Author BR Kingsolver and Broken Dolls

Hi all!

Please help me welcome Author BR Kingsolver to my blog today!

About the Author:

I made silver and turquoise jewelry for almost a decade, ended up in nursing school, then took a master’s in business. Along the way I worked in construction, as a newspaper editor, a teacher, and somehow found a career working with computers.

I love the outdoors, especially the Rocky Mountains. I’ve skied since high school, with one broken leg and one torn ACL to show for it. I’ve hiked and camped all my life. I love to travel. I’ve seen a lot of Russia and Mexico, not enough of England. Amsterdam is amazing, and the Romanian Alps are breathtaking. I was in Paris and Iceland this summer.

I have a very significant other, two cats and two Basset Hounds. I’m currently living in Baltimore, nine blocks from the harbor, but still own a home in New Mexico. 

Broken Dolls

BR Kingsolver

Genre: Urban Fantasy / Paranormal Suspense

ISBN: 9781301813568 (ePub)

Number of pages: 235

Word Count: 79,600

Cover Artist: Mia Darien

Book Description:

Private investigator RB Kendrick makes her living nailing cheating spouses, digging up other dirt to help in a divorce, finding long-lost relatives, and occasionally sniffing out criminal activity and fraud.

When she takes a job to find a missing girl, she has no idea she is headed for the most dangerous case of her career. Usually, her ability to read minds gives her an edge. But when the people she’s hunting are also telepaths, that advantage is limited.

The search takes her into the dark underbelly of telepathic society, where anything, and anyone, is for sale. She discovers that telepathic women and girls are being trafficked as the ultimate sex slaves.

With people trying to kill her, she’s on the run, not knowing who she can trust. Will she find the missing girl, or become a victim herself?

Short Excerpt:

I walked into the restaurant to meet my prospective client, scanned the diners and slipped into the booth with her. She started to say something, then her eyes widened and nothing came out of her open mouth.

“Mrs. Sanders? I’m RB Kendrick,” I said, extending my hand.

“Oh, my,” she breathed. “The description you gave me is wholly inadequate.” She stared at me for a minute, then said, “Copper.”

Confused, I looked around. There weren’t any police in there. “Huh?” I said intelligently.

“Your hair. It’s not ginger, it’s like polished copper. It shines.”

Women notice different things than men. As I suspected from our conversation on the phone, Sylvia Sanders was a norm and so was her husband. What I read in her mind matched what she told me verbally. It’s so much easier when clients tell you the truth. I understood why she had suspicions about her husband. The changes in his behavior and schedule screamed other woman to me also.

“So what do you want, Mrs. Sanders? A report, photos, a confrontation? A basic report of what and who he is or is not doing will run a thousand pounds. Photos catching them in the act are another thousand, if I can get them. Unlike the telly, most people don’t conveniently provide evidence in front of windows with the shades open. If you want to confront him in the act, I’ll accompany you for an additional fifteen hundred pounds.”

She blanched at my rates.

“If what he’s doing isn’t obvious, and I have to put him under surveillance for an extended period, my rates are five thousand a week.”

“I don’t think that will be necessary,” she said with a quiver in her voice. She gave me a thousand and I wrote down all the pertinent information.

“I’ll check on it this afternoon. I’m going to be out of town for a few days,” I told her. “If I don’t find anything by tomorrow morning, I’ll call you when I get back.”

“Thank you, Miss Kendrick. This has been going on for several months. I don’t think it’s going to change.”

“Mrs. Sanders, you need to think about what you’re going to do if your suspicions are correct. Are you going to confront him and hope he ends it? Or do you plan to divorce him? It’s something you should decide before hand.”

“I want a divorce,” she said. “I know he’s cheating on me. He called a little while ago and told me he had to work late this evening.”

~~~

Edward Sanders worked about a mile away. I took the Tube to his building. About twenty minutes after I arrived, I saw him come out and head for the Tube station. Obviously, he wasn’t working late.

I followed him and sat behind him on the train. I read his mind to get his destination, then sat back and used my phone to check my email.

When we left the tube station, I took a slightly different route than Sanders to reach the house of his mistress. I stood across the street and watched as she answered the door for him. I could understand why he was attracted to her. She was even more beautiful than what I had expected from the images in his mind.

I read her mind, also. She was the lonely trophy wife of a successful businessman who traveled often. Edward Sanders was good looking, and twenty years younger than his mistress’s husband. She wasn’t in love with him, but considered him a wonderful diversion. He wasn’t in love with her, either, but was infatuated that such a rich and beautiful young woman wanted him.

The shades in the living room weren’t drawn, and the amorous couple started their activities immediately upon his entering the house. I pulled my camera from my bag and walked across the street and across her lawn. There was a small tree in an ugly plastic pot sitting in the middle of the lawn, and I had to detour around it.

I could see glimpses of the lovers through the living room window, but reflections in the glass prevented me from a good view. It appeared he was doing her on the dining room table. This was going to be the easiest thousand pounds I’d ever made.

I was so focused on what was going on inside that I didn’t see the hole hidden by the small tree sitting in front of it. I should have realized what a potted tree was doing on the lawn. Someone planned to plant it.

I took a step and my left foot found only air. The world spun around and the camera slipped out of my grasp. My chin hit something hard and I bit my tongue.

When I came to my senses, my right leg was sticking straight up and the rest of me lay twisted in the bottom of a hole. My chin felt like it was on fire, and my tongue hurt like mad. It took me some time to get myself situated and crawl out onto the grass. I looked back. The hole was about two feet deep. I spit, and a spot of bright red blood landed on the green lawn.

I picked up my camera and checked it to make sure it was still working. Looking around, I didn’t see anyone. I waited until my head stopped spinning, then crept up to the window. They were still going at it on the table. I took some pictures, but had to wait for them to shift positions so I could get his face. After a few minutes, I had all I needed.

A sudden noise behind me caused me to turn around. A white-haired woman with binoculars hanging from her neck stuck her head out of the window of the house next door.

“You clumsy cow,” she shouted at me. “Get out of the way. You’re blocking the view.”

I retreated in a hurry, and she raised the binoculars, trained on the window through which I’d been snapping pictures.

Case closed. I walked back to the Tube and went home, holding a handkerchief to my still-bleeding mouth.

Links:

http://brkingsolver.com/

http://brkingsolver.com/author-s-blog

https://twitter.com/BRKINGSOLVER

https://www.facebook.com/brkingsolver

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5823296.B_R_Kingsolver

http://amazon.com/author/brkingsolver

Please thank BR for joining us today. Please check out the links and the book!

Keep Writing!

Jodie Pierce

Author Nadiyah Abdul-Khaliq

Hello,

Please help me welcome Author Nadiyah Abdul-Khaliq to my blog today!

Bio:

Nadiyah Abdul-Khaliq was born in Kansas City, MO in the winter of 1981. Since that day she has kept herself busy daydreaming and occasionally remembering to write those dreams down. This failure at procrastination has led to the completion of four books, 500 5-Minute Writing Exercises, Color in the Dark, and two books in the urban fantasy series The Demon Cleaner (Demons of the Guilded [book #1], and Blood of the Hunted [book #2]). She’s on Facebook, Twitter, Google +. and has a blog where she helps promote other authors. Say, Hello, anytime.

Author Interview:

What is your name? Do you use a pen name (if so, why?)?: My name is Nadiyah Abdul-Khaliq. I do not use a pen name. However, I do use my middle name because I like it more than my first name.

What type of genre do you write?: Paranormal. Urban fantasy. Thriller. I’m kind of all over the spectrum. I’ll write whatever comes to me.

What genre to you personally read?: I favor fantasy of any kind and for any age group as well as romance of just about any kind. But I’ll read almost anything.

Tell me about your latest?: It’s called, “Demons of the Guilded.” It’s the first book in the “Demon Cleaner” series. Heroine Lillas Mehkinnan is a demon hunter living in fictional Guild City, Louisiana. The story tells events before and after the execution of twin vampires who are friends of Lillas. The central of these events is the meeting of the demon hunter and demon lord, a first in the history of the non-human world.

The entire series is placed in a world where vampires have been exposed to humans and now the two are trying to co-exist (some are anyway). However, the humans don’t know that vampires aren’t the only non-human species as they’ve not exposed themselves. The ankhil are a soup of species everything from weres of many kinds to telepaths, everything. Some are deformed. Some not. They’re really a mixed bag. One of Lillas’s best friends is an ankhil with the ability to manipulate matter.

Also among the non-humans are the himmels. They are incredibly powerful shape-shifting time travelers. They are now near extinction, but when they thrived, they were often the peacekeepers between the vampires and ankhil as the two have been in various forms of war for eons.

What sparked your passion for books and the art of a good story?: My mother. I grew up in a house with several shelves of different types of books. Encyclopedias, dictionaries, anatomy, philosophy, fiction. All kinds of things. We were always reading something. She used to have us do reports and everything. At first, I hated the reports, but because I could pick the book, it made doing them a little less painful.  

Is there a particular book that changed or affected your life in a big way?: I wouldn’t say a particular book. But I did have a fondness for stories of missing people (Amelia Earhart, Ambrose Bierce, people missing in the Bermuda Triangle, etc.) and Edgar Allen Poe was a huge influence on me. I’ve read everything he’s written (as far as I know).  

Is there a message in your book that you want readers to grasp?: There may be, but I wouldn’t say. Too many times I’ve had readers tell me things about my work, messages that they found, patterns, whatever else, that I didn’t see myself. I really enjoy that. Whether I agree with the reader’s analysis or not, it opens up a discussion and a chance for me as the writer to see the work differently.

What challenges have you faced in your writing career?: Right now, it’s the marketing. As a relatively new and unknown self-published author all of the responsibility for the marketing and advertising falls square on my shoulders. Also, you know, being a writer, particularly a novelist or poet, is a very solitary profession. And trying to build a relationship with other writers and build a community has been a struggle for me as well.  

Who is your author idol?: My two biggest are Edgar Allen Poe and J. K. Rowling. Poe was a phenomenal writer of poetry, short stories, and essays. All of which I write, but I’m still honing my skills. I’ve only seen the Harry Potter movies, however, Rowling is inspirational to me because of the wealth she’s made from writing books. Most writers have to use a combination of books, movie deals, etc. She did it just from writing books. And all of the good she’s done in the world since. The amount of philanthropy work she does is amazing. She is the epitome of someone who’s made a living doing what she loves, and has remained true to herself, her roots, and gives back to those who helped make her the success that she is.  

Do you see yourself in any of your characters?: All of them. Well, most of them. But even the villains, that’s my greed, selfishness, and heartlessness. Lillas and I share many character traits (stubborn, a tendency to seem aloof, and an almost unshakable focus when it comes to goals), but I think she’s a bit cooler than I am.

Do you feel like your dream has come true or is there much more to do?: Oh, there’s much more. There’s so much more. So many projects I have on my task list, not all of which I’ve even started. I’m not even close to the completion of the, Demon Cleaner, series. I have ideas for stage and screen. People I want to work with. I have a long way to go before I feel I’ve reached my dreams.  

What does your workspace look like?: It changes. Sometimes I work at my desk, other times on my bed. I work at the library. Typically, I’m surrounded by pens of varying colors and notebooks. I do most of my writing by hand then type it. There’s always music or a movie in the background. It helps me focus.

Have you ever had a day when you just wanted to quit?: Yes. And I did. Many times. For most of the time I lived in San Diego, I wasn’t writing the way I should have been. I had one good year out of the three. And it was near the year I left the city and returned to Kansas City.

Nothing was working out for me. My story wasn’t going as well I wanted. I tried to start a writer’s club. That didn’t work out. And I love my friends, (I’m still in touch with many from that time), but they’re not active writers. I had no peers, no challenge, no encouragement and it effected my creativity. I felt I was recycling my old ideas. So, that period of time hard. There were others before that, the result of random emotional dramas, but this was the most recent.

What do you do when you’re not writing?: Think about writing. Plotlines. Characters. No matter what I’m doing, playing video games, sightseeing, there’s always a story going on.

What are the most important attributes to remaining sane as a writer?: The only way to stay sane as a writer is to write. Granted, it doesn’t always work, but it’s the best we’re going to get. In my experience, we all have something we’re supposed to do. If we’re not doing that, we’re miserable. A writer has to write. A robin has to sing. A fish must swim. Your art is not something you can get away from. Attempting to do so does a lot more harm than good.  

What advice would you give to aspiring authors?: Write. Write and hang around other writers who are going where you want to go. Other authors are not your competition. They are your companions. They are your mentors. They are your students. We must write and travel with peers of like mind.

After this book, what is next?: The next book. Book two, Blood of the Hunted, is already written. I wrote the books back to back so I didn’t take time to do the advertising for book one. My hope is that the advertising for book one will lead readers to book two and I can focus on writing book three, which I’ll begin next year.

Your blog?: nadiyahak.wordpress.com

Other websites?: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nadiyahak2

 Twitter: https://twitter.com/nadiyahak

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3380192.Nadiyah_Abdul_Khaliq

Where can your book be found?: Smashwords. https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/111739

Please thank Nadiyah for joining us today. Check out Nadiyah at her links and check out her books! Good luck!

Keep Writing!

Jodie Pierce

Author Ednah Walters & Grimnirs

Hi all!

Please help me welcome Ednah Walters to my blog today!

Presented by: Twisted Book Tours and More & As You Wish Tours

Book Title:  Grimnirs

Series:  A Runes Novel

Author:  Ednah Walters

Release Date:  December 2

Genre:  YA Paranormal Romance

Publisher:  Firetrail Publishing

Banner Made by:  Camelia Miron Skiba

BLURB

One lost best friend.

Straight out of the psyche ward, Cora just wants her life to be normal. She doesn’t want to see

souls or the reapers collecting them. The love of her life, the guy she’s loved from a distance for

years, has moved away without saying goodbye. So yes, she’s nursing a serious heartbreak. It’s

no wonder love is the last thing on her mind when Echo storms into her life.

The chemistry between them is mind-blowing. The connection defies logic. It doesn’t help that

Echo is the poster boy for everything she hates in a guy—hot, beautiful, and cocky. A general

pain-in-the-butt. Being around him makes her feel more alive than she’s ever felt before. But

more important, the souls leave her alone when he is around.

Echo is perfect for her. Echo might even be her soul-mate. There is only one problem. Echo is

a freaking soul reaper. A Grimnir. The very beings she wants out of her life. Maybe normal is

overrated because Cora wants it all. Answers. Love. A life. You see, once you fall for a Grimnir,

your life will never be the same again.

EDNAH WALTERS grew up reading Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys and dreaming of one day

writing her own stories. She is a stay-at-home mother of five humans and two American shorthair cats (one of which has ADHD) and a husband. When she is not writing, she’s at the gym

doing Zumba or doing things with her family, reading, traveling or online chatting with fans.

Ednah is the author of The Guardian Legacy series, a YA fantasy series about children of

the fallen angels, who fight demons and protect mankind. AWAKENED, the prequel was

released by Pill Hill Press in September 2010 with rave reviews. BETRAYED, book one in

the series was released by her new publisher Spencer Hill Press in June 2012 and HUNTED,

the third installment, will be released April 2013. She’s working on the next book in the series,

FORGOTTEN. Visit her at www.ednahwalters.com

Ednah also writes YA paranormal romance. RUNES is the first book in her new series.

IMMORTALS is book 2. She is presently working on book 3, GRIMNIRS (Release date TBA).

Read more about this series and the world she's created here www.runestheseries.com

Under the pseudonym E. B. Walters, Ednah writes contemporary romance. SLOW BURN, the

first contemporary romance with suspense, was released in April 2011. It is the first book in

the Fitzgerald family series. Since then she has published four more books in this series. She's

presently working on book six. You can visit her online at or www.ebwalters.com.

AUTHOR LINKS

Facebook

Twitter: @ednahwalters

Website

Blog

Amazon Author

Goodreads

B&N Author

Smashwords

HERE

Author Jody A. Kessler

Hi all!

Please help me welcome Author Jody A. Kessler to my blog today!

AUTHOR Bio:

Jody A. Kessler enjoys writing paranormal novels and is a member of Pikes Peak Writers.  She is a yoga instructor, Reiki Master, and a graduate from the Colorado Institute of Massage Therapy. When she took an extended leave from her massage practice to stay at home with her newborn she returned to her first true passion —writing. She spends most of her time being a mother, writing, and teaching yoga, but also likes going to concerts, hiking, practicing herbal medicine, and reading anything that catches her interest. Jody lives in the mountains of Colorado with her family.

Death Lies Between Us is her debut novel and the first book in the An Angel Falls series. Book two, Angel Dreams, is scheduled for release in early 2014.

Death Lies Between Us

by Jody A. Kessler

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

Saving the life of someone you love should not be the worst thing you have ever done, unless you are an Angel of Death.

Disgruntled with his position in the afterlife and conflicted by his feelings toward his new client, Nathaniel Evans forgoes the rules and saves nineteen year old Juliana Crowson from being hopelessly stuck in Forge Creek. This alters Juliana’s destiny and she finds herself in a series of near death accidents.

In the mountains of Colorado, Nathaniel comforts Juliana as she struggles to understand her paranormal abilities while coping with her brother’s drug addiction. When an ill-tempered Native American Shaman teaches her the difference between ghosts and place memories, she decides she wants nothing to do with the supernatural world. Too bad she doesn’t know that Nathaniel is part of it. 

Will fate bring these two together, or has Nathaniel made the biggest mistake of his afterlife?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EXCERPT:

The tears pour out of my eyes in a silent deluge. My chest and shoulders shake with misery. It pisses me off that I can’t make it stop, and that amplifies my problem. I am not this kind of girl! I never have been and I don’t want to be now. I despise crying. My feet take a couple of stumbling steps toward the castle.

I hear him this time. He isn’t some supernatural being who moves in total silence. Crackling footsteps approach me and then his entire body engulfs me. Strong arms encircle me. One large hand cups the back of my head pressing me forward into him. His other hand wraps around my back securing me in place.

“Shh, shhh, it’s been a hard night. I swear I’m not seeing anyone. I’m just an idiot. I’m so, so sorry. Please believe me, everything is going to be fine, you’ll see,” he whispers into the top of my head.

I shake and snivel and let all the stress pour out of me. I have no clue how much time has passed, seconds, minutes, maybe an hour. As the tears finally run out I realize Nathan has once again taken all of my pain away with his selflessness. I lean the entire length of my body into him, letting him support me. My head seems to fit in the divot in the center of his chest as if it was made for me. He’s so warm and comfortable. It’s even better here than being nestled in my bed. I didn’t know that was possible.

His hand begins to stroke my hair. His fingers combing down its length, brushing over the back of my neck and trailing down my spine. Each pass leaves a path of warm ripples in its wake. If I could forget the world and melt into this feeling I would do it without a second thought.

“What are you doing to me?” he breathes the words out over my head.

The words exit his lips and tickle my inner ear. It sends a swell of warmth down to my chest, making me take a deep breath in. I let out a relaxing sigh. I want to tell him it’s not me, it’s him. He’s the one who has transformed me, taken away all of my willpower, and healed my wounds, changed me. All I manage to get out is, “It’s not me.” The rest of my thought, it’s you, goes unvoiced because sheer terror rips the night apart.

Jody will be awarding $10 Amazon GCs to two randomly drawn commenters during the tour.

Rafflecopter:

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/9e8ffb5/">

Win a $10 Amazon Gift Card

Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here:  http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2013/08/virtual-blurb-blitz-tour-death-lies.html

Author Links:

She welcomes visitors to her website www.jodyakessler.com

Buy a copy on Amazon   Barnes and Noble

Or connect with her here:  Facebook  Goodreads  Twitter  Pinterest

Please thank Jody for joining us today! Check out her links and book!

Keep Writing!

Jodie Pierce

Author Tracy E. Banghart & By Blood

Hi all!

Please help me welcome Author Tracy E. Banghart to my blog today!

AUTHOR BIO:

Tracy E. Banghart is a cheesy movie–loving, fantasy football–playing (go Ravens!), globe-trotting Army wife who began “practicing” her craft at the age of five, when she wrote her first story. She loves visiting the international friends she met while pursuing her MA in Publishing and spends a portion of every summer at her family’s cabin in Canada, where she finds inspiration and lots of time to relax on the dock. She lives with her husband, son, two lazy dogs and one ornery cat. When not writing or spending time with her family, she is on a mission to bake the perfect cupcake.

BOOK 1

By Blood by Tracy E. Banghart
Series: By Blood #1
Publication date: February 18th 2013
Genre: YA Paranormal

Synopsis:

For 17-year-old Emma Wong, spending a summer in England should be a dream come true. Gorgeous scenery? Check. Lots of hot guys with accents? Yes, please.

Throw in an estranged mom, annoying new stepdad, and drooling baby half-brother, and it’s a disaster even her favorite cherry red leather jacket can’t fix. Even worse, there’s (hot) live-in research assistant Josh to contend with. The only thing more embarrassing than   drunk-kissing him hours after they meet? Knowing he’ll be witness to her family’s dysfunction all. summer. long.

But when Emma meets a mysterious girl who happens to be a Druid, her vacation suddenly promises to be far more intriguing than she  anticipated. Powerful rituals, new friends, an intoxicating sense of freedom...and Simon, the sexy foreign stranger she was hoping for. It’s all a perfect distraction from dirty diapers and awkward family dinners.

Trouble is, intriguing doesn’t often mean simple. And Emma is about to discover just how not simple her life really is.

By Blood is a novel about the ways that blood can bind us to others – or tear us apart.

Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/book/show/17380488-by-blood

Purchase:

--Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Companion-novel-Child-ebook/dp/B00BH34XW0/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1377911713&sr=1-4&keywords=by+blood+tracy

--B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/by-blood-tracy-e-banghart/1114636813?ean=2940016315485

BOOK 2

Moon Child by Tracy E. Banghart
Series: By Blood #2
Publication date: August 16th 2013

Genre: YA Paranormal

Synopsis:

Before Emma's adventures in Oxford, her best friend Diana came face-to-face with a killer...

Diana Calvert is so over high school. Who cares if Olivia hates her? And David needs to forget about having a crush on her STAT. Even Emma’s crazy fashion choices can’t keep Diana entertained. All she can hope for is a dance scholarship to a college as far away as possible from too-small, too-boring, too-nothing-ever-happens New Freedom, PA.

Then Diana meets Nicholas Woodhaven. He’s pale, angry…yet weirdly charming. The more time they spend together, the more she wonders who – or what – he really is. Because he isn’t anything like the other guys she knows. Not with the whole only-going-out-at-night thing. And living with his creepy aunt. And not going to school.

Just when Diana thinks she’s got Nicholas all figured out, people in her small, nothing-ever-happens town start dying. She has to wonder – can she trust him? And even more alarming – could she be next?

A murder mystery with a paranormal twist, Moon Child is best read under the covers with a flashlight...if you dare!

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17992802-moon-child?ac=1

Purchase:

--Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1490962077?ie=UTF8&tag=httpwwwgoodco-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1490962077&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2

--B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/moon-child-tracy-e-banghart/1116336400?ean=9781490962078&itm=1&usri=9781490962078

Author Links:

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

Why I Love YA

Ever since I was a teenager, young adult literature has been my favorite genre. I love the romance, the sense of adventure, the presence (usually) of a strong, engaging female heroine. But it's more than that. The number-one reason I love YA is that justice always prevails. Good wins, evil loses, period. Sure, there might be blood, tears, even death…but ultimately by the end the bad guy DOES pay. I read for entertainment, to take a little mental vacation, to be inspired or touched by one of these amazing female characters. I WANT a happy ending…. but even more important, I want a FAIR ending.

In real life, fair isn't always possible, and justice isn't always served. I was reminded of this recently, unfortunately, when dealing with a rental home dispute. It got to the point where I was having stress dreams about the issues…when I could sleep at all. I felt that both my integrity, as well as my infant son's health, were being threatened, and I HATED that sense of victimization and powerlessness. It's a feeling I recall often feeling in middle and high school. That was the time when I discovered that people could lie about me, and in a he-said she-said situation, there was literally NOTHING I could do to "prove" my side was correct. That was when I first experienced a sense of absolute impotence, KNOWING I was right and not being able to do a single thing to prove it. At some point, I think we all realize how much the way people treat us, and whether they believe us, comes down to our real - or perceived - character. And how easy it is for someone to influence that perception. (A great book that deals with this "perception" issue - If I Lie, by Corrine Jackson.) Which is all to say, I don't think I'm the only one who first experienced injustice in their teenage years.

The sad thing is, in real life those injustices aren't always made right. In the case of my current predicament, I discovered there is no viable option to bring the guilty party to justice. There is NOTHING I CAN DO. It's a horrible feeling. One that gives me a permanent sick feeling in my stomach and makes me want to ram my head against a wall. It also makes me want to lose myself in a book where the outcome will be very different and vastly more satisfying. Maybe The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab, or Hero's Crown by Robin McKinley. Those are great examples of books where the heroine suffers an injustice…and prevails in the end.

People read YA for many reasons, because there are many reasons to love the genre. But, for me, I love YA because bad guys always get their comeuppance, and strong characters always defy/exceed/blow away expectations. Even as a woman in my mid-30s, I sometimes need that reminder that some battles are worth fighting, and some girls (and boys) really can save the day.

Giveaway:

Grand prize giveaway

Prizes:

1) (US only) SIGNED paperback copies of BY BLOOD & MOON CHILD + $20 Amazon, B&N or Smashwords gift card

2) (US & INTL) (2 winners) paperback copies of BY BLOOD & MOON CHILD + $10 Amazon, B&N or Smashwords gift card

3) (US & INTL) (2 winners) E-copies of BY BLOOD & MOON CHILD + $5 Amazon, B&N, or Smashwords gift card

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/d04251206/" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway

Please thank Tracy for joining us today! Please check out her links and her books. Good luck!

Keep Writing!

Jodie Pierce

Author Christine Amsden & Cassie Scot Paranormal Detective

Hi all!

Please help me welcome Author Christine Amsden to my blog today!

About the Author

Short Version:

Award-winning author Christine Amsden has written stories since she was eight, always with a touch of the strange or unusual. She became a “serious” writer in 2003, after attending a boot camp with Orson Scott Card. She finished Touch of Fate shortly afterward, then penned The Immortality Virus, which won two awards.

 Long Version:

Christine Amsden has been writing science fiction and fantasy for as long as she can remember. She loves to write and it is her dream that others will be inspired by this love and by her stories. Speculative fiction is fun, magical, and imaginative but great speculative fiction is about real people defining themselves through extraordinary situations. Christine writes primarily about people and it is in this way that she strives to make science fiction and fantasy meaningful for everyone.

At the age of 16, Christine was diagnosed with Stargardt’s Disease, a condition that effects the retina and causes a loss of central vision. She is now legally blind, but has not let this slow her down or get in the way of her dreams. (You can learn more here.)

In addition to writing, Christine teaches workshops on writing at Savvy Authors. She also does some freelance editing work.

Christine currently lives in the Kansas City area with her husband, Austin, who has been her biggest fan and the key to her success. They have two beautiful children, Drake and Celeste.

Cassie Scot: ParaNormal Detective

Cassie Scot Book One

Christine Amsden

Genre: Urban Fantasy (paranormal, mystery, romance, new adult)

Publisher: Twilight Times Books

Date of Publication: May 15, 2013

ISBN: 9781606197

ASIN:B00C7VR69I

Number of pages: 260

Word Count: 85,000

Cover Artist: Ural Akyutz

Book Trailer: http://youtu.be/UPWGTW5OHG4

Amazon   BN

Book Description:

Cassie Scot is the ungifted daughter of powerful sorcerers, born between worlds but belonging to neither. At 21, all she wants is to find a place for herself, but earning a living as a private investigator in the shadow of her family's reputation isn't easy. When she is pulled into a paranormal investigation, and tempted by a powerful and handsome sorcerer, she will have to decide where she truly belongs.

Excerpt:

            At random, I picked up a bottle of perfume from the top shelf and read: “Induces powerful lust. Spray on your intended and make sure you are the first person they see. Lasts about an hour.”

            The thing you have to understand about any magic is that there are good ways to use it, and bad ways to use it. The concept of black magic is a hotly debated topic among sorcerers. Even death, in self defense, is a shade of gray. As I stood there, reading the functions of the various love potions, I thought of all the innocent and harmful ways they could be used. A couple in a committed relationship might have a lot of fun with a spray of lust. On the other hand, using it on an unwilling victim...

            I shuddered as I replaced the bottle and accidentally knocked one of the neighboring bottles of perfume to the ground. It shattered, splashing perfume all over my open-toed sandals.

            “Crap.”

            “What happened?” Evan asked, his voice hard and alert. I could hear him moving closer.

            “Stop! I don't want to see you right now.”

            “Which potion was that?” Evan asked, still in that hard-edged voice of command.

            I pointed to the row of similar bottles on the top shelf. “Lust.”

            One of the little bottles floated away from the shelf, but I did not turn around to see what Evan was doing with it. Instead, I started looking through my purse for a pack of tissues to clean the mess off my feet.

            “Cassie, I have some bad news for you.”

            “Worse, you mean?”

            “This potion doesn't take affect until you actually look at someone. Your hour starts then.”

Website: http://christineamsden.com/wordpress/   

Blog: http://christineamsden.com/wordpress/?page_id=200

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChristineAmsden   

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Christine-Amsden-Author-Page/127673027288664

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1030664.Christine_Amsden

Google+ https://plus.google.com/u/0/117845642477854934607/posts

There is a rafflecopter giveaway of 2 $10 Amazon gift cards. Go here to sign up: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/ba112f369/

Please thank Christine for joining us today. Check out her links, enter the giveaway and buy a book!

Keep Writing!

Jodie Pierce