Bewitching Book Tours Magazine April 2013

Bewitching Book Tours Magazine Issue 10 April 2013 Bewitching Book Tours Magazine is a publication of Bewitching Book Tours and Bewitching Books.

Editor: Roxanne Rhoads Design Editor and Layout: Lisa McGeen Contributors include Bewitching Book Tours Authors and Tour Hosts learn more at www.bewitchingbooktours.blogspot.com Submission details- for every issue we are accept: Articles- topics include writing, research, paranormal, vampires, advice for authors, publishing advice, and more Flash Fiction- paranormal and urban fantasy (for other genres please query) True tales of paranormal encounters Recipes Poetry Book reviews Please send submissions to RoxanneRhoads@bewitchingbooktours.com place “Bewitching Magazine Submission” in subject line Ad space rates are: $40 full page ad $20 half page ad $10 quarter page ad You can subscribe to this magazine at http://issuu.com/ bewitchingbooktours © Copyright 2013 Stock images from www.123rf.com

Contents Auntie Ann’s Homespun Advice AD Starring Interview Green Living Tips M.L. Ryan Interview Poetry Feature John Lansing Interview The Coven Excerpt To Tame A Montana Heart Excerpt Vampires in Fiction Stephanie Amox Interview Monthly Feature - Angel Bait Can I Use Law of Attraction to Boost Book Sales?

Soul Awakening Excerpt Tarot in Fiction Midnight Fire Spotlight Undercover Excerpt Jabin and the Space Pirates Review Who Is Candid? Excerpt The Naughty Nook Ruby Excerpt Hidden Depths Excerpt

4 6 8 10 16 18 20 26 30 32 36 42 44 50 52 54 56 59 62 64 67

Happy Spring, Everyone.

The top issues this month are relationships and the economy. It won’t come as a surprise that money and children are the primary things couples argue about. Thanks for allowing me to share your lives. Keep those letters coming. ann@anngimpel.com Dear Auntie Ann, My husband lost his job as an IT professional almost a year ago. At first we thought he’d be able to pick up another one easily, but months have passed. He’s sent out close to a hundred resumes and job applications. During the early months, He occasionally was invited to interview, but that

hasn’t happened for a long time. He barely talks to me or the kids anymore. A couple of months

ago, he started drinking more. (There’s a family history of alcoholism.) I’ve tried to get him to go to the doctor, but we don’t have medical insurance, so he says it’s a waste of money. I’ve invited

guys he used to be friends with over, but he won’t talk to them, either. Please help me. I feel like I’m standing by watching him die.

JLT Dear JLT, Your husband is depressed, but I’m sure you’ve already figured that out. Men selfidentify with their vocation. When it goes away, they often have a much harder time than women figuring out who they are. You say he’s an IT professional. Has he considered doing contract work from home? Or opening his own “I’ll come to your house and fix your PC” business? It’s hard to find competent, in-home computer repair techs.

One of the problems with depression is it feeds on itself. The alcohol will only make matters worse. You didn’t tell me if you work or how old your children are. If they’re teenagers, you can get them to help with what I’m going to suggest next. You need to catch your husband when he’s sober. You (and the kids if they’re old enough) need to tell him how much you love and value him and that it’s killing you to watch him withdraw into himself. Have a list

of suggestions for local volunteer organizations where he can get involved in life again. If you’re affiliated with any sort of church, maybe your pastor could help. Spring is coming. Make a point of going for a half hour walk every day with your husband. Don’t take no for an answer. Bring him his shoes and his jacket. If the kids are young, bring them along. Even if they’re older, maybe they’ll want to come.

Your husband needs to find a way to see himself as worthwhile. If he can latch onto the love and caring reflected by his family, it just might help to bring him back. Please write to me and tell me how things go.

Dear Auntie Ann, My sixteen year old son is stealing from us. I’m afraid to tell my husband for fear he’ll turn him in to the juvenile authorities. Our boy has had some other problems and may end up in juvenile hall.

So far, I’ve covered the losses from other accounts, but I’m running out of options. Please help.

AA Dear AA, You have bigger problems than your husband’s anger. Your son is well on his way to being a delinquent. It’s an old fashioned term which means “out of control.” When you cover for your son’s illegal behavior, you do not do him any favors. No matter what you’re telling him verbally, the fact that you’re covering up his activities tells him you think what he’s doing is acceptable.

You probably won’t listen to me, but you need to tell your husband everything and both of you need to hold your son accountable for his actions. By that, I mean your son needs to get a job and pay back every penny he’s stolen. If he ends up doing some time in juvenile hall, it is logical consequences for his own actions. That may sound harsh, but if your son can’t corral his impulses now, things will do nothing but get worse. Once he turns eighteen, he’ll be looking at jail or prison for stealing. You have a little time between now and then, use it wisely.

Banish the Anxiety — Focus on the Fun!

What inspired you to become an author?

lenging. Who knew I had it in me!

A love of reading, an overactive imagination, the Is there a genre(s) that you’d like to write that need to create my own stories, and an act of de- you haven’t tackled yet? fiance against my father!

Epic or high fantasy. I have mostly written lightDo you have a specific writing style? hearted fantasy. I do have plans for a dark fantasy trilogy in the next eight to ten years. I think it I would say that my style is fast, direct, and blunt will be the most challenging piece of writing I when I’m writing action. When I was writing fan- have ever done. tasy, it was more...flowery…

What book are you reading now?

Do you write in different genres?

Angel Bait by Tricia Skinner by day and Guards!

I started out writing fantasy. I ended up writing a Guards! by Terry Pratchett by night. supernatural thriller series somewhat accidentally!

What books are in your to read pile?

If yes which is your favorite genre to write?

The Twelve by Justin Cronin. Blackbirds by Chuck Wendig. Hex and the Single Witch by Roxanne This is a tough one. I absolutely adore writing Rhoads. Everville: The First Pillar by Roy Huff. Un fantasy as it’s a lot of fun, but I’ve discovered a Lun Dun by China Mieville. AngelFall by Susan hitherto unknown talent for writing thrillers and I Ee. The Cornerstone by Nick Spalding. Smokin’ do find the latter more edge-of-the-seat chalSeventeen and Explosive Eighteen by Janet Eva-

novich. Without Fail by Lee Child. The First Confessor by Terry Goodkind. Queen of the World

by Ben Hennessy. There are loads more on my physical bookshelves!

I love reading manga and watching animes. I used to do life drawings but haven’t done any in ages: I’m quite good with charcoal! I like to go for walks and I love movies, although I haven’t been to the cinema for a month.

Who designed the cover of your latest book?

What is next for you? Do you have any scheduled upcoming releases or works in progress?

Glendon Haddix from Streetlight Graphics. A sweet, sweet man and an absolute delight to work with!

When you’re not writing what do you do? Do you have any hobbies or guilty pleasures?

The second book in the series Seventeen will be out in May 2013 and is entitled ‘King’s Crusade’.

It’s...not exactly what people are going to be expecting...

I’ve started the third novel in the series, which will be due for release mid-2014.

Soul Meaning Seventeen Series Book One AD Starrling Book Description: A half breed immortal. An international manhunt. A race against time to stop a terrifying plot that threatens to kill millions. The gripping, action-packed debut novel by AD Starrling and the first in the supernatural thriller series Seventeen.

‘My name is Lucas Soul.

Today, I died again.

This is my fifteenth death in the last four hundred and fifty years.’

The Crovirs and the Bastians. Two races of immortals who have lived side by side with humans for millennia and been engaged in a bloody war since the very dawn of their existence. With the capacity to survive up to sixteen deaths, it was not until the late fourteenth century that they reached an uneasy truce, following a deadly plague that wiped out more than half of their numbers and made the majority of survivors infertile.

Soul is an outcast of both immortal societies. Born of a Bastian mother and a Crovir father, a half breed whose very existence is abhorred by the two races, he spends the first three hundred and fifty years of his life being chased and killed by the Hunters.

One fall night in Boston, the Hunt starts again, resulting in Soul’s fifteenth death and triggering a chain of events that sends him on the run with Reid Hasley, a former US Marine and his human business partner of ten years. When a lead takes them to Washington DC and a biotechnology company with affiliations to the Crovirs, they cross the Atlantic to Europe, on the trail of a French scientist whose research seems intrinsically linked to the reason why the Hunters are after Soul again.

From Paris to Prague, their search for answers will lead them deep into the immortal societies and bring them face to face with someone from Soul’s past. Shocking secrets are uncovered and fresh allies come to the fore as they attempt to put a stop to a new and terrifying threat to both immortals and humans.

Time is running out for Soul. Can he get to the truth before his seventeenth death, protect the ones he loves and prevent another immortal war?

5 Ways to Have an Eco-Friendly Wedding Gown on a Budget

By Wenona Napolitano Are you looking to add a little eco-charm to your wedding day but you’re afraid you can’t afford to go green?

Going green for your wedding day doesn’t have to cost a fortune, especially when it comes to your wedding dress. Many “green” options cost far less than a regular wedding gown, designer or not, so there’s no need to bust your bridal budget.

Think of searching for your green gown as a treasure hunt. Just like any bride, you will be searching for the perfect gown with the perfect price tag. You’ll just be searching in less traditional wedding areas.

Here are five eco-friendly gown options that can help you go green without spending too much green.

The Heirloom Gown Is there a beautiful wedding gown lurking in a family member’s closet? It could be your grandmother’s, your mother’s or even an aunt’s but chances are there is one hiding somewhere and it could be the perfect gown for you, at just the right price…free.

Chances are you can’t just pull it out of the closet then walk down the aisle in the dress but the expenses associated with cleaning and altering the dress can be relatively minimal when compared to purchasing a brand new wedding gown.

Heirloom gowns are often wonderful additions to a wedding, full of memories, history and it can make you feel that much closer to your family. Plus you are reusing something old while conserving on resources that would have been used to make a new gown.

The Used Gown No heirloom gowns lurking in family closets? You can still opt for a second hand “green” gown. Many cities and towns now have second hand stores and consignment shops dedicated to formal wear, some exclusively dedicated to bridal fashions.

There are a couple online retailers devoted to used wedding gowns and other formal wear: PreownedWeddingDresses.com, BridalGems.org, WoreitOnce.com and EncoreBridal.com.

Other places to treasure hunt for used wedding gowns are thrift stores, antique shops, consignment stores and online classifieds like Craigslist or auction sites like eBay. Etsy.com is another fabulous site where you can sometimes find used wedding gowns.

You can also check MakingMemories.org and see if a Brides Against Breast Cancer wedding gown sale is coming to a city near you. That way you are purchasing a used gown and you are contributing to a good cause…very green.

Vintage gowns also fall under the category of being “used” but sometimes they can be quite expensive though occasionally you’ll find a steal of a deal at antique stores or online retailers. In addition to eBay and Etsy you can find vintage gowns online at: AntiqueDress.com, TheFrock.com, and CherishedBride.com.

Rent a Gown Men always have the option of renting tuxedos so why do women have to spend a fortune on a dress they’ll nev-

er wear again? Seems a little unfair doesn’t it?

Well some people are catching on that thrifty practical brides are interesting in renting gowns just like the guys rent their tuxes. Popular destination cities like Gatlinburg and Las Vegas have rentals available for the bride and the groom, as well as other members of the wedding party. Elegant-Rentals.com in Gatlinburg, Tennessee offers rentals for every member of your bridal party, male or female.

As the popularity of green weddings continues to grow, expect to see more gown rental options popping up everywhere, maybe even in a city near you.

Make Your Own Gown (Or Have a Seamstress Make One for You) If you are good with a needle and thread consider making your own wedding gown out of sustainable fabrics like bamboo, organic cotton, or peace silk, or other sustainable fabric blends. If stitching not your thing you can hire a good seamstress to make your bridal gown for you out of eco-friendly fabrics.

Your local fabric store may not carry a wide variety of sustainable fabrics yet but you can find them online, available by the yard. NearSeaNaturals.com sells sustainable fabrics and all your sustainable sewing needs including lace, the BambooFabricStore.com sells bamboo and bamboo blended fabrics, and the HempFabricShop.com sells a variety of hemp and hemp blends by the yard.

There are also a couple online retailers that offer decent selections of vintage fabrics that may be made into a beautiful wedding gown, if you are interested in that option check out MakeMeFabrics.com and RevivalFabrics.com.

Purchase a Gown from an Eco-Conscious Designer You may think that eco-conscious designers are way out of your price range but that’s not true. Rawganique.com offers organic hemp gowns starting at just $78 for their simple champagne gown and two of their other hemp gowns are in the $350 range.

Rai-Lynne at ThreadheadCreations.com designs beautiful bamboo, hemp, peace silk and organic cotton gowns that vary in price from around $400 to $1250.

Conscious Clothing’s, GetConscious.com, beautiful hemp wedding gowns range in price from $700 to the couture serpent gown that is around $2200.

The basic foundation of green philosophy is simple and sustainable. You can have a beautiful green wedding gown on any budget- from simple and elegant to green eco-couture, your perfect green gown is out there waiting for you.

The name “Special Offers” seemed like a no-brainer.

Interestingly, a reader emailed me and said they had As a part of my day-job as a scientist, I’ve spent many come across my book when they were looking for deals on Amazon. When they typed in “special offers” years writing science non-fiction. I’ve always made up stories in my head (which were definitely not suited in the search bar, my book was the first entry. Given that marketing serendipity, I should have named the for professional journals) and one day, I decided I second book “Enlarge your Penis.” needed to start writing some of them. I like to say it was because I had to free up some brain space, but the fact is the stories were clamoring to get out and I had Is the book, characters, or any scenes based on a true life experience, someone you to respect their desire to escape.

What inspired you to become an author?

know, or events in your own life?

How did you come up with the title for your latest book?

There is a lot in the book that is rooted in some real life experience. But I like to take odd experiences — The book is about a woman who is possessed by a su- either my own or others’ — and twist them around a bit to make them even weirder. For example, Hailey pernatural from a parallel dimension who was previmilks chinchilla for artisanal cheese and I once milked ously trapped in her Kindle. I came up with the idea rats for nutritional research. When you have rat milkwhen, after purchasing my full-priced Kindle, I realized Amazon was selling less expensive versions that ing as a job skill, you have to find a way to work that into a story line. But I decided no one would believe came with “special offers” (ads instead of the pretty drawings). For some reason, my warped brain thought anyone would actually milk a rat, much less purchase it would be amusing if what made the cheaper Kindles rat-milk cheese, so I changed it to chinchilla-milking.

That seemed much more plausible. special was that they came with some fiendish spirit.

If this book is part of a series…what is the next book? Any details you can share?

me to do five more. “I can’t do it again,” I moaned pitifully. Lifting myself so I was sitting, I hoped this new position would make my lungs burn less and the dizziness go away.

Unfortunately, it didn’t relieve my discomfort.

Special Offers is the first book in the Coursodon Dimension Series. The second book, Special Rewards, was recently published and is available at the same sites “Get up. Now.” as the first book. It begins with Hailey learning to deal with some of the after-effects associated with SebasI couldn’t see his face because my head tian’s essence taking up residence in her body. Here’s was now buried between my knees, but I knew an excerpt: from the tone in his voice that he meant business.

“Again.”

The harsh voice taunted me from above.

I lay flat on my back on the desert floor, rocks “This is beyond cruel and inhumane. digging into my flesh, and forced myself to Don’t you extra-dimensionals have some form look up into the cold, grey eyes of my tormentof the Geneva Convention? Can’t you just waer. There was nothing there, no normal human ter-board me instead?” feelings, only indifference. My legs, one of which had twisted awkwardly underneath me when I collapsed, seemed oddly disconnected What book are you reading now? as if no longer a part of my body. The pain that pulsed through the rest of me was agoniz- I just started “Twice Tempted” by Jeanniene Frost. I love her Night Huntress series — Cat and Bones are ing; so much so, I wasn't certain what little I had eaten would remain in my stomach. Serve my favorite couple — and she did a great job with Vlad’s first story. the bastard right if I puked all over his fancy, Italian leather shoes. Sweat poured down my face, forming wet rivulets through the salty, Is there anything you find particularly chalcrusted residue that dried from the many hours of agony already endured. I tried to lick lenging in your writing? my lips, but my tongue was like sandpaper across my parched mouth. I needed water Yes, finding time to write! The pesky day job is albadly. I was sure I wouldn’t be getting any. ways interfering.

Having long since shifted from wondering if death was near, to hoping it was, I used my last bit of energy to sputter, “Just kill me now and get it over with, you son of a bitch.” I was so tired, so utterly defeated. I just wanted the torture to end.

He grinned. It was pure evil. He must have enjoyed my anguish, because for the first time today his smile engaged his entire face and not just his lips. The bastard poked me with his foot and repeated his earlier command. “Again. You have to learn to control your magic even when you are exhausted,” he barked. “And stop your histrionics.”

Who designed the cover of your latest book?

I design all my covers. I have fairly decent Photoshop skills, so I figured I’d take a crack at it.

Do you have any advice for other writers?

Don’t design your own book covers.

What would your readers be surprised to learn about you?

I can identify almost every species of warbler that is normally found in the US by their song.

I had just finished my second five-mile When you’re not writing what do you do? run of the afternoon on three hours of sleep in Do you have any hobbies or guilty pleasures? the past two days. And now Sebastian wanted

Soccer. I play on two different women’s teams. I also scheduled upcoming releases or works in like to bird watch, which explains the incredibly geeky progress? talent described in the previous answer.

What is next for you? Do you have any

I am hard at work on the third book in the series. I hope to have it finished by summer.

Special Offers The Coursodon Dimension Series – Book 1 M.L. Ryan Genre: Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy Publisher: Running with Scissors Publishing ISBN: 978-0615672762 ASIN: B0077ZJNRW Number of pages: 216 Word Count: 63,000 Cover Artist: M.L. Ryan Amazon Kindle Smashwords Barnes and Noble Sony Paperback Amazon Create Space paperback Book Description: As soon as Hailey Parrish discovered her husband was cheating with her coworker, she swore off men. She had to find another job when her boss went to prison for being a pimp in his spare time. Three years later, Hailey still hadn’t gone on a date and she milks chinchilla for a living. Her life is about to get weirder.

While in pursuit of inter-dimensional miscreants who use their arcane powers to prey upon humans, Sebastian Kess was ambushed and mortally wounded. To save his life, he used his own magic to convert his soul to binary code and transfer it into Hailey’s soon-to-be shipped Kindle eBook reader. When Hailey inadvertently releases him and he inhabits her body, she finally has a man inside her, just not in the way she imagined.

Hailey must come to grips with the existence of the parallel dimension of Coursodon and the realization that magically inclined nonhumans walk the world while dealing with Sebastian’s arrogant banter in her head. Her predicament also introduces her to another supernatural, the handsome could-be-the-man-of-her-dreams Alex Sunderland. The action moves from Hailey’s hometown of Tucson, Arizona to New England and across Europe as she and Alex try to return Sebastian to his own body while staying one step ahead of the criminals who want to keep him where he is.

Special Offers, the first book of the Coursodon Dimension Series, combines paranormal romance, urban fantasy, a bit of science fiction and a healthy dose of quirky humor.

Excerpt While I waited for Wyatt to take my order, I swung around on the stool and glanced about the room searching for anyone I might know so I could hang with them instead of at the bar. No such luck. Someone slipped into the empty seat next to me, and from over my right shoulder I heard “Hey, how’s the knees?”

I turned back and was caught in the cornflower blue gaze of No Sweat Bastard. And he looked even better in the tight black t-shirt and black jeans he was wearing than he did this morning. The outfit accentuated his sinewy, athletic physique while giving him a look of confident masculinity. Yum. “I almost didn’t recognize you with your hair down,” NSB remarked. “It looks good this way.”

As my bad luck would have it, Wyatt picked that moment to come by to ask what we wanted.

“You having your usual?” Wyatt drawled as he started to grab a bottle of Patron.

Wyatt knew me well. The only alcohol I ever drank was tequila; either in a margarita or straight. But I heard someone say “No. Glen Fiddich, rocks,” and realized soon thereafter that it was me.

I wanted to immediately right the obvious wrong that was my drink order, but I was too embarrassed to admit I had misordered in front of NSB. I thought I noticed a flash of unease on his face when I asked for the scotch, but it was gone as soon as it appeared. He probably thought I was trying to seem exotic or something, ordering single-malt. Great, I fretted, now I was doubly self-conscious.

“I’ll have the same,” he directed toward Wyatt. To me, he said “I never introduced myself this morning.

I’m Alex, Alex Sunderland.”

“Hailey Parrish,” I replied. Not wanting the conversation to stall, the only thing I could come up with next was “Wow. What are the odds that we would run into each other twice in one day?”

He unleashed one of those spectacular smiles my way and said, laughing, “Astronomical, I would think.”

Just then my purse started to vibrate. When I went out some place crowded, I liked to use one of those little cross-body bags instead of the behemoth I usually carried. That way, I was forced to limit myself to the essentials - phone, driver’s license, lip gloss, some cash and a credit card – and I never had to worry about misplacing it in the throng. I excused myself, and turned away slightly as I grabbed the phone. It was Rachel.

“Hailey, I’m really sorry, but Harrison has some sort of stomach bug and he’s currently curled in the fetal position on the bathroom floor moaning, ‘kill me’, over and over.”

Ew. “That sounds awful. Does he need to go to urgent care?”

“No,” she continued, “but you know men, they’re such babies when they are sick. Obviously we are going to have to beg off tonight. Are you already at the bar?”

“Yeah, I got here early,” I yelled. Even with my finger pressed into my other ear, I could barely make out what she was saying with all the raucous bar noise. “Too bad Harrison’s sick. Tell him I hope he feels better.”

“I’m sure he will by tomorrow. But I feel terrible that you are there by yourself.”

“No problem,” I assured her. No problem, indeed, I thought as I glanced at Alex, who was paying for both the drinks that Wyatt had just delivered. “Hey, it’s really noisy in here, so I’m having a hard time hearing you.

I’m fine, though. I’ll just talk to you tomorrow.”

I ended the call and set the phone on the bar. I wasn’t particularly unhappy that they weren’t coming. After all, Alex was easy on the eyes and Rachel would be so proud of me for talking to him instead of making an excuse to hide in the ladies’ room. Besides, there was something about him that felt very familiar, like I had known him for a long time. Astounding as it seemed, I actually felt comfortable sitting with him.

As I turned to face him, he raised his glass towards me and I did the same with mine. We saluted each other with scotch and I took a sip. God, this stuff really is wretched, I thought, but somehow I felt compelled to keep drinking. And not just to keep up the pretense of having ordered something I actually liked. It was the weirdest

feeling; wanting to both spit it out yet at the same time longing for the next mouthful. It occurred to me that maybe that’s how all scotch drinkers feel. Because truly, the stuff tasted like turpentine.

Throughout the evening, the conversation encompassed the usual get-to-know you banter. I got the important information without too much digging; he was single and an insurance adjuster from Portland, Oregon in town for two weeks for some specialized training. He seemed sincere, but really, he could be from Salt Lake City, unemployed with ten kids for all I really knew. Not wanting to get into a complicated dialogue about my unusual career path, I just said I worked at a local dairy. That was my go-to angle when I wasn’t in the mood to get into the specifics.

We ordered another round, which I paid for, and then switched to non-alcoholic choices; ice tea for me, sparkling water for him. He had a relaxed way about him that belied his obvious intellect and he shifted effortlessly between topics ranging from popular culture to global economies.

Too bad he doesn’t live around here, I lamented. It figured that I actually meet a guy that I might actually like, and he’s only here for two weeks. No sense letting this go much further, I reasoned. I certainly wasn’t up for a one-nighter, or even best case scenario, a fourteen-nighter.

It was getting late, it had been a long day and I wanted to drive home soon before I risked falling asleep at the wheel. I rooted in my bag and found some bills to leave on the bar for Wyatt’s well-deserved tip. Then I downed the last of my tea and turned to look at Alex.

“This has been fun,” I began. “But I really should be getting home. Hope your training goes well; maybe we’ll run into each other again at the River Park.”

As I started to get off of the bar stool, a peculiar sensation coursed through me, as if I was suddenly exerting a great deal of energy. My expression must have communicated the discomfort, because Alex frowned and asked if I was okay. When I didn’t immediately respond, he reached over and took my hands in his, concern etched across his handsome face.

Suddenly, I felt an electrical zap similar to what I had encountered days before when first synching the Kindle. I might have been able to rationalize it as some hackneyed romantic sign had the next two events not occurred in rapid succession: First, I inexplicably uttered one long, unrecognizable sound. Then I heard the voice.

I always wondered how Kevin Costner’s character in Field of Dreams managed to stay relatively calm when he first heard “if you build it, he will come” whispered in his cornfield. But that was a movie, after all. When, in my head, a man uttered “I need his help” over and over, I panicked. I tore myself from Alex’s grip and ran through the crowded dance floor, shoving unsuspecting patrons out of my way as I quickly escaped out the emergency exit.

I sprinted to my car and managed to fish my keys out of my purse despite the fact I was shaking from head to toe. Thankfully, the repetitive pleading of my auditory hallucination had ceased by then. I’m not really sure how I got home; I know I drove, but beyond that I had no recollection of the journey. When I reached the safety of my house, I rushed inside and collapsed on the living room floor.

~Done~ By Annette M Guerriero Life is so difficult when each day is as the last.

The pain is too strong of days gone past.

When waking from sleep and you don’t want to live.

When you feel that you have nothing left to give.

It’s hard enough to drag your self up off of the bed, When all you want is to just be dead.

And when the days are all sunny and warm, While your emotions are nothing but an overwhelming storm.

That’s when you cry out, “take me, I’m done!”

When you feel that you really have anyone.

Nobody understands or knows how care.

Your heart seems so to be so empty and bare.

You put on a good front to all that you see, While secretly you ask, “why don’t you see me?”

Loss and pain follow you wherever you go.

What to do next you truly don’t know.

Alcohol may work or even some pills, But driving off of a cliff just gives me the chills.

Soon both of my children will all grown and be gone, When that happens I have no idea how I will go on.

I hope and I prey that each day will be better, Knowing that it will always be the same now as is forever.

They say, “Life is to short,” to boldly live each and every day.

But how can you do that when your mind says nay?

Unwanted, unneeded, and feeling alone, I constantly try to stand on my own.

Grim Reaper I’m calling. I wish you would heed, And come to me and do what I need.

The days will still come, and no one would care, Just like it is now. No one notices I’m here.

I’m fed up with the struggle, so tired of the pain.

I can no longer go on and live with this strain.

The truth be told, I no longer have fun, Death come to me swiftly because I am Done.

John Lansing Interview What inspired you to become an Author?

three or four different careers in our lifetime.

I didn’t grow up dreaming about being a writer. It wasn’t even I wanted to write about a detective who was standing on on my short list. But now in hindsight I do think writing books the precipice, recovering from a nasty divorce, retiring from the was a natural evolution from my time spent working in HollyNYPD, leaving Staten Island, and moving west. The old Yiddish wood. proverb pretty much nails it. “Men make plans, God laughs.” My protagonist, Jack Bertolino, chose to do all of those things; it just Writing my first script was actually a fluke. I had committed didn’t quite work out the way he planned. Twenty-five years of to directing a short film. My friend, Spencer Eastman, a wonderful taking down drug dealers, money launderers and killers came back screenwriter offered to write the script that I would then produce to haunt him, and shook up his newfound sense of bliss in Marina and direct. Tragically, Spencer got sick and I was forced to fend del Rey, California. for myself. Write the script, or give up the project.

That was enough of a hook for me to write “The Devil’s Writing that short film was a turning point in my life. I disNecktie.” covered the joy of creating a work instead of interpreting, and it led to a writing partnership and many fruitful years of television How did you come up with the title for your latest book? work.

I started out with one very simple premise when I wrote My acting career helped inform the characters I wrote for, and this book. about, and created, in my television work. The craft of acting One night of passion for retired Inspector Jack Bertolino threw helped me understand the emotional roadmap needed to flesh out him on a deadly collision course with his past. complex characters, characters that will hopefully be compelling enough to maintain a reader’s interest.

I knew something terrible was going to happen to his exconfidential informant, and recent lover, Mia. This beautiful womMy television work taught me discipline, writing on a sched- an was going to be killed in a horrific way and Jack Bertolino was ule, collaboration, and it really hammered home the type of chargoing to be accused of her murder. acters I enjoyed and wanted to invest my time with, characters that were interesting enough for me to spend a year of my life with, Jack and Mia had worked together on a case and taken and again, hopefully keep an audience reading. Only you can tell down the head of a Miami drug cell responsible for importing a me if I’ve succeeded at that and I look forward to hearing your thousand pounds of cocaine into Miami a week. The drugs were thoughts. bleeding into NYC and Jack needed Mia’s help to infiltrate the drug cell and put Manual Alvarez in prison.

Do you have a specific writing style?

Mia’s death was retribution for her work against the CoIf by writing style, you’re referring to genre, I’d have to lombian cartel. In my research I learned that when the Cartel dissay the crime/thriller. I’ve spent the past fifteen years of my televi- covered a snitch, they often killed that informant using a technique sion career writing about law enforcement, and I’m a huge fan of called a “Colombian Necktie”. The killer would slit the throat of crime novels. the spy and pull their tongue out threw the opening, leaving the mutilated body as a warning to anyone who talked to the police.

I’ve always been drawn to flawed characters that were As I researched this terrible execution, I discovered it was also interested in reinventing themselves, who wanted a new life. May- called a “Devil’s Necktie.” be because I’ve had such a varied career myself. I grew up in middle class suburbia. People worked for the same corporation or That seemed like the perfect title for my book. company, had the same vocation for their entire lives. Well that doesn’t fly anymore. We can all look forward to experiencing Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

I didn’t write my novel with a message in mind, but what I did want to accomplish was to take my readers on a thrill ride. If I did my job properly, and you can empathize with my characters whether you approve of their actions or not, it should be a page turning read.

If this book is part of a series… what is the next book?

the hell, they all landed on the desk of the President of the United States. And miracle of LA Archdiocese miracles, the kid was granted a pardon.”

“Christ,” Jack said rolling around the political implications.

“Already weighed in and got the prick released from prison. One man out of thirty indicted. Six years served of a fifteen-year sentence. His father called it a miracle. I called it dirty politics. Business as usual. So my guess is, if your old lady’s pissed off your client’s a Mafioso, wait till you start sniffing up the Vargas family tree.”

I’m two hundred pages into my next Jack Bertolino book. It’s called, “Working the Negative.” Jack grew up in a Staten Island neighborhood populated with “made men” and friends of the Mafia. He cut all ties with the dark side when he entered law enforcement and thought he’d left his past securely behind when he moved out to California. But not so quick. Now that he’s The coffee turned sour in Jack’s gut on the instant. retired, Jack finds himself owing a favor to a mob boss who may “Working the negative,” he intoned. have saved his son’s life.

“You’ll get stronger, even while they’re kicking the shit out of you.

When he gets together for a gut busting breakfast to pick the brain of detective Nick Aprea, regarding the new case, he’s I thought that was a strong enough hook to keep me at my comgiven a primer in “Working the Negative.” puter writing the next book in the Jack Bertolino series.

“Story,” Nick started, wiping some of the breakfast burrito he was eating off his mouth. “I was pumping iron with a steroid injecting Neanderthal out of vice. Izzy. From Jersey. He was spotting me. He’s on muscle enhancing drugs and I’m trusting him to keep two hundred fifty pound weights from crushing my windpipe and ending my mortal coil.”

“And?” “My muscles were beyond maxed, and I wanted the dumbbell to pull off the dumbbell. And the man who held my life in his hands said something that made total sense in a moment of weakness.”

Do you have advice for other writers?

The only advice I can share with aspiring authors is to write every day. I learned that lesson from Walter Mosley, one of my favorite authors who wrote a short book entitled, “This Year You Write Your Novel.” What I learned from Mosley is that a book won’t magically appear if you don’t put in the time, but the work will improve and come to fruition if you pursue it every day.

Make it a habit. It might be the only habit you have that will enrich your life.

The Devil’s Necktie John Lansing

Jack gestured with his burrito, like, go on.

Genre: Crime/Thriller

“No,” Nick said and took another bite of the burrito.

Publisher: Gallery Books, Simon&Schuster/Karen Hunter Publishing

“That’s it?... No?” Nick threw Jack a look that told him he was stepping on his story.

“No. As in, you’re not done, Aprea. Resist. Izzy helped me pull up the weight and then guided it down. I resisted with every last fuckin ounce of strength. Work the negative, he said.

You’ll get stronger.”

Nick polished off the burrito and nodded his head waiting for Jack to respond to his brilliance. Undaunted by the silence he soldiered on.

“You, my friend, are working the negative. The picture you sent me is the very likeness of one Raul Vargas. Busted in 2003 for the manufacture and distribution of cocaine. One of thirty arrested from here to Detroit.

“His daddy, now get this for irony, became a major political contributor, got letters extolling his son’s virtues from the Governor, the Mayor, the Cardinal, Assemblymen, and oh what

ISBN: 10:1451698348 ASIN: BOO7Z40FOY Number of pages: 384 Word Count: 89,520 Amazon Noble

Simon and Schuster Barnes and

The body had left a spider web of cracks in Kat’s windshield. Still wrapped in her seatbelt, Kat clutched the sides of her seat, stricken with shock and fear. A rational voice in the back of her head screamed at her to move, someone was injured, maybe even dead. Trembling, she forced herself to get out of the car. On wobbly legs she rounded the front of the Prius and scanned the area for the body. Spotting a large, still lump lying in the grass, Kat sprinted over to the person’s side.

Kneeling, Kat placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. She couldn’t detect any signs of blood; there was also no blood on her windshield. Whoever he was, he smelled awful. Maybe it was a homeless person.

“Hello? Can you hear me?”

The man moved faster than the blink of an eye. One minute he was lying immobile on the ground, the next he had his hand clamped on her mouth and an arm around her throat. A shot of cold fear zoomed down Kat’s spine as she felt herself being hoisted up. She kicked and thrashed in a desperate attempt to get away, but the arm on her throat was like steel. Her cries were muffled by the foul-smelling hand, and the stench of the grave enveloped her. Kat thought she was going to faint until adrenaline and her fighting spirit came to her rescue. She bit down on the stony fingers and used all her weight when she stamped her foot on her attacker’s instep. The taste erupting in her mouth was worse than the smell and made her want to vomit, but she concentrated on wrenching herself free. The thing made no sound but jerked its hand back from her sharp teeth. Kat used the opportunity to let out an ear piercing shriek. Before it could silence her again, she tipped them both forward and sent them sprawling toward the ground in a heap. Kat aimed another kick at its stomach and managed to escape. It reached out and grabbed her foot but only pulled off her sneaker.

Kat shot off into the night, racing back to her car. She paid no attention to the gravel jabbing her shoeless foot as she ran. As she ran she continued to scream, hoping someone, anyone, would hear her. Her thighs burned as they ate up the distance, and she could hear her attacker gaining on her from behind. Fear and a desire to live propelled her onward despite the pain in her foot and throat, and tears ran down her cheeks from the biting wind. Soon the Prius was in sight, but her attacker had almost closed the gap between them. She could feel those disgusting fingers reaching out and trying to grab her. Kat pressed on, even though every muscle in her body screamed to stop.

Suddenly, a thick mist rolled in and enveloped the area, blanketing everything. Because of it, Kat couldn’t see the exposed root sticking up in her path. She tripped over it and pitched forward. As she fell, the attacker’s hand grasped her hair, yanking it violently. Kat thought her neck was going to break. She hoped it would, and that it would kill her before this person, this thing could. She thought of the mother she was just getting to know again, and felt sick. Then something hot streaked past her face, and the ground beneath her shook.

“Kill the mist, Q! I need to see!”

Kat’s heart lifted – was someone coming to help her? She didn’t want to believe, but then she heard another gruff, masculine voice.

“It’s not alone! Hold back till I clear this place!”

The mist receded, like water draining from a bathtub. Kat was on the ground, and through her watery vision she could see two pairs of boots racing toward her. Her attacker’s fist was still wound tightly in her hair and she could hardly breathe for the stench. She tilted her face upward and relief fled when she saw her saviors’ eyes cast an unearthly light in the darkness, the color of the glowing embers of a fire.

“Oh my God,” Kat breathed.

Another shot – of lightning?! – whizzed past her. The tension on her hair slackened. She heard a dull thud behind her as the blast of whatever-it-was nailed her attacker in the chest and sent him flying backwards. Her rescuers ran past her in a blur. One of them was a tall blond boy, the other African American with close-cropped black hair. Her attacker tried to crawl away from them but they surrounded him. The black boy brought his boot down on his ankle, pinning him to the ground. The blond kicked him savagely in the ribs, his body flipping over onto his back. He brought a knee down onto the attacker’s scorched chest and placed his hands on either side of its head. The blond boy’s hands glowed brightly as he twisted the attacker’s neck 180 degrees. A blinding white light filled the night, and the attacker’s body was gone.

If Kat thought she was scared before, she was absolutely terrified now. She pushed herself off the ground and tried to run away, but a sharp pain in her ankle brought her back down. She must have sprained her ankle when she tripped. Kat gritted her teeth against the pain and rose again. She would crawl the last few feet to her Prius if need be, but come hell or high water she was getting out of there.

“Hey, stop!”

Kat didn’t look back as she half ran, half hopped away. She was almost to the Prius. Impossibly, the blond boy was right next to her in an instant, blocking her path.

“Stop,” he commanded in a voice accustomed to being obeyed.

“Go to hell,” Kat spat back as she moved around him. She tried to evade the long, powerful arms that reached out for her, but she was too slow. Or rather he was unbelievably fast. On instinct, Kat fired her elbow into his ribs. The blond let out a grunt and she slipped halfway out of his grasp. He tried to regain his hold, but Kat reared back and scraped her nails across his cheek. This made him angry, but she didn’t care. She was pissed. If he took her, it wouldn’t be without a fight.

“Get away from me!” she screamed. Despite her best efforts, he caught her again. His arms were like stone pinions around her.

“Relax,” he said into her ear in a deep, rich bass. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“You expect me to believe that! You just broke someone’s neck!”

“You’re welcome, miss. It was a pleasure saving your life.”

Without thinking, Kat spat in his face.

A low whistle sounded behind him. It was the other boy.

“A girl who is immune to Blaze Ward’s charms – I do believe this is a first.”

The one called Blaze lifted his right hand to wipe her spit away, while still keeping her imprisoned in his left arm. She struggled against his hard body uselessly.

“Do me a favor and hold onto her while I call Etienne.”

Oh no, there are more of them, Kat thought as she was passed like a ragdoll between the two of them. The other boy held her just as tightly. Her ankle throbbed. She thought about screaming again, but figured it was impractical as there was no one else around.

Her captor leaned down to her ear and spoke to her in a calm voice. “Don’t be afraid. We won’t hurt you. Just keep still and quiet. And please keep your saliva to yourself.”

Blaze stepped away from them and closed his eyes. He made no sound or movement, but he seemed to be reaching out to something or someone. Moments later, another huge blond appeared with eyes as green as hers. Out of thin air.

“Oh, good Lord,” Kat said aloud.

The new blond turned to look at her. “Crap – a norm. What’s she doing here?”

“Dark One had her,” Blaze replied. “We rescued her.”

“And she thanked Blaze with a nice, big loogie,” Kat’s captor said gleefully.

Mirth twinkled in the new blond’s eyes. “Did she see anything?”

“Too much. Which is why I called you,” Blaze said.

“You need me to wipe her?”

“Please.”

Kat stiffened with terror. Her captor felt the change, and rubbed her arm soothingly. “Calm down – he’s not talking about killing you.”

The new blond moved toward her. “No, baby. I promise this won’t hurt, and you won’t remember any of this.”

“Get away from me,” Kat said in a hard, angry voice. He said nothing, bringing his face closer to hers. Kat could make out the individual hairs of his prickly stubble. His green eyes flashed gold.

Something pricked at Kat’s consciousness. She closed her eyes and shook her head. The pricking continued, and some force deep within her mind resisted. Kat squeezed her eyes and opened them again. The pricking stopped, and she fixed him with a glare.

The blond frowned. “This one’s mind is strong. Most norms would be drooling wrecks by now.”

“Try harder,” the first blond said.

Suddenly, a feeling of tremendous calm washed over Kat. Her muscles relaxed, and the pain in her ankle drifted away. Those golden eyes mesmerized her, held her in their sway. If her captor hadn’t been holding her, she was sure she would have fallen to the ground. Her mind tried to fight back, but this time it was impossible.

“You’re calm,” he whispered. “You’re safe, and warm.”

“Safe and warm,” Kat repeated drowsily, in spite of herself.

“Give her to me,” the first blond said. His voice sounded far away and she nearly collapsed into his arms. He wrapped her arms around his neck. Reaching down, he slipped an arm behind her knees and lifted her off the ground. Cradling her to his chest, he turned to the others.

“Etienne, do something about her car. Q, conjure up another shoe for her, will you?”

If she had been alert, she would have thought their conversation was insane. But now all she could think of was sleep.

The one called Q stepped forward with her white and pink Puma sneaker. Kat wondered idly where he had found it.

“I wonder who she is, and where she lives?” Blaze asked Q. “Never seen her before. Probe her mind for it,” Q suggested.

“No need,” Etienne shouted. “Got her license here. Katherine Grey, lives at 223 Shady Oak Lane.”

“Pretty sure she’s breaking curfew now,” Q said. “We should get her home before she’s grounded for life.”

A thought occurred to Kat. “Text Mom,” she murmured.

Blaze shushed her. “Etienne, is there a phone over there?”

“Yup. Texting her mom now. Man, there are like 10 messages from Momma Bear on this thing.”

“Q, go back to the others and make sure there are no more Dark Ones roaming around. Etienne, drive her car back to her house. I’m going to run ahead with her.”

Kat looked up at the young man holding her in his arms. His handsome face was angular and sculpted, with high cheekbones and a strong, masculine jaw. He must have felt her looking at him, because he peered down at her.

His narrowed eyes were a translucent, shimmering blue. She breathed deeply, inhaling his scent. He smelled of sweat, dark spice, and pine. In spite of herself, she felt completely safe and taken care of. He stared at her for another second, and his eyes were inscrutable. The next thing Kat knew they were moving, the night rushing past them at incredible speed.

Interview with Verdell Walker What inspired you to become an author?’

I honestly can’t attribute it to any one person or thing. It’s my love of the craft. I’m a storyteller. I enjoy building worlds and creating characters. For me, it’s never work or a chore. I deeply and sincerely love my art.

Is there a genre(s) that you’d like to write that you haven’t tackled yet?

I definitely want to try to historical fiction. I’m a history buff, especially for different parts of the world like Asia and the Middle East. I think it provides such a rich trove of inspiration and you really have to do your homework to do it well. At the same time, you have to fight against letting the historical detail overwhelm the story. I have a lot of ideas for historical fiction novels and I’ve been working in the time to do the necessary research. After I finish The Coven series, I plan to start working on a book set in Renaissance Venice. That’s all I’ll say for now!

If this book is part of a series…what is the next book? Any details you can share?

Fire and Ice is the first of The Coven series. I’m currently hard at work on the second book in the series, which will focus on Cody Quintana. In addition to being a part of the Brotherhood, Cody is a member of the Laganasett tribe and son of its High Chief. Cody isn't the least bit interested in his tribe's past and traditions, and is a notorious ladies man. This is actually going to be toughest book to write, in my opinion, because Cody is the most disagreeable to me. That is, until he meets his match in the heroine of the book.

I think readers are really going to be drawn to the female lead of Book 2; she’s very complex and will definitely challenge the standard notions of right and wrong. Like Fire and Ice, Book 2 is going to tackle some issues that are important to me, like poverty and inequality. I want to my work to make readers think as well to entertain them.

What books/authors have influenced your life?

People may laugh, but JR Ward is one of my biggest influences as a writer. If you want to know how to create compelling, multidimensional characters with a distinctive arc, look no further than her Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Jhumpa Lahiri is another important influence for me. I love her plain and straightforward style and I like to emulate that in my own writing. She too is a master at creating rich characters; the people in her stories are like onions where she just keeps peeling back layer after layer to get to their deepest desires and motivations.

Do you have a specific writing style?

I don’t think I have one, to be honest. I don’t even think I write in only one style. I try to pick a style appropriate to the story. The story should be the primary motivator for eve-

rything – each one requires something different. On a simple level, I strive for unadorned, realistic dialogue for my characters. I’m a big believer in the dictum of “show, don’t tell” and thoroughly agree with Hemingway’s belief that less is more.

What would your readers be surprised to learn about you?

I’ll give you an assortment of random but cool (at least I think so) facts: I’ve been training in belly dance for five years.

I speak Spanish, Arabic, and Mandarin.

I have seen all the James Bond films.

My favorite TV show is Xena, Warrior Princess.

In addition to sprinting in college, I also competed in the hammer throw. Think of a mace without the spikes – it was a contest to see who could throw that the farthest!

When you’re not writing what do you do? Do you have any hobbies or guilty pleasures?

I READ! Before I was a writer, I was a reader. After reading, belly dancing is definitely my relaxation mode of choice. I’ve been training in belly dance for about 5 years now. Cooking and baking are big hobbies too – I like to turn my brain off for a while and just pour myself into a preparing a meal.

What books are in your to read pile?

The Dark Monk (The Hangman’s Daughter series), Oliver Potzsch Bring up the Bodies, Hilary Mantel Crucible of Gold (Temeraire series), Naomi Novik The Last Runaway, Tracy Chevalier Crocodile on the Sandbank, Elizabeth Peters Lover at Last, JR Ward (obsessed with her, counting the days until this comes out!)

Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn Do you have any advice for other writers?

Keep writing. You can have the most well-oiled promotion machine in the world but at the end of the day, the work has to speak for itself. You need to sit your butt in a chair and WRITE. That’s the only way you’ll get better at it. As I write book two of the series, I can already see how I’ve grown as a writer since finishing Fire and Ice. Producing the absolute best work that you can is the most important thing. The only way you can get better at our craft is to keep doing it.

The voices in her head screamed for her to run but she just couldn’t listen. Fists balled at her sides, Dusty prepared for a fight and stalked toward the sound, rounding the corner and tripping just as strong hands reached out and grabbed her shoulders.

tickled her lips, “Even me.” The kiss shot like lightning through Dusty. It shocked and excited her, stealing the breath from her lungs. Without conscious thought she lifted her hands and entwined them behind his neck, pressing their bodies closer.

The hands picked her up and turned her around to press her back into steel muscles of a rocksolid chest. One arm reached across her collarbone to clasp her shoulder. The other wrapped around her midsection, holding her against a warm body. The offending hands gripped her tight and brought her snug against the length of him. She knew without looking who it was.

Travis eased Dusty back, but kept her in his grip. “Heaven above, Angel…I’ve wanted to do that since I first saw you at the springs.” He traced the edges of her lips with the rough pad of his thumb. “You are way too beautiful to be out by yourself after dark. Anything could happen.”

“Anything could happen," Dusty rasped out.

“When you walk around after dark, anything can happen.” His warm breath tickled her neck, and shivers raced through her. The hand lining the length of her collarbone made its way up her shoulder and traced the edges of her shirt collar. “You are not safe from anything in the dark.”

Travis released Dusty and her knees buckled.

He caught her before she could land on the ground, set her right once again, and gave a deep throaty laugh.

“Anything could happen,” she said again. Dizzy excitement hummed through her body, and With those words, Travis turned her around and all she could hear was the deep thump of her slipped his hands behind her back to pull her heart. closer. He bent his head and his next words

Tame a Montana Heart Montana Girl Series, Book One Dawn Luedecke

Book Description:

Running from a past of privilege, deceit, and danger, Travis Simms is ready to settle down. What better place to forget all he left behind than the quiet little Montana town of Lolo Hot Springs? His goal is clear — build a hotel and his own destiny without complications —until one of the town’s most troublesome women captures his attention.

Dusty Larson is hell bent on independence, helping her sister run the Triple D Ranch. She can do anything a man can, and do it better, so she certainly doesn’t need one in her life. The only problem is she seems to attract bad luck and danger...and Travis. Can he tame her wild ways and keep his bachelor status intact — or does he risk losing his heart?

About the Author: A country girl born and bred, Dawn Luedecke has spent most of her life surrounded by horses, country folk, and the wild terrain of Nevada, Idaho and Montana. As a child she would spend many afternoons reading books, watching western classics, and Rogers and Hammerstein movies.

When she grew up she decided to leave the quiet country life for a chance to find adventure by serving a successful tour in the United States Coast Guard. During that time she found her soul mate (and alpha male) and started a family and writing career. She enjoys writing historical and paranormal romance and spends as much time as she can working on her current manuscript.

For more information visit www.dawnluedecke.com

wilds of the west, sometimes being proper just isn’t enough. Here are the first few unedited paragraphs from that book (which also gives you a peek into the Each time I write a new story, I fall in love with those life of the hero and heroine of ‘To Tame a Montana characters. Currently, I love Elizabeth and Garrett in Heart’): my current WIP, ‘White Water Passion’. Beth is the Chapter 1 kind of woman in the late 1800’s that I think I would have been --‑‑ a stubborn socialite with the courage How hard is it to change your identity? and desire to be something more. She’s out to prove that she can take on the toughest challenges in her Daylene, or Justine as she was known in the small time, but she does it (most of the time) with grace and poise, even though she is supposed to be posing as a Montana town of Lolo, sat in the third row on a train man. bound for New York. Once there, she would board the Is there a genre(s) that you’d like to write that you haven’t tackled yet? northbound rail headed for Boston, completely change Of all the characters you’ve ever written, who is your favorite and why?

I must admit that I have always wanted to write regency, but it intimidates me, only because England is so unknown to me. I like to be 100% certain that what I’m writing is true when it comes to history. In order for me to dip my hand in the regency quill, I would need to take a good long trip to England and do a lot of hard-core research.

her identity and live the life she’d always wanted. A

If this book is part of a series…what is the next book? Any details you can share?

from a small cowboy town where the most famous

place no one but her oldest sister and their spinster aunt would know her dirty little secret. That she, Daylene Larson the mezzo-soprano delight, came

people were her law breaking siblings.

The book I’m on tour with, ‘To Tame a Montana Heart’, is book one in my Montana Girl Series. The series centers on the Larson family in the late 1800’s.

With five girls and one boy, there is never a dull moment in this family. The next book in the series is Dusty’s older sister DeEtte in ‘Big Sky Brazen’.

‘Big Sky Brazen’ is in the works to be published soon through The Wild Rose Press, and I can’t wait! This was a fun book to write because I got to take a little of that Larson girl charm from the first book, and add a dash of ‘Lonesome Dove meets Billy the Kid’ feeling to it. I’m very pleased with the outcome, and can’t wait to see how it is sculpted once it is done with the editing process.

Can you share a little of your current work with us?

Okay, maybe they did obey the law, but the problems they caused was why the local sheriff had trouble determining just where that fine line between outright criminals and petty scoundrels stood. They were a bane to the town’s existence. A nuisance.

“How do you plan to break into the opera?”

Her sister Dusty asked.

Daylene glanced across the aisle to study her

sister. There she was, one of the most troublesome -I am currently working on two novels. ‘White Water Passion’ with Beth and Garrett, and the third in the yet endearing -- women in the Larson family. Poor Montana Girl Series called ‘Montana Bound’.

In Montana Bound, the third sister get’s wrangled into girl married Boston wealth and was clueless to the love. She is the only sister where proper etiquette and behavior are important. She will soon learn that in the ways of proper etiquette. Perhaps she’d be open to a

lesson or two during their long trip east. After all, Dusty was going to meet her new in-laws. Wouldn’t she want to look her best?

“I was just thinking about you, my dearest sis-

Home is where your roots lie.”

“Nonsense,” Daylene corrected, “Home is where your heart lies. Everyone knows that.”

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

ter,” Daylene crooned.

“Something good I hope, Justine.”

Daylene waved off her playful stare. “We can

I am always trying to perfect my craft, and I think that in itself is a constant challenge. There are so many tricks and rules, I sometimes find it hard to keep up.

Luckily, I love to learn, so it’s a challenge I’m willing to tackle.

talk about that when we have more time, and I don’t Do you have any advice for other writers? plan to break into the opera. I’m not a barbarian. I will Linda Lael Miller gave me the best advice ever. If you write romance, join Romance Writers of America be performing on stage. Aunty made due a few favors (RWA). That has been the best advice I could have ever received. and secured me a spot in the chorus. After a year or so Do you have a song or playlist (book soundtrack) of hard work and dedication, I will move up the ranks that you think represents this book? to become a headliner. Which reminds me, please call me Daylene, I need to get used to my stage name.”

For each book, I select a different playlist. For ‘To Tame a Montana Heart’, I listened to Marty Robbins and Nicklecreek. For ‘Big Sky Brazen’ it was Marty Robbins and Canadian artist Corb Lund.

“Whatever you say, Daylene.”

“It’s a beautiful stage name,” her brother in-law When you’re not writing what do you do? Do you have any hobbies or guilty pleasures?

Travis said, leaning over Dusty.

When I’m not writing I am a mother and wife. I’m “Thank you. I believe it will work just fine. I’ve cleaning, cooking, and taking care of my family. We are very close and prefer to do all of our fun stuff totried it out a few times in the past with nothing but pos- gether, so hobby wise we will exercise together or do anything outdoors. My children and I also love science so we will go to museums, aquariums, or do our own itive results.” experiments.

“I remember the Christmas you tried to get us all to call you that…I got new pistols from uncle.”

Dusty half frowned, her thoughts sliding across her face like the passing scenery from the train window next to her. “I’m glad you’re going to be a big city socialite, sister, but don’t forget what Ma always says.

What is next for you? Do you have any scheduled upcoming releases or works in progress?

As mentioned above, I will have two releases this year.

The next book in the Montana Girl Series, ‘To Tame a Montana Heart’; and my Coast Guard historical short stories, The Lighthouse Series, will be bound together and released in paperback later this year.

Thank you for having me!

The Appeal of Darkness

By Roxanne Rhoads Why are we drawn to the paranormal? Perhaps because it is the Other, it is the great unknown. The lure of the darkness that resides inside us all.

Are Others real? Are there really paranormal creatures that exist?

Who knows, but some of us sure like to believe.

Maybe we just need an escape from the everyday existence that has become so…ordinary. In today’s world people want to stand out and be noticed or at least experience something that is different. Perhaps that’s why so many of us turn to the world of the supernatural for an escape from the everyday.

Wouldn’t it be great to have super powers? Or to be immortal? Super strong? Have mind control? Or just be super seductive and a fabulous lover (we can all dream right)?

Of all supernatural creatures, vampires seem to be the most seductive. People are drawn to the vampire more than any other creature of myth and fantasy.

Vampires grace the pages of books and appear on the movie and television screen over and over again, each new vampire a source of amusement and desire to us. But why? What is the everlasting attraction of the vampire?

Before the 19th century vampires were just mindless monsters, myths and legends that were horrible and frightening, not sexy, not desirable. Literature changed all that.

Consider this description from the introduction of Blood Read: The Vampire as Metaphor in Contemporary Culture written by Joan Gordon and Veronica Hollinger.

[The vampire is] “an ambiguously coded figure, a source of erotic anxiety and corrupt desire, the literary vampire is one of the most powerful archetypes

bequeathed to us from the imagination of the nineteenth century.”

Vampires were turned into seductive and inherently sexy creatures that we just haven’t been able to get enough of. The unknown allure is there, evil has become sexy, darkness is beautiful. Once the monsters of myth and legend were shunned for their differences but today we embrace them because they are different, because they are Other.

Our modern society is full of disquiet, pain, suffering, depression, things that spiral out of control-real monsters and horrors face us every day on the news.

In entertainment we want monsters that we can control, monsters…Others that are appealing in their difference and offer us an escape. The vampire offers us all that and more.

I love many creatures of the Other world but the vampire is my first love and will always hold the top spot in my monster loving heart.

In my fiction, the characters are more often than not, Others, with a vampire playing either the hero or the heroine of the story.

In my newest book, Hex and the Single Witch, the vampires are all a little different from each other.

Some have issues with sunlight, some do not, some have silver sensitivities some do not.

In the Vehicle City Vampire series (Hex and the Single Witch is Book One) I wanted to take all the myths, legends and variances of vampire abilities, mix them all up and create an explanation as to why vampires are so different. I hope that readers will enjoy my take on vampirism it’s a bit different than anything I’ve read before- and I’ve read a lot of vampire fiction.

What inspired you to become an author?

under a pseudonym – S.C. Wise. I’ve also got a couple of other works in progress that are pretty Being an author was never really on my radar. I dark fiction, but right now YA is my favorite liked coming up with “wouldn’t it be cool if genre because I can do so much with it and peothere was a book like this” ideas that I would ple can still relate to the characters and the bounce of my mom or my husband, but I never challenges they face every day. actually put pen to paper. I studied Criminal Justice in college, but married before finishing Is there a message in your novel that you want my degree. I got heavily involved in event plan- readers to grasp? ning and then real estate. It wasn’t until I was faced with a forced job change that my husband I wouldn’t say there is a message, but I would insisted that I take a shot at putting my ideas on like the readers to realize that while Caitlin and paper. I had no idea how to begin, but began Leah are totally committed to Talon and Jace typing away. A year later, Painfully Ordinary they are happy to spend time on their own. The was completed and I had signed with a publish- girls actually chafe when they aren’t able to get er. I’m living proof that you don’t have to major time away from the boys. That’s the cornerin journalism or English to write. stone of ANY healthy relationship – the ability to spend time away from one another – coDo you write in different genres? dependency is not a positive trait.

Not many people know, but I do write in differ- Is the book, characters, or any scenes based on ent genres. I have an adult romance that I wrote a true life experience, someone you know, or

events in your own life?

Absolutely, there are several things. Emory , TX and Flower Mound, TX are exactly as they are described in the book. Goat Man’s Bridge is a real place and the center of several urban legends. Most importantly, Caitlin and Brady are real. They look and behave exactly like they are portrayed in the books. As a matter of fact, Caitlin is on all the covers for the series.

When people learn this, we get a lot of requests for signed copies of the book to include Caitlin’s signature.

What books/authors have influenced your life?

Growing up I read a lot of Stephen King. In middle school/junior high, the Flowers in the Attic series by V. C. Andrews was very big and so was the Sweet Valley High series.

Do you have any advice for other writers?

The biggest piece of advice I can give you is don’t give up. Writing can be extremely rewarding and just as frustrating. You can’t “make” the characters do something they don’t want to do. Don’t try to force your writing into a particular style because you think that is what people will like. You will end up with your writing sounding very awkward and stilted.

Write what you know, things you enjoy – and you’ll be surprised at what flows.

Do you have a song or playlist (book soundtrack) that you think represents this book?

Here are the playlists for Painfully Ordinary and New Beginnings: Painfully Ordinary: Bless the Broken Road – Rascal Flatts Bodies – Drowning Pool Pray - Disturbed Breaking the Habit – Linkin Park

Kissing in the Rain – Toby Keith Chicken Fried – Zac Brown Her Eyes – Pat Monahan You Found Me – The Fray Given Up – Linkin Park Hero – Chad Kroeger You know I’m No Good – Amy Winehouse I Run to You – Lady Antebellum So Far Away – Stained At Last – Etta James Marry Me – Train New Beginnings: Tell Me I’m a Wreck – Every Avenue Freak Like Me – Halestorm Too Close – Alex Clare A Warrior’s Call – Volbeat Just the Way You Are – Bruno Mars Don’t you Wanna Stay – Jason Aldean Come Back to Me – David Cook Ring of Fire – Social Distortion I Can’t Wait – Runner Runner Break In – Halestorm Chicken Fried – Zach Brown Band You Found Me – The Fray Home – Phillip Phillips A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes – Ilene Woods Once Upon A Dream – Bill Shirley So Far Away – Staind Numb – Linkin Park Given Up – Linkin Park Nothing Else Matters – Metallica At Last – Etta James

When you’re not writing what do you do? Do you have any hobbies or guilty pleasures?

I’m a huge hockey fan which comes through my books from time to time. I really enjoy spending time w/the family. If we aren’t watching Brady play hockey or lacrosse, then I’m probably visiting Caitlin at college. I love to sit down with a good book, but I tend to read them from cover to cover in one sitting so I don’t get to read as much as I would like. I don’t watch a ton of TV, but I do have several shows that I really like. I’m particularly attached to Psych, Grimm, Once Upon a Time, and then Game of Thrones and True Blood on HBO. What is next for you? Do you have any scheduled upcoming releases or works in progress?

Right now, I’m trying to stay focused on writing the fourth book in the series. Right now it’s titled Rushing Calm. I keep telling myself that it will be the final book in the series, but then again – Painfully Ordinary was originally just one book and it grew as I wrote. Who knows if I will be able to wrap up all the loose ends in

one book or if it will spill over into a 5th. I’m also getting a lot of feedback from fans of my adult romance who would like to see it turn into a series. There are also two additional works in progress, but they will be single books and are quite a bit darker than my other works.

About the Author: Stephanie Amox attended the University of Texas at Arlington, where she met her husband. Her life did an about-face in January 2009 and the future of her career looked bleak. Her husband encouraged her to follow her dream and finally write the story which had been buzzing around in her head for a number of years, thus The Lumina Saga was born.

These days she spends her time in Flower Mound, Texas with her husband, two children and a couple of crazy Jack Russell Terriers. When she's not writing she enjoys spending time watching her son play hockey or visiting her daughter at Oklahoma State University. https://twitter.com/painfullyordin https://www.facebook.com/PainfullyOrdinary http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9781300-painfully-ordinary

Feature Interview with Tricia Skinner, Author of Angel Bait

1. Do you have a specific writing style?

I’ve been told I have a certain “voice” in my writing, so I guess that would refer to the writing style. How to describe it though? Perhaps “no nonsense” or maybe “blunt.” Yes, I’d even toss “urban” in the mix, but I believe there’s an attitude that comes through for each of my characters. Oh, and I don’t spend a ton of time with overly descriptive phrasing.

2. How did you come up with the title for your latest book?

That took a while. I had titles like “Soldiers of Heaven” and “Assassins of Angels.” Ick! When I finally paid attention to what the real story was I found the common thread was Ionie, my heroine. “Bait” means “lure” or “to draw out,” which is exactly what Ionie is to the hero, Jarrid. She’s used as bait to catch his enemy. That enemy is a fallen angel, but Jarrid is half-angel (a Nephilim) and he’s the one who gets caught

by Ionie. The name twists in on it self.

3. Do you title the book first or wait until after it’s complete?

I like to have a title very close to the beginning of writing a manuscript. For me, the story, the characters, the conflicts, all of it, comes together in my mind when I have a title. During the course of writing, I may get a better title, but that’s rare. I usually stay with the first idea.

4. Is the book, characters, or any scenes based on a true life experience, someone you know, or events in your own life?

The following characters are based on real people in my life: Ionie, Nestaron, Kasdeja, Jimmy, and JP. The Great Danes are all real: Bowie and Echo are part of my family; QT is owned by the real JP; Ky is owned by a lovely lady named Jenifer; and Mighty Moe was owned by Dr. Susan Robinson. Sadly, litter runt Moe passed away before I finished the book.

Finally, the book is set in Detroit, where I grew up. I worked for The Detroit News as a reporter. I color a lot of the book with actual moments from my life in the city.

5. Is there a genre(s) that you’d like to write that you haven’t tackled yet?

book as I’d planned, I should finish it before my 3-year-old is ready for college.

I’d enjoy writing a historical urban fantasy. Ha! That might be a stretch to blend the two genres, but the history geek in me won’t stay silent forever. For now, I’m thrilled to be writing at all.

7. Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

6. What book are you reading now?

I have “Lover At Last” by JR Ward on my iPad and sneak in a few chapters every day when I’m grabbing a food break. Since I can’t devour the

I’m trying to maintain a certain level of trust in myself. I have to trust that I understand the characters, and that I have a good sense for what the story needs. But I’m still so new at this. It’s easy to get lost under a pile of doubt.

After spending several years as a newspaper reporter and corporate communications director, Tricia Skinner cast off traditional journalism for the freedom of novel writing. ANGEL BAIT is her urban fantasy romance debut. Her read­ing tastes are all over the place, but she’s mainly drawn to fan-tasy (and its sub-genres), para-nor-mal, sci-fi, and history.

In those rare moments when she’s not writing, Tricia is a new­bie “green” practitioner, a fit­ ness procrastinator, and a technology geek.

She is a mother and a wife. Her fam-ily includes two Great Danes.

Tricia stays active in various writing communities. She’s the Web Editor for Pony Express (ions), the online literary journal of the Masers of Liberal Studies Program at Southern Methodist University; a volunteer with SMU’s The Writers Path; the Newsletter Editor and a Mud Puddle Critique Group moderator for the Fantasy, Futuristic, and Paranormal Chapter of Romance Writers of America. . In December 2012 she received a master’s degree with a Creative Writing focus from SMU.

Visit her online at www.TriciaSkinner.com

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Angel Bait

by Tricia Skinner Book #1 of The Angel Assassins series Published at: http://www.theluvnv.com/2013/02/blog-tour-review-excerptgiveawayangel.html I love discovering new adult Urban Fantasy series, and Angel Bait reminded me of the Black Dagger Brotherhood, but with badass, gun-wielding angel assassins in leather. In her debut novel, Tricia Skinner created a complex urban fantasy with refreshing twists on the ancient Nephilim. Werewolves and fey openly live and mingle with humans. The fey, though hidden, are also known to man. Pure angels are unforgiving and terrifying, killing their brethrens' concubines and their half-breed children, the Nephilim.

Only four remain, and they are under the Heaven's heel and mercy, serving lifetimes of servitude for the mistakes of their fathers.

While I would've a little deeper emotion during a few parts, I loved the characters and relationships. Ionie is feisty and unforgettable. Jarrid made me want to hug him before running my hands down in his muscular back and breathing in his celestial scent, and he made me laugh at how tough yet clueless he was when it came to mankind and women. The secondary characters were fantastic, too. Each had standout, individual personalities that made them distinguishable from each other and were as lovable as the main characters—all within a few paragraphs.

I laughed aloud so many times from the smart dialog and witty banter, and the affection was so apparent within a few lines. The "first time" between Ionie and Jarrid was hot and so different, pleasantly surprising me. The world was easy to envision and get lost in, and I really appreciated how Tricia Skinner used what is told about angels and the Nephilim in the Bible. I wish Angel Bait was longer. I couldn't get enough, and I cannot wait until book two of the Angel Assassins series.

Action-packed and with an attitude narration, Angel Bait was memorable, exciting, funny, sexy, and all around wonderful. I've found a new author and series to fawn all over.

Reviews from Goodreads: Nikki Brandyberry rated it 4 of 5 stars Angel Bait, while so like a lot of things on the market right now, still blew me away in parts and will have me talking about it for some time. I love a good paranormal romance, especially one with memorable characters and unique aspects. Angel Bait gave me everything I wanted and though it did drag until about 30% in with a huge informational dump, after that it blew me away with the action, emotion and intricate story line! I’m really glad I stuck with it.

A news reporter in a world where many beings walk along side humans generally doesn’t leave a dull moment for Ionie. She wants a story to land her on the map and she gets exactly that when she meets Jarrid. The only group of paranormals to be unreachable are angels and a near mythical faction of half angels called nephilim. Cast out of heaven because of their mixed angel/human heritage and forced to work as assassins without any of the perks. Ionie may think he’s giving her access in exchange for letting him talk to her sources in search of information on a classified case. Jarrid has other plans though and they include using Ionie as bait to catch a fallen angel, a Renegade.

The parallels drawn between Ionie ( a mixed race human) and Jarrid (a mixed race paranormal) were pretty stark. They were alike in so many ways and yet totally different in others. Jarrid had to deal with obvious racism from the angels for his entire life. If not for their scarred angel leader Tanis, the other angels would have wiped the “abominations” from the earth long ago. I instantly liked him because he stood up for them so long ago and felt for the kids they once were. Now battled honed warriors they are a band of brothers and loyalty is extremely important to them. They felt very much like the Black Dagger Brotherhood…you know, before that series got way to intricate and I had to start taking notes.

Ionie was such a fierce female lead. She didn’t have powers and was essentially a normal human but she was smart, truthful and she didn’t allow insurmountable odds to get her down for long. She wormed her way right under Jarrid’s tough exterior and before he knew it she was a major part of all their lives. I loved how effortlessly she became such a huge part of their group and how they all surrounded her when she needed help. Especially Jarrid, the toughest of the warriors. I do love a virgin hero! His confusion was constantly warring with his protection instinct and he didn’t understand any of the human emotions he was feeling. Ionie brought out everything he had been denying himself and he soon found the idea of using her as bait as unacceptable.

The last half of the book is filled to the brim with emotion and action and a plot that should continue on into the next installment. I am really looking forward to following each brother into their own story and seeing the heroines that will bring them to their knees. I really hope Tanis gets a book as well.

His strength has been the glue for these brothers for so long and he deserves to make amends for his past and find a woman who can give him what he needs. Love and redemption.

This definitely did not feel like a debut novel. This is written with the excellence of a seasoned writer. For a reader like me, who has gotten bored with the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by JR Ward, this is exactly what I have been looking for!

I give Angel Bait by Tricia Skinner 4.50 stars!

Traci Douglass rated it 4 of 5 stars ANGEL BAIT, the debut novel by author Tricia Skinner, is a fun, fast-paced modern interpretation of the ancient Nephilim legends. Filled with unique, well-drawn characters and enough tension to keep you hooked until the last page. I enjoyed the use of Detroit’s gritty urban landmarks to ground the story in a realistic setting and the interesting assortment of secondary characters introduced in the book.

Plus, there are pets. Any story with pets included scores bonus points with me. The assassin brotherhood members are a snarky, sexy, sinfully gorgeous load of fun and the Angelic council appropriately pious and pretentious. You care about these characters and are saddened when tragedy strikes.

Though some of the interactions between the team seemed a tad stereotypical ‘guy-talk’ for millennia old warriors, I sense there are deeper stories afoot for each of the brothers, especially the tortured Tanis, and I’m really anticipating the next books in what has become a must-read series for me. ANGEL BAIT is a keeper! **I was provided an ARC of this story in exchange for an honest review.

Nancy (The Avid Reader) rated it 4 of 5 stars The following review is my opinion and not a paid review. I was given a free copy of the book from the author for my honest opinion.

Jarrid and his brothers are nephilim, half-human and half-angel who work for Heaven as assassins.

Jarrid and his brothers are also members of The Eternal Order. Their job is to hunt down the criminals who break Heaven's laws and go against the Directorate. Being half-human Jarrid is not allowed in heaven. He wants more than anything and will do whatever it takes to be allowed to enter Heaven.

Jarrid finds out that there is a renegade angel in town and if he can capture him or bring him down then he thinks or hopes that bringing him down will get him into heaven. Jarrid learns that the renegade angel is after a woman, a news reporter, Ionie Gifford. Ionie has no idea that the angel wants her or why. Jarrid has no clue why the angel wants her either but he dosent' care. All Jarrid is worried about is getting hisself a spot in heaven.

Jarrid goes to Ionie to make a deal with her to get her to help him. He doesn't tell her that the angel wants her. She agrees to help him find this angel in return for helping him she will get to do an exclusive story on angels.

Jarrid is one tall/big man/angel and Ionie thinks he is one goregous dude. When Jarrid meet Ionie he is not sure of what he is feeling for Ionie. He has never been in a relationship before. Heaven doesn't allow half-angels to have a relationship. But Jarrid can't help how he feels about Ionie and so therefore can't stop his love for her.

Ionie is a very independent and brave woman. She has a mouth on her and is not afraid to use it. She is comical and will have you laughing out loud at times with the things that she comes up with to say.

Jarrid has never been a humours person always serious kind of dude but Ionie can make him laugh. I mean like the belly shaking kind of laugh but I don't image he has much that shakes with all his muscles.

Angel Bait is one of those books that you just want to keep reading. You want to keep reading wanting to see what Ionie is going to say next. You also want to know what she is going to do next. Your

like what kind of trouble is she going to get into now? Will Jarrid and his brothers find her in time to be able to save her? Why does the renegade angel want Ionie? Will he get his hands on her?

These are some of the questions you will probably be asking when you are reading it. I can't wait to read the next book in the series. So why don't you go and pick up your own copy today. I don't think you would be disappointed

Can I Use the Law of Attraction to Boost Book Sales?

By Carole Remy

Can I Use the Law of Attraction to Boost Book Sales?

What the Universe hears: I like feeling fat. I like feeling envious.

I like feeling angry. I like feeling powerless (from the Universe's strictly physics POV).

Or animal adoptions, or whatever measure of abundance you want? The simple answer to this question is, Yes of course! The What you get in the future: more opportunities to feel fat, to feel more complicated answer contains the proviso: as long as you envy, to feel anger, to feel powerlessness. Arggg! understand how the Law of Attraction really works. If it were obvious, we'd all have the sales of John Locke or Laurel K. Hamilton.

Unconscious Attraction (Happy Example)

Two Key Principles of the LoA

You see a puppy in someone's arms. You feel joy! You want to cuddle the puppy! You remember how much you love your own dog!

How does the Law of Attraction really work? The first thing to understand is that from the Universe's point of view, everything is energy. Even things are energy. Physicists know this. For the rest What the Universe hears: I like joy. I like touching. I like loving of us, it takes a little getting used to. my dog.

The second principle is that, believe it or not, the Universe wants What you get in the future: more opportunities to feel joy, to feel to and always does give us exactly what it thinks we want. That's physical closeness, to feel love. because the Universe acts like a giant reflector, reflecting back and amplifying energy. You've heard of like attracting like? Magnify by a gazillion, and that's the Universe.

How to Attract Book Sales What Does This Mean for Us Humans?

Now we get to the nitty gritty. What will attract book sales?

Number one, the Universe doesn't have a clue that you want book For us, the Law of Attraction translates into a huge tool that we sales. Not. A. Clue. No matter how many vision boards you use all the time, either consciously or, more often, unconsciously. make, wishes you express, tears you shed, the Universe doesn't Here are a couple of examples. know Amazon from a strong lady, or Kindle from a fire.

What the Universe does know is emotion, and it will bring you

Unconscious Attraction (Unpleasant Example) more of whatever emotion you feel. There are some pretty obvious emotions you want to avoid, because you don't want more opportunities to feel them. Envy. Anxiety. Desperation. Despair.

A waiter brings a scrumptious piece of cake to the table. Your emotional reaction is — Why did he bring this cake to the table? I The list is pretty long, and the emotions are pretty common. What we need is an antidote. can't possibly eat this cake! I'll get fat.

What emotions will bring book sales? Anything that makes you feel good brings more opportunities to feel good!

Poem

Carole Remy, writer of erotic romance, is also known as Mary Carol Moran, poet. Her poems have appeared in dozens of nationAppreciation. To me, gratitude is the best tool we have. You can- al and international magazines and anthologies, and are collected not feel down when you are feeling appreciative. Try it. Can't be in two books, Clear Soul and Equivocal Blessings, which won done! The more you feel grateful for what you already have, the Poetry Book of the Year in Alabama in 2009. You can read more more things/people/book sales(!) the Universe will bring you to of Mary Carol Moran’s poems at http:// appreciate . savorpoetrytoday.blogspot.mx/.

Confidence. If you feel secure and confident, the Universe will This poem appears in Clear Soul, Mary Carol Moran’s first book keep proving to you over and over that you are right to feel secure of poems. and confident. How cool is that!

Optimism. If you wake up in the morning expecting a wonderful day, guess what you're going to get? A wonderful day! That doesn't mean that nothing will go wrong. What it does mean is that the optimistic, confident you will see mishaps as bumps and not crashes.

Generosity. Being generous is good not only because it's morally or inherently right, but because it flows from a feeling of abundance. When you are generous, you are telling the Universe that you feel abundant, and you can take it to the bank (literally!) that you will get more and more opportunities to feel abundant.

I'm sure you can think of many more uplifting and helpful emotions. When you find yourself shifting into an unhelpful emotion, one you don't want more of, the quick fix is to find something to appreciate. Don't try to go from despair to joy. It's too big a leap.

Just find something small to enjoy. I love the feeling of soap suds on my hands, and that gets me through the dishes with a smile every time.

Or Something Better The bottom line is to do the best you can to produce great books and to promote them with enthusiasm and vigor. You do your job of focusing on the emotions you want more of, and let the Universe do its job of bringing you more opportunities to feel them.

When you enjoy the process, you get more joy. If one person retweets you, Wow! Feel the connection! When you feel abundant, you get more abundance. One person bought your book? That's fantastic! When you feel supported, you get more support. You got one 5-star review - Wonderful! How amazing and sustaining that somebody loves your book!

Whenever I wish for something, I always tag onto the end, "or something better." Great book sales would be fun, but who knows? Maybe the Universe has a different path, something that absolutely fulfills my soul's desires in a way that I can't even imagine right now!

So I'll end by wishing you all amazing book sales, or something better!

Pirate Plow my fields with your fingers; lost coins lie deep in the folds.

Jealousy filled Bomani’s chest. What the hell was that about? Kendra was doing what his Lord commanded.

The reason failed to quell his growing irritation the longer Kendra touched Bakari’s sarcophagus. Maybe it was the sense that something so pure should not touch an object so filthy. Although beautiful to the eye, the etchings were a testament to the atrocity. Anything that odjit of a goddess touched was cursed and fetid.

Relief swept over him when Kendra asked to see the archives. The more time she spent away from that dark cell the better. Plus, he was in no rush to see Bakari again. They had never been close and their last meeting ended in a physical fight. Guilt weighted his heart.

His Lord’s happiness was hinged on his son’s revival—the only fact that kept him from wishing for Kendra to fail.

She exited the cell and stuck close to his hip. The long spirals of her hair bobbed with each of her steps. The small female had gotten under his skin in the short time he had known her and her sisters, Lilly and Kit. During a rescue mission, he would never forget the terror in Kendra’s eyes when the Nehebkau’s traitor held a knife to her slender throat. She looked so small and vulnerable. In a protective rage he had snapped the huntress’ arm in half.

No one would harm any of the offspring of the Mother Goddess. Ever so long, as he had living energy in his black soul. But, that was simply his nature, he rationalized. Nothing more.

The scent of flowers tickling his nose drew his gaze down. Yeah, right. Who was he kidding? He had a crush on the small waif of a woman. A child by his age standards, he was five thousand her senior at the meager human age of twenty-two. Isis, she was so off limits it was not even funny. Not to mention, she was the daughter of the Mother Goddess, the mother of all the gods and ruler of the Creation Pantheon. Him? A warrior of the Underworld. Not even a god for all intents and purposes.

He ran a hand over his scalp. Those facts did not mitigate the warmth against his normally numb skin. Her pale, toothpick-like arm wrapped snuggly against his, as he escorted her out of the dungeon. He guessed the reason he enjoyed her company so much was the fact that when she stared at him with her big brown eyes, there was no fear in them, but warmth that heated his insides. His life had little warmth or gentleness.

Bomani walked in an unnatural gate to ensure he was not dragging her by the arm. He never wanted her uncomfortable. As they approached the assent of the steps leading out of the prison, he considered offering to carry her, but she was not an invalid.

Surprisingly, she swiftly moved up the steps with the grace of a gazelle and only a small incremental increase

in her breathing and heart rate. A tiny fit body. He quickly shut off his next visions of what lay hidden beneath her oversized clothing, although not quick enough. Thankfully, mastery of his cravings staved off any physical arousal.

Unexpectedly, Kendra drew closer to him. Her small perky breast brushed innocently against his arm. He swallowed the hiss that threatened to escape his throat. She warmed more than his skin this time.

He needed to break this fixation. Hell, she had been through enough. She had lost her father and her world had been turned upside down. Last thing she needed was more complications, like an infatuated warrior who knew better. Embarrassed, an insufficient word to describe how he would feel. She would think him a heathen.

Where was his honor now? He cursed silently.

Bomani pulled to a stop ten steps from freedom. He looked at her from the side afraid if he turned he might accidently brush up against her. He would not be able to control what came next. “Do you think you can make it the rest of the way? I will soon follow to show you the library.”

“Sure. Meet at my room?”

Bomani nodded and released her arm. Maybe separating himself would break the spell she cast on him.

She bounced up the rest of the steps and out into the light. She smiled. “Thank you, you know, for keeping me safe.”

Gods, he was going to rot in Duat. “Anytime.” He bowed.

When she turned to leave, he extinguished the torches and leaned against the stone wall. The weight of his fatigue crashed upon his shoulders. Her departure took the last of his strength with her.

Kendra would have to wait a little longer, he realized. He had to honor his fallen warriors. Menthu’s army had been more effective than he wanted to admit. Despite the Underworld legion’s victory at the Battle of Thebes, Bomani had lost numerous brothers in the fight.

He leaned his head against the cold wall, pained at the thought of so many souls destroyed. Even though new warriors would be born from the souls returned to the Underworld waters, the loss of even one brother was a burden he hated to carry.

He hefted his sore body up the steps and slammed the heavy iron door behind him. He stalked the hallway toward Asar’s office, his mood now sullen.

The unmarred skin between the scarifications tingled with heat the minute he rounded the corner. Bright flowing light pierced the dim palace hall. His gaze targeted the Protector god being escorted by a wall of guardians.

A Creation god in Aaru. What nerve.

The burning of his skin reminded him of the differences between the Pantheons. One of death. One of life. Balanced, but unable to mix. The Carrigan sisters seemed to be the only exception to that rule. He experienced no pain when he was around Kendra, despite her Creation lineage.

“Bast,” he hissed under his breath. Their Creation cousins had found it beneath them to assist in the battle against Menthu, which only reinforced his distaste of them.

The only way she was here was by Asar’s invitation. No one entered Aaru, the Paradise Isle of the Underworld, without the expressed consent of its Lord. Considering the circumstances he was shocked she was here. Bast had attempted to kidnap Kendra’s sister and Asar’s new wife, Lilly. Bast would have succeeded if Bomani had not shown up at the exact moment.

He frowned, regretting he had sent Kendra on alone. Bast could very easily snatch her away, even with the warriors present. With fists clenched Bomani forged toward the goddess, burning skin or not.

“Well, well. Look who is here,” he spat. Her smile flared his fury.

“Bomani. How nice it is to see you again,” she purred. Her gaze shifted down his torso and stopped. She arched her eyebrows. “Yes, very nice to see you again.” Her green eyes flicked to meet his, an unholy glow of arousal about them. “What have you been up too?” Her gaze shifted down to his bulging pants.

He ground his teeth. The goddess may be beautiful by all standards with her flowing brown hair and piercing green eyes, but like hell would he even entertain the idea of bedding her. It would not be the first time in his existence that a Creation goddess looked for a forbidden romp in the sack. He was not that desperate for a release. “Well in case you missed it, we are at war. Huge battle at Thebes. Oh, that is right, you missed it,” he growled.

She narrowed her eyes. “Do you address your master in such a disrespectful manner?”

Master? He stepped forward pushing a blast of cold energy into her. Despite her skin rising up in fine goose bumps, she stared defiantly back. Protector gods were some of the most powerful of their kind. Regardless, he wanted it abundantly clear, he did not give a corpse’s ass who she was.

Based on the smile and delight in her eyes, she had gotten the reaction she wanted. He had been played, which only stoked his already burning anger. “You are in my world, Goddess. Your status has no weight here.”

“Such tension in your voice, Commander. Perhaps, you need some relief from your…current condition.”

The numb touch of fingers grazed his arm. He barely restrained himself from twisting her wrist a good one. He leaned in, his lips a fraction from her ear. “Let us be clear about this. Never. Ever. Going to happen.”

Bast pursed her lips together in an exaggerated pout. “Do not be too sure about that. Conditions can change.”

She smiled again. “But, your words are fitting.” She leaned into his ear with her hands pressed to his chest.

Her hot breath stung his skin and her lips grazed the edge of his ear. “Because she was not made for you.”

What inspired you to become an author?

sidered submitting to a publisher. My first book is dedicated to Paul.

My husband, honestly. Yes, I will give him the credit this once :) Do you have a specific writing style?

I picked up writing as a hobby in 2009, never thinking about publishing. I just had these stories bouncing around in my head. The need to express the stories on paper literally happened overnight. I call it my awakening. It wasn’t until my husband read my first manuscript and said “you should publish this,” did I even consider the possibility. Honestly, I didn’t think I had a chance in hell, so I went to my first RWA conference and took workshops through FF&P Chapter. If it wasn’t for my husband’s encouragement, I don’t think I would have ever con-

Fly by the seat of my pants!

I tried plotting and outlining because everyone told me that’s what I should do, but honestly the well-constructed outlines would invariably end up in the trash. I plot in my head and sit down and write. I know where I want the characters to start and end. I let them fill in the rest.

I love giving the characters control of the story.

They provide the greatest surprises. You never know what’s going to happen.

The entire Key to the Cursed series has several themes that run through the plot and character I write both Paranormal Romance and Urban arcs. The tagline for the series is “Only the Fantasy. The Key to the Cursed series is a nice strongest love will unlock the souls of the Unmix of both. I’d have a few SciFi ideas bang- derworld.” Essentially, with love anything is ing around in the old brain that I really need to possible. Soul Reborn’s theme revolves be put on paper. around forgiveness and second changes. Soul Awakened’s theme is of hope and redemption.

If yes which is your favorite genre to write?

Is the book, characters, or any scenes based Paranormal romance is my absolute favorite. on a true life experience, someone you The mix of super human powers, otherworldly know, or events in your own life? creatures, love and romance is addictive. I can’t get enough of it. It is the one genre that All of the above. is limitless.

I’ve struggled with depression and suicide.

How did you come up with the title for your Not my own, but others around me. I never quite understood it until recently. I had a latest book? roommate in college that overdosed in a suiSoul Awakened is a powerful novel on several cidal gesture. I remember being so angry with levels. Yes, Kendra “awakens” Bakari from her. Furious. She had everything going for his cursed slumber, but his awakening is much her, more than I did at the time. I could not deeper than that – soul altering. He changes relate, but wanted to be there for her. physically, and more importantly, emotionally. I became a nurse to care for people in their time of need, but I couldn’t get my hands Do you title the book first or wait until after around this idea of “better off dead.” In recent years, we lost a high school friend to suicide. it’s complete?

Such a tragic loss. Being in the military, I The first book in the series I didn’t title until it knew folks suffering from PTSD. To see was complete. Soul Reborn (current title) was someone in their acute crisis and then later afonce called The Lion’s Flower. Okay don’t ter counseling, the transformation was amazlaugh, it was a placeholder of sorts for submis- ing. I realized after talking with so many, my sion. After the last edits, I asked my editor to frustration was the fact that I could not take brainstorm with me because the title needed a their pain away and that they could not see major overhaul. I wanted all the books to have what I saw—the light at the end of the tunnel. the same theme and because Egyptian mythol- Hope for a life beyond depression and their ogy revolves around souls we decided that right to be happy. would be the best keyword throughout the series. Thus, Soul Reborn, Soul Awakened, Soul Soul Awakened allowed me to write that jourUnbound, and Soul Unleashed were born. ney. The countless stories of despair and loss are bundled into this story, as well as my own in Kendra.

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

I dedicated Soul Awakened to our American Do you write in different genres?

heroes: find their hope, hold onto it and never let it go.

be historical. The Key to the Cursed series is present day with an urban fantasy flare. Okay, I was doing a bit of ground breaking, so I was Who designed the cover of your latest book? a little nervous. I delayed pitching and submitting Soul Reborn’s manuscript, mostly out of Taria Reed (http://www.tariar.com/ ) was the fear it wasn’t good enough or the publishers designer for Soul Awakened. She did a fabu- would see Egyptian and throw it in the trash. I lous job. Honestly, she captured all the elewould have never known had I not taken those ments in one scene. fateful steps towards publishing. I did an online pitch, and although the editor was a little hesitant she asked for a full manuscript.

Do you have any advice for other writers?

Twenty-four hours later I received a contract You never know unless you try. offer.

What I’ve learned it’s not so much what you I was told by fellow writers if I wanted to pub- right, it’s how you write it. Write what you lish an Egyptian based novel it would have to love.

Book Description: LOVE FOR BLOOD OR HONOR Kendra, an Egyptologist and demi-god in waiting, is the key to unlocking Bakari, the Egyptian God of Death, from his cursed slumber. Desperate to free him, she inadvertently binds herself to the god with a spell that only death will undo. To save Bakari from himself, she may have to sacrifice her innocence, and possibly her soul, before he becomes his family’s worst enemy.

HAUNTED BY SINS OF THE PAST Bakari awakens to a world at war and a beautiful woman who has tethered his soul to hers. In the wake of his self-destruction Kendra is his only hope of salvation, but another has vowed to keep Bakari from the one thing he craves most-- his Parvana. His butterfly.

About the Author: In her pursuit of a nursing degree, Jean Murray aspired to see the world and joined the Navy. At the end of 2011 she said a heartbreaking goodbye to her Navy family and retired after twenty years of military service. Although her dreams of writing full time have yet to come true, she continues her writing journey and draws inspiration from her travels abroad. She enjoys spending time with her family and of course, writing about the “Carrigan sisters and their mates, Gods of the Underworld,” to bring you the next installment of the Key to the Cursed series.

Justice: Then and Now I use Tarot cards a good deal in my writing, to give me ideas about creating characters and develop plot points. Sometimes, I pick cards on purpose that catch my eye, but more often, I deal them out at random. I let my imagination roam over the pictures to generate situations and connections among characters.

One of my favorite cards in the deck is Justice. She's depicted as a crowned woman in heavy robes, holding a sword in one hand and a scale in the other.

She's not blindfolded - depictions of blind justice date from only the fifteenth century onward. Instead, she judges those who come before her with clear sight into the past, present, and future The card's meaning is straightforward enough: Justice is about truth, karmic balance, and putting important things in writing. Seeing her in a Tarot spread is a suggestion to stay balanced, centered, and aware of dealings with the law. She's about cause and effect...every action is remembered and rewarded or punished.

But Justice has a longer history. I often associate her with Themis, an ancient Greek Titan. She was in charge of divine law. She was not wrathful or vengeful, like the Furies. Instead, she represented communities, collective law, and norms of society.

Themis had the ability to peer into the future, and was one of the original Oracles of Delphi. The Delphic Oracle is probably the most famous oracle of the ancient world. The priestess of the Temple of Apollo, the Pythia, wielded a great deal of political influence over leaders who sought her advice and the priestesses who served the temple. The Temple of Apollo was sited over a crevasse in the earth emitting noxious vapors, leading to modern-day speculation that the Pythia’s visions were not sendings from Apollo, but toxic hallucinations. The Delphic Oracle operated from roughly the eight century BC until 393 AD, when all pagan oracles were ordered to be dismantled by the Emperor. After that, no one knows what became of the priestesses.

But the image of Themis remains. She appears outside of government buildings, outside of courthouses, and in popular art. She remains a constant presence in our modern life, embodying an ideal of quiet sight into the past and future.

About the Author: Kaitlyn Davis graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Johns Hopkins University with a B.A. in Writing Seminars. She's been writing ever since she picked up her first crayon and is overjoyed to finally share her work with the world. She currently lives in New York City and dreams of having a cockapoo puppy of her own.

Blog – http://kaitlyndavisbooks.blogspot.com/ Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/ KaitlynDavisBooks Twitter – https://twitter.com/DavisKaitlyn Goodreads – http://www.goodreads.com/author/ show/5276341.Kaitlyn_Davis Pinterest - http://pinterest.com/kdavisbooks/ Book Description:

" ith one last look, one final search of the lines of his face for some sign, Kira W turned and ran away from the sound of the man she loved laughing in the face of her death."

When Kira Dawson moves to South Carolina, she meets Luke, a blond goofball who quickly becomes her best friend, and Tristan, a mysterious bad boy who sends shivers down her spine. Kira knows they're keeping secrets, but when she discovers Tristan's lust for blood and her own dormant mystical powers, Kira is forced to fight for her life and make the heartbreaking decision between the familiar comfort of friendship and the fiery passion of love.

Book Description: " lowly, like a whisper almost blown away in the wind, two words streaked S across her mind: 'Kiss me.'"

Kira may have survived the eclipse, but her troubles are far from over.

She's headed to Sonnyville with one goal in mind: to learn more about her parents. But with Luke and Tristan competing for her heart and Diana gunning for her head, time is running out on the search for her mother.

And the closer Kira gets to answers, the more terrified she becomes. The conduits fear her, the vampires fear her, and Kira is starting to wonder if maybe they're right...

Book Description: “Kira gulped, unable to stop the growing sense that everything in her world was about to change.”

With Aldrich’s note burning a hole in her pocket, Kira is off to England to finally reunite with her birth mother. But what begins as a dream quickly turns to a nightmare and Kira is left questioning everything she has ever known. Can she be the conduit Luke wants her to be? Can she be the rebel Tristan needs her to be? Or is she something else? Something no one, not even Aldrich, ever saw coming…

Scorch Midnight Fire Series Book Four Kaitlyn Davis “All

it did was remind Kira that time was running out. That she needed to choose. Or a lot more than a forest would burn. The whole world would crumble."

Aldrich escaped…again. Tristan forgot…everything. And Luke, well, Luke was getting more than a little impatient. But those were the least of Kira’s concerns, because something else happened in England— something she was trying desperately to forget. A wedge of evil had lodged itself in her heart, a little black hole had nestled into her flames, and it wasn’t going away—not anytime soon…and maybe not ever.

When the wheels finally touched American soil, Jenny was both relieved and nervous.

She was so happy to be home she could cry, at the same time as she fretted over his papers. They looked good but could hardly be real. Alex didn't seem worried at all; he was the epitome of calm as they stood in the long line to the passport checkpoint.

Her own passport had been unused before this trip, and she opened it to look at the stamps. Alex bent over to kiss her on the cheek. He knew her well enough already to know what was on her mind. "Don't worry, I do this all the time."

The comment distracted her, and she thought he probably did it on purpose. She wanted to ask a million or so questions, but didn't even lift an eyebrow. "I can't wait to be home."

Once they reached the counter, the woman sitting there hardly even looked at the photos. She threw one glance at their documents, gave them back, and yelled, "Next!"

They waited for the luggage for an eternity, and Jenny was nervous all the way through customs. She relaxed a little once they were well into the large airport, surrounded by Americans hurrying in all directions. The protection of being in the country was more imagined than real, but she was still happier. They walked slowly hand in hand with the suitcases rolling behind them like obedient dogs, and just seeing the crowds made her heart lighter.

She wondered if her lover would miss seeing and hearing his own language, and if he would miss his own people. He was stranded in a foreign country and culture with nothing but her, with an axe hovering over his head, and all this after knowing her for just a couple of months. Thinking about it made her feel incredibly guilty, and telling herself she couldn't have done anything about it didn't help at all.

Eventually, Alex stopped and pulled their bags up next to a wall. "Are you up for the drive home, or do you want to stay in a hotel tonight?"

She kept going because he did, but now when he said it, she was very tired. "I don't know. It would be good to be home, but it seems so far away. What do you think?"

"Oh, I want to go somewhere and take all your clothes off, but what I want is not important. Your wish is my command, my sweet."

It made her laugh. "So, a hotel it is."

When they walked towards the exit, past one of the cafĂŠs, she saw a familiar face turn towards them. A smile played on the man's lips. She had seen him not all that long ago, on the other side of the world, in Alex's apartment. He met her eyes, and she said, "Ignore him."

They walked right past the old man. "They've been with us all the way. One would think people would have something better to do."

She hadn't seen anyone else, but if he said they had been there, they were there.

Book Description: When Jenny Moore meets Alexei Roshenko, it's love at first sight. The tall, dark and handsome stranger appears to be the answer to every romantic fantasy any woman ever had. There is however more to him than meets the eye, and a dark and violent past is catching up with him. When Jenny decides to follow him back to Russia, she gets entangled in a web of deceit and secrets beyond her wildest imagination.

Author Bio: Born in Sweden in the early 1970's, Maria showed a large interest for books at an early age. Even before she was able to read or write, she made her mom staple papers together into booklets she filled with drawings of suns and planets. She proudly declared them, "The Sun Book." They were all about the sun. She also claimed, to her mother's horror, that her being on Earth was a big mistake and that her alien family would come and bring her home at any moment. This never happened, but both the interest in space and the passion for bookmaking stayed with her.

As an adult Maria's creativity got an outlet through playing bass in a number of rock bands, and through writing technical manuals and making web pages for various companies and organizations. She did write drafts for a few novels, but the storytelling muse was mostly satisfied through role playing online on Myspace. It was here, while writing stories together with people from around the globe, she stumbled onto Mike. They started talking out of character, and she moved over to Florida to him late 2008. Today the two are married and live in the Tampa Bay area with three rescue dogs.

Besides writing and playing bass, Maria enjoys driving off-road, archery, and Tameshigiri.

Review Jabin and the Space Pirates by Bev Allen In the space colony of New Wales, the pirate attacks are both relentless and merciless.

Having lost both his parents, Jabin has been adopted by his austere and spiteful uncle and aunt who live in the space colony of New Wales which is riven with religious and political rivalry, and prey to the vicious maraudings of pirates whose cruelty and greed are beyond all imagination.

When Jabin volunteers to surrender himself to a pirate raiding party to save a friend, he does so believing that nothing can be worse than his current suffering.

However, he is soon to discover that things can always get worse when the stakes are high, the rewards are vast and slave labour is there for the taking.

When the King of New Wales is assassinated, the colony threatens to collapse into total anarchy, leaving the pirates free reign to mutilate, kill and profit as they will, but the forces of law and order sent out from Earth are getting ready to fight back, and Jabin could have a vital part to play in the ensuing war if he can only stay alive.

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Review by Oana Matei:

I’ll start by saying this book was so much more than I expected. I decided to read it because the description promised a heartbreaking story of a young boy who must face many hardships as an orphan and a slave, which brought many expectations: I was hoping for some complex characters, angst, despicable villains and a happy, rewarding ending. And, guess what? Jabin and the Space Pirates has them all!

The author really knows how to make the reader root for the characters, especially Jabin. He is a 13-year-old boy whose mother abandoned him, leaving him at the mercy of foster homes and foster parents who didn’t take long to push him away because he didn’t seem to fit in their happy families. Eventually, he ends up with his pious uncle and aunt, who make sure he knows he is not wanted, and deprive him of food whenever they are under the impression he disobeyed them.Jabin’s life is so miserable that he’d rather offer himself as a slave to the pirate Wittenmier, who raids the space colony New Wales. And this is exactly what he does. From here on, we follow Jabin’s life as a slave, always beaten and starved, always scared that his master would take his anger on him.

In parallel, we see Colonel Eveson and his soldiers (the reinforcements sent from Earth) trying to find Wittenmier and protect the New King of Wales – a frail, innocent boy whose father has been murdered. There is enough politics in this book, but it’s never boring or redundant. With such a fast-paced action and large array of characters that come and go, it’s impossible to get bored.

No doubt, the characters were the strongest point of this novel. Character-driven stories have the greatest impact on me. I love to read about complex and realistic characters that I can relate to, than I can understand and, more importantly, whose evolution I can observe as the action plays out. I liked how Jabin was built: he was a broken boy with no family or friends to trust, a lost soul who expected to be pushed away at any moment. The first part of the novel read more like an adventure story, and we only get to see one side of Jabin: the scared, but brave child who is resigned to his fate. The second part of the novel, when Jabin is finally saved and offered a chance to grow up safely in a loving, respectable family, shows the other side of him; a side that is darker and more dangerous. Jabin doesn’t think he should be saved; he doesn’t believe he deserves to belong. He is afraid to hope, because he is sure his new family will eventually decide his place is not among them. He is a broken boy who got used to being ill-treated, and he can only function in a filthy, violent environment, because this is what he has ever known.

I must say I was impressed with the second part of the novel, and I loved the fact that the author didn’t choose to stop at the point when Jabin accepts to be taken in by Colonel Eveson.It would’ve still been a happy ending, but not that satisfactory. It seems that the real challenge Jabin has to face is getting used to the idea that someone can truly care for him. Bev Allen created a very complex and realistic character, and wove in some psychological elements that turn this story into so much more than an adventure/sci-fi novel.

There are lots of other things I’d like to say about Jabin and the Space Pirates. I loved most of the supporting characters. Colonel Eveson is great, as well as Finn O’Hagan and John Irwin. Their spirited discussions are just too funny, even when serious matters are at stake. My only objection would be that the space colony was not described in enough detail. I would’ve liked to know more about how it looked like and about the technological advancements they had. The author didn’t draw a very clear picture of this new world, which is a shame, because the story has everything it needs… except thorough world building.

Nevertheless, I chose to give Jabin and the Space Pirates five compasses, because the clean, solid writing, the complex characters, and their evolution throughout the story, made it a truly enjoyable and rewarding read. I would definitely like to read a sequel!

Originally published at http://www.allfantasyworlds.com/2013/02/book-tour-review-jabin-and-space.html

She was tall and thin with a nimbus of red gold hair that dazzled the eye like a luminous fog. I had found her outside the library, looking lost.

She accepted my offer of coffee on the second try, but she wouldn’t tell me her name. When I tried to introduce myself, she put a finger to her lips and shushed me. We took a bus to the French Quarter and landed at the Café du Monde. She needed glasses to read the menu and she slipped them on surreptitiously when I turned to the waiter.

taurant like the moon on a misty night. Her skin was pale and her features small and precise. She didn’t look like anyone I had ever seen.

“What animal do you imagine yourself as?” I asked her abruptly, leaning forward across the table.

She looked at me strangely, then sat back in thought. I waited. The silences seemed to be part of our conversation. Several moments later, she spoke.

“You don’t need that,” I advised her, taking the menu out of her hands. “We’re going to have cof- “A race horse.” fee and beignets.”

I digested her words as we munched the feathery She slipped the glasses back into her purse. pastries and sipped strong black coffee.

“I read about those in a guidebook,” she smiled.

“Fast, delicate,” I agreed.

“They’re French doughnuts.”

“Ambitious,” she added with a smile. “I like to “Much more than that,” I told her. “Nothing in win.”

New Orleans is as ordinary as a doughnut.”

She smiled to herself and I wondered what she Then she turned the tables on me. was thinking. She didn’t offer to tell me so I shut up and watched her. She glowed in the dim res“What animal are you?”

“A panther,” I answered without thinking.

ral sports teams. Years of walking to school alone, sitting at home on Friday night, making She narrowed her eyes and stared at me thought- excuses to my mother why I didn’t want to go to fully. When she didn’t speak, I filled the silence. the prom.

“Skittish.”

“Well, John-geek,” she turned the word to a ca“What?” she asked. ress and I fell nine-tenths in love. “Do you want to go for a walk?”

“You’re also skittish, like a thoroughbred.”

We strolled around Jackson Square and she “Am I?” she smiled. “Better not push me, then.” trailed her hand along the black wrought iron railThe waiter refilled our coffee cups. ing. She seemed to retreat from me mentally as well as physically. She was lost in her own world.

“I can see the panther,” she said at last. Waiting for each word had become a subtle seduction.

“Earth calling redhead,” I teased her.

She kept me suspended, then broke the tension at the last moment. “You don’t look like a panShe looked at me and smiled. ther, but you have cat eyes.”

“Sorry, I was thinking about something.”

“Cat eyes?”

“Want to tell me?”

“Tame on the surface and feral underneath.”

I blew out a breath.

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “That’s what I was trying to decide.”

“Do you have a name yet?” I asked.

“I’m safe,” I offered.

“Not yet,” she smiled. “But you can tell me yours.”

“I know. You won’t betray me.”

“John.”

“Betray? That’s a loaded word.”

The relief I felt was all out of proportion to the single word. I felt in that moment that she had accepted me. She had allowed me to become a person, not a man who bought her a coffee. I became a small fraction of how important she already was to me.

“Can I talk to you, and you won’t ask me any questions?”

“What do you do, John?” she asked me with a slow smile.

“I’m in electronics.” I blushed and admitted, “Actually, I’m kind of a geek.”

“I like geeks.”

“I’ll try not to.”

“You have to promise. Don’t even think questions.”

“I’m a brick wall.”

She laughed. That first time I heard her laugh, I stumbled and almost fell. The sound was pure and simple, as though she hadn’t worn out her humor on trivia but saved it for important moments.

Those three words dispelled eighteen years of discomfort in school, years of being ignored by “I was picturing you as a brick wall,” she exthe popular girls and passed over for the intramu- plained. “The bricks are all nice and orderly on

the outside, and then they begin to undulate like there’s a force inside them that wants out. Then they settle back down and everyone thinks what a nice, sturdy brick wall.”

“You caught me,” I admitted, though I doubted she understood my double meaning. “Johnny the Geek with a panther inside. Are you psychic?”

“Not really. I pay attention.”

za in silence twice more. I tried to relax into our leisurely pace. Impatience would surface for an instant and I would beat it down. She was a woman who knew how she wanted to run the race.

She might let me pretend to be the jockey, but we both knew who was in control. She would throw me if I dug in the spurs.

At last I did relax. If we didn’t speak for the rest of the day, that was okay. Her hand in mine, a warm day in New Orleans, I was content. She seemed to sense my submission, for she led me to a bench and we sat.

We walked along in silence around the square.

When we reached our starting point, she seemed to come to a decision. She slipped her hand into mine. I waited for her to speak, but she pulled me “I may be in trouble,” she admitted simply. along to walk beside her again. We circled the pla-

Teaser Description: Lucy, aka Candid, is a naughty girl who takes a sexy fun road trip across America, and tells everybody all about it!

In the spring of 1998, recent graduate Lucy Ralph decides to rebel.

The NSA is blocking her job applications, her best friend Dick is a frustrating hunk of gorgeous, and her mother is driving her crazy.

Worst of all, she’s still a virgin!

Lucy takes off on a road trip across America, and reinvents herself as 'Candid,' a naughty girl who has sexy fun with just about everybody she meets, and tells the world all about it! Her explicit 'Candid' Internet posts go viral overnight. The National Security Agency, the entertainment media, the paparazzi, and soon the entire nation are on her tail! While she spins a modern day sexual Arabian Nights, she's also being tracked by the sweet, sexy, and elusive Dick, who has his own tricks to play.

Will love ever be more than a virtual reality for Lucy? Can she and Dick get past the friends page? Will exposure ruin everything, if the nation finds out Who Is Candid?

About the Author: Carole Remy lives in Mexico with her beloved dog Gemma. When she isn’t writing and touring her novels, you can find her rescuing dogs, learning wood sculpture, and salsa dancing! blog: http://caroleremy.blogspot.mx/

Lingerie Can Improve Your Love Life

By Roxanne Rhoads You may think it’s crazy that something as simple as wearing lingerie can liven up a dull love life, but that is the beauty of it. It is simple, easy and anyone can do it. Lingerie may be the simplest and most effective tool in seduction.

How can wearing lingerie for your lover take you from snoozeville to spiceland? While women are cerebral creatures men are visual creatures, and it is most often the things they see that turn them on. What man doesn’t love seeing a woman in lingerie? While a man’s ultimate goal is to get you naked, a visual treat is great foreplay.

Think of it as wrapping a gift, you are the gift and the lingerie is the gift wrap. Gifts are wonderful but we all know the most appealing packages are those wrapped in pretty wrapping paper, ribbons and bows. The wrapping makes the gift that much more enticing. He’ll be thrilled to unwrap such a beautiful and exciting present.

That is the effect and lure of lingerie.

Lingerie is a wonderful way to inspire romance and enhance your intimate encounters. Most of us save wearing lingerie for special occasions like Valentine’s Day, birthdays or anniversaries, but it can be used at any time to add some extra heat to a relationship. Think of it as giving a surprise gift ‘just because’. Surprise your partner by packaging your goodies enticingly and give him a sexy gift to unwrap. There is no better way to let a man know that you want him and men love to be wanted. When he sees you standing there in something sexy, slinky, lacy or racy he’ll instantly know what you have in mind.

There are many types of lingerie to choose from. You can find everything from mild to wild from sweet and sensual to bold and risqué. Make sure to try lingerie on before buying if you can. Just because it looks good on the mannequin in the store or model in the catalog doesn’t mean it will flatter you. Look for lingerie that enhances your natural assets and down plays or hides less flattering areas. For instance if you feel you have nice breasts but you hate your legs opt for a long flattering gown that accentuates your breasts and gives him a great view of your ample cleavage but seductively hides your legs.

If you have a nice butt, look for something with a thong back. If you are not too fond of your backside choose something like a baby doll gown that just covers up your behind or something with tap pants that flows around your bottom without clinging too tightly. Whatever you choose he’s sure to love it and not notice any of your flaws because he’ll be too focused on how sexy you look.

Are you tired of the same old lingerie and want to try something new? Well throw out your teddy and fire up your imagination. Try some of the fun and fantasy inspired costumes made for the bedroom (or wherever you want to play). Costume lingerie is perfect for those who love to role play and act out those sexy and intimate

fantasies. Lingerie combined with role playing is a sure fire way to add some spice to your love life.

Have you always wanted to dress up as a sexy French maid and seduce your boss or be a hot nurse that takes really good care of her patient? Well now you can. With sexy costume lingerie you can become anything and anyone from Little Bo Peep to a sexy witch or vampire. You can become a belly dancer, police officer, fire fighter, fairy princess, country girl, butterfly or whatever you desire. Let your imagination run wild and create a wonderful fantasy for you are your mate to act out complete with appropriate lingerie. You can become the sweet little farm girl seduced by the farm hand or even the traveling sales man that comes to the farm. You can be a sexy belly dancer or harem girl dancing for her sheik. You can be the police officer that takes advantage of a bad boy who got into some trouble.

These costumes are not just for strippers and porn stars; they are for everyday women who want to indulge themselves and their partners in some erotic role playing. The possibilities are only as limited as your imagination. If you can fantasize about it chances are there is a costume available for it. Many themes have both his and hers costumes available.

If you are handy with a needle and thread you could even make your own naughty costumes. Even if sewing isn’t your thing you could put together your own costumes with bits, pieces and accessories from regular costumes, jewelry, pieces of your own lingerie, a sexy thong or whatever else you have lying around and turn it into an outrageous costume.

Lingerie really can improve your love life by adding a little spice and helping improve your own self image, because not only do men love seeing women in lingerie, something amazing usually happens when a woman puts on the right lingerie. She not only looks sexy, but she starts to feel sexy, she becomes sexy. Lingerie can boost confidence and help shed inhibitions. The right lingerie can turn a plain Jane into a smoldering sex kitten.

She headed toward the B&B, at first hurrying through the rain. As she splashed through the deepening puddles on the uneven sidewalk, her stockings soaked through. In fact, all of her was as wet as if she stood under a shower. Since her pace didn’t matter, she slowed, rain running down her face, sliding over her skin. A pack of squealing tourists hustled by, sharing one plastic rain poncho like a tarp. Prepared locals gave her smug smiles from under the umbrellas they always carried.

She smiled back. The rain might be cool, but the feel of it sliding on her skin brought the world into focus. A small discomfort, like her hunger, to make getting indoors that much more pleasurable.

She passed the Court des Deux Pendus without glancing at it, no matter how much she might want to. Up ahead, a man leaned against a courtyard wall, legs crossed at the ankles, an enormous black umbrella protecting his upper half, while his stylish leather shoes—likely Italian—were irretrievably drenched. Idiot.

“You look like a drowned rat, chère.”

The familiar voice brought Dani up short before she realized the stranger was speaking to her.

Cautiously, she looked over her shoulder to see he’d tipped the umbrella back and was surveying her, an amused twitch behind that neat black beard.

“Are you following me?” She poured ice into the question.

“Now how could that be when you just came walking by? I should accuse you. Perhaps you’re a stalker.”

“Ha!” She barked out the laugh and turned to go, so not in the mood for more shit, all the pleasant sensuality of walking in the rain gone. “I’ll be sure to take a different route in the future.”

“Are you hungry?” he called out, lightly, mocking.

“Fuck you!” she tossed over her shoulder.

“Well, all right,” he said, from close behind her.

“Though you’d have to do that my way too. Your place or mine?”

She spun around and nearly slammed into his chest. Backed up a hasty step and snagged her hair on the umbrella.

“Goddammit.” She tugged at her wet, snarled curls.

“You appear to be trapped.”

“Quit harassing me,” she hissed.

“In point of fact, you accosted my umbrella. Now, here. Hold this.” He pushed the handle at her and she took it, not looking at him while he used both hands to untangle her hair from the spokes. In her four-inch stilettos, she was nearly the same height, and his breath blew warm against her cheek, the rain drumming around them.

“Some temper you have there,” he murmured. “I can’t help but think that if you had something in your belly, you’d be a little sweeter.”

She decided declining to respond to that would be the better part of valor. That had sounded like an invitation. A tempting one.

“Nothing to say?” His lips whispered against her cheek.

“Let me go.”

“You’re free. For now.”

She started to pull back, thrusting the handle at him, but he wrapped his hands over hers.

“Let me make it up to you.”

“What?” Oh yes. Definitely tempting.

He returned her gaze, steady, calm. His eyes weren’t truly black, but a deep brown, framed by thick lashes any of her models would have killed to come by naturally. The gold hoop glinted in his ear and she was seized by the random desire to take it in her teeth. “I’ll make you something to eat. Something fabulous.”

“Absolutely not.”

“No?” His gaze fastened on her mouth and the moment felt oddly intimate, with the curtains of

rain falling around the umbrella. “Let me feed you.”

“I’m not going to a strange man’s place—for any reason.”

“Ah.” He nodded. “I am stranger than some, it’s true. I’ll take you somewhere then. Buy you a meal. Maybe a drink. All safe and public.”

“You threw me out of your restaurant.”

“You deserved it.”

“You don’t know what I deserve.”

“Oh, but I’d love to find out. You come to my place, you play my way. If you give yourself over to me, I will show you pleasures that will keep you fed for life. A different extreme.”

Something about his tone, the heat from his body, sent arousal rippling through her. An image of the manacles on the courtyard wall slipped through her mind, taunting, compelling.

“Are we still talking about food?” She tried to sound flip, but his eyes glinted and somehow she knew he heard the desire in her voice.

“When it comes to the sensual delights, it’s all the same. Come with me for now. Let me give you a taste.”

She studied him, definitely tempted. Keeping professional distance was important, so she’d stayed in a different B&B than the rest of her colleagues.

But it made for lonely evenings at times. In a week, she’d be in Paris, where she knew no one.

Who knew when she’d meet another man this alluring?

“What else will you do?” he asked, as if he read her mind. “A rainy night in New Orleans is for sharing good food, a little booze, a lot of nice company.”

“I don’t know why I’m agreeing to this.”

White teeth flashed in a smile, outrageously sexy.

“Because you can’t resist me, chère.”

“You wish.”

“Yes, I do. Can you walk a bit in those sexy heels?”

“What’s a little pain, in the face of what you’re promising?”

“Exactly. C’mon, New York.” He tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow. “Let me show you my city.”

Jeffe Kennedy took the crooked road to writing, stopping off at neurobiology, religious studies and environmental consulting before her creative writing began appearing in places like Redbook, Puerto del Sol, Wyoming Wildlife, Under the Sun and Aeon. An erotic novella, Petals and Thorns, came out under her pen name of Jennifer Paris in 2010, heralding yet another branch of her path, into erotica and romantic fantasy fiction. Since then, an erotic short, Feeding the Vampire, and another erotic novella, Sapphire, have hit the shelves.

Jeffe lives in Santa Fe, with two Maine coon cats, a border collie, plentiful free-range lizards and frequently serves as a guinea pig for an acupuncturist-in-training. Find her on Facebook https:// www.facebook.com/Author.Jeffe.Kennedy and Twitter (@jeffekennedy) or visit her at her website http://jeffekennedy.com/.

About the Author: I am often asked; who is Aubrianna Hunter? And the truth is the answer isn't a simple one. Beyond being a dedicated wife and mother, I was raised by a Marine, and married into the Navy.

Needless to say I can go toe to toe with the most sarcastic people you have met, and can dish insults and curse with the best of them. I blurt wildly inappropriate things at precisely the moment when the room goes quiet, so much so that my co-author has nicknamed me Ted... Yes... After the bear in the movie.

Recently my husband has replaced calling me crazy with calling me "Creative", but the tone he uses to do it makes me question his sincerity. Though honestly, crazy is probably closer to reality. I like my hectic life, in fact I thrive in the chaos and would have it no other way.

Book Description: She is pierced, dyed and tattooed born on the wrong side of the tracks. He is a traditional white knight born of the proverbial silver spoon. Their meeting was an accident, the fact that they became even the most tentative of friends, an anomaly.

The only real thing they had in common... chemistry. Lots of chemistry. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough and Gia knew it.

Now, if only she could convince her body...

Josh had always walked the line, lived the life he was expected to live. He had, by all accounts, the perfect life; a corporate lawyer, a beautiful home, a family empire to run, and

the perfect fiancee. He was well on his way. The only question he had... was that really where he wanted to go? Plagued by dreams, Josh fought all his natural instincts, denying not only what he truly wanted but who he was deep down inside. Until one crazy night when he gave in to his desires...

Could these two polar opposites have more in common than even they realize?

Everyone started peeling off clothes, slathering on sunscreen and racing into the water. Kicking off her sandals, Gia was one of the last, still putting her keys away and tucking her purse under the umbrella. She pulled off her shirt and shorts then turned, surprised to see Josh standing there with his shirt still on. Since they were the only two left on the sand, she felt she could speak freely. And, she knew why he wasn't in the water yet.

"It's healed enough to go in, ya know. Make sure you coat it with a layer of sunscreen and wash it really well when you get home, but it's been over two weeks, you're fine to swim. Besides, it's too fuckin' hot not to."

"Yeah, I'm not worried about that."

"Then why are you still up here? Want to borrow my sunscreen?" Gia tossed it over to him then turned and reached for her hat. At his hiss of breath, she turned and looked at him. He looked... strange. He stared at her, his eyes roving over her, head to toe.

"Okay, I know I'm not as skinny as they are, but I've never had any complaints, so quit staring at me.

And I know it's not about the ink. You've seen most of it before, and now you have one of your own."

"You're not fat, Gia, don't be stupid," he growled at her.

"I'm not stupid, dumbass." All of a sudden it dawned on her why he was still standing there. She couldn't stop the laugh that bubbled up at her realization. "You haven't told her, have you? Deb doesn't know you have a tat."

Now he glared at her, no longer taking in her body, just staring straight into her eyes, all pissed off and pouting like a petulant child.

"No, I haven't shown her yet."

"Now, how the hell did you manage that. I mean, I know she has her own place still, but seriously, it's not a little tattoo, Josh. How could she not see it when you're doin' the nasty? Unless, wait, are you a shirt on kind of guy?"

This time he didn't even bother with words, just growled at her, a low menacing sound. Which sent Gia off into fits of laughter.

"So, that's a yes. I don't see why. Having recently seen that torso, I can easily attest to the fact that you have nothing to be shy about. Or maybe you guys are a lights off kind of couple. Nobody can see anything. Am I right?"

His temper finally snapping, Josh stepped up to Gia, leaning over her in an obvious attempt to seem threatening. "I am not embarrassed, as I thought I'd already proven when I stripped in your shop. And I don't need the lights off. I like to see what I'm doing, where I'm touching. See the reactions I'm causing with my lips and my tongue. See everything, including the look of pleasure when I bury my cock inside her."

Licking her suddenly dry lips, it took two tries before she could make her voice work. If she didn't know better, she would swear he was talking about her, not Deb. Standing up on her toes, bringing her face closer to level with his, she went nose to nose with him. She refused to be cowed, and she damn sure wouldn't let him know what his words were doing to her. "Well then, how is it that she hasn't seen it yet?"

Josh's head snapped back. He took one step, then another backward, away from Gia. "Because, we haven't exactly done the 'nasty', as you put it, since I got the work done."

Gia was shocked. Truly, completely stunned. There is no way she could keep her hands off a man like that for almost three full weeks. Three full hours seemed like too long. Three days... forget it.

With a casual shrug and a wicked smirk, she said, "Well, that explains so much. You're sexually deprived.

How long had it been before the tat? You know, sexual frustration can make you do some very foolish things.

Oh, and I need to make sure to get Deb a really good BOB for her shower gift. If you're not taking care of business she definitely needs a battery operated boyfriend. There is no way I could go three weeks without rubbin' one out. I'm more of an everyday sort of girl."

Leaving him standing there with his mouth hanging open, Gia strolled down to the water. She lifted one arm, pushing her hat further down on her head and added an extra little swing to her hips as she walked. Being hard up definitely explained the hard on a few weeks ago. Not to mention all the flirting he'd been doing. She figured the extra wiggle might be just exactly what he needed.

As she waded out into the water she grinned, thinking of the fireworks about to start when Deb caught sight of the tattoo. When she heard splashing behind her she turned, just in time to see Josh diving at her in a full body tackle. ***** As she came up sputtering, her hair hanging in wet strands sticking to her face, Josh felt infinitely better. He'd already been aroused just by the sight of her in a bikini. Her taunting and his little description of sex had made him hard as a damn fence post. A situation that was made worse by the visual he'd had of her 'rubbin' one out'.

Since he knew there was no real way to hide the evidence of his desire, getting into the water as quickly as possible had seemed like a great idea. Taking her down a peg in the process had been even better.

"Josh, damn you! Now I have sunscreen running into my eyes. And where's my hat?" She yelled all this as she frantically wiped beneath her eyes, trying to stop her makeup from running.

Grinning from ear to ear, Josh scooped up her very wet hat, still full of water, and plopped it unceremoniously onto her head. "There you go, sweetheart, is that what you wanted?"

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