Night Owl Reviews

Jaye Frances - The Darker Realities of the Paranormal + Contest

2012-02-08T01:00:00.000-08:00

Enter to win a Kindle eBook copy of The Kure!

***
The Darker Realities of the Paranormal
by Jaye Frances

I’d like to start out with a brief synopsis of The Kure:

John Tyler, a young man in his early twenties, awakens to find a ghastly affliction taking over his body. When the village doctor offers the conventional, and potentially disfiguring, treatment as the only cure, John tenaciously convinces the doctor to reveal an alternative remedy—a forbidden ritual contained within an ancient manuscript called the Kure.

Although initially rejecting the vile and sinister rite, John realizes, too late, that the ritual is more than a faded promise scrawled on a page of crumbling paper. And as cure quickly becomes curse, the demonic text unleashes a dark power that drives him to consider the unthinkable—a depraved and wicked act requiring the corruption of an innocent soul.

Ultimately, John must choose between his desperate need to arrest the plague that is destroying his body, and the virtue of the woman he loves, knowing the wrong decision could cost him his life.

* * * * *

I’ve received lots of questions from readers wanting to know more about the influences and inspiration for the storyline of The Kure. And of course, that leads us directly to the elephant in the room—the ritual described in the ancient manuscript of healing, and the actions taken by Sarah in her efforts to unlock the power of the evil rite. I thought long and hard about the graphic nature of the ritual. Before publication, I actually re-wrote some of it, diluting it, hoping to make it more palatable to the subjective sensitivities of a conservative audience. But it didn’t gel. It didn’t reflect the reality of women’s historical role as a receptacle of convenience. I wanted The Kure, and the ritual specifically, to accurately reflect the medieval belief and practice of a virgin cure—that having sexually-based contact with a female virgin could cure all manner of disease.

My research for the book took me to some very dark places. I read collections of folklore, magic, spells, curses, and books about witchcraft. Some of what I learned motivated me to stock up on nightlights. But my goal was to make the ancient book—the Kure—and the spell associated with John’s malady to be realistically and historically accurate. I wouldn’t say my research was exhaustive, but I can definitely say it exhausted me, particularly from nightmares I experienced as my subconscious processed the stories of exploitation, torture, and brutality utilized by many practitioners of the black arts. But it was worth it. Because so many readers have realized, even before finishing the book, that the specifics of the ritual described in The Kure—including the graphic interpretation by Sarah of the two spells she eventually uses—could have been contained in one of the actual satanic texts used by dark practitioners of the time.

Which brings us to the big question: Could the story have actually happened? You’ll have to wait for the second book in the series, The Karetakers. And then you can decide for yourself.

EXCERPT / The Kure:

Lucius Harwell straightened, crossed his arms, and then looked down. John wondered if the doctor was reconsidering, preparing to change his mind. But Harwell said nothing as he reached out and slowly lowered the window shade. Seemingly oblivious to the unmistakable tremble in his hand, he secured the privacy bolt on the office door. Then with slow, determined steps, he walked to the back of the room and paused in front of a wide, ornately carved bookcase. Sinking to one knee, he scanned the umber leather bindings on the bottom shelf, finally resting his hand on one of the larger volumes. Swiping his thumb back and forth across the spine, he wiped away the dust, as if to be certain of his choice.

Untouched for years, the natural oils in the book’s cover had formed a bond with the adjacent bindings. Bringing both hands to the task, the doctor finally forced the covers to separate with a loud crack. John waited, expecting him to rise and return to his desk, but Harwell remained on the floor, continuing to remove additional books until the shelf was nearly empty.

As the doctor’s arm disappeared into the vacant space, John could see Harwell was reaching beyond the back of the bookcase and into the wall itself. He heard him muttering, cursing under his breath as he fumbled with something inside the hidden cavity, trying to maneuver it out through the narrow opening.

“I’ve got it,” the doctor grumbled as he slowly held up a tattered cloth pouch. Brushing away the dirt and cobwebs, he set to work on the knotted drawstrings. But as large portions of the bag began to separate, he simply pulled the material apart, releasing a bound manuscript from the rotting fibers.

Carrying it with outstretched arms, the doctor moved to the single window at the back of the office, pushed open the glass, and raised the book above the ledge. Taking a quick breath, he blew hard, shooting a mixture of cobwebs and rat droppings into the rear alley. Leaving a swirling haze in his wake, he returned to his desk, where he pushed the loose papers off to the side and carefully set the crimson-cased volume in the very center of the space.

Although still covered with a layer of dust, John could see the book’s blood-red binding was ornately stamped with strange markings, the front cover finely tooled with a border of scrolls and flourishes. In the very center, a single word served as its title:

KURE

While the main part of the cover appeared to be bound with the familiar cowhide common to the rest of the doctor’s library, the outer trim was thinner and nearly transparent. John wondered if the material had been taken not from an animal, but from a different kind of donor.

The doctor scooted his chair back and sat, his full attention seemingly captured by the elaborately detailed cover.

“Are you sure, John?” Harwell asked without looking up. “Are you absolutely sure you want to know this?”

He could hear it in the doctor’s voice—a final chance to turn back, to reconsider his decision to ignore the possible penalties of both law and Church. John answered without hesitation. “Yes. Please.”

Lucius Harwell raised his glazed eyes. “Come over here and lay your hand on the book.”

It seemed like a strange request. John could only assume the doctor wanted him to make some kind of symbolic gesture, acknowledging that his demand to learn from the forbidden script had made him a willing accomplice in breaking the sacred bond of secrecy.

As he placed his palm on the leather—if that’s what it was—John took a closer look at the extravagant design now framing his hand. What he had originally assumed to be symbols were actually bizarre and grotesque figures—creatures clearly not human. Some were portrayed in agony and suffering, while others were shown coupled with naked female forms. Even more sinister was the feel of the book—icy cold, like a solid block of frozen stone.

Although John suspected the large volume had remained undisturbed for years, the cover inexplicably opened as he drew back his hand. The first few pages lifted in the still air, fluttering as if controlled by an unseen presence. Mysteriously, they began to turn, advancing without the influence of human touch, the movement continuing until the text was divided into roughly equal segments.

Seeing the pages move under their own power brought a look of unmistakable fear—but not surprise—to the doctor’s face. He looked up at John, appearing to offer him one last opportunity to escape the consequences of giving life to the ancient passages.

For a limited time, read “The Kure” for only $.99 (kindle version)

I always spend the last few days of December reviewing my writing plan for the coming year—to determine what’s going to receive priority and how I will budget my time to make sure I get it done. During one of those planning sessions, I noticed my husband was also putting a few goals together for the new year. When I asked him to tell me about his “resolutions,” he said that one of them was to read more, especially books that fall outside his favorite genres, “just to see what else is out there.” We began to talk about how many more people are now reading books of all kinds, primarily due to increased availability and choice of low-cost eBooks for the kindle and nook. I often see comments from readers who decided to try a particular author’s work because it was ninety-nine cents, or in some cases, free. Then my husband asked an interesting question: “Why don’t you offer some kind of promotion to encourage more people to read The Kure, with the idea that they’ll be more inclined to read the book if you temporarily lower the price?” I really had to think about this one, but after realizing it might motivate a few more folks who are not familiar with The Kure to take a look, I decided to do it. I’m calling it “Resolve To Read”, and it’s going on right now. The kindle version of The Kure can be purchased for ninety-nine cents on Amazon. So if you were planning on buying a kindle version anyway, why not take advantage of the “Resolve To Read” promotion and save two bucks?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jaye Frances was born in the Midwest and grew up surrounded by traditional values and conservative attitudes (which she quickly discarded). She readily admits that her life’s destination has been the result of an open mind and a curiosity about all things irreverent, and invites visitors to her website with a friendly caveat: “Be forewarned, my life has not followed the traditional path of homemaker, wife, and mother.” When she’s not consumed by her writing, Jaye enjoys cooking, traveling to all places tropical and “beachy” and taking pictures—lots of pictures—many of which wind up on her website. Jaye lives on the central gulf coast of Florida, sharing her home with one husband, six computers, four cameras, and several hundred pairs of shoes. Website | Blog | Goodreads | Facebook Page

Links for The Kure on Amazon and BN: Amazon | BN

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Cynthia Kocialski - Average Kid, Big Dreams, Now What? + Contest

2012-02-02T01:00:00.000-08:00

Enter to win A Print copy of Out of the Classroom Lessons in Success!

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Average Kid, Big Dreams, Now What?
By Cynthia Kocialski

Every year, every child is asked by a multitude of people, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” As children grow, what they wanted to be in preschool is completely different from what they want to be in high school. But one thing doesn’t change.

No one ever follows this question by asking how they are going to make this dream a reality. If probed, the answer given will simply be that of continuing one’s studies and this isn’t adequate. If your child wants to be a renowned veterinarian, then studies aren’t enough. Every veterinarian receives the same training, yet some thrive in the profession while others don’t. It’s not the training that makes the difference. It’s something else.

Regardless of your child’s dream, whether it is lofty or down to earth, each and every child wants the same thing. They want their dream to become a reality.

When children are born, parents have no idea what lies ahead for them in the future. As parents we hope, but we don’t know. If a parent is asked about what they want for their children, the usually vague response is health and happiness. But how does anyone achieve happiness, it’s by fulfilling their dreams.

There you have it. Children don’t want their dreams to stay just dreams, and parents want their children to become their dreams so they’ll be happy. But how? A dream is nothing more than a goal. People aren’t suddenly surprised one day and find that they are living their dream. It takes concerted effort to become successful.

Most parents realize that only a rare few have an extreme talent for anything. Somewhere we embraced the notion that those superstars and those most successful are those that are the most talented in the world at something. Is this true? Is there no hope for those who are just average?

Of course not, there is always hope and in fact, the odds of success are actually in their favor. Over my career, what I’ve learned is success in life doesn’t hinge upon having an extreme ability or getting the top grades. There are lots of average people who are highly successful. If talent alone were the determining factor, we wouldn’t see drop outs being billionaires. The biggest corporations would be headed by the alumni of the top universities, and that’s not true either. Scientific breakthroughs would be discovered only by those with the highest IQ’s, and studies have disproved this as well. It seems contradictory. Why is this?

To achieve, it all begins with a change in our mindset as to what is truly required. It starts by accepting that an extreme talent isn’t necessary. It begins by dispelling some of those concepts we learned in school, notions meant to help us learn knowledge, but don’t necessarily hold true for reaching our dreams. In the first chapter, Out of the Classroom Lessons in Success opens with why straight A grades are not required for success. Too many people equate academic success with future professional success, and this book begs to differ. Why average works for success is because it’s not one single talent that matters as much as the combination of qualities. So any one talent simply needs to be ‘good enough’.

There’s a big difference between buying an item and giving it to someone as a gift, and buying it, wrapping it up, putting a bow on it, and presenting it to the recipient in a unique manner – the later just has that WOW factor even if the actual gift is just ordinary. Talent is the same. Package up the average and it becomes successful. Don’t package up the extraordinary and it will get a lackluster reception.

The book further discusses some of those misconceptions and half-truths, which when taken for literal or face value will hinder success. Every school child has heard it, “Good things come to those that wait”. Is this really wise advice if you want to reach your dreams? Shouldn’t it be “Good things come to those that wait, better things come to those that ask, and the best things come to those who go out and get what they want.” Now imagine what would happen in a classroom if children knew more than the opening, could a teacher keep control? Probably not. The classroom would become chaos. However, if you hope to reach your dream, then just sitting quietly and waiting for your dream to be presented to you isn’t a viable strategy. Yet, this is what many people do because this is what they were taught.

If there is any big secret to success, it’s that extreme talent isn’t necessarily required. If there is one big misstep, it’s believing that success hinges upon perfecting a specific talent, to focus and hone that one skill and neglect every other. It’s the combination of talents and skills that make people a success. Wow, that’s a huge shift in thinking, because it means it is possible for just about anyone to be successful.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cynthia Kocialski is the founder of three tech start-ups companies. In the past 15 years, she has been involved in dozens of start-ups. Cynthia writes the Start-up Entrepreneurs’ Blog www.cynthiakocialski.com. Cynthia has written the book, “Out of the Classroom Lessons in Success: How to Prosper Without Being at the Top of the Class.” The book serves up tips, insight, and wisdom to enable young adults and parents of kids to know what it will take to forge a successful career, no matter what their academic achievement.

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Monica M. Brinkman - Why Not Karma? + Contest

2012-01-31T01:00:00.000-08:00

Enter to win an eBook copy of The Turn of the Karmic Wheel!

***

Why Not Karma?
by Monica M. Brinkman

I pondered what to write when invited to be a guest blogger on Farrahs’ site. After deliberation it became apparent the logical answer...why not Karma?

So what is Karma? We seem to use the word as a fear tactic insuring our goodwill toward others.

Karma simply means - action.

The definition in Hinduism/Buddhism: action, seen as bringing upon oneself inevitable results, good or bad, either in this life or reincarnation.

Many will argue the case of karma occurring exclusively in a next life while others adamantly endorse the idea we will feel karma’s full force as a payback in the same life. What they all have in common is the belief we are accountable for our deeds and actions.

Yet we see greed, self-satisfaction, lust, murder, rape, and mayhem all around us and many of the individuals who carry out these acts seem to get by just fine in life, without retribution in any form. While others, the kind, caring, giving souls, grow poorer, hungrier and more desperate in their quest for survival.

Life may not seem fair but you may rest assured, karma seeks truth.

The millionaire who layed off his entire labor force and shipped it off to China may look to the outward world as if he is showered with riches, yet hidden from view is the cheating wife, the daughter who committed suicide or the lack of any real friendships.

Do I believe in Karma? Absolutely! I’ve experienced it within my lifetime and if you are honest with yourself, you will agree that you also have felt the force of karma. How many have judged another, stating they would never ever do such a thing only to find, under the same circumstances, they reacted the exact way years later?

To me, karma is the ultimate judge and it takes care of the world and universe just fine, thank you. There is no need for me to condemn someone and I am free to be responsible for my actions alone. It is up to each individual to take responsibility for his or her life, never blaming someone else.

In my mind, karma sets you free to be the person you are without apology. I’d fear it if I chose the wrong path in life and embrace it if living through kindness, compassion and care.

Monica M. Brinkman is the author of the newly released novel, ‘The Turn of the Karmic Wheel’, a mixed genre of suspense, horror, the paranormal and spirituality.

EXCERPT from Chapter One, ‘The Turn of the Karmic Wheel’

Harry went to the window and watched his friend walk down the street. He wondered if he should be concerned. For some reason, he felt a bit of uneasiness; just couldn’t put his finger on the why or wherefore. Aw, hell, he reasoned, it ain't none of my business. Yet there was something eating at his mind, a voice telling him to go no further with this transaction. It was a gut feeling he couldn’t shake, a feeling that his friend and neighbor of over 30 years was not ‘quite right’. There was definitely something ‘off the scale’ about Euclid today. A vivid image entered his mind. A vision so unfathomable he had to let it go. Harry shivered as he moved to slowly close the store’s door, continuing to watch the retreating figure kicking stones along the road, unable to shake his feelings of dread.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ms Brinkman, along with Oana host an exciting blogtalkradio show called ‘Two Unsynchronized Souls, that airs every Thursday , 8 PM CST. You may join the live show by calling 213/769-0952. For the schedule shows, click on the below referenced link.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/monicabrinkmanandoana

Visit Monica’s personal web and blogsite, Meaningful Writings and A Touch of Karma to view articles, short stories, videos, books and inspirations

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Michelle Franklin - Khantara + Contest

2012-01-25T01:00:00.000-08:00

Enter to win a PDF copy of Khantara!

***

Khantara
by Michelle Franklin

The first standalone novel in the critically-acclaimed Haanta Series:

Khantara is a Haanta conqueror, meant to wage war and rule over the enemy nation of Thellis, but after vanquishing Thellis and occupying a construction of a Haanta outpost, he meets Anelta, a woman enslaved by her own people, bearing a brand of servitude on her neck. Khantara contrives to save her from a cruel home and bring her to the refuge his people can provide, but how can he do so successfully when the eyes of Thellis are upon him?

PURCHASE THIS BOOK / ADD TO WISH LIST / DOWNLOAD A SAMPLE

EXCERPTS

From Chapter 4

The instant Khantara began to walk the short path to the barracks he was attacked by swarms of wrens and sparrows from the nearby willows, all of them in a flutter to have their turn to speak to the gentle mountain. The owls and nighthawks had taken his evening and now it was only fair that they should have his morning to themselves. He must hear of their new nests and warbling chicks and horrid neighbors, and they were going to claims their perches on his head and shoulders and tell him whether he wished to listen or to ignore them accordingly. He would listen, however; the quick and nervous conversation of the sparrows was often one-sided and he was therefore required to do nothing but allow them to nest in his hair and continue walking. The wrens, however, were lest content to permit him to be indifferent: they would have him hear of every rude caterpillar and impudent butterfly flitting around trees they knew to be theirs. Theirs was a talk of territory, and they would have Khantara understand their plight. It was wrong of the caterpillars to climb their trees and enter theirnests, and it was so devious of them not to be edible though their bright colours and squirming movements were so enticing. How horrendous it was that the bustle and brilliancy of the butterflies’ wings should be so fascinating. They could hardly capture the creatures to feed to their chicks with such a violent display of beauty. Would only Khantara tell the caterpillars to taste more agreeable, the obnoxious moths to make their cocoons somewhere else, and the owls to leave the worms alone when there was mice enough for them. Khantara, however, would say nothing to the purpose. He only smiled and shook his head at the wrens, and their loud and intricate trills conveyed their indefatigable displeasure toward the giant’s infuriating civilities. He would let nature go its own way, and the birds could do little to convince him otherwise. The wrens threatened to claim strands of the giant’s long molded locks for their nests if he did not comply, but he would not regard their threats as any so troublesome. He simpered at their attempts and silently declared that they could not break his draping tendrils no matter how hard they should try when the giant suddenly found himself at the barracks.

From Chapter 8
Original lineart by Twisk

"She hoped, and did not hope, that what he wished to show her were in a more precarious place, but she realized that in welcoming the giant to her home, she would have to brook watching him remove his cloak. She had a slender idea of what she should discover there; she had felt his form when she fell against him and hardly found what she felt to be disagreeable. He waswarrior, unlike the Thellisian guardsmen she had learned to fear and avoid, and with a companion so colossal and foreboding, she could only conjecture as to what her husband might say upon seeing such a creature in his household. She had some apprehensions on the side of inviting him in; though she lived in the home, it did not belong to her, nor was any possession within its walls hers, but he had been so obliging and forthcoming with her, she could not very well allow him to remain outside the boundaries of the small disheveled gate. As they came to the path that led to the house, she regarded the giant’s features- his scarred skin, his yellow and black eyes, his broad and rounded shoulders- and confessed that she found everything to admire in his aspect. He may not have been absolutely handsome to some, but to her, he was striking. His manner, too, was to handsome and his air so prepossessing and kind- she checked before she could step closer to him due to some unconscious conjuration, but before she had hindered her deliberation, there was a momentary notion of her being hismate. She knew it was little more than a most impossible aspiration, for she was already bound to one, but yet she was beginning to prefer another: one who had openly professed himself her keeper and one who had sworn to remain at her side until the mate more errant should return home. She chided herself for wanting the one she so feared to remain in town for a few days more that she and the giant might spend as much time as was possible under one another’s auspices before the dreaded husband should revisit and all her hopes of flight and salvation diminish with his arrival."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I am a small woman of moderate consequence who writes many, many epic fantasy books involving giants, romance, and chocolate. I'm a rather boring woman in life, but that only gives me permission to be more interesting on the page. I'm meant to be read and not seen anyway. I am also excessively sarcastic, but never serious, and I do my utmost to be as quiet and polite as possible when being forced to leave the commons. I adore people, but am not fond of the public. Such is an author's burden: to be a hermit and a crone, blessed with all the joys of unquietness.

AUTHOR WEBSITE

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E Van Lowe - The Year The Romance Died + Contest

2012-01-24T01:00:00.000-08:00

Enter to win an ebook set of Boyfriend form Hell and Earth Angel!

***
The Year The Romance Died
by E Van Lowe

I am declaring 2011 as the year romance died. Seriously. Those of us writing about romance should take a hard look at what we are doing. It is obvious America has had its fill of romance and is moving on to the next thing—whatever that is.

First, Kim Kardashian expresses her undying love in the wedding of the ages to NBA star Kris Humphries, and then seventy-two days later she files for divorce. Don’t get me wrong. I realize every marriage isn’t made in heaven, but seventy-two days? I had a heat rash that lasted longer than seventy-two days. Honestly, there were times on my honeymoon when I thought “If I admit my mistake now I can put us both out of our misery.” And then I thought: “I’ll give it a year.” I’m glad I did. Seventy-two days may be a great testing period for deciding if you want to continue dating someone, but I don’t believe any normal human being (“Normal” being the operative word here)should bail on a marriage in that short period of time.

Then just as I was just getting over the Kim and Kris debacle, I got the devastating news about Katy Perry and Russell Brand. How could that be? I swore when Katy was belting out the lyrics to Firework--Cause baby you’re a firework, come on show em what you’re worth. Make em go Oh! Oh! Oh!—she was singing praises to the love of her life. And then a year later, the firework fizzled.

So as I began this year, 2012, I was having serious doubts about the future of romance. Isn’t romance supposed to lead to Happily Ever After? Isn’t that what every girl dreams of? It was then I remembered the wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton. The entire world got up at an ungodly hour to watch it on TV. I know I did. We were all watching, oohing and ahhing because it was so lavish, yet classy, but mostly it was romantic.

I realized then that happily ever after is a lot like winning the lottery. Everyone wants it, but most of us accept it as just a beautiful dream, a dream we want to believe can happen (“Can” being the operative word here). As a writer of fiction, it is my job to keep the dream alive.

I got up extra early on May 26th 2011 to watch the royal wedding because it made me feel good. When I finish a book by Nicholas Sparks I get that same warm and comfy feeling. When I wrote my novel, Earth Angel (White Whisker Books), about what a mortal girl would do to save the life of her earth bound angel, I was conjuring up that feeling, not just for myself, but hopefully for you, my readers. The Kim Kardashians of the world are always going to throw cold water on our dreams. It is our job as writers to keep the dream of happily ever after alive. I LOVE my job. I am up for the challenge.

2011 may be the year romance died, yet on January 1st 2012 it rose again, like the Phoenix, pumping its wings toward a glorious sun.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

E Van Lowe was born in the Bronx a long time ago, back in the days when children were supposed to be seen and not heard. Fortunately for E, his parents allowed him to speak freely. Unfortunately for his parents and older brother, E had a lot to say. He was speaking quite freely until one day, while his mother was trying to watch her “stories” (which is code for soap operas), she suggested that instead of speaking freely, he write all his important thoughts down. E wrote down many important thoughts, such as: crayons melt when you leave them on the radiator, or toy soldiers melt when you drop them in the muffin batter before mom puts it in the oven. His brother thought he was weird, but E was only ten years old at the time. What did he expect, Shakespeare? E liked writing things down so much, he decided that when he grew up, he was going to become a professional writer.

E has gone on to write for many award winning TV shows including: The Cosby Show, and Even Stevens. He also co-wrote the Academy Award nominated short film, Cadillac Dreams. Never Slow Dance With A Zombie was his first teen novel. Boyfriend From Hell is the first in the Falling Angels Saga. The second novel in the saga, Earth Angel, will be coming out soon. It seems E still has lots of important, and weird, thoughts to share with readers.

http://evanlowe.com

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Alexia E. Fraser - Memories of MOM + Contest

2012-01-11T01:00:00.000-08:00

Enter to win a paperback copy of Memories of Mom!

***
Beautiful Inside and Out - A look Inside My Character’s Life
By Alexia E. Fraser - Author of the Memoir Memories of Mom

Because my book is a memoir, it provided the perfect vehicle to look inside my character’s life. The main character in my book “Memories of Mom” is my wonderful, loving mother. There were no unnecessary complications in her life. She was just pure and simple in every way. As a little girl I watched her every move and I loved what I saw. She was beautiful inside and out.

The excerpt below epitomizes the kindness that permeated my character’s life. An amazing woman! Who wouldn’t want to write about her?

“As a little girl growing up, I can recall that my mom hired a gardener to take care of our lawn. His name was Alan. Alan kept busy doing the landscaping, and whatever odds and ends he had to do outside.

Mom, who was a very good cook, was busy making lunch for us in the kitchen. She asked me to set the table and said that I should include Alan. This came as a surprise to me. I turned to my mom and I asked, "Is Alan sitting at the table with us?" “Yes!” she replied.

I never saw a gardener dine with a family before. They would sit outside or someplace else. My mom continued by saying, “Alan will be joining us at the table. We are all equal. He has a mother, too. He is someone’s child and I would like my children to be treated the same way.” Mom truly had an egalitarian spirit within her.

Lunch was ready, and Mom called out to Alan and told him to take a break and have some lunch with us. Alan stopped what he was doing, washed up and came inside to join us. Mom told him to have a seat. He was in awe. He then turned to Mom and said, “Ms. Spence, no one has ever been this kind to me. Thank you.”

Mom replied, “You’re welcome.” We all had an enjoyable lunch at the table with Alan. That was one of my most memorable moments, one that will always stay with me. It was certainly a good lesson to learn. Since then I have tried to live my life with a sense of equal treatment to others.”

Daphne Monica Spence is the embodiment of the type of characters I love writing about.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alexia Elizabeth Smart-Fraser was born in the beautiful island of Jamaica. After marrying her high school sweetheart Edward, she migrated to the United States. She is the proud and loving mother of two children, son Sean and daughter Paige. She now resides with her family in New York City.

Alexia Fraser studied acting at H.B. Studio. She worked as an extra on the set of “Cosby Mysteries” with Bill Cosby, “New York Undercover” with Malik Yubo, “Central Park West” with Lauren Hutton, and the series “Prince Street” with Mariska Hargitay.

As well, Alexia Fraser has written and produced three original non-fiction one act plays both off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway. “The Ryans,” “Dope the Endeavor” and “Blind Trust.” Her fourth play “Our God is Awesome” is not yet produced, but will be in the near future. Alexia is the original founder and partner of her production company, Paige Unlimited, LLC (www.paigeunlimitedllc.com) of which she is the Creative Arts VP.

“Memories of Mom” is Alexia Fraser’s first published book. She was driven to share her story after seeing her mom suffered unacceptable nursing home and hospital care. Her second book is already partially scripted. “Write what you know” is what she believes.

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Anarchy Books free book promotion

2011-12-30T12:09:00.000-08:00

***** PRESS RELEASE *****

Anarchy Books: FREE BOOK PROMOTION – from 12.29.11 – 02.01.12

That’s right, Anarchy Books have a very special New Year gift for all you lucky shiny new Kindle owners.

During the next 4/5 days over the New Year period, a selection of Anarchy Books titles will be offered completely FREE! So if you fancy any of the following novels, get yo ass over to Amazon and stock up your Kindle with Anarchy for the New Year....

Participating titles:

GIG (Mik and Kim) by James Lovegrove
Monstrocity by Jeffrey Thomas
New York Nights by Eric Brown
Rain Dogs by Gary McMahon
SIM by Andy Remic
Serial Killers Incorporated by Andy Remic
The Black Seas of Infinity by Dan Henk
The Office of Lost and Found by Vincent Holland-Keen

All free!

Have a HAPPY ANARCHY NEW YEAR!!

www.anarchy-books.com

Kasonndra Leigh - Urban Fantasy with a Dystopian Twist + Contest

2011-12-27T01:00:00.000-08:00

Enter to win an ebook copy of When Copper Suns Fall!

***
Urban Fantasy with a Dystopian Twist – A Venture into the Written Realm
By KaSonndra Leigh Author of the YA Dark Fantasy When Copper Suns Fall

I promise you that the title of this article is not a typo.

Sometimes it’s almost as if I can hear the unspoken comments from the hesitant reader who is considering a purchase of my book. This person is saying things like: “There’s that author again, the one with the little angel statue on her book’s cover. She’s popping up all over the place talking about her dystopian fantasy novel.” Then they pause…thoughts racing, I’m sure…and say, “Hey, maybe it’s not so taboo, that crossing genres thing. Maybe I’ll check her sample out.”

And then something amazing happens…the hesitant reader buys the full copy and becomes a fan.

I get emails from people all over the world. They tell me how much they love the unique plot line and about how brave I am for taking a chance on blending two completely different genres. Sometimes I hear from people who just don’t get it; but the intrigue of a fantastical plot set within a dystopian society intrigues them. So they come back for more.

Newsflash#1: I’m not the first author who has ever crossed into this realm.

Cross-genre novels are coming out of the closet. Books with mixed- genre elements are all over the place. I won’t go into naming them here, but readers are responding in a positive way. Why is this? Beats the crap out of me. But I can tell you some of the comments I’ve gotten. Mainly the readers say things like: this book is different, angels in a dystopian society is bombin’ (learning new slang everyday) and your heroine is kick a**. What do you see in all of these? You see a reader who enjoys fantastical heroes and heroines (urban fantasy). This same reader can also appreciate fresh characters and settings (half-angels in a society controlled by a government). The secret to making it all work was similar to tackling a new stew. I had to grab a strong voice, a unique heroine, a fallen hero, a society reformed after a great war, add a touch of tribalism without alienating my urban fantasy fans. Phew! Right?

Newsflash#2: The previous recipe was done by a trained dreamer. Do not attempt this on your own.

When I sat down and began writing When Copper Suns Fall, the story was standard in your face, super-high fantasy. Complete with blue creatures, unicorns, princes, and all that. Chela’s name was Cara and Faris had a name that has been overused lately. I wasn’t trying to be fad girl or the Lady Gaga of the writing world. But rather, I was trying to write the story I always wanted to read. One that came to life when my oldest son asked me: “what if angels that looked like people lived in a dystopian society?” The seeds were planted, the lights in my muse’s apartment lit up. The challenge was on. How do I stick to an urban setting with fantastical elements, but bring my love of dystopia into play?

Newsflash #3: There is no greater teacher of good Young Adult than a young adult himself. Repeat please.

So if one or two young adults is asking you about a story they’d love to read, then feel lucky, feel blessed, whatever you choose. Feel something and then go write it all down. You’ve just won a prize similar to the lottery (okay, so maybe I’m exaggerating a bit, but…)

Final Newsflash: Urban fantasy with a dystopian twist is not a four-letter word. Re-Tweet please.

An interview I recently took part in asked about the motivation for my novel. Was there a purpose? A message? At first, I said no. Literary novelists are sort of like plague carriers these days. But then, I had to fess up. Of course there’s a message, a theme, all of the above. When Copper Suns Fall is a story of possibilities. It’s a story of all people, all races, and our choices. From its crossed genres all the way down to the cover, it’s a story of what if…? And to find the answer you’ll have to read it, of course! :-D

My lovely grandmother (R.I.P.) always told me that if I listened to the flowers then they’d tell me a few stories. The flowers are the carriers of the angel’s songs. So one day I did as she said (don’t be laughing at me, now). I listened, wrote down the words, rolled a story around my head for a long time. What’s the purpose behind all of this? Stay true to yourself, your story, the message if you have one. And the readers will see who you truly are. That’s the secret behind any successful story, cross-genre or not. You must stay true to the craft and not the trends. What do you think about the future of cross-genre novels?

BLURB

In fifteen-year-old Chela Prizeon’s city, alchemy is forbidden and angels hide among the mortal. With a deadly virus ravaging the globe, Chela’s nightmarish memories compels her to experience a past riddled with gloom, and now her brother is infected.

Chela’s only hope is the Caduceans, slayers sworn to protect the last seven Light Keepers and the ancient memories they share. A group led by the sometimes elusive, sometimes infuriating boy who intrigues Chela. But can she trust this boy with the mysterious past, someone who can influence her memories?

With the Caduceans aid, Chela races to defeat her rivals, to unearth dark family secrets, desperate to find a cure…only to discover the glutovirus is far more than a simple disease.

In this haunting debut, KaSonndra Leigh offers an escape into a world as intriguing as The Mortal Instruments and a story as chilling as Enclave. Full of celestial creatures, fascinating villainy, high-stake choices, and a secret romance, When Copper Suns Fall, is a fresh and original urban fantasy—with a dystopian twist—that will take readers on an unforgettable adventure.

BUY ON KINDLE

EXCERPT

Forcing my eyes to open, I found myself outside the Cradlehack. I was standing in Faris’s arms, my head against his chest, my fingers entwined in his black vest. It was a smooth fabric that felt like silk. A cloth no one had worn outside of ceremonies since before the Tidal Years. This boy was no common citizen. His earthy-sweet smell made me feel hypnotically safe, as we stood among the crowd fleeing down the hillside. He lifted my chin, stared in my eyes. But this wasn’t some dumb player’s move.

No, a mysterious thing stirred behind his silvery-gray eyes.

“Feel better, Chela?” he asked. I nodded.

“Thanks for helping me,” I said, still fighting a light head. Still afraid the dreaded black blobs lingered somewhere around us. Somewhat ashamed I’d spoken so horribly to him moments ago.

“You probably shouldn’t do that,” he said.

“Do what?”

“Thank me.”

“Why? Because I caught you using alchemy? That’s what your kind does. Make magic in the shadows, right?” I said.

His left eye ticked. The girl in the hoodie had called him a Caducean. Could it be possible? Father told me Caduceans were a mythical group—demon slayers from a time long gone. Yet, here I stood with a boy who didn’t deny my claim.

Around us, fewer people were leaving the Shack. They paid no attention to the two idiots standing and staring at each other. Did Jalen and Lexa make it out safely? They were taking forever to reach me.

Did I really want them to find me?

“They’ll call me, now, and make me a witness against you. I’m sorry, but I already have too many problems. So I—I have to tell the truth,” I said.

“That won’t be a problem.” Faris smiled, a catchy one that lit his face up. I couldn’t decide whether it was angelic or downright wicked. Just like I couldn’t remember where I’d ever heard an accent like his. What kind was it? Old southern? Old English? Irish? It sounded like a mix of all three, but with a deep timbre, making him sound god like. “In a few minutes, you won’t remember me or any of this.”

“Really? How do you figure that?” I asked, heart racing.

“Because my gift to you…” He moved his face closer to mine, pulling me into whatever was happening in his head. “My gift is to remove memories that cause you pain.”

“Okay, um, right.” Had I lost my mind? It probably wouldn’t have hurt to scream.

He held my gaze, locking me into something I couldn’t explain. A tear puckered up in his left eye, and slid down his cheek where it stopped on his top lip. Then he blinked, snapping us out of whatever place he’d taken us to, and glanced behind my head. “Here comes your dark knight,” he said, easing his arms away from me.

He strolled off into the last group of stragglers hanging around the Shack. How did he know my nickname for Jalen?

I wiped away a tear rolling down my right cheek.

“Chela, there you are. You scared me, girl.” Jalen’s voice cut into the moment. He spun me around to face him. I blinked, clearing my eyes. “What’s wrong? Did you get hurt?”

I glanced around us. The boy was gone. A dull headache joined the fuzziness in my head. Lost inside a clouded mind, I forgot what I wanted to say. The entire night’s events were hazy.

I fumbled with my thoughts.

What happened to me in there?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

KaSonndra Leigh lives in the City of Alchemy and Medicine, North Carolina. She likes to write about teens doing fantastical things in magical worlds. Her two sons have made her promise to write a boy book next.

She holds the MFA in creative writing, and loves to play CLUE, Monopoly (the Indiana Jones version), and Pandora’s Box (good writer’s block therapy). She lives in an L-shaped house with a garden dedicated to her grandmother. It has a secret library complete with fairies, Venetian plastered walls, and a desk made out of clear blue glass. When Copper Suns Fall is her debut novel.

www.kasonndraleigh.com

ENTER THE CONTEST

Just comment on the post below and leave the first bit of your email address. You do need to be a NOR Newsletter / Fan Club subscriber to enter. Ends - 1/13

SOURCEBOOKS eBOOK DEALS! It All Started When… First in “Series” for $1.99

2011-12-20T13:06:00.000-08:00

Sourcebooks announces its most extensive eBook promotion to date! For a limited time, purchase the first book from a Sourcebooks author for only $1.99—books that are the first in a series, or the first book that Sourcebooks published by that author (and a few extra for good measure). More than 65 exceptional books ranging from young adult to adult fiction, romance, and non-fiction. For complete details, please visit our landing page devoted to this promotion: http://www.sourcebooks.com/it-all-started-when.html. The complete list of titles is listed below—Discover a great new author!

As always, please be patient if our online retail partners don’t have every single title uploaded to their discounted price points, but the promotions are set to begin on the start dates listed below. These deals are available with all major e-Book retailers!

Feel free to share this info with your blog readers, on Facebook and Twitter, and however else you’d like to spread the word.

You can always receive the latest information about our eBook deals by checking out our eBook page: http://www.sourcebooks.com/readers/browse-our-lists/ebook-specials.html.

Enjoy, and Happy Holidays!

Danielle

DANIELLE L. JACKSON | Publicist
Sourcebooks, Inc.

Dates: 12/21/11 - 1/8/12

Complete Details: http://www.sourcebooks.com/it-all-started-when.html

Non-Fiction

1. Battle 100 by Michael Lee Lanning

2. Best Little Stories from the Civil War by C. Bryan Kelly

3. History Buff’s Guide to the Civil War by Thomas R. Flagel

4. It Was Over When... by Robert K. Elder

5. Killer Book of True Crime by Tom Philbin and Michael Philbin

Young Adult

6. Beautiful Dead Book 1: Jonas by Eden Maguire

7. Merlin’s Harp by Anne Eliot Crompton

8. Stupid Fast by Geoff Herbach

Fiction

9. Child of the Northern Spring by Persia Woolley

10. The Darcys & the Bingleys by Marsha Altman

11. God is an Englishman by R.F. Delderfield

12. The Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick

13. Hawk of May by Gillian Bradshaw

14. The Highest Stakes by Emery Lee

15. The Immigrants by Howard Fast

16. The Kingmaking by Helen Hollick

17. Millie’s Fling by Jill Mansell

18. Miranda's Big Mistake by Jill Mansell

19. Mr. & Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two Shall Become One by Sharon Lathan

20. Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife by Linda Berdoll

21. An Offer You Can’t Refuse by Jill Mansell

22. The Pemberley Chronicles by Rebecca Ann Collins

23. Perfect Timing by Jill Mansell

24. Plain Fear: Forsaken by Leanna Ellis

25. Rumor Has It by Jill Mansell

26. A Secret in Salem by Sheri Anderson

27. Skipped Parts by Tim Sandlin

28. Staying at Daisy’s by Jill Mansell

29. Take a Chance on Me by Jill Mansell

30. To Conquer Mr. Darcy by Abigail Reynolds

31. A Weekend with Mr. Darcy by Victoria Connelly

32. When Harry Hit the Hamptons by Mara Goodman-Davies

33. The World from Rough Stones by Malcolm Macdonald

Romance

34. 50 Ways to Hex Your Lover by Linda Wisdom

35. Awaken the Highland Warrior by Anita Clenney

36. Call of the Highland Moon by Kendra Leigh Castle

37. A Certain Wolfish Charm by Lydia Dare

38. Cover Me by Catherine Mann

39. Cowboy Fever by Joanne Kennedy

40. Cowboy Trouble by Joanne Kennedy

41. Demons Prefer Blondes by Sidney Ayers

42. A Duke to Die For by Amelia Grey

43. The Fire Lord’s Lover by Kathryne Kennedy

44. The Goblin King by Shona Husk

45. Heart of the Highland Wolf by Terry Spear

46. Heart of the Wolf by Terry Spear

47. The Heir by Grace Burrowes

48. The Highlander’s Sword by Amanda Forester

49. I Dream of Genies by Judi Fennell

50. In Over Her Head by Judi Fennell

51. It Happened One Bite by Lydia Dare

52. Kiss at Your Own Risk by Stephanie Rowe

53. The Legend of Michael by Lisa Renee Jones

54. Love Drunk Cowboy by Carolyn Brown

55. The Making of a Duchess by Shana Galen

56. Making Waves by Tawna Fenske

57. Merely Magic by Patricia Rice

58. The Mistress’ House by Leigh Michaels

59. One Fine Cowboy by Joanne Kennedy

60. The Return of Black Douglas by Elaine Coffman

61. Romeo, Romeo by Robin Kaye

62. SEALed with a Kiss by Mary Margret Daughtridge

63. Slave by Cheryl Brooks

64. Strange Neighbors by Ashlyn Chase

65. Taste Me by Tamara Hogan

66. Tyler by C.H. Admirand

67. What a Goddess Wants by Stephanie Julian

68. Wickedly Charming by Kristine Grayson

The Penguin Holiday eSampler

2011-12-15T11:24:00.000-08:00

This holiday season, Penguin's making it easy for you to choose what book to read next. The Penguin Holiday eSampler includes over forty excerpts from some of our biggest bestsellers, perennial favorites, and award-winners.

To paraphrase Charles Dickens and to push this holiday theme to the limit, we've divided the sampler into "books past, present, and future."

In the Past section, you'll find both classic and recent books that have become reader favorites. You may have read some of these already, and you've probably heard about most of them, but this is the section to find that great book you may have missed or have been meaning to read for some time.

The Present section includes bestselling and award-winning novels and nonfiction from 2011. From bestselling authors you'll recognize immediately to authors you may not know yet (but should!), this section provides a wide-range of books to choose from.

And finally, the Future section is for books coming out in late December or early 2012. If you like the excerpts, make sure you preorder, so you can start reading as soon as it's available.

Happy holidays and happy reading from your friends at Penguin!

Price: Free

Buy from: ▪ Amazon ▪ B&N ▪ iBooks ▪ Kobo ▪ Sony

ISBN 9781101573167 | eSpecial

Past
City of Thieves by David Benioff
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
Ranger's Apprentice by John Flanagan
Fall of Giants by Ken Follett
Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
The Magicians by Lev Grossman
At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon
The Reason for God by Tim Keller
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok
Drive by Daniel Pink
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper

Present
The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown
Washington by Ron Chernow
The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua
Locked On by Tom Clancy
Shelter by Harlan Coben
Matched by Ally Condie
Red Mist by Patricia Cornwell
Prince of Ravenscar by Catherine Coulter
Devil's Gate by Clive Cussler
The Ideal Man by Julie Garwood
V is for Vengeance by Sue Grafton
Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer by John Grisham
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
The New New Rules by Bill Maher
Bloodlines by Richelle Mead
The Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker
The Next Always by Nora Roberts
Shock Wave by John Sandford
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
The Quest by Daniel Yergin

Future
Lunatics by Dave Barry and Alan Zweibel
More Room in a Broken Heart by Stephen Davis
Believing the Lie by Elizabeth George
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Down the Darkest Road by Tami Hoag
Breakdown by Sara Paretsky

Chuck Waldron - Ambushed by Anger + Contest

2011-12-14T01:00:00.001-08:00

Enter to win an autographed copy of Served Cold!

***
Ambushed by Anger
By Chuck Waldron

My latest novel Served Cold is a story about revenge. The central character is Sean, a young man who will eventually have to come to terms with a growing feeling, a need for a settling of scores.

Revenge is a fascinating emotion to me. Revenge has been the cause for wars, tribal feuds and has the capacity to turn petty wrongs into major acts of retaliation.

The urge for revenge is an emotion we’ve all encountered. It comes in many disguises. Some might call it getting even. Others might talk about settling the score. There are stories of revenge allowed to grow full bloom, with deadly results.

A small slight might urge us to respond with a simple tit-for-tat remark. What’s the harm in that? Some take revenge with a witty retort many find amusing. Where’s the harm in that?

At the other end of the ‘getting even’ scale are feuds that started with someone feeling wronged and their need for payback turns into a full-blown call for for vengeance. Many novels and films have stories beginning with a character being wronged and the subsequent quest for revenge. There are stories of revenge in the classics. In modern literature, Puzo’s The Godfather ends with Michael Corleone orchestrating revenge in brilliant counterpoint to an infant’s baptism.

I took the title to my novel from the Sicilian saying that revenge is a dish best served cold. The story that stirs young Sean’s revenge is indeed cold with roots that go back over twenty years.

He hears a story of two families. For years an uneasy balance of power between two powerful patriarchs erupts into events for which nothing less than hot-blooded vengeance will do. He hears the story of what happens when revenge is dished out in full. He learns about the rage and fury that feud robbed him of a family history.

Confucius said before one embarks on a journey of revenge to first dig two graves. Will Sean demand vengeance or can he heed the advice of Confucius and turn away? U.S. born, Canadian novelist Chuck Waldron is currently working on his fourth novel, a thriller about an investigative blogger who uncovers more than he ever imagines…and has no idea what to do with his discovery.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

His first novel, Tears in the Dust, is a mystery set against the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War in 1937. When Alestair Ferguson volunteers to fight in the International Brigade he doesn’t realize the true price he will have to pay. Chuck’s second novel, Remington and the Mysterious Fedora, is a quirky fantasy, a story about what happens when a young man sits at the keyboard of a manual typewriter and puts on an old fedora. When the fedora and its mysterious power begins to whisper a story to him, the young man has a strange adventure indeed. His third novel, Served Cold, spans decades and stretches from the countryside of rural Ontario to a quiet artists’ studio in Tucson, Arizona. With lots of murder and mayhem in between, the story is what happens when a long-standing feud erupts into hot-blooded vengeance.

Chuck wrote over thirty short stories before setting out to write novels that are affordable and entertaining. He has attended writing workshops in Iowa, Florida, Georgia and Ontario, Canada.

“I grew up,” Chuck said, “listening to my grandfather, an Ozark Mountain story teller, spinning tales of the caves on his farm, describing them as hiding places once used by the Jesse & Frank James’ gang. It didn’t matter if the stories were true or not. Those legends set fire to my imagination, creating images that emerged slowly over the years, finally igniting as my short stories and novels.”

Now, thirty-plus short stories and three novels later, ideas keep coming, with more novels under development. Do they share anything in common? Each has its own unique voice and tale to tell, yet, at their heart, his stories tell about the human condition – the good, the bad and the ugly.

Chuck adds, “stored images that echo in my writing include train whistles in the night, Norman Rockwell childhood scenes, U.S. Army memories, blue collar jobs, university, a professonal career, and finally retirement. Many of my images are drawn from this pool of memories: places visited, sights seen, and people met. The rest I filled in with my imagination: dreams of places yet to be visited, sights yet to be seen, and people yet to be met.”

His literary roots were planted in the American Midwest and thrived when transplanted – over thirty-nine years ago – to the rich, cultural soil of Ontario. He and his wife, Suzanne, spend their summers in Kitchener, Ontario and are warmed by a winter sun in Port St. Lucie, Florida.

You can visit Chuck at http://www.writebyme.ca and at www.chuckwaldron.com. Visit him at Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/writebyme and Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/wordstir.

ENTER THE CONTEST

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Charles Rosenberg - Hanging a Flag on It + Contest

2011-12-14T01:00:00.000-08:00

Enter to win a paperback copy of Death on a High Floor!

***

Hanging a Flag on It
by Charles Rosenberg

Writing my legal thriller, Death on a High Floor, confronted me with this question: Am I going to practice what I preach? That question presented itself because, for more than twenty years, I had been the credited legal script consultant to four TV legal dramas—Paperchase, LA Law, The Practice and Boston Legal. In that role, I was the high priest of accuracy, working with writers and producers to help them bring legal accuracy to the scripts without killing off the drama.

That was always a difficult balancing act because reality, depicted with verisimilitude, is too complicated, too long-winded, and too filled with boring moments to make great drama. Most writers would agree, though, that you can’t just shove reality totally under the rug. Audiences are not stupid, and if you do that, they will quickly desert you. Indeed, making the characters in the drama confront reality in some form, albeit stripped of its boring length and detail, will always make the drama better.

Sometimes, though, drama and verisimilitude just won’t mix at all. Here’s an example from my experience with TV: In a courtroom drama, it can create a dramatic high point if a lawyer and the opposing client meet one-on-one (preferably in a small room), and go at it. Verbal fireworks ensue, and the emotional conflict at the heart of the drama is made manifest. The problem with that? Well, in litigation it’s flatly unethical for a lawyer to meet with the other lawyer’s client without the other lawyer’s consent, and what lawyer in her right mind is going to consent? One solution, of course, would be to include the second lawyer in the scene. But that changes everything. The second lawyer, now intruded into the scene, can’t just stand there and say nothing. So the inevitable result would be to water down the one-on-one confrontation that the writer was originally seeking.

In that situation, of course, reality always bent to the needs of drama (this was TV after all), and the opposing lawyer never made it into the scene. But there was a fix of sorts. We could “hang a flag on it,” as we used to say. The scene might be rewritten with something like the following exchange:

Client
(Speaking to the opposing lawyer)

I want to talk to you. Right now.

Opposing Lawyer

That would be unethical. You’re represented by counsel. So no can do.

Client

I just fired my lawyer.

With that exchange, the writers get to set up the one-one-one scene they really want, but the audience is made aware that what they are watching is not quite business as usual, along with a mini-lesson in real world legal ethics.

I occasionally confronted similar problems in writing Death on a High Floor. For example, at one point in the novel, someone is charged with the murder with which the novel opens (I won’t say who, since it would spoil the plot). In the normal course, the person, once charged, would be arraigned before a judge and have to plead guilty or not guilty. But for reasons of pacing and tone, and perhaps a bit of writerly sloth on my part, I didn’t want to drag the defendant down to the courthouse to be arraigned. It would have been a lengthy scene, with multiple characters appearing (including the judge, whom I preferred to introduce more dramatically in a later scene). A solution popped into my head: “Maybe it can be done from the defendant’s home, via video. That would be a much easier, quicker scene to write.” But when I researched that idea, I ran into a dead end. The judge, for historical and practical reasons, needs to see the body of the defendant in court. It couldn’t be done via video from the defendant’s home.

The solution? Do it the way I wanted to do it, but hang a flag on it for the audience, just as I had learned to do in TV. Here’s how it ended up, with a few words changed so as not to spoil the plot. It’s spoken in the voice of the defendant:

The only break in my routine occurred one day when some very official looking people brought a video camera setup into my living room. Someone told me it was to be my arraignment, hi-tech style. I put on a set of headphones and listened to a judge ask how I wished to plead. I looked into the camera and pleaded “not guilty.” Then I listened to the judge say a bunch of mumbo jumbo and set a date for the preliminary hearing.

My lawyer later told me it was a first. That no one else had ever been arraigned remotely at home. That, in fact, it couldn’t legally be done that way. But somehow . . . it had been arranged with the judge. . . .

So, in essence, I did it “wrong” but hung a flag on it for the reader. Twenty years of television consulting had taught me a trick or two.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Charles B. (”Chuck”) Rosenberg has been the credited legal script consultant to three prime time television shows: L.A. Law, The Practice and Boston Legal, as well as The Paper Chase (Showtime). During the O .J. Simpson criminal trial, he was one of two on-air legal analysts for E! Entertainment Television’s live coverage of the trial. He also provided commentary for E!’s coverage of the Simpson civil trial. He is also the author of the book The Trial of O.J. Simpson: How to Watch the Trial and Understand What’s Really Going On (Publishing Partners 1994) and is a contributing author to the book Lawyers in Your Living Room! Law on Television (ABA Publishing 2009).

He has taught extensively as an adjunct law professor, including at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, the Loyola Law School International LLM Program in Bologna, Italy, the UCLA School of Law, the Pepperdine School of Law, and the Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA.

A graduate of the Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review, Chuck currently practices in the Los Angeles area. He has been a partner in several law firms, including a large international firm. Currently, he is a partner in a three-lawyer firm. Chuck and his wife have lived in Los Angeles since the early 1970s. He is at work on a second novel.

His latest novel is Death on a High Floor.

Visit his blog at http://charlesrosenberg.wordpress.com. Connect with him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=820177073.

ENTER THE CONTEST

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Deborah Cooke - Spinning into the Dragon Diaries + Contest

2011-12-09T01:00:00.000-08:00

Enter to win one of two PRINT copies of Winging It!

***
Spinning into the Dragon Diaries
by Deborah Cooke / The Dragon Diaries Site

As many of you know, I write the Dragonfire series of paranormal romances. These books feature a group of dragon shape shifter heroes, called the Pyr, and each book tells the story of one Pyr hero meeting his destined mate. These dragon shape shifters experience one firestorm in all their long lives. The firestorm is the mark of a dragon shifter meeting the woman who can bear his son. Sparks literally fly between the dragon dude and the human woman, which can be complicated to explain. The firestorm burns until their relationship is consummated, but the desire it ignites is impossible to ignore.

Although the firestorm is about pure biology, negotiating it is seldom so simple. Most the Pyr, no matter how solitary and single they would prefer to be, find that there is something special about the woman who sparks the firestorm. There's not been a one of them yet in this series who could walk away from the woman who lit his fire. Lorenzo, the most rebellious and solitary of them all, also succumbs to the power of the firestorm in Dragonfire #7, FLASHFIRE, coming in January. You can read more about FLASHFIRE and the other Dragonfire novels at http://www.deborahcooke.com

The Dragon Diaries is a paranormal YA trilogy which is a spin-off from Dragonfire - the second book in that trilogy WINGING IT is being released this month. Because it's a spin-off series, it takes place in the same Dragonfire world, albeit in 2024. My YA series developed organically from Dragonfire and here's how.

Virtually all of the Pyr are male. There is, in fact, only one female dragon shape shifter in my Dragonfire world at any given time, and she is called the Wyvern. The Wyvern has special powers, but is pretty elusive. Here's a little spoiler alert! In Dragonfire #3, KISS OF FATE, the current Wyvern fell in love, broke the rules and decided to sacrifice herself for the greater good of the Pyr. You'll have to read the book to learn the details, but she died. And the child conceived in that book, the child of Erik and Eileen, was a girl instead of a boy. It's obvious to Erik that his daughter will be the next Wyvern, and he's anxious to see her develop her powers. Add to that the fact that the guys who are dragon shape shifters come into their powers at puberty and we have the ingredients for a spin-off series.

The Dragon Diaries trilogy tells the coming-of-age story of Zoë, the one female dragon shape shifter who should be the Wyvern. At the beginning of book #1, FLYING BLIND, Zoë's problem is that all of her dragon shifting powers are AWOL, never mind what she calls the Wyvern Bonus Pack. All of that changes when Zoë's best friend is bullied in school and suddenly she's on the fast track - and heading to Pyr boot camp - to conquer her inner dragon. She and the next generation of dragon shifters discover a new threat to the Pyr, one that the dads dismiss, and have to prove themselves by saving the day. Along the way, Zoë has her first kiss, has a lot of new secrets to keep from her best friend Meagan, and meets Jared, who just may be the most elusive and hot guy on the planet.

In WINGING IT, Zoë has gotten a grip on most of her dragon shifting powers. Things are not good with Meagan, though, who has a best friend's sense of when she's not being told everything. Plus there's a new girl in school who has befriended Meagan, and Jared has disappeared, and Zoë has been invited to the popular kids' Halloween party - which she knows is a trap set up by the Mages. It seems that her sixteenth birthday will be the worst birthday ever, and that's before Meagan gets targeted by the Mages. You can read more about all three books in the Dragon Diaries trilogy, right here: The Dragon Diaries Site

So, now I have a question for you! Do you like reading about the same world from different perspectives? I thought it was fun to explore the world of Dragonfire from the perspective of a teenage girl, particularly as I'm used to considering it from the view of adults snared in the firestorm. Do you like to read linked series like this or not? Why or why not?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Deborah Cooke has always been fascinated with dragons, although she has never understood why they have to be the bad guys. She has an honours degree in history, with a focus on medieval studies. She is an avid reader of medieval vernacular literature, fairy tales and fantasy novels, and has written over forty romance novels and novellas.

She has also been published under the names Claire Cross and Claire Delacroix.

Deborah makes her home in Canada with her husband. When she isn't writing, she can be found knitting, sewing or hunting for vintage patterns.

In October and November 2009, Deborah was the writer in residence for the Toronto Public Library, the first time that the library has hosted a residency focussed on the romance genre.

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Kelley York - The Right Writing Process + Contest

2011-12-07T01:00:00.001-08:00

Enter to win one of 3 eBook copies of Hushed!

***
The Right Writing Process
by Kelley York

I attribute a lot of my writing growth to lurking about the forums of Absolute Write. I’ve never been a heavy poster there, but I’ve spent several years reading and reading...and reading some more. The most commonly asked questions I’ve seen crop up are things like: Should I outline? Should I edit as I go? Should I do this, should I do that...

There is no right answer. When it comes to writing...there is no right or wrong way. I know authors who are very fast first-drafters. Authors who have a lot of revision to go back and do when they’re done. Authors who finish a first draft and consider it ‘done’ because they’ve edited every step of the way. I know authors who write their ending first, then go back and start from the beginning. I know those who outline every book before they get a word down and I know those who don’t ever plot a single thing out. I even know authors who don’t write in order!

I’m not a plotter at all. About halfway through my book, I can create a rough outline (usually in my head works better), but getting organized with index cards, multiple files of character data, plot threads, etc, simply does not work for me. For the longest time, I thought I was doing something wrong. That, somehow, my books wouldn’t be as good because I didn’t outline stuff. I even tried outlining thoroughly (with stickies on my wall!) for my third book, but it hindered me more than it helped.

And, yet, I’m someone who edits a lot as I go. Despite my lack of outlining, I’m fortunate I usually have clean first drafts that don’t require huge revision. Everyone’s writing process is different. Whether you’re a rough first drafter or a clean one, whether you write from beginning to end or puzzle-piece it together, or whether you outline or not. Don’t feel like you’re doing something wrong, and don’t try copying other authors because you think their way is the ‘right’ way. Find what works for you, and own it.

PRAISE

'Kelley York delivers in this impressive debut. I was at the edge of my seat waiting to see what would happen next! Bottom line, this was unputdownable!!!' --- YA Fantasy Guide ---

'How exciting that we live in a time when gay teen protagonists can be just as screwed up as straight ones -- and their stories just as creepy!' --- Brent Hartinger, award-winning author of Geography Club and Shadow Walkers ---

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kelley was born and raised in central California, where she still resides with her lovely wife, daughter, and an abundance of pets. (Although she does fantasize about moving across the globe to Ireland.) She has a fascination with bells, adores all things furry - be them squeaky, barky or meow-y - is a lover of video games, manga and anime, and likes to pretend she's a decent photographer. Her life goal is to find a real unicorn. Or maybe a mermaid.

Within young adult, she enjoys writing and reading a variety of genres from contemporary with a unique twist, psychological thrillers, paranormal/urban fantasy and horror. She loves stories where character development takes center stage.

Kelley's website

HUSHED SYNOPSIS

He's saved her. He's loved her. He's killed for her.

Eighteen-year-old Archer couldn't protect his best friend, Vivian, from what happened when they were kids, so he's never stopped trying to protect her from everything else. It doesn't matter that Vivian only uses him when hopping from one toxic relationship to another - Archer is always there, waiting to be noticed.

Then along comes Evan, the only person who's ever cared about Archer without a single string attached. The harder he falls for Evan, the more Archer sees Vivian for the manipulative hot-mess she really is.

But Viv has her hooks in deep, and when she finds out about the murders Archer's committed and his relationship with Evan, she threatens to turn him in if she doesn't get what she wants...And what she wants is Evan's death, and for Archer to forfeit his last chance at redemption.

PURCHASE THE BOOK

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

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Jenny Twist - The Spanish Civil War + Contest

2011-12-07T01:00:00.000-08:00

Enter to win one of eBook 10 copies of Domingo's Angel.

***

The Spanish Civil War
by Jenny Twist

Hi everyone.

I've never visited Night Owl Reviews before, so maybe I'd better introduce myself. I'm Jenny Twist (it's my real name) and I retired and moved to Spain ten years ago.

I am ashamed to say that before I came to live here I knew nothing of Spanish history other than than the stuff we were taught at school. I knew that it was the Spanish Ferdinand and Isabella who financed Christopher Colombus and so conquered the Americas. I knew about the Spanish Inquisition and I knew about the Spanish Armada.

But I had no idea, for example, that Spain was under Moorish rule for hundreds of years and had a rich heritage of Moorish architecture and culture. I had not realised that the same Ferdinand and Isabella finally drove the last of the Moors from Spain and instituted a harsh and repressive regime which kept the Spanish people in feudal poverty right up to the twentieth century. And nobody told me about the war.

I was horrified to find out about the dreadful atrocities committed by both sides during the Spanish Civil War and the appalling cruelty perpetrated against the Spanish people under Franco's fascist dictatorship – which lasted from 1939 till his death in 1975. I had actually been to Spain on holiday while he was still in power!

I didn’t actually set out initially to write a novel about it.

What happened was I wrote a short story and it grew. But as it grew I realized I had a lot to say. The first chapter is essentially the original short story and tells of an English woman who came to Southern Spain in the early 1950s. Tourism had barely touched the country at that time and the people were only just beginning to recover from the deprivations of the war. She arrived in a remote mountain village and caused some consternation amongst the inhabitants, who had never met a foreigner before. But Domingo, the goatherd, fell in love with her. When she introduced herself, he believed she was saying she was an angel (‘Soy Ángela’ in Spanish can either mean ‘I am Angela’ or ‘I am an angel’). Hence the title of the story.

I entered the story for a competition and it was short-listed, which was encouraging, but didn't win. In the meantime, I had become more and more intrigued by one of the characters, Rosalba, the shopkeeper, and I found myself writing a sequel and then another, and before long it came home to me that I what I had here was an embryo novel.

Because it was initially a series of short stories, the first few chapters, to a large extent, stand as individual stories; and I did, indeed, publish them as such in a local magazine.

But it wasn't too difficult to go over them later and make them into a more homogeneous whole. And as I learnt more and more about the history of my adopted country, I incorporated it into the novel, introducing past events through the memories of the major characters.

I had huge difficulty researching the history because there is so little written about it. You can find out a great deal in the way of historical background from books like 'The Spanish Civil War' by Anthony Beever, which has a lot of (some might say rather too much) information about what went on in the major cities. But there is virtually nothing written about what went on in the little villages, and the people are very reluctant to talk about it. It was a nightmare for them. Brother fought against brother, and in Spain the family is everything.

I relied on what I knew about my own friends – the story of Salva the Baker, for example, who was imprisoned for years for giving bread to the starving children - is true. I also transposed some of the real events from the history books to my own imaginary village.

But then, after I had finished the novel, I discovered a wonderful book by David Baird – ‘Between Two Fires,' which is the history of his own white village of Frigiliana. It contains the actual testimony of those who survived. Most of these witnesses were already old men and women when they told their stories and many of them had died before the book was published. If I had known about it when I was writing Domingo's Angel, it would have saved me months of work. As it was, it proved invaluable to me as a way of checking that I had got it right.

Some of the events in this story are bloodthirsty and shocking, but there is a lot of love in it too. I hope that I succeeded in portraying for my readers the cheerfulness, humour and exuberance of the Andalusian people. And it would be nice to think that it might do something to dispel some of the ignorance about this fascinating period of Spanish history.

If you would like to know a little bit more about Domingo's Angel, here is the blurb:

DOMINGO’S ANGEL

When Angela turns up in a remote Spanish mountain village, she is so tall and so thin and so pale that everyone thinks she is a ghost or a fairy or the dreadful mantequero that comes in the night and sucks the fat from your bones.

But Domingo knows better. “Soy Angela,” she said to him when they met – “I am an angel.” Only later did he realise that she was telling him her name and by then it was too late and everyone knew her as Domingo’s Angel. This is the story of their love affair. But it is also the story of the people of the tiny mountain village – the indomitable Rosalba - shopkeeper, doctor, midwife and wise woman, who makes it her business to know everything that goes on in the village; Guillermo, the mayor, whose delusions of grandeur are rooted in his impoverished childhood; and Salva the Baker, who risked his life and liberty to give bread to the starving children.

The events in this story are based on the real experiences of the people of the White Villages in Southern Spain and their struggle to keep their communities alive through the years of war and the oppression of Franco’s rule.

Published by Melange Books 10th July 2011 http://www.melange-books.com/authors/jennytwist/twistdomingosangel.html

Available on Amazon and Kindle

ISBN: 978-1-61235-202-2

EXCERPT

The next day he took his goats to the top of the ridge near the pass and looked down on the smallest casita of Guillermo the mayor. There was a mule tethered outside and a string of washing had been hung between two almond trees. Otherwise there was no sign of life. Halfway down the slope was a large algarrobo tree. He decided it would be an ideal place for lunch.

But although he sat and watched the little house all the time as he ate his bread and cheese and olives and drank his wine, nobody came out and nothing happened. Only the mule moved along the side of the house to keep in the shade as the sun moved round. So he went to sleep.

When he woke up, someone was calling him. “Hola, goatherd!”

He squinted up into the sun and there, standing before him was an angel. It was very tall and thin and there was a fiery halo round its head. “Hello,” it said, "Soy Ángela - I am angel. I am delighted to meet you! Who are you?”

In absolute panic, Domingo shot up into a sitting position and shuffled backwards into the algarrobo tree. His head hit the hard trunk with a resounding crack and he subsided and slumped back down, feeling a little stunned.

The angel came forward into the shadow of the algarrobo tree and he realised that the halo was, in fact, hair - very long hair - falling in waves down beyond her shoulders and almost to her waist. It was exactly the colour of oranges that have dried on the tree. Her skin was so white it was almost blue and her eyes were so pale they had no colour at all. “How could they think she was a dead person?” he thought in a confused fashion. “She is obviously an angel.”

For more excerpts and other stuff, go to my website. https://sites.google.com/site/jennytwistauthor/

Thank you so much for sharing my visit and thank you, Night Owl Reviews, for giving me the opportunity. I really appreciate it.

Jenny Twist

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Jess C Scott - Exploring The Dark Side + Contest

2011-12-06T01:00:00.000-08:00

Enter to win an eBook copy of The Other Side of Life (Book #1, Cyberpunk Elven Trilogy)!

***
Exploring The Dark Side
by Jess C Scott

BLURB

A hybrid elf child combats a dark elf’s scheme to exploit and turn a virtual reality system into a weapon of mass destruction.

My upcoming publication is an urban fantasy project titled, The Darker Side of Life [Book #2 in the (Cyberpunk) Elven Trilogy].

The trilogy features both cyberpunk and urban fantasy elements. Since the cyberpunk genre is about expressing (often dark) ideas about human nature, technology and their respective combination in the near future, I wanted to enhance the “dark” aspects in the second installment of the series (particularly because of its title).

The series features a dark elf antagonist. I wanted to explore his “dark side” a little more in depth, which is why many contemporary themes ended up being incorporated into the story.

The Darker Side of Life includes themes and concepts such as microchip brain implants (which would mark the end of any kind of “human freedom”), virtual realities, corporate control over society (in the form of technology and the mainstream mass media), commercialism (which stifles originality and innovation), cloning and immortality (which are further developed in the final book in the trilogy), along with other pressing issues and their (mostly) negative impact on humanity.

I added doses of dark humor throughout the book too, as I didn’t want the series to be weighed down by an extremely dystopian vibe (there’s enough misery as is, in real life). Classic humor never goes out of style, though some care must be taken so that the attempts at humor don’t turn out to be cheap, cliched, and/or shallow (which would compromise the integrity of this project).

I explored dark humor with a short story I wrote featuring “Laer,” the dark elf from the series. The story (titled Skins) concerns Laer as a young dark arts practitioner (who seeks revenge on a couple of devotees of the exotic skins trade).

Here are a couple of excerpts showcasing the style of humor:

=====

EXCERPT #1, from Skins:

Laer was thinking of setting off a round of explosives in the expensive yacht, but he realized it wasn’t the best move. It was too guerrilla, and wouldn’t humiliate or shame the Nikolics. He had to make a more sophisticated statement, to be taken a little more seriously by haute couture devotees who reveled in cold-blooded vanities to pass their time.

EXCERPT #2, from The Darker Side of Life (at The Velvet Underground nightclub):

Laer tilted his chin to the club patrons. “And these people don’t think enough.” He pointed to a young man in a black vest, chatting to a girl wearing nothing but strategically-placed pasties. “Tomorrow, that guy is going to realize he’s spent all his money on a date, just to find out she’s put him in The Forgettable Friend Zone,” Laer said with an eerie echo.

“Your black magic?” Anya suggested with a smirk.

Laer raised one of his eyebrows slightly. “I’ve no need to interfere,” he said incredulously.

They watched a couple grinding against each other in a tight dance move.

“They’re drunk so they won’t remember anything. Such is the life of the beautiful people...”

He glanced at her for a moment, before gazing back out onto the crowd.

“You don’t think I’m beautiful,” she laughed. Anya didn’t think she was ugly, but she didn’t exactly feel like she could compete with the aesthetics of classic Elven features, some of which Laer naturally possessed.

“Oh, but I do.” He could see the passion and desire in her eyes—a boldness in spirit that gave her a vibrant energy that was quite pleasant to be around, especially when she was part of a generation lost in a listless society of instant gratification and superficial ‘needs’. “The most beautiful people aren’t the ones with the prettiest faces or skinniest bodies, but those who know how to respect inner beauty. We’re like that. And this makes us a lot more attractive than the vain, selfish ones.”

“That’s very clever and nice of you.” She sat extra still, hoping he wouldn’t notice the color running up her cheeks. She felt like her cheeks were going to pop.

Though of course Laer did notice—it was one superquick blush make-up could not achieve.

====

A sense of dark humor keeps things real, and I like how dark humor usually tries to laugh at death and other heavy subjects. I think it also helps the dark elf be less one-dimensional, because there’s a level of intrigue when the villain isn’t straightforwardly 100%-evil from the beginning.

As Laer states in one of the chapters: “The brightest light casts the darkest shadow.”

It’s a concept and phrase that makes even the best of us question our real motives.

---------------

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jess is an independent author/artist/non-conformist who’s dedicated to writing original stories that are both meaningful and entertaining. She works in a diverse range of genres, such as contemporary fiction, YA fiction, poetry, urban fantasy, and cyberpunk. She is currently completing The Cyberpunk Elven Trilogy.

Website: www.jesscscott.com Book Site: www.elventrilogy.wordpress.com/about

Facebook: www.facebook.com/jessINKbooks

Twitter: www.twitter.com/jesscscott

* Be sure to check out Jess’s newest short story, SKINS (http://www.jessINK.com/skins.htm), where Laer (the dark elf) seeks revenge on a couple of devotees of the exotic skins trade. SKINS is a free read on Jess’s website and NOR.

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Noah Baird - Fiction is a Lie + Contest

2011-11-15T01:00:00.000-08:00

Enter to win a paperback copy of Donations to Clarity

***
Fiction is a Lie
by Noah Baird

Hi, everyone! I’m Noah Baird, author of Donations to Clarity. Today, I am guest blogging for Night Owl Reviews.

Today we are going to talk about lying. I used to be a liar; now I write fiction. I lied so well someone published me. That means I have a black belt in telling lies. I am a Jedi Master of Bull.

You’ve been told your entire life not to tell a lie. As children, we held George Washington is great esteem because he could not tell a lie. Turns out, that whole little story about George was itself a big lie. We were told a lie to teach us not to lie. So, pull up your big-boy pants, and start squeezing that bs gland.

Lying will make you a better writer. Not those little ‘white lies’ we tell each other. I don’t mean when you tell your wife she looks great in those new jeans, or when you tell the neighbors how cute their mutant children are. I mean a gigantic, steaming pile of a lie. The kind of lies you can barely keep a straight face telling. Lies so big you feel sorry for anyone who believes you.

Mark Twain said, or at least he’s credited for saying, “Why shouldn't truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense.” The same goes for a lie. Have you ever heard a young child lie? Small children lie so poorly it is hardly worth listening to. It’s not until we are teenagers that our skill at lying becomes believable. And it’s not until we start drinking that they start becoming truly entertaining.

To write fiction is to lie. We pull the threads of bs out of the ethereal and weave the fabric of fibbery. If you want to write fiction that is believable, then you need to lie with conviction.

I lie to my children nearly everyday. I’ve told them lies, they have repeated my lies in school, and I get phone calls from stern-sounding teachers wanting to discuss their concerns about my fibbing children. That was another lie; my ex-wife gets phone calls from the teachers. I just get the talk.

I once told my son, who was attending preschool at a Presbyterian church, the reason we celebrated the Easter Bunny was because when Jesus died and was buried in a cave, an egg-shaped rock was placed in front of the cave so Jesus couldn’t get out. The Easter Bunny pushed the rock away from the cave and saved J.C. The chocolate symbolizes the wood of the crucifixion. We got a very nice phone call from the school to discuss what I’m teaching the children.

Sometimes I lie because my children ask far too many questions for their size. I have two little boys, 4 and 7, who are bubbling fountains of questions. Sometimes I lie because I don’t know the correct answer, but usually I lie because it’s a lot more fun.

One day while shaving, flanked by both boys quizzing me on my shaving ritual, my oldest asked me, “Dad, why do you grow hair all over your body and mommy doesn’t?” I crouched down to their level, looked them both in the eyes, and very seriously explained to them I was a werewolf. I had to shave because some people are afraid of werewolves, and I didn’t want to scare them. I watched as their eyes grew big. They both nodded obediently when I explained this was a big secret and they shouldn’t tell people I was a werewolf. Here are the facts as I described them:

My hair is brown when I’m a werewolf (they asked).
I don’t transform in front of them because I’m afraid it would scare them.
I won’t eat the dog.
I became a werewolf when I was bitten by a werewolf when I was a boy. That makes me a 2nd Generation Werewolf.

They may also be werewolves, but they usually won’t show until they are teenagers. They would only be half werewolf because their mother doesn’t like this werewolf business. That would make them 3rd Generation Werewolves.

They may show signs early. I instructed them to check their feet when they woke up after a full moon. If their feet were dirty, then they were out howling at the moon.

At this point, the reader should expect a story about frightened children who could not sleep; afraid of the werewolf dad prowling around in the dark. My lie had the opposite effect: it stopped the bad dreams, monsters in the closet, and moving shadows on the wall. I hadn’t made the connection until I overheard the boys playing. My oldest, speaking as the elder statesman of the two, wished the boogyman would break into our house so I could transform into a werewolf and scare him away. My youngest speculated I would only need to show the boogyman my claws and roar, and the boogyman would never scare another kid again.

My double life as a werewolf has been the answer to numerous prepubescent concerns. Vampires? Werewolves and vampires don’t bite each other’s children because we are equally strong. A vampire attacking a werewolf’s pups would be inviting an attack on their children. Peace is maintained through equal power; the Cold War with fangs. Zombies? Werewolves don’t taste good to zombies so they stay away from us. Of course, no self-respecting werewolf would ever eat a zombie. That’s just disgusting.

My oldest is now at the stage where he’s excessively fascinated with guns, war, and all about my military experience. Enter the werewolf; I fought in the Great Werewolf-Zombie War. Werewolves and Vampires rounded up all of the zombies and locked them into underground bunkers (because you can’t kill zombies. Duh!). You try to explain the U.S.’s foreign policy in the 21st century to a four year old. There are people running for president who can’t explain why we’re in Afghanistan.

Now, at this point, you are probably thinking: Noah, lying to children isn’t hard. And you are correct. I lie to adults too.

Many years ago, I was teaching an oceanography class to some young men and women who were working for the U.S. government. This particular portion of the lecture covered topics such as plate tectonics and Mohorovičić Discontinuity (In scientific terms, Mohorovičić Discontinuity is the surfboard the land rides over the mantle). Because I wasn’t as familiar with the subject matter as I needed to be, as well as the students’ insistence on asking too many damn questions, I convinced them the reason the earth’s core was liquid was because of the ‘Half-Baked Brownie Effect.’ Never heard of the ‘Half-Baked Brownie Effect’? Well, I’ll explain it to you. The reason the earth’s core is liquid is because the earth is too far from the sun to bake all of the way through. Space is cold, right? So as the earth rotates around the sun, the dark side of the earth cools off, which causes the center to never fully bake. As far as I know, there are about thirty people working for our government who believe this to be true. The next time you hear of the government pushing another head-scratching policy; just remember this story. You’re welcome.

On a road trip with my wife-at-the-time, we drove from New York into Pennsylvania. We passed a sign along the highway welcoming us to Pennsylvania, and about a half mile down the road we pass the back of the ‘Welcome to New York’ sign. My then-wife turned to me and asked why there was such a large distance between the two signs. I explained to my soon-to-be-ex-wife that the ink on maps which demarcate the boundaries between states occupies physical space on the earth. That narrow ink line on the map was about a half of a mile wide on the earth. This is where the term ‘No Man’s Land’ comes from. My ex-bride-to-be pointed out there was houses in the space between the two state borders. I explained those houses belonged to whatever state was closest to the house’s master bedroom. Houses on the north side of the street were New York. Houses on the south side were Pennsylvania. If your bedroom faced east or west, then you flipped a coin to decide what state you paid taxes to.

As far as I know, she still believes this to be true.

Before I was married, I owned a dog. After getting married, it was decided by my future-ex-Mrs. Me that I should be the one to bathe the dog. Which meant the dog usually needed a bath. One day, apparently sick and tired of sharing a house with a filthy dog, my no-longer-wife called me at work to ask me how to bath the dog. I explained everything she needed to know about washing dogs, which consisted of: “You know what you do to your hair in the shower? Do that to the dog.” I did add one itty-bitty, teensy-weensy, little fib to the end of my instruction. I told her she had to squeeze the dog’s anal glands. All she had to do was squeeze each side of his little doggy butthole until everything that was going to come out was done coming out. She responded that she didn’t want to express the dog’s anal glands. I went on to assure her I did it all of the time. The truth is: I’ve never done it once; the dog follows me around enough as it is.

If you want to write believable fiction, you need to learn to tell an outrageous lie. Lying teaches you to create plausible falsehoods to support your bs. In Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton didn’t write, “I don’t know what happened, honey. I turned on the lights and there were a bunch of dinosaurs everywhere!” He explained, in detail, how fossilized dinosaur DNA, when fused to amphibian DNA, could be used to clone dinosaurs. It was a huge lie and we loved every bologna-scented second of it. As you create your fictional world, learn to fabricate the rationale which allows your fictional world to exist. The more plausible your fiction is, the more realistic it will feel to your reader. Trust me. I wouldn’t lie to you. Now get out there and lie to someone.

There really isn’t a point to the dog story except I laugh myself silly every time I think about it. I would like to tell you I called my ex-wife back before she molested the dog. I would like you to believe that I am not the kind of person who would think my bride-at-the-time had better things to do than milk the dog’s anus. Let’s just say that isn’t the reason she left, but it was on the list.

“Carlyle said ‘a lie cannot live.’ It shows that he did not know how to tell them.”

Mark Twain's Autobiography; Mark Twain in Eruption

“'Tis immoral to lie except for practice.”

- Mark Twain; Reported in the Washington Times.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Noah Baird wanted to attend the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College, but his grades weren’t good enough (who knew?). However, his grades were good enough to fly for the U.S. Navy (again, who knew?), where he spent 14 years until the government figured out surfers don’t make the best military aviators. He has also tried to be a stand-up comedian in Hawaii for Japanese tourists where the language barrier really screwed up some great jokes. On the bright side, a sailboat was named after the punchline of one of his jokes.

He has several political satire pieces published on The Spoof under the pen name orioncrew. Noah received his bachelors in Historical and Political Sciences from Chaminade University, where he graduated magna cum laude. He knows nothing about hoaxing Bigfoot. Donations to Clarity is his first novel.

You can visit his website at www.noahbaird.com or his blog at www.noahbaird.wordpress.com.

Connect with him at Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Noah-Baird-Writer/100193913390453.

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M. E. Patterson - Lessons I’ve Learned From Early Readers + Contest

2011-11-08T01:00:00.000-08:00

Enter to win a copy of Devil's Hand!

***
Lessons I’ve Learned From Early Readers
by M. E. Patterson

It’s easy, when you’re first getting started in the whole writing game, to assume that you’re “pretty darn good at this and, come on, when someone finally reads my masterpiece, they’ll be blown away!”

Except that you’re wrong.

The part that’s tough, the part that makes a lot of first-time writers grimace (and makes some give up and quit outright), is when you hit that first set of reactions to your work… and realize that you’ve got a long way to go. So where do you get reactions that can really help you move forward?

Early readers.

And by early readers I don’t mean your Mom or your best friend, but people who will be willing to give you hard truths about what you’ve written. People who will challenge you to do better. My early readers taught me several major things that I’m going to share with you. Maybe you’ll recognize them in your own work?

Sentence Flow and Word Choice

I’m not going to say that every sentence I write is a masterpiece in terms of structure and rhythm. Probably few of the sentences are. But having someone early on point out what I was doing that “hit the ear” badly has helped me immensely in crafting more readable prose. It’s a benchmark I always keep in the back of my mind as I’m building up a sentence or paragraph, and one that I wish more published authors would think about.

In short, when writing a sentence, think about how the words flow together and sound. It might seem picky. It might seem like the sort of thing that you’d want to ignore with the excuse, “Hey, if my story is exciting enough, nobody will care about those little things.” But trust me on this. People will have trouble completing a book that has terrible sentence flow.

For example, if all the words in a sentence start with the letter S, the sentence will slow significantly and sound strange. Maybe you want to do that to emphasize the point of the sentence. But if you’re writing action, I’d take a different tact. And like any gimmick, doing it once might be clever, but doing it a lot will make you look like a bad writer.

Overall Plot “Tone”

This is an interesting one brought up by one of my early readers on a previous draft of Devil’s Hand. It resulted in major rewrites, all which contributed greatly to the improvement of the story.

The idea here is that you can imagine the ‘tone’ of your story kind of like a steady musical note. When the action goes up, the note is high-pitched and sets your nerves a little on-edge. When the story dips into sequel and quite reflection, the tone is calm and comfortable, but risks being boring if it goes on too long. Different genres and different types of stories might have their own ideal tone patterns, but the common problems to look out for are:

SQUEAL: A constant, high-pitched tone from the first chapter to the last. Too much action, buddy! All scene and no sequel. Even if you’re writing a screenplay for the next Crank movie, Statham needs to take a quiet moment to wash the blood off every once in a while.

HUM: A constant, calm tone. No conflict. This story is just poking along and nothing much is happening. It might be interesting or original or even important, but it’s still likely boring. Maybe okay if you’re writing certain types of literature that are more introspective, but you better know that’s what you’re after.

PSYCHO: A tone that’s all over the place. Four chapters are high-pitched, then suddenly calm and boring for eight chapters, then high-pitched again without any warning, and so on. You haven’t figured out the scene and sequel rhythm yet. There’s a certain expectation the reader has of falling into a story rhythm. For a master of doing this right, check out Cormac McCarthy.

Same Words Used Too Close Together

Sure, it’s easy to figure out that you just wrote, “He went down to the Department of Redundancy Department.” Redundancy usually jumps out at us. But a more insidious flaw is when we craft a paragraph, or even a whole page, where we keep using the same, unique word in a way that starts to stand out to the reader.

Now, don’t go running off and replace all your “he said”s with “he growled” and “he conjectured.” Note that I said “unique words.” Thinks like “he said” blend in and the reader doesn’t really read them so much as just absorbs them. What you really want is to watch out for how many times in a single page you’ve described the bald man’s pate. Or how often in two paragraphs you mention that the main character brought out his leather billfold. It’s a unique word or phrase that gives your prose some life. But too many times and it starts taking the reader away from the actual story.

So those are just three of the big ones that I struggle with and had early readers point out. Acting on that realization improved my novels tenfold. Take some of these considerations to heart and I promise your writing will improve. What other big-picture issues have early readers pointed out in your writing?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

M. E. Patterson is an author of sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and thrillers, as well as an information technologist. He received an English/Fiction Writing degree from Virginia Tech, where he studied under nationally-recognized writers and poets. He has published short stories on RevolutionSF and his first manuscript for his book, Devil’s Hand, placed in the top five in the Writers’ League of Texas Manuscript Contest.

You can visit his website at http://devils-hand.com or his blog at http://blog.digimonkey.com.

Connect with him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/mepatterson or Facebook at http://on.fb.me/dhnovel.

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Allison Moon - The Feminine Wild + Contest

2011-11-02T01:00:00.000-07:00

Enter to win one of three copies of Lunatic Fringe. Print or ebook- Winner's preference.

***
The Feminine Wild
by Allison Moon

Never forget you are an animal.

I had to remind myself of this fact many times as I wrote my novel Lunatic Fringe, just as I have to remember it in my day-to-day life as a human woman wandering the world.

Civilization is designed to remove us from our animal instincts. Particularly for women, who are daily told that we shouldn’t have body hair, sweat, smell, swear, scowl, fight back, get angry or emotional, be too tired, too hungry or too horny. It tells us we should be smiley, agreeable, docile, efficient and satisfied with whatever we’re given.

That’s a lot of shoulds.

Often, we accept these things as facts of life rather than letting them get us down. But, in my weaker moments, I rage against the proverbial machine. I wrote Lunatic Fringe to help exorcise some of my loathing of the way women are told to ignore our monstrous sides.

Lunatic Fringe follows a young woman who goes off to college and encounters ferocity in the form of radical politics and some mean-ass werewolves. To me, the metaphor was so simple. Women as werewolves, I mean, come on. Who else changes moods with the moon?

But I’ve found some pushback, mostly from guys who get skeeved out at the idea of “aggressive, hairy women.”

Speculative literature works best, in my mind, when it not only opens our ideas to fantastical possibilities, but when it illuminates parts of life and self that are already there. As women, we all have our animal. She stalks in silence, barely contained behind our societally-acceptable veneer. At times we let her out- when making love, when making war, when our family is threatened or when we need to just. let. go.

But even then, we hold something back. I believe we do this because we know the power she has to create, and to destroy. That animal within us can do some mighty damage, and we know it. She is the mama bear that will beat down anything that approaches her cub. She is the lioness that stalks and runs down the prey in the Savannah. She is the pack leader that preserves the rigid hierarchy and protects what is hers. Powerful stuff, that. Best keep the lid tight and heavy on all that bad-assery lest we let something slip.

I would, however, like to see women let that beast break free a bit more, to see the beauty in her power and in her passion. What would it look like for your werewolf to take hold and run headlong into your unspoken desires? Would you trample an old version of life that didn’t serve you? Would you screw everything in sight? Would you gather your sisters and howl until your throat was sore? Would you run naked through the night unafraid?

There are instincts within us, there are drives that are passionate, fierce and sometimes terrifying. Sometimes it’s good to keep them caged. And sometimes it's best to let them take us over and see what comes next.

Allison Moon is the author of the lesbian werewolf novel Lunatic Fringe. Buy now on Amazon, Barnes and Noble or IndieBound. She blogs about gender, feminism, writing and independent publishing at her blog, Tales of the Pack. She is currently working on the sequel to her novel, titled Hungry Ghost.

FIND ALLISON

Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore - San Diego
Thursday, November 3

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Michelle Franklin - Commander and Den Asaan Excerpt + Contest

2011-11-01T01:00:00.000-07:00

Enter to win an eBook copy of Commander and Den Asaan - Vol. 1.

***
FROM THE PROLOGUE OF COMMANDER AND DEN ASAAN by Michelle Franklin - on Amazon - http://www.thehaanta.blogspot.com

At the far end of the garrison, the captain found a peculiar creature lurking within one of the holding cells. She eyed it with circumspection, having little idea what it was, but when she neared, she observed that it was a Haanta, one of the mysterious giants from the islands to the far north. She had never before seen one of the reticent giants, but his violet and black eyes, his mauve-grey skin, his white hair and immense stature suggested that he must be a Haanta. The rings and shells adoring his molded locks, the foreign symbols inked into his forearm, his embroidered war kilt, and the heap of various pelts adorning his back and shoulders gave him an appealing and distinguishing air. Though his expression was stern, his features made him almost handsome, his wide maw, high cheekbones and proud nose balanced his reproachful countenance. His body was a work of exertion: his muscles were large and well-formed, his arms and back were gifted with overpowering might, his skin was scarred, and his hands were thick and calloused. Here was a creature of majesty, and the captain found a consolation in seeing the giant at such a time. She supposed he must be a Haanta of some consequence to be so decorated, but before she could ask his abilities with a weapon, the attentive mountain spoke.

“You are holding those incorrectly, woman,” the giant said, gesturing toward the blades dangling from her hands.

He spoke and the captain felt a ripple of sound resonate through her from his low and commanding voice. “I believe I’ve been taught well enough to use them effectively,” she said to the giant as he turned away. “Do you have some claim to the marks on your arm or are they merely for show?”

Her remarks caught his consideration and his violet eyes tapered with growing dislike. He was at least dejected in his solitude, and now she had come to ruin his isolation and compel him to speak when he would otherwise be enjoying silence. He pressed his immense body against the bars of the cell in hopes of intimidating her, but the captain remained complacent and unaffected by his display.

“Leave me, woman,” he bellowed at her.

“I fear a cannot do that just now. I might need your help, should you wish to give it.”

He groaned and turned aside. “I will not assist you.”

“It is rather a shame you won’t. I was going to offer you your freedom.”

The giant turned back and looked at her with hesitation. He studied her form and face and her apparent composure despite the battle ensuing beyond the armoury walls. Her wide shoulders, her high carriage, her half-smile all proposed collectedness, but the pleading look in her dark eyes had told him there was much she feared regardless of her outward tranquility. He made her no answer and continued his investigation of the odd woman.

“I have little doubt of your eventually freeing yourself, creature,” she said. “But by the time you should do so, this outpost will be overrun with Galleisians. If you help us now, I will open that door and give you a weapon.”

“And if I use the opportunity to kill you and leave?” the giant said in a tone half-serious half-arch.

“I have never known warriors to be dishonourable. Should you prove me wrong, we will all be dead anyway. There is nothing so ugly as reneging a promise, wouldn’t you agree?”

The giant clenched his teeth and looked down. “I would,” he murmured.

“If you agree to help us maintain our borders, I will disregard the reason for your imprisonment and allow you to return to your home in secrecy.” She turned over one of her swords and offered it to him.

The giant gaped at the small blade with a reluctant expression. She had sworn him liberation, but he was tentative to follow or fight for a nation other than his own when he had been a leader once himself. He lifted his hand momentarily to accept, but soon dropped it again to further consider her offer. He could escape if he wished; their meager contrivances could not hold him for long should he truly wish his independence, but the weight of his transgression had plagued him and he hadn’t made nor would make an attempt to free himself. He looked at her again, perceiving the determination in her manner, and then looked at the hilt of the blade. His hand ached to hold it and gravitated toward it with unconscious movements. He was silent in his deliberation, but in the work of an instant, the deal was done; the giant conceded, and he would be freed from confinement and armed so that he may save Frewyn’s borders.

The captain swiped at the lock on the cell door and the rusted bolt fell to the ground, releasing the giant from his cell. He stood out from his cramped confinement, stretched his massive arms, and neared with heavy footfalls.

He tightened his clasp around the weapon in his hand, calming at the feeling of his place being reclaimed. “I will win this battle for you,” he declared.

“I daresay you shall,” she said smilingly.

They exchanged a look of understanding and rushed out of the garrison, remaining close to one another while lunging toward the rampant assault.

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Kimber An - Third Time’s a Charm + Contest

2011-10-25T01:00:00.000-07:00

Enter to win and eBook copy of Sweet Bytes!

***
Third Time’s a Charm
By Kimber An

I suppose this is most interesting to all you aspiring authors out there, but the rest of you might get a kick out of it too. It’s a glimpse into the writer’s journey.

The first time around, publication is like an endless trudge through an evil, dreaded purgatory. I like to call it Queryland. You write a novel, rewrite a novel, and rewrite it a bazillion times. Then, you put your big-girl panties on and submit it to a critique group. Some of the readers are really mean! Most are helpful though, because they’re nice folks who need your help too. My favorite online place is www.critiquecircle.com So, they help you polish that sucker up as pretty as you can.

You go surfing through all the agents’ and editors’ blogs. You do searches on ‘query’ and learn how to write a query letter and a synopsis, and it hurts really bad too! Finally, one day, you wrap up your babies and push ‘send.’

And then the Rejection Letters start rolling in.

You learn all about the soothing virtues of Dark Chocolate and you keep going, learning, rewriting, critiquing, so forth and so on. You might even start a book review blog so you can read books in your genre and mix with authors to learn the ropes of the publishing industry.

You write another novel. By this time, you may be seeking help from published authors! You find out a lot of them don’t feel qualified (that would be the newly published) and almost all of them are too insanely busy writing, editing, and promoting. But, some of them have extremely helpful resources on their websites and blogs. You devour those!

Still more would-be helpers just don’t want to see you cry.

‘Cause it’s gonna hurt. Growing up always does, you know.

Finally, you snag a mentor. In my case, that was Jacqueline Lichtenberg. http://www.simegen.com/jl/ I frequented her group blog, Alien Romances, http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com and she took the time to point the way. I’m telling you it’s like being struck by lightning, but in a good way. Still, finding a mentor is nowhere near the end. In fact, it never ends really. As a blogging book reviewer, I learned that all the best authors never stopped learning and trying to improve their craft.

Anyway, you keep writing novel after novel, learning, growing, and submitting those gosh-darn query letters. If you’re very lucky, you receive a response of some kind. Often, you never know if those letters ended up lining a kitty litter box somewhere or got sucked down a black hole in cyberspace, never to be read by anyone. You keep going, because storytellers just can’t help themselves. You’ve gotta share your stories with the world somehow!

Pretty soon, you start getting requests for sample chapters. Most of the time, you’ll get polite form rejection letters for those. Sometimes you only hear crickets in your inbox. Once in a blue moon, you might get a note like ‘not enough romance’ or something. By this point, you consider that a huge compliment! A real publishing professional took a moment to make a real comment on your story!

And then one day you get an email (or a call) full of very weird and unusual words, the most bizarre ones being “We would like to offer you a contract for…” If you haven’t cried yet, that’s when you finally break down and it’s not just because you have a wicked case of Tendonitis from all that writing.

After you recover, sign and all that, you leap for joy over your first book cover.

And then the edits start and you wonder if you’re brain’s been wired wrong because your editor often uses words that are the same as yours, but seem to mean something different. You go crying (metaphorically, I hope) to your mentor, wanting to know what the heck this all means. Uh, interpretation please?

Finally, you get through that and your book is released and you’re on the promo trail. People you’re not biologically related to or married to actually spend real money to buy your book!

And then you crank out and edit the second and that’s really cool and you find it’s a little bit easier and even more people read your books and like them. ‘Course, some people hate them, but you’ve been through so much you know everyone’s got their own point of view and you’re okay with that.

Then, the third time rolls around. You know there are no promises. No matter how hard you’ve worked or how professionally you’ve behaved, you still might not get another contract. But, you’ve made good friends and mentors. You’ve pretty much learned the language of the editing process. You discover that having two published books does garner some respect. People know you’ve been through hell and you can take it.

Wow! I put out three books in one year! How cool is that?

Yep, the third time’s a charm.

--

Kimber An’s third book, Sweet Bytes, was released by Noble YA on October 17th. Here’s the blurb-

Ophelia’s escape from Martin, an Addicted Newblood, came at a terrible sacrifice. Adrian, the boy she loves, is now infected and hunted like vermin.

As her new Protector, Tristan Li represents the Oldblood determination to destroy Adrian, along with all the Newbloods, addicted or not.

In her grief, Ophelia hates everything about Tristan, until his subtle strength empowers her to resist being turned into a vampire by the High Prefect.

As Tristan helps Ophelia harness her empathic ability, his need for redemption rings in her heart. Her own strength grows, along with her passion for freedom.

The veil of mourning lifts.

The evil of Martin returns.

Ophelia seizes ownership of her destiny.

--

To learn more about Kimber An and her books, pop over to her main site- www.kimberan.com and don’t forget to comment under this post to win a free ebook copy of Sweet Bytes.

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Jeff Bennington - The Ghost Named Earl + Contest

2011-10-12T01:00:00.000-07:00

Enter to win two eBooks from Jeff Bennington. An eBook copy of Reunion and an eBook copy of Creepy. Three winners will each get both eBooks!

***
The Ghost Named Earl by Jeff Bennington

In the fall of 2010, my wife and I went on a weekend getaway with some friends of ours. We rented a really cool cabin in Nashville, Indiana, equipped with hot tub, gas grill and pool table. Nestled on a cozy hillside, the place had a beautiful wraparound porch and an exquisite view of the southern Indiana countryside. The sun shone through the trees and the air felt crisp and cool.

I was in heaven.

We unpacked, started the gas logs and settled into our perfect retreat. We had a fun evening of shopping, cards and watching horror flicks planned. After we settled in, we decided to head into town to walk through the many shops and galleries. The storefronts were lined with pumpkins and hay bales, tempting us with hot deals and hot apple cider. The evening went as planned and we returned to our cabin, ready to warm our bones and watch House on Haunted Hill.

Before I knew it, the other three started getting sleepy and we decided to hit the sack.

•••

A couple of hours later, around two the morning, I woke up, dripping with sweat. The upper loft had very little airflow. I felt so hot I couldn’t stand it. My wife was sleeping like a baby, but I had to get out of there.

I lumbered down the steps and listened to the creaks and cracks in the rafters caused by the whistling wind. Believe it or not, I enjoyed the sounds coming from the rustic structure. I peered at the leather couch; it looked so cool and inviting. For a moment I imagined sprawling out ointo its cushiony spread, but I heard a strange noise coming from the kitchen and my skin felt like it melted off my face.

I looked around and didn’t see anything unusual. The open floor plan left nothing to hide. The stairs opened to the living room, dining room and kitchen. Our friends’ bedroom and bath were the only other rooms on the first floor, and they, too, were within eyeshot. After giving the cabin a final inspection from where I stood, I lay down on the couch, snuggled into my bedsheet and closed my eyes.

The noises continued.

I listened carefully, trying to make sense of it all. The squeaks and groans seemed to be coming from every direction. No big deal, I thought. It’s just a cabin. Get over it and fall asleep.

Then, something curious happened. The creaking floorboards began to move closer to me. One at a time I’d hear what sounded like footsteps rolling across the wood floor, carefully pressing down, trying not to be heard. My heart, as you can imagine, hammered in my chest, nearly bursting through my rib cage. I looked at the reflection in the TV screen to see if there was anyone walking behind me, but I didn’t see anything. Then when this thing, whatever it was, pressed on the floor right next to the couch, I couldn’t take it. I sat up, turned my head toward the open space and heard a voice forcefully whisper, “Hello!”

This wasn’t a quiet, “don’t let them hear you” whisper. Oh, no! This was an “I’m not presently living in your dimension, so I’m screaming at you” type whisper.

I panicked, jumping straight up like the scaredy-cat that I was, nearly falling off the couch.

As I turned I saw a dark silhouette, adding to my terrifying experience. Seconds later, I realized that the shape beside me was only a floor lamp, but that didn’t make me feel any better. My heart continued pounding like a jackhammer.

•••

For no less than thirty minutes, I felt an electric energy buzzing through my body. I felt as if something hovered over me, almost nose to nose, staring at me. I peered through the corner of my eye but couldn’t see anything—nothing physical, anyway. But I knew in the deepest part of my soul that something was there. I lay frozen in place, like an icy Neanderthal in the Tibetan ice caps.

My eyes searched for movement but found nothing. I did see, however, a shadowy figure moving from side to side in the reflection from the microwave door. It was the strangest thing. There were no ceiling fans spinning or curtains waving. Everything stood still—everything except the dancing shadow. At that point, I couldn’t take it anymore. I ran back up the stairs to my personal boiler room and slid under the covers with my wife.

Still, the energy followed me.

After several minutes of fighting my fears, I finally fell asleep.

•••

The next morning, I woke to the smell of biscuits and gravy and the sound of coffee percolating in the kitchen. My wife and friends, like myself, were shuffling their feet like the undead, trying their best to navigate with squinted, puffy eyes. We eventually sat down to eat.

In a moment of silence, Sarah, my friend’s wife, asked if anyone heard anything during the night. I looked at her curiously and asked why. She said, “Because someone was tugging at our doorknob off and on for about an hour sometime around three in the morning.” She thought we had mistaken her room for the bathroom, but she had been too tired to get out of bed. She also said that at one point in the night she felt like someone was standing beside her, but she was too scared to look.

After she told her story, I shared my experience. I affirmed that I never left the living room until I ran upstairs and that I never walked toward their bedroom.

We all let our suspicions cool for a while. But then my buddy opened up the guest logbook, the kind where each visitor can leave a message to the cabin’s owners about their experience. And wouldn’t you know it, the book was filled with story after story about a spirit that inhabited the structure.

They called him Earl.

Some of the visitors claimed he was a gentle ghost, mostly curious, and only somewhat troublesome. Others rebuked the owners for not disclosing the fact that malevolent spirits haunted the cabin. Me? I don’t know what that thing was, but it scared the hell out of me. The upside to coming face-to-face with Earl is, when I write supernatural thrillers, I can honestly communicate what it feels like to be petrified by something that you can’t explain. I know what it sounds like when a spirit is moving. I know that electrifying sensation when a ghost is standing beside me. I know that there are things out there—things we can’t see. But I also know that, where there is darkness, there is also light, and that is all I need to know to keep my sanity. – The End

By Jeff Bennington, author of CREEPY and REUNION

Reunion Link: http://www.amazon.com/Reunion-ebook/dp/B004S7AR0E

Creepy Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005SHXW8C

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Greg Messel - Fear and Uncertainty In 21st Century + Contest

2011-10-11T01:00:00.000-07:00

Enter to win a paperback copy of The Illusion of Certainty!

***
Fear and Uncertainty In 21st Century
By Greg Messel

The atmosphere which emerged in the first decade of the 21st century seemed to be laced with fear and uncertainty. In casual conversations each day with friends or co-workers it is easy to see that just below the seemingly calm demeanor of everyday life, if deep seated fear.

A friend recently confided in me that she was concerned about the future. Her future, her children's future, her husband's future. It can be a challenge to not be live in fear. We must proceed in our lives in a positive manner and be ready to meet whatever trials may come.

These themes are woven throughout my new novel "The Illusion of Certainty." The main character Marc has his world rocked by the latest Black Monday, when the economy plunged into a deep recession on September 15th, 2008. That was a day that most Americans’ illusions of certainty came shattering down around them. Marc, and his team watch the news breaking of the economic crisis, as it is reported that Lehman Brother collapsed and lost close to $7 billion and that the stock market had lost more than 500 points.

As the characters in "The Illusion of Certainty" watched the cable news coverage in the airport Marc comments, “We had a limitless future, just two weeks ago. There was more business than we could handle. Now, everything is in peril. There is no security anywhere."

A companion theme to dealing with fear is to value time as a precious commodity.

Another main character, Alex, who suffered a tragic loss in her life, is told at a seminar, "we never know how much time we have left so every day is precious." Our 21st Century technology gives us the impression that we control time and carefully track it. The automation of the Information Age was supposed to give us more leisure time. However, it has actually given us more time to work. The work day has continually been getting longer over the last decade.

Marc's family is blown apart and his relationship with his children becomes exchanging text messages and e mails.. He attempts to stay really a busy in his automated life. If he's busy he may not remember how unhappy he has become.

An emerging theme in my new novel is that ultimately not all "surprises" are bad. Life can also bring unexpected pleasures. We should not spend our precious time living in fear but taking charge of our life and our fate.

The Illusion of Certainty follows two parallel storylines. Marc is a successful businessman who seems to have everything—a great job, a beautiful wife, a house in an upscale neighborhood of Portland, Oregon and two great kids who are preparing for college. But something is not right. Marc is unsettled by the sudden change in his wife, Aimee, who seems distant and unhappy. What’s going on with her?

The second storyline involves a successful young attorney, Alexandra Mattson. Alex, as she is called by her friends, meets a handsome young cop, Sean, during an unexpected crisis in her neighborhood. Sean and Alex seem made for each other and begin to merge their futures in a world of uncertainty.

The only certainty in life is that we will face uncertainty. Despite all fo the technology and controls available in the modern world, sometimes the only comfort comes from the human touch.

Greg Messel
http://expiationbook.wordpress.com

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Nancy Holzner - Building an Urban Fantasy World + Contest

2011-10-05T01:00:00.000-07:00

Enter to win a Print copy of BloodStone!

***
Building an Urban Fantasy World
by Nancy Holzner

Urban fantasy is fun and scary and compelling because it feels like the story could really happen. On a dark night, when you're out walking the city streets, if you happened to turn down the wrong alley . . . who knows what might be lurking in the shadows?

When you're building a world for an urban fantasy novel, the first thing you need is a setting that feels real. You want to create the sense that a reader could set down the book, walk out the door, and inhabit your world: Breathe the smoky air, feel the gritty pavement under their feet. For that reason, many urban fantasy authors choose a real city as their setting. For my Deadtown series, it's Boston. I want my readers to be able to walk down a Boston street and picture my story unfolding there. I want people who've been to Boston to think, “Yes! I know that place!” I went to college in Boston and lived there for several years, so I know the city pretty well. I also use Google Maps street view to research specific locations in the city.

Every city has a personality. To make an urban fantasy seem real, the author needs to capture that city's personality. It's more than just the neighborhoods, buildings, and street layouts—it's what the people are like, how it feels to live there. If you haven't lived in the city where your urban fantasy is set, watch movies or read books that showcase the city. If your sense of the city's personality doesn't mesh with the perceptions of people who've lived in or visited the place, your story won't be convincing.

Some urban fantasies, such as Kelly Meding's Dreg City series, are set in imaginary locales. If the city doesn't actually exist, it still needs to feel as though it does. Imaginary cities need the same kind of personality—or vibe—that real-world cities have. If you want to make up a city, you've got lots of work to do: You might want to map it out, labeling its streets, districts, and neighborhoods. How do people get around? What's their housing like? Where do they shop? What's the climate like? How is the city governed? What does it pride itself on? Those questions will get you started in making your setting a three-dimensional place.

Here's a tip: Whether you're using a real city or creating a fictional one, use traveler guidebooks, such as Fodors or Lonely Planet. Guidebooks try to give visitors a sense of what a city feels like. If you're writing about an actual city, you can use the guide to understand the city's personality. If you're making up a city, a guidebook offers a checklist of the details that will help you make your city real.

Although setting can be almost a character in its own right, what brings a city to life is its people. Urban fantasy needs a mix of ordinary people and supernatural elements. The supernatural could be represented by paranormal creatures, such as vampires, werewolves, demons, and other creatures, or by real, active magic. The supernatural part of your world is limited only by your imagination.

Even while they're fighting monsters or finding love that's truly eternal with sexy vampires, urban fantasy characters need to wrestle with recognizable problems. Paying the rent,cooking dinner, dealing with an overbearing boss, figuring out what to wear on a date—such issues make urban fantasy characters real and recognizable to readers. No matter how awe-inspiring the character's powers or how world-shattering her central problem, she still should be someone readers would like to have lunch with. If readers wouldn't want to have lunch with your character, why would they want to spend a whole book with her?

Many urban fantasy authors, including me, look to the past for a mythology that will structure the supernatural elements of their world. For example, my Deadtown series has stories and legends from Welsh mythology as its background. Vicky Vaughn, the protagonist, is a shapeshifter descended from Ceridwen, a Welsh witch/goddess who could change her shape at will. I used the story of Ceridwen from the Mabinogion, a collection of ancient stories and tales written down in the Middle Ages, to help me create the rules for Vicky's shapeshifting ability. Other characters and plotlines in the books have been influenced by the Mabiongion, as well.

The cool thing about mythology is that it's both familiar and flexible. Fantastical characters seem more “real” if they're based on a mythology that already exists. Yet, by its very nature, mythology lends itself to many tellings and retellings, so you can tweak old legends to suit the needs of your present story. Basing the supernatural element on existing mythology helps make the supernatural believable.

It may seem ironic that creating a fantasy world is all about verisimilitude. But realistic, recognizable details invite readers into your world and make it seem real. Without them, readers get lost in your world. For urban fantasy, the main ingredients are a realistic city, relatable characters with recognizable problems, and a believable supernatural element. Get those in the right mix, and readers will follow your characters down dark streets and into battles.

Nancy Holzner
http://nancyholzner.wordpress.com

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Bloodstone, the third novel in Nancy Holzner's Deadtown series, is now available. For information on Nancy and her books, visit her website. You can also find Nancy on Facebook and Twitter, and blogging with other fantasy authors at Dark Central Station.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nancy Holzner grew up in western Massachusetts with her nose stuck in a book. This meant that she tended to walk into things, wore glasses before she was out of elementary school, and forced her parents to institute a “no reading at the dinner table” rule. It was probably inevitable that she majored in English in college and then, because there were still a lot of books she wanted to read, continued her studies long enough to earn a masters degree and a PhD.

She began her career as a medievalist, then jumped off the tenure track to try some other things. Besides teaching English and philosophy, she’s worked as a technical writer, freelance editor and instructional designer, college admissions counselor, and corporate trainer. Most of her nonfiction books are published under the name Nancy Conner.

Nancy lives in upstate New York with her husband Steve, where they both work from home without getting on each other’s nerves. She enjoys visiting local wineries and listening obsessively to opera. There are still a lot of books she wants to read.

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Musa Publishing Opens its Electronic Doors + Contest

2011-10-01T01:00:00.000-07:00

Enter to win a book from the Night Owl Reviews prize shelf.

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Ebooks,Penumbra eMag, and so much More - Musa Publishing Opens its Electronic Doors

After months of editing, designing, contracting, and formatting Musa Publishing launches on October 1, 2011. The E-publisher opens with a large catalogue including Penumbra Speculative Fiction eMag, new works by three bestselling authors, and the full backlist of Aurora Regency, featuring traditional Regency romances and historical fiction.

Penumbra eMag

Penumbra's inaugural issue is a collection of speculative fiction stories that encompass the arts--the arts we love and revere. Some of these stories deal with the arts we're familiar with. Some create arts we haven't thought of and some resurrect arts buried in the depths of the past. And yet, all of these offerings celebrate the creative process, which makes them a fitting theme to launch Penumbra--an enterprise that will showcase the creative work of speculative fiction authors each month with a new collection of works within the genre.

New Works by

Gini Koch - The Martian Alliance 1: The Royal Scam

Things aren’t what they seem to be when Princess Olivia of Andromeda jumps aboard a spaceship to escape a loveless marriage.

Join the crew of the Hummingbird as they take on the rich, famous and sleazy of the galaxy. They're also on a long-term secret mission, so it's a good thing they're the best con artists, spacers, and roughnecks in the Milky Way, because they need all their skills to pull off this particular Royal Scam.

Cindi Myers - West with the Wind

More than gold awaits two lovers at the end of the trail.

Mariah Tate and her dog, Worthy, persuade veteran guide Campbell Jefferson to let them join his expedition headed to California. Camp can't say no to the beautiful widow, but his need to protect her soon clashes with her need to keep secrets. Mariah left more than bad memories behind in Pennsylvania and her growing attraction to the stoic but surprisingly sensitive Camp forces her to face up to the consequences of the choices she's made. Camp doesn't know what Mariah's hiding, but he's determined not to let the only woman who ever made him want to settle down get away. He pursues her across the prairies, through stampedes, Indian raids, desert drought and mountain snows. In the gold camps of California, Camp will discover Mariah's secret, and prove the love she wants most isn't out of reach.

And the return to writing after five years for USA Today Bestselling Author

Sharon De Vita - The Estrogen Posse

"The Estrogen Posse is a hoot! I laughed, I cried, I couldn't put it down! For every woman who needs a pick me up, this is the book for you!"

Janet Evanovich, NYT bestselling author of the Stephanie Plum mystery series

Once upon a time Ellie Briotti had a quiet life as a suburban housewife.

Until…she confronts her wealthy husband Nicky about doing the pecker polka with another woman, and Nicky tosses Ellie out of his life like some misbehaved household pet.

Until…Gram Crackers, her dotty mother begins passing out house keys to homeless bums.

Until…Joey, her eleven-year old son starts on a new career path: breaking and entering.

Until…Rina, her best friend, a single, successful, entrepreneur learns she's about to become a mother.

Until…Candi, Nicky's 22-year-old mistress turns up murdered with traces of furniture polish on her bare backside!

A rip-roaring ribald mystery about a woman’s journey to discover what she really wants in life. Now, if Ellie can keep her son from becoming a second-story man, while trying to hide everything from the gorgeous cop who’s started sniffing around, Ellie might be able to get a new life.

That is—if she doesn’t go to jail for murder first!

Aurora Regency

Musa has acquired Aurora Regency and Aurora Regency Historicals. Within the next month over forty books in this line will be available to Regency and Historical Romance buffs to enjoy.

Stop by www.MusaPublishing.com check out the books already for sale as well as those coming soon. Over the next few weeks, Musa will offer literature geared for every reader's tastes. Musa aims to offer well writing, interesting stories, all at a price that doesn’t bite into your check book.

“Hearts set upon song, spirits free from care”~ Hesiod

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If you'd like more information about Musa Publishing, please contact Elspeth McClanahan at Promotions@Musapublishing.com or go to our blog http://musapublishing.blogspot.com/

ENTER THE CONTEST

Just comment on the post below and leave the first bit of your email address. You do need to be a NOR Newsletter / Fan Club subscriber to enter. This post is being run on both Night Owl Romance and Night Owl Reviews blogs. One winner will be selected from between the blog post comments of both posts. USA Postage Only on shipped items. Ends - 10/14