Tag Team Review and Giveaway ~ Witches by Kathryn Meyer Griffith

Posted: October 28, 2016 in giveaways, horror, Paranormal or fantasy, reviews
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This is a Tag Team Event hosted by myself and Sherry.

 It’s always a pleasure to share more books by Kathryn Meyer Griffith. I’ve read many of her books and plan to read everything she writes.

For today, I’m sharing my review of Witches.

After reading my review, head on over to Sherry’s blog at fundinmental for more and check out her review.

And this is an extra special event. We have two more bloggers joining us, sharing their reviews.

Check out Barb’s review at her blog Booker T’s Farm.

and Stormi’s review at Books, Movies, Reviews, Oh My!

All four blogs have exclusive giveaways, so be sure to visit all of them.

 Four chances to win!

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Witches

by Kathryn Meyer Griffith

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Genre: Horror / Paranormal / Fantasy

My Review

Nothing like some witches to keep me reading into the wee hours. I should add that I’ve read many of Kathryn’s books and that always happens.

The age old battle of good vs. evil is portrayed by white magic and black magic.

Some things never change. Even for witches in present times. Amanda is still grieving over the loss of her beloved and just wants to get through each day. Living in a small town, her unusual ways raise suspicion and she’s the likely culprit for the town folks when the murders begin.

It’s Salem all over again as the town turns on Amanda, calling her a witch, shunning her, and casting the first stone.

As Amanda begins her own investigation, she stumbles into a dark and deadly plot involving dark magic and demons. Now, she’s desperate to reveal the truth before she’s outed by a posse and hung until dead.

A fun thing was the talking familiars. They came in all shapes and sizes and had very vocal opinions. It was also fun to see witches trying to hide what they were from the modern world. They all had different levels of power and couldn’t just twitch their noses and appear somewhere. Even witches had to use cell phones and airplanes.

I thought it worked really well for the story when the author took her story back in time to the witch trials. The contrasts and similarities of life as a witch was intriguing and kept the story moving quickly.

I thought I knew how this would end and worried that it wouldn’t work. That it would be awkward and rushed. Not so. I give kudos to Kathryn for surprising me and pulling it off.

  5  Stars

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Synopsis

There are witches in the world…some are good and some of them are downright evil.
Amanda Givens is careful how she uses her benevolent powers. She doesn’t want the people of Canaan, Connecticut to know they have a witch among them…even a good white witch. For years, she’s lived quietly in a remote cabin with Amadeus, her quirky feline familiar. At first with her husband, Jake, the love of her life, until a car accident; but now alone after his death. But when she’s wrongly blamed for a rash of ritualistic murders committed by a satanic cult, she knows she can no longer hide. She’s the one the cult is after and she is the only one who can stop them and prove her innocence. Yet as punishment for fighting and destroying the cult, she’s drawn back in time by the ghost of the dark witch, Rachel Coxe, who was drowned for practicing black magic in the 17th century. Now, as Amanda tries to rehabilitate Rachel’s reputation in an effort to save lives, as well as her own, and falls in love all over again with Joshua, her reincarnated dead husband from the future, she has to rely on a sister’s love and magical knowledge, and a powerful sect of witches named the Guardians, to help her get home safely.

Purchase on Amazon

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Why I wrote Witches

By Kathryn Meyer Griffith

 

In 1991 I’d already been writing for about twenty years, on and off (though there was a long gap where I didn’t write because of a divorce, the finding of a full time job to support myself and my son, and a remarriage…life) when I contracted my fourth novel, my first of four to Zebra paperbacks, a romantic horror called Vampire Blood, about a family of vampires who run a movie theater in a small town. I’d already had a fifth novel, The Last Vampire, completed and in with them when they asked me for another novel.

Got anything about witches, they asked. Witches are hot right now. Hmmm.

For many years I’d played around with an idea about a present day white witch who finds a diary of a long dead witch–either good or bad, I hadn’t decided–in her old house’s attic, or basement, or under a floorboard. The story would have been about the good witch reliving the other dead witch’s life through the diary. In my head I’d always called that possible book Rachel’s Diary.

So in 1991 or 1992 I began the witch book and it quickly metamorphosed into a story of a present day good witch, Amanda Givens, who’s yanked into a perilous seventeenth century past by an evil witch, Rachel Coxe, to take her place…and possibly, unless Amanda can change the evil witch’s history, die a horrible death as an accused witch. I had the idea then to actually send Amanda into the past to live (for a while) the other witch’s life. Of course, being a good witch, Amanda, changes the other witch’s unsavory reputation but still ends up in a prison waiting to die for Rachel’s earlier crimes. The story, simply put, would be how Amanda overcomes her trials and tribulations, finds her lost eternal love again in the past, and finds a way to return to the present alive. In the process, learning some important life lessons about accepting what life has dealt her and the value of sisters, friendships and the love of those around her. Or, in other words, a story of good versus evil and, in the end, good wins and is rewarded. I also threw in a few touches of humor in the form of three precocious witches’ familiars…a mind-reading and speaking ancient cat called Amadeus, a mouse, Tituba, and a tiny bat, Gibbiewackett…all with feisty personalities and quirks of their own.

I was excited about the book as I was writing it and when it was done, pleased with it, but had no idea that over the years it’d become one of the jewels of my writing career and a book my fans would love as much as they did. I loved the cat face cover Zebra did for it in 1993 (a rare occurrence as I’d learned the hard way that covers weren’t always what I’d envisioned and in the early days I had no choice but to accept whatever the publisher’s gave me…and some weren’t so hot, let me tell you!); but I love Dawne Dominique’s new 2015 cover just as much with the witch and her cat.

Witches originally came out in 1993 and did well. I noticed soon after as I went on to publish other books I continued to get admiration for it and requests for a sequel (though I haven’t been able to do another one so far…but maybe in the future). Readers loved the three sisters, Amadeus and Amanda, Gibbiewackett and Tituba. In those days I was too busy working full time as a graphic artist, living my life and writing new books to notice. It went into a second printing in 2000 and after that, sadly, went out of print until 2010. But my fans never forgot it. I’d find comments on it and discussions on the Internet…even customer reviews raving about it years and years later. I tried talking Zebra into reissuing it but after Zebra and I parted ways in 1994 there was no talking them into it.

Then in 2010 when Damnation Books contracted my 13th and 14th novels, the publisher asked about all (there was 7 at the time) my out-of-print Zebra and Leisure paperback backlist novels and if I’d like to have them reissued as new paperbacks and, for the first time ever, in e-books. Sure, that’d be great! I told them. And, as they say, the rest is history. Between June 2010 and July 2012 all 7 of them were updated, rewritten and came out again. Of course, that meant a heck of a lot of rewriting. A lot of work. Those early novels went back thirty-two years and were first written in the days of snail mail and on an electric typewriter before the Internet, e-mails and Windows Track Changes (for editing). Oh, boy, did they need revising. As of today I can happily say all my fourteen older novels have been totally rewritten, even my very first published romantic horror novel, Evil Stalks the Night (originally a 1984 Leisure Books paperback). Then, later, between 2012 and 2015 I finally (after much fighting with my old publishers) got all my rights back to all my old novels and self-published ALL my 23 novels myself in eBooks, paperbacks and Audible audio books. I will never go back to publishers again because I’m finally making a living with my books–and it’s great to have complete control for the first time in 45 years of writing.

I’ve often been asked what I think of e-books and I have to say it feels strange, all these years later, to be so into them. I think it’s fantastic to be able to put hundreds of books on one little lightweight hand-held contraption and sell them as inexpensively as we do. I started publishing e-books four years ago and have seen such great changes in even that short a time. With a chuckle I recall a writer’s convention I attended in 1990–yes, that far back–and the main topic back then was…OMG the electronic books are coming! They’re going to make us authors obsolete! Print books are going to die a terrible lonely death…etc., etc. Lack and alas, what are we going to do? Ha, ha. It’s ironic that 26 years later I’m in love with e-books and self-publishing. It is the present and the future. Though I think there’ll always be room for print books as well as electronic ones as many people still like to feel a real book in their hands.

So Witches…I rereleased it again in 2015 with a brand new cover and I’m thrilled. The cover is still of Amadeus, the magical cat, but now Amanda, the white witch, is also on it. As always my cover artist, Dawne Dominique, did an amazing job. I’m proud of the book, it has held up pretty well, I think. I hope it finds many more readers and fans.

So that’s the story of Witches…the little book that wouldn’t die.

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About the Author
Kathryn Meyer Griffith

About Kathryn Meyer Griffithlook for all my NEW covers! on my older books.

Since childhood I’ve been an artist and worked as a graphic designer in the corporate world and for newspapers for twenty-three years before I quit to write full time. But I’d already begun writing novels at 21, over forty-four years ago now, and have had twenty-three (ten romantic horror, two horror novels, two romantic SF horror, one romantic suspense, one romantic time travel, one historical romance, two thrillers, and four murder mysteries) previous novels, two novellas and twelve short stories published from Zebra Books, Leisure Books, Avalon Books, The Wild Rose Press, Damnation Books/Eternal Press; and I’ve self-published my last ten novels with Amazon Kindle Direct and my Dinosaur Lake novels and Spookie Town Mysteries (Scraps of Paper, All Things Slip Away and Ghosts Beneath Us) are my best-sellers.

I’ve been married to Russell for thirty-seven years; have a son and two grandchildren and I live in a small quaint town in Illinois, which is right across the JB Bridge from St. Louis, Mo. We have a quirky cat, Sasha, and the three of us live happily in an old house in the heart of town. Though I’ve been an artist, and a folk/classic rock singer in my youth with my brother Jim, writing has always been my greatest passion, my butterfly stage, and I’ll probably write stories until the day I die…or until my memory goes.

2012 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS *Finalist* for her horror novel The Last Vampire ~ 2014 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS * Finalist * for her thriller novel Dinosaur Lake.

*All Kathryn Meyer Griffith’s books can be found HERE.

*All her Audible.com audio books HERE.

Novels and short stories from Kathryn Meyer Griffith:

Evil Stalks the Night, The Heart of the Rose, Blood Forge, Vampire Blood, The Last Vampire (2012 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS*Finalist* in their Horror category), Witches, The Nameless One short story, The Calling, Scraps of Paper (The First Spookie Town Murder Mystery), All Things Slip Away (The Second Spookie Town Murder Mystery), Ghosts Beneath Us (The Third Spookie Town Murder Mystery), Egyptian Heart, Winter’s Journey, The Ice Bridge, Don’t Look Back, Agnes, Before the End: A Time of Demons, The Woman in Crimson, Human No Longer, Four Spooky Short Stories Collection, Forever and Always Romantic Short, Night carnival Short Story, Dinosaur Lake (2014 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS*Finalist* in their Thriller/Adventure category), Dinosaur Lake II: Dinosaurs Arising and Dinosaur Lake III: Infestation

Author Links

Twitter / Blog  / Author’s Den / Facebook / Goodreads / Amazon

 

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GIVEAWAY
Three winners!
 
Up for grabs:
Three winners will receive an eBook copy or an audible copy.
(Winner’s choice)

To enter, please leave your email address so I can contact you if you win and answer this question:

“If you were a witch, what animal would you choose for a familiar?”

Giveaway ends November 8th.

This is a Tag Team Event hosted by myself and Sherry at fundinmental.

Now hop on over and check out Sherry’s review, and enter for another chance to win  HERE.

Check out Barb’s review at Booker T’s Farm and enter her giveaway HERE.

And check out Stormi’s review at Books, Movies, Reviews, Oh My! and enter her giveaway HERE

Each blog has their own individual giveaway for 4 chances to win!

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Other books I’ve read by the author.

Click on the covers for my reviews.

Full length novels.

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Short stories.

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

For a list of my reviews go HERE

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways click on the lucky horseshoe below!

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Comments
  1. Mary Preston says:

    I would have to have a black cat. Makes sense to me.

    marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

  2. debby236 says:

    Since I cannot have a dragon, I would choose a fisher cat.
    debby236 at gmail dot com

  3. I was so curious about the ending too and in true Kathryn style, she pulled it off in a surprising way.

    sherry @ fundinmental

  4. Yeah, I was kind of worried about the ending too but it worked out okay. 🙂 🙂

  5. I really like how everyone seemed to enjoy the familiars – they were definitely a highlight for me. I will definitely be checking out more of Kathryn’s books.

    • fuonlyknew says:

      We do love our furbabies! LOL I hope you do read more of her books. And if you love horror, she has some scary ones. I adore her Dinosaur Lake series and just got the last book!

  6. Thank you Laura (and all the other blogsters!) for liking and reviewing my WITCHES!
    Funny thing when someone mentioned having a dragon for a familiar I thought: “Why not? It would be a magical dragon so it could ‘poof’ down to pocket size when other humans were around. Now that would be a neat familiar. Though as a certified CAT LOVER (I have one named Sasha) I have always loved Amadeus the cat as Amanda’s familiar.
    Also…I am now writing the fourth SPOOKIE TOWN MURDER MYSTERY ‘Witches Among Us’ but when I am done with that book I plan to finish (I actually started it 8 years ago, and have about 1/3 done, but put it aside because I wasn’t about to ever give it to a greedy publisher…now I self-publish so that no longer applies!) Witches II. It will follow Amanda and her two sisters for further adventures with The Guardians. HAPPY HALLOWEEN everyone!!!!! Wooo…….author Kathryn Meyer Griffith

    • fuonlyknew says:

      Hey, Dragonriders of Pern had small dragons and large ones. I’d take either. LOL Can’t wait for more Spookie Town and you know I’ll be wanting Witches II also!

  7. I would choose a possum. Crafty little critters, they are. Very good at playing dead. And if they are dead, they’re pretty good tasting either baked or fried. Kinda greasy, but tasty non the less.

  8. Michael….ha, ha, ha. I like your post, it was funny.

  9. diannekc says:

    I would choose a cat for a familiar.

    • fuonlyknew says:

      Cats sure fit well as familiars. They say cats are half in our world and half in the other side. Just look into their eyes!

  10. Well if we are in a fantasy, I would choose a cute shaggy dog-not too big because we would snuggle and tell secrets! Not a big cat person-or possum lover! Ohhh maybe a cuddly hamster would be better.
    Hahahaha! I love the fantasy world where whatever you dream can come true!

    • fuonlyknew says:

      There’s a mouse in this one! A hamster is close. I’m a dog person too but I also have a cat and a parrot. The bird must think it’s a familiar as it likes to talk over me. LOL

  11. Krista says:

    A cat or a raven..Thanks for reviewing this book-it’s been one of my favorites for years.

  12. Donna Pecore says:

    I had a black cat for years that call my name his name was Shadow; the iching pennies gave him his name the darkening of the light he left me for the butcher shop smart cat now i have 2 dogs more human then most human Apachi he has magic in his golden eye the magic of love tag your it

    • fuonlyknew says:

      I used to have 2 black cats, Shasta and Sheba. Shasta is gone now but Sheba is 23 and going strong. My dog, Quigley, is black too and, with both of them being black, when Sheba cuddles with him, she disappears. LOL

  13. I would have a gray cat. I have to be different. Thanks.

  14. Donna
    I had a cat called Shadow once, too, when I was a kid. It was a blue maltese. I LOved that cat.

  15. Anne says:

    I’ll stick with the classic, cat.

    acm05atjuno.com

  16. Bryna Butler says:

    Ferret, tiny and ferocious like me 🙂

  17. Bryna
    my grandmother’s last name was Fehrt…another spelling of ferret. I’ve known people who have ferrets for pets and they say they’re very good ones so I imagine they’d make a great familiar, as well.

  18. An otter. They’re my favorite.

    • fuonlyknew says:

      I love otters. I was lucky enough to see some when I was fishing in the delta. Didn’t even know we had them around here:)

  19. babyblue7299 says:

    I’m going all in with a miniature horse, love the sound of little hooves clopping along! It would be black, with a white mane and fetlocks, BTW 🙂 His name would be Styxx…okay, maybe I am thinking too hard about this…
    babyblue7299@yahoo.com

  20. Laura R says:

    I love her books. Some of which are very scary.

    Before today I would have said dark tortie cat but now I have one and today she is a pest! So I would say a gargoyle that can shape shift. Have you seen mini cows?

  21. Baby Blue,
    ooh, I’d love to have a tiny horse for a familiar. Hey, it would be magical so it could appear and disappear as needed. I’d like it to be…blue. I also LOVE horses. I just published a collection of short stories (Memories of My Childhood) about my long ago childhood (1950’s) and one of the stories ‘Pony Summer’ is about my brother and I riding wild ponies….

  22. jdrhawkins says:

    I would have a black cat. I had one for 13 years and lost her a few years back. Her name was Samantha, after Samantha Stevens from Bewitched. I got her the same day Elizabeth Montgomery died. It was just a coincidence, I think.

  23. I love my black cat so I’m going traditional.
    lyndajdickson@gmail.com

  24. dbsgirl says:

    Black cat. Makes sense. And I’m a crazy cat lady, so it fits. I’d add a black cat to my pounce of cats, but I’m too worried about one being killed on the road in dark… I’m lost two cats that way 🙁 Thanks for the giveaway!

    eunder8191@googlemail.com

  25. Laura
    A gargoyle familiar (to a very old witch)…hey, that’s a great idea for my next book! Thanks. Oh, oh, now how will I ever finish that 4th Spookie Town murder mystery with visions of magical gargoyles flying around in my head.

  26. Bobbi Kinion says:

    “If you were a witch, what animal would you choose for a familiar?” I would chose the wolf for my familiar. bobbischleining@yahoo.com

  27. pamela says:

    a black cat,or maybe a wolf 🙂 p_dewolfeat yahoo dot ca

  28. Cherri-Anne Boitson says:

    Oh there is no doubt or hesitation – I would so have an OWL! The ONLY decision would be what kind of owl! A beautiful Snowy or Great Horned? An adorable Little Owl? Maybe a Great Grey?

    Thank you so much for the chance! I would be on so excited to win this book in ebook form! I can’t wait to read it! 🙂

    Cheers! xoxoxoxo

    cboitson at shaw dot ca

  29. Wow…there are so many nominations for a witch’s familiar! I particularly liked the owl and the gargoyle. Liked the wolf, too. I have a bunch of wolves that are also vampires in my The Last Vampire but a wolf would work just great as a familiar as well.

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