Where the Power Hides

Exciting news! Dark Visions has already spent a few days at #1 on Amazon for New Releases in Horror Anthologies. It is an honor to share pages and space with the other authors in this book. Each one of us has our own style and our own way of weaving words, but we all have the love of writing creatively in common. If you are looking for a gripping read, please check this anthology out. (Link Below.) In the meantime, I'm going to share a teaser with you from one of my favorite authors who is also featured in the Dark Visions anthology.

As part of the Dark Visions blog tour, I get the pleasure of sharing an excerpt from one of two short stories written by Anne Marie Andrus, which can be found in this horror-filled anthology.

Anne Marie is one of 27 authors who've written imaginative, spooky stories for Dark Visions, and she also happens to be one of my favorite authors. To my great excitement, I had the unique pleasure of getting a sneak peak at her upcoming release, Raimond. From page to page, her words weaved a thrilling tale, and today, I cannot be more thrilled to get this chance to share a snippet of her words here.

Again, this short story, Where the Power Hides, can be found in the anthology Dark Visions among 34 other imaginative tales.

Where The Power Hides 

               The narrow, cobblestone streets of the French Quarter didn’t allow the limousine to invade their labyrinth without a vicious struggle. The engine roared over and over, until an invisible barrier split and the ghostly grey car landed on Rue Chartres with a screech. Steering wide around tight corners and slowing every time a pack of vibrant revelers danced in front of the grill, glossy tires finally crunched to a stop in a lot on the neighborhood's Esplanade border.

            "Are you sure this is right?" Sorcha clicked the map icon on her phone and pounded on a control button until smoked glass disappeared into the door. "I said I missed the Quarter, but actually being here makes me—"

            “Ill? For years, not a soul on earth could pry you out of this district.” Draven tossed back his blond hair and frowned at a handwritten note. "Ivori is waiting in the lobby of Le...I don’t know, some sordid hotel." 

            “Feels lonely.” Sorcha gazed down the crooked alley at snapshots of a stray parade. “Or empty? Might just be me.”

            “It’s positively hollow.” Draven tossed the crumpled paper to the only other being in the car. "Have I deciphered that scribble correctly, Lock?"

            "Indeed you have, Your Highness." Lock kicked the door open and grabbed for Sorcha’s hand. "Leave that dreadful device here."

            "It's brand new." Sorcha pulled her phone back from Lock, just to have it plucked away again. "Seriously, Draven?"

            “Doesn’t the incessant social connection exhaust you?” Draven flung it to the farthest corner of the car. "I prefer ravens and wax-sealed parchment. Ominous, yet classy.”

            "Nothing feels like those old days, except the weather." Sorcha peeled off her sweater and glared into the dark limousine at the blinking phone. “But, what if?”

            "Anyone you’re looking for…" Lock tugged her across the gravel lot. "Has no need for that contraption."

            Overhead, the lazy scrape of shutters drifting in soggy air escalated to a rhythmic pulse of wood striking brick.

            Sorcha shuffled her feet and gawked into the center of an overgrown patio. “Who paints a pool icky green?”

            “Not paint.” Draven gagged into his sleeve and shoved her into the building. “Oh, splendid. Look who we found.”

            In the middle of a checkerboard tile floor, Ivori drummed her fingers on the concierge’s desk. Without a word, she spun and motioned them through a hidden door.

            “I hate tunnels.” Sorcha swept the hair off her neck and twisted it into a loose knot. “It’s a sauna down here.”

            "When you mentioned an Equinox reunion, Ivori, I assumed you meant something spectacular." Draven touched the muddy wall and cringed. “Or at least, sanitary.”

            “Nights of grand balls and one-of-a-kind dresses are history.” Ivori forged into the pitch black. “Y’all took your sweet time getting here.”

            “We were in opposite corners of the earth.” Lock scowled as Ivori struck a match and lit her torch. "I was hoping for an enchanted courtyard."

            "Me." Sorcha raised her finger. “The cathedral bell tower.”

            "I’ve planned something way better." Ivori stopped so short, everyone crashed into her back. "None of your supernatural eyes saw the massive iron door?” She pulled chalk from her pocket and wrote on the rusty surface, waiting for each letter to disappear before she scripted the next. When the jumble was finished, the barricade creaked open.

            Draven grunted. “Marginally impressive.”

            “The reigning king, a shifter prince and our own duchess.” Ivori deliberately pointed at Draven, Lock and Sorcha, in order. “All that royalty and not one of you can crack a smile?”

            “We’re here because people we love are—” Sorcha lunged for Ivori’s neck.

            “Easy.” Lock caught her arm. “She’s messing with you.”

            “She has a damn personality disorder.” Sorcha’s hands shook like leaves in a hurricane. “Ivori, my husband has been missing since our first anniversary!”

            “I apologize. And, if you repeat that to anyone, I’ll turn you fools into toads.” Ivori strutted past and snapped her fingers. “Step lively, my undead allies.”

For the rest of this tale, Dark Visions can be purchased here:Buy Dark Visions

For more of Anne Marie Andrus' work, please visit her Amazon Author page here: Buy Anne Marie's Books

If You Dare...

If you are looking for a spooky read this October, check out Dark Visions, an anthology of 34 short stories written by 27 authors. My short story about an archaeologist who unearths more than she bargained for, Excavation Murder, can be found within.

Pick up Dark Visions here!

If you dare...

Paved With Blood and Magic

Hi everyone! My friend, author Anne Marie Andrus, is doing a book cover reveal for her new book, Raimond, and I have to brag a little before sharing her post. I had the fortunate chance to read an advance copy of this book, and it is a thrilling tale! Check it out. You'll love it too.

Happy October 11th !

&

Happy 1st Book Birthday to Monsters & Angels !

To celebrate the occasion, I’m thrilled to share my brand-new cover for Raimond…the prequel to Monsters & Angels.

Wait—prequel?

Yes—prequel. Why am I writing books out of order? Let me explain.

After the successful release of Monsters, exactly 1 year ago, I went straight to work writing the sequel. My readers demanded it.

OMG, it sounds surreal to say that, but they all wanted to know. . .

What happens next?

What happens to Sorcha?

What happens to Raimond?

And then I realized how much I didn’t know and the incredible story I was still driven to write.

This book is dedicated to

my extraordinary readers,

who knew Raimond was the true star of this show

long before I did.

Vive la magie!

Sometimes, in order to move forward, we all need to take a step back.

October 25, 2018

Pre-Order Raimond Now!

Cover design by Eight Little Pages —Thank you Claire!!

Testing New Technology

Hey All,

If you see this before I delete it, just ignore. I'm testing out some new technology!  :)

Journey into Seven Lives

I wanted to give an author shout out to my friend Christian Terry. His new book, Seven Lives is now available everywhere, and it is INTENSE!

Let me take you back to a time when I saw an amazing cover online. There it was, a cover with beautiful, eye-catching colors, and right on the front was a cute little orange kitty with a bone in it's mouth. I mean, come on... I was sold. Ten Lives was immediately downloaded into my Kindle queue. 

For the record, Ten Lives is NOT about cute orange kitties. It isn't even really about creepy, killing kitties. However, it is a thrilling, fast-paced adventure in a genre called Gamer Lit that, until reading this book, I'd been completely unaware of.

(Yes, yes, thanks to Christian, I've now been schooled in the world of Gamer Lit and devoured Ready Player One like everyone else, albeit maybe later than everyone else.)

Fast forward to Seven Lives, Christian's new book. 

I will give the book's synopsis below, but first, I have to tell you all what fun this book was to read. A true page turner, Seven Lives, 

keeps the reader on the edge every single moment. It is the kind of book you cannot put down, the kind of book that makes you loathe any sort of interruption, and one that leaves you hungry for more.

SEVEN LIVES:

Can one man stop the coming apocalypse on an alien world? He has seven lives to try...

Same fight, different round!

It has been a week since brothers Mike and Louis rescued and freed the queen's slaves and retrieved the fire emerald. Now they find themselves thrust into a race against time to escape the planet of Kelenia before the world ends. Standing in their way are cunning puzzles, the stalking blood thirsty ancient machines known as the Morrovan, and the evil queen, Beesh. Their journey will take them from the Kelenian jungle to the deepest, darkest, depths of the Kelenian sea where what they find may have repercussions for the entire galaxy.

Born and raised on the West side of Atlanta, he has been a story teller since he was in elementary school. Whether it was writing funny short stories or talking about what happened on professional wrestling the night before, he always enjoyed spinning a tale. Author, avid gamer,and Atlanta sports nut.

Check out Christian Terry and his thrilling books! Links below: 

Amazon

Smashwords

Kobo

The Cities of Dead

From Alys Arden, author of The Casquette Girls and The Romeo Catchers, comes her new book The Cities of Dead. 

This week she has revealed the cover for the upcoming book. November 6th is the release date! Everyone get ready!

Here's hoping there is a LOT of Nicco!

the GHOST of Southern Charm and other Dark Water River Mysteries

Bonaventure Cemetery

Once upon a Southern weekend, three friends moseyed down for a lazy weekend in Savannah and Tybee Island, Georgia. Along the way, we met a noble Knight and shared a fine meal. We stepped back into time, climbed a lighthouse, and caught a few waves.

Me and Author, Christian Terry

The trip really began when I got to meet fellow author and long-time internet friend, Christian Terry. His wicked cool book, Ten Lives, BUY HERE was the first gamer-lit book I ever read. It’s a fast-pace urban fantasy adventure that I recommend everyone read. And, even though I’m deep into writing my latest novel, I’m bugging him daily to find out the release date of the next installment, Seven Lives. It’s gonna be good. I just know it. In the meantime, we've been internet friends and writing colleagues for quite awhile, and it was really special getting to finally meet in person.

Spanish Moss, Bonaventure

We had two goals on our weekend in Savannah. We wanted to see as much of Savannah as we could, and we wanted to get out to Bonaventure Cemetery. After scouring tons of options and opportunities, we settled on the idea of taking an on and off trolley tour, Old Savannah Trolley Tours, through Savannah. For one fee, you can hop on and off at different locations all over the city all day long. Having only one day to see Savannah, this seemed like our best option.

Pirate Actor

Portico

So, onto our first trolley we boarded, and soon, we were off. The tour guides, we had three, all told different stories and facts about everything we passed, and occasionally, at different stops an  actor would hop onto the trolley and tell us a little bit about themselves and their life in Savannah. This is how we met Forrest Gump. Our favorite re-enactors on this tour were the pirate and the dandy architect we will forever call “portico”. The city of Savannah has done a wonderful job with this tour. You don’t have to get on and off. If you want to ride all day long, you can, and believe me, you won’t be disappointed. In fact, we rode once through the entire tour before we stopped to get off at the Cathedral.

St. John the Baptist Cathedral

The Cathedral…  Look, I don’t know why...Cemeteries and Cathedrals...these are my things…

The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist  is simply stunning, an inspirational, jaw-dropping blend of colors, architectural design, and a sort of silent peace found in cathedrals everywhere.

In the afternoon, we drove out to Bonaventure Cemetery. I could have spent years here and not explored every nook and cranny. It took me a few moments to get my bearings in the maze of tombs, to wrap my mind around the graceful charm found among the haunting monuments and trees draped in Spanish Moss. In general, Savannah is an old city, a true necropolis. Bonaventure is the magnificent crown to this literal city of the dead.

***If you visit here or any other cemetery, please be mindful. It’s heartbreaking to see tombstones, vaults, and graves that are broken or knocked over because someone mindlessly or accidentally bumped into them.***

When our day came to an end, we were glad to return to our little cottage we rented out on the marsh to watch the sunset and prepare for the next day’s outing.

Tybee Island Lighthouse

On day two, we loaded up into Indigo Montoya with the beach tent and chairs and headed over to Tybee Island.

The mission was to climb to the top of Tybee Island Lighthouse, all 178 stairs, despite it being one of the hardest in America to climb to look out over the ocean.

View from the top of Tybee Island Lighthouse

For me, the climb up was fine. A landing waited for us every 25 stairs, and I swear excitement propelled me forward because I made it to the top before I realized it. Lighthouses fascinate me. I blame this both on Jimmy Buffett and my author friend, Vicky Holt, whose fabulous book, Beckoned, takes place at a lighthouse, but that is a story for another day.

North Beach Swing
Tybee Island

Two-thirds of the way back down from the lighthouse, my legs became jello.  To solve this travesty, we headed to the beach. On North beach of Tybee Island, the beach is lovely. The sand is darker than most of the beaches I’ve visited, but still lovely. The lack of commercial buildings and high rise hotels makes Tybee stand out. A beach day here feels like a way of life rather than a vacation.

Sunset on the Marsh

On our final night we had a meal on the deck out by the marsh of our little cottage with our new furry friend, Socks, as we talked about all of our experiences on our Savannah/Tybee Island weekend. Tybee Island turned out to be everything we'd hoped, a quiet beach spot free from touristy mumbo-jumbo. It's sandy-shelled shore served as the perfect place to take a breath and enjoy salty sea breezes. Savannah, in a very real way, was exactly as I'd expected too. A slow Southern city, a remnant of a time long gone, that leaves an ache in the pit of my stomach as I try to deduce whether I should be happy because these old houses and traditions still exist or be disgusted by their very existence. The opulence and gentility did not swirl into creation via a magic wand. Blood, sweat, and tears and the literal building over dead bodies is how her grand beauty came about. Savannah is a city of old splendor and elegance, and currently, Savannah is an old but modern city where they are trying to tightly hold onto their past, while standing with the present and looking towards the future, and despite my mixed feelings, I enjoyed my romp throughout the old squares and left wanting to see more.

Socks

Have any of you been to Savannah or Tybee? What did you see/do?

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"When you wish upon a COUNTERFEIT star..."

As a child of two musicians, a child who used to nap on the inside of her mother’s bass drum, I have attended many, many concerts in a variety of venues and locations in my lifetime. I listen and love almost all types of music. And truly, for me there would be no writing without music.

On May 8th, me and a wicked cool friend hopped into my car, Indigo Montoya, and took a drive up to Nashville, TN on a mission to find a small club called The End. We’d heard nightmares about this club: bad sound, tetanus shot required, etc… but I am a concert champ, and this particular band that we’d loaded up to see meant way more to me than a bunch of rumors of an iffy venue.  So, onward we traversed.

Thanks to the aforementioned brilliant friend we scored VIP tickets, which meant I was finally going to get the chance to meet the guys in the band known as Counterfeit and thank them not only for their rocking tunage but also for inadvertently creating a cd that helped me overcome the closest thing to writer’s block I’ve ever experienced.

This would be an easy thing for me. I know plenty of musicians, and more importantly, I am the daughter of the Rock Goddess. It never occurred to me that me, a girl with more words running around in her brain than can ever come out, might freeze during that one moment I had to tell them thank you. No, not me...I am the epitome of chill.

Somehow among the excitement of the upcoming show and the debating of which songs the band might shred out for us...I forgot one tiny little detail. One of the members of this band, and I am intentionally going to downplay this, is an actor by the name of Jamie Campbell Bower. If you have seen any of his work, particularly his recent intense portrayal of Christopher Marlowe on the show Will, then you probably already suspect what happened to me and my super calm self. I bring this little fact up so that you all can have a good laugh at my expense.

After all, Counterfeit is so much more than Jamie Campbell Bower. Together, these five men are an extraordinary force of sound, pounding an exquisite mix of punk, heavy rock, metal and a zillion others sounds they’ve absorbed, mastered, and perfected into a blend of something amazing into our ears.

But I digress… There I was in line for the meet and greet totally prepared to lay it all out, to let each of them know in two or three swift comments that their music has been important in my life, to say thank you.  Spoiler alert: this mission of mine failed. It failed in epic proportions.

First, I met Bass Guitarist, Roland Johnson and Guitarist, Tristan Marmont. This went okay. The plan, of course, was to say hello to all of them and then give them my group message.  HAHAHAHAHA!!!

Side note to all of you who greatly love the world of creativity and art. If you admire a poet, a musician, actor, or any other sort of creative being, there is a good chance you might actually forget what you planned on saying. You might...in some cases...say something less than intelligent.

Next in line came Jamie Campbell Bower… brace yourselves friends and readers. I know you are expected me to say something cool and snarky here… I am rather known for my smart ass quips. Unfortunately, it went something like this. “Hi, I’m Jamie.” There was a handshake. I started to recall a scene he performed once with Eva Green way back in the Camelot days…and I mumbled and muttered the only thing that came to my mind… "Yes, yes, you are."

Luckily, they are all five gracious men. Guitarist, Sam Bower, and Drummer, Jimmy Craig also introduced themselves to me. I have no idea what I said to them. I pray it was in English. When I lose concentration, I start babbling in other languages. There were a couple of pictures taken while I awaited angels to nab me right there on the spot because my writer’s imagination had me suspended into some sort of reality warp, and my one chance to tell all of them what I really wanted to say melted away beneath the hot Nashville sun.  (Also, no actual angels appeared despite my best imaginings.)

Later on, before the show, there was another unfortunate incident where a pothole attacked me and won. Over a week later, and I still bare those bruises. If anyone has advice on how to walk on flat ground and win in a fight against pavement, please leave a comment below.

So, maybe this wasn’t the night for me to win any awards for being graceful and poised. HOWEVER, it was a night to rock hard and have a stellar time. Counterfeit is no joke. They bring everything they have and lay it out raw for everyone to experience. As a band, they are a tightly gelled unit, and this comes across in their performance.

As I said earlier, I go to many, many concerts, but it has been a long time since I’ve walked out of a venue with that unique and rare feeling of energetic almost spiritual happiness that a really great show with amazing music and the right audience can, every once in awhile, induce.

Counterfeit did this. No, they came out on that tiny stage, in a venue that has a bit of an unfair rep, and slew everyone in the room with their instruments and voices.

If you don’t know this band, check them out. Their album, Together We Are Stronger, is out everywhere.  And if they come to your town, go experience their show.

A few of the things I should  have told Counterfeit:

1. Your record is a hellacious driving album. Put it on, crank it up loud, and drive...fast.
2. Your songs, “Lost Everything” and “You Can’t Rely”, helped resuscitate my character, Zylphia, effectively allowing me to get back to what I love doing, writing. (For those of you who are concerned, Zylphia’s story is flowing nicely now. I just pop on Together We Are Stronger and the words flow. The book title shall be revealed soon.)
3. Thank you. Thank you for doing what you love and sharing it with everyone else.

As this is a rather long blog for me, I’ll cut it off here with a question. Has anyone else ever had a moment where you completely farkled for whatever reason?

Flood and Bones

As the waters rushed and the creeks rose, exciting things were occurring. I may have been flooded in for two days this past month, but that didn’t stop me!!

I have two big announcements to make.

First: Ancestors is now available on Amazon. (Buy Here) Ancestors is the conclusion of The Binding trilogy, my series of books that take place in New Orleans. It’s been a wonderful adventure. I have been on this ride with Sybella Rose and Demien for several years. I’ve delved into the mysteries of voodoo and witchcraft. I’ve danced with the fae. And I have loved...oh, how I have loved...with the vampires as deeply as only an immortal being can love. I’m so proud of these three books: The Binding, Witch’s Pawn, and Ancestors. I truly hope that you guys enjoy them as much as I enjoyed writing them.

Second: Vicky Holt and I have begun a YouTube channel called Victoria and Victoria: Reading Authors! In the future, we will be talking about our novels and projects, reviewing the many, many books that Vicky and I read, and we will be interviewing a plethora of authors. Please hop on over to YouTube to like and subscribe to our page. (View Here)

So, while the bubbling waters continue to pool, and life is renewed. New things are happening all around me! Currently, I'm working on a murder/mystery short story that I can easily see turning into a full novel, and I am also toying with the idea of doing a children's book. On top of that, for those of you that have asked...I am writing more with some of the characters that you met in The Binding trilogy. They will be stand-alone novels that offer a deeper glimpse into the lives of some of the side characters you enjoyed so much.

In the meantime, upon a nature walk, I discovered a small pile of deer bones. I'm thinking they will make great Halloween decorations. What do you guys think?