Crazy April

Between being a host for Bewitching Book Tours and the A to Z blog challenge, next month is super crazy busy. A post a day. Phwew! I honestly cant believe I managed to do it.

And because of the blogtours, there are a few double-posts.

It feels good though, to get it done. Was really fun to get so many guests scheduled and writing so many short stories.

Enjoy April, and I hope to see you on the other side.

Blogtour - Vaempires by Thomas Winship

Vaempires

Book One The Evolutionary War

By Thomas Winship

It is the morning of Princess Cassandra’s sixteenth birthday. Everyone’s attention is focused on the heir to the vampire throne. World leaders, the rich and famous, and VIPs from every corner of the globe have gathered in the nation’s capital to celebrate the momentous event.  

Cassandra’s boyfriend, Daniel, is late for the party. He’s still outside the city when all hell breaks loose. What he believes is an act of terrorism proves to be a full-fledged revolution.

Væmpires—former vampires who mutated into warm-blooded creatures with an insatiable hunger for cold blood—have launched coordinated attacks across the globe, with three goals: the eradication of humanity, the enslavement of vampires, and the ascension of væmpires as the dominant species on the planet.

The vampire and human leaders are killed. Cassandra is missing. Daniel is the acting king. Desperate to find the princess, Daniel and his friends fight their way across the besieged city. With the hopes of the free world resting on the shoulders of four vampire teenagers, væmpires unleash their secret weapons: a new breed of væmpire that is far deadlier than any ever seen before.

What can four teens do against an enemy that can shape-shift, fly, and walk through walls?

Books on Amazon.com    Books on Smashwords

Excerpt

Cassie was there, bloody and weary, with a look in her blue eyes that said she’d been to the depths of hell and fought her way back, but she was there and nothing else mattered.

The young lovers fell into each other’s arms and, for a brief time, were the only two people in the world. Words failed and thoughts escaped as they surrendered to the most basic of needs—the need to be held.

They broke apart, neither knowing how long they’d been that way, but both experiencing the same conflicting emotions.

Given the circumstances, it hadn’t been long enough.

Given the circumstances, it had been too long.

“Cassie,” Daniel sighed, “I thought I’d lost you.”

“You almost did,” she said, and what he saw in her eyes—fear, pain, and something else he couldn’t identify—was so intense, his heart broke, releasing the flood of tears that had been threatening to come.

“I don’t …,” he started, suddenly a teenager again, “I don’t know what I would’ve done if I had.”

And Cassie cried too, great big tears that pooled at the bottom of her blue eyes before flowing over her long lashes to run down her cheeks, the salty stream cutting a path through the blood and dirt coating her face. The sight of it was at once the most heart-stopping—and heart-wrenching—thing he’d ever seen.

He took her face in his hands, the tenderness in his touch feeling odd after all the death he’d dealt out that day, and kissed her, a long, lingering kiss that was unaffected by their crying or the taste of tears on their lips or the death littering the courtyard around them.

Eyes closed, Daniel breathed her in, this girl—no, this woman—who owned his heart. Her scent, as familiar as his own, was buried beneath a plethora of aromas. Many, including the stench of bloodsuckers, were unpleasant, but it still made his heart skip a beat.

When the kiss ended, he peered into her eyes and whispered, “Did I ever tell you that I’ve loved you since the first time I saw you?”

She smiled. “We’ve known each other since birth.”

“Okay,” he amended. “Since the first time I remember seeing you.”

“Then, yes,” she giggled, “you have told me on several occasions.”

Daniel realized that her giggle wasn’t incongruous with their current situation as much as it was in defiance of it. They were on borrowed time and they knew it.

“And have I told you that I’m going to love you forever?”

“You’ve done more than that,” she said.

About the Author

Thomas Winship was born in Middletown, NY and still resides in Orange County. He holds an MBA in Management from St. Thomas Aquinas College, where he serves as an adjunct professor of courses in English Composition, Communications, and Business. He also spent fifteen years working for a global pharmaceutical company, specializing in organizational development, talent management, and training.

Tom writes in his spare time. His first novel, a mystery/legal thriller entitled Temporary Insanity (a.k.a. Case Closed), was a 2008 finalist in a national contest but failed to garner industry attention. His second novel, Væmpires: Revolution, was published in October and a follow-up novella, Væmpires: White Christmas, was published in December.

He is an avid collector of books, comic books, music, and movies. His interests are diverse: on any given day, Tom is likely to be found watching a horror movie, attending a hard rock concert, or enjoying a Broadway show.  

He is currently working on the next installment of the “Væmpires” series, which is scheduled for an early 2012 release.

Website              Facebook            Twitter             YouTube          Goodreads       

My niece's present

I like to spoil my niece. It's all the fun have having a precocious, awesome kid, without having to deal with any of the negatives. Not my kid, not my problem. o,.,o

For her birthday, I made her a coloring book of dragons. She'd have probably been happy with even just a bunch of loose doodles of mine, but I wanted to make her something really unique, and really pretty awesome. I mean, it's probably a little overboard for a seven year old, but it made me feel good to make it, and absolutely made her day.

So, here's the pictures of the coloring book. I have to show off.

Blogtour - Jo-Bri and the Two Worlds by Rob Tobin

Thanks to  Raven for letting me reach out to her great audience with this guest blog, in support my blog tour for my new urban fantasy eNovel “Jo-Bri and the Two Worlds,” which is available on Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Smashwords, etc.

Write what you know. It’s a famous quote, I don’t know who first uttered it. And like a lot of quotes, it’s both wise advice and total hogwash. “Harry Potter” and “Twilight” are two moderately successful literary franchises that tend to buck the advice to write what you know, unless of course JK Rowling and Stephenie Meyer are secretly witch and vampire. On the other hand, what we know is the material from which even the most imaginative writer draws, so, again: wisdom and hogwash in the same quote.

My own experience has been broad and I borrowed on it liberally in writing my urban fantasy novel “Jo-Bri and the Two Worlds.” Now please note that I am not a sorcerer, have never known an actual sorcerer, magician, witch, wizard, whatever (why so many words for one kind of creature?), I’ve never battled dangerous eight foot giants waving swords and spells. I’ve never even had a virtual orgy while standing in the shower with a lovely 18 year old woman and I’m quite sure my wife will not allow me that opportunity anytime soon. And yet…

So where did the sword and sorcery, sexual escapades and other adventures and insights in “Jo-Bri” come from? Well, part of it of course is wish fulfillment, built on all the previous works of fantasy and science fiction. Having read of wizards and witches and warlocks, it’s only natural for a writer to wish they had that kind of power. And since no-one really does, the natural step is to create imaginary characters and invest them with that kind of power, so that both the writer and the reader can vicariously experience a life filled with that kind of magic.

The trick of course is to create characters that are not just magical in the sense of being able to cast spells, but magical in the sense of being irresistible to the reader, someone they want to invest time and energy and caring into, someone they not only want to follow but need to. I hope I’ve done that with both Jo-Bri and Melinda, as well as the supporting cast of teenagers who become part of Jo-Bri’s army of neophyte magicians who are all that stand between the Dark Wizard Hodon and the destruction of the Human Race.

As for other aspects of the novel? Well, yes, 348 years ago I was a bit of a “player” so the sexual escapades were not completely foreign to me. Now what you have to ask yourself is this: am I really more than 348 years old…?

Another component of “Jo-Bri” is the humor. I never let it get in the way of the story but rather make it part of the story and of the characters. The early work of J.K. Rowling has a wonderful comic edge to it, especially the narrative, it was beautifully done and as it disappeared further on in the franchise, it led everyone involved to take themselves way too seriously. I tried to imbue “Jo-Bri” with that kind of humor but not to let it slip away, because after all, this is just a novel and not the kind that can really take itself too seriously. If I had a model for that, it was Heinlein’s “Stranger in a Strange Land,” which was wonderfully tongue in cheek throughout, even as it make powerful comments about our race and our society.

The other important aspect of this novel (other than magic, battles, and sex/romance) is exactly that: the kind of social commentary that Heinlein was famous for, especially in his opus “Stranger in a Strange Land.” I go all out with that in “Jo-Bri,” including sexuality, politics, music, especially sex and music (the two seem connected anyway, don’t they, and not always in a good way). I was careful here too not to get too preachy (at least I hope I didn’t get too preachy), and never to interfere with the story but always to have that social commentary arise naturally from the story, to be an intrinsic part of it rather than laid on lake slathering butter on a piece of toast.

In the end, I hope I succeeded with all the elements, but even if I didn’t get everything exactly right, I hope for two things: that I entertain the reader and make him think about the world and our place in it.

Rob Tobin is a produced screenwriter, published novelist ("Jo-Bri and the Two Worlds" and "God Wars: Living with Angels", available on Amazon.com and iBookshelf), author of two screenwriting books ("The Screenwriting Formula" and "How to Write High Structure, High Concept Movies" available on Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Google, etc.), a former motion picture development executive and book editor, graduate of USC's prestigious Master of Professional Writing program, husband, father, Canadian, and lives an extraordinarily happy life in Southern California. He is available for writing assignments at scripts@earthlink.net. Visit his website at robtobinwriting.com.

Jo-Bri And the Two Worlds

By Rob Tobin

Blurb: 

A teen wizard from a sword-and-sorcery world is chased by an evil sorcerer into modern day Montana. There he learns about sex, love, rock and roll, and the stress of trying to save two worlds from total destruction during summer break. 

"Jo-Bri" follows in the tradition of entertaining social statement SFF novels like "Stranger in a Strange Land" and "Left Hand of Darkness," but with the modern, fast-paced feel of urban fantasies like "Twilight" and "Jumper."

Add it to your Kindle

#FridayFlash - The storm to come

Almost missed my flash this week. Been just one of those weeks for me, so I haven't done anything that I was supposed to. Silly me.

Anyway, something kinda brief and urban fantasy-ish.

***

She stood at the peak of Sunrise Mountain, watching the valley below her. Lights twinkled in the early evening as people went about their lives, ignoring anything that wasn't working, eating, or paying bills.

None of them bothered to look up at their impending doom.

Black clouds swarmed the desert sky, blocking the moon and stars. Their underbellies glowed orange from reflected city lights, giving them a lurid, surreal appearance. Thunder rumbled from behind her, but she didn't look to see what the storm elementals were doing over the lake. The display they were about to put on was more important, and required more of her attention.

Power crawled across her nerves as the first bolt of lightning arced. The elementals were ready, heavy with power, and full of the need to destroy. Humans had forgotten about the spirits in the world around them, and now that magic was returning, mortals would be made to remember. All the forgotten ones would be honored again, and mankind would no longer rule this world.

Winds gusted, howling with joy as the storm's fury prepared to unleash. Rain fell, fitfully at first, quickly becoming a torrent. More lightning arced, long ribbons of blue-white electricity connecting sky to earth. Thunder rumbled with spiritual laughter.

She watched, soaked to the skin by the downpour, and she laughed with them. Summer thunderstorms were always violent in this valley, yet only she knew how violent it was going to get tonight. By dawn, buildings would be toppled, people would be dead, and the stain of human decadence would be washed from the streets.

After her home was cleansed, she and her elemental force would move to the next blight. Others would join her, both spirits and other immortals like herself, and they would grow stronger. Nothing would stop them from ushering in this new age.

The storms danced with joy, leaving their mark upon the planet.

Officially started

I have officially started on book 4 of the K&V Chronicles, Feast of All Dead.

This means it could take anywhere from six months to a year for me to finish and get it out. I'll keep everyone notified, obviously.

It's kinda nice to be able to say this. It really is.

#FridayFlash - Chemtrails

She shivered, body too weak to generate heat. Wrapped tight in the thermal blanket, she rested her head against the wall of the van. Pre-dawn was always the coldest, but it was also their only window.

He joined her on the seat, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "You all right, darling?"

With a grunt, she managed to shift and get her head on his shoulder. He was warm, and she basked in his warmth, his love, his determination. Her sickness had only galvanized the movement, put them all to task.

If only she were still strong enough to help. "Once I see the explosion, I will be."

He ran his hand through her thin hair. It had once been so long, thick as her wrist when braided. He'd brushed it for her, spent half an hour a day just to make it shine, all because he loved it so much. He'd been the one to notice it was falling out, long strands brittle and weak as they came off in his hand.

"Everything's going to be all right. They'll finally listen to us now. No one else will ever be hurt." Anger filled his voice, but he held her with utter delicacy. Years of love between them, and they'd never thought they wouldn't have all the time in the world.

Time was the thing they had so little of right now.

She stroked his chest, thrilled by the beat of his heart. Fifteen years she'd fallen asleep to this rhythm. It had come to mean the world to her. Even in these stressful day, the endgame, it was strong and comforting. The best noise in the world. "It's about time."

Moments passed in silence. He held her close, kissing her forehead. She dozed, relaxed despite the pain of her ravaged body. They enjoyed their time together, neither worried about the chemtrails, or the aluminum and strontium poisoning that was stealing her life. Neither thought about the attack, or how they'd be labelled terrorists.

The sun finally rose, golden light spilling through the front windows. "It's time," he whispered. She nodded and let him slip from her embrace. He grunted as he opened the crate of the grenade launcher, then stepped out of the van.

Innocents were going to die, but there always needed to be sacrifices when making a statement. Plenty of innocents had already died, but no one listened. Chemtrails spread through the sky, disseminating aluminum and strontium and barium onto unsuspecting citizens. Plants and animals died, people got sick, and the rich simply got richer. Anyone who spoke of the danger was called crackpot.

Too bad for the shadow rulers that these crackpots were well-connected. There were plenty of people who knew there was something deadly in the sky, and they weren't satisfied with emailing their senators.

A hundred co-coordinated airplane attacks should get people to ask what the hell was being sprayed.

He stood by the van, RPG launcher at his side. Squinting against the sun, he saw his target beginning final approach. He was to shoot down one of the unmarked planes that flew out to a government installation in the desert. Not everyone else had similar targets this morning. Some commuter flights were going to die.

But it was what was needed to shake the world up. They'd be labelled terrorists at first, seeing as that was the buzzword of this generation. But once the facts came out, and the chemtrails were revealed, they'd all be hailed as heroes. Revolutionaries.

Lifting his weapon, it didn't matter what he'd be called. When she passed on, he'd never be called love again. Even if no one else died from the aerosol toxins, this felt like an empty victory.

Glancing once at her, he started the revolution.

Blogtour - Defying Gravity by Cherie Reich

Defying Gravity

by Cherie Reich

Book Description:

Homesick upon the SS Perseid, Linia, a young linguist, thinks she signed up for a mission of peace, but her crew members have another plan: attack the planet Medusa.

Bored with his dying planet, Alezandros, a space cruiser pilot, joins the Medusan Army in his quest for adventure.

When the SS Perseid clashes with the Medusans’ space cruisers, Alezandros and Linia’s lives intertwine. Sucked through a wormhole, they crash upon a post-apocalyptic Earth and are captured by cannibals. In adjacent cells, Alezandros and Linia cast their differences aside for a common bond: escape. But when romantic feelings emerge between them, they might do the unthinkable because for a Medusan and a Persean to fall in love, it would defy gravity.

Book Links: Surrounded by Books Publishing http://sbbpublishingandeditorialservices.wordpress.com/

Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13446448-defying-gravity

Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0077DBKS4

Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0077DBKS4

Amazon DE https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0077DBKS4

Amazon FR https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0077DBKS4

Amazon IT https://www.amazon.it/dp/B0077DBKS4

Amazon ES https://www.amazon.es/dp/B0077DBKS4

Author Bio:

Cherie Reich is a writer, freelance editor and library assistant. She enjoys writing horror, fantasy, and mysteries, but she doesn’t let that stop her from trying other genres. Her short stories have appeared in magazines and anthologies, and her e-books include Once Upon a December Nightmare, The Best of Raven and the Writing Desk, and Defying Gravity. She is a member of the Virginia Writers Club and Valley Writers and placed third in Roanoke Valley’s BIG READ writing contest.

Author Links:

Website http://cheriereich.webs.com

Blog http://cheriereich.blogspot.com

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/authorcheriereich

Twitter @bookworm0753 https://twitter.com/#!/bookworm0753

Google+ https://plus.google.com/u/0/112299073711170994514/posts

Free books for buying All Hallows Blood

I'm always looking for new readers. Not for the money, but because I want to entertain them. I want to make people feel something, be it happiness, love, terror, or even curiosity of how I came to be this way.

Money is a concern though. Your money, frankly. I know there are many reasons to not spend so much to buy All Hallows Blood, and I honestly can't say as I blame you. I am pick with my own book purchasing choices, so I will not expect anything less from you.

However, I think it's a good book. I think it's a great series. Many people agree, meaning it's not just my ego talking. I would love for you to get into the world of Keila and Varick so much, that I'm going to give away the other two in the series.

Yes, free books. 

All you need to do is purchase All Hallows Blood, in either format, and send me the order details on this page. I don't need or want the billing info, so hang on to that. Just copy those words that say Order Detail and show my book title and price, and I will send you ecopies of Saint Valentine's Clash and Midsummer's Unveiling. Sorry, no physical copies; I'm not rich enough for that yet.

Bought the book a while ago, and don't have your receipt anymore? Fine. Type in the opening line of Chapter 10, and I'll count that as a receipt.

Already have either of the sequels? Then pick some of my other books.
 
That's my deal. Buy one book, get two more. Isn't that a worthwhile investment?Stop by here to get your books.

Blogtour - The First Series by Dawne Dominique

Thank you for joining me at Raven Corinn Carluk's website. My name is Dawné Dominique, and I'm a multi-published author, a retired managing editor, and a professional cover artist.

As far back as I can remember, I've always found the light of the moon soothing, almost healing in nature, in fact. The week leading up to a full moon, I become more creative, my thoughts are more organized, I write like a crazy woman, and create some of my best cover art. It could be because I’m a cancer and it's my sign, but I've often wondered whether other authors have similar "certain times of the month" in which the creative juices tend to flow more freely. I'd love to hear from you.

As you've probably guessed, I write about vampires. To me, they're very sensual, dark and extremely sexy. From the hype this genre has raised through recent movies and television shows, my view isn't singular. By introducing “erotica” into the creation of my novels, I'd initially panicked thinking that perhaps it would take away from the main premise of the series. However, this didn’t happen. I'd never tried my hand at the erotica genre before, as I was a straight-up fantasy author, but as I continued writing The First series, it was inevitable that the sex needed to be inserted in order to add further dimensions to my characters.

So how does one create a novel with a gripping plot, mixed with subplots, where the sex doesn’t become the main focus? You need to write strong characters, create underlying questions for your readers to ask themselves, and include scenery and events that places readers right into the action and, of course, good writing. But more importantly, I needed to create complex characters that you know shouldn't be together, but even in real life, love and lust is more powerful than logic.  And hopefully, there's a full moon out.  : )

Many erotica novels have crossed my desk as a managing editor. There's always the distinction of what is considered “porn” as opposed to “erotica”. For me, the two are quite simple to differentiate.

"Erotica" is based on the premise of romance between complex characters that when you read them, they are not destined to be together, which inevitably creates a compelling plot. As well, there must be sexual tension, and not the act.

“Porn” centralizes on characters where the sex is the main premise of the novel. It is a fine line to some, and a huge crater to others. For me, I write who I am, and as I don’t sugarcoat my life, my writing is also a reflection of my personality. The romance/love aspects in my novels are strong, the sex straightforward (no purple prose for this gal), but it’s the intricate plot(s) and sexual tension leading up to the main act(s) that I hope make my stories truly come alive.

So if you’re looking for a unique take on the vampire lore that includes fictional, mythological, and biblical facts blended together, erotic interludes, love lost and gained, blood, adventure, and some pretty nasty villains, I urge you to take a journey into The First series.

THE FIRST series by Dawné Dominique

www.purplesword.com

www.dawnedominique.com

www.dusktildawndesigns.com

Coming December 2012

 

About the Author:

Dawné Dominique is a multi-published author of paranormal romance and fantasy. Weaving tales of intrigue that include riveting characters and spellbinding plots, she takes great pleasure in immersing an unsuspecting reader into the worlds she created, refusing to let them go until that last page is read.

She embraces life with one simple rule:

“Everything in life happens for a reason, be it good or bad, and

it’s because of this we learn to never take anything for granted.”

www.dawnedominique.com

www.DusktildawnDesigns.com

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