Monday, October 22, 2018
Saturday, October 20, 2018
Haunted by Darkness by Raven M. Williams and Jena Baxter
Haunted by Darkness
by Raven M. Williams and Jena Baxter
Genre: Dark Fantasy, Paranormal Fantasy, Fairytales
Publisher: Raven Williams
Date of Publication: 12/5/16
ISBN: 978-1540861559
ASIN: B01MSVY7Z8
Number of pages: 494
Word Count: 110818
Cover Artist: Raven Williams
Book Description:
These are not your childhood tales!
Haunted by Darkness is a collection of eight Dark Fantasy Tales and Legends from the minds of Jena Baxter and Raven Williams. Experience the Darkness as you step further away from the Light.
Raven's Tales
Fall into Darkness, A Realm Jumper Chronicles Origins Story:
The darkness within brings a great downfall.
Rise of the Dark Witch, A Realm Jumper Chronicles Origins Story: Sometimes a person is beyond redemption.
Witch Hunter's Rise, A Witch Hunter's Society Origins Story: When darkness falls, death awaits.
Witch Hunter Ordained, A Witch Hunter's Society Origins Story: Will his dark deeds end when vengeance is had?
Jena's Tales
Belshazzar: The Gods rest in eternal sleep while their appointed Guardian for men and supernatural creatures is going mad.
Eyes of the Gods: A lonely phoenix returns to his home in Misty Haven to die, until he hears a song that cuts to the heart of his being.
Children of the Moon: Tormented by dreams and exhausted, Raven is sent to live with her aunt where she is lulled into a dreamless sleep by a haunting melody.
Hunted: Cursed by the Queen of Fairies and hunted by men, Darla must find true love or remain a deer forever.
Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/pMHuG2qMQwU
Chapter
1
Victorian London
Lucien closed
his eyes and tucked his violin under his chin, placed the bow to strings and
began to play. Long notes with a bittersweet edge embodied the atmosphere, like
a ship floating, lost, its crew and sails forever lost at sea.
A door slammed
in the background, and something heavy pounded the floor. Lucien's eyebrows
knitted in frustration, as a discordant note sliced through the illusion he
created. He placed the instrument on an end table, and stormed out of the
library, into the parlor.
His brother,
Edward, stood near the entry, loosening his cravat. He nodded.
"Lucien."
"What are
you doing slamming into the house like a herd of elephants?"
The material
slid off Edward's neck, and his lips curled into a pout. "Annabelle has
decided to marry Merrill Brighton," he said, with a huff. "That
leaves me starting over, or marrying Winnifred Camden."
Lucien didn't
think Winnifred was so bad. She had a few love handles, but that just added to
her personality somehow. His brother on the other hand, wanted someone with
riches and popularity. Lucien frowned and shifted. "What does that have to
do with your conduct? Please settle the affairs of your love life without
tearing down the house? Even Winnifred won't want a man with a poor
disposition."
"Easy for
you to say. Ladies hang on your every word." He smiled, "Or should I
say note?" He sat at the piano, and ran his hands over the keys. Soft
sounds poured into the room like a whisper.
Lucien sighed,
and pulled his coat from the rack. While he loved his brother's piano, he
wanted to play violin and he couldn't do it with the other music in the
background. "I'm going for a walk."
"Shouldn't
be out alone tonight," Edward said. "The moon is full, and it's
children will roam seeking their next meal, as the night wears on."
Lucien scoffed.
"Fairytales written to frighten children. Don't be absurd."
Edward laughed,
and the door slammed shut behind Lucien. Not that he was angry, he understood
Edward's frustration. A gentleman needed to find a woman of wealth to settle
with in order to live in comfort, unless he had a fortune of his own. Lucien
didn't worry about such things. He would rather spend his time making music.
Everyone fell into the hands of destiny anyway, the cards would fall where they
wanted, changing the course of a man's life, and shaping his future in ways he
never dreamed. A pleasant chill climbed up his back. Where would his music take
him? Would he be able to perform in great halls, or be forced to settle with a
woman, warming a bed and creating babies for her comfort?
The moon hovered
bright over the city, and sparkles of light danced on the surface of the
Themes. Lucien stopped to watch, breathing in the cool night air. His favorite
kind of evening after a warm, summer day. Frustration rolled off his shoulders
in waves. He began to relax and continued on his way.
footsteps
shuffled behind him. He stopped and glanced back. Nothing but the moon and it's
shadows disturbed the darkness of night. A bird screeched overhead, and he
jumped, as he resumed his walk. The footsteps resumed when he continued
walking. When he stopped again, they did too. Could there be something to the
moon children myth? Goosebumps covered his skin as he turned and squinted to
see better, but there was still only darkness. He took a deep breath and
shrugged the tension out of his shoulders. He was being foolish.
The shuffling
stopped when he turned toward the city, and soon he wondered if it had been the
work of an over-active imagination. His anger giving rise to the absurd. His
shoulders dropped, and he relaxed, as new threads of music filled his mind. He
hummed them as he walked, until the shadow of a man came into view up the lane.
Lucien tensed, was someone waiting for him? He turned left at the corner, but
moments later, the silhouette stood waiting once more. He turned again.
It had to be
someone else. No one could move that fast. How many people were out this
evening? Maybe it had something to do with the moon. His brother's words echoed
in his mind. He turned again, and shuddered when he saw the silhouette of the
man waiting.
Lucien's heart
raced. He spun and jogged back the way he came. In seconds, the silhouette
blocked him, but this time it was closer. His chest tightened as the man moved
toward him, his stride like a feral cat. For a moment, all Lucien could do was
stare.
Lucien broke the
spell, spun around and ran. The chest he crashed into was solid as cement.
Muscled arms encompassed him. He kicked his feet and twisted, but the man's
grip tightened.
"Don'
worry," a smooth voice crooned.
Lucien
shuddered.
"We'll be
done in just a few minutes."
About the Author Raven Williams
A prolific writer, Raven began her career in 2010 with a blog and non-fiction, then moving to fiction in 2014, when she began Elven-Jumper, the first book in the Realm.
Jumper Chronicles. She now has 30 books to her name, spanning the Realm Jumper Chronicles, Raven’s Twisted Classics, and the Demon Stones Saga, as well as her non-fiction, with more planned.
When Raven is not writing, she is creating art in the form of abstract paintings, fractal designs, and jewelry pieces that tie into her stories. She is also a caregiver for a disabled family member and two cats. She physically resides in the Northwest Florida Panhandle, but spends most of her time mentally in her Mystic Realms.
Will you join her?
Sign-up for Raven’s Newsletter here: https://mysticrealmscurioshop.com/newsletter-sign-up
Website: https://mysticrealmscurioshop.com
Raven’s Mystic Realms FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/mysticrealmscurioshop/
Facebook Reader’s Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ravensmysticrealms/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RaveMWilliams
About the Author Jena Baxter
A prolific writer, Jena Baxter creates characters with depth and stories filled with action, emotion, and a little bit of romance. She loves building fantastical worlds and cultures.
Living in Northern California with her husband, Jena enjoys soapmaking, her pets, and writer's conferences. She also reads for a screenwriting contest on an annual basis.
Website: www.jenabaxter.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jenabaxterbooks
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JenaBaxterBooks
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/jenabaxterbooks/
Newsletter: http://jenabaxterbooks.blogspot.com/
Friday, October 19, 2018
WARLOCK HOLMES by G.S. Denning
What do you think of when someone mentions Sherlock Holmes? The epitome of fictional detectives? A series of stories so timely and so visionary that they revolutionized police-work, the world over? A deerstalker? A pipe? Benedict Cumberbatch’s perfect cheek-bones?
You wouldn’t be wrong.
But in this season of fun-filled frights, let’s take a moment to reflect on one oft-overlooked aspect of the world’s favorite detective:
He’s really creepy.
No. Seriously. Just pleasantly-but-sometimes-right-to-the-edge-of-discomfortingly creepy.
Do you know where the modern tradition of Halloween takes its roots? Dartmoor. Arthur Conan Doyle repeatedly set his adventures out upon the moor in abandoned hallows filled with lethal peat-bogs, fog, reeds and wisp-light. Want to see Holmes and Watson chasing a seemingly-demonic hound across moonlit moor? Well then, it’s no wonder Hound of the Baskervilles is amongst the most popular of Doyle’s original 60 stories.
Now, if you want to see them chasing an actually-demonic hound across a moonlit moor, you’ll have to check out my second book: Hell-hound of the Baskervilles. And for those of you who just rolled their eyes at how easy it must have been for me to come up with that angle: yeah, that’s sort of my point. You don’t have to work hard to make Sherlock Holmes macabre. It’s there already.
One of the less-known stories is called The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire; it features a mother who’s been caught sucking blood out of the neck of her own infant. Even in 1898, not great parenting.
Or how about The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb? It features not just the aforementioned disembodied thumb, but also its owner, trapped in a room-sized hydraulic press, debating if he should stand up, or sit down or lie face up or… Well, just what exactly is the least-painful way to be slowly crushed to death? It’s ironic that the modern detective story is attributed to Edgar Alan Poe, because in moments such as these, Doyle absolutely equals Poe’s famous brand of dark introspection.
Or maybe you’d just like to see Sherlock murder a dog. Would that be nice? Dog murder, anyone?
Because that’s how he unravels his very first case, A Study in Scarlet. Yep. No lie. To figure out if the pills he’s recovered are poisonous, he steals his neighbor-girl’s dog and feeds it half of each pill.
Guess what? (1887 spoilers follow…) Totally poison. There is something uniquely Halloween-ish about a character who thinks that is acceptable behavior. Oh yeah, and half the people he meets seem to think the only way he could possibly know the things he knows is dark magic. They’re wrong.
He’s not magical. But he is probably sociopathic. And he’s definitely not on the ASPA’s top 10 list of great guys.
So if Halloween makes you think about goblins, vampires, demonic possession and soul-binding magic… Well, pick up a copy of my first book, A Study in Brimstone. It’s all in there.
But if you’ve got a little time to kill before All-Hallow’s Eve, and if you’ve got a mind for the classics, here’s what you do:
You pull your favorite chair up to next to a window on a rainy night. You get some fleece pants and a comfy blanket. You brew up a nice cup of tea. Light a couple candles. Then snuggle down and spend a little cozy murder time with the undisputed-number-one-original-king-of-creepy-daddy-detectives, Mr. Sherlock Holmes.
Warlock Holmes - A Study in Brimstone
Warlock Holmes
Book One
by G.S. Denning
Publisher: Titan Books
Publication Date: May 17, 2016
ASIN: B014BQVKUC
Tagline: Sherlock Holmes is a genius … Warlock Holmes is something else …
Book Description:
Sherlock Holmes is an unparalleled genius. Warlock Holmes is an idiot. A font of arcane power, certainly. But he’s brilliantly dim.
Frankly, he couldn’t deduce his way out of a paper bag. The only thing he has really got going for him are the might of a thousand demons and his stalwart companion.
Thankfully, Dr. Watson is always there to aid him through the treacherous shoals of Victorian propriety… and save him from a gruesome death every now and again.
Warlock Holmes - The Hell-Hound of the Baskervilles
Warlock Holmes
Book Two
by G.S. Denning
Publisher: Titan Books
Publication Date: May 16, 2017
ASIN: B01KRUN0IQ
Tagline: Sherlock Holmes is a genius … Warlock Holmes is something else …
Book Description:
The game’s afoot once more as Holmes and Watson face off against Moriarty’s gang, the Pinkertons, flesh-eating horses, a parliament of imps, boredom, Surrey, a disappointing butler demon, a succubus, a wicked lord, an overly-Canadian lord, a tricycle-fight to the death and the dreaded Pumpcrow. Oh, and a hell hound, one assumes.
Warlock Holmes - My Grave Ritual
Warlock Holmes
Book Three
by G.S. Denning
Publisher: Titan Books
Publication Date: May 15, 2018
ASIN: B075WCS6WZ
Tagline: Sherlock Holmes is a genius … Warlock Holmes is something else …
Book Description:
As they blunder towards doom, Warlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson find themselves inconvenienced by a variety of eldritch beings. Christmas brings a goose that doesn't let being cooked slow it down; they meet an electricity demon, discover why being a redhead is even tricker than one might imagine, and Holmes attempts an Irish accent. And, naturally, Moriarty is hanging around... in some form or other.
About the Author:
G.S. Denning furiously studied reading and math until he could play Dungeons and Dragons. His love of DandD expanded to a passion for all things in the sci-fi and fantasy realm, particularly when spliced with comedy - Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, Monty Python, Red Dwarf, Black Adder, Whose Line is it Anyway, Dr. Who, and the holiest of holies: The Princess Bride.
He learned his story-telling skills on the improv stage as a member of Orlando Theatersports, Seattle Theatersports, Jet City Improv, and as a Disney Performer at Epcot. G.S. also worked for Nintendo and Wizards of the Coast.
Finally, after realizing that humanity had not used the pun Warlock Holmes yet, he sat down to begin his first novel series: a dark-comic retelling of Arthur Conan Doyle's classic Sherlock Holmes stories. G.S. Lives in Las Vegas with The Best Wife and The Best Children.
Website: https://www.gsdenning.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gsdenning
Thursday, October 18, 2018
Monday, October 15, 2018
Saturday, October 13, 2018
Come Join Us at the LAVISH OCTOBER BOOK EXTRAVAGANZA!
The October EXTRAVAGANZA is COME AND GO – so you can drop in and WIN, play and meet new wonderful authors this weekend!
Be sure to join the Lavish Book Community Center where the event is taking place – where we also announce big news, and post giveaways regularly in a SPAM FREE group – so be sure to get you share!!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/LavishBookCommunityCenter/
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