Ghosts of Aquinnah and Paranormal Miniseries!

First, the wonderful cover reveal of The Ghosts of Aquinnah!

 

 

 

 

Blurb:

A brilliant flash of light transcends through time.

Another freezes a cloaked figure within a frame of salty mist as waves crash against a rocky shore. Her harrowing expression shadows the beacon to a pinprick.

By the next blaze, she is gone. Only the lighthouse remains.

Hannah’s eyes blink in step with each heartbeat. Images of her deceased parents and Martha’s Vineyard explode like firecrackers inside her mind.

She shakes her head.

For weeks this eerie woman dressed in nineteenth century garb has been haunting my webcam, but tonight she stared into my soul.

Why? ...

Who is she? ...

Casting aside months of research on historic lighthouses, Hannah drives to the coast and boards a ferry.

What is the strange connection she has to this mysterious woman suspended in time?

Hannah finds out.

But, it’s not at all what she expects ...

Hannah unravels a century old murder.

Author Bio:

Julie Flanders is a novelist and freelance writer in Cincinnati, Ohio. She has a life-long love affair with the ocean and has spent more summer vacations than she can count on the island of Martha’s Vineyard. When not writing, Julie can be found reading, cheering on her favorite sports teams, and watching too much television. She is an animal lover and shares her home with her dog and cat.

Find Julie at:

Website ~ Blog ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Pinterest ~ Goodreads

The Ghosts of Aquinnah will be released by Ink Smith Publishing on December 5, 2013

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As a reminder, our Partners in ParanormYA Blitz Tour starts tomorrow...

 

 

 

But mostly, I wanted to let you in on the first day of the PiPs mystery miniseries, which starts today over at Partners in ParanormYA headquarters:

 

The Great Destruction: Who Killed The WCP?

 

Hope you can stop by!

Fun Monday: Punctuation Abuses

Here's a little bit of fun for all my writer peeps!

 

 

 

I'll admit to being a bit of a comma abuser,

 

but it's better than ending up with something like this:

 

 

 

Thank you writing.com

 

 

And of course we want to avoid this:

 

 

Thank you Cartoonstock.com

 

 

 

And so--like it or not,

we must do this:

Thanks Debbie Ohi


Can they send you to jail for being a serial comma killer?

What's your worst punctuation abuse?

Realms Faire Extravaganza!

We had so much fun last year at M. Pax's Joust, that we're doing it again this year. Only bigger and better! I'll be hosting the Stockade Brigade - I already have my "prisoners" and will announce them soon. They are sooooo going to need your help. Because the Sheriff of Realm (that'd be me) is collecting heads!

 

And now, prithee, checketh this out:

2013 Realms Faire & Joust

November 11-15th

Facebook

Twitter Hashtag - #grogz

2013 Events and Hosts

 

Jousting Tournament

           

M. Pax

           

Jousting Tournament SignUp

Knights Wanted! Can anyone beat the 2012 champion, Ghost Knight? Angela Brown turned out to be a formidable opponent.

This year, the joust is all about YOU, the knights.

Each knight will be featured during the joust, the tournament held to help promote your book or site. Plus, you'll be publicized in the sidebar on my site until the 2014 champion is declared.

Prizes will be awarded to each day's commenters as well as to the winning knight at the end of the joust. Points are scored by commenters using particular words assigned to the knight. Such as, Zounds! Ghost Knight! Lance that lout! The winning words are zounds, Ghost Knight, and lance. That'd be 3 points for Ghost Knight.

Knights can provide either a story about their feats or an excerpt from any of their books. Stories/excerpts are limited to 200 words or less. However the tournament goes, you can't lose. I'll be posting everyday the week of November 11th, cheering on knights and promoting their wares.

Knights can also provide prizes.

The Joust is limited to 10 participants. Only 3 slots remaining!

Sign up!

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Masquerade Parade

           

Angela Brown

           

Attend the Ball

Attend the ball! You'll have a ball! Writers disguise themselves and submit a 200 word snippet of the party providing clues/hints as to their identity. Spotlights an author's writing to help promote them and their wares.

Prizes provided to commenters and the best snippet, decided on by a panel of judges.

The Masquerade is limited to 10-15 costumed authors.

Sign up!

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The Artist's Way

           

Misha Gericke

           

Writers Wanted

           

Artists Wanted

Featured authors will provide an excerpt from either published or unpublished work. The artist will create a masterpiece based on the excerpt. Prizes will be awarded.

Author Sign Up! * Artist Sign Up!

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Collective Stage Performance

           

Samantha Geary

           

Writers

A collaborative "Canterbury Tales" story-telling contest by a group of writing "pilgrims" on a journey where each writer assumes a character and gives their pov. The prize for this contest will most likely be free music in lieu of a free meal. Each writer will post their part of the tale on their site *their moment on stage*

Interested writers can contact Sam.

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Dragon Hunt

           

River Fairchild

Hunt for the hidden dragons. Those who find the most will get a chance to win an Amazon GC by drawing.

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The Stockade Brigade

           

Gwen Gardner

Selected authors will be put in the stockades and brought on trial for book witchery. Witnesses will score points by testifying for or against the author's crimes. Points will be score for using secret words. An ebook will be given away every day to the witness who scores the most points. A bigger prize will be awarded at the end of the week. Warrants for their arrests have already been issued. The Sheriff of Realmsdom will catch up with them all soon.

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Castle Jumble

           

Laura Eno

Laura will post a word (like Bartizan) on her blog and the first person to give her the correct definition in the comments is the winner. They will need to Google the word most likely. More than one word a day can be posted. A person can only win once a day though.

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Drench-a-Wench / Soak-a-Bloke

           

Christine Rains

Blogs will be selected by committee to be bombarded by comments. A person will be nominated each day. People will go to that person's blog and soak them with blog love. One commenter a day will randomly be selected to win a prize. For the commenters that participate in all five days of the event, their names will be entered into a draw for a grand prize.

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Phasers

           

Untethered Realms

Untethered Realms will post a word each day, such as 'Phaser'. The first commenter would then provide a word they think of associated with 'phaser', such as 'stun'. The next commenter would then provide a word they associate with 'stun', such as 'shock'. The next would provide a word associated with 'shock', such as 'electric'. And so on. The last comment of the day will receive a prize.

 

wp-image-6782" alt="feather" src="http://mpaxauthor.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/feather.gif" width="486" height="41" />

 

Sponsor Any Event

Sponsors will provide prizes. They'll be promoted on their own page on mpaxauthor.com and on the Untethered Realms website. In an Amazon widget, their books will be shown, their name and web address will be promoted. This page will also appear as a thank you on mpaxauthor.com and other sites before and after the Realms Faire.

Want to host an event? Contact mpaxauthor at gmail dot com to be put on the planning committee for 2014.

Be a Sponsor

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Taking the World By CassaStorm!

I'm thrilled to help Alex Cavanaugh celebrate the release of his new book, CassaStorm. At the sign-up, we had the option of asking Alex a question about the book, and he would answer at the release announcement. So -- here's my question:

Q:  Why do you refer to your series as space opera? What is a space opera?

A:  I didn’t even know what space opera was until I landed my publisher. I just knew science fiction in general. Space opera tends to be lighter, more focused on adventure, and often epic in scope.

And now, book number 3 of the epic, bestselling series!

 

CassaStorm

By Alex J Cavanaugh

 

From the Amazon Best Selling Series!

 

A storm gathers across the galaxy…

 

Commanding the Cassan base on Tgren, Byron thought he’d put the days of battle behind him. As a galaxy-wide war encroaches upon the desert planet, Byron’s ideal life is threatened and he’s caught between the Tgrens and the Cassans.

After enemy ships attack the desert planet, Byron discovers another battle within his own family. The declaration of war between all ten races triggers nightmares in his son, threatening to destroy the boy’s mind.

Meanwhile the ancient alien ship is transmitting a code that might signal the end of all life in the galaxy. And the mysterious probe that almost destroyed Tgren twenty years ago could return. As his world begins to crumble, Byron suspects a connection. The storm is about to break, and Byron is caught in the middle…

“With a talent for worldbuilding and a compelling cast of characters, Alex J. Cavanaugh combines high powered space battles and the challenges of family dynamics to provide readers a space opera with heart.”
- Elizabeth S. Craig, author of the Southern Quilting and Myrtle Clover mysteries

“I thought the revelation was going to be one thing and I was completely wrong … CassaStorm pushes the limits…”
- Tyson Mauermann, Speculative Reviews

 

$16.95 USA, 6x9 Trade paperback, 268 pages, Dancing Lemur Press, L.L.C.

Science fiction/adventure and science fiction/space opera

Print ISBN 9781939844002 eBook ISBN 9781939844019

$4.99 EBook available in all formats

 

Find CassaStorm:

Barnesand Noble

Amazon

 

Amazon Kindle

Booktrailer

 

 

About the Author:

 

Alex J. Cavanaugh has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and works in web design and graphics. He is experienced in technical editing and worked with an adult literacy program for several years. A fan of all things science fiction, his interests range from books and movies to music and games. Online he is the Ninja Captain and founder of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. The author of the Amazon bestsellers, CassaStar and CassaFire, he lives in the Carolinas with his wife.

 

Find Alex Here: 

Website – Twitter – Goodreads

 

What Do You Know About The 13th Floor?

Christine Rains is here today to talk about the evolution of her covers for the 13th Floor series. They are some of the most awesome covers I've seen around! Check this out:

 

 

The 13^th Floor Complete Collection

By Christine Rains

FINDING THE PERFECT COVER

I recently posted on my blog about this topic and discovered people do judge a book by their cover. It's the first thing a potential reader is going to see. If the cover doesn't win them over, they aren't going to pick up the book and read the blurb. You could have the best blurb in the world, but it won't mean a thing if no one reads it.

I agonized a long time over the cover for The 13^th Floor Complete Collection. I wanted it to represent the series as a whole, but I couldn't find anything that managed to do so. I had images in my head of intense and casual group shots of the tenants. If only I could get all the models together and pose for me! I also had a picture of the 13^th floor hallway with each door accompanied by something to symbolize each tenant. 1301 would have a red glow coming from under the door, and 1303 would have a lance propped up against the door frame.

Those would be great covers, but they're way beyond my creative skills. I needed to stick with simple like I did with the novella covers. I love my covers for the individual books. Dark, intense, and dramatic. Maybe I could do something like that for the Collection's cover.

Below is a rough draft of the first version of the Collection's cover. Each tenant has their own “door” to frame them. It's clean, dark and dramatic, but intense? I don't know. It also wasn't something new. Everyone has seen those images (except the image of Veenya from “The Shadow” on the spine). Would it attract new readers? Maybe. Does it represent the series as a whole? Perhaps. Does it represent the 13^th floor? No.

Plus, the barcode would've covered Xan's chest. We can't have that.

I continued my search for images, and after several hours, I found the perfect staircase. Old-fashioned, paint chipped, and eerie lighting. It had the right atmosphere. The only thing it lacked was the romantic aspect.

Thankfully my meager Photoshop skills could remedy that. And voila! I had a cover that represented the series, and more importantly, the 13^th floor.

 

Title: The 13^th Floor Complete Collection

Author: Christine Rains

Genre: paranormal romance

Release date: October 13^th, 2013

Blurb:

Six supernatural tenants

Living in a haunted apartment building

On a floor that doesn't exist.

Six novellas telling their tales.

A retired demon acquires a price on his head.

A werewolf is hunted by her pack.

A modern day dragonslayer misses his target.

A harpy challenges Zeus for the soul of the man she loves.

A vampire is obsessed with a young woman he can't find.

A banshee falls in love with someone who's death she has seen in a vision.

And a sweet ghost must battle a primal monster to save them all.

All the stories take place at the same time intertwining their lives together on the 13th Floor.

Includes “The Shadow,” a bonus short story.

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18460150-the-13th-floor-complete-collection

Author Bio:

Christine Rains is a writer, blogger, and geek mom. She has four degrees which help nothing with motherhood, but make her a great Jeopardy player. When she's not writing or reading, she having adventures with her son or watching cheesy movies on Syfy Channel. She's a member of Untethered Realms and S.C.I.F.I. The 13th Floor series is her first self-published series. She has eight novellas and twenty-one short stories published.

 

Website: http://christinerains.net/

Blog: http://christinerains-writer.blogspot.com/

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

 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/@CRainsWriter

 

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4017568.Christine_Rains

 

Thanks so much for sharing with us today, Christine!

 

Sacrifice HER. Or Is It Her, Not Me?

I am so excited for Sheena-Kay Graham! Today she is releasing the long anticipated cover for Sacrifice HER. I adore illustrated covers, and this one is no exception. It's awesome! The title conjures up all sorts of possibilities on its own. Like, who's being sacrificed? Is it someone saying, "take her, not me"? Or is it someone more God-like, simply saying, "take her"? See what I mean?

 



Cover Design by Langao
 

 

Coming December 2013

 

Description:

 

When a city is at stake is the life of one sixteen-year old girl worth risking thousands? Deidra Moore goes on the run after escaping from a group of human sacrifices for Bane: God of War. She doesn't believe he exists and sees uncertainty in the scorching desert as a better alternative. But Faux City isn't finished with her and their leader Lord Brinn is ordered by Bane - through one of his maiden worshipers- to bring her back or face dire consequences.

 

In the desert Deidra meets a wanderer named Kane and as feelings spark can they find a safe place to lead a new life before Lord Brinn and his soldiers catch up with them? Yet the question remains. Does Bane really exist and if he does what will happen if either side succeeds or fails?

 

Told in alternating perspectives of both the runaway servant girl and the blonde strong willed leader.

 

About Sheena-Kay:

 

Sheena-kay Graham was never meant for a traditional job behind a desk. Her childhood career plans included becoming a ballerina, actress or someone who helped people. So naturally she decided to be a writer who writes from her bed. Yes, no desk for this Jamaican book lover. No matter if it’s reading, writing or using the computer....you get the gist. The love of the written word has always been with her leading to stories, novels, poetry and way too much fan fiction. This Christian woman can be found trolling Amazon online, in local book bookstores, watching movies on the big screen or in her bed, or reading/writing/on the laptop...again in her bed.  Mainly writes YA fiction and is ready to unleash her creativity and wow potential readers.

 

Find Sheena-Kay Here:

 

Website: http://queendsheena.blogspot.com/

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5448863.Sheena_kay_Graham

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/queendsheena

 

Goodreads: Sacrifice HER

 

And for a final bit of wow factor...