Showing posts with label dark world books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dark world books. Show all posts

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Fractured Truth Tour with Rachel McClellan

Fractured Truth Cover

 
Fractured Truth
(Fractured Light #3)
Llona is determined to end the fight with the Vykens once and for all. All she needs is to find and destroy the Shadow–the ultimate source of dark power. But when she makes a startling discovery about someone she loves, Llona has to fight the toughest battle yet in this exciting conclusion to the Fractured Light series.
Add Fractured Truth to your Goodreads list!

_________________________
About Fractured Light (Book #1)

Llona Reese is used to living on the run. After the Vykens killed her parents, she knew they would eventually come for her too. She can’t take any chances. But when she starts to make friends for the first time in her life, she gets careless and lets her guard down. Big mistake.

As an Aura, Llona can manipulate light and harness its energy. But if she wants to survive, Llona will have to defy the Auran Council and learn to use her power as a weapon against the Vyken whose sole desire is to take her light. Now she’s caught in something even bigger than she can understand, with a power she can’t wield, and no one she can trust, except, just maybe, a mysterious stranger.
Amazon – Barnes & Noble

About Fractured Soul (Book #2)
Llona will do whatever it takes to protect her new found friends and home, but the dark plot threatening Lucent Academy, a school that’s supposed to be a safe place for Auras, may be too powerful for even Llona to defeat.

This fast-paced tale of love, loyalty, and overcoming the darkness will keep you on the edge of your seat until the last page!
Amazon – Barnes & Noble
 




 

Rachel McClellanRachel McClellan
Rachel McClellan was born and raised in Idaho, a place secretly known for its supernatural creatures. When she’s not in her writing lair, she’s partying with her husband and four crazy, yet lovable, children. Rachel’s love for storytelling began as a child when the moon first possessed the night. For when the lights went out, her imagination painted a whole new world. And what a scary world it was…
Website – Blog
Twitter – Facebook – Goodreads
Thanks for stopping by my stop on the tour for Fractured Truth, the conclusion to the Fractured Light Trilogy by Rachel McClellan! The tour is running from April 21st to May 30th, 2014. There will be reviews, interviews, guest posts and excerpts + a special International giveaway!
 
GRAND PRIZE: $25 Amazon Gift Card and a printed copy of Fractured Truth
Runner-up 1: Printed copy of Fractured Truth
Runner-up 2: Ebook copy of Fractured Truth 
 
 
a Rafflecopter giveaway




Guest Post from Rachel McClellan...


I Gave Up Trying to be a Perfect Mom


My first child graced this world urinating, an action I worried about. Did he have a bladder problem? Would he always be a spastic pee-er? These were the kind of frivolous things I worried about with my first child.


He might've been a good baby, but I was a new mom so I pretty much screwed up any chance for him to be a normal infant. I was too busy reading book after book, trying to figure out why he's crying, why he's not sleeping, why his pooping schedule was different from my neighbor's baby.


I let the "experts" tell me when to make him sleep, what to let him eat, when to take him outside, and when to start making him walk and communicate. The poor kid probably felt like a puppet. But I did all this because I wanted to be the perfect mom.


It wasn't until I nearly killed myself with stress and lack of sleep that I realized, in a dazed stupor, what the crap? Babies have been around since like forever and somehow they make it to adults. And most are pretty normal so I've got a good chance of not screwing mine up.


This thought freed me. I no longer worried about nap times. If my kid was tired, I let him sleep. If I had to go somewhere I'd wake him up. If his pacifier fell on the floor, I didn't sterilize it. The hair on it wouldn't hurt him. If he wanted to smear food on his face, I'd help him.


Basically I just gave up trying to be a perfect mom. I let instincts kick in and together we figured it out. My oldest is now eleven and I think he's a pretty good kid. And it turns out there's nothing wrong with his bladder...he just likes to pee.


What were some common first parent mistakes you made?
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Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Wynne Channing: Indie Author Budgeting & New Release



I Am Forever Cover
 
I Am Forever
So when 17-year-old Axelia falls into a sacred well filled with blood and emerges a vampire, the immortal empire believes she is this legendary destroyer. Hunted by soldiers and mercenaries, Axelia and her reluctant ally, the vampire bladesmith Lucas, must battle to survive.An ancient prophecy warns of a girl destined to cause the extinction of the vampire race.
(What Kills Me #2)
Axelia fought an army of vampires and survived. Once fated as the destroyer of the vampire race, she is now welcomed into the immortal empire and revered as a god.
But instead of relishing her victory, she faces a dangerous new world and an empire at war. Axelia is thrust into the position of supreme vampire and caught in the crossfire of battle. To make matters worse, her role alienates Lucas, the one vampire that she trusts.
Her power spawns evil enemies. And they know how to get to her — by hurting those whom she loves most.
Amazon US – Amazon UK – Kobo – Smashwords
Add I Am Forever to your Goodreads list!
_________________________
About What Kills Me (Book #1)
How will she convince the empire that she is just an innocent teenager-turned bloodsucker and not a creature of destruction? And if she cannot, can a vampire who is afraid of bugs summon the courage to fight a nation of immortals?
Amazon US – Amazon UK – Barnes & Noble – Kobo – iTunes
Wynne Channing
 

Wynne Channing
Wynne Channing is a national newspaper reporter and award-winning young adult novelist. Wynne loves telling stories and as a journalist, she has interviewed everyone from Daniel Radcliffe and Hugh Jackman to the president of the Maldives and Duchess Sarah Ferguson. The closest she has come to interviewing a vampire is sitting down with True Blood‘s Alexander Skarsgard (he didn’t bite). She briefly considered calling her debut novel “Well” so then everyone would say: “Well written by Wynne Channing.”
Website – Blog – Twitter – Facebook – Goodreads
Google+ – Pinterest – Youtube – Amazon Author Page
 
GRAND PRIZE: A stunning ballpoint pen filled with more than 100 pink crystals, a black leather note book by Canadian designer Jessica Jensen, an ecopy of I Am Forever (Book Two in the What Kills Me series) and a signed What Kills Me bookmark.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
 
 I Am Forever Tour schedule:
 
And now, a special guest post from the author herself...
Indie Author Budgeting 101

It is entirely possible to publish your book at no cost.

But if you are going to treat this venture as a business — which you should — it might require some initial investment.

Where to start?

You need a budget. Ugh. I know, the 'B' word. And you’re a writer, not an accountant (unless you are, in which case high five). Personally, I under-budgeted for my debut novel, What Kills Me because I didn’t anticipate a lot of extra costs; then I over-budgeted for its sequel I Am Forever.

Begin by making a list of expenses that you might need, ie:
- copy editing
- proofreading
- cover design
- webpage, web hosting
- promotion/marketing
- book trailer
- giveaways, postage

Now you can pay a lot or a little for each of these things. It's up to you. There are ways to save, however.

Copyediting Most editors charge by the hour and rates vary according to the editor's experience.
There are at least three stages of editing: substantive editing (big picture stuff like plot and tone), copyediting (sentence structure, grammar, spelling, etc.) and proofreading (the final stage). Rates range from $30 to $50 an hour, according to the Editors’ Association of Canada. Estimates to edit my book (62,000+ words) ranged from 15 to 50 hours, depending on the stage of editing.

Ask several editors for quotes. Send them a portion of your manuscript, length of your project and ask for an estimate. My editor worked on my first page to make sure her edits were in line with what I wanted to pay for.

Now negotiate. Since my editor works by the hour, she gave me a list of common copyediting errors for me to fix before she began.

She estimated that a 73,000+ word manuscript might take her 45 hours at a cost of $1,800.

Cover design I contacted a few artists via Deviantart and got quotes from them regarding covers. The average quote was $275-$300. Make sure you negotiate revisions into the deal.

Webpage If you don't want to pay someone to design and build you a webpage, consider buying your domain name ($25 for one year via GoDaddy) and having it forwarded to your blog. (Set up your free blog via Wordpress or Blogspot.)

Marketing You can spend an infinite amount on marketing which is what truly drives sales of your book. You want to appear everywhere. Advertisers have this rule of how many times a consumer has to see an ad before buying.

Social media is a great free tool. Get on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest. Give books away for review on Goodreads and LibraryThing where readers are. Approach your favourite book blogs and offer yourself up for a Q&A. Create your own press release.

I spent $15 on a book trailer (via Fiverr.com). I gave UK-based Dark World Books $375 to organize a month-long online book tour for me where I’d appear on a different blog every day.

Formatting Many guides exist on how to convert your document into an appropriate file for Kindle, etc. If you’re not a techno twit like me, you can figure it out. I gladly gave Michael Mandarano, a copy editor and e-book formatter, $150 to rescue me and format What Kills Me. It cost me $172 for Stacey at Self Publishing Editing Service to format I Am Forever with gorgeous chapter separators, images, etc. in several file types, including a print version.

Trying to recoup your costs: This part is tough and sales are hard to predict. You can try to be strategic about pricing your books for maximum profit: Amazon gives you 35% royalties on anything under $2.99 and 70% for anything over. But part of the benefit of going indie, is that you can the adjust the price anytime you like to test different costs.

Once you’ve figured out how much you think you’ll need, start saving. I have an automatic savings plan that withdraws money every month into an account that goes to pay for “book expenses.” Now, all of my profits goes into this same account to be put back into the business. Good luck and if you ever want to talk the business of books, email me!

--by Wynne Channing 
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Thursday, February 13, 2014

Jonathan D. Allen Looks at Limerence and His Newest Release

Pathways of the Dead
(Among the Dead #2)
Matty doesn’t want to end the world. Unfortunately, she has no choice.
 
Through a series of harrowing events, Matty DiCamillo discovered that she is the heir to an ancient prophecy, destined to destroy her own reality to save countless others. Now she finds herself locked away and interrogated by beings known as the Aetelia, who are out to force the apocalypse to their liking. After a breathless escape and an attack by the band of rebel Aetelia known as the Watchers, Matty must not only cross worlds but time itself to elude capture and face her destiny on her own terms. Aided by her lover Kristy; Tommy, a man trapped in a boy’s body; and an ageless woman named Omarosa; she must face death itself to reach the City of the Dead.
Amazon
Add Pathways of the Dead to your Goodreads list!
_________________________
About The Corridors of the Dead (Book #1)
Long ago, a mysterious being known as The Lost Aetelia crafted an elaborate series of Watchtowers, along with their resident guardians, the Aetelia, to watch over the Universe. In time, they sent a select group of their own to Earth, tasked with watching over the fledging human race. This group used humanity to challenge the established structure of the Universe. A bitter war ensued, and these rebels, who had come to be known as Watchers, disappeared from history.
 
The time of the Aetelia – now known as angels – is returning. After a fateful night of violence, Artist Matty DiCamillo finds herself drawn into this world by a mysterious savior, who becomes a driving force in Matty’s new life.
 
Both driven by and fighting the words of prophecy that lay out her destiny, Matty, her lover Kristy, and her best friend Daniel, follow this mysterious savior on a journey from Northern California to Las Vegas on a path that crosses through the boundaries of time and space.
 
As Matty struggles to understand her destiny, she discovers that her savior may not be what she seems, and that even the denizens of this twilight world have no idea what lurks behind the stage dressing of reality. Matty finds herself not only racing to rescue the woman she loves, but learning that she herself could be the cause of the Universe’s day of reckoning.
Amazon – Barnes & Noble

Jonathan D Allen
Jonathan D Allen
Born and raised in the rural Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, Jonathan wrote his first fantasy/sci-fi novel at the age of 13. After studying writing and communication at James Madison University, Jonathan turned his passion for writing into a full-time technical writing career in the DC Metro area, working for companies like Sprint/Nextel, Time Warner Cable, and Sirius XM Radio, where he had an opportunity to combine his love of music with his love of writing. He may have drifted away from fiction at times, but it was always his first love – and he always returned to it. Now living in Bethesda with his wife, two cats, and two quirky guinea pigs for which his publishing company is named, he crafts the kinds of stories that he had always hoped to read but just couldn’t quite find.
Website – Blog – Twitter – Facebook – Pinterest
I'm happy to host the tour for the dark fantasy novel Pathways of the Dead by Jonathan D Allen! The tour is running from February 10th to 28th, 2014. There will be reviews, interviews, guest posts and excerpts + a special International giveaway that will run on each tour stop!
 
 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Guest Post from the author...


Love and Madness Among the Dead

Hi there, thanks for joining me on the Pathways of the Dead virtual book tour. As always, I’m humbled at the chance to share with a new audience and thank our gracious host. Given that tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, I decided to discuss love and madness, two topics that immediately come to mind when I contemplate said holiday.

What, they don’t occur to you?

“Uh, that’s great, Jonathan,” you say, “But this is a book tour, right? What does it have to do with the book?” Good question! Let’s dig down into it and talk about how the two concepts intertwine in the Among the Dead Cycle, as they are very subtle, but important, themes in the series.

I write this knowing that it is not very subtle or clever to equate love and craziness, more a fact of life. In addition to the time-worn cultural equations between the two, science has discovered that people in the throes of romantic love have similar MRI profiles to the mentally ill, specifically those with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). We all know the stupid things that people do under its sway (and I am certainly not immune to this). So why celebrate it if it can cause such issues in our lives?

The problem, I believe, stems from a confusion of definitions. Many people confuse the physical experience of limerence with love. Quick thumbnail sketch, limerence is an involuntary state of mind in which you become obsessed with the target of your affections. This may be requited or unrequited, but the key defining trait is obsession and the need to have your affections returned. Not surprisingly, it bears a striking resemblance to OCD.

Limerence, then, is that crazy phase where you can’t get someone out of your mind and drive your friends out of their minds with constant chatter about the new love of your life. Every waking minute may be filled with a desire to be with that person, a burning need only quenched by proximity to the target. It’s a head-spinning, heart-pounding, pleasant-and-awful crazy rush of endorphins flooding your body. Opinions differ on what triggers this particular state, but most psychologists agree that it’s a recognition of something familiar in that other person, and that familiar trait may be good or bad. Add this to people writing songs about this state of mind, lauding it as “true love” and you have a recipe for something quite dangerous and addictive.

But is it really love, part of love, or something else entirely? Everyone knows some story of a couple who started out madly in love with one another and eventually ended up with a collapsed, black hole of a relationship. “Oh, I love him, but I’m not in love with him,” is the common refrain at the end of such engagements. Sometimes the decision to dissolve these bonds is absolutely the right thing to do; madness can make for strange bedfellows that make very little sense in the light of day.

On the other hand, a relationship that has “lost its spark” (i.e., fallen out of limerence) can be sustained long-term by hard work and dedication. Is that love? Well, in 1956 the social psychologist Erich Fromm published a book called The Art of Loving and it posited love as a skill rather than an emotion, something that a person could practice daily with everyone, not just the object of their affection. The notion was hardly new. The exhortation is, after all, the basis of Jesus’ teachings, among other spiritual edicts, and underlies many acts of civil defiance in the name of justice. So we’re left with the idea that what begins with limerence can become something stronger and long-lasting with a little patience, work, and directed will.

This is where my series enters the picture, as I crafted portions of the story  as a metaphor for this process. In Book One, The Corridors of the Dead, protagonist Matty DiCamillo finds herself thrust into a world that she doesn’t understand, forced to deal with the entreaties of a hidden world, the world of the Aetelia, that has sought her for untold millennia. The imposing, undiscovered reality is  in limerence, determined to snag the object of its affection one way or another. Matty’s “suitors” violently impose on an existing relationship with Matty’s girlfriend Kristy. Kristy finds herself increasingly pushed into the background of Matty’s life as this new pseudo-relationship with the world of the Aetelia takes shape. With this comes the madness of a new infatuation and entry into a  previously unimagined state of consciousness. I think you can fill in the parallels.

By Book Two, Pathways of the Dead, Matty has accepted her fate and locks into the world of this new relationship, toxic though it may be. Now the focus begins to shift to Kristy and her efforts to deal with this change in her life. Matty and Kristy connect a few times, but a desperate, insane act by Kristy at the end of Book One has driven a wedge between the two that will never entirely be removed. They continue to have an important bond, but it is Kristy’s turn to learn, and her lesson is much closer to Fromm’s definition of love. She has been drawn into this world along with Matty, but in contrast to her lover, Kristy takes conscious steps to help avert the apocalypse, fully shouldering the responsibility for saving the Multiverse in an act of love that even she doesn’t understand until the very end.

So you see, the two women experience very different sides of the same coin; Matty’s encounter with this world represents the limerence and mad dash of being pulled along by fate and forces beyond your control, while Kristy’s experience is built around conscious will and the hesitant steps of learning to truly care for others. The differences in their experiences drive the series finale (still to come in Book 4), in which we see the long-lasting ramifications of their choices - or non-choices.

Limerence and the act of love may be very different things, but they will always be connected at the hip. The question is how we handle them and their impacts on our lives. My hope is that Kristy and Matty provide good models for the future.

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Monday, February 10, 2014

Dark World Books: Boutique Services for Authors


Today, I wanted to give the Demimonde Bump to Dark World Books. This growing company is actively seeking author clients and provide an array of literary/promotional services. If you are an author of dark or sexy (or dark AND sexy) stories, read on! You may find your books best friends below...


Dark World Books offers customized boutique services for independent and published authors of Urban/Dark Fantasy, Dystopian, Steampunk, YA/NA Paranormal, Paranormal Romance, Historical Romance, Dark Erotica, Contemporary Erotica & Erotic Romance.


Having problems with your author business? Our job is to guide you through this sometimes overwhelming process and take care of manuscript edits, covers & marketing material creation, trailers and book tours. Also, you can now hire us to be your virtual personal assistants! Is your life taking too much time away from your author duties? Are you so busy writing that you don't have time to promote your novel/s? We’re the right team for you! Management of your social media accounts, marketing consultation, review/ARCs distribution are only some of the tasks we take care of by being your PAs.
Don’t wait any longer, get in touch! We hope to have the pleasure of working with you very soon!

Franny & Silvia

Dark World Books

Facebook – Twitter – Google+ - LinkedIn – Pinterest – Youtube

I first met Franny when I was promoting my first novel. She confided that she and Sil were going to be starting up boutique services for authors and I remember how excited I was for them--I got to be their first tour when I released the cover for Blood Rush (Demimonde #2) . Loved their work!
They've also handled the editing and cover art for Deliverance, a fantasy short (all proceeds benefit a young man's medical fund... please consider supporting this project!) I've done other tours, as well. Franny is very detail-oriented when it comes to tours--no missed stops, no dropped posts (I can attest to that--I'm an occasional host for DWB-- when one of my posts went live before I added an element *shame* but she caught it and righted it, much to the other author's relief).
Recently they've added author management services to their repertoire . If you have an upcoming project or just need author support, I do recommend their services and encourage you to stop by Dark World Books and have a look around!
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Friday, December 20, 2013

Cover Reveal! WOLF'S BANE (Demimonde #3)

IT'S FINALLY HERE!
 
The cover to the third book in the Demimonde series..


 
WOLF'S BANE (Demimonde #3) by Ash Krafton
Sometimes, when life gives you lemons, all you can do is try to avoid paper cuts.

Since becoming oracle to the demivampire two years ago, advice columnist Sophie has battled werewolves and survived a vampire attack (or two). However, not only was she powerless to save her lover Marek when he slipped to the brink of evolution, she also witnessed his transformation into a falcon, the symbol of Horus United.

Sophie’s quest to save Marek is further complicated when rock star Dierk Adeluf – who also happens to be the king of the Werekind – invites her backstage after a concert. Just when it seems she will find respite from heartache, Sophie is bitten by a werewolf and Dierk decides she is destined to be his queen.

Sophie is caught between the demivamps she loves and the Were who commands her to love him. Throw in his jealous wanna-be girlfriend—a true bitch if ever there was one—and an ambush by witches, and there you have the big mess that Sophie calls her life. And, hello? Her soul mate is still a bird.

She’s supposed to be the girl with all the answers, but Sophie needs more than a little advice--she needs divine intervention.
 
Forthcoming Spring 2014 via Pink Narcissus Press

Find the other books of the Demimonde series on
 
AMAZON~~~BARNES & NOBLE~~~GOODREADS~~~PINK NARCISSUS PRESS
  
Thank you to every one who is sharing my cover reveal today!
 
Dark World Books Reveal Hosts' list:
 
Special Hosts' List:
All In One Place | Gothic Mom's Book Reviews | Place of Reads | Rabid Reads
Red Tash | SK Falls | Moonrise Book Blog
Cesya MaRae Cuono | Rosemary DiBattista | Shadows of Romance
 

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Book Tour: "The Corvids: Winter" by Lisa Ann Brown

The Corvids Winter Cover


The Corvids: Winter
(The Corvids #2)
Francesca de Lorimar, the beautiful Gypsy necromancer from Ravenswood Glen, is called to investigate a murder at Talus Hall and exorcise the unruly poltergeists which nightly ravage the mansion. During her quest to unravel the truth, Francesca discovers scorching secrets about herself, her parentage, and of power, as she stumbles headlong into first love and battles the ancient evil which stalks The Corvids.



_________________________
 
 
  
The Corvids: Autumn
(The Corvids #1)
The Corvids is a four-part paranormal romantic suspense series. Delve into the depths of darkness, magic and love in this murder mystery/coming of age quartet!
 
Arabel Spade, a young girl living in the strange and mystical land of The Corvids, determines to solve a brutal series of murders using her unique paranormal abilities. Through her perilous journey, Arabel learns about herself, the dark secrets which stain her family history and the passions and rigors of first love.
Amazon – Smashwords




Lisa Ann Brown
Lisa Ann has been involved with storytelling and entertainment, in one form or another, her entire life. Beginning her creative journey as both a writer and an actor, Lisa Ann spent many years immersing herself in innumerable books, countless theatre productions and earning a degree in Musical Theatre. Shortly after college, she attended the Vancouver Film School to learn the finer points of screenwriting. This study culminated in the writing of a few feature length scripts and an overwhelmingly potent desire to move from Canada to Hollywood. Once ensconced in East Hollywood however, creative inspiration lured Lisa Ann away from screenwriting and returned her to her original writing intentions: to be a novelist. In three months, Lisa Ann had completed her first novel, I Raid, and there has been no cessation of her novel writing ever since. Moving back to Canada, she spent many years working as a talent agent in Vancouver before retiring from the film industry to focus on writing full-time. Lisa Ann derives great personal satisfaction by delivering her characters through the twisting arcs and unexpected tribulations of their imaginary lives. She strives to keep her readers on edge while enjoying the suspense and surprise of their literary journey. She resides in picturesque Vancouver, BC, Canada where she is happily nestled in between the Pacific Ocean and the Coastal Mountain range.
Blog – Twitter – Facebook – Goodreads – Amazon

 
 
Re-visit the past stops on
The Corvids: Winter Tour


a Rafflecopter giveaway



EXCERPT From The Corvids: Winter
 
Francesca saw the body before she smelt the decay of death.
She knelt down beside the cold flesh and closed her eyes. Flashing images assaulted her senses immediately. She watched in dull horror as the spectacle of the poor girl’s death played out in glorious color, all of the abysmal details glaringly vivid. Horror closed over Francesca; a great fist of unrelenting enmity clasped her tightly.
The dead girl was young. Too young to die leaving a life unlived in her wake.
Hovering above the corpse, Francesca utilized her preternatural vision to discern several small intersecting red and grey lines - denoting possession - and she glanced around immediately to seek out the corresponding Dorojenja wheel of death. Francesca could feel the pull of the wheel’s malicious intent as it greedily trolled energetically for further souls to ensnare.
Xavier immediately pulled his mount to a stop in front of the gruesome display.
He jumped from his horse and knelt in the snow beside Francesca and the dead girl. His eyes closed, Xavier efficiently created a sacred circle of Gypsy magic and performed a counter-spell ritual to immobilize the curse, utilizing his athame. Zander quickly joined in with the work.
The throat of the girl had been slashed viciously. Multiple jagged lines had been cut gleefully across the expanse of her now cold, lifeless skin. Her innocent blood soaked the snow, glistening deep ruby red and dark, inky black.
A sacrificial victim, the young woman had been dressed in a long, heavy, brown hooded robe and she wore nothing underneath.  The large cowled hood had been thrown back to reveal the torn throat of the victim and the harsh, angry slashes against her pale skin.
The dead girl did not appear to be much more of an age than Francesca and Francesca keenly felt a terrible sense of loss at her untimely demise. The sorrow permeated the most profound depths of Francesca’s gentle heart.
To have one’s physical life ended in such a vicious manner! And then to further suffer the cruelty of eternal possession to the forces of darkness and evil was a fate Francesca was certain no one deserved. She despised the forces who had stolen the girl’s life-force. No one deserved to die like this and most certainly not this young, innocent girl.
Francesca telepathically followed the trail of red and grey lines to the pulsating source. The wheel of death beat out a sharp series of harsh, staccato notes of displeasure, soiling the environment. Peering intently, Francesca determined that the Dorojenja wheel was indeed placed next to the roaring bonfire, and was hexed properly to ensnare the sacrificial victims to its torturous call. The wheel had been coated with invisibility rendering its presence impossible to detect through regular vision.
Francesca, with her advanced training and preternatural vision could barely see the shield. But she could feel it, and she knew what sordid stains decorated its face.
The intersecting lines and numbers. The headless dove. The blood. 
Francesca attempted to block the noise from inside of her head as best as she could. The screams of the possessed filled her with their sobs, their unrelenting terror. The dead girl had joined a large number of souls, many more than Francesca had ever known to have been collected within a Dorojenja wheel of death. She felt the trapped energies pulling at her, desperately seeking a last audience, desperately seeking release from the torment.
Francesca sent the image of the wheel and its location to Xavier. He frowned as he addressed the group.
“We shall disperse the Sending & Seeking Spell immediately to source out Arabel’s presence. We’ll soon see if she is being held against her will by these Dorojenja members. Advancing upon their meeting under the cover of our current energy void - assisted by a severe Blocking Spell – we shall disperse in two’s to encircle the members of their party. Once we have ensnared them within our boundaries, Zander will unleash a hostile energy void, regressing the ages of the members to that of toddlers. We shall easily capture their party with an Immobilization Spell. ”
Xavier released the potion Daphne and Francesca had created.
The potion filled the air with a colorless, spinning vortex as the herbs swirled and danced excitedly in the frigid air. A line of magic assembled itself into a seeking circle of energy as the herbs took hold of the destination Xavier programmed them with. The herbs would thoroughly track and trace the Dorojenja and search out Arabel’s presence among them, if she was indeed held captive.
Francesca shivered involuntarily. The screams inside of her head from the dead girl had increased, both in intensity and volume. Inundated with misery, Francesca felt all of the victims – so many other young girls - pressing now, against her very temples, screaming and wailing and screeching. Francesca clasped her small hands to her ears, fighting once more to control the harsh, disturbed track of her inner audio. She sent golden waves of solace toward the ravaged and violated girl.
The screams continued, moaning from the depths of eternal torture.
Stella butted her head lovingly up against Francesca’s arm, letting her know telepathically that she was going to fly up to the top of the nearby forest branches where she could observe the Dorojenja without being noticed.
Zander was busy creating the hostile energy void filled with regressive properties while Xavier monitored the Sending and Seeking Spell fragments for clues. Francesca wrapped the psychic edges of the protective energy void Xavier had called into being closer around herself, much as she would enclose herself in a warm blanket. The wrath and pain of the wheel of death became suddenly muted and Francesca felt the energy void extending its reach farther out as the group broke down into pairs.
Without discussion, Francesca found herself coupled up with Simon.
Xavier and Zander had moved to the right of the bonfire and Bertrand and Lorenzo were circling around to the left. Which left herself and Simon. Francesca ventured a quick look at the golden curled young man and was comforted at once by the calm assurance she spied within his compassionate hazel eyes. 
Simon took hold of Francesca’s hand briefly. She watched as colors of green and gold encircled her upon the contact. Francesca’s eyes closed of their own volition for a brief moment as the energy created between the two of them warmed her instantly. They moved in unison toward the roaring red flames of the bonfire and the amassed group clustered in celebration of dark lust and black magic. Francesca set her jaw firmly.  
Saul Porchetto would pay for this latest desecration, she vowed to herself.

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Thursday, November 7, 2013

The Siren's Tale by Anne Carlisle

The Siren's Tale Cover
The Siren’s Tale
(Home Schooling #2)
Cassandra, a smart siren in human form, can have any man she wants. So long as she wants him dead. Told in part by the ghost of the main character, the story follows Cassandra’s headlong pursuit of passion in the hinterlands of the Old West, where she comes into conflict with a powerful curse, which passes down the generations.
Cassandra has phenomenal success in the silent film industry in California, but troubles remain. Her demon grandson is headed to Wyoming to wreak revenge for his father, the bastard son she abandoned. And the family is threatened by extinction, unless the youngest carries her illegitimate pregnancy to term.
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                                                                               Anne Carlisle
Anne CarlisleAnne Carlisle, Ph. D., is a professor of writing and an award-winning writer. The Siren’s Tale is her most recent release, from LazyDay Publishing (June, 2013), available in ebook on Amazon, B&N, and ARE. It is the second novel in her Home Schooling series, literary/commercial fiction for paranormal-romance readers and New Adults. The series of stand-alone novels feature the exploits of lustful sirens in human form as they emerge into adulthood, spin their webs, and struggle with a family curse. Carlisle holds a doctorate in 19th Century British Literature from Case Western Reserve University. Currently Professor and Course Chair at the University of Maryland, she teaches college writing worldwide to U.S. military students. Formerly, while working as a newspaper columnist, magazine editor, and theatre reviewer, she authored a book on writing, wrote hundreds of articles, and was awarded prizes by the ANPA and the National Writer’s Club. She also served as a dean for Golden Gate University in San Francisco. She works from her homes in Seattle, Key West, and Wilmington, NC.
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Guest Post by Anne Carlisle

"The Sirens Tale:  Writing In the Shadow of Anne Rice and Ovid"

As a dare to myself,  five years ago I set down to write a novel. For decades I'd sworn I would never again attempt such a fool's journey.  Two published novels later (and one in the oven), I am writing this guest post. Thank you, Ash!

We all know about the undying interest in paranormal fiction, as reflected in television shows like Twilight and Sleepy Hollow.  But  back in 2008, the last paranormal book I had read was Anne Rice's "The Vampire Lestat." I soon realized the publishing world was full of vampires. Every agent listed fantasy and science fiction as books they wanted to take a look at. Who'd a thunk it?

I didn't want to write about vampires, but I wanted to use fantasy as an inventive way of exploring real women's issues -- finding the right mate, having children, finding fulfillment in a career.
I recalled being in a room full of dead-serious writers at Breadloaf, the grand-daddy of all writer's conferences.  Speaking of grand-parents, it was  some twenty years ago.  Joyce Carol Oates and Francine Prose were speakers.  Oates , looking and sounding like a frail Olive Oil, said she spun her huge tomes from a single word or phrase!

In a seminar, I said I thought Anne  Rice was right up there with many nineteenth century British writers.  (Owing to my  Ph. D. in British Lit, I am steeped in Dickens, Thackeray, Trollope, etc.)  There was a hostile silence in the room.  The moderator sniffed and made a cold comment about   "commercial fiction" not being in our purview. As a university professor, I was not about to be talked down to.  I said Anne Rice was a prolific and stylistically superior writer.  I myself would be proud to be compared to her, if I ever got a novel published.

Did I realize, the literary snobs told me, Anne Rice had published pornography under a pen name? 
Well, I did get my novels published,  and  recently Joseph, a  professor of writing who was reviewing my book THE SIREN'S TALE, endeared himself to me forever by writing this: "It is reminiscent of Anne Rice's work,  Interview With a Vampire, only more life affirming."

Of course, these days we don't use that word "pornography"  just because there is graphic sex in a book. We even have legitimate genre names: erotica, erotic-romance, or paranormal erotic-romance. And unless we are selling to eleven-year-olds, we all look closely at our flame ratings, no matter how well educated or literary we are. But those were the days of the citadel, and the citadel is now over-run,  thanks to the internet, ebooks, self-publishing, and all the rest. And I'm running with the crowd, bad knees or no, fast as I possibly can.

Recall the movie "Bell, Book, and Candle" starring Kim Novak and Jimmy Stewart?  That's the territory I am settling into with my series on sirens in human form.  While some readers want more magic, others comment they like the mixture of human and siren  in THE SIREN'S TALE.  Heather says: "Anne does a great job showing the internal struggle that Cassandra has between her siren part and her human part. Her siren part is wanting to use her powers on men for her own advantage while her human part wants to have a man love her for her, with no tricks. "

I owe something to Anne Rice. Her vampires are immortal and my sirens are not, but what made Lestat so endearing  to me were his human qualities. Paranormals who are warring with other paranormals through an entire book aren't as interesting to me as those who seem, at the outset, to be just another human being, with a human being's problems. I always want to relate to the character, even when I am writing fantasy.  In particular, I want to relate to a female character, even if she is a siren.

Another reason why I'm writing about sirens is because it allows me to indulge my interest in classical literature. I didn't want to get bogged down in the ancient mythology; I wanted to create my own.  Nonetheless,  I read Ovid's Metamorphoses  cover to cover and took notes for the first time since I was a college freshman.  BTW, I  go into much more detailed siren mythology in the next book of my series, which has a working title of GHOST ORCHID, or School for Sirens.

Ovid tantalizes with creatures part human and part something else. He wrote in the days of the Roman empire, when rulers were still thought to be divinities and related to gods and goddesses who had human vices and interfered with human kind. Ovid got away with a lot of eroticism and paranormal fantasy under the guise of religion.  His marvelous epic in verse celebrates hundreds of gods and goddesses and their shape-shifting, gender-bending antics - "Of bodies chang'd to various forms I sing." 

Here's what Ovid has to say about sirens. It isn't much.

The Daughters of Achelous transform'd to Sirens
.... But, o ye nymphs that from the flood descend,
What fault of yours the Gods cou'd so offend,
With wings and claws your beauteous forms to spoil,
Yet save your maiden face, and winning smile?....
The Gods were easy, and return'd your pray'r;
With golden wing o'er foamy waves you fled,
And to the sun your plumy glories spread.
But, lest the soft enchantment of your songs,
And the sweet musick of your flat'ring tongues
Shou'd quite be lost (as courteous fates ordain),
Your voice and virgin beauty still remain.

The other source is Homer’s Iliad, in which two sea nymphs, part woman and part bird, are referred to as “sirens.” Their exquisite singing and womanly appearance lured the homeward-bound Greek sailors under Ulysses to their destruction on perilous rocks. Hence, the biased connection between female home-wreckers and the term "siren."

In my mind, my sirens in human form are not necessarily home wreckers, and they may be living among us undetected. Are you one?

Anne Carlisle

 
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