The Importance of a Professional Book Cover by Cristelle Comby – Guest Blog and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Cristelle Comby will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

The importance of a professional book cover
We all know one of the biggest burden of self-publishing is that you are responsible for everything—editing, proofreading, advertising, and the list goes on. But one of the greatest advantage is that you have complete control over… well, everything. And that includes cover creation.

Of course, we’re not all named Picasso, and most of us skipped the Photoshop-101 class. But, in this day and age, it’s really easy to hire a professional to do your cover art. Yes, it can be pricey, but this is one thing you shouldn’t skimp on, and here’s why:

Your cover is your book’s first impression. That’s the cold hard truth of it all. Most readers do judge a book by its cover. It doesn’t matter if the interior is amazing, and your story is the best one that’s ever been told. If the exterior is bad and cheap-looking, readers simply won’t pick it up.

There’s more to it than art. Yes the cover has to be nice and pleasing on the eye, but it’s a bit more complicated than that. Your cover is a filter that should only let in readers who’ll enjoy the story and leave a positive review. Designing the right cover is all about demographics, market research and psychology and it requires professional skills.

It broadens your horizons. For my latest novel, Hostile Takeover, I turned to 99Design.com which is like the designers’ Craig’s List. My job description was very short: a little bit about the genre of the book, the full summary and a few pictures of random book covers I like. Mostly, I encouraged designers to be creative and to follow their inspiration.

Seeing what the artists came up with—how they perceived my story and how it inspired them—was the most interesting experience. The designs were very varied and far exceeded my expectation.

Some of the entries.

The final cover, by Spanish designer Miguel A. Ereza.

Yes, it costs money to get a professional cover. But think of all the time you invested in your story, all the hours you put in. Would you really gift-wrap your hard work in cheap newspaper?

P.I. Bellamy Vale isn’t your everyday investigator. Moonlighting as Death’s earth-bound envoy, he specializes in the weird, wacky, and slightly unhinged.

When a mysterious beast savagely mauls random residents of Cold City, the police assume that these are the killings of a rogue wolf. But experienced private investigator, Bellamy Vale, is unconvinced.

Ordered by Death herself to investigate, Vale has no choice but to obey, for his boss is not someone to disappoint—if he wants to keep breathing, that is.

With friend and computer hacker Zian, nosy journalist Candice Kennedy, and homicide sergeant Melanie Ramirez by his side, Vale has no choice but to end the killings or face the wrath of the demon who holds his life in her hands.

Enjoy an Excerpt

I was having a bad day.

The ugly thug facing me readied himself for the next swing. “What did you say, bastard?” His red-splattered knuckles were ready for the next round; my body wasn’t.

“I’m haffin a fah fay,” I managed to repeat through a mouthful of saliva and blood.

That made Julian Ragazzo, former welterweight boxing champ and top bodyguard to the city’s prime Italian Mafia family, smile. His wet beard glistened with sweat beads around stained teeth. Glad one of us was happy.

I took stock of the damage Ragazzo had already done. Broken nose, check. Split lip, check. Swollen eye, check. Broken rib, double check, and the list went on and on. It could have been worse. The injuries, though painful, weren’t enough to put me in the hospital. Sure, I’d hurt for a week or four, but I’d live to tell the tale outside of a body cast. I knew that, and Ragazzo did, too. This was a game we’d both played before … not that I’d gotten any better at it.

I caught a reflection of myself in the glossy surface of a cabinet door. My messy mop of brown locks was matted with blood on one side and the five o’clock shadow had a hard time concealing a fast-bruising chin. One eye was swollen shut and the other had a pale blue, haunted orb dancing amidst a sea of red veins. I was a mess, and not a hot one.

I closed my good eye and waited for the next blow. The bodyguard didn’t disappoint. A second later, he delivered a power punch and I saw stars. It didn’t help that I was tied to a chair and my already sore shoulders screamed in protest at the added strain. In a noise that only I could hear, my body cried out, ‘How in all the hells was this part of the plan?’ Fair question—it wasn’t.

In truth, there may have been a few glitches here and there. Like those two extra guards at the office building’s back entrance, plus that wrong turn I took on the fourteenth floor. Yeah, okay … the plan was just as screwed as I was.

Ragazzo followed up his haymaker with another kick in the guts. It would have ripped a scream out of me if I’d had any breath left for it. Instead, my lungs just took in short, choppy gasps I couldn’t control.

“Well, well, well … look what the cat dragged in,” taunted an Italian-lilted voice.

I recognized the lazy drawl and opened my good eye to confirm my suspicions. Sure enough, Alonzo Vitorini, Cold City’s resident wannabe kingpin, stood near the entrance in a dark-green pinstriped suit. Shit, looking at his ugly get-up hurt worse than any of Ragazzo’s blows.

Vitorini sauntered into the room, smiling as he noticed my stare. “Like the suit?” he asked, doing a little pirouette to show off this walking insult to fashion.

I wasn’t going to reply, but the second my eye caught sight of the finishing touch, a pair of black-and-white spectator shoes, my mouth kicked into gear on its own.

“Al Capone called,” I wheezed out. “He wants his brogues back.”

Vitorini laughed, the corners of his muddy-green eyes wrinkling. Not sure if he was laughing at the crack or the fact that he was going to kill me for it in another minute or two.

About the Author: Cristelle Comby was born and raised in the French-speaking area of Switzerland, in Greater Geneva, where she still resides.

She attributes to her origins her ever-peaceful nature and her undying love for chocolate. She has a passion for art, which also includes an interest in drawing and acting.

She is the author of the Neve & Egan Cases series, which features an unlikely duo of private detectives in London: Ashford Egan, a blind History professor, and Alexandra Neve, one of his students.

Currently, she is hard at work on her Urban Fantasy series Vale Investigation which chronicles the exploits of Death’s only envoy on Earth, PI Bellamy Vale, in the fictitious town of Cold City, USA.

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Sorchia Dubois: Interview and Giveaway

Long and Short Reviews welcomes Sorchia DuBois. Sorchia is giving away a hand-crafted birthstone pendant and signed copies of books. Enter the Rafflecopter here.

“Thanks for vising with us today, Sorchia. If you had to do your journey to getting published all over again, what would you do differently?”

“Easy question. I would start sooner. I made the mistake of listening to someone else tell me what I ought to do. In my little town, girls didn’t take science classes –if they did, they didn’t enjoy them or excel at them—and they didn’t write anything but invitations to parties and gossip columns. When I approached my high school counselor about taking more science, he discouraged me. When I wrote for the school newspaper, I didn’t get to write anything but fluff. When I went to my college counselor and said I wanted to be a writer, he told me I’d be more likely to get a job as a teacher. That may be true, but I wish I hadn’t listened. I taught for over 25 years—you don’t make a bunch of money as a teacher—in case you didn’t know—so it wasn’t like being a starving writer would have been a huge pay cut. Also when you teach, you have very little time of your own in which to pursue your real passions. You come home emotionally drained and are lucky to get the macaroni and cheese out of the pan and on the table before you drop in your tracks. So anyway, long story short, I would get my degree in journalism or creative writing and do what I wanted to do from the start instead of waiting 25 years to do it.”

Sorchia told me that the hardest part of writing for her is when she’s at the end of a project. She hates to let the story go, so she will procrastinate and dawdle to keep putting it off. It means she can’t go back and change anything—it’s over and if it isn’t perfect the mistakes will haunt her forever.

“I’ll write a paragraph and delete it and write it again and delete it. I just hate to write that last scene because I’m saying goodbye to the story and the characters. Not only do I want to give them the perfect send off, but I just hate the thought of not being with them,” she explained. “I mean, these are people I’ve been spending lots of time with for the past year or more. So when that happens, and it is happening right now, I take a breath—maybe a few days away from the keyboard. A friend once told me to do something else creative—garden, paint, –whatever. Use a different part of my brain for a bit. It almost always works. When it doesn’t, I jump into a new project—get an outline worked up or write a character sketch. That usually gets me going—and I’m anxious to finish the old project and get better acquainted with the new one. It is still hard to put that last scene together though because I want it to perfectly end the story and send the characters off into their futures—not that the stories always end perfectly happily. As a matter of fact, that is the problem sometimes because characters sometimes die at the end.”

She avoids writers block with a steady writing scheduled. She writes in the mornings from no late than 8 for as long as she can. Her day job starts at noon. She told me that by that time she’s usually writing gibberish anyway, so it works to stop then.

She admitted to me that when she finishes a book she’s I’s always afraid she won’t be able to come up with anything else that it seems like she’s used up every bit of creativity she ever had and will never be able to write another interesting sentence much less an entire book.

Fortunately, so far that hasn’t happened. She’s currently putting the finishing touches on Zoraida Grey and the Pictish Runes which will end the series. She has an anthology of Zoraida Grey stories called Witchling she needs to fine tune a little bit. She also has a Christmas story in progress titles Winter Solstice and is a witchy Christmas present.

“The next really big thing is the beginning of a new murder mystery series,” she shared. “The first one is tentatively titled
Festival of Blood—though that may change. It’s about a series of murders that happen during a small town Celtic festival. It isn’t going to be as witchy as Zoraida Grey, but a few ghosts and a little magic may show up. I will write another witchy series but I’m working on suspense for a bit before that happens.”

She is a very character driven author, and she uses a deck of tarot cards to help develop the characters.

“While I may have an idea of what this character is about, the cards generally surprise me with details I would not have come up with otherwise,” she said. “When I’m stuck or feeling bored with a character, I pull a card and see what that triggers. Sometimes, it’s the image on the card that adds a detail and sometimes it’s the meaning of the card. I do a little tarot reading—I’m a rank amateur—and have a working knowledge of tarot. Along with a bunch of books with more info. I also do card readings at parties and book signings for practice so I learn more every day.”

With her Zoraida Grey series, she knew she wanted it to be a take on the old Gothic stories she read when she was a kid.

“So we had to have a haunted castle, lots of spooky atmosphere, an innocent and inexperienced damsel, and some threatening and /or brooding men,” she explained. “Mainly, I knew I wanted the main character to be a strong, self-sufficient gal who blasts into what she thinks is a situation she can handle with her eyes closed only to find herself tested in ways she never imagined. I wanted her to think she had the world by the tail in her comfortable little life, but then to find out she wasn’t the biggest duck in the puddle. She wasn’t going to be a milksop or a weepy-eyed princess. Once I started pulling cards, her character took shape and so did the love interest and the bad guys and gals. The story developed around their characters and not the other way around because I kept thinking in terms of what obstacles I could put in her path and how I could make her life miserable.”

I asked her if she were a plotter or a pantser.

“The more I write, the more of a plotter I become. I believe in serendipity and inspiration and listening to my muse and all that, and I do that at the beginning. There comes a point, however, when I need to know where I am going. The best things about reading a well-planned book are the Easter eggs the author plants throughout—those little bits that make the ending seem both logical but surprising. I find that somewhere near the middle—or even before—around 20K words—I have to spend some quality time in an outline frame of mind. If I can nail down the ending, I am good. The basics of the last scene—I might even do a rough draft of it. I like to consider the character arcs—where do they begin and where do I want them to be at the end and how do I get from point a to point b without giving my readers a twisted neck. I read a lot of books by authors who profess to be pantsers and, not to sound like an ass, but sometimes it is easy to tell they didn’t know where they were going and didn’t go back and lay the groundwork. I try to give my readers a thoughtful and enjoyable experience and to lead them along with hints and foreshadowing and little seeds planted early in the story—but I have a lot to learn. Of course, many of those things get put in later—the first draft is always ugly. That last revision is all about setting up the ending.”

She shared a little more about the book than you can get from the blurb.

“One of the things I’m the most proud of in Zoraida Grey and the Voodoo Queen—actually in the entire Zoraida Grey trilogy—is the friendship between Zoraida and Zhu her best friend. Zhu isn’t in Voodoo Queen too much because she is a captive back in Scotland while Zoraida is desperately trying to track down someone who can help free her. The two women aren’t together in Voodoo Queen as much as they are in Family Stones, the first in the trilogy, or as much as they will be in Pictish Runes, the last in the trilogy. Several reviewers have mentioned that they enjoyed the close relationship Zoraida and Zhu have and I’m so proud to have done well with that. It was a challenge to keep Zhu in the forefront in Voodoo Queen since she was not physically present and I didn’t want to swap heads and jump into her story –yet. I think I did okay with it since Zoraida is concentrating on her friend’s plight and working for all she’s worth to get back to Scotland with enough ammunition to battle the Logans to the death if needs be to get Zhu away from them. But the friendship is a big part of the series that gets left out of blurbs in favor of action and romance.”

Finally, I asked, “What advice would you give a new writer just starting out?”

“First, read a lot. Second, study great literature but don’t get discouraged because—A-none of those people started out good. B-Though most of these writers will be men, that’s only because women weren’t running the world. It’s different now and women’s voices are valued and , more importantly, marketable. And, finally, don’t let anyone tell you that you are wasting your time. If you have a desire to write (or to become a professional tiddly-winks player or whatever) then do that as long as it has meaning to you.”

Magic may save Zoraida’s skin, but what about her heart?

Zoraida Grey needs help. With the witchy Logan clan holding her best friend hostage in a haunted Scottish castle, she can’t trust anyone—certainly not beguiling but dangerous Shea Logan. And Al, her overprotective boyfriend, doesn’t believe in magic.

Only one creature strikes fear in the blackened hearts of the Logan witches. Trouble is Jock disappeared five centuries ago leaving a trail of destruction across the Gulf of Mexico. Now he’s stepped into a steaming pile of Voodoo.

Can Zoraida drag wayward Jock back to Scotland? And what’s she supposed to do with two men who promise completely different futures?

A Scottish wizard, stripped naked and painted blue—a Voodoo priestess bent on immortality—a yacht-load of Caribbean pirates. What can possibly go wrong?

About the Author: Award-winning author Sorchia Dubois lives in the piney forest of the Missouri Ozarks with seven cats, two fish, one dog, and one husband.

A proud member of the Scottish Ross clan, Sorchia incorporates all things Celtic (especially Scottish) into her works. She can often be found at Scottish festivals watching kilted men toss large objects for no apparent reason.

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The Speaker by Andi O’Connor – Exclusive Excerpt and Giveaway


This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Andi will be awarding a $20 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

The Vaelinel Trilogy continues with this absorbing sequel to Silevethiel! Alone and hunted by the Drulaack, Irewen takes advantage of her only option for survival. Pushing her concerns aside, she lets the dead keep her.

But her refuge doesn’t last long. Driven out of their hosts by Laegon, a handful Drulaack have returned to the Spirit World. No longer having the protection of the dead, Irewen is forced to return to Vaelinel.

Finally reunited with her companions, the burdens placed on them are taking their toll. Thoughts of suicide and mistrust plague the company. Slowly unravelling, they must conquer their personal battles before standing against the evil threatening the land.

For the Corrupter thirsts for revenge. And he’ll stop at nothing to satisfy his hunger.

Enjoy an Excerpt:

Breathless, Irewen fell to her knees. An action which should have lasted mere seconds felt like an eternity. Tears of hopeless frustration welled in her eyes.

She had no idea how long she’d been walking among the dead. Here in the Spirit World, a simple movement seemed to drag on for an age. Time existed only in the land of the living. The dead had no need for such a triviality.

The pulsing light of her mother in the distance called to her, beckoning for her to follow. She ignored it. Where once seeing Juleniel filled her with joy, it now stirred nothing but bitterness.

She’d dutifully trailed behind her mother since the dead embraced her and carried her into their world. But her optimism faded with every step. She had no way to judge her progress. No landmarks. No references. No days.

Whenever she asked her parents how much further they had to go before she reached the safety of the Light Elves, they couldn’t answer. The dead didn’t need such limitations. They didn’t care how long something took to accomplish. Why would they? They had all the time in the world.

But for Irewen, all these things were essential. She needed a change in scenery, however slight. She needed to see the rising and setting of the sun. To stand beneath the stars. To feel the wind brush against her skin. To hear the soft patter of rain.

She desperately clung to the memories, yearning for some sign to tell her she was alive. But the vibrancy of the memories continued to dwindle. The longer she remained in the Spirit World, the more distant any reminders of life became. She had to pass the borders of Lündvelle before it was too late. Before all memories vanished completely and she became trapped in this world for the rest of her days, the only living being to walk among the dead.

Tears finally graced her cheeks, and she buried her face in her hands. Her sobs were silent, immediately lost in the nothingness surrounding her.

She’d had enough of this wretched place. She wanted to go home.

About the Author: Andi O’Connor is the award-winning author of The Dragonath Chronicles, The Vaelinel Trilogy, and The Legacy of Ilvania. Her critically acclaimed novel, Silevethiel, is the 2015 Best Indie Book Award winner for Science Fiction/Fantasy and the 2015 New Apple Official Selection for Young Adult. Silevethiel was also named to Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of 2013. The Speaker is the 2018 Independent Press Award Winner for Fantasy and a Finalist in the 11th Annual National Indie Excellence Awards. Andi’s novel, Awakening, is a 2018 Independent Press Award Distinguished Favorite for Fantasy.

You can frequently find Andi as an exhibitor and guest panelist at Comic Cons throughout the country including the Rhode Island Comic Con, Awesome Con, Philcon, Conclave, WizardWorld, and Chessiecon. You can connect with Andi on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. For more information, visit Andi’s website.

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Buy the book at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books a Million, orKobo. You can also buy a signed copy on her website.


Aries Red Sky by James Young – Spotlight and Giveaway

 

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. James Young will be awarding a 5×7 print of concept artwork from the Vergassy Universe to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

The Confederation of Man believes all Humanity should be under Terra’s rule.

The Spartan Republic has spent seven centuries preparing to resist Earth’s tyranny.

The stars will burn as these two mindsets come into brutal conflict in Aries’ Red Sky, the newest novel by award-winning author James Young.

 

Enjoy an Excerpt:

Despite his best efforts, Agenor Acheros’ was unable to completely dodge his opponent’s whirling axe kick. Rather than a clean, visage altering hit, however, the blow thudded into the Spartan lieutenant’s thick chest.

Ow, he thought with a grunt, the woman’s combat boot sliding off the right side of his dark green gi. Agenor did not give his sparring partner time to regain her balance, allowing his dodge to the left to flow into a crouch. Even as Lieutenant Abigail Schweizer realized her vulnerability, Agenors braced himself on his left arm. This was followed by a left leg sweep that knocked his diminutive opponent onto her back. Continuing the motion with a speed and agility no man his size should possess, Agenor completed an almost complete rotation on his straining left arm. Schweizer was just trying to regain her bearings when Agenor’s feet came back around and caught her steel-toes-first in the back. The blow elicited sharp cries and gasps from onlookers as the woman flung forward several feet.

Let’s finish this, Agenor thought, coming to his knees then springing to his feet and striding towards the stunned Schweizer. He felt a calmness descend upon him, blue eyes narrowing as he carefully stalked towards his opponent.

She might be faking. Either way, she will yield.

“Enough!” Captain Mordechai Butler barked, stopping Agenor in his tracks The tall, thin officer stood just outside the “Square of Enlightenment,” Alpha Company’s nickname for their designated sparring area. Agenor stopped to look at him, face quizzical.

“The Square has spoken,” Butler continued, signalling the end of the fight. Unlike the two lieutenants, Butler wore the standard Spartan Marine camouflage uniform. Inside of the Basile’s dark grey compartments, the clothing’s adaptive threads had adopted a mottled, random pattern of grey, white, black, and silver lozenge shapes.

“The Square tells all,” the roughly sixty Marines scattered in the open bay chanted with varying degrees of solemnity.

About the Author:

James Young is a Missouri native who escaped small town life by attending the United States Military Academy. After being set free from the Hudson River Valley, Mr. Young spent the next six years of his life in the Army repaying his education the proverbial “nickel at a time.” Along the way he collected a loving, patient, beautiful spouse…and various animals that did not fit that description. Leaving the Republic’s employ, he returned to the Midwest to pursue his doctorate—a process which took twice the time planned but is finally concluded. Having now concluded two of the prerequisites to be a super villain, Dr. Young spends his time waiting for the inevitable origin story, winning writing awards (2016 United States Naval Institute Cyber Essay Contest Winner, among others), and writing an alternate history (Usurper’s War) and military space opera (Vergassy Chronicles) series. His latest book is Aries Red Sky, the first in a new Vergassy Universe trilogy.

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Buy the book at Amazon.

The Melded Child by Jane Routley – Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Jane Routley will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

For ten years the peace negotiated by the Tari has held firm. But greedy eyes watch in the distance, coveting the peaceful lands of Yarmar and even the Tari themselves. A new demon master rises bringing pollution and violence. When Yani the Raven is kidnapped, sorceress Marigoth and her companion Ezratah are drawn to Armaya and a trap set by a brutal necromancer and his insane sister. Meanwhile Elena Starchild’s daughter Alyx, heir to the throne of the Mori finds herself wounded and on the run in a forest full of dark magic. And in the company of a bitter Mirayan enemy.

Can the insular Tari dreaming in the secret land of Ermora be awoken before the demon fire consumes them? And can a Melded Child bring harmony in clasped hands before it is too late?

Enjoy an Excerpt

Duchess Jindabyne Madraga, whose memory of the time before she married the Duke has been destroyed by magic, has been captured by her mortal enemies, the forest-dwelling Mori. Their Hooded Queen demands an audience with her.

“Lady, if I wronged you, I humbly beg pardon,” cried Jindabyne. “Please forgive me. I was another person then.”

The Mori woman was at the Queen’s side, dragging on her arm talking to her urgently in Mori, a language that Jindabyne did not know. The queen let herself be pulled away for a moment. Then suddenly she swung back.

“Have you really forgotten me Jindabyne! I find that very hard to believe.”

She ripped the covering off her face.

Jindabyne gasped. Before her stood the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. Utterly, utterly, breathtakingly lovely. How could she have forgotten her!

As she stared in open mouthed amazement, the woman’s eyes widened and the glaring hatred on her face changed to bitter amusement.

“So! Marigoth was right,” she said, her mouth twisting wryly. “Or I am less memorable than I thought I was. Something to hope for.”

“Lady I am sorry,” said Jindabyne. “I always suspected that I did wrong in the past, but I am different now and willing to make amends.”

The savagery of the woman’s glare did not make her any less beautiful. For a moment Jindabyne thought she was going to leap on her again, but then she slumped back onto her seat.

“Take her away!” she said her voice heavy with disgust. “I cannot bear the sight of her.”

“Lady please!” cried Jindabyne, as the guards dragged her away. “If you wish revenge… Do not harm the others. They are innocent of any harm to you. Especially Olga. You are a mother yourself.”

About the Author:

I write historical fantasy with feisty female characters and four of my books have been published Harper Collins, U.S. Two of them won the Aurealis award for Best Australian Fantasy in their year. The Dion Chronicles have now been reprinted in ebook format from Clan Destine Press and in paperback from Ticonderoga Publications. The Three Sisters and The Melded Child are now available from Clan Destine Press in Ebook and from Bernarra Press in hardcopy.

I was born and live in Melbourne, Australia

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Windsong & Requiem – Of a Great Deep by Chad Hunter


This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Chad Hunter will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

The year is 1716. The world is in the Golden Age of Piracy and fabled ships sail the seven seas. One such vessel is the Requiem, captained by the young but wise, brave but dubious Nabopolassar “Bo” Travis. Alongside his first mate Ghassan, quartermaster Winter Burke and navigator Glover, Travis seeks treasure, female company and good drink. The Requiem’s legendary adventures are filled with tales of monsters and myths – all of which are true. Now, someone or something is sailing the seas in search for a treasure chest – a chest that holds unknown riches which only promise to change the world forever. Captain Travis, his crew and a beautiful young map reader must brave the dark and the deep to find the treasure. Will the Requiem find the X on the spot before the infamous Captain George “Bloody-Face” Fiddick does? Will Travis uncover the secret behind the cursed black ship which changed his young life forever? And will the treasure chest truly be full of riches or does something far more insidious lie in wait? Ready your flintlock. Sharpen your sword. The Requiem awaits.

Enjoy an Excerpt

Lights flickered. The wind would regularly wheeze its way in enough to play with the candles that kept the hidden lair bright enough for reading, for planning and mainly enough to keep George Fiddick’s men from walking off cliffs and cavernous drops.

George Fiddick or George “Bloody Face” Fiddick as he had come to be known, sat on a chair that was long since stolen from some ship long since raided and sunk. The tomes and books, art and items that filled the room in heaps here and there were also all pieced together from adventures on the seas long ago. No particular details rang clear in Fiddick’s mind. Everything seemed to lump together. And that was life now for the aging man more so than the exactness of details remembered in his younger days.

A mountain of a man, Fiddick filled the whole chair as he leaned back into it. The wood and upholstery of the pirate’s throne groaned under his size. His brown coat and dark pants matched the massive beard that covered his chin. The hair on his face was still smooth and wavy and mostly dark, unlike the thinning and graying hair atop his head. Of all the colors that comprised Fiddick, most focused on the red that regularly gushed from his nose. It darkened on the handkerchief in his bear-claw hand. It was not battle wounds and swords slicked in crimson that had earned him his moniker. “Bloody Face” was pejorative and it stuck. Now Fiddick let it be what it was – a terrifying legend to all who sailed. When captains and crews, privateers or navy saw the Crimson Lady, it was unmistakable. The mighty ship ruled seas and oceans with her black flags each with a red insignia shaped of a Great Deep woman.

About the Author: Chad Hunter was born in East Chicago, Indiana. Raised by a single mother in the city’s Harbor section, he is the youngest of four. Growing up in the Midwest and a proudly self-proclaimed “Region Rat,” Hunter has written and published several books and novels. He has written for magazines and newspapers throughout North America and has been published in several languages. His writings have been called sophisticated yet humorous, sharp witted and unrelenting.
 
Most often, Hunter’s writings have been considered so wide and diverse that they span a scale that would include multiple writers with multiple forms. In addition to being a published author and journalist, Hunter is also a professional speaker. Having presented to high schools, colleges and various other audiences, his talks and discussions center around the positive impact of literary and creative presences in one’s life. A large portion of Hunter’s focus is on the uncanny strength of human connectedness which is emphasized via the lens of writing and creativity.
 
Working in genres including dark fantasy, memoirs, science-fiction and anecdotal collections, Hunter weaves tales of monsters, heroes, zombies, wedding planning, technology, pirates and even black parakeets. With over ten books under his belt, If anything binds his varied styles, it is Hunter’s theme of the human condition, humor and family closeness – all to the backdrop of romantic love, vibrant remembrance and even monsters themselves.

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The Wandering Land by Jamie Killen – Exclusive Excerpt and Giveaway


This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Long and Short Reviews. Jamie will be awarding a $10 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

On a summer night in a sunbaked desert city, the wandering land appears. A fairytale village nestled in dense forest, it is a place of ruined castles, abandoned treasures, and strange creatures living in the shadows. Brought together by this impossible place are five visitors: failed painter Eli; art professor Amal; young lovers Darcy and Wes; and mysterious, haunted Coyote. Together they explore their own secret village, an entire world hidden in plain sight.

But there is darkness beneath the magic, a force pulling the visitors deeper and deeper into the place’s mysteries. As the boundaries between the secret land and the outside world begin to collapse, each of the visitors is confronted with visions of an otherworldly child, a child whose existence holds the key to understanding everything about the place that has drawn them together.

Who is this child? Why did she choose them? And will she ever let them go?

Enjoy an Exclusive Excerpt

My Dearest Terrence,

I am as happy as I can remember being now that I have taken up residence in our new home. The only thing missing is you. Why do you persist in remaining in that dreary old apartment? We have everything we need here, and anything we do not have we can make for ourselves. Just yesterday I was longing to listen to the wireless, and lo and behold one appeared! I’m quite certain that the music that came out of it was nothing I’d ever heard before, but it was lovely all the same.

I fear Ella has turned you against me. Please remember that, while she is a good woman, she is foolish in her superstitions. She fears what she does not know, while I would rather embrace it. You must choose, my darling. Will you give in to fear or will you take this journey with me?

Roman and Alphonse will be joining me for dinner tomorrow (as this place’s properties render my abysmal cooking skills quite irrelevant!). I hope you will be here as well.

Love always,

Lillian

About the Author: Jamie Killen’s short stories have appeared in numerous speculative fiction magazines and anthologies. She is also the writer and producer of the acclaimed audio drama SPINES. She is currently developing a new supernatural audio drama called The Six Disappearances of Ella McCray.

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Buy the book at Amazon.


Too Many Commas by Amanda J. McGee – Guest Post and Giveaway


This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Amanda J. McGee will be awarding a copy of both published volumes of The Creation Saga: MOTHER OF CREATION and DAUGHTER OF MADNESS, (after the June 2, 2018 publishing date, US participants only) to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour. Note: Daughter of Madness is currently $0.99 at Amazon.

There are far too many commas here

At a bar with a friend recently, we discussed our grammatical foibles. Hers was overuse of semicolons. Apparently in law school she once sat through an entire group project session listening to a peer make snide comments about semicolon usage. She got the highest grade. We both agree that semicolons are excellent. No doubt we are in the minority.

I have a slightly more common issue. I have never been able to master the use of the comma.

Consider me, in eighth grade grammar class, failing miserably to see the extraneous commas. I never got them all. Other forms of punctuation come to me intuitively, the aforementioned semicolon included. But the comma, that remains confusing. I blame my same eighth grade English teacher, who would exasperatedly repeat, “Just listen for the pauses!” My apologies, but I cannot hear them.

That is not to say that I don’t hear the rhythm of a sentence, of course. I do. It’s just that where the rhythm breaks for me is sometimes not where the rhythm breaks according to the grammatical preferences of English. This is especially difficult in editing, when I find myself reading through a sentence multiple times asking myself if I really do need that comma. I’ve gotten in the habit of reading manuscripts backwards during proofing in part for this very reason. It breaks the word flow up enough that I can forget the natural pauses I would take in the sentence and instead focus on what I hope the grammatically correct punctuation should be. Hope, because commas remain slippery beasts. I’m never quite sure.

Luckily, writers get to take advantage of the artistic nature of our work to slide past some of these technicalities in the pursuit of art. Not that art should be an excuse for ineptitude. In any case, there are always editors and copyeditors to smeer your page in red ink. Heavens knows what we’d do without them. If you see an errant comma in my work, however, please be kind. No doubt it’s one of ten that were ruthlessly cut down in the name of a clean manuscript.


Liana has lost much to Herka’s manipulations, though nothing so precious as her sanity. Emerging from her madness, she finds the world changed – her body wasted, her son gone, and her kingdom still beyond her reach. Only the fires of vengeance remain, and she will build the flames high.

DAUGHTER OF MADNESS tells the story of a princess and her twin, a soldier and his king, and an oracle who is more than she seems.

Enjoy an Excerpt

They came to the edge of the village. The houses hung in the darkness, smoke from cooking fires painted the air. There was no returning. The priest of the Quet’le-Ma appeared beside her, androgynous face unreadable in the shadows. The contraption of flame was pressed into her palm, and something else. A clay pot, its top filled with fine rushes, not the slower burning woven wick. Liana stared at it for a moment, feeling the fire closer than it had been since she had put the pieces of herself back together.

“Liana,” her brother said, “we don’t have to do this.” She started, looked back at him. It surprised her to see the look of anguish on his face. Her own lips were twisted up at the ends, smiling with sudden euphoria. This, at least, the song of the fire, this she could have back if only the children of Herka would die.

She turned, and lit the little clay pot. It flared in her palm. Her arm pulled back, and she threw.

About the AuthorAmanda J. McGee is fantasy author living in Southwest Virginia with the love of her life and two cats. She likes baking, gardening, and flights of fancy.

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Buy Mother of Creation and Daughter of Madness at Amazon.


Welcome to the Apocalypse Trilogy by DL Richardson – Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. D L Richardson will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

“Players. Welcome to the apocalypse”

Book One – Pandora:

The Apocalypse Games is a state of the art virtual game, yet when it traps over 100 players inside, there’s reason to worry – their simulation pods are designed to last 3 days and the artificial intelligence is taking over.

Book Two – CyberNexis:

When rescue finally arrives, the players are transported to an offsite facility to recover from cyber sickness. Not all the players survived and not all is what it seems. What is CyberNexis hiding out in the desert?

Book Three – Primal Scream:

The disaster known as The Event has plunged the world into icy darkness. Humans can’t survive but a group of mutants can. All signs lead back to the simulation pods. What were they really designed for?

Join these characters on an emotional and fast-paced journey to explore what it really means to survive.

Enjoy an Excerpt from Book One

Jack Minnow grabbed a brochure off the rack and his eyes scanned the back page. “It says here that rule breakers are ten times more likely to survive an apocalypse. They’re adaptable and they rely on cunning and instinct.”

Jack was five-foot-eight, and the woman behind the counter, called an operator, was easily six-feet tall. Looking at her was like looking at a marble statue atop a pedestal. All white – her hair, her tight-fitting jump suit, her face, neck, and hands, painted to resemble a computer generated character. He allowed himself to imagine that the stage make-up covered places he couldn’t see.

She smiled at him. “It also says that rule breakers are ten times more likely to die within the first hour. They’re reckless and often act without thinking.”

She pushed a plastic tray towards him, the kind handed out at airports to slip under x-ray machines. Jack dropped his wallet, phone, and car keys into the tray.

“So it’s a win/win day for a guy with a superhero complex,” he said.

Superman, his mother had called him after he’d brought home a stray dog for the fifth time.

“Can’t help but save things,” she’d told the dog ranger. Even as a boy, Jack knew what happened to the mutts who were handed over to the ranger, but he still brought dogs home for one last night of fun. His superhero complex was the reason he’d entered The Apocalypse Games. Save everyone. Save the world. Nobody dies. Not for real anyway.

The operator removed the tray and he stood there waiting for a voucher. None came. A warning flared up into his brain. What did he really know about this operation?

About the Author:

D L Richardson writes speculative fiction. She is currently a self-published author of three YA novels “The Bird with the Broken Wing”, “Resident Spy”, and “One Little Spell”. She is also the creator of the apocalyptic/sci-fi series “Welcome to the Apocalypse”, and the novella series inspired by Tales from the Crypt, “The Shivers Novellas”.

A former singer and musician, she credits this stage experience for her ease of public speaking, conducting writing workshops, and appearing on panels. Her books don’t feature the usual tropes and this has earned her many loyal readers.

When she’s not writing she enjoys playing music, watching Netflix, reading, gardening, and walking the dog.

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Buy the book at Amazon:

Book One, Book Two, Book Three



Asta and the Barbarians by Becca Fox – Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Becca will be awarding custom made bookmarks, coasters, and magnets to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Asta heard about King Torvald’s crusade and watched her people fortify the town’s defenses, but she never imagined foreign invaders would come to her peaceful shores. In one fateful night, she loses everything she holds dear and somehow gains the favor of the warrior god. Has he given her the tools she needs for revenge or does he have a greater plan in store?

Enjoy an Excerpt

I waited until I couldn’t hear his boots slapping against the floor. Then I eased the door shut, leaned against the rough wood and laughed. It sounded hysterical, almost maniacal, even to my own ears. I clapped a hand over my mouth then, suddenly overwhelmed with grief. Because I wasn’t free. I would never be free of him.

Sliding down the length of the door, I sobbed as quietly as I could manage. The events of the last few weeks washed over me with their terror and grisliness. I allowed myself to mourn my parents, my sister, my fiancé, my friends, the servants who had so diligently cared for me, the quaint little town I had once hated, and the naïve, self-centered child I had once been.

About the Author:

Becca Fox was that strange girl in high school, who always seemed to have her nose in a book. She didn’t talk much because, more often than not, she was daydreaming about different fantasy worlds. During class, under the guise of taking notes, she wrote scenes for her works in progress.

Becca is a bit more social now but still enjoys reading, writing, and daydreaming. She lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her husband, a fat orange tabby cat, and a forever-puppy. She has published three books to date, I Dare You to Love Me (a young adult romance), In the Dark (a new adult paranormal romance), and Asta and the Barbarians (a new adult fantasy.)

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Buy the book at Amazon US, Amazon UK, Smashwords, iBooks, Kobo, or Barnes and Noble.