COVER REVEAL for STRICKEN by A.K. MORGEN

Cover Reveal

Stricken

Series: The War Scrolls, Book One

Author: A.K. Morgen

Genre: Urban Fantasy Romance

Cover Designer: Deranged Doctor Design

Publisher: Limitless Publishing 

 Release Date: March 8, 2016

A.K. Morgen is the Amazon Bestselling author of the Ragnarök
Prophesies series. She lives in the heart of Arkansas with her childhood
sweetheart/husband of twelve years, and their five furry minions. When not
writing, she spends her time hiking, reading, volunteering, causing mischief,
and building a Spork army. Ayden graduated summa cum laude with her Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice and Forensic Psychology in 2009 before going on to complete her graduate degree in CJ and Law. She currently puts her education to use in the social services and CJ field. 

Ayden also writes New Adult and contemporary romance under the penname Ayden K.
Morgen.

                                Website    |   Facebook   |   Twitter  |  Goodreads   |   Amazon  

Facebook Release Event: March 9^th from 10am
to 10pm CST 

Facebook Release Party Link

It took only four months to bring the angels to their knees…


With a virus ravaging the fallen angels on
earth, mankind’s symbol of love and hope is at risk of extinction.

Centuries ago, a group of angelic warriors known
as The Fallen risked everything to save themselves and carve a future for their
kind. Hope slips away as The Fallen and their kin are cut down by an ancient
menace, LaMorte Nera—and no one saw it
coming.

 Only one immortal can save
them, and only one mortal can stand in his way…

When Nephilim warrior Killian St. James sets out
on a quest to find a cure, he and his blade-brothers discover nineteen-year-old
Aubrey Carter—a human with a past as dark as it is mysterious—cowering in an
abandoned house in the heart of Memphis, Tennessee.

 The corrupted races are
chasing her, and Killian is determined to find out why…
But neither he nor Aubrey are prepared for their
attraction to one another, or for the frightening truths lurking in the
shadows. The painful childhood memories Aubrey has buried hold precious
answers. Answers that threaten to tear Killian's world apart.

With her life hanging in the balance, Killian
must choose between the future of The Fallen, and the human girl he's
pledged to protect.

 

Demons are rising, and this
time they plan to win the war for dominion once and for all.

Killian stepped forward, forcing her to tilt her head back to look up at him. He still seemed so big to her. He still overwhelmed her. But he didn’t frighten her anymore.

“You look tired.” She fought the urge to lift her hand to touch his gorgeous face.

“I am,” he said, the corner of his lips turning up in a half smile.

“Oh.”

He stared down at her, his half smile slipping. A dizzying parade of emotions swirled through his eyes. She couldn’t read them all, but she understood enough. He felt as torn as she did.

“Will I remember you three years from now?” she whispered, her heart aching with the fear that she would forget him as she had so much else…and with fear that she would remember him. That she would survive this nightmare and he would haunt her for the rest of her days like so much else did.

“Do you want to remember me?” He took another step in her direction.

“I don’t know.”  She frowned, confused. “You make me feel like maybe the world isn’t so bad. Like maybe I’m safe with you. I don’t think I want to forget that.”

Killian tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and cupped her cheek gently in one big hand. “You are safe with me. I won’t let anyone hurt you, Aubrey.”

She stared at him for a long, silent moment. He’d promised before that he wouldn’t hurt her, but even then an unspoken fear had stood between them like a wall. A little voice whispered that if she got too close, he would hurt her as badly as the things in her past hurt. That voice had stopped whispering when he’d kissed her today, and wasn’t that odd?

“You hurt me today.”

He bowed his head, letting his hand fall away from her face. “I’m sorry.”

Her heart ached a little at the agonized way he said it. As if it shamed him to know he’d hurt her. As if, maybe, he cared more than he should too.

“Why did you?” she asked, not accusing, but curious. She wanted to understand him. No, she needed to understand him on some level she couldn’t even explain to herself. “You wanted me, didn’t you?”

His gaze sought hers, honesty shining from his angel-bright eyes. “More than you know.”

Aubrey took a deep breath, letting her lungs fill with air even as her heart filled with his confession. And just as quickly, the buoyant feeling vanished. “It doesn’t change anything, though, does it?” she whispered.

“Do you want it to?”

She hesitated for a long moment, unsure. And then her shoulders slumped, the breath she’d taken expelling in a long sigh. “I’m sorry.”

Killian gave her a sad smile and reached for her again. He swept a finger beneath her eye, collecting the teardrop she hadn’t even realized had fallen. “No apologies,” he whispered, bringing his finger to his mouth. He stuck out the tip of his tongue and lapped that single bead of moisture from his fingertip. “You owe me nothing.”

If that was true, why did she feel like crying?

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RELEASE DAY for OF SCIONS AND MEN by COURTNEY SLOAN

OF SCIONS AND MEN by Courtney Sloan

Book One of the American Scions series

 Synopsis:

Geopolitical babysitting while arresting preternatural killers, it’s just the daily grind for Scion Rowan Brady.  Brash and sarcastic, Rowan has sold her life, her career and her very blood to the controlling paranormal ruling class of America, all to make sure her kid brother can eat. Now she uses her powers as a scion to kick the ass of any preternatural creature idiotic enough to break the rules and prey upon humanity without a license. All it costs her is her freedom and a pint or two per week to her new Master.

But juggling her job and duties becomes even tougher when she is tasked with keeping a contingency of diplomats from Canada from getting gnawed on. However, negotiations for an International Blood Exchange are interrupted when bodies start showing up.

Now Rowan must rely on her talent and wit to defend the society she despises to save the lives she’s sworn to protect. But as she stumbles into the truth, she chances becoming a target of not only these killers, but of her own government. With shifters, ghosts, vampires and psychics all watching her, can she stop the killings before she is silenced?

Buy OF SCIONS AND MEN on Amazon

Author Bio:

A New Orleans native, Courtney Sloan relocated to the hills of Central Maryland after Hurricane Katrina. There she lives with her husband and fellow author, J.P. Sloan, their son and their crazy German Shepherd pup. Adding to her writing life, Courtney is also a professor at the local college and enjoys learning a world of new ideas from her students as she teaches them about writing and communicating.

Courtney’s New Orleans upbringing has left her with a love for the macabre and a flare for the next to normal. She writes speculative fiction with a variety of horror and sass mixed in for flavor. She loves taking the world of politics that haunts us now, and adding the supernatural to create a gumbo of thrills to keep you up at night.

A self-proclaimed lover of way too many fandoms, Courtney also loves crafting. From blankets to jams to stories, it’s always better homemade.

To catch up with Courtney, follow her on Twitter (@writingtiger) or on her website, courtneysloanwrites.wordpress.com.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/writingtiger

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/courtney.sloan.3

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26538150-of-scions-and-men

Blog: https://courtneysloanwrites.wordpress.com/

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY ON THE YATOPIA BLOG

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today you can find me at the YATOPIA BLOG for a fun first lines (of books) game.

Enjoy!

Reposted from the YAtopia Blog - WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW

Another repost from last month. Should authors really only write what they know?

Authors are often instructed to "write what you know." Sometimes, this idea seems preposterous. Books about murder, mayhem, and thievery aren't written solely by criminals... or are they?

I decided to consider the books I've written--what did I know and what did I have to research?

For HOW TO DATE DEAD GUYS:

Things I knew:

- The real setting

- the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire

- The Chippewa River - cuts right through the campus, where one of the main characters loses his life
- The loneliness of being raised an only child.

The beautiful and dangerous Chippewa River

Things I had to research:

- Witchcraft - although readers have inquired if I'm a witch myself, the truth is that I heavily researched the subject to make the book as "fictionally accurate" as I could

- Drowning statistics

- Smiley Face Murder Theory - research into this topic scared me at times

- Gang Life - research into this topic freaked me out even more

For DEAD GIRL RUNNING:

Things I knew:

- Running

- Yoga

- Anatomy, Physiology, Pathology

Things I had to research:

- What would be a logical winning time for a 1/2 marathon in a dystopian future where people were limited to running on treadmills? (The fact that I had to research this number reveals the truth that although I do run a lot, I don't run mega-fast.)

For AN OCCASIONALLY GRIM FAIRY TALE:

Things I knew:

- The sudden, overwhelming strength of the mother-child protective bond


Things I researched:

- Plant based medicine



The point I'm trying to make is that (most likely) every book involves some research and some inner knowledge. Perhaps the inner knowledge forms the heart of the book, and the research fleshes out the appendages.

I've found that books where I didn't need to research as much (Dead Girl Running) are written that much faster. But I also find research into interesting subjects quite fascinating, so I don't have a favorite method of writing.

I welcome your thoughts on the matter in the comments below.

COVER REVEAL for ARTIFICIAL by JAHAH MCCOY

Curiosity Quills is excited to share the cover of Artificial (The Kepler Chronicles, 1), by debut author, Jadah McCoy. Artificial is a new adult Science Fiction.

Coming April 4, 2016

She struggles to feel human.

In 2256, the only remnants of civilization on Earth’s first colonized planet, Kepler, are the plant-covered buildings and the nocturnal, genetically spliced bug-people nesting within them: the Cull. During the day, Syl leaves her home in the sewers beneath Elite City to scavenge for food, but at night the Cull come looking for a meal of their own. Syl thought gene splicing died with the Android War a century ago. She thought the bugs could be exterminated, Elite city rebuilt, and the population replenished. She’s wrong.

Whoever engineered the Cull isn’t done playing God. Syl is abducted and tortured in horrific experiments which result in her own DNA being spliced, slowly turning her into one of the bugs. Now she must find a cure and stop the person responsible before every remaining man, woman, and child on Kepler is transformed into the abomination they fear.

He struggles not to.

For Bastion, being an android in the sex industry isn’t so bad. Clubbing beneath the streets of New Elite by day and seducing the rich by night isn’t an altogether undesirable occupation. But every day a new android cadaver appears in the slum gutters, and each caved in metal skull and heap of mangled wires whittles away at him.

Glitches—androids with empathy—are being murdered, their models discontinued and strung up as a warning. Show emotion, you die. Good thing Bastion can keep a secret, or he would be the next body lining the street.

He can almost live with hiding his emotions. That is, until a girl shows up in the slums—a human girl, who claims she was an experiment. And in New Elite, being a human is even worse than being a Glitch. Now Bastion must help the girl escape before he becomes victim to his too-human emotions, one way or another.

About the Author

[Website] [Facebook] [Twitter] [Goodreads]

Jadah currently lives in Nashville, TN and works as a legal coordinator. When not babysitting attorneys, she can be found juicing her brain for creative ideas or fantasizing about her next trip out of the country (or about Tom Hiddleston as Loki - it’s always a toss up when she fantasizes).

She grew up in rural Arkansas, yet can still write good and sometimes even wears shoes! She did date her first cousin for a while but they decided against marriage for the sake of the gene pool.

Her true loves are elephants, cursing, and sangria - in that order. If you find an elephant that curses like a sailor whilst drinking sangria, you’re dangerously close to becoming her next romantic victim - er, partner.

She cut her writing teeth on badly written, hormone-driven fanfiction (be glad that’s out of her system), and her one true dream is to have wildly erotic fanfiction with dubious grammar written about her own novels. Please make her dreams come true.

from the YAtopia blog - WRITERS MAKES THE BEST (OR WORST) READERS

Another repost from the YATOPIA BLOG.

Reading changes a person. Of course. We all know that.
But writing changes a person too.
It changes how an author reads. At least it's changed how I read.
Sometimes I'm not sure I'm happy about this.

As a child, I loved to read.

I read anything I could get my hands (and eyeballs) on.

Okay, that's not entirely true.

I've never been a big fan of "kissing books,"

Wait... there are exceptions...

but give me most anything else:
Encyclopedias, trips to Narnia...

Oh, how I longed to be Lucy...

Books about dogs.

Oh, how I longed for a dog of my own.

Books about brave young girls.

How I longed to be brave.
I supposed I should've spent my time longing for Gilbert to come around, but I was too busy trying to figure out my life's purpose. (Boy, did that take me forever. Want a piece of advice? JOB SHADOW in high school. No excuses. Get off your butt and do it. Don't wait until you're a senior in college to figure out you want to be a nurse, or veterinarian, or teacher, or whatever--figure it out when you're young.)

How I digress (but that was an important point, if anyone will listen).

Before writing, while it's true I liked some books more than others, I'm not sure I really understood why.

Why did I love the Chronicles of Narnia so much?
Only now can I fully marvel at the scope of C. S. Lewis' imagination. Story after story set in Narnia--just the mere idea of a seven or eight book series sends my stomach into an ulcerated knot.

But C. S. Lewis did it. (Of course, he wrote a ton of other books, too, but that's another story.)

Now, although I still love reading, I feel like the magic--although it might not be gone--has been altered somehow.

I can still marvel at a cliff hanger ending.
But then I'm off thinking about the craft instead of the story itself.

I can also still marvel at gorgeous book covers (see above). But then I'm off thinking about how I want my next book cover to look.

I can reread and marvel at lines I wish I'd written. But that makes me kind of jealous--I hate it when I'm jealous.

I can go back in time, enjoying the same book over again (although I'll admit to being jealous of the reader who's reading a gem for the very first time--there I am, jealous again--what a horrible person I must be).

What I really hate is the annoying interference of an internal editor, like a gnat in my ear, telling me "I'd put that line there" or "They use their quote signs differently than my publisher does" or "This is more tell than show." Ugh.

I LOVE it when a book is so smoothly written that my internal editor doesn't even make a peep.

What I want(ed) for Xmas:

1) more time to read

2) to tell my internal editor to shut the BLEEP up

Instead, what I got for Xmas was heartbreak, which is another story (check my POETRY PAGE and I'm sure you'll figure out why...).