Month: October 2013

“Betty & Howard” are done!

“Betty & Howard” are done!

The short story is live on Smashwords, and has been sent to Nicola Bryant for recording next week.  So that’s fantastic progress, I think!

B & H KINDLE

 

Cool, isn’t it?  The cover was designed by Leanore Elliott (my regular artist is busy working on the “Dream Reunion” cover, and she’s also just slightly busy with having a baby!).

The story is currently live on Smashwords, and you can download it for free right here.  It should go up on Amazon tomorrow (I need to tweak a couple of things so it’ll come out correctly in print as well as on Kindle, and it’s easier if you do print and Kindle together).

 

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Halloween at Awesome Indies – Don’t Miss It!

Halloween at Awesome Indies – Don’t Miss It!

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Happy Halloween

The hosts of our party have some mean bad guys hiding among their pages. Today, some of our authors open their books and let their monsters take a peek outside. Click on over to the Awesome Indies, read the descriptions and vote for the monster you think is the creepiest.

 

Don’t forget to visit the Monster Sale.

 

aia_halloween99

 

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Indie Author spotlight – Danielle Rose-West and “Hidden in Shadows”

Indie Author spotlight – Danielle Rose-West and “Hidden in Shadows”

I always enjoy featuring fellow indie authors, and I’ve got a great one for you today.  She’s Danielle Rose-West…

 

 

My name is Danielle Rose-West. I live in the United Kingdom with my family and my little dog, who is very much a part of the family. I have always been a dreamer and an incurable romantic with a vivid imagination. When I was a child, I was always reading. If anyone ever went looking for me, they usually found me curled up somewhere with a book! Most times when they spoke to me, I didn’t hear a word they said (my sister never believed me about this, but I honestly never heard her!). I was too wrapped up in the adventures I was reading.

When I was growing up, I wanted to be either an author or a librarian. I never made it as a librarian, but ended up in office work instead. It has taken a long time for me to finally realise my dream to write, but I’m finally here. I now write contemporary romance with a magical or suspenseful twist. I like things that have something a little out of the ordinary about them in both my reading and my writing preferences.

These days I spend most of my time plotting new books and characters as well as enjoying finding out where my characters are going to take me in the story. I don’t always know how everything will develop, sometimes they surprise me. Some of the things that happen in my books are unexpected surprises that suddenly hit me while I am writing or quite often when I am awake in the early morning hours. I love it when that happens. The whole book just comes together as if by magic!

When I’m not writing and plotting, I love to spend time with my husband and family. I love to read, of course, and to watch enjoyable films or TV. I also love walking. It’s great exercise and helps me clear my mind.

My biggest wish is to entertain my readers and to sweep them away in an incredible story of romance with a twist. I always aim to make my books page turners with characters my readers will always remember. If I achieve that, I’m happy!

You can find Danielle all over the Internets.  She’s got her own website, she’s on Facebook, Twitter and Pintrest, or you can email her directly.

Her book is “Hidden in Shadows”

Hidden in Shadows Cover4

 

When she buys an old Georgian house, Jenna Mansfield thinks it’s the answer to all her prayers. She can start afresh away from her over protective family and the tragedy that led her to a nervous breakdown several years before. Ignoring the house’s reputation for being haunted, Jenna moves to Cornwall with high hopes for her future. The sexy builder she hires to renovate her new home captures her interest, but when strange events start taking place around her and rumours reach her ears, she is left wondering if her builder is harbouring a secret.

Kyle Tanner is furious when the house he wanted to buy and renovate to further his small building firm, slips through his fingers for the second time. He doesn’t expect the new owner to be interested in taking him on for the work, but she surprises him in more ways than one. Deeply attracted to his new employer, Kyle fights hard against the unwanted feelings she stirs in him and then the trouble begins.

Kyle and Jenna find themselves swept up in the mystery that surrounds Millington House and its ghostly residents. The past won’t stay silent and someone with a deadly secret lurks in the shadows. As events unfold, Jenna finds herself the target of a crazed killer. Can they uncover the truth before time runs out or will the past be forever hidden in shadows?

You can buy it at Amazon.  You can also find her previous books on Amazon:

Wild Fire (the Fairy Tale Match series, book 1) 

Forever You (the Fairy Tale Match series, book 2)

And Danielle has generously provided us with an excerpt from “Hidden in Shadows” as well…

Stumbling along the coast road, she slumped down on a bench that overlooked the sea. Her gaze failed to register the waves as they tossed themselves onto shore. Kyle had wanted to buy her house, not once but twice. He’d lost out to the previous owners and then to her. She remembered Tiffany telling her how the Perkins had left terrified. Had Kyle been responsible for driving them away? Was he doing the same to her?

She thought of all the things that had happened, her lips thinning as her fury rose. It had to be. Kyle was trying to drive her away so he could buy the house when she put it back up for sale. Well, not in this lifetime! Shooting up from the bench, Jenna marched home. The pounding of her feet sounded like the beat of a drum preceding an army into battle.

She flew into the house, dropping her bag and the paint thinner to the floor before she stomped into the study. She barely registered the huge man working in the room with Kyle. Her whole attention riveted upon her tormentor.

“Why did you say nothing about having wanted to buy my house?” she demanded, her hands curled into fists.

Kyle spun around from the wall he’d been stripping. His shocked expression would have been comical in any other situation. Jenna didn’t find anything funny about it now.

“Who told you that?” he finally got out.

“Does it matter? It’s true isn’t it?” Jenna demanded, anger nearly choking her.

“Yes, it’s true. I didn’t tell you simply because it wasn’t important.” He clutched the scraper in his hand tighter, his knuckles turning white.

“Not important?” Her brow rose in question. He frowned at her deadly tone, his eyes full of confusion. “I would say it was more likely you didn’t want me to know so I wouldn’t guess what you were up to!”

“What the hell are you talking about?” He planted his hands on his hips, staring at her as if she’d lost her mind.

“Don’t deny it!” Her voice rose with increasing tempo. She waved her finger in his face, one hand firmly planted on her own hip. “Don’t you dare deny what you’ve been doing to me! I know your game. You did it to the Perkins too, didn’t you?” She stalked forward, practically shoving her face into Kyle’s increasingly confused and angry one.

“Look here, I haven’t the foggiest notion what you’re talking about!” He stabbed a finger towards her chest. “You need to sort out your facts before you go accusing people of things.”

“Really?” she snarled. She began ticking points off on her fingers. “Fact One, you wanted to buy this house, but was beat to it by the Perkins. Fact Two, they were driven from their home in terror, forcing them to sell. Fact Three, you wanted to buy this house again, but I beat you to it. Fact Four, odd things are happening here and I would bet money on it you’re behind them.” She glared at him triumphantly.

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Cover Reveal – Emily Walker and “The Kingdom”

Cover Reveal – Emily Walker and “The Kingdom”

EWalker Banner

 

I’m happy to be participating in the cover reveal for Emily Walker and her new novel “The Kingdom”.

Here’s Emily…

Emily Walker

 

Emily Walker loves creating worlds and stumbling around in them. She writes under her name and the pen name Lyra Mcken. Lyra writes zombies, Emily writes everything! She is constantly losing her chap-stick, and has an obsession with the color pink. Currently a resident of the mountains and loving the view she writes mostly paranormal fiction, and horror, although a contemporary romance or two sneaks in every once in a while. Her small family consists of her red bearded other half, a rat terrier named Rebel, and a cat called Mr. Creepy.

You can find Emily all over the Interwebs, including her website, her blog, Facebook, AmazonGoodreads and at Snow flowers after Dark..

And here’s the cover for her brand new novel…

The Kingdom print cover

 

What’s it about?

What happens when Mother Nature is pushed too far….

She becomes a real bitch.

 

For centuries, man has been the predator over the animal kingdom, until today…

 

What happens when the deer kills the hunter and pets turn on their masters? Is it evolution or something far more sinister?

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Updates!

Updates!

OK, so progress is being made on several fronts.

“Betty and Howard’s Excellent Adventure” is finished, pending final edits.  It’ll be up on Kindle and in paperback by the weekend.  Nicola Bryant will be recording it for audiobook on November 9th, so with luck the audio edition will be available by the first week of December.

“Dream Reunion” is at 55,000 words, with ten chapters written.  The end is in sight.  There’s only one thing I don’t know about the ending, but I think/hope that when I get to that point, I’ll know which way to go.

The audiobook of “Dream Child” is nearly complete; my fantastic narrator, Heather Jane Hogan, is up to chapter 15 (out of 16).  She should be done next week, and then it should also be up for sale on Audible and on Amazon by the first week in December.

Sadly, Heather won’t be able to record any more audiobooks after “Dream Child,” so I am searching for someone to pick up the series with “Dream Family.”  We’ll see how that goes.  I am SO grateful to Heather for her hard work, and for the fantastic job she’s done.

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Awesome Indies Halloween Sale!

Awesome Indies Halloween Sale!

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Watch out! There’s demons, ghouls, ghosts and other nasties on the Awesome Indies and they’re escaping their books on Halloween to host a party for all the gentle souls from the less frightening stories. The spread is amazing, a smorgasbord of genres, over 40 books on sale at 99c from the 30th of October to the 1st November, plus a fun quiz, a meet the monster day and a goody-bag of give-aways.

The party starts today with a fun quiz. Click over to the Awesome Indies blog to find out what you didn’t know about Halloween.

The Awesome Indies take the risk out of buying indie. They list only books that meet the same standard as mainstream fiction, so all you have to do it choose what you think you’ll like. You can click on any of the books in the slide show above or scroll through all the books on the Awesome Indies Monster Sale page.

aia_halloween99

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Book Tour – The Gates Trilogy by D.T. Dyllin

Book Tour – The Gates Trilogy by D.T. Dyllin

I’m happy to host the  P.J. Stone Gates book tour, by D.T. Dyllin…

Book one of the P.J. Stone Gates Trilogy

New Adult Paranormal Romance
 

299 pages
 

by D.T. Dyllin

For P.J. Stone, being a “Seer” who has never seen anything is less than fun. And P.J. isn’t known for her patience.

To make matters worse, she must choose a suitable mate to continue the Seer bloodline. Duty always comes before her heart…at least that’s what her parents taught her. When she finds herself wanting someone who is considered off-limits, P.J. is forced to question everything she believes.

As if navigating her love life isn’t complicated enough, P.J. finally receives a vision—of a threat to her world that only she can perceive. But no one will believe a fledgling Seer’s warnings. With nowhere else to turn, she may decide to trust a stranger with her life, her world, and maybe even her heart.

Book two of the P.J. Stone Gates Trilogy
New Adult Paranormal Romance
241 pages

P.J. Stone is a Seer who saw too little, too late.

In the past, her biggest worries were boys and school—but war has a way of changing things. Now, the alien Riders are trying to overrun the world. As the last of their kind, P.J. and her friends must find a way to save humanity before there’s nothing left to save.

After choosing a mate, P.J. hoped she’d have time to enjoy her love life. But with everything changing so quickly and major secrets revealed, who knows what the future will bring?

 

Book three of the P.J. Stone Gates Trilogy


New Adult Paranormal Romance
 

by D.T. Dyllin

Bryn is gone. Jenna isn’t…herself, and the world has been taken over by the alien Riders. The only constant in P.J.’s life is Khol. But even he might not be able to help her pick up the shattered pieces of her life.
P.J. finally gets the answers to all of her questions, but will she be able to handle the truth? And will she be strong enough to face her own destiny when the time comes?

 
About the Author

Cynical-Optimist. Chocolate-holic. Sarcasm Addict. Paranormal Believer. Self-Imposed Insomniac. Sci-Fi Geek. Animal Lover. Writer…are just a few words to describe D.T. Dyllin. She was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and now lives in Nashville, Tennessee with her husband and two very spoiled GSDs.

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Book Tour – Merita King and “Bygora Vandos”

Book Tour – Merita King and “Bygora Vandos”

landscape-56314-001

 

I’m thrilled to host a fellow indie author, Merita King, and her new novel, “Bygora Vandos.”

me with ruins

 

Merita King has loved the science fiction and fantasy genre in both books and movies since she was a young child.  She has been greatly inspired by years of watching movies and reading books and has wanted to make a contribution to this genre for many years.  Her stories all contain a spiritual thread as she believes that spirituality is universal and crosses all boundaries.  She believes that the creative process is largely intuitive and can be very effectively blocked by too much pre-planning.  “Plot lines, characters and events all come to me intuitively,” she says, “and this makes the act of writing a constant pleasure.”  She is a psychic medium and lives alone in Hampshire, UK.

You can follow Merita at her website, on Facebook and also on Twitter.

And here’s the new book…

front 350 wide

 

Bygora Vandos ~ Sinclair V-Log LB734/A

Sam Sinclair didn’t usually play the role of detective.  His job was just to chase and catch a specific target and deliver them into the hands of the Inter Galactic Law Enforcement Agency, so when his boss offered him an undercover job, he was only too happy to accept.

Together with his new partner Ren, Sam begins the slow process of investigating the secluded and secretive Calmarin Research Station.  Although set up to apparently investigate the cause of dying trees in the locale, rumours run rife among the local people about what really goes on there.  What Sam and Ren discover after weeks of carefully working their way in, is one of the most terrible crimes against humanity that either of them have ever encountered and both vow to do their utmost to bring it to an end.

Sam finds many allies amongst the local people but with his cover blown and Ren taken prisoner, he no longer knows who can be trusted.  As the job reaches its explosive climax and the personal cost to Sam takes its toll, the shocking truth finally comes out.

You can buy it at Amazon (Kindle or paperback) and also Amazon UK (Kindle or paperback).

This is actually the second book in Merita’s series…

Introduction to The Sinclair V-Logs

 

The Sinclair V-Logs is a series of personal video logs, made by Sam Sinclair, Freelance Law Enforcer with the Inter-Galactic Law Enforcement Agency.  In his own words, Sam recounts the more memorable of his experiences during his twenty years working for the Agency.  He shares his adventures with honesty and humour, and as he becomes comfortable telling his story, we learn more about the man himself.  Despite the dangers of his profession, Sam is sensitive and dedicated to maintaining his own code of standards.

This second volume in the Sinclair V-Logs series sees Sam journey to Deligon 2, far across the galaxy.  Sent on an undercover mission to investigate the Calmarin Research Station, he and his new partner soon discover something that endangers not only their own lives, but those of everyone on the planet.

Come, share the journey with Sam Sinclair.

 

And here’s an excerpt for you…

Thirty minutes later I was kitted up and had received a huge welcome from Essy, involving lots of face licking and belly rubs and both of us were standing outside Spurrell’s office. I raised my hand to knock but a thought raced through my mind and I looked at Essy.

“I need you to obey me without question tonight baby,” I sent her the thought and she looked up at me, her eyes focussed in that way I had come to recognise as understanding. “I will ask you to do some things that are a little different from our normal work but I need you to trust me and obey.” We locked eyes and I knew she understood and I breathed a sigh of relief as I knocked on Spurrell’s door.

“Come in Joss,” he said as he stepped aside. “Thanks once again for coming in at such short notice.”

“No problem,” I replied. “What’s the panic? You said there was an accident?”

“Yes, one of our latest umm, patients went a bit crazy and injured a couple of our security guys. It started a bit of a riot and we had to lock the place down to contain it.”

“Oh I see. Are the guys okay?”

“Yeah, they’ll live. They’re in the infirmary now. It took several guys to hold the patient down so we could get some sedative into him. He’s calm now.”

“Where would you like me to begin my patrol Sir?”

“If you go and relax for a while and maybe begin at eight? Is that okay with you?”

“Of course Boss.”

“Thanks. You’ll be starting with the patient’s cubicles tonight so report there for duty at eight okay?”

“Yes Sir,” I nodded and turned to leave, Essy at my heels as always. I raced back to the staff accommodation and went into the same room I had used the week before. First, I called Marlo and asked if Ren had got home okay. His reply chilled me to the bone.

“He never arrived home Joss. We’re worried sick.”

“Oh shit no,” I said as I remembered my conversation with Spurrell just minutes before. “I think they have him prisoner here. Oh fuck I have to get him out of here.”

“What can we do?”

“Get to the tunnels as quick as you can and wait for my call. I’m going to call in the troops now, which will mean we have two hours until the shit hits the fan.”

“Okay, I’ll round everyone up and we’ll be there within the hour. Be safe buddy.”

I then called the troops, gave them the details, and heard the siren going off in the background as I spoke with their commander.

“We’ll be with you in two hours Joss. Just hold on. We’ll have you both out of there, I promise.”

Another call to Kobey sent him into a panic, which did not surprise me knowing his obsession with schedules. He rose to the occasion though and said he would do what he could with the guards he had on duty and promised the troops would not encounter any problems when they arrived. The next two hours dragged by, the slowest two hours of my entire life and I spent every minute worrying for Ren. Eventually I couldn’t stand it any longer and reported for duty fifteen minutes early. Spurrell was in the patient cubicle when I arrived and smiled when he saw me enter.

“Hello there Joss, nice to see you eager for work tonight. Come and meet the source of all our problems.”

I sent a thought to Essy as I walked to the end of the narrow corridor lined with patient cubicles.

“Be ready girl, watch my back.” She slowed her pace a tiny bit and fell into line behind me. I reached the cubicle at the end of the corridor and slowly turned to look through the glass partition wall. He was hunched on the floor, one knee drawn up, his head resting in his hand. Bloodied scraps of cloth dotted around the small cubicle explained why he was shirtless, the bruises already forming over his chest and shoulders telling me of a severe beating.

I leapt forward and banged on the glass.

“Ren, buddy. What the fuck? Why is he being held here? He’s my friend, he works here. I don’t understand. What the fuck is going on?” I yelled at Spurrell, who took a step back from my angry onslaught. I heard growls from behind me and turned to see Essy holding off an approaching lab guy who wielded a huge injector. Instinct drove my hand to my tranquiliser pistol, hidden beneath my jacket and shot Spurrell at point blank range. He was unconscious within twenty seconds and I turned back to see how Essy was doing. The lab guy was retreating towards the door at the far end. He didn’t make it; the sedative dart ensuring he was out cold before he was halfway there. I turned back to Ren, who was almost unconscious in his prison.

“I’ll be back for you buddy, I promise.” I called Essy and together, we raced out into the corridor.

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When Characters Attack!

When Characters Attack!

I wrote this up for the recent blog tour for my books, but I figured I’d share it here as well.  What happens when characters take on a life – and minds – of their own?

I’ve been asked, just like pretty much every other writer, do my characters ever “take over” and do things I don’t expect?  I can’t speak for anyone else, but my answer is: absolutely, yes they do.

There’ve been countless times in the five (so far) books that my characters have gone off in directions that I didn’t plan; and also several occasions where characters simply demanded more “screen time” and importance than I’d planned to give them.

One of them is Sara’s mother-in-law, Helen Alderson.  She’s got only one scene in “Dream Student,” and she’s mainly there to provide a small roadblock in Sara’s otherwise easy romance with Brian.  She doesn’t appear at all in the second book, except for a couple of mentions in passing.  But she’s got a big role in the third book, “Dream Child” – and it wasn’t really meant to be so big, but she kept pushing.  It wasn’t until I’d finished the book that I realized I was unconsciously modeling her character on Emily Gilmore from “Gilmore Girls” – and then her pushiness made perfect sense!

The entire fourth book was the result of Sara reacting in a way I didn’t really expect.  The original plot for the book was that Sara would meet a rival; someone else who shared her talent for stepping into other people’s dreams, but who used her talent for selfish, evil purposes.  I planned that somewhere in the second half of the book, as a minor obstacle to dealing with her nemesis, Sara would find herself spending a night in jail.  I thought it would be more of a distraction for her, and in the end something she could laugh off, but once I started thinking about it, Sara rebelled, and the scene became much longer, and much darker.  And Sara went right off the deep end.

I realized the scene had to come at the beginning of the book, and that the story of the book would be what was done to Sara in that one night, and how (or even if) she could recover from it.  In the course of her attempts to recover, I actually overruled Sara on one thing.  One of the signs that she was still not coping with what she’d been through was her inability to put her wedding ring back on (after she’d been forced to remove it in jail).  At one point, Sara was going to break her own ring finger to give herself an excuse to keep it off, but I just couldn’t bring myself to go that far.  I’m still not sure what I think about that decision; the story was dark enough already that it didn’t need to go any further, but at the same time, it’s what the character “wanted” to do and maybe I should have let her.

Before I started writing the first book, I never took it seriously when writers said that their characters took on a life of their own.  But Sara and Brian and their friends have taught me better…

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A sign from Heaven (or at least the mailman)?

A sign from Heaven (or at least the mailman)?

So I think this has to be some sort of good omen for my books. In the mail last night, I got something from my alma mater, Case Western Reserve University.

That’s not really out of the ordinary. But what IS, is that it’s about the medical school, which I have no connection to whatsoever. And what makes it doubly odd is the subject. It’s an invitation to an event at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

What does that have to do with anything? Well, if you’ve read “Dream Doctor” (or at least read my endless blathering about it here and elsewhere), you know that my heroine, Sara, attended medical school at “Crewe University”, which is basically Case Western with the names slighly changed. And if you’ve read the book after that in the series, “Dream Child,” you know that Sara does her residency at – you guessed it – Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Is this a sign that the books are going to really take off (hopefully some time in the near future)? Am I going to be seeing sales in the tens or hundreds instead of one at a time? Will the Hallmark Movie Channel be contacting me with offers and five-figure (or even low six-figure checks)?

Or was it just completely random? I know what I’m hoping for!

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