Christmas Lites III Release Day

Today’s the official release of the Christmas Lites III charity anthology. Twenty-one authors have come together in the spirit of the season and written a creative Christmas themed book for your enjoyment. And the best part is the all the proceeds go to help the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

Here’s the blurb and a list of the authors in the anthology:

The Christmas season is upon us yet again. Yes, my friends, it is a time of giving, loving, and sharing. Within these pages is a way you can help many people desperately in need of love, support, and goodness: the victims of domestic crime. By purchasing this anthology, you are sending every last dime made off this book to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. The NCADV is an amazing charity that saves these people and lets them know there is still hope, still goodness, and still a reason to carry on.

Twenty-one authors have joined in this year, giving their time and their stories to these people – and to you. We all hope you enjoy our holiday tales captured in bite-size pieces. Whether you read this on the bus, before bed, or snuggled by the fire, please, do read – and share.

Anthology Authors:

Addison Moore

A.F. Stewart

Amy Eye

Angela Yuriko Smith

Ben Warden

Cassie McCown

Elizabeth Evans

J.A. Clement

JG Faherty

Jonathan Tidball

M.L. Sherwood

Monica La Porta

Ottilie Weber

Patrick Freivald

Phil Cantrill

Robert Gray

Ron C. Neito

S. Patrick Pothier

Tricia Kristufek

Vered Ehsani

*Brandon Eye bonus story

Editor/compiler: Amy Eye of The Eyes for Editing

Cover Design Kyra Smith

Link to the charity: www.ncadv.org

As you can see I'm one of the authors and my story, Once Upon a Christmas Eve, is a strange Victorian tale of Christmas in the village of Westerly. The story features Ginny Peabody and her family as they attempt to make through another Christmas season.

Christmas is coming to Westerly, and the Peabody family are preparing for the holiday. Wrapping presents, baking cookies, staying cheerful… because bad things can happen if they don’t.

The town of Westerly always celebrates Christmas… or suffers the consequences.

I hope you’ll check out the book, and my story, as well as the tales from the other talented authors featured in this anthology.

Christmas Lites III is available on Amazon and Smashwords.

Cover Reveal for Christmas Lites III

On Dec. 3rd, the book, Christmas Lites III, will be released. It's the third in a series of charity anthologies, where proceeds go to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. This year, another bevy of talented authors have come together (including me) to celebrate the season with their tales, sometimes in strange and unusual ways. And today I'm happy to show you the stunning cover art for the book, so on with the reveal:

About Christmas Lites III:

The Christmas season is upon us yet again. Yes, my friends, it is a time of giving, loving, and sharing. Within these pages is a way you can help many people desperately in need of love, support, and goodness: the victims of domestic crime. By purchasing this anthology, you are sending every last dime made off this book to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. The NCADV is an amazing charity that saves these people and lets them know there is still hope, still goodness, and still a reason to carry on.
Twenty-one authors have joined in this year, giving their time and their stories to these people – and to you. We all hope you enjoy our holiday tales captured in bite-size pieces. Whether you read this on the bus, before bed, or snuggled by the fire, please, do read – and share.

Authors in this anthology:

Addison Moore
A.F. Stewart
Amy Eye
Angela Yuriko Smith
Ben Warden
Cassie McCown
Elizabeth Evans
J.A. Clement
JG Faherty
Jonathan Tidball
M.L. Sherwood
Monica La Porta
Ottilie Weber
Patrick Freivald
Phil Cantrill
Robert Gray
Ron C. Neito
S. Patrick Pothier
Tricia Kristufek
Vered Ehsani
*Brandon Eye bonus story

Editor/compiler: Amy Eye of The Eyes for Editing
Cover Design Kyra Smith

Link to the charity: www.ncadv.org

Spotlight on Waking Up Dead

I'm showcasing a book today, the paranormal mystery, Waking Up Dead by Margo Bond Collins:

Waking Up Dead by Margo Bond Collins

When Dallas resident Callie Taylor died young, she expected to go to Heaven, or maybe Hell. Instead, when she met her fate early thanks to a creep with a knife and a mommy complex, she went to Alabama. Now she's witnessed another murder, and she's not about to let this one go. She's determined to help solve it before an innocent man goes to prison. And to answer the biggest question of all: why the hell did she wake up dead in Alabama?

An Excerpt from Waking Up Dead :

When I died, I expected to go to heaven.
Okay. Maybe hell. It’s not like I was perfect or anything. But I was sort of hoping for heaven.
Instead, I went to Alabama.
Yeah. I know. It’s weird.
I died in Dallas, my hometown. I was killed, actually. Murdered. I’ll spare you the gruesome details. I don’t like to remember them myself. Some jerk with a knife--and probably a Bad-Mommy complex. Believe me, if I knew where he was, I’d go haunt his ass.
At any rate, by the time death came, I was ready for it--ready to stop hurting, ready to let go. I didn't even fight it.
And then I woke up dead in Alabama. Talk about pissed off.
You know, even reincarnation would have been fine with me--I could have started over, clean slate and all that. Human, cow, bug. Whatever. But no. I ended up haunting someplace I’d never even been.
That’s not the way it’s supposed to work, right? Ghosts are supposed to be the tortured spirits of those who cannot let go of their earthly existence. If they could be convinced to follow the light, they’d leave behind said earthly existence and quit scaring the bejesus out of the poor folks who run across them. That’s what all those “ghost hunter” shows on television tell us.
Let me tell you something. The living don’t know jack about the dead.
Not this dead chick, anyway.

Waking Up Dead is available on Amazon

And for your Goodreads bookshelves

About the Author:

Margo Bond Collins lives in Texas with her husband, their daughter, several spoiled cats, and a ridiculous turtle. She teaches college-level English courses online, though writing fiction is her first love. She enjoys reading urban fantasy and paranormal fiction of any genre and spends most of her free time daydreaming about vampires, ghosts, zombies, werewolves, and other monsters. Waking Up Dead is her first published novel. Her second novel, Legally Undead, is an urban fantasy, forthcoming in 2014 from World Weaver Press.

Connect with Margo:

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/margobondcollins
Website: http://www.MargoBondCollins.com
Twitter:  @MargoBondCollin
Google+: https://plus.google.com/116484555448104519902
Goodreads Author Page: http://www.goodreads.com/vampirarchy
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/MargoBondCollins
Facebook Novel Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Waking-Up-Dead/502076076537575
Tumblr: http://vampirarchybooks.tumblr.com/
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/mbondcollins/

Poems For Remembrance Day

For this Remembrance Day, some poems in memory of the fallen:

Through the Eyes of a Soldier

One breath, one individual breath,

exhaled slowly across the arena of battle.

A small impulsive act, to muster your valour,

before you step into war, into the killing field.

Where bodies drop upon the trampled ground,

where you will choke on grime and acrid smoke,

as the earth grows sodden, drenched with blood,

and the air will hum, unreal, with lingering death.

Pain is the final sensation your body will know,

before you succumb and fall, with one last breath.

In Memoriam

Battlefields of scarlet

where the flowers grow

and the wind blows past

the fallen soldiers.

Where the flowers grow

with memories of soldiers;

ghosts not forgotten.

And the wind blows past

rows of weathered stone,

that mark their graves.

The Fallen Soldiers;

lives given, sacrificed

in war, in honour.

Soldier Boy

Play me a tune for Death;

he has passed this way.

A sad lament, for those

who shed their final blood

on this forlorn battlefield.

Play a song of sorrow

for your fallen friends.

Each and every soul

who shall never grace

again, this vibrant earth.

The Winners Of My Coffin Hop Contests

The moment has arrived folks, drum roll please...

The Contests Winners

Okay first up the three winners of my supplementary contests:

For the free e-copy (via Smashwords) of my book, Reflections of Poetry, the winner is: Jolie Du Pre

For the free e-copy (via Smashwords) of my book, Gothic Cavalcade, the winner is: Aspen deLainey

For the free e-copy (via Smashwords) of Coffin Hop: Death by Drive-In, the winner is: Popple


And now for the Rafflecopter Contest:

1st Prize: Jeanette Jackson

2nd Prize: Sheila Deeth

3rd Prize: Skye Callahan

Congratulations to all.  I've sent out emails to the Rafflecopter winners already, and will be in touch with the rest shortly, or you can email me (you can find my email here on the blog).