1) Tell us about your book Under Fire is the first book in a new series featuring a dragon shifter called Seraphina. She loses her memory and is trying to figure out who tried to kill her. Her life is saved by a vampire named Victor, but she isn't sure what he wants from her. 2) What themes does your book explore? Finding your identity, trust and dealing with trauma. 3) Tell us something unusual about your main character? Well, apart from being a dragon shifter, we later learn that she can do things few dragon shifters can do, especially the females. She can walk through fire without being burned and she can manipulate fire too. 4) Is this a standalone book or a series? This is the first book in a five book series. The first four books are up for preorder now and the fifth will go up in late September. 5) What is next for you? I have two other series' planned - a paranormal academy duology and my series Grimm Descendants which I am very excited for. I will also be writing a few short stories for some boxsets early next year. Addison Sinclair is a UK author who writes paranormal fantasy books featuring dragons, fantastical creatures, and even the Big Bad Wolf himself.
A huge book nerd, you will often find her reading or doodling in her many, many notebooks. You can join Addison's newsletter to receive a free book and keep up to date with all her latest releases.
0 Comments
Guardian of Monsters
Sleuths of Shadow Salon Book One Catherine Stine Genre: Urban Fantasy, Supernatural Private Investigation Thriller Publisher: Konjur Road Press Date of Publication: August 6, 2023 ISBN: 978-1-7333901-7-0 ASIN: B0CD9VP4NS Number of pages: 236 Word Count: 65k Cover Artist: Christian Bentulan Tagline: Supernaturally on the case! Celestine LeBlanc and Luna Finley are the Sleuths of Shadow Salon. Book Description: Guardian of Monsters (Sleuths of Shadow Salon, urban fantasy PI series, Bk 1) Celestine, witch and wolf shifter has a talent for prophetic drawings. She’s shocked when she draws her landlord Ray with his eyes gouged out and a strange winged-mermaid leaning over him. Later she finds an eyeless Ray dead on the sidewalk. All she wanted to do was open a gallery, but first she must apprehend his killer. In a note she found after he died, Ray revealed he wasn’t just a leather-smith but a supernatural pirate mage. Years back, his Jekyll crew trapped the evil Demon Three Eyes clan. Ray had feared they’d escaped, were stalking him, and would soon wreak havoc on Savannah. Oryn, a fellow student in Celestine’s continuing ed art class, is a fae and a thorn in her side, when he asks nosy questions about the case. Yet, she’s drawn to him when he’s her masseur at the spa she frequents, and he’s clever at brainstorming leads regarding Ray’s case. He insists his air magic could come in handy. When pirates in Ray’s old crew are murdered, their body parts stolen, Celestine puts more horrifying clues together. She’ll need everyone on board, including Oryn and Luna, a mermaid asking to show her sea-glass sculptures at Celestine’s new gallery—the very same mermaid in Celestine’s tragic drawing of Ray. Otherwise, the lethal monstrosity Demon Three Eyes is unleashing on Savannah will destroy the city and everyone in it. This series may appeal to fans of Kim Harrison and Charlaine Harris. Amazon BN Apple Kobo Smashwords Books2Read Excerpt: Mics were thrust in her face as she stepped toward the front stairs. “How do you feel about Ray Bartello’s murder?” “Do you have a statement for the press?” “Is it true that your drawing predicted Bartello’s death?” “Why would you draw him eyeless?” “Are you the murderer?” She waited until that last crappy question—more an accusation—to say anything. Then she stared at the reporter. With scalding rage contained in a deceptively quiet hiss, she said, “Ray Bartello was a good friend of mine. I’m heartbroken by his passing.” She glanced at Oryn for moral support. His slightly narrowed eyes seemed to say, Go slow, you don’t owe them. She agreed. After the supernatural attacks, she was not going to hint that she knew a damn thing, because the more that bad entities knew she was trying to figure out the case, the more they would try to maul, even kill her. Oryn gave a faint nod, his eyes tinting green. She went on. “I know nothing about how this happened. You could camp here for days, and I still couldn’t tell you more. The proper place to provide any tips or leads is to the Savannah Police.” As she pushed through the group, Oryn walked slightly behind her, since the reporters were busy photographing them together, no doubt fuel for salacious media. “How do you know Miss LeBlanc? Are you dating her?” some ballsy reporter asked Oryn. He didn’t answer. “Did you know Ray Bartello? Did you or Miss LeBlanc have a fight earlier on the day he was found?” asked another. “Can you tell us anything more about the case?” asked a third. Oryn face wrinkled in disgust. “Look, Miss LeBlanc needs peace. She’s said what she can. Yes, we’re friends, not that it’s your business,” he added sharply. “You may as well go get some sleep. Camping out here won’t get you what you seek.” He swept his arm around Celestine, and they hurried up the stone stairs leading to her place. Oryn stopped on the stoop while Celestine unlocked the door. “So, I’ll see you at class tomorrow? Will you be okay?” he asked. “If you want, I can cast a few air wards around the house so you can get a worry-free night’s sleep. Otherwise—” “It’s not your job to protect me,” she said, gazing up at him and realizing how very much taller he was, next to her five-foot, seven-inch frame. Good goddess, the man must be six and a half feet tall if he’s an inch.
Witchy and Supernatural Power of the Feminine Fun Facts!
Compiled by Author Catherine Stine Before people had hospitals and surgeons to fix people, they had midwives and herbalists. When babies or moms died in childbirth, or the herbal fix was insufficient to cure what we would now know was a fatal disease, who do you think was blamed? The same women who delivered babies and gave expert herbal remedies! In a fearful and ignorant world, they were labeled as witches, or agents of the devil. *** Ironically, in ancient Rome even though women were housebound with zero political power, the most revered, influential people were the high priestesses presiding over the oracles, such as the one at Delphi. These women were said to be able to predict the future, wield supernatural powers and have innate knowledge of the divine realms. Greek citizens would go on pilgrimages to seek out their womanly wisdom. *** In Chaucer’s and Boccaccio’s European middle ages (mid 1300s) people were expected to be devout in their Christianity. Many believed literally in the devil and the power of witches. Interestingly, as devout as they were to the going religion, they also prayed to the sprites and night nymphs of their recently dropped Pagan beliefs. They also believed in Fortuna, or the wheel of Fortune: that fortunes rose and fell by the whirl of a wheel, often portrayed by a beautiful woman, Fortuna. How’s that for supernatural female power! *** During the Victorian Era in 1899 Charles Godfrey Leland published a book called Aradia or Gospel of the Witches. This Aradia goddess, the incarnation of Diana/Artemis was going to bring magic to the Victorians and hopefully free women from the oppression of the times. *** Tamsin Blight 1798-1856 was a famous English witch healer, able to remove curses or spells from a person. She was also said to have put spells on those who displeased her. She was also known as Tammy Blee and Tamson. *** In the 1920s and 30s there was a craze for psychics, card readers, and mediums who claimed they could communicate with people’s dead relatives. Harry Houdini, the famous magician, ironically made it his life’s work to try and debunk these folks. Arthur Conan Doyle, who wrote the Sherlock Holmes series was a huge believer in the supernatural. He had heated debates with Houdini. *** The Tarot fascinates me. I collect cards for their variety and amazing images. They are thought to have originated all the way back in ancient Egypt, as a cosmic source of wisdom and divination of the future. The Egyptian word TAR means royal and ROmeans royal – thus the royal road to wisdom. Later, in northern Italy, a complete deck for card playing and gambling was devised. In France in the 1700s, a “cartomancer” named Jean Baptiste-Alliette created the imagery in the decks we often see today. There are cups, swords, wands, and pentacles. And the Major Arcana cards that hold great symbolism, such as the hermit, the world and the death card (which can also mean rebirth!) Here’s a playlist I created for the spooky season with all things supernatural. Enjoy! I Put a Spell on You – Nina Simone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDprYZ-tgiA You Make me Feel Like it’s Halloween – MUSE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyu1WO0hRB0 Wake the Witch – Karliene https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZcDFMmqWAw Alice Underground– Avril Lavigne https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMeiP69HlCM Season of the Witch – Donovan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAzTnsSgs2s Heartless – The Fray version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBTdJHkAr5A Black Magic Woman – Santana https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyQUCYl-ocs Hunting for Witches – Bloc Party https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmPNuruWMTA Heavy Like a Witch – All Them Witches https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhzvanE-O14 Do You Believe in Magic? – Lovin’ Spoonful https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDYNuD4CwlI About the Author: Catherine Stine is a USA Today bestselling author of paranormal, urban and historical fantasy, all with romance and suspense. 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. 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 and sees writing as painting with words. Catherine loves spending time with her beagle Benny, writing about supernatural creatures, gardening and meeting readers at book fests. Learn more at catherinestine.com Website: http://catherinestine.com/wp/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@catherinestine7 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kitsy84557 Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/catherine-stine Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorcatherinestine/ Newsletter: https://catherinestine.com/wp/get-the-newsletter-contact-me/ Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Catherine-Stine/e/B001H9TXJC Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1018139.Catherine_Stine Spooktacular Giveaway 1 signed paperback of Guardian of Monsters with stickers and a bookmark. Halloween is almost upon us! Time for some book recs to get you in the mood for spooky season.
Stephen King's IT - a favorite of mine. A killer clown preys on children in the small town of Derry. A group of friends work together to find a way to stop it before IT kills again. The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke - People are disappearing around an old lighthouse said to be cursed. Twenty years on, one of the missing children reappears but she hasn't aged a day. NOS4A2 by Joe Hill - Victoria McQueen goes up against a vampire who takes kids off to Christmasland, a place they can never return from. She escapes him, but years later, he comes for her son. Can she stop him again? Rules For Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall - Sara's sister Becca disappeared when she went searching for an urban legend. A year on, she decides to follow the same path in a bid to save her. All these books are available through major book retailers. Suspicious Minds is an upcoming book in the shared universe of the Accidental Zodiacs. People have unusual powers depending on the zodiac sign they are born under. I chose Scorpio as mine as that is my zodiac sign.
My main character Cordelia has the power to control a person's emotions, though she has trouble controlling her own. When she is framed for murder, she must work with a Zodiac Enforcement Agent to clear her name. There are three types of zodiacs - Sinless, Wandering and Fallen. Sinless are the good guys who usually work for the ZEA. Wandering are on the fence, not good and not evil, like Cordelia. Fallen have crossed the line and cannot be trusted. New books are revealed every couple of months and you can grab Suspicious Minds in November, or preorder now. Send in the Clones - The Onslaught of AI Computer Generated Books Is Upon Us by P.Mattern Although usually ensconced in my writing cave, I remember hearing some buzz a few months ago about AI computer generated novels, made possible by breakthroughs in the field of Machine Learning-basically the ability to write software programs to absorb reams of data, text, and information and be able to recognize the common themes, character depiction and word choices used, incorporating them in the form of custom made Bot-created novels. That sounded kind of fringe to me at the time, something that might take place in the future? What a shock to discover recently, as I was doing research for a scifi novel, that HUNDREDS of these machine created tomes had already landed on Amazon and other platforms with no heads up or warning labels to distinguish them from the books produced with the usual time-honored blood, sweat, inspiration, and tears put forth by human authors. I began receiving email petitions from organizations like Thriller Writers to join protests against the methods used by these book writing Bots because apparently many of them program the AI Novel writing software by downloading already published novels containing copyrighted protected work without any permissions to do so. One of the dozens and dozens of Writing services listed (you can Google them under “AI writing services”) offers to do the “heavy lifting”s o that would-be authors can write their “bestselling novel”, free from the usual stress of having to think of their own original characters and plotlines and without fear of being slowed down by the dreaded “writer's block”. One popular AI novel writing program, ChatGPT “learned” to write by scanning millions of pages of existing text. Reviews by CNET, a technology reviewing group, found the books produced by ChatGPT to contain errors and also some plagiarized passages. Uh-oh. For those who consider writing to be a craft rather than a commodity, AI created literature is not good news. A short sampling of AI Bot-generated titles, many of them children’s books, reveals not so stellar plots and stilted phrasing. There is something to be said for both the quality and the authenticity of tales told by those human wordsmiths who impart the kind of vibrancy, soul and spirit in their writing that is perhaps impossible to replicate by artificial means. In the meantime, while human authors and readers are sleeping, computers are busy generating more and more completed novels to flood the already saturated market, inputting millions of already published and copyrighted titles by human authors as grist for their nefarious mill. -Maybe they just uploaded YOUR book! About The Author
P.Mattern is a USA TODAY BESTSELLING,Amazon Bestselling and Award Winning author.also known as "MAMA FANG", she is the author of over 81 published books and novellas and included in many bestselling anthology collections. Born with a stylus in her tiny hand she wrote stories to entertain classmates in elementary school and won awards for fiction and poetry in college.After being laid off from her professional job in Mental Health she began writing down all the stories she had carried in her head.. She was inspired by Anne Rice and her differently abled son to write Book One of Full Moon Series 'World of Azglen'♡ about a widow and her adult handicapped son who becomes brainy and strong after being bitten by a vampire. Soon her children J.C.Estall and Marcus Mattern joined her in writing Full Moon Series. She is the author of the Amazon Bestselling Vampire Princess Trilogy, The Winter House, The Creatures Who Love Me, Queen of the Fireflies, Andy of the Damned, Strident House,Shock of Night, Vampire Orphanage,Forest of Bleeding Trees and others. She is currently working on book 10 of Full Moon Series 'CROON', a thriller/horror novel, 'SUFFICIENT EVIL',and 'MIDNIGHT MAGNOLIAS'. P.Mattern is a member of Thriller Writers Association. Her work has appeared in numerous ezines and anthologies( Hearts Unleashed, Once Upon a Broken Crown,Collected Christmas Horror, Collected Horror Drabbles, Santa's Naughty List, and her work appears in many additional and notable horror collections. P.Mattern currently lives in the midwest and is currently involved with one of her characters. ("It's complicated.") She is a RONE nominated and Winner Tell-Tale Publishing VIncent Price Award in 2015 for 'Terrible Choices' 1) Tell us about your book Werewolves of Eden: Wild Things is actually the first book I released and I recently had the cover updated. I plan on putting out the second book early next year. It follows Cheyenne, the daughter of a werewolf hunter who wants to follow in his footsteps. When a classmate is attacked and turned, she discovers a plot by the wolves to make an army of werewolves. 2) What themes does your book explore? The main character is trying to stand on her own two feet, to prove herself as a hunter, but her father looks at her differently from her brother. For her classmate, there are some very literal changes happening for him and he has to decide which side he is on. 3) Tell us something unusual about your main character? I'm not sure if it's unusual, but as the book progresses, she realizes that things are not as black and white as she has been told. There is more to it. She has sympathy for her classmate and because of that, she tries to do things differently from her father. 4) Is this a standalone book or a series? It is a series. I have about half of book 2 written, and I have for a while. I got caught up with another series and it fell by the wayside, but I will be working to get it completed. 5) What is next for you? I am working on a set called Magic Discovered and finishing the final book in my Tempest Knox series. I can't write very quickly, but I'm getting there! Kat Gracey writes urban fantasy and paranormal romance novels featuring her two favorite supernatural beings - witches and werewolves.
She currently resides in the UK, where she enjoys yoga and catching up on her favorite shows. You can learn more about her books via her website: |
Monthly Newsletter
Categories
About the Author:S. K. Gregory is an author, editor and blogger. She currently resides in Northern Ireland. “Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader’s.” Archives
September 2024
Categories |