Archive
Monthly Archives: January 2014
- by Tara Maya
Guest Post: Favorite Paranormal Influences by Sarah Mäkelä
Today I’m hosting Sarah Mäkelä, author of The Witch Who Cried Wolf, as part of the New Adult Blog Tour. You can download The Witch Who Cried Wolf on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, ARe and iTunes
Why do I write paranormal? Great question!
I’m sure we’ve all have influences in our lives that tugged at us, pulling us in a single direction without letting go. That’s exactly what happened with me and the paranormal.
As a kid, I grew up on RL Stine and the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books by Alvin Schwartz. Honest to God, those freaked me out so badly! They’re marketed as kids books, but… geez! I also watched horror movies on TV with my mom. My favorites were ones with witches, werewolves, and vampires.
Growing up, I moved a little away from books that scared me. In my young teenaged years, I mostly read historical romance (especially Scottish/Celtic ones with pixies, fairies, etc.), but I still loved the supernatural. However, I’d rather daydream about being a supernatural being or having a relationship with one. I adored the music video Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) by the Backstreet Boys because they were all dressed up like paranormal creatures.
While I enjoyed historical romance, I found out about paranormal romance and urban fantasy and delved deep in those genres. My favorite authors were Laurell K. Hamilton and Christine Feehan. Urban fantasy wasn’t known as urban fantasy yet. I had to get the books in the horror section, and the genre hadn’t exploded to what it is today.
I loved reading the paranormal romance books because of the romance and paranormal aspect, and okay, I was still a teenager, so yes, I skipped ahead sometimes to the “fun” scenes. But I really liked the Anita Blakes series by Laurell K. Hamilton because I was able to follow her character while she explored this hidden paranormal world and I could come back for more on a regular basis. I didn’t have to move on to new characters in new books.
I love the New Adult Paranormal Romance genre. Being able to hang out with the characters for more than one book and really tell their story is amazing. I also enjoy getting inside the heads of different characters in the series because I’m not confined to only hanging out with one or two characters. The possibilities are endless for great supernatural reads.
Thanks for having me here today, Tara!
Enter to win a copy of Sarah’s The Witch Who Cried Wolf and some other great swag!
Find out more about Sarah’s The Witch Who Cried Wolf, available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, ARe and iTunes:
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- by Tara Maya
Submerged by Nicole Sobon
After a mysterious virus makes its way into the United States, the government demands that states seal themselves off from one another and do their best to protect their surviving residents. When the state of Florida is bordered off from the surrounding states, Taylen Fincher, a seventeen-year-old girl with a yearning for her former life finds herself wondering how much of what they’ve been told is true.
When Troum took control of the state, he told the residents that the other states had fallen to the virus and that he wouldn’t allow the same thing to happen to them. But Taylen doesn’t believe it. She insists that there is still life outside of the state, and she is going to do whatever it takes to prove it… but her actions will cost her more than she ever expected.
Troum kidnaps Taylen’s sister, Penelope, in hopes of coaxing her into behaving – into being a submissive resident, much like the others. But Taylen isn’t one to give in that easily.
Eager to rescue her sister, Taylen will set out on an adventure that’ll force her to open her heart to the unexpected and to uncover secrets that will change everything.
Get Submerged on Amazon.
Excerpt
“What’s wrong, princess? You couldn’t stand to be away from me?” He winked.
“You are aware that I have a knife in my pocket, correct?” I reminded him. “I’d be more than happy to use it if you’re going to continue being a jerk-face.”
He burst into laughter, his body vibrating the mattress. “Anyway, back to what I was saying.” He ran his fingers along my spine. Goosebumps developed over my body, alerting me of just how close he was. “We have to locate Troum’s headquarters. If we find his headquarters, we’ll find Penelope.”
It sounded easy enough, but nothing was ever that simple.
Not with Troum.
I lay down beside Glate and closed my eyes. I thought that escaping the Family Sector would bring me a sense of happiness, but it didn’t. It only brought me more pain. Lex and his men were still searching for me, and I’d yet to rescue Penelope. Nothing was going as planned. I should have had Penelope by now. I should have been half way out of this state, not curled up on a mattress with a boy that I hardly knew.
That wasn’t to say that I didn’t enjoy Glate’s presence because I did. He was the comfort that I needed; the only thing keeping me sane throughout the chaos. It wouldn’t be hard to fall for Glate, hell, it’d be easy, and that frightened me.
Even though I wouldn’t admit it, I was still heartbroken over Lex. He was the boy that I had grown up with. He was my best friend. He was someone that I thought would always be there, someone that I could start a life with, and then he betrayed me.
And it was his betrayal that led me to Glate.
Being this close to him, with his body pressed against mine, it felt wrong; wrong because I barely knew him, wrong because he wasn’t Lex, and wrong because I didn’t want him to leave.
What is wrong with me? I thought.
“Taylen,” Glate whispered, wrapping his arm around my waist. “Are you okay?”
Was I okay? No. I was a complete and utter wreck, but there was no way in hell I was going to show him that. “I’m dandy.”
“You’re a terrible liar.” He propped himself up on his elbow, and leaned in closer, resting his chin on my shoulder. My body was well aware of how close he was, and it took everything in me to fight the urge to turn and face him. Teenage hormones were the absolute worst. “You know how I can tell?” he asked, running a single finger down my arm.
“How?” the word barely escaped my lips.
“Your voice trembles,” he whispered. Glate moved his hand to my hips and pulled me back towards him. “Whenever you lie, you get this slight tremble in your voice. It’s almost as if you’re scared to admit the truth, so you try to conjure up a lie, but the fear engulfs your words on the way out, calling your bluff.”
He pressed his lips against my neck, and my body quivered, welcoming the feel of his mouth against my skin.
The right thing to do would have been to move away, to tell Glate that this wasn’t right because it wasn’t right. I was supposed to be rescuing my sister, not getting it on with the first cute guy I met outside of our Sector. But every cell in my body was eager for his touch.
Get Submerged on Amazon.
- by Tara Maya
Markings by S.B. Roozenboom
Celina Bayberry never thought a part-time job could change her life, until she meets the hot and untouchable Aaron Jamison. Strangely enough, she can’t shake the feeling that he’s stalking her. And when a yellow-eyed stranger takes interest in her too, Celina discovers a dangerous secret: Her co-workers are Miew Demos–creatures linked to Bastet, the feline goddess of Egypt and members of a clan called Miews, shifters who can transform from human to feline in an instant.
They, and she, are being hunted by a wolf clan, the Iew Keftey, who will not rest until every last one of the Miews is annihilated. Celina’s life unravels as she is thrust into this age-old battle of brother against brother. Meanwhile, she’s losing her heart to Aaron who may or may not have lost his to her. And her own Bayberry family history is hiding something… something that will forever link her destiny with that of the Miews.
Celina and the clan need each other, but is either strong enough to face what is to come?
Buy Markings on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
Find more from S.B. Roozenboom on her website, Twitter and Facebook.
- by Tara Maya
Blood Singers by Tamara Rose Blodgett
A sub-species of human beings…Twenty-year-old Julia Wade, a young woman tragically widowed, is in the middle of a bizarre bid between two mythical species who are vying for the unique properties she offers; her blood. The vampires need her to balance the food load of the human species and give them their coveted “Lightwalkers.” The Were wish to be moonless changers; a Rare One can make that a reality.
Julia wants to belong to herself.
Can she free herself and begin a new life?
Download Blood Singers on Amazon.
Excerpt
The vampire moved as a unit, talons extended, fangs sprung free of their houses of flesh.
They came to where the delectable smell of fresh blood was released. A quality without compare. It was as if a thousand year old bottle of wine lay breathing.
On a cold stone floor mere paces away from consumption.
William leaped in front of the Julia just as the first vampire would have been upon her.
Julia
Julia looked up and saw a monster, fangs the size of her pinky fingers, dripping a clear fluid tinged with red, talons as long as her forearms standing at deadly attention.
And then like small swords they began to slice whoever drew near.
Their motion in a blur of darkness, too fast for her to follow, Julia became aware of moisture falling on her bare skin like rain.
She opened her eyes and a head fell beside her shoulder with a meaty thump. The dead eyes, once gray, turned into a collapsing wall of flesh and bone. As she looked on in horror, it began to disintegrate into a mass of ash.
It was the eyes she’d never forget.
Or the creature William had become, fighting the vampires that would have killed her.
They came, one after another, as blood drenched her gown and she lay helplessly at his feet.
William slashed and stabbed as injuries were rained down on him and then five overcame him. Julia whimpered, having never envisioned herself dying this way.
At that moment, Julia realized she wanted to live.
Had always wanted to live.
Her eyes met Williams, pleading.
She knew she didn’t deserve his help.
But she was sorry. In that moment she didn’t want this life, this existence.
Nevertheless, he was dying to defend her.
William was overcome. He had dispatched fifteen, losing all hope of the guards helping him through the crowd of rabid vampire overrun with blood lust.
The higher functioning of their cerebral cortex was gone.
When the five overcame him, he saw Julia torn from beneath his feet by two fanged brethren, one held her as the other prepared to strike, losing his grip twice, her body slick with the blood of the massacred.
She was weak as a kitten, any fool could see, her wound not closing up. The blood clotting properties of the vampire saliva was not working.
Of course, Edna would have not used hers willingly. Julia was bleeding out.
William struggled against the vampire, beyond reason and rationale when he heard her soft whimper like a plea.
Bereft.
Hopeless.
Her eyes met his again, the blood bond reverberating in his body, pressing him to take action beyond his capabilities.
William did, smashing two of the vampires’ heads together hard enough for their brains to splatter against the inside of their skulls and leak out their ears. He threw himself on his feet and launched to Julia’s side in a fluid gymnastic movement, his fist punching out as he did.
The vampire who had fangs a millimeter away from her throat, lost them from the impact of William’s fist even as his talons swung to take the head of the one that restrained her.
Julia
Julia saw William come. A shaky exhale escaped as she lay in the arms of one vampire while the other prepared to chew her throat out.
The one that held her dumped her head on the floor so hard she saw lights twinkle above her.
And then William was there.
Their heads fell on either side of her body and heat suffused her. Julia knew she would pass out and had but moments to express herself.
William crouched above her protectively and she raised her arm, weakly. She clutched onto his clothing.
He glanced at her then away, prepared for the next onslaught.
She tugged again.
“Julia, lay still. You have lost much blood.”
“Thank you,” she whispered on her final breath. Her vision dimmed to a pinpoint.
The last coherent image was William.
A face she didn’t hate anymore.
His mouth moved but she couldn’t hear him, an enveloping softness encased her as she floated away.
Like dandelion seed on the wind.
Julia slept in a pool of her own blood.
And that of others.
Many others.
- by Tara Maya
Cliff-hangers and Storylines
I finally had a chance to see The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug yesterday. At the end of the movie, a voice asked in shock, “Is that the end?” It was quite a cliff-hanger! My brother asked me what I thought of the ending. “You better not complain,” he said, “Since that’s how all your readers feel!”
I had to laugh. Yes, I wished dearly that I could have simply pushed a button on a remote and started the third movie right then and there. But I appreciated the extra storyline and characters that went into making the Hobbit an epic trilogy in its own right, rather than just a short prequel. I loved bringing Legolas, Tauriel, and Killi into the story in a more meaningful way. The consequences of Bilbo using the Ring were made more clear, as was the budding danger of the Necromancer, and the folly of the squabbling dwarves, elves and men.
In short, it can be at least said in my defense that I am not a hypocrite. I write the same kind of stories I enjoy reading–and watching. I would rather spend more time in a richly developed world, and add wonderful characters and spectacle fight scenes, than rush along for the sake of fitting everything into two hours. (For those who want that version of the Hobbit, I direct you to the cartoon made some years ago.) Even if the price is a cliff-hanger.
See, I can be mature about these things…
Haahahahahah. Who am I fooling? I want the third movie now. Now! NOOOOOWWWWWWW!
- by Tara Maya
Bella Notte (Bella Vampires Series, Book 1) by Jesse Kimmel-Freeman
Vampires? Check. Werewolves? Check. Death prophecy to hang over your head? Double check. Seventeen year old Emma Hutchinson struggles to find her place in the world she has been born to as she tries to decide whether she should be with Michael, the boy she has been dreaming about since she was three or if she belongs with Dominic, her betrothed.
Download Bella Notte from Amazon, Barnes and Noble or iTunes. Print editions are available on Amazon and CreateSpace. Bella Notte is available in the box set that has the first three books in the series with their accompanying short stories as an Amazon exclusive.
Excerpt: Prologue
The sky was growing dark crimson over the clearing in the forest behind our house as I drifted across the glen toward the edge of the trees. I walked as if I knew exactly what it was I was looking for, and where I was going to find it as well.
A small crackling noise caused me to stop halfway across the field. I turned to look in the direction the sound came from- that’s when I saw him.
Those dark green eyes and his dark auburn spikes were so familiar after seeing them for the past fourteen years, that it was always a relief to see him.
He walked towards me, and stopped at my side. The dry winter grass beneath our feet was barely audible as we took a step forward, lacing our fingers together.
The sky was no longer crimson, but had transformed into a deep indigo and a slight breeze had picked up. The hairs on my arms rose as the chill in the air assaulted my body. I moved closer to him out of instinct. His body temperature seemed to be so much higher than mine that just being near him kept me warm, strangely from the inside out. The moon had risen. The color was a frightening shade of blood red and the wind strewn clouds blew across the face of the cratered orb. He held suddenly, very still, as the breeze brought scents from across the clearing. With his eyes closed, he breathed in deeply. Those dark emeralds popped back into view and carried the fear that the grimace on his face displayed.
That’s when we heard it- the howl. The sound was terrifying, like a large wolf. Somehow, inside, I knew it wasn’t a wolf, at least not in the conventional sense, and that scared me more than anything. My body froze and my mind blanked with fear. I watched his grimace change to a visible snarl and those beautiful green eyes flash a dangerous shade of ruby. The next thing I knew he was pushing me out of the field and into the cover of the trees.
I wanted to plead to him, but no words would form with my dry tongue sticking to every ridge in my mouth. He grabbed hold of me and whispered “run” very softly into my ear- then he was gone. It took me a minute to get over the shock, but then my feet moved as quickly as possible.
I could not escape the sound of his scream as the forest closed its arms around me.
I knew it was a dream, not any dream but the dream. The dream I’ve had since I was a little girl. Every scene was memorized from beginning to end, and I again knew the sting of the silent tears that cascaded down my hot, flushed cheeks.
Find more from Jesse on her website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads and Pinterest.