Ascended Book Blast

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Read about an exciting new novel and enter to win a $25 Amazon gift card below.

Ascended: The Cantati Chronicles

War. It’s here. The last war of mankind. The winner takes Earth as its prize.

 

My name is Alana Devereaux. I am an elite Cantati Forces Lieutenant from Earth’s desolate future. I was sent back through time to save your world. My mission to stop the Mutari faltered. Demons infiltrated our world when the walls between Earth and Infernus fell. Millions died in the first volleys.

 

The Mutari changed me on an elemental level and my new powers scare the bloody daylights out of me. Formorian Hunters are closing in on my trail with a singular goal, to enact the death warrant placed on my head by their Queen. Now I am running for my life, on a quest to discover a way to kill an immortal on a power trip, stuck between mortal enemies, and everyone else wants me dead.

 

Excerpt

Choices had consequences. Mine had.

What the hell was I? Human? Cantati? Demon?

I didn’t know. Not anymore. The game board of my life had been upended, and I was still trying to make sense of the scattered pieces.

Until yesterday, I believed I was the last of my kind. A Cantati warrior from the Earth’s desolate future sent eightythree years into the past to stop the Mutari. The Mutari happened every few thousand years. When it did, Earth aligned with six planets in our solar system, creating a seventy-twohour eclipse on Earth. It was also when the walls between the dimensions were at their most vulnerable and could be fully breached. While portals could be opened from time to time, they were marginal in size and couldn’t remain open for extended periods. At least, not long enough to allow an army to march through.

Drystan, lord of the dimension Infernus, had used a tiny amount of my blood. And by tiny, I mean drops that Gaelen’s bastard of a brother, Maddock, had stolen from me. Drystan used it to sever the walls between our worlds and give his armies free rein to invade our planet.

We were lucky. He didn’t have massive amounts of my blood. Which was why the human world’s existence limped on. Otherwise, we’d be hip-deep in Drystan’s demon soldiers. And I’d be dead, so it would be a moot point, for me at least.

Thousands still made it through the breeches before the energy of my lifeblood was exhausted. Which meant I failed my mission. When my father, general and commander of the Cantati Forces worldwide, sent me back through time, using a Moldevian orb and incantation devised by our Coven, my objective was to stop Drystan and keep the human race from fading into extinction.

About the Author

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Maggie grew up listening to Cardinals baseball and reading anything she could get her hands on. She remembers her mother saying if only she would read the right type of books instead binging her way through the romance aisles at the bookstore, she’d have been a doctor. While Maggie never did get that doctorate, she graduated cum laude from the University of Missouri-St. Louis with an M.A. in History.

Maggie is a bestselling and award-winning author published in multiple fiction genres. She also writes erotic romance under the name Anya Summers. A total geek at her core, when she is not writing, she adores attending the latest comic con or spending time with her family. She currently lives in the Midwest with her two furry felines.

Visit her website here: www.maggiemaegallagher.com

Visit her on social media here:

Facebook: FB.me/MagMaeGallagher
Twitter: @magmaegallagher
BN: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ascended-maggie-mae-gallagher/1126134540
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Ascended-Cantati-Chronicles-Maggie-Gallagher/dp/0991481747/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1

Don’t miss these exciting titles by Maggie Mae Gallagher!

The Mystic Series

REMEMBER ME
CASKET GIRL

The Cantati Chronicles

RUPTURED
ANOINTED
ASCENDED

And if you like your romance with a bit of spice and kink be sure to check out Maggie Mae Gallagher writing as Anya Summers!

The Dungeon Fantasy Club Series

HER HIGHLAND MASTER, Book 1
TO MASTER AND DEFEND, Book 2
TWO DOMS FOR KARA, Book 3
HIS DRIVEN DOMME, Book 4
HER COUNTRY MASTER, Book 5
LOVE ME, MASTER ME, Book 6
SUBMIT TO ME, Book 7
HER WIRED DOM, Book 8

Maggie Mae will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Favorite Character Tuesday: Harry Dresden

Jamie Marchant Posted on by

My favorite character of all time is probably Harry Dresden from Jim Butcher’s fantasy series, The Dresden Files. Harry has everything needed for a great character. A great character needs to be someone you think could truly exist. Harry Dresden is definitely someone you can relate to and imagine knowing and liking. In the first book in the series, Harry is a rather unsuccessful wizard for hire. He spends most the time in his office reading paperback novels. But he grows and changes throughout the series. By the twelfth book in the series, Changes, to save his daughter, he becomes the Winter Knight working for Mab, the Queen of Air and Darkness. He tries to commit suicide to get out of this arrangement because he fear becoming corrupted. As the series continues, we see him fight against this corruption. The series is now fifteen books long, and he hasn’t grown the least bit stale like some characters in due in long series. I wait impatiently for each new installment in the series and devour them once I have my hands on them. He practices cool magic, and he’s very good at it, but it doesn’t always get him out of a jam. Sometimes he needs to use other resources or be rescued by others. Sometimes he simply fails, as all of us do at times. He tries to do the right thing, but like all real people, he is flawed. He sometimes makes serious mistakes. It can tell him awhile to realize what he’s done wrong, and those realization can be devastating. He fights authority and hates bullies. He has a sarcastic sense of humor, and it can get him into trouble at times. He is a great friend to have. And most importantly, he owns a cat. How can you not love a cat lover? If you haven’t read any of the Dresden Files, you are missing out on some great reads. The Amazon link to the first book in the series is below to get you started. If you’ve read these books, leave a comment on your opinion of Harry Dresden.

 

Maid of Ice Cover Reveal

Jamie Marchant Posted on by
MAID OF ICE
by Shona Husk
Pub. Date: 11/21/2017
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Stalkers and death threats . . .
For Finlay Ryder, danger means playing a racecar driver on a daytime
soap. That is, until he’s forced to reckon with his true identity
as an Albah, a magical ancient race, by one of his own kind. Someone
wants him dead. And worse, an ancient vampire is on the prowl,
drawing blood left and right. Now, Finlay has no choice but to hunt
enemies with unspeakable powers—or risk being hunted himself…
…and that’s just the first date
Ice skater Alina Nyx is using her broken wrist as an excuse for a career
change. And when she falls for handsome Finlay, Albah drama feels
like her new full-time job. Learning about magic and vampires is
exciting, until her life is threatened. Now, as she begins to uncover
her own mysterious powers, she must combine forces with Finlay to
eradicate their foes for good, or all Albah will suffer…
Shona Husk lives in Western Australia at the edge of the Indian Ocean. Blessed with a
lively imagination she spent most of her childhood making up stories.
As an adult she discovered romance novels and hasn’t looked back.
With over forty published stories, ranging from sensual to scorching,
she writes contemporary, paranormal, fantasy, and sci-fi romance.

Litha, the Summer Solstice

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Being about half a Celt (Irish, Scottish, and Welsh ancestry), I’ve always been fascinated by Celtic culture and the druids; a religion based in nature is badly needed in our modern world. (The druid practice of human sacrifice is greatly debated by scholars. Many believe they only resorted to it when they came under extreme threat from the Saxon invasion.) Because of my fascination with the Celts, in my Kronciles of Korthlundia series, I looked to ancient Celtic traditions for inspiration. While I changed and adapted them for my purposes and by no means claim to have remained faithful to ancient tradition or their modern pagan adaptions, all the holidays in Korthlundia have a Celtic origin. Korthlundia has four major holidays throughout the year–Litha, Mabon, Solstice, and Ostara. Today, I start a series of posts dedicated to explaining how holidays are celebrated in Korthlundia, starting with Litha. To learn more about how the ancient Celts or modern pagans celebrate these holidays, this is a good site: Celtic Holidays.

Litha

Litha is the summer solstice, a time to celebrate the fruitfulness of the earth. The people from nobles to peasant get together in groups to gather flowers, greenery, and wild herbs. They use them to decorate everything from the shrines, the palace, shops, their homes, and even themselves. The night is spent in dancing. They attend the temple or shrines “celebrate her [the goddess’s] blessings, purify our hearts, and express our faith in the promise of the harvest to come.”  They are cleansed with the water of new life and partake of the first fruits of summer. In the capital of Murtaghan the festival is even more majestic with flowers decorating the streets and even baked into the pastries. Vendors and street performers fill the streets, and at midday everyone gathers in the city square where the crown princess blesses the community garden as “a sign of [the goddess’s] blessings upon this land and this people.” The night is spent in dancing.

 

Writing Tips: 4 Rules of World Building

Jamie Marchant Posted on by

One thing readers of fantasy look for is a journey to a magical world that is unlike the mundane world we all inhabit, so building that world is one of the most important tasks of a fantasy writer and also one of the most fun. There are two basic types of world builders, sometimes called architects and gardeners.

Architects

Before they even begin to write the story, an architect takes days, weeks, months outlining every intricate detail of their world from economics to politics to magic. They will create whole notebooks full of climate data, geography, types of inhabitants, religious systems, and even holidays. There are two basic dangers to this type of world building. The first is using it as an excuse to delay beginning the actual story. It can become a distraction/procrastination tactic to combat a writer’s anxiety about whether or not they are truly good enough to be a writer. (An anxiety nearly all writers share.) So a writer needs to know when to stop world building and start writing. The second danger is to use every detail imagined within the novel itself. You spent time creating it, so you need to share it, right? Wrong. The writer will always know more about the world that actually appears in the story itself. As an author, you only reveal as much of your world as the reader needs to know. The details of the world should emerge gradually as they are needed for plot and character development, not be dumped on the reader because the writer created a cool aspect of their world that doesn’t matter to the story itself.

Gardeners

The second type of world builder is often called a gardener. A gardener will have the seeds or the very basics of their world in mind and allow that world to grow as they write the story. They don’t know everything about their world when they begin, but allow it to emerge as the story needs it. This type of world builder also faces potential problems. The first is a shallow or insufficient developed world with too many aspects of it unexplored. A shallow world will not satisfy the reader. The second problem is continuity errors. The author may claim one thing about the religion on page 5 that is contradicted by the scene on page 94 that doesn’t mesh with what they bring out on page 296.

Either method can work and work beautifully as long as the author is aware of the dangers and guards against them. The problems of both methods will be inevitable in the first draft and is one of the many tasks that will need to be addressed in revision.

Suspension of Disbelief

Some people believe that since they are creating something that doesn’t exist, they can do anything they want with it. This is true only to an extent. When you are creating a new world, you are asking your readers to suspend their disbelief for the length of the story. The reader knows that dragons and magic don’t exist, but during the time they are emerged in your story, they should be willing to pretend they do. In creating a suspension of disbelief, the author will find the reader a willing accomplice. Fantasy readers come to a fantasy novel with an absolute willingness to loose themselves in a make-believe world. If they didn’t want to temporarily believe in unicorns and fairies, they would have chosen a different genre. But the reader will turn against the author if the author doesn’t create a believable world, and once a reader loses their suspension of disbelief, it is almost impossible to get back. They probably won’t finish the current novel, and they certainly won’t read another by the same author.

4 Rules of World Building

So how does an author keep the readers’ suspension of disbelief? The following 4 rules lay that out. (Note: The only unbreakable rule of writing is, does it work? However, if these rules are followed, it will work most of the time.)

Rule #1:

Your world needs consistent rules. Unicorns can’t be drawn only to virgins at one point in the story and then come to your non-virgin main character at the moment she has need of a unicorn. Dragons can’t need 100 lbs of meat a day, but exist in a desert without much life. Fantasy doesn’t mean illogical. Readers will readily believe something that they know not to be true, but they will balk at anything that insults their sense of logic.

Rule #2:

Anything in your world that also exists in the real world either needs to be consistent with what the reader knows of reality or have an explanation for why it isn’t. So if you’re including such aspects that you have little experience with, you need to research them. One glaring examples of this problem are horses. Horses are a staple of epic fantasy, but few in the modern world have had much interaction with horses. They aren’t like cars with legs, which you can ride all day with only brief stops to load them with fuel and simply park and forget about at night. They are living beings that need a lot of care and have restrictions on their physical strength and endurance. If you are going to include horses in your world, make sure you understand horses.

Rule #3:

Include diverse people. No group of people (or elves, fairies, or dwarfs) is all good or all bad. If you have a large enough group, you will some assholes in the mix, some truly caring and good people, and a whole lot of people with varying degrees of assholeness and niceness. Nor will they all think, believe, or act the same way. You may decide in your world that dwarfs are obsessed with mining gold and gems, but if your novel has a large enough sample of dwarfs, there should be some who prefer to play the lute or carve pictures into the rock walls of the caves. A society of only knights and nobles also couldn’t exist. It would also need farmers and artisans.

Rule #4:

Your world needs to be structured in such a way that it addresses real world realities, such as food, clothing, shelter. If a society is to exist, human needs must be met. If they aren’t, society is unstable and won’t last long.

What’s your favorite fantasy world? Please tell us in the comments below.

Guest Author, Lisa Colodny

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Welcome my guest today, author Lisa Colodny. Be sure to comment below. I love to hear your opinions.

Lisa Robin Phillips Colodny was born and grew up in the rural countryside of Kentucky. She attended the University of Kentucky and Broward College in Fort Lauderdale, graduated with a Doctorate in Pharmacy from Nova Southeastern University in 1994 and later obtained an MBA in 2004. Her non fiction publishing history includes approximately 34 publications in the health and science industry and 5 book contributions (also medical). Additionally, she’s been interviewed for 15 television programs or newspaper articles and participated in over 50 healthcare related speaking events. Fiction publishing history includes a short story publication (My Name is Edith) for the Broward College newspaper and an X-files story (H2O)that appeared in a magazine entitled to the Fullest X tent in 1997. In 2014 the fictional story The Town Time Forgot was published and is currently still available. In 2015 she published a children’s story, Ms Abrams Everything Garden, which received the Purple Dragonfly award in June 2016 from Five Star Publications. Current projects include a second children’s story, Jericho Alley, which focus on the homeless and “Yellow River Pledge” (a fictional piece currently being edited). A third novel, Sanctuary Road, is currently in the works as is another children’s story.

Interview

  1. What made you want to become a writer?

I don’t ever really remember actually deciding I wanted to write. I’ve always loved to write whether it was summarizing the daily events of The Young and the Restless or writing short stories about growing up with my cousins. When I was a sophomore in high school, I made an active decision to actually pen a fictional story. It wasn’t very good, but I did enjoy writing it. Years later when I wrote Town Time Forgot, I used several “scenes” from that story of so long ago.

  1. What are your biggest literary influences? Favorite authors and why?

I read Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier when I was much younger, and it blew my mind to find out how much the new husband of the main character actually hated and despised his deceased first wife.  I enjoy Janice Holt Giles method of telling a story and how authentic her characters are. All of her books are on my list. Years ago during my divorce, I could swear Elizabeth Berg was bugging my house because so much of what was going on with her character, I was able to relate to. I love all kinds of books, historical, fictional, Xfiles, and paranormal phenomenon.

  1. Could you tell us a bit about your most recent book?

Town Time Forgot is centered around a male NY city police detective and a female US Marshall who are thrown together to transport a somewhat notorious criminal from NYC to Washington state. In route, they are intercepted and the prisoner taken by force. Injured and left for dead, aid is rendered by a farmer and his wife. When things settle, they’ve been transported back in time to 1869 Nebraska. It’s  a long story with three distinct sections settling into life in 1869, returning to present time, and then escaping the killer who was followed them home. I was very pleased with the 4/4 stars it received from onlinebookclub.org.

  1. Of all the characters you have created, which is your favorite and why?

That’s kind of like asking you to pick a favorite child. All of the women in my stories are strong, even when their world is falling down around them. Since Devon McKenzie was my first, I’d have to say she’s my favorite. I like that she’s strong when she needs to be, yet weak (almost child –like) at other times. My favorite trait of hers is that she never gives up on herself or those she cares about.

  1. Do you have a day job in addition to being a writer?  If so, what do you do during the day?

I have a Doctorate in Pharmacy and an MBA. I work in a within the pharmacy of a community hospital. When I’m not at work, I’m working with my daughter’s Girl Scout troop or the Youth groups at church.

  1. Tell us a little about your plans for the future.  Do you have any other books in the works?

Last year, I published a children’s book, Ms Abrams’ Everything Garden, which won the Purple Dragonfly Award from Five Star Publications. I have a second children’s book, Jericho Alley, which is with the Illustrator right now and another fictional story, Yellow River Pledge, that’s being edited. Currently, I’m in the very early chapters of a third fictional story, Sanctuary Road and penned some note for another children’s story. I hope to find more time in 2017 to write.

Where can we find you online?

Blog: http://sbprabooks.com/lisacolodny
Website: http://www.lisacolodny.com/
Facebook: /lisa.colodny.5
Twitter: @colodny_lisa
Amazon: amazon.com/author/lisacolodny

The Town Time Forgot

Author Lisa Colodny has pulled it all together in her 700-page saga that starts in modern day New York City, as U.S. Marshal Devon McKenzie and NYCDetective Chris Gates are transporting a well-known prisoner along the interstate. The two have nevergotten along and are squabbling as usual when their prisoner is forcefully removed from their custody. Their vehicle is wrecked and the officers are injured. This all happens on a night when the Aurora Borealis is at its brightest. Devon and Chris spend the next three days surviving in an isolated wilderness area. When they come upon a farmer, they discover they’ve been transported back in time to 1869 Nebraska. Devon and Chris are assumed to be a married couple, so they play along until they can figure out how to getback to their own time. Three months pass and the two fall in love, but will they spend the rest of their lives in the past – or will they make it home –with their romance intact? Travel back with them to The Town Time Forgot.

Excerpt

Devon supposed she could just tell them the truth. It would only take a few minutes to explain how she and Gates were pretending to be married and playing roles and everything else that went along with it. She bit her lip to distract herself from the tears welling in her eyes. It might actually be a relief to admit how awkwardly she felt, especially when Thomas Hayden Junior was nearby. Devon was used to being in control, especially when it came to her emotions. But here, everything was out of order. She was uncharacteristically not in control and it frightened her.

She couldn’t bring herself to respond to them truthfully. Instead, she wiped at the tears that ran quickly down her cheek.

Mrs. Ennis moved closer to Devon. “Honey, what’s this about?”

“I can’t do this anymore, I’m sorry.” She wiped at her tears. “I’m so scared, and I can’t keep pretending like I’m not. I’m afraid all the time, and I hate the way it makes me feel.” The tears fell more freely now, and she fought to get the words out. “I want the life I had before—I want it all back. And I don’t know how to get any of it back.” She turned and fled to the guesthouse, letting the back door of the Ennis’s kitchen snap loudly back into place.

Mr. and Mrs. Ennis stood quietly looking at the door as she let it shut behind her. Gabriel picked up the lunch buckets that Mrs. Ennis had prepared for him and Gates. “I don’t understand what this is all about. What’s wrong with her? Is she having second thoughts about being married?”

“I don’t know Gabriel. Maybe, or it could be something else. She’s been through a lot the last few days. “

“Something else?”

“Just let her settle down and I’ll talk to her.” She kissed him on his cheek and ushered him out the door.

***

As he approached the field, he could see Gates with his jacket off and hat pulled down tight against his head. He had attached the plow to his horse and was plowing an irrigation ditch through the field from end to end by the river. Gates was pushing the animal with such intensity that Gabriel knew what was on his mind. Gates waved to Gabriel as he hitched his horse to the closest tree. Gabriel held up the lunch pail and indicated for Gates to join him. Gates pulled the horse to a stop and walked toward him.

Gates pointed to where the horse was standing by the plow. “It can’t be time for lunch already.” He looked up to the sky as if to validate his statement about the earliness of the hour.

“Edith sent you some breakfast in with lunch; you left so early this morning.” He leaned against a tree, its bark thick and uneven. “You okay? Devon mentioned that there was some trouble in town last night.”

Gates sat down on the cool ground and peeked into the pail, pulling out an egg sandwich. “What did she say?” he asked, stuffing an edge of the sandwich in his mouth.

Gabriel pulled out a knot of twisted tobacco leaf and bit off a piece. He chewed roughly on the knot then spat. “She said something happened with Thomas Junior and that y’all left town early.”

 

If you like what you’ve read, comment below.

A Vampire’s Tale Blog Tour

Jamie Marchant Posted on by

Maya Tyler, wife and mother of two boys, writes paranormal romance with a twist. Her debut novella Dream Hunter was released in December 2014. Her second novel A Vampire’s Tale released on March 22, 2017. She’s a romantic and believes in happily-ever-after. Being an author is her lifelong dream. She enjoys reading, music (alternative rock, especially from the 90’s), yoga, movies and TV, and spending her free time writing and blogging at Maya’s Musings.

Interview

1. Tell us a little about yourself?

Married with two young sons, I spend most of my time focused on family. We have a lot of fun together, reading, watching superhero movies, playing board games and Lego, and taking nature hikes. In my spare time, I enjoy reading, writing, going to rock concerts and live theatre. I wish I was a better cook, but I enjoy baking. I also enjoy my morning coffee…and my afternoon coffee… and a sweet or two or three.

2. Tell us something about how you write? i.e. are you a plotter or a pantser? Do you have any weird or necessary writing habits or rituals?

I am a total pantser. Every other facet of my life is so organized and scheduled, as much as a family with young children can be. I write sporadically. I don’t plot. When a story idea pops into my head, the characters emerge as well and I follow their lead. In the past I have tried to outline, but it felt forced and stalled my creativity. so I ended up abandoning the idea.

3. Could you tell us a bit about your most recent book? 

A Vampire’s Tale is a full-length paranormal romance novel. The heroine Marisa Clements is a struggling author. She writes genre fiction – paranormal romance novels about vampires – to pay her bills. But she doesn’t believe in vampires. The hero Corgan Halton is an ancient vampire with a finite mission. He wants to tell the world his story and then end his unnatural existence. He sees Marisa playing an important role in his future and selects her to author his tale. Corgan’s presence places Marisa in danger from his enemies cascading them into a journey filled with danger, venomous vampires, and a wizard or two.

4. What was the hardest part of writing your book? 

I find the most difficulty in revising my work. At the editing stage, my editor recommended I omit several scenes involving insignificant, secondary characters. I took her advice, but deleting these scenes resulted in revisions in a number of other scenes which referenced those characters. Any revision is difficult because you are invested in your work. Rewriting, essentially, a portion of A Vampire’s Tale was very time-consuming and emotionally draining for me. I was very pleased with the end result which was a definite improvement to the previous version.

5. What is your favorite writing tip or quote? 

I enjoy reading the #writetip posts on Twitter. As writers, we are adept observers of life. There is much wisdom and insight to be found in simple observations like the one below.

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” – Maya Angelou

Author Links:

A Vampire’s Tale

 

The best laid plans…

Marisa Clements was never satisfied writing the ‘gossip column’ in the local paper so she quit her job to follow her dream of writing fiction. Floundering in an unforgiving industry, she wrote about vampires, a popular subject she considered fascinating but as real as unicorns, to pay the rent.

Corgan Halton was tired of human misconceptions about vampires. He planned on telling Marisa his story and end his existence. It was no coincidence Corgan selected Marisa to write his story. With the ability to see the future, he knew she would be a major part of it. He knew she would be the one to help him die, but in doing so, she’d be doomed to the same fate. Once they met, their futures would be irrevocably intertwined.

Corgan began caring for Marisa and finally revealed the truth to her. He admitted his quest to atone for his past sins had put her in grave danger from a nest of revenge-seeking vampires. Corgan must claim her for her own protection. But claiming her is not enough, he must ask for help from his wizard friends and his maker in order to destroy his enemy or Marisa will never be safe.

Excerpt

He didn’t have a name yet, but he had a face. A dark, mysterious face with a century’s worth of secrets. Secrets he would tell her, only her, if she would listen.

Marisa took a deep, calming breath. “I’m listening.” She closed her eyes, waiting. A cool breeze shifted her hair and her eyes popped open. The old floorboards creaked, and she spun her chair around. “Who’s there?” The candle blew out. “What the—”

Time—and her heartbeat—stood still. Paranoia set in, the consequence of writing too many vampire stories. She must’ve left a window open. Or something. She re-lit the candle and turned her attention back to her laptop, staring at the last words she’d typed.

Corgan Halton.

She didn’t remember typing that.

“Corgan Halton.” She said the name slowly. “I like that.” She’d written a dozen vampire stories and this would be her best name yet. It had an old-worldly feel to it. Like a real name. She’d
better look it up to make sure it wasn’t a real name; she didn’t need a lawsuit. Did people sue for name infringement?

“Okay, Corgan Halton. Are you real?” She typed the name into a search engine.

“As real as you are.” The distinctive male voice resonated in the otherwise quiet room.

Marisa froze. She didn’t dare turn around. It was her overactive imagination at play. There was no one there. She hoped. Maybe one of her friends? Is this a joke?

“Not a joke, Marisa.”

Gasping, she stood and spun around toward the sound of his voice.

As he stepped out of the shadows, she took in the man before her. Pale with black, curly hair, dressed in an impeccable suit. Dark and intimidating, he stood in her living room, shrinking
the already small space.

Exactly as she’d imagined. She conjured him from her imagination? No… This is not happening

Giveaway

Maya Tyler will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
 
 

 

 

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Ellis Morning’s Harbingers Book Tour

Jamie Marchant Posted on by

Welcome, Ellis Morning to my blog today, and enter to win a $20 Amazon gift card below. Be sure to give your opinions in the comments. I love hearing from you.

Harbingers

The Quest Continues To Stop A Killer “Curse!”

Dame Jessamine is a knight errant with a spaceship for a steed, a woman of science in a galaxy rife with superstition. Follow along as she continues her mission for truth within the barony of Nidaros!

A mysterious crop-withering blight spreads through the barony’s soil. The court magicians have blamed two siblings of spawning the crisis through witchcraft. Convinced of their innocence, Jessamine has rescued and now secretly harbors Verahl Naustvik aboard her spaceship. Meanwhile, his sister Thordia flees to the Harbinger, a crashed space station from the distant and more enlightened past.

Approaching the Harbinger is an act punishable by death, but Jessamine won’t let that stand in the way of a second rescue. Thordia, and the Harbinger’s surviving technological secrets, may be Nidaros’ only hope against the blight. Jessamine prepares to embark—only to be betrayed and set upon by vengeful court magicians.

Now, one wrong word or gesture will lead to deadly charges of witchcraft. Jessamine must protect the Naustviks and brave the Harbinger, all while striking a balance between ritual and reason. If she can’t maintain the peace long enough to discover a cure for the blight, the entire barony will starve—unless its far-off masters decide to “restore order” with military action first!

Harbingers is Book Two of the Sword and Starship series of science fiction/fantasy adventure.

Excerpt

Dag held silent. He was surely scowling at me, but I couldn’t see it and didn’t care. With my right arm, I lowered Ormyr to a seat against the rock again. His limbs obeyed, but he seemed absent mentally, eyes glazed over. I learned the hard way that he was still paying attention when his hand darted to the bolt in his thigh. He tore it out with one swift movement.

“Damn it!” I cried. It just figured he wouldn’t listen. This bit of stubbornness might’ve cost him his life. Heart pounding and hands shaking, I dug into my first aid kit for bandages.

“I’m uninjured.” Ormyr rested his head against the rock.

“I don’t need your denial on top of everything else,” I snapped, struggling to rein in my irritation. That, plus the fog and the dizziness? Not good signs, but I couldn’t worry about myself just then. “Dag, turn on that light again. I can’t see too well.”

“Gamla skíta,” Dag spat. “I’m not helping him!”

“No, you’re not. You’re showing him the power the Naustviks gave you.” There. Something to appeal to the kid’s bravado and sate Ormyr’s curiosity about how Dag had come to wield the Shipbuilder relic. But if Ormyr cared about such a thing at the moment, he gave no sign, his gaze remaining detached.

Dag edged over to my makeshift surgical arena. The bright light cut on again, which the boy aimed directly at Ormyr’s eyes at first. The master adept’s only response was to squint.

“Lower, Dag,” I said.

He complied. Eventually.

About the Author

Ellis has always loved staging adventures in her head before going to sleep each night. When she was twelve, she started putting these adventures on paper.

For the next twenty years, she wrote with varying degrees of seriousness, but always as a hobby. In that time, she fell in love with Mark Twain and Kurt Vonnegut, the original Star Trek series, and Mystery Science Theater 3000. Science fiction became her favorite domain to work in, but she also enjoyed reading fantasy, horror, Western, and detective stories, and incorporating their elements into her work. One of her favorite things to do was make people laugh.

Ellis denied being a writer for decades. But then she sold articles to The Daily WTF and a short story to Analog Science Fiction and Fact. After quitting her full-time job to finish her first novel, it was time to own up to writing as her calling. She’s currently an editor at The Daily WTF and having the time of her life penning novels and short stories.

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:

Google+: https://plus.google.com/+EllisMorning
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/EllisMorning
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7871892.Ellis_Morning

LINKS FOR BUYING THE BOOK:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MZA1BP3
Nook (B&N): http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/harbingers-ellis-morning/1125466299?ean=2940157321758
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/harbingers-2
iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1194116553

Interview

  1. Tell us a little about yourself?

Hi, and thanks for hosting me! I’ve lived in Arkansas, Texas, Michigan, and upstate New York, but have spent most of my life in Pittsburgh, PA. Growing up, I was focused on school and getting an IT-related job, and had many little creative side-outlets that I always thought would be nothing more than hobbies. Now, everything’s turned on its head: I write full-time and have left the rat race comfortably in my rear-view mirror! Novels consume the majority of my attention these days. I also write and edit for The Daily WTF (www.thedailywtf.com), a humor website dedicated to sharing the horrors of IT work. I’m married, and my husband and I have one dear little cat/mischief-maker.

  1. Could you tell us a bit about your most recent book?

Harbingers is Book 2 in the Sword and Starship series. It follows the adventures of Dame Jessamine, a galaxy-faring knight errant in a universe where superstition is rampant, but magic doesn’t actually exist (like ours!). She’s on a quest to save a barony and its people from a crop malady that’s been blamed on a “witch’s curse” when it’s actually anything but. Meanwhile, the science and reason she relies on can get her in trouble with the authorities if she’s not careful!

Book 1, Blood’s Force (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B015TUD5BG), offers mystery and investigation. Harbingers has more payoff. There’s still plenty of adventure left over for Book 3, which I’m working on right now.

  1. If you could have dinner (and dessert) with any fictional character who would it be and why?

Probably the second Doctor from Doctor Who, played by Patrick Troughton. He’s always been my favorite for seeming like a fool, when in fact he’s the smartest man in the room. He exudes an energy and charisma that not only made his character fun to watch, but also kept Doctor Who alive. Think about it: if he’d sucked, Doctor Who would’ve never survived past the 1960s!

  1. What is the biggest surprise that you experienced after becoming a writer?

That the novel is a completely different beast from the short story and requires a lot more planning and attention to detail. I didn’t start out as a plotter, but I’ve become one out of necessity.

  1. What is your favorite writing tip or quote?

Here are two, from my favorite writers:

“When I used to teach creative writing, I would tell the students to make their characters want something right away—even if it’s only a glass of water. Characters paralyzed by the meaningless of modern life still have to drink water from time to time.” – Kurt Vonnegut

“Substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very;’ your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.” – Mark Twain

  1. Tell us a little about your plans for the future. Do you have any other books in the works?

I intend to remain focused on writing novels. I’d like to close out Sword and Starship before starting anything else. Book 3 is in the works right now, and I’m not sure yet how many books there will ultimately be. I’ll keep telling the story until it’s told!

Occasionally, I take a break to write short stories as ideas strike. I give a free collection of short stories to everyone who joins my mailing list: http://eepurl.com/K7D1L

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Daughter of Aithne Book Blast

Jamie Marchant Posted on by

Betrayed by her own prodigy, Eolyn stands accused of treason. As power-hungry nobles dismantle her life’s work and honor, the desperate queen forges a risky alliance with the ruthless and cunning Mage Corey. Determined to defend her son’s claim to the throne of the Mage King, Eolyn prepares for her last and greatest battle, this time against her own sisters in magic.

 

Across the Furma River, Taesara of Roenfyn is drawn out of seclusion and into an ever-more vicious game of intrigue and war. Subject to the schemes of a shrewd uncle and the mysterious ambitions of the wizards of Galia, Taesara struggles to assert her own destiny, even as she takes up arms to defend her daughter’s inheritance.

 

In the climactic finale to The Silver Web trilogy, threads of love, honor, betrayal, and vengeance culminate in a violent conflict between powerful women, opposed to each other yet destined to shatter a thousand-year cycle of war.

 

“A tale of female oppression, prejudice, and even deadly seduction, EOLYN touches on issues that are deeply relevant to our own society.” -Apex Reviews review of EOLYN, Book One of the Silver Web

 

“The story’s greatest triumph is Gastreich’s prose, a consistent blend of lyrical verse and dark imageray….Lush, evocative descriptions carry readers through an unforgettable journey.” –Kirkus Reviews review of SWORD OF SHADOWS, Book Two of The Silver Web”

Excerpt

 

Taesara stiffened as Penamor took her chin in his fingers and subjected her to cold inspection. After a moment, his frown deepened and he shook his head. “Only the Sisters of the Poor could take a woman at the height of her flower and turn her into a dried-up weed.”

Taesara bristled. “There is no place for vanity within these walls.”

“Apparently not. They’ve made you skinny and sallow. Though it is nothing, I’ll wager, that a bit of sun and some proper food cannot remedy. What are these rags they dress you in?”

She stepped away, clenching her jaw. “This is all I need. All anyone needs, to live at peace in this world.”

Penamor snorted. “Indeed.”

“Why are you here?”

“I’ve come to fetch you home.”

“This is my home.”

“I am not going back.”

“Oh, but I think you will.” Penamor spoke with an odd tone, at once menacing and full of promise. “War is at hand, and you will be the one to lead it.”

Taesara forced a laugh. “You know I will have no part of it. Eliasara would die at their hands if we so much as—”

“They do not have Eliasara,” he said. “We do.”

Shadows flashed through Taesara’s vision. She stumbled and caught hold of the back of a chair. A chasm opened inside her heart, swallowing the vines and trees with which she had concealed her love and pain during all these years. The bitter anguish of the day she was separated from Eliasara returned full force.

“Where is she? Where is my daughter?”

Author

Karin Rita Gastreich writes stories of ordinary women and the extraordinary paths they choose. She lives in Kansas City, Missouri, where she is part of the biology faculty at Avila University. An ecologist by vocation, Karin has wandered forests and wildlands all her life. Her pastimes include camping, hiking, music, and flamenco dance. In addition to THE SILVER WEB trilogy, Karin has published short stories in World Jumping, Zahir, Adventures for the Average Woman, and 69 Flavors of Paranoia. She is a recipient of the Spring 2011 Andrews Forest Writer’s Residency.

Website: http://krgastreich.com

Twitter: @EolynChronicles

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Eolyn-110814625640244/

The first book of the series, EOLYN, will be a FREE download on Kindle only on May 1.

Purchase link for EOLYN, Book One of THE SILVER WEB: http://www.amazon.com/Eolyn-Silver-Web-Book-1-ebook/dp/B01B8F4G50/

Purchase link for SWORD OF SHADOWS, Book Two of THE SILVER WEB: https://www.amazon.com/Sword-Shadows-Silver-Web-Book-ebook/dp/B01G5L1GEG/

Purchase link for DAUGHTER OF AITHNE, Book Three of THE SILVER WEB: https://www.amazon.com/Daughter-Aithne-Silver-Web-Book-ebook/dp/B06WCZYRNW/

Giveaway

Karin will be awarding a $10 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
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Adamanta Release Tour

Jamie Marchant Posted on by

ADAMANTA

Season 1, Episode 1: Adamanta

by T. Y. Carew & Jess Mountifield

Genre: Science Fiction

 

A team of humans is willing to face almost insurmountable odds to save the human race from annihilation. But quite how safe from discovery and attack is the planet the research team has been secluded on?

Matt has spent her whole life helping her parents with research that could change the fate of the entire human race. She believes it’s time to take it to the next stage and use it in active combat, but is she really ready to join the war and fight for mankind?

Xander has dedicated his whole life to the military, keeping humans throughout the galaxy alive, no matter the risks. He’s struggling not to become disillusioned when, time and again, running away is the only option. Can he find the one thing humanity needs to turn the tide, and can he cope with that thing being a person?

 

“Come this way, Colonel, and we’ll get the demonstration underway,” Mr. Adair said, breaking into his inspection of the facility. He gave the man a brief nod, and allowed the scientists, followed closely by Drew, to lead the way.

“You said the metal can be used to harness brain-waves?” Drew said, speaking so fast Xander had to replay the question in his head to work out what had been asked.

“Yes. It is molded to a particular person’s thoughts and then responds to those thoughts. With some people it’s easier than with others, however.” The scientist grinned as they were led down a corridor and around a corner. The right hand side switched from the standard metal paneling to glass-filled sections running across the side of a training area. Inside, a young woman stood. She was barely above five foot, blindfolded, and her face was stern. Xander took in the array of dull gray short swords criss-crossing down her back. A matching small circle of the same sort of metal was fixed to her temple in line with her eyes, and several more were dotted about the floor, ceiling and walls.

Opposite them was a row of screens, each of them showing the picture of a camera feed that matched up with the dots around the room, except for one in the center that was almost black, but not quite the blank color when off.

“Our daughter, Mattie, will be demonstrating for you today. Of everyone here at the facility, she is the most proficient with the technology.” Mrs. Adair took a small step forward and pressed an intercom button on a small control panel set into the wall. “You ready, honey?”

Mattie gave an almost imperceptible nod but didn’t open her eyes. She then inhaled as her mom pressed a few more buttons. Three drones, designed to imitate Beltine Dairos, sprung from containers in the room and rushed the girl in the middle.

Still unable to see, she side-stepped the flailing arms of one as the two topmost swords in her stack of six flew out of the sheath and into her hands. Whirling, she cut down the second drone. The move was followed by a ducking roll underneath the live laser fire of the third. She landed in a crouch, facing it, and the sword flew in a straight line out of her hand to impale the drone right through its central nervous system. At the same time, another sword flew from the set on her back to block the downward strike of the first drone.

Xander’s mouth fell open as five small pellets darted out of a pocket on her thigh and tore into the circuits of the final drone standing. While Mattie stood up, the training robot hit the deck, sparking as the pellets ran a high voltage charge through it.

“Miss Adair!” her father yelled.

“Mattie?” Concern played in the mother’s voice, and Xander found himself wondering what had happened to make her parents cross with her after that demonstration. She evidently felt the same, as she ripped off her blindfold and looked their way. Immediately, the dark on the middle screen changed to a view of him, Drew and her parents through the glass that separated them. It was her own viewpoint on the display.

“What?” she asked when her father shook his head and her mother tutted.

“There was only meant to be one drone.”

“Why? I can handle five now. Three’s easy.” She grinned and nodded at Drew and Xander. Without her even looking, the swords moved around in the air until all of them were back in the holder strapped to her back. “Hi.”

“That was amazing,” Drew said before Xander could close his mouth and think of a suitable reply. Her smile widened, showing her teeth and lighting up her deep brown eyes.

“And live-fire, young lady… what were you thinking?” Mr. Adair said as he walked through the door that had just opened in one side of the room. Xander followed and went up to the nearest drone to inspect the damage Mattie had done. Mattie shrugged and walked over to him.

“How badly damaged is it?” she asked.

“Its circuits are probably fried.” Drew hurried to stand beside Mattie and gazed at her, still impressed.

“You punctured the right fluid system, too.” Xander straightened and met her gaze. While she stared up at him, the small metal pellets she’d fired at it worked back out of the holes to come together in a group in front of him. After a few seconds of holding them there, Mattie reached out with her hand and took hold.

“Wow.” Drew stared, wide-eyed.

 

releases May 8, 2017

 

The mining shafts on Kudos have been producing increasingly smaller quantities of the mind-controllable Adamanta, but when you’re fighting an undefeatable enemy you have to use every advantage you can gain.

Colonel Xander and his crew are there to secure as much of it as possible for the human military force. When an explosion traps three of the crew in the mine, the race is on to save them as well as ascertain whether the small operation is under attack from the formidable Beltine.

The explosion might have been written off as an accident if Marx, the Kudos safety engineer, hadn’t found evidence of Xander’s own transport pod having been rigged with enough explosive to destroy the whole mine and every breathing being in its vicinity.

Who would want Xander and his crew dead? And what deadly secrets does Marx harbor?

releases May 15, 2017

 

Xander’s new mission puts his crew into the path of a Beltine hive ship. No one has survived such an encounter before.

But then, no one else has highly skilled Adamanta-equipped fighters on board, either. Even so, choosing to pick a fight with the Beltine is not a clever idea. Will the humans make it out alive once they enter the lion’s lair?

Join Xander, Mattie and her friends on this fast-paced adventure to find out.

 

Episode 4 – Anathema – Coming July 15th 2017

Episode 5 – Coming September 15th 2017

Episode 6 – Coming November 15th 2017

If you want to make sure you don’t miss out, you can sign up for our newsletter here.

T. Y. Carew is the pen name for an entire group of authors. They’ve come together to write the Adamanta series and other works in the same universe. So far, they consist of Stephen P. Scott, Andrew Bellingham, Ella Medler and Jess Mountifield. They’re a quirky bunch of writers, with a variety of genres under their belt and different elements to their styles we’ll hope you agree make an interesting blend. One thing they definitely have in common is the love of diving into a book and going on an adventure, be that reading or writing one!

This episode was written by Jess Mountifield.

 

Jess was born in the quaint village of Woodbridge in the UK, has spent some of her childhood in the States and now resides near the beautiful Roman city of Bath. She lives with her husband, Phil, and her very dapsy cat, Pleaides.

During her still relatively short life Jess has displayed an innate curiosity for learning new things and has therefore studied many subjects, from maths and the sciences, to history and drama. Jess now works full time as a writer, incorporating many of the subjects she has an interest in within her plots and characters.

When she’s not working she can often be found with friends, enjoying a vast array of films, ice skating or trekking all over the English countryside.

You can find out more about the author and her upcoming projects by following her on twitter or facebook, or at her blog.

Facebook ✯ Website ✯ Twitter ✯ Goodreads ✯ Amazon

***WRITING OPPORTUNITY***

 

Would you like to write an Episode?

The Adamanta project is all go now. The first and second episodes are out on pre-order (and so will the third be very soon), and episodes 4 and 5 are almost ready. We’re going for 6 episodes a year, and we have one slot left for this year, and of course, spaces from next year onward.

We have collated an Author Info Pack, which you can look through if you are considering contributing to this ongoing series. Genre: sci-fi. Length of episode: 20k words approx. Stay in the Adamanta world, but write your story. You have a core of ready characters, but can write your own and use as many or few of the original ones as you like. We’ll need to keep the series consistent, but other than that you have space to play.

What we’re looking for: good story, good writing, adherence to deadlines and a willingness to help promote the whole series.

Ask EllaMedler@papergoldpublishing.com for the link to the Info Pack if you’d like to have a look.