LRC Freebies.

First three comments win a copy of Last Flight of the Ark.
Please, one entry per person.

LRC Freebies.

First three comments win a copy of Slipping the Past.

Blog-hopping-scavenger hunt

Here's a chance to win a free digital copy of, Blown Away, my new release with Passion in Print. http://passioninprint.com/ShowBook.php?CR=DLJBLOWNAWAY
All you have to do is answer the questions from these blogs, to be entered for a chance to win one of two e-novels.
Please include your email so I can contact you if you're the winner.

It starts here:

http://paranormalromantics.blogspot.com/

1. On Saturday's post, titled Blown Away: Chops From the Cutting-Room Floor, what got stuck in the visiting GDI ship's manifold?

http://www.sfrcontests.blogspot.com/

2. On the Thursday November 18th, 2010 tag party on the Sci Fi Brigade, what three books were tagged at Amazon by Brigaders?

http://www.paranormalists.blogspot.com/

3. On Paranormalists, what thing did Para-enlistee, Arlene Webb, intentionally double-post?

 http://backwardmomentum.blogspot.com/

4. At Backward Momentum, what is the prior occupation of MacKay's interviewee?

I'm giving away two copies. So post your answers here, in the comments section, before Wednesday at midnight, for your chance to win. I'll draw two names and announce the winners, Thursday, Thanksgiving morning.

Good luck!

Stacey Kennedy is in the House

Please help me welcome urban fantasy romance author, Stacey Kennedy. Stacey's here today to talk about her newest release, An Everlasting Bite, Book One in the Blue Blood Series.

Love is born between strangers, yet built upon a bond soul deep―one Alpha’s vow to protect his mate from looming danger, all the while, mending her soul and stirring her wolfish desires.

Can a story have action, romance and a mystery? I say, yes! It was all these elements that drove me to write, An Everlasting Bite. I loved the idea of a fast paced story that’s filled with suspense. Yet, at the same time, holds a sweet love story too. Every chapter that passed beneath my finger tips held me captivated. I suppose this is my typical style of writing, which falls into the urban fantasy romance genre, and I doubt I’ll ever step out of this style.

So, here is my question to you, do you love stories that are filled with all the above as much as I do?

A vicious werewolf attack in Plymouth, Minnesota leaves a young woman violated, bitten and now, transformed into werewolf. But Rynn Murphy doesn’t have to face this transformation alone—she has her mate by her side. And the charming Briggs―Beta to the Patriarch, Valor―is eager to ease her into this new life and mend her battered soul.

With only weeks to adjust to her new fur, Rynn, follows Briggs while he assists in locating the daughter of the Montana’s Alpha, who was abducted from her home. But this journey is not without danger. And soon, they discover the ones who have taken this young wolf do not want her found and will stop at nothing to keep her hidden. Or so it may seem, as bodies begin to drop around them, the murderous attempts start to appear more as a hit than a smoke screen—leaving only one question, who is the intended target…

Buy link: http://www.staceykennedy.com/books/blue-blood-series/an-everlasting-bite/

Website: www.staceykennedy.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/profile.php?id=100000956942180

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3473046.Stacey_Kennedy

Twitter: http://twitter.com/Stacey_Kennedy

PRAISE FOR THE WILLOW

RT Book Reviews

“…Kennedy has created a world that readers will want to visit again and again!” Dawn Crowne

PRAISE FOR THE WICKED

Bitten by Paranormal Romance

“Do you love magic, dominant men, adventure, humor, evil villains and a talking cat? Well here is an excellent book for you to try.” Laurie

PRAISE OF A DEADLY WHISPER
Happily Ever After Reviews
The readers will find themselves snickering and crying with the characters. I highly recommend this book. Read it, go get it right away. ” Hunter



Meet Stacey Kennedy:

My novels are light-hearted fantasy, heart squeezing, thigh-clenching romance, and even give a good chuckle every now and again. My journey as a writer began as a way to keep her brain alive since being a stay at home mom can be a little let’s say―numbing. It was an escape from screaming kids, dirty diapers and plain old mom duty. It started as a hobby, but as the stories progressed writing became a passion. Now, I indulge during, especially in writing the juicy bits! Every mom needs a good thrill!




Thanks for telling us about your new release and taking time out of your busy schedule to blog with us today, Stacey.



A Little Flash Fiction for Halloween

The Cattle Rustler.

The sheriff slipped the noose over my head and tightened the knot. “Do you have any last words?”

The coarse fibers of the heavy rope cut into my skin, making me wish I was in another place. “Yes. Yes I do.” My hands were bound behind my back and my heart pounded in my chest. “I’m not guilty.”

The mob below booed, threw rotten vegetables and cattle dung, striking me in the face and body. Frontier justice. It was swift, and not the easiest way to go, as I was discovering.

The sheriff nodded to the executioner.

“Wait. I have more to say.”

He scowled and gave me a nasty look, anxious to get on with my lynching as the rest of them.

“I want to explain what happened. I know you are not going to believe me, but I don’t want to meet my maker as a liar.”

“Okay, but make it quick. My wife has supper on the table. Fried chicken and apple pie. My favorite.”

It was nice knowing I took a second to the fried chicken and apple pie. In a matter of minutes they were going to stretch my neck and watch as I jerked and spasmed from being strangled by the rope. If I was lucky - the rope would be short and it would snap my neck. But since I found myself in this predicament, I figured that my luck had run out.

“Four nights ago.” I said. More booing and cow shit. “Wait; let me make my peace here.” They stopped, and went silent. “As I was a saying – four nights ago I was on this drive to Kansas City, just outside of Ogallala Nebraska. It was a quiet night, the kind that makes cowboys nervous. I could see every star in the sky and the prairie was as still.”

“Hey are you writing a book!” A heckler yelled and hit me with a tomato.

“Do you mind?” I said. “Anyways, there wasn’t a hint of what I was to find.”

“You’re a thieving rustler. Just hang em Sheriff. We’ve enough of his lies.” A particularly plump woman in her forties started yelling and whipping the mob up again. From where I stood, I could see the lack of her teeth, and her cheeks bore a little too much rouge for a respectable woman.

“Shut up, you whore,” I spat. “These are my dying words.”

The Sheriff raised his hand to silence the crowd. “The sooner you good folk let this here man finish his tale, the sooner we can hang him and leave him for the buzzards. My supper’s getting cold. So let him make his peace.”

“Anyway – I decided to check the herd. I hobbled my horse and walked. It was such a pretty night, and I’d been in the saddle all day. Your bones get sore when you get to be my age.” I was thirty five. It was the only way of life I’d known since I was fourteen, orphaned and left on my own with my father’s only possessions, his horse and saddle. I followed the family tradition. Wrangling.

But, you can only do so much wrangling, gambling, boozing, and womanizing, before you want something more. I wanted my own spread, a wife, a couple of kids, and some livestock of my own. Driving cattle for another outfit wasn’t going to get me what I wanted.

That’s when I turned to rustling. Just a couple of head, here and there. Nothing that would be missed or so I’d thought. I carried a traveling iron, and would change the brand to my own, driving the cattle off till I came back through. I’d pick them up and corral them in a hidden spot.

Open range made it real easy to find cattle, whose brand could be changed. I often didn’t need to rustle the cattle from the outfit I worked for. There were plenty of other strays running around, just ripe for the picking. Of course, it was the traveling iron I carried, that put the proverbial nail in my coffin. But this time, I wasn’t guilty of the thievery.

“I was walking along, scanning the horizon for trouble. The herd seemed edgy, nervous – more so than was normal.” I paused and glanced around the crowd. I could see, I now had there attention. That was good, I was tired of having cow shit flung at me. “Usually they only get like that when a predators around, or it’s storming or Indians are nearby, planning to raid.”

Several of the town folk nodded their heads in agreement. If they hadn’t been there out on the prairies, one time or another themselves, they knew someone who had. Ranching was a way of life in these parts. People around her were born to it. They took the thievery of their livestock quite seriously.

"Anyways.” I said. “I walked around this bend; we had camped down in this valley, it had a small stream that ran through it and a few cottonwood trees for the cattle to rest under. It was real peaceful. That was, it should have been. But something was spooking the herd.”

“Indians?” One child in the crowd shouted.

“No.” I said. “Something much worse. Something from the devil himself.”

"He’s a liar.” The fat woman screamed again.

“Look, I’m not going to my maker a lying. This is the God’s honest truth. Shut up and let me finish.” I stared her down for a second and she went silent. “As I was saying – I’ve never seen anything like this before. I was around the bend of the stream and out of view of the rest of the my party. And since I had watch that night, they was sleeping anyway. I can’t prove that I what I say is true. But I will swear on the good book that it is.

“Blasphemy.” The whore screamed again.

“Now aren’t you the pot calling the kettle black miss? You’re nothing but a cheap whore. Now shut up and let me finish.” She glared at me, but went silent.

“At first I thought they was rustlers, you know on the account that there was light, like a fire – but brighter. I pulled my pistol and proceeded to sneak up on em. Every cowboy is responsible for the herd. If we had rustlers down in the valley branding our livestock it was my task to make sure they didn’t finish what they started. But as I drew closer – I realized they were not rustlers. They was something unholy, not human.”

“The devil is among us.” A preacher yelled out in the background.

“Yes he is Reverend. I saw him myself. Him and his minions. They was a cutting parts off the cattle. It was ghastly. On one cow, they removed the eyes, the other just the heart, and one they even took the hole that the cow shit from. It was the sickest thing I’d ever seen.” I paused and trembled, remembering what came next. “I say, I was never so scared for my life as I was then.”

“Not as much as you should be now, you thief.” A man laughed from the back.

“You can laugh, but they is out there. When I tried to back away – that’s when they saw me. They glowed this strange green color and had large black eyes and silver skin. I did not see a nose on their face.”

Some of the crowd started laughing but I continued on. “I was so scared; I tripped over my own spurs, just trying to get out of there. They was funny, these unholy demons. They spoke to me in my head, saying not to be afraid, that they were gathering information on our world.” I paused and caught my breath. “But I was terrified. Was they going to cut me up like the cattle? Before I could move this slimy net dropped down on me and sucked my limbs to my body like I was wrapped up real tight in a blanket. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t breathe, I was sure I was going to die. I stared up at the sky though the film that wrapped me, and saw a bright star. Except it was moving and coming closer. I think I must have wet myself. But things kind of grow foggy at that point. I don’t remember much, till I found myself on their star.”

“He’s a liar. Lynch him now. He wants us to believe that demons took him to a star?” Another man in the crowd piped up.

“Let him finish.” The Sheriff said.

"Well it was the scareiest thing I’d ever seen. Next thing I know, I was strapped down to this table naked and they was running a long metal rod up my nose. I couldn’t move or scream or anything. They told me to relax, in my head, that they only wanted a sample of my tissue. I was not sure if tissue was brains or boogers, but it scared me. I thought they were going to kill me like the cattle.”

“We didn’t find any cattle cut up like you say.” A woman hollered from the back. “Where were the cattle?”

"I expect they took them up onto their star like they did me.” I paused and thought back. “Yes, there was jars full of parts and pieces and cages, some with strange animals in them, ones I’ve never seen, one even had three heads.”

“He's lying. Hang him now.”

"I’m not. I swear on the Good Lord Jesus that this is the truth.” I shook my head. “It was like they was collecting stuff. Next thing I know I was laying on the bank by the stream with the other cowboys pointing their pistols at me. Claiming I stole some cattle. They found the iron in my equipment with my horse. They would not believe me, as you don’t believe me.”

“Do you have anything further?” The sheriff asked.

“Yes, one last thing. They gave me a message. They said they would be back.”

The Sheriff nodded to the executioner and he pulled a lever that dropped the floor out from under me. For once, my luck had not left me; the rope was short. At least I was going to my maker with a clean conscience. Let them deal with the Devil and his minions.

Muwhahahahahahahah! Here's some fun links:

http://www.stopabductions.com/

http://www.alien-ufo-pictures.com/alien_pictures.html

Para-Fanatics Welcomes Author, Krista Ball

A short intro from Dancing Cat:
As I sat on the bank of the swallow river, the drums pounding in the distance, I asked myself why the ancestors abandoned me. I had always behaved the way my elders taught me. I worked hard, shared with those around me, and never took more from the Earth than what I needed. I listened to my chief and my elders and respected the wisdom that the Spirits offered them. Why, then, would I be called “Cursed One”, never to be a person again?


The crowd in the distance sang and whooped in excitement, rhythmic drums echoing back to my isolated patch of ground. My job during the Gathering consisted of fetching water from the cold stream. Fearful of my presence polluting the festivities and angering the ancestors, several small children were designated to collect the bladders of water from me and run them back to the celebrating people. I could not even bring the water itself.


I was no longer Dancing Cat, messenger of my people. I was Cursed One. I would not experience the opening of the Sacred Bundle and receive guidance.

I looked out and over the endless field of grass opposite of the river and sighed. Someday, I will find a way to deliver myself. Even if I have to call upon death to rescue me.

Today I have Author, Krista Ball in the house. She's got a new release, Harvest Moon, that I'm dying to get my hands on, as I'm sure many of you are too. So without further delay, lets get to the interrogation, er, interview. *spotlights on*

Tell us a little about yourself, Krista.

I’m a fiction and non-fiction author who, through no fault of my own, has recently acquired two step-kids, two step-dogs, four step-cats, a feral squirrel, and an engineer. My own three cats are not impressed and have filed a complaint with the Kitty Union Local 307. Grievance proceedings are about to begin.


Quick info:


1. I was adopted by my grandparents.


2. I have a B.A. in British history and international relations


3. My favourite TV shows are Star Trek: Deep Space 90210 (err 9), Farscape, and Firefly.


4. I don’t have cable. In fact, I don’t even have the adaptor to allow me to watch TV without cable. The only TV show I generally watch “live” is the Oscars, so I just go to someone else’s house for that.


5. No matter when or where I am in my house, there are at least two snoring animals within reach.

What was your inspiration for you latest story?

There was a call out for gender-bender stories. I was working at a homeless agency at the time. The two sorta mixed together. The story ended up too long to work for the anthology and found a home at MuseItUp.

Tell me about your novels Wicca Dog and Harvest Moon.

Wicca Dog ~ When Robert is bitten by his nephew, he's convinced that he isn't really going to turn into a werewolf. After all, werewolves aren't real. Unfortunately for Robert, mischievous Pan is nearby, lamenting that there aren't enough shapeshifters in the world.


Harvest Moon ~ Desperate and fearful for her life, Dancing Cat breaks tribal and eternal law and speaks knowledge from the sacred bundle. An enraged ancient spirit punished Dancing Cat by stripping her of everything, including her gender. Alone in the land of her people’s enemy, she must struggle to regain her identity and life in the body of a man.

Why do you write?

Apparently, I am extremely hard to get along with when I don’t write.

What were your early influences in writing?

His name was ... Oh, you’re probably looking for something that isn’t teenage-angst ridden, huh? Hmm, serious answer. I need a serious answer. Crap. Ah, ok, let’s do this. I had a high school teacher that encouraged my writing, as well as many friends who enjoyed my work. The realization that I could do it made me keep wanting to write.

When did you know you wanted to be an author?

I don’t remember. I do remember writing always coming easy to me and, after a while, writing just seemed like something I should be doing.

What kinds of research do you do for your work?

I generally don’t research until after a piece is finished. I have a history degree, which helps, because I have a very general knowledge of a number of different time periods and cultures. So, I can generally piece things together from my memory and then fix it up after the fact.

What are you favorite scenes to write?

I’ve never thought about this before. I guess I like it when folks all want something (even each other) but they can’t have it. Lots of angst. I’m big on the angst. It makes me feel young again.

Do you have a favorite character?

I like all of my characters for different reasons. Lady Champion Bethany of the Tranquility Series remains my favourite, however. She’s in an unpublished fantasy series I’ve been working on and has been a big hit with my female beta readers.

Do you have any favorite lines in your novels?

From my unfinished book 2 of the Tranquility Series. “It stung going down, but liquor should hurt before dawn. The burning pain meant a person wasn't a true drunk; just merely someone who needed a little touch to start the day.” I didn’t realize it but the vast majority of my works start with people drinking. I might have a problem.

What are the hardest scenes to write?

Scenes with transitions, i.e. I need to get the character from point a to point b without breaking the scene. Those are tough for me. I try really hard to never have those scenes.

Do you have a writing tip to share?

Get beta readers who aren’t related to you. In fact, try to get beta readers who are writers. They will probably hate what your friends say they love, but at least they will help you grow as a writer.

Any new novels in the works?

Yup! Road to Hell, a Science Fiction espionage novel is nearly done. Tranquility’s Grief, the second in the Tranquility series, should have a completed first draft next spring. I’m also working on a couple of shorter novellas, around Harvest Moon’s length.

Krista D. Ball

Thank you for visiting and sharing a little bit about yourself, your writing and your fantastic novels. For you Fanatics interested in purchasing any of Krista's books, you can find the buy link below and a limited time coupon for Wicca Dog.


Dawn  

Come and enjoy the adventures of a fantasy writer at www.kristadball.comTweet me!Facebook me!Goodreads!
 
Preorder now for the novel released in December 2010. Harvest Moon’s buy link:  http://tinyurl.com/34yvyjj



Wicca Dog’s buy link:  http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/19781 Download for free! coupon # XY28R (Valid Until Oct 10th!)

The Small Print out today.

Anyone that knows me, knows I'm crazy about Barbara Elsborg novels. I've yet to meet a novel of hers I didn't love. So why don't you share the passion and see what's got me all worked up. *fans self*

I’m in trouble.


Matty suddenly finds herself back in her childhood home, naked and alone, with no clue how she came to be there. When her greedy uncle sells Milford Hall from under her, Matty hides in the attic.

The woman is trouble.

Vampire historian, Turner, has long had his eye on Milford Hall and there is no price he won’t pay to own it. He doesn’t expect to find an aggravating female living in his attic insisting she has a right to be there. The small print in the contract backs her up but Turner is determined to maintain his privacy. Doesn’t matter she’s the hottest thing he’s seen for years— in order to protect her from his mistakes, Matty has to go.

I eat trouble for dinner

After a self-imposed twenty year absence from Turner, werewolf Catch arrives to put the past right and save his former lover from circling enemies. But one kiss from Matty and Catch has more than Turner to worry about. Neither boy wants to share their new toy.

You feeling the love???
Not yet?
Here's the link:  http://www.jasminejade.com/

Happy reading Fantatics,

Dawn

Up and coming events.

With November just around the corner, I'm getting antsy to see my new cover for the first novel in the Blown Away series.

Here's an excerpt:

MacKay swung the pack over her shoulder and brushed past him. Following, he grabbed her arm and stopped her. She eyed his hand. He let go.

“I can help.”

“You could also get me killed.”

But he did have two hearts, and if he could keep the wasps off her while she defused that bomb... She had insulating bracelets that should ground most of what the creatures hit her with, but it wouldn’t stop the zap from hurting like hell. The fewer stings she received, the better. She would already be freezing her ass off in the tank. A little help could go a long way. Maybe he could help.

“I thought you placed the ad for this reason. These sea wasp things sound like trouble—more trouble than you can handle. Let me take care of them while you defuse the bomb.”

Do it MacKay. Nothing says you have to keep him as an employee after. She sighed. “You’re not going to leave, are you?”

“No.”

MacKay shoved the pack into his hands. “Carry this.”

“Does that mean I got the job?”

“It means—carry it. I’ll decide if you get the job when I’m done with the freighter.”

Boomer grinned. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Call me MacKay.”

“MacKay.”

If ever there had been a sexy voice, it had to be his. MacKay’s heart jumped. And that smile reminded her of her husband when he’d been alive. When Glenn had smiled like that, she’d never been able to say no. She knew little about Boomer and what she did know generated a fluttering in her stomach and sent red flags up all over the place. He knew how to put her off balance and emotionally disarm her, a lot like Glenn used to do. She hadn’t intended to bring him along but now found herself with an assistant.

Her hands shook, and her heart raced. She’d given him shit for being jittery, but here she was, shaking like she was about to go out on her first date. For the first time in five years, she’d noticed a man sexually. Not any man, but one that reminded her of a happier time in her life, something she’d never get back. Nothing good could come of this.

“Do what I say and stay the hell out of my way.”

“Are you always this personable, MacKay?”

“I’m looking for an employee, Mr. Boomer, not a date. Don’t get it in your head that my letting you come along is encouragement for you to try to get me into your bed.”

“Not a problem. You’re not my type.”

MacKay paused. What he’d said stung. She might not have a super-model’s beauty, but she didn’t resemble a mud gat either. What was his problem and what the hell did he mean she wasn’t his type? She knew better than to ask, but the words just leapt from her mouth. “And what exactly is your type, Mr. Boomer?”

“Less antichrist. Softer, feminine. More, you know…nice.”

“I’m not the antichrist, Mr. Boomer.”

“It’s your story. Tell it the way you want to. I’m looking for a job, Alice, not a date. So why does it matter?”

He’d thrown her words right back in her face and for once, she’d wished she hadn’t said them.

“It doesn’t.” MacKay stalked away.

But it did. Why? She shouldn’t care if he found her attractive or nice or soft and female. But damn it all to hell, she did care. And it bugged her more than the fact he’d found a way to worm himself into her employment.

Upcoming blog-a-thon at Parnormal Romatics, with lots of trick-or treat goodies to give away.

And, I've got an upcoming interview with author, Krista Ball, on October 7th. Come on by and help her celebrate the December 1st release of her new novel, Harvest Moon that will be available for pre-order on October 1st.

Muahahahahahahah! Look what's coming up!

Attention eAuthors

Not to be a doom-day announcer, but if we do not get our entries up for the

eBook Competition I'm afraid we will be hard-pressed to finance our March
Conference. Sorry, but those are the facts, folks.

This was in my inbox this morning. The Epics have been around for years and they are for those writers who epublish. If your a published eAuthor, please consider entering the EPIC contest. There are two weeks to the deadline.

Currently we are 400 entries SHORT of our projected number, to the tune of
approximately $10,000.00. Now that may sound like a lot of money, but for
EPIC to produce the most minimal of conference, this is almost a drop in the
proverbial bucket. Remember that the fees for the eBook Competition also
fund EPIC's Young Writers conference tract as well as many of the bennies we
have come to love...like the banquet.

If you've ever entered a writing contest in the past and you have published eNovels, consider entering EPIC.

Time to Let the Kitty Out of the Bag

I'm pleased to announce that I recently signed a contract with Passion in Print for a two story novel, Blown Away. The release will be out in November and I thought I'd treat you to a couple of short excerpts.

Detonate

Strike one. MacKay stared down at the application. A jar-head, just what she needed. Her eyes traveled down the screen. Sapper—okay, at least he knew something about explosives, but most of them were either insane, cocky or both.

Trusting someone to watch your back could get you killed. Trusting someone like that—well, you just didn’t do it. Plus the stuff they used to blow things up on Earth wasn’t nearly as complicated as what the EOD, Explosives Ordnance Division, found off world and had to defuse. It took a whole different kind of person to disarm instead of destroy. She looked up and he gave her a boyish grin.

He’d no clue what he was getting into.

She wouldn’t be hiring anyone if she wasn’t so backed up. The galaxy was a violent place and business was good, too good and she hadn’t been able to keep up. People were getting killed and she had to get help or watch more innocents die. “I see you were a Sapper and have combat experience, so I’m not going to ask you if you’ve blown anything up. Any idiot with a charge and enough explosives can do that. I want to know if you’ve defused anything. Ever worked EOD?”

“Any idiot?” His eyes lit with humor, as though her question amused him. She let her gaze slide over him and for a moment her mind wandered to places it had no business wandering. Not bad—if she were shopping for a man and not an employee. He had blond hair, green eyes and the all too familiar flat top they all wore. He also had a scar across his jaw, still pink from a recent injury. From the jagged look, she’d say shrapnel. He wore it well and it didn’t seem to bother him. He was either excessively arrogant or excessively confident. She wasn’t sure which yet. “Well, have you defused anything?”

“Enemy threats—an angry mother-in-law.”

Arrogant, definitely arrogant. “The ad specifically stated you must be single to apply.”

“Excuse me. I meant angry, ex-mother-in-law.” He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. The front feet came off the floor as he tipped back and leaned the chair against the freshly painted wall. “Single and available.”

“And one second from limping if you don’t get that chair off my wall.” MacKay gave him her bitchiest stare. Why the hell did he think she cared if he was available?
The chair dropped back to the floor and he leaned forward, resting his elbows on her desk. “No harm done.”

Strike two. No interview etiquette. “Have you ever boarded a ship packed with enough explosives to take out half the galaxy or watched a station with over twelve thousand people assigned to it disintegrate because you didn’t understand the alien technology well enough to defuse the bomb?”

He shook his head and smiled. This time he exposed a glowing row of pristine white teeth and projected enough charm to melt her to her chair. She snorted. She’d seen his type a dozen times and he wouldn’t be sweet-talking or charming his way into a job. MacKay stared until his smile died. “You think this is funny? There are ordnance techs out there that have seen or been in those situations.”

“No, I didn’t think it was.” He shifted in his seat and glanced at the clock. “I’m trying to be friendly. Break the ice.”

“I don’t like friendly.” Strike three. Actually, she hated friendly. No one ever accused her of being Miss Congeniality and she wasn’t going to start playing the part for this guy. She refused to let herself get close to anyone. Too many people she’d cared about died. When she stopped caring, it didn’t hurt as much when something happened—and something always happened. It was unavoidable in her line of work.


Happy Trails 

Happy trail: That sexy little strip of hair that runs from a man’s belly button to his—towel. Jenna stared at the fluffy white barrier that blocked her gaze from traveling any further south. She’d enjoyed the scenic route, inhaled the hard ridges of his six pack abs and the way the water trickled over his flesh while it took the path of least resistance. She knew she shouldn’t stare. It was completely inappropriate to ogle the higher-ranking beef-cake, but she couldn’t stop. What woman in her right mind would be able to?

He cleared his throat and Jenna remembered where she was and what she was supposed to be doing. She’d been ordered to find the explosives ordnance officer and she’d searched every place on the ship from the galley to the indoor gym. As her luck would have it, her timing had been impeccable. Captain Tyson Rivers had just stepped out of the shower and to say she’d been surprised was an understatement.

No wonder he hadn’t been answering the com.

“I’m up here.”

Wasn’t that usually a female line? Heat rushed to her face and her gaze snapped up to the subject of every naughty dream she’d had on the ship since she’d boarded. Jenna opened her mouth and all that came out was silence. What was the appropriate thing to say in this situation?

Nice towel?

Do you have a reason to be here, or do you make a habit of hanging out in the male showers, lieutenant?”

Mortification: The sudden urge to run and dive under one’s bunk until the end of the shift. “I have a reason.” If she could only remember what.

He brushed past and headed for his locker. Jenna swallowed and turned around just in time to see him drop the towel. His bare ass stood before her, hard, tight and like the rest of his body—unbelievable. She grabbed the nearest object in an attempt to steady herself. The towel bar snapped off. Jenna gasped and whipped it behind her back.

He glanced over his shoulder. “Captain send you down here?”

She gave a nervous smile and nodded. He returned his attention to the contents of his locker. Jenna glanced right and left, desperate to get rid of the evidence. She spotted her target not five feet from her loco and tossed the bar into the trash receptacle. If he heard the clunk or saw it, he gave no indication. Instead, he snatched his uniform out of his locker and began what she could only describe as a reverse striptease. First his skivvies—then his pants. Jenna swallowed. “Oh my, mother and all her sisters.” She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t think. Her body exploded with heat.

“Did you say something?”

“No.” She needed to learn to keep the internal thoughts contained. Embarrassed wouldn’t begin to cover the way she’d feel if he knew what she was thinking or how bad she’d been lusting after him these last couple of months.

“Well, spit it out. What does he want?”

“I don’t know. He…”

Dear God. He turned around now dressed in his blue and grey camo pants, no shirt and that hot happy trail staring back at her again. She swallowed and averted her gaze. “He said to hurry.”

“You don’t have any idea?”

“No,” she shook her head. Jenna reached up and put her hand over her breast in an attempt to steady her heart. She had to get control of herself or she’d stroke out for sure. Control. Focus. Breathe. One, one-thousand, two, one-thousand… It almost worked.

Until Captain Tyson Rivers gave her a grin that would make most women’s panties drop. “He said to hurry?”

Shit. She needed another towel bar. She glanced around in desperation.

Meet Author Bernita Harris.

I was standing there naked when a dead man sauntered into my bathroom.

That was the first frightening thing. I knew he was dead. I'd seen him buried beneath the cold clay of the old cemetery. His gravestone was due to be delivered within the week.


He sauntered. He didn't shamble.


That was the second frightening thing, because I always thought such creatures did. Stumble and stagger, that is.


I emitted an "Eeep"--like a paralized parakeet--and skittered backward until the shelves holding soaps and pretty bottles bit into my bare behind.


"Nathan!" I gasped. I shouldn't have. His name stopped the slow, blind swing of the sleek blond head and gave the viscous brown eyes focus. On me.


He curled back his sulky lips and leered.


That was the third frightening thing... 

Please help me welcome author Bernita Harris. Her paranormal romance, Dark and Disorderly is out with Carina Press today, Monday June 28th.

I'm a Canadian who hates winter and loves spring. I was widowed last year and I live in an old house in the Thousand Islands with a German shepherd, a "mostly" corgi and about ten thousand books. Our four splendid children visit as often as they can.


Besides writing, I like to read, garden (flowers and herbs) and visit flea markets. I have probably the biggest collection of really bad yard sale art in the known world. I can't help it. The paintings are so lonely for a wall!



Of all the various jobs I've held ( short-order cook, library assistant, less-than-serious actress, school teacher...) the time and research I spent as a forensic consultant in occult related material probably influences my writing most of all.


Many writers say they have to write; they have to write to silence the voices in their heads. I can't claim that. Rather, I'm like the shy, grubby little girl in kindergarten who clutches at your skirt, saying "See my pichure? I drewed it myself!" I write because I want to share the stories and the vivid people of my imagination. I have to share. Writing is often a lonely business and only half-done until that writing is read by the most important people of all: real readers to share the journey and the adventure. I hope you will enjoy Lillie's adventures.



Mary Stewart introduced me to the thrills of romantic suspense. Andre Norton to fantasy. Charles de Lint proved that the mythic and the mundane could be combined; and Laurel K. Hamilton showed me how it was done.


But I don't write about vamps and weres, I write about ghosts and wraiths and other paramormal creatures like bean sidhes (banshees) and Dumbarton the Doom Dog( "Dummy," for short.) I write about Death Messengers and the Unforgiven and what happens when the paranormal becomes normal; and about a beleagured exorcist who just wants to do her job--but also strives for justice for the dead.


Lillie St. Claire is a Talent, one of the rare few who can permanently dispatch the spirits of the dead that walk the earth. Her skills are in demand in a haunted country, where a plague of ghosts is becoming a civic nuisance.



Those skills bring her into conflict with frightened citizens who view Talents as near-demons. Her husband has come to see her as a Freak; so when Nathan dies after a car crash, she is relieved to be free of his increasingly vicious presence. Lillie expects to be haunted by Nathan’s ghost, but not to become Suspect #1 for her husband’s murder and reanimation.


But what’s most surprising of all is the growing attraction between her and psi-crime detective John Thresher. He thinks that Lillie killed Nathan—and Nathan must agree, because his zombie is seeking revenge. Now she and Thresher must work together to solve her husband’s murder—before his corpse kills her…


But if you expect explicit sex in D&D, you won't find it, though not for lack of trying on Johnny Thresher's part. I'm sorry, but Lillie has only known John Thresher a week and she's the the cautious, old-fashioned sort, among other good and solid reasons.


“You warned me you were a danger, Leannan, and I think this is what you meant,” he said, and fitted his wicked mouth to my open one. His wicked tongue. Instant lust. I wanted to wrap my legs around him, lock my ankles and pull him tighter. Public place with people passing by be damned, indeed.
I despised myself for that impulse. I despised him for my impulse.
So I bit him.
 
Dark and Disorderly,The Adventures of Lillie St. Claire, a paranormal romance/ suspense is available from Carina Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and most places where ebooks are found. You can sample the first chapter here, http://carinapress.com/blog/2010/06/launch-book-excerpts.  Also, Dark and Disorderly is one of five titles chosen for an audio format by Audible.com, available sometime in July. A sequel, Dark and Dangerous, is a work in progress.



Other Lillie St. Claire adventures have been published in Weirdly: A Collection of Strange Stories, vol 1-3, by Wild Child Publishing.


Bernita Harris
The Adventures of Lillie St. Claire
DARK AND DISORDERLY - Carina Press, June 28
An Innocent A-Blog: http://www.bernitaharris.blogspot.com/
Facebook:  www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/profile.php?id=10001043378246&ref=profile


Thanks for taking the time to stop by and tell us about Lillie St. Claire and your newest release, Dark and Disorderly. It's been a pleasure, Bernita.


Dawn

An Interview With Author Annie Nicholas

Please help me welcome, Annie Nicholas, author of multiple paranormal romance novels. She has a new release out today, The Alpha, published by Lyrical Press, and has stopped by Para-fanatics to share a little about her latest release.



Annie, Please tell us a little about yourself.

Who says a sexy man has to be human?


I remember making this argument to some friends a long time ago. At the time, I got a few strange looks but this happened before paranormal romance busted out of the publishing industry, when the closest thing I could find to read was Anne Rice.


Now, whose friends are buying out the vampire/werewolf sections of the bookstore?


I’m Annie Nicholas and I write Paranormal with a Twist, which means if you like your stories off the beaten path, your characters cut from a broken cookie cutter, and to get your beliefs challenged then welcome to my worlds. My mind is a dark and strange place where odd people live.


You wouldn’t know it by meeting me. I’m a baseball/swim team mom, standing on the sidelines cheering my boys, baker of cookies, healer of scrapes, and keeper of the household peace. Yet, monsters live in my head.


Some of them are members of werewolf pack but not your regular alpha, over-the-top dominating gang. These are pansies of the paranormal, my kind of people, computer geeks, gaming fiends, and jokesters. The second book of their series The Vanguards releases June 21.

Why do you write?

Because it’s fun. What purer form of escapism is there? And it’s free. LOL


What were your early influences in writing?


I actually wrote an article posted on my website thanking all those specific authors who influenced and how. But the ones that come to mind right away are Larry Niven, CJ Cherryh, and Anne McCaffery.


When did you know you wanted to be an author?


About a year ago when I got my first contract, until then I just wrote for enjoyment. My CPs encouraged me to submit my work and a whole new world opened for me.

What kinds of research do you do for your work?

I research the city my story is set in and try to make it as realistic as possible, naming real landmarks and streets. Language, currency, transportation…etc whatever details I can get. For Bait, I found a blog about pink payphones in Budapest. Of course, I had to use that tid bit.

What are you favorite scenes to write?

I love banter. Be flirtatious or dangerous or both, I love writing the dialogue of quick-witted, smart ass conversation that could boil a person’s blood. I also love tension and creating the build-up.

Do you have a favorite character?

Connie Bence is still my favorite heroine. She’s featured in the Angler series as quick on her feet, street smart woman who can’t stop getting tangled in vampire affairs.

What are the hardest scenes to write?

Happily Ever Afters. Maybe because it means my journey with theses characters is coming to an end.

Do you have a writing tip to share?

I’m offering a series of blogs called Writing 101. They are on my blog with links in the side bar.

Any new novels in the works?

Book 2 of The Angler series: CATCH is coming soon.


I’ve always got a story up my sleeve, now, which one to play with next?

Any up and coming releases? What are they and when will they be available for purchase.

The Alpha Book 2


Blurb:


Someone is about to get some Spice in his life.

Spice has nothing but the clothes on her back when she returns to Chicago. She's looking for a better life, and that means reuniting with her estranged twin sister, Sugar. She isn't thrilled to find out Sugar's boyfriend is a vampire. But then she meets Eric, once the bottle-cap-glasses wearing nerd next door - now grown into the kind of man she'd love to snuggle with on this cold winter night...and he’s offered her his room in Sugar’s house.


Eric can’t believe Spice has returned. He’d given up hope of ever seeing her again, let alone having her stare at him as if he’s sex on a stick. But now that all of his fantasies for them are coming true, reality rears her ugly head and Eric must tell Spice his intimate secret; he’s actually an Alpha werewolf looking for his mate and he thinks he’s found her.

Link: www.lyricalpress.com/the_alpha

Excerpt:


Warm yellow light streamed from behind her. “Forget your keys, Sugar?” a male voice asked from the doorway.


She stopped and glanced over her shoulder but saw only his silhouette.


“Oh my God, you cut your hair. Daedalus is going to freak.” The laughter in his comforting voice disappeared and he moved closer. “Don’t cry.” He wiped a tear from her face. “It looks great.” With a grin, he ruffled her short blond curls.


She couldn’t help but smile back.


He thought she was Sugar, her twin sister. Something in his voice sounded familiar. The face didn’t ring a bell though, but shaggy brown hair fell around most of it. He had a nice, easy-going smile. It would be wonderful to come home to a smile like that every night, but it belonged to her sister.


Her grin faded.


He wrapped his strong, thick arm around her shoulders and pulled her inside. Laughter drifted from the living room where three men and an oriental woman were setting up a board game.


One of the men, who had short cropped red hair, looked up. “Where’s the food? You were supposed to grab some grub on the way home from work.”


“We’ll order pizza.” The guy next to her squeezed one more time before walking into the next room, a huge kitchen.


“You cut your hair.” The woman spoke with a thick accent and sprung across the room to run her fingers through her hair.


Spice retreated and bumped against the entrance wall. This game of pretending to be Sugar used to be fun as kids but not anymore. With her hands raised, she kept the strangers at bay as they surrounded her like a pack of wolves. None of them looked dangerous, but what were they doing in her sister’s house while she was at work?


The way they grinned at her and each other, she concluded they were all good friends.


Sugar had everything she wanted; a loving man, friends, and a home.


“Daedalus let you cut your hair?” A short man built like a bodybuilder approached her.


The awe in his voice snapped Spice out of her self-pity and the protector inside reared its head. This was the second reference to someone allowing her little sister to do something. “What do you mean ‘let me’?”


What kind of relationship did Sugar have? She needed permission to cut her hair? Maybe destiny brought her back to Chicago to save her little sister from some monster. Again. All those bad things happening to drive her here couldn’t be coincidental.


She crossed her arms over her chest. “Where is my sister, and what are you doing in her house?”


They glanced at each other, confusion apparent on their faces. “What?”


The man in the kitchen stuck his head out of the door, chocolate brown eyes wide as he stared at her. “Spice?” The smile he’d given to her when he thought she was Sugar returned but wider.


Her heart skipped a beat. In the light his face seemed familiar as well. “I know you.”


“You should, we were only neighbors forever as kids.”


“Eric!” He had grown. Stupid, of course he’s changed. But she never expected that the skinny, lanky bottle-cap-glasses-wearing nerd would develop into a charming, handsome I-wanna-snuggle-you-on-a-cold-night kind of man. “Hi.” The jobs as a hostess, a bartender, and the most recent, a stripper taught her how to talk to men the way they liked. But with him grinning at her like a happy puppy, her mind went blank.


He swept her into his arms in a bone-cracking hug.


“Wow, I’d forgotten Sugar had a twin.” The redhead scratched his chin. “You look exactly alike, except your hair is short.”


Eric set her back on her feet. “Let me take your coat.” He tugged on the belt and untied it. To her surprise, the small action sparked warmth between her thighs. Not like he took off her clothes but she began to wonder what it would feel like if he did.


Their eyes met. His pupils dilated, the chocolate brown faded to amber, and something feral peeked at her.


She gasped and stepped back.


The pretty oriental girl took her arm and dragged her into the living room. She chattered about making tea, but Spice’s attention riveted on Eric as he stood with the men surrounding him.


What the heck? She’d seen need in men’s eyes before but this was darker, deeper, and so much more alluring.

You find me and more of my books at www.annienicholas.com


www.annienicholas.blogspot.com


www.paranormalromantics.blogspot.com


Annie Nicholas

Thanks for stopping by Para-fanatics, Annie and telling us about your new release and novels we can look forward to in the future. It's been a pleasure.

Dawn

Please Help me Welcome Author Kate Kaynak

I KNOW what you're thinking.

I’m thrilled to introduce author, Kate Kaynak. Her young adult romance novel, Minder, is out today with Spencer Hill Books. Please give her a big Para-fantatic’s welcome.

Kate, please tell us a little about yourself.

I was born and raised in New Jersey, but I managed to escape. My degree from Yale says I was a psych major, but I had WAY too much fun to have paid much attention in class.

After serving a five-year sentence in graduate school, I started teaching psychology around the world for the University of Maryland.

While in Izmir, Turkey, I started up a conversation with a handsome stranger in an airport. I ended up marrying him. We now live in New Hampshire with our three preschool-aged kids, where I enjoy reading, writing, and fighting crime with my amazing superpowers.

Why do you write?

I wanted to create a story that I would love to read. Minder started with a few simple ideas about how inconvenient extrasensory abilities actually would be. The story then grew into an incredible love story and adventure that I simply had to get out of my head--and put into other people's.

What were your early influences in writing?

I've always been a voracious reader. Orson Scott Card's work strongly influenced me. His writes vivid characters and straddles the lines of fantasy, sci-fi, and historical fiction.

When did you know you wanted to be an author?

I've wanted to write novels since high school, and I've started several over the years. I completed my first fiction novel in 2007, and my first GOOD fiction novel in 2009.

What kinds of research do you do for your work?

I've had to do a lot of research on the history of paranormal abilities and neurology. Since I wanted my characters' paranormal abilities to seem believable--and even possible--I worked out a lot of details that never made it into the book itself.

What are your favorite scenes to write?

I love writing dialogue. I stopped "writing" these scenes early on, though--the characters took on lives of their own, and I just took dictation.

Do you have a favorite character?

I love experiencing things from Maddie Dunn's perspective. She's my main character, and she's strong, yet vulnerable. She has a wonderful take on the world. And I have a huge crush on Trevor.

Do you have any favorite lines in your novels?

I have a bunch of them, but my true favorite has to be: "I had a sudden rush of warmth as I realized that he knew my name, but it died as soon as I realized now he also knew my nightmare."

What are the hardest scenes to write?

The hardest scene in Minder was the opening scene. My main character is attacked and it looks likes she's going to be sexually assaulted. Her attackers are stopped, but it was traumatic to write and rewrite it, because her feelings of fear and powerlessness clung to me.

Please, tell us about your books.

In Minder, sixteen-year-old Maddie Dunn is special, but she needs to figure out how to use her new abilities before somebody else gets hurt. Ganzfield is a secret training facility full of people like her, but it's not exactly a nurturing place.

Every social interaction carries the threat of mind-control.

A stray thought can burn a building to the ground.

And people's nightmares don't always stay in their own heads.

But it's still better than New Jersey--especially once she meets the man of her dreams...

Website: http://www.ganzfield.com/

You can watch a book trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lv6eC3E-9k

And here's where you can get your copy with Barnes and Novel:  http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Minder/Kate-Kaynak/e/9780984531103/?itm=1&USRI=kate+kaynak

A downloadable, several-chapter-long PDF excerpt:   http://www.site.ganzfield.com/uploads/MINDER_partial.pdf

Do you have a writing tip to share?

Revise, revise, revise, then get feedback from other writers and/or people in your target demographic groups. Then revise some more. Repeat this several times. Writers are terrible judges of the quality of our own writing. We're too close to the story, so it plays vividly in our minds even if it doesn't come through on the page.

Any new novels in the works?

I'm currently finishing revisions on Legacy, the third book of the Ganzfield series. It's scheduled for release in January 2011. I've planned a fourth installment in the series, as well.

Any up and coming releases? What are they and when will they be available for purchase. 
Adversary, the sequel to Minder, comes out in August.

Amazon's taking pre-orders now:  http://www.amazon.com/Adversary-Second-Ganzfield-Novel-Kaynak/dp/0984531122/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276827374&sr=1-15

Thank you, Kate, for visiting Para-fanatics and taking time out of your busy schedule to tell us about Minder.

Thank you so much for this, Dawn!

Looking for a few good authors.

The Marines have the right idea, so I'm borrowing it. I'm looking for paranormal romance authors who'd like to do interviews. If you have a new release coming out or you'd like to promote some of your current novels, email me or leave me a message and contact email. I'd love to chat and I'm always looking for new worlds to explore on Para-fantatics.

Best,

D. L.

We have a winner!

beyondjenna is our lucky winner.

Please contact Sara at:  brookesofbooks at gmail dot com, and she will forward you e-copy of Midnight's Ghost.
Make sure to remove the spaces and change "at" to @ and "dot" to .
Ever vigilant of spy bots.

An interview with author Sara Brookes

Please help me welcome Sara Brookes, author of paranormal romance and unforgettable stories the readers will have a hard time putting down. She has a new novel, Midnight's Ghost, being released today, May 10th. In honor of her newest release, I had a virtual sit-down with the literary artist to find out more. Grab your coffee and pull up a seat. At the end of this interview there's a chance for one lucky reader to win an e-copy of Midnight's Ghost. 

Sara, please tell us about yourself.

Come to think of I'm actually quite boring. I spent vast amounts of time sitting in front of a computer screen both at my day job and when I'm writing.

Why do you write?

The short answer: I must. The long answer: It's something I have to do because I feel lost otherwise.

What were your early influences in writing?

My favorite book, to this day, is Charlotte's Web by E B White. That was probably the first time I'd read a book and fell completely in love with the style of writing instead of just the story. I started reading Stephen King when I was 15/16 and there was something about the intricacy of his stories and characters that I love as well. It's two vast ends of the spectrum, but to this day, both of their books grace my bookshelves and are things I can read over and over and never get bored with.

When did you know you wanted to be an author?

I've always written, but it was only in the past few years that I decided to take it further and see if a publisher would be interested in something I'd written.

What kinds of research do you do for your work?

It depends on what I'm writing at the time. With Flash of Dark taking place in Cincinnati - a city I've never been to - I spent a lot of time studying maps and satellite images (from Google Earth) to get a lay of things. I was already familiar with vampire lore and Fae myths, so adding my own spin on those was the easy part. With Midnight's Ghost, the research was different. Most of that knowledge I already possessed, so it was creating my own world with it. The sci-fi was actually easier because I was only limited by my imagination as far as worldbuilding went. The research there was coming up with names for things that I wanted to still be pronouncable to readers.

What are you favorite scenes to write?

Any scene where the words just flow.

Do you have a favorite character?

No one character stands out for me - they each have their quirks and pesonalities that I find interesting. I like complicated and flawed characters and probably the one that is the most flawed is Wallace, from Midnight's Ghost. He made a choice to do something and has never apologized for it and still refuses to in fact. He knows what he did is wrong and stands up for the punishment given to him because of that choice. He's a very good example of an anti-hero.

Do you have any favorite lines in your novels?

Oh a bunch, but I'll narrow it down a bit:

“You may have asked yourself if you could, but did it ever occur to you to ask yourself if you should?” - Stark, Flash of Dark

“What would you do if I kissed you right now, Taran? If I didn’t stop with just a simple kiss? If I put your legs around my hips, opening you so that I slid inside you in one mind-numbing thrust? Would you still tell me then you’ve moved on, that you feel nothing for me anymore or would your voice resonate off the walls when you screamed my name as you came?” - Wallace, Midnight's Ghost

“He breaks your heart, I get to disembowel him, tear him limb from limb and personally drop his ashes in the ocean after I light him on fire. No questions asked and I’m not going to ask for your permission. Got it?” - Quinn, Blood Fever

What are the hardest scenes to write?

I hear most people answer "sex scenes" or "action scenes" in the answer to this question but those are actually the easiest for me. The hardest for me really isn't a scene per say, but anytime scent is involved. Since one of my series is vampires with heightened senese of smell, it makes it even harder. Not having a sense of smell came in handy when I used to change dirty diaper - not so much as a writer trying to describe scents to readers when she has no idea what they smell like. Family is invaluable with that!

Please, tell us about your books.

Available Now with Liquid Silver Books:

Flash of Dark (Book 1 of the Rebirth Series)  http://www.liquidsilverbooks.com/books/flashofdark.htm

There’s trouble brewing on the horizon. Ana – a member of the immortal Fae – unknowingly discovers a secret that could potentially alter the calm life she has carefully built around her. Toss in a few murders, a best friend who is a vampire and a human male fervently pursuing her and that toxic touch she possesses could be the least of her worries.

Excerpt:

“You’re quite possibly the only person I know who wanted to turn their back on something that could prove pleasurable. I understand your reasoning, but it was unfounded and unnecessary.” His mouth moved over my fingers, skimming against my knuckles as he tugged lightly in an effort to pull me closer. Food was obviously the last thing on his mind.

I shook my head, pulling my hand away so that we could continue eating and talking. As much as he thought that this was what he needed, I really wanted to spend some time talking. Possibly just to prove to myself that this wasn’t just a physical thing. Okay, so not only a physical thing. The sex had been too good to deny that. He let his fork dangle between his fingers as he watched me eat. “What?” I finally asked, tired of the audience.

“Nothing, just enjoying the scenery,” he said casually.

I snorted. “I can think of far more interesting subjects. Since I’m looking for a topic change anyway—I had a visit the other day at the club from our friendly homicide cop.” Better that I be the one to tell him before someone else did, especially since it was obvious we’d be spending more time together.

His interest in me temporarily forgotten, he asked with his usual flair for words. “Oh yeah? What did the upstanding Lieutenant Asshole have to say?”

We had spoken about the first visit briefly, but we had both been too preoccupied at the time to pay more than the barest of passing interest. “He was questioning me about another murder that took place in the same area as the first one. Same method, too.” I played a little with the noodles on my plate.

“Why would he come to see you again?” Stark’s eyes narrowed at me. He took a few swallows of wine and rested his hand on the stem as we talked.

And here came the part I hadn’t told him about. “I was seen tossing the victim out of my club earlier that night for roughing up his girlfriend.”

He swore under his breath. “So that’s what Lucas was referring to.”

“Lucas? You’ve talked to him?” I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed by this because Lucas hadn’t even talked to me and here he was talking to Stark. So much for the rationale of telling him before he heard it elsewhere. Lucas had already beaten me to the punch.

“Yes. I’ve talked to him. He contacted me a few days ago, told me that I needed to keep an eye on you. Make sure you didn’t go anywhere by yourself. Which, I completely agree with, by the way.” He added that last bit before I could open my mouth to respond.

“Why? So, some psycho is tearing apart victims near my club? This is the city, murder happens all the time.” I was trying to keep things light and here he was making me feel like I was child who wasn’t allowed out of the house by herself. The two of them ganging up on me was getting really old, really fast.

He had apparently been expecting my reply because he shot back with sarcasm of his own. “So people you personally throw out of your club regularly end up dead?”

Something about the tone of his voice caused the hair on the back of my neck to stand on end. Why had he suddenly gotten so possessive? A visit or two from a cop was no cause to garner a reaction like this. A thought occurred to me then. “What is it that you’re worried about, Stark? How you’ll appear to the press when it gets out that the woman you’re screwing is a possible suspect in two bloody murders? Afraid to have your image tarnished by being linked to me?” The tone of my voice was snide and unmistakable. I wasn’t in the mood to be cosseted by him—or anyone for that matter.

I watched as he struggled to contain his temper. “I’ve done a damn good job of tarnishing it myself without you to help, Ana. My concern is for you.”

“Are you worried that it really was me? That I really killed those two men?” If so, then I seriously needed to recheck my psycho meter.

“Did you know either of the victims, Ana?”

I shook my head. “No.”

“I did.”

Upcoming Release (Available May 10th from Liquid Silver Books):

Midnight's Ghost (Star Runner Saga)

The timeline is excruciating. Taran has three days to get her former lover – whom she’s barely speaking to – and the mysterious teenager she knows nothing about from one planet to another. Given the fact her ship, Eidolon, is the fastest in the star runner fleet, Taran knows she can make the run in the time Wallace has allotted. As the best – and only – female pilot, she’s got something to prove.

As if things weren’t complicated enough, Wallace, and the teenager he has in tow, are both escapees from the harshest prison facility in seven galaxies. Not only is Taran putting her career on the line, she’s got the Intergalactic Patrol hot on her heels. It isn’t long before unresolved feelings and tempers flare to life again and Taran is left second-guessing her decision of putting everything she stands for on the line.

Her determination may just cost her everything.

One man who feels no remorse for a crime he committed and one woman pilot determined to fulfill her promise equal one impossible mission.

Excerpt:

I released my grip and as he fell to the side, I drew myself up to my full height so I was looking down at him. He panted as he tried to draw a full breath and groped out with a hand, searching for something to anchor himself to. His eyes were on mine and I could tell from the far away glazed look he was somewhere else. Unfortunately, his mind had been weaker that I expected, and for a moment, I debated sticking around to see if he was alright.

I heard the hiss and pop of a blaster and looked up in time to see the vivid streak of blue light fly past me before it exploded into Dalen’s chest. Blood, guts and other things I didn’t want to think about flew through the air and the crowd who had gathered around to watch the fight scattered.

Wiping the purple blood from my face, I turned to see who was responsible for the killing shot. As the tallest of the remaining group of onlookers, he was the easiest to find. He shot a casual smile in my direction as he flipped his shirt over the illegal weapon he was sliding into the waistband of his pants. My brain blared a warning and my feet started moving before I was even aware of it.

I ran like the wind.

I knew I needed to get away because he was the last person I wanted to see, especially right now. There was a loud crash followed by a riot of curses behind me, but I knew I would waste precious seconds if I looked over my shoulder to see what the commotion was.

“Reece, fire up the engines. I’m coming in hot and heavy,” I shouted into my holowatch as I pushed my way through the burgeoning crowds that were suddenly filling up the market alleys.

Didn’t these people have jobs to go to?

“Stirring up the natives again I see, Captain.”

“Just do it, dammit.” I flicked off the open line with my thumb and slid the glove I removed earlier back on my hand as I decided to risk a glance over my shoulder to ensure I still held the advantage.

My pursuer was weaving his way expertly though the mingling crowd and he was making far less of a disturbance doing so. Even at this distance, I could see one side of his mouth was quirked up in a lopsided grin.

Damn, he was actually enjoying this.

My attention momentarily distracted, I ran full tilt into a trader’s cart and watched the horizon tilt wildly as I went head over heels. For the second time today, I was fighting for air as I stared at the dull cerulean sky. A few careful blinks assured me the dimming light was because of the triple sunset and not my spinning equilibrium.

My pursuer’s face came into view overhead with a smile so wide it nearly split his face in two. Leave it to Wallace to find pleasure in tormenting me.

“Going somewhere?” The smug expression on his face made me want to reach up and slap it to the next galaxy. He would probably have some sick fascination about seeing my red hand print there later as it marked his perfectly sculpted jaw and decided against it.

“Stuff it, Wallace,” I spat out and winced at the level of effort it took to do so. With the combination of the fight with Dalen and the tumble I had just taken, everything hurt. I wasn’t too proud to admit that either. What I was too proud to do was take the hand Wallace was offering me. I rolled away from his extended hand, purposefully refusing his gesture as I gathered the effort needed to push myself up to stand.

A frown darkened his features and his hand fell uselessly to his side as he watched me. Based on our history, he had known that I wouldn’t take his hand or accept his assistance, but that didn’t mean it stopped him from offering. A few years ago, I would have taken it without hesitation.

My holowatch chimed, a signal Reece was trying to contact me. I sighed heavily and tapped the acknowledgment button. “Power down, Reece.”

Do you have a writing tip to share?

Sure do - let yourself suck. I'm a huge believer in this one. Too often times writers give up simply because they can't get it right the first time. I know, I was one of those. Once I started giving myself permission to suck, I realized I could always go back and fix it later. What I couldn't do, however, is go back and fix what didn't exist.

Sara is giving away a copy of her sci fi romance e-novel, Midnight's Ghost, to one lucky reader of the blog. All you have to do is leave a comment under the interview before Monday, May 17th at midnight and we'll draw one name from the virtual hat.

Sara, thank you for interviewing with Para-Fanatics. It's been a pleasure having you. To the readers, I hope you all will take a chance with this new author and give her books a read. You won't regret it.


Best,
D.L. Jackson