For more information about the panel or Karna, please go to the book festival website.

http://www.frederickbookfestival.com/

More about Castle Bravo and Karna Small Bodman:

CASTLE BRAVO, the new international thriller by Karna Small Bodman, “…a labyrinth of intrigue, where danger and drama abide. It’s fresh and relevant and makes you clamor for more.”…Steve Berry, NYT Bestselling author.

Castle Bravo the explosive story of a potentially staggering threat that could halt communications, the Internet, transportation, aviation….and set us back 100 years. Could it happen here? You decide!

The Honorable Karna Small Bodman served in The White House, first as Deputy Press Secretary and later as Senior Director of the National Security Council. When she left to accept a position in the private sector, she was the highest-ranking woman on The White House staff.

She was also on the air for 15 years as a TV News Anchor and Reporter in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington,  DC  and did political commentary for the ABC Network in New York. She also hosted a nationally syndicated TV program on business issues as well as a three-hour news/talk   radio show for NBC in Washington, DC.

Now she is a bestselling author whose political thrillers have hit “#1 in Thrillers” on Amazon.  Her first three novels, Checkmate, Gambit, and Final Finesse were published by Macmillan/Forge. Her new book, Castle Bravo is published by Headline Books and won an award at the Paris Book Festival.

On various book tours, she has had over 300 speeches/events nation-wide for conventions, festivals, charities, political groups, alumni associations and book clubs and has been interviewed on some 70 radio and TV programs.

She and her husband maintain homes in Naples, FL, Washington, DC and Rancho Santa Fe, CA. Her website is: www.karnabodman.com.

http://www.frederickbookfestival.com/

The Sparrow and the Hawk

Saving the world from evil and chaos is hard, but falling in love is even harder.

Jillie Harte, the Sparrow, a film maker, is an agent for NAS (Normal, Abnormal, Strange) Agency. She must find The Carmaletta Choker before it destroys the world.

Griff Ryland, aka the Hawk, Jillie’s new cameraman, needs to retrieve the choker. As a shapeshifter, he feels certain of success. But he doesn’t bargain for a sassy, sexy redhead—and for his urge to settle their differences in bed.

Read Excerpt

www.meglacey.com

www.facebook.com/meglaceybooks

About Meg

Meg wrote her first novel in the sixth grade, but her fiction writing career didn’t last. She went into theatre for a bachelor and masters in acting/directing and ended up in media as a writer-producer.

Over the years, she’s been an actress, director, producer, creative director, CEO, copywriter, creative dramatics teacher, mime, mom, college instructor, and a school bus driver. Meg’s established two creative marketing/media companies, working as a V.P. and as CEO, working in all media: network cable programming to corporate initiatives; to video, games and interactive websites.

Meg is published with Harlequin, Imajinn Books, Samhain Publishing and now Entangled Publishing. Learn more about Meg and her books on her website or at any online bookstore. Look for her new books, Something’s Cooking from Entangled Publishing, 8/13; The Sparrow and the Hawk, out now. The Sparrow and the Vixens Three, 11/13, and Million Dollar Mistake, 9/13.

Her past and current books are all available online.

Website | Email | Facebook

Laura Kaye FBF Schedule:

10am, Dive Into the World of eBooks with Entangled Publishing, Tent B

11am, For the Love of Paranormal, Tent B

2-4pm, Featured Author Book Signing, Bookseller Tent

4pm, Gods, Myths, Magic and the Supernatural, Tent B

For more information about the book festival and directions, please go to the festival website.

http://www.frederickbookfestival.com/Home_Page.php

About South of Surrender:

She’s the only one who can see through his golden boy façade to the broken god within…

Chrysander Notos, Supreme God of the South Wind and Summer, is on a mission: save Eurus from his death sentence and prove his troubled brother can be redeemed. But Eurus fights back, triggering vicious storms that threaten the mortal realm and dangerously drain Chrys.

Laney Summerlyn refuses to give up her grandfather’s horse farm, despite her deteriorating vision. More than ever, she needs the organized rou

tine of her life at Summerlyn Stables, until a ferocious storm brings an impossible—and beautiful—creature crashing down from the heavens.

Injured while fighting Eurus, Chrys finds himself at the mercy of a mortal woman whose compassion and acceptance he can’t resist. As they surrender to the passion flaring between them, immortal enemies close in, forcing Chrys to choose between his brother and the only woman who’s ever loved the real him.

Pre-Order at Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iBooks

About Laura Kaye:

Laura is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of a dozen books in contemporary and paranormal romance. Growing up, Laura’s large extended family believed in the supernatural, and family lore involving angels, ghosts, and evil-eye curses cemented in Laura a life-long fascinatio

n with storytelling and all things paranormal. She lives in Maryland with her husband, two daughters, and cute-but-bad dog, and appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day.

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Newsletter SignUp

Stephanie will be participating on several panels throughout the day at the festival. Please join us to find out what makes Ms. Draven’s books so irresistibly HOT!

For more information on Stephanie’s panels, please visit the festival website. Stephanie also writes historical fiction as Stephanie Dray. Check them both out.

http://www.frederickbookfestival.com/Programming___Schedule.html

REVIEWS

“Sweet, sexy, angsty, lovely. It Stings So Sweet paints a vivid picture of twenties-era lust. Stephanie Draven is the cat’s pajamas and the bee’s knees. I loved it!” – Megan Hart, New York Times Bestselling author

“Nuanced, complex characters who are both strikingly modern and very much of their time…The balance of sin and sweetness is as perfect as a Prohibition cocktail.” – RTBookReviews, Top Pick!

BLURB

They vibrated with incendiary Jazz. They teemed with sexual abandon. The Twenties were roaring and the women–young, open, rebellious, and willing–set the pace and pushed the limits with every man they met…

 In the aftermath of a wild, liquor-soaked party, three women from very different social classes are about to live out their forbidden desires.

Society girl, Nora Richardson’s passionate nature has always been a challenge to her ever-patient husband. Now he wants out of the marriage and she has just this one night to win him back. The catch? He wants to punish her for her bad behavior. Nora is offended by her husband’s increasingly depraved demands, but as the night unfolds, she discovers her own true nature and that the line between pain and pleasure is very thin indeed.

Meanwhile, Clara Cartwright, sultry siren of the silent screen, is introduced to a mysterious WWI Flying Ace. If Clara, darling of the scandal sheets, knows anything, it’s men. And she’s known plenty. But none of them push her boundaries like the aviator, who lures her into a ménage with a stranger in a darkened cinema then steals her jaded heart.

Working class girl Sophie O’Brien has more important things on her mind than pleasures of the flesh. But when her playboy boss, the wealthy heir to the Aster family fortune, confronts her with her diary of secret sex fantasies, she could die of shame. To her surprise, he doesn’t fire her; instead, he dares her to re-enact her boldest fantasies and Sophie is utterly seduced.

One party serves as a catalyst of sexual awakening. And in an age when anything goes, three women discover that anything is possible…

 Buy IT STINGS SO SWEET

Barnes & Noble | Amazon | Kobo | Book Depository

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

STEPHANIE DRAVEN is a national bestselling and award-winning author of historical, paranormal, and contemporary romance. Her newest project, IT STINGS SO SWEET is a collection of 1920s historical erotic romances that celebrate sex, women, and the Jazz Age. Stephanie is currently a denizen of Baltimore, that city of ravens and purple night skies. She lives there with her favorite nocturnal creatures–three scheming cats and a deliciously wicked husband. And when she is not busy with dark domestic rituals, she writes her books.

 Buy Stephanie’s Books

Newsletter |Twitter |Website & Blog |Goodreads |Facebook

Linda is one of the featured authors at the Frederick Book Festival. Linda will be part of the panel reflecting on the fast changing environment of publishing industry and the trends of self-publishing.

Linda’s panel is from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM. Please join Linda and the many other authors at the E-ventplex the Home of the Great Frederick Fair. For address and direction please for to the festival website.

http://www.frederickbookfestival.com/Directions.html

Please welcome Linda to Romance with Flavor!

Growing up starry-eyed amid the ’70s, Linda Alexander began writing of well-known movie and TV stars, soon figuring out how to work fascinating details into biographies and novels. Since the early ‘80s, she’s written for magazines, newspapers, and websites. Credits include Soap Opera Update, Spotlight, Baton Rouge Advocate, Washington Times, and she has appeared on The Oprah Show. With six books now on the market—4 biographies, 2 dark, sexy suspense novels—and a few more due this year, characters live large in her head 24/7, forever talking to her. She always talks back, and conversations are always entertaining. She’s an adjunct faculty member at her local community college with a popular course, “Getting Into Character: How To Develop Your People.”
Linda’s made her biggest mark writing about classic Hollywood stars. In 2008, she published the life story of Golden Era movie star, Robert Taylor, Reluctant Witness: Robert Taylor, Hollywood, & Communism. In 2011, her current publisher, BearManor Media, brought out A Maverick Life: The Jack Kelly Story. Kelly co-starred in the ‘50s – ‘60s, still wildly-popular TV western, Maverick. Due in 2013: re-publication, with photos, of her Robert Taylor biography, as well as I Am Mr. Ed: Allan “Rocky” Lane Revealed, biography of the well-established B-movie cowboy actor who voiced TV’s infamous talking horse,Mr. Ed. Contact Linda at lindajalexander@gmail.com, and on Facebook or Twitter.
BLURB:
Jack Kelly, the man, was a child performer, son of New York model, Nan Kelly, brother of actress, Nancy Kelly, brother-in-law of actor Edmond O’Brien and cinematographer Fred Jackman, Jr. From 1957 until 1962, Jack Kelly, the actor, played James Garner’s brother on the TV show, Maverick. Truth is, he was on the show longer than Garner … and women would often say he was the reason they kept coming back for more. They still say that, even though the show’s been in re-runs for decades.

He was also a child star in the late 1930s, drove A Crooked Road with Mickey Rooney in 1954, went to Hell and Back with Audie Murphy in 1955, and took a trip to the Forbidden Planet in 1956 with Leslie Nielsen. In the late 1960s, he was on the cutting edge of Sale of The Century as the host, was able to Get Christie Love in 1975, and helped babysit the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew in 1977. Between the late 1950s and early 1970s, Jack Kelly played on virtually every episodic TV show that ever aired. All of this before he pseudo-retired from the small and large screen and served as a city councilman, and then the two-term mayor, of Huntington Beach, California. He was also a newspaper publisher.

Jack loved, and was loved by, some of the most beautiful women in Hollywood. He became a husband, and he would probably tell everyone that his greatest joy ever was in being a father.

A Maverick Life: The Jack Kelly Story is the first biography ever written about this underrated, talented actor, performer, bon vivant, and politician. The book covers his life from his earliest days through to his untimely death.

Jack Kelly really LIVED.

I know we don’t usually have children’s authors visiting us here at Romance with Flavor, but this is a special occasion. We’re celebrating the first annual Frederick Book Festival. Artie is the featured children’s author at the event. He has two wonderful children’s books I know any child will enjoy.

If you are in Frederick or surrounding area, stop by and say hello, maybe buy a book or two. Artie will be reading from his books at 11:00 AM and at 1:00 PM. Come join the fun. The children’s area will also have games and other activities for the kids.

The event is at the E-ventplex Home of the Great Frederick Fair. For address and directions please go to the festival website.

http://www.frederickbookfestival.com/Directions.html

Meet Artie Bennett and his fabulous books! 

Artie Bennett is the executive copy editor for a children’s book publisher and he writes a little on the side (but not the backside!).

Artie, who would be hailed as “the Dr. Seuss of your caboose,” wrote The Butt Book, his first “mature” work, which published in 2010. The Butt Book was showered with praise and won the prestigious Reuben Award for Book Illustration. His “number two” picture book, fittingly, is entitled Poopendous!  What more fertile topic could there be but poop!

Poopendous! has earned a bumper crop of great reviews, including this one in the Huffington Post: “For anyone who loved The Butt Book, you must immediately go and buy Artie Bennett’s follow-up, Poopendous! It appears there is no topic Mr. Bennett can’t make funny and educational.” The Show Me Librarian has weighed in with: “Bennett’s use of rhyme is excellent; his stanzas flow and exude joviality in a manner that few writers since Dr. Seuss have truly mastered. Simply put, these books are a joy.”

Artie was the youngest (at about age thirteen) person to originate and sell a crossword puzzle to the New York Times. He went on to sell several dailies and two large Sunday puzzles to the Times before he began college. It’s been downhill ever since.

He and his wife, Leah, live deep in the bowels of Brooklyn, New York, where he spends his spare time moving his car to satisfy the rigorous demands of alternate-side-of-the-street parking.

He is pleased to share the visionary promise of The Butt Book and Poopendous! with a wider audience.

Visit ArtieBennett.com . . . before someone else does!

  Poopendous!

 (Blue Apple Books, distributed by Random House, March 2012, 978-1-60905-190-7)

  *Cybils Award Nominee Non-Fiction*           Best Picture Book of Summer 2012 (Imagination Soup)

“You must immediately go out and buy Poopendous! It appears there is no topic Mr. Bennett can’t make funny and educational.” —The Huffington Post

“A rib-cracking, jaw-breaking, wildly entertaining picture book! READ THIS BOOK!” —Gathering Books

“If Dr. Seuss decided to write about bodily functions, he probably would have come up with something as zany as Poopendous!” —Children’s and Teens’ Book Connection

 The Butt Book

 (Bloomsbury, distributed by Macmillan, Jan. 2010, 978-1-59990-311-8)

 Winner of the Reuben Award for Book Illustration

“The funniest book I have ever read! Every elementary classroom should have a copy of this book, so it can be used to teach kids about that important part of the human body. This is what reading is all about, catching a child’s attention from the start, so he or she can fall in love with reading.” —Blogcritics

“One of those books that is a delight for both the child and the parent.” ¾BSC Kids

“An astounding tour de force!” ¾The Brooklyn Paper

Available wherever superfun books are sold!

Publisher: Midnight Ink

Date of Publication: March 2013

ISBN: 9780738735146

Number of pages: 336

Barnes and  Noble | Amazon | Indiebound | Amazon Canada | Amazon.UK

Book Description:

Mona McGregor’s To Do List:

• Make 20 13 potions/spells/charms

• Put girls to bed

• Help with Debbie’s wedding

• Lose 30 pounds before bachelorette auction

• Deal with the bleeding werewolf on doorstep

• Find out who wants me dead

• Prepare for supernatural summit

• Have a nervous breakdown

• Slay a damn demon

• Fall in love

With her to-do lists growing longer each day, the last thing Mona McGregor—High Priestess and owner of the Midnight Magic shop in Goodnight, Virginia—needs is a bleeding werewolf at her front door. Between raising her two nieces and leading a large coven of witches, Mona barely has time for anything else. Not even Guy, the handsome doctor who’s taken an interest in her.

But now there’s Adam Blue, the sexy beta werewolf of the Eastern Pack who’s been badly hurt, warning Mona that someone wants her dead. Hell’s bells! A demon is stalking her, and Mona starts to suspect her coven members and even her own family could be responsible for it. With two attractive men and a determined demon after her, Mona teams up with Adam to find out who really wants her dead.

…and who really wants her.

Giveaway!!!

Your chance to win one of five copies of What’s a Witch to do? by Jennifer Harlow. Enter to win through a Rafflecopter giveaway.

About the Author

Jennifer Harlow spent her restless childhood fighting with her three brothers and scaring the heck out of herself with horror movies and books. She grew up to earn a degree at the University of Virginia which she put to use as a radio DJ, crisis hotline volunteer, bookseller, lab assistant, wedding coordinator, and government investigator. Currently she calls Northern Virginia home but that restless itch is ever present. In her free time, she continues to scare the beejepers out of herself watching scary movies and opening her credit card bills.

http://www.jenniferharlowbooks.com

Tales From the Darkside Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Pinterest

Interview

Vivi: Jennifer, thanks for coming by so we can get to know you better! What inspires you to write?
Jennifer: Inspiration can come at anytime from anywhere. I’ve gotten inspiration from a conversation with my friend, a movie, a song on the radio. One second nothing, then poof! There’s a character or story I want to explore. The muse strikes at random.

Vivi: What are you currently reading?
Jennifer: I’m kind of obsessed with The Walking Dead. Not the show so much but the comics and Woodbury book. I’ve read them all twice.

Vivi: What would your heroine/hero say about the other?
Jennifer: Adam would say Mona was, “A hell of a woman.” Mona would say, “His smile is more addictive than meth.” They would both be right.

Vivi: Tell us about your favorite scene or chapter in the book.
Jennifer: The sex scene! I got to write my very first sex scene. The problem was that I wrote it when I was in the library, so I was totally paranoid people knew the filthy goings-ons in my brain and pen. Who knew a library could inspire such hotness, but it did.

Vivi: Ha ha ha, yes who knew indeed. How long did it take you to write and publish the book?
Jennifer: I churned What’s A Witch To Do? out in about six months, which was a new record, but it took three years from when I started to get published. Way better than last time when I started writing one and it took a decade to find a home. Being an author is not for the faint of heart.

Vivi: Wow that sounds like it was tough. What would you say is the most difficult part of the publishing industry?
Jennifer: The rejection. I’m an Amazon Best Selling author and I am still constantly being rejected from publishers to even book bloggers. Like with love, it only takes one, but damned if your lips don’t get sore and warty from kissing all those damn frogs.

Vivi: You would be voted most…?
Jennifer: …wise-assiest. I’ve got a gob on me. I cannot help but throw out witty one liners left, right, and center. I learned early on you make a person laugh, you’re golden. What can I say? My ass has always been wise.

Vivi: It’s a zombie apocalypse. What 3 things do you take with you to survive?
Jennifer: Wine, wine, and wine. I’d make it about a day in the zombie apocalypse, but when they were eating me, I’d be too soused to care.

Excerpt

Judging from the twenty voicemails, and house phone ringing off the hook, I’d say the demon woke up the whole town. Every witch he came within fifty feet of felt him. I know this because it’s in the book right in front of me Auntie Sara brought over. I sit at the kitchen table with Cora curled up in my lap as I scan the pages. She hasn’t let me go since I retrieved them from the office. Sophie was throwing ingredients into the cauldron as Cora watched. I think it was a protection spell. I just grabbed them and brought them downstairs with me into the kitchen where we’ve set up camp.

Adam hands Auntie Sara a cup of coffee, which she takes with shaky hands. Sophie sits across from me staring at her sister, face made of stone. Adam plops down in the empty chair beside me, sliding a coffee cup over. “Thank you,” I say.

He nods. “So…a demon. I thought they were just myths.”

“Says the werewolf,” I say with a crooked smile. It’s all I can muster right now.

“I cannot believe you lied to me,” Auntie Sara says to me.

I had no choice but to tell her everything. “I’m sorry.”

“What do you know about demons?” Adam asks me.

“Not a whole lot. It’s not something I ever thought would come up. They’re rare, at least the kind I think this one is.”

“There’s more than one type?” Adam asks.

“There’s the kind you summon and the kind that just sneaks through the dimensional cracks,” Auntie Sara instructs. “With the latter you get your basic demonic possession. They’re too weak, so they need a host body. The summoned kind is a specific demon. They have specific traits and powers, depending on who was called.”

“What do they look like?” Adam asks.

“Human,” Sophie says. All eyes dart to her in surprise. “He’ll look like whoever gave the blood for the ritual.” Auntie Sara, Adam, and I all share a concerned look, and Cora grasps me harder. “The murder of something innocent, usually an animal, helps open the doorway. It comes out of the portal, looking like a demon. It’s…” She shakes her head and winces. I get a chill. “It’s unnatural. It doesn’t belong here and can’t survive, so the witch gives her blood and it takes human form.” She looks down at the table away from our stares. “Um, it’ll look, sound, act, even bleed like us. I guess it sort of is us. Just…a little more. And powerful.”

“So it can be killed,” Adam says.

“It’s not as simple as that,” I say. “It’s like a psychic on steroids. If she summoned the demon in charge of fire it can make you spontaneously combust from twenty yards away. If it can read in its dimension, it can invade your mind and trap your consciousness inside yourself.”

“And it’s strong,” Sophie adds. “Probably as strong as you. And it heals fast too.”

My stomach clenches again. “What—what else do you know about them, honey?”

“People can’t tell what they are, but we can because we’re from here and they’re from there. They don’t like us because of it. And they don’t like it that they have to listen to the person who brought them here. But they only have to do one thing, and they’re free. We can trap them, though, with sigils and spells. They can’t hurt us then. Not even with their brains. And they don’t like certain smells, and silver hurts them real bad.”

“An—anything else, honey?” I ask, trying to keep my voice steady.

She just shrugs.

I clear my throat. “Okay um, girls why don’t you go in the living room and pop in a movie?”

Cora burrows deeper into my chest. “No, I don’t want to leave you,” she cries.

“I’ll be in here. I’ll be able to see you the whole time, okay?”

“Come on,” Sophie says as she stands. “We’ll watch Toy Story 3.”

I manage to extract the child from my body and get her to her feet. A stoic Sophie takes her hand and leads her into the living room. Oh hell, what on earth am I going to do? “Mona, how did she know all of that?” Auntie Sara asks. “You don’t think—”

“Auntie Sara, that is a not now question, okay?” The telephone starts ringing again, sending splinters into my already throbbing temples. “Can you just field calls for me?”

“And what am I supposed to tell them?”

“The truth?” My brain is swimming. I rub my temples to focus. “Tell them we’re having an emergency meeting in the morning, time and location in an e-mail to follow.”

“Okay,” Auntie Sara says as she stands. She grabs the portable phone and walks out.

I glance at the girls sitting on the couch, then at Adam. He plays with his cup but his weary eyes stay on me. “Are you okay?” he asks.

I don’t know what it is about those words, or maybe it’s his gentle expression, but I almost burst into tears. Tentatively, he places his hand over mine, squeezing it. No, not now. I gasp and cover my mouth but a few tears make it to my eyes. I shut them. Using all my willpower, I push them away. If I break now I won’t be able to pull myself together again, so I do what I do best. I swallow my emotions so deep an archeologist couldn’t find them. I pull my hand away and wipe the stray tears off my face. Problem. Fix the problem first. “Um, what did you find out from Cheyenne? What time did she get to the bar?”

“She was there when I got there at 10:30. We talked until about 12:30, when I walked her to her car. We woke at 4:30, so she had plenty of time to summon it.”

“What did she say?”

“About you? Not a lot. She thinks you’re prissy, unimaginative, and holier than thou. Her words, not mine.”

“I don’t give a shit what she thinks about my character flaws! In between the make-out sessions did she give you any indication she hates me enough to do all this?”

“I don’t know. I couldn’t get much out of her, I’m sorry.”

I stand, practically making the chair fall back. “Well, I can’t do much with sorry, can I?”

I can’t breathe in here. I need to breathe so I can think. I stalk into the backyard, taking in huge gulps of air. Instantly, I feel like a jerk. I can’t keep doing that. He is in no way, shape, or form deserving of mu ire.

Even still, a second later he steps outside to check on me. “Mona?”

“I’m sorry,” I say, “I’m so sorry. I don’t mean to speak to you like that, I really don’t. I’m not normally like this, I swear.”

“I know.”

“I have no idea what I’m doing, Adam. A killer? Now a demon too? What the hell am I going to do?”

“We’ll figure it out.”

“How? I can’t think. I can’t…” Shit, the tears are trying the damndest to get out. I take a ragged breath. “I am so scared.”

“I know.” He steps toward me, and the next thing I know his arms are around me, pulling me into his warm body. Dear goddess does this feel wonderful. He’s so solid and even smells good, like hyssop and soap. “I know,” he whispers. He simply holds me, my head on his shoulder and hand against his racing heart. I just want to melt into him. For a fleeting instant all the world fades except for me and him, and I can actually believe everything will be okay as long as he never lets me go.

But only for an instant. I’m too realistic for false hope. Lust, be gone. I pull away, my back straightening to gain some respectability back. “Thank you. That helped.”

“Happy to oblige,” he says, for some reason unable to look at me.

I step away and turn my back to him. Okay, I can think now. This is good. “So, um, I have a request to make of you.”

“Anything.”

I knew he’d say that. “I need you to take the girls away from here. Take them to Jason’s or your house or wherever, and keep them safe for me.”

“That’s not a good idea.”

I spin around. “The hell it isn’t! There is a fucking demon here to kill me!”

“Then you come with us.”

“I can’t! I can’t leave everyone here with a demon on the loose. Just take them and go!”

“I am not leaving you alone here!” he says with enough force to punch through a wall.

“This isn’t your fight.”

“Yeah, it is.”

“The game has changed. It’s far too dangerous around me now. Just take them and go! Please!”

“No. I made a promise and I take promises very seriously.”

I throw my arms up. “I absolve you! Take them and go!”

“No!” Sophie shouts from the door. I turn around as she leads her sister toward us. “If you send us away, we’ll just come right back! We will!” she says, voice shaking. “I can protect you! I can! I know what to do! Please!” She looks at Adam, eyes wild. “Don’t take us away. Please, don’t take us away.”

“Sophie—” I say, my voice breaking along with my heart.

“We are not going anywhere,” Adam says to Sophie. “I promise.”

“You can’t—” I say.

He grabs my arm and yanks me away from the girls, all but dragging me to the other side of the yard. “Now, you listen to me,” he says in a low voice. “You are letting your fear cloud your judgment, and you are scaring the hell out of those girls there. More than even the demon is. Is that what you want?”

“No, but—”

“We are not leaving, do you hear me? Do not mention it again.” He takes a deep breath to regain his composure. “Look, I know you’re used to doing everything on your own, but you cannot do this alone. You can’t. So, I am here to protect you and those girls so you don’t have to. But to do that, we all need to be here. Together. A cohesive unit working together. A pack, okay? And since you aren’t thinking clearly right now, I’ll do it for you. If you die, who will take care of them? They need to be near you, a strong you. If they go away, and you die, they will never ever recover. They have lost too damn much already.”

“It could kill them to get to me,” I whisper.

“Mona, if that thing wants them, and is as powerful as you say it is, it won’t matter where they are. It will find them and use them anyway. At least here they have you, and me, and an entire army of witches in this town to go through first. And I will die before I let anything happen to any of you. Do you believe me?”

I absolutely do. I shake my head.

“Good. Then trust me on this. Then we’re sticking together. We will be cautious, but we will not let fear rule our lives. We stick to the plan. We fortify this place and ourselves as best we can, we find who summoned this thing, and stop her. Together. You…and me. I am not going anywhere. I swear it to you.”

I have the strongest urge to hug him again, among other things I won’t admit to. He’s so sincere I can’t help but feel…relief. At least that’s what I think it is. It’s a new sensation. Take me awhile to get used to it. “Okay,” I whisper. “Okay.”

“Then let’s get started.” He turns away from me and walks over to the girls, picking up Cora as if it was the most natural thing and holding his hand out for Sophie. She looks at it, but after a second of indecision, puts her hand in his. He leads them inside, off to find a way to save my life.

This time I let the tears flow. Because I can.

* * *

Genre: Horror/Paranormal

Publisher: Damnation Books

ISBN: 9781615726783

ASIN:  B0087QFMA2

Number of pages: 136

Word Count: 41,500

Cover Artist: Dawne Dominique

Purchase: Amazon

Book Description:

Upon a dark and blood-filled hour, humanity’s doom will rise to power.

Werewolves are real. They haunt the woods of North America, feeding on the bodies of humans stupid enough to blunder across their paths. Once rogue and uncoordinated, the rise of their goddess Alsvinth has brought them all together, with one goal: destroy as much of the species as necessary to enslave them within meat farms, to feed the werewolf army taking over the world.

Olivia, a werewolf from western Canada, and her brother Charlie set out to kill the goddess and save humanity. But can the werewolf and human destroy the goddess’s power, or will she prevail and turn the planet into a wasteland?

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About the Author

An author living in Canberra, Australia, Holly Hunt writes a collection of works including Sci-fi, Fantasy, Horror and Romance. Currently undergoing an apprenticeship in Butchery, Holly spends her days off writing and watching superhero cartoons.

Holly lives with her partner, Matthew, in a two-bedroom unit crammed with comics and movie memorabilia. She dreams of one day owning a big garden, three dogs and a cat, and can’t wait until that day gets here.

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Interview

Vivi: Hi Holly, I’m happy to have you here with us today! So tell us, what are you currently reading?

Holly: Sherlock Holmes books. Seriously, have you read this stuff? Tres cool.

Vivi: You’ve got good taste! Who is your hero/heroine in real life?

Holly: I don’t really have a real-life hero… more like a hundred fictional ones. Almost every book I read with a strong hero and heroine in it earns a little honor in my world.

Vivi: If you had to sum the story or book up in three sentences, how would you describe it?

Holly: Pre-apocalyptic werewolves with a thirst for human blood, and a were with a hatred of her own kind. Really, what do you expect to happen?

Vivi: If you could change anything about the story, what would it be?

Holly: There’s not much I wouldn’t change. I am terrible like that, never satisfied. But others love the story the way it is, so…

Vivi: Good point. Tell us about your favorite scene or chapter in the book.

Holly: The opening scene is one of the few that I worked over and over to get it right. A wolf stalks a child in the forest, the child mistakes it for a dog, the wolf attacks, parents who read this have a small nightmare.

Vivi: I can see why they would! How long did it take you to write and publish the book?

Holly: About a month to write, about 2 years to get published. Again, I had a contract go under before someone else picked it up. Very annoying.

Vivi: What is the most difficult part of the publishing industry?

Holly: Getting someone interested enough to do more than take a cursory glance at your book before rejecting it. Especially if what makes your book special is closer to the second half of the book. But then, if you can’t get someone who is paid to read your work to actually read it, what chance to you have of getting people who buy the book to read and recommend?

Vivi: How did you decide on working with your publisher or determine to self-publish?

Holly: It’s a lot cheaper to go the old-fashioned way, and they help you out. That said, they also offer you only so many freedoms with your work – but don’t let that stop you asking.

Vivi: So, what’s your favorite food

Holly: Spaghetti bolognaise, or steak and chips.

Vivi: Tastey! What’s your favorite ice cream flavor

Holly: Chocolate!

Vivi: What’s the weirdest place you’ve ever been

Holly: Up a tree in the middle of the bush.

Vivi: It’s a zombie apocalypse. What 3 things do you take with you to survive?

Holly: Lots of water and canned foods, shotgun with a million pellets, and the intelligence to walk away from any other humans who will get me killed (I watch too much zombie stuff for people to equal safety).

Vivi: That last one is key! Well thank you for stopping through so we could get to know you and learn more about Blood Moon!

* * *

Short Excerpt

“Enough, Olivia,” a familiar voice hissed.

I stopped, shocked and scared to stillness. I started to cry as the goddess stood in the grass, kicking Charlie’s body aside and sauntering over to me.

“Thank you, children of the sky,” Alsvinth purred, resting a hand on the shoulder of each harpy. They let me go as she touched them. “My, Olivia. How you’ve grown.”

I was still. I couldn’t even think.

“Well, not really. You don’t age anymore, do you?” She grinned. “Like me, eternally beautiful.”

The creature in a woman’s skin touched my forehead, and I couldn’t even flinch from her cold, dead fingertips.

“No matter. You will become my second-in-charge. You have been so faithful as to convince the rogue to kill himself to strengthen me.” She kissed my forehead. “Dear Olivia,” she said as the obliviousness of her mind control took me, threw me to the wolves.

“You are mine.”

Genre: Paranormal Romance / Steampunk

Publisher: Kensington, Zebra

Date of Publication:  March 4, 2013

ISBN-10: 142012126X

ISBN-13: 978-1420121261

ASIN: B009L93H2E

Number of pages: 352 pages (also includes the ebook about Marley, The Inventor, for the first time in print in the back of this book)

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Book Description:

The Chosen: a prophecy older than dirt and more dangerous than death. Even as they perfected steam-powered gadgetry and rounded up varmints from Hell, the Jackson brothers didn’t believe in it. But when the chips are down, three brothers named for weapons aren’t going out without a fight…

A Walk On The Wild Side

Attorney by day, demon-hunter by night, Remington Jackson is used to being on the sunny side of the law, even in the Wild West. But it’s showdown time, and Remy and his brothers are getting desperate. They don’t have the relic they need to slam the door shut on evil—so Remy is going to have to find and steal part of it.

Enter China McGee, shapeshifter, thief, beauty, and current prisoner. When Remy offers her freedom in exchange for a little light-fingered help, she’s pretty sure she’s going to end the association with a good old-fashioned seductive double cross. But there’s something about fighting through a jungle full of Mayan ruins that makes you want to settle down together. China could change. Remy might be special. But none of that matters if the devil takes them all…

About the Author

The progeny of a slightly mad (NASA) scientist and a tea-drinking bibliophile who turned the family dining room into a library, Theresa Meyers learned early the value of a questioning mind, books and a good china teapot.

A former journalist and public relations officer, she found far more enjoyment using her writing skills to pen paranormal novels in the turret office of her Victorian home.

She’s spent nearly a quarter of a century with the boy who took her to the Prom, drinks tea with milk and sugar, is an adamant fan of the television show Supernatural, and has an indecent love of hats.

You can find her dabbling online on twitter at www.twitter.com/Theresa_Meyers or at www.theresameyers.com

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Tour Wide Giveaway

Enter by clicking the link below to win a $50 Amazon Gift Card, 2 signed sets of The Legend Chronicles (3 books each to 2 winners – US Shipping), 10 Signed copies of The Chosen (US Shipping)

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Interview

Vivi: So glad to have you here with us, Theresa! So what prompted you to begin writing?

Theresa: An idea that wouldn’t let go. I was drawing pictures of my characters and creating house plans for them when I was 17. That became the first historical romance I wrote.

Vivi: What inspires you to write?

Theresa: I don’t know that I’m inspired so much as driven. At one point, after I got kicked off the island in the third or fourth round of the American Title II contest (which was like the American Idol of books), I thought why am I doing this? I’ve got a successful PR firm, I could just walk away from this whole writing thing. It’s been almost 20 years I’ve been working at it. That lasted 30 minutes. Then I realized I was still going to have ideas rushing through my head and characters talking to me. That left me three options: a) share my ideas and characters with my friends to get them out of my head, b) pay for a therapist to listen to all my ideas and characters to get them out of my head or c) keep writing. Choice (a) meant I would likely lose all my friends and I didn’t want that. Choice (b) meant I was going to need to get another job to able to pay for all that therapy. So choice (c) was the easiest and most economical. I kept writing! It’s not so much I have to as I need to in order to keep myself happy and sane.

Vivi: Ha ha! I think I would have gone with (c) too. What drove you to write this book?

Theresa: The book contract. LOL. Okay, being serious, this was the third book in the trilogy. I’d been just waiting to write Remington’s story because I knew all along through writing the entire series he was going to end up with China. But what I didn’t know until I wrote book one was that China had been lovers with Remington’s brother Colt. That just added a whole different twist to this third story, where Remington is not only running against the clock to uncover the last piece of the Book of Legend to help save the world from being overrun by Darkin, but that he also is falling for his brother’s ex, who happens to be Darkin, a thief and the estranged daughter of his nemesis, the archdemon Rathe. Since the whole series to this point was leading up to the big western-style showdown at the Gates of Nyx, Hunters against Darkin, I knew that would have to be in this book as well. Let’s just say the results are explosive and the book ends with a bang. LOL.

Vivi: Are there any underlying themes or messages in your book?

Theresa: I think the theme through all my work is acceptance. In the case of The Chosen, it’s accepting that you can’t fix your family-you have to take them as they are. It’s also about accepting that people are more than they appear on the surface and you can’t make snap judgments about who they are and what they’ve done until you know the entire story.

Vivi: How long did it take you to write and publish the book?

Theresa: The Chosen took me about three months to write. I was on a very tight writing schedule and didn’t have a lot of wiggle room because I was working on back-to-back deadlines for three different publishers. In general it takes me about a week to plot the book and then anywhere from three to four months to write the book. I’ve written books a lot faster than that ( in as little as a month), and it’s also taken me as long as four years to write a book. You’d think it would get easier to pin this down as you write, but after 14 books it still varies for me depending upon what’s happening in my life and what other book demands I’m dealing with such as edits, copy proofs, marketing, speaking engagements, conferences, etc. As for the publishing part, I turned The Chosen in late July, worked on edits for it in August and it’ll be hitting the shelves in March. But that’s actually pretty fast for New York publishing. I’ve had it take two years from the time I turned a book in to when it would be released.

Vivi: Wow, 2 years! What advice would you give to new writers starting out?

Theresa: First, get a handle on WHY you want to publish. There are many different reasons people write. If your goal is to make a living at it, then you need to evaluate how to best do that and realize it’s going to be a huge commitment requiring more than two books a year. If, on the other hand, you are just writing to have people read your work, then you have other options you can look into. If you are doing it to ”tell your story”, then realize that everyone has a story to tell. You need to know what makes yours different enough and interesting enough to make it sell. Second, sit your butt in the chair and write. Don’t think you’ll get around to it someday. Start now. Make it happen today. Don’t waste time waiting for the perfect circumstances to write because they never happen – instead life happens and we just write through it. Third, realize that the idea part is something you can’t be taught, that’s the writer in you, but the craft is always something you can learn more about and improve on. There’s hundreds of great classes online through RWA chapters, places like WriterUniv.com and Savvyauthors.com. You can learn anything from plotting to characterization, dialog, layering and texturing, description, subplotting, world building, you name it! Invest in yourself and take some classes to constantly improve your writing.

Vivi: How many queries did you send out before you got a ‘yes’?

Theresa: You know, I’m not exactly sure, but the file holding all those one page rejection letters from agents and editors spanning 20 years is over six inches thick.

Fun Favs:
Vivi: Lets get to the fun stuff. What’s your favorite ice cream flavor

Theresa: That’s easy – Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia

Vivi: Can’t go wrong with Cherry Garcia! Favorite color?

Theresa: Tanzanite (which is a periwinkle blue)

Vivi: What’s the weirdest place you’ve ever been?

Theresa: In the catacombs of the Capuchin Monks in Palermo, Sicily (http://www.mummytombs.com/mummylocator/featured/catacomb.htm). It’s this huge winding maze of mummies in underground plastered catacombs dating back to the 1400s. There’s a section of virgins, dressed in their wedding gowns, a section of mummified children, the monks in their robes and even one who was so well preserved she literally looks like a little baby doll. Some are hanging on walls, others are laid out on shelves in the walls, it’s possibly the creepiest, most interesting place I’ve ever been. I’m just thankful that my family went along with me and that we went in the middle of the day and not at night!

Vivi: Theresa, it was a pleasure having you here. Thanks so much for stopping through!

Short Excerpt: The Chosen

“So how are you planning on getting me out of here? They’ve got a price on my head. And you ain’t a judge and now you’re stuck here in the pokey same as me.”

Remington Jackson’s eyes sparkled with a mix of mischief and determination. “You didn’t think I’d walk in here without an alternative exit plan, did you?” he pulled the right side of his jacket back to reveal not just a holstered revolver and gun belt filled with silvery bullets, but also a couple of glass vials of clear liquid topped with cork stoppers.

China snorted. “It’s gonna take a lot more than that little bit of water if you want to get through those adobe walls.”

He gave her an arch look. “It would, if it were water.” He picked up one vial, and glanced at her. “But considering it’s nitro glycerin, I’m assuming it’ll be much more effective. Toss that mattress up on its side and hunker down behind it for cover.” She didn’t question, just did as he said.

Remington crouched down behind the mattress with her in the corner of the cell, their backs to the bars as he threw the glass vial as hard as he could at the outer adobe wall, then ducked.

The explosion rocked the jail, sending down a shower of dust and chunks of brick. Miss McGee coughed, then frowned. “Blowing up the jail? That’s your solution?”

He shrugged. He really didn’t care what she thought of his methods. “It works.” His life wasn’t a black or white proposition. It was more like a smorgasbord. He took what he needed, when he needed it, to get the job done. Being a Hunter, even part time, meant he didn’t always have the luxury of doing things by the book.

Judging by the narrow-eyed look and pinched mouth on Miss McGee’s pretty face, he’d been right to bring the iron bracelet along as a precaution. Colt said she could change into many things, including a mountain lion, and he had no plans of getting shredded to pieces on the way back to Tombstone.

Remington didn’t waste any time. He hustled Miss McGee out of the jail as quickly as possible, helping her cross the rubble, aware that the sheriff and half the town would likely be on their heels at any moment.

They dashed around the outer edge of the jail, and waited for everyone to disappear inside. He grabbed hold of her hand. “Let’s go.”

He rushed to his horse, who was spooked by the explosion, and pulled the reigns from the hitching post.

China’s mouth dropped open. “How are we gonna get out of here quick on that? Don’t you have a mechanical horse like Colt?”

“No. Hate the damn thing. Now are you coming or not?”

China snapped her mouth closed and nodded. Remington mounted in one smooth swift motion, then hauled the Darkin up to sit in front of him. Well, really, given the confines of the saddle she sat more in his lap than in front of him. She was far softer than he’d anticipated. Somehow Miss McGee’s prickly exterior didn’t change how very feminine she felt. “Hold on to the pommel.” She gripped it hard and he grasped the reins in each hand.

“Is this really necessary?” she growled as he kicked the horse into motion.

“Until I have clear access to Diego Mendoza’s information, absolutely.” That was a half truth. He could have just taken whatever she’d gotten from the safety deposit box and left her there, but his gut had told him that wasn’t the safest path. And if there was one thing Remington did, it was always listen to his gut. Besides everything Colt had him meticulously research indicated a Darkin was needed to access the hiding place of the missing pieces of the Book. No, he didn’t intend on letting Miss McGee out of his sights any time soon.

He wheeled the horse around and sped up the hill, making quick tracks out of Bisbee before anyone figured out what had happened and where they’d gone. He didn’t stop or slow until Bisbee was out of sight over the rim of the hills.

“I can just give you the page. That’s all there was. No map. Not a decent one anyway. Just a bunch of squiggly lines. No place names. No directions.” With her right hand she reached beneath the edge of her leather jacket and pulled a folded page of yellowed paper from the breast pocket of her faded pale blue chambray shirt. “Here. Take it. Then you can just drop me off at the next town. Deal?”

Remington smiled. She was just as anxious to get away from him as she was to get back at Colt. He could tell by the nervous way she fidgeted. “No deal. How do I know that paper will lead me anywhere?”

She shrugged, the movement causing her back and the curve of her shoulders to rub up against his chest. Remington grit his teeth. He was a Hunter, not a monk, after all. And despite the taint of being Darkin, she was a beautiful creature.

“You don’t. But I don’t have anything else, so it doesn’t matter.”

“Oh, I think you have a bit more than that. You were working with Colt to help find the lost piece of the Book Diego knew about, weren’t you?”

She heaved a sigh. “I don’t know anything.”

“That’s not what Colt said.”

A fine tremor worked its way through her body. Remington wasn’t sure if it was anger or desire. There was an exceedingly fine dividing line between hate and love and it didn’t take a whole hell of a lot to push some folks from one to the other.

“Colt knows everything I do.”

“Yes, but he’s bent on finding Cadel’s piece of the Book my father hid. That means I’m collecting you so you can help him find the piece Diego is rumored to have uncovered.”

She twisted in his lap. The leather stretched across her finely curved ass was not nearly enough of a barrier between them. Remington grunted. China gazed up at him. “You’re trying to put the Book of Legend back together, aren’t you?”

They started down the rugged hills surrounding Bisbee and Remington weighed the option of telling her the truth vs. telling her only what he wanted her to know. His gut told him to trust her when every bit of Hunter training told him he was a fool to do so.

“Yes.”

Something changed in her eyes. A flash of silver, like lightning streaking across a stormy, cloud-covered sky. It was a breath-taking sight. “I’ll help you on one condition.”

Remington was tempted to tell her she wasn’t exactly in a position to bargain, but his curiosity got the better of him. In the courts sometimes what people told you when trying bargain, revealed far more about their intentions than they realized. “And what’s that?”

“If you do find all the pieces, I want to be there when you put it together.”

Remington frowned. “Why?”

“’Cause if what the Darkin legends say is true, it’s gonna be one hell of a show.”

In Remington’s opinion deals were made to be remade. He didn’t see the harm in agreeing to it if it could get the information Colt needed out of her. “Sounds like you have a personal stake in the matter. Is that true, Miss McGee?”

She shifted uneasily. “You’ve got your secrets, Hunter. I’ve got mine. Do we have a deal, or don’t we?”

* * *

Publisher: Crescent Moon Press

Word Count: 86,360

Book Description: 

Born into old money, Lily Ayres lives at Waverly, her family’s estate situated at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Paris, Virginia.  She is a strange, small, almost mute, young woman who has no idea that her father has given her to the Vampire King Krieger.  Walter Ayres is the King’s Keeper and part of a secret society of historians who unearth, preserve, and attempt to understand relics of long forgotten civilizations.

Lily has never felt comfortable in the human world, but after she suspiciously falls down a flight of stone steps, and is healed and claimed by Krieger, she realizes there is another world.  In this Other Realm she feels a sense of belonging, and begins to untwine the mysterious event which left her mentally and psychologically damaged.  When Walter disappears in England, Lily works with human and supernatural beings to uncover his whereabouts.  With each new discovery, she is pulled deeper into the vortex of magic, intrigue, and dark desires that permeates the supernatural world.  The revelations revealed unfold a story of deception and betrayal that threaten to tear the thin veil between the supernatural and human world asunder.

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About the Author

Rebecca Trogner lives in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, and frequently crosses the Blue Ridge Mountains that were the inspiration for Krieger’s home. She always dreamed of being a writer, but got sidetracked by the day-to-day adventures of life. With the encouragement of her family, she has finished her first novel and is currently writing the next book in The Last Keeper’s Daughter series. Rebecca lives with her husband and son, and a rescue dog named Giblet. To find out more about the author visit www.rebeccatrogner.com.

Website | Blog | Twitter: @RTrogner | Goodreads

Interview

Vivi: Thanks for meeting with us Rebecca, so what prompted you to begin writing?

Rebecca: I’ve always loved to read. One of my greatest pleasures is to open up a book and become completely lost in a story. I wanted to give back that experience to someone else.

Vivi: Is there a certain place that you love to write?

Rebecca: The Family room is where I do most my writing. The room is an open space with a back wall of windows that looks out into the woods. My favorite time to write is in the morning while the house is quiet and a big cup of coffee sitting next to me on the table.  For some reason, I write best when Giblet, my dog, is in the same room. He’s an odd muse especially since he’s a bit of a snorer!

Vivi: Dogs make great muses! What drove you to write this book?

Rebecca: I became intrigued with the idea of an ancient vampire befriending a young and innocent woman. I wanted Krieger to be comfortable in his vampire skin and Lily (human mostly) to be uncomfortable in hers. In most the books I’ve read, the vampire is a tortured soul and a human helps them to accept themselves, or feel redeemed. I wanted to flip that around and have Krieger help Lily find her place.

Vivi: Who was your favorite and least favorite character to write?

Rebecca: My favorite character to write was Detective Dale Hunter.  He’s a human that finds himself around all these supernatural creatures. It sounds crazy because I write his character, but he really cracks me up and I think there is a large dose of my sense of humor in him.

My least favorite character to write was Walter Ayres, Lily’s father. While I did empathize with him, and understood him to a point, I could never ever forgive him for his actions.

Vivi: How long did it take you to write and publish the book?

Rebecca: It felt like a long time, mainly because it was my first attempt at writing a book, so I futzed a lot with it. There was also a steep learning curve for me because I don’t have a writing background. I would say it took about two years to write The Last Keeper’s Daughter. The editing took about six months and then a few months until it was put on sale.

Vivi: What advice would you give to new writers starting out?

Rebecca: Write what you love.  Be in it for the long haul and don’t expect instant success. Take time to read books in all different genres. Realize that what you write today might not be what you want to write in the future, so be open to change and follow your whims. Be kind to yourself. Be fearless and reach out for your dreams.

Vivi: Wise words. How many queries did you send out before you got a ‘yes’?

Rebecca: A lot, so many that I lost count. I really didn’t expect to get a yes from anyone. My thought process was, and still is, that for every no you get now, there will be a yes later, so pay your dues and keep writing.

Vivi: What’s your favorite color?

Rebecca: Blood Red! I did write a book with vampires.

Vivi: So if there was a zombie apocalypse, what 3 things do you take with you to survive?

Rebecca: Twinkies – perfect food for quick energy and they will never, ever go bad. Good pair of shoes – you need something sturdy but flexible. Axe – I almost chose a gun, which would be less messy, but you might run out of bullets.

Vivi: Thanks for stopping by Rebecca, it was great to get to know you!