Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Ghosts

Do you believe in ghosts?




I don't know how to answer that one. I'm not sure yet.

But the whole concept fascinates me. I'm not scared of ghosts so much although I may be if I see one, but I just wonder why a spirit would hover around and haunt. What is it up to? That's if they are real. One of the series I'm into at the moment is Ghost Whisperer. I love the concept of the main character helping the dead people find closure or healing so that they are ready to move onto the next life. A series I've been reading by Joya Fields features ghosts and a similar concept - that they don't feel ready to move on yet. It just calls for fascinating reading. You can find it here: Hauntings at Inner Harbor Series

I've also been reading a few physic  / non-fiction books. I'm a total sceptic, but I love reading about people's real-life experiences with ghosts. I don't think I could handle seeing them myself, but I think it's interesting reading about other people's happenings.

Anyway, I had to bring ghosts into one of my books. It's a new release which came out a couple of weeks ago. The blurb doesn't mention a ghost, but as you read on, you will discover the ghost at play in the story.


Romance Writer in Training...

Joanie wants to get her romances published but can't seem to get things right with her writing. She buys an antique bureau which the shopkeeper says has magic working through it. While using her new bureau, she begins to talk to the hero in her book, asking his advice on writing, all the while thinking it's her own imagination. She promises he can live in her home, eat at her table and sleep in her bed, if he helps her with her writing. She doesn't think he will actually knock on her door and insist she keep her promise.

He's made a wish...

Theo has also bought a magic chest of drawers that brings him into Joanie's life. He wants to settle down with one woman, tired of shallow relationships, and Joanie seems like the perfect candidate if it weren't for her insistence on getting rid of him.

Against her will...

The magic keeps on forcing them to live together and Joanie's not happy. This is her first year alone and she's been craving time to herself after looking after her younger siblings and an ailing aunt. Theo's presence in her home, although unwanted, stirs up needs she's suppressed for years. When they start to discover things about the magic and why it's bringing them together, will Joanie recognize another type of magic at work? Will she succumb to the charm of Theo or will her need for breathing space pull them apart?



Buy on Amazon



Sunday, September 20, 2015

Welcome to Otherworld


Welcome to Otherworld! I hope you’ll join me on my journey into this mystical realm.

I’m fascinated by the ancient Celtic idea of an ‘otherworld’ that is situated, not in some distant, unknown region of planetary space, but here on our own earth just out of sight and within our grasp…if we really believe in it and want it enough. 

Frequently, in faerie-lore, Otherworld was a subterranean world entered through caverns, hills, or mountains, and inhabited by many races and orders of beings, such as demons, shades, faeries, and gods. This magical world was divided into districts or kingdoms each with its own ruler, just like the world of mortals. 

Sometimes, the Celtic Otherworld was located in the middle of the Western Ocean, as though it were the 'double' of the lost Atlantis. Faerie women came from that mid-Atlantic world in magic boats like spirit boats, to charm away mortal men, or else to take King Arthur when he was wounded unto death. And on that island world there was neither death, nor pain nor suffering. Instead there was only immortal and unfading youth, endless joy and feasting.

Alternatively, at rare intervals, like a phantom, Otherworld appears far out on the Atlantic. As late as the summer of 1908 it is said to have been seen from West Ireland. Or a strange invisible island, inhabited by invisible, faerie gentry, is seen once every seven years near Innishmurray. 

I believe the truth is simpler and yet more complex. Otherworld exists everywhere. It is right here, alongside our mortal realm, just out of sight but easily within reach. All we need is a belief in its existence and a desire to go there.

The Otherworld in my forthcoming series for Harlequin Nocturne is a beautiful place inhabited by many races, including faeries, vampires, lycanthropes, phantoms and gods. Unfortunately, the constant battles between these warring dynasties threaten to spill over into the mortal realm.

I'd love to know what you think! Do you believe in Otherworld? Let me know:

Saturday, September 19, 2015

Reader-Author Relationship in the busy Paranormal Romance genre. Any suggestions?

I recently got a message from a reader asking me if I dropped off the face of the planet. My answer: Almost. Between changing 3 countries and 5 rents in the last 9 months and trying to keep up with day job and writing (not to mention being a bridesmaid for my sister), yeah, I sometimes felt more dead that alive. And never more alive. Life is weird.
I'm sorry to say I neglected most of my accounts (except Facebook. Who can neglect Facebook, she's a demanding mistress!) and didn't participate as much as I did before But, but, but. I didn't neglect writing. Mostly. Readers understand how life happens when you're not looking. They just don't like it at all. I know this as when I'm waiting for an author's release I'm a maniac myself.
So off to this post's subject (besides the advertising part that I'll get to towards the end):
How to maintain your readers interested when you're not releasing anything new for a while? And I would love some readers' opinions on this. As authors, we all use different strategies to keep you all from getting bored with us (and with waiting). Yes, this post is not really paranormal related. Mmmm, though it can be considered that, as maintaining a fan base while not writing can be considered Scifi. Lol.
In writing paranormal romance it's even more difficult to maintain a relationship with your readers.  One, there are tons of books released everyday. Two, there are tons of new authors appearing everyday. Paranormal romance is an expanding genre, probably because more and more of us are looking for an escape from reality and what would be better than an alternative reality where anything can be possible ?(well, not all in a book, but in paranormal genre-yes.)
Social media helps- and doesn't. You practically need an army of minions to maintain contact and keep all your accounts running and entertaining visitors. Not really feasible for a starving author that works 10 h/day to earn the rent and afford continuing to write (When? At night of course! Who needs sleep? We'll sleep when we're dead. ) So, you have a scarce social presence, a release once in a while and an obsession towards writing and all paranormal stuff. Any suggestions?
BTW, this is the advertising part of this post. I magicked myself a clone(or just didn't sleep) and I'm happy to announce a new release next week! 
Book 4 is out! What Book 4, you say? Return of the Originals, Drakon's Angel is ready for preorder already, hehhehehe. Check my blog for details to a giveaway I have running  wordpress or weebly. Until next time!
And here's some visual teasing:
aj-roto-drakonsangel-full

Monday, September 14, 2015

Spotlight On: Falling in Deep, 14 Tales of the Sea ~ Anthology Pre-Order Price: only $.99


All summer long the authors of the falling in deep collection have been launching unique mermaid tales for you to enjoy. Maybe you grabbed one by your favorite author, or tried a couple, or maybe you were hoping we'd do something like this...for a LIMITED time, ALL the Falling in Deep novellas will be available in one massive, 900 page, anthology! That's a lot of seashells! And to thank you for loving our mermaids so much, we've set our Pre-Order and Release Week Price at 99 cents!

We aren't going to off this collection for long, it's a LIMITED release, so do grab it before Ink, Kate, Skyla, Tara, Gaire, Anya, and all the other mermaids swim away!

From mermaids to sirens, Miami to Athens, dark paranormal romance to contemporary stories with steam to folktales, the fourteen award-winning and best-selling authors of the FALLING IN DEEP COLLECTION are bringing you mermaid tales like you've never seen before.

Scales by Pauline Creeden
Ink: A Mermaid Romance by Melanie Karsak
Of Ocean and Ash by A. R. Draeger
Deep Breath by J. M. Miller
At the Heart of the Deep by Carrie Wells
The Mermaid’s Den by Ella Malone
The Water is Sweeter by Eli Constant
The Glass Mermaid by Poppy Lawless
An Officer & a Mermaid by Blaire Edens
How to be a Mermaid by Erin Hayes
Cold Water Bridegroom by B. Brumley
Immersed by Katie Hayoz
Siren's Kiss by Margo Bond Collins
To Each His Own by Anna Albergucci



The Falling in Deep Collection

SCALES BY PAULINE CREEDEN
Verona is a bottom feeder. She is the one mer in her clan who is considered the ugliest and least intelligent. Growing up with the constant bullying and abuse wasn’t the worst of what her kind had in store for her. At seventeen years old, she must now endure “The Reckoning.”

The scales will measure her worth to her clan. Will she endure thirty days as a land-walker to gather information and knowledge to appease her clan and return a valued member? Will she wait three years, until she is twenty, and find a mer of her kind to accept her and marry her? Or will she suffer exile for the rest of her life?

INK: A MERMAID ROMANCE BY MELANIE KARSAK
A mermaid princess destined to wed a handsome king…
It sounds like a fairy tale, but the reality is far murkier.
Ink, Princess of the Florida Atlantic mers, is slated to wed the ancient enemy of her tribe, the King of the Gulfs. After years of war that led to countless mer deaths, as well as the genocide of aquatic shapeshifters and the freshwater mers of Florida, Ink’s marriage will bring lasting peace.
Or so it seems.
Mere hours before she’s supposed to leave the ocean for her customary year as a drywalker, Ink meets Hal, an alligator shifter who warns her that a storm is brewing. There is malicious intent behind Ink’s marriage—and worse, meeting Hal has also caused a storm to rage in Ink’s heart. Nevertheless, loyal to her tribe, Ink will put aside her feelings and journey to Miami to marry the decadent King Manx.
Ink soon learns that her only hope of surviving the crashing force swelling around her is to tap into a power deep inside—a forbidden power that might destroy them all.

OF OCEAN AND ASH BY A. R. DRAEGER
Of Ocean…
Cast into the sea at birth, human-born Ia found her adoptive family among the merfolk. While her underwater upbringing was peaceful, Ia’s blood-heritage and the strict societal rules of the merpeople lead her to wonder of the world above the waves. 
And Ash…
When a storm lands Ia ashore, she discovers her body has transformed into the human she would have been. Taken in as property by a callous plantation owner, Ia works alongside the slaves until she can make her way back to the water. There is nothing Ia wants more than to go home, that is, until she meets a handsome, troubled man named Matthias, who has a touch that can be as kind as his tongue is harsh.
Torn between two very different lives, Ia must choose – stay in his world and risk her life for a love untested, or return to the familiar arms of the underwater world that raised her and risk losing what may be the greatest love she will ever know.
Will Ia’s choice lead to her happiness or her destruction?

DEEP BREATH BY J. M. MILLER
Before disappearing at sea, Marissa Pruitt’s father—a once revered marine archaeologist—walked the line of insanity, claiming to have seen a mermaid during an ordinary dive in the Gulf of Mexico. He abandoned his life and career, completely obsessed with chasing the truth.

It’s been years since his death, and Marissa is still tormented by countless unanswered questions. When she finds dive coordinates and a stone pendant hidden in her father’s things, she asks for help from his old protégé and sets out to give her father one last goodbye and maybe find closure for her troubled heart. Instead, she finds the truth he’d been searching for all along, with a life and love she never could have imagined. But there’s a price to see it all, one set by betrayal and paid with an anchor at her feet and salt water in her lungs.



AT THE HEART OF THE DEEP BY CARRIE L. WELLS
Oceanographer Luke McAllister races to figure out why the ocean depth is changing off Florida's Treasure Coast. But before he and his crew discover what’s transforming the deep, he stumbles upon an even greater mystery. Leagues below the waves, he swear he sees…a mermaid?

Anya isn’t allowed to get close to humans. But when a golden-haired researcher gets too close to her island, she can’t afford to stay away.

Together, this unlikely pair will seek to discover what’s causing shifts in ocean floor. While their new alliance is forbidden, Anya will risk everything to save her beloved ocean. The only problem is, she’s not sure what’s really luring her in, her love of the sea or the tempest Luke has stirred in her heart. Either way, Anya knows that the dangers facing the sea are nothing compared to what will happen to her when her father learns she’s broken the merfolks’ most sacred law.

Can Anya and Luke discover what lurks at the heart of the deep before it's too late? 

THE MERMAID’S DEN BY ELLA MALONE
Laura and Tom Flynn married after she fell for him hook, line, and sinker — literally. Finding Laura in his fishing net had been a shock for Tom, but one he came to embrace as they quickly fell in love. For fifteen years, they have lived and worked by the sea, and Laura hasn’t thought once of what she left behind when she chose to marry Tom. She doesn’t regret giving up her mermaid form. It wasn’t a sacrifice. It was a good decision, and one she made to survive.

Now, with Tom missing at sea, Laura faces a decision she swore she’d never consider. In order to search for Tom and his crew, she must become a mermaid again and face the demons of the deep that she eagerly dodged when trading in her tail. Or she can stay on land and continue her life, but without Tom.

Does she enjoy her future alone, without the man she loves, or face her fears and her past in the ocean? Either way, nothing will be the same for her again. 

HOW TO BE A MERMAID BY ERIN HAYES
All Tara ever wanted was to be a mermaid.

So she takes a year off between high school and college to don a fake tail and tour aquariums across the country in a professional mermaid troupe.

Everything's great until she meets a gorgeous real-life merman named Finn. Suddenly, what she thought was a dream turns out to be a nightmare -- she's turning into a mermaid herself. For real.

Yet when she returns to the sea to seek out Finn and reverse her transformation, she finds herself in the middle of an impending war between the land and sea. Tara may have always wanted to be a mermaid, but now it's sink or swim. In order to survive, she has to learn how to be one, too.

THE GLASS MERMAID BY POPPY LAWLESS
Kate
I'm the last mermaid.
I’m back on shores of Lake Erie, but the cold waters are silent. There is nothing here for me but ghosts and the beach glass that litters the rocky shore. Long ago, I lived below the waves. Now, I am the sole survivor, and at long last, my mermaid glamour is leaving me.
Every day, I walk the beach. Every day, I wonder what happened to my people. The little pieces of colored glass that wash ashore give me simple pleasure. They are gifts from the lake, reminders of home. I fashion them into trinkets: necklaces, earrings, bracelets. They are beautiful things. The humans seem love them.
Every day, I walk the beach. Nothing ever changes, until the day he says hello.
Cooper
I’m dying.
It’s not a question, it’s a fact. The cancer is eating me alive. They told me I have six months to live, maybe less. I came home, back to Chancellor on Lake Erie, to die. The sunsets are vivid there, and I will relish every one.
I've never seen anything more beautiful than a Lake Erie sunset until I see her.
All life is as fragile as glass.
What would you sacrifice to save the one you love?


AN OFFICE AND A MERMAID BY BLAIRE EDENS
When a slave uprising threatens the life of Syreena, the daughter of an eighteenth century plantation owner, a servant uses voodoo to transform her into a mermaid. The spell will be only broken when she returns to the beach where it was cast. After three hundred years of swimming, she’s ready to trade fins for legs. The only problem is she can’t find her way home.

Dylan, a twenty-first century Coast Guard Officer, has sworn off love for the sea. When a wave throws him overboard, Syreena uses her amulet to ward off the sharks and save his life.

With Syreena and Dylan stranded on a remote cay in the Caribbean, Dylan has the know-how to build a raft and navigate but his near-drowning has made him terrified of the water. Syrenna will use every charm she has to convince Dylan to take her home. 
Even if it means falling in love. . .

THE WATER IS SWEETER BY ELI CONSTANT
When the land becomes a desert, the water will quench your soul

Orphan Lena McMillan used to think that what she shared with Truman Kent was real. Now she sees their relationship for what it really is- controlling and abusive.

She has to choose to die slowly from ‘love’ or say goodbye to the family she’s always desired. Leaving scares her though, so much so that dying seems like her only option.

But fate won’t let her quit life and Truman won’t let her quit his love. Not without a fight.

Under the layers of a lonely childhood and an adulthood romance gone wrong, a starfish holds the key to Lena’s parentage and the answer to the mesmeric ocean dreams that haunt her.

If she can find the strength to leave the only life she knows, Lena will discover the truth. And she will find a new world, one that will cleanse her of the memories of false love and abuse.

One that will finally lead her home.



COLD WATER BRIDEGROOM BY B. BRUMLEY
Having grown up in San Francisco, Calder Brumen is drawn to the ocean, and he's spent his life trying to capture the beauty of the Pacific on canvas. Over time, he has become obsessed with painting the image of a dark haired mermaid named Gaire, and Calder struggles to explain his devotion to these portraits to his best friend. When Calder finds sandy footprints leading to the edge of his bed, he suspects that the haunting siren is real.

Pursuing the truth, Calder is dragged into a murderous, underwater plot that could destroy them all. And he must choose – is the possibility of a lifetime with Gaire worth risking death for himself and everyone he loves?

IMMERSED BY KATIE HAYOZ
Forget petticoats and demure female behavior. Melusine Doré prefers armored corsets and knives and slays evil creatures for a living. The grim and gruesome don’t frighten her; she’ll take on a cyclops or a dragon and not even break a sweat. But when her rival, the charismatic Levi Cannon, comes to town, all her buried fears begin to surface. Melusine realizes she is in danger of something much more horrifying than facing blood-thirsty beasts – she’s in danger of falling in love. Because love alone has the power to reveal a secret terrible enough to completely shatter her world.

Set in the muddy streets of 1850s steampunk Chicago, Immersed by Katie Hayoz is a dark yet romantic fantastical romp. It is a stand-alone novella, the first in a series of adventures that follow Melusine on her quest to rid the world of monsters…and her struggle to come to terms with every monstrous facet of herself.

SIREN’S KISS BY MARGO BOND COLLINS
Her kiss might save the world . . .

Unless his kiss kills her first.

It's been almost two thousand years since the mer-shifter Skyla walked the streets of Athens—not since her heart was broken by a human man and she exchanged the land and sky for the ocean depths. Ever since, she has lived in the underwater ruins of Atlantis, studying with the priestesses of the goddess Amphitrite, refining her mermaid powers and ignoring her human half.

But her studies are interrupted when she is called upon by the god Poseidon himself to investigate rumors that the world above is being polluted by the magic of creatures from another realm—and worse, that the ocean kingdom of the mer-people might be next.

When her inquiries in modern-day Greece lead her to an American detective asking similar questions, Skyla realizes that the magical problem she's been sent to research is bigger than she anticipated—and that one human's kisses might be more dangerous to her, and her world, than she ever could have imagined.

TO EACH HIS OWN BY ANNA ALBERGUCCI
Douglass McGrail is a Scottish water horse—his clan the deadliest in the British Isle. When the shifter chooses to save—rather than eat—a young lassie, he never expects her innocent face to mark his memory so strongly.

Months later, he stumbles onto a perceived attack in progress and plays the hero once more. He’s shocked to find the victim is the same lass who haunts his dreams.

Jinny Fairchild is an English miss who’s come to the Highlands to live with her last remaining family. She is pursued by her handsome older cousin, Lachlan Brockhouse, but he has a dark side that lands her in the path of the mighty Douglass McGrail.

Douglass wants Jinny for himself, yet discovers she is connected to the attacker she denies knowing. He’s determined to find the truth.

Jinny loves Lachlan, even with his dark side. And she loves Douglass, even with his dark secret. Her heart is torn, but one thing is certain—no matter which of these men she chooses, she will be choosing a monster.

About our Authors

Pauline Creeden, author of SCALES, is an award-winning author, horse trainer, & overall book ninja.

Melanie Karsak, author of INK, is a steampunk connoisseur, white elephant collector, & zombie whisperer.

A. R. Draeger, author of OF OCEAN AND ASH, resides in rural Texas with her husband, Josh, & son, Logan.

J. M. Miller, author DEEP BREATH, writes Young Adult & New Adult romance novels.

Carrie Wells, author of AT THE HEART OF THE DEEP, crosses genres, writing everything from newspaper editorials & textbooks to paranormal romance novellas.

Ella Malone, author of THE MERMAID’S DEN, is a lover of all wonderful things: cherry blossoms, red lipstick, city skylines, the finest chocolate, a man's hands, a woman's back, vodka, & high heels.

Eli Constant, author of THE WATER IS SWEETER, writes characters that are real--light and dark and everything in between, and makes her readers truly think.

Poppy Lawless, author of THE GLASS MERMAID, is a counselor in the field of mental health & is a trained herbalist. This is her debut work.

Blaire Edens, author of AN OFFICE & A MERMAID, loves iced tea with mint, hand-stitched quilts, & yarn stores

Erin Hayes, author of HOW TO BE A MERMAID, is a sci-fi junkie, video game nerd, & wannabe manga artist Erin Hayes who writes a lot of things.

B. Brumley, author of COLD WATER BRIDEGROOM, is an award-winning freelance writer. She lives with her husband, five kids, & three dogs in West Texas.

Katie Hayoz, author of Immersed, lives in Geneva, Switzerland with her husband, two daughters, & two fuzzy cats.

Margo Bond Collins, author of SIREN'S KISS’spends most of her free time daydreaming about heroes, vampires, ghosts, werewolves, & the women who love (and sometimes fight) them.

Anna Albergucci, author of TO EACH HIS OWN, puts inspiration to paper, weaving her stories into deeply passionate characters that live lives the rest of us only dream about.




 Stay in touch with us! This October, we have a new collection for you...can you say witches??


Falling in deep Newsletter Link: http://eepurl.com/bdRtbD

GIVEAWAY

Sunday, September 13, 2015

Wolf shifter versus Puma shifter - when shifters go to war #PNR #99cents

Humans. Yeah, they've had their moments. They've started and ended many different wars, all over the world, for all kinds of reasons. Like humans, but unlike their animal brethren, shifters fight wars, too.

Whether it's a vampire vs. shifter war like in Twilight Breaking Dawn


Which also had a vampire vs. vampire battle as well.... 

Or an ongoing long-standing battle for supremacy between the bloodsuckers and the wolves such as in Underworld:


It's pretty clear that the shifters have their own battles to fight. But what about shifter vs. shifter battles? Those are more rare, but I don't see why they can't happen. After all, some shifters were once human, they can't have lost their impulse toward war entirely. Only the Vulcans have done that!

So in my Sexy to Go Volume 6 story, I am heading Liam and Dahlia's tribe right into a war. The bad part is, it's Liam's wolf shifters against Dahlia's puma shifters. Yes, the age-old war of cat vs. dog continues! How perfect is that? But, like any war, it's going to tear everyone apart.


Unburied Hatchet by Eva Lefoy
The pack’s move is delayed by a double childbirth. Afterward, Casi experiences her first shift, but on return home, discovers a brutal attack on the pack will separate her from everyone she loves.

Excerpt:

Snake called to the driver. “Stop the car. We’re getting out.”
The bears grumbled in the front seat, turning and arguing that they stay together, but Conri and Snake leapt out, telling the bears to keep the doors locked and her and the baby inside. At the first sign of trouble they were to take off, even if they hadn’t yet returned.
They ran ahead, shifting as they went. Seeing Conri and Snake in wolf form, side by side, their powerful muscles bulging with every stride, she longed to join them but didn’t. Inside, she sensed something was wrong. Something terrible. She shuddered and bit her lip, sensing her good life had suddenly gone to hell.
Even the bears in the front seat had gone grim and silent, shutting down the radio and looking at each other – and her – with concern. When they pulled up to the compound entrance and stopped, all hell broke loose.
Liam sped past their vehicle, also in wolf form. She turned and looked back, spying Dahlia and her baby sitting alone in the backseat in the Escalade. Casi moved toward the door but a large bear hand stopped her.
“No. Stay here.”
Without the benefit of a mind link, all she could do was flash Dahlia a sad look. She wanted to be with her, but the bears weren’t going to allow it. Why? What was going on?
Casi, Dahlia’s voice said in her head, don’t you smell it?
Smell what?
Death. The village has been attacked while we were gone.
Casi’s mouth hung open, the shock and the strong scent of blood hitting her all at once. Yes, she could smell it and the stench of it soured her stomach like nothing ever had before. 



Will this war have a happy ending? Eventually. But for now, it's going to be nothing but hardship for Casi and newborn as they are left alone - with the bear shifters as guards - while the battle rages, proving once again war is never a good experience for anyone.

Get this and 10 other hot romance stories in Sexy to Go volume 6 for $.99 at all e-book outlets.

Amazon: http://t.co/1PUdrj4AKc

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Loves, Myths, and Monsters

What will a Lycan do for true love? Find out by reading “The Pack” one tale from “Loves, Myths, and Monsters.” http://www.melange-books.com/authors/joannemyers/LMM.html