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Archive for the 'Urban Fantasy' Category

Monday, May 20th, 2013

Welcome Amber Belldene

Join me in welcoming Amber Belldene to Highlighted Author.

Amber Belldene grew up on the Florida panhandle, swimming with alligators, climbing oak trees and diving for scallops…when she could pull herself away from a book.  

As a child, she hid her Nancy Drew novels inside the church bulletin and read mysteries during sermons—an irony that is not lost on her when she preaches these days. 

Amber is an Episcopal Priest and student of religion.  She believes stories are the best way to explore human truths.  Some people think it is strange for a minister to write romance, but it is perfectly natural to her, because the human desire for love is at the heart of every romance novel and God made people with that longing. She lives with her husband and two children in San Francisco.

 

 

 

Blood Vine

 

Bites are an inconvenient bliss, exiled vampires are wasting away, and the fate of their kind depends on the perfect PR campaign.

When public relations pro Zoey Porter arrives at an enchanting California winery, she discovers her sexy new client is the almost one-night stand she can’t forget. After her husband’s suicide, Zoey has vowed never to risk her heart again. But can she walk away from the intriguing winemaker a second time?

Driven from Croatia by his ancient foes, vampire Andre Maras has finally made a blood-like wine to cure his fellow refugees. Now he needs Zoey’s PR expertise to reach them. After his wife’s death, Andre has a vow of his own—never to risk another painful blood bond. And one taste of the tempting Zoey would bind him to her eternally.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Get your copy of Blood Vine at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Vine-ebook/dp/B00AXREPM4/

 

You can find Amber Belldene at her website: www.amberbelldene.com

 

 

 

Monday, September 17th, 2012

Welcome L.K. Below

Join me in welcoming L.K. Below to Highlighted Author.

 

From an early age, L.K. Below devoured books. Books offered new worlds, new possibilities for her young mind to comprehend. Some of her fondest memories include reading back and forth with her father at night or sitting beneath a tree at recess with a Tamora Pierce book. As she grew up, her love of the written word didn’t diminish. Rather, it grew to span an even greater range of genre and subject.

Both those loves combined to ensure that L.K. would go on to weave little-known facts into worlds of her own making. She follows where the characters lead, no matter how bizarre. The best books provide an escape. If she can create a story a fraction as engrossing as that of her favorite authors, she considers her weeks well spent.

Welcome, L.K..

 

Every author has a set of characters more dear to their hearts than any others. In most cases, this stems from these characters being among the first ever created. I won’t claim Lori and Terrence were my very first, but they did come close. Their first book, Stalking Shade, which released in 2011, was originally written in 2007. And rewritten. And rewritten.

And now it feels like a dear friend is moving away. With the release of This Blackened Night, the trilogy has come to an end. Lori might be a prickly character, not easy for anyone but Terrence to love, but I had a lot of fun with her. When I wrote this third book late last year, I dragged my feet to see it finished for the same reason. I didn’t want to let the pair of them go. A not-so-secret part of me is hoping for an overwhelming response from readers asking me to continue so I have an excuse to revisit my favorite characters.

Maybe you’ll fall in love with Lori and Terrence every bit as fiercely as I have. Lori might be stubborn in pushing people away, but Terrence is the most persistent character I’ve ever written. Good thing, too.

Every author has a set of characters more dear to their hearts than any others. In most cases, this stems from these characters being among the first ever created. I won’t claim Lori and Terrence were my very first, but they did come close. Their first book, Stalking Shade, which released in 2011, was originally written in 2007. And rewritten. And rewritten.

And now it feels like a dear friend is moving away. With the release of This Blackened Night, the trilogy has come to an end. Lori might be a prickly character, not easy for anyone but Terrence to love, but I had a lot of fun with her. When I wrote this third book late last year, I dragged my feet to see it finished for the same reason. I didn’t want to let the pair of them go. A not-so-secret part of me is hoping for an overwhelming response from readers asking me to continue so I have an excuse to revisit my favorite characters.

Maybe you’ll fall in love with Lori and Terrence every bit as fiercely as I have. Lori might be stubborn in pushing people away, but Terrence is the most persistent character I’ve ever written. Good thing, too.

 

 

This Blackened Night

With murders cropping up all around, who should she trust?

After months of searching, Lori finally scrounges up a clue as to the whereabouts of the missing leader of her secret organization. But her vision isn’t encouraging–it points to her vampire companion Terrence as the culprit.

Terrence is adamant that he isn’t at fault. Even though she knows she might be walking into a trap, she follows his lead to a shabby island port. When her informants start turning up dead with puncture wounds in their necks, Lori wonders just how well she knows Terrence. And why does he act different during the search than in their hotel room?

Lori doesn’t know who to trust anymore. She only hopes that she won’t be the next victim.

 

 

 

 

Excerpt:

 

Terrence reached out, but Lori recoiled. “What’s wrong?” he asked. His fangs winked in and out of sight.

Lori tried to answer. Her voice lodged in the growing knot in her throat.

A cocky smile spread over his face. “Don’t tell me it’s my kissing. We’ve kissed before. Many times.”

Stolen kisses, but that wasn’t the point.

Lori eased onto the bed. Closer to the stake and knife in her boot. She’d staked him once before. After battling heartache, she’d been careful not to do it again. But if he wasn’t the man she’d thought–if he’d done the unthinkable…

Terrence reached out to touch her cheek. Recoiling, she yanked the stake from her boot. The snick of silver-coated steel punctuated the silence. “Don’t touch me.”

His eyes dimmed. Dropping his hand, he frowned. “Lori my love, I would never hurt you.”

“I’m not anything to you!” Lori felt like she was replaying the past. The same words, the same action to follow, only this time if she staked Terrence, he might stay dead.

He’d kidnapped the Spenta Michos. He’d known all along, and she’d trusted him.

“I had a vision,” she spat.

His face hardened. She saw the same bloodthirsty man she’d glimpsed only twice before, each time when he’d saved her life. Was he about to kill her like he had the lunatics who had threatened her back then?

“When?”

“When do you think?”

Her fingers curled around the stake. The cold metal started to heat from her skin. Her palm was slick with sweat. Could she really go through with this?

“What did you see?”

Four words, spoken in a deep, cold voice. Did he know? Did he already suspect what she would say? She levered her weapon between them, moving into a fighting stance before she delivered her words. “I saw the Spenta Michos being kidnapped. By you.”

Panic crossed his face.

 

 

Learn more about the series as a whole on the Lyrical Press, Inc. website: http://bit.ly/TheOrderSeries.

 

Read a longer excerpt from This Blackened Night at http://bit.ly/ThisBlackenedNight.

 

If L.K. Below gets far too attached to her characters, well, that’s because they’re interesting people. Read two of her favorites in her urban fantasy series, The Order. Join her online at http://lbelow.net to learn more. 

 

Follow her on:

Twitter - http://twitter.com/LBelowtheauthor

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/pages/LK-BelowLindsay-Below/355586159614

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday, July 16th, 2012

Welcome Kate Lutter

Join me in welcoming Kate Lutter to Highlighted Author

Kate Lutter believes she was born to write. She wrote her first novel when she was in eighth grade, but then almost burned her house down when she tried to incinerate her story in the garbage can because she couldn’t get the plot to turn out right. Now, many years later, she lives in NJ with her husband and five cats (no matches in sight) and spends her days writing contemporary paranormal romances, traveling the world, and hanging out with her four wild sisters. She is happy to report that her debut novel, Wild Point Island, the first in a series, has just been published by Crescent Moon Press. She is busy writing the sequel and her weekly travel blog entitled Hot Blogging with Chuck, which features her very snarky and rascally almost famous cat. 

Welcome, Kate.  Please tell us how Wild Point Island came to be.

I blame my husband for my addiction to vampire-like heroes.

He was the one who suggested I watch the hot new HBO show True Blood, and, of course, I was hooked immediately.  The attraction between Bill, the 173 year-old vampire and Sookie, the small town waitress who could hear people’s thoughts was mesmerizing.  They seemed destined to be together and yet doomed to failure.  And everywhere I turned that year, people—mostly women—were talking about Sookie and Bill and Eric, the other vampire who lusted after Sookie.  Every woman I knew seemed to be in one of two camps: the Bill fans or the Eric fans.

Suddenly, vampires had become the new hero in novels.

Was it their super human strength or their old world charm or their bad boy past?

For me, the vampire as hero was perfect because when a woman hooks up with a vampire, there’s little or no hope of a future—which means instant conflict.  Sorry, I’m a writer.  But in the case of True Blood, the relationship between Bill and Sookie—that destined to be together part—also spoke to me.

I was schooled in the Michael Hauge screenwriting philosophy. Hauge, a famous Hollywood scriptwriter, travels the country preaching that what solidifies a romance between a hero and a heroine is more than just physical attraction; it’s the reader’s belief that the hero and heroine are made for each other.  That belief hinges on the moment when the hero and the heroine can see each other for who they really are.

In True Blood, Bill warns Sookie that she can never have a relationship with a human man because her ability to hear his thoughts will always get in the way.  Then you see the scene when Sookie feels a perfect peace with Bill, and you know he’s right.  For Sookie, she’s one of the few humans who can see Bill as a man, separate from his vampire persona, someone who’s still capable of love.

As a writer, I was immediately inspired to come up with a storyline that was as compelling for my novel Wild Point Island.  But I wanted to invent a new kind of life form, a life form that had some of the same features as a vampire but one who wouldn’t have the same need to kill their victims and drink their blood.  I’m a bit squeamish that way.

I called my new life form a revenant, which means one who comes back from a long journey or from the dead. And then I needed to create a 400 year-old backstory, rooted in an actual event—what historians refer to as The Lost Colony of Roanoke—the greatest mystery in American history.

But let me explain.

In 1587 English colonists settled on the Island of Roanoke, off the coast of North Carolina.  Then the mother ship sailed to England for supplies, leaving about 100 colonists behind.  When she returned, the entire colony had disappeared.  Most historians believed that the colonists died of starvation or drought or were massacred by the native population, but a few historians speculated that the colonists may have relocated somewhere else.

That’s the theory I followed.  I created a mythical island—Wild Point Island—and decided that the colonists went there, then survived by eating a local plant called Euphorbia Candelabra, a plant which transformed them physiologically into another life form and granted them immortality, but at a price—they were confined to the island and needed to continue eating the plant, the Euphorbia Candelabra, to survive.

I wanted to write a story about two people who fall in love but can’t be together.  Even though Ella, my heroine, has developed a magic elixir so  revenants can now leave the island, Simon, my hero, who is a revenant, can’t leave Wild Point Island without the ruling Council’s permission.  If he helps Ella, my heroine, who is half revenant and half human, rescue her father, he’ll sabotage his own chances of leaving the island and being with Ella.

Ella has the same problem as Sookie.  She lives among humans, but she’s had to hide her true identity all her life.  This secret has made it difficult for her to find love.  When she returns to Wild Point Island and meets Simon, she can finally be herself because he sees her for who she is.  Likewise, when others doubt Simon’s intentions, Ella sees him as someone who can be trusted.

With little or no hope for a future, Ella can only be successful if she is willing to accept who she is and reach for the future she desires.

Wild Point Island was fun to write, and as Ella explains to Simon at the end of the story, “We were drawn to Wild Point Island, as if called by sirens, entrapped, and realized too late that there was no escaping our fate.”

 

Ella and Simon, even today, live a sheltered life.  This is the only photo of Simon that has surfaced.  He is onboard a boat, off shore from Wild Point Island.  I love this photo because it captures the raw energy of the man.

 

 

 

Wild Point Island

blurb

Banished from Wild Point Island as a child, Ella Pattenson, a half human-half revenant, has managed to hide her true identity as a descendent of the Lost Colony of Roanoke.  Thought to have perished, the settlers survived but were transformed into revenants–immortal beings who live forever as long as they remain on the island.

Now, Ella must return to the place of her birth to rescue her father from imprisonment and a soon to be unspeakable death.  Her only hope is to trust a seductive revenant who seems to have ties to the corrupt High Council.  Simon Viccars is sexy and like no man she’s ever met. But he’s been trapped on the island for 400 years and is willing to do almost anything for his freedom.

With the forces of the island conspiring against her, Ella  must risk her father, her heart, and her life on love.

 

excerpt

 

Despite what he believed, I never had a relationship where I felt so bound to someone and yet so constrained in behavior. Sitting so close to him on the beach, hidden from view, wanting to hold him, I hesitated. So I’m not sure how what happened, happened next. What kept us apart—the suspicions, the fact that time had elapsed and we felt a bit like strangers meeting again—all of it abruptly dissipated like so much fog when the sun shines through.

His strong yet gentle grasp pulled me toward him, and he held me close, wrapping his arms around my shoulders. I felt in the urgency of his grip how much he’d missed me, and remembered again the dream he’d arranged for me, how cautious he’d been only days before. But dreams could not satisfy me now, no matter how real they seemed.

We pulled apart, but our eyes met. I leaned in and pressed my lips against his, chaste at first, to taste him, to spur his reaction. But that tentative reaching out soon exploded into the confirmation I’d been waiting for. Our desires cascaded in upon each other. I wanted more of him, and soon lost awareness of the cold surf, which melted against our heat. The roughness of the sea also faded into the distance. The spray of salt water was forgotten.

I couldn’t catch my breath. I didn’t want to think of the future or eternity. Only feel sweet sensations as he kissed me harder and harder.

Helpless to resist this love-making, I was the sand being thrown about by the waves around me. Soaked with a longing for him.

His kisses grew stronger, and I wanted all of them.

“Ella,” he groaned, sweeping the stray strands of hair out of my eyes.

I reached up to touch his face, to trace the outline of his strong jaw. Desire flickered in his eyes, a wildness mirroring my own needs, and I wanted to lose myself in that need, in that desire. I wanted him as I had wanted no other, knew for the first time in my life I had the potential for loving someone who knew me for who I really was.

It was intoxicating.

“Can you take me now?” I asked. “Here. Show me what I have to do.”

Indecision flickered across his face. I saw it. A look of a man who walked a tight rope and risked falling to the depths below.

“Ella.” His voice floundered in his own deep emotion.

But I reached over to pull him closer, and he tumbled on top of me. The weight of his body anchored me to the ground. Within seconds, my back was pressed against the sandy floor. His eyes grew hooded as his lips played against my mouth. Teasing. Caressing.

Suddenly, the kisses changed. Slow and carefully placed, I felt a heaviness to them that made me ache where I had felt warm and riled up before.

Aching to be with him in that way that I knew was forbidden to us.

But what did I care.

He was kissing me, and I began kissing him back, as if I had been doing this all my life, as if I were some kind of expert, allowing the pooling warmth in my stomach to find release. His hands burrowed under my sweater, nudging, rubbing against my breasts, which swelled to his touch.

The feel of his skin against my skin pushed me to a boldness I had not known until now, and I reached my hand below the belt of his pants, dared now to touch where I knew he wanted me to touch.

“Simon.” I whispered his name into the air, so sure that he was the one. Knowing as we wrestled together on the sand, in this sweetest of lovemaking, that I had a fire in me that he had set. He was the man I had been waiting for. This was the moment–

I felt resistance. Simon seemed to be struggling for control.

Over me. Over himself.

“Enough.” His voice, raw and edgy, strained against the sea that roared in the background.

Still breathing heavily, he released his hold on me, and pushed himself to a seated position.

My heart pounded.

“Have I done something wrong? Tell me,” I demanded.

“No.”

“Then why are you stopping?”

“We cannot be together, not now. I was wrong to even start.”

“Wrong? But I thought… ” I struggled to sit up, to face him, to put my own thoughts in order. When two people wanted to be together, how could there be something wrong? “Don’t you want to be with me?”

His gaze traveled down my body. I felt his stare, the desire in it. “Yes. I want to be with you.”

“Then–” I touched his arm. I needed to understand what could possibly be strong enough to hold him back.

“What I want has already been decided. You must decide what it is you want…” His voice softened. “… to do with your life.”

A chill coursed down my spine. And even though my flesh was still warm from his touch, I pulled my sweater down to cover myself, not because I was ashamed, but without his closeness, the early evening breeze now felt cold and damp. I guessed what he was saying, but I didn’t want to think about the future. Not here, not now.

“I want you to make love to me, Simon.”

“The Council forbids it,” he said.

“I don’t care about the Council. They have no say in what’s between us.”

He faced me then, and his finger touched my lips. “I could take you, Ella. Now. But it would not be the honorable thing to do.”

My fists clenched. I didn’t understand.

“I made a choice when I saved you from your uncle’s dangerous game. It was not difficult because I wanted you, Ella. But it was my choice. The moment our spirits fused, everything changed. Until you are sure I am what you want, I cannot take you. Until you are sure this island can be your home, I cannot give into my passions. My world is not like your world. There is no formal ceremony of commitment. There is the fusion and then there is consummation. When that occurs, you will be bound to me forever. There can be no turning back.”

 

 

Get your own copy here:

Amazon paperback    Amazon Kindle    Barnes and Noble  Paperback

 

Here’s where you can find Kate: 

Website: www.katelutter.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/katelutternovelist

Blog: www.katelutter.blogspot.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/katelutter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday, March 26th, 2012

Welcome J.D. Brown

Join me in welcoming J.D. Brown to Highlighted Author.

J.D. Brown graduated from the International Academy of Design and Technology with a Bachelor Degree in Fine Arts. Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, her writing is influenced by the multicultural urban society of her youth which she continues to visit each summer. J.D. loves paranormal characters; from vampires and werewolves, demons and angels, to witches and ghost. Her writings are often a combination of suspense and romance. She currently lives in Wisconsin with her two Pomeranians.

 

Welcome, J.D.. When did you know you wanted to be an author?

I wish I could say I’d always wanted to be a writer, but that simply isn’t true. When adults asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always confidently answered that I wanted to be a veterinarian. My mission in life was to be the provocative voice of the animal kingdom. There was even a time when I thought I’d live in Africa like Jane Goodall.

But high school and hormones have a way of changing a child’s dream and what followed was a string of disjoined college classes and even rockier stream of dead-end jobs, until about four years ago when the office I was working at closed down due to economic problems. I was laid off and facing unemployment at the beginning of this economic crises.  Trying to find a new job was suddenly a giant pain in the butt.

With very little money, I couldn’t even afford to leave the house much. But I had a laptop and abundance of “me” time and I got this crazy idea that maybe I could write a book.

I admit, I’d had the idea before, but I always quickly dismissed it. I hated writing essays and term papers in school so I didn’t think I’d enjoy writing a book. I’d never taken a creative writing class before, I knew absolutely nothing about the craft or the process. And besides, weren’t authors like really smart? Didn’t they major in English Literature? The last thing I wanted to do was brave college again.

But I thought, hey, it’s not like anyone is going to read this. I’m just passing time before I lose my mind.

So laptop and I went back into my room and one thing lead to another. Next thing I know, I’m head over heels in love with writing fiction and laptop and I had our first beautiful bundle of joy titled Dark Heirloom. I suddenly knew in my heart that I wanted to be a published author. It just felt right. So I took as many workshops as I could to hone my craft and learn about the publishing business. It wasn’t easy. It took me three years to whip Dark Heirloom into something worthy of being published, but somehow, laptop and I managed to pull through and I haven’t looked back since.

I’m still pretty shocked that I made it this far. The odd thing is my family and friends don’t seem all that surprised. They say things like “Well, you were always reading. You had more books than toys, growing up.”

Huh. Couldn’t they have told me sooner that writing would be my calling?

 

Lol.  So, you’re a voracious reader.

I’ve had my nose stuck in books for as long as I can remember; starting out with Dr. Seuss and the Berenstain Bears.

It didn’t take long for me to turn to paranormal. Even at eight years old I had a soft spot in my heart for all things dark and misunderstood, magical and a little dangerous. I loved the night, the stars, and the moon. I knew in my heart my Prince Charming was a prince of darkness that would ride on a black nightmare instead of a white stallion. I dabbled in witch craft just to get closer to these elements. Oh yes, I was an odd child that danced to the beat of her own drum. I kept Mom on her toes and gave her plenty of gray hairs.

Combine this with my love for mythology and folklore and I guess it was only a matter of time before I wrote my own. By then I was a die-hard fan of paranormal. But I realized there was something I wanted to read about that I wasn’t getting from other authors at the time – and that was a story told from the point of view of the heroine after she became a vampire and joined the undead ranks.

More often than not, the stories are told from the human hero or heroine’s point of view. The paranormal characters are secondary and the plot often ends once the hero/heroine decides to join them.

This always left me frustrated. I wanted to know what happened after that. I wanted to experience life through the vampire/werewolf/witch’s point of view. What was their culture like? Surely it couldn’t be like ours when they often lived in secret and with such super-human abilities. The paranormal hardly ever follow human laws and customs, so they must have some of their own. They must have their own traditions and history and government. Otherwise, what was stopping them from decorating their homes with human heads?

Those were things I wanted to read about and experience. But I wasn’t getting it from authors of the time. So I took matters into my own hands.

In Dark Heirloom the readers live vivaciously through Ema Marx, a young woman who is turned into a vampire by Chapter Two. I can only think of one other character in the story that is human and that person plays a very minor role. The rest of the cast and the story itself are entirely of the paranormal caravan.

I knew that I wanted my readers to get up close and personal with my vampire characters and experience the culture of an underground society first hand – as if they were an exchange student in a foreign land.

Because Ema is newly turned, she still clings to human habits, keeping the reader comfortable with a relatable – and witty – main character…

 

My reflection haunted me as I stood with my forehead pressed against the mirror in the bathroom. I couldn’t feel the glass. My brain told me it should’ve been cold and hard, but all my skin felt was pressure.

I looked like a zombie. My tan had disappeared, replaced by liquid white, my skin a numb rubbery latex. My teeth fanged like an animal’s. My eyes…

Two days ago, my eyes were bright brown. Now they were the darkest shade of black, like onyx beads. The irises blended into freakishly wide pupils. Little specks of scarlet glittered in tiny splashes around the irises. Shuddering, I stepped away from the mirror.

Vampire.

I couldn’t believe it. One thing was for sure; they weren’t human. Humans couldn’t fly or walk through walls. Humans couldn’t hear or smell things from miles away with precise accuracy. They couldn’t see distinct detail or vivid color in the dark of night.

Aliens, ghosts, monsters…it didn’t matter what name they chose. The fact remained the same; they were convinced I was one of them now.

 

 Dark Heirloom

Book Trailer

blurb

“You’re a vampire” is so not what Ema Marx wants to hear when she wakes from a two-day coma in a cryptic yet exquisite castle in northern Finland. Unfortunately, it explains a lot. Like why she’s able to see in the dark and walk through solid objects. What she doesn’t understand is why the other vampires expect her to have all the answers. It’s their fault she turned into one of them…right?

Jalmari’s hatred for his old-man intensifies when he’s ordered to bring that troublesome girl to their castle. He has a clan to run, there’s no time for babysitting newborn vampires no matter how they were converted to their culture. But when a two-thousand-year-old premonition threatens to take the crown and his life, Jalmari sees no other choice than to take out the catalyst. Ema Marx. Fortunately for Ema, she could also be the clan’s only savior.

The race to figure out her vampiric origins is on. And maybe she’ll get the hang of the blood-drinking gig along the way…

 

 

Excerpt

In the following scene, Ema is helping a female vampire named Leena cast a spell to open the gates to the underworld. As you’ll notice, Leena ends up doing most of the work…

“Why are we in the dungeon?”

“It is easier to open the gate to the underworld when you are technically already underground.” She spoke matter-of-factly as she laid Jalmari’s paralyzed body on the floor in the center of the dungeon. She pulled out the tiny red candles from the knapsack and placed them in a perfect circle around Jalmari’s body.

“Don’t just stand there.” She tossed a lighter at me. “We only have a few hours before the nightshade wears off.”

I started lighting candles. “Won’t a few hours be long enough?”

“How should I know? I’ve never been to the underworld before, have you?”

I rolled my eyes and ignored her sarcasm.

She unpacked more things from the knapsack and set them down near Jalmari’s feet. “Here, put this on.” She tossed a bright cherry-colored shawl at me. I hadn’t seen a shawl since the last time I saw my grandmother. I frowned at the ugly thing. “What for?”

“You have to wear red to enter the underworld.” She produced a sporty red jacket for herself, looking much more hip than I did with my granny shawl.

Leena took the small pot of red and yellow face paint and smeared some across her cheeks and forehead. She held the pot out and motioned for me to do the same. “For the same reason as the shawl,” she explained.

After I smeared the paint across my face, she handed me a red apple. “Hold this. Guard it with your life. We will need it in the underworld, unless you want this entire effort to be a failure.”

I swallowed and hugged the apple to my chest.

She took out the skein of wool and tied one end securely around Jalmari’s ankle. She put the rest of the wool down and opened her spell book. I watched in silence, in doubt, in disbelief, in a million other pessimistic ways, as Leena chanted words in a language I never heard before.

She moved her arms through the air in a rhythmical way as she danced around Jalmari and the candles. Her hips swayed slowly arching her back as her torso rolled in fluid, drawn-out motions. She looked very graceful and sure of herself.

Then, her pace quickened. She chanted faster. The movements became wild and rigid. She slashed at the air. She jumped and whooped and made all sorts of screeching sounds. Coal-black hair puffed in frizzes about her triangular face and her eyes glowed like green fire. Her lips moved quickly as she chanted faster and faster until her ringing voice became a sharp buzz of consonants and vowels.

I clung to the apple. I clung to the apple good.

 

 

Get your copy of Dark Heirloom at MuseItUpPublishing.com:

Want more J.D.?  Here’s where you can find her:

Author website: http://authorjdbrown.com

Facebook Fan Page

Twitter Profile

J.D.’s Blog

J.D.’s Book Club

 

 

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Monday, February 20th, 2012

Welcome Dewey Dempsey

Join me in welcoming Dewey Dempsey to Highlighted Author.

 Welcome, Dewey.  Please tell us about yourself.

People tell me that I have led an interesting life and that is what they see as the strength of my books.  The ‘bad guys’ in my works are based on my years of working with inmates on Death Row and in maximum security prisons, both male and female. This was followed by a career as a therapist working with severely mentally ill populations.  I have traveled and observed people from all walks of life.

My storytelling training was that unless I could visualize my stories completely with all of the senses I could not make it real for the audience. Then, the process involves asking the image for the backstory, the motivation, the history.  Sometimes I need to research on locations and practical details. With one or two exceptions I never write about a location I have not visited. Even the fictionally created places are composites of places I have visited.

I am a bit of a nomad. I have lived in Atlanta and various other north Georgia locations, Scotland, South Carolina, California, Oregon, Vermont and Quebec. I now live just over the Georgia line from Chattanooga.

I have built bus bodies, taught on Death Row and directed an outpatient mental health treatment center.  I have been an educator, therapist, administrator, program designer and developer, consultant, coach, professional storyteller, novelist and spiritual seeker.  I have led workshops in Bermuda, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Georgia and Tennessee   I have been saying that the future of publishing is in EBooks and have now put that belief into practice. I have ten books on Kindle, Nook and iBook/iTunes. I am currently writing a book on how to EPublish. I currently offer coaching in creative writing and EBook publishing.

I have a B.A., M.A and Ed.S in English and an M.A. in psychology.

I have been a professional storyteller for fifteen years and was a charter member of the Healing Stories Alliance of the National Storytelling Network. I have performed my original stories and taught storytelling and writing techniques in Arizona, Bermuda, California, Colorado, Georgia and Tennessee.

 

 

Diamond Rising Star Adair Series Trailer

 

Diamond Rising Star Adair Series

Diamond Rising Star Adair is a Cherokee Princess as the heir to one of the Cherokee oil fortunes.

Diamond Rising Star Adair is majority owner in the family’s Tsali Lodge Resort in Gran Lac, Wyoming

Diamond Rising Star Adair has a Ph.D  from Brown University, after undergraduate at Cornell

Diamond Rising Star Adair is trained in a variety of martial arts and was a finalist for the U.S. Women’s Soccer Olympic team

Diamond Rising Star Adair is a pilot with a fleet of jet and prop planes

Diamond Rising Star Adair is the owner of a detective agency specializing in industrial espionage

Diamond Rising Star Adair is a tenured professor at Denver University

Diamond Rising Star Adair becomes a Native American medicine woman

Diamond Rising Star Adair is driven to become an expatriate living under a new identification, Dawn Etoile, in Canada and Belize

Diamond and the Shape Shifting Mayans

 

 

 Diamond and the Shape Shifting Mayans

Blurb:

          A blend of high tech and Native American Shamanism.  Both the Mayans and Diamond and her partners use shape shifting in the some of the battles.

This novel is set in 2006 and 2007.  The action moves around the United States and Canada including Vancouver Island and Chilliwack, British Columbia; Los Angeles, Denver, El Paso, Reno, the Black Rock Desert,  Vermont, Spokane, Seattle in the U. S.; and, Odanak Montreal, Magog and Trois-Rivieres, Quebec.

Diamond’s former lover Jim Sullivan is killed by the more militant Mayans who are angry at their defeat [Diamond: Psychotic Psychiatrists and Mad Mayans].  These militants are part of a secret set of tribes within the larger Mayan Revenant group. They are intent on infiltrating and taking over the United States as part of the 2012 prophecies and feel that Diamond and her agency are the biggest block.

They launder money for the drug cartels and use the cartel’s soldiers in their war to kill Diamond and her friends.

The climax is in the Black Rock Desert during the 2007 Burning Man gathering.

 

Diamond and the Shape Shifting Mayans

Ucluelet July 15, 2007

Diamond glanced into the mirror as she carried the tray with the carafe and coffee cup out to the patio at the back of her house. She noted wryly that she had chosen buckskins again. She used to laugh at Native American wannabes who wore buckskin. It was Raining Tears who had taught her the practicality and comfort of well-made buckskin. She found herself laughing at an image of her in some B movie version of the beleaguered Indian princess dying cradled in the arms of her heroic white lover. As she set the tray down she gave a quick bow to the nine directions and thanked them for the bounty and especially for this semi-wilderness compound.  She sipped her coffee and mulled over what Aunt Sare had told her. She did not believe she was an adept at shape shifting. She certainly didn’t believe that she was better than anyone Aunt Sara had heard about. Weakened and dying as she was Aunt Sara had been vehement that she needed to become the teacher and quit looking for another teacher. She had slyly smiled and told her that you always learned more while teaching than most of your students did.

She sighed but accepted the responsibility. David and Deborah were due in a few minutes to help set up for the training. Sean was picking Brenda and Mary Ann up at the Victoria airport. Louis and Shana were flying in from his home in Quebec Province.  They had scheduled four days for this training but Diamond did not have a feel for how long it would actually take. She wasn’t even sure it was worthwhile. At the last meeting she had seriously suggested that the team fake her death so convincingly that Knowles would just move on with his plans to infiltrate the U.S.  She pointed out that she was in hiding from her own government anyway so one more level of hiding should not be a problem.  The team had listened and let her talk herself out of it.

Preparing for the training proved simple. It was mostly walking the compound to be sure that the paths were clear and that the clearings and trees were strong enough to take the weight of the trainees. By eleven the three of them were sitting outside on the patio. “The others are due within the hour. Is there any business we need to clear up before we start our concentration?”

David and Deborah exchanged glances. It was David that spoke.”I’m not sure how you meant business. The question for the both of us is where do we go from here. What do we want to do after Knowles operation is cleaned out?  We don’t know the answer. It feels like a lifetime since I left my vision quest and was sent to you by the spirits. In a short time I went from being a bodyguard to being the CEO of a large company and independently wealthy. That happened not only without losing my spiritual connections, but having them strengthened. Before Knowles, I had convinced myself that Deborah and I could fade back to the reservation and spend our lives helping the children there.”  He looked at Deborah.

“We know that isn’t possible. We both worked so hard to avoid the traps for the kids growing up on the res. And, we succeeded. Neither of us use drugs or alcohol nor have done anything criminal.” She laughed. “Except for what we do in the Agency.” They all laughed a little ironically. “I believe that our motives for what we do are enough. Back to what I was saying. I had not understood the way resentment and envy worked. The last year has been difficult. Other than a few close friends the people on the res either revile us for ‘selling out‘ or beg us for money for some project. The project money always gets drunk or snorted. We are considering placing our money in a trust and doing another serious vision quest. We seem to have used up our last one already.” She smiled fondly at David. “We agree we already have more than we went questing for.”

Author site:  www.deweydempseyauthor.com .

LinkedIn:  http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=90870107&trk=tab_pro

iTunes name search

Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/author/dewey

Barnes & Noble:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Dewey-Dempsey?keyword=Dewey+Dempsey&store=ebook

 

 

 

Monday, September 26th, 2011

Welcome Patricia Carrigan

Join me in welcoming Patricia Carrigan to Highlighted Author.

Today I have the pleasure of introducing the youngest author we’ve had on Highlighted Author.   Patricia Carrigan  is a senior in High School and resides in California.  She published her first book, Antiserum, in December 2010.  She’s a delightful young lady and has caught my attention with her talent and professionalism.  

Welcome, Patti.  Thank you for being with us.

When did you decide you wanted to be a writer?

I decided that I wanted to be a writer toward the end of my freshman year in high school as I was changing my journal writings into my own personal story.  I first started to change my journal because there have been a couple of occasions where someone had come across my journal and read it, so I decided that this time, I would just change everyone’s name and write in third person. It turned out to be a very tedious job because I was trying to get in the habit of writing every day.  I put so much effort into it that it would take me hours to finish just one days post, and at the same time, my friends and I were getting into the whole vampire franchise (Thank you Twilight) then, in a spur of the moment decision, I added a story line to my journal and voila! a writer was born!

Do you remember the first story/poem you ever wrote?  Did you share it with anyone and if so, how was it received?

The earliest thing that I remember writing and sharing, was a poem that I wrote for my oldest brother Michael before he was shipped off to boot camp for the army.  Before then, I have never dealt with someone in my family leaving home and it was really upsetting to know that my brother was moving out of the house and that I wouldn’t know how long it would be before he came back.  The poem was about how much I would miss him and how much he meant to me and I put it on the inside of a handmade card that I cut out in the shape of a tiger.  I love my brother very much and I put all of my heart into his goodbye poem.

Who inspires you the most?

My parents inspire me the most.  Throughout my whole life, they always encouraged my imagination and often gave my sisters and me different outlets to express our artistic and creative sides. My mom is a stay-at-home mom and during the time that my twin and I had with her before we started kindergarten, we would spend hours drawing random pictures or learning new songs to sing or just playing pretend.  There never seemed to be an end to the fun and imagination, well, except for when we’d take a nap.  My dad, on the other hand, is who I thank for getting me interested in all things supernatural, mainly vampires and werewolves.  Unfortunately, I’m not too fond of ghosts.  But my dad constantly would bring home movies and I remember sitting next him on the couch watching Interview with a Vampire along with Blade, Young Frankenstein, Dracula, Dracula II, and Dracula 3000.  Watching those kind of movies was just something I always did with my dad, and if it weren’t for him (and the vampire franchise launched by Twilight to re-spark my interest) I probably wouldn’t have been so gung-ho to write my own vampire novel.

Do you have any odd writing habits?

I do have some odd writing habits.  Haha.  Usually, when I have writer’s block I munch on something to ‘give my thinking some fuel.’  I used to munch on some pretzels that I dipped in nutella (a chocolate hazelnut spread), but it isn’t the healthiest of snacks so I try to steer clear of those… for the most part, otherwise, I’d grab an apple, a mini box of raisins, or anything that I crave at the moment. Another odd writing habit that usually gets me in trouble with my parents is that I have a hard time writing during the day.  For some odd reason, I write my best at night, which is why my parents get mad at me because I would go hours and hours into the night just writing even if I had school the next morning (I try not to work so late on school nights), and usually it would be my mom who comes down the hallway, opens my door, and tells me “It’s one o’clock, go to bed.”

Being a teen writer, you’re still in High School.  How do you juggle your writing career and studies?

It could be really hard to juggle a career in writing and school work sometimes, but usually I put the school studies first because if I don’t get the grades I want, then finding a good college that suits me is going to be very hard and I work hard not to let my grades slip.  Any free time that I have between school work and keeping a healthy social life, that’s when I find my time to write and promote my book.

What do your classmates think of you being a published author?

The classmates that know I’ve published a book think it’s really cool and whenever it’s brought up, they usually ask if I get paid.  Some classmates in my Creative Writing class my junior year actually purchased my book, which was pretty interesting, there was also a girl in the class that I T.A.’d for that would come up to me and talk about what parts she was getting to in the book and how she was excited for the next book.  I also would update my teachers whenever I would have a book signing coming up or if I was doing an interview of some sort, and in turn, they would tell their students.  “Antiserum” was actually popular catch phrase for a while in one of my favorite teacher’s classes.  It was really cool.

Who does the promoting/marketing of your book Antiserum?

Mostly, the marketing and promoting of my book is done by yours truly.  It’s not easy being an author, student, friend, daughter, volunteer and businesswoman!  However, my mom does help by making a ton of phone calls for me.  She will also send out letters if I ask her to.  My sister-in-law and my Aunt both manage my facebook fanpage for me.  You see, I am extremely active on LinkedIn, and twitter as well as having 3 blogs and the fanpage on facebook.  I can’t possibly be everywhere at once and still go to school, do homework, market and write.  So, I asked for help.  LinkedIn has been great! As an author, you need a business network, LinkedIn is it.  I also joined groups like Lions to help increase my connections, it really helps.  However, I have to be slightly careful to watch out and not connect with spammers… it’s not hard and the biggest majority of people are just like me, trying to further their business.  Twitter is not really the same there is still the business side.  Oh and you still need to watch who you follow, but you can block anyone bad, but on twitter, people want to know about you and they need you to care about them, otherwise they drop you like yesterday’s meatloaf.

Patti’s promoting has reached Blogtalkradio.

 

[Click Here To Listen]

 

Of the all your characters, who would you choose to have over for dinner?  What would they choose as a main course?

If I could have any of my characters over to dinner, it would probably be Adrian, and I’m not making that choice just because he’s Jocelyn’s ‘hawt’ vampire boyfriend, but because (other than Emil and Vasile) I based the other characters off of people I know and, to me, if I were to choose someone other than the three I mentioned, then it would be like having dinner with someone I’ve already spent tons of time with.  I’d rather choose someone I created completely.

Adrian would probably serve me a medium-rare steak with some angel hair pasta on the side and would have a blood baggie for himself, because, let’s face it, he’s definitely a vampire and a gentleman, so, knowing that I am not a vamp myself, I would need actual food rather than blood. But unfortunately, if I chose to have dinner with Emil, I would sadly be the main course of that vampire meal… he’s not overly nice.

When was Antiserum born?  How long did it take to write?

Antiserum was born (that’s released to the public)December 27, 2010, six days before my seventeenth birthday, in the beginning of my junior year.  Writing it took about a year, actually sophomore year, to be exact.  Not very many people knew that I spent my nights writing my own novel, I kept it to myself until I was more than three quarters of the way through writing it and put a greater effort into getting to know different publishing companies, then if the subject came up, I would mention something about it or say that I was determined to get it published.  But it wasn’t until Junior year that I became a bit more outspoken about it, especially when school came back into session after Christmas break and my English teacher asked what we did over our break, I was more than happy to raise my hand and say, “My book got published.”

Will you tell us a little about it?

Sixteen-year-old high school student Jocelyn loves blood; she lives for it.  She’s a blood addict. But that’s not all that’s going on in her life.  Strange dreams haunt her sleep; she can read minds; and she hears voices in her head.  And she discovers that J.B.—her twin sister—and their friends Sadie and Nikki all have similar powers.  She learns that all of them a part of a group known as the Genetic Race.  But their powers and existence are threatened by another group known as the Others, and their only hope lies in traveling toTransylvania, where they must locate a special blood-filled amulet.  On this trip, with the help of the very attractiveAdrian, Jocelyn will discover that the very substance she needs to survive may have become her new and very deadly addiction.

I understand you’re doing something special with the proceeds.

Yes, 50% of my proceeds are being donated to The Burn Institute of San Diego.  The Burn Institute has been a part of my life since I was five years old when my oldest sister was accidently burned by scalding hot water.  At the hospital she was being treated at, a nurse referred my parents to The Burn Institute’s Camp Beyond the Scars where young burn survivors go to re-establish their self esteem after being burned.  The camp definitely changed my sister’s life for the better and she’s always overjoyed when she talks about her camp experiences.  I couldn’t think of any other organization that I’d be happier donating money to.  And I’m proud to say that I am working to become a Leader In Training (L.I.T.) starting at the next camp.  It is an honor to volunteer with them again.

Where can readers find you?

My links: I love to connect!

 

 

http://www.patriciacarrigan.com
http://www.facebook.com/patriciacarrigan
http://patriciacarriganantiserum.blogspot.com/
http://patriciacarrigan.blogspot.com/
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/patricia-carrigan/29/48a/b75@pcarrigan1

 

Will you share an excerpt of Antiserum with us?

 

 

Antiserum

excerpt

My eyes snapped open to a bright ray of sunlight as I screamed bloody murder.

Nikki and J.B. were at my side in an instant; pulling me into the shadowed surroundings of what looked like a holding cell.

I clung to the cold floor as I tried to clear my head.  Think, think, think straight!

My eyes widened as I realized the stone floor and walls that connected to the rusty iron bars in front of me.  “Where the hell are we?!”  I nearly screeched.

J.B. turned towards me, her eyes swirled with a silver hue, “We’re in Emil’s holding cells.”  She said in a hushed tone.

“What? Why?” I asked quickly.

Nikki quickly shushed me, “Shut up! If he heard you he will be on his way!” she hissed.

What’s going on?  Why are we stuck in here? And where is Sadie? I thought to J.B. and Nikki who were staring nervously at the hallway on the other side of the iron bars.

Nikki’s head turned in my direction, Emil found out about us sneaking around in his study.  He knows we know. It was him that came into our suite when we were asleep.  Not Sadie.

He knows what? I thought quickly.

That we’re just like him!  That we’re a product of his genes!  Nikki nearly stabbed me with her stare.

Before I could begin to ask how they knew of Emil’s past, J.B. asserted herself.

You were projecting your dream, Joss.  It was like a goddamn horror movie that just played in our heads and we couldn’t press ‘stop’.   Her forehead creased with worry.  You couldn’t wake up until you were finished with what he wanted you to see.

My head began to pound as I remembered Emil drinking the life from his father, The history of… oh my gawd… we’re –

“Vampires.”  Emil’s velvet voice floated around the room like a cloud of smoke.

 

Thank you so much for being with us today, Patti.

Antiserum is available in book & ebook at:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Borders

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday, July 4th, 2011

Welcome Elizabeth Mueller

Join me in welcoming Elizabeth Mueller to Highlighted Author. 

I am a mother of four, fun-loving kids who are supportive in my writing goals. I’m rather excited that summer vacation is here, I love playing in the park with my kids, taking them to the movies, and most of all, sleeping in! I love cherries and ice cream and chocolate, but also spinach and steamed broccoli and books. Yes, I do love books—I ingest them quickly, but love to write them even more.

What other dreams have I longed for other than being a stay-at-home mom? A published author! It’s come to no surprise to my husband that I’ve finally achieved my publishing dream. I’ve been writing our entire years of marriage and beyond. I grew up getting lost in the magical world of my imagination; it helped me deal with the not so great circumstances that a child shouldn’t have to face. I’ve noticed a theme in my writing: enduring failure, but struggling for triumph.

I love to write whatever steals my imagination. Fantasy is the first genre I started with. I branched off into urban fantasy, historical, contemporary, and paranormal. I love romance, so there is definitely an element of that in my work.

I try to write every second I get, but ever since TreasureLine Books picked up Darkspell, I’ve been busier than ever. I’ve been working hard in getting my name out there, though I’ve had internet presence since 2009.

Darkspell is a YA Paranormal Romance, and releases fall of 2011.  It is my aspiration to share my writing journey with readers, and writers alike.

Let’s keep in touch!  Please drop by and say hi!

My website: http://www.authorelizabethmueller.com/

My blog: http://elizabethmueller.blogspot.com/

 Darkspell

Winter Sky believes she is everything ordinary . . . until she is kissed by Alex Stormhold. As seer of Stormhold Coven, Alex is sworn to be Winter’s protector against the darkness that hunts her. Violently thrust into a magical realm she always thought impossible, she stumbles upon a disturbing secret of her own. Will love prove thicker than magic?

Alex reached out and took my hands. A spark of magic passed between us. I didn’t resist and his gaze deepened. Another wave tore through me and I felt his powerful drive to protect me and the desire to share the rest of his life with me. I could see forever, eternity was wide and deep.

I would never be alone again.

Having tasted Alex so strongly, so close, so dear, left me empty; a starving sensation that could only be filled by him. I had no idea he felt so intensely for me. His love washed away all doubt from me.

I leaned into Alex as my world spun fast on a crooked axis. I breathed him in. I was intoxicated with his burning hold, I was so alive. Every sound was louder, the wind richer as it flowed through me. I was so free, so alive, so untainted by any wicked thing. I closed my eyes, shivering with desire, and imagined the breeze encircling us; bringing us to our feet and drawing us closer like a child’s ribbon.

Just as I opened my eyes, he whispered, “Listen, Winter. Listen to me.”

He brought me to him and gently pressed my face to his heart. It was a wild thing, trapped and yearning to be free. My blood sang and my eyes drifted closed. It felt as if my feet lifted from the ground. One hand was soft in my hair as he caressed my back with the other.

“How have you come by such magic? Such power to control? Can I come into your world? Can you teach me?” I trembled, savoring every sensation.

  

Pre-order your copy of Darkspell Here.

 

Elizabeth is celebrating the fall release of Darkspell by having a launch party with her July blog tour.  She will be giving away a special prize each week:

Week 1: Nox Arcana’s Shadow of the Raven

Week 2: Canvas Wall Scroll Tapestry: 12″x17″

Week 3: Dragons Sculpture Bookends 4″x5″x8″

Week 4: 13″ tall Dark Shadows Lamp

 For details on how you could win, click here!

  

Follow her around blog tour this July.  Here’s where she’ll be appearing:

July 1 Lauracea

July 4 Highlighted Author

July 5 S.B. Niccum

July 7 Writing In The Crosshairs

July 8 A Storybook World

July 11 Alex J. Cavanaugh

July 12 Unicorn Bell

July 13 Tristin Pinkston

July 14 Susan Says

July 18 Shoveling In A Jo Storm

July 19 No Thoughts 2 Small

July 20 Reflections On Writing

July 23 Mommy Mormon Writers

July 25 J.D. Brown

July 27 & 28 Anastasia V. Pergakis

July 29 Michele Ashman Bell

July 30 The Scribblers Cove

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Monday, January 31st, 2011

Welcome Sandra Cox

Today I’m proud to welcome, Sandra Cox,  a fellow Class Act Books author to Highlighted Author.  Thank you so much for joining us, Sandra.

 First of all, I’d like to thank Charlene for hosting me today. Thanks, Charlene!

Today, I’d like to chat briefly about Crossover YAs. How many of you are familiar with the term? If you’re not, a Crossover YA is a paranormal with the lead character or characters in their late teens. This genre bridges the gap between young adult readers and adult readers and can fit into either readership. Yes, the heroine and/or hero are possibly younger than we are–unless you’re a vampire–but their story takes place outside the classroom and the situations they deal with are on an adult level.

 Crossover is a fun genre to work in, especially if you like paranormal, things that go bump in the night and raise the question, what if…
 

I currently have out three Crossovers: Vampire Island, Grounded and Moon Watchers. Moon Watchers has just recently been released. It’s the story of Jolene Sayer, a werewolf hunter who finds herself in a unique situation.

 Here’s the blurb and excerpt. 

 

 

Some people think being a Were hunter is weird. For me it’s perfectly normal. What I see as odd is my attraction to the hunkalicious Braden Knight. Why? I think he’s a vampire.

Braden had been attracted to the luscious Jolene since the first moment he’d set eyes on her. She reminded him of the old song by Dolly Parton, the one about a sensuous siren. Thats Jolene, in a very earthy kick-ass fashion.

He stared at said siren. He could smell her fear, sharp and tangy, and fought back the urge to taste that always lived with him. Like a recovering alcoholic he beat back the craving for hot sweet blood. He’d taken a vow. One he refused to break. If there were a Vampires Anonymous, I’d probably be president, he thought wryly.

And if the blood craving wasn’t bad enough, his nineteen year old body responded with a kick of desire just as acute as his lust for the warm red liquid that flowed through her. It would be so easy to give in and satisfy both.

He could do it in a heartbeat–her heartbeat. He could hear it thump, thump, thumping against her ribs. It stirred him unbelievably. She might fight him at first but it would be temporary. Women could never resist him.

He took a deep breath and thought of all the misery he’d caused in his long and checkered past. His desire cooled. And while her blood still smelled sweet, it no longer tempted him.
 

To celebrate the release of Moon Watchers, I’ll be running a contest from Jan 15 and Feb 2. The winner will be announced Feb 5. To enter just leave a comment at http://www.downtownya.blogspot.com/ and mention Moon Watchers and Julia Barrett.

What do you win?

An autographed copy of Moon Watchers

A Starbucks gift certificate

And a fun necklace that has a protective cross to safeguard against creatures of the night, a blood drop stone to remind shape-shifters you are protected and a star since our winner will be the star of the contest.

 

Moon Watchers can be purchased at: http://www.classactbooks.com/ in paperback or e-formats.

Vampire Island, the first in the series can be purchased at http://www.classactbooks.com/Vampire-Island-by-Sandra-Cox_p_156.html also in paperback or e-formats, or at amazon.com or the regular e sites.

Visit Sandra’s website at: http://sandracox.com/

Monday, November 8th, 2010

Welcome Dorothy Cox

Please join me in welcoming Dorothy Cox to Highlighted Author.

 

Welcome, Dorothy. Please tell us about yourself and your featured book.

I’m a 23 year old college student who just happened to write a book. I don’t really consider myself an author. I’m a student, a wife, a lab tech, and occasionally I write things. It’s not easy trying to be all those people at once. Most days are filled to the rafters with things to do. Even my breaks and lunches are spent checking my email. But there was a time where things weren’t so busy for me.

In April of 2009 the economy hit the lab I work at pretty hard. People were getting laid off, and the rest of us had pretty much nothing to do. I was getting bored, very bored. A friend and I found an unfinished manuscript online, and as a joke tried to finish it. It was pretty funny, but it ignited the writer inside of me. Pretty soon I was creating characters of my own with lives of their own. And at some point I found myself inventing a character with a job far more boring than mine. His job was to watch other people live their lives, and make a list of everything good and bad they ever did. He was a cosmic tattletale. The first part of the book that I actually wrote in my head was a part that didn’t make it in. It was the line “having never known my name, they simply call me…” and the name Simon popped into my head. And there it was, Simon was born. Like me, Simon was bored with his job. He’d grown tired of it, he wanted more, but what that was he didn’t know. Unlike me Simon begins shirking his responsibilities, and befriending girls he doesn’t know. And the rest, is the story of Watcher.

 

Watcher

excerpt:

 

The thing I couldn’t wrap my mind around, more than the fact that she’d noticed me, more than the fact that she’d talked to me, was how these others could interact with her as if she were a mere person. They moved about her as if she was no more special than anyone else. They talked to her casually; they laughed; they touched her.

How could they form words? How could they stand to be around her without losing all sense of control as I had? It was hard to understand how she was not nearly as special to them as she was to me. To them she was like everyone else; to me she was more. Much more. An unattainable thing, someone I would look upon and be agape at her majesty then never see again.

No! Stop! What are you thinking? I had to stop. I had to keep my thoughts off of her. I didn’t even know why they kept wandering back to her. Why had she piqued my interest so much? It was probably because she was the first person who had ever talked to me. It wasn’t words; many people had said things to me over the years, but this was more. She had conversed with me. She took an interest in my game and willingly played along. I felt a pang inside. I think I liked it. It was nice not to be the only one playing my games.

My eyes lingered too long on the girl with the blonde hair. Simon! Come on! You have to stop this! I looked down at my newspaper.

 

 

Get your copy of Watcher at Class Act Books or at Amazon.com.  Available in paperback and ebook.

 

Want more Dorothy? Visit her website at http/dorothycoxwriting.com/

 

 

 

 

 

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