Candy Crone is a Christmas Short Story standalone in
the bestselling Hawthorne University Witch Series.
Candy Crone
The Hawthorne University Witch Series Book 8
By A.L. Hawke
Genre: Paranormal Holiday Fantasy
Candy Crone is a Christmas Short Story standalone following Shadow
Cast in the Hawthorne University Witch Series.
While I’m enjoying a spicy caramel apple surprise at our local ice cream
parlor, an old lady in rags rambles nonsense about candy canes to children
waiting for Santa. That distracts me from prepping my young friend Cat for her
college interview at Hawthorne University.
Christmas turns into creepy Halloween when all the local children, including
Cat, disappear in the woods. Bryce and I search our forest but become
spellbound. All this voracious casting heralds the arrival of a new witch in
town. The Candy Crone.
As the Hawthorne Witch, I hold great power, but with my unborn baby kicking,
the witch exploits my sins and vices through gluttony. Am I nothing more than
my appetites and power as the Hawthorne Witch? Or can I accomplish something
greater? If I can’t sort my stuff out, Cat, my unborn baby, Chandra, and all
these innocent kids living in Hawthorne are toast.
Cadence Hawthorne returns in this Christmas novella taking place after
Shadow Cast, book 6, in The Hawthorne University Witch Series. Candy Crone
is a complete self-contained novella not ending in cliffhangers. Some spoilers
cannot be avoided, but the story is a STANDALONE book that can be enjoyed
without reading the preceding novels.
I really like Cadence’s interaction with Melanie. Melanie is a an evil witch Cadence fought in the last book, Shadow Cast. Well, in Candy Crone, Melanie returns, but this time sides with her. Although suffering from mental illness, Melanie considers Cadence her friend. The interaction between the two of them was fun to watch. And write.
If you could spend time with a character from your book whom would it be? And what would you do during that day?
I’d love to spend a day with Cadence and Bryce. We have a lot in common.
Are your characters based off real people or did they all come entirely from your imagination?
Cadence and Bryce are completely made up. But there’s aspects of me in the both of them. I tend to observe lots from people around me. I think that’s what writers do. So I’m sure there’s aspects of everyone in all my characters.
Do your characters seem to hijack the story or do you feel like you have the reigns of the story?
If they hijack it, I’m on the right track. I don’t mind losing control with characters because it means I’m letting my imagination is flowing. It’s when I’m bogged down with every single word that writing becomes a chore.
Convince us why you feel your book is a must read.
It’s Christmas time. There’s a lot of candy and cakes in the tale. And everyone loves witches. J
Have you written any other books that are not complete?
Princess Sojourn is on its way. It’s book 2.5 in my Azure series.
If your book had a candle, what scent would it be?
I love this question. I don’t know… peppermint?
As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?
A phoenix. It’s the animal on my logo. The phoenix is eternal. The themes of my books always touch on mortality, love and death.
A.L. Hawke is the author of the bestselling Hawthorne
University Witch series. The author lives in Southern California torching the
midnight candle over lovers against a backdrop of machines, nymphs, magic,
spice and mayhem. A.L. Hawke writes fantasy and romance spanning four thousand
years, from pre-civilization to contemporary and beyond.
We’re celebrating the release of Reese Sherron’s brand-new dystopian fantasy, The Trials of the Elysian!
The Trials of the Elysian (The Elysian Series #1)
Publication Date: November 30, 2024
Genre: Fantasy/Dystopian Fantasy
Hunger Games meets Divergent meets the 100
Slow slow burn
Lovers to enemies
Enemies to lovers / friends to lovers
Dystopian vibes
Family obsession
Lies + betrayals
Naïve FMC turns fierce
Deadly battle games
Mind tricks
Turns & twists
Touch her & die by both men
Disobey the City & die – Obey the City & live
Welcome to the six trials of the Elysian.
Will you live a life that is predestined and controlled from your first breath of air? A life full of darkness, destruction, and pain. Where your existence is owed to the survival of humanity.
Welcome to the Six Trials of The Elysian. In a futuristic world founded to cope with the effects of a famine that altered the course of humanity, there are certain commandments to follow to live a prosperous life. Faye steps into the City with unanswered questions. All she has is a mysterious symbol to find her soulmate, who was predestined at birth. Not knowing who her symbol will light up for, she must trust her judgment or her destiny. What will she choose? Not understanding the truth of the wickedness of the City walls, Faye is pushed to uncover the truth. The Trials push them to their limits and only those strong enough to make their City better will survive the tests. Either succeed in their trials or perish outside of the walls. Her rebelliousness leads her to uncover a disturbing truth about the City. Along with her mentor, Faye is determined to find the missing pieces and bring justice to herself and her family. She becomes fearless and not afraid to challenge those who are in power. But has her whole life been a lie? Will she uncover the truth of why she was born? Does she fight to be with the love of her life or follow the City, and let the City guide her to her symbols pair? Faye must decide.
Your mentor falls. So do you. He’s the eyes. The ears of the City. Disobey him. You’re disobeying the City.
Hated as a foreigner, despised as a woman, she became First Lady of Athens.
Aspasia falls passionately in love with Pericles, the leading statesman of Fifth Century Athens. Artists, writers and thinkers flock to her salon. She hides her past as a sex-worker, trafficked to the city, and becomes Pericles’ lover.
Her writings attract the attention of Socrates, and she becomes the only woman to join his circle. She is known throughout the city for her beauty and wit and strives to become recognised as an intellectual alongside men.
Pericles’ enemies attack him through Aspasia and charge her with blasphemy. As a foreigner she faces execution, but her impassioned address to the jury shames the city and saves her. Pericles is spellbound, they marry, and she becomes First Lady of Athens.
Sparta besieges the city; plague breaks out and Pericles is once again in danger.
THE IMMIGRANT QUEEN tells the true story of how Aspasia rose to become the First Lady of Athens and triumphed against all the odds.
Often writers started out as readers. Was there a particular book that inspired you to be an author?
So many! I read voraciously as a child. “The Secret Garden” holds a special place, it is so warm – and Silas Marner. If only I could write like that!
Do you tend to read the same genre you write?
No, I read in all directions – novels I pick up in the book shop and the library, Booker recommendations, items from blog posts, my partner’s reading group. It has to engage me in the first ten pages, but really I read for enjoyment.
Do you have a favorite time period to write about? If so, why?
Again no. It’s really trying to visualize what it was like for people, human like me, but in a different world with different beliefs and rules. I am fascinated by Athens and am currently writing another story set there.
Writers sometimes have furry, feathered, or scaled helpers. Do you have a writing companion?
My companion is the East Kent countryside, so beautiful at this time of year. I do love the colours of Autumn. Whenever something isn’t going right, I just take a walk.
How long have you been writing, and how long did it take before your first book was published?
I’ve been writing as long as I can remember, all sorts of things. Sometimes I wake up with a story in my head and need to put it down before I lose it. Sometimes I can see characters and I know their feelings from their body language, but I can’t hear what they are saying to each other.
Do you have a routine you follow when you’re working on a book? A certain time of day when you write, or a snack you keep nearby?
No, when I have an idea I write relentlessly. Then I have to spend hours rewriting and rewriting the next day.
Did anyone give you writing advice when you were first getting started? Do you think it helped?
Yes definitely, and a lot of it was good advice. If only I’d taken it I would have moved a lot faster. But you only really learn through your experiences I find.
What is the scariest thing you face as a writer? How do you handle it?
Blank paper – and suddenly there is nothing in your head. You just have to face it down, write about anything, the view from the window, an incident on the bus yesterday, your children and after a while it will come.
About the Author
Peter Taylor-Gooby is an academic who believes that you can only truly understand the issues that matter through your feelings, your imagination and your compassion. That’s why he writes novels as well as research monographs. He worked in India as a teacher, in a Newcastle social security office and as an antique dealer.
Now he’s professor of social policy at the University of Kent, a Fellow of the British Academy, loves playing with his grandchildren and writes novels in what time is spare.
We’re celebrating the release of gothic fantasy romance, The Secrets of Roan Island by Thea Masen and Maci Aurora!
The Secrets of Roan Island
Publication Date: November 21, 2024
Genre: Gothic Fantasy/ Gaslamp/Romance
A gothic mansion
Steampunk aesthetic
Morally gray alpha MMC
Academic FMC
Complex family dynamics
Wounded characters
“Who did this to you?”
He unalives someone for her
Possessive and obsessed MMC
“Tell me to stop”
Primal chase scene
“Mine”
An invitation she can’t refuse. A secret he doesn’t want her to uncover. She refuses to leave. He’ll risk everything to protect her.
Outcast from her academic peers and at risk of losing her position at Essik College, Professor Ruby Rose appeals to the reclusive philanthropist Hammish Roan by asking for a grant. What she receives is a cryptic invitation to stay at Roan Island for the winter holiday. No matter how much the eerie mansion unnerves her, access to the Roans’ coveted library is worth facing her unsettling fears.
Mysterious and enigmatic, Noah Roan, the oldest of Hammish Roan’s sons, knows exactly what happens to women who come to their isolated estate. Especially those who stay until the Winter Solstice. No matter how hard he tries to get Ruby to leave, the infuriating and alluring woman insists on staying.
In a clash of will and desire, Ruby and Noah struggle to fight their attraction to each other. But their connection reveals dark and sinister secrets that draw the attention of the maniacal patriarch. Can they work together to out maneuver Hammish Roan, or will he destroy them both?
‘Right from page one you know you are in the hands of a talented storyteller… An exciting tale of espionage and adventure in the classic mould.’
~ R.N. Morris, author of The Gentle Axe
1808.
Captain Will Fraser has just returned from the Front in the Peninsular War. He is disgraced and penniless, the victim of a conspiracy led by a jealous and influential officer. Fraser has been falsely accused of insubordination and cowardice and dismissed from his regiment.
Fraser and Duncan Armstrong, his wounded Sergeant, arrive in London to seek out Will’s brother, Jack, who works for King George’s Government.
But Jack has disappeared. He vanished from his lodgings a week ago and no one has seen him since. Friends and colleagues are baffled by his disappearance as is the young woman, Clara, who claims to be his wife.
Then Will is viciously attacked, seemingly mistaken for his brother, and only just escapes with his life. When news of this reaches Jack’s colleagues in Government, Will is recruited to find his brother and he and Armstrong set out to follow a trail littered with half-truths and misinformation.
For their task is not quite what it seems.
Will closely resembles his brother and it becomes evident that he is being used as a decoy to flush out Jack’s enemies. These are enemies of the State, for Jack Fraser is a spy and his colleagues believe he has uncovered evidence which will lead to the identity of a French spymaster embedded in the British Government.
Will’s search leads him to France but in this murky world of espionage, nothing is straightforward.
The soldier turned spy must unmask a traitor, before it’s too late.
This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.
Guest Post
When I was asked to write a series of novellas set during the Napoleonic Wars, I knew I would find it a daunting task but what particularly interested me was the secret war against Napoleon. That underbelly of every war where agents pass information to their handlers through secret channels, where things are not always what they seem, where the most unlikely people turn out to be working for the enemy. So, the work of spies is the main focus of my stories.
Although there was high level espionage, there were also many ordinary French citizens, including fishing families, shopkeepers and others who wished to undermine Napoleon’s rule. They were working for the British and provided shelter for British spies – and girls and women often dressed as men to avoid detection. There was a respected French priest (with a beautiful mistress) who was an agent for the British – and a schoolmaster on the Normandy coast who passed on French naval signals to the British so that their ships would be let through as French.
Then there were those who regularly crossed the Channel, legally, spying for their country’s enemies in plain sight. And, of course, there were double agents, too, one of whom is the mysterious traitor mentioned in my story.
The ‘Soldier Spy’ stories are historical fiction but real people appear in them – the head of the Alien Office, a Jersey fisherman, a Catholic priest and a renowned codebreaker, among others.
In the first of these stories, ‘Traitor’s Game’, my main protagonist, Captain Will Fraser, is sent home from the Peninsular War in disgrace, wrongly accused of insubordination and cowardice. In London he seeks out his brother, Jack, only to find that Jack has vanished and, in order to find him, Will reluctantly becomes entangled in the murky world of espionage.
Can he track down a double agent before more secrets are passed to the enemy and a murder is committed?
About the Author
Rosemary Hayes has written over fifty books for children and young adults. She writes in different genres, from edgy teenage fiction (The Mark), historical fiction (The Blue Eyed Aborigine and Forgotten Footprints), middle grade fantasy (Loose Connections, The Stonekeeper’s Child and Break Out) to chapter books for early readers and texts for picture books. Many of her books have won or been shortlisted for awards and several have been translated into different languages.
Rosemary has travelled widely but now lives in South Cambridgeshire. She has a background in publishing, having worked for Cambridge University Press before setting up her own company Anglia Young Books which she ran for some years. She has been a reader for a well-known authors’ advisory service and runs creative writing workshops for both children and adults.
Rosemary has now turned her hand to adult fiction and her historical novel ‘The King’s Command’ is about the terror and tragedy suffered by a French Huguenot family during the reign of Louis XIV.
And Traitor’s Game, the first book in the Soldier Spy trilogy, set during the Napoleonic Wars, has recently been published.
Mankind’s day of reckoning is coming; A young Wicca must
learn to harness the elements and reconcile old friendships if she is to save
mankind from Mother Nature’s wrath.
Kindred Spirit
by Julia Firlotte
Genre: SciFi Dystopian Romance
A plague for a plague, to make the human race pay
For the destruction of a planet which was not theirs to slay
Mankind’s day of reckoning is coming and all hopes lie on the shoulders of one
young Wicca. Only Cady Leigh can harness the elements and reconcile old
friendships if she is to save mankind from Mother Nature’s wrath.
Set three hundred years in the future, the impact of global warming has divided
the nation into two opposing societies. Cady Leigh’s family are Wiccans and the
healers of their underground traditionalist community, so when a craft from the
opposing technologist’s society crashes near her home, Cady saves a wounded
technologist teenager Drew Kemp and brings him to live with her family.
Like all technologists, Drew has a nanochip implant and uses it to spy on the
traditionalist villagers to root out the terrorists who attack the metropolis
he calls home. However, he falls in love with the independent and spirited
young Wicca, Cady. When he reveals the truth to her, she feels betrayed and
rejects him, so he returns to his city alone.
Some years later, due to the damage inflicted on the Earth by humans, mother
nature unleashes her displeasure on mankind in the form of a dangerous virus.
Passionate about healing, Cady travels to the technologist’s city in search for
a cure. But in a world of science and fact, Cady’s Wiccan roots start to reveal
themselves at the worst time and her paranormal abilities to harness the
elements evokes fear and oppression in the technologists around her.
When Cady discovers her abilities are more significant, that she is in fact the
final hope to redeem mankind, she must turn to Drew to help her navigate this
new world and find a cure.
I manage to haul myself out of the bath on one leg, wrapping a towel around my shoulders and another around my waist. I rub my body dry, avoiding my tender multicoloured ribs where I was kicked. My eyes fall on the small window as I towel dry my hair. It’s quite high up, and to see through it, I’d have to stand on the chair, but despite my throbbing ankle, curiosity gets the better of me. Using the wall, I manage to pull myself up on one leg and peer outside.
The view is otherworldly. I’m higher up than I’ve ever been in my life. I gulp in a deep breath and barely stop myself from reeling back in shock. Edging closer to the window frame, I see the ground far below and vehicles of varying sizes silently passing by the window in every direction. Vertically, horizontally and diagonally, they weave in and out of the tall buildings. Shivering, I clasp my hand over my mouth, trying not to panic and reminding myself that this was what I wanted, to come to the city and learn about medicine.
Far below, I see people scurrying like ants. There are more people on this one street than in my whole village. I see a network of connecting streets stretching out in all directions, like sections of a spider’s web. I cast my eyes upwards, wrapping my arms around myself in an attempt to fend off this chill inside my chest. How the hell did I ever think I could do this alone? I have no idea where to start to try to find the hospital, and what Drew said about drones arresting me frightens me. What the heck is a drone, anyway?
Vehicles whisk people along high overhead in an ever-moving line, seemingly closing in on me from all angles. People and technology are everywhere.
A circular shape speeding past the window stops dead, then rotates mid-air. It’s a grey object with a single red light rotating around it, and the light stops to shine in my eyes, just a short distance away from the glass. My muscles bunch and freeze, paralysing me. I open my mouth to scream, but no sound comes out. A flash of light fills my vision, and all I see is white. Then the shattering of glass and rush of freezing air engulfs me, toppling me from the chair. The room spins as I smack down onto the hard floor, closing my eyes tightly as the pain from my ankle blocks out all other sensations.
A bucket of water empties over my head, and the most awful mechanical screech fills the room. I hear Drew cursing as he enters the room, and then a strong hand squeezes my shoulder.
‘Cady? Are you all right?’ his voice is urgent and unnaturally tight.
I open my eyes, and he exhales audibly.
‘Did you get glass in your eyes? Damn it, Cady, are you hurt?’ he asks, firing questions at me.
I stare around the room and see it’s soaking wet, the walls, the ceiling, there’s water everywhere, and the bath is almost empty. Shards of glass from the shattered window are spread around the room, and the grey sphere that blinded me is smoking and spinning uncontrollably on the floor in the water, lights flashing in all directions.
I back away from it, shuffling back on my bottom and clutching my towels to my chest.
‘Fuck!’ Drew mutters before he calmly places his hand on top of the machine, and it stops spinning. That’s when I notice four other identical objects, all hovering silently outside the window frame, with various lights focussed inside the room, primarily at me.
‘Don’t look at them. Look at me!’ he growls. ‘Are you all right, or not?’
Finally, my eyes turn to focus on his and I shake my head, more than a little dazed, ‘My ankle hurts.’
‘Anything else?’ he demands, his eyes pinching tight.
I shake my head.
‘Thank God!’ he mutters, breath leaving his lungs in a rush, ‘At least, that, I can fix.’
My eyes return to the window. ‘What happened? What are they?’ I whisper like I’m scared they’ll hear me.
Drew’s hand slides behind my shoulders in reassurance, and it sends pleasant tingles through my stomach. ‘Drones, don’t worry, I’ll get rid of them.’
He turns to the window, frowning and shaking his head like he’s having a silent conversation.
‘Are you talking to them?’ I whisper, shivers wracking down my spine, making my voice hoarse.
‘I’m telling them you have a permit and to leave you alone,’ his voice is tight, and then he picks up the damaged machine in both hands and holds it out towards the open window. A bright blue light fixes onto it, and the object is lifted from his hands and floats outside before Drew waves his the palm of his hand over the window, and it merges seamlessly back into the smooth wall.
I can’t move. I’m fighting it, I want to move, but I can’t. I just feel the need to pee and hope to the Lord and Lady that I don’t.
‘What happened?’ I finally ask him, my eyes drifting from the wall back to his face, and that’s when I realise, instead of the concern of a moment ago, the anger emanating from him is palpable.
‘Whathappened? You’re asking me that? Jesus, Cady!’ he explodes, waving a hand around the room in indignation. ‘What the hell did you do?’ he hollers, eyes riveted on me.
My heart jolts, and my throat tightens, preventing me from replying. I don’t know who Jesus is, nor why he’s adding the name to mine, but I shake my head, pointing at the space where the window had been.
‘There was this flash, then the window exploded, and I fell…,’ it’s not just my head that’s shaking now, it’s also my hands. Drew takes a step towards me, his frown deepening.
‘So, it took a scan of you, and the window exploded? Don’t lie to me, Cady! You could have gotten yourself killed!’ he steps closer, almost on top of me now, and I feel a pressure in my chest as if my heart is being squeezed.
‘Back off, don’t touch me. I mean it!’ I hiss at him, fear seizing my stomach in a tight fist.
His frown remains, his eyes appear surprised, and his shoulders flinch. I shuffle further from him, ignoring the glass scrapes on the backs of my bare legs.
A mist appears between us, at first transparent like a light fog and then thickening like a wall of water, glistening with the shards of glass still caught in it.
After a lifetime of reading romance novels, Julia Firlotte
started writing her own novels in 2018. As soon as she started, she knew she’d
found her passion.
Julia is inspired by the world around her, often coming up
with the opening scenes of a novel and the characters in them and then later
developing a plot line. Julia’s stories always have a focus on the role trust
plays in a relationship and the twists and turns love takes when this is
brought into question.
Julia is also a romance blogger and reviews books on her
website.
Her favourite authors are Jaine Diamond, Sylvia Day,
Chrystal Kaswell, EL James and Kendall Ryan.
Please do subscribe to her mailing list on her website and
be so kind as to leave reviews. As a self funded / self published author, the
role readers play in supporting new authors is crucial to allowing them to
write more books and reader support is valued above all else.
When she’s not writing, reading, blogging or editing, Julia
works at her day job in Logistics, shipping other people’s books all over the
world. Julia is married with two children and five fur babies and lives in West
Sussex, Southern England.
TEACUPS AND TEMPTATIONS Kate Ellington Genre: Historical Romance
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About the Book
Molly Merriwether readily accepts an invitation to Waverly Hall, eager for adventure and amusement with her best friend. She never expected to be left unchaperoned with three intriguing young gentlemen for weeks.
Roger Bailey, recuperating in more ways than one, avoids Molly until her kindness and humor tempt him to deepen their acquaintance.
Molly lands in one unlikely escapade after the next with Roger and soon considers him a friend—perhaps more—but the barriers he puts up make it impossible to truly know him. Has she only imagined those tender looks in his eyes?
For a chance at love, Molly will need to bare her innermost self and trust someone more deeply than she’s ever dreamed possible.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpt
“Not having chaperones has made it all the more interesting.” Molly glanced outside, where the men stood in a circle talking.
“Auntie’s going to be so upset when she finds out,” Caroline said.
“Perhaps she never will.”
Caroline clicked her tongue. “Of course she will. She’ll tell our parents.”
“Then we’d better enjoy ourselves while we still can.”
About to sip her juice, Caroline set the glass down. “I know that look, Molly. What are you planning?”
“Oh, I just thought we might have a poke around while the gentlemen are otherwise occupied.”
Outside, the men had set out across the field toward the kennels.
“We’ve done enough poking around,” Caroline said. “We’ll probably get lost again.”
“No. We’ve done enough poking around that we won’t get lost. And there’s that arched door we saw in the east wing other day.”
“It’s most likely a broom closet.”
Molly rose, leaving her napkin on the table. “It’s in the corner of an empty room on the third floor.
And with such an elaborate door? There were vines engraved on it.”
“The room wasn’t empty—it looked like an old sewing room. I’m sure it’s nothing of interest.”
“We won’t know until we look.”
“You’re doing this no matter what I say, aren’t you?” Caroline asked.
“You don’t have to come.” Molly gave her an angelic smile as she backed toward the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About the Author
Kate grew up in a woodsy New England town where summer days at the lake seemed to last forever. She read her first historical romance at age eleven when a teacher challenged her to find a book in the library written by an author she’d never heard of. Thus began a life-long love of love stories.
After graduating from college she settled in the Pacific Northwest, where she currently resides with her family.
Kate wrote her first romance when she was sixteen, then set her pen down for years until another story floated into her head out of the clear blue sky. She jotted it down, just for fun, but soon it took on a life of its own.
WOULD YOU SACRIFICE AN ENTIRE CITY TO MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE?
A massive explosion rips through the outdoor seating area of a popular
restaurant in downtown Trondheim. Two days later, fourteen people are found
dead in a church along a remote section of coastline. The souls of the
victims have been ripped from their bodies. Moments later a spirit from the
Otherworlds steps through the Black Void to find the ancient relic that
killed them.
On a secluded island in the Arctic Circle, a troubled man sees a world that
has lost its way and feels compelled to change that. He plans to wield the
formidable power of a mysterious artifact to reshape the moral fabric of
eight billion unsuspecting souls—knowing that his actions will wipe
out the inhabitants of an entire city.
David Skye and Jade “Epiphany” Hendrix set out to stop him and
save the lives that would be lost if he were to succeed. Their efforts to do
that are complicated by Kari Salversen, a dedicated police detective with
the Norwegian Police Service. She believes David and Epiphany are involved
in a recent string of deadly attacks and is determined to apprehend
them.
A reckoning of souls is quickly approaching, as the battle for humanity
unfolds in the snowy, arctic fjords of Norway, and the vast spirit realms of
the Otherworlds. The possibility of a peaceful future for billions of souls
and the lives of tens of thousands of innocent people are both at stake. In
a clash that pits two opposing sides against each other, which one is on the
more righteous path?
Excerpt
Beyond thick veils of falling snow, a darkness awaited. There was no avoiding it, no turning back. David Skye had an uneasy feeling about what he’d find, yet he pushed forward anyway. Visibility worsened with each pass of the wiper blades as they swished from side to side, leaving smears of frozen snow across the windshield. He wrapped his fingers tightly around the steering wheel, doing his best to keep the vehicle from veering off the slick, snow-covered road. David desperately wanted to press down harder on the accelerator, but he thought better of it as he fought to guide the Toyota 4Runner along the deserted stretch of highway that hugged the northern coastline of Tjeldøya Island.
“There it is, up ahead, on the right,” Epiphany said.
The sound of her voice momentarily broke David’s concentration. The silhouette of the old church, its spire reaching into the cold, cloudy sky, stood out against the backdrop of the waterway and the mountains. A heavy, gray fog rolled in off the water. David slowed the vehicle and slid to a stop in the church parking area just off the main road, where he saw six or seven parked cars. The vehicle had barely stopped when Epiphany flung open the passenger door. She leapt out of the 4Runner, swung the door shut, and sprinted down the path leading to the church. David watched her disappear into the snow and mist, vanishing like a specter leaving this world for the next. A transient thought darted through his mind. He had barely been with Epiphany for more than a few days, and given their circumstances, he hoped they’d somehow manage to stay alive for a few more.
Guest Post – “Authors Who Inspire Other Authors” by Harrison Edwards
“Wow, I wish I could write like that,” is something I find myself thinking when reading a novel by an author whose writing style stands out from the rest as truly unique and innovative. At the top of my list is the late Carlos Ruiz Zafón. Some writers are great storytellers and others have a wonderful mastery of the written word—Carlos Ruiz Zafón is one of the talented few who has mastered both. The first book in his four-book series, was titled The Shadow of the Wind, and it was the biggest selling novel in the history of Spain, and his second book in that series, The Angel’s Game, was the fastest selling. Carlos Ruiz Zafón could weave together a magical tapestry of words in the manner that Beethoven could string together a collection of notes to form a magnificent symphony. Zafón’s characters are deep and full of life, and his stories transport you into another time and place.
In the category of great storytellers, there are two writers who stand out for me. The first is Tony Hillerman. I have read his entire Detective Leaphorn / Officer Chee tribal police series. Every time I read one of Hillerman’s books I feel as if I am right there with Chee and Leaphorn wandering a dusty arroyo in the Four Corners region of the southwestern United States looking for clues. The second author in the category of great storytellers is James S.A. Corey (the pen name for Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck). Picking up a novel in the 500-to-600-page range is something I’ve always tended to shy away from. How many pages would I have to read before the story grabs my attention? Would I get 200 pages in only to put it down because I’ve lost interest. That was not the case with the nine-book Expanse science fiction series written by James S.A. Corey. Each book was 500+ pages and I devoured the entire series in the course of less than one year.
Each of these authors has given me great insights into: incorporating setting as a critical element of their stories, creating characters that jump off the page (you feel their joy, their anguish, their pain and always root for them to succeed), and developing interesting plots with a pace that pulls you along through the entire story. After finishing one of their novels, I found myself anxiously anticipating the next book in the series. Every time I sit down to write, the great gifts these writers have given me and their readers are at the forefront of my mind, and I will never cease in my efforts to maybe someday write as well as they hav
About the Author
Harrison Edwards lives in eastern Pennsylvania with his wife and their
black Lab, Deacon. Harrison’s writing is a blend of science fiction
and urban fantasy. Subject matter for his stories comes from deep interests
in science, technology, and mythology. When he’s not compiling and
developing ideas for future novels, you can find him composing original
works of contemporary instrumental music for his next CD release.
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Catherine Bybee spins a dazzling tale of long-lost relatives, overnight riches, and unexpected romance in the dramatic second book of The Heirs series.
Sarah McNeilly is a rare find in the tabloid industry. She won’t ignite gossip. She finds the truth. And for once, that’s what her boss wants. With her job on the line, Sarah’s latest assignment is to identify the elusive “Maximillian Smith,” unearth his connection to the billionaire Stone family, and dig up some dirt.
Yesterday Max was an ordinary working man, concerned with little more than the price of gas. Now he suddenly has a family, jaw-dropping wealth, and an avid (if clumsy) reporter on his trail. With the press threatening to destroy his new life, he needs to release his real story strategically, and Sarah is the key—not to mention an adorable yet invaluable resource for finding his mother.
As Max and Sarah team up to peel back the ugly layers of Max’s past, they stumble heart-first into their fiery attraction. But when their research threatens their newly built trust, it’s their future that is on the line.
Read book one in The Heirs series, All Our Tomorrows, available now on #kindleunlimited.
New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author Catherine Bybee has written over forty books that have collectively sold more than eleven million copies. Her titles have been translated into more than twenty languages. Raised in Washington State, Bybee moved to Southern California in the hope of becoming a movie star. After growing bored with waiting tables, she returned to school and became a registered nurse, spending most of her career in urban emergency rooms. She now writes full time and has penned the popular Not Quite, Weekday Brides, Most Likely To, and First Wives series.
On Threshold time travel is about to become possible.
The huge space habitat, already 500 years in our future is about to go forward to a safer time and place. Aliens from the All-Time hold the keys.
Wanna go?
Threshold
The Threshold Series Book 1
by Janet & Chris Morris
Genre: Science Fiction Thriller Adventure
Set a millennium from now on Threshold Terminal—virtually a Grand Hotel in space— a
young test pilot, Joe South, is thrust five hundred years into his future and
finds himself in the thick of interstellar smuggling, intrigue, and the rough
underworld of an alien environment. It is a time of danger and ever-shifting
powers . . . and the destinies of a lost test pilot, an underworld scavenger,
and two young lovers become irrevocably intertwined . . .
*November’s Featured Title of the month with Perseid Press!*
Threshold explores what will happen if we meet beings who are interdimensional, not limited by time and space as we know it. Of course, there’s massive suspicion and mistrust when humans meet aliens capable of grasping a much wider time spectrum and able to predict what is about to occur as a result of current circumstance. How can ordinary people trust this super-human race and how can they not once given the benefit of their perspective?
Convince us why you feel Threshold is a must read.
Today our space telescopes are showing us pictures of events that happened millions of light years ago, showing us actual images of the plastic nature of time and space. It is a short conceptual jump from those images to imagining beings like us, but capable of accessing a wider present and acting in concert with events provably happening over vast time arcs. As humans, we may feel that a lifetime is but a moment in an eternal reality and guess what it could be like to be free of the clock-time that rules our earthly progress. In Threshold, we get to play on the greatest chess board available to our fledgling perception of our own possible futures.
We’ve gone to lengths to make this book available in e-book, trade paper, hardback, and soon in audiobooks.
Who designed your book covers?
Most of our covers, including Threshold, are realized by Roy Mauritsen, a gifted graphic artist.
Advice to writers?
As for advice to writers, here is all we know: write the story you want to read. Start at the beginning, go to the end, and stop. Seriously. From start to finish you must inhabit the construct in a manner that makes the reader choose to continue; if we as writers can’t feel what it’s like being there, our readers can’t either. Close your eyes, look at your feet where they are standing on the story’s ground; tell us what you see. Tell us what you hear. Ask at the end of each paragraph ‘what happens next?’. If you lose touch with it wait until you’re back inside it. Tell the story that comes to you, and from you, to us.
Best
selling author Janet Morris began writing in 1976 and has since
published more than 30 novels, many co-authored with her husband Chris Morris
or others. Most of her fiction work has been in the fantasy and science fiction
genres, although she has also written historical and other novels. Morris has
written, contributed to, or edited several book-length works of non-fiction, as
well as papers and articles on nonlethal weapons, developmental military
technology and other defense and national security topics.
Christopher Crosby Morris (born 1946) is an American author of fiction and
non-fiction, as well as a lyricist, musical composer, and singer-songwriter. He
is married to author Janet Morris. He is a defense policy and strategy analyst
and a principal in M2 Technologies, Inc. He writes primarily as Chris Morris,
but occasionally uses pseudonyms.
