The quiet town of Craven Falls is depleting in population. One by one…
Scarlet Fitzgerald thought it would be fun to play a game on Laura Stevenson, a nobody at Craven Falls High. But what happens when the game unleashes buried secrets Scarlet doesn’t want anyone to know? Secrets that could get someone killed, including herself.
Three can play a game, but one of them ends up dead…
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Donna M. Zadunajsky started out writing children’s books before she wrote and published her first novel, Broken Promises, in June 2012. She since has written several more novels and her first novella, HELP ME! Book 1 in the series, which is about teen suicide and bullying.
Fly Away by Kristen Hannah, Two by Two by Nicholas Sparks, Misery by Stephen King, These Hidden Things, Before She was Found, and One Breath Away by Heather Gudenkauf, A Husband’s Secret and Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty, One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus, Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
What book do you think everyone should read?
Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky
How long have you been writing?
Fifteen years
Do the characters all come to you at the same time or do some of them come to you as you write?
As I write.
What kind of research do you do before you begin writing a book?
I do lots of research, though it depends of the plot of the story. In Family Secrets ‘Secrets and Second Chances’ Book 1 was about breast cancer and the main character worked for NASA, so a lot of research was done to know her education and what she was about to go through with the cancer. Every book is different.
Do you see writing as a career?
I do and hope that one day I can make a living just writing. It’s like having coffee in the morning. I can’t function unless I write something each day.
What do you think about the current publishing market?
I wish there were more literary agents that could and would give us self-publishers a chance. Just because we self-publish our books doesn’t mean they are poorly written. I spend a great deal of money having all my books edited very well before I publish them. The book cover is very important to me as it is the first thing you see before picking up the book and reading the summary. I am one who based a book on its cover.
Do you read yourself and if so, what is your favorite genre?
I love to read books. I read every day. Mystery book and YA romance stories. Oh, and books based on real life events.
Do you prefer to write in silence or with noise? Why?
Write in silence because I get lost inside my head and I can’t think with interruptions.
Do you write one book at a time or do you have several going at a time?
One, usually, but if an idea comes to me, I will write it down.
If you could have been the author of any book ever written, which book would you choose?
Misery
Pen or typewriter or computer?
Computer
What made you want to become an author, and do you feel it was the right decision?
I love to write stories. Yes, I do believe it’s the right decision because only I can write the stories I’ve written.
A day in the life of the author?
I get up at 5 a.m., write until 7 a.m. get ready for work, leave the house at 7:20 a.m. Come home at 5 p.m. Shower, cook, watch some TV, read and go to bed around 9:30 p.m.
Advice you would give new authors?
Read and write as often as possible
What makes a good story?
The plot and characters
What are you currently reading?
The Upside of Falling by Alex Light
What is your writing process? For instance, do you do an outline first? Do you do the chapters first?
I have a plot that comes to me and then start writing and let the rest come to me.
What is your writing Kryptonite?
Not having enough time to write in a day.
Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?
I’m an original writer
If you could tell your younger writing self-anything, what would it be?
Start writing in high school. Take more creative writing classes
How long on average does it take you to write a book?
KB once smashed into a tree while skiing. The accident led to a concussion, a cracked sternum, temporary notoriety as a sixth grader returned from the dead, and the realization that fictionalized accounts are way more interesting than just slipping on the ice.
Throne of Silver (The Silver Fae Book 1) by K.B. Anne – Genre: YA Urban Fantasy
Meet Starr Bishop, the girl next door. Well, if the girl next door can deliver a dropkick to the throat and is possibly supernatural.
A secret organization wants me as an assassin. Me, kill someone? No way. The General also hints that I’m a superior being—whatever the hell that means. But it might explain the strange flickering thing that’s been happening to me lately.
And then there’s Christian, the goth-loner who casts disdainful glares in my direction like it’s his day job. When I go missing, he goes all superhero and finds me. And what’s with his eyes changing shape when he doesn’t think I’m looking at him?
Now there’s this crazy-ass chemistry between us, but I must deny my feelings. Christian is a complication, and my life is complicated enough. If I give in, I could put both of our lives at risk, and I’ve already lost two friends because of the Organization.
But when Christian goes missing, I follow him into a world of deception, lies, and secret realms. No worries. I’ve got this. After all, the General wanted me as an assassin. If I can learn to tap into my true nature, I can kick the Organization’s ass.
The trouble is, the Organization will stop at nothing to pick up their top recruit. Will I figure out what superior being I am before it’s too late?
If you like Linsey Hall, CN Crawford, Chandelle LeVaun, Leia Stone, Michelle Maddow, McKenzie Hunter, and Jaymin Eve, you’ll love the highly addictive Silver Fae series.
Fae aren’t real, right? Or at least that’s what I keep telling myself.
But when my grandparents locked me in the library, thanks for that by the way, I remembered things from my childhood, back when my dad was still alive. Things like silver thrones, pointed ears, and fangs.
Christian and I knew we couldn’t fight the Organization on our own. We needed help. Di, a mutual friend and anti-everything is a no-brainer, plus her taser will come in handy. Frank, my absolute best friend will put his life on the line for me. Ben and Coda, not to be outdone by also swore their allegiance. Christian’s the only hold out. He knows what the Organization is capable of and has the beaten body to prove it, but when I want something, I usually get it.
And now, though I keep denying my “other” nature, every time I get angry, each time I feel too much, the flickering happens. My Fae side wants to break out. Will Christian, Frank, Di, and the rest of the team accept me when they find out what I am?
Life becomes tense on the Qualla Boundary, sparks fly, and the Organization is about to smash in our door.
Inspired by the Eastern Band of Cherokee legends, bestselling author KB Anne weaves a stunning, high-stakes tale of alliances and deceptions, characters who aren’t what they seem, and secrets that could change everything in the urban fantasy Silver Fae trilogy.
Check out the new series for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Marie Lu, Shannon Mayer, Linsey Hall, Leia Stone, Michelle Maddow, McKenzie Hunter, Jaymin Eve, and CN Crawford.
Betrayal cuts deep. A Starr gone. A team betrayed.
You never know who your true friends are until a gun’s pointed at you. One will take a bullet, and the other will pull the trigger. I learned that lesson the hard way.
When the Organization decided they wanted me as an assassin, life took a dive in the deep end. One, I learned I’m a Silverlain and evidently, a faerie princess. Two, there was a secret cult run by Jerry White but somehow related to the Organization and my grandparents who all wanted me as their own personal…I don’t know what. And three, Christian, well Christian betrayed me. I trusted him, believed in him, loved him, and he tossed that love in the garbage and aligned himself with Sami and Jovie instead.
Did I mention they’re still alive and want me dead? You’d think I’d sleep easier at night, but not so much.
Christian’s betrayal hurt me. I will never give my heart away to anyone ever again, and since I’m jailed by the Organization, I will become the Fae assassin they want me to be. But Treadwell better watch his throat because if I get close to him, I will rip it out myself.
Sami is one of my guards. Talk about unfortunate circumstances.. But don’t worry, I’ll create my own team, albeit I won’t be able to trust any of them, but on the plus side, I’ll get my revenge. After all, I am the Heir of Wings and Shadow.
Inspired by the Eastern Band of Cherokee legends, bestselling author KB Anne weaves a stunning, high-stakes tale of alliances and deceptions, characters who aren’t what they seem, and secrets that could change everything in the urban fantasy Silver Fae trilogy.
Check out the new series for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Marie Lu, Shannon Mayer, Linsey Hall, Leia Stone, Michelle Maddow, McKenzie Hunter, Jaymin Eve, and CN Crawford.
A part-Cherokee goth loner. A Peroxide Barbie. What possibly could they have in common?
Turns out a whole lot more than crazy-ass chemistry–or is it electricity?
Christian Evergood tries everything to ignore the girl who reminds him of his past, but when Starr goes missing, he must find her. He’ll hide his true nature from her for as long as he can, but eventually he’ll need to tell her. He’ll use stories of his people to lay the groundwork for revealing his secret, but the Organization has other plans for him.
Inspired by the Eastern Band of Cherokee legends, bestselling author KB Anne weaves a stunning, high-stakes tale of alliances and deceptions, characters who aren’t what they seem, and secrets that could change everything in the urban fantasy Silver Fae trilogy. Silver Shift, A Silver Fae Novella, can be read as a prequel, book 1.5, or a standalone.
Maj. Michael Crooke, USMC-R, takes leave from combat and heads to the white sand beaches of a remote Caribbean island. While exploring, Michael uncovers an ancient map and joins Jacob Hatch, a veteran salvage captain hiding from his past on a treacherous treasure hunt.
After recovering a vast fortune from the deep laden with arcane artifacts, Hatch’s enemies seize the treasure, kidnap Michael’s wife and flee to a mountaintop temple in Brazil, believing they have killed both Hatch and Michael.
Michael must now find a way to turn Hatch’s lust for revenge into a rescue mission. But head-hunters, poison darts, deadly snakes and demonic monsters all stand in their way.
From the depths of the ocean to the savage jungles of the Amazon Treasure is a non-stop terrifying thrill ride.
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Thomas Holladay studied creative writing at the prestigious American Film Institute and has completed more than a dozen feature length screenplays. His original ideas and movie moments have appeared in feature films and on television. He has now completed four novels and is working on a fifth. Treasure: Temple of the Crystal Skull is his published work. He is proud to be among some very fine authors at Severed Press.
Driven, talented, and determined to live up to her family’s fame, Sasha Nikolayeva is ballet’s crown princess. But just when Sasha lands her most prestigious role yet, she falls prey to a host of disturbing neurological symptoms that threaten to end her career and her very life. As her mind and body deteriorate, Sasha spirals into a nightmare world where beauty and cruelty exist in the same breath and villains rule from the shadows.
In the glittering, sharp-edged City of Roses, Sasha is no princess. She’s a thrall, a slave. Thousands like her suffer in cursed silence while citizens enjoy the splendor of the City, blissfully unaware that their servants are anything more than living dolls enchanted to do their bidding. But the City’s slavers know the truth, and they are always watching. One misstep could cost Sasha her life—or her soul.
Even as she endures the violence and indignity of captivity, Sasha can’t help being drawn to the beauty of her nightmare world and the underground rebels who offer her friendship, shelter, even love. Before Sasha can break her chains for good, she’ll need choose between the life waiting for her at home and the countless lives she could save if she stays. To choose a nightmare over her real life, her future, would be madness…but maybe a little madness is just what it takes to change the fate of a city built on lies.
Dreams and reality perform a captivating pas de deux in this tale of legacy and longing. A lyrical and original fantasy that, like its heroine, has the soul of a dancer.
In retrospect, I probably should have realized a lot earlier that I was meant to be a writer. Even as early as kindergarten, I struggled to pay attention in class because the outside world was just not as interesting as what was going on in my head. By that time, I had already made my storytelling debut (“Squirm the Worm,” delivered at age three) and had spent countless hours playing make-believe with my 284 stuffed animals, every one of whom had a name and detailed backstory.
Though I quickly learned to pay attention (or at least look like I was paying attention) during school hours, I retained a tendency to daydream and a love of stories. When I left high school to attend the Sunderman Conservatory at Gettysburg College, I learned to translate both emotional and programatic content into music. Now, as an exam prep and college essay tutor, I have the time and flexibility to really dig into fiction again. My work has appeared online and in print in such venues as Timeless Tales Magazine and Quantum Fairy Tales.
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“The legends say that in the earliest days, we lived and died in darkness and despair.” Luca’s voice tickles my ear, and, though he drops his hand, he stays close. “Farmers toiled in the fields without respite, never tasting the fruits of their labor. Blacksmiths forged tools and weapons, never toys or lovers’ trinkets. Housewives gave birth to children who grew too quickly into adulthood, never knowing laughter. Soldiers killed and were killed without mercy—without knowing why, even. But for all their toiling and striving, they were pale, listless, fearful beings. There was no beauty or courage in the world, only survival. Only hardship.
“But one day, a young blacksmith dreamed of something better. He dreamed of the three Graces: Joy, Passion…and, shining like a beacon, her arms around the other two, Beauty. When the blacksmith awoke, he wept, for now he knew all that his life lacked. He wept a lifetime of tears that had never been shed, and, when his tears ran dry, he fell to his knees and prayed.
“When the blacksmith rose, he went to his forge and fashioned a chalice from gold—a soft, silly metal that served no useful purpose. So he had been told, and so he had believed until he dreamed of Beauty. When the chalice was completed, he went to the vineyards, where the vintner made vinegar to preserve food, clean wounds, quench thirst—useful, practical, necessary tasks, of course. But the blacksmith told the vintner of his dream and showed him the golden chalice, and the vintner in turn showed him what he had discovered: His casks of vinegar, if opened early, produced a liquid with a pleasant taste and even more pleasant warmth.
“The blacksmith and the vintner filled the chalice with wine and offered it to the villagers, who began to laugh and then to sing. When the chief’s suspicious soldiers came to investigate, they, too, drank the wine. One soldier after another faltered in the march, and they began to dance.
“And so the chalice performed its miracles, passing from hand to hand, intoxicating the people not only with drink but with joy and wonder. ‘There is beauty in the world,’ one villager would say. ‘Drink deep.’ ‘Life is sweet,’ the next might say. ‘Drink deep.’ The villagers drank deep from the chalice and began to expect more from life than mere survival. As they sought out beauty and amusement and love, they also found genius and passion for good works, for excellence, for innovation. They found their Gifts.
“The villagers transformed their huts into houses, then villas. The villages grew into towns, then cities, then a kingdom. To this day we gather in the Temple of Graces to seek out the beauty in the world and in ourselves, and every year we celebrate the blacksmith and his Chalice of Gifts.”
Luca falls silent. I blink, still entranced by his story and dazzled by the stars. Finally, I look at him and feel a smile spread across my face.
“I love it,” I tell him, and it feels like something more, something like… I love you.
“Unlike some writers, I was not born knowing I would be a writer. But hindsight shows me every moment of my life was all in preparation for this job. In 2002 I suddenly had the time and the means to begin the process of learning the craft. Amidst all the conventions and seminars and on-line classes, a level of ability was born. At the same time, the characters began popping up in my head along with their stories.
“I continue writing because readers say my stories give them something to think about. THAT is all the encouragement I need.
“Follow my lead, and I will take you to worlds ancient and contemporary for adventures of the heart, mind, and spirit.”
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Transformation (Dreya Love Book 1) by Dana Lyons ~ Genre: Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance, Crime Thriller
Surviving attempted murder by genetic modification left FBI Special Agent Dreya Love with a new life. Now she just has to stay alive.
Agent Dreya Love prefers to work alone. But when her friend, a senator’s daughter, is killed, she’s forced to partner with Detective Rhys Morgan, or get assigned to ‘the backside of hell.’ More deaths with bodies matching their first victim brings Interpol Agent Quinn Kingston to the team. As their investigation uncovers a secret genetic research program, a government cover-up, and a warning to ‘walk away,’ the case turns deadly. The hunt for a killer, a boutique drug, and an unearthly ingredient unite these three in ways they couldn’t imagine. Soon, they discover the truth leads to a hell they never knew existed.
On a black-ops space station, a blood thirsty dragon shifter goes on a killing spree–until Dreya and her team get in the way. Welcome to the backside of hell—Draco Station. On Draco Station, an ultra-secret installation over the planet Draco Prime, mining Vulkillium is a mega billion-dollar business. But to work the surface you need a special kind of human—a Draco Demon. When bodies start turning up on the space station, Dreya Love and her team set out to investigate, and come face to face with Dr. Anthony Lazar. Dr. Lazar is brilliant. Unfortunately for humanity, he’s also insane. He has a vision of humanity’s future and the tools to implement his twisted ideals. After all, he is smarter than God. A madman, a dragon with dreams of blood and fire, and a sheriff with a grudge—all complicate the search for answers. If Dreya’s not careful, she and her team could end up dead … or worse. Follow Special Agent Dreya Love and her men, Rhys Morgan, and Quinn Kingston as their lives change and entwine … forever … in ways they could never imagine. Dana Lyons combines crime mystery, reverse harem, and shape shifters for an exciting out-of-this-world paranormal romance … with a double dash of the unexpected!
A serial killer is murdering for love, and he has Dreya Love in his sights. There’s no going back. Martin Nash was once seven years old and longed for words of love from his mother. At thirty-five, he knows he’s never going to hear them from her. But he’s willing to kill for as long as it takes … until someone tells him the words.
As Dreya, Rhys, Quinn, and Simon discover the dangerous position they’re in by being Noble, they search for a way to fit exceptional into their everyday life. While old habits provide a never-ending challenge going forward, no one would go back.
Nobility transformed them and their lives. Nobility, a genetic modification created by Dr. Anthony Lazar, uses latent animal DNA to cage the human ego and bring mankind a higher moral code free of envy, greed, and jealousy. Noble means possessing an exceptional character in the face of adversity. Dreya, Rhys, Quinn, and Simon discover being Noble and exceptional in a human world isn’t easy.
In the midst of this uncertainty, Dreya puts herself in the line of fire with a serial killer who has a fetish for eyeballs. What she doesn’t know is … Nothing is safe and nowhere is private. It’s not a good time to have secrets.
A haunted forest, a broken man, a pack fighting for survival. Can Dreya and the boys heal Quinn’s pain, or is staying a wolf the only answer for him? Sasha Ivanov, sold as a young boy into slavery, becomes a monster in the relentless drive to never be a victim again. Deemed the worst of the worst by Dr. Anthony Lazar, the geneticist who wants to remake the human race, Sasha discovers he will never be the same. Quinn Kingston knows what Dr. Lazar can do from personal experience. But as a Nobilized and highly evolved human, is he able to forgive Ivanov of the most heinous acts?
They can save each other, but can they save the world?
Simon and the team pursue a betrayal from his past and stumble upon a diabolical plot for global genocide. As they endeavor to stop this, clues lead them to a prominent list of participants … all above the law.
In this thrilling final book in the series, the team comes to understand what it means to be a pack … and to be Nobilized.
Find your heroes in this reverse harem, shifter, crime thriller series. A strong intelligent woman, three alpha males, an inseparable pack. If you want deep romance slow burning until it catches fire, with enough twists to keep you on your toes, you’ll love Dreya Love!
Becky Morgan has a life most women would envy until a car accident lands her in the hospital. She insists she’s fine, but it quickly becomes clear she’s changed. She’s forgetful, paranoid, short-tempered. Her husband wants to write off her change in personality to the IVF hormones she’s taking in an attempt to get pregnant.
Becky’s best friend, Jules Dalton, is a gorgeous, single woman, with a habit of sabotaging relationships. When Jules loses the man who could have been “the one,” she confronts the realization that being adopted at birth is contributing to her trust issues. She’s obsessed with finding out why she was given up and turns to DNA testing in hopes her matches will lead to her birth parents.
As Jules dives into her DNA results, Becky’s life soon becomes one she doesn’t recognize. Those closest to her are accusing her of things she simply can’t explain or remember. She’s terrified of losing everything: her career, her marriage, and her dream of becoming a mother.
Desperate to put the pieces of her shattered life back together, Becky needs her best friend more than ever. What she doesn’t realize is that Jules knows something that could explain everything away.
Becky has a dark past she’s unaware of. A darkness that’s coming for her.
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I’ve always been an avid reader and a fan of the suspense/thriller genre. Several years ago, we decided to solve a family mystery using DNA and my obsession was born. My love of writing and my new addiction led to my first novel, “Where the Truth Hides”, newly released in May of 2020. It will kick off a series of books delving into the mysteries that DNA can reveal.
What did you enjoy most about writing and publishing this book?
Seeing my book evolve from the earliest draft (which was way too long) into the version readers have today has been a labor of love.
I felt like the first draft gave away the twist too early, and I hated that. As a suspense reader, I always try to figure out what’s going on throughout the book, but I don’t REALLY want to be right! When I started circulating the revised draft to beta readers, I felt this tingle when they told me they didn’t guess the ending. But those were people I knew. Were they just being nice?
When I put advance review copies out there, I held my breath. When time and again, reviewers said they loved it and were shocked by the ending. I let out a sigh of relief. One of the reviewers wrote, “You probably shouldn’t try to guess the ending. If you do, good luck getting it right.” I loved that! There is nothing more gratifying than knowing something you put your heart and soul into has been enjoyed.
Do you feel connected to your characters?
It might sound odd, but Becky and Jules feel like friends of mine. When I have to go a little bit without writing about them, I kind of miss them! I feel like we should be scheduling a happy hour or some girl time to catch up.
Even as I wrote about their individual struggles, I wanted so much for them to find what they were looking for, but I also had to be realistic as a writer. There’s not much suspense if everything goes perfectly.
In Jules’s hunt for her birth parents, I wanted to show the reality of what could happen. Some reunions are welcome and heart-felt, and sometimes an adoptee doesn’t get the reaction they’re hoping to get. I wanted Jules to have a little of both. In the next book, The Inheritance, Jules will get some resolution with her birth mother. She just needs to have a little patience.
Tell us about your main characters- what makes them tick?
What I love about Becky and Jules is they’re a little like all of us. They’re not perfect and maybe even a little crazy sometimes. I mean, who hasn’t stalked an ex-boyfriend just a little, right?
Becky moved away when she was young, and never found the kind of friendship she had with Jules. When she moved back, the first place she wanted to go was to reconnect with Jules. She has a loving husband, but Jules is definitely her “person.”
Jules is the fiercely loyal friend every woman wants to have. She may be single, but she believes women can have friends who are soulmates, and Becky is hers. She needs the connection the two of them have like she needs air to breathe. Becky is the one relationship in her life she trusts completely.
The two best friends both want something they feel is life-changing. I always envision Glinda the Good Witch from The Wizard of Us. Dorothy thinks she needs the ruby slippers to get what she wants most of all but is shocked when Glinda tells her she actually had the power all along. Becky and Jules travel parallel paths toward different goals, but ultimately learn some powerful lessons about appreciating what they already had.
Are your characters based off real people or did they all come entirely from your imagination?
They say write what you know, right? A good portion of Becky is me, right down to her parking deck phobia. We don’t look alike at all though. As I wrote her, I pictured Jennifer Love Hewitt (ala Ghost Whisperer timing) or perhaps Tiffany Amber-Thiessen (post Beverly Hills 90210 – the first 90210 for people younger than me!)
Although the DNA obsession is all me, Jules is mostly based on my best friend Stacy, right down to her red and black cowboy boots and huge smile. While she wasn’t adopted, she is still single which I will never understand. Just like Jules, she’s quite fabulous! Her younger self was always what I pictured as Jules started to take shape, although Stacy does spend her spare time trying to figure out who she wants to play her in the movie. I think currently Jessica Biel is in the lead …
Tonya was based on a running buddy, and Becky’s husband Bryan is loosely based on my boyfriend. Yes, there are men that love to cook, and I’m lucky enough to have one of them!
I didn’t know my boyfriend when he was Bryan’s age, so his visual was different. I actually work full-time for Coca-Cola in Sports Marketing. (Right now you’re probably thinking, Aha, now I know why her characters only drink Coke products.) It was the beginning of football season, and I was at the coach’s table for a UCF kickoff luncheon. As I looked across the table at my coach crush, Scott Frost, I thought, well, damn, he’s the living breathing version of Bryan. (He coaches for Nebraska now which made me really sad, but look him up and see what you think.)
What did you edit out of this book?
Too much to mention! I lost a good deal of the flashbacks: how Becky and Bryan met, Tonya and Becky meeting in college and becoming business partners, the day Becky found Sherlock and tried to sneak him into the house before she told Bryan about him.
I streamlined a good deal of the IVF information. While it was important that the process resonated with authenticity, I understood (or was convinced, however you want to look at it …) that too much information bogged down the story. I didn’t want to lose readers that weren’t as intrigued by all the elements of egg retrieval, so I took a good deal of the minutia out while hopefully leaving enough so that the storyline made sense.
I also had a great scene (again, I liked it, but perhaps my editor thought it wasn’t quite necessary) that really told the story of the IVF hormones wreaking havoc with Becky’s emotions. What woman can’t understand a little bit of crazy that goes with being a girl sometimes? And to Bryan’s credit, he was able to understand it was the hormones talking, so he was able to dismiss a little bit of Becky’s stress that she had unloaded on him. Just another reason Becky is so lucky to have him.
Advice you would give new authors?
As a new author myself, it’s hard to think I could give worthy advice. I will share the advice I found most valuable, and it came from a fellow author and backed up the way I already felt.
When I started working with Jonas Saul, a fabulous author who also helps fellow writers with editing, he gave me some great insight. He told me that when a book is poorly edited, the reader is let down. They don’t feel the author felt they were important enough to spend the money to properly edit and proofread their book. You only get one chance to make a first impression.
It’s so important your book is professional so your reader can lose themselves in the story instead of the fact that it’s not edited well. There may be writers who disagree, but I don’t really think you can do a final edit of your own material. No matter how many times you read it, there are things that are going to slip by you. I had a small typo that an early reviewer pointed out, and even after the told me, I still couldn’t see it when I read and reread that sentence. I thought I was going crazy!
How do you feel about reviews?
I never gave much thought to reviews until I became an author. I remember the first one I got on the book for an advance reader copy I had sent out. I keep reading it and rereading it. She loved it! That is the most incredible validation for something you have put your heart and soul (and time and money!) into. Reviews really are important to an author. Good reviews help the author sell more books.
It’s important to have a thick skin though. Even the most well-known authors don’t always get five stars on their books. Not every book is for every person, and that’s okay. But, the ones you do touch – there’s no better feeling.
No Other Way (Harry Hunter Mysteries Book 3) by Willow Rose Genre: Thriller Suspense
Shocking evidence hits close to home for Miami PD’s Detective Harry Hunter as Willow Rose’s bestselling series continues.
Three women went on a road trip to Key West. Only two returned. When asked what happened, their stories don’t completely match.
Who is telling the truth?
What are they hiding?
Detective Harry Hunter of the Miami PD is in church on a peaceful Sunday morning when a young teenager pulls out a gun and shoots his own father.
Once the shock is gone, Harry starts to ask himself the question no one else seems to care about: What makes a young boy want to kill his own father?
When more blood is shed, Harry suspects there’s a secret buried in this town that no one wants unearthed. What are the people around him not telling him?
NO OTHER WAY is the third book in the bestselling Harry Hunter Mystery Series.
All the Good Girls (Harry Hunter Mysteries Book 1) by Willow Rose Genre: Thriller Suspense
This novel is the first book in Willow Rose’s electrifying new Harry Hunter series.
Detective Harry Hunter of Miami PD’s homicide squad throws himself into a case no one asked him to solve.
Four teenagers from one of Miami’s affluent neighborhoods are murdered on a boat. Another is found in a dumpster. All five of them go to the same school and are on a list of witnesses to another crime.
Because he’s in bad standing with his boss, Harry is given the task of protecting a possible future victim, but Harry isn’t always known to follow his boss’s orders.
Soon, he’ll risk everything while racing to stop a killer who has left everyone else in the homicide squad shaking in terror.
ALL THE GOOD GIRLS is the first book in the Harry Hunter Mystery Series and can be read as a standalone.
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The Queen of Scream aka Willow Rose is a #1 Amazon Best-selling Author and an Amazon ALL-star Author of more than 60 novels.
She writes Mystery, Thriller, Paranormal, Romance, Suspense, Horror, Supernatural thrillers, and Fantasy.
Willow’s books are fast-paced, nail-biting page turners with twists you won’t see coming. Several of her books have reached the Kindle top 10 of ALL books in the US, UK, and Canada. She has sold more than three million books.
Willow lives on Florida’s Space Coast with her husband and two daughters. When she is not writing or reading, you will find her surfing and watch the dolphins play in the waves of the Atlantic Ocean.
O.J. Barré hails from the lushly forested, red-clay hills near Atlanta, Georgia. From birth, O.J. was a force of nature. Barefoot and freckled, headstrong and gifted, she was, and is, sensitive to a fault. Books became her refuge as a young child, allowing O.J. to escape her turbulent alcoholic home on adventures to untold places and times. Her daddy’s mother was a Willoughby, making O.J. a direct descendant of William the Conqueror. Her Awen series is a love letter to that distant past.
Awen Rising (Awen Trilogy Book 1) by O.J. Barre Genre: Urban Fantasy
In 2042, evil Reptilian aliens plot to destroy Humanity. Only one Druid can save our world.
Everything is going wrong for Emily Hester. She’s lost her fiancé, her nerve, and her career as a Disaster Specialist. Now a storm wielding witch is on her trail. She needs a new identity and somewhere to run.
What Emily doesn’t know is that the Awen Order of Druids is searching for her. Nor that she’s their only hope for saving the world. Can the druids’ dragon keepers find Emily in time to claim her legacy? Or will the reptilian horde overwhelm our world?
Awen Rising is the first book in the exciting Awen trilogy. If you like original stories with imperfect heroines, you’ll love O. J. Barré’s pre-apocalyptic urban fantasy set in a magical world with explosive action, strong-willed characters, and a great plot.
To be whisked away to the near-future with druids and dragons, and nasty reptilians with technology that rivals ours, buy your copy of Awen Rising today.
Awen Storm (Awen Trilogy Book 2) by O.J. Barre Genre: Urban Fantasy
In 2042, Reptilian aliens plot to destroy Humanity.
The Awen Order of Druids has named Emily Hester as its new leader. Unfortunately, she’s no heroine, and her magic needs work. Her long-awaited date with the druid priest has ended in disaster. Now she’s stranded on a ledge in Zoo Atlanta with a dragon breathing down her neck.
Worse, the Reptilians are amassing inside the planet. They despise humans. They have no souls. And if they find a way out, our world is doomed. Can Emily escape and seize her magical powers? Or will Earth be left to the mercy of these monsters?
Awen Storm is the second book in the delightful Awen trilogy. If you like original stories with imperfect heroines, you’ll love O. J. Barré’s pre-apocalyptic urban fantasy with engaging characters, intriguing world-building, and a fascinating storyline.
To visit the near-future in which a secret society of druids defends Earth, and reptilian aliens rule the vast world beneath us, buy Awen Storm today.
DL White is an Atlanta based author of women’s fiction and romance, centering Black men and women. She began seriously pursuing a writing career in 2011.
She has a deep and abiding love for coffee and Sunday Brunch, especially on a patio, but her true obsession is water— lakes, rivers, oceans, waterfalls.
By day she is an Executive Administrative Assistant for a billion dollar beverage brand. By night, when not writing books, she devours them and blogs reviews and thoughts on writing at BooksbyDLWhite.com.
Angie Blake and Preston Reid are oil and water, fire and ice. Whether it’s in the courtroom, where they’re always in opposition, or in their personal lives, they don’t mix.
Nearly two decades have passed since they were high school sweethearts and split in an emotional firestorm, but their best friends are dating, and now engaged so they haven’t had a moment’s peace from each other. And they won’t get one since the soon to be newlyweds have roped Angie and Preston into planning their destination wedding. They’ve been tasked with organizing the most romantic, memorable event of their lives without tearing apart the lifelong foursome in the process.
Angie and Preston are wise to this game. This clever ploy to push them back together in the hopes that their long-dead romance will rekindle couldn’t possibly work.
Could it?
There’s a thin line between love and hate.
**Only .99 cents May 22-24, and then only $1.99 May 25 – 29!!**
Would you like a chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card?Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!
What is something unique/quirky about you?
I’m kind of a super boring person… I normally say that I can read upside down and backwards. Aside from writing, those are my only talents!
Tell us something really interesting that’s happened to you!
So, remember Mark Furhman, the LAPD Detective in the OJ Trial? I used to work with him. After that trial he moved to the Northwest, where I used to live. I’m in his book about Robert Lee Yates, Jr, a serial killer in my hometown. Mark pretty much solved that case, then wrote a book about it. He also co-hosted a crime talk show at the radio station where I worked and when he would come in once a week, I’d greet him with, “well, it must be Thursday. Mark’s here. Dude wore the tightest jeans ever and cowboy boots. He never gave me any issues, but we kept a wide berth of social distance, LOL.
What are some of your pet peeves?
Late people. Wasting my time. Treating me like I’m stupid.
Where were you born/grew up at?
I’m an Air Force kid, so we moved around some. Spent some time in Rapid City South Dakota (COLD!) and Spokane Washington (not Seattle, near Idaho, also COLD) and moved to Georgia in 2003 because it is not cold here.
What do you do to unwind and relax?
I do a lot of reading. A LOT of reading. I read about 150 books a year and pretty much always have a book going. I also watch a lot of Law and Order, the original series.
Describe yourself in 5 words or less!
Direct, passionate, calm, funny, personable.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I’ve never not considered myself a writer. I considered myself an author when I pubbed my first novel and got an author account at Amazon/ Goodreads.
Do you have a favorite movie?
Not really but if Steel Magnolias, The Shawshank Redemption or Remember the Titans comes on, I’m watching it. Commercials and all.
Which of your novels can you imagine made into a movie?
I mean any of them would be fun. Curl & Dye would be super cute, I imagine it like Beauty Shop/Barber shop with a little enemies to lovers, second chance romance story line.
I am excited to be one of the many tour hosts sharing information on A Thin Line by DL White.
Coralie Moss loves everyday heroines and complicated witches, layered magic and earthly moments, and will always believe in the power of love. Whether she’s writing Urban Fantasy or Contemporary Romance, her characters get her up in the morning and Assam tea keeps her going. She lives on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia with her HEA, their son, and two globe-trotting rescue cats.
Demon Lines (Sister Witches Book 2) by Coralie Moss
Clementine Brodeur has found her fated mate, and is now pursued by a three-faced killer.
I wasn’t expecting to meet Laszlo Arkadi the same day I discovered my family was built on secrets.
My deceased mother? On the face of it, she was a matchmaker for witches seeking love. Concealed from her daughters, she risked her life freeing enslaved Magicals.
My father? He wasn’t there for me. And since my mother’s death, he’s been trying to join her on the other side.
As for my oldest sister? I suspect she’s an assassin.
Now I’ve bonded with my ice demon, Prince Laszlo, he’s taking me to the Reformed Realm to meet his parents. Turns out, there’s more to meeting the Queen than simply learning to curtsy.
I just want to catch a break from family drama–mine and his. That royal ball Laszlo and I are required to attend? The invited guests think the prince is still single. The uninvited guests intend to escape with the realm’s most vulnerable Magicals.
I have to follow my instincts. Only now I’m bound to another. Can Laszlo and I merge our magics? Can we challenge a tyrant who envisions a world with many of us in cages?
Alderose Brodeur must avenge more than her parents’ deaths.
I use my muscles more than my magic. I have to. My father learned the hard way that magic can be sucked dry. He made certain I knew a good right hook is priceless, and to keep my blades sharp.
He’s dead now. My two sisters and I are talking again. But there’s so much Clementine and Beryl don’t know about me–and there’s no time for a girls’ night out.
The three of us must go up against Lionel Vigne, the same fae who brought down our parents. We know he’s hiding in the French Alps. He’s on the cusp of forcefully breeding rare Magicals, the crime that got him banished from fae lands.
I want to complete my mother’s mission on my own. Do I blend the metal in my blood with my blades and use brute force to end Lionel’s tyranny?
Or, if I truly am the Scarab Eater’s Daughter, do I put down my blades and let my magic act as a lure?
Would you like a chance to win a $15 Amazon gift card? Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!
Q & A with Coralie Moss, author of the Sister Witches Urban Fantasy Series
#1. Tell us something about your writing process.
Writing is a very visceral activity for me. I’ve been told I’m a ‘kinesthetic learner’, which basically means I learn-by-doing. Yep, my parents loved having a kid who leapt first and looked later and I have the scars on my knees to prove it.
When I’m in the idea stage of a new book or series, it really helps if I give the lead character some skill that I already know at least a little something about. I can always change all of that later, but it helps to have a starting point that feels familiar. The writing process goes more smoothly too if I set the story—at least at first—in a location where I’ve lived. I need sensory input, and sense-memories, to jumpstart the writing process.
I based some of the magic system in this series on needle crafts, like sewing and embroidery, because I love to work with my hands and I know how to do all that stuff. I set the first book in Northampton, Massachusetts because I lived there for three years, and I visited it often when I still lived in New England. It has tons of bookshops and cafes and an all-women’s college, and it felt very natural to place ‘Needles & Sins’ along one of its side streets, in one of its granite and brick buildings.
#2. Who designs the covers for your books?
My cover designer is the very talented—and very patient—Elizabeth Mackey. Working with her is so much fun that I sometimes wish I could just make up book titles and have her design covers for them! We’ve worked on ten covers together now, and our process starts with me looking through sites like Shutterstock and Neo-stock for images. I like to give Elizabeth an idea for the cover model, as well as images of objects that are important to the book.
For Once Blessed, Thrice Cursed’s cover, three things were important: I wanted the model looking over her shoulder, in a pose that says, “Hey, come on, let’s go explore”. I also wanted a staircase, open doors, and *magic* sparkling from her hands. For the follow-up novella, Demon Lines, I wanted a handsome ‘demon’ guy on the cover. He got a staircase, too, but his was more elegant. He’s a prince after all.
#3. How do you come up with your character names?
Naming characters is another favorite thing—could I just make up book titles and character names, and design covers?! For the Sister Witches series, it became clear there would be three sisters (and no secret sisters. Or brothers, lol). Their names were unusual, and they came in alphabetical order: Alderose, Beryl, and Clementine. But Clementine’s personality came to me first and for whatever reason, I felt that she would be the easiest to write. I think I might have poured a lot of the love I feel for my own sister, into her.
Clementine’s sisters have been a lot more challenging to figure out. Both Alderose and Beryl have secrets they keep from each other, and sometimes I want to yell at them for it—but then I wouldn’t have as much of a story to tell.
I find that clothes are important to developing each character. Alderose loves leather everything, probably because she’s a butt-kicking, knife-wielding witch. Beryl has all of her clothes made for her, and she loves vintage-style dresses, interesting shoes, and handmade lingerie. There’s a reason for all that—which we’ll learn about in book #4. And as for Clementine, she’s into jeans and her dog, Sitka. Until she meets Laszlo. And then she’s into demons, too.
