Author Interview - Reckless Dreams by J.R. White #PNR #FantasyRomance #AuthorInterview

- What is your “day” job if you are not a full-time author?

I don’t have a day job, but once upon a time I was a fulltime freelance writer. There are times when I’ll pick up side work if needed. That can be anything from editing, formatting, graphic design or even yardwork.

- If you wrote a book about your life what would the title be?

“Almost There” might be the best title. I’m always trying to do better and improve myself and life for my family. Also, I forget my age a lot. Just today I found out I’m a year younger than I’ve thought for the last six months. So “Almost There but Not Quite” might be a good title too.

- What is the hardest thing about being an author?

Putting my stories out there. The marketing and the work that goes into polishing is hard, but really putting a story out there is so hard. There are critics and then there is always the chance that no one will read it, which can be harder than hearing from a critic. That fear is always there and is always the hardest to overcome.

- What is the best thing about being an author?

Same as above. When I put a new story out there and hear something great from a reader it’s amazing. Someone besides me likes what I created and enjoyed it. I haven’t found a better feeling as an author.

- Have you ever been star struck by meeting one of your favorite authors? If so who was it?  

No, but I would love to. There are a few authors that might leave me a stuttering fool. Anne Rice is a big one I would love to meet.

- What book changed your life?

Interview With The Vampire by Anne Rice. I read it in fifth grade and it was the first chapter book I read. Which sounds weird, but I’m dyslexic and the school I attended treated me like I just wasn’t intelligent enough to read anything beyond a picture book. When I was able to read and give a report on this book I was treated a lot more fairly in my classes. After Interview With The Vampire I moved to more “age appropriate” books.

- What were some of your favorite books growing up?

I read a lot of books by Anne Rice, Annette Curtis Klause and Mary Downing Hahn. Mostly paranormal and a lot of vampires.

- What books are currently in your to be read pile?

A lot, but I think next up is Waiting for an Earl Like You by Alexandra Hawkins and Wicked Nights by Nina Bangs.

- Which do you prefer ebooks, print, or audio books?

I don’t like audio books, but ebooks and print are both great choices for me when I read. 

- If you could live inside the world of a book or series which world would it be and why?

That’s a tough one. I think it would have to be the series by Jane Lindskold, Breaking the Wall.  These fantasy books focus on the magic of the zodiacs, but the world clearly includes magics from many different cultures. That seems really interesting and fun to me. 

Reckless Dreams

Stories from the Dream Realm 

Book One

J.R. White

Genre: Paranormal/Fantasy Romance

Date of Publication: March 15th, 2021

ASIN: B08X2XMNJ7

Number of pages: 265

Word Count: 54,000

Cover Artist: J.R. White

Tagline: Embrace Your Destiny in the Dream Realm

Book Description: 

The only thing Karlee Bolt has on her mind is her upcoming beach vacation, but her plans are derailed by dark shadows and a knight with a brilliant, bright light. Karlee is suddenly thrown into another realm and into a battle she has no way of fighting.

A Watcher by right, DjinnShay Court is a warrior that protects the balance between the realms. When the Dreamweaver is suddenly dropped into his lap, Court must change tactics. No longer a warrior that stands between the realms, he must now lead Karlee through the Dream Realm and show her there’s more to dreams than fantasy.

Amazon      Books2Read

Excerpt:

Before Karlee could get the next book on the shelf, a loud thunk made her jump. Spinning around to face the disturbance, she took a slow step forward. “Hello?” At first only silence answered her and then a distant click followed by another and then the sound echoed through the disorganized mess. She took another step, but it wasn’t until the lights illuminated the hallway clicked off that she realized what the sound was.

Backing away from the approaching darkness, Karlee turned to run. The clicking of the lights going out behind her grew louder. On the other side of the basement was the door that led outside and onto the street. She ran faster as her heart started to race. As the clicking grew louder and closer, she heard heavy feet hurrying along with it.

The lights directly above Karlee started to shatter. Sparks cascaded down on her and bounced across the floor. Making a quick turn, she could see the door just a few yards away, but just as she was closing the distance, she felt something tug at her hair. Letting out a shriek, she dashed towards the steps that led away from her tormentor. As one foot touched down on the stair, the other was yanked out from under her. She crashed into the wooden steps and felt a cold solid mass wrap itself around her ankle. It began to slither up her leg and she kicked out, desperately trying to clamber away.

There was nothing but darkness behind Karlee. Even the thing that held onto her and was scratching at her skin seemed to be made of shadows. She screamed as she felt the first hard tug. Reaching up, she grabbed the edge of the top step and held on. Another hard tug jerked her, nearly ripping her away from the relative safety of the stairs. Just when she thought her leg would be torn off, the door above her burst open and she was blinded by a brilliant flash of light shooting through the darkness.

“Be gone, shadow spawn!” a deep voice boomed, and Karlee felt the thick shadows jerk franticly away. Scrambling up the steps, she saw the shining man who had saved her and ran straight into his arms. A strong arm wrapped around her and she found herself tucked against the man’s side.

From beside the stranger, Karlee could see the source of the brilliant light. It radiated from a small stone he held in the palm of his hand. Beyond him, she could also see the illuminated darkness left in the library basement. The light allowed her to see the collection of books and the wreathing shadows that had chased her. Misshapen human shadows were wriggling in the light as if it was burning them. Staring at it, she felt fear rake over her, violently sending her heart into her throat and blocking the scream she couldn’t seem to conjure.

The man slammed the door, hiding the horrid sight from Karlee and in one smooth motion, took her hand and turned towards the road. “I have to get you out of here,” he said as he started to pull her away from the library and down the sidewalk.

About the Author: 

J. R. White has been telling stories for as long as she can remember. After her marriage in 2008 she found the freedom to dive headfirst into her personal world of fiction. Currently she lives in the Upstate of South Carolina with her family, where she fills her daughter’s head with fairy tales.

https://jrwhite-author.com/

https://twitter.com/jrwhite84

https://amzn.to/386V8mE

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7135923.J_R_White

 

Guest Blog- Secrets of the Mermaid by Catherine Stine #UrbanFantasyRomance #GuestBlog

 

The Care and Feeding of Indigo Rain, in her own words

From Secrets of the Mermaid by Catherine Stine

I’m a mermaid, so I love to go for long swims undersea. My favorite destination is to Coralline Crest, where I can be alone to do somersaults, search in the coral beds and kelp for sea glass, and then lounge on a rock crest and daydream about one day having my own love, my own merbabies.

I’m also a scientist and I study merfolk migrations and tribes. Recently, I uncovered a burial tablet with merfolk pictograms I could not identify. I live to discover new things like this and…

…the mysterious round orb I found near it. I hid the orb in my basement. I sense it needs protecting, though I’m not sure why. It’s not as if I love to keep secrets but it’s essential!

If I live in a house, I must have a private slide to the sea, and I do.

I love sea glass and collect tons of it. Then I haul it up from the ocean floor and build mountainous sculptures. Their glimmery, twinkly surfaces make me irrationally happy and help me endure my time living on land in a human house.

I have another secret. I have a crush on a merman named Bay. He’s a rake and a rival, who works with me on Pyreshore. He’s a royal, and I’m a commoner. He’s pledged to another royal mermaid. We’re either going to destroy each other in relentless competition, or I’m going to get him. Somehow.

Secrets of the Mermaid

The Keepers of Knowledge

Book Six

Catherine Stine

Genre: Urban Fantasy Romance

Publisher: Konjur Road Press

Date of Publication: March 15, 2021

ASIN: B08QJSB14G

Number of pages: 221

Word Count: 50k

Cover Artist: Dark Unicorn Designs

Book Description:

Meet Indigo Rain, a beautiful but lonely mermaid. Regretful of a dark past, she has vowed to remain alone and research ancient merfolk tribes. When she unearths a seabed burial site that even she cannot identify, she shares this with a High Council merfolk historian. But she keeps one shocking secret to herself.

Bay Finley is the flirty, dashing Royal merfolk Keeper assigned to teach Indigo on Pyreshore, a glamoured city of supernaturals tasked with keeping invaluable knowledge alive. Indigo thinks Bay is a know-it-all. She also thinks he’s dangerously handsome. He’s engaged to Abigail Torrent, a Royal, unlike Indigo, but he’s spending time with Indigo in the lab…

Indigo has three quests: Uncover the mystery of the burial tablet, resist falling in love, and never, ever reveal her biggest secret, even to the Keepers.

Some secrets heal, some kill. Other secrets change life as we know it.

10 books, 10 authors, 10 keepers, 1 shared world. Read in any order!

Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/T_BTtdxuLSk

Amazon

Excerpt: 

They plunged downward. Indigo felt the transformative rush as her legs changed to a single tailfin, and her hips and below became a sheen of golden scales. She breathed in water and wriggled her way downward. As she did, she stole peeks at Bay. His merman patterns, like ruddy tribal tattoos, emerged along his jawline, down his muscled arms and on both sides of his lean torso. His scales, a rusty gold, matched the patterns on his skin, and glittered brightly against the darker waters like the sea-glass she so loved. His chest and abs seemed to swell and flex at the same time with the strength of a Poseidon, the grace of a marathon swimmer, the glory of a merman Royal in his prime. She forced herself to look away, and to concentrate on seeking out the tablets, whether they were the nano-synth ones, more of the type in that hidden burial chamber, or another type of artifact altogether.

They swam a good way around the outer perimeter, and found nothing of note except for a shattered belt-pack, most likely from the mining accident. She left it there. A little farther on Bay found a cracked human skull. Indigo was sure this was also from a miner, fatally injured in the blast.

She and Bay dug a plot and buried the thing, after she argued that it would be a dishonor to the human dead to ferry it to Pyreshore. “I witnessed that accident,” she explained to him. “There’s nothing more to learn from a human miner’s cracked skull. We’re here for the merfolk.”

He agreed. Halfway around the next perimeter, Bay found another synth plaque, half buried in a whorl of sand and shattered shells. He gingerly slid it in his pack. They gave each other the thumbs up and carried on. For another hour, they worked their way around the crest until they reached the chasm itself. The sight made Indigo shudder. It wasn’t that there was anything visually horrific about the opening, with its piles of sand mixed with shell and coral shards. It was its energy—pulling them toward it as if subterranean demons were sucking them in, famished enough to gulp them down whole. As if this gaping wound was the dark force of what humans called Hell—an eternal, cursed tunnel lined with sticky, deadly evil. 

Bay tread water near its edge. Trepidation was etched on his face. “What if… we dove down and explored this damn hellhole together?”

So he connected it with hell too. He must feel the force, luring them both in. “You sure, Bay? Only a week ago I hauled you up, half dead, from this site. You were hooked up to all kinds of wires in the hospital, remember?”

“I’ll never forget.” Their eyes met in a question, followed by a resolve.

Something else was on Indigo’s mind. She realized, as she undulated closer to the chasm, that she had harbored her own plans to head back as soon as she gathered the courage, to explore the hidden alcove inside the wall of the burial chamber where she’d found the orb.

The orb… what was it exactly? Why did it have its own tiny room? Why was the wall there like a mollusk that grew and shrank? How was it connected to the supposed merfolk coffins? Or was it pure coincidence they existed side by side? She didn’t want to lie to Bay anymore. But she wasn’t ready to spill her guts about the orb’s existence with him either. There were still too many questions.

“So, are we doing this?” He nodded toward the abyss.

“Yeah, we’re doing this. But of one of us gets badly mauled, or worse, the other will haul both of our tailfins up and out of there. And if you see the phantom fish or hear screams in languages you don’t understand you’ll tell me. You won’t just chalk it up to volcanic pressure. Agree?”

“Okay, sure. I’ll keep an open mind. Let’s head down together. As allies.” With this, he held out his hand. 

She took it. His palm gripping hers was electric, and they thundered down in a flurry of bubbles.

About the Author:

Catherine Stine is a USA Today bestselling author of paranormal, urban and historical fantasy with romance. Witch of the Wild Beasts won a second prize in the Romance Writers of America’s Sheila Contest. Other novels have earned Indie Notable awards and New York Public Library Best Books for Teens. She lives in New York State and grew up in Philadelphia. Before writing novels, she was a painter and fabric designer. She’s a visual author when it comes to scenes, and sees writing as painting with words. She loves edgy thrills, perhaps because her dad read Edgar Allen Poe tales to her as a child. Catherine loves spending time with her beagle Benny, writing about supernatural creatures, gardening and meeting readers at book fests.

Website: http://catherinestine.com/wp/

TikTok: @catherinestine7

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/kitsy84557/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kitsy84557

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/catherine-stine

Subscribe to Catherine’s Newsletter: 

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Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1018139.Catherine_Stine

Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/Catherine-Stine/e/B001H9TXJC

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorcatherinestine/

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Author Interview- The Scavenger: Book One of The Hopps Town Series by Aidan Lucid #Horror #AuthorInterview

 

- What is your “day” job if you are not a full time author?

I currently offer a manuscript critiquing service. –www.aidanlucidauthor.com/services.php

- If you wrote a book about your life what would the title be?

The Man Behind the Mask. Why I would choose that title is because I was born with a very rare genetic disorder called, Moebius Syndrome. My face is paralysed due to muscles being dormant since birth so I've often considered it a mask. But never have I left the syndrome get in the way of achieving my goals.

- What is the hardest thing about being an author?

Definitely marketing. If I won the lotto, hiring a PA to help promote my books would be top of the ‘to-do’ list.

- What is the best thing about being an author?

Creating or getting to meet new characters in the hope of enthralling readers with their stories taking place in fantastical lands.

- Have you ever been star-struck by meeting one of your favorite authors? If so who was it?

No, sadly I haven’t.

- What book changed your life?

The Da Vinci Code. In my opinion, that set the bar for all writers and it inspired me to be as good as Dan Brown. A tall order, I know. But for fantasy, I think it was a King Arthur novel I read as a kid. That fueled my imagination and got me hooked on medieval tales and heroes like Robin Hood, William Tell etc.

- What were some of your favorite books growing up?

King Arthur stories and books on Irish mythological heroes.

- What books are currently in your to-be-read pile?

Too many to count lol. Some David Baldacci novels, a few Elvis biographies along with some spiritual books too.

- Which do you prefer ebooks, print, or audiobooks?

Any of the three would suit me. Ebooks are especially useful and easier to carry if you’re travelling, though.

- If you could live inside the world of a book or series which world would it be and why?

I’d love to be inside Star Trek’s universe. Who wouldn’t want to be onboard a starship, zipping around from planet to planet and use food replicators. Think of all the washing-up it would save!

 

The Scavenger

The Hopps Town Series

Book One 

Aidan Lucid

Genre: Horror

Publisher: Jongleur Books

Date of Publication: January 10th, 2021.

ISBN: 979-8593579034

ASIN: B08SPZFVLX

Number of pages: 146

Word Count: Approx. 37000

Cover Artist: SmStudioinc 

Tagline: Three Separate Wishes. One Twisted Nightmare!

Book Description: 

Just like Hopps Town, their humble home, Jessica Barlow, Jared Duval, and Adrian Cole are fostering dark secrets. Plagued by loss, cruelty, and physical abuse, these friends are kindred spirits, bound by anguish and elusive dreams. They’re soon to find the key to change, but any happy future will demand they face a haunting past and brave a lethal present.

Deep in the forest on the outskirts of town, aging and nearly forgotten, there stands a well from another time. Happening upon this relic, Adrian goads his companions to join him in making a wish. Soon, difficult though it is to admit, their luckless lives do seem to shift. The only problem is, the changes aren’t at all as they’d imagined. Seemingly, they’ve only left the pan to face the fire.

Should they hope to both survive and thrive, they’ll need to pool their wits and draw on mystic inner-power. Solving Hopps Town’s greatest mystery now means life or death.

Amazon

Excerpt

After drying herself off, Jessica watched some TV in her room. As she flicked through the channels, she heard footsteps in the hallway.

“Is that you, mom?” There was no response. “Mom?” she called out again, but there was no answer.

Sighing, she got up and opened her bedroom door. Looking left and right, there was nobody around. “Mom?” Bertha didn’t respond. “Guess I must be hearing things.”

Laying back down on the bed, she picked up the remote.

Jessica rubbed her arms, now feeling cold. She felt a sudden chill in the room. She glanced at the window. It was closed and locked.

“Why is it so cold?”

As she stood up to get a warmer sweater, Jessica stopped. The girl swallowed hard and her heart thundered as her chair beside the door moved two inches...by itself.

“O...kay. That’s weird.” Approaching the chair cautiously, she pushed it back.

Opening the wardrobe door, she rummaged through all her sweaters. Jessica paused, hearing the wooden chair creak. Again her heart beat faster. Slowly, she half-closed the wardrobe door to take a look, even though every fiber in her being said not to. Shutting her eyes, the girl rattled off a quick prayer.

Turning around to face the chair, Jessica opened her eyes. She screamed as it now leaned forward, its two back legs high in the air. Tears threatened to drown her eyes as she jumped on the bed. Something dragged the chair across the room, stopping at the foot of her bed. It now fell back, resting on its four legs again.

Seizing her chance, Jessica bolted for the door. Just as she was about to make her exit, an invisible force slammed it shut. Jessica pulled at the handle, trying hard to open it.

“Come on, come on,” she said with a shaky breath, tears continuing to stream down her face. “Open, damn it!” When that didn’t work, Jessica banged on the door in desperation. “Mom, mom. Help!”

Her banging came to an abrupt halt when someone grabbed her ponytail, yanking it hard, pulling her to the ground. She cried out in pain as her back hit the ground hard. Ice cold fingers pulled up her sweater and t-shirt. Now they stroked and caressed her stomach.

“No, please, no!” The malevolent force ignored her pleas, continuing to crawl down towards her underwear.

Jessica wriggled and flailed her arms about to break free. Once more, she felt the acrid stench of a hot breath against her left ear.

“Get away from me, you sick bastard!”

She almost leaped off the floor when she heard his menacing Southern drawl, “You want me to leave you alone? Then forget about the well.” His ice-cold fingers no longer tugged at the waistband of her pajama bottoms.

The tight grip on her ponytail was gone. She waited a few seconds to see if Caleb had gone too. When the eerie icy atmosphere had lifted, she scrambled to her feet and ran to the bathroom. 

About the Author:

Since 2004, Aidan Lucid’s work has been published in national and international magazines, as well as various poetry anthologies. For a period of nine months in 2007, he was a film reviewer for the award-winning Irish newspaper, The Kerryman. From 2009 to 2017, Aidan was an assistant editor for Bewildering Stories e-zine. Lucid began critiquing novels and short stories in 2018 and continues to do so. In October 2019, his debut YA fantasy novel, The Lost Son, was released.  

www.aidanlucidauthor.com

https://twitter.com/thezargothian

https://www.instagram.com/zargothianauthor/

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New Release : Mystic Invisible by Ryder Hunte Clancy #MagicalRealism #YA

New Release

Magic is forbidden. Legend will not be ignored.

Mystic Invisible

Ryder Hunte Clancy

Publisher : Winter Goose Publishing 

Paperback : 267 pages

ISBN-10 : 1952909058

ISBN-13 : 978-1952909054

Fifteen-year-old Monte moves to the mystically jeopardized Highlands of Scotland and discovers that life as a Celtic wizard is anything but easy.

Whisperings of abnormal enchantments and vicious cat siths grip the small town he now calls home. Fear is at the helm. The instigator is unknown.

And an indefinite moratorium on magic is enforced. In a race against darkness, Monte and his friends must choose who to trust before time runs out, even if it means breaking some rules and facing danger head on.

https://www.ryderhunteclancy.com/

https://amzn.to/3eYoEzo

Release Day Blitz Claw by Ellen Mint #PNR #ReverseHarem

Claw

Coven of Desire 

Book One

Ellen Mint

Genre: Reverse Harem, Paranormal

Publisher: Totally Bound

Date of Publication: March 16th

ISBN: 978-1-83943-489-1

ASIN: 

Number of pages: 308

Word Count: 76,000

Cover Artist: Erin Dameron-Hill

Tagline: He’s not your typical werewolf-next-door.

Book Description: 

Layla didn’t count on a sex demon appearing in her living room. Nor did she expect to find she’s a witch, tasked with protecting the mortal realm. And now her friend, fellow nursing student and impossible crush could be a potential killer? 

She’s silently lusted after Cal for a year, knowing a guy that hot, sweet, and kind wouldn’t look twice at her. All their flirting was innocent and went nowhere, until Ink—the incubus bound to her—ran into her life and bed. Next thing she knows, Cal’s growling at her while Ink flirts, and women are being ripped apart by wild animals. Couldn’t the murder monster mystery wait until after finals?

She wanted to be a nurse, not a paranormal investigator, but Layla has no choice. Apparently only witches can stop these creatures that she didn’t even know existed a month ago. But the deeper she digs, the more it looks like Cal’s deep in the middle of it all. How can she save her friend from the claws of a cult, keep her sex-craved demon happy and find a way to let both into her heart or bed?

Amazon     BN     Kobo     Apple 

Bookbub     Goodreads

Everyone who buys a copy of Claw at First for Romance will receive the short story Retail Hell free at First For Romance. 

Set between the events of Ink and Claw in the Coven of Desire series, Layla's workday from hell is interrupted by her personal sex demon. 

Get it HERE: https://www.firstforromance.com/book/claw

Excerpt:

“Please,” I whispered, praying there was a single note of compassion remaining inside the animal.

The icy gaze darted behind me. “You almost fell,” he said, drawing me to find the stack of crates I’d nearly crashed onto.

I wished that reassured me, that I wasn’t still staring deep into the eyes of a potential crazed animal, but he didn’t release his hold on my face. Cal raised his other hand, the fingers extended as if he expected claws to be on them. The palm drifted closer, my heart thundering for fear of where it was heading. To pierce my ribcage? Pry out my heart? Rip off an arm?

When it settled on my hip, I felt a macabre sense of disappointment. Until Calvin, always sweet but distant Calvin, brushed the full pad of his palm over my ass. A deep rumble rolled from his chest, which kept rising higher.

“Let me leave,” I whispered.

That killed his growl, his head shooting up and the eyes opening in surprise. But as he circled his lips with his tongue—which I’d never noticed was so long before—Calvin flexed his hold on me.

Oh god! I stumbled backward, my hands flying to find anything to grab. One latched on to his forearm, the arm with the fingers attached to my face. I could dig my own claws in, see if that shook him off.

But I’d found his den, sussed out his secret. No chance he’d let me walk away now.

“Ah!” I gasped, my back striking the wall. A picture frame jabbed into me, but I wasn’t in a position to complain. Cal pressed closer, first almost shoving his chest into mine, then his hips. His hand remained clamped over my chin. I kept picturing it sliding down to my throat to cut off my air. But he didn’t move it even while leaning nearer until he grazed the edge of my jaw with his teeth.

Shit. My legs wouldn’t stop trembling, my body wanting to fall to the ground and scamper away. But not all of it. Even as I hung on to his arm, my fingers toyed with the hard muscle clinging to me. With every swipe of his hips, the undeniable surge in his pants grew.

“Layla.” Calvin whispered my name as though he recognized me from across the street. I turned to him and he plunged his famished mouth over mine. Inescapable heat pulsed through me, Cal’s lips a hard snarl aching to own me. But the longer he kissed me, the softer they became. Almost tender and gentle, he slipped his tongue into my mouth. I answered back with mine. My body hummed with anticipation, my mind pleading for more. For me to taste all of him.

Loss. It flooded my senses and I opened my eyes to watch Calvin break off the kiss. His hand slipped from my face, though the other remained cradling my ass. Slowly, he licked his lips, causing a smile to twist across them. But he shook it off and said in a ragged voice, “You can go.”

“What?” I lost all focus, my head whipping to the side to see he’d kissed me right next to the door. He’d brought me to the door.

Calvin pulled in a slow breath and his smile turned winsome. “You asked to leave.”

Yes. I needed to get out. He could be a murderer. Except he’d been here that night…literally chained up. He’d chained himself up? To keep others safe? My heart fluttered at the idea and Calvin slunk back. He swiped at his neck like it was tough for him to breathe after our kiss. It tugged the sweater down, revealing a handful of blond chest hair begging to be freed.

He’s a werewolf.

Well, nobody’s perfect.

I fisted his hair, tugging his lips to mine while flattening my body against his. Cal grabbed on to my shirt and lifted it. But I wouldn’t stop kissing him, my lips craving his, my hands needing to run the length of his terrain. I worked under his sweater and swept my palm up his stomach. Abs, a tuft of soft hair, and…

Cal grabbed my arms by the wrists and raised them above my head. Our kiss broke, leaving me staring across the narrow gap into his burning ice eyes. He pulled in a breath, straining the knit weave of his sweater across his flexing muscles.

Locking my wrists together in one palm, he yanked my shirt up to my elbows. Only that blur of cotton broke our stare. Electricity crackled in the space between us. I watched Cal pull in air in anticipation of a marathon.

He unleashed my wrists, letting them drop to my sides as my shirt flew into the circular staircase. The energy was building, every micro-shift in my body zapping a strike from me to him, or vice versa. I felt them not as pain, but a shiver across my skin that I’d never known before.

“Gonna show me the goods, wolfman?” I asked, placing a hand to my hip.

 

About the Author:

Ellen Mint adores the adorkable heroes who charm with their shy smiles and heroines that pack a punch. She has a needy black lab named after Granny Weatherwax from Discworld. Sadly, her dog is more of a Magrat.

When she’s not writing imposing incubi or saucy aliens, she does silly things like make a tiny library full of her books. Her background is in genetics and she married a food scientist so the two of them nerd out over things like gut bacteria. She also loves gaming, particularly some of the bigger RPG titles. If you want to get her talking for hours, just bring up Dragon Age.

Website: https://ellenmint.blog/

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/ellen-mint

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/ellenmint      

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ellenmintromance

Newsletter Signup: https://mailchi.mp/b50df9613d8f/ellenmint

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Reader Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sinamints

Instagram: https://instagram.com/Ellen_Mint_Author

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Author Interview- Goddess of Everything by Paul DeBlassie III #ParanormalThriller #AuthorInterview

1. What is your day job if you are a full-time writer? 

I am a depth psychologist by day, one who treats the deep layers of the unconscious mind, from there drawing on dramatic stories that inspire my writing process. 

2. If you wrote a book about your life, what would the title be? 

A book about my life would be entitle Breaking On Through to the Other Side. It would be about crises and how they helped me break through to mystic dimensions that rocked my world and saved my life.

3. What is the hardest thing about being an author? 

Tough isn’t a word I associate with being a writer. I’ve been published for over thirty years, words and paragraphs and stories a psychedelic trip into mysterious realms – fantastic!

4. What is the best thing about being an author? 

The creative process in listening to the old men and women of metaphysical novels whisper in my ear as I write – a sensation of being transported into a zone beyond space and time as we know it.

5. Have you ever been star struck by meeting one of your favorite authors? 

Naaah. Not really. I’m too old to be star struck by anyone. It’s like Gabriel Garcia Marquez said when asked what he would do if he saw Hemmingway across the street, would he cross over and meet him? He said he would not, wouldn’t want Hemmingway’s writing to get confused by the man.

6. What book changed your life? 

Lots of books changed my life, still do. The one that pops to mind is a recent one by Stephen King, Doctor Sleep, a wondrous metaphysical tale that hones sensitivity to the paranormal and shifting energy states – a WOWZER kind of novel. One of his best!

7. What were some of your favorite books growing up? 

I loved the kid books by Twain and then I went to superhero comics like Superman, Batman, and Flash, then ripped into the metaphysical world on television with shows like The Twilight Zone.

8. What's in your to-read pile?

My to be read pile, I’m already dipping into with psyche tingling supernatural suspense in the Masquerade by Sarah England, Tree Magic by Iva Kenaz, Death Mage by Brad Magnarella, and New Orleans Dangerous by Eric Wilder.

9. What do you prefer ebooks, print, audio? 

I love both ebook and print but prefer indie ebooks for a good read at a good price – really don’t do audio.

10. If you could live inside of a book or a series what would it be and why? 

You know, I think Jim Butcher has done a paranormally inspired series with the DresdenFiles and Harry is my kind of guy.

Goddess of Everything

Paul DeBlassie III

Genre: Paranormal Thriller

Publisher: Hallowed Realms Press

Date of Publication: 2.11.20 

ISBN: 978-0-578-81368-4

ASIN: B08R13FQSH

Number of pages: 199

Word Count: 57,900

Cover Artist: Aaron C. Yeagle

Tagline: Goddess of Everything is a blood-curdling tale of the affection of one mother for her son and her son's struggle for truth, freedom, and love.

Book Description:

In the mystic land of Aztlan del Norte, a realm of supernatural happenings and unexpected turns of fate, psychiatric healer Gabriél de LaTierra encounters appalling evil within the Orphanage of the Holy Innocents. Children disappear for reasons kept secret by Mother Juana de la Cruz, Superior of the Nunnery and the Orphanage.

Love for Mother Juana, Gabriél's widowed mother turned religious superior, clouds her devoted son's mind. Consuela, Gabriél's wife, confronts his wall of denial. Torn between love for mother and wife, Gabriél turns inward.

It is Consuela who propels Gabriél's discovery of the nighttime blood sacrifice of children in the desert, a centuries-old ritual that imparts immortality to Mother and her nuns. Gabriél is further enraged by Mother Juana's vengeful attack on Consuela and her kidnapping of their four-year-old son, Cuauhtémoc. But his actions will determine whether Consuela and Cuauhtémoc live or die, and the fate of Mother Juana de la Cruz.

Goddess of Everything is a blood-curdling tale of the affection of one mother for her son and her son's struggle for truth, freedom, and love.

Amazon

Excerpt

His mother wailed again. Nighttime darkness continued to descend, and the wind stayed its brutal course at Father’s funeral. Mother Juana hadn’t noticed the spirit of a man cloaked in light beside Gabriél. He wasn’t Gabriél’s father. He was more than a man; he was everything that Father was and more. Through the corner of his eyes, Gabriél saw the white-bearded old man. In many ways, in many forms, I will come. The words were close as heartbeats and breath. He knew if he turned and looked directly at him, the man would disappear. The light was intense, like rays of the sun. The old man had something to say.

Suddenly, unclean sounds went into Gabriél’s ears and chest—crackling and squealing voices rising from under the earth and into his body, trying to block out the lingering presence of the old man and his words. Like a god, the white-bearded man lifted his right hand, fingers spread. The noise went up from the ground into his palm, a mighty hand with powerful magic.

Gabriél’s mind became silent as a windless autumn night, magic making him still inside, just like he was when in his bedroom reading alone. The old man was strong and made what was bad cease. Even as the underworld racket stopped, the graveyard winds kept up their awful screams.

The quiet of the man and the moment wrapped strong and warm arms around Gabriél. Invisibility stood guard around the old man. Mother could not see him. No one could see him. He was there only for Gabriél. He bent down beside Gabriél and touched his shoulder. A crystal clear calm made the shrieking wind and the crying women and the priest’s strange prayers seem far, far away.

Mother’s red hair blew in the wind like it was on fire. It didn’t scare Gabriél because of the old man, his warm and solid hands steady on Gabriél’s shoulders. His kind eyes said he was ten thousand times ten-thousand-years old. His mother’s red hair and shrieking prayers no longer scared him.

Then the old man spoke, and through Gabriél’s mind sent a message, LISTEN... WHEN THE DAY GOES AWAY AND THE NIGHT COMES, REMEMBER I AM HERE. He touched Gabriél’s heart. LISTEN.

Gabriél’s mother abruptly glanced down at him. He looked into her eyes and knew she hadn’t heard the old man, but she had a squint in her eyes. Her eyes glowed red, and the old man’s hands did not move from Gabriél’s shoulders.

Big branches from the cottonwoods cast long moon shadows over the grave. Now they looked like skinny people scratching at each other, cloaking the old man. The wind picked up its screeching.

Gabriél’s heart pounded like stampeding horses.

Mother squeezed his hand. His fingers tangled together, tips burning with pain. Then she looked away and wailed more loudly than ever.

The old man continued, TELL NO ONE ABOUT ME. I WILL HELP YOU AS A BOY. I WILL HELP YOU AS A MAN. LISTEN. The old man motioned again to Gabriél’s heart and then touched between Gabriél’s eyes, the brow point.

The old man stopped and looked up.

Gabriél caught his mother’s gaze.

She’d seen the old man, pointed at him, and screeched like the evil winds.

Blistering dust and grit blinded Gabriél. He pulled his hand away from his mother and rubbed his eyes and tried to clear them, but when he looked again, squinting, he saw that the light of the old man had vanished.

His mother was wrapped in a cloud of dust. Out of the cloud came a coyote, foam curling from its mouth. It howled, and an instant later legions of dust devils took over the landscape and swallowed it in clouds of dust, trash, and tumbleweeds.

Mother reappeared beside him and picked him up. She screeched with a million hateful voices. His heart beat rapidly, fluttered like a flock of sparrows flying away. Catching his breath was hard.

“The night plays tricks,” his mother seethed, her breath hot and rank.

The winds suddenly ceased. Brown and gray clouds gave way to blackness that closed in and covered the full moon. Spirits of children rose out of their graves. They pointed at Gabriél and his mother. Their hands and fingers grew and reached to grab him, take him away under the earth.

Mother swept her black shawl over Gabriél. She whispered, “I will protect you, mijo.”

They escaped into the jet-black night.

 

About the Author:

Paul DeBlassie III, Ph.D., is a psychologist and award-winning writer living in his native New Mexico, crafting visionary thrillers energized with trickster mischief and natural magic.

https://www.pauldeblassieiii.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pdeblassieiii

https://twitter.com/pdeblassieiii

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56373593-goddess-of-everything