What is your “day” job if you are not a full-time author?
- I would love to be an astronaut. Float around in a space station, explore/discover distant worlds, possibly even colonize a planet. The math and physics, I'd have to get used to, but that would be a dream for me.
If you wrote a book about your life what would the title be?
- I don't think i could ever write a book like an autobiography. Technically, every book I write is about my life in some way, just in a poetic, fictional sense, so you could say each book is a different volume in what is essentially an autobiography. But I suppose if there was to be a universal title, I might choose something like "Asylum".
What is the hardest thing about being an author?
- Staying motivated, lack of inspiration, and distractions.
What is the best thing about being an author?
- When people read my work and are emotionally moved by it.
Have you ever been starstruck by meeting one of your favorite authors? If so who was it?
- I dont know if I was star struck because I was so young when it happened, but I met Shel Silverstein a few years before he died and even though I was shy and didn't say too much, it was a great experience.
What were some of your favorite books growing up?
- Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King, The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
What books are currently in your to be read pile?
- Dead Astronauts by Jeff Vandermeer, The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman, The Great and Secret Show by Clive Barker
Which do you prefer ebooks, print, or audiobooks?
- Print books. Nothing beats holding a physical book; the sound of the pages turning, the aroma of older books, and not needing a power source to be able to read it.
Swan Songs of Cygnus The Weight of Black Holes Vincent Hollow Genre: Poetry Publisher: Writers Republic Date of Publication: January 8, 2020
ISBN: 9781646201167 ISBN: 9781646202294 Number of pages: 154 Word Count:8275 words Cover Artist: Tom Nicosia
Tagline: "How far would you go?"
Book Description:
Side A: horizon
Mourning the death of his love. A bereaved astronaut signs up for a deep – space mission to reunite with her ghost.
Even if it means becoming a ghost himself. Traveling at the speed of light. The astronaut jettisons through the solar system. Pausing only to gaze at its celestial splendor.
Cast under the grandeur of the planetarium. Seeing her apparition in every sphere…
VINCENT HOLLOW is an astro-poet and interstellar storyteller living aboard the space vessel, Aquarius. Shooting from the star system to star system. Vincent spends his time gazing out into the universal abyss and the depths of himself where he hopes to find his place in the cosmos through the words he weaves in the fabric of spacetime.
- If you wrote a book about your life what would the title be? I’ve lived such a dramatic life starting from birth, it seriously takes 6 books to write my life story. I’ve written two so far in my series, Memoirs of a Bigamist’s Daughter: The Bigamist, My Father and House of Sticks, which only takes me to age 11, when my father abandoned us. I’m working part-time on the 3rd book, entitled After Daddy Left, which leaves me an orphan at 16. The next book I’m writing is After Mama Died. The last 2 books in the series are My Life as a Computer Scientist and My Life as a Web Developer. - What is the hardest thing about being an author? I’m prolific and being frustrated that I can’t write faster to complete all the books that I have planned or already partially written. - What is the best thing about being an author? Creating the story and hearing the characters speak to me. I have an outline and story, but the book astonished me as the pieces come together and surprise me. - Have you ever been starstruck by meeting one of your favorite authors? If so who was it?
I wasn’t star-struck, but I once met Tony Hillerman at an Albuquerque Restaurant. He had been my husband’s Journalism professor, and he was kind enough to give me a quote for my book Return of the Bones. Now, what I do regret is not going to one of George R.R. Martin’s book signings at Page 1 Books in Albuquerque. The store was like 15 minutes from my house, and I drove by it five days a week going to and from work. I had not read his books then. I’m now a big fan of Game of Thrones. - What book changed your life? The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux convinced me to become a writer. The book moved me to tears and angered me that Hollywood had turned a beautiful love story into a monstrous horror film. This was before Andrew Lloyd Weber did justice to the book. - What were some of your of favorite books growing up? I had such eclectic tastes from Gone with the Wind to the classics like Rebecca and Wuthering Heights. I was always in Honors English and we read all of the classics. I loved Charles Dickens. - What books are currently in your to be read pile? I used to read about 3 or 4 books a week but right now I don’t have a pile because I’ve got so many books I have to write. I’ve created the covers for all of them, like 35. - Which do you prefer ebooks, print, or audiobooks? I prefer print books for research and ebooks for entertainment. Lately, I’ve gotten into audiobooks, in so far as I’m having my older books narrated. I already had two and I’m releasing another then end of August. A narrator is currently narrating the first book in A Dysfunctional Family of Witches and then will begin The Witch with Nine Lives right after. The witches make the best audiobooks out of all of them. They’re fun to listen to. - If you could live inside the world of a book or series which world would it be and why? Well, the Twilight Series is interesting, but being a vampire forever in high school, and the stuff and the way they eat, yuck! I hated high school. I would like to live in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series. It would be pretty cool to hitchhike around the universe to different worlds. All you need is a towel, and you’re good to go.
The Witch with Nine Lives
A Dysfunctional Family of Witches
Book One
B. Austin
Genre: Paranormal, Urban, YA, Horror
Publisher: Spellbound Books
Date of Publication: 8/27/2020
ASIN: B08BHSJ2RW
Number of pages: 263
Word Count: 58,319
Cover Artist: B. Austin
Tagline: The Tie Between Two Powerful Sisters is Tested when Secrets, Lies and Magic is Revealed in a Dysfunctional Family of Witches.
Book Description:
Medea turns into a cat at night, due to her mother's curse. Her mother, Dima, has a shapeshifting stone. She is 130-years-old but appears to be 18, nearly the same age as her two daughters.
Nikki works as a maid, rather than in the family witchcraft business of fortune-telling, seances, and other witchery-for-hire. She was born a Marilyn-Monroe lookalike. Despite her beauty, jealousy eats away at Nikki because her mother and sister have magic. Nor is Nikki allowed near the books of spells, enchantments, and potions Dima stole from Russian monks.
Medea is tortured by a secret that can destroy the sisterly tie between her and Nikki.
Unknown to her family, Nikki, is developing a magical gift which she cannot control, a sorcery that will threaten Medea and pit two powerful sisters against each other.
Nikki held her
dead sister in her arms, a cat named Medea. It was only because of her youngest
daughter, well now her only daughter, that their mother attended this makeshift
funeral. Dima should be working. Luke Air Force Base in Glendale was open.
There was money to be made dancing with solders. Most paid good money for Dima
to gaze into a crystal ball and tell the men their futures.
Bah, this is a
waste of my time, having a funeral for Medea. Dima frowned at the dead
Abyssinian cat. The different-colored eyes were glazed over in death and the
tongue was hanging out. Dima turned her head away. She felt guilty for having
cast a spell on her oldest daughter to begin with. It was for her own good. She
may have been just a teenager, but the mafia wanted her dead.
Almost 24 hours
passed since Nikki found Medea dead in the backyard. The girl had run into the
house screaming, carrying her dead sister in her arms, the cat’s arms dangling
and the head hanging. The eyes were open and still. Nikki had been hysterical
until Dima slapped her.
Once more, Nikki
cried over her furry sister. The girl seemed to like her sister more now that
Medea was dead.
Dima yanked a
shapeshifting stone from her pocket. She ordered the stone to shapeshift into a
shovel. She then dug a small grave.
Nikki gently
placed her sister in the small, shallow grave.
The emotional
upset of seeing her eldest daughter lying dead with a pile of dirt beside the
open grave, caused Dima to transform from a sexy, 18-year-old to her true self,
a 130-year-old hag. Quick, she grabbed the shovel which then melted into her
hands and reformed as the shapeshifting stone. She clutched the stone and spun
until she was once more an 18-year-old beauty.
It was almost
midnight at the small, private Russian Molokan Cemetery located at 75th and
Maryland Avenue in Glendale, Arizona. There was a full moon, so there was
plenty of light shining on the grave.
“Why couldn’t we
have a coffin?” Nikki again asked.
“Your sister
always liked the dirt. Remember how she would dig with her claws?” Dima said.
“Yes, but that
was so she could use the bathroom outside,” Nikki pointed out.
“Well, you
really shouldn’t cry over a sister who used her tongue as toilet paper,” Dima
said. “Medea was inferior.”
Nikki glared at
her. “Medea was a cat because of you.”
“Well, if Medea
had not been an outdoor cat, but stayed indoors, she might have lived a few
years longer, if not for you,” Dima said.
Now, it was
Nikki’s turn to look guilty.
The moon moved
directly above them, signaling that it was now midnight.
Dima screeched
and pointed at the grave. Moonlight was shining on the cat, which had
transformed from a brown Abyssinian cat into a black kitten.
“Medea’s come
back to life!” Nikki clapped her hands with joy.
Dima, on the
other hand, was so shocked that she dropped Pompeii, her shapeshifting stone.
She again transformed from a young woman to an ancient one. Her boobs were
sagging past her waist. Her hair was but a few sparse white hairs. Dima lifted
her head so that she could see because her wrinkly eyelids blurred her vision,
not to mention the cataracts; oh, the cataracts, and the arthritis in her
gnarled hands. Her back was hunched over. Dima ached with more than a century
and a quarter of living, and none of it as the granddaughter of Catherine the
Great of Russia. Dima was born with signs that she would be a witch, which
freaked out her royal family, so her bastard mother threw her away.
Well, enough of
bad memories. Medea was reborn!
The kitten sat
up and stretched, arching its back. She wasn’t exactly a newborn kitten. Medea
appeared to be the size of a four-month-old kitten.
Dima stooped to
pick up the shapeshifting stone.
The kitten was
faster and jumped on the stone, sitting on the rock.
Dima jumped out
of the way because the kitten scratched at her ankles.
Dima growled low
in her throat. “I see dying hasn’t improved your bad manners, Medea. You are
still headstrong though you must weigh all of three pounds. Move, or I’ll smack
you with a newspaper.”
Seventeen cats,
some old, some young, surrounded them, hissing at Dima. Of course, the cats
attended Medea’s funeral. She was their leader.
Traitors, Dima
thought. The older cats had once been loyal to her, but that was before she
turned her daughter into a cat.
Dima took a step
back. Medea may have been reborn as a black cat, but her eyes were still the
same, one eye being amber in color and the other eye emerald-green. The two
different colors were a sign of magic. Medea was still a witch and power still
flowed in her kitty veins.
The kitten
laughed. “Come now, mother,” Medea said in a kittenish, human voice. Medea
apparently had the memories of her past life. “It won’t hurt you to stay your
own age, for an hour or so. This is my wish for my birthday.”
“You don’t get a
second birthday,” Dima snarled.
“Yes, she does,”
Nikki protested. “Medea has now been born twice.”
About the Author:
Belinda has fun creating both researched and original magic in her books. She grew up in New Mexico, a Southwestern state known as the Land of Enchantment with a long history of Native American and Spanish witchcraft. Growing up, she heard spell-binding tales about magic and real witches, magic sometimes witnessed by family members. Belinda has a friend in Albuquerque who is a modern-day witch. Belinda is a former Software Engineer / Web Applications Developer. She has a degree in Applied Mathematics. She did not have to do research when it comes to dysfunctional families. Her father was a bigamist with two wives and two sets of children.
- What is your “day” job if you are not a full-time author? I’m an IT Consultant. I love working with organizations in helping them with leadership, communication, Software Quality Assurance, Agile Training and more. Because it can be stressful, I love to write and use my creative side. It’s like a yin/yang with me between IT and Writing. - If you wrote a book about your life what would the title be? I would have to say the title would be “Born Through Legends” - What is the hardest thing about being an author? The hardest thing about being an author is dealing with the writer’s block or sometimes the needed time to pause for a moment to gain perspective to continue the journey. There are times when I start one of my characters a certain way and as that character develops, I feel the need to evolve them in something more or different. It’s like the character grows with me, as I grow. - What is the best thing about being an author? The best thing I have to say about being an author is really developing a storyline that fans would love. I love the idea of creating a world that would come to life for my fans so that they can perhaps escape into that world. - Have you ever been starstruck by meeting one of your favorite authors? If so who was it? I haven’t had the pleasure yet of meeting one of my favorite authors, but I was in process of going to meet Andrew Gross before COVID 19 struck as he was here in Florida for book appearance. There are so many I would love to meet and hope to one day. - What book changed your life? Oh my, please don’t laugh. I have loved the book “Atlas of World History” ever since I read it. Combine that with Edith Hamilton’s book on Mythology, I have been forever changed with a love of history and mythology. Sometimes, I just re-read them for fun. But these two opened up other worlds in reading for me that just expanded on my life. - What were your some of favorite books growing up? I love anything to do with Camelot, Kings and Queens (especially the Tudor History, Romanov History), and action books. - What books are currently in your to be read pile? I just started reading “Dreadnought: Britain, Germany and the Coming of the Great War” by Robert K. Massie. - Which do you prefer ebooks, print, or audiobooks? I must honestly say that I prefer print books. There’s something about the feel of the paper while you read. - If you could live inside the world of a book or series which world would it be and why? It’s funny because it’s not something I mentioned before in this interview, but I would love to be part of Chris Kuzneski’s Payne and Jones’ world. These two men not only save the world, but they make jokes while doing so. It brings a light of humor in a dark situation and that is sometimes what we need in this world.
Queen’s Ascension Blood Prophecy Book Three Barb Jones Genre: Paranormal Publisher: World Castle Date of Publication: August 17, 2020 ISBN:9781953271013 ISBN:9781953271020 ASIN: B08DKK66PM Number of pages: 236 pages Word Count: 86107 words
Cover Artist: Steven J. Catizone
Tagline: Bloodshed. Heartbreak. Revelation.
Book Description:
When the darkness was compelling and the heart knew no bounds, was there really a right choice? With Michael’s life hanging in the balance, Amber had a choice: save her star-fated love or keep on the crusade to unite the magical community.
For Amber, her fate was sealed even before her birth and it was her destiny to fight the great battle ahead of her. But, when it came to her heart -- her friends, her great love -- Amber’s torn. Not only was she the Queen, but she was a human in every sense of the word. She was vulnerable. And so the very people -- Chloe and Michael -- that gave her strength, quickly became her weakness. It wasn’t her fault she loved too much, was it?
Nevertheless, the Tall Dark Man had set a plan in motion that could threaten the very existence of the Blood Prophecy. Would he gather his dark forces and succeed in destroying Amber once and for all? Or, would she assemble her powerful friends and save the world?
With the
betterment of both Michael and Rae, Malakai was glad that they were well and
fine; nevertheless, he needed some time to decompress. All the magical
commotions that had occurred were too overwhelming for him. He needed some sort
of release.
He enjoyed the
brisk jog in the park, as he cut through the sharp wind of the cold night. But
this did nothing to lift his spirits. He was happy that Amber’s smile finally
met her eyes. That was all he’d ever wanted for her: happiness, that’s it.
There was nothing more he could ask for—she was his priority. Yet, in the back
of his mind, as in his heart, he couldn’t help but believe the ancient legend
that he’d heard so long ago was the certifiable truth, as it was written in
Eschmun’s scroll.
…her fate is
tied to the true alpha of the wolves. A blood drinker will stand formidable,
but it is the nature of the child to call upon the true alpha and bring him to
the queen’s inner heart.
Could this be
the truth? he often wondered as he traveled the world collecting artifacts and
evidence supporting this notion. Yes, he’d crafted a reliquary, quite
accidentally, and people assumed it was to keep the magic insulated, away from
the humans. But that wasn’t the case, at least not for him. He so wanted to believe, just from the sheer
fact that it was said in the scroll. But Malakai was a man of logic, driven by
cold hard data. Although wanting to romanticize that his destiny was tied with
Amber’s, he needed confirmation. He wanted validation for the strong emotions
he was feeling.
***
Zaraquel,
Seattle, Present Day
Walking the
cemetery grounds as she so often did without the knowledge of her parents,
Zaraquel wandered at a leisurely pace. She whipped out her phone and checked
the time, which read midnight. Her brow quirked in confusion, as she had expected
Loquiel some time ago. With her long hair styled in two braids and her bright
red coat to keep her warm, she sat down on a bench.
She was elated
that her best friend, other than the one that was currently running late, was
alive and breathing. Rae had given Zaraquel a terrible fright, for she had
never known the death of someone close to her heart. She shook, not from the
cold, but from remembering the tragic vision she had of Rae’s demise.
A throaty growl
awoke her from her thoughts. She heard the fast footfalls of someone,
something, running toward her, and she put her fight training to use. Zaraquel
spun around, so much so that her wings unfurled. But that did not deter the
undead man from attacking her. His decaying flesh was a sight she instantly
wished she could unsee, but she had to fulfill her duty and protect the people,
which meant ridding the world of this monster.
She punched him
in the stomach as her father had taught her, but that did nothing to stop him
from throwing his fists at her. She dodged his poor attempts at aiming for her
and grabbed his arm, twisting him around so he fell to his knees. Her weight on
his back caused the corpse to fall to the ground. It growled in anger, shaking
its head savagely, as if it couldn’t wait to get back to its feet. Zaraquel,
however, had plans of her own. She stood briefly to step on his neck to keep
him from moving, and whispered a spell she’d learned from a book.
“Capite
obtruncato intestinisque extractis.”
She heard the
cracking of his bones, the stretching of his skin; with a pop! his head flew
off, gore spattering in every direction. His body went limp, as it was before
he had risen from the ground.
Zaraquel sighed
in frustration as she walked off, disappointed from another unnecessary and unjustified
kill. She continued to walk the grounds and felt a rush of warm wind, the kind
she felt every time Loquiel was near. She turned and there he was, right behind
her.
About the Author:
Barb Jones was born in Hawaii, a place rich with culture and storytellers. As a little girl, scary tales about vampires, werewolves, angels, demons, and witches were her favorite kind — much to her mother's dismay. Her love for the supernatural never went away, even after moving to Seattle, far from Hawaii's majestic beaches with unusual colors. Despite the unmatched beauty in Hawaii, Seattle stole Barb’s heart and it’s here where her stories took on a new form, in a book of her own: The Adventures of Little Arthur and Merlin the Magnificent. Then, the idea for The Blood Prophecy came while she was sleeping. In a dream, Barb saw a unique storyline involving all the races and an epic battle of good versus evil. It was a modern-day plot with a three-thousand-year-old prophecy, The Blood Prophecy. Barb finished the first book in 2014, The Queen's Destiny. Two years later, she released The Queen's Enemy, and the third book in the series, The Queen's Ascension, arrives on August 17, 2020. She is not only a paranormal thriller author but an IT professional and mother of two fantastic children. Today, she resides in Florida but is still a Seattle girl at heart.
I’m a book publicist. I set up virtual book tours,
events, and social media promotion for authors.
- If you wrote a book about your life what would the
title be?
Stuck in the Liminal
- What is the hardest thing about being an author?
Balancing time to both write and promote.
- What is the best thing about being an author?
Creating something out of nothing, starting with a
blank page and turning it into a book. Words are magic.
- Have you ever been star struck by meeting one of
your favorite authors? If so who was it?
Oh yes, several times. Some of the most notable are
Kim Harrison, Laurell K Hamilton and Jeaniene Frost.
When I met Jeaniene Frost and gave her my name to
sign my book, she said “Oh I’ve heard of you,” and I almost died. She had heard
of me!!!
- What book changed your life?
Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice is what really
started my love affair with vampires.
- What were your some of favorite books growing up?
I read everything I could get my hands on. Mysteries
and Gothic Romances were my favorites. I loved the Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, and
Trixie Beldon mysteries. I searched the
library stacks for anything that had ghosts, witches, and other paranormal
elements.
- What books are currently in your to be read pile?
So, so many. Currently I’m reading The Dresden Files
by Jim Butcher. All of them. Back to back, with a few other books in between so
I don’t burn out.
- Which do you prefer eBooks, print, or audio books?
Nothing beats the feel of a print book and I will
always cherish my print books but I’ve switched over to mainly eBooks now
because of my vision. Reading eBooks on my tablet’s Kindle app allows me to
read without any external light, I can adjust the backlight on the screen, and
I can enlarge the font for easy reading.
With beautiful full-color images to illustrate the tools needed, steps to follow, and final products, this book makes for the perfect gift for Halloween enthusiasts and party hosts alike!
Roxanne Rhoads is an author, book publicist, mixed media crafter, and lover of all things spooky.
Her books include the Amazon Bestseller Haunted Flint and Pumpkins and Party Themes : 50 DIY Designs to Bring Your Halloween Extravaganza to Life.
She is the owner of Bewitching Book Tours, a virtual book tour and social media marketing company. She operates a Halloween blog- A Bewitching Guide to Halloween and sells handcrafted jewelry, art, and home decor through her Etsy store- The Bewitching Cauldron.
When not reading or writing, Roxanne loves to craft, plan Halloween adventures, and search for unique vintage finds.
- What is your “day” job if you are not a full time
author?
I used to write safety manuals but I’d get into trouble when I’d write
about the worker and employer finding love in the operating procedures. Lol
just joking. I’m at home now and my time is split between family and writing.
- If you wrote a book about your life what would the
title be?
A Series of Unexpected Events, yes I know that one taken but my life
has been full of them.
- What is the hardest thing about being an author?
The interruptions and need for food and sleep. Also as an indie author, I think
marketing, it’s so foreign to me, like trying to learn how to speak squirrel,
it drives me a little nuts sometimes lol.
- What is the best thing about being an author?
It’s
so satisfying putting your ideas on paper and the sense of accomplishment when
a story is finally on paper, but even that is nothing to when a reader tells me
they enjoyed the story, that’s the goal
- Have you ever been starstruck by meeting one of
your favorite authors? If so who was it?
I’ve met author Tracy Posey Cooper.
She is very interesting to talk to and very helpful as well.
- What book changed your life?
To say just one book
changed my life would be unfair. To name just one of the many, I would say I
was inspired by James Allen’s As A Man Thinketh because it really brings home
the fact that our thoughts shape our reality.
- What were some of your favorite books growing up?
Mostly romance but I loved everything from the classics Charles Dickens Great
Expectations for example to Douglas Adam’s The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
- What books are currently in your to be read pile?
I’m currently reading A promise of Fire By Amanda Bouchet but then I plan to
read War (The Four Horsemen #2) There are a ton more but I haven’t gotten
around to listing them yet. If anyone has suggestions I’m looking for friends
on goodreads and would love to talk,
- Which do you prefer ebooks, print, or audiobooks?
I love them all. Print for reading in the tub, e-books because I can make the
font bigger, and audio because then I can multi-task.
- If you could live inside the world of a book or
series which world would it be and why?
Wow, there are so many worlds that
would be cool to visit. I know I’d want to stay away from any of Stephen King’s
books for obvious reasons. With my love of chocolate, Willie Wonka’s Chocolate
Factory comes to mind, but seriously who wouldn’t want to go to Harry Potter’s
Hogwart’s? Going to magic school while living in a magical castle would be so
exciting. I’d love to be a magical healer in a story but all the ones I’ve
read, there’s usually a war going on or the healer is locked away or persecuted
and on the run, so I stand by my first choices.
Thank you for having me here today, this has been
fun.
Caught
Sea Temptress Series
Book One
Kimberley Cale
Genre: Fantasy romance
ISBN: 978-1-7772821-0-3
ASIN: B08D7T8YSK
Number of pages: 155
Word Count: 58127
Cover Artist: Sharko Studios cover model Taylor Walker
Tagline: She was just supposed to be a myth. He was just supposed to be a stupid pirate. Who knew?
Book Description:
A vengeful pirate…
Ruthless pirate captain Quinn O’Connor is bent on getting revenge on the creatures who wrecked his ship and killed his crew. When he claims their leader as his captive, he doesn’t expect the scorching consequences that come with being stranded with her on a mysterious island.
A beautiful sea temptress…
Lorelei, a daughter of Poseidon, is willing to bargain with the dangerous pirate who captured her in order to save the ones she loves. He believes the worst of her and her kind, and when he drags her onto dry land, turning her beautiful tail into a pair of unsteady legs, she’s not sure if she’ll be able to return home—and soon she starts to wonder if she really wants to.
Magic and mayhem bring them together…
With each smoldering kiss, each heated touch, their desire blazes higher. Can they overcome misunderstandings and monstrous enemies seeking to tear them apart? Will a mermaid challenge her fate for the love of a pirate? Will the vengeful pirate give up his revenge and take on a god to save his mermaid?
He’d make her pay. He vowed it. Quinn sat with his unconscious prey in
the only remaining rowboat. With red-rimmed eyes, he watched as his ship, his
pride and joy, The Mayhem, was
consumed by fire. Yellow and orange flames blazed, creating a distorted tale of
fiery devastation on the dark waters, while billowing black smoke overshadowed
the star-studded sky above.
He would not look away, not from the sweltering heat of the flames,
nor from the acrid stench of burning oiled wood and sail. Not even the vile smell
of human flesh set afire could make him avert his gaze. He wanted to imprint
this sight into his brain, so when he was ready to punish the murderous little
creature he had captured and plucked from the sea, he would not falter. He
would remember and take measure for measure.
He stared at her now, and hatred raged in his heart. Her face, so
deceptively innocent, did not fool him. Relentlessly, he rowed towards the
little island not far off while his thoughts churned on the treachery of women.
Having once been played the fool by a pretty face in his checkered
past, he’d learnt a thing or two about women and their self-serving ways. He’d
almost paid the price by getting leg shackled to one until he’d discovered the
true extent of her devious nature.
Fortunately, he’d found her out before she’d been able to cause too
much damage.
The one taking up space in his rowboat had scuttled his ship and
succeeded in sending his crew on a one-way journey to Davy Jones’s Locker.
It gutted him to think of their lifeless bodies drifting down into a
watery grave while their murderer sat across from him, alive and well.
Quinn collapsed back into the bow of the rowboat. His weary mind
drifted back to before the mermaid had invaded his life. Memories took on a
dreamlike quality, taking him back to just before this nightmare started, as if
the events were occurring for the first time.
About the Author:
Kimberley Cale writes fantasy romance and is the author of the Sea Temptress Series and the epic Tales of Terraron. She has been a reading addict for as long as she can remember. While she enjoys reading anything and everything from historical, paranormal to contemporary novels, she has found her passion bringing her feisty heroines together with their bad boy heroes and adding a spark of magic to create fantastic page turning romance.
After visiting over half of the United States, Mexico, The Dominican, Europe and parts of Canada, she can honestly say the experience has broadened her perspective on other cultures and enlivened her already overactive imagination.
Her family will tell you that from the time she was a child she has rarely been without a journal in hand building worlds for her characters to live in and exciting obsoletes for them to overcome.
With a few college and online writing courses under her belt, Kimberley is constantly learning how to improve her writing craft online, While she worked for an insurance company, part of her job involved writing letters to claimants. These were sad tales that should have started with sorry for your loss. Later she worked in the safety industry and wrote many a safety manual for different companies. Unfortunately not one manual included an ounce of romance in it. Finally after years of research, which involved reading a great variety of romance novels well into the night, she decided to pursue her writing passion.
Kimberley’s other loves besides her awesome family include, trying unsuccessfully to keep the weeds out of her garden. So far verbal threats and hand gestures haven’t worked; still it’s a war she intends to win. She’s also obsessed with a streaming cup of hot chocolate; well chocolate of any kind really, there’s been talk amongst family and friends about an intervention. When she’s not writing you will find her snuggled next to her hubby searching Netflix for the latest epic movies.
More than anything else she loves hearing from her readers and makes it a priority to respond to any and all who are willing to take the time to send her a line.
Swan Songs of Cygnus
