Pressing the boundaries of both the psyche and the heart, Sam and Holden embark on a dangerous journey that will test the limits of love.
Sam Wintry’s life used to be almost perfect. She was engaged to her childhood best friend and high school sweetheart, Tyler Marks, planning an amazing cross-country honeymoon during her college break. But after a hit-and-run leaves her in ruin, she begins seeing Tyler’s fractured, ghostly presence, and her family believes she’s losing her mind. Not until she completes their journey, stopping along the way to scatter Tyler’s remains, will Tyler be able cross over. Only…is Sam ready for him to leave her?
When the black sheep of the Marks’ family, Holden Marks, returns to check on Tyler’s case, Sam convinces him to give her his brother’s ashes. Despite their shaky history, she needs him…plus, he owes it to Sam and his brother. What she doesn’t count on is Holden’s relentlessness to go on the trip.
On the road, Holden realizes just how unhinged Sam has become. Dealing with her psychosis forces him to confront his dark past, making it harder to keep secrets hidden that should remain buried. Especially from Sam, the only woman he’s ever loved. And as Sam starts to unravel the truth, she begins to question if the brother she’s unwillingly falling for again is in an even darker place than her.
New Adult Contemporary coming this year.
What readers are saying about THE DARKEST PART…
“This is a great story that captures every element bringing it to a full circle of knowledge and love. A worthy read that is unique and entertaining, The Darkest Part is great.” – Savannah @ BooksWithBite
“The Darkest Part is not your typical NA. It’s a powerful mentally and emotional story about true love and finding your way out of the darkness. Something that only a talented writer can pull off.” – Nereyda @ Mostly YA Book Obsessed
“The Darkest Part is emotional, raw, dark, and passionate, and I felt each of those emotions with Sam and Holden through the entire novel.” – Ellen @ Always YA At Heart
Will the blood be enough to save the Vampire Clans from certain annihilation?
As prophesied by Lord RA, a Dhampyre has been born to a woman of the Fae. Having coupled with a recently turned vampire, Sunday Rose St. Clair bore this special child she named Jax at much risk to her own life and to all that came to her aid.
The newly formed Forever Clan, also created by Lord RA to protect the gifted offspring from all who bore him ill, are sworn to protect the new Dhampyre. Will the now grown up Jax be the one to save all the ancients from certain death? Or will the evil Lucifer Clan that searches for him find him first and end all hope for the vampires…
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You’ll like Julie. She’s a very nice small-town girl from halfway around the world who needs a change of scenery. Promise me that you’ll show her a good time while she’s here, Jax. She knows nothing about our being vampire and since you’re a Daywalker you’re our only hope in keeping her suspicions at bay, though with her sister-in-law Ellie being a true healer she might have a more open mind than most.
That was his ma’s words just one week ago and here he was heading for the airport to pick up that bit of baggage, dutiful son that he was. He snorted in derision, remembering how absolutely unimpressed he was to be the official escort of someone—he almost used the word hick but thought better of it—from Nome, Alaska. And to think he had important plans this week—lord knows time was the one thing he did not have enough of and what little he had certainly did not include chaperoning a Miss Julie Stone through the tourist spots of Luxor. He ran his hands through hair that the sun had bleached to a burnished gold, his azure blue eyes glinting angrily in his tanned face, the chiseled jaw-line tightening from the momentary annoyance.
Hello, and welcome to this stop on the Hot Halloween Heroes Blog Hop and Giveaway!
First of all, to enter to win this fabulously hot necklace, click on the Rafflecopter under it:
Before you leave, be sure to join in the rest of the hop!
This hop is hosted by romance author Felicity Heaton, and her latest hot hero is Asmodeus, hero of Her Wicked Angel.
The King of Demons and the Devil’s right hand man, Asmodeus is a dark angel born of evil and created for destruction. When his master orders him to venture into the mortal world and retrieve a female for him, he seizes the chance to leave Hell for the first time, uncaring of what the Devil has planned for her… until he sets eyes on the most beautiful woman he has ever seen—a female who awakens new feelings within his black heart, unleashing passion so intense that it controls him and desire he cannot resist.
He will not let his wretched master have her. She will belong to him.
Liora is a witch with a bad reputation and an obsession with fighting demons. A mission gone wrong sees her sent to Paris to cool off, but when a dark and deadly warrior with a gaze of golden fire lands in her life, she ends up burning hotter than Hell for the wicked angel. Nothing will stand between her and the immense, forbidding male. Not her cousin. Not Asmodeus’s sworn enemy and twin, Apollyon. And certainly not the Devil.
Caught up in a tempest of danger and soul-searing passion, can they survive against the odds and seize their forever after?
So tell me: what do you think makes for a hot hero? Devilish good looks? A demonic smile? A smokin’ hot intellect? Leave a comment below!
Vera Custodio has never fallen in love, though she has strong feelings for her friend and sometimes lover, Zach Spencer. Long-forgotten memories resurface when Vera discovers Zach’s mother was the woman her father supposedly murdered many years ago.
After losing his leg, former triathlete Zach Spencer reevaluates his life—and realizes he’s falling in love with Vera. When she ends their relationship, Zach is determined to prove his love and follows her to Australia in search of the killer.
Caught between a web of family secrets and a deranged adversary, Vera and Zach must depend on each other for survival. Love blossoms, but the truth explodes everything Vera knows about herself. Will she close her heart forever or risk it all for a shot at happily-ever-after?
Welcome today to author Ian Thomas Healy, who has kindly agreed to stop by for an interview!
1. What do you write about? Tell us a little about your previously published works.
I write primarily speculative fiction with an emphasis on superhero novels, although I’ve experimented with Western/epic fantasy (The Pariah of Verigo series), urban fantasy (Blood on the Ice and Rooftops), pure science fiction and space opera (STARF*CKER, The Milkman, Troubleshooters, and Assassin). I’ve written some mainstream Young Adult novels for my agent (The Guitarist and the forthcoming Making the Cut).
My labor of love, though, is the Just Cause Universe and all its related stories and novels. The three prior books in the JCU deal either with the young superheroine Mustang Sally as she works to grow from a novice to a full-fledged hero (Just Cause and The Archmage), or with her mother Pony Girl in the 1970s (Day of the Destroyer). They’re tied together through the history of one of the JCU’s villains, known as Destroyer. My forthcoming release Deep Six broadens the storytelling universe by introducing the employees and residents of the most secure prison facility in the world, used to contain those convicted criminals for whom a normal prison will not suffice.
2. How do you handle bad reviews?
Badly. LOL.
No, really I just mark them as unhelpful and continue on with my day. If I’m feeling particularly vindictive, I will go through the other reviews that person has written and mark all them as unhelpful as well. Yes, it’s a little junior high school, but it keeps me from making the Big Author Mistake of replying to them.
3. Tell us a little about your work in progress.
I’m currently working on two projects, a novella called Space Sharks (which is exactly what it sounds like), and a new short story set in my Muddy Creek Tales universe, called “Angus’ Ghost.” The Muddy Creek Tales are my popular Weird Wild West stories, collected in an anthology called Tales of the Weird Wild West, as well as a free ebook short story called The Mighty Peculiar Incident at Muddy Creek.
In November, I’ll take on a send-up of epic fantasy tropes for my tenth consecutive NaNoWriMo challenge in a book called Horde. Once that’s done, I owe my agent a new YA project, which will be a heist/caper novel called The Scene Stealers. Then I’ll tackle a new JCU project which could be any of several ideas I have kicking around.
4. Any advice for aspiring writers?
Write as much as you can, read as much as you can. Learn how to self-edit. Then learn how to edit other writers’ work. Then learn how to revise based upon edits others have done for you. Develop your writing voice. Find out what you’re good at and exploit it. Find out your weaknesses and practice improving upon them. Write. Revise. Rinse. Repeat. Learn about the industry and whether self-publishing or traditional is the best direction for your project. Understand that you don’t have to go with just one or just the other. Learn how to throw a manuscript in the trunk and never take it out again. Learn how to take a trunked book and fix it after you’ve gotten a lot better at revising. Learn when to let a trunked book go. Write. Read. Revise.
5. What is your personal writing process?
My day job allows me a lot of thinking time while I’m doing physical labor, so I spend my days plotting and “prewriting” in my mind, so that when I finally get a chance to sit down on the computer or with my phone (I’ve written several stories and a couple of novels with my thumbs on my smartphone), the words flow right out. I’ve had a lot of success recently using the Pomodoro Technique (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique) and applying it to my writing. I tend to have a couple of projects going on at any one time. Usually I’m writing a short story on my phone, a “bigger” project on my computer, and have completed projects in various stages of revision/production.
6. Who are a few authors you look up to?
My favorite authors in no particular order are Alan Moore, Frank Miller, Karl Schroeder, Alan Dean Foster, Mike Resnick, Aaron Allston, Carrie Vaughn, Genevieve Valentine, Allison M. Dickson, and the collected authors of the Wild Cards series of novels edited by George R.R. Martin.
7. What book are you reading now?
I’m working my way through George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones series. It’s kind of a struggle for me, because I’m a terribly slow reader, but I want to get myself into a good fantasy mindset for my upcoming NaNoWriMo project.
8. What inspired you to write your first book?
I wrote my first story at age 7 or 8, using my thumb, my dad’s inkpad, and a pencil. It was called “The Happy Days Gang Goes to the Disco” and was about a group of little cartoon characters having a dance party. Not exactly high literature, but you can find it scanned on my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/authorianthomashealy). Ever since then, I’ve been finding ways to tell stories.
9. What books have most influenced your life most?
In no particular order, the Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns graphic novels, Santiago by Mike Resnick, the Timothy Zahn Star Wars novels, the Wild Cards series, and the Spellsinger series by Alan Dean Foster.
10. If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?
I’m changing the font. It didn’t look good in print. LOL
11. What do you find particularly challenging about writing?
Marketing. Self-promotion is a necessary evil for any author trying to build a fanbase and develop sales. I would love to be in a position financially to hire someone to do promotion for me, because it would give me so much more time to produce new work or revise existing projects. I generally have my story/book-writing schedule planned out for twelve to eighteen months in advance, and every hour I spend on promotion is about fifteen hundred words less that I can write during that time.
12. If there was one message you could send to everybody who reads your books, what would it be?
“Please let me know how you liked (or didn’t like) my book. Reviews are the only way I know that I’m reaching my fans and whether or not they’re enjoying my work. It’s how I know that I should keep writing a series, or that I should stop.”
13. Have you ever used characteristics from someone you know in one of your books?
Of course. Every writer does that. I’ve also used (highly-stylized) real events in my life in my books. I leave it to those who know me best to pick out “Hey, that’s me!”
14. What inspires you to write?
I don’t know how I could ever not-write. I don’t do it because I’m inspired, although sometimes I’m more inspired than others; I do it because I’m compelled to. If I couldn’t write stories, I think maybe I’d die from my brain exploding.
When criminals are convicted, they go to jail. When they have parahuman abilities, they go to Deep Six, the most secure prison facility in the world. Six thousand feet underground, nobody has ever escaped from the maximum security facility.
Until now.
A parahuman terrorist called Misrule engineers a mass breakout, and it falls to a pair of prison guards to stop the world’s most dangerous criminals from reaching freedom, and Just Cause won’t be able to help them. Despite being overmatched and underpowered, the two guards must find a way to prevent the escapees from their ultimate goal.
Deep Six releases worldwide in print and ebook formats on November 29, 2013.
Today we have guest author Bebe Knight, here to discuss her character Mackenzie Jones from An Element of Time. Welcome, Bebe!
‘Tis the season for paranormal reads! Be it spooky Halloween stories or typical vampire/werewolf romance novels, I love to wrap my hands around a good book with supernatural elements to it around this time of year. If you’re the same, you’re going to enjoy An Element of Time. I’m here today to introduce you to one of the characters, the hero of the book: Mackenzie Jones.
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Tell us a little about Mackenzie Jones.
Mackenzie, or Mack as most people call him, lives in Burnstead, NY and is a bartender at the local college hangout, McPetebury Pub. He has aqua colored eyes, shaggy golden brown hair and dimples that accent his smile. Oh, and he’s a vampire.
What is his background story?
Originally born in 1905, Mackenzie was turned in 1931, forever holding him hostage at 26 year old. Mackenzie’s back story is a sad one, as most vampires’ back stories are, and he spent a lot of time dwelling on it. He blamed himself for things he couldn’t control. His family fell apart after he left and his fiancé at the time found new love. To top it off, he was forced to live with a coven of vampires that were brutal and unforgiving. It wasn’t until he found a coven in Upstate New York that his luck started to turn around.
How was he turned?
Mackenzie was on his way home from work in Brooklyn late one night when he was attacked by a stranger on the street. The image and voice of the vampire that dragged him into the alley still haunts him to this day. Left for dead, Mackenzie learned how to survive as a vampire on his own.
What about his love life?
Mackenzie is an old soul and doesn’t like to “sleep around”, yet it’s hard to form relationships with anyone when you’re forced into the darkness of the night and have to keep major secrets. So he’s been on a break from love for quite a while. Even if there are two girls at his bar that are crushing on him in a big way. It isn’t until Veronica Chase walks into his bar that he starts to get that loving feeling again. It’s just too bad she’s there to kill him.
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I hope you enjoyed this little sneak peek into Mackenzie’s life! To read more about Mackenzie, check out An Element of Time!
In this thrilling sequel, Ever Van Ruysdael’s race to beat the odds—and the clock—begins with the introduction of an integral part of her past. As secrets are revealed, and truths uncovered, she learns her imminent death is the least of her problems: Ariadne did more than just put an expiration date on her life; she marked Ever’s soul by upping its value for greedy collectors looking to buy their freedom.
Condemned by the countdown on her life, and hunted by hired Seekers, Ever’s journey leads her to question everything she’s known and everyone she’s trusted, while growing closer to the one person from her past she was determined to avoid—and the one guy she never could—Toby James.
With her ex-boyfriend by her side, and the countdown clock rapidly ticking away, Ever tries thwarting fate’s plans. But as her nineteenth birthday approaches, and desperate Seekers follow her every move, she may be too late.
A marked soul is hard to come by . . . and even harder to escape.
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About the Author
An unashamed super fan of all things paranormal romance, Jessa Russo reads, writes and breathes paranormal YA, rarely straying from her comfort zone. When not writing or reading–or raising the coolest kid ever–Jessa enjoys making memories with her amazingly supportive family and friends, while secretly planning her next trip to New Orleans. She will always call Southern California home, where she lives with her husband and daughter, and a Great Dane who thinks he’s the same size as his cranky sister, the Chihuahua.
Hi, everyone! Today, I’m reposting the guest blog from Merissa McCain’s Paranormal Month Spot yesterday (you can see the original here: http://tinyurl.com/jwq8tzx). It’s a character interview of Callie Taylor, the ghostly protagonist of Waking Up Dead. Check it out:
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I do have a few questions for Callie, and she’s agreed to be interviewed, so let’s jump right on in. Oh–we have to transcribe the interview–but bear with us. This is going to be great.
Interviewer: Today we welcome Callie Taylor, the heroine of Waking Up Dead. Callie, welcome to the blog! I’m sorry to say that most of our readers won’t actually be able to hear what you have to say, since you’re a ghost. So I’m afraid that you’ll have to let me simply transcribe your words. Yes, that’s right; I’m one of the few sensitives who can see and hear you. No, I didn’t know that you were working so hard to find someone who could help you. Wait. You were there when Molly was killed? That’s terrible! Still, I don’t see that knowing me then would have helped stop it, even though I can see and hear you.
[Aside:] Pardon me, everyone. Ms. Taylor’s getting a bit agitated; I might need to calm her down.
[They speak quietly in a corner for a moment, then come back to their seats.]
Interviewer: Okay. Let’s try this again. Callie, could you tell us a little bit about yourself? Mm-hm. Okay. Sure, sure. Callie says that this is the most screwed-up afterlife she could never have imagined for herself. She was supposed to get heaven or hell. She got Alabama. That was not in her afterlife plan. She would have settled for that squeaky voice psychic from the Poltergeist movie telling her to go to the light. But no. She can’t go anywhere, unless it’s in Abramsville, Alabama.
Interviewer: So what do you do all day? Television? That’s all? No, no. I understand. There’s not a lot you could do in your disembodied state. But wasn’t there something about trying to save a man from prison? What did you do to help him? Yes, I can see that having your partner Ashara could be helpful. Right, and Ashara’s boyfriend Stephen. And . . . wait. Her elderly grandmother Maw-Maw? Um . . .
So let me get this straight. You’re a ghost. She’s a bank teller. He’s a musical-instrument repairman. She’s an elderly, cane-wielding grandmother. Together, you fight crime. Seriously?!
To see what happens when a displaced ghost teams up with an unlikely trio in small-town Alabama to solve a local murder, check out Waking Up Dead, by Margo Bond Collins, available from Amazon.com.
Book Blurb
When Dallas resident Callie Taylor died young, she expected to go to Heaven, or maybe Hell. Instead, when she met her fate early thanks to a creep with a knife and a mommy complex, she went to Alabama. Now she’s witnessed another murder, and she’s not about to let this one go. She’s determined to help solve it before an innocent man goes to prison. And to answer the biggest question of all: why the hell did she wake up dead in Alabama?
Margo Bond Collins lives in Texas with her husband, their daughter, several spoiled cats, and a ridiculous turtle. She teaches college-level English courses online, though writing fiction is her first love. She enjoys reading urban fantasy and paranormal fiction of any genre and spends most of her free time daydreaming about vampires, ghosts, zombies, werewolves, and other monsters. Waking Up Dead is her first published novel. Her second novel, Legally Undead, is an urban fantasy, forthcoming in 2014 from World Weaver Press.
Welcome today to guest author D.M. Sears, who is here to discuss making a book trailer using Animoto.com!
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Hi everyone! I am relatively new to the author scene so I have been trying to find ways to promote my upcoming release efficiently and cheap. I am always searching author websites for book trailers, and I have found there are just not that many out there. People underestimate the effectiveness of a book trailer. I know I have purchased several books just off of a good trailer.
It can be a little scary at first trying to create one for yourself. Not to fear! I found a great website that can help you make as many as you want for…free! Yup, free, no cost to you. Now, they have other options to make longer videos, which unfortunately do cost, but doesn’t everything at some point? If you can keep your trailer in the 30 second mark, it is no cost.
Next, you will want to organize your photos and decide what kind of story you want to tell. I like tell small things about my characters to bring interests and connection to them.
Now you can go to http://www.animoto.com to begin creating your book trailer. It will have you create an account, do not worry, they don’t spam. Then it will bring you to a page where you will see a lot of video backgrounds. You can choose whichever you want and click “Create a free video”. You will then be sent to a page where you can upload all your images to the video.
Now comes the fun part. You can add text to the images directly, add pages of only text, etc. Once you have figured out the order for your photos and what you want to say, you are now able to add music. They have music already in their system that is free to use set up in genres. I prefer to upload my own music. I use a cool site that has royalty free music free to use: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/
You can search by feeling or tempo. Download any that tickles your fancy and you are ready to upload to your video.
At the top of your video screen, you can click on the song they have already assigned and upload your new music. Once that is complete, you can preview your video and edit some more. When you are happy with your trailer, you can publish it! They have a social bar so you can share the finished product to twitter, Facebook, and even load to youtube!
It is a great site for beginners! The best part about it, it has a tutorial to show you how to use it! Have fun!
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Now, check out D.M. Sears’ own book trailer for Eden’s Mark:
And while you’re thinking about trailers, take a look at my comments about making a book trailer, available on Fabulosity Reads: http://ow.ly/q8fCI
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About Eden’s Mark
After tonight, Eden would be forever different. The life she knew was in the past making way for a future unknown. Her destiny beckoned, Eden took a breath and walked into the portal away from childhood, away from her home.
Eden Arik was a typical teenager who lived the typical teenage life…until the pale eyes showed up in her dreams. The birthmark, Eden had always ignored, burned at the new nightmares, raising questions about her past. Eden finds out she is part witch and fairy that is destined to save a world she never knew existed that inhabits people far more than human. Her only solitude is the woods behind her house where she meets a mysterious stranger with steel eyes. With the help of her guardians, two unlikely shape shifters, and a vampire who can bring her to her knees with one glance, Eden goes on to search the secrets of her past, present, and future. Along her way to discovery, Eden comes across Circenn; her grandmother, consort to the Darkness and the evil magic he possess. Circenn will stop at nothing to bring Eden to the darkness so she can harness her granddaughter’s limitless power. Seduction, power, and death pave the way towards Eden’s destiny and the fate of Ellethny.
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About D.M. Sears
I live in a small town in the Ozarks and am in my thirties. I was raised on a farm where we nursed every sort of creature that needed aid. Our pets ranged from groundhogs, raccoons, squirrels, geese, and a pot bellied pig named Pork-chop. We also had horses and the garden variety of dogs and cats. Needless to say my childhood was interesting!
My mother taught me the value of life as a youth whether human or animal. I am pleased to see my twelve year-old daughter has the knack for helping others as well. I spend my weeknights with my mother and daughter and with my friends and family on the weekends. During the day I am a director at an early childhood center for a church in my neighborhood write in my free time, which is sometimes slim to none!
I am so blessed to have the support I have within my family and friends. Without them I would not be able to write. My daughter is the key to my imaginative streak. Thanks to her wanting bedtime stories, I have been able to take those characters and create a whole world for them! Daughters are fantastic!
Welcome today to Irene Helenowski, author of the new book Order of the Dimensions! Irene has graciously agreed to stop by and answer a few questions today.
Hi, Irene! Tell us a little about your work in progress. I have decided to make Order of The Dimensions a trilogy and have been working on Books 2 and 3 simultaneously. Actually, I’m closer to finishing Book 3 than Book 2 now. Is that weird?
How do you handle bad reviews?
I try to learn from them and hope to improve my writing technique accordingly.
Any advice for aspiring writers?
Just try your best and have fun with it. Even if others don’t like it, it is something you can call your own.
What is your personal writing process?
I just write whenever I can whether it is during my lunch hour at work or if I have some free time in the evening at home.
Who are a few authors you look up to?
Joseph Conrad, Jack London, Michael Crichton, and Isaac Asimov.
What book are you reading now?
I just finished Alien Invasion by MT Dismuke and am reading Forever Young by Gerry Simpkins. Two very different books but equally enjoyable and fast-paced page turners.
What inspired you to write your first book?
Watching a Science special on the Multiverse, I started wondering if parallel dimensions really exist and what could we be doing there.
What do you find particularly challenging about writing?
Just trying to find a voice which helps connect with the reader.
Have you ever used characteristics from someone you know in one of your books?
Yes, I do have quite a few characters that are based on people in real life. In fact, I had my youngest niece in mind when writing about a little girl introduced in the second and third books. What inspires you to write? Anything from daily experiences to what I hear or see on the news.
For more information about Irene’s current book, keep reading!
Order of the Dimensions
When Jane Kremowski first began her graduate studies in physics at Madison State University in Wisconsin, little did she know where her work would take her. Now, she is embroiled in a multitude of dimensions all leading to different outcomes. She and her colleagues therefore must now act wisely in order to take and keep away the Order of Dimension from falling into the wrong hands for the sake of her loved ones.
______________________ About the Author
Irene Helenowski, the author of “Order of the Dimensions,” is a biostatistician at an academic medical center in Chicago and recently received her doctorate in biostatistics. She also enjoys going to movies and concerts in her spare time.
Words, Words, Words 