Thursday, January 30, 2014

Virtual Book Tour for Dangerous Waters by C M Michaels

BY Unknown 12 comments


Today I would like to introduce you to C M Michael’s Urban Fantasy Paranormal book, Dangerous Waters. But first the author would like to tell you us a little about the book’s background.

After you get know about his book, don’t forget to comment for a chance to win a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card. You can follow the tour HERE to increase your chances of winning. The more you comment, the higher your chance. Good luck. Now, welcome C M Michaels.

BACKGROUND OF THE BOOK

Dangerous Waters is the first book in the Sisters in Blood series. The story takes you inside a coven of female vampires, letting you get to know each of them intimately rather than just focusing on the protagonist and her love interests. And unlike most of the books in the vampire genre, there is no popping open a can of O- or feeding on animals. People die. The challenge I took on as an author is to make the reader fall in love with my characters in spite of what they must do to survive. There are magical elements that come into play, and events that unfold that none of the main characters can explain, which is a fresh change of pace from the “supernatural creatures educate the human protagonist” mold. 

Speaking of the protagonist, Emily led a sheltered life growing up, being raised in a small, rural town with an overprotective father. She bears emotional scars from losing her mother at a young age but hides them well. She’s attending Boston University to study conservation biology, and dreams of making a difference in the fight against global warming. She was quite the tennis phenom in high school, and loves to dance, especially to up tempo techno music. Emily is extremely open-minded, and displays an almost detached objectivity in her thinking. She’s the type of person who wouldn’t blame you for keying her car if she discovered that your god-awful, two timing ex drove the same model and that you’d keyed the wrong car by mistake. She gives her heart freely, is selfless to a fault, and would do anything for those that she loves. Rest assured, her love life is as messed up and complicated as fans of the genre would expect it to be, but the story is about so much more than that.

At its heart Dangerous Waters is a story of self discovery, overcoming challenges, and embracing the fact that life can take us in totally unexpected directions. We all have hidden abilities inside of us that will never surface if we are too afraid to explore and try new things.

DANGEROUS WATERS
by C M Michaels

BLURB

For Emily Waters, a nature-loving, small-town girl with an overprotective father, heading off to Boston University to study conservation biology is a dream come true—until a chance encounter catapults her into a mythical world she’d do anything to escape. 

The latest victim in a rash of abductions near campus, Emily is brutally attacked before being rescued by a powerful new friend. She survives the ordeal, only to find herself held captive and presented with an impossible choice.

While preparing for the unimaginable life she must now embrace clues soon emerge that Emily may not be entirely human, and her physical transformation awakens goddess-like powers that her new family cannot begin to explain.

Dealing with her human first love, the not-so-platonic relationship with her coven “sister,” and her new vampire sort-of-boyfriend further complicates matters, not to mention being secretly hunted by the psychopaths who attacked her. And as the only known offspring of a once all-powerful race, the climactic battle is only the beginning of her journey.

EXCERPT

Prologue excerpt

 “All rise!” the bailiff bellowed out through the hall. “This court is now in session. The honorable global court inquisitor O’Callaghan presiding.”

An imposing figure with short, golden locks entered from behind the bailiff, motioning for people to take their seats. He gathered his floor-length white and purple robes in his left hand, made his way over to the furthest prisoner and yanked the hood from her head.

“So this is the all-powerful Sienna,” the inquisitor mocked, squeezing the bound woman’s cheeks with his hand. “How disappointing.”

Her once beautiful face was disfigured by several charred-black electrical burns. Blood and pus oozed out of the open wounds. The pungent salve packed into her broken nose made her eyes tear up and prevented her from smelling anything.

“Do you have anything you wish to say in your defense before I render my verdict?” the inquisitor asked, deactivating the device around her throat so she could speak.

“This will never work—she knows her life is far more important than mine.”

“It’s possible she’d let you die,” he acknowledged. “But both of her parents, her mate and her best friend? No, I think that’s far too much to expect her to endure. Sooner or later she’ll come, and the world will celebrate her execution.”

Sienna snapped to attention, her green eyes widening in horror at the news of who else had been captured. “You have no idea what you’ve done—everyone in this building’s going to die.”

The crowd erupted at her outburst, and the inquisitor held up his hand to silence them. “And how exactly is your precious queen going to manage that? She’ll be welcomed to our fair city by twenty thousand volts from the first alarm she trips. Not enough to kill your kind, but plenty to leave her unconscious until—”

“Sir, a perimeter alarm’s been triggered just outside the north gate,” a soldier interrupted from the gallery.

He wheeled on the man in a fit of anger. “Interrupt me again, and I’ll disembowel you! People have been jumping the fence all day—contact the guards at the gate and have them check it out.”

“We tried sir. Calls have been placed to the guard desk, the three closest perimeter sweep teams and the north tactical unit—they’re not responding.”

“Who’s not responding, you imbecile!”

“Any of them.”

“It’s too late,” Sienna said, gazing at his panic-stricken face. “She’s here.”
.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:











C.M Michaels grew up in a small town in northern Michigan as the youngest child of a close-knit family of seven. He met his wife, Teresa, while attending Saginaw Valley State University. Together they’ve provided a loving home for several four-legged “kids”, including Sophie, their eternally young at heart, hopelessly spoiled Spaniel.
He has always enjoyed writing, and still has fond memories of reading his first book, a children’s novella, to local grade schools when he was 14. Dangerous Waters, the first book in the Sisters in Blood series, is being published by Freya’s Bower on September 5th, 2013. C.M. is currently working on the second book in the Sisters in Blood series along with a Fantasy romance.

When he’s not writing, C.M. can be found curled up with a good book, watching movies or hitting the hiking trails with his wife. An avid reader since discovering Jim Kjelgaard novels in early childhood, his favorite authors include Kelley Armstrong, Peter V. Brett, Richelle Mead, Rachel Caine, Cassandra Claire, J.R. Ward, Laini Taylor and Tessa Dawn.

C.M. currently resides in Louisville, Kentucky.

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Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Calling All Bloggers: Rekindled Moments Release Blast Sign Ups

BY Unknown No comments

Dear Bloggers, 

I need your help. I'm organizing a release blast for Rekindled Moments (Moments in Time #2) on February 8th and desperately need hosts. If you're interested, please fill out the form below or send the link to bloggers you think might want to help. ARC copies are available for review for those who are interested in reviewing.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/18FCJksodNbZ1vXXaQfRj-qra40AKDilKKY...

 
The truth will always find a way out.

Carlene Adams' new life has been an illusion, her newfound joy just for rent. The life she craves can't really belong to a girl who is responsible for someone's death.

Her greatest fear has been realized. Nick Johnson, her second chance at love, has discovered her true identity and disappeared from her life.

She will need to find a way to move on without Nick. But the memories of their time together haunt her relentlessly. As Serendipity's Businessman of the Year, his face is everywhere—in magazines, on the television screen, and behind her eyelids. Soon, rumors about her past cause her life to spin out of control, and she finds herself even further from her dreams.

But Carlene is good at hiding from the past. She's done it once before. She can do it again. She can leave her hometown and begin again somewhere new. But she can't move on without telling Nick the truth about the life he thinks she took, and everything that came before.


CHECK OUT THIS FUN BLOG

http://breakingthespine.blogspot.com

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

COVER REVEAL & GIVEAWAY: Rekindled Moments by Dori Lavelle

BY Unknown 5 comments

Now that we're drawing closer to the release, it's time to show you the cover of Rekindled Moments (Moments in Time #2). The manuscript just got back from the editor today.
Without wasting time, here it is:


BLURB

The truth will always find a way out.

Carlene Adams' new life has been an illusion, her newfound joy just for rent. The life she craves can't really belong to a girl who is responsible for someone's death.

Her greatest fear has been realized. Nick Johnson, her second chance at love, has discovered her true identity and disappeared from her life.

She will need to find a way to move on without Nick. But the memories of their time together haunt her relentlessly. As Serendipity's Businessman of the Year, his face is everywhere—in magazines, on the television screen, and behind her eyelids. Soon, rumors about her past cause her life to spin out of control, and she finds herself even further from her dreams.

But Carlene is good at hiding from the past. She's done it once before. She can do it again. She can leave her hometown and begin again somewhere new. But she can't move on without telling Nick the truth about the life he thinks she took, and everything that came before.

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Sunday, January 5, 2014

Book Tour: Life Flight by Shaunna Wolf (INTERVIEW & GIVEAWAY-$50 GC)

BY Unknown 14 comments

 
Today, I’m excited to introduce you to a new book, Life Flight by Shaunna Wolf. Shaunna was also kind enough to agree to an interview so we can get to know her better. That’s not all, she also brought along some prizes. Enter the giveaway using the Rafflecopter at the end of the post. Good luck.
 
INTERVIEW

Welcome to my blog, Shaunna. What is your least favorite word?

My least favorite word changes with whatever manuscript I am working on.  Sometimes in my own I get on a run and use the same word over and over, it then becomes the least favorite of the day, the same when I am editing, if a word is used as a crutch or overused I see jump out at me all over the place. 
 
What part of the writing process do you dread? I hate editing. It’s just never seems to end.

I really enjoy all parts of the process, even edits, but I really hate taking that one final read through and finding some major flaw that somehow got missed on a few bazillion read throughs.  After that, cover art, I love getting my cover, but when it isn’t right, then the process becomes painful in the extreme.

I know how that feels. My stomach is always clenched tight when I do a final read through. Those errors just keep popping up, don’t they? Okay, let’s have a little laugh to help us forget about those pesky errors.  What is your favorite Joke?

Kitten: small homicidal muffin on legs; affects human sensibilities to the point of endowing the most wanton and ruthless acts of destruction with near-mythical overtones of cuteness. Not recommended for beginners. Get at least two.

That’s so cute and funny. Thanks for sharing. Where do you get your best ideas? Please don’t say the showerJ

Music.  Of all the things around me, music seems to spur the muse on the most.  I will hear a song, or a phrase in a song, or even the title of a song and a story idea builds from there.

That happens to me quite a lot too. Country music has the greatest effect on me.  Apart from listening to music, what do you do to relax?

Writing for me, even though I see it as a job is my form of relaxation.  If I am angry I can get that anger out of my system through a character, if I am sad the same thing.  The free flow of writing when an idea takes off is the best therapy there is.

Oh, yes, writing definitely is therapeutic. Shaunna, thank you for opening the doors of your world to us. I wish you all the best in your writing career.

Now that we’ve heard from Shaunna, it’s time to know about her novel.

LIFE FLIGHT
by Shaunna Wolf
BLURB:
Malachi Blackfeather has spent twenty years in the Army. Two of those years as a Vietnam POW. Now that he's out, all he wants is some peace and quiet to figure out what to do with the rest of his life. Between the flashbacks, and an over interest in sex that is now being called sex addiction, finding his path isn't easy.

Kat is trying to escape an abusive marriage. Her soon to be ex is a master at manipulating the system, and her family thinks she should stay with him, "because no other man will want her". She's looking for escape in any form she can get it.

When they meet, sparks fly. Trapped by a blizzard, can two damaged people, who think there is no chance of love in the world for them, find each other, and survive an unforeseen circumstance that puts both of them in danger?

Mystery, romance, and danger, fill this novel, with a story that will draw you in and not let go.

EXCERPT

We stared at each other until Johnny cleared his throat.  The back of her hand went down the side of my face.  She put the back of her hand to her face.  Frowned, and then moved back to her place on the floor.  What had that meant?

The trooper cracked a beer.  Began telling us about a nudist house party he’d broken up.  Kat laughed, stroked his ego with her voice.  But her gaze kept coming back to me, I’d look back and she’d shift her attention away, then I’d catch her again.  Did she want me out of the room?  Did her soul’s demon want this new prospect?  Did she even see it as a demon?  As something that had taken the place of real feelings and human emotions--to the point they had to be borrowed and stolen from others?

My third beer and the room felt like the outdoors.  Wind whistled over the glass.  I pulled the other blankets out of the closet.  Zipped my coat.  Johnny zipped his and pulled gloves on.  Stood up.  At least not drunk.

“Going to my car,” he told us, “Y’all welcome to come sit in the warmth.”

“Mine's got a full tank as well.  Gets too bad, we can sit in it.”  I grasped his hand, glad I’d gone back for this man. “Thanks.”

“Smoke, before we’re in for the night?”

I stepped outside with him.  The air felt as if it would shatter.  Amazingly, the lights were on over in the restaurant.  The sound of a diesel engine running echoed over the parking lot.  Johnny laughed. 

“Guess I know where I’m heading, find me a booth, and get some shut eye.”

Not a bad idea.  At least warm--and hot food.  He lit his Winston, I lit a Camel.  We stood that way, two men, each scarred in his own way by a shared experience that we hadn’t even realized was one.  And Kat scarred by something, something before her marriage. 

“That little woman,” Johnny said.  “Ain’t none my business.  But everyone said she’s a free spirit--born after her time, shoulda been her age in the 60’s.”  His blue-eyed gaze flashed to me, then away.  “Take the right kinda man to make that kinda woman into a wife, but if you got any smarts, you’ll give it a shot.  The way you look at her, and the way she looks back, yeah, the way of things brought you together for a reason.”  He dropped the butt in the snow and took sure steps across the ice covered parking lot.

AUTHOR LINKS:

Facebook Author’s Page: http://www.facebook.com/srhowen1 
Blog: Critters at the Keyboard http://srhowen1.blogspot.com/

GIVEAWAY

If you would like to follow the tour and comment, to increase your chances of winning, the tour dates can be found HERE.
 
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