Blog Tour & Giveaway: Colorado Silver, Colorado Gold by Terry Irene Blain

Buy the book: Amazon US ; Barnes & Noble

Information:

Title: Colorado Silver, Colorado Gold

Author: Terry Irene Blaine

Publisher: Boroughs Publishing Group

Target Audience: Adult

Genre: Historical romance

Length: 225 pages

Story: To protect her sister, Juliette Lawson stole documents and fled west. Now Wes Westmoreland, undercover lawman, threatens both her plan and her heart.

Socialite Juliette Lawson fled west from Philadelphia on a train and in disguise. In Colorado she’d be safe; she’d take work with her uncle at the Rio d'Oro, his smelting operation. Her actions back east had been wrong, but to protect her pregnant sister from scandal she would have done anything. Then she met a man as hungry for answers as she was for independence. A handsome, honorable man. For him, she wished the truth was hers to tell.
From the first, Wes Westmoreland knew he couldn’t trust her. Having grown up in the saloons and brothels of San Francisco, he saw trust, like love, as a luxury an undercover lawman couldn’t afford. Not on a job like this one, not with gold involved. This woman dressed as a widow was clearly hiding something; he’d felt it the moment they touched. But he’d felt other things too, stirrings in his heart, and for the first time ever, he saw riches worth the peril.

Thoughts and impressions:

Historical romance seems to be one of my weaknesses. It’s not a genre that’s usually particularly inspiring and often enough the books are set in England (or Scotland) but written in modern day American English, which bugs me to no end. I haven’t read very many historical anythings set in the Americas but I’ve been brought up around a grandmother who happens to be overly fond of westerns, so when I read the synopsis of this one I was intrigued. The American west in that period was still very much on the wild side and that sort of setting appeals to me, possibly because it’s such a far cry from anything to be found these days.

The author managed to really capture the feel of the period for me. I felt transported. I could just imagine this little western town they were living in! It was obvious that she did a lot of research and went to great lengths to make her period feel authentic – research and great lengths that definitely paid off for me as the reader.

It was also interesting to see the process of getting gold and silver from the ore and how the refineries (that might not be the correct word but it’s the only one coming to mind right now) were operated. There was a slight issue here, however, in that the information was too clumped for me. Wes gives Julie a tour of her uncle’s “refinery” and explains the processes to her, which is a good example of exposition through dialogue. My issue was that there was too much information too fast for me to really absorb it properly. It didn’t help that I was already tired and so a large amount of what is essentially nonfiction coming at me all at once felt more like a barrage of facts than part of the story. I understand what the author was doing, but my mind just couldn’t deal with it.

Thankfully these “info dumps” were few and far between and I was able to really appreciate the intricate story that the author was weaving. As a historical romance it does, of course, focus mainly on the budding relationship between Wes and Julie but there’s enough going on around it to keep it well balanced. I didn’t feel completely swamped by just the relationship and it wasn’t love at first sight (though it was lust, but I’m happy with lust. Lust is normal).

Wes being an undercover officer for Wells Fargo was also of particular interest. I have to admit that I didn’t even know there was such a thing as Wells Fargo; never mind what its role was. So I actually learnt bits of American history from reading this book! That’s something that always appeals to me in a book.

Style: I don't have anything in partiulcar to note about the style. I enjoyed the author's prose from start to finish.

Final verdict: Historical romances are one of my weaknesses and I have to say that usually they don't really live up to what I was expecting of them. This one, though, really tickled my fancy! 4.5 stars

Extra notes: Sex is present. Bad language didn't stand out but could be present.

In the author's own words:

Topic: Story Ideas from Research

Colorado Silver, Colorado Gold’s story idea grew out of the location. Having driven through Durango on several occasions, I loved the place. Doing research on the history of Durango brought up the city’s connection with Wells Fargo and reading about Wells Fargo, I found that the company in the era of my story did in fact, have detectives.

Wow, what a great idea – my hero, Wes, could be a detective for Wells Fargo. Many of the incidents that happened or are related to my hero as a Wells Fargo detective actually occurred (although I’ve used my hero, with changes in times and place). This is why I love research.

The Wells Fargo connection also gave me some of Wes’ backstory/background. To

communicate between offices and various other businesses in San Francisco (giving me where my hero grew up), Wells Fargo employed boys to carry messages at twenty-five cents a message. This would be Wes’ first job, connecting him with the company. This allowed Wes to advance in the company eventually becoming a guard for the iconic green box (green painted box wooden box bound with strap iron and sealed with a hasp and lock), which became a trademark of the company; his foiling a robbery ended up with him becoming a detective for the company.

Much to my surprise, I found that several undercover Wells Fargo detectives held jobs as deputy sheriffs, or even county sheriffs while actually working for Wells Fargo. So Wes’ job working for the smelters isn’t as odd as it might seem.

The most famous Wells Fargo detective was James Hume, responsible for the capture of Black Bart, the notorious stagecoach bandit know for leaving poetic messages at the site of his robberies. At what turned out to be Black Bart’s last robbery, he was wounded and fled the scene. One of the items left behind was a handkerchief with a laundry mark. Hume and another Wells Fargo detective went to over ninety laundries in San Francisco and traced it the customer and his boarding house. The suspect confessed to the robbery.

Even today, the Wells Fargo stagecoach is still one of the enduring images of the West. Doing research on Wells Fargo really helped me shape my hero and his character and helped me develop the plot of Colorado Silver, Colorado Gold.

The author:

Terry Irene Blain was lucky enough to grow up in a large Mid-western family with a rich oral tradition. As a child she heard stories of ancestors’ adventures with Indians, wildlife, weather and frontier life in general, so she naturally gravitated to the study of history and completed a BA and MA then taught the subject at the college level. Married to a sailor, now retired, she’s had the chance to live in various parts of the U.S. and has traveled to Hong Kong, Australia, England and Scotland.

“My degrees and my teaching experience make me a natural to write historical romance. Writing historical romance gives me the opportunity to pass on stories of who we are and where we come from while exploring the relationship between men and women. What could be more exciting than that?”

The giveaway:

Open internationally

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Blog Tour: Guest Post by Laxmi Hariharan - The Inspiration Games

The Inspiration Games by Laxmi Hariharan

“It was India which invented the bow & arrow” my Dad blustered over the phone from Bombay, “remember Arjuna’s skill at archery? How he could concentrate till he saw nothing else but the target and shoot it with unerring precision time after time….”  He had just returned from seeing the Hunger Games at his local multiplex, when my weekly Sunday phone call had sparked off this conversation; with him insisting that the cross-bow was an Indian invention.  “Uh! Dad,”  I protested, “not everything in science fiction comes from Indian mythology….” I was, as usual, embarrassed by his well known theme of India shining and claiming ownership of emerging trends. Yet his comment gave me pause for thought. I began to wonder if he had a point?

Lord Rama with his bow from centuries ago!

Katniss in The Hunger Games

Cut to a few years back, when, on one of my annual trips to Bombay, the extended family had trooped off en masse to see Avatar in 3D at the brand new IMAX theatre in Bombay. I sat next to my father enjoying his excitement as he leaned forward to perch precariously close to the edge of the seat, fascinated by the incredible images flashing across the cinema screen.

Avatar inspired by Indian mythology? Who would have thought!

And as the scene with the Tree of Souls which has a neural link to the Na’vi uniting them all as one, unfolded, he gasped in surprise shaking his head; explaining to me later that Ayurveda the Indian system of traditional medicine had a very similar concept of unity.  That, all living creatures are linked to this planet and are one with Earth. The concept of blue people itself was familiar as many Indian Gods are depicted in similar fashion. Flying chariots, Gods teleporting at will across dimensions, powerful weapons of war that could destroy entire armies, revolving discs & guided swords spewing fiery sparks which would return to their owners after hitting its target, illusions which could frighten without hurting, and the massive bow which only Rama could string to win the heart of the beautiful Sita… Hmmm! I had seen these scenes countless times over the years.

Tiina inspired by Goddess Uma (The Destiny of Shaitan)

Amar Chitra Katha (Indian comic books) took over where my grandmother left off, yet what chance did a teenager’s raging hormones stand against tight bodysuits, plunging necklines, fanatical crime fighting and passionate love stories. With the first Superman movie I was in love with caped crusaders – Spiderman, Legion of Superheroes (my personal favourite) Green Lantern, Wonder Woman not to mention Tarzan &Phantom and much later Conan the Barbarian – I lived happily with them for a very long time. And then I stumbled across the gaming world which is proud to borrow from Indian mythology. Take for example Asura’s Wrath an action video game released February 2012. According to the game’s producer Kazuhiro Tsuchiya, “Asura’s Wrath takes elements from Hindu mythology and blends them with science fiction. In the game, Asura is a demigod fighting to reclaim his daughter from the deities who kidnapped her and banished him from earth.”

Or for that matter Xena the Warrior Princess’ trademark chakram which looks and acts very similar to the famed sudarshan chakra (Lord Vishnu’s deadly weapon of choice – a golden discus which cuts through the target and returns to owner.)

Xena's Chakra

VS.

Lord Vishnu's Chakra

Over the years I realised that Hollywood and the West have looked to Indian mythology for inspiration. But time has come full circle, with a brave new breed of Indian fantasy writers seeking to carry on the tradition of the ancient epics. Check out the brilliant Ramayana 3392 AD from New York based Liquid comics and the seductive Devi.

Do you have more examples of western science fiction drawing from Indian mythology? Do let me know.

The author:

Laxmi Hariharan was born in India. She lived in Singapore and Hong Kong and is now based in London. She is inspired by Indian mythology. When not writing, this chai-swigging, technophile enjoys long walks in the woods and growing eye catching flowers. Her debut novel The Destiny of Shaitan is available on Amazon http://tiny.cc/szqsew. Reach Laxmi here:

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/laxmihariharanauthor

Twitter: @laxmi

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/laxmihariharan/

Website:  http://www.laxmihariharan.com/

Buy the Book: Amazon US ; Amazon UK

Blog Tour: Guest Post by Jessica Penot

The Darkest Haunted Asylums

Mental Hospitals and Asylums seem to draw ghost stories the way a light on a dark night draws bugs.  Ghost stories cling to them like moss and collect over time until the dead patients wandering the halls  outnumber the living.   There is an irony to this.  These hospitals were built to be places of healing where the broken and lost could find sanctuary and solace, but these plans often go awry and accidents and apathy turn healing to hurt.  Tragedies linger in the shadows of these hospitals and collect like dust over time.  

I have worked at several asylums during my career as a psychologist and many times these places are not creepy.  They are places of healing and the staff fights the darkness with art therapy and recreational therapy and all the things mental health professionals do to make hospitals a place of healing.    However, sometimes the sad condition of the chronically mentally ill can’t be combatted by these tools and bad things happen.  Things happen that are so bad, that evil seems to remain in the old hospitals.  It seeps into the foundations of the buildings and creeps up through the walls tainting everything inside.  Bad doctors and staff turn bad things into travesties and these hospitals become places of fear.  According to many, the ghosts cling to the emotions that are kept in the hospitals.   Across the nation, there are many hospitals that are considered to be haunted.   These hospitals have tragic histories and their stories can send chills down the spines of even the bravest souls.  Here are a few of my favorite haunted asylums:

Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum

This is considered by many to be the most haunted hospital in the United States.  This hospital was founded in Weston West Virginia in 1864 and was then called The Weston State Hospital.   The hospital had 250 beds and houses some of the sickest patients in the region.   Although the hospital was built to house only 250 patients, by 1950 overcrowding turned the hospital into something out of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and the building housed as many as 2500 sick souls.  Even Charles Manson spent some time at this notorious hospital.   The hospital witnessed all the worst of the early treatments for mental illness and frontal lobotomies and water shock treatment were the mainstays of early treatment here.  However, the worst tragedies occurred when the patients hurt each other.  There were several patient to patient killings here and one nurse vanished only to have her body discovered under the stairs two years later.  Death became common place at the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum.  In 1994, the hospital was considered unusable and it was close.   Those that have visited this hospital say that they hear phantom noises throughout the hospital.  They hear ghostly screams and wails.  Full body apparitions have been seen wandering the hallways and strange noises come from the darkness.

Bryce Hospital for the Insane

Alabama Hospital for the Insane was designed to be a refuge for the mentally ill. Its architecture was designed based on the ideas of Dorothea Dix and Thomas Story Kirkbride. It was meant to be moral architecture that would contribute to the healing process within the hospital The hospital opened in 1861 and for a while it held to the ideals of Dix and Kirkbride. The first superintendent, Peter Bryce, was an idealist and he had studied mental health in Europe. He believed that patients should be treated with respect kindness. He even abandoned the use of restraints. The hospital was later named for Bryce and it went on to be the model for progressive mental health care.


Time quickly eroded Bryce' legacy, however. By 1967, there were more than 5200 patients residing in a facility that was never meant to hold that many. Observers described Bryce as a concentration camp and a model for human cruelty. In 1970, one patient named Wyatt started a class action law suit against the Alabama's other mental hospital, Searcy State Hospital. This lead to major change in the way the mentally ill were treated in Alabama. The number of beds was cut drastically and humane treatment of the mentally ill became an absolute necessity. The landmark Wyatt v. Strickney Case would change Bryce drastically. Old Bryce was the African American portion of Bryce Hospital and was notorious for being even crueler than its white counterpart. After Wyatt v. Strickey and desegregation, Old Bryce was shut down entirely and other buildings were used. The African American patients were integrated into the white population.


Old Bryce still sits quietly deserted, however, as a reminder to the old days when patients were held like prisoners with no rights. It is covered in graffiti and has been vandalized many times. It’s even been set on fire. Trespassing is forbidden here, but the curious have reported seeing all manner of horrors coming out of the dark around Old Bryce. Lights flicker on an off in the building that has no electricity. Phones ring in rooms with no phones. Phantom lights drift from room to room. Furniture moves on its own and footsteps echo through the abandoned hallways. The living patients may be gone, but many believe Old Bryce is still filled with the ghosts of those who once suffered in its walls.


Norwich State Hospital For The Mentally Insane


Norwich Hospital for The Mentally Insane was built in 1904 in Preston, Connecticut and is known for the dark ghosts that live inside of it.  The Norwich Hospital was designed to house the worst of the criminally insane patients in the state and, until 1971, it did just that.  It was home to murders, rapists, and other violent offenders.  The hospital is situated on 900 acres of woodland and is utterly isolated and crumbling.  This façade has added to the horror stories that have built up around the violent people that lived within the hospital and has created a collection of ghost stories so large they could fill a book.  Suicides and murders fill the history of Norwich Hospital and those who have died there never seem to leave.  Witnesses describe hearing screams in the darkness Faces appear out of nowhere and strange mists and lights are seen in the halls.


Searcy State Hospital


Searcy State Hospital is located in  the most Southern part of rural Alabama.  Prior to being a state hospital the old hospital has a long and dark history that is very difficult to find, but easy to see upon casual observation. The hospital is encased in long, chipped, white walls that seem as old as anything in the United States. From outside these walls, you can see a battered watchtower that gives testament to the fact that the hospital is in the same location as a 300 year old fort. The fort bears witness to American history and was originally a Spanish fort. It switched hands during the Louisiana Purchase and became a US fort. After the US took possession of the fort it was converted to a military arsenal and became known as the Mount Vernon Arsenal. The Arsenal switched hands again several times and was taken by the Confederates during the civil war only to be passed back over the United States again in 1862. From 1887 to 1894, The Arsenal became a Barracks and was used as a prison for the captured Apache people. The most famous of the Apache people to be held in these barracks was Geronimo. The infamous Aaron Burr was also held at this secluded prison at some point.


In 1900 the Barracks were transformed once again and the prison became a mental hospital. Searcy hospital was built as the African American mental hospital in Alabama. Conditions in the hospital were beyond questionable and at one time there were over 2000 patients in the crowded hospital and all were seen by one psychiatrist. All patients were expected to work in the fields.


The hospital was desegregated in 1969, but its history is all around it. The hospital is still used today, and although the residents live in new buildings, many tell stories of ghosts and devils that linger in the white walls and abandoned buildings that surround the new facilities. These stories are usually ignored, because the patients are crazy, but I’m not the only sane person who saw a few ghosts while they were working there.


Searcy served as the inspiration for my new novel, Circe. Its tragic history and haunted atmosphere serve as a backdrop to the chilling tale of a young intern slow decent into madness. If you would like to read more about Searcy, you can find my book at:
 www.jessicapenot.net, www.amazon.com,  www.ghoststoriesandhauntedplaces.blogspot.com, or http://www.lachesispublishing.com/products.asp?cat=2

Blog Tour: Coexist by Julia Crane - guest post / interview / sneak peek

This post is part of a tour hosted by Reading Is My Addiction. Click here for more information, such as other stops, on this tour.


Author Julia Crane is stopping by my blog today with a post in three parts:
- a guest post on the importance of covers.
- an interview
- a sneak peek with an excerpt from her novel, Coexist.


Welcome Julia Crane!


The guest post:

Why Book Covers are So Important

We’ve all heard the saying, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.”   This is especially true with books. There are so many to choose from that, at times, it can be overwhelming for a reader to pick what to read next.

When I walk through a bookstore, my eyes eagerly roam the shelves, looking for something to jump out at me. I literally get excited when I see a book cover that draws my attention. My next step is to read the blurb—sometimes I’ll purchase if the blurb is gripping and makes me want to read more, but sometimes I’ll decide to just admire the beautiful cover, because the book is not for me.

It’s just not humanly possible to look through thousands of books by content and decide what you want to read. I’m sure I’ve missed out on countless amazing books, simply because the cover did not draw me in.

In today’s digital world, covers are more important than ever. The readers don’t get a chance to hold and flip through the books. Most of the time, it’s just a quick swipe of the screen and on to the next. So, as an author, your cover must stand out.

Individual people are drawn to different things. What one person may see as beauty, another could think is plain or boring. With book covers, you have to try to reach as many people as possible in basically the blink of an eye. Certainly not an easy task for the artists. But, there are cover artists out there with a talent for creating works of art.  A perusal of the best selling books on Amazon will show a lack of bad cover art, because people are very aesthetic.

It’s easy enough to remind yourself not to judge a person on sight, or to judge a restaurant the minute you walk in.  You’re actually in that moment, and your senses are not overwhelmed by choices. Not so in a digital bookstore, where a bad cover can send your book into obscurity.

Don’t just a book by its cover. It’s great advice for life, but not very realistic. At least, not when it comes to books. 

The interview:

Hi there! Welcome to Rea’s Reading and Reviews. Thank you for taking the time to share some info about you and your book with me and my readers. Tell us a bit about yourself!

Thanks for having me!

1. Describe your book in ten words or fewer.

Coexist: Elfin love, destiny, life & death in modern times.

2. With such a large number of books out there, what do you feel sets your apart from all others?

Honestly, I’m not sure if it is set apart from other novels. There are so many amazing authors out there. I definitely tried to come up with an idea that the market was not saturated with. I do believe covers are extremely important when trying to capture an audience.

3.  Tell us a bit about your influences and just how / why these authors and / or their work inspire(s) you.

I don’t think I could pick just one author, or even several that have influenced me. I believe reading in general has been the main factor. I’ve always loved to read since I was very young. I thought it was so exciting to be pulled into the worlds that authors created. It’s nice to find an escape sometimes and to go places you’ve only dreamed of through books.

4. How did the seeds of this story come to you?

Coexist was years in the making inside my mind. I just hadn’t realized it. I know this sounds crazy, and it probably is. Back when I first met my husband he told me that he had a strange dream about elves in a battle. Which was very odd to him because he never recalled his dreams.

Several months later I was at one of my favorite new age stores, and they were giving readings. I learned to read tarot cards at a young age and my mother made astrology charts so this was nothing out of the norm for me. I decided to get a reading done for fun. The woman said something to the effect of I know this sounds insane, but I see a huge battle of elves. Until that time, I had completely forgotten about the dream. I was like huh, that is really strange. But, I took that to mean that maybe I should get a little more serious with that guy, then hey, maybe I should write a book.

Fast forward several years later. I was in the middle of the process of writing Coexist. I was out for my normal walk and suddenly I recalled the dream and the psychic. I thought wow, maybe I really was supposed to write this book all along.

5.   Which five books would you want with you if you were stranded on a desert island?

Another hard question. I read fast so they would have to be large books. Fountain Head and Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Brothers Karamazov by  Fyodor Dostoyevsky. The last two really wouldn’t matter as long as they were fun, easy reads.

6.   Who was your first book crush? (Or if you’ve never had a book crush then who is your favourite character to read about?)

Great question. I’ve had so many book crushes over the years that I’m racking my brain to try to think of the first. It was probably Ned from the Nancy Drew series. I tease my husband about my crush on Sam Fisher from the Splinter Cell books. As you can see, my taste in books are all over the place.

7. Let’s imagine that your book’s getting turned into a movie / tv series. Woo! Which actors can you envision playing the lead roles?

I’m going to attach a link to a post I did on Wattpad on my dream cast.  Picking a dream cast is a lot of fun.

8. What do you like to do in your free time (when you’re not reading or writing)?

I really enjoy being outside so I take a lot of long walks. As a family we try to travel as often as possible. I’m always searching out places that serve American food, and we also take a lot of long bike rides to explore Dubai. I wish I had something more exciting to say, but I’m really kind of boring.

9. If you could visit your destination of choice, which plane would you be on in the morning?

I would go to Ireland. I’ve been lucky enough to visit many countries, but haven’t made it to Ireland—yet.

10.    What’s your least favourite chore to do around the house?

I really don’t like cleaning. I wish I had a cleaning pixie to take care of the chores. But I do have to say when I’m cleaning it’s one of the few times the kids don’t bug me. I get many of my ideas doing chores around the house.

11. Does bacon make everything taste better?

I would have to say YES! I love bacon.

12. Anything else you’d like to share with us all? Extra points if you make us giggle!

Ack! You put me on the spot. I’m trying to think of something interesting that has happened recently.  They other day we were walking down the JBR to grab something to eat. Suddenly, I noticed this huge group of men walking all serious and as they got closer they spread out. One of them banged into me and I thought what in the world and looked closer. It was Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa strolling down the side walk with his security. I thought that was pretty cool. How many countries would you see the leader just walking around?

Thank you for taking the time to share this with us. I wish you the best of luck with your future career as a published writer and look forward to seeing the book you churn out next!

The interview was a lot of fun. Thank you, for taking your time to participate in the blog tour. I greatly appreciate it. 

The book:

Buy the book: Amazon US ; Smashwords ; Barnes & Noble

Sixteen-year-old Keegan is struggling to keep her huge secret from her friends—she's an elf, descended from a long line of elves that live in secrecy alongside humans.  

 

In elfin society, mates are predetermined but not allowed to meet until they are eighteen.  Against tradition, Keegan's brother Thaddeus told her Rourk's name because his visions warned him she'd need Rourk's protection, especially since Keegan will play a key role in the coming war between the dark and light elves.

 

Rourk finds himself drawn to Keegan's side every time she thinks his name. He wants to talk to her but remains in the shadows, silently guarding her every time she mentally beckons him. A twist of fate thrusts the two of them together when Rourk is forced to step up his protection and make his presence known.

 

An ancient prophecy deeply entwines Keegan's family and the future of their society. Somehow they must find a way to thwart fate and win the battle...without losing Keegan. With war brewing, and dark forces aligning, will Keegan and Rourk ever have the life together that they both desire?

The sneak peek:

Keegan was terrified.

Her eyes glanced frantically around trying to think a way out of this situation. How could this be happening, even with all my training? She was sure she could not defend herself against four guys. A drop of sweat fell from her face, and her heart was racing.

The biggest one pushed her up against the wall. She could smell the alcohol on his breath.

“Well, aren’t you a fine piece of meat?”

Glaring at him, she said, “Get your hands off me.”

“A feisty one, eh?” he laughed.

Without thinking, she drove her knee into his groin. He groaned and doubled over. The others advanced, and the big one yelled, “She’s mine.”

She felt like she was going to throw up when his hands groped her chest. Please don’t do this, she thought. I belong to Rourk.

When she thought his name, it pierced through Rourk’s heart. Nothing mattered to him except keeping her safe. How dare anyone else lay their hands on her? He would make them pay.

Out of nowhere, Keegan felt her attacker pulled off of her. She looked up just as a flash of light went off, and what she saw made her heart drop; she felt as if she were in a free fall as she stared into the most beautiful face she’d ever seen. His grey eyes met hers and he tipped his head, giving her a slight nod.

Keegan whispered, Rourk? It was only a matter of seconds, but it felt like a lifetime.

He yelled over the crowd, “Go to the exit and text your friends to meet you.” His voice sounded like music to her ears; it was deep, but not too deep, and filled with authority.

As much as she hated to leave, she didn’t dare ignore him. She ran away.


The author:

Julia Crane is the author of the young adult paranormal fiction novels: Keegan's Chronicles, Mesmerized and Eternal Youth. Julia was greatly encouraged by her mother to read and use her imagination, and she’s believed in magical creatures since the day her grandmother first told her an Irish tale. Julia has traveled far and wide to all the places her grandmother told her about and more, gaining inspiration from her journeys to places like Nepal, Cyprus, Sri Lanka, Italy, France and many more. And who knows? Maybe the magical creatures she writes about are people she met along the way.

Julia Crane has a bachelors degree in criminal justice. Although she's spent most of her life on the US east coast, she currently lives in Dubai with her husband and three children.

Website


A big thanks to Julia Crane and the Reading Addiction tour!

Guest Post: Vincent Zandri

Click image to go to tour page

Today we have a guest post by author Vincent Zandri.

Got What It Takes To Be A Writer?

Last evening I watched a new movie presented by HBO called Hemingway and Gellhorn. It offered a fascinating but sadly cliched view into the life of two of the 20th century's greatest writers. Both were portrayed as hard drinking, whiskey bottle by the side of their typewriter, bombs blasting in their bedroom, always traveling to exotic locales, wild sex with every sentence individuals. Like their novels, much of this is made up. But then, in some ways Hemingway and Gellhorn lived up to this over romanticized image.

Giving credit where credit is due, the literary couple were more than what was presented on the silver screen (or LCD TV in this case).

In reality they both struggled over their writing, and painstakingly wrote their articles, stories and novels, often wrestling with every word. Hemingway would produce on average no more than 250 new words a day and in the prime of his life, took three straight years off from writing altogether. That's how hard it was for him.

Martha would write alone, sometimes for three or four solid hours a day. Then she would toss it all out and start over the next morning. Like her lover, she possessed a very fine built-in shit detector and in this, she was her own worst critic. 

Truth is, they never drank booze while they wrote. They didn't get hammered the night before and wake up fresh and write like the words were simply bleeding out them. This is the stuff of Hollywood. This is romance. This is pure bullshit.

The truth about Hemingway and Gellhorn: 

Their writing came first.
It came before love.
It came before war. 
It came before partnership.
It came before car payments and mortgages.
It came before children.
It came before health and sickness.
It came before leaky roofs and broken refrigerators.
It came before school PTA meetings and dinner with the neighbors.
It came before birthdays, anniversaries, funerals and graduations.
It came before Christmas.
It came before fun. 
It came before happiness and sadness.
It came before God.

This is why fifty years after Hemingway's death and fourteen years after Gellhorn's (both of them by suicide), Hollywood is making movies about the couple. Because they were the best at what they did. And to be the best, you must make tremendous sacrifices.

Being a writer is not about being available to the world. It's about locking yourself away, at a great distance if need be, in order to work. Work alone, with yourself, without interruption. It's selfish and it is painstakingly hard work. In Hemingway's words, it is like "biting the nail." 

Do you have what it takes to be a great writer? 

Find out more about Vincent's book, Permanence:

Based upon Vincent Zandri's most anthologized Pushcart Prize-nominated short story of the same title, Permanence, is the story of Mary Kismet, a travel agent and grieving mother of a toddler who suffered an apparent accidental drowning. Now, all alone in the world, she attempts to ease the pain of her suffering by immersing herself, body and soul, into a love affair with her psychiatrist, a man haunted by his own demons. A tragic novel of obsession, dark compulsions, and madness, Permanence transports the ill-fated lovers from New York to Venice, Italy, and back again.

Buy the book:  Amazon US ; Amazon UK

Guest Post & Giveaway: Scott Baker

Today we have a guest post and a giveaway! Please welcome Scott Baker, author of Rotter World.

Zombies – the New Vampires?

When I asked Rea if there was anything in particular she wanted me to write about for this guest blog, she offered the topic of whether zombies are the new vampires.  Since I’ve written extensively in both subgenres, I jumped at the chance.  However, I don’t think you can say that zombies are the “new” vampires.  That implies that the gut-munching living dead are replacing the blood-sucking undead as the dominant monster in the culture, which is far from the truth.  They’re distinctly separate subgenres with widely different fan bases.

I’ve heard many people contend that vampires frighten us because they are manifestations of our fear of death.  Although that explains why the undead remain a favorite for providing chills, their appeal goes much deeper.  Vampires symbolize our desire to abandon our inhibitions and give in to our darker side, whether it’s lust or an innate nature for violence.  Bram Stoker’s Dracula was popular because the central character exhibited an unbridled sensuality that presented a sharp contrast to the staid Victorian values of the time.  Even the very act of turning his victims into the undead was ensconced in eroticism since nothing is more intimate than sucking on the victim’s neck.  (Okay, it’s not the most intimate place you can bite someone, but I’m leaving x-rated vampirism out of this discussion.)  

Whenever I ask my female friends who their favorite Dracula is, almost unanimously they replay Frank Langella, arguably the most sensual portrayal ever.  Even the brooding vampires lived past lives of debauchery for which they are now remorseful, most notably Angel from Buffy, the Vampire Slayer.  Despite his regrets, when Angel is deprived of his soul during the second season, he quickly reverted back to evil Angelus and easily out-vamps Spike and Drusilla as bad asses.  With some notable exceptions, such as Nosferatu and 30 Days of Night, vampires in their human form are almost always portrayed as sexually appealing figures who engage in every type of perversion imaginable.  It’s part of the fun of being a vampire.

Vampires and their mythos have also proved very adaptable to interpretation, which has helped to keep the subgenre thriving as long as it has.  The traditional vampire as a monster, which was imbedded in our culture thanks to Universal and Hammer Studios, now shares the night with their modern offspring: the moody, gothic vampires of Anne Rice; the paranormal romantic vampires of Laurell Hamilton; the vampires as historical figures of David Bishop and Jasper Kent; the teenage vampires of Stephanie Meyers; the vampires of anime; and a host of others.  Even television has gotten into the act, providing us with such blockbusters as HBO’s True Blood and the CW’s The Vampire Diaries.  The fact that vampires exist in so many variations is a testament to how pervasive they are in modern culture, here in the States and throughout the world.  The eroticism and mystery of vampires is universal.  They are one of the few monsters that are widely popular beyond their intended genre, and will remain so for the foreseeable future. 

Zombies, on the other hand, appeal to our deepest fears, primarily the fear of death.  No one wants to die, and the only thing worse than death is coming back as the living dead.  It’s the ultimate desecration.  The other fear zombies play on is chaos.  A zombie outbreak means the world is going to hell in the next few hours, so get your crap in order now.  The most popular zombie fiction involves post-apocalyptic scenarios in which society has collapsed and everyone who is left struggles to survive.  A zombie outbreak has replaced nuclear war as the big threat facing mankind, although with the living dead you don’t have to worry about fallout.  (Radiated zombies?  I think I have the plot for my next book.) 

In the past few years certain themes within zombie fiction have changed.  Where before the cause of the outbreak was attributed to some “natural” disaster, now it’s usually the result of a government or corporate bioweapons program that has gone horribly wrong, which represents the public’s growing distrust of our political system.  Twenty years ago, a zombie aficionado had to get his/her fix mostly from movies where the focus was on the creatures and the kills, and few of those films are memorable except for classics such as Return of the Living Dead.  (I’m sure everyone gets the reference when I say “Braaaiiinnnsss!”)  Now the focus is on character development and the personal tragedies of an outbreak.  The Walking Dead graphic novels and TV series, Max Brooks’ World War Z, and Kim Paffenroth’s Dying to Live series concentrate less on the living dead and more on how the survivors deal with the emotional and psychological trauma as well as their struggle to deal with both the living dead and the gangs that will take advantage of the situation.  

Unlike vampires, however, zombies don’t easily lend themselves to multiple variations.  It’s not easy to picture the living dead as romantic figures, running private detective agencies, or dating teenage girls.  With few exceptions, most zombie fiction is innovative in either the storyline or the nature of the zombies themselves.  Most notably among “alternative” zombie fiction is S.G. Browne’s Breathers, which tells the story of a recently deceased young man and the prejudices he faces from humans, and Andrew Currie’s movie Fido, in which Billy Connelly plays a domesticated zombie pet for Timmy Robinson (Kesun Loder), becoming the boy’s best friend and defender.  But these are unique entries into the subgenre and have not yet spurred successful imitators.  Does that mean zombie fiction will always be limited to the struggle-for-survival theme?  No.  Some viable variation is inevitable; we just haven’t seen it yet.  (So all you authors out there looking for an instant success, get writing.)

So, are zombies the new vampires?  No.  They’re completely separate subgenres, and they both have a lot of life left in them (pun intended) and will be around for quite some time.  And as a horror author, I’m glad.  

Buy the book: Amazon US ; Amazon UK ; Barnes and Noble ; Smashwords

Eight months have passed since vampires released the Revenant Virus on mankind, nearly wiping out both species. For Mike Robson, the situation could be far worse. He has joined up with a small band of humans and the last coven of vampires who are riding out the zombie apocalypse in an old fort along the coast of southern Maine. 

The uneasy alliance between humans and vampires is strained with the arrival of the creator of the Revenant Virus. Compton claims to have a vaccine that will make them immune from the virus and allow mankind to take civilization back from the living dead. However, the vaccine is located in a secure underground facility five hundred miles away. 

To retrieve the vaccine, Robson leads a raiding party of humans and vampires down the East Coast, which has been devastated by the outbreak and overrun by zombies and rape gangs. Yet none of the horrors he deals with on the road can prepare him for what he will find in Pennsylvania. Once inside the underground facility, the Robson encounters the greatest threat his group has faced to date, not only from zombies but from betrayal within their own ranks.

I wanted to make the giveaway easy so there are 3 entry options:
1. follow the blog
2. tweet a message
3. leave a comment for Scott

The giveaway is open to one and all!
US winners will receive a signed paperback.
International winners will receive an ebook.

Good luck!

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