Saturday, 28 July 2012

Determinant by A.M. Hargrove Blog Tour



Don't forget to enter the awesome giveaway from A.M.!
Rafflecopter below for a chance to win an ebook of Resurrection or Determinant, or a Kindle Touch!
Determinant, Book 3 The Guardians of Vesturon

By A. M. Hargrove

Book Description:

January St. Davis, on her own since the age of sixteen and struggling to stay in college, thinks she’s scored in a major way when she lands a paid summer internship at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.  One evening, after working an especially long shift, a chance encouter with a group of mysterious men alters the course of her life.

Rykerian Yarrister, a Guardian of Vesturon with unearthly powers and impossibly gorgeous looks, finds himself at odds over the human female he recently saved from certain death.  When it seems he is on the verge of winning her over, she is ripped from his hands by a strange and powerful being, threatening to destroy her if his demands are not met.

Do Rykerian and the Guardians have the ability to meet this fierce barbarian’s ultimatums, or will January suffer a horrid demise?


I had the pleasure of meeting with Rykerian from Determinant for an interview!  In between getting lost in his vivid blue eyes and daydreaming of running my fingers through his hair (and wiping the drool off my chin), I got a few questions in.  Thank you Rykerian, for meeting with me.  I'm sorry January couldn't join us (not really), but maybe next time!

Tell us about the first time you saw January.
The first time I saw her, I didn't know who she was. I was riding a speedster and it was late at night and I saw this car careening down the highway, headed for a crash. So I teleported inside and Commanded her to stop. After things had settled a bit, I got my first real look at her and I was lost to her forever. She was the most perfect thing I had ever seen in my life. I wanted to carry her away right then and there and claim her for my own. Then several months later when I found her in the woods, dying from that terrible illness, my heart was ripped to shreds and I nearly died right along with her.

You've been accused of being sweet and romantic? Do you have a response for that?
I am nothing but a hopeless romantic. I am overly sensitive and overly protective and sometimes a huge pain in the rear. But why is being sweet and romantic such a bad thing? I like to treat January with the love and respect I think she deserves and I plan to worship her every day for the rest of my life. Don't tell her I said that though. *wink*

It's not really a secret that you used to have a bit of a crush on Maddie.  How is your relationship with her and Rayn now?
Yes, well I thought Maddie was extraordinary...until I met January. Not that Maddie isn't great. But she was right all along. My feelings for her were simply that of a ridiculous school boy... moronic really now that I think of it. I'm embarrassed that I acted that way. January is so much more, well I'd rather not say what I'm thinking about that. But to your point, my relationship with Maddie and Rayn is and always has been excellent. They are an awesome couple, by the way. You ought to interview them, if you get the chance.

So how do you know it's "the real thing" this time with January?
Sheri, have you ever been in love before? Truly in love? Where you felt the world would stop spinning, your heart would stop beating if you couldn't have that one person you so desperately needed to make you whole? If you haven't, then I cannot explain the difference to you. If you have, then you understand. Maddie was nothing but a ridiculous crush.

How's it going working out your personal feelings about Jurek compared to the promise you made January?
*scowls* Jurek is a pain in my ass. Excuse the language, but that is what he is to me. I will always have difficulty dealing with him as he knows exactly which buttons of mine to push. I will endeavor to be on my best behavior with him for my mate's sake, but that is the best I can do.

If you truly felt that January was your soulmate... how could you have doubted her with Jurek?
*Shrug* I am Vesturion Sheri. It is how we are. Compulsive, protective, and many times obstinate. I knew she was MY soulmate, but at the time, I did not know I was HERS. When Jurek returned her to me and she was so HAPPY, when I expected to see her all shaken up from her ordeal, I jumped to the wrong conclusion. But the whole scenario was bizarre. Who develops a friendship with their abductor? You must admit I was in my rights to be angry with her, yes?

So, was your hand crushed before the pain meds arrived?
Not quite, but January did exhibit some extraordinary strength that day. I was, I guess you could say, a bit addled as well. I wasn't in my right mind. Bless my mate, I don't know what she would have done without my parents.

What's your idea of a perfect date?
Candlelight beneath the stars, just the two of us, no interruptions, soft music, a blanket and a crackling fire.

Have you changed you mind about having (or not having) a large family?
Oh no! I would like to have at least five more children…that is if I can get January convinced of that!

What's your favorite pizza topping?
I never ate much pizza until I met January but I must admit it's one of my favorite foods now. I hate to say it but I'm pretty basic and I love the plain old cheese pizza with a bit of pepperoni on it. January calls me boring.

What do you like to do in your spare time…you know, when you're not out saving the people of Earth?
Really, Sheri? Do you honestly have to ask that? You are a blogger that reviews romance novels, right? What do you think I like to do in my spare time?

 
Also a huge thank you to Alana @ http://darkobsessionchronicles.blogspot.com for helping me come up with the questions for Rykerian!

Rykerian



Book Links:

Amazon ebook: http://amzn.to/I5RCcQ

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/Lg7mJm

Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/JwH3yf

iTunes: http://bit.ly/uChmR3

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=a+m+hargrove

Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdjOOr-CE78&feature=youtu.be



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Featurned Books #9

This week's featured books!

Make sure you stop by Making Connections and grab your copy to review!

Clicking on the book title will bring you to the review sign up page on Goodreads!


Genre:  Mystery/Suspense

The hunt for a blackmailer sends private investigator Benson Keirstad on a trip up the California coast. Neither attack dogs nor violent brawls in seedy dives can stop him in the pursuit of his mission. When he finally arrives in Berkeley, an unexpected and deadly showdown awaits him. Could this be Keirstad's last case? A short story.
__________

RARE BIRDS: An American Family by Dan Bessie
Genre:  Non-Fiction


What does a writer do when he's got a family that includes a blacklisted member of the Hollywood Ten, the brains behind Tony the Tiger and the Marlboro Man, a trio of gay puppeteers, the world's leading birdwatcher, 1960s hippies, a Dutch stowaway who served in an all-black regiment during the Civil War, and a convicted murderer? He tells their stories and secrets, illuminating 150 years of American history along the way.

Dan Bessie begins his journey through the Bessie and Burnett family history with his great-grandfather in the cargo hold of a ship bound for New York on the storm-tossed Atlantic. What follows are stories of his grandfather's various entrepreneurial schemes, a grandmother who was voted "New York's Prettiest Shop Girl" (and who resisted the recruitment efforts of various city madams), and his uncle Harry's Turnabout Theater in Los Angeles (a renowned puppet theater drawing patrons as diverse as Shirley Temple, Ray Bradbury, and Albert Einstein).

Through inherited journals and letters, Bessie comes to a new understanding of his father, Alvah, an actor and writer who fought in the Lincoln Brigade during the Spanish Civil War. Later, as a screenwriter, Alvah was blacklisted for his Communist sympathies and jailed as one of the Hollywood Ten.

Alvah is only one of many colorful relatives who would go on to play key roles in the world. Bessie's research reveals many prominent people, from his grandmother's cousin Sidney Lenz who wrote Lenz on Bridge, a classic guide to the game, to Bessie's brother-in-law Wes Wilson who designed rock-and-roll posters for the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco during the 1960s and lived a counterculture existence vastly different from the bridge-mad Depression Era.

Not to be outdone, Cousin Michael Bessie established his niche in publishing, co-founding Atheneum Press and shaping books by Anwar Sadat, Edward Albee, and Aldous Huxley. With an equally impressive career, Uncle Leo Burnett built the country's fifth largest advertising agency. A passion of a different sort led cousin Phoebe Snetsinger to travel all over the globe; during her lifetime she sighted 8,400 different birds—nearly 85 percent of the species known to exist.

Rare Birds celebrates the colorful diversity of a remarkable and accomplished family. While their choices and professions run the gamut of the American experience in the twentieth century, the history of the nation can be traced in their lives as Bessie's passionate bids of a feather sing their unique songs across the decades and generations.
__________

BARAKEL AND NISSA by Jane Li
Genre:  Romance


This is a story chiefly about love: the love between a man and a woman, the love between brothers and sisters, and the love between friends.

But WHY does love exist? For what reason is there love in our world?

The plot consists of four stories told in four different time periods. Through reincarnation, the main characters Barakel and Nissa experience love in its many forms: First in the time of Genesis, where they face challenges even in a loving and enduring relationship. Second in the time of Lemuria, where one experiences great love and loss, and the challenge of living a life alone. Third takes place in Tudor England after the death of Henry VIII, where love is explored in the deep friendship between Edward VI and his cousin Jane Grey, a friendship that ultimately led a king to pass on his crown to his best friend, above his own sisters. The final story takes place in present day America, where even a soulmate relationship is torn apart by misunderstanding and hurt, and how true forgiveness and starting anew can heal and bring them back together again.

By the end of this book, you will learn WHY love exists in our world.
__________

SURVIVAL by A.M. Hargrove
Genre:  YA Paranormal Romance


"Maybe I was caught between the two worlds. I was having serious trouble distinguishing fantasy from reality."

While on a backpacking trip in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, nineteen-year-old Maddie Pearce finds her world has been thrown into a vortex and is madly spinning toward the impossible. Abducted by a mad psychopath, Maddie narrowly escapes with her life. But that is only the beginning. Her mysterious rescuer introduces her to a world that Maddie has difficulty accepting as reality. Will this strikingly gorgeous stranger be the key to her future or will she return to her mundane world, scarred from her experience? Follow Maddie as she is forced to make difficult decisions that carry her to mysterious places.
__________

RESURRECTION by A.M. Hargrove
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance


Maddie knew she was dying. Her life started to flash before her. She had visions of running down the soccer field, scoring a goal, eating her mother’s yummy, homemade, sticky cinnamon rolls, standing in her foyer listening to the police tell her father that her mother had been killed in a car accident. Each vision was disturbingly clear—as if it was happening again."

Rayn Yarrister, the first-born son and Leader of The Guardians, has been imprisoned on Vesturon for breaking their most sacred of covenants. He is suddenly jolted by Maddie's telepathic pleas for help, as her life hangs in the balance. Can he alert The Guardians in time to save his soulmate? Or will he face his trial alone and broken without his one true love?

In Resurrection (Book 2), The Guardians of Vesturon are facing their biggest challenges as Earth is threatened by an invading species from a distant planet intent on destroying it for its resources. The Guardians, as protectors of the universe, have been assembled to defend not only Earth, but other vulnerable worlds as well. The Yarrister family is threatened by an unknown entity intent on discrediting them. Will they uncover this plot in time to save themselves from ruin? Will The Guardians succeed in stopping the Xanthians, or will Earth be invaded and ravaged by this marauding species?
__________

AMETHYST EYES by Debbie Brown
Genre:  Sci-Fi


The biggest thing on 15-year-old Tommy's mind is convincing Mom to let him go to the drive-in, but when an accident claims his mother's life and puts him in the hospital, the arrival of his estranged, alien father brings more changes than he had bargained for.
It doesn't take his father long to figure out that Tommy knows nothing about who or what he is. Without any explanation, Tommy finds himself onboard his father's spaceship where he is forced to trust a man he does not know in a world he knows even less about.
Adapting to his new life seems overwhelming, and his father's solution may prove to be Tommy's finest challenge yet...Jayden. A few months younger than Tommy, high strung and always in a mood, the doctor's daughter definitely didn't like being 'told' to help Tommy fit in. Jayden is not the most welcoming or patient of tutors, let alone a friend.
As fate would have it, Tommy quickly learns that none of these things compare to the peril that comes from being born with amethyst eyes.
__________

THE BAREFOOT WARRIOR: The Journey of a Young Adult In Search of His True Nature by Kyle Weaver
Genre:  Inspirational/Contemporary Young Adult Fiction


“This is the end of my life as I’ve known it. I can’t spend another day playing the sidekick in other people’s stories. I can’t keep trusting the advice and expectations of adults who lack the time and interest to see me for who I am and what I care about. I will not argue anymore about why my dreams are valid. Today, I step forward on my own path into the unknown without a backward thought. If I get crushed, so be it. At least I’ll know what it means to be the keeper of my own destiny.”

With these thoughts, 16 year-old Kyle Weaver breaks free from foster care and public education to set out on the path of his own greatness. What follows are the trials of a modern-day hero’s journey.

The Barefoot Warrior explores a universal human yearning for liberation and fulfillment that is shared by people young and old throughout the world. This book offers a fresh and youthful perspective on the social and educational problems that society faces today.
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Friday, 27 July 2012

Genesis by Christie Rich Cover Reveal!

Book three of the Elemental Enmity Series is here!


Genesis
by Christie Rich

Genre: YA Fantasy/Romance

Having just escaped the nefarious plans of the Order, Rayla Tate thinks all she has to do now is rescue her family and sort through her feelings, but bonding with five men might just be her undoing. Not only does she have to deal with all of them reading her mind, Rayla must choose a bondmate before she will be allowed to venture into the mortal realm to save those she loves most.

She has three weeks to get to know each lord, but her journey turns into far more than a simple choice of the heart. Rayla comes face to face with the underhanded dealings of the fae political system where good is a matter of taste and evil lurks under beautiful shells. Long held judgments crumble when she discovers the heart beneath the men she has come to count on. Rayla must overcome long held fears, discover the truth behind the creatures of the dark realms, and conquer her greatest weakness before she can take her place as the new queen of the fae.

However, her world crumbles when she discovers following her heart’s desire might just mean the destruction of the world. Will Rayla have the courage to choose the man who has risked everything to win her, or will she succumb to the manipulations of the fae council and those who would use her power for evil?
One choice: five men. The stakes have never been higher, but which one will prevail?

Five - Book 1  
Dark Matter - Book 2

                                                               
About the Author:
I love to be creative. It is more than a hobby. It is a need of mine. Whether writing, reading, painting, flower arranging or trying something new, I spend most of my time in the pursuit of freeing the creations inside me.

Links:
Website:  http://www.christierich.blogspot.com/

Goodreads:  http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5147170.Christie_Rich

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/authorchristier


In celebration of Genesis' release, Christie is giving away a complete ebook set of her Elemental Emnity series to one lucky winner!  See the Rafflecopter below to enter to win!



a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Monday, 23 July 2012

Michael Cargill Guest Post

I'd like to welcome Michael Cargill to our blog today to talk about his take on epiracy. 

You can find Michael on Goodreads or his blog

__________________

"Literature is something of a latecomer to the digital revolution.  In some ways, this is quite surprising, as it predates other forms of entertainment like computer games, film, and TV by several thousand years.  Mind you, the older generations are often the slowest to get to grips with anything new.  After all, when was the last time you heard your granddad talk about getting an Xbox?
Some of the growing pains for ebooks, have been the same ones that other forms of digital media have gone through, and still are going through.  Piracy is one such pain.

The mere mention of the word ‘piracy’ generates quite an angry response from many people, whether they are a writer, or a reader.

To those people, I say you should perhaps step back, and rethink things a bit.  I’m an indie author, and I know for a fact that my work is available to download from torrent/pirate websites.  I know this to be a fact, as it was me who put them there in the first place.

Before I go any further, I’ll just mention a few things, to provide some context.  Firstly, you won’t see me on any bestseller lists anywhere, not unless that list is based on an otherwise empty shelf.  Yes, woe is me, get out the violin and all that.

Secondly, years ago, I used to be something of a profligate pirate myself.  My hard drive was chock full of computer games, applications, films, and TV shows.  I knew lots of other people who did the same thing as well.

Lastly, I have no formal legal education, or training.  This puts me at around about the same level as that bloke in the pub, who insists that it’s perfectly legal to shoot a Welshman with a crossbow, so long as you do it outside the city walls, on a Wednesday afternoon.

Just to be clear, I have no intention of getting involved with the tedious, semantic differences between copyright infringement, and theft.  I’m also mainly talking about the financial impact of piracy, rather than the copyright side of things.

So then: why did I upload my own work to some torrent sites?  Well, “Why not?”, is my response.  At the moment, practically no-one knows about me.  My ability to market myself is largely limited to blogs, Twitter, and pinning posters up on the trees along my road.  Now that my work is available by torrents, I have added one more avenue for readers to find me.  I created threads on the torrent site forums, informing them all of what I did.  I got a few replies from people thanking me, and wishing me luck.  In the few days following on from this, I had an increase in the number of hits to my blog, from people searching for terms like “Michael Cargill author” on Google.  Prior to doing this, that had never happened before.

Of course, the usual retort to this is “You don’t get money from pirates!”, to which I say is a load of poppycock.

As I mentioned earlier, I was once a profligate pirate myself.  Yet, despite the fact that my hard drives were heaving with illegally downloaded material, my shelves were also teeming with legally purchased material as well.

And the same goes for many people who pirate things.  There are numerous studies that show that the people who illegally download the most music, are also some of the biggest purchasers of music.  This won’t be true for all of them, of course, but it is a fact that cannot be ignored.

It’s also important to recognise that just because someone illegally downloads a book, or a film, or a song, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the copyright owner has lost a sale.  For a start, pirates will often download stuff that they have no intention of ever using.  They’ll often do it, just because they can.  I mean, who wouldn’t want to download the latest version of AutoCAD if the opportunity is there...?

A quick search on a torrent site reveals that I can download the entire works of Stephen King, in about fifteen minutes.  That’s everything that he has ever published, about sixty five books in total, right there on the Internet.  Ebooks are small in size, so they take no time at all to pirate.  However, to say that anyone who downloads them all has denied Mr King of sixty five books worth of royalty fees, is wrong.

First of all, very few people will ever go out and purchase that many books at once.  Secondly, that pirate simply isn’t going to read all sixty five of those books either.  He or she may read one of them, and enjoy it.  However, they aren’t that likely to immediately read another Stephen King book.  They are more likely to read something from someone else, whether it’s pirated, or legally bought.

The reading habits of a pirate are exactly the same as those of a ‘normal’ reader.  They will talk about it to their friends, and family.  They will join in with the discussions about it on Goodreads.  They leave reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, and their blog.  After illegally sampling an author’s work, they may go on and purchase legitimate copies of their work.  This is something I did when I was a pirate.  It’s what I witnessed other people who pirated media do, as well.  It’s what some of the studies into piracy have shown, as well.

Of course, you don’t have to just take this indie’s word for it.  Bestselling author Neil Garman has taken a similar stance to ebook piracy.  He even made a video on YouTube about it, that is still available to watch, though he is someone who made his name (and fortune) long before ebooks ever existed.

It’s also worth bearing in mind that you can’t actually fight piracy, either.  For every anti-piracy method that is put in place, it is easily defeated.  Companies can spend thousands implementing an anti-piracy scheme, only to see it cracked within hours of its release.

An author could spend a huge amount of time, scouring all corners of the Internet, trying to hunt down those elusive illegal links to their work.  Yet, all that time is wasted.  It took me less than five minutes for me to put my own work up on a torrent site, but it might take days for a furious copyright owner to get something removed from a website.

Many people will say “if everyone pirated books, then authors would starve!”  Now, whilst that might be true, it’s also true that if everyone flushed their toilets at once, the sewer system would collapse.  The fact is, that not everyone will pirate books.  At least part of this is down to the fact that it requires a certain level of technical knowledge to pirate, that many people struggle to get over.  Some Kindle owners simply don’t know how to manually copy ebooks onto their device.

To be honest, I probably have more sympathy for the readers, than I do the authors.  They can be understandably annoyed when they see someone stealing books, and getting them for free, rather than paying for them.

In writing this short article, I’m not expecting to drastically change anyone’s mind.  However, the piracy debate has been raging for a long time now, and it really needs a more level-headed approach.  None of the heavy-handed antics employed so far have put so much as a dent in it.

I think we should embrace it, rather than hate it.

Study: Piracy Does Not Deter the Production of Music, Films, Books -
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/study_piracy_does_not_deter_the_production_of_music_books_films.php

Study Shows That BitTorrent Piracy Doesn’t Affect U.S. Box Office Profits - http://www.geekosystem.com/bittorrent-box-office-study/
Neil Garman video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Qkyt1wXNlI"

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Saturday, 21 July 2012

200 Follower Giveaway!

ALMOST 200 FOLLOWER GIVEAWAY!

Since we've ALMOST reached 200 followers, I've decided to do a giveaway! 
My hope is that by the end of the giveaway, we'll have hit that 200 mark! 

So tell your friends!

Fill out the rafflecopter below to enter.

THE PRIZE:  One person will win 2 hardcover books by James Patterson


Step on a Crack (Michael Bennett #1)
NYPD Detective Michael Bennett is about to take on the most sinister challenge of his career. The nation has fallen into mourning after the unexpected death of a beloved former first lady, and the most powerful people in the world gather in New York for her funeral. Then the inconceivable occurs. Billionaires, politicians, and superstars of every kind are suddenly trapped within one man's brilliant and cold-blooded scenario.Bennett, father of 10, is pulled into the fray. As the danger escalates, he is hit with devastating news: after fighting for many years, his wife has succumbed to a terrible disease. As New York descends into chaos, he has lost the great love of his life, faces raising his heartbroken children alone, and must somehow rescue 34 hostages.Day after day, Bennett confronts the most ruthless man he has ever dealt with, a man who kills without hesitation and counters everything the NYPD and FBI throw at him with impunity. As the entire world watches, and the tensions build to a searing heat, Bennett has to find a way out or face responsibility for the greatest debacle in history. 

Run For Your Life (Michael Bennett #2)
A calculating killer who calls himself The Teacher is taking on New York City, killing the powerful and the arrogant. His message is clear: remember your manners or suffer the consequences! For some, it seems that the rich are finally getting what they deserve. For New York's elite, it is a call to terror.

Only one man can tackle such a high-profile case: Detective Mike Bennett. The pressure is enough for anyone, but Mike also has to care for his 10 children-all of whom have come down with virulent flu at once!

Discovering a secret pattern in The Teacher's lessons, Detective Bennett realizes he has just hours to save New York from the greatest disaster in its history. From the #1 bestselling author comes RUN FOR YOUR LIFE, the continuation of his newest, electrifying series. 
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Featured Books #8

This week's featured books!

Make sure you stop by Making Connections and grab your copy to review!

Clicking on the book title will bring you to the review sign up page on Goodreads!

Everyone wishes the ancient prophecy would go away. Pixies commute to work and sirens make mp3s of their songs, yet antique forces stubbornly persist. They want to bring about a war between Light and Darkness in an era when most people just want to cash in on the merchandising.

Aki is struggling to make ends meet and hopes her scholarship can at least earn her a better apartment. Blake refuses to believe he could be something so cliché as a Knight of Darkness. Keisha is pursuing a career in law when she's told she has no choice but to serve the forces of Light. All of them will be attending the same university, whether they like it or not.

It's hard to think about dark omens when there's a term paper due, much less a party that night. But they'd better relax while they can, because after college is only the real world, which is stranger and more dangerous than they could possibly imagine.
--------------------

 
ETHEREAL INFLUENCE: THE BIRTH by Lana Bradstream
Genre:  Christian Fiction/Contemporary Fantasy
A person's faith can waiver when life becomes difficult. It is during those times when God's angels can appear and attempt to deliver guidance. Alas, God is not the only one with angels. The death of Laura's baby shakes her faith to the core, leaving her open and vulnerable. With her faith in the balance, her soul becomes the battle ground between good and evil. The angels Ben and Ryan war with one another over whether or not Laura's faith can be restored or her plunge into darkness will continue.
--------------------

 
Genre:  Woman's Fiction/Romance
 Frannie and David Young have been married over twenty years, have two kids, busy jobs, a house in the suburbs and a dog named Max. To keep the romance alive in their relationship, they plan a “date” twice a month. Their block of time together includes very few rules—no kids or dogs, but requires an open mind. Frannie and David take turns planning dates, depending on the NFL’s schedule and how the planets are aligned that particular month.

In this second short story in the series, Frannie chooses a hands-on French cooking class as their outing. As they struggle with the “right” way to spice up their lives (both in and out of the kitchen), they discover that their strength as a couple depends on their ability to “wing it.” They also discover that “winging it” with raw oysters, a bottle of wine and an eccentric French cook can make for one interesting date.
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Genre:  YA Fantasy
The Heynai bestowed upon the people of Estia one great weapon to fight the forces of evil, a set of five stones which possess unlimited powers. They housed them in a protective box and entrusted it to a Keeper, a guardian chosen from Earth. For centuries, the Stones and the Keepers defended their world against wizards, tyrants and armies.

Until the day that two ordinary fifteen year old boys from England broke them. In ‘Jake West – The Keeper of the Stones’ the boys fought battles, freed an entire army from slavery, and waged war against an evil wizard and his legions of murderous beasts.

Now, the beleaguered Rebel Army is marching to the city of Dassilliak, pursued by the tyrant, King Vantrax, his savage beast warlord, Sawdon, and his entire Northern Army. Ahead of them lies a sizeable enemy force which is waiting to spring a deadly trap. They are running out of time and they are in desperate need of a miracle. The only weapon they have lies in ruins. Jake West is the only one who can restore it. But Jake and the seriously wounded Ben have gone home!
--------------------

 
Genre:  YA Fantasy
I have lived more years than I can remember, probably more than the sum of all your years combined. Kings have called me friend and brigands have sworn to burn the flesh from my bones even if they have to search all seven halls of the shadowland to find me.’

On the night of midwinter’s eve, a storyteller takes his listeners back to the Dark ages and a tale from his youth.

Deserted by its Roman masters, Britain has been invaded by the Saxons at the invitation of Vortigern, traitorous leader of the Britons. Now, as the tribes unite to reclaim their land, one man must rise to lead them and become their true and only king.
--------------------

 
Genre:  YA Fiction
When a local soldier was killed in the Vietnam War, a memorial was created to honor his sacrifice. Years later, the memorial faces removal and demolition. Two high school buddies devise a scheme to preserve the memorial. Will the boys summon the courage to succeed?


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Thursday, 19 July 2012

The Macabre Masterpiece: Poems of Horror and Gore by Justin Bienvenue

It is my great pleasure to host author

Justin Bienvenue

Today we are spotlighting Justin's book 

The Macabre Masterpiece: Poems of Horror and Gore



Title: The Macabre Masterpiece: Poems of Horror and Gore

Author: Justin Bienvenue

Genre: Poetry, Horror

Published: January 2011

Available from: PublishAmerica  Amazon




Synopsis
An anthology of fifty poems of the creepy, the eerie and the even downright horrific. Five chapters about all things gruesome, strange and unknown. Hell,a look into and take on the underworld as we have come to know it. Blood, the tales of the notorious red liquid from different levels. Creatures, some of history's most beloved and feared monsters each with their own little twist.Creepy, poems of things that leave us shaken and hidden deep under our covers scared out of our minds. Suspense, tales that leave us scared but turning the page and gripping the edge of our seats wanting more. The Macabre Masterpiece, a sure scare, treat and must read for all horror and poetry lovers out there.


Excerpt from The Macabre Masterpiece
The Spirit of the dead is near, they’ve asked me to bring you all here, I can see it in your eyes, you all look despaired.The need for bloodshed is done in the back of the shed in the back of the head until the back is red.Crouching in position posing in perfect posture, on the rooftop of a gothic cathedral sits a monster.

My Thoughts
The idea of horror mixed with poetry is definitely a new one for me. Reading through Justin's poems, I found them interesting and unique. If you're a fan of poetry or horror, or you're just curious to find out more, you'll definitely need to pick this one up!

About the Author
My name is Justin Bienvenue. I am 24 years old and live in Attleboro, MA. I like to consider myself a creative thinker and brainstormer. I enjoy writing because it gives me a way to put my creative ideas into perspective and down on paper. I get inspiration from just about anything, whether it be real or fiction, I always try to do something innovative and different. Poetry is something I have enjoyed reading and writing for some time now. I find it to be a great way of self-expression, putting your feelings down and a sweet sounding piece of work with all of its rhythm and other literary devices. I decided to write a book because I wanted more people to read and appreciate my work and I believe it to be really good and worth being made into a book. Whether you like poetry, horror or just like to read all together I believe you will enjoy reading my book. It's got a little bit of everything and has a good mix of different types of the horror genre. My writing always has either meaning or takes the readers imagination into a whole new perspective. This is what I as a writer, creator and author try to do, this is why I write, to bring out expression and to make my work enjoyable not just for me, but for all who will enjoy and appreciate it as well.

Contact Info
Goodreads:  
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4572127.Justin_Bienvenue

Facebook: 
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Macabre-Masterpiece-Poems-of-Horror-and-Gore/147564182007781

Amazon: 
http://www.amazon.com/Justin‑Bienvenue/e/B00851MBK8/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1339004781&sr=8‑1

Website: 
http://jbienvenue.webs.com/

E-mail: 
AmadeusAnubis@netzero.net




We would like to extend a big thank you to Justin for joining us for the last day of the tour.  If you missed a stop, here is the full stop list:

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