops and teaching in community education classes.

She lives with her husband, son, and three dogs on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.

Connect and Socialize with Lauren!


About The Murders at Astaire Castle:

Never tell Mac Faraday not to do something.

In The Murders at Astaire Castle, Spencer’s police chief, David O’Callaghan, learns this lesson the hard way when he orders Mac Faraday to stay away from the south end of Spencer’s mountaintop - even though he owns the property. It doesn’t take long for Mac to find out what lies on the other side of the stone wall and locked gate, on which hangs a sign warning visitors to Keep Out!

Topping the list of the ten most haunted places in America, Astaire Castle is associated with two suicides, three mysterious disappearances, and four murders since it was built almost a century ago—and Mac Faraday owns it!

In spite of David’s warning, Mac can’t resist unlocking the gate to see the castle that supposedly hasn’t seen a living soul since his late mother had ordered it closed up after the double homicide and disappearance of Damian Wagner, a world-famous master of horror novels.

“Halloween has always been a fun time,” best-selling author Lauren Carr explains in a note at the beginning of her fifth Mac Faraday mystery. “It’s the time to break out and be someone else. As a child, I would pretend to be one of the Bobbsey Twins searching for clues to lead me to a secret treasure. If I was lucky, it was made up of chocolate. As a teenager, I was Nancy Drew. Always, when October rolled around, I craved mysteries with something extra added - something beyond the normal - something supernatural. As an author, I couldn’t resist taking this one Mac Faraday Mystery on a scary Halloween adventure.”

In this latest installment of Carr’s hit series, what starts out as a quick tour of a dusty old castle turns into another Mac Faraday adventure when Astaire Castle becomes the scene of even more murders. Mac is going to need to put all of his investigative talents to work to sort out this case that involves the strangest characters he has run into yet - including a wolf man. No, we’re not talking about Gnarly.

Purchase Your Copy From Amazon!

 Visit The Murders at Astaire Castle at Goodreads and Watch the Book Trailer on YouTube
 
Pump Up Your Book and Lauren are teaming up to give you a chance to win a paperback copy, two ebook copies and three audiobooks of The Murders at Astaire Castle!

Terms and Conditions:
  • By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
  • Six winners will be chosen via Rafflecopter.
  • This giveaway begins October 6 and ends October 31.
  • Winners will be contacted via email on Monday, November 3.
  • Winner has 48 hours to reply.
Good luck everyone!

ENTER TO WIN!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


The Murders at Astaire Castle Virtual Book Blast Blog Tour Information:

Monday, October 6 - Undercover Book Reviews
Monday, October 6 - CBY Book Club
Monday, October 6 - Books, Reviews, ETC.
Monday, October 6 - Fallen Over Book Reviews
Monday, October 6 - Moonlight Lace and Mayhem
Monday, October 6 - What is That Book About

Monday, October 6 - Mom With a Kindle
Monday, October 6 - Mary's Cup of Tea 
Tuesday, October 7 - My Life, Loves and Passion
Wednesday, October 8 - Book Reviews by Dee
Thursday, October 9 - Paranormal and Romantic Suspense Reviews
Thursday, October 9 - Teena in Toronto
Thursday, October 9 - My Life, One Story at a Time
Friday, October 10 - Fiction Zeal
Friday, October 10 - Brooke Blogs
Saturday, October 11 - Bookingly Yours
Monday, October 13 - The Book Connection
Monday, October 13 - StoreyBook Reviews
Monday, October 13 - The Wormhole
Tuesday, October 14 - Jane Reads
Wednesday, October 15 - Deal Sharing Aunt
Wednesday, October 15 - Fundinmental
Wednesday, October 15 - A Cup of Tea, A Friend and A Good Book
Thursday, October 16 - Emeraldfire’s Bookmark
Friday, October 17 - Authors and Readers Book Corner
Monday, October 20 - Vic’s Media Room
Tuesday, October 21 - The Writer’s Life
Wednesday, October 22 - Bea’s Book Nook
Thursday, October 23 - Literarily Speaking
Friday, October 24 - Jersey Girl Book Reviews
Monday, October 27 - Lori’s Reading Corner
Monday, October 27 - Carol’s Notebook
Tuesday, October 28 - As the Page Turns
Wednesday, October 29 - SheWrites
Thursday, October 30 - A Book Geek
Friday, October 31 - Bless Their Hearts Mom
Friday, October 31 - Our Families Adventure
Friday, October 31 - Booklover Sue

May you read well and often

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Introducing A Murder Country: A Novel by Brandon Daily!

I'm delighted to announce that Brandon Daily's debut novel A Murder Country: A Novel is now available for download from Amazon. The release of the hardcover has unfortunately been delayed until January 2015 at the latest. Until then, folks, you can still purchase your copy from Amazon in Kindle format.
 
Meet Brandon Daily

Brandon Daily was born and raised in southern California. In 2012, he and his wife moved to Central Georgia, where he now teaches high school English and Literature. He holds an M.A. in American Literature and has worked as an adjunct professor and freelance editor.

Brandon's short fiction has been published in several online and print magazines, and his one act play South of Salvation was performed and won first prize in the CAST Players One Act Play Festival in 2012.

A Murder Country (Knox Robinson, 2014) is his first novel, and tells the story of three violent men living in the late nineteenth century; each man is seeking an understanding of his life and his place within the larger realm of the world. The novel is inspired by Brandon's fascination with the tension between nature and man as well as the power and fragility of belief and conviction within humans.

Brandon is currently working on his second novel and several more short stories.

Connect and Socialize with Brandon!


A Murder Country: A Novel by Brandon Daily (2014)
Length: 190 pages
Purchase your copy from Amazon! 

A Murder Country: A Novel Blurb: 

The nineteenth century looms just a few years away, bringing with it the belief in progress and a new world. But for Josiah Fuller, William Corvin, and the Rider in the Appalachian backwoods and small towns of the late nineteenth century, there is nothing but a world where bloodshed is paid for in blood, and violence is the ultimate law of the land.

When seventeen-year-old Josiah Fuller comes home to find his parents hanged and mutilated and the family house burned to the ground, he sets off to find the man responsible for their murders and avenge their deaths. His journey takes him through new towns and wildernesses he has not seen before. He meets people who show him the realities of living in a violent world, forcing Josiah to decide what is most important to him: vengeance or grace.

Years after running away from home as a young boy, William Corvin returns with his new bride to take over the family's coal mining operation. Though he is haunted by the violence of his past, he sets out to live a peaceful life and start a family there. However, Corvin's hopes of peace are challenged when a horrible act of violence causes him to revert back to the man he once was.

After being visited by an angel in a dream years earlier, the Rider has become a man with violence in his blood, believing himself to be appointed by God to collect the souls of sinners. He travels around on his horse, killing whoever he feels is deserving of God's wrath and vengeance. These three men move along their own individual paths, their stories intersecting with one another, continually searching for an understanding of the violent world in which they live and their own actions within that world. 

The novel examines the power and fragility of belief and conviction within humans, showing how one small act often leads to consequences that reach far beyond anyone's imagining. 
 
May you read well and often

Sunday, September 7, 2014

Literary Suprises on a Sunday

Hello Everyone! How are you on this fine Sunday? I'm doing just fine. :)

Well, perhaps one and a half to two years ago, our mailman had mentioned in passing that his wife had a whole box of books that she was getting rid of, and would we be interested in reading them (he noticed that we get a lot of books through the mail! LOL! :)) Anyway, Mom and I returned home from being out this afternoon, and we were met with a giant plastic bin and a plastic bag full of books on our doorstep! :)

There are probably between 60-70 books all together. We actually just did a cursory examination later on this evening and so far there's 67 books in this package of books! :)

May you read well and often

Friday, September 5, 2014

Introducing Human No Longer by Kathryn Meyer Griffith!

Hello Everyone! I was delighted to learn recently that Human No Longer by Kathryn Meyer Griffith will be free to download from Amazon - at least for a short time! I had the pleasure of reading and reviewing Human No Longer by Kathryn Meyer Griffith back in July of 2013.

Yes, from Wednesday, October 8, 2014 until Sunday, October 12, 2014, Kathryn Meyer Griffith's romantic vampire novel Human No Longer will be available to download for free from Amazon. So, you'll have to hurry and grab your own copy today!


Meet Kathryn Meyer Griffith

Since childhood I’ve been an artist and worked as a graphic designer in the corporate world and for newspapers for twenty-three years before I quit to write full time. But I’d already begun writing novels at 21, over forty-two years ago now, and have had twenty (ten romantic horror, two horror novels, two romantic SF horror, one romantic suspense, one romantic time travel, one historical romance and three murder mysteries) previous novels, two novellas and twelve short stories published from Zebra Books, Leisure Books, Avalon Books, The Wild Rose Press, Damnation Books/Eternal Press; and I’ve self-published my last five novels with Amazon Kindle Direct and my dinosaur novels are my best-sellers.

I’ve been married to Russell for thirty-six years; have a son, James, and two grandchildren, Joshua and Caitlyn, and I live in a small quaint town in Illinois, which is right across the JB Bridge from St. Louis, Mo. We have three quirky cats, ghost cat Sasha and Cleo, and live cat Sasha (Too), and the five of us live happily in an old house in the heart of town. Though I’ve been an artist, and a folk singer in my youth with my brother Jim, writing has always been my greatest passion, my butterfly stage, and I’ll probably write stories until the day I die…or until my memory goes.

2012 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS *FINALIST* for my horror novel The Last Vampire - Revised Author’s Edition ~ 2014 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS *FINALIST* for my thriller novel Dinosaur Lake.


Human No Longer by Kathryn Meyer Griffith (2012)
Length: 267 pages
Purchase your copy from Amazon!
Human No Longer Blurb:

Jenny and Jeff Sanders become victims of a bizarre crime; leaving Jeff dead and Jenny in a temporary coma. She returns to her children. With Jeff’s death she must move back to her childhood home, a haunted farmhouse, in Summer Haven, Florida, where once they destroyed a family of vampires.

Jenny has no appetite. She’s edgy. Her eyes hurt. She thinks it could be trauma or grief. Until one night she can’t resist the night woods or the overpowering urge to drink warm animals’ blood–and accepts the truth. Her attackers were vampires.

Now she’s becoming what she once reviled. She can’t abandon her children but must find a way to live in the human world. At night she hunts, in the day hides what she’s becoming and attempts to fit in.

Then townspeople begin dying. Like years before. With her blackouts, she fears she may be the killer, or is it her vampire attackers? For they've found her and demand she joins them–or her family will die. She resists until they kidnap her children. Then she has to find a way to outwit and ultimately destroy them.

The prequel to Human No Longer - Vampire Blood - is also for sale on Amazon.

May you read well and often


Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Blog Tour For the Order of the Seers Trilogy by Cerece Rennie Murphy From October 1, 2014 to October 31, 2014 - Come Join Us!

Hello Everyone! I am extremely happy to announce that Cerece Rennie Murphy will be touring the blogosphere to promote her Science Fiction trilogy, Order of the Seers. This virtual book tour is being hosted by Pump up Your Book and will last from October 1, to October 31, 2014!

Order of the Seers Trilogy Blog Tour Information:

Meet Cerece Rennie Murphy

Cerece Rennie Murphy fell in love with science fiction at the age of seven, watching Empire Strikes Back at the Uptown Theater in Washington, D.C., with her sister and mom. It’s a love affair that has grown ever since. As an ardent fan of John Donne, Alice Walker, Kurt Vonnegut and Alexander Pope from an early age, Cerece began exploring her own creative writing through poetry.

She earned her master’s degrees in social work and international relations at Boston College and Johns Hopkins School for Advance International Studies, respectively, and built a rewarding 15-year career in program development, management and fundraising in the community and international development arenas - all while appreciating the stories of human connection told in science fiction through works like Octavia Butler’s Wild Seed, Frank Herbert’s Dune and 'The X-Files' In 2011, Cerece experienced her own supernatural event - a vision of her first science fiction story. Shortly after, she began developing and writing what would become the Order of the Seers trilogy. Cerece lives just outside of her hometown of Washington, D.C., with her husband, two children and the family dog, Yoda.

For more information, follow Cerece at http://www.cerecerenniemurphy.com.

Connect and Socialize with Cerece!



About the Order of the Seers Trilogy:

What would you do if you held infinite power in the palm of your hand?

The Order of the Seers trilogy poses this question within a story that fuses action, mystery, and romance within a science fiction adventure that keeps you at the edge of your seat.

Captured and enslaved for their extraordinary gift, a group of individuals, known as Seers, are forced to serve a ruthless world organization that uses the power of the Seers to exploit the ultimate advantage: knowing the future. While a brother and his Seer sister fight to evade the group that hunts them, an unlikely captured Seer plots his escape from within the organization and sets off a chain of events that will change the world.

The journey begins with Order of the Seers (Book I) and continues with The Red Order (Book II). The final chapter in the Order of the Seers trilogy, titled The Last Seer (Book III), will be released on September 30, 2014.

About Book I: Order of the Seers:

What would you do if you held infinite power in the palm of your hand?

Order of the Seers begins with the journey of Liam and Lilith Knight, a brother and sister who are hunted by The Guild, a ruthless world organization that seeks to capture and exploit Lilith’s unique ability as a Seer to envision the future. Soon after they are forced to leave their home, Lilith and Liam discover that she is not alone. Other Seers like Lilith are routinely kidnapped and enslaved by the Guild for the purpose of consolidating wealth and power around the world.

But from within the organization, Marcus Akida, a captured Seer with powerful visioning capabilities, quietly plots his daring escape with the help of a beautiful and tortured Seer named Alessandra. When the escaped Seers are drawn to the same remote commune in Iowa as Liam and Lilith, they each find a place where they can rebuild their lives and rediscover their passion for life and love. As the Guild’s efforts to find them intensifies, the Seers ban together with outlaws from the commune to fight back against the organization that threatens their lives - setting off a chain of events that will unleash the full power of the Seers and change everything we know about the true potential that lies dormant in each of us.

About Book II: The Red Order:

The Quest to Control the Power of the Seers Continues...

After successfully destroying the Guild's Purification Center in Chicago, The Lost Seers, led by Joel Akida and Lilli Knight, embark upon a world-wide mission to save their kind from the tyranny of the Guild and unveil their greatest weapon The Restoration Project. Developed in secret, The Restoration Project has the potential to awaken the supernatural ability within every man, woman, and child on earth and bring down the very foundation of the Guild's power and authority. But the Guild has other plans.

Driven by the necessity for control, Crane Le Dieu creates The Red Order, a new league of clairvoyants whose sole purpose is to hunt down and annihilate the Lost Seers. Without the Guild's mind-controlling drugs, The Red Order is able to develop its gifts far beyond the capacity to see the future, honing their skills to become the ultimate threat against the Lost Seers. But the question remains will the power of The Red Order be enough to defeat them?

The Red Order continues the epic battle for freedom which began in Order of the Seers, revealing the secret motives behind an organization that exists to exploit and a renegade movement that seeks to usher in the next phase in human evolution.

The Seers face their greatest challenge in the final chapter of the Order of the Seers trilogy…

When the fall of one nemesis unleashes an even greater danger into the world, Lilli, Joel and the Lost Seers must stand against a new enemy with the means and the will to destroy all of mankind, starting with those they hold most dear.

As the Seers mobilize to confront this new evil, the Guild tries desperately to uphold the crumbling world order on which it depends. When their attempts to manage the crisis fail, the members of the Guild are forced to place themselves at the mercy of an unlikely ally.

But the Guild isn’t the only one interested in maintaining control.

An agreement made in secret threatens to destroy any hope of a peaceful alliance before it can be made and as the betrayals unfold, no one is safe against a power that will stop at nothing to get what it wants. To defeat this threat and ensure the survival of the human race, the Seers must push the boundaries of their abilities beyond any limits they have known and risk crossing the line between life and death.

How far would you go to protect what matters most?

Purchase Your Copy From Amazon and Barnes and Noble!

The Order of the Seers Trilogy Book Publicity Tour Schedule:


Wednesday, October 1 - Author Interview and Book Spotlight at The Writer's Life
Friday, October 3 - Book Excerpt at Read my First Chapter
Monday, October 6 - Author Interview and Book Spotlight at As the Page Turns
Tuesday, October 7 - Book Spotlight at Moonbeams Over Atlanta
Friday, October 10 - Author Guest Post and Book Spotlight at The Story Behind the Book
Monday, October 13 - Book Review at El Rincón de Becks
Wednesday, October 15 - Author Guest and Book Spotlight at Jersey Girl Book Reviews
Friday, October 17 - Book Review at Deal Sharing Aunt
Monday, October 20 - Book Spotlight at Sapphyria’s Book Reviews
Tuesday, October 21 - Book Review at Emeraldfire’s Bookmark
Friday, October 24 - Book Review at Hey, Miss Adventures!
Monday, October 27 - Book Review at I Can Has Books?
Wednesday, October 29 - Book Review at My Life, Loves and Passion
Thursday, October 30 - Book Review at Nay’s Pink Bookshelf
Friday, October 31 - Book Review at GenGen's Book Blog

May you read well and often