Book Spotlight: Death is for the Living

Today I bring you all a new book spotlight on the vampire fantasy novel, Death is for the Living by J C Steel. Enjoy.

Death is for the Living by J C Steel

...when ‘here be monsters’ doesn’t only mark the unknown.

By day, Cristina Batista is a deck girl on a Caribbean charter yacht, with all the sun, smiles, and steel drum music that entails. By night, she and her crew hunt the monsters that prey in the dark: the powerful vampire clans of the New World.
Unfortunately, Cristina’s past is hunting her in turn - and it’s catching up. Without her partner, sometime pirate, sometime lordling, and ex-vampire, Jean Vignaud, Cristina wouldn’t simply be dead. She’d be something she fears far more.
Cristina and Jean are experienced, motivated, and resourceful. One faction wants them despite it. The other wants them because of it.

Death is for the Living is available at:

Amazon

Smashwords

iBooks

Barnes and Noble

Kobo

Author Bio

J C Steel was born in Gibraltar and raised on a yacht around the coasts of the Atlantic, and is an author, intermittent martial artist, and introvert. In between the necessary making of money to allow the writing of more books, J C  can usually be found stowing away on a spaceship, halfway to the next galaxy.

J C writes sci-fi and UF adventure set on planets and in places parked just a little off-parallel to this one. Most of the characters have been broken at least once and got back up to eviscerate someone with the broken edges. The books aren't written to Grade 6 level, none of the characters could find PC with a GPS, and reviews divide evenly between "but it was so complicated!" and "Awesome!"

Interview With Author Mary Woldering

Today I have an interesting treat, a re-post of an author interview from Our Write Side with writer Mary Woldering. She is the author of the intriguing historical fantasy series, Children of Stone. Enjoy!

Interview With Author Mary Woldering

(Please note: Two of the questions, #9 and #19, have been slightly altered to adjust for the passage of time. None of the answers have been changed.)

1. How long have you been writing?  
About the time I could write a sentence on paper. Poetry was first. Novels began at about age 14

2. What kind(s) of writing do you do?  
Some poetry, but mostly novels. The genre is Historical Fantasy.

3. Why did you choose that particular field or genre?
It chose me. I have always looked at period in history and thought about “What if?” or found the offbeat stories and myths more interesting than the standard tales.

4. What inspires you?  
My dreams and meditations inspire me. Life and people’s journey through life has always fascinated me.  I am a chronicler of dreams.

5. Where did your love of books/storytelling/reading/writing, etc. come from?  

I can’t think of a specific place.  I always loved adventure stories and theater. When I was older I discovered my father was a writer of mostly scientific articles. He self-published a few copies of a fiction series.


6. How do you find or make time to write?  

I try to write every day.  I can do more of it now that I am retired.

7. Do you write more by logic or intuition, or some combination of the two? Summarize your writing process.
I write by intuition exclusively.  There was a standing joke about me being all right brain and the antithesis of logic. I agree with that assessment.

8. How did you get to be where you are in your life today?  
I lived and experienced life.

9. What are some of your latest projects?  
Book 3 of my Children of Stone Series Opener of the Sky and a short story spin-off in the Steampunk genre that features two characters from the novels.

10.  What process did you go through to get your work published?  
Many years ago I tried traditional publishing but never sold a manuscript. In 2012 I discovered Indie Publishing and the following year published my first of the Children of Stone Series.

11. What is the hardest part of writing for you?  
The mechanics and the revision are hard...Marketing is worse.

12. What do you enjoy most about writing? Share your favorite work.  
Telling a good story with characters people can actually care about. My ONLY work so far is the Children of Stone Series...so yes that one.

13. What is the biggest thing people THINK they know about your subject/genre, that isn't true?  
I have no idea what they think about the genre. As my stories deal with unconventional concepts of mythology and ancient history/culture/religion, some might find it hard to understand or might disagree with the worlds I build.


14. What is the most important thing that people DON'T know about your subject/genre, that they should?  

That it can include the paranormal, sci-fi, romance, and epic… It takes real history and actual historical figures and re-casts them in fantasy. So far, no actual person has risen from the grave to bother me about my depiction of them...yet.

15. For those interested in exploring the subject/theme of your work, where should they start?  

Study history, art and culture. Look at what exists from the literature of the day.

16. What are some ways in which you promote your writing? Do you find that these add or detract from your writing time?  
Marketing ALWAYS cuts into my writing time. I wish I had the money to pay other people to do it. I try anything that isn’t illegal, immoral or fattening.


17. Who are some of your favorite authors?

Robert E. Howard, Evangeline Walton,  Joseph Campbell, Herman Melville. I love adventure, personal journey, mythology and legends.


18. What makes your writing stand out from the crowd?

I have been told my writing is “very deep” and mystical; that it makes you think. I’ve been told that my characters are very, very real and that people care what happens to them.

19. What have you read recently?  
The Lost Princess of Mona - Guy Donovan

20. What do you think is the future of reading/writing?
As long as there are stories to be told...  

You can check out the Children of Stone series on Amazon.

And if you'd like to lend social media support to the Children of Stone Thunderclap, check it out here: https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/55697-voices-in-crystal-bk-1

Author Bio:

Mary R. Woldering is an author, artisan and art historian, devoted wife to Dr. Jackie Woldering, mother of two and grandmother of three. She lives in Euclid, OH

#‎B2BCYCON‬ Book Spotlight for The Winter That Follows

Today I have another Brain to Books Cyber Convention author feature. Remember, this great event for authors and readers alike is coming to Goodreads this April, on the 8th, 9th and 10th.

Be sure to check out all the details and pertinent links for the event here:

http://www.angelabchrysler.com/brain-to-books-cyber-convention-2016/

Now on with the main event, our Brain to Books author feature.

Today I have a great book spotlight for The Winter That Follows by LG Surgeson.

The Winter That Follows by LG Surgeson

The Summer of Fire has burned away. The wars of Gods and mortals, that rampaged across the continent, have ended. The world has been left dazed and flattened, trying to pick up the pieces. Those that have survived find themselves standing amongst the ruins with empty hearts, waiting for faces they will never see again. It has not occurred to many that the hardest times may be yet to come.
Lonely, jaded, homeless or drunk as a skunk and being sold off cheaply by goblins; all the survivors are faced with the greatest challenge yet. They have to build themselves a future. Once the glorious struggles of the Summer are over, somehow you have to find a way to live through the winter that follows.

The Winter That Follows is available at:

Amazon

Amazon UK

Excerpt from The Winter That Follows: 

Chapter Two: A Conspicuous Lack of Goblins

Charlie heaved the barrel up through the trap door and lumped it down beside the other two. It was unusually quiet this morning. The Law Temple nine-hour bell had rung long since, and yet there was no noise in the street. He wiped his forehead and hands with his apron and went to the door of the Tavern.

Charlie was used to goblins, some of his best customers were goblins. In fairness he didn’t have many customers that weren’t goblins – which is what happens if you call a bar ‘The Startling Toad’.

Today, however, was suffering from a conspicuous lack of goblins. The sound of no goblins always made Charlie nervous. It usually meant they were up to something. Mind you, goblins were up to something whether you could hear them or not, but if you couldn’t hear them it meant they were up to something organised.

Charlie was still recovering from the chicken rustling plot of 1099ac, he couldn’t live through that again – screaming militia, chortling goblins and flying chicken feathers everywhere and he was still finding grain in places he could have sworn he had cleaned.

He tried to rack his brains, what had he heard? One of them had been muttering about the Temple District he thought, and another couple had been mumbling about the Adventurers Guild. He hoped it was the Temple District. It was already a pile of rubble and therefore there wasn’t much more damage they could really do to it. If it was the Adventurers Guild, then things were not likely to go so well. The combination of a bunch of self-obsessed hero types and a load of piss-head goblin dock-hands was not something that Charlie wanted to contemplate.

On opening the door, it was much as he feared – the street was empty. There wasn’t even the usual pile of drunks’ sleep, grinning and twitching in their sleep and cuddling their explosives. Charlie couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen the street empty. There was nothing out there apart from effluent and seagulls. He was beginning to wonder if he was dreaming, until he caught a whiff of something wafting by and decided that if his subconscious could manufacture a smell like that then he didn’t want to know about it. He shrugged, there was nothing to be done except his job, so he stumped back into the bar and started to wipe tables wondering to himself if there was really any point. It was then that he noticed it. A scrap of paper, perhaps twice the size of a hand that was pinned to the wall by a rusting dagger. It had clearly been dropped in more than one puddle and bore the terrifying legend ‘bak sooon, we’ze joynd the arm-ee lov Chelios’.

“Blimey,” thought Charlie, “I didn’t realise the army were that hard up.”

Book Trailer

Author Bio: 

LG Surgeson is an author and teacher who lives in a cottage by a river in Mid Wales with her long-suffering partner and their two cats. She writes fantasy and fiction novels and blog articles about education, mental health and whatever else has got under skin this week. She has completed five novels in the Black River Chronicle, her fantasy adventure series that follows a rag-tag band of mercenaries, do-gooders and slightly bemused wizards as they try and save the world, repeatedly.  She is also working on several books about her experiences as a a specialist behaviourial needs teacher.
She writes in the spare time she creates by avoiding the outside world and ignoring the housework. The cats like to help. They aren't good at it.

Amazon Author Profile

I'd like to thank LG Surgeson for sharing her book today, and be sure to check out her virtual booth at the convention this April.

Book Spotlight: Winterreise

I have another book spotlight today, plus an excerpt. This time the book is a fantasy, the urban fairy tale, Winterreise, brought to you by Daphne du Bois writing as Emily de Courcy. Enjoy...

Winterreise by Emily de Courcy

Life in the old city of Aldgard is (almost) never boring...

When music student Penny Wells first met the Erlking, she had an inkling that trouble would follow. Especially since she had a thesis to write and concert to prepare for, and she definitely didn’t have time for magic.

So it really stands to reason that Penny should have known better that to stroll into the Hinterlands to return a strange locket he’d left behind – because nothing is ever accidental when it comes to the Erlking.

And when she does so anyway and awakens an ancient sleeper, seriously annoying the Norse Gods (well, most of them), she finds that she has to set things right before they use her new friend for their upcoming ritual sacrifice. Because Penny won’t stand for that.

But first, she has to figure out what it is they’re really worried about and what all of it has to do with a Schubert song cycle that the Aldgard University music department will be putting on in just a matter of weeks...

Excerpt from Chapter 1

The Erlking drank his coffee black, no sugar.
Penny rather thought he’d have done better with herbal tea, given his tendency to be neurotic. It would certainly have helped with the twitching. Anyway, there was likely no coffee under the hills, so it was a wonder he’d developed a taste for it at all, never mind mastering the art of drinking it without wincing.
They were at the local coffee shop: the kind with squashy couches and rickety tables. It had pale wooden panels on the walls, and Wilhelm, the owner, was a troll. Nobody knew this, of course, except for the Erlking, and Penny, who was rather good at eavesdropping.
Wilhelm disguised himself with clever bits of enchanted spider silk to make him appear human, but given the standard mortal tendency to ignore the unusual, this was hardly necessary. Mortals generally kept the uncanny at bay by pointedly ignoring it: that way, the barely seen world often passed entirely unseen.
Wilhelm used to own a tavern in the Hinterlands: The Broken Keg, it had been called. But owning a tavern was a rough business, even for a troll: no-one had appreciated his secret-recipe strawberry shortcake, and taverns were astonishingly flammable no matter how much magical fire-proofing you did.
When some rowdy dwarfs had trashed The Keg in a bar fight of epic proportions, Wilhelm had decided he’d had enough. His gnomish nurse, who had refused to move on once Wilhelm had reached adulthood, had always said he wouldn't be any good at tavern-keeping. “A job for dimwits and scoundrels!” she would proclaim, while taking a fierce swig of his father’s finest fire wine. Gnome women made the best nurses, not because of any silly instinct, but because of their no-nonsense approach to gnome-rearing, and their wonderful baking.
Wilhelm had considered his options, decided that his nurse had made a valid point after all, and moved camp to the mortal side. Stepping between worlds was a surprisingly easy thing to do, Penny realised upon hearing his story.
She knew that there was a doorway to the fairy realms quite nearby, going on what Wilhelm had once let slip. Penny imagined the door to be mystical and glittery: maybe hidden somewhere deep within an ancient oak tree. It went quite well with the overall ‘old stone and ivy’ medieval-town atmosphere of Aldgard University.
Not that she had much time to think about magical portals and the like. She had two essays due that week, one of which was a monstrous thing on the development of fifteenth century French harmonic practices. She definitely didn't have time for any portals just then…

Winterreise can be found here:

Amazon

Goodreads

(Note: the Amazon link should take you to whichever Amazon you use worldwide )

Author Bio:

Daphne has always had a passion for literature and history and one day it occurred to her: what better way to use her English Literature degree than to write the kinds of stories she loves to read? She hasn't looked back since.
Daphne also writes lyrical fantasy under the pen name Emily de Courcy, and who knows where she'll branch out next!

Daphne has stacks of notebooks full of stories that still need to be written, which she insists on bringing with her when she moves around the world (she’s done this a lot!). She likes her books full of romance, magic, adventure, witty repartee and a dash of silly humour. When Daphne isn't writing, she can be found painting, picnicking, reading and listening to all sorts of exciting music.