Archive for December, 2016

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 Falling For The Stars

A Stunt Gal’s Tattle Tales

by Lisa Loving Dalton

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Amazon

Synopsis

AMAZON #1 BESTSELLER!

This Behind-the-Scenes Tell-All About Doubling for Celebrity Superstars Also Reveals the Compelling Life Story of an Insecure Hollywood Arrival Who Rises to the Top of Her Field, But Pays a Hefty Price.

Addiction

Chauvinism

Big Egos collide with the surprising kindness of superstars.

Discover the magic and the tragic stories of many great films & TV shows through the eyes of a stuntwoman. Dalton reveals what it took to hang over cliffs, get hit by a moving car, drop from five stories up, dodge an avenue full of speeding cars–and to ignore the Universe’s more gentle prompts that it was time to quit and follow her passion into acting full-time or teaching acting.

The resulting career-ending spinal injury has a story of its own, how she researched medical and alternative paths that form the heart of what she shares with the world today. “What stands out in this book is the indomitable spirit the author has, despite the extraordinary price she paid for her stellar career–including misogyny, a miscarriage, and a life-long back injury. And each juicy story she relays in her fascinating chronicle, brings home an important life lesson for the reader–one that she learned the hard way.

Stunt Gal Lisa Dalton tattles about humorous and harrowing tales culled from over 200 films, television shows and commercials including
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Ghostbusters

Money Pit

Crocodile Dundee

Married to the Mob

FX

Legal Eagles

The Last Dragon

Saturday Night Live

Splash

The Highlander

World According To Garp

Working with or doubling such superstars as Meryl Streep, Cher, Madonna, Grace Jones, Robert Redford, Katherine Hepburn, Sean Connery, Tom Hanks, Chevy Chase, Robin Williams, Ed O’Neill, Michelle Pfeiffer and more.

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Falling For The Stars: A Stunt Gal’s Tattle Tales

Author Interview Lisa Loving Dalton

Amazon #1 Bestseller

 

  1. What were the scariest stunts you did?

 

I leapt across a six-story alley, I dodged a train, I tripped on a twenty sixth-floor ledge in Grand Central Station. I got hit by cars and crashed motorcycles on cue. I think those were the scariest things. There are pictures of some of those in Falling For The Stars: A Stunt Gal’s Tattle Tales.

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  1. Did you ever play a character that got shot? If so, what was that like?

 

I used to do a live western stunt show at parties and corporate events and got shot pretty regularly from a distance. But there was one special time when it was a bigger deal.

I was murdered for a television movie called Brass with Carroll O’Connor in one of the opening moments of the story. It took place on the roof top garage structure on a pier at 57th St. in New York. Here’s the set up for it:

Kidnappers grab a woman and throw her in the van. Three bystanders start to come to her aid when one of the kidnappers pulls a gun and shoots them at various stages of their trying to escape. Then he walks up to each body and shoots them directly in the back of the head, mob assassination style.

So my first part was to turn and run away, get shot in the back and fly to the ground.  This part was pretty easy to time, acting like I got hit and falling forward to the pavement because they put a little explosive on your body that rips a whole in your clothes and breaks a blood packet.  There is a metal plate that goes against your body, keeping the explosive from hurting you. You can still feel the kick though and then is it just a matter of reacting.

 

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Next part was to get shot point-blank in the back of the head.

It happened to be just a few days after an actor who knew his gun had blanks in it jokingly put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger. The impact of the blank caused his brain to implode.

So everyone was a bit nervous about shooting or getting shot point blank.

They showed us how the energy of the blank had real force by shooting it into a piece of heavy cardboard. Once we all could see exactly where the force went, we set the scene up with the camera positioned so that it looked like the gun was right in the back of my head, but it was actually just to the side.

PS: Don’t do this at home!

 

  1. Why did you become a stuntwoman?

I was thrilled at an early age whenever people watched me do crazy things. I was knocking boys off the top of the jungle gym in kindergarten and making sure everyone saw it happening. While the teacher tried to flunk me for bad behavior, those impulses eventually led to being an athlete and actor who specializes in physical theatre-like clown, mime and stage combat.

I saw an opportunity to do stunts in movies and thought it might be a great way to get more acting parts. So I got into it primarily to further my acting career. Then it became a career in itself and eventually stunted my acting opportunities. My book goes more fully into what happened.

 

  1. As a woman in the movie industry, were you treated differently than men?

Yes, there is no question about the stunt industry being very male-dominated. When I first started, we were doing all we could to get the right to double women. Many small male gymnasts were doubling for the women. Plus the roles they asked of the women characters were mostly “victim” based. There were a few heroines like Daisy Dukes, Wonder Woman and Bionic Woman but those were rare.

The stunt business works with what is known as a Stunt Coordinator. At the time I was working, the coordinator was almost always a guy. He is the one who hires the stunt people so to get a job, you have to be liked by that guy to get a job. It was harder for me to get hired because I was happily married and wasn’t willing to do what other women were doing to get work. I did flirt to an extent, in a plan I hatched with my husband. And it worked until I got cornered in an elevator and had to make my position very clear. That guy never hired me again.

Another difference was that the Stunt Coordinator also sometimes has the choice of who gets screen credit and who doesn’t. If production can only have ten names on the stunt list, he is going to put his buddies on it, because they will hire him back and do the same. That is why you will see on many stuntwomen’s www.Imdb.com credits the term “uncredited.”  IMDB won’t even give you certain credits if you are unlisted, like that movie Brass-is not on my resume there, despite the fact that I have submitted it several times.

 

  1. Are you a thrill seeker by nature?

Absolutely, Guilty as Charged! I love cruising on my motorcycle and have ridden in all fifty states and nine provinces. I have driven four racetracks, and scuba when I can. I think, though, the biggest thrill for me is still acting on a stage, emotionally vulnerable and connected to a higher stream of art flowing through you. Staying out of the way and letting the character and the story take over in communion with the audience-that takes courage.

 

  1. What was the biggest thing you learned as a stuntwoman?

A film is not worth a life, no matter how great the story is. I learned that I was more than the incredible things I did. I learned that I have more important things to do, like sharing the wisdom I gained through the entertainment field and from having to live life with a crippling injury because of stunts. I went from feeling like superman to an invalid in an instant. That was the greatest gift I ever gave myself.

 

  1. Are you planning on writing more about your life?

Lisa Loving Dalton

Yes, I am releasing Murder Of Talent: How Pop Culture Is Killing It in February and it will tell much more about what happened to me as an actress. And I am thinking about another book about my rowdy, biker life, including my biker rally wedding where we had a wet T-shirt contest and downed twenty-seven kegs of beer. I have a couple of academic books about healthy acting techniques and my blogs that frequently focus on Fear Less Living Lessons from a Stunt Gal where stories from my life reveal ways to help others to live more lovingly and less fearfully.

~~~~~

Author Lisa Loving Dalton

Lisa Loving Dalton

From a bullied, dyslexic, messy, freckle-faced, klutzy pixie, Lisa Loving Dalton grew into a statuesque and skillful stuntwoman, actor, director, teacher, author, filmmaker, leadership and life coach, and ceremonial minister. Always seeking and finding the silver lining, she has made the most of whatever life threw at her. She says, “I spill stuff, trip and drip all of the time so I made a career out of it. My advice: Embrace what is as perfect.”

Dalton appeared in more than 200 films, television shows and commercials in New York, Hollywood and Texas, including work in Ghostbusters, Money Pit, Crocodile Dundee, Married to the Mob, FX, Legal Eagles, and Splash on the big screen and ER, HBO’s Carnivale, Dr. Quinn and Melrose Place among her many TV credits.

Connect with the author:

Website  ~  Twitter  ~  Facebook  ~  Pinterest  ~  Youtube  ~  Instagram

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USA only

Giveaway ends Dec 17

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Follow the tour HERE.

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

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 Flamingos below!

 

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from-gods-newFrom Gods by Mary Ting

***2013 InD’Tale RONE Award Finalist for YA****
Did you just see a flash of lightning across the sky on a clear sunny day?
Don’t blame Mother Nature.

Skylar Rome can’t wait to spend her last summer before college with her cousin, Kayla. Everything changes when they meet the Grand brothers. Skylar is sure she should stay away from Mason Grand, but their attraction is undeniable. Then Skylar’s life erupts into turmoil. She steps into a world where descendants of ancient gods have super powers, evil beings chase her, and questions arise about her own identity. She is running out of time and running for her life, while trying to unravel the mystery of what they want from her.

Forced into a battle set into motion long before she was born, will Skylar find the answers she seeks, or will she die trying?

 

From Gods by Mary Ting is FREE from December 6th to 8th

ebook-free

Praise for the Series
“From Gods takes mythology to a whole new level of imagination with its incredible plot and amazing characters. It’s full of hotness that you never want to end!” Michele, Insane About Books

“From Gods by the AMAZING AUTHOR Mary Ting is OMGods good!! If you even LIKE Greek Mythology, set aside some time because you will DEVOUR Mary Ting’s Demi Gods and Vultures!!!” Mindy, Books Complete Me

add to goodreads

 

Mary TingAuthor Mary Ting
International Bestselling, Award-Winning, Author Mary Ting/M. Clarke resides in Southern California with her husband and two children. She enjoys oil painting and making jewelry. Writing her first novel, Crossroads Saga, happened by chance. It was a way to grieve the death of her beloved grandmother, and inspired by a dream she once had as a young girl. When she started reading new adult novels, she fell in love with the genre. It was the reason she had to write one-Something Great. Why the pen name, M Clarke? She tours with Magic Johnson Foundation to promote literacy and her children’s chapter book-No Bullies Allowed.

Social Media Website Social Media Blog Social Media Facebook Social Media Twitter Social Media Pinterest Social Media Goodreads
 

 

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Blast Giveaway

$50 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash

Ends 12/18/16

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

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For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

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The Pawn
Skye Warren
(Revenge and Seduction #1)
Publication date: December 6th 2016
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

The price of survival…

Gabriel Miller swept into my life like a storm. He tore down my father with cold retribution, leaving him penniless in a hospital bed. I quit my private all-girl’s college to take care of the only family I have left.

There’s one way to save our house, one thing I have left of value.

My virginity.

A forbidden auction…

Gabriel appears at every turn. He seems to take pleasure in watching me fall. Other times he’s the only kindness in a brutal underworld.

Except he’s playing a deeper game than I know. Every move brings us together, every secret rips us apart. And when the final piece is played, only one of us can be left standing.

THE PAWN is a full-length contemporary novel from New York Times bestselling author Skye Warren about revenge and seduction in the game of love.

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EXCERPT:

A sense of familiarity fills the space between us even though I know we haven’t met. This man is a stranger, but he looks at me as if he wants to know me. He looks at me as if he already does. There’s an intensity to his eyes when they sweep over my face, as firm and as telling as a touch.

“I need…” A thud against my ribs as I think about all the things I need—a rewind button. One person in the city who doesn’t hate me by name alone. “I need a loan.”

He gives me a slow perusal, from the nervous slide of my tongue along my lips to the high neckline of my dress. I tried to dress professionally—a black cowl-necked sweater and pencil skirt. His strange amber gaze unbuttons my coat, pulls away the expensive cotton, tears off the cotton fabric of my bra and panties. He sees right through me, and I shiver as a ripple of awareness runs over my skin.

I’ve met a million men in my life. Shaken hands. Smiled. I’ve never felt as seen through as I do right now. Never felt like someone has turned me inside out, every dark secret exposed to the harsh light. He sees my weaknesses, and from the cruel set of his mouth, he likes them.

His lids lower. “And what do you have for collateral?”

Nothing except my word. That wouldn’t be worth anything if he knew my name. I swallow past the lump in my throat. “I don’t know.”

Nothing.

He takes a step forward, and suddenly I’m crowded against the brick wall beside the door, his large body blocking out the warm light from inside. He feels like a furnace in front me, the heat of him in sharp contrast to the cold brick at my back. “What’s your name, girl?”

The word girl is a slap in the face. I force myself not to flinch, but it’s hard. Everything about him overwhelms me—his size, his low voice. “I’ll tell Mr. Scott my name.”

In the shadowed space between us, his smile spreads, white and taunting. The pleasure that lights his strange yellow eyes is almost sensual, as if I caressed him. “You’ll have to get past me.”

My heart thuds. He likes that I’m challenging him, and God, that’s even worse. What if I’ve already failed? I’m free-falling, tumbling, turning over without a single hope to anchor me. Where will I go if he turns me away? What will happen to my father?

“Let me go,” I whisper, but my hope fades fast.

His eyes flash with warning. “Little Avery James, all grown up.”

A small gasp resounds in the space between us. He already knows my name. That means he knows who my father is. He knows what he’s done. Denials rush to my throat, pleas for understanding. The hard set of his eyes, the broad strength of his shoulders tells me I won’t find any mercy here.

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Author Bio:

Skye Warren is the New York Times bestselling author of contemporary romance such as the Chicago Underground series. Her books have been featured in Jezebel, Buzzfeed, USA Today Happily Ever After, Glamour, and Elle Magazine. She makes her home in Texas with her loving family, two sweet dogs, and one evil cat.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / YouTube / Pinterest

 

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

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 Flamingos below!


On Tour with Prism Book Tours.

Welcome to my stop on the tour!

I have so much to share with you.

Enjoy the excerpt.

Check out this awesome series.

Watch the trailer.

And don’t forget to enter the giveaway.

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Scarred Beauty
(A Wylder Tale, #2)
by Jennifer Silverwood
YA Dark Fantasy
ebook, 209 Pages
December 1st 2016

Vynasha has become prisoner with the other wyld beasts of the castle, but she is not alone. In the howling darkness her majikal bond with the Dungeon Master, Grendall grows, awakening the dormant power in her blood.

Yet as she discovers the true nature of the other beasts, she learns she must embrace madness in order to free them all. Vynasha is willing to do anything to end the curse, even if that means transforming into a monster.

Burried secrets come to light in this seductive sequel to Craving Beauty, the Gothic retelling of the classic fairy tale of Beauty and the Beast, where nothing is exactly as it seems and the heroine must be her own hero.

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Do you create fanart?

Jennifer is offering extra entries on her tour giveaway and a special giveaway
during the Twitter Chat to one lucky artist! Post your fanart and share with
Jennifer on social media (@JennSilverwood on Twitter and Tumblr and
silverwoodj on Facebook). Look for inspiration and see her posts on Tumblr.

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Enjoy the excerpt

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Deep in the enchanted forest by the Silver River which flows through the Wylder Mountains, is a village of the Forgotten. Before Soraya the Enchantress cursed the land, the King declared war against all majikal peoples. Clans and villages scattered throughout the Wylderlands banded together to fight a losing battle against the King’s superior forces. Until only a single village was left, a remnant of the Forgotten and displaced. The King’s former wolfmen warriors chose to abandon their liege and named themselves the Forgotten Protectors of the land.

Soraya cast her curse, a final effort to rid them of her husband’s evil. Her majik succeeded in protecting the people so long oppressed, but then twisted as time passed. Young women were lured to the Lost City by Soraya’s majik, women of the old bloodlines, but none were the foreseen curse breaker.

An age later, the Forgotten Village survives. The leader of the pack of Protectors is Baalor Iceveins and while he tracks the last humans in the mountains, the curse breaker draws near. Little does he know his daughter, Erythea will be the one to meet her first.

~***~

Some were born with ice in their veins, so it had been told to her, so she knew it be true. Father would never lie to her. Anything he thought her too young to know, he simply refused to speak of. Instead he would smile, ruffle her curls and absently say, “Let it lie, little love.”

Grandmother whispered the secrets Father refused to tell, on nights he was away. Like how her mother was a truly wyld witch, of human kind rather than Wolv or one of the forgotten peoples.

“Aren’t humans evil, Grandmother? Is this why the pack hunts them?”

Grandmother’s black eyes sparkled in the candlelight. “The villagers will tell you that majik is evil, but what do you believe, lass?”

Erythea held up her fingers and watched the shadows cast on the wall beside her bed as she considered. “Everyone says they are cruel and evil. But in the old stories you told me, majik wasn’t always bad, was it?”

Grandmother hummed in the back of her throat and returned to her knitting. The click of her wooden needles filled the silence and Erythea knew she was waiting for the thought to turn.

“I think,” Erythea said, “maybe majik wasn’t always bad, like the humans weren’t always evil.”

“Why must the pack hunt the last humans, then, do you suppose?”

She scrunched her nose, amused by Grandmother’s question. “You already know…”

The clacking of needles paused, so only the tapering flame filled her ears, and then after a pause, “Of course, little one, but I am asking you.”

Erythea huffed and dropped her hands onto her fur covers. She ran her fingers over the soft surface and wondered if Father’s wolf coat was this soft, wondered for the umpteenth time what his other shape looked like.

Grandmother cleared her throat, resuming the click of her needles as though to say, well?

“I think the humans must have done something very bad once. Like how Mother did something bad to Father and that is why he never speaks of her.”

Grandmother cackled with delight. “Trust the candor of a child. Yes, my love, the humans were bad, just as the curse is bad. Fear can turn people into monsters. And something that was not meant to be evil can be twisted by fear.”

Though Erythea longed to understand her grandmother’s words, the full meaning of them slipped to the back of her mind, a package to be opened another day.

~***~

The following morning, she raced downstairs, hoping to find a head full of silver hair hung over broad shoulders beside the hearth fire. Instead Grandmother’s long white braid greeted her, followed by her black sparkling eyes as she turned her head to greet her.

“Good morning dearie. Come eat your porridge while it is hot.”

Erythea tried to swallow her disappointment. “Where is Father?”

Grandmother sniffed. “Chasing humans, no doubt. But you never mind that. I want you to do your chores as soon as you finish breaking fast. No mooning about today, little pup.”

“Yes, Grandmother.” Erythea swallowed another mouthful and then sighed. “Why is Father so worried?”

“He thinks he has need to worry so you don’t need to worry, and there’s an end to it.”

Erythea recognized the hard set of Grandmother’s shoulders and knew better than to push further. Better to snoop about the village later and see if she could hear anything. Maybe she could ask Liir later. He always told her things. The other kind were a lot more talkative than Wolvs, she had learned.

With this in mind, she rushed through cleaning house and was on her way to checking her traps in the nearby thicket. She tried not to worry after Father and failed, as usual. Why he hunted humans when her mother had been human was a mystery to her. Humans were a cruel and evil race, everyone claimed. So many times she begged her father to forget the humans and stay close to the village, but he only ever ruffled her hair and kissed her brow till it smoothed.

Erythea felt a frown furrowing her brow now as she checked her second empty trap and sighed as she walked further from the Iceveins cottage and deeper into the forest. She wished her nose was as sharp as Father’s. The familial Wolv traits had yet to manifest after her eleventh birthday, however. Which is why she didn’t hear the approach of the other children until they appeared suddenly across from her in the clearing.

Dread coiled in the pit of her stomach. Wolv children, and not just any but the three who liked her least.

“What do you want, Aelon?” She eyed the tallest and took a cautious step back, slipping her hand behind her cloak to grasp her knife by its hilt. She didn’t have claws like them yet, but she did have steel.

Aelon sneered down at her and took a prowling step forward. “You know what we want.” He lifted his hands to the Ironteeth siblings at his sides and flashed her a sharp toothed grin. “Show us your claws.”

Erythea squashed her rising fear, knowing they could smell it on her. “I don’t have to show you anything.”

He snarled at her. “That’s because you don’t have any claws, isn’t it? You’re a witch, not a Wolv and everyone knows it!”

Despite her best efforts, fear covered her like a second skin with his words. This wasn’t the first time the children teased her for being half human. But she had always clung to the hope she would take after her father’s Wolv side. Maybe then they would accept her. Deep down she knew better.

Aelon sniffed and stalked around her, the Ironteeth siblings at his heels. “I can smell your fear, witch. Why don’t you show us what you really are?”

Erythea pulled out her small dagger and slashed air. “Stay away!”

Aelon grinned. “Say please.” Before she could stop him, Aelon knocked her steel aside. She gasped as he pounced, forcing her into the snow and his fist collided with her cheek. “Show us!”

Erythea tried to throw her hands up but the Ironteeth siblings grabbed her hands. Her fear grew and with it the majik she tried so hard to keep hidden.

Please…oh please…

And then the snow began to tremble around them. A blue light filled the air and Aelon opened his mouth only for a ball of snow to fly into it. The children stumbled back as the snow around them rose from the earth and pounded their flesh. Erythea laughed as the light faded around them.

Some were born with ice in their veins, she thought with glee.

Aelon growled his fury at her as he rushed forward.

Erythea shrieked as his fist came down again.

“You are a freak, just like your mother! You think ’cause your father is pack master you can get away with it?”

This time she could see he meant it. He would kill her if she didn’t move. Pack matters like this meant no adults could interfere. It was how they learned who would run with the alpha once they grew up. No one suspected Erythea took after her human mother, at least not in public. But the children knew because their parents told them, whispering of their pack master’s treacherous human wife.

Please…

She feared the pressure building inside, growing as the Ironteeth twins tried to pull Aelon away in vain. And then a growl ripped through the small clearing, unlike anything they knew, more wyldcat than wolf. The children barely had time to look up for the source of such a monstrous sound, when Aelon was thrown up into the air by a fur garbed figure with long curling hair.

After the strange creature crouched over Erythea and snarled at the other children until they scrambled off in fear. Once they were alone, the creature twisted around to look over her with the fierce golden eyes of a wyldcat set in a strange, but beautiful foreign face.

It was the woman from the other night…Wanderer’s sister…the stranger the village elders were so frightened of. The woman had tackled Erythea’s father to the ground the night before. Yet here she was, this stranger willing to protect her when no one else would.

Maybe she could be the one… she thought with growing hope. Aloud, she said, “Aelon’s mother won’t forget what you did.”

The woman grimaced, her golden eyes glinting in the winter light. “He should be punished for what he did to you.”

“I won’t forget what you did, either,” Erythea was quick to say.

“I’m the one who threatened your village this morning.”

“I know. You are Wanderer’s sister. They say you’re a witch.”

A strange look crossed the woman’s face as she replied, “I guess I am.”

“My mother was a witch, too. That is why they hate me so much. My name is Erythea of the Iceveins clan.”

“Vynasha.”

Other Books in the Series

Craving Beauty
(A Wylder Tale, #1)
by Jennifer Silverwood
YA Dark Fantasy
Paperback & ebook, 239 pages
October 31st 2015

Vynasha has spent the last four years tending her mother’s roses and looking after her nephew. The fire that killed their family has left her scarred and put Wyll on the brink of death. Soon the first frost will come down from the mountains and she knows this winter will be his last.

Until a strange beggar appears on the road, telling her of the majikal Source that can heal her Wyll. With nothing left to lose, Vynasha braves the forbidden Wylder Mountains to seek out a cure and her fate.

A lost kingdom is uncovered by an equally lost girl, but the castle is not abandoned as she believes. Shadows cloaking unseen eyes watch. Tapestries whisper from the hidden corners, wondering if the one to break their curse has come. And a hungry beast waits, ready to devour her soul.

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Wolfsbane’s Daughter
(A Wylder Tale Novella)
by Jennifer Silverwood
YA Dark Fantasy
ebook, 52 Pages
February 25th 2016

Wolfsbane and his daughter Resha are on a never ending quest in the Wylder Mountains, to wipe out the wolves who destroyed their village. Before their enemies stole everything she loved, Resha cared for little beyond learning how to be a hunter. After, she learned a hunter must be prepared to fight as well as flee. Now she cares for nothing but revenge.

Until she discovers two majikal humans half frozen in the forest. Resha has a choice, to follow her instincts and leave the strangers to the wolves, or save them. Yet the enemy is on the prowl and there is little time for Wolfsbane’s daughter to find safe haven before they are discovered.

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Jennifer Silverwood was raised deep in the heart of Texas and has been spinning yarns a mile high since childhood. In her spare time she reads and writes and tries to sustain her wanderlust, whether it’s the Carpathian Mountains in Transylvania, the highlands of Ecuador or a road trip to the next town. Always on the lookout for her next adventure, in print or reality, she dreams of one day proving to the masses that everything really is better in Texas. She is the author of the Heaven’s Edge series, Stay and Silver Hollow.

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Other Books by the Author

   

Tour Schedule

December 1st: Launch
December 2nd: Magic & Machines & Nicole’s Book Musings
December 4th: Wishful Endings & Falling Leaves
December 5th: Letters from Annie Douglass Lima & fuonlyknew
December 6th: The Silver Dagger Scriptorium & Bloggin’ & Writing
December 7th: Mel’s Shelves & Book Butterfly in Dreamland
December 8th: Grand Finale
December 9th: Twitter Chat 8-9 PM ET #ScarredBeauty

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Tour Giveaway

3 winners to receive ebooks of all three books in A Wylder Tales: Craving Beauty, Wolfsbane’s Daughter, and Scarred Beauty (extra swag to US winners)
Open internationally
Ends December 12th

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

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 Flamingos below!

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Warpaint

Warpaint Trilogy Book 1

By Stephanie Smith

Genre: New Adult

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Warpaint is a haunting tale of friendship and rivalry between three women artists, who’ve known each other for years, who must come to terms with imminent mortality and artistic frustration: Liz Moore, born poor in Minnesota, fought her way to New York in the 1920s, but isn’t “discovered” until late in life; C.C. Davis, a well-to-do New Yorker is Moore’s only student, and rival, who, just after WWII achieves some small success, but feels, as she faces cancer in 2002, a failure; and Quiola Kerr, part Ojibwe, once C.C.’s lover, who is caught in the middle, and who, as a painter in the 21st century, has the most doubts about art’s value in an electronic world. In April 2002, all three meet a week before C.C.’s mastectomy at a MOMA retrospective for Liz Moore, but their reunion is tense. Still, they try to cope, until C.C. makes an unexpected and controversial choice, one which nearly breaks the bonds these three took so many decades to forge, and forces Quiola to try to confront Liz, who she believes deliberately sabotaged C.C.’s career.

Warpaint features American women painters, native american or American Indian (Ojibwe) history; it has a lesbian couple at the heart of the story; it’s about trying to survive breast cancer and choosing suicide; it features New York City, Paris, Minnesota and Connecticut. The Indian character, Quiola Kerr, shows up in the next book…

Goodreads * Hardcover on Amazon

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Baby Rocket

Warpaint Trilogy Book 2

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In 1966, a child is found abandoned in a rocket ride on Cape Canaveral. Traumatized, she could not speak when the police found her, only a few yards from her dead mother. So first responders called her “Baby Rocket.” As an adult, this child (Clementine “Lem” Dance) has no memory of this event. She only discovers her past when her adoptive father, James Walter Dance, Jr. has a fatal heart attack. Lem, a women’s historian who is writing a book about the Mercury 9, finds files while cleaning out her father’s apartment that he had been collecting in order to tell her the truth. Without him, she must piece together her story—why was she abandoned? What happened to her parents? How did her mother die? Who is her biological father? Doing so will take her from California back to the Tri-State area, where she now lives; to Florida, where she will find her mother’s roots and her mother’s life-story; and, finally, to Martha’s Vineyard, where she will come to terms with what she can recall and what she has uncovered about the wrenching facts of her early years.

Goodreads * Hardcover on Amazon

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Content Burns

Warpaint Trilogy Book 3

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“Content Burns” chronicles the parallel stories of two women from the same family who bear the same Puritan name, Content Burns, and who are separated by three centuries: One born a Pequot Indian, originally named Ásawanuw (Corn-silk), who converts and marries into the English Burns family in 1637, and one, nicknamed Cabbi, in modern-day New York. They are unknown to each other yet both women must learn how to survive an historical trauma that changed the course of American history, and their lives: the massacre of the Pequot tribe in 1637 and the loss of the Twin Towers on 9/11.

Goodreads * Hardcover on Amazon

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Stephanie Smith took her PhD from Berkeley (1990), and attended the Haystack Creative Writing Workshop in 1981, with Ursula K. LeGuin. Prior to UF, she worked as a free-lance journalist, an editor for Western Imprints, an assistant at Glamour and Mademoiselle magazines; at Representations and at David Godine Publications, and is presently a consultant for Feminist Studies. A novelist, she is the author of: The Warpaint Trilogy, Warpaint (2012), Baby Rocket (2013) and Content Burns (2014) (Thames River Press); Other Nature (TOR,1995), which was short-listed for the Tiptree Award; The-Boy-Who-Was-Thrown-Away and Snow-Eyes (Atheneum 1985/87), along with a number of short stories, which have appeared in such magazines as New Letters, Asimov’s and SF&F. She has won multiple fiction residencies at the Martha’s Vineyard Writer’s Residency at the Noepe Center for the Arts, Hedgebrook, Norcroft, Provincetown and Dorland, and she has been featured in a number of magazines and online blogs.

Examining the intersection of science, literature, politics, race and gender, her essays appear in such journals as differences, Novel, Criticism, Genders, Genre, American Literature and American Literary History. A 1998 Visiting NEH Scholar at UCLA, she is the author of Conceived By Liberty: Maternal Figures and 19th-Century American Literature (Cornell 1995), nominated for the MLA First Book Award; Household Words (Minnesota, 2006) excerpts from both books have been reprinted in several collections. A creative non-fiction “A Meditation on Brit” appeared in Remaking Moby Dick an international multi-modal story-telling performance, both in print as a special edition of Pea River Journal (2013) and online. Currently, she is finishing a new critical book about aesthetics and the publishing industry in the United States, titled The Muse and The Marketplace, a chapter of which, “Union Blues: Melville’s Poetic In(ter)ventions,” is in the spring 2014 journal Genre; she is also finishing a new novel, Strange Grace.

Goodreads * Website * Amazon * Facebook

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$20 Amazon Gift Card.

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

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Title: Sight Unseen
Author: Erin Leigh Crisp
Publisher: Independent
Pages: 198
Genre: Christian Romance

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Emilia Phillips is looking for a career and a way out of her day job. She is not looking for a man to rescue her heart.

Asher Mason wants his life back. He lost his sight and the hero-life he loved in a millisecond. He no longer trusts his instincts, especially about women. But the sweet-smelling waitress in his favorite café tempts him to trust. As Emilia helps Asher relearn everyday activities, the two find themselves falling faster than either expected.

Can a woman love a blind soldier? Will she want a man who doesn’t recognize himself anymore? As Asher’s shortcomings become more apparent to him, the wedge forced between he and Emilia widens. Can Asher trust the same God that took his sight to direct his future?

 

Purchase: Amazon

 

Book Excerpt:

“How long has it been?” Emilia could have bitten off her own tongue.

His eyes glanced over again, but they didn’t see her. He gave one huge breath and shrugged, like it wasn’t important. “Three months.”

Only three months? And he was walking around town and ordering coffee? No seeing-eye dog, no dark glasses? She wanted to compliment him, but she figured he wasn’t the type of man to take it for what it was. Instead, she eased her hand onto his shoulder for a split second and went for humor instead.

“I should have noticed when you didn’t wink back at me earlier.”

His head shot up, and his cheeks tinged the darkest pink.

Emilia covered her giggle and shook her head. “I swear I’m kidding. I wasn’t flirting with you, but I really should have noticed earlier. My brother was born blind. He’s seventeen.”

The man looked curious, but he was still blushing and she decided not to press him. “Anyway, if you need anything, my name is Emilia. I’ll be here all week.”

His lips turned up in the smallest smile. She reminded herself that she wasn’t looking for a man. She took three steps away before he called her name.

Her feet stopped. “Yeah?”

He swallowed hard, his fingers linking on the tabletop. His eyes searched for her face. “I’m Asher Mason. Thank you, again.”

“It was my pleasure.” She turned and walked away, but the damage was already done. Her heart thumped crazily. Her cheeks heated. Her teeth bit down to stop the smile that threatened. And I’m in a load of trouble, she thought.

About the Author

Erin Leigh Crisp

 

Erin was born and raised on the Florida/Alabama state line in a small farming community which has served as inspiration for her novels. She believes the heart of a happy ending is God and His plan for the lives of His people.

In 2014, Erin published her first novels for sale.  She currently has eight full-length novels and one novella for sale on Amazon. Erin makes her home in Northeast Georgia with her husband, four children and two fish. Erin has a bachelor degree in Christian Counseling and enjoys photography in her spare time.

Web & Social Networks:

WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK

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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 Flamingos below!

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This is my own version of a weekly book haul and all things new on fuonlyknew.

Another fun way to share your book news and enjoy others is The Sunday Post hosted by

Sunday Post

Kimberly the Caffeinated Book Reviewer

Head on over and leave a link to your Sunday Post and hop around to visits others.

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Some chit chat.

Well, I sure blew off this week. LOL

Aside from work, which was kind of slow, I didn’t do a whole lot of anything.

I binged watched Once Upon A Time from the beginning up til the latest episode. This is such a fun show. I love how they weave in all of the different characters from beloved fairy tales.

And I got most of my decorating done. All that’s left is hanging the lights on the front porch. I’ll take pictures when it’s finished.

I used to have a different theme fro decorating my Christmas tree each year. There was the silver and gold ornaments one year. Red and white the next. One year was just different ribbons and bows. With so many fun ornaments collected, I know just throw everything on the tree every which way. LOL

I took pictures of some of the ornaments. Not the best with my phone, but here they are.

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 How do you decorate your tree? Do you do something different each year?

I’ll be hopping over to check out your Sunday Posts so be sure to leave me your link.

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New books on my shelf. Some I won, some are for review, and some I just had to have.

Zombie World (The Z-Day Trilogy Book 4) by [Ailes, Mark Cusco]  The Night of the Christmas Letter Getters by [Black, Eldritch]

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And here are some freebies for ya!

Click on the covers to get yours and remember to make sure they’re still free before you click that buy button.

That Moment When: An Anthology of Young Adult Fiction by [Lalonde, A.M., Kaitlin Bevis , Katlyn Duncan, Leia Stone, Michelle Madow , Melle Amada , Melissa A. Craven, Jenetta Penner, Jennifer Bardsley, SL Morgan , Norma Hinkens , David R. Bernstein , Rob Slater , Melissa Algood , Heather Lee Dyer , Kira Lerner , Patti Larsen , Kelly St. Clare , Derek Murphy , Claire Luana , Roz Marshall , Rachel Morgan , Angel Leya, Shaun L Griffiths , Kristin D. Van Risseghem , Katherine Bogle , S. McPherson , Cassidy Taylor , Laurie Treacy , Stacy Claflin, Kat Stiles , Jackson Dean Chase , Amy Laurens , David Kudler , Laura Diamond , Hilary Thompson, Avril Sabine, Jamie Thornton , Jaime Munn ]  Winter Solstice: Short Stories from the Worlds of KP Novels (Kindle Press Anthologies Book 1) by [Cole, Lincoln, Cassidy Lewis, Linda, Knauss, Jessica, Ward, Jacqueline, Omasta, Ann, Ryker, Jada, Quinn, Fiona, Dutton, Monte, Hayton, Katherine, Roman, Teresa]  Frankenkitty: (Some Assembly Required) by [Harrison, R]

  White Christmas by [Lee-Potter, Emma]  The Christmas Getaway by [Barry, Jill]  Mall Santa Murder (Gemma Stone Cozy Mystery Book 2) by [Monroe, Willow]

Keeper of the Books (Keeper of the Books, Book 1) by [Morrow, Jason D.]  The Outlaw's Quest (Keeper of the Books, Book 2) by [Morrow, Jason D.]  Half-Made Girls: A Pitchfork County Novel by [Witt, Sam]

Souls by the Sea by [Talbot, Jessie G.]  Vampire Bait: Vampire Romance (The Angler Book 1) by [Nicholas, Annie]  Flying Away (The Flykeeper Chronicles Book 1) by [Gill, Caroline]

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Books I reviewed this week. Click on the covers to read my reviews.

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Books up for review next week.

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and I’ve been meaning to review these for several Christmas holidays. You know how that goes. LOL These are both the same title but couldn’t be more different.

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Other posts on my blog this week.

Shadow Of The Drill ~ Tour and Giveaway

One Of Windsor ~ Review and Giveaway

Teaser Tuesday #182 ~ Christmas Magic 1959

I Was Murdered Last Night ~ Tour and Giveaway

The Reader Appreciation Mega Giveaway

Reborn ~ Princess of the Blood #1

Mystic Mistletoe Murder ~ Blitz and Giveaway

The Reformation Of Marli Meade ~ Blitz and Giveaway

A Marketville Mystery ~ Skeletons In The Attic

Of The Trees ~ Cover and 1st Chapter Reveal and Giveaway

The Friday 56 #129 ~ Gemina

A Hidden Element ~ Review and Giveaway

Snowed ~ Blitz and Giveaway

The Adventures Of Natalie Bloom ~ Author Interview and Giveaway

When Ash Rains Down ~ Cover Reveal

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

For a list of my reviews go HERE

For a list of free eBooks go HERE

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

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I can’t wait for you to see the cover reveal of When Ash Rains Down.

It’s spectacular!

The author is celebrating on Facebook with all kinds of fun.

Be sure to read to the end of the post for details.

Are

you

ready?

Here

it

is!

(more…)

The Adventures of Natalie Bloom
Brooke Stanton
(Bloom Sisters, #2)
Publication date: December 2nd 2016
Genres: Adult, Comedy, Romance

Natalie’s dreams are about to come true. She’s found the perfect spot for her new restaurant and a perfect business partner to make it happen – gorgeous Luke Hawker – until she discovers things are not as they seem. Luke has run off with her money, leaving her dreams crumbling around her.

With Max Euston – her friend and secret crush -alongside her, Natalie must race against the clock to find Luke and get the money back before it’s too late.

With twists and turns, Natalie won’t know who to trust (or love) until the very last page.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / iBooks

Here are some bonuses if you buy the book between Dec 2and Dec 6:
1: 75% off the retail price
2: entrance into an exclusive giveaway for a $50 Amazon Gift Card
3: A FREE, advanced copy of The Downfall of Catie Bloom

The bonuses will be available in the table of contents under Bonus when you buy the eBook.

Q&A with Brooke Stanton

Tell us a little about yourself.
When did you decide to become a writer?
I used to keep notebooks filled with short stories starting in middle school. If I’m going to be completely honest they were filled with some pretty risqué stories. I was young and didn’t know much about romance or sex, but my aunt wrote romance novels and I used to sneak and read them, so I tried to emulate her. I didn’t really understand the subject matter. I don’t think I’d even kissed a boy, yet. Once I got to high school, I wrote more mainstream fiction in my spiral notebooks. They were never for anyone to see. Just my own enjoyment. I went to a performing arts high school and funnelled my creativity on stage at the time. But I always knew one day I would publish a book.

Why do you write?
I write for the same reason I used to get on stage and sing and act. It’s cathartic. I love diving into different stories and characters. It makes me feel alive.

What are your ambitions for your writing career?
To have the freedom to write what I want in many different genres. I hope my readers love my books as much as I love writing them.

What has been the hardest part of building your career?
Being patient!

Which writers inspire you?
Jojo Moyes, Emily Giffin, Meg Cabot. All their stories and characters are interesting and unique and I love how their stories unfold. The love stories feel authentic and there’s always a bit of fun and laughter.

What have you written? (Include books, novellas, short stories, poems, blogs, awards or anything of interest).
My debut novel was the award-winning RomCom, The Misadventures of Catie Bloom. My follow-up novel is The Advenutres of Natalie Bloom, which is the second book in the Bloom Sisters series (but can be read as a stand-alone). I have a blog on my website that focuses on my writing career with day-to-day life anecdotes. When I was trying to get preggers, I had a humor blog called Vagina Vacancy. I also contributed to Natural Awakenings magazine and wrote a column for examiner.com.

What inspires your ideas?
Everything! No, really. I never know when an idea is going to hit; I could be on a plane, in a car, watching a movie, reading the newspaper, about to fall asleep. My phone is filled with notes of story ideas. I have at least a dozen. And they will all be written.

Are there any correlations between the books you write and your life experiences?
The Adventures of Natalie Bloom was largely inspired by my yearly trips to Red Frog Beach in Panama. My parents own a place there and it’s a beautiful, unique, inspiring location. The wheels in my head were turning every time I went down there and out of that came this book.
My novel, How to Survive New York on Three Dates a Week (co-written by Corinne Barlow), is the most biographical. Most of the stories are pulled right from our lives. It’s scheduled to be released in early 2018.
All my books have a few anecdotes I took either directly from my life or my friends. If you know me, read carefully…you may find a bit of your life staring back at you!

Do you work from an outline or plot or do you prefer just to see where an idea takes you?
I used to write and see where the story took me. But I found writing for discovery without any kind of outline takes too long. Now I write a short outline before I write any book. It has done wonders for the speed in which I can write a book now. And there’s still a lot to discover, even with an outline.

Tell me about your most recent release.
It’s a romantic adventure about discovering what you and what you’ll do (and won’t do) to get. It’s a bit of romance, adventure, and mystery all tied together. Natalie Bloom discovers to get what she wants she has to fight for it and not be afraid to get hurt…a hard thing to do for all of us.
Is there a message in your novel that you hope readers will grasp? I don’t focus on a message as much as I focus on giving my readers something to indulge in, like sneaking a pint of rocky road ice cream and savouring every morsel as it slides down. But the most prominent theme in Natalie Bloom is not letting fear get in the way of living your life – stand up for what you want and go out and get it, no matter what the obstacles.

Any new projects we should look out for?
The third and final book in the series, The Downfall of Catie Bloom, is coming out in the summer of 2017.

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Author Bio:

Melissa Foster is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling and award-winning author. She writes sexy and heartwarming contemporary romance, new adult romance (M/F, M/M, F/F), romantic suspense, thrillers, and historical fiction with emotionally compelling characters that stay with you long after you turn the last page. Melissa’s emotional journeys are lovingly erotic and always family oriented. Her books have been recommended by USA Today’s book blog, Hagerstown Magazine, The Patriot, and several other print venues. She is the founder of the World Literary Café. When she’s not writing, Melissa helps authors navigate the publishing industry through her author training programs on Fostering Success.

Melissa has painted and donated several murals to The Hospital for Sick Children in Washington, DC. Her interests include her family, reading, writing, painting, friends, helping others see the positive side of life, and visiting Cape Cod.

Melissa is available to chat with book clubs and welcomes comments and emails from her readers. Visit Melissa on Facebook or her personal website.

Never miss a brand new release, special promotions or inside gossip again by simply signing up to receive your newsletter from Melissa.

Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook

 

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

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 Flamingos below!

Snowed
Maria Alexander
Publication date: November 2nd 2016
Genres: Fantasy, Mystery, Young Adult

Charity Jones is a 16-year-old engineering genius who’s much-bullied for being biracial and a skeptic at her conservative school in Oak County, California. Everything changes when Charity’s social worker mother brings home a sweet teen runaway named Aidan to foster for the holidays. Matched in every way, Charity and Aidan quickly fall in love. But it seems he’s not the only new arrival: Charity soon finds the brutally slain corpse of her worst bully and she gets hard, haunting evidence that the killer is stalking Oak County. As she and her Skeptics Club investigate this death and others, they find at every turn the mystery only grows darker and more deadly. One thing’s for certain: there’s a bloody battle coming this holiday season that will change their lives – and human history – forever.

Will they be ready?

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble

SNEAK A PEEK AT CHAPTER 3:

I can hear Mom and Dad chatting in the living room, asking questions. Another softer voice with a strange accent gives staccato answers.
“Charity?” Mom calls out. She sounds annoyed.

I shuffle through the foyer, inhaling the smell of baking lasagna. When I enter the family room, Mom and Dad are sitting on the couch with mugs, tea bag tags draped over the edges. Some guy I don’t know sits with them in the easy chair. I can’t help checking him out. He’s my age, average height, with skin pale as cream and wavy ebony hair. His light blue eyes shimmer under long, inky lashes. His wrinkled, striped dress shirt is much too big for his narrow shoulders, and his scuffed black boots with pointed toes peek out from the cuffs of his baggy jeans. He gives off a weird vibe, like he’s been in prison or working for suicide bombers.

He must be a stray.

My mom’s a social worker. She’s always bringing home people for meals. Damaged people.

Mom wraps an arm around my shoulders, kissing my ear. “Where have you been? Did you get my message?”

I shake my head.

“Hey. How’d it go?” Dad hugs me as well. I kiss his big scruffy face.

They are being very nice. Something’s up.

“Not great. I’ll tell you later.” I stare at our visitor.

“Charity, this is Aidan MacNichol. Aidan, this is my daughter, Charity.”

“How do you do?” He holds out his hand. His eyes barely meet mine. His voice is a notch higher than I expect and kind of sing-song. What century is this guy from? Who says stuff like that?

“Hi,” I say and give him The Boneless Hand. I’m touching you but I’m not happy about it.

Except I am. His skin is incredibly soft, like my mom’s charmeuse dress. He

lets go. At the last second, I almost don’t.

And he almost doesn’t, either.

“Where’s your brother?” Dad asks.

“I don’t know. In jail?”

“Charity, stop it,” Mom sighs.

“What? I never know where he is.”

A car roars into the gravel driveway. It must be Charles’ ride. The music escaping the car windows sounds like someone is grinding the air into steel shavings. As the car retreats, Charles bursts through the front door and makes for the staircase.

“Hey! Charles, come here.” Dad motions to him.

Charles looks as if he’d rather snack on rat poison than join us, but he does.

“Hey.” Charles lifts his chin at Aidan. Aidan nods back.

“We want to talk to you guys.” Mom puts her hand on Aidan’s shoulder.

“Aidan is going to be staying with us for a little while.”

“This is bullshit,” Charles announces and heads for the staircase. He looks

at Aidan. “No offense.”

“Hey, get back here!” Dad yells.

“No family meeting? You just drop this on us?” I ask.

Mom looks mortally offended. “Charity!”

“It’s not fair. We never get a say in anything that happens around here. Not about Aunt Bulimia—”

“Aunt Bellina.”

“Or the dog I wanted?”

“Honey, you know Charles is allergic.”

“The only thing he’s allergic to is school!”

“Shut up, Cherry.” Charles glares at me, his hamster face squinching up.

“We have guests from my work all the time,” Mom says, “and you’ve never cared before.”

“Yeah, for dinner.”

Aidan slinks back, hands in his pants pockets. He watches the sky through the sliding glass door on the far wall of the living room. He’s humming a familiar tune under his breath. I can’t quite place it.

“I should go.”

Aidan’s announcement cuts through the room. Everyone falls silent.

“I can’t stay here,” he says. “I’m sorry, Mr. Jones. You’ve been very kind.”

“You’re not going anywhere, Aidan.” Mom invokes The Voice. It’s from her days as a trial lawyer. “If you leave, I have to call the authorities. You’re underage, your legal residency is in question, and the county has put you in our care. You can stay with us or you can go to juvy.” Mom darkened. “I don’t recommend juvy.”

“Neither does Charles,” I say.

“Shut up, Cherry!”

Aidan sighs. “I don’t know what this ‘juvy’ is but I suppose I don’t want to go.”

“Are you from like England or something?” Charles asks.

Aidan looks confused. “I beg your pardon?”

“Where is he sleeping?” I ask.

“Your room,” Dad says.

My face heats with horror. I bury it in my hands.

“Kidding!” Dad says, throwing an arm around me for a bear squeeze.

“Sewing room. Now let’s have some chow.”

Mom shuttles us to the dining table. She interrogates Charles as to why he stinks like cigarette smoke, but he claims it’s from riding with his friend Noah. I say nothing. As we set the table, she brings out the salad and lasagna, which smells heavenly.

Humiliation and disappointment haven’t affected my appetite at all, apparently. I wish something would.

I notice that Aidan holds the fork like he’s strangling it. He scrapes the plate. Everyone winces. Where is this guy from? And why is he so strange? Who doesn’t know how to use a fork?

I want to flee to my room to cry but I can’t. I want to make up with Keiko. I feel terrible about that fight. But Mom has laid down the law: No running off before the meal is over. Supposedly this encourages Charles to stay put and bond with us. If I ran upstairs and flung myself onto the bed now, I’d be doubly busted because we have a guest. I just want to be alone and this weird stranger is keeping me from my snug room where I can just melt down.

“Are you all right?” Aidan looks at me, concerned. “Don’t worry. It wasn’t

you who misbehaved at school today.”

Wait—what? How could he know? Or does he?

Mom shoots Aidan an anxious look, then me. “Honey, is there something going on?”

“Cherry started a riot at school today,” Charles offers.

“A riot?” Dad eyes me with disbelief.

“Shut up! That’s not what happened!”

“And then she made the Christian girls cry.”

“Charity!” Mom says. “Was this your club?”

“Mom, I didn’t do anything to anyone.”

“Then they sent Cherry like a million text messages so she can’t use her phone anymore.” Charles beams with triumph.

I want to slam his face into the Pyrex dish. “You! Did you give them my cell number?” My face heats with the rage. My hand balls into a fist on the table.

“That’s enough.” Dad points at Charles. “Did you give out your sister’s cell number?”

“Of course not,” Charles says, indignant. Dad eyes him suspiciously, but lets it drop. There is no justice.

Mom wearily passes Dad the wine bottle. “Charity, what happened?”

“Nothing. I put up a flyer about the Skeptic’s Club and the BFJs picketed my meeting, calling me a lot of unspeakable names. They harassed everyone who was there. They were harassing me with texts calling me a Satanist even before the club meeting. I had to turn off my phone. That’s why I didn’t get your call.” Tears scald the corners of my eyes.

“Where were the school officials?” Mom asks. “I can’t believe they let this happen!”

“Don’t worry. Mr. Vittorio told me he’s reporting it. He’s the librarian.”

Aidan sits with his hands folded in his lap, eyes trailing to the window.

Mom narrows her eyes at Dad and polishes off her glass of wine.

And then there’s Keiko… I can’t take it anymore. I manage to stand up and choke out, “Excuse me,” before dashing for my room.

I hear Charles complaining behind me. “So Cherry gets to have a tampon tizzy and get out of dishes?”

I slam the door and the tears spill out. As I fall on the bed, I look to Mr. Spotty and Miss Yoyodyne, who squat beside my desk. These aren’t stuffed animals. They’re robots I built. I feel like kicking one of my plastic component bins but I hurt so much, I just double over on the bed.

Footsteps pound up the stairs and Mom taps on my door. I know her knock.

“Come in.”

Mom sits on the bed and hugs me. Between sobs, I tell her what happened with Keiko.

“Honey, these people are serious bullies. Do you want me and Dad to talk to the principal?”

“No. That’ll only make it worse. Besides, the school says they’ll deal with it. Can we wait and see what happens?”

She looks unconvinced, wiping hair out of my eyes. “If they lay a hand on you…”

“…I have a good lawyer.”

After Mom leaves, I text Keiko.

I’m so sorry, K. Please don’t be mad. I won’t put up any more flyers. I promise! Xoxo

As I read One Hundred Years of Solitude for AP English, I can hear thebumps and scrapes of Dad and Charles setting up the cot in the sewing room. Despite his protests, Charles enjoys showing off that he can lift more than Dad, who had back surgery several months ago. Mom digs through the sewing room closet. “We’ll get you more clothes this weekend,” I hear her tell Aidan. They wish each other a good night.

After two long hours of AP Calculus followed by Honors Chemistry and French, I eventually crawl into bed, exhausted and wishing that I believed in something—anything—that I could pray to and make things okay with Keiko.

Everything falls quiet except for Aidan. I hear him humming. The wall is thin between us.

I remember hearing Mom crying in the sewing room after we first moved here. She and Dad weren’t getting along. I hate thinking of my mom being weak. She has to be strong, the badass lawyer who torches anything in her way with her words. I love her for that. To hear her sobbing was haunting.

Aidan keeps humming. It’s that same tune as before but this time I know what it is.

Carol of the Bells.

A Christmas song.

 

Author Bio:

Maria Alexander is a produced screenwriter, published games writer, virtual world designer, award-winning copywriter, interactive theatre designer, fiction writer, snarkiologist and poet. Her short stories have appeared in numerous publications and acclaimed anthologies alongside living legends such as David Morrell and Heather Graham.

Her debut novel, Mr. Wicker, won the 2014 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel. She’s represented by Alex Slater at Trident Media Group.

When she’s not wielding a katana at her Shinkendo dojo, she’s being outrageously spooky or writing Doctor Who filk. She lives in Los Angeles with two ungrateful cats and a purse called Trog.

Website / Goodreads / Twitter

 

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