Blog Tour Guest Post - Of Dreams and Shadow: Forget Me Not by D.S. McKnight

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Of Dreams and Shadow: Forget Me Not

Author: D.S. McKnight

Publisher: Stone Bay Press

Pages: 286

Genre: Young Adult Paranormal

Format: Paperback/Kindle

Book Description:

We live.  We die.  Is there anything more?  Jenna Barton is about to find out.  After moving to the coastal North Carolina town of Parson’s Cove, Jenna has unwittingly stepped into the middle of a mystery involving a missing child.  Unfortunately, the predator is still on the loose and Jenna has become his new obsession.  With a little luck and a bit of paranormal help, Jenna might survive.

Buy Links:

Amazon

Guest Post - Revisiting The Story

For approximately 2 1/2 years, I spent every available moment in Parson's Cove - the fictional town where Of Dreams and Shadow takes place.  I knew the town - the name of the streets as well as the locations of shops and restaurants.  I knew the characters, how they looked and what they liked. I witnessed the tragedy that set the story into motion.  So, I found it difficult to let go when it came time to say goodbye.  Fortunately for me, I was able to visit the story in other ways.  One way was to become the reporter for The Parson's Cove Daily News:

The Parson's Cove Daily News

June 19, 1997

(Parson's Cove)  Area authorities continue to search for Sarah Jones.  The four year old girl was last seen the morning of June 17, while playing outside of the family home located on Sandpiper Drive.  Parson's Cove Police Department spokesman,  Sgt. Joe Wilkes confirmed that there was a witness to the abduction.  The suspect is described as a male however there was no further description available.  The suspect is believed to have been wearing dark clothing. 

Neighbor Bob Williams spoke for the family.  "At this time, the family is asking for prayers for the safe return of their daughter."  When asked how the family was doing, Williams became visibly upset.  "I guess they are doing as good as possible considering the situation."

Besides canvassing local businesses, search and rescue teams have been called in.  "Bloodhounds are a valuable asset in this type of investigation,"  Sgt. Wilkes said. 

Sarah is described as a white female child approximately three feet tall with light brown hair and green eyes.  She was last seen wearing pink shorts and a white top. 

Residents are asked to contact the police department if they remember seeing anything suspicious in the area.


Excerpt from Of Dreams and Shadow

Prologue

June 17, 1997

Details…they were the making or breaking of any plan and he felt sure that his plan was perfect. He surveyed the yard one last time, slid back into his hiding place and waited. It wouldn’t be long now. She would open the door and come out to play as she did every morning: swinging, pulling her wagon, playing with her doll. Only this morning would be different, this morning would be special.

      Laying in her wagon was his gift, a necklace he had taken from his mother. He was certain Sarah would love it. A door slammed, pulling his attention from the wagon to the patio where the little girl stood.

      “Big…black…bug’s blood,” she said slowly. And then, looking rather pleased with herself, she continued a bit faster, “Big, black bug’s blood, big black blugs blug, blig black blug’s blug.” Shaking her head, she stepped off the patio, “I don’t like bugs anyway…well, maybe ladybugs…and butterflies,” Sarah added as a swallowtail fluttered by.

      Sarah found herself following the butterfly’s trail, stopping when it lit upon a flower and continuing on as it once again took flight.  “Come back butterfly,” she called as the butterfly flitted from place to place, always just out of her reach. The tinkling sound of her laughter floated across the yard to his hiding place. He couldn’t believe his luck. It seemed that fate was lending him a hand as the butterfly fluttered ever closer to the wagon.

      Just a little further, sweet Sarah.

      She stopped, looked up at the butterfly as it changed course, then set off in the opposite direction. He clinched his fist. Fate, he thought, is like a fickle strumpet. But patience on the other hand, was quite the virtuous lady. Damn. He hated virtuous ladies. And strumpets…they weren’t any better.

      The swallowtail, perhaps tired of playing the game, circled around and carried Sarah back toward the wagon. Its flight was now one of purpose. It had nectar to collect and flowers to pollinate and a curious little girl was a hindrance. The butterfly, however, didn’t need to worry. It had lost Sarah’s attention. She had seen the gift.

      Picking up the silver chain, she watched as the blue stones glistened in the sunlight. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Sarah slid the necklace over her head and ran back to the house calling out for her mother.

      Liza Jones opened the door. “Is everything okay, Sweetie?”

      Sarah lifted the pendant. “See what I found.” Her voice dropped to a whisper, as she looked over her shoulder. “Do you think a fairy dropped it?”

      Liza shook her head. “I don’t know about a fairy, but someone certainly did.” She put out her hand. “I think maybe you should give the necklace to me. We don’t know whose it is.”

      Sarah’s lip began to tremble. “But I found it and it’s so pretty. Can’t I please wear it for a little while? I won’t lose it.”

      Liza smiled as she touched her daughter’s cheek. She hated telling her no. “Okay, as long as you’re careful. But when we find out who owns it, no tears.”

      “No tears, Mommy,” Sarah agreed. “I promise.”

      Liza closed the door, her mind already going over the phone calls she needed to make. She felt certain that one of the neighbor’s children had been exploring in their mother’s jewelry box.

      Smiling, Sarah whirled around and set off for the swings. Her soft caramel curls, caught in a ponytail, danced about as she skipped across the backyard. She hoped her mommy couldn’t find the owner of the necklace.

      As she sat in the swing and pushed off with her feet, Sarah noticed her shadow. It moved along the sand, stretching out just as she did. Higher and higher she went, her shadow following below. Taking a flying leap from the swing, Sarah sailed through the air, landed on the soft grass and toppled over. Giggling, she righted herself. Her shadow did the same. And so the game of chase began.

      Like a small rabbit, Sarah scampered across the lawn, her little feet swiftly changing course. Sometimes, depending on the direction she was going, Sarah noticed that she was being chased by her shadow. Other times, she was doing the chasing.

      The slamming of the neighbor’s back door didn’t go unnoticed. Boys! She thought to herself as she wheeled in the opposite direction, making sure to avoid the fence. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw

the neighbor boy peeking over the pickets.

      As she neared the back of the yard, Sarah slowed to a walk, sat down, and leaned against a large boulder, her shadow all but forgotten. She fingered the silver chain before carefully lifting the pendant. Blue stones surrounded a small crystal, reminding her of the flowers that grew in her mother’s garden. “Buttercup, Poppy, Forget-Me-Not,” Sarah recited her favorite nursery rhyme, “These three bloomed in a garden spot—” her soft voice trailed away to nothing as the sensation of being watched rolled over her.

      Sarah lifted her eyes from the necklace and glanced toward the wood line, looking for anything that seemed out of place. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, she continued to search the yard, looking for the source of her discomfort. She paused, realizing that the only place left to look was behind her. The hair on her arms began to rise as did the instinctual feeling to run to safety. Slowly, she turned her head to look over her shoulder. Her eyes rested on the dark figure standing behind her right shoulder.

      “Shadow?” she asked in a bewildered voice.

      “Who else could it be?” hissed the childlike apparition as it took position between Sarah and her house. A ragged whimper wrenched from deep in Sarah’s throat, her eyes darted, looking for an escape but seeing none. From across the fence, the frightened eyes of the neighbor boy found hers, his small hand waved for her to run.

      “Mommy!” she cried out, her eyes welling with tears.

      “Thy mother hearest thou not, sweet Sarah,” the specter hissed as it took a step closer to the child.

      Sarah’s mind told her to flee yet her body refused to move. Tears streamed down her face. The shadowy figure looked over its shoulder at the house. Satisfied, it turned its attention back to Sarah. Cocking its head to the side as though in thought, Sarah’s silhouette paused for just a moment before lunging and engulfing the child. Sarah had no time to scream. She was gone, swallowed by the blackness that was the shadow. The dark figure of the little girl stretched upward and outward as it shifted into the dark shape of a man.

About the Author

D.S. McKnight has enjoyed a varied career—from working as a radio DJ on a small AM station to serving as president and co-owner of a marina, until Hurricane Ophelia took aim at the Carolina coast.  Currently, she works at an insurance agency as well as hosting her blog - Novel Notions. 

It is her love of the North Carolina coast that fueled her desire to write.  Of Dreams and Shadow: Forget Me Not (book 1) is her first novel. 

You can visit the author's website at:

http://www.dsmcknight.com.

Author Links:

Blog |  Twitter | Facebook |  Goodreads

Discuss this book in our PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads by clicking HERE

Blog Tour Organized by:

Book Blitz & Giveaway - Not Quite Dead by Lyla Payne

Not Quite Dead
by Lyla Payne

(A Lowcountry Ghost Story)

Publication date: April 1st 2014

Genres: Mystery, New Adult, Paranormal

Synopsis:

A broken engagement sends Graciela Harper crawling back to Heron Creek with her tail between her legs, but finds the sleepy little town too changed to set her life right. Not even her budding drinking problem can obscure her Gramps’s failing health, or erase the mental picture of her first love happily married to her childhood best friend. To top it all off, she’s having a heck of time convincing the town’s dashing young mayor of her unfit-for-dating status.

When the ghost of 18th century lady pirate Anne Bonny starts insisting on a near daily audience, Graciela has to confront something else she never expected—being certifiably nuts at twenty-five years old.

Her brand new “I don’t give a crap” attitude makes it easy to dismiss the mysterious threats that seem to be tied to her search for more information on the long dead pirate, but when her family becomes a target, Gracie knows she needs to find out why the ghost insists on being a constant, reeking companion.

If Graciela can put aside her prejudice against people without a pulse, she may discover that Anne Bonny’s problems are intricately linked with her own. The past harbors answers could help the cantankerous spirit find closure, but she is, after all, already dead. If Graciela doesn’t move fast, she might find herself doing the haunting, instead of the other way around.

Buy Links:

Amazon ¦ B&N

Excerpt from Not Quite Dead

Maybe it’s lingering fear of Anne’s ghost, or a sudden urge to burn some fat, but my feet find the sidewalk instead of my butt finding the driver’s seat of my car. I have an hour, and the walk will take fifteen minutes. I’ll regret it later, when the trek home in a hundred muggy degrees drenches me from head to toe, but that’s then.

I’m out to prove that I don’t give a shit about consequences after all. Fuck adulthood.

Avoiding my car turns out to be a moot point when, less than two blocks from Gramps’ house, the scraggly redhead from my backseat joins me on the sidewalk. Her gait matches mine, but her feet don’t make any sound on the concrete despite her clunky, knee-high leather boots. Lord if she doesn’t smell bad enough to gag a maggot, even outside.

Yesterday, I ran. Today, for some reason, it’s as though none of this is happening in real life and I don’t go faster, or slower, just keep going, eyes forward, clinging to the hope of waking up. It’s like swimming through the air with my blood pumping through me ten times too fast, depositing a chilly sweat on my brow and palms.

She doesn’t talk, but based on my sideways glances, the premise that she’s Anne Bonny seems legitimate. The smell and her stiff men’s shirt, trousers, and boots, combined with the sword and dagger belted at her waist, convince me that she’s Anne Bonny or that I’m going nuts. Or both.

The expression on her face wavers between frustration and sorrow, but nothing about it or her posture suggests causing harm is on her agenda. We walk side by side a few more steps, me and my reeking ghost, before my nerve returns out of nowhere.

Dead or not, she’s kind of starting to bug me.

"What do you want?" The question would sound more at home in the mouth of the first victim in a horror flick, but it has to be asked.

Even so, Anne—if it is Anne—doesn’t reply. Maybe she thinks it’s a dumb thing to ask, too.

"Okay, obviously you left your tongue in your grave. Let me guess, you want to grab a coffee and a bagel? I’m thinking about stopping at Westies, but I’m not sure…Oh," I gasp as my body turns to ice.

About the Author

Lyla Payne has been publishing New Adult romance novels for a little over a year, starting with Broken at Love and continuing with the rest of the Whitman University series. She loves telling stories, discovering the little reasons people fall in love, and uncovering hidden truths in the world around us - past and present. In her spare time she cuddles her two dogs, pretends to enjoy exercising so that she can eat as much Chipotle as she wants, and harbors a deep and abiding hope that Zac Efron likes older women. She loves reading, of course, along with movies, traveling, and Irish whiskey. Lyla's hard at work, ALWAYS, and hopes to bring you more Whitman University antics and at least one more Lowcountry ghost tale before the end of the year.

Lyla Payne is represented by Kathleen Rushall at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.

If you want to know more, please visit her at http://lylapayne.com

If you're a fan of Young Adult fiction--science fiction or otherwise--please check out her work that's published under the name Trisha Leigh. http://trishaleigh.com

Author Links:

Website ¦ Facebook ¦ Twitter ¦ Goodreads

***GIVEAWAY***

One ecopy of Not Quite Dead up for grabs.

Ends June 9th (midnight GMT).

Open internationally.

Prize will be sent out after June 17th.

Contest is void where prohibited. Entrants must be 13 or else have parent or guardian’s permission to enter. Winners will be notified via email and will have 48 hours to respond or another winner will be selected. The winner will be posted on this page after the winner responds. Winning entries will be verified for authenticity.

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Book Blitz Organized by:

BOTM - Blood of Angels {Wattpad}

Blood of Angels

Author: Emily Taylor

Genre: Paranormal / Action

Wattpad Book Blurb:

These teenagers have powers, but that doesn't make them superheros. [Winner of Paranormal/Horror On The Rise Watty 2013]

Author Links:

Wattpad

Author Interview

1. Please tell the readers a bit about yourself. 

Hey! Well, I never really know what to say in these things. I'm short, kinda crazy, and have the habit to turn hermit when passionate about a story. I've been on most of the writing sites, yes I loved Inkpop, and in my second year of university at the Conservatorium for MuTECH (Music Technology) which basically is composing for games/film, sound design, and studio work. Have an obsession with chocolate. Joss Whedon is my idol. Yes I'm a bit of nerd haha

2. What types of books do you write?

I write new adult books with some form of action and fantasy element. I tried writing a straight romance once, and it turned into a Battle Royale school scene with a bikie backstory. 

I think I have too much of a dark paranormal/horror influence. But that's what I love.

3. How many books have you written?

Quite a few now which is amazing. I remember being on Goodreads a good five years ago believing I'd never finish a book over 20k. There was all these people there onto their third-fourth novels with WC of 70-120k. But then I finished the first version of Blood of Angels (@50k) and things just got bigger from there. Big moment for me :)

So I've completed eight novels to date at WC of 75k+

4. What movie and/or book are you looking forward to this year?

Movies I'm looking forward to?

- Godzilla (The director also directed and wrote a favourite film of mine, Monsters)

- Only Lovers Left Alive (Great premise and Tom Hid.)

- A Million Ways to Die in the West (... I just have to see it. It looks amazing haha)

Books:

- Magic Breaks [Kate Daniels #7] (One of my favourite series. Just amazing)

5. What type of books do you enjoy reading?

Paranormal/Romance Adult books mainly. Things like Kate Daniels and Sher. Kenyon. Though also epic fantasy like Sword of Truth, horror (Let the Right One In) and classics (Les Mis.)

6. If you were stranded on a desert island what 3 things would you want with you?

I don't know! haha I'd say:

1. A knife

2. Notebook/pen

3. A friend. 

7. Are you considering a sequel?

I'm already writing the sequel for Blood of Angels, Vengeance of Angels (Partially Angel #2). Completed the second book for my debuting novel, A Soul to Take, though it needs a major rewrite. And I'm up to the third book in Cinretta.

8. What inspired you to become a writer?

It was just another outlet for storytelling. I was always a book worm and it just seemed logical that I tried to put my own stories onto paper. Everything I seem to do is just another form of storytelling-- dancing/music/performing, and I don't do half-assed. That's kind of our family motto. I just kept setting new goals. If I was going to be a writer, I was going to join the sites, enter the competitions, build the fan base, query. There was no point in writing these stories if no one read and enjoyed them.

Blood of Angels Scavenger Hunt

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Promo Blitz & Giveaway - Mind Games by Christine Amsden

Mind Games

By Christine Amsden

Urban Fantasy / Paranormal Romance / Mystery

Date Published: 4/10/2014

Book Description:

Beware your heart and soul…

Evan broke Cassie’s heart two months ago, and she still doesn’t know why. She throws herself into family, friends and her new job at the sheriff’s department, but nothing helps. The only thing that finally allows her heal and move on is the love of a new man, mind mage Matthew Blair. Cassie finds him…irresistible.

Matthew may also be the only one who can help keep the non-magical residents of Eagle Rock from going crazy over the murder of a beloved pastor’s wife. It looks like a sorcerer is to blame, but while Cassie tries to figure out who, others take matters into their own hands. With tensions running so hot, a single spark might set Eagle Rock ablaze. Book 3 in the Cassie Scot series.

Buy Links:

Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Excerpt from Mind Games

Rick was still on some tirade about the heat, possibly trying to blame an August heatwave on sorcery, or perhaps the wrath of God, when I got the oddest sense of foreboding. It was a tingle, one of those things that is easily dismissed in the moment but, in retrospect, makes you think, I had a feeling…

Upon entering the diner my impression of danger strengthened, though it took me a minute to pinpoint the source of the threat. I noticed two things at once: First, Mrs. Meyer’s oddly shifty gaze as she worked the cash register, and second, the nervous expression of the stooped, middle-aged man standing opposite her.

The tinkle of bells startled the man in front of the register more than it should have. He turned slightly, took a good look at Rick and me in our deputy’s uniforms, and let out a cry of alarm. The next thing I knew he held a pistol in his shaking hands. “Don’t move!”

I froze. In that microcosm of time between instants, I gathered that Rick and I had interrupted a robbery and the man probably thought someone had called the cops. There was a sense of desperation about the man that made him seem wild and unpredictable – a dangerous combination, especially for a man holding a deadly weapon.

When time resumed, everyone in the diner began to panic. More than a few people screamed. Dishes fell and broke. Everyone scrambled for cover, most sheltering under tables.

In the midst of the chaos, the man’s shaking hand jerked upward and fired a shot into the ceiling, showering plaster and debris all !over a quaking Mrs. Meyer.

“I said don’t move!” He brought the gun back down and aimed it at me. “Drop your weapon.”

With painstaking slowness, I moved my fingers toward my sidearm. To my right and just behind me Rick stood stock still, not going for his weapon at all.

“Don’t try anything!” the gunman warned. He waved the gun at Rick. “Drop your weapon, I said!”

“It’s okay,” I tried to make my voice sound soothing. “You don’t want to hurt anyone. If you put the gun down, we can work something out.”

My gun was halfway to the floor when Rick suddenly withdrew his weapon and aimed it at the gunman, pairing the two of them off in a good old-fashioned Mexican standoff. “Drop your weapon!” Rick shouted.

For a second, I truly believed I would die. The gunman looked crazy and desperate enough to start shooting at a moment’s provocation. I even thought I saw his finger tighten around the trigger.

The gunman opened his mouth as if to speak, but then something rather odd happened. The only physical signs were his eyes, which took on a sudden vacant expression, and his fingers, which went limp. His gun clattered to the floor.

Not sure what had just happened, but not about to let the opportunity pass me by, I rushed up to the man, kicked the gun away, and twisted his hands behind his back. He didn’t even resist as I forced him to the ground, slapped cuffs on him, and patted him down in search of other weapons.

Rick came up beside me. “You shouldn’t have lowered your weapon. I had it under control.”

I doubted it. I wasn’t sure what had happened, but Rick’s move might have gotten me killed. It wasn’t the right time to discuss it, though, so with one knee on the gunman’s back to make sure he didn’t move, I radioed the station for backup. After that, I scanned the crowd for signs of injury. Everyone seemed fine, if rattled, but one face in a nearby booth caught my attention.

Matthew Blair, state senator, son of the mayor, and powerful mind mage, winked at me. Casually, he unfolded his wallet, slid a couple of bills onto the table, and walked outside. But he left me in no doubt that he had used his talents on the gunman to force him into docility.

On a positive note, Rick left the department that afternoon. I’m not clear if he quit or if the sheriff fired him, but he decided to head up private security for his church. I couldn’t feel too surprised when I’d never had a partner last much longer than a month anyway.

Get book #1 for $0.99 during May!

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.

First Chapter Here

Book One Buy Links:

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Audible Audiobook

About the Author

Christine Amsden has been writing fantasy and science fiction 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 relationships, 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.

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.

Author Links:

Website | Newsletter | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Google + | Goodreads

***GIVEAWAY***

$100 Amazon Gift Card up for grabs.

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Cover Creation Process & Cover Reveal - The Summer Sacrifice by Holly Hinton

Today we are excited to share the cover process via images and the final cover for the middle grade fantasy The Summer Sacrifice by Holly Hinton.  The book is scheduled for release on June 21st, 2014.

The cover artist has provided us with the images to show the process of creating the cover.

 These three concept images were the first pictures David created for The Summer Sacrifice. Thumbnail A evoked the atmosphere of a mysterious fantasy, B gave the impression of a teenage classic, and C was more poetic in tone. Holly settled on a mixture of A and B as the basis for David to start constructing the final cover.

These drawings were 'speed-painted' by David. They are rough in nature as their purpose was to help decide the cover's general colour scheme.

David drew a detailed sketch of the friendship group. He used this as a guide for the final painting of the group on the cover. He kept the 'camera' low, almost on the floor, to make the characters look more heroic and the serpent bonfire bigger. He worked to get a sense of wind into the image to give it an outdoor feeling and to add dynamism, and also to break up the composition's symmetry.

David paid great attention to working out the many light sources in the painting, and particularly how they would interact with the faces and bodies of the five central characters. There is a strong backlight from the fire, a mix of bounced lights from the environment, and diffuse bluish light from the sky.

This version of the cover is close to the final one. The serpent and the title still required small changes, and David also did some other general polishing, including painting the moon's glow onto the vines and leaves framing the picture, and adding the stars.

This screenshot shows the front, back and spine of the cover from inside Krita, the open-source software David uses to create his work.

The final cover for the paperback.

The final cover for the ebook.

Book Description:

Three hundred years ago, the Great Goddess sent a storm to destroy mankind. She nearly succeeded. One island survived. These days, the Goddess stops the spread of evil by sacrificing the Island’s rotten teenage souls. Or so the story goes... . When Jamie Tuff survives her Taking, she thinks her worst nightmares are behind her. But then her soul starts wandering into other people’s bodies, and she discovers that the Island harbours a deadly secret. Now, she must save her little world from a fate worse than—well, worse than what the Goddess has already done to it. Join Jamie Tuff and friends on their adventures through land, sea and sky, in a world where stars walk and Halfhawks fly.

About the Cover Designer

David Revoy (nickname Deevad), is a french artist living in the south of France.  He has more than 10 years of experience working remotely as a freelancer. His skills and expertise includes illustration, art-direction, concept-art and teaching. In short: he's a 2D artist (he uses drawing, painting, digital painting techniques) and paints custom artworks for books, posters, board-games, video-games and movies. His clients are located all around the world.

Since 2009 he has painted using only free and open-source software. He uses Krita, Mypaint, and Gimp on Linux. This technical choice doesn't affect compatibility with his clients: he still provides industry standards and can work or open any regular files.

He can be followed on Google+, Twitter, Tumblr or deviantArt.

Visit him at: http://www.davidrevoy.com/

About the Author

Holly grew up in a small, sleepy village in Suffolk. The acting bug hit her at age nine, when she was asked to play Baboushka in the school nativity. That same year she played the lead role of a naughty black poodle in a pet parlour themed ballet, and she thought she had made it. Years passed, but the acting bug didn’t. She went to Goldsmiths, University of London to study Drama, after which she completed her actor training at Arts Ed.

Writing a book was never part of the plan. But life’s full of swerves and surprises and ideas dropping into people’s heads. Holly had an idea drop into hers, and that idea became The Summer Sacrifice, and The Summer Sacrifice became the first book of the Master Game Series.

For more information please visit:  http://www.hollyhinton.com/

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Event Organized By CBB Book Promotions:

Author Spotlight - CT_Hill {Wattpad}

Category X
Author: CT_Hill
Genre: Sci-fi / Mystery / Thriller

Wattpad Book Blurb:
Evan and Alexander make a disastrous discovery, but instead of using the compound for the benefit of the world, they move to release the pathogen; the very pathogen to which they have the only cure.

When Special Agent Olivia Frey is given the case of her career, it does not take long for her to realize that what she is investigating is no ordinary murder, but something that will be forever etched in history.

The world takes a breath as it realizes its greatest catastrophe, as the gift of reproduction is snatched right from humanity's hands.

Category X means that the world will change.

Will you survive?

Author Links:
Website ¦ Wattpad ¦ Twitter

Blog Tour Author Interview & Giveaway - State Of Infection by Michael J. Frey

State Of Infection

by Michael J. Frey

Genre: Science Fiction/ Horror

Publisher: Black Rose Writing

Date of Publication: March 6, 2014

Number of pages: 266

Word Count: 84K

Cover Artist: Tommy Dalston

Book Description:

Just months before the Battle of Central Park and the onset of the Second Civil War, President Obama declares martial law in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut as Montoya’s encephalopathy spreads.

Despite the military’s best efforts, the government falls and Manhattan is reborn as a city-state under a military dictatorship. Survivors Mike Calaf, and Avalon Calendar struggle to survive, caught between the zombies and the new ruler of New York.

But long before the zombie infection, during the First Civil War, Doctor William Jackson (of the Confederate States of America) is trying to unravel the mystery behind this strange new sickness. He knows that if Complex P fails to work, there could be devastating consequences which might influence the future of mankind.

Buy Links:

Amazon ¦ BN

Author Interview

1. Tell a little about yourself. What you do when you’re not writing? What are your aspirations for the future?

By day, I am a very busy physician. I practice medicine in New York City at Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center. I am an Obstetrician/Gynecologist, so I deliver babies half the time, and practicing women’s health the other half. I am also busy in the OR, dealing with issues like fibroids, ovarian cysts, etc.

By night, I am a husband and a father. My two boys, Jackson and Parker, are 16 months and 4 years-old. My wife, Jessica, is very supportive of finding time for me to write (after the dishes are put away and the kids are asleep). So she’ll read or watch TV (especially if Downton Abbey is on) and I’ll sneak downstairs to the basement where it’s quiet to write.

For the future I hope to continue to write short stories, poems and maybe even another book. I also plan to continue developing my medical practice.

2. When and why did you start writing?

I have been writing since middle school/junior high. I still have a few notebooks, tucked away in plastic blue bins, sitting in the attic of my mother’s house, filled with bad poetry declaring my love for Alexis, or Shari, or whomever I was dating that month. I had a great mentor in a camp counselor one summer, who helped me a great deal in developing my poetry into more than it was.

In high school, in Long Island, New York, I wrote for the school newspaper. I liked the structure of newspaper writing, and continued it at my college (in Boston). During med school, all bets were off, and I focused only on medicine. It was not until I moved to Manhattan, in 1998 when I was able to start writing for fun again.

3. Have any particular novels or writers influenced your writing?

I used to read only the classics and I feel very much influenced by Homer’s The Iliad. I also was very moved by the works of Ernest Hemingway, Milan Kundera and the poetry of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Billy Collins, and Charles Bukowski. But if two authors in specific have most influenced my writing (at least my prose) I would credit: Stephen King and Ray Bradbury. To rattle off a few of their novels that I really loved: Under The Dome, Cell, Duma Key and from Bradbury, I found The Martian Chronicles very influential to my writing.

4. Give us some backstory about State of Infection. Where and when did you write it?

I wrote State Of Infection, over the course of a one-year span, in the middle of the night. Sometimes, while my wife and kids were sleeping; sometimes, while I was in the hospital with a patient in labor. I found time when I could. It came quick, poured out of me. So a year was enough time.

5. What was your favourite part of writing State of Infection?

Writing, in general, is an escape for me. An escape from how I think during the rest of my waking life. I get up and start thinking. Coffee, dogs, juice for the kids. Breakfast, more coffee and off to work. At work, I think like a doctor. It is very enjoyable at times, but creative writing allows the other half of my brain to work.

6. What does your writing schedule look like?

Very random, but usually happens late at night into the morning.

7. Which fictional character would you like to take to dinner and why?

Fun question. I think I would pick Achilles, the central character of The Iliad and the greatest warrior in the Achaian army. We would grab a few burgers at the local diner, and the first question I would ask him is why he and his friends have to introduce each other by first reciting their family lineages back 5 to 10 generations. I would inform him that it very much slows down a conversation and is kinda boring. Then I would advise him that his most significant flaws are his temperament and excessive pride. Then I would run.

8. Besides your lead, do you have a favourite character in the story?

I like Castor Dean, who is the ruler of New York City, after the apocalypse. I can’t decide if he is a good guy or a not so good guy. In his pre-apocalypse days, Castor was a high ranking soldier in the army. He gets tapped by President Obama to be the military governor for New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. From there, he kinda takes over. But he is loyal to his friends and loves his wife. I think Castor struggles himself, with his urges and his desire to do good. If the story continues into another book, Castor will definitely take on a larger role.

9. What is one of the most surprising things you've learned as a writer?

When I look back at my writing from 5 or 10 years ago, I am amazed at how much of it just sucks. My writing has improved with time. I am surprised how much my skills improve by just continuing to read other and write.

10. Any advice for aspiring authors?

Your words are your children. No one will judge them harsher; no one will love them more than you. Like any form of art, writing is so varied and appeals to so many people. Opera is out, but books (mostly ebooks these days) are still in, despite Apple TV and the internet.

Practically speaking, I will recant (rather than claim ownership of) some tips that have helped me as a writer. Write what you know. As Stephen King put it (though I’m paraphrasing) if you’re a plumber and you like to write about science fiction then write about a plumber who works on Mars. People like to read about other people’s jobs, and if you character has a job you know a lot about, it becomes more realistic.

Have the guts to cut, or as Kurt Vonnegut said, “If a sentence, no matter how excellent, does not illuminate your subject in some new and useful way, scratch it out.”

Grammar. Notwithstanding the prior sentence is a sentence fragment. Being grammatically tidy is important. Getting a book about grammar is very helpful. I always brush up a bit, before I begin writing. No one will take you seriously as a writer if your prose is not polished and edited to grammatical correctness. Even if you write like people talk (as I try to do) in the vernacular, you have to present your words, sentences and paragraphs at their best.

Excerpt from State of Infection

1- DOCTOR MIKE CALAF

It’s been nearly a year since the outbreak. Most people call it the ZA infection, though it’s not really an infection. The proper medical term is Montoya’s encephalopathy (named after Claude Montoya, the French researcher who spearheaded the early studies). 

I was in my office seeing patients when it began. Back then I had a medical practice on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, about a block away from my one bedroom apartment. I could get from my office to my home before you could say Jack Robinson. It was convenient as heck (and in the end, probably saved my life). 

In those days my biggest concern was keeping the practice growing. Medicine is, among many things, a business, and like most businesses, mine had overhead. Lots of overhead. In my case overhead meant two receptionists and two nurses. I also had the malpractice insurance to cover, which seemed to go up almost every year. Next came the office supplies (both secretarial and medical). Then throw in the computers, maintenance, and a small reserve for holiday parties. Private practice in New York City was a costly beast to say the least. 

Fortunately, I did pretty well and was able to celebrate my black Friday earlier and earlier each year. I wish I could attribute my good fortune to my skills as a doctor, but as Avalon might say, that dog won’t hunt. There were plenty of good docs in New York City before the ZA infection, so I had to find a way to stand out. The real secret to my success was keeping the waiting down to a bare minimum. I prided myself on it. Everyone hates waiting for the doctor, I get that, I hate it too. And no group of people does hurried and rushed like Manhattanites. So if Mrs. Kessler had an appointment at noon, she was seen by noon, or sooner. That, and a pair of the friendliest secretaries known to mankind, is what kept my people coming back. 

Of course, it didn’t always work out that way. All it took was one complicated condition to throw off the schedule. For example, during what I thought was a routine physical exam, I felt an enlarged liver in a fifteen-year-old boy. That’s how a visit booked for twenty minutes became forty-five minutes. After explaining the findings to a terrified patient and his mother, I then had to order liver function tests, screening tests for hepatitis and a CT scan of the abdomen. It takes time, but it has to get done. You do what you can while keeping the bottom line in mind. And, if Mrs. Kessler wants to tell you about her son’s academic success at Brandeis University, or Mr. Barkman wants to show you pics of his new Shetland Sheepdog? Well, you smile and look at the pics, or at least that’s what I did. Good word of mouth followed, and my practice grew; satisfying both my needs as a physician, and as a businessman.

I wish I could say my office was filled with marble and gold leaf, and that I had one of those big fancy wooden desks. It wasn’t like that. But it wasn’t one of those tired, worn out old offices with dirty carpets and framed posters of Matisse and Van Gogh everywhere you turned. It was pretty standard I guess. 

On my desk, I had two photographs. One was a recent pic of Kimberly and me in the North Fork of Long Island (the wine country). The other was of my sister and my parents, which was taken at a wedding, or bar mitzvah, or something; everyone dressed up and smiling in the type of picture that seemed dated the second it went into the frame; the type of picture destined for a desktop. Overall, I’d say it was a nice setup. Then the ZA infection came and everything changed. And if a little zombie apocalypse wasn’t bad enough, the Southern Federation showed up next to conduct what they called the Second Civil War. Talk about bad karma.  

Manhattan is now what one might call a city-state, a tiny little country onto itself. And who gets to be king of New York? A man named Castor Dean does. Castor Dean is the class president...of a pretty big class. Not that he was elected by his classmates (or anyone else for that matter). His authority was given to him by what remained of the military after the government collapsed. His official political title is the Gallum Major; which means king or ruler. Personally, I would have chosen “El Hefe” if I ruled New York, but they never offered me the position. This is not to say that Castor Dean is a bad leader, it’s just that the vox populi never meant much to him. Most survivors welcomed Castor and his absolute rule. After all, because of him, the city still has electricity and clean water. That fact alone makes Castor worth his weight in gold. 

Castor changed things up when he came into power. For starters, he renamed the city. Manhattan, he felt, had been erased by the ZA infection. The survivors of the zombie apocalypse needed a fresh start, a new beginning. So Manhattan was reborn as Gallum City, and Roosevelt Island (a small island adjacent to Manhattan) became its capital. Because of Roosevelt's small size, Castor’s army was able to clear out the zaps in a matter of days. This zombie-free sanctuary (just a few minutes boat ride from Manhattan) was the ideal location for the new ruling class. Roosevelt Island was divided into three sections. The southern section became a military town named New Sparta (where most the soldiers were barracked). The middle of the island was for government leaders and their families. The northern section was given to the surviving civilian population, the natives, who lived on Roosevelt before the infection. They were allowed to stay, provided they agreed to relocation.

About the Author

Michael Frey is a physician and assistant professor in New York City. He lives in Westchester, New York with his wife Jessica, two children and two dogs.

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