This time of the year is often
happy, filled with cheer and the spirit of giving. For those who enjoy
something a little darker, though, there are plenty of thrills on the movie
front.
If you like things that are
twisted and dark, then here are the top five scary holiday movies you can
watch:
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Jack Frost
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Nothing like a killer snowman
named Jack Frost to get you in the mood for the holidays, right? This 1997
thriller is a classic holiday romp you are sure to enjoy. The movie takes place
in the fictional town of Snowmonton, where a truck carrying serial killer Jack
Frost to his execution crashes into a genetics truck. The genetic material
causes Jack’s body to mutate and fuse together with the snow on the ground. As
you can imagine, what happens next is pretty freaky and fun!
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Gremlins
As cute as those little buggers
are when they are soft, fuzzy Mogwai, they are delightfully evil as Gremlins.
They wreak havoc during Christmas when a boy inadvertently breaks three
important rules about getting his new pet wet. This is a family favorite and if
you’ve never seen it, now it is the season.
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Silent Night, Deadly Night
A slasher flick that brings us
all back to the 80s, this film is perfect for fans of serial killer movies.
It’s tehe story of an escaped maniac who returns to his childhood home on
Christmas Eve, which is now a sorority house, and begins to murder the sorority
sisters one by one. There is lots of blood and gore, watch this one with the
lights low after the kids are in bed.
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Krampus
Released last year, Krampus is
based on a German legend and takes the notion of St. Nick and spins it in a
whole new direction. It’s about a boy who has a bad Christmas ends up
accidentally summoning this festive demon to his family home. Lots of jumpy
moments make this a must-watch during the holidays.
.
The
Nightmare Before Christmas
Okay, this is considered a
Halloween flick, too, but it certainly crosses over and spans two of the best
holidays of the year. You see, Jack Skellington, king of Halloween Town,
discovers Christmas Town, but doesn’t quite understand the concept. Can you
blame him? Tim Burton is a master and this film can be enjoyed by young and old
anytime during the season.
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Oubliette: A Forgotten Little Place
Vanta M. Black
Genre: Fiction, Thriller, Paranormal,
Historical Fiction, Genre-Fiction,
New Adult, Horror
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Publisher: Black Chateau Publishing
Date of Publication: March 2016
ISBN: 978-0-9964488-2-6 / ISBN: 978-0-9964488-1-9
ISBN: 978-0-9964488-0-2
Number of pages: 566 / Word Count: 247,912
Cover Artist: Black Chateau Enterprises
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My Review
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This is a rather long book but reads quickly as the author transports you back in time and forward to the present, giving you multiple perspectives that enrich this tale of historical horror. And it all starts with a ten-year-old girl, Veronica, suffering from what everyone believes are night terrors.
The author then flashes to the present. Veronica is all grown up and struggling to make it on her own as an interior designer. A mysterious invitation to come to France for the summer and do a complete makeover at the historical Le Chateau du Feu Ardent, which means The Castle Of Blazing Fire, sounds like a dream come true to her. But she could never have imagined the nightmares that await.
Veronica invites her sister, Nikki, to come along. Nikki is a bit spoiled and self-centered but I still found her a delight. She adds that light- hearted humor that provides a break in the suspense, allowing you to fully connect with these two sisters. But all isn’t light and laughter as the two are exposed to something dark, insidious. It will be a summer they’ll never forget, and maybe won’t survive.
Oubliette is filled with historical fact that blends the real and fictional. The author’s ability to do this shines in her descriptions of the different periods. You feel like you’ve stepped in a time capsule and are actually seeing the places she reveals.
The cover was what first caught my attention. I thought I was getting a horror story. And I did. But I also got much, much more, and I highly recommend this tale.
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4 Stars
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Book Description
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Veronica knows the monsters aren’t “just in her head”, but no one listens to the headstrong ten-year-old as they tie her to a hospital bed every night.
Years later, after being dumped by her business-partner/boyfriend, Veronica finds herself on the verge of bankruptcy. Then a late-night call promises the perfect solution — a job opportunity decorating a castle in France.
Will Veronica risk what little she has left to chase a fairytale?
When the shadowy things that once terrorized her come back, Veronica must decide how much she’ll sacrifice for them, for her sanity, and for her life.
This epic book consists of interwoven stories with paranormal twists. A horror-filled historical fiction adventure, it spans nearly two millennia.
You’ll be transported to an ancient Pagan ritual, Roman-ruled Gaul, the bloody Inquisition of the Knights Templar, France as it’s ravaged by the Black Death, the duplicitous Reformation, the Paris Catacombs, and the gory French Revolution, while you unravel Oubliette’s cryptic layers.
Excerpt One from Oubliette—A Forgotten Little Place by Vanta M. Black – From the Prologue to Veronica’s Story
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Veronica didn’t understand why they looked for the monsters in her head, that’s obviously not where they were. Instead of listening, the doctors stuck pads with wires to her temples and increased the dosage of an IV that dripped into her veins.
They also told the nurses to tie her down with thick, leather belts every night.
The tethers didn’t matter though, because when the monsters came, she wouldn’t be able to move anyway. The only thing Veronica could ever do was scream.
The doctors called them “night terrors”. The pudgy lady who talked funny –– she told Veronica it was her accent –– said they were “spirits”. Mommy used the term “shadow people”. Veronica just called them “monsters”, and wished they’d stop scaring her when she slept.
They wanted her. Deep inside, on a primal level, Veronica knew the monsters –– or whatever they were –– craved her, and if given the chance, they would do something very, very bad to her.
The little girl tried to explain this to the doctors, the nurses, the accent-talking lady, and her mother, but none of the adults really listened. Instead they argued and shouted at each other, and huffed in and out of the room –– but the thing that frightened Veronica the most, is when the adults would simply shrug their shoulders, and admit that they really didn’t have any idea what the monsters were at all.
About the Author:
Vanta M. Black, author of Oubliette—A Forgotten Little Place, enjoys uncovering the dark mysteries of our Universe.
In addition to writing, she enjoys traveling to provocative places and studying all things esoteric.
Black has degrees in English, communication and art. She resides in Southern California with her husband and two pug-mix dogs, and spends her time in support of causes that empower women and advance science and technology.
The Oh Lá Lá Oubliette Fan Fiction Contest gives writers the opportunity to win a trip to France! This is ideal for horror fans who love to read and write.
The criteria is simple. Writers are asked to submit between 500 and 10,000 words.
Any of the many story lines or characters from the book may be used for inspiration. A judging panel will evaluate fan fiction submissions on story structure, creativity, and authenticity to the book.
Entries can be flash fiction, biographical, historical, poem, or
When Blood Reigns Barbara Cluster
Publication date: December 5th 2016
Genres: Adult, Horror, Science Fiction
Marked for death, Alexis accompanies her lover, Yeron, and four survivors of a zombie invasion on a search for the renegades who created a chemical that induces a zombie-like state. On the way, ravenous flesh-eaters attack Alexis’s team; one survivor turns on her. She realizes too late that the renegades have been tracking her every move. When officials capture her, she becomes deathly ill. Can DNA splicing save her? Will Yeron’s attempts at rescue jeopardize all their lives?
The author wanted you to know the book will be on sale fro $2.99 – regular 3.99 for the first month of release!
Teodon pointed toward Laurel and held a finger to his lip.
“Do not speak out loud. I will understand the answers you think.”
Okay, Yeron’s badly hurt and so am I. I can’t move him without making his injuries worse.
“All right, then I will levitate him. I know how and I will not see him die. Go ahead of us and lead me to Quyeba’s laboratory. You must forget your injuries and pain. It may seem impossible, but Yeron needs your help. I cannot carry two injured people safely, and if you stay, Laurel will come after you again.”
I understand. Alexis struggled onto her hands and knees.
Harsh chewing and slurping sounds issued from Laurel. Despite the pain wracking her body, Alexis crawled toward the door.
She had to find her way back to the lab. Yeron was moaning, and his cries were growing weaker. Teodon lifted him. He depended on her to lead the way. Any second, Laurel would tire of Woehar and come after her.
Never mind the pain. Find help.
Gritting her teeth, Alexis began her Bataan Death Crawl. Her incisions telegraphed bolts of stabbing pain with each movement. It doesn’t matter; Yeron’s life is on the line. She mind-opened the panel and led Yeron and Teodon through the exit.
Once in the hallway, Teodon hesitated.
“Left or right?”
Woehar had made a sharp right to enter the killing field, Alexis remembered. Left.
She edged along the long stretch of hall. The throbbing from her incision and back brought to mind the pain she’d felt from the rheumatoid arthritis during her job as a respiratory therapist. Her chest tightened at the prospect of navigating that long corridor the way it used to when she faced a heavy shift. No painkillers were forthcoming. She kept going.
It was simple. Woehar had guided right from the laboratory, and then a long stretch of hallway, past two sets of doors, before making her right into the death camp. So Alexis retraced Woehar’s steps and looked for steel doors on her left leading to the lab. Adrenaline would carry her. She’d once read a tale about a mother whose adrenaline rush allowed her to lift a car off her child’s injured body.
Agony bled into her incision with every shift of her knees. The pain was worse in her lower back, where Laurel had kicked her. Sweat rolled down her forehead, dripping on the grid floor. She was leaving bloody handprints and a ribbon of blood. None of that mattered. She strained her ears, listening for familiar voices.
Seconds later, she did hear Quyeba and Zoltar. A few paces further, ungodly spasms tore through her back. The black dots returned. She called for help. She last saw Teodon kneel over Yeron, placing something on his wounded shoulder. Behind them, Laurel emerged from the corridor, growling, her mouth opened wide. The dots swelled and the screams died in Alexis’s throat as the darkness took her.
Author Bio:
Barbara lives near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she works full time as a respiratory therapist. When she’s not working with her patients, she’s enjoying a fright flick or working on horror and science fiction tales. She’s published Night to Dawn magazine since 2004.
Other books by Barbara include Twilight Healer, City of Brotherly Death, Infinite Sight, and Steel Rose; also novellas Close Liaisons and Life Raft: Earth. She enjoys bringing her medical background to the printed page, and then blending it with supernatural horror. She maintains a presence on Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, and The Writers Coffeehouse forum. Look for the photos with the Mylar balloons, and you’ll find her.
A true cozy lover’s cozy that might just surprise you at the end. ~Laura’s Interests
I really enjoyed this book with the themes of Christmas and of course murder… ~Community Bookstop
I’ve really love all the characters in this book and their friendships. I feel like I’m visiting friends when I read a book from this series.. ~A Chick Who Reads
Another fun cozy in the Embroidery Mystery series. I’ve read several of these and am always glad to revisit old friends, see who got snuffed and why, sift through the clues, and see if my guess on who did it is correct.
It’s a busy time at Marcy’s embroidery shop, but she just can’t refuse when her friend, Captain Moe, asks her to play an elf to his Santa for sick kids at the hospital.
It’s all fun and laughter until the hospital’s administrator is found dead and Rudolph’s shiny red nose points at Moe as the main suspect. I guess no good deed goes unpunished.
It was good to visit with Marcy again and see how her relationship with Ted was going. And always glad to see more of Angus, her Irish Wolfhound. He’s such a character and plays a bigger role in this one. He’s got a nose for clues.
Being from a small town myself, I’m drawn to cozies. They feel so much like my community. Most people know each other and that breeds familiarity. A murder that’s close to home has everyone looking at their neighbor, wondering just how well they really know each.
A fun misadventure for the holidays, you can’t go wrong here.
4 Stars
~~~~~
Synopsis
Santa finds himself in a stitch of trouble in the tenth in the series from the national bestselling author of The Stitching Hour…
Marcy is busy helping her customers make hand-crafted ornaments at her embroidery shop, the Seven-Year Stitch. But despite the yuletide bustle, when her friend Captain Moe asks for her help, she can’t refuse—especially when the favor is to play the elf to his Santa for sick children at a local hospital. Despite the ridiculous outfit, Marcy finds herself enjoying spreading cheer—until the hospital’s administrator is found murdered.
Although the deceased had plenty of people willing to fill her stocking with coal, evidence pins the crime on Moe. Now it’s up to Marcy, with the help of her police officer boyfriend Ted and her Irish Wolfhound Angus, to stitch together the clues to clear Moe’s name—before someone else winds up crossed off Santa’s list for good…
~~~
About This Author
Gayle Trent (and pseudonym Amanda Lee) writes the Daphne Martin Cake Decorating series and the Embroidery Mystery series. The cake decorating series features a heroine who is starting her life over in Southwest Virginia after a nasty divorce. The Embroidery Mystery series features a heroine who recently moved to the Oregon coast to open an embroidery specialty shop. She also writes the Down South Café Mysteries as Gayle Leeson.
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.
~~~~~
Falling For The Stars: A Stunt Gal’s Tattle Tales
Author Interview Lisa Loving Dalton
Amazon #1 Bestseller
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
Are you planning on writing more about your life?
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
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.
***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?
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
Author 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
.
Enjoy the excerpt
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.
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.
Jennifer Silverwoodwas 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.
3 winners to receive ebooks of all three books in A Wylder Tales:Craving Beauty,Wolfsbane’s Daughter, andScarred Beauty (extra swag to US winners)
Open internationally
Ends December 12th
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…
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.
“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.
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.
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?
“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 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.
and the Embroidery Mystery series. The cake decorating series features a heroine who is starting her life over in Southwest Virginia after a nasty divorce. The 
features a heroine who recently moved to the Oregon coast to open an embroidery specialty shop. She also writes the 
as Gayle Leeson. 
From Gods by Mary Ting
